One great example is the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G – yes, that is its entire name – which combines a premium-looking design with capable internals, resulting in a rather impressive Android handset. In a crowded midrange smartphone segment however, is it worth getting? Let’s find out.

Specifications

• Dislay: Curved 6.67 inch AMOLED, 120hz, 1220 x 2712 pixel resolution
• Processor: MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Ultra
• RAM: up to 16GB
• Storage: 512GB
• Software: Android 13 with MIUI 14
• Rear Cameras: 200MP primary, 8MP ultrawide, 2MP macro
• Selfie Camera: 16MP
• Battery: 5,000 mAh Li-po
• Charging: 120W wired

Design and Display

We weren’t lying when we said that the Note 13 Pro+ features a premium design – at first glance, you might even mistake it for a device that’s twice its price tag, thanks to the large curved display and slim bezels. Pick it up though, and you’ll realize that the sides of the phone are made from plastic, which feature a matte finish as seen on the black model that we have here. The front is protected by a layer of Gorilla Glass Victus, although Xiaomi hasn’t specified what kind of glass the rear panel is made of.

Going back to the front, the phone features a 6.67-inch AMOLED display, which comes with a 120Hz refresh rate, support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+, and gets really bright at up to 1800 nits of peak brightness. It’s undeniably a good-looking panel with a responsive in-display fingerprint sensor, and you’ll have no trouble viewing your phone outdoors in bright environments. One consideration though is the curved screen, will be a subjective affair for some users who might prefer a flat display instead.

This entire setup comes with IP68 protection, which is a much-welcome feature especially at this price point. All in all it feels like a well-built device, and the plastic frame does make it a bit lighter to handle for everyday use.

Performance and Software

Running the show is a MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Ultra SoC, a 4nm chip that’s backed by up to 16GB of RAM. Our unit in particular comes with the 12GB RAM and 512GB storage configuration, but we reckon that 12GB is plenty enough to provide a smooth user experience. There’s not much to complain about here really, as the phone easily handles day-to-day usage such as switching between apps, browsing the web and social media feeds, and such.

As far as gaming goes, you’ll have a mostly decent experience with the Note 13 Pro+, especially in mainstream games such as COD Mobile, Wild Rift and such. There are times when it does get a bit warm such as when running XCOM 2, although not on the same level as say a Pixel phone, for example.

With that said, there are some rare times when you might get a bit of a stutter, especially when moving through the heavily-modified UI. The phone ships with a slightly older Android 13 platform version, which is coated with a thick layer of MIUI, Xiaomi’s custom visual skin for Android.

If you’ve used a Redmi phone before, then you’ll be familiar with MIUI – it’s a double-edged sword as it comes with a ton of additional third-party apps and software, a lot of which take up storage space and are sometimes downright unneeded (I have never had any desire to play “Royal Match”). On the other hand, folks who enjoy customizing their phone’s visual interface will enjoy MIUI’s in-depth personalization options, especially when it comes to how you want your phone to look and feel.

Camera Quality

As far as camera hardware is concerned, the Note 13 Pro+ packs an impressive setup – on the rear, you get a 200 MP, f/1.7, 23mm (wide) main sensor, accompanied by a 8 MP, f/2.2 ultrawide sensor, and 2 MP, f/2.4 macro sensor. In front is a 16 MP camera for selfies and video calls. For video, the Note 13 Pro+ can record clips of up to 4K resolution at 30 frames per second. 

If you’re coming from a flagship smartphone, then the phone’s camera performance might be a little underwhelming – but as far as basics go, the Note 13 Pro+ mostly gets the essentials right. There’s a decent amount of dynamic range, and you don’t really get blown out highlights unlike on cheaper smartphone cameras. Saturation is so-and-so, and depending on your lighting you’ll get varied amounts of vibrance in your photos.

There are times though when image quality does fall short – in particular, the selfie camera can sometimes present dull skin tones, and there are moments when photos shot on the ultrawide lens lean towards heavier contrast, resulting in somewhat darker-looking shots. You can check out some samples below:

Battery Endurance

Unless you’re playing a ton of games constantly on the Redmi Note 13 Pro+, the 5,000 mAh battery inside can last up to pretty much an entire day with moderate use, and even more with simpler casual usage. Of course, factors such as screen brightness, 5G data, and the kinds of apps that you’re running will come into play with regards to how long your battery can keep up, but in general it’s an all-day phone.

Should you need to charge it, the handset supports 120W charging speeds, although you’ll need a compatible charging brick. Thankfully, there’s an included adapter with the phone in addition to the charging cable.

Final Thoughts

For a price of around $450, the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G competes with other devices such as Samsung’s A-series smartphones, which come with less impressive Exynos chipsets, and Google’s A-series devices, which feature smaller displays and slower charging speeds. It’s in these aspects where the Xiaomi’s new midranger excels, although factors such as MIUI, and the modest camera performance need to be considered.

Still, the Note 13 Pro+’s terrific-looking design and display, fast charging speeds, and fairly capable chipset are tempting reasons to go with Redmi’s new premium midranger, and at a price that’s less than most smartphones these days, this might be enough for budget-conscious buyers and Redmi fans alike.

The post Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G Review: Best Premium Midranger? appeared first on Phandroid.

You can buy a gaming phone with RGB lighting and an fan for active cooling, or you could pick up a mid-range phone with a focus on value and performance. But if you want to go all out, Honro is hoping you’ll take a look at the new Honor Magic V2 RSR Porsche Design — a device that combines the world’s thinnest foldable smartphone with design cueues includneced by one of my favorit automitive brands.

Specifications

• Cover Dislay: 6.43 inches, 120Hz, 1060 x 2376 pixels
• Internal Display: 7.92 inches, 120Hz, 2156 x 2344 pixels
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
• RAM: 16GB
• Storage: 1TB
• Android 13
• Rear Cameras: 50MP (primary), 20MP 2.5x telephoto), 50MP (ultrawide)
• Selfie Camera: 16MP
• Battery: 5,000 mAh silicor carbon
• Charging: 66W wired

Price

I typically leave the price of the phone for the end of my reviews, but I think this is one of the few reviews that needs some additional context at the onset.

The disparity in price between the regular Honor Magic V2 and the Porsche Design RSR version presents a curious case for introspection. While both phones boast the same core hardware, primarily the powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, impressive LTPO OLED displays, and a capable triple-camera system, the Porsche Design variant carries a hefty €1000 premium.

That’s right, the Porsche Design Honor Magic V2 RSR will set you back a cool €2699

Ultimately, the choice between the two is a dance between appreciating cutting-edge technology at a competitive price point and indulging in the exclusivity and prestige associated with a well-recognized luxury brand.

Design

The Honor Magic V2 RSR Porsche Design isn’t just a phone; it’s a love letter to the iconic Porsche 911. Every detail whispers of the legendary sports car, from the phone’s form to its materials.

Turn it over, and you’ll find the spirit of the 911 etched in the phone’s back. Unlike its standard counterpart, the Porsche Design version boasts a sleek, fiberglass back panel, reminiscent of the lightweight and aerodynamic materials used in the car’s construction. This not only evokes the 911’s heritage but also contributes to the phone’s comfortable weight and feel.

But the homage goes beyond materials. Look closer, and you’ll see the signature Porsche flyline, a subtle yet powerful design element that runs the length of the phone’s back. Just like the iconic curve that defines the 911’s silhouette, the flyline on the phone adds a touch elegance, ensuring it stands out from the crowd.

The asymetrical glass camera module sports a titanium frame, giving it a sporty look, unlike the standard rectangular shape Hnor featured on the original.

It’s a phone that exudes sophistication without being ostentatious, a reflection of the 911’s ability to blend power with understated style.

In essence, the Honor Magic V2 RSR Porsche Design is more than just a phone; it’s a conversation starter, a way to showcase your appreciation for the timeless design and legacy of the Porsche 911, all condensed into a powerful and innovative mobile device.

Like the original, this phone is incredibly light and thin, thanks to the magnezium alloy frame and hinge. When closed, the device is only 9.9mm thick and the 234 grams could easily fool you into thinking that your holding a traditinoal smartphone rather than a foldable. 

The only drawback in the design and build quality comes down to the omission of an official IP rating. This isn’t too uncommon for a foldable smartphone, but we have started to see it from Samsung and a few other players i nthe segment since foldable devices need as much protection as possible form the elements if you want them to survice more than a year or two. 

Unboxing experience

The phone’s packaging is well-curated and caters to the phone’s premium positioning. The inclusion of a Porsche Design case, two chargers, two cables, a stylus, and its dedicated case paints a picture of a complete and luxurious package, potentially justifying the phone’s higher price point for those who value such extras.

It’s a bit unusual since most phones don’t even come with one these days, but Honor is assuming that show who buy this phone will be traveling from the UK to Europe on a regualr basis.

The incredibly thin stitched leather case which matches the austhetics of the phone’s deisgn. Unlike a lot of cases that come pre-packaged with phones these days, this is the only one that I’ve actually used on a daily basis. Since the phone is already so thin, you really don’t notice the extra bulk, but I also want to make sure I keep the Honor Magic V2 RSR in prestine condition for as long as possible.

Software

While the Honor Magic V2 RSR Porsche Design boasts impressive hardware and a luxurious design, the software experience falls short of expectations, raising concerns for such a high-priced phone.

One major issue is that the phone runs on Magic OS 7.2 based on Android 13, placing it behind the current Android 14 offered by many competitors. Although Honor promises an upgrade to Android 14, this utilizes one of its three major OS updates, leaving it with less future-proofing compared to other flagships.

Beyond the outdated version, there’s simply a lack of polish in Magic OS compared to competing options like Google’s Pixel UI or Samsung’s One UI.

Adding to the concerns, Magic OS 7.2 still bears a strong resemblance to Huawei’s EMUI. Even the tutorial for using on-screen navigation gestures is stil la one-for-one copy from Huawei, as is the unintuitive pinch gesture on the homescreen to change the wallpaper or add widgets. The worst functional issue I have with the UI is that you can’t swipe down on the homescreen to acces notifications. Instead, you have to reach all the way to the top of the screen, making it a big hassle for a large phone like this.   The rest of my complains are purely superficial, but I think that’s somethign that needs to be addressed since the overall look of Honor’s software skin still feel like it’s from 2018.

Compared to Samsung and OnePlus, the software experience on the Honor Magic V2 RSR Porsche Design presents a significant disadvantage. The outdated version, lack of polish, and similarity to Huawei’s software could be dealbreakers for users who prioritize a smooth, intuitive, and future-proof software experience.

Cameras

If you’re looking for a good all-around camera phone, the Honor Magic V2 RSR Porsche Design seems to deliver competent performance with its versatile camera system and decent image quality. However, for users who prioritize exceptional camera capabilities, this phone might not be the top contender, especially considering the hefty price tag.

When you’re paying nearly $3,000 for a smartphone, you deserve a camera system that can compete with the likes of the Pixel 8 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max.

The phone boasts a versatile camera system with a 50MP main sensor, a 50MP ultrawide sensor, and a 20MP telephoto sensor with up to 2.5x optical and 10x digital zoom. This allows for some flexability in capturing shots, but being limited to just 2.5x zoom is unacceptable these days when we have foldable smartphones that offfer up to 5x zoom.

The final results are adequate for the average user, with the 16MP selfie camera performing noticeably worse than the rear cameras. If you don’t like the overly saturated color tone of the default settings, there are plenty of pre-set color filters to choose from that may deliver better results for you.

Final Thoughts

While the Honor Magic V2 RSR Porsche Design boasts a luxurious design, cutting-edge display, and powerful specs, its staggering price tag of 2700 euro raises significant questions for value-conscious buyers. This hefty cost puts it in a different league compared to the OnePlus Open, which offers similar flagship-level features at a significantly lower price point.

For me, the main issue comes down to the software experience. That could all change in the coming months as Honor pushed out Magic OS 8.0 to this and other devices in its lineup, but I honestly wasn’t that impressed with the new build that I tested on the global variant of the Honor Magic 6 Pro.

Therefore, unless you specifically value the Porsche Design branding, unique foldable form factor, and are comfortable with the high price tag, the Honor Magic V2 RSR Porsche Design might not be the most practical choice. The OnePlus Open, or even other high-end non-foldable phones, could offer better value for most users. However, if the unique features and luxury elements are highly desired, then the final decision should be based on individual priorities and budget considerations.

The post Honor Magic V2 RSR Porsche Design Review: the most stylish foldable money can buy appeared first on Phandroid.

The landscape is about to change though. Rumours abound of the Samsung Smart Ring being released in 2024. So there has never been a better time than now to get a state of play as to what’s possible in the smart ring space.

So when I approached Circular to see about their latest smart ring – the Circular Slim I was excited to put it through its paces. I had a very challenging set of circumstances to put it through which is an international move.

Calibration and Kira

There is nothing quite so stressful in someone’s life as to try and organise an international move. So there was nothing I could think of that would put it through its paces better. There is a lot to consider when you’re moving to a new country and there is lots to sort out. Between packing, bills, paperwork and everything else that comes with a move. So tracking my sleep, stress and other metrics was going to be very important. After all, stress can make you additionally sick and that was not time I was willing to lose.

Circular has a 14-day calibration period where you will wear it in performance mode for it to get a better sense of where your baseline is. For you to not subliminally mess with these figures, nothing is displayed in terms of your key metrics or analytics until the calibration is over. This was fine for me, given I was busy and not interested in micromanaging my stats.  But for those who would have liked to dive in from the jump – it may be a little frustrating.

Kira is Circular Smart Ring’s AI which will give you daily feedback as to how you slept the night before or other things that you may need to know. She is limited in her functionality, so don’t go into it thinking it is a ChatGPT-style AI that can be the be-all and end-all. That’s not her role, her role is to be able to track back on the information she does have and be able to make suggestions based on your specific metrics. The more consistently you wear the ring, the more data Kira has to report back. So it is very much a process. The more you use it, the better it will get.

Teething Issues

Connectivity & Syncing

There is no such thing as being a tech reviewer and not stumbling upon some issues. For me, my issues lay in its initial setup and connectivity. I’m still not sure what the overall issue was for the first few days. Connectivity was an absolute non-runner. This doesn’t seem to be an uncommon issue when looking into it, as some of the connectivity issues do take time. It did get so bad that I was concerned that I may have gotten a defective unit. In saying that, magically, many attempts later it all connected just fine. I’m happy to report that I had no further issues with connectivity after that. But it was very strange nonetheless. You would expect there to be a push for some software or firmware updates to be the issue with this, but no. There were no such updates around the initial time of setting up that would have fixed the issue. So instead of a better explanation, I think we’ll just put it down to being some  Ciruclar magic.

There are also some minor issues when it comes to tracking. There is no option for the ring data to be edited. So if it tracks that I have had a nap and I haven’t – there isn’t a way of editing this out of your data for the day. I’ve also had some minor issues around it syncing data if you don’t check in daily with it. Some of my sleep data or steps from the day before would magically go missing but reappear after a resync a few days later. Having the ability to edit these things yourself would go a long way in helping your data to become even more optimal.

Battery Life

Battery life on the device should be kept with a grain of salt. The advertisements say that the Circular Slim Smart Ring should be able to have about 5 days of use before a charge. The reality on the ground is more like 3 days. It’s important to keep in mind that I have kept the ring in performance mode all the time. I’ve never really understood buying something and then not using it at max all of the time. However, your mileage may vary if you choose to set it to a more battery-sipping setting.

Where the magic happens

Where the true magic lies in Circular Smart Rings is in Kira and its productive capabilities. As I’ve documented frequently for Phandroid, I’m one of the chronically ill members of staff and having any heads up about being sick is hugely valuable for me.

For the sake of my privacy, I’m going to be cutting around some of the screenshots but I want to talk you through a series of instances that Circular Smart Ring was able to capture and be able to inform me I was getting sick before I was fully sick.

Firstly, it informed me that there had been a small spike in my resting heart rate and then a big leap in my temperature overnight. Due to all of this when checking my overall stress score. I had an “Overwhelmed” score on my stress levels.

This prompted Kira to chat with me when I had checked in to be like “Hey, your vitals are all elevated as well as your stress scores. This is all a pretty different deviation to normal and you need to try and prevent yourself from getting further run down.” Now, the abnormal stress levels would be normal given moving and trying to organise everything else.

The temperatures and elevated heart rate were abnormal though. Keep in mind, I was still wearing the ring while moving heavy boxes and all the normal activities. So it wasn’t registering those times of extra stress or additional temperatures as irregular. It was calculating them as normal. However, it was smart enough to work out that there were stress and temperature spikes outside the range of activity that were abnormal and an indicator of illness.

I had an idle cough and some phlegm that I was able to get checked out. Sure enough, I was on the way to having an asthma-related respitory infection. So, it saved me from an extended period of being on antibiotics and was able to get away with just preventative medicine and some steroids instead. It allowed me to remain on my feet and keep going as I normally was during a very stressful time.

Impressive AI

Kira and Circular’s ability to be able to do this is very impressive. It is truly where the magic of this ring happens. Being able to inform people of potential issues and then having people able to act on that information could be hugely beneficial to people long term. This can only come from being able to have access to your data over a set course of time so that it can track these variations should they occur. There is nothing short of saying that this technology is cool and has a lot of potential.

We tend as humans to want all-encompassing solutions. I think when you look at Circular and their smart rings you need to keep tempering your expectations. Kira and Circular are very good at doing this very specific set of things, but expecting it to do more than what it will lead you to be disappointed.

In fact, if you look at its current subset of things. There could be an argument to be made that it’s quite limited in its skillset. But what it does – it does very well.

Rounding up

The Circular Slim Smart ring is an easy recommendation for someone who is looking for a casual tracking device to get important metrics.  If you’re looking for something more in-depth that can track your runs or workouts – then you’re still better off staying with your smartwatch for the time being.

You can check out the Circular Slim Smart Ring for E264 at Circular.xyz

The post Circular Slim Smart Ring Review – One Ring Closer appeared first on Phandroid.

With that being said however, other manufacturers have instead chosen to stick to their guns and and forego Wear OS for their own custom wearable platform. One such example is the Huawei Watch GT 4 series, which runs on Huawei’s Harmony OS instead (for reasons other than preference), but still promises to give users a complete smartwatch experience. How does it fare though? Let’s take a look.

External Design

At first glance, it’s clear that Huawei has taken extra steps to integrate a rather stylish look with the GT 4 series, which is available in several design variants, including a 46mm model (which we have on here), as well as a more “petite” 41mm model that’s more akin to jewelry. With that said, the 46mm variant comes in different styles, and we do have the more sporty black unit here.

The watch features a 1.43-inch AMOLED touchscreen with a fairly sharp resolution of 466×466 pixels, and a PPI of 326. There’s a stainless steel case that surrounds the display, although it doesn’t feature a rotating bezel unlike the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, for example. Instead, navigation is handled by a rotating crown and an action button, which are located on the right-hand side.

Underneath, the watch is made from a composite material which feels a lot like plastic, and this also houses the GT 4’s sensors as well as the magnetic charging panel. The watch also comes with a 5 ATM rating, which means it can survive underwater dips for up to 50 meters, although it isn’t exactly meant to be a diving watch.

The silicone straps are interchangeable, so you can switch up the look of the GT 4, although the pre-installed watch straps have a nice feel to them. Overall it’s a nicely-designed wearable, and shouldn’t look out of place at casual or even more formal situations.

Internal Hardware

Huawei hasn’t disclosed the processor inside the GT 4, nor has it given out the exact RAM configurations, although the device does come with a ton of different sensors for health and activity tracking.

This includes an Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Magnetometer, Optical heart rate sensor, a Barometer, as well as a temperature sensor. Other hardware features include a vibration motor for haptics and notifications, a speaker, microphone, Bluetooth 5.2, as well as NFC. There’s no Wifi on here unfortunately, as the watch needs your phone’s Bluetooth connection in order to access the internet.

Huawei says that the GT 4 can last for up to 4 days with intensive use, 8 days with moderate use, and up to 14 days with very conservative usage. Based on my experience so far it was able to last around a week in general, which is pretty impressive especially considering that most other smartwatches are not able to make it past a day.

Set-up and App

As for compatibility, the GT 4 will work with iOS and Android devices, although setting up the device will require a bit of light tinkering if you’re using an Android phone. Since Huawei’s apps aren’t available on the Play Store, you’ll need to download the Huawei Health app’s .apk file, and manually sideload it onto your device.

Once that’s done however, using the GT 4 should be a breeze. So far, I think Huawei has done a terrific job updating the interface on the GT 4, and it feels a lot smoother and more fluid compared to my experience with older Huawei watches, which were usually slow and laggy. It’s a big improvement and does enhance the overall user experience.

The same can be said for the Huawei Health apps, which for the most part just works nice and simple. Here you can keep an eye on your activities, change the settings on the watch, sign in to your Huawei account, and tinker with notification settings, to name a few.

User Experience

The Huawei Watch GT 4 comes with several pre-installed apps, including several watch faces and built-in exercise modes, as well as staples such as alarms, stopwatch, call logs, and even a music player which can play locally stored files. It’s a pretty robust selection, although one consideration is that you’ll have to install new apps and watch faces with the Huawei Health app.

As someone who uses his watch a lot for heart rate and sleep tracking, the GT 4 had no problems keeping an eye on my metrics, and even sent me reminders to stay active – something that’s thankfully been brought over from previous GT models – and features like automatic walk detection were very much welcome for daily usage. Based on my usage so far it was rather accurate for the most part with metrics.

There are some gripes however – one consideration is that I wasn’t able to sync my Huawei Health data with Google Health Connect, given the rift between Google and Huawei. Additionally, while you could reply to most messages and notifications with preset replies, the GT 4 still lacks the option to type a custom response onscreen, something that’s easily handled by Wear OS devices, for example.

Final Thoughts

For a price of around $315 (when converted) and £250 in the UK, the Huawei Watch GT 4’s strengths lie with its premium and sturdy design, a large and responsive display, a more fluid interface, as well as impressive battery performance and generally good health tracking.

There are some factors to consider however such as the lack of Google software integration and built-in Wifi connectivity, as well as the constant reliance on the Huawei App for app and watch face installations. With that being said however, at the end of the day the Huawei Watch GT 4 still gets all the basics right, and for folks looking for a good-looking smart wearable with impressive battery life will want to check out this one.

The post Huawei Watch GT 4 Review: The Best Wear OS Alternative? appeared first on Phandroid.

In the case of the Pixel 8, Google introduces some cool new features while managing to keep things familiar for fans. Now while it is smaller and loses out on some exclusives that are found on the more expensive Pixel 8 Pro, there’s still a lot that Google manages to get right with its base model flagship phone – let’s take a look.

Pixel 8 Specs

• 6.2-INCH OLED “Actua” Display, 1080 x 2400 pixel resolution
• 120HZ, 2000 nits (peak)
• Gorilla Glass Victus (front & back), aluminum frame
• Google Tensor G3 Chipset
• 8GB RAM, 128/256GB storage options
• 50MP main camera/12MP ultrawide camera
• 10.5MP ultrawide front camera
• Android 14
• 4575 mAh battery capacity, 27W wired charging

Design and Display

On the outside, the Pixel 8 keeps a lot of similarities to its predecessor – Google has decided to stick to the same design found on the Pixel 7, with Gorilla Glass panels surrounded by an aluminum frame that melds into the camera bar into the back of the phone. There are some changes this time around though, such as the more rounded corners and smaller display size, which makes the Pixel 8 a lot more pocket-friendly.

This compact design wraps around a 6.2-inch screen which Google calls an “Actua” display, and comes with some major upgrades over previous generations of Pixels. For one, it’s a lot smoother thanks to a 120Hz refresh rate, and it’s a lot brighter this time around, with a peak brightness of up to 2000 nits. Based on my usage, the fingerprint scanner is a lot more responsive as well, even with a screen protector on.

The Pixel 8 also comes with IP68 certification, which means it’ll generally be safe from accidental splashes and dust. We wouldn’t recommend taking it scuba diving or dunking it into a pool, however. Overall though it’s a pretty solid device, and there’s not much to complain about here.

Performance and Software

For this year, Google made sure to highlight the new Pixel 8’s new Tensor G3 chip and its AI capabilities, which work together to give it an edge over competing Android phones, especially older Pixel devices.

With that being said however, the Tensor G3 chip is by no means a performance champion – and I’m not just saying this because of all the benchmark scores that we’ve been seeing online. Sure, it’ll be able to run most games on the Play Store, but I wouldn’t recommend running more graphically-intensive titles like Genshin Impact on it, as it still tends to get warm with extended gaming sessions.

Where the Pixel 8 shines though is in seamless day-to-day operations. Multi-tasking, navigating through the user interface, scrolling through my social feeds was very much a smooth experience, and it’s safe to say that Google has nailed the essentials of what makes a smartphone, well, “smart.” I’ve never struggled with app restarts, force-closures and freezing so far. Connectivity on the Pixel 8 has been excellent as well. My unit hasn’t experienced any signal drops so far, and wireless connections like Wifi and data connectivity have remained consistent.

As for software, the phone comes with Android 14 which I think has helped a lot in terms of power efficiency and battery life, which we’ll talk more about later. Right now though, the highlight of Google’s annual software update are the newly-baked AI features which are focused on giving users a richer photography and imaging experience.

For one, the newly-introduced Magic Editor is a pretty interesting way to get people into photo editing. It’s not as robust or feature-packed like proper photo editing software, but it’s amazing how Google has developed its AI software into giving users a fresh approach to how they want to edit their images.

It’s not perfect however, as results might be hit or miss depending on the quality of your source file. The same can be said for Best Take, which took me a number of tries before getting it to work properly. Given that these are fairly new features that are mostly processed using the cloud, there’s definitely still room for improvement, although it’s undeniably been an impressive feature so far.

Camera Quality

Unlike its more expensive sibling with a triple-array of cameras, the Pixel 8 comes with a dual setup consisting of a main wide sensor and an additional ultra-wide lens. Google’s focus on making point-and-shoot photography easily accessible for smartphone users carries over to the Pixel 8, although it does miss out on some camera features versus the 8 Pro, like the Pro camera controls which are absent on the base model.

With that said, camera quality is on point, and the Pixel 8 can capture great looking images. If you’ve ever used a Pixel smartphone before, then photos on the Pixel 8 will look very similar, although the main sensor at the back does allow for better exposure and detail in photos compared to predecessors. We actually have several camera tests and comparisons which you can check out here on our channel.

Photos can sometimes appear less sharp on the ultrawide lens, although images overall manage to look good, especially when compared to the Pixel 6 and 7. The same can be said for the front camera, which does a great job with point-and-shoot photography.

For videos, the Pixel 8 can shoot at a maximum of 4K at 60 fps, and it features different video modes such as slow motion, time lapse, and even cinematic mode which Google has now renamed to blur. Videos tend to look good, although details suffer a bit at times.

Battery Endurance

As for battery endurance, I do think that the combination of Tensor G3 and Android 14 has yielded some satisfying results so far. I’ve been able to get a decent amount of screen on-time on the Pixel 8 which revolves around 5.6 hours, and generally charge once per day usually in the morning.

Compared to my experience with the Pixel 7, it’s safe to say that the Pixel 8 can definitely keep up with my daily usage. Of course, data usage, GPS navigation, constant camera use, and a constant high screen brightness will definitely drain the battery a lot faster.

Should You Upgrade?

At a price of $699, is the Pixel 8 worth upgrading to, especially for Pixel users on older devices? There’s no doubt that the improvements to the phone’s display quality, AI capabilities and overall performance are promising, and Google’s promise of seven years of software updates is a pretty great reason to pick up the Pixel 8, especially if you’re looking for an Android phone to keep you company for the next several years.

On the other hand, users who are after a smartphone with a focus on performance and gaming might want to look elsewhere, as the Tensor G3 still has some catching up to do with chips like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and Apple’s A17 Bionic. It’s not a terribly slow chip per se, but it’s clear that Google’s focus with the Pixel 8 leans more towards moderate use, with a focus on getting users what they need in terms of everyday use.

Sale

Google Pixel 8

Google's newest Pixel phone comes with a set of AI features, as well as refinements to performance and design.

−$49.01 $649.99

See on Amazon

Note: this article may contain affiliate links that help support our authors and keep the Phandroid servers running.

The post Google Pixel 8 Review: Deceptively Simple appeared first on Phandroid.

Having attended the Samsung Unpacked event in South Korea for the launch of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Fold 5, it’s clear that the company is using its foldable lineup to distance itself from Apple and other players in the Android space, but that’s becoming harder and harder in 2023 as we’ve seen nearly a dozen foldable smartphone launches already, and we’re expecting a few more form Oppo and even OnePlus before we wrap up the year. 

But unlike its competitors, Samsung has consumer mindshare, a broader global reach, and five years of experience which counts for a lot. 

If you’re among those who are considering a foldable smartphone for the first time, this joint review of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 should help you decide if you should finally switch from a traditional slab smartphone and jump into the foldable revolution. 

Design

From a distance, there’s not much new regarding the design of either of these smartphones. To be fair, Samsung has been refining the looks and the folding mechanisms of its Fold and Flip lineup for years now, so there’s not really much to improve in that department. 

But upon closer inspection, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Fold 5 both share one major design improvement – the gap. Samsung’s engineers have finally eliminated the gap between the two sides of the phones when they are folded, as Motorola, Xiaomi, Oppo, and other foldable smartphone makers did two to three years ago. It may not sound like a huge deal, but not having a visible gap anymore means that the bodies of the two devices are not thinner, making them more pocket-friendly. This change also reduces the amount of pocket sand and lint that inevitably makes its way into the phone every time you put it away. 

Other than that, the Galaxy S Fold 5 looks nearly identical to last year’s model. The only real tweak that stands out is the placement of the camera flash on the back of the phone, which has been moved to sit beside the camera module bump. This makes the camera bump look smaller, which is always a good thing. 

For the Galaxy Z Flip 5, the phone looks pretty much the same, but you will definitely notice its most significant design upgrade when its cover display comes to life. Like the Motorola Razr+ 2023, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 now sports a huge display on the front cover of the phone. This not only gives the device a dynamic new look but also changes when and how you interact with the phone. 

Software

In general, I’m typically not a fan of Samsung One UI. The look and feel of the interface don’t align well with what I’m looking for in an Android device. That being said, Samsung is miles ahead of the competition when it comes to its foldable smartphones – especially book-style devices like the Fold 5. 

This phone’s software is built for multitasking, giving you dozens of different ways you can use multiple apps at once and even allowing you to use apps side-by-side when the app developer hasn’t enabled the feature. A great example of this is the ability to play a game on the bottom of the main screen while watching a YouTube video or show on Netflix on the top. 

The dock at the bottom of the screen – a feature that’s been around since last year’s Fold 4 – is back, and it’s definitely one of the most useful software features when you have such a large canvas as this. It makes switching between apps or jumping into split-screen mode a breeze. 

When it comes to the Flip 5, the software experience is completely different. The phone acts like a pretty traditional smartphone when the screen is unfolded, but the extra large cover display adds a new dynamic to how you use the device. 

Due to the larger footprint of the cover display, Samsung updated all its widgets and added a tone of new customization options. You can pinch to zoom out and see all the widgets and quickly navigate to the one you want rather than having to swipe between them all and then there are about a dozen different customizable clock widgets with static or animated backgrounds to give your phone a distinct look. 

The best new feature is the ability to use Android apps on the cover display. By default, you can only enable Google Maps, Messages, Netflix and Youtube when you go into the Cover Display setting page and turn on the Labs functionality. But if you download Good Lock from the Galaxy Store, you’ll be able to launch any app or game you want, matching the same functionality that Motorola has on the Razr+ 2023. 

This new feature is a game changer, making the Galaxy Z Flip 5 far more useful than last year’s model. Not needing to open the phone to check or reply to messages, call an Uber or find my favorite playlist on Spotify makes the Flip 5 feel like its a lot more than just another smartphone. 

Performance

Both the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Fold 5 use the same Snapdragong 8 Gen 2 Soc, so there’s a noticeable improvement in performance compared to last year’s models. The FOld 5 has 12GB of RAM as opposed to the 8GB you get on the Flip 5, but it’s hard to notice a difference since both devices are incredibly fast.

Naturally, the Fold 5’s book-style form factor does give the device much more space for cooling, which is clearly evident when playing games like Genshin Impact for longer than 5-10 minutes. The Flip 5 can still manage quite well with graphic-intense games, but the Fold 5 is definitely the way to go if you want to make sure you’re getting those high frame rates. The device also lends itself to a more immersive gaming experience since it has a much larger interior 7.6-inch 120Hz display, which makes the 6.7-inch 120Hz display of the Flip 5 feel minuscule.

Cameras

Foldable smartphones aren’t necessarily known for having high-end camera hardware. The reason for this has to do with the thickness of the phone. Larger camera sensors require mode z-depth between the sensor and the lens, so Samsung and other manufacturers are forced to use smaller sensors on their foldable devices since they are constantly looking to reduce the overall thickness of the phone. If you’re looking for a Samsung phone with the best smartphone camera system, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is definitely the way to go. 

That being said, the foldable smartphone form factor does allow you to use the cover displays with the main cameras, delivering much better results when you’re taking selfies or recording videos of yourself. 

Technically, the triple camera system (50MP primary, 10MP 3x telephoto, and 12MP ultrawide) on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 is the better camera setup when compared to the dual cameras (12MO primary and 12MP ultrawide) of the Flip 5, but the flip form factor and its new larger display make it a lot easier to use the external cameras for selfies. 

When looking at the overall image quality, the results from both phones fall fairly close to what the Galaxy S23 delivers. Images are bright and colorful and deliver enough dynamic range to ensure that your subject is well-lit, even when the sun or your light source is directly behind them. Low light performance is quite good as well if you’re also to switch to night mode and extend the exposure. 

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 definitely has the upper hand when it comes to resolution and capturing better shots in low-light situations, though the 3x zoom is what truly makes it stand out. But if I had to choose between the two, the Flip would be my go-to choice. 

Battery Life

Compared to a traditional smartphone, the Flip 5 and Fold have incredibly small batteries. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 sports a minuscule 3700 mAh battery with only 25W wired or 15W wireless charging speeds. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 does a little better with a 4400 mAh battery, though its charging speeds are the same. And of course, neither device comes with a wall charger in the box, so you’ll need to buy your own or find one from an older device.

Measuring battery life on a foldable smartphone is harder than it is on a traditional slab device since it all comes down to how you use the phone. The larger cover display on the Flip 5 dramatically changed how I interacted with the phone since I used the cover display to check notifications, send messages and emails and even play games. For the most part, the Flip 5’s small battery delivered 6-7 hours of screen-on time and should be more than enough to get you through a full day.

Things are significantly different with the Fold 5 as its cover display is 6.2-inches and the internal display takes things all the way up to 7.6-inches. No matter how you use it, you’ll have a hard time getting to 6 hours of screen-on time. While this may sound disappointing, that number is far better than the 5 hours of screen on time I achieved with last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 4 which sported the same battery capacity. The key difference between the two likely comes down to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset from Qualcomm which is dramatically more efficient in day-to-day use. 

Final thoughts

There’s no denying that Samsung is the leader in the foldable smartphone segment and that the new Flip 5 and Fold 5 will be the best-selling devices in their respective categories this year as well.

That being said, competition from the Motorola Razr+ and a half dozen book-style foldable devices from Chinese manufacturers will definitely close the gap over the next 12 months. Samsung’s slot iteration has allowed the competition to catch and even surpass them when it comes to foldable smartphone design, battery life and performance.

Choosing between the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Fold 5 is fairly simple. If you want the best-performing device, the Fold is the obvious answer, but personally, I’ll be leaving the Fold 5 in the drawer in favor of the Flip 5. It’s smaller, more convenient and feels like I’m using a futuristic device as opposed to the Fold 5 which feels like I’ve just pulled a mini- laptop out of my pocket. That’s not what I’m looking for in a smartphone.

The post Do you fold or Flip? Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5 review appeared first on Phandroid.

When looking for a phone upgrade, most people gravitate toward replacing their old device with a new one from the same smartphone brand that they’ve been using for the past few years. It’s a simple approach: just trust what you know. Those of us who obsess over tech will gravitate toward a device with the fastest chipset and more cameras on the back than we possibly need, but the average user typically checks their bank account and starts calculating how much money they should spend on a phone before they start weighing their options. 

Great value

I’m not sure if it’s pure coincidence or incredible execution, but the Nothing Phone 2 seems to be purpose-built to capitalize on the segment of users who care about style, performance, and photography with a device that’s noticeably cheaper than most of its competition. 

So let’s get the price out of the way. You’ll only need to pay $599 for the base mode which comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The unit I’ve been testing and probably the one I’d recommend to most people is $100 more, but gets a bump up to 12GB of RAM and double the storage, which is an insane deal. 

The only other Android phone that comes close to offering this much value in the US is the Pixel 7. Other than that, you have the Galaxy S23+ which does feature an added zoom camera on the back, but you’ll need to shell out an extra $300 more for that privilege and it’s not even that great of a zoom. The $800 Samsung Galaxy S23 could technically be considered an alternative to the Phone 2, but it has a significantly smaller display.

Of course, the Nothing Phone 2 isn’t perfect since it does have its fair share of compromise. There isn’t anything that truly detracts from the overall experience, but the one thing most smartphone enthusiasts will point to is its use of last year’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset. Yes, it’s slower than the Snapdragong 8 Gen 2, but that’s not something you’re going to notice in day-to-day use. If you’re keeping a close eye on frame rates when playing Genshin Impact or PUBG Mobile, you would probably tell the difference, but it still performs incredibly well while also sipping a lot less power than the regular Snapdragong 8 Gen 1 that was used on most of last year’s flagship devices. 

I do recommend that most people steer clear of devices that use less than 8GB of RAM, so the base model will have you covered. That being said, if you’re a heavy multi-tasker, I do recommend upgrading to the 12GB model as I’ve found its performance to be stellar. 

Software

The one thing I’ve found most surprising with the Nothing Phone 2 and what’s kept me using it for so long is the software experience. As many of you know, my personal device for the past 4 years has always been a Pixel smartphone — mainly for the cameras, but also because I truly appreciate Google’s simple take on Android. 

Nothing OS takes that simple approach and adds on a fresh coat of paint, giving you customization options that allow you to tweak the look and feel of the phone, without getting too crazy. You get customizable widgets on the lock screen, dozens of minimal widgets for the homescreen, that tie in perfectly with Nothing’s design aesthetic, custom folder shapes, and sizes and you can even give them custom cover icons so that you can keep all your apps organized and tidy. 

I love how simple it is while still giving you the tools to make the layout and overall look fit your personal needs. The only two apps that Nothing has truly customized are the voice recorder and the weather app, both of which fit in perfectly with the minimalist design. Personally, I love the layout of the weather app which has easy-to-read graphics for additional details like humidity, air quality wind speed, and direction. 

The Glyph

Of course, the Glyph, the defining feature of last year’s Nothing Phone 1 is back. Nothing has added more addressable LEDs this time so in addition to showing the battery level when the phone is charging, they can be used to show the phone’s volume level and as a visual indicator for the Glyph timer.

Nothing is also hoping third-party developers will also tap into the Glyph system as well. So far, the only app that does is Uber which uses the glyph light to show you how close your driver is to picking you up. I don’t see this catching on with many other apps unless Nothing somehow manages to grab a big chunk of the market share. 

Cameras

The main camera got a pretty decent upgrade this year. It uses the 50MP Sony IMX 890, which is the same sensor as the main camera on the OnePlus 11, but the ultrawide is the same 50MP sensor from last year’s Phone 1. 

The results you see here, truly speak for themselves. It’s not quite on the same level as the Pixel 7, but it’s much better than most other phones in its category. Throughout all the software updates that Nothign has pushed to the phone, the camera has gotten at least 3-4 updates since the phone launched, making it slightly better every few weeks. Low light performance is great as well when you’re using the main camera. I would have liked to see more improvements to the ultrawide, but it’s hard to complain when most other competitors are so far behind. 

What’s surprising to me is that the phone’s selfie camera got the biggest upgrade of all. 

Battery

The 4,700mAh battery inside the Phone 2 is a bit smaller than what we typically see on most flagship devices. That said, I didn’t have any issues getting through a full day on a single charge, typically averaging 6 and a half hours of screen-on time.

You only get a charging cable in the box, but the phone does support 45W PD fast charging, which managed to deliver a 60% charge in 15 minutes or you can go from 0-100% in just under an hour.

Final Thoughts

There are plenty of other options available from Chinese brands that hit on a lot of these features while also coming in at cheaper price points. That argument is fair in many markets, but it definitely doesn’t factor into the conversation in the US. In European markets, things will play out a little differently, but if you want a flagship-tier device in the US that’s not ridiculously overpriced, the only real options you have are the Pixel 7 and the Nothing Phone 2.

Over the past few years, Google’s carved out a nice chunk of the US market with this approach. If Nothing can manage to save up some cash for a marketing push, the Phone 2 could easily become a go-to alternative that we so desperately need. 

The post Nothing Phone 2 60-day review: much more than good looks appeared first on Phandroid.

Launched earlier this year, the Tecno Spark 10 Pro attempts to give consumers a taste of what Android is about, all at an affordable price. It comes with some pretty capable hardware, but does its affordable nature hamper the entire user experience? Let’s find out.

Display and Design

Starting off with its design, the Tecno Spark 10 Pro does manage to look nice thanks to a glass rear panel that integrates with a matte finish. Given the choice, I think that matte-reared devices exude a more premium look of sorts, which is great to see here. The rest of the phone is made from plastic, so there’s no aluminum or stainless steel on here, unfortunately. Nevertheless, it feels sturdy in-hand, which is always a welcome quality.

This polycarbonate and glass wraps around a 6.8-inch IPS LCD display, which features a 1080 x 2460 pixel resolution, and a 90Hz refresh rate. Despite the lack of OLED technology on here, it’s a panel that gets the basics right, although it does struggle a bit under direct sunlight. On the other hand we have to keep an eye on its price, which does put things into perspective.

Other hardware details include a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, a bottom-firing speaker, as well as surprises such as a 3.5mm headphone jack and a micro SD card slot for expandable storage. The last two are certainly rare these days, and are great additions to the phone’s hardware set.

Performance and Software

The phone runs on a MediaTek Helio G88 chipset, a common sight on Android handsets within this price point. This comes alongside 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for the base model, although buyers with a bit more cash to burn can opt for a slightly higher-end spec’d variant with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

We’d recommend getting the 8GB RAM variant (the same one as our review unit), as it allows for a bit more breathing room for multitasking and everyday use. For a lot of “casual” users, the Spark 10 Pro will be enough for moderate app usage such as web browsing, social media, and maybe some light gaming apps.

Speaking of gaming, it’s clear that the Spark 10 Pro is not marketed towards gamers – there’s only so much load that the G88 can handle, and while that’s not to say that it won’t be able to run any graphically-intensive games, it won’t be an ideal experience. Running XCOM 2 for example clearly showed signs of occasional slowdowns, so it’s best to stick to lighter apps and games in general.

The phone runs on Android 13, although this is combined with HIOS, a proprietary Android skin that Tecno uses in its smartphones. It does come with some added customizability including support for themes and such, although you do get some pre-installed third party apps. To be honest, custom Android skins will be a very subjective matter for each user, but HIOS ends up looking a bit crowded at times.

Powering this entire setup is a 5,000 mAh battery, a standard capacity found in most phones at this price point. Unfortunately, the phone doesn’t come with particularly fast charging speeds, as the phone is limited to 18W charging. Battery endurance is acceptable, especially given the budget chipset inside the phone – most users will be able to get a day’s worth of use out of the battery on the Spark 10 Pro.

Camera Hardware

Budget smartphones have come a long way in terms of camera performance, and the Spark 10 Pro is a good example of this. For hardware, the phone comes with a double camera setup on the rear, which consists of a 50MP f/1.6 dual lens. Meanwhile, selfies and video calls are handled by a 32MP sensor in front.

As far as mobile photography goes, the Tecno Spark 10 Pro can get you good-looking shots, provided that you have enough good lighting around you – this can be said for both the main and selfie cameras. Low-light shots tend to suffer (we’d recommend using the built-in night mode feature to mitigate this), but the phone can hold its own in general day-to-day photography, with decent colors and just enough detail.

There are times when dynamic range comes out less than ideal, and it’s in moments like these where we’re reminded that the Spark 10 Pro is first and foremost a budget phone, and as such it will have its limitations.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the Tecno Spark 10 Pro isn’t a terrible phone for the price, which comes in at around $240-250 when converted. It’s got good build quality, a large enough display for content consumption, decent camera performance, and a reliable battery to name a few – for a lot of casual users, these will most likely be enough.

There are some caveats however, such as the less-than-impressive performance of the Helio G88, the bloated software interface, as well as poor low-light camera performance for example. These are definitely factors to consider, and discerning buyers will definitely want to take these into consideration. If you can live with these though, then the Tecno Spark 10 Pro might be something that’s right up your alley.

The post Tecno Spark 10 Pro Review: Budgetary Restrictions appeared first on Phandroid.

This is something that the Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid Wellness Edition seeks to circumvent, thanks to a hardware design that combines traditional clockwork with modern smart elements and fitness-tracking hardware that brings it up to speed with more “standard” smartwatches. With that being said, does this blend of hardware result in a must-have device, or are you better off getting something with a full-touch display? Let’s take a look.

Design and Hardware

Let’s start off with design – while it’s not the first to do it, the Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid manages to put together a physical watch face alongside a display underneath, which undoubtedly gives the device a more “classic” feel. On the side you’ll find three action buttons which are used to navigate the E-ink display underneath, which measures 1.1 inches wide and is wrapped in a stainless steel case.

Speaking of the E-ink display, it gets the job done in terms of overall visibility – it’s easily visible, and there’s even a function to activate a front lighting system, although this only lasts a few seconds. We do wish that Fossil included a “raise-to-wake” feature with the lighting system, which would have been handy overall.

The watch feels solid overall, and comes with 3ATM waterproofing, which essentially means that the device will be relatively safe from accidental splashes and some light rain. We wouldn’t recommend going into the pool with this one, given the limited water resistance.

Underneath you’ll find several sensors as well as the charging rings – Fossil has previously had issues with the charging rings on its older Gen watch models due to them falling off the back of their devices, which we hope isn’t the case here (they’ve held up well so far). It also comes with interchangeable 20mm silicone straps, which lets users change up the look of their watch.

In terms of internals, the Wellness Edition comes with an Accelerometer and Heart Rate Sensor, Bluetooth 5.0 LE, a built-in microphone and vibration motor. It’s a modest lineup of hardware that focuses on the basics, so features like temperature and elevation sensing are off the table, unfortunately. With that in mind though, this slight limitation regarding tech plays into the main point of the Wellness Edition’s existence, which is its design.

It manages to pull off the look nicely though, and helps it stand out in a sea of touchscreens and digital timepieces.

Set-up, Software, and Usage

Setting up the Gen 6 Wellness Edition is a straightforward affair, as you’ll just need to install the official Fossil wearable app on your phone, and pair the watch to your device. The watch features Fossil’s own custom operating system, which is a bit basic compared to what you might expect from something like Wear OS or Watch OS.

As someone who’s more used to a touch interface, using the Gen 6 Wellness Edition was a refreshing experience, and reminded me of “simpler times” before full-screen touch interfaces became the norm. Despite having mechanical hands, the watch automatically adjusts them for you once it syncs to your smartphone, and even act as a cursor of sorts when navigating through the device’s different functions, using the three buttons on the side. I do wish that the middle button doubled as a rotating crown of sorts, however.

At first glance, the device might look like it sacrifices a ton of modern smartwatch functionality due to its looks, but that’s certainly not the case here. A lot of the functions that you see on most smart wearables and fitness trackers on the market are likewise available on the Gen 6 Wellness Edition.

There are music playback controls, a “ring my phone” function, weather information, and of course the health-monitoring features mentioned earlier.  There are also a handful of different workout modes pre-installed on the watch, so folks looking for a balance between a classic-looking timepiece and fitness-tracking device will find a lot to love here.

In addition to the onboard settings, the watch can also be managed using the Fossil app, which gives you information on your health stats, wellness tracking, system preferences, and even lets you customize your own watch face, based on pre-designed template elements. Additionally, the Gen 6 Wellness Edition can also be setup with Amazon Alexa, so users have access to a smart assistant on their device.

In terms of battery, Fossil states that the watch can last up to two weeks’ worth of use, which we found to be the case here. Given the lack of a full touch display and extensive tracking features though, this is to be expected.

Final Thoughts

For a price of around $229 in North America, the Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid Wellness Edition banks on a classic timepiece design with the addition of a basic set of smart features that should keep casual users happy, although buyers after a more well-rounded fitness tracking device with additional features will want to look elsewhere.

Of course, elements like terrific battery life is rare on a lot of wearables, so we’d recommend the device towards users looking for a more traditional-looking watch that happens to carry a handful of smart functions, and can last for days on end.

Sale

Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid Wellness Edition

Fossil's Gen 6 Hybrid Wellness Edition packs a classic look, alongside a handful of smart features with basic fitness tracking.

−$110.55 $188.45

See on Amazon

Note: this article may contain affiliate links that help support our authors and keep the Phandroid servers running.

The post Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid Wellness Edition Review: Touchscreens are Overrated appeared first on Phandroid.

If you’re been following foldable smartphones, you know this isn’t the first foldable from Motorola. The company brought back the Razr brand for its foldable lineup in 2019 and has a had few iterations over the past few years. The main concept has remained the same with the clamshell form factor, but this time, Motorola’s made one big change that dramatically changes how you use the phone – a massive new cover display.

If it looks big, that’s because it is. Rather than using a tiny display like all the other brands have in the past, Motorola’s gone all out with a massive 3.6-inch panel. I know I talk a lot about how specs really don’t matter, but a larger display on the outside of the phone makes a massive difference when the competition has been using screens so small that you can barely see one notification at a time. 

On previous Moto foldables, the cover screen has been more customizable than what Samsung and other brands have offered, but this phone takes things to a whole new level. There’s a customizable homescreen where you can organize different shortcuts for quick access to widgets and other functionality that’s been built just for the cover display.  Motorola went and added cover screen games as well, something that on one hand is completely useless, but on the other is a stroke of genius. Even though the games on here are incredibly simple, they’re also pretty addictive. Pulling the Razr+ out of your pocket and playing a round of Stack Bounce or finishing a few levels of Marble Mayhem with the phone still closed gets quite a bit of attention since it’s something people aren’t used to seeing. 

And if none of the games Motorola has pre-installed are up your alley, you can literally play any game you want on the cover display. Casual games like Stack, Dino T-Rex or Crossy Road work best, but if you want to play Call of Duty Mobile, no one is going to stop you. 

This is where the Razr+ truly shines. Not necessarily because you can play games all day on the cover display, but because there’s no real limitation to what you can do with it. If you want to browse the web, you can do that. Check Twitter, catch up on Instagram, get directions on Google Maps, watch youtube videos, and keep up with your favorite team’s score. It’s all possible. You can even use a full keyboard to reply to messages rather than being limited to a few pre-canned replies, as you have been in the past. 

Motorola’s even thought out how you transition from one screen to the other. If you’re using an app on the cover display and you open the phone, the app is there waiting for you to use on the larger canvas. And the same is true when you close the phone as well with a continue button,  popping up on the bottom of the cover display. 

Having used a half dozen flip-style foldable smartphones over the past few years, this is the first time I’ve used one that feels truly natural and intuitive.

That being said, the phone isn’t quite perfect. In terms of hardware design, there’s not a lot of character here since Motorola dropped the chin which was a prominent design element on its last few foldables to make room for the larger cover screen. The result is a pretty generic-looking device. Personally, I do love the Glacier Blue colorway the best, but if you truly want your Razr+ to stand out, the Viva Magenta (Pantone color of the year) is sure to grab everyone’s attention. There’s no gap between the two edges of the foldable display thanks to the tear-drop hinge design making it a mere 15.1 mm thick. It would be nice to have a slightly slimmer profile, but doing so would mean we’d need to sacrifice battery capacity and settle for smaller camera sensors. 

Motorola is using Gorilla Glass Victus on the front and back of the phone with an aluminum frame, so it should be decently protected on its own, but there are plenty of cases or skin options that will keep your Motorola Razr+ protected. 

Best Motorola Razr+ cases on Amazon

As for performance, you’re not getting the latest and greatest chipset here since Motorola wanted to price the phone right at $999. Instead, you get last year’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, which I think is the perfect balance of performance and efficiency since the thin body of the phone only allows for a 3800 mAh battery. Now, you might think that such a small battery would mean very limited runtime, but benchmark numbers show that Motorola may have underclocked the performance a little bit to ensure that the phone delivers full-day battery life. 

In our battery test, the phone lasted 12 and a half hours, coming up just 30 shy of what the Galaxy S23 Ultra delivered. And in real-world use, the phone should last you even longer since, like me, you’ll probably be using the cover display quite a bit.

With how much it can do, I probably only open the phone 60-70 percent of the time. I honestly wish Motorola would show a breakdown of your cover screen and internal screen usage. There’s no charger in the box, but the phone does support 30-watt charging which delivers a full charge in about an hour and 20 minutes. 

The internal display is really nice and at 6.9 inches, it’s definitely the largest in this category. It also has a 165Hz refresh rate, making it one of the best smartphone displays for mobile gaming. The 8GB of RAM is definitely enough for most people, but it would have been nice to have a 12GB option, but thankfully, you do get 256GB of storage.

Due to the phone’s form factor, the Razr+, like other foldables, has a unique advantage when it comes to its cameras. With the main and ultrawide cameras positioned right by the cover display, you can use them to capture some incredibly high-quality selfies or use them to record videos of yourself. Since the phone folds in half, it can also act as its own stand, making it an extremely versatile camera phone. The only issue here is that Motorola is still a step or two behind the competition when it comes to image and video quality. 

For the main camera, Motorola is using a 12MP sensor, which works decently well, even in low-light conditions. The problem is that Motorola’s post-processing of the images leaves them a tad dull. Compare the shots to most other $1000 smartphones and you’ll likely choose the images from the other devices. The 13MP ultrawide camera has a 108-degree field of view, which really isn’t that wide. For comparison, the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s ultrawide has a 124-degree lens, while the Oppo Find N2 Flips has a 112-degree lens. 

The main camera also struggles with jittery image stabilization when recording video, especially in low-light conditions. In an alternate universe, this would honestly be the ultimate vlogging smartphone. The design with the massive cover display that allows you to use the rear cameras is perfect. Maybe next year we’ll get the camera upgrades needed, like being able to switch between the main and ultrawide cameras while recording video. It’s simply not an option on this phone. 

But Motorola does deserve some credit for delivering a pretty decent selfie camera. The 32MP sensor can capture some great shots and on top of that, it can also record 4k video at 60fps. 

Final Thoughts

Once you factor in its strength and weaknesses, I think the Motorola Razr+ is one of the best foldable yet. Like any phone, there’s definitely room for improvement, but MOtoroal’s given us a well-balanced device that delivers a better overall experience when compared to the other flip-style foldable on the market right now. 

With the Galaxy Z Flip5 right around the corner, that lead may not last long, but it’s definitely nice to see Motorola deliver a device that can truly compete with Samsung since they’ve been the leader in the foldable smartphone space for quite some time. 

The post Motorola Razr+ Review: a worthy Flip competitor appeared first on Phandroid.

As such, the budget audio market is what OnePlus is targeting with the Nords Buds 2. Priced at just $69.99, the earbuds are admittedly a very tempting offer, especially when compared to most other competing products on the market right now, which hover around the 90-120 dollar price range.

So does this low price mean that you’re settling with the OnePlus Nord Buds 2, or is it a case of “bang-for-your-buck” with these earbuds? Let’s take a look.

What’s in the Box?

For the asking price that we’ve just mentioned, OnePlus has included your standard suite of accessories in addition to the earbuds themselves. The OnePlus Nord Buds 2 come alongside some paperwork and instructions, some extra ear tips, as well as a OnePlus-themed USB-C charging cable. It’s a pretty complete package, and with the exception of a charging brick you can use the earbuds from the get-go.

Design

Looking at the design, the Nord Buds 2 come in a compact charging case, which you could say is the “standard” size for most wireless earbuds cases. On the rear of the case is a pairing button and USB-C port, while on the front we get an LED charging indicator. Our review unit is the “Lightning White” variant, although you can also get it in a darker color.

The earbuds themselves are pretty small. They come with a short stem which features a touch panel, although to be honest I do prefer my earbuds without a tail or stem whenever possible. With that being said however they have a discreet look about them, and won’t stick out too much when in use. They are also IP55 certified, so they will be safe for use in light rain and workouts.

Set-Up and App

Setting up the earbuds is pretty simple – holding down the pairing button behind the case lets you sync the Nord Buds 2 with your smart device, and once you’ve paired both devices together you’re pretty much good to go. I use a Pixel 7a as my main smartphone, and connecting it to the earbuds was simple and efficient. You can further customize the earbuds using the Hey Melody app which is available on the Google Playstore.

There’s a decent amount of sound options on the app itself, and I was even able to update the earbuds to a newer firmware version after setting them up with my phone. You can use the app to adjust the noise cancellation modes, switch between different EQ profiles, and even customize the touch controls on the earbuds themselves. Overall it’s a pretty functional app, and there’s not much to complain about here.

Sound Quality and Usage

So far, the OnePlus Nord Buds 2 sound great, although I did have a bit of issue with them after my initial setup. Prior to the firmware update, there was some audible hiss when listening to music, which almost made made the tracks sound like low-quality MP3 downloads from the early 2000s. Fortunately however, the firmware update seemed to fix this issue, and I had a much better listening experience afterwards.

The Nord Buds 2 are powered by 12.4mm drivers, and I was pleased with the overall sound quality – songs had a nice mix of highs and lows, and tracks like Styles of Beyond’s “Here We Go” sounded immaculate on the earbuds, especially with the bass so audible in the mix. Meanwhile, using the default “bass” mode with songs like Metallica’s “Blackened” somewhat improved the song’s overall feel, which is infamous for the weak bass track in its mix.

The active noise cancellation is mostly decent at keeping out unwanted sounds as well, although I would say that it’s not on the same level of ANC quality that you’d get on something like the Pixel Buds Pro. In addition to ANC, there’s also a transparency mode available, which will be useful if you’re in a  busy or noisy environment like a roadside or somewhere similar.

Like I mentioned before, the earbuds feature touch controls and these come in handy a lot of the time. Unfortunately though, they lack wear detection, which is a missed opportunity given the feature’s widespread use by other manufacturers. The Nord Buds 2 also feature built-in microphones; calls sound good on the earbuds, and I was able to use them for voice and video calls, which mostly sounded clear.

In terms of battery life, the earbuds (each powered by 41 mAh batteries) can last you around 4-5 hours with ANC turned on, and you can bring this up to 7 hours if you disable ANC. Topping up on the charging case (itself packing a 480 mAh battery) can get you up to 27 hours with ANC on, and up to 36 hours with ANC off. They’re certainly ideal for long trips and commutes, although we would have loved to see wireless charging included in the case.

Final Thoughts

So are the OnePlus Nord Buds 2 worth your $69? For a price of less than a hundred bucks, you get good battery life, decent noise-cancelling, good sound quality, and a bit of water resistance. They’re also pretty comfortable, which is something to consider as well.

On the other hand, the lack of wear detection and wireless charging are factors to consider, but again we go back to the relatively-low asking price, which does somewhat justify these omissions. Overall though you can’t go wrong with the OnePlus Nord Buds 2, and they’re worth checking out for folks on a budget.

The post OnePlus Nord Buds 2 Review: When “Never Settle” Meets a Budget appeared first on Phandroid.

With that in mind, the TicWatch Pro 5 is one of the latest Wear OS devices to come out this year, and it promises to give users an edge over competing smart wearables. Today we have it here with us, and we’re going to go over some of the features that it packs inside.

Design and Hardware

Going over the watch’s design, the TicWatch Pro 5 greatly resembles the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra, although there are key differences between the two. For example, the two control buttons on the side are now gone, and are replaced by a rotating crown and a single button.

The watch features a 1.43-inch AMOLED touchscreen covered with Gorilla Glass, and also retains a secondary display that only shows essential info like time and date, and saves your battery life. There’s a bezel that surrounds the display which adds a bit of a premium look and feel to the watch, although it doesn’t rotate unlike the one found on the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic.

The watch goes for a very industrialist and rugged design – its body is made from a combination of aluminum and nylon material, and Mobvoi says that the watch has been certified to comply with US-MIL-STD 810H standards, so it will be safe from outdoor elements including rain, ice, sand, and even shocks and bumps. We would’ve loved to see a full aluminum casing on the watch, although that probably would’ve brought up its price.

Underneath you’ll find several sensors as well as the charging pins – unlike the clean magnetic charging cable on the Galaxy Watch or Apple Watch, the TicWatch Pro 5 still relies on pins whenever you need to top up your battery. Meanwhile, the silicone straps are interchangeable, so you can switch up the look of the device.

Inside, the TicWatch Pro 5 is powered by the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 Wearable Platform, and ships with Wear OS 3 with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, which should allow for enough space to install apps on the wearable.

There’s a robust selection of sensors on the TicWatch Pro 5, which comes with an Accelerometer, Gyro Sensor, Heart Rate Sensor, SpO2 Sensor, Skin Temperature Sensor, Low Latency Off-Body Sensor, a Barometer, and a Compass.

Other hardware features include a vibration motor for haptics and notifications, a speaker, microphone, Bluetooth 5.2 and 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, as well as NFC. The watch is powered by a 628 mAh battery, which Mobvoi says can last up to 80 hours on average. 

Based on my usage so far it was able to last around two to three days, which is pretty impressive especially considering that most other smartwatches don’t make it past a day. This is with moderate usage though, so expect to be on the charger more often if you use your watch frequently.

Set-up and Software

Setting up the TicWatch Pro 5 is pretty straightforward, as you’ll just need to install the Mobvoi app on your phone, and pair the watch to your device. The watch ships with Wear OS 3, although we’re hoping that we get the Wear OS 4 update as well, without any delays.

Using the watch has been a good experience so far, and if you’re coming from a TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra, it should feel very familiar to you. The interface is nice and fluid, and navigating through the device using the touchscreen, rotating crown and action button is pretty straightforward. Despite the large size, it doesn’t feel too heavy on my wrist either.

The TicWatch Pro 5 does come with several pre-installed apps from Mobvoi, including several watch faces and exercise modes, and a ton of fitness tracking software. One weird omission from the Pro 5’s feature list is Google Assistant, and at the moment it doesn’t seem like there’s a workaround to its absence. This might be a bit of a disappointment, especially for users who are after Google Assistant functionality on their wearables. 

With that being said though, there’s a multitude of different exercise modes on the TicWatch Pro 5, and if what you’re after is a device that can keep up with your activities, then the watch will do a pretty good job with that. I do wish that the Mobvoi app was a bit more visually intuitive, as some UI elements seem all over the place at times. Additionally, there are several “Tic”-themed fitness apps, which could have been consolidated into a single app altogether.

Final Thoughts

For a price of around $350 bucks in North America and £329 pounds in the UK, the TicWatch Pro 5 is a bit more affordable compared to competing devices like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and 6 series, and it does come with some impressive features such a sturdy design, a large and responsive display, as well as good battery performance.

There are some factors to consider however such as the lack of Google Assistant support, the over-abundance of separate Mobvoi apps, and the lack of other size options, but if these don’t bother you, then the TicWatch Pro 5 will be enough to get you the essentials from Wear OS.

TicWatch Pro 5

The TicWatch Pro 5 is Mobvoi's newest flagship smart wearable, and comes packed with Wear OS for Android as well as a suite of fitness-tracking features.

$349.99

See on Amazon

The post TicWatch Pro 5 Review: Best Galaxy Watch Alternative? appeared first on Phandroid.

With the V27 Pro, Vivo has seen fit to give users a great combination of hardware and affordability, making this particular handset a rather tempting choice. As with any other smartphone however it’s not perfect, but are the pros enough to outweigh the cons? Let’s find out!

Design and Display

Pick up the Vivo V27 Pro, and you’ll be forgiven should you mistake it for a flagship device – the large size and glass panels on the front and back do a great job of giving the phone that premium feel that’s all the range on more expensive handsets, even more so with the slick-feeling matte panel on our review unit. Look a bit closer though, and there are nuances that stand out.

For one, the phone’s sides are made of plastic instead of a metal frame, and this houses the volume and power buttons, SIM card slot, charging port, and speaker grille. The choice to use plastic is somewhat understandable given its mid-range pricing, although we would have loved to see a metal frame round out the phone’s glass sandwich design.

There’s also only one speaker placed on the bottom of the phone, a missed opportunity of sorts given the abundance of stereo speaker setups on midrange phones nowadays. With that being said however, the phone overall feels sturdy and feels nice during usage, and certainly feels like a well-crafted device.

There’s a curved AMOLED display which dominates the front of the device, with a 1080×2400 pixel resolution, HDR 10+, and 120Hz refresh rate. There’s little to complain about here, and as far as visual quality is concerned the V27 Pro’s screen gets the job done, and gets it done nicely. Web browsing, gaming, and scrolling through your social media feeds looks great on the phone’s display. One caveat we see however is how much a curved display is of use to you, although this is rather subjective.

Internal Specs and Software

For performance, we go back to the phone’s mid-range origins – the V27 Pro is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 8200, MediaTek’s go-to chipset for handsets which aren’t exactly flagship-level, but don’t skimp out on performance either. Our review unit comes with 8GB of RAM, joined by 128GB of internal storage – a commonly-seen setup on a myriad of handsets out there, but one that performs nicely nonetheless.

By “nicely,” we mean the general smoothness of day-to-day tasks such as web browsing, communication apps, and even a bit of gaming. With regards to the latter, we loaded up XCOM 2 on the V27 Pro, and the phone was able to run the game without any significant or otherwise troublesome lagging. We did notice a bit of warming up however, but not to the extent that we’ve seen with Tensor-powered Pixel devices.

The phone runs on a 4,600 mAh battery, which is enough to get most users throughout the day. We live in an age where most phones will have enough battery endurance, and unless you’re constantly gaming on the V27 Pro, we imagine that the device can keep up until nightfall.

Should you need to charge however, there’s support for 66W wired charging speeds, which really comes in handy for emergency top-ups. The phone unfortunately does not come with wireless charging, which is a shame as the glass back would have been easily able to accommodate wireless chargers.

As for software, the phone comes preloaded with Android 13, although it comes with. – you guessed it – a custom Android skin in the form of Funtouch 13, Vivo’s proprietary user interface. Coming from a Pixel 7a as my daily driver, I wasn’t a fan of the heavy skinning of Android on the V27 Pro, and could live without the added third-party bloatware.

To counter this thought however, Funtouch 13 does come with the gift of in-depth visual customization, something which Material You still needs to work on. I did appreciate the fact that I could easily change the phone’s fonts, icons, and system theme, as opposed to the more simpler approach that the Pixel phones use. There are also some additional software tricks that Vivo has included such as the ability to force apps into a full-screen mode, something that again, Google has yet to implement.

Cameras

One area in particular where the V27 Pro manages to do nicely is with photography. It’s not exactly a Pixel-eqsue level of imaging mastery, but the phone’s triple-camera setup does shine, at least in favorable conditions. The phone comes with 50MP main lens with OIS (it’s a Sony IMX766V sensor by the way), an 8MP ultra-wide lens, and a 2MP super macro lens.

Photos look clean overall, especially if you’re shooting in ideal lighting conditions. Likewise, close-up shots and portrait photos are able to showcase the phone’s edge-detection capabilities, and look good for the most part.

Perhaps one area we’d have preferred to see a bit of improvement with is the front camera. There’s a 50MP main sensor in front, which manages to shoot decent quality images. There’s enough clarity to go around although saturation was a bit lacking, which was surprising to witness on a photo shot in board daylight.

For night mode, the phone manages to add a bit of exposure in otherwise darker shots, although details do turn out soft. Images are brighter than what we’ve seen on most other (non-Pixel) mid-rangers though. Video capture is impressive, at least compared to what we’ve witnessed on other Android mid-rangers; in particular, video stabilization on the V27 Pro is a treat.

Final Thoughts

At a price of around $459, the Vivo V27 Pro is a phone that gets a lot of things right. It packs good performance, a great-looking display, impressive fast-charging, and decent photographic capabilities into a good-looking package, at a cost that’s half of what you pay for with most flagships.

As we mentioned, there are some caveats though, and the lack of wireless charging and dual stereo speakers, as well as the abundance of pre-installed third-party apps might leave users thinking twice before spending their cash. But if none of these really bother you, then by all means get this phone. At the end of the day it gets the essentials right, but keep in mind that this is still a mid-range device through and through.

The post Vivo V27 Pro: Midrange Powerhouse appeared first on Phandroid.

What’s in the Box

The AnkerWork M650 comes in a considerably small box that packs in everything you need – there’s a charging case which stores two transmitters, as well as a receiver that comes with an LCD touchscreen. Additionally, there’s also a pair of connectors for iOS and Android devices which you can plug into your smartphone, a USB-C cable, 3.5mm audio cable, and swappable covers for the transmitters.

Design and Hardware

The M650’s transmitters feature a removable clip that lets you pin it on your clothing, although you can also opt to attach the transmitter using the built-in magnets on compatible surfaces. The transmitters also pack a 3.5mm port, which can be used to connect a lav mic instead of the transmitter’s built-in mic. There’s also an action button on the side which can be used to manually turn the transmitter on or off, in addition to an LED indicator that lets users know if the device has been disconnected.

When active, the transmitter units connect wirelessly with the M650’s receiver, which features a touchscreen LCD as mentioned earlier. The screen can be used to check your battery level, and allows users to swipe in different directions to access the various functions included. The touchscreen is surprisingly fluid and has very minimal lag when accessing the menus, which lets users access the built-in noise reduction feature, and even choose between mono and stereo recording.

In terms of connectivity, you can also use the receiver to connect to other devices including smartphones and computers, and even cameras using the included phone adaptors. Of course, you can also directly record to the receiver, which comes with 4GB of built-in storage.

Usage and Battery

Using the M650 is pretty straightforward, making it easy to set up for recording sessions. The M650 turns on once you open the charging case, and you can easily start recording upon taking out the receiver and transmitter. Recorded files are saved with an LC3 plus codec, and are saved in a .wav format. You can also use both receivers simultaneously, should you need to record more than one person or audio source at a time.

Sound quality from the M650 is clean and clear – there’s little to complain about the M650’s recordings, and Anker’s stated 650 feet connectivity range is impressive. Anker does give users the option of installing additional software that can be accessed via desktop, and allows for additional editing and effects such as an equalizer, and noise reduction feature. The app has versions for both Windows and Mac, as well as Android and iOS for a more portable approach.

The charging case is a really great addition to the M650’s set up, and makes sure that your gear is charged every time you open the case for recording sessions. Depending on your usage pattern, you should see an average of between six to eight hours of use on a single charge, although you can top up using the charging case for a total of 15 hours.

Pricing and Final Thoughts

For a price of $249, the AnkerWork M650 makes for a great addition to one’s productivity setup, especially for users who are looking for a good-sounding wireless mic system. It’s a versatile kit to work with thanks to a wealth of connectivity options, and battery endurance is likewise commendable. If we were to nitpick though, it would be that the transmitters are a bit on the chunky side, and might be a bit heavy to discreetly hide during videos and such. 

With that being said however, there’s very little to complain about the M650, and content creators should definitely check out this one.

Sale

AnkerWork M650 Wireless Lav Mic

The AnkerWork M650 Wireless Lav Mic comes with a very portable design, up to 15 hours of battery life, as well as noise cancelling features.

−$44.00 $175.99

See on Amazon

Note: this article may contain affiliate links that help support our authors and keep the Phandroid servers running.

The post AnkerWork M650 Review: All the Right Stuff appeared first on Phandroid.

With that in mind, the Xiaomi 13 seeks to take on blockbuster smartphones like the Galaxy S23 and iPhone 14, and comes packing some rather-impressive hardware and features. It also comes at a price which puts it closer to said devices, which raises the question of whether or not you should take a chance on Xiaomi’s latest flagship effort, instead of going for more familiar handsets. Is this truly the case though? Let’s find out.

Design and Screen

Right off the bat, the Xiaomi 13 excels at giving users a solid-feeling and premium design. The rear panel of the phone features a glossy back, which is complemented by a Gorilla Glass 5 panel on the display. The phone’s IP68-rated chassis is encompassed by a polished metal frame that runs around the entirety of the phone’s sides, which feels really nice to handle. The frame also houses the power and volume buttons, USB-C charging port, speaker grille, as well as sim card slot and microphones.

The phone’s display is made of an AMOLED panel which comes with a 120Hz refresh rate, a sharp-enough 1080×2400 pixel resolution, and a maximum brightness of 1900 nits. It’s certainly a vibrant and fluid display, and will be very ideal for streaming binges, web browsing, and content consumption in general. As far as build and display quality goes, there’s a lot that the Xiaomi 13 gets right – it’s premium as far as premium is concerned.

Internals and Software

The phone’s internal hardware doesn’t disappoint either – the Xiaomi 13 is one of several Android flagship smartphones to feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, one of the best-reviewed mobile SoCs in a while. The phone also packs in 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage for the base model, and maxes out at 512GB of internal storage and 12GB of RAM for the most expensive variant.

There’s little that could go wrong here, as this is a very ideal setup especially for more power-oriented users, and the Xiaomi 13 will have a relatively easy time running even more graphics-intensive games from the Google Play Store. Should you spend your entire day using the phone for a variety of tasks, the 4,500 mAh unit inside will be able to keep you powered, at least from morning to evening, with the exception of more power-hungry apps and games.

Thankfully though, the phone supports 67W and 50W wired and wireless charging speeds respectively, which should be able to juice up your phone in no time – Xiaomi states a wired charging time of 38 minutes from 0 to 100, which we found to be the case.

Unless you’re already familiar with how Xiaomi approaches Android, one point of consideration for new users might be the software inside the phone. The Xiaomi 13 runs Android coated with a heavy layer of MIUI, the company’s custom software interface. Similar to Samsung’s One UI, it does come with some Xiaomi-exclusive apps and features, albeit at the cost of efficiency and general cohesiveness.

This is of course a subjective take, as other users will have little problem with MIUI, after all. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned that MIUI doesn’t shy away from packing in a ton of excess bloatware in addition to Android. I’ve never felt the need to use TikTok or play Candy Crush – both of which come with the phone on the get-go – and the Android system’s prompt of a possibly malicious preinstalled game didn’t do much to lessen my reservations of MIUI.

However, MIUI does come with some pretty useful features not found on cleaner versions of Android. For example, I’ve always lamented the ever-present black bar which stays onscreen when playing various games on my Pixel, whereas MIUI lets me force apps into full-screen mode, resulting in a cleaner look overall when gaming, and lessens the risk of OLED burn-in.

There’s also the matter of in-depth user customizability – everything from your wallpaper, fonts, themes and icon packs are open to personalization, without the need for a third-party launcher. It’s small perks like these which still give MIUI its charm at times, and remind us of the versatility of Android in terms of software capabilities.

Cameras

One of the Xiaomi 13’s biggest selling-points is its camera system, which Xiaomi proudly advertises as being co-developed alongside Leica. In terms of hardware, the phone features a 50 MP f/1.8 main camera, a 10 MP, f/2.0 telephoto lens, as well as a 12 MP, f/2.2 ultra-wide camera. The front meanwhile comes with a 32MP selfie camera for photos and video calls. Video on the main sensor maxes out at an impressive 8K resolution, albeit at a lower 24 frames per second.

The Xiaomi 13’s built-in camera app gives users the option of tweaking their photos with some additional Leica software, which will be a very subjective affair in terms of user preference. To sum things up, photos look good – they’re certainly a cut above what a majority of mid-range Android phones on the market are able to accomplish. Brightly-lit scenarios feature great detail, and edge-detection on most subjects looks good, which can also be said of portrait mode on the selfie camera.

There are some nuances however, and there are times when the camera does struggle a bit in weaker lighting scenarios, as well as darker environments. Contrast (at least on auto mode) can be iffy at times. With that said though, it builds upon past Xiaomi flagship cameras, and should be able to satisfy most users’ needs.

Final Thoughts

At a price of around $1,100, the Xiaomi 13 is a definite improvement on past Xiaomi handsets, and shows that Xiaomi can step into the more “premium” ring when needed. A powerful chipset, gorgeous-looking display, and solid hardware design elevates the phone in comparison to other flagship devices out there.

However, there are areas which can still be improved upon, like camera quality and software optimization for example, both of which are executed rather well by the Pixel 7 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S23, at prices much more affordable than the Xiaomi 13’s base model price. Android enthusiasts looking to switch over from different brands might want to take a long hard look at what they’re getting with the Xiaomi 13, but Mi fans will no doubt feel at home here.

The post Xiaomi 13 Review: Still Shy of the Competition appeared first on Phandroid.