I have already covered the hardware extensively in my unboxing post that went out the day the phone was announced. If you missed this or want to refresh your memory then I would recommend checking it out.

So now that you are all caught up let’s dive into the key features that distinguish this phone from the masses.

Hardware

There are some elements of this phone that I feel I need to highlight in the hardware department as they not only separate the phone for the wealth of midrange devices on the market but they also make this phone unique in the industry for the moment.

The first one I want to talk about is of course the materials that have been used to make the phone.

The phone is unique in this first aspect as it is (at least at the time of release) the only 5G-enabled smartphone that has a metal back panel which has been made possible by the use of a new antenna design.

This makes for a phone that has stood up well over the last month or so while it has been getting used. I have in fact suffered from the fate that every phone user fears. I dropped the phone when working on a server rack and it fell from the middle of the rack so about 3 to 4 feet onto a concrete floor. Now if this had been my Pixel 8 Pro then this would have potentially been a disaster as it hit the floor quite hard on one of the corners, not only that but it hit a few different levels on the way down. I am certain it would have broken the screen on the Pixel and done significant damage to the back. I dread to think what I would have done to my Pixel Fold!

The Nord 4 though came out of the ordeal relatively unscathed. It had a few dents and one significant indent on the upper left-hand corner which can be seen in the image below.

The next aspect of the hardware is the new antenna design I mentioned above. Now whilst this is not visible as it is under that glorious metal body it works very well. It is claimed that the design actually allows the casing to be utilised as a means to boost signal strength. Whilst I can’t actually test I’m this for certain I have found that I do get better signal strength than the Pixel devices I regularly use as my daily drivers. It also seems to be quicker to regain the signal when I do lose it which is something that OnePlus were very keen to talk about at their press event.

Next up is the display, this display is very very good and gets plenty bright in direct sunlight with a maximum brightness of 2150 nits when using auto brightness. It was perfectly usable under the glaringly bright Greek sunshine and when using it with sunglasses on everything was still perfectly legible.

I have not been able to test the touch response when the screen is wet as was shown in the keynote by a friend of the site JP. I do not doubt that this tech works but I will be honest I have not needed to test this yet as it has not rained very much in the last month. I also don’t want to deliberately put the phone in that scenario despite the IP rating that the phone has of IP65. The one thing I can say is that it works with sweaty fingers absolutely fine but it can get a bit slippery when things get sweaty!

Another hardware plus is the way that the phone feels in the hand. I just love how slim this device is. I also love the squared-off edges and the confidence that the metal construction offers when in the hand. The phone just feels well-built without feeling like a tank(which it is as seen above). When you pick it up and the back is cold you appreciate the feeling of the cold back. However, when it is being used intensively this can be a negative as it can get a bit hot especially when the camera is being used a lot. I did also find that the phone will absorb the ambient heat very quickly and it can take a bit of time to cool down. Whilst this made things a bit toasty I was not experiencing any significant drop in performance during these times, it’s just harder to hold on too! I have to say that back in the UK, I have not had these issues but then again I have not been pushing the phone with continuous camera use etc.

The phone’s speakers are also surprisingly good and more than adequate for playing YouTube clips and listening to podcasts. I have predominantly been using the phone with OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro though but when I have not had them to hand I have been very impressed. The speaker setup is your traditional bottom-firing loudspeaker with a front-facing earpiece. Whilst it is not as advanced as some setups it works well and there is okay separation on both channels.

That brings me into the alert slider which is a very handy feature and one that I love to see. Whilst it is no longer a unique feature to OnePlus as it has now been seen in some form on other devices (Vivo X Fold 3 Pro), it is something that I think every phone should have and credit to OnePlus for keeping it there as it is so easy to use to quickly change your sound profiles. It also makes for a great thing to fidget with!

Moving away from the hardware to the area always blurs the line between the performance.

Performance

A lot of this is driven by the hardware and I don’t follow the use of benchmarks as I prefer to experience the way the phone works day to day and gauge it on that.

In terms of battery life for me at least this is easily a two-day phone in my normal use case. If I was really hammering it then I could get the Nord 4 to dip below 20% before bedtime but that was very rare.

In terms of daily performance and app opening speed, I have not found there to be any real issues here at all as the apps work exactly as expected with no slowness that I could perceive especially when I have compared this to the likes of my Pixel devices and other phones that I have around me at the moment. I have been able to test it using the GPS for sustained periods and it was perfectly adequate for this even when using it on battery.

The ability of the phone to hold multiple apps open in RAM is very impressive which is again hardly surprising given that the phone comes with 16GB of RAM in the version I have. Even if you were to go for the version with 12GB of RAM, I don’t think you would ever be left wanting more as the Oxygen OS is very good at keeping on top of RAM demands. I was able to keep more than enough apps open in the background without them reloading for my normal use. I think the most I had open at one time that I was able to count was 40+ after which I stopped counting! This included a mix of games, streaming services, weather, maps and heavy hitters like Google Photos. So I think it is fair to say that you can have a substantial app load out if required. The RAM extends to more than just that though as it is a core component of the ability to multitask. Whilst this is not something I tend to do much on slab phones you can of course take advantage of some split-screen action if you want to. An example of this is shown below where I have had the Calendar app and the Booking .com app open at the same time. You have the apps sit one on top of the other as you would expect and you can also swap the app’s position by tapping the three dots in the middle. Whilst I have stated this is not something I tend to use on slab-style phones (I use it a lot on tablets and folding phones) it is helpful to have and to know that the phone can cope with it.

So we have covered the battery and multitasking the other big areas are gaming performance and heat build-up. Let’s cover the heat first.

This is one area where I have found that the phone did present some issues. I do want to add some context here though. I was predominantly using this phone in ambient temperatures of more than 30 degrees while I was doing the majority of my camera testing as I was away from the UK at the time. When I was using the camera intensively I did find that the phone was getting a tad warm. Now whilst this is not unusual for phones to get hot when using the camera it got uncomfortably warm. It was not only while I was using the camera though. I was finding that even using the phone for web browsing and doom scrolling on social media it was getting a bit toasty. The good news is that when I have been back here in the UK I have not had the same level of heat build-up, however, if I am being totally honest I have not been using the camera as intensively either. I think the issue is that the metal casing of the phone effectively becomes the phone’s heat sink and is being used to dissipate the heat. This can cause it to be uncomfortable. Don’t get me wrong I have experienced similar heat build-up on other devices (mainly my Pixel Fold), but I was just wanting to make you aware that if you are in a warmer climate than the UK then you may see this issue yourself.

That leads me to performance. I did not have the occasion to do any gaming testing whilst I was on holiday but if I have been using it for some light gaming in the evening since I returned from holiday and in the games I tested the max frame rates were being reached with ease and the phone did remain reasonably cool during longer sessions as well. I was playing Asphalt Unite for about 20 mins without any significant overheating and the games were running on max settings throughout.

It looks like the new Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chip and the associated Adreno graphics are well-suited for this level of device. To be honest these days you will be hard-pressed to find a modern chipset that struggles with much of what can be done in terms of gaming performance on Android. Until we start seeing the Triple AAA games that Apple are introducing to the iPad/iPhone then we won’t need to worry about gaming chops yet.

Next up is the software.

Software

I have already indicated that the phone is running a skin over the Android core and this is called Oxygen OS. The version is 14.1 and the underlying Android version is Android 14. OnePlus has promised updates for the phone’s core OS for 4 versions of Android and security updates for 6 years Whilst this is not the same level as we are now starting to see from Samsung and Google this will take your devices up to Android 18 which is pretty good going. To be honest, by that stage, the phone will probably need to be replaced due to component wear and tear. That being said another claim being made is that the battery will maintain its peak health for 4 years as well due to the Battery Health Engine. OnePlus has also tested under TUV Rheinland conditions that the Software will remain fluent for up to 6 years. This is all part of OnePlus’s Fast and Smooth promise, only time will tell how long this will stay true but the fact that they have backing on the test performed by TUV Rheinland gives me some hope for the accuracy of the claims.

In terms of the software being Fast and Smooth now, I have to say I have not had any reason to find any fault with it. I do like what OnePlus has been able to do with the Oxygen OS UI. Now for those of you who read my reviews often you will know that this is not my normal stance on UI’s and normally I find them to be bloated and annoying. Now don’t get me wrong there is of course some bloat and app duplication here it wouldn’t be a UI from a Chinese manufacturer without it.

Apart from the apps shown in the screenshot above there is not too much other bloat that has been forced onto the device. There are also a few apps that I didn’t end up relegating to the folders of shame as they have actually proved to be useful. An example of this is the new Photos app from OnePlus. This now allows you to pull your images in from Google Photos (my go-to app for images) and view them within the app. In addition to this, it is also where some of the phone’s new AI features are hiding. So we have two new additions to the photos app.

AI Best Face is the first one and this will allow you to correct images from a photo where some of the subjects have perhaps blinked or have their eyes closed. This is an app that sounds like it was made for me and my family as I am constantly having to retake photos of my wife and son when they have their eyes closed or they have blinked at just the wrong moment. Unfortunately, it is an app I have been unable to use as it requires three faces to be seen in the photo for it to work its magic. I guess I just need to get some more friends to be able to test this. I just wanted to add that I have also never been able to use this feature on my Pixel devices either so this is not an issue specifically with OnePlus. Here are some sample images of what should happen.

Next up is AI Clear Face, this will allow again in a groufie image to improve the image by removing blur from the faces in that image. Again this is something I have not been able to test for real as I don’t take many “groufies” but here are some examples again to allow you to see what it looks like.

The last thing that AI will do in the photos app is AI Eraser, which will allow you to remove photo bombers and unwanted actions of an image, it will then fill that missing section with a fresh background to match the rest of the image.

Now this is something I was very keen to try on my photos from my holiday but I was stymied by the phone. So it turns out that AI Eraser will not work on PRO XDR images which is what the camera will default to using to take photos. This meant that whenever I tried to use AI Eraser on an image I had taken it wouldn’t let me unless I had remembered to turn Pro XDR off which needed to be done every time I took a photo! This was very annoying and it meant that I just didn’t edit the photos until I got home and did the edits on my Pixel. The good news is that this now seems to have been resolved since a software update as I am now able to use AI Eraser on any image I wish to.

Pretty impressive I am sure you agree. That is not all the AI will do though as it has a few more tricks up its sleeve but these two are some of the most visible ones. The AI will also allow you to summarize audio recordings from the Recorder App capturing the key points from that recording and transcribing them for future use. This is called the AI Audio Summary.

Another trick is an AI Article Summary which will scan a webpage pull out the relevant and important details from the page and present it in an easier-to-read format.

Next up in the AI arsenal is AI Smart Cutout, You can simply press and hold on an item from an image and it will allow you to use that section of the image somewhere else. For example, I could extract the watch from this image and use it in a document such as a review article!

This is a pretty neat feature and one that I think I may use more going forward.

There is one other big feature that I will mention now even though this is not a phone-based feature it uses the phone. If you are lucky enough to also have a OnePlus Pad or Pad 2 then you can set up a wireless connection between the two devices and drag and drop items between the phone and tablet. This allows for very quick and easy file transfers from one device to the other. It is so easy and quick it is exactly what I just did to move the files above from my phone to the tablet just now.

This is all part of the greater OnePlus Ecosystem and allows the software of different devices to share the same architecture behind the scenes. It is something that Apple and Samsung have been doing for a long time and I am pleased to see that OnePlus have joined the party.

In terms of other things that the software has you have the usual features of a floating sidebar which will house some of your AI functions and this changes depending on what app you are using. This is an example of AI Writer from the Gmail app

You also have the other normal features expected for a OnePlus Android 14 device, such as screen off gestures and Air gestures neither of which I have or intend to ever use as I just don’t find them helpful, with the notable exception of double tap to wake. Honestly, I just thought this was a standard OnePlus feature and couldn’t understand why it didn’t work until I turned it on in the settings menu!

I am quite impressed with the software of the OnePlus Nord 4 so much that I have been jumping in between this and my Pixel Fold almost daily as I really like how it works and feels to use daily.

Next up is the camera

Camera

The camera system on the OnePlus Nord 4 is a relatively simple affair as we have two rear cameras and one front-facing camera. The rear-facing units comprise a 50 MP Sony LYTIA Camera as the main camera which is supported by an 8MP Sony Camera. The front camera is an unbranded 16MP sensor.

In terms of specs these are as follows

Rear Cameras:

•  50 MP Sony LYTIA Camera, f/1.8, 24mm (wide), 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, multi-directional PDAF, OIS
• 8 MP, f/2.2, 112˚ (ultrawide), 1/4.0″, 1.12µm

Front camera

• 16 MP, f/2.4, 24mm (wide), 1.0µm

Both cameras can support a wide variety of shooting modes and both will record at up to 1080p at 30fps if you want higher than that you will need to use the main rear camera which can go up to 4k at 60fps.

I have found that in good lighting conditions, the camera produces some very good images as shown below.

The video is also pretty darn good as well

Here are some close-up shots showing its close-up skills

When things get dark it becomes a little bit tougher for the sensor but it still works remarkably well all things considered. you do start to lose a little bit of detail but the below images were taken in a very dark environment so the camera has down well to pick up what it could.

As for Selfies I have included one with Portrait mode on and with it on at the strongest aperture settings and one without any modes on just normal camera settings.

Here is some low light video as well

You can see that there was some slight distortion there from motion blur but again not too bad a result.

You can see that the portrait mode is quite effective at blurring the background out without messing with the lines of my face too much. It has clipped a few of the extraneous hairs from my very messy bear which may be seen as a good thing to some.

Overall if your expectations are for a good point-and-shoot and you are not going to be using it too much in low light then the Camera setup will be fine for you however if you want a higher-performance camera then I would look at the like of the similarly priced Pixel 7A as it will include the use of Google Advanced Camera Algorithms for in my opinion the best camera experience that is available at the moment.

That wraps my review all that is left now is to draw some conclusions.

Conclusions

First and foremost this is a damn good phone and were I not a specs whore and addicted to Folding phones then I would be more than happy to daily drive this phone. It is solid it is nice hold and is well made. The software has some very nice features and touches and works very well with the rest of the OnePlus ecosystem. There is just enough sprinkling of AI on board to keep it relevant but most of it can be ignored if you want to and from what I can see all of it is included in the price no extra subs are required (unlike Google).

Is it the best value for your money though given its current asking price of £429 for the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage version or£479 for the 16GB RAM and 512GB storage version? Yes if you want the OnePlus experience and all that comes with that, SuperVooc charging at 100w, inter-device connectivity with OnePlus Pad/Pad 2/Go the Alert Slider and the only metal unibody 5G phone currently on the market.

However, if none of these things bother you then, there are other potentially cheaper options available. I am not going to list them here but I have mentioned one in the article above.

If you haven’t considered a OnePlus Nord 4 then it is a phone that is worth taking a look at as I have been very pleased with it and there are always some good deals to be had at the Oneplus website. For example, you can currently get the phone for the prices above which is £50 off RRP and you can choose from either a OnePlus SuperVooc 100W charger or Sandstone Case for free.

Check out the OnePlus Nord 4 at the link here

The post OnePlus Nord 4 – Review – The metal midrange king? is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

So the glitz and glamour of a Live launch event have now finished. We have had some time to give the devices a look over on the stand in all the glory. Now however is the time to get up close and personal with the new Honor Magic6 Pro, in a more comfortable environment (my hotel room). So let’s have a look at what is in store with the unboxing.

As you can see we have got what looks like a pretty special device, I have to say I am so chuffed that Honor provided me with the Epi Green version as the colour just makes it stand out a little bit more from the crowd.

Let’s have a quick run around the device in closer details

Starting as always at the top, we find the top-mounted speaks, an IR blaster and a microphone pinhole

Around on the right-hand side is where we can see the power switch which pulls double duty as an assistant prompt on a long press. Then we have the volume Rocker both are nicely positioned and nicely damped as well as giving solid feedback when pressed.

Continuing around to the bottom we have the USB Type C 3.2 port that is flanked by the bottom speaker and the dual sim slot, we also have another mic port here as well.

On the left-hand side, there is nothing to see apart from alone of the many antenna break lines which are spread about the phone.

Moving around the back is where we can find the bit that is going to interest a lot of people and this is the giant camera array that is housed on a bump, which to be fair is not that large in terms of depth and it doesn’t protrude from the back of the phone anywhere near as much as the ones that I have seen from competitors. Inside this camera array we have got 3 cameras;

• 50MP (wide, f/1.4 – f/2.0, OIS, PDAF)
• 50MP (ultrawide, f/2.0 AF)
• 180MP (telephoto, f/2.6, 2.5x optical zoom)

On either side of the top sensor, we have the Dual tone flash to the left and the laser and sensor for the laser-assisted autofocus. For added measure the is also one more microphone port as well.

If we continue around the front hen we have a dual camera cut-out at the top of the display that houses a 50MP camera and a Time of flight sensor for depth-sensing and biometrics. What is cool is also works as the Magic Capsule area which will show an actionable area for enhanced functionality when using certain apps i.e. media players as shown below.

This is the first time I have seen this on an Android device but iPhone users will be right at home here.

As for the main screen, this is a glorious 6.8-inch All-range Low-power LTPO Eye Comfort Display, that is coated with Honor NanoCrystal Sheild for protection. This coating will give up to 10 times the protection of regular nanocrystal glass when dropped and should offer a more scratch-resistant coating as well. This is all of course hidden under a pre-applied plastic screen protector. The screen will also be able to offer up to 5000 nits brightness when using HDR Content but it will use an average brightness in normal max condition of 1600 Nits which is still plenty bright enough as you saw from the video where I turned it up to the maximum settings. I have not had any issues seeing the screen in the sunshine that we have got poking through the clouds here in Barcelona

So that about finishes things off for the hands-on tour of the phone as for the rest of the specs check out the specs list below for some more details.

As I had one lying around I thought I would also share some comparison shots of the phone next to an S23 Ultra which whilst not its direct competitor is a good representation of the size of the device etc.

As always I will be using the phone as my daily driver for the next few weeks to allow me to get a real grip on the phone and all of its features. Once I have got some time under its belt a full review will of course be posted on Coolsmartphone for your viewing pleasure.

If you can’t wait that long and want to buy one right away you can pre-order today from Honor’s store for a full RRP of £1099.99 for the spec I have here.

If you are preordering then please take advantage of the discount code AM6PP250 to get £250 off the device once you have subscribed to HiHonor, you will also get 12 months of screen protection cover included when buying directly from HiHonor.  You will also have the option to add the recently announced Pad 9 for £149.99 (down from £299.99 RRP) if you fancy going all in on Honor kit

The Honor MagicI6 Pro is also available to pre-order from the 1^st March with sales from the 8^th March with a complimentary launch bundle worth £359 including HONOR Earbuds X6, HONOR 100W SuperCharger and HONOR Pad 8 from Amazon, Very and Currys.

The post #MWC24 – Honor Magic6 Pro – Unboxing is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Made from aramid fibre, also known as Kevlar, and including a MagSafe ring, the new cases are intricately woven for an incredibly tactile and grippy feel.

PITAKA, one of the leading Aramid Phone Case Brand, has announced the release of its latest innovation, the MagEZ Case 4 for Samsung Galaxy S24. Boasting a minimalist design and cutting-edge technology, this case sets a new standard for thinness and lightness in MagSafe-compatible phone cases. 

For those who prioritize a sleek and minimalistic design, the PITAKA MagEZ Case 4 caters to individuals who rarely drop their phones but still seek protection from scratches and wear. The case, which is thinner and lighter than most S24 MagSafe cases on the market, provides adequate safeguarding without compromising on style.

Innovative Material and Comfortable Grip

Crafted from the renowned bulletproof aramid fiber, also known as Kevlar, widely used in ballistic protection, the case not only exudes sophistication but is also five times lighter than steel. The Sunset and Moonrise Design, inspired by the serene beauty of twilight, adds a touch of elegance. The case is intricately woven using PITAKA’s exclusive Fusion Weaving technique, offering an incredibly tactile and grippy feel for users who prefer the comfort of a case while maintaining the sensation of holding a naked phone, safe in the knowledge that their phone is encased in cool and cutting-edge materials.

MagSafe Compatibility and Accessories.

PITAKA ensures that Samsung S24 users can also revel in the benefits of MagSafe technology. The MagEZ Case 4 features a MagSafe ring, enabling strong magnetic attachment and providing users with tremendous convenience. Additionally, users can explore PITAKA’s MagEZ accessories, such as the MagEZ Grip, MagEZ Card Sleeve, and MagEZ Slider 2, enhancing their overall experience.

Environmental Responsibility.

PITAKA takes a step towards sustainability with the MagEZ Case 4, featuring a recycled aramid fiber camera lip. This eco-friendly approach reduces the brand’s impact on the environment, aligning with PITAKA’s commitment to a sustainable future.

The PITAKA MagEZ Case 4 range for Samsung Galaxy S24 is available on Amazon UK for £69.99 and Amazon.com as well as the PITAKA website.

The post PITAKA unveils the world’s thinnest and lightest aramid fibre MagEZ Case 4 Range for Samsung Galaxy S24 is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Ever wondered who iQOO is? They are an independent sub-brand of vivo, a well-known smartphone manufacturer. If you’re unfamiliar with vivo, you’re not alone. They were once part of the BBK Electronics conglomerate, which also houses Oppo and OnePlus. Within this group, vivo operated as a separate entity. But now, vivo has achieved independence, and iQOO (pronounced eye-koo) is poised to become a prominent force in the smartphone market. Their focus is on producing high-performance devices that cater to both photography enthusiasts and hardcore gamers.

Irrespective of the legacy of these mobile phone brands, the iQOO 12 possesses a strong enough reputation to adorn the official BMW M Motorsport branding on its Legend edition. This collaboration demonstrates the iQOO 12’s exceptional performance and its ability to cater to the demanding standards of passionate motorsport enthusiasts.

Powered by Qualcomm’s latest third-generation Snapdragon 8 mobile platform, the iQOO 12 Pro boasts a cutting-edge 4nm TSMC process, a 1+5+2 64-bit architecture, and a Cortex-X4 ultra-core that can reach an astounding 3.3GHz clock speed. This powerful combination delivers a remarkable 30% performance boost over the previous generation Snapdragon 8, while also achieving a 20% improvement in energy efficiency. Additionally, the iQOO 12 Pro leverages LPDDR5X and UFS4.0 technologies to elevate its performance even further, forming a formidable “Iron Triangle of Performance” that sets new standards for mobile gaming and overall responsiveness.

In essence, the iQOO 12 Pro harnesses the full potential of the Snapdragon 8 mobile platform to deliver an unparalleled gaming experience, while also maintaining exceptional energy efficiency. This makes it the ideal choice for demanding mobile gamers who seek the ultimate in performance and power.

Key Features at a glance:

• 50MP main wide-angle, f/1.68, OIS, 23mm equivalent (1/1.3inch sensor)
• 50MP ultra-wide-angle, f/2.0, 15mm equivalent
• 64MP telephoto, f/2.57, 3x/70mm equivalent, OIS
• 16MP selfie camera, f/2.45, 27mm equivalent (video: 1080P only)
• 8K 30p, 4K 60/30p, Full HD 240p
• 6.78inch screen, AMOLED, 144Hz, up to 3000nits brightness
• 5000mAh battery, 120W charging
• 12/16GB RAM, 256/512GB storage options
• Android 14
• 163.2 x 75.9 x 8.1mm
• 203.7g weight.

Good Points:-

• Flat screen design.
• Amazing battery life.
• 120W Fast charger included in the box.
• Deicated gaming mode.
• Dual Stereo speakers.
• IR Blaster.
• Claimed 3 yrs of OS updates, and updates4 yrs of security updates.
• 6.78 inch screen, 144Hz, with 517PPI

Bad Points:-

• Quite a bit of bloat.
• Very slippery without the case.
• Annoying app notifications from the V App Store.
• Camera bump seems larger than necessary.
• Lots of recommended app pop ups.

Whats In The Box.

The phone, SIM tool, some BMW performance leaflets a Clear TPU case a 120w charging brick, and cable.

Design:-

In terms of aesthetics, the iQOO 12 Pro embraces a range of captivating color schemes to suit diverse preferences. The classic “Legendary Edition” exudes a timeless elegance with its gleaming white enamel textured glass back. This premium finish not only enhances the phone’s aesthetic appeal but also provides a comfortable and secure grip. The iconic BMW M Motorsport branding has been subtly incorporated into the design, adding a touch of motorsport flair without compromising the phone’s sleekness.

The iQOO 12 Pro’s vibrant and immersive display takes center stage, featuring a groundbreaking 6.78-inch E7 AMOLED panel. This cutting-edge display boasts a stunning resolution of 3200 x 1440 pixels, translating to a pixel density of 517 PPI, ensuring exceptional clarity and detail. Whether you’re engrossed in an intense gaming session or captivated by a visually captivating movie, the iQOO 12 Pro’s display delivers an unparalleled visual experience. To further enhance the visual feast, the display supports a blazing-fast 144Hz refresh rate, ensuring smooth and fluid transitions between scenes, whether scrolling through web pages or navigating through demanding applications. This rapid refresh rate also elevates the gaming experience, eliminating stutters and tearing for a truly responsive and immersive gameplay experience.

The in-screen fingerprint reader works well, and the phone offers rapid charging at 120W. However, the lack of wireless charging is a little bit of a shame. There’s an always-on AMOLED display with a fast refresh rate of 144Hz; which will be great for the gamers out there. The phone has an IP64 rating, which should mean it’ll survive a light rain shower.

On the top of the device is one of the stereo speakers, the IR blaster and microphone, on the right is the volume rocker and power button, the left hand side is clear, and along the bottom is the sim tray, usb type-c port, second speaker and another microphone.

In Use.

Once unboxed and set up, a few things immediately struck me about the IQOO 12 Pro, the device does have a lot of bloat pre installed, like Hot apps folder, that has 12 recommended apps, Hot Games folder with 12 recommended games. Doubling up of apps was present as well eg 2 App Stores, 2 messaging apps, imanger the same as device care. That said they were all easily dealt with and removed.

The device is possibly one of the most slippery (est) phones I’ve ever used, those who remember the Nexus 5 ( a device that could slide off a perfectly flat table) well the IQOO 12 is right up there, thankfully the included TPU case deals with this, and keeps the devices aesthetics.

It was then on to setting up the face unlock and under screen fingerprint reader, the face unlock is not as secure as Apple’s offering, but the IQOO 12 Pro unlocks loads quicker than my iPhone, the face unlock was so quick that the device was unlocked before, I had even a chance to use the fingerprint unlock, on the point of fingerprint unlock again this was blistering fast.

Then it was on to the screen, the 6.78-inch 144Hz 1.5K flat panel display on the iQOO 12 is of excellent quality in terms of colour accuracy, brightness, and sharpness, featuring a 1.5K resolution screen, with a 517PPI compared the iPhone 15 pro at 460PPI and the S23 Ultra’s screen coming in at 500PPI, what does this mean, well the screen is gorgeous to look at and use with smooth and silky scrolling. The display, which supports HDR video streaming on platforms like Netflix and Prime Video. Additionally, it is a high refresh rate panel with up to a 144Hz refresh rate and support for LPTO technology, which can lower the screen refresh rate to as low as 1Hz to reduce power consumption—an advantageous feature for users who utilise always-on display.

Once i’d loaded up all the relevant Google accounts. It was on to using the device, The first thing I’ve got to say is this thing absolutely flies, with absolutely no lag at all. flicking between apps opening and closing processes, there is no stuttering, this will be down to the snapdragon Gen. 3 chip and the oodles of Ram available. Then I enabled what IQOO are dubbing Monster Mode which basically ramps everything up to 10

One thing I did notice, though, was that the developer options were already enabled, thus, meaning the device was slightly not as secure as others straight out of the box.

The IQOO 12 Pro runs Android 14 with Funtouch OS running over the top, it has 16GB of RAM which can be dynamically extended to by up to another 16GB, the device also comes with 512GB of storage.

In the first couple of days the device received 3 software updates, but the Android security update was sitting at the 1st November.

Despite the device having a very South East Asian influence it was pleasant suprise to see the Google Feed on the far left of the home screen.

There is a version of Samsung’s edge panel, ( something I use a lot on my S23 Ultra ) named smart side bar, but I found it more of a quick launch panel rather than the full edge panel experience that said I used it to give a more uncluttered home screen.

Gaming with the Q1 Chip.

As well as packing the very latest flagship-grade mobile processor, memory, and storage, iQOO debuts Supercomputing Chip Q1, a customized display chip that offers Game Super Resolution, Game Super Frame Rate and Game Display Enhancement – features that radically enhance the mobile gaming experience.

With one touch users can activate Game Super Resolution, boosting image contrast and overall clarity through enhanced edge sharpness of graphical characters. Users can enable Game Super Frame Rate to experience mobile gaming at incredible high frame rates of up to 144 FPS. While many mobile games cap frame rates at 60 FPS or 90 FPS, peaking at 120 FPS, Super Frame Rate uses frame interpolation to provide users with smooth 144 FPS gaming, matching the native 144Hz display refresh rate to reduce tearing and stuttering on even the most demanding games.

iQOO 12 uses an LTPO AMOLED display that can dynamically switch between high and low refresh rates. This lowers power consumption by reducing refresh rates when a static image is displayed, while allowing refresh rates to be pushed to the maximum to provide the ultimate viewing experience when watching movies or playing games.

To give gamers a physically immersive experience, iQOO 12 packs a Large X-Axis Linear Motor that produces accurate haptic feedback triggers during gameplay. In terms of audio, iQOO 12 uses a Symmetrical Dual Stereo Speaker design that gives gamers directional cues in first-person-shooter games, making gunshots and footsteps more pronounced and clearer during gameplay. During audio playback, users can enjoy incredible instrument separation, with a large 1.2cc speaker chamber providing improved bass frequencies.

To keep things calm during extended gaming sessions, iQOO 12 uses a Four-Zone Cooling System that ensures a comfortable in-hand experience in key contact areas. A 6K Vapor Chamber ensures rapid and effective heat dissipation from the CPU, with heat buildup further reduced with a Low temperature sensitivity design and a specialized Under-Display Graphite Cooling Film that mitigates hot spot

What does all this mean in the real world, firstly let me say I am by no means a full on mobile gamer, but that said I do have Call Of Duty Mobile installed in all my devices, so I had to install it on IQOO 12 Pro as well.

I had all the settings ramped up there max and the game played fluidly with no dropped frames, stutter or glitches, that said it certainly didn’t make me any better of a player.

The IQOO 12 Pro’s gaming mode gives you loads of settings, ranging from Battery Saver Mode, Balanced, and Monster Mode (ramp everything up to 10). You also have the options to enable motion control, gaming resolution, block notifications and reject calls., all to enhance the game play.

Camera

Flagship smartphones have become increasingly standardized in their triple camera setups, leading manufacturers to seek innovative ways to differentiate themselves. Samsung’s Galaxy S22 and S23 Ultra series stand out with a fourth telephoto camera featuring an impressive 10x optical zoom. Google, on the other hand, emphasizes computational photography and AI-powered features to simplify capturing specific shots.

The iQOO 12 deviates from the norm with a 50MP ultra-wide-angle camera, a 50MP main camera, and a unique 64MP 3x telephoto macro lens, similar to the one found on the Xiaomi 13 Pro. It also boasts an Astrography mode, which iQOO claims can capture the majestic Milky Way. While testing under clear skies has not been possible yet, the iQOO 12 offers a unique AR Planetarium feature that virtually overlays constellations onto your night sky photos, while preserving the original unedited image of the stars. This fusion of technology and creativity makes the iQOO 12 a standout in the smartphone camera landscape.

The problem with reviewing a camera in the UK in December is there isn’t always the best light, but the IQOO 12 Pro’s camera was still able to snap some decent shots.

A snap of the moon up there with the S23 Ultra.

Indoor night shot with flash.

Indoor night shot no flash

Frost on the trees.

Zoom in to the Teddy

The camera app is filled with different modes, ranging from the standard modes Night, Portrait, Video, Pro Mode etc. but then there is High Resolution, Pano, Ultra HD Document, Slow Mo, Time Lapse, Long Exposure, Super moon, Astro, Tilt Shift, and Fisheye.

 Some Astro shots, where the Star map is overlayed the final picture.

Battery Life

The iQOO 12 Pro’s robust battery life is assured by its hefty 5100mAh power source, augmented by a revolutionary graphite stack reconfiguration technology that seamlessly blends high capacity with lightning-fast charging capabilities. This innovative approach surpasses its predecessor’s endurance, ensuring extended usage throughout your demanding days. Although the iQOO 12 Pro’s 120W flash charger may seem like a minor inconvenience, it delivers exceptional charging speeds that cater to everyday needs. Additionally, a 50W wireless flash charger provides flexibility for those who prefer wireless charging. With these versatile charging options, the iQOO 12 Pro caters to diverse charging preferences and ensures your device remains powered up when you need it most.

The IQOO 12 was easily lasting me a full day of heavy use, and with moderate use I was getting 2 days out of it. That said when plugged into the included 120W charger and cable the device went from 0 to 100% in a eye watering 31mins, although charging at those speeds everyday won’t be the best for battery longevity.

Conclusion:-

The iQOO 12 Pro doesn’t look like what we call a “gaming phone”. As the title says, it has a powerful performance but looks so elegant. It’s similar to the Xiaomi 14 Pro, with photography first, and performance second. Whereas the iQOO 12 Pro is all about gaming and then the photos are pretty good too. Which one to choose depends on whether you prefer photography or gaming

I absolutely loved my time with the IQOO 12, once I had sorted the extra apps and bloatware out, it was a joy to use, in fact in some aspects better than my S23 Ultra. The device did seem snappier and I would say that the camera was a good 90% of Samsung’s offering.

It’s a shame that this device may well get overlooked by the main players in the Android world, but this clearly should not be the case, if you want a change from the mainstream the IQOO 12 Pro is well worth considering. It’s currently available here in the UK from Wondamobile for £669

The post IQOO 12 review is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

The phone will be launched alongside OnePlus’s sister company OPPO which has had a presence in both the book-style foldables and clamshell style fold for a few years. During this time the now-joined companies have accumulated many patents regarding folding phones and are merging this with the fast smooth experience and burdenless design that onePlus has always been associated with.

The teams behind the phone have had a clear focus on one of the things that make a folding phone great and that is a smooth and strong hinge with as minimal a crease as possible. Over the past few years, OPPO has been fine-tuning this design in the form of the Find N devices which have never officially made it out of the eastern markets.

During this time OPPO accumulated over 600 patents specifically in hinge design. This has been identified as a key differentiator between foldable phones and OPPO has shown good form as they have been doing the no-gap hinge style design for 2 years now. One of the claims being made for the new phone is that the hinge will close tight enough to be supported by a single sheet of paper between the closed screens. I have tried this with my Pixel Fold and it didn’t go well with my phone letting the paper slip out in a matter of seconds!

So when the OnePlus foldable was being developed they didn’t rest on their laurels and they have added another 35 patents to the already very large list specifically for the hinges. These patents are being used to allow a reduction in both the size and weight of the hinge components whilst also making them stronger. The OnePlus hinge is purportedly 37% smaller than the previous device the Find N2. All this work on the hinge and reworking it has allowed the new foldable to be slimmer and lighter which is great news for the segment of the market and potential buyers.

There have historically been two styles of screen format for the folded outer display the “remote control” style which has been used by all the Samsung Z Fold devices. and the more traditional wider style “phone” screen that can be found on pretty much any other folding phone such as the Honor Magic Vs and the Google Pixel Fold. I am definitely a fan of the latter as it allows the phone to be used for normal phone tasks when folded and then when you need some more space you have that more tablet-style form factor. The OnePlus seems to be leaning towards the latter but maybe not to the same extent as being seen by the likes of the Pixel Fold which some people have found to be too wide when unfolded.

In addition to this large format screen, OnePlus has also included a Camera that is meant to be class-leading no specs have been defined for this yet but we expect it to be of similar levels to the likes of the Hasselblad shooter found on the OnePlus 11.  We also see that OnePlus has kept a fan favourite in the form of the Alert slider on the phone which is really nice to see as this is a feature more phones need to have them! The design brief for the team was to hit all the flagship phone top specs and OnePlus is pulling out all the stops to ensure that they meet these targets.

There is one more aspect that will break a foldable phone and that is software. OnePlus may be a little late to the foldable phone market but this may actually be to their benefit especially as the phone looks like it will come out after Google host their Pixel Event where we expect to see Android 14 launch. Having used the Android 14 beta on a Pixel Fold I can see that Google has been working on software tweaks to make the Folding phone experience the best it can be. One of the changes that is especially relevant is the option to have the app scale to the larger screen instead of letterboxing it like we initially saw on the Pixel Fold when it was first released. This was a feature that was highly requested by the early adopters. On top of this, I would expect that the Oneplus foldable will have some other multitasking tricks up its sleeve.

I am looking forward to seeing this phone in the flesh as I think this will be one of the foldable that Samsung may be justifiably concerned about and that can only be a food thing as their designs have become somewhat stagnant. The OnePlus And Oppo partnership and simultaneous release will allow them to get the maximum market exposure in a short amount of time. 

Editor note. Images are credited to Unbox Therapy who got a hands on an early prototype during an interview with Pete Lau, Founder of OnePlus and Senior Vice President and Chief Product Officer of OPPO.

The post OnePlus and Oppo to release new Folding phone at the same time is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

I want to get this out of the way first and foremost this is not a phone that is going to be high on people’s wish list along with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy lineup, the iPhone range or Google’s Pixel devices. this is a phone that is built for a reason, and that reason is to be tough and durable. It is unashamedly butch but under that tough exterior is it any good. In a word yes. it is good but good and great have a big space between them and this is where I feel his phone sits in between good and great. I come into this phone off the back of the review for the ONeplus Nord 3 CE Lite, which given the bang for your buck is a great phone for the right buyer the CAT S75 will also be great for the right buyer but not for the mainstream masses. 

Design and Hardware

What Bullitt has done here is create a good phone with some extra heavy-duty padding to toughen things up. in doing so they have created a phone that is chunky and solid which I do like despite my feeling like I need a weapons licence to carry it in public! Not once have dealt even the slightest bit concerned about throwing this in my pocket while I have been out mountain biking with my son or capturing photos of historic places with the rest of my family. I even felt comfortable handing the phone over to my 10-year-old to take some pictures while we had a look around some old palaces.

The build quality gives a reassurance that if you were to drop this then it would be fine and you can just dust it off and crack on with the rest of your day. I had the opportunity to use the CAT S75 in the rain as well where it performed perfectly thanks to the incredibly high IP68 and IP69K rating which stems from the tough soft-touch rear body which envelops the internal structure of the phone like an antimicrobial security blanket. When it gets dirty it goes in the sink and I wash it as if I was washing a plate or glass!

If you haven’t taken the time to go over my unboxing article on the phone I would strongly encourage you to do so as it gives my thoughts on the hardware and a tour of the device.

There is of course one other big selling point of this phone and that is the integration of  MediaTek’s state-of-the-art NTN (non-terrestrial network) chip that enables direct connectivity to geostationary satellites above the earth making it possible to send a message or make an SOS assistance request. Thi is different tot he system that Apple use as they have to use propriety satellites where as the CAT S75 should in theory use any satellite that can be found by the phone. I have spent some time trying to test this out I have had mixed results, which you can see in more detail below. I was only trying to use the satellite messaging service as I didn’t need the tracking ability or the SOS function during my time with the phone. This seems as good a time as any to remind you that these services are extras and they will require that you use the specialised sim that is provided with the phone in one of the sim card slots.

Another little gem that I discovered during my testing was that the phone does actually have built-in Wireless charging which I had missed during my unboxing which is a nice feature to have as I do use this function a lot. However, I have to say that I had mixed results actually getting the phone to share wirelessly. I was unable to use the Wireless charger built into my desk which works for pretty much any other wireless charge-enabled device that I have ever tried on it. I was also unable to get it to work on my Pixel Stand 2 charger as the coil on the charge and the one in the rear of the phone just would line up. I was however able to get it to work on my old Samsung fast wireless charger and an unbranded pad that I have next to my bed. You may find that mileage will vary using this feature.

That concludes the design and hardware part let’s look into how this chunky boy performs now.

Performance

The performance of the CAT S75 is perfectly adequate for a phone that is being used as a daily driver and I have not found much in the way of things that will trip it up it is pretty swift at moving through apps and loading up games and streaming services. I have not had problems with having multiple apps running in the background and the phone stays cool.

This is not going to be an out-and-out gaming beast and the likes of Shenjen Impact will not be the smoothest experience on the higher settings however given that is not my type of gaming I went ahead and fired up F1 Mobile Racing instead. On my Pixel 7 Pro this game runs fluidly with minimal frame dropping or stuttering. when I loaded it up on the CAT S75 it felt a bit more sluggish and I am quite certain that the graphics detail was not as good in terms of the track textures and details. I did try and check what level of graphics it was running at and I was unable to see this information. I did also try running another of my favourite games Grand Mountain Adventure and this ran smoothly for the most part apart from when you switched between the game and the Mini Map the were some distinct slowdowns. I can only put this down to the level of detail that is shown on the mini-map and then the phone needs to catch up on the rendering which would explain the short lag. Again this is not something I have ever noticed on my Pixel 7 Pro.

In terms of the longevity of the battery on the phone, the large 5000 mAH battery presented no problem in my daily use which consists of checking emails, mixed messaging across various channels including social media, some light camera use and approx an hour o sat nav and media streaming via Bluetooth when driving to and from work. On top of this, I am also using it a lot for web browsing as I am currently planning a trip abroad next week. I have been able to get through a normal day like this with no need to worry about when my battery will run out as the phone will gently sip power during the day and by the time I call it a night I will easily have double figures in the battery percentage icon. I have on some days been able to stretch the phone out to last up to two days but by the end of the second day, it is normally screaming out for a recharge. It will take a recharge fairly fast either via the wireless charging I mentioned above or via the USB Type C port which will allow the phone to pull in power at 15 watts which is not that fastest by any means but more than adequate for an overnight charge.

I have been trying to use the phone while I have been out trying to enjoy the sunshine when we have had and I have found that the screen is somewhat lacking in terms of the brightness. I prefer to use dark mode for my UI and this means that the brightness needs to be high in order for me to read text on the screen in bright conditions. Now because the backlight levels of this screen are not that high I do struggle to use the phone in any sort of sunshine when outdoors. I feel that this is a big weakness for a phone intended to be used in an outdoor environment. It had been my plan to take the phone on holiday to Turkey to test the underwater photography aspect but as I was going to be in the mids of a Europe-wide heatwave that wasn’t gonna work! I have found that the phone is great inside but under very bright outdoor conditions it just didn’t work for me.

Software

The software of the CAT S75 is where the phone has a chance to differentiate itself, however, I have to say rather thankfully they have not fiddled too much with the stock Android UI and I do like this however before you Pixel UI fans start jumping for joy there are some things that are missing here from the UI that I have found annoying in day to day use. it is also on a version of Android that is now nearly 2 years out of date.  Bullitt has stated that they will; be updating the phone to Android 14 but we don’t have any sort of time frame on when that will be I expect that it will be at some point next year, especially as the phone is running on a relatively unknown chipset (The MediaTek Dimensity D930 octa-core 2.2GHz) that will require custom coding to make it work with the updates before they can release firmware revisions. The good news is hope to see Android 13 before the winter however again this is not confirmed so only time will tell on that front.

I have grown used to some of the tweaks that have been enabled in the UI on Android 13 and these are not present on the CAT S75 which is a shame. For example, there is no ability to allow for the customisation of default icons in either the settings or the home screen menu which is a feature that I really like using as it allows me to personalise my phone a little bit more.

The homescreen setting menu

I have not been able to find a way to remove the recent apps option from the app drawer as well I really don’t like that function as it is just duplicating the existing app menu so is not needed.

App drawer with search function

The whole phone just feels like it is missing the little extras and tweaks that I have become used to when using the more flagship-grade phones that I normally use. Even when I compare it to the OnePlus Nord CE3 Lite I feel myself being left wanting on certain aspects of the software.

Dont get me wrong the phone offers all the things you need from a phone and for normal users or for those rallying on the phone as a tool this will be great as long as they keep the phone updated with all the security patches.

Old security update

At the time of writing this, the phone is on 1st May 2023 in terms of security patches hopefully they will be adding a more up-to-date one soon as this will give businesses the peace of mind to invest in getting these devices for their field workers which I feel is a target market for these phones. I know that when I used to work in the field as an engineer, I would have been much happier using one of these over the iPhone 7 that I was issued as that was not really useable in the rain at all which we have a lot of in the winter in this country and the “glove mode” would have also been very useful as well.

The difference between the sensitivity is all software driven in “glove mode” and it does seem to offer a marginal improvement when I tested it with some random woolly gloves I found but it would be fine with the typical style nitrile gloves that I used to have to wear.

So all in all the software is good but it does not come with some of the niceties that are found in more consumer-based phones which is hardly surprising. As a company phone admin, I would be more than happy rolling these out to my engineers as there is not much they can do to screw things up in terms of the settings as they are simply not there! I presume it would also be very simple to implement some sort of management tool on these devices for companies to use via an app linked to a back-end solution. Ironically this is a speciality of the sister phone to the CAT S75 the Motorola Defy 2 as that is being built for Motorola Mobility Solutions who are widely regarded as experts in this area.

I do like the fact that some of the “Pixel” features that I have grown to love are still here, for example, the location of the search widget being at the bottom as can be seen on the home screens and that this continues to be available regardless of the screen you are on.

Correct Google Search bar placement

I am also a fan of the UI scaling as the icons are not too big and the text size is a good scale even when dialled down to the lowest setting. I have been really annoyed in the past by most non-Pixel and Nexus phones for the fact that the icon and text size is too big due to the limits implemented by scaling this is a big win for me. So with that, I can happily say that I am pleased with the look of the software and the way they have implemented the look of things. So without further ado let’s look into the camera and how it performs.

Camera

This was one of the areas I was not expecting to be anything special and my expectation for the most part were met. As an experiment, I gave the phone to my son while we took some time to explore some very old buildings in London on a family trip recently. Now if the camera was kept perfectly steady and till the results were not too bad but as soon as movement is brought in things start looking a bit dodgey.

I have included some examples below the 1st batches are taken with the phone being for the most part stable

Here are some of the more blurry shots 

Finally here are some Zoom samples for you to check out

While this is by o means a bad camera it is also not a great camera, I feel that again when the target audience is considered then it works but I wouldn’t want to rely on this as my main shooter either. This is again another reason why I decided to not take this on holiday as my Pixel 7 pro was much more up to the task of taking photos that I want to keep forever.

As for the selfie camera, this is more than adequate for basic use and has the ability to shoot with adjustable Bokeh which is a nice touch that is actually executed reasonably well!

Something that I did notice when I was playing around with the camera modes is that the front camera will not allow night mode to be used which is a bit strange and something I have not seen before on other devices I have compared it to.

Now it’s time to look at night mode now first up is with night mode on and you can see that while the light levels are good as the sensor does well to capture the available light it is a bit of a grainy mess.

It is a much better result than if you shoot without night mode on as seen below,

Another feature that i would find useful for the target audience at least I would have found it useful in my previous role in the field, is of course Super Macro mode.

You can see that when Super Macro is on the detail in the foreground is a lot crisper but it drops out as you get deeper into the shot, however, it does look like there is some noise being picked up by the 2MP macro camera which is a shame but it will be fine for taking an image of stuff that you want to get that close too.

Finally, I captured this quick video of my shortlived ownership of a Pixel Fold and it is not too shabby

The camera software is in itself fairly easy to use and it does have some extra modes as well arguably the most interesting of these modes for me is the Underwater Mode, which I regrettably was unable to use in anger. There is a rather helpful tutorial that will take you through some of the controls on the UI.

So in conclusion for the camera, it is serviceable but nothing to right home about but again I draw you back to the target market piece again which is those who are using the phone as a tool. In a push, you will be able to get some good shots out of it but once you start getting close up or things get dark then it starts going sideways.

Time to wrap things up then.

Conclusion

This phone has very clearly been designed for a target-specific market and also one with a very specialist set of needs. If I am to look at both of these sectors of the mobile user markets then it keeps bringing me back to the same two groups. people who use their phones outdoors and people who use their phones as work tools. Now the neat thing is that these two market segments are actually looking for a phone that ticks quite a lot of the same boxes. It needs to be tough, it needs to last a long time, it has to do the basics well and it has to be simple to use.

The CAT S75 in my mind ticks all of these boxes and then it adds the extras that will really appeal to outdoor users as well with the enhanced tracking functions and offline SMS services. however with the see all requiring extra costs, I think the amount of users that will be buying the phone specifically for those functions is somewhat niche. Now to be fair this is not the first ruggedised phone we have seen but it is one of the better-specified ones and the fact that the software is relatively unencumbered is a nice bonus. The only other widely available ruggedised phone I was able to find while doing this review in person was a Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro  which is actually no longer available but it has much weaker specs and is a much older model. It can still be bought but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are looking to buy a phone that is now 4 years old and will be reaching the end of its update cycle in terms of software support. The only other option is the sister phone the Motorola Defy 2 but if you are based in the UkKi don’t think you can get one yet as they are only showing as being available via preorders with no indication of pricing.

So if you want a well specced hardcore phone that will allow you to use your device outdoors or on the work site then the CAT S75 get my recommendation with some caveats regarding the screen brightness and camera quality. But at the price of £499.00 from the CAT phones website then it is well worth getting

The post Cat S75 – Review is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

HONOR, continues to push the boundaries of innovation with HONOR Magic5 Lite. The device has been ranked No.1 globally on battery performance by DXOMARK, the world-leading quality evaluation laboratory thus solidifying its position as the top choice for consumers seeking a reliable and high-performing device.

HONOR’s focus on hardware innovation is evident in the new HONOR Magic5 Lite, with the company developing a new, high-strength, lightweight aluminium alloy in the mid-frame bezel plates. This component has undergone tens of thousands of tests, including bending, falling, strength, impact, and stress resistance. As a result, the weight of the middle frames has been reduced by 4 grams and the thickness decreased by 15%. This allows for a lighter, stronger, and more compact device.

The Magic5 Lite’s energy density is also completely unrivaled, with a battery that is 3% thinner than ordinary energy density batteries. The device’s PCB high-density layout increases the overall utilization rate of the PCB by 5%. Furthermore, the layout of the battery has been optimized to maximize space and reduce thickness. HONOR has found a balance between performance and space usage by optimizing the antenna layout. And, in a small and slim device, HONOR has therefore managed to incorporate a 5100mAh large battery.

In addition to its hardware optimizations, HONOR has also made significant advancements in its software, implementing features that work together to conserve battery life. These include Intelligent Chip Scheduling, Application Process-Level Control, Smart Network Selection, and Abnormal Power Consumption Management. These features help to reduce battery drain, even when the user is not actively using the phone, providing a unique and unparalleled experience.

DXOMARK’s rigorous testing process has confirmed the exceptional battery performance of the HONOR Magic5 Lite. The laboratory’s testing involved four test plans, including a Typical Usage Scenario, Outdoor on the go test, Calibrated test, and Charging test. The tests were performed using robots that mimic human gestures and were designed to simulate real-world usage, capturing the usage patterns of an average user. The results confirmed the HONOR Magic5 Lite’s outstanding autonomy, with more than 3 full days of moderate use, and outstanding efficiency during discharge, making it the top choice for consumers who are seeking a reliable and high-performing device.

Olivier Simon, Deputy CTO and Battery Department Director of DXOMARK.

“The HONOR Magic5 Lite’s battery performed remarkably well during our autonomy tests, lasting 74 hours when used moderately. In addition, the device’s discharge currents were very low across all use cases, which shows the engineering effort that went into optimizing performance,”

Bond Zhang, CEO at HONOR UK.

“At HONOR, we are committed to delivering the best user experience possible, and the HONOR Magic5 Lite’s exceptional battery performance is a testament to that commitment, We are proud to offer a smartphone that promises an uninterrupted and seamless experience for our users, and we are thrilled to see the device receive recognition as the No.1 smartphone on battery performance by DXOMARK.”

The HONOR Magic5 Lite is part of HONOR Magic5 series of smartphones that are going to be presented on MWC 2023 in Barcelona. The HONOR Magic5 Lite will be available to pre-order from 21^st February 2023 at www.hihonor.com/uk/phones/magic5lite.

The post HONOR Magic5 Lite Takes the Crown as the World’s No.1 Smartphone on Battery Performance by DXOMARK is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

It is not the time or the place to go into these issues today however as OnePlus unveiled their new Flagship yesterday in the form of the Oneplus 11 5G and I have been lucky enough to be one of the first people to be able to use one and put it through its paces. Not to be a spoiler but I am impressed with what I have seen so far, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves as there is a review to be done!!

Design

I like the overall design of the Onplus 11 5G it is not too far stretch from what they have done before and you can see the evolution of the design when it is held in comparison with its predecessors the OnePlus 10 Pro 5G and the OnePlus 10T 5G. In general, the phone feels great in the hand and has a reassuring solidity to it. I don’t feel that the phone is fragile when I use it which is very comforting to know that if I am a bit rough with it then it should come off unharmed.

I have already done a full unboxing of the phone if you have not had a chance to view that it can be found below

If however, you prefer your device tours in text form then here we go.

Starting from the top edge of the phone we have got a microphone whole and what I can only presume is a port for air circulation for the top speaker which is a forward-facing affair and doubles the earpiece. It is pretty loud and works well when used for calls resulting in a clear sound profile allowing you to hear your calls clearly.

Moving down the right-hand side I am very pleased to say that we have got a return of the much-vaunted “Alert Slider” that was noticeably absent from the OnePlus 10T 5G. it is just satisfying to use as it has always been and I am so glad that it has been added back into the phone. Below this is where you will find the sleep wake button that will also double up as a Google Assistant button if you wish it to via quick in the software settings. Apart from that and a few antenna lines there is nothing else to see here so around we go.

On the bottom of the phone, we have got the other stereo speaker which is bottom-firing but is again like its bedfellows at the top of the phone plenty loud enough for you to know the difference. next to this is the USB Type C port which is sadly only USB 2 in terms of support but it does support SUPERVOOC fast charging of up to 100w when used with the correct charger (handily included in the box).

Onto the left-hand side and this is where we will find a few more antenna lines (they are everywhere on this phone) and also the volume rocker. This is a typical OnePlus design trait and it has been common practice for a few years now. I have to say though it can be a bit annoying as I have accidentally ended up taking a screenshot when picking out the phone as this is where my fingers will naturally end up. I suppose it would stop happening once you become more familiar with it or change the screenshot function within the setting of the phone.

Around the back is where one of the main features of this phone is to be found. I am of course meaning the camera module. The entire module itself is encased in a stainless steel camera decor (bump) which stretches to the edge of the frame. The back panel itself consists of Corning Gorilla Glass 5 to protect from being scratched and gives some impact protection. However, in the colour, I have (Eternal Green) the phone is a slippy customer so some sort of case would be a wise investment.

Here are a few shots of the official Oneplus 11 5g Aramid Fibre Bumper Case that i have been testing on the phone to stop it from slipping out of my hands and off flat surfaces!

The camera module itself consists of four three different cameras:

Main Camera:-

Sensor: Sony IMX890
Sensor Size: 1/1.56″
Megapixels: 50
Pixel Size: 1.0 μm
Lens Quantity: 6P
Optical Image Stabilization: OIS
Electronic Image Stabilization: Yes
Focal Length: 24mm equivalent
Aperture: ƒ/1.8

Ultra-Wide Camera:-

Sensor: Sony IMX581
Sensor Size: 1/2″
Megapixels: 48
Lens Quantity: 6P
Aperture: ƒ/2.2
Field of View: 115°

Portrait Tele Camera:

Sensor: Sony IMX709
Sensor Size: 1/2.74″
Megapixels: 32
Lens Quantity: 6P
Aperture: ƒ/2.0

Here is a close-up of the camera module

The last thing in this module is the Duel LED flash which is very bright!

Around the front is a glorious 6.7″ Super Fuid AMOLED LPTO 3 display, that has a PPI of 525 and a resolution of 3216 by 1440 to make it QHD+. The screen has a refresh rate of between 1Hz and 120Hz depending on the content being viewed and this is something I will cover later on in my review. The aspect ratio is a very reasonable 20.1:9 which feels about right for a panel of this size. The other features of the display are that it has a response rate of up to 1000 Hz, Supports sRGB, Display P3 and has a 10-bit colour depth. as if this wasn’t enough the display supports Dolby Vision and is covered by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. I am sure that you will agree that on paper this looks pretty impressive and i can assure you that in person none of that impressiveness is lost!

Quite a nice tidy package I am sure you will agree. Now on with the specs sheet.

Specifications

So this is a pretty banging phone on the Specs sheet alone but how is it in real-life usage and what does that hardware feel like to use? Onto the hardware section of the review and we will throw in some performance just for good measure as well!

Hardware and Performance

A pretty face does not always mean a powerful core, however, I am very pleased to advise that this could not be further from the truth with the OnePlus 11 5G. The phone as we can see from the above specs sheet is packing a very powerful heart in the form of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor and this n turn is ably assisted by 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM on my phone with the added assistance of the RAM-Vita which will allow for the allocation of extra Virtual RAm if the OS find that the phone needs that extra boost in computational power. Not only is the RAM massive and fast but the storage on offer is, in my case 256GB of UFS.40. The combination of these elements allow for very fast read and write speeds and allows up to 44 simultaneous apps to be active in the background. Now I can not imagine a scenario where I will ever need that amount of apps to be open as I tend to break out into a cold sweat when I have more than 10 apps running at the same time. It is good to know however that I had the desire to run this amount I could do so without any significant problem

Along with the massive and quick storage, we have an equally large and fast charging battery in the form of a 5000mAh two-cell battery which charges at up to 100w via the SUPERVOOC fast charging technology that has now become synonymous with devices from the Oneplus, OPPO and Realme families. If you are reading this in America please be warned however due to the difference in power standards you will only get 80w of fast charging and your charging time will be a tad slower than the advertised time of 25 minutes from 1% to 100%. The fact that this battery can charge so quickly does lessen the sting a bit of the removal of Wireless charging from the device.

This is a strange decision as it was present on both of the last two OnePlus devices in the form of the OnePlus 9 family and the OnePlus 10 family (the OnePlus 10T notwithstanding). What makes it even stranger still is that OnePlus have included wireless charging into the Oneplus Buds Pro 2 which are being sold alongside the new phone and it would have been great to have been able to utilize the reverse wireless charging feature of the phone to allow you to quickly easily top up the earbuds when on the go.

The battery and its rapid charging could be seen as a point of concern to some as this has long been the weakest link for a lot of phones in the past. So in order to counter this Oneplus has developed its Battery Health Engine. Now coming into these phone reviews as someone who deals with the concerns of battery health daily due to owning an Electric vehicle, this sounds and indeed functions in a very similar manner to what is being done on the massive multi-cell battery backs that power the EVs of today.

In essence, the BHS will allow you to continue to use the total battery capacity and obtain faster speeds for longer by the use of the Smart Battery Health Algorithm and Battery Healing Technology. The former will allow the phone to self-regulate charging speeds automatically only doing the fastest charging when the phone needs it or you demand it by overriding a setting. it can also implement an 80% limit on the battery for normal daily charging if you are not regularly using the total capacity in one session. The latter is actually down to the electrolyte formula that has been used in the battery and this will help to protect the anode and cathode in that battery for longer meaning that the cells will last longer. Now all of this is great to see on paper but the sceptic in me has been burned before with EVs and their promised performance so the fact that the BHS system and the batteries have been independently tested by TÜV Rheinland gives me some peace of mind for the long term. How long i hear you ask well over 1600 charger cycles or 4 years (based on a daily charge session) whichever comes first.

So there is a side effect that we know about when it comes to faster charging and high performance and this is our old friend heat. Now don’t get me wrong, with the current temperatures as they are in the UK I am all for my phone doubling as a hand warmer! However, this is yet another thing that will hamper the longevity of a phone so therefore it is bad joo joo. So under that smooth glossy exterior of the OnePlus 11 5G, we find it has been optimised to try and reduce that thermal afterthought as much as possible to again ensure that you are getting the maximum performance for your movie binging, gaming, video recording, editing sessions when you are on the go. I would like to introduce the Cryo-velocity VC Cooling system, which claims to be the largest ever on the OnePlus 11 Series device’s (ED note could there be others in the series coming later on….) at a 3685 mm². if you were to lay that flat then you are looking at a piece of paper in between the sizes of A4 and A3 which is pretty awesome to think is inside the phone in the form of a Vapour chamber! If all that wasn’t enough then we also have a 5673 mm² graphene mid-frame layer to add to the mix. That is a huge amount for such a small device and it is hard to imagine how they managed to get all this inside the phone so here is a visual to show it off for you.

So what does all of this mean for performance well OnePlus has always had a mantra when it comes to performance and it is Never Settle and one of the key components of that is Smooth and Fast. The Oneplus 11 ticks the boxes when it comes down to this. I loaded up a few games to try and see how they would perform in testing conditions. I am pleased to advise that during some short but intense gaming sessions, the phone stayed cool and comfortable to hold and allowed me to play with everything on maximum settings with ease. I used F1 Mobile Racing and Republique as my test games. Both of these games ran smoothly with a consistent 29-30FPS on the screen even at their highest settings.

F1 Mobile

Obviously, these are not the most demanding games that could be run on the phone but they are what i am currently playing and I found them to work absolutely perfectly. I also took the time to run a few benchmarks on the phone and the result are shown in the screenshots below.

As you can see from the benchmarks that I have completed the OnePlus 11 is getting a faster FPS consistently over the Galaxy Z Fold 4 it also seems to handle the thermals a bit better as well as this was found in the sustained load test in Wildlife Extreme Stress test on 3D Mark. In the Geekbaench test the galaxy ZFold 4 does have a slightly high single-core score but when it comes to the multicore processing the OnePlus 11 comes out on top again.

Both of these devices are extremely powerful devices and will both be more than adequate for mobile gaming and I have not seen any sluggishness when using either of them in my daily use.

So now that we have established how powerful the phone is what can it do in terms of photography? This is a key area where this phone needs to perform well and i am not going to take it easy on the phone as I am going to be pitching it up against the Pixel 7 Pro which is one of the better phones for camera performance.

Camera

So let’s look at some macro Shots first

To my eyes, the pictures are both good but there seems to be a tad more detail on the face from the shot taken on Pixel 7 Pro. Also getting the OnePlus 11 5G to go into macro mode is a bit more of a faff as it wants to jump between macro and normal modes too easily.

Some more generic shots here one of my back garden where you can’t really see a massive difference I would say that things are about equal in these two images. The second set or some inside shots of my watch and OnePlus 11 5G edges it out for me in this one as it is a more pleasing image.

The next set is of a tricky lighting condition and in this group, you can see more from the OnePlus 11 5G shot than you can in the Pixel 7 Pro.

It is very close though but in the bottom right-hand corner, you can see a bit more colour detail of the frame on the picture from the OnePlus 11 5G.

Next up is a comparison of Zoom levels taken at the standard levels of 0.6 x zoom(o.5 x zoom for the Pixel 7 Pro) 1x ,2x and 5,

Some interesting things are going on here which i am a bit surprised by Overall at the different zoom levels the OnePlus 11 5G shots are better and truer to life than that of the Pixel 7 Pro shots. if you look in particular at the colours of the window sills on the OnePlus 11 5g they remain white through all the zoom levels. When you look closer at the Pixel 7 Pro shots you can see that the window sills adopt the blueish tint from the wall colour. Overall the Oneplus 11 5G images are truer to life. However, in the Ultawide images for each phone, the Pixel 7 Pro shows the colour of the wall much better than the OnePlus 11 5G which indicates that when the Ultrawide lens is being used the OnePlus 11 5G is lacking colour reproduction.

Time for a selfie shootout

I am expecting this too again by similar in terms of the results but I will say that the process of turning all the enhancements off on the OnePlus 11 5G is a bit more involved than that of the Pixel so if you are just looking for the unenhanced image then bear this in mind.

You will see that the OnePlus 11 has got a slightly wider angle than the Pixel 7 Pro but that being said you do have the wide angle available as an option on the Pixel 7 Pro which is not a feature found on the OnePlus 11. In terms of colour, I would say that they are even, with the Oneplus 11 5G being a tad brighter when you look at the wall in the background. However, once it comes down to sharpness this is where the Pixel take a lead. When I look at a zoomed-in version of the images focusing on my beard I can see more defined hairs on the Pixel 7 Pro than on the OnePlus 11 5G.

This could be a by-product of the fact that to get a real-world image of what you actually look like you need to turn off a load of the extra AI stuff on the OnePlus 11 5G. In isolation the OnePlus 11 5Gis a perfectly adequate selfie shooter. It also does a very good job of getting portraits when you actually select that mode. There is a noticeable difference and you can adjust the depth of field focus on the portrait mode with the OnePlus 11 5Gwhich you cannot do on the Pixel 7 Pro until you have taken the image it can be edited afterwards.

So that is the end of the comparison of the images and I think it is fair to say that in most areas the OnePlus 11 5G is a good camera and it stacks up very nicely against the Pixel 7 Pro. There is however one area where the Pixel 7 Pro stands out above the OnePlus 11 5G and indeed in this reviewer’s opinion. This area i simplicity in the camera UI. As i mentioned briefly above there are a lot of different things that you can tweak and fiddle with on the OnePlus 11 5G and for me, this is actually a turn-off. I like my camera interface to be simple and I don’t want to have to faff with setting to get the image I want. If you do like using filters and tweaking settings even in the normal modes then the OnePlus is probably for you but for me i want simple and this is where the Pixel 7 Pro wins out for me and even with the choice of phones that I have is always my go-to when I need a camera I can rely on 100%.

Below i just want to share some more images of what can be achieved by the OnePlus 11 5G when you are willing to play with some of the other settings including the option for using XPAN mode which i never really fully figured out if I am honest!

So With the stills camera covered pretty extensively, I also wanted to include a little bit of Video for you just to show what the phone is capable of. This sample has been recorded at 1080p using a 30 FPS second framerate but the video will allow up to 8K and up to 24fps when in that mode. Due to the constraints of WordPress I have not been able to upload that sample and i don’t really ever see myself using it, however, it is there if you want it!

I am happy now to move on to another area where OnePlus has been scrutinised a lot recently and this is the question of Software.

Software

OnePlus phones used to be nearly unique in the relative sparseness of things that they added to the UI on their phones. But as with the inevitable march of time they have also had to change things up as time has moved forward. So over the past few years, we have seen what was once a user favourite in the form of Oxygen UI become Oxygen OS 13 in its current form. I have found that this new OS bears a remarkable similarity to an OS i have also seen on another brand of Phone in the form of a Realme device. (see Realme GT 2 5G review).

This is not surprising given that Realme and Oppo devices run Colour OS and OnePlus devices run Oxygen OS but hold on a minute those OS’s are different are they? Well dear reader this is where eth problem lies the lines between these OS’s have now blurred significantly so much so that in the far east the OnePlus 11 5G was launched with colour OS 13 instead of Oxygen OS 13 and if you were to place phones from each region next to each other you would struggle to identify the difference between them.

But what does this all mean for the user? Well in short it is actually not that bad when compared to something like One UI from Samsung or Magic UI from Honor but if you compare it to what Oxygen UI used to be then it is also not that great. I loved Oxygen UI back in the day because it was as close as you could get to having a Nexus/Pixel phone without having one of them, it was also normally significantly cheaper than the aforementioned devices as well! However, now the Oneplus Phones are no longer clean in terms of software and they have added extra features and started to duplicate apps which is not a good place to be in my book.

Dont get me wrong there are new features to Oxygen OS 13 that I like the cute Always on Display that shows either Polar bears or Coral and the effect that temperature has on them is a nice touch, I also like the gaming app that collates your game into one place and has the ability to get pop pout tools when playing a game and also block notifications. However, there is a lot of other largely useless stuff on there that just gets in the way. I dislike that I am limited to only having an app drawer that will not show more than 4 icons across.

I don’t need the duplicate apps that are present and I shouldn’t be seeing what is essentially a storefront for OnePlus every time I go into the settings screen.

Now i know that OnePlus is not alone in the above implementations of strange add-ons to UI’s but that is what used to distinguish OnePlus from the rest of the industry they were not just putting extra bloat in for the sake of it and they kept the UI clean and streamlined. A lot of this may just be me being a bit grumpy and old-fashioned but I liked that I didn’t use to have to spend an hour removing unnecessary apps from my phone to get it to work the way I want it to. I am sure that there will be users who are new to OnePlus who have been pulled in by the Specs and the camera who will not even notice these changes from the old to the new but for me it is annoying. Dont get me wrong once i had spent some time cleaning up duplicate apps (there are not that many to be fair) and turned off the extra features that I did not want or need then I enjoyed using the phone a lot and the software is not bad at all. I just prefer things to be a bit cleaner like that what is to be found on Pixels and dare I say iPhones!

Moving on from that rant let’s get int the conclusions about this phone.

Conclusion

As i inclined at the top of this review i am impressed with what I have seen about the OnePlus 11 5G and i am happy to have had the chance to use it for the time i have been able to do so. I suppose though the real test of it is whether I would buy one with my own hard-earned cash. Well for me it is a no but where does that leave you the normal consumer? I would defiantly give this phone a look it is a great-looking and very powerful phone that comes in at an awesome price point.

Yes, there are a few things that are missing such as Wireless Charging and a full IP 68 rating but the lack of wireless charging was really a non-issue for me as the battery life is really good and the IP rating doesn’t bother me at all.

I was also very impressed by the camera as this is a massive step in the right direction from what I had seen during my last time using a Co-developed camera (OnePlus 9 series). it seems that OnePlus and Hassleblad have actually figured out what is important to people and made sure that this works for them. In all honesty, If you were to give me a batch of photos from either the Pixel 7 Pro or the OnePlus 11 5G and ask me which was which I would struggle to tell you either way.

So if you fancy a phone that is one of the most powerful currently in the market with a respectable camera and a sensible price point, then you could do a lot worse than getting a OnePlus 11 5G, and the good news is that if you do want one you can order it now from OnePlus or from Amazon right now. Prices start at £729.00, when you are there then be sure to also pick up one of their cases, as well as this, is a slippy customer, particularly in the Eternal Green colour like the one I have been testing!

The post OnePlus 11 5G – Review is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Lets be honest when most of us are choosing a smartphone the camera seems to be the main consideration point, but what about the actual action of shooting the photo/video ? Well this is where the ShiftCam SnapGrip is attempting to make mobile photography a richer experience. The user experience on a touchscreen does the best with what it has, but it’s not perfect, modern smartphones are thin, slippery without a case, and tactile feedback just isn’t the same as buttons.

That’s exactly the problem ShiftCam wants to solve with their SnapGrip photo kit. The leading product here is a magnetically attachable camera grip and shutter, but the whole package includes a few things to improve your shots and make photography more comfortable.

What’s in the box.

The kit comes with

• The SnapGrip.
• Snap Light.
• Snap Pod.
• Carry case.
• USB Type C Charging cable.

SnapGrip.

The SnapGrip is essentially a flat, MagSafe-compatible dock with a thick, protruding hand grip built on the right side. It measures 114mm by 82.6mm at the grip. The thinnest points of the dock are 6.4mm, and the grip is 32mm deep. This meant there was enough room on the grip for all my fingers to fit when held in a shooting position, and the depth is not too bad for a solid hold.

It weighs 140 grams which certainly gives the grip some heft, but it does hold a 3,200 mAh battery for wireless charging to keep your phone topped up for prolonged use. On the back of the grip are two rubber areas where the grip comes into contact with the rear of the phone. Otherwise, everything you see is plastic. I thought this was a little deceptive as the grip has the textured appearance of a rubber-coated grip, but it’s actually hard plastic.

The full-sized shutter button at the top of the grip is placed with a little slant for better ergonomics and the click when it’s pressed down is pretty satisfying. Next to the shutter button is a smaller circular button for turning on the SnapGrip’s Qi wireless charging.

Due to the magnetic attachment the grip can be positioned in both landscape and portrait, or even a stand.

On the backside of the grip are four super-bright LEDs to indicate the battery level, one light to show if it’s powered on, and one light to indicate Bluetooth pairing with the phone. On the bottom side of the grip is an exposed USB-C charging port. Next to that is a tiny hole for sticking a pin in there and resetting the device in case of malfunction, the kit comes with a SIM card tool in the box that fits right in there.

SnapLight.
The SnapLight features the connector magnet on one side and a small ring light on the other. Inside the ring light is a selfie mirror with slight wide-angle distortion, and the whole light is based on a hinge so that it can pull away from the mounting point and face either direction. It has an internal battery that charges through a USB-C port on the device so it can work independently from the SnapGrip. To be clear, though, while it can connect directly to an iPhone’s MagSafe on the back, it does not work as a battery pack to charge the phone.

SnapPod.
Another accessory for the SnapGrip is the SnapPod. This tabletop tripod and magnetic mount can work with the SnapGrip, the SnapLight, or by itself connecting to just the phone. When the SnapPod legs are folded, it works as a short selfie stick. It features a built-in ball head that allows for leveling the connector arm.

In Use.
I took the SnipGrip away with me, on a trip the Scottish Highlands, and thanks to the magnetic nature of the system, using the SnapGrip ecosystem is simple. I don’t imagine most people will leave these accessories attached to their phones full-time, but that’s okay because they all just snap into place when needed and pull off when done.

The magnet is at its strongest when it comes to shearing force. Trying to slide the phone off laterally against the SnapGrip is challenging to do casually, which is great. The easiest way to get the phone off the SnapGrip is to peel it from the grip side because you get some leverage off the MagSafe side where the phone overhangs. This would be how the magnets are weakest, but it’s still good enough to where I never felt the need to totally baby the kit. Yes, you’ll always need to keep in mind that it’s held together by magnets, but it’s not such a distraction that it gets in the way of enjoyment.

The SnapGrip pairs with a phone over Bluetooth and once it has been set up, the phone should remember the connection for the next time it’s on. The shutter button is mapped to the volume up button on the iPhone, so the functionality will match the characteristics of that on a per-app basis.

That means inside the Camera app, a short press in Photo mode will be a single picture, and a long hold will be a burst. When creating an Instagram Story or using Snapchat, a short press takes a photo, and a long hold records a video.

The SnapLight is probably even more useful because there’s never a shortage of needing a small portable light somewhere. The light has four power settings, and I timed it to last 30 minutes at full power. The hinge means it can sit on a flat surface and still point out horizontally, plus it can attach to anything magnetic, and it has a mirror for a quick self-check. It’s a cool gadget to keep around.

What If I’m not a Iphone User ?

Well I’m not my main device is the S22 Ultra, but thanks to the inclusion of a metal magnetic plate which I attached to a TPU case, I even purchased a case to fit the S22 Ultra with a Magsafe attachment, I was able to use the Snap Grip system absolutely fine.

Conclusion.
Yes, it is a nice addition to smartphone photography, and in use it does change your mindset in regards to shooting your photos. While a number of smartphone accessory makers rushed to build ecosystems of products based around MagSafe, there hasn’t been anything quite like the SnapGrip. The SnapGrip is available in 5 colours and is priced at £69.99 from Amazon

The post ShiftCam SnapGrip – Review is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

HONOR, has announced the launch of the HONOR X6, the latest addition to HONOR’s reliable X Series line up. Boasting an array of compelling features, the HONOR X6 is equipped with an ultra-large 5000mAh[2] battery, a triple camera system including a 50MP Main Camera, and large expandable storage to go with its 4GB+64GB memory.

Specs:-

• Long-lasting Battery for All-Day Connectivity, equipped with an ultra-large 5000mAh battery
• Triple camera system, including a 50MP Main camera
• 6.5-inch FullView Display offering a superb viewing experience, coupled with eye-care features such as the Eye Comfort Mode and Dark Mode
• 64GB ROM with a large expandable storage of up to 1TB MicroSD

Long-Lasting Battery for All-Day Connectivity.
Equipped with a 5000mAh battery, the HONOR X6 delivers up to 17 hours of online video streaming, 18 hours of social media browsing, or 31 hours of music playback[3], all enabled by a single charge.

Carefully Designed Camera System to Capture Stunning Moments.
The HONOR X6 features a rear triple camera system comprising of a 50MP Main Camera, a 2MP Macro Camera, and a 2MP Depth Camera. The impressive combination of cameras allows users to easily capture and record all their favourite memories, and get creative with their photography anytime, anywhere.

Stunning Visuals meet Advanced Eye Care with HONOR FullView Display

Boasting a 6.5-inch[4] HONOR FullView[5] Display, the HONOR X6 delivers a superb viewing experience. Coupled with a host of eye care features including Eye Comfort Mode and Dark Mode, the HONOR X6 offers an extremely pleasant viewing experience in different user scenarios: perfect for reading articles, streaming videos, or browsing photos, in direct sunlight or dimly lit environments.

Packed with the unique eBook Mode, HONOR X6 can convert the screen to black and white, improving the reading experience for smartphone users who want to read comfortably on the go.

Seamless User Experience with Large Expandable Storage and Smart Features
Alongside the 64GB ROM, the HONOR X6 also supports large expandable storage of up to 1TB MicroSD[6].

Delivering a smart and seamless user experience, the HONOR X6 runs on HONOR Magic UI 6.1 based on Android 12. Featuring HONOR Share, the HONOR X6 enables speedy wireless file transfers across HONOR devices including smartphones, tablets, and laptops. With the Efficient Smart Desktop feature, users can customise widgets on the home screen and access information without opening the apps, further boosting efficiency and productivity.

Pricing and Availability
Designed for the style conscious, the HONOR X6 is available in two striking colours: Midnight Black and Ocean Blue.

The HONOR X6 is available now from Hihonor as well as Argos, Amazon, Very, and Three starting at £149.99.

The post HONOR Launches HONOR X6. is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Today DOOGEE Hengtong Technology Co. Ltd introduced its latest addition to its range of smart and rugged phones. The S96 GT boasts a range of features including an impressive camera with night-vision as well as large memory, improved chipset and large battery. The device is now available in a limited-edition stylish gold variant on AliExpress and Doogeemall for £227/$249.99 with a special discount of $50 live from the 15th October, making the device just £180/$199.

Rugged phones are designed for specialized purposes and so are a great way to test out new tech. Doogee have a vast experience in designing these and created the S96 Pro – the world’s first smartphone that included a night vision camera. Two years on from the release and after a million sales, it is now launching the S96 GT with updated and improved features. Keeping the charm and appeal of its predecessor, the new model has the same design but with improvements in memory, chipset, selfie camera, and OS. For an extra bonus, the S96 GT is available in a limited-edition gold variant.

The new S96 GT features the impressive MediaTek Helio G95 chipset with improvements over the Helio G90 that the S96 Pro used. With this chipset, this newer model is faster, smoother, and more reliable. The base storage has also seen a sizable increment going from 128GB in the Pro model to 256GB in the newer S96 GT model. Even better, the S96 GT has an SD card slot that will allow users to expand up to 1TB. The new model still includes the night vision camera feature but with an improved capability to capture anything within a 15m range.

An additional new benefit for the S96 GT is an improved selfie camera. Now featuring a 32MP selfie clicker, the images that can be taken on the latest model will be clear and vibrant, allowing memories to be captured. In addition, the Doogee S96 GT will run the latest Android 12 OS straight out of the box so will be smooth, quick and easy to set up.

Retaining some of the best features from its predecessor, the S96 GT has a 6.22” display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection as well as a large 6320mAh battery that can keep users going all day. On top of the selfie camera and night-vision, the phone also has a 48MP + 20MP + 8MP camera setup on the back.

The device is now available in a limited-edition stylish gold variant on AliExpress and Doogeemall for £227/$249.99 with a special discount of $50 live from the 15^th October, making the device just £180/$199.

We are trying to get our hands on a device for a full review.

The post Doogee launches its S96 GT smartphone with night vision camera and special limited edition gold variant. is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Honer 70 rear

Do you want a phone with a great screen great processor high capacity storage and decent memory? Do you want this phone to have a cracking camera with more video modes than you can shake a stick at as well? How nice, would it be if you get this for under £600 sim free in a sleek package with a hint of glitzy design thrown in for good measure? Sound pretty good, doesn’t it? Well luckily for you the new Honor 70 has launched recently and this phone ticks most if not all of these boxes including the cost one (if you are willing to sacrifice storage space you can get it for even cheaper!).

I have been fortunate to have been given the use of an Honor 70 for the past few weeks and I have had some time to get some thought on the device. It is that time again when I try and string together my rambling into a readable and enjoyable review for you our dear reader. So without further ado let’s jump right in with the design.
Design

I have gone through the design of this phone on my unboxing and first impressions post and also covered it a little in my launch event write-up. If, however, you didn’t catch those articles, let me review them again.

Staring at the top is where we will find the normal pinhole speaker and that is it. The top edge is at least flat which is something I do like to see as it reminds me of the Note Series (RP) from Samsung.

Moving down the right-hand side we can see the volume rocker switch that sits above the power key which will also acct as a Google Assistant key on a long press if you wish to set it up this way. You can notice how slim this phone is almost immediately as when you pick it up the skinny edges just mold into you hand. this feels really nice and it still feels durablem

Around the bottom things get a little bit busier here as we have a dual sim card slot, one of the speakers (this one is bottom-firing), another pinhole mic and the USB Type C port that Support Honor’s propriety SuperCharge tech at up to 66w in this instance. Again like up the top this is flat edge which has made capturing the glamour shots of this phone a damn site easier!

The sim card slot does have a waterproofing ring around it but this phone does not have an IP rating, unfortunately.

On the left-hand side, we are met with a barren expanse of nothingness which is fine with me as I am right-handed but could be annoying for left-handed users but then this is true of most phones on the market.

Going around to the back is where we find the gorgeous shimmery, colour-changing (it is subtle but it is there) back panel which I believe is toughened glass but at this point, I am not certain. It does feel good and it is not a fingerprint magnet which I really like.

Nestled up in the top left quarter of the phone is where we can find the twin camera setup which consists of three different camera sensors including the world’s first Sony IMX800 54MP Super Sensing Main Camera (f/1.9 aperture), a 50MP Ultra Wide & Macro Main Camera(f/2.2 aperture) and a 2MP Depth Camera (f/2.4 aperture). These cameras will also pull double duty and work video recording along with various AI tweaked and assisted modes. I am looking forward to trying them out, especially Solo Shot.

Up front, we have the Display along with a 32MP Super Clear Selfie Camera (f/2.4 aperture) hole punch camera that again will work for video and AI Assisted modes for those all-important selfies.

Above the display is the earpiece which is nestled into a minuscule gap between the edge of the frame and the screen itself.

Onto the display though. This measures in at 6.67 “diagonal and has an FHD+ 2400 x 1080 resolution with a PPI of 395 and a 20.1 aspect ratio. It will support 1.07 billion colours and it is rated for DCI-P3 with a wide colour gamut.

I have to say it looks really good and I am a fan to see that it has a variable refresh rate although this is limited to 60hz or 120hz instead of being infinitely variable like on some other devices. I also have to say that I really do like the curve to the edge of the phone. It feels really smoothly done and natural and it makes the phone feel a lot slimmer than it actually is.

This genuine a really nice and well-designed phone that looks like it should be a lot more expensive than it actually is. However, is all this glitz and glamour hiding a dark and haunting secret under the skin as they do say that beauty is only skin deep!

Hardware
Well, I am very pleased to say that in this case that beauty is much more than skin deep and I would actually have loved to have seen a teardown of this phone as the components inside are all top-notch with what you can expect for a top of the mid their phone. but that is enough of my depravity for phone internals! Let’s take a closer look at what it takes to make this phone sing!

Before I really get into this there is a small matter of the spec sheet to be dealt with.

Specs

The beating heart of this phone is nothing particularly special as it is comprised of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 778G Plus processor which is mated with the Adreno 642L GPU. This is by no means a ground-shaking paring but it is one that will serve you well and it is more than good enough for the average user. One aspect of this processor and GPU combo is that it sips power which is great to hear as the battery is not a beast by any means at 4700 mAH pack size. It does however pack punch especially when it comes to charging it up as this phone thankfully supports the inclusion of Honor’s Supercharge 66W.

I am very grateful to see this as one of the omissions on this phone is QI Wireless charging which is excusable for a phone at the price point we are looking at. The inclusion of a QI Wireless charging coil would have added some more thickness which would have ruined the design aesthetic of this phone so I can understand why it was omitted here. We are starting to see a distinct division in the market where QI Wireless charging is concerned, more and more of the mid-tier devices are not including the wireless charging option in their spec sheets. I think up to a certain price point this is acceptable but manufacturers need to tread carefully as if you don’t include it in a device that tips over the £600 price point without including Wireless charging then you are going to start to annoy people and put them off buying your phones. Fortunately, Honor is on the correct side of this price point and has gotten away with it.

The Honor Supercharger 66W charger is thankfully also included in the box, which is a very good thing as this is a propriety charging system much like the SuperVOOC system employed by Oneplus and OPPO. The vast majority of the heat from the charging process is taken up by the charger brick and it allows simultaneous charging of 2 cells within the battery with a very short call balancing program built into the final stage of the charging session. You can also stop the phone from charging as this superfast speed from within the settings for the battery, allows you to prolong the battery life of your device and reduce the strain being placed on the battery over long charge times meaning you don’t have to worry about it as the software takes care of things for you.

In terms of the memory options available, you can get the phone with only one option for RAM and that is fixed at 8GB. You can however get 2 storage capacities depending on which colours you choose. if you go with Midnight Black or Emerald Green you can get either 128GB or 256GB of onboard storage. If however you go with the Crystal Silver then you are limited to only getting the 128GB storage option. I guess if you are pretty you don’t need much space to store memories as you’re the most memorable thing in the room! *Editors note We are not quite sure what has got into Garry too much exposure to shiny things I think we get him the counselling he needs we promise!

I cannot move away from the hardware section of the review without talking about the materials used in the build of this phone. Of course, upfront, we have got a hardened (not GorillaGlass though) curved screen panel.

This then goes around to a plastic mid-frame in every smooth way with very little to indicate the transition barring a protrusion of a fraction of a millimetre that you can barely see but can feel. It doesn’t feel bad but if you look for it you can see it. Continuing around this curved body takes you to a frosted back panel which is composed of Frosted Glass. I am glad that they have used the frosted back panel as this means that the back is not a fingerprint magnet and it doesn’t turn into a smudgy mess as soon as you go near it. It would even be possible if you wished to do so to use this without the extra (and included) case that allows for increased grip as the phone is pleasantly grippy with the back panel the way it is. With the mid-frame of the phone being made of plastic, this gets away from the need to have ugly antenna bands but gives the opportunity for 360-degree coverage for the antennas built into the phone’s skinny frame.

It is a shame that there is no official IP rating on this phone but again this is a cost-saving measure as the phone does have a protective rim around the dual sim tray and I would hazard a guess that the various other apertures are suitably protected as well. There is however no official rating so now swimming with this one! I would have also liked to see a recognised brand name for the glass on the front panel as it gives reassurance to the potential buyer seeing a name they recognise on a spec sheet.

Moving on from hardware, the big reason that people are going to want to buy this phone, of course, is the camera or cameras to be more accurate.
Camera

Honor have made some big claims about the camera performance for the Honor 70 and I have been reasonably impressed with the performance of the camera for normal day to day shots. i have included a few images of these below for your review.

I have found that the camera is really true to what you see with your eyes and this is due to the new Sony IMX800 sensor board with a rated megapixel count of 54. Honor have called the camera a SuperSensing camera. The camera does draw on the AI part of the Snapdragon chipset to help with the super sensing capabilities and this does work when you are using it to take various images. For example, the picture of the Cat correctly identified that the picture was of an animal and made the various tweaks to the setting and parameters to correctly capture the cat’s features and the end result is pretty good. The same was true of the sunset and this one is a bit trickier as I am asking the sensor to accommodate an extremely bright source of light and not wash out the rest of the image, again I think it does quite a good job.

The next thing i wanted to test was the variable aperture mode to get some background blur or Bokeh. Whilst the phone does have an inbuilt bokeh mode which I did try but i wasn’t that happy with so use the adjustable aperture mode to get the effect i wanted on the two shots below.

I am happy with the result in the shots above as they give me the effect i was looking for and it was easy enough to get.

One of the other features of the camera that was another area being talked about a lot at the press event was the video functions. And I was keen to have a play. So first up is the fairly normal dual camera modes that we have seen on various different devices over the past few years. They are useful if you want to give a different perspective to your footage but I can’t see myself using them very much. If I were TicToc creator or an Instagrammer then this may be more interesting. Check these samples out below.

Here is a regular video just to give you an idea of its capabilities.

The big one that is shouting from the rooftops, it is called Solo Cut. This is a very interesting feature that is something that I have never seen before. The video will automatically track a subject that you identify from the preview screen this will track the subject as it moves across the frame. I have tried to capture its functionality for you below.

The first video is the raw footage

The second video is the Solo Cut

You can see that in the first video the tracking is not as smooth as i move across the frame as the camera was being panned and the motion is not that smooth. whereas in the second video the tracking is being handled by the SoloCut software that is actively tracking my motion across the frame and it does create a smoother panning motion. While this may not be the best demonstration of this feature it gives you an idea of what it can do. The demo we were shown at the launch event showcased a group of people where one of them was selected as the target or “Solo” and the camera tracked the movement of that “Solo” as they moved around in the frame.

Here is a demo video below that might give a better impression of it in action.

The camera is a well-rounded component of the phone and if you like taking photos and are on a budget then this is potentially going to be a key selling point for you on this phone. Solo Cut mode is something that is very interesting and I can see it being extremely useful in a concert experience or at a family get-together.

Software

Honour has been getting quite good at cleaning up their software loadout on the Android lately and this is no different on the Honor 70. The phone comes with Magic UI 6.1 loaded onto it and this is based on Android as the OS. I would have liked to have seen the phone come out with Android 13 from the get-go but as the phone’s software would have been iterated a few months ago i can understand why it is not here. The UI is fairly clean and it doesn’t have too many annoying hangups as I have observed on other devices that i have reviewed and used in the past few years. In terms of bloat, there are a few of Honor’s own apps that do replicate the core Android apps but these can very easily and quickly be disabled from the main screen after a few long presses. It only took me about 3o mins to get the phone set up how I like it. This could be sped up if you use a 3rd party launcher like Nova Launcher which can store a backup of your Home screen layout in an online space. I like to try and run the phones i test with the stock launcher and UI where I can and i was pleased to say that with the Honor 70 i have not found any need to move away from their inbuilt launcher. I would have liked to see more options for changing the iconography though as the inbuilt icon sets are a bit too cartoony for me. This is something that you use to be able to do back in the Honor<->Huawei days via the Themes app. Unfortunately, this is no longer possible and the Themes App is a bit of a waste of time now, to be honest. Even if we had the ability to use the wallpaper colour match option as introduced in Android 12 then that would have been something but this is not available to you which is a shame in my eyes.

There are a few special tweaks that Honor has made in the software that are designed to help with daily tasks and the longevity of the phone. I will go over the Longevity part first as this is a big part of this phone’s personality.

The phone will easily last me 2 days with very light use of Emails, Soical media, Youtube, Music playback from local storage and so Web browsing during the evening. At the time of my writing this review, the phone is currently on 11% and it was unplugged from a power supply the morning before. I started today with around 47% in the tank. This is pretty damn good but there is a cost to this battery performance. The AI in the snapdragon chipset works with the very aggressive battery management software within the phone to pretty much kill most background processes.

An example of this is the App I use for music playback on my device called Musicolet, I install it on every phone I use and it works really well. On my Pixel 6 Pro which is running on Android 13 it just works with no issues with playback when the screen goes to sleep etc. On the Honor 70 I noticed that I would get issues with playback when the screen went to sleep, I actually got a prompt through the app that I needed to enable it to run in the background if I wanted it to return back to normal functioning. This is a real-world example of one of the apps that i have had to tweak to work around the over-eager battery management tools employed on the phone. Whilst it is not a massive issue it is something that is worth being aware of if you are an intensive user of the phone. Fortunately, I did not have any issues with receiving any of my notifications on the phone during my time with it as this used to be something that the battery management profile would hone in with laser focus and try to kill off anything other than a stock default app from delivering notifications.

I am not sure if my next concern is strictly related to the aggressive battery tweaking but i do find that when I pair my device with Android Auto i get an issue where although the pairing goes through and my car will use Android Auto it will not allow the content of the screen to display or even be interacted with. It could be that the app has not had permission set up correctly or the phone is killing the screen streaming part of the Android Auto environment but it is somewhat annoying to see this happen as i do a lot of driving so this feature is important to me. I would like to say at this point that i have had lots of issues with Android Auto on multiple phones so this is not something i am placing on Honor here and it could very well be the car software at fault. I just felt that it is worth mentioning so you know all the gory details!

The second part of the phone’s extras come in the form of neat features like the Multi Windows dock menu that will come in from the side of the phone if you perform a swipe and hold gesture this will allow you to have some quick launch apps from any screen Within a new window or a split screen mode. While it is something I have never found myself using it is nice that it is here. Also having all the usual useful gestures like Raising to wake and flipping to mute are useful little touches that make living with the phone just that little bit easier. The inbuilt storage management tool is also pretty neat as a way to help keep you on top of your files to stop that digital hoarder in all of us.

I am pretty happy with the software overall and I have been happy using the phone in my day-to-day tasks I have found that it all performs smoothly and is a nice phone to interact with. That being said I do just wish that i was able to tweak a few more things on the UI to get it to look the way I want it to. I am potentially in the minority on this though as most people who have asked and shown the phone have liked the way it looks. I suppose that this is the curse of reviewing so many phones you will always become jaded with the first little thing that irks you. Most people who will be using this phone, will find the software a great experience and probably would not question the wrinkles I have observed because quite simply they won’t notice them. This is a sign that the software has been done right for me so well done Honor you have done a good job on your latest version of Magic UI 6.1.

There is one last big feature that Honor is keen to talk about in the Honor 70 and this is Multi-Screen collaboration. Now unfortunately as I don’t have another Honor device that I can use with this tool I can tell you that I would have loved to have had this feature in years gone by as it works really well. In essence, this will allow you to access your files and other phone functions on another screen as if you are doing things on the phone. This is in itself nothing new. What is really clever is that you can actually copy things from one device to another just like you would if you were doing it on the same device I think this is really cool and wish I could have tested it for you as part of this review but it was not meant to be. This feature will work with any of the current lineup of Honor Laptops and also the brand new Honor Pad 8 that was launched alongside the Honor 70 here is a short video demoing this tool courtesy of Honor.

Pricing

The Honor 70 as mentioned above comes in three different colours and 2 different storage varieties

For 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage in Midnight Black, Emerald Green or Crystal Silver it will be £479.99

For 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage in Midnight Black or Emerald Green it normally costs £529.99 but for the next 7 days you can get this phone £499.99

All the above prices are available now from the HiHonor store where you can also get some free HONOR Earbuds 3 Pro in Gray that are worth £169.99
Conclusion

I have been very impressed with the Honor 70 and I have been happy with my time using the phone. I think it is going to be popular with those in the market for a premium-looking midi-tier phone that doesn’t have a mid-tier price point. it does a lot of things right from the stunning design to the great cameras and smooth stutter-free performance. I have even been mostly pleased with Magic UI which has traditionally been a pain point for me.

Who would I recommend this phone to then? Honestly, this is a phone that can capture such a broad segment of the market it is difficult to say. Howver one thing i can say with certainty is that if you are a keen mobile photographer then there is a lot on this phone to be excited about and you will enjoy using its features especially if you are someone who uses a lot of social media for sharing those photos and videos that you create. Another segment is style-conscious and up-and-coming influencers as they are able to afford a phone that looks like it should be in the next tier and for the most part, it will perform in that higher their as well. Lastly, for anyone who wants their phone to look good and make a subtle but strong statement then this may be a phone worth considering as it is certainly one of the nicer-looking handsets I have seen this year especially if shiny things are your cup of tea (go for the Crystal Silver one as it is stunning)

I hope that gives you an idea of if the Honor 70 is for you, if you think it is then you can order one now from HiHonor and they will even throw in some HONOR Earbuds 3 Pro Grey for free which is a nice touch.

The post Honor 70 – Review is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

To give a little context and background we have seen the T series of phones before as a follow-up after the main lead phones have been announced for that yearly cycle. Now for some reason, this did not happen with the OnePlus 9 family last year as they had the OnePlus 9 Pro 5G and also the OnePlus 9 5G. I think that this was perhaps OnePlus testing the water. I dont think they found that this release pattern was how they wanted to work which perhaps explains why we have had the 10Pro 5G with all its Hasselblad camera polish but then there has been a spell of nothing until the launch of the 10T which comes without the camera goodness but focus more on sheer performance with a bit more of a gaming focus that we have perhaps seen before with OnePlus. This is I believe one of the reasons why we have the OnePlus 10T 5G. The other comes down to the company wanting to ensure that they stay in the realm of the press and the technology news as nothing gets you noticed as a phone launch does in the mobile tech domain, especially when your price point is as aggressive as the one that OnePlus has stuck on the 10T but more on that later on!

As is the case with all my reviews let’s start with the design and hardware.

Design

For those of you who have read the unboxing post I put out of the OnePlus 10T 5G on launch day, this will all be familiar ground, however, for everyone else, I will cover it again here.

Starting on the right-hand side where we can find the Power key, sadly no alert slider this time around! This is a real shame as it was one of the staples that differentiated the OnePlus flagships from other ones on the market and it was something I did actually use a lot when I carried the phone. Could this be an indication that OnePlus is not thinking of this device as a flagship model?

Well, I have thought about this one for some time during my time with the phone and come to the conclusion that it was a design decision that had to be made to accommodate the internals of the phone. The alert slider is actually quite a large module that needs to be fitted into the side of the phone as it is not just the physical slider that needs to be accounted for but there is also the internal mechanism to allow the slider to convert the slide action into an electrical signal for the phone to interpret. Now if you put yourself in the position of the designer who had been given a brief of cramming this phone with as much power and performance as he can you can see that any way of saving space would be looked at. I think it is for this reason that the alert slider has been given the heave-ho. Will this be a new design language we see on the next “Pro series” models in 9 or so months only time will tell but I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t make a return, particularly on future “T series” devices?

Next is the base where we can see the USB Type C 2.0 charging port alongside one of the two speaker grills. Again here we can see another distinct difference in focus from the 10 Pro in that the USB Type C port has received a downgrade from 3.1 to 2.0 indicating again to me that the target audience of this phone from the designer’s viewpoint is not one that would need the capability of USB 3.1. as it is a non “Pro” device. As a side note Apple also adopted a similar policy between their Pro and Standard devices (especially in their computers) so this move is not unprecedented. 

Of course, this port does still support the propriety fast charging technology which is now called SuperVOOC. This phone will charge at 150w when used with the included 160W charging brick. The name may have changed but the technology being used is the same just with a ramp-up in terms of speed.

We also see a sim card slot here which will house 2 sims if required and does have a gasket to enhance waterproofing. We also have a large mic aperture Notice how I mentioned enhance waterproofing. Well, this was because this device does not have an IP rating, unlike its fellow family member’s as this was another area where OnePlus has been able to remove a cost from production and design development. I have not tested how resilient to water this phone is but during my time with it, I have never been concerned about the liguid ingress protection on offer. It even managed to survive having a half can of Monster spilt on it with no ill-effects as far as I can tell and that was 2 weeks ago!

Moving around to the left-hand side is where you will be able to find the volume rocker key. Not much more to say on this on apart from it give a good positive clicking action dn is easy to find after the initial first few minutes of adapting form the previous phone I had been using.

Moving around the top we have got we have got a pinhole mic and again a secondary larger mic. You will have noticed I have referred to oval shaped holes on the phone as additional mic inputs however I am yet too have had this confirmed by anyone, once I have the update I will be sure to include it here as either confirmation or correction as required.

The rear of the phone contains the camera module, which contains three different camera sensors/lenses. Firstly the primary is a 50MP Sony IMX 766 sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and a 7P lens. Next is the 8Mp f/2.2 aperture Ultra-Wide angle. Lastly, we have got a 2MP macro camera which has an effective shooting distance of 2-4cm. They are also supported by the same dual-LED “ring flash” that was to be found on the OnePus 10Pro 5G

Around the front is where we find the 6.7 ” display which has a resolution of 2412 x 1080 with a PPI of 394 and an aspect ratio of 20.1:9. The panel is a flat one and is made up of the same Fluid AMOLED that is found on the Nord 2 5G range.

It will support up to 120Hz but it will only allow three options of 60Hz, 90 and of course 120Hz. There are a load of other little features about the screen but I will cover those more in the full review.

For now, though I can say this display is a good display and I really like using it.

The last thing to mention on the top is the top speaker which hides just below the bezel and it actually sounds reasonably good given the constraints of the space it occupies certainly good enough for Zoom calls etc.

That concludes the hardware tour. Now that I have taken to going through hardware detail in a bit more detail and depth I am drawn to the similarities between this device and the Nord 2 5G as there is a lot that this very similar to that device in terms of the specs, the screen and the camera setup. Some may even be inclined to say that this is where this phone may fit as a Nord 2 Pro, above the Nord 2 and below the 10 Pro, an interesting thought but requires a bit more pondering on that one I think. 

Specifications

Hardware

This is where OnePlus is really hoping that they can draw in the specs aficionados. There are a couple of key areas where the OnePlus 10T separates itself from the masses. As normal I am going to go through these key areas as otherwise, the phone is your normal glass-fronted rectangle chock full of some very shiny hardware. So the key features I wish to talk about are.

1. Battery and charging
2. Processor
3. Back panel

So the first thing I want to cover is the battery and the charging as this is the first OnePlus device in the European market that has got the first 150w charging speed. This is down to the use of the new SuperVOOC 150W fast charging system which is a propriety system that has been developed by the OnePlus and Oppo partnership. We have already seen the SuperVOOC charging technology on some of the OPPO lineups of phones. This is a name change for the OnePlus as previously they called their charging technology was called Dart charge.

I am really happy to see that we are now starting to see these faster-charging speeds on phones however the issue I have here is that the use of the Propreit technology does limit the usefulness of the charger for powering other devices. It would be awesome if, for example, I could use the SuperVOOC 160W charger to charge my Chromebook however as the SuperVOOC 160w charger does not support Power Delivery that will not work so it means I still have to rely on my trusty Anker Mini GAn charger. As for the battery itself, this is designed to that it works as a two-cell system which will allow for faster charging as you are no longer having to cram the power into one battery. It does mean that you have to carry out some cell balancing near the end of the charging cycle. This however is all taken care of by the SuperVOOC charger and minimal heat actually gets transferred to the device when it is under charger load.

In terms of speed to recharge the phone, its advertised rate is 19 minutes to fill the 4,800 mAh battery and a day’s charger from 1o minutes of charging. These speeds are awesome and it makes up for the lack of one of the biggest convenience features of the OnePlus 10 Pro 5G device and also the preceding 9 Series. This is also a downside of the bigger battery technology and the larger heatsink as they were not able to fit in a wireless charging coil. More on this later on though when I cover the cons

Next up have the processor which is again another of the main attractions of this device. OnePlus have managed to put a Snapdragon 8+ gen 1 into the phone which means that it is packing the latest and greatest in terms of chip performance and power. insert snapdragon image here I have not got another Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 device available to draw a direct comparison against, but I can say with a certain degree of confidence that this phone is fast and it feels it in normal day-to-day use. I was never left wanting when I was trying to load apps and move through the UI. The only time i was left wanting was when I was in a weak signal area and I was being let down by the mobile network signal. This was something that did happen when I was touring the southwest coast of Wales on a recent trip. I was trying to push this phone so I tested opening multiple apps in sequence to see if I could get it to stutter at all. performed this test of the Pixel 6 Pro that I run as my daily driver as well and the results are shown in the video below.

As we can see from the video and as I expected there is some slight difference in the speed of the apps opening once a few apps are open. This will of course be affected by RAM as well, with the Pixel 6Pro having 12 GB of RAM and the OnePlus 10T having 16 GB of RAM. These differences in RAM However should not come into effect until the apps are being “reopened” For the first opening of the app the device should be essentially just working on the power of the processor with minimal support from the RAM. It also has to be stated that the Pixel 6 Pro is on Android 13 whereas the OnePlus 10T is running on Android 12 so there will, of course, be differences due to the way that these respective Operating systems deal with cache memory usage etc.

Put simply if you are looking for speed over anything else then you want a phone with the SnapDragon 8+ Gen 1 inside it which is exactly what OnePlus has delivered and just to make it extra punchy, they slathered a massive 16GB of RAM on top. That is the same amount of RAM as my Macbook Pro 14! With that being said the difference was not as marked as I expected it to be.

I also found that the phone was plenty fast enough for even my moderate gaming needs, admittedly these don’t extend much further than the odd game of World of Warships and Alto’s Odessy but the phone was slick to l0ad up the game and the UI was buttery smooth, this was no doubt helped along by the crisp 120Hz refresh rate of the screen which allowed the gameplay to be smooth and stutter-free.

Next is a bit of a weird one that I would normally not cover in the hardware section of a review but I feel that this needs to be mentioned. The back panel of the phone. it is not what most people think in that it is not made out of Toughened glass or indeed any glass. it is on the other hand made up of a type of plastic known in the “tech world as Glastic” it has some of the properties of Glass but is made out of a plastic composite.

This is a distinct departure from what we have seen before with the OnePlus Flagship lineup. While it doesn’t necessarily feel as premium it does actually bring some benefits that I feel do get overlooked by some reviews. As the material used is not as dense it does not block the radio signals in and out of the phone meaning that you will not find an antenna break line anywhere on the outside of the phone. This is also due to the outside of the frame being made of plastic as well. In theory, this should allow for a near 360-degree antenna coverage and it should be better than say the likes of the Pixel 6 Pro.

While this was true for mobile signal and Wi-fi as far as I could tell. I did find that the phone really struggled to maintain a GPS signal in some of the areas in South Wales when I driving between our cottage and the various sites we wished to visit. I also had this occur in possibly the flattest of all counties East Anglia! As such I don’t think that problem is due to not having a line of sight to the Satellites but potentially more to do with how good the GPS radio is and where it is positioned on the device. I have asked to see if fellow reviewers have had a similar experience as I did but they have not been able to confirm this or not.

Those are really for me the real differentiators between this and some of the similar phones that are being offered at these price points. There are of course two other things that need to be addressed which I do think are things that OnePlus users will miss. The first is of course the most obvious. I am of course talking about the alert slider or more accurately the lack of one. This feature has been a staple of the Oneplus Flagship lineup since the very first OnePlus One was released to the market. It was even present on the OnePlus X which was sadly the only ever version that we saw of that device. This is the 1st OnepLus device I have ever encountered without this brilliant feature and I have to say it is something that I miss.

Alert Slider we miss you!

It was not something that I used every day as I work in an environment where it is required to not have my phone ringing or pinging away constantly. Honestly, i used to use it as something that i would absent-mindedly fiddle with in my pocket more often than not but on the occasion where I did need to quickly change my alerts to loud or silent it was just great to have the facility to do so with a simple slide of the switch. I have asked for the reason for its exclusion on this phone and the cited reason was that the space it takes up is being used for seeking out the extra battery size without making the phone thicker or wider. I am not 100% that I buy this but whatever the reason it is not there it stings a bit to not have it on board as it was a genuinely useful feature that people loved, it was also something that was a big standout feature for OnePlus as it made the phones different. I do hope that they can find a way to get it back on board for the OnePlus 11T if they are going to go down that route next year.

The second big omission for me is the lack of QI Wireless charging. I feel that for a phone of this level and also this price point wireless charging is a must-have as people have now come to expect it on their devices. Again I understand from a design point of view it would have added extra bulk to the rear of the phone and it would have also added weight. However with all that being said QI Wireless charging has been a normal way of people charging phones these days with most new cars now either featuring it or at least having it as an option. This for me is an indicator that technology has moved out of the niche domain and into the mainstream as the car industry can in certain terms be quite a bit behind that of the mobile tech industry. I am aware that OnePlus, has the technology to include this even with the SuperVOOC Wireless charging technology that was seen on the OnePlus 10 pro earlier on this year so this is just a cost-saving exercise in my mind and it is one that I feel they didn’t need to do. If I am paying over £700 for a phone I expect it to be near flagship grade and this requires in my eyes at least QI Wireless charging onboard.

Finally, another commission that is not as major as the other two mentioned above is the lack of the official IP rating on the phone as again this is just something that has come to expect for this price point these days. Now I know that while the phone has not got an IP rating the phone is at least splash resistant as I mentioned earlier this test phone has had an energy drink shower!  Surely in terms of the scale that OnePlus is hoping to shift these phones, it would have not cost that much to get the official rating, so instead of scrimping next time around just send it through the testing and certification process, please!

So that wraps up my thought on the hardware side of the phone. Now it is time for the cameras!

Camera

I have seen a lot of people who have been hating the Oneplus 10T for the camera which they are stating is a massive negative on the phone. I have seen some reviewers who are actually calling out OnePlus and saying that this is now the decline of OnePlus! Now whilst I don’t necessarily agree with that extreme judgement, I am not sure that the direction Oneplus have taken with the 10T’s camera is the correct way to go. don’t get me wrong i actually think that camera setup is absolutely fine and i am very happy with the result. i mainly take a lot of wide-angle photos or landscape shots and the camera has performed really well in these scenarios of choice. During the review period, I was lucky enough to away on a “staycation” in South Wales. As such, I was able to really catch some outstanding scenes with this camera and I would like to share the with you if I can.

As you can see there is quite a good mix of various different styles of photos in the mix here and I was suitably impressed with these images and many more that I have taken in my time with the phone over the few weeks I have had use of it. 

Now, none of this should come as a surprise as the camera being used here are essentially the same as those found on the OnePlus Nord 2 5G that I reviewed near the end of last year. I really enjoyed using that camera and I have really enjoyed using this one as well. The sensors are accurate and the time between shots is quick using the software is easy and does allow you to switch into the more advanced stuff if you wish to. Now I have not had the opportunity to use the Oneplus 10 Pro 5G with all the Hasselblad software that came on that phone but I did test these features when I was using the Oneplus 9 Pro 5G and I honestly would have preferred that they were not on that phone as in my eyes all they did was add to the cost of an already expensive phone. 

I suppose what I am saying is if you like your camera relatively simple and easy to use without having to put a massive amount of thought into what you are doing then this is exactly that. If you want a pro Grade camera with enhanced functionality then consider a Oneplus 10 Pro 5G however i think you may be better served with something in the Sony Xperia lineup as they are really honing in on full-featured Cameras on their latest releases but you are paying a premium for this. I think in this vain this is why the Pixel phone lineup has also appealed to me as it is a simple and intuitive camera UI that actually takes some damn fine images.

On the video front, the camera is again absolutely serviceable without needing to be something fancy and shouty. I very rarely use the video on my phone and I will really only use it to capture footage on the rare occasion when something catches my eye. this waterfall was one of these moments.

As you can see the quality is fine for capturing these memories but it isn’t going to worry anyone in the film industry either!

As for the selfie camera well it does what it says on the tin and having the slightly wider angle lens does help when you are trying to squeeze in more than one person. See the example below.

It does the job and I was able to get some nice shots of me and my family but you will have to make do with the above!

For a phone that is not marketed with the camera at the forefront, this is a good fit for a camera in my opinion and I had no reason to question its performance when I was using it.

That pretty much covers that camera and my thoughts. Now time for the software. 

Software

This can and has broken great phones for me in the past fortunately I have found that the software on the OnePlus 10T does not fall into this category. Yes, this is Oxygen OS with a lot of influence from the sister brand Oppo’s Colour OS but I have used a lot worse when it comes to customizations. the things that made a OnePlus phone are still here and they are good. OnePlus have also been careful to not include too much bloat and associated crapware on the phone when you get it out of the box. I found that the UI was intuitive and smooth in daily tasks with barely a hiccup. The icon scaling was adequate and didn’t feel that it was too cramped when I compared it to the Pixel UI. I was only able to get a grid width of 4 icons in the app drawer, which annoyed me when I moved from my Pixel, but I got over it reasonably quickly and OnePlus is not the only offender in this respect. I have been using this alongside an Honor 70 whilst I have been doing this review and I have to say that the OnePlus scales so much better. Here are some comparison pictures of the UI’s in various different scenarios.

It is very much a case of larger icons on the Honor 70 but the smaller text on the titles at least. Fortunately, in the web browser things settle down and the scaling returns to normal as can be seen below. but when you load the same image up on the Pixel things do change quite a bit as you can see below

OnePlus 10T vs Honor 70 Website

However, if I fire up the Pixel 6 pro to the same glorious site then we see another massive change in text size see below.

OnePlus 10T vs Pixel 6 Pro website

Whilst the obvious difference between the phone’s resolution is apparent in that last image the UI does have a part to play in this as the scaling could be allowed to be tweaked further by the user to allow us to create the effect of a higher resolution screen. This is something you have been able to do in Google’s other OS for years and it can be done via developer settings so why can we not be given the option?

Anyway moving away from my pet peeves. I like the things that OnePlus have added to the UI that are nice to have, one in particular that I wish was able to be used on other devices in the form of the Zen Mode app. I find that I use this quite a lot if I have had a stressful day as it gives me a bit of time just before I turn in for the night when I can just zone out for 20 minutes or so and decompress mentally. I actually find that if I am using a different phone (which I do a lot), I will still use the OnePlus 10T to use this app.

The Games mode and app are useful to have all your gaming settings in one place and this, in turn, allows you to control the Hyperboost gaming Engine to take full advantage of the processor power and the GPU. 

It also allows you to have a constant ticker of your performance if that is the sort of thing that is important to you in gaming. You can also set up screen recording from this menu as well. I have not pushed the gaming on this phone as I am not really a big mobile gamer but I like knowing that I can play games with very high performance if I wanted too!

That pretty much closes the software of the phone for me.

Pricing

So the OnePlus 10t comes in two flavours to the UK. they vary in terms of Storage/RAM and colour so nice and simple. If you want the Moonstone Black version then you will get 8 GB RAM + 128 GB Storage for £629 from Oneplus. If you go with the colour of my unit here then you would be choosing Jade green and getting 12GB RAM + 256GB Storage for £729. if you have an older phone that you are willing to get rid of then you can also get a £100 trade-in bonus. I priced up my Pixel 6Pro 128GB and i was offered £400 trade-in value Which isn’t too shabby, however, unlike some other offerings, this value is not deducted from the purchase price and will only be credited to you after the trade-in has gone through, please read through the trade in FAQ’s before going ahead with this option.

Conclusion

So at the top of this review, I stated that the Oneplus 10T doesn’t quite fit into the market anywhere in particular and some of my fellow reviewers have been struggling to find where it fits. i think I can now give you my thoughts and I have a space for where I think this phone sits in the OnePlus stable. 

Firstly who is this phone for, I think this is a phone for those who want the raw performance of a Flagship spec chip, memory and storage but don’t have or want to spend extra on things that may be superfluous to what they need, in this a high-end camera. I  can see this being a phone that gamers would be more than happy with as it gives enough in terms of the gaming performance whilst being good in other aspects of what that sector wants. This is not a phone for the camera aficionados but that is fine as that is where the OnePlus 10 Pro 5G sits in the lineup. I think the segment that will really appreciate this phone will be those of us who are a bit too old for being wannabe social influencers but still want to have fun with their phone and demand the best in terms of the hardware that counts to them. ironically enough this is actually the segment i see that i could potentially fit into if i was actually buying the phone!

I do think that OnePlus did however make one big mistake when they launched this phone. it should not have been called the OnePlus 10T. As I mentioned at the top of the review the T has been traditionally been used as a moniker for the mid-season refresh of the existing lineup that was launched earlier that year. This phone falls into a different slot for me it falls into the space between the Oneplus flagship lineup and the excellent Nord range of phones. in that respect, I feel that this phone should have been called the OnePlus Nord 2 Pro. If that had been the case then I honestly think there would not have been as much disdain from the industry as a whole and people would have been able to see what Oneplus had been trying to do with the phone. By calling it the OnePlus 10T the industry was expecting this to be an evolution of what had come before in the form of the OnePlus 10Pro 5G which is not what this phone is about.

i will leave you to ponder this thought and on that bombshell, I will see you on the next one which is coming soon.

The post OnePlus 10T 5G – Review is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Back in March I reviewed the Pocketalk S Plus Translator which can seen here which I was mightly impressed with. Now Pocketalk,  who are a leader in real-time language translation technology, is launching its first mobile app on 6th September 2022, offering affordable, fast and reliable two-way translation on phones or tablets.

The cloud-based Pocketalk App utilises the best language translation engines in the world to translate 82 languages, ideal for holidaymakers and globetrotters alike.

Easy to download on any iOS or Android device for just £2.50 monthly or £25.50 annually, it provides subscribers access to the most accurate conversational translations, including local slang.

The app is incredibly easy to use; just select the language you want to speak in and language you’d like to translate to, hold down “translate” and speak to activate. The app will translate to text as you speak.

Additional app features include:

• Text-to-translate camera, which allows your phone or tablet camera to instantly recognize and translate digital text, written words, and signs
• Conversion feature, which computes exchanges for currency, length, width and temperature

The app will be available on the App Store and Google Play from 6th September

The post Pocketalk Has Launched An App Version Of It’s Translator is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Staring at the top is where we will find the normal pinhole speaker and that is it.

Moving down the right-hand side we can see the volume rocker switch that sits above the power key which will also acct as a Google Assistant key on a long press if you wish to set it up this way.

Around the bottom things get a little bit busier here as we have a dual sim card slot, one of the speakers (this one is bottom-firing), another pinhole mic and the USB Type C port that Support Honor’s propriety SuperCharge tech at up to 66w in this instance.

The sim card slot does have a waterproofing ring around it but this phone does not have an IP rating, unfortunately.

On the left-hand side, we are met with a barren expanse of nothingness which is fine with me as I am right-handed but could be annoying for left-handed users but then this is true of most phones on the market.

Going around to the back is where we find the gorgeous shimmery, colour-changing (it is subtle but it is there) back panel which I believe is toughened glass but at this point, I am not certain. It does feel good and it is not a fingerprint magnet which I really like. Nestlered up in the top left quarter of the phone is where we can find the twin camera setup which consists of three different camera sensors including the world’s first Sony IMX800 54MP Super Sensing Main Camera (f/1.9 aperture), a 50MP Ultra Wide & Macro Main Camera(f/2.2 aperture) and a 2MP Depth Camera (f/2.4 aperture). These cameras will also pull double duty and work video recording along with various AI tweaked and assisted modes. I am looking forward to trying them out, especially Solo Shot.

Up from the have the Display along with a 32MP Super Clear Selfie Camera (f/2.4 aperture) hole punch camera that again will work for video and AI Assisted modes for those all-important selfies. Above the display is the earpiece which is nestled into a minuscule gap between the edge of the frame and the screen itself. Onto the display though. This measures in at 6.67 “diagonal and has an FHD+ 2400 x 1080 resolution with a PPI of 395 and a 20.1 aspect ratio. It will support 1.07 billion colours and it is rated for DCI-P3  with a wide colour gamut. I have to say it looks really good and I am a fan to see that it has a variable refresh rate although this is limited to 60hz or 120hz instead of being infinitely variable like on some other devices. I also have to say that I really do like the curve to the edge of the phone. It feels really smoothly done and natural and it makes the phone feel a lot slimmer than it actually is.

here are a few more shot in comparison to the Oneplus 10T which I am just finishing the review of.

Size wise they are very similar with the Honor 70 being a bit thinner shorter and narrower. It could be said that these phones are targeting a similar market but more of that in the OnePlus 10T review!

Overall this is a nice-looking phone albeit with a few missing compromises ie no stereo speaker setup, no official IP rating and of course no headphone jack or expandable storage. however, this is also a phone with a premium feel for a mid-range price and that is very important.

I was talking to a colleague today bout this phone and he is coming from a Huawei P20 Pro, he has been looking to upgrade for a while but likes the design language of the P20 pro along with the features. Now he hasn’t even seen or held the phone yet but he is very keen to see it as soon as possible. it could very well be a potential upgrade for him as it has the features he wants for a price he wants to pay

Here is the unboxing video that I promised above for your viewing pleasure

So what is that price and how and where can I get one? If you are after the Emerald Green, Midnight Black or Crystal Silver then these can be had for £479.99 for the 128GB 8GB RAM version. If however, you demand a bit more storage then you get the Emerald Green or Midnight Black in 256GB Storage for £529.99 (currently not showing on the website).

They are currently available to preorder from HiHonor but you will get a free pair of HONOR Earbuds 3 Pro which are usually worth £169.99 if you order before the 16th of September while stocks last. Preorders deliveries will arrive by the 2nd of September. This is also when it will available to buy from other stores such as Argos, Currys, Amazon and other mobile retailers.

I will be of course using the phone as my daily driver for the next few days and will be sharing a full review as soon as possible with you right here on Coolsmartphone.

The post Honor 70 – Unboxing is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

As I always try to do when it comes to testing, I have been using the phone as my daily driver, with it fully loaded up with all my apps and games. I rely on my smartphone for a lot of access to different systems and when on holiday it is essential that these apps and systems work correctly and smoothly so this will be a good real-world test for the device over the next few weeks.

No onto the small matter of the unboxing. Here is a short video for you to enjoy where I try to cover all the important bits!

Here is a quick picture tour of the device below tour of the device.

Starting on the right-hand side where we can find the Power key, sadly no alert slider this time around!

Next is the base where we can see the USB Type C 2.0 charging port alongside one of the two speaker grills.

We also see a sim card slot here which will house 2 sims if required and does have a gasket to enhance waterproofing. We also have a large mic aperture

Moving around to the left-hand side is where you will be able to find the volume rocker key.

Moving around the top we have got we have got a pinhole mic and again a secondary larger mic.

The rear of the phone contains the camera module, which contains three different camera sensors/lenses. Firstly the primary is a 50MP Sony IMX 766 sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and a 7P lens. Next is the 8Mp f/2.2 aperture Ultra-Wide angle. Lastly, we have got a 2MP macro camera which has an effective shooting distance of 2-4cm. They are also supported by the same dual-LED “ring flash” that was to be found on the OnePus 10Pro 5G

Around the front is where we find the 6.7 ” display which has a resolution of 2412 x 1080 with a PPI of 394 and an aspect ratio of 20.1:9. The panel is a flat one and is made up of the same Fluid AMOLED that is found on the Nord 2 5G range.

It will support up to 120Hz but it will only allow three options of 60Hz, 90 and of course 120Hz. There are a load of other little features about the screen but i will cover those more in the full review.

For now, though I can say this display is a good display and I really like using it.

The last thing to mention on the top is the top speaker which hides just below the bezel and it actually sounds reasonably good given the constraints of the space it occupies certainly good enough for Zoom calls etc.

That concludes the hardware tour.

The other price of hardware I should probably mention is the SuperVOOC 150w charger and cable as these unlike some other high-end companies are included which is very nice to see. I have used that charger and I can confirm that it works pretty well.

The last thing in the box of note is the cases that came as part of my review kit but these would be additional purchases when you buy the phone. Here is one of the new options available.

As I mentioned in the intro I have been using the phone for the last few days when I have been on holiday in Wales and it has barely missed a beat with normal use.

I have been using it for all the normal holiday-ish things i.e. as a Sat nav via Android Auto, my camera, looking up places to eat and go on days out and as a phone for calling venues and friends and family. The battery has been getting me through a normal full-day use even with the sat nav running only needing a quick top-up when on the really long days.

I have included a bunch of photos from the phone to give you an idea of the camera performance when used in a variety of conditions below.

I will of course be going into everything in more detail in the full review as this is only the unboxing and a brief first impression but so far am pretty impressed with the OnePlus 10 T 5G

Update

Pricing is now in

OnePlus 10T 8GB / 128GB: £629

OnePlus 10T 16GB / 256GB: £729

The post Unboxing the OnePlus 10T 5G is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

S89 Pro

The new S89 Pro comes  with an enormous 12000mAh battery and a 65W fast charging brick. Round the back is a uniquely robot-shaped camera bump with RGB light-emitting eyes. is the most remarkable feature. Light patterns, speed, and colour can all be changed to fit personal preferences and needs.

Colours may also be assigned to alerts, incoming phone calls, and voice commands. However, synchronizing the effects with music is where this ability really shines where users can enjoy their very own miniature disco!

With its IP68 and IP69K certifications, the S89 Pro is ready to be used in any wet environment. It can withstand being sprayed with or being completely submerged in water. It is drop-resistant and capable of operating in a wide range of extreme situations, just as the MIL-STD-810H certification requires.

Powered by the MediaTek P90 chipset, paired with with an 8GB RAM setup and 256GB of internal storage, which can be expanded to 512GB with a TF card. are some descent specs.

Three cameras are housed in a cartoon robot-shaped camera bump: a 64MP Sony main sensor, a 20MP night vision camera, and an 8MP wide-angle camera. The camera comes with a plethora of photographic options for optimizing and taking the best pictures.

On the front, is a 6.3-inch LCD FHD+ display takes up much of the real estate with a hole cut out to house the 16MP selfie camera. The device also comes with the Android 12 operating system preinstalled. NFC, global frequency support, and custom buttons round out the list of available options.

S89 Pro’s launch period stretches from July 25th to July 29th on AliExpress and Doogeemall. The world premiere price will be $269/£225 approx but a very few lucky early buyers can get a $30 discount coupon to further reduce the price to $239/£200 approx. After July 29th, it will return to its original price of $319/£265 approx.

S69 

Aside from the S89 Pro, Doogee is also planning to launch the S61 series. The S61 series is a group of entry-level rugged phones which includes a vanilla variant and a Pro model.

What makes the S61 series unique is a design that allows its back cover to be removed and replaced. There are four unique back case designs, which include AG frost, carbon fibre, wood grain, and transparent back cases.

Although this is an entry-level device, it comes with some great features, including the below:

• Android 12
• MediaTek Helio G35 Processor
• 6GB LPDRR4X RAM and 128GB Super Fast & Large Storage
• 6180mAh battery
• 6 inch ultra-smooth display with 500nits peak brightness
• 48MP AI Main camera, 16MP Front Camera
• 20MP Sony Night Vision with 4 infra-red lights and 4 flash lights
• Dual SIM Global Band Coverage
• Ultra Rugged – IP68 | IP69K MIL-STD-810H

The S61 will also be launched on AliExpress and Doogeemall from July 25th to July 29th at a starting price of $109/£92 approx for a limited time.

Hopefully we will get these new devices in for a full review.

The post Doogee launches S89 Pro and affordable S69 Phones, with a 12000mAh battery. is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Right let me just come out and say it, I know absolutely nothing about Dragon Ball Z, (might be my age) but if you’re a fan of this comic series, or even a collector of special edition devices,  this might just be the phone for you.

The device is a heavily skinned version of the Realme GT Neo 3T, with Dragon Ball wallpapers, and all the icons skinned to match the Dragon Ball theme. To be brutally honest this theming just wasn’t for me I felt it was a bit to “cartoony” but then this is a Manga cartoon themed device what did I expect?

The Dragon Ball Z theming doesn’t stop there, the device itself is a Blue and Orange colour. The device box is Dragon Ball Z themed, with Dragon Ball artwork throughout. Also in the box is some of the best included stickers Ive come across, even the sim ejection tool is a Dragon Ball special edition version, along with a special edition Dragon Ball Z playing card, a TPU case and a 80W charger ( remember when they used to be included ? )

Device Specs:-

• Dimensions                           162.90 x 75.80 x 8.65 mm
• Weight                                    194.50 g
• Display                                   Super AMOLED , 120 Hz , 1080 x 2400 px (6.62″) 398 ppi
• Display protection               Corning Gorilla Glass 5
• Standard battery                  Li-Ion 5000 mAh
• Quick battery charging       80W Superdart Charging
• Internal memory                  128 GB, 256 GB
• RAM memory                       8 GB
• Operating system                 Android 12
• Interface                                realme UI 3.0
• Processor                               Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 SM8250
• Processor clock:                   3.20 GHz
• Number of cores:                 8
• GPU:                                      Adreno 65
• DualSIM                                Dual nanoSIM
• 64 Mp AI Tripple Camera.
• Stainless Steel Vapour Cooling.
• GT Mode 3.
• Dual Stereo Speakers.
• Tactile Vibration Engine 2.

Good Points:-

•  lightning-fast fingerprint reader.
• Amazing Battery Life.
• Super fast charging.
• Textured power switch.
•  COD Mobile played with absolutely no issues.
• Good Stereo speaker 
• Good clear, bright screen.
• 120Hz display. 

Bad points:-
 

• Sometimes some stutter all lag when scrolling on pages for example on the Google now feed page.
• A few bloat apps installed, linkedin, booking.com etc. But not as many as I’ve seen in previous devices.
• No wireless charging.
• No SD Card support. 
• Camera Performance in less than ideal conditions.
• The pre-installed screen protector was a bit of a fingerprint magnetic.

Design:-

If we start at the top of the phone, there isn’t much there, but there is a pinhole microphone. Additionally, the phone’s edge is somewhat recessed, which makes it feel quite comfortable in the hand. Additionally, we see one of the two speaker grills, which is a wonderful addition on a phone of this kind and helps the speakers produce a limited stereo illusion.

The power key is located on the right side, lower, and has a great texture that makes it easier to feel for in darkness. 

Moving on to the bottom of the device we have the bottom-firing speaker, which does generate decent sound. Next, we have a USB Type C port that supports Superdart Charger technology, which enables incredibly quick charging. More on this later. Another effective pinhole microphone for voice pickup is presented next. The last item is the Dual Nano sim cardholder.

The individually mounted volume buttons are located on the left side and have a nice, positive clicking action when used. Like other Realme devices the separation of the buttons because it prevents you from confusing the volume for the power button.

On the front is situated the  earpiece/speaker, which is creates the illusion of stereo separation. This speaker’s volume is a little lower than the one on the base, but still gives a good sound.  Additionally, there is a front-facing camera with the following specifications: 16 MP, f/2.5, which makes it ideal for selfies without completely erasing the background. It can capture videos in 1080p at 30 frames per second, thus using it for video call

 The rear cover’s quality is almost rubberized to the touch, pleasant to the touch, and glossy in a slight relief near the Dragon Ball insignia in the upper right. The sides are orange and blue in colour. You may still get the GT Neo 3T in the most traditional hues if colour and finish are a concern for you.

The smartphone’s aluminium frame is constructed with the same meticulous attention to detail that Realme has been known for in all of its products, from the most affordable to the most expensive: The smartphone weighs 195g and measures 162.9 75.8 8.7mm, making it not particularly lightweight but usable in all situations. The smartphone’s curved edges, which make it easier to use and in more situations, are quite comfortable in my opinion. The bump chamber is also gorgeous, with its orange chrome finishes leaving a terrific impression.

One of the things that hasn’t advanced (however, let’s be clear, it wasn’t essential!) The display is the same one that was used on the GT2 from the previous year, measuring 6.62 inches with FullHD + resolution, Samsung’s matrix panel AMOLED E4 with a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz and a touch sampling rate of up to 360 Hz. Although I did find that the auto brightness was to aggressive in its settings, but simple to toggle off. 

The panel’s backlighting feature, which has a maximum brightness of 1300 nits, is a superb technical jewel. Beyond the dull technical specifications that almost all smartphones in this price range share, it must be said that Realme is a guarantee as usual: from the incredible visibility in direct sunlight to the colour accuracy and dependability of the images, a quality that doubtless many smartphones, even those made by more expensive and well-known manufacturers, occasionally struggle to achieve.

The smartphone’s attached hardware, albeit not of the newest generation, enables it to perform admirably in all conditions, including those requiring the most resources. On the other hand, we’re talking about a smartphone that costs around £500 , so it is the very minimum that you can expect. a thing from this category. The smartphone manages gaming, multitasking, and operations of all types with a breeze.

Graphite, diamond thermal gel, silicon sheets, and other elements capable of ensuring effective heat dissipation make up the framework of the Realme GT series’ cooling system, which is what unquestionably distinguishes it from competing smartphones. According to the manufacturer, the GT Neo 3T’s cooling system, which measures 4.129 mm2, is the largest one ever built into a Realme smartphone. In fact, during CPU stress tests, the GT Neo 3T performs at 90 to 100 percent of its potential for as long as samples are taken, which is an excellent result given that the temperature increase is barely perceptible to the touch.

Software:- 

Realme GT Neo 3T, which will launch in mid-2022, has Android 12 onboard, one major release more than the previous model, along with the custom Realme UI 3.0. The user interface (UI) is unchanged aesthetically, but as always, it enhances the user experience, which is now even faster and smoother thanks to recent corporate upgrades.

Therefore, there won’t be any significant modifications made, if any at all. The Privacy, with its dashboard including user-related information and permissions, is the most important area in need of improvement. The rest of the time, RealmeUI in-depth is used, which is repeatedly confirmed to be my personal favourite ROM for Android handsets.

Unusually there were only a couple of pre installed apps, linkedin, Facebook TikTok, and Booking.com, these can be easily uninstalled, if not needed.

In Use:-

For this review I decided to put my S22 Ultra in a drawer and solely used the Realme GT Neo as my only device, At the base there is the  Snapdragon 870 5G 7nm Octa-core, flanked by 8GB RAM memory LPDDR4X and 256GB of dual-channel storage type UFS 3.1 

I found device a breeze to use, it was extremely snappy, as was able to handle any task I threw at it, including some long gaming sessions on Call Of Duty Mobile. I did find some very slight lag, but this was only limited to the Gogle Now feed. The under screen optical fingerprint reader, worked absolutely flawlessly, and would open first time 95 times out of a 100. Powering down the device needed some new muscle memory and it required a long press of the power button and the volume up key. Just pressing the power button triggered the Google Assistant. 

Call quality was clear and mobile data performance was more than adequate, with some impressive 5G speeds, RCS messaging worked straight away,

Camera. 

Photographically speaking, however, small steps have been taken by the company: the primary lens counts as much as 64MP available and has an aperture of f / 1.8, the lens ultra-wide is 8MP f / 2.3 and the lens macro finally, it is from 2MP f / 2.4. The front selfie completes the kit of lenses, which remains 16MP with f / 2.5 aperture.

The RealmeUI camera app has improved with the new update, including new options for more seasoned users who can now regulate the focus, shutter speed, lens exhibition, and much more. This is the first thing I noticed.

However, when it comes to photography, the Realme GT Neo 3T produces stunning images throughout the day with a high degree of detail, fantastic dynamic range, and outstanding lighting adjustability. Even if the results tend to go somewhat worse as the light diminishes, they are still excellent and competitive with those of other smartphones in the same price range. Even though, to be honest, the final photo may have slightly distorted colours if there are a lot of warm lighting present, the results at night are good because the smartphone regulates the light sources well. However, this frequently occurs.

The 16MP selfie camera can capture images with superb focus and beautiful bokeh when used during the day, but at night it performs somewhat less well due to the necessity for a steady hand. The films may now be recorded up to 4K 60fps, where there is outstanding information and excellent sharpness. For my personal tastes, FullHD recordings continue to be preferred due to their superior stabilisation.

Some Video footage. 

Battery Life.

The My typical days used included some call of duty mobile gaming watching a tiktok (far too much I know it’s an addiction) checking in on my other social media applications again too many times per day.

Listening to pocketcasts for a few hours location services on all the time for my weather service and my life360 service and three email accounts constantly syncing.

I was able to get all but 6 hrs of screen on time, to be honest it did feel the GT Neo 3T was better on battery than my S22 Ultra.

It was time to top GT Neo up, which I did using the supplied 80W Superdart Charger. Which took the device from 2% to full in just 33 mins. And with charging speeds like that I can almost forgive the lack of wireless charging.

GT Mode. Turned on for a full day, there was a noticeable increase in how the device felt, it was super responsive and snappy when flicking through menus or opening apps, and on some occasions it felt faster than my S22 Ultra.

At the end of my normal days use with GT Mode on all day my battery was at 35% so a hit on the battery life, but that’s running at the max settings all day.

Conclusion:-

If your a fan of the Dragon Ball Z series this is definitely the phone for you, but I reviewed it as a mid range (approx. £500) phone, and it didn’t disappoint at all, the screen was fluid at 120Hz refresh rate, and the whole device was snappy to use. The battery life was excellent and its easily a tow day per charge phone, that tied to the included 80W charger meant the device was topped up in the length of a shower. I did find that the auto brightness was a bit to aggressive for my liking but it was quickly toggled off.  The GT Neo 3T felt a good size in the hand and on some occasions felt preferable to use over my S22 Ultra. I’ve got wireless charging pads all over the house and even in the car, and due to the omission of wireless charging I did miss just plonking down my phone for a quick charge.  

The post Realme GT NEO 3T Dragon Ball Z – Review is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

I am unfortunately a bit late to the party and the pre-order window for this phone will be coming to an end very soon (26/05/2022), but if you are still looking to pick up a Flagship phone from Honor then here is a peek at what you can expect to get the box.

As a bonus, I have also managed to get the HONOR SuperCharge Wireless Charger Stand (Max 100W) White Metallic Silver alongside the review unit so i have included that in the unboxing video as well.

So without further ado let’s get this phone unboxed.

As is always the case I will be using this phone as my daily driver for the next few weeks in order to evaluate the phone and give my opinions. One thing I will say is that from using it just for the 1st few hours it is very nice to be suing a true flagship grade phone from Honor. I feel that they may even be able to fill the void that has been left by Huawei, as they in my humble opinion have dropped off in the UK due to the lack of Google Mobile Services.

Only time will tell if this lofty claim is to be truly lived up to but I have high hopes and I am looking forward to testing this device out.

Here is a short film shot by Eugenio Recuenco on a Honor Magic 4 Pro using the IMAX Enhanced Movie Master function.

Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy while I prepare the review and if you want to pick up a cracking deal then check out the Honor pre-order page now!!

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The post Honor Magic 4 Pro – Unboxing is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Back at the end of March, I let you know about a new rugged phone from DooGee the S98, well following on from the success of that device the company have announced a Pro version, imaginatively named the S98 Pro.

Specs Include :-

• Professional grade thermal camera.
• 48MP Sony IMX582 primary camera.
• 20MP Sony IMX350 night vision camera.
• MediaTek Helio G96 processor..
• 64MP main camera.
• 16MP selfie camera.
• 6000mAh battery.
• 8Gb Ram
• 256GB Storage (Expandable to 512GB with micro SD card).
• Dustproof, shockproof and waterproof rugged shell.

• 33W ultrafast type-C charger.

• Wireless charging is available with support for up to 15W.

• 6.3” FHD+ LCD IPS waterdrop display with a Corning Gorilla Glass.

The S98 Pro comes with other nifty features, such as a custom button, NFC, support for 4 navigational satellites (BeiDou, GALILEO, GPS, & GLONASS), IP68, IP69K ratings and MIL-STD-810H complaint. The phone will also run Android 12 out of the box with up to 3 years of security updates guarantee from the company.

We have asked to get one in for a full review and put it through it paces, fingers crossed we get are hands on one.

The post DooGee Announce A Pro Version of the S98 Rugged Phone. is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

A few other ancillary devices also accompanied the phone’s launch in the form of the new Honor Watch GS 3 and the Honor Buds Pro. These other devices were mentioned in passing, but the event’s main focus was all on the Honor Magic Pro 4.

This is a true Flagship contender from the reawakened brand of Honor and it has some pretty big claims that from an initial first look it will be able to stand up to.

I got a very brief hands-on whilst I was at the event, but I will be conducting a full review of the device in due course. Before I dive into the details of the device I will cover the important news about what this will cost for you to buy outright.

The Phone will be launched in two different colours with both being available with a Storage of 256GB and 8GB of RAM with a launch price of £949.99. it will go on general sales on the 27th of May however if you are looking to grab a great deal then the pre-orders will open tomorrow for the same price with some added goodies in the form of the Watch GS 3 Ocean Blue & SuperCharge Wireless Charger Stand & Magic 4 Pro PU Case. This deal is available from 13/05 to 26/05, and is a gift package worth ￡324 which is nothing to be sneezed at!! See more at this link Honor Store

In terms of the event, it went through quite a lot about what makes this device a great new device for Honor to bring to the market i am going to go through some of the highlights now. I will try and give you a bit of a feel for the device from my limited hand on time that i was able to get and the presentation that we witnessed.

The display of the phone is one of its key features as it should be given that this is where you will interact with the phone. It is comprised of a 6.81″ Flex OLED panel which is of LPTO construction. The Screen also sports an eye pleasing Pulse Width Modulation rate of 1920Hz so it should be kind to your eyes. In addition to this, it will allow for an adaptable refresh rate all way down to 1 Hz and up to 120hz. This is called Honor motion Sync and is new to the Honor Magic 4 Pro.

The screen resolution comes in at 1312 x 2848 giving a PPI of 4060 whilst also being able to display 1 billion colours. We also have 100%DCI-P3 colour gamut support and HDR 10+. All of this display wizardry is actually made possible by the phone having its very own display Chipset which allows the active conversion of low frame rate videos to a higher frame rate resulting in silky smooth video, which in itself will have also be uprate to HDR by the Always on HDR technology

Moving onto the next big feature of the phone, the camera. When you look at the phone from the back you are greeted with the camera module which Honor is referring to as “The Eye of Muse”!

Whilst this may be some very fancy marketing speak there is indeed a lot going on around the back of the phone. So within this module are 3 camera sensors, comprising a 50Mp Main Camera, a 50MP Ultrawide and finally a 64MP Periscope Telephoto unit. In addition to all of the main sensors, we also have an 8×8 dTOF multipoint laser focus sensor to ensure that the camera is as focused as possible in the quickest amount of time. Lastly here is a Flicker sensor to reduce that flicker effect when taking photos.

Here are more detailed specs for all the camera sensors.

I think it fair to say that this camera sounds mighty impressive however these sensors are not any good unless there is a great computation behind them. This is where Honor’s Ultra-Fusion Computational Photography comes in. This enables the device to produce high-definition images in stunning clarity, even when shot from afar.

In essence, the idea behind this is that the camera sensors will all work together to produce the best focused, sharpest and cleanest image they can. The computational side will stitch all these images together and apply the colour engine to create the final image all of this in mere seconds. This is all being powered by the heart of the phone the mighty Snapdragon 8 Gen1 Chipset which is included Snapdragon Sight which is the ISP for the camera.

Now before I move entirely away from the camera I also want to circle back around to something I mentioned earlier, which was IMAX Enhanced. This is a term we are used to seeing in Cinemas these days so why am I mentioning it on a phone with a relatively small display (when compared to the behemoth of IMAX cinemas) Well that is down to something Honor is calling Magic Log.

For those in the know, this is the ability to capture videos in a glorious 10bit 4K 60fps thanks to Log recording. What is Log Recording and why should I care will here is an explanation in as simple terms as I can put it or understand it! Essentially when recording using a log (logarithmic)profile you are able to preserve the dynamic range and tonality of what you are recording better The end result is that when you playback the finished article you will get much truer to life representation of the footage. Having more dynamic range to play with will also allow for more flexibility when it comes to editing the masterpiece you just captured. So this will be beneficial to any budding Stephen Spielbergs out there and also to those who just want to up their ticktock game alike!

So that cover of the two biggys Display and Camera next up is power and as I have already mentioned this comes with the very latest from Qualcomm in the form of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 5G Mobile Platform. This is supported by the latest Qualcomm 7th Gen AI Engine and Cortex-X2 CPU Architecture Allowing the phone to deliver amazing speed and processing for everyday use and intensive tasks such as video editing and high-end gaming. Pair this up with 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM and you have a great platform for all but the most demanding of tasks.

However, with great power comes the concern of poor battery life well Honor hopes to alleviate this by the inclusion of a 4600mah battery that can be recharged either wired or wirelessly at 100w when using the 100W Wired Honor SuperCharge plug or the 100W Wireless Honor Super Charge stand. This will allow up to 100% charge in 30 minutes. This is something I am very keen to test when I get a chance as i currently charge my Pixel 6 Pro on a 10W wireless charger!

A couple of other very cool feature that the new Honor Magic 4 Pro possess are the following;

Privacy Calling, this s supported by AI and provided by Directional Sound technology via the simultaneous transmission of sound from the screen and the receiver to adjust the volume of the incoming audio so it can only be heard by and not your neighbour in the seat next to you. The two parts will work together to adjust the volume to suit different environments resulting in the caller’s voice being all but inaudible to a person nearby.

Qualcomm Sonic Sensor Gen 2 fingerprint reader which is 77% larger and should result in up to 40% increase in recognition of your fingerprint to allow for enhanced security. This is something that will be tested upon receipt of a device for certain!

Also to cap the whole thing off the Honor Magic 4 Pro is IP68 rated meaning you don’t need to worry about the occasional spillage or using it in the delightfully British weather!

I mentioned that Honor also released some new headphones and their latest watch and i have included some brief details of these below as not much time was spent discussing these items

Honor Watch GS3

This is the latest incarnation of the Honor Watch series and is a non-Google Wear smartwatch that provides a great array of sensors for all your fitness needs whilst maintaining some style and longevity that you would expect from a smart watch

Honor Earbuds 3 Pro

Honor’s latest headphone’s release feature the world’s 1st Coaxial Dual-Driver design and High resolution piezoelectric ceramic tweeter to deliver both rich and delicate sound details and booming bass. They also  support AI Active Noise Cancellation for an enhanced audio experience.

These accessories are available to buy right now from Honor starting at £189.99 for the Honor Watch GS3 and £169.99 for the Honor Earbuds 3 Pro

So as i mentioned at the very top of this post all of this can be ordered now from the Honor website. if you are quick and you order before the 26/05/2022 then you will get the bundle shown below plus a SuperCharge Wireless Charger Stand & Magic4 Pro PU Case for free.

The phone will be released for general sale without the above offer on 27/05/2022 and will be available from Honor, Currys, Argos and Amazon. It will also be available on competitive pay monthly tariffs from Three and Carphone Warehouse. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is not also being offered by some of the other networks in the UK but we have not had confirmation of that yet.

I am very excited to see the Honor Magic4 Pro in my hands and I hope that I will be able to bring you the full unboxing and review of the phone very soon.

The post Honor Magic Pro 4 – Launched in the UK!! is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Honor 50 5G glamour shot

Design

This is an area where I feel that Honor has made a step up in terms of quality as this is one the nicest looking Honor phones I have had the pleasure of using. it is a really nice and comfortable shape and it feels good in the hand. Normally I try and avoid using the included case with phones I have in for review to give me a feel for the naked device. I did try and do this for a few hours but the phone just got so manky that the see-through case had to go on.

Encased Honor 50 5G!!

Surprisingly for a free case, this didn’t detract from the design aspects that I like about the phone in its raw uncovered form. The curves on the case mirror those of the phone nicely creating a secure feeling grip that is smudge-free. All the buttons are still responsive and easy to locate, with the cutouts on the case all lining up perfectly as well.

Now that we have gone over that kets have a little tour around the device. 

Starting on the right-hand side we have got the volume rocker and the power key which is placed below the volume rocker. As I have been switching phones a lot recently this takes a bit of getting used to but once I had used the phone for a day it became normal for me to find the buttons in these places.

Right-hand side

Moving around to the underside of the phone is where we can find the primary speaker alongside a Micro USB Type C, a pinhole microphone and the sim card slot which is capable of taking two Sim cards but sadly no SD Cards as the storage is not expandable.

Bottom side

On the left-hand side, we find an expanse of nothingness. So we will move on!

Left-hand side

Up to the top of the frame, we have got a few more pinhole mics.

Topside

Around the back is where we come to what is perhaps the main focus for this phone the camera array which is comprised of two units.

Rear panel

Up top, we have got the primary camera which delivers an impressive 108MP when used at full resolution. Underneath this is the rest of the quad-camera set up comprising of an 8MP Ultra-wide camera, a Bokeh Camer and a Macro camera.

Camera module

I will explore these in more detail a little bit later in the review. If you can get the Frost Crystal Colourway of this phone then you will get a very fancy back that is comprised of dual-film dual-coating technology, which makes each colour sparkle like diamonds. As I have the Emerald Green I don’t get this sparkle but the colour does shift slightly depending on the angle that you look at it from which is a nice touch.

Coming around to the front of the device is where it gets a lot more interesting as this is a very nice display. But before that, we have another camera up at the top which is a 32 MP unit with a 90-degree field of view for getting those nice wide-angle selfies and also for good video but more on this is the camera section later.

The front camera and Earpiece

Just above this camera is the secondary speaker which pulls double duty as an earpiece as well. This gives a reasonable level of stereo separation which is nice to see and hear too.

Front panel

The other thing of note here is the screen which is really nice one that measures in at 6.57″ diagonal with an 89.7% screen to body ratio. The resolution is 1080 x 2340 a 19.5:9 aspect ratio and a PPI density of 392. In addition this the screen itself is OLED and has a refresh rate of 120Hz meaning that it is both responsive and fluid to use.

The front screen turned on

There is however one big issue with the display which I will come back in the software section as it is down to the software and not the display.

And to round up the tour it is time for a specs sheet

NAME	Honor 50 5G
COLOR	Frost Crystal, Amber Red, Emerald Green, Midnight Black
DIMENSIONS	Height: 159.96mm Width: 73.7mm Thickness: 7.78mm Weight: 175g
DISPLAY PARAMETERS	Size: 6.57 inches Resolution: 1080 x 2340 PPI 392 Aspect Ratio: 19.5:9 Refresh Rate: 120Hz Type: OLED Support 100% DCi-P3
PERFORMANCE	Operating System: Magic UI 4.2 based on Android 11 with Google Play Services CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G GPU: Adreno 642L RAM: 6GB / 8GB / 12GB Storage: 128GB / 256GB Battery: 4300 mAh (non-removable) Honor SuperCharge 66w
MAIN CAMERA – REAR	108 MP, f/1.9, (wide), 1/1.52″, 0.7µm, PDAF
ULTRA-WIDE CAMERA -REAR	8 MP, f/2.2, 120˚, 17mm (ultrawide)
MACRO CAMERA – REAR	2 MP, f/2.4, (macro)
BOKEH CAMERA – REAR	2 MP, f/2.4, (depth)
FLASH	Dual-LED Flash
ZOOM	0.7x – 10x
AUTOFOCUS	Multi Autofocus (PDAF+CAF)
VIDEO	4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS Video editor
FEATURES	Night Mode, Aperture, Portrait, MultiVideo, Video, Panorama, High Res, Time Lapse, Super Macro, Pro
FRONT CAMERA	32 MP, f/2.2, 22mm (wide), 1/3.14″
VIDEO	1080p@30fps
FEATURES	Face unlock, Screen flash, HDR, Face retouching, Portrait
CONNECTIVITY BAND	2G Bands GSM: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 CDMA: 800 3G Bands HSDPA 800 / 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100CDMA2000 1x4G Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 26, 28, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 66 – International1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 18, 19, 26, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41 – China5G Bands 1, 3, 7, 28, 38, 40, 41, 77, 78 SA/NSA – International1, 5, 8, 41, 77, 78 SA/NSA – China
WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
BLUETOOTH	5.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD
NFC	NFC enabled
POSITIONING	A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, QZSS
SENSORS	In-display fingerprint sensor Accelerometer Electronic compass Gyroscope Ambient light sensor SAR Sensor Proximity sensor Sensor core
PORTS	USB 2.0, Type-C, USB On the Go Dual nano-SIM slot
BUTTONS	Gestures and on-screen navigation support Volume key Power key
AUDIO	Dual stereo speaker Noise cancellation support

Hardware

Now that we have got the specs and tour of the physical hardware out of the way it is time to discuss what makes the phone tick on the inside. The Honor 50 5G is not an out and out powerhouse and nor is it trying to be. It comes with a more modest chipset in the form of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G 5G chipset which is paired to an Adreno 642L GPU as can be seen from the specs list above there is multiple version available in terms of the memory that you can get with 3 different configurations, 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM. These internals are supported in turn by a 4300mah battery that supports up t 66w fast charging from the Honor SuperCharge charger that is thankfully included in the box. This will give you up to 70% charge in 20 mins with the remaining 30% taking you up to a full 45 minutes as it slows down near the end to balance the cells in the battery thus prolonging the pack life span. if you don’t need a rapid recharge then this will charge from a lower power supply with no issue at all as this is what I did for the majority of my use during testing.

That is the internals dealt with but you don’t interact with them you interact with the display and thankfully this is a good one. I do like the fact that Honor has decided to include a 120Hz display. now I have said in the past that I can’t tell the difference between 60Hz and 90HZ displays and that it doesn’t bother me what i use. While i still stand by this statement it is nice to know that this screen tech is becoming more widely adopted in the midrange sector now. I still can’t really perceive a difference with my ageing eyes but knowing it is there gives me a nice smug feeling! I found that the 6.57″ panel was nice and enjoyable to use and looking at the curved edges made it feel sleek in my hand without detracting from the content. Colours were punchy and didn’t seem to be too “tweaked” to make them feel unreal. Brightness was more than sufficient for use indoors and out with the only time i had any real issue was when i was under direct glaring sunlight which is not all that common at this time of year. I watched a bit of Youtube on it and found that the video was fluid and didn’t seem to distort at all so was a pleasing viewing experience. 

You can of course lower the refresh rate down to 60Hz if you wish to but i kept mine on Dynamic which will ramp up the refresh rate when required or daily it down when it is not needed. You can also lock it into High if you want that as well but this will be a detriment to the longevity of the phone. Whilst we are talking about the longevity of the phone I have been very please with the battery life of this phone as I have been managing to get through a workday with very little issue normally with just under 35 to 40 % left in the tank. This is spread across mixed usage of Calls, Messaging via text or WhatsApp, Email, Light web browsing, Streaming content on Youtube or Spotify and also using it as a Satnav whilst hooked up to Android Auto. Some days I would even have enough juice left over to not need to bother with a charge until well into the next afternoon. On average I was seeing between 3 and a half to 4 hours screen on time most days.

Performance was snappy whilst interacting with the device as you would expect from a phone from this year. I never felt like I was moving faster than the OS would allow me to. The phone responds to inputs accurately and smoothly. it is a really nice device to interact with one caveat, more on that later. I found calls to be crisp and clear as well while signal retention was good and of course when I ventured into a 5G enabled area then this would be picked up quite quickly. As for data speeds I was able to hit download and upload speeds slightly higher on this device than I can on my OnePlus Nord 2 5G  over my home Wifi. My Nord2 averaged 48.23 Mbps download and 16.77 Mbps upload. The Honor 50 5G averaged 59.03 Mbps download and 17.87 Mbps upload. making for a near 20% increase over both metrics.

It was pretty much a match when it came to loading up various apps after a cold reboot.

So as you can see the performance is on par with the Nord 2 5G. The differences come to light however in the software.

Software

This is where, as always Honor and to a greater extent the old parent company Huawei phones have started to show weakness for me. I mentioned this issue when i was reviewing the Huawei Mate 40 Pro. The user interface that Huwaei adopt and that Honor has inherited is just downright sinful. i cannot for rhyme nor reason fathom why you would want the UI icons in both the home screens UI and drawer to be so large. I may be alone here but i cannot get over the comically large scale of the iconography on this phone. it is enough to make me not want to use it if I am honest. I know that I can use an alternate launcher and that is fine for most people, if I were to be adopting this phone for my daily driver, I would do the same thing. I shouldn’t however need to do this as it is possible with some tweaks to the developer options to reduce the icon scale down to something more reasonable. This in my mind means that the scale of the icons has been made this way deliberately and i don’t understand why!!!

Here is an example of my home screen and app drawer from my Nord 2 5G and also the app drawer.

Here is the Homescreen and app drawer from the Honor 50 5G

Lastly here is a picture of the two side by side focusing on the app drawer

The difference is quite apparent although we have got 6 rows it is the columns that really annoyed me as we only get 4 on the Honor but 5 on the Nord. Both phones have got their display and font settings down to the smallest that is possible. I am not sure what influenced this decision but I for one am not a fan.

Once I had gotten past the size of the icons (which was a challenge) I found the rest of the UI to be quite pleasant with a little bit of clutter and app duplication, which was more than I would like but i could live with it. The one thing that i did notice to be lacking was the option to set a theme on the phone as the Honor Themes store app didn’t seem to be present anymore. Other than that you have got all the Honor staple extras that you would expect 18 in total which is a bit much. However, these can be disabled so they don’t encumber you. There is also thankfully a noticeable absence of any alternative app store for which I am glad.

The main reason for the lack of an alternative app store is that this phone comes with Google Mobile Service’s installed which include the Play store and all of Googles other Googley goodness. It is for this reason I was excited to test this phone out as it represents the re-entry of the Honor brand into the UK Market as what most would call a “proper” Android phone. 

This is a big thing for Honor as the brand had become known to be the more affordable sister brand of Huawei and unfortunately due to the relationship between the two brands Honor also got dragged down by the American embargo placed on the Chinese company. Since Honor has now separated from Huawei they are not allowed to trade again in the US which means it, in turn, can also now use American businesses in the manufacturing and then the distribution of the phone. Most importantly this means that Honor can embrace all the goodness of Google’s services. 

I have always been a massive fan of the design and hardware that the Honor range of phones brought to the market but when things went awry regarding the “ban” I missed the way that Honor brought high-end to the mid-range and I felt that there was a gap left in the market. Thankfully that time has now passed and we have the once-great Honor back and bringing its great design with it.

The other big area where Honor has been known for delivering above the price bracket has traditionally been the camera. I am pleased to say that for the most part, they are still doing this in the form of the Honor 50 5G.

Camera

So as I alluded to earlier the camera component of this phone is most certainly one of its features that Honor is shouting about. This is rightly so as for normal day times conditions this phone work really well it has some really clever AI assistance in the camera which does allow it to utilise the camera module well. It will also allow for some rather clever bit’s within the video camera. i want to cover these off first before delving into stills units.

So within the video section of the phone, you’ll be presented with a few different tools to use for your vlogging purposes. Examples of these are shown below for you to review. I have found that these can be useful in some scenarios.

First up is the Rear Dual Camera mode.

This uses the main camera and the zoom lens to obtain a view of two different perspectives when recording the video. It would potentially be useful if you are trying to do a close-up demo of something that needed a bit more of a detailed viewpoint.

Second, we have got the Front and back  Camera mode

Ever wanted to show what you can see whilst also showing the customer your reaction to what you are seeing. No neither have I but this mode allows you to do just that. By using the front-facing camera and the rear-facing camera at the same time, possibly useful for reaction videos I guess. If you can find a use for it then good on you but for me, this is not one that I would use personally.

The third one I wish to highlight is the picture in video mode, Picture In Video

This one that I could maybe see me using but not really all that often although extensively the same as the above option it will use the front-facing camera but keeps it in a smaller window that can be moved around the screen to allow you to get the best view of the rear shot whilst also allowing your reactions to be seen.

Of course, the video will also record regular video in 720p, 1080 at 60fps, and 4k at up to 30fps. there is also a gyro-based Electronic Image stabilisation to allow you to keep the video reasonably blur-free, just be warned excessive movement will not be able to be prevented from showing in the footage as the EIS is not as effective as mechanical stabilization. You also have a slow-mo mode which can create some rather cool shots.

Another video-esque feature is Timelapse mode which will allow you to create some really cool shots of scenes as they change across time. Be warned though as with the full video features you will need to have got a stable position when you are using this mode. I would defiantly recommend using a tripod here.

Next to the still shooters, First things first let’s look at the type of shot you would get from the 108MP  camera. (Click on the image to see the full-res version)This is a really cool mode to have as it allows to crop into the image with minimal loss of clarity on the cropped area. If I crop the photo above to the lego figure then I get really detailed shot including the detail on the uniform where you actually make out the numbers on the shirt lapels.

Inside at Full resolution

Crop of Inside at Full resolution

Quite a neat feature but unfortunately it comes a bit undone when you are not that close up to the subject though as when you are cropping the image you do lose fidelity.

Outside image at Full resolution

Crop from Outside Image at Full resolution

Fortunately, Honor has added a zoom camera that works at a 2X level allow you a bit of Zoom magic to add to your tools when you are out and about. As if on cue here are some photos of the camera on different Zoom levels from Ultrawide, Normal and of course 2X.

I think it is fair to say that the zoom does its job and the Ultra-Wide option is really nice to have included as well. I have been able to get a lot of really nice photos on the phone in the right light levels. However, when things get a bit darker the camera starts to struggle a bit as the camera seems to take a bit longer to get the required levels of light into the sensor. To try this I thought I would take the camera out with me to a fireworks display and capture the show on there and the results are shown below.

I was a bit disappointed if I am being honest as I was not able to really capture any images of my Wife and Son enjoying the show as it took so long to get the shot that they wouldn’t stay still for long enough so I ended up with a blurry mess. Had I taken a tripod with me then I would have maybe got some better results. However, I want to be able to capture the moment as it happens and I just felt that I was let down here (also didn’t want to be that guy!!) I just feel that for the money this phone should have performed a bit better in the dark especially given that the phone does have an AI-assisted night mode on it. 

So coming back to daylight shots The 108MP sensor works well with 9 in1 pixel binning to reduce the 108MP capture from the sensor down to a more palatable size of 12mp. These photos have good detail and produce a pleasing result when used in good lighting.

So the rear camera is good when used in the correct light levels but can slip a bit when things get a bit darker.

How about the other features such as Macro and Aperture modes well here are a few samples for you below. First up is Super Macro which is awesome for those close up product style shots.

This worked very well and you are guided by the software to say whether you are too close which is useful. I am impressed with the clarity of the writing on the figures spanner. I also quite liked the bokeh effect of the background which almost makes the subject stand out a bit better.

Next up is the Aperture mode

I really like the aperture mode on the Huawei Phones of the past and I am still a fan of the Honor devices. The subject in the image is very clear and the background blurs away really nicely. Let’s see what happens on one taken inside.

This one was taken a bit closer up and the light was not as good but again we do get a nice shot although it is significantly darker almost moodier.

Last up before we move to the selfie shooter is the video at night from the aforementioned fireworks display.

Now moving to the front camera and the obligatory selfie. I have taken three different offerings for you using the different modes available to you.

These are all perfectly serviceable with the standard mode showing a bit of blurring on the boundary between my beard and the dark sofa background. Night Mode manages to get a clearer more defined separation between my face and the background. The portrait mode is about halfway between them. I did turn the bokeh and beauty modes down to zero before taking the Portrait as I wanted to get the purest image without any AI tweaking. if you do turn these on you get something more akin to the image below.

Not a massive fan of this look to be honest as it tweaks things a bit too much and I only had the beauty mode on stage 1 of 10!!

Conclusion

So now that I have covered all the key sections where do I stand on this phone. I proposed that this phone may be a good option for those who are looking at a high-end mid-ranger like the OnePlus Nord 2 5G. I am going to cut to the chase for me the Nord 2 5G wins and there are two main reasons here the camera at night and the icon size in the UI. I will be honest I am a bit spoiled by the fact that I get to test and play with a lot of phones so I have very high expectations for this level of phone.

In isolation, this is a great phone and one that i can imagine that a lot of people will be very happy using. However, when it is being put up against the competition from the likes of OnePlus and to a lesser extent Realme I feel that the phone still has a few things that have let it down. The camera was such a disappointment for night shots as this was somewhere that I remember previous Honor and Huawei devices really shining. If I recall my experience of the Huawei P30 Pro which had a brilliant camera both in the day the night then the overall feeling is that this is just a B Grade camera. Moving away from the camera and perhaps my second biggest complaint the rest of the phone is great it has a really nice design a good battery and a really good screen but i just feel that a bit more work needs to be done with the UI and the camera to really make it that go to high-end mid-ranger that Honor wants it to be.

With all that being said one of the things Honor has always been very good at is getting the price right and this may be enough to sway people especially at this time of year. Currently, the Honor 50 5G is being sold on the Honor website for £379.99 for the 6GB RAM and 128GB Storage version or £449 for the 8GB RAM and 256GB storage versions each of these will also include an Honor Watch ES included for free! This is a cracking price and makes it a great option for a gift for someone at Christmas particularly for someone who stepping up from a lower-end device as this will be a significant step up for them. It also makes it a bit cheaper than the OnePlus Nord 2 5G at the time of this article going live. (10/12/2021)

So there you have it the Honor 50 5G a good solid phone with a great screen and capable camera as long as you don’t take too many photos at night, you may want to use a different launcher though!

On a personal note oi am glad to see Honor devices with google services back on board and I look forward to seeing what they come up with in the next couple of months with intrigue again which I didn’t think I would say again the last time I was at one of their events in the summer of 2019!!

The post Honor 50 5G – Review is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

We have a new phone in for testing and this is an important one for the company launching it. The phone is the Honor 50 5G and since Honor and Huawei are now no longer the same company this one comes with the thing that I found to be missing back when I reviewed the Huwaei Mate 40 Pro earlier this year. It comes with the Google mobile services suite meaning that out of the box you get full access to Google’s software and the Play Store. This is very important for me as a Google services user and will make a big difference to how useable the phone will be as a daily driver.

So without further ado let’s begin having a look at the phone. First things first the unboxing video.

I will be comparing this phone a lot to the OnePlus Nord 2 5G which I recently reviewed for the site as this is targeting a very similar market to that phone and I think it is a good matchup in terms of competition. They are priced very similarly with the OnePlus Nord 2 5g starting at £399 for the 128GB and 8GB RAM and £469 for the 256GB and 12GB RAM version at the time of writing this post and the Honor 50 5G being £449 for the 128GB + 6GB RAM model and £529 for the 256GB +8GB RAM version. While the Honor 50 5G is a bit more expensive it is taking a bit more in terms of specs. Speaking of specs here is the all-important spec sheet.
Specs

• 6.57in FHD+ 120Hz OLED display
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G
• 6/8GB RAM
• 128/256GB storage
• Rear camera:
  • 108Mp, f/1.9 main lens
  • 8Mp, f/2.2 ultrawide lens
  • 2Mp, f/2.4 macro lens
  • 2Mp depth sensor
• 32Mp, f/2.2 selfie camera
• 4300mAh battery
• 66W fast charging
• 5G
• 159.96mm × 73.76mm × 7.78mm
• 175g

Normally I would do a tour around the device but as I have covered it extensively above I will leave that for the full review to follow soon. Instead here are a few close-ups of the exterior of the phone.

Now that I have got it all unboxed I am going to get my sim into it and start using it as my daily driver for the next few days to see how it gets on. However tonight is Bonfire night (well the day after but close enough), so it will be getting a good test tonight when I am out at the fireworks. I have high hope for the camera and its various different modes of capturing content including the multi-video function which will be cool to test out as well.

The post Honor 50 5G – Unboxing is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Who are TCL? I can hear you ask, Well, don’t worry too much. TCL were behind the BlackBerry rebirth and you may have seen some of their Alcatel phones in the past,  it is a fast-growing consumer electronics company and leading player in the global TV industry. Founded in 1981, it now operates in over 160 markets globally. According to Sigmaintell, TCL ranked 2nd in the global TV market in terms of sales volume in 2019.  

So they know their stuff,  and recently the company got in touch with us and asked if we would like to review the latest handset the R20 5G, well before its general release. 

Good Points:-

• Price.
• Gorgeous 90hz screen.
• Good Build Quality.
• Lightweight.
• 5G connectivity. 
• Good Battery Life.
• 3.5mm Audio Jack.
• Fast Face Unlock.
• SD Card Support. 

Bad Points:-

• Slippery when not in a case. 
• Camera Quality.
• Auto brightness can be a bit too aggressive.
• No Wireless charging. 

Spec’s :- 

•  Mediatek Chipset.
• 6GB ram with either 128/256GB Storage.
• 4500mAh battery, up to 18W Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0
• USB-C charging data port. 
• 6.67 inch FHD Display 1080X2400 resolution with 395 PPI, 0:9 aspect ratio.
• 48MP main camera, 8MP wide-angle, 2MP macro camera. 
• Video Capture 4K@30FPS, 1080p@60/30FPS.
• 8MP front camera, 1080p@30FPS.
• 3.5mm Audio Jack.
• SC Card Support.
• Rear capacitive fingerprint reader.  

Design:-

The TCL has a 6.67 Screen a metal frame and plastic back, where there is the camera hump and fingerprint reader, upon first picking the device up it reminded me so much of a Pixel 3, The left side of the device is plain apart from the  SIM card/SD card tray located at the bottom. On the right side volume up/down and power button below, I found that these were a little low down on the frame for my large hands. Up at the top is the 3.5mm Audio Jack, and microphone, and at the bottom is the single speaker and USB-C port. There is a very slight rib to the metal chassis, almost invisible to the eye, but gives a tactical feedback and extra grip when used without a case.

In Use :- 

Upon booting up the TCL the first thing I noticed is the screen, it’s really bright and clear, and comes with a 90hz refresh rate, at the top is a tear drop notch, but I found the chin a little on the large side although, it’s clear that TCL have put their TV expertise into this screen, which the company have billed as NXTVision.  This AMOLED screen digitally upscales content, making games and videos look HDR, and tweaking images viewed, to make them better-looking, the device comes with a 90% screen to body ratio, a reading mode, eye comfort mode and low blue light. With this all told, this screen clearly punches well above it weight and I’ve to say in some circumstances it was nicer to look at than my S21 Ultra, and I found it too bright when the brightness was ramped up to 100%, that said I found that the auto brightness setting was to aggressive when it came to adjusting the screen output, no gradual lowering/raising of brightness.

Set up is the usual Android affair but with the inclusion of  choice of search provider, loads more than I have seen previously. 

The R20 5G comes with TCL UI version 3  which is very close to stock Android and comes with the Google Feed off to the left of the launcher. The App drawer has lots of customisation and the apps can be arranged in a multitube of ways. There is some bloat apps are installed Facebook, booking com, Open Office, Microsoft news etc,  but these can be fully uninstalled.

As with every review that I do I decided to use the TCL as my only device, putting my S21 Ultra in the drawer for the duration. Did I miss my Samsung flagship ? well for 95% of the time no I didn’t and for the retail price of this device that was pretty amazing. The face unlock, although not as secure as other iterations, unlocked the device really quick, and the capacitive fingerprint reader on the back worked flawlessly on every asking. 

The UI is very close to stock Android (once I had removed the bloatware) and swipes were fluid and smooth, I only noticed the occasional stutter opening certain apps Youtube and OneNote being the main culprits, (this may improve as software updates arrive.)

The device shipped with RCS messaging service working straight out of the  box, and it was showing as having the July 21 Security Patch, but again I imagine this will be updated in due course.  Everyone I spoke to said the call quality was really clear, with no dropped calls. 

I connected the TCL to my Galaxy Watch, and all the notification’s came through fine, and I was able to make/receive calls with no issues, sometimes the Bluetooth connection would drop, but that may be down to the two manufactures not playing nice together.  The single speaker on the bottom of the unit, it loud and clear, it does lack bass, but it is more than adequate for podcasts, news etc. 

Battery life was on par with my S21 Ultra, which was a surprise as it was driving that fantastic screen, I know people measure screen on time etc etc, I just used the device as I would on any normal day,  I took the device off charge at approx 6am and used it during my normal working day returning home 7:30 that evening with 45% battery remining, so the R20 should easily last the whole day. 

The R20 is a 5G device and I was able to get some decent data speeds on the device, although as with any 5G speeds this down to numerous factors. 

Camera:-

Unfortunately, I think I may have found the R20’s Achilles heel, or where the company have lowered spec’s to get the device at low price point.  The camera set up does have some interesting modes including Super macro, Light trace, Stop motion, and Portrait mode. In good bright light the camera is able to produce some good acceptable images. 

The problems start to appear in low light, here the camera really struggles and the images produced were blurry with poor edge detection. 

Conclusion :-

The R20 5G is a  cracking phone that is well worth the money, and will be available through EE  from October 29th Priced at £21 per month at £0 upfront with 4GB data, and available for general sale in the UK from November for £179.

I really liked the form factor, and the screen is just a joy to look at, at times I thought it looked better than my £1200 S21 Ultra ( and lets be honest that’s where we spend most of our day).

It  does it have some faults, yes of course  but these are mainly in the camera department, but I have a very early version of the device and I can see that these short comings can be addressed in further updates, it won’t be the phone for the absolute top end spec hunters. It is not intended to be for that market.

Look back in the Coolsmartphone archives where Leigh reviewed the TCL 10 5G a midrange handset priced at over double the R20’s price, and this lower tier device scores higher. 

Would I recommend this phone to people yes I would, I know the lower tiers of the market is flooded with devices from all over the globe but the R20 5G is a handset worthy of a look if your in that market. 

The post TCL R20 5G – Review is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

The Google Pixel 6 is expected to be released on October 19, and the latest rumour claims availability will start from October 28. Interestingly, the Pixel 6 flagships will only be available in 8 countries, including the UK, the US, and Germany. Google has been very picky as to regions where it will sell Pixel devices. Furthermore, some of the countries get limited colour options. Once Pixel 6 is announced, the Pixel 5 is likely to attract massive discounts

According to Youtube channel, This is Tech Today, which previously shared a hands-on video for Pixel 6 Pro, has leaked the supposed prices for the next Google flagship.

The price of the Pixel 6 Pro will start at €900/£780  The device will be available in three variants with 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage options. All the variants are expected to arrive with 12GB of RAM. Doubling up the storage will cost an extra €100/£87 at each step. In other words, top of the line Pixel 6 Pro 512GB will be priced at €1100/£950 which is right in iPhone 13 territory.

The Pixel 6 is likely to arrive in only two configurations. Prices start at €550/£475 for the 128GB variant €650/£560 An 8GB RAM will back both the Pixel 6 variants. The Pixel 6 Pro offers not only bigger RAM but also a 6.7-inch QHD, fast charging of up to 33W, 4x telephoto lens, and much more. All the additional features end up increasing the price of the Pro version by nearly €350/£300.

To me these prices seem a little on the cheap side, but it wont be long till we find out the real retail prices.

The post Pixel 6 Prices Leaked is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

OnePlus Nord2 5G

It’s new phone unboxing time! This is an exciting one as it is the sequel to the OG OnePlus Nord, a really good phone and one that we rated very highly over the course of our review, back around this time last year. Today I get the chance to unbox the OnePlus Nord 2 5G!!

This phone is hot off the press as it has only just been announced by OnePlus along with some other cool kit.

So here is the unboxing video below.

The phone steps up in terms of design and feel over the previous generation and it has brought some goodies down from the 9 series lineup which is greatly appreciated. A couple of key things that are stand out features for me are the following;

• The display is high quality and high-resolution Panel as before but it does have some added features driven by AI. These are AI Video Enhancement and AI Photo Enhancement
• A new Chipset from Mediatek in the form of the MediaTek Dimensity 1200-AI processor, which has been customised to work the way OnePlus want it to.
• The design has been shaken up to now incorporate a slightly more curved edge to the display making it feel sleeker in  the hand
• A massive 4500 dual battery has been crammed inside the phone to allow longer battery life and faster charging via 65W Warp Charge
• The rear camera has been taken from the 9Series devices as the main camera bringing along all 50MP with it this camera features a Sony IMX766 sensor and optical image stabilization (OIS)
• This time we also have a full fat 5G phone!!

There have also been few other big things that have happened behind the scenes which do affect the OnePlus Nord 2 5G and I guess all future OnePlus phones. OnePlus has become more aligned with its parent company BBK which means that the OS customization is still called OxygenOS but it now has some very heavy influences from Realme and Oppo in some of the layouts and features. This will become evident in the review process especially if you have been keeping up with our recent reviews of Realme devices.

Anyway, that is enough waffle for the time being here are some more shots of the phone from the press release from today’s event.

The Specs

NAME	OnePlus Nord 2 5G
COLOR	Gray Sierra/Blue Haze
DIMENSIONS	Height: 158.9mm Width: 73.2mm Thickness: 8.25mm Weight: 189g±1
DISPLAY PARAMETERS	Size: 6.43 inches Resolution: 2400 x 1080 pixels 410ppi Aspect Ratio: 20:9 Refresh Rate: 90Hz Type: Fluid AMOLED Support sRGB, Display P3
DISPLAY FEATURES	Video enhancement AI-Super resolution Daylight readable enhancement
PERFORMANCE	Operating System: OxygenOS based on Android 11 /Color OS 11.3 CPU: MediaTek Dimensity 1200-AI GPU: ARM G77 MC9 RAM: 6GB/8GB/12GB LPDDR4X Storage: 128GB/256GB UFS3.1 Battery: 4500 mAh (non-removable) Motor: X-axis linear motor Warp Charge 65
MAIN CAMERA – REAR	Megapixels: 50M Pixel Size: 1.0 µm Lens Quantity: 6P OIS: Yes Aperture: f/1.88
ULTRA WIDE CAMERA -REAR	Megapixels: 8M Field of View: 119.7° EIS: Yes Aperture: f/2.25
MONO LENS – REAR	Megapixels: 2M Aperture: f/2.5
FLASH	Dual-LED Flash
ZOOM	0.6x – 10x
AUTOFOCUS	Multi Autofocus (PDAF+CAF)
VIDEO	4K video at 30fps 1080p video at 30/60 fps;720p video at 30/60 fps Super Slow Motion: 1080p video at 120 fps, 720p video at 240 fps Time-Lapse: 1080p 120fps, 720p 240fps Video editor
FEATURES	Nightscape Ultra, AI Photo Enhancement, AI Video Enhancement, UltraShot HDR, Portrait Mode, Night Portrait Mode, Portrait distortion correction, Panorama, Pro Mode
FRONT CAMERA	Sensor: Sony IMX615 Megapixels: 32M Pixel Size: 0.8µm EIS: Yes Aperture: f/2.45
VIDEO	1080p video at 30fps 720p video at 30fps Time-Lapse
FEATURES	Face unlock, Screen flash, HDR, Face retouching, Portrait
CONNECTIVITY LTE	4×4 MIMO, support up to DL Cat 18/UL Cat 13 (1.2Gbps /150Mbps), depending on carrier support
CONNECTIVITY BAND (EUROPE)	GSM: GSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900 WCDMA: B1/2/4/5/8/19 LTE-FDD: B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/18/19/20/26/28/38/32/34/39/40/41/66 NR NSA: N1, N3, N7, N8, N20, N28, N38, N41, N78 NR SA: N1, N3, N7, N20, N28, N78, N41, N8 *Network connectivity may vary depending on carrier’s network and related service deployment. Notes: B66 frequency range is only 2110-2180MHz(3GPP defined 2110-2200MHz)
WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, 2.4G/5G,2*2MIMO
BLUETOOTH	Bluetooth 5.2, support aptX & aptX HD & LDAC & AAC
NFC	NFC enabled
POSITIONING	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou, NavIC
SENSORS	In-display fingerprint sensor Accelerometer Electronic compass Gyroscope Ambient light sensor SAR Sensor Proximity sensor Sensor core
PORTS	USB 2.0, Type-C Dual nano-SIM slot
BUTTONS	Gestures and on-screen navigation support Left: Volume key Right: Power key
AUDIO	Dual stereo speaker Noise cancellation support
MULTIMEDIA – AUDIO SUPPORTED FORMATS	Decoder: WAV, AAC/AAC+/eAAC+, MP3, WMA, AMR, FLAC, ALAC, Vorbis, AIFF, APE Encoder: WAV, AAC, AMR
MULTIMEDIA – VIDEO SUPPORTED FORMATS	Decoder: H.264, MPEG-2, VP9, HEVC, HEIF/HEIC, MPEG-4, H.263 Encoder: H.264, HEVC, HEIF/HEIC, MPEG-4, H.263
MULTIMEDIA – IMAGE SUPPORTED FORMATS	Decoder: BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, WebP, HEIF Encoder: JPEG, PNG
IN THE BOX (EUROPE)	OnePlus Nord 2 5G — Warp Charge 65 power adapter — Warp Type-C cable (Support USB 2.0) — Phone case — Screen protector (pre-applied) — SIM tray ejector — Welcome letter — Quick start guide — Safety information and warranty card — Highest SAR value

Before I leave you here are the prices that are live now! You can pre-order OnePlus Nord 2 5G from OnePlus.com and Amazon now until midnight on July 27. If you do this it will ship on July 26. if you do pre-order from OnePlus.com can also benefit from 10% off a Nord 2 phone case and a screen protector as well as 50% off a pair of OnePlus Buds Z.

If that wasn’t good enough if you pre-order a OnePlus Nord 2 from OnePlus.com will also get access to a free Stadia Premiere Edition, consisting of a Stadia Controller and a Google Chromecast Ultra.

As for the actual prices here they are,

Gray Sierra 12GB  RAM 256GB ROM  £469 from OnePlus.com and Amazon Then in John Lewis from 28th July

Blue Haze /Gray Sierra 8GB RAM 128GB £399 from OnePlus.com, Amazon O2, Three, Amazon, John Lewis from 28th July

July 28

I think it is fair to say those are some pretty good launch offers. if however, you are the type of person who likes getting the phone on Contract then the OnePlus Nord 2 8GB / 128GB will be available from O2 and 3 in both Blue Haze and Gray Sierra, pricing to be confirmed by the networks soon.

Finally here are some shots of the actual device have for review.

And the case I got with the phone the Doodle case is my favourite one!

As for the cases, these are pictured above and you will be able to get the Black Sandstone and Doodle Chaos version from OnePlus in the UK with the Desert Mirage Sandstone one only being available in India.

Check back in with us soon for the full review!!!

The post OnePlus Nord 2 5G – Unboxing is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Realme GT 5G

That is the question that is being posed in the review of the latest phone from Realme the Realme GT 5G. I have been able to use one for the past few days, and I will try to answer it during this review.

Now before I delve fully into the review I feel I should give you a bit of a tour of the device. I have done a full unboxing of the phone and the video for that can be viewed below.

Before I get started on the review I just want to add this quick disclaimer. I am basing this review on a sample unit that I have been supplied with by Realme. I have not had any form of payment for this review and Realme have not had any preview of this review either. The thoughts and opinions in this article are my own and this will always be the case with any reviews for Coolsmartphone.com

If you prefer your tour in text and photo’s, medium then you read my unboxing post by going to it here.

I was pretty impressed with the phone after my initial first impressions out of the box. now that I have been using it for a bit longer and the initial excitement of it being new has worn off how is it?

First here are the specs

Well, it is a bit a mixed bag if I am honest as I do like the hardware but there are some minor niggles that stop it from being great. But before I go into them I quickly want to say that for the price this phone comes in at a lot can be forgiven. Currently, you can pick up the phone as I have it in my review unit (8GB RAM, 128GB Storage), for £346.09 (price on 16/07/2021). This is an awesome price and there are not many other phones which pack the punch this one does at this low price. That being said onto the niggles.

Hardware

The first thing I found a bit annoying was the fact that the volume and the power buttons were located on the opposite sides of the phone from each other. This made it a bit trickier to learn the muscle memory to know how the phone was sitting in my pocket. I found that a lot of the time I was pulling it out of my pocket to find that I had been pressing on the volume down button to try and wake the screen. This then required me to do a double-take what way around I was holding the phone causing me to have missed some threat impromptu shots. Not a big issue but it can mean losing the perfect opportunity which can be frustrating.

Left hand side

Next up are the factory-supplied freebies. So first is the Screen protector which is really only suitable for protecting the screen for transit. I have managed to get multiple scratches on it without me being particularly hard on the phone at all. Next up is the included case which is just a bit nasty if I am honest. I am grateful that it comes in the box but can we start to see the quality of these step-up please, as this one doesn’t do the phone justice.

This next one is a minor complaint but I found that the NFC sensing area on the back of the phone awkward to use as it is next to the camera bump and I was always worried I would scratch up the glass on the camera when using it. Admittedly NFC is not something that is used a lot anymore but I have now found that I need to use it almost daily at work so this did flag up on my radar. In retrospect, I am glad it even has NFC as a lot of earlier phones designed for the Asian market didn’t even have this feature

Apart from these really quite minor issues I have found the phone pleasant in terms of hardware. Nothing really leaps out at me to make this phone a “special” phone unless you get the Yellow “leather effect” version, which stands out a bit more due to the rear panel being clad in the aforementioned material. The phone I got was a glass backplate which is nice but as is the case with most glass-backed phones it is a fingerprint magnet so most of its life was spent in the free case that is provided.

I would have liked to have some sort of an official IP rating on the phone but at this price point, it is not worth the manufacturer going through the testing process. A lot of devices from OnePlus have until very recently been similar in terms of not being tested to an IP rating but in reality being perfectly splash resistant to all but a full submersion. I have happily used the phone in the rain with negative effects so far.

Another feature that would make this flagship worthy is Qi charging but also we don’t find this either a real shame as I now look for this in a flagship device. However, this too can be forgiven at this price point and at least the charger that is provided will give you a full recharge in 35 minutes which is awesome and QI charging would slow this considerably.

In terms of battery longevity, I have found that I can easily get through a full working day with the phone not needing to be plugged in until I got to bed and even then it still has at least 20% on it. This is with the phone being used for email phone calls, Teams and other social networking apps about an hour of web browsing along with at least 3o mins of Youtube surfing during the course of the day. To give you an example of how it compares i get similar results from my Note 10 + which has a slightly bigger battery but doesn’t have 5G support. My Pixel 4a 5G will also get me through a day but it will be closer to single digits by bedtime. I can stretch that battery life out further if I need to use it by lowering the refresh rate of the screen down to 90hz if I feel I need to but so far I haven’t felt the need. That leads me to the last bit I want to cover on the external hardware which is the screen.

This is a good screen and it performs really well. It may not be up there with the likes of Samsung and their Super AMOLED panels but I have used a Samsung for the past year and I cannot really fault the Realme AMOLED panel to be fair as it compares very nicely.

Realme GT 5G

That is about all I can say about the external hardware. The phone is well built and stands quite high in the category it is in price-wise.

Moving onto the internals now.

The big key selling point of this phone is the Snapdragon 888 SOC (System on chip) that is at the heart of this device. This is perhaps (at least to my knowledge) one of the cheapest ways to get this chipset in a phone these days. Does the phone need all this raw power? In a word no, is it appreciated that it is available hell yeah! I found that during my normal use of the phone there was no real perceptible lag in any operations that I carried out. I am quite tough on my phones, particularly when travelling in the car.

This is an activity I do a lot and I have Android Auto running through the cars infotainment system when I am driving. This has been a good way of showing up deficiencies in the phone processing power in the past and for the Realme GT 5G, it worked like a charm. I would actually go as far as saying that the operation seems to be smoother than on my Pixel 4A 5G. I found that when I was using the assistant whilst also using the navigation via google maps I had no noticeable issues with the response. The only problem I did have was that sometimes there was a small lag in the map updating my actual real-time location. It is hard to say whether this is down to the phone or Android Auto as I have seen it on other devices including my Realme 8 Pro and my Pixel 4A 5G.

I was also particularly keen to see how the phone coped with running games so I booted up my staple test of World of Warships. I then proceeded to ramp everything up to the maximum and I was not disappointed with the outcome as the gaming experience was as smooth as I would have expected for a phone with the power of the SD888. Having the 120hZ refresh rate was also a really nice bonus as I could feel a difference from when I have played the same game on my Note 10+. It just felt a bit smoother which was nice to see.

As for my other daily use scenario of multiple email, clients, Chat groups via Whats App and Teams plus the use of the Camera and Google photos to share all of the pictures with my team, I had no issue with any of this. I was also having to use the phone as a tool to set up systems for work that required me to use the NFC as mentioned above it worked fine but I dint like the position of the NFC reader.

What I was really impressed with and I have alluded to this above is that the phone gave stellar battery life easily powering me through the day and I put this down to 2 things really. Firstly the optimisations have been made at a Chipset level with the automatic load balancing that takes place within the cores. The chip will automatically reduce the amount of processing cores as needed to “throttle down” the performance if you don’t need it. This helps to eke out that battery life a little further when you are not using the phone intensely. You cannot see this in action but you can see the results. The second one is down to the optimizations built into the phone itself. Realme have added various battery-saving feature into the software fo the phone at its core. These optimizations take on various forms a few of which I want to highlight here.

Auto screen refresh rate:- This will allow for an adaptive refresh rate on the screen when it is needed. It is a very similar technology that was implemented into the OnePlus 9 Pro 5G that I reviewed previously although it doesn’t have quite the same level of range as that phone. Essentially when the phone’s screen is displaying a static non-moving image the refresh rate will be as low as possible whereas if you are doing something that needs the screen to “refresh” it will ramp the screens rate up to an appropriate level. It is awesome to see this being used on a mid-tier phone as it is normally a high or low option but having the Auto mode is a really nice touch.

Auto App optimization:- This is done on an App by App basis and will look towards how the apps are being used and also how often. The AI on the chipset will then figure out which apps need to be left to run at full power and which ones can be put to sleep. This is a big one for me as during the week I will be requiring the use of certain app more than others during my working day. A prime example of this is Outlook as I use this a lot for work. However, when the workday finishes I want the app to stop drawing power so I can tell it to do so or let the phone manually take care of it. The good thing about this system is that the more I use it the more it learns from me about how I use it and gets better at knowing what I want when I want it.

Quick App Freeze:-This essentially puts an app that has been used recently into a frozen state and will hold it in that state until it is called upon again, therefore, saving you battery as it is not polling for information until you ask it to do something again. I find it particularly useful if launch an app unintentionally.

All of these little things add up to a phone that gives really impressive battery life and I know that I can get through the working day without having to hunt for the charger. However, should I need to juice the phone up again then I can do this very quickly thanks to the included 65Watt SuperDart Charger that comes included in the box! This will give me a fully charged battery in 35 minutes as I have already mentioned which is great to have in the back pocket should I need it!

With the performance of the phone now covered let’s look at the other core feature that makes the phone pleasing to use and that is, of course, the software.

Software

This is an area where Realme is a little behind the curve in my opinion. The implementation of the UI is good but it is not the best. I have am quite particular when it comes to UI’s and I always have been which I possibly the reason that I am always drawn back to Pixel’s (and Nexus devices from a bygone era). I like my UI to be clean uncluttered and flexible and this is where I find that the Realme UI falls foul for me. I like to have my home screens set upon a way that I can action things at a glance without having to go into apps to do stuff. This makes the use of widgets really important to me. On my Note10+ I use three Gmail widgets across 4 home screens to allow me to see what I have coming into my various account at a glance. This allows me to streamline what I need to act and what I don’t. I cannot do this on the Realme GT 5G or on any Realme device for that matter and this is down to Realme UI 2 not supporting multiple occurrences of the same widget. For me this is a big negative and until it is sorted almost rules the phone out as an option for a daily driver. I say almost as I can of course use other launchers to get around this issue but that then adds a layer of complication that I feel shouldn’t be necessary.

I must say here that I am probably an extreme case as I have spoken to other reviewers about this and most of them don’t find this to be an issue. For a normal user, the phone UI is pleasant and it offers a lot of customization which I did actually like as you can set it up to have the colours that you want and in a way that you like to use it but I did miss having the multiple widgets and if I am honest it did annoy me over time.

Here are some screen recordings of the setup on my Note10+ and the Realme GT 5G

Dont get me wrong the phone is not by any means unpleasant to use and I do like the fact that you have the ability to have a quick launch bar on the side of the display that can call up recently used apps.

The long-press on any home screen to bring up the settings for configuring the home screen is useful for wanting to make quick changes is also really intuitive.

All the standard Android features that you would expect to see in an Android 11 device are present and correct and multitasking is a dream with split-screen view easily accessible. So maybe I am being a bit hard on the UI but I am just a bit set in my ways. if you like a clean UI then I think you will be very happy with what is offered by Realme UI. I gave my wife the chance to use the phone for a few days and she was absolutely happy with everything on it and she noticed that it was a vast improvement over her previous phone which was slow and cumbersome in comparison.

A nice addition to see here was the inbuilt Game Space. This allows you to block notifications and draw the maximum power from the phone when you enter a game along with some other useful features like screen recording. When in a game you can swipe in from the left-hand side to bring up the Game space menu to set things up the way you want to and it will also show your CPU, GPU and FPS stats. You can also adjust the settings for what mode you want to run the games in from three options, Low Power Mode Balanced and Pro Gamer. These different modes will configure the screen and the chipset demands accordingly with Pro-Gamer giving the maximum performance at the cost of battery power.

In World of Warships

In Odyessy

Next, we move onto the cameras.

Camera

The Realme GT 5G is not being positioned as a camera king but in order to be a “flagship Killer” worthy contender, it does need to have a good camera. For the most part, it fulfils that need. It is not a great camera more of a serviceable camera. it will take a good picture but there are better options out there particularly at this price point as well. We have got three elements to the camera in the form of a 64MP IMX 682 main sensor that is supported by an 8MP UltraWide and a 2MP Macro lens.

Camera module

The main camera has a lot of cool features that have been added to its UI mostly assisted by the AI from the SD 888 chipset.

When taking an image on the main camera in auto mode it will actually take multiple images then it will stitch these images together in order to attempt to give you the clearest and noise-free image available. This works reasonably well within good light but I have to say it does start to struggle when it gets darker.

As a comparison here are some shots from the Pixel 4A 5G taken in the same conditions.

The other modes that are available within the camera are as follows:-

• Pro 64MP mode, is essentially a mode that will utilise the full 64MP sensor to capture an image that can be zoomed into further digitally.
• Super Nightscape Allows for tweaked parameters and AI support to enhance photos taken at night or in low light.
• AI passport, Takes professional-grade ID-compliant photos avoiding the need to go to the photo booth at the local supermarket!
• Chroma Boost, using AI to identify scene information and ensure that the colours in the image are as true to real life as possible

Most of the above are AI-enhanced features of the camera and these are in addition to the regular shooting mode’s that are to be found on most smartphones. I was surprised to see that Starrynight mode was not available on the Realme GT 5G as this is something that really impressed me on the Realme 8 Pro when I reviewed that.

I have included some images of the same scene below to show how the Ultrawide camera compares against the normal camera. it also shows the extent of the zoom function although with this only being an optical zoom I wouldn’t use it anywhere above 2x as otherwise, things get a bit messy, as you will see below.

The front-facing camera is a 16MP unit and does a good job at getting pictures once you have turned the beautification mode (which is on by default) off. In portrait mode, the Bokeh can only be dialled down to 1% and it does have some slight fringing issues on the edges of my face. Here are some samples below so you can see them for yourself.

Here are some shots of the Auto mode and then also the 64MP mode and the only noticeable difference is how far into the photo you can “zoom”.

As for Video, the phone will record at up to 4k at 60FPS although for my use I found that 1080p at 60fps was adequate. I did notice a difference in the focus speed during a brief test shown below. With AI turned on the video retained focus better than without which I didn’t expect. This is shown in the second clip below.

There is also a Dual View Video mode that could prove to be useful for bloggers and influencers etc. I personally have not yet found a need for it (answers on a postcard greatly received…)

The last thing I want to cover is the Macro lens which really does seem redundant as this can actually be achieved more effectively by utilising a wide-angle lens properly. However, it is here so let’s try it out.

It does the job on this very extreme close up shot but i don’t find that i need to get this close to things very often and I can get a similar result from a reasonable distance with the zoom on the Pixel 4A 5G

As I mentioned above the camera is serviceable but I wouldn’t be buying the phone for the camera alone as there are better options for your money.

So now we have got that all covered off I think we can come to some sort of a conclusion.

Conclusion

Is this a “flagship killer”. In my opinion no with a caveat as what I need from a “flagship killer” is what I expect from a flagship but fro a fraction of the price. However, I have been blessed with the opportunity to use many flagship phones over the years so my views are somewhat jaded by that. So I posed the question again to my wife and after explaining what the term meant she gave it a more positive appraisal. for most people who are looking for a high performance and generally good all-around smartphone for a fair price, this is a “flagship killer”. it is what the creators of OnePlus were doing with the first few generations of their phones. You can see this is n the DNA of the Realme GT 5G. This phone will certainly tick the boxes for those who are not really that bothered by specs and niche features but do want a good all-around experience and something that just works. The Realme GT 5G does that and then some. There is enough here to interest a phone geek but not enough to keep them I feel (more on that later though).

I have been really happy to use the Realme GT 5G and I would happily recommend it to someone who wants a bit more bang for their buck than from the likes of Samsung or Huawei. If however like me you are a bit fussy about UI’s and want some nice although niche features such as Qi then it may not be for you.

Just one more thing………..

There is however one thing that would make me buy this phone and that is the fact that it is one of the cheapest ways to get an Android 12 beta ready 5G device at the time of writing this. I know that the Pixel 4A is cheaper and will also be a hell of a lot easier to test the Beta software on but that is not a phone I could ever see myself using as it is too small. I am hoping to follow up this review with my progress of getting the Android 12 beta onto the device but at the time of writing it is not looking too good. I will however keep trying and of course, keep you posted.

With the phone being on the Beta test roster, it does mean that once the beta period is over this will be one of the 1st batches of phones to get the official software upon release. So this may be worth considering if you want to be on the cutting edge of Android software but don’t fancy a Pixel device.

Here is the video overview below

The post Realme GT 5G – Review is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

WhatsApp despite its recent controversy over its new privacy policy ( enabling it to share more user data with Facebook) is still the world’s most popular messaging client.

And it appears that soon, it will get a feature WhatsApp users have long been asking for, the ability to use the same number and account on more than one device at a time.

At the moment WhatsApp only lets you use your account on a single phone or tablet. If you set it up on a new device, you’re logged out on the previous device.

However, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed this week that an upcoming update for WhatsApp will remove this limitation and allow up to four devices to be connected to a single account, making the messaging platform similar to it’s rivals like Signal and Telegram, which have seen plenty of WhatsApp users sign up in recent months.

So, if like me you own multiple Galaxy devices at home, you will soon be able to use up to four of them to check and send messages on your WhatsApp account, all logged in at the same time.

Another feature coming to the platform will be WhatsApp will be disappearing message ssupport, which will automatically delete messages as soon as it has been sent by the recipient (similar to Instagram’s Vanish Mode). These new features will be available in the beta version of the app “in the next month or two”, and the stable version is likely to get them a few weeks after that.

Are you still using WhatsApp, or have you switched to apps like Telegram, Signal, or another messaging service because of WhatsApp’s new privacy policy?

The post WhatsApp soon to work on multiple Galaxy devices at the same time is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

For now, though I wanted to cover the announcement and focus in on a few of the key areas from it.

So unlike a few other companies out there, Realme are going to be selling the phone through Amazon in the UK and it will be available on the 31st of March for an amazing price of £279. Yes, you read that correctly £279 for a phone with a 108mp camera onboard!! Not only that but it is one of the only new phones on the market to still include the 3,5mm headphone jack. incidentally i should also mention that you can buy the phone from the Realme website as well as well. As for what you will get for that £279 well apart from the massive camera sensor and the 3.5mm headphone jack you also get some other very cools specs.

Highlights include a Super AMOLED panel courtesy of Samsung that measures in at 6.4″ and is Full HD. It is a bright panel and can achieve 1000nits under sunlight mode which is pretty sweet. I have seen this in action and I can report that is works really well.  The touch screen has a really high sample rate as well of 180Hz for better touch responsiveness which will help when enjoying games on the go. Again something that the phone is surprisingly good at.

I say this is surprising above but it shouldn’t be, as the phone comes with the Snapdragon 720G chipset onboard along with Adreno 618 GPU and 8GB of RAM. This a great combination as it gives you enough power for some casual gaming but has a good balance against battery life and longevity.

As for the battery and charging this is another highlight, not so much down to the battery but more along with how fast it will charge when you plug it in. This is because the phone is capable of receiving power at an awesome 50W  thanks to Realme’s Superdart Charger technology. This is provided by the included charger that comes in the box which is a nice touch that is often overlooked. The 4500mah battery can be refilled to 100% in 47 mins and a 17mins charge will give a 50% charge. For this reason, i can forgive the lack of QI charging and at this price charging this fast is nothing to be sneezed at! The really cool part is that the inbox charger is not just rested for 50W it is actually rated for 65W meaning it can power other devices that use the power delivery standard.

The last big highlight before I dive into the camera is the design. I feel this may be an area where people are a bit disappointed at their first glance but I really do like this design and especially the back of the phone. It is so nice to see a back panel that is not made of glass. Now I know this is the norm for the mid-range phone but we have something a bit different on the Realme 8 Pro. The designers have used the AG Process top to create a truly stunning and textured finish for the phone. At first glance, the back panel just looks a bit plain and uninteresting but when you look at it closer you will see something a bit special. The marketing spiel suggests that you will be able to see a textured crystal-like surface. This combines a glossy and matte finish in one whilst being rough and delicate at the same time. For me, the most important thing about it is it adds just enough grip so you can hold the phone without the fear of it plummeting towards the ground!

So the big highlight and the one that everyone has been talking about is the camera and in particular the 108mp camera. So to put things in perspective this is the same sensor that was being used by Samsung in so much as it is actually a Samsung Sensor the HM2 to be exact. This supports a lot of very cool features such as ISOCELL Plus, Smart-ISO, 9 in 1 Pixel binning. These all help the camera sensor in the trickiest of conditions low light. There are however many more benefits of using such a high megapixel camera unit and one of them is 3 x Zoom in the senor itself. This allows you to have near optical zoom quality without losing much in the way of quality.

In addition to the above features, the camera now supports a litany of different shooting modes to allow you to find your perfect shot and all these are possible using a combination of AI-powered algorithms and the capabilities of the massive sensor. Here are all the modes including a wealth of video modes as well.

Photography modes:-Starry Mode, Tilt-shift, Dynamic Bokeh, Neon Portrait, AI Color Portrait, Ultra 108MP Mode, Super Nightscape, Panoramic view, Expert,  Portrait Mode, HDR, Ultra-wide, Ultra macro, AI Scene Recognition, AI Beauty, Filter, Chroma Boost, Bokeh Effect Control, Text Scanner

Video recording:-Starry Time-lapse Video, Tilt-shift Time-lapse Video, Dual-view Video, Nightscape Video, UIS Video Stabilization, UIS Max Video Stabilization
4K/30fps video recording, 1080P/60fps video recording, 1080P/30fps video recording, 720P/60fps video recording, 720P/30fps video recording,
1080p/120fps slow motion, 1080p/480fps slow motion, 720p/960fps slow motion ,720p/240fps slow motion

Lots of stuff to get into for the budding photographer vlogger and social media darling.

The Realme 8 Pro was not the only thing that was announced at the event today though as the newest additions to the AIoT family were also announced in the form of the Watch S Pro and the Buds Air 2. These air developments of previous-gen product that bring some enhancements over the current existing versions.

In the case of the Watch S Pro it s the 1st stainless steel-bodied watch and it also now features a 1.39″ AMOLED touchscreen with Always-on Display technology. Along with this you also get 5ATM water-resistance and built-in GPS. it is priced at £119 and there is an early bird special offer at £99 if you act fast.

The new Buds Air 2 now support Active Noise Cancellation and can effectively reduce most low-frequency noise. They have 25-hours of battery life for when one full day of usage is just not enough! With 10mm large drivers and an 88ms low latency mode, they offer a good package for a low price of £46.99 and an early- bird special offer of £36.99.

The Watch S Pro and Buds Air 2 are available from the Realme UK website where you will find the early bird pricing mentioned above.

We have all the above kit in for review and this will be coming very soon so keep your checking in with us to see more content about the Realme 8 Pro and accessories announced today.

The post Realme 8 Pro launched along with a few accessories is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

DooGee has announced its latest super-rugged smartphone the S59 Pro, features include numerous durability certifications, a gigantic 10,050mAh battery and a powerful 2W loudspeaker. The S59 Pro is wrapped in industrial rubber to enable it to have an IP68/IP69K certification and military-grade MIL-STD-810 G rating, which allows it to withstand extreme weather conditions, impacts, dust and just about anything nature can throw its way. Thanks to its whopping 10050mAh battery provides a claimed 32 days of standby time and, with an OTG cable, can even act as a power bank.

The S59 Pro comes with a Samsung AI Quad Camera,  featuring a 16MP rear lens featuring 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens, 2MP Macro camera, 2MP Portrait camera, and 16MP front camera, It comes with 4 LED Flash and the flashlight is twice as bright as other phones.

The S59 Pro also includes an IC SMART power amplifier giving users the ability to increase the speaker output power up to 2W to allow the maximum volume to reach 100dB. Ideal for use on a construction site, at a festival or a barbeque!

DOOGEE has been pursuing rugged mobile phones with high specifications over the years and will continue to follow this path. The Doogee S59 Pro is now available in Orange and Black from Amazon for £198

Other Specs Include: 

• MediaTek Helio P22 CPU 2.0 GHz 12nm.
• 4GB RAM+128GB ROM (expandable up to 256GB.
• 24W Type-C fast charge.
• 5.72″ display with Gorilla Glass and a 90Hz refresh rate.
• Samsung AI Quad 16MP main camera +8MP wide angle+8MP macro+2MP depth.
• Samsung 16MP front camera with Facial Recognition.
• NFC with Google Pay Support.
• Dual SIM Slots supporting global frequencies.
• IP68 &IP69K waterproof, dustproof and shockproof, High-Temperature resistance and MIL-STD-810G torment tests outstandingly. Can withstand extreme temperatures ranging from -67°F to 158°F.
• Can survive under 5 feet of water for 30 minutes.

Hopefully, we will get a S59 Pro in for a full review in the not too distant future.

The post DOOGEE release the rugged S59 Pro smartphone with a whopping 10,050mAh battery. is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

This new phone is not an all singing all dancing Flagship but it is one that your everyday man and woman can afford without having to take out a new mortgage or rob a bank! It is from an up and coming brand called Realme. This Chinese brand is using their new phone to try and break into the European market place and the phone they have chosen to dot his with is the Realme 8 Pro.

So without further ado lets have a bit of a look at the new phone. At this point, I want to say that this phone has been provided to me as a review unit from Realme and as such I am under some very strict embargo’s pertaining to what I can talk about. This will be a limited hands-on with the device and  I will be able to only show you a few aspects of the phone so here goes.

The phone itself comes in a very loud coloured yellow box to makes sure that you know you are getting something different. This colour is something that Realme seem to be using in all their branding so I suppose we could refer to it as Realme Yellow.

Inside the box, you are presented with a folder with additional information and also a plastic TPU style case.

The phone is then sat underneath this wrapped in a plastic bag and I have to say upon lifting it out of this section it feels very light which is a nice change. Even though it is light it doesn’t feel weak which is a difficult compromise to make. From the first feel of the phone, I was impressed.

After removing the phone there is a thin card which the phone sits on and under this we find the charger and cable which is a Type a to Type C cable and is a bit thinker than the standard low power charging leads. This suggests that the charger can kick out a decent amount of power. Given that Realme has been pushing the charging speeds of devices on its phone for the past few years this is not a real surprise. I have to say that it is nice to see a charger included as there is now a distinct change in the market where devices are starting to no longer come with a charger inbox.

Moving away from the box now to the phone itself. I am quite impressed with how this phone feels. It has a really nice shape and it fits into my hand really well. I am a massive fan of the top and the bottom edges of the phone as they are slightly scalloped allowing a really resting pit for your finger when supporting the phone.

Here is a close up of the “scalloped” sections

I know it is a little thing but it does make a difference in how the phone feels when you are holding it.

Moving around the edges of the phone you will see that most of the major things are accounted for such as the volume rocker and the power key on the right-hand side. Both of these buttons have got a firm clicking action as you would expect from any smartphone these days.

On the left, you have the triple slot for two sims and an SD card which is a bonus as you dont have to choose between an extra sim and extra memory.

On the base of the phone, we find another nice surprise in the form of a 3,5mm headphone jack next to the USB type C port which will pull charging duties. next to this is a speaker grill for a very loud-sounding speaker which I was pretty surprised at!

The top has a tiny pinhole mic but other than that is barren of anything else.

The front of the phone has a stunning display again very nice to see here. And lastly the rear of the phone which contains the phones crowning glory a 108mp camera! The back panel is actually plastic in construction but again it feels solid enough and actually has a nice grippy texture to it which inspires confidence when you are holding it. It also has the added bonus of not being an absolute fingerprint magnet so I dont have to be cleaning the phone constantly!

Up in the top corner is the massive 108MP camera sensor along with it’s three other stablemates and it is able to take a good picture like those shown below.

Well, that is all I can talk about for now. If you wish to find out any more about this device then you can tune into the Realme 8 Pro launch event on the 24th of March at the following link. Things will be kicking off at 14:00 UK time. be sure to come back to us after the event to see our further and more in-depth review of the device. But until then i will bid you farewell

The post Realme 8 Pro -1st Impressions of this 108MP beauty!! is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

January 14th is the next Unpacked event from Samsung where the Galaxy s21 line will be unveiled ( to be honest there doesn’t seem much left to reveal as pretty much every detail of the latest flagship has been leaked).

According to WinFuture the devices will become available in Western Europe on the 29th, with pre-orders being reserved in the intervening period.

Although it does appear that those would pre-order ( me included for S21 Ultra ) the new devices can expect some freebies

• Those who pre-order the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra will receive the new Galaxy Buds Pro for free (which will cost £207/€230 when sold separately).
• The Galaxy S21 and S21+ will get the Buds Live instead (these were £154/€170 at launch, but can be had for under €120 now).
• Every S21 pre-order will also net you a SmartTag Bluetooth tracker (this accessory will sell for £27/€30).

As always if we get any more snippets we’ll let you know.

The post Galaxy S21 Range Possibly In Stores Jan 29th, Ultra Pre Orders comes with Buds Pro is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

It’s a great time to get into the business, but it’s imperative to provide employees with everything they need to accomplish their tasks. The following are five essentials for an office full of app developers:

Fast internet

High-speed internet is a must-have for modern business. Developer teams working through cloud-based software and other online services will not achieve optimum productivity if their internet connection is slow. That accumulates into hundreds of hours of waste over time, which is more than enough to dash your hopes of seeing business success in the app development market. Whether it’s super-fast wireless internet or 5G-enabled devices, your employees need swift access and reliable connectivity at all times.

Great coffee

Another universal essential for every office environment is access to coffee. Go the extra mile and provide your developers with great coffee from around the world. Sign up for a monthly coffee subscription service. These companies send a monthly box of gourmet coffees from around the world, providing workers with an exotic variety of caffeinated beverages. Just make sure to have the necessary coffee brewing equipment in the break room, including a bean grinder.

Comfortable workstations

Comfort is critical when it comes to maintaining focus and remaining productive for hours on end. That means it’s more than worth it to invest in ergonomic chairs, desks, and computer equipment. Since everyone’s idea of comfort is different, consider a set budget per worker and giving them the freedom to make their own choices. It’s one of the easiest ways to organically motivate employees to perform at peak capacity.

Optimal lighting

Most people fail to appreciate the role of proper lighting in getting work done. Inadequate illumination – or lights that are too bright and overpowering – can cause eye strain and contribute to worker fatigue. The type of light also plays a role; orange light induces relaxation while blue light encourages focus and concentration. When in doubt, talk to your employees about any issues they may be having with the office lighting. Asking questions can do wonders for getting to the bottom of relatively simple problems like insufficient illumination in the workplace.

Comfortable temperature

Like lighting, the temperature of our work environment has a significant impact on our ability to focus and get our tasks done. App developers need a comfortable office temperature to perform at their very best. Again, everyone’s sense of comfort varies, so it might take some diplomatic manoeuvring to make sure everyone is happy. For example, if most employees prefer the thermostat set to 20 degrees celcius but a few workers find that too cold, see about increasing it by a few degrees and issuing branded sweaters if it’s still too chilly for the minority.

With everyone owning a smartphone and relying on apps for virtually everything these days, app development has become a booming business. However, those interested in getting into the app development business need to provide the right tools and resources for their employees. To develop the very best apps on the market, you need to provide the very best for your development team.

The post 5 Essentials for an office full of app developers is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Aznu will guarantee that phones are free from scratches, scuffs, dents or marks. Not only that, but they all have a one-year warranty and all the original manufacturers parts in the box.

There’s no “grading” on their handsets – all phones are sold on a “single premium standard”. This includes the fact that the battery in the phones they sell is covered by a 6 month warranty. A great idea when you consider that used phones often have batteries which have been charged multiple times, reducing their lifespan. All Aznu phones therefore get batteries with a minimum of 85% of their original life.

Head here to see the range or go to the Aznu website for more info. Just buy the phone, grab yourself a SIM-only deal and save yourself a whole heap of money. Prices start at just £229.99 for a Galaxy S7 32GB model.

The post Aznu – Refurbished phones, done differently is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

The phone I am talking about is the Poco X3 NFC!

Like the Poco Phones from the past this phone has got a subtle gaming slant in that the phone supports a 6.67” FHD+ LCD DotDisplay with 240Hz touch sampling rate and 120Hz refresh rate. This makes it one of the very few LCD panels that have such a high refresh rate. It beats the Nord and 4a on the touch sampling and refresh rate but does fall in the screen type being that the others are AMOLED and OLED respectively. It is also using a faster chip than the Pixel 4a in the form of the Snapdragon 732 which is Qualcomm’s fastest 4G Chipset and more like the 735 that is being used in the Nord. Alongside this is an Adreno 618 Elite Gaming series GPU which is the same as in the Pixel 4a whereas the Nord has the 620 GPU.

Battery capacity is another big battle area for these devices and here we have The Poco X3 again coming out on top with a massive 5,160mAh high-capacity battery with 33W fast charging. You also get a 33W in-box charger. The Nord provides the next biggest with 4115 mAh battery and Warp Charge 30T fast charging with the compatible charger in the box also. Bringing up the rear in the battery department is the Pixel 4a with 3160mah battery and only an 18W charger in the box.

So we can see from the above info that these phones are all going to be pitched at the same sort of market segment, or at least that is what you think from looking at the screen, processor and battery specs alone. That is not, however, the full picture as there is another area that plays a big part in the Poco X3 and that is the price. This is an area where Poco and Xiaomi have always been groundbreaking and this time around things are no different. The phone is going to be available in two variants – 6GB+64GB and 6GB+128GB, and come in two colours, Shadow Gray and Cobalt Blue. Priced at £199 and £249 respectively, both variants will be available for purchase from September 17th on mi.com/uk and Amazon.

That is not all though as Xiaomi like to treat their early adopters so they will be doing an early bird price will also be offered on the 6GB+128GB variant. From 1:00 PM (BST) on September 17th, until 11:59 PM (BST) on October 8th, customers can purchase this variant at £229, enjoying a price drop of £20. This deal will be available on both mi.com/uk and Amazon.

So what else do these phones have to offer aside from the highlighted features above? Well to be honest a very good looking spec sheet and one that i am quite excited about. Let us have a looksie

Performance
• Qualcomm® Snapdragon 732G
– Kyro 470 octa-core CPU,
– Adreno 618 GPU with Elite Gaming
• LPDDR4X RAM, UFS 2.1 storage
– 6GB+64GB, 6GB+128GB
• Hybrid SIM slot, up to 256GB expandable storage
• LiquidCool Technology 1.0 Plus
– Copper heat pipe + graphite
• MIUI 12 for POCO, based on Android 10

Display & Design
• 6.67” FHD+ LCD DotDisplay
– 20:9, 2400×1080, 395ppi
– 240Hz touch sampling rate
– 120Hz refresh rate
– Color gamut: NTSC 84% (typ), DCI-P3 87.4%
– Contrast ratio: 1,500:1(typ)
– Brightness: 450 nits (typ) / 380 nits (min)
– TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light Certification
– HDR10
– Wildvine L1 certified
• Dimensions:165.3mm x 76.8mm x 9.4mm
• Weight: 215g
• Available colours: Shadow Gray, Cobalt Blue
• 2.5D glass front, 3D curved back
• Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5 front
• Polycarbonate back
• Super aluminium alloy frame
• Side-mounted fingerprint sensor
• Splash-proof protection, IP53 TÜV SÜD tested

Battery / charging
• 5,160mAh (typ) high-capacity battery
• 33W fast charging
• 33W in-box charger
• USB Type-C

Audio
• Dual Stereo Speakers
– 4cc-equivalent 1012 upper speaker, open cavity
– 1cc-equivalent 1216 lower speaker
– Maximum speaker vibration amplitude: 0.5mm

Camera
64MP+13MP+2MP+2MP quad rear camera
• 64MP main wide sensor
– Sony IMX682
– 1/1.73“ sensor, ƒ/1.89, 1.6μm 4-in-1 Super Pixel, 6P lens
• 13MP ultra wide-angle sensor
– 119° FoV, ƒ/2.2, 1.0μm
• 2MP macro sensor
– ƒ/2.4, 1.75μm, 4cm
• 2MP depth sensor
– ƒ/2.4, 1.75μm, FF
• Up to 4K 30fps, video recording
• AI Skyscaping 3.0, Night Mode, ShootSteady video, Vlog
Mode
20MP in-display front camera
• ƒ/2.2, 1.6μm 4-in-1 Super Pixel

Connectivity
• Dual SIM, dual standby
• Bands:
– 2G: GSM: B2/3/5/8
– 3G: WCDMA: B1/2/4/5/8
– TDD-LTE B38/40/41（120MHz）
– FDD-LTE B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/20/28
• Wi-Fi 5
• Bluetooth 5.1
• 3.5mm headphone jack

A lot of good stuff in there and the camera setup doesn’t look too shabby with that 64 MP Sony sensor with ƒ/1.89 aperture and 1.6μm. This unit should produce some good results and it is backed up by a good wide-angle unit in the form of 13MP ultra wide-angle sensor with 119° FoV, ƒ/2.2, 1.0μm. Nice to see the inclusion of the 2MP macro sensor at ƒ/2.4, 1.75μm, 4cm. To round things off we also have a 2MP depth sensor ƒ/2.4, 1.75μm, FF to get those all-important portrait style shots. Do i think going quad camera is a better approach than using the Pixel 4a’s approach of one lense put AI-assisted computational photography, unfortunately, we will not know until we have had the chance to test it out. I think the Poco X3 camera lines up nicely against the Nord and it will be interesting to see how it compares with the Pixel 4a.

The post Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC launched is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

The China-based phone manufacturer DooGee today announced the company’s latest smartphone, the N100. The DOOGEE N100 is an affordable smartphone packed full of features including a whopping 10,000 mAh battery, giving a claimed 100 hours of talk time and 350 hours of standby. Other specs include:

• 5.99″ full HD display
• Helio P23 processor
• 4GB LPDDR4X RAM
• 64GB eMMC Samsung storage
• Micro SD Card storage expansion, can be extended up to 256GB
• 21-megapixel dual rear cameras
• Android 9.0 Pie OS
• luxury leather-style back design
• 12V/2A 24 pin Type-C fast charging
• 10W fast wireless Qi charging
• OTG reverse charging
• Rear fingerprint reader
• Face unlock

Looking at the specs sheet, the N100 isn’t coming with the highest specced internals, but here’s: the catch the N100 is available from Amazon UK for £159.99, from the DOOGEE on-line store globally for $139.99 and from Banggood and AliExpress. This is a very reasonable price for what you’re getting. Hopefully we will be getting one in for a full review, including just how long that mega-battery lasts in real-world day-to-day use. 

The post N100 from DOOGEE comes with a huge 10,000 mAh battery is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Research from Clas Ohlson has today revealed the extent of excessive mobile phone usage here in the UK. It reinforces the suspicions that many of us will probably already be aware of, with the findings showing the damage that can be done if you’re using you phone too much.

It may come as a surprise to many that it’s not gambling or online casino use either, as this is usually a fun pastime provided you stop when that fun stops. You can head to gambling sites like smashcasinos.com and even find out the best place to play.

Instead it’s the normal apps, social media updates and messaging that causes the problems, with almost half (47%) of Brits saying that loved ones’ excessive phone usage affects their relationship with them.

In other findings, the survey found that a smartphone is becoming more of an attraction than their own partner, with 41% in relationships choosing to spend time in bed with their phone than with their partner.

The habit starts early too, with over half (53%) of parents admitting to regularly keeping their children occupied with phones.

Whilst it’s now become less shocking to hear stats like this, the increase in technology and the possibility of ultra-mobile VR headsets giving a “Ready Player One”-style world, it’s yet further confirmation that we’re becoming disconnected with the real world. Clas Ohlson has released the research as part of its ‘A Better Home’ campaign, which aims to champion spending quality time in the home with family and friends

It comes as their research revealed that 52% of Brits have become “disconnected from the real world” and “unaware of their surroundings” when on their phone.

Like it or not, the smartphone is becoming more and more popular, with people becoming even more deeply involved and hooked on a daily basis.

The post New research shows a shift in mobile habits is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

This all kicked off back in 2017 when Razer released their first Razer Phone. I reviewed it shortly after it arrived on our shores and was very impressed. At the time it was one of the more powerful devices out there. It did not, however, come without problems. Some of these were addressed by the Razer Phone 2 which got released the following year. That, however, was the end of the story for Razer.

Gamers who wanted something that was custom designed for their pastime (or profession) were left a bit in the lurch. There was nothing out there until Asus stepped into the breach with their sub-brand “ROG” and we saw the arrival of the ROG Phone. While it certainly saw some sales it wasn’t really that popular. Now Asus is back again with the ROG Phone II and they are hoping that this time around it will be a bigger hit.

I have the Asus ROG Phone II Ultimate Edition here to explore and I have been using it for about two weeks now. It is time to deliver my opinion of this Goliath of gaming. I will also be able to put it up against the Razer Phone 2 and see how they stack up against each other.

Design and Hardware

This is where Asus has started on their “go big or go home” strategy. This phone is certainly no shrinking violet and this can be seen from the moment you get it out of the box. The phone is festooned with nods to its ROG gaming heritage. From the powerful front-firing speakers to the air vent on the rear – this phone just wants games to be played on it. You also get some very cool additional features that you would not normally see on a flagship phone such as “Air Triggers”.

The one thing that most people won’t notice at least, to begin with, is the inclusion of the secondary USB Type C port on the left-hand side. This is hidden behind a large rubber grommet and it is used to allow the phone to essentially “dock” with peripherals.

There is also a feature on here that gamers and audiophiles will both appreciate in the form of a 3.5mm headphone jack!

Let’s take a quick walk around the phone and see all the bits and pieces we have got to play with.

On the top, we have got some antenna lines and a sole pinhole microphone.

Next up as we move around to the right-hand side is where we can find the volume rocker and the power key. That is not all though, flanking both of these keys are the aforementioned air triggers which come into their own when gaming, but more on that later on. They are indicated on the phone by some engraving – as seen in the pictures here.

Moving around to the bottom is where we can find the 3.5mm headphone jack and the main USB Type C port. This port will pull double duty both for charging and data transfer but sadly no display output.

Next is the right-hand side which house the SIM-card slot

This will take a dual SIM slot but no memory card. Then there’s the secondary USB Type C port – this one supports charging, data and display output.

This is positioned on the side to allow the use of various Asus ROG peripherals to enhance your gaming experience. I have not been able to test these as I was not provided with them but there are various peripherals out there. Here is a list of the available ones.

TwinView dock, Give you a second screen to allow you to concentrate on the gaming itself. It can also be combined with the ROG Kunai Gamepad as seen here. You can find more games in the Betting Worx Paddy Power app guide where there’s also some additional apps for your phone if you’re into your horse racing etc.

Mobile Desktop Dock, PC-style setup with monitor, keyboard and mouse for mobile games.

WIGiG Dock, using wireless connectivity to allow you to game on the phone and stream to you big-screen setup.

These are some pretty neat add ons if I am honest but they do all come at additional cost and availability in the UK at the time of writing is unknown.

That takes in all the edges now lets head around the back which has a lot going on.

First things first are the camera array. Yes I said array – there are two lenses present here. We have 48MP primary f/1.8 and 13MP secondary ultrawide cameras. Now the primary camera is, in fact, a 48MP Quad Bayer camera, so it will give you an output of 12MP. This is surprisingly good given the inclination of this phone. The secondary lens allows you to capture wider angle shots of 125 degrees.

More on the cameras later though, because just below the cameras, you may notice not one but two LED flashes. Well, dear reader, sadly you are mistaken as only one of these is actually a flash. The other is used for an optional case that will then provide a light show when in use. This was not part of the review kit so this image will have to suffice. However, the most interesting parts, especially for gamers, lie further down the phone.

We are of course talking about RGB lighting! Yes the ROG emblem on the rear of the phone is fully RGB illuminated and will pulse or flash away to your hearts content as defined within the “Armoury App” on the phone. This is a cool effect and can be put to good use as well as it will give a visual cue for things like calls or notifications if desired.

Lastly on the rear is the ROG Aerodynamic System, more commonly known as an air vent. This, if you like, is the exhaust port for the phone. Beneath this area is where the phone vapour chamber sits and works at cooling things down when you are playing games. I’ll also kick in if you’re doing other intensive tasks such as video editing. There is no fan as such but we will come back to that.

Now onto the jewel of the phone – the screen.

As far as I am aware this is the first and only AMOLED screen on the market that can support a refresh rate of up to 120hz. It is also a beautiful screen to look at and interact with. It is massive as well but in a good way!

Measuring in at 6.59-inch diagonal with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio and 1080 x 2340 resolution. The PPI is 391 which is a bit low when compared to some of the 4k screens out there on other flagships but I really can’t see the point in going any higher than 1080p on a phone screen anyway. What you also get with this screen is the stupidly accurate colour representation with a Delta E of less than 1. The human eye cannot detect anything lower than 3!!

We also have HDR 10 Support and a fantastically quick response time of 1ms. Oh, and it is also made up of Gorilla Glass 6 for toughness!

Some of you might be thinking at this point that this is all a bit much and why do you need all these things. Well, I’m not the best-equipped person to answer that question however what I can say is that this is a bloody gorgeous display and I really like using it for everything from reading emails to gaming and viewing pictures or movies.

The last few things to point out on the front are the front-firing speakers which are both loud and punchy, as you would expect from a gaming phone, and the front-facing 24MP camera which is very much up for the task of selfies or video.

So that is the externals done with what about pulling back the shiny exterior and looking at the core of this thing?

Well unfortunately for you I cannot crack this thing open but i can go through what lies inside for you. However, the first thing that you need from a gaming rig is horsepower, and this is provided by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+. This can clock up to 2.96Ghz at full tilt. This is backed up in my review sample by 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

Now to put this into some perspective, my Mac Mini runs on a 2.3Ghz Core i5 chip from Intel and has only got 8GB of RAM with a 128GB SSD! The last gaming phone I tested was the Razer Phone and that came with an SD 835 processor and 8GB of RAM and 64GB, at the time people thought that was excessive however these specs are now becoming normal. There are a few phones out now that are running the same processor but not all of them are running it with the amount of cooling that Asus can bring to the party.

During the normal mundane use of the phone – things like calling, texting using social media web browsing – the phone will run on just a few of the lower power cores and as a result, needs minimal heat management. However when you engage “Beast mode” (Asus call this “X Mode”) then everything gets cranked up to max and normal phone can get a bit toasty.

The Asus, on the other hand, remains cool and collected. It does this by firstly using a very clever Vapour Chamber to spread the heat over a much larger area and also minuscule amounts of liquid which will absorb the heat and turn into vapour. This helps to dissipate the heat from the phone.

But that wasn’t enough for Asus they had to raise the stakes higher. This is where the included add-on comes into play. I am of course talking about the Aero Active Cooler II.

This is essentially a fan that plugs into the side-mounted USB Type C port and then draws the hot air from the ROG Aerodynamic System (airvent) and expels it out the other side in a cooling breeze just in the right place to cool your hands a bit.

Now before we move on to the next section I want to take a bit of time to compare this phone to the Razer Phone 2, as some may say that was the first real mainstream gaming phone.

Here are a few images of the phones next to each other to try and give you an idea of the size difference in these two phones.

In the first two images, you can see the screen at different brightness settings. The first one is with brightness set at about 20% on each phone then the next is with the brightness fully cranked up. Credit is due to the Razer Phone 2 here as although it is using LCD technology as opposed to the ROG’s OLED tech the screen is not that much dimmer especially at the lower brightness setting. Where the difference really becomes more apparent is when the sun is out as the OLED screen on the ROG is more vibrant and clearer.

The RGB effects on both phones are shown below and these are pretty much the same and are controlled by specific apps within the phones UI. I did notice that you have got a bit more control over what you can use the RGB lighting for on the ROG phone as on the Razer it seems to be more that you always have it on or off. On the ROG you can use it for various things such as Music playback charging indicator and call/notification alerts. Although this is possible on the Razer it is easier to dial it in on the ROG phone to exactly what you want.

You can also toggle lighting on or off more easily within the notifications dropdown on the ROG whereas on the Razer you cannot.

It is just little touches like this that put the ROG slightly ahead in terms of ease of use for me. In terms of hardware, the ROG is clearly the bigger of the two phones with a much larger screen. The Razer’s screen measures in at 5.7″ in comparison to the ROG’S 6.59″. Also, the speaker design is massively different as the ROG goes for more subtle and inset speakers whereas the Razer’s Speaker grills are a lot chunkier. This does not reflect in the actual quality of sound output though as they are both pretty well matched to my ears – I would be happy to use either of them for listening to music or watching a video.

Here is a small video demonstrating the speakers…

One aspect that does favour the Razer is the screens aspect ratio as it is the more traditional 16:9 aspect ratio so you dont have any space being wasted by black bars on the side. It is not a problem on the ROG with its 19.5:9 aspect ratio but I thought it was worth mentioning. You can see what I mean in the pictures below.

In the first picture the videos are both at the standard 16:9 aspect ratio and you can see the black bars on the ROG, and in the second image I have set the ROG to full screen and the video is squeezed cropping the top and bottom off to fill the screen. On the Razer, you dont have this issue. As I said, not a big problem but something to be aware of.

Lastly, I want to cover one-handed use. After all this is going to be used as a phone as well. To my surprise, I found it easier to use the ROG in one hand than I first thought with the Razer being that bit wider meaning it was more of a stretch to get to some of the UI with one hand. Admittedly there is not much in it but for the size of the phone, the ROG is not that difficult to use in one hand which was pleasing to see.

Obviously, if I need to get into the notifications menu then that was tricky on either phone. I tend to use my phone two-handed normally anyway so this was not a concern for me. As to which is more comfortable to hold then again the winner here has to be the Asus as the curved edges to mean it fits into your palm better. This is also true when using the phone for playing games.

Performance

This is a big area for both the phones and one where the ROG Phone II is pretty much the clear winner across all the metrics. I have long since abandoned the use of benchmarking in my testing as it really doesn’t give a good idea of what the phone can do. I much prefer to actually use the phone as it is intended to be used.

Concerning the “engines” of the phones, we are testing here the ROG is running the newer improved Snapdragon 855+ and the Razer is on last years tech with the Snapdragon 845. This a generation shift in terms of pure computational power, efficiency and also in thermal control. Simply put the ROG can run for longer, faster and cooler than the Razer under the same conditions. I have tested the phone using the same games on both and, as you would expect, things just feel better on the ROG. One area where they are both excellent however is the framerates on games. This is because both phones can use a display that refreshes at 120hz and this is awesome. It is a great thing to have in games but it also works really well when browsing the web, scrolling through emails and various other activities. I like the feature so much that I have actually bought one of the phones, I will reveal which later.

Here are a few videos trying to demonstrate what I mean. The first is of Asphalt 9 running the tutorial first up is the ROG followed by the Razer..

Next up is the game loading speed between the two devices…

You can see that the Razer Phone 2 is edged out ever so slightly by the ROG Phone II, but it is very difficult to ascertain the winner. So much so that had they not been side by side you wouldn’t be that concerned.

Battery on this phone is quite frankly awesome. I have regualarly been getting two days usage out of it and on a particularly quiet-use week when it was mostly in standby I got 5 days out of a full charge!

For me that about wraps up the performance side of things and, although not a massive difference, it can be seen here or felt when used. That being said the ROG Phone II is the faster of the two in most tasks. While writing this review I stumbled across this test that tested the fastest and most powerful phones on the market – the ROG Phone II faired well in the testing so if you do want a deeper dive into the benchmarks etc then I would advise giving it a read. You can also see how the Razer Phone 2 compares against the ROG Phone II.

Here are the specs of the phone in case you missed the unboxing article that I did when I first got the phone in to test.

• 6.59-inch 19.5:9 aspect ratio AMOLED display, 1080 x 2340 resolution
• 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch responsiveness
• Snapdragon 855+ processor, 8GB or 12GB RAM
• 128/256/512 GB or 1TB storage
• 3.5mm port
• 6,000mAh battery capacity
• Quick Charge 4.0 – 30W HyperCharge
• Dual camera rear setup
  • 48MP primary f/1.8
  • 13MP secondary ultrawide
• 24MP front camera
• Dedicated port for add-on mods
• ROG Kunai gamepad
• Touch-sensitive panels on edge
• Control mapping for unsupported games
• Measures: 171 x 78 x 9.5mm
• Weight: 240 grams

Software

This is an area where the phone could have been broken for me. You can make a phone with the most powerful hardware in the world and then break it with crappy software. I am happy to report that this does not seem to be the case with the ROG Phone II. Apart from some gaming-specific additions which are mostly isolated to the Armoury app Asus has left the software pretty much as Android is meant to be. What I mean by that is that we have a fairly clean version of Android 9 here with a little bloat. A few apps have been added and there is a very light skin plus some predefined themes but not much else.

During the time I have been writing this review I have also been using not just the Razer Phone 2 but also the Google Pixel 3 XL. This has been updated to Android 10. Apart from the obvious addition of a system-wide Dark UI (which is sadly missing from Android 9) I actually prefer the UI of the ROG Phone II over the Pixel 3XL.

Yes, there area few niceties to be found in the new Pixel UI on Google’s homegrown devices, but I hate the way that the new app drawer is set up and also that the Google search bar cannot be moved to the top of the screen anymore. It is for this reason and also a few more that I have preferred to use the ROG instead.

So I mentioned the Armoury app earlier, well this is a one-stop-shop for all your gaming stuff which is nice as – if you don’t need it – then you can hide it away. In this app, you have access to your games and also, more importantly, a control panel for adjusting how those games take advantage of the hardware to best optimise your gaming experience.

It is also where you can set up the ROG peripherals and lighting effects. When you first enter the app you get a very gameresque splash featuring the ROG logo in blacks and red. This makes sure that you know that you are now entering a gaming environment. I could now spend the next couple of paragraphs explaining how and what you can do in this app but instead here is a video showing it off for you.

We also have the inbuilt GameGenie service that will allow you to monitor your performance of your components whilst the game is running. You do a few more things but I can really see this as its main function. I have briefly covered it above as well

Next up is the extra bit of kit on the box. It is, of course, the ROG Kunai Gaming pad! I featured this a little in the unboxing videos before but I thought that it was time to go into them a bit more thoroughly.

So the Gamepad comes with two setups in mind. One looks like a Nintendo Switch and the other looks like a regular console controller. They both allow you to have more tactility in your gaming to provide a better experience. In the standalone gamepad mode then you connect via Bluetooth, 2.4GHz RF or the lowest latency which is a long USB Type C cable. When using the docked mode then the connection is taken care of by a USB Type C port within the dock and the controllers are physically connected via Pogo pins in the side rails.

In the video below I have given a bit of a run through whilst testing some games on the setup..

I have been really impressed with how well this all performed and if I were buying this phone then this is something I would definitely want to have included with it. You can also use the Aero Cooler II with this setup as well, so no need to worry about overheating your system.

Camera

This is an area where I was almost prepared to be disappointed but I shouldn’t have judged it so quickly – it is quite good. Don’t get me wrong, it is not as good as my Huawei P30 pro, but it can certainly hold its own. I have also been using a Pixel 3XL and Razer Phone 2 during the time with this phone and I have to say this is closer to the Pixel in terms of quality.

What particularly impressed was the low light performance which is greatly assisted by the inclusion of Night mode. Here are a few examples from the Pixel and the ROG.

They are pretty close to being fair. Just for sake of comparison here is what you get with the Razer Phone 2 without night mode.

Pretty nasty it is fair to say.

In daylight, this phone does not disappoint either as I have been able to get some truly stunning pictures including the odd selfie as well I will put them into a gallery below so you can take a look and make your own conclusions. If you wish to see them at full size then just click on the image you want to see.

All in all for stills very impressive so how does it cope with video work. Here is a small sample below for you to puruse..

I find that it handled the stability quite well as well which was good to see.

Overall I have been very impressed with the battery performance of this phone and credit is due to Asus for not skimping in this area as normally happens in other gaming phones.

Conclusion

So, after covering all the aspects of the phone it is time for the conclusion. Is this the best gaming phone money can buy?

The simple answer is yes.

Can it compete with the other flagships that are available on the market?

In essence yes, it can – mainly due to the fact that it is so much cheaper than them.

Yes there are a few of the flagship-features missing but they are really niceties and are not essential. Things like wireless charging and water resistance are indeed absent, but I didn’t really miss them. I would like to see them on version 3 but not at the cost of the cooling system. I have been very impressed with the gaming side of the phone obviously but I was surprised how good that camera was too.

I have used the Razer Phone and also the Honor Play before I got a chance to use this and the difference in the camera is mind-blowing. This is a big area for me, so having a great camera with awesome gaming performance ticks a lot of boxes. I also think that the availability of optional accessories to enhance your gaming experience is a really unique aspect of the proposition.

So if you can live without the niceties of a full flagship (see above) and want the best gaming phone you can buy then I recommend the ROG Phone II wholeheartedly.

I do however have a second option for you if you are a gamer and a bit strapped for cash. You may want to have a look at the ROG Phone or the Razer Phone 2. These phones may not have the best cameras, but in the case of the Razer it does have the other things that I wanted in a phone. Also, I was able to get a pre-owned one for just over £200 with a bit of hunting. Don’t get me wrong had I been able to afford a ROG Phone II (£899 from the Asus website) I would get one in a heartbeat – I have really enjoyed using it.

Thanks to Asus for the use of the device and long may the ROG Phone range continue!

The post Asus ROG Phone II – Review is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

In recent years, there’s been a marked increase in this activity, especially with long-distance lorry drivers who have to spend large amounts of time behind the wheel. The police have stepped up their patrols, mostly in unmarked cars, to clamp down on this activity.

Recently the Central Motorway Police Group caught a couple of drivers doing just this and have released the video of the second driver, who was sadly only given a £100 fine.

The post Watching shows on your phone whilst driving. Don’t be tempted. is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Asus have been quietly working on their gaming phone concept for a few years and have released two version of the ROG Phone to date. These have come in the form of the ROG Phone and then more recently the ROG Phone 2

These were pitched as being the best gaming devices available and carried the specs to boot. However they have now upped the ante with the release of two new versions the Ultimate and the Strix

The Ultimate edition will up the amount of RAM over the standard model to 12GB and a massive 1TB of storage it will also sport a Matte Black finish. While the Strix edition settles for a lower 8GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage and will be a more glossy affair

These phones will both feature a enhanced version of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ which will clock at 2.97GHz and are powered by a beastly 600mAH battery. This means that you can game for longer without needing to worry about battery life.

The phone also supports an amazing refresh rate on the 6.59″ FHD screen of 120hz meaning that you will never be left wanting when it comes to refresh rate in your gaming.

The phones are built to be a gaming powerhouse and feature various cool tools to make gaming better. It uses Air Trigger II on the upper corners of the phone when held in landscape to allow for extra hardware buttons so that your gaming view is not obstructed.

In addition to this you also have a two USB Type ports that can be used to charge this levithan. One is based in the usual place at the bottom of the phone and the other is on the right hand side to allow chageing whilst gaming with out obstructing your hands. This second port can also power an add on which will make sure that the phone does not get too hot under load called Aero Active Cooler II. This has a n additional fa. Inside it to help draw cool air into the built in vapour chamber to assist with cooling.

These are just some of the headline features that the new phones will come with and I am excited to say that we will be getting hands on with one of these new gaming giants very soon.

If you want to find out more then check back in with us soon for the unboxing and review.

If you are already tempted to up your gaming for the Christmas holidays then head over to the Asus store we’re you can buy one now!

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