Installing a new cartridge is something of a rite of passage for turntable owners. It’s a skill that once was common, but now seems to be considered some kind of black art by many.
In reality it’s not such a hard thing to do provided you have the appropriate tools, a reasonably steady hand and some patience.
So what tools are you likely to need? Typically, cartridge bolts need a 2mm Allen key or a small, flat-bladed screwdriver depending on type of fixing used. Unless you have unusually thin fingers, a small, long-nose plier is handy too.
While things such as Allen keys, screwdrivers and pliers can be found in most toolboxes, few non–audiophiles will have a proper tracking weight gauge or cartridge alignment tool. Fortunately, neither has to cost a fortune and a budget of £20 should cover the purchase of both if you stick with something basic.
Ortofon’s stylus balance is simple but effective.
Unless this is your turntable’s first cartridge, you’ll need to start by removing the old one. In this case, make sure you fit the stylus guard before you do anything else to prevent damage to the old cartridge. You never know if you’ll ever need to use it again.
Then disconnect the four lead-out wires from the cartridge as carefully as you can. We like to use those long nose pliers for this. These colour-coded leads are fragile, so only pull them from the metal connector at the cartridge end rather than the wire itself. Once that’s done it’s a simple matter to undo the mounting bolts and take the cartridge off.
Fitting your new cartridge
Be careful. Those colour-coded wires are fragile.
Once you’ve got the new cartridge out of the box it’s worth checking that the stylus cover is still properly mounted. Cartridges are immensely fragile and any lack of care will usually result in catastrophic damage.
No matter how careful you are, there are times when accidents will happen. If you have a moving magnet design then it’s usually possibly to get a replacement stylus assembly. This won’t be cheap though, typically costing around 60% of the total cartridge price.
If you damage a moving coil cartridge then there’s no cheaper way back. You’ll typically just have to buy another one, or get it repaired at great cost. In short what we’re saying is try not to break it in the first place.
We would recommend mounting the new cartridge onto the arm first. Use the supplied fixings. This can be a bit fiddly, particularly if the cartridge body doesn’t have captive nuts. Take your time and don’t over-tighten things; just do the bolts up enough so that the cartridge body doesn’t move around. Don’t worry about alignment at this point.
Next connect the four lead-out wires. These are colour coded (red, blue, green and white) and you’ll find corresponding markings next to each of the four pins on the back of the cartridge.
This is where the pliers come in handy. If the connectors are a little loose on the pins then you can use the pliers to squeeze them a little tighter. Take care. It’s easy to damage or break those connecters.
Alignment and weighting
Basic, but it’s all you need to align your cartridge properly.
Once this is done, it’s time to put the tracking weight onto the rear of the arm. Don’t worry about setting the exact downforce at this point. Just turn the weight until the arm balances and then carry on further towards the arm pivot to add about 1.5-2.0g extra. This just means that the cartridge will sit properly in the record groove rather than float above. Arm bias should be set to zero at this point.
You’ll need the tracking alignment gauge next. Use the parallel lines on this to align the cartridge body. The measurement is done at two different points: one towards the centre of the platter and the other near the outside edge.
Once you align the cartridge at one of these positions, move the arm to the other and re-adjust if necessary. You may find that you have to work between the two a few times until everything lines up just so. This takes a bit of patience but, once the cartridge is aligned correctly, the stylus top will sit at the proper angle in the record groove, distortion levels will drop and record wear will be minimised.
Once you’ve got the correct cartridge position tighten the mounting bolts fully. Don’t overdo things though, as it’s possible to damage the cartridge body if you go too far. Everything just needs to be tight enough so that the cartridge doesn’t move.
Now you can set the tracking weight properly using the scales. The cartridge manufacturer will recommend a suitable range of downforce, usually between 1.5 and 2.5g, with a specific weight listed as most suitable. That weight would be our starting point but, with production tolerances and the use of different arms, it is sometimes possible to get better sound with a bit of experimentation. It’s usually best to stay within the recommended range, though.
If the sound is a bit dull and lifeless you’ve gone too heavy, while a thin or aggressive presentation means the tracking weight is a little too light. If you overdo the lightness, perhaps in an attempt to reduce record wear, the cartridge will mis-track, damaging the record grooves in the process. Counter-intuitively, if in doubt go a touch heavier – the stylus tip will sit in the record groove with more stability, produce less distortion and cause less damage.
Many upmarket decks allow the user to adjust tonearm height. Usually, the arm is set to be parallel with a record when playing, though sometimes a cartridge may have a particular preference depending on its design. Generally though, if the arm is too high you’ll get a bright, forward sound and the opposite if the arm is too low.
While it all seems a bit of a hassle to get right, you only have to do it once. With everything properly set and aligned you’ll have minimised any distortion, reduced record wear distortion and optimised the cartridge’s performance. You can’t ask for more than that.
More:
Best turntables: Budget, mid-range, high-end
How to set up a turntable
How to get the best sound from your turntable
9 affordable ways to upgrade your turntable
14 of the best turntable accessories for better vinyl sound
Samsung’s upcoming midrange device, the Galaxy A52 5G, appears to be in line to receive monthly security updates. First spotted by Galaxy Club, the yet-to-be formally announced A52 5G appears on Samsung’s security update page for its monthly update cycle. Along with earlier rumors of high refresh rate screens — and a new leak that suggests the main camera will offer optical image stabilization — this looks like Samsung is taking the A51’s successor very seriously.
Samsung generally reserves spots on the monthly update schedule for flagship and higher-end devices. While this isn’t the first time a midrange A-series device has been scheduled for monthly updates, last year’s Galaxy A51 and A51 5G are on the quarterly update schedule. Putting the A52 5G on the monthly schedule makes it more competitive with the likes of the Pixel 4A 5G, which receives frequent updates directly from Google.
Samsung has listed the unreleased Galaxy A52 5G on a support page.
As far as leaks and rumors go, update schedules aren’t as exciting as hardware specs like screen refresh rates and megapixel counts. But they’re just as important; regular updates ensure that bugs and issues can be fixed in a timely manner. Samsung has committed to offering a minimum of four years of regular security updates for many of its Galaxy devices, including the A-series. The A52 5G will probably drop down to quarterly and then occasional frequency toward the end of those four years, but this still goes a long way to making the device usable for many years to come.
There’s still no word on an official release date for the Galaxy A52 5G and A52, but it seems likely that a launch is imminent.
You could now line up five years’ worth of Surface Pro devices next to each other and it would be all but impossible to tell them apart. Microsoft’s new Surface Pro 7 Plus keeps the same familiar design, which is likely just to satisfy corporate customers who want to standardize their hardware for years at a time. That might be good news for business customers, but for the rest of us who want slimmer display bezels and a more modern design like the Surface Pro X, then the wait continues.
It’s no surprise then that Microsoft is limiting sales of the Surface Pro 7 Plus exclusively to businesses and schools. Consumers won’t be able to purchase this from a store, and it’s really for businesses and schools looking to upgrade older machines.
While I’ve bemoaned the current design of the Surface Pro for a couple of years now, there are some changes inside the Surface Pro 7 Plus that will appeal to many. Microsoft now offers built-in LTE on select models, and the SSD is now removable, much like the Surface Laptop 3 and Surface Pro X. Intel’s latest processors also promise better performance and battery life. It’s nearly everything you’d want from a Surface tablet in 2021, but I still wish it looked like a Surface Pro X with an Intel chip inside.
The Surface Pro 7 Plus starts at $899.99, which is a $150 premium on the price of the Surface Pro 7. Thankfully, the base model is now the Intel Core i3 version, with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Microsoft has dropped the 4GB of RAM option for the Plus model. I’ve been testing a Core i5 model with 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and built-in LTE connectivity, which is a steep $1,649.99 before you add a keyboard or stylus. The cheapest option for LTE is the $1,149.99 model with a Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. Microsoft offers all 11 models in the classic silver option, but oddly the black version isn’t available with built-in LTE. You’ll also need a separate Surface Type Cover, and the business versions are priced at $159.99.
Overall, the hardware on the Surface Pro 7 Plus is almost identical to the Surface Pro 7. There’s the same 12.3-inch (2736 x 1824) touchscreen with its 3:2 aspect ratio, a single USB-C port, and the regular USB-A port. Microsoft still hasn’t made the switch to Thunderbolt 3 or 4 here, so you can’t hook this tablet up to an external GPU or use many of the Thunderbolt drives and docks available.
The real changes to the Surface Pro 7 Plus can be found inside. Microsoft has moved to Intel’s latest 11th Gen processors, and you can pick between Core i3, Core i5, or Core i7 variants. I’ve been testing the Core i5 model, and it has remained cool even when using heavy apps like video or video-editing software. Like other Core i5 Pro 7 models, this has no internal fan, so it’s also silent while working.
Microsoft’s Surface Pro 7 has a familiar design.
These latest processors also include Intel’s Iris Xe graphics. While it’s not enough to turn this into a portable gaming laptop, it does help make the Surface Pro 7 Plus feel a lot snappier in a variety of tasks. Combined with improved SSD read and write speeds, lightweight photo and video editing is certainly faster than what I’m used to with the regular Surface Pro 7.
The biggest new hardware addition is built-in LTE, though. It’s the first time the Surface Pro lineup has included this for a few years, but unfortunately there’s no 5G support. Microsoft is using Qualcomm’s older Snapdragon X20 LTE modem inside the Surface Pro 7 Plus. There’s a dedicated SIM slot at the side of the device, which replaces where you’d normally find the microSD slot.
As England has been in a pandemic lockdown for months, I haven’t ventured outside enough to really push the LTE connectivity to its limits, but I didn’t find it impacted battery life too much in my limited tests. LTE connectivity is a great option to have on a device like the Surface Pro, especially for those who normally work remotely, visit clients, or just want something to replace really bad Wi-Fi connectivity.
The other significant hardware change on the Surface Pro 7 Plus is removable SSDs. This is really designed for commercial users to swap out faulty SSDs or to retain corporate data. The SSD is easily accessible from an access door at the rear of the Surface Pro 7 Plus, and a simple SIM tool will open it up. Microsoft’s reseller network has started selling SSD kits, with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB options, so there’s even the option to upgrade storage space here. It’s encouraging to see Microsoft make this so easy to do, which makes it far quicker for IT admins to get a machine up and running again.
All of these internal hardware changes also mean that Microsoft has managed to squeeze a bigger battery (46.5Wh to 50.4Wh) inside the Surface Pro 7 Plus. The company now promises 15 hours of battery life, compared to the 10.5 hours on the original Surface Pro 7. I haven’t noticed any drastic improvements in battery life during normal usage, though.
I typically got around seven to eight hours of battery life during my testing, which includes a mix of apps ranging from Chrome, Discord, and Netflix to Adobe Photoshop. If all you’re doing is watching videos, then you’ll probably see closer to Microsoft’s 15-hour promise, but realistically this is still just enough to get you through a regular day of work. I’m still hoping that one day a Surface Pro will reliably hit 10 hours, so I never have to worry about traveling without a charger.
Microsoft’s Surface Pro 7 Plus is only available to businesses and schools.
I’m still a big fan of the Surface Pro, despite the lack of design changes. Microsoft is clearly catering to a specific audience here, and the Surface Pro 7 Plus has been built for businesses. I hope that means we’ll soon see a consumer-focused Surface Pro that mixes everything that’s great about the Surface Pro X with the power and performance of Intel’s chips.
Built-in LTE and removable SSDs are great additions to the Surface Pro lineup, but we’ve still been waiting years for basics like Thunderbolt 3 support. And while LTE is a great option to have once again, it’s odd that Microsoft isn’t including more futureproof 5G connectivity. If you’re using an older Surface Pro and looking to upgrade, it might not look like a lot has changed over the years, but these subtle hardware changes do make a small difference.
Microsoft completely redesigned the inside of the Surface Pro this year to include this LTE support and removable SSDs. I’m just hoping a complete redesign on the outside is on the way. It’s still the 2-in-1 to beat, but the Surface Pro could offer so much more.
Google is updating its augmented reality SDK so that phones with dual cameras can capture better depth information. As noted by Android Police, the most recent update to the Google Play Services for AR app, which is how Google distributes ARCore features, now notes “Dual camera stereo depth on supported devices” in its changelog.
For now, it appears that the support will be limited to Google’s own Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, which were both released in 2019. The list of compatible ARCore devices on Google’s developer site says that dual camera support will roll out in the coming weeks.
Notably, this means that the Pixel 5 and 4a 5G, both of which are 2020 Pixel phones with dual cameras, won’t see the benefits for now. That may be because their secondary cameras are ultrawides rather than the Pixel 4 and 4 XL’s telephotos, which would have implications for how they could produce more detailed depth maps.
In any case, it’s another consequence of Google’s indecision on Pixel camera lenses. The company long insisted that it only needed a single camera due to computational features like Super Res Zoom on the Pixel 3, then confusingly added a telephoto lens on the Pixel 4 anyway, then backtracked and swapped it out for an ultrawide on the Pixel 5.
Choosing the best thermal paste may sound simple, but a dizzying array of options can turn this seemingly easy choice into a time-consuming task. Thermal paste is designed to minimize microscopic air gaps and irregularities between the surface of the cooler and the CPU’s IHS (integrated heat spreader), the piece of metal which is built into the top of the processor.
Good thermal paste can have a profound impact on your performance, because it will allow your processor to transfer more of its waste heat to your cooler and continue operating at a high clock speed for longer while a mediocre product will force your system to throttle in order to avoid overheating. Even the best CPUs are made better by good thermal paste.
Performance enthusiasts often swear by a favorite brand of paste, but new recipes crop up from time to time. We’ve conducted extensive testing of some of the top thermal pastes on the market, and if you’re on the hunt for more exotic pastes that are off the beaten path, we also have plenty of historical data below covering 90 different pastes (and yes, we’ve even tested toothpaste).
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Thermal paste can go by many names, such as “thermal compound,” “thermal grease,” or “TIM” (Thermal Interface Material). Most pastes are comprised of ceramic or metallic materials suspended within a proprietary binder which allows for easy application and spread as well as simple cleanup.
These thermal pastes can be electrically conductive or non-conductive, depending on their specific formula. Electrically conductive thermal pastes can carry current between two points, meaning that if the paste squeezes out onto other components, it can cause damage to motherboards and CPUs when you switch on the power. A single drop out of place can lead to a dead PC, so extra care is imperative.
Liquid metal compounds are almost always electrically conductive, so while these compounds provide better performance than their paste counterparts, they require more focus and attention during application. They are very hard to remove if you get some in the wrong place, which would fry your system.
In contrast, traditional thermal paste compounds are relatively simple for every experience level. Most, but not all, traditional pastes are electrically non-conductive. We have a detailed breakdown of the best methods for applying thermal paste here.
Here are the best thermal pastes, along with our complete test results. Keep in mind that you don’t always get what you pay for as some budget pastes come awfully close to or overtake their more-expensive competitors.
Electrically Conductive: No | Thermal Conductivity: 11.2 W/mk | Ease of Use: 4.5 (1=difficult, 5=simple) | Relative Performance: 4.0 (1=poor, 5=excellent) | Cleanup: lint-free absorbent paper towels, alcohol pads or cotton swabs and alcohol | Price per gram: $3.60
Stability
Easy to use
Easy to clean up
None
Often hanging close to, but not overtaking, liquid metal compounds in our tests, PromilaTech PK-3 Nano Aluminum paste is a moderately viscous thermal compound integrated with aluminum and zinc oxide. The paste provides good stability, making it easy to apply to all surfaces as well as simple to clean up. You really can’t go wrong with this paste — it is sufficient for most CPU applications.
Electrically Conductive: No | Thermal Conductivity: 12.5 W/mk | Ease of Use: 4.5 (1=difficult, 5=simple) | Relative Performance: 4.0 (1=poor, 5=excellent) | Cleanup: lint-free absorbent paper towels, alcohol pads or cotton swabs and alcohol | Price per gram: $9.99
Stability
Easy to use
Easy to clean up
Price per gram
Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut is a mildly viscous thermal compound with good stability, making it simple to work with while also resisting drips and runs. This paste is very easy to apply and clean up, making it a favorite among system builders.
Best Budget Thermal Paste
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
3. Noctua NT-H1
Best Budget Thermal Paste
Electrically Conductive: No | Thermal Conductivity: Unlisted | Ease of Use: 4.5 (1=difficult, 5=simple) | Relative Performance: 4.0 (1=poor, 5=excellent) | Cleanup: lint-free absorbent paper towels, alcohol pads or cotton swabs and alcohol | Price per gram: $2.26
Price/performance ratio
Easy to use and clean
None
Noctua’s NH-H1 is a relatively viscous and stable compound that applies easily and allows for easy clean-up. A screw-on cap syringe maintains compound longevity to prevent drying and is priced as an attractive paste for those on a budget. You really can’t go wrong with this paste — it is sufficient for the majority of builds.
Gelid GC-Extreme (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
4. Gelid GC-Extreme
Runner-Up: Best Budget Thermal Paste
Electrically Conductive: No | Thermal Conductivity: 8.5 W/mk | Ease of Use: 4.0 (1=difficult, 5=simple) | Relative Performance: 3.5 (1=poor, 5=excellent) | Cleanup: lint-free absorbent paper towels, alcohol pads or cotton swabs and alcohol | Price per gram: $3.70
Consistent spread
Value pricing
Easy to use and clean up
Requires some pressure on the syringe to apply correctly
Gelid GC-Extreme is a moderately viscous compound, making it very stable during application and it spreads consistently, although it requires slow consistent pressure on the syringe plunger for correct placement. This TIM is relatively easy to use and simple to clean up.
Electrically Conductive: Yes | Thermal Conductivity: 73.0 W/mk | Ease of Use: 2.0 (1=difficult, 5=simple) | Relative Performance: 4.5 (1=poor, 5=excellent) | Cleanup: lint-free absorbent paper towels, alcohol pads or cotton swabs and alcohol | Price per gram: $22.99
For extreme overclocking
High performance
Price
Difficult to apply
Electrically conductive
Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut liquid metal thermal compound has a very thin, runny consistency and is applied to the CPU integrated heat spreader with a syringe delivery system and capillary needle applicator tip. Excess material can be siphoned off using a special extraction tip (by pulling the syringe plunger to withdraw excess liquid metal).
CoolLaboratory Liquid Pro (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
6. CoolLaboratory Liquid Pro
Runner-up: Best Liquid Metal Thermal Paste
Electrically Conductive: Yes | Thermal Conductivity: 79.0 W/mk | Ease of Use: 2.0 (1=difficult, 5=simple) | Relative Performance: 4.5 (1=poor, 5=excellent) | Cleanup: lint-free absorbent paper towels, alcohol pads or cotton swabs and alcohol | Price per gram: $24.94
For extreme overclocking
High performance
Price
Difficult to apply
Electrically conductive
CoolLaboratory Liquid Pro is a liquid metal compound that is applied with a syringe and capillary tip to the CPU integrated heat spreader, and it ships with a scouring pad and alcohol swab for prep and cleanup.
Application and spreading of the liquid metal are made easier with cotton swabs and generous pressure for even distribution. Liquid metal can cause reactions with some metals, such as aluminum, and some reports of reactions with copper are also documented by end-users.
Best Budget Liquid Metal Thermal Paste
Phobya Liquid Metal Compound LM (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
7. Phobya Liquid Metal Compound LM
Best Budget Liquid Metal Thermal Paste
Electrically Conductive: Yes | Thermal Conductivity: Unlisted | Ease of Use: 2.0 (1=difficult, 5=simple) | Relative Performance: 4.5 (1=poor, 5=excellent) | Cleanup: lint-free absorbent paper towels, alcohol pads or cotton swabs and alcohol | Price per gram: $9.00
For extreme overclocking
High performance
Relatively inexpensive for a liquid metal paste
Difficult to apply
Electrically conductive
For a compound that costs less than half as much as leading competitors , Phobya’s Liquid Metal Compound LM offers impressive performance, often besting the the CoolLaboratory Liquid Pro or Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut in our tests.
Liquid Metal Compound LM ships as a syringe with a capillary applicator tip. Spreading the compound is made easier with cotton swabs and generous pressure to develop a consistent coating on the CPU IHS. Can cause reactions with aluminum and other metals.
Thermal Paste Performance Rankings
Here’s a breakdown of our recent testing, and we’ll be adding new pastes to this list over the coming weeks and months. A bit further down, you’ll find our original round of testing with 85 different pastes, some of which we’ve revisited in this new performance hierarchy. That should give you a good idea of how other pastes that we haven’t retested yet would compare to the newer pastes.
We’ll go into our breakdown of how we test these thermal pastes below, but the key takeaway here is that a single thermal compound can perform differently based upon several variables, such as what type of cooler and mount you use. To cover all the bases, we’ve tested every thermal paste with three variables:
Low-tension Noctua NH-D15 mounting to model an air cooler without a backplate (like an Intel stock cooler, or push-pin coolers)
High-tension Noctua NH-D15 mounting to model higher-end air coolers with a backplate
High-tension mounting with an all-in-one (AIO) liquid cooler
Below you’ll find the temperatures we measured on our standardized test bench, and as always, lower temperatures are better. We’ve also included value charts in the album below as well.
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Thermal Paste Test Results
As shown in the slides above, the outcome of the different testing scenarios resulted in some interesting comparisons among the compounds. We’ll look at the overall thermal load averages for each, as well as the relative performance value of each in terms of price-per-gram.
Air Cooling – Low Tension Mount Liquid metal compounds make their way to the top of the temperature chart with slightly cooler values than the traditional pastes. Interestingly, the difference between the top and bottom of this chart is less than 4C.
When we look at each compound in terms of unit cost-per-gram, liquid metal compounds are generally more costly, making their overall performance value more of a luxury than a necessity. However, Phobya LM bucks this trend as it shows you can get good liquid metal compound performance at bargain pricing.
Air Cooling – High Tension Mount Liquid metals are again at the top of the list, and again, there’s a relatively small 4C delta between the top and bottom of the list. Only a few minor changes to the pecking order have occurred, and these easily fall within the tight margins of standard deviation.
Small differences in temperatures jostle the chart a bit, but overall the more budget-friendly compounds show much more promising performance value due to relatively close load ranges. We see a trend that most good and great thermal compounds perform very similarly, but might be worlds apart in price per gram.
All In One (AIO) Liquid Cooler – High Tension Mount It’s no surprise that the liquid metal compounds once again sit atop the thermal comparison. Still, a 6C difference between all 15 thermal compounds tested shows there isn’t a lot of variation, even with a 360 all-in-one cooler with a push+pull fan setup for performance.
The performance value chart shows most of the liquid metal compounds with a poor value-per-gram rating, but once again, Phobya LM proves to be the outlier for that sub-category with its budget price tag.
We’re also seeing the trend of larger gram-per-package for thermal pastes (2-5g syringes) along with lower price proving to be stiff competition against the more expensive liquid metals (0.5-1.0g syringes) that cost upwards of twice as much, or more.
Key Takeaways Thermal compounds might always be compared and debated over, but the simple fact remains: PC system building needs thermal compounds to effectively dissipate thermal loads. Without them, our beloved gaming and content-producing machines would struggle to keep components cool during heated frag sessions, heavy workstation computations, or just simply browsing the web.
Not every system will need the most expensive compound, so even the most budget-minded system builders can rest easy knowing that even lower-cost pastes can still prove very effective. You can see our historical testing results with far more pastes after the test setup.
For our thermal compound tests, we use the same hardware, overclock, and configuration for each and every test to minimize environment variables in our testing.
We tested each thermal paste with a low-tension air cooler mount, high-tension air cooler mount, and a high-tension AIO liquid cooler mount. Each application was given a 1-hour burn-in using Prime95 with ten load and cooling cycles over the course of the hour; six minutes each with a ten-second cool-down between. Each testing load session was then executed for a one-hour load period, again using Prime95.
For the air cooling low- and high-tension tests, we used a large Noctua NH-D15 air cooler. We created the low tension mount environment by torquing the mounting screws to 1.13 Nm (10 in/lbs).
The low tension mounting tests help simulate cooler installs that might not use a backplate (like push-pin coolers) or those that do not allow high tension and compression across the CPU integrated heat spreader. Also, repeated tests are not consistently possible with push-pin mounted coolers: The pins can degrade after several mount cycles, which meant we needed to simulate these to maintain consistent test results.
Our high-tension air cooler mount involved tightening the mounting screws fully to the mounting plate and shows thermal paste performance with air coolers with backplates that allow for tighter mounting.
We used the EK-AIO Elite 360 D-RGB for the liquid cooling tests with all fans in a push+pull configuration. We performed these tests with the AIO pump block fully tensioned (tightened). We didn’t test the AIO with a low-tension mount because liquid coolers almost always employ a backplate that allows a high-tension mount.
Overall, each compound was evaluated and stressed over a regimen cycle covering six hours with two different coolers and different mounting tensions, making for no less than 90 hours of compound testing for our initial round of tests.
Legacy Thermal Paste Testing – 85 Pastes Tested
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Here’s our legacy thermal paste testing chart that we generated back in 2017. As you’ll notice, many of the same popular pastes in 2017 are still on the market, making it into our new round of 2021 testing.
We do have new testing equipment for our updated tests, such as a more modern CPU, motherboard, and coolers for our tests, but we adhered to the same test methodology employed in these prior tests. That means that you can use these legacy tests as a decent approximation of how the newer pastes compare to the older pastes, too.
We’ll be adding more thermal pastes to our new hierarchy; stay tuned.
Apple’s 2021 iPhones might finally have a smaller notch and, for some models, faster refresh rate displays, according to a new note from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. He also shared rumored information about other upcoming iPhones, including when we could see a foldable phone from Apple.
Let’s start with the iPhone launching this year, which we’ll call it the iPhone 13. Kuo says the iPhone 13 lineup will consist of the same models as the iPhone 12, meaning that despite reports of poor sales of the iPhone 12 mini, the smaller phone could still get a refresh this year (via MacRumors). The two iPhone 13 Pro models will also have 120Hz refresh rate screens thanks to LTPO display technology, according to Kuo, finally bringing the iPhone on par with many Android flagships’ high refresh rate screens.
The iPhone 13 models will all have a smaller notch, Kuo says, though if you wish that Apple would do away with the notch entirely, you might have something to look forward to in 2022. Kuo reports that at least some of the 2022 iPhone models will move to a hole-punch display, which could be similar to many Android phones like Samsung’s Galaxy S21 lineup and Google’s Pixel phones (via MacRumors).
However, in addition to a selfie camera, the iPhone’s notch currently contains components used for Apple’s Face ID biometric authentication system, and Kuo didn’t elaborate on if or how this rumored hole-punch display for iPhones could still pack in everything needed for Face ID. And if you’re dreaming of a iPhone with no visible notch or hole punch, Kuo says that Apple may launch a truly all-screen iPhone in the second half of 2023 at the earliest, according to 9to5Mac.
Kuo also says the iPhone 13 devices will still have a Lightning port, will have Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X60 modem (which is a step up from the X55 modem included in the iPhone 12), and will have larger battery capacities than the iPhone 12.
There’s also a new iPhone SE in the works that will support 5G and have an improved processor, according to Kuo (via MacRumors). This new SE is expected to have a similar form factor as the current $399 model with a 4.7-inch screen and could launch in the first half of 2022, Kuo says.
Kuo has previously reported that Apple has a larger iPhone SE in the works that uses a Touch ID sensor integrated into the power button, which would be similar to the new iPad Air, but it sounds like the 5G-capable iPhone SE may be something different. Kuo said in the new note that “there is no visibility on the current schedule” for Apple to bring power button Touch ID (or, notably, USB-C) to iPhones, according to AppleInsider, leaving the future of this rumored larger iPhone SE uncertain.
Apple is also working on a foldable iPhone with a 7.5- to eight-inch display that could launch in 2023, Kuo says. However, the project seems to be in a very early stage, according to MacRumors’ article about Kuo’s report.
A 2023 launch would be dependent on Apple being able to solve “key technology and mass production issues” this year. He says the product has “not yet officially kicked off,” so it appears to still be in the research stage and previous rumors have indicated Apple could still decide not to proceed with it.
Bloomberg has also reported on Apple’s early plans for a foldable iPhone, saying in January that the company “hasn’t solidified plans to actually launch” the new device.
(Pocket-lint) – For most people, buying the latest flagship usually means buying an iPhone or buying a Samsung Galaxy. But, there are some equally compelling powerful phones from other brands on the market too. Two of those are the latest from Chinese brands, Xiaomi and OnePlus. Those are – of course – the Mi 11 and the 8T.
Look down the spec sheet numbers and you might just conclude an easy win for the Xiaomi. But as many of us well know: numbers on spec sheets don’t tell the whole story, and there’s price to consider. Xiaomi’s premium model is more expensive. So which should you buy?
One thing that can be said about Xiaomi’s design is that the manufacturer has pushed the envelope when it comes to making its phone at least look different to others on the market. That triple layer camera housing with the contrasting ring and black pill-shaped under layer makes it instantly unique against the OnePlus, with its relatively standard rectangle housing.
In the hand, they don’t feel all that different though. Both feature a similar curved glass back, but the texture between the two specific models in the video above is different. Xiaomi’s frosted glass is softer to the touch, although it is ever so slightly longer, wider and heavier than the OnePlus, there’s not a lot in it, not enough to make a huge difference on a daily basis.
Turn them over to the front and you’ll notice a few more differences. Primarily Xiaomi’s curved glass on the edges. OnePlus went for a completely flat display, with only subtle curving at the bezel, which is similarly slim on both devices.
Saying that, looking closely you’ll notice that Xiaomi’s bezels are skinnier and that the punch-hole camera takes up a little less space in the panel.
While curved screens are technically more advanced than flat ones, Xiaomi’s implementation does mean it suffers from accidental touches.
Holding the phone in landscape we often found ourselves struggling to get deliberate touches to register as an unbeknown to us part of our palm was touching the edge of the screen.
Both phones support dual SIM setups, and neither phone has a microSD card tray, so you get the storage in the phone and that’s it. Which, in both cases is generous. You’ll get either 128GB or 256GB.
Display
Xiaomi: 6.81-inch 20:9 ratio AMOLED display
OnePlus: 6.55-inch 20:9 ratio AMOLED display
Xiaomi: QHD+ (3200 x 1400) resolution – 515ppi
OnePlus: FHD+ (2400 x 1080) resolution – 402ppi
Both: HRD10+ compatible and maximum 120Hz refresh rate
Look at the display specs and there’s surely one winner here? Well.. not quite. Xiaomi’s is the more advanced, technically, and has a sharper maximum resolution. That pushes it to more than 500 pixels per inch, compared to the 400 pixels per inch on the OnePlus. It is QHD over FHD after all.
That means on finer details when you look closely, the Xiaomi does look crisper. Despite similar peak brightnesses however, the OnePlus screen does seem a little brighter and more vivid with both pushed to maximum brightness.
The two phones offer plenty of calibration tools though, so you should be able to get them looking the way you want.
There’s really not a huge amount in it and – while Xiaomi’s is technically better overall – we’d be perfectly happy to game and watch movies and tv shows on either display. In fact, sometimes the flatter display is preferable. If only because none of your images are curved around an edge.
Both offer super smooth 120Hz refresh rates, so you’ll get smooth, sharp animation whatever you’re doing. Providing the content is optimised to run at those speeds.
Software
Xiaomi: MIUI 12 – based on Android 11
OnePlus: Oxygen OS 11 – based on Android 11
When it comes to software, we have to say OxygenOS 11 is a more reliable and less intrusive version of Android. Both are similarly fluid and fast with similar features like always on display when your phone is in standby.
However, Xiaomi has this habit of double-checking your Play Store apps are safe before installing, which can be a pain if you’re downloading apps in the background while doing something else. A popup screen takes over, interrupting whatever you’re doing.
More obtrusive however is that all apps are pushed to reserve battery mode by default, meaning unless you go into settings and give them unreserved access, you’ll miss notifications. If you don’t tinker in settings to allow them permanent ability to run, you have to physically open the apps to check if you have messages and updates.
Similarly, OnePlus seems a little more suited to one-handed use with its default apps at least, bringing controls down to a more thumb-able level.
Performance and battery
Xiaomi: Snapdragon 888 processor
OnePlus: Snapdragon 865 processor
Both: 5G support
Xiaomi: 8GB/128GB, 8GB/256GB and 12GB/256GB RAM/storage options
OnePlus: 8GB/128GB and 12GB/256GB RAM/storage options
Xiaomi: 4600mAh – 55W wired and 50W wireless charging
OnePlus: 4500mAh – 65W wired Warp Charge
With performance there’s not a huge amount to say, except that both phones are really quick and able to run the most demanding games and apps without a worry.
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Xiaomi has the upper hand, since it’s using Qualcomm’s latest 888 processor, but with similar memory and RAM levels and speed, you likely won’t notice a huge amount of difference on a daily basis. Run a benchmark and you probably will, but you’ll never have to worry about demanding games with either phone.
Similarly, battery life will comfortably get even the most demanding users through a full day. You get similar battery capacities – it’s 4,500 vs 4600 mAh – on the two phones, although, OnePlus is the smaller of the two. Still, with its lower resolution display, it doesn’t seem to use it up quite as quickly when doing visually intensive activities. So with similar screen time, the OnePlus lasts a little longer.
When it comes to fast charging, OnePlus wins this one with its 65W warp charge that can completely refill the battery in under 40 minutes.
Still, Xiaomi’s no slouch and not only can it do a full charge in 45 minutes, it has fast 50W wireless charging too, provided you get Xiaomi’s bespoke compatible wireless charger. OnePlus features no wireless charging.
Cameras
Xiaomi: triple camera system
108MP f/1.9 wide main camera w/OIS
13MP f/2.4 ultra-wide
5MP f/2.4 macro
OnePlus: quad camera system
48MP f/1.7 wide main camera w/OIS
16MP F/2.2 ultra-wide
5MP f/2.4 macro
2MP depth
Both: 4K up to 60fps
Xiaomi: 8K up to 30fps
Xiaomi: 20MP 1080p selfie camera
OnePlus: 16MP 1080p selfie camera
While resolution and sensor sizes are different, the makeup of the two camera systems are similar. There’s a primary lens alongside the ultra-wide and macro lenses. OnePlus also has a depth sensor, which is essentially useless on its own. It’s just for extra data.
Now, neither phone has a telephoto lens, but both will let you zoom further using a digital zoom. Xiaomi’s lets you go pretty far too, but once you push either over the 5x zoom mark the results can pretty ropy.
The one thing we did notice was that – while both take sharp, vivid pictures in daylight – the Xiaomi’s were consistently darker and more contrast-heavy. Sometimes that made them appear too dark and crushed, with the OnePlus looking more life-like and natural. Other times, the OnePlus looked comparitively washed out.
As for macros – it’s tricky getting a sharp in-focus shot with the Xiaomi, but it can take fantastic looking macros if you get up close. Xiaomi’s tends to magify the macros a lot more, but more importantly, the macro shot on the Mi 11 consistently had a much nicer and smoother background blur. OnePlus was noisy and grainy and just looked harsh a lot of the time.
As for night time, both phones have a night mode you can use on the primary and ultra wide cameras, but the ultra-wides are nowhere near as effective at drawing in light on either camera.
Results were a little inconsistent, with the OnePlus often struggling to focus and evening out the minor hand shake. But when it did, it often delivered better colour, dynamic range and detail than the Xiaomi. However, the Mi 11 was more often better at focussing and producing the sharper image when the light levels got particularly low, even if the colours are a little cooler and washed out.
As for selfies, the Xiaomi seemed generally softer and a little less natural looking than the OnePlus in both daylight and at night using the screen as a flash.
Pricing and availability
Xiaomi: Pricing around €750/£750
OnePlus: Pricing from €549/£549
The interesting part of this comparison is looking at pricing. Xiaomi’s latest flagship – due to its higher spec in a few places – means you pay more for it. In fact, around £200/€200 in some places. Even the higher spec 12GB/256GB OnePlus model is cheaper than Xiaomi’s.
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Xiaomi’s phone is brand new too, so you may struggle to find it as easily available in a lot of markets. OnePlus’ latest flagship has been on the market for a few months already and can be found direct through OnePlus or through partner carriers in a lot of countries. Or even through Amazon.
Conclusion
All in all, Xiaomi may have some features better than the OnePlus. The display for one stands out but – in a lot of ways that matter – the OnePlus more than matches it. The less intrusive software experience for one is a reason to choose it, as is saving money.
Still, the Mi 11 is a very capable flagship packed with potential. There’s no doubt it has a better display and camera system and maybe – just maybe – the software experience will improve when MIUI 12.5 arrives.
The OnePlus 9 5G smartphone is due to launch in March alongside the OnePlus 9 Pro and the OnePlus 9R. That’s a lot of OnePlus – but there’s more. The flagship Android phones will be joined by the company’s first-ever smartwatch, the OnePlus Watch.
Tech watcher Ishan Argawal tips the grand unveiling for mid-March (via 91mobiles), while known tipster Mukul Sharma (@StuffListings) says 23rd March could be the big day. Argawal also claims that OnePlus will tease the event “very soon”, so expect a trailer video any day now.
We brought you the first leaked images of the OnePlus 9 a couple of months ago. The next-gen device seems to match the OnePlus 8T with ultra-slim bezels and a pinhole selfie-cam. It’s also tipped for a 6.55-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR support.
The beefier OnePlus 9 Pro model is said to feature a 6.7-inch Fluid AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, Snapdragon 888 processor with 8GB of RAM and quad-lens camera. Storage will start at 128GB (via OnLeaks).
The budget OnePlus 9R handset is something of a mystery. It was originally tipped to be called the OnePlus 9 “Lite” but has apparently morphed into the OnePlus “9R” in recent days. Either way, it might feature a 1080p HD display and a mid-range Snapdragon 865 processor.
(Image credit: OnePlus)
All three OnePus 9 handsets are expected to come running Android 11 with the company’s redesigned OxygenOS 11 running on top. An OxygenUpdater leak suggests the OnePlus 9 will come in Astral Black, Arctic Sky, and Winter Mist colour options while the 9 Pro is reported to come in Forest Green, Morning Mist, and Stellar Black.
As for the company’s first-ever smartwatch, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has already confirmed the existence of the device. It’s expected to be called the OnePlus Watch and sketches show it with a circular dial.
There’s no word on pricing yet, but we’d expect the OnePlus 9 5G to debut in a similar ballpark to the 8T – £549 ($649, AU$1099). In the market for a new smartphone? It’s set to be a bumper year for smartphone launches, what with the upcoming launch of the Apple iPhone 13.
MORE:
A full rundown of the best Android smartphones available now
Despite its relentless promotion of 5G phones and the fact that it spent more than $45 billion bidding on a new faster spectrum, Verizon support now is advising people on Twitter to turn off their phones’ 5G access to preserve battery life.
In a Sunday morning tweet, Verizon support helpfully suggested that “one way to help conserve battery life is to turn on LTE” if users found their batteries were “draining faster than normal.” That step would, of course, turn off 5G in a phone that has it available. It’s also worth pointing out that you don’t actually “turn on LTE” when doing this step — LTE is always enabled as a fallback for the 5G network. But Verizon is obviously being cautious so as not to actually tell its customers to “turn off 5G”.
Twitter users naturally pointed out that switching to LTE-only would mean turning off 5G (which is available in some newer phones), but the helpful support person said it was important to troubleshoot “steps to find the root cause of any issues with speed,” adding that Verizon is “quickly launching more 5G areas, and making updates constantly to improve speeds.” Verizon’s nationwide 5G network uses a technology called DSS, which in many instances is actually slower than the LTE network it’s trying to replace.
Verizon announced its big 5G plans for 2021 last month, after formally launching its next-gen network in October 2020. One of its top priorities is expanding coverage of its ultra-fast mmWave coverage, which is currently restricted to parts of some cities in the US. It’s also heavily dependent on how close you are to a Verizon 5G site.
Both Verizon and AT&T spent big bucks in the FCC’s Auction 107, bidding on the C-band spectrum. Verizon spent $45.4 billion— twice as much as AT&T’s $23.4 billion. AT&T’s current nationwide 5G network also relies on DSS with speeds close to or lower than 4G LTE.
The new frequencies won’t become available until the end of the 2021 at the earliest, and will be available in limited locations first.
The Razer Naga X offers a best-in-class sensor, 16 programmable buttons and a great shape. Razer needs to improve the ergonomics of its 12-button thumbpad though, and the Naga X misses what felt like standard features in the more expensive Naga Trinity and Naga Pro. For $20 more, the Naga Trinity is a better choice, and the lower-end competition has gotten better too.
For
16 programmable buttons
Configuration button mappings via Razer software
Design feels great in larger hands
Against
Can only save a single profile in onboard memory
Thumbpad buttons can be hard to differentiate
You can never have enough buttons. Whether you’re knee deep in the latest raid wing in World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy XIV or you need a host of buttons for productivity in Adobe Photoshop, more buttons is helpful. This is where the MMO mouse excels.
Since 2009, Razer has offered the Naga line of MMO mice, each competing to be the best gaming mouse for MMO players. Each model has offered between 6 and 12 buttons, with updates over the years. Enter 2021, and we have the Razer Naga X with a 12-button thumbpad, RGB and the latest in Razer mouse technology.
The Razer Naga X’s $80 price tag puts it in line with some of the competition, including the Corsair Scimitar Pro RGB. That price point is above some other MMO mice however, like Redragon M913 Impact Elite or the Logitech G600 MMO mouse, which has seen its MSRP drop to $40 since its 2012 release.
Razer Naga X Specs
Sensor Model
Razer 5G Optical
Sensitivity
100-18,000 DPI
Polling Rate
125/500/1,000 Hz
Programmable Buttons
16
LED Zones and Colors
2x RGB
Cable
6 feet (1.8m), braided
Connectivity
USB Type-A
Measurements (LxWxH)
4.69 x 2.93 x 1.69 inches (119.13 x 74.50 x 42.93mm)
Weight
3.88 ounces (110g)
Razer Naga X Design and Comfort
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When I’d said the overall design of the Naga hasn’t changed, that wasn’t hyperbole. Like its predecessors, the Naga X has a gentle hump that’s more situated towards the rear of the mouse. On the right side, there’s a small resting spot for your ring finger. Overall, the general shape fits well into my larger hand, more so than a smaller design like from the Razer DeathAdder lineup. The Naga X is 4.69 x 2.93 inches x 1.69 inches, making it identical to the Razer Naga Trinity in dimensions and slightly less long, as well as less wide and slightly shorter than the Redragon M913 Impact Elite (4.82 x 3.62 x 1.65 inches). The Naga X is notably lighter than both the Naga Trinity and Redragon though (3.88 ounces versus 4.55 ounces and 4.23 ounces, respectively).
Most of the buttons on the Naga X live on the left side of the mouse. They’re in a familiar 12-button layout, with four rows of three buttons. Every button is slightly angled aimed at allowing you to differentiate which button is underneath your thumb. Each button has a decent click to it, though they’re not as meaty as the bigger buttons on the Corsair Scimitar RGB Elite.
The Naga X’s left and right click buttons both use Razer’s 2nd generation optical mechanical mouse switches. They have a snappy click with requiring much actuation force. In between the mouse’s two primary buttons is a notched scroll wheel and a single button that lets you toggle through 5 CPI settings, which you can program in Razer’s software if desired. This is where some of the design changes are felt. Unlike the wireless Razer Naga Pro and Naga Trinity, this is a single button, rather than two buttons so you can move up and down your CPI settings. It’s an odd omission, but not one that’s likely constantly felt. There’s no side-to-side tilt in the mouse wheel either, which was also a feature on previous Nagas, including the Nagao Pro and Naga Trinity.
There are two RGB lighting zones on the Naga X: on the scroll wheel and the 12-button thumbpad. Unlike many gaming mice, the logo by the palm does not have RGB.
Finally, on the bottom of the Naga X are three rather wide PTFE feet for smooth sliding on your surface of choice.
Razer Naga X Gaming Performance
The Naga X uses Razer’s 5G optical sensor, which is specced for up to 18,000 CPI, 50g of acceleration and a max velocity of 450 inches per second (IPS). These specs match the capabilities of the Naga Trinity’s sensor but increases the CPI by 2,000. The 5G sensor is a bit less powerful than what you’ll find in the pricier wireless Razer Naga Pro (Razer Focus+ sensor) but still proved reliable for MMO gaming and general use. The 5G is still packing powerful specs. For comparison, the Logitech G600’s sensor is specced for a max of 8,200 CPI, 30g and 160 IPS.
Given the MMO moniker of the mouse, it’s best to go to the source. I loaded up World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV to test the mouse out. By default, the 12 thumbpad buttons are all bound to corresponding number keys, with the 10 button being 0, and the 11 and 12 buttons being the minus and equal keys, respectively. This means the default setting has the standard MMO hotbar bound to the thumbpad.
During testing, I found that hitting 1-3 and 10-12 were pretty easy, as they occupy the outside edges of the thumbpad. The issue was in the 4-9 buttons. They’re simply too close together, and the differentiation in angle isn’t big enough to consistently hit the right button. The buttons are different heights, but the differences are so slight that it doesn’t matter. It’s very easy to press the wrong buttons in the middle rows.
In contrast, the Logitech G600 has what Logitech calls a “dual-dish” design, helping differentiation with “two carefully positioned sets of six buttons.” The Corsair Scimitar Pro RGB offers far more space between the buttons and an alternating texture pattern for each row. Both options add more variation, and Razer should be more willing to imitate some good ideas.
My fix was to leave the 7-9 buttons unbound. If I have problems telling the difference between the second and third rows, it’s better to just remove the third row. This gave me nine buttons to work with, which worked out pretty well overall. I was able to hit my standard rotation in both WoW and FFXIV with little issue. Of course, when buying a mouse with a 12-button thumbpad, the goal is to have 12 easily usable side buttons.
I also missed the up and down buttons for DPI switching. I work on two monitors, so I tend to find myself working with one DPI setting in documents, a higher setting for general use and then switching to an even-higher one to transition from monitor to monitor. The two DPI switch buttons made that transition easier; whereas, the single DPI cycling button adds an extra click or two to my workflow.
Razer Naga X Software
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Across its entire line of products, the Razer Synapse software is still a winner. Outside of some stiff competition from Logitech’s G Hub, the Razer software suite is one of the best around.
The main page for the Naga X within the Synapse software lets you change all of the button mappings for every button on the mouse, including scroll up, down and click. Even the main Left and Right clicks can be changed if you want. The Naga X also supports Razer HyperShift, allowing you to set a button that’ll change all the bindings to a second profile, essentially doubling the buttons available.
You can create unlimited button profiles in Razer Synapse, though only a single profile can be saved to the onboard memory on the Naga X. Once again, the Naga X falls short of the Naga Pro and Trinity; both mice could store five onboard profiles. The Naga X’s profiles can be linked to specific games and launch automatically with them. I tended to default to one profile for general work—with buttons 1 and 3 being set to forward and back— and another for MMO gaming.
Synapse is where you set the CPI toggle’s 5 stored settings, which can range from 100 CPI to a large 18,000 CPI. There are also 3 polling rate options in Synapse:t 125, 500 and 1,000 Hz.
Lighting brightness and standard RGB effects can be set in Synapse, but if you want to do more, you’ll need to use Razer’s Chroma Studio add-on software.
Bottom Line
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Razer Naga X is a solid offering at its $80 MSRP. This is a classic design that gets you a workhorse MMO mouse you can push higher with Razer’s excellent software. But the problem is the price has so many caveats.
The Razer Naga Trinity has an MSRP that’s only $20 more, and it often goes on sale for even cheaper than the Naga X’s $80 price tag. The Naga Trinity has features left out of the Naga X: more onboard profiles, the tilt click scroll wheel and dual CPI buttons. You’ll also gain the interchangeable side plates for 2, 7 and 12-button configurations, which is far more flexible. The only thing you lose is the top-end max sensitivity: the Naga X tops out at 18,000, while the Trinity is 16,000. I’d make that sacrifice.
The Logitech G600 is long in the tooth and its max DPI is much lower, but its MSRP is down to $40 at this point. And for $30 less than the Naga X, you can pick up the Redragon M913 Impact Elite, which doesn’t have the same build quality but can get the job done. I also like the design of the Corsair Scimitar Pro RGB Elite a little more than that of the Naga X, and it has the same price tag; the biggest problem with that mouse is being able to find one at retail anymore.
The Razer Naga X isn’t a bad mouse by any stretch. It’s just a matter of the competition around it excelling in various areas — including competition from Razer itself. It’s a competent, mostly comfortable mouse for MMO gaming, but there are better options out there.
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The LG Stylo 6 is a sub-$300 phone with a built-in stylus, which puts it in exclusive company: the $299 Motorola Moto G Stylus is more or less its only direct competition. For its $270 price, the Stylo 6 offers good battery performance; a big, bright screen; and the handy pen-derived features that stylus life offers. But as much fun as I had doodling on its generously sized screen, it’s just too slow to recommend.
That’s a shame because I genuinely enjoyed aspects of using this phone. I couldn’t seem to drain the battery below the 30 percent mark even on a day of heavy usage, and I experienced real enjoyment texting my spouse a precisely drawn, animated doodle of a farting butt. Photos look good on its vivid, wide 6.8-inch screen, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover while rewatching Chernobyl (don’t worry, I talk to my therapist about this) that it has stereo speakers.
Unfortunately, that enjoyment was overshadowed every time the phone took an extra beat to switch between apps, open Twitter, load my Instagram feed, or start my Google Maps navigation. It’s not unusably slow, but it is quite noticeably slow. If you have the patience of a small insect like I do, there’s a fine line between the two.
The Stylo offers a large 6.8-inch screen.
LG Stylo 6 screen and performance
The Stylo 6 is a large phone, as you’d expect a phone with a stylus to be. It offers a 6.8-inch 1080p LCD with a standard 60Hz refresh rate and modest bezels. Its dimensions are similar to the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, also a large phone, except that it’s slightly taller. The screen itself is plenty bright and vivid, and the aforementioned stereo speakers make watching videos that bit nicer.
I found the phone overall too big to use comfortably one-handed, and it felt awkward in even large coat pockets. That’s beside the point, though, if you’re considering the Stylo then you probably already know you want a large phone, so to each their own.
The Stylo 6 offers a Mediatek Helio P35 chipset and 3GB of RAM. Herein lies the Stylo 6’s troubles: this processor and RAM combination just doesn’t offer enough power for this phone. I noticed stuttering often as I scrolled through media-rich screens on Twitter and Instagram. Ditto the previously mentioned slowness opening and switching between apps, and the camera suffers from laggy processing speeds, too.
I sometimes tapped the screen, then wondered if the phone had recognized the tap a split second before it opened an app or whatever I was trying to do. Conversely, I’d tap the screen too lightly or quickly and wait an extra second before realizing it hadn’t registered, just because I’d gotten used to giving the phone a little extra time to do everything. This would all be more forgivable (if still frustrating) on a $200 phone, but depending where you get the Stylo 6, it’s pushing closer to $300 and should really do better.
If there’s a bright spot to the phone’s processing woes, it’s that battery life is great — possibly as a side effect. The Stylo 6 has a 4,000mAh battery, and after a typical day with two-plus hours of screen-on time, I was usually down to only 70 percent. I was sure a day of heavier use with Google Maps navigation, Spotify, and more social media scrolling than usual would challenge it, but nope. I didn’t even drain it enough for a low battery warning before plugging it in at night.
There’s just one configuration offered with 64GB of built-in storage, which isn’t great, but it’s expandable by way of microSD. It ships with Android 10 and, unfortunately, a lot of preloaded apps and games that you probably don’t want. LG isn’t known for a generous upgrade schedule so it’s very unlikely the Stylo 6 will see an Android 11 update.
Popping out the stylus brings up some shortcuts.
LG Stylo 6 stylus features
Of course, the stylus features are a big (sorry) draw here. The stylus is tucked away and spring-loaded into the lower-right corner of the device, and it activates a set of shortcuts when it’s removed. You can take a quick note, grab a screenshot or a GIF of whatever’s on your screen, and mark it up with notes, or draw something immature to text to your partner.
You can do useful, productive things with a stylus, but you can do this, too.
Despite Samsung’s Galaxy Note being the de facto stylus phone, LG has been making phones with styluses for ages, and it shows with little UI touches like automatically toggling off gesture navigation when you start a note so that you don’t accidentally swipe out of it. You won’t find advanced features like the (much more expensive) Galaxy Note series offers here such as handwriting-to-text conversion or the ability to use the stylus as a remote control. Basically though, it does all of the things you’d expect it to do, and these features work well.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed having the stylus available. It’s much easier to draw or write silly notes on images with the pen rather than your finger, which I had basically given up on doing because they always look terrible.
The ability to also jot down a quick note without even turning the screen on is something I really appreciated. I feel like I’m always fumbling to unlock my phone, find the notes app, and open a new note just to type out something quick like an email address or a song title. None of this is unique compared to a Galaxy Note, of course, but the Stylo 6 has a set of genuinely useful features that aren’t very common, especially at this price point.
The Stylo 6 features standard wide and ultrawide rear cameras, plus a depth sensor.
LG Stylo 6 camera
The Stylo includes a 13-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel ultrawide, a 5-megapixel depth sensor, and a 13-megapixel selfie camera. That’s not a lot of resolution to work with, but it’s enough to allow the Stylo to take decent-quality images in good light.
White balance occasionally leans a little too magenta or too green, which sometimes gave an effect I liked — kind of a nostalgic film-like quality. At other times, images just looked too cool and washed out. I like how the Stylo handles high-contrast scenes; the HDR effect doesn’t look too strong. Your preview image will look overly dark, but an HDR icon on the screen indicates that the final image will look much more balanced.
Images in low light or moderate indoor lighting look okay for social media but show a lot of smeared detail if you look closely. The ultrawide lens is somewhat limited by its low-res sensor. Even in bright daylight shots details look smoothed over, and it’s just not up to low light photography.
Taken with ultrawide
Portrait mode
Portrait mode
Taken with ultrawide
The camera is also a victim of the phone’s underpowered processor, particularly in portrait mode. The live preview is quite laggy, which gets worse once you push the shutter and wait for the phone to process the image. This can take as long as six seconds, during which you’re unable to take another image.
It’s hard to know if you got the right frame of your subject, and it’s a frustrating experience trying to photograph a subject that’s moving even just a little bit because you can’t “spray and pray.” The camera keeps shutter speeds relatively low, too, so blurry subjects can be a problem. By sheer luck I got a portrait mode photo of my cat mid-yawn, but I wouldn’t count on being able to do that again.
I captured a few images with the Stylo that I really like, but I felt like it was more in spite of the camera rather than because of it. The images this phone captures will look okay on Instagram and Facebook, but overall, the Stylo’s camera capabilities lag behind most other devices at this price.
The Stylo 6 offers a lot of likable stylus-based features, but it’s ultimately too slow to recommend.
The Stylo 6 has a few good things going for it: an affordable price, built-in stylus, big screen, and great battery life. But factoring in its shortcomings, namely an underpowered processor, it’s not a device I can easily recommend.
Even around its $270 price, there are many other more capable options. The $300 OnePlus Nord N10 5G offers a better camera and processor. The 2021 Motorola Moto G Power includes a massive battery and better processor performance for $200. Neither of those comes with a stylus, of course, but I don’t think the Stylo 6 is even your best bet for an inexpensive phone with a stylus: for just a little more, the 2021 Moto G Stylus offers better performance and an upgraded camera.
If speed isn’t a concern, a stylus is a must-have, and the price is right, I think you can live a reasonably happy life with this phone. Maybe my patience is just too thin, and a more enlightened person can coexist peacefully with it. The rest of us would do best to look elsewhere.
The much-anticipated results of the FCC’s Auction 107 are in, with Verizon and AT&T spending big as anticipated on the coveted C-band spectrum. Verizon in particular spent nearly twice as much as AT&T, with a total spend of $45.4 billion. AT&T’s total bid adds up to $23.4 billion. T-Mobile is in a distant third at $9.3 billion, which was also expected thanks to the strong midband spectrum holdings that the company already had following its acquisition of Sprint.
There’s nothing outright surprising here: we’ve known for a while that the total bidding added up to over $80 billion, and that Verizon and AT&T in particular would be the top bidders. Those two carriers’ nationwide 5G networks currently rely on narrower low-band frequencies that offer speeds not much greater than 4G LTE — and extremely fast millimeter wave frequencies that face significant coverage challenges. If there’s any surprise here, it’s just how much more Verizon spent than AT&T.
What remains to be seen is if the new spectrum will help either carrier catch up to T-Mobile. Some analysts don’t think it will. In any case, the new frequencies won’t become available until the end of the year at the earliest, and even then, they will be available in limited locations first.
Samsung is extending the return period for its newest foldable phones to 100 days, the company announced on Tuesday. That means buyers of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G and Z Flip 5G can purchase either device, use it for more than three months, and return it for a full refund. Samsung is calling this new program “Buy and Try,” and it’s the first time the company has launched a return initiative as generous as this for its mobile phones. The prior return window was 15 days.
“This new initiative will help consumers try and see if a foldable device is right for them, as part of Samsung’s commitment to making foldable devices more accessible for everyone,” a Samsung spokesperson said in a statement. Samsung says the program is launching today for purchases of either device made through its website and will run until April 1st.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G is technically the fourth iteration of the company’s foldable line, and it released last fall as a vastly improved version of the original (and severely flawed) Galaxy Fold. It costs $1,999.99, though Samsung is currently selling the device on its website for $1,499.99 with an eligible trade-in.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5G is Samsung’s third take on a foldable phone. Following a discount, it now retails for $1,199.99, though Samsung says you can get one for as cheap as $649.99 with an eligible trade-in. Both store pages for the devices on Samsung’s website carry notices of the new 100-day return offer.
Lenovo has announced a number of updates to its ThinkPad line. We’re getting upgrades to the lightweight ThinkPad X13 and convertible X13 Yoga, as well as the high-end T-Series, the budget-oriented L-Series, and the P-Series of mobile workstations.
The biggest news is that all of these models have gotten spec bumps. Each series includes models with AMD’s Ryzen 5000 mobile processors as well as Intel’s 11th Gen vPro chips. They’re also getting connectivity upgrades, including some options for Wi-Fi 6E on the Intel systems and Wi-Fi 6 for the AMD ones. Some models support 5G as well.
The news I’m personally most excited about is that the X13 i (Intel), X13 (AMD), and X13 Yoga (Intel) are getting 16:10 displays. Manufacturers across the board have been switching to taller screens for business and productivity notebooks. They give you more room for multitasking and less of a need for scrolling and zooming out. There’s also a new Dolby Audio speaker system with user-facing speakers on the X13 — they were bottom-firing on previous models.
The updated T-Series (including the T14s i, T14 i, and T15 with Intel and the T14s and T14 with AMD), L-Series (including the L14 and L15 with AMD and the L14 i and L15 i with Intel), and the P-Series (including the P14s, P14s i, and P15s) all include the new chips as well. The models also have new security options including Match-on-Chip fingerprint readers; some Intel systems including the T14s i and X13 i have human presence-detection sensors.
And here’s the ThinkPad L15, Gen 2.Image: Lenovo
Pricing and availability are a bit confusing, so bear with me. It looks like most of the Intel models are coming in March, while the AMD models are coming in May. The X13 Yoga is the exception — it’s coming in April. The T-Series starts at $1,159 (for the T14), the L-Series starts at $689 (for both models), and the P-Series starts at $1,3169 (for the P14s). The X13 starts at $1,139 (for the AMD model) and the X13 Yoga starts at $1,379.
After updating the ThinkPad X1 line at CES, Lenovo is now opening the floodgates and releasing refreshed versions of its more mainstream ThinkPad T, X and L series, as well as some updates to the P-series workstations.
The new T-series, among the most popular ThinkPads around, are getting a slew of changes. There are Intel 11th Gen Core versions: the ThinkPad T14 i, T14s i and T15; and AMD Ryzen 5000 options: the ThinkPad T14 and T14s.
Laptop
Starting Price
Available
Intel or AMD-based
ThinkPad T14s i
$1,499
March 2021
Intel
ThinkPad T14s
$1,279
May 2021
AMD
Think Pad T14 i
$1,379
March 2021
Intel
ThinkPad T14
$1,159
May 2021
AMD
ThinkPad T15
$1,379
March 2021
Intel
ThinkPad X13 Yoga
$1,379
April 2021
Intel
ThinkPad X13 i
$1,299
March 2021
Intel
ThinkPad X13
$1,139
May 2021
AMD
ThinkPad L14
$689
May 2021
AMD
ThinkPad L15
$689
May 2021
AMD
ThinkPad P14s i
$1,389
March 2021
Intel
ThinkPad P14s
$1,169
May 2021
AMD
ThinkPad 15s
$1,389
March 2021
Intel
The 14-inch models are getting aluminum chassis, rather than silver paint over the typical black shell. For connectivity, Lenovo will offer optional 5G (sub-6 GHz) or 4G. Most Intel models will use Wi-Fi 6E (though some will use Wi-Fi 6), while AMD options will use regular Wi-Fi 6 exclusively.
But the T14s models are the only ones with an FHD IR webcam, which should make for superior video chatting, especially while so many people are working from home. On the T14 and T15 versions, it’s still standard 720p (with or without IR).
(Image credit: Lenovo)
Lenovo’s X13 laptops, which are more portability-focused, will get an Intel-based ThinkPad X13 i and X14 Yoga, while the AMD version is the ThinkPad X13. They’re getting 13.3-inch, 16:10 aspect ratio displays, joining a trend of taller screens.
(Image credit: Lenovo)
There’s a similar split with the more affordable ThinkPad L series: The Intel-based ThinkPad L14 i and L15 i will have 11th Gen Core vPro, while the L15 will gets Ryzen 5000.
The T14s, T14, X13 and X13 Yoga are getting new aluminum chassis options, while the T14s, X13 and X13 Yoga will all feature “Human Presence Detection” in order to lock when you’re not around. That latter feature can work with Windows Hello and the infrared camera to make it so you can log in and then lock the screen, all without ever entering passwords or even touching the machine.
For those who prefer fingerprint readers to facial recognition, the T14s, X13 and X13 Yoga will all have a reader built into the power button.
Additionally, Lenovo has its workstations with the P14s using Ryzen, P14s i and P15s running 11th gen Core vPro. The Intel models will offer up to Nvidia T5000 graphics or Intel Iris Xe, while the AMD models will use integrated Radeon graphics. Again, the Intel laptops will have Wi-Fi 6E while the AMD version has Wi-Fi 6.
The Intel models are scheduled to start shipping next month, while the AMD models are coming later in the spring. We’ll see how they stack up and if any vie for the title of best ultrabook as they come out.
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