Samsung has announced a new Galaxy Unpacked event set for April 28th at 10AM ET, teasing the announcement of “the most powerful Galaxy” device.
The teaser, as is typical for these invitations, isn’t too forthcoming. But given the nature of the announcement and Samsung’s usual release cycle, there are a few hints we can suss out.
First, the description of whatever Samsung is announcing as “the most powerful Galaxy” would seem to rule out a phone, like the rumored Galaxy Z Fold 3. The most generous depiction of a mobile processor — even one as powerful as Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 888 — still isn’t in the same ballpark as a true laptop processor. And despite recent headlines, Samsung is still rumored to reveal the Z Fold 3 at a July event, potentially a replacement for the Galaxy Note’s high-end summer phone release spot.
Samsung’s Galaxy Book lineup of laptops, on the other hand, would fit the bill for a more powerful Galaxy device — and is long overdue for an update. The current models were announced all the way back in 2019 (although they didn’t hit US stores until May of last year), and they still feature Intel’s long-outdated 10th Gen processors. A Galaxy Book refresh that featured some of Intel’s new 11th Gen Tiger Lake chips — or even Intel’s newer 35W H-series variants — would easily take the crown as the new “most powerful” Galaxy product.
Oh, and Samsung is already rumored to be working on a new Galaxy Book Pro line of laptops, which would feature 13.3-inch and 15.6-inch OLED panels, S-Pen support, and upgraded Intel CPUs. One of the new models — the Galaxy Book Pro 360 — is also said to include 5G compatibility.
Lastly, if you wanted to get really creative, the glowing wedge of light seen in the invitation does sort of resemble an opened laptop (if you’re willing to squint a bit). We’ll find out for sure on April 28th, though — assuming one of Samsung’s characteristic leaks doesn’t arrive first.
Gigabyte has announced three new 4K OLED gaming monitors, which feature HDMI 2.1, the somewhat hard-to-find display connector that allows for high refresh rate gaming at 4K (via TweakTown). Besides having some of the best tech available in TVs or monitors, all three have desk-dominating sizes. According to a press release posted by VideoCardz, the monitors will also feature VESA’s HDR 1000 standard and come in three sizes: 32, 43, and a mind-boggling (for a gaming monitor anyway; we’ll get back to that) 48 inches.
The 48-inch version is a little different, and it set off a firestorm of discussion at The Verge, so let’s set it aside for just one moment. The 32- and 43-inch monitors, named the FI32U and the FV43U, respectively, will feature 144Hz panels. Gigabyte is also claiming that FI32U will have a 0.5ms response time, which looks to make it one of the faster 4K gaming monitors out there. While the FV43U has a slower 1ms response time, that’s probably something even the most eagle-eyed and competitive gamers would have issues noticing.
The 48-inch model, dubbed the FO48U, is slightly different from the other two. Besides dropping the refresh rate from 144Hz to 120Hz, it’s also the size of a TV more at home in an entertainment center — specifically, the 48-inch model of LG’s CX OLED TVs, which shares many of the same specs as Gigabyte’s version, from the HDMI 2.1 inputs to the 120Hz refresh rate.
So what’s going on here? Gigabyte is likely using the same OLED panels as LG. That makes it kind of hard to figure out why anyone would want to go with it over LG’s TV (especially since you could go out and buy LG’s version right now). And despite calling it a “monitor,” it doesn’t seem like Gigabyte expects many people to use this on a desk; its website specifically says it’s for “your gaming space or living room.”
However, LG’s 48-inch TV has had great success in the last year as a monitor for people who apparently want to sit very close to the action. There’s no doubt it’d be immersive… at least, until you had to crane your neck to see the minimap or other HUD elements. But if Gigabyte is going for a TV experience, what is it offering that LG doesn’t already have? G-Sync and FreeSync? LG’s got it. Cheaper price due to potentially less processing power and smart features? Gigabyte hasn’t announced pricing, but we’re skeptical that it’ll end up being cheaper. (The LG retails for $1,500.) Gaming (er, sorry, “tactical”) features, such as “black equalizer,” which supposedly makes enemies easier to see? Okay, fair point. LG’s TV is intended for watching movies and playing games, while Gigabyte appears to be adding a few more gamer-focused features.
This isn’t to say there’s no reason for it to exist. Some people might prefer its aesthetic over LG’s (maybe it’ll even have RGB to really sell it). Or maybe Gigabyte will surprise us, and it’ll be cheaper. Until we know pricing, it’s hard to judge. Still, it seems like if it stands out, it won’t be for its uniqueness — which is a shame, really, given how the other models seem to be offering a set of features that is hard to find elsewhere.
Dell has unveiled a new XPS 13 option with an OLED touchscreen that is available for purchase today. The feature will cost an extra $300 over FHD models. (Note: This isn’t a brand-new XPS. It’s just an OLED version of the 9310 that came out last year.)
XPS 13 models start at $999.99 and range as high as $2,199.99, though you can often find them discounted. They can be equipped with up to an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, 32GB of RAM, and 2TB of PCIe SSD storage.
Image: Dell
The Dell XPS 13 is consistently one of the best 13-inch laptops you can buy. It’s currently number six on our best laptop list, and I had very few complaints in my most recent review of the device. It has an excellent, spacious 16:10 display; a solid keyboard and touchpad; great battery life; a compact chassis; and some of the best performance you can find in a 13-inch model.
Image: Dell
You can currently configure the XPS 13 with a 3840 x 2400 touch display, a 1920 x 1200 touch display, or a regular 1920 x 1200 non-touch panel. The new OLED touch model will have 3456 x 2160 resolution (3.5K). Dell says it will reach 400 nits of brightness and will cover 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut.
Here’s what Dell calls the “Inspiron Family”Image: Dell
Dell also announced a number of new additions to its lower-priced Inspiron line. These include an Inspiron 14 2-in-1 that will support both Intel 11th-Gen and AMD Ryzen 5000 mobile processors, and Inspiron 16 Plus workstation with a 3K 16:10 display. The Inpsiron 14 2-in-1 will be available in North America on May 4th starting at $729; the Inspiron 16 Plus hits shelves on June 3rd starting at $949.99.
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What makes a smartwatch “smart”? Is it the ability to show you notifications from your phone? What about the ability to track your physical activity and wellness, such as step counts, workouts, and sleep? How about providing you information about your day, such as the weather and upcoming calendar events? Or perhaps it’s the inclusion of a voice assistant on your wrist that you can ask to do things without having to use your phone?
Those are the questions I’ve been asking over the past week-plus as I’ve been testing the new OnePlus Watch, a $159 smartwatch and the first wearable from the smartphone company. The OnePlus Watch has all the looks of a modern smartwatch, but as I’ve learned wearing it on my wrist day and night, it doesn’t have all the smarts.
The OnePlus Watch is not like a Wear OS smartwatch, such as those made by Fossil, Motorola, or Mobvoi. Nor is it like a Samsung Galaxy Watch or an Apple Watch. All of those have software platforms that integrate with other apps and services, so you can download apps or watchfaces to the watch itself, just like you might with a phone. That makes them very extensible and customizable — you can easily make the watch look unique and do the things you need it to.
The OnePlus Watch, on the other hand (or wrist?), runs its own proprietary software, based on a real-time operating system. This software is very quick and power efficient, but it is not extensible — there’s no app store or third-party watchfaces to download on the OnePlus Watch. It’s similar to the software on the budget smartwatches you can get on Amazon; if you’ve ever used an Amazfit, Umidigi, or Wyze watch, you’ve used a real-time operating system. The OnePlus Watch is not very different from those in this respect.
This choice of platform affords the OnePlus Watch its greatest strength, long battery life, and also its greatest weakness: it just doesn’t do all that much compared to other smartwatches you can buy.
The OnePlus Watch looks like many other smartwatches, but most especially the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active.
OnePlus Watch software
The OnePlus Watch pairs with and is controlled by the OnePlus Health app for Android — there’s no iPhone compatibility at all. But you don’t need to own a OnePlus phone, it works with basically any modern Android device. I tested it on both OnePlus and Samsung smartphones and the experience was the same.
The app is where you can see what health and fitness metrics the watch has recorded, adjust which apps send notifications on your wrist, and view the available watchfaces. OnePlus has about 50 watchfaces so far, with some offering limited customizability in the form of selectable shortcuts or widgets, such as a weather widget, date, or shortcut to a built-in app like the timer. You can choose up to 14 faces to store on the watch and switch between them without using your phone. The company says it plans on adding more in the future, but as I mentioned earlier, there are no options for third-party watchfaces or third-party app widgets like you get with Samsung, Wear OS, or Apple smartwatches.
The watchfaces themselves are what you’d expect: there is the assortment of analog and digital styles to choose from, with some showing more information about your activity than others. I’m not a big fan of the analog options, so I settled on a digital face. Unfortunately, there’s a bug where digital watchfaces on the OnePlus Watch are stuck in 24-hour time and can’t show 12-hour time. The company tells me it is aware of this bug, and it is slated to be fixed “this month.”
The OnePlus Watch’s interface mimics Wear OS and is easy to navigate.
The watch interface has a familiar layout: swipe down for settings, swipe up to see notifications, press the side button to see your apps. You can swipe right from the watchface to access basic widgets for music control, weather, and activity tracking, similar to Wear OS or a Samsung watch. The design of the interface all looks mostly fine, and there thankfully aren’t any stutters or lags when navigating it.
I do have a few gripes with how notifications are handled. You can’t clear notifications by just swiping them away, like you can with every other smartwatch. Instead, you have to tap into each one and then press clear or scroll to the bottom to clear them all. It’s a clumsy and fiddly process. The OnePlus Watch doesn’t always sync with the notifications I’ve cleared on my phone, either, and occasionally notifications for the same messages would get duplicated, forcing me to see the same alerts more than once.
You can’t do much with those notifications, either. There are no actions you can take other than clearing them from your wrist. OnePlus supports canned message replies in just five apps: WhatsApp, Telegram, Line, Discord, and Facebook Messenger. Notably and frustratingly, that list doesn’t include standard SMS messages. On top of that, there are only four basic replies to choose from: “OK”; “Be right there!”; “In a meeting, contact you later”; and “I’m driving, contact you later.” I frequently use a smartwatch to triage notifications, delete incoming emails, or reply to messages when I’m away from my desk, but I can’t do most of those things with the OnePlus Watch.
The OnePlus Watch comes with a basic set of apps: weather, timer, stopwatch, alarm, workout, sleep tracking, etc. Oddly, it doesn’t have a calculator or a calendar app, so I can’t easily see my next meeting or appointment, something I do a lot with other smartwatches. There’s no way to get your next appointment on your watchface, either. And since there isn’t an app store, I can’t add any apps to that list.
You can forget about streaming music from Spotify or playing podcasts through your favorite app — the only thing you can do with the OnePlus Watch is control what’s playing on your phone or transfer MP3 files from your phone to the watch’s 4GB of storage. Want to track your runs with Strava or MapMyFitness instead of OnePlus’ app? Sorry, no dice. If you want to control smart home devices from your wrist, the OnePlus Watch is entirely useless unless you have a OnePlus TV, where you can use it as a remote. The OnePlus TV is only available in India.
The OnePlus Watch also lacks a voice assistant. I can’t ask it to start a timer when I’m in the kitchen and my hands are dirty, I can’t ask it to turn the lights off or open my garage door, and I can’t dictate a reply to an incoming message. How well voice assistants work varies greatly between smartwatches (Siri on the Apple Watch, pretty good! Bixby on a Samsung watch, less so), but OnePlus isn’t even trying here and I’ve missed having one available.
Lastly, even though the OnePlus Watch has an NFC radio, it does not support mobile payments. You can’t tap your wrist to pay for something like you can with an Apple Watch, Samsung watch, or Wear OS smartwatch.
The OnePlus Watch’s fitness tracking features hit the standard beats.Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
OnePlus Watch fitness tracking
The fitness tracking features are quite basic. It will track your steps throughout the day; the watch will nudge you to get up and move when you’ve been sitting for too long; you can choose between 14 different workouts for the watch to track; and if you wear the OnePlus Watch to bed, it will make an attempt to track your sleep.
I’m not a gym rat, but I did wear the OnePlus Watch on my left wrist with a Fitbit Inspire HR on my right wrist throughout this review and the OnePlus counted thousands fewer steps than the Fitbit every day. None of these devices are perfect with their step tracking, but that kind of discrepancy is going to make tracking a longer-distance run or other intense workout inaccurate or just plain hard to do. I asked a few other reviewers I know who are also testing the OnePlus Watch and each one has had the same issues with inaccurate step counting. OnePlus says a bug fix for GPS optimization and to add more workout modes will be available sometime in mid-April.
While the OnePlus Watch frequently undercounted my steps, it overestimated how much I slept each night.
Sleep tracking, oddly enough, has the opposite problem. The OnePlus Watch consistently overestimates how long I slept each night compared to the Fitbit and Google’s Nest Hub. A bug has also prevented the Watch from syncing its sleep data with the OnePlus Health app, even though other activity synced over fine. The company says this bug should also be fixed sometime this month.
As mentioned earlier, you can’t use other fitness apps on the OnePlus Watch. The OnePlus Health app provides syncing with the Google Fit platform, so it’s possible you could cobble together a syncing solution between other apps using Fit as glue, but I did not test this. In general, the OnePlus Watch’s fitness tracking is fine for basic activity trends, but any fitness enthusiasts will want something more capable and reliable.
The OnePlus Watch only comes in one size: a large 46mm face.
OnePlus Watch hardware and design
In terms of design, the OnePlus Watch is generic-looking — it reminds me a lot of Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Active line. It’s got a round face, there are two buttons on the side, and the body is made of polished stainless steel, which is nice to see at this price point. It comes in silver, black, or a gold-colored special edition — I’ve got the black model and it’s a little boring to look at. Either way, the hardware is solid and put together well — it’s not creaky or plasticky, and there are no rough edges to worry about.
OnePlus is only offering the watch in one size, 46mm, and frankly, it’s big. It’s bigger than I like watches to be on my wrist, and if you have smaller wrists than me you’re not going to have a fun time with this. On the plus side, it’s not the thickest smartwatch I’ve ever worn. Just one size band comes in the box — OnePlus says that customers who need a shorter band will be able to get one by contacting customer service.
The touchscreen is a 1.39-inch 454 x 454 OLED that’s easy to see both indoors and out. It’s colorful, like you’d expect an OLED to be, but there’s no always-on display option, which nearly every other smartwatch has now. That makes it that much more annoying to check the time, though the wrist turn gesture does work well to wake it up.
On the underside are the sensors for heart rate and blood oxygen. As usual, you should not use these sensors for medical purposes — and blood oxygen monitors on even the best smartwatches notoriously struggle with giving accurate readings. Inside the watch are the accelerometers and gyroscopes necessary to track your activity and workouts, plus GPS and Bluetooth radios. There’s no Wi-Fi or LTE here — if you leave your phone behind, you’re going to miss notifications and alerts until the watch is back in Bluetooth range of your phone.
Also missing from the OnePlus Watch are any rotating bezels or crowns — the only way to interact with it is to tap and swipe on the screen itself or push the buttons on the side.
Even though it doesn’t have a voice assistant, the OnePlus Watch does have a microphone and speaker, so you can answer calls from your wrist via Bluetooth. It worked fine in my tests; callers said I sounded clear to them, but the speaker on the watch is a bit crackly at full volume. It works in a pinch.
The OnePlus Watch has exceptional battery life and charges very quickly on its included charger.
The best thing about the OnePlus Watch is its battery life. OnePlus claims up to 14 days of usage between charges — it lasted about 10 days for me, wearing it day and night. Charging the watch is also quick and easy: just 20 minutes on the charger adds half a charge, which translates to literal days of usage. No Apple, Samsung, or Wear OS watch can last this long or charge this quickly.
But at the same time, the OnePlus Watch has such great battery life because, frankly, it just does less than those other smartwatches. The best comparison I can make is that the OnePlus Watch is a fitness tracker in a smartwatch body, which would be an acceptable premise if it were a better fitness tracker.
There are about 50 different watchfaces to choose from for the OnePlus Watch.
The OnePlus Watch may look like a lot of other smartwatches, but I can’t say it compares well to them. It’s limited in features, only comes in one size, and as I’ve gone over, there are several bugs with it that make it feel like an unfinished product. Aside from its long battery life, the OnePlus Watch’s bestselling point is its low price, which is half that of a Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 and over $100 less than the comparably sized Galaxy Watch Active 2. But if you’re looking for a smartwatch for your Android phone, it’s not that hard to find Wear OS models on sale, often for less than the cost of the OnePlus Watch.
For me, a good smartwatch is a lot like a personal assistant on my wrist. It tells me the time, when my next calendar appointment is, what the weather is like, and how active I’ve been throughout the day. I can quickly ask it to set a timer when I’m making a cup of tea or use it to reply to a message from my spouse when I’m running an errand. It also lets me customize its appearance and capabilities through third-party apps, watchfaces, or both. For others, it’s a way to track workouts and keep on top of their personal health.
In that framing, the OnePlus Watch isn’t really a smartwatch and based on my experience, it isn’t a great fitness tracker either. Instead, it’s just a clever watch, and it can be useful if your expectations of it are low. But if a smartwatch is going to take up real estate on my wrist, it has to be more useful than the OnePlus Watch.
TCL is continuing its charge for the top spots in global TV sales. Currently ranked third, according to its statistics, TCL is expanding this year by bringing its Mini-LED TVs to the UK for the first time. It has also promised to produce its own OLED panels by 2023.
TCL has invested over $30bn in its CSOT panel fabrication business. Currently no. 2 in world LCD sales, it has already built its self-emissive panel plant with which it plans to take on LG.
At today’s press conference TCL outlined updates to its lower and mid-range P and C Series TVs, all of which will come with Google TV. Those in UK, France and Germany will also get a TikTok app from March onwards. Details of the premium 8K TCL X Series TV have been left until June but the company has confirmed that the 2000nit TCL X12 Mini LED TV will be among them.
As for the TVs from today’s event, the top model announced was the Mini-LED backed TCL C82 Series which comes in 55in and 65in sizes. It’s a 100Hz, 4K HDR screen fitted with an Onkyo tuned 3.1.2 soundbar which is Dolby Atmos enabled and has upward firing audio.
It supports both AirPlay and Chromecast, and comes with HDMI 2.1 features including ALLM, VRR and eARC. It will also work with Nvidia G-sync anti-tearing tech.
A step down is the TCL C72+ which looks also to be a full array Mini LED range. Like the C82s, it’s ready for gamers with the same HDMI 2.1 features included but this time without the Onkyo soundbar. It has three size variants: 55, 65 and 75in.
Below that is the straight TCL C72 Series which replaces the C71 Series currently available in UK stores. These are QLED TVs which, as with the models above, can handle HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision, including Dolby Vision IQ. There are no plans for HDR10+ yet. The biggest of the ranges announced, the C72 will be available in 43, 50, 55, 65 and 75in panels.
The bottom of the pile are the TCL P72 LCD TVs which come in the same sizes as the C72 but without the 75in model.
While prices and dates are currently unavailable, the company has stated that the TCL C82 TVs will arrive in the UK in Q2 of 2021.
MORE:
Mini-LED TV: everything you need to know about the OLED rival
Siri appears to have spilled the beans on the next Apple launch event. MacRumors was first to reportthatasking the voice assistant “When is the next Apple Event” prompts it to say April 20th. We’ve managed to get the same response, though only on a device that’s associated with a US Apple ID. Apple typically announces its events with invites sent out a week in advance, meaning the news should become official later today.
“The special event is on Tuesday, April 20th, at Apple Park in Cupertino, CA. You can get all the details on Apple.com” says Siri. Tapping the link takes you to the standard Apple Event landing page, where the launch isn’t listed. It seems odd that the response claims the event is happening in Cupertino, since this will almost certainly be another of Apple’s pre-recorded online-only events.
The message itself doesn’t give any hints about what Apple might be planning to announce at the event. However, recent rumors point towards new iPad Pro models, at least. Bloomberg recently reported new iPad Pros will debut in April. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro will reportedly be Apple’s first device with a Mini LED screen, allowing it to offer a high contrast ratio without the risk of burn-in associated with OLED displays. Reports indicate that the new iPad Pros could be in short supply due to production issues Apple is facing with the Mini LED displays. Other rumored iPad Pro upgrades include new processors with a similar amount of power to the M1 chip found in Apple’s recent MacBooks, better cameras, and USB-C ports with faster transfer speeds.
There are rumors that Apple is also close to launching its long-rumored AirTags. The location tracking devices, which should allow users to keep track of items using Apple’s Find My software, were expected to launch last year but ultimately never appeared. With Apple recently opening up its Find My network to track items from third-party companies, the stage is now set for the launch of its own physical trackers.
Unless Siri is lying, the invitations should arrive imminently.
Samsung and South Korean carrier SK Telecom have announced the Galaxy Quantum 2, Samsung’s second phone that features built-in quantum cryptography technology for increased security. It’s the follow-up to last year’s Galaxy A Quantum.
The Quantum 2 includes a chip developed by a company called ID Quantique, which says it’s the world’s smallest quantum random number generator (QRNG) at 2.5mm square. It works by capturing random noise with an LED and a CMOS image sensor. According to SK Telecom, the QRNG chip “allows smartphone holders to use services that require security in a more safe and secure manner by generating unpredictable and patternless true random numbers.”
Quantum cryptography RNG is considered to be extremely challenging to hack without extensive physical access to a given device. The benefits will seem pretty niche to the average customer, but the QRNG chip does automatically work with apps that use the Android Keystore APIs, which should make the technology more accessible for developers. SK Telecom is touting local compatibility with the likes of Shinhan Bank and Standard Chartered Bank Korea, plus its own services like T World. The carrier says it’ll work with more services in the future, including Samsung’s own credit cards.
The phone itself has reasonably high specs, close to what you’d have found in a high-end flagship phone from a year or two ago. It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus processor, a 64-megapixel camera, and a 6.7-inch 120Hz OLED display.
The Galaxy Quantum 2 is only confirmed for a release in South Korea right now. It’ll go on sale on April 23rd.
(Pocket-lint) – With some LCD TV makers – including LG! – making a big song and dance about the introduction of Mini LED backlight technology for 2021, the pressure on mainstream OLED TVs to deliver their own substantial hardware leap that’s been rumbling along for years now has become particularly intense.
Just as well, then, that LG’s OLED G1 is stepping up to the plate with a new ‘Evo’ panel design that promises both more brightness and better colour than any LG OLED TV has managed before. Besides that, it’s got all the bells and whistles that cinephiles, gamers and designers will crave in a wall-mount TV. So just how good is it?
Design
4x HDMI 2.1 inputs, 3x USB ports
LAN & Wi-Fi multimedia options
As with LG’s debut Gallery OLED TVs in 2020, the OLED G1 – reviewed here in 65-inch, there’s also 55- and 77-inch versions – is designed very much with wall-mounting in mind. So much so that it only ships with a wall bracket. If you want to place it on desktop legs you’ll have to pay extra for them. And even then they won’t really do the G1’s thin, elegant profile justice.
Pocket-lint
The G1 wall-mount is designed to sit within a recess on the TV’s rear, allowing the screen to hang perfectly flush to a wall. Its impact on your living space is minimised even further, too, by the extreme narrowness of the screen’s frame. You can even choose to play artworks on the screen in a low power mode when you’re not watching it, further justifying the Gallery name.
The only issue with the design, perhaps, is that most people actually don’t wall-mount their TV, but may well still want to get their hands on the G1 series’ unique high brightness panel. If that sounds like you, be prepared to pay the extra for those optional support feet – or a new tripod-style Gallery floorstand LG has introduced for 2021.
The OLED G1’s connections put those of most rivals to shame. Especially when it comes to its four HDMIs, which all meet the latest HDMI 2.1 specification and so can support all the latest features of 4K HDR playback at 120Hz, automatic low latency mode (ALLM) switching for faster gaming response times, and variable refresh rates (VRR). Even in 2021 most rival premium TVs are only offering one or two full-spec HDMIs.
What is ALLM and VRR? TV gaming tech explained
Picture Features
HDR Support: HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision
Processing engine: Alpha 9 Gen 4
The advances of the OLED G1’s new Evo panel (which is exclusive to the G1 series) come in two main areas.
First, a new ‘luminous element’ is included to enhance brightness without using lots more power or, so LG claims, increasing the likelihood of the OLED G1 suffering with the permanent image retention issue that can affect OLED technology.
Second, LG has introduced a new green layer into the OLED G1’s panel construction that should, in conjunction with new narrower wavelengths for the red and green colour elements, lead to more dynamic and precise colours across the spectrum.
With Panasonic and Sony also using brightness-enhancing panels on their premium OLED ranges for 2021, though, LG has one other bit of the OLED G1’s picture story it’s keen to talk about: its new Alpha 9 Generation 4 processor. Without this, LG argues, the OLED G1 would not be able to unlock the new panel’s full potential.
The Alpha 9 Gen 4 processor also boasts a few potentially important new more general image tweaks. These include new Natural and Cinema Movement motion processing modes, and enhancements to both LG’s AI Picture Pro and AI Sound Pro automatic picture and sound optimisation options.
On the AI Picture Pro front, the latest processor can now use AI learning to identify when an image may be showing a city scene, a landscape or a night shot, and apply specific rules to the image accordingly. It can even apply ‘rules’ to specific objects or areas of specific content within any overall image, creating a more three-dimensional and natural effect than would be possible by just applying the processing rules equally across the whole image.
The OLED G1’s use of an OLED rather than LCD panel – no surprise given the name, eh? – brings with it innate picture quality advantages too. For instance, it can be watched from almost any angle without its colour saturations or contrast deteriorating significantly. It can also deliver light control down to individual pixel level, so that the darkest blacks the panel is capable of can appear literally right next to the brightest whites, without any dimming/greyness/backlight clouding trade-offs. This sort of local light control just isn’t possible with LCD TVs – not even those that use Mini LED technology.
As usual with a premium LG TV, the OLED G1 supports the Dolby Vision and HLG formats of high dynamic range (HDR) technology, alongside the industry standard HDR10 format. There is no support for the rarer (in source terms) HDR10+ format.
The OLED G1 picks up where the company’s popular 2020 X series OLEDs left off when it comes to gaming, continuing to offer 4K resolution, HDR, 120Hz refresh, plus variable refresh rates (VRR) across all four HDMIs.
Pocket-lint
It introduces a roster of new gaming options via a Game Optimiser ‘dashboard’ too. These options include a series of selectable game genre-based picture presets, an AI Game Sound mode, separate tweaks for the bright and dark extremes of gaming graphics, a Reduce Blue Light option for shifting game graphics to a warmer, less fatiguing colour tone, and separate Standard and Boost input lag reduction options that deliver exceptionally fast response times of just 12.4ms and 9.4ms respectively.
There’s also a new Fine Tune Dark Areas option for VRR gaming that provides a counter-measure to the tendency of OLED TVs to exhibit raised black levels when playing VRR images. So LG is clearly hell bent on retaining the legion of gaming fans it picked up with its forward-thinking 2019 and 2020 LG OLED series.
Smart Features
Smart system: WebOS 6.0
After years of merely refining its much-loved webOS platform, LG has finally introduced some really significant changes on the OLED G1.
A new full-screen interface takes over from the old and familiar strip of app icons along the bottom of the screen. This interface focuses for the most part on recommending content based on household viewing habits and currently popular shows from across the wide range of apps the TV supports. There’s a substantial box to top right, too, that takes you to a well-presented and wide-ranging content search page.
LG
While it makes sense these days to shift the webOS focus to providing recommended content curated from across supported apps rather than making users explore content on a per-app basis, the layout and ‘weighting’ of the new home screen doesn’t feel quite right. The three link options along the top of the screen in particular feel like they’re been given more weight than they really warrant.
The signature webOS source icon strip does still continue along the bottom of the new full-screen home page, and you can scroll down from there to a small selection of further shelves containing a list of all your connected devices, and direct content links to some of the most popular streaming apps. Strangely there’s no Netflix shelf at the time of writing, though, and you can’t change the order the shelves appear in.
LG’s voice control and recognition features – Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and LG’s own ThinQ options are all available – continue to be excellent. As does the system’s level of app support, with all the key streaming services covered. This includes the UK’s terrestrial broadcaster catch-up services via Freeview Play.
Picture Quality
The OLED G1 undoubtedly delivers overall better picture quality than any of LG’s 2020 OLED TVs. Whether it delivers as much of an improvement as some quarters might have been hoping for, though, is another question.
The new Evo panel makes an impact in two ways. First, where an HDR image, such as a shot of sun-drenched blue sky, features almost full-screen brightness, there’s a slightly higher level of overall intensity to the picture than 2020’s LG models can provide. Second, the very brightest parts of HDR images – naked bulbs and lights, reflections on glass or metal, sun-drenched clouds and the like – look punchier and, as a result, more natural.
LG
It’s noticeable, too, that since the Evo panel is designed to handle slightly lighter peaks of brightness, it typically delivers more subtle detailing and shading in the brightest HDR areas.
These differences, along with a slightly richer, more refined HDR-content colour palette, are more consistently noticeable when playing HDR console and PC games than they are with typical video.
Even with the punchiest games, though, the OLED G1 step up from 2020’s LG OLEDs don’t elevate the brand’s OLED performance into a whole new ball park. It’s more refinement than revolution. While this initially feels slightly disappointing, it doesn’t take long living with the OLED G1 to start feeling as if this initial assessment is a bit foolish.
After all, the OLED G1 is providing a 10-20 per cent HDR performance boost to 2020 LG OLED TVs – which were themselves sensational performers. And that’s actually a pretty remarkable achievement in a premium TV world now so good that even the tiniest improvements should be embraced like long lost relatives.
What’s more, the G1’s picture improvements aren’t just down to its new Evo panel. The new Alpha 9 Gen 4 processor has its part to play too, on two levels.
First, the new AI Picture Pro option is a substantial advance over its predecessor. Its ability to apply more effective enhancements on a more local basis yields pictures which look both more eye-catching and more natural. This eye-catching/natural combination is key, since while LG AI processing has previously delivered enhancements to colour, sharpness and contrast, those enhancements have always been accompanied by distracting side effects. On the OLED G1 the improvements are not only more pronounced, but come at the expense of practically no downsides.
There are, of course, people who won’t use the AI Picture Pro mode because they don’t like the idea of a TV’s processor taking over the way a picture looks. And for those people the OLED G1 still supports all the calibration tools and accuracy of other recent LG generations. The much improved AI Picture Pro is very much worth trying for most users, though.
The other key processing improvement comes from LG’s new motion options. The new Natural motion processing mode used by default with most of the OLED G1’s picture presets is a little too smooth and can cause unwanted processing side effects. The new Cinematic Movement mode, though, does a superbly well-balanced job of gently reducing the rather ‘hard’ judder with 24p movie sources that OLED TVs can exhibit without creating really any distracting side effects. It’s outstanding.
LG
The OLED G1’s improvements have not, thankfully, compromised any of LG’s traditional OLED strengths. Black levels still look inky, actually exhibiting slightly less noise in areas of near-black detail, despite also showing more shadow detail in most picture presets.
Colours hardly ever look forced or over the top despite the slight brightness increase and marginally purer presentation, and sharpness is slightly improved without making the image look brittle or harsh. With HD sources, in particular, the new Alpha 9 Gen 4 upscaling really earns its corn by delivering a markedly crisper finish than seen with previous LG OLED generations without exaggerating noise.
The OLED G1’s pictures are not completely perfect though. There’s noticeable flickering in dark scenes when gaming in VRR, for starters. All Dolby Vision presets (bar Vivid) can cause some crushing of detail in dark areas. There’s a new hint of magenta over pictures if you watch from a wide angle, too, although contrast and colour intensity still benefit from OLED’s viewing angle advantage over LCD in this area.
The OLED G1 can also still exaggerate compression noise in dark (usually SDR) streamed scenes, and even with the G1 it’s still important to stress that while OLED is untouchable when it comes to local (as in, pixel by pixel) contrast, premium LCD TVs can still get significantly brighter with both peak and full-screen HDR content.
Sound Quality
Since LG doesn’t join Sony in using the screen surfaces of its premium OLED TVs to produce sound, there isn’t much space in the OLED G1’s super-skinny design for a big old set of speakers. With that in mind, though, in many ways the OLED G1 sounds pretty good.
For starters, a new Virtual 5.1.2 upconversion system introduced by the Alpha 9 Gen 4 processor does a surprisingly convincing job of adding a mild sense of height to soundtracks that don’t have height channels built-in. At least the sound expands nicely from all of the TV’s edges, even if there isn’t any sense of actual overhead sounds. Voices tend to sound clear and believable, and detail levels are quite high for a sound system that doesn’t have any forward-facing drivers.
LG
There are two fairly significant issues, though. First, while it’s cool that the OLED G1 decodes Dolby Atmos soundtracks (though there’s no DTS support), it doesn’t do so very well. The speakers just can’t deliver anywhere near as much impact as they should with very loud, dense Atmos moments. In fact, the speakers tend to become more subdued just when they’re supposed to be ratcheting up.
This makes LG’s own AI Sound Pro setting a much better option for most content. This does amp up to take on loud moments, as well as somehow make the sound fill the room more.
However, whenever a film soundtrack features low rumbles – especially in AI Sound Pro mode – the TV’s low frequency drivers start to fall prey to significant amounts of break up and distortion. So much so that it can become quite hard to listen to, and a clear distraction from the onscreen action.
Best go buy a separate soundbar/surround system then.
Verdict
At the time of writing there’s a question mark over whether the OLED G1 is sufficiently superior to the upcoming C1 mid-range OLEDs – which don’t get the Evo panel – to justify its extra cost. Based on the type of enhancements it brings over last gen’s CX models, though, it most likely is a worthy step up from the C1 – if you’re looking to wall-mount anyway.
So while it doesn’t quite shatter the OLED rule book in the way some had hoped, the OLED G1’s new Evo panel in conjunction with LG’s latest processing engine delivers comfortably the best OLED TV LG has ever made. That’s what makes this TV special. A fact which should rightly have both AV and gaming fans drooling, given how good LG’s previous OLEDs have been.
Also consider
LG
LG OLED GX
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If you can live without the Evo panel’s enhanced HDR performance and Game Optimiser functionality but like the Gallery design, 2020’s OLED GX is still available for a chunk of cash less.
Read our review
Panasonic
Panasonic HZ2000
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Panasonic was the first brand to introduce new high brightness OLED technology, and 2020’s version of this technology is still available at a slightly lower price than the LG. Stocks are apparently starting to run low, though, so get a move on!
Samsung has been resolutely anti-OLED for years now, actively campaigning against the tech in an attempt to put consumers off the LG-manufactured TV technology and persuade them to buy a QLED instead. Now, report from South Korean sites MTN, ETNews, and Seoul Economic Daily(viaThe Verge) claim that Samsung are in fact about to sign a contract to buy millions of OLED panels from LG.
We already knew that Samsung Electronics and sister-division Samsung Display are deep into discussions about the former buying QD-OLED panels from the latter but, if true, these new claims suggest an even greater about-turn is coming from Samsung.
In the case of QD-OLED, Samsung will be able to claim (or, at least, attempt to claim) that its new sets, which will apparently combine blue OLED material with red and green quantum dots, are the result of hybrid technology and not really the same as the OLEDs of old. It will likely find it much harder to make the same claims about any TVs derived from LG’s OLED technology, which Samsung has been belittling for years on the grounds of limited brightness and the potential for burn-in.
It’s also worth noting that Samsung and LG are essentially arch rivals, so the idea of the former having to swallow its pride and approach its nemesis to buy its trademark technology is fascinating.
Samsung Electronics apparently finds itself in this position because Samsung Display is finding it increasingly hard to make a profit from the manufacture of the LCD panels that Samsung uses across its current range (including its QLEDs), thanks to Chinese brands flooding the market with much cheaper panels. Samsung can either start buying its panels from these Chinese brands, or seek to go in a new direction, and it appears to have opted for the latter option, even though it means going with a technology it’s publicly criticised and buying panels from its rival.
Ultimately, though, while these industry shenanigans are incredibly interesting (if you like that sort of thing), the upshot is that we should see OLED TVs from Samsung hit shelves next year, and that can only be a good thing, particularly where those TVs also contain aspects of the excellent QLED technology. Watch this space.
Huawei has once again teamed up with French audio specialists Devialet, this time to provide the sound for a range of flatscreen 4K TVs. The two companies previously collaborated on a smart speaker, while Devialet also lent its expertise to the Sky Soundbox soundbar back in 2017.
The Vision V-Series sets feature up to nine speakers with models delivering up to 75W of power. The speaker systems also boast ultra-thin subwoofers and an intelligent bass algorithm designed to achieve deeper bass and a higher pitch.
The V-Series’ passive bass radiator is powered by Devialet’s iconic Push-Push symmetrical structure, which claims to ensure high-fidelity smooth sound with no background noise.
Huawei’s new range also has an exclusive Devialet mode, which claims to strike a balance between power and subtlety to deliver an impactful but balanced sound experience. This mode is suitable for both music and movies.
Certain models in the line-up come with a vertical, 3D-surrounding sound field, described in the press release as “sky sound”. It’s supposed to appear as though sound is coming from the ceiling. How? The TV sends left and right surround sound channels to the full-range speakers at the top of the smart screen, which supposedly creates the 3D surround effect.
Extra audio assistance is brought by sound field modelling, a system that uses sound waves to map the shape of your room before the virtual spatial sound field is adjusted to match.
In terms of picture technologies, Huawei’s new TV range boasts a refresh rate of 120Hz, with an HDR peak brightness of up to 1000 nits. Special light control technology claims to improve contrast on the TVs too.
And finally, Huawei and Devialet have also created a new classification system for sound quality in televisions, in what is described as an industry first.
This is based on both “scientific evaluation methods”, and on subjective sound listening judgments for power, balance, fidelity and immersion.
TVs will fall into three categories:
Dream level: Score of 90 or more across categories
Expert level: Score of 60-90 across categories
Premier/Elite level: Score under 60
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Huawei’s new 65-, 75- and 85-inch TVs all score higher than 90, while the 55-inch set has Expert level certification.
The Huawei Vision V-Series TVs will be available in 55-, 65-, 75- and 85-inch sizes when they go on sale next week exclusively in China. Prices start at RMB 5499 (£610, $839, AU$1096).
MORE:
These are the best TVs for all budgets
Check out the best OLED TVs around
Looking for a bargain? Consult our list of the best cheap TVs
(Pocket-lint) – Not content with bringing its usual two-model flagship series release programme, for 2020 Huawei stepped things up by bringing not just one, not two, but three different P series handsets: the P40, the P40 Pro, and the P40 Pro+.
It’s a move that came as no surprise, in a world where many competitors have gone down a similar route – check out Samsung’s S20 series, for example – but with now three P40 series models to choose from, just how do they differ?
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Design: Colours & Finishes
P40 Pro only: Silver Frost, Blush Gold with matte-touch finish
P40 Pro+ only: Black ceramic, White ceramic
All models: Ice White, Black, DeepSea Blue
The standard P40 is smaller than the P40 Pro and Pro+, the latter two are the very same size.
But the colour options and finishes is where things differ. At the entry point there’s white, black and blue glass-backed finishes. The P40 Pro also options a silver and pink-gold finish, both of which have a matte-touch finish which is said to be fingerprint repellent – despite still being made of glass.
Lastly there’s a ceramic finish, in either black or white, for the P40 Pro+ only. Huawei tells us this “nanotech ceramic back” is comprised of ceramic beads, which are compressed at higher pressure, then kilned at 1500C for five days, creating a sapphire-strength rear with a reflective index “similar to diamond”.
Screen: Size & Resolution
P40 Pro & Pro+: Edge-to-edge ‘Overflow Display’ with curved edges / P40: Flat display
P40 Pro & Pro+: 6.58-inch OLED, 2640 x 1200 resolution
P40: 6.1-inch OLED, 2340 x 1080 resolution
P40 Pro & Pro+: 90Hz / P40: 60Hz
As we said, the P40 is the smaller handset, on account of its 6.1-inch screen. This display is also flat, not curved, with slightly larger bezels than its bigger models.
The P40 Pro and Pro+ have a 6.58-inch screen, so aren’t as ultra-massive as some current handsets, such as the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. We think that’s a sensible decision, to make for greater ease of use with one hand.
Whichever of the Pro and Pro+ models you choose you’ll be getting a so-called ‘Overflow Display’. That’s Huawei’s way of saying Waterfall Display, really, meaning the edges spill over, much like a waterfall, so the edge bezel is barely visible. This applies to all edges – both sides and the top and the bottom – for a real screen-dominant design.
There’s no notch as a result, instead a dual punch-hole is present on all three handsets. More info about the (extensive!) cameras is further down the page.
While the P40 offers a standard 60Hz display, the Pro and Pro+ offer a 90Hz refresh rate – which is 50 per cent greater than the typical 60Hz panels. That’s all well and good, but with OnePlus running 120Hz panels and others offering up to 165Hz panels in gaming phones (the Red Magic 6 the first example of that), you might wonder why Huawei hasn’t reached to the stars here. The answer, we suspect, is cost, battery performance, and, frankly, that this extra rate won’t make a huge difference in the way most people see apps and content perform anyway.
Performance
All models: Kirin 990 processor, 8GB RAM
P40 Pro & Pro+: 4,200mAh battery
P40: 3,800mAh battery
P40 Pro+: 40W fast-charging (incl. 40W wireless)
P40 Pro: 40W fast-charging (incl. 27W wireless)
P40: 22.5W fast-charging (no wireless charging)
All three P40 models will deliver a similar experience, given their Kirin 990 processor, 8GB RAM, and 5G connectivity across the board.
None of the three will come with Google Services, though, which means no access to Google Play Store (instead there’s Huawei’s App Gallery, which lacks some of the majors at present, such WhatsApp (you can download it as an APK using a browser though – but no Google Drive will mean no backup), and more. That’s despite the P40 launching on Google’s Android 10 operating system, with Huawei’s EMUI 10.1 user interface.
What apps can you actually get on Huawei’s App Gallery?
It’s in the battery department where the three models differ a little more. The P40 has a 3,800mAh cell, which is fairly small by today’s standards, while the Pro and Pro+ up that to 4,200mAh – which is about on par with what current competitors offers.
The recharging of those batteries is speedy too. The P40 sticks to the well-established 22.5W fast-charging, while the P40 Pro and Pro+ up this to 40W – which is quick, but not the very fastest available (that goes to OnePlus with its 65W Warp Charge 65T for the OnePlus 9 Pro).
However, Huawei is introducing 40W wireless charging to the Pro+. It means wire-free charging of the handset in little more than an hour – which is impressive. The standard P40, however, has no wireless charging capability.
Cameras
P40: Leica triple camera system
P40 Pro: Leica quad camera system
P40 Pro+: Leica penta camera system
Main camera:
All models: 50MP SuperSensing (RYYB) sensor, 1/1.28in size
f/1.9 aperture, optical stabilisation (OIS)
Focal length (approx): P40 at 27mm, Pro at 25mm, Pro+ at 24mm
Ultra-wide camera:
P40: 16MP, f/2.2, 17mm equiv.
P40 Pro & Pro+: 40MP cine lens, f/1.8, 18mm equiv.
Always the P series’ big-hitting feature is its camera setup. We thought the P30 Pro set a new bar when it launched in 2019 – something that the P40 series bettered.
It’s a little complicated, though, as the camera setup for each device is rather different. The P40 has a triple camera rear, the P40 Pro a quad setup, the Pro+ a penta system.
However, all three offer one consistent thing: the same main camera. This is a 50-megapixel SuperSensing sensor – the same red, yellow, blue (RYYB) technology as in the P30 Pro – and, at 1/1.28in size, it’s a lot larger than a typical camera sensor.
That make-up and physical size work to its benefit in delivering a clean signal for better image quality overall. Not to mention the use of four pixels into one on-screen pixel means oversampling for even better quality (12.5MP output) – a method used by many others already. And there’s 100 per cent on-sensor phase-detection pixels for autofocus too.
There’s a wide-angle camera on each P40 model, too, but it’s one of two variants: the P40 has a 16-megapixel sensor at a 17mm focal length, while the Pro and Pro+ offer 40MP at 18mm (so it’s slightly less wide, likely for the sake of edge/corner quality). The higher-resolution offering is described as a ‘cine lens’ as it’s also used to cater for video, at up to 4K.
Then there’s the zoom element. All three P40 models have an optical zoom lens: the P40 a 3x zoom, the P40 Pro a 5x zoom, the P40 Pro+ a 10x zoom. That 3x is the same as we’ve seen in the P30, with just 8-megapixels of resolution for the P40 and P40 Pro+. The 5x is different to the one found in the P30 Pro, as Huawei is also utilising the RYYB SuperSensing technology here for the P40 Pro’s zoom. The 10x was the first time we’d seen such a periscope zoom, as reserved for the P40 Pro+ only (and used in tandem with the 3x zoom optic to offer the ability to step through zoom levels to deliver the most appropriate tools for each job).
The P40 Pro and Pro+ also come with a Time-of-Flight depth sensor, which derives distance information, which the software can utilise in layers to help create background blur (bokeh) in portrait mode.
All three P40 cameras will offer familiar modes, from Artificial Intelligence shooting, to Night Mode. However, these have been advanced, with the AI tech now able to shoot multiple frames before during and after pressing the shutter to select the best of a burst and suggest a top three selection.
The front cameras can be found in a dual punch-hole or ‘pill’ cut-out in all three P40 models. The main camera is 32-megapixels, which also uses four-in-one oversampling for 8MP output by default, paired with a depth sensor for background blur software effects and more.
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Price, Release Date & Conclusion
P40: €799 (at launch)
P40 Pro: €999 (at launch)
P40 Pro+: €1399 (at launch)
Once again the P40 series looks to be grappling for camera dominance. And that variety of versatile cameas – especially on the Pro+ model – make for great reading.
That said, the absence of Google Play Store on these devices is a major pain point. Sure, there’s App Gallery, and consumers have choice in what’s important to them. But, right now, it makes the P40 series difficult to recommend.
(Pocket-lint) – The gaming phone market shows no signs of slowing down. Indeed, just 20 hours prior to revealing our verdict on this very device, the Red Magic 6, Lenovo revealed its next-gen Legion Duel gaming monster.
Except, interestingly, the Red Magic 6 has a bit of a headline feature that the Lenovo lacks: there’s a 165Hz screen refresh rate, which, at the time of writing, is the fastest you’ll find in a gaming phone – or, indeed, any phone to date – to make for super smooth visuals.
The Red Magic 6 is all about its gaming focus elsewhere, too, thanks to a top tier processor, stacks of RAM, plus a built-in cooling fan. So does all that make it a case of game on, or should you go game elsewhere?
Design & Display
6.8-inch OLED panel, 1080 x 2400 resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio
165Hz refresh rate, 500Hz touch sampling rate
Dimensions: 170 x 77 x 9.7mm / Weight: 220g
Finish options: Eclipse Black, Aurora
Dedicated switch for Game Space
Under-display fingerprint scanner
Built-in shoulder triggers
3.5mm headphone jack
Visually speaking the Red Magic 6 looks much like the Red Magic 5G and 5S devices that came before it. Except it’s actually a little bit bigger. Yup, as if those aforementioned slabs weren’t substantial enough, Nubia has gone and installed a yet bigger screen – up from 6.65-inches to 6.8-inches – making for a slightly wider overall package (although, thankfully, it’s a slither thinner than its predecessors).
Pocket-lint
In this Eclipse Black finish it’s also approaching subdued for a gaming phone. Perhaps that’s because the 5S we had came in a so-called ‘Pulse’ colourway. Which was loud to say the least. Not that the Red Magic 6 lacks some flashy “look at me” moments – helped along for the most part by rear lighting that can be set to various colours and patterns based on notifications, calls, gameplay and more (or switched off entirely, if you prefer).
The principal attraction of the Red Magic 6, we think, is its screen. This 6.8-inch OLED panel is quite the monster, plus it’s equipped with some headline-grabbing features. First, it’s flat, not curved, which makes it very practical for gaming (and anything, really, which is why we see curved screens on the decline). Second, it’s got a 165Hz refresh rate, meaning it can refresh that many times every second if you want – or select from 60Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz from the settings instead to conserve battery. It’s bright, too, with a 630 nits peak brightness claimed.
We’re always a little on the fence about fast-refresh panels, though, as the Red Magic 6’s sell over the 5S is basically 144Hz vs 165Hz. Will your eyes notice those extra 21 cycles per second? No, it’s not humanly possible. But it’s there, so it’s “one better” on paper nonetheless. You’ll most certainly see a big jump from the base 60Hz, though, so there’s obvious benefit to having a higher refresh rate panel. Plus, with 500Hz sampling rate, it’s super responsive to finger taps.
Pocket-lint
Not that you have to just tap the screen. Being a gaming phone, Red Magic continues with its gaming focus, which includes integrated shoulder triggers to one edge, which you can programme for certain games. You can even adjust the screen’s responsiveness in zones using the Game Space application.
Activating Game Space is a simple case of flicking the red switch to the upper left side (facing) of the device. It’s a nice touch, able to transport you into a games carousel, along with the ability to select various key options – such as do not disturb (DND), permitting specific apps to notify (such as Discord in a pop-up overlay), controlling lighting, the cooling fan, and screen refresh rate.
We just wish that switching into Game Space would automatically apply selected presets. For example, we’d (perhaps) activate 165Hz when in the space, but drop that to 90Hz once done and flicking the switch back to ‘normal’ for our everyday activities. But that doesn’t happen – the selected refresh rate remains in play, so you have to manually adjust it.
Pocket-lint
Elsewhere in terms of design, the Red Magic 6, rather unusually, features a 3.5mm headphone jack. So you can plug in your wired headphones. That’s an increasing rarity for high-end devices, although we suspect most will just use Bluetooth anyway.
Performance & Battery
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 platform, 12GB LPDDR5 RAM
128GB UFS 3.1 storage, no microSD card slot
5050mAh battery capacity, 66W fast-charge
Turbofan and liquid cooling system
Dual-Core Cooler accessory
Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
5G connectivity
So why is the Red Magic 6 so chunky, at almost a full centimetre wide? There’s a number of reasons: the massive battery capacity (5,050mAh), the integrated physical cooling fan, the spatial capacity to ensure airflow won’t overheat the processor inside. And that’s just three reasons.
Pocket-lint
There’s no doubting the Red Magic 6 has got the goods when it comes to power. Utilising Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 platform, alongside 12GB RAM, there’s nothing more powerful inside phones right now. Which makes the asking price of this phone all the more phenomenal.
Motorola’s new Moto G9 Plus is a stunner of a phone – find out why, right here
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For most people the difference between a Snapdragon 888 and, say, 870 isn’t going to make much difference for casual use. But the Red Magic 6 is all about gaming – so it has a processor that can put in the extra work to eke out those extra frame-rates and graphical options that you might otherwise not get elsewhere.
That said, only so many games are able to really tuck in. The same goes with the refresh rate debate: which games will genuinely benefit from 165Hz? Not many, perhaps none at all. Running Red Magic’s own FPS checker in real-time showed that many of our favourites – South Park: Phone Destroyer being the main, PUBG Mobile being the other – apparently max out at 31fps. Surely an error on Red Magic’s software? Because PUBG Mobile can run at 90fps.
Pocket-lint
That self administered punch to the face aside, however, and the Red Magic 6 does a darn good job when it comes to playing games. There’s no delay, no fuss with fidelity, no issues with graphics textures, and so forth. It’s about as good as it gets.
However, that cooling fan doesn’t half make a lot of noise. It’s whirring sound whistles quite irritatingly. Having it on will undoubtedly use up power, too, so we’ve opted for leaving the standard cooling system minus the additional fans to take care of things. It’s a good job you can manually adjust this from the settings shade – because the fan also activates when fast-charging kicks in, unless you tell it not to.
The reason for that is the fast-charging, at 66W, is really quick. You can fill it from dead in under 40 minutes, assuming you have the correct plug at the wall, which is borderline ridiculous. Pop it on a slower recharge and you’ll be kinder to the battery’s health, but it’ll take a fair lot longer.
As for realistic longevity per charge. With this phone, more than most, that’s going to depend on how much you game. We’ve found the battery life a little unpredictable in general, with a day of ‘normal use’ (at 90Hz, note) and some gaming thrown in delivering close to 15 hours. That’s fine for a single day, except there are some moments when the battery will bomb and that’ll leave you reaching for the charger when you might not usually expect so – and that can render the 165Hz plus cooling fan as limited time options.
It would also be remiss to not speak on software, which here is Red Magic OS (V4.0), built over Google’s Android 11 operating system. It’s fairly harmless, in that it has various obtuse Themes, but there are some fundamentals that are just broken.
Notifications, for one, are scruffy, filling up layers per app in a not-too-useful format. But at least, unlike with the Poco X3 Pro, we get consistent notifications, eh?
Pocket-lint
The home screen also can’t accept new apps being dragged from the app drawer and onto it as icons – they just vanish, unless you load multiple apps into a folder and drag them from there. It’s a ridiculous and irksome bug. That, in a sense, is indicative of what to expect when it comes to software experience: a unique yet unpredictable one.
Cameras
Triple rear system:
Main (26mm): 64-megapixel, f/1.8 aperture, 0.8µm pixel size
Wide (13mm): 8 MP, f/2.0, 1.12µm
Macro: 2MP
Selfie camera: 8MP, f/2.0
One area where we’ve been critical of previous Red Magic devices is with the cameras. Although the Red Magic 6 doesn’t get away Scot-free by any means, its main camera is fairly decent – outshining the likes of the Moto G100, that’s for sure.
Thankfully the rear of this phone is slightly curved so it slots into the hand pretty elegantly. There’s no giant camera bump in the way. No unwarranted protrusions or oddities. But that’s because the cameras here simply aren’t as high-end as you’ll find in some devices.
Pocket-lint
According to the specification, the Red Magic 6 has a 64-megapixel main sensor (a S5KGW3 – which is Samsung’s GW3 sensor) that squeezes images down to 16-megapixels by using one-in-four processing. Then there’s an 8MP wide-angle (a HI846, so a typical Hynix sensor). Lastly there’s a 2MP macro for close-ups (the OV02A10, supplied by OmniVision).
Thing is, the camera app doesn’t offer any wide-angle shooting. It’s not to be found anywhere. So you can already forget about getting any ultra-wides out of this device. Yet another problem of the software, perhaps?
The macro, given that it’s just 2-megapixels, is also of really poor quality – so we doubt you’ll ever want to use it. At least the system does prompt you to use it when very close to a subject, though, and the magnifying glass-style focus symbol on the screen is particularly useful to get in-focus shots. Not that they’ll be all that sharp, given the limit in quality.
So it all falls to the main lens to sell the camera system. Think of the Red Magic 6 as a single camera and it’s reasonably successful. The real-time phase-detection autofocus is snappy at showing what it’s focusing onto. The quality of images is fairly decent in a variety of conditions, too. Oversharpened, sure, but there’s detail here that could easily be negated by a lesser setup.
Just make sure you turn off the watermark feature (as you can see from the gallery above, we didn’t) – because it’s on by default, will plaster your images with unwanted words that you can’t remove, and it’s still beyond perplexing to us that this is an acceptable practice. Kill the watermark default already.
Not that you’ll be taking pictures, right? You’ll be playing games. Because, ultimately, that’s what the Red Magic 6 is all about.
Verdict
If you’re in the market for a gaming phone then the Red Magic 6 has a lot going for it: it’s well priced, it’s seriously powerful, and it has a faster screen refresh rate than you’ll find on any other phone right now.
Thing is, whether you’ll get genuine use from 165Hz is a whole other matter. And with it active the cooling fan’s whining drone sound isn’t delicate on the ears. Plus it rather affects the battery life for the worse.
That there is physical fan-based cooling, however, is testament to how gaming-focused this phone is. With its Game Space dedicated switch, too, there’s quick-access to controls and gaming-specific settings.
Just like its predecessors, the Red Magic 6 does what it sets out to achieve: being an alluring gaming phone. But while it’s “game on” in that regard, it’s “game off” for everyday use – where the software comes up short, the sheer size approaches unwieldy, and the cameras are way off their billing.
Also consider
Pocket-lint
Lenovo Legion Phone Duel
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Ok, so it’s the first-gen model – the second-gen has just been announced – and it’s pricier than the Red Magic. But with the Lenovo’s side-positioned pop-up camera and dual charging facility, it’s a super-powered gaming device unlike anything else on the market.
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The Realme 8 Pro is a good, inexpensive Android phone that you probably shouldn’t buy right now — at least if you’re in the US. But it’s also a preview of positive things to come to the midrange class, especially in terms of camera hardware. I have seen the future of smartphone imaging around the $400 price point, and it is good.
If you’re not familiar, Realme is a Chinese company that started off as a sub-brand of Oppo; like OnePlus, it was founded by a former Oppo vice president. Its phones are sold in China, India, and Europe. Although, you can technically buy a global version of the phone and use it in the US, but we wouldn’t recommend it. It’s not compatible with many of the 4G bands we use in the states, so coverage won’t be great.
The 8 Pro uses a relatively new 108-megapixel Samsung sensor. It’s the same pixel count as the main camera in the Galaxy S21 Ultra, but a different, smaller chip designed for budget-friendlier phones. As in the S21 Ultra, the point of this technology isn’t to take 108-megapixel images (though you can do that if you want). It’s to combine information from groups of pixels to create a better optimized 12-megapixel final image.
There are other reasons to like the Realme 8 Pro. Considering its £279 (about $380) price, performance is very good, owing to a strong combination in its Snapdragon 720G processor and 6GB of RAM. Battery life is healthy and the phone supports 50W fast wired charging. Depending on how you feel about inspirational corporate branding, I guess the “DARE TO LEAP” printed on the back of the phone could be a plus (not my thing, personally).
But the camera impressed me the most, and it’s a component that will likely make its way into many more midrange phones sold around the globe. Let’s take a closer look.
The 8 Pro offers standard wide and ultrawide cameras, plus macro and depth-sensing modules.
Realme 8 Pro camera
In case you need a reminder at any point of how many pixels the main camera offers, you can simply look at the back of the phone where you’ll find “108 MP QUAD CAMERA” etched on the camera bump. Specifically, it’s Samsung’s 1/1.52-inch Isocell HM2 sensor coupled with an f/1.9 lens.
Unfortunately, there’s no optical image stabilization here, but maybe owing to the image processing tricks this high-res sensor can pull off, I didn’t notice a significant number of blurry shots that OIS might have corrected. Other rear cameras include an 8-megapixel ultrawide, 2-megapixel macro, and a 2-megapixel depth-sensing camera. There’s a 16-megapixel selfie camera on the front.
The main camera is able to do a couple of interesting things. In bright daylight, it can use all 108 million pixels individually, using different pixels to capture your scene at multiple exposure levels at once, and combining the information into a 12-megapixel final image. In low light, the camera switches things up and uses binning to combine pixels into groups of nine, effectively turning relatively small individual pixels — 0.7μm to be precise — into much larger 2.1μm sized pixels, which helps produce less noisy images.
Photos in bright light look good as expected. There’s an impressive amount of detail captured, though some overzealous sharpening is evident if you zoom in to 100 percent. Colors are a bit too saturated for my liking; there’s no amount of lawn fertilizer in the world that would make my yard look as green as the 8 Pro thinks it is. It seems more prone to this oversaturation with landscapes and is thankfully less aggressive with portrait mode photos. Portrait mode photos look good, and I appreciate that the camera doesn’t crop in when switching to this mode.
Taken with ultrawide
Taken with ultrawide
Taken with night mode
Taken with ultrawide
Dim indoor lighting and low light are where phone cameras typically struggle, but the 8 Pro turns in an impressive performance in these conditions. In moderate lighting, images are surprisingly detailed and show little noise. The camera’s night mode will bring out even more detail, though it does apply a distracting amount of sharpening and contrast.
I had, frankly, low expectations for the 8 Pro’s digital 3x zoom, but I’m pleased to report that it’s much better than I feared. In good light and even moderate indoor lighting, images show a lot of detail and I’m hard-pressed to find the unpleasant artifacts that usually appear in digitally zoomed images.
The camera isn’t just cropping in on a 108-megapixel image, either. Comparing them side by side at 100 percent, a photo taken with 3x digital zoom shows more detail and looks less noisy than a crop of a 108-megapixel image. The Samsung HM2’s pixel binning powers are being put to work here, too, and the result is digital zoom that is actually worth your time.
There’s not as much exciting news to report about the 8 Pro’s other cameras; they do just fine. The ultrawide is prone to some subtle but unpleasant color shifts: white balance can skew too warm and blue skies sometimes look a little gray. The macro camera is a low-resolution sensor that is little more than a gimmick, and the selfie camera thankfully avoids over-smoothing faces at its default setting. All fair for a phone at this price.
The 8 Pro’s processor and RAM combination are more than sufficient for everyday tasks and scrolling.Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge
Realme 8 Pro performance and screen
Outside of cameras, the Realme 8 Pro is a thoroughly capable midrange phone. Battery life is sufficient to get through a day of moderate to heavy use and the aforementioned processor / RAM combo handles day-to-day app scrolling and tasks with ease. The 6.4-inch 1080p OLED with standard 60Hz refresh rate is fine but nothing special, and I had to fight with auto brightness insisting on making the screen too dim on a couple of occasions.
There’s the flashy branding on the rear of the device, which is either your kind of thing or not. The Realme 8 Pro doesn’t support 5G at all, which is something to consider if you’re in the UK and thinking of buying the phone.
My biggest gripe, though, is with the optical in-display fingerprint sensor. I’d say at least a third of the time when I unlocked the phone it required more than one try to read my finger. A couple of times — both outside in bright daylight — it gave up and had me enter my PIN instead. If this was going to be my forever phone, I’d probably skip the fingerprint sensor and just stick with a PIN, personally.
The Realme 8 Pro is the kind of midrange phone that we don’t see very often in the US: great performance and decent all-around specs combined with an excellent camera, all for what would equate to a sub-$400 price.
Phones that meet this description are surprisingly scarce stateside; in fact, its closest equivalent is probably the Pixel 4A, which we’ve recommended as the best low-cost Android phone essentially since it became available last summer. The 8 Pro goes a step beyond the 4A in some respects by offering an ultrawide rear camera and fast charging. If it came down to it, though, we’d probably still favor the Pixel for its very good device support and excellent lone rear camera.
If you live in the UK and you don’t care much about class-leading display specs and the lack of 5G doesn’t bother you, the 8 Pro has a camera and a processor that will keep up for many years to come. For the rest of us, the 8 Pro is (hopefully) a sign of good camera hardware coming our way soon.
Until now, we’ve known almost everything about Samsung’s newest Galaxy A-series phones (which were announced recently at the company’s Unpacked event) except for a couple of key details: which models would be sold in the US and for how much. That’s the announcement Samsung made today, with three low-cost 5G phones leading the way.
The Galaxy A52 5G, A42 5G, and A32 5G will all go on sale in the US later this week, with the sub-$300 A32 clocking in as Samsung’s lowest-cost 5G model to date. They’ll each ship loaded with Android 11 and with charging bricks included in the box. Also arriving Stateside soon: the entry-level Galaxy A12 and A02s, each costing under $200.
Samsung Galaxy A-series US pricing
Model
Price
Availability
Model
Price
Availability
Galaxy A52 5G
$499
April 9th
Galaxy A42 5G
$399
April 8th
Galaxy A32 5G
$279
April 9th
Galaxy A12
$179
April 9th
Galaxy A02s
$109
April 29th
Pricing and availability for Galaxy A models coming to the US in 2021.
The A52 5G is the highest specced A-series model US customers will see this year; the A72, which was unveiled at the same Unpacked event, is missing from today’s list. The A52 5G follows up on last year’s solid A51 model and includes a 6.5-inch OLED with 120Hz refresh rate, a Snapdragon 750G processor, IP67 water resistance rating, and a 4,500mAh battery.
The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G features a stabilized main camera, IP67 weather resistance, and a 120Hz screen.
Its camera hardware is also a step up from the other models in this bunch, including a 64-megapixel main camera with optical image stabilization. The A52 5G supports sub-6GHz 5G only (no mmWave), and like the other two 5G models, it supports C-band frequencies at a hardware level. It will be sold with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for $499 starting on April 9th.
The A42 5G supports sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G.Photo: Samsung
The A42 5G is the only model of the bunch to support mmWave 5G in addition to sub-6GHz. It also features a 6.6-inch OLED with standard 60Hz refresh rate, and like the A52 5G, it will use a Snapdragon 750G chipset. The A42 5G features a 48-megapixel main camera and doesn’t include an IP rating. It will include 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage and is going on sale for $399 starting on April 8th.
The Galaxy A32 5G is Samsung’s least expensive 5G model to date.Photo: Samsung
Samsung’s Galaxy A32 5G skips out on quite a few features in order to hit its low price point. It includes an LCD rather than OLED — a 6.6-inch panel with 90Hz refresh rate — and uses a MediaTek 720 processor rather than a Snapdragon chipset. It will include 4GB of RAM and a skimpy 64GB of storage, thankfully expandable by microSD. It will sell for $279 starting on April 9th.
The A12 offers a 6.5-inch LCD.Photo: Samsung
Rounding out the set are the LTE-only, budget-oriented A12 and A02s, each featuring a 6.5-inch LCD with standard refresh rate and a 5,000mAh battery. The A12 gets a 16-megapixel main camera and a 5-megapixel ultrawide and will offer 3GB of RAM. The A02s includes a 13-megapixel main camera without the ultrawide and offers just 2GB of RAM.
Both phones will ship with Android 10 and (thankfully) offer storage expansion via microSD; with just 32GB of built-in storage each, some extra space will be a necessity. The Galaxy A12 will sell for $179 starting on April 9th; the Galaxy A02s will cost $109.99 and arrive on April 29th.
All of these A-series devices will be sold unlocked by Samsung, though the company could only confirm that the A52 5G would be available this way on April 9th; all others would be coming at some point later this spring.
The team at Gurgle Apps is always getting creative with microelectronics but their latest project has us seriously excited! This time the family developed a Pong replica just for the Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller.
Some of the best Raspberry Pi projects are compatible with different boards, and this one proved to have notable flexibility in the RP2040 environment. This game was tested and ran successfully on both a Raspberry Pi Pico and Pimoroni Tiny RP2040. It has knobs for controls and an OLED screen housed inside a small, 3D-printed cabinet.
(Image credit: Gurgle Apps)
To recreate the project, you’ll need a Pico or a Tiny 2040, two potentiometers, a resistor, and an SSD1306 OLED display. There’s also an optional speaker component but it isn’t 100% necessary—though it does add a nice touch!
You can check out a video demo of the project on the official Gurgle Apps YouTube channel. The team provides everything you need to get started from a complete parts list to the Pico Pong app itself. Visit the Pico Pong project page on GitHub for a closer look at the code and maybe even build one of your own.
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