There’s a new Google Nest Hub smart speaker in town, and it comes with a boatload of upgraded abilities.
Such as? It’s louder, with a new design and faster processor. It can also track your sleep, but more on that later.
It looks nigh on identical to the previous Nest Hub, but now comes in a new light blue option to go with the light pink, light grey, and dark grey finishes. The bezel now sits flush to the screen, too.
A larger, 43.5mm diameter speaker claims to provide up to 50 percent more bass, while a third mic and on-device machine learning chip supposedly make it more responsive to voice commands.
It still bears a 7-inch, 1024 x 600 pixel touchscreen LCD with automatic ambient brightness and colour adjustment. But there’s no built-in camera, so for video calls, you’ll need the bigger, pricier, Nest Hub Max.
Now, onto its smarts. The headline feature in this regard is sleep tracking, which comes courtesy of Google’s Soli sensor technology. This measures your movement during the night to see how restless you were, even down to your breathing patterns. While it might not be as accurate or detailed as a wearable device, many people will prefer not having to wear a sensor.
You don’t have to tell it when you’re going to bed, either. Just head to Bedfordshire, and it does the rest. You can even configure it to avoid your bed partner, so it doesn’t confuse their movements with your own.
The Soli tech was previously seen in the Pixel 4 from 2019 and Google’s Nest Thermostat.
The new Nest Hub will go on sale on 30th March, and cost £89 ($99, AU$149).
At its second Unpacked event of the year, Samsung officially unveiled three of its next A-series phones: the Galaxy A52, A52 5G, and A72. While the company isn’t sharing US pricing or availability yet, it has confirmed European pricing: €349 for the A52 (about $415), €429 for the A52 5G (about $510), and €449 for the A72 ($534).
Key specs across the board include IP67 water and dust resistance, brighter screens with faster refresh rates, and a 64-megapixel main camera with optical image stabilization. All three models include a microSD card slot for expandable storage and will ship with a charging brick in the box — features that you won’t find in the S21-series flagships.
Each is built on an unspecified octa-core (dual 2.3GHz + hexa 1.8GHz) processor and will ship with Android 11 and Samsung’s One UI 3.0. Storage variants of 128GB and 256GB will be offered for all models, with RAM configurations that will vary by region. Like all recent Galaxy phones, these devices are guaranteed at least four years of security updates.
The Galaxy A52 and A52 5G will both feature a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED screens. As rumored, the A52’s display will offer a 90Hz refresh rate, while the A52 5G will have a 120Hz screen. Each will feature a rear “quad” camera array, though one of those four cameras is a 5-megapixel depth sensor. The main 64-megapixel f/1.8 camera is accompanied by a 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide 5-megapixel macro and 32-megapixel f/2.2 selfie cam.
Samsung says the A52 models feature brighter screens — up to 800 nits as compared to last year’s 600 — and 4,500mAh batteries capable of two days’ use on a single charge. And naturally, the A52 5G includes 5G connectivity, though Samsung hasn’t confirmed yet which frequencies it will support in the US.
The Galaxy A72 offers a slightly larger 6.7-inch Super AMOLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate. It offers the same basic rear camera array but includes an 8-megapixel f/2.4 3x telephoto camera instead of the depth sensor. The A72 is an LTE-only model; a 5G version is likely to come but Samsung hasn’t confirmed this.
We should find out US pricing and availability for these devices — and potentially other A-series models — in the next few weeks. Last year’s A51 and A51 5G were introduced at $400 and $500, respectively, with the 5G version of the A71 coming in at $600. If this year’s models are priced similarly, these devices will be well-positioned to tempt midrange shoppers with features like fast refresh rate screens, stabilized main cameras, and IP ratings, which aren’t common in this class.
(Pocket-lint) – Despite being well known for invoking nostalgic memories of big wooden speaker cabinets and crackling vinyl, Klipsch is a brand that has adapted with the times. Its first pair of true wireless earbuds was such a great-sounding pair that it became one of our favourites for pure music enjoyment.
The second-generation – the aptly named Klipsch T5 II True Wireless – comes with lots of refinements in terms of design and performance, and also comes in two Sport models, one with exclusive McLaren F1 design. In this review, we’re focusing on the regular model.
Design and build
IP67 water- and dust-resistant
Colours: White / Gunmetal
Physical control button
6 pairs of oval tips
Charging case
It’s in the design department you’ll notice the biggest difference between the T5 and the T5 II. Starting with the first thing you get to: the case. Thankfully, the main ethos remains same, as it still looks friggin’ cool – almost like a chunky Zippo lighter. It’s smaller and thinner than the previous version, but there’s a solidity and durability to it. It feels like it might hurt you if you dropped it on a toe, and gives a reassuring clank when you open and shut the lid.
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As for the ‘buds, these almost keep to the same essence too. It’s a similar hard-to-describe shape, featuring a tapered oval design but, again, the second-gen is slimmer, smaller and lighter than the originals. That also means that in the non-Sport model, there’s nothing holding these ‘buds in your ears except for the redesigned oval silicone tip.
The tips extend out from underneath the main body in an unconventional design, but once stuck inside the entrance of our ear canal, we found the fit was secure and steady. These ‘buds never felt like they’d fall out – and didn’t gradually push their way out either. Since the silicon tips are soft and thin, they give just the right amount of pressure. In our ears, the pre-applied tips were the perfect fit, but the T5 II comes with six different sizes, so you should easily find a pair that works for you.
Another interesting change is that there’s one single button on the outside, which depresses really easily to ensure that when you press, it gives easily and doesn’t lead to that feeling that you’re just pushing an earbud deeper into your ear. The button gives in once it feels even the remotest bit of resistance, which makes good sense.
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Around the edge of that button is a metal collar, which makes up that outer surface. It’s more than just decoration though, it’s an external antenna to ensure there’s nothing getting in the way of that connection between the ‘buds and what you’re connecting them to.
The main takeaway here is that the T5 II is a lightweight and secure package. Not so secure that we’d recommend using these in-ear in the gym or when out running, but that’s what the Sport models are for instead.
Despite that, with an IP67 water- and dust-resistance rating, the ‘buds should survive pretty much anything anyway. Whether inside your ears, or inside their own metallic bunker/charging case.
Sound
5mm dynamic moving coil micro speaker
10Hz – 19kHz frequency response
EQ control
With frequency response as low as 10Hz, the 5mm drivers inside the Klipsch ‘buds produce sound you wouldn’t expect to hear from such small drivers. Of course, human hearing only really goes as low as 20Hz at a push – but it’s that control at the lower end of the sound spectrum where these earphones definitely excel.
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With the equaliser (EQ) set to its default flat mode, there’s still plenty of bass, without it being overwhelming, but – more importantly – you still get clean and bright notes at the top end.
We love how acoustic bass drum kicks retain that feel of air moving around the kick pedal or inside the drum every time the skin is struck by the pedal. Or in songs like Hey Ma by Bon Iver, you get the full airy feel of the bass and mid notes swelling near the beginning or, later on, the muted bass note plucking. What’s more, in that same track, the subtle percussive noises are clear without dominating the primary elements of the track.
The Klipsch T5 II is adept at tackling any genre of music, and will give you the right feel from those acoustic songs, but is sonically strong with more synthesised tracks too. Crank up Leon’s Better in the Dark and enjoy the way the bass sounds when the synth and bass drum strike at the same time, without crumbling.
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Of course, you can adjust the EQ, so if you need even more bass you can get it, but we found there was plenty from the default setting. In fact, we never felt the need to tweak the default sound profile. But it’s nice of Klipsch to give that option for those users who have preferences.
Features, performance and calls
8 hours playback + 24 more hours in the case (32 hours total)
Quad mic system for external noise cancelling during calls
Bluetooth 5.0 + signal boosting external antenna
Transparency mode
To get the first thing out of the way: there’s no active noise-cancelling (ANC). An increasing staple feature in the world of premium in-ears, but we’ve often argued that with a good set of well-fitted in-ears, it’s not as noticeable as it would be on over/on-ear cans. Passively, the T5 II does a good job of blocking out noise thanks to those soft tips.
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Although ANC isn’t a feature here, you do still get an audio transparency mode, which uses mics around the ‘buds’ casing to let in and amplify noise from around you. Using the Klipsch Connect app you can switch it on and select how much transparency you want – it works pretty well but isn’t always all that effective once you have music playing.
It’s also worth noting that the ‘buds don’t feature any automatic play/pause feature when you remove them from your ears. There’s no proximity sensor for this, which is a bit of a shame.
On the plus side, you do get to pair the T5 II with up to eight different devices – although only one can be connected at a time.
With those external antennae doing their job, we found the wireless connectivity to be very strong. Walking from room to room and leaving the music source where it was, we struggled to make these in-ears drop connection. It’s a similar story with voice calls: you get strong performance here as well, with calls coming through clearly.
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As battery life goes, it’s very unlikely you’ll ever need to worry about it much. With a maximum of eight hours outside the case, thee T5 II will comfortably get you through your commute to work – well, when we all eventually return to work – and the case will keep recharging in the interim another four times over. That’s well over a full day of non-stop listening time.
Verdict
The first-generation Klipsch T5 was one of our favourite pairs of true wireless earbuds. The second generation takes what was great and refines it, making for a truly stunning pair of ‘buds.
Sure, a few advanced features might be absent – there’s no proximity sensors or active noise-cancelling – but in all the ways that matter, the T5 II performs really well. For music lovers, at this price, you’ll struggle to find anything that sounds better or packaged in as neat and stylish a product.
If you love music, we think you’ll love the sound produced by the Klipsch T5 II. There’s little to rival the quality on offer here.
Also consider
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Grado T220
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Grado has a similar approach to Klipsch – in that it’s all about the sound – and the T220 sounds fantastic. In fact our first listen left our jaw on the floor, it was that good. It has some downsides though, like a finicky design and sensitive touchpad.
Read the review
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Bose QuietComfort Earbuds
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If you want all the bells and whistles in a great sounding pair of buds, Bose has the ones for you. QC Buds have excellent noise-cancelling, great sound overall, plus a comfortable and secure fit.
(Pocket-lint) – Google offers the Nest Hub Max and second generation Nest Hub, as the two devices within its smart display portfolio. The second generation Nest Hub succeeds the older Nest Hub, formerly known as Google Home Hub, which you might find cheap now.
With a very similar design apart from physical size, how do Google’s two Nest Hub’s compare? Here are the similarities and differences. You can read how the old Nest Hub and new Nest Hub compare in our separate feature.
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What’s the same?
Design
Interface
Main features
The Google Nest Hub Max and the original and second generation Google Nest Hubs all feature the same design with a screen with white bezels that offers the appearance of floating on the speaker base. The second generation Nest Hub has an edgeless screen however, while the Nest Hub Max and Next Hub both have a lip at the edge of their displays.
A microphone on/off button is positioned at the top on the rear of the three devices – this button also turns the camera off on the Nest Hub Max – while volume controls are on the left on the rear.
The three devices feature the same interface and they offer many of the same features including smart home control, built-in Chromecast support, Google Assistant and its range of offerings, the ability to use them as a digital photo frame, as well as the ability to watch YouTube, Netflix and Disney+.
What’s different between the Nest Hub Max and the Nest Hub?
Despite offering a very similar design, interface and features, there are a few differences between the Google Nest Hub Max, the second generation Google Nest Hub and the original Nest Hub.
Display
Nest Hub Max: 10-inch, 16:10, HD, touchscreen
New Nest Hub/Nest Hub: 7-inch, LCD, touchscreen
The Google Nest Hub Max has a 10-inch touchscreen display, putting it in the same category as the Amazon Echo Show.
The Google Nest Hub and second generation Nest Hub meanwhile, have a smaller 7-inch touchscreen LCD display, falling into a similar category to the smaller Echo Show 8.
Size
Nest Hub Max: 250.1 x 182.55 x 101.23mm
New Nest Hub/Nest Hub: 178.5 x 118 x 67.3mm
As the Google Nest Hub Max has a larger display, it is unsurprisingly a larger device overall too.
The increase in size makes the Hub Max the better device for viewing content from across the room, while the second generation Nest Hub and original Nest Hub are better suited for a bedside table, for example.
Sound
Nest Hub Max: 2.1 speaker arrangement
New Nest Hub/Nest Hub: Full-range speaker
The larger footprint of the Google Nest Hub Max allows for a 2.1 speaker arrangement compared to the second generation Nest Hub and original Nest Hub’s full-range speaker.
It means you get bigger sound from the Nest Hub Max and while the sound of the Nest Hub Max doesn’t match that of speakers like the Sonos One, it is a big improvement on the Nest Hub. The second generation Nest Hub does offer 50 per cent more bass than the original Nest Hub though so its sound should be closer to the Hub Max.
Camera
Nest Hub Max: Built-in 6.5MP Nest camera
New Nest Hub/Nest Hub: No camera
The Google Nest Hub Max has a camera at the top of the display, which the second generation Nest Hub and original Nest Hub do not. In place of a camera, the second generation Nest Hub and original Nest Hub have an ambient sensor to adjust the display brightness according to its surroundings.
The camera on the Nest Hub Max is a Nest camera, which means it offers most of the same features as the Nest Cam IQ, including intruder alerts if you have a Nest Aware account. There are no familiar face alerts however, and no night vision, but the camera within the Nest Hub Max is still an excellent addition for those that want the advantage of a security camera too.
Without a Nest Aware account, you can still see what’s happening in the room you place the Nest Hub Max into, as well as use it for Google Duo video calls and Face Match for up to six people. It also allows for gestures like holding your hand up to pause or play audio, which is great in use.
Features
Nest Hub Max: Google Assistant, YouTube/Netflix/Disney+, Chromecast, smart home control, digital photo frame, music, Duo audio and video calls, gestures, Face Match, security camera
New Nest Hub: Google Assistant, YouTube/Netflix/Disney+, Chromecast, smart home control, digital photo frame, music, Duo audio calls, gestures, sleep tracking
Old Nest Hub: Google Assistant, YouTube/Netflix/Disney+, Chromecast, smart home control, digital photo frame, music, Duo audio calls
The Google Nest Hub Max, second generation Nest Hub and original Nest Hub offer many of the same features, including control of any compatible smart home devices, access to YouTube, Netflix and Disney+, displaying Google Photos, playing music, and the plethora of features offered by Google Assistant.
The Nest Hub Max has a couple of extra features thanks to that built-in Nest camera. You’ll not only be able to take part in Duo video calls but the Nest Hub Max doubles up as a security camera too, whilst also offering Face Match and gesture control, as we mentioned above.
The second generation Nest Hub also offers some additional features over the Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max however. It doesn’t have a camera, but it features Google’s Soli chip inside, which not only allows for Quick Gestures like the Nest Hub Max, but it also offers sleep tracking when placed on a bedside table. You can read more about the sleep tracking feature in our separate feature.
Price
Nest Hub Max: £219
New Nest Hub: £89.99
The Google Nest Hub Max usually costs £219 in the UK, but you get quite a lot for the extra £130 over the cost of the second generation Nest Hub.
The original Nest Hub was priced at £139 when it first launched, but its price then dropped to £79.99 in the UK. You’ll likely find it cheaper now the second generation Nest Hub has launched.
The second generation Nest Hub goes on sale for £89.99 in the UK. It is available to pre-order now.
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Colours
Nest Hub Max: Chalk and Charcoal
Nest Hub: Chalk, Charcoal, Aqua and Sand
New Nest Hub: Chalk, Charcoal, Mist and Sand
The Google Nest Hub Max is available in Chalk and Charcoal colours.
The original Google Nest Hub is available in four colours, including Chalk and Charcoal, as well as Aqua and Sand.
The second generation Nest Hub is available in four colours, including Chalk, Charcoal and Sand like the original, as well as Mist.
Conclusion
The Google Nest Hub Max is pretty much a larger, more expensive version of the 7-inch Nest Hub, but it adds a few extra, useful features for the increase in price. The second generation Nest Hub has some extra, but different features compared to the Nest Hub Max however.
The Nest Hub Max’s built-in camera not only offers video calling through Google Duo, but it doubles up as a great security camera, whilst also offering gesture control and Face Match for up to six people, both of which are excellent features.
The second generation Nest Hub meanwhile, has the Soli radar chip on board to also offer gesture controls like the Nest Hub Max, as well as sleep tracking when on a bedside table.
The decision between these devices will therefore likely come down to where you want to put your Google-made smart display, as well as what you want to use it for. For the bedroom, the smaller Nest Hub is perfect for a bedside table with sleep tracking an added bonus, whereas the Nest Hub Max is an excellent addition to a kitchen or living room.
(Pocket-lint) – Google has launched a second generation Nest Hub, which succeeds the three-year old Nest Hub and sits alongside the Nest Hub Max. The name stays the same – Nest Hub – though you’ll find it called new Nest Hub, Nest Hub second generation and Nest Hub 2 in this feature to help differentiate it from the older model.
We’ve put the specifications of the new Nest Hub against the old Nest Hub to see what has changed and what are the differences are.
Design and display
Old Nest Hub: 7-inch floating display, fabric-covered base, three colours
New Nest Hub: 7-inch floating display, fabric-covered base, four colours
The Google Nest Hub features a 7-inch floating display that sits on a fabric-covered speaker base. It measures 178.5 x 118 x 67.3mm and it weighs 480g.
At the top of the LCD touchscreen display is an Ambient EQ Light Sensor and far field microphones, while the back of the display features volume controls and a toggle to turn the microphone on or off. There’s also a power port.
The new Google Nest Hub has a very similar design to the Nest Hub, though it makes some refinements. There’s a floating display with a fabric-covered base, an Ambient EQ Light Sensor and far field microphones, but there isn’t a lip around the display on the new Hub, making for a more seamless finish.
You’ll find the volume controls and switch to turn off the microphone on the back though so as with the Nest Mini and Google Mini, it’s mainly internals that have changed from the original Hub, aside from some small changes.
The Nest Hub comes in Chalk and Charcoal colour options in the UK, as well as a Sand option in the US. The second generation Nest Hub is available in four options, comprising Chalk, Charcoal, Sand and Mist.
Hardware and specs
Nest Hub: Full-range speaker, two-mic array, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
The Google Nest Hub comes with a full-range speaker, along with a two microphone array. It offers both Wi-Fi support and Bluetooth 5.0 and it has Chromecast built-in and support for multi-room audio.
The second generation Google Nest Hub offers an improvement in audio quality, with Google claiming it delivers 50 per cent more bass than the original Nest Hub. It’s also thought to have moved to a three-microphone array, which should make for a better experience when using Google Assistant and puts it in line with the Nest Mini and Nest Audio.
The new Nest Hub also features Google’s Soli chip, which will be used for sleep tracking and gesture controls, and it also has Thread on board – like the Nest Hub Max – which should make controlling some smart home devices easier.
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are on board again for the Nest Hub 2, as well as Chromecast support and multi-room audio.
Features
Old Nest Hub: Google Assistant, Translator mode, smart home control, music, YouTube, Netflix
New Nest Hub: Additional sleep tracking, gesture controls
The Google Nest Hub offers a number of features, including things like translator mode, the ability to watch Netlflix, control smart home devices, listen to music, watch YouTube, read news, and everything that comes with Google Assistant of course. It can also be used as a digital photo frame.
The Nest Hub 2 offers everything the current Nest Hub does but with a couple of additional features. The Nest Hub second generation is able to track your sleep thanks to the Soli chip when on a bedside table, which will then link to Google Fit. The feature is called Sleep Sensing and it uses Motion Sense enabled by Soli to detect movement and analyse movement and breathing.
Sleep Sensing can also help you detect sleep disturbances like coughing and snoring, as well as light and temperature changes in the room to better understand what could be impacting the way you sleep.
Additionally, the Nest Hub 2 has Quick Gestures, or gesture controls like the Nest Hub Max, allowing you to raise your hand to pause a track for example. Thread is also on board, meaning the Nest Hub 2 should make controlling compatible smart home devices easier.
Price and conclusion
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The Google Nest Hub 2 offers an identical design to its predecessor, but makes improvements on the hardware and feature side of things.
The audio quality is said to have improved and features like gesture controls and sleep tracking should make an already great device, even more useful.
In terms of price, the Nest Hub 2 costs £89.99 in the UK, which is less than what the original Nest Hub launched at. It means it continues to be a cheaper option to the Nest Hub Max and an option without a camera.
It’s worth noting that if you’re not interested in the extra features or improvements to audio that the Next Hub 2 offers, you might find the original Nest Hub at a great price now.
You can read all the details surrounding the Nest Hub 2 in our separate feature.
(Pocket-lint) – Google’s second generation Nest Hub features a similar design to its predecessor, along with a few improvements and extra features. Its size puts it in direct competition with Amazon’s Echo Show 8, but which should you buy?
We’ve compared the Google Nest Hub to the Amazon Echo Show 8 to help you work out how they differ in terms of design and features, and which might be the right one for you and your home.
Design and display
Nest Hub: 7-inch display, four colours
Echo Show 8: 200.4 x 135.9 x 99.1mm, 8-inch display, two colours
The Google Nest Hub has a very similar design to its predecessor, offering a 7-inch floating display on top of a fabric-covered speaker base. The display is edgeless, ditching the lip found on the original Nest Hub, but it still offers a white bezel surrounding the LCD screen on all colour options.
At the top of the display is the Ambient EQ Light Sensor and far-field microphones, while a volume toggle is positioned on the rear of the display, as well as a microphone mute physical toggle switch and power port. The Nest Hub comes in Chalk, Charcoal, Sand and Mist colour options.
The Amazon Echo Show 8 meanwhile, has an 8-inch display with a triangular-shaped, fabric-covered speaker on the rear. The display has a slight lip at the edge, but it’s a neat and compact design overall. Colour options are black and white, with the bezel surrounding the display respective to each colour.
There’s a front-facing camera in the top right of the display within the bezel, while the top of the device has a camera cover toggle, microphone on/off button, volume up and down buttons and microphones. There’s also a power port and 3.5mm audio output on the rear.
Echo Show 8: 2-inch speaker with passive bass radiator, 4 mics, 1MP front camera
The Google Nest Hub has a full-range speaker on board, which is said to offer 50 per cent more bass than the original Nest Hub. There are three far-field microphones – like the Nest Audio and Nest Mini – and there’s an Ambient EQ Light Sensor.
The Nest Hub also features Thread – allowing for easy control of compatible smarthome devices – and importantly, it comes with Google’s Soli radar chip, which allows for gesture control and sleep tracking.
The Amazon Echo Show 8 has 2-inch speakers with a passive bass radiator. It has four microphones on board, and it also has a 1-megapixel front camera with built-in cover as we mentioned.
The Echo Show 8 runs on the MediaTek MT8163 processor and there is a 3.5mm audio output.
Both the Nest Hub and the Echo Show 8 feature Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Features
Nest Hub: Google Assistant, digital photo frame, Netflix/Disney+/YouTube, Quick Gestures, sleep tracking
Echo Show 8: Amazon Alexa, digital photo frame, Netflix/Prime Video, video calling, Alexa calling
The Google Nest Hub runs Google Assistant so it offers all the features that brings with it, including setting timers, playing music, using the translator mode, checking the weather, finding out the news etc. You can also watch Netflix, Disney+ or YouTube on the Nest Hub, use it as a digital photo frame, control smart home devices and audio call through Google Duo.
Thanks to the Soli radar chip on board, the Nest Hub offers support for Quick Gestures – allowing you to raise a hand to pause music for example – and it also offers sleep tracking when placed on a bedside table for the person closest to the display. Sleep information will appear on the device in the morning, as well as through Google Fit.
The Amazon Echo Show 8 runs Amazon Alexa, and all the features that come with Alexa, which like Google Assistant include timers, music, weather, jokes, news and games. You can also watch Prime Video or Netflix on the Echo Show 8, use it as a digital photo frame and control smart home devices.
The camera on board the Echo Show 8 enables you to video call friends and family, but the Echo Show 8 also offers Alexa calling, allowing users to call any friends or family with an Echo device or the Alexa app.
Both the Google Nest Hub and Amazon Echo Show 8 support multi-room audio, though only the Nest Hub offers Chromecast built-in.
Price
The Google Nest Hub is available to pre-order now and costs £89.99. As mentioned, it comes in four colour options: Chalk, Charcoal, Sand and Mist.
The Amazon Echo Show 8 costs £79.99. It comes in two colour options: Black and White.
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Conclusion
The Google Nest Hub and Amazon Echo Show 8 are similar in terms of what they offer, with a couple of differences, but the main difference is the Nest Hub runs on Google Assistant and the Echo Show 8 runs on Alexa.
If you already have Google Assistant-enabled speakers, then you’ll likely want to stick with it and therefore the Nest Hub will be the one for you, while those with Alexa will likely want the Echo Show 8.
If you’re new to the smart display arena, then the Nest Hub offers some interesting features over the Echo Show 8 in terms of sleep tracking, gesture control, the ability to watch Disney+ and the Thread protocol for easier smarthome control. The Echo Show 8 has a larger display though, as well as Alexa calling and video calling thanks to the built-in camera.
Corsair is a US-based peripherals and hardware company founded in 1994. After the Katar Pro and Katar Pro Wireless, Corsair releases the Katar Pro XT, which is priced like a budget mouse, but has the specifications of a $60 mouse. Equipped with the Corsair-exclusive PixArt PMW3391 capable of 18,000 CPI, the Katar Pro XT comes with a top-tier sensor. Compared to previous Corsair releases, a more flexible, paracord-like braided cable is used, and the weight has been kept appreciably low at just 75 g. Furthermore, Corsair advertises particularly responsive “Quickstrike” spring-loaded main buttons. Basic RGB lighting options are included, as are the usual customization settings through Corsair iCUE.
(Pocket-lint) – Arlo is a big name in home security, with a wide range of cameras, so extending its offering to the front door makes a lot of sense.
Having originally launched an Audio Doorbell – which connected to an Arlo system – the obvious leap was to integrate video and audio to make it a complete doorbell viewing and answering solution, either as part of a wider Arlo system or as a standalone device to rival Ring.
Which is exactly what you get with the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free. But is it good enough to stand up against the competiton?
Design and installation
Doorbell dimensions: 47 x 143 x 37mm
Includes flat & angled mounting plates
Weather-resistant design
Battery powered
We’ve all become familiar with video doorbells following the rise of Ring, which dominates this market. The Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free is larger than Ring’s equivalent device, so it’s a little less subtle on the door, standing out more. It’s both taller and thicker than Ring’s devices.
At the top of the Arlo sits the camera, while the large doorbell button is towards the bottom, encircled with LEDs which illuminate as someone approaches it.
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The Arlo doorbell comes with both flat and angled mounting plates in the box, along with screws and plugs if you are mounting to a wall. In reality you can use any screws, but mounting is a simple case of screwing the mounting plate in place and then clipping the body of the device into place.
The camera body itself detaches from the backing plate via a pin release mechanism, the sort of thing you’d use to open a SIM tray of a phone. That needs to be considered when mounting, as you’ll need access to this hole on the top. That also means that anyone who wants to steal it only needs a bent pin, but they’d be doing that while being captured on camera.
The device is weatherproofed, too, designed to withstand rain.
Unlike with Ring, you’ll have to remove the entire Arlo unit to get to the battery inside. In some ways that’s easier, because you don’t have to mess around with a tiny screw or face plate. You can buy spare batteries too, making a quick change possible.
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The battery version of the Arlo Doorbell can also be connected to existing doorbell wiring, with connectors on the rear – although we didn’t test this aspect of the device.
The Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free doesn’t come with a chime – i.e. the ability to sound a ringer elsewhere in your home – so that’s something else you might consider adding. That will mean it can audibly ring in any room of your house, so you’re not dependent on your phone, or hearing the sound from the device itself on the front door. But also consider you can have it alert you via an Amazon Echo if you create a simple Alexa Routine.
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Connectivity and the Arlo app
Hub or Wi-Fi connection
Setup via the Arlo app
No desktop app
Connecting to the Arlo Video Doorbell is much the same as connecting any other Arlo device. You’ll need to use the Arlo app on your phone or tablet and this will walk you through the process for both installing the doorbell and getting it connected.
The Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free can connect to either Wi-Fi or an Arlo hub. Supporting Wi-Fi means you don’t have to be an existing Arlo system user to get started. If you have a hub and want to connect to that you also have that choice. The advantage of connecting to an existing hub is that you’ll then have the option for local video storage on microSD – so you don’t have to then have an Arlo Smart subscription to store video.
The doorbell then appears within the Arlo app. If you’re an existing Arlo user, that means it will sit alongside your other Arlo devices; if you’re new to Arlo and only plan to use have the doorbell then that’s all you’ll see in the app.
The app then gives you all the controls you’ll need for the device. That includes the option to disable the LEDs on the button when motion is detected, manage what happens when someone pushes the doorbell, change the video settings, set activity zones, and adjust the audio.
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You also get control over the mode that you’ll use for the Video Doorbell. These will be familiar to Arlo users, but on the doorbell they only really define what happens when motion is detected. You might choose to remove motion alerts when you’re at home, in which case you can “disarm” the doorbell, keep them on all the time using “armed”, or have them turn on when you leave home using geofencing or according to a schedule – such as only at night.
You can create custom modes too, which will be more relevant to those with existing Arlo devices. It’s here that you can create a mode that, for example, turns on your Arlo Light when motion is detected on the Doorbell, or begins capture on another Arlo camera you might have.
This gives plenty of flexibility for what happens from Arlo’s end, but it’s worth noting that because you can link Arlo to other major smart home platforms – like Alexa, Google Home and SmartThings – you can also set up Routines on those platforms involving other devices. For example, turning on a Hue light when your Arlo doorbell detects motion.
One downside, however, is that there’s no desktop app. Yes, you can log-in through a browser, but when working at home, having a proper desktop app just for your doorbell makes everything easier. Ring has one and it’s something that’s currently missing from Arlo’s offering.
Do I need an Arlo Smart subscription?
Arlo’s original devices didn’t need a subscription. You got a week of cloud storage for free – and that was a major advantage over other systems. With the release of more advanced devices, Arlo has tied 30-day cloud storage and a range of advanced features to its Arlo Smart plans.
For a doorbell, you might question whether you need those extra features. You can run the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free without a subscription, but you lose the cloud storage of motion captures if you don’t have an Arlo Smart plan.
As we said above, if you’ve connected the doorbell to an Arlo hub, you can use the local storage option to record to microSD – but there’s no way of monitoring those backups from your phone, you have to physically remove the card and view it on another device. That might work for some, but we suspect part of the appeal of a connected camera is being able to look back at what’s happened on your phone and download the videos you want to keep.
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Arlo Smart plans also drive other features – like AI detection of what’s been spotted, which can tell you if it’s a person, vehicle or animal. If you’re in a protracted argument about whether the neighbour’s cat is leaving deposits on your front lawn, this might be exactly the feature you need.
Arlo Smart also enables rich notifications, which will highlight what you’re looking at when those notifications appear on your phone.
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The Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free comes with 3-months Arlo Smart as a trial, so you can see how you get on and make your decision. We’ve generally found that Arlo products run smoother if you have a paid subscription, as you get access to all the features.
Without a subscription you can still live-view the video, get notification alerts, and will have the doorbell ring your phone when the button is pressed. And for some that’s all you’ll want – without ongoing costs.
Camera features and performance
180 degree view, 110 degree motion sensor
1536 x 1536 resolution, 1:1 aspect ratio
HDR, IR night vision
The big difference between Arlo’s doorbell and Ring’s is the camera. Arlo has gone for a 1:1 aspect, a square sensor behind that ultra-wide lens, rather than rectangular. The practical benefit is that you can see a lot more of the person at your door. Rather than just seeing a face, you’ll get a better head-to-toe view of that person.
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Depending on the arrangement of your door and the surrounding area, this might be a lot more useful than some rival cameras. For us, it means you can see a lot more of the area surrounding the door and porch, rather than the wider view that Ring offers.
The doorbell is effective at detecting motion, often alerting you to motion just before the doorbell is pressed, so you can get a double notification. The detection for us turned out to be a couple of meters, so will detect people coming up the path, although it’s more effective as people get closer.
We’ve not had the same long-distance alerts that we’ve sometimes had from Ring, which included vehicles on the road when the sun was reflecting off them. Such sensitivity can be adjusted, as well as having the option to specify detection zones (another Arlo Smart feature) if you need to obscure something.
The quality of video capture is good, with HDR (high dynamic range) allowing the camera to balance out scenes when lighting is uneven. There’s IR (infrared) extending the skills to low-light conditions too. While darkness reduces the effective range, IR does paint the subject nicely when approaching the doorbell, so it’s still easy to recognise who it is at night.
The camera is a good wide-angle too, as we mentioned above, although on a doorbell this is less important than it might be on a security camera covering a wider area of view.
The experience of using the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free is excellent, with the video results generally better than some close rival products. Certainly, the 1:1 aspect offers a natural advantage giving a more useful view for objects closer to the camera, appropriate for a doorbell.
Calling your phone has an advantage
SIP calling
Rich notifications
One of the other advantages that Arlo offers is how the “ring” comes through to your phone. Rather than it being served up via a notification, it comes in as a SIP call. The technicalities don’t matter, but it means that when someone presses your doorbell, your phone rings like an incoming call.
You’ll see that someone has pressed the doorbell, leaving you to either accept that call – and talk to that person – or decline the call and just go and open the door.
When you accept the call, you’re shown the live feed from the door and you have the option to unmute the microphone to talk, or to use messages instead – with responses like “we’ll be right there” or “you can leave the package outside”, meaning you don’t actually have to talk to whoever is at the door. These options provide great versatility in how you answer the door – and you can use these whether you’re at home or not, the caller won’t be able to tell the difference. They’re also captured on the recorded video (as in the example above), so you’d have a record of the conversation.
If you’re already on a call on your phone, Arlo will burst in on that call too, so you’ll quickly have to multitask to either put your other call on hold or send a quick reply to whomever is at the door.
We’re also a fan of the notifications that Arlo sends through. These rich notifications are the same as you’ll get from Arlo’s other cameras (if you have an Arlo Smart subscription), telling you what type of occurrence has triggered the motion and giving you a preview thumbnail. That means you can glance at your phone and see whether you need to pay attention to it or not.
Battery life
The battery life on the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free has seen us through a month of use and still has about 50 per cent remaining, so we’re on course to get the best part of two months from it – and this includes several weeks around the 0°C mark.
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Arlo says that you’ll get three to six months from it, so we’re not hitting that sort of figure – but it still compares favourably with other battery-powered doorbells. Warmer temperatures will undoubtedly extend the usage. And, of course, you can adjust various features to prolong the battery life.
Verdict
Arlo’s first venture into doorbells with the Audio Doorbell never really captured the spirit of what people wanted from a connected device. Fortunately, the Video Doorbell offers a lot more, rivalling and bettering competitors in a number of areas.
The downsides are few: the lack of chime in the box means you’ll have to fork out for one separately, while an Arlo Smart plan will see an ongoing cost to really get the best out if this model.
Yes, this doorbell is a little on the large side, but the calling mechanism and quick replies, quality of the video, and potential for integration into other systems – not to mention folding it into an existing Arlo system – make it rather easy to recommend.
Alternatives to consider
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Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus
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The Plus version of Ring’s video doorbell adds a unique function: Pre-Roll video. This will capture 4 seconds of black-and-white video before the motion was triggered, so you get a wider window of capture for any given event. Wide support from Alexa and other platforms, as well as a complete package from Ring itself, makes this video doorbell rightly popular.
Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus review
Writing by Chris Hall. Editing by Adrian Willings.
It may not be the first block-based language for the Raspberry Pi Pico, but Piper Make definitely takes the crown of the best looking. Released yesterday, Piper Make is the latest project from Piper Learning, which previously created the Piper Computer Kit. Piper Make comes as a free online service or as part of a monthly subscription service.
IT’S HERE: Piper Make, available now in your browser on Mac, PCs, and @Google Chromebooks! Start inventing with the new @Raspberry_Pi Pico using our drag-and-drop coding platform! 🧑💻🥧Try it out at https://t.co/8wHaBMGg0T!#WhatWillYouCreate #STEMeducation #RaspberryPiDay pic.twitter.com/rm0Bi0dN1RMarch 14, 2021
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Piper Make is a browser-based editor and scheme of lessons designed to introduce MicroPython via the Raspberry Pi Pico. The user interface is clearly designed for younger makers, with bright colors and large icons, but underneath all of this is a decent selection of lessons that introduce coding concepts and electronics via challenges and projects.
(Image credit: Future)
We went through the getting started process, first by flashing a custom firmware to our Raspberry Pi Pico and then following the first lesson to get a feel for the workflow. The block interface is extremely easy to use and automatically handles importing the libraries necessary for the blocks on offer.
Certain blocks, such as those found in Sensing, require extra components. For example, the temperature sensor block requires an I2C temperature sensor to be attached. You can purchase these sensors separately, but for a one-off payment of $30, you can purchase a starter kit with a Raspberry Pi Pico and basic components to get you started. The monthly subscription option is $20 and each month a new component is delivered to your door along with new Piper products.
Despite this being a block-based coding platform, Piper Make is really Python. Via the Python tab on the bottom of the screen, we can switch to a view-only mode and see the project’s code, which is useful for coders transitioning from blocks to text.
Piper Make is an impressive way to introduce coding, and the monthly subscription model usefully provides curated components and lessons to support your learning.
This year, multiple companies primarily known for gaming laptops have been branching out into the portable business and productivity sector. It’s a crowded field already, but Razer made quite a splash with its excellent Razer Book 13, which has an elegant chassis, a 16:10 screen, and just a touch of its company’s signature RGB lighting.
In this review I’m looking at the Summit Series, which is MSI’s attempt to enter the same space. The series includes the Summit E line — which includes discrete GPU options and is priced to compete with top dogs like Dell’s XPS 15 — and the Summit B line, which starts at $999 and sits squarely in the midrange market.
I’m discussing the Summit B15 here — I looked at the Summit E15 last fall. The base B15 includes a Core i5-1135G7, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. I tested the more expensive configuration, which costs $1,249 and has a Core i7-1165G7 (one of Intel’s top 11th Gen processors), 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. The system puts solid specs in a nice chassis, but there are a few misses that make it a bit expensive for what it offers.
The most appealing facets of the Summit-Series laptops are their look and build. They have a smooth black finish, an aluminum build, a classy backlit keyboard, and a lustrous new MSI logo on the lid and bottom bezel (no dragon to be found, a first for MSI). MSI claims the B15 has “military-grade durability,” and while that’s a difficult claim to test, there’s very little flex in the B15’s lid and keyboard. And at 3.53 pounds and 0.67 inches thick, it’s light for its size.
All in all, though, the B15 has a bit of a utilitarian look, especially compared to the E15. The latter has some small flourishes that add up to a classier vibe — there are gold accents around the touchpad and edges of the hinge, for example, where the B15 is straight black. One other thing about the B15’s chassis — it’s one of the worst fingerprint magnets I’ve ever seen. Touch the lid one time, and a visible smudge will remain. I used the sides of my fists to reposition the laptop while taking photos and still had to wipe it down between shots.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice-looking and nice-feeling chassis. But there’s nothing exciting about it, and you’ll be wiping it down a lot if you want to maintain a clean look.
Two USB-A and a microSD on the right.
The useful port selection is a highlight, given the thin chassis. It includes a USB-C (supporting Thunderbolt 4, power delivery, DP 1.4a, and USB 4.0), two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, one USB 3.2 Gen 1, one combination audio jack, one microSD reader, and one HDMI jack, in addition to the barrel-plug power port. You also get an RJ45 Ethernet dongle in the box, which is handy. I also appreciate having USB-A ports on both sides.
I also like the keyboard backlighting, which looks quite classy and wouldn’t be out of place in an office setting. The keys have a nice texture and 1.5mm of travel. Three nitpicks to note: First, the Fn key is half-sized, and I found it a pain to hit. Second, there was occasionally some internal rattle inside the deck, which was annoying. Third, the keys are more mushy than they are clicky, and they’re a bit shallower than the best keyboard keys around. Subjectively, I made more errors on this keyboard than I normally do.
Audio jack, HDMI, USB-C, USB-A, and power port on the left.
The display, similarly, is functional with caveats. It covers 98 percent of the sRGB gamut and 76 percent of AdobeRGB, and it maxes out at 258 nits. That’s an acceptable range of color coverage and is functional enough for office use, but it’s too dim to use easily in bright settings. I would expect more from a $1,249 laptop. Additionally, it uses a 16:9 aspect ratio, which is falling out of fashion among premium business laptops for a reason — it’s cramped for multitasking purposes.
The one component I really don’t like is the touchpad. It’s a bit small for a 15-inch laptop, and I sometimes hit the fingerprint sensor (built into the top-left corner) and the top plastic as I was scrolling. It also isn’t the smoothest I’ve ever used, and my fingers would skid across it a fair amount. Both the material and the click feel a bit plasticky compared to what you might find in a nicer model.
The Summit’s performance is good. I didn’t encounter any problems while running it through my usual office work. The integrated Iris Xe graphics aren’t suitable for serious gaming but can run lighter fare if that’s your thing. I could occasionally feel the system chugging under the keyboard while doing more intense tasks, but it never got too loud or too hot. You can swap to the “Silent” cooling profile in MSI’s control panel if fan noise is bothering you.
With that said, two disappointments came out of my testing period. First, the audio from the B15’s two speakers isn’t terrible and works just fine for video calls, but it delivers tinny percussion and practically no bass. I also heard occasional distortion at maximum volume, though I could eliminate it by bumping the sound down a notch. My test unit’s microphone also wasn’t working on Zoom calls, though it worked in other applications — I’ve asked MSI about this and will update this article if they figure it out.
Second disappointment: the battery life. Running the B15 as my daily driver at 200 nits of brightness, I only averaged five hours and 13 minutes. This isn’t entirely unexpected, as it only has a three-cell 52Wh battery — similar to what some 13-inch laptops come with at this point. On this 15-inch laptop, it’s not enough to power you through a full day if your workload is similar to mine (around a dozen Chrome tabs, Slack, occasional Zoom call, that sort of thing). One thing to note is that the B15 comes loaded with Norton, which I’ve seen be a serious battery drain in the past. I ran a battery trial before uninstalling that software and only got four and a half hours. After I nuked the bloatware, the B15 got closer to six.
All told, the Summit Series is a fine first step for MSI. In a market where business-focused laptops commonly cost multiple thousands of dollars, there’s absolutely an audience for something like the B15, which is light, attractive, and functional for just over the $1,000 mark. It looks and feels like a laptop you’d bring to a business meeting, and it has a top Intel processor with cooling that can handle it. Professionals on a budget could certainly do worse.
“Determined to succeed” is the Summit Series motto.
But given the unremarkable audio, battery life, and the other areas of the chassis, I still think that people who are willing to spend a bit more will benefit from doing so, especially folks who can live with less RAM and storage. A better screen, better speakers, and better battery life can make a big difference in the daily experience, and while the B15’s nice chassis, plentiful storage, and business-specific features are worth a premium for some folks, they won’t be everyone’s top priority.
(Pocket-lint) – Oppo is on the move, gaining popularity in its home market where it’s even overtaken Huawei. But it’s not just gaining at home: it’s now undoubtedly a top contender in the world of smartphones, make it the most likely challenger to Apple and Samsung’s dominance.
Oppo’s latest effort, the Find X3 Pro, is seeking to go toe-to-toe with the likes of the Galaxy S21 Ultra and iPhone 12 Pro Max, offering a big and premium flagship experience that, as we’ve found, is stunning in almost every way.
Distinctive design
Glass and metal design; curved glass around rear camera enclosure
Dimensions: 163.6 x 74.0 x 8.26mm / Weight: 193g
IP68 water and dust resistance
For the past few years we’ve seen smartphone makers all use the same tired design and – for 2021 so far – thankfully we’re seeing some new takes. Samsung kicked things off with its odd, but purposeful, camera hump in the S21 series – the one that wrapped around the edge of the phone to form a more deliberate part of the design.
Now the Find X3 Pro delivers what we think is an even more refined finish. Rather than have a separate unit for the camera, Oppo made the camera protrusion part of the same piece of glass as the rest of the phone’s back, forming this completely seamless curve. The company says it took 2000 attempts to get this right, and nearly gave up on the idea, but the effect is really unique.
The result is a lot more subtle and refined than just having a rectangle sticking out of the back fo the phone. It’s also unique, unlike anything else currently on the market. It’s really lovely to look at – and far better looking than the odd digital renders that leaked ahead of the phone’s launch – although the camera arrangement definitely has some iPhone-like vibes.
The rest of the Find X3 Pro’s back is one smooth surface with gradual curves towards the edges, while this blue model features a lovely frosted soft glass finish that’s really nice to the touch. The branding is minimal too, giving this phone a look and feel that’s highly polished and befitting of its high price tag.
It’s slimmer than its predecessor, the Oppo Find X2 Pro, too. In fact, it’s a more than a 1mm thinner than the vegan leather model of old and noticeably lighter too – although there’s no denying the Find X3 Pro is still quite a large phone. It doesn’t have the bulk or weight of the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra though.
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It’s skinny bezels all the way around on the front and nothing cuts into that display panel except for a small selfie camera punched into the top corner.
Aligning itself slightly with recent trends, the curves around the edges of the display are less extreme than we’ve seen in the past, but are very much still there. It seems the trend of ‘waterfall displays’ died before it began. Unsurprising, really, given how easy it is to perform accidental touches on those things.
Another positive is that Oppo has built in some stereo speakers, so if the phone is close enough to your face, you get that left and right channel effect while watching movies and listening to music. The loudspeaker at the bottom is definitely the louder of the two, however, and can be quite easy to cover with a hand by accident – especially during landscape gaming – leaving you with quite a quiet left channel only.
Brilliant display
6.7-inch AMOLED panel, QHD+ resolution (3216 x 1440 pixels)
120Hz refresh rate (with adaptive frame rate)
1300 nits peak brightness
ColorOS 11 (based on Android 11)
Oppo has made something of a name for itself by putting fantastic screens on its phones this past couple of years. For 2021, that’s no different. With a high-resolution and fast refresh rate panel – with adaptive refresh up to 120Hz – the Find X3 Pro delivers on that sharp and smooth experience.
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As if that wasn’t enough, it can display up to a billion colours, is HDR10+ compatible, and has a peak brightness of 1300 nits. The display spec sheet is enough to make any tech nerd’s mouth water.
But it’s not just read it and imagine stuff, it’s great in reality too. It’s bright, it’s sharp, it’s dynamic, and the colours are rich. It’s set to FHD+ resolution by default, but it’s easy enough to change to QHD within the settings and get the full effect of its sharpness (inevitably minus some battery life).
We don’t find that it over-eggs the contrast too much either, so while blacks are really deep and dark, they don’t cause the screen to feature that overly contrasty or ‘black crush’ look we sometimes found with the Find X2 Pro or OnePlus 8.
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Oppo’s ColorOS software is great in a lot of ways too. As Android skins go, it’s worked itself into the position of being one of the cleanest, most fluid and attractive options out there. It doesn’t go crazy with colourful icons and trasitions like Samsung’s One UI, and has attractive rounded corners on the notification bubbles.
It’s come a very long way since it was effectively just a clone of Apple’s iOS back in the day – before Oppo’s launch in Europe (well, relaunch). There are some quirks though. Mainly around notifications.
There doesn’t seem to be a lot of consistency in how notifications are handled. For instance, we could have a little icon showing we have a notification on the always-on display, but then there’s nothing displaying on the Lock Screen. Or there coule be a little red dot on the app icon, but nothing showing up in the status bar or notification shade when we dropped it down.
The lock screen’s inconsistency was particularly unusual. Even when we’d set notifications to wake up the phone we’d see the notification light up the lock screen, but upon picking up the phone to check again, the notification would vanish – despite being unread and still showing as an icon on the always-on display.
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All of these quirks were despite having set notifications to have the ability to show everywhere (status bar/app icon/lock screen), and despite setting our most-used apps to ignore any battery optimisations that might push them to background status or send them to sleep.
Still, there’s some other fun and good points to ColorOS, such as the Relax app to help you get to sleep at night by playing some calming ambient noise. And we like the customisation options available for the interface and the always-on display.
Performance & battery life
Snapdragon 888 processor, 12GB RAM
256GB storage, no microSD expansion
4,500mAh battery capacity
65W Super VOOC 2.0 flash charging
30W Air VOOC wireless charging
5G connectivity
As far as pure power goes, the Find X3 Pro is up there with the best of them, featuring the top-end for 2021 Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series. Here that means the Snapdragon 888 with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage.
Load up your favourite games and the phone handles them without breaking a sweat, keeping up with fast animations and transitions. It doesn’t stutter or lag anywhere, so it really doesn’t matter what you try to do with it, it’ll handle it just fine. It didn’t even get particularly warm, even after a 30 minute gaming session.
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Battery management is similarly efficient. We struggled to drain the full battery in a single day, even at a weekend with three hours of gaming and then some camera testing we still finished the day with 30 per cent left over.
On quiter days with only a little dabbling with news sites, maybe an hour of gaming and some social media, we could easily finish the day with more than 50 per cent left at bed time. So we have no doubt this could easily be a two-day phone for light to moderate users.
Then when the battery does eventually empty, it has Oppo’s trademark flash charging technology in both wired and wireless forms. With the wired adapter, it can full refill in under 40 minutes. With the proprietary AirVOOC tech – which OnePlus also uses in its Wireless Warp Charge stand – you can fill it up pretty quickly with the wireless charger too.
Under the microscope
3-megapixel ‘Micro lens’
Where to start with the camera. Let’s go with the gimmick bit first. Because, actually, it’s rather fun.
In its quad camera system, the Find X3 Pro has a so-called ‘Micro lens’. This gives you the effect of zooming in up to 60x and has its own little LED light ring around it. That’s an essential addition because it’s for shooting really, really close-up shots, allowing you to see detail you just can’t with the naked eye.
Launch the microscope mode in the camera and a curtain goes from being just about able to see a weave pattern to being able to see the individual threads and weaves in the construction. It’s a similar effect with a weaved nylon watch strap or a clothbound book. Hold it to a screen and you’ll see the sub pixels in the panel. It’s pretty cool.
Yes, it’s a gimmick – and with a low 3-megapixel resolution – so it’s not particularly sharp, but it is fun and definitely adds a different edge to your photography.
It also takes some concentration and very steady hands. Holding the camera 1-3mm away from a subject is hard enough without the extreme magnification also making every tiny hand movement or shake exagerated.
It has a macro mode too, which thankfully isn’t handled by this low-resolution sensor. It instead uses the same sensor as the ultra-wide camera – which we’ll come to later.
What that means for photos – examples of which you can see in the gallery above – is that your images retain colour, detail and a natural blur that you generally don’t get with a seperate, low-resolution macro camera. It can get you great results, although its automatic activation can take a little while to get used to.
With the camera set to its default 1x mode it’ll automatically switch to macro mode as soon as you get close to a subject. Sounds great, except it switches to the ultra-wide lens – and because that’s in a physically different position you have to then adjust and re-frame.
Our only real criticism here is that sometimes with the macro mode the background blur causes edges to appear to have a outline glow, which is kind of odd.
As for the other cameras, it’s pretty much all good here. Pictures have detail and a lot of vibrancy and life, especially when shooting in daylight. One of the best things is that both the ultra-wide and primary camera use exactly the same 50-megapixel sensor.
That means – since they make use of the same image processing tech too – that the balance of colour, dynamic range and detail between the two is pretty much identical. It helps photos taken from those two camera appear consistent, which isn’t the case on a lot of other phones.
The phone cameras seem to handle harsh lighting conditions pretty well too, balancing out highlights and shadows nicely. It’s a really reliable system.
One thing we did notice – in both daylight and night modes – is that the camera produces quite a warm colour balance. We like the look, but it isn’t necessarily the neutral and clean finish some will like. Saying that, there is a ‘Pro’ mode which will let you adjust all manner of settings, including the white balance.
There’s also a telephoto zoom camera with 2x optical zoom, 5x hybrid zoom, and up to 20x digital zoom, giving you that extra range you might want to shoot subjects further away.
Images from this camera don’t have that same quality look of the two primary cameras, but they hold up well – up to about 5x anyway. Zoom beyond that and the detail falls off quite rapidly. At 20x the picture looks quite ropey, with details somewhat jagged and blurry.
With night mode activated the phone performs well in low-light conditions too. To our surprise we found that both the primary and ultra-wide cameras perform well in night mode, drawing in a lot of light. Although, with its wider aperture, the primary is noticeably better.
We took the Find X3 Pro out to compare with the iPhone 12 and Google Pixel 5 at night and found that its images were warmer than the other two. It doesn’t seem as heavy-handed with contrast and highlights like the iPhone, but isn’t quite as realistic looking as the Pixel in our view.
Night mode doesn’t just apply to photos either. Tapping an AI enhancing button boosts the video performance at night too. This does effect the optical stabilisation a little negatively, but results in some pretty colour and hyper-realistic scenery, but it’s impressive to see the difference in really low-light situations.
Best smartphones 2021 rated: The top mobile phones available to buy today
By Chris Hall
·
Verdict
When it comes to display, battery life and overall speed, the Oppo Find X3 Pro is undoubtedly one of the best flagships on the market right now – and will likely remain a strong choice throughout 2021.
While the camera does have a habit of warming up pictures’ colour balance and sometimes making them a bit oversaturated, the whole system is immensely versatile and gets great results, regardless of lighting conditions.
The only other negative relates to quirks with notifications from the ColorOS software. Otherwise it’s hard to find much fault with Oppo’s top-tier flagship.
While Oppo might not be a familiar name to everyone, the Find X3 Pro is so fantastic in nearly every way that it’ll put the brand name on the map. It simply stands out from the crowd for all the right reasons.
Also consider
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Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
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Oppo is competiting with the big names, and Samsung’s latest ultra-premium device has a lot going for it. The screen is fab and it has a super camera system. Oh, and that Phantom Black colour is stunning too.
Read our review
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iPhone 12 Pro Max
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It’s Apple’s latest all-singing all-dancing flagship and offers many of the same hardware features. It’s a very polished experience all-round if you’re not up for Google’s Android OS.
(Pocket-lint) – Oppo announced its 2021 smartphone Find X3 series with three models to choose from: Find X3 Pro 5G, Find X3 Neo 5G and the Find X3 Lite 5G.
We’ve compared the specs of all three models to help you figure out what’s different, what’s the same and which model is the right Find for you. See what we did there.
Design
X3 Pro: 163.6 x 74 x 8.26mm, 193g
X3 Neo: 159.9 x 72.5 x 7.99mm, 184g
X3 Lite: 159.1 x 73.4 x 7.9mm, 172/180g (colour dependant)
The Find X3 series differs quite a lot in terms of design. The Find X3 Pro is the most striking of the three devices, featuring a square rear camera housing on a smooth bump, offering something different from the norm.
There’s a curved display on the front with a punch hole camera in the top left corner and overall, it’s a solid, premium looking device. It’s also IP68 rated and the only one of the three Find X3 devices to offer water and dust resistance.
The Find X3 Neo is next in the range in terms of price but it shares a similar design to the Find X3 Lite, with both offering a rectangular rear camera housing with three prominent lenses. The Neo has an additional fourth smaller square lens within the housing, while the Lite has an additional circular smaller lens.
They differ slightly from the front too. The Neo has a curved display like the X3 Pro, while the Lite has a flat display. Both come with a punch hole front camera like the X3 Pro though.
Display
X3 Pro: 6.7-inch, 3216 x 1440 (525ppi), 120Hz, HDR10+, 1300nits
X3 Neo: 6.55-inch, 2400 x 1080 (402ppi), 90Hz, HDR10+, 1100nits
X3 Lite: 6.4-inches, 2400 x 1080 (410ppi), 90Hz, 750nits
The Oppo Find X3 Pro has a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a Quad HD+ resolution, offering a pixel density of 525ppi. It’s said to have a 1 billion colour display though, which the Neo and Lite don’t offer. It also has a 120Hz refresh rate, support for HDR 10+ and a maximum brightness of 1300nits.
The Find X3 Neo has a slightly smaller display than the Find X3 Pro at 6.55-inches, and while it sticks with OLED, it drops the resolution to Full HD+ instead of Quad HD+, offering a pixel density of 402ppi. It also has a 90Hz refresh rate instead of 120Hz, and drops the peak brightness to 1100nits, though it still supports HDR10+.
The Find X3 Lite meanwhile, has the smallest display of the three Find X3 devices at 6.4-inches. The OLED panel has a Full HD+ resolution like the Neo, though a slightly higher pixel density because of the size reduction at 410ppi. It too opts for a 90Hz refresh rate but doesn’t offer HDR10+ support and its peak brightness is 750nits.
All three of the Oppo Find X3 devices have a quad rear camera, but they are all made up of different lenses.
The flagship X3 Pro has a 50-megapixel wide angle camera with an aperture of f/1.8, optical image stabilisation and PDAF. There’s also a 50-megapixel ultra wide-angle camera with an aperture of f/2.2 and PDAF, as well as a 13-megapixel telephoto lens with a f/2.4 aperture, 5x hybrid zoom and 20x optical zoom. The fourth lens is a 3-megapixel Microlens with an f/3.0 aperture and fixed focus.
The X3 Neo has the same 50-megapixel wide angle camera as the X3 Pro and the same telephoto lens. These are paired with a 16-megapixel ultra wide-angle camera with f/2.2 aperture though, and a 2-megapixel Macro camera with f/2.4 aperture.
The X3 Lite meanwhile, has a 64-megapixel main camera with an aperture of f/1.7, an 8-megapixel ultra wide-angle camera with an aperture of f/2.2 and the same macro lens as the X2 Neo. Its fourth sensor is a 2-megapixel Mono camera with an aperture of f/2.4.
All three Find X3 devices have a 32-megapixel front camera with an aperture of f/2.4.
The Oppo Find X3 Pro runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It’s Dual-SIM, with support for eSIM and it comes with a 4500mAh battery that supports 65W fast charging and 30W wireless charging.
The Find X3 Neo runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 platform, with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. It too is Dual-SIM, though doesn’t support eSIM, and it also comes with a 4500mAh battery with 65W fast charging. It doesn’t offer the 30W wireless charging support though.
The Find X3 Lite runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G platform, has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Like the Neo, it is Dual-SIM but doesn’t support eSIM and it comes with a 4300mAh battery, that also supports 65W fast charging.
The Pro and Neo both have dual stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos, while the Lite offers Dolby Atmos but not dual stereo speakers. None of the Find X3 models have microSD for storage expansion. All three are 5G.
Price
All three models in the Find X3 series will be available in the UK from 14 April.
The Oppo Find X3 Pro will start at £1099. The Oppo Find X3 Neo will start at £699. The Oppo Find X3 Lite will start at £379.
Conclusion
The Oppo Find X3 Pro offers a larger, brighter and sharper display with more colours, a more premium and different design, waterproofing, a more capable camera and more advanced hardware compared to the other two X3 models.
The X3 Neo makes a few compromises compared to the X3 Pro, but it is nearly half the price. It drops the display resolution and refresh rate, offers no waterproofing, drops to last year’s processor, doesn’t have support for eSIM or 30W wireless charging and changes up the camera specs slightly.
The X3 Lite meanwhile, makes a few more compromises on top of the Neo, but it is a third of the price of the Pro model, and almost half that of the Neo so the choice between the handsets will come down to what your budget allows and what features are most important to you.
(Pocket-lint) – Oppo announced its 2021 flagship smartphone in the Find X3 Pro, succeeding the excellent Find X2 Pro from 2020. The latest device brings an all new design and some great features, but how does it compare to the Find X2 Pro?
Here’s how the Find X3 Pro stacks up against the Find X2 Pro to help you decide whether to upgrade, or which you should buy.
Design
X3 Pro: 163.6 x 74.0 x 8.26mm, 193g
X2 Pro: 165.2 x 74.4 x 8.8mm, 217g (ceramic), 200g (vegan leather)
The Oppo Find X3 Pro has a striking design. It offers a premium build with a square rear camera housing raised on a smooth bump, for a different look to the norm. There are three large camera lenses, along with a smaller fourth lens.
A full curved display with a punch hole front camera in the top left corner dominates the front and the X3 Pro is IP68 rated for water and dust resistance. It comes in three colour options: Gloss Black, White and Blue.
The Oppo Find X2 Pro still offers a lovely design, but it isn’t quite as different from the average as the X3 Pro. There’s a more subtle rectangular camera housing on the rear in the top left corner, while the front has a curved display and a punch hole camera in the top left like the X3 Pro.
The X2 Pro is also IP68 water and dust resistant and it comes in three colour options too, but they are a little bolder: Black, Orange and Green. The black is ceramic, while the orange and green options are vegan leather.
Display
X3 Pro: 6.7-inch, OLED, 3216 x 1440, 525ppi, 120Hz, 1300nits
X2 Pro: 6.7-inch, OLED, 3168 x 1440, 513ppi, 120Hz, 1200nits
The Oppo Find X3 Pro has a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a Quad HD+ resolution. This results in a pixel density of 525ppi. It offers a 120Hz refresh rate, support for HDR10+ and it has a maximum brightness of 1300nits.
The Oppo Find X2 Pro also has a 6.7-inch OLED display with a Quad HD+ resolution that results in a slightly lower pixel density of 513ppi. It too has a 120Hz refresh rate, support for HDR10+ and it has a maximum brightness of 1200nits.
Both displays offer 1 billion colours and as we mentioned, both are curved and both have a punch hole camera in the top left corner. The X3 Pro has a screen ratio of 92.7 per cent, while the X2 Pro has a screen ratio of 93.1 per cent.
The Oppo Find X3 Pro runs on the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, coupled with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. There is no support for microSD.
Under the hood is a 4500mAh battery, which supports 65W fast charging and 30W wireless charging. It is a Dual-SIM device, with eSIM supported.
The Oppo Find X2 Pro meanwhile, runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor, coupled with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. It doesn’t support microSD either.
There are two 2130mAh batteries running the X2 Pro for a combined total of 4260mAh, with 65W fast charging supported. There is no wireless charging support on the Find X2 Pro and it is a single SIM device.
Camera
X3 Pro: Quad rear camera (wide angle, ultra wide angle, telephoto, Microlens), 32MP front
X2 Pro: Triple rear camera (wide angle, ultra wide angle, telephoto), 32MP front
The Oppo Find X3 Pro comes with a quad camera on the rear. This is made up of a 50-megapixel wide angle sensor (f/1.8, OIS, PDAF), a 50-megapixel ultra wide-angle sensor (f/2.2, PDAF), a 13-megapixel telephoto camera (f/2.4, 5x hybrid, 20x optical) and a 3-megapixel Microlens (f/3.0).
The Oppo Find X2 Pro has a triple rear camera. This is comprised of a 48-megapixel wide angle sensor (f/1.7, PDAF), a 48-megapixel ultra wide angle sensor (f/2.2) and a 13-megapixel periscope telephoto sensor (f/3.0, 10x hybrid).
There is a 32-megapixel front camera on board both devices. It’s worth mentioning that more megapixels, or more sensors doesn’t always mean better. You can read our separate reviews on the X3 Pro and the X2 Pro to see how their cameras perform.
Price
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The Oppo Find X3 Pro will be available in the UK from 14 April, starting at £1099.
The Oppo Find X2 Pro costs £999.
Conclusion
The Oppo Find X2 Pro is an excellent device, one of the best of 2020, and the Oppo Find X3 Pro betters it in a couple of areas, as you would expect from a succeeding device.
The Find X3 Pro has a more interesting and striking design, a more powerful processor, an interesting camera make up, wireless charging, Dual SIM, a slightly larger battery and a brighter display.
That said, the Find X2 Pro has double the storage of the X3 Pro, more exciting finish options like leather, and it still offers the same large display as the X3 Pro, with an almost identical resolution and refresh rate.
The X2 Pro is also likely to go down in price when the X3 Pro becomes available so it might be worth considering, depending on which features are most important to you.
Two versions of the OnePlus 9 flagship smartphone have been all but confirmed with the leak of a full set of press renders. The pictures purport to show a more premium OnePlus 9 Pro, with what appears to be a gently curved 6.7in screen, and a OnePlus 9 with a flat 6.5in display.
The leak comes courtesy of German website WinFuture and also confirms that both of these smartphone models come with Hasselblad camera arrays. They’re set to be available in three colours each, but there is no sign of the predicted third, cheaper OnePlus 9R device.
Sadly, the pictures don’t show the bottom or top edge of the phones but, judging by recent OnePlus mobiles, it’s not likely we’d find a 3.5mm headphone socket.
OnePlus 9: release date, price, leaks, and all of the news
Previous rumours have marked these slim bezel mobiles down as either Full HD+ or QHD AMOLED displays, with 120Hz refresh rates for better rendering of fast moving images. There’s no intel on HDR support of any kind but hopes are high given that the OnePlus 8 Pro is HDR10+-enabled.
What is clear in the photos is that, as predicted, the OnePlus 9 comes with a triple camera and the OnePlus 9 Pro with a quad set-up, with both including an ultrawide lens with a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 sensor, as confirmed on Twitter by OnePlus CEO, Pete Lau.
(Image credit: winfuture.de)
This leak comes approximately two weeks ahead of the 23rd March launch date for the OnePlus 9 range. Both phones are expected to be 5G-enabled as standard and feature 45W fast charging and reverse wireless charging too.
There are no prices available as yet but the predicated Astral Black, Arctic Sky, and Winter Mist (OnePlus 9) and Forest Green, Morning Mist and Stellar Black (OnePlus 9 Pro) colour options now appear to be confirmed.
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We have a very clear picture of what the upcoming OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro will look like thanks to WinFuture — the site has published a whole bunch of official press renders of the upcoming phones well ahead of the March 23rd launch. We got our first official look at the upcoming flagship in a teaser video from OnePlus earlier this week, but this latest leak features both regular and Pro models from multiple angles in a variety of colors.
These renders align with what OnePlus has already shared, and they also resemble an alleged prototype device that was leaked late last year. It appears that the OnePlus 9 Pro will come with a slightly curved 6.7-inch display, and the OnePlus 9 will feature a flat 6.5-inch screen. That’s about the extent of the spec details in this leak; WinFuture speculates that the 9 may use a plastic chassis rather than metal, but it’s hard to say for sure based on these images.
What is evident is the Hasselblad branding on both devices’ camera bumps, thanks to a new partnership. Both phones include a Sony IMX789 sensor in the main camera, and as confirmed by OnePlus CEO Pete Lau on Twitter, an ultrawide camera will be included with a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 sensor. That’s an unusually high resolution count for an ultrawide, but as Lau demonstrates with some side-by-side images, those extra pixels might allow for more aggressive distortion correction and cropping.
Outside of camera lenses, these renderings show the range of color options we can likely expect from the 9 and 9 Pro. The 9 Pro is shown in sturdy black, olive green, and metallic silver. The 9 looks to be offered in black, with more laid-back blue and purple options available, too.
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