Sony is announcing two new phones today, the Xperia 1 III and the Xperia 5 III. Both are the latest in Sony’s campaign to redefine the Xperia brand as a kind of sibling to its well-regarded Alpha digital cameras. As such, the camera system is once again the main focus, and Sony specifically is touting the “world’s first smartphone with a variable telephoto lens paired with a Dual PD sensor” and improvements to its already fast and accurate autofocus system.
Pricing was not announced, but they should both be available in the US “this summer.”
Each phone has the basic specs you’d expect on a top-flight Android phone: three cameras on the rear, a Snapdragon 888 processor, and support for 5G. Actually, the 5G support is worth noting because these Xperia phones will be able to work on 5G networks in the US, something weirdly lacking on the last models. However, they’ll only work on the regular sub-6 networks on Verizon and T-Mobile, without support for AT&T’s 5G network. As is fairly usual for Sony, these will be sold directly rather than via carriers.
The phone also keep the Xperia design language Sony landed on with the original Xperia 1. They’re tall and narrow, with lots of glossy black and small curves on all the angles, giving them the most monolithic look of a smartphone today. I think they look great, but I’m also aware that they’re likely to cost a lot of money when Sony gets around to announcing the price.
In order to establish the Xperia brand, Sony has also been pushing a lot of other nice specs that are relatively hard to come by on other Android phones. The Xperia 1 III has a 4K OLED screen that now supports a fast (though locked) 120Hz refresh rate. There are dual speakers that are 40 percent louder and will work with Sony’s 360 Reality Audio format.
Sony is also enabling a special mode for the USB-C port that allows you to use a special cable to take an HD-resolution video signal from an SLR camera so you can use it as a monitor – much like the Xperia Pro can do with HDMI. That could also make them an interesting option for live streaming.
They’ll come in both dual-SIM and SIM+microSD variants. And there’s even a good ol’ headphone jack and a shutter button.
The Sony Xperia 1 III
Sony Xperia 1 III
Sony Xperia 1 III
Sony Xperia 1 III
Sony Xperia 1 III
Sony Xperia 1 III
Sony Xperia 1 III
Sony Xperia 1 III
Sony Xperia 1 III
Sony Xperia 1 III
Sony Xperia 1 III
Sony Xperia 1 III
Sony Xperia 1 III
Sony Xperia 1 III
There’s also the more standard fare, like wireless charging and a 4,500mAh battery. When plugged in and gaming the phones can redirect power away from the battery to reduce heat. Both phones will ship with Android 11, but as of right now there’s no clear commitment to future software updates.
If you step down from the Xperia 1 III to the Xperia 5 III, you’ll get a very similar set of specs with a few exceptions. It’ll be smaller, of course. The larger phone has a 6.5-inch 21:9 display while the 5 has a 6.1-inch 21:9 display — at 1080p resolution instead of 4K. But it still has support for the periscope-style variable lens.
But again, the big push is on the cameras and here Sony has done quite a bit to improve the hardware. Sony is using three 12-megapixel sensors on the back, and both the main and telephoto lenses support OIS. (The Xperia 1 III also gets a time-of-flight sensor.)
Sony says it has lenses that are the equivalent to 16mm (f/2.2 ultrawide), 24mm (f/1.7 wide), and 70mm (f/2.3 telephoto), but that the telephoto can also reach to an f/2.8 105mm equivalent. That extra telephoto zoom comes thanks to a folded periscope lens design, and the Xperia is physically moving the lens elements to get different focal lengths.
The idea is that photographers will mostly stick to those focal lengths, but should they want to zoom further or use a zoom level in between the Xperia phones will utilize digital zoom.
Sony Xperia 5 III
Sony Xperia 5 III
Sony Xperia 5 III
Sony Xperia 5 III
Sony Xperia 5 III
Sony Xperia 5 III
Beyond the fancy hardware, Sony has iterated on its software. Unlike Google, Apple, and even Samsung, Sony is putting its emphasis on technical features rather than computational photography. It is claiming some improved low-light performance in some situations, but really the main emphasis is on features like autofocus and shooting speed.
These phones can take photos at up to 20fps with focus/exposure readings happening at 60fps. They also support 120FPS 4K in HDR. There’s still eye-tracking autofocus, but this year there’s real-time tracking for that autofocus. In a demo, Sony showed a subject turning around and when their eye was visible again, the camera adjusted.
Sony is finally integrating its pro camera app with the main camera app. There’s the “basic” mode like any smartphone, but it’s now quicker to get to the pro mode. Sony’s pro mode really is angled towards people who use Sony’s cameras, too: the interface is very similar.
On paper, all of this sounds really great. We’ll need to review them to see if these specs can translate to great experiences. Previous Sony Xperia phones have also had great camera hardware specs, but for taking quick shots they have often missed the mark. Treating a smartphone camera as a pro SLR-style camera could limit their appeal.
Sony’s tack with the Xperia line is to pack them to the gills with specs and features that will appeal to photographers and even videographers (there’s an excellent workflow-based video app included). In reality, however, Sony has struggled mightily to gain any measurable marketshare in the US. A lot of that has come down to higher prices than is the norm for even flagship Android phones, but some of it also comes down to availability. Without carrier partnerships or massive marketing budgets, these Xperia phones are more likely to appeal to camera enthusiasts than mainstream Android buyers.
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.
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) – 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).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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
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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.
HMD is announcing six new midrange devices today led by the Nokia X20, a midrange handset priced starting at €349 / £299.99 (around $415). It will release in “select markets globally” such as the UK starting next month, but we’re still waiting on HMD to confirm exact US pricing and availability. I’ve been using the phone running near-final software over the past week, which has been enough to get some rough first impressions about the device.
To be frank, the Nokia X20 isn’t the most exciting device. But HMD’s promises about ongoing software and hardware support for the phone make it compelling.
The Nokia X20 is specced like a device at this price point is expected to be. It’s powered by a modest Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 processor paired with either 6 or 8GB of RAM (my device has 6GB), 128GB of expandable storage, and a 4,470mAh battery. It’s got a 6.67-inch, 1080p 60Hz display with a small hole-punch notch and four rear cameras including an ultrawide, macro, and depth sensor.
There’s a side-mounted fingerprint sensor on the right of the device.
The company says it’ll provide three years of monthly security updates for the X20 after launch, three years of OS updates, and to ensure the hardware doesn’t give up the ghost before software support ends, it’s also extending its normal manufacturer’s warranty by an extra year. “In the majority of places,” a company spokesperson says, “that extends it to three years.” If all goes to plan, the Nokia X20 should still be under warranty when it receives its Android 14 update.
In the past, HMD has generally been good at updating its phones over time, though ComputerWorld’sAndroid 11 upgrade tracker reports that it’s been more sluggish lately. Recently, HMD updated its Nokia 8.1 and Nokia 3.2, which released in 2018 and 2019, to Android 11 as part of an upgrade roadmap that includes over a dozen of its devices.
Three years of security updates is a little less than the four years Samsung recently said it would offer for its Galaxy devices, but Samsung’s warranty varies between one and two years depending on whether you’re in the US or UK. Apple recently updated its 2015 iPhone 6S to iOS 14 (five years after its release), but its standard limited warranty also typically only covers new phones for between one and two years.
Along with aiming for three years of use, HMD has also made a couple of other decisions with the Nokia X20 in the name of being eco-friendly. First, in the EU it’s joining Apple and others by not including a power brick in the box, just a USB-C cable. What you do get in the box is a 100 percent compostable phone case. It’s a neat idea producing a case that won’t end up in a landfill, but the accessory itself is frustrating to use. The portion of the case that covers the phone’s volume rocker just isn’t flexible enough, making it hard to press the side of the button that I wanted.
The speed and performance of the phone was generally fine, but I saw the occasional hitch while switching quickly between apps, which made me question how this phone will perform after three years of OS updates. Otherwise, I didn’t have any problems with performance in everyday usage. The X20 supports Sub-6GHz 5G, which won’t matter much to you now but could in three years’ time.
You can find a selection of photo samples below, but in my time with the phone I was underwhelmed by the Nokia X20’s camera performance. The phone has a total of four rear cameras: a 64-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel ultrawide, a 2-megapixel depth sensor, and a 2-megapixel macro.
HMD Nokia X20, macro camera.
Ultrawide camera.
Performance in daylight is broadly fine, but when things are more dimly lit you quickly start to lose detail and definition. Neither the ultrawide camera nor the macro camera have the resolution to take decent photographs, and the 2-megapixel macro camera in particular is a pointless and puzzling inclusion.
HMD’s Nokia X20 can’t make any big claims about being a flagship hit, but its modest price tag and HMD’s promises about continued support could make it a safe, dependable smartphone if that’s what you’re after.
HMD is announcing six new midrange Nokia phones today, ranging in price from €75 (around $90) up to €349 (around $415). At the top, there’s the X-series, consisting of the X10 and X20, followed by the G-series G10 and G20, and then finally, there’s the entry-level C10 and C20 from the C-series.
HMD’s pitch for these phones is the length of time it’s offering support, with even the cheapest C-series phones due to receive two years of quarterly security updates. Meanwhile, G-series phones will receive two years of Android OS updates and three years of monthly security updates. Finally, the X-series gets three years of OS updates, three years of monthly security updates, and an extended warranty that HMD says should mean it’s covered for three years in many of its release markets.
The HMD Nokia X20.Image: HMD
At the top of the six-phone lineup is the X20, which HMD says will be priced at the equivalent of €349 (£299.99, around $415) around the world. It’s got a 6.67-inch 1080p display, with a hole-punch cutout in the top-center for its 32-megapixel selfie camera, while on the back, you’ll find a circular camera bump containing four cameras: a 64-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel ultrawide, a 2-megapixel depth camera, and a 2-megapixel macro.
Internally, the X20 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 and 4,470mAh battery, with either 6 or 8GB of RAM and 128GB of expandable storage. It runs Android 11 out of the box and includes three years of OS updates that HMD says will take it through to Android 14. Security is handled by a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, and there’s also a dedicated Google Assistant button on the left. I’ve been using the Nokia X20 for the past week, and you can read my first-hand impressions here.
The HMD Nokia X10.Image: HMD
A step down from the X20 is the Nokia X10 at €309 (£249.99, around $367). It shares a lot of the DNA of its older sibling. It’s also running on a Snapdragon 480, with a 4,470mAh battery and has a 6.67-inch 1080p display. But it’s available with slightly lower specs: a minimum of 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, and its main camera and selfie camera at lower resolutions of 48-megapixels and 8-megapixels, respectively.
Next is the G-series, which is led by the Nokia G20 at €159 (£129.99, around $189). Its screen is a little smaller at 6.5 inches and has a lower resolution of 720p. Internally, it’s using a MediaTek G35 processor with a 5,050mAh battery, upwards of 4GB of RAM, and up to 128GB of expandable storage. You still get four rear cameras, though: a 48-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel ultrawide, a 2-megapixel macro, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. Around front, there’s a notch containing an 8-megapixel camera.
The G20 is joined by the Nokia G10 at €139 (£109.99, around $165). Its display and battery have the same specs as the G20, but it’s got a less powerful MediaTek G25 processor, with 3 or 4GB of RAM and 32 or 64GB of expandable storage. Around back, you only get three cameras: a 13-megapixel main camera, a 2-megapixel macro, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. The Nokia G10 has an 8-megapixel selfie camera.
Right at the bottom of the newly revamped lineup is the C-series, which HMD says is designed for people who would previously have bought non-smart feature phones. Both the Nokia C20 at €89 (£79, around $105) and the Nokia C10 at €75 (around $90) have 6.5-inch 720p displays, a single rear 5-megapixel camera, a 5-megapixel selfie camera, and are running Google’s lightweight Go edition of Android 11. The C20 has a Unisoc SC9863a processor, while the C10 has a Unisoc SC7331e processor. Both are available with 1 or 2GB of RAM, 16 or 32GB of expandable storage, and removable 3,000mAh batteries that charge over Micro USB.
The naming schemes may be different than previous Nokia lines, but with its six new devices, HMD is focusing on its traditional strengths: affordable phones with lengthy support periods. We’re still waiting for HMD to confirm exact US pricing and availability for the handsets, but the G10 and C20 will be available in “select markets” starting later this month, the X20 and G20 will launch in May, and the X10 and C10 will launch in June.
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.
Google has started rolling out the April Android security update for Pixel phones, and it looks like it’s brought some performance improvements to the most recent devices. Google says the update includes “performance optimizations for certain graphics-intensive apps and games” on the Pixel 5 and 4A 5G, and, as noted by XDA Developers, some testers are noticing substantially improved GPU performance on the Pixel 5.
Anandtech previously found that the Pixel 5 turned in much worse GPU results than other phones using the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chip. Now, the site’s reviewer Andrei Frumusanu says that performance on his Pixel 5 has been “essentially doubled” from the review’s initial figures and is now “in line or better than other 765G phones.” Benchmarks don’t necessarily translate into real-world results, of course, but combined with Google’s reference to optimizations for graphics-intensive apps, it does sound like GPU performance should be better with the new release.
In addition, Google says that the Pixel 5 and 4A 5G should receive “improvements to camera quality” in some third-party apps. There’s also a fix for a startup freezing bug on Pixel 4 and 5 devices, as well as one for missing home grid settings on the Pixel 3 and 4 generations of phones.
If you had to choose: would you choose a sharper screen on your smartphone, or a smoother-scrolling one? This year, budget phone buyers may be asking themselves that question: the OnePlus Nord N100, Moto G50, and the new Samsung Galaxy F12 and M12 all refresh their screens 90 times per second (which is good!) but with a lower-than-optimal screen resolution of 720p. That’s the same resolution as a Galaxy Nexus from 2011.
Compared to your average iPhone, that’s a paltry number of pixels. Since the iPhone 4 debuted in 2010, every Apple handset has offered at least 326 pixels per inch (PPI), enough so you can’t make out those individual pixels with the naked eye at typical viewing distances. (The marketing term is “retina display.”) Here, the PPI would be more like 270.
And yet Apple has never offered an iPhone with a high-refresh-rate screen, which we’ve often found to be one of the most desirable features on high-end and mid-range smartphones since it makes everything you do (not just games) feel much smoother. (Apple might make it happen later this year.)
But the Galaxy F12 and M12, the OnePlus and Moto all show that high-refresh doesn’t need to be a high-end feature at all, or even a $300 one like we recently saw with the OnePlus Nord N10 5G. The Samsung phones in particular cost under $150 each, as long as you’re willing to sacrifice pixels to get there.
In other ways, the 9,999-rupee handsets seem like they might be decent picks too: they’re based on the same basic platform as the Galaxy A12 and its four-camera array, but with a larger 6,000mAh battery that dwarfs many others on the market. You get a sidemounted fingerprint sensor. Just note while its 8nm Exynos 850 processor might sound shiny and new, it’s not comparable with Qualcomm’s recent 800-series Snapdragon chips. It’s closer to 2019’s Snapdragon 665 in performance.
It’s not clear whether either of these phones will come to the US quite yet. The OnePlus Nord N100 already has, and the G50 launched in Europe late last month.
Google’s next Pixel flagship — the presumably named “Pixel 6” — will reportedly feature a Google-designed GS101 “Whitechapel” SoC (system on a chip), a first for the company, as reported by 9to5Google and XDA-Developers.
9to5Google’s report claims Google is working on two phones that will feature the Arm-based GS101 — presumed to be a flagship device to succeed last year’s Pixel 5 and a Pixel 4A 5G follow-up.
XDA’s report, meanwhile, goes into further detail on the new SoC, claiming the GS101 chips will feature a “three cluster setup with a TPU (Tensor Processing Unit)” for machine learning applications. (For reference, Qualcomm’s own flagship Snapdragon 888 uses Arm’s Cortex-X1 / Cortex-A78 / Cortex-A55 as a triple cluster CPU setup.) Additionally, the new SoC may feature an integrated security chip, similar to the Titan M.
The idea of Google making a custom TPU or security chip isn’t new: Google has previously made TPUs for servers and the Pixel 4’s Neural Core, along with the discrete Titan M chip on its current phones. But the custom-designed GS101 would presumably allow the company to integrate those features on a deeper level.
Rumors of the Whitechapel chips have circulated since last year when Axios reported that Google was looking to develop its own in-house chips for use in Pixel and Chromebook devices. That report claimed the company would be optimizing its chip for Google’s machine learning technology — something the XDA report corroborates. The GS101 chip for the 2021 Pixel lineup would be the first fruits of the Whitechapel project, although Axios’ original report noted that Chromebook chips weren’t expected until further in the future.
9to5Google’s report also includes references to a “Slider” codename tied to the new device, which it says is also connected to Samsung’s Exynos SoCs (which the company uses on Galaxy smartphone devices outside the US). Samsung’s involvement on the manufacturing side — which Axios also reported last year — would make sense, as one of the largest manufacturers of smartphone semiconductors.
The idea of Google-designed chips is a compelling one. Apple has long touted its tightly integrated software and hardware stack as a key part of how its iPhones, iPads, and now, its Mac computers are able to run so well — a key part of which is the company’s custom-designed A-series and M-series chips.
Google — and almost every other Android manufacturer, save Samsung and Huawei — doesn’t have that advantage. It instead relies on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips, which dominate the Android marketplace in the US. Oftentimes, an Android device lives or dies on how well its manufacturer is able to synergize Qualcomm’s chips, Google’s software, and its own hardware designs. Similarly, the fact that, at their core, almost every Android device runs on the same chipset and the same software makes it difficult for any one model to stand out.
But a Google-designed GS101 chip brings a tantalizing promise: that Google could bring an Apple-like boost in speed, performance, and battery life to Android (and specifically, its Pixel lineup) with a similar level of control over the hardware design, software, and processor. It’s an intriguing idea — assuming Google can pull it off.
That said, building a smartphone processor at the level of Apple or Qualcomm isn’t easy. While both companies use Arm as a common base, they’ve spent years refining those basic building blocks with customizations to suit their needs. Apple has been using custom designs in its processors since the 2012’s A6 design (as opposed to previous models that used licensed CPU designs from Arm itself). Qualcomm takes a similar approach in its modern processors, using custom Kryo cores that are semi-customized versions of Arm’s base Cortex designs.
It might take Google a few generations to fine-tune its Pixel chips. But if Google can actually deliver on a proper customized chip that’s built from the ground up to be specifically designed for Android’s software and the Pixel’s hardware, it could be the key to transforming the Pixel line from a sideshow to a true smartphone powerhouse.
Sony has, in a very low-key way, just announced that its upcoming Xperia event will be on April 14th (via Droid Life). The news comes from the Xperia YouTube channel’s banner, where it lays out that there will be a new product announcement happening at 4:30PM Japan Standard Time — that’s 3:30AM EST, or 12:30AM PT (if you feel like burning the midnight oil to watch live).
The banner gives no real hints as to what will be announced, but there have been a few rumors floating around — one about a new flagship, the Xperia 1 III, and one about the return of the Xperia Compact, which could end up being an Android answer to the iPhone Mini.
Image: Sony
It’s worth noting that there are other rumors that mention new versions of the Xperia 5 and 10, leaving out the Compact entirely. But pretty much every rumor indicates that we’ll see a new entry in the flagship Xperia 1 line. Leaks indicate that the 1 III will have a periscope zoom lens, and Techradar recently published what could be the full specs. It’s mostly what’s expected from a flagship Android phone: Snapdragon 888, 12GB of memory, 5G, and a 4K 120Hz screen.
It’s probably a safe bet that if there’s only one phone being announced (which is hinted at by the singular “product” in the image from Sony), the Xperia 1 III would be it — the 1 line seems to be on a yearly cycle. The Compact is much more of a wildcard — the last time Sony released a “Compact” branded phone was in 2018, though it does use the word to market the Xperia 5 II, with its 6.1-inch screen, which is around the same size as an iPhone 12 Pro or Galaxy S21. The rumors for a 2021 version of the Compact say that it’ll have a 5.5-inch display, which is only a tiny bit bigger than the screen on an iPhone Mini.
Both potential phones are rumored to come with headphone jacks. As for what we’ll actually see on the day, only time will tell — but thankfully there’s not much of it left.
The Cat S62 Pro — and that’s Cat as in Caterpillar, the construction company — is now available in the US. The rugged smartphone is the latest device to feature Cat branding (it’s technically a product of licensee Bullitt Group) and builds on its predecessors’ integrated thermal camera capabilities. It’s designed with construction and industrial workers in mind, and at $699, it’s a more attractively priced follow up to 2018’s S61, which debuted in the US at $899.
Introduced last summer for sale in the UK, the S62 Pro features solid (if not super competitive) phone specs, which isn’t guaranteed in the rugged phone class. You’ll get a 5.7-inch 1080p display, a Snapdragon 660 processor with 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 4,000mAh battery. But unlike mainstream midrange devices launching now, you won’t get 5G connectivity or Android 11 pre-installed; it ships with Android 10 and Cat says it will provide an update to 11. While the S62 Pro is significantly less expensive than its predecessor, it no longer offers the air quality and distance measurement sensors, and uses a slightly smaller battery (compared to 4,500mAh).
Photo: Cat Phones
That’s the boring stuff. The exciting bits that the S62 Pro has to offer include its marquee feature: a built-in Flir thermal imaging camera with four times as many thermal pixels as its predecessor. The phone offers new modes that allow users to adjust and blend overlaid information from the standard 12-megapixel camera, providing more context to the thermal image. There’s also an option to set an alarm that will notify you when a certain temperature level is detected.
As for its rugged credentials, the S62 Pro is rated at IP68 and IP69: the first indicates that it’s safe to submerge in 1.5 meters of water for up to 30 minutes, the second that it can withstand high pressure spray. The company says it’s been tested against even harsher conditions than this, but is warrantied to the level of those official IP ratings.
The S62 is built to withstand harsh work environments.Photo: Cat Phones
It can withstand drops of up to six feet onto a steel surface, and its Gorilla Glass 6 screen is bolstered by an additional factory-fitted screen protector. The S62 Pro also meets requirements of the MIL-STD-810 military standard, including vibration and thermal shock resistance.
The S62 Pro isn’t currently available through any of the major US carriers, but is being offered unlocked directly from Cat phones and third parties including Amazon and Home Depot.
(Pocket-lint) – Huawei’s second generation of its foldable smartphone comes in the form of the Mate X2, while Xiaomi’s foldable phone is called the Mi Mix Fold.
Both follow a similar design to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold series after Huawei changed the format of the folding device from its predecessor – the Mate X and Xs- moving from a foldable display on the outside, to an inward folding display.
If you’re in the market for a vertically folding smartphone, here is how the Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold, Huawei Mate X2 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 compare.
Design
Mi Mix Fold: 173.3 x 133.4 x 7.6mm unfolded / 173.3 x 69.8mm x 17.2mm folded / 317g (Black) 332g (ceramic)
Mate X2: 161.8 x 145.8 x 4.4-8.2mm unfolded / 161.8 x 74.6 x 13.6-14.7mm folded / 295g
Z Fold 2: 159.2 x 128.2 x 6.9mm unfolded / 159.2 x 68 x 16.8mm folded / 282g
The Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold has a vertical folding display in a book-style design, like the Huawei Mate X2 and Galaxy Z Fold 2. It comes with a glass or special edition ceramic back and there is a prominent camera housing in the top left corner. There’s a metal frame, large display and a single punch hole camera in the top right corner when folded.
When unfolded, the Mi Mix Fold has an 8.01-inch display and a precision based hinge. There is a small gap when folded though, like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2. It comes in Black or Special Edition Ceramic finishes.
The Huawei Mate X2 meanwhile, also features a vertical folding display. There’s a glass rear with a prominent rectangular camera housing in the top left corner, a metal frame and a full display with dual cut-out cameras on the front when folded.
When unfolded, the Mate X2 has a large 8-inch screen. The hinge is multi-dimensional, creating a water dropped-shaped cavity for the display when the phone is folded, allowing for no gap at all when shut, resulting in a different design to the Mi Mix Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 2. There’s also a wedge-like design that is just 4.4mm at the slimmest point. It comes in White, Black, Crystal Blue and Crystal Pink colours.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 has a similar form to the Huawei Mate X2 and Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold in that it offers a vertical fold in a book-style design. It too has a glass rear, with a rectangular camera housing in the top left corner, as well as a metal frame. Like the Mi Mix Fold, it has a single, punch hole camera on the front when folded but it is centralised rather than positioned to the right.
When unfolded, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 has a slightly smaller 7.6-inch display than the Huawei Mate X2 and Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold. It’s hinge allows for multiple viewing angles but there is a slight gap at the fold of the device when folded. It comes in Mystic Bronze and Mystic Black colours.
The Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold has a 6.5-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 2520 x 840 resolution and a pixel density of 409ppi on the front when folded. It has a 27:9 screen ratio and a 90Hz refresh rate. There’s a punch hole camera in the top right, and the bezels are slightly larger than the Huawei and Samsung alternatives.
When unfolded, the Mi Mix Fold has a 8.01-inch display WQHD+ resolution, 1 billion colours and a 4:3 aspect ratio. It has a 60Hz refresh rate.
The Huawei Mate X2 has a 6.45-inch OLED display with resolution of 2700 x 1160 and a pixel density of 456ppi on the front when folded, making it fractionally smaller than the Mi Mix Fold, though with slimmer bezels. It features a 21:9 aspect ratio and a 90Hz refresh rate. As mentioned above, the X2 has dual punch-hole front cameras in the top left of the display.
When unfolded, the Mate X2 has an 8-inch OLED display with a 2480 x 2200 resolution, which results in a pixel density of 413ppi. The unfolded display has a ratio of 8:7.1. It too has a 90Hz refresh rate.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 has a 6.23-inch external display, making it slightly smaller than the Mate X2 and Mi Mix Fold. It too is an AMOLED panel and it offers a resolution of 2260 x 816 pixels and an aspect ratio of 25:9.
When unfolded, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 has an internal display of 7.6-inches – which is the smallest of the three devices being compared here. It’s Dynamic AMOLED and it has a 2208 x 1768 pixel resolution, resulting in a pixel density of 372ppi. It also has a 120Hz refresh rate and supports HDR10+.
Cameras
Mi Mix Fold: Triple rear camera (108MP + Liquid Lens 8MP + 13MP), 20MP front
Mate X2: Quad rear camera (50MP+16MP+12MP+8MP), 16MP front
Z Fold 2: Triple rear (12MP+12MP+12MP), 10MP front
The Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold has three lenses on its rear, with a 108-megapixel main sensor with 2.1µm pixels and a 7P lens, along with a 13-megapixel ultra wide angle lens with a 123-degree field of view.
There is also an 8-megapixel liquid lens on the rear that uses the principle of human eye bionics and a special chip created by Xiaomi to change the radius of curvature of the spherical surface. It allows the one lens to cover two functions, enabling 3x optical zoom, up to 30x digital and a minimum focus distance of 3cm. The front camera on the Mix Mix Fold is a 20-megapixel snapper.
The Huawei Mate X2 has a quad camera on the rear, which features Leica technology, like Huawei’s other flagship smartphones. The camera setup includes a 50-megapixel main sensor, 16-megapixel ultra-wide angle sensor, 12-megapixel telephoto sensor, and an 8-megapixel SuperZoom sensor.
The main sensor has a f/1.9 aperture and OIS, the Ultra-wide sensor has a f/2.2 aperture, the telephoto sensor has a f/2.4 aperture and OIS with 3x optical zoom, while the SuperZoom sensor has a f/4.4 aperture, OIS and 10x optical zoom. The front camera is 16-megapixels wide angle with a f/2.2 aperture.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 has a triple rear camera, comprised of a 12-megapixel main camera, 12-megapixel telephoto sensor and 12-megapixel Ultra-wide sensor.
The main camera has an f/1.6 aperture, dual pixel phase-detection autofocus and OIS, the telephoto lens has an aperture of f/2.4 and OIS and the ultra-wide sensor has an aperture of f/2.2. There is also a 10-megapixel front camera.
The Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 chipset. It’s a 5G handset and it comes with 12GB of RAM and either 256GB or 512GB of storage. The Special Edition Ceramic model has 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage though.
There’s a 5020mAh battery under its hood that supports Xiaomi’s 67W fast charging. The software is MIUI 12, based on Android 10 and there features like a one click option to close down things like GPS for security, as well as a Desktop Mode with a three-finger swipe.
The Huawei Mate X2 runs on Huawei’s own 5nm Kirin 9000 platform. It too is a 5G device. It is supported by 8GB of RAM and it comes in 256GB and 512GB storage variants.
It has a 4500mAh battery under the hood that supports Huawei’s 25W SuperCharge. Huawei’s own Harmony OS can be installed over the company’s usual EMUI interface running on top of Android.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 Plus chipset, supported by 12GB of RAM and it comes in 256GB and 512GB storage options.
There’s a 4500mAh battery running the Fold 2, which supports 25W wired charging, 11W wireless charging and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. It runs Android with Samsung’s One UI over the top and there are some great multi-tasking features that make great use of the screen when unfolded.
Price
Mi Mix Fold: Equivalent of £1105/$1550, China
Mate X2: Equivalent of £1985/$2785, China
Z Fold 2: £1799, $1999
The Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold costs RMB 9999, 10,999 or 12,999, starting at the equivalent of $1550 or £1105. It will be available in China from 15 April.
The Huawei Mate X2 costs RMB 17,999 or 18,999, starting at the equivalent of $2785 or £1985. It is available in China only for now.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 costs £1799 in the UK and $1999 in the US.
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Conclusion
The Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold and Huawei Mate X2 is only available in the Chinese market at the moment but while the Mate X2 is a little more expensive than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2, the M Mix Fold is cheaper.
On a spec-by-spec comparison, these three devices are similar and while the Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold tips the scales in several areas, the other two devices have their fair share of wins too.
The Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold has larger displays both interior and exterior than both the Huawei and Samsung. It also offers the most advanced Qualcomm chipset, the largest battery of the three devices, the fastest wired charging capabilities and it has an interesting camera setup with its liquid lens.
The Mate X2 arguably has a more streamlined design, an extra camera on the rear and a wide-angle front camera. It also has only fractionally smaller displays than the Mi Mix Fold.
The Galaxy Z Fold 2 has more RAM than the Mate X2 but the same as the Mi Mix Fold. It also has a higher refresh rate on the internal display though and it offers a more user-friendly software experience, as well as supporting Google services – the latter of which the Mate X2 does not offer. The Z Fold 2 has less cameras than Huawei but the triple rear camera does offer great results.
The Samsung is more widely available than both the Mate X2 and the Mi Mix Fold so while the Mi Mix 2 and Mate X2 might win on some specification areas, you’ll need to live in China to get your hands on them for now. It’s also worth remembering the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is tipped for a July 2021 launch.
(Pocket-lint) – Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi has five phones within its Mi 11 range. Not all are available in all markets, but with so many options, it’s good to know how they all compare.
Here is how the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra stacks up against the Mi 11 Pro, Mi 11, Mi 11i and Mi 11 Lite 5G. Which is the right Xiaomi Mi 11 device for you? Let us help you figure it out.
Design
Mi 11 Lite: 160.5 x 75.7 x 6.8mm, 159g
Mi 11i: 163.7 x 76.4 x 7.8 mm, 196g, IP53
Mi 11: 164.3 x 74.6 x 8.1mm, 196g
Mi 11 Pro: 164.3 x 74.6 x 8.5mm, 208g, IP68
Mi 11 Ultra: 164.3 x 74.6 x 8.38mm, 234g, IP68
The Xiaomi Mi 11 devices all share similarities when it comes to design, though the Mi 11 Ultra has a much more prominent camera housing on the rear with a second display, setting it apart from the other four devices. None of them look identical, but you can tell they are from the same family.
All the five Mi 11 devices feature a punch hole camera on the front, all positioned in the top left corner, except the Mi 11i that has the front camera in the centre at the top of its flat display. The Mi 11 Lite also has a flat display, while the Mi 11, Mi 11 Pro and Mi 11 Ultra all have curved displays.
The material finishes and colours differ between all five models. The Mi 11 Ultra has a ceramic back, while the Mi 11 comes in glass and leather options. The Mi 11 Pro, Mi 11i and Mi 11 Lite all have a glass back with aluminium frames. Only the Mi 11 Ultra and Mi 11 Pro are IP68 water and dust resistant, while the Mi 11i is IP53 rated. The other two have no official IP rating.
The Mi 11, Mi 11 Pro and Mi 11 Ultra are all a similar size, sharing the same display with an optical under-display fingerprint reader, while the Mi 11i and Mi 11 Lite are smaller, with the Mi 11 Lite being the smallest and lightest. Both the Mi 11i and Mi 11 Lite have physical fingerprint readers on their side.
Display
Mi 11 Lite: 6.55-inch, flat AMOLED, 2400 x 1080 (401ppi), 90Hz, HDR10+, 800nits
Mi 11i: 6.67-inch, flat AMOLED, 2400 x 1080 (395ppi), 120Hz, HDR10+, 1300nits
Mi 11: 6.81-inches, curved AMOLED, 3200 x 1440 (515ppi), 120Hz, HDR10+, 1500nits
Mi 11 Pro: 6.81-inches, curved AMOLED, 3200 x 1440 (515ppi), 120Hz, HDR10+, 1500nits
Mi 11 Ultra: 6.81-inch, curved AMOLED, 3200 x 1440 (515ppi), 120Hz, HDR10+, 1700nits / 1.1-inch rear AMOLED display, 124 x 294
The Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra, Mi 11 Pro and Mi 11 all have a 6.81-inch curved AMOLED display with a 3200 x 1440 pixel resolution for a pixel density of 515ppi. They all offer a 120Hz refresh rate and one billion colours. The Mi 11 and Mi 11 Pro have a maximum brightness of 1500nits, while the Mi 11 Ultra ups this to 1700nits.
The Mi 11 Ultra also has a secondary 1.1-inch display on its rear within the camera housing. This secondary AMOLED display will show notifications, as well as rear camera selfie previews. It has a 294 x 124 pixel resolution and it’s an always on display.
The Mi 11i has a 6.67-inch flat display, so slightly smaller than the Mi 11, Mi 11 Pro and Mi 11 Ultra. It drops the resolution to Full HD+, resulting in a pixel density of 395ppi, but it retains the 120Hz refresh rate. It has a maximum brightness of 1300nits.
The Mi 11 Lite has the smallest display of the five devices being compared here, with a 6.55-inch screen, like the OnePlus 9. It has a Full HD+ display like the Mi 11i, though a sharper pixel density at 401ppi thanks to the smaller size. It drops the refresh rate to 90Hz though and the maximum brightness to 800nits.
All five Mi 11 devices support HDR10+.
Hardware and specs
Mi 11 Lite: Qualcomm SD780G, 6/8GB RAM, 128/256GB storage
Mi 11i: Qualcomm SD888, 8GB RAM, 128/256GB storage
Mi 11: Qualcomm SD888, 8GB RAM, 128/256GB storage
Mi 11 Pro: Qualcomm SD888, 8/12GB RAM, 128/256GB storage
Mi 11 Ultra: Qualcomm SD888, 8/12GB RAM, 256/512GB storage
The Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra, Mi 11 Pro, Mi 11 and Mi 11i all run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset. They all come with 8GB of RAM as a base model, but the Mi 11 Pro and Mi 11 Ultra are both available in 12GB of RAM models too.
The Mi 11i, Mi 11 and Mi 11 Pro all have 128GB as the base storage too, with a 256GB option, while the Mi 11 Ultra has 256GB as a base and 512GB as the second option. All are 5G devices.
The Mi 11 Lite runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 780G chipset with 6GB or 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of storage. The model we are comparing in this feature is the 5G handset, though there is also an LTE model of the Mi 11 Lite.
None of the Mi 11 devices have microSD support for storage expansion, except the China model of the Mi 11 Lite.
The Mi 11 Ultra, Mi 11 Pro, Mi 11 and Mi 11i all have dual stereo speakers, while the Mi 11 Lite has dual speakers. None of the models feature a 3.5mm headphone jack and all support 24-bit audio. The Mi 11 Ultra and Mi 11 Pro’s speakers are tuned by Harmon Kardon.
Battery and charging
Mi 11 Lite: 4250mAh, 33W fast charging
Mi 11i: 4520mAh, 33W fast charging
Mi 11: 4600mAh, 55W fast charging, 50W wireless, 10W reverse
Mi 11 Pro: 5000mAh, 67W fast charging, 67W wireless, 10W reverse
Mi 11 Ultra: 5000mAh, 67W fast charging, 67W wireless, 10W reverse
In terms of battery capacity, the Mi 11 Pro and Mi 11 Ultra both have a 5000mAh call under their hoods. They also both support 67W fast wired and wireless charging, along with 10W reverse wireless charging.
The Mi 11 has a slightly smaller 4600mAh battery with 55W fast wired charging, 50W wireless charging and 10W reverse wireless charging.
The Mi 11i has a 4520mAh battery and the Mi 11 Lite has a 4250mAh battery. Both have 33W wired charging, but no support for wireless charging or reverse wireless charging.
Camera
Mi 11 Lite: Triple (64MP main + 8MP ultra wide + 5MP macro), 20MP front
Mi 11i: Triple (108MP main + 8MP ultra wide + 5MP macro), 20MP front
Mi 11: Triple (108MP main + 13MP ultra wide + 5MP macro), 20MP front
Mi 11 Pro: Triple (50MP main + 8MP telephoto + 13MP ultra wide), 20MP front
Mi 11 Ultra: Triple (50MP main + 48MP ultra wide + 48MP telephoto), 20MP front
All five of the Xiaomi Mi 11 devices being compared in this feature have a triple rear camera, but they are all made up of different sensors. They all have a 20-megapixel front camera though.
The Mi 11 Ultra has a 50-megapixel main camera sensor with an aperture f/2.0 and optical image stabilisation (OIS), a 48-megapixel ultra wide sensor with a f/2.2 aperture and 128-degree field of view and a 48-megapixel telephoto sensor with an aperture of f/4.1, OIS and 5x optical zoom.
The Mi 11 Pro has a 50-megapixel main camera sensor with an aperture of f/2.0 and OIS, an 8-megapixel telephoto lens with OIS and 5x optical zoom and a 13-megapixel ultra wide sensor with f/2.4 aperture and a 123-degree field of view.
The Mi 11 has a 108-megapixel main camera sensor with an f/1.9 aperture and OIS, a 13-megapixel ultra wide sensor with an f/2.4 aperture and a 123-degree field of view, and a 5-megapixel macro sensor with an aperture of f/2.4.
The Mi 11i has a 108-megapixel main camera sensor with an aperture of f/1.8, an 8-megapixel ultra wide sensor with an aperture of f/2.2 and a 119-degree field of view and a 5-megapixel macro sensor with a f/2.4 aperture.
Finally, the Mi 11 Lite has a 64-megapixel main camera with an aperture of f/1.8, an 8-megapixel ultra wide sensor with an aperture of f/2.2 and a 5-megapixel macro sensor with an aperture of f/2.4.
Conclusion
The Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra and Mi 11 Pro are similar in terms of specifications, though the Mi 11 Ultra has that second display on the rear, a more capable camera on paper, brighter main display, ceramic design and more storage as an option.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 sits just under the 11 Pro, offering the same display, but a smaller battery capacity, slightly slower charging capabilities and different rear camera makeup. It also doesn’t have the 12GB of RAM model option like the Mi 11 Pro and it isn’t waterproof.
The Xiaomi Mi 11i has a flat and smaller display over the Mi 11, a different camera make up again, a smaller battery and slower charging capablities again, as well as a lack of wireless charging support. It has the same core hardware as the Mi 11 though, as well as an IP53 rating.
The Xiaomi Mi Lite meanwhile is the most affordable in the Mi 11 pack, but it drops its camera capabilities compared to the Mi 11i, offers a smaller battery capacity, but the same charging capabilities as the Mi 11, a lower refresh rate display and a lower RAM model option.
Writing by Britta O’Boyle.
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