#OnePlus 5 Complaint

[miya716tienda]

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Review

The $1,899.99 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 picks right up where the Z Fold 5 left off: It's an exceptionally versatile phone with enough power to handle most any task you throw its way. The improvements over its predecessor aren't groundbreaking, but its refined cover screen experience, increased durability, and reduced weight all help give it a premium feel in line with its price. The fantastic camera system, seven years of software support, and innovative Galaxy AI features are highlights, too. Our main complaint centers around the Z Fold 6's underwhelming charging specs, but that's not enough of an issue to prevent it from earning our Editors' Choice award. It's simply the best big foldable phone phone on the market.

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 measures 6.04 by 2.68 by 0.48 inches (HWD) when closed, spans 6.04 by 5.22 by 0.22 inches when open, and weighs 8.43 ounces. It's shorter, wider, thinner, and lighter than the Z Fold 5, which measures 6.10 by 2.64 by 0.53 inches closed, expands to 6.10 by 5.11 by 0.24 inches unfolded, and tips the scales at 8.92 ounces. The aging $1,799.99 Google Pixel Fold is downright hefty by comparison. It comes in at 5.50 inches by 3.10 inches by 0.50 inches closed, folds out to 5.50 by 6.24 inches by 0.23 inches, and weighs 9.98 ounces. All three of these devices fold flat when closed, a must for all foldable phones these days.

The Z Fold 6 and Fold 5 have the same layout of buttons and ports. The volume rocker and power button/fingerprint sensor are on the right edge. The fingerprint sensor works well, with few errors. Thankfully, Samsung now allows you to input your fingerprint while the device is still closed. (This was not possible on the Z Fold 5.) Face Unlock is also an option, but it's less secure. A USB-C 3.2 port for charging and data transfer is at the bottom right of the opened device, while dual speaker grilles are at the left top and left bottom of the frame. Whereas the grilles for the latter have a sleek, slit-like appearance here, those on the Z Fold 5 have nine distinct holes. The SIM tray on the left frame accepts one physical nano-SIM; the Z Fold 6 also supports eSIM.

Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 covers the front screen and the back panel; this is the same material that protects the Galaxy Z Flip 6. According to Corning, this glass handles drops on rough surfaces better than the original Victus. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra uses a newer material called Gorilla Armor, which resists scratches, protects from drops, and reduces screen reflections by 75%. I would like to see the Galaxy Z Fold series adopt the same options as the S24 Ultra in light of their higher starting prices.

Samsung uses an enhanced Armor Aluminum for the Z Fold 6's frame, which is 10% stronger than the Armor Aluminum on the Fold 5. Also new for this model is official dust resistance. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 gets an IP48 rating, an improvement over the Galaxy Z Fold 5's IPX8 rating. Both can survive submersion in water, though the Z Fold 6 can also resist ingress of materials 1mm or larger. For comparison, the Pixel Fold has an IPX8 rating.

The build quality of the Z Fold 6 is superb, with great attention to detail. The squarish corners and increased width are the biggest design changes. Galaxy Note and S24 Ultra fans will be familiar with the pressure of the corners, but some people might find them uncomfortable. I was aware of the corners at first, but they became normal to my hands after a few hours. Holding the closed Fold 6 on the hinge side is more forgiving, thanks to the hinge's curves. I found the Z Fold 6 more comfortable to hold while open than closed, thanks to the difference in weight distribution.

The hinge operates smoothly with the right amount of resistance. The Z Fold 6 holds its angle from about 45 to 135 degrees; otherwise, it snaps shut or open. Like previous models, the device should survive 200,000 folds. OnePlus claims its foldable phone, the OnePlus Open, can withstand a million folds.

Three cameras are on the rear in a raised, pill-shaped area, with a flash to the right. Otherwise, the back is a showcase for the colored panel. The Z Fold 6 comes in Pink, Navy, or Silver Shadow (the last the color of my test unit). Samsung also sells two exclusive colors on its website: Crafted Black or White. The matte finish on the back, frame, and hinge gives the Z Fold 6 a sophisticated look, though the back of my test unit was a smudge magnet.

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is compatible with the S Pen stylus on the inner screen, though it's an optional accessory. Samsung says that any S Pen that works with older Z Fold models will work on the Z Fold 6.

[bhaumiksubhadeep]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLbDJtCnApY)

[mellissanews]

Fix Magisk patched boot.img issue while Rooting Android 11

Fix Magisk patched boot.img issue while Rooting Android 11

Today’s article is about a common issue you may experience while Rooting your Device. I have received so many requests to address this issue. Those were mostly from the Pixel 5 and OnePlus 8/8T users who used Android  11. Some of them mentioned that they patched the stock boot.img file using Magisk, then flashed it via Fastboot but the device remained unrooted. Another common complaint was the…

[smartphonenews-blog1]

Now regardless what brand we’re talking about: there’s always this sweet spot. The place where price and quality meet in the right proportions. When the Umidigi Z Pro was launched, it was far from this sweet spot. In fact, eventhough it had a fast processor and two decent camera sensors built in it was a dissaster!

And it was a dissaster happening at anything but a convenient time. His predecessor the UMi Z was just getting horrible press due to swollen batteries, an OTA software update that led the phone to brick completely and the always absent customer support of UMi/ Umidigi. In short: Not a good year for the UMi Company.

In fact one might come to the conclusion it was such a bad year that they even decided to rebrand. The name Umidigi appeared and with it the newest (or first so you will) Umidigi “flagship” the Umidigi Z Pro. Launched just a couple of months after the UMi Z, there was hardly any change to notice from the outside. Except the UMi Z made it look like it had two rear camera’s when in fact one of the two was the (tremendously failing) laser focus lens.The Z Pro came with two actual rear camera’s. In fact it sports the very decent Sony IMX258 sensors which have known to produce stunning results…

But sadly, in other brands phones! Because the Umidigi software buffs and engineers somehow didn’t manage to produce similar quality pictures and videos. However it might have been, considering the high quality camera sensors, the Mediatek Helio X27 (one of the fastest processors out there those days) and the 4000 mAh battery Umidigi dubbed the Z Pro their latest “flagship” and slapped a price-tag between 250 to 275 euro on the device. Since they were obviously in a hurry to rebrand, the Z Pro had to launch quickly, thus leaving an entire first generation customers to be beta-testers. Paying beta-testers even!

  So much for the history of the Umidigi Z Pro. Now, like I said in the very beginning there is this sweet spot, when price and what you get for it are just in the right proportion. Well since Umidigi is launching a new “flagship” like every forthnight these days there has been a price drop. This means you can order the Umidigi Z Pro for anywhere between 129 and 150 euro now. But wait a minute? Why would I want to buy a bugprone phone that had the worst of press even if its half the original price now? If that’s the question you’re about to ask then read on. I will try to explain:

First let’s address some of the complaints about the original, first batch of Umidigi Z Pro phones. The battery life was terrible 3.5 to 4 hrs SoT, even though it was packing a 4000mAh battery. The camera had focus issues, and some customers were only able to use the monochrome camera if the wanted to shoot anything besides macro shots. It wasn’t able to view HD YouTube or Netflix feeds, which even last year, was rather sad. And the fingerprint scanner would respond randomly if at all. And ofcourse many cases of freezing. When we look at this severe list of problems we can conclude two things. The first obviously being the fact this phone should in NO WAY have been released already. And secondly: Given the quality of materials used (Sony Camera, Samsung RAM etc etc) and the mentioned list one can conclude the problem is in the software!

And this is the good news! Simply because most of those things can be fixed with software updates. And they did! Now let’s jump to 2018 and find that as soon as you start the phone up it offers you several OTA updates. Now truth be told it’s always a feeling like russian roulette to agree to an Umidigi update, but in the case of the Z Pro they were actually useful, and working flawlessly! So now, we have this light aluminium gun greyish body. A beautiful 2.5D screen with an oleophobic layer that’s running on Android 7.1, and that immediately impoved the battery life. So now it’s actually useable. Which is nice. They also improved the performance of the camera and some other bugs and glitches have been taken care of. So now, is it a perfect phone?

No, it’s not, but it’s a decent phone for a 140 euro price and it comes in this cool metal box, with this cool red charger cable. It’s got an iPhone 7 Plus/ OnePlus 5 vibe going on, and you can tell all your buddies your phone has a tencore chip. It might sound sarcastic and ofcourse I am, but truth is every thing looks slick and well build. The problem here was and remains the software. That being said with the updates installed, the Umidigi Z Pro is a pretty decent phone at it’s price. It runs on a Helio X27 decacore processor coupled with 4GB of RAM. Yet it’s impossible to get over 96K on the AnTuTu benchmark out of it.

Thanks to the update to Android Nougat the fingerprint scanner is flawless and fast and it’s able to hold the charge for 5 to 6 hours which again, is not what you would expect of a 4000mAh battery. But it’s almost twice as long as before the update, so definitely an improvement. Gaming is no problem on the Umidigi Z Pro and it can handle most of the games without any graphical problems. What I did notice though was the temperature of the phone is constantly very high. This hasn’t lead to any problems in the two weeks I used it. Maybe it can be related to the placement of the chipset.

Then, there is the camera. It certainly has improved after the update, but it still has some flaws too. Flaws that I personally would find inexcuseable in a 250-buck-flagship-phone, but are perfectly willing to deal with at a 130-140 euro price tag. The two main cons I consider to be the low light performance, that is … basically absent. Which might not sound like a big deal since a lot oof budget phones have trouble in low light. But here’s the thing: A) devices are getting better and anno 2018 even (some) low budget phones can shoot decent footage in the dark. And B) These phone don’t have a build-in camera option named “SUPER NIGHT MODE”. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that sounds promising. But the results are just migraine inducing, look at these examples:

These pics are supposed to be shot in “Super Night Mode” You judge….

  Another thing on the camera of the Umidigi Z Pro is the dynamic range. At moments it’s perfectly on top of things. Yet shoot a second picture just seconds later and it’s a proper mess. Another equally mysterious phenomenon is the bokeh- or portrait mode. In one picture it seperates subject from the background just perfectly, the next shot is a mess again. Luckily it has an option to refocus after the shot has been taken. This can make up for some of the software’s mistakes, but sometimes even refocussing won’t help you out. Let me show you some “highlights” of dual camera missers:

Here you can see the camera struggling. Dynamic range is not the best

Some examples of bokeh software not knowing what to do

So, what you are saying it’s an okay  phone for it’s price that’s well build, it just doesn’t have a good camera…right? Well… No. See and this is what did my head in reviewing this smartphone, it is able to shoot some incredible looking pictures. The monochrome mode is just stunning, and I was able to make some lovely shots with it. If the conditions are right it’s a great camera. Just make sure you’re always making more than one picture of whatever you want to save. It has a zoom-option that also is great to use. The shutter speed is absolutely fantastic and I was able to catch my kids jumping in mid-air on several occassions. So no complaints there.

Lovely Monochrome shot

Okay portait shot

And even a good one

  But as soon as the lights go low, you might as well forget you’re even carrying a camera. Unless your using the flash you can forget anything will turn out other than grainy and blurry. Video camera, same problems. The colours, the sharpness..everything looks great, but there’s no continuous auto focus meaning you have to tap the screen every time you move. And it lacks any form of stabilisation, so better not breathe or footage will be shaky. If you dont move and have steady hands however, the camera shoots lovely pictures. So you see my problem here? For every pro there is a con and the other way around. And that goes for everything. No joke.

Take the speaker, volume is way above average, great in a noisy environment, unfortunately the sound quality is below mediocre. The fast charger is a fast charger, yet it charges other 4000mAh phones FASTER than the phone it came with: The Umidigi Z Pro. That being said, it charges fast enough to not be annoying, but you know, it’s all those little tiny things together that still make me not sure. One thing I am sure of is the price drop was a great move and much more fitting to the phone. Would I recommend it? That depends on who’s asking. Are you not a heavy use but1.) still want a phone that has a good build and is not too slow? 2.) looking for a good, modern looking phone in the iPhone/OnePlus-look  The Umidigi Z Pro might be a great phone for you.

If however you are a heavy user and want more than a 50-60% succes rate when taking pictures, you might want to skip the Umidigi Z Pro altogether. After all  heavy use and a relatively fast heating chip usually aren’t the best of friends in the long end. Just consider the fact you might also get a Meizu M6S or a Nubia M2 for the same price, those might be better alternatives.  As always I conclude with some picture samples shot on the Umidigi Z Pro. Enjoy.

  The Umidigi Z Pro: Failing Flagship to decent Budget Phone Now regardless what brand we're talking about: there's always this sweet spot. The place where price and quality meet in the right proportions.

[kichanzo]

Realme 6 Pro Review – One of The Best Mid Ranged Smartphone?

There are plenty of phones being released in the market nowadays, but if you are strapped on cash, you shouldn’t have to miss out on some of the best features that a flagship phone can provide.

That is where Realme comes in. They give you the best specs at half the price as other phones such as the Samsung Galaxy A50.

nepalitelecom.com

In this review, I have highlighted some of the best features of Realme 6 Pro and the things I did not like about the phone. Read till the end to find out if it’s worth buying this Realme6 pro.

What You Will Read

Things to Consider Before Buying a Midrange Smartphone

The company’s reputation

Build and Display

Realme 6 Pro Specifications

Chipset & Performance of Realme 6 Pro   

Realme 6 Pro Display

Battery Capacity & Charging

Camera Capability   

Extra Features of Realme 6 Pro

What others Are Saying

How Much is Realme 6 Pro in Kenya?

Accessories

Alternatives of Realme6 Pro

Samsung Galaxy A50

The Redmi Note 9 Pro Max

Which Phone is better Realme 6 or Realme 6 pro?

Is Realme 6 Pro a good phone?

Things to Consider Before Buying a Midrange Smartphone

Smartphone manufacturers try to do fantastic work in producing a new device. That way they serve its users with the best budget phone with great specs. Here are two things you should consider before buying a budget smartphone.

The company’s reputation

We’ve seen a lot of new phone manufacturers creating affordable smartphone products for middle-class people. If the smartphone you are considering buying does not come from household names such as LG, Samsung, or Apple then you should do a little background research on the manufacture.

medium.com

We’ve seen companies that produce affordable smartphones such as OnePlus, Huawei, and Blue come under fire for various reasons.

Huawei is not allowed to do business with any United States’ companies, like Google, that raises eyebrows, cause how you supposed to survive with a smartphone that isn’t connected to your Google account. On the other hand, OnePlus and Blu have been exposed to export private data back to headquarters.

Build and Display

It is important to ensure that your phone is not too big for your hands. Not too small, that you will have a hard time viewing the content on the display. The right screen display should be above 5.5 inches.

businessinsider.com

One area that smartphone manufacturers compromise on when creating a good smartphone with high specs in the body.

Most of the time, they will use plastic to cover the smartphone, making it weak. If they covered the plastic with glass, then that’s a good thing since it gives you double protection. But that isn’t the case, as most manufacturers want to cut down their costs and maximize their profits.

Realme 6 Pro Specifications

Display:  16.76 cm (6.6 inch) inches 1080 x 24000 pixels | CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G | RAM: 8 GB | Storage / Expandable: 128GB, 256GB / Yes | Rear camera: 64 MP, (f/1.8) (wide) + 12 MP, (f/2.3) (ultrawide) + 8 MP, (f/2.5) (macro) + 2 MP, (f/2.4) (depth) | Front camera: 16 MP, (f/2.0) + 8 MP , f/2.2, (wide) | Platform: Android 10 | Battery life: Li-Po 4300 mAh, non-removable.

Chipset & Performance of Realme 6 Pro   

zeebiz.com

One of the apparent differences the regular Realme 6 has from the Realme 6 Pro version is the chipset. This device uses the new Qualcomm SM7125 Snapdragon 720G.

However, even though many people are fans of the snapdragon, the pro version doesn’t show any significant difference over the vanilla in either CPU Octa-core or GPU Aderno test.

You have either 6GB RAM 64 Gb or 8 GB RAM 124 Gb of storage expandable with a micro SD card.

The Realme 6 series was among the first phones to include the latest Realme UI on the operating system, Android 10. The menu, notification change, and app drawers felt simple and clutter-free as any android devices. Navigation is a little different from what you might cause the Realme UI.

With that said, the performance of the Realme 6 Pro is great for a mid-range smartphone. You won’t have any issues with the phone, even if you are operating large file applications.

The audio’s performance is average because of the mono speaker found at the bottom of the device. When you compared this phone to the Realme 6, the Realme 6 Pro has a richer sound quality.

Realme 6 Pro Display

techlekh.com

We know Realme phones to look flashy, and the Realme 6 Pro isn’t any different. This is one of the most flashy phones to be released by Realme.

The design is breathtaking with the neon zigzag effect at the back that changes color when you flip the phone. Like many other midrange phones, they make the body of the 6 Pro of plastic, the design at the back will make you feel as if you are using an expensive smartphone.

On the front, we have a 6.6-inches IPS LCD screen with a 1080p by 2400p screen resolution. You will notice the wide camera punch out on the end, accommodating for taking selfies. The display has a corning gorilla glass 5 and a pre-installed screen protector to give it a little extra protection when you are using your phone.

lowyat.net

According to Realme, the device has a triple layer of water-resistance around the port and inside the phone to protect the phone against moisture. Even though it doesn’t come with official IP certification. I would advise that you protect when your phone against water bodies or rain.

The newest trends for flagships is they must have a high refresh rate, and Realme 6 Pro jumped on that boat. It has a refresh rate of 90 Hz and this means that moving elements will appear smoother for your eyes. Also, saving you on the battery while giving you a sleeky smooth experience.

The screen looks sharply at about 480 nits typ. brightness and the colors are accurate when you tweak them in the setting.

The Realme 6 Pro has a side fingerprint reader, which is built to the power button. The sensors on the fingerprint are super responsive, just a light touch is enough to wake up the phone.

Battery Capacity & Charging

 The Realme 6 Pro is powered by a 4300 mAh non-removable battery capacity. The battery life is excellent in both the Realme 6 and the Pro version since they have the same capacity.

lowyat.net

This battery size can last you up to 107 hours when in continuous use, impressive for a mid-range budget phone, I would say. They will impress you with the fast charging speed of 30 watts. Allowing you to charge the phone 100% in less than 57 minutes.

Camera Capability   

The Realme 6 Pro has an impressive quad camera set up for a midranges phone.

It has a 64 MP, f/1.8, 26 mm wide main camera will give you fantastic photos with great detail in the right conditions. Though you might have a bit of noise in the quality of photos.

In low light the main camera takes wonderful photos, preserving the color while still gives you significant details in the shot you are taking. Night mode brings a boost in the shadows and it improves in the highlight retention, even though you lose on the sharpness.

Shots from the 8 MP, f/2.3, 13mm ultra-wide cameras are nice. You will notice good detail and a wide dynamic range. If you shoot with the Ultra-wide camera at night, you cannot get great photos. Their exposure is dark, even though the detail is okay.

In pleasant light, you will love the photos that you can take with the 12 MP, f/2.5, 54mm telephoto camera with plenty of detail, wider dynamic range, and lovelier colors.

The dedicated 2 MP f/2.4 macro camera doesn’t take great photos, there is plenty of noise, limited dynamic range. It seems more like an excuse for Realme to have a quad camera. Must be good for marketing.

You can shoot with the telephoto at night, and the performance is alright. The zoom-in this device has trouble focusing at night.

The Realme 6 Pro has a dual selfie, comprising a 60 MP and an 8MP ultra-wide camera. You will love capturing selfies with the ultra-wide. The HDR effect gives you smoother photos with more color rendition.

You can shoot videos of up to ultra-high definition 4k@30fps and 1080p @30/60/120fps. The video content has saturated colors and with a good dynamic range. But the sharpening is a little much, and the overall video is grainy.

As far as stabilization goes, the 4k doesn’t have any. Use a tripod if you want to get stable videos.

Extra Features of Realme 6 Pro

Here are other features about the Realme 6 Pro:

Face recognition

Fingerprint sensors

Accelerometer

Gyro

NFC support

WIFI

Blue tooth 5.1 connectivity

USB port 2.0, Type-C

Dual Sim

3.5 mm headphone jack

What others Are Saying

Here is what some verified purchases from Amazon had to say about the Realme 6 Pro

Christopher was very unhappy with the phone, he left a 1-star review and said: “Mediocre phone, very basic, I’m disappointed, Pixelated, the screen is nothing compared with an AMOLED, sideways the colors they vanish, 8gb of ram but it freezes when you try to play games like Call Of Duty Mobile, very fragile!”

Henry Cepeda left a 5-star review and said:

This phone is amazing! For this price, you can’t beat it! UI is clean and easy to use, it has great high-end value features like a crisp 90 Hz frame rate lock option making the phone move supper smooth, and beautiful, detailed images. Not to mention the style of the back of the phone is appealing.

Linda W. left a 5-star review and said:

This is worth the money! It’s slimmer than most phones, but a little longer. I feel it fits in the hand better. Nice looking. I’ve had it for a month and no complaints!

  How Much is Realme 6 Pro in Kenya?

They released the Realme 6 Pro in March 2020. The price of Realme 6 in Kenya is 28,500 shillings. It was released in March 2020 and it comes in 3 colors: lighting blue, lighting orange, and lightning red.

Accessories

Simple case

USB Type C cable

30 watts fast charger

Alternatives of Realme6 Pro

Other great alternatives smartphones that are competing with the Realme 6 Pro and in the same price tag includes

Samsung Galaxy A50

This is also a viable alternative. They are competing in the same price range as the Realme 6 Pro. The Samsung galaxy A50 has an AMOLED display, which is significantly better than the IPS LCD screen used in Realme 6 Pro.

It makes sense for Samsung to produce the best screens since it’s one of their key area of specialty. Including making screens for Apple. Almost impossible for Realme to come to compete with them for the screen. Apart from the display, Realme has a higher refresh rate than the Samsung Galaxy A50.

It is important to note that the Samsung Galaxy A50 lacks a telephoto and a selfie cam also lacks an ultra-wide camera, all of which Realme 6 Pro provides and the chipset used in Realme6 Pro is more powerful compared to the one is on Samsung Galaxy A50.

The Redmi Note 9 Pro Max

This phone is in the same price range as the Realme 6 Pro, both have the same chipset Qualcomm SM7125 Snapdragon 720G, though the battery life in Redmi Note 9 Pro Max is bigger at a 5020mAh Li-on battery that can last you up to 120 hours. Both phones support fast charging at 30 watts.

One of the enormous advantage that Realme 6 Pro has over the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max is the refresh rate, the Redmi has a 60 Hz refresh rate, while the Realme has a 90 Hz refresh rate.

Which Phone is better Realme 6 or Realme 6 pro?

If you want to save extra thousands of shillings and still have a great phone, I would recommend that you select the Realme 6. Both phones have the same battery capacity, built almost the same with the Realme 6 Pro being 6.6 inches while the Realme 6 is 6.5 inches. Not such an enormous difference.

androidpolice.com

You will feel the difference when you go to the camera section. Realme 6 has a quad camera with 16MP + 2 MP + 2 MP+ 2 MP. And to be honest, the photos you take aren’t so great compared to the ones taken with Realme 6 Pro camera that has a higher megapixel count.

Decide what’s more important to you, saving a few thousands of shilling and getting a good phone with a crappy camera or investing the extra thousands and getting a great phone with a great camera.

Is Realme 6 Pro a good phone?

Yes, it is, and I would recommend that you buy this device. You get a flashy design with a big 6.6-inch screen and a high 90Hz refresh rate. Realme 6 Pro offers great mid-range performance with excellent battery life and a fast charger of 30watts.

If you looked beyond the minor fact that they build part of the phone with plastic, then you will get yourself a fantastic smartphone that offering you value for your money.

The Review

Realme 6 Pro

3.9 Score

Realme 6 Pro has high-tech specifications such as a Pro screen display, 6 sets of cameras, a 90 Hz refresh rate, and a competent Snapdragon 720G processor. It is one of the best mid-range smartphones we've reviewed.

PROS

Breathtaking design

Color accurate with a high refresh rate

Color accurate with a high refresh rate

Long battery life with fast charging

CONS

Lacks video stabilization in 4k

Body built of plastic

Review Breakdown

Battery

Display

Camera

Performance

Value

[helloyoucreatives]

OnePlus 5 advert that got complaints. 

[techcrunchappcom]

New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/week-in-tech-oct-5-to-11-2020-apples-october-13-event-pakistan-bans-tiktok-and-more/

Week in Tech (Oct 5 to 11, 2020): Apple’s October 13 event, Pakistan bans TikTok and more

Written by Anuj Bhatia | New Delhi | Updated: October 11, 2020 1:32:46 pm

Apple’s October 13 event kicks off virtually at 10:30 pm IST. (Image credit: Apple)

We had another busy and exciting week in the tech world. The week began with the news of Apple holding a virtual product launch event on October 13, where the new iPhone 12 lineup will be the star of the show. Rumour has it that we may see four new iPhone 12 models, with features like 5G, the latest A14 Bionic processor and a new LiDAR scanner. In other news, Amazon announced that it will host the Great Indian Festival from October 17. The online shopping event, which will be a month-long affair, will bring more customers into Amazon’s ecosystem.  Meanwhile, video-sharing platform TikTok is now banned in Pakistan for “immoral” and “indecent ” videos.

Read about these stories in detail below.

Apple sets October 13 ‘Hi, Speed’ event for iPhone 12 debut

Earlier this week, Apple confirmed its plans to hold a virtual event on October 13. The “speed,” refers to the new iPhone 12 models, which are expected to supports 5G.  Analysts expect Apple to release four new models in the iPhone 12 lineup, all with 5G.  The new iPhones are expected to have 5.4-inch and 6.1-inch screens on the entry-level side, with the Pro models coming in with a 6.1-inch and a 6.7-inch display. Apple typically unveils new iPhones in September, but due to the Covid-19, the company had earlier announced that the iPhone launch would be delayed by a few weeks. The company could also announce AirTags and AirPods Studio at its October 13 event next week.

In view of number of complaints from different segments of the society against immoral/indecent content on the video sharing application TikTok, pic.twitter.com/Vmp5umixeL

— PTA (@PTAofficialpk) October 9, 2020

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Pakistan bans TikTok over ‘indecent’ videos

Pakistan is the latest country to ban the controversial video-sharing app TikTok. The country’s telecom regulator has banned the app, claiming TikTok failed to remove “immoral” and “indecent” content on its video-sharing platform. TikTok had been installed over 43 million times in Pakistan, as per the analytics firm Sensor Tower.  Last month, Pakistan banned several popular dating apps, including Tinder and Grindr, in an aim to restrict “immoral” and “indecent” content. TikTok, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, is already banned in India.

Amazon Great Indian Festival sale begins October 17

Despite the pandemic, Amazon expects the Great Indian Festival shopping extravaganza to be a hit among consumers. Amazon promises deep discounts on various products in popular categories including electronics, home appliances, and accessories. This year, deals on electronics could be more tempting, as many consumers are looking to upgrade their smartphones and laptops.  Amazon’s Great Indian Festival is a way to bring more customers into Amazon’s ecosystem and sign up for the Prime membership.

Google Pixel 4a coming to India next week

At last, the Pixel 4a is finally coming to India. Earlier this week, Google announced that its budget-friendly Pixel 4a will launch on October 16. The Pixel 4a is priced at Rs 29,999 and that price makes a lot of sense. By selling the Pixel 4a at Rs 29,999, Google manages to undercut rivals including Apple with the latest budget smartphone. Analysts say the pricing of the Pixel 4a was definitely a surprise. Many experts believe that the Pixel 4a’s Rs 29,999 price could put some pressure on mid-range smartphones from Samsung, OnePlus and Vivo.

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For all the latest Technology News, download Indian Express App.

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[tech-latest-blog]

OnePlus is always known for its best UI and out-performing features, and now OnePlus users can also enable always-on display features using OPAodMod Xposed module in their rooted OnePlus devices. Since AMOLED displays came into the picture, most Android smartphone manufacturers started putting the Android-on Display feature in their smartphones.

This feature is quite a power-efficient, and here in this article, we are going to discuss how you can enable always-on display feature on your OnePlus smartphone with root. So, let's get started

What is the Always-on Display?

Before getting started with the method of how to enable always-on display on OnePlus smartphone, let's first know what Always-on display is. So, always-on display (or AOD) is a mode in Android smartphone, which keep the screen on in white or black mode with showing only key text, i.e. if your screen is displaying time so this feature will only enable the area of the screen in which clock is displayed other area will be off and doesn't consume power.

That's why this is a power-efficient feature, and if you receive any notification, it will keep you updated with that without actually displaying a complete screen. Some smartphones have an inclusive mode for this feature; however, OnePlus devices don't offer such a feature. Fortunately, we have a method to get and enable Android-on display on OnePlus smartphone.

Also Read: AMOLED vs LCD(IPS), Which One to Go With?

Why OnePlus Devices doesn't have AOD after having an AMOLED screen?

Well, let me first clear a doubt between Ambient display and Always-on Display. OnePlus offer a customization option in its display setting through which the user can enable the clock, which will appear after the phone is locked. So that feature is the Ambient feature offered by OnePlus in many of its smartphones, it is different from AOD. It can give you a slight experience of AOD but it is completely different from AOD and lacks in so many ways.

So the question is why OnePlus doesn't use or enable Always-on Display feature in its devices after using AMOLED screen. Look, AOD is a software feature and every software we are using in our device should be compatible with the operating system. OnePlus uses Oxygen OS for most of its smartphones, and somehow always-on display feature isn't compatible and stable with Oxygen OS.

This feature has an adverse effect on the OnePlus devices, the company try to provide this feature with their OnePlus 6 but then many users complaint that they are facing performance and battery-related issue. Later, OnePlus removed the feature with a software update. However, OnePlus confessed that they will launch the feature later this year but no one knows when?

What is OPAodMod?

The AOD is an extremely useful though popular feature for any smartphone, so most of the users demand this feature. After getting a high urge of this feature from OnePlus users. One of the XDA Recognized Developer/Contributor Quinny899 has come up with a solution and launched OPAodMod (OnePlus-Always-On-Display-Mod), this is an Xposed module which allows users to enable Always-On display feature on rooted OnePlus devices.

Also Read: Why Magisk Over SuperSU for Rooting your Android Device?

Feature of OPAodMod

It is completely different from the Ambient feature from OnePlus, and it runs all the time.

It enables more layout customization options like digital clock style, world-clock style, also a DVD screensaver.

Notification panel displays notification only for few seconds.

It enables an option to display the screen only when the phone is raised or picked up.

When the device is flipped, inside the pocket, you can hide the screen.

You can disable the screen overnight, or after 10 minutes or 15 seconds.

It also shows alarm, weather, and playing music.

It displays the customizable lock screen message.

How to Enable Always-on Display on Any OnePlus Phone?

Before you Start

It is recommended to keep a backup of all of your data in your smartphone (because if something went wrong so may lose your whole data). Know more about Best Cloud Services.

The smartphone must be rooted. Follow this article to know How to Root Your Android Device

Install Magisk and Magisk Manager.

Download the latest version of OPAodMod.

Also Read: [Top]10 Best Magisk Modules For Your Rooted Phone

Supported Device

Only some OnePlus devices support the OPAodMod, so check the following list whether your device supports OPAodMod or not, if Yes so enable Always-on display on your device.

OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro

OnePlus 7/7T and OnePlus 7/7T Pro

OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T

OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T

Method

Follow the given steps one-by-one, and carefully to install OPAodMod and enable always-on display on your device.

You should root your Android smartphone, to install the Xposed Framework and OPAodMod module. (If the device is already rooted so proceed to next step, otherwise go through with the following to know How to root Android Device). To know specifically about your device, you can seek help from XDA-Developer Forum

Now, install the Xposed Framework on your device.

Open the Magisk Manager app in your rooted device.

Tap on the hamburger menu icon, and click on Downloads.

Tap on the search bar.

Search for the ‘Riru – Core‘ module.

Tap on the Download icon, and then click on Install.

Download the latest Canary version of the ‘Riru – EdXposed‘ module.

Once Download finished, open Magisk manager, tap on the hamburger menu icon and click on modules.

Tap on the Circular Plus icon at the bottom of the screen.

Now, navigate to the downloaded module folder.

Select ‘EdXposed-YAHFA-v0.4.6.3 (4546)-release.zip‘ file and install it.

Now, you have successfully downloaded the Xposed framework in your OnePlus device, to manage this framework and OPAodMod module we, need to download the EdXposed Manager.

Download the EdXposed Manager's APK file, and install it.

Now, Download the latest version OPAodMod module.

Install the OPAodMod module's APK file in your device using the file manager.

Navigate to the app drawer of your rooted OnePlus device.

Launch the EdXposed Manager application.

Tap on the hamburger menu icon and select modules.

Here, enable the OPAodMod through tapping a toggle bar.

Reboot your phone, to save all the changes.

After rebooting, the module would be active, you can confirm this from EdXposed manager app> Modules.

So, we are at the end of this article, I hope you have successfully enabled Always-on display feature on your OnePlus device. If you are having any issue while installing or activating the module, so write it at XDA Forum to file a bug. If you have some suggestions so please let us know in the comment section.

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[zerohour1974]

OnePlus 8 : Initial Reactions review

Well I just recently got my hands on the new OnePlus 8 phone less than 24 hours ago.  Here is my initial impressions of what I think of it so far.

The Oneplus 8 is the latest phone in the Oneplus range.  The models available are the Oneplus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro.  Both models are equipped with the Qualcomm Snpdragon 865 Octo-core processor and the Adreno 650 GPU

The primary difference between the 8 and the 8 Pro is the Pro has a 120Hz screen and wireless charging, where as the Normal 8 has a 90Hz screen and uses standard charging.  However they both use a Fluid 6.55 inch AMOLED screen capable of 16 Million colours FHD+ display (2400x1080 pixels 20:9 aspect ratio)  Which is very sharp and crisp.

It's also using Corning Gorilla Glass 5 which is very strong and light.

Camera wise the One Plus range has a Triple camera setup on the back which consists of a 48 Mega Pixel camera, a wide shot camera and ultrawide shot camera, it has a dual LED flash.  The front facing camera is a 16 Mega Pixel camera located in the top left corner of the screen.

It is also capable of low light photography, HDR and more. Video capture is capable of upto 4K video so overall a very nice camera setup.

The phone itself is very lightweight weighing in at only 199 grams

The OnePlus 8 is also able to use 5G at this time I have not access to try that but its possible once fully available.  The phone is also dual sim so you can have more than one provider should you feel so inclined.

I have the normal OnePlus 8 edition as the Pro was just a bit out of my budget.

So it has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.  There is a 256GB storage model but once again is additional cost. The One Plus 8 Pro has 12GB of RAM and 256GB as standard.

OnePlus will announce the OnePlus 8T shortly which like previous models will be the flagship model but they reckon that's not due until October.

The Oneplus 8 comes with Android 10 as it's base system.  However it has it's own launcher called Oxygen if anyone has used Oneplus phones they will be familiar with it but if not.  It is a very nice launcher with very nice features and is pretty customisable.

Initial setup was pretty easy and it even found my google backup of my OnePlus 5T and imported across the apps I used on it.  Including contacts and SMS messages.

The phone setup was immensely simple and very fast.  So within less than an hour I was back up and in action without much hassle.

Obviously It helps that I have had a Oneplus 5T before so moving to the 8 was a pretty simple move but even if you have had any previous Android phone I think you will find it pretty simple.

The Oxygen Launcher is pretty straightforward and although it has customisations its pretty easy to use.

Game testing proved how powerful the OnePlus 8 is and it performed amazingly with everything I threw at it.  If you do run a game it switches into Gaming mode to try and optimise the performance.

The battery is a 4300MAh Lithium Polymer battery.  If you have the Pro model it also has 30W Wireless charging which claims to charge 50% of the battery in less than 20 minutes.  I don't have the Pro I don't have that feature.

Anyway moving on... The response time of the phone is incredibly fast and to be honest I am finding it very hard to find something to complain about.  The only thing that is a bit off putting is the home buttons which you can have as gestures should you want are reversed from the Oneplus 5T while not the end of the world I have pressed the wrong one a few times until I get used to it.

However that's a minor complaint.   Overall I have been impressed with the Oneplus 8 in it's initial run.  Will I find something that annoys me over time.  Well we will wait and see.  However for now it is a solid running and very good phone.

The sound on the OnePlus 8 is also very clear and crisp it even includes Dolby Atmos as standard.  Obviously like all new phones it doesn't have a 3.5mm headphone jack but thats not a big issue.

I'm sure if I find issues I will let you know but for now I definitely think its one of the best phones I have ever used.

And it comes in a bright red box. Can't say much more than that ...

Overall 9.8/10 (only because it lacks a headphone jack)

[vsplusonline]

Virus impact: Offline retailers running out of handsets as distributors hoard

New Post has been published on https://apzweb.com/virus-impact-offline-retailers-running-out-of-handsets-as-distributors-hoard/

Virus impact: Offline retailers running out of handsets as distributors hoard

NEW DELHI: Offline phone sellers are facing a shortage of top-selling models as some wholesale distributors are allegedly hoarding stocks in anticipation of increased prices by March-end due to production cuts in the factories of coronavirus-hit China, retailers and analysts said. Brands though said they had not faced such complaints so far, but were watching the unfolding situation closely.

“We understand that there is hoarding of top models of fast-moving brands, especially in the below $150 segment, in anticipation of a price rise,” said Upasana Joshi, an associate research manager at International Data Corporation, India.

None of the smartphone brands have yet officially increased the prices for their devices except for Xiaomi, which raised the price of the Redmi Note 8 by Rs 500 in February. However, offline retailers in a few places are unofficially selling some devices at a 2-3% premium, Joshi said.

“We are unable to fetch some models from wholesalers such as the Oppo Reno series, Oppo A1 and the Vivo V series besides Apple’s iPhone 11,” said a Delhi-based retailer who did not wish to be named. “But, we can’t increase price beyond a certain point as customers can easily buy the device online at the official price,” he added.

Brands said while they had not yet seen any instance of hoarding, they would take action against anyone doing so.

“As of now, we have been able to meet the demand of the Indian consumer by ensuring consistent stock of most models. We try to avoid the situation where retailers need to hoard the supplies of our phones,” a Vivo spokesperson said in response to ET’s queries.

A Xiaomi spokesperson rejected any possibility of hoarding, saying: “If such a thing would be happening, we would know by our daily sales reports.”

At Wuhan, the Chinese city that is the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak, major component factories are running at 40% of their capacity. Although the extended Lunar New Year holiday ended on February 9, workers still haven’t returned to work, according to reports.

Market intelligence firm TechArc estimates prices could rise 6-7% for top models of select brands if the disruption in supply chain continued at current levels.

“Buyers may be hit by price shocks during April-June as inventories will dry up by then due to lower imports on account of the extended Chinese New Year holiday in February,” TechArc research director Faisal Kawoosa said.

Though major Chinese brands including Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus assemble their devices within India, they are heavily dependent on China for parts such as display, battery, memory and printed circuit boards.

Besides these, Apple’s latest models including the iPhone XR and iPhone 11 are entirely shipped from China.

The brand does not modify prices as per demand-supply equation and thus the attempt to hoard becomes irrelevant, a person aware of company’s strategy said.

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New Post has been published on https://magzoso.com/tech/the-best-smartphones-of-2019-gadgets-360s-highest-scoring-reviews/

The Best Smartphones of 2019 – Gadgets 360’s Highest Scoring Reviews

Here at Gadgets 360, we see hundreds of new smartphones launched each year, and we manage to put quite a lot of them through our thorough, time-consuming review process. We check each of these phones for multiple parameters, we run several formal tests, and we use them like we would use our own devices just to that we can help you understand what it might like to own it. We look at physical construction quality, specifications, features, software, usability, heat, weight, battery life, photo and video quality, gaming performance, screen and speaker quality, multitasking, aesthetics, ergonomics, innovations, and much, much more. It takes a lot to be the best mobile phone, especially in the explosive Indian market.

Not all devices pass through our labs with high marks on their report cards, but there are a few models each year that truly impress us. These might be devices that introduce brand new features, or raise the bar in terms of form and function. They might bring capabilities that were previously restricted to expensive phones to much more affordable levels. They might even just be really fun to use.

Do keep in mind that we score each smartphone at the time of its review based on multiple factors including the state of the market and competitive landscape. The prices of some of these models might have fallen, newer competition might offer better value, and some might have been replaced already.

Here are the best phones that we reviewed all year. These are the ones that scored the highest across multiple criteria in our reviews during the course of 2019, in no particular order. Which one do you think was the best smartphone of the year? Do let us know in the comments section. 

Samsung Galaxy Note 10+

We reviewed the Galaxy Note 10+ (Review) at the time of its launch and asked ourselves whether the idea of a high-end phone with a stylus was still relevant, and whether Samsung had made its latest flagship too big. We concluded that while this model isn’t for everyone, it definitely offers unique capabilities and delivers all the features anyone could want in a high-end phone. It also looks stunning, takes great photos and video, and has software that makes good use of the S-Pen.

OnePlus 7T and OnePlus 7T Pro

OnePlus has now broken into the premium price bracket and isn’t quite the “flagship killer” brand it used to be. The OnePlus 7T Pro (Review) and even the  OnePlus 7T (Review) are more expensive than we would have liked, but we can’t deny that they have great features including 90Hz displays, excellent software, and top-end processors. The cameras could use some improvement and wireless charging is long overdue, but these are both still great phones. We do think that the OnePlus 7T offers better value than the 7T Pro, and the differences between them are relatively minor.

Asus ROG Phone 2

The second-gen ROG Phone 2 (Review) is a powerful, feature-rich phone with some of the best specifications we’ve ever seen, and the entry-level variant is priced fairly reasonably. Standout features include its 120Hz screen refresh rate, aggressive styling, comfortable side-mounted Air Trigger buttons, and wide variety of gaming-specific accessories. More standard phone features such as the cameras and battery life also impressed us. If you want a premium phone primarily for gaming, this could be the one for you.

Realme 3 Pro

Realme launched the 3 Pro earlier this year, and it has already been superseded by the Realme 5 Pro (Review), as well as to some extent the Realme XT. All these models are very strong contenders at their price levels, but the Realme 3 Pro (Review) really stood out at the time we reviewed it for the capabilities it offered for under Rs. 15,000. This phone has spent plenty of time on our lists of recommended models, and it continues to be a decent option which now starts at less than Rs. 10,000.

iPhone 11

Apple’s new naming strategy for the iPhone 11 series makes this model feel less like a low-cost alternative and more like the mainstream option. The iPhone 11 (Review) replaces the popular iPhone XR (Review) and adds a second wide-angle rear camera, faster A13 bionic processor, and better battery. Sadly the screen is still quite low-res, and you still get a terribly slow charger in the box, but the pricing isn’t too bad – for a current-gen iPhone, that is. If you need to upgrade from an older iPhone but can’t spend on the Pro models, this is a great option.

Redmi K20 Pro

Xiaomi decided to take another stab at the premium market after focusing exclusively on budget phones for a while, and the company impressed us with the Redmi K20 Pro (Review). This phone comes in well under Rs. 30,000 but offers loads of top-end features including a Snapdragon 855 processor, notchless screen with a pop-up front camera, and in-display fingerprint sensor. Performance in our tests was great, and the cameras proved to be versatile.

Oppo Reno 10X Zoom Edition

Not only does this phone offer top-end specifications at a reasonable price, it also has one of the only optical zoom cameras in the industry. Sure, that makes it thicker and heavier than most of its competitors, but there’s nothing quite like being able to capture extreme amounts of detail from a huge distance. The rest of the Oppo Reno 10X Zoom Edition’s (Review) cameras also impressed us, as did its screen and overall performance. The annoying ad-infested software was our biggest problem with this phone.

Redmi K20

The non-pro Redmi K20 (Review) disappointed a lot of people who were expecting it to cost less than Rs. 20,000, but Xiaomi designed around specifications, not budget with this model. The launch price was more than fair considering the performance, features, and cameras it has. Highlights include a notchless AMOLED display, excellent battery life, pop-up front camera, and attention-grabbing design. What’s more, it now sells for just under Rs. 20,000.

Samsung Galaxy S10+ and Galaxy S10

These non-identical twins were two of 2019’s earliest flagships and still stand out for their style, features, and performance. They have the same specifications apart from screen size, battery capacity, and the fact that the larger model has a secondary depth camera in the front. The Galaxy S10+ (Review) was technically Samsung’s best model, but many might prefer the size and feel of the Galaxy S10 (Review). Both have excellent rear cameras, gorgeous displays, powerful processors, and large batteries. Both are also built incredibly well and offer all the top-end flagship features you could want.

Realme X and Oppo K3

Only recently superseded by the new Realme X2, the Realme X (Review) was launched in July this year to give buyers premium features in the sub-Rs. 20,000 space. Highlights of this phone included its pop-up front camera, notchless OLED display with an embedded fingerprint reader, and modern styling. The hardware reasonably powerful too, including the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 processor and up to 8GB of RAM with 128GB of storage, but sadly there was no microSD card slot. The virtually identical Oppo K3 (Review), from sister company Oppo, unsurprisingly scored just as well too.

Samsung Galaxy S10e

The most affordable of Samsung’s Galaxy S10 family, the Galaxy S10e (Review) has also earned itself a fan following for its compactness and practicality. This phone offers nearly all the power and features of its more expensive siblings including the selfie camera embedded in a hole in the screen. You do lose the in-display fingerprint sensor and optical zoom camera, the screen isn’t quite as sharp, and you can’t get as much RAM or storage. The cameras on this phone are still versatile and deliver great quality, though. We had no complaints with performance or battery life either.

iPhone 11 Pro Max

Apple’s big, bold, expensive flagship phone for 2019 has a controversial camera module design, and most people would consider it overpriced, but it is the best of the best that Apple has to offer. Performance and battery life for the iPhone 11 Pro Max (Review) are both outstanding and the display is superb despite the now-outdated notch. The three rear cameras deliver brilliant photos, even at night. You won’t easily find this phone discounted even months after its launch, but the slightly more affordable iPhone 11 Pro offers identical features and hardware other than screen size and battery capacity.

Realme X2 Pro

Realme stepped outside its usual budget segment with the Realme X2 Pro (Review), which offers flagship-class features starting at just under Rs. 30,000. Competing with OnePlus and Xiaomi, the Realme X2 Pro boasts of a Snapdragon 855+ processor, 90Hz AMOLED screen, and support for 50W fast charging. There are four rear cameras and a tiny waterdrop notch for the front one. In effect, this is a more affordable version of the OnePlus 7T. Although not without a few issues, this is a solid high-end smartphone for those on a budget.

Honourable mentions

Redmi Note 8 Pro and Redmi Note 7 Pro

Although it didn’t score as well on our scale as the phones listed above, there’s no denying that the Redmi Note 8 Pro (Review) is a tremendously popular phone and offers excellent value for money. Before it, the  Redmi Note 7 Pro (Review) caused a sensation in India for the same reason. Twice, Xiaomi managed to defy our expectations of what’s possible for a phone priced under Rs. 15,000. We’d still like just a little more polish to the software and cameras, but both models are still phenomenal budget phones.

Vivo U20

Vivo’s march into the online-first low-cost phone space has earned it many new fans, although the new Vivo U10 (Review) and Vivo U20 (Review) also make the company’s other offerings look overpriced by comparison. The U20 especially delivered highly competitive specifications and features, and marks a new beginning for the popular company in India – while keeping Xiaomi and Realme on their toes.

Samsung Galaxy M40

Samsung tried taking back the market this year with its low-cost A-series and M-series devices, and we’ve had positive impressions of most of them. The company finally decided that it needed to take on Xiaomi and others at their own game, and even though its prices haven’t been as low, the Samsung brand is enough to convince many people to choose one of these models. The Galaxy M40 (Review) stood out from its siblings at the time of its launch because of its modern design, great battery life, and good performance. The cameras were disappointing and we would have liked a bit more finesse, but Samsung is definitely still in the game.

[wirelesssolutionsny]

One plus 5t came with lots of updates ever since it has launched, yet it is receiving many complaints in the oneplus forum. Although it is a good option for replacing by 3T or 5 yet some issues should be taken into consideration.

[savetopnow]

2018-03-28 06 TECH now

TECH

Ars Techica

Rare cancels planned Sea of Thieves “death cost” after player complaints

“Google’s use of the Java API packages was not fair,” appeals court rules

What lies beneath: The things Facebook knows go beyond user data

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PSA: Instagram Uses All Your Facebook Data, Too

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The Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower Claimed Employees Of Peter Thiel's Surveillance Company Saw Their Data

Democrats Know Hackers Will Be Back In 2018. The Problem? Forcing Campaigns To Care.

CNet

OnePlus 6 faster than the Galaxy S9? This benchmark says so - CNET

Jaguar and Waymo just made the I-Pace autonomous video - Roadshow

FBI asked Apple to unlock iPhone before trying all its options - CNET

Uber ceases self-driving car testing in California - Roadshow

How to watch the entire Apple iPad education event - CNET

Clean Technica

2018 CleanTechnica Car of the Year Is … (You’ll Never Guess)

Vestas To Test Solar & Wind Hybrid System In Spain

Asian Hercules III Completes First Offshore Suction Bucket Jacket Foundation Installation — It’s Cooler Than It Sounds

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Windows 7 patch for Meltdown enabled arbitrary reads and writes in kernel memory

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Mashable

Louisiana family uses a giant alligator to reveal their baby's gender and it does not go well

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Walmart makes sad attempt to join the #MeToo movement by removing 'Cosmo' from its checkouts

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Motherboard

Facebook Is Being Sued for Discriminatory Ad Targeting

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FBI Barely Tried to Hack San Bernardino iPhone Before Going To Court With Apple

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Apple Unveils New iPad to Catch Google in the Classroom

Facebook’s Zuckerberg Said to Agree to Testify Before Congress Over Data Privacy

Breitbart, Facing Headwinds, Tries a New Tack: Live Events

China’s Space Station May Crash to Earth on April Fools’ Day

Recode

Apple wants to sell more iPads to schools, but Google already owns the education market

The head of Twitter’s Niche talent service is leaving, and Twitter is already looking for a replacement

Chipmaker Nvidia is suspending its self-driving testing after Uber’s fatal crash

Facebook won’t say if Mark Zuckerberg will testify before Congress

Apple’s education event: Live notes

Reddit Technology

AT&T/Verizon lobbyists to “aggressively” sue states that enact net neutrality

Cambridge Analytica whistleblower says his predecessor was allegedly poisoned and police bribed

Mozilla launches Facebook Container Add-On for Firefox that isolates the Facebook identity of users from rest of the web activity

Firefox extension keeps Facebook from tracking you on the web

Bank of America cuts Facebook stock forecast for second time in 5 days, this time for FTC data probe

Reuters Technology

Lyft co-founder: Fatal Uber crash should have been prevented

U.S. opens probe into fatal Tesla crash, fire in California

Facebook's Zuckerberg to testify before U.S. Congress: source

Waymo steps toward a more diverse robo-taxi fleet with Jaguar deal

NuTonomy resumes autonomous vehicle testing in Boston: CEO

Slashdot

An Apple Facility That Repairs iPhones in California Won't Stop Calling 9-1-1 -- and Nobody Knows How To Stop It

AT&T/Verizon Lobbyists To 'Aggressively' Sue States That Enact Net Neutrality

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The Next Web

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Apple announces Classkit, an app framework for classroom surveillance

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In U.S. Brawl With Huawei, Rural Cable Firms Are an Unlikely Loser

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The Life Issue

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The Uber Crash

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Raise Your Glasses

[shah2323-madtitan]

The OnePlus Nord will come with a 5G-ready Snapdragon 765G SoC - Notebookcheck.net

The OnePlus Nord will come with a 5G-ready Snapdragon 765G SoC  Notebookcheck.net

Exclusive: How the bizarre OnePlus Nord name was conceived  TechRadar

Moto G 5G specs leak, Plus variant also coming - comments  GSMArena.com

OnePlus Nord pre-orders sell out almost immediately amid complaints from fans; Snapdragon 765G, 5G and a flagship-level camera confirmed for under US$500  Notebookcheck.net

Carl Pei explains meaning behind “Nord” name  gizmochina

View Full coverage on Google News

source https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiamh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm5vdGVib29rY2hlY2submV0L1RoZS1PbmVQbHVzLU5vcmQtd2lsbC1jb21lLXdpdGgtYS01Ry1yZWFkeS1TbmFwZHJhZ29uLTc2NUctU29DLjQ3ODU3Ni4wLmh0bWzSAQA?oc=5 The OnePlus Nord will come with a 5G-ready Snapdragon 765G SoC - Notebookcheck.net Technology via exercisesfatburnig.blogspot.com https://ift.tt/3dPw6Zb

[tech-battery]

OnePlus 8 review: Thinner, lighter, and prettier than the Pro

After announcing the OnePlus 8 family a couple of weeks ago, the company released the two handsets this week. While we reviewed the OnePlus 8 Pro flagship last week, it's now time to turn our attention to its non-Pro sibling, the OnePlus 8.

While the Pro is only available unlocked from OnePlus and Amazon, the OnePlus 8 is the one that you'll actually be able to get from carriers, including T-Mobile and Verizon. And since the OnePlus 8 5G UW is sold on Verizon, that makes it the only model that supports both sub6 and mmWave 5G.

Starting at $699, this is definitely the more mainstream version of the OnePlus 8 series, missing out on things like wireless charging and a 120Hz refresh rate on the display. It's still pretty awesome though, with a 90Hz OLED screen, and a particularly sexy Interstellar Glow color.

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Pricing is $699 for the model with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, or $799 for 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. The Verizon variant is a bit more expensive at $799 for the 128GB model, but that's also for better 5G support.

Design

As far as design goes, the OnePlus 8 is superior to the Pro, at least in my opinion. Right out of the gate, let's start with the color. The OnePlus 8 comes in a color called Interstellar Pro, and it's gorgeous. As I remarked in my review of the Pro, I can't believe they reserved it for the non-Pro. Interstellar Glow is the clear winner of the color selection.

Note that if you love the Glacial Green that the Pro does come in, you can get that too. Interstellar Glow is a mirrored color that has a rainbow-colored gradient, which changes based on how the light is reflected off of it. Even the reflections look beautiful.

Yes, it is a fingerprint magnet, and no, the matte Glacial Green is not. That's a matter of preference, whether you want the prettier one or if you want the one that's easier to maintain. You might end up using a case too, such as the new Glacial Green Sandstone case that OnePlus is offering.

It's not just the color that makes me like the design better though. The camera bump is much smaller. If you're not using a case on the Pro, it sticks out like a sore thumb. On the OnePlus 8, the camera bump is a little bit more subtle. Also, the handset as a whole has a slightly smaller footprint, making it easier to hold.

It's also thinner and 19g lighter. Actual usability is something that I feel like we don't talk about as much as we should. Sometimes we look for power, camera performance, sexy displays, and battery life without taking a look at what that does to the overall form factor. It's worth talking about now because with the OnePlus 8, it might actually be a proper balance.

On the bottom of the aluminum frame, there's a USB Type-C port for charging, a speaker grille, and a dual nano-SIM slot. The unit that I have is unlocked, so I can't confirm that the carrier models are dual-SIM, although they're almost certainly not.

On the right side of the device, there's a power button and a switch to turn notification sounds on or off. There are three settings: on, vibrate, and silent. It's a nice and easy way to adjust this, something that OnePlus has been doing for years now. Outside of the Android world, I've only ever seen this feature from Apple, and I wish more OEMs did it.

Finally, the volume rocker is on the left side of the device. Not much to talk about there.

90Hz Fluid AMOLED display

OnePlus used a 6.55-inch 90Hz FHD OLED display, as opposed to the 6.78-inch 120Hz QHD OLED screen that's found in the Pro. There's some good and some bad here.

The good is that I don't think that there's a noticeable difference between 90Hz and 120Hz, or between FHD and QHD. For years, we've been used to 60Hz screens, and the smooth animations on higher refresh rates make for a pleasant experience, but I really think 90Hz is fine. OnePlus is actually the first to popularize the feature too with last year's OnePlus 7 Pro. And like I said, I don't think anyone can really tell the difference between FHD and QHD on a screen this small.

OnePlus brought the 90Hz refresh rate to the non-Pro lineup with the 7T, but that screen was flat. Now, the edges are curved, so if you're a fan of flat screens, as many people seem to be these days, you're out of luck.

The screen is beautiful, just like the one on the Pro. It has vibrant colors, true blacks, and smooth animations. The bad is just that it seems to be a bit buggy. If you turn on Night Mode, there are some real scrolling issues. Text is impossible to read, icons look distorted when scrolling through the app drawer, and more. This even happens when scrolling slowly.

It really takes away from the smooth scrolling and animations that I expect from a 90Hz display, and from what actually does happen when Night Mode is off.

There's also no always-on display, which is a real shame. If you raise the phone, you'll see a UI like the one above, which means that you don't have to press the power button to use the in-display fingerprint sensor. OnePlus is adding an AoD though; it just hasn't said when.

I want to reiterate that it has an in-display fingerprint sensor, one of the fastest and most accurate on the market. This is important because premium smartphones from Apple and Google only have facial recognition, which is unusable these days if you have to wear a mask all the time.

Zen Mode

Like the switch to control notification sounds, Zen Mode is another unique feature that OnePlus offers. It debuted with last year's OnePlus 7 Pro, and what it does is it simply keeps you from using your phone. Last year, you could set it to work for 20 minutes, but you can now set it to 20, 30, 40, or 60 minutes.

All you can do while in Zen Mode is make emergency calls, receive calls, and access the camera. Notifications are muted, but you'll still get them if you're wearing a smartwatch, oddly enough.

Once you're in Zen Mode, there's no way out besides riding out the clock. Even if you restart the phone, that won't help.

Camera

The OnePlus 8 has a triple-lens camera system, but it's inferior to the OnePlus 8 Pro. The main sensor is a 48MP Sony IMX586, and while it has the same f/1.75 aperture, the sensor is smaller. That means that low-light performance isn't quite on par with the Pro. There's also no telephoto lens, including a 2MP macro lens instead. And finally, there's a 16MP ultra-wide sensor.

The main sensor does support 4K video capture at 60fps, but there's no 8K video recording like we've seen on various Snapdragon 865 devices so far this year. It's likely because OnePlus wanted to use quad pixel binning for better low light performance. The front camera is still limited to 1080p at 30fps.

The camera does promise 2x lossless zoom, even though there's no 2x zoom lens. That's just generally what you get from such a high-resolution sensor.

There's actually a lot that I like about this camera, considering the specs and what it's lacking when compared to the Pro. Low-light performance is OK, but Nightscape mode gets the job done. As was also my complaint with the OnePlus 8 Pro, low-light performance with the ultra-wide camera is terrible, and you can't compensate for it with Nightscape because the feature only works with the main sensor.

OnePlus also likes to release software updates to improve the product over time. We've already seen numerous camera improvements via updates, such as better focusing in low-light conditions.

Performance and battery life

As always, performance is solid. The OnePlus 8 includes the best Android chipset on the market, the Snapdragon 865, along with up to 12GB RAM and up to 256GB UFS 3.0 storage. OnePlus had actually sent me the 8GB RAM OnePlus 8 Pro, but the 12GB RAM OnePlus 8, so this thing felt blazingly fast at all times.

It also includes a Snapdragon X55 modem for 5G connectivity, although most models only support sub6 5G. To be completely honest, you won't notice a massive difference between this and 4G right now, but it should get better over time. T-Mobile is the biggest name in this arena right now, since it actually has a nationwide sub6 network.

Verizon is more focused on mmWave, although it does have sub6 coming later on this year. The problem with millimeter wave 5G is that it only works in line of sight with a base station. You'll only ever get it outdoors, and it won't even work while it's in your pocket. Real 5G is going to be a combination of sub6 and mmWave, and the only variant of the OnePlus 8 that actually supports that is the Verizon model.

Battery life is pretty good, getting through the day without issue under moderate usage. Obviously, it goes down if you use it a lot, and what I mean if that if you play games on your phone for a couple of hours on end, you'll have to charge it before the end of the day.

Warp Charge 30T is awesome. A half-hour charge will keep you going for a while. The real shame is that there's no wireless charging. Even if it didn't have the magnificent 30W wireless charging that's available on the Pro, I'd take 10W Qi charging just to keep it on the wireless charging pad on my desk all day.

For benchmarks, I used Geekbench 5, AnTuTu, and GFXBench. First up is Geekbench 5, which tests the CPU.

This isn't the first Snapdragon 865 device of the year, so I won't dwell on these scores that are nearly identical as the ones I got on the OnePlus 8 Pro, Galaxy S20+ 5G, LG V60 ThinQ 5G, and more. Next up is AnTuTu, which tests everything.

The overall score is similar to the 576,696 one I got on the OnePlus 8 Pro, but the Pro did a lot better in the UX (particularly User Experience) section, and it was made up for in the memory section. I wonder if the 12GB RAM Pro would have had a better score here. Anyway, next up is GFXBench, which tests the CPU.

Conclusion

I believe that the OnePlus 8 series includes two phones that are the best on the market right now. Apple's iPhones and Google's Pixels are non-starters without a fingerprint sensor, and I really couldn't stand Samsung's software or camera on the Galaxy S20+. Motorola's Edge+ is a great all-around package, but it's a Verizon exclusive.

If you ask me, the real decision is between the OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro. The Pro costs $200 more for similar specs. It's $699 and $799 for 8GB/128GB and 12GB/256GB on the OnePlus 8, respectively, and $899 and $999 for the OnePlus 8 Pro. What you get for that extra $200 is 30W wireless charging (10W if it's not OnePlus's own charger), a better camera with a telephoto lens, and a 120Hz display.

Whether those extra specs are worth it is up to you, but I really like the OnePlus 8. In fact, I almost like it more regardless of the price. It's thinner, lighter, and it has a smaller footprint. It's prettier with its Interstellar Glow color, and it has a smaller camera bump.

[ourredminote7review-blog]

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Review

The Redmi Note 7 is an affordable mid-range handset that serves up some flagship features, despite costing only £189. Its large, 6.3-inch screen sports a Full HD+ resolution, and with its water-droplet notch, it delivers an immersive experience that’s light on bezels. Also worth noting is the fact that the display is both bigger and sharper than the far pricier iPhone XR.

The huge 4,000mAh battery under the hood is also encouraging, putting it on a par with last-gen flagships, such as the Huawei P20 Pro. Unlike triple-camera smartphones, however, the Redmi features just two rear snappers.

In the hand, the Redmi Note 7 feels much like the Honor 8X, the budget king from 2018. With double the base storage capacity, USB-C, more pixels and a higher-capacity battery, could the Redmi Note 7 dethrone it?

Redmi Note 7 – Design The Redmi Note 7 doesn’t look as sleek as some of the curvaceous competition – the Honor 10 Lite, for example. Instead, its flat front and back interplay with a glossy plastic frame to deliver a solid slice of smartphone. It’s pretty big, too, with its 6.3-inch screen, but provided you’re okay with the size, there’s plenty to love here.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 front angled handheld

With its 19.5:9 screen and water-droplet notch, the Redmi Note 7 looks very “2019” from the front. All of its buttons sit along the right edge of the device and on the left is a dual-SIM tray that takes a microSD card, too – if you’re prepared to sacrifice one of the two SIM slots.

The phone’s high-gloss frame may be plastic but it feels super-solid, plus it houses a couple of nice surprises on its top edge: a headphone jack and an IR blaster. Down at its base, there’s a USB-C port as well as the mono speaker, while around the back of the phone is the dual camera module and a fingerprint scanner.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 microUSB angled handheld

What’s impressive about the Redmi Note 7’s design is that both its front and rear use Gorilla Glass 5, which make it instantly more resistant to scratches than plastic-shelled devices, such as the Huawei P Smart 2019. More impressive still – you get a case in the box.

Unlike flagships such as the Samsung Galaxy S10, the Redmi Note 7 isn’t IP-rated for water or dust-resistance but with it costing under £190, this is hardly a surprise.

Redmi Note 7 – Screen The Redmi Note 7 features a 6.3-inch, 1080 x 2340 IPS display. With its 19.5:9 aspect ratio, this puts it on a par with the likes of the Huawei P30 Pro and the OnePlus 7 for resolution and size.

What it lacks, however, is AMOLED screen technology – which means the display here doesn’t quite have the punch or pop of the aforementioned handsets. It also isn’t as bright as the P30 Pro or Galaxy S10 Plus at maximum brightness. Nevertheless, it’s still perfectly viewable outdoors in all but direct sunlight.

The screen’s viewing angles are excellent, retaining both clarity and colour integrity off-angle, and while the Note 7’s display has a slightly cool hue to it, white balance is customisable in the settings, so you can make it look just right for your eyes.

Related: Best cheap phones Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 front UI closeup angled handheld

The device’s 19.5:9 aspect ratio is among the longest out there, only bettered by Sony’s Xperia 10 series, the Xperia 1 and the forthcoming Motorola One Vision, with its screen to bezel ratio coming in at over 80%, which is hugely competitive. These factors make it a great choice for immersive movie-watching and playing games.

My only complaint is that the bottom corners are rounded. In addition, when a game goes full-screen, the UI hides the notch and creates right-angles at the top corners, causing a visual imbalance.

All things considered, however, the Redmi Note 7 is a joy to look at, swipe through and use day-to-day, with my main gripe actually referring to software optimisation, rather than screen quality itself.

Redmi Note 7 – Software The Redmi Note 7 ditches a stock Android 9.0 UI in favour of MIUI 10, as found on the Xiaomi Mi 9.

Running on top of Android Pie, it’s great to see the latest, widely available version of Google’s OS here; future-proofing and app support are both looking good for this mid-range contender.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 straight front handheld

The interface doesn’t offer an apps drawer. Instead, it opts for an iOS-esque setup. Shortcuts and widgets can be organised across your home screens; to the left of these is a utility display for quick access to features that Xiaomi believes users need to hand, such as a QR code reader, and there’s a pull-down notifications tray/quick toggle menu at the top of the screen.

The phone features plenty of customisation options throughout its interface. Navigation is controlled by gestures but you can reinstate the navigation bar, for example. In addition, a customisable power on/off schedule is available, as too is a password-protected virtual “Second Space” for sensitive information.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 OS screenshots

Related: Best Android phones It feels as if Xiaomi’s UI is where Huawei’s was about a year ago in terms of polish. It’s totally usable, stable, and some of the unique touches are handy. That said, on occasion, experiences can be a bit rough around the edges.

Redmi Note 7 – Performance With a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor combined with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, the Redmi Note 7 sports mid-range power paired with flagship-comparable room for your apps and media.

In my time with the device, it never felt underpowered. Day to day interactions were a joy, whether swiping through Xiaomi’s skin or a custom launcher. Even tasks such as picture-in-picture video and split-screen multitasking didn’t grind the phone to a halt, making the sizeable display a delight.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 front UI closeup angled upright

In addition, jumping in and out of the camera doesn’t leave you hanging, and neither does taking a picture, despite the 48 megapixels of information processed each time you take a snap. This means that, for all basic tasks, the Redmi Note 7 has you covered from a performance point of view.

More surprisingly, gaming is also a treat. A key consideration for gamers is storage capacity and the phone’s 128GB of internal space is ample.

Power is also up to the task. While the Redmi Note 7 might not benchmark like a flagship, for well-optimised 3D titles such as Injustice 2 it’s as smooth as butter. What’s more, we were able to power through an hour of gaming without draining the battery dry – more on that later.

The onboard storage can also be bumped up by 256GB with a microSD card and the dual-SIM functionality will be perfect for any jet-setters.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 gaming

With a multi-core Geekbench score of 5510, it’s significantly less powerful than its flagship sibling, the Snapdragon 855-toting Mi 9, which scored 10,971. Having said that, it isn’t too far behind the Google Pixel 3, which for the price, isn’t bad going at all.

The phone also features biometric security in the form of a fingerprint scanner and RGB face unlock, with both working well in our experience.

Call quality didn’t leave us with any complaints, and as for the mono loudspeaker, it’s perfectly audible – but very easy to cover up. The lack of NFC, however, is an omission you really feel in today’s contactless world. Meanwhile, the rest of the connection set – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, 4G and the IR blaster – are stonking for the price.

Redmi Note 7 – Camera The Redmi Note 7’s dual rear snapper has a 48-megapixel (f/1.8) primary camera and a 5-megapixel (f/2.4) depth-sensor module. Matched with phase-detection autofocus, the only features it’s missing when compared to flagship dual cameras appears to be OIS (optical image stabilisation) and laser autofocus.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 back top half angled handheld

Despite this, the quality of pictures taken on the Redmi Note 7 is seriously impressive, making it easily one of the best sub-£200 options around.

The primary sensor may be 48 megapixels in resolution but pictures are rendered at 12 megapixels unless you hit the override switch in Pro mode. This lower-resolution image benefits from pixel binning, a technique that combines information from multiple pixels to create a better, albeit lower-res image.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 camera sample high contrast outdoorsXiaomi Redmi Note 7 camera sample white flowers outdoorsXiaomi Redmi Note 7 camera sample white flower indoorsXiaomi Redmi Note 7 camera sample macro indoors

In good light, detail captured by the Redmi Note 7 is superb. Even when you pinch into shots you’ve taken, things hold up well; contrast isn’t too heavy-handed, so you still get nuances breaking through in darkest and lightest areas.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 camera sample high contrast water outdoors

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 camera sample cat indoorsXiaomi Redmi Note 7 camera sample low light indoors

Colours are sometimes a touch overzealous, and dynamic range isn’t mind-blowing when HDR (high dynamic range) is turned off but you can fire up Auto HDR or just leave it on for markedly better results. Jump into the settings and you can also customise saturation and contrast levels, which is a nice touch.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 camera sample colourful flowers indoors

There are also a healthy number of shooting options – although, admittedly, there isn’t anything out of the ordinary. These include Night, Panorama, AI, Portrait and Pro mode. The Portrait mode doesn’t allow for refocusing after the shot is taken, as found on Huawei phones, and its bokeh effect is subtler, too; nevertheless, it creates a sharp, realistic-looking shot.

Related: Best camera phones Not surprisingly, middling to low-light environments are a big ask for the Redmi Note 7. It doesn’t perform badly per se, capturing atmospheric night shots, especially in the dedicated Night mode. However, it struggles in low light scenarios with bright spots. Here, you can really tell you’re not firing on flagship cylinders, with phones such as the Pixel 3 XL confidently stepping ahead.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 front camera closeup angled handheld

As for the 13-megapixel (f/2.2) selfie camera, daytime shots look good although dynamic range struggles with backlit scenes. The Beauty mode isn’t overbearing by default, flattering rather than just flattening subjects. It can also be dialled up and down, which is welcome.

Detail in pictures is fair, although it dwindles in low light as noise creeps in. Luckily for selfie fans, the screen can double up as a flashlight, which helps resulting images.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 camera sample selfie

Video is recorded at up to Full HD resolution, and captures a superb level of detail, especially in good light. Stabilisation is also solid, despite the lack of OIS – although, naturally, with no zoom lens pinching into a subject results in image degradation.

Indoors, and in darker conditions, things start to crumble – which is exactly what we’d expect. Irrespective, the Redmi Note 7 still outperforms most smartphones in its price category from both a stills and video point of view.

Redmi Note 7 – Battery life The Redmi Note 7’s battery life impresses. At 4000mAh, it’s at the upper end of battery capacities in current smartphones, bettered only by a handful of handsets, including the Moto G7 Power.

The phone was easily able to make it through a full day of relatively intensive use and fared well in my rigorous tests. Over an hour of gaming, an hour of screen-off music playback and an hour of streaming video at 60 percent brightness saw the battery meter drop down to 60 percent.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 side angled handheld

There are power-saving tools to help it along, from Adaptive Battery, which limits battery usage for apps that aren’t frequently used, through to battery optimisation. This scans the Note 7 and identifies apps and services that are especially power hungry, then shuts them down.

There’s no wireless charging – nor would we expect there to be at the price. The lack of fast charger in the box is a bit more of a sticking point, however; from empty, the Redmi Note 7 takes just over 2 hours to fully charge with the supplied 10W power brick.

This is definitely something you’ll want to bear in mind. If you don’t want to get caught out, pick up an 18W charger if you don’t have one already.

Why buy the Redmi Note 7? The Redmi Note 7 is an excellent all-rounder. It offers superb value and is incredibly easy to recommend thanks to its solid build, great screen, smooth UI and impressive camera and battery life.

Alternatives include the Nokia 7.1, which costs around the same but delivers a slightly more expensive, compact in-hand feel. It also runs with stock Android but with just 32GB storage and an inferior camera, it won’t have the Note 7’s appeal for gamers or photographers.

Alternatively, the Honor 10 Lite costs a little less and has a more polished interface in the form of EMUI 9. The smaller, more ergonomic design might also appeal to many but with 64GB storage – half that of the Note 7 – and less power under the hood, gamers are again likely to prefer the Note 7.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 back bottom half angled handheld

Another alternative that packs incredibly good battery life thanks to a monstrous 5000mAh cell, coupled with faster charging, is the Moto G7 Power. It delivers a more stock version of Android 9, and so will appeal to purists. With all that power comes a fair bit of extra heft, though; plus the single camera doesn’t stack up to the Redmi Note 7’s dual snapper.

Finally, the Samsung Galaxy A7 is one of the only phones currently under £220 that features an AMOLED display and a triple camera. In turn, you get more punch from the screen and an optional wide-angle lens too. Where it falls behind the Note 7, is in terms of battery life, storage, power and performance from the primary camera.

All that accounted for, the Redmi Note 7 is one of the best devices available this side of £200. Provided you’re okay with Xiaomi’s UI and the lack of NFC, everything else about it is either good or great.

Verdict Impressive performance and battery life combined with a stellar camera for the price, ensuring that despite a couple of weak spots, the Redmi Note 7 is an excellent value smartphone.