Phone Reviews

Throughout all the changes that smartphones have undergone through the years, one thing that has remained constant, a least in the past few generations, has been the focus on better cameras. Almost just as important as the software user experience, the ability of these personal computers in our pockets to create a visual record of our lives has proven to be of importance to people from all walks of life.

No smartphone maker has been able to turn a blind eye on that trend and this year, Vivo has gone all out on the X60 Pro+ and we take it for a test run to see if its combination of high-end sensors and the ZEISS name is all that it's cut out to be.

Continue Reading

2021 started with a bit of uncertainty, especially for the smartphone market. Has the economy recovered enough to take big risks in new products? Or are consumers still opting to make "safe" purchases of familiar and tested products? The one thing that remains unchanged even with the pandemic is people's needs for an accessible smartphone with top-notch cameras that can capture their memories in perfect detail and performance that goes beyond its price tag. That's what Vivo is promising with the Vivo X60 Pro, one of its first to be made in collaboration with famed optics company ZEISS, and we take an intimate look to see if it all checks out.

Continue Reading

The OnePlus 9 is very, very similar to the OnePlus 9 Pro. Today we're going to decide if it's worth buying one over the other - and if it's time to upgrade from an older OnePlus device. The OnePlus 9 Pro is approximately $240 more than the non-Pro device, comparing both devices with their lowest-tier base pricing. Both have the same display, Hassleblad branding, and a similar camera setup - so what's the difference?

Continue Reading

The OnePlus 9 Pro is a smartphone with a big, brilliant display and a high powered set of cameras. OnePlus 9 Pro is one of two devices, the other also called OnePlus 9 (without the Pro), with a price that's over $200 different - with specs to match. With a price starting at approximately $969 for the most basic OnePlus 9 Pro, we're expecting OnePlus to out-do itself on all fronts.

Continue Reading

OPPO has been expanding not just its product portfolio and international partners but also its presence in the global smartphone market. No longer just a brand associated with a Chinese company, OPPO's rise to the world's top five, racing against Huawei and Xiaomi, has not gone unnoticed by discerning consumers and market watchers. That progress didn't come easily as OPPO took calculated risks in developing new technologies and designs. Those risks and investments may have finally paid off with the OPPO Find X3 Pro.

Continue Reading

Samsung's Galaxy S21 Ultra is more affordable than last year's flagship, has more cameras, and adds an S Pen: on paper, at least, what's not to love? Setting the bar for smartphones in 2021, the daddy of the currently three-strong Galaxy S21 family promises more of that monstrously effective Samsung recipe: heap on the features until there really is something for everyone. Still, for all its merits, it's difficult not to see the Galaxy S21 Ultra as the evolutionary pinnacle of a species set to be replaced.

Continue Reading

In a year nobody could've predicted, where each day seemed hell-bent on eclipsing the former with fresh horror, surprise, or both, it's been tough to stand out as a category-defining gadget. The fact that the Galaxy Z Fold 2 managed to not only justify its existence as a $1,999 phone, but lay the groundwork for a whole new genre of foldable devices, is a testament to just how much Samsung got right in 2020. Despite what turned out to be largely self-imposed hurdles.

Continue Reading

As anybody who wished for a more eventful 2020 now knows, sweating the details is important. How else to describe the LG Wing, a rotating dual-screen curio that - even in a time of foldable smartphones - still manages to be an outlier. We asked LG for more interesting phone designs, but maybe we should’ve been more specific.

Continue Reading

We've reviewed our fair share of smartphones through more than a decade, most of them conventional while a few outliers to end up in our hands from time to time. Although by no means unusual or rare, rugged smartphones aren't exactly a staple in the consumer market, often reserved for industrial customers, nor do they often spark curiosity beyond their thick, rugged frames. Some do try to stand out from the crowd with some extra feature or utility. The new Doogee S96 Pro definitely fits that bill and we give it a hard look to see there's more to it than meets the eye.

Continue Reading

The next time someone tells you all new smartphones look the same, show them Planet Computers' Cosmo Communicator. Promising the typing convenience of a physical keyboard, the flexibility of dual-booting Android and Linux, and the pure geek-appeal of anything that looks like a laptop but still fits in a (large) pocket, it's a clamshell unlike pretty much anything else on the market.

Continue Reading

The iPhone 12 mini has no right being the cheapest model in Apple's iPhone 12 family. Sure, on paper you're spending the smallest amount on the smallest display, but - like the most engaging gadgets - the spec comparisons simply don't capture the true charm. It may be mini in your hand, but the iPhone 12 mini maxes out on appeal.

Continue Reading

Pictures don't quite prepare you for the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Apple's newest flagship sits at the top of a four phone family for 2020, and you could be forgiven for assuming that distinguishing between them would be tricky. The truth, though, is that the biggest of the iPhone 12 series - and indeed the biggest iPhone ever - stands out clearly, though in the process it forces you to decide just what your priorities are.

Continue Reading