Phone Reviews

I've been using the OPPO F11 Pro for a few weeks, and I've come to the conclusion that we've reached peak smartphone. For the average smartphone user, we've reached a point at which there's really not a significant amount of difference between features in modern smartphones - even across price segments. The OPPO F11 Pro is a perfect example of this, as it's called a "midrange" phone while it operates with top-tier abilities in all areas of any extreme importance.

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It's not hard to imagine Huawei gloating over its foes. It has been belittled, ridiculed, suspected, rejected, and even sued. But now it has come out with what is possibly the best premium smartphone this year so far. That is especially true if you're the type that lives and breathes mobile photography. But does the Huawei P30 Pro really live up to the hype that Huawei and first reviewers have built up? We give it a good SlashGear test to see, hear, and feel how Huawei's greatest stands against Samsung's and Apple's champions.

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Just last week, Huawei unveiled its new P30 series. While it shares many traits in common with the Samsung Galaxy S10, it quickly took the smartphone camera crown. So why review an Honor phone that launched months ago? For the simple reason that the Honor View 20 is a prime example of how you don't have to break your bank just to get some of the best that the smartphone market has to offer. Provided, of course, you're willing to accept some compromises here and there.

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The Samsung Galaxy S10 doesn't fold, it doesn't have 5G - not quite yet, anyway - and it looks a whole lot like the Galaxy S9 from last year, but none of that precludes it from being the smartphone to beat in 2019. While curiosities like the Galaxy Fold may be teasing unusual form-factors, and next-generation 5G networks promise ridiculous speed for those lucky few in launch markets, the Galaxy S10 and S10+ bring their formidable talents to bear on the mainstream.

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Honor, an independent Huawei subsidiary, is well-known and well-loved for offering high-end specs, higher than Xiaomi's, at lower prices. In some cases, it almost rivals its parent by putting almost the same specs and features as, say, a P or Mate series into a more affordable package with only a few compromises. That said, it also has room for smartphones a little lower down the ladder for those with even tighter budgets. The Honor 10 Lite is the latest in that roster and we take it for a spin to see whether it cuts off too many corners in the process.

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The Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 review you're about to read is centered on battery life, real-world use, and long-term viability. Some of this will need to be estimated based on the amount of time we've had the device thus far - we've not yet had the Mi Mix 3 for a long term. As we continue to use the Mi Mix 3, we'll continue to update the review.

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Some say that innovation isn’t a matter of creating something completely original because almost nothing these days is. Instead, it’s about taking existing things and mixing them together in a new and exciting way. If that’s true, then the Vivo NEX Dual Display Edition, the mouthful formal name of what most will probably simply call the Vivo NEX 2, is perhaps one of the most innovative smartphones these years. Or at least that’s the claim that we’re now putting to the test.

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The LG V40 ThinQ is a unique smartphone because of its multiple alternate trajectories in smartphone trends. This is a phone that amps up everything I loved about the LG V35 (my favorite phone of 2018). Instead of running with the trends of one smartphone company or another, LG seems to have done a professional job of pinpointing the best elements available in the hardware industry today - creating, in the process, one of what's easily one of the most impressive phones of the tail end of this year.

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The Razer Phone 2 once again offers a unique smartphone package to a still-stagnant smartphone market. We're no longer in a place where there's a massive number of people looking to buy their first phone (in the USA, anyway), we're at the point at which most people have had a couple smartphones - or more - in their adult lives. Now's the time to release something different - something that takes a chance with hardware design and features that appeal to some, but not all.

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We’re entering a period of change in the smartphone market. The boundaries between premium and midrange phones are blurring and features once reserved for more expensive products have become available even on cheaper ones. Previously “mid-range” phones are also getting more premium prices. No where is that delightful confusion more applicable than with the OPPO R17 Pro, the latest from the acclaimed Chinese smartphone maker. It definitely looks premium and sounds premium but is just a few steps shy of being the perfect smartphone you can get on a tight budget.

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The quest for “edge to edge” bezel-less screens have forced smartphone makers to search for solutions to a problem of their own making. Unless you completely ignore it the way Samsung does (at least for now), there is no escaping the notch, a.k.a. the cutout, in its various shapes and sizes. Some, like Vivo and OPPO, have briefly toyed with and quickly abandoned the idea motorized elevating front cameras. Others, like Meizu and ZTE’s nubia, ditched the front camera entirely but put a second screen on the back instead. Another path, which may still gain some traction, is the one taken by Honor in the Honor Magic 2. But no matter how the Huawei sub-brand spins the narrative towards AI and cameras, there will be little doubt in people’s minds: the slider takes center stage.

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2018 is perhaps one of Huawei's most exciting years yet. Almost like the script for a Hollywood blockbuster, the year began with a tragedy that seemed like a death sentence for the protagonist. It left its hero in a period of limbo, its future uncertain. But like the true star of its story, Huawei’s perseverance responded with vengeance, putting out smartphones that consumers will want to grab but, due to some circumstances beyond their control, cannot.

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