Motorola moto g34 5G - Some Phones Just Feel Nicer

Over the years I have become a real phone snob. It's not my fault. When you review phones all the time you get to try the latest and greatest and that means you miss all those premium features if your daily handset doesn't have them.

Do I actually need a phone with a terabyte of storage, wireless charging and the ability to be dropped in the ocean and survive? Probably not.

But knowing there are other people out there using phones like that... well that just drives me crazy.

So it's easy for someone like me to slip into the mindset that no phone under $2000 is even worth taking out of the box.

This is, of course, ridiculous. Every now and then I need to give myself a couple of uppercuts, take a reality check and see just how far down the price-range I can go while still getting what I really need from a phone.

Turns out, it's pretty far.

The Motorola moto g34 5G retails for NZ$319.00. That's ten times less expensive than some phones I've reviewed.

Okay, I'm exaggerating. It's actually more than ten times less expensive than some phones I've reviewed.

And yet, I've been using it for a week or so now and you know what? My life is not ten times worse as a result. In fact, you could argue things haven't changed much at all.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Ironically, unlike many far more expensive handsets, the moto g34 ships with a 20W charger in the box. The bigger irony is the moto g34 is possibly the first phone I've ever reviewed to be packaged already in its included case. Don't get me wrong, I love it when a cover is included. Sure, it's a relatively basic, transparent TPU case with opaque edges but that's better than no case at all... Except... This phone has a vegan leather back which feels absolutely incredible in your hand. There's no way I'm depriving myself of that tactile experience by tucking it away in a plastic case.

I absolutely love holding this phone. There's a slight catch - in order to get vegan leather you have to opt for the Ocean Green variant. If you prefer the Charcoal Black option alas that only comes in a smooth, acrylic glass finish.

Either way, the handset is light and slim - the display is large but in a tall and skinny way which makes the phone easy to operate with one hand. It's a 6.5-inch LCD panel with a 120Hz refresh rate - I don't love an LCD screen on my phone because means it's hard to see when I'm wearing my polarised sunglasses however, that high refresh rate certainly belies the budget-friendly price-tag.

Which hints at quite a list of other "premium" features I was surprised to find... like NFC payment, a stereo speaker array and eSIM capability. Get used to this last feature - in places like America, many phones are now eSIM-only. However, this one still accommodates dual physical SIMs as well and you can add a microSD (up to 1TB) for extra storage space.

There's already 128GB built in - which is pretty much my bottom line for any phone now, otherwise you'll be scratching around for space to store your high-quality pics and vids.

I would have also said 8GB of RAM is my bare minimum these days but the moto g34 only rocks 4GB. Luckily, thanks to RAM Boost, the phone can use some of the available storage as virtual memory. This seems to work surprisingly well and while this is no gaming powerhouse, the only time I've experienced any major stutters or slow-downs is transitioning in and out of the Camera app.

Which is not to take anything away from the camera performance as a whole. Again, because of the moto g34's low price, I was bracing myself for substandard photo and video performance in anything but the most ideal of conditions. Yet sure enough, my expectations were exceeded by quite some margin. The moto g34 performs quite well in dim lighting and generally produces clear, bright, colourful shots.

Both the 50MP primary shooter and the 16MP selfie-cam consistently came up with the goods - it's always those split-second, spontaneous shots you only get one chance at that are the true test of a phone camera's performance. I thought this one of my "Wine-ing" dog came out pretty well.

Back to the camera app - although the phone is a little sluggish swapping between its live view and the camera roll, yet again there are some nice-to-have features here that actually work. There's a Dual Capture option that lets you shoot from both front and rear cameras simultaneously and there's even a Magic Eraser tool which I used to blot out a distractingly over-lit leaf on the right of this bunch of flowers.

I'm not much of a fan of macro lenses though - especially 2MP sensors like the one on the back panel here. We often find macro lenses like these on budget phones and I don't really know why - is it just to make the camera array look more impressive in a bit of "two lenses must be better than one" logic? Doesn't really bother me given the overall camera performance here is well above average - even the portrait shots I took looked pretty good to me.

Battery life is excellent. The 5000mAh cell gets me through two days easily, although that 20W charger doesn't juice things up particularly quickly. Unfortunately, wireless charging is one high-end feature this phone does not have. While that's a deal-breaker for me, most "normal" people don't seem to mind plugging in.

The moto g34 is also described as "water repellent". It's hard to know exactly what this means as it doesn't carry any IP rating and it certainly isn't submersible. I think the idea is it won't matter too much if you sweat, get rained on or accidentally spill a drink in its vicinity.

As for the My UX operating system, built over Android 14 - it's so stripped-back, it's barely noticeable - and that's just the way I like it. Most features and settings are easy enough to find and customise, although because of the display's tall 20:9 aspect ratio, there's only room for four icons across the home screen. It's a small niggle, but when you're used to five it's a tough decision which app you'll lose from your favourites bar at the bottom.

I'd like to be able to comment on the fingerprint and face unlock functions but for some reason my loan agreement forbade me to set these up so maybe they work, maybe they don't.

What does work is everything else - and it all works well. I never thought I'd be this satisfied with the performance, camera setup, look and feel of a sub-$350 handset, and yet, here I am. This is a phone that fits very nicely in my pocket.

    

Click here for more information on the Motorola moto g34 5G.

Samsung Galaxy A-Series (2024) - Spot the Difference

It's that time of year again... when it becomes a real challenge to understand the difference between all the phones Samsung has to offer.

By now the three Galaxy S24 flagships are well and truly out and about. They're pretty pricey though, so you might be considering the S23 FE from late last year as a more budget-friendly alternative.

Of course, if you want something bendy, the Z Flip and Fold are both great options, although there'll be new models out in a few months time.

And as if things weren't complicated enough, the 2024 A-Series has just hit the shelves. That's another six phones to add to the mix. Oh boy.

Samsung loaned me an A55 and an A35 for this review and i can tell you straight off the bat, the only thing that would keep me from buying either one for my own personal use is a lack of wireless charging. I'm afraid that's become a dealbreaker for me which is a shame because wireless charging seems to be one of the first "premium" features to be sliced off the list when manufacturers design a sub $1000 phone.

This year's A-Series handsets almost make up for it though by supporting 25W fast charging right across the range. Both my review devices had excellent battery life too - coasting through two full days on a single charge.

Both the A35 and A55 carry an IP67 dust and water resistance rating - that's pretty unusual for a phone in this price range. 

What I found even more unusual was how good the camera quality was - in both devices. While these phones obviously aren't capable of producing the unrivalled photo and video performance of their S-Series big brothers, they don't fall too far short. The main difference between camera arrays is the A55 has a 12MP Ultra-Wide sensor, while the A35's is only 8MP. The A55 also boasts an impressive 32MP selfie-cam, as opposed to just 13MP on the A35. That said, both rock a decent 50MP main shooter and both sport fairly advanced features like Super HDR Video, both optical and digital image stabilisation and advanced "Nightography" for better low-light shooting.

Neither device really offers the advanced on-device AI processing Samsung was so emphatic about with its S-Series launch at the beginning of the year but if you can do without live translation and AI-assisted Google searches, you can definitely save somne serious cash and still end up with a very decent phone.

At $NZ799.00 the A55 comes in Awesome Navy or Awesome Iceblue (which is really white with a slightly blueish tinge). It feels evey bit as premium in the hand as any other flagship that sells for more than twice the price. This is thanks to the glass back, metal rails around the edges and upgraded durability for the glass over the display.

Although the NZ$649.00 A35 is essentially exactly the same shape and also comes in Awesome Navy, its other option is Awesome Lilac and while it still has a glass back, the sides are plastic instead of metal. As you would expect, the chip on the A35 is a step down from the A55... but not that far down. In fact, it's the same chip that ran the A54 last year.

Confused yet? I don't blame you.

Perhaps the most confusing thing of all is although both these phones cost less than half of their S-Series stablemates, they're way better than half as good. I was expecting slow app launches, stuttering performance in the camera app and jittery tranistions between apps but I experienced none of that. Instead I got smooth, trouble-free performance, crisp, colourful displays and excellent video and photo quality - I'm not just talking above-average either.

Check out these shots from the A35 - taken at 1x, 2x and 3x zoom. They're very clear and true-to-life, even once the digital zoom takes over.

This next pic was from the A55 - successfully capturing every detail of both dog and heron in flight. (Don't worry, the dog didn't catch the heron!)

These phones also slot easily into the wider Samsung ecosystem. Thanks to the latest One UI operating system and updates to the Wear app and WearOS, swapping my Galaxy Buds Pro2 and Galaxy Watch5 from one Samsung phone to another is now quite painless - no resets required.

Slightly less painless is moving from physical sim to eSim - something I did earlier in the year when changing phone plans. This is where the A55 sets itself apart from the rest of the "A"s - it's the only one in the series that's eSim compatible, although the rest all have dual-sim trays that can also be used to expand storage using a microSD card.

Other than that, I found the user experience on both the A35 and A55 to be very similar - and that experience surprised me by just how good it was. That means Samsung has made life very hard for itself; both these phones come dangerously close to premium performance at a far lower-than-premium price tag. If you don't believe me, get to a local Samsung dealer and try them out for yourself. I'm confident you'll be just as impressed as I was at how well they stack up.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Samsung Galaxy A-Series (2024).

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra - AI On Another Level

So it's been tricky for the big phone brands for a while now. How do they really make a splash launching their new phones when they're usually pretty much like last year's with a faster chip and slightly better battery life?

There will always be tech-addicted early adopters who absolutely have to have the latest handset as soon as it comes out but convincing the rest of the market to upgrade requires a bit more incentive.

Starting from NZ$2,449.00, Samsung's latest flagship had better provide a damn good incentive indeed.

Unsurprisingly, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra doesn't look that different from the last couple of generations. It still boasts a 6.8-inch screen, still has a similar-looking camera array on the back and still supports the S-Pen stylus.

But this year, even those most obvious features have been given a decent tweak. The large QHD Dynamic AMOLED display is now completely flat; it seems the age of screens that curve away at the edges may be coming to an end - somewhat ironic given it was Samsung that introduced us to the concept of curvy screens some years ago, even naming these phones "Edge." Turns out, while those curves may look cool and feel nice - they actually make the phone harder to use, especially with a stylus. 

The upper (ear) speaker slot is pretty much invisible now, taking up virtually no screen space below the top bezel and the screen glass is a new concoction from Corning called "Gorilla Armour" - more resistant than ever against cracks and scratches to match the toughness of the new titanium frame.

The display is crazy bright too - clocking in at 2600nits compared to 1750nits on the S23 and S22 models.

The S-Pen now matches whichever colour of S24 Ultra you choose; Titanium Black, Titanium Grey, Titanitum Violet or Titanium Yellow. It also now has a flat head. See? Curves are so 2023.

And just when I thought I had a handle on how smartphone cameras work, Samsung has blown my mind by taking out the 10X zoom lens and replacing it with a 5X one. Don't panic, this has actually resulted in better close-ups. That's because last years zoom sensor was only 10MP - the 5X one on the S24 Ultra is 50MP. That significant jump in resolution combined with the sheer processing power of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chip adds up to some spectacular photographic wizardry.

Because of the way the S24 Ultra now uses multiple images from multiple sensors to create the absolute best photo possible, terms like "optical" or "hybrid" zoom have kind of lost their meaning. Enter the age of Galaxy AI.

While you still have easy access to a raft of "expert" settings if you so desire, that's way outside my area of expertise. I like to let the phone do the work for me and now that means an awful lot of work.

A few years ago, when Samsung first introduced 100X zoom it was really a bit of a gimmick. The images were usually too blurry to be of much use and that's if you could hold the phone steady enough to get what you were aiming for in shot at all.

That's all changed now. Can you see the crane across the gully from my house?...

No? Well, let's zoom in and see if we can find out who the construction company is...

Not bad, eh? The improved stabilisation makes long-distance zoom shots dramatically easier to take and the results speak for themselves. The really impressive thing about this new Galaxy AI is how fast it works on this phone. Not just when taking photos - and to be sure options like nighttime shooting are noticeably quicker - but also when editing.

Galaxy AI means a feature like object removal is almost instant, not just removing what you don't want but rebuilding the background to match.

When you have clumsy digits like mine, a thumb in shot always seems to happen just when you want it least. But with a few swipes, all fixed...

Oh, and I couldn't resist showing off the "Remove Relfection" option - check it out...

Before

After

Of course, there have been updates to the video settings as well. Most notably Director's View has been renamed Dual Record - previously it was possible to record a picture-in-picture video using the selfie cam and one of the forward-facing lenses. Now you can use a combination of any lens, giving you the option of shooting wide-angle and close-up simultaneously.

Using the built-in mics on your paired bluetooth earbuds for video is another useful new addition. And you no longer have to shoot in slow motion to watch your video in slo-mo. Just long-press your vid while it's playing and the action will slow down until you lift your finger. You can make this a permanent edit after the fact.

The large, flat, bright screen makes the S24 Ultra a fantastic gaming phone and it's one of the few to offer ray-tracing via its improved GPU for the most convincing graphics response you could ask for. Samsung has also completely revamped the cooling system, combining several layers of different cooling techniques to ensure maximum performance over even the longest gaming session.

And thanks to an impressive battery performance from the 5000mAh cell, that gaming session should definitely last the distance. Most nights I still have around 70% juice left when I put the S24 Ultra on to charge - that's almost unheard of from a high-demand, large-screen flagship like this.

Unfortunately, rumours of an upgrade to Qi2 wireless charging have proven to be unfounded. This would have opened the door to a whole new range of magnetic charging accessories and cases a-la a certain other successful brand of phones out of Cupertino - but we might have to wait for the S26 series before we can magnetise a wallet onto the back of our Samsungs.

But the big star of the S24 launch was Galaxy AI - and justifiably so. Want a live transcript of your meeting or lecture? Just select the shortcut from the pulldown menu on the notification bar.

Need a translator? There's another shortcut for that. Simply download whichever language pack you require and you'll have instant access to both written and spoken translations. There are currently 13 languages on offer, presumably with more on the way and thanks the the S24 Ultra's NPU, the translation happens on the phone itself - no data connection required. This might be pretty handy if you've just arrived in a strange country and you're trying to find out where to buy a local sim card. You can even live-translate your phonecalls which makes dealing with international business partners so much smoother. The potential productivity gains are pretty obvious.

Galaxy AI doesn't stop there. You can press that distinctive star logo to summarise emails, documents and web pages. You can even change the tone and format of your own messages - make your silly dad jokes sound more formal or instantly add all the appropriate emojis you can never remember how to find.

Thanks to Google Circle to Search, you can now highlight anything on screen to find out more about it online - again, this happens within seconds. For example, you like the look of the phone I'm holding in the video below? Bring up the Google prompt, circle the phone and you'll be presented with an instant list of places where you can buy the S24 Ultra.

Google and Samsung seem to have settled the double-up of Quick Share and Nearby Share and they've now agreed Quick Share is the way we'll transfer photos, videos and other files from device to device. In an uncharacteristically open-source move, you can now Quck Share via QR code, meaning even non-Android devices can also have instant access to your stuff.

While Samsung's latest flagship may not look dramatically different from its predecessors, its new Galaxy AI capabilities combined with the latest, most powerful Android SoC available mean the performance and useability of this device are worlds ahead of where we were twelve months ago. Language is no longer a barrier. Traditional phone-photography limitations like long-distance and low light have been well and truly overcome. Complicated photo and video editing is now user-friendly, fast and happens within the native apps already on the device. And apart from anything else, this is an attractive, durable handset with a class-leading display and excellent battery life.

Is it worth NZ$2449.00? Well... if any phone is, this one is.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Apple iPhone 15 Plus - You Don't Lose Much

This year I decided to take a slightly different approach to my iPhone reviews. Previously I've started with the base models and worked my way up to the Pros - seemed logical enough.

But for the 2023 offerings, I wanted to try things the other way around; start with all the bells and whistles on offer with the iPhone 15 Pro, then "downgrade" to the iPhone 15 Plus and see just how hard-done-by I felt without whatever it is you get for the extra money.

The results of this experiment really surprised me.

The base-model iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are identical in every way - other than screen and battery size. They both come in Black, Blue, Green, Yellow and now Pink - and this year the aluminium frame (coloured to match) has been slightly rounded at the edges to feel more comfortable in your hand. 

A bigger battery means a longer time between charges and that's definitely true when using the iPhone 15 Plus - with what I consider to be "typical usage" I could easily make it through two full days on a single charge. I don't think I've ever encountered battery life as good as that on an iPhone before.

By now it's been widely publicised all four models in the iPhone 15 range have ditched their lightning ports for USB-C charging instead. This is clearly far more convenient when it comes to how many charging cables you need to keep on hand and it also means a potential boost in charging times and data transfer speeds. Admittedly, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max phones offer even faster transfer speeds but unless you're regularly uploading large video files it won't matter much to you.

You can even use the iPhone 15 Plus to charge accessories like your Apple Watch or AirPods by plugging them directly into the new USB-C port - and with all that extra battery life on board, why wouldn't you?

The 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR display is obviously much larger than the 6.1-inch screen on the standard iPhone 15 - and it really depends on the user as to whether this is something you need. Sure it's great to be able to use bigger text and enjoy larger icons and widgets - especially for those of us who've reached a certain age where reading causes squinting. However, this is also no longer a handset that slides easily into the pocket. I don't find it overly heavy but its width and length mean I can still jam it into my jeans... but only just.

If you love gaming - or even just streaming - I'd suggest a display of this size is pretty much essential. It's crisp and clear, ramps up to an impressive 2,000 nits brightness in outdoor conditions and is protected by iPhone's unique Ceramic Shield - claimed to be tougher than any other smartphone glass and in my experience that seems to be spot on.

The only real display drawback with the iPhone 15 Plus versus the Pro is the refresh rate - 60Hz against 120Hz. Funnily enough, I've still found the screen on the 15 Plus to be fluid and responsive and even when racing through the events calendars on Asphalt 9 (my current obsession) I didn't feel like anything was underwhelming, display-wise.

This is probably due in no small part to the A16 Bionic chip running the whole show. Although this is not the chip inside this year's Pro models, it is what the 2022 iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max were built on which means that yes, it's a very powerful and efficient chip indeed. 

That also means the iPhone 15 Plus can do things only the Pro's could do last year, like Dynamic Island - the unique, interactive shortcut accessed by touching the front-facing camera cutout at the top of the screen. We've also seen an upgrade to second-generation Ultra-Wideband. That means better connectivity and greater precision when using Find My.

A great chip usually indicates great photo processing too - and the iPhone 15 Plus stacks up here as well. Although the primary shooter is still only a dual-lens array, you do now get a 48MP primary sensor and a 2x telephoto lens - and it doesn't end there. Just like the Pro models, this year the 15 Plus also lets you take portrait (bokeh) shots even when not in Portrait mode, simply by tapping the little "f" symbol in the bottom of the screen. 

While you don't have the new Macro option, or the ability to shoot and save "raw" images and video like you can with the Pros, you still get excellent low-light performance, Cinematic Mode from both front and rear cameras, a new smoother zoom wheel and Action Mode for pretty good digital stabilisation.

In short, other than not having the different lens and zoom options of the Pro models, I've found the photographic performance of the iPhone 15 Plus to be otherwise great.

In my iPhone 15 Pro review, I already touched on the major improvements Apple has made to the latest version of iOS - things like more interactive home screen widgets, better fitness and well-being apps and features like StandBy mode are of course, all on the iPhone 15 Plus too. However, there are certain limitations. 

For example, StandBy Mode - which automatically turns your phone screen into a bedside clock or media player when attached to a MagSafe charger horizontally - only shows for a few seconds before disappearing. This has something to do with iPhone 15 and 15 Plus not having Always On Display. Why don't they have Always On Display? No idea.

I feel like I asked a similar question this time last year when Apple introduced Dynamic Island - but only on the Pro models. Now we're seeing Dynamic Island on all four iPhone 15s it makes me wonder if AOD will follow suit next year. Who knows?

A cynical person might suggest Apple has kept features like this exclusively for the Pro models so they can justify the extra expense and entice customers to make the jump in price. Or it could just be the base model handsets are physically incapable of performing such tasks with their current hardware and if things change next year that means the nuts and bolts have upgraded too.

Whatever the case, I can honestly say I've thoroughly enjoyed using the iPhone 15 Plus, more or less directly after spending time with the Pro. This means it's difficult for me to mount a convincing argument to choose Pro or Pro Max unless you're super serious about photo and video content - and I do mean super serious because the camera performance of the iPhone 15 Plus definitely compares well in many departments.

Starting at NZ$1,849.00, this is hardly an entry-level device, obviously. But its powerful chip, large and stunning display and durable build definitely make it worth the investment.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Apple iPhone 15 Plus.

Samsung Galaxy S23 FE and Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE - It's All About the Chip

The Fan Edition has always been a bit of a weird concept to me.

What's the idea here? We have these devices everyone seems to like but they'd like them even better if they were cheaper?

This prompts the further question; how do we make them cheaper yet still keep the stuff people like most?

A couple of years ago, despite my scepticism, Samsung nailed this tricky balancing act with the Galaxy S21 FE.

At the time I really felt like I was using a genuine flagship device, despite the cheaper price tag.

However, there wasn't S22 FE in 2022 (sorry fans) perhaps due in part to how late the S21 FE was to hit the market. So late in fact, it ended up competing with the following year's S22 flagships. Whoops.

This year, Samsung has managed to drop a new Fan Edition with plenty of time to spare. What's more, there's not just a phone but a tablet and earbuds too.

Now the question is, will they be just as well received?

So first up, what are we dealing with? Well, basically it's a whole new ecosystem, just for fans; the Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Tab S9 FE, Tab S9 FE+ and Galaxy Buds FE.

I can't tell you much about the Galaxy Buds FE as I haven't seen or tried them yet but I do know they look quite different to other Samsung earbuds, they have Active Noise Cancelling and they're supposed be easier to hold and control.

This last feature looks promising because one criticism I have of the older Galaxy Buds2 Pro I've been using for this review is although they're very low profile, it's virtually impossible to put them in or out or adjust them without accidentally playing or pausing your media. The new FE design should sort this.

The new buds also claim "Seamless Pairing" - the ability to be paired with multiple Samsung devices simultaneously yet magically know which of them you're using at any given time. More on this feature shortly.

The Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ is fabulous. I'm not really a tablet guy but everyone has been raving about the 2023 line of Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 devices and now I have one I can see why. Samsung has pretty much owned the Android tablet space for several years now - combining superior stylus (S-Pen) technology with its desktop-like DeX Mode interface. 

Because Galaxy Tabs are Samsung, you're pretty much guaranteed incredible display quality and impressive audio performance too.

As far as I can tell, the main difference between the FE and FE+ versions of this tablet is screen size - 10.9-inches on the base model and a whopping 12.9-inches of bright, crisp, clear display on the Plus I've been playing with - and I do mean playing.

Not only have I enjoyed streaming video content on the Tab S9 FE+ but I've been giving Ashpalt 9 a pretty good bash too. The game flies along with no issues at all, looking and sounding fantastic. Although the screen only supports an adaptive refresh rate of up to 90Hz, I hardly noticed as I nitro-ed my way through the pack to win race after race.

The other thing many people have appreciated about the Tab S9 series is the IP68 dust and water rating - not many tablets boast that kind of durability and I was pleasantly surprised to discover the FE version is equally safe to use poolside.

To be honest, the more I use the Tab S9 FE+, the more I wonder what it doesn't do that its more full-featured and more expensive siblings can. Starting at NZ$849.00 for the base model, it's a great device.

Then we come to the star of the show, the Galaxy S23 FE.

Available in Mint, Cream, Purple and Graphite, it certainly looks the part with its modern, sharp edges and glass-covered back panel. Unfortunately, that makes it potentially less durable than the plastic-backed S21 FE from 2021 - and it's certainly bloody slippery to hold. It's Corning Gorilla Glass 5, both front and back but if it was my phone I'd be slapping a decent case on there before I even lifted it out of the box.

The triple camera array on the back also has a premium look to it - a combination of 12MP Ultra Wide, 50MP Wide and 8MP Telephoto lenses. That means you get 3x optical zoom on a midrange phone - not bad. Of course, you can zoom in even closer but there'll be a noticeable drop in quality - as demonstrated by these pics of the neighbour's cat.

Overall, I've been very impressed by what the camera setup is capable of. Many, if not most of the S23 flagship photo features are to be found on this phone too. Great digital stabilisation, Director's View - which lets you shoot from both forward and rear cameras simultaneously, Auto-Framing - to keep you in shot when streaming or video-chatting and Portrait Mode works just as well when using the 10MP selfie camera as it does with the primary shooter, blurring the background to your personal preference.

While I couldn't ask for more photographic performance - especially at this price, there is an issue. And it's one that holds this phone back across the board.

Many times when I've tried to open the camera app it's crashed or frozen - either from the quick launch icon on the lock screen or by double-clicking the power button (this is a customisable shortcut - a kind of "action button" if you will). This is pretty annoying, given the one thing I like to do with my phone is quickly snap off a few spontaneous pics when the muse takes me.

And it's not just when trying to get the camera going when I've run into trouble. Over the last few days I've encountered several lockups which require closing the app I'm using or turning off the screen and unlocking it again to get the phone to respond. 

It gets mysteriouser.

Yesterday while out walking, I had the S23 FE in my pocket, playing podcasts to my bluetooth-connected Galaxy Buds2 Pro. Suddenly the connection cut out and when I looked at the phone to see what was going on I was alarmed to see it had put itself into recovery mode and I had to reboot it to get it going again.

I can only put all these issues down to the chip; the Exynos 2200.

Not only is this last year's chip, it's not even the chip found in New Zealand's S22 handsets - they were lucky enough to sport the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 - generally agreed to be superior in most departments.

2023's S23 flagships were fitted with the updated Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 worldwide - more power, better graphics performance and significantly more efficient. So in effect, the Exynos 2200 running the S23 FE is at least two generations out of date... and I'm afraid to say it feels like it.

This is an otherwise cracking device - the screen looks amazing and with its variable 120Hz refresh rate should feel much more fluid than it does. 

I cranked up Asphalt 9 on this device too and again, it sounded very nice through the stereo speaker setup but it did stutter during gameplay from time to time.

The S23 FE has great features like face unlock and an under-display fingerprint sensor - except neither works very well - especially the face unlock. I wouldn't be surprised if this is also due to the same lacklustre chip performance.

As for the "Seamless Pairing" feature when using the phone, tablet and buds together, I've found this works well sometimes and not at all other times. Whether this is due to the chip in the phone or the fact I only have older Buds2 Pro and not the new Buds FE, I can't be sure.

Quick Share is another promising tool, letting you transfer files wirelessly from device to device. It worked every time from tablet to phone but much more erratically the other way.

And that's ultimately how I feel about the S23 FE - so promising but it keeps not delivering at the exact moment I need it to. Yes, starting from NZ$1099.00 it's dramatically cheaper than even the base-model S23 but there might just be too many compromises here for the savings to make sense.

    

Click here for more information on the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE.

Click here for more information on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE+.

Click here for more information on the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE.

Apple iPhone 15 Pro - The Defence Rests

I never thought I'd end up publicly defending the iPhone.

In fact, for a long time, I never thought I'd even use an iPhone.

But eventually, I had to concede I wouldn't be much of a tech reviewer if I was ignoring over 40% of the market out of hand.

What's more, once I actually tried a few iPhones out, I had to concede some of them were pretty damn good.

I'm not denying there are still things about the Apple ecosystem that frustrate the hell out of me but I'm no longer one of those people who hate on Apple as a matter of principle. When I write these reviews and trial these products my opinions are based on honest experience with each device.

That's why I've found the latest furore around the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max so confounding.

First things first; you know those frustrations about Apple products I just mentioned I still have? This year's Pro-model iPhones are significant upgrades if for no other reason than they address some of my personal pet peeves head-on.

Perhaps most well-publicised is the move to a USB-C charging port for the first time. While Apple's MacBooks and iPads have been using the same USB-C standard as everyone else for some time, the iPhone range has been mysteriously holding out, their old-school lightning ports stubbornly incompatible with any convenient USB-C cables lying around the place and also depriving users of the opportunity of shorter charging times and much faster data transfer speeds.

Who knows if the EU regulations to standardise charging formats were the catalyst or if Apple would have made the change of its own accord? I don't care. I'm just happy one cable now charges anything. Although... While all four iPhone 15 models now sport USB-C ports, only the Pro and Pro Max are capable of USB 3.0 speeds. And yet the very nice braided cable included in the box is only USB 2.0. A faster cable will cost you extra. Oh well.

Another feature I've been missing on iPhone over the years is a proper telephoto lens. Again, this year Apple has well and truly stepped up with a 5 X zoom on the iPhone 15 Pro Max and 3 X on the Pro I'm reviewing. This seems to be a matter of simple physics; the Pro Max is just plain bigger, so it can accommodate a larger telephoto sensor. Either way, it now means an extra quick setting in the camera app; .5 for Ultra Wide shots, 1 X, 2 X and now 3 X (or presumably 5 X on the Max? Not sure). This is fantastic news and makes a massive difference for both video and stills - crisp clear shots from distance and also, a new macro setting for extreme close-ups. 

Technically, for you pro shooters out there, the rear camera array has had quite the overhaul, now boasting the equivalent of seven pro lenses depending on which focal length, zoom setting and resolution you opt for. While you can manually choose to capture large 48MP HEIF or ProRAW images (perhaps better for post-production editing) when you let the camera do its thing automatically, it will combine a the best of several different shots to bring you the ultimate pic. I've certainly been impressed by how "real" the photos are and I particularly appreciate the uniform colour and quality across all lens options.

You don't even need to be in Portrait mode to shoot portraits either - you can manually select your focus point and blur the background, even after you've taken the shot. Yes, you read that right; it's now possible you've taken the perfect portrait without even meaning to. This works with the selfie camera too - you can change the depth-of-field effect after you've taken the photo.

Another fun trick is the ability to copy your edits from one photo to a selection of others in your library simultaneously. For example, if you want to change every photo you took today to black-and-white, you don't have to filter each one separately, you can do a bulk edit within the Photos app.

This kind of wizardry works seamlessly thanks to the almighty power of the A17 Pro chip and the significantly revamped iOS 17.

We'll get back to that chip shortly but first, a few fun things about the new operating system - starting with knocking off yet another of my historical peeves; proper widgets. At long last iOS 17 means instead of a handful of lame, static tiles on your home screen, app developers can now make their widgets much more interactive; like being able to play and pause podcasts directly from the widget without having to open the app. Hey Apple users, just so you know, this is not new - not by a long shot - but it's certainly welcome.

Another nifty iOS 17 trick you may have seen publicised is the new StandBy mode. This kicks in automatically when you're charging your iPhone positioned on its side, typically on a MagSafe charging stand. Not only will this convert your screen into an always-on bedside clock and calendar, it can also show other apps and notifications in landscape mode. When I'm driving, I keep my phone on a MagSafe charging cradle and now it shows me the podcast I'm listening to complete with episode art and a progress bar.

In further major upgrade news, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro have replaced the traditional mute switch on the side with the new Action Button. This is a customisable way to fire off actions like Focus Mode or Torch, open the Camera app or access an action you've already set up in the Shortcuts app. And yes, you can mute the phone with it if you like. Unfortunately, not all apps are compatible with Apple Shortcuts but happily for me, I can resume playing my preferred podcast app with a long press.

Now... about this overheating thing. If indeed it is a thing. From the day the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max started shipping to consumers (and reviewers) it was widely reported the new handsets were prone to running hot when put under stress. Apparently playing games with demanding graphics settings or other high-resource tasks like video editing or continuous HD streaming were causing some devices to become uncomfortably hot in the hand.

I read several articles about this phenomenon, from sources I trust and yet, try as I might, I've been unable to replicate the problem or anything close to it. I've tried to push the iPhone 15 Pro to its limits in a number of ways and not once have I detected even a mild rise in temperature.

As I publish this, there has been another iOS 17 update overnight, which is partly supposed to address these issues. All I can tell you is I haven't experienced any overheating whatsoever - either before or after the update. Unfortunately, I believe Apple has fallen victim to an out-of-proportion social media response to a few isolated cases.

The negative Nancies out there have also been quick to criticise Apple's new "FineWoven" cases and MagSave wallets, replacing leather in a more carbon-neutral fashion. Again, I don't get what their problem is. I think FineWoven looks great and feels very luxurious.

All I know for sure is the handset I've been trying out for the last week or so is easily the best iPhone I've used to date. Physical upgrades like the telephoto lens and USB-C charging port combine with software tweaks like StandBy mode and interactive widgets to alleviate the few final frustrations I still harboured when switching between Android and iOS.

For once, don't believe the hype - well, not the negative hype anyway. As far as I'm concerned, this is a very cool phone.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Apple iPhone 15 Pro.