This year, like several other manufacturers, Samsung has gone line-extension crazy.
Why offer only premium devices, or budget devices, when you can come up with a phone to fit every single price point in between?
Samsung's mid-range A-series certainly provides some serious bang for buck.
The Galaxy A50 looks every bit as classy and sophisticated as its S-series counterparts, despite the fact it's more than $1000 dollars cheaper than some of them. It's available in black or a mysterious white colour that reflects light with a pleasing rainbow effect.
At first glance the A50 seems to be just as curvy as the flagship models but it's not quite the case. Yes the rear cover curves into the rounded edges but the screen is actually flat. Another subtle difference is the back isn't covered with glass - it's plastic. I don't actually mind these two compromises at all - in fact they probably save money not just at the manufacturing end, but should you need to replace the screen due to breakage, I imagine a flat one will be considerably cheaper and hopefully the plastic rear casing is less inclined to shatter at all.
Another eye-catching feature is the tri-lens rear camera configuration, another sign premium photo functionality is becoming more commonplace on mid-range devices. Flip over and you'll see the selfie-cam in a small, water-drop notch, rather than in a corner cutout as you would find on the S10's O-Infinity display, but the screen still stretches far and wide, thanks to the in-display fingerprint sensor.
As usual on almost any Samsung device, the screen quality leaves nothing to be desired. The A50's Super AMOLED display is bright and clear in all light conditions.
Even the user experience once you power the A50 up is strikingly similar to that of the S10. Samsung's One UI is still one of the most user-friendly Android-based interfaces around. Changing to the A50 from another phone is very straightforward; The Smart-Switch app is more comprehensive than ever, especially if you're upgrading from another Samsung device. It's not just contacts and photos you're transferring these days, but homescreen layouts, backgrounds - even WiFi and bluetooth profiles.
What is a major step down is speed. While most software features on the A50 mirror those of the S10, the engine room doesn't come close. The octa-core processor is fast enough for most actions but there's only 4GB of RAM so while operation remains smooth, many things only happen after a bit of a pause. Face unlock, fingerprint sensor, camera app - none of these tasks happen instantly, there's generally a second or two's delay while the phone gets itself together. In saying that, it always works, it just takes longer.
The camera setup is certainly very full-functioned, especially with the inclusion of the ultra-wide lens on the back. There's plenty of AI thrown in - including a scene optimisation setting that'll recognise everything from greenery to scenery, dogs to sunsets, beaches to waterfalls. Picture quality is pretty damn good - as long as there's plenty of light and you don't zoom in too much. That's when you'll start noticing the difference between a $500 phone and a $1500 phone. I really like Samsung's Live Focus (bokeh) setting though and it works well on the A50 - from both front and rear-facing cameras.
For those of you who insist on a dedicated headphone jack, the A50 doesn't disappoint. It also charges via USB Type-C - hopefully an indication microUSB is on the way out, even on lower cost devices.
There's no wireless charging though, which is certainly a shame. It's always one of the first features to be left off to shave the price of a device. No expense spared in terms of battery life though - it's a generous 4000mAh cell which is plenty big enough to get most users through the day - even a long day.
Another optional extra that usually gets sliced to chop the price is water resistance and sure enough, there's no IP rating for the A50, so do try and keep it out of the toilet.
Sound quality also takes a bit of a hit. These days, many high-end handsets have managed to squeeze a pretty decent stereo listening experience out of two fairly small speakers - not so with the A50. You're back to a fairly tinny sound from the single downward firing grille, even if it is reasonably loud.
No worries running accessories like the Galaxy Watch or Galaxy Buds though - again, the software experience controlling these devices through the Wear app is pretty much identical to doing it with the S10.
In fact, so much about the way this phone operates is S10-like, you'd have to wonder why most people would ever consider shelling out for the much more expensive option. The A50 looks first class, it runs the same software and takes perfectly good photos. Yes, it's somewhat limited under the bonnet, with just 4GB of RAM and only 64GB of internal storage, but unless you're using an A50 side-by-side with an S10, you'll probably never know the difference.
Click here for more information and pricing on the Samsung Galaxy A50.
First it was a phone you could take anywhere.
Then you could load all your music onto it too.
In no time, the internet was built in as well.
In their ongoing quest to be everything to everyone, smartphones have been gobbling up one form of technology after another.
GPS? No problem.
Gaming? Easy.
Video? Have you seen these screens?
But one thing has never been perfect. although they've tried. Oh, how they've tried.
The camera.
Phone makers have included photo-taking-tech since before mobile phones were even smart, but let's be honest, they've always been a compromise.
Till now...
I've never owned a camera, let alone a phone camera with a 10x zoom, until this year - now two phones have stepped up to the plate and I'm sure there'll be more to come. The OPPO Reno 10x Zoom is the latest cab off the rank.
This is of course the phone most famous for its unique, pop-up, "shark fin" camera - but that's nothing to do with how zoomy it is. The periscope-based zoom functionality is part of the rear-facing tri-lens camera configuration; a 48MP + 8MP + 13MP setup that actually offers up to 60x digital zoom - the most powerful currently available. Of course, at that level of magnification, you'll definitely need a tripod (or at least something to rest the phone on) to keep the image still enough to shoot - and to be honest, because it's digital, you won't be reading the headlines on the newspaper your neighbour is holding in the building across the street.
The really useful stuff happens up to 10x zoom - hence the name of the device. Although not strictly optical at 10x (AI kicks in around 6x to help out) the images remain crisp and clear, meaning there's no longer any loss of quality when you take those all-important long shots at school assemblies, of kids in the surf while you're on the beach, or triumphant tries scored on the other side of the field. Historically, OPPO has been obsessed with camera innovation and the raw power of this new setup has to be seen to believed... so let's look at it...
This is obviously an impressive, wide angle shot taken on an extremely bright, sunshiney day. Okay, sure there are some minor contrast issues with some of the dark areas, but when you've got midday sun reflecting off water, it's hard for any camera to compensate.
I'm really impressed by how true the colours turned out though and the clarity of foreground objects balanced against distant boats and even the clouds.
Now let's zoom in...
I mean, come on. This shot was taken from exactly the same spot. I challenge you to pick out that boat from the previous picture... pretty hard to spot right?
This is genuine telephotography. With a phone. What a golden age we're living in.
Not such a stellar performance once we head inside though. Generally I found low-light shooting to be good, but not perfect.
This shot is both impressive and disappointing - impressive because the hand I zoomed in on is actually pretty clear but disappointing because the other hand was moving a bit and that's why it's blurry.
There is an Ultra Night Mode, which produces good results in the dark - but I'm not likely to select that option just because I'm inside.
I found indoor video to be a bit dim too, although I loved the fact you can shoot Super Slow-Mo for as long as you want - not just for a few seconds as is the case on other phones with this feature.
Now, about that fin.
Like last year's Find X, which was a fantastic phone by the way, OPPO have again thought outside the box to maximise the Reno's screen-to-body ratio. In fact, they've thought inside the box, with the selfie-cam popping out of the top edge of the phone when required. Unlike the Find X, the Reno's camera only swings up from the right-hand corner, creating the aforementioned, "shark fin" effect.
This isn't just a gimmick, it works brilliantly, most of the time popping up without you even noticing it. In fact, you can still use facial recognition to unlock the Reno, with the shark fin rising to the occasion every time. Although the OPPO team claims their engineers have spent a lot of time making the pop-up mechanism quieter than the one on the Find X, it's definitely still audible in a quiet room. On the bright side, it seems to attract a lot less dust than the much larger Find X version.
In terms of picture quality, OPPO's had some of the best selfie cameras on the market for years now, and this one's no exception.
But the Reno 10x Zoom offers even more than exceptional photography, this is a genuine flagship device, fully deserving comparison with the best from Samsung, Huawei and Apple.
Like last year's R17 Pro, there's also an in-screen fingerprint sensor but this one is way more reliable and much faster too.
It's not a small phone by any means, after all, this is a 6.6" display we're dealing with. It's actually pretty heavy and quite thick too. In spite of this, the Reno is still comfortable to hold, due to its rounded edges and elegantly curved back. Adding to this elegance is the fact the three lens rear-facing camera is completely flush with the body, very unusual as the cameras on most other phones stick out a mile, just asking to be scratched or bashed around.
Ingeniously, OPPO goes a step further to protect the lenses by positioning a little bump just below them, meaning the phone can never actually rest directly on the lenses themselves. Simple but brilliant. The bump sits at the top of a kind of contrasting racing stripe, featuring some OPPO branding which all looks very styley, in either Jet Black or Ocean Green.
What is less stylish is the case included in the box. It's the biggest, thickest, ugliest thing I've ever seen. Although have to admit, despite all that, it's very practical - providing the maximum amount of protection possible, especially around the corners. If you decide to use the case, it certainly gives good peace of mind given the top of the phone has to remain exposed for the camera to pop up. Good luck fitting it in your pocket though.
Battery life is fantastic, as is fast charging via the included VOOC 3.0 charger - but we've come to expect that from OPPO phones recently. What's more significant is the dramatic upgrade to the ColorOS user interface, based on Android 9.0. At long last there's the option for an app drawer so you're not stuck with home page after home page of apps you hardly ever use. There are several options for virtual buttons or gesture controls, whichever you prefer and there's also a quick access bar you can tailor to suit you needs for commonly used actions like Do-Not-Disturb or apps you need to get to in a hurry.
Yes, at last the OPPO software experience matches up to the Reno 10x Zoom's first-class hardware; 8GB of Ram, 256GB of storage, the very latest in cooling technology... a flagship that legitimately matches up with other frontline devices in almost every department - although no IP water-resistance rating and still no wireless charging option, which may have been a niche requirement a year or so ago, but now a lot more people expect their high-end devices to charge wirelessly.
And make no mistake, this is definitely a high-end device, despite the fact it's priced under $1300. The design, the power and of course, the outstanding photographic capabilities make the Reno 10x Zoom worth every penny.
Click here for more information on the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom.
There's a fine line between entry-level and mid-level in the smartphone market.
In fact, there are two lines - a price line and a features line.
The question is; which line are you prepared to cross?...
The OPPO AX5s is almost exactly the same phone as the AX5 (note the lack of an "s") I reviewed last September. At that time, I was pretty impressed with what OPPO was offering for the money. Interestingly, at $299RRP, the AX5s is a hundred dollars cheaper than last year's version was.
Market-wise, the main change since September is there are a lot more devices with similar specs in that price-range now. That doesn't mean the AX5s isn't still a good buy, it just means you have more to compare it with.
First up, if you like a black phone, the AX5s is a good fit for you, because that's the only colour it comes in. I'm being a bit mean - as black phones go, this one does look and feel pretty classy. The back has a mirror-like finish, with a subtle rose gold trim around the dual-lens camera in the top left corner.
The front is all about the screen - no physical buttons, no fingerprint sensor, a tiny ear speaker built right into the top bezel and the water drop cutout for the selfie camera as opposed to the much larger notch which I'm hoping we've seen the last of.
No fingerprint sensor means you're left with either a passcode or facial recognition to unlock the device. Luckily, the face unlock works very efficiently, although only in portrait. The AX5s will even turn the lockscreen bright white to light your face to unlock in dark conditions, which is useful. You can also turn this feature off if you don't want your screen to light up in a theatre or bedroom every time you take it out of your pocket.
The screen is big, bright and surprisingly good for a three-hundred dollar phone. I actually really enjoyed watching video content on the AX5s, as long as I had headphones or earbuds connected. The single downward-firing speaker isn't great - not particularly powerful and quite tinny sounding.
On the other hand bluetooth connected headphones and earbuds sounded nice and loud, although for some reason bluetooth connectivity, especially with my smartwatch and car stereo was very inconsistent. Sometimes the phone would connect almost instantly, other times not at all. Perhaps I was just trying to keep to many things connected at once.
While the AX5s does have a GPS sensor, I found it to be wildly inaccurate - especially when used to track my exercise. My 7km run ended up being recorded as several much longer distances - ranging from 8.6kms to almost 10. That's okay, I quite like the idea of telling people I ran 10 k's today, they don't need to know it's not quite true.
Like the AX5, the AX5s has quite the oversized battery, clocking in at 4230mAh which is still enormous, even by the very latest standards. This is probably why the phone feels slightly thicker and heavier than some, but it's well worth it for the massive battery life. You'll get two days out of this handset without too much trouble at all - outlasting some flagship phones by more than a day. As I've noted with other OPPO devices, the power-saving tricks built into the ColorOS operating system are probably too aggressive for me. Even apps I've told the phone not to optimise seem to get shut down eventually, but you can't argue with the battery economy that results.
While we're talking ColorOS - I think it's time OPPO gave this interface a major overhaul. Although some improvements have been made - the settings menu is easier to navigate than ever and smart sidebar is a useful way to access some specific shortcuts - we still need the option of an app drawer so we're not left with screen after screen of rarely-used app icons. What I do particularly like are the navigation options. You can choose between virtual keys or simply go with gestures, which can be tailored to your preferred configuration. This is something OPPO has got dead right.
The camera configuration is more or less the same as we saw in September, ie: a little underwhelming. It's not that it's bad, and certainly the camera app itself is full featured and easy to use. It's just that there are so many phones with incredible cameras these days, when you come across one that's only good, you can't help but be disappointed. I enjoyed the colour temperature of most of the pics I took with the AX5s and the selfie camera offers a good range of beauty options, filters and stickers. Unfortunately, OPPO has set an extremely high standard for itself with some of its other devices leaving this particular phone's photographic performance towards the bottom end of the scale.
But remember, at $299 it's also priced at the lower end - so you can't have it all. If you want to shoot masterpiece photos with every click, you're just going to have to pay more. On the other hand, if you want a massive battery and pretty decent storage instead, this shiny black number's looking better all the time.
The AX5s has a different processor and GPU to the AX5, but performance-wise it's very much on a par - with 3GB of RAM keeping things chugging along fairly consistently, although I did find some apps a little slow to start or swap between on occasion. There's a very respectable 64GB of on-board storage so you'll be able to take plenty of pics before uploading to the cloud.
At the end of the day, given this is essentially last September's phone, I think it's about $50 overpriced. In saying that, I thought it was exceptional buying in September, so I guess now it's merely a great buy. Other than the rockstar battery life, there are no real surprises here but that's not necessarily a bad thing, as there are no nasty surprises either.
Click here for more information and pricing on the OPPO AX5s.
Ever since Huawei teamed up with photographic legend Leica to create the P9 in 2016, the collaboration has been constantly redefining what's possible with a smartphone camera.
So why would this year's P-Series device be any different?...
For those of you not overly familiar with the Huawei brand, there are two flagship lines; the P-Series, generally launched early in the year and the Mate-Series, usually available closer to Christmas. While the Mates focus more on sheer power and performance, the P-Series is all about style and taking great photos.
Last year's P20 Pro was the first phone to feature a tri-lens rear-facing camera - a groundbreaking feature many other manufacturers were unable to emulate, even by the end of the year. This triple-threat camera wasn't just a gimmick, it produced some of the best pictures ever taken with a phone.
So perhaps no massive surprise to find 2019's P30 Pro sporting an extra camera again. Yes, the "Leica Quad Camera System" has added a Time-Of-Flight (TOF) sensor to the array - it's the little one just below the flash there. As I've often admitted, I'm no photographer, but apparently TOF lenses measure depth. This helps the P30 Pro figure out what's in the foreground and what's in the background and it means very fine details like strands of hair won't be lost to background blur in portrait shots. But that's far from this quad-cam's greatest trick.
Apart from the 20MP Ultra Wide Angle Lens, (great for landscapes and stadium shots) we're dealing with a 40MP Super Sensing Camera as well as a SuperZoom Lens. That may sound like a lot of "super." But in this case, it's not just overhyped ad-speak.
By using a periscope-like form factor that bends long distance images down inside the phone for extra optical zoom, the P30 Pro can produce sharp, detailed images at 10x magnification - twice that of pretty much any other phone around. If you're prepared to lose a little quality and you've got a steady hand, digital zoom will take you right in to 50x. This literally makes it possible to pick out objects in the distance you can't even see with the naked eye.
And if that hasn't got your attention, Huawei has thrown out traditional colour sensing rules and rewritten them so the P30 Pro can see in the dark.
I know that all sounds like a commercial, but you have to see the results to believe them. Rather than using Red, Green and Blue light, the RYYB Huawei Super Sensor looks for Red, Yellow and Blue instead. Once again, this means you can take photos of things you can't even see. By way of a quick demonstration, here's a shot I just snapped in a dark wardrobe - no light on at all...
Okay, terrible composition - but come on; amazing colour and detail in near darkness.
The best thing about these four lenses is the P30 Pro brings them all together to give you the best image possible. This is thanks mostly to the same magical Kirin 980 Octa-core processor that made the Mate 20 Pro last year's most powerful phone. It takes a lot of grunt to turn dusk into day - but that is essentially what Night Mode does. Not that you need to choose Night Mode. My wardrobe picture was literally me taking the phone out of my pocket, pointing and shooting.
There are plenty of modes though; Light Painting, Slow-Mo, Underwater to name a few.
If you really want to go crazy, open up the Pro settings and knock yourself out. It's like having a bag full of different cameras and lenses. A very big bag.
It's actually hard to get your head around; the two things phone cameras just can't do - decent zoom and great low-light performance - this camera does.
So by comparison, the selfie camera was a bit... meh. It's still a powerhouse - 32MP is huge and it also performs well in low light. But unlike many other phones on the market it's only a single lens configuration, albeit in a very small central notch at the top of the display. While you can still achieve a split-focus, bokeh effect on your self portraits, it's nowhere near as precise as portraits taken with the TOF-assisted rear-facing array. Edge details can end up quite indistinct, especially if you push the filters and beauty effects a step too far. If it's a really important selfie, I'd hand the camera to someone else and get them to take it.
Or maybe it just seems a bit average because the rear camera is so fabulous.
But let's not forget, this isn't just a photo machine. The P30 Pro is a top-of-the-line smartphone and it belongs at the very top of the line. It does all the high-end tricks we've quickly come to expect; IP68 water and dust resistant, wireless charging, an impressive 8GB of RAM and a huge 256GB of storage space.
The aforementioned Huawei Kirin 980 CPU is one of the best available and has this device absolutely purring. Operation is slick and smooth and thanks partly to the workload being split between the dual neural processors, battery life is quite simply off the scale. While the 4200mAh battery is the same size as the Mate 20 Pro's from last year, I believe the performance is even better on this phone. As you can imagine, I typically use my phone quite a bit on a daily basis - browsing, streaming, connected to bluetooth accessories - and yet it's not unusual for me to go to bed with more than 70% battery life still showing. I'm not kidding.
What's more, even if you do manage to run the battery down, the SuperCharge 40W charger will have this phone up and running faster than just about anything else out there.
The only thing that tends to be a real drain is the reverse wireless charging feature, which we first saw on the Mate 20 Pro. It's pretty slow and takes a lot of juice to do - and is a bit curious given Huawei doesn't have any wirelessly charged accessories available in New Zealand. So it's more of a gimmick than a tool - which is probably why it's so complicated to access the feature via the Settings menu. (There's no straightforward shortcut)
Two slightly more useful gimmicks are the concealed phone speaker and the in-screen fingerprint sensor - both contributing to the P30 Pro's incredible screen-to-body ratio. The behind-screen speaker works perfectly well and I've had no trouble hearing my calls. Unfortunately it is not used as a second speaker when playing audio, only the single, downward facing speaker is. It's loud, but no stereo effects on this device - unless you're wearing headphones.
The fingerprint sensor was a massive relief. I've used quite a few in-screen sensors now and all of them sucked - till now. The P30 Pro's sensor works almost as consistently and as quickly as the old-school rear-mounted, physical sensors we used to have. You know, back in the old days. A year ago. Just as well Huawei has figured this tech out because the face unlock is not so hot. Unlike the Mate 20 Pro, there's no 3D sensor, which may be why it's nowhere near as effective. It unlocks fast enough when it recognises you, but it only seems to work at exactly the right distance and it doesn't work at all in the dark.
So without any speakers, sensors or buttons cluttering things up, the front of this phone really is all screen - a big screen. 6.47 inches to be exact. Curiously, Huawei only went with an FHD+ OLED display, a bit of downgrade compared to the 2K screen on the Mate 20 Pro or even 4K options on some other phones. This makes no difference to me as I would argue 2 and 4K screens are just overkill on a handset - even one with a screen this big. I think it looks great and most people wouldn't be able to spot the difference unless they were comparing devices side by side.
Which is something I definitely recommend you do, by the way. If you're not already a Huawei convert, I think you might be surprised how responsively the P30 Pro performs and in Black, Breathing Crystal or Aurora, the all glass, curved finish is certainly eye-catching.
To summarise, not only is the P30 Pro an outstanding flagship device, it takes photos no other phone can. All for under $1500? Bargain.
Click here for more information and pricing on the Huawei P30 Pro.
The race to the top of the smart phone market is fierce indeed.
The moment one company announces a new feature or design innovation, suddenly all its competitors are doing it too - sometimes even better.
By the end of 2018, Samsung had a little bit of catching up to do. I'd argue after several years leading the pack, some other players have been beating them to market with a few new tricks.
So what does the latest Galaxy have to offer?...
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Samsung's Galaxy range and to celebrate, not only do we have an S10 and a larger S10+, but for the first time Samsung is also offering a slightly pared down (in size, specs and price) S10e.
I'll be reviewing the S10+ here because it's the one with all the bells and whistles... and it's the one they sent me. Not that I'm complaining. The S10+ is one of the highest specced phones available. Even the base model comes with a whopping 8GB of RAM and 128GB of on board storage - choose the ceramic white model and you can go right up to 12GB / 1TB - the first smart phone to ever offer that much space for your pics, vids and games.
I'm not quite sure what 12GB of RAM can do that the 8GB on my device can't, because I can assure you, combined with its extremely quick CPU, the S10+ is lightning fast - a notable step-up from last year's devices. This is probably due in part to the latest Android O.S. and the all new Samsung interface, simply named, "One."
Simplicity is indeed the key here; Samsung has dramatically stripped back the user experience and come up with perhaps the most easy-to-use and intuitive U.I. I've ever come across on an Android phone. Yes, there are the usual number of new and exciting features added on, but you don't have to jump through any complicated hoops to use them - in fact, some of the S10+'s new tricks work without you having to lift a finger.
Most impressively for me, after using the device for a week now, I haven't yet changed the default launcher over to my preferred Nova setup. That's never happened before. Firstly, the home screen rotates from portrait to landscape as all home screens should, but hardly ever do. This is critical for the S10+ as this year Samsung has stretched the display aspect out even further, to 19:9 - which makes for a very wide screen indeed when you're holding it sideways. That's more than enough space for all your icons and widgets, especially with the rest of your apps tucked neatly away in their drawer and the new option of removing any on-screen navigation buttons completely in favour of customisable gestures. I found these worked brilliantly and I never want to see another button cluttering up my screen ever again.
The next thing I usually fiddle with is the theme. I like things dark. If there's an option for white text on a black background, that's usually my go-to. Once again, the S10+ makes this easy, with Night Mode accessible straight from the pull-down menu of quick settings. This activates a much easier-on-the-eye black background everywhere you go, from Settings to Email to Messages. I love it.
My next standard tweak is the keyboard. I'm a Swiftkey user and all my predictions and preferences are stored in the cloud. Once again, the default keyboard that pops up on the S10+ is so quick to learn, I simply haven't needed to change... although, I might when I have a spare few minutes as I do prefer the option of arrow keys and turning off emoji suggestions.
I don't know if those things are things you're looking for in a phone, but they're things I've always wanted and now I have them I'm a very happy boy indeed.
But those are little things. There are some majors to mention too.
Not only is the screen bigger than ever, at 6.44", the "Infinity-O" display has been winning awards left, right and centre for it's unmatched clarity and performance. And that's before you get to the "punch-hole" camera, a dual-lens selfie-cam in the top right-hand corner. Of the screen. Yep, no notch or tear drop for the S10+ - Samsung has literally poked a hole in the corner of the display to provide the maximum screen-to-body ratio possible. This seems like a pretty good idea when you're using the phone in portrait, but when you're watching video content or gaming, having a hole in the corner is a little distracting at first, although I was surprised how quickly I got used to ignoring it - a bit like the scoreboard graphic when watching a sports match on TV.
As I said, it's a dual-lens selfie camera, which means a lot more options - especially when it comes to wider angle group selfies. The S10+ also sports a three lens camera on the back, adding an ultra-wide angle option. Again, this really makes the most of the long, skinny display, as you can now take shots as wide as your natural point of view. (In fact, it's 123 degrees - that's actually wider than you can see!) Practically what this means is those shots of sunsets, landscapes and rainbows now look like what you thought they looked like - not just a bit of scenery in the distance.
You can quickly swap between wide, ultra-wide and telephoto lenses and there's yet another new option called "Shot Suggestion" which literally helps you compose your picture and level the camera before you click your pic. This phone takes way better photos than I do, believe me. Just as well, because if you're in "Instagram" mode, you can now post straight to your timeline.
Sometimes phone makers give us features we didn't ask for. I feel like last year's iris detection was one of those. Sure, maybe it kept your phone super secure, but you had to look at it just the right way to make it work. Samsung has ditched it now the facial recognition on the S10+ is so good. This is terrific news because iris detection only worked in portrait, this year's face unlock works both ways and it's very fast.
Just as well, because the in-screen fingerprint sensor isn't great. I've tried these on a few phones now and to be honest, none of them have blown me away. Unlike the optical sensor most other manufacturers use, Samsung has gone with an Ultrasonic scanner, which of course they claim is more reliable and should work even if the screen is wet. Unfortunately, I found I just couldn't unlock the phone this way a bit too often for my liking, even after re-registering my print. Although fingerprints have been proven to be vastly more secure than faces (especially given the S10+ face unlock isn't 3D), I'll take convenience over security every time.
When it comes to battery performance, it's a complicated good news/bad news/great news/average news story. Samsung was one of the wireless charging pioneers and I've been enjoying this feature on their devices for years. The S10+ has a 4100mHa battery which is the biggest Samsung has ever packed into a phone. The latest Samsung wireless chargers will top it up nice and fast. That's all good. And yet... depending on how I used the phone I was either super impressed by the battery life, or a little disappointed. It sounds a bit obvious, but lots of screen time certainly led to big drains - bigger than I was expecting. Downloading and transferring large files also seemed to cause the percentage to drop. On the other hand, if I just used the phone "normally" there'd still be well over half a battery's worth of juice left by bedtime. In Samsung's defense, I admit I've been using a pre-release review unit and this inconsistent performance may not be a factor in the genuine retail models.
What does work well is the device-to-device wireless charging - allowing you to use the S10+ as a charger itself. The most practical use for this is topping up the Galaxy Buds many customers received free with their pre-ordered device. You simply activate device-to-device charging from your pull-down menu, flip the phone over, plonk the Galaxy Buds case on the back and they're charging. Unsurprisingly, it's nowhere near as quick as plugging the buds directly into a fast charger, but way more convenient.
I'll finish the way I usually start... how does this thing actually look? Well, it's all glass and curved edges of course - that's what we've come to expect from Samsung Galaxies. In fact, I'm sure this is their slipperiest phone yet. The 128GB S10+ comes in Prism Black, Prism White and Prism Green - the "Prism" effect is sort of holographic - hard to describe and quite unique. The 512GB and 1TB models come in any colour you like as long as it's Ceramic White. Yup, white is the new black, baby. Get used to it.
Whichever variant you go for, you won't be disappointed. Samsung has been doing this for a decade now and they know what they're doing. The S10+ is powerful, easy to use, has a fantastic 5-lens camera array and even charges its own accessories like the Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Watch. Quite simply, it's the best phone money can buy... for now. After all, it's only March.
Click here for more information on the Samsung Galaxy S10+
It's been a couple of years since I last reviewed a Huawei Y-series handset. At the time I was incredibly impressed with the high level of performance being offered by such a low-priced device. This year's Y7 Pro is still budget friendly and still worth every penny...
At $349, the Huawei Y7 Pro 2019 isn't the cheapest phone in town... but I'm pretty sure most phones a hundred dollars cheaper are about two-hundred dollars worse. They're likely to have sub-standard cameras, slow, clumsy performance and an inferior build quality. Oh - and probably pretty bad battery life too.
The Y7 Pro is nothing like those phones.
For starters, it's very big. The 6.26" display puts it right up there with the flagship Pro and Plus models from most leading manufacturers. Just as we began to see from a few devices at the end of 2018, wide slot-like notches at the top of the screen are now old fashioned - the Y7 Pro has only a tiny "Dewdrop" bite from around the front facing camera - barely noticeable in most circumstances and leaving plenty of room for on-screen notifications on either side.
While other lower priced handsets will stick with a metal or even plastic casing, the Y7 Pro sports a very classy, ceramic-feel, curved back which is certainly extremely comfortable in the hand and looks amazing in Midnight Black. It's not as slippery as some other glass-covered devices which is good, because the size of the Y7 Pro makes one-handed operation slightly challenging.
Luckily, there is a one handed U.I. mode, which is easily activated with a diagonal swipe from whichever corner your thumb is reaching from (ie: right or left-handed).
In fact, there are plenty of settings and tweaks like that built into the EMUI 8.2 operating system which are often left off handsets at this end of the price range.
It's also unusual for a sub-$400 phone to offer a face unlock option - but the Y7 Pro does and like other Huawei devices with this feature, you can set it to recognise you automatically, as soon as you raise the phone to your face, unlocking straight to your home screen without touching a button.
That's fantastic... except it doesn't work quite as well as it does on some of Huawei's upper level devices. It's not particularly fast and I found it struggled in poor light. This sluggish performance is exacerbated by the lack of a fingerprint sensor, so the only backup if your face isn't recognised is a good old 6 figure pin, which seems annoyingly slow and cumbersome by comparison. Sadly, the Y7 Pro's facial recognition is just not reliable enough or fast enough to be the only unlock option, but without a fingerprint sensor, you're stuck with it.
On the bright side, the camera performance is a real standout. As I've mentioned, usually cameras are the first big compromise to get the price down on a phone, but I found the selfies in particular to be clear and colourful, with plenty of effects and customisations available. Shots taken with the dual-lens rear-facing camera were also very sharp, although I found the interface a little unusual. I'm used to using "portrait mode" or "live focus" to achieve the blurred background or bokeh effect. On the Y7 Pro that setting is called, "aperture" - which is strange because that usually means how much light you're letting into the shot, not how blurry you want the background to be. The important thing is, it worked a treat and there was quite a wide range of blur to be adjusted.
While I was extremely satisfied with the pictures I took, I did have an issue with how fast the cameras worked. For some reason Huawei uses Qualcomm Snapdragon processors in its Y-series phones instead of its own Kirin chips. This is a shame because I've found the Kirin CPU's generally provide a much faster, smoother performance. The Y7 Pro also runs just 3GB of RAM, which is definitely starting to lean towards the low side these days. Don't get me wrong, in most circumstances I had no performance issues whatsoever - downloading, browsing, streaming all functioned seamlessly. Even bluetooth connectivity was a breeze compared to issues I've had with other devices in the past. But certainly the camera was rather slow to open, to focus and then to shoot. Probably not the best option to capture a split-second crossing of a finish line.
One other little quibble is storage space. The Y7 Pro has 32GB of internal storage, but an extremely large chunk of that is taken up with the operating system, leaving less than 20GB to play with. A couple of years ago, that would have seemed like a lot, but not so much these days. However, the sim tray is also a microSD tray - two sim slots and space for more memory.
Perhaps the Y7 Pro's niftiest trick is its massive battery life. The 4000mAh battery isn't the biggest out there, but it's close. I've reviewed a few phones with a two-day charge life lately, but most of them do it by closing down a lot of the apps you want to keep running in the background. I didn't have that issue with the Y7 Pro - notifications from my home security app, my exercise app... everything kept chugging along nicely.
In short, unless you're a high-end gamer, or you're dependent on flagship features like wireless charging, water resistance or tri-lens cameras, there's really no reason to spend more than $349. The Y7 Pro doesn't feel like a price-tag compromise - instead it's a genuine pleasure to use.
Click here for more information on the Huawei Y7 Pro 2019.
From not even selling phones in New Zealand just a couple of years ago, OPPO now seems to be releasing a new handset every 5 minutes.
2018 saw an unprecedented selection of models catering to every price bracket. Where does the first OPPO device for 2019 fit in?...
As you can see from the picture above, there's absolutely nothing "budget" about the way the OPPO AX7 looks. Available in Glaze Blue and the slightly unfortunately named, Glaring Gold, OPPO describes the finish as a "sheet and grating" pattern. I have no idea what that means, other than it gives it an almost woodgrain-like appearance from certain angles. It's pretty cool, anyway. For some reason, there's an unusual copper/gold surround to the rear-facing dual lens camera and flash module. It's unusual, but quite classy. The handset has a premium feel to it all round.
The AX7 is certainly at the larger end of the scale - mostly because of its 6.2inch screen size. I was surprised to discover the screen-to-body ratio is as low as 88.4% - really, it seems like the front of the phone is all screen - especially when you take into account the very small waterdrop notch for the forward-facing camera. These tiny not-notches started appearing on some flagship devices at the end of last year and is a clear sign the short-lived days of the much more intrusive iPhone-style notch are pretty much over.
The advantage of a massive phone, other than heaps of display real estate for browsing, streaming and gaming, is you can bung an equally massive battery inside. The AX7 sports a 4230mAh battery. This is actually more battery than I know what to do with. As you can imagine, I'm a moderately heavy user of my devices, especially given I get up at 3AM to go to work. That's a lot to expect from a smartphone battery and yet by the time I get to bed, most days I've struggled to get through one third of the available charge. Very impressive.
Unfortunately, as we've seen with previous OPPO devices, part of the reason they can achieve such incredible power savings is due to some overly-aggressive software optimisation. OPPO isn't the only manufacturer out there guilty of turning off too many background apps without asking, but that doesn't mean it's necessary. Annoyingly, even when you manage to find the magic setting that tells the AX7 not to turn a particular app off, a lot of the time, it still does.
Most frustratingly of all, the AX7 still uses a microUSB charging cable instead of the much more user-friendly USB Type-C. Now that other phones in this price range have switched, it's time OPPO did too.
Back on the plus side, the AX7 packs in a surprising amount of processing power for a $399 phone. You get a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 chip, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of on-board storage. These are by no means high-end specs by 2019 standards, but those numbers are still plenty impressive for the price. What's more, you get a dual-sim tray as well as a microSD compartment to expand your memory.
Certainly I found the AX7's performance to be very smooth and reasonably quick. I'm not a huge fan of the ColorOS 5.2 interface, but it's based on the very recent Android 8.1 O.S. and I didn't come across any major glitches or problems.
Ultimately, any OPPO phone lives or dies by its camera quality and once again, the AX7 stacks up pretty well. While the full range of A.I. settings offered by more expensive devices aren't included here, I found images from both front and rear cameras to be very clear and crisp. Colours tended towards the dull side, but that's preferable to the unrealistic over-saturation you often find on other phones. There is some A.I. built into the beauty settings - and this comes into play not just with the 16MP selfie cam, but also when you set the dual-lens rear camera to Portrait Mode. The split focus bokeh effect for both these options is pretty full-on, but I have to admit, it looks great more often than not.
There are a couple of cute tricks thrown in too; plenty of AR stickers to make your pics look as silly as possible and a very efficient face unlock which works reliably and quickly - even in the dark.
At $399, the AX7 definitely delivers. It looks great, feels solid, has better-than-average camera capabilities but most significantly, if you're looking for incredible battery life, there aren't many other phones out there as long-lasting as this one.
Click here for more information on the OPPO AX7.
