PERFECT FOR MY POCKET

The gap between what your average punter needs from a phone and what manufacturers end up putting in their devices seems to be growing all the time.

Sure, we all want a handset that looks great and runs well but how often are we really going to use that 100x zoom or shoot an 8K video?

So maybe you can save a few bucks by forgetting the flagships and perusing what's available mid-tier. Trouble is, some of the compromises made to save a few hundred are often the few features you liked best.

Tricky...

 

I was a fan the second I picked it up, so I guess the name is appropriate. The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE (Fan Edition) is my kind of phone.

It's light, for starters, primarily due the the matte-finish, metallic-looking rear casing - I assume it's polycarbonate of some kind but it still has a premium sheen to it. In New Zealand the current colour choices are Cloud Navy (as pictured), Cloud Lavender, Cloud Mint and Cloud Red. Fantastic to see some genuinely different options for a change - especially red. I can't understand why there aren't more red phones out there, given it's most normal people's favourite colour. Right? Pity I got stuck with the blue one. Oh well.

In fact, I'd better point out the review unit I'm using is actually the 5G version which isn't on sale here yet. That means it has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 CPU, as opposed to the Exynos 990 chip in the Kiwi models. In theory the performance from both chips isn't massively different and the point is, the original S20 flagship devices from earlier in the year have the same chips. 

That doesn't automatically mean the S20 FE runs at the same, high-end level - not quite. It only has 6GB of RAM installed as opposed to 12GB in the S20 Ultra. This is more than enough for most tasks but I have noticed things can get a bit laggy when launching resource-heavy apps like the camera. Generally speaking it sails along pretty smoothly, downloading, streaming, browsing... I'm not much of a mobile gamer but I've been told the device actually does a perfectly good job thanks mostly, once again, to the high-end Adreno GPU.

That's the thing with the S20 FE - most of the places you expect Samsung to have skimped, they simply haven't. While other phone makers lose things like IP68 water and dust resistance the moment they need to save a buck, the FE is still toilet-proof. Many other flagships still don't do wireless charging. This $1099 phone does - even reverse wireless charging ("Wireless Powershare") for accessories like Samsung's earbuds and smartwatches.

Oh, and yes, there is a charger included in the box! How old school.

The battery is big - 4500mAh - without being so big it adds excessive bulk and weight to the device. This guarantees enough charge to coast through even the longest days.

The screen is where Samsung has cut corners... but not many. Physically, you'll immediately notice the 6.5inch Super AMOLED display is flat - no curvy edges here like its more expensive predecessors. However, there may be more positives than negatives to this, especially given the screen is still outstanding and still capable of that magic 120Hz refresh rate ensuring super smooth scrolling and response. A flat screen is a lot cheaper to replace and lately I've had issues using some apps with on-screen controls that stretch right to the edge of the display. Those problems disappear on this phone.

I really feel like there's a bit of an "Emperor's New Clothes" moment going on right now in the smart phone market. We thought we needed that shiny glass back because the phone-makers told us it was a premium feature. Yet in practice, glass breaks and attracts endless smudges and fingerprints. We were also convinced curved screens were the best thing ever... but why? Swapping out features like these definitely appeals to me and presumably the other Samsung fans this handset is being marketed to.

Obviously, not every compromise is an improvement. While you still get a triple-lens rear shooter on the FE, there's no question it's not quite the camera quality we've seen from the very top of  this year's S20 and Note 20 ranges. You get 12MP ultra-wide and wide-angle lenses combined with an 8MP telephoto sensor. This means very good long and wide-angle pics, ideal for outdoor use. Samsung has also stepped up its low light performance, something many brands seem to be emphasising right now. Close-up shots is where it all falls down a bit though - you tend to get clearer shots by zooming in from a distance, not ideal. As I've mentioned, using the camera is where the FE seems most underpowered RAM-wise, possibly because the app still offers high-end features like Single Take - Samsung's multiple-shots-in-one option - to make sure you capture the perfect shot. Ironic if the app takes too long to launch and you miss it. Don't worry, the finished pics are generally fabulous, it just takes a while to swap between camera modes when you're taking them.

The 32MP selfie cam is great though, peeping through the tiniest cutout in the centre-top of the display.

Samsung's recent flagships have done an excellent job of providing decent stereo sound reproduction by using the top ear-piece as the left-hand speaker. This is another feature that usually goes west the moment you cut costs. Yet this is another feature the FE still has.

That's the main message here; this really is a phone with most of the useful bits and without much of the silly stuff you don't really care about. At $1099, it's certainly at the upper end of the "mid-range" market but with so many flagship features on board, it's undoubtedly the best value-for-money phone we've seen this year. And it comes in red! What more can you ask for?

Click here for more information and pricing on the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE.

ANOTHER CHAPTER UNFOLDS

Okay, there's only so many more times I'm going to be able to squeeze some more life out of that pun headline.

We all know why we're here and with a phone this big, I'm bound to have plenty to say - so let's just crack on into it...

Samsung's successor to last year's Galaxy Fold is the Galaxy Z Fold2 5G - as the addition of the Z into the rather convoluted name suggests, Samsung has taken the things people loved about the Z Flip from earlier in the year and built them into the Fold. This is fantastic, because while Fold Mk. I was undoubtedly groundbreaking and innovative, it also felt decidedly experimental and fragile - not really what you want from a multi-thousand dollar device. The first thing you notice when you pick up the Z Fold2 is how much more solid and polished it feels. Oh, there's definitely still a long way to go; the large, inner display is prominently recessed into its frame making edge controls a bit fifty-fifty. 

The handset still doesn't close completely flat and there's a lot of untidy-looking stuff going on around the hinge area; multiple layers of metal, plastic and glass giving an impression of clunkiness rather than elegance, which is a real shame as Samsung's new Mystic Bronze colour is definitely a winner and the phone itself delivers on pretty much all it promises. Starting with durability - alright, I admit it; I've dropped this $3400 phone not once but twice and I can't find any discernible damage - other than to my heart-rate.

While there are just two colour choices, Mystic Bronze and Mystic Black, this time Samsung gives you the option to swap out the hinge colour when you order for silver, gold, blue or red. This comes with the Samsung logo embossed into it and conceals a new cam-based system that allows you to operate the phone in "Flex Mode" - half unfolded at an angle of your preference for a number of genuinely useful reasons. Mostly this would be for shooting or viewing pictures or video without a stand or tripod and we'll get into this in more detail shortly. Perhaps most usefully at all, it eliminates the need to join video-meetings via laptop as it can happily sit on a desk the same way. In fact, you'll look much better to everyone else because the front-facing camera on the Z Fold2 is likely to be light-years ahead of anything on a laptop or conventional tablet.

But let's backtrack and take a closer look at the two screens because let's be honest, that's what the fuss is all about.

Firstly the outer or sub display - this is now a full 6.2inch HD+ screen which is probably the single most significant upgrade from the original design. Obviously, the main point of the exercise is still a phone that transforms into a tablet. Last year's model certainly delivered on the small-tablet part of the deal but when closed, its much smaller front screen was really far too cramped to be of much use past showing notifications and receiving calls. The outer screen on the Z Fold2 is a whole other story. Will still slim it now covers pretty much the entire front half of the device - even curving over the right-hand edge slightly. It sports a 10MP punch-hole camera centre-top and there's now enough space for a 4x6 icon home screen layout (not including the seventh row of home icons at the bottom). That means enough space for your favourite widgets and most apps will run perfectly normally meaning you can use the Z Fold2 as an everyday handset without opening it at all.

Not that there's anything "everyday" about its performance; in this market this is the only Samsung phone powered by the famous Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 - you might read reviews of other Samsung handsets with Snapdragon chips but that's likely to be in America or Europe - here we usually get similar silicon from Exynos. Can I tell the difference? Hmmm... I feel like the Z Fold2 is more responsive somehow - things happen just that much more instantaneously than on the other Samsung flagships I've tried. I'm probably imagining it, projecting the power of the price-tag onto the performance of the phone. Either way, the 3.09GHz CPU, the12GB of RAM and the 256GB of internal storage are more than enough to drive this remarkable device through it's endless list of unique tricks.

Not least of which is app continuity -  when you launch an app on the outer screen, open the phone and it appears all reformatted on that massive 7.2inch dynamic OLED inner display. While still not perfect - I've already mentioned the distinct lip all around the edges and the flexible protective layer is horrendous for fingerprints and feels sticky a lot of the time - the inner or main display certainly looks outstanding. The big news here is another 10MP selfie cam peeping out of a tiny punch hole instead of the unwieldly and intrusive camera module we were confronted with last year. I can't really describe the location of that camera as it depends which way up you're holding the device. It's either a quarter of the way down the left-hand side or three-quarters of the way across the top. The point is, it's nowhere that obvious anyway. 

The result is a screen big enough to legitimately function as a tablet. Not only can you open three apps simultaneously, you can pair three together to launch from one Edge-Panel shortcut. This is slightly fiddly to set up but you only have to do it once and then next time you want your browser, mail client and file manager all open at once, it's just a single tap away.

I've been impressed with how many apps seem optimised for the Z Fold2's rather unique form-factor, although there are a few that insist on displaying in portrait - even though there isn't really a portrait orientation with this aspect ratio.

Some apps, like the camera, can even be used in Flex Mode - that's where the phone is half-folded. This means video controls display on one half while your shot appears on the other. Or you can review the photos you've just taken while you're lining up the next pic. When it comes to multi-tasking, this phone is easily the leader of the pack.

The rear-facing main camera is a triple lens affair so that all adds up to a grand total of five cameras altogether. The results are stunning - Samsung has definitely risen to the challenge photography-wise this year. The original Fold's niftiest trick was the ability to take selfies with the main shooter - thanks to being able to display your shot on the outer screen. Same deal this time around but there are even more features on offer, including being able to create your own filters based on photos you've already taken.

Some of my favourite advances are on the video side, like Tracking Auto Focus, keeping your main subject crystal clear, near or far. Or Zoom-in Mic - changing the audio detection to match the visual zoom. Most impressive has to be Auto Framing - an essential tool for any D.I.Y. video streamer. Set up your shot (perhaps using Flex Mode as your tripod), select Auto Framing, press record and the camera will automatically pan and zoom to keep you centre of attention. Hard to believe until you try it for yourself.

That could pretty much be the tagline for this phone entirely; sounds unbelievable but it's real.

My strong feeling is it's only a matter of time before Samsung figures out how to incorporate an S-Pen stylus into this form-factor, in effect turning it into a giant Galaxy Note. I'm assuming the main challenge against this right now is the still-delicate nature of the display. At the end of the day, in order to fold the way it does it has to be soft - which is why you're presented with a long list of warnings about how to look after it when you're setting up the Z Fold2. Although not mentioned specifically, I'm pretty sure poking at it with what is essentially a sharp stick is definitely not recommended at this time.

It's certainly a wonderful device for watching video on. Yes, there's still a visible crease through the middle of the main display but you don't notice it at all when a movie's playing. The sound from the stereo speakers is excellent, although on the next generation I'd like to see the introduction of a quad-speaker array as found on Samsung Tab S-series tablets - that'd really blow people's socks off.

I'm confused by the 4500mAh battery - not the biggest around by far. My confusion is based on the fact I've found battery life to be great, with plenty of juice still left in the tank each night, even when consuming a lot of video content on that big ol' screen. Fast charging is an option as is wireless, no water/dust resistant IP rating here though - that really would be a major breakthrough.

Sorry for the long-winded review but as you can see, there really is a lot going on here and most of it isn't just excellent, it's the best it can possibly be. I'd argue no phone could ever truly be worth $3,399.00 but I'd also argue no other phone can do what this phone does. If nothing else it's an attention-grabber and a talking point - definitely plenty to talk about.

Click here for more information and pricing on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G.

NOT SO LITE

 If there's one trend I've noticed more than any other in the world of smartphones this year, it's so-called "mid-range" handsets punching above their weight.

I find it kind of amusing for two reasons; firstly, I don't fully understand the logic of a manufacturer selling something almost as good as its flagship product for hundreds of dollars less. Aren't they just undercutting themselves?

But of course, even more bizarre is the fact plenty of consumers still opt for the premium product - even though in many cases they'll never use many of the high-end features they've paid extra for.

Ah, marketing.

Well anyway, the trend continues...

If you're about to buy OPPO's big flagship of 2020, the Find X2 Pro, don't let me stop you. It's definitely one of my favourite phones at the moment; it's super fast, it charges like lightning and it takes great pics. It's also quite expensive. Probably worth it - it has extremely high-end specs.

Surely at less than half the price, the mid-tier version is no comparison, right?...

(Uncomfortable throat clearing noise)

The image above is the Find X2 Lite - not the Pro.

It might look like a large phone but it's not really - it feels light in the hand and the 6.4inch display is big enough, without being over-the-top.

Another thing not too over-the-top is the rear-facing camera module; a slim quad-camera array that hardly protrudes from the rear casing at all, unlike the massive block-like structures we've seen welded onto many of this year's flagships. Let's talk photo quality while we're here - I've got to admit I'm a bit confused by what some of these lenses actually do. There's a 48MP main shooter, an 8MP wide-angle lens - which somehow helps do macro shots too and then two other 2MP sensors, a monochrome lens and a "retro" lens. I have absolutely no idea what OPPO means by a retro lens but I'm guessing it all has something to do with the large range of live filters you can use to create an instantly shareable shot.

In fact, while the camera app on the Find X2 Lite is fairly stripped down, there's quite a bit to play with if you really want to. There's a dedicated night-mode which takes a second or two to snap off a shot or you can go even further with "Tripod Mode" - assuming you've got something more steady to hold the phone with than just your hands. Some of those "retro" effects are actually pretty cool and I love the way you can zoom using an on-screen dial, rather than the more traditional slider - it just seems a bit more intuitive.

I've been generally impressed with the pics I've taken - inside or out. The 32MP selfie-cam does a good job too. There are live filters available here as well and the bokeh effect is fully adjustable to your preference.

In terms of video quality (you can shoot up to 4K, by the way) probably the highlight is OPPO's latest Ultra Steady Video 2.0 technology, making shooting on the run and panning smoother than ever. For an old shaky-hands like me, it's pretty impressive.

In fact, the phone as a whole impresses me across the board, in a quiet, modest way. I've been using it as my primary device for a couple of weeks now and it's not one of those devices I can't wait to stop reviewing so I can go back to my favourite phone - it pretty much does everything I want it to. Battery life is good and it charges quickly (like most OPPO devices do). The Qualcom Snapdragon processor isn't quite top-of-the-line but it is 5G-ready and combined with 128GB of internal storage and 8GB of RAM, this is a seriously reliable, smooth-running handset. There's a pretty decent GPU under the hood too so most games should rock along without a hitch.

The AMOLED display is not quite the work-of-art you'll find on the Pro version but it's very impressive for a phone in this price range. There's a small tear-drop notch for the front-facing camera that's hardly noticeable and an in-display fingerprint sensor that's up there with the fastest and most reliable I've used. Face unlock is even quicker - most times I haven't even thought about unlocking the phone by the time I'm looking at the home screen.

Even ColorOS has evolved into a decent U.I. in its seventh generation - I used to find it clunky and frustrating but now all the settings I need are easily searchable and accessed, with the option of a smart assistant window just a swipe away.

For me, the Find X2 Lite's only major shortfall is a lack of wireless charging - something OPPO has been reluctant to embrace until announcing its 65W AirVOOC wireless charging system in July. I look forward to future wireless-charging devices from OPPO in the months to come but for now I'll just console myself with the fact at least the Find X2 Lite has NFC for all my contactless payments.

Sound quality from the single, downward-firing speaker is loud but tinny, so I'd recommend plugging in the included earbuds or pairing with a nearby bluetooth speaker.

There aren't many negatives to using this phone and I seem to find more positives every day. By all means buy OPPO's far more expensive Pro model - you won't be disappointed, it's a fantastic phone... but the Find X2 Lite is pretty fantastic too, so make sure you compare specs before handing over the extra grand.

Click here for more information and pricing on the OPPO Find X2 Lite.

A BATTLE OF TWO ULTRAS

 Samsung has really created a rod for its own back. It keeps making awesome phones.

So what's the problem?

Well, the next phone has to be even awesomer, right?

Earlier this year, the Galaxy S20 range offered three different options, all very capable and generally well received by consumers and critics alike. The top of that range was the Galaxy S20 Ultra - aptly named given it contained more features than pretty much any other phone I've ever reviewed.

Until now...

Something weird has happened. Samsung's S range was always the sexy one. The flagship phones trendy people aspire to. The Notes were for the geeks and nerds. Note people are people who actually use the functions and features - they don't just buy the latest phone so they can impress their friends by putting it on the table at lunch. Note people don't care so much about curves and colours. Note people prefer processing power and a really big screen.

But when I first held the Note 20 Ultra side by side with my S20 Ultra, it was easy to see there'd been a subtle shift. Both handsets are about the same size and yet the Note is more elegant. It's slimmer and because the corners are more square, it seems easier to hold. And that's before you get to Samsung's new feature colour; Mystic Bronze. I'm not the kind of person who cares too much about traditional gender stereotypes, especially when it comes to colours. I don't believe in "girly" colours or "manly" colours but if I did, I reckon Mystic Bronze is both. Or neither. It's pretty cool, anyway.

The back of the Note 20 Ultra has what Samsung describes as a "satin" finish - I really love it because it doesn't pick up fingerprints anything like as much as all the other glass-backed phones we've seen on offer for the last few years. The Samsung logo is embossed into the glass and you can literally feel it when you run your fingers over it. Yes, this is a classy operation to be sure. My major criticism, and I fear it's one I'll have of many phones to come, is that damn camera module. Just like on the S20's, the Note 20 Ultra's triple lens array sticks out clumsily, sharply and annoyingly. I can't wait for phone-makers to make these things flush with the back again. In the meantime they're gathering dust and pocket lint ad infinitum.

The 6.9-inch Edge Infinity-O AMOLED 2X display is sublime, as indeed any display on any Samsung flagship always is. Like other high-end phones this year, the Note 20 Ultra supports a 120Hz refresh rate but now offers the option to use "Adaptive Mode," thereby conserving battery life, only ramping up the refresh rate when gaming etc.

Unfortunately, while some markets get a processor upgrade, New Zealand is left with the same Exynos 990 chip that runs the S20 Ultra - no real complaints from me as combined with a huge 12GB of RAM and a whopping 256GB of internal storage, this thing races along like a bullet train.

Strangely, the Note 20 Ultra offers less in some departments than the S20 Ultra. The battery is quite a bit smaller; 4500mAh as opposed to 5000mAh. This had me worried as the S20 Ultra didn't exactly blow me away with its power consumption. However, I've found battery life is at least as good if not even better on the new device - obviously there's been a lot of power-saving tweaking under the hood. The bonus is, smaller battery means a lighter phone. Of course, the Note 20 Ultra supports wireless, reverse and fast charging, as you would expect.

The other area where the Note 20 Ultra seems less-so than its S-series predecessor is in the camera department; if you have a keen eye for detail you will have noticed one less lens on the rear-facing camera. Again, there's more to this than meets the eye. (Deliberate pun) The missing fourth sensor is the Time of Flight (ToF) lens but this has in effect been replaced by a new laser autofocus module. This is great news for anyone who was struggling with the S20 Ultra's tendency to be too slow to focus when lining up a shot - especially close-up. In fact, there are tweaks to be found all through the camera experience. The 100X zoom function of the S20 Ultra is also gone - Samsung has decided 50X is more than enough for this model which is fair given how impossible it was to hold the phone steady enough to take those grainy, 100X shots. There's now a handy picture-in-picture window that pops up when doing those high-powered digital zooms, showing you the 1:1 view so you can actually point your phone at the right object.

Tracking and split focus effects reach a whole new level on the video side of things but perhaps what's most exciting is the ability to swap between different mics while shooting - choose between near, far or external mics connected via USB-C or bluetooth. The mic array on the new Samsung Buds Live is reputed to be excellent, so I can't wait to give that a go. Basically, there's everything you need to create some pretty professional footage - in 8K if you like - and that's before you even get the pen out.

Of course, a Note isn't a Note without the S-Pen stylus, tucked neatly into its custom cavity at the base of the device. This year, the S-Pen has been reimagined yet again. Partly because of the sensitivity of the display, latency has been dramatically reduced to simulate a more natural writing/drawing experience than ever. What's more, you can draw or write over video while you're shooting it (ideal for highlighting instructions or pointing out people etc) and you can even make notes at specific times during audio recordings too. It doesn't stop there either... While you've been able to control presentations and media with the S-Pen as a kind of a remote, it has now reached virtual magic wand status as there's a selection of five Air actions that enable you to do things like take screen shots and smart select. You can actually customise these, choosing from a dozen or so other shortcuts or you can assign an Air action to launch a specific app. This is all stuff you can already do via the phone's screen of course, but it does save opening an extra menu or two. It takes a little practice to learn the gestures and execute them while holding the button down and it takes even more practice to remember which gesture does what - or maybe my brain is too old for these new-fangled tricks.

There's no denying how closely aligned Samsung and Microsoft have become - the Link-to-Windows shortcut now makes it easier than ever to access your Samsung handset from your Windows 10 desktop. Any notes you make (with the S-Pen or not) are more easily synced between devices than ever, as are pictures saved to the One Drive / Samsung gallery, which seems to have merged itself into the same thing over the last few months.

The Note 20 Ultra also makes DeX mode a wireless proposition. If you have a compatible smart TV, a simple tap of the DeX shortcut is all it takes to pair the phone with a big screen in Samsung's simulated version of a destop PC. You can then use the Note 20 Ultra's display as a touch pad or run different apps on two screens simultaneously. Yet another demonstration of the ultimate power of this device.

And to be honest, I've really only scratched the surface - not that you're likely to suffer too many scratches given Samsung's use of the latest and toughest Corning Gorilla Glass Victus.

To say the Note 20 Ultra is everything the S20 Ultra is and more isn't technically true - but the few things Samsung has stripped away have undoubtedly made it even better. Add in an improved display and a world of new S-Pen features and there's no question this is the 2020 power-user's dream phone.

Click here for more information on the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

HUAWEI'S APP SOLUTIONS STARTING TO BLOOM

There's no point saving money on a phone if it doesn't do the job.

But what is the price point that gets you from entry-level limitations to at least some premium features? $500? $800? These days, you'll probably have to shell out at least a grand for good battery life, a decent camera and a fast processor, right?

Right?

How does $300 work for your budget?...

Okay, I'm exaggerating... the Huawei Y6p isn't $300. It's $299RRP. I'm going to keep reminding you of that as we go along, so apologies in advance.

First up, before the elephant can get anywhere near the room, just like Huawei's other 2020 handsets, the Y6p does not include Google services. By now, this is pretty well covered territory and to be honest, I've actually stopped caring about it. For most users, by the time you've used Phone Clone to copy your existing apps to this device, you might not even notice any difference. Remember; this is still an Android 10 phone, it's just not a Google phone. As I've mentioned in previous Huawei reviews, the App Gallery is growing at pace, day by day and the selection of apps really is pretty comprehensive.

But now there's yet another tool to ensure you're not missing out on anything; Petal Search. This is a new search engine you can easily add as a widget onto the Y6p's (or any Huawei phone's) home screen. It's an incredibly user-friendly tool, allowing you to web search or look up apps directly from the widget. And I don't just mean apps currently available on Huawei's App Gallery, I mean any app. If it can't be installed by downloading an APK - don't worry, if you don't know what that means, you'll be prompted with step-by-step instructions - you'll be given the option of adding a browser shortcut so you can use the web version instead.

For example, although my ANZ GoMoney app is not yet compatible with the Y6p, the web version works perfectly instead.

Rest assured, there aren't many apps out there that won't work with this phone and Petal Search will help you find all the ones that do.

Apps that offer contactless payment options seem to be the main holdouts when it comes to joining the Huawei party - for me that means not only my ANZ app but Caltex and BPMe too. Hopefully these guys will all get their Huawei Mobile Services functionality working soon so I can start paying for petrol from my car as god intended.

So that's Petal Search... not unique to the Y6p but another demonstration of Huawei's ongoing commitment to providing elegant handset solutions that really do the job.

Back to the phone itself though...

Although it runs a Mediatek octa-core processor, rather than the blazing fast Kirin chips you'll find in the high-end Huawei flagships, I haven't found the Y6p to be particularly sluggish when I'm using it. Admittedly, features like the face unlock take a little longer to work but they still work. As an alternative, there's a fingerprint sensor on the back which is very fast indeed.

Remember, right now this phone is selling for under $300.

You get 4GB of RAM and 64GB of built-in storage, which is quite generous for a device in this price bracket. There's also an expansion slot in the sim tray for a microSD card of up to 512GB.

You can choose between Midnight Black or a very fetching Phantom Purple and the 6.3inch LCD screen is clear and bright, with the option to adjust the colour temperature to your preference, run in dark mode and there's even an eBook mode that converts the display into a soft black-and-white - much easier on the eyes for bedtime reading.

There's a single, downward-firing speaker that can be turned up surprisingly loud. The sound is impressively clear and free of distortion or vibration - especially when listening to more speech-oriented content like podcasts. There's a physical headphone jack if you're one of those people who still prefer that. If not, I found bluetooth connectivity to be excellent.

I'm not sure if there are any other $300 phones out there with a triple-lens rear-facing camera array but if there are, I'd be amazed if they do as good a job as the one on the Y6p. Again, this is not the unrivalled, AI-assisted photo experience you'll find on a Mate or P-series Huawei flagship but I didn't have to work very hard to get some great wide-angle shots. Not to mention good exposure from indoor pics taken at night - I really wasn't expecting a lot but the Y6p seems to be able to find a little extra light when needed, despite the fact there's no dedicated night mode.

The selfies I've taken with the 8MP front-facing camera are clear, with true colour reproduction. Sadly, they were still of me... I guess there's only so much you can do.

The real star of the show is battery life. The Y6p is a reasonably compact phone, especially when compared to some of the giant, mega-phones around these days. Yet it still contains a whopping 5000mAh battery. Between Huawei's traditionally aggressive battery optimisation settings and the lower power consumption of the Y6p's mid-range processor and display, the battery lasts days. Literally. Some nights I go to bed with the power indicator still sitting on 80%. The downside is, there's no fast-charging option and the charger connects via microUSB. This is really annoying as I've got pretty used to reversible Type-C plugs and having to go back to fumbling with a one-way-only cable is almost unforgivable.

Almost... remember, this is only a $300 phone. Oh, actually - right now as an introductory offer, it's selling for just $199. Surprise!

That's actually the main problem with the Y6p - because it does most things really well, it's easy to forget how little you paid for it. Processing power and storage? Good. Camera? Very good. Choice of apps? Thanks to Petal Search, excellent. And battery life? Unbelievable.

If you're on a budget, the Y6p is a no-brainer.

Click here for more information on the Huawei Y6p.

WHO WOULD BUY THIS PHONE?

I'm the first to admit, when it comes to phones, I am extremely spoiled.

I regularly get to try some of the latest and greatest handsets available, from most of the big brands. Thousand-dollar phones, two-thousand dollar phones... yes, even three-thousand dollar phones.

Don't worry; I'd personally never spend three-thousand dollars on a phone - not even if I won Lotto - but it's fun to have a go on one.

Then there's the other end of the scale.

To be honest, lately sub-$1000 phones perform pretty well too. Even the under-$500 market constantly surprises me. Sure, features like water resistance and wireless charging are unlikely to make the price-cut here but it's not unusual to get great battery life, big screens and decent photos for just a few hundred bucks.

But what does $169 get you?...

The Nokia 1.3 is probably the most entry-level device I've reviewed for some time. As such, I was somewhat unprepared.

Because I'm reviewing phones all year long, I've become pretty good at setting them up. Cloning my apps, pictures, contacts and messages from one device to another is basically second nature to me now and I can usually be up and running on a new device in well under an hour. Not this time.

I completely underestimated the technical limitations of the Nokia 1.3.

We're dealing with just 16GB of internal storage and a mere 1GB of RAM. That's not a typo; ONE GB. I had no idea there were still phones for sale so underpowered.

Before I could start setting up the Nokia 1.3, I had to figure out how to put my SIM card in. This process was basically an exercise in time travel; there's no popout SIM tray here, instead you have to remove the whole back cover. Even that is problematic - the cover fits completely flush with the rest of the casing. In theory, you're supposed to be able to work your fingernail in there somewhere to pop it off. No chance. I ended up flexing the whole handset as much as I felt comfortable with and using a plastic phone-repair tool I happened to have in a cupboard. Not ideal. On the bright side, at least you don't have to remove the battery to get to the SIM slots and microSD tray. Unfortunately, the main SIM slot is jammed hard against the phone's chassis, making it very fiddly to insert your SIM card and virtually impossible to remove.

I did get there eventually and was finally able to push the power button. Then I waited. In theory, setting up the Nokia 1.3 is just like setting up any other Android device. That's the second time I've used the phrase, "In theory." It won't be the last. Yes you can still add your Google account and restore your apps, settings, contacts etc... but every step takes a very long time and on my first attempt, I basically had to give up and start again. I usually run about 120 apps on my phone - I don't know if that's above or below average but it's not normally a problem. (I actually have heaps more installed but I only regularly use about 120) Given the Nokia 1.3 only has 16GB of storage to begin with and a fair chunk of that is used up by the operating system, I soon realised I was going to have to take a vastly different approach.

I reset the device and didn't load any apps at all. That's not to say there are no apps on it already. The Nokia 1.3 runs on the Android 10 (GO edition). Supposedly this is more secure and helps make low-spec devices like this run faster and more efficiently. It doesn't. There are "GO" branded versions of Google Assistant and Gallery that come pre-installed and they seem to work okay. But the GO Camera is a whole other story we'll get to in a minute. Other apps like Chrome take several seconds to load and you can't add any widgets to the home screen at all. 

Weirdly, unlike many other phones, you can set the home screen to rotate from profile to landscape but it takes an age for the internal gyros to register you've tipped the phone over and actually turn the display to match. Everything feels sluggish - even unlocking the phone takes forever. Again, weirdly, you can face unlock, although I found this only worked in good light about 20 percent of the time.

The selection of shortcuts available from the pulldown menu on the notification bar is extremely limited - you can't even mute or unmute the phone from there. At least because this is kind of a version of Android 10, features like Dark Mode are still an option. 

Just when other manufacturers are giving up on dedicated buttons for their virtual assistants, you'll find one on the Nokia 1.3. Annoyingly, it's directly opposite the power button, so I often accidentally set it off when trying to open the phone.

As for that camera. It almost caused me physical pain to try and use. I don't know if it's a hardware thing, a software thing or a combination of the two but the app is so laggy, in most cases whatever you want to take a picture of will be long gone by the time you start the camera, zoom in, focus and push the capture button. I'm not exaggerating. Most times I'd push the button and have to wait more than a second for the shot to save - sometimes it wouldn't work at all - especially if I was trying to zoom in.

What's super odd is the few pictures I did manage to click off weren't terrible. A little dull and dark perhaps but generally the focus ended up being okay and there's even a portrait mode for the blurred background effect - although as you can see from this selfie, the blurring isn't particularly accurate. Pretty hard to tell where my head ends and the background starts. If I had to say something nice about the Nokia 1.3's camera performance, I'll admit the low-light effort isn't the worst, given all the other limitations.

The Nokia website claims "all day battery performance" from the 3000mAh removable cell. You might just get through a day on a full charge if you don't overtax things too much but I'd keep a charger handy, just in case. Micro-USB connector of course, nothing as fancy as USB-C here.

As much as I dislike using this phone, there are couple of highlights. The rear-mounted mono speaker actually plays audio reasonably loudly, there's a physical headphone jack if that's your thing and I found bluetooth audio to be clear and stable. The 5.71" HD+ screen is also very pleasant to use - extremely clear and bright - although the adaptive brightness takes ages to adjust (like everything else). What really surprised me was the Nokia 1.3's streaming ability - I could queue up and view Netflix with no issues at all, in fact picture quality was excellent. There's always a downside with this phone though and in terms of display it's the massive water-drop notch, top and centre. It's big enough for a selfie lens three times the size of the one that's there - very poor design indeed.

The Nokia 1.3 is compact, it's light and it has a good screen. But if you want to do anything more than text, call and watch a few Netflix shows, get ready to wait a while for some pretty basic functions to happen. There's a lot of theory and not enough reality to match up to it here.

If this is what $169 buys you, I'd wait and save up for something better.


Click here for more information and pricing on the Nokia 1.3.

QUIETLY EXCELLENT

Phones be crazy right now.

And not always in a good way. Manufacturers keep squeezing more and more features in, forcing the price up and in many cases, making the handsets look a bit bloated and silly.

You can compromise of course - giving up certain functions you don't really need can save you hundreds.

But what if you could have it all? And still end up with a phone that looks like a phone?...

The OPPO Find X2 Pro doesn't have wireless charging.

I know that seems like a weird thing to point out right at the beginning of a phone review but I'd thought I'd get it out of the way because it's pretty much the only thing this handset doesn't do. So if wireless charging is the only thing you care about, the Find X2 Pro might not be for you. Except...
It does charge faster than just about anything I've ever seen. Still interested?

The Find X2 Pro ships with a 65W SuperVOOC 2.0 charger in the box, charging the 4260mAh battery to 40% in just ten minutes, fully charging in less than forty. In real terms, you can basically watch the percentage points go up while you charge it. I've tried it. It's actually quite relaxing.

Okay, seriously now. Compared to other recent flagship phones, the Find X2 Pro is positively nondescript - well, if you get it in Ceramic Black as pictured above. It also comes in Orange Vegan Leather - admittedly that one definitely stands out a bit more and feels amazing too. But other than that, it's a classy looking, high end device with curved edges and a decent sized screen.

The camera module is prominent, but obviously it's way more subtle than some of the huge, square eyesores that seem to be in fashion lately. Interestingly, OPPO has refrained from going with a four or even five-lens array because guess what? You probably don't need it. What we do have is a 48MP wide-angle lens, a 48MP ultra wide-angle and a 13MP periscope telephoto. It's not technically accurate to refer to these as "lenses" - each one is more of a whole camera in its own right, some tuned for night shooting, some for super-steady video capture and obviously, there's some pretty decent zoom capabilities on offer too.

And that's before you get to the 32MP selfie cam, which, as usual for any OPPO device, is standout. Standout - but not pop-up. Remember; the original Find X was remarkable for introducing one of the first pop-up camera modules we'd seen on a phone... and it surprised the market by working brilliantly. Now OPPO has gone for a small cut-out in the top left-hand corner of the screen. Importantly, that becomes the bottom left-hand corner when viewing content in landscape and as a result, I think that's my favourite place for it; it just never distracts or gets in the way.

As for the photos themselves, I'm very impressed. The camera app is easy to use and uncluttered with options and settings you're unlikely to need. Inside, outside, bright light or dark conditions, in most cases I've been able to just point and shoot and come up with a clear, detailed shot with true-to life colours. The zoom on offer is 3X optical and up to 10X hybrid and the results are great. You can wind it up to 60X digital if you really want to and while things do get pretty noisy at that magnification, if you can keep the phone steady enough you might be surprised what you can see from a distance.

The HDR, Ultra-Steady video quality is also first-rate and indeed, wonderfully steady. But there's no point shooting high quality vids if you don't have an equally great screen to watch them on. Drum roll please...

The 6.7inch, 120Hz Ultra Vision OLED screen is, simply put, one of the best displays you'll find on a phone today. The blacks are so black yet it's capable of blinding brightness, even in sunny conditions. Everything is adjustable if you're worried about conserving battery life. Resolution can be set to FHD+ or QHD+. The refresh rate can be 60Hz or 120Hz. But the best thing is you can switch both those settings to auto and let the phone decide what's most suitable for the video you're watching or the game you're playing. There's even a feature called the O1 Ultra Engine - this is similar to the upscaling technology in many high-end, modern TV's. Somehow it takes low-res content and sharpens everything up to make your viewing experience as high-def as possible. The detail and depth when viewing half-decent video files or streaming is so lustrous, it's almost 3D - as though you could reach right into the picture. No wonder OPPO sent the Find X2 Pro to me in this box - it's the closest thing to a TV I've come across that's still the size of a phone.

Even the speakers sound rich, full and deep, combining both top and bottom firing speakers to create a convincing stereo effect when the device is held sideways. I'm not a massive fan of watching TV shows or movies on my phone but if I had to, this definitely the phone to use.

Of course, the only reason any of this stuff works so well is the Snapdragon 865+Dual-Mode 5G chip running it all. It doesn't get much better than that in a 2020 handset, especially on with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Everything is fast and smooth. Facial recognition, instant. In-display fingerprint reader, the quickest I've used yet. There's nothing flashy about this phone but that's the beauty of it; it works so well you don't really notice because it never doesn't work.

Make no mistake, this is a flagship device through and through, with all the features, camera functionality and tech-specs of other phones priced well over $2000. Even if you're still not familiar with the OPPO brand, before you pay more than two-grand for your next phone, try the Find X2 Pro. I'm confident you'll be impressed with what you see.


Click here for more information on the OPPO Find X2 Pro.