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.

SMART, BUT GOOD LOOKING TOO

Sometimes I think the phone makers have lost the plot.

Just because you can put it in a phone, doesn't mean you should. Especially if your customers didn't even ask for it in the first place.

Right now there seems to be a crop of high-end handsets out there, so jammed full of extra tricks and features, not only are they priced way beyond most normal people's budgets but they're actually pretty darn ugly too.

Surely there's no point in owning a phone with more processing power than a lunar lander if it looks like a brick and doesn't even fit in your pocket...

The OPPO A91 might be the compromise you've been looking for.

The image above really doesn't do the A91 justice, because it's one of the prettiest phones I've used in a long time. Available in Blazing Blue or Lightening Black (no, that isn't a spelling mistake; the black is Lightening in colour, not lightning-like) Not only is the rear casing a gleaming, glowing, eye-catching work of art that seems to reflect light in about ten different ways, it's one of very few handsets I've come across that has a matching metal frame around the outside edge. So not only is the A91 comfortable to hold because of its curved sides at the back, it also looks much more colourful than many other phones.

It's light and it's slim as well. The 6.4" AMOLED display is plenty big enough for most users and yet, because of the high screen-to-body ratio, the whole device is no bigger than it has to be - even the quad-camera module on the back is as compact as it possibly can be. Instead of an unsightly, bulky, squarish collection of lenses, seemingly clamped onto the back of the phone as an afterthought, the A91's 48MP Ultra Wide Angle Macro Quad Camera is a skinny little row of sensors tucked neatly into the corner. Yes, it's still raised out from the back of the phone, although hardly noticeable if you're using the clear case that's included in the box.

These mid-range OPPO devices usually punch well above their weight in terms of camera performance, so I was keen to start snapping off a few pics with the A91. As I've come to expect, the on-board AI does an excellent job of identifying common scenes and objects, automatically adjusting the settings accordingly. Don't get too excited about the zoom capabilities as there's no telephoto lens here - OPPO's gone for a macro shooter instead. This means cool food and flower shots but distance shooting will get pretty grainy pretty quick.

What really impressed me were the shots from the 119 degree ultra-wide angle lens. OPPO has come up with a nifty little trick called Distortion Correction to keep the fishbowl effect of your wide shots to an absolute minimum. As you can see here, the light, detail and colour look great too.

As usual for an OPPO handset, it's the portrait and selfie shots where the A91 comes into its own. There are just so many options for bringing out the very best in any face - even mine. Not only can you choose to smooth skin (or not to) but you can target the shape of particular features like nose, eyes and chin. And that's before you get to the multitude of filters and other effects on hand to create genuinely stunning, Insta-ready pics in moments. There's also some pretty cunning anti-shake technology to keep your videos extra-steady and a lot of that AI beautification stuff works on the videos you shoot too.

But of course, a phone is more than just a pocket camera - even an OPPO phone. What other features does the A91 bring to the table?

The in-display fingerprint sensor is excellent - fast and reliable. This technology really seems to have come of age in 2020 and combined with tiny selfie-cam notches and gesture-based navigation, we should all now expect the high screen-to-body ratio the A91 offers.

The face unlock also works well, although only in portrait. Given many phone users are gaming or watching video more and more, I'd like to see greater emphasis on screen rotation. In fact, while the technical operation of the A91 was generally fast and smooth (as you'd expect with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage) the software experience feels a little old-fashioned. The home screen doesn't rotate into landscape, there's no native email app or browser and because ColorOS 6.1.2 is based on Android 9, not the latest version 10, recent features like Dark Mode just aren't there. Battery optimisation is also far too aggressive, with some push notifications going AWOL after a while and I had trouble keeping my Fitbit connected too. I'd like to be able to say I fixed these issues with a deep dive into the battery, app management and permissions settings but alas, the A91 was just plain determined to put some processes to sleep in the name of extending battery life.

The upside of that is that yes, you do indeed get great battery life - the 4025mAh battery sails through a long day with no issue and OPPO's VOOC Flash Charge 3.0 is some of the fastest charging technology in the business.

No wireless charging of course and no IP dust/water resistance either - those features are usually the first to go when making the mid-tier compromise. On the other hand, NFC and contactless payment are also often missing at this price point - but thankfully, given our current click and collect culture, paywave is an option on the A91.

If it's good camera and battery performance you're looking for and a genuinely pretty phone, the A91 fits the bill. It's light, thin but still offers solid, big screen performance with a fast and consistent in-display fingerprint reader. Plenty of RAM and storage - all that adds up to a lot of premium features for around $649... that's at least half the price of most high-end flagships with a lot more than half the functionality.


Click here for more information on the OPPO A91.

A NEW WAY OF LOOKING AT THINGS

Before you read on, you should know I'm far from unbiased when it comes to reviewing Huawei devices. In fact, I've hosted promotional videos on behalf of Huawei, showing off new handsets and explaining how to use them. I've been paid to do that - but more importantly, I've been happy to do that.

The reason being; Huawei produces great phones.

But what makes a great phone great? Can a phone still be great without Google services?

Huawei aren't paying me to write this review, by the way. Despite that, I've been using the latest P-series flagship and it's definitely great.

I mean, just look at at it. The Huawei P40 Pro comes in Silver Frost or Deep Sea blue, as pictured above. The 6.58-inch Quad-Curve Overflow display doesn't just curve at the sides, it curves top and bottom too. It looks like liquid and feels like liquid to use. There's a noticeably silky smooth response, thanks to the 90Hz refresh rate and the mighty Kirin 990 processor - that means dazzling graphics and sheer speed and power. Every time I pick up a Huawei handset after using one made by someone else, I'm always impressed at how damn quick it is and the P40 Pro is certainly no exception. You'll notice this straight away with the blazing fast in-display fingerprint sensor - now more conveniently located towards the centre of the device. Personally, I prefer to use face unlock, especially when it works as reliably and as efficiently as it does on this phone.

Now it wouldn't be a P-Series phone if it didn't have a top-notch camera setup and again, the P40 Pro lives up to Huawei's usual high standards. The 50 MegaPixel Ultra-Vision Leica camera doesn't just take extraordinary photos, unlike the bulky, unsightly three and four-lens modules we've seen clumped onto the back of other flagship devices recently, the P40 Pro camera has an elegance to it; it's more compact and doesn't protrude out any further than it needs to. You've got the 50MP wide angle lens, the 40MP ultra-wide, the 3D depth-sensing camera and the real star of the show; a 12MP SuperSensing telephoto lens, capable of crystal clear 5X optical zoom. Not to mention a primo 32MP selfie-cam, tucked subtly away in the top left corner of the screen (bottom left when gaming or watching movies) As for the pictures...

The P40's camera AI is now named Golden Snap - and gold-class pics are definitely what you end up with. Take my advice and let the AI do the work for you, I haven't been let down yet. This is probably the best flower photo I've ever taken - not that I'm super into flowers or anything - but all I did was pull the phone out of my pocket and let the AI do the rest. The colour, the light, the split focus... that's all the phone's doing, I didn't even have to think. Which I love. I hate thinking. Even if things do go a bit wrong, the P40 can fix a lot of them after you've taken the shot. AI Best Moment provides you with a selection of optimal shots so you never miss a critical pic. AI Remove Passersby magically erases unwanted photo-bombers from your background and AI Remove Reflection is the easiest way to clear up those problematic window shots.

And now for the contentious bit; the software. I've got to be honest with you; if I have to read another Huawei review that writes off an otherwise outstanding, world-class phone just because it doesn't come with Google Play Services installed, I'm going to throw something at someone. It's typical of the current tech market to become so reliant on whatever is the most publicised, advertised and hyped product that we end up ignoring other options completely - or worse, dismissing them without even making an honest attempt to use them in the first place. Admittedly, at first I was just as guilty, desperately trying to force my usual browser and calendar apps to work on the latest Huawei phones. Then I had an epiphany; if they can make a handset this good, who's to say Huawei can't come up with a few decent apps too?

Let me remind you, yet again, how easy it is to set this phone up. Clone Phone will transfer the vast majority of your stuff across from your existing handset in minutes; files, photos, contacts, apps and settings - yes, including Facebook, Messenger and Instagram. This now happens faster than ever due to the P40 Pro's WiFi6+ capability. Even then, the Huawei App Gallery is expanding exponentially every day. Just because you're used to using a certain app doesn't mean there isn't a better one out there you should try. Huawei's native browser looks great, it's fast, you can browse privately and there's no issue streaming video and other graphic-heavy content. Best of all, it has a dark mode. Turns out, there are all kinds of calendar apps out there, many with far better features than what I was using before. All the Microsoft Office apps run perfectly. Not to mention all your classic time-wasters; Snapchat, Tiktok etc... Everybody raves about the HERE WeGo navigation app - that's on the App Gallery too. Thousands and thousands of apps waiting for you to give them a go.

There are only two small niggles I have run into. Although the P40 Pro has full NFC capability, there's no contactless payment option and try as I might, I can't get the push notifications to come through from my security cameras, even though I can control and monitor them via their apps with no problem at all. Given Huawei's obvious commitment to making their handsets the best in the world, I'm confident issues like these will be solved not too far down the track.

This is a sleek, classy-looking phone with a superb display and a powerhouse of an engine under the hood. Battery life is outstanding, wireless and reverse charging is all part of the package, as is IP68 water and dust resistance. There isn't a flagship feature this phone doesn't have. Amazing camera performance (as usual). Thousands of apps ready for download - SO GIVE THEM A GO!

The P40 Pro is only RRP$1499... and that's not including the roughly $650 of accessories you get thrown in when you pre-order from 2 Degrees, PB Tech, JB Hi-Fi or Noel Leeming. There is simply no other flagship device with these kinds of specs available for this price.

No wonder Emirates Team New Zealand has made the Huawei P40 series its official smart device partner. You see? It's all about excellence in design, the latest innovation and trying something new.

That's what the Huawei P40 Pro is all about.


Click here for more information on the Huawei P40 Pro.

COULD THIS BE THE PHONE YOU FLIP OVER?

Okay, this is getting ridiculous.

How much smartphone do your really need? And how much are you prepared to pay?

More processing power. More battery life. More and more and more cameras. Definitely more features than anybody ever dreamed of or asked for.

Now manufacturers are paying the price for all their over-the-top innovation. Recent statistics show people aren't replacing their phones as often as they used to. Why would they? If it cost as much as a second-hand car and does more than you actually needed it for in the first place, it's hardly surprising they're going to try and get two or three years out of it rather than one or two.

But if something genuinely different came along... and the price tag wasn't too over-the-top... that might be an upgrade worth considering. Right?...

It looks like foldables are here to stay, for this year anyway. I've tried phones that unfold into tablets, with screens on either the inside or out. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is different again; instead of folding out to get bigger, the Z Flip folds up to get smaller.

I'm going to include a few more pictures than usual in this review because I'm not sure I can convince you how useful I've found this device to be just by describing it to you.

However, I'm going to start with a few things the Z Flip doesn't have, because if these features are dealbreakers for you, there's really no point getting too carried away. First up; cameras. Given the last Samsung device I reviewed was the Galaxy S20 Ultra, most phones are going to struggle to compete on the camera front. The S20 Ultra has just about every possible lens and photo feature packed into it, offering pretty much unrivaled zoom and wide-angle options, as well as excellent low light and video performance. The Z Flip just doesn't have a lot of that stuff. The cameras are great, don't get me wrong. They're just not the greatest. There are a couple of unique photographic tricks up its sleeve I'll get to shortly, but if you're looking for the best phone camera on the market, the Z Flip isn't for you.

Then there's battery life. Again, there's plenty - just not the most. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised how much power-economy Samsung manages to squeeze out of the 3300mAh battery, which by recent standards is actually pretty small. A full charge seems to be enough to get me through most days, depending on how much video content I'm watching. Generally I'll pop it down on one of my wireless chargers for a while if I can though, just to be sure it'll last me till bedtime. Strangely, my wireless car cradle doesn't charge the Z Flip which seems weird, given it's a genuine Samsung charger but maybe it's just a little out of date or something. There's a Type-C fast charger included in the box and I've certainly had no issues with the time it takes to top up. But if you're looking for a phone with a two-day battery life, the Z Flip isn't for you.

The one that really has me confused is the processor. The Z Flip has plenty of storage; 256GB, although no expansion slot for a microSD. It runs plenty of RAM; 8GB but oddly, for a phone in the super-premium price range, it doesn't use the latest generation CPU, but the slightly older Snapdragon 855 Plus. On the bright side, that doesn't seem to matter at all. I honestly encountered no lag, stutter or pauses, everything seemed super smooth and slick. There's a big "but" here though; no 5G support. If you're wanting to jump on the 5G network as it rolls out around New Zealand, the Z Flip isn't for you.

Oh... and if you're someone who regularly drops your phone in the sink, the toilet or just onto the ground, the Z Flip isn't for you either. There's no water/dust IP rating here and why aren't you looking after your phone better anyway?

So let's move on to what's great about this phone... which is pretty much everything else.

Let's dive into the benefits of that folding screen, as I assume that's basically why you've read this far. The whole point of the Z Flip is a phone that is half the size when you're not using it. It's as simple as that - and it works. Yes, it conjures up rosy memories of those old push-button flip phones from decades past but the Z Flip has moved on much, much further than that.

The dynamic AMOLED display is miraculous, very tall and narrow indeed with an unusual 21.9:9 aspect ratio when unfolded. (Basically two squares on top of each other) This is surprisingly satisfying for viewing widescreen(cinema format) video. Yes, like the Galaxy Fold before it, there is a visible seam in the centre you can definitely feel but unless what you're watching or looking at has a lot of solid white content you hardly ever notice it. In fact, like most Samsung flagship screens, the colour, contrast and detail is outstanding, with very few reflection issues. 

It's a little strange going back to a device with such prominent bezels but presumably that's unavoidable at this early point in the evolution of folding screens. I certainly had no issue with the Hideaway Hinge while using the device - It seemed robust, secure and stayed relatively free of any dust or obstructions. In fact, that's the other obvious advantage of folding your phone away in your pocket; the screen is safely tucked up tight, protected from scratches and the like. There's a two-piece, clear case included in the box to protect the outside too - a pretty good idea, especially if you've gone for the oh-so-pretty Mirror Purple instead of boring old Mirror Black.

The Z Flip's greatest trick is that it is its own tripod. (Pretty sure that sentence makes sense. Pretty sure...)

Because the Hideaway Hinge is firm enough to hold the phone open at a variety of angles, it's the ideal device for hands-free video chatting - an indispensable feature in this current age of working-from-home. That also means group selfies without a selfie-stick and the Z Flip's night shooting modes are greatly enhanced by the fact you don't have to hold the phone steady for those long-exposure shots - you can just stand it on a table or a ledge. It sounds like a basic concept but we've all been in a situation where we've tried to balance our phone on something precarious to try and capture that perfect selfie; the Z Flip now makes that so easy.

There's even a tiny second screen on the outside of the device, next to the camera lenses - and I do mean tiny. In fact, it's so small, I don't fully understand the purpose of it. It displays the time, date and remaining charge, which I suppose is useful to a degree. It also shows notifications you can swipe to preview, as long as you've got your reading glasses on. It will even let you take a selfie with the phone closed, showing a tiny little you on that tiny little screen. Not really sure how helpful any of that is, when you can just open the handset to see it all properly but it's there if you want it.

In terms of how usable the Z Flip is as a phone, I love it. Samsung's One UI is probably my favourite operating system with it's full featured, no clutter presentation and as I mentioned earlier, there's more than enough processing power, memory and storage to keep the Z Flip whipping along. I was a bit disappointed at the lack of stereo speaker set-up I've been so impressed with on other Samsung flagships but I certainly had no issue with the sound experience via bluetooth headphones or earbuds and like I say, when it comes to gaming or movies, it's hard to beat that extra-wide aspect ratio.

The $2399 price tag may seem steep but compared to other high-end flagships with similar specs, I actually think it's in the ballpark. In fact, it's drastically cheaper than other folding phones I've reviewed - even though it might be the most practical one yet.


Click here for more information and pricing on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip.