OPPO Find N6 - Meet the New Leader In Foldable Flagships

Over the last year I've been able to trial quite a selection of folding phones that for the first time, really feel like polished, fully finished products - rather than the next step in something experimental that may or may not actually be going somewhere.

Suddenly there's a more solid, reliable feel to these handsets. That's important, given their wincingly high price tags.

The operating systems, generally, seem to have evolved into something more useful for the form-factor too. After all, is there any real point in having a screen twice the width if it doesn't offer anything more than what a standard sized display does?

Then there's the crease.

Something we've just come to expect from folding screens. Yes, the crease has been getting less and less noticeable but if you're going to bend a phone in half, surely there's only so much you can do.

Apparently, OPPO disagrees.

Yep, they've actually done it. Open the OPPO Find N6 and you'll discover the new Seamless View Display. I knew OPPO was claiming this was a thing. I'd heard other people talk about it. I'd even seen people demonstrate it. And yet, I still didn't believe it.

Then I saw it - and even more importantly - FELT it for myself. No crease. Barely the tiniest evidence of some kind of line if you hold the Find N6 up to a bright light in just the right way but that's it. A completely flat foldable. Who'd have thought it?

This miracle is achieved using what OPPO describes as Auto-Smoothing Flex Glass - literally 3D scanning each Titanium Flexion Hinge on every phone to then 3D print the corresponding smoothing system, unique to that phone and that phone alone.

Some poor robot has been tasked with folding and unfolding these things up to a million times and as a result, the Find N6 is certified to stay flat for at least 600,000 folds. Truly pioneering tech.

But the best thing about the Find N6 is OPPO wasn't just content to do the world's flattest folding screen and leave it at that. This is a true flagship phone in every other way too.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 mobile platform is the engine driving everything - from AI photo editing to triple-A gaming. The latest iteration of ColorOS is a UI truly deserving of the 8.12-inch internal display, letting you open 3 or 4 apps simultaneously with a simple gesture - finally delivering on the productivity boost devices like this have been promising since their inception.

Another tool to help boost the Find N6's usefulness even further is the optional OPPO AI Pen - a feature-packed bluetooth stylus that charges wirelessly via its rear cover case. Not only is this a precise writing and sketching accessory, thanks to its smart button it can also be used as a media controller or even a laser pointer.

There is a downside; the rear cover the OPPO AI Pen slots into is too thick for the handset to charge through on a wireless pad. And that case is also really tricky to get off once you click it into place. So you pretty much have to choose between the convenience of wireless charging or the usefulness of a bluetooth stylus.

This is emblematic of OPPO's historically reluctant attitude around wireless charging. OPPO phones have always been about the fastest charging around, thanks to the awesome power of wired SuperVOOC charging - it's been that way for many years now.

Unfortunately, this determination to focus on fast wired charging has meant many OPPO handsets don't offer wireless charging at all - and now we've got this weird situation with the AI Pen case. There's also a more generic, two-piece cover included in the Find N6 box. Thankfully, this is much thinner and doesn't prevent wireless charging getting through.

The really weird part is, with the right AirVOOC charger, the Find N6 will actually charge wirelessly at up to 50W - faster than any other device I've ever reviewed.

Fast charging is helpful, because we're talking some serious battery here; 6000mAh. This is yet another area where OPPO has seen the opposition produce under-powered foldables with batteries that may or may not last out a whole day. Meanwhile, as I explain in the video below, I got several days use from my Find N6 on a single charge without even meaning to.

The other bizarre compromise to be found on early foldables is the camera setup. You'd think if you're asked to pay over three grand for a phone, you might expect it to take some of the best pictures and videos possible. That hasn't always been the case.

On the Find N6, it is the case.

The primary rear camera module, distinctive in its round housing and marked with a silver "H" for Hasselblad, sports a 200MP wide main camera, a 50MP ultra-wide, a 50MP periscope telephoto and a dedicated True Colour camera. This results in consistent, real-life colour, detail and lighting across all focal lengths - including distance shots and extreme closeups.

I've raved on and on about how good OPPO's phone cameras are before - especially since collaborating with Hasselblad - the camera name famous for bringing us images of the original moon landings. The results from this generation certainly don't disappoint, complete with 20MP selfie-cams on both outer and inner screens too.

We've talked a lot about that magical, folding display but the 6.62-inch external display definitely deserves a mention as well. For a book-style foldable, the Find N6 is remarkably light and thin - even more so than some more conventional, unfoldy flagships. The aspect ratio when folded is less tall and skinny than many other, similar devices and I think this goes a long way to why I feel so comfortable using it as my every day handset. The cover display features a 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate, it gets incredibly bright when it needs to and the wider aspect ratio leaves plenty of room for apps and widgets on my home screen.

The only downside is OPPO's insistence on installing factory-fitted screen protectors - which are usually far more prone to damage and scratches than the screen they're purportedly protecting. I've certainly found that to be the case on this phone, somehow scratching it just by placing it face down on my work desk yesterday morning. I'm fairly certain if I peeled this "protector" off, the ceramic guard on the display proper would prove much more scratch resistant, which has certainly been my experience with most high-end phones for the last few years. I mean, thanks for the free screen protector, OPPO. But you shouldn't have. Really.

Note: Don't go trying to peel anything off that inner screen - any layers there are integral to its functionality.

Not that this phone feels delicate in any way - which is another reason I feel comfortable casually dropping it in my pocket - and even dropping it out of my pocket and onto my hard wooden floor. Twice. So far. With no damage whatsoever. It also carries IP57, IP58 and IP59 ratings against water and dust. 

Whether you go for Stellar Titanium or Blossom Orange, it's a special phone. However, that doesn't mean you have to give it special treatment. Which is ultimately what I love about the Find N6. It's probably the most advanced collection of mobile phone technology ever built into a single device - and yet I'm not afraid to use it.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the OPPO Find N6.

Apple iPhone 17e - Try to Find a Reason Not to Buy This One Apple iPhone 17e - Try to Find a Reason Not to Buy This One

 Don't you just love it when a tech brand brings out a cheaper version of their flagship product that essentially does all the same things?

What's the catch?

Good question.

That's what I'm still trying to figure out after a couple of weeks with Apple's latest handset.

Starting at NZ$1,199.00, it's a bit of a misnomer to refer to the iPhone 17e as "entry level" - although it certainly makes it a lot more affordable than the base-model iPhone 17 launched late last year at NZ$1,699.00.

In New Zealand, the timing of the 17e's release couldn't be better, as apparently quite a few people still haven't figured out the 2G and 3G networks are in the process of shutting down across the country and it's definitely time to upgrade old phones.

In 2025 we saw Apple pivot from its much more stripped-down SE line of cheaper iPhones, instead launching the 16e - much less of a misfit member of the family with a lot more of the premium features included.

This year's model "e" takes that philosophy even further, starting with the inclusion of MagSafe, which was missing on the 2025 version. For those of you unfamiliar with MagSafe, it's essentially just a ring of magnets built into the rear panel of the handset so you can attach accessories like wireless chargers and card wallets, as if by magic. Sounds silly - right up to the point you try it and realise it's going to change your life.

Being able to attach your phone to car cradles and bedside chargers without plugging in and unplugging all the time is weirdly freeing. I love it.

Better still, the iPhone 17e now charges wirelessly at twice the speed; 15W. Even betterer stiller, the battery life on this thing is impressively decent. Although this is a mid-priced phone, it will outlast many flagships. It's not unusual for me to get to the end of the day with 70% charge still in the tank. It certainly helps that I can just plonk it down on the nearest available wireless charging pad.

The 6.1-inch display is protected by Ceramic Shield 2 - making it three times more scratch resistant than the iPhone 16e. This is something I don't think Apple makes enough noise about; for generations now (iPhone generations, not human generations), iPhone users just haven't really had to worry about scratching or cracking their screens - an expensive inconvenience that used to be a given for any smartphone owner sooner or later. These days iPhone screens are pretty much as tough as they come. Shout it from the rooftops, Apple - it makes an already reasonably-priced phone even better value.

By now you must be wondering - as indeed I was - where has Apple cut corners here in order to cut the price? Surely they've used older hardware under the hood, like so many other phone-makers do with their less-than-premium offerings. Well, no actually.

The 17e runs on Apple's proprietary A19 chip, just like the iPhone 17 and 17 Pro do. Admittedly there's a GPU core or two less in this version - but that's really only going to hold you back if you're planning to edit a 3D feature film on your phone. It still handles AAA gaming perfectly well, with the Super Retina XDR display looking great. 

Wait... there is ONE downside display-wise; you don't get ProMotion on the 17e so that means no Always On Display and no Dynamic Island either.

What do you mean, you can't remember exactly what Dynamic Island is? It's that tiny widget that replaced the infamous "notch" around the selfie camera at the top of the screen. It does things like display what media is playing or shows the progress of AirDrop file transfers. If you still don't know what I'm talking about, you probably won't miss it but yes, the 17e still has the infamous notch instead.

Speaking of the selfie-cam, this is definitely one area of compromise - in comparison to the rest of the iPhone 17 family that is. The 12MP TrueDepth camera is still great, it just doesn't do the aspect-ratio swap trick the other 17s do, thanks to their square, 18MP CentreStage sensors. Again, no major drama.

You do lose a few actual lenses on the primary camera array around the back though. Just a single lens there. Apple calls this a 48MP Fusion camera and it's still capable of 24MP and 48MP "super-high-resolution" pics and Dolby Vision 4K video. Just to make things even more confusing, the all-new iPhone Air that came out at the same time as the iPhone 17 and 17 Pro also only has one rear-facing camera, although technically, it's a Dual-Fusion sensor so it's supposed to be better than what the 17e has. I've used both. They both seem to take great pics. Neither do Ultra-Wide or zoom particularly far - but other than that portrait shots look amazing and low-light shooting is damn good for any phone too.

Perhaps the one last place where the 17e comes up a little short - when compared to the other 17-series iPhones I mean - is there's still no Camera Control sensor, the relatively new iPhone innovation that lets you open the camera app with a press, click off photos and slide your zoom in and out, along with a few other photography shortcuts. I'm going to keep it real here and argue that's no great loss either - for a couple of reasons.

1: As we've already discussed, there's not much zooming in and out to be done with this camera anyway and...

2: The iPhone 17e (just like the 16e before it) does have the Action button - the customisable shortcut key that can be set to launch the camera app anyway.

Whichever way you look at it, although the 17e has a midrange price-tag, it delivers a hell of a lot of premium features and performance. Although only single-lens, the camera will surprise you. The fast wireless charging and battery life are stellar. The display looks fabulous and is protected by Ceramic Shield 2. The chip is the latest generation Apple has to offer and it's pretty bulletproof. And yes, it'll do all the Apple Intelligence stuff too. To top it all off, you have the new addition of MagSafe, which is some absolutely excellent accessory icing on the cake.

If you want the pinnacle of iPhone technology Apple has to offer, Pro Max yourself up the wazoo, it's an unbelievable piece of tech and you won't be disappointed. But if you're just after a fantastic phone that does most of what those other iPhones do anyway, save yourself a significant amount of dosh and take the "e"asy way out.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Apple iPhone 17e.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy A17 5G - One of These Things Is Definitely Not Like the Other

My many years of tech reviewing has left me in the privileged position of being able to use most of the latest and greatest smartphones, pretty much from the moment they're launched - sometimes even before.

These days some of these devices can cost thousands and quite understandably, most people wouldn't dream of handing over that kind of cash for a phone, even if they can afford it.

That's why I also try and sample more budget-friendly devices - and I've often been surprised just how capable under $1000 handsets can be.

So it wasn't completely out of the blue when Samsung suggested I compare the latest offerings from each end of its 2026 range.

In fact, on price alone, the two phones I'm comparing today really couldn't be further apart. The Galaxy A17 5G is NZ$399.00 while the Galaxy S26 Ultra starts at NZ$2,549.00.

Today I'll be focusing more on the S26 Ultra than the A17 because... well... there's no easy way to say this; I found the A17 to be unusable.

Let me explain.

My usual method for reviewing any device is to unpack it, set it up and use it in my every day life, just as I would if I'd gone out and bought it myself.

With phones, this means adding both my work and personal email accounts, syncing my social media, music and podcast apps and even linking the camera roll to backup automatically to my cloud storage service.

Or at least, that's what I usually do. That's certainly what I did with the S26 Ultra - just as I have done with many generations of Ultra before it - and if I'm going to be completely honest, that process was so smooth and effortless it was almost boring. Especially given that on the face of it, not much has changed with this year's flagship Samsung handset. But we'll come to that.

Setting up the A17, on the other hand, was a mission. To begin with, although it has a dual SIM tray - which is useful if you run separate business and personal numbers or you do a lot of travelling - there's no eSIM option, which is what I use.

No matter, I thought. It's not like I can use the same number on two phones at once anyway. At least I can load up all my usual apps, connect to my smartwatch and other bluetooth devices and...

I got as far as using Samsung's SmartSwitch app to copy my settings, apps and other data to the A17 from my personal device and then I set about trying to log in to the various places I would need to, to go about my daily business.

But I couldn't. And here's why; although the A17 5G has a big battery and a triple-sensor primary camera setup - including a 50MP main wide lens - the phone itself is so underpowered in terms of RAM and processing ability, it's impossible to use.

The large, 6.7-inch Super AMOLED screen might be good - Samsung claims a "fluid" 90Hz refresh rate - I wouldn't know, because every time I tried to do something there was such a delay, I'd give up and move on to something else, only to have the original function start working several seconds later, just confusing things even more.

And I'm talking about basic functionality, as I'll demonstrate in the video below. Just swiping from the top to pull down the notification or quick access windows seemed too much of an effort for this phone so no, I didn't even get up to testing the Optical Image Stabilisation that is now built into the camera but I fear, much like the boast of being able to use Gemini Live for its AI abilities, the effort and frustration wouldn't be worth the result.

It's 5G capable but if you were hoping this was the 3G replacement you needed for nana, take my advice, spend another few hundred dollars and get an exponentially more user-friendly experience.

Or...

Spend a few THOUSAND more and get one of the best phones available in the world right now.

Even though, as I hinted at earlier, not much has changed between the 2025 Ultra and today's - it was the hottest handset around then and most of the competition are still playing catchup.

And besides, some things HAVE changed, if not obviously so.

The S26 Ultra is thinner and lighter than ever and it's cooler too, thanks to Samsung's biggest vapour chamber yet.

As you'd expect, the processor is faster, more powerful and more efficient - although you might've expected that from the A17 too, but it's the same chip as last year in that one. The S26 Ultra boasts significant performance improvements across the board - with the NPU, GPU and CPU. All the Us.

Actually, speaking of the Neural Processor, it almost goes without saying there are more A.I. tricks this handset can perform, although things have become quite confusing with Samsung's Galaxy AI revitalising its proprietary, on-device virtual assistant, Bixby, while delegating cloud-based A.I. functions to Google Gemini.

So... you want on-device translation? Or maybe just a timer or an alarm? Bixby's your man. Or woman. Or robot - whatever.

Meanwhile, when it comes to more connected requests like Circle to Search - which you can do with the S26 Ultra's on-board stylus, of course - that's more of a Gemini sort of a gig.

Both Gemini and Galaxy AI have excellent tools for photo and video editing so I guess it's a sort of two-robot-heads-are-better-than-one approach.

As far as photography goes, more broadly - there are noteworthy advances here too, with larger wide and telephoto sensors letting in more light for even better nighttime shooting, which is something the previous S25 Ultra wasn't too shabby at anyway. There's also now a Horizontal Lock mode which effectively turns your phone into an action camera, using the built-in gyros to sense gravity and keep your shots level, even if you're rolling down a hill backwards.

The headline upgrade for the Ultra this year is a feature called Privacy Display. You may have come across physical privacy screens before. These are aftermarket addons that keep people nearby from being able to see what's on your phone - not just a privacy measure but potentially a security issue, when you're typing in passwords or managing payment details. These external screens not only add bulk to your device but can affect image quality too.

Samsung's approach is far more elegant - it's built into the panel itself. You can activate Privacy Display manually and even set it up to work for specific apps and not others - including their notifications. Genius. 

Oh, and the S26 Ultra comes in a nice purple colour called Cobalt Violet, along with a choice of five other more subtle shades.

I still appreciate the fact that the onboard stylus, the famous S-Pen, is still on board - even though I hardly ever use it. I've seen people with medical conditions that affect their fine-motor-skills use the S-Pen to control their phone because it's more accurate than their shaky digits. Accessibility rules.

So I apologise. This wasn't much of a comparison after all. I simpply didn't have the patience to set up the A17 properly - but then, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't either. In fact, you shouldn't.

On the other hand, if you want the best Android chip available, in one of the world's smartest phones, with a sneaky display no-one else can read, the Ultra, as usual, will not disappoint.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Click here for more information and pricing on the Samsung Galaxy A17 5G.

HONOR Magic V5 - Well, I Didn't See This One Coming

As a tech obsessed tragic, a large part of the time I'm not writing articles about gadgets, I spend reading articles about gadgets.

So it's always a bit frustrating when I see something cool being launched somewhere else in the world if it doesn't end up being sold here.

I get it. With a population of fewer than 6 million, the whole of New Zealand is a smaller market than most major cities.

And we're far.

Still, if we don't have access to more than one or two brands of a certain product, we can easily be held hostage, price-wise.

So I was surprised, fascinated and excited to see HONOR set up shop here a couple of weeks ago.

At the Auckland launch event, HONOR confirmed two phones, a tablet, a smartwatch and earbuds would all be hitting kiwi shelves in plenty of time for Christmas, but of course, it was the Magic V5 that really caught my attention.

In fact, whether it's Black, Ivory White or Dawn Gold - like my review unit - it's pretty safe to assume you'll get most people's attention when you pull the Magic V5 out of your pocket, firstly because at just 8.8mm, it's the world's slimmest folding phone.

That's not including its significant, octagonal camera module on the light-catching back panel of course - but even with that taken into account, the most striking thing about this full-sized foldable is how light and thin it feels - perhaps even more so than some other non-folding flagships.

Thin, light but in no way flimsy. Quite the opposite. HONOR's Mortise and Tenon Dampening Hinge feels as solid as any other I've tried - if not more so. In fact, it's rated to last for at least half a million folds. 

I don't think I'm rated for that many folds.

I certainly shouldn't be trusted to handle a device like this because I've already dropped it onto a hard floor at least once already. Luckily, the Magic V5 is tough enough to take that kind of mistreatment.

HONOR has really focussed on strengthening the area around the hinge and it shows. The 7.95-inch folding inner display is actually reinforced with carbon fibre, making it around 40 times more drop-proof than standard glass.

This philosophy of durability extends to the 6.43-inch external screen. HONOR's "Anti-Scratch NanoCrystal Shield" purports to be scratch resistant, drop resistant and just plain wear resistant. The Magic V5 has both IP58 and IP59 water and dust resistance ratings too - making it splash-proof and the first foldable I've reviewed that I've felt comfortable jamming in my pocket when I'm out in the garden getting hot, dirty and sweaty.

It even comes with its own case in the box - and not just a token, cheapo one either. Its ombré effect looks really classy and the shiny camera surround isn't just for show - it folds out to serve as a kickstand for either folded or unfolded viewing.

But none of that matters without the performance to back it up.

Where should we start? How about everyone's most basic phone complaint; battery life? The Magic V5 has a 5820mAh lithium polymer battery, which is large, and in tandem with the market-leading Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Mobile CPU, runs the phone more efficiently (and cooler) than many other high-performance handsets.

Admittedly, the MagicOS 9.0.1 U.I. (with Android 15 underneath) is particularly aggressive when it comes to battery "optimisation". As an interface, MagicOS is pretty similar to most other Android-based systems, although it did take me a little while to find the exact setting that would keep my home security apps running in the background so I would receive timely notifications from my cameras and video doorbell.

All that aside, by the time I put the Magic V5 on to charge at night, I'm seldom below 50% - even on work days when I get up at 2:50AM.

This phone will accept fast wired charging at up to 66W and incredibly, with the right charger, you can juice up wirelessly at 50W. Compare that to other flagships out there.

Like every other phone, HONOR serves up its fair share of AI tools - and like every Android phone, it's hard to tell where the native AI stops and Google's Gemini takes over. Rest assured though, tasks like photo and video editing are easy and you can quickly touch up your shots to make them postable - something that's a lot more user-friendly on the phablet-sized internal display.

There are some more niche little AI tricks too - the Magic V5 can alert you if you're being deep-faked on a video chat and even has a method to help prevent motion sickness if you're using your phone in a moving vehicle.

For such a premium device, it's nice to see it endowed with a genuine flagship camera setup - which hasn't always been the case with foldables in the past. Referring to "Front" and "Rear" cameras doesn't make much sense on a device like this - after all, you can take selfies with the main camera and that external display can even play eye-catching cartoons to get kids laughing in the right direction.

Instead, I'm going to call the little punch-hole selfie cameras (one on the edge of each screen) "selfie-cams" and the big kahuna in the gold octagon "the primary shooter". The selfie-cams are the same - which makes sense - 20MP wide lenses, capable of 4K video and can be used for face unlock. Which is the main thing I use them for because as I just said, why wouldn't you just use the awesome power of the primary shooter for selfies?

A 50MP wide lens is teamed with a 50MP ultra wide and - wait for it - a 64MP telephoto lens. That's a lot of zoom power - 3x optical and 100x digital - and this is where the AI really starts to pay off; even those 100x long-shots will look nice and clear once our robot slave has cleaned them up for us.

Nighttime photography is fabulous, image stabilisation makes shooting action videos a breeze - even the document scanner works fast and accurately.

It's simply a great phone. I think, because it's just so usable.

Swapping from external to internal screens and back again is smooth and seamless - as it should be. You can share files, photos and video to other devices easily - even to Macs and iPhones - as you should be able to. Little things like fingerprint-free surfaces, front and back, make holding the phone... well... nice. The Magic V5 even knows if there's any large bit of grit or debris caught inside when you close it and will notify you that you're risking damage to the screen if you don't clear it off.

Sadly, although it charges wirelessly, it's not magnetic, so it can't snap into place on a MagSafe charger. However, because of the position of the camera module on the back panel, I've found it sits quite securely on my chargers anyway - so even that works out.

What's more, it's HUNDREDS of dollars cheaper than the competing handset with the same storage here in New Zealand - and the Magic V5 has more RAM.

Yes, I'm excited about this phone. I'm just excited HONOR decided to honour us with its presence. And I can't wait to share more thoughts on the HONOR Choice earbuds and HONOR Watch 4 in the weeks to come. This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

    

Click here for more information and on the HONOR Magic V5. In store now at Harvey Norman and Noel Leeming.

Oppo Find X9 Pro - A Strong Case for Phone of the Year

This may come as a surprise to some of you, but there are more than two makes of phone out there.

I have to keep reminding myself that a lot of people still don't really realise that. Or if they do, they certainly have never considered buying one of those "other" phones for themselves.

If you're one of those people, this review is for you. I'm not trying to patronise you. Far from it. Today, I'm here to educate you about a new phone that is quite simply, factually, better than any other phone in many ways.

As the telemarketer once said, "I'm not trying to sell you anything."

I just thought you might be interested.

For a while now, it's been Oppo's strategy to try and own the final flagship phone launch of the year. Last year, the Find X8 Pro turned a lot of heads with its unique design and premium performance. While I was reviewing it, I had more than one person stop me and ask me what kind of phone it was. I just told them, "A great one."

So even if the 2025 Find X Pro ended up being a predictable, iterative upgrade, I had every confidence it would still be a pleasure to unbox and use.

Well, despite a lot of pre-launch leaks, teasers and hype, the Find X9 Pro has pretty much blown my mind.

Let's begin with how it looks; very different this year. The Hasselblad camera module is no longer a wide circle, with four lenses, set in the middle of the back panel. Instead we now have an asymmetrical bump pushed to the upper left-hand corner. Oppo claims this allows for a more natural grip on the phone, now that you don't have to worry about your index finger obscuring any of the lenses. Of which there only appear to be three now - but we'll get to that.

The Find X9 Pro comes in just two colours in New Zealand; Titanium Charcoal and Silk White - both have an attractive, metallic sheen under the tough Corning Gorilla Glass, while still maintaining a matte, fingerprint-resistant surface. Unfortunately we don't seem to be getting the Velvet Red option that's available in some markets.

Meanwhile, the 6.78-inch display is protected by even tougher Gorilla Glass; Victus 2. The handset also carries IP66, IP68 and IP69 ratings against dust and water - even hot water and high-pressure water. I haven't tried using it in the shower, but it would probably survive.

There are new buttons - the Snap Button, which is a customisable shortcut key that can be set to launch tools like Do Not Disturb or turn the Torch on and off. Alternatively, it can fire off AI Mind Space, which is sort of Oppo's gateway to Google Gemini. A short press takes a quick screenshot for Gemini to analyse if required. A long press let's you save a voice note and a double press opens Mind Space to show you all the info it's collated - useful for planning your calendar or remembering that show your colleague said you should watch.

On the other side there's now a Quick Button, for more tactile control of the camera. This not only opens the camera app with a double press, but can also be used to click off photos, you can hold it down for continuous burst shots or swipe it with your finger to zoom in and out.

Which you may well want to do because the telephoto lens is part of the big news with the Find X9 Pro. The camera array is somewhat confusing to a non-photography aficionado like me - it's described as a triple-lens setup, even thought when you dig into the specs, there's definitely a fourth sensor; the True Colour Camera which is claimed to be an "industry first" 8-channel spectral sensor that effectively ensures the colours you capture are as you see them with your own eyes. If it's clever colours you're looking for, check out the sunset examples I show in the video below.

There's a redesigned 50MP Ultra XDR main shooter, which performs particularly well in low light and the 15mm Ultra-Wide camera provides very consistent tone and colour.

Then there's this 200MP Telephoto lens.

I'll never forget when Oppo introduced the first periscope telephoto camera back in 2017. They thought outside the box to fit a bigger optical zoom INSIDE the box. Now, in collaboration with Hasselblad, they've blimmin well done it again. The new sensor is huge and the Hi-Res shooting unlocks a world of options when it comes to editing both photos and video.

Just look at these two shots, both taken from exactly the same spot...

You don't get long distance detail like that on any other phone camera I've ever used. 

Video quality is incredible, obviously. You can shoot 4K at 120fps from the rear camera and there's a quad-mic system that effectively lets you capture your own surround sound footage.

Something else you don't get on any other phone is a 7,500mAh battery, which is probably why the Find X9 Pro is noticeably heavier than last year's flagship. I'm thinking a few grams extra is a price a lot of people will be prepared to pay for the unbelievable battery life on offer here. Oppo says you'll get through two days on a single charge. That's not what I found. I got through three.

The massive Silicon-Carbon cell never raises a sweat - and can be charged super fast with the 80W SuperVOOC charger included in the box. What's more, with the right charger, you can juice this phone up wirelessly at 50W - significantly faster than many other flagships' wired rates.

What a phone.

There's so many other things about this phone that make it unique and awesome, but we haven't got all day. From little things, like the fastest, most reliable under-display fingerprint reader I've ever used, to more important things, like the MediaTek Dimensity 9500 chip, the 16GB of RAM and the advanced vapour cooling chamber that keeps this thing running like a Swiss watch.

It even pairs with my Oppo Enco X3i earbuds better - they stay connected all the way from the other side of the house!

If I'm starting to sound manic, it's because this really is one of the best phones you can buy in New Zealand today - but I'm just not sure how many people know that. 

At least now YOU know that and I can finish my glass of water and calm myself down.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Oppo Find X9 Pro.

motorola edge 60 fusion - Just Feels So Elegant

Every now and again I come across a device that really tickles my fancy.

It's not necessarily anything logical... It might just be because it's my favourite colour (red, obviously). Or perhaps the controls are in just the right place. Or maybe it just feels particulary nice to use.

There was a time - about ten years ago - when curvy phones were all the rage. There were a number of handsets around with displays that flowed around the edges and I loved them. I've always had an irrational aversion to sharp corners and I much prefer something more streamlined.

Then, almost as suddenly as they arrived, trends changed and handsets became more boxy again. In fact, as phone cameras became more and more powerful, the boxes started to come with other, smaller boxes attached to them, just for the extra lenses. Yuck.

Luckily, sometimes the odd phone still favours curves instead of corners - even in 2025.

The motorola edge 60 fusion is one of those handsets.

Moreover, its 6.7-inch AMOLED display doesn't just wrap over the sides, it's a quad-curve screen which means the top and bottom taper away too. The display is also a longer-skinnier aspect ratio - 20:9 - which means you can really wrap your hand around the edge 60 fusion to feel the full effect of those curves.

While we're discussing the screen, I can tell you it is dazzlingly bright, clear and colourful - but not TOO colourful. Motorola is very big into being Pantone certified for true-to-life colour reproduction - which requires special attention when engineering both camera sensors and tuning the display. I'll have a lot more to say about the cameras shortly but everything looks fabulous on this screen, which is able to produce 4500 nits of HDR peak brightness. Don't worry if you don't know what a nit is, nobody does. What I do know is 4500 is a lot of them, and it means you'll have no issues using the edge 60 fusion out in bright sunshine.

The screen also makes up part of the impressive durability equation here, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 7i - very tough and scratch resistant for a handset in this price range. Add to that IP68 and IP69 ratings against water and dust, the multi-factor MIL-STD-810 rating that means you can essentially take this phone up a mountain or into the desert, and the fact the soft-touch rear panel isn't breakable, like glass, or scratchable, like metal.

That rear panel, available in Zephyr (pink) or Slipstream (bluey-grey) also means the edge 60 fusion is far less slippery to hold than many other phones this curvy and instead of a bulky protrusion of camera lenses, the moulded panel sweeps up, ever so slightly, to surround a quadruplet of equal-sized sensors.

Unusually, only two of those four sensors are camera lenses; the main shooter is a 50MP wide Sony LYT700C accentuated by a 13MP ultra wide, which also serves as an auto-focussing macro lens for super clear and detailed close-ups. The third porthole houses the flash while the other Motorola describes as a "3-in-1 light sensor."

I assume it's this light sensor that facilitates such good camera performance in almost all conditions, bright, dull and even dark. Here's a quick pic I clicked off the other day while walking the dog. I was particularly taken with how blue the sky and the ocean seemed that evening and I hoped the edge 60 fusion would do the view justice...

Yup, no complaints there. No issues with the front-facing camera either. 32MP means excellent, high-resolution shooting from a selfie cam, in both photos and videos, as you'll see me demonstrate below. There's also a clever AI Audio setting when filming video that amplifies any audio from the focused section of the video, meaning the dual-mics follow the action. Useful.

In fact, moto ai is useful for all sorts of things. Once enabled, it will monitor your usage and keep an eye on incoming notifications when you're not actually using the phone. Then, by simply asking it to, "Catch me up," you'll receive a summary of what you've missed. "Pay attention," prompts moto ai to record and transcribe what's going on right now, pretty useful for meetings or perhaps lectures and training sessions. And you know how you can never remember how to take a screenshot when you really need to? moto ai knows how. Just tell it to, "Remember this."

Although this phone isn't capable of the blistering processing speeds on offer from today's highest priced handsets, the edge 60 fusion's MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chip hasn't let me down yet. Often operations like launching and using the camera app can be slow and stuttery on mid-range phones but I just didn't have those issues with this one - probably due to the generous 12GB of RAM - enhanced even further with another 4GB RAM Boost (using available internal storage for an extra performance bump).

As you can tell by now, this is a phone I've had no issue using for my everyday device - well, except for one wee niggle; no wireless charging. This is often the first feature to go when trying to get a handset under the $800 mark and sadly, that's been the case here too.

Phone-makers will often try to compensate with a big battery and sure enough, the edge 60 fusion's 5200mAh cell seems to last forever between charges. What's less common in this price-range is fast charging. Well, this time you get that too - up to 68W with the right charger.

Sadly, that charger isn't in the box but you do get a slimline cover that matches the back panel of the phone and for whatever reason, yes, just like the motorola razr 60 I reviewed recently, the box itself smells wonderful because... why not?

Despite its affordable price, the edge 60 fusion over-delivers in many ways, especially in terms of durability and performance. And as for style, you gotta love those curves.

    

Click here for more information and on the motorola edge 60 fusion.