Category: MOBILE

Google has the habit of dropping an ‘a’ model some time later than the regular flagship duo and such is the case now with the Pixel 8a. Sure, if you already have the Pixel 8, you don’t need to be contemplating much around this time, but if you’re in the market for a new Pixel, things get more complicated. So we figured we’d put together a summary of how the 8a is similar to its more esteemed stablemate and how the two differ, possibly helping you decide for yourself.

Table of Contents:

For starters, you can compare the complete specs sheets or directly continue with our editor’s assessment in the following text.

Size comparison

You’d be forgiven if you thought that the Pixel 8a is the more compact device of the two – after all, its display has a 0.1-inch smaller diagonal. In fact, however, the oversized black bezel around its panel makes it the larger device – the 1.6mm of extra height are negligible, but almost 2mm of extra width are easier to feel. It’s still a reasonably compact smartphone, one of the more compact handsets you can get in 2024, but the Pixel 8 proper will still save you a few cubic mm of pocket space. The two weigh essentially the same, so that’s not a consideration.

From the rear, the two phones look very much alike, but the resemblance is skin deep. The Pixel 8 has a Gorilla Glass Victus panel, while the 8a’s back is plastic. The 8a is finished to a frosted effect, a lot like the Pixel 8 Pro, while the Pixel 8 is glossy.

On the front, the 8 gets another sheet of Victus, while the 8a is using Gorilla Glass 3, which isn’t exactly cutting edge when it comes to shatter resistance, though it should be plenty good enough against scratches.

The frame is made of aluminum on both handsets, and it’s finished to a satin sheen – no difference there.

Both phones are rated for dust and water resistance, and both should be able to survive a dunk in a (clean) puddle. That said, the puddle can be deeper for the Pixel 8 – it’s got an IP68 rating (30mins, 1.5m), while the Pixel 8a gets an IP67 badge (30mins, 1.0m). Again, we are splitting hairs here.

Display comparison

The two displays are in many ways similar, though the one on the 8a is marginally smaller as we already pointed out, with a 6.1″ diagonal, compared to the 8’s 6.2″ panel. Both have a 1080p resolution and a 120Hz maximum refresh rate with rudimentary adaptive behavior that lets them downswitch to 60Hz when idling. HDR10 and HDR10+ is supported on both, but not Dolby Vision. So not a whole lot to differentiate them so far unless you count the bezels. The black strip around the Pixel 8’s display is notably slimmer adding for a more modern look.

The Pixel 8 has somewhat of an advantage in maximum brightness when operating the slider manually – you can go as high as 1001nits on it, though the 755nits we measured on the 8a aren’t half bad either. In adaptive brightness mode, both get a boost to roughly the same level – the 8a even has a small advantage (1508nits vs. 1446nits).

Battery life

The Pixel 8a is powered by a marginally smaller battery than the Pixel 8 (4,492mAh vs. 4,575mAh) and it has an ever so slightly smaller display to light up (6.1″ vs. 6.2″). With the same chipset inside both phones, it’s no surprise then that both the 8a and the 8 return similar numbers in our endurance testing. So it won’t be the battery life that will help you choose between the two.

Charging speed

Pixels have never led the way in charging speed tests, and that applies to the Pixel 8 as well, but the ‘a’ series are particularly bad at it. The Pixel 8a maxes out at 18W next to the 27W capability of the Pixel 8, and in practice the 8a will be a lot slower than the 8 in both the early stages of the process as well as the race to 100%.

Both phones support wireless charging, but the 8a is rated for up to 7.5W while the 8 has 18W listed in its spec sheet. That said, the Pixel 8’s maximum rating is only achievable with the proprietary Pixel Stand (2nd gen), while generic Qi pads bring the number down to 12W. Plus, are you really in a hurry when you’re charging wirelessly? The point is that the difference in wireless charging speed isn’t quite as important as the fact that the Pixel 8a has the feature in the first place.

However, the 8a doesn’t support reverse wireless charging, so if you have any use for that, the 8 is the way to go.

Speaker test

Both Pixels take the same approach to speakers, with one bottom firing unit and another one up top that also serves earpiece duty. The 8a earned a ‘Good’ mark for loudness in our testing, while the 8 placed in the ‘Very Good’ category, but the difference is in fact minimal. The Pixel 8a’s sound quality is pretty great already, but the 8 does take that a notch up with its richer treble.

Performance

Both the Pixel 8a and the Pixel 8 run on Google’s Tensor G3 chip, and come with 8GB of LPDDR4X memory and either 128GB or 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. If you want 12GB of RAM or more storage, you’ll need to look to the Pixel 8 Pro.

The Pixel 8a ships with the latest Android 14 out of the box. As with other recent Pixel launches, the Pixel 8a is claimed to get 7 years of software updates from the day of its release. Again, both devices should be on a level playing field in this respect as well.

Benchmark performance

The Tensor G3’s prime core is an excellent performer, but the overall multi-core CPU performance is mid-range level. The GPU is also upper-tier mid-range, which is not bad at all, just not up to the standard of the current Snapdragons. All of that applies equally to both phones though, so it won’t be the performance that will settle this bout.

Camera comparison

One of the key differences between the two phones is in the camera department, where the Pixel 8a is denied a few niceties. The 8a’s camera hardware is entirely different, in fact – all three modules have been carried over from the 7a, while the 8 has superior bits, technically speaking.

Perhaps most annoyingly, the ‘a’ model doesn’t have AF on its ultrawide camera, which means no ‘macro’ mode closeups. There’s no laser for aiding AF on the main camera either – the Pixel 8 does have that.

When it comes to the numbers, the Pixel 8a’s main camera has a smaller sensor (1/1.73″ vs. 1/1.31″) though it’s a higher-res one (64MP vs. 50MP) – so you’ll be getting 16MP shots from the 8a vs. 12.5MP ones from the 8.

The Pixel 8a’s ultrawide camera may be 13MP, but it outputs 16MP photos to match the main camera’s resolution, while the Pixel 8 sticks to 12.5MP.

The disparity continues on the front, where the 8a has a 13MP selfie camera and the Pixel 8’s is 10.5MP. Only the 8 Pro has AF for selfies, so the 8a and 8 are equally disadvantaged in that respect.

Feature-wise, however, the Pixel 8a has all the lastest camera features Google has to offer, so you don’t get any differentiation there.

Image quality

Those of you with a keen eye for detail will notice that the photos and videos on this page have been taken at different times on the two phones – we no longer have our Pixel 8 for side-by-side comparisons. Then again, we don’t expect major differences in terms of global parameters – Google tends to be like Apple in that it tries to deliver essentially the same look across all models, so cross-season comparisons are still acceptable, we reckon.

Both phones capture great images in broad daylight with their main cameras – we’re talking dependable white balance and lively colors, high contrast and good dynamic range, no noise to speak of. Still, in our experience, the Pixel 8’s photos are that extra bit sharper on a pixel level.

Pixel 8a daylight photo samples, main camera, 1x

Pixel 8 daylight photo samples, main camera, 1x

That impression gets solidified at 2x zoom level, where the 8 has a slight edge as well.

Pixel 8a daylight photo samples, main camera, 2x

Pixel 8 daylight photo samples, main camera, 2x

The ultrawides perform quite similarly from a detail perspective when you examine their results on a pixel level. The 8a’s processing is looking a little nicer to our eyes though.

Pixel 8a daylight photo samples, ultrawide camera

Pixel 8 daylight photo samples, ultrawide camera

In the dark, we’re actually seeing a minor advantage in sharpness and detail for the Pixel 8a in the main camera images here or there. It could be us rooting for the underdog that’s influencing our judgment, but in any case, you won’t be sacrificing low-light image quality on the main camera of the 8a, compared to the 8.

Pixel 8a low-light photo samples, main camera, 1x

Pixel 8 low-light photo samples, main camera, 1x

At 2x zoom level, there’s similarly nothing to be gained by getting the more expensive of the two Pixels – the 8a is generally as good as the 8.

Pixel 8a low-light photo samples, main camera, 2x

Pixel 8 low-light photo samples, main camera, 2x

When it comes to the ultrawides, we’d actually say with a bit more confidence that the Pixel 8a does better than the 8 in the dark – not dramatically better, but still better.

Pixel 8a low-light photo samples, ultrawide camera

Pixel 8 low-light photo samples, ultrawide camera

As for selfies, while the Pixel 8a does those admirably, we’d still say that the Pixel 8 has a bit of an edge in sharpness.

Selfie samples: Pixel 8a • Pixel 8

Video quality

Video quality is essentially the same between the two phones when comparing footage from the main cameras, be it at their native zoom levels, or at 2x. In the battle of the ultrawides, on the other hand, we’d still give the nod to the Pixel 8a.

Pixel 8a daylight video samples: 0.5x • 1x • 2x

Pixel 8 daylight video samples: 0.5x • 1x • 2x

In the dark, neither ultrawide produces particularly likable videos, but the clips from the Pixel 8 are a notch softer. Conversely, main camera footage from the 8 is looking marginally sharper.

Pixel 8a low-light video samples: 0.5x • 1x

Pixel 8 low-light video samples: 0.5x • 1x

Verdict

The Pixel 8a’s launch price may place it too close to the current going rates for a ‘real’ Pixel 8, but just as the 8 gets discounted every now and then, so too will the 8a – shopping around and waiting for next week’s sales usually helps. We do think the 8a will assume the position of a meaningfully cheaper option in the roster in due time. It makes sense for it to be the go-to answer for the folk who are just after the latest Pixel – it delivers all the Pixel stuff (camera and software, essentially), without making a fuss about it.

Of course, the Pixel 8 will have an edge in a few areas and offer an extra feature here or there. Charging speed on the 8a is going to be a dealbreaker for some people (a lot of people?), and the 8 does notably better there, plus it can charge other devices off its back unlike the 8a. The Pixel 8 does have a nicer build, and while IP68>IP67 and Victus>GG3, it’s probably the slimmer bezels on the eight that will score it more points against the oddly chunky 8a. The 8’s camera superiority is somewhat questionable in general use, though it does offer better selfies and rear camera portraits, plus its ultrawide’s AF capability makes it more versatile. It has to be said that the 8a pulls its own weight admirably when it comes to camera performance.

The flagship killers have, for the past few years, kept growing and growing – both in specs but also in price. Last week, Poco introduced the F6 Pro, its most premium smartphone yet, and this serves as both the brand’s flagship device, as well as its latest entry in the flagship killer realm.

We’ve already gone in depth in our written review of it, which we welcome you to read. If, however, you want a more concise version of our findings, then our just-released video review is definitely for you. So grab some popcorn and a beverage of your choice, sit back, hit Play, and enjoy the ride.

The Poco F6 Pro comes with the last-gen flagship chipset from Qualcomm – namely the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which is an interesting choice in and of itself. Many of its competitors, including the non-Pro F6, will use the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 this year and claim it’s a “flagship chipset”, which it isn’t. The 8 Gen 2, however, actually is.

The screen is as high-res as they get these days, with the standard 120 Hz refresh rate and a whopping 4,000 nits of peak brightness, while the software is HyperOS 1.0 based on Android 14. There are three cameras on the rear, the main one a 50 MP with OIS, flanked by an 8 MP ultrawide and 2 MP macro shooter which are clearly where some money was saved.

Xiaomi Poco F6 Pro

The 5,000 mAh battery charges at 120W but there’s no wireless charging. Then again, you can spec the phone up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, which, let’s face it, isn’t something you see very often at this price point. Speaking of which, the Poco F6 Pro retains a very attractive one – check the widget above.

Say hello to the Tecno Camon 30 Pro – a cool looking and solidly-equipped phone. We have a 12/512GB unit in Alps Snowy Silver, and it comes in tandem with a case, USB cable, tempered glass protector (and a pre-applied plastic one), and a 70W charger.

Unboxing the Tecno Camon 30 Pro

Even better, depending on the market, you could snag a pair of Tecno Buds 3, on Tecno!

The Tecno Camon 30 Pro’s specs sheet is includes a 6.78-inch 1080x2436px AMOLED display with a 144Hz max refresh rate and slim bezels all around. Inside is a Dimensity 8200 with 12GB of RAM.

There’s a 5,000mAh battery that recharges in full in 50 minutes, thanks to the 70W brick.

There’s a triple camera on the back with a pair of 50MP autofocusing shooters for the wide and ultrawide, along with a 2MP depth sensor. Upfront is another 50MP camera for selfies, again with af.

The Camon 30 Pro has a “Schick” look. Tecno says the rear has a leather-like feel, achieved by merging a unique new material with a texture that Tecno compares to a lotus leaf.

The rear panel is grippy, thanks to the texture, and the matte frame feels nice to touch.

Stay tuned for more of the Tecno Camon 30 Pro.

Next year’s iPhone 17 Pro will be the first iPhone to sport a chipset built on TSMC’s 2nm process, according to a new report today. TSMC announced it started working on a 2nm process back in 2022, and even back then rumor had it the iPhone 17 Pro would be the first device to get a chipset using that process.

Now, this is confirmed – as much as anything can really be ‘confirmed’ by a rumor. Small scale production on the 2nm process is expected to debut at TSMC later this year, with mass manufacturing starting in 2025, right in time for the iPhone 17 Pro’s release in the fall of next year.

Earlier this year, it was claimed that Apple had contracted the entirety of TSMC’s 2nm process, at least initially. Aside from the iPhone 17 Pro, 2nm chips are also apparently intended to be used in future Apple Silicon Macs.

The next step after 2nm will be an enhanced version of the 2nm process, expected towards the end of 2026, and then the jump will be made to 1.4nm – that is, of course, if this report is accurate.

The iPhone 16 series and iOS 18 are expected to both come later this year with a heavy focus on AI, but it looks like all of that AI processing, the part that’s on-device, will have to make do without 2nm chips this year.

Source | Via

Motorola unveiled the Edge 50 Pro a few days ago, and the next smartphone the brand is expected to introduce is the Motorola Edge 50 Fusion. Motorola hasn’t divulged anything about the Edge 50 Fusion yet, but its renders that surfaced last week revealed its design. Now, we are looking at the Edge 50 Fusion’s leaked promo video, which corroborates its design leak.

This clip was shared by reliable leakster Evan Blass on X, which shows the Motorola Edge 50 Fusion in three colors – Peacock Pink, Ballad Blue (with vegan leather), and Tidal Teal. It doesn’t divulge anything else, but previous leaks revealed the Motorola Edge 50 Fusion would come with the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 SoC, 8GB RAM, and 256GB storage.

Motorola Edge 50 Fusion pic.twitter.com/lIMs7IQzzb

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) April 4, 2024

Other rumored specs of the Motorola Edge 50 Fusion include a 6.7″ pOLED display with Gorilla Glass 5 on top, a 5,000 mAh battery, 68W charging (adapter not included in the box), and an IP68 rating.

The smartphone would feature a 32MP selfie camera on the front, with the dual camera setup on the rear comprising 50MP primary (with OIS) and 13MP ultrawide units.

While we await an official word from Motorola regarding the Edge 50 Fusion, you can read our Motorola Edge 50 Pro’s first impressions here.

We know the Pixel 8a is coming and we have a good idea of what to expect – Tensor G3 chip, 8 GB of RAM, 128/256 GB of storage, 120 Hz display with 1,400 nits of peak brightness. It will look very similar to the Pixel 8, and it will likely be a bit more expensive than the 7a.

However, if this leak proves correct, Google may be closer to announcing the 8a than we expected. A Google Fi Wireless ad that seemingly shows the Pixel 8a front and center. The reasoning is that the Porcelain phone doesn’t have the mic hole in the same spot as the Pixel 8 (between the cameras and the LED).

It could also be the Bay phone in the background, which isn’t a Pixel 8 Pro because it has a matte frame and not a glossy one. Perhaps we’re looking at two Pixel 8a’s.

Then again, we could just be looking at two Pixel 8s stacked one in front of the other with a mic hole that got Photoshopped out for one reason or another. Take this with a grain of salt just in case.

Thanks for the tip!

The vivo X100 Pro launched in China last year, but only began its international rollout this year. We reviewed the vivo X100 Pro and found it to be yet another impressive cameraphone from vivo. Alongside that, vivo also launched the vivo X100, which comes with some nice upgrades over the X90. We used the vivo X100 for over a month, and here’s what we found about it.

Design

The vivo X100 packs a 6.78″ FullHD+ curved AMOLED display having a 120Hz screen refresh rate and 3,000 nits peak brightness. It also has a centered punch-hole for the 32MP selfie camera and a fingerprint reader underneath for password-less phone unlocking.

We found the fingerprint scanner fast and accurate in our usage and faced no issues. However, we’d have liked it to be placed slightly higher for a more convenient unlocking experience. The fingerprint scanner on the X90 series was also closer to the bezel, so it’s about time vivo considered moving it higher on its upcoming X-series smartphones.

The rear panel of the vivo X100 is covered with Flourite AG Glass and looks similar to the vivo X100 Pro. It sports a circular camera module bigger than the X90’s, which is centrally aligned and prevents the phone from wobbling when used on flat surfaces.

vivo calls the X100 camera module’s design Moon Halo (X100 Pro’s is called Sun Halo and looks slightly different). It’s inspired by the Moon and the stars and “symbolizes brilliant talent and noble character.”

vivo X100 (left) with vivo X100 Pro (right)

The cameras come with ZEISS’ T* coating, while the camera island is covered with a 2.5D rounded Gorilla Glass lens and surrounded by a decoration ring made of austenitic stainless steel. It is resistant to daily wear, high temperatures, and corrosion and is used to avoid the risk of scratches and paint chipping. The outer ring also has a sunburst pattern seen on expensive watches from brands like Rolex. It overall looks nice, but the ring does pick up fingerprint smudges.

The vivo X100 comes in blue, black, white, and orange colors, and the availability varies by market. We’ve got the blue model called Stargaze Blue in India and Startrail Blue in some other countries. Its back panel with curved edges has a glittery pattern and reflects light at different angles. It looks absolutely cool. And while the cover’s finish makes it slippery, the upside is that it prevents fingerprint smudges.

Moreover, while the vivo X100 feels light enough for prolonged use with one hand, its size could make it challenging to use for people with small hands. Not to mention the increased size of the camera bump, making it difficult to hold the phone at times.

The vivo X100 skips the flat frames, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on your preference. Speaking of, the frames are made of metal and have antenna lines on all four sides. They are also shiny and reflective this time, making the X100 look more premium than the X90.

The vivo X100’s right-side frame has a power button and volume rocker, which have good feedback. At the bottom is the USB-C port, flanked by the SIM card slot, primary microphone, and speaker grille. Up top are the IR blaster and secondary mic. Like the X100 Pro, the X100 also has the “Professional Photography” text at the top.

Ports and controls

We like the overall build and design of the Vivo X100, especially the Stargaze Blue version, which looks absolutely beautiful. This time, we also get IP68 dust and water resistance — an upgrade over the X90’s IP64 rating, which is certainly nice to have and appreciated.

Display

The vivo X100 is built around a 6.78″ 120Hz curved AMOLED display of 2,800×1,260-pixel resolution and 452 ppi pixel density. It supports 1.07 billion colors and comes with HDR10+, HDR10, HLG, and Widevine L1 certifications. The last one allows you to stream 1080p videos on supported apps.

The diagonal, refresh rate, resolution, and pixel density of the vivo X100’s screen remain the same as the X90’s display. What’s different is the panel type and peak brightness. The vivo X90 packed a non-LTPO panel with a 1,300 nits peak brightness, while the vivo X100 uses an 8T LTPO panel with a 3,000 nits peak brightness like the X100 Pro.

The vivo X100’s haptic feedback is also better than the X90’s, which made typing fun. Besides, the X100’s screen was plenty bright, making it easy to read textual content and watch photos/videos under direct sunlight at max brightness. We also didn’t face any screen mistouch issues with the X100 due to its curved screen.

The vivo X90 and X90 Pro had the vivo V2 chip at the helm, but for the X100 series, vivo decided to use different Intelligent Display Chips (IDC) to enhance the phones’ photography and display capabilities. The vivo X100 Pro comes with the V3 chip, while the X100 uses the older-gen V2 chip, probably as a cost-cutting measure.

The V2 chip brings Game Frame Interpolation to the vivo X100, which its Pro counterpart also gets with the V3. It allows the users to “experience a smoother picture with a frame rate which is higher than the native maximum game frame rate” or “keep the current frame rate while reducing power consumption and heat generation during gameplay.” Game Frame Interpolation supports only a limited number of games, though.

Speaking of, the vivo X100 has Smart Switch, Standard (60Hz), and High (120Hz) refresh rate options, with the display supporting seven refresh rates in total – 1Hz, 30Hz, 45Hz, 60Hz, 72Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz.

With the Smart Switch mode, the refresh rate is bumped up from 1Hz to 120Hz for the system menus and apps (including Play Store) when interacting with the screen, but for most apps, it only goes up to 90Hz. This includes Facebook, Instagram, X, Quora, GSMArena, Google Chrome, Google Photos, and YouTube. The refresh rate switched to 30/60Hz when playing videos in social media apps, Google Photos, and YouTube, while Google Photos switched to 10Hz when viewing images.

The 60Hz mode was basically the Smart Switch mode, with the refresh rate capped at 60Hz. In the 120Hz mode, the refresh rate went up to 120Hz when interacting with the screen. The apps limited to 90Hz in the Smart Switch mode also ran at 120Hz.

We tried Call of Duty Mobile, Dead Trigger 2, Real Racing 3, and Sky Force Reloaded on the vivo X100. In 60Hz mode, all games expectedly ran at 60FPS, with COD switching to 30FPS outside the gameplay. With Smart Switch mode, COD is the only game that reached 90FPS, but only when Game Frame Interpolation was enabled and a match was ongoing.

Things looked better for gaming with the 120Hz mode since all games except COD ran at 120FPS without enabling Game Frame Interpolation. COD ran at 60FPS during the gameplay and remained capped at 30FPS the rest of the time. A 90FPS gameplay was only possible when Game Frame Interpolation was turned on. It’s also worth mentioning that Game Frame Interpolation only works when the refresh rate is higher than 60Hz.

To conclude, the 120Hz mode is your best option if you want a smooth experience. And the good thing is you no longer have to go through the hassle of individually enabling it for apps/games like you had to for the vivo X90 from the “Apps running at a high refresh rate” setting because it doesn’t exist on the X100.

Software and Performance

The vivo X100 has the Dimensity 9300 SoC under the hood – the same chip that powers the more expensive vivo X100 Pro. It comes with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. Ours is the top-end model with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage, but regardless of which version you get, the smartphone runs Android 14-based Funtouch OS 14 out of the box.

vivo has promised three Android version upgrades and four years of security updates. Our Indian unit is currently on March 2024 security patch level, so here’s hoping vivo will continue to provide timely monthly security updates for the X100.

The vivo X100 comes with pre-installed third-party apps like the X100 Pro, but fortunately, most can be uninstalled. It’s also worth mentioning that Hot Apps and Hot Games – pre-loaded on the X90 as uninstallable apps – aren’t installed on the vivo X100, which is much appreciated.

We also didn’t face any software bugs on the X100 as we did with its predecessor, but it’s worth mentioning that Funtouch OS 14’s App Retainer feature still doesn’t work with popular apps like Facebook. The vivo X100’s overall software experience is identical to the X100 Pro’s, so we suggest you read our vivo X100 Pro review if you want to learn more about Funtouch OS 14.

Performance-wise, the Dimensity 9300 SoC at the helm of the vivo X100 throttled more than the vivo X100 Pro in stress tests, and the smartphone even got expectedly hot, but that’s about it. In everyday use, the vivo X100 turned out smooth and snappy, and there were hardly any stutters, even during long gaming sessions. The vivo X100 did get warm, but not as much as the vivo X90 did. vivo and iQOO’s Indian models have historically faced overheating issues, and we are glad to see that vivo has worked in that direction with proper optimizations since the X100 remained reasonably cool even during heavy usage.

Camera

The vivo X100 sports four cameras – one on the front and three on the rear, joined by a laser autofocus sensor. The front-facing camera uses a 32MP sensor, which is the same as the Pro model. However, the triple camera setup on the rear is different. It’s a combination of 50MP primary, 50MP ultrawide (119° FOV), and 64MP periscope telephoto units.

The 32MP selfie shooter has an f/2.0 aperture and can record videos in 1080p resolution at 30/60FPS. It also supports five ZEISS Styles for the Portrait Mode photos: Biotar, Sonnar, Planar, Distagon, and Cinematic. The B-speed and Cine-flare ZEISS Portrait Styles are unavailable for the front camera, though. It’s also worth mentioning that B-speed is the newest member of ZEISS Styles introduced by vivo with the X100 series.

The 50MP primary camera uses the Sony IMX920 1/1.49” sensor with VCS Bionic Spectrum and ZEISS calibration. It has OIS, an f/1.57 aperture, and a 23mm focal length. The camera can record videos in 1080p and 4K resolutions at 30FPS and 60FPS. It also has a Cinematic Portrait feature that allows video recording with a bokeh effect. But it can’t shoot HDR10+ videos like the X90 did, which could be a bummer for some.

The 50MP ultrawide camera uses the Samsung ISOCELL JN1 1/2.76” sensor. It has an f/2.0 aperture, a 15mm focal length, and can record 4K@60FPS videos. The 64MP camera uses the OmniVision OV64B 1/2″ sensor with f/2.57 aperture. It sits behind a 70mm periscope telephoto lens and has a 15mm focal length for telephoto macro shots you can capture with the Super Macro mode.

The telephoto unit also has OIS and offers 3x optical and 100x digital zoom, while macro shots can be clicked from a minimum focusing distance of 18cm.

Additionally, like the X100 Pro, the X100 comes with ZEISS’ Multi-Focal Portrait system, which allows you to capture portraits in five different focal lengths: 24mm (1x), 35mm (1.5x), 50mm (2.2x), 85mm (3.7x), and 100m (4.3x).

Besides, the vivo X100 also comes with the ZEISS “Portrait lens package” for the telephoto camera, which includes six options for the five focal lengths mentioned above. These are basically presets for different scenarios and are suitable for those who don’t want to experiment with different focal lengths and ZEISS filters.

The 24mm Landscape Portrait package works with the Distagon bokeh, 35mm Street Portrait with B-speed bokeh, 50mm Classic Portrait with Biotar bokeh, 85mm Figure Portrait with Sonnar bokeh, and 100mm Close-up Portrait with Plannar bokeh. There’s also a 50mm Natural Portrait, but it’s not paired with any ZEISS portrait style.

All three rear cameras of the vivo X100 were quick to capture images in the Photo mode, and there was rarely any shutter lag. The 50MP primary camera clicked some nice pictures during the day and night in Photo mode, but in “High resolution” mode, it sometimes overexposed light sources, and the shadows lacked details, making them look soft, especially in low-light conditions. This was also the case with the 50MP ultrawide camera in low light.

That said, the 64MP periscope telephoto camera can click photos at up to 100x zoom, but we didn’t prefer capturing images with it beyond 10x zoom, especially without a tripod.

The periscope telephoto unit also captures macro shots in Super Macro mode, which impressed us the most. The pictures clicked in Super Macro mode at 3x and 6x magnification were outstanding with lovely bokeh – something you don’t get in Photo mode at the same zoom levels despite the Photo mode also using the periscope telephoto for that focal length.

What’s also available in Super Macro mode but not in Photo mode is the manual focus slider, which helps you get better results. Thus, we often found ourselves using the Super Macro mode over the Photo mode, even for scenarios where Super Macro mode wasn’t the default recommendation. Some product shots of smartphones in our recent hands-on/first impressions articles were also captured in Super Macro mode.

Regarding the Portrait Mode, the pictures had nice subject separation, and the overall results were good. Of course, they weren’t as good as the vivo X100 Pro, but the X100 isn’t as expensive as its Pro counterpart either.

With the vivo X100, we see some improvements to the Supermoon Mode since the pictures no longer look artificial like they did with the vivo X90, at least not at 10x zoom.

That said, the vivo X100’s rear cameras produced lens flare in low-light conditions despite the use of ZEISS T* coating, which also happened with the more expensive X100 Pro and was the case with the X90 series. So, vivo might want to address this with future X-series smartphones.

You can check some pictures we took from the vivo X100 below.

Daylight Photos

Let’s look at the daylight photos first, captured with the 50MP primary camera having an output of 12.6MP in Photo mode at 1x, 2x, and 3x magnification, and 15.9MP beyond that. The 50MP ultrawide camera has an output of 12.5MP in the Photo mode.

12.6MP, 1x magnification (23mm).

12.6MP, 1x magnification (23mm)

12.6MP, 2x magnification (46mm).

12.6MP, 2x magnification (46mm)

12.6MP, 3x magnification (70mm).

12.6MP, 3x magnification (70mm)

15.9MP, 10x magnification (233mm).

15.9MP, 10x magnification (233mm)

Ultrawide camera, 12.5MP, 0.6x magnification (15mm).

Ultrawide camera, 12.5MP, 0.6x magnification (15mm)

Primary camera, 50MP (High resolution), 1x magnification (23mm).

Primary camera, 50MP, 1x magnification (23mm)

Some pictures clicked with the periscope telephoto camera in Super Macro mode.

Super Macro with periscope telephoto camera

Nighttime Photos

Now, let’s take a look at some nighttime photos.

12.6MP, 1x magnification (23mm).

12.6MP, 1x magnification (23mm)

12.6MP, 2x magnification (46mm).

12.6MP, 2x magnification (46mm)

12.6MP, 3x magnification (70mm).

12.6MP, 3x magnification (70mm)

15.9MP, 10x magnification (233mm).

15.9MP, 10x magnification (233mm)

Ultrawide camera, 12.5MP, 0.6x magnification (15mm).

Ultrawide camera, 12.5MP, 0.6x magnification (15mm)

Primary camera, 50MP (High resolution), 1x magnification (23mm).

Primary camera, 50MP, 1x magnification (23mm)

Here are a couple pictures of Moon taken in different modes.

10x zoom in default Photo Mode • 10x zoom in Supermoon Mode

Next up, we have a couple of 1080p videos recorded at 30FPS. (video download link)

1080p video 1 here

1080p video 2 here

And here a couple of 4K videos recorded at 30FPS.

4K video 1 here

4K video 2 here

Battery

The vivo X100 packs a 5,000 mAh battery, which is 400 mAh smaller than the vivo X100 Pro’s battery but 190 mAh bigger than the X90’s cell. We couldn’t run our standard battery tests on the vivo X100 since the phone wasn’t tested at our HQ. But anecdotally speaking, the vivo X100 got us through the day on a single charge with an average of about 5 hours of screen-on time on moderate to heavy usage with 120Hz screen refresh rate and 5G mobile data and Wi-Fi hotspot enabled the whole time. The usage consisted of web browsing, streaming YouTube videos, using social media apps, and at least an hour of playing resource-intensive games.

Despite packing a tad larger battery and an LTPO-type display, we didn’t notice any improvement in the battery life with the vivo X100 compared to the X90. Some battery optimizations with a future software update would be nice, vivo.

That said, once the vivo X100’s battery is drained, you can juice it up with the bundled 120W power adapter, advertised to fill the cell from 1% to 50% in 11 minutes. In our testing, the vivo X100 did charge from 1% to 50% in 11 minutes. It went from 1% to 22% in 5 minutes, 45% in 10 minutes, 50% in 11 minutes, 64% in 15 minutes, 81% in 20 minutes, and 100% in 29 minutes. That’s three minutes faster than the X90 despite packing a slightly bigger battery.

We ran these charging tests in India with the Always-On Display turned on, and your mileage will likely vary depending on your usage and ambient temperature.

Conclusion

The vivo X90 was a really nice smartphone, even though it wasn’t a premium flagship like the X90 Pro. And things aren’t that different with the X100 series either. In fact, they are actually better. The X100 Pro is a top-class camera smartphone from vivo, but the X100 is no slouch. It feels like a proper flagship and flaunts a design similar to its Pro counterpart while coming with much-welcome upgrades.

We like the overall design of the vivo X100, and its blue color model looks absolutely beautiful. The smartphone also has an IP68 rating, which is an upgrade over the X90’s IP64 certification. Moreover, the vivo X100’s performance is very snappy, even in gaming.

While the X90 came with an AMOLED panel of 1,300 nits peak brightness, the X100 packs an 8T LTPO panel having a peak brightness of 3,000 nits. The screen is plenty bright, and we don’t have many complaints about it.

The vivo X100 has a slightly larger battery under the hood, but we didn’t notice any improvements in the battery life over the X90. On the upside, despite packing a bigger battery with the same 120W charging support, the X100’s cell juices up faster than the X90’s.

The most significant upgrade is in the camera department, though, with the 64MP periscope telephoto unit being the highlight. The periscope camera took nice photos up to 10x zoom, but the close-up pictures captured with the Super Macro mode impressed us more. The vivo X100’s camera system isn’t as good as the X100 Pro’s, which is expected considering the price difference of INR26,000 ($310/€290) in India, but you are still getting a good camera system.

In India, the vivo X100’s base model with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage costs INR63,999 ($770/€710) – which is the same as the launch price of X90’s 12GB/256GB version – while the 16GB/512GB variant is priced at INR69,999 ($840/€780). The vivo X100 Pro comes in a single 16GB/512GB configuration for INR89,999 ($1,080/€1,000).

To conclude, if you don’t have the budget for the vivo X100 Pro or don’t want to pay the premium for a 50MP 1″ type primary camera, 8K video recording, 4K Cinematic Mode, 50MP 100mm periscope telephoto unit with 4.3x optical zoom, and a slightly larger battery with 50W wireless charging, then the vivo X100 makes for a great buy.

The OnePlus Nord CE4 still hasn’t been fully and properly announced, but the company’s teaser campaign has been so willing to spill out details about it that there’s almost nothing we don’t already know aside from pricing (although a recent leak pegged this at INR 24,999 for the base model).

Today Amazon India has gone ahead and launched a microsite for the upcoming device, rehashing most of the features we’ve already known about from previous OnePlus teasers while confirming one of our suspicions too.

The phone will have 100W fast wired charging support, it’s now clear. We always assumed that based on OnePlus’ claim that it will be the fastest charging Nord ever, but now it’s actually confirmed. Other than that, the officially teased features are: a 120 Hz FHD+ AMOLED screen, 8GB of RAM, up to 256GB of expandable storage, and the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 at the helm.

A recent leak filled in the blanks, saying the screen size is 6.7″, there will be a 128GB entry level storage version, and the battery capacity is 5,500 mAh. It also detailed the cameras: a 50 MP main using the Sony Lytia LYT-600 sensor, an 8 MP ultrawide using the Sony IMX355 sensor, and a 16 MP selfie shooter. The handset will unsurprisignly run Android 14 from day one, with OxygenOS 14 on top, and will be offered in two colorways: Celadon Marble and Dark Chrome.

The official launch of the OnePlus Nord CE4 is taking place in India on April 1 at 6:30 PM local time.

A couple of weeks ago we heard a rumor that Sony will drop the 4K display from the next Xperia 1 model – this would happen as the aspect ratio changes from 21:9 to 19.5:9 (which suggests that the vertical resolution will no longer be 3,840px). This would also entail a change in the phone’s dimensions and a new leak reveals the new values.

The Sony Xperia 1 VI will allegedly measure 162 x 74.4 x 8.45mm – that is 3mm shorter and 3mm (and a bit) wider than the Xperia 1 V, which is 165 x 71 x 8.3mm. The renders from last time show that Sony will stick with its traditional design with a top and bottom bezel, so the loss in vertical space doesn’t come at the cost of stereo speakers and a front facing camera that’s in the bezel rather than the screen.

Speculative renders: Sony Xperia V (left) vs. Xperia 1 VI (right)

Speaking of the screen, it will measure 149.6 x 69.4mm. That works out to 19.4:9 aspect ratio and 6.49” diagonal. Here’s how this compares with the Mark V screen:

Sony Xperia 1 V (purple) vs. Xperia 1 VI (green) display

As you can see, the display is losing a bit of space vertically (2mm) but becomes wider(by almost 5mm).

The Sony Xperia 1 VI is expected to be unveiled in May. A previous leak suggests that the phone will have an option with more RAM, 16GB, but the base will remain at 12GB. That leak also talks about the Xperia 5 VI (just 8GB) and Xperia 10 VI (6/8GB), but there’s no indication whether these two models will also be unveiled in May.

Thanks for the tip, Josip!

Source (in Chinese)

Amazon is holding its annual Big Spring Sale and offers great discounts on unlocked phones and some tablets too. We picked out models from Samsung, Google and Motorola with a special appearance by OnePlus.

Starting off with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, it is $150 off for both the 256GB and 512GB storage capacities. The price is still over $1,000, but this phone will be supported for 7 years, so you can spend the money now and not think about buying another phone until the 2030s.

The Samsung Galaxy S24+ is also $150 off, so even the 512GB model is under $1,000. You will appreciate having the extra storage 7 years from now.

Alternatively, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 is available for the exact same price – is it time to go with a foldable? The next generation of Z models will likely arrive at the start of the Olympics, but it will be quite a while before it gets down to this price.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 comes with a $300 discount, but it is still fairly pricey. Note that unlike the 2024 S-flagships, the 2023 Z-series is only promised 4 OS updates and 5 years of security patches (and it’s already a year old). Also, both use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 from last year.

Alternatively, you can pick up a foldable for the $500, though it’s only the Motorola razr (2023). Not to sound too disappointed, the 6.9” 144Hz LTPO AMOLED display is awesome, but the tiny cover display on the outside is limiting. The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 isn’t perfect either, but in the US this is the only foldable at this price.

The Motorola razr+ (2023) has a much more usable 3.6” cover display and runs on the more powerful (though now getting quite old) Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. It’s $150 less than the Z Flip5, though.

Leaving behind the foldables, the Google Pixel 8 Pro is an alternative to the Galaxy S24 models. It has a 6.7” LTPO display with not quite QHD+ resolution. The 50MP main has a large 1/1.31” sensor, there is a 5x periscope backed by a 48MP sensor and a 48MP ultra wide. The Tensor G3 isn’t perfect, but it’s much better than its predecessors.

$750 might be too much to spend on a Pixel that will be replaced later this year. But how about $500 for the smaller Google Pixel 8? With its 6.2” display, it is smaller than most Androids. And while its lacks a tele camera (and the ultra wide is only 12MP), it still has a competent camera overall. Both Pixel 8 models will be supported for 7 years, so this $500 can go a long way.

Or you can pick up the Google Pixel 7a for $125 less. It uses the older Tensor G2 chipset and the 90Hz 6.1” display, wireless charging (only 7.5W, but still), plus software support is limited to 3 OS updates and 5 years of patches. Still, this is a pure Google experience for under $400.

But hold on a minute, the OnePlus 12R is $500 for the base 8/128GB model and Amazon is offering a $100 gift card with it. That’s effectively almost the same price as the Pixel 7a, but you get a 6.78” LTPO 120Hz display (1,265 x 2,780px) and the powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The 90W wired charging is impressive too. OxygenOS will be updated 3 times and the phone will receive 4 years of security patches. If you want, you can get double the RAM and storage (16/256GB) for $100 more.

Alternatively, the Moto Edge (2023) is $350. This price includes a 6.6” 144Hz OLED display, a Dimensity 7030, 50+13MP camera and a 4,400mAh battery with fast 68W wired and normal 15W wireless charging.

A cheap 5G-connected offer from Motorola is the Moto G Power 5G (thanks to a Dimensity 930 chipset). This phone is equipped with an IPS LCD, 6.5” 120Hz FHD+, a lonely 50MP camera on the back and a 5,000mAh battery with slow 15W wired-only charging.

If “cheap” and “5G” are on your shopping list, don’t sleep on the Samsung Galaxy A15 5G. The 6.5” FHD+ display is a 120Hz OLED panel and you get a basic 5MP ultra wide camera to go with the 50MP main. The Dimensity 6100+ is slower, though, but the 25W charging on the 5,000mAh battery is faster. Both the Moto and the A15 have microSD slots and 3.5mm headphone jacks, but the Moto also has more storage as standard and stereo speakers on board.

You might be better off spending the extra $65 to get the Samsung Galaxy A25 instead. This one has a faster chipset, Exynos 1280, that is capable of 4K video recording with the 50MP main. The ultra wide is bumped up to 8MP too. The rest is pretty much the same as on the A15 5G, though.

We will wrap this up with a few tablets. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S9 FE are in a mid-range position and with the current discounts the base FE model is quite affordable. But not that it only has 6GB of RAM – for $70 more you can get 2 extra gigs plus double the storage.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ starts at 8GB of RAM, but also costs $500 for the base model. Both tablets have 90Hz IPS LCDs – 10.9” for the small one and 12.4” for the plus – but are otherwise near identical. The larger tablet has a larger battery too, of course, 10,090mAh vs. 8,000mAh. Note that this generation has full IP68 dust and water resistance (vs. none on the S7 FE models).

The Google Pixel Tablet also has a 10.95” IPS LCD, with only 60Hz refresh rate, though. The old Tensor G2 is a bigger issue, but this tablet is mostly mean to stay on the included speaker dock as a sort of smart display, so battery life is less of a concern.

Finally, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ is a solid slate for under $200. It has an 11” 90Hz LCD and quad speakers, plus a 7,040mAh battery. The Snapdragon 695 isn’t all that fast, but at this price range we weren’t expecting more. That said, the $50 extra for the higher specced version is well worth it – you get more storage but the 8GB of RAM is a really big upgrade.

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