Category: MOBILE

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is quite possibly the most complete Android smartphone on the market but where does that leave Google, Android’s very creator, and its own Pixel phone? Out of lockstep, the two lineups are bound to be somewhat mismatched when it comes to having the latest hardware, but that doesn’t mean that the Pixel 8 Pro, now in the middle of its lifecycle, doesn’t have its advantages over the Galaxy. Let’s try and find them.

Table of Contents:

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

Size comparison

Neither phone is anything close to compact, but the Galaxy S24 Ultra is big even as big phones go. Its actual dimensions are only part of the story – in fact, the Pixel is both taller (if only just) and thicker than the Galaxy, but the S24 Ultra is wider (which is where the seemingly negligible 2.5mm difference can actually be felt) and heavier (by some 9-ish percent).

The thing is, though, that while the Pixel still maintains some sort of curvature on its back that makes it feel thinner in the hand, the Galaxy’s blockiness means you’d be feeling every bit of how big it is. So even if you’re well aware that you’d be getting a large handset, the Pixel is able to mask its size better.

The Galaxy does feature more premium materials in its build – the titanium frame and Corning’s latest Gorilla Armor are both a step up from the Pixel’s aluminum rails and Victus 2 sheets. But both phones carry the same IP68 rating (up to 1.5m for 30 min), so technically they should be equally well protected against dust and water ingress.

Design is subjective, of course, and both approaches probably have their fans, but we’ll say that the Pixel has more character thanks to that visor-like camera strip. The Galaxy offers more color choices, and if you order one directly from Samsung, there are some more interesting hues, while the Pixel’s Bay blue remains a favorite option in our office.

Display comparison

The latest Pixel makes few compromises with its display and features a really nice OLED panel, as does the Galaxy. You get an adaptive refresh rate on both, which can go as low as 1Hz or as high as 120Hz. Neither display has Dolby Vision support, so you’ll have to make do with HDR10 and HDR10+, whichever phone you choose.

In our testing, the Pixel was slightly brighter than the Galaxy with adaptive brightness enabled (1,600nits vs. 1,447nits) with a more pronounced difference when setting the brightness manually – 954nits vs. 755nits. We’re not saying the Galaxy isn’t bright enough; we’re just pointing out that the Pixel is even brighter.

Now, the Ultra does have one advantage that’s coming from the new glass it’s using, and that’s the reduced reflectivity. We’ve had some folks at the office hail it as a game-changer while others remain less excited, the fact is that there is indeed a noticeable difference.

The Galaxy’s display is not without its imperfections, and it suffers from a certain graininess that can be observed at low brightness levels – how irked you are by this will likely vary depending on how often you use your phone in dark environments.

Battery life

The two phones have almost identical battery capacities, the Pixel’s extra 50mAhs barely registering as a difference, but the Galaxy does make significantly better use of it. The Ultra has meaningfully longer endurance in three of our tests, and in the fourth, it still has an advantage, only a much smaller one. We’d count this as one of the major victories for the S24 Ultra.

Charging speed

Galaxies rarely win charging speed contests, so big thanks to Google for making a phone that charges slower still. At a time when others can go from zero to 100% in less than half an hour, the Pixel 8 Pro is barely over 50% in 30 minutes – the Galaxy’s 69% result suddenly looks good.

The Pixel nets a small win for wireless charging, at least in theory – Google says the 8 Pro can go as high as 23W when placed on the Pixel Stand, while the Galaxy is only rated for up to 15W with compatible Qi pads. That said, the Pixel drops to 12W with third-party wireless chargers, so it’s more like half of a win, really.

Speaker test

The two phones have similar two-speaker setups. There’s one speaker that fires out of the bottom of the handset, and another one at the top end outputs sound forward through a slit that also serves as the earpiece.

The two differ in that the Galaxy’s speakers will only output their respective channels, while the Pixel’s approach is to also play the opposite channel’s track at a lower volume. We can’t say we have a preference one way or the other.

The Galaxy proved louder in our testing, earning a ‘Very Good’ mark next to the Pixel’s merely ‘Good’ rating. We’d also give the nod to the S24 Ultra for sound quality as well.

You can compare how the two phones sound in controlled acoustic conditions with the samples below. Just make sure you have your headphones on and the volume is at max level.

Performance

The Galaxy S24 Ultra is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, as are most high-end Androids in 2024. The Pixel 8 Pro comes from last year, and its custom Tensor G3 chipset was already lagging behind in raw power against 2023 Qualcomm silicon, so comparing benchmark scores won’t do the Pixel any favors. Google insists that benchmarks and brute force don’t matter and that they’ve optimized for user experience and whatnot, but ultimately, it’s not a good look for them.

One thing that’s bugging us on the Pixel is the 128GB base storage – that’s just not right for a true flagship in 2024, and no, it doesn’t matter that it came out in late 2023. Both phones have 12GB of RAM across all versions, and both can be had with up to 1TB of storage, though the Galaxy does use faster UFS 4.0 chips (UFS 3.1 on the Google phone).

We’re back to parity when it comes to software update policy, believe it or not – Google promised 7 years of updates for the latest Pixels and so too did Samsung for the S24 family. It’s unclear how usable a 7-year-old phone will be with the latest software, but the long-term commitment is praiseworthy. It’s, in a way, a bigger deal for Samsung, which was once heavily criticized for poor software support, while it’s almost taken for granted on the Pixel – after all, it’s Google’s OS and Google’s phone, of course they should support it indefinitely.

During the S24 announcement event, Samsung and Google demoed AI features exclusive to the S24 lot. The two companies are working together, and for better or worse, the Galaxies and the Pixels possess smarts that haven’t been unlocked on other Android phones. Whether one lineup has a meaningful advantage over the other is hard to quantify, though.

While still on the subject of software, it’s worth saying a few words about the S Pen – the stylus adds another layer of productivity that simply having a large screen and AI capabilities doesn’t quite match. Jotting down notes, ‘signing’ documents, or just having a wireless remote for your camera always there with you – the S Pen remains a unique selling point for the Ultra.

Camera comparison

The Pixel has always been lauded as one of the best camera phones, and the Galaxy Ultra is not without imaging pedigree. The two take somewhat similar approaches in leaning heavily on the computational side of things and taking it easy with hardware – there are no one-inch sensors to be found here.

Both phones feature main cameras at around the 1/1.3” mark; only Samsung’s sensor is 200MP, while the Pixel has 50MP on the badge. The Pixel’s ultrawide uses a larger imager (1/2.0” vs. 1/2.55”), and both have autofocus. Both phones have 5x zoom telephoto cameras with similar specs too. The Galaxy has one extra camera, though – a 3x telephoto to bridge the gap between the main camera and the 5x telephoto.

Photo quality

Image quality from both phones in daylight is great, with some specifics for each lineup giving them distinct character when it comes to color reproduction, tonal balance and detail presentation.

Picking one over the other is mostly a matter of personal preference, though there are a few areas where the Galaxy is objectively better.

The S24 Ultra does win at 3x, but that’s to be expected – it has a dedicated camera for that focal length, and the Pixel doesn’t.

However, the Galaxy also has an edge at the 2x zoom level – so if you like shooting at focal lengths between the main camera and the 5x, the Pixel is in a trailing position.

Finally, the Galaxy’s 5x is also sharper than the Pixel’s.

Galaxy S24 Ultra daylight samples: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x

Pixel 8 Pro daylight samples: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x

Selfies are also pretty nice on both phones, but there is one difference that can be of some significance. The Pixel’s selfie camera has a focal length equivalent of 21mm, while the Galaxy stands at 25mm, so if you’re after wider-than-most selfies, the Pixel is the way to go.

Selfie samples: Galaxy S24 Ultra • Pixel 8 Pro

If you’re out shooting at night, both phones will give you pleasing exposures and nice colors across all cameras. The Galaxy maintains an edge in sharpness and detail at all zoom levels, though – the differences may not be huge, but the Ultra is just consistently better.

Galaxy S24 Ultra low-light samples: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x

Pixel 8 Pro low-light samples: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x

Video quality

Both phones can record video at up 4K60 with all cameras, and they also let you shoot at 24fps. The Galaxy is a bit more versatile still, offering 8K capture, but also (and more importantly) 4K120.

The Galaxy and the Pixel both have h.264 and h.265 codec options, but Samsung also gives you extra (higher) bit rate options. HDR10 video recording is also on the menu (well, both menus), and stabilization is available in all modes.

Video quality is generally great on both, though there are certain specifics in rendition – as usual. The Pixel’s output is a bit more expressive – with higher contrast and saturation, next to a slightly more laid-back Galaxy (even accounting for the different time of capturing these). There’s no meaningful advantage in video sharpness one way or the other, so this remains mostly a matter of which look you prefer. Well, that, and the Galaxy’s wider feature set.

Galaxy S24 Ultra daylight video samples: 0.6x • 1x • 5x

Pixel 8 Pro daylight video samples: 0.6x • 1x • 5x

In low-light video recording, we’d say that the Galaxy is giving us better exposure and dynamic range making for lighter, more easily likeable output. It also has a bit of an edge in terms of detail on the main camera, while the ultrawides and the telephotos are mostly on par.

Galaxy S24 Ultra low-light video samples: 0.6x • 1x • 5x

Pixel 8 Pro low-light video samples: 0.6x • 1x • 5x

Verdict

With the latest Galaxy Ultra, Samsung has once again made the ‘have-it-all’ Android smartphone. Google’s approach to the matter isn’t quite as comprehensive – the software company’s vision for its hardware is simply different. In that sense, there’s no wonder that the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the Pixel 8 Pro diverge in many ways and will attract different customers.

The Pixel 8 Pro has a couple of esoteric advantages that are hard to quantify, but we know, for a fact, they exist. Google’s own version of Android feels different from the rest, and no one else can quite match it. It’s a similar story with the image processing which, if you’re on #teampixel, may feel the only right way.

Of course, there are a couple of more objective reasons to pick an 8 Pro over an S24 Ultra – like the ultra-ish wide selfies and the lower price – in most places and most of the time.

But for most things measurable and observable, the Galaxy S24 Ultra has an advantage. The new materials promise better durability, while the less reflective display glass is one of few readily perceptible physical developments when it comes to your immediate interaction with your phone. The S Pen remains a staple of the lineup that you can’t get elsewhere, the Ultra’s chipset is vastly more powerful than the Pixel’s, and the Galaxy has better battery life too.

Perhaps of most significant importance is the Galaxy’s generally superior camera performance. It does intermediate zoom levels better than the Pixel, but tends to outclass it at the native magnifications too, particularly in stills. In video, on the other hand, it offers a wider feature set that makes it more appealing for serious use.

In summary, Google is indeed making the best Pixel phone – that is to say, if you’re the type of person who likes the Google way of doing things, the Pixel 8 Pro is for you, and you’ll be able to rationalize around its shortcomings. But if you’re after the most full-featured Android smartphone, that would be the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

There is no uncertainty in our minds that the S24 Ultra is the ultimate Galaxy – that is, if we exclude the Fold from the conversation so as not to complicate things. But does everyone need the ultimate Galaxy? Perhaps the more ordinary Plus is all the Galaxy you’d ever have any use for, and spending the premium for an Ultra isn’t entirely warranted. With that in mind, we set off to find out how the two stack up, hopefully saving you some money in the process – or, alternatively, convincing you to go Ultra.

Table of Contents:

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

Size comparison

A quick look at the numbers shows a somewhat significant difference in size and weight – the Ultra is nearly 40g heavier than the already not-particularly-light Plus. The Plus is also noticeably more compact, being almost a full millimeter thinner and 3 mil less wide – the height difference may not be as tangible, but the other metrics have an immediate impact on usability. So if you’re after at least some semblance of pocketability, the Plus has an obvious advantage.

Samsung is deliberately differentiating the Ultra from the rest of the lineup in terms of design and build too. Although there are some common stylistic cues, the S24 Ultra and the S24 Plus take different paths, physically. The Ultra is clearly a Note descendant with a blocky body and sharp corners, which means business. On the other hand, the Plus maintains a slightly more fluid shape in the corners and has more of an everyday vibe.

There’s a difference in materials, too, with the Ultra introducing titanium to the Galaxy universe, combined with Corning’s latest Gorilla Armor glass on both sides, while the Plus is using the more mundane Armor aluminum and Gorilla Glass Victus 2. That would likely mean that the Ultra would be more durable in the long run, though it’s not like the Plus is exactly fragile. Either way, you’d be getting an IP68-rated phone.

One of the major changes on this year’s Ultra is the glass covering the display, and it’s a two-fold development. On the one hand, it’s now flat, as opposed to the curved-edge S23 Ultra. That means that both the S24 Ultra and the S24 Plus have flat panels on the front, so that’s not going to be a deciding factor if you have strong feelings on the subject. The other aspect is that the Ultra’s glass is less reflective, with opinions on the matter varying between ‘okay, so what?’ and ‘that’s the greatest thing ever’.

Display comparison

When it comes to display quality, there’s sort of a major development on the Plus too – 1440p resolution returns to the large-sized ‘regular’ model after three generations of 1080p Pluses. Additionally, the 2024 Plus is also getting an LTPO panel with what is apparently the same level of adaptive refresh rate behavior as the Ultra. The 0.1-inch larger diagonal on the Ultra is then the only “significant” difference in display specs. Well, that and the glass reflectivity we mentioned above.

In our testing, the two phones posted similar results for brightness – around 1,450nits with adaptive brightness enabled and bright light shining into their ambient light sensors.

The HDR capabilities are identical – Dolby Vision is missing from the picture, but HDR10 and HDR10+ are covered. FullHD streaming of DRM-protected content is also possible thanks to the Widevine L1 support. Android 14’s Ultra HDR standard for displaying photos online and in gallery apps also works on both phones.

The S24 Ultra’s got a couple of peculiarities with its display that may or may not be a problem for you. One of them was the Ultra’s relatively muted default color rendition, even in the Vivid color mode, though that has since been addressed with a firmware update and the inclusion of a Vividness slider (which the Plus has also gotten, for good measure).

The other thing is the graininess that can be observed at low brightness levels – how irked you are by this will likely vary depending on how often you use your phone in dark environments. This imperfection is seemingly not present on the Plus – so, in at least this one way, the Plus’ display is better? This feels wrong to write, but it would appear to be the case. Then again, the reflectivity argument does bring some balance into this category.

Battery life

In the matter of endurance, the two phones will likely give you similar mileage in trivial tasks like watching videos or browsing the web. In our testing, the Ultra was markedly better in gaming, though, and its call time was also longer.

An asterisk that needs to be pointed out here is that the Ultra uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset in all its regional varieties, while the Plus exists with either that same Snapdragon, or the Exynos 2400 chipset.

The Plus that we’ve tested has the Exynos, which could explain the difference in gaming endurance and call times (the two chipsets have a similar-grade CPU but a different modem and GPU). If you are coming from a region where the Snapdragon Plus Plus is offered, the two will probably have similar battery life.

Charging speed

Galaxies don’t charge particularly fast, and that applies to both of the large S24s as well. On paper they support 45W charging, but the charging curves that Samsung’s picked make for relatively pedestrian results. The Plus scores a narrow victory here, but it’s hardly a meaningful difference.

Beyond wired charging, both the S24 Ultra and the S24 Plus support 15W Qi/PMA wireless charging and 4.5W reverse charging.

Speaker test

The two phones have similar speaker setups – one speaker fires out of the bottom of the handset, and another one at the top end outputs sound forward through a slit. That second one also serves as the earpiece.

Both the Ultra and the Plus earned ‘Very Good’ ratings for loudness in our speaker test. To our ears, the Ultra has the upper hand in sound quality though, being able to pump out some more noticeable low-end frequencies, without sacrificing clarity across the board.

You can compare how the two phones sound in controlled acoustic conditions with the samples below. Just make sure you have your headphones on and the volume is at max level.

Performance

The balance of powers in the Performance section is also likely to vary between regions – the places that get a Snapdragon version of the Plus shouldn’t be seeing much of a difference between the two handsets’ benchmark scores. Not that whatever differences there are between the performance of the Exynos and the Snapdragon will be readily felt, but that’s not the point.

Both phones feature 12GB of RAM in all configurations, and the base storage is 256GB, so there’s no obvious advantage for either one. The Ultra does have a 1TB storage option, while the Plus maxes out at 512GB, so maybe that could be a deciding factor if you’re that type of extreme power user.

If you’re that person, you’ll also probably be after the Ultra’s S Pen – it adds another layer of productivity that simply having a large screen doesn’t quite match. Jotting down notes, ‘signing’ documents, or just having a wireless remote for your phone’s camera always there with you – the Plus has no immediate answer to that.

It’s worth mentioning here that the S24 generation is promised up to 7 years of OS updates and software support – that applies to both phones though, so you don’t have to pay extra for the Ultra to benefit from it. Also, both the Ultra and the Plus get the latest in AI-assisted software features that Google and Samsung have come up with.

In our testing – as established, with different chipsets on the two phones – the Plus matched the Ultra in CPU performance but was a little bit behind in graphics benchmarks. Again, that will likely not be the case if you’re in North America, where the Plus comes with the same chipset as the Ultra.

Camera comparison

Alongside the S Pen, the difference in camera capabilities is the other area that will decide whether you must get the Ultra or you’ll be okay with the Plus. The Ultra has the proper high-end setup, with two telephotos, autofocusing ultrawide, and a larger sensor main unit.

The Plus, on the other hand, makes do with a single zoom camera, fixed-focus ultrawide, and a large-ish sensor primary. The most significant difference is that the Plus will only zoom up to 3x, while the Ultra covers the 3x level, but can also do 5x and also 10x with some caveats.

Photo quality

In daylight, the global image properties are very similar between the two phones, and you’ll be getting vibrant images with a wide dynamic range. Differences emerge at 1:1 viewing, where the Plus exhibits more laid-back processing, resulting in a somewhat soft look to detail and a bit more graininess.

The Ultra arguably strikes a better balance with sharpening and noise reduction and delivers cleaner images without looking artificial.

With all cameras and at all matching zoom levels, the Ultra has an edge in sharpness and detail – sometimes the difference is smaller, sometimes more significant. For casual snaps, the Plus will serve you well, but if you want more of a cameraphone experience and the best images from a Galaxy, it will have to be the Ultra.

Galaxy S24 Ultra daylight samples: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x

Galaxy S24+ daylight samples: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x

not only is the Ultra better than the Plus at their similar zoom levels, but the Ultra has a 5x telephoto camera that gives it further reach, which the Plus can’t match. It’s also great for close-ups.

Galaxy S24 Ultra daylight samples: 5x

One area where there’ll be no sacrifices is selfies – while there are minor differences between the results we got on the two phones (possibly attributable to the different ISPs because of the Snapdragon/Exynos situation), you can count on excellent selfies either way.

Selfie samples: Galaxy S24 Ultra • Galaxy S24 Plus

Low-light performance, in as few words as possible, is good to very good on the Plus and excellent on the Ultra. The Plus will keep you satisfied with its main camera, but the Ultra still has an edge there, and it’s a similar story with the ultrawides. On the other hand, the 3x telephoto of the Ultra is a notably better performer in the dark.

Galaxy S24 Ultra low-light samples: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x

Galaxy S24+ low-light samples: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x

And, once again, the Ultra can simply get you closer to the action than the Plus. Or, in our case, to that random bit of a moderately lit facade at night.

Galaxy S24 Ultra low-light samples: 5x

Video quality

Both phones can capture video at up to 4K60 with all of their cameras. You can also do 8K30 on the main cameras, and the Ultra is also capable of 8K30 on the 5x telephoto. Another Ultra-only option is 4K120 on the main camera in Pro Video mode. Stabilization is available in all modes and does a great job on both phones.

Oddly enough, in daylight, our Plus captures slightly sharper 4K30 video with all three of its rear cameras – it’s not a dramatic difference, but it’s also not the difference you’d expect to see.

The Ultra inevitably scores points for reach as it can do nicely detailed 5x recording and pretty decent 10x as well. Colors are generally pleasing on both phones, while the Plus has a slightly more contrasty look overall.

Galaxy S24 Ultra daylight video samples: 0.6x • 1x • 3x

Galaxy S24+ daylight video samples: 0.6x • 1x • 3x

In low light, we’d be inclined to say that the Ultra has a minor edge on the main camera and the ultrawide, but it’s hardly significant enough to be a deciding factor. The telephotos’ footage isn’t great on either phone.

Galaxy S24 Ultra low-light video samples: 0.6x • 1x • 3x

Galaxy S24+ low-light video samples: 0.6x • 1x • 3x

Verdict

We didn’t for one second doubt that the Galaxy S24 Ultra would ‘win’ this comparison, but establishing that it was the superior phone was never the goal. We were aiming to prove that the Plus is a good enough premium Galaxy for most people, and only those who know that they want the Ultra should get the Ultra.

Indeed, the Plus comes with most of the latest benefits of a top-tier Samsung phone. It’s got a 1440p display that’s as adaptive as on the Ultra, it charges about as fast as its bigger brother, and has solid battery life (if not quite as good as the Ultra’s). All the AI smarts are on board too and there will be 7 years of updates.

The Plus is also a capable cameraphone that you’d be perfectly happy with if you don’t have an Ultra to compare against and if you don’t know for a fact that your camera pursuits are predominantly beyond 3x zoom. Also, while you do enjoy a large screen, you don’t have the pockets for the heavier and blockier Ultra – do get the Plus then. And there’s always the monetary argument – going Plus will save you some money, and it’s not an insignificant amount.

However, the Ultra carries that name for a reason, and as the ultimate phone in the lineup, it delivers some extra goodies. The 5x telephoto camera will expand your reach, but also get you nicer closeups. And even where the two phones share zoom levels, the Ultra’s photo quality is consistently better (though it’s not quite so for video).

It’s not just the camera, though. The Ultra has longer battery life and a less reflective display, plus its tougher build may actually help it make use of all those promised 7 years of updates. And, of course, there’s the S Pen, which can render this whole discussion irrelevant, if you know you can find utility in it.

Ultimately, it’s relatively simple. Most people will be happy with the S24 Plus. But some people should get the S24 Ultra.

For a few weeks now, the upcoming OnePlus Ace 3V has been leaking left and right, and one thing all of the rumors about it had it common was an insistence that it would be powered by Qualcomm’s yet-unannounced Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 SoC. Up until today, that was still just a rumored spec for the device, however.

But now, OnePlus itself confirmed it through its official Weibo account. The Ace 3V does indeed have the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 at the helm, and that could mean the next Nord device – Nord 4 or Nord 5, depending on whether OnePlus wants to skip the unlucky 4 – will also have this chipset that’s due to become official in just a few days.

We’re basing this speculation on the fact that last year, the Ace 2V with minor modifications was sold internationally as the Nord 3. We see no reason for OnePlus to change this strategy now.

Over on Weibo, OnePlus praises the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 saying it has all the same core advantages as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 – the same flagship architecture, the same 4nm process technology, the same Cortex-X4 ultra-large CPU core, memory read and write capabilities, and communication abilities. It also apparently has strong performance and low energy consumption, so what more could you want?

Source (in Chinese)

Sony is readying its trio of smartphones for 2024 currently – the Xperia 1 VI absolute flagship, the 5 VI compact flagship, and the 10 VI mid-ranger. Today the RAM amount options that all three of these will come with have been leaked.

Let’s start with the Xperia 1 VI .You’ll be able to get it with 12GB or 16GB of RAM. The former amount matches that in the Xperia 1 V, and the latter goes even further.

Next up, the Xperia 5 VI. This will only come with 8GB of RAM, which is the same amount seen in the Xperia 5 V, rather disappointingly for a device that otherwise has flagship specs – 8GB of RAM is upper-midrange at best these days.

Finally, the Xperia 10 VI will have two versions. The entry-level model will have to make do with 6GB of RAM, while there will also be an option for 8GB. This only goes to further highlight the issue with the 5 VI having just 8GB – an amount the Japanese company’s mid-ranger is matching.

Last year the Xperia 1 VI was rumored to make its debut at MWC in Barcelona, but that came and went with no announcement – and not even a presence from Sony in the form of a booth. So it’s currently unclear when we can expect the company’s next smartphones to become official, but we’ll of course let you know when we find out more.

Source (in Japanese)

If you’ve always wanted to create long(er) form content on X (formerly Twitter), well, now you can. We’re not sure why you’d want to do that on a platform like this that can take it down whenever it wants to (or gets bored with the feature it’s just introduced), but to each their own. Perhaps this is meant to take on Substack?

Anyway, the news is this. X now lets you create “Articles”, aka long(er) form content on its platform. The catch? You need to be a Premium+ subscriber. That means paying X $16 per month or $168 per year. Alternatively, you need to be part of a Verified Organization.

https://t.co/dlJ6rIEONa

— Write (@Write) March 7, 2024

If you are one of those people, then you can start composing articles by selecting “Article” in the sidebar. You get bold, italic, and strikethrough text formatting options, as well as bullet points and numbered lists. And you can also embed images and videos “to enhance your storytelling and add visual interest to your Articles”.

There will be a new Articles tab on your profile and your Articles will appear in your followers’ timeline just like regular X posts. Articles will be uniquely distinguishable because they have a unique icon and layout, in order for your long-form content to stand out. And yet, embedding an article results in what you see above – only a link to it. That’s rather unfortunate, isn’t it?

Instagram direct messages (DMs) are getting a bunch of new features. First up, editing – this can be done up to 15 minutes after a message is sent. To edit a message, simply press and hold on it and then choose “edit” from the dropdown menu.

Speaking of DMs, read receipts can now be turned on or off, either for all chats, or specific ones. You can do this in account settings. This setting can be changed at any time, but note that read receipts aren’t available for end-to-end encrypted chats.

You can also pin your favorite chats at the top of your messaging inbox, up to three of them. This way you don’t need to keep on scrolling in order to find your best friends or family members (or your fave groups). To pin a chat, swipe left or tap and hold on it, then tap “pin”. Naturally, any thread can be unpinned at any time.

Instagram now gives you the ability to save your favorite stickers in DMs for easy later access, by pressing and holding on any sticker you want to save. It will then be waiting for you at the top of the stickers section. Additionally, you can now reply to any message with stickers, GIFs, videos, photos, and voice messages.

There are also new themes to pick from for your chats – Love, Lollipop, Avatar: The Last Airbender, among many more.

Source

The 2024 Mobile World Congress is over with several exciting launches and promises of new technology to come. You can check out our MWC 2024 wrap-up post for a quick overview of events if you didn’t follow the day by day developments (or you need a refresher).

What was your favorite new device from this year’s congress? Let’s have a vote. We have divided things into categories – flagships, mid-rangers, entry level devices and miscellaneous.

Most makers announced their new flagships in December and January, but some held off until the MWC. Okay, some of these aren’t exactly new, but we’re counting the announcement of global availability.

The glamour and cutting edge tech of the flagship category aside, the mid-range may have been the most interesting category this year. Yes, €1,500+ phones have awesome hardware. But most buyers won’t spend that much. However, now even people shopping in the mid-range can afford a flip foldable or a phone with an LTPO display or one with a 108MP camera.

The entry-level segment is quite interesting too. There are oddball devices with large speakers, ones with 70W fast charging, large high refresh rate AMOLED displays, even 5G is quite common.

This is the category for things that didn’t fit elsewhere. MWC 2024 saw the launch of a smartwatch, more details on a smart ring, even new AR/XR products. Not enough to form their own category, but too interesting to skip.

Without much fuss, MediaTek announced a new but somewhat familiar Helio G91 SoC designed for entry-level 4G smartphones. The G91 has mostly the same hardware as its Helio G88 and G85 siblings but offers an upgraded ISP.

All three aforementioned chips share the same CPU configuration – 2x Crotex A75 clocked at 2.0 GHz joined by 6x Cortex-A55 ticking at 1.8 GHz. The trio also share the same GPU – Mali-G52 MC2 clocked at 1.0 GHz. Of course, the same 12nm manufacturing process by TSMC is used too.

However, the newer G91 now supports up to 108MP sensors, which would make the chip a preferable choice by manufacturers looking to assemble a competitive budget solution in 2024. Last but not least, the G91 is a much newer chip that should get a few more years of support.

Source

The Honor MagicBook 16 dates back to September, when its first members debuted in China. However MWC 2024 brought us a brand new addition and one that will be globally available too. The MagicBook 16 Pro version is in our office, and we thought we’d do a quick unboxing before we start work on its review.

Even though Honor doesn’t have a long history of making notebooks, the company’s recent releases are quite competitive price-wise and excellently put together.

The 16 Pro runs on a powerful Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor paired with Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU and 32GB of RAM. Keep in mind that the RAM is soldered, so make sure you order the right one, as you’ll be unable to upgrade it later on. The SSD is user-replaceable, of course, and in our case, it’s 1TB.

The notebook packs an impressive screen as well – LCD IPS panel running at 144Hz and offering at lest 300 nits of brightness. Paired with the potent Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, the notebook promises to deliver some solid gaming performance.

The I/O is good too – 2x USB-C 3.2, 2x USB-A 3.2, a full-sized HDMI 2.0 port and a headphone jack. The laptop charges over one of the USB-C ports at up to 65W rates. The battery capacity is 56Wh, which isn’t a lot for a 16-inch device, but we’ll make sure to test how it performs in real life.

The MagicBook 16 Pro weighs 1.86kg, which is alright for a 16-inch laptop, particularly one with a discrete GPU.

Stay tuned for our full review to see how it fares in our thermal stress tests, battery tests and display tests.

nubia’s RedMagic unveiled the DAO 150W GaN charger today with an interesting metal transparent design. It measures 110x71x35mm, weighs 870g, and features four ports – 1x USB-A, 2x USB-C, and 1x DC.

As evident from its name, the RedMagic DAO 150W GaN charger has a maximum output of 150W, which is provided by the DC port at 20V/7.5A, while the two USB-C ports together can go up to 140W, and the single USB-A can go up to 30W. This allows the power brick to simultaneously charge multiple devices, including gaming laptops, smartphones, and tablets.

The RedMagic DAO 150W GaN charger supports PD3.1 protocol, which, combined with the DAO All-GaN chip, allows “dual-chip control” for faster charging and more robust temperature control for safe and efficient charging. Additionally, the adapter uses an advanced copper sheet and gel dual cooling tech for rapidly dissipating heat and reducing power consumption to enable quick charging.

The DAO 150W GaN charger features a customizable LCD that shows real-time charging status and input and output power, among other parameters. It also comes with a side touch button, AC line, colorful light strip, and an interchangeable base for customization and styling.

Moreover, the DAO 150W GaN charger supports Bluetooth connectivity, allowing the users to remotely control the RGB lights and monitor the charging status for individual ports in real-time through the Goper app. nubia says it can be downloaded from the Google Play Store for Windows, Linux, and Android devices.

It’s also worth mentioning that the RedMagic DAO 150W GaN charger’s plug is detachable and foldable. It’s also compatible with interchangeable plugs, and you can buy the charger with US or EU plugs.

The RedMagic DAO 150W GaN charger is priced at €199 in Europe, MXN3,699 in Mexico, and $199 in the US, Canada, and other countries. It will be sold through RedMagic’s official website, and with foldable prongs and desktop charging station, it will be $20 less from March 1 to March 31, 2024.

The retail package will include 1x AC adapter cable, 1x DC-to-DC charging cable, 1x Type-C to Type-C 6A 150W customized data cable (with PD3.1), and 1x velvet pouch.