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How Oppo built the best-looking, and perhaps most durable, hinge in foldables
The Find N2 Flip passed a series of tests by TUV Rheinland, including withstanding 400,000 folds — double that of the Flip 4's marketed number
As a late entrant to the foldable phone scene — behind Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, Motorola, and uh, Royole — Oppo has caught up quickly, having released three foldable phones in the past 15 months. All three have garnered great reviews for their good looks, value proposition, and performance. But the area that drew the most unanimous acclaim from across the consumer tech space has been their hinges, which fold completely flat without a gap, don't leave a harsh crease on the screen, and are fully articulate. No other foldable phone right now can claim all of that.
Oppo Find X6 Pro review: The new smartphone zoom king, but only in China
Oppo pioneered the Periscope zoom lens but moved away from it for years. Now it's back with its best one yet.
Here's a random bit of smartphone trivia: The periscope zoom lens, a sensor that is mounted horizontally inside a phone's body, was actually an Oppo-funded innovation despite its frequent association with Samsung. The periscope camera would go on to make its way to virtually all the best Android phones, including some Oppo devices in 2019, but for reasons unknown, was dropped from the brand's products.
OnePlus 11 vs iPhone 14: Who needs the Pro moniker?
If you want a flagship phone that skips over the "Pro" bells and whistles for a lower price, these two are among the best options
If you're looking for a new phone but find the four-digit pricing of top-tier flagships like the Galaxy S23 Ultra a bit high, a great option is to simply buy the lower-tier flagship device without the "Pro" moniker. These non-Pro flagship devices tend to still be flagship phones in terms of their processors, displays, and main cameras. They're just usually missing some of the extra bells and whistles seen in Pro phones, like an extra zoom lens, stylus, or "Dynamic Island." In fact, OnePlus declined to release a "Pro" model phone this year citing similar reasons: that its standard OnePlus 11 is enough of a flagship. The same goes for Apple's iPhone 14, which shares a lot of features with its Pro and Pro Max siblings.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Vivo X90 Pro+ camera test: Two camera titans duke it out
With four cameras, including a pair of zoom lenses, Vivo's X90 Pro+ is the only phone to truly match the S23 Ultra lens for lens
Samsung's Galaxy S Ultra phone has been the alpha dog of the Android phone scene for the past four years, and the latest Galaxy S23 Ultra continues the trend. But within the niche Android enthusiast community — a group that is open to importing phones and actually enjoys reading and discussing phones in XDA forums or Reddit — Vivo has been garnering interest. Most people haven't heard of Vivo, but its X flagship phones have a superb camera system backed by Zeiss optics.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Xiaomi 13 Pro camera test: Large sensor or more megapixels?
The two most high-profile Android releases of 2023 so far duke it out in a camera shootout.
What's more important in digital imaging, sensor size or megapixel count? Now's as good a time as any to find out because the two most high-profile Android releases of 2023 so far also happen to bring new camera systems headlined by main cameras that have taken those opposite paths. Samsung's Galaxy S23 Ultra packs a new 200MP main camera, while Xiaomi's 13 Pro uses a 1-inch type sensor. Xiaomi's sensor is significantly larger than the S23 Ultra's 1/1.3-inch sensor, but Samsung's camera can produce shots with four times as many pixels as Xiaomi's.
Honor CEO on going global with foldables and making Europe its 'second home market'
Honor had quite a showing at the 2023 Mobile World Congress. Its CEO spoke to XDA about its new flagship strategy and expanding its reach.
This year marks Honor's 10th anniversary, but the Chinese tech company still feels and behaves like an upstart new brand eager to prove itself — and that's because it sort of is. Its first seven years happened under Huawei's massive shadow, which meant the brand was relegated to sub-brand status. Then came the U.S. sanctions on Huawei, which also crippled Honor's appeal throughout most of 2019 and 2020.
Tecno Phantom V Fold hands-on: Surprisingly solid hardware from a little-known brand
We continue to be impressed by Tecno's flagship efforts.
A new foldable phone just launched at Mobile World Congress 2023, and chances are you haven't heard of the brand before. Tecno, a Chinese brand, has actually been making mobile phones since 2006, but up until two to three years ago, it focused almost exclusively on selling ultra-budget phones in Africa. It doesn't even sell in its home country. Over the past few years, Tecno began expanding to other markets such as Latin America, Southeast Asia, India, and the Middle East.
Exclusive: These are Xiaomi's new Wireless AR Smart Glasses, and they look like they're from the future
Xiaomi's AR Smart Glasses are a prototype not meant for commercial release right now, but the hardware feels more than ready
Mobile World Congress is an exciting trade show for mobile enthusiasts because it's not just a launching ground for commercial-ready products, but also a place where some of the world's top tech brands show off prototypes or ideas for future products. And while Xiaomi just held an actual launch event for its Xiaomi 13 series two days ago, it had another surprise announcement today: a pair of augmented reality glasses with more advanced technology than any existing AR glasses currently on market.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra camera deep dive: 200MP sensor and all shooting modes explained
The S23 Ultra adds a whopping 200MP camera to an already highly versatile camera system. But what can all those lenses and megapixels do?
Ever since the line debuted in 2020, Samsung's "Ultra" phones have been bleeding-edge, everything-but-kitchen-sink mobile devices that offered the best (or nearly the best) of everything, from display tech to silicon to memory standards. But it's the camera system that has truly set the Samsung Ultra apart from other best phones in the world, particularly in North America.
MacBook Pro 16 (2023, M2 Max) review: A powerful, super efficient, expensive laptop
Apple has some new laptops, and the largest and most powerful one is a beast packing more power than most of us — including me — needs.
Except for the notch and perhaps the weight, nobody had anything bad to say about Apple's 2021 16-inch MacBook Pro running on Apple's M1 Max silicon. It was fast, powerful, efficient, and even brought back all the fan-favorite features Apple had previously stripped away, such as slots for HDMI and SD cards. Even for someone like me who's quite vocally anti-Apple when it comes to smartphones, I couldn't deny the M1 Max MacBook Pro's greatness. After I returned my review unit to Apple, I purchased my own the next day, and it's been my main work machine since. It may be the happiest I've ever been with a tech purchase in half a decade.
Oppo Find N2 Flip review: A worthy challenger to the Z Flip 4
Oppo's clamshell foldable phone is finally reaching a wider international audience after its China launch, but is it enough against the competition?
If you wanted a foldable phone over the past several years, chances are your only options were a Samsung Z Fold or Z Flip. Foldables from other brands (all Chinese), for whatever reason, have stuck to selling only inside China. This made for an odd situation where the foldable phone scene was highly competitive in one country. Everywhere else, there's a monopoly operated by Samsung.
OnePlus Buds Pro 2 review: Great sound and looks, but lacking ANC
OnePlus' new earbuds brings all the features a modern set of wireless earbuds should, but is it enough to challenge the likes of the AirPods Pro?
OnePlus recently launched a new phone, the OnePlus 11, that is priced reasonably well and offers performance that punches above its price class. So do the OnePlus Buds Pro 2, which launched alongside the phone, fare similarly?
Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED review: A glimpse into the future of PCs
The Zenbook 17 Fold OLED is versatile and unique, but it needs polish and a price drop.
If there's one thing tech geeks can all agree on, it's that having more screen is always better. No one would ever claim working off a 12-inch screen is better than working off a 15-inch screen. But laptops can't just keep increasing in size the way TVs or monitors can because they must maintain portability (and the ability to fit inside bags). So most of the best consumer laptops have settled on a 13-inch screen, with more ambitious machines going for 16 or 17 inches.
OnePlus 11 vs Google Pixel 7 Pro: Which flagship should you buy?
OnePlus' new flagship is a return to form, but how does it fare against Google's current top dog?
OnePlus 11 is a return to form of sorts for the company. After trying its hand at the premium market, it has once again created a flagship-level phone with the newest Qualcomm processor and excellent build quality but sold at a less-than-top-tier price of $699. In North America, it's positioned to be a worthy alternative to Samsung's just-launched Galaxy S23 series and Google's Pixel 7 series, not to mention being in contention for one of the best phones of 2023.
OnePlus 11 review: A polished 'almost flagship' at non-flagship price
The OnePlus 11, at $699, is a good value proposition against Samsung's Galaxy S23 series, but the existence of the Google Pixel 7 makes things tricky
When the OnePlus 11 hit the market almost two months ago, it was one of the first new Android phones of the year, and while we liked the phone a lot, we didn't have other devices against which to compare. Now that the spring release flood of Android brands (outside North America) has just about wrapped, and we have a better overview of the entire Android smartphone scene in 2023, we can say that the OnePlus 11 has held up very well against higher priced competition, and many of us at XDA think it's the most underrated phone on the market right now.
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 review: How much extra would you pay for silence?
The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 has one major selling point: the best active noise cancelation.
Wireless earbuds are a dime a dozen these days, and overall standards have improved so much that you could pick up a $30 pair of wireless earbuds and get at least decent audio and solid connection. If you pay above $99, you're going to get a good pair with quality sound, solid construction, and perhaps even active noise cancelation (ANC). So the big question for me when I was asked to review the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 wasn't whether the earbuds are any good — of course they are! — but rather, "do these things justify the high $300 price tag?".
Samsung Galaxy S23 series: Pricing, release date, and everything we know about 2023's flagships
Samsung's Galaxy S series flagships are next in line for an update.
Samsung's new flagships in the Galaxy S series lineup are finally here, and they all represent the best of what the company offers in 2023. We once again have three new phones in the lineup, each offering something different at various price points. If you're looking to buy one of these flagships, you've come to the right place. We finally have all the information you need on specifications, pricing, release dates, and more, so here's everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy S23 series.
Boox Tab Ultra review: The most powerful E Ink tablet, but at what cost?
The Boox Tab Ultra is the most capable E Ink tablet on the market, but it's priced so close to an iPad Air that it will be a tough sell for most.
Android tablets have improved significantly in the past couple of years, and good ones like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra can perhaps suit the needs of some power users more than even the best iPad. But the reality remains that Apple's iPads are more polished and enjoy far higher mainstream popularity. Go to any coffee shop in America, and 90% of the tablets you see are likely iPads.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 Camera Walkthrough: All the camera features
The Flip 4's camera hardware is modest by flagship standards, but Samsung's software and Flex Mode make it one of the most versatile shooters.
Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold series may technically be the South Korean tech giant's most premium smartphone, but it's the Galaxy Z Flip series that's become a breakout hit as of late, thanks to its lower price, sleeker form, and clamshell form factor that arguably has wider mainstream appeal.
The Surface Duo's dual screens are what make the device special, not worse
According to rumors, Microsoft has abandoned the dual-screen concept of its Surface Duo devices in favor of a true foldable. I think that's a mistake.
I have had a love/hate relationship with Microsoft's Surface Duo series for the past two and a half years. While I absolutely loved both Surface Duos' hardware (thick bezels aside) and I believe in the usefulness of a dual-screen phone, the Surface Duo's software has ranged from being a dumpster fire to just tolerable. That's no exaggeration — I purchased, then sold, then re-purchased the original Microsoft Surface Duo twice because I alternated between wanting the hardware and being frustrated by the software.