Full Reviews

A full-fledged, highly in-depth review of a mobile device.

macOS Monterey review: The calm after Big Sur

macOS Monterey review: The calm after Big Sur

October 16, 2021
Apple announced macOS 12 Monterey, along with iOS 15, iPadOS 15, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15 during WWDC21. This year's release comes loaded with small improvements and new features across the OS. We were expecting the lack of major changes in this release. Last year's macOS 11 Big Sur fully redesigned the entire operating system,...
Apple iPhone 13 Pro vs Google Pixel 5: These cameras shouldn’t be so competitive

Apple iPhone 13 Pro vs Google Pixel 5: These cameras shouldn’t be so competitive

October 14, 2021
The recently-released iPhone 13 Pro has had an incredible amount of praise bestowed upon it, with some deeming it the best smartphone camera on the market. Given that the Google Pixel 5 has managed to hang on with arguably outdated camera hardware for so long, we figured that we should put it to the test...
Google countersues Epic Games for breach of Play Store contract

Google countersues Epic Games for breach of Play Store contract

October 13, 2021
Google is countersuing Epic Games for its breach of the Play Store contract after the company bypassed Play fees for in-app purchases and enabled direct payments in the app. Shortly after, Google removed Fortnite from the Play Store, and Epic Games initiated legal proceedings against both Google and Apple. A lot of private information has...
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs Vivo X70 Pro Plus: Battle for the Crown of the Best Camera on Android

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs Vivo X70 Pro Plus: Battle for the Crown of the Best Camera on Android

October 12, 2021
Samsung's Galaxy S21 Ultra has held the throne of the best overall smartphone camera for most of 2021. But a new challenger has arrived in the form of the Vivo X70 Pro Plus, and it's a major contender after having beaten the iPhone 13 Pro in our previous camera shootout. I took both of these...
OnePlus Nord N200 vs Samsung Galaxy A32: Which budget 5G phone is better?

OnePlus Nord N200 vs Samsung Galaxy A32: Which budget 5G phone is better?

October 9, 2021
The mid-range value smartphone markets have never really been good in the U.S. As much as some of us would love to import a cheap phone from Europe, that isn't really an option. Thankfully, it seems like we're starting to get some of the value that most of the rest of the world has been...
Apple iPhone 13 Pro vs Vivo X70 Pro Plus: Battle of the Pro-sumer Cameras

Apple iPhone 13 Pro vs Vivo X70 Pro Plus: Battle of the Pro-sumer Cameras

October 8, 2021
Much praise has been bestowed on the iPhone 13 Pro’s camera system in the past weeks, with some reputable outlets calling it the best smartphone camera. But what if I told you there was another smartphone released recently, one that has unfortunately been buried by the onslaught of iPhone media coverage, that can go head-to-head...
iPad Mini 6 Review: The perfect powerhouse for portable productivity

iPad Mini 6 Review: The perfect powerhouse for portable productivity

October 6, 2021
Small isn’t always better – in fact, we’ve been conditioned to believe that bigger is always better. When people see a bigger screen, they assume a better camera or better photos even if the camera hardware isn’t anywhere near as good. Or when you hear of a higher processor number – or more RAM for...
Surface Pro 8 review: It’s finally a modern PC

Surface Pro 8 review: It’s finally a modern PC

October 5, 2021
The new Surface Pro 8 is the biggest change to the product since the Surface Pro 3. Indeed, the Pro 3 gave us Surface as we know it today. It was the first time we saw the modern Surface Connect port, the first time the pen used N-Trig, and the first time it came with...
Surface Laptop Studio review: The ultimate creator laptop from Microsoft

Surface Laptop Studio review: The ultimate creator laptop from Microsoft

October 5, 2021
The Surface Laptop Studio is the newest entry to Microsoft's Surface lineup. Well, technically it takes the place of the Surface Book as Microsoft consolidates its laptop branding. But while this is called the Surface Book 4 in some other dimension, it's absolutely a new product, coming in an all-new form factor. It fixes the...
iPhone 13 Review: Good value, but not as great as the Pros

iPhone 13 Review: Good value, but not as great as the Pros

October 5, 2021
Most of us at XDA agreed last year that the standard iPhone 12 was the best iPhone option for most people because the differences between it and the iPhone 12 Pro mostly came down to a single telephoto camera, which wasn’t enough to justify the extra $200 in our opinions. But this year, Apple widened...
Windows 11 review: Fixing the wrongs of the past decade

Windows 11 review: Fixing the wrongs of the past decade

October 4, 2021
After three months in preview, Windows 11 is finally available. There's a lot that's new. It's got the biggest visual overhaul in ages, and then it comes with new features like Widgets, Teams Chat, Snap Layouts, and much more. Now, the question is, should you upgrade your PC? My answer is going to be a hard...
iPhone 13 Pro Review: Top-notch flagship from Apple, but with one camera flaw

iPhone 13 Pro Review: Top-notch flagship from Apple, but with one camera flaw

October 1, 2021
Almost as soon as the iPhone 13 launch event wrapped, there’s been comments in the smartphone discussion spaces that this year’s devices do not bring enough upgrades to justify a whole new number jump. They are “12S” models, as some have joked. In my initial hands-on after five days of use, I already concluded that...