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Chrome OS’ speediness combined with a funky blue case makes this one fun notebook to use.
Pros +Excellent keyboard and trackpad +Chrome OS is speedy and responsive +Crisp, vivid screen Cons -Not as powerful as some higher-end Chromebooks -Average battery life
In fact, with all the features and steady performance of the Chromebook 14, you might decide to make the leap. If you just need a computer to get you online, check emails, do some basic work, and binge some Netflix, this extremely affordable device is more than up to the job. Add in a great keyboard, excellent trackpad, and a beautiful 14-inch screen, and you end up with a machine that offers a lot more value than just its low price tag.
HP’s Chromebook isn’t exactly a high-end PC, but it’s a slick, streamlined piece of kit nonetheless. The tapered enclosure measures 0.7 inches (about 18mm) thick at its thickest point. At 3.74 pounds (1.7kg), it’s also reasonably light, though not as much as the 13.3-inch, 2.97-pound Toshiba Chromebook 2. That extra weight gives you a slightly larger screen, though, and the Chromebook 14 doesn’t feel at all heavy in hand.
The case itself is entirely plastic, and it does flex and creak some as you adjust the screen or pick it up one-handed. On the bright side, the case doesn’t have any exposed screws, so you don’t need to worry about a loose screen dropping out randomly.
Oh. And it’s blue. Very blue. The shade of blue, which HP calls Sky Blue, looks cool.
As a writer, I’m picky when it comes to keyboards, and I was pleasantly surprised by the typing experience on the Chromebook 14. The keyboard feels responsive with clicky keys and plenty of key travel.
The keyboard flexes ever so slightly when I pound heavily on it, but under normal use, it isn’t mushy at all. My gripe is there’s no dedicated Caps Lock key; a Search key takes its place and must be triggered while holding the alt key. It isn’t a big deal, but it makes it more difficult to impulsively tweet in all caps.
The trackpad is equally excellent. It’s big and spacious, with plenty of room to mouse around. The whole trackpad is a button, so you don’t have to fiddle around to find the left- and right-click buttons.
The button itself depresses with a satisfying click, but it’s much stiffer the closer to the keyboard you go. If you’re accustomed to the trackpad on, say, a MacBook Air, you’ll feel right at home on the Chromebook 14.
HP’s put a security lock slot, an HDMI port, a USB 3.0 port, a headphone jack and a microSD reader on the Chromebook 14’s left side, and a pair of USB 2.0 ports on its right side.
Performance
Armed with a 1.8-GHz Intel Celeron N2940 CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 16GB eMMC drive, the HP Chromebook 14 provides enough power for multitasking. When I split my screen between a dozen tabs and a streaming YouTube video and opened Cut The Rope and Google Keep, the system stayed speedy, with no lag as I typed in a Google Doc and moved from tab to tab.
The HP Chromebook 14 did poorly on Google’s Octane 2.0 performance benchmark, which gave it a score of 7,869. The Celeron 3205U-powered Dell Chromebook 13 (14,453) and Celeron 3215U-powered Toshiba Chromebook 2 (17,044) earned better scores.
Battery Life (5/5)
The Chromebook’s battery life is impressive. I can easily go through a full day of work or classes without needing to recharge. It’s a relief not to be constantly hunting for power outlets.
Performance (5/5)
Powered by an Intel Celeron processor and 4GB of RAM, this Chromebook handles multitasking with ease. Whether I’m working on Google Docs, streaming videos, or browsing multiple tabs, it doesn’t lag or stutter. The 64GB eMMC storage is sufficient for storing documents and essential files, and you can always expand it with cloud storage if needed.
conclusion The HP Chromebook 14 is an economical laptop with good durability and good enough performance for the usual Chrome OS productivity tasks. Thanks to AMD’s Radeon R4 GPU, it has its own edge when it comes to graphics.
The custom-built Galaxy Z Flip6 smartphone will be provided to nearly 17,000 athletes competing at Paris 2024, enhancing their Games-time experience like never before.
Samsung Electronics, a Worldwide Olympic and Paralympic Partner, today revealed the Olympic Edition of its newly announced Galaxy Z Flip6, exclusively designed and customized for all athletes competing at the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. The Galaxy Z Flip6 Olympic Edition continues Samsung’s over three-decade-long legacy of providing its cutting-edge technology and mobile innovations in support of the Games and represents a series of firsts.
The new Olympic Edition for Paris 2024 is the first-ever Olympic Edition to feature Galaxy AI. Designed to elevate the athletes’ Games-time experience from the moment they arrive in Paris, it is the first to come pre-loaded with a full suite of exclusive services and useful apps. In addition, it marks the first time Samsung’s newest product is being made available to athletes before its official market launch. The Galaxy Z Flip6 will also take center stage at the Olympic Games as the first Olympic Edition to play an integral role on the podium.
It boasts the new Galaxy Z Flip6’s compact and versatile design, in a striking yellow colorway adorned with the Olympic rings and Paralympic agitos in gold. To dress up the phone, Samsung partnered with the Parisian Men’s Luxury Maison, Berluti, who designed the Team France’s official outfits for the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony, to create an exclusive Flipsuit Case that will accompany each device. Made from Venezia leather, each Flipsuit Case has a unique patina featuring a vibrant color mix inspired by the Olympic rings, celebrating the Olympic spirit and values of excellence and unity.
“Samsung has pushed the boundaries of mobile technology in support of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and its athletes for nearly three decades,” said Stephanie Choi, EVP & Head of Marketing of Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics. “We are honored to deliver our newest Galaxy innovation to the inspiring athletes of Paris 2024 — and give them the opportunity to experience the powerful and intelligent Galaxy Z Flip6 firsthand, even before its official market launch. We are excited to see how our technology opens up athletes’ Games-time experience like never before — from creating meaningful connections, to sharing and capturing lifelong memories while in Paris and beyond.”
Enhancing the Athletes’ Experience at Paris 2024 with Devices Powered by Galaxy AI
Samsung’s decision to provide its latest addition to the Galaxy portfolio to Paris 2024 athletes before its official market launch stems from the crucial role Galaxy AI technology plays in accelerating a new era of communication, productivity, and creativity on a smartphone. The Galaxy Z Flip6 Olympic Edition includes a range of useful innovations to help athletes open up new experiences throughout the Games, including the following Galaxy AI communication features that will help athletes from around the world connect with ease while in Paris:
Live translation of calls1 – translates phone calls directly on the device in real-time into 16 different languages, making it easy for athletes to call the Olympic hotlines and local contacts in their native language, using Samsung native and select third-party apps.
Interpreter2 – instantly translates live conversations, allowing athletes to chat with other athletes and volunteers and receive a live translation of what they’re saying on screen – while still speaking face-to-face, thanks to the phone’s unique dual screen.
Composer3 – helps to draft emails and social media posts in apps by using simple keywords. For social media app specifically, it even analyzes the tone of past content, making it easier for athletes to express their excitement at some of the competition’s most thrilling or poignant moments.
Athletes can also use Galaxy AI on the Olympic Edition phone to help prepare for competition, enhance their creativity, and capture lifelong memories at Paris 2024, with features including:
Instant Slow-mo4 – allows athletes to record, share and analyze their performances in slow motion, making it easier for them to refine their technique.
Photo Assist5 – enables athletes to get the perfect shot every time, by resizing, repositioning or even removing unwanted objects within photos.
Built-in Services and Apps Making the Olympic and Paralympic Experience Fun and Easys.
To make it easier for athletes to use the phone while in Paris and beyond, each Galaxy Z Flip6 Olympic Edition will come with an eSIM of 100GB 5G data in partnership with Orange, and two years of Samsung’s international warranty. Additionally, to keep track of the latest Games-time schedules and travel around the Olympic venues with ease, several official International Olympic Committee (IOC) apps such as Athlete 365,6 Olympic Shop, Paris 2024, Transport Accred App, and IOC hotline will be pre-loaded.
Via Samsung Wallet,7 it also will come pre-loaded with an in-app pass for free beverages in vending machines located throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Village in partnership with fellow Worldwide Partner, The Coca-Cola Company, and an unlimited complimentary public transport access card, in partnership with Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), so they can enjoy touring the city of Paris and its region.
To bring some fun and personalization to the athlete experience, each Galaxy Z Flip6 Olympic Edition will feature a suite of interactive, Paris 2024-themed apps, as well. These include PinQuest and Galaxy Experience for collecting and exchanging real and digital pins during Games-time, Olympic Go!, the official Olympic Game, and Galaxy Skateboard, a new game featuring the Phryges, the Paris 2024 mascots.
Sharing Moments of Victory from the Podium Firsthand
Standing atop the Olympic and Paralympic podium during the medal ceremony and realizing a lifelong dream is one of the most emotional and memorable moments an athlete can experience. Traditionally photographed by accredited media only because athletes have been prohibited from bringing personal belongings — including their mobile phones — to the ceremony, the view has always been captured from a distance and not through an athlete’s own lens.
For the first time in Olympic and Paralympic Games history, Samsung will provide the Galaxy Z Flip6 Olympic Edition for use on the podium at Paris 2024, so athletes can create their own memories and emotions via a new, victory selfie. Samsung’s customized technology will map and sort the athletes’ selfies by sport and upload them to Athlete365 in real-time, which will allow athletes to save and share their iconic moments with family and fans.
The Galaxy Z Flip6 Olympic Edition will be displayed at Olympic™ rendezvous @ Samsung showcases, including the one at Champs-Elysees 125, starting July 12. In collaboration with the IOC and International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
About Samsung’s Involvement in the Olympic Games Samsung has been a Worldwide Olympic Partner since the Olympic Winter Games Nagano 1998. For over 25 years, athletes and fans have trusted Samsung’s transformative mobile technology to share the Olympic spirit globally and continue to shape the digital future of the Olympic Games for Paris 2024 and beyond. The company’s commitment to the Olympic Movement soon faces its fourth decade of partnership and extends through Los Angeles 2028. Samsung’s purposeful innovations in the wireless communications and computing equipment category, including equipment that features artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality and 5G will change the way the world experiences the Olympic Games.
About Samsung’s Involvement in the Paralympic Games Samsung is a Worldwide Partner of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in the wireless communications and computing equipment category. Starting from Paralympic Winter Games Torino 2006, the company has proudly supported the Paralympic Movement and enabled athletes and fans around the world to share the excitement and inspiration of the Games through Samsung’s transformative mobile technology. Samsung’s commitment to the Paralympic Games will extend through to Los Angeles 2028 and be celebrated through innovative mobile and computing experiences powered by purposeful innovations in the wireless communications and computing equipment category, including equipment that features artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality and 5G.
The best laptops are powerful enough to handle both work and play, comfy enough to carry all day and efficient enough to ensure you won’t run out of juice when you’re in the lurch.
Acer TravelMate P6 – Best ultraportable
Pros
Long battery life
Light and portable
A good price for a business laptop
Cons
Keyboard is a tad mushy
No NPU for future Windows AI features
Consumer laptops deliver similar specs for a lower price
The Acer TravelMate P6 is featherlight at just 2.65 pounds. The chassis is made of magnesium-alloy, which is a very light yet durable material. According to our review, “the ports are reinforced with additional metal brackets to hold up wear and tear.” In other words, this machine is built to last. It also has fantastic battery life, which is what you want in an ultraportable laptop. The 65 watt-hour battery lasted nearly 13 hours on a single charge–more than a full workday! This laptop offers reliable performance, too. The Acer TravelMate P6 turned in a respectable Cinebench R20 score of 3,065, which isn’t far behind the more powerful HP Pavilion Plus.
Who should buy the Acer TravelMate P6 Anyone looking for an affordable ultraportable. In addition to the featherlight form factor, it also comes with a 1080p webcam with a physical privacy shutter and a 14-inch 1200p display with a 16:10 aspect ratio. The taller screen makes it easier to scroll through documents or webpages, and the 1080p webcam will make you look good on videoconferencing calls. The keyboard provides a nice typing experience, too. It even boasts white backlighting, which is perfect for typing in low light environments.
Asus Zenbook 14 OLED
Pros
Robust build quality
Attractive OLED touchscreen
Good CPU and integrated GPU performance
Outstanding battery life
Cons
Blah design
Keyboard isn’t memorable
Mediocre connectivity options
Why we like the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED
The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED wowed us with its zippy CPU performance,phenomenal battery life, and attractive OLED touchscreen display. According to our review, “movies and games look realistic and vibrant” on the 1200p OLED touchscreen, although it can be difficult to use in bright environments due to the reflective surface. It also lasted 16 hours on a single charge, which is absolutely wild! That result really trumps otherwise excellent competitors like the Lenovo Slim 7 14 Gen 9 and the HP Pavilion Plus Laptop 14. As for performance, the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED absolutely crushed the PCMark 10 benchmark with an impressive score of 6,772. That means it’s very fast and responsive during real-world tasks like web browsing, video conferencing, and so on.
Who should buy the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED Anyone looking for a powerful, affordable laptop with an OLED display! It’s so much more than its OLED screen, though. The build quality is quite good and day-to-day performance is zippy. Plus, you won’t have to go looking for an outlet often thanks to the long battery life. Connectivity options are a bit limited, but that’s not unusual for a laptop in this price range. Overall, it’s a great Windows machine that hits all the right marks.
Dell Inspiron 14 Plus (2024) – Best overall
Pros
Strong performance
Exceptional battery life
Wonderful typing experience
Cons
CPU throttles under heavy loads
No user upgrades
Why we like the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus The Dell Inspiron 14 Plus is one of the most well-rounded laptops money can buy. It offers strong performance, exceptional battery life, and a vibrant display. which is a reasonable price point considering the price to performance ratio. In fact, it performed exceptionally in PCMark 10’s benchmark, according to our review. With a PCMark 10 score of 7,061, it beat out the Acer Swift Go 14, which has similar specs to the Dell, and the more expensive Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon. The Inspiron 14 Plus also lasted an impressive 17 hours on a single charge, which is definitely more than a full workday or school day. You don’t have to worry about finding a wall outlet to charge up.
Who should buy the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus Anyone looking for a really good, well-rounded laptop. In addition to the impressive performance and battery life, it also has a lovely 14-inch 1400p display. According to our review, “the display is exceedingly well suited to office work and static imagery.” It has a peak brightness level of a stunning 418 nits as well as an anti-glare coating, which means you can use this laptop in different lighting environments. It may not have the prettiest design we’ve ever seen, but its hardware capabilities and astoundingly long battery life make up for the blah aesthetics.
MacBook Air (M3)-Best Mac book
Pros
Excellent battery life
Great combination of price, features, and performance
256GB SSD is now two NAND chips, maintaining performance
Cons
Expensive memory upgrades
Dual external display support requires closed lid
Why we like the MacBook Air (M3) In fact, it received high marks across the board thanks to the 8-core CPU (M3) and the 10-core GPU. It’s capable of chewing through office work as well as casual use tasks. While performance is comparable to the MacBook Pro (M3), there is one difference: the fans or lack thereof. The MacBook Air doesn’t have any fans, which results in quieter operation before heavy-duty tasks will likely put more pressure on the chip. That said, battery life is the real star of the show here. The MacBook Air (M3) breathed its last breath at the 19 hour mark, which is perfect for those with busy schedules.
Who should buy the MacBook Air (M3) Anyone who prefers MacOS over competing operating systems. Battery life is outstanding and the laptop itself is both slim and light, weighing in at just over three pounds. The 15-inch Liquid Retina (LED) screen might be considered a step-down from the MacBook Pro’s Liquid Retina XDR (mini-LED) display, but that doesn’t mean it’s a poor screen. It still looks fantastic for day-to-day use.
FAQ
What form factor is best for a laptop? The first question you should ask yourself is what kind of laptop you’re looking for. There’s traditional clamshells, 2-in-1’s, Chromebooks, and much more. The displays on convertible laptops (aka 2-in-1’s), for example, can swing around 360 degrees. This allows you to use the laptop like a tablet. They can also be propped up like a tent for viewing movies or participating in video calls. Chromebooks, on the other hand, exclusively run Google’s web-focused Chrome OS and are generally used for everyday tasks. All you need is a Gmail account and boom, you’re in. There are pros and cons to each of them. Chromebooks are affordable and generally have good battery life whereas convertibles are normally lightweight and portable.
Do I need a big display on a laptop? If you’re a video editor or someone who does a lot of multimedia work, you’ll want a display that’s anywhere from 15- to 17-inches. The sweet spot is really anywhere from 13- to 14-inches, though. The bigger the display, the heavier your laptop is going to be. A 13- or 14-inch display is the best in terms of portability and value.
If you didn’t see the price tag before picking up the Moto G7 Plus,you’d be forgiven for assuming it costs almost double what Motorola is actually asking for the handset.
Its front and rear are glass, sandwiching a metal frame which feels secure and relatively premium in the hand. Tap the rear glass and it does sound a little hollow – giving away its affordable credentials – but it’s not something you’ll be doing often.
The power and volume keys are located on the right of the handset and fall nicely under your thumb or finger, with the power button offering a textured finished providing obvious tactile feedback on the key your finger is on.
While the G7 Plus does have a large display, it’s not overly cumbersome to handle. It measures 157 x 75.3 x 8.3mm, weighs 176g and sits well in the hand.
However, Motorola includes a protective soft touch plastic case in the Moto G7 Plus box, which does provide grip and protection, and it’s nice to see a simple accessory like this bundled with the phone.
There’s good news for audiophiles, as the G7 Plus has a headphone jack on its base, along with a speaker and a centralized USB-C port.
On the rear, just below the dual camera bump lies a fingerprint scanner inset within the Motorola logo, which is easy to find with your forefinger.
Motorola says the body of the G7 Plus is “water repellent”, but strictly not waterproof, so don’t go submerging the handset in water. It should be fine in the rain though.
Switching attention to the Moto G7 Plus display and you’ll find a sizable 6.2-inch, Full HD (2270 x 1080) screen. There’s minimal bezel at the top of the display, with the front-facing camera housed in a teardrop notch which cuts into the display.
At the bottom of the screen there’s a thicker bezel which houses the Motorola brand name, which is another signal that the Moto G7 Plus isn’t quite as premium as some of its more expensive rivals that minimize the bezel to near-nonexistence.
Still, the overall look is impressive, with text and images appearing crisp, bright and colorful.
Moto G7 Plus : camera
Motorola is pushing photography as one of the key selling points of the Moto G7 Plus, and we have to say we were impressed with that the phone had to offer in the camera department. Generally speaking, the cameras on this phone will serve you well.
The built-in optical image stabilisation (OIS) is very welcome, and should reduce camera shake and image blur as much as possible. We didn’t notice it too much in our testing, but it’s nice to have. The Moto G7 also throws in a number of neat shooting modes and filters which are fun to play around with, including a cool spot colour one that works well.
Around the front, the 12MP selfie camera is unspectacular but completely adequate, and the Moto G7 Plus can even do that neat trick of lighting up the whole front of the screen so you can use it as a flash, if needed.
Recorded video looks great, with 4K recording possible – and that integrated OIS comes in handy here as well. And that’s really all you can ask for.
Moto G7 Plus : software and features
Thankfully, Motorola doesn’t mess too much with the stock Android experience. A single swipe up gets you to the app drawer, for example, and preinstalled apps are limited to a couple of utilities for tech support and teaching you how to use the phone.
The bundled Moto Actions (for controlling apps with gestures) and Moto Voice (for reading out your texts while you’re driving) aren’t going to change your life, but they’re fun to play around with if you want to do a bit more with your handset. We like the way Motorola stays out of the way of Android though, and all the key Google apps are available on the phone right out of the box.
The Moto G7 Plus does have its own custom time and date widget, which is inoffensive enough and doubles up as a battery meter. This widget also appears on the lock screen when you lift up the phone to look at it, so checking the time of day is easy enough.
The latest Android 9 Pie is on board here, as you would expect, but how quickly you’ll get Android Q, dark mode and all, remains to be seen – the Moto G6 phones got their Android 9 Pie updates a month or so ago, so it looks like you could be waiting a few months at least. Still, with most of the OS updates now behind-the-scenes tweaks and under-the-hood improvements, it’s not as big of an issue as it once was.
You don’t get waterproofing on the Moto G7 Plus, but you do get a thin water repelling layer, which is about as good as you’re going to get at this price level. It won’t survive a dunking in the washing up bowl, but it should survive a little bit of rain.
Dolby Audio is included, for apps that support it, and we were impressed with the audio performance of the phone overall: dialogue and background music is loud and clear when watching videos for example, and at a push you could even use the Moto G7 Plus as a makeshift boombox to fill a small room with music.
You do get 27W fast charging that Motorola says can juice up your phone with 12 hours of power in just 15 minutes – and that seems about right in our tests. We did the usual T3 test of watching Netflix for an hour at maximum brightness and a reasonable volume level, and the 3,000mAh battery went down from 100 percent to 83 percent: that’s a little below par, but equals all-day battery life.
In our time with the Moto G7 Plus we very rarely had less than 20 percent battery left at the end of the day, though admittedly we weren’t hammering it with use either. For a huge 5,000mAh battery the Moto G7 Power is one alternative to consider.
Conclusions The Moto G7 Plus is a well-featured phone with plenty of highlights, including good battery life and fast charging. The camera features seem very good too, and the 6.2-inch screen is a pleasure to use. Add in dual SIM support and good build quality, and it’s clear Motorola has focused its development effort in the right areas.
The Oppo Find 7, like the OnePlus One , is a Chinese-made phone with plenty of promise.
The Good
The Oppo Find 7 has a powerful chip and a super high-res screen. Fun features like its Ultra-HD picture mode are cool bonuses.
The Bad
The phone’s design is boring compared to its competitors, and it lacks a standout feature such as the Oppo N1’s swivel camera. Its battery life takes a hit due to the high-power display too.
The Bottom Line
Oppo may have packed the Find 7 with the latest and greatest specs, but it faces stiff competition from the LG G3, which has similar specs but a better design.
Performance
Due to its 2.5 GHz Qualcomm 801 quad-core Snapdragon processor and 3GB RAM and 330 GPU the smartphone is pretty powerful than the other android flagship smartphones. The phone did not show any kind of stutter or lag while switching between the apps, using camera and apps, watching videos, playing high-graphic games and multi-tasking.
Oppo Find 7 comes with another new technology, VOOC fast charging that offers it four times faster charging than the conventional chargers. Smartphone can support a 2 hour call with just 5 minutes of charging and full charge in about 45 minutes.
The display of this smartphone is the key feature for its entire buzz in the market. The smartphone sports a 5.5 inch 2K/Quad HD display with the screen resolution of 1440*2560 and the pixel density of 538ppi. This screen resolution is a lot higher than what the other flagship smartphone features, i.e. 1080*1920p and the pixel density is also higher than all the other smartphones at present in market. The display is very sharp and crisp and offer excellent viewing angles. The screen is less reflective and the outdoor legibility is pretty good on this smartphone.
Oppo Find 7 features a different OS based on the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, Color OS, which is typically a heavily customized version of Android that offer ample support for themes, lock screen widgets and app launcher. The company has replaced few stock apps with its own and due to its few nice little touches some apps like Music app really feel very good. Smartphone also supports the gesture controls including three finger swap for taking screenshots, double tap for unlock, pinch-to-launch camera app and more.
The smartphone comes with the latest Snapdragon 801 and its quad-core processor is clocked at 2.05 GHz which is pretty impressive for a smartphone. There is 3GB RAM for running the apps without any lags and the phone’s internal memory is 32 GB which is further expandable up to 128 GB using micro-SD cards.
As for the connectivity, Find 7 supports LTE network . The smartphone also holds a 3,000 MAh battery under its hood.
Camera
Oppo Find 7 has packed in a 13MP rear and a 5 MP front camera. The rear camera features the Sony IX214 CMOS Sensor and has ability to record 4K videos. Other highlighting features of the rear camera are its support for RAW files and the super zoom mode of the camera that merges 10 photos to create single 50MP image. Slow-motion video recording with 720p at 120fps is also available with the rear camera.
The quality of images captured at broad day-light is excellent with accurate color reproduction, good contrast, and very little noise. Low-light shots also came out well and the dual-LED flash does an excellent job of filling up the light. The front camera also captures good quality selfies and the beauty mode present enhances the selfies taken.
Call quality I found no issues with call quality — the other party came across clear and crisp, while also being able to hear me fine. Audio volume was sufficiently loud; I wouldn’t be too worried about being able to hear the other person in a crowded place. The speakers, found at the rear of the phone, are pretty loud, and at the lowest setting, you’ll be able to hear the phone ringing even if it is in your pocket.
Final Verdict! 97%
Oppo Find 7 in summary is one of the best android smartphones . The sleek design feels good, although challenging to operate with one hand. The camera takes awesome photos and the battery life is decent for a full day’s job. With all its features we can say that this new smartphone has the capability to outshine all other flagship smartphones at present in the market. But the brand name Oppo still needs quite a lot of work to establish itself and so this smartphone just might be their first step forward.
Using the Vivo Nex’s full, no-notch screen is an unparalleled experience and performance is as smooth as butter. The pop-up camera works pretty well, too.
The Bad
Its copycat iPhone X gestures are unwieldy and hard to use. It feels heavy.
The Vivo Nex’s clever engineering and fantastic notch-free screen serve as a model for other phones.
Vivo’s Nex demonstrates everything a phone of the future can be. It starts with a bezel-less 6.59-inch Super AMOLED display featuring a full HD+ resolution of 2,136×1,080 pixels. There’s no front speaker grill, which gives it a clean, nothing-but-screen look. The fingerprint reader is integrated into the screen, and a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor powers the phone.
The Nex is amazing to look at, and it’s the perfect conversation starter. I’ve had plenty of people marvel at the pop-up camera, though the first question is usually almost always, “Will it break?” The answer is no, it won’t, but more on that later.
Companies that make “all-screen” phones have a problem: where do you put the front-facing camera, speaker grill and other sensors you need to make a phone work?
Vivo’s solution is to strip them out entirely, which makes for a phone face that’s over 91 percent screen.
The highlight of the phone, the 8-megapixel selfie camera lives inside the phone body and pops up when you take a selfie. The mechanism is sturdy and likely unlikely to break. I tested it carefully at first before applying more force, and I’m confident that it’s anything but flimsy. The eject mechanism is also pretty strong too, enough to keep pushing away my finger, which was purposely blocking it, with some strength. When you switch from the rear dual cameras to the front pop-up selfie, the switching speed is only slower by about half a second at most compared to the iPhone X.
Another cool piece of engineering is the underscreen fingerprint sensor. Another Vivo phone, the Vivo X21 , has this, too, and honestly, I wasn’t too impressed. It was slower than an actual physical scanner, and was sometimes frustrating to use. The Nex features the third-generation Synaptics scanner, however, which registers my prints almost immediately, a definite improvement.
While the X21 had face unlocking to help with the fingerprint unlock, the option isn’t available on the Nex, since the selfie camera is hidden away. But the in-screen fingerprint reader is fast enough.
To really cement the all-screen experience, Vivo also took away the Nex’s front-firing speakers. Instead, it uses the screen as a speaker when you’re taking calls through the use of a linear vibrator, which basically transmits the sound to the frame of the phone that’s relayed through the screen. This tech is similar to Xiaomi ‘s Mi Mix 2 , but plays out better on the Vivo Nex. Unlike the Mi Mix 2, the Nex doesn’t broadcast your audio to everyone within hearing range. Regular music and video playback use a bottom-firing speaker instead.
Vivo Nex camera, battery life and speed
The Nex’s AI-powered dual-rear cameras are pretty good. It uses a 12- and 5-megapixel setup that lets you take portrait mode shots, though there’s no optical zoom. Low-light performance is decent, but can be too sharpened at times. Performance is very similar to the Vivo X21, but that’s no surprise, because both phones share the same setup.
Packing a 4,000-mAh battery, the Vivo Nex easily lasted a day of use. It lasted 21 hours, 50 minutes in our video loop tests. Performance from its Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor easily matched up to other flagship phones with a similar processor, such as the Samsung Galaxy S9 , the Sony Xperia XZ2 and the LG G7 ThinQ . In real-world use, the phone is buttery smooth, apps load fast and games such as Asphalt 7 deliver fluid performance even at the highest graphical settings.
Check out the benchmark scores below to see how the Nex performed.
3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited
Vivo Nex63,324Samsung Galaxy S958,157LG G7 ThinQ56,714Huawei P20 Pro30,781
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance
GeekBench v4.0 single-core
Vivo Nex2,449Samsung Galaxy S92,180LG G7 ThinQ2,436Huawei P20 Pro1,918
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance
GeekBench v4.0 multicore
Vivo Nex9,145Samsung Galaxy S98,302LG G7 ThinQ8,742Huawei P20 Pro6,751
If you have a new Galaxy S24, this is where to get started
So you’ve got yourself a new Samsung phone and don’t know where to get started with it. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is one of the best phones of the year, but whether you’re picking the Ultra or the Galaxy S24 or Galaxy S24 Plus, there’s a whole world of features wrapped up in this sophisticated bundle.
Samsung offers a massive amount of customization on its devices, some powered by Samsung’s One UI and some from the Android platform that it sits on. There are so many options you could spend forever digging through them. To get you started, here are five things that demand your attention right away.
Once you’ve set up your Samsung Galaxy S24 phone, this is what you should be paying attention to.
Press and hold the power button on your Samsung phone and it won’t turn the phone off. Instead, it’s set to launch Bixby. That’s right, Samsung’s obsolete voice assistant still lurks in your phone, while restarting your phone is more difficult than it needs to be.
Head into the Settings, then Advanced features where you’ll find the side button controls. Here you can change the press and hold option to the power off menu instead of triggering Bixby. You can also select what you want a double press to do, but I’d leave is as the camera, for quick access whenever you want to take a photo.
Samsung loves its three-button controls. It loves them so much, then even when all other Android brands had established a consistent order for those buttons, Samsung still did it backwards. By default your Galaxy S24 has those three button controls for navigation, which is shocking in this day and age.
Android is now built around fluid gesture navigation, so switch your Samsung so you’re not left in the dark ages. Head into Settings and then Display controls and you’ll find the options for the navigation bar. Switch this to gestures and join the future.
Supercharge your lock screen
If you want to make the most of your lock screen, just tap on the clock that’s on it. That will spring open the widgets, loaded with information for you to glance it. It will include music, alarms, routines you have for the lock screen as well as the voice recorder, by default. But tap “settings” at the bottom and you can customize what’s shown.
That will give you the option of weather, your schedule, SmartThings (Samsung’s smart home app) and Digital Wellbeing, so you can glance at your screen time. You can choose what you are shown and what you aren’t, but it’s a great way to get quickly to information, and quickly access those features.
Get your Galaxy AI ducks in order
Galaxy AI is the headline feature for Samsung’s S24 family and you won’t be surprised to hear that you’ll need to sign into your Samsung account to access those features. For anything that involves the keyboard, you’ll have to use Samsung’s keyboard, while the photo features reside in Samsung’s Gallery app. For the calling feature, you’ll have to use Samsung’s Phone app.
So if you want to use the AI features, make sure you sign into your Samsung account. If you’re happy not to use them (you can use Google’s AI in Photos on a limited basis), then you have a little more freedom around your device. If you want to use Galaxy AI, you’ll have to use the Samsung app associated with those features.
Install Gboard for smoother typing
If you don’t think you need Galaxy AI in the keyboard (or don’t need it all the time), then Gboard is a much faster keyboard offering a better experience – and it’s a first-class swap to make. Just download Gboard from Google Play and it will walk you through the installation and making it the default keyboard.
However, in Settings, General management, Keyboard list and default, you’ll find all your keyboard controls. At the bottom of this list you’ll see the option for “keyboard button on navigation bar”. Make sure this is turned on and then you’ll have the option to instantly switch keyboards with a tap. That means you can write in Gboard, but instantly swap to Samsung Keyboard if you want to access Galaxy AI.
There’s another step, however. Once you’ve swapped back to Samsung Keyboard it becomes the default again, but there’s another hack. In Samsung Keyboard you’ll see the voice input button on the toolbar. Press and hold on this and you get the option for “input method”. Once you’ve selected that, you’ll be able to switch keyboards back and forth all you like.
So there you have it. Those are the five things I think you should do when you get a Samsung Galaxy S24.
It feels like smartphone innovation has taken a real step forward with the introduction of the Vivo Nex and Oppo Find X.Both phones, from Chinese firms with the same parent company, push the boundaries of current smartphone design.
They build on the likes of the iPhone X, Essential Phone, Huawei P20 Pro and all the other notch-toting handsets by removing the notch all together while maintaining spectacularly slender bezels.
But that’s not all, as both the Oppo Find X and Vivo Nex also boast novelty pop-up cameras, helping to add to their futuristic look and feel.
Reads our hands on reviews: Vivo Nex | Oppo Find X
Both screens here take up almost the whole of the front of the device, providing a visually alluring spectacle.
The Vivo Nex screen is 6.59 inches with a full HD resolution AMOLED panel, which equates to a pixel density of 388ppi.
Vivo says it’s managed to achieve a 91.24% screen-to-body ratio on the Nex, removing the bezels completely round three sides of the screen, with just a thin strip remaining at the base of the handset.
If you think that’s impressive though, the Oppo Find X one-ups it. The Find X has a slightly smaller (but still huge) 6.42-inch, curved OLED display, also with a Full HD resolution, giving you a slightly sharper 401ppi pixel density.
The highlight here though is the Find X’s 93.8% screen-to-body ratio, reducing the size of the remaining bezel at the bottom of the display even more.
Oppo Find X vs Vivo Nex: design Metal and glass are the materials of choice on the Vivo Nex and Oppo Find X. Both handsets have glass front and rears, which sandwich a metal frame.
The glass is almost uninterrupted on the rear of the Find X, with no cameras to break up the finish, although there is a break in the glass for the rising camera module.
The power switch is on the right of the phone, the volume keys are on the left, while on the bottom edge you’ll find a USB-C port, single speaker and the SIM tray. There is no headphone jack however.
The Oppo Find X measures 156.7 x 74.2 x 9.4mm, and weighs in at 186g, but it does have a curved display on the front and curved edges on the rear, making it a little easier to handle.
Unsurprisingly the Vivo Nex is taller and wider thanks to its larger screen, but it’s actually slimmer than the Find X, measuring 162 x 77 x 8mm. It’s heavier too, at 199g.
The Nex does boast a headphone jack – on the top edge – while on the bottom you’ll find a USB-C port and single speaker. The power and volume keys both reside on the right of the Nex, with an additional key on the left which fires Vivo’s own smart voice assistant.
Neither phone has an IP rating, so you’ll want to avoid dropping them into your bath/sink/drink.
Oppo Find X vs Vivo Nex: cameras This is where things get interesting. The two phones take a novel approach to camera integration, and they have to as they’ve stretched the screen almost as far as it can go, leaving no space for selfie snappers.
We’ll start on the rear of the Vivo Nex though, as the dual camera setup isn’t hidden away in the body of the phone. Instead you get a vertical stack of lenses with a 12MP (f/1.8) primary camera above a 5MP (f/2.4) secondary sensor with OIS (optical image stabilization) support.
Open up the camera app, and switch to the front facing camera though, and an 8MP (f/2.0) will gracefully rise from the top of the handset.
Vivo Nex cameras
On the Oppo Find X, none of its three cameras are visible before you open the camera app. Once you do though, a section the entire width of the handset rises out of the top of the phone, and it moves up more quickly than Vivo’s selfie camera.
The rear duo are a 16MP (f/2.0) primary and 20MP (f/2.0) secondary, with OIS support. Meanwhile, on the front there’s a 25MP (f/2.0) selfie camera on the other side of the mechanized block.
Oppo Find X cameras
Oppo Find X vs Vivo Nex: biometrics Something that you won’t see on either of these smartphones is a fingerprint scanner, but neither handset is bereft of biometric trickery.
There actually is a fingerprint scanner in the Vivo Nex, it’s just hidden within the display. It’s a little slower than fingerprint scanners which aren’t in the display, but it still works well.
You don’t get a face unlock option though, as the selfie camera is tucked away in the body of the phone.
There’s no fingerprint scanner on the Oppo Find X though, but you do get the firm’s O-Face technology.
O-Face uses the front facing camera and an infra red sensor to 3D map your face, and when it comes to unlocking the handset you have to hit the power/lock key to wake the phone, the camera quickly pops up to look at you and then unlocks the phone.
It works better and quicker than you make think.
Oppo Find X vs Vivo Nex: power and storage The Oppo Find X packs in a Snapdragon 845 chipset, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and it runs Android 8.1 Oreo with the firm’s own Color OS 5.1 interface over the top of it.
It comes with Google’s full suite of applications, and it also supports the Android P Beta program, allowing you to test out the next version of the operating system before its official release later this year.
Inside the Vivo Nex you’ll also find the top of the range Snapdragon 845, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It’s also running on Android 8.1, but with Vivo’s FunTouch 3.1 interface over the top, which doesn’t have the Google suite of apps.
Oppo Find X vs Vivo Nex: battery The Vivo Nex packs in a huge 4,000mAh battery which is one of the biggest in any of the top smartphones.
Meanwhile, the Oppo Find X battery is slightly smaller at 3,730mAh, but you do get Oppo’s VOOC flash charging tech for quick top-ups. Neither phone supports wireless charging, however.
Oppo Find X vs Vivo Nex: price and availability At the moment, the Vivo Nex is only available in China and it’s not clear whether it’ll come to more countries.
There’s better news regarding the Oppo Find X, as availability has been confirmed for China, India, Australia, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and North America.
OnePlus is a Chinese technology company that primarily makes smartphones. The co-founders — Pete Lau (CEO) and Carl Pei (Director) — started the company in late 2013 (Pei, however, has now left the company to start his own called Nothing). Lau and Pei formerly worked for another Chinese technology brand, OPPO — a BBK Electronics subsidiary.
What does OnePlus offer?
As stated earlier, OnePlus primarily creates Android smartphones. In its early days, it was known for making high-powered phones with unique design elements and low prices. We saw this in its first phone, the OnePlus One, which had a starting cost of just $300.
As the brand attained more footing in the industry, it slowly raised its prices. In 2023, its standard flagship phone of the year — the OnePlus 11 — launched with a $699 price tag. However, that’s still competitive, especially considering the Google Pixel 8 Pro is $300 more and the starting price of a Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus is the same.
OnePlus differentiates itself from the competition by approaching its design and software from a somewhat minimalist perspective. The company’s smartphones are always simple and elegant, focusing heavily on usability. Its software — known as Oxygen OS — used to be frequently heralded as one of the best Android skins ever made. This praise was usually based on how fast, smooth, and bloat-free the software was.
We could argue all day about which phone is OnePlus’ best ever, but few would argue that the OnePlus 9 Pro would be a strong contender. Even today, it has one of the best cameras we’ve ever seen on a OnePlus phone and has many features modern OnePlus phones lack, such as wireless charging and a full IP68 rating.
Thanks to the phone being older, you can find this used for incredibly cheap, with prices as low as $300. To sweeten the deal, the phone has one more Android upgrade scheduled, so you’ll get Android 14 at some point in 2024.
In 2016, OnePlus released the first “T” phone: the OnePlus 3T. This phone looked exactly like the OnePlus 3 launched earlier that year but had a few spec upgrades. This started the trend of OnePlus refreshing its flagship phone line in the second half of the year. The most recent “T” series flagship phone is the OnePlus 10T. This phone trumps the OnePlus 10 Pro with a more powerful (and less power-hungry) processor in the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. It also charges at a ridiculous 160W. It looks very similar to the 10 Pro, however.
OnePlus revealed the very first phone in its new Nord line in 2020. Known simply as the OnePlus Nord, the phone featured many classic OnePlus flagship design elements and specs while dialing back a few aspects to keep the price lower. Since then, the company has launched multiple Nord phones in two different tiers.
The Nord 3 launched in 2023 and is the latest numbered flagship model in the line. However, OnePlus also uses the “T” system for Nords, so the OnePlus Nord 2T is out there as well.
Meanwhile, the Nord “N” series started with the Nord N10 and Nord N100. Globally, these act as the cheapest ways to enter the OnePlus ecosystem. However, these phones are simply rebranded copies of OPPO phones. The Nord N300 and Nord N30 are the newest in the family.
The Ace series
The OnePlus Ace series is where the company dumps realme clones — and even clones of its own phones — in specific markets.
Case in point, the first Ace phone was the OnePlus Ace, which is only available in very select countries (China, mostly). It is a carbon copy of the realme GT Neo 3, with virtually the same spec sheet. Interestingly, the GT Neo 3 was also the launching point for the OnePlus 10R, making the lineup incredibly confusing.
The OnePlus Ace Racing Edition followed, which was also a rebranding effort. The OnePlus Ace Pro, meanwhile, looks just like the OnePlus 10 Pro and OnePlus 10T but is decidedly cheaper.
The most recent phone in this lineup is the China-only OnePlus Ace 3. This is essentially a rebranded OnePlus 12R.
The flagship numbered series
Since the OnePlus 12 is the flagship phone from the brand in 2024, it features top-of-the-line specs, including the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. It also has the newest and most innovative features from the brand, which strongly align with flagship trends of the year. Notably, the OnePlus 12 also features wireless charging, a feature with which OnePlus has had a strenuous relationship. For years, none of its phones had wireless charging. Then, it finally released a phone with it: the OnePlus 8. Then it took the feature away again, and now it’s back once more.
Regardless, we expect the OnePlus 12 to be the company’s best non-foldable phone in 2024. If you’ve got the cash and want the best OnePlus has to offer, this is it.
The “R” variants
OnePlus introduced the “R” series in 2021 with the debut OnePlus 9R. At first, “R” phones were trimmed-down versions of the main numbered phone (in this case, the OnePlus 9) exclusively for the Indian market. In 2024, though, OnePlus is taking the “R” line to a broader audience, with the OnePlus 12R being the first to launch in the United States and India.
The Open series
Samsung still owns the foldable phone market globally, but that doesn’t mean other companies aren’t throwing their own foldable phones into the ring. In the case of OnePlus, it launched its very first foldable phone in October 2023 with the OnePlus Open.
The Open is a lot like the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the Pixel Fold in that it opens like a book. This allows it to exist either as a “normal” smartphone or a small tablet, depending on your needs at that particular moment. So far, OnePlus has not launched a clamshell-style foldable like the Galaxy Z Flip
What sets OnePlus apart from competitors?
A limited lineup Although OnePlus often releases more smartphones each year than it did in the year prior, its lineup is still downright tiny compared to many of its competitors.
OnePlus has a smaller roster . This enables the company to focus more on its devices than some of its competitors. This is a similar strategy to the one adopted by Google, which also releases a very small selection of phones each year. Unfortunately, as OnePlus gets bigger, its roster is also growing. Time will tell if it keeps its roster manageable or if it becomes another Samsung.
Aggressive pricing One of the most contentious topics amongst fans is how OnePlus has raised its pricing over the years. While it’s true that OnePlus phones are more expensive now than ever, the brand’s overall pricing strategy is still competitive. It’s just not releasing flagship-tier phones for $300 anymore — as it did in its early years.
When you compare OnePlus phones to the bigshots — especially Samsung and Apple — it’s plain to see that OnePlus offers a lot for sometimes hundreds of dollars less. For example, the OnePlus 9 had many similar specs to the Samsung Galaxy S21 yet cost $80 less. Even the OnePlus 9 Pro — which was very analogous in specs and features to the Galaxy S21 Ultra and the iPhone 12 Pro Max — started at $929, significantly less than those phones. The OnePlus 10 Pro was the exact same price as the Google Pixel 7 Pro, which was heralded as an amazing price for what you get. And, in 2023, the OnePlus 11 was just $699, hundreds of dollars less than its main competitors.
Worldwide availability While it’s easy for anyone to walk into a store and buy a Samsung smartphone, that’s not the case for many other brands. Xiaomi, realme, OPPO, and many other Chinese smartphone makers have zero presence in the United States, for example.
HTC has announced the successor to this 2013 model, the HTC One (M8).HTC aims for the top with its gorgeously crafted, high-powered firework of an Android phone.
The <b>HTC One</b> flaunts a stunning metal design, a powerful quad-core processor, and a beautiful 4.7-inch, 1080p screen. It runs Android Jelly Bean, takes great pictures, and has a feature-packed camera app.
The Bad
The sealed case design means no SD expansion slot or user-replaceable battery. The BlinkFeed software can’t be completely removed.
The Bottom Line
A few quibbles notwithstanding, the powerhouse HTC One is a beautifully crafted, near-ideal smartphone.
As HTC’s new flagship smartphone, the HTC One is packed to the rafters with top-notch components and technologies including some of the latest processing gear from Qualcomm. In addition to being state-of-the-art, the successor to 2012’s HTC One X is lovingly crafted from premium metals, leaving no doubt that the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer has put a considerable amount of blood, sweat, and tears into this handset. HTC definitely brought its A game, and it needs to to defeat its archrival, the Samsung Galaxy S4. Like all other smartphones though, the One isn’t perfect — it lacks an SD card slot for extra storage expansion as well as a removable battery. The camera isn’t quite as revolutionary as advertised. Android purists may not love HTC’s Sense UI skin, and the One’s nonremovable BlinkFeed news reader isn’t particularly welcome. Quibbles aside, though, the HTC One should be at or near the top of the list for anyone looking for a phone on Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, or Verizon — where it’s going head-to-head with the Galaxy S4. Yes, it’s a game of inches between both of those big-screen Android superphones . But I can easily say the HTC One is the fastest, most beautiful phone I’ve ever used, and it will sway anyone looking for a worthy alternative to the Samsung GS4.
Rectangular, flat, and extremely thin, the HTC One is practically all screen. Its 4.7-inch (1080p) LCD display uses what the company calls SoLux technology for improved picture quality and generates 468 pixels per inch (ppi). This, says HTC, helps the One’s screen boast the most impressive viewing experience of any phone it has ever created. Since the display is slightly smaller at the same resolution, the One’s screen has a denser pixel count than the Droid DNA (5-inch, 440ppi). The same goes for the Samsung Galaxy S4, which uses a larger 5-inch OLED screen (441ppi).
I can certainly verify that the One’s display has impact, with vibrant colors, wide viewing angles, and plenty of brightness. Details also look extremely crisp, which makes me eager to compare the One’s display against that of the Galaxy S4. I suspect that Samsung’s latest monster will offer higher contrast and brighter colors, but the jury is still out until I place both handsets side by side. HTC also makes a big deal about the One’s all-aluminum chassis, describing it as using a zero-gap unibody design. Indeed, available in black and silver, the handset feels sturdy, with reassuring heft, and its smooth, metallic skin exudes high-end craftsmanship. HTC also took pains to point out that while the thin, white trim encircling the silver model I manhandled appears to be plastic, it is, in fact, metal.
Measuring 5.4 inches tall by 2.7 inches wide by 0.37 inch thick, the HTC One is certainly a handful. Tipping the scales at 5.04 ounces, it’s by no means lightweight either. I recommend stuffing the One into large, or at least secure, pockets to tote around town. The One’s speakers do pack a hefty punch, producing rich audio with a satisfying helping of bass. The phone’s audio system has wide stereo separation as well, plus a surprising amount of volume. In fact I found that I could rely on the One’s speakers in a pinch when my portable Bluetooth speakers weren’t handy. While nowhere near as loud as, say, a Jawbone Jambox or Jabra Solemate, the phone provides enough audio oomph for small groups in quiet rooms. Above the display sit a 2.1MP front-facing camera and a notification light. Below are just two capacitive Android buttons, while a headphone jack and volume button are up top. What’s really interesting is how the power button also doubles as an IR blaster to control home theater equipment. A volume rocker is placed on the right side, and a SIM card slot holds court on the left. On the bottom edge sits the phone’s Micro-USB port. Around back is the 4MP main camera with LED flash, which also uses HTC’s UltraPixel sensor.
Software, UI, and features
The HTC One has all the power of modern Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean at its disposal. currently 4.2, but you do get all the tight integration with Google’s wide range of software and services that modern Android phones enjoy. These include Gmail, Google+ social networking, Google Talk, Google Drive, and so on, plus access to over 700,000 apps for download through the Google Play store. Layered on top of Android is yet another version of HTC’s Sense UI. As is typical of this sort of added interface, the latest version of Sense offers more enhancements you may or may not find useful. The first is something HTC calls the BlinkFeed, a main home screen consisting of dynamic tiles that display content from a wide variety of news outlets, blogs, and Web sites (including CNET). If you’re familiar with popular news aggregators such as Flipboard and Pulse, then you get the idea. There are drawbacks to BlinkFeed that you should be aware of, most notably that you can’t turn the feature off, at least not entirely. By default the BlinkFeed screen is set as the phone’s primary home screen. You can, however, select any of the HTC One’s home screens as its starting point. Another annoyance I ran into is that BlinkFeed pulls content from a stable of vetted sources. While that’s fine for casual news viewing, you’ll probably run into roadblocks trying to tweak it to display more-targeted outlets.
I admit that I like the revamped Sense user interface. Besides BlinkFeed, the skin has a cleaner look with icons that are less crowded across and within the app tray. Also odd is that unlike in stock Android Jelly Bean, the app tray doesn’t side-scroll; it scrolls vertically. The scrolling motion also jumps through icons by the page, not smoothly at a set rate, which takes getting used to. Gone is HTC’s iconic weather clock widget, which has graced its phones since way back in the days of Windows Mobile. You will still find information about time and weather forecasts at the top of the home screen, but displayed in a much more low-key fashion. An icon here and on the lock screen displays current conditions by taking the shape of a sun, clouds, and so on. It will even blink at you with eye-catching animations such as falling rain or snow.
Battery life An embedded 2,300mAh battery serves as the One’s power source, which I admit doesn’t sound like much on paper, especially compared with phones with ultra-high-capacity batteries such as the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD (3,300mAh). Of course the HTC Droid DNA managed a long 8 hours and 43 minutes on the CNET Labs video battery drain test with a smaller 2,020mAh battery. In terms of longevity, though, the HTC One didn’t disappoint. The phone beat out the Droid DNA on the same test, lasting a full 9 hours and 37 minutes when subjected to the official CNET Labs video battery drain benchmark.
Pure Android meets premium design (pictures)
On back of the HTC One Google Play Edition is the same 4MP “ultrapixel” camera you’ll find on the standard One handset.
Slim, trim, and metallic
It’s hard not to stare at the HTC One GPE’s svelte aluminum profile.
The HTC One GPE, just like the standard HTC One, has a trim volume key with a retro rippled texture.
Flanking the screen are a set of twin speakers for impressive stereo sound.
More than a basic camera
The HTC One Google Play Edition’s camera app offers the Photo Sphere mode for 360-degree panoramas along with standard horizontal panorama mode.
Choose the image size
The HTC One Google Play Edition’s camera tops out at 4MP.
Conclusion
In the One, HTC has created a premium phone that’s fast and thin, and which flaunts a drop-dead gorgeous design. In my experience, the phone’s screen and its camera largely live up to the hype, though the camera’s low-light performance is a bit oversold.
I was surprised, however, by how much fun I found the phone’s Highlight video function to be. Sure, shooting Zoe videos is limited because it uses a proprietary file format. The Highlight movies, on the other hand, are convertible and much easier to share. It also resulted in me capturing one of my best phone videos ever.
