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The Vivo X200 series finally went official in China this week. While the X200 Pro had my attention, the X200 Pro Mini swept me off the floor. Now, its name might be quite the mouthful but the phone isn’t. Launched for CNY 4,699 , this mini phone features everything you can ask for from a compact flagship. Not to mention, this is also the very first phone in the world to feature the MediaTek Dimensity 9400. With that said, here’s all that Vivo’s small wonder boy entices you with, at least it has me in a trance!
Just the Right Amount of Screen
Vivo X200 Pro Mini flaunts a 6.3-inch LTPO OLED display with 1.5K resolution (2640 × 1216 pixels). While it’s not as small as the ASUS Zenfone 10’s 5.9-inch, iPhone 16’s 6.1-inch, or the Galaxy S24’s 6.2-inch panel, it’s still a good amount of display without feeling too much. It’s all the better to see such an offering from a brand that’s just not in the habit of launching compact phones.
The X200 Pro Mini’s panel boasts a 120Hz refresh rate. However, the real kicker is that it is BOE’s LTPO panel, which can now drop as low as just 0.1Hz as compared to the usual 1Hz. So, you are getting not just a small and fast display, but also one that will save you more battery juice. Vivo also claims a peak brightness of 4,500 nits, which is impressive.
This is also a flat display, by the way, which is the norm for compact phones. Making things handier, this compact phone measures 150.83 × 71.76 × 8.15mm and weighs just 187 grams. Moreover, it has an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance.
Battery Life for Days! However, the small body and compact display are not the only special things about this phone. This is where I take my hat off for Vivo. The Vivo X200 Pro Mini packs a massive 5,700mAh BlueVolt battery, which is more than what even the top flagships offer.
For reference, the Galaxy S24 Ultra has a 5,000mAh battery, the Pixel 9 Pro XL packs a 5,060mAh battery, and the OnePlus 12 brings 5,400mAh capacity to the table.
The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro (first impressions) has a similar capacity, and despite being a foldable phone, it impressed me with its battery performance, big time. So, one can only imagine the kind of backup this smaller monster can potentially deliver. Thanks to 90W wired charging and 30W wireless charging support, the device won’t take much time to charge fully.
And then, there’s also the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chipset under the hood. MediaTek’s latest and greatest chipset based on a 3nm fabrication process. Yes, this is that chipset that was reportedly hitting over and beyond 3 million points on AnTuTu. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, on the other hand, maxes out at somewhere around 2 million, which is almost 40% less.
While that may change with the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 launch, which is also said to rack up a similar amount of points, it is about who did it first. Meanwhile, Samsung’s Exynos 2400 doesn’t even hit 2 million, in comparison.
Besides, accompanying the chipset, you also get to see a super-fast storage configuration of up to 16GB of LPDDR5X Ultra Pro RAM. There’s also up to UFS 4.0 Flash Storage of up to 1TB to enjoy.
Solid Set of Cameras Vivo X200 Pro Mini doesn’t disappoint in the camera front either. There’s a ZEISS-backed 50MP Sony LYT818 primary sensor coupled with a 50MP ISOCELL JN1 ultra-wide camera. However, the highlight of this setup is the addition of a 1/2″ 50MP periscope telephoto sensor, capable of 3x optical zoom and 100x digital zoom. Yep, you heard that right.
Even the latest iPhone 16 and Pixel 9 don’t offer a telephoto sensor, let alone a periscope camera. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S24 features a 1/4″ telephoto with 3x optical zoom. Then, there’s also the Vivo V2 imaging chipset, which brings that extra bit of enhancement to the shots.
However, Vivo has reused the same 32MP selfie shooter as the last set of phones, which could have been improved. Keeping that aside, there’s nothing but gold here.
The No-Compromise Compact Phone I’ve Always Wanted
Every corner I look at, the Vivo X200 Pro Mini just seems all too perfect. Moreover, Origin OS 5.0, with its seemingly incredible animations and improvements, looks incredible. Although the rest of the world will be getting the bland Android 15-based Funtouch OS 15 instead, it’s still not half bad.
While this compact phone may not launch globally, I can’t help but wish it does, somewhere down the line. The compact phone market has too many opportunities, and I’d love to see OEMs crowding this space and giving us more such stellar options. Not too long ago, I also tested out the Moto Edge 50 Neo (first impressions), which is also a phone with a 6.3-inch screen, but a significantly cheaper mid-ranger instead. And there’s just a different kind of unexplainable appeal to such phones.
Especially so, when they’re as commendably priced as the X200 Pro Mini. I also like that you can choose from either the classic Plain White and Simple Black color options or go Light Pink and Titanium Green.
The other two phones in the lineup, the Vivo X200 and X200 Pro are impressive as well, and from the looks of it, the X200 Pro Mini is the middle ground.
But the X200 Pro Mini is giving my reviewer hands an unstoppable itch, and I can’t wait to take it out for a spin! You know where to find me when that happens. Meanwhile, what do you think of Vivo’s latest compact phone? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
The vivo X100 Pro (review) is among the best camera phones we’ve tested. Whether it is our detailed review of the smartphone or the blind camera test where we bid the phone against the Galaxy S24 Ultra (review) and the iPhone 15 Pro Max, the Vivo X100 Pro proved its mettle, especially when it comes to smartphone photography.
Now, it’s time to bid the smartphone against its successor — the vivo X200 Pro — and see whether the phone comes with enough upgrades to set the bar even higher. Powered by the Dimensity 9400 SoC, the X200 Pro sure promises significant upgrades in terms of performance. But what about the other aspects like display, cameras, battery life, and charging speeds? Let’s find out.
In terms of design, the vivo X200 Pro is not drastically different from its predecessor. On the front, the phone offers a punch-hole screen with thinner side bezels (symmetrical). Further, the X200 Pro now features a quad-curved display, implying that it is curved on all sides.
While the front and back are made of glass, the side consists of aluminum frames. This year, the frames aren’t entirely flat; they curve slightly toward the edges, giving the phone a somewhat different in-hand feel. Beyond that, the phone retains all the other physical elements, such as the volume and power buttons on the right frame, antenna bands, USB-C ports, speaker grills, etc.
vivo X200 Pro dimensions: 162.36 × 75.95 × 8.49 mm (or 8.20 mm for the Carbon Black finish); the phone weighs 228 grams (223 grams in the Carbon Black variant).
vivo X100 Pro dimensions: 164.05 x 75.28 x 8.91 mm (or 9.05 mm for the Sunset Orange variant); the phone weighs 225 grams (or 221 grams for the Sunset Orange variant).
Like the X100 Pro, the X200 Pro retains the gigantic circular camera module on its back (with a metallic ring on the side). Though the island features three sensors (and one design element that looks like a sensor), they’re placed parallelly instead of the X-like formation on the X100 Pro. The flash module retains its position outside the camera island toward the top right corner of the back panel.
vivo’s latest flagship is available in four colors: Carbon Black and Moonlight White with a matte back, and Titanium Gray and Sapphire Blue with a glossy back. The X100 Pro, on the other hand, was available in three finishes: Startrail Blue and Asteroid Black with a glass back and Sunset Orange with a vegan leather back. Last but not least, the vivo X200 Pro sports an IP69 dust and water resistance rating for withstanding hot water jets.
Out of the box, the vivo X200 Pro ships with a 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED screen built on a 20:9 aspect ratio. Thanks to the thinner bezels, the phone has been able to retain the screen size despite being slightly shorter than its predecessor. The panel has a resolution of 452 ppi (similar to its predecessor) and supports a 0.1 – 120Hz refresh rate (an improvement over the 1Hz minimum refresh rate on the X100 Pro).
Other display features include a peak brightness of 4,500 nits (up from 3,000 nits on the predecessor), support for the P3 color gamut, Dolby Vision, and HDR10+ content. Unlike last year, the screen is tuned by Zeiss Master Color. Moreover, the X200 Pro’s screen is brighter and more efficient than the X100 Pro’s screen.
vivo X200 Pro Vs. X100 Pro: Processor The vivo X200 Pro is powered by the Dimensity 9400 (3nm) SoC with one prime core clocked at 3.63GHz, three performance cores at 3.3GHz, and four efficient cores at 2.4GHz. With the capable processor, the handset also features a custom V3+ imaging chip, the Immortalis G925 GPU, up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and up to 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage.
In comparison, the X100 Pro features the Dimensity 9300 (4nm) SoC with a 3.25GHz prime core, three 2.85GHz performance cores, and four 2.0GHz efficient cores. While the type of RAM and storage remains the same on both smartphones, the Dimensity 9400 SoC provides around 35% faster single-core and 28% faster multi-core performance.
Thanks to the new fabrication technology, which is about 40% more power efficient, the X200 Pro should last longer on a single charge. Even for gaming, the X200 Pro should be the better handset with 41% faster peak GPU performance and up to 40% faster raytracing performance.
While the software support duration for the X200 Pro isn’t clear at the moment, the X100 Pro will get operating system updates until Android 17 and security updates for another year after that. Out of the box, the X200 Pro runs on OriginOS 5 based on Android 15, which should also roll out for the X100 Pro later in October 2024.
vivo X200 Pro Vs. X100 Pro: Camera
Both the vivo X200 Pro and the X100 Pro feature a triple camera setup. However, the sensors on the newer model are slightly better. For instance, the 50MP Sony LYT-818 primary camera on the X200 Pro, has a bigger aperture (f/1.57) than the 50MP (f/1.75) camera on the X100 Pro.
For some odd reason, the company decided to swap the 1/0.98-inch sensor on the older smartphone with a 1/1.28-inch sensor on the newer model. The X200 Pro features another 50MP ISOCELL JN1 (f/2.0) for capturing ultrawide landscapes, which, at least on paper, is similar to the one on the predecessor.
The telephoto camera happens to be the main highlight of X200 Pro’s optics arrangement. Featuring a 200MP (f/2.67) ISOCELL HP9 periscope sensor, the smartphone provides 3.7x optical zoom, up to 100x digital zoom, and tele-macro abilities. Although the optical zoom range is slightly less than the Vivo X100 Pro (50MP, 4.3x), the new sensor should click much more detailed pictures, especially at higher focal lengths.
While the primary and the telephoto cameras are improvements, the X200 Pro seems to have retained the32MP (f/2.0) selfie shooter from the X100 Pro. Anyway, the phone also supports 8K video recording at 30 fps (same as last year), 4K recording at up to 120fps (upgrade from 60 fps on X100 Pro), 85mm and 135mm HD Portraits, Pro Sports Mode, and 4K HDR Cinematic Portrait Mode. The front camera can only record 4K videos at up to 60 fps.
vivo X200 Pro Vs. X100 Pro: Battery
The X200 Pro packs in a significant upgrade with its massive 6,000 mAh battery. The single-cell pack also supports 90W wired charging and 30W wireless charging rates, which is slower than what the X100 Pro supports.
In contrast, the Vivo X100 Pro featured a dual-cell battery with a total capacity of5,400 mAh. Surprisingly, the smartphone supports higher charging speeds than its successor. We’re talking about100W wired chargingand50W wireless charging.
vivo X200 Pro Vs. X100 Pro: Connectivity & Software
As far as connectivity is concerned, both smartphones support 5G (sub-6GHz), Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth v5.4, NFC, OTG, GPS and a Type-C port.
Out of the box, the X200 Pro runs on the OriginOS 15 based on Android 15. However, when the phone arrives outside of China, it could ship with Funtouch OS 15. Announced a couple of days ago, the new operating system has features like AI Image Lab, S-Capture, Ultra Game Mode, Immersive Wallpapers, new UI animations, etc. The latest operating system also improves the app startup speed by 15% and memory compression by 40% for better performance.
vivo X200 Pro Vs. X100 Pro: Price & Conclusion
For the market, there are indeed some products of the same type on the market, but either the product is released too early to keep up with The Times, or the experience is not so Pro, not worthy of the flagship identity, which makes many consumers discouraged.
In contrast, the vivo X200 Pro mini is unique in that it not only meets the user’s pursuit of a small-size flagship, but also realizes a Pro-level leap in performance, image and design, redefining the ultimate experience of a small-screen flagship.
For consumers who pursue quality, vivo X200 Pro mini is undoubtedly a choice worth looking forward to, it is not only a small straight screen flagship, but also a brave exploration of the future mini model design and technological innovation and a new attempt.
However, if you already have the X100 Pro, it might make sense to hold off for another year or so before upgrading.
Apple Intelligence isn’t available at launch, but the features that are available make the iPhone 16 Pro Max a formidable phone.
（iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max）
Verdict After four years of relatively unchanged designs, Apple increased the screen size on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, delivering a larger 6.9-inch OLED panel that makes a sizeable difference in daily use. Combine that with a bigger battery that lasts longer, an even more powerful chipset, and terrific cameras with a host of new features, and you get one of the best overall packages available today. While there are a few shortcomings — the Camera Control button isn’t all that it’s made out to be, and Apple Intelligence is yet to go live — the iPhone 16 Pro Max is an instant recommendation if you’re coming from an older device.
Pros +Bigger OLED panel with ultra-thin bezels +Better cameras than last year +Class-leading hardware +Outstanding battery life +Good software with long-term updates Cons -No Apple Intelligence features at launch -Slow charging tech -Camera Control is fiddly to use
The iPhone 16 Pro Max comes with the usual set of upgrades that we expect from Apple: it is faster in daily use, has better cameras, and the battery life is better than its predecessor. But there are other changes this year, notably around the screen. The iPhone 16 Pro Max has a larger 6.9-inch panel, but it isn’t that much bigger than its predecessor.
The increased screen size means you get an additional line of text, and the bezels are even thinner this generation. There’s also a new Camera Control button that unlocks additional controls and makes it easy to shoot photos and videos. While I was initially excited about the hardware button, it was unwieldy to use in the two weeks I tested the iPhone 16 Pro Max — it should have been integrated into the power button, similar to what ASUS did on the Zenfone 10 last year.
While there’s plenty of new stuff on the phone, there’s a glaring omission: Apple Intelligence. Apple’s much-touted AI features won’t be available until early 2025, and that puts the iPhone 16 Pro Max in an awkward position; the hardware itself is an iterative upgrade over last year, and you’ll need to wait at least three months to unlock what is arguably its best feature. So should you wait until next year to buy the iPhone 16 Pro Max? Let’s take a look.
Apple didn’t change the design of the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and the phone looks identical to its predecessor. The only way to tell both phones apart is that the latest device is taller and wider than the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but other than that, they share the same design.
That means you get a titanium mid-frame with a glass front and back, and the glass protection is touted to be even better this year. While I tend to test the effectiveness of these claims with Android phones (inadvertently, most of the time), I wasn’t willing to risk that with the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and I put it in a case shortly after setting it up.
The phone has the same flat sides with rounded edges, and the beveled sides make it easier to use than previous years. The build quality is predictably great, and while this isn’t a brand-new design, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is immediately recognizable. The phone retains IP68 dust and water resistance, and like last year, it can be submerged in up to 6 meters of water — most Android phones are only rated at up to 1.5 meters.
While the design itself hasn’t changed, the iPhone 16 Pro Max comes in an interesting Desert Titanium color option, and this is the variant I’m using. Apple switched out the Blue Titanium model of the iPhone 15 Pro Max with the new color option, and it looks terrific. The subtle gold hue looks great on the frosted glass back, and the color-matched camera rings and mid-frame give the phone a distinct character.
If you don’t like the color, you can pick up the device in White Titanium, Black Titanium, and Natural Titanium options instead. The camera housing has the same distinctive design as previous years, and is slightly raised; thankfully, there are no issues with usability.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max is 4.1mm taller and 0.9mm wider than its predecessor, and the increased dimensions make it a bit unwieldy to use one-handed. It is taller than the Galaxy S24 Ultra and Pixel 9 Pro XL, and only the Nubia Z60 Ultra dwarfs the iPhone 16 Pro Max in this regard.
A major highlight this year is the introduction of Camera Control, a button that sits to the right. It is an intriguing addition in that not many brands provide hardware controls for the camera, and it is versatile: you can use it to take photos with a short press, and a long press switches to video. The best feature is the ability to adjust zoom level by sliding your finger across the capacitive button, and a double tap allows you to unlock additional controls.
While the idea is undoubtedly novel, the button is in a non-optimal location. It’s awkward to access, and while adjusting the zoom level isn’t that much of a hassle, it was always a bother to switch to other controls. Then there’s the fact that video recording is only enabled as long as you press down on the button. After a week of use, I realized it was easier to just use the settings on the viewfinder to change controls than rely on the button. I also inadvertently pressed the button whenever picking up the phone off a table, and that was irksome.
The left side of the frame contains the usual options: volume up and down, and the Action Button that debuted last year. The SIM card tray sits to the left as well, and you get the ability to slot in a physical SIM alongside an eSIM — if you’re outside the U.S. USB-C charging is intact, and it makes using the iPhone 16 Pro Max that much easier. I wrote about how the switch to USB-C last year allowed me to use the iPhone 15 Pro Max a lot longer than I usually would, and that’s true this year as well.
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: Pricing and availability
The iPhone 16 Pro Max made its official debut on September 9, and the phone went on sale globally on September 20. Similar to last year, the base model has 256GB of storage, and it is available in 512GB and 1TB variants as well — I’m using the 512GB model.
In a positive move, Apple is offering the iPhone 16 Pro Max at the same price as last year’s models, and this is true not just in the U.S., but also key global markets like the U.K. and Germany. This is what the iPhone 16 Pro Max costs in various regions:
iPhone 16 Pro Max (256GB): $1,199 / £1,199 / €1,449 / NZ$2,399 iPhone 16 Pro Max (512GB): $1,399 / £1,399 / €1,699 / NZ$2,799 iPhone 16 Pro Max (1TB): $1,599 / £1,599 / €1,949 / NZ$3,199
Category
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
OS
iOS 18.0.1 pre-installed, five OS updates
Display
6.9-inch LTPO OLED, 120Hz ProMotion, 2868 x 1320, Dolby Vision, 2000 nits max (HBM)
Desert Titanium, Natural Titanium, Black Titanium, White Titanium
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: Display
After four years of using 6.7-inch panels, Apple is increasing the screen size in the Pro Max series to 6.9 inches. The size difference is immediately evident when using the iPhone 16 Pro Max next to its predecessor, and what I like the most about is that the phone itself isn’t noticeably bigger; Apple achieved this by trimming the bezels, and the overall effect is quite striking.
In real-world use, that means you get an additional line of text when browsing. The OLED panel itself is one of the best on any phone today; it has ProMotion tech — dynamic 120Hz refresh — along with HDR10 and Dolby Vision. The resolution is slightly higher at 2868 x 1320, but the pixel density is the same as last year, and the Ceramic Shield protection delivers 50% increased resilience against tumbles.
Overall, this is one of the best screens available today, and that’s evident when streaming HDR content or playing games. You get vibrant colors with excellent contrast, and while there isn’t as much customizability when it comes to color tonality, True Tone automatically tweaks color balance based on ambient light, and it does a good job in this regard.
I didn’t see any issues with brightness levels either, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max is among the best in this area as well. That said, the Pixel 9 Pro XL got noticeably brighter in outdoor use, and Google somehow managed to outdo every other brand this year.
Dynamic Island is unchanged from last year, and while the pill-sized cutout is bigger than what you get with Android devices, it isn’t as unsightly as the previous notch. The ability to use this area for actionable things like music control and navigation alerts is still great, and while Android brands have tried to emulate it, no one came close.
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: Battery life
The iPhone 16 Pro Max has a bigger 4685mAh battery, and you get noticeable gains in daily use. I got an hour and a half of additional screen-time versus the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and that’s a sizeable achievement in and of itself. The phone lasts a day even with heavy use, and most of the time, I averaged a day and a half between charges.
The charging situation is where things aren’t any better. The iPhone 16 Pro Max takes an agonizing amount of time to charge, and while it gets to 45% in 30 minutes, it takes an additional 80 minutes to charge the battery entirely. While the Pixel 9 Pro XL and Galaxy S24 Ultra don’t have fast charging either, these devices don’t take anywhere as long to charge, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max continues to lag behind its rivals.
Chinese brands are in a league of their own in this area, with the Xiaomi 14 Ultra and Vivo X100 Ultra taking under 45 minutes to charge their batteries. That said, the iPhone 16 Pro Max has an advantage with wireless charging, with MagSafe now going up to 25W. The phone also works with the Qi2 standard — something Android phones haven’t gotten around to yet — and you can get 15W charging via a Qi2 stand.
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: Cameras The iPhone 16 Pro Max doesn’t have drastically different camera hardware, with the phone using a similar 48MP main camera with sensor-shift OIS as last year. The 12MP telephoto lens is unchanged as well, and it delivers 5x optical zoom and OIS. There’s now a 48MP wide-angle lens, and up front is a 12MP lens with OIS.
Camera Control is a key hardware addition this time, and while it is good to quickly pull up the camera and take a photo, the button isn’t in the best location, and it isn’t intuitive to use. After trying out the button for a week, I went back to adjusting viewfinder controls the usual way.
What you’ll like better is the overhauled Photographic Styles, which now allows you to drastically change the look and feel of a photo. There are 15 preset tones you can use out of the box, but where the feature truly comes into its own is the ability to tweak these presets to your liking by changing the undertones and contrast selection. The result is that you get wildly different photos by switching up the tones, and there is extensive customizability in this regard.
I’ve always enjoyed shooting macros with iPhones, and the 16 Pro Max lets you take high-res macro shots. Video is an area where the phone continues to dominate, and this year, you can shoot 4K in 120fps with HDR, and that’s just incredible. The new ISP encoder able to handle the increased bandwidth, and what I like the most about this feature is that you can slow down footage to 60fps or 30fps after the fact via the built-in editor.
You can also record spatial audio, and it is enabled by default. What’s cool about this feature is that you can then reduce background noise, or create a cinematic effect with ambient noises pushed to the background. You can do this by selecting Audio Mix in the editor, and it works incredibly well.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max doesn’t deviate too much from its predecessor when it comes to color rendition, with resultant daylight shots having good white balance and color accuracy. You don’t get saturated photos like Samsung’s phones or the contrast-rich images that are a characteristic of Pixels. The phone does just as good a job in low-light conditions, but it is a bit aggressive with smoothening details. That said, the new Styles give you incredible customizability with tonal balance, and you can easily change the look of your photos.
The wide-angle lens is similarly great, and it doubles as a macro shooter, giving you the ability to take close-up shots. There is some noise in low-light shots taken with the wide-angle lens, and while it has good color rendition, it doesn’t measure up to the Vivo X100 Pro in this regard.
The zoom lens is relatively unchanged, and it manages to deliver clean shots at up to 5x. You get usable photos at 10x as well, but there’s visible noise — more so than the Pixel 9 Pro XL. Portraits are similarly great, and you get good background segmentation. That said, they’re nowhere as detailed as the Vivo X100 Ultra or the Find X7 Ultra; these two devices still have a distinct edge when it comes to portrait shots.
Overall, the iPhone 16 Pro Max does a better job than its predecessor, and it holds up incredibly well against the Galaxy S24 Ultra and Pixel 9 Pro XL. Vivo’s X100 Pro and X100 Ultra and the Find X7 Ultra are much better in low-light situations and portrait shots, but as an all-round package, the iPhone 16 Pro Max does more than enough to stand out against its rivals.
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: The competition
The Pixel 9 Pro XL is the obvious alternative to the iPhone 16 Pro Max. It feels like Google went out of its way to make the 9 Pro XL look like an iPhone, and it does a good job in that regard. You still get a distinctive camera housing at the back, but the flat sides and chunkier design makes it feel like an iPhone in everyday use. The 9 Pro XL doesn’t have the same caliber of hardware, but it has an OLED panel that gets brighter, outstanding cameras, and the best AI features of any phone available today.
If you need a phone with plenty of power, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is a good choice to consider as well. The software isn’t as good as what you get on the Pixel — or the iPhone 16 Pro Max — but you get seven years of updates, and Samsung bundles a decent set of AI tools with Galaxy AI.
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: Should you buy it?
You should buy this if:
You need an iPhone with a sizeable OLED panel
You want the best hardware on a phone
You need standout cameras
You want better battery life
You shouldn’t buy this if:
You want the latest AI features
You need the best charging tech
You have an iPhone 15 Pro Max
The iPhone 16 Pro Max is a great phone that promises to get even better when Apple Intelligence becomes available. You don’t need to wait until the AI features roll out if you’re looking to upgrade from an older iPhone; there are enough new features to distinguish it from its predecessors. The most noticeable difference is the bigger OLED panel, and while it makes the phone even taller, it is a welcome upgrade.
But what you’ll actually end up liking is the battery longevity; the iPhone 16 Pro Max lasts significantly longer than its predecessor, and that in itself is enough of an upgrade to entice older iPhone users to make the switch. Other battery-related tweaks should curb battery degradation — something that was a major issue on the iPhone 14 series — and while the charging situation is in need of an overhaul, 25W MagSafe is a decent workaround in the meantime.
There’s little incentive to move if you’re already using the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but if you’re on an older device and are mulling an upgrade, you should get the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Xiaomi has created a product listing for the Power Bank 10000mAh 22.5W Lite on its global website, suggesting it will soon be available in more countries. The accessory allows you to charge three devices simultaneously, with features like a low-current charging mode and LEDs to indicate the remaining battery level.
Xiaomi is expected to launch the Power Bank 10000mAh 22.5W Lite worldwide. (Image source: Xiaomi)
The Xiaomi Power Bank 10000mAh 22.5W Lite has appeared on the brand’s global website. The accessory launched in China in 2023 and is now expected to roll out to countries worldwide in the near future.
The Power Bank 10000mAh 22.5W Lite can be used to charge three devices simultaneously via one USB-C and two USB-A ports. With support for PD and QC3+ fast charging protocols, the 22.5W output allows you to fully recharge a Nintendo Switch in 3.4 hours. An iPhone 14 could charge at 20W to 57% in half an hour or to 100% in two hours. According to Xiaomi, the 10000mAh capacity allows you to charge an iPhone 14 twice, a Nintendo Switch 1.3 times or a Xiaomi 13 1.7 times. You can recharge the portable power bank at 22.5W via the USB-C ports, fully charging in around 4.5 hours.
Other features include a low-current charging mode, LED battery level indicator lights and protection against nine issues, such as overheating and short circuits. The lightweight device weighs around 227g (~0.5 lbs), measures 148.4 x 73 x 15 mm (~5.84 x 2.8 x 0.6 inches) and is suitable for air travel. It is unclear when the Xiaomi Power Bank 10000mAh 22.5W Lite will reach other markets, and how much it will cost. As a guide, the accessory has an RRP of CNY 89 (Nz $20) in China. The product will compete with similar models like the Anker Power Bank (10K, 22.5W).
The Xiaomi Power Bank 22.5W Lite was designed to be a lightweight and portable companion for your smartphone, with a flat body that is easy to carry with your phone when you travel and won’t bulge in your backpack. The 2A1C port configuration supports 22.5W fast charging output for all ports and up to three devices can charge simultaneously.
In conclusion, the Xiaomi Power Bank 22.5W Lite is a powerful, lightweight, and affordable portable power bank that offers multiple fast charging protocols suitable for most consumer electronics products on the market. Its compact design, low-current mode, and ability to charge up to three devices simultaneously make it an ideal companion for travelers and anyone on the go. Overall, the Xiaomi Power Bank 22.5W Lite is a great value for its price point and is sure to meet the needs of anyone looking for a reliable and efficient portable power bank.
Each phone has its strengths, depending on what you’re looking for.
It’s always an interesting challenge to see how the two best smartphone cameras fit together. I spent a week shooting photos with an iPhone 16 Pro Max and a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, comparing everything from sharpness and color contrast to zoom ability. Both phones come into their own, but both have their moments when they steal the spotlight.
Let’s start off with some specs. The iPhone 16 Pro Max features a 48-megapixel main camera with a wide-angle lens, a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 12-megapixel telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom. It also has a 12-megapixel front-facing camera. The iPhone 16 Pro Max can shoot up to 4K video at 120fps.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra, meanwhile, sports a 200-megapixel wide camera, 12-megapixel ultrawide camera, 10-megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom and 50-megapixel telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom. It also has a 12-megapixel front-facing camera, and can shoot up to 8K video.
It’s important to note that more megapixels doesn’t automatically mean better photos, as a phone’s software plays an important role, too. The best way to get the full picture is to test out the cameras in the real world. Also, while I’m comparing photos taken at the default setting on each phone, customization is becoming a bigger focus through tools like the new Photographic Styles feature and tone mapping on the iPhone. That way, you can bump up saturation or contrast however you’d like.
Price-wise, the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at NZ$2,399 for 256GB of internal storage, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra will cost you 100 more for the same storage amount.
What’s new on this year’s iPhone lineup is the Camera Control button, which sits on the right side of the phone and lets you trigger the camera, snap photos and swipe to change settings like exposure, aperture and zoom. I’ve enjoyed using it as a shortcut to summon the camera, but don’t yet see the appeal of doing much else with it, especially when using the touchscreen (the old fashioned way) works just fine. Thankfully, iPhone case makers like Speck and Otterbox have quickly developed cases to make that new button easily accessible, if, like me, you’re trying to warm up to the concept while keeping your phone protected.
The photos showed slightly higher overall brightness in iPhone 16 Pro Max photos, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra photos showed higher shades of each color. But both are very beautiful and striking, and I’m impressed by how little difference there is between them.
My favorite way to test portrait mode is by photographing a plant to see whether the camera picks up on any stray leaves of flowers and keeps them focused in the foreground. In this comparison, each phone does a comparable job in that regard, but I like how the S24 Ultra brightens the overall image and reduces a lot of those harsh shadows.
The iPhone 16 Pro lineup introduces 4K slow-motion recording at 120fps, while the S24 Ultra has a UHD slow-motion setting at 120fps. That 4K setting on the iPhone brings a crispness and higher level of detail that makes these videos pop — even if you don’t really find yourself recording in slow motion all that often.
In other, more everyday instances, I still prefer video on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, as footage looks sharper and colors are more true-to-life. But you’ll get smooth shots, especially when set to 60fps, on both devices.
Final thoughts Given the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra are some of the best camera phones you can get your hands on today, which images are “better” often comes down to personal preference.
I’ve always admired the vibrancy of photos captured on Galaxy phones; the higher saturation and brightness can offer richer-looking images, especially out in nature and with photos of people. But I also admire the sharpness of photos and videos on the iPhone, and how images tend to appear more true to real-life colors.
Night mode used to be something that clearly set the Galaxy apart from the iPhone, but Apple has upped its game in recent years, and images shot at night on both devices are almost indistinguishable in terms of quality. Portrait mode is also matching up more on both devices, as the iPhone used to be leagues ahead of its competitors in that regard. Both devices offer impressive zoom capabilities, though the S24 Ultra still takes the cake with that 10x optical zoom. And selfies are equally flattering, despite minor color differences, on both devices.
All this to say, no matter which phone you choose to spend your hard-earned money on, you hopefully won’t be let down.
Vivo has just announced three new smartphones, and the smallest of them is the Vivo X200 Pro mini. All three phones belong under the same Vivo X200 series, but only two are ‘Pro’ phones, and this is one of them. In this article, we’ll focus on that phone alone. The Vivo X200 and Vivo X200 Pro will be covered separately.
The Vivo X200 Pro mini is a compact flagship smartphone from the company Vivo’s X200 Pro mini comes as a semi-surprise. It’s not a full surprise as we’ve known about its existence for a couple of weeks now. On the other hand, it’s quite surprising as Vivo does not have a habit of releasing compact flagship smartphones.
When it comes to design, it’s very similar to its siblings. The main differentiating point is the alignment of its camera sensors on the back. They have a rhombus shape, compared to two-by-two setup on its larger sibling.
The phone is made out of metal and glass, while it has flat sides. Its front and back sides are also flat, and as part of that a ‘Quad Curved Display’ is included. That is basically a flat display that has a 90-degree curve on all of its sides. It’s also known as a micro-curved display. A centered display camera hole is included too, and the bezels around the display are very thin, and uniform.
It has the same ZEISS-backed camera setup as its larger sibling A camera oreo on the back is included, along with ZEISS optics. That camera oreo does protrude on the back, though it could make for a nice anchor for your finger. We’ll have to wait and see.
This smartphone features a 6.31-inch 1.5K display. This is an LTPO AMOLED display, by the way, and it has a resolution of 2640 x 1216 pixels. The MediaTek Dimensity 9400 SoC fuels this phone, the company’s brand new chip.
A 50-megapixel main camera (Sony’s LYT-818 sensor, 1/1.28-inch sensor, f/1.57 aperture) sits on the back. It is backed by a 50-megapixel ultrawide unit (ISOCELL JN1 sensor, f/2.0 aperture), and a 50-megapixel periscope tele-macro camera (f/2.57 aperture, 3x optical zoom, 100x digital zoom). The Vivo V3+ imaging chip is also included here.
A 5,700mAh battery is included, along with up to 16GB of RAM A 5,700mAh battery is also included in the package. The phone supports 90W wired and 30W wireless charging. It also utilizes 12GB or 16GB of RAM (LPDDR5X Ultra Pro RAM) and 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of UFS 4.0 flash storage, while it is IP68 certified for water and dust resistance.
OriginOS 5 comes pre-installed on the device in China, but if it launches globally, it will ship with Funtouch 15 OS, based on Android 15. The Vivo X200 Pro mini comes in Light Pink, Plain White, Simple Black, and Titanium Green colors. The Vivo X200 Pro measures 150.83 x 71.76 x 8.15mm, and weighs 187 grams. The 12GB RAM model of the Vivo X200 Pro mini with 256GB of storage costs CNY4,699. Its 16GB RAM model is available in both 512GB and 1TB variants, and those are priced at CNY5,299 and CNY5,799 in China. The price tags will be different globally, of course.
There was once a time when the Sony Xperia Z Compact carried the bastion of pocketable powerhouses. But as consumer priorities shifted, especially here in the East, smaller phones quickly ran out of favor. Remember how quickly the iPhone “mini” vanished to pave the way for the Plus?
One might argue functional limitations are to blame. You need a large battery. The next-gen camera stack needs space. Yet, every so often, some brand pulls a rabbit out of the proverbial hat. This time, it’s the Chinese smartphone powerhouse Vivo.
Earlier today, the company introduced its X200 series phones, and once again, cameras take center stage. But the biggest surprise of the event was a new “mini” member of the series — the Vivo X200 Pro mini. And it looks superb.
Make no mistake. Unlike your typical Galaxy or Pixel, this one doesn’t make concessions. On the contrary, this “mini” seems like an absolute beast — and one with an unbelievable price tag that puts the competition in serious jeopardy.
Like the iPhone 16 Pro, the Vivo X200 Pro mini has a 6.3-inch OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and a 2640 x 1216 resolution. Yet, the peak brightness is an astounding 4,500 nits, nearly double that of the Apple flagship.
Running the show inside is MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 chip, a top-tier silicon that goes all-big on the core architecture, omitting Arm’s efficiency cores in its entirety. The results are quite impressive, and according to media presentations, they even outclass Apple’s mighty A18 Pro, at least on synthetic benchmarks. But it’s almost astounding how much tech Vivo has packed inside its phone. The X200 Pro mini is just a hair taller than the iPhone 16 Pro but narrower, thinner, and lighter than its Apple rival. But wait until you see what’s underneath that glass and metal chassis.
Somehow, Vivo managed to fit a massive 5,700mAh battery inside this phone. For comparison, regulatory filings put the iPhone 16 Pro’s battery capacity at 3,582 mAh. But let’s not merely look at the numbers.
Vivo has also delivered 90W wired charging, double that of Apple’s latest and greatest. You also get support for 30W wireless charging, which itself is quite impressive, though not as fast as OnePlus flagships.
The most impressive part, however, is the camera hardware. At the back, you get a trio of cameras, each backed by a 50-megapixel sensor. One of them is a periscope-style zoom snapper that relies on a tunnel-based folded lens system.
This telephoto camera is actually quite impressive, as it opens the doors for long-distance portrait capture and macro photography. Moreover, all three rear cameras, as well as the 32MP front camera, are backed by autofocus, which is a neat convenience.
Those might sound like figures solely directed at bragging rights. But I’ve used Vivo’s flagships over the past few years, and if there’s one aspect that these phones excel at, it’s the camera output. The video capture capabilities, in particular, are neck and neck with the iPhones and Galaxies out there.
On the software side, there are a bunch of AI tricks that mirror what the Galaxy AI or Apple Intelligence stack has to offer. To handle all that workload, the MediaTek silicon gets support from a minimum of 12GB RAM, though the higher-end version goes up to 16GB, paired with up to 1TB of storage. Unlike Apple’s stingy approach, the minimum storage capacity starts at 256GB. We are talking about the fast UFS 4.0 storage modules here, but there’s more to the picture.
The Vivo X200 Pro mini’s build is IP69-certified, a rare feat for smartphones. For comparison, the iPhone 16 Pro only comes with an IP68 clearance. The final shocker, however, is the asking price.
An impossibly alluring mini phone
All that smartphone goodness is crammed inside a package that starts at CNY 4,699, which roughly translates to around NZ $1,087based on the current conversion rates. That’s lower than the cheapest mainline iPhone this year and nearly a third of the iPhone 16 Pro’s sticker price.
So far, the phone has only been launched in China, but given Vivo’s history, the X200 Pro mini could soon appear in other markets across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
Market availability aside, Vivo’s compact flagship once again proves that small phones can be mighty — and that they can go toe-to-toe against the large-screen flagships without making any compromises.
It’s just a cherry on top that while doing it, they can dramatically undercut the Pro iPhones on the price scale while surpassing them at practically meaningful parameters like battery capacity, sensor resolution, and build resilience.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra could come with the same periscope telephoto camera as the Vivo X200 Pro (Image source: Xiaomi)
The Xiaomi 15 Ultra will be one of the brand’s premium smartphones featuring the next-gen Snapdragon 8 series SoC. It’s now tipped to launch within the first quarter of 2025 and will reportedly feature an upgraded periscope telephoto sensor compared to its predecessor.
>>>>BP51 Battery for Xiaomi 14 Ultra Xiaomi will be among the first brands to launch smartphones featuring the next-gen Snapdragon 8 series SoC. The name of this 3nm mobile chipset has not been confirmed yet, but it may be called the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, Snapdragon 8 Extreme Edition, or Snapdragon 8 Elite. However, leaks around the phones that are expected to feature it are still rolling out in full force.
The latest one comes from Digital Chat Station, a prominent Weibo leaker, who shared some key information about the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. According to the tipster, the top-end phone will be launching after the Chinese New Year, which begins with the appearance of the new moon.
That suggests that the Xiaomi 15 Ultra could launch within the first quarter of 2025. This timeframe aligns with the launch timeline of its predecessor, which launched in February of this year.
Besides sharing the possible launch timeframe, Digital Chat Station has also reported on the periscope telephoto camera of the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. It’s said to be the same 200 MP Samsung HP9 sensor that’s found in the Vivo X100 Ultra and the X200 Pro models. This periscope sensor is reported to offer 4.3x optical zoom.
As for the other three cameras, a previous leak suggested that the primary camera will be a Sony LYT-900 50 MP primary sensor, while the ultra-wide is said to be a 50 MP IMX858 sensor. The second telephoto will reportedly be a 50 MP IMX858 sensor. So, only the periscope telephoto camera may change in the upcoming flagship.
Samsung came out swinging for the fence with the launch of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, largely propelled by the slew of Galaxy AI features included on the device. It’s been the top contender in our best Android phones list since then, but Apple’s new flagship is the matchup we’ve been waiting for. That’s why an iPhone 16 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra face-off is necessary to once and for all have a definitive winner as our best phone.
Given how things turned out in our Galaxy S24 Ultra vs. iPhone 15 Pro Max comparison, it inherently gives the newer iPhone 16 Pro Max an edge edge heading into this matchup. That’s because there’s an 8-month gap between the arrival of these two devices, giving Apple the advantage of having the newer handset.
We’ll look at all aspects surrounding the two phones, including their battery life, software, displays, AL features and much more to tell you exactly which one offers more value. These phones don’t come cheap and they’re the epitome of the ultra premium segment that come with extra features you don’t find in other phones.
In this iPhone 16 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra showdown, there can only be one that comes out on top. Let’s get started!
For now, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is enjoying the time it has left before sailing into the sunset at the start of 2025. Despite offering the richer software, its age is beginning to show and this comparison proves that. Unless you can find Samsung’s phone at a good discount somewhere, you might hold off and save your money on the Galaxy S25 Ultra next year. It’ll be a decent wait for it, but we anticipate bigger upgrades that will make it a more formidable challenger.
(Image credit: Future) To be fair, both phones make slight alterations with their designs, but they mostly follow the same design language as previous phones. While both phones have flat edges that let them stay upright on their own, that’s about where their similarities end.
Samsung’s design is boxier looking, evident in the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s hard angled corner. You could argue that Samsung’s design looks like the more boring of the two, but it’s much harder to comfortably use one-handed because it’s larger and heavier. While the S24’s titanium frame gives it a premium look, the overall look can’t compare to the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
(Image credit: Future) But to be fair, Apple’s design is mostly recycled too. Still, its rounded corners, lighter weight, and slimmer frame make it feel much more manageable. It’s still massive in size, but it helps that the iPhone 16 Pro Max is accompanied by a more solid construction that makes its design feel polished.
Another difference worth pointing out is that the Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with the S Pen, which discreetly tucks into the lower left corner of the phone when it’s not being used. Not only does it help in giving off that paper meets pen experience, but it’s also a handy tool for other functions — such as acting as a remote control for the camera.
Meanwhile, Apple introduces the Camera Control button to give users better access to the most popular settings and tools to take better photos. It’s unique in the sense that it can sense swiping gestures in addition to pressure sensitivity, which frees up the Action Button to do other things.
(Image credit: Future) In the past, Samsung has historically featured the bigger display, but that changes with the iPhone 16 Pro Max. This is a shakeup because the iPhone 16 Pro Max has a larger 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR display, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra packs a 6.8-inch Super AMOLED panel.
There’s a lot to like about both OLED displays because they’re perfect for just about everything, from reading an ebook with ease thanks to their high resolutions, all the way to catching up on your favorite streaming shows because of their exceptional viewing angles and rich colors. Believe us when we say you’ll be enchanted by just looking at them. They’re that good!
iPhone 16 Pro Max
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Delta-E color accuracy (lower is better)
0.24
0.25
DCI-P3 color gamut coverage (%)
80.4
98.5
Peak brightness
1,553
1,363
However, today’s phones are mainly judged by how bright they get — and in our testing, it’s the iPhone 16 Pro Max that’s brighter. It reaches a peak brightness of 1,553 nits, which makes it more visible to the eyes with direct sunlight. Even though the Galaxy S24 Ultra earns a respectable mark of 1,363 nits, it doesn’t get as bright when compared to the iPhone. For this reason, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is our choice here.
Winner: iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 16 Pro Max vs. Samsung Galaxy Ultra S24: Cameras
(Image credit: Future) Without spilling the beans on which has the better cameras, it’s worth noting that these two phones have everything for shooting photos and video with unprecedented quality. Apple fashions a familiar triple camera setup as before that consists of a 48MP main shooter, refreshed 48MP ultrawide, and a 12MP telephoto with 5x zoom. On paper it matches the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s setup, which includes a 200MP main camera, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP telephoto with 3x zoom, and a 50MP telephoto with 5x zoom.
These cameras are no doubt versatile in covering all the ranges, but each has their own charm with the experience. Take the new Camera Control button with the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which is a button on the phone’s side that allows you to quickly take photos much like an ordinary shutter button on a mirrorless camera. One unique way Apple makes Camera Control stand out is how it can also sense how hard your pressing; it recognizes swiping gestures, too. That makes it easier to zoom and go through all of the iPhones modes and settings.
But the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s camera app is more suitable to handle the needs of power users and enthusiasts. That’s because it features proper manual controls for photos and video recording, while also throwing in several others like dual recording. And while it lacks a similar shutter button, the S Pen can be leveraged to take photos as well by pressing down its button.
We’ll briefly touch up on the most important areas with their cameras, but our 2 photos with the iPhone 16 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra better dives into the differences.
iPhone 16 Pro Max shooting
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra shooting
iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Galaxy S24 Ultra: Performance
It came out to a draw between the Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max with their performance when we put those two phones to the test, but this time there’s a clear winner. Based on a new 3nm manufacturing process, the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s A18 Pro chip proves it has the muscle power to handle whatever we dish out to it.
In Geekbench 6, the iPhone 16 Pro Max widens the divide by posting single and multi-core scores of 3,400 and 8,341 respectively. That’s a much bigger increase from the iPhone 15 Pro Max and it certainly shows when you’re using Apple’s phone and notice the instant response and zippy feel.
(Image credit: Future)
iPhone 16 Pro Max
Galaxy S24 Ultra
Geekbench 6 (single-core/multicore)
3,400 / 8,341
2,300 / 7,249
3DMark Wild Life Extreme Unlimited (fps)
107.53
121.81
Adobe Premiere Rush time to transcode (mins:secs)
0:21
0:42
Despite its newer hardware, the iPhone 16 Pro Max still can’t eclipse the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 powered Galaxy S24 Ultra when it comes to graphics processing. In 3DMark’s Wild Life Unlimited test, the Galaxy posts an impressive average frame rate of 121.81 fps, which is smoother than the 107.53 fps rate that the iPhone averages.
And finally, there’s our Adobe Rush Premiere test that times how long it takes a phone to transcode a video. Between them, the iPhone posts a faster time of 0:21, which is nearly half the time it takes the Galaxy S24 Ultra to complete the same task.
Synthetic benchmark tests are great to objectively compare both phones, but the iPhone by and large exhibits smoother responses with normal, everyday tasks such as opening apps and scrolling.
Winner: iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Galaxy S24 Ultra: Battery
(Image credit: Future) Even though Apple doesn’t list the battery capacity in the iPhone 16 Pro Max, the company does say that it’s bigger than the power pack inside the iPhone 15 Pro Max. But honestly, it really doesn’t matter because the iPhone 16 Pro Max posts an unbelievable time with our battery benchmark test.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra’s time of 15 hours and 41 minutes was one of the best when it launched, but the iPhone 16 Pro Max exceeds that with a better 18 hours and 6 minutes time. In our best phone battery life list, it places the iPhone in the third position only bested by the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro and OnePlus 12R, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra finds itself in the sixth position.
iPhone 16 Pro Max
Galaxy S24 Ultra
Battery Life (hours:minutes)
18:06
15:41
Recharge Level in 15 mins
29%
39%
Recharge Level in 30 mins
55%
79%
Over on the recharging side, the Galaxy S24 Ultra easily edges out the iPhone 16 Pro Max thanks to its faster 45W wired charging speed. The S24 Ultra is able to get up to 39% in 15 minutes, then to 79% in 30 minutes. In contrast, the iPhone gets to 29% and 55%, respectively.
Sure, the faster charging speeds of the Ultra are great, but there’s a bigger disparity between their battery life that gives this one to Apple.
Winner: iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Galaxy S24 Ultra: Software and AI
Apple’s software has always been intuitive to use, and that’s no different with iOS 18 running on the iPhone 16 Pro Max. On the surface, the latest software update doesn’t shake up the experience as much as previous releases, but it’s nice to see that Apple pays more attention than ever before in giving more customization, personalization, and privacy with its software. We detail everything new and exciting about it in our iOS 18 review.
But the greatest part about the software has nothing to do with iOS 18 at all; instead, the focus is on the features that are unlocked with Apple Intelligence. We’ve been using Apple Intelligence with the iOS 18.1 beta to fully get a grip of what it’s able to do, and for the most part, it elevates the experience to the same level as Samsung’s Galaxy AI. There are handy summarizing tools that gives us oversight to our most important notifications, a new Siri that’s much more conversational, and magic of the Photo Clean Up tool — all of which exists to some degree with the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Samsung’s One UI 6.1 goes deeper by offering a slew of features that cater to power users. Not only can we access useful AI-assisted features such as Circle to Search and Google Gemini, but Galaxy AI features enhance the overall experience. Generative AI is clearly well represented in stuff like Generative Edit for removing reflections and unwanted subjects in photos, as well as how Instant Slow-Mo turns any video recording into a slow motion clip.
We also can’t neglect to mention how the S Pen adds to the S24 Ultra experience. It’s a valuable tool with many purposes with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, including the ability to instantly take notes without unlocking the phone, signing PDFs, and using it as a remote shutter for the camera. If that’s not enough to convince you how the Galaxy S24 Ultra is meant for power users, the phone also packs one of the most underrated phone features you’ll find — Samsung DeX. This allows the Galaxy S24 Ultra to mimic the experience of a traditional desktop PC, which is still something you won’t get with the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
All of these are reasons why the Galaxy S24 Ultra continues to have the more compelling software.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Galaxy S24 Ultra: Verdict
After putting the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Galaxy S24 Ultra through the seven categories we’re grading them in, the final tally gives a clear win to the iPhone 16 Pro Max. This shouldn’t be too much of a shock given how their releases are spaced significantly apart from one another, with the iPhone 16 Pro Max getting the upper hand in many areas. Most notable, it has a brighter display, better cameras, and longer battery life.
iPhone 16 Pro Max
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Price (15 points)
13
11
Design (10 points)
9
9
Display (15 points)
14
12
Cameras (20 points)
20
18
Performance (15 points)
15
14
Battery and charging (10 points)
9
8
Software and special features (15 points)
14
15
Total (out of 100)
94
87
For now, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is enjoying the time it has left before sailing into the sunset at the start of 2025. Despite offering the richer software, its age is beginning to show and this comparison proves that. Unless you can find Samsung’s phone at a good discount somewhere, you might hold off and save your money on the Galaxy S25 Ultra next year. It’ll be a decent wait for it, but we anticipate bigger upgrades that will make it a more formidable challenger.
Intel faces off against Qualcomm in Dell’s XPS 13.
Verdict The Dell XPS 13 gets long battery life thanks to Intel’s Lunar Lake. While its design is attractive, the touch-based function row is difficult to use as it prioritizes form over function.
Pros +Long battery life (with LCD display) +Attractive, minimalist design Cons -Capacitive function row isn’t as good as dedicated keys -No headphone jack -Pricey
Dell’s XPS 13 is finally available with multiple CPU options. Where previously it only ever came with Intel processors, it’s now available with both Intel’s Core Ultra 2 “Lunar Lake” chips and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite. The competition to be among the best ultrabooks is on.
We tested the Snapdragon version previously, and while Dell’s design is as divisive as ever, it’s hard to argue with a mix of performance and power. That gave us high hopes for the Lunar Lake model.
What the Intel version offers is more app compatibility, and long battery life, but the performance isn’t as good as Qualcomm’s. If you want a Dell XPS 13 with an x86 processor, the XPS 13 (9350) is for you. But if you’re not worried about app compatibility, the Intel versions are challenged by Dell’s embrace of Qualcomm.
While Dell first introduced this chassis in 2022 with the XPS 13 Plus (which isn’t that long ago in the scheme of laptop designs), I feel like I’ve seen it many times before, as Dell has released multiple versions across two chip companies.
The XPS 13 is all aluminum and clean lines, with a black lid (at least on our model) and deck. Opening reveals what continues to be Dell’s series of most controversial laptop design choices: a capacitive touch row above a keyboard with no spaces between the keys (Dell calls this “zero-lattice”).
That all adds up to a svelte 11.62 x 0.60 x 0.58-inch package that weighs 2.7 pounds. The Snapdragon version, the XPS 13 (9345), has the same dimensions and weighs 2.62 pounds. Apple’s 13-inch M3 MacBook Air is 11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches and 2.7 pounds, while the Asus Zenbook S14 is 12.22 x 8.45 x 0.51 inches and 2.65 pounds.
11.62 x 0.60 x 0.58 inches (295.3 x 199.1 x 15.3 mm)
Weight
2.7 pounds (1.22 kg)
Price (as configured)
$1,599.99
Keyboard and Touchpad on the Dell XPS 13 (9350) As long as Dell sticks with this XPS design, the keyboard and touchpad will continue to be controversial.
I don’t have much of a problem with the “zero-lattice” keyboard. Despite looking different from most of the market, the 1 mm of travel feels deeper than expected. On monkeytype, I needed to take some extra time to get used to it, but even at my slowest I was at 99 words per minute.
But I’ll never be able to fully accept the function row, especially for the delete and escape keys. A capable function row is just too important, and you shouldn’t have to look down to change the volume, screen brightness, or even hit escape or CTRL + ALT + Delete (the latter of which is on the function row). We’re going into our third year with this design, and it’s time for Dell to give up and add buttons. Is this system extremely pretty? Yes. But when I use this function row, it feels like Dell chose to make a sleek system rather than a usable one.
I feel a bit less strongly about the touchpad. I’m into haptics, but I still wish, even after using several models, that Dell would put a border around the touchpad, like Apple does on the MacBook Air. It’s better for usability, and while I never veered off of the touchpad, it gives me a sense of confidence to know the borders.
Upgradeability of the Dell XPS 13 (9350) To remove the bottom of the laptop, you need to remove six Torx screws from the bottom of the laptop. One of the screws on our unit stripped, but Dell’s publically available owner’s manual shows that the rest of the process is identical to what we’ve seen on other XPS 13 systems with this design. (If you do go looking for the manual, make sure you don’t find the one for the previous XPS 13 (9350) released almost a decade ago).
You can remove the base with just your fingers once the screws are out. That being said, inside, the only replaceable parts are the battery and the SSD. The RAM has never been upgradeable in the current XPS 13 design, but in this case, that’s because it’s actually on the CPU package.
Battery Life on the Dell XPS 13 (9350) Intel’s big promise with its Core Ultra Series 2 (“Lunar Lake”) chips has been making x86 more efficient than ever. But with the new XPS 13, that will also heavily depend on what kind of screen you get. Dell loaned us a second unit with identical specs, except for a 2880 x 1800 OLED panel. It showed a surprisingly wide difference in battery life. The laptop with a 1920 x 1200 LCD screen ran for 17 hours and 29 minutes (though part of that may have been held back by one outlier run in our average). The version with the higher-resolution OLED panel lasted just 8 hours and 40 minutes. Me? I’d take the lower resolution screen for the tradeoff.
The leader in this test was the Snapdragon version of the XPS 13, model 9345. That version, also with the 1920 x 1200 screen, ran for 19:31. The Asus Zenbook S14, using the same chip as this laptop, had a longer battery life with an OLED panel at 13:51.
Heat on the Dell XPS 13 (9350) We grabbed some skin temperature measurements while running our Cinebench 2024 benchmark gauntlet. The system was fairly cool considering how stressful this benchmark is. The keyboard hit 93.2 degrees Fahrenheit, while the touchpad (or at least, the part of the deck where the haptics are) reached 88.7 F. The hottest point on the bottom, in a corner near the vent, measured 101.3 F.
Webcam on the Dell XPS 13 (9350) The 1080p webcam on the Dell XPS 13 (9350) was serviceable in good light. It’s color accurate, and while it’s not the sharpest I’ve ever looked, I would use this webcam on important video calls. I never had an issue with the IR camera for Windows Hello, which was swift and reliable.
For those who want to blur backgrounds or experiment with filters, Lunar Lake can use Windows Studio Effects.
Software and Warranty on the Dell XPS 13 (9350) Dell has its fair share of software preinstalled on the system, but it’s not overwhelming.
The primary app is MyDell, which has options to see other Dell applications, customize audio and adjust your display’s color profiles. There is a link for making network changes in another app, but it didn’t have an application for that on our review unit.
Dell Digital Delivery lets you install software purchased with your system, while SupportAssist gives you easy access to your service tag, performs hardware scans, and, surprisingly, features a working section to optimize your Wi-Fi network. Huh.
There’s also a trial of McAfee (Dell also includes a bookmark in the Edge browser, which cheapens the experience a bit).
Like most Windows notebooks, there are some links in the Start menu to the Windows store, including apps like Spotify and LinkedIn. Intel includes its Intel Unison app.
Bottom Line The latest Dell XPS 13 prioritizes efficiency over performance. If you get the version with the 1920 x 1200 screen and forego OLED, you can get almost 17 and a half hours of battery life. Not bad.
But there’s still the fact that there’s another XPS 13 out there, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite version, that lasted longer on our tests and offers stronger performance. What Intel’s Core Ultra Series 2 chips offer here are x86 compatibility. For those who do most of their work in a web browser, the XPS 13 (9345) with Snapdragon may be a better choice.
If you’re worried about software compatibility, though. That makes x86 the only game in town. That being said, other Lunar Lake laptops, like the Asus Zenbook S14, offer a more traditional design, including a headphone jack and standard function keys that are more accessible. It’s great to see Dell offer a variety of processors in its flagship laptop. Now it’s time to make it work for a greater variety of people.
