At Shortlist we like our phones like we like our tonic — slimline — so the latest handset from Samsung has captured our increasingly short attention.... sorry, where were we?

Ah, yes: the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is the thinnest Galaxy phone ever — and one of the thinnest phones ever made generally.

It is just 5.8mm thick, some 2mm slimmer than the regular S25. It’s an incredible design achievement and is the sort of phone that when you whip it out in your local pub, folks will put down their pint of mild to gawp at it.

But is the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge built for everyday use? Or is this a style icon that you’d rather lust after from afar?

I’ve been using the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge for a number of weeks now and here are 5 things you need to know…

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge: The core specs and key features

• Dimensions: 158.2 x 75.6 x 5.8mm — this is one of the thinnest phones on the planet.
• Weight: 163g — It's lighter than the rest of the S25 Range.
• Display: 6.7-inch (Quad HD+) — This is one of the best screens money can buy.
• Screen refresh rate: 120 Hz — the higher the refresh rate, the smoother the viewing.
• Rear camera: 200MP + 12MP — it's lost one camer compared to the Ultra, but that's not biggie.
• Front camera: 12MP — this is a decent quality for all those selfies.
• Memory: 12GB — There's plenty of grunt here to make sure the Edge doesn't slow.
• Storage: 256GB — This isn't the top when it comes to storage, but more than enough for most.
• OS: Android — While Samsung UI is overlaid, this is a decent Android experience.

1. My god, it’s thin. Really thin!

Samsung calls the S25 Edge ‘beyond thin’ and I can see why. The phone is impressively slim. The 5.8mm chassis size feels fantastic in the hand, like you're holding a piece of art. It’s built from titanium which gives it a solid feel, despite being wafer-thin. This metal has also inspired the colour names of the S25 Edge. There are three options: Titanium Jetblack, Titanium Silver, Titanium Icyblue.

Look at it face on and it has an impressive 6.68-inch panel, with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio that’s protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2. This level of protection is pretty much the norm for flagship phones but looks even better on a thinner phone.

Flip the phone around and the back is unfamiliar territory. The usual Samsung camera bump has disappeared and is replaced by a lozenge of two lenses and a sensor.

2. Thin in size but not in performance

On board is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor which is the equivalent of strapping a V8 engine to a tea tray. It’s super fast and I could flip between doom scrolling, game playing and email ignoring in seconds. Gaming was particularly fun, with the 120Hz refresh rate making things silky smooooth.

Add to this 12GB RAM, a 3900mAh battery and 25W charging. Now, that battery size is smaller than we're used to from a Samsung flagship device and is a compromise due to the small form factor of the chassis — more on this later, but it does feel like a forced compromise.

3. AI is here and it’s here to stay

Away from the hardware, the big push from Samsung in the last year or so is AI. And it is ever present in the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge.

Two of the more interesting AI features are the inclusion of Now Brief and Now Bar — these are round-ups of essential information to get you through the day, like weather reports, breaking news and the like. Now Brief is right there on your lock screen so can’t really be ignored. Other things like Circle To Search and Generative Edit, where you can remove objects from the background of photos using AI aren’t new but are really worthy features.

There’s 256GB of storage on board which is plenty, even if you are a photo fiend or still like having a record shop's worth of songs downloaded to your phone.

4. Cameras are ace, but streamlined

There are two cameras on the S25 Edge. Now, two is plenty — and both of the cameras on board are fantastic — but on the regular S25 range there are three cameras to choose from. The main camera uses a 200MP sensor, while the second camera is a 12MP ultrawide. On the front is a 12MP sensor, too.

You can also record video up to 8K and I found some really fun features here, including super slow motion shooting, night-ography mode, portrait enhancer, and super resolution zoom.

There are also specific modes for food photography (a nod to all those foodie influencers out there, a dedicated portrait mode and dual recording so you can record yourself and whatever you are looking at.

5. Battery could be better

With such a slight frame, something was going to have to give when it came to the Samsung S25 Galaxy Edge and it seems that it’s the battery. It’s not bad but I have been used to all day and then some, from the likes of the Nothing phone range. Here it’s around 12 hours which is a lot less than the rest of the S25 range.

I did manage to juice it up to around 50% in 30 minutes, though, so the fear of the thing losing power was more of a niggle than an outright anxiety attack.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge: Final Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is one of the best-looking handsets out there. It boasts brilliant AI smarts, fantastic performance power and two solid rear cameras. Its battery life could be better but this phone is a stunning piece of technological design — If it means a few hours have to be shaved off the battery to achieve this, then I am all for it.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is available now, starting from £1,099.

"Hello Moto". We all remember that phrase, right? Don't pretend you didn't just read it and try to replicate the voice of the 2005 advert that revealed the Razr over two decades ago. Motorola might not be as well known as the likes of Apple and Samsung in the smartphone world these days, but despite it being 21 years since the original Razr, that iconic device lives on.

The company - now owned by Lenovo - has announced its latest line up of devices for 2025 and along with a new smartwatch that looks considerably like an Apple Watch and some very blingy Swarovski-adorned Bose-tuned earbuds, Motorola has revealed the latest Razr folding phones in the Razr 60 and Razr 60 Ultra. The latter is the more exciting of the two, and there are seven key things you really ought to know.

1) It comes in a smooth, sexy, suede-like finish

In a first for a smartphone, one of the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra's four finishes sees the company team up with Italian brand Alcantara to deliver a soft, suede-like texture in a gorgeous green colour called Pantone Scarab. The material is one you'll find in high-end cars, furniture and fashion, and while it might not be everyone's cup of tea, it's certainly more exciting than cold aluminium and glass.

There are three other finishes if the Alcantara finish isn't your vibe however, with the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra also available in a wood finish called Pantone Mountain Trial, a Pantone Rio Red leather-inspired finish and a Pantone Cabaret satin-inspired option that is bright pink. The standard Razr 60 also comes in four colour options, but there's no Alcantara for the standard model so if you like the idea of a suede smartphone, it's the Ultra model you'll need.

2) There's a flagship-level processor

Motorola's Razr 50 Ultra last year was a great phone but it didn't run on the fastest processor available. It opted for Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, which was a slight drop down from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 that Samsung put into its Galaxy Z Flip 6 which launched a couple of months after the Razr.

Motorola has gone all out for the Razr 60 Ultra however, with the Snapdragon 8 Elite running the show. That's the same chipset you'll find in many of the latest Android flagship phones, from the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra to the OnePlus 13. It's supported by 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage, and it will allow this flip phone to compete with Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 7 due out later this summer. For now, Motorola claims the Radar 60 Ultra is the most powerful flip phone in the world.

3) It's the first flip phone with Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramics

Motorola's Razr has long been praised for its functional external display. It's one of the better flip phones out there for offering a display you can actually do something with, whether running multiple apps or featuring handy widgets without having to flip the phone open. The Razr 60 Ultra has increased the brightness of the 4-inch external display to 3,500 nits from 2,400 nits, which should make using it in direct sunlight easier, and it has also added Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic protection too.

It's the first smartphone to offer this protection (so we were told), said to be 10 times better in terms of drop performance, so if you're someone with slippery hands, this is great news for you. According to Motorola, the Razr 60 Ultra's external display is also now the strongest ever, though again, we will have to take its word for that.

4) It's the strongest Razr ever

Speaking of strength, there's a new hinge on the Razr 60 Ultra. If you've ever considered a flip phone, you've probably paused to contemplate how long it will actually survive. The titanium reinforced hinge on this device is aiming to address those concerns though, while its dust resistance has been upgraded from the previous Razr model to IP48.

5) It will give you a day's charge in 8 mins

Not all smartphones out there have fast charging, but the ones that do are excellent for those of us who forget to charge our phone the night before, or need a phone to last all day and into the evening.

The Motorola Razr 60 Ultra has a 4,700mAh battery, which is a higher capacity than the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6. But that's not the important part. It's the fact that this flip phone supports 67W fast charging that you should be paying attention to, with Motorola claiming you'll get a day's worth of power after 8 minutes of charging.

6) The display is Pantone validated

Motorola is going hard on its Pantone-collaboration, not only having the company consult on its colour ranges (the colour names probably gave that away), but the fact that all the displays across the 2025 range are "Pantone Validated".

That includes the 7-inch internal display that has a 4,500 nits brightness with support for a 165Hz refresh rate, while the ultra thin glass layer is said to reduce creasing by 30 per cent for what Motorola says is the smoothest ever display.

7) There's a lot of AI — like SO much

Like all phones these days, Motorola has jumped on the AI-hype train. The Razr 60 Ultra doesn't just have Motorola's own Moto AI on board, which offers a number of features, but it has partnered with multiple AI agents too making this one AI-heavy phone. There's Microsoft’s Co-Pilot, Google's Gemini, Meta's Llama 3 and it's the first phone to feature Perplexity too. It also has a dedicated AI button on the left edge.

When it comes to the Moto AI features, a couple of new additions include Group Shot within the camera offering, capturing multiple frames to ensure you get a group photo with everyone smiling and eyes open. It's similar to Google's Best Take on Pixel phones. There's also something called Next Move, which is contextually aware and predicts what you might want to do based on what's on your screen, while Playlist Studio allows you to put in any request you want for a playlist.

• Nothing Phone (3a) Pro review — nothing short of fantastic

After plenty of speculation, Apple has finally revealed its latest iPhone — the nice-and-affordable iPhone 16e, a handset that seemingly marks the end of the line for the company's SE branding.

The iPhone 16e has a simplified, slicker design than the iPhone 16 and is something of a throwback — featuring only one 48MP camera on the back, which is no doubt a relief for anyone with trypophobia. The camera can also shoot 4K at 60fps for anyone who plans to use the phone to record video.

In many ways, the iPhone 16e has been streamlined of features, compared to the rest of Apple's current suite of phones. Still, the lower price point will be an attractive proposition for any Apple heads out there who're long overdue an upgrade but don't want to break the bank.

Want to know more about the new Apple phone? Of course you do! Here are 5 things you need to know about the iPhone 16e...

1. iPhone 16e is the cheapest iPhone 16

The most crucial detail about any new tech release will be how much the it costs, with the iPhone 16e priced at a reasonable $599 / £599 for the lowest storage version (128GB). There will also be a 256GB and 512GB version, but there is currently no information regarding how much these options will set you back.

2. See ya later to the Home button, but welcome back notch

The notch (the small black dropdown at the top of the screen) was first featured on iPhones in 2017 before being phased out entirely in 2023 in favour of the Dynamic Island, which offers even more screen.

Now, the notch has returned, but unlike the most recent budget iPhone, the SE 3, the Home button at the bottom of the phone has disappeared and moves to the edge, in line with the current iterations of the iPhone.

The notch is dangling above a Super Retina XDR screen with a 12MP TrueDepth camera hiding inside. Face ID is also included with this model, which users can use to unlock the device and service any authentication needs.

3. Battery life is beefy

Another aspect of any phone crucial for modern-day life is how long the battery lasts. Thanks to the new Apple-designed C1 chip, the iPhone 16e gets 26 hours of juice on a single charge, according to Apple.

The battery on my phone (not an iPhone) is essentially shot, so not needing to charge it in the office before my commute is a promise I hope Apple can deliver on.

4. Apple Intelligence is on board, so you can disengage your brain

As Apple continues to promote its Apple Intelligence AI features, this phone is built with that specifically in mind, housing plenty of useful artificial intelligence enhancements, from an image Clean-Up tool to a natural language search that can cater to all your translation needs when away from home.

ChatGPT is also integrated into Siri and Writing Tools, so there is no need to bounce between apps to get the best out of it and efficiently utilise it. A welcome decision for those who have no interest in using ChatGPT and bowing down to the AI overlords, it can easily be turned off. As with the rest of the current iPhone range, the 16e will run iOS 18.

5. When can I get my grubby mitts on the iPhone 16e?

Pre-orders for the iPhone 16e start on Friday, February 21st, before being shipped on February 28th. So you could have one of these bad boys in your pocket in no time. Once again, the phone features USB-C and wireless charging, and it comes in matte black or matte white, although we will have to see if more colours arrive for the phone later down the line.

• Read up on the 8 (literally) hidden features of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro.

Image Credits: Apple

As tick follows tock, Apple released a new round of iPhones in September 2024, and they’re all better than the models that came before. That’s a given at this point, but where things really get interesting is whether or not it’s worth paying the extra £200 to jump from the entry-level iPhone 16 to the more premium iPhone 16 Pro.

In previous years, that was a relatively easy decision to make. The Pro model not only used nicer materials, but had better cameras, a better display, and more. But while some of that remains true, it’s also accurate to say that the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro are more similar than previous iterations ever were. And that can make a buying decision more complicated.

So with that being said, here are 10 ways to convince yourself that the iPhone 16 Pro is the phone for you.

1. I am titaaaaaaniuuuuum

The iPhone 16 is made from an aluminum construction which looks great in a new range of glorious colors. But if you’re all about premium materials the iPhone 16 Pro’s titanium is where it’s at. It’s just a shame that the colors are so muted compared to the non-Pro model.

2. Putting on a display

Unlike the 2023 lineup, there’s actually a size difference between the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro’s displays this year. The former has the familiar 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display while the latter stretches that to 6.3 inches. It has smaller bezels as a result, but you’ll also get 120Hz ProMotion support (for smoother animations and scrolling) and Always-On display support as well. Both are huge deals and arguably worth the price of admission alone.

3. Pro performance

This year’s iPhone 16 Pro has the A18 Pro beating at its heart, while the iPhone 16 has to settle for the equally new A18. The differences? The Pro gains an additional GPU core, improving gaming performance. That chip is also faster, albeit barely so. Still, every little helps.

4. A photographer’s iPhone

The iPhone 16 Pro, as has become the norm, has one extra camera to laud over the iPhone 16 in the form of a 5x tetraprism telephoto lens. That’s great for taking shots of far-away things, as you’d expect, but it isn’t the only difference here. While both models have an ultra wide camera, only the iPhone 16 Pro received an upgrade to 48 megapixels this year, offering a sharper image and more flexibility.

5. Not all USB-C ports are created equal

Sticking with the photography theme, people who take a lot of photos or capture a tonne of video on their iPhone will know that getting those files onto a computer can be an exercise in frustration. While the iPhone 16 has a USB-C port, it’s limited to just USB 2 transfer speeds. Upgrade to the iPhone 16 Pro and you’ll experience USB 3 speeds which promise up to 20x faster transfer times.

6. More storage than you can shake a stick at

Whether it’s videos or games, those who have big storage needs are going to need to go Pro. The iPhone 16 is available in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB configurations while the iPhone 16 Pro offers a 1TB option at the very top of the range.

7. Pro iPhone, pro video features

It’s no secret that the iPhone is a favourite among creatives, and pro videographers already know that they’re going to go Pro year after year. It’s no different with the iPhone 16 Pro thanks to support for advanced video features like Log video recording, compatibility with the Academy Color Encoding System, and support for slo-mo video recording up to 120fps at 1080p resolution. There’s even support for ProRes video recording at up to 4K and 120fps when connected to an external storage device. You won’t get any of that with an iPhone 16.

8. A battery life monster

It’s no good having all of the new Apple Intelligence features, great cameras, and a triple-A gaming experience if the battery won’t last. And the iPhone 16 Pro ups the ante here, too. Apple says buyers can expect up to 27 hours of video playback (22 hours on the iPhone 16) and 22 hours of streamed video playback (80 hours on the iPhone 16.) Both support MagSafe, Qi2, and wired USB-C charging, though.

9. Great now, even better in the future?

We can’t deny that neither of these iPhones is cheap, which means getting the best value possible is key. Most people don’t change their iPhones each year, and new software adds new features regularly. But only last year’s iPhone 15 Pro is getting Apple Intelligence which leaves iPhone 15 buyers high and dry. Could something similar happen in the future? We don’t know, but we do know that the iPhone 16 Pro’s A18 Pro chip offers more headroom, and that means it’ll be snappier for longer, no matter what.

10. Taking a macro look at life

Back to photography again, the iPhone 16 Pro’s ultrawide camera offers improved macro capabilities thanks to that upgraded 48-megapixel sensor. If you’re someone who takes lots of shots of really small things, all those extra pixels could make all the difference.

Ultimately, both of these iPhones are great additions to the lineup and worthy upgrades for iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro owners. Which you choose will depend on your needs, but those who are really serious about the iPhone’s cameras have already made their mind up — it’s the iPhone 16 Pro all day long. For everyone else? The iPhone 16 is a great iPhone, and it’s all the better for those gorgeous colours, too.

• AirPods 4: 10 things you need to know about Apple's next-gen in-ears

We wouldn’t say mobile gaming has become a cesspit of mindless time-wasters and pay-to-win monetisation, but it sometimes appears to be heading that way.

Thank Jobs for Apple Arcade. Apple Arcade offers unlimited access to a hundred or so mobile games for the monthly price of a pint of beer. It still only costs £4.99 a month, yet the game roster has ballooned in size over the ensuing years.

UPDATE: We've added 10 titles to our list of must-play Apple Arcade smash hits. From the quick-fire arcade fun of Crossy Road+ to the cosy idyll of Japanese Rural Life Adventure, we think there's something for just about everyone here. Check out our new picks, and don't forget to upvote your favourites.

These aren’t just any mobile games either. These are premium, crafted experiences from some of the most talented names in the industry. Some of them debuted on Apple Arcade, while others are essentially polished-up and fleshed-out examples of pre-existing mobile games.

There’s a one-month free trial available to all iOS users, and a three-month trial for anyone who buys a new Apple gadget, so we’d recommend just diving in. But if you’d like some tips on where to start with Apple Arcade, check out these 29 beauts.

Already tried some? Upvote your favourites so we can hunt down the internet’s ultimate Apple Arcade game.

Additional reporting: John McCann

Best Apple Arcade games

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SOMETHING MISSING FROM OUR SHORTLIST?

Tell us about it, and if enough people agree we'll add it in.

The Google Pixel Pro range has slowly but surely established itself as the Android phone to go for, thanks to the software that powers the thing.

First up, is Android: you get the purest experience of this OS on a Pixel phone. Then there’s the camera smarts: marrying fantastic lenses with cutting-edge AI, the pictures you can take are stunning (and if they’re not then you can significantly change them, as you will read).

Add to this hardware that has improved with every new launch and what you have is not just a flagship of Google’s phone range, but a phone series that showcases the best of Android. Does the new Pixel Pro 8 continue this quality tradition?

ShortList has spent a week or so with the Google Pixel 8 Pro - here are 5 things to know…

1. The screen is super bright

The Pixel Pro 8 has the brightest screen yet on a Pixel handset - and it shows. The screen is some 42% brighter than the Pixel 7.

The screen is using tech that Google is calling Super Actua display. The main USP for the screen being brighter is pretty obvious: that when you are looking at the thing in sunshine - and it’s been a lot harsher sun of late, given we have hit Autumn in the UK - then you can actually see what you want to see.

The phone does use adaptive brightness, so I didn’t always get this brightness. But I never found myself reaching for the brightness slider to up it.

2. The design is sharper, still Pixel perfect

I have always loved the design of the Pixel phones, more so since Google added in the cool-looking camera bar on the back.

This time, Google has opted for a sharper frame. Gone are the smoother, more rounded edges of the 7 Pro and now there’s a flat surface. This is a very good thing. Just because you can bend OLED, doesn’t really mean you should and I prefer the flat screen - 6.7-inch, 120 Hz - for Netflix watching as it makes use of the full screen.

It also makes the phone feel better in the hand. And when I say that, I mean I didn’t feel like I was going to drop the thing. The back of the device is now matte, too, which seems to add to this grip,

As for the rest of the design, the camera bar is back and packed with imaging smarts.

3. Cameras have been upgraded but it’s the software that surprises

There Pixel Pro 8 has three cameras on the rear: 50MP Main; 48MP Wide Angle; 48MP 4x Telephoto. Both the camera sensor and lenses have been updated and they make for better, more light-filled shots.

Google has always been a master when it comes to photography on its phones but this time it really feels like the hardware matches up with the ingenious software smarts.

In my tests, the macro photography has improved and a new Pro mode allows for manual adjustments to focus, shutter speed and ISO.

Google has also adjusted its software, making more use of AI. One of the new standout features is something called Best Take. This is where it will look at a series of images you have shot and sort of mash ‘em together to create the best picture. When it comes to taking pictures of people, this may mean slicing a smiley face out of one shot and replacing a sad face in another. It’s certainly not perfect, but this cut-and-paste technique to find the perfect shot is certainly ambitious.

Add to this Unblur, Magic Editor (which is in Beta but allows you to literally move people in pictures to a better position) and Magic Eraser and what you have is a sophisticated suite of editing tools all in the phone.

4. Battery is better, more optimised

There is a new chipset in the Pixel 8 Pro and while we thought that would affect battery life, given its a powerful processor it really doesn’t. If anything, the battery life on the Pixel 8 Pro is better than its predecessor, lasting a whole day and then some.

You get faster charging, too. Well, slightly faster. Wireless charging is the same - up to 23W, but you will need the fancy new Pixel stand to get that speed. Wired charging is now a battery 30W.

5. You’ll be getting updates for years

One of the best features of the Pixel 8 Pro is nothing to do with the phone now, but where it will be in seven years’ time. For those who really aren’t fussed about changing your handset every year, the Pixel 8 Pro is guaranteed to have seven years’ worth of updates. This includes OS upgrades, security updates and regular Feature Drops.

This is a great incentive by Google to buy into its ecosystem and one that no other phone company seems to be doing right now.

Google Pixel 8 Pro: Final Verdict

The Google Pixel 8 Pro is well deserving of its flagship status. With upgraded cameras and AI software flourishes that impress, it is a powerful, impressive smartphone.

Couple this with a redesigned chassis that does away with the curved screen and some fancy new colours that go beyond the rather boring black and white (the Bay Blue looks fantastic) and what you have is another great Google handset.

Quite why Google decided to add a temperature sensor into the mix with the phone’s features is anyone’s guess - but that’s the only real heat we can give this Pixel phone.

Get the Google Pixel 8 Pro now from Google's official store, from £999.

Over recent years Google has managed to create hardware that matches the brilliance of its software.

The pinnacle of this came recently with the launch of the Google Pixel 7 and Google Pixel 7 Pro: two smartphones that not only offer the best version of Android but have hardware smarts that make you think twice about picking up a rival handset... any rival handset.

Now, Google is back in its Pixel 7 playground, with the launch of the Google Pixel 7a - a cut-price version of its flagship range.

It may have only just been revealed at Google I/O but ShortList has had the handset as its daily driver for some time now and reckon that, when it comes to the mid-range, it doesn't get much better than this.

Here are 5 things to know about the Google Pixel 7a...

1. It's practically Pixel 7 in its looks

You would be forgiven in thinking that the Pixel 7a is the Pixel 7 as looks and build wise, it's almost identical. It's got pretty much the same chassis (it's slightly smaller in height) measuring 72.9 x 152.4 x 9.0g and the screen is also the same size, at 6.1 inches.

The actual material is it made from is more durable than that of its predecessors. In Google parlance, there's Ano frame architecture surrounding the screen. essentially the back isn't made of glass, but plastic, like it is on the others in the 7 series.

The Pixel 7a has IP67 protection, so good for water splashes and the like and the display is Gorilla Glass so should be scratch resistant (we didn't ket the thing but haven't noticed any dints so far). Oh, and the glass, aluminium and plastic that's used is recycled.

There is a thinner camera array that's nestled within the familiar 3D aluminium strip, while the same speaker grills are situated on the bottom of the device. There seems to be an extra antenna strip at the top of the device, while the on/off and volume slider is also in the same position.

2. The Pixel 7a screen is big, bright and adaptive

The Pixel 7a has a 90Hz screen, which is the same as the Pixel 7 (the Pro can go up to 120Hz). This is a decent screen refresh rate bump from the Google Pixel 6a and while it might not reach the 120Hz that the Samsung Galaxy A54 offers, we found no judder when flicking between apps and game, watching Netflix and the like.

On Netflix: the 6.1-inch screen is a lovely size to watch movies and shows on the go on. The brightness is adaptive, too. This worked best when heading outside, where the screen got brighter to counteract the sun, then going back into a darker room - it was quick and accurate.

We only had to manual toggle the brightness a few times, mostly to make the screen a little darker when doom scrolling with the lights out.

3. Google's UI is still fantastic and works great on the 7a

One of the best things about using a Google Pixel phone is the UI. Google's Material means that you can choose a different wallpaper style and that style will follow throughout the whole of the phone. We prefer the solid color and the way this theme runs throughout the whole UI is really neat.

You can also theme the icons, but this is currently in Beta and when we tried this, only a few of the icons actually changed color.

The pureness of Android 13 on the Pixel 7a makes using this phone a joy. From seamlessly jumping through apps and services to customising the look of the UI to my liking, I was really impressed.

4. Performance is still punchy, thanks to Google's chip

Google really hasn't scrimped on its specs, when it comes to the Google Pixel 7a. It's decided to keep its top-notch sensor for the Google Pixel 7a.

The Google Tensor G2 is Google's next-gen processor, which is paired with 8GB RAM, that has been custom-built for Pixel. It's super speedy and means that there are a number of interesting and pretty unique features that the phone offers. The ones we liked playing with included Photo Unblur, real-time translation and voice message transcription tools. There was also some pretty impressive phone management tech.

At A Glance was decent, too, taking information from our calendar to make sure we know when we should be leaving for a meeting and the like. It's not perfect, but it certainly stopped us jumping through many apps to figure out just what we were doing on any given day.

When it comes to battery, the great news here is that Google has added wireless charging back into its A range, with the Pixel 7a.

Battery life itself was solid but not outstanding. We found ourselves having to charge by the end of the day. It's worth noting that battery life actually got better the more we used the phone, though. This is because it learns what apps you are using regularly and the ones you don't, adapting the power accordingly.

There are some decent options to extend the battery life, too, though Extreme Battery Saver. Google reckons you can get up 72 hours battery life, if you turn this on but what you can do with th phone is limited.

5. Cameras get a big upgrade from the Pixel 6a

The cameras on the Google Pixel 6a were as follows: 12.2MP wide, 12MP ultra-wide, 8MP selfie. They were good! But 7a has completely overhauled its camera, upgrading to a whopping: 64MP, 13MP ultra-wide and a 13MP selfie.

These cameras are fantastic and are coupled with some great AI features.

Like the Pixel 7a, you can use the Magic Eraser to get rid of people and objects in the background of shots. There's also a one-touch long exposure feature which adds some nice blur to images.

I also really liked the Night Sight functionality - it's faster than ever before and works really well enhancing what light there is in the shot.

Google has also sorted out the skin tone in its camera shots, so no matter the color of your skin it should be replicated authentically, thanks to something called Color Tone.

Google Pixel 7a: Final Verdict

I was really impressed using the Google Pixel 7a. Yes, Google has slimmed down the specs and used slightly cheaper material to make its new handset but the cuts that have been made are minimal.

And if you compare the phone to its actual predecessor, the 6a, then the upgrades are substantial.

There is a price for this, though. Google has priced this handset at $499 / £449. This is a $50 / £50 markup. I think it's worth it, but it may make those who are on a budget look elsewhere.

The Google Pixel 7a is available to buy now.

• Fancy a Google flagship? Here's out Google Pixel 7 Pro review

The first mobile phone call was made 50 years ago this year. This got us thinking: what are the best mobile phones of all time?

With the likes of the Motorola razr proving that there is life in digging up the past, it seems that people just love their old phones.

But what are the greatest phones of all time? Not from a power and performance point of view, but a nostalgia one - the best retro phones, if you will.

Here's our list of the greatest, now vintage, phones the world has ever seen. A world when we didn't use our phone to stream Netflix, rather play a little game called Snake. Don't forget to vote for your favourite and if it isn't on the list, then let us know!

Best retro phones

• The WantList: amazing things to buy this week and beyond

SOMETHING MISSING FROM OUR SHORTLIST?

Tell us about it, and if enough people agree we'll add it in.

Samsung has announced its latest phone line-up, the 'awesome' (well colour-wise at least) Samsung Galaxy A54 and A34 range.

The world of mid-range phones is a far cry from where it used to be. Now, for hundreds less than what it will cost you to buy a flagship, you are getting handsets that are packed with specs and riddled with innovation.

Enter the Samsung Galaxy A54 and A34 line-up. These phones supersede last year's Galaxy A53 and A33 phones and do a commendable job of distilling specs from the Galaxy S23 into a more affordable handsets.

ShortList spent some time with both handsets this week: here are 5 things you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy A54 and A35 smartphone range.

1. Their screens are the same... but different

The Samsung Galaxy A54 and Galaxy A53 have the same technology powering their screens. Both pack a 120Hz FHD+ AMOLED panel, which is protected by Gorilla Glass 5.

But there screen sizes are slightly different. The more expensive A54 actually has the smaller screen, at 6.4 inches. It has a punch-hole selfie camera in the centre of that screen. Samsung calls this an Infinity-O screen

The slightly cheaper Galaxy A34 has a bigger 6.6-inch screen but instead of the punch-hole camera it comes with an Infinity-U screen, which means there's a tiny notch that the selfie camera rests in.

2. Cameras are key to the A54 and A34 range

Although they have different camera arrays (more on this in a mo), cameras are key to both handsets and they are presented on the back of the phones in the same way as seen on the Galaxy S23 range. This is a big design win for Samsung's new phone range as it doesn't have an ugly camera bump, but a rather neat array of floating lenses.

In terms of quality, the A54 has a brand-new 50MP lens, while Optical Image Stabilisation has been improved across the board, as has video stabilisation.

The full camera specs are as follows:

Samsung Galaxy A54

• 12MP Ultra-Wide Camera
• 50MP Main Camera
• 5MP Macro Camera
• 32MP Front Camera

Samsung Galaxy A34

• 8MP Ultra-Wide Camera
• 48MP Main Camera
• 5MP Macro Camera
• 13MP Front Camera

3 Battery life is (probably) immense

There's a 5,000mAh battery on board both the Galaxy A34 and Glalaxy A54. While this is the same battery as found in the Galaxy S23, the processing power in these phones is less which means that the battery life is significantly upped.

Samsung reckons the battery in these handset will last you for two whole days. Obviously this needs to be tested but anything that lasts past a day, after some heavy Twitter doom scrolling, is decent in our books.

4 The colours are AWESOME

Why? Well, that's the name Samsung gave the colours that the Galaxy A54 and A34 come in. Having seen them up close, we think they are decent but would like to go on record saying that Samsung may have gone a little OTT with its colour naming conventions.

You can get the Galaxy A54 and A34 range in the following colours: Awesome Lime, Awesome Graphite, Awesome Violet.

The Samsung Galaxy A54 also some in: Awesome White, while the best colourway is saved for the Galaxy A34 which is Awesome Silver. This one really is awesome as it's a gradient paint job that shimmers when you move the thing.

Awesome.

5 The price is (nearly) alright...

The Samsung Galaxy A34 is the best-priced handset here and will come in at £349 for the 6GB + 128GB version. This is upped to £399 for the 8GB RAM + 256GB version.

It gets a little pricier if you want the more supped-up Samsung Galaxy A54. This one starts as £449 for the 8GB RAM + 128GB version and hits £499 for the 8GB RAM + 256GB.

We think that top price is a little on the high side for what you are getting but at least there's a nice range of prices to choose from, when the phones hit shelves sometime in March.

• Need something to watch on your phone? Well, head to our What To Watch guide!

The OnePlus 11 comes at a time when OnePlus has been experimenting with its flagship line-up. Before last year, it decided it would offer three variants: A standard OnePlus, a Pro version and an updated T version later in the year. It was up to the consumer to decide which they preferred, Goldilocks' style.

Last year, we saw a shift, with no standard version launched. Instead we got the 'just-right' OnePlus 10 Pro and the later-released OnePlus 10T.

Skip to 2023 and things have gotten simpler still - well, it's only February so there's still time for complications - but for now we just have OnePlus 11 5G. No Pro nomenclature, no need when it comes to this flagship.

The OnePlus 11 is a phone that sees OnePlus back into its comfort zone. Its partnership with Hasselblad for the camera side of things has gained momentum, the processing and screen tech is top notch and we have a design that won't be for everyone but it's certainly eye-catching.

And the good news is that this is a flagship which brings OnePlus closer to its original intention as a brand: to offer high-end phones for a budget-conscious price.

We've been using the OnePlus 11 for a number of weeks now: here are five things you need to know...

1. The One Plus 11 specs are impressive

We'll start with the screen. At 6.7 inches, it's the same size as the 10 Pro so even though the Pro name has been done away with, this handset is packing that level of specs. The screen is made from Gorilla Glass Victus, is 2K and up to 120Hz (it does ratchet all the way down to 1Hz).

The OnePlus 11 5G has both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos on board, so this is a handset primed for video streaming and gaming.

When I used the device, there wasn't a hint of judder when flipping through apps and the like (its processor is the super-powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2).

The screen was bright and responsive and while we still aren't hugely convinced by OnePlus' automatic brightness setting, I did love the fact that when you control it manually it takes you to the main screen, instead of having to guess the brightness when you are in the settings.

I also liked the personalisation that comes with the OnePlus. It's easy to move rows of apps up and down the home screen and the widgets can be changed and shifted in seconds, without going into myriad settings.

2. The OnePlus 11 design is high end

I was given the Eternal Green variant of the OnePlus 11 to review - this is the more powerful handset, packing 16GB / 256GB). This is a glossy affair so you will be wiping away the fingerprints off the back of the thing. I haven't played with the black version (8GB / 128GB) but that has more of a matte finish. I would say that unlike the Pixel 7 range, the OnePlus 11 didn't feel like it was going to constantly slip out of my hand but the slip factor is certainly there.

The design of the OnePlus 11 is decent, with a small chrome border separating the back and the front of the device. On the left-hand side is a volume rocker, on the right is the power button and I was very pleased to see an old favourite back on the scene. That's right: the alert slider is back. There is something about physically moving from vibrate to ring to silent that is very appealing so it's great to have it back.

I wasn't as enamoured by the fact that the handset has an IP64 rating. This is fine if you get caught in the rain but unlike the majority of other flagships on the market. It's not a deal breaker but the fact that many phones can now survive a dreaded bath dip, we're surprised the rating is quite the full IP68.

3. The cameras come full circle

Flip the OnePlus 11 over and this is when the design choices may divide opinion. Recently I got to try out the Samsung Galaxy S23 range and I praised it for essentially doing away with the camera bump - instead it just had the lenses protruding slightly from the back of the device.

There is none of that with the OnePlus 11. Its camera bump screams: I AM A CAMERA PHONE, with its three lenses and flash in a circle that blends into the frame of the device from the left-hand side.

Now, I like the design. I prefer it to the lozenge look on the back of the OnePlus 10 Pro and it really does highlight that OnePlus is serious about its camera technology and, just as importantly, its partnership with Hasselblad.

In fact the Hasselblad logo slices through the middle of the camera bump, the lip of which fits nicely to the edge of your finger when you are holding the handset.

This partnership can be seen in the photos the camera takes. First up, the lenses on board are fantastic. There's a: 50MP main sensor, 48MP ultra-wide, and 32MP portrait lens (also telephoto) on the rear and the front-facing 16MP camera (which is top left on the display).

The new portrait lens really adds depth to any face photos you are taking and I was impressed with the intelligent software features that were offered. This is where the Hasselblad connection comes in, with each photo taken given a software flourish by the camera giants.

I really liked the look of the lighting and the detail but your preference may well be to have a much more natural picture that you can tweak yourself in post.

I think the addition of this lens is more in keeping with the majority of the photos taken on the OnePlus 11 but it does mean that those looking for a dedicated telephoto zoom will need to look elsewhere.

There's also some great functionality with the ability to use the selfie cam while filming something (called Dual View Video) in front of you, offering a nice 'reaction' shot style video. Oh, an if you fancy shooting in 8K then there is that option on the OnePlus 11.

4. A punchy performance makes this great for games

Inside the OnePlus 11 is a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset which makes it ideal for gaming. We tried COD Mobile on the thing and it played beautifully - the handset did get a tad warm while playing (there is cooling on board, the Cryovelocity VC Cooling system) but nothing out of the ordinary when compared to other models.

When gaming everything specs-wise can be upped to make sure that you can have the best gaming experience possible - it does drain the battery a bit, though. It's impressive stuff and the 6.7-inch screen means there's plenty of real estate to make gaming a pleasure on the OnePlus 11.

The 120Hz screen made sure everything was fluid, too, which made for a rich, rewarding gaming experience.

Netflix HDR streaming was a joy, too. The screen is really impressive for this and while there isn't a headphone jack, the inclusion of Atmos makes for a really expansive audio experience.

5. Battery is beefy but lacks wireless charging

There is a big battery on the OnePlus 11: it uses a hearty a big 5,000mAh battery. Couple this with the AI functionality on board, which prioritises and de-prioritises features as and when they are needed and we got a decent use out of the thing.

We found that even by bedtime (around 10pm) there was usually 30-35% left. This did leave us with the option to not charge overnight, then give it a quick charge in the morning.

And when we say quick, the OnePlus 11 uses 80W SuperVOOC charging which gets the phone to 100% in around 30 minutes.

This almost meant that I didn't miss the lack of wireless charging. While there is ease of use of just putting a phone on a charger, rather than having to plug it in, this has always been a 'nice to have' rather than 'must have' option for me.

OnePlus 11: Final Verdict

When looking at the OnePlus 11 in comparison to other flagships, it's really the price that stands out. The handset is available for a starting price of $699 / £729 (8GB, 128GB, black).

For flagship looks and specs, a camera that's more than capable and a battery life which is one of the best on the market it really is a great deal of phone for the money.

The lack of waterproofing and wireless charging may lose it some fans but given it comes in cheaper than the Google Pixel 7 range and WAY cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy S23 range, this certainly feels like a contender.

The best thing with the price and the fact there's just one version of the OnePlus 11 available right now (albeit with variants in the specs) it proves that OnePlus has gone back to getting the basics right - and that's what people loved about the brand at the start.

Head to OnePlus' official site now to pre-order the OnePlus 11.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 comes at a time when smartphone sales are slumping. According to The International Data Corporation, handset sales fell by some 18 per cent at the end of 2022 which is an eye-watering amount. With a cost-of-living crisis eating away at everyone’s hard-earned, who could blame them?

That doesn’t mean that there aren't those out there who are looking to get their hands on a shiny new gadget - it just means that it’s going to take your average phone buyer a bit more convincing than it once did. And quite rightly, too.

Enter the Samsung Galaxy S23 range. A three-fold series of phones which consists of: the Samsung Galaxy S23, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

I have been reviewing phones for well over 15 years now and have seen a huge amount of innovation in that time. Innovation, however, takes a huge amount of processing power - something Samsung may well have cracked in its latest handsets.

I was lucky enough to get hands-on with the new Samsung Galaxy range recently: here are five things to know…

1. Design is distinct but very familiar

Choosing between the S23 and S23 Plus all depends on size preference. The Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus are practically the same phone hardware wise, with just battery- and screen-size the, albeit big, differentiators.

With the Samsung Galaxy S23 you get a 6.1-inch screen (a dynamic OLED with Vision Booster tech); the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus' display is 6.6 inches, with the same tech. Both screens offer 120Hz scrolling, so judder is a thing of the past.

In my hand, the S23 was the better fit but there was something endearing about the S23 Plus. The screen is a smidge under the size of the iPhone 14 Pro Max and the Google Pixel 7 Pro (both 6.7 inches) and the build quality of the thing meant that it was nowhere near as slippy as the otherwise impressive Pixel 7 Pro.

We are now in an age where a once chunky 6.1-inch screen now feels modest but, for me, it was plenty of real estate. I was impressed with the brightness of the screens, too. Samsung has definitely improved this with the S23 range, but if you want a real bump in brightness then head over to the Galaxy S23 Ultra

2. Ultra stands for ‘ultra’ cool

The Samsung Galaxy Ultra is one good-looking handset. I was impressed with the design of the thing, even if it’s not a million miles away from the look of the S22 Ultra (we couldn’t really tell the difference until we flipped the thing over).

It’s quite a bit boxier than its S23 Plus and S23 brethren, with its edges squared off. This is complemented by a 6.7-inch curved screen which clocks in at an ultra-bright 1,750 nits.

It’s protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2 which is a good thing as you wouldn’t want anything to damage the rather beautiful 6.8-inch Super AMOLED display.

While the screen is curved at the edges, Samsung is offering a flatter display than before which is great for the all-important S Pen. This stylus was first introduced into the Ultra range last year and this marked the end of the Note line.

It makes sense having the S Pen on board and I found it incredibly easy to use. It felt like Samsung has improved the latency of the stylus but I couldn’t get this confirmed. And I really like the Air Gestures functionality that the stylus offers.

The biggest differences for the S23 range from its predecessor, though, is two-fold: the cameras and the processing power. First up, the cameras...

3. Camera go to infinity... and beyond

The design of all three handsets from the S23 range may well look similar to what has gone before but flip the phones over and the camera arrays really stand out - actually, the reason that they stand out is because they actually don’t!

Instead of having a camera bump, the lenses are built straight into the chassis, which makes for a unique and, I think, fantastic and much cleaner look.

The S23 and S23 Plus have the same camera specs. There’s a 50MP wide lens, a 12MP ultrawide lens, and a 10MP optically stabilized 3X optical zoom lens on board.

When it comes to the front camera, there’s now a 12MP sensor instead of the 40MP sensor that was available before.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has a bigger camera array. On its back is: a 2MP ultrawide lens, dual 3x and 10x 10MP telephoto sensors.

The big ticket item here, though, is the massive 200MP main camera. Yep, that’s right - it’s an absolute beast and while it’s all done with clever pixel binning, the notion that you can get 200MP stills from this thing is a little mind-blowing.I couldn’t test this out in our time with the S23 Ultra but the mere fact this technology is on board brought a smile to my photographic eye. The front-facing camera is the same 12MP sensor seen in the range.

Oh, and the really big news is that ALL of the phones have an Astro Mode, which means it's easier to take shots of stars and planets (just make sure you have a tripod at hand). I was expecting this to be just on the S23 Ultra so it's great news that it's a feature on all the phones.

Surely, with all this camera tech the processor powering the Samsung S23 must be hefty, we hear you cry? Well, that brings us nicely on to…

4. The S23 processor just got a massive power-up

Samsung isn’t playing around when it comes to the processing power found in the S23 line-up. It’s making very good use of its own bespoke Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor.

No, don’t panic: we’re not going to get too geeky about chipsets here but this is huge news for Samsung fans. Before, the quality of a handset would vary from country to country, as Samsung would offer some phones with Qualcomm inside and some with its own Exynos chip.

Now, EVERYONE is getting this Snapdragon processor and that means that it is going toe to toe with Google in the AI imaging stakes and things like cooling are improved. This also means battery life should be longer and overall performance better.

I did the usual tests: scrolled to ShortList on the Samsung browser, took a few photos and loaded up a few games: no delay, no problem with any of it. I would say it was buttery smooth but it's a phone I am talking about, not a Masterchef dish.

The new processing power means that camera software is upgraded, too, with improved 'Nightography' shots and the ability to shoot RAW up to 40MP.

5. Battery is the same, but different

Again, with the addition of a new processor the actual specs of the batteries on show don’t really mean much. Yes, the S23 (3,900mAh) and S23 Plus (4700mAh) have the ‘same’ batteries before on paper, as does the S23 Ultra (5,000mAH) but the new processor means that the way the device uses the battery is changed.

Samsung reckons this means that you will get the best battery life from any Samsung phone thanks to this upgrade, with around a 20% improvement.

Add to this wireless (and reverse wireless) charging and what you have is an array of phones that mean business.

Samsung Galaxy S23 range: early verdict

Samsung has refined and refined some more when it comes to its new handset range. There aren’t any surprising changes as such when it comes to design - although I am a huge fan of the new non-integrated camera arrays) but its phones were already great looking.

Samsung has also done a lot to make sure that its phones are better for the environment. 100% recycled paper has been used for the packaging box, recycled glass for the display and there's even some discarded fishing net in there (seriously).

Under the bonnet, the new processing power has the real chance of being a game changer, offering a seamlessness to the range that Samsung hasn’t had for a long time.

Couple this with some neat camera tricks and I belive what you have is a gaggle of Galaxy phones that may make you think twice about that iPhone purchase.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus range is available to pre-order now and comes in 8GB / 128, 256 and 512GB variants. Colour wise, you can get them in: Cream , Green, Lavender, Phantom Black. Prices start from £769 / $799.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra range is available to pre-order now and comes in 8GB and 12GB / 256, 512GB and 1TB variants. Colour wise, you can get them in: Cream , Green, Lavender, Phantom Black. Prices start from £1,249 / $1,199.

Black Friday is nearly here which means that the best time of the year to grab yourself a bounty on bargains is close.

Tech giant OnePlus has gone all-out this Black Friday season, revealing a number of discounts on its phones and earphones.

There are hundreds of pounds off its latest gadgets - we haven’t seen OnePlus discount any of the following like this before, so if you are looking to save big on some of the best and brightest tech on the market right now, then read on.

1. SAVE £100 on the OnePlus 10T 5G

The OnePlus 10T 5G is OnePlus’ flagship handset right now. The device comes with up to 16GB of memory and OnePlus’ fastest-ever 150W SUPERVOOC Endurance Edition Charging technology. Couple this with a fantastic screen and powerful chipset and you have one of the most desirable phones around.

Given that the OnePlus 10T 5G was a steal at its official RRP, it’s an essential buy now that there’s £100 off the handset. That’s right, from 18 November, you can get the OnePlus 10T (8GB+128GB) for just £529, saving £100.

You can also get the OnePlus 10T (16GB+256GB) for £629, saving, yep, £100.

2. SAVE £200 on the OnePlus 10 Pro

The OnePlus 10 Pro 5G is a high-end handset from OnePlus and there’s a whopping £200 off the RRP of this phone. Both the 8GB+128GB version of the OnePlus 10 Pro and the 12GB+256GB version have £200 off, thanks to Black Friday, which is the cheapest-ever price for the handset.

The OnePlus 10 Pro is packed with innovation. From its impressive 120Hz Fluid AMOLED display, its 2nd Generation Hasselblad Camera for Mobile to its super-fast charging, it’s a phone that has it all and right now comes with a huge £200 discount.

For a limited time only, from 18 November, the OnePlus 10 Pro 5G will cost just £599 (8GB+128GB) and £699 (12GB+256GB) respectively.

3. SAVE £50 on the OnePlus Buds Pro

OnePlus has made some huge inroads into audio over the last few years and its OnePlus Buds Pro range is the result. These true-wireless earphones are packed with audio smarts, offering top-class active noise cancellation, sleek design and a decent battery life of up to 7 hours of play time on a single charge. Combine this battery life with the case and you can get up to 38 hours of charge from the things.

While RRP for the OnePlus Buds Pro is £139, from 18 November you can get a huge £50 off this which means you can bag a pair for just £89.

And if that wasn’t all, there’s also up to £50 off of both the OnePlus Nord CE 2 and OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite, up to £50 off of the OnePlus Nord 2T and many more audio discounts. Just head to OnePlus’ official site for its entire Black Friday discounts range.

OnePlus decided to do things differently in 2022. Instead of releasing a standard flagship phone, it went one better, skipping ahead and released the OnePlus 10 Pro.

This device had a nice dollop of innovation, offering blistering charge speeds, a decent camera array and an improved OS.

OnePlus isn't resting on its laurels with the Pro, though, as it has also just announced the OnePlus 10T at its launch event in New York, its first in-person event in some two years.

It might be a mere five months between handsets, but a lot has changed in the smartphone world since then.

The Realme GT NEO 3 has launched to rival OnePlus with its charging times, while the Nothing Phone (1) may be aiming to be top of the mid-range, the CEO of the company is Carl Pei who is ex-OnePlus.

In this new smartphone world, then, how does the OnePlus 10T fare? We've been playing with the device for a few weeks now: here are five things to know...

1. It's OnePlus without the fuss

The design of the OnePlus 10T is significant for a OnePlus phone as it has a defining feature missing: the alert slider. This physical switch, which arrived with the OnePlus 2, allowed you to mute notifications at the flick of a switch and has been a mainstay on high-end OnePlus phones, so it's a bit of a shock to see it gone.

There is a good reason it's gone, though, and that is to keep the phone both as thin as possible and able to fit in the next-gen charging tech the phone has inside of it. The switch had to go to fit in the bigger battery (up from 4.500mAh to 4,800mAh) and another 'charging pump'.

OnePlus also reckons that the lack of an alert switch makes for better online gaming in landscape mode, as the antenna system has been vastly improved, with some 15 antennas now in the device.

Other than what is missing, OnePlus has kept its other changes to a minimum. It has moved the front camera to the middle of the device and the triple-camera setup on the back has a similar array to the OnePlus 10 Pro but the Hasselblad branding / partnership is nowhere to be seen (more on this later).

The unibody feel of the phone looks and feels fantastic. The device we reviewed was the Jade Green colorway (16GB/256GB) but there is also a Moonstone Black version (8GB/126GB) available.

The Jade Green handset has a smooth glass rear, with a ceramic-like finish and is beautifully premium. The Moonstone Black has a glass black with texture reminiscent of basalt.

2. The 10T has all the right screen specs

The OnePlus 10T retains the same 6.7-inch screen from the OnePlus 10 Pro and this is a good thing: it's one of the best screens we have tested on a phone.

This is thanks to its 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, HDR in the form of HDR10+ and the support of 10-bit color (which improves vastly the realism in the photos and videos you view on the screen).

In our testing, there was a real vibrancy to Disney Plus' Ms Marvel (an already vibrant show). The darker Doctor Strange 2 still looked colorful on the device, with the HDR10+ doing its thing to make sure that blacks were different shades and not just one inky blob.

3. The upgraded processor is punchy

Where the OnePlus 10T dominates the OnePlus 10 Pro is with its processing power. The chip inside the 10T is the upgraded Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1.

The improvements showcased aren't anything to be sniffed at. CPU and GPU performance is around 10% higher than its predecessor and improvements in efficiency mean that you should get an extra hour of gaming out of the 10T or 90 minutes of streaming.

All of this really does make an impact on the battery life of the handset...

4. Battery is better, charging is speedier

The new chipset really does help with the battery drain of the OnePlus 10T, as does OnePlus' adaptive screen technology and its inclusion of a bigger battery.

Even after a day of doom scrolling, gaming and YouTube watching we were never below 30% on the battery.

The OnePlus 10T also got us out of the habit of charging at night. This is thanks to its support of 150W SUPERVOOC Endurance Edition charging.

Not just a superlative name, this charging technology means you can charge the thing in around 20 minutes, with 10 minutes' charging giving you enough juice for your phone to last the day.

It's worth noting that we only got these speeds by turning Smart Rapid Charging (found in the battery settings) off. It was around 25 minutes with this functionality toggled on. It's worth heading to the battery settings as it is here where you can see your battery usage and what is draining your battery.

There are also options to optimise night charging and where you can flick to high performance mode for gaming and the like.

The charging on show here really is impressive stuff, while not quite hitting the heady heights of the Realme GT NEO 3's charging prowess.

The caveat here is that there is no wireless charging on board - something that can be found on the OnePlus 10 Pro.

5. The cameras impress, but we've seen it before

The OnePlus 10T comes with a triple camera system that has some differences compared to the OnePlus 10 Pro. For a start, the Hasselblad branding has been dropped. There's no word if this means that OnePlus' partnership with the premium camera maker is over or whether it's just been put on ice.

You don't really miss it, though: other than the branding around the lenses and the dedicated pro features in the camera setup, there isn't much missing here. There is still a Pro mode, where you can shoot in both RAW and RAW Plus and toggle ISO, white balance and the like.

The lenses are still fantastic, with the 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor with optical image stabilization (OIS) being standout. The other lenses are an ultra-wide camera and macro camera.

Accompanying the OnePlus 10T’s main camera is an 8MP ultra-wide camera with a 119.9° field of view and a 2MP macro camera with an effective shooting distance of 2-4 cm. These are different from the 10 Pro which had an 8MP telephoto and 48MP Ultra-wide.

Other camera features include Nightscape 2.0, and improved HDR performance. We were impressed with the long exposure feature on offer, where you could choose between using it for moving vehicles, water or light painting. The bokeh effects through portrait mode never felt too forced, either.

There is an option to toggle the background blur from strong to weak, if you feel it is a bit too powerful, though.

OnePlus 10T Final Verdict

The OnePlus 10T surpasses the OnePlus 10 Pro when it comes to its processing power and battery speed. If you get the Jade Green version, then it also has bigger RAM at 16GB.

But there are some areas it doesn't quite match. The 10T's camera array may have the fantastic main sensor, but the ultra-wide sensor has a reduced pixel count and some will be scratching their heads as to why a macro lens was added and a telephoto lens taken away. Couple this with a lack of Hasselblad polish and this camera setup doesn't feel as strong as what's on the 10 Pro.

The lack of wireless charging and the iconic alert slider may put some off as well.

But, for us, the sheer power of the device and the improvements in battery power and efficiency really do make a difference and made our time with the OnePlus 10T a pleasure.

You can pre-order the OnePlus 10T now. It's worth noting that users who pre-order through OnePlus' official site, you have a chance to win a free OnePlus 10T (8+128GB variant). You will also get a 40% discount on OnePlus Buds Pro and 60% discount on OnePlus Buds Z2. There are trade-in and student discounts also available.

The OnePlus 10T release date is 25th August and the Jade Green (16GB/256GB) version costs £729; the Moonstone Black version (8GB/126GB) costs £629.

It's getting increasingly difficult to stand out in the smartphone crowd but if one person can do it, it's Carl Pei. The ex co-founder of OnePlus has been busy of late, creating Nothing. Note that this is a proper noun and the name of his company.

UPDATE: The Nothing Phone (1) is now available to buy from Selfridges in the UK and on contract through O2. You can also buy the phone through the Nothing official store.

We have had one launch - and different colour iterations - from Nothing so far, the decent-looking and sounding Nothing Ear (1) true wireless earbuds.

They are low-cost buds with a transparent design. We've tested them and they manage to hold their own against the bigger, more established manufacturers in the headphone market.

Pei and Nothing hope to recreate this success in the ever-crowded phone market. Enter, the Nothing Phone (1). This is Nothing's first stab at making a smartphone and, design-wise, it follows the same transparent look of its earphones.

Is its see-through chassis Emperor's New Clothes, though, or can the Nothing Phone (1) really deliver on its hype? Here are 5 things to know about the new handset...

1. The Nothing (1) phone is set to light up your life

The Nothing (1) phone uses something called a Glyph interface which offers up unique light patterns to light up the phone when it gets calls, notifications and the like. These lights, made of 900 LEDs, flow around the camera array, the circle design on the back and two thin bars next to this.

It's a nice idea and give the phone a sense of uniqueness in the market. There are different Glyph patterns available, so you can know at a glance what kind of message is heading your way (and, in turn, ignore it if you like).

The lights can also be used if you want silent notifications - so you will get a message indicator without the buzz - and offer studio lighting when using the camera.

2. Nothing hopes to be one of the most Open phones around

The Nothing Phone (1) uses an OS called Open and Nothing is billing it as "only the best of Android. No bloatware. Just speed and a smooth experience."

This will be good news for fans of Pixel handsets, which currently offer up the purest Android to date.

Nothing also notes that "most-used apps load super-fast; the rest are frozen to conserve power." And that you can "control third party products from Quick Settings as easily as Nothing ones."

One of the apps you will be able to control through Nothing's interface is the Tesla app, so you can unlock and lock your car with ease. You will also be able to check things like the battery on your AirPods at a glance and not have to go through a third-party app to do this.

3. The new Nothing phone is NFT friendly

Now, depending on which side of the fence you are with NFTs, the Nothing (1) phone is set to act like a gallery for your NFTs, with the Nothing (1) offering 5 different sizes to show off your NFTs and track their prices on your home screen with the native NFT Gallery.

Given where the NFT market is right now, this may not be the draw that Nothing thinks it is for users, but if that is indeed where the future of collecting is going - and you happen to have NFTs coming out of your ears - then this may well be the phone for you.

4. Nothing reckons you only need two cameras

While most phones favour a triple-lens setup on the back of their device, Nothing reckons two cameras are better, noting: "Better quality isn’t more cameras." And that "this extraordinary dual camera has two advanced 50MP sensors that can shoot exceptionally stable videos.

There's studio lighting built-in (thanks to its fancy Glyph lighting) and Night Mode on board. If you want wide-angle shooting, then there's a 114° field of view and all-important scene detection to help you with your shots.

5. Nothing is promising 'beauty' and 'power' with the Nothing (1)

The beauty is to do with the look of the phone. You have to admit that it at least stands out from the regular black rectangle crowd. The see-through chassis looks great in both black and white and this is complemented with a 6.55-inch OLED display which boasts HDR10+ and an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate.

Interestingly, the OLED used is flexible but it's used for a flat design which means you actually get symmetrical bezels.

Sustainability seems to be key with this handset, too, with Nothing noting that the Nothing (1) is made with 100% recycled aluminium and that it is "leading the industry with over 50% of the plastic components coming from bio-based and recycled sources."

Power-wise, the phone is using a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+ chipset (fast but mid-range), 18 hours of battery and fast charging where you can fill 50% of the phone up in 30 minutes. Given the likes of OnePlus are boasting better speeds than this, it's not the speediest charging phone but it's pretty fast. The addition of wireless charging is also a bonus.

RAM and storage start from 8GB RAM + 128GB memory but this goes up to 12GB RAM + 256GB memory.

The Nothing (1) phone is set to cost £399 for the 8GB/128GB, 8GB/256GB will cost £449 and the 12GB/256GB will be £499.

• Buy the Nothing Phone (1) from Selfridges now.
• Get The Nothing Phone (1) on contract from O2 now
• Buy the Nothing Phone (1) from the official store now

The WantList: this is what you should be buying this week.

The Nord series has been a roaring success for OnePlus, offering those looking for a mid-range phone a handset that does more than many at its price point, thanks to a raft of premium features.

OnePlus’ savvy stripped-down approach to the specs it offers in the Nord has done it well so far, so much that its latest version of the Nord, the OnePlus Nord 2T, kind of bucks this trend - offering feature upgrades that give the handset a premium feel, while still managing to keep the price, well, manageable.

We’ve been using the OnePlus Nord 2T for a while now: here are 5 things you need to know about OnePlus’ latest handset...

1 Design is decent, with the most original camera bump yet

From the front and sides, the OnePlus Nord 2T looks a lot like the OnePlus 10 Pro (read our OnePlus 10 Pro review). It’s a touch smaller in length, measuring 159.1mm, compared to the 10 Pro at 163mm. On the left side is the same volume rocker, on the right is the same power button and ring/vibrate/silence switch.

Flip it over, though, and that’s where things get a little different. There’s a Gorilla Glass back, like the front, which is great to see (and it has a lovely sand-blasted look and feel), with a plastic trim around the side of the device.

We would have preferred this to be aluminium but it’s the same trim that was found on the Nord 2 (read our OnePlus Nord 2 review) and that one has lasted well in our tests.

The colour of our review unit was Gray Shadow but there are other versions available, including a glossy Jade Fog finish.

The biggest change of all is with the camera bump. It’s… different, but in a good way. Even though there is a triple-camera system on the back, this is actually housed in two big round circles that are in a lozenge frame. It is the most unique-looking camera bump we have seen and we are really impressed with it.

2 The display is punchy and bright

When it comes to the display on the OnePlus Nord 2T, as you would expect it’s bright and punchy. It’s a large, 6.43 inch FHD+ AMOLED display that comes with HDR10+ support for video watching. While scrolling and the like is pretty seamless it is worth noting that it’s a 90Hz screen.

If you are a gamer and looking for the full 120Hz, then you would have to consider the OnePlus 10 Pro. Now, 90Hz isn’t a huge compromise but it is one place where the specs have been streamlined.

Watching Netflix’s Love, Death & Robots was a lot of fun on the Nord 2T, thanks to the HDR10 compatibility. It showcased the brightness of the screen brilliantly.

3 It borrows the OnePlus 10 Pro’s best features

OnePlus has already been busy this year, releasing both the budget-friendly OnePlus Nord CE2 and its latest flagship, the OnePlus 10 Pro. On the latter, one of the highlights of the handset was just how speedy you could charge the thing.

This was all down to something called 80W SUPERVOOC. It might sound like a wrestler but it's new charging tech that allows that phone to get a full day’s worth of power in just 15 minutes.

It’s fantastic to see this technology also available in the OnePlus Nord 2T. While the 4,500 mAh dual-cell battery lasted more than a day in our tests, it’s utterly convenient that you can charge it up in just 15 mins - to get to a full 100% then it’s around 30 minutes (this is some 120% faster than the original Nord).

4 An upgraded chipset means smoother performance

Now, this is interesting. The OnePlus Nord 2T has a new chipset and it’s the MediaTek Dimensity 1300. This is one of the first phones to use the chip and OnePlus promises myriad AI features that take advantage of the power of the thing.

We will talk about the camera flourishes this offers below, but from a pure performance point of view we are impressed. Flitting from games to social media, YouTube to Google Docs showed no lag and OnePlus has made it easy to swipe away any apps you don’t want to use.

The handset uses OxygenOS 12.1 based on Android 12 and, as Android skins go, it is definitely one of the best. We’re also a fan of the dark mode on offer and OnePlus has also tweaked power consumption when using the phone.

While the OnePlus 10 Pro is more powerful, thanks to its Snapdragon 8 chip, when it comes to the midrange, the MediaTek Dimensity 1300 looks like the one to beat.

5 Its camera tech is similar to the Nord 2 but is upgraded by AI

We have written about the camera bump but what about the camera tech? Well, if you are already a OnePlus user then you will be familiar with it.

For a start is the ‘third lens’. Yep, it’s that mono lens again. Now we like the idea of a dedicated B&W lens but are a little confused as to why OnePlus keeps taking it off and adding it to its lens line-up.

Cynics would say that the lens is only on there to get that ‘triple camera’ headline but the black-and-white images you can take on the phone are decent.

We just wish there was a dedicated section to mono in the camera app - as at the moment, you have to flip to the end of the filter section to find the three mono modes available. Again, the mono camera works well in portrait and you can tell it isn’t just a filter as if you put your finger over the lens, it reverts back to a colour image.

The rest of the cameras are also OnePlus veterans. The main camera uses the still brilliant 50 MP Sony IMX766, which is a large sensor and brings in a whole load of light. While the second lens is an 8MP ultra-wide camera which has a 120-degree field of view. Great, then, for those group shots.

OnePlus has also borrowed the front-facing camera from the OnePlus 10 Pro - it’s a 32MP lens.

The new chip in the phone comes into its own with the camera, particularly in the night shots. Low light shooting works really well (although we didn’t get up early enough to catch the super moon) and there’s a decent slow-mo on the video side of things. Couple this with 4K shooting, some AI colour processing and there’s a decent camera suite on board the Nord 2T.

OnePlus Nord 2T: Final Verdict

The OnePlus Nord 2T is another smart launch from OnePlus. While the OnePlus Nord CE2 - read our OnePlus Nord CE2 review - hit the lower mid-range end of the market, this is a stepping stone for those who want a premium phone at mid-range prices.

While we would have liked to have seen an 120Hz screen on the device and this current triple camera setup feels like it’s the last time it will be used in a OnePlus device, the specs on show are impressive - as is the brand-new chip inside.

Couple this with a price that starts at £369 for the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant and what you have is another affordable powerhouse.

The OnePlus Nord 2T will be available from OnePlus from 24 May.

The big talking point with the OnePlus 9 Pro series was its partnership with Hasselblad. The camera king had helped co-develop software that would mean that photos taken on the handset would be up to its exacting standards. It also meant that the monochrome lens OnePlus was famed for was no more.

Fast forward a year later and the camera partnership is still going strong. Couple this with some impressive flourishes that have been built into the OnePlus 10 Pro - a powerful chip and a new design that is bold and all about the camera - and what you have is a flagship that’ll happily rival the top phones out right now.

We’ve been playing with the OnePlus 10 Pro for a while now: here are 5 things to know…

1. The OnePlus 10 Pro design is familiar… in a good way

The OnePlus 10 Pro looks like… a OnePlus phone. This is a good thing! It's very much an upgraded 9 Pro, however the feel of the phone is a lot different. We reviewed the Volcanic Black version of the handset and it has a fantastic textured feel on the back. Seriously, we haven’t felt this kind of texture on a flagship for a long time and we are all for it.

One of our favourite flagships at the moment is the Samsung Galaxy S22 and there are hints of this handset in the design of the OnePlus 10 Pro. It is mainly with the camera bump on the back. We don’t mean the look of the array (OnePlus has opted for a square, while Samsung went vertical) but the way that it folds around the side of the device, making it that little bit more seamless. It also has a similar metal strip down its side.

2. The OnePlus 10 Pro has a screen that’ll entertain you

The OnePlus 10 Pro has a 6.7 inch screen. This is the same size as the iPhone 13 Pro Max but is just a touch under the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (which is 6.8 inches).

It’s a glorious screen and while it may be the same size as what was found on its predecessor, there are a number of new additions.

The biggest is the 120Hz refresh rate. Yes, this is all ‘very’ OnePlus 9 Pro but where that screen could switch between 120Hz and 60Hz, depending on what you are doing, this new OnePlus screen has a much smoother ratchet between the Hz, going from 120Hz all the way down to, well, 1Hz.

This helps with battery efficiency. Essentially, if you are being a lazy git then your phone will be a lazy git as well and conserve energy by reducing the Hz.

We are also big fans of the phone’s AI that seems to have learned that we are constantly toggling with our automatic brightness as it’s not quite right. The OnePlus 10 Pro learns if you are tinkering and will tinker to your tinkering standards.

Colour calibration is decent, too. The screen popped in both light and dark surroundings and was a joy to use when watching HDR movies and shows on Netflix. There is a toggle in the menu that is called Bright HDR Video Mode which enhances the picture further. It’s worth noting, though, that it’s a bit of a battery hog.

Other enhancements include Image Sharpener and Video Color Enhancer.

When it comes to screen resolution, the OnePlus 10 Pro by default is on FHD+ (which is 2410x1080). You can push this up to QHD+ which is 3216x1440. There’s a nice auto select option here which will choose the res for you, depending on what you are doing with the phone.

3. The triple camera setup means business

The OnePlus 10 Pro’s main camera has 48MP resolution and makes use of a Sony IMX 789 sensor. In short: it's pretty much the best you can get on a phone right now. It has a 3.3x optical zoom which is rather handy.

Also on board is a 50MP ultra-wide camera, which is the same that's found on the OnePlus bedfellow, the OPPO Find X5 Pro. This allows a 150-degree field of view which is impressive.

The third lens is an 8MP telephoto and that is the same that has been seen on previous OnePlus efforts. All of this is given a lovely bit of imaging love, thanks to Hasselblad. The camera company's name adorns the side of the lens array on the OnePlus 10, and for good reason...

4. Hasselblad has made photo taking hassle-free

With Hasselblad on board, you would be forgiven for thinking that taking a picture with the OnePlus 10 Pro would be a complicated experience, but it’s the opposite. Sure, there are pro features on board, but these are there to be seeked out rather than in your face from the moment you head to the camera settings.

What you get instead are four modes for photo taking: Photo, Portrait, Video and Night. Layered on top of these modes are a number of features to help with the look of your images.

OnePlus is using AI again here. Its AI Enhancements feature in the camera app is decent. Essentially, when you are composing your picture it will shift colour and the like to suit what’s in the frame. If, for instance, you are taking a picture of your vast book collection then you will see the word Text appear and this means the scene is primed to make the text a little cleaner. This also works outside, so the AI will recognise plants and the like. This isn’t new but it’s well worth using if you don’t want to go down the filter route to ‘improve’ your images.

If you do want to go down that route, then there are around 20 filters you can use.

So, where does Hasselblad fit into all of this? Well, the OnePlus 10 Pro uses ‘second generation Hasselblad camera for mobile’ and while this means that it has helped the company calibrate its camera software, it has also had a hand in the more professional elements of the camera tech.

One of the standouts of this is 10-bit photography. Essentially this is an upgrade from how most pictures on the likes of Instagram are presented. They are usually shot in 8-bit, using some 17.7 million colours. Here this is ramped up some 64 times to offer 1 billion colours.

It’s big numbers but you have to be wary of shooting in this format. Yes, it will make those sunsets ping but it won’t save the image as a JPEG but in HEIF format.

Now, this is pretty powerful stuff for a camera phone.10-bit photography is usually something found in prosumer cameras, the only thing is that you will need a high-end Mac or equivalent to view the images properly. It’s great to see this feature in the phone, but this is more about OnePlus hedging its bets on where camera photography is going, which is no bad thing for those who are looking for a phone to last them a good few years.

5. Performance is punchy

Aside from the cameras, this really is a punchy handset. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is super speedy and packs AI smarts and it shows in the handset.

We skipped between apps and games with ease. Netflix opened in seconds without much wait and we only felt the phone get warm in the hand a few times (mainly when using the HDR capabilities).

The stereo speakers on the bottom of the device boom out music which your fellow bus passengers will just love, while OxygenOS 12.1 is close enough to stock Android for us to be happy (though we still prefer the OS on the Google Pixel 6).

Battery life, too, is decent. OnePlus has squeezed a 5,000mAh battery into the device and it shows with us never fearing the thing would run out at the end of the day. Charging is fast, though, if that is the case with 85W charging on board.

OnePlus 10 Pro: Final Verdict

The OnePlus 10 Pro isn't a 'back to the drawing board' handset for OnePlus. It's more a refinement of the OnePlus 9 Pro with a much better design and camera software upgrades that really make sense.

While we don't feel we have seen the full potential of the Hasselblad partnership as of yet, the camera company does make more of an impact of the photos you take with this device.

The bigger battery life means that you don't mind putting on some of the harsher battery draining features, like an always-on display and higher refresh rates, and the fast-charging is another reason why you can just crank everything up on this phone.

The look and feel of the OnePlus 10 Pro is another bonus: this really is one of the best-looking phones on the market.

It just falters a little with its OS and while its camera tech is improved, the likes of the Pixel Pro 6 is still better for quick photos - but a reduction in the amount of blur OnePlus puts into its portrait shots may well fix that.

These are minor niggles, though, as this is a handset that can stand tall with the rest of the flagships on the market.

The OnePlus 10 Pro, with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, costs $899 / £799. It is available in Volcanic Black.

A higher spec version will also be released in Emerald Forest (12GB/256GB). You can pre-order now, with the handset released 4 April.

• Pre-order the OnePlus 10 Pro now.

Despite an increasingly robust premium Android smartphone world, when Samsung releases a new S range handset, people pay attention.

This year, the Samsung Galaxy S22 series pulled something of a blinder. The top of the range, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has effectively taken on the mantle of the Galaxy Note range - it’s a smartphone with an S-Pen built into the device.

While the S22 and S22+ don’t have this USP, they are still fantastic handsets in their own right.

We’ve been playing with the Samsung Galaxy S22+ for a few weeks now, here are 5 things you need to know…

1. Being in the middle is no bad thing

The Samsung Galaxy S22+ is slap-bang in the middle of the S22 range. It’s a bigger variant of the S22 and doesn’t have the fancy stylus functionality of the S22 Ultra. Being in the middle is no bad thing, though, as we found out.

For a start, the screen size is, well, perfect. At 6.6-inches it’s big but not too big. It comes with a variable 48Hz-120Hz refresh rate (which means it can ramp up if you want to watch movies and play games on the thing) and as Samsung is the master of AMOLED, this handset has one stunning display, that’s nearly a third brighter than what was found on the S21. Impressive.

2. Design wise, it’s stunning

Seriously, we couldn’t stop looking at the back of the Galaxy S22+. It’s an all-glass panel, back and front (protected by something called Gorilla Glass Victus+, which sounds super hard but is also, well, super hard) that’s surrounded by an aluminium frame.

The camera housing is contoured, with the three camera lenses vertical down the left-hand side.

Granted, it’s not a huge design change from the S21 range, but by making the edges that little bit sharper it’s actually easier to handle, which is a bonus.

3. Cameras are upgraded, impressively so

While the shift from the S20 to the S21 didn’t really come with a big camera change, we finally have a rather significant camera array refresh.

For a start, there’s a 50MP main camera instead of the 12MP snapper found on the S21 and you get a 3x zoom lens, which is fantastic to use. The telephoto lens isn’t as decent as the one on the S22 Ultra, but what you have here is a great camera setup that nearly matches the Pixel 6 in our tests.

The third lens is an ultrawide and that remains the same as what was on the S21, but even with this non-change it’s a significant step up in terms of imaging quality.

4. The S22+ performs admirably

No matter where you get the Samsung Galaxy S22+ it comes with a decent processor - either the Snapdragon 8 or Samsung’s Exynos 2200.

Both make for a slick operation, where gaming doesn’t bother the device, nor does 4K movie streaming. There was no lag between switching between apps and the like and even pushing the phone with a a number of applications on the go at once it seemed to carry on with ease.

While we are a stickler for stock Android (as found on the Pixel 6) we were really impressed with One UI 4.1 - Samsung’s custom skin. Samsung is also offering some five years of updates guaranteed, which is a nice hefty promise there from the tech giant.

5. Battery is good, could be better

It’s a bit of a head scratcher as to why the Samsung Galaxy S22+ has a smaller battery than the Galaxy S21+ (4,500mAh, compared to 4,800mAh), but it easily lasted the day for us and then some. We’re guessing that Samsung has managed to refine its hardware so it doesn’t sap as much battery as before.

Unfortunately charging is a little on the slow side. Even though it is compatible with 45W, double that of the S21+, we would still like it speedier.

Samsung Galaxy S22+ review: Final Verdict

There are a few niggles with the Samsung Galaxy S22+ (no microSD slot, only 8GB or RAM available and slower-than-hoped-for charging), but these are tiny imperfections on what is a stunning phone.

When it comes to design and performance, Samsung is always there right at the top or thereabouts and the S22+ doesn’t disappoint.

• You can buy the S22 + now from Samsung.

The craze of phone manufacturers offering up streamlined versions of their premium handsets is one that we are big fans of. And that’s exactly what The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is - a ‘fan edition’ of its full-fat S21.

The reason we like them is because as top-tier a premium handset is, there are some features that just aren’t needed and are actually costly to the end user. These phones focus on what is needed and there isn’t room for anything else. The only issue is, while trimming the fat some of the good stuff may also disappear.

Thankfully, Samsung has got it pretty much right with its latest mid-ranger. We’ve been playing with the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE for some weeks now - here are five things you need to know…

1. The Design is VERY S21

At first glance, the S21 FE looks a lot like its S21 bedfellow but there are some small but significant changes in the design.

While the Galaxy S21 has a 6.2-inch screen, the Galaxy S21 FE has upped this with a slightly larger 6.4-inch screen. The good news is that both screens are AMOLED and they also have the same 2340 x 1080 resolution. They also have a refresh rate of 120Hz, so the difference is just that the S21 FE is that touch larger.

Flip it over and the look is, again, achingly similar. There are the three rear lenses nestled in a rather cute camera bump. The big change here is that the S21 FE is made of a plastic material, while the S21 is metal (as in the material, not its choice of music).

The ‘glasstic’ material used did mean that it wasn’t as slippy in the hand as the S21 but it’s no doubt that this is an area where costs have been cut.

2. Cameras are decent, images are vibrant

The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE has a triple-camera array like the original S21. Although the cameras are a touch different, the spec changes are pretty neglible, so most users won’t notice anything.

We really liked taking pictures with the Galaxy S21 FE. The main 12MP camera took lovely, vivid photos (as much as you can in end-of-winter UK), there is also a 12MP Ultrawide as the second lens and an 8MP telephoto - this is the biggest change, as the S21 has a 64MP telephoto. This does mean that you can’t zoom in as much as the S21 - still, a 3x hybrid zoom is nothing to be sniffed at.

The selfie cam is a steady 32MP, which is actually an improvement on the rest of the S21 range.

Samsung has added in some great camera features from its S21 range. Our highlights are Single Take (where a picture is taken on all lenses and you can choose your fave), dual recording - filming on both the front and back of camera which is a great vlogging feature (this can be done in 45, 60fps), and Portrait mode, which offers a decent amount of bokeh.

3. Performance is punchy

The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE uses a Snapdragon 888 chip which allows for 5G (if that’s a thing in your area) and is a punchy processor - if slightly dated - that managed our gaming (Call of Duty: Mobile was buttery smooth throughout), 4K streaming (Midnight Mass with HDR looked glorious) and we could switch between the likes of TikTok, Instagram and Facebook with no strain on the device. It did occasionally get a little warm but that’s as expected.

4. Battery life is decent but charging leaves you waiting

In the smartphone world, speedy charging is one of the most requested things right now, so at 25W, we found that S21 FE lagging in this area. Given we have been used to using phones that have 65W as standard, we did have to play the waiting game with this one.

Wireless charging is on board, which is ace, but again you will have to be patient for this one to charge. We weren’t too bothered, though, as we were happy to see that wireless charging (and reverse charging if needed) is as standard and not cut for this edition.

As for day to day battery life, it managed a full day with heavy use but we were plugging the thing in before we went to bed.

5. The S21 is feature rich and doesn’t feel like a mid-ranger

Although classed as a mid-range phone, the Samsung Galaxy S21: FE offers pretty much what you get on the S21.

Yes, the back is plastic and some of the camera specs are reduced but it has a punchy performance and myriad top-level features - including a built-in fingerprint sensor, face unlock, stereo speakers, Android 12 (with three years of updates promised) and up to 8GB RAM and 128GB storage.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE: Final Verdict

Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE? Well, that all comes down to price. When it was first released, it cost £699 and was just £100 cheaper than the fully fledged Galaxy S21.

If you find it cheaper than this - and with the Samsung Galaxy S22 range out now, you probably can - then this is a solid entry for Samsung, a handset that gets a lot right and not much wrong.

OnePlus may be a brand in a state of flux at the moment, as it aligns itself closer to parent company Oppo, but this hasn’t stopped it from releasing handsets that continue to impress.

Case in point: the OnePlus Nord CE 2. At £299, it’s a mid-range phone that keeps the core of what makes Nord such a compelling range for OnePlus and its fans (CE, means Core Edition acronym buffs), and strips away some of the more expensive features, leaving not just a decent phone but one that comes with a bargain price.

We’ve been using the OnePlus Nord CE 2 for a few weeks now, here are five things you need to know…

1 The screen is worth the price tag alone

OnePlus has gotten the most important part of the Nord CE 2 right: the screen. At 6.43 inches, there’s plenty of real estate for movie watching, catching up on your social network of choice and when you need to use it as a camera screen.

It’s not just the size that impresses but the pixel count, too. It’s AMOLED with 2400 x 1080p on board. Add to this HDR10+ and a 90Hz refresh rate and it’s one incredibly bright experience. We’re impressed that a phone at this price has a screen of this quality.

2 Battery life is decent, too

At 4,500mAH, the same as the full-fat OnePlus Nord 2, we had no issues with the battery life of the OnePlus Nord CE 2. This phone is all day-er and then some, which surprised us given the quality of the screen the Nord CE 2 is packing.

We had around 35% of battery life by the end of the day most days and that was with fairly heavy use - from morning Wordles to night-time Netflix binge-watching.

There is fast charging on board. Something called 65W SuperVOOC charging means you can pretty much juice up your phone in around 30 minutes.

3 Design is plastic, nearly fantastic

Looks-wise, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 is up there with its more premium range of phones. The aforementioned display is beautiful, the camera array on the back is sizeable but designed well, while the colour options are really something.

Touch-wise, though, you can feel where OnePlus has made some changes to make sure the phone is affordable. The back of the thing is plastic.

The good news is that whatever plastic has been used holds up well to wear and tear but it does cheapen the phone slightly (literally, when it comes to the price). Saying that, it feels fine in the hand - the chassis is lovely and slim, with a decent curve on the sides of the back, so no sharp edges to annoy you.

It's worth noting (especially given the recent storms that have battered the UK) the phone isn't waterproof but it should take a splash here and there.

There are only three buttons on the device, an on/off button on the right-hand side and volume rocker on the left. It’s here that you also get a dual SIM tray.

On the bottom of the Nord CE 2 there’s a 3.5mm audio port (which is great news given the price of the phone), a USB-C connector and one speaker grill.

4 Cameras make light work of photos

If you are familiar with the OnePlus Nord CE then you will be familiar with the cameras on the OnePlus Nord CE 2.

They are pretty much the same: a 64MP main camera, 8MP ultrawide camera, and a 2MP macro sensor. Flip to the front and there’s a pinhole camera situated on the top-left of the device that is there for all your selfie needs and is 16MP.

These are downgrades from the rather brilliant Nord 2 camera array (which included a lovely 50MP IMX 766 Sony sensor) but there is still quality to be found, especially when natural light is at its brightest.

Quality wise, there’s plenty of detail in the shots we took, coupled with a nice amount of natural colour. Nothing we took in the day looked too over processed, but some of the shots we took with night mode did suffer from this.

While the specs are impressive for the cameras, it is worth noting that there isn’t the option for an optical zoom. There is a 2x digital zoom on board when using the main camera, though - this can be pushed to 20x but that's where potato quality lies.

Selfie wise, OnePlus has done well with its bokeh effects, so you get decent background blur.

When it comes to close ups, the 2MP macro camera works well but we didn’t feel that it was really needed on the device - saying that, close-up focusing worked really well and that’s not always the case with phones at this price.

Surprisingly, there are a lot of pro features on board to help you take better pictures, offering up a hefty amount of manual control.

5 Performance is ace for the price range

OnePlus hasn’t scrimped on power with the Nord CE 2. There’s a pretty powerful 5G chip on board (although the MediaTek Dimensity 900 processor is a performance level down to the chip that’s found in the full-fat Nord 2). This is coupled with 8GB of RAM and 128GB storage.

The Nord CE 2 whizzed through basic tasks with no problems at all. Flipping in and out of apps showed no lag and there was a fluidity between using things like the camera and then loading up a game.

The phone is running an older version of Android (or its version, OxygenOS) which will rankle those who want to have the newest of everything but we reckon there will be an update to Android 12 in the near future.

The good news is that OxygenOS remains, for us, the best variant of Android other than the ‘clean’ version of the OS that Google offers on its Pixel range.

When it comes to security, it was good to see on-screen fingerprint technology baked into the OnePlus Nord CE 2 - it’s really quick to use, too.

OnePlus Nord CE 2: final verdict

The OnePlus Nord CE 2 is a perfectly priced phone that has a few features that separate it from other handsets in its price range. These include: speedy charging, a decent display and commendable camera array.

OnePlus has done exactly what it should with its Core Edition handsets - kept the core of what makes the Nord range great and only pruned features where absolutely necessary, nicely hitting that price and performance sweet spot.

Pre-orders for the OnePlus Nord CE 2, which costs £299, start 3 March - head to OnePlus' site for more information.

• Exclusive: How OnePlus created the Nord 2 x PAC-MAN Edition phone

The OnePlus Nord CE 2 has arrived and the phone has an impressive set of features for what is not much cash.

The OnePlus Nord range has been something of a revelation since it first appeared back in 2020. The idea of the handset was to offer premium specs but at a smaller price.

Skip to 2022 and the OnePlus Nord CE 2 is a variant of the range that looks to cut the price even more, while retaining many of the specs that you expect in a full-flavored Nord.

For a start, there is a new design for the handset which offers up a rectangular camera bump and it's the slimmest phone OnePlus has launched since the OnePlus 6T (some 7.8mm thin).

A new chip is in the OnePlus Nord CE 2 (well, new for the range), there's a MediaTek Dimensity 900 SoC inside and you also get 65W fast charging which is a big bonus.

Triple-camera setup

When it comes to the rest of the specs, they are similar to the CE 2's predecessor. There are three cameras on the back: a 64MP main lens, an 8MP ultra-wide lens and a 2MP macro lens. Flip to the front and you have a 16MP selfie cam.

Display wise, you get a 6.43-inch Fluid AMOLED display (90Hz refresh rate), a 4,500mAh battery and the all-important 3.5mm headphone jack.

Software wise, the handset comes with OxygenOS 11 but it should get an OxygenOS 12 upgrade later in the year. When it comes to colors, you can get it in Gray Mirror and Bahama Blue.

Price-wise, this is a very cheap handset. You will be able to get the OnePlus Nord CE 2 from £299, for the 8GB / 128GB variant.

ShortList has been playing with the OnePlus Nord CE 2 for a while now, so look out for our full OnePlus Nord CE 2 review soon.

The OnePlus Nord CE 2 is set for pre-order from 3 March, with handsets released 10 March.

This is it. This is what Samsung has been building up to with its new premium range of handsets, a premium phone series that - at the Ultra end - combines the power of its Note line-up, with the camera functionality of its S Series.

The Samsung S22 series is here and, boy, does the tech giant mean business.

Here are five things to know…

1. Three’s the magic number

There are three handsets in total that make up the Samsung Galaxy S22 range: The Samsung Galaxy S22, Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.

The differences are as follows.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Screen:

• The Samsung Galaxy S22 has a 6.1-inch screen (Infinity-O Display 2340x1080)
• The Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus has a 6.6-inch screen (Infinity-O Display 2340x1080)
• The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has a 6.8-inch screen (Infinity-O Display 3088x1440)

All the screens are HDR 10+ and offer a 120Hz refresh rate.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Cameras:

• The Samsung Galaxy S22 and The Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus have the following cameras: 10MP Selfie Camera; triple rear camera setup: 12MP Ultra Wide Camera, 2 50MP Wide-angle Camera and 10MP Telephoto Camera.
• The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has: a 40MP Selfie Camera; quad rear camera setup: 12MP Ultra Wide Camera, 108MP Wide-angle Camera, 10MP Telephoto Camera, 10MP Telephoto Camera.

All handsets have the super-cool Space Zoom, which goes up to 30x for the S22 and S22 Plus and a whopping 100x for the S22 Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy S22Battery:

• The Samsung Galaxy S22 has a 3700mAh battery
• The Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus has a 4500mAh (typical)
• The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has a 5000mAh (typical)

There is Fast Wireless Charging 2.0 on board for all devices so you can chuck those pesky wires.

2. The S22 Ultra is a Note in disguise

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is the most premium handset in the S22 range and it has been given an in-built S-Pen. This is another move by Samsung away from the Note range, adding to its S range the all important stylus.

According to Samsung it’s the fastest, most responsive S Pen ever made. With 70% lower latency. The S Pen offers up things like Air Actions, is compatible with Samsung Notes and, among other things, will allow AR Doodles, too.

3. There is A LOT of storage available on the S22

The capacity of the Samsung Galaxy S22 is expansive, with both offering 8GB RAM and 128GB or 256GB internal storage.

Nab the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and that is upped massively. Yes you can go for 8GB RAM with 128GB or 12GB RAM with 256GB of internal storage. But there is also 16GB RAM with 512GB or 1TB of internal storage available. Wowser.

4. Those S22 cameras are set to offer a DSLR-like experience

The Expert RAW app is on board which means that the in-camera editing tools will offer up a DSLR-like experience . You can save photos in RAW format up to 16bit. And, like a DSLR camera, you can brighten or darken your photos with ISO settings and shutter speed, adjust white balance and all that gubbins. You can also manually focus on your subjects.

Other camera features include: AI supported features like Portrait mode, Advanced Nightography features and a bigger camera sensor that lets in more light.

5. There’s a cracking Disney Plus offer tied in with the handsets

Pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S22, Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S22 begin now (the Samsung Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus will be on general sale from March 11 with the Ultra available March 25th).

Colour-wise, you have the choice of: Phantom Black, Phantom White, Green and Pink Gold for the Samsung Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus; and Phantom Black, Phantom White, Green and Burgundy for the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.

Pricing starts from £769 for the S22, £949 for the S22 Plus, and £1,149 for the S22 Ultra and if you order between 9th February and 24th February 2022, UK customers who pre-order can claim a 12-month subscription to Disney Plus and a pair of Galaxy Buds which is decent.

• Head to Samsung's official site now to pre-order.

OnePlus has had a bumper year when it comes to tech launches. From phones to smartwatches and true-wireless earbuds, its device range has expanded and now it is offering some fantastic deals on its latest kit.

Throughout November, the tech giant is offering a whole host of discounts so if you are looking for the tech bargain(s) of the year, then you have come to the right place.

• View now: OnePlus Black Friday Sale

Here are 5 things you need to know about the OnePlus' Black Friday sale…

1. Get up to £200 off of the OnePlus flagship range

The brilliant OnePlus 9 Pro, OnePlus 9 and last year’s OnePlus 8T are heavily discounted right now, thanks to the OnePlus big Black Friday Sale. You can get a whopping £200 off the OnePlus 9 Pro. This phone is packed with tech including a top-tier flagship camera experience with the Hasselblad Camera for Mobile system, a 120Hz fluid display and a speedy processor and it has never been cheaper. The OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 8T are also brimming with top-range specs and have £150 off and £200 off respectively.

• View now: OnePlus 9 Pro - Save upto £200
• View now: OnePlus 9 - Save upto £150
• View now: OnePlus 8T - Save upto £200

2. The brilliant OnePlus Nord range has also been given decent discounts

OnePlus’ fantastic Nord range was updated this year, with the launch of the Nord 2 and Nord CE - and they are heavily discounted in the big Black Friday sale. You can currently get £100 off an 8GB/128GB OnePlus Nord and a huge £130 off a 12GB/256GB version of the Nord. As for the OnePlus Nord 2, there is £50 off the 12GB/256GB version of the fantastic mid-ranger now. You can also get a superb £50 off of the OnePlus Nord CE. This is the Core Edition of the Nord and offers a brilliant triple camera setup, 5G and a powerful 6.43-inch, 90Hz AMOLED display. And now it’s the cheapest it’s ever been!

• View now: OnePlus Nord - up to £130 off!
• View now: OnePlus Nord CE - up to £50 off!

3. The OnePlus Watch has never been cheaper

The OnePlus Watch is OnePlus’ first-ever smartwatch and it is packed with features, including an elegant design, a battery that lasts for up to 14 days and 4GB of storage, so you can fill it with tunes to help you get through your workout without the need of a phone. Right now, you get £20 off of the RRP.

• View now: OnePlus Watch - Save £20

4. The new One Plus Buds Pro price will be music to your ears

We are big fans of the One Plus Buds Pro - true-wireless earphones that pack an audio punch and have one of the best battery lives around. Couple this with a stylish look and some features exclusive to OnePlus users and what you have is a pair of beautiful buds. There is £10 off of the One Plus Buds Pro now.

• View now: OnePlus Buds Pro - save £10

5. If accessories are your thing, then there’s currently 50% off OnePlus’ range

OnePlus is offering up to 50% off its accessory line-up, so if you are looking for a new case for your OnePlus handset, a charger or even some glass protection then you will find a whole host of discounts available right now and all throughout the Black Friday period.

• View now: OnePlus Accessories - Save up to 50%

OnePlus's latest handset is perhaps the company's best collaboration yet. Teaming up with BANDAI NAMCO it has created the OnePlus Nord 2 x PAC-MAN Edition, a 'gamified' version of its popular Nord 2 device that was released earlier in the year.

The handset is packed with PAC-MAN Easter eggs, both from a hardware and a software point of view, and showcases a love for the pellet-eating protagonist while being a OnePlus handset at its core.

This isn't the first limited edition the company has released, having teamed up with the likes of McLaren and CyberPunk 2077 for previous launches, but it's certainly the most playful.

To find out more, OnePlus exclusively chatted to the company's head of product, Oliver Zhang, about how the collaboration came about and just what goes into making a limited edition OnePlus phone.

Spoiler: a lot!

The OnePlus Nord 2 x PAC-MAN Edition will be available with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage for €529/£499.

ShortList: OnePlus is well known for its special editions – how do you go about choosing the right brand for the right phone?

Oliver Zhang, OnePlus: When it comes to creating special editions, we consider those brands and IP labels that can bring a refreshing and meaningful experience to our community at a level of quality we stand behind. We focus on ensuring we have a partner who is also looking to bring their product to life in a unique manner. In addition, we also focus on collaborating with brands and IP labels that make sense within our product portfolio. Pairing the right brand or IP label with the right OnePlus product is fundamental to creating a compelling and meaningful special edition.

Special edition OnePlus smartphones need to excel in two key areas. First, they need to be able to deliver the signature Fast and Smooth experience OnePlus is known for. Second, they should be refreshing, exciting, and memorable. We believe both objectives are best achieved with deep hardware and software customizations that work together intimately to deliver a product that goes beyond the sum of its parts and provides an exciting experience.

SL: Tell us about how the Nord 2 Pac-Man Edition collaboration came about.

OZ: We decided to collaborate with PAC-MAN because the IP’s colorful personality, cast of iconic characters, and intuitive gameplay presented a unique opportunity to create a special edition OnePlus device more refreshing, exciting, and memorable than anything we had done before. It also allowed us to merge the universes of Nord and PAC-MAN – both of which have fun at their very core.

The end result is the OnePlus Nord 2 x PAC-MAN Edition – a device complete with fully customized hardware and software. It is also the first ever OnePlus device to come with a gamified user experience.

SL: The design on the back of the phone is striking – how was it created? Were there any design or technical issues you had to overcome?

OZ: From a conceptual level, we wanted to create a special edition color, material, and finish (CMF) that seamlessly merged OnePlus’s design philosophy of simplicity and elegance with the colorful and charming world of PAC-MAN. We worked on a variety of prototypes that featured differing PAC-MAN characters and OnePlus design elements before the device was finalized. The entire design process – from concept to the first devices being manufactured – was 8 months.

The OnePlus Nord 2 x PAC-MAN Edition’s CMF is made using a dual layer film. We wanted the rear of the OnePlus Nord 2 x PAC-MAN Edition to showcase the classic PAC-MAN maze, but we also wanted to add Nord elements to it. Thus, the idea of a glow-in-the-dark back was conceptualized and brought to life by adding phosphorescent ink to the device’s innermost film. Meanwhile, the outermost film is glass – decorated with PAC-MAN himself and the game’s iconic PAC-Dots.

One of the biggest technical challenges when creating any custom CMF is yield rate – the more complex a CMF design is, the lower the yield rate. This means that when devices are being produced, there are a higher number that do not receive final approval, therefore are not shipped to customers or sent to retailers.

SL: The Pac-Man customisation is both inside and out of the Nord 2 – tell us about how you created the Custom UI / animations. Did you have help from the makers of Pac-Man?

OZ: From the very beginning, we wanted to make exploring OxygenOS on the OnePlus Nord 2 x PAC-MAN Edition feel like playing the PAC-MAN game. To deliver such an experience, we knew we would have to take all learnings from previous OnePlus special editions – such as making custom themes, wallpapers, and ringtones – and take things to the next level.

After many rounds of conceptualizing how we would deliver an elevated software experience, OnePlus teams at HQ, India, and Europe – working together with BANDAI NAMCO – came up with the idea of integrating game mechanics into the OnePlus Nord 2 x PAC-MAN Edition’s user experience. This was achieved by creating a series of challenges and Easter eggs that, once completed and found, would unlock rewards on the device in the form of custom PAC-MAN software items.

The OnePlus HQ and EU teams, in collaboration with BANDAI NAMCO, designed the majority of software customizations for the OnePlus Nord 2 x PAC-MAN Edition, such as custom wallpapers, animations, and reimagined app icons. Meanwhile, the OnePlus India software team developed the exciting challenges and Easter eggs present in the device.

SL: This is the second gaming collaboration for OnePlus (the first being CyberPunk 2077), what is it about gaming that makes it a good fit for the OnePlus brand?

OZ: Gaming is an incredible medium that will always be important to OnePlus. In the past, we have collaborated with partners such as Fnatic to bring different experiences to our community. Our devices have a prominent gaming mode that helps them excel at their choice of game with limited disturbance.

Being able to work with the incredible characters, worlds, and visual directions brought to life by development studios across the globe affords us with endless creative opportunities to make a meaningful special edition product.

PAC-MAN is an IP label with a vaunted history of over four decades – the game has been an endlessly entertaining part of the OnePlus staff and community’s lives. The artistic direction, characters, and gameplay of PAC-MAN gave us the opportunity to create a special edition that takes custom hardware and software to the next level. The OnePlus Nord 2 x PAC-MAN Edition does this with a reimagined CMF complete with phosphorescent ink so that, when used in the dark, the device exhibits a neon maze inspired by the PAC-MAN game.

On a software level, the OnePlus Nord 2 x PAC-MAN Edition redesigns the app icons of OxygenOS with a new pixelated aesthetic inspired by lo-fi video games. The user interface is full of unique nods to PAC-MAN, such as the fingerprint unlock animation that showcases PAC-MAN evading ghosts Blinky and Inky. And, to celebrate PAC-MAN’s addictive gameplay loop, we also created a series of system-level challenges for the user to complete in order to unlock various PAC-MAN items such as stickers and wallpapers, making the OnePlus Nord 2 x PAC-MAN Edition the first OnePlus phone with a gamified user experience.

SL: Pac-Man is seen as a retro-gaming icon, were you concerned that this would make the Nord 2 feel like a ‘retro’ phone?

OZ: We indeed wanted to recreate that feeling users had when they first played PAC-MAN. One could consider PAC-Man to either be retro or an iconic game that is still played by children and adults of all ages.

One of our primary goals when designing the OnePlus Nord 2 x PAC-MAN Edition was to create a device that seamlessly merged the worlds of both OnePlus Nord and PAC-MAN. We achieved this by combining OnePlus’s simple and elegant design philosophy with PAC-MAN elements such as the game’s PAC-Dots and PAC-MAN himself. We believe the design of the OnePlus Nord 2 x PAC-MAN Edition will appeal to our community universally.

SL: Can we expect more fun collaborations in the future?

OZ: OnePlus will continue to explore collaborations with brands and IP labels for future products. We look forward to bringing more delightful and enthralling experiences to life.

• OnePlus Nord 2 review - a mid-range handset packed with top tech

OnePlus has revealed that its latest limited edition collaboration is one for retro gamers, teaming up with Bandai Namco for the OnePlus Nord 2 Pac-Man Edition.

The phone is packed with Pac-Man Easter eggs, with a number of design flourishes celebrating the classic arcade game.

First up, the back of the phone has a Pac-Man logo on it, which is all well and good but the genius comes when the lights are out and the back changes into a brilliant glow-in-the-dark maze - complete with Nord branding.

You get a semi see-through case in the package as well which overlays the ghosts Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde on to the back of the handset.

Hardware-wise, it is the same Nord 2 that was launched earlier in the year, which is no bad thing. This means you get 90Hz 6.43-inch AMOLED panel (powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 1200 chipset), 12GB RAM and 256GB storage and a 4,500mAh battery. Camera-wise, there's a 50MP main camera, an 8MP ultrawide, and a 2MP monochrome camera.

Switch the OnePlus Nord 2 Pac-Man Edition on and there are more gaming-enthused goodies. There are special Pac-Man wallpapers (some dynamic), Pac-Man-inspired ringtones, a fingerprint unlock that's Pac-Man themed, some custom Pac-Man icons and a charging animation that sees Pac-Man eating up snack pellets while the phone WarpCharges.

You also get a copy of the Pac-Man 256 game pre-installed on the device and if you buy straight from OnePlus, then there's a great Pac-Man-themed stand you can build yourself.

The OnePlus Nord 2 Pac-Man Edition is available in the UK and Europe for £499, from November 16.

• Here's our original OnePlus Nord 2 review.
• These are the best retro games of all time

The Google Pixel 6 Pro has arrived, alongside its Pixel bedfellow, with the Google Pixel 6. After a pretty big build-up, the new devices were announced recently and they are the most striking Pixel phones yet.

Google has decided to change pretty much everything about its handset line-up, creating a Pixel pairing that goes big on imaging specs (as you would hope, given they are Pixel phones) and introduces the company’s very own chip - called Google Tensor.

ShortList has been lucky enough to play with the Google Pixel 6 Pro for a while now and it's fast become one of our favourite Android handsets. Here’s 5 things to know about the Google Pixel 6 Pro…

1. The Pixel 6 Pro is the most striking Pixel phone yet

Design wise, Google has erred on the premium side of things with the Google Pixel 6 Pro. The first thing that stands out is the massive camera bump on the back. We like it. A lot. It gives the phones a unique sense of identity that is a step away from the normal rectangle brigade - and it looks a bit like the phones are wearing a Zorro mask, too. There’s also a curved display (6.7 inches/120Hz) which adds to the premium feel.

Google has said that its latest phones have been “inspired by jewellery and watch hardware to create a phone that feels premium and unique” and it does feel like they are statement pieces.

2. The camera system has had a big upgrade

Google has upgraded the cameras on the Google Pixel 6 Pro, offering a setup that is a brand new triple rear camera system - including a pro-level telephoto lens with 4x optical zoom (if you physically look into it, it’s surprisingly deep) a main sensor that’s said to capture 150% more light than the Pixel 5.

The front camera on the Pixel 6 Pro has an impressive 94° field of view, so it’s ultra-wide and it really shows in the shots you take.

In addition to this are some software flourishes, these include: Motion Mode, for those all-important action shots, Face Unblur to help with those portrait shots and our particular favourite, Magic Eraser which lets you act like Thanos and rid your photos of unwanted people objects. It's all utterly impressive and shows Google matching its photo software with hardware, which is something it hasn't done it before.

3. Battery is better and adaptive

The battery on the Pixel 6 series has been upgraded. It's got a 500mAh battery on board. We got well over 24 hours off the Pixel 6 Pro before we had to plug the thing in, which is impressive.

Google has been doing a lot of work with its software to make sure that certain apps don’t unnecessarily drain your battery, while also offering some pretty impressive battery saving functionality. There's also fast charging on board, getting your handset up to 50% in 30 minutes but you will need to purchase a separate charger for this.

4. The Google Pixel 6 Pro is still the best ‘pure’ Android phone

One the Google Pixel 6 Pro, you get Android 12 in all its glory, with no skins or anything - and it’s brilliant. Google has always made sure that it offers the purest Android experience and this is one of the best yet.

Something called Material You allows you to really double down on customising the phone as you want it. This includes switching around icons and the like for your preference.

There are also personalised colour options that flow throughout the phone and are really neat to look at.

5. The screen and performance on the Pixel 6 Pro is just stunning

Having a 120Hz screen is pretty much a must on premium phones right now and the Google Pixel 6 Pro has a brilliant, beautiful screen. It's 6.7 inches and is plenty size for gaming and video watching and we were really impressed with the brightness and the clarity of the thing.

Couple this with a phone that we had no issues with from a software point of view, with switching between apps really smooth and slick, and what you have is a powerful handset.

Google's Tensor chip and the additional 12GB of RAM really go to work on the handset, but also help with the battery life as well, with a lot of optimisation in the background going on.

Google Pixel 6 Pro: Final Verdict

While the Google Pixel 5 was aiming for the mid-range, the new Google Pixel 6 series feels like a premium step up for Google in terms of both features and looks.

Google is certainly going the right way about trying to turn heads away from Samsung and Apple, offering a set of phones that, for the price, are packed with features that will make many an Android fan very happy.

We had a lot of fun with the Google Pixel 6 Pro - it's a real 'phone of the year' contender.

The Google Pixel 6 Series is available from £849/$899. And if you buy a Google Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro from participating retailers, before 28 October 2021 you will receive a set of Bose Noise Cancelling 700 headphones. Given they cost around £300/$300 on their own, that’s a fantastic package.

Now you know about the Pro, here's our Google Pixel 6 review.

• iPhone 13 Pro review: big on battery, brilliant on specs

Google may not be up there in the smartphone market with the likes of Samsung and Apple but its dominance from the software side of things means that any new Pixel launch will cause a stir. That’s because the Google Pixel range should be the perfect marriage of Google-based hardware and software - where they both work in harmony to create a handset that means business.

The Google Pixel 6 series comes in two versions: the Google Pixel 6 and Google Pixel 6 Pro. You would think that the difference would be seen in size, but it really isn’t. When you hold them together there really isn’t much in them (what difference there is we’ll explain below). This isn’t Google offering a standard-sized phone and a super-sized one but phones with varying features.

For those looking for a phone that’s as diminutive as the Google Pixel 5, then, you are out of luck. But what you do get with the Google Pixel 6 is a handset that impresses in a lot of ways.

We’ve been playing with it for a few weeks now. Here are 5 things to know about the Google Pixel 6…

1. It’s beautifully designed

The Google Pixel 5 was a good-looking phone but with a design that was a little more mid-range than premium. This all changes with the Google Pixel 6, a beautifully crafted phone that looks distinctive.

Most of thast design flourish has gone into the camera array and it’s fantastic. No other phone on the market has a back like it and it really does stand out.

Our review unit may have been black (Stormy Black, which is something we’ve definitely asked a bartender for before now), but the other dual-tone colours also look striking. Google offers Sorta Seafoam and Kinda Coral as two new colours.

The rest of the phone is minimalist but stylish. A curved 6.4-inch screen blends nicely with the glass back, all of which is strengthened by Gorilla Glass Victus.

The right side of the device houses a volume rocker and on/off button. Interestingly, the sides of the Pixel 6 are different to the Google Pixel 6 Plus. The alloy frame is more tactile, so the front and the back don’t seem as seamless as on the pro. It’s a subtle change, though.

There’s a charging port (USB-C) on the bottom of the Pixel 6 nestled between two speakers and on the left-hand side is where you slot the SIM in.

2. The differences between the Pixel 6 and Pro are small but significant

The 6.4-inch AMOLED screen on the Pixel 6 is bright but a touch lower quality than on the 6 Pro. It’s 90Hz, compared to 120Hz. The difference is there, if you try them both together. Going back to the Pixel 6 after using the more detailed 6 Pro was slight but noticeable, mostly in the detail on the screen.

We didn’t notice a huge difference in gaming or movie watching (where a higher hz means a smoother performance) which is great news for those looking at this, the cheaper Pixel.

We did prefer the bigger 6.7-inch screen on the 6 Pro, though. That extra 0.3 inches does make a decent difference. It also adds a little bit to the height of the 6 Pro, though, which makes the Pixel 6 the (slightly) smaller phone of the two and the more manageable to hold.

The Pixel 6 measures 158.6 height x 74.8 width x 8.9 depth (mm), compared to the 6 Pro’s 163.9 height x 75.9 width x 8.9 depth (mm). This only adds a tiny bit of weight: 207g, compared to the 6 Pro’s 210g.

The biggest difference comes in the camera array. Where you get two cameras the same (it’s a dual setup on the Pixel 6), you do lose the 48MP telephoto camera that’s seen on the Pixel 6 Pro. The front camera has been changed, too, from an 11MP selfie shooter on the 6 Pro to an 8MP camera with a smaller field of view.

Specs wise, there’s 8GB of RAM in the Pixel 6, compared to 12GB in the Pixel 6 Pro. The good news is that Google uses the same chip in both handsets: the Google Tensor.

3. The Pixel 6 is a powerful, fun device

Because Google is using its own chip in the Pixel 6 (for the first time), this means that the Google Tensor is the first processor designed by Google and, according to the big G, is custom-made for Pixel. This breaks down to, up to 80% faster performance than the Pixel 5, and better responsiveness for things like gaming and scrolling.

It is a fast device. There was hardly any delay when switching between the camera and Twitter, loading up Netflix and playing Call of Duty: Mobile. The good news is that Google has also used the chip to make sure that the battery life on the phone doesn’t disappear too quickly. We got well over a day out of the thing which we were impressed with.

4. The dual cameras are superb - you (almost) don’t miss the telephoto lens

Google is really serious about its camera tech this year - so much so, you get brilliant lenses as well as the AI photo software that Google is famed for.

Yes, the telephoto lens is missing but the main 50MP lens is superb, bringing in the type of detail you would expect from a standalone camera. The zoom is decent, too, up to 7x. Yes, this is digital but Google’s hardware flourishes mean you don’t really notice pixelation. Switch to the 12MP ultrawide camera and we got some stunning wide-angle shots.

It would have been nice if Google hadn’t changed the selfie cam to an 8MP one (compared to the 11MP on the 6 Pro), the lens does make it harder to get other people into the shot. Detail, as always, is great however.

Google hasn’t forgotten about the software, either. There’s actually a huge amount of image manipulation you can do in camera. This includes un-blurring faces in a picture (if your image suffers from the shakes), cropping out unwanted people and things in the background of shots and Real Tone is finally a feature that means all people and skin tones are reflected well in portrait shots. It’s nice to see a phone giant finally understand this and make their handsets work for everyone.

So, not a pro-level as the, er, Pro but Google’s mix of hardware and software has never been better than in the Google Pixel 6 range.

5. Android 12 and Pixel 6 are perfectly matched

Android 12 is our favourite operating system yet and it is certainly the most customisable. It works fantastically well on the Pixel 6, offering a great selection of wallpapers to customise the handset - and this colour choice bleeds throughout the phone, into things like the calculator app and volume control.

There is a big emphasis on privacy, too. Not only do you get a fingerprint sensor under the screen on the phone but every time you open an app that may use video or camera you are notified in the corner with an icon. Google is also promising 5 years’ of security updates which is a nice touch.

Google Assistant is baked in even further, but we found that we still mostly used it for asking what the song was on the radio.

Google Pixel 6 review: Final Verdict

Google has done it again, creating a handset that’s a real 'phone of the year' contender, especially when it comes to value for money. This is the best designed Pixel phone we’ve seen, with a cracking set of software features, camera features and more. It’s competitively priced as well, with the Google Pixel 6 coming in at £599/$599, for the 128GB variant. This is a fantastic price for what you get.

If you are looking for more pro-camera specs, a better screen and a beefier bit of RAM, then we would opt for the higher-priced $799/£799 Google Pixel 6 Pro. Either way, you are getting a superb phone.

It’s worth noting as well that if you buy a Google Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro before the 28th October 2021, you will receive a set of Bose Noise Cancelling headphones 700. After this, Google is bundling three months of YouTube Premium and Google One on the device.

You wouldn’t know from the name of the device (or the device itself), but this is meant to be something of a ‘tock’ year for Apple. While the iPhone 12 was a significant upgrade to what came before, the iPhone 13 is for all intents and purposes an iPhone 12S. Well, it would be if this is the Apple of old but it’s not - which is why the iPhone 13 is such a brilliant handset.

Looks-wise there are no significant changes (it’s added a bit of girth) but everything from the camera to the battery has been overhauled.

We’ve been playing with Apple’s latest handset for a little while now - here are 5 things to know about the iPhone 13 Pro.

1 It’s part of an ever growing iPhone family

The iPhone Pro 13 joins a raft of new iPhones - with Apple hoping that it’s now got a wide enough breadth of models for most users to choose from. There’s the new iPhone 13 Mini (5.4-inch screen), the iPhone 13 and the iPhone 13 Pro (6.1-inch screens) and the iPhone 13 Pro Max (6.7-inch screen).

With regards to the iPhone 13 Pro, it’s got a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display (same as the iPhone 13 but with added ‘ProMotion’ - more on this later), so if you are looking at the differences between the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro, then you need to look at its camera setup, which offers a ‘Pro’ camera system that comprises a Telephoto, Wide, and Ultra Wide lens on the back.

2 The iPhone 13 Pro's build quality is superb

Yes, there is still a notch (it has been shrunk a little bit) but there really is something about the build quality of the iPhone 13 Pro that both feels and looks premium. The aforementioned screen is a delight to use. The ProMotion display is a fancy name for a 120Hz refresh rate - something that high-end phones have adapted for a while now. The bigger refresh rate works fantastically well for fast-moving games and movies, making sure there’s next-to-none judder in the entertainment you consume on the device. You’ll even notice it (or not notice it, we should say) when swiping through myriad apps on the iPhone 13 Pro - even if you are the fastest scroller in the West, this phone won’t be playing catch up.

Also, we have to mention just how bright the screen is. Apple is quoting that it’s 25% brighter than the iPhone 12 Pro in direct sunlight and we have to agree - this is the best phone we have tested when it comes to battling sun glare, even the autumnal starkness of light didn’t stop our enjoyment of using the iPhone 13 Pro outside.

Then there’s the chassis - made from ‘surgical-grade stainless steel’ (we wouldn’t recommend using it in an operating theatre, though) and the tough ceramic back makes for a beautiful-looking and incredibly durable handset.

3 The iPhone 13 Pro is ready for your close-up

In the last few iPhone iterations, Apple really has upped its camera gain - using both hardware and software to compete with the likes of Google’s Pixel range which has always been seen as a high watermark in this area.

The camera is really what differentiates the iPhone 13 with the iPhone 13 Pro. On the 13 Pro you get an extra lens on the back. In total you get: a telephoto with 3x optical zoom, an ultrawide (120° field of view) and a wide-angle lens (all 12MP).

The highlights are the TrueDepth system that adds a nice punch to your selfies and the macro features - you can get as close as 2cm to a subject and it all works beautifully. Add to this 4K filming and improvements in low light (and that’s not even in Night mode), especially when using the ultrawide camera, and what you have is a delectable box of photographic goodies.

The best thing about this year’s models, camera wise, is that you don’t need to buy the Max for the best camera system - as it is identical on the iPhone 13 Pro.

4 Battery is a beast on this thing

The Apple iPhone 13 Pro has a quoted 11% larger battery than its predecessor and boy does it show. We rinsed the handset as much as we could doom-scrolling Twitter, playing far too much Call of Duty: Mobile and shooting 4K videos with as much passion as Chris Nolan with an IMAX camera and we still had around 25% of battery life before we went to sleep.

We obviously used that up with TikTok, instead of getting some sleep, but it just shows how good the iPhone 13 Pro’s battery is.

We, like you, have moaned about Apple’s battery capacity in the past but we really can’t grumble here. And if you want more, then head to the iPhone 13 Pro Max, which has upped the battery to a jaw-dropping 18.5%.

Yes, the battery has added a few millimeters around the phone but it really isn’t that noticeable - unless you try and put an iPhone 12 Pro case on the thing, as it won’t quite fit.

5. There’s plenty of power under the hood

The iPhone 13 Pro is a powerhouse, thanks to the A15 Bionic chip that’s inside. This is the beating heart of the phone which makes it super speedy but also makes sure the handset doesn’t balk at the idea of things like Cinematic Mode, which is an impressive new video feature that automatically shifts perspective like you are shooting a proper movie, works as seamlessly as it does.

And then there is iOS 15 - an iterative update but an assured one, and one you probably have on your iPhone right now. Highlights for us are the Focus feature which worked well making sure the outside world didn’t ruin things for us, by blocking all but the most important notifications. Apple Maps has been upgraded but we still shun it for Google Maps, while the weather app has been vastly improved. Add to this the ability to easily share video and other media while on a FaceTime call and this is one slick software update.

Apple iPhone Pro 13: Final Verdict

Apple has created its best all-round phone yet with the iPhone 13 Pro. The software is decent enough to stop Android users complaining, while the hardware is exceptional in pretty much every area. Add to this some superb camera features and a battery life that will never embarrass you and this is a superb handset that comes at a price - but one well worth paying.

The Apple iPhone Pro 13 is out now. Our review unit was supplied to us by Vodafone, which is offering a guaranteed £360 when you trade in an iPhone 11 Pro or Pro Max using Vodafone’s Trade-In Tool.

It’s no longer all about Mi for Xiaomi. The phone giant has ditched the Mi moniker, opting for a cleaner name for the Xiaomi 11T range.

These mid-range phones are variants of the Xiaomi Mi 11 series, offering faster (blisteringly so) charging and some impressive specs at a price that is very competitive.

While there are a few niggles along the way, Xiaomi is once again showcasing to the world just why it has had such a stellar year, which has seen it overtake Apple as the second biggest smartphone manufacturer - just behind Samsung in the list.

We have been playing with the Xiaomi 11T Pro for a few weeks now - here are 5 things to know…

1. The Xiaomi 11T Pro is one big phone

The first thing you notice about the Xiaomi 11T Pro is that it is one big handset. The screen is massive, at 6.67-inch. It’s AMOLED and is only blemished by a punch-hole camera at the top centre of the screen.

The screen is flat (no curves here, unlike its predecessor) with a bit of a bezel, but it’s pretty much edge to edge and lovely and bright, too. Xiaomi is quoting 1,000 nits brightness and we aren’t going to argue.

In the hand it sits comfortable, but being left-handed it was a bit awkward to use. This is because Xiaomi has insisted on putting the fingerprint sensor on the right-hand side of the device via a button - which is all well and good for you right-handed folks but us using the devil’s hand means that you may struggle a little.

The 11TPro has an interesting speaker setup, with speakers at both the top and bottom of the device. Another niggle is that there is no 3.5mm jack (at its price point, this may have been welcomed by some) but Xiaomi has seen fit to put an IR blaster on the device, so if you fancy using your phone as a remote then you can. Anyone?

2. It’s a great-looking phone... just mind the fingerprints

We are really impressed with the flat screen of the phone. It might be too big for some but we are never going to complain about having too much real estate. Plus, it was comfortable to use and the weight is fine at 204g. We would have liked more than the 1080p it offers but coupled with a 120Hz refresh rate, and Dolby Vision, it’s crisp and clear.

The back of the phone is stylish but it loves to pick up a fingerprint or two. This isn’t a huge issue but for those who like their handsets to be pristine, you might want to invest in a phone case. The colours are great, though - it comes in white, blue, or grey (reviewed) - and the camera bump on the back is one of the nicest we have come across. It's highlighted by a black lozenge and nestled on the top left of the device.

3. The 11T Pro packs an almighty processing punch

To make sure that the phone doesn’t suffer when you put it through its paces, Xiaomi has added a Snapdragon 888 chip and we are very happy about that. It’s a powerful processor, one that is usually reserved for the more premium handsets, and it shows.

Whether playing games on the thing (a bit of CoD: Mobile), doom scrolling or listening to music (Bluetooth only, mind), there’s a real smoothness to the way the phone works.

We’re also big fans of HDR10+ on the device. This really pushed up the quality of our movie watching - even though the screen isn’t 4K, the addition of HDR really improves on colour clarity.

The addition of Harmon Kardon tuned speakers (as mentioned, on the top and bottom of the device) really does add an oomph when you are listening to something not through headphones. This doesn’t mean you can use the speakers on the back of the bus, mind - that’s always going to be a no-no!

4. The cameras are decent, cinematic even

The headline grabber here is that Xiaomi has opted to add in a 108MP lens (thanks to some impressive processing) to the Xiaomi 11T Pro. While you should never be dazzled by big MP numbers, in our test this really is a decent lens, taking bright and detailed pictures.

This camera is backed by an 8MP wide-angle sensor and a 5MP tele-macro lens, which has a 2x zoom.

If you fancy yourself as the next Spielberg then having 8K video on board (that can be shot with HDR 10+) really is impressive. There is also a pro video mode to back this up with a number of movie flourishes and a ‘one-click AI cinema’ mode.

5. This is one of the fastest charging phones we've ever tested

20 minutes. That’s all it took to charge the Xiaomi Mi 11T Pro, thanks to its 120W Xiaomi HyperCharge tech.

Nope, that’s not a typo: from empty to full it’s the speediest we have ever charged a phone and it’s pretty jaw-dropping. And Xiaomi even quotes that it should take even less time, 17 minutes so you might even find your handset charges quicker.

Having this sort of charging speed changes your whole outlook on how you use a phone. We found ourselves no longer charging overnight but just giving it a small burst in the morning while we showered.

And even when you don’t charge, you will get around 15 hours out of the handset. Charging was not a worry on this phone and it’s rare that we say that.

Xiaomi 11T Pro review: Final Verdict

Xiaomi is riding high in the most popular phone manufacturer rankings right now and it’s easy to see why. The Xiaomi 11T Pro proves once again that it knows how to create a mid-range handset that has been supercharged with premium specs.

Granted, we would have preferred a 4K screen and for the phone not to be quite as chunky. But with its powerful camera, ridiculously good charging capabilities and speedy processor it’s a fun phone to use - and one that pretty much eliminates battery life worry.

• The Xiaomi 11T Pro is now available for £599 from Amazon.

Stop right there! We understand you might be lucky enough to have a wad of money to spend on your next smartphone but, seriously, why bother paying through the nose for a ‘premium’ handset when the mid-range is absolutely smashing it right now?

Take OnePlus. It’s just launched not one but two new handsets with a number of ‘killer’ features that will make you think twice about spending a fortune on a new phone.

The OnePlus Nord 2 and OnePlus Nord CE are two outstanding phones that deliver high-end features to the masses. They also kill off a host of things that can make phones REALLY annoying to use.

Want to know more? Of course you do - here are 5 bad phone features the OnePlus Nord 2 and Nord CE are killing off...

1. OnePlus is killing off slow charging

There’s nothing worse than waiting ages for your phone to charge. It’s the new waiting for a kettle to boil and, frankly, it sucks. Thankfully, both the OnePlus Nord 2 and Nord CE feature super-fast fast charging, so you never need to put up with a painful wait ever again. Plus, if you’re about to set out on a night out and notice your phone is low, just 15 minutes charging of the OnePlus Nord 2 with Warp Charge 65, will get you roughly 60% of battery - while Nord CE’s Warp Charge 30T will get you from 1-70% in just half an hour. Not bad? It’s bloody brilliant.

2. Mediocre camera performance is on OnePlus’ kill list

Seriously, when it comes to buying a mid-range phone, you shouldn’t have to take mid-range photos. Thankfully both the OnePlus Nord 2 and Nord CE have been blessed with a cracking set of lenses. The OnePlus Nord 2 has a stunning AI triple camera system (consisting of a cracking 50MP sensor stolen from OnePlus’s flagship line, an 8MP ultra-wide shooter and a 2MP monochrome camera) for you to take advantage of, while the Nord CE has a 5MP selfie cam, a 64MP main shooter, 8MP ultra-wide camera, and it also rounds all this off with a brilliant dedicated mono lens for those moody black-and-white shots.

3. One Plus is out to kill slowdown

Speed is of the essence with the OnePlus Nord 2 and Nord CE, and their specs prove this. Both phones make use of the blistering speeds of 5G and OxygenOS software and are backed by big processors. The Nord CE features a superb Snapdragon 750G chip, which is brilliant for 5G and HDR gaming - it uses its onboard AI to power advanced processing, which means incredible graphics and 5G gaming. The Nord 2 has a Mediatek Dimensity 1200-AI chip inside, MediaTek’s fastest and most powerful chip ever! The chip helps improve your photos with some AI flourishes, let’s you game faster and stream movies better. Both are ready and waiting for the fastest of swipers and texters.

4. OnePlus isn’t afraid of killing off average displays

The OnePlus Nord 2 and Nord CE both feature a 90Hz Fluid AMOLED display which, in the mid-range, is very impressive. The Nord 2’s measures 6.4 inches, the Nord CE 6.43 inches – but enough of the science. What this means to the end user is buttery smooth scrolling through the social media apps of your choice, a judder-free gaming experience and flipping between apps is also far speedier than before. Basically, your phone will now be able to keep up with your over-active online life.

5. The OnePlus Nord 2 and Nord CE are the ultimate boredom killers

With many phones looking exactly the same right now, you'll be pleased to read that the OnePlus Nord 2 and Nord CE have embraced some striking colours to make sure they stand out from the boring crowd. The OnePlus Nord 2 is available in two stunning variants: Gray Sierra - inspired by the shiny chassis of luxury sports cars - and Blue Haze with its porcelain-like finish. The OnePlus CE is available in Blue Void (which looks so blue from every angle you’ll think you’re staring into the deepest ocean), Charcoal Ink and Silver Ray. Fancy!

The OnePlus Nord 2 and One Plus Nord CE are available now. And, good news! From 20-26 September you can get £30 off OnePlus Nord CE 5G, while anyone who buys Nord CE 5G in September also gets a discount on OnePlus Buds Z and a OnePlus Handy Fanny Pack.

Meanwhile if you prefer OnePlus Nord 2 5G you can also get a discount on Buds Z, OnePlus Buds or a case and screen protector bundle throughout September.

Samsung has always offered up decent smartwatches - its range are solid, dependable and decent-looking smart wrist warmers. With the Apple Watch always looming in the background, though, the market has always been tough for Apple’s rivals. But it’s time to change all that, thanks to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4.

This the latest wearable from Samsung is exactly what we want from an Android-based smartwatch. It’s got the looks, the tech and while we wish it had a little bit more staying power, there is a lot to like here.

We’ve had the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 on our wrist for a few weeks now. Here are 5 things you need to know…

1. Design is watch first, smartwatch second

There are two types of Samsung Galaxy Watch 4s available, the original and the Classic. We reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic and it’s a beautiful smartwatch.

The design flourishes included make it feel like a regular watch, including the fantastic rotating bezel, stainless steel exterior and really comfortable (included) band.

It measures (at its largest watch size): 45.5 x 45.5 x 11.0mm. The original is more of a sportier option, slightly smaller in size (44.4 x 43.3 x 9.8mm) and has an aluminium case. The chip inside (Exynos W920) is the same, as is the battery (361mAh for the biggest watch face) and they are both powered by Wear OS Powered by Samsung...

2. The software is key

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is an almighty team-up in the world of wearables. This is the watch where Tizen (Sammy’s normal operating system) takes a back seat and the Wear OS Powered by Samsung partnership with Google comes on board to look after the software side of things.

It’s a welcomed change and great to see two tech giants do something sensible and team-up to offer the best of both worlds.

Wear OS 3 is on board the Galaxy Watch 4 and this brings with it a bevy of new and improved features.

At first glance, Galaxy Watch users definitely won’t be alienated, it still looks like a similar UI as before but the biggest benefit here is access to the Google Play Store and having Google interconnected means much better notifications if you are an Android user.

Apps such as Spotify (now with downloadable playlists!) and Strava are available and a whole host of other apps that weren’t simply available for Samsung’s custom app store users.

Because of this, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is right up there with our choice of best Android smartwatches.

3. It’s fitness focused and knows when you are exercising

If, like us, you sometimes forget to tell your watch what exercise you are doing, then the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is for you. Every time we went for a run or on a cross trainer, the watch would kick in, knowing what exercise we were doing. It was really accurate and impressive but more so when we dug into the fitness options.

The good news is that Samsung Health works seamlessly with the Galaxy Watch 4 and there are some new metrics to play around with. These include: heart rate, blood pressure, ECG, and Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA, to give it its hip-hop name).

As mentioned, many exercises are automatically detected but things like strength workouts will need to be chosen manually. This isn’t an issue and there are a ton to choose from.

There is also sleep tracking on board, which seemed decent to us, mapping out the amount of Light, Deep, and REM sleep we had over the course of a night.

There is also GPS on board, which helps for mapping runs and giving a more accurate reading for distances and the like.

It’s worth noting that while it is Wear OS, the exercise choices are Samsung and your data is tracked via Samsung Health. This is very much a partnership right now and not pure Wear OS.

4. The battery left us wanting more juice

Battery life on the 42mm Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic wasn’t amazing. We found ourselves with a watch that managed to last the day and a sleep then would need to be charged, so we had to figure out where to get a sneaky charge in. After using smartwatches from the likes of Huawei, which pride themselves on battery, this was a little bit of a shock.

The good news is that if you up the size to the 46mm variant, then the battery is also increased.

Charging is done through Samsung’s proprietary charger. There is also wireless charging available.

5. This is one for the Android crowd

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is a fantastic wearable, but one for the Android crowd. Samsung has decided to not offer iPhone support to the watch. Given that Apple users will almost certainly turn to an Apple Watch (or Garmin) for its wrist warmer, this does make sense.

Unlike Huawei, though, you don’t need to be a dedicated Samsung user to get the best benefits from the watch. Yes, you have to use Samsung’s Health app but all the data points you would want are readily available through whichever Android smartphone you use.

We were using the OnePlus 9 Pro for some of our time with the Galaxy Watch 4 (as well as the Galaxy Z Fold 3) and didn’t notice any major differences in performance.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4: Final Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is the best Wear OS smartwatch around right now - it’s the device that was needed to breathe new life into Android smartwatches.

It looks fantastic, has cutting-edge software that’s far easier to use than before and really is a viable choice for Android users.

If you have an iPhone, then this one definitely isn’t for you but finally those who don’t want an Apple Watch have a real Wear OS contender to think about purchasing.

The Samsung Galaxy 4 Classic is out now, in black or Silver, priced at £349.

• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 review: Fold the front page!
• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 review: Flippin' Hell, this is a good phone

When the first Samsung Galaxy Fold arrived, it had the ultimate wow factor. No other phone on the market did what it did - it looked like the future. Unfortunately, with new technology came a few missteps and durability was put into question.

This wasn’t the case for the Samsung Galaxy Fold Z 2, a handset that tweaked the design, upped the durability but, boy, the price was still sky high.

Enter the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3: a folding phone that gets pretty much everything right. The durability is there, there’s the additional advantage of S-Pen support and the price is, well, premium but not ‘way out of your league’ premium.

We’ve been playing with the Samsung Galaxy Fold 3 for a few weeks now - here are 5 things to know...

1. The display is brilliant and bright

The size of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold is unfurled is MASSIVE, The main screen is a 7.6-inch display (and when folded its 6.2 inches, both OLED) and the good news is that Samsung has upped the brightness. This thing is 30% brighter than before which means that outdoor viewing has improved a lot.

Fold the phone into its candy bar setup and it’s great to see that the cover screen has been given a 120Hz refresh rate. This means that all your scrolling and switching through apps is nice and buttery smooth.

A great addition to the main screen is that there is an under-display camera on board. This magically disappears when you are viewing anything on the device. This means that you don’t have a pesky notch in the way when gaming or watching Netflix.

The camera itself is only 4MP but this is one of the first phones to have this technology and we think it works really well with the tablet-like screen.

The screen is HDR10+ certified, too, which is fantastic for movie watching and Dolby Atmos surround sound built into its speakers.

2. This Fold 3 is a performance powerhouse

While the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3’s big screen will mean that you will want to immediately watch a movie on the thing, or play a game, the extra real estate does mean that this handset is a multi-tasking master.

There is something called the Multi-Active Window that allows you to have multiple apps working on the same screen independently - if you are feeling really geeky you can have three apps on the screen at once.

It also allows you to have multiple tabs up on a screen at once, too, which does make the Fold 3 feel like a real tablet killer.

While it’s not quite a laptop killer yet, Flex mode does allow you to use the handset like a laptop (when you put it into a 90-degree folded position), which offers up separate controls to apps such as YouTube on the bottom of the device. It also means that you can do your video calls hands free as the phone has its own base to rest on.

3. Design is decent - as long as you don’t mind a bit of chunk

You can’t help falling in love with the look of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3. It’s a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, from the flexible screen (which makes a nice soft sound when closed) to when it is folded out like a tablet, it’s a serious slab of phone which measures: Folded, 158.2 x 67.1 x 16.0mm (Hinge) - 14.4mm; Unfolded, 158.2 x 128.1 x 6.4mm and weighs 271g.

So the answer is: yes, it is chunky when folded and does leave quite a bulge in your pocket. |f you are a skinny jeans wearer then you might want to re-think your phone options. We weren’t put off with the chunk, though, as the option to have a bigger screen far outweighs this.

4. The cameras are cool but we didn’t use them all that much

The cameras on the Flip 3 are decent, but we found ourselves not using them all that much. We don't know if that's because of the device being more suited for screen time, but if you are a photo fiend, then there is a lot to like here. Selfies and group shots are easier, thanks to the ability to ‘fold’ the device so it has a base so you can place the camera on.

Those who are familiar with the S21 Ultra will be right at home with the Single Take and Director's View features, while the Capture View Mode uses the split screen mode nicely.

As for actual hardware, the Fold 3 has the following cameras

(alongside the aforementioned 4MP selfie cam): 3x 12MP lenses (wide-angle, ultra-wide and telephoto).

5. Battery is fine but you’ll be charging daily

We clocked around seven hours’ battery life from the Samsung Galaxy Fold 3 but that was using the handset to the max, in both folded out and folded views. It’s not bad but we wish there was an extra bit of charge in there.

It’s worth noting that you don’t get a plug in the setup, either, but you can use any USB charger and wireless charging is also on board.

Another thing that doesn’t come in the box, but is an additional extra, is an S-Pen. This is the first Fold to be compatible with the stylus and we definitely recommend getting one to complete the Fold 3 experience. It will allow you to write freehand on the device, annotate documents and more.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3: final verdict

Alongside the Galaxy Z Flip 3 (pictured above), Samsung has created something special with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold. It's the future of phones and while it is still pricey - from £1,599 on Samsung's official site - it really is a fantastic premium handset.

While this is a handset that will wow friends when you whip it out in the pub, it's far from being that superficial - its multi-tasking is superb, the screen(s) fantastic and, above all, it's bloody fun to use!

• Read more: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 review

It's the third time the charm for Samsung and its Galaxy Z Flip range. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 shows that the tech giant is very much still embracing foldable phone technology, proving that with this fashion-focused series it is pushing its bendable OLED screens to those who want both style and cutting-edge tech.

This time around, though, it hasn’t got the initial ‘wow’ factor to hide behind. Everyone has seen a phone fold, so it has to impress not just with looks but features, too.

We have been playing with the phone for a while now: here are five things to know about the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3.

1. Samsung has Flipped the power switch

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 shares the same processing power that was seen in the Samsung Galaxy S21 range, so there’s no fear of this phone slowing down when you need it the most. Couple this with a screen that’s bloody gorgeous (6.7 inches when fully unfolded and 120Hz) and it is something of a powerhouse.

Flip the thing around and the screen on the cover has been increased, too, from a mere 1.1 inches to 1.9 inches - a small but noticeable change. This extra real estate makes it easier to read your messages, check weather notifications and the like, but we can’t see you trying to bang out your novel through this screen. It’s more there for at-a-glance checks before you flip the Flip open.

2. It’s a phone for those that don’t like big phones

The key to the Flip 3 is its form factor. This isn’t a phone that stretches into a tablet (that is what the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 is for) but one that changes from a seriously-sized 6.7-inch handset that will give normal non-foldable phones a run for their money (albeit being a little taller) to something much more compact. When flipped it is much more the size of a pocket mirror - at 4.2 inches. It is thick, obviously so, but that didn’t bother us too much.

This isn’t a phone you can flippantly flip like the old Motos, either, it has to be done with two hands. There is a certain amount of toughness here to get the screen up which reminds you that this is indeed an expensive bit of kit in your hand. But the ability to have a decent-sized full screen phone turn into something that won’t bulk out a purse or pocket really is something to behold. Flipping the Flip isn’t just about compactness, though, as Samsung has added some decent features to take advantage of the bendable screen…

3. New features for the Flip

The Samsung Galaxy Flip 3 made loads of sense when we flipped it to a 90-degree angle, having the bottom of the phone act as a base. This summons Flex mode and some dual screen action, where you can take pictures using the base as to balance the phone, speak on a video call hands free and use multi-window to do two things at once. In our case it was doom scroll Twitter and watch some YouTube (which sounded great through the new upgraded stereo speakers).

The screen size is pretty perfect for this mode and there are a number of apps that take advantage of the dual-screen capabilities. And for those that don’t, you can just shift apps around to take advantage of the dual screen.

4. Photos are fun when Flipped

There are a number of decent lenses on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 but they are the same found on the previous iteration. This isn’t a bad thing as what’s there is decent (2x 12MP wide and ultra-wide rear cameras, 10MP selfie camera) and is coupled with some nifty features prized from the Samsung Galaxy S21.

These include: Director's View (a live preview of sorts) and Single Take which uses AI to figure out the best image for you from a series of images taken. The ability to preview your image from the front case is a great feature (and works better now the case screen is bigger) and the selfie options when the phone is unflipped are great.

5. The Flip has big ideas but needs a bigger battery

We are guessing because of the form factor, battery life had to take a bit of a backseat and it does show on the Flip. We managed to squeeze around four hours’ screen time out of the thing, which could do you a whole day if you spread it out.

We reckon you will want a charger handy, though. Oh, and Samsung has stopped adding charging plugs in the case, so you will need to find one of those, too. There is wireless charging on board, which is great to see - and the phone supports 15W fast charging.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3: final verdict

Samsung’s foldable phones are no longer the future, but the present and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 no longer feels like a novelty showcase of technology but the real deal. It’s the perfect phone for those who don’t want a ‘big’ phone all of the time.

It’s feature packed and durable to point. While we never felt like we were going to snap the thing, we did always feel that we needed to be that little bit more careful with the phone, compared to other handsets.

Price wise, Samsung has managed to get the handset under the magic £1,000/$1,000 mark for the first time. Yes, it’s still premium but no longer out of reach to the mainstream phone buyer.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 is out Friday 27 August and available for pre-order now. Colour-wise, it comes in Cream (reviewed), Phantom Black, Green and Lavender and in both 128GB/8GB and 256GB/8GB variants.

The OnePlus Nord was a big deal for OnePlus. A million-selling mid-ranger that became a best-selling phone on Amazon, it was a huge success for a company that is once again finding its way when it comes to what its core stands for.

While we all knew OnePlus as the company that sold flagship phones at mid-range prices, it has since diversified its portfolio..

In the time since the first OnePlus Nord reveal back in August 2020, we have had six new handsets: OnePlus 8T, OnePlus Nord N10, OnePlus Nord N100, OnePlus 9, OnePlus 9 Pro and the OnePlus Nord CE 5G. A list that is both impressive and exhaustive.

The OnePlus Nord 2 is OnePlus' seventh release in a year then, and one that proves the company can still wow when it comes to offering new features, while only compromising in a few places when it comes to trying to keep the money down.

We've had the handset for some time now - here are 5 things to know about the OnePlus Nord 2 5G.

1. It has a familiar look for OnePlus fans

The OnePlus Nord 2 has been styled in a similar way to the OnePlus 9, with the two rear cameras on the back of the device. While we go into more details about the cameras later on, it's worth noting that the Sony IMX 766 50MP sensor is on board, which is the same that was found in the 9 Series. This marks a 56% improvement on the amount of light the sensor can let in, compared to the OnePlus Nord.

Its dimensions are: Height: 158.9mm, Width: 73.2mm, Thickness: 8.25mm. These are similar to the original Nord. If you are looking for a slimmer phone, then the OnePlus Nord CE lops a few mm off of the thickness. It also ahas a 3.5mm jack that the Nord 2 doesn't have.

2. The screen is slick

At 6.43 inches, the screen is a touch smaller than the original Nord (by 0.01 inch) and the same as the Nord CE. With 90Hz refresh time, this is definitely a phone primed for gaming, movie watching and the like.

We tried it bright light and a darkened room and it handles both extremes well. We were impressed with the daylight readable enhancement feature that kicked in when trying to battle the English heatwave.

OnePlus is also going big in AI this time around, with features called AI Color Boost and AI Resolution Boost. The idea being that no matter the quality of the video or photos you are viewing through the phone, the handset will try its best to enhance them. While we are always weary that adding to much interpolation to images makes them look a little fake, OnePlus has done a good job of keeping things lifelike here - some would say it is subtle, but we'd rather that than the images looking over processed.

It doesn't kick in all the time, but we noticed it when using both Instagram and YouTube.

3 All this AI goodness is because of a new chip

OnePlus has been part of the Qualcomm brigade for a long time now, so we were a little taken back to see that OnePlus has changed chipset for the OnePlus Nord 2. It's shifted to Qualcomm rival MediaTek and is using its fancy sounding MediaTek Dimensity 1200-AI Processor. The key here is that this is a near flagship chip which allows for all those AI features the OnePlus Nord 2 boast.

For us, the most important thing was whether the changeover would degrade the quality of the speed and reliability of the phone but in our tests we noticed nothing of the sort. Flipping through Oxygen OS 11.3 (we're fans of the dark mode and zen mode on offer), it was as slick as we have seen on flagships with no sluggishness going between apps, binge watching Netflix and crying while scrolling through the doom and gloom Twitter has to offer.

Gaming, too, was well catered for with the ability to live record what you are doing and some nice 'mis-touch' prevention which came in handy a number of times for us. The phone stayed pretty cool throughout a number of long gaming sessions, too.

We like the speakers of the OnePlus Nord 2 as well. They weren't quite bass laden for our liking, but the sound was expansive and the haptics have also been tweaked which could definitely be felt in the games we played.

4 Cameras are flagship level... last year's flagship

We are very happy that the cameras on board the OnePlus Nord 2 are similar to what is found on the 9 Series. The standout is the 50MP IMX 766 Sony sensor. It delivers rich reproductions and the a large f/1.88 aperture means that a ton of light is let in, making for some fantastic shots. Coupled with OIS and you are laughing. Okay, it is old-ish tech but to see this filter down into the Nord range less than a year after being on OnePlus' flagship is decent.

The 8MP ultra wide angle isn't quite as impressive but does give you enough boost when you want to take those larger landscape shots. Flip the camera over and OnePlus has added its biggest-ever selfie sensor to the front - a 32MP Sony sensor.

When it comes to features, OnePlus is still trying hard with its night modes, with improvements made to landscape and portrait. There does seem to be more detail in the darker shots but it still can't match the likes of Google in this area.

It is taking photography seriously, though, with a new AI photo enhancement mode that can recognise 22 photo scenes and adjust cameras accordingly for them.

The Dual View Video mode is a lot of fun. This is definitely one set up for bloggers, allowing you to film your reaction plus what you can see at the same time. Given the world is all trying to have its 15 minutes of fame right now, it's good to see a feature like this on board.

5 Battery and charging do their best to impress

OnePlus' battery life always seems to be a mixed bag on its phones, but we think it has done a decent job with the OnePlus Nord 2. There's a 4500mAh battery onboard which lasts the day as long as you aren't caning it on the video watching or gaming side of things.

We're a little disappointed not to see wireless charging but can understand why, given that costs need to be kept down. The Warp Charge 65 charger is impressive. We managed to get our phone charged in just over half an hour, which made us worry a lot less about the battery levels getting low.

OnePlus Nord 2: final verdict

We have really liked our time spent with the OnePlus Nord 2. It's a slick, speedy phone that rarely reminds you that it's a mid-ranger.

The screen is powerful and the new chip inside may rankle some but it works well in this device - although some of the AI enhancements are certainly subtle. Battery life is good, but speedy charging is fantastic.

OnePlus has gone big on its Nord range of late, and we can see why. It's a popular, 'money saving' choice that means more people can get their hands on a near flagship phone, but not pay through the nose for it.

The OnePlus Nord 2 comes in 12GB/256GB (Gray Sierra) and 8GB/126GB (Blue Haze /Gray Sierra) varieties and is available from Amazon 28 July from £399.

Also consider:

• OnePlus 9 Pro review
• OnePlus Nord
• OnePlus Nord CE 5G

OnePlus is back with a brand-new handset that offers best-in-class hardware and features for a price that’s certain to make you smile.

The OnePlus Nord CE 5G proves once again that you don’t have to pay a fortune to have a handset that really delivers. Packing, among other goodies, an AMOLED display, triple camera setup and super-fast charging, the OnePlus Nord CE 5G is something of a mid-range killer.

This maestro of the mid-range has fantastic specs appeal and looks, offering a high-quality experience for a price you wouldn’t think possible.

Want to know more? Of course you do: here are 5 fantastic reasons the OnePlus Nord CE 5G is a mid-range master.

1 The OnePlus Nord CE 5G has looks that impress

The OnePlus Nord CE 5G is the slimmest OnePlus device since the OnePlus 6T. It’s 7.9mm thick and weighs in at a mere 170g. It comes in a number of colours but we’re utterly impressed with Blue Void, a beautiful new colour variant that compliments the matte finish. Although the OnePlus Nord CE 5G is all about looking good, that doesn’t mean features have been missed out to make way for the slim design - you’ll be pleased to know it comes equipped with that all-important 3.5mm headphone jack.

2 The OnePlus Nord CE 5G plays hard and fast

The OnePlus Nord CE 5G is one speedy phone. Not only does it have 5G - which means download speeds up to 2.95 Gbps - it also comes with a powerful Snapdragon 750G 5G processor, OnePlus’s signature fast and smooth OxygenOS 11 and Warp Charge 30T Plus functionality, which allows you to charge your phone from 0-70% in just 30 minutes.

3 The OnePlus Nord CE 5G will help you take great pictures

Thanks to the triple-camera setup on the OnePlus Nord CE 5G, you won’t just be taking snaps with the phone, rather you’ll be taking great pictures. Whether it’s through the 64MP main camera, 8MP wide angle camera (with an impressive 119° field of view) or the 2MP dedicated monochrome lens, the Nord CE 5G has a number of ways to help you take better photos. It will take eight photos at once and combine them to create brighter photos and there are a number of preset filters that will improve any image you take.

4 The OnePlus Nord CE 5G’s screen will surprise you

When you look at the mid-range, a number of handsets will be offering 60Hz screen tech. OnePlus doesn’t want the OnePlus Nord CE 5G to blend in with the pack, though, so it’s bumped this up to 90Hz, which makes for better gaming, movie watching and the like. And not only that, the screen is AMOLED. That’s right, you’re getting a 90Hz fast and smooth 6.43-inch AMOLED display on the OnePlus Nord CE 5G and OnePlus wouldn’t have it any other way.

5 And now for the price (drum roll, please)...

The OnePlus Nord CE 5G starts from £299, which we think is a little less than you were expecting. You see, OnePlus really wants everyone to be able to experience its phones. It believes that mid-range phone customers deserve the same burden-less experience as the high-end smartphone customer. This is why the OnePlus Nord CE 5G provides the same OnePlus quality and the signature fast and smooth experience you see on its more premium offerings.

The OnePlus Nord CE 5G is available now from £299 from Amazon, John Lewis, Three and OnePlus.com.

The OnePlus Nord was a revelation when it was first revealed back in 2020. It was a phone that really brought OnePlus back its roots - as a brand that offers great hardware at a price that doesn’t sting. At £379 it was the bargain of the year and, according to OnePlus, one the best-selling phones on Amazon.

A massive success, then, and one OnePlus wants to recapture with the OnePlus Nord CE 5G - a cheaper phone that has many of the features that made the Nord so compelling.

We’ve been using it for a few weeks now - here are 5 things to know about the OnePlus Nord CE 5G.

1 The name is key to what this handset is

The CE in OnePlus Nord CE 5G stands for Core Edition. Much like Samsung is doing with its FE (Fan Edition) range of phones, it takes the core of what makes the Nord a great phone and slices and dices a few of the features to get the price down.

2 Its looks certainly aren’t cheap

We can’t stop staring into the Blue Void of our review device. The colour of the handset really stands out and looks great wrapping round the rounded chassis. There are hints of it when you look at the 6.43-inch AMOLED, 90Hz and Full HD screen straight on, too, which we like.

The back is plastic and this is one of the concessions that has been made here, compared to the original Nord. And while the glass is toughened, it is not Gorilla Glass on show. Given this is one of the cheapest 5G phones you can buy, you wouldn’t know this by looks alone.

On the rear is a triple camera array and there is a 3.5mm jack situated on the bottom of the device next to the USB-C charging port. This is also OnePlus’ slimmest phone since the OnePlus 6T, at just 7.9mm thick.

3 There are plenty of specs on show here

We weren’t expecting an in-screen fingerprint scanner at this price, so it’s good to see it included on the OnePlus Nord CE 5G. There isn’t quite as much grunt on board here, compared to the original Nord, with a Snapdragon 750G chipset used. The original’s 765G chip did mean that things like gaming are a little bit more buttery smooth but, on the whole, we didn’t notice a drastic difference when comparing the two phones.

The screen will be familiar to OnePlus users. It’s decent and great that it's OLED with crisp colours and it worked really well in the recent sunshine we have actually been getting in the UK - this is thanks to the 1000-nit brightness.

When it comes to power, there are two versions available: 8GB and128GB storage, 12GB and 256GB storage. If you opt for the bigger size, then it is £70 more (bringing it up to the price of the original Nord) and you have an extra colour option to choose from - Silver Ray. The other colours are Blue Void (reviewed) and Charcoal Ink.

4 Camera is cut down but works well

As mentioned, there is a triple camera display on the OnePlus Nord CE. You get a 64MP camera, 119-degree wide-angle camera and a monochrome lens. We’re not quite convinced that you need a monochrome lens anymore, given how good filters are now, but if you want to take B&W with decent clarity, then it certainly does that.

The other two cameras work well, though, with the colours and detail captured surprisingly good. We say surprising as we weren’t convinced when OnePlus revealed that it wasn’t using a Sony sensor for its cameras this time around.

The ultra-wide was also solid in our tests, but it didn’t feel like it had quite the ‘oomph’ in the picture department as the original Nord, though.

Its 4K shooting is great, though, with this handset working well when it comes to capturing video. And the dedicated night mode was definitely welcomed, enhancing our night shots with pleasing clarity.

5 Battery will last a day but gets up to speed quick

We were expecting the OnePlus Nord CE 5G to have a 5000mAh battery but what’s here is a 4,500mAh one. It did last the day in our test, though, and we definitely put the handset through its paces, shifting between gaming, Netflix, doom scrolling and the like.

With Warp Charge 30T (30W) on board, though, you can get over 60% charge back in just 30 minutes, so we found ourselves using that when clocking off work around 5pm. That way we didn’t need to charge it through the night.

OnePlus Nord CE 5G: Final verdict

Yes, sacrifices have been made. There’s no glass back, the processor and camera has been changed but what you have is one of the best-looking phones at its price point and one that has many of the great features that OnePlus fans know and love. If you are looking to upgrade from an older OnePlus and want a phone under the £300 mark then this is for you. If you can still find the original Nord, then we would snap that one up, too, as we have a feeling that you won’t be seeing that phone on sale much longer, now the CE 5G is on its way.

The OnePlus Nord CE 5G is available to pre-order from OnePlus now.

• OnePlus Nord review: a mid-range master

The OnePlus 9 Pro is one of the best smartphones out right now, a handset that is the culmination of years of innovation by OnePlus.

With a bold new design, and coming in three brilliant new colours (Morning Mist, Stellar Black and Pine Green) The OnePlus 9 Pro has been built for durability, as it’s water resistant thanks to its IP68 rating. It’s a handset that has a lot going for it: from sleek design and speed, to its game-changing camera partnership with Hasseblad. It’s a smarter smartphone that demands to be tried out.

Want to know more? Of course you do: here are 5 amazing reasons the OnePlus 9 Pro should be your next phone, and why Three is its perfect partner.

1 .The OnePlus 9 Pro has a stunning screen for gaming on the go

The 6.7-inch screen on the OnePlus 9 Pro is jaw dropping and has a number of features that make it perfect for gaming on the go. Let’s start with the smoothness of the screen. No we don’t mean to touch - although it is lovely in that respect, too - but how slick it is for gaming. For gaming to be super-smooth, your phone has to be able to handle high frame rates. The OnePlus 9 Pro does this with aplomb, mixing something called Hyper Touch with a whopping 120Hz screen. This means that the handset will allow ultra-fast aiming and precision in games such as Call of Duty Mobile.

2. The OnePlus 9 Pro is powerful (when it needs to be)

The old adage, ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ is perfect for the OnePlus 9 Pro. Its smart screen means that it will ramp the frame rates up to 120Hz for gaming, but reduce this to 1Hz for reading texts and looking at photos - and it does this without you having to do anything. Its cutting-edge 888 5G Qualcomm chip also optimizes for performance, meaning that there’s power when you need it but this is dialled down when you’re using your handset for less intensive tasks. This prioritisation improves your battery life.

3. Three gifts! Sorry, we mean Free gifts!

Get the OnePlus 9 Pro on Three with Unlimited data and you get a choice of free gift, including the rather excellent JBL Xtreme 3. This portable Bluetooth speaker is waterproof and party-proof, with a handy port for phone-charging and 15 hours of battery life. It’s a brilliant gadget to own now that we’re allowed to get out and about and meet up with friends. A perfect pairing, then!

4. Hasselblad and OnePlus are redefining phone cameras

OnePlus has always offered superior camera tech in its smartphones, but with the OnePlus 9 Pro this is taken to another level. OnePlus has partnered with Hasselblad and the fruits of this can be seen in the photos you can take with the 9 Pro. There’s a real emphasis on, well, realism. Hasseblad’s guidance has made sure that natural skin colour and tones are captured throughout, as well as much vivid detail as possible. Couple this with OnePlus’ imaging hardware which includes: a 48MP main camera, 50MP ultra-wide camera, 8MP telephoto camera and a dedicated Mono camera, and what you have is something quite special.

5. Get ready for Warp Speed on the OnePlus 9 Pro

OnePlus has revolutionised charging with its Warp Speed technology and it’s put to fantastic use with the OnePlus 9 Pro. Its Warp Charge 65T charger delivers next-generation charging, bringing a day’s power in a mere 15 minutes. If it’s wireless you are after, then the Warp Charge 50 Wireless is OnePlus’ fastest-ever wireless charging technology - going from 1-70% in just 30 minutes. Unfortunately, this does mean you will never be able to use the ‘my phone was out of battery’ excuse ever again.

Head to Three’s official site to find out more about the OnePlus 9 Pro and choose your free gift.

Sony has taken the wrappers off of its latest smartphones and, as we have come to expect the tech giant, has added a boatload of new technology - including a variable telephoto lens which is pretty unique on a phone.

The Sony Xperia 1 II and Sony Xperia 5 II were two of the best smartphones of 2020, so it's good to see them both get an update. Interestingly, the Sony Xperia 5 II is still a relatively new phone, so we weren't expecting an update this soon - this does mean that it hasn't had the biggest of refreshes but the tech that has been added is still impressive.

Here's what you get with the two new Xperia phones...

Sony Xperia 1 III details

The Sony Xperia 1 III is the flagship of the range and comes with a a 6.5-inch 21:9 OLED display, with 120Hz refresh rate. This means the phone should be decent for gaming and the like - especially when you combine it with 240Hz touch sampling (which helps with the sensitivity of touch controls). The screen is 4K, too, and supports HDR so fun for films.

It's the camera tech, though, that has us really excited. There are 3x 12MP lenses on this thing - one for the main camera, the ultra-wide camera and this new-fangled telephoto lens.

Making the telephoto lens variable means that you essentially get two great optical zooms through the one lens - once around 3x and one at 4.4x.

Doing this means that Sony is using the lens to its fullest, rather than relying on digital manipulation on the back end which sometimes happens with camera phones. It also has a Time of Flight sensor to round its camera tech off.

Couple this with the whole thing being powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G chip, 12GB RAM and 256 or 512GB storage, as well as a big 4500mAh battery with 30W charging and what you have is a slick handset.

There's also Dolby Atmos on board (and 360 spatial audio) and a 3.5mm jack.

Sony Xperia 5 III details

We were big fans of the smaller Sony Xperia 5 II so it's great to see the Sony Xperia 5 III arriving a little earlier than we were expecting.

The Sony Xperia 5 III really doesn't scrimp on features and has much the same specs as the Sony Xperia 1 III.

The biggest change is the size of the screen (and, in turn, the device). Here the screen is a 6.1-inch 21:9 OLED display. It has the120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sample that its bedfellow has, as well as HDR support but it's Full HD+.

It also loses the ToF (Time of Flight) sensor from its camera setup, but battery life is the same despite it being a smaller phone (4500mAh battery, with 30W charging), the chip powering the thing and storage is also the same (Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G, 12GB RAM and 256 or 512GB storage).

You also get the 3.5mm jack, Dolby Atmos and 360 Spatial Audio functionality.

Both the Sony Xperia 1 III and Sony Xperia 5 III will be out in the early Summer, alongside the Sony Xperia 10 III - a mid-range smartphone that will be packing 5G. Price is yet to be announced.

• Sony Xperia 5 II review: a cinematic stunner

For OnePlus, the One Plus 9 Pro is the ultimate moonshot. It's teamed up with Hasselblad - imaging specialists and whose cameras were used to shoot man's first steps on the moon - to tackle an area that even it admits it has not quite nailed yet: camera photography.

It's a gamble for both companies. OnePlus knows that a phone's camera is one of its biggest USPs, Hasselblad has 80 years of imaging expertise to uphold.

Is it a match made in imaging heaven? Here are 5 things to know about the OnePlus 9 Pro.

1. Decent design

We've always been happy with the look of OnePlus handsets and the OnePlus 9 is no different, offering a sizeable screen which doesn't feel too unwieldy in the hand, matched by a premium look and feel to the chassis. OnePlus calls the design 'burdenless' and we kind of get what it means - it's stylish without being too flashy and it's built with comfort in mind. Given most of us spend an inordinate time looking and playing with our phone, this is essential and we never felt like the phone was getting too heavy or cumbersome.

Its aluminium chassis feels lovely, too, but it's likely you will be putting a cover over the thing like we did. It's a shame we had to, as the colour of the phone we tested was gorgeous. Called Morning Mist, it shimmers in the light. Other colour options include: a matt Pine Green and frosted matt Stellar Black.

The phone is pretty thin, too, at just 8.63mm and it's waterproof too.

2. The screen is super-bright and gamer friendly

Once again, OnePlus has added an 120Hz screen to its flagship and there is a real onus on gaming with the new technology within.

The size of the screen is 6.7-inches and OnePlus has made sure the colour reproduction is spot on. The numbers are impressive (it's QHD+, up to 1,300 nits of peak brightness, native 10-bit colour depth) but all you need to know is that it's brilliant for Netflix watching, is really bright in broad daylight and has some really advanced gaming flourishes.

The standout is something called Hyper Touch. This tech means that gaming on a touchscreen is improved, thanks to more responsive touch controls. The feature doesn't work for all games, but the likes of PUBG and Call of Duty Mobile are compatible with it. OnePlus is quoting that it can make the responsiveness 6x faster. And OnePlus is still the only place where you can play Fortnite on a phone at 90fps.

If gaming isn't your thing, then you'll be pleased to see HDR 10+ is on board for your movie watching.

3. The OnePlus 9 Pro camera is epic

The camera array on the back of the OnePlus 9 Pro is one of the nicest we have seen, and that's pretty impressive considering the amount of lenses and sensors it had to get on the back of the thing. The Hasseblad branding is a nice touch, too, proving that OnePlus really wants you to know that the photography specs on show here are premium.

It's worth noting that Hasseblad's expertise here can be seen in the software and not the hardware. While this relationship will no doubt blossom and include things like lens architecture in the future, what we have are some dedicated functionality that is there to get the best out of your photography.

This comes in the form of the 'Hasselblad Pro Mode'. This is the first time a phone has had Hasselblad-level sensor calibration and what this means is that colour representation is truer and there are an abundance of fine-tuning controls available to the end user.

This includes things like being able to tweak the ISO, white balance and exposure time. All of this has been available before, but Hasseblad's photographic eye is all over this software to make sure your photos come out looking the best they can and as accurate colour-wise to real life.

In this respect, the relationship between OnePlus and Hasseblad is a little different to what, say, Huawei and Leica have. It feels like the shift to Hasseblad camera hardware could happen in future phones.

We are utterly impressed with the tools available here, however - with the natural colour calibration solution being standout and the ability to shoot in 12-bit RAW will certainly excite the photo enthusiasts among you. The Pro mode doesn't seem to be Hasseblad-branded in the camera settings, it is just simply called Pro - though the shutter button is a lovely Hasseblad orange.

When it comes to the actual lenses, there's OnePlus 9 Pro’s main 48MP camera, an 8MP telephoto camera with 3.3x optical zoom, a 50MP ultra-wide camera and the dedicated monochrome lens is still here which we love to see.

A few other camera features that we enjoyed using include the Tilt Shift functionality (although this type of photography is a little out of favour nowadays) and the various Nighscape layers you can add, including a Cyberpunk 2077 branded one.

There's also 30fps 8K video shooting on board, a really good macro mode and fun time-lapse functionality.

4. The UI is great but not a huge change

OnePlus's OxygenOS 11 is a fine UI to use and we really like things like the always-on display, the ability to customise pretty much everything and there is a nice lack of bloatware. It's fast, too, and while we were a little sceptical about the new Turbo Boost memory optimisation that OnePlus has added, it really does feel like you can flip between more apps without any slowdown.

We will always be a fan of vanilla Android, but OnePlus has - once again - done a decent job here.

5. Speed is everything here

From the extremely powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip (which is bet in market) to the boosts it has given to performance, graphics rendering and phone efficiency, this is one of the most powerful phones we have tested and really does deserve its Pro moniker.

Graphic-heavy games loaded with ease with no frame droupouts when playing, flipping between doom scrolling and social networks was smooth and imaging editing and the like takes hardly any time at all.

Couple this with 5G and the new Warp Charge 65T, which delivers a day’s power in just 15 minutes - and can charge from 1-100% in under 30 mins - and what you have is one powerful device. We do have to say that you need the fast charging, though, as our phone's battery did seem to drop pretty steadily throughout the day.

OnePlus 9 Pro review: Final Verdict

OnePlus 9 Pro feels like a wonderful refinement for OnePlus. The design of the handset is beautiful but there are no radical changes here. The new screen tech could be a game changer for gaming, but more games need to adopt it. The cameras are standout, though, and it was always going to be this way. While the lenses aren't that different from its rivals, it's the Hasseblad-graded software that really shines, adding in a pro photography suite that will have those serious about their photography jumping for joy.

The OnePlus 9 Pro costs £829 for the 8GB/128GB version and £929 for the 12GB/256GB variant. Head to the official OnePlus site for more information.

The mid-range is one of the most interesting areas of the phone market right now and Samsung has revealed a phone pairing that looks A-okay to us.

The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G and Samsung Galaxy A72 (naturally, the A stands for Awesome) are two phones that pile on the specs but do so at a competitive price.

UPDATE: We've just got word that Vodafone is stocking the Samsung Galaxy A52 and it's a great deal, too. If you get the phone on its network before 27 April 2021, then it will bundle in a pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds+ earphones, worth £139.99, in for free.

Some of the specs on show for the A52 are as follows: you get a 6.5-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED 120Hz screen (super-smooth and good for gaming), a quad camera array with a 64MP lens at the heart that has optical image stabilisation and up to 8GB of RAM. The chip inside is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G, which offers 5G but at a decent price and there is a 3.5mm headphone jack on board.

The Samsung Galaxy A72 ups the display size with a 6.7-inch panel (it's got a 90Hz refresh rate) and has a whopping 5000mAh battery. It doesn't have 5G, though, so while the battery is beefy it's not quite as speedy. You do get a decent 3x zoom on the camera, though.

Price wise, the The A52 5G is priced at £399 with the A72 costing £429.

And those all-important colours: you will get to choose from (depending on which version you choose): Awesome Violet, Awesome Blue, Awesome Black, and Awesome White.

Speaking about the new phones, Conor Pierce, Corporate Vice President for Samsung Electronics UK & Ireland said: “At Samsung, we strive to provide our customers with innovative, industry-leading products at all price points, which is why we are delighted to launch the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G and Samsung Galaxy A72 as stellar additions to our smartphone portfolio.

“The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G offers cutting-edge features, including a vivid and smoother display, long-lasting battery and cameras designed to keep up with the demands of content creators. All this is powered by 5G, putting innovation in the hands of the next generation”.

The Xiaomi Mi 11 is a smartphone that's already been revealed in certain parts of the world but the big news is that it is getting a UK launch. The phone is made by a company that's got its sights on the top sport of the phone market. Currently, it's duking it out in third place, with just Samsung and Apple ahead of it which is a very good place to be.

The Xiaomi Mi 11 marks a turning point, with its big performance flourishes, a brilliant screen and some camera specs that are certain to turn heads. We've been playing with the handset and here's what we think.

1. The screen screams PREMIUM

At 6.8 inches, the Xiaomi Mi 11 has one of the biggest screens around for a smartphone but it still manages to fit it onto a body that doesn't feel too bulky. It's 164.3 x 74.6 x 8.1mm and 196g, so is still small enough to control one handed but you some actions are a bit of a stretch.

The screen is stunning. At 1440 x 3200 resolution it's up there with the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, while the 1,500 nits brightness is fantastic, as is the 120Hz refresh rate and HDR 10+ support. The screen has a slight curve, too, which we are fans of. In short all of this tech is good for movie watching, gaming and plain-old doom scrolling.

2. The performance is PUNCHY

Xiaomi isn't messing around with the innards of the Xiaomi Mi 11. The processor it's chosen to power the thing is the Snapdragon 888 chipset. You can't get a more powerful Android chip right now, which means that there is a huge amount of speed in pretty much every task you give the handset to do.

When it comes to gaming, there's no lag or dropouts - at least not when we powered up Call of Duty: Mobile - and flipping between this and the various apps we use was a breeze. Even jumping in and out of the camera provided little-to-no-lag, which reminds us...

3. MASSIVE megapixels means the devil's in the detail

Xiaomi has opted to add a 108MP sensor into the Xiaomi Mi 11 which is pretty jaw dropping and the level of detail that's offered because of it is noticeable. We would have liked to see have seen a dedicated telephoto lens on the thing but the rear camera bump (which houses three cameras) has a 13MP ultra-wide lens and something called a telemacro lens. Use this and you will get brilliant close-up detail. We managed to get it to focus on the groove of our fingerprint. This does mean that camera is lacking in the in-between, when you want to get close-up to objects but not ridiculously close-up but we're still impressed. Couple this with a dynamic range that impressed both in low light and bright light and this is a very capable camera phone.

4. 'Movie MAGIC' is promised and nearly delivers

Xiaomi Mi 11 has a number of fun video features, including the ability to create the dolly zoom effect that was made famous in Jaws - you know the one, where Roy Scheider's horrified face zooms to the camera while the background zooms away. Others include a feature that mirrors the top of the screen with the bottom and magic zoom which delivers a similar effect to an Edgar Wright movie. These are all fun to use, even if they are frustrating to pull off at times.

We can definitely see these being used, though. You only have load up TikTok to see how creative phone users are with video editing and the like, so anything that can enhance your social posts is a good thing and the features on show here are far from being a gimmick. And if you want this movie magic to rub off on your stills photography, then you can shoot in 20:9 which is as cinematic as the opening crawl to Star War Wars, well nearly.

5. Battery life is okay but charging is FAST

With so many premium features, we can understand why the battery life on the Xiaomi Mi 11 is decent but not amazing. We were charging it overnight, but that was after hours of gaming and stream - add in things like live wallpapers and an always-on screen and these are real battery hoggers. Lucky, then it takes just over 30 minutes to charge the thing thanks to a whopping 50W wireless charger (or 55W wired charger, if that's more your thing).

Xiaomi Mi 11: the verdict

We are big fans of the Xiaomi Mi 11. It's one of the most powerful phones we have used, packed in a smart body with a camera that's bursting with both megapixels and features. It's Android which does mean Xiaomi has added their own spin to the OS - but we like the customisability of the system. We still prefer vanilla Android but that will never change.

The addition of Harmon Kardon speakers make the entertainment side of things sound great, though there is no 3.5mm slot so it's either these speakers or getting yourself a pair of Bluetooth headphones. All this for a price that isn't eye watering (see below) and what you have is a real flagship phone contender.

The Mi 11 will be available in 128GB and 256GB storage variants and will cost £749 and £799 respectively. It is available to pre-order through Vodafone - and apparently you will get a Mi Electric Scooter Essential when you order - and available to purchase through Amazon and the official Mi UK store from 22 March.

The OnePlus Nord N100 is the most affordable handset ever made by OnePlus but you wouldn’t know. It’s a handset that goes big on specs, but not price - offering a fantastic selection of features, as well as a brilliantly big screen and battery.

The OnePlus Nord N100 is the latest addition to the company’s Nord range of smartphones. It is a handset that brings all the OnePlus technology we all know and love to a wider audience - something that can only come from a brand whose mantra is to Never Settle.

Here are 7 things to know about the OnePlus Nord N100: a big phone at a small price.

1. The screen is big and brilliant

The first thing you notice about the OnePlus Nord N100 is its screen. OnePlus has given it an high refresh rate, which is fantastic for gaming and movie watching. The size of the thing also makes it something of a media marvel. At 6.52 inches it’s got plenty of real estate to make sure you don’t miss a second of action and it’s protected by Gorilla Glass.

2. The battery won’t let you down

It’s not just the screen that’s big, but the battery is too. The OnePlus Nord N100 comes with a fantastic 5000mAh battery. And there’s a bigger battery bonus - it supports 18W fast charge, which means that even if you are in a hurry you should be able to get a decent charge into your phone without having to play the waiting game. Couple this with some nifty battery optimisation features and this is a phone built to last.

3. Take pro-like portrait shots

There’s a 13MP main camera on board the OnePlus Nord N100. This comes complete with a bokeh lens, which makes portrait shots look all professional and fancy. Alongside this there is a macro lens for a dynamic shooting experience. Oh, and don’t worry about your selfies, either, as there’s a 8MP front-facing camera on board that will take care of them.

4. It’s OS is one of the best around

OnePlus’ OxygenOS makes for one of the cleanest Android experiences around and has a number of great features - including things like Dark mode and Zen mode. Couple this with integrated Google Lens goodness and the ability to adapt the battery to your needs and what you have is a seamless software experience.

5. It’s got a headphone port!

Yep, the OnePlus Nord N100 is offering the best of both worlds when it comes to its audio. You can plug in your wired headphones or take advantage of the handset’s immersive dual stereo speaker capabilities. However you like to listen to music, the OnePlus Nord N100 will be there for you.

6. You definitely won’t run out of space

Alongside 4GB of RAM powering the OnePlus Nord N100, there’s 64GB internal storage available for all of your media. And if that isn’t enough for you then expandable storage is there for you, thanks to the MicroSD card slot.

7. The price is just right

You get all of this for £129, which is a staggeringly small price for a phone that’s packed with these features. OnePlus is serious about making sure more people can get access to handsets with brilliant specs for an affordable price - and this is exactly what you get with the OnePlus Nord N100.

Find out more by heading to OnePlus’ site. You can also purchase the OnePlus Nord N100 from Amazon.

Stop right there. Don’t even think about spending thousands on your next smartphone, there really is no need. Not when the OnePlus Nord N10 5G is available - a phone that redefines what you can get at a price point that’s, well, fantastic.

At £249, the OnePlus Nord N10 5G offers a raft of features, given you the ultimate value for money. It’s a handset that brings the premium smartphone experience to a wider audience and is bursting with features that will make you question why you ever spent ridiculous money on a phone in the past.

Here are 7 things you need to know about the OnePlus Nord N10 5G - your next phone.

1. The screen is super smooth

No, we’re not talking about the glass (although that’s obviously lovely and smooth) but the technology behind it, which offers a blistering 90Hz refresh rate. The higher the refresh rate, the better a phone is for things like gaming and movie watching, so the OnePlus Nord N10 5G is more than equipped in this area. The phone also combines its beautiful big high-definition display with expansive dual stereo speakers.

2. Its quad-camera setup will make you smile

Four cameras. Seriously, count them if you don’t believe us. While this sort of setup is usually reserved for higher-priced handsets, OnePlus has decided to cater for your imaging needs with a 64 MP main lens, a 119-degree ultra-wide lens, a dedicated macro (for those close-up shots) and monochrome (for those arty black-and-white images) lens. If that wasn’t enough, the OnePlus Nord N10 5G comes with a front-facing 16MP camera for selfies and video calls.

3. Fast charging means you don’t have to slow your pace

One of the most annoying aspects of any phone is that you have to regularly charge it - not so with the OnePlus Nord N10 5G. Its Warp Charge fast-charging tech is absolutely brilliant at getting your phone charged quickly, so you can spend less time plugged in and more time out and about.

4. The phone’s Oxygen OS is one of the best around

The OnePlus Nord N10 5G is an Android phone unlike any other - and this is thanks to its operating system. Called OxygenOS 10.5, it offers a fast and smooth, high-end software experience. This includes brilliant features such as Dark Mode and Zen Mode, which helps you put your phone down and get some peace every now and again. And it’s all completely customisable, offering the ultimate smartphone experience.

5. It’s big on power and performance

To make sure the OnePlus Nord N10 5G has enough grunt, it’s been given 6GB of RAM with 128GB of storage. This is expandable by up to 512GB, so you‘ve no need to worry about not having enough space to store all your favorite apps, games, movies, and songs. This is rounded off by a next-gen processor, the brilliantly named Qualcomm Snapdragon 690.

6. It’s 5G ready

Even if your home town hasn’t yet got 5G, it’s coming - and the OnePlus Nord N10 5G is already equipped to deal with the super-fast speeds that 5G offers. With average speeds of 150-200Mbps, this is not to be sniffed at.

7. Let’s talk about that price again

That’s right, you get all of the above for a ridiculously reasonable £249, which makes this one of the cheapest 5G phones on the planet right now. Couple this with a big battery, a quad-camera setup and superb power and performance - and what you have is a phone that’s both impressive and affordable.

Head to OnePlus’ official site to learn more. You can also purchase the OnePlus Nord N10 5G from Amazon.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 5G has arrived and it comes in two versions: the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G and Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G. And if you are feeling really fancy there is an Ultra version of the handset, too.

The phone is the latest S series Samsung handset to be released and the range has gone through a rather radical redesign. And while on paper the specs are more of a refinement of the S20, with the arrival of a brand-new chipset that's been built with 5G in mind and offers some great AI flourishes, the new S21 5G range looks very promising.

Here's 5 things you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G...

1. The Samsung Galaxy S21 5G has a new look

Just look at that camera array. It's certainly striking and Samsung is boasting big time about its new design flourish, calling it 'iconic'. We certainly like the look of the new Contour Cut Camera housing and it does make the handset stand out from the rest of the baying pack.

2. There are two screen sizes available

The Samsung Galaxy S21 5G and Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G are pretty much identical, apart from the screen size. Both boast an AMOLED 2X display, with the S21 5G measuring: 6.2-inches and the S21+ 5G measuring a meaty: 6.7 inches. This does mean that the pixels per inch are different (421ppi, compared to 394ppi) and the dimensions of the phones change: 71.2x151.7x7.9mm (S21) and (75.6x161.5x7.8mm). The S21+ obviously weighs a touch more, too. Other than this, the phones are the same.

3. This is one of the most colourful phones Samsung has produced

Samsung is really going all out with the colours of the Samsung Galaxy S21 - taking leaf out of the Samsung Galaxy FE. The colour options you get are: Phantom Violet, Phantom Grey, Phantom Pink and Phantom White (S21), Phantom Violet, Phantom Silver and Phantom Black (S21+)

4. The triple camera array is impressive

If you are looking for a quad camera setup, then head to the S21 UItra. Otherwise, the triple camera setup on the Samsung Galaxy S21 is decent. It comprises: a triple rear camera: 12MP (wide), 64MP (telephoto),12MP (ultrawide); front camera: 10MP

The triple-lens camera has AI smarts, too, meaning that the camera system intuitively assesses and adjusts to your scene to ensure you can get decent shots on the go.

5. The price is alright with this one...

While we were expecting the price of the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G to be extravagant we were surprised with how affordable it is.

• Galaxy S21 5G: 128GB, £769; 256GB, £819
• Galaxy S21+ 5G: 128GB, £949; 256GB, £999

Other key features include:

• Android 11
• Exynos 2100 chip
• 8GB RAM
• Up to 256GB storage
• 4,000mAh battery
• Triple rear camera: 12MP (wide), 64MP (telephoto),12MP (ultrawide)
• Front camera: 10MP
• Ultra high-res photos from 8k footage
• Super-steady 60fps recording
• Super-fast charging
• 5G

Pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G begin from today.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G has arrived and it's a handset that will fundamentally change the S Series for Samsung forever.

Why? Well, it's the first S handset to feature the S Pen and, while Samsung hasn't said it out loud, this could signal the end of the Galaxy Note Series.

It makes sense - the Ultra range was already treading on the toes of the Note series and this one is no different with its stunning big screen, fantastic camera array and specs that will make your jaw drop (unless you are an Apple fan, obviously).

Here are five things to know about the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.

1. The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G has a new quad camera setup

The cameras on the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra are the best that Samsung has ever offered. The new quad camera array on the back packs a whole heap of specs but it's the AI enhancements that should make the real difference when it comes to taking decent pictures.

Housed in the array (which boast a new contour cutout) are: an ultra-wide, wide and dual tele-lenses - among these is a new 108MP pro sensor, offering 12 bit HDR photos with 64 times richer colour and more than three times wider dynamic range. You can shoot in 12-bit RAW and there's 4K filming available on all the lenses. On the front is a 40MP selfie shooter and the phone has 100x Space Zoom. Other features include: an improved Bright Night sensor and night mode.

2. The design of the S21 Ultra 5G is fantastic

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G has been given a new look and it's stunning. The standout feature is the Contour Cut Camera housing that blends into the device’s metal frame. It's a striking look but we are all for it. Couple this with a 6.8-inch screen that's AMOLED 2X and what you have is a lovely looking device.

3. It only has bloody S Pen compatibility!

The S Pen is something that is usually kept with the Samsung Galaxy Note range but the S21 Ultra changes all that, with S Pen connectivity and all the Wacom features that comes with this. Whether you are into drawing or note-taking to editing photos and signing documents, the S Pen is available on the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G. The key here, though, is you don't get an S Pen in the box but you can use one from a Galaxy Note or Galaxy Tab or purchase an S Pen separately on its own or with a compatible case.

4. The screen adapts to what you are doing

As we've mentioned, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G screen is an AMOLED 2X and measure 6.8 inches. The key things about it, though, is that it as a refresh rate of 120Hz but this automatically scales up or down depending on what you are doing. According to Samsung: "The screen’s refresh rate adjusts to the content you’re viewing from 10Hz to 120Hz to ensure you enjoy the best image, whilst stretching your battery life even further."

5. It's 5G and packed with AI

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G makes use of Samsung's new Exynos 2100 chip which has been specifically built for 5G. It's so fancy, though, that there are a whole heap of AI advancements that are included in the S21 Ultra 5G, thanks to it - this includes an adaptive screen, increased battery life and AI enhancements to the pictures you take.

Other key features include:

• Eye Comfort Shield
• Dimensions: 75.6x165.1x8.9mm
• Weight: 229g
• Quad camera
• Rear cameras (quad): Ultra 5G Wide: 12MP, Wide-angle: 108MP, Telephoto 1: 10MP (Optical 3x), Telephoto 2: 10MP (Optical 10x)
• Front camera: 40MP
• 100X Space Zoom
• 12GB RAM with 128GB / 256GB internal storage
• 16GB RAM with 512GB internal storage
• Battery: 5000mAh
• IP68 water resistance
• Fast Wireless Charging 2.0
• 5G
• S Pen compatibility

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G is out 29 January and will cost from £1149. The phone is available in Phantom Silver and Phantom Black and in the following variants: 128GB model with 12GB RAM, 256GB model with 16GB RAM, 512GB model with 16GB RAM.

Packing a gimbal into a smartphone sounds exciting but improbable. Usually these mechanical stabilisers are used by camera pros by way of an accessory but that is exactly what the Vivo X51 5G is offering.

It’s a mid-priced smartphone with some jaw-dropping specs, especially when it comes to its camera technology. Can it compete with the likes of Apple and Samsung, though, for phone dominance?

Here are five things to know…

1 Er, who or what is Vivo?

Vivo is another Chinese phone manufacturer trying to make it big and in myriad ways it is already a giant in the phone market… just not yet in the UK as it’s only just come to the UK market, with the Vivo X51 5G.

Vivo is a company that’s always there or thereabouts when it comes to being first with cutting-edge technology. In-screen fingerprints? Yep, it was first to showcase these and now it has brought a phone that comes with a gimbal. What that means is that its stabilisation should be far better than any other phone out there right now. Stability is the key to great photos and this is just one of many camera features that the Vivo X51 5G boasts.

2 It’s more camera than phone

Actually, it’s not but we need to talk about the camera first before anything else as it is certainly the main USP here. Firstly, there are four lenses on the back, built within one of the nicer camera arrays we have seen. Three lenses can be found in a rectangular black box, then there’s one underneath. And these are proper lenses, all of which seem to be essential to making the camera technology work on the X51.

There’s a 48MP main sensor (this has the gimbal built-in), two telephoto (a 13MP, f/2.46, 50mm portrait lens and an 8MP, f/3.4,135cm 5x optical zoom telephoto lens) and an 8MP ultrawide camera. For those selfies, there’s a 32MP front-facing camera.

It’s the 48MP camera that’s the star of the show (made by Sony and also found in the OnePlus 8T), the lens moves with the phone, thanks to the gimbal, offering a really effective way to capture a shot without the need of a tripod. It’s also a super smooth way to shoot video - which you can do with 4K, up to 60fps - but if you switch it to ultra-stable mode then shooting is capped to 1080p.

Two other camera features of note were the macro mode, which is fantastic, and the night mode which was really impressive - because of the sensors it has available, this is a phone that shines when it comes to low-light photography and it boasts an astro-photography mode that you need a tripod to get the full effect.

3 The Vivo X51 design has a premium polish

The Vivo X51 is a smart-looking handset with a decent screen. It’s 90Hz which means it’s smooth for things like gaming, it has smooth curves and, well, we’re taking this gimbal/smooth analogy too far now but it’s a lovely looking phone that is great for those who want a big screen - it measures 6.56 inches.

We’ve already mentioned the impressive camera array but this does reflect the premium look of the handset, as does the plush metal Alpha Grey outer shell.

Everything else has been given the Marie Kondo treatment to keep things minimal. There’s no headphone jack or extra storage slot. Because of the design, we would have expected it to be water resistant but it isn’t - we’re sure it can put up with a few splashes here and there, though.

4 The X51 5G has a powerful battery, middling processor

Battery comes in the form of 4,135mAh - no wireless charging, mind - and can be charged pretty speedily (we clocked getting it to full in under an hour) but it’s the processor where we were expecting a bit more from. A Snapdragon 765G paired with 8GB RAM is fine but there are plenty of smartphones out there (and at this price) that have the newer Snapdragon 865 5G processor. That said, it didn’t seem to impact performance, in our tests, and Vivo isn’t pushing this phone as a gaming powerhouse but a camera one. And the processor does mean that you do get 5G which even if it hasn’t been switched on in your area should be something you should look out for given the future proofing it offers.

We are happy that the X51 got 256GB of storage as well - a number that means that you won’t run out of space for all those selfies anytime soon.

5 The OS is one of the most Google-like we’ve seen

We weren’t holding out much hope for the Vivo X51's operating system. Called FunTouch (ugh) we were expecting a heavy skin on top of Android but there’s not much there at all. In fact, this is one of the closest OS we’ve played with recently that matches stock Android - and that is a big plus point in our eyes.

Vivo 51X 5G Final Verdict

We were utterly impressed with the camera technology packed into the Vivo 51X. It puts this smartphone (which is at the top end of the mid range) up there with the likes of Huawei’s camera heavyweight the P40 Pro and Mate 40 Pro.

It can’t quite match them for processing power and the like, though, but as a first push into the UK, Vivo has made a smartphone that needs a bit of a power boost but over compensates with its camera prowess - we can’t wait to see where this brand goes next.

The Vivo 51X 5G is out now for £749 and available to buy from the likes of eBuyer.

Other phones to consider...

• OnePlus 8T Pro review
• Google Pixel 5 review
• Huawei Mate 40 Pro

With the smartphone market awash with mid-range generals right now, all packing a stupendous amount of power for not a huge amount of cash, to stand out at the (near) top, you have to have a rather special phone. The Sony Xperia 5 II is that phone. It fights and (nearly) wins on many fronts.

The Sony Xperia 5 II is a handset that will appeal to gamers, thanks to its Sony PlayStation credentials. It’s a camera phone with eye-opening optics, thanks to Sony’s expertise with its cameras. And then there’s the movie factor - again, Sony looks to its own prestige in this area and brings it to its phone.

There’s a huge amount the Sony Xperia 5 II offers - so let’s get started with 5 things to know…

1. It’s a small, easier to handle Xperia 1 II

The Sony Xperia 1 II is a stunning flagship by Sony but it was a touch unwieldy, thanks to a massive 6.5-inch screen. Here the screen is shrunk slightly to 6.1 inches and it makes a decent difference when handling the thing.

Annoyingly, this size reduction also comes with a quality reduction. The 4K screen has gone and is replaced by a Full HD Plus (1080 x 2520) display, albeit one with a brilliant 120Hz refresh rate - a first for Sony and one that works well to improve both gaming and movie watching.

The other corners that have been cut are the actual corners - the Xperia 5 II has a smoother, rounder edge than its Xperia 1 II bedfellow and we prefer the look.

We do wish that Sony could reduce the bezel on the top and bottom of the device, but the 21:9 screen is gorgeous and its form factor certainly makes it stand out against the competition.

2. The phone is built for movies

Okay, so the Xperia 5 II may stumble slightly because of its lack of 4K but the 21:9 display is still a delight. It’s OLED for a start and has HDR on board which enhances the detail. It’s not just about the hardware, though. Sony has sprinkled some Bravia dust on to its display. It’s powered by CineAlta to make sure colours on the screen are reproduced faithfully to the movie you are watching and the addition of Dolby Atmos is a great move.

Sound, in particular, is a highlight of the Sony Xperia 5 II. Sony has added in High-Res audio playback and the fact that there’s a 3.5mm jack on board means that they are trying to tempt serious audio enthusiasts.

3. And gaming

Sony is leaning on the PlayStation a little with the Sony Xperia 5 II, as you can connect a PS controller up to the thing to play Android games. The 120Hz screen once again comes into play with gaming, offering super-smooth scrolling and this handset is the handset to play Call of Duty Mobile, thanks to the wider screen.

The biggest thing for us, though, is that Sony has added in some great tech that improves the touchscreen for gaming. Called ‘240Hz Touch scanning rate’ it means that your button mashing translates precisely to the on-screen actions.

4. Oh, and it’s a damn good camera phone, too

The cameras on the Sony Xperia 5 II are ace. They have that great mix of software and hardware, with Sony adding a large BIONZ X sensor to the handset. This allows in more light and makes for decent low-light shots. It’s taken some tech from its Alpha cameras and added this to the Xperia 5 II, too, and it shows.

There’s real-time Real-time Eye AF tracking to keep your model in shot at all times, a full suite of manual controls, while the three rear cameras are all 12MP lenses with different focal lengths. Rounding things off is a dedicated shutter button on the side of the device, which really does make you feel like you are using a camera and not a phone.

5. Battery is decent, although no wireless charging

Despite the 120Hz screen, a known battery hogger, we were impressed with the battery life on the Sony Xperia 5 II. The 4,000mAh battery is big for a phone of this size and we managed to get through the day and night with it. If you have a bout of intensive gaming or movie watching then this does reduce the battery but we never worried about it.

You do get a fast charger in the box (18W) but it can also support 21W chargers. We managed to charge the thing 50% in 30 minutes so we were impressed.

We weren’t as impressed with the lack of wireless charging. Couple this with a lack of an in-screen fingerprint scanner (it’s situated on the side button instead) and you do have a few noticeable areas where Sony could improve the handset.

Sony Xperia 5 II: Final Verdict

Sony Xperia 5 II is a fantastic phone with very few flaws. It really is a great handset for most people: it’s a superb gaming device, cutting-edge camera and a phone fit for films. Add to this some High-res Audio smarts and you can forgive the lack of a 4K screen, the bulky bezels and wireless charging.

The Sony Xperia 5 II is one of our favourite phones of 2020 and now we’ve finished this review, we’re heading straight back to it to watch another movie.

• Huawei Mate P40 review: 5 things to know
• Sony WH-1000XM4 review: the best just got better

Huawei is a phone maker that’s on the top of its game when it comes to the hardware but due to political ramifications way beyond our pay grade, it has had to sell its phones without any Google apps. And not just no G Suite and the like but access to Google Play as well, the service that is home to millions more apps.

It’s the elephant in the room when it comes to talking about Huawei’s phones but is it enough of an issue to not consider them at all? Well, when it comes to its latest handset, the Huawei Mate 40 Pro, it’s complicated.

Here are 5 things you need to know…

1. The Huawei Mate 40 Pro looks stunning

The Huawei Mate 40 Pro is hands down one of the best looking phones of 2020. It is a handset that has been re-engineered from the ground up so it looks quite a bit different from the previous Mate, although it has a similar setup with the circular camera array on the back. Huawei calls it a Space Ring and we kind of like that.

One of the things the Mate 40 Pro reminds us of is an old-school Apple iPod with a click wheel - this isn’t a slight as it’s a gorgeous-looking device.

The chassis is made from frosted glass and it’s mesmerising. It’s a 'Joseph’s coat' of a back, with many colours coming through when you look at the phone from different angles. It’s a slippery sucker, though, so you do have to handle it with care.

2. Its specs are best in class

This is a big phone. At 6.76-inches the OLED panel (a 90Hz refresh rate) is vast and stretches around the edges of the handset making for a cool, premium effect. The only thing that detracts from screen perfection is the rather large front-camera/sensor cutout on the left-hand side. It just looks a little too big for our liking.

Underneath the hood Huawei has chucked in as much power it can. There’s a top-range Kirin 9000 processor, 8GB of RAM, 256GB storage and a 4400mAh battery. It’s also packing 5G but at a price over £1,000 that’s to be expected.

3. The camera is king

Huawei’s relationship with Leica means that when it comes to camera shootouts, Huawei’s lenses always come out top or near top. The Mate 40 Pro is of no exception. It’s Space Ring has a stunning camera setup.

There’s a 50MP main camera (which takes advantage of a large sensor that works well in low light), a 12MP lens with 5x optical zoom - so you can get close without your photos ending up in a pixel pulp and a 20MP ultra-wide lens. This is bigger than most on the market and has a large aperture so pictures come out with stunning clarity.

You couldn’t ask for a better camera setup and Huawei does this with hardware grunt but the software is decent, too, with low light shooting being a highlight. There’s also 4K shooting on board. We were expecting 8K (not that anyone can really view this quality) as it’s something Sasung offers but it’s not available on this device.

4. The battery is big, but it’s the charger that stuns

Huawei has given the Huawei Mate 40 Pro a sizable battery, a 4400mAh battery. In our tests, even with heavy media use the handset lasted more than a day. But that’s not really a biggie here as Huawei has added some fantastic, and speedy, wireless charging technology to the Mate 40 Pro. You’ll need Huawei’s additional 50W charger to take advantage of this. If you want to plug it in, then the charger in the box has 66W SuperCharge tech - in short: your phone will be up to full juice in under an hour. It’s that impressive.

5. No Google? It’s a problem

If this was Strictly, then so far the Huawei Mate 40 Pro is on course for a perfect 10 across the board. But it fumbles the final routine. The lack of Google apps on the device is a problem. There are workarounds, such as Huawei’s phone cloning tech and its Petal Search that allows you to download apps away from the Google Play store but it’s a faff and there are still key apps missing, such as Google Maps and Gmail. Huawei really does have one hand tied with this situation and it makes for a bittersweet experience when using the handset. It does try and alleviate the app pain with its own store, the Huawei AppGallery, but there’s just not enough on there - it’s like going shopping and seeing only own-brand produce, sometimes you just want the original.

Huawei Mate 40 Pro Final Verdict

The Huawei Mate 40 Pro is one of the best smartphones we have tested this year. Its design is gorgeous, it’s powerful with some fantastic features such as its display, stereo speakers and cameras. If it were fully fit, then the Huawei Mate 40 Pro would be a contender for phone of the year. But there is a Google-shaped hole that desperately needs filling. That may well happen soon - and we’ll be waiting in line to buy the handset if and when it does.

• Huawei FreeBuds Studio review: meet your new best Bud
• Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro review: a slab of smart sophistication

OnePlus has been one of the most prolific smartphone makers in 2020, not letting lockdown stop them from releasing a whole host of devices. Unlike, say, Apple, the release schedule and the type of devices revealed by the company have been scattershot - aiming a few times at rival flagships and other times at the mid-range.

The mid range is a place where OnePlus thrives, though, and it's here we find ourselves once again with the OnePlus Nord N10 5G. Yes, the name is a mouthful but all you need to know is that it's the second phone in new for 2020 Nord range - it's £50 cheaper than the original OnePlus Nord, at £329, but what does that mean in terms of specs and performance?

Here's what you need know...

1. The screen is 90Hz but LCD

When it comes to screens, everybody Hz at the moment - it's one of the key ingredients to a phone screen, with a higher refresh rate meaning for smoother scrolling and game play. It's not the only factor to making a screen shine, though. If it were, then Apple wouldn't have opted for a 60Hz screen for its new iPhone 12 range.

OnePlus has given the OnePlus Nord N10 5G a 90Hz screen which is the same as the OnePlus Nord and welcomed at this price point. However, it didn't quite blow us away as the original Nord did.

The display is a 6.49-inch LCD (2,400x1,080) and it's bright, but we did feel that it had a touch more judder than when 90Hz works on an AMOLED screen. It's cheaper tech, so this does make sense, and it's not something that detracted from our experience with the phone.

2. The features are cut down but work well

Given the OnePlus Nord N10 5G is a very reasonably priced handset, it's expected not to have the feature flourishes of a phone that's more expensive. It's worth noting what isn't on board as you may find that you won't miss them.

There's no wireless charging, on board, but you do get speedy charging thanks to the included charger. In-screen fingerprint scanning isn't available, although there's a decent fingerprint scanner on the back of the device. It isn't IP rated, either so don't do dropping it in the bath. And it's not yet on the latest version of Android, but instead at Android 10.

OnePlus has found a place for a 3.5mm jack, though, something that is still welcomed by many and its 4,300-mAh battery is nothing to be sniffed at - it's better than many phones at this price point. couple this with expandable storage and there are a lot of (One)plus points.

3. Design is decent, despite some corners cut

The OnePlus Nord N10 5G is noticeably chunkier than the rest of the OnePlus clan. It doesn't scream premium but we appreciated the glass back. It's the plastic rim that might not be to everyone's taste and there's no getting around the bezels - the bottom one in particular shows more than we were expecting it, too.

It's a well-designed phone, though, and one that certainly has a place of its own in the OnePlus oeuvre. We really like the camera array, too - a rounded lozenge of camera lenses that sits nicely near the top left of the device.

One thing OnePlus fans might miss is the physical silent/vibrate toggle that's on most of the company's devices. It's not found here and we would have liked to have seen it make an appearance.

4. Performance is solid, dependable

The OnePlus Nord N10 5G is a handset that has been given a Snapdragon 690 chip which is pretty much a processor that's making 5G mainstream, thanks to its affordability. It gives the new Nord enough grunt to do everyday tasks without so much as a whimper.

Its 5G performance is great, too, but there's still not a huge amount of need for 5G right now. This will improve when we get more of the country on to the 5G spectrum but now it's a nice to have and not essential. It's good to see a 5G phone at this price, though, as it means this handset is future proofed for the foreseeable.

Battery life was decent, lasting way longer than a day (we have the LCD screen to thank for that) and we didn't notice too much lag jumping between the likes of Netflix and our game of the moment, the rather geeky science game Transmission.

Netflix looked good on the device, although the LCD screen could have done with being a touch brighter. The specs on this device, though, are impressive given the price. Having 6GB RAM and 128GB storage is certainly welcomed (and can also be expanded).

5. There are cameras galore but do you need four?

We have always been fans of OnePlus' camera array. This one, on paper at least, has a really good camera line-up. The main camera is 64MP, there's an 8MP ultrawide lens, a 2MP monochrome and 2MP macro lens.

We won't have a bad word said about the monochrome lens, as it always enhances the black-and-white images you can take with a OnePlus device. As for the macro, it's probably not needed on a device like this and we have preferred to have seen a telephoto. The main camera works well, but we preferred the 48MP camera on the original Nord (which was swiped from the OnePlus 8). That one has optical image stabilisation, while we are left with EIS here.

That said, seeing a quad camera setup on a phone of this price range is a pinch move by OnePlus that we need to applaud.

One Plus Nord N10 5G review: Final Verdict

The OnePlus Nor N10 5G is a fun mid-range option. It's a solid performer, decent looking and it has some impressive specs at a price point that is low. 5G is welcomed and the cameras aren't perfect but they do a commendable job.

Our biggest problem is that we are still smitten with the One Plus Nord and as it's only £50 more expensive right now, we would still shift over to that phone. But, for many, that is too much money to consider and if that's you, then you will not be disappointed with the One Plus Nord N10 5G.

The OnePlus Nord N10 5G will be available from OnePlus from 20 November.

• OnePlus Nord review: a mid-range master

If you’re tasked with creating a fantastic ice cream sundae but have a three-ingredient limit, what would you load it up with? That’s what being a phone manufacturer is like, especially when putting together a mid-range phone.

UPDATE:We are currently updating this guide to include a number of new phones that we think are deserving of the best mid-range smartphone crown. Read the reviews of the phones we are considering below:

• Google Pixel 4a review
• Google Pixel 4a 5G review
• OnePlus Nord review
• iPhone SE review

There’s a fixed budget, so expensive luxuries are out of the question. But if you play your cards right, you can still make a taste sensation.

We’ve selected ten of the best ‘taste sensation hopefuls’ from the mid-range camera phone world, each aiming to balance price and performance perfectly.

The Honor 20, OnePlus 7T, Oppo RX17 Pro, Xiaomi Mi 9 SEand Xiaomi Mi 9T all represent hot brands that have flourished in recent years, and all five phones have three or more cameras.

Meanwhile, Motorola has no less than three entrants, which is unsurprising given how many mid-range phones it launches year-round. These range from the dual camera Moto G7 Plusand One Vision through to the quad camera One Zoom.

As for Sony, its Xperia 10 Plus’s super-long 21:9 screen is matched with a 12MP+8MP dual-snapper, while Google has squished its sensational Pixel 3 camera into the much more affordable, less specced-out Pixel 3A.

While it isn’t the cheapest smartphone on-test, the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro’s sensational value goes way beyond its camera. This phone features an all-screen front, incredibly premium glass and metal design and sensationally good specs, from a top-tier flagship processor to a huge battery. That it takes great pictures too is just the icing on the cake.

The Google Pixel 3Ahas clinched victory, despite no optical zoom or ultrawide angle second, third or fourth cameras. Just like the original Pixel 3, pictures shot on the 3A have a refined quality to them - not too saturated or oversharpened, they just look great, almost every time. And with a best-in-class night mode, it gets it right whatever the light.

The expert's view

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Phones considered

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Hoursd of testing

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Experts consulted

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Best buys

While it didn’t win every round, the Pixel 3A was the most consistent camera out of the ten we tested. The OnePlus 7T, for example, was the best at background defocusing when the subject wasn’t a person.

Meanwhile, the Honor 20 performed like a champ in both the zoom and ultrawide rounds (despite not having a zoom camera). The Mi 9T Pro didn’t even ‘win’ at anything, but ranked second or third in almost every test.

The Google Pixel 3A’s simplicity is what makes it so special. It takes an excellent picture and it does so with just one focal length.

• Need your phone to take the best photos? Check out our favourites for best camera phone
• And if you're a Samsung loyalist, check our our picks for best Samsung phone

Author Bio

Basil Kronfli

Basil Kronfli is a journalist of ten years’ standing, working across sites like TechRadar, Gizmodo and T3, as well as print titles including Metro, Shortlist and Total Film. He specialises in computing, smartphones and cameras, dabbling in kitchen tech, too.

The shortlist: best mid-range camera phones

Best mid-range smartphone: how we selected

Each of these ten camera phones does something different with imaging, but competes on price. That isn’t to say they’re all cheap and cheerful handsets, but they represent the best value around from their respective manufacturers. The Motorola One Zoom, for example, has four cameras, with a dedicated depth sensor for better background defocusing. Another, the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro can capture 960fps slow motion footage as well as 4K video at a silky smooth 60fps.

That said, they also have common strains of midrange DNA. These aren’t super-cheap phones and have at least Full HD screens and smooth interfaces. They also all run Android, given the fact no current-generation iOS device costs less than £600, and all record 4K video.

Each camera also has its own app and range of shooting modes. Even two phones from the same manufacturer might vary in this respect. For example, the Moto G7 Plus doesn’t have Night Vision - Motorola’s night mode, but the Motorola One Zoom does. Additionally, while they all run Google’s operating system Android, the Google Pixel Camera interface is reserved for Google Pixel phones only, and is loaded up with its coveted Night Sight.

All the phones on test other than the Pixel 3A give you the option to take the driver’s seat and fire-up full manual controls, so shutter speeds can be slowed right down to capture artistic light trails and long-exposure landscapes.

Looking at all ten phones, it’s like a very messy Venn diagram, with plenty of overlapping features but enough to differentiate them to make each warrant a spot.

Best mid-range smartphone: how we tested

There are a standard set of pictures most people will capture when given a camera: macro (close-up photography), portraits, landscapes and action shots to name a few. These are captured across a range of lighting conditions and zoom ranges - and are the kinds of scenes we worked to emulate in our comparative review.

Portraits, for example, can be shot in automatic mode, or portrait mode. If you remember to fire up portrait mode, the phone will flatter faces by softening skin and blur out the background to mimic shots taken on a DSLR. We shot portraits in both modes before we picked them apart. We also captured them in good light, very low light, and finally, with night mode switched on.

How close a phone can get you to the action is another factor likely to sway your buying decision. The Motorola One Zoom, for example, has a 3x optical zoom. Meanwhile, the Honor 20, Pixel 3A andOppo RX17 Pro only have digital zoom.

Digital zooms are technically inferior as they simply crop into the full-sized image and create a lower resolution shot, but specs aren’t everything, with our Honor 20 beating the competition in our zoom tests in well-lit scenes. Meanwhile, optical zooms use separate lenses that act like magnifying glasses, so the image the phone captures is both zoomed in and "full resolution". These tend to outperform digital zooms in low light.

As for selfies, they’re a big deal, and not just for social media fans. Lifetime milestones like wedding receptions and graduation ceremonies see parents and grandparents huddling in front of selfie cameras across a range of lighting conditions. With plenty of variety on test, from a resolution-tastic punch hole 32MP front-camera on the Honor 20 to a pop-up module on the Mi 9T Pro, how to best hide the selfie camera has shaped the design of each of our midrangers, and we tested them thoroughly.

There are also other, more practical, factors to consider. The Honor 20, OnePlus 7T and Xiaomi Mi 9 SE don’t have headphone jacks, for example, so if you’re recording footage and need to listen to it on the fly without using the phone’s loudspeaker, you’ll need wireless headphones or a converter. Additionally, the Google Pixel 3A, Motorola One Zoom, OnePlus 7T, Xiaomi Mi 9 SE and the Mi 9T Pro all have OLED screens, so have more zing and depth when looking back through your photos.

With so many variables, and each phone excelling in a different way, our tests aimed to be both exhaustive from a photography point of view, and holistic from a usability point of view.

Best mid-range smartphone: Test results

The first thing we did with the phones was take a picture of a person with portrait mode both on and off. Once a flagship feature, nowadays any mid-ranger worth its salt can defocus a background, and artificial background blur was a prerequisite for our shortlist.

Four of our phones on-test tighten up framing when you fire up portrait mode, going from a wide, roughly 26mm to a tighter 52mm. This makes sense from a traditional photography point of view, emulating a roughly 50mm focal length, which is an ideal distance for pictures of people, and the reason a 50mm lens is often referred to as a portrait lens. That said, by applying a zoom, the phones also run the risk of degrading the picture quality by cropping in.

Specifically, the Pixel 3A, OnePlus 7T, Xiaomi Mi 9 SE and Mi 9T Pro, and the Xperia 10 Plus all apply the crop. Both the Motorola One Z0om and the Honor 20, meanwhile, shoot portraits with the widest angle of our ten.

The Pixel 3A stormed this round, with the Motorola One Zoom coming in second and the Honor 20 in third place. While the Honor 20 is the most flattering of the three camera phones, it smoothes-out skin too aggressively. Both Google's and Motorola’s phones captured more detail, especially around small wrinkles.

The reason Google’s Pixel 3A edged ahead was down to the richer skin tones it picked up, and that it applies more realistic blur than the competition, giving subjects subtle, but striking, pop.

Drop the lights but stick with a portrait theme, and things get very messy, very quickly. It’s clear that phones without a dedicated night mode are totally outgunned here - specifically the Moto G7 Plus and the Xperia 10 Plus.

The OnePlus 7T excels in this area, with a dip into the settings revealing an option to extend its night mode to up to 32 seconds if you have a tripod or steady surface to hand. Even without that feature fired up, its vanilla night mode captured the best skin tones in our test. The Pixel 3A was a close second, with comparable detail but slightly off white balance, and the Mi 9T Pro third.

Night-time landscapes produce an almost identical result, only with our third place award going to the excellent Honor 20, which was able to capture more detail than the Mi 9T Pro.

A great trick to make any shot taken on a smartphone look a bit more expensive is to get very close to your subject. Macro photography forces the lens to focus on the foreground and creates what looks like a shallower depth of field; in other words, macro shots have tonnes of background blur, even in automatic mode

To test the phone’s close-up capabilities, we pitted them against a plate of fruit. A peach was our main subject. On every phone tested, we had the peach positioned around 6cm from the camera, and tapped the stem end. On first glance, the Motorola One Zoom picture looks excellent - nice and sharp, it focused exactly where we wanted it to, and the shot is loaded up with pop.

Look closer and it has clearly been sharpened a lot, and the saturation boosted. That isn’t to say it looks bad, it just doesn’t look natural, or give enthusiasts wiggle room to edit the photo themselves. The Zoom’s peach would be perfect to whack straight onto Instagram, but it isn’t our favourite.

The Google Pixel 3A took a very different approach. Its captured fruits look tempered, but get close and detail holds up nicely, with the peach skin fuzz looking aptly soft and fuzzy. It was also the most accurate at focusing on the point we tapped, along with the One Zoom. An honourable macro mention goes to the Mi 9T Pro, which produced a more subdued image than the competition, though packed plenty of detail.

If you want to take selfies, then the Pixel 3A captures the most flattering selfies on-test. They aren’t as sharp as those taken on the OnePlus 7T or the Oppo RX17 Pro, but they look great, with skin tones beautifully rendered. As for video, our winner is the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro, with its 4K capture at up to 60fps being ideal for anyone who wants to take footage into an editing suite to slow down a little. Meanwhile, its well stabilised Full HD and 4K (30fps) video is a great for home movies, and unlike most of the other triple or quad cameras on test, it captures video across all three of its cameras.

Here are the results from the rest of our tests:

Background blur (objects)

Still life

Zoom comparison

Wide angle

Best mid-range smartphone overall:

Google Pixel 3A - £345 - Best all-rounder

Specs: Single-camera - 12.2MP wide angle (f/1.8)

The Pixel 3A, the only single-camera phone on-test, has won. While it may not have an ultra wide angle lens, zoom cameras, or even a depth sensor, its single main camera captures excellent images and steady video reliably, time after time. That’s why, even though the 3A has middling specs from a power perspective, it is a midrange camera champ.

Google has some very smart photo processing software working away in the backend of its own-brand phones. Introduced on the original Pixel and refined over three generations, the Pixel 3A and 3A XL are the first to bring these smarts to a mid-range price, and the results speak for themselves.

The phone’s 12.2MP sensor and f/1.8 aperture lens sound unimpressive on paper compared to the competition. But once you take your shot and dive into the gallery, you can see it being processed, and go from a 4/10 to a 9/10 in seconds.

It’s also incredibly important to talk about Night Sight, Google’s long exposure mode. It gives Pixel smartphones the power to see in the dark. Much like Huawei’s night mode, it has the capacity to bring atmospheric, poorly lit gothic churches to life and turn a nighttime cityscape into a buzzing scene.

Better still, all this Google magic isn’t just applied to photos taken on the phone’s main camera; the selfie camera takes flattering pictures too, whether shooting in backlit conditions or virtually pitch-black environments. Skin tones look natural, faces look smooth but not artificial and backgrounds are very seldom too dark or too bright.

If you want maximum bang for buck when it comes to power, screen size or quality, storage or design, don’t buy a Pixel 3A. Its OLED screen looks good, but not jaw-dropping and its plastic body, while slim and refined, doesn’t feel expensive. The phone is also underpowered if you’re a keen gamer, and you can get double the storage from other phones on-test for less, like the Motorola One Zoom.

All said and done though, the Pixel 3A has the best camera according to our tests and real-world experience. If that’s what you’re after, it won’t disappoint.

Best mid-range smartphones for value

Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro - Best value choice - £399

Specs: Triple camera - 48MP wide angle (f/1.75) + 8MP 2x zoom (f/2.4) + 13MP ultrawide (f/2.4)

The Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro’s camera is very good for £399, but it didn’t actually win any of our photography tests. So why is the phone our best value choice? Because of everything else it can do.

To clarify, the camera on the Mi 9T Pro is still very good. Its three focal lengths offer plenty of versatility and its video is sensational for the price. If you enjoy dabbling in slow-mo, nothing else under £400 we’ve tested will capture such good 960fps, time-stopping footage.

The phone also ranked second or third in almost every stills test we did, and it has a sharp, smart pop-up selfie camera.

But what really sets the Mi 9T Pro apart from the pack is the fact it delivers across-the-board luxury for a mid-tier price.

Its design is stellar, combining a curved glass back with colour-popping accents and an all-screen Super AMOLED display. Its screen supports HDR, gets deep, dark and inky in its blacks and bright and vibrant too.

More than just a looker, the Mi 9T Pro’s processor and storage combination is pure flagship fodder. It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset, the one that’s expected to land in the upcoming Pixel 4, and 128GB storage inside. That means it’ll be excellent for gaming, and its 4000mAh battery is massive too, the Mi 9T Pro got us from morning to night in our weeks with the device without fail.

The rest compared

Honor 20 - Best value runner-up

Specs: Quad camera - 48MP wide angle (f/1.8) + 16MP ultrawide (f/2.2) + 2MP macro + 2MP depth sensor

TheHonor 20 is an excellent phone and one of only two to feature four cameras around the back. It captures plenty of detail from its primary 48MP sensor, and even though it doesn’t have optical zoom, is able to get you close to the action with smart digital zoom that takes full advantage of all those pixels.

The additional cameras include an ultrawide one, which is handy and gets plenty in a shot, and a macro camera. This one is a bit weird. Its resolution is just 2MP, it takes really mediocre shots for the most part and we could have done without it. Finally, there’s a depth sensor, able to create a more accurate depth map so it can blur the background for that sweet sweet artificial bokeh everyone wants.

Photos and videos it captured were consistently good across its focal lengths in our tests, and Honor loads up plenty of shooting modes within its camera UI. Additionally, video recorded on it is stabilised well across resolutions and the phone’s power, design and battery life come together impressively.

If you’re thinking about picking up any Honor or Huawei phone, it’s worth noting, Honor is a Huawei company and, well, it’s complicated.

Huawei has faced fire from the US government and been put on a blacklist, so US companies like Google can’t trade with it. In turn, its upcoming phones, including the Mate 30 Pro, won’t have access to Google’s services out of the box. These include Play Store, Maps, YouTube and Gmail. It’s a huge deal.

Huawei and Honor have promised to keep existing phones like the Honor 20 up to date with security and software updates for the foreseeable.

No timeframes for continued support have been given, but this isn’t uncommon. Unless a phone ships with Android One, which guarantees three years of security updates, it really is up to manufacturers how long they keep a phone ticking over with new updates.

So while the Honor 20 is a fantastic camera phone, whether or not you pick one up isn’t quite as simple a decision as it is for the other phones on our list.

Moto G7 Plus - Best on a budget

Specs: Dual camera - 16MP wide angle (f/1.7) + 5MP depth sensor

The Moto G7 Plus is a safe bet smartphone on a budget. It costs less than £250 and still delivers dual-camera depth-sensing smarts, captures 4K video and has a great big display, not to mention a smooth, clean interface.

It is one of the weakest camera phones on-test, which isn’t a surprise given its price, with night time and lowlight shooting being the areas it struggles the most. Having said that, it was a solid performer in good lighting, and it was one of the best at capturing portrait mode effects for inanimate objects.

Shipping with a case in the box, incredibly fast charging for a phone of its price and a beautifully stock version of Android, while it isn’t a midrange camera phone king, the Motorola One Zoomstill represents very good value for money.

Motorola One Vision - Most affordable 48MP phone

Specs: Dual-camera - 48MP wide angle (f/1.7) + 5MP depth sensor

The Motorola One Vision has a long 21:9 display like the Sony Xperia 10 Plus, but at £80 less, it’s definitely our widescreen choice of the two.

The One Vision’s primary camera is decent for the price. When the light is right, it’s able to grab a fair bit of detail, despite the fact its 48MP sensor’s shooting resolution is capped to 12MP. It has a dedicated night mode that performs respectably at night when shooting landscapes, but struggled indoors in our low light portrait test.

Dive into the settings and you’ll see manual modes, a colour picker so you can create dramatic black and white photos with one colour-popping though, as well as your standard portrait and panorama shooting modes.

Additionally, the One Vision can shoot ultrawide better-than-HD video at 1632p, taking full advantage of that bold display. And its excellent stabilisation holds everything together beautifully.

Our Motorola One Vision review device was provided by Vodafone. Visit a Vodafone store to try one out for yourself, with prices starting at £28 per month.

Motorola One Zoom - Best for Instagram-ready snaps - £379

Specs: Quad-camera - 48MP wide angle (f/1.7) + 8MP 3x zoom (f/2.4) + 16MP ultrawide (f/2.2) + 5MP depth sensor

There are plenty of flagship features dotted across the Motorola One Zoom. It has a huge 4000mAh battery that easily gets it through a full day, its screen is Super AMOLED, so delivers bright, saturated colours and deep dark blacks, and the metal frame and glass back feel solid and rich in the hand.

Its camera is also pretty special. It delivers a huge amount of versatility, and while it didn’t win any of our tests outright, it was a solid performer in each with no major shortcomings. Motorola's image processing is less subtle than the likes of Google and Xiaomi though, so if you like your pictures loaded up with punch and ready for Instagram, the One Zoom could be for you. But if you prefer nuance and editing photos a bit yourself, you might want to look elsewhere.

OnePlus 7T - Best screen, design and specs - £TBC

Specs: Triple camera - 48MP wide angle (f/1.6) + 12MP 2x zoom (f/2.2) + 16MP ultrawide (f/2.2)

The OnePlus 7T might not be the flagship in the 7T-series - that title’s expected to go to the 7T Pro, likely launching in October, but the vanilla 7T is a stunning smartphone to look at. Its Fluid AMOLED screen has a 90Hz refresh rate, so is smoother than your typical handset, and with a 20:9 aspect ratio, it’s a bit longer too.

The matte frosted finish on the back of the 7T is also a welcome change after the glossy OnePlus 7, and the round centrepiece housing the three cameras looks very cool too.

Like the Mi 9T Pro, the OnePlus 7T came second or third in most of our tests. It excels in low light and creates a solid bokeh effect too. The 7T’s 4K video also looks excellent, and a Super Macro mode lets you get you up close and personal with your subject, however small it might be.

The flagship Snapdragon 855+ processor is also tailored for gaming, and with stereo speakers and Warp Charge for great sound and a very fast power pick-me-up, it’s without a doubt the best overall phone on-test, even if its camera didn’t beat the competition.

Oppo RX17 Pro - Best for impatient battery chargers - £359

Specs: Triple camera - 12MP wide angle (f/1.5-2.4) + 20MP (f/2.6) + ToF depth sensor

Oppo’s RX17 Pro is a confusing phone. Its gradient finish looks like a cartoon unicorn's mane, it has two (yes, two) batteries, and despite the fact there are three cameras on its back, it only offers up one focal length. Strange.

In other words, it has no optical zoom, nor does it pull you back to an ultrawide angle. One thing it does have, which no other phone in our list does is a variable aperture, just like the Samsung Galaxy S10, so can swap between f/1.5 and f/2.4.

While its camera always performed well in our tests, it never shone through from a versatility point of view, and didn’t quite have the reliability of the Pixel 3A. That said, the RX17’s design is seriously premium, more so than the 3A's. It also has a larger AMOLED screen and thanks to those two batteries and Oppo’s VOOC charge, it powers up to 40% in just ten minutes.

The RX17 also includes an under-display fingerprint scanner and an ample 128GB storage, it can record 4K video video, has an upsettingly sharp 25MP selfie camera and features Gorilla Glass 6 protection, so is a bit hardier than most phones in under £400.

While it might not excel from an imaging point of view, therefore, its specs are still respectable.

Xiaomi Mi 9 SE - Best for small phone fans

Specs: Triple camera - 48MP wide angle (f/1.8) + 8MP 2x zoom (f/2.4) + 13MP ultrawide (f/2.4)

Xiaomi’s Mi 9 SE is small, premium and affordable. That’s a combination you don’t see too often, and it’s exactly why we’re so smitten with it. The SE’s design is rich, with a glass back and front, combined with a cool, rounded metal frame. It’s hand-holdable, handsome and very light on bezels, so Xiaomi has squeezed in an almost 6-inch screen, despite the phone's small footprint.

Its cameras are no slouches either. The 48MP main sensor can shoot at full-resolution and capture stellar amounts of detail if the lighting is on-point. In the dark, it’s better than the Xperia 10 Plus or Moto G7 Plus, but it just can’t stack up to the best out there. If you don’t mind whacking it on a tripod or resting it on a steady surface though, you can go manual and get fantastic low light shots, and with 4K video capture, it’s also a decent camcorder too.

Combined with smooth performance, a zingy Super AMOLED screen and excellent battery life, even if it isn’t the best camera phone on-test, it’s probably the best value small phone around right now.

One to avoid

Sony Xperia 10 Plus - One to avoid (Argos)

Specs: Dual-camera - 12MP wide angle (f/1.8) + 8MP 2x zoom (f/2.4)

The Xperia 10 Plus is the hardest phone to recommend on this list thanks to its lofty price. Don’t get us wrong, there’s a lot to love here, not least of all that huge 6.5-inch 21:9 Full HD+ display, uninterrupted by notches. Sony’s UI is also tasteful, and the phone’s side-mounted fingerprint scanner is both convenient and responsive.

That said, it’s also an overpriced plastic phone with a mediocre camera and underpowered internals. Sony’s bokeh mode needs serious revising if it wants to compete. The detail it captures is exceptionally weak, and the low light capabilities.

Google aims low and hits high with the Google Pixel 4a. It’s a low-cost, mid-range smartphone that’s packed with tech that will have flagships turning their heads in envy.

Let’s just look at the price: at £349 it’s well under the current price of the Pixel 4 Series - which hovers around the £600 mark - and cheaper than the recently announced Pixel 5 and Pixel 4A 5G.

How, then, has Google managed to create a phone that’s so much lower in price, but competing with handsets way above its pay grade?

UPDATE: The Google Pixel 4a is now available from Google - it's been a long-time coming, given it launched in the US in August - so is it worth the wait?

Here are five things to know…

1. This is a pixie Pixel

Google has ripped up the design of the Pixel 3a and is offering something refreshing for the Pixel 4a. Gone is the circular camera lens on the back, replaced with a smaller but Pixel 4-like camera square. It’s not got the two-tone strip on the back, preferring a matte soft-touch finish of polycarbonate.

The fingerprint sensor is still there in the middle of the back and really easy to get to. Flip it over and there’s nothing but display, only interrupted by a punc-hole selfie camera in the top-left corner.

The Pixel 4a manages to pack a bigger screen on to what is a smaller chassis as well. The screen is a decent 5.80-inch challenger, that uses FHD+ OLED tech - so not 4K but we found it to be punchy and bright, good for both Netflix and doom scrolling through Twitter.

The body is more than 5% smaller than the Pixel 3a and it certainly feels dinky. In all, it’s only: 144mm (l), 69.4mm (w), 8.8mm in thickness and weighs 143g.

We went from a OnePlus 8 Pro to the 4a and the size difference is really noticeable. But that’s no bad thing. Yes, it takes time to adjust to a small screen and form factor but it’s really refreshing to use a phone that isn’t a tablet with a Napoleon complex in disguise.

And if you are an Apple user sniffing around this review looking to maybe go to the other side, then this is the same screen size as the iPhone 11 Pro.

2. The camera will make you smile

Now, we have on niggle about the camera on the Pixel 4a - it takes up far too much real estate on the back of the device. We originally thought that there were multiple cameras on the rear because of the rather sizeable black square the lenses sit in but it’s just one 12MP sensor and a flash.

Yes, it means the phone takes design cues from the bigger Pixel 4 but we don’t think the camera bump needs to be that big for just one lens - it’s almost as if it’s social distancing from the flash..

Saying that, the pictures we took were excellent. Google really hasn’t just kept up with the other cameraphone crowd but surpassed them with its brilliant features such as its Night Sight and portrait mode. Both are present here and a joy to use.

The selfie camera on board is an 8MP wide-angle and made this particularly weathered journalist not look like a corpse awakened from its slumber. So 10 out of 10 from us. Seriously, though, the software Google uses to back its camera hardware is still among the best around.

3. You will love the massive hole on the top of the Pixel 4a

Don’t panic, there is nothing wrong with the device, it’s just that Google has decided to add a - shock, horror - 3.5mm headphone port to the Pixel 4a. We’re not one to get nostalgic about old tech but it makes complete sense given the price of the phone - this is a phone for everyone and not just those who can afford wireless headphones that actually work properly.

It counters this old-school tech with a really responsive fingerprint scanner on the back of the device, some fantastic AI with Google Assistant. Assistant used to be a bit shonky but it really has evolved into something you will want to use - whether that’s finding out what song is on the radio or getting it to organise your life a bit, it’s a lot of fun.

As this is a Google phone, the version of Android 10 that’s on board is the best you can get, as there is no pesky skin from another manufacturer. It has a really fresh feel and is easy to use; it’s simple and streamlined.

4. Battery life should stop overnight charging

The battery on the Pixel 4a meant that we didn’t have to charge the Pixel 4a overnight. It was happy to keep going 30-odd hours and we instead just gave it a quick blast with the speedy charger that’s in the box. Now, this charger isn’t a patch on OnePlus’ 30W behemoth, but the 18W charger does mean you can get a nice battery boost in a short time.

We also like the adaptive battery feature in the 4a - it seemed to learn our phone habits and adapt the battery around those.

A bugbear is that the Pixel 4a doesn't have wireless charging. This might be a deal breaker for some, but because of what we’ve mentioned above we didn’t miss the ability to throw the phone on to a charging pad. It would have been great if it was on there but we suspect that would have pushed the price up.

5. The Pixel 4a performs admirably on demand

The Pixel 4a has more memory that we were expecting from the phone - 6GB of RAM is not to be sniffed at and there’s 128GB of storage on board. This is way up from the 3a which tapped out at 64GB. There is a reason for this, though, and that’s to make up for the lack of a micro SD card slot. We think you will be fine with 128GB of space, but it’s worth figuring out if you can survive on this number before buying.

The chip powering the Pixel 4a isn’t a top-of-the-range Snapdragon but it doesn’t need to be. The 730 that’s inside is more than capable for gaming and the like for a phone of this screen size that has a refresh rate of 6oHz.

We powered through Asphalt 9 and had no issues and while we hoped it would buckle under the pressure of Football Manager 2020 Mobile so we could finally curb our addiction, it played it with ease.

Final verdict

The mid-range smartphone space is a crowded one right now. But, for us, it’s between this and the OnePlus Nord for budget smartphone superiority or if you want to go down the Apple route, then definitely look at the even more diminutive iPhone SE.

With the OnePlus Nord you get 5G and a more powerful screen. With the Pixel 4a you get a phone that’s a joy to use, one of the best cameras we have used (on a phone under £400) and it has Google at its heart.

Which one you choose will depend on whether you are ready to go 5G or not. But you won’t be disappointed with either.

The Google Pixel 4a is out now.

• These some more of the best mid-range phones to consider.