So we are a little bit late to the party on this one but we have finally had that chance to do an unboxing of the latest phone in the OnePlus Nord lineup. I have used the 1st Gen Nord and I also had the opportunity to use the 2nd Gen Nord 2 as well. Both were great phones and while they were significantly cheaper in price than the full-on number series devices, I was not disappointed by them.

Now admittedly there have always been some sacrifices made t get the Nord series produced on a tighter budget and these are as evident as they always are on the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G (to be henceforth referred to as the Nord CE 3). I will come back to some of the ommissions that were made to get under the budget set by the designers in a moment, before that though let’s take a moment to review the unboxing video.

Here are the Specs below

The Specs

Next up is time for a tour of the device in all its glory starting of course from the top edge and working our way around the phone.

So on the top, we find that we have got a single microphone port and that is it.

Next around on the right-hand side is where we will find the power key that also doubles up as the fingerprint reader for the phone. This sits slightly proud of the edge of the body which makes it a bit easier to locate. unfortunately by the nature of it being a fingerprint reader as well as the power key, it lacks all texture meaning it can be missed easily. As a fingerprint reader, it is reasonably accurate but I have to say it is not one of the better side-mounted units I have used it is early days maybe it will improve over time.

Moving to the bottom of the phone is where we can find a speaker grill on the left and the mic hole and lo and behold a 3.5mm headphone jack! This is a rarity o phones these days and is nice to see although if I am honest I can’t see myself actually using it given the Nord Buds 2 that I also got in the box with the phone ( this is not standard as i got a demo kit for review purpose) Still nice to see that there are some phones out there that still account for this now somewhat niche requirement.

Sitting in between these is a USB Type C port that will support SuperVooc fast charging at 67W which is really nice to see and the phone does charge in a really quick timeframe which is handy given the lack of wireless charging in any way, which is understandable for the price point.

Continuing around the fourth edge we have got our combo volume rocker and sim card slot which has another uncommon trick inside. This Nano Sim card slot is also cable of receiving a second Nano Sim Card or a Micro SDcArd slot of up to 1TB! This is great news for the memory hoarders out there!

On the rear, we got our camera array which I composed of two large circular apertures the top of which contains a Samsung HM6 sensor capable of up to 108MP and has an aperture of F/1.75. The sensor sits behind a Six Element lens and although it does not have OIS it is at least supported by EIS.

Below we find that the second circle contains a 2MP depth of field sensor and 2MP Macro lens. Next to this, we find a single LED flash which is plenty bright and doubles nicely as a torch when needed.

The main feature here is the 108MP camera sensor which I have yet to test in anger but hopefully will produce serviceable results for the user without too much faffing with settings.

The back panel is made of plastic and is very very fingerprint friendly due to its glossy finish which is why I was glad to find the enclosed TPU see-through case which has a reassuringly tight fit around the phone.

Coming back the front of the phone we have a few things to mention, starting at the very top of the display is where we will find a small portal for the earpiece and the top speaker. The speakers both combine to give an average sound experience that is suitable for Youtube but if you are gaming or listening to music I would recommend that you either use some Bluetooth headphones or take advantage of the built-in 3.5mm headphone jack to get the best audio experience.

Below this earpiece is of course where we find the fourth camera on the phone and all I can say about his one is that it is a 16MP camera and that is about it as I haven’t been provided with any other details. it does of course come with all the normal features that you would find on an Android phone designed for both the Asian and Western markets ie all the retouch tools associated with Beauty Mode. Fortunately, these can be turned off to give you normalise results.

Below this is the LCD Panel which is capable of an Adaptive refresh rate between 30Hz/48Hz/50Hz/60HZ/90Hz/120Hz. In honesty though I checked this and you only have 2 options either High (120Hz Max) and Standard (60Hz Max) so maybe some creative market mumbo jumbo there. I am sure that the screen is capable of the step changes ut most users are unlikely to notice them. It is nice to see these High refresh rates filtering down to both LCD panels and cheaper devices though so nice job OnePlus.

The screen is a really nice size of the screen especially as this phone is being targeted towards a market where the screen size is an important factor as its intended audience will be using the phone more for media consumption/creation, social media and gaming than say phone calls. I have used it for a little bit and I am more than happy with the screen but then I am someone who has recently made the move to foldable which is the top of the big screen pile so what do I know? OnePlus does at least include an easy-to-use one-handed mode if you find this is required.

So that sums up the tour of the phone which from my limited experience so far is a cracker of a phone and one that I think any young (or young at heart) phone user would be more than happy with. I will of course run it as a daily device for a full review but I have to say I am presently surprised with the initial experience of the phone out of the box. I know that my son would be more than happy with it as it is sufficient for most of what he does on his mum’s phone (that he steals a lot). I also think that the more price-conscious user would be more than happy with this as a phone as it ticks a lot of boxes for a lot of people from what I have seen so far.

If you like what you have seen and want to pick up the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G for yourself then you can buy it now from OnePlus on their website for £299 and you can also get a free set of 3.5mm headphones or a Snaddtone bumper case if the include clear case is not to you liking. it is also available for the same price minus the freebies from Amazon as well if you prefer shopping there.

The post OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G – Unboxing. is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

The Honor Magic Vs 5G has finally been given it a release date here in the UK and it is also more importantly maybe has been given a price.

There are two prices to be aware of here a pre-order price and then the full RRP. Let’s have a look at them with a little bit more insight.

The first price which I am going to call the preorder price is going to be £1199 which will only be available if you subscribe and get a £200 off early bird voucher! This is an awesome price for the phone and at the price, I would be very tempted. The price is on the verge of impulse buys for the current flagship phones on the market these days! 

The second price is the full RRP and this is still pretty darn good at £1399 which is about £400 pound cheaper than the newly announced Pixel Fold.

So when are you going to be able to buy one if those prices have tickled your fancy? The Magic Vs will go on sale in the UK on the 19th of May on the HONOR website in Cyan and Black, and on the 26th of May on Amazon, Argos and Very in Black. It is also going to be available from the 3 network later in June TBC and you will get 6 months of free airtime as part of the bundle.

Bear in mind though if you want the Cyan colour and let’s face it it is the best colour then this is an exclusive to the Honor store

I am really glad to see that these prices are coming in at what they are and it is not shy in terms of these specs as you will have been able to see from my Unboxing post from the other day. There are several things that single this phone out above the competition (now that we have seen some of it at least).

Do you plan on getting one as these prices are a bit more compelling than the prices being offered from the like of Samsung and Google for their high-end foldables?

Here is a short teaser vid to tickle your taste buds

HONOR Announces the UK Launch and Price of its Folding Flagship, the HONOR Magic Vs priced at £1,399

London, UK – May 12^th, 2023 – Global technology brand, HONOR, today announced the UK launch date and price of its latest folding flagship smartphone, HONOR Magic Vs. The Magic Vs will go on sale in the UK on the 19^th May on the HONOR website, Hihonor, in Cyan and Black, and on the 26^th May in Amazon, Argos and Very in Black. The Magic Vs will also be available with Three in Early June, with 6-months free airtime on Unlimited data plans.

The UK RRP for Magic Vs is £1,399, however with launch offers from Hihonor, customers can purchase the Magic Vs from as low as £1,199 if users subscribe for more info and purchase the device before 26^th May.

The HONOR Magic Vs was announced globally at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier this year. However, HONOR Magic Vs is the first foldable flagship to debut outside of China and boasts exceptional design, display, and performance upgrades compared to existing foldable smartphones on the market.

Introducing A Groundbreaking Hinge Design

The HONOR Magic Vs is exceptionally slim and lightweight, measuring just 12.9mm thin when folded and 267g in weight. Despite its compact nature, the HONOR Magic Vs features a 5000mAh battery, the largest battery capacity among foldable smartphones under 270g available today.

Contributing to the light weight of the HONOR Magic Vs is a revolutionary Super-light Gearless Hinge that has been carefully crafted using single-piece casting technology, reducing the number of structural components from 92 in the previous generation down to just 4. The hinge can withstand up to 400,000 folds as tested by TÜV Rheinland, which is equivalent to more than ten years of use based on 100 folds per day, setting a new benchmark for foldable smartphone design.

The HONOR Magic Vs folds tightly without a gap and has an almost fully flat screen when unfolded, a feature that competing foldable devices on the market do not offer.

Dual Display Delivers an Exceptional Viewing Experience

The HONOR Magic Vs features a user-friendly 6.45-inch external display with a 21:9 aspect ratio and a 90% screen-to-body ratio. When unfolded, the HONOR Magic Vs delivers a tablet-like experience with an extra-wide 7.9-inch internal display, enabling users to multi-task and view content with remarkable ease.

Packed with professional eye comfort solutions, the HONOR Magic Vs features Dynamic Dimming, Circadian Night Display, and 1920Hz Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) Dimming, the highest frequency ever achieved in the current foldable smartphones markets, to effectively reduce the effects of digital eye strain. 

Superior Configurations for a Powerful User Experience

The HONOR Magic Vs is equipped with an impressive rear triple camera system comprising a 54MP IMX800 Main Camera, a 50MP Ultra-Wide & Macro Main Camera and an 8MP 3X Optical Zoom Camera, delivering an exceptional photography experience, no matter the shooting scenario.

Powered by the Snapdragon^® 8+ Gen 1 Mobile Platform from Qualcomm, the HONOR Magic Vs delivers enhanced performance with higher power efficiency for a faster and smoother user experience. With HONOR’s Turbo X engines, it strives to bring you longer battery life and a smoother experience.

The HONOR Magic Vs runs the latest HONOR MagicOS 7.1 based on Android 13. In addition to MagicRing for multi-device collaboration and Magic Text for intelligent text recognition, the foldable flagship features Smart Multi-window and APP Extender to support multi-tasking across applications and within the same application, respectively, helping users save time.

Olivier Dobo, Marketing Director at HONOR UK said: “We know our product portfolio puts some of the best features into the hands of consumers. With HONOR Magic Vs coming to the UK, we are thrilled that UK customers will get to experience our latest folding flagship device.”

He continued: “With Magic Vs’ unique hinge design, stellar camera set-up and Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, we know it can fiercely compete in the existing foldable phone market and bring solid form-factor and exceptional performance for those who want the best out of their foldable phone.”

For more information, please visit HONOR online at www.hihonor.com/uk

The post Honor Magic Vs 5G – Release date and pricing announced is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

I have been using a folding phone for quite a few years now but up until the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 5G was available (and a nice tax rebate came my way), I had not been able to find one that stuck. The problem was that here in the UK unless you wanted to import from China, there were no real other options. The good news is that all changes in the next couple of weeks as we are about to have another two (at least) options become available.

I am lucky enough to have been given the opportunity to test one of those options and I have had my hands on the for the last week. I am talking about the Honor Magic Vs 5G. I have a preview unit of what will be landing in the UK markets very soon and I have some thoughts on it since I unboxed it a week ago. Usually, I would post my first thoughts within 24 hrs of the unboxing being done, however, this time around I was awaiting a forward update to be released before I posted. That update has now arrived so I am now happy to post my thoughts.

Now that is out of the way let’s dive into the device’s specs.

Some pretty good-looking specs but folding phones are so much more than their component parts. The key to a folding phone and also to differentiating it in terms of the way it feels is all down to the design and feel. So onto the tour of the device.

Let’s start with the hinge. there has been a lot of talk about the Hinge in the Honor Magic Vs 5G. It is rightly deserving this as the hinge from the outside edge is very small looking and it feels very strong when in use. On the inside of the hinge, we have only 4 major components instead of the predecessor’s 96 major components! That is some real evolution of design there. However, it does present a problem. i have become quite accustomed to having the hinge in a halfway open position on my Fold 4 but this is not something that is easily achieved on the Magic Vs. it will Hold the angle but it does require a bit more fiddling to get it to stay put and even then it is only a matter of time until it unfolds fully. Whilst it may not be a major issue I have grown used to having the phone in “book mode” for reading e-books at night. It’s a shame that the Magic Vs doesn’t keep its position as well. I have tried to show an example of this in the clip below.

As for the rest of the tour let’s start-up on the top bezels where we can find on one side a pinhole mic a speaker grill and then an IR blaster, which i still find weird to see on phones these days but it has long been a feature of Honor devices

Moving around we have got a staggered arrangement meant of keys with the volume rocker being on the upper of the edge and the power button/fingerprint reader being on the bottom. This staggering is actually quite clever as it means when the phone is unfolded then the volume is on the left-hand side and the power is on the right.

When you use the phone in its landscape orientation of wit the fold horizontally then the power button is on the bottom. This is true of the Fold 4 as well but on the Magic Vs, I find that the power button is not where my fingers rest naturally which means I don’t accidentally press it when gaming.

On the bottom edge, we have got a Dual sim card slot with a waterproof gasket. another speaker grill and mic and then the USB Type C Gen 3.1. This allows for the use of fast charging when used on a suitable fats charger brick and also Video and data throughput allows you to utilise a Desktop UI akin to Samsungs DEX mode.

This USB port also opens the door to using Honor’s proprietary Supercharge technology which will allow the two internal batteries to charge at up to 66W depending on the battery state and conditions. This is very useful and does go a little way to make up for the loss of lack of a QI charging could for Wireless charging, although, for a phone of this level, I would still have expected that to be on board.

Moving around the rear we have a relatively normal-looking rear panel with an overly glossy fingerprint magnet glass panel and a larger-than-life camera array. This array features 3 sensors each of the highest quality. We have got  the following

• 54MP IMX800 Main Camera (f/1.9),
• 50MP Ultra Wide & Macro Main Camera (f/2.0),
• 8MP 3X Optical Zoom Camera (f/2.4)

However, things change when the phone is unfolded as part of the back of the phone used to be the outer display which now becomes a rear panel!

Now that I have mentioned the outer display it is a panel that is nice and tall but also and importantly a little bit wide than the one found o the Fold 4. This makes for a very useable outer display and the phone can be used perfectly in the one hand via this screen. the panel has the following  specs

Size: 6.45″
Type: OLED,
HDR10+ Screen-to-body ratio: 90%
Refresh rate: up to 120Hz
Brightness: up to 1200 nits
Resolution: 2560 x 1080 pixels
Pixel density: 431 PPI

It is a very nice panel to use and for the most part when in use it feels just like a normal phone albeit a bit thicker than a normal phone. Even though there is not a massive difference in the outer screen sizes of the Fold 4 against the Magic Vs for ease of use the Magic Vs just feels that little bit better which I have to say did surprise me. The only slight negative is that the pre-fitted screen protector is quite sticky and therefore smudges and fingerprints are easily added and the finger doesn’t seem to track as smoothly as on Gorilla Glass Victus. I do like having the high refresh rate on the outer display and i feel that this is now becoming the industry standard spec for this price point and a lot lower in some cases.

Embedded into the middle of the front /outer display is a 16MP selfie camera with the following specs

16MP Camera (f/2.45),
Video: Up to 1080 × 2520 pixels,
Photo: Up to 3456 × 4608 pixels

Just above the camera is a tiny groove which acts as the earpiece for voice calls and the audio produced from this opening is very clear and is not so loud that other parties will be able to hear your conversations either.

Whilst talking about calls you may have noticed that there are a lot of antenna lines around the edge of the phone and this makes for some really good signal reception on both cellular signal and Wifi signal. I have been impressed with the quality of the signals being held on all networks that I have tested the phone on. as you would reasonably expect from a phone of this level in 2023.

Finally, the bit we are most interested in is the internal folding display. the display itself is great and i cannot fault it for the colour and the brightness levels. I can’t even fault the fact that it is only a 90hz display. However, the issue that I do have with the inner display and an area where the fold 4 still come into its own is how the internal display is used. This is more something that will be discussed in the software section of the full review but it is a big weak point for the Magic Vs. The inner display will mirror exactly what has been going on on t router display in terms of the layout of apps and the icon size.

This is a big shame as otherwise, the display is really good and I would go as far as saying that the crease is less noticeable than that of the Fold 4 and any preceding fold device from Samsung. As you can hopefully see from the image of the devices alongside each other below the crease is so much more visible in Fold 4 than it is in Magic Vs. This is down to the Magic Vs using a different folding screen method from the Fold 4 and for me, this is the better out of the two options.

Fold 4 on the left and Magic Vs on the right

We do of course have one other major difference on the internal screens and that is the selfie camera which is a cutout on the magic vs and it shares the same spec as the one on the outer display. I can’t really say that it makes a big difference when I am using the phones regarding the cutout as i would tend to have the cutout in the bottom right-hand corner when I am holding the phone in landscape so it doesn’t intrude too much when I am gaming or watching videos.

So that pretty much covers my unboxing for the Honor Magic Fold Vs 5G. Overall impressions are the hardware is in some ways better than the Fold 4, however, where it takes its hits they are hard hits.

I do prefer the feel of the slightly wider folded phone and using it in this way feels more natural than on the Fold 4, the differences in terms of hardware are not so apparent when you unfold it though as the Fold 4 uses this mode better in terms of software and that outweighs the benefits of the reduced groove in the middle of the display.

I have had a few days of use of the Magic Vs under my belt by the time I have written this and i will say that there are some big differences here and they will be what really makes or breaks this as an option for me especially as i have been living with a 4th gen product for some time now. 

I look forward to getting you the full review out to you soon.

I will also be getting an update on the pricing ad availability of the Honor Magic Vs 5G in the UK soon which I will share with you very soon. if you are thinking of getting a folding phone then watch this space as things are about to get more interesting and the Honor Magic Vs 5G is going to play a big part in that.

The post Honor Magic Vs 5G Unboxing is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

I have been a follower and user of OnePlus devices for quite some time now and have had a variety of their devices over the years. I have witnessed the changes that have been made within the company from the early days up current day. There have been a lot of things that have happened inOnePlus’s short history as a phone maker, some have been negative e and some have been brilliant. I have always tried to stay pragmatic when it comes to the brand and its position in the market, however, It cannot be argued its positioning in the UK in particular has been under some very heavy scrutiny from the mobile phone buying public and there has been a lot of bad vibes being directed at OnePlus lately.

It is not the time or the place to go into these issues today however as OnePlus unveiled their new Flagship yesterday in the form of the Oneplus 11 5G and I have been lucky enough to be one of the first people to be able to use one and put it through its paces. Not to be a spoiler but I am impressed with what I have seen so far, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves as there is a review to be done!!

Design

I like the overall design of the Onplus 11 5G it is not too far stretch from what they have done before and you can see the evolution of the design when it is held in comparison with its predecessors the OnePlus 10 Pro 5G and the OnePlus 10T 5G. In general, the phone feels great in the hand and has a reassuring solidity to it. I don’t feel that the phone is fragile when I use it which is very comforting to know that if I am a bit rough with it then it should come off unharmed.

I have already done a full unboxing of the phone if you have not had a chance to view that it can be found below

If however, you prefer your device tours in text form then here we go.

Starting from the top edge of the phone we have got a microphone whole and what I can only presume is a port for air circulation for the top speaker which is a forward-facing affair and doubles the earpiece. It is pretty loud and works well when used for calls resulting in a clear sound profile allowing you to hear your calls clearly.

Moving down the right-hand side I am very pleased to say that we have got a return of the much-vaunted “Alert Slider” that was noticeably absent from the OnePlus 10T 5G. it is just satisfying to use as it has always been and I am so glad that it has been added back into the phone. Below this is where you will find the sleep wake button that will also double up as a Google Assistant button if you wish it to via quick in the software settings. Apart from that and a few antenna lines there is nothing else to see here so around we go.

On the bottom of the phone, we have got the other stereo speaker which is bottom-firing but is again like its bedfellows at the top of the phone plenty loud enough for you to know the difference. next to this is the USB Type C port which is sadly only USB 2 in terms of support but it does support SUPERVOOC fast charging of up to 100w when used with the correct charger (handily included in the box).

Onto the left-hand side and this is where we will find a few more antenna lines (they are everywhere on this phone) and also the volume rocker. This is a typical OnePlus design trait and it has been common practice for a few years now. I have to say though it can be a bit annoying as I have accidentally ended up taking a screenshot when picking out the phone as this is where my fingers will naturally end up. I suppose it would stop happening once you become more familiar with it or change the screenshot function within the setting of the phone.

Around the back is where one of the main features of this phone is to be found. I am of course meaning the camera module. The entire module itself is encased in a stainless steel camera decor (bump) which stretches to the edge of the frame. The back panel itself consists of Corning Gorilla Glass 5 to protect from being scratched and gives some impact protection. However, in the colour, I have (Eternal Green) the phone is a slippy customer so some sort of case would be a wise investment.

Here are a few shots of the official Oneplus 11 5g Aramid Fibre Bumper Case that i have been testing on the phone to stop it from slipping out of my hands and off flat surfaces!

The camera module itself consists of four three different cameras:

Main Camera:-

Sensor: Sony IMX890
Sensor Size: 1/1.56″
Megapixels: 50
Pixel Size: 1.0 μm
Lens Quantity: 6P
Optical Image Stabilization: OIS
Electronic Image Stabilization: Yes
Focal Length: 24mm equivalent
Aperture: ƒ/1.8

Ultra-Wide Camera:-

Sensor: Sony IMX581
Sensor Size: 1/2″
Megapixels: 48
Lens Quantity: 6P
Aperture: ƒ/2.2
Field of View: 115°

Portrait Tele Camera:

Sensor: Sony IMX709
Sensor Size: 1/2.74″
Megapixels: 32
Lens Quantity: 6P
Aperture: ƒ/2.0

Here is a close-up of the camera module

The last thing in this module is the Duel LED flash which is very bright!

Around the front is a glorious 6.7″ Super Fuid AMOLED LPTO 3 display, that has a PPI of 525 and a resolution of 3216 by 1440 to make it QHD+. The screen has a refresh rate of between 1Hz and 120Hz depending on the content being viewed and this is something I will cover later on in my review. The aspect ratio is a very reasonable 20.1:9 which feels about right for a panel of this size. The other features of the display are that it has a response rate of up to 1000 Hz, Supports sRGB, Display P3 and has a 10-bit colour depth. as if this wasn’t enough the display supports Dolby Vision and is covered by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. I am sure that you will agree that on paper this looks pretty impressive and i can assure you that in person none of that impressiveness is lost!

Quite a nice tidy package I am sure you will agree. Now on with the specs sheet.

Specifications

So this is a pretty banging phone on the Specs sheet alone but how is it in real-life usage and what does that hardware feel like to use? Onto the hardware section of the review and we will throw in some performance just for good measure as well!

Hardware and Performance

A pretty face does not always mean a powerful core, however, I am very pleased to advise that this could not be further from the truth with the OnePlus 11 5G. The phone as we can see from the above specs sheet is packing a very powerful heart in the form of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor and this n turn is ably assisted by 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM on my phone with the added assistance of the RAM-Vita which will allow for the allocation of extra Virtual RAm if the OS find that the phone needs that extra boost in computational power. Not only is the RAM massive and fast but the storage on offer is, in my case 256GB of UFS.40. The combination of these elements allow for very fast read and write speeds and allows up to 44 simultaneous apps to be active in the background. Now I can not imagine a scenario where I will ever need that amount of apps to be open as I tend to break out into a cold sweat when I have more than 10 apps running at the same time. It is good to know however that I had the desire to run this amount I could do so without any significant problem

Along with the massive and quick storage, we have an equally large and fast charging battery in the form of a 5000mAh two-cell battery which charges at up to 100w via the SUPERVOOC fast charging technology that has now become synonymous with devices from the Oneplus, OPPO and Realme families. If you are reading this in America please be warned however due to the difference in power standards you will only get 80w of fast charging and your charging time will be a tad slower than the advertised time of 25 minutes from 1% to 100%. The fact that this battery can charge so quickly does lessen the sting a bit of the removal of Wireless charging from the device.

This is a strange decision as it was present on both of the last two OnePlus devices in the form of the OnePlus 9 family and the OnePlus 10 family (the OnePlus 10T notwithstanding). What makes it even stranger still is that OnePlus have included wireless charging into the Oneplus Buds Pro 2 which are being sold alongside the new phone and it would have been great to have been able to utilize the reverse wireless charging feature of the phone to allow you to quickly easily top up the earbuds when on the go.

The battery and its rapid charging could be seen as a point of concern to some as this has long been the weakest link for a lot of phones in the past. So in order to counter this Oneplus has developed its Battery Health Engine. Now coming into these phone reviews as someone who deals with the concerns of battery health daily due to owning an Electric vehicle, this sounds and indeed functions in a very similar manner to what is being done on the massive multi-cell battery backs that power the EVs of today.

In essence, the BHS will allow you to continue to use the total battery capacity and obtain faster speeds for longer by the use of the Smart Battery Health Algorithm and Battery Healing Technology. The former will allow the phone to self-regulate charging speeds automatically only doing the fastest charging when the phone needs it or you demand it by overriding a setting. it can also implement an 80% limit on the battery for normal daily charging if you are not regularly using the total capacity in one session. The latter is actually down to the electrolyte formula that has been used in the battery and this will help to protect the anode and cathode in that battery for longer meaning that the cells will last longer. Now all of this is great to see on paper but the sceptic in me has been burned before with EVs and their promised performance so the fact that the BHS system and the batteries have been independently tested by TÜV Rheinland gives me some peace of mind for the long term. How long i hear you ask well over 1600 charger cycles or 4 years (based on a daily charge session) whichever comes first.

So there is a side effect that we know about when it comes to faster charging and high performance and this is our old friend heat. Now don’t get me wrong, with the current temperatures as they are in the UK I am all for my phone doubling as a hand warmer! However, this is yet another thing that will hamper the longevity of a phone so therefore it is bad joo joo. So under that smooth glossy exterior of the OnePlus 11 5G, we find it has been optimised to try and reduce that thermal afterthought as much as possible to again ensure that you are getting the maximum performance for your movie binging, gaming, video recording, editing sessions when you are on the go. I would like to introduce the Cryo-velocity VC Cooling system, which claims to be the largest ever on the OnePlus 11 Series device’s (ED note could there be others in the series coming later on….) at a 3685 mm². if you were to lay that flat then you are looking at a piece of paper in between the sizes of A4 and A3 which is pretty awesome to think is inside the phone in the form of a Vapour chamber! If all that wasn’t enough then we also have a 5673 mm² graphene mid-frame layer to add to the mix. That is a huge amount for such a small device and it is hard to imagine how they managed to get all this inside the phone so here is a visual to show it off for you.

So what does all of this mean for performance well OnePlus has always had a mantra when it comes to performance and it is Never Settle and one of the key components of that is Smooth and Fast. The Oneplus 11 ticks the boxes when it comes down to this. I loaded up a few games to try and see how they would perform in testing conditions. I am pleased to advise that during some short but intense gaming sessions, the phone stayed cool and comfortable to hold and allowed me to play with everything on maximum settings with ease. I used F1 Mobile Racing and Republique as my test games. Both of these games ran smoothly with a consistent 29-30FPS on the screen even at their highest settings.

F1 Mobile

Obviously, these are not the most demanding games that could be run on the phone but they are what i am currently playing and I found them to work absolutely perfectly. I also took the time to run a few benchmarks on the phone and the result are shown in the screenshots below.

As you can see from the benchmarks that I have completed the OnePlus 11 is getting a faster FPS consistently over the Galaxy Z Fold 4 it also seems to handle the thermals a bit better as well as this was found in the sustained load test in Wildlife Extreme Stress test on 3D Mark. In the Geekbaench test the galaxy ZFold 4 does have a slightly high single-core score but when it comes to the multicore processing the OnePlus 11 comes out on top again.

Both of these devices are extremely powerful devices and will both be more than adequate for mobile gaming and I have not seen any sluggishness when using either of them in my daily use.

So now that we have established how powerful the phone is what can it do in terms of photography? This is a key area where this phone needs to perform well and i am not going to take it easy on the phone as I am going to be pitching it up against the Pixel 7 Pro which is one of the better phones for camera performance.

Camera

So let’s look at some macro Shots first

To my eyes, the pictures are both good but there seems to be a tad more detail on the face from the shot taken on Pixel 7 Pro. Also getting the OnePlus 11 5G to go into macro mode is a bit more of a faff as it wants to jump between macro and normal modes too easily.

Some more generic shots here one of my back garden where you can’t really see a massive difference I would say that things are about equal in these two images. The second set or some inside shots of my watch and OnePlus 11 5G edges it out for me in this one as it is a more pleasing image.

The next set is of a tricky lighting condition and in this group, you can see more from the OnePlus 11 5G shot than you can in the Pixel 7 Pro.

It is very close though but in the bottom right-hand corner, you can see a bit more colour detail of the frame on the picture from the OnePlus 11 5G.

Next up is a comparison of Zoom levels taken at the standard levels of 0.6 x zoom(o.5 x zoom for the Pixel 7 Pro) 1x ,2x and 5,

Some interesting things are going on here which i am a bit surprised by Overall at the different zoom levels the OnePlus 11 5G shots are better and truer to life than that of the Pixel 7 Pro shots. if you look in particular at the colours of the window sills on the OnePlus 11 5g they remain white through all the zoom levels. When you look closer at the Pixel 7 Pro shots you can see that the window sills adopt the blueish tint from the wall colour. Overall the Oneplus 11 5G images are truer to life. However, in the Ultawide images for each phone, the Pixel 7 Pro shows the colour of the wall much better than the OnePlus 11 5G which indicates that when the Ultrawide lens is being used the OnePlus 11 5G is lacking colour reproduction.

Time for a selfie shootout

I am expecting this too again by similar in terms of the results but I will say that the process of turning all the enhancements off on the OnePlus 11 5G is a bit more involved than that of the Pixel so if you are just looking for the unenhanced image then bear this in mind.

You will see that the OnePlus 11 has got a slightly wider angle than the Pixel 7 Pro but that being said you do have the wide angle available as an option on the Pixel 7 Pro which is not a feature found on the OnePlus 11. In terms of colour, I would say that they are even, with the Oneplus 11 5G being a tad brighter when you look at the wall in the background. However, once it comes down to sharpness this is where the Pixel take a lead. When I look at a zoomed-in version of the images focusing on my beard I can see more defined hairs on the Pixel 7 Pro than on the OnePlus 11 5G.

This could be a by-product of the fact that to get a real-world image of what you actually look like you need to turn off a load of the extra AI stuff on the OnePlus 11 5G. In isolation the OnePlus 11 5Gis a perfectly adequate selfie shooter. It also does a very good job of getting portraits when you actually select that mode. There is a noticeable difference and you can adjust the depth of field focus on the portrait mode with the OnePlus 11 5Gwhich you cannot do on the Pixel 7 Pro until you have taken the image it can be edited afterwards.

So that is the end of the comparison of the images and I think it is fair to say that in most areas the OnePlus 11 5G is a good camera and it stacks up very nicely against the Pixel 7 Pro. There is however one area where the Pixel 7 Pro stands out above the OnePlus 11 5G and indeed in this reviewer’s opinion. This area i simplicity in the camera UI. As i mentioned briefly above there are a lot of different things that you can tweak and fiddle with on the OnePlus 11 5G and for me, this is actually a turn-off. I like my camera interface to be simple and I don’t want to have to faff with setting to get the image I want. If you do like using filters and tweaking settings even in the normal modes then the OnePlus is probably for you but for me i want simple and this is where the Pixel 7 Pro wins out for me and even with the choice of phones that I have is always my go-to when I need a camera I can rely on 100%.

Below i just want to share some more images of what can be achieved by the OnePlus 11 5G when you are willing to play with some of the other settings including the option for using XPAN mode which i never really fully figured out if I am honest!

So With the stills camera covered pretty extensively, I also wanted to include a little bit of Video for you just to show what the phone is capable of. This sample has been recorded at 1080p using a 30 FPS second framerate but the video will allow up to 8K and up to 24fps when in that mode. Due to the constraints of WordPress I have not been able to upload that sample and i don’t really ever see myself using it, however, it is there if you want it!

I am happy now to move on to another area where OnePlus has been scrutinised a lot recently and this is the question of Software.

Software

OnePlus phones used to be nearly unique in the relative sparseness of things that they added to the UI on their phones. But as with the inevitable march of time they have also had to change things up as time has moved forward. So over the past few years, we have seen what was once a user favourite in the form of Oxygen UI become Oxygen OS 13 in its current form. I have found that this new OS bears a remarkable similarity to an OS i have also seen on another brand of Phone in the form of a Realme device. (see Realme GT 2 5G review).

This is not surprising given that Realme and Oppo devices run Colour OS and OnePlus devices run Oxygen OS but hold on a minute those OS’s are different are they? Well dear reader this is where eth problem lies the lines between these OS’s have now blurred significantly so much so that in the far east the OnePlus 11 5G was launched with colour OS 13 instead of Oxygen OS 13 and if you were to place phones from each region next to each other you would struggle to identify the difference between them.

But what does this all mean for the user? Well in short it is actually not that bad when compared to something like One UI from Samsung or Magic UI from Honor but if you compare it to what Oxygen UI used to be then it is also not that great. I loved Oxygen UI back in the day because it was as close as you could get to having a Nexus/Pixel phone without having one of them, it was also normally significantly cheaper than the aforementioned devices as well! However, now the Oneplus Phones are no longer clean in terms of software and they have added extra features and started to duplicate apps which is not a good place to be in my book.

Dont get me wrong there are new features to Oxygen OS 13 that I like the cute Always on Display that shows either Polar bears or Coral and the effect that temperature has on them is a nice touch, I also like the gaming app that collates your game into one place and has the ability to get pop pout tools when playing a game and also block notifications. However, there is a lot of other largely useless stuff on there that just gets in the way. I dislike that I am limited to only having an app drawer that will not show more than 4 icons across.

I don’t need the duplicate apps that are present and I shouldn’t be seeing what is essentially a storefront for OnePlus every time I go into the settings screen.

Now i know that OnePlus is not alone in the above implementations of strange add-ons to UI’s but that is what used to distinguish OnePlus from the rest of the industry they were not just putting extra bloat in for the sake of it and they kept the UI clean and streamlined. A lot of this may just be me being a bit grumpy and old-fashioned but I liked that I didn’t use to have to spend an hour removing unnecessary apps from my phone to get it to work the way I want it to. I am sure that there will be users who are new to OnePlus who have been pulled in by the Specs and the camera who will not even notice these changes from the old to the new but for me it is annoying. Dont get me wrong once i had spent some time cleaning up duplicate apps (there are not that many to be fair) and turned off the extra features that I did not want or need then I enjoyed using the phone a lot and the software is not bad at all. I just prefer things to be a bit cleaner like that what is to be found on Pixels and dare I say iPhones!

Moving on from that rant let’s get int the conclusions about this phone.

Conclusion

As i inclined at the top of this review i am impressed with what I have seen about the OnePlus 11 5G and i am happy to have had the chance to use it for the time i have been able to do so. I suppose though the real test of it is whether I would buy one with my own hard-earned cash. Well for me it is a no but where does that leave you the normal consumer? I would defiantly give this phone a look it is a great-looking and very powerful phone that comes in at an awesome price point.

Yes, there are a few things that are missing such as Wireless Charging and a full IP 68 rating but the lack of wireless charging was really a non-issue for me as the battery life is really good and the IP rating doesn’t bother me at all.

I was also very impressed by the camera as this is a massive step in the right direction from what I had seen during my last time using a Co-developed camera (OnePlus 9 series). it seems that OnePlus and Hassleblad have actually figured out what is important to people and made sure that this works for them. In all honesty, If you were to give me a batch of photos from either the Pixel 7 Pro or the OnePlus 11 5G and ask me which was which I would struggle to tell you either way.

So if you fancy a phone that is one of the most powerful currently in the market with a respectable camera and a sensible price point, then you could do a lot worse than getting a OnePlus 11 5G, and the good news is that if you do want one you can order it now from OnePlus or from Amazon right now. Prices start at £729.00, when you are there then be sure to also pick up one of their cases, as well as this, is a slippy customer, particularly in the Eternal Green colour like the one I have been testing!

The post OnePlus 11 5G – Review is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Today is a good day as we get to do the unboxing of the OnePlus 11 5G and the Oneplus Buds Pro 2 in all their glory.

The phone has been released the specs have been shared and the press releases have all gone out what else is their to do apart from a joint unboxing.

Now due to the length of the video below which you will see is pretty well detailed and also that I have covered OnePlus 11 5G’s launch extensively in another article here. I will share the unboxing video without further fanfare.

I am really looking forward to getting the review of this phone underway and sharing my thoughts on this device but the first impression of both the phone and the earbuds is very good. I am quite surprised at how taken I was with the earbuds on my first use. As for the phone, it has been a bit of a longer burn to get used to it but I am again quite taken by it. the camera is good and I have had no real slowdowns to report so far.

So for now that is my very brief thoughts on the device on its launch day, I will be doing more content on these two devices in the coming days so please check back into Coolsmartphone.com for more on the devices. Here are a few more pictures showing its svelte design off for the time being.

Dont forget if you wish to know more about the OnePlus 11 5G and the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 then you can find out more from the OnePlus website

The post OnePlus 11 5G and OnePlus Buds Pro 2 – Unboxing is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

If you are fan of the OnePlus brand you will no doubt have seen that they have announced the new OnePlus 11 for the Chinese market with a full Global launch coming on the 7th of Feb.

At Coolsmartphone I have always had a bit of a passion for what OnePlus have been doing and as a result.of this we have been very fortunate to have been able to get some early hand in time with the OnePlus 11 and new Buds Pro 2.

Now I am not allowed to share any further details about the device but I am allowed to share some shots of the devices which I am more than happy to do here.

So with out further ado here are some glamour shots for you below.

So that is all I can share with you for now but rest assured that we will be giving all this gear a good run through its paces once the shackles have been lifted!

If you are any to know more about the launch or OnePlus then check out their website.

The post OnePlus 11 and Buds Pro 2 Preview is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Today OnePlus launched its new phone for 2023 getting out of the gates very early. bear in mind that this is the launch for Chinese markets however the international launch is coming very soon as well so we will be seeing this device in the very near future. The event was full of the usual chat about this being the best camera and the fastest phone ever from the company as would expect for any flagship launch. So without further ado, I would like to introduce you to the…

OnePlus 11 5G.

Pictured above in the rather glorious Emerald Forest (not sure of the official name at this time as it may change for Western markets!) I also like that the other product that was announced, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2, is colour matched to the phone. it will also come in a Volcanic Black hue and a matching Volcanic Black case and Bud’s.

Another design cues to note are the return of the Alert Slider (thank goodness) the main focus of the back of the phone is what OnePlus refers to as a”Black Hole” which is designed to stand out and is surrounded by a Chrome detail.

The Actual module is comprised of Stainless steel to enhance the in-hand feel. Within the module is the usual smattering of cameras. It features an IMX890 50MP main sensor, an IMX581 48MP ultra-wide sensor and an IMX709 32MP portrait lens for DSLR quality portraits. these are some pretty good camera specs and should produce some good results.
As has been the way of the previous 2 generations the Oneplus 11 5G is also equipped with imaging smarts courtesy of Hasselblad. I was not a massive fan of these on the Oneplus 9 Pro 5G when I reviewed that phone but I have hope that the 3rd time is a charm for the third attempt as they do say the third time is the charm! The phone also features a 13-channel spectral light-colour sensor ensuring that despite the light levels you will be covered in all scenarios.

So that covers the cameras but what else have we got under the skin as the camera is not the only headline-grabbing feature here?

The Spec list is a phone spec geek wet dream at least on paper anyway. Starting with the Silicon this features the Snapdragon® 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform, which will give faster CPU (35% improvement) and GPU (25% improvement) performance along with added bonus of improved power efficiency.

In terms of memory and storage you will be able to get up to 16GB RAM and 512GB of Storage capacity in the higher-end version and the lower tier will come with a respectable 12 GB RAM and 256 GB Storage. There is also a mid-way model with 16GB RAM and 256 GB of storage for those who don’t need 1/2 TB of space on the phone.

The battery is comprised of a now standard two-cell design meaning that the 5000mah battery capacity can be recharged in minutes by utilising the 100W SUPERVOOC fast charging system. The charger will also support Power Delivery at up to 6%w which is a nice touch as this means that other devices can be charged from it like thin and light laptops and other things that use the Power Delivery system.

Onto the Display and this one looks like a doozy with a 6.7″ 120Hz 2K A= fluid AMOLED display which features LPTO 3.0 technology to allow the adjustable framerate between 1 Hz and 120 Hz dynamically according to what is being shown on the display and how it is being interacted with.
OnePlus Buds Pro 2

So that covers the OnePlus 11 5G part of the proceedings but that was not all that was announced. OnePlus also showed off the new OnePlus Buds Pro 2.

These new in-ear headphones will bring Spatial Audio to the Oneplus user. This is a feature that is now embedded into Android 13 Which will be the launch software for the OnePlus 11 5G and should also work on the previous-gen devices (tbc) with Android 13 installed. The spatial audio feature will bring a wide sound field and multidimensional sound experience. This has been a feature on iOS devices and macs for a few years it is a really nice feature and I am looking forward to testing it out.

The in-ear buds were developed in partnership with Dynaaudio who have years of experience in creating exceptional sound quality.

Of course to get the full spatial experience your head position is required to be known. This is taken care of by a high-precision six-axis IMU sensor that is built into the unit.

Of course, these are not all the features that are onboard. Melody Boost Dual Drivers for stereo-grade audio. These feature an 11mm driver for the lowers and then 6mm delivers a wide range and pure clear vocals. Designed with crystal polymer diaphragms and separate edges and domes for enhanced balance and tone.

Of course the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 will also include Smart Adaptive Noise cancellation function to eliminate up to 48dB of background noise Battery life is reported to be put to 39 hours of playback with the use of the compact and colour-matched charging case. in terms of connectivity the buds will support Bluetooth 5.3 LE audio and dual connection for connection to multiple sources.

Although today was the launch of the OnePlus Buds pro 2 in China they will like the OnePlus 11 5G to be only available in China for the time being and will go on sale on January 9th 2023 in local markets. They will be released Globally on February 7th 2023 at the launch event in New Dehli when the international launch is happening.

Incidentally, if you are wanting to go to the launch event in New Dehli then Onepluys are running a competition on their website right now in order to attend the event.

The post OnePlus 11 5G Launch in China is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Earlier this week I was able to attend an event with members of the OnePlus software team. The purpose of these was to discuss some of the new features that will become available to OnePlus 10 Pro 5G and 10T owners, (the former is available now and the 10T will be out before Christmas). This was by no means the headline of the event.

The event was presented by Gary Chen, Head of Operating System Products at OnePlus and OPPO, Crayon Hsieh, Head of OneLab at OnePlus, and hosted by Ben Wood of CCS Insight. The panel presented various different aspects of the development of OxygenOS 13 for the current phones and what may come in the future with OOS 14.

There was a lot of talk about the new Always On Display features that will come along with the new software feature sets. These include Homeland AOD and Spotify AOD. These are two new features for Android that OnePlus are claiming to be an industry first for them.

I particularly liked the implementation of Polar Bears on an Iceberg to represent the temperature changes in the local temperature. The idea is that the diminishing size of the Iceberg represents the increase I heat and this will dynamically change throughout the day. This animation will only be active during a short time period when the phone identifies that you are wishing to interact with it. This is being done via the front camera and detection of you looking at the screen. However, the exact way this works was not divulged on the day but it sounds awesome.

The Spotify AOD will allow you to see what is playing on your Spotify playlist but more importantly perhaps, it will allow you to interact with it without having to unlock the phone. Again it is using the same method of being aware of your presence as above.

OnePlus have been very conscious of what it can do to preserve battery life within these two additional functions. This is why they will not be always active and the Music AOD will only allow actions when the user is detected. I will be keen to see how these work in reality when they are available to download onto my OnePlus 10T in the next few weeks.

The main headline of the event however was that OnePlus have committed to providing 4 years of OS Updates and 5 years of security updates. This brings them in line with offerings from the likes of Samsung. It actually surpasses that offered by Google itself. Why is this such big news? Simply because we are now keeping phones longer.

This 4 + 5 model will only support devices that are to be released in the coming months in 2023 and it is most likely only going to be premium flagship tier devices. This is a bit of a downer but they need to draw the line somewhere. It was also unclear how timely these updates would be and whether they would be released in line with Google OS release. As for security updates, I believe Gary Chen stated that these will be bi-monthly at least that is aimed release cycle.

I am happy to see this happening with more and more Android manufacturers coming to the realisation that this has to happen for a few reasons the main one being more sustainability as a brand. This empowers users to give the phone a second life with either another user through pre-owned marketplaces or by allowing it be refurbished and offered up for sale again at a discounted price. It is better than simply recycling as long as the phone is still smooth and fast in terms of UI there should be no reason other than hardware failure to need to replace the phone. The next piece of the puzzle is repairability by the end user. This one’s a tougher nut to crack and will take more time. Apple has only started on this road with mixed results as far as I can tell I don’t have an Apple device that is new enough and that I have broken sufficiently to test this out yet).

So if you have OnePlus 10 Pro 5G or a OnePlus 10T then keep your eyes open for the new Oxygen OS update coming to your phone soon. If not then keep an out for their new line up which will be coming in the next few months. As we are only a few months away from MWC time and rumours have that there are plans afoot (these are unsubstantiated rumours from the technosphere and may be total hogwash).

The post OnePlus announce 4+5 update plans is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Honer 70 rear

Do you want a phone with a great screen great processor high capacity storage and decent memory? Do you want this phone to have a cracking camera with more video modes than you can shake a stick at as well? How nice, would it be if you get this for under £600 sim free in a sleek package with a hint of glitzy design thrown in for good measure? Sound pretty good, doesn’t it? Well luckily for you the new Honor 70 has launched recently and this phone ticks most if not all of these boxes including the cost one (if you are willing to sacrifice storage space you can get it for even cheaper!).

I have been fortunate to have been given the use of an Honor 70 for the past few weeks and I have had some time to get some thought on the device. It is that time again when I try and string together my rambling into a readable and enjoyable review for you our dear reader. So without further ado let’s jump right in with the design.
Design

I have gone through the design of this phone on my unboxing and first impressions post and also covered it a little in my launch event write-up. If, however, you didn’t catch those articles, let me review them again.

Staring at the top is where we will find the normal pinhole speaker and that is it. The top edge is at least flat which is something I do like to see as it reminds me of the Note Series (RP) from Samsung.

Moving down the right-hand side we can see the volume rocker switch that sits above the power key which will also acct as a Google Assistant key on a long press if you wish to set it up this way. You can notice how slim this phone is almost immediately as when you pick it up the skinny edges just mold into you hand. this feels really nice and it still feels durablem

Around the bottom things get a little bit busier here as we have a dual sim card slot, one of the speakers (this one is bottom-firing), another pinhole mic and the USB Type C port that Support Honor’s propriety SuperCharge tech at up to 66w in this instance. Again like up the top this is flat edge which has made capturing the glamour shots of this phone a damn site easier!

The sim card slot does have a waterproofing ring around it but this phone does not have an IP rating, unfortunately.

On the left-hand side, we are met with a barren expanse of nothingness which is fine with me as I am right-handed but could be annoying for left-handed users but then this is true of most phones on the market.

Going around to the back is where we find the gorgeous shimmery, colour-changing (it is subtle but it is there) back panel which I believe is toughened glass but at this point, I am not certain. It does feel good and it is not a fingerprint magnet which I really like.

Nestled up in the top left quarter of the phone is where we can find the twin camera setup which consists of three different camera sensors including the world’s first Sony IMX800 54MP Super Sensing Main Camera (f/1.9 aperture), a 50MP Ultra Wide & Macro Main Camera(f/2.2 aperture) and a 2MP Depth Camera (f/2.4 aperture). These cameras will also pull double duty and work video recording along with various AI tweaked and assisted modes. I am looking forward to trying them out, especially Solo Shot.

Up front, we have the Display along with a 32MP Super Clear Selfie Camera (f/2.4 aperture) hole punch camera that again will work for video and AI Assisted modes for those all-important selfies.

Above the display is the earpiece which is nestled into a minuscule gap between the edge of the frame and the screen itself.

Onto the display though. This measures in at 6.67 “diagonal and has an FHD+ 2400 x 1080 resolution with a PPI of 395 and a 20.1 aspect ratio. It will support 1.07 billion colours and it is rated for DCI-P3 with a wide colour gamut.

I have to say it looks really good and I am a fan to see that it has a variable refresh rate although this is limited to 60hz or 120hz instead of being infinitely variable like on some other devices. I also have to say that I really do like the curve to the edge of the phone. It feels really smoothly done and natural and it makes the phone feel a lot slimmer than it actually is.

This genuine a really nice and well-designed phone that looks like it should be a lot more expensive than it actually is. However, is all this glitz and glamour hiding a dark and haunting secret under the skin as they do say that beauty is only skin deep!

Hardware
Well, I am very pleased to say that in this case that beauty is much more than skin deep and I would actually have loved to have seen a teardown of this phone as the components inside are all top-notch with what you can expect for a top of the mid their phone. but that is enough of my depravity for phone internals! Let’s take a closer look at what it takes to make this phone sing!

Before I really get into this there is a small matter of the spec sheet to be dealt with.

Specs

The beating heart of this phone is nothing particularly special as it is comprised of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 778G Plus processor which is mated with the Adreno 642L GPU. This is by no means a ground-shaking paring but it is one that will serve you well and it is more than good enough for the average user. One aspect of this processor and GPU combo is that it sips power which is great to hear as the battery is not a beast by any means at 4700 mAH pack size. It does however pack punch especially when it comes to charging it up as this phone thankfully supports the inclusion of Honor’s Supercharge 66W.

I am very grateful to see this as one of the omissions on this phone is QI Wireless charging which is excusable for a phone at the price point we are looking at. The inclusion of a QI Wireless charging coil would have added some more thickness which would have ruined the design aesthetic of this phone so I can understand why it was omitted here. We are starting to see a distinct division in the market where QI Wireless charging is concerned, more and more of the mid-tier devices are not including the wireless charging option in their spec sheets. I think up to a certain price point this is acceptable but manufacturers need to tread carefully as if you don’t include it in a device that tips over the £600 price point without including Wireless charging then you are going to start to annoy people and put them off buying your phones. Fortunately, Honor is on the correct side of this price point and has gotten away with it.

The Honor Supercharger 66W charger is thankfully also included in the box, which is a very good thing as this is a propriety charging system much like the SuperVOOC system employed by Oneplus and OPPO. The vast majority of the heat from the charging process is taken up by the charger brick and it allows simultaneous charging of 2 cells within the battery with a very short call balancing program built into the final stage of the charging session. You can also stop the phone from charging as this superfast speed from within the settings for the battery, allows you to prolong the battery life of your device and reduce the strain being placed on the battery over long charge times meaning you don’t have to worry about it as the software takes care of things for you.

In terms of the memory options available, you can get the phone with only one option for RAM and that is fixed at 8GB. You can however get 2 storage capacities depending on which colours you choose. if you go with Midnight Black or Emerald Green you can get either 128GB or 256GB of onboard storage. If however you go with the Crystal Silver then you are limited to only getting the 128GB storage option. I guess if you are pretty you don’t need much space to store memories as you’re the most memorable thing in the room! *Editors note We are not quite sure what has got into Garry too much exposure to shiny things I think we get him the counselling he needs we promise!

I cannot move away from the hardware section of the review without talking about the materials used in the build of this phone. Of course, upfront, we have got a hardened (not GorillaGlass though) curved screen panel.

This then goes around to a plastic mid-frame in every smooth way with very little to indicate the transition barring a protrusion of a fraction of a millimetre that you can barely see but can feel. It doesn’t feel bad but if you look for it you can see it. Continuing around this curved body takes you to a frosted back panel which is composed of Frosted Glass. I am glad that they have used the frosted back panel as this means that the back is not a fingerprint magnet and it doesn’t turn into a smudgy mess as soon as you go near it. It would even be possible if you wished to do so to use this without the extra (and included) case that allows for increased grip as the phone is pleasantly grippy with the back panel the way it is. With the mid-frame of the phone being made of plastic, this gets away from the need to have ugly antenna bands but gives the opportunity for 360-degree coverage for the antennas built into the phone’s skinny frame.

It is a shame that there is no official IP rating on this phone but again this is a cost-saving measure as the phone does have a protective rim around the dual sim tray and I would hazard a guess that the various other apertures are suitably protected as well. There is however no official rating so now swimming with this one! I would have also liked to see a recognised brand name for the glass on the front panel as it gives reassurance to the potential buyer seeing a name they recognise on a spec sheet.

Moving on from hardware, the big reason that people are going to want to buy this phone, of course, is the camera or cameras to be more accurate.
Camera

Honor have made some big claims about the camera performance for the Honor 70 and I have been reasonably impressed with the performance of the camera for normal day to day shots. i have included a few images of these below for your review.

I have found that the camera is really true to what you see with your eyes and this is due to the new Sony IMX800 sensor board with a rated megapixel count of 54. Honor have called the camera a SuperSensing camera. The camera does draw on the AI part of the Snapdragon chipset to help with the super sensing capabilities and this does work when you are using it to take various images. For example, the picture of the Cat correctly identified that the picture was of an animal and made the various tweaks to the setting and parameters to correctly capture the cat’s features and the end result is pretty good. The same was true of the sunset and this one is a bit trickier as I am asking the sensor to accommodate an extremely bright source of light and not wash out the rest of the image, again I think it does quite a good job.

The next thing i wanted to test was the variable aperture mode to get some background blur or Bokeh. Whilst the phone does have an inbuilt bokeh mode which I did try but i wasn’t that happy with so use the adjustable aperture mode to get the effect i wanted on the two shots below.

I am happy with the result in the shots above as they give me the effect i was looking for and it was easy enough to get.

One of the other features of the camera that was another area being talked about a lot at the press event was the video functions. And I was keen to have a play. So first up is the fairly normal dual camera modes that we have seen on various different devices over the past few years. They are useful if you want to give a different perspective to your footage but I can’t see myself using them very much. If I were TicToc creator or an Instagrammer then this may be more interesting. Check these samples out below.

Here is a regular video just to give you an idea of its capabilities.

The big one that is shouting from the rooftops, it is called Solo Cut. This is a very interesting feature that is something that I have never seen before. The video will automatically track a subject that you identify from the preview screen this will track the subject as it moves across the frame. I have tried to capture its functionality for you below.

The first video is the raw footage

The second video is the Solo Cut

You can see that in the first video the tracking is not as smooth as i move across the frame as the camera was being panned and the motion is not that smooth. whereas in the second video the tracking is being handled by the SoloCut software that is actively tracking my motion across the frame and it does create a smoother panning motion. While this may not be the best demonstration of this feature it gives you an idea of what it can do. The demo we were shown at the launch event showcased a group of people where one of them was selected as the target or “Solo” and the camera tracked the movement of that “Solo” as they moved around in the frame.

Here is a demo video below that might give a better impression of it in action.

The camera is a well-rounded component of the phone and if you like taking photos and are on a budget then this is potentially going to be a key selling point for you on this phone. Solo Cut mode is something that is very interesting and I can see it being extremely useful in a concert experience or at a family get-together.

Software

Honour has been getting quite good at cleaning up their software loadout on the Android lately and this is no different on the Honor 70. The phone comes with Magic UI 6.1 loaded onto it and this is based on Android as the OS. I would have liked to have seen the phone come out with Android 13 from the get-go but as the phone’s software would have been iterated a few months ago i can understand why it is not here. The UI is fairly clean and it doesn’t have too many annoying hangups as I have observed on other devices that i have reviewed and used in the past few years. In terms of bloat, there are a few of Honor’s own apps that do replicate the core Android apps but these can very easily and quickly be disabled from the main screen after a few long presses. It only took me about 3o mins to get the phone set up how I like it. This could be sped up if you use a 3rd party launcher like Nova Launcher which can store a backup of your Home screen layout in an online space. I like to try and run the phones i test with the stock launcher and UI where I can and i was pleased to say that with the Honor 70 i have not found any need to move away from their inbuilt launcher. I would have liked to see more options for changing the iconography though as the inbuilt icon sets are a bit too cartoony for me. This is something that you use to be able to do back in the Honor<->Huawei days via the Themes app. Unfortunately, this is no longer possible and the Themes App is a bit of a waste of time now, to be honest. Even if we had the ability to use the wallpaper colour match option as introduced in Android 12 then that would have been something but this is not available to you which is a shame in my eyes.

There are a few special tweaks that Honor has made in the software that are designed to help with daily tasks and the longevity of the phone. I will go over the Longevity part first as this is a big part of this phone’s personality.

The phone will easily last me 2 days with very light use of Emails, Soical media, Youtube, Music playback from local storage and so Web browsing during the evening. At the time of my writing this review, the phone is currently on 11% and it was unplugged from a power supply the morning before. I started today with around 47% in the tank. This is pretty damn good but there is a cost to this battery performance. The AI in the snapdragon chipset works with the very aggressive battery management software within the phone to pretty much kill most background processes.

An example of this is the App I use for music playback on my device called Musicolet, I install it on every phone I use and it works really well. On my Pixel 6 Pro which is running on Android 13 it just works with no issues with playback when the screen goes to sleep etc. On the Honor 70 I noticed that I would get issues with playback when the screen went to sleep, I actually got a prompt through the app that I needed to enable it to run in the background if I wanted it to return back to normal functioning. This is a real-world example of one of the apps that i have had to tweak to work around the over-eager battery management tools employed on the phone. Whilst it is not a massive issue it is something that is worth being aware of if you are an intensive user of the phone. Fortunately, I did not have any issues with receiving any of my notifications on the phone during my time with it as this used to be something that the battery management profile would hone in with laser focus and try to kill off anything other than a stock default app from delivering notifications.

I am not sure if my next concern is strictly related to the aggressive battery tweaking but i do find that when I pair my device with Android Auto i get an issue where although the pairing goes through and my car will use Android Auto it will not allow the content of the screen to display or even be interacted with. It could be that the app has not had permission set up correctly or the phone is killing the screen streaming part of the Android Auto environment but it is somewhat annoying to see this happen as i do a lot of driving so this feature is important to me. I would like to say at this point that i have had lots of issues with Android Auto on multiple phones so this is not something i am placing on Honor here and it could very well be the car software at fault. I just felt that it is worth mentioning so you know all the gory details!

The second part of the phone’s extras come in the form of neat features like the Multi Windows dock menu that will come in from the side of the phone if you perform a swipe and hold gesture this will allow you to have some quick launch apps from any screen Within a new window or a split screen mode. While it is something I have never found myself using it is nice that it is here. Also having all the usual useful gestures like Raising to wake and flipping to mute are useful little touches that make living with the phone just that little bit easier. The inbuilt storage management tool is also pretty neat as a way to help keep you on top of your files to stop that digital hoarder in all of us.

I am pretty happy with the software overall and I have been happy using the phone in my day-to-day tasks I have found that it all performs smoothly and is a nice phone to interact with. That being said I do just wish that i was able to tweak a few more things on the UI to get it to look the way I want it to. I am potentially in the minority on this though as most people who have asked and shown the phone have liked the way it looks. I suppose that this is the curse of reviewing so many phones you will always become jaded with the first little thing that irks you. Most people who will be using this phone, will find the software a great experience and probably would not question the wrinkles I have observed because quite simply they won’t notice them. This is a sign that the software has been done right for me so well done Honor you have done a good job on your latest version of Magic UI 6.1.

There is one last big feature that Honor is keen to talk about in the Honor 70 and this is Multi-Screen collaboration. Now unfortunately as I don’t have another Honor device that I can use with this tool I can tell you that I would have loved to have had this feature in years gone by as it works really well. In essence, this will allow you to access your files and other phone functions on another screen as if you are doing things on the phone. This is in itself nothing new. What is really clever is that you can actually copy things from one device to another just like you would if you were doing it on the same device I think this is really cool and wish I could have tested it for you as part of this review but it was not meant to be. This feature will work with any of the current lineup of Honor Laptops and also the brand new Honor Pad 8 that was launched alongside the Honor 70 here is a short video demoing this tool courtesy of Honor.

Pricing

The Honor 70 as mentioned above comes in three different colours and 2 different storage varieties

For 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage in Midnight Black, Emerald Green or Crystal Silver it will be £479.99

For 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage in Midnight Black or Emerald Green it normally costs £529.99 but for the next 7 days you can get this phone £499.99

All the above prices are available now from the HiHonor store where you can also get some free HONOR Earbuds 3 Pro in Gray that are worth £169.99
Conclusion

I have been very impressed with the Honor 70 and I have been happy with my time using the phone. I think it is going to be popular with those in the market for a premium-looking midi-tier phone that doesn’t have a mid-tier price point. it does a lot of things right from the stunning design to the great cameras and smooth stutter-free performance. I have even been mostly pleased with Magic UI which has traditionally been a pain point for me.

Who would I recommend this phone to then? Honestly, this is a phone that can capture such a broad segment of the market it is difficult to say. Howver one thing i can say with certainty is that if you are a keen mobile photographer then there is a lot on this phone to be excited about and you will enjoy using its features especially if you are someone who uses a lot of social media for sharing those photos and videos that you create. Another segment is style-conscious and up-and-coming influencers as they are able to afford a phone that looks like it should be in the next tier and for the most part, it will perform in that higher their as well. Lastly, for anyone who wants their phone to look good and make a subtle but strong statement then this may be a phone worth considering as it is certainly one of the nicer-looking handsets I have seen this year especially if shiny things are your cup of tea (go for the Crystal Silver one as it is stunning)

I hope that gives you an idea of if the Honor 70 is for you, if you think it is then you can order one now from HiHonor and they will even throw in some HONOR Earbuds 3 Pro Grey for free which is a nice touch.

The post Honor 70 – Review is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

The OnePlus 10T 5G is an odd phone that many people have stated shouldn’t exist and is an unnecessary addition to the current OnePlus lineup. It just doesn’t to seem to fit a reason to be around for many people and fellow tech reviewers. I have been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to use it for a few weeks now and to try and see where it fits into the crowded market as a whole and also the OnePlus lineup. During this review, I will try and answer that question and give my impressions and thoughts on who this phone is for. 

To give a little context and background we have seen the T series of phones before as a follow-up after the main lead phones have been announced for that yearly cycle. Now for some reason, this did not happen with the OnePlus 9 family last year as they had the OnePlus 9 Pro 5G and also the OnePlus 9 5G. I think that this was perhaps OnePlus testing the water. I dont think they found that this release pattern was how they wanted to work which perhaps explains why we have had the 10Pro 5G with all its Hasselblad camera polish but then there has been a spell of nothing until the launch of the 10T which comes without the camera goodness but focus more on sheer performance with a bit more of a gaming focus that we have perhaps seen before with OnePlus. This is I believe one of the reasons why we have the OnePlus 10T 5G. The other comes down to the company wanting to ensure that they stay in the realm of the press and the technology news as nothing gets you noticed as a phone launch does in the mobile tech domain, especially when your price point is as aggressive as the one that OnePlus has stuck on the 10T but more on that later on!

As is the case with all my reviews let’s start with the design and hardware.

Design

For those of you who have read the unboxing post I put out of the OnePlus 10T 5G on launch day, this will all be familiar ground, however, for everyone else, I will cover it again here.

Starting on the right-hand side where we can find the Power key, sadly no alert slider this time around! This is a real shame as it was one of the staples that differentiated the OnePlus flagships from other ones on the market and it was something I did actually use a lot when I carried the phone. Could this be an indication that OnePlus is not thinking of this device as a flagship model?

Well, I have thought about this one for some time during my time with the phone and come to the conclusion that it was a design decision that had to be made to accommodate the internals of the phone. The alert slider is actually quite a large module that needs to be fitted into the side of the phone as it is not just the physical slider that needs to be accounted for but there is also the internal mechanism to allow the slider to convert the slide action into an electrical signal for the phone to interpret. Now if you put yourself in the position of the designer who had been given a brief of cramming this phone with as much power and performance as he can you can see that any way of saving space would be looked at. I think it is for this reason that the alert slider has been given the heave-ho. Will this be a new design language we see on the next “Pro series” models in 9 or so months only time will tell but I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t make a return, particularly on future “T series” devices?

Next is the base where we can see the USB Type C 2.0 charging port alongside one of the two speaker grills. Again here we can see another distinct difference in focus from the 10 Pro in that the USB Type C port has received a downgrade from 3.1 to 2.0 indicating again to me that the target audience of this phone from the designer’s viewpoint is not one that would need the capability of USB 3.1. as it is a non “Pro” device. As a side note Apple also adopted a similar policy between their Pro and Standard devices (especially in their computers) so this move is not unprecedented. 

Of course, this port does still support the propriety fast charging technology which is now called SuperVOOC. This phone will charge at 150w when used with the included 160W charging brick. The name may have changed but the technology being used is the same just with a ramp-up in terms of speed.

We also see a sim card slot here which will house 2 sims if required and does have a gasket to enhance waterproofing. We also have a large mic aperture Notice how I mentioned enhance waterproofing. Well, this was because this device does not have an IP rating, unlike its fellow family member’s as this was another area where OnePlus has been able to remove a cost from production and design development. I have not tested how resilient to water this phone is but during my time with it, I have never been concerned about the liguid ingress protection on offer. It even managed to survive having a half can of Monster spilt on it with no ill-effects as far as I can tell and that was 2 weeks ago!

Moving around to the left-hand side is where you will be able to find the volume rocker key. Not much more to say on this on apart from it give a good positive clicking action dn is easy to find after the initial first few minutes of adapting form the previous phone I had been using.

Moving around the top we have got we have got a pinhole mic and again a secondary larger mic. You will have noticed I have referred to oval shaped holes on the phone as additional mic inputs however I am yet too have had this confirmed by anyone, once I have the update I will be sure to include it here as either confirmation or correction as required.

The rear of the phone contains the camera module, which contains three different camera sensors/lenses. Firstly the primary is a 50MP Sony IMX 766 sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and a 7P lens. Next is the 8Mp f/2.2 aperture Ultra-Wide angle. Lastly, we have got a 2MP macro camera which has an effective shooting distance of 2-4cm. They are also supported by the same dual-LED “ring flash” that was to be found on the OnePus 10Pro 5G

Around the front is where we find the 6.7 ” display which has a resolution of 2412 x 1080 with a PPI of 394 and an aspect ratio of 20.1:9. The panel is a flat one and is made up of the same Fluid AMOLED that is found on the Nord 2 5G range.

It will support up to 120Hz but it will only allow three options of 60Hz, 90 and of course 120Hz. There are a load of other little features about the screen but I will cover those more in the full review.

For now, though I can say this display is a good display and I really like using it.

The last thing to mention on the top is the top speaker which hides just below the bezel and it actually sounds reasonably good given the constraints of the space it occupies certainly good enough for Zoom calls etc.

That concludes the hardware tour. Now that I have taken to going through hardware detail in a bit more detail and depth I am drawn to the similarities between this device and the Nord 2 5G as there is a lot that this very similar to that device in terms of the specs, the screen and the camera setup. Some may even be inclined to say that this is where this phone may fit as a Nord 2 Pro, above the Nord 2 and below the 10 Pro, an interesting thought but requires a bit more pondering on that one I think. 

Specifications

Hardware

This is where OnePlus is really hoping that they can draw in the specs aficionados. There are a couple of key areas where the OnePlus 10T separates itself from the masses. As normal I am going to go through these key areas as otherwise, the phone is your normal glass-fronted rectangle chock full of some very shiny hardware. So the key features I wish to talk about are.

1. Battery and charging
2. Processor
3. Back panel

So the first thing I want to cover is the battery and the charging as this is the first OnePlus device in the European market that has got the first 150w charging speed. This is down to the use of the new SuperVOOC 150W fast charging system which is a propriety system that has been developed by the OnePlus and Oppo partnership. We have already seen the SuperVOOC charging technology on some of the OPPO lineups of phones. This is a name change for the OnePlus as previously they called their charging technology was called Dart charge.

I am really happy to see that we are now starting to see these faster-charging speeds on phones however the issue I have here is that the use of the Propreit technology does limit the usefulness of the charger for powering other devices. It would be awesome if, for example, I could use the SuperVOOC 160W charger to charge my Chromebook however as the SuperVOOC 160w charger does not support Power Delivery that will not work so it means I still have to rely on my trusty Anker Mini GAn charger. As for the battery itself, this is designed to that it works as a two-cell system which will allow for faster charging as you are no longer having to cram the power into one battery. It does mean that you have to carry out some cell balancing near the end of the charging cycle. This however is all taken care of by the SuperVOOC charger and minimal heat actually gets transferred to the device when it is under charger load.

In terms of speed to recharge the phone, its advertised rate is 19 minutes to fill the 4,800 mAh battery and a day’s charger from 1o minutes of charging. These speeds are awesome and it makes up for the lack of one of the biggest convenience features of the OnePlus 10 Pro 5G device and also the preceding 9 Series. This is also a downside of the bigger battery technology and the larger heatsink as they were not able to fit in a wireless charging coil. More on this later on though when I cover the cons

Next up have the processor which is again another of the main attractions of this device. OnePlus have managed to put a Snapdragon 8+ gen 1 into the phone which means that it is packing the latest and greatest in terms of chip performance and power. insert snapdragon image here I have not got another Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 device available to draw a direct comparison against, but I can say with a certain degree of confidence that this phone is fast and it feels it in normal day-to-day use. I was never left wanting when I was trying to load apps and move through the UI. The only time i was left wanting was when I was in a weak signal area and I was being let down by the mobile network signal. This was something that did happen when I was touring the southwest coast of Wales on a recent trip. I was trying to push this phone so I tested opening multiple apps in sequence to see if I could get it to stutter at all. performed this test of the Pixel 6 Pro that I run as my daily driver as well and the results are shown in the video below.

As we can see from the video and as I expected there is some slight difference in the speed of the apps opening once a few apps are open. This will of course be affected by RAM as well, with the Pixel 6Pro having 12 GB of RAM and the OnePlus 10T having 16 GB of RAM. These differences in RAM However should not come into effect until the apps are being “reopened” For the first opening of the app the device should be essentially just working on the power of the processor with minimal support from the RAM. It also has to be stated that the Pixel 6 Pro is on Android 13 whereas the OnePlus 10T is running on Android 12 so there will, of course, be differences due to the way that these respective Operating systems deal with cache memory usage etc.

Put simply if you are looking for speed over anything else then you want a phone with the SnapDragon 8+ Gen 1 inside it which is exactly what OnePlus has delivered and just to make it extra punchy, they slathered a massive 16GB of RAM on top. That is the same amount of RAM as my Macbook Pro 14! With that being said the difference was not as marked as I expected it to be.

I also found that the phone was plenty fast enough for even my moderate gaming needs, admittedly these don’t extend much further than the odd game of World of Warships and Alto’s Odessy but the phone was slick to l0ad up the game and the UI was buttery smooth, this was no doubt helped along by the crisp 120Hz refresh rate of the screen which allowed the gameplay to be smooth and stutter-free.

Next is a bit of a weird one that I would normally not cover in the hardware section of a review but I feel that this needs to be mentioned. The back panel of the phone. it is not what most people think in that it is not made out of Toughened glass or indeed any glass. it is on the other hand made up of a type of plastic known in the “tech world as Glastic” it has some of the properties of Glass but is made out of a plastic composite.

This is a distinct departure from what we have seen before with the OnePlus Flagship lineup. While it doesn’t necessarily feel as premium it does actually bring some benefits that I feel do get overlooked by some reviews. As the material used is not as dense it does not block the radio signals in and out of the phone meaning that you will not find an antenna break line anywhere on the outside of the phone. This is also due to the outside of the frame being made of plastic as well. In theory, this should allow for a near 360-degree antenna coverage and it should be better than say the likes of the Pixel 6 Pro.

While this was true for mobile signal and Wi-fi as far as I could tell. I did find that the phone really struggled to maintain a GPS signal in some of the areas in South Wales when I driving between our cottage and the various sites we wished to visit. I also had this occur in possibly the flattest of all counties East Anglia! As such I don’t think that problem is due to not having a line of sight to the Satellites but potentially more to do with how good the GPS radio is and where it is positioned on the device. I have asked to see if fellow reviewers have had a similar experience as I did but they have not been able to confirm this or not.

Those are really for me the real differentiators between this and some of the similar phones that are being offered at these price points. There are of course two other things that need to be addressed which I do think are things that OnePlus users will miss. The first is of course the most obvious. I am of course talking about the alert slider or more accurately the lack of one. This feature has been a staple of the Oneplus Flagship lineup since the very first OnePlus One was released to the market. It was even present on the OnePlus X which was sadly the only ever version that we saw of that device. This is the 1st OnepLus device I have ever encountered without this brilliant feature and I have to say it is something that I miss.

Alert Slider we miss you!

It was not something that I used every day as I work in an environment where it is required to not have my phone ringing or pinging away constantly. Honestly, i used to use it as something that i would absent-mindedly fiddle with in my pocket more often than not but on the occasion where I did need to quickly change my alerts to loud or silent it was just great to have the facility to do so with a simple slide of the switch. I have asked for the reason for its exclusion on this phone and the cited reason was that the space it takes up is being used for seeking out the extra battery size without making the phone thicker or wider. I am not 100% that I buy this but whatever the reason it is not there it stings a bit to not have it on board as it was a genuinely useful feature that people loved, it was also something that was a big standout feature for OnePlus as it made the phones different. I do hope that they can find a way to get it back on board for the OnePlus 11T if they are going to go down that route next year.

The second big omission for me is the lack of QI Wireless charging. I feel that for a phone of this level and also this price point wireless charging is a must-have as people have now come to expect it on their devices. Again I understand from a design point of view it would have added extra bulk to the rear of the phone and it would have also added weight. However with all that being said QI Wireless charging has been a normal way of people charging phones these days with most new cars now either featuring it or at least having it as an option. This for me is an indicator that technology has moved out of the niche domain and into the mainstream as the car industry can in certain terms be quite a bit behind that of the mobile tech industry. I am aware that OnePlus, has the technology to include this even with the SuperVOOC Wireless charging technology that was seen on the OnePlus 10 pro earlier on this year so this is just a cost-saving exercise in my mind and it is one that I feel they didn’t need to do. If I am paying over £700 for a phone I expect it to be near flagship grade and this requires in my eyes at least QI Wireless charging onboard.

Finally, another commission that is not as major as the other two mentioned above is the lack of the official IP rating on the phone as again this is just something that has come to expect for this price point these days. Now I know that while the phone has not got an IP rating the phone is at least splash resistant as I mentioned earlier this test phone has had an energy drink shower!  Surely in terms of the scale that OnePlus is hoping to shift these phones, it would have not cost that much to get the official rating, so instead of scrimping next time around just send it through the testing and certification process, please!

So that wraps up my thought on the hardware side of the phone. Now it is time for the cameras!

Camera

I have seen a lot of people who have been hating the Oneplus 10T for the camera which they are stating is a massive negative on the phone. I have seen some reviewers who are actually calling out OnePlus and saying that this is now the decline of OnePlus! Now whilst I don’t necessarily agree with that extreme judgement, I am not sure that the direction Oneplus have taken with the 10T’s camera is the correct way to go. don’t get me wrong i actually think that camera setup is absolutely fine and i am very happy with the result. i mainly take a lot of wide-angle photos or landscape shots and the camera has performed really well in these scenarios of choice. During the review period, I was lucky enough to away on a “staycation” in South Wales. As such, I was able to really catch some outstanding scenes with this camera and I would like to share the with you if I can.

As you can see there is quite a good mix of various different styles of photos in the mix here and I was suitably impressed with these images and many more that I have taken in my time with the phone over the few weeks I have had use of it. 

Now, none of this should come as a surprise as the camera being used here are essentially the same as those found on the OnePlus Nord 2 5G that I reviewed near the end of last year. I really enjoyed using that camera and I have really enjoyed using this one as well. The sensors are accurate and the time between shots is quick using the software is easy and does allow you to switch into the more advanced stuff if you wish to. Now I have not had the opportunity to use the Oneplus 10 Pro 5G with all the Hasselblad software that came on that phone but I did test these features when I was using the Oneplus 9 Pro 5G and I honestly would have preferred that they were not on that phone as in my eyes all they did was add to the cost of an already expensive phone. 

I suppose what I am saying is if you like your camera relatively simple and easy to use without having to put a massive amount of thought into what you are doing then this is exactly that. If you want a pro Grade camera with enhanced functionality then consider a Oneplus 10 Pro 5G however i think you may be better served with something in the Sony Xperia lineup as they are really honing in on full-featured Cameras on their latest releases but you are paying a premium for this. I think in this vain this is why the Pixel phone lineup has also appealed to me as it is a simple and intuitive camera UI that actually takes some damn fine images.

On the video front, the camera is again absolutely serviceable without needing to be something fancy and shouty. I very rarely use the video on my phone and I will really only use it to capture footage on the rare occasion when something catches my eye. this waterfall was one of these moments.

As you can see the quality is fine for capturing these memories but it isn’t going to worry anyone in the film industry either!

As for the selfie camera well it does what it says on the tin and having the slightly wider angle lens does help when you are trying to squeeze in more than one person. See the example below.

It does the job and I was able to get some nice shots of me and my family but you will have to make do with the above!

For a phone that is not marketed with the camera at the forefront, this is a good fit for a camera in my opinion and I had no reason to question its performance when I was using it.

That pretty much covers that camera and my thoughts. Now time for the software. 

Software

This can and has broken great phones for me in the past fortunately I have found that the software on the OnePlus 10T does not fall into this category. Yes, this is Oxygen OS with a lot of influence from the sister brand Oppo’s Colour OS but I have used a lot worse when it comes to customizations. the things that made a OnePlus phone are still here and they are good. OnePlus have also been careful to not include too much bloat and associated crapware on the phone when you get it out of the box. I found that the UI was intuitive and smooth in daily tasks with barely a hiccup. The icon scaling was adequate and didn’t feel that it was too cramped when I compared it to the Pixel UI. I was only able to get a grid width of 4 icons in the app drawer, which annoyed me when I moved from my Pixel, but I got over it reasonably quickly and OnePlus is not the only offender in this respect. I have been using this alongside an Honor 70 whilst I have been doing this review and I have to say that the OnePlus scales so much better. Here are some comparison pictures of the UI’s in various different scenarios.

It is very much a case of larger icons on the Honor 70 but the smaller text on the titles at least. Fortunately, in the web browser things settle down and the scaling returns to normal as can be seen below. but when you load the same image up on the Pixel things do change quite a bit as you can see below

OnePlus 10T vs Honor 70 Website

However, if I fire up the Pixel 6 pro to the same glorious site then we see another massive change in text size see below.

OnePlus 10T vs Pixel 6 Pro website

Whilst the obvious difference between the phone’s resolution is apparent in that last image the UI does have a part to play in this as the scaling could be allowed to be tweaked further by the user to allow us to create the effect of a higher resolution screen. This is something you have been able to do in Google’s other OS for years and it can be done via developer settings so why can we not be given the option?

Anyway moving away from my pet peeves. I like the things that OnePlus have added to the UI that are nice to have, one in particular that I wish was able to be used on other devices in the form of the Zen Mode app. I find that I use this quite a lot if I have had a stressful day as it gives me a bit of time just before I turn in for the night when I can just zone out for 20 minutes or so and decompress mentally. I actually find that if I am using a different phone (which I do a lot), I will still use the OnePlus 10T to use this app.

The Games mode and app are useful to have all your gaming settings in one place and this, in turn, allows you to control the Hyperboost gaming Engine to take full advantage of the processor power and the GPU. 

It also allows you to have a constant ticker of your performance if that is the sort of thing that is important to you in gaming. You can also set up screen recording from this menu as well. I have not pushed the gaming on this phone as I am not really a big mobile gamer but I like knowing that I can play games with very high performance if I wanted too!

That pretty much closes the software of the phone for me.

Pricing

So the OnePlus 10t comes in two flavours to the UK. they vary in terms of Storage/RAM and colour so nice and simple. If you want the Moonstone Black version then you will get 8 GB RAM + 128 GB Storage for £629 from Oneplus. If you go with the colour of my unit here then you would be choosing Jade green and getting 12GB RAM + 256GB Storage for £729. if you have an older phone that you are willing to get rid of then you can also get a £100 trade-in bonus. I priced up my Pixel 6Pro 128GB and i was offered £400 trade-in value Which isn’t too shabby, however, unlike some other offerings, this value is not deducted from the purchase price and will only be credited to you after the trade-in has gone through, please read through the trade in FAQ’s before going ahead with this option.

Conclusion

So at the top of this review, I stated that the Oneplus 10T doesn’t quite fit into the market anywhere in particular and some of my fellow reviewers have been struggling to find where it fits. i think I can now give you my thoughts and I have a space for where I think this phone sits in the OnePlus stable. 

Firstly who is this phone for, I think this is a phone for those who want the raw performance of a Flagship spec chip, memory and storage but don’t have or want to spend extra on things that may be superfluous to what they need, in this a high-end camera. I  can see this being a phone that gamers would be more than happy with as it gives enough in terms of the gaming performance whilst being good in other aspects of what that sector wants. This is not a phone for the camera aficionados but that is fine as that is where the OnePlus 10 Pro 5G sits in the lineup. I think the segment that will really appreciate this phone will be those of us who are a bit too old for being wannabe social influencers but still want to have fun with their phone and demand the best in terms of the hardware that counts to them. ironically enough this is actually the segment i see that i could potentially fit into if i was actually buying the phone!

I do think that OnePlus did however make one big mistake when they launched this phone. it should not have been called the OnePlus 10T. As I mentioned at the top of the review the T has been traditionally been used as a moniker for the mid-season refresh of the existing lineup that was launched earlier that year. This phone falls into a different slot for me it falls into the space between the Oneplus flagship lineup and the excellent Nord range of phones. in that respect, I feel that this phone should have been called the OnePlus Nord 2 Pro. If that had been the case then I honestly think there would not have been as much disdain from the industry as a whole and people would have been able to see what Oneplus had been trying to do with the phone. By calling it the OnePlus 10T the industry was expecting this to be an evolution of what had come before in the form of the OnePlus 10Pro 5G which is not what this phone is about.

i will leave you to ponder this thought and on that bombshell, I will see you on the next one which is coming soon.

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