Samsung Galaxy A23 5G Review

admin February 02, 2023 Edit

Introduction

The smartphones from the Galaxy A series have been known for their 4G/5G segmentation. We thought 2022 would bring the end of this, and indeed it was for the A33, the A53 and the A73. The entry-level Galaxy A13 and Galaxy A23, though, are still subjected to this treatment, and today we will be reviewing the 5G version of the Samsung Galaxy A23.

The Galaxy A23 5G is the same smartphone as its LTE counterpart, something that's not often the case with these versions. Samsung has used the Snapdragon 695 5G chipset instead of the Snapdragon 680, which in addition to the 5G modem, has allowed the GPU to draw the interface with up to 120fps for some extra smooth action on the 6.6-inch PLS LCD 1080p screen.

We appreciate the 120Hz upgrade as it can make things feel smoother, especially with the new One UI 5 (with Android 13) update that's already available on this phone. The panel still has the same old-school droplet-shaped notch, which may seem dated but is not a huge blunder in our books.

The phone shares an identical no-nonsense design with the rest of the Galaxy A phones with a flat Gorilla Glass front, a plastic frame and a matte plastic back that's reminiscent of the high-end Galaxy S22 series. There is no water protection on the Galaxy A23 5G model, something that's reserved for the AMOLED-packing Galaxy A33 and upwards.

Even though the Galaxy A23 5G is aimed at the entry-level market, we appreciate its camera gear - it has four cameras on its back, starting with a 50MP OIS primary, then come a 5MP ultrawide, a 2MP macro camera and finally, there is a 2MP depth sensor. The 8MP selfie camera is a rather basic piece of kit, though.

Other notable specs are the tri-card slot with a microSD tray, the 3.5mm audio jack, NFC, and the large 5,000 mAh with 25W wired charging support.

Samsung Galaxy A23 5G specs at a glance:

Body: 165.4x76.9x8.4mm, 197g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass 5), plastic frame, plastic back.
Display: 6.60" PLS LCD, 120Hz, 1080x2408px resolution, 20.07:9 aspect ratio, 400ppi.
Chipset: Qualcomm SM6375 Snapdragon 695 5G (6 nm): Octa-core (2x2.2 GHz Kryo 660 Gold & 6x1.7 GHz Kryo 660 Silver); Adreno 619.
Memory: 64GB 4GB RAM, 64GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 4GB RAM, 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM; microSDXC (dedicated slot).
OS/Software: Android 12, One UI 4, Android 13 with One UI 5 update now live.
Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 5 MP, f/2.2, 123˚, 1/5", 1.12µm; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4; Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4.
Front camera: Wide (main): 8 MP, f/2.0 - USA; Wide (main): 8 MP, f/2.2 - International.
Video capture: Rear camera: 1080p@30fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
Battery: 5000mAh; 25W wired.
Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); NFC; 3.5mm jack; Virtual proximity sensing.

The most notable omissions, if you've followed the recent Galaxy A phones, that is, are the OLED panel and the ingress protection. There are some other odd bits, too - the virtual proximity sensing remains as controversial as ever, and the lack of a real ambient light sensor is baffling. On top of that, there is no charger in the box.

Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy A23 5G

The Samsung Galaxy A23 5G ships in a small paper box, which contains the phone itself and a white USB-C cable. That's it.

There is no charger, or screen protector, or headphones.

Motorola Moto G72 Review

admin February 02, 2023 Edit

Introduction

"For a high resolution display smartphone and best sound quality phone, choose Moto G72", Motorola's European landing page reads, while in India, you would be getting one "for all the colors of your life".

Indeed, the Moto G72's display is one of its key selling points - a 6.6" 120Hz OLED with support for a billion colors, and it's 1080p, hence the 'high resolution'. As for sound, you do get stereo speakers, a headphone jack, and an FM radio, so there's potential on that front too.

There's one standout number in the spec sheet, and that's in the weight field - at just 166g, the Moto G72 is remarkably light, and that's while still packing a 5,000mAh battery. Motorola promises over 2 days of battery life (according to their lab tests), and we can see that being true, particularly with the relatively unassuming Mediatek Helio G99 chipset, which is missing 5G capability.

In the camera department, we're looking at a 2+1 rear setup with a 108MP headliner, 8MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro, while selfies are taken care of by a 16MP punch hole unit - a solid midrange configuration by the looks of it. What you'll be missing is 4K video recording, but that's been the new normal lately in these budget-conscious devices.

Motorola Moto G72 specs at a glance:

Body: 160.5x74.4x7.9mm, 166g; water-repellent design.
Display: 6.6" P-OLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 410ppi.
Chipset: MediaTek MT8781 Helio G99 (6nm): Octa-core (2x2.2 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G57 MC2.
Memory: 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM; microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot).
OS/Software: Android 12, planned upgrade to Android 13.
Rear camera: Wide (main): 108 MP, f/1.7, 0.64µm, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 118˚, 1.12µm; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4.
Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.5, (wide), 1.0µm.
Video capture: Rear camera: 1080p@30/60fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
Battery: 5000mAh; 33W wired.
Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC; FM radio; 3.5mm jack; stereo speakers.

Motorola Moto G72 unboxing

The Moto G72 ships in the same navy box as all recent G-series Motos - the recycled brown boxes are reserved for the Edge series. The contents are more or less standard.

The phone arrives already in a transparent soft silicone case - hardly fancy, but functional nonetheless. Underneath, you'll find the 33W TurboPower adapter and a USB-A-to-C cable for charging and data transfer.

Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Gen 2 hands-on Review

admin February 02, 2023 Edit

Introduction

The Tab P11 Pro Gen 2 is the sequel to the 2020 flagship tablet from Lenovo. The Gen 2 is a bit of a mixed bag, as it upgrades a few features over the previous model but then also leaves several others on the chopping board.

For starters, the Gen 2 has a newer and faster MediaTek Kompanio 1300T chipset that replaces the previous Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G, a 120Hz display, and you can now configure the memory up to 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. On the other hand, the new model has plastic construction instead of aluminum, lacks the ultra-wide camera on the back and the fingerprint sensor, has a battery that's 400mAh smaller, and a display that's also a tiny bit smaller with a slightly lower resolution.

Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Gen 2 specs at a glance:

Body: 263.7x166.7x6.8mm, 480g; Glass front, plastic back, plastic frame; Stylus support (magnetic).
Display: 11.20" OLED, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, 120Hz, 420 nits (typ), 600 nits (peak), 1536x2560px resolution, 15:9 aspect ratio, 267ppi.
Chipset: MediaTek Kompanio 1300T (6 nm): Octa-core (4x2.6 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G77 MC9.
Memory: 128GB 4GB RAM, 128GB 6GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM; UFS 3.1; microSDXC (dedicated slot).
OS/Software: Android 12.
Rear camera: 13 MP, f/2.4, (wide), AF.
Front camera: 8 MP.
Video capture: Rear camera: 1080p@30fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
Battery: 8200mAh; 20W wired, QC3.
Misc: Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass; stereo speakers (4 speakers).

The model we have for review today is the top-of-the-line model with 8/256GB memory and comes with the 2-in-1 keyboard and Precision Pen 3 stylus in the box. This promises to turn the Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Gen 2 into a full-fledged work machine on the go.

Let's see how it performs.

Asus Zenfone 9 long-term Review

admin February 02, 2023 Edit

Introduction

Small smartphones are weird. And not just intrinsically - if the screen is the main point of interaction with the device, why would you want less of it? But also because everyone on the Internet (and especially on YouTube) seems to love them, and yet - sales numbers for the petite handsets out there generally vary from unimpressive at best to downright catastrophic. Just ask Apple about the iPhone 13 mini, see how that conversation goes.

The small smartphone should, in theory, at least make sense for people with small hands. But, anecdotally speaking, most of those people we've encountered still have 'regular' size devices, at the cost of struggling to use them one-handed, if that's even possible at all.

This is the setting in which Asus threw the Zenfone 9 in the game last year. It's one of the smallest smartphones launched in 2022, along with Samsung's similarly sized Galaxy S22, and its size is definitely trying to be one of its main selling points - that's why we're going on about it so much. But it's not just a small smartphone, it's a small flagship smartphone, and again, while it's not alone in that regard, this field is definitely anything but crowded.

On paper, it's every small smartphone lover's dream. The diminutive size comes with no compromises in performance, and while there's one less camera on offer than you might expect, the specs for the ones that are there seem solid too. Ditto the battery capacity for the size.

Things that sound great on paper don't always adequately translate that greatness into real life, so we were curious to see what the case would be for the Zenfone 9. Away from our labs, in the real world, how would it do as our one and only smartphone, used for an extended period of time? Let's find out together in the forthcoming pages of this long-term review.

Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro Review

admin February 02, 2023 Edit

Introduction

Staying on top of things in the gaming space is no easy task. You have to keep consistently churning out new models with the latest hardware to remain relevant. Hence why the new nubia Red Magic 8 Pro is coming out just five or so months after the Red Magic 7S Pro. Expectedly, the new model packs the latest and greatest chipset Qualcomm has to offer - the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. But there is more to it than a simple hardware refresh.

The Red Magic 8 Pro has a new boxy design, a new Red Magic logo and improvements in a few key areas, like the display, which is now higher resolution and brighter and a bigger 6,000 mAh battery.

ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro specs at a glance:

Body: 164.0x76.4x8.9mm, 228g; Glass front, glass back, aluminum frame; Pressure sensitive zones (520Hz touch-sensing), Built-in cooling fan, Aviation aluminum middle frame.
Display: 6.80" AMOLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, 1300 nits (peak), 1116x2480px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 400ppi.
Chipset: Qualcomm SM8550 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4 nm): Octa-core (1x3.2 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3x2.0 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 4.0.
OS/Software: Android 13, Redmagic OS 6.
Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 1/1.57", 1.0µm, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 120-degree, 13mm, 1/4.0", 1.12µm; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4.
Front camera: 16 MP, (wide), under display.
Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@30fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps; Front camera: 1080p@30/60fps.
Battery: 6000mAh; 65W wired, PD3.0, 100% in 35 min (advertised).
Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); 3.5mm jack; stereo speakers.

Everything about the Red Magic 8 Pro is designed around a single purpose - gaming. From the revised internal cooling system to the dedicated Red Core 2 gaming chip that is meant to handle certain functions and offload them from the main chipset.

Before we get into any of that, however, we need to clarify a few things regarding the Red Magic 8 lineup. As of writing this review, there are two Red Magic 8 models in existence - the Red Magic 8 Pro and the Pro+. The main difference between the two relates to battery and charging.

The top-of-the-line Pro+ model gets a blistering 165W peak charge rate and a smaller 5,000 mAh battery to accommodate it. It is the only variant available with a transparent back cover and RGB lights on the internal fan, up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. However, the Pro+ is unlikely to be released outside China.

The Red Magic 8 Pro, which we have for review, gets a 6,000 mAh battery and a matte black finish on the back. Its charging is limited to an 80W peak on the Chinese model and a 65W peak on the international one. The unit we have for review is a matte black, 12GB, plus 256GB, 6,000 mAh and 65W charging international one.

With all that cleared up, let's start by taking a look at the phone's retail package.

Unboxing

The nubia Red Magic 8 Pro ships in your standard two-piece cardboard box. It is thick, sturdy, and has a metallic finish with nice silver accents. We really like the geometric shapes and the overall colorway. The inside of the box is splattered with all sorts of "gamer-y" graphics and drawings.

In terms of accessories, our unit came with a very compact 65W PD+PPS USB Type-C GaN charger in the box along with a thick, red Type-C to Type-C cable.

Also in the box is a transparent hard snap-on case for the phone. The case doesn't really cover most of the device's sides but is still appreciated as an add-in bonus.