The Nintendo Switch is now over three years old and rumors of a Nintendo Switch 2 are still few and far between. So, it looks like we’re going to be sticking with the original Switch and Switch Lite for the foreseeable future.
The Switch has been praised for years for its portability, seamless ability to switch (ha!) between handheld and the TV, and its wide selection of games. This device isn’t perfect, though. Joy-Con drift is a real problem (the Nintendo president recently apologized), battery life is pretty short, and lots of people are dealing with their Joy-Cons disconnecting at random times. For many, the Switch 2 can’t come soon enough.
What are your thoughts on the Nintendo Switch in 2020? Are you still loving it? Hating it? Can’t wait for the Switch 2? Cast your vote in the poll and be sure to speak up in the comments with your thoughts.
My colleagues at Android Authority have been toiling away in the lab and behind the scenes seeking to bring you a guide to the best Android phones of 2020, in a mid-year review.
Previously a once-a-year-winners list, the new mid-year guide looks at all phones released in 2020 thus far, by “removing any uncertainty by subjecting the best smartphones of today to a battery of unique tests that can definitively separate the real deal from the hype machine.”
And there’s more to the story this time around:
By now, most people understand that the overall experience they get from their phone is more than megapixel count, battery size, or how fast it charges.
In 2020, we all know that phones are better than ever, but the intangibles around value, software stability, after-sales service, mainstream availability, are equally important. If you can’t buy it, it’s not much good sitting on the top step of a podium.
And this time around, the data results haven’t been framed by third-party benchmarking tools, which can lead to clever tricks or cheating by maker. Instead, all of the performance and battery data used in Best of Android: Mid-2020 has been sourced from a custom version of Speed Test G, cooked up by Gary Sims himself.
The details cover lots of ground, offering a look at all key aspects of a phone. Here’s how it’ll shake out:
Monday: Best of Android: Mid-2020 — Display (later today)
Tuesday: Best of Android: Mid-2020 — Battery
Wednesday: Best of Android: Mid-2020 — Performance
Thursday: Best of Android: Mid-2020 — Camera
Friday: Best of Android: Mid-2020 — Value
Saturday: Best of Android: Mid-2020 overall winner (Editor’s Choice)
Sunday: Voting starts for the Best of Android: Mid-2020 Reader’s Choice winner.
Sunday’s Audio award went to the LG V60 (above), thanks to its headphone jack and 32-bit Quad DAC which impressively powers just about any headphones you might have, all the way to low impedance headphones.
Without getting too far into audiophile territory, with improving support for better codecs, aptX, HD/LDAC support, and even FLAC decoding, surprisingly decent audio quality is becoming more common.
The overall takeout: audio quality is better than it ever has been for most smartphones.
Display tests for clarity, color accuracy, gamma, and quality revealed that OLED devices still rule the roost, with not a single LCD in the top-ranks.
Top three? The OnePlus 8 Pro, 2020 Galaxy S20, S20 Plus, and S20 Ultra flagships, and the Huawei P40 the top three.
2. Somehow, 125W charging is coming this week. The idea is you’ll be able to get to 100% charge in 15 minutes, which is crazy. Very interested in how the battery chemistry can handle the heat generated, and how this affects the overall lifespan (Android Authority). Also, there’s a demonstration of 120W charging from iQoo (beware the audio is super loud).
4. Lenovo Yoga X: an Android tablet that can also be a second screen? (Android Authority).
5. One of the shocks on Friday was that Amazon had banned TikTok from phones accessing Amazon email accounts for security reasons. Within hours, though, Amazon issued a retraction and said the whole thing was in error. I’ve talked to a bunch of people who only saw the original headline and assumed it’s still true. Which it isn’t. For now. (The Verge).
The DGiT Daily delivers a daily email that keeps you ahead of the curve for all tech news, opinions, and links to what’s going down in the planet’s most important field. You get all the context and insight you need, and all with a touch of fun. Plus! Rotating daily fun for each day of the week, like Wednesday Weirdness. Join in!
You have to hand it to Huawei. While geopolitical wrangling continues to plague its fortunes, the Chinese giant has pressed ahead and continued to launch new phones with barely a break in its stride.
That implacable attitude has also carried over to its sub-brand, Honor. The latest phone(s) to emerge from the youth-orientated company is the Honor 30 series.
In this review, we’ll be casting our critical eye over the Honor 30 Pro Plus — an impressively spec’d phone that sees Honor’s portfolio edging closer than ever to Huawei’s own premium offerings.
Can it overcome all the challenges in front of it and emerge as a legitimate sub-flagship-level player?
Find out in Android Authority‘s Honor 30 Pro Plus review.
About this review: I used the Honor 30 Pro Plus on the O2 network in the UK as my main phone for a week. The device was running Magic 3.1.0 based on Android 10 with the build number 3.1.0.160. The Honor 30 Pro Plus review unit was provided to Android Authority by Honor.
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Honor 30 Pro Plus review: The big picture
Credit: Oliver Cragg / Android Authority
The Honor 30 Pro Plus is the top model in the latest N series evolution. 2019’s Honor 20 line expanded to two phones, but this time around we’ve got the vanilla Honor 30, the Honor 30 Pro, and the all-new Honor 30 Pro Plus. If that naming scheme sounds familiar, it’s because it perfectly mirrors the Huawei P40 trio — the first of many comparisons that can be drawn between the two series.
While Honor has continued to release phones in spite of the Huawei-US trade ban, it’s done so on a much narrower scope than its parent company. Affordable devices like the Honor 9X Pro have enjoyed a broader release across Europe and in the UK, but the brand’s de facto flagship, the Honor View 30 series, never officially made it out of China or Russia.
That’s the same deal with the Honor 30 family, which makes it a little tricky to accurately price the Honor 30 Pro Plus. It retails at 4,999 yuan and 54,990 rubles in China and Russia, respectively, which puts the phone at around $ 800 mark, or ~€700 in Europe.
There’s some tough competition in that price range from the likes of Xiaomi, OnePlus, and Realme. Can the Honor 30 Pro Plus compete?
4,000mAh 40W fast charging 27W fast wireless charging 5W reverse wireless charging
4,000mAh 40W fast charging 5W reverse wireless charging
4,000mAh 40W fast charging 5W reverse wireless charging
IP Rating
IP54
IP54
No
Headphone jack
No
No
No
Software
Magic UI 3 Android 10
Magic UI 3 Android 10
Magic UI 3 Android 10
Dimensions and weight
160.3 x 73.6 x 8.4mm 190g
160.3 x 73.6 x 8.4mm 186g
160.3 x 74.2 x 8.1mm 185g
Honor 30 Pro Plus vs Honor 30 Pro vs Honor 30: What’s the difference?
Before we get to the Pro Plus, let’s quickly run through the differences between the three Honor 30 phones.
As you can see from the specs table in the section above, the Honor 30 Pro Plus and Honor 30 Pro are fundamentally the same. You do get some enticing extras with the Plus variant like the 90Hz refresh rate display, 27W wireless charging, and more storage as standard.
Credit: Oliver Cragg / Android Authority
The standard Honor 30 is the outlier with its less powerful processor, flat display (vs the waterfall design), and lack of an IP54 rating.
All three phones differ in the camera department. Each uses Huawei’s patented RYYB color setup for the main camera, but the Pro Plus bumps the megapixels from 40MP to 50MP. The standard model drops the ultra-wide lens to 8MP instead of 16MP, but does gain a 2MP macro camera.
All of the phones are also 5G ready (non-standalone/standalone), but do not support mmWave.
What’s the Honor 30 Pro Plus like to use?
In many ways, the Honor 30 Pro Plus is a cheaper facsimile of the Huawei P40 Pro. That includes the overall design language, which is a near-perfect mirror of Huawei’s flagship.
Credit: Oliver Cragg / Android Authority
I say near-perfect because of the branding. I don’t mind a little bit of flair or subtle logos on the rear of a phone, but the enormous, all caps Honor name plastered on the back of the Honor 30 Pro Plus is an obscenity.
If you can look past that massive eyesore, the phone’s frosted glass gives off a soft blue/purple glow that is really pleasant on the eye and, ironically considering the unforgivable logo situation, far less gaudy than many recent China imports.
I should note that this branding monstrosity is only a problem with the Titanium Silver model and not the Midnight Black colorway, which also has a bling-tastic gold accent around the camera bump.
The enormous logo on the back of the Honor 30 Pro Plus is obscene.
One significant change from the Honor 20 series is the move to an in-display fingerprint sensor instead of a side-mounted reader. However, my success rate for unlocking the phone first time was much lower. Software-based face unlock is also available as an alternative.
What is a welcome upgrade is the display… mostly. The Full HD+ AMOLED panel pops with color, gets plenty bright, and like all Huawei/Honor phones, can be tweaked to the nth degree in Settings. It’s also a 90Hz panel which made zipping around the phone’s UI fluid and responsive.
The waterfall display, however, is an acquired taste — a taste I and many others don’t share. The way it flows into the delicate rear curve isn’t as severe as, say, the Mate 30 Pro, and I didn’t encounter any ghost touch issues, but it’s still impractical. There was also a slight yellow color shift towards the very edge.
I’m also not all that keen on the extra-wide punch-hole, though fans of wide-angle selfies may be happier to take the hit in screen real estate for that second front-facing shooter.
What’s the performance and battery life like?
The Honor 30 Pro Plus packs the same Kirin 990 SoC found in every Huawei flagship since the Mate 30 series debuted. Accompanied by 8GB of RAM, it should be no surprise that Honor’s affordable flagship rarely ever falters in the performance stakes.
Those times it does fall behind other top-end chipsets are during gaming. The Mali GPU still lags behind the competition for playing intensive 3D games, but it’s a negligible hit.
The HiSilicon chipset is also known for its power efficiency. Paired with a 4,000mAh cell (and support for 40W fast charging), you’d expect at least all-day battery life and the Honor 30 Pro Plus doesn’t disappoint. I was averaging around seven hours of screen on time and could easily get through a day and a half without a recharge. That’s with the 90Hz refresh rate on all the time. Impressive.
Does the Honor 30 Pro Plus have Google apps and services?
Credit: Oliver Cragg / Android Authority
No, the Honor 30 Pro Plus does not offer native support for Google apps and services.
Like every other new Honor and Huawei phone — that isn’t a revised version of an older model — the entire Honor 30 series is based on an AOSP build of Android and does not officially support the Google Play Store, Google apps, or Google Play Services. That doesn’t mean you can’t get all three working with some tinkering, but you’ll have to plod through workarounds and endure varying levels of hassle to do so.
Instead, Huawei has its own app store called App Gallery and its own core services (HMS). Check out our App Gallery deep dive here for more on what to expect, but the bottom line is that a vast majority of apps you likely use every day are not available via Huawei’s storefront.
Credit: Oliver Cragg / Android Authority
While that might sound annoying (and it is), Huawei has clearly been working hard to improve the app situation despite the heavy restrictions forced upon it. Phone Clone is a handy app that lets you copy over almost every app from another Android device, while the Petal Search app (pictured above) will scour trusted APK sites to find apps from third-party sources. Both are available on the App Gallery.
Editor’s Pick
Huawei’s Play Store alternative has gotten better, but it’s the apps that count
If you’re looking to purchase any of the new Huawei P40 series, you’ll have to get comfortable using Huawei’s App Gallery rather than the Google Play Store. All thanks to the US trade ban. In …
Unfortunately, for all of Huawei’s commendable work, some apps obtained outside of the App Gallery either won’t work or will suffer from reduced functionality due to the lacking Google services. As an example, Netflix will only play in sub-HD quality and Uber can’t function at all due to the missing location API.
How are the cameras?
Credit: Oliver Cragg / Android Authority
The Honor 30 Pro Plus has a triple camera setup that pairs a RYYB primary shooter with an ultra-wide camera and a periscope telephoto lens with OIS that supports 5x optical zoom, 10x hybrid zoom, and up to 50x digital zoom.
The main camera is identical to the one found on the P40 Pro and P40 Pro Plus — a massive 1/1.28-inch sensor that uses Huawei’s unique RYYB color filter configuration. That’s some serious pedigree and the results are almost uniformly spectacular. Photos offer excellent levels of detail, impressive color accuracy, wide dynamic range, and solid exposure.
Low-light performance is also fantastic. There’s a night mode in the camera app, but the regular shooting mode actually does a better job at limiting noise — just check out the comparison below.
Honor 30 Pro Plus — Night ModeHonor 30 Pro Plus — Standard
The telephoto periscope camera is a slight downgrade from the P40 Pro, but still punches above its weight at the phone’s price point. This is especially true for any shots at 5x optical zoom where slight oversharpening issues are only really noticeable when cropping in. 10x hybrid zoom images are still decent enough, though anything beyond that turns into mush.
Standard
x5 zoom
x10 zoom
x50 zoom
The ultra-wide camera has a few stumbles with color accuracy and the field-of-view isn’t quite as wide as some premium alternatives, but it still delivers crisp, dynamic images.
The Honor 30 Pro Plus has two front-facing cameras. Once you’ve turned the aggressive beauty mode off the standard and wide-angle selfie cameras both produce some great shots, though you lose some detail using the latter.
Standard
Wide
Video capture is solid, with support for up to 4K 60fps and impressive stabilization. Slo-mo capture at up to a ridiculous 1920fps is also good fun, though this is only available at 720p.
For full resolution sample photos from the Honor 30 Pro Plus camera check out the Drive folder here.
IR blaster — An increasingly rare feature on modern smartphones, but always a welcome one for those that are prone to losing remote controls.
IP rating — A first for an Honor phone, the Honor 30 Pro Plus has been officially rated for protection against splashes of water.
Future-proofed — The Honor 30 Pro Plus supports 5G (Cat6) and Wi-Fi 6. Neither are particularly widespread right now, but it’s always good to know your phone won’t be obsolete with a year.
Dual speakers — The Honor 30 Pro Plus has a bottom-firing speaker but offers stereo audio via a secondary speaker in the earpiece. The sound is surprisingly rich even at high volumes.
What’s not so good about the Honor 30 Pro Plus?
Expensive expandable storage — While it’s great to have the option of expandable storage, Huawei’s proprietary Nano Memory cards are near double the price of a regular MicroSD card.
Magic UI — Honor’s take on Huawei’s EMUI platform suffers from the same information overload issues as its sister skin. Too many redundant stock apps, the odd bit of bloatware, and menus overflowing with options, many of which you’ll never use.
Honor 30 Pro Plus review: Should you buy it?
Credit: Oliver Cragg / Android Authority
The more appropriate question is can you actually buy it, and the answer is: it’s complicated. An Honor spokesperson confirmed the brand currently has no plans to bring the Honor 30 Pro Plus, or any of the Honor 30 series for that matter, to markets outside of China and Russia.
While you can import the phone from online retailers like Giztop, that’ll get you the Chinese model which is — as was the case with the model I reviewed — overloaded with regional bloatware and a handful features that don’t have English language options.
The Honor 30 Pro Plus is Honor’s best phone to date, but ultimately it’s as tricky to recommend as it is to actually buy.
That’s a shame, because for all the things going against the Honor 30 Pro Plus, it’s the kind of niche appeal phone that would be perfect for the right kind of buyer. It feels churlish to call the Honor 30 Pro Plus a “cheap P40 Pro,” but for all intents and purposes that’s what it is — a mildly downgraded, far more affordable version of the ultimate camera phone.
In fact, the Honor 30 Pro Plus actually represents a much better deal than the €799 vanilla P40, which has an inferior camera setup, reduced charging options, and is missing a high refresh rate display.
Even putting the oddly restrictive availability situation to one side, the Honor 30 Pro Plus suffers from another glaring problem. No, not that hideous, ginormous logo on the back — I’m talking, of course, about the lack of Google services. No number of helpful workarounds can remedy the fact that Honor’s phone is at an immediate handicap against other recent non-Huawei/Honor devices.
Credit: Oliver Cragg / Android Authority
There’s also the question of pricing. The upcoming Google Pixel 4a may challenge the Honor P30 Pro Plus for point-and-shoot photography, but it’d be a struggle to find any phone at the €600-€700 price point that can go toe-to-toe with Honor’s latest as a complete camera package.
If photography isn’t at the top of your wishlist, however, there are no shortage of similarly priced and in some cases even cheaper phones from rival Chinese brands that offer a better all-round package.
Update, July 9, 2020 (10:45 AM ET): Today, Xiaomi issued the above teaser image (h/t Fone Arena) that pretty much confirms the Redmi Note 9 is coming to India. The country already saw the Pro and Pro Max variants of this device, but now there will be a cheaper option.
Unfortunately, Xiaomi doesn’t give any specific details on when the Redmi Note 9 will land in the country, just saying it’s “coming soon.” However, the teaser image above does appear to confirm it will land on Amazon when it does. We’ll update this article once we are certain of the launch date!
Original article: April 20, 2020 (03:41 AM ET): Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 9 Pro and Note 9 Pro Max in India last month, offering capable budget phones for the price. Now, the firm has launched the Note 9 series in Europe.
Unfortunately, the Note 9 Pro Max hasn’t made its way outside India, but European consumers do get the Note 9 Pro and the vanilla Note 9.
Redmi Note 9 series: The info you need
The Redmi Note 9 Pro offers a Snapdragon 720G chipset, 4GB to 6GB of RAM, 64GB to 128GB of expandable storage, and a 5,020mAh battery with 30W charging. You’re also getting a 6.67-inch FHD+ LCD screen, a quad camera setup (48MP+8MP ultra-wide+5MP macro+2MP depth), a 16MP camera in a punch-hole cutout, and a side-mounted fingerprint scanner.
The vanilla Note 9 is an all-new device though, featuring a MediaTek Helio G85 SoC, 3GB to 4GB of RAM, 64GB to 128GB of storage, and a 5,020mAh battery with 18W charging. Other notable details include a 6.53-inch FHD+ LCD screen, a quad rear camera setup (48MP+8MP+2MP+2MP), a 13MP camera in a punch-hole cutout, and a rear fingerprint scanner.
These devices also share a number of features, including NFC (depending on the market), an IR blaster, 3.5mm port, and dual-SIM connectivity.
Editor’s Pick
Xiaomi Mi Band 4 review: Still the best cheap fitness tracker you can buy
Update: May 27, 2020: We have updated our Xiaomi Mi Band 4 review with new pricing details, software information, and more. If you’re reading this Xiaomi Mi Band 4 review, there’s a good chance you’ve either …
The Redmi Note 9 Pro has a recommended price of $ 269 for the 6GB/64GB model and $ 299 for the 6GB/128GB variant. The regular Note 9 has a recommended price of $ 199 for the 3GB/64GB option and $ 249 for the 4GB/128GB model.
In the UK, we have some more specific pricing. The Note 9 starts at £179 (~$ 225) for the 3GB/64GB model and £199 (~$ 250) for the 4GB/128GB option. Meanwhile, the Redmi Note 9 Pro will set you back £249 (~$ 313) for the 6GB/64GB option and £269 (~$ 338) for the 6GB/128GB variant. As stated earlier, the Note 9 Pro Max is still only in India.
We’re glad to see the Redmi Note 9 series see a wider launch, coming over a month after they first launched. You can check out more Xiaomi-related articles via the list below:
Alpha, Leica, and Zeiss are big names from the professional photography market that have each lent their reputation to a small selection of high-profile smartphones. Some of the most recent include the Alpha- and Zeiss-branded Sony Xperia 1 II and the Leica-branded Huawei P40 Pro. With these key partnerships in place, expectations are high for these smartphone cameras.
We’ve already taken the Sony Xperia 1 II out for a spin against the Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus. But can Sony’s flagship hold its own against arguably the best smartphone camera around, the Huawei P40 Pro?
The Huawei P40 Pro and Sony Xperia 1 II serve up the classic main, wide-angle, and zoom camera combination, paired up with a dedicated depth sensor for improved bokeh blur. However, there are some key differences between these two packages that have a noticeable impact on image quality.
Most obviously is the Huawei P40 Pro’s large 50 megapixel (binned to 12.5MP) 1/1.28-inch main sensor, wide f/1.9 aperture, and RYYB (rather than RGGB) pixel configuration for vastly improved light capture versus the Xperia 1 II’s setup. At 1/1.7-inches the Xperia’s main sensor isn’t small, but it’s not large by modern standards. On paper, Huawei appears to have a big lead in the main sensor department.
It’s a similar situation with the wide and zoom camera, with Huawei touting the more accomplished spec sheet. It has a larger wide-angle sensor and telephoto zoom lens setup, allowing its range to extend up to 5x. The Xperia 1 II offers a 3x optical lens for a good level of zoom, and should capture a fair amount of light, too. But overall, Sony’s flagship clearly has its work cut out for it to surpass one of the industry’s photography giants.
Sony Xperia 1 II vs Huawei P40 Pro camera: Samples
Both phones are capable of taking great pictures, but the issues I noted with the Xperia 1 II vs Galaxy S20 Plus are also noticeable in comparison to the Huawei P40 Pro. Sony’s flagship regularly struggles with a lack of decent HDR, leading to overexposed highlights and lack of detail in shadows. As a result, colors can also look a little washed out or underdeveloped with the Xperia. The P40 Pro has no such problem, giving it a quick lead as the more consistent shooter.
There’s also a noticeable difference in the level of detail captured by the two cameras. Sony’s 12MP main camera captures plenty of detail with minimal noise, although images are a tad overly sharp compared to Huawei’s. But the Huawei P40 Pro’s 12.5MP pixel-binned snaps take mobile photography up another level. Huawei’s main sensor results are absent of sharpening and obvious signs of image cleanup, thanks to its BM3D noise reduction technology and large image sensor. Fine details are preserved, and its results are some of the softest, most natural looking of any smartphone camera, although you have to pixel-peep to see it.
Huawei P40 Pro – 100% cropSony Xperia 1 II – 100% crop
Huawei P40 Pro – 100% cropSony Xperia 1 II – 100% crop
The Xperia 1 II’s issues with exposure and HDR can be frustrating.
The two phones are more similar when it comes to color. The two target a realistic color space with minimal oversaturation and good white balance, although both phones occasionally produce an overly warm tint, so they aren’t perfect. The Huawei P40 Pro’s colors tend to look a tad more saturated, particularly in the green and reds. But this is likely down to its superior dynamic range rather than overly heavy color processing.
Huawei P40 ProSony Xperia 1 II
Huawei P40 ProSony Xperia 1 II
Overall, both cameras are capable of great-looking pictures. However, the Huawei P40 Pro is the more consistent in terms of quality and holds up the best when pixel peeping.
The Sony Xperia 1 II finally includes a long-exposure night mode for capturing images in low light, so we can take the camera for a spin in the dark. However, the Huawei P40 Pro is capable of taking good looking night shots without the need for the long-exposure Night mode. This is the best way to shoot in low light with the P40, as otherwise images often come out blurry.
Low-light photography continues to be the toughest task for smartphone cameras and both phones have their strengths and weaknesses. Generally speaking, the P40 Pro’s images come out brighter and sharper, but it’s not immune to lack of detail and washed out colors. Sadly, the Huawei P40 Pro’s low-light shots appear heavily processed, which can ruin the appearance of some pictures when cropping in.
Huawei P40 ProSony Xperia 1 II
Huawei P40 Pro – 100% cropSony Xperia 1 II – 100% crop
Sony’s low light results are passable, overall, and particularly good when it comes to color retention and yellow light correction. The Xperia 1 II is also much lighter on the post-processing, resulting in some grain and extra noise. But this can provide superior detail retention in some situations versus the Huawei P40 Pro. Despite these strengths, the Xperia relies a little too heavily on very long exposures and too many of my low-light pictures came out blurry.
Thanks to its 5x periscope lens, the Huawei P40 Pro is capable of taking longer range pictures than the 3x optical camera on the Xperia 1 II. Huawei’s maximum zoom image quality is also superior with regards to color, detail, and exposure. However, cropping in to 100% and comparing both phones at 3x makes for a more interesting comparison, as this pits Huawei’s hybrid solution against Sony’s optical sensor.
Huawei’s hybrid technology shows telltale signs of heavy-handed processing and image cleanup, as is typical of hybrid approaches. However, the company’s software extracts roughly equivalent and sometimes finer detail at 3x than the Xperia 1 II’s optical lens. Sony’s zoom images look quite clean but lack the dynamic range and sharpness of the P40 Pro’s images when you crop in. However, Sony’s optical lens seems to perform better than Huawei’s hybrid approach in less ideal lighting conditions. Ultimately, zoom quality varies quite a bit on a shot by shot basis.
Huawei P40 Pro – 5x zoomSony Xperia 1 II – 3x zoom
Huawei P40 Pro – 3x 100%Sony Xperia 1 II – 3x 100%
Huawei’s 3x hybrid zoom can extract comparable or superior detail to Sony’s 3x optical lens
The two phones’ wide-angle cameras are a little less impressive. Sony’s implementation suffers from the same exposure issues as it’s main and zoom sensors. There’s also notable lens distortion, chromatic aberration, and a distinct lack of focus and detail. The Huawei P40 Pro’s wide-angle lens offers far superior detail and colors. It would be an excellent shooting option if only the lens was a little wider, as it is narrower than the competition. The P40 Pro also outputs its wide images in a 16:9 ratio, which attempts to make the pictures look wider but leaves you with less image data overall.
Huawei P40 Pro – wideSony Xperia 1 II – wide
Huawei P40 Pro – bokehSony Xperia 1 II – bokeh
Unfortunately, the zoom and wide-angle experience with the Xperia 1 II is compromised by Sony’s software. The camera app won’t select the 3x optical or wide-angle lens when using pinch zoom. Instead, you have to manually press the lens icon or switch the focal length in the Photo Pro app. This is a basic quality-of-life feature that you’ll find on the Huawei P40 Pro and virtually every other smartphone.
Bokeh is a much closer run competition. The two handsets offer very good edge detection and offer a realistic bokeh gradient from foreground to background, thanks to their dedicated time-of-flight hardware. The Huawei P40 Pro and Xperia 1 II offer some of the best bokeh quality you’ll find in a smartphone. The phones are inseparable with fine detail edge detection too, such as hair, where both are just as hit and miss as the other.
Sony Xperia 1 II vs Huawei P40 Pro camera: The verdict
The Huawei P40 Pro and Sony Xperia 1 II are two of the best phones I’ve shot with when it comes to color accuracy. Both can produce some truly excellent full-frame shots. However, it’s clear that Huawei earns a healthy quality lead when we examine their photographs with a fine comb.
Huawei’s unique main sensor hardware hands in some of the cleanest images you can capture with a smartphone. Detail and noise are exceptional, and colors, exposure, and white balance are mostly very good, too. The Xperia 1 II has its strengths, particularly in the color and grain departments, but it doesn’t quite nail its zoom or wide-angle experiences as well as the P40 Pro.
Sadly, Sony’s latest flagship is let down by its inconsistency when it comes to overexposure and HDR. There’s no excuse, as much lower-cost handsets don’t suffer from these basic problems. While you can find a more traditional multi-frame HDR option in the Camera Pro app, this should be switched on by default in the standard app that most consumers will use. It’s such a shame, as you simply can’t shoot in bright, dynamically lit environments. If the Xperia 1 II offered a workable HDR implementation by default, Sony would have a much more competitive flagship camera.
Apple Car Keys was announced at WWDC 2020. For those who don’t know, Car Keys is a new iOS 14 feature that lets you unlock your car using an iPhone.
Credit: Robert Triggs / Android Authority
There isn’t a ton of support for it yet, but the features are actually kind of cool. You can send your car key via the Messages app and you can restrict some car functions with a shared key. It also works offline as it’s based on NFC. Future iterations may even use different wireless connectivity to unlock the car with the phone in your pocket.
Naturally, Android users are likely curious whether there will be an equivalent for the top Android phones. There are plenty of car keys apps already available, Apple’s unique approach is ahead of the competition. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem like the Apple Car Keys feature is anything Android users can’t eventually have too.
What is Apple Car Keys doing that makes it special?
For starters, Apple’s solution bucks a lot of trends. A lot of smart tech requires the cloud and, therefore, a constant data connection. Apple Car Keys does not need those things. NFC technology is available even while offline so you can unlock your car anywhere, even if an underground garage or other places where a connection is spotty. That already makes it better than some car manufacturer solutions since all of those require server access.
Some other unique features include full Apple Watch support so you don’t even need to take your phone out of your pocket if you have the Watch too. You also don’t need an iOS Car Keys app to make it work — it can either sit in Wallet or just activate as soon as you wave your iPhone over your car’s lock (as long as it has Apple Car Keys compatibility, of course). Finally, Apple has an API for this and isn’t relying on apps or services from car manufacturers. Even Android solutions like the official Tesla app require a third-party app to make it all work.
The only downside is that the number of Apple Car Keys compatible cars will be restricted to a handful of BMW vehicles at launch. Support should improve over time.
Apple’s solution and execution are both extra clean. Everything takes place on or near your person without any cloud access or any special tricks. You just tap your phone or watch to a supported car and boom, the car is unlocked. It’s hard to criticize that on any level. The good news is that this technology probably won’t be restricted solely to Apple.
You can kind of do this with NFC already
NFC is a surprisingly robust platform. You can buy blank NFC stickers and blank NFC tags on Amazon. From there, you get an app like NFC Tools and you’re off to the races. You can toggle various settings, add various bits of information, and even make your own commands with something like Tasker.
The problem is the barrier to entry is rather high. Fiddling around with the tags and NFC apps is a bit of pain if you’ve never done it before. Those with more experience could very easily create a custom NFC car unlocker with this method, but it requires a KeyDuino (an Arduino development board with integrated NFC), knowledge of open source code, and some DIY know-how.
NFC tech in cars is still rather new, but it definitely didn’t start with Apple and it definitely won’t end with Apple.
It’s not really worth it for folks who don’t know this stuff, but the tech is already more accessible. Tesla was among the first to address the problem as you can use NFC to unlock your Tesla via its app. In other words, this tech was coming whether Apple brought it or not. The question is whether or not Android follows suit with OS-level integration or if it’s up to app developers to bring it to all of us. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.
NFC is only one option
Many car makers, including the aforementioned ones above, have apps that let you unlock your phone over a network connection. You can also get third party components that perform more or less the same task, such as MoboKey and Viper SmartStart. Apps and services like those use Bluetooth Low Energy or a mobile data connection over a server to start your car and do all sorts of other things.
Credit: Car Connectivity Consortium
On the low end, you can unlock and remote start your car. The high-end options let you engage climate controls, see the last place you parked, check diagnostics, and, if your vehicle supports it, even leave the parking spot and come find you. The high-end options are a lot more difficult to find and a lot more expensive to install.
Many car makers, including Ford, Chevrolet, and Hyundai (via Blue Link) also have apps that let you unlock your phone over a network connection. However, NFC is definitely the best tech for a manual, offline method. Simply tapping your car in the right spot to open it is a neat trick and it’s easier to pull out a phone than it is your keys half the time. However, with Bluetooth Low Energy especially, we will eventually just get into the car and drive off as long as our phones are on us. That’s not a wild guess either. There are companies working on this technology right now.
The Car Connectivity Consortium
Enter the Car Connectivity Consortium, a group of auto and technology companies. The goal of the group is to standardize the tech in every car so that everyone gets a similar experience. The group was established back in 2011 with the expressed purpose of using today’s new technology such as NFC, Bluetooth, etc. for use in cars. In fact, its announcement press release mentions NFC specifically.
Credit: Car Connectivity Consortium
The Consortium didn’t spend the last nine years doing nothing. They finalized Digital Key Release 2.0 just this last May — a standardized and secure method for vehicle owners to use their own mobile devices as a digital key specifically via NFC. We’re relatively certain that Apple Car Keys uses Digital Key Release 2.0 because the specs and use are so similar.
It is likely Apple uses a standardized method for Car Keys which means other platforms should get it too.
It’s likely that Android users will get access to this technology eventually because it is a standardization similar to USB-C or the headphone jack. It may not be in the OS for Android users, but definitely in app form at the very minimum. The Consortium already has a website for app developers to integrate OS-agnostic car tech.
The more exciting news is Digital Key Release 3.0 which should include support for multiple connectivity methods such as Bluetooth Low Energy and other connections. It should let you unlock your car without ever touching your smartphone. The two will just wirelessly communicate when you’re close enough to unlock (and potentially even start) the car without your input.
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In other words, the technology won’t stop at NFC and it should easily come to non-Apple devices as well. Between Bluetooth Low Energy and NFC solutions, you may never need a key fob again.
Apple Car Keys is no doubt a game-changer for car owners. It’s just way easier than using your keys unless you have those keyless entry systems. More car manufacturers need to support the tech and, of course, Android needs to as well. However, based on the available information, we see no reason to believe that Android users won’t get something like Car Keys in the next year or two. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.
Would you use an Apple Car Keys equivalent on Android? Let us know in the poll above and check out some of our Apple coverage below:
OnePlus has revealed the first look at the OnePlus Nord in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo in a new teaser video.
Shared in advance with Android Authority, the video confirms the mid-range phone will sport a dual selfie camera and gives us an idea of the handset’s design.
Android Authority spoke to OnePlus Head of Global, Carl Pei, ahead of the teaser’s launch. Be sure to check out our interview with the company’s co-founder for more on the OnePlus Nord.
OnePlus has been slowing trickling out details about the OnePlus Nord — the company’s second stab at cracking the mid-range market. We know the name, the processor (the Snapdragon 765G), and a ballpark price, but aside from leaks and rumors, we’ve had no official teases of what the phone actually looks like.
Thanks to a new teaser video (embedded below) published on the OnePlus Nord Instagram page — shared in advance with Android Authority — we’ve now been treated to our first look at OnePlus’ long-awaited affordable phone. It’s a fleeting glimpse to say the least, but there’s plenty to unpack and some brief clues about the OnePlus Nord specs.
The OnePlus Nord appears in the video at around the one minute mark as we see someone make a video call with the phone before slipping it into their pocket. The images in this article are screenshots taken from the video and show the front, back, and right side of the phone.
Let’s start with the most interesting part: the cameras. If you squint closely at the images above (click to expand), you can just about make out the reflection of a dual-lens, punch-hole selfie camera, similar to the Huawei P40 Pro. This lends further credence up a recent report that suggested the OnePlus Nord will sport a main 32MP selfie camera with an 8MP wide-angle shooter alongside.
Things are a little less clear for the rear camera. Early renders hinted that the OnePlus Nord — then rumored to be called the OnePlus Z — would have a triple camera. More recent speculation has pointed to a quad camera setup, however. While it’s not completely clear in the video, the reflection of one of the lenses and its position in the vertical module does seem to suggest that we’re looking at four cameras on the rear. Check out the image below and tell us what you think.
Credit: OnePlus
Other takeaways include the color of the phone, which appears to have a cool gray/blue tone. We can also see the button arrangement on the right side. This confirms that the beloved OnePlus alert slider will make its way from the OnePlus flagships to the Nord. Below that lies what appears to be a power button, with the volume rocker outline barely visible on the right in another frame. This tallies with very early CAD renders and echoes the button layout of the OnePlus 8 series.
Editor’s Pick
The OnePlus Nord could be a fan favorite, but it isn’t made for fans
Ahead of the upcoming launch of the OnePlus Nord, Android Authority sat down (virtually, of course) with OnePlus co-founder and director of OnePlus Global, Carl Pei, and VP of OnePlus France, Akis Evangelidis, to talk …
The teaser video, which is intended to set the tone for the upcoming phone, shows clips of young people attending important personal and world events and celebrations. The voiceover references staying true to yourself and moving forward — two themes that OnePlus’ Head of Global and co-founder, Carl Pei, says are integral to the OnePlus Nord’s identity.
Android Authority talked with Pei, as well as VP of OnePlus France, Akis Evangelidis, ahead of the teaser’s reveal. You can read some of the key takeaways from that interview here, where we discuss the core target market for the OnePlus Nord (spoiler: it’s not die-hard OnePlus fans) and the decision making behind dropping to a mid-range processor. We’ll be publishing more insights from our chat later today and tomorrow, so be sure to check back for more on the OnePlus Nord very soon.
This month, Disney Plus will have perhaps its biggest exclusive release so far for the new service. Yes, it’s almost time for the debut of the stage musical Hamilton. However, that’s not the only content update coming to the service. Here are the highlights of what’s coming to Disney Plus in July, followed by the full list of what’s new on the service during the month.
This was supposed to be released to movie theaters in 2021. However, the COVID-19 outbreak caused Disney to launch this long-awaited filmed version of the original stage musical as an exclusive for Disney Plus. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote and stars in this musical, which uses hip-hop and modern pop music to tell the story of one of the American founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton. This is the filmed version of the original stage production, which won 11 Tony Awards, a Grammy Award, and even the Pulitzer Prize for Best Drama.
Rogue Trip (July 24)
Another highlight of what’s new for Disney Plus in July includes Rogue Trip, a new National Geographic series. It stars ABC News reporter Bob Woodruff. The series follows him, and his son Mack, on trips to different points around the world, including Colombia, Ukraine, and Ethiopia.
Muppets Now (July 31)
The Muppets are back in this new six-episode series. Muppets Now will include your favorites like Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and many others. In this series, we get to see the Muppets in charge of their own reality shows. You can also expect to see some celebrity guests show up.
Black is King (July 31)
Beyoncé voiced Nala in 2019’s CGI remake of The Lion King. Now she’s coming back with Black is King, a visual album inspired by The Lion King: The Gift soundtrack album. This visual album will debut exclusively on Disney Plus. It will also include some special guest artists.
What’s new on Disney Plus in July 2020
Here’s the full list of what’s new on the service in July. In addition to the new original shows, many recent Disney movies will debut on the service in the next month. That includes Solo: A Star Wars Story, Incredibles 2, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and more. The US version of the service will also add its first X-Men movie titles in July.
July 3
Hamilton
The Big Green
The Mighty Ducks
Race to Witch Mountain
Animal ER
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
Ice Age: Collision Course
Ice Road Rescue
Pixar in Real Life: “UP: Balloon Cart Away”
Disney Family Sundays – “Peter Pan Shadow Box Theater”
One Day at Disney – “Zama Magudulela: The Lion King Madrid, Spain”
It’s a Dog’s Life with Bill Farmer – Episode 108
July 10
Critter Fixers: Country Vets (S1)
Gigantosaurus (S1)
Secrets of the Zoo (S3)
Solo: A Star Wars Story
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Disney Family Sundays – “Lilo and Stitch: Family Tree”
One Day at Disney – “Marc Smith: Story Artist”
It’s a Dog’s Life with Bill Farmer – Episode 109
July 17
A Pre-Reopening Report from Disneyland
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul
Disney Junior Music Lullabies
Lost City of Machu Picchu
Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! (S1-2)
The Mousketeers at Walt Disney World
Wild Chile (S1)
X-Men: Apocalypse
Disney Family Sundays – “Moana: Tomato Photo Holder”
One Day at Disney – “Mike Davis: Imagineering Project Manager”
It’s a Dog Life with Bill Farmer – Season Finale
July 24
Rogue Trip
Wild Congo (S1)
Wild Sri Lanka (S1)
Disney Family Sundays – “The Jungle Book: Finger Puppet”
One Day at Disney – “Chris Christi: Helicopter Reporter”
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
July 31
Muppets Now
Black is King
Incredibles 2
Alaska Animal Rescue (S1)
Animal Showdown (S1)
Best Job Ever (S1)
Big Cat Games
Cradle of the Gods
Destination World (S1)
Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet (S8)
Fearless Adventures with Jack Randall (S1)
Hidden Kingdoms of China
Hunt for the Abominable Snowman
India’s Wild Leopards
Jungle Animal Rescue (S1)
King Fishers (S1)
Lost Temple of the Inca
Marvel Funko (S1-2)
Surviving the Mount St. Helens Disaster
Weirdest, Bestest, Truest (S1)
What Sam Sees (S1)
Disney Family Sundays – “Mickie and Minnie: Pillows”
One Day at Disney – “Ryan Meinerding: Marvel Studios Creative Director”
That’s what’s new on Disney Plus in July. We’ll be back next month with a new update. Meanwhile, make sure you sign up for Disney Plus below.
Our own Gary Sims just pitted two major devices with similarly named chipsets against each other in a Speed Test G round. That’s right, it’s the Huawei P40 vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus fight out you’ve been waiting for!
To be clear, the variant of the Galaxy S20 Plus here is not one you’d buy in North America — those devices use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset. The international models of the Galaxy S20 line, though, use Samsung’s own Exynos 990 chipset, which is what’s featured here. The Huawei P40 uses the proprietary Kirin 990 SoC, so this is an interesting matchup.
Who comes out the winner in the Huawei P40 vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus battle? You’ll need to check out the video above to see, but we’ll say this: you might want to rethink the P40 if you are looking to play some graphics-heavy games.
Welcome to the 324th edition of Android Apps Weekly! Here are the big headlines from the last week:
India wants to ban several dozen Chinese apps over border tensions between the two countries. Some of the apps include TikTok, WeChat, ES File Explorer, basically everything from Cheetah Mobile, UC Browser, APUS Browser, and Clash of Kings. Additionally, the country wants Xiaomi out of the country as well. It’s a huge political thing and you can read more about it at the link.
Google Photos received a hefty update this last week. Included is a new design, new logo, and a new map view. The map view is especially interesting. You can view your photos in the form of a map to see where you took them all. It’s a pretty big update. Additionally, there’s a scam for Google Photos. Make sure you click this link to read more about it so you don’t get caught with it.
Scammers take advantage of everything, including the COVID-19 pandemic. ESET uncovered a new ransomware scheme this week. The app (CryCryptor) disguises itself as a contact tracing app like you would see from a government. It would encrypt your phone and not unencrypt it unless you pay money. It was shut down rather quickly and no apps on the Play Store had the ransomware.
The IRS tried to use smartphone location data to find tax criminals. The government agency purchased a bunch of anonymous location data and tried to use it to find criminals. It didn’t work out so well and the agency gave up after a short time. The data purchased was actually perfectly legal. It usually goes to advertisers to see demographic data so they can advertise better in those areas. The IRS was just using it for something else and doing it poorly.
Nintendo and The Pokemon Company announced a new game this week. Pokemon Unite is a five versus five competitive game that plays a bit like a MOBA. It won’t have every Pokemon, but it’ll have a decent selection. Players select their Pokemon, team up with others, and duel it out with an opposing team. That’s about all we know right now. Nintendo didn’t announce a release date, a price (although we suspect free to play), or anything else like. We do know it’ll be on Switch. Android, and iOS.
ARCore Depth Lab
Price: Free
ARCore Depth Lab is a demo application for augmented reality experiences with ARCore. The app doesn’t really do anything productive and it’s not a game. However, it does properly showcase a bunch of the really cool (and some new) ARCore APIs. One of the examples that is particularly cool is throwing a ball down the stairs and ARCore knows where the walls are. Another fun one is the snow demo where it’ll snow on your stuff. In any case, it’s free to use and it’s a neat way to see how ARCore is slowly, but steadily evolving.
Hatsune Miku – Tap Wonder is a new free to play rhythm game featuring Japan’s more successful Vocaloid. The game features easy controls. Players just tap on the screen at various points to light up Hatsune Miku’s concerts. Additionally, there are a bunch of customizations to unlock and you can dress Miku up however you want. Some other game play features include skill trees, boost items, and cameos from other popular characters. It’s definitely a must for Miku fans or anyone who enjoys Vocaloids.
Oto Music is a new local music player app with a lot going for it. The app supports the expected features like Chromecast support, playlists, a dark theme, a slick (and somewhat customizable) UI, and an equalizer. There is also gapless playback and some other decent stuff. The app boasts a small install size at 3.9MB and some other fancy stuff like a sleep timer. It won’t blow your socks off, but it’s a solid local music player that hits most of the right notes and it’s entirely free with no in-app purchases or ads (as of the time of this writing).
Romancing SaGa Re;univerSe is the latest free-to-play game from Square Enix. It takes place in the Romancing SaGa universe and features a new story in the franchise. This is a surprisingly F2P (free to play) friendly game with excellent strategy RPG mechanics, various characters to get, and plenty of other stuff to do. The game has a 3.5 rating on the Play Store. However, 90% of those complaints are due to an extended maintenance that temporarily locked players out of the game. That rating will go up over time.
HEY Email is a new email app with some neat features. The app works like a normal email app. You can send and receive email, archive things, and all of that typical stuff. However, you can also use the app’s many tools to keep your inbox clean and minimal. For instance, the app’s “imbox” (not a typo) only shows you important stuff and automatically sifts out things like receipts, spam, and other such things. We especially liked the ability to view all attachments in one spot and the app’s clever use of categories like The Paper Trail (receipts), Notes to Self, and Set Aside. You get your own email address when you sign up, but you have to pay $ 99.99 per year to keep it. Even with the cool features, that’s a hard sell since most email is free and signing up for a whole new email account is a bit of a bother. We’ll let you decide if you like it or not, but it’s definitely not terrible aside from the price tag.
