Mobile reviews

Xiaomi has just announced the Mi 10T Pro and we’ve managed to spend a little bit of time with the very affordable, but still ridiculously powerful, flagship ahead of launch. Following on from the Mi 10, the T version ups things in some key areas and reels them back in others. The biggest change relates to its display speed. Here it borrows a clever trick from the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra . The 6.67-inch display is the real star here, boasting an adaptive refresh rate that alters depending on what you’re doing. If you’re watching videos it’ll stick to 30Hz, while it can ramp up to 144Hz for scrolling and supported gaming. After some time with the phone it’s not obvious when it changes, – hopefully it will save battery, though. But,  it’s still a supremely buttery smooth experience that makes it hard to go back to anything else. Related: Best Android phones It’s a bright display (Xiaomi claims a peak of 650 nits) and while other phones might offer a higher max resolution, 1...

Xiaomi has just announced the Mi 10T Pro and we’ve managed to spend a little bit of time with the very affordable, but still ridiculously powerful, flagship ahead of launch. Following on from the Mi 10, the T version ups things in some key areas and reels them back in others. The biggest change relates to its display speed. Here it borrows a clever trick from the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra . The 6.67-inch display is the real star here, boasting an adaptive refresh rate that alters depending on what you’re doing. If you’re watching videos it’ll stick to 30Hz, while it can ramp up to 144Hz for scrolling and supported gaming. After some time with the phone it’s not obvious when it changes, – hopefully it will save battery, though. But,  it’s still a supremely buttery smooth experience that makes it hard to go back to anything else. Related: Best Android phones It’s a bright display (Xiaomi claims a peak of 650 nits) and while other phones might offer a higher max resolution, 1...

Apple’s cheapest iPad is also its most popular, and with the iPad 8 it’s not hard to see why. For the latest version of its ‘basic’ iPad (iPad 8, or iPad eighth-generation) Apple has kept pretty much everything the same, including the design and display.  This isn’t really meant to be an upgrade for those who invested in last year’s model, however the internal improvements do make it a great choice if your older iPad is on its last legs. Design and screen – Yep, this is an iPad Unlike the iPad Air 4 which has just received a huge redesign, the iPad 8 keeps the fairly chunky screen bezel, physical circular TouchID-enabled home button and slightly rounded sides. It’s a very well built tablet in just about every area and trumps its price-tag. The aluminium back is sturdy and the glass front, in my experience, does a good job keeping scratches away. It does lack the anti-reflective coating though, so it can be a bit reflective in sunnier conditions. It comes in three colours (si...

The Huawei FreeLace Pro are the latest flagship wireless headphones from the tech giant behind some of 2020’s finest camera phones. They differentiate themselves from the sea of other headphones from competing phone makers by sporting an atypical, neckband design. From a distance they look like a very minor update on the distinctly mediocre original FreeLace earphones reviewed in 2019. But under the hood Huawei’s made a number of subtle improvements that make the new Pro model a clear step up on their predecessor. Highlights include upgraded drivers, active noise cancellation (ANC) and battery improvements. The only downside is that, despite offering stellar value for money, there are better sounding true-wireless sets around. This is a key factor that makes them a solid choice for casual listeners, but ill-suited for anyone with a trained ear. Related: Best wireless headphones Huawei FreeLace Pro design – Familiar look but effective The Huawei FreeLace Pro looks a lot like th...

Samsung’s year of phone releases doesn’t seem to be slowing down, with the South Korean brand finally unveiling the much leaked Samsung Galaxy S20 FE. The ‘FE’ moniker here stands for ‘Fan Edition’ and it feels very much like a cheaper, mid-year update for the brand’s flagship Galaxy S20 – with a bit of the Note 20’s DNA thrown in for good measure. There are some upgrades and features that have been ditched in favour of a more tempting price. Samsung Galaxy S20 FE (Fan Edition) price and release date The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE (Fan Edition) will be available from October for £599 (4G, Exynos 990) and £699 for the 5G Snapdragon model. We don’t have confirmed US pricing yet, however we do know the 4G version won’t be coming to the States. This pricing puts it directly in competition with the OnePlus 8 (and likely OnePlus 8T ), Moto Edge and LG Velvet. It’s also a similar price to the iPhone 11, which will likely be replaced by an iPhone 12 very soon. Related: Best phones Specs an...

Samsung’s year of phone releases doesn’t seem to be slowing down, with the South Korean brand finally unveiling the much leaked Samsung Galaxy S20 FE. The ‘FE’ moniker here stands for ‘Fan Edition’ and it feels very much like a cheaper, mid-year update for the brand’s flagship Galaxy S20 – with a bit of the Note 20’s DNA thrown in for good measure. There are some upgrades and features that have been ditched in favour of a more tempting price. Samsung Galaxy S20 FE (Fan Edition) price and release date The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE (Fan Edition) will be available from October for £599 (4G, Exynos 990) and £699 for the 5G Snapdragon model. We don’t have confirmed US pricing yet, however we do know the 4G version won’t be coming to the States. This pricing puts it directly in competition with the OnePlus 8 (and likely OnePlus 8T ), Moto Edge and LG Velvet. It’s also a similar price to the iPhone 11, which will likely be replaced by an iPhone 12 very soon. Related: Best phones Specs an...

The LG Wing is one of the most bizarre phones I’ve ever used. It’s completely different to just about every other phone on the market and you have to give LG props for trying something to differentiate it from the norm. In many ways, the LG Wing feels like LG’s offering against the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 and Moto Razr 5G . It’s an experiment, more of a concept than a true device people are expected to buy. Unlike those two other phones, the Wing isn’t foldable – but it’s got plenty of tricks inside. On first glance, the LG Wings looks fairly normal. A tall, slightly chunky candy bar with a marginally curved display and a frosted glass back. However, housed underneath the main 6.8-inch OLED is a secondary square OLED screen that appears when you flip the main display out. This leaves you a with landscape screen on top, flanked by a smaller secondary 3.9-inch panel below. You really have to see it to understand. The first thing I noticed was how slick the motion is to flip the displa...

The LG Wing is one of the most bizarre phones I’ve ever used. It’s completely different to just about every other phone on the market and you have to give LG props for trying something to differentiate it from the norm. In many ways, the LG Wing feels like LG’s offering against the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 and Moto Razr 5G . It’s an experiment, more of a concept than a true device people are expected to buy. Unlike those two other phones, the Wing isn’t foldable – but it’s got plenty of tricks inside. On first glance, the LG Wings looks fairly normal. A tall, slightly chunky candy bar with a marginally curved display and a frosted glass back. However, housed underneath the main 6.8-inch OLED is a secondary square OLED screen that appears when you flip the main display out. This leaves you a with landscape screen on top, flanked by a smaller secondary 3.9-inch panel below. You really have to see it to understand. The first thing I noticed was how slick the motion is to flip the displa...

Sony made quite an impression earlier this year with the Sony Xperia 1 II , an extravagantly priced flagship phone with a fine Pro camera and a pin-sharp 4K display. Now the Sony Xperia L4 pares things back further, offering a super-widescreen experience in an ostensibly similar form factor (squinting required) for just £169. History tells us that this most technically gifted of manufacturers doesn’t exactly shine with such a restrictive budget. Can the L4 hope to change that perception? With an extremely modest spec sheet and an uninspired design, it’s hardly a major leap forward from the underwhelming Sony Xperia L3 . But there’s something to be said for simply getting the basics right, with a modicum of taste, at this end of the market. Design and screen – Boxy, functional design and a dim but tall display The Sony Xperia L4 subscribes to the Sony design playbook, with a plain all-in-one plastic moulded rear that extends around the sides. Not for Sony the faux-glass back panel ...