Asus Zenfone 10 review: The best small smartphone gets even better
Asus is back with the new Zenfone 10 to try and retain the best small phone crown. Little has changed, but what has really matters here.
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Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review: Do you even need a stylus in a midrange phone?
Motorola's new Moto G Stylus 5G gives you a built-in stylus for $400, but are you willing to take all the other compromises?
As smartphone manufacturers continue to push the limits of pricing, Motorola has gone in the opposite direction. There is a market for affordable smartphones, and Motorola has carved out a niche in this area. With the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023), the company is aiming to create a midrange smartphone with a built-in stylus. Not many midrange smartphones offer this functionality — or smartphones in general for that matter — so this feature alone makes it in the running to be one of the best budget smartphones this year.
Moto G 5G (2023) review: A $250 mixed bag
The latest Moto G shines in a few important areas, but falls flat on its face in others.
Motorola’s success over the past few years has stemmed from the lower end of the smartphone market. It’s captured the attention of consumers and reviewers alike with devices that can be well-rounded while delivering on just the fundamentals, making for some of the best budget phones. The standard Moto G series specifically has been a contender in this part of the market, and the latest model for 2023 is no exception.
Motorola Moto G Power 5G (2023) review: Lots of power, but not where you need it most
If you just need a phone that can easily go days on a single charge, you can't go wrong here.
Motorola's Moto G Power line has always been about providing smartphones with excellent battery life. The trend continues with the latest version but adds marked improvements over its predecessor, like a 1080p display, 120Hz refresh rate, 5G connectivity, a better processor, and more. The previous Moto G Power was one of the best cheap Android phones available, so our expectations were high.
ThinkPhone by Motorola review: Finally, a phone for ThinkPad stans
Can it live up to the Think brand?
The Lenovo ThinkPhone by Motorola, despite being a really strange branding decision, is a really good phone with some really smart features. It's designed for ThinkPad users, and the Lenovo-owned Motorola is finally starting to find ways to make its devices work with each other.
Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate review: The best gaming phone gets even better
If you want to play games on the go, you can't go wrong with everything the Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate has to offer.
When it comes to gaming phones, Asus' ROG series is probably the cream of the crop. They're not the most popular compared to conventional smartphones, but anybody who's serious about mobile gaming has heard of them. Past devices like the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro went all out on specifications, and the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate is no different. There's a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, a headphone jack, dual front-facing speakers, and even a second USB-C port.
Honor Magic 5 Pro review: On the path to greatness
The Honor Magic 5 Pro packs in some impressive specs and features, but how does it hold up in daily use?
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Honor was known for making midrange phones for years while it was still a part of Huawei. With its separation from Huawei to become a standalone brand in 2021, Honor is pushing further into the flagship space to battle for the best smartphone title — and the newly announced Magic 5 Pro is here for the next step.
Teracube Thrive kids smartphone review: A sustainable phone with just enough parental control
The Teracube Thrive is an affordable, sustainable smartphone for kids that gets a lot right but fumbles a bit on the parental control front.
Kids wanting a cellphone and parents being reluctant to give in is a tale as old as, well, cellphones. But with the rise of smartphones, that desire has shifted from simply wanting to talk with friends to becoming an all-encompassing access point to the world. Thankfully, smartphones also allow parents to keep tabs on their child and, with proper parental controls, manage what that phone can do. The Teracube Thrive wants to be that perfect phone for you and your child.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 vs MediaTek Dimensity 9200: Battle of the titans
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and MediaTek Dimensity 9200 are the best smartphone chipsets to date, but only one is victorious.
For years when it came to flagships, Qualcomm was the undisputed number one when it came to flagship chipsets. At times the company would trade blows with Samsung's Exynos chips, but in recent years Samsung's chipset prowess has come to a halt. The Samsung Galaxy S23 series now carries the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, and the Exynos 2200 in the S22 series was a complete mess. However, MediaTek has now taken up the mantle as the primary Qualcomm competitor, and the chipset battle is heating up.
Samsung Galaxy S23 review: Finally able to stand on its own
The regular Galaxy S23 may not look like a significant improvement over its predecessor, but it's actually a worthwhile upgrade.
It's hard to get excited about yearly smartphone upgrades these days since most don't offer a substantial reason to splurge. But the Galaxy S23 is an exception — a worthwhile upgrade over its predecessor, even if the spec sheet tells you otherwise. I used the regular Galaxy S22 for the better part of 2022, and the Galaxy S23 checks all the right boxes for an upgrade. From the 6.1-inch AMOLED screen and the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip to the improved battery life and camera experience, there is a lot to like about the Galaxy S23 that makes it convincingly better than the last year's model.
Oppo Find N2 Flip review: A worthy challenger to the Z Flip 4
Oppo's clamshell foldable phone is finally reaching a wider international audience after its China launch, but is it enough against the competition?
If you wanted a foldable phone over the past several years, chances are your only options were a Samsung Z Fold or Z Flip. Foldables from other brands (all Chinese), for whatever reason, have stuck to selling only inside China. This made for an odd situation where the foldable phone scene was highly competitive in one country. Everywhere else, there's a monopoly operated by Samsung.
OnePlus 11 display evaluation: Back to the drawing board
With its new pricing model, does the company have any remnant left of a "flagship killer?"
Once upon a time, OnePlus thrived from a business model that delivered premium hardware specs at conventionally lower prices. Over time, the Chinese company departed further from this pattern year after year, eventually succumbing to competing dollar-for-dollar with other flagship smartphones.
OnePlus 11 performance evaluation: The fast, smooth, and power-efficient phone you expect
The OnePlus 11 is OnePlus' most powerful smartphone yet, though that isn't the full picture.
There are few brands as synonymous with speed as OnePlus, and the OnePlus 11, with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, aims to maintain that reputation. It's the company's most powerful smartphone to date, and with its release outside of China, we put it to the test to see just what it's capable of and how well it performs. Not only does it pack the fastest Android SoC on the market (well, technically, that crown goes to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy), but it packs UFS 4.0 storage, too, the fastest storage you can get currently.
OnePlus 11 review: A polished 'almost flagship' at non-flagship price
The OnePlus 11, at $699, is a good value proposition against Samsung's Galaxy S23 series, but the existence of the Google Pixel 7 makes things tricky
When the OnePlus 11 hit the market almost two months ago, it was one of the first new Android phones of the year, and while we liked the phone a lot, we didn't have other devices against which to compare. Now that the spring release flood of Android brands (outside North America) has just about wrapped, and we have a better overview of the entire Android smartphone scene in 2023, we can say that the OnePlus 11 has held up very well against higher priced competition, and many of us at XDA think it's the most underrated phone on the market right now.
RedMagic 8 Pro review: The most powerful gaming phone held back by software
The RedMagic 8 Pro is a fantastic smartphone with amazing hardware, but there's one huge problem.
There are very few smartphone brands that are known solely for gaming phones. The first is probably Asus with its stellar ROG Phone series (though it has an equally great Zenfone series), and the second is probably RedMagic. Gaming on a smartphone isn't exactly a new concept, and with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, Qualcomm has been doubling down on some of what makes a gaming phone great.
Moto G Play (2023) review: A former budget king struggles to remain relevant
The new Moto G Play is here to battle it out in the budget Android category, but there may have been too many compromises to stand a chance.
Admittedly it has been quite a while since I have spent a significant amount of time with a budget smartphone, and the last time I used a Motorola device was the Moto Z Play from 2016. Going into my review of the new Moto G Play (2023), I knew I'd have to temper my expectations for how the device would perform as my daily driver after using high-end flagships like the Pixel 7 Pro and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4. So, how did the budget-minded Moto G Play (2023) fare? About as expected.
Gabb Phone Plus software review: Almost too simple
Not all smartphones are safe for kids, mainly because of software and internet access. The Gabb Phone Plus aims to resolve those issues.
Kids and teens want smartphones. While teens might have a better idea of why they want a phone and what they would use it for, the dangers are still there regardless of age. That's why it's important to use a smartphone designed for kids from a trustworthy source. Gabb Wireless is a U.S.-based brand that provides both devices and custom software to help parents feel more confident handing over smartphones to their kids.
Vivo X90 Pro Plus review: This kitchen sink phone sets a high bar for 2023 flagships
The Vivo X90 Pro+ packs some of the newest and best mobile tech in one big, slightly garish package.
The Vivo X90 Pro+ is an overkill phone in every sense of the word. From the unnecessarily long name to the tacky over-branding on its backside; the gigantic camera bump to the cutting-edge components used, it's the so-called "kitchen sink" phone because Vivo seemingly threw every mobile tech possible at it. In all my years of reviewing smartphones, only a few devices have hit the scene with this much "new" hardware: the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. The Vivo X90 Pro+ joins the list.
Huawei Mate 50 Pro review: Doing everything right, but is that enough?
The Huawei Mate 50 Pro is the best phone that Huawei has ever made, but that might not matter to a lot of people.
One of my favorite Android OEMs of all time is Huawei. It's always been a hardware king, packing incredible specifications into devices that were ahead of their time and giving us a window into what Android could be.
Oppo Find N2 hands-on: The lightest foldable deserves a release outside China
The Oppo Find N2 is an excellent smaller-sized alternative to the Galaxy Z Fold 4. Oppo really should consider launching this outside China.
The foldable scene is so competitive inside China that it seems like each new release has to set a new foldable hardware benchmark so there can be a marketing angle. This summer's Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 was "the thinnest foldable phone ever". The recently launched Honor Magic Vs has "the largest battery in a foldable phone". And now comes the Oppo Find N2, whose 233g weight makes it the "lightest horizontal foldable" yet (clamshells are excluded).
Google Pixel 7 display review: Tempering expectations
At its price point, can the OLED of Google's base offering compete with those of other companies?
Launching at $599, the Pixel 7 is Google's base offering that's seated between the company's flagship and budget phones. It's still one of the most bang-for-your-buck phones in 2022 thanks to having the same excellent main camera sensor and processing as the Pro model. If you want a competitive point-and-shoot camera with Google's software experience, the Pixel 7 is a great choice.