As part of its Inno Day 2022 announcements, smartphone brand Oppo has unveiled the 2nd generation of its smart glasses: the Air Glass 2.
Despite only announcing the first generation Air Glass device a year ago at Inno Day 2021 (and launching it at the start of 2022) Oppo already has plans to release a new and improved version of the specs. The most obvious change is that the original’s monocle design has been morphed into a pair of full-frame glasses, but Oppo promises that the improvements are more than skin deep.
For a start, the Air Glass 2 glasses can be outfitted with vision-correcting lenses – allowing them to perform as not only a smart device but a pair of regular specs too. The glasses are also super-lightweight at just 38g, so you shouldn’t feel too fatigued wearing them on your face all day.
As for their functionality, newly added microphones and speakers allow the device to play music, make phone calls, translate foreign languages and provide real-time voice-to-text transcription. Best of all, the Oppo Air Glass 2 maintains the original's wireless design; unlike the Nreal Air and VITURE One glasses, you won't need a cable to pair these specs to your Oppo smartwatch or smartphone.
The Air Glass 2 smart glasses could enhance the capabilities of your Oppo Find X5(Image credit: Future)
As impressive as these glasses sound, we hope they don’t suffer from the same issues as their predecessor.
While trying out the original Air Glass, The Verge’s Adi Robertson found the experience to be quite uncomfortable. The most likely causes for this irritation are the device’s low screen fresh rate – just as in VR, noticeable screen flicker at close range can be nauseating – and that the single lens is forcing each of the wearer’s eyes to focus at different distances at the same time.
Oppo has reportedly improved the Air Glass 2’s lenses and its Micro-LED projectors, and with the transition to a dual-lens setup these new specs should have a design that alleviates both of these issues. However, we’ll need to try them out to know for sure.
Our other concern is that the wireless and feature-packed yet lightweight design will result in these smart specs having a very short battery life. We’ve seen how smart glasses have guzzled the charge of smartphones they’re plugged into, so if the Air Link 2 specs aren’t packing a large enough battery you might be unable to use them for extended periods of time.
That is, if you can actually get hold of them. Right now there’s no word on a release date, price, or even whether the Oppo Air Glass 2 will be available in regions outside of China and Asia. Given that the original Oppo Air Glass didn’t get a global release, we wouldn't recommend holding your breath for a US, UK, or Australia launch.
That said, with AR glasses becoming increasingly mainstream, we wouldn't be too surprised if Oppo decided to use the Air Glass 2 to muscle in on this emerging market globally in 2023.
Interested in picking up an Oppo smartphone? Check out our best Oppo phones guide to see which of its handsets is better than the rest.
Chinese companies seem really keen to get their phones out before the end of the year, as hot on the heels of the Xiaomi 13 launch, there’s now the Oppo Find N2 and Oppo Find N2 Flip – two new foldable phones designed to compete with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4.
These have just been unveiled on day two of Oppo’s annual Inno Day event, but as with the Xiaomi 13, this initial launch is just for China. However, Oppo has been a bit more specific about its global plans than Xiaomi; saying that the Oppo Find N2 Flip will be launching overseas – including most countries in Europe – in Q1 2023. So sometime between January and March 2023.
Sadly, there’s no word on a global launch for the company's Z Fold rival, the standard Oppo Find N2, so that might remain exclusively in China; especially as the original Oppo Find N isn’t widely available either.
As for the specs, we’ll start with the Oppo Find N2 Flip, since that’s the one you’ll most likely actually be able to buy; a clamshell foldable like the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Motorola Razr (2022) with some selling points all its own.
The highlight is the biggest cover screen on any flip-style foldable phone so far, which has the potential to render the Oppo Find N2 Flip far more useful when folded shut than most clamshell foldables.
Oppo claims you can view up to six notifications on this display at once, and also use it to preview photos taken by the phone's ‘flagship-level’ cameras.
The Find N2 Flip also has a 4,300mAh battery, which Oppo claims offers "all-day life", plus there’s a powerful MediaTek Dimensity 9000 Plus chipset at its heart, and an apparently "almost-invisible" crease; we'll believe it when we (don't) see it. The rest of the specs are yet to be revealed, at the time of writing.
An Oppo Find N2 (Image credit: Oppo)
As for the Oppo Find N2, that’s a larger foldable, along the lines of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4. It has a 7.1-inch 1792 x 1920 foldable main display that uses AMOLED tech and has a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120Hz.
There’s also a 5.54-inch 1080 x 2120 AMOLED external display, with a 120Hz refresh rate, and the phone comes powered by a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset, along with up to 16GB of RAM.
There’s up to 512GB of storage, a 4,520mAh battery with 67W charging, 5G support, and a triple-lens camera, with a 50MP f/1.8 main sensor, a 48MP f/2.2 ultra-wide, and a 32MP f/2.0 telephoto. There are also two 32MP selfie cameras, and the Oppo Find N2 runs Android 13, with Oppo’s ColorOS 13 interface.
It’s clad in tough Gorilla Glass Victus on both the front and back (in white and green), while the back of the black model is instead wrapped in vegan leather. It also weighs just 233g in black or 237g in the other shades, which makes it lighter than the 240g iPhone 14 Pro Max, despite that phone not being foldable.
A Motorola Razr (2022) (Image credit: Future / Alex Walker-Todd)
Analysis: stiff competition from Samsung and Motorola
It’s a packed year for foldable phones, and especially for clamshell ones, with the Oppo Find N2 Flip having competition from the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the Motorola Razr (2022).
We won’t do a full specs comparison here – not least because we don’t have a full specs list for Oppo’s phone – but the Find N2 Flip looks to stand out through its large cover screen and its 4,300mAh battery, which is significantly larger than the 3,700mAh one in the Z Flip 4 or the 3,500mAh one in the Razr (2022).
The crease in Oppo’s phone is possibly less visible too, but we won’t be sure of that until we’ve tested it.
As for the Motorola Razr (2022), highlights include a 144Hz refresh rate, while the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 offers water resistance, and both the Samsung and the Motorola have a powerful Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset.
We won’t know exactly how the Oppo Find N2 Flip stacks up until we’ve used it, but from what we’ve heard so far, it certainly sounds like it could be one of the best foldable phones.
We know that the upcoming Galaxy S23 will be powered by next-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chips, and benchmarks show that Qualcomm is finally closing the gap on Apple’s A16 Bionic. Recent rumors from TheElec suggest that Samsung isn’t waiting for Qualcomm to finally exceed Apple’s performance, and it may be copying the Apple and Google model for designing its own chips in-house.
This seems confusing, because Samsung already makes mobile chipsets with its Exynos platform. The Galaxy S22 used Exynos in certain regions, and plenty of other Samsung devices use Samsung chips under the Exynos brand. In fact, there are other phone manufacturers like Vivo that buy Exynos chips from Samsung.
Why does Samsung sell to competitors? Because the chip division acts as its own company. Samsung Semiconductor is divided by a legal corporate firewall from other divisions, including the Samsung Mobile Experience division that designs and produces smartphones, tablets and wearables.
This time the phone team is bringing the chips
What makes this new rumor interesting is that Samsung Mobile Experience is taking more direct responsibility for the production of the new chips. In the past, Exynos chips were designed in cooperation with the Samsung System LSI group within Samsung Semiconductor. Now, rumors suggest that the same group that designs the phones will design the mobile platform that drives them.
Korean industry news site TheElec says this group will be headed by Choi Won-joon, who came to Samsung from Qualcomm. By moving chip design to the same division as phone design, Samsung is working more like Apple and Google, each of which designs chips for its flagship smartphones.
The iPhone 14 Pro uses Apple's newest A16 Bionic chipset (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Apple makes the A16 Bionic chipset for its iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. Google makes the Tensor G2 chipset for its Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. When we say that Apple makes the A16 Bionic, we actually mean that Apple designed its own platform, and a manufacturer produces the chips in a semiconductor foundry.
Get excited for the Galaxy S25 (if it's even called that)
Samsung is in a unique position as the only major phone manufacturer to produce phones and also run a chip-making foundry, but those two sides of the company were completely separate. Samsung may as well have been buying its Exynos chips from Qualcomm.
Samsung is expected to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon for now, but the Galaxy S25 (if naming conventions continue) will use a chipset that Samsung has designed specifically for that phone.
That will place Samsung’s new in-house mobile platform in direct competition with an iPhone 16 Pro at launch in February, 2025, and an iPhone 17 Pro later in the year. The former phone could use an Apple A18 chipset, and the latter could introduce an Apple A19, if the branding continues.
Analysis: A Galaxy S25 with Samsung chips will be better
Instead of developing unique features, Samsung may focus entirely on raw power to beat Apple in benchmarking
The development of chip hardware and new smartphones doesn't always happen concurrently. They are not intimately linked under the current Samsung/Qualcomm relationship.
When Google is creating its Pixel 7 phone, it can alter the production of the Tensor G2 chip to boost and enable new features as they are created. Google’s photo unblur, one of our favorite new features on the Pixel 7 family, is exclusive to that device because it is somehow enabled by the Tensor G2 chip. Whatever a phone needs to make photo unblur work, it’s in the Tensor G2 exclusively.
Google makes the chips in the Pixel 7 Pro (Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)
That’s the sort of synergy that we hope Samsung will create. More direct interaction between the chip design team and the phone team, without inter-corporate bureaucracy to roadblock development, will hopefully help the company create a mobile platform with truly unique features.
Sadly, it’s more likely that Samsung is targeting Apple with its development model, and not Google. Apple Bionic chips hold the performance crown for mobile benchmarks. The latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 comes very close to beating Apple performance, but Samsung doesn’t stand for close. Samsung wants its Galaxy S to be the most powerful phone you can buy.
Instead of developing unique features, Samsung may focus entirely on raw power to beat Apple in benchmarking. The company was disappointed by the Exynos platform’s failure to beat Apple for years, so the main goal could be the benchmark score win. Hopefully Samsung will remember other priorities, like efficient power management and innovative features, and not build just another big engine.
The first beta of Android 13 QPR2 (Quarterly Platform Release) is currently out for specific Google Pixel models, giving us a sneak peek of features and tweaks that should eventually come to more Android phones.
The phones getting the beta, according to Google’s Android Developer page, are the Pixel 4 (4a and 4a 5G), Pixel 5 (the base model and 5a), the Pixel 6 series, and the Pixel 7 series. The release notes don’t say anything about what’s in the release, but notable Android expert Mishaal Rahman broke everything down in a long Twitter thread. Everything in the beta can be split across two categories: design changes all of the listed Pixel devices will get and features that are exclusive to a few.
For starters, desktop mode on Android 13 has gotten “improved windowing options” via a new title bar that makes it easier to drag windows around on the screen, go back to a previous page, or open a toolbar. It’s pretty buggy, however, as Rahman posted a video of him dragging around a window in desktop mode only for it to crash a few seconds in.
Widespread changes
Going into the other noteworthy changes, Health Connect is now a preloaded app that allows you to aggregate all of your personal health data from multiple sources into a single app.
A new “transient taskbar” will make the navigation bar on the Pixel homepage appear in browsing apps (possibly others too) whenever you swipe up from the bottom. As the name suggests, the taskbar is temporary and soon retracts down so as to not distract. Google is going back to an older design with the ringer and notification volumes now separated. For years, you couldn't adjust them individually so it's good to see this return.
Something not mentioned in the Rahman thread is apps on the home screen have extra space around them. This means will be less room on the launcher and you may have to scroll down further to find the app you want, but the new padding does make the menu look less cluttered.
Exclusive features
Some of the more interesting features are arguably the ones exclusive to select models. The Pixel 6 Pro, for example, has an updated display driver allowing users to select a “1080p screen resolution option”, which is lower than the 1440p native resolution. This option could increase the battery life. Also, spatial audio is coming to the 6 Pro alongside the base Pixel 6 model, the Pixel 7, and the Pixel 7 Pro coinciding with the feature arriving on the Pixel Buds Pro next month.
There’s more to the beta than this, but these are the most notable highlights. It’s unknown if and when these features will launch officially but Rahman claims the beta will have a stable release sometime in March. If you want to try out the beta, you can join the Android Beta for Pixel program on Google’s website and then install it via the settings. Google states in the release notes that the beta has some performance and stability issues, so be mindful of that when trying it out.
Be sure to check out TechRadar’s best Pixel phones list for the year in case you’re still on the fence about picking one up.
If you were planning to buy an iPhone 14, where would you shop? Depending on where you are in the world your answer might vary, but in the US at least, the answer is increasingly not through Apple’s own stores.
That’s according to a report from CIRP (Consumer Intelligence Research Partners LLC), via The Verge, which found that only around 24% of US iPhone buyers are shopping directly with Apple.
67% meanwhile are buying their iPhones through carriers – so primarily AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. That’s the vast majority of sales, and in much of the world that stat might not be overly surprising, but given the long lines US Apple stores used to get on iPhone launch days, it seems this might mark a shift in the US.
What might actually be the most surprising stat is that other retailers, such as Best Buy, Target, and Walmart, only make up the remaining 9%.
Still, there are good reasons to choose carriers. For one thing, there are only actually 272 Apple Stores in the US, while carrier stores are far more prevalent, making them a lot more convenient.
Of course, a lot of shopping happens online nowadays, but whether in store or on the web, carriers tend to offer the best iPhone deals, as you’ll often be able to get a new iPhone for ‘free’ through a carrier, as part of your monthly plan; making it at least appear a lot more affordable.
The overall costs aren’t always lower, but at least they’re spread out more, and often carriers genuinely are a lot cheaper – or throw in extras to sweeten the deal. So their success in iPhone sales is no real surprise.
Verizon will give you lots of extras with an iPhone 14 Pro (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
On top of that, customers can also get up to $1,000 off if they trade in an old handset, and a $200 gift card if switching from another carrier.
If you bought an iPhone 14 Pro through Apple now or even during the Black Friday period you’d basically have to pay the full price of the phone, with no discounts, gift cards or freebies.
There are caveats here, in that you can choose to spread the cost, and Apple does offer trade-ins and some deals with carrier activation (but usually no better than the deals you’d get by going direct to the carrier).
But it didn’t offer any specific Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals of its own on the iPhone 14 line, and even if you bought an older model during that period the best you could hope for was a $50 gift card.
And that’s typical of Apple. Other retailers – such as Walmart and Best Buy – sometimes offer greater discounts, which is why their tiny slice of the pie is a bit surprising, but they’re still rarely a match for the best carrier deals.
So if you’re looking to buy an iPhone, you should definitely look beyond Apple itself, because there are often much better deals elsewhere – and that’s true outside the US as well.
To help you out, we have a guide to the best iPhone deals, and you’ll find the current best prices for many models in your region below.
WhatsApp continues to work on disappearing messaging with its most extreme version yet: View Once messages à la Snapchat.
Now instead of having to choose from 24 hours to 90 days for a message to disappear forever, these texts will immediately delete themselves after opening. These texts also can’t be forwarded to another user or copied onto a device. And according to WABetaInfo, which found the upcoming feature, there will be a slightly different icon for these messages: an arrow with a lock on it. At this point, it’s unknown what the update will do for taking screenshots of View Once messages. WABetaInfo can’t confirm if screenshotting is blocked or not as the feature is still in beta, but considering this is a part of WhatsApp owner Meta’s efforts to support user privacy, there’s a pretty good chance this will be a function.
If any of this sounds familiar, that’s because WhatsApp added the same function for images and videos earlier this year. It’s worth noting you can actually screenshot and screen record this particular type of View Once media, and on top of that, you won’t be notified if the recipient does this.
View Once messages are part of the WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.22.25.20, which you can download through the Google Play Beta Program. All you have to do is sign up for the program (be aware it may take a few hours before you’re allowed to download the app). Don’t get too attached to the current design because beta designs are often subject to change.
Regarding WhatsApp on iOS getting View Once messages, there’s no mention of an App Store beta, but we can’t imagine a scenario where iPhone users don’t get this feature at some point.
Beyond the base function
The View Once messages fall in line with the current theme of WhatApp’s recent updates: taking one feature and making it bigger by expanding it beyond the base function.
For starters, you and a thousand of your friends can come together in the new Communities feature (an expansion of WhatsApp Groups) allowing users to join multiple groups under a specific topic like what university you attended. Plus it’s a helpful way to keep up to date with current events in your local area. Another noteworthy update is the new and improved self-messaging feature – now more streamlined as you won’t have to open a new chat room.
Meta has been taking strides in improving WhatsApp security and encryption, but it never hurts to double up. A few weeks ago, TechRadar updated its best authenticator apps for 2022 so you can add a second layer of protection for your accounts.
Thanks to certification agencies like China’s TENAA, we often learn near-official details about phones long before they launch, and so it is now with the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Spotted by MyFixGuide, a TENAA listing – which should be based on official information provided by Samsung – almost completely reveals the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra’s specs.
These include a 6.8-inch 1440 x 3088 screen, a choice of 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of storage, 8GB or 12GB of RAM, and a 4,855mAh battery – that being the minimum capacity, with the phone likely to be advertised as having a 5,000mAh typical capacity.
The chipset isn’t named but is listed as being clocked at up to 3.36GHz, which is consistent with the overclocked version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 that’s been rumored for the Galaxy S23 line.
(Image credit: TENAA)
As for the cameras, these apparently include a 108MP one, two 12MP ones, and a 2MP one on the back, along with another 12MP one on the front. One of the rear cameras (probably one of the 12MP ones) is said to offer 10x optical zoom, as we’d expect. But this camera setup on the whole doesn’t sound right.
It seems very unlikely that Samsung would put a 2MP camera on such a high-end smartphone, so perhaps that’s a typo and should be 200MP – especially since such a sensor has been rumored for inclusion.
But then we wouldn’t think there would also be a 108MP camera. The front-facing camera would also be a significant downgrade in terms of megapixels if it’s 12MP, as the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has a 40MP selfie snapper.
So we’d take these camera specs with a serious helping of salt, and while the rest of the listed specs sound believable this casts doubt on them too, despite the reputable nature of the source.
In any case, the listing also mentions dimensions of 163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9mm, a weight of 233g, and of course 5G support. With the Samsung Galaxy S23 line likely to land in early 2023, we'll assess the accuracy of these leaks soon enough.
Analysis: how this compares to the Galaxy S22 Ultra
If we take these specs as accurate, then a lot of things are probably going to be similar on this phone to the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
The screen size and resolution are the same, the dimensions and weight are very similar (suggesting that the design will be similar too), and the typical battery capacity is likely to be the same. Storage and RAM amounts are also similar, though you can get the S22 Ultra with 128GB of storage, which isn’t listed here.
The main differences are the chipset and the cameras. For the former, this is a typical and expected upgrade, but one that should mean the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is substantially more powerful than its predecessor.
For the latter, well, as noted above we’re deeply skeptical of these camera specs, but for reference, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has a 108MP main sensor, a 12MP ultra-wide, a 10MP telephoto (offering 3x optical zoom) and a 10MP telephoto offering 10x optical zoom.
We’d expect the same lens types and zoom levels on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, but it’s possible that the megapixels for some have changed – most notably to a 200MP primary sensor, which is an upgrade that could help the Galaxy S23 Ultra secure a place among the best camera phones.
The European Union has set a deadline of December 27, 2024 for device manufacturers to switch to USB-C for their data and charging ports, which means that Apple is going to have to abandon the iPhone Lightning connector at some point before then.
While the EU's decision had already been made, the date (via Engadget) is the new development. It means that the 2024 iPhone 16 will be able to get away without USB-C, but the 2025 iPhone 17 is going to have to include it.
There is a loophole, which is that Apple could make the iPhone 17 completely portless, so it would rely on Wi-Fi for data transfer and wireless charging to juice up the battery. Devices that only charge wirelessly are exempt from the EU's new rules.
The clock is ticking
We have already heard rumors that Apple is thinking of switching the iPhone 15 over to USB-C for its port – or at least the Pro models of the phone. However, it's fair to say that we've heard the same rumor for several successive iPhones at this point.
For laptop makers, the EU's deadline is extended until April 2026. In addition, hardware companies will have to make sure that the same charging speed is available no matter what charger is used, to improve compatibility.
This only applies to the EU of course, but it's not going to be worthwhile for companies like Apple to make one run of its products with USB-C and one without. It's now just a question of how long we'll have to wait to see a USB-C iPhone.
Analysis: the road to USB-C
It's been a long road to the iPhone adopting USB-C. It's something we've been requesting since the iPhone 12 in 2020, and rumors about Apple making the switch on its flagship handsets have been swirling for about as long as that as well.
Apple is of course familiar with the technology: it already uses the standard in its MacBook ports and on its iPad devices. Even the entry-level iPad made the switch to USB-C earlier this year, so it's only the iPhones that are still using the Lightning standard.
It makes sense for Apple to switch really – at this point there's not much of a reason to stick with its proprietary standard. Apple executives have publicly admitted that they're going to have to comply with whatever directive the EU sets down.
We'd be surprised if Apple waits until the iPhone 17 to introduce USB-C, but the iPhone 15 might just be a little too early. This is all speculation, but perhaps the iPhone 16 – estimated time of arrival, September 2024 – will be the first to carry USB-C.
We're continuing to hear plenty of leaks and rumors around the Samsung Galaxy S23 series of phones, and the latest unconfirmed whispers are pointing to upgrades for both the photo-taking and video-taking capabilities of the handsets.
According to seasoned bringer-of-leaks Ice Universe, in terms of video recording the new Galaxy S23 phones will be able to capture 8K footage at 30 frames-per-second. That's up from 24 fps across the three phones in the Galaxy S22 range.
It might not seem the most significant of jumps, but it's likely to be a welcome one nevertheless as more and more movie makers switch to an 8K resolution for their video. That video will look smoother on the 2023 flagships.
More improvements
That's not all, because Ice Universe also says that photos taken in daytime conditions with the Galaxy S23 Ultra are going to be "clearer", as well as offering "better details and higher saturation" for shots taken with the handset.
While there isn't much specificity there, it sounds in line with what we've been hearing about the Galaxy S23 range – that images and video captured from the Ultra model in particular are going to be noticeably better.
Based on what we've heard previously, it sounds as though Ice Universe has got hold of a Galaxy S23 handset in advance, or perhaps just seen the results of its rear cameras. The new phones are expected to be unveiled in February 2023.
Analysis: pushing camera quality
Smartphone camera quality has now improved to such an extent that it's difficult for manufacturers to make huge leaps forward with the tech year on year. It sounds as though the Galaxy S23 upgrades will be minor ones in the photo and video capturing department.
There's been talk that the Ultra model may be fitted with a 200MP camera on the back next year, and unsurprisingly that's going to lead to substantial improvements in terms of low light photography and telephoto zoom options. However, some of the other cameras in the rear module are apparently staying the same.
We've heard less about potential camera upgrades for the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus. What rumors there have been have suggested that there won't be much of an upgrade in terms of hardware components, though software algorithms can always be improved.
Any iPhone with Ultra in the name was always going to be expensive, and so it comes as no surprise to hear that the rumored iPhone 15 Ultra might cost even more than the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
That’s according to LeaksApplePro – a leaker with a respectable track record – who, writing for HowToiSolve, claimed the iPhone 15 Ultra might start at up to $1,299. Prices for other regions weren’t provided, but Apple currently sells the 512GB iPhone 14 Pro for that price, and it elsewhere costs £1,429 / AU$2,249, so those prices would likely apply here too.
For comparison, the iPhone 14 Pro Max starts at $1,099 / £1,199 / AU$1,899, so this would mean a starting price increase of $200 / £230 / AU$350.
It might not be quite that bad, though, with a starting price as low as $1,199 (likely translating to £1,309 / AU$2,099) mentioned as the most optimistic possibility, but even that is significantly more than the price the iPhone 14 Pro Max starts at.
So how would Apple justify this price hike? Part of the reason is simply inflation, according to LeaksApplePro, but on top of that this phone could have a number of upgrades not seen in the rest of the iPhone 15 line, including a titanium frame, a dual-lens selfie camera, and a starting storage capacity of 256GB.
All of this will reportedly lead to production costs that would be around $90 higher than those for the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Oddly, the source also claims that the iPhone 15 Ultra might only be offered in one color – the same silver shade as the Apple Watch Ultra. They claim that there might be other shades too, but so far they've not seen any evidence of those.
We’d add the usual caveat to all of this – that leaks should be taken with a pinch of salt, especially this far out from the iPhone 15's likely September 2023 release date, but we’d frankly be surprised if something called the iPhone 15 Ultra didn’t cost more than any current models.
The Ultra might not cost more than a comparable iPhone 14 Pro Max (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Analysis: not as much of a price rise as it might sound
While the iPhone 15 Ultra sounds very expensive here, one detail that’s worth noting is that it will apparently come with upwards of 256GB of storage, which is double the 128GB starting capacity of the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Go for a 256GB iPhone 14 Pro Max and the price rises to $1,199 / £1,309 / AU$2,099, which is the same price as the lowest iPhone 15 Ultra estimate here, and $100 / £120 / AU$150 less than the highest estimate.
So, for comparable storage amounts, the iPhone 15 Ultra might not actually cost any more than the iPhone 14 Pro Max; and if it does then the increase might not be as great as it seems at first glance. Either way it’s likely to be one of the most expensive non-foldable phones of 2023.
Boost Infinite – a new service from Dish Wireless – has been promising to shake up the US mobile network scene for a while, and it has now launched in beta form, so you can decide whether you want to sign up and see if it's the right plan for you.
Costing just $25 a month (plus variable fees and taxes), Boost Infinite offers unlimited talk, text, and data; and not only is that a low price, but Dish Wireless promises that it will stay at $25 forever if you sign up now at Boost Infinite's site.
The caveat to that is you need to maintain your Boost Infinite account and keep it in good standing. And that $25 price is only being offered for sign-ups through to the end of December – it’s not clear what the price will then change to for new customers.
This is also described as a “limited early access beta”, and in a tweet the network has specifically said “space is limited“, which suggests there are limits to how many people are able to sign up currently.
Still, for those who can get it this sounds like a bargain, and it’s open to customers who have their own device, those who purchase a new device, and those who finance one through Boost Infinite.
There is some small print – most notably that while this is a 5G plan, you’re only promised 5G speeds for the first 30GB of data used each month. After that, speeds may be throttled.
Still, 5G coverage should at least be good, as Boost Infinite users have access to not just Dish’s own 5G network, but also to those of T-Mobile and AT&T.
Boost Infinite is expected to exit beta in early 2023, and after that there will be no limit to the number of people who can access it. But whether the pricing will remain as attractive is unclear, so it might be worth signing up now if the plan appeals.
Analysis: how good value is Boost Infinite?
On paper, Boost Infinite looks to be extremely good value at $25 per month. Head to T-Mobile, for example, and you’ll be paying at least $60 per month for unlimited data – though you’ll get a heftier 50GB at 5G speeds for that money.
On Verizon you’re looking at $70, albeit with no data throttling, and on AT&T you’ll pay at least $65 for unlimited data – with the vague claim that speeds may drop when the network is busy.
However, these networks have some advantages over Boost Infinite too. Those prices are for customers taking one line, but if you take multiple lines there are typically discounts, which is something Boost Infinite doesn’t offer.
There are also multiple unlimited plans with different restrictions and extras – with Boost Infinite you just get the one option, which keeps things simple but won’t be the ideal fit for everyone. Still, if nothing else perhaps it will make the big networks take a look at their pricing.
If you’re not sold on Boost Infinite then take a look at our guide to the best unlimited data plans for a selection of alternatives.
We’re talking, of course, about the Oppo Find N2 and the Oppo Find N2 Flip – Oppo’s rumored rivals to the Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4, respectively.
From what we’ve heard about them so far, they could be extremely accomplished, and soon we should know everything about them, as they’re reportedly just days away. Below, you’ll find everything we've heard so far about the Oppo Find N2 series.
Cut to the chase
What is it? The next foldable Oppo phones
When is it out? Possibly December 15
How much will it cost? Unclear, but expect a high price
Oppo Find N2 release date and price
According to known leaker Panda Is Bald, in a Weibo post spotted by Playfuldroid, the Oppo Find N2 and Oppo Find N2 Flip will both be announced on December 15.
That’s apparently one day after the start of Oppo's annual Inno Day event, and the timing would make sense, as we’ve seen devices get unveiled at this event in the past, not to mention the company's original Oppo Find N foldable was unveiled on December 15 last year.
Plus, Digital Chat Station – another reputable leaker – had previously posted on Weibo saying these phones would land in mid-December. So December 15 is looking very likely.
It’s worth noting, though, that this launch might just be for China. If and when we’ll see these phones in other regions is uncertain, though leaker @UniverseIce has claimed that the Oppo Find N2 Flip will be available globally, while the Find N2 won’t be.
There’s no news on what the Oppo Find N2 might cost, but the original Find N retailed for ¥7,699 (around $1,100 / £910 / AU$1,650), so it’s possible that the upcoming model will have a similar price – though conversions are unlikely to be accurate anyway.
We have even less idea of what the Oppo Find N2 Flip might cost, but @UniverseIce has said it won’t cost more than the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, which starts at $999.99 / £999 / AU$1,499.
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 is reasonably priced, so the N2 Flip might be as well (Image credit: Future)
Oppo Find N2 design and display
We know a lot more about the design of the Oppo Find N2 Flip than the standard Find N2, because renders and even a brief hands-on video of the Flip have leaked.
First up, the video was shared by Fenibook on Weibo, but you can see most of it in the GIF below, shared by leaker @UniverseIce.
This is a folding phone with a larger battery than the Galaxy S22. pic.twitter.com/QLZ1zBV5DADecember 7, 2022
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The phone is clearly in a case here, so some details are hidden, but you can see a design that’s similar to the Galaxy Z Flip 4, but with a larger cover screen. There also appears to be a dual-lens camera.
Want to see it without a case? Twitter user @yabhishekhd has shared the image below, which shows off the same design.
According to Digital Chat Station, the Oppo Find N2 Flip has a 3.26-inch OLED cover screen, which would make it a lot bigger than the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4’s 1.9-inch one. It also apparently has a 6.8-inch 120Hz foldable OLED screen, with a 1080 x 2520 resolution.
As for the standard Oppo Find N2, the same source in another post claims this has a 7.1-inch 120Hz foldable display. In yet another post, they claimed that the resolution was 1792 x 1920, and that the Find N2 has a 5.54-inch 1080 x 2120 cover display with a 120Hz refresh rate.
Interestingly, they also say that Oppo has made units with a leather finish, but that most versions currently use glass, so it’s not clear whether the leather version will make it to retail.
It will also apparently weigh less than 240g, according to @UniverseIce, which is light for a foldable phone. For comparison, the original Oppo Find N weighs 275g, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 weighs 263g, and even the non-foldable iPhone 14 Pro Max weighs 240g.
Another source, going by the name ‘experience more’, has got more specific, saying that it weighs 233g in the leather version and 237g for the glass model. They also claim the Oppo Find N2 Flip weighs 191g.
Oppo Find N2 camera and battery
In posts spotted by Playfuldroid, Digital Chat Station has also shed some light on the Oppo Find N2’s camera, claiming that it has a 50MP main sensor, a 48MP ultra-wide one with a 114-degree field of view, and a 32MP telephoto one with 2x optical zoom.
These are apparently the same cameras as the upcoming OnePlus 11, which is notable because foldable phones don’t always match conventional flagships for camera prowess.
The source adds that the Oppo Find N2 apparently has optical image stabilization (OIS) on its main lens, and benefits from Hasselblad camera optimizations. The Find N2 also apparently has a 32MP selfie camera on each screen.
The Oppo Find N2 Flip meanwhile might have a 50MP main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide one, and a 32MP front-facing one, according to Digital Chat Station in another Weibo post.
In the same post they claim that the Oppo Find N2 Flip has a 4,300mAh battery, which might charge at 44W, while they’ve elsewhere said that the standard Find N2 has a 4,520mAh one, believed to offer 67W charging according to another source.
Oppo Find N2 specs and features
The Oppo Find N2 has a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset, according to Digital Chat Station, which is the top Android chipset of 2022 (other than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which hardly anything uses, yet). They also say that it has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, and will run Android 13, with Oppo’s ColorOS 13 interface over the top.
A leaker has also posted screenshots seemingly from the phone, which show 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Elsewhere, leaker ‘experience more’ posting on Weibo claims that the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset in the phone will be underclocked, so it might be a bit less powerful than normal.
As for the Oppo Find N2 Flip, that’s also expected to run Android 13 overlaid with ColorOS 13, and to have a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, but other specs may differ. Reportedly it has a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 Plus chipset according to ‘experience more’ in the same post as above.
A few sites are also reporting a Dimensity 9200 chipset, 12GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage, but it’s not clear where those specs came from. Regardless, these are shaping up to rank among the best foldable phones.
The Self Service Repair program has only been available in the US thus far (since April 2022), and it allows owners of Apple Macs and iPhones to order relevant parts to repair their device themselves (plus instructions, and necessary tools to complete the job).
As The Guardian reports, Apple now offers this scheme in the following European countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.
You can’t repair any device though, and only certain models of iPhone and Mac (contemporary devices from 2020 onwards) are eligible for a self-repair job.
Analysis: DIY Mac or iPhone repairs certainly aren’t for everyone
While that’s a limited selection of devices open to the scheme, it’s the same as in the US, so European citizens are getting the exact same offering, it’s just that they’ve had to wait longer to benefit from it.
The scheme also includes other useful touches, like being able to rent a toolkit to perform a repair, rather than buy the tools (some of which are pricey). And it’s obviously good to see this ability expanded beyond the borders of the States (though it was promised to arrive elsewhere by the end of 2022, so Apple has cut it quite fine for delivery in that respect).
What’s also worth noting is that engaging in repairing your own Mac or iPhone is not a matter you should take lightly. While full instructions are provided along with parts and tools as mentioned, only those comfortable with, say, building their own PC from scratch (at the very least) should be even mulling over cracking open a MacBook to start fiddling about with the innards. For slightly less clued-up owners, this could be a dangerous route that leads to making things worse, not better.
For most folks realistically, self-repair is not the best option, and they should use the normal channels to fix Mac or iPhone problems (getting Apple to do it, or an authorized service provider for repairs).
While Google has yet to announce its long-awaited folding phone, we might have finally gotten our first clue as to quite how powerful this new handset will be.
The Google Pixel Fold isn’t expected to launch until May 2023 (according to the latest rumors), but that hasn’t stopped an apparent leak of the phone’s performance from springing this side of the new year.
According to a Geekbench post – a site where users can submit performance scores for various gadgets like smartphones and PCs – someone submitted a score for a device called the Google Felix, which runs on Android 13. While Google doesn’t yet make a device known as the Felix,, it’s the name that is believed to be attached to its folding smartphone, suggesting that this is our first look at what the phone is capable of.
In the post, we see that the Google Felix uses the same 8-core processor (Google’s Tensor G2) found in the Google Pixel 7 and Google Pixel 7 Pro, and that it comes with the same amount of RAM as the Pro. As we'd expect, then, the Felix achieves a benchmark score that falls within the range we've seen the Pixel 7 Pro returning.
Assuming that the Google Felix is indeed the Google Pixel Fold, then this score suggests users will be in for a treat when it launches in 2023.
Rumored design of the Google Pixel Fold (Image credit: FrontPageTech)
That said, we still have to take all of this information with a pinch of salt. For one thing, we can’t yet know for sure this is indeed the Pixel Fold – it could be any Google smartphone being developed under the codename Google Felix. For another, while benchmarks can be helpful, they aren’t the be-all and end-all of comparisons.
By that, we mean that even though the Pixel 7 Pro and Felix score similarly in the benchmark, they could perform very differently under real-world conditions. Given its rumored 7.6-inch OLED primary display, the Google Felix / Pixel Fold could be less power-efficient than the 7 Pro, causing it to perform less well under normal use.
Additionally, these specs aren’t the only ones that matter. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 3 offer similar performance to the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and Galaxy S21 Ultra respectively (the company’s flagships when the folding phones were launched). However, the folding phones’ camera and battery capacity were both inferior to the Ultra phones, despite the handsets costing more. As such, we wouldn’t be surprised if the Google Pixel Fold had to make similar sacrifices in terms of its other specs to accommodate its design.
We’ll have to wait and see what Google announces in 2023 – if it even unveils a Pixel Fold at all – but this leak certainly has us excited. If the Pixel Fold can match the performance of the Pixel 7 Pro without making too many sacrifices, Google might be about to treat us to one of the best foldable phones yet released.
The Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro are expected to launch imminently, but it looks like a Xiaomi 13 Ultra could arrive before long too, and this might be worth holding out for, as the latest leak suggests it could rival the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra for photography.
According to Digital Chat Station – a leaker with a good track record – posting on Chinese site Weibo (via NotebookCheck), the Xiaomi 13 Ultra will have four cameras on the back. So that’s more than most phones and in line with the Galaxy S22 Ultra – and what we’re expecting from the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
One of these cameras will apparently use a large one-inch sensor – like the impressive Xiaomi 12S Ultra – which isn’t something Samsung is likely to match. While sensor size isn’t the only consideration in cameras, it can have a huge impact on image quality.
The Xiaomi 13 Ultra will apparently also sport an “anti-shake module” according to a machine translated version of the post, which some sites have interpreted as meaning gimbal stabilization. In short though, it sounds like this phone will offer better image stabilization than most handsets.
We don’t know much else about the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, but it probably won’t land until after the Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro, as those two have both been teased by Xiaomi itself, and were expected to land on December 1, before the launch was delayed.
As for when they might launch now, NotebookCheck claims December 7 and 8 have been leaked as possible dates, though it’s not clear where that information came from.
We certainly won’t be waiting long though, as Xiaomi has even listed the two phones on its Tmall website. Seemingly there was imagery briefly too, spotted by @TechnoAnkit1, though that appears to have since been removed.
Xiaomi 13 & 13 Pro Appearance Leaked by Xiaomi Tmall Official Store. pic.twitter.com/fq6Rvi0h8NDecember 2, 2022
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There are a few additional details worth mentioning, with Xiaomi having reportedly confirmed that the standard Xiaomi 13 will have a 1080p AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, while PriceBaba claims that both models will be available with a choice of 8GB of RAM with 128GB or 256GB of storage, or 12GB of RAM, along with 256GB or 512GB of storage.
Analysis: a trio of phones to challenge Samsung
Xiaomi’s upcoming smartphone line could provide some direct competition to Samsung, with the Xiaomi 13 likely positioned as a Galaxy S23 rival, the 13 Pro as a rival to the S23 Plus, and the Xiaomi 13 Ultra set to rival the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Xiaomi even has the advantage of launching at least some of these phones ahead of Samsung, as we’re not expecting to see the Galaxy S23 line until around February 2023.
That said, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra sounds by far to be the most exciting of the three, and we’re not sure when that will launch. Plus, even the other two models are only imminently landing in China – so a global launch may not happen until after the Samsung Galaxy S23 series is on shelves.
Still, with all of these handsets probably landing before too long we could be entering another exciting period for phones, as these all sound like contenders for our best phones list, with the Ultra models in both lines likely to make our best camera phones list too.
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