Google's Pixel phones have been the spark behind today's incredible computational photography – and the new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are looking to once again break new imaging ground with some impressive new camera tricks.

The two phones have some powerful camera hardware, including 50MP wide cameras and 12MP ultrawides (with 4x optical zoom on the Pixel 6 Pro). But it's actually their new software features, driven by Google's new Tensor chip, that are the most interesting part of the Pixel range's photographic story.

Google has previously established its camera supremacy with in areas like Night Sight, but this time the approach is a little different. The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro have modes designed to overcome limitations in the hardware, your skill as a photographer and even in the scene you’re trying to capture. 

These new modes are Magic Eraser, Face Unblur and Motion mode. They offer effects you can recreate in Adobe Photoshop and comparable image editing suites, but require none of the know-how. Or a pricey subscription to Adobe’s Creative Suite. Or even a laptop. 

So do how far to these new Google Pixel camera tricks undercut the AI photo editing power that Adobe is hastily building into Photoshop? Here we’re going to look at how each of these tools works, how promising they are, and the ways in which they may even surpass Photoshop’s tools.

• Read our hands-on Google Pixel 6 review

What is the Magic Eraser?

Magic Eraser is probably the most interesting of the Pixel 6’s imaging tools for keen photographers. This tool lets you remove objects or people from a picture you've already taken.

This trick is nothing new. It’s an alternative to Photoshop's Heal brush, and there is a similar tool in Google’s Snapseed – in fact, it's been there since 2017.

Google's version is a little different, though. In Snapseed you have to manually select the area you want to remove. It then analyzes the surrounding image data to fill in the gap, generally blocking it in with the textures it finds nearby. 

Magic Eraser suggests objects you can remove from a scene. You then select them, or just hit a button to remove them all. On paper, it’s a much more user-friendly take on the concept. 

Will Magic Eraser be any good?

Let’s be blunt – Snapseed’s Heal tool is rubbish, at least compared to the excellent Photoshop alternative. It frequently results in obviously repeated texture patterns, which look fake, and often leaves unnatural-looking splodges of image information that don’t make much sense in context. 

Magic Eraser is much more interesting. Google has not fully revealed how it works under the hood, but we have a pretty good idea. The Pixel 6 Magic Eraser is likely informed by the same machine learning techniques used in its other products and services. For example, Google Photos can accurately identify cars, lamp-posts, people, boats and almost countless other scenes. 

This intelligence has grown over the years thanks to the photos you upload to Google Photos – and also those maddening verification screens that make you clcik the squares that contain a fire hydrant or crosswalk.

In the Magic Eraser context, this lets a Pixel 6 not just identify objects, but also bring a degree of knowledge about what texture might be under the objects you choose to remove. Regardless of what image you try to process, Google has probably seen millions that look something like it. 

This makes Magic Eraser a sort of next-generation healing brush that relies less on image data in the picture itself, and more on what similar images look like. It’s a relative of fully AI-generated and 'deep fake' tech, and this should let it evaluate where, for example, shadows should lie under removed objects – even if the algorithm 'thinks' in a more abstract way. 

However, Google says it won’t work on all image elements. And the larger an object you try to remove, the more fake it is going to look. It is also not going to be useful in the contexts where we use Photoshop’s heal brush the most. More often than not, we use it to remove dust from images, or splotches caused by dust on the lens or sensor. 

Photoshop's heal brush it also perfect for removing power lines, and tiny pieces of background scenery that make up a small part of the image, but can still alter the perception of it significantly when zapped. We’re not sure Magic Eraser will be able to deal with these. 

Part of the art of the heal tool is in using multiple rounds of corrections, because by altering the image on the first pass you actually change the library of image data it uses on the second pass. While you can manually select areas to process with Magic Eraser, this is where the process may start to feel fiddly, and you may wish you had a mouse to hand. 

Magic Eraser is certain to be a cool tool, but likely won’t fare that well with large objects near to the foreground/subject. We're certainly looking forward to trying it out, though. 

• These are the best photo editing apps you can download right now

What is Face Unblur?

Face Unblur is sure to prove a useful feature for casual photography. It tries to solve one of the headaches of capturing a moving subject, particular indoors. 

Unless you use a fast shutter speed, moving objects are going to appear blurry. We could blame the small sensors used in phones, but you’ll actually see the exact same effect with a large-sensor mirrorless camera if you shoot in “Auto”. 

Face Unblur counteracts this through computational photography. And it’s one of the more interesting uses for it we’ve seen since Google’s Super Zoom from 2018.

When you shoot a Face Unblur image, both the Pixel 6's primary and ultra-wide cameras capture a shot. The primary camera uses the shutter speed it would normally opt for, based on the lighting conditions. The ultra-wide takes a picture at a faster shutter speed. 

We don’t know how the ultra-wide approaches ISO sensitivity, but it can likely use a lower setting than it might use for a standard image, because this shot is there to look for areas of image contrast. It doesn’t necessarily need to produce a bright and satisfying-looking pic on its own. 

The two exposures are merged, the image information in the ultra-wide shot used to firm-up detail and definition only in the face. And it knows where the face is because Google algorithms can do that without even trying these days.

Will Face Unblur be any good?

You can’t really recreate the exact effect of Face Unblur in Photoshop if you use a single image. Your main options are part of the Sharpen tools, but there is one made specifically for motion blur. 

In the Smart Sharpen effect menu you’ll see a drop-down that includes 'motion blur'. To get the best effect you have to work out the angle of the motion blur and its distance in pixels. You can then dial in sharpening that can have a pretty good effect on the final image. 

However, it's not quite the same as Face Unblur. Smart Sharpen affects the entire image, unless you make a new layer in which you cut out the face – and therefore will have a deleterious effect on the rest of the picture.

Face Unblur acts a bit more like a composite of shots taken with a camera’s burst mode if, say, you took the burst shot you liked the look of most as a whole, and then cut out and used the face from the shot that looked the sharpest. 

Recreating the effect of Face Unblur is going to be difficult. And most photographers would likely discount the images off-hand before trying it anyway. As far as we can tell, this isn’t a specific mode you have to switch to either. If it’s used, or suggested, whenever required, that’s fantastic.

However, it looks like it will only work for human subjects for now. And as anyone who as ever tried to photograph a dog before knows: we definitely need it to work for dogs, too. 

There’s also a slight question mark over its efficacy too. Even in Google’s own demo the final image looks sharper, but not pin-sharp. Still, it’s likely to be a major benefit for casual photography. But would you want to blow up a Face Unblur shot to A3 size and put it on your wall? Probably not. 

• Photoshop vs Lightroom: what's the difference and which is the best for you?

What is Motion Mode?

If you take the concept of Portrait mode, where the background of an image is blurred to emulate the effect of a larger wide-aperture lens, and apply it to the photographic technique of 'panning', you end up with the Pixel 6’s Motion Mode. It uses blurring to add drama to your moving images. 

However, what we’re actually emulating here in classic photography terms depends on what you shoot. In Google’s own demo of a cyclist at a velodrome, you’d get a similar effect by using a fast but not ultra-fast shutter speed, and moving the camera in-line with the cyclist’s motion as you shoot. That's 'panning' and it's a common technique used by sports photographers. 

This means the rider ends up mostly in focus, but the background is blurred. And it is not an easy technique to get right. We last tried it at an F1 race in the pre-pandemic days, and mostly ended up with a lot of somewhat blurry images. We are therefore oh-so-down for this one.

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That is not the only use of Motion Mode, though. You can also use it to take photos where the wider subject is static, but there’s motion within it. Google used a waterfall as an example, but it should also work for cars moving through streets at night.

We separate this style from the cyclist, because the technique you’d use in a dedicated camera is different. This second style would use a long exposure, not motion of the camera itself. 

The way these photos are made is what joins the two together. As in other forms of computational photography, they are created using several merged exposures, where both the blurred parts and those that are kept sharp are deliberately controlled. 

Will Motion Mode be any good?

This mode seems like a great addition to the Pixel 6 phones. It effectively automates techniques that you'd usually need skill or a tripod to achieve.

But can you recreate them in Photoshop? For the first example, of the cyclist, absolutely you can. There are several ways to do this. Our first place to head would be to duplicate the image as a second layer, use the Motion Blur effect to get the desired effect, set its transparency to perhaps 50% and then use the eraser tool to gradually take away the blurred part in the areas we wanted sharp. 

The case of the waterfall is more complicated because we’re dealing with a subject that doesn’t just move, but changes as it moves. Try to get that in Photoshop and you’re starting to merge photo editing with digital painting.

The Pixel 6’s Motion Mode is far from the first to use multiple exposures to achieve these effects. There are countless apps that try to do this, and almost all of them are terrible. The recurring problem: they don’t account for hand movement, leaving the entire image looking messy or blurred. 

Google’s version does. The remaining issue is how well Motion Mode can make several merged exposures look like a single one. In slow shutter photography, the sensor receives light information for up to, say, 30 seconds constantly. Motion mode records a series of quick snapshots, not a consistent stream of image information. 

This a hurdle computational photography will need to surmount, just as correct depth mapping and object recognition remain barriers to an entirely legitimate-looking image in background-blurred Portrait photography. Still, Google is likely to do this much better than any app you can currently download for an Android phone.

Magic Eraser, Face Unblur and Motion Mode: final thoughts

An AI photo editing battle is underway, with Google and Adobe leading the way. While Photoshop has traditionally been a desktop app, Adobe is clearly aware of growing competition on smartphones – it recently announced that new AI editing tools coming to Lightroom would all work just as well on mobile devices as on desktop.

Is Google stealing its thunder with the Pixel 6 range's impressive new tools? Professionals will undoubtedly still want the precision and power of Photoshop and Lightroom for some time. Computational photography still has limits, and those are pretty apparent when you blow up a smartphone photo any larger than a phone screen.

But the Google Pixel 6's new tricks do, on paper at least, hold great promise for casual photographers. All three of its new modes either solve common issues in point-and-shoot photography, or let you get results close to those that aren’t easy to achieve without extra equipment and real skill.

It’s Google exploring the potential of computational photography at its best, because it doesn’t just rely on processing a single image until it’s unrecognisable from the original shot. We think Magic Eraser is most likely to show up the current limitations of this kind of photography. Calling it 'magic' doesn’t really help, either.

However, we're not going to turn our noses up at any of these tricks, particularly when plenty of photographers who might mock phone cameras use similar techniques, just with a more hands-on approach.  

• These are the best Photoshop alternatives in 2021

Nikon has had a relatively quiet year so far, but the latest rumors suggest its next launch could be a full-frame mirrorless camera called the Nikon Z5.

Why might it be called the Nikon Z5? Because it's expected to sit below the Nikon Z6, in both features and price. Considering the latter is currently top of our best cameras list, this could make it potentially very popular indeed.

We've wanted to see a Nikon Z5 for some time now. And while Nikon has not announced it yet, the Z5 does seem to be on its way, according to the latest speculation. 

This is the camera you might buy instead of a Canon EOS RP or an older-generation Sony Alpha A7 or Sony A7R. 

Specific news about the Nikon Z5 is scant, but we expect to see it announced before the end of 2020. Here are all the latest rumors, along with what we think (and hope) it will offer.

Nikon Z5 release date and price

Nikon Rumors wrote in early June 2020 the Nikon Z5 may arrive in the next three months, suggesting it will be announced before or during September. 

It is a sensible enough timeframe, but even this rumor is little more than a “guess” by Nikon Rumors. The Nikon Z5 is expected to launch alongside the Z30, a mirrorless APS-C camera. Their existence was close to confirmed when two new Nikon cameras were registered with a Russian certification body, spotted by reliable camera leaker Nokishita.

And the price? The name alone tells us what we need to know. Nikon’s Z5 is highly likely to be cheaper than the Nikon Z6, which still tops our list of the best cameras you can buy right now.

The latter's arch rival is the Canon EOS RP, currently available for a tempting $899 (£1299 / $1818AU) body-only or $999 with a basic kit lens. However, if Nikon is to match a price it will likely be the RP’s original $1,299.99 / £1,399.99 / AU$2,149 price (which included a Mount adaptor).

But how might Nikon simplify its best full-frame mirrorless camera to keep the price down?

• How to use your DSLR or mirrorless camera as a webcam

Nikon Z5 screen and EVF

There is only one consistent rumor so far about the Nikon Z5's specs, but it is a big one. Many believe Nikon will leave an EVF off the Nikon Z5, to make it smaller and cheaper. 

This would be a bold move. Almost all full-frame cameras have electronic viewfinders, including the Canon EOS RP, the most obvious lower-cost pick until you start digging into previous-generation Sony Alpha bodies. 

The Sigma FP (below) took this route. It’s the smallest full-frame camera you can buy, but has serious drawbacks for stills shooters. The Nikon Z5 won’t have a focus as niche as the Sigma FP – and you will, probably, be able to buy a separate EVF and attach it to the hotshoe. 

At some point those who claim a camera is not complete without a viewfinder will sound like out-of-touch oldies rambling about relics from the past that were never that good in the first place. But are we there yet? Probably not. Rear camera screens are not even close to those used in the top phones. It’s not image quality fundamentals like contrast and color that matter most either, but brightness. 

Give us a rear camera display with 1000-nit brightness and an auto mode that reacts in a second and we can talk more seriously about downgrading the importance of an EVF.

Some have suggested the Nikon Z5 may also have a fixed rear LCD, but this seems a bad idea if the EVF is to be optional. The Nikon Z6 has a 2.1 million-dot screen, which simmers down to 960 x 540 pixels because the screen uses an RGBW sub pixel matrix. 

Ideally, the Nikon Z6 should keep this display spec and tilt, particularly when the extra white sub pixel in an RGBW screen is used to boost brightness. However, we may see a drop down to something similar to the 1.04-million LCD used in the Nikon Z50. That is a 720 x 480 pixel RGB LCD. 

• Read our in-depth Fujifilm X-T4 review

Nikon Z5 specs and features

Higher-end screen or lower-end screen, the Nikon Z5 will almost certainly be an Z mount camera with a full-frame sensor. But what sensor will that be?

The best way to guess an upcoming mirrorless or DSLR sensor is to look at what a recent camera from the other side uses. Nikon’s most relevant recent DSLR is the Nikon D780, which is comparable with the Nikon Z6 and uses a similar 24.5MP sensor. 

Could the Nikon Z5 use this same sensor? This does not seem far-fetched when the Nikon Z6 is itself not an insanely expensive camera, and rival Fujifilm lets cameras of quite different prices use the same sensors. 

Such a sensor would be a great win for Nikon, as it would give the Z5 better dynamic range at base ISO than the Canon EOS RP. This alone would likely persuade many buyers to choose the Nikon. 

It would also mean the Nikon Z5 is likely to have the same 273-point on-sensor phase detection focusing system as the Nikon Z6 and D780. We’d take that. 

At this point the Nikon Z5 may seem uncomfortably close to its more expensive sibling. However, there are other parts Nikon may cut out. 

IBIS, or in-body image stabilization, could potentially be removed. We’d miss it, but the Canon EOS RP does not have IBIS either. This would also let Nikon trim down the body, to make it seem even more viable as a 'casual' full-frame camera. 

There’s an issue here, though, one that suggests Nikon will actually keep IBIS in the Z5. All the Z-series lenses lack their own stabilization, as the system was made with IBIS in mind. To get rid of it is too clear a compromise, and would make the Nikon Z5 far less useful for travel and holiday photography. 

Other potential cuts would be less onerous. The Nikon Z5 could lose the Z6’s secondary top plate display, and use a control layout closer to the APS-C Nikon Z50.

Trimming down the effectiveness of the Nikon Z5’s weather sealing is another potential cut. The Nikon Z6 and Z7 have some of the best rain-readiness around, and the Z5 could have ruggedization, again, closer to the Nikon Z50’s. This does not mean it will not have a magnesium skeleton. It probably will. But less attention to detail may be employed in all the gaskets/seals, which should also shave a few millimeters off the body. 

If we take our Nikon Z5 assumptions so far to be true, that its main changes will be to outer elements like build, the EVF and perhaps the rear display, it should be just as good for video as the Z6. And that also means it would beat the Canon EOS RP. 

The Canon has a severe field of view crop when shooting 4K. And there’s further cropping if you want to use software stabilization. It can also only use contrast detection autofocus at 4K, which can be slow. If the Nikon Z5 is like the Z6, there should be no mandatory 4K cropping and we should get phase detection AF when shooting 4K. This would be an easy win, and would potentially make the Z5 the best full-frame camera for video at its price. 

We also see little reason why Nikon would not offer the paid ProRes RAW software update available to the Z6 and Z7.   

The Nikon Z5 may well turn out to be a hard-to-beat hybrid stills and video camera for those who don’t care too much about a traditional style of shooting. Of course, the Panasonic GH5 and upcoming Panasonic GH6 would still have an edge with 4K/60p capture, even if they won’t touch a full-frame camera for image quality in low light. 

• Panasonic GH6: release date, specs and features

Nikon Z5 early thoughts

Would Nikon really leave the viewfinder out of a Nikon Z5? This may be less odd than it sounds. It would let Nikon lower the price significantly without making huge concessions elsewhere. 

And we’d bet you will be able to buy an EVF add-on, perhaps one that doesn’t look too dissimilar to the Nikon Z6’s when slotted into the hotshoe. 

This means we'd end up with a camera that should beat the Canon EOS RP for 4K video capture and base ISO dynamic range, at a lower cost than the Sony A7 III. 

An add-on EVF is likely to be prohibitively expensive for the crowd looking to get as much camera for as little money as possible. But the Nikon Z5 could offer the best results per dollar that you can get from a 2020 camera designed for LCD screen shooters. 

We'll update this page as soon as we hear any official info about this potentially exciting full-frame camera.

• Camera rumors 2020: the biggest and best camera rumors around

5G is the biggest mobile tech story of the year. Major networks in the US, UK and Europe have launched 5G services, and you don’t have to be a hedge fund manager to afford them. But Apple has not joined in with the vast amount of other manufacturers offering 5G phones.

None of its handsets - including the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max - offer 5G.

Huawei, Samsung, Oppo, LG, Sony, Nokia, OnePlus and more have all made 5G. And while withered HTC seems to have put its money on blockchain rather than 5G (that’s right, it really did make a 'blockchain phone'), even it has made a 5G hub, with a 5G handset now in the works too.

The big question: why is Apple behind? Let’s look into some of the reasons Apple can arguably afford not to release a 5G iPhone right now, and some of the underlying causes of this delay.

But first we'll address the other question many of you probably want answering - when we'll see a 5G iPhone.

• 5G: everything you need to know

5G iPhone release date

A number of analysts have predicted that some - or perhaps all - of the iPhone 12 models will support 5G.

If so, then we'll likely see the first 5G iPhone in September, as Apple releases new entries in its main flagship range in September each year. Having said that, the coronavirus may have slowed things down, which could mean a delay of a month or two until October or November.

But elsewhere we've heard that manufacturing is more or less on track, so we're not sure what's true right now.

It's worth noting though that the presence of 5G in 2020's iPhone models is just a rumor for now. it's very, very likely, but not guaranteed, so there's an outside chance we'll be waiting until 2021.

Below, we explain why Apple hasn't already launched a 5G phone.

The argument against 5G

That word 'arguably' is important. Apple can make a believable argument that now is not the right time for iPhones to go 5G, using the same angles it has mined since the first iPhone generations.

Namely, Apple introduces features when it can make them smooth and seamless. It likes to guarantee a certain quality of experience. While you rarely get the sense of being a beta tester guinea pig with Androids these days, that was not always the case.

Apple did not mention 5G at its latest iPhone launch. But if Tim Cook had mustered some of that old cocksure Steve Jobs swagger and said something like “5G isn’t good enough for our iPhones yet”, we wouldn’t entirely disagree. Even if we would not for a second believe this was the real reasoning.

We at TechRadar have tested a bunch of different 5G services across several major metropolitan areas, including London and New York, to see how well it works. And the reality is very similar between countries.

5G can be great, but it appears in such fleeting patches across cities that looking for it can start to seem like prospecting for gold. Even when a 5G phone says it has a 5G signal, it’s no guarantee you’ll get 5G speeds.

If you spent 1,500 pounds or dollars on a 5G iPhone and found you only got the speeds all the adverts told you about when you stood at that one bus stop, would you be happy? Of course not.

This becomes a convenient unspoken excuse for the lack of a 5G iPhone. But it is likely not the primary reason we don’t have one. That 5G is a bit of a work-in-progress mess is what stopped this from being a disaster in September 2019. But nothing more.

So what’s the real reason?

The turmoil behind the scenes

“Apple has always been late to adopt any leading technology into its offerings if it is not developed in-house. However, with 5G adoption there were additional reasons,” says Neil Shah of Counterpoint Research.

“The complexity associated with integrating 5G from RF Front End perspective is very high and Apple’s failed attempt to do that with Intel modems and its spat with Qualcomm until April set back Apple at least by 12-14 months to integrate the 5G capability compared to rivals.”

Don’t worry if those two sentences make you feel a bit lost or confused. Neil is a super-smart analyst entrenched in the workings of the big phone tech companies, so there’s a lot to unpack.

Most of today’s 5G phones use a 5G modem called the Snapdragon X50 or Snapdragon X55. And most have a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset too.

Apple tried to switch to Intel modems instead of Qualcomm ones in the 2018 generation of iPhones. It used an Intel XMM 7560 modem in the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, following an Apple-Qualcomm ruckus that goes back years.

Apple sued Qualcomm for $1 billion in 2017, claiming the company was charging unfair royalties, which it had to pay for every iPhone produced. Qualcomm counter-sued, claiming Apple gave trade secrets away to Intel, which Apple was trying to mold into a workable (and presumably cheaper) modem-producing alternative.

As Shah says, Apple failed to make Intel’s 5G modem chips function in the context of an iPhone, most likely aging some engineers rather badly in the process.

Apple was in a heated fight with the leading light of 5G, trying to do what it always does: 'owning' the tech in its phones. But the whole situation seemingly deflated entirely in April 2019.

Objection! Drop the case

The multitudinous Qualcomm-Apple lawsuits were all dropped in April 2019, after Apple agreed to pay $4.5 billion to Qualcomm. This may make it sound like the two companies hugged, made up, and planned to walk off hand-in-hand into the 5G sunset. But that does not seem to be the case.

Right as the legal action between Apple and Qualcomm was settled, Intel’s 5G phone operation went dark. It announced its intention to leave the 5G phone modem business altogether, to focus on 5G in other devices like PCs and Internet of Things gadgets.

But it seems this was preparation for Apple’s buy-out of Intel’s 5G phone modem business, which was announced in July 2019. Apple paid $1 billion, and 2,200 Intel employees traded their Intel work passes for Apple ones.

This helps explain Apple’s $4.5 billion payout to Qualcomm. It paid for the rights to use Qualcomm technologies in what will presumably be Apple own brand 5G modems. But it couldn’t work this out in time to make a 5G phone in 2019.

“Apple technically missed the boat to soft launch at least one 5G iPhone model in the Oct 2019 - Sep 2020 financial year,” says Shah.  “For Apple’s global SKU strategy makes it all the more difficult as initial 5G deployment would require multiple SKUs for different regions depending upon the spectrum characteristics.”

Different shades of 5G

What are those spectrum characteristics? 5G is a bundle of different technologies and standards, not one. Some networks in the US use different ones to those seen in the UK, for example.

The US government is keen on networks using 'millimeter-wave' 5G. This is the fastest kind of 5G, but its range is shorter than the style of 5G currently used in UK, which uses frequency bands much closer to those of today’s 4G services.

An Apple 5G modem needs to support both of these. 5G is devilishly complicated. Qualcomm’s X50 modem, used in many of today’s 5G phones, does support both styles, but Apple is currently left playing catch-up.

We currently don’t know for sure if Apple’s first 5G phones will use Qualcomm modems or Intel-tech-soaked Apple ones, but there’s more work to be done either way.

How much time does Apple have to do it? Apple needs to announce a 5G iPhone by the time 5G isn’t restricted to ultra-high-end Android phones, by the time 5G seems 'normal' to us phone buyers.

“5G will go mainstream in second half next year as we will see sub-$500 devices also sporting 5G capabilities in Western markets,” said Shah, back in 2019. 

"So we are looking at another 8-10 months or so…. With Qualcomm opening up the capabilities to 6 & 7 series Snapdragon, we will see contributions from brands such as Nokia HMD, Realme, ZTE and others as well.”

The race is on. And judging by this timescale, perhaps we’ll even see Apple break from tradition and announce a 5G iPhone before September 2020 - though as of March 2020 that's not looking likely.

• iPhone 11 vs iPhone 11 Pro vs iPhone 11 Pro Max: the new Apple phones compared

The Fujifilm X-T4 is one of the most feature-packed APS-C mirrorless cameras we've seen so far. Like its predecessors, it doesn’t have the rangefinder style of the X-Pro series or the smaller stature of the X-T30 family, but is the sweet spot for many. 

What's interesting about this new X-T model, though, is that it won't be replacing its predecessor, the Fujifilm X-T3. The latter arrived in September 2018, so is still very much a current camera and comes with a more affordable price tag.

So which one should you buy? The X-T4 certainly brings some significant new features. In-body image stabilization (IBIS) is the big change. This means you’ll be able to use slower handheld shutter speeds than the Fujifilm X-T3, and it's a boon for non-stabilized lenses like the celebrated XF 35mm f/1.4 and XF 56mm f/1.2 too.

The Fujifilm X-T4 is a little larger and heavier than its sibling, but one of the trade-offs is a superior battery life. This may be the most important upgrade for street and travel photography the series has seen yet. But does it make the upgrade worth it overall? Let's find out. 

Price and availability

The Fujifilm X-T4 will be shipping sometime in April 2020 – although there isn't a precise date for availability, you can pre-order the camera now either body-only or in various lens bundles (see table below).

Its predecessor, the Fujifilm X-T3, will remain on sale indefinitely and has had a small price reduction since late January 2020. While prices vary between regions, you can effectively buy a new Fujifilm X-T3 with an XF18-55mm kit lens for the same price as a body-only X-T4. 

This could make deciding between the two a tricky decision, so read on for our in-depth comparison of their relative strengths.

Which camera / bundle?	US price	UK price	Australia price
Fujifilm X-T4 (body only)	$1,699	£1,549	AU$2,999
Fujifilm X-T3 (body only)	$1,299	£1,199	AU$2,049
Fujifilm X-T4 with XF18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS lens	$2,099	£1,899	AU$3,299
Fujifilm X-T3 with XF18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS lens	$1,699	£1,549	AU$2,549
Fujifilm X-T4 with XF16-80mm f/4 R OIS WR lens	$2,199	£1,949	AU$4,099

Fujifilm X-T4 vs X-T3: design

The Fujifilm X-T4 looks very similar to the X-T3. And that's a good thing – the retro two-tone look has made Fujifilm cameras the best-looking mirrorless model around.

The X-T4's body is slightly larger this time, but you need to be well acquainted with the X-T3 to notice the difference. It's 2mm wider, 5mm thicker, and the same height. The X-T4 is still far smaller than the now defunct Fujifilm X-H1, which is almost an inch thicker. 

One significant difference between the two is the rear screen. The X-T3 has a 3-inch 1.04-million-dot display, now upgraded to 1.62 million-dots. This is a shift from 720 x 480 pixels to 900 x 600 pixels, making it a match for the Fujifilm X-Pro3. 

Crucially, the hinge style has changed too. Where the X-T3 has a flip-up screen that can also flip to the side for awkward-angled shooting, the X-T4 has gone fully articulated. The difference? Its screen can now be oriented to face out front, handy if you want to shoot selfies or vlog-style videos. 

However, it won’t please everyone. A fully articulated screen uses a side hinge, so you need to flip it out and tilt just to shoot comfortably above or below head height. Flip-out screens may be less versatile, but they are often quicker to use. 

Fujifilm has not changed the EVF substantially. Both cameras have a 0.5-inch 3.69-million-dot viewfinder with 0.75x magnification, when used with a 50mm lens. So the main physical differences are the X-T4's slightly increased heft and its articulating screen. 

Fujifilm X-T4 vs X-T3: autofocus

The X-T3 and X-T4 share the same sensor, a 26.1MP APS-C size X Trans 4 chip. This also determines the autofocus system used, as it lives on the sensor. 

There are up to 425 selectable focus points, depending on the grid selected, but the sensor itself has 2.16 million phase detection pixels spread across the entire area of the sensor. Fujifilm’s latest X-T3 firmware update, version 3.2, significantly improved autofocus performance, making it more intelligent. 

The timing of this suggests these changes were actually developed for the X-T4. They include much improved eye tracking and better face detection when more than one person is in the frame. It is a reminder modern focusing systems rely a lot on well-optimised implementation, not just the underlying hardware. 

Fujifilm’s own claim is focus on the X-T4 is now “as fast as 0.02 seconds”, owing to a new algorithm. However, given the recent X-T3 update, the two cameras’ performance may be closer than you might think. We'll be able to say for sure in our full review soon. 

Video

Pre-announcement rumors suggested the Fujifilm X-T4 might get 6K video recording, like the amazing Panasonic S1H. While that feature has not emerged, the X-T4 is a significantly improved video camera, and not just thanks to IBIS and that articulating screen.

We get the same max 4K resolution capture, at up to 60 frames per second. However, 1080p capture can now go up to 240fps, for pronounced 10x slo-mo. As before, you can also record 4K video at up to 60 fps in 10-bit 4:2:0 color to the SD card, or 10-bit 4:2:2 to an external recorder via the micro HDMI port.

The camera can use both the optical stabilization and electronic/software stabilization when shooting video, which should improve on the already-strong video versatility of the X-T3.

Fujifilm has also altered the interface, to make the X-T4 cater more directly to video shooters. There’s a specific quick menu and sub-dial for video. Strangely, Fujifilm has removed the 3.5mm jack from the X-T4, although it does include a USB-C-to-3.5mm adaptor in the box. Like the X-T3, though, it has dual SD card slots that allow the same video footage to be recorded twice as a backup. 

Performance

The Fujifilm X-T4 offers serious performance upgrades over its predecessor, although it's fair to say the X-T3 remains an excellent performer for most people. 

Your maximum burst shooting speed is 11fps on the X-T3, but on the X-T4 that's now up to 15fps using the physical shutter. Mainstream cameras have now reached the speed of the Canon EOS 1D X, 2012’s full-frame choice for professional sports and actions shooters. 

At this speed, the Fujifilm X-T4 can shoot 110 JPEGs before filling its buffer. 

Both cameras can go much faster if the physical shutter is abandoned for the electronic one, with burst speeds of up to 30fps. This involves a 1.25x crop, though.

So we get a little extra flexibility for fast shooting, and a lot more of it when you want to slow things down. The Fujifilm X-T4 is only the second APS-C Fuji camera to have IBIS, in-body image stabilisation. Its first was the X-H1. 

IBIS counteracts hand movements as you shoot, letting you use slower shutter speeds when shooting handheld without the penalty of blur. Fujifilm says this is effective to the tune of 5 stops, more than the 4-4.5 on offer from the stabilized lenses you can attach to an X-T3. 

Add one of these stabilized lenses to the X-T4 and the two systems work in concert to nudge the stabilization factor up to a maximum of 6.5 stops. That you can now use some of the best non-stabilized lenses more confidently is the real benefit here, though. 

The breezy 27mm pancake, the beautiful 35mm f/1.4 and highly regarded 16-55mm f/2.8 all lack stabilization, making you increase ISO sensitivity fairly quickly when shooting out and about handheld. 

IBIS is likely one of the main reasons the X-T4 is a little thicker than the X-T3, and also the best reason to upgrade. 

Battery life

A new battery is another excuse for that thicker body on the X-T4. The X-T3 uses the 1260mAh Fujifilm NP-W126S battery, the X-T4 a far larger 2350mAh NP-W325. 

This increases the stills-per-charge figure from 390 to 500, based on use with the 35mm f/1.4 lens. There’s an Economy mode that increases this to 600 frames. 

The effect on video longevity is similarly huge. You can shoot 85 minutes of continuous 4K video (30fps) with the X-T4 from a charge, or 55 minutes with the X-T3. Much like IBIS, a longer-lasting battery makes the X-T4 a significantly more versatile travel camera. 

You can also buy a VG-XT4 battery grip, which increases shots per charge to a massive 1700, similar to a Nikon D850 DSLR. That grip holds two additional batteries and automatically switches to a fresh one when the other one runs out of charge, which is particularly handy for video shooters. 

Early verdict

The Fujifilm X-T4 might not sound like a huge upgrade, particularly for stills shooters. It won’t take significantly better pictures than the X-T3 in a studio or stabilized setting, its EVF is the same and so, roughly, is the autofocus system.

But versatility across a range of shooting styles has been much improved. IBIS opens up handheld photography dramatically for stacks of our favorite XF lenses. And a bigger battery means you can go through a photo-heavy day without needing to carry a spare. 

The larger battery also narrows the gap between the X-T series and the Sony A6600, which is rated for a mammoth 830 shots. We'll bring you our final verdict on whether or not it's the best APS-C camera so far in our full review very soon.

• These are the best mirrorless cameras you can buy

Update 30/1/20: We've updated this feature with what appears to be a full specs leak from Japanese camera site Nokishita, ahead of the X100V's likely launch on 4 February. Here's all of the latest news on the exciting street photography compact.

It's nearly here – after a steady stream of leaks, it looks like we know pretty much everything about the Fujifilm X100V, which is rumored to be arriving on February 4.

Why is this launch a big deal? If you're not familiar with the Fujifilm X100 series, they're a series of stylish, premium compact cameras with large APS-C sensors and hybrid viewfinders, all of which makes them very popular with street and documentary photographers. We like the series so much we put the original model in our list of the most exciting cameras of the decade.

But now we're three years on from the debut of the Fujifilm X100F, it's time for a new version – and the X100V is shaping up to be a very nice upgrade indeed, with improvements across the board. Here's everything we know about it ahead of its imminent launch event.

Fujifilm X100V: release date and price

• The Fujifilm X100V is expected to be announced on February 4
• It's rumored to have a higher price tag than the X100F at launch

The Fujifilm X100V is expected to arrive at the Fujifilm X Summit on February 4. That event is scheduled to kick off at 3pm Eastern Time on that date, which works out as 8pm GMT or 2am on February 5 for those in Australia.

That will be three years after the Fujifilm X100F, and the longest gap between models in the series to date, if only by six months – there was a two-and-and-half-year space between the Fujifilm X100T and today’s X100F.

Along with the recent leaked images and specs, the main evidence for the X100V's imminent release is Fujifilm’s registration of two new products with the Chinese telecoms agency, MIIT, where products that use standards like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are listed. These entries were published on January 8, and while they list the new hardware as 'FF190004' and 'FF190005' rather than X100V, we believe one of these is the new X100 family member. 

It is, without a doubt, about time we got a new model. And Fujifilm seems to have switched its naming system to classic roman numerals for this fifth generation. The previous 'S', 'T' and 'F' may have seemed random picks from the alphabet, but actually stood for 'second', 'third' and 'fourth'. 

The Fujifilm X100V will cost $1,500 (which converts to about £1,150 / AU$2,170), according to the usually reliable Fuji Rumors, which would be a significant jump from the $1,299 / £1,249 / AU$1,900 launch price of the X100F. UK buyers are unlikely to be able to get the camera for significantly under the same dollar figure in pounds either, particularly with further weakening of the currency a possibility.

Fujifilm X100V: what sensor will it have?

• A recent leak suggests the X100V will have the same 26.1MP sensor as the X-Pro3
• It's also expected to have the same focusing system as that camera
• Recent rumors suggest the X100V will match the X-Pro3's ISO range too

A recent specs leak from the usually reliable Japanese site Nokishita suggests it's very likely that the X100V will have the same 26.1MP sensor as the Fujifilm X-Pro3 and Fujifilm X-T3. This is a highly regarded APS-C size X-Trans 4 sensor. 

Fujifilm takes this generational approach to its cameras, using the same core hardware across ranges, bar the lower-cost A series. 

Although there aren't any leaked details about autofocus, this also more or-less tells us what focusing system to expect. The 26.1MP sensor has 'focus pixels', an implementation of on-sensor phase detection autofocus. 

The Fujifilm X100V is likely to have 425 focus points, like the X-Pro3 and X-T3. These cover 99% of the sensor, and Fuji improved Face and Eye detection when this focus standard was introduced. 

Fujifilm won’t necessarily promise the exact same focus performance as those cameras. Certain aspects, like low-light focusing, can be tweaked with firmware, and naturally vary by maximum lens aperture, although now the company has had some experience with this hardware, performance is likely to be similar; the X-T3 can focus down to –3EV, for example, which is very solid.

It now looks like the X100V will have the same ISO range as the X-Pro3. This means a native ISO range of 160 to 12800, which can be extended to 80-51,200, which should ensure improved noise performance at higher ISOs compared to the Fujifilm X-Pro3.

Fujifilm X100V: will it have a new lens?

• Rumors suggest it will have a new version of the X100F's 23mm lens
• But the X100V is unlikely to have an f/1.4 aperture, instead sticking to f/2 

The design of X100-series cameras has been pretty consistent since the X100 was introduced in 2011, and we don't think that will change drastically. The clean, retro looks, convenience of the small, fixed lens, and the ability to fit the camera in a larger coat pocket are all crucial to its appeal.

A specs comparison from Fuji Rumors suggests that the X100V will have a new version of its predecessor's 23mm f/2 lens, though. If the rumors are correct, then its lens will have two aspherical elements rather one.

The X100 series are known to be a little soft when shooting wide open at f/2, so hopefully this optical refresh will improve this.

There seems little chance of getting to the sharpness level of the brilliant Fujinon 23mm f/1.4 lens used by the interchangeable-lens X-series cameras, but a step or two closer to that kind of performance would be most welcome. 

Fujifilm X100V: viewfinder and display

• Rumors suggest the X100V will have a new two-way tilting screen
• It's also likely to have an upgraded viewfinder with an improved resolution
• The X100V's design probably won't be big enough to accommodate in-body image stabilization (IBIS) or weather sealing

While Fujifilm's cameras can be little conservative at times, often staying in the safe confines of their retro template, it appears the company has shaken things up a little for the X100V – the compact will apparently have a two-way tilting screen for the first time.

This is backed up by an apparently leaked image from Fuji Rumors (above), which shows the tilting screen as part of an otherwise relatively unchanged design. While this might upset traditionalists, the tilting screen will be a big boon for street shooting, allowing you to compose from low and high angles with ease.

This leak also confirms that the X100V won't have the unusual 'hidden' rear screen introduced by the Fujifilm X-Pro3. That makes sense, as the X-Pro3 is a unique camera and its 'hidden' screen, which you need to flip out to see, is one of its main calling cards.

Another welcome addition would have been weather sealing, but it appears this won't be coming to the X100V. This seems to be a matter of aesthetics and size, which is why we also won't see the in-body image stabilization that's likely to be coming to the Fujifilm X-T4. There simply isn't enough room to implement it in an X100-size shell, as much as we’d love to see it added.

We will, it seems, be getting an upgraded viewfinder, though. The X100 family uses a hybrid viewfinder that merges an optical, rangefinder-style view with an EVF. This lets you see the exact captured area, and, for example, check zoomed-in portions for captured exposure and white balance while shooting. 

This style is highly unlikely to change, but the resolution appears to have done – according to the latest specs leak, the EVF is now up to the 3.69 million dots (1280 x 960 pixels) seen on the X-Pro3. In OVF mode, you'll also now get 95% coverage, which is slightly up on the X100F.

Fujifilm X100V: video features

• The X100V's video resolution is likely to go up from 1080p to 4K
• But its video performance is more likely to match the X-Pro3 than the X-T3

Video is one of the primary reasons why the Fujifilm X100F needs to be replaced. Its top capture resolution is 1080p, rather than 4K. 

The Fujifilm X-T3 currently offers the best video capture of the Fuji APS-C cameras, with 60fps 4K and 10-bit capture. But according to the latest leaks, the X100V seems more likely to match the Fujifilm X-Pro3, with a max 30fps at 4K resolution.

The camera will be less of an all-rounder than the X-T3, and while it will no doubt be able to produce some nice-looking footage, video is unlikely to become a major focus in the Fujifilm X100V. That said, it'll also apparently be able to shoot Full HD at up to 120fps, making it a perfectly capable backup if you need to shoot a side of video with your stills.

Fujifilm X100V rumors: early verdict

The Fujifilm X100 series is certainly due a refresh, and it does look likely that the X100V will be on February 4. Thanks to the latest specs leak from Nokishita, we also now know nearly all of the features it'll bring.

Given that the whole appeal of the X100 family is their size and convenience, it's not surprising that in-body image stabilization (IBIS) won't be arriving on the X100V. 

But there are likely to be some very welcome upgrades. The two-way tilting touchscreen, new sensor, improved viewfinder and new optics for the 35mm f/2 lens should all make it a big improvement on the X100F, and a fantastic premium compact with few rivals.

The only question mark is how much these features will add to its price tag. Recent rumors suggest it'll be more expensive than the X100F at launch, but we're hoping it's not too far beyond our post-January wallets. We'll bring you all of the official news, including this worldwide pricing, on February 4. 

• Fujifilm X-T4: everything we know so far

It’s a great time to be an audio fan as there are many choices for the best phones for music in 2020. Despite premium smartphones largely abandoning the headphone jack, there are several top quality music phone options out there depending on your music needs.

Although many of us now stream our music, the bottom line is that some phones really are better at music playback than others. Whether its an iPhone or Android handset, the phones on this list all have different audio specs with advantages to each that we explain. 

Wireless headphones are becoming more popular and the good news is they are also getting better. Bluetooth audio used to be much worse than it is now as standards have improved. The phones on this list keep up with that improvement. 

But you might also be an audio purist with an old pair of wired triple driver headphones that you still want to enjoy with your smartphone. If this is the case, only a headphone jack will suffice, but they are getting rarer by the day on phones. We’ll soon be reviewing the LG V60 ThinQ and Sony Xperia 1 II, two rare flagship smartphones in 2020 that still have a headphone jack. 

We’ll also be reviewing the Samsung Galaxy S20 phones to see if they can take the older S10 models off the top of our list. 

Of the six phones below, three have a headphone jack. The others are either more affordable or have great wireless audio software, or have solid speakers. There will be one phone on this list to suit everyone’s music phone needs, so bear in mind it might not be the phone in the top spot.

While it may not be as popular with consumers or tech press as its Korean rival Samsung, LG is the leading smartphone manufacturer when it comes to wired audio. The LG V60 still has a headphone jack unlike many competing high-end flagships which already makes it better, but the company also includes a Quad-DAC (digital-to-analog) component that drives the audio to an even better level of detail.

What’s the point? Does this somehow make the sound four times better, or louder? Not quite. The DAC turns the digital signal into the analog one your headphone drivers can be fed. Bluetooth headphones have a DAC, even some USB-C to 3.5mm cables do.

The LG V60 has a ‘quad’ DAC because it lets the phone analyze the digital signal four times in parallel. These four interpretations are then combined and cross-checked, to eliminate errors. This in turn increases the signal-to-noise ratio, giving us purer sound.

It also has an unusually powerful headphone amp that, when used in the Quad DAC mode, offers higher volume output than most. This is useful for naturally quieter headphones.

We tested the V60 with high quality in-ear and over-ear headphones and the audio quality is much improved over other wired smartphone outputs, as well as wireless. The external dual stereo speakers aren’t the best on the market, but with wired audio this good, it doesn’t matter to us. 

LG also does a whole bunch else with its tech, incorporating the most wonderfully geeky sound customization of any phone. You can alter the ‘digital filter’, which changes the shape of the impulse response. This is like EQ that affects the character of the sound stage rather than the tonal make-up.

There’s normal parametric EQ too, and a DTS:X 3D Surround mode. But we don’t recommend the latter for music.

Read our full LG V60 ThinQ review 

Samsung slips to second place in 2020 thanks to the loss of the headphone jack. That doesn’t mean it loses many of its audio chops, but it does mean that LG bests Samsung for pure sound quality through wired headphones.

Samsung puts a pair of in-ear AKG-tuned USB-C earbuds in the box with the Galaxy S20 and S20 Plus and they’re very good for a bundled set but a little thin on some details. Samsung doesn’t ship the phone with a 3.5mm headphone jack dongle, so you’ll have to fork out $14.99 for one if you don’t want to go wireless. 

The S20’s all around sound reproduction is above average though thanks to some beefed up internals, and it can even support ultra-high-end formats like DSD 64/128 and 32-bit PCM. But, no, you won’t find that on Spotify.

The phone also has Dolby Atmos audio. In the cinema this usually means there are speakers across the ceiling for advanced spatial audio. At home it might mean having extra ‘height channel’ speakers. In a phone it involves psychoacoustic processing used to increase the sense of size and scale in audio.

We find it works better for movies than music when using headphones, though, as it can also add a little too much weight to the mid-bass, and this may clog up the separation in a high-performing headphone. When we review headphones, we turn off all these sound-coloring extras. But trust your ears on this one and use whatever makes your tunes more fun and engaging.

The Samsung Galaxy S20’s speakers are good too, with plummy-sounding lower mids that give podcasts, lower register vocals and bass instruments a bit more weight. They also benefit from Dolby Atmos enhancement, and you can tweak the sound with a few different Dolby modes.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S20 review

Don’t groan. The iPhone has always been a great choice for audio, even if moving your music files to one has never been as easy has it has on Android.

The iPhone 11 Pro’s excellent speakers are the main draw here, as well as the bespoke wireless experience you get when you buy a pair of headphones with an Apple H1 or W1 chipset. This include the Beats Solo Pro and Apple’s own AirPods Pro (yes, we know Apple owns Beats too these days).

The pairing experience is cleaner, and wireless stability is generally flawless.

The Apple iPhone 11 Pro's internal speakers have stereo drivers for a more immersive experience and are auto-enhanced with Dolby Atmos. This helps make the sound seem much wider, and more expansive.

Earlier in this article we were a bit sniffy about using Atmos for high-quality headphones, but it can work wonders for much more limited phone speakers.

How about the headphone output? Well, there isn’t one really. The Lightning port does not have an analog audio output. It fires out the digital signal as-is, leaving the job of audio quality to your headphones.

Even the Lightning to 3.5mm cable you may end up buying to use your old favorite earphones has its own DAC chip, so choose your headphones wisely.

Read our full iPhone 11 Pro review

The Razer Phone 2 is one of the masters of flat-out loud phone speakers, alongside its arch-rival the Asus ROG Phone 2.

There’s space above and below the screen to allow for more room for these speakers. And both of them sit on the front, rather than using the common strategy of having one on the bottom, one up front.

Driver size isn’t actually the crucial bit here, but rather an extra chunk of cabinet space in the plastic speaker enclosure. Sometimes all you need is a little fresh air to let the sound breathe.

At maximum volume, the Razer Phone 2 doesn’t exactly sound super-relaxed and unstrained. But when it’s competing with the noise of your showering or frying onions, volume matters more.

These speakers really project.

There’s no headphone jack on the Razer Phone 2, which loses it major points. However, you do get a 3.5mm adapter in the box, which incorporates a 24-bit DAC.

Read our full Razer Phone 2 review

In one crucial sense the Google Pixel 3a is a better phone for music than the more expensive Pixel 4. Why? It has a headphone jack, so you can use it with those great older pairs the tech giants want you to bin.

Its wired output does not have the sonic purity of the best around, but this is a relatively affordable mobile, so we’re not going to rule it out completely for not having quite as lively audio as the LG V50 ThinQ.

The Pixel 3a’s speakers are solid too. We compared them directly to the Pixel 4’s for this piece. The Pixel 4 has slightly better bass and mid-bass warmth, but they are not in completely different leagues.

We think of the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL as satisfying all-rounders. They have clean software, solid design, good screens and just about the best cameras you’ll find at the price.

Read our full Google Pixel 3a review

What else should we include? As we get further away from the front-runners, there are many other phones we could have put in this position. Huawei, Honor and Oppo have all put some decent speakers into their mid-range phones, many of which are hard to get hold of in some countries. And let’s not even get into the Huawei/Honor US issue.

The Sony Xperia 1 is one safe place to land. This top-end Sony phone does not have a headphone jack, which disappointed many fans. However, it does have stereo speakers and an unusual feature called dynamic vibration.

This acts a bit like the rumble function in a game controller, making the phone vibrate in time with the beat. It is, you guessed it, a bit of a gimmick.

The speakers are solid, though. There’s one on the front and one on the bottom, for a stereo effect when the phone is in front of your face. However, unlike the best stereo pairs, the front speaker is mostly there for treble information. All mid and bass sound is provided by the bottom driver.

Read our full Sony Xperia 1 review

• Just want the best overall phone? Check out the best smartphones

There's no denying Black Friday is the best time to buy tech. You usually see some better deals than in the January sales, or during Amazon’s newer Prime Day extravaganza.

What iPhone deals can we expect this year? Our crystal ball runs on AA batteries so we can’t guarantee our predictions will be 100 percent on point, but years of covering every Black Friday deal worth a click has given us insight that could give a deal-predicting AI a run for its money. 

Old iPhones or new ones? Cashback or straight-ahead money off? Will they land on the day or weeks before? Here’s what you can expect from iPhone deals this Black Friday. 

One part US shoppers will need to get their head around is “qualified activation”, a term tied to just about every iPhone deal from the big retailers. This means you end up buying the phone on a carrier’s (usually two-year) finance plan, either with a new line or on your existing account.

• The best Black Friday iPhone deals for 2019 in the UK
• The best Black Friday iPhone deals for 2019 in the US

Amazon

Amazon is usually the first stop for Black Friday deal hunters, but that shouldn't be the case if you want an iPhone. There were no billboard worthy iPhone savings from Amazon last year in the US, and we expect the same in 2019.

However, you may find the odd refurbished bargain among its Lightning deals.

UK buyers had a little more luck, as the iPhone X went on sale for £779. However, this was likely a response to other retailers dropping their prices. If you see a legit iPhone price drop this year, it’s likely just matching another site’s price.

Walmart (US)

The biggest retailer in the US, Walmart, advertises a great iPhone deal each Black Friday. Last year it offered a $300 gift card with a purchase of the new models. At the time this included the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and the iPhone XR.

You got even more “free cash” if you bought one of the older models, the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus or X. They came with a $400 gift card. Walmart was really keen to clear out that older stock.

We expect to see something similar this year, although if Walmart has been a little smarter with its stocks of the discontinued iPhones that old hardware bump may disappear. That said, the retailer continues to sell the iPhone XS and XS Max so you could be in for a big chunk of store credit if one of the phones no longer sold by Apple directly will suit.

These were all contingent on you activating the phone with AT&T, Sprint or Verizon.

If you’re not normally a Walmart shopper you’ll likely be able to get a reduction instead of a gift card, but it’s probably going to be in the $150 range, not $400.

Walmart tends to publish its Black Friday advert, which will have the full details, around three weeks before the big day (November 29). And if this year rolls out like the last, you’ll have to head to a store on the day to get these discounts. Prepare for carnage.

Target (US)

There’s one big question for Target’s Black Friday iPhone deals this year. Will it match Walmart?

Last year Target offered a $250 gift card with the purchase and qualified activation of an iPhone, $50 below Walmart. Target has had a great year, adding Amazon-rivaling same-day delivery to its list of benefits. But we would not be surprised if Target bowed out of this fight and once again offers just slightly lower credit bonuses than Walmart.

Unlike Walmart, Target’s gift cards for the older phones were lower last year, at $150. Maybe it didn’t over-order those iPhone models.

Best Buy (US)

Don’t miss Best Buy’s Black Friday iPhone deals if you favor direct discounts over gift cards. And who doesn’t?

Last year it offered $200 off the then-discontinued iPhone X and $150 off the newer models. These were among the very best straight iPhone discounts, and we hope Best Buy will come up with the goods again this year.

We say “straight” discounts, but these were still subject to activation, whereby you pay for the handset through your carrier’s financing plans.

John Lewis, Argos and Very (UK)

Last year’s best UK iPhone deals were more-or-less matched across John Lewis, Argos and Very. All three sold the iPhone X, with just a £20 difference in pricing. John Lewis and Argos pitched it at £799, Very at £779.

What does this tell us? We may get a chance to snag one of last year’s models at a lower price this year. There’s a lot of scope for this too.

All three stores still sell the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, which are no longer available directly from Apple. We would not be too surprised to see up to £200 off these phones, which would make them a great alternative to an iPhone XR — if not a match in price. That iPhone XR, it’s a pretty sweet deal.

We may see an iPhone XS for £749-799. John Lewis also took £50 off the iPhone 6S. It still sells that phone, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 ranges, so we may well see minor discounts on some truly ancient iPhones.

• John Lewis Black Friday deals 2019: what we're expecting this year
• Argos Black Friday deals 2019: what to expect this year

Apple Store

What about the Apple Store? As you can probably tell from its position in this article, Apple doesn’t go big on Black Friday, not least because it doesn’t like short-term price drops of its phones.

However, the draw of all that cash sloshing around is too much even for Apple. Last year it offered Apple Store gift card credit for any purchases of its non-refurb hardware bar the newest stuff. In the US you could get $50 for older-gen iPhones, or £40 in the UK. We’re likely to see similar gift card bonuses again this year, given it did the same in 2017.

TechRadar

The real answer to where you should look for Black Friday iPhones deals is, of course, TechRadar. 

We'll be putting together all of the iPhone deals we recommend from trusted retailers over the Black Friday period into the articles below so be sure to bookmark them and head back on November 29.

• The best Black Friday iPhone deals for 2019 in the UK
• The best Black Friday iPhone deals for 2019 in the US

Apple has shaken things up for its 2019 iPhones, with naming if nothing else. The iPhone 11 sounds like an upgrade to the iPhone XS. But this is really the successor to the iPhone XR, the most popular iPhone of the 2018/2019 range. 

The aim is to get away from the suggestion the iPhone 11 is in any way 'cheap', even though it comes at a substantially lower cost than the new iPhone Pro phones. 

• Check out our hands-on iPhone 11 review
• And here's our hands-on iPhone 11 Pro review
• Want another? Well here's our hands on iPhone 11 Pro Max review
• Read our in-depth review of the iPhone XS

It may all be a trick of semantics, but will the iPhone 11 seem like a true upgrade over the iPhone XS? In many ways it will, but this comparison is a little more complicated than you might expect. Let’s dig in. 

iPhone 11 vs iPhone XS design

The iPhone 11 is more striking than the iPhone XS in a few ways. First, it’s slightly larger. Also, it comes in six colours instead of three subdued ones. 

These shades include purple, white, “Product Red”, green, black and white. 

The iPhone 11 also has a new milled glass back. Its camera housing sticks out slightly, and Apple added contours to a singe piece of rear glass rather than taking the 'easy' route. Most companies would simply use a separate piece of glass for the camera cover. 

Both phones are a metal and glass sandwich. Glass panes sit on the front and back, a band of metal runs around the sides holding them together.  

The metal used is different, though. Apple uses aluminium in the iPhone 11, steel in the iPhone XS. This is a classic case of ultra-high-end meeting simply 'normal' high-end design clashing. The bezel surround the screen is also slightly thicker in the iPhone 11, just as they were in the iPhone XR. 

There is one practical design benefit to the iPhone 11, though, as it has tougher glass than the iPhone XS. Both phones also have water resistance tested at 2m depth for 30 minutes. 

iPhone 11 vs iPhone XS specs

	iPhone 11	iPhone XS
Weight	194g	177g
Dimensions	150.9 x 75.7 x 8.3mm	143.6 x 70.9 x 7.7mm
OS	iOS 13	iOS 12.4
Screen size	6.1-inch	5.8-inch
Resolution	1792 x 828	2436 x 1125
CPU	A13 Bionic	A12 Bionic
Storage	64/128/256GB	64/256/512GB
Battery	1 hour longer than XR	2658mAh
Rear camera	12MP + 12MP	12MP + 12MP
Front camera	12MP	7MP
Waterproof	IP68	IP68
Headphone jack	No	No

iPhone 11 vs iPhone XS display

The displays of these phones are very different, even if they do look similar at arm’s length. Both have the classic iPhone notch style, which doesn't help comparisons. 

Apple’s new iPhone 11 has a slightly larger screen, at 6.1 inches to the iPhone XS’s 5.8 inches. And the tech behind the surface is completely different. 

The older iPhone XS has higher pixel density, with 1125 x 2436 pixels to the iPhone 11’s 828 x 1792. 

Panel technology is different too. Apple’s iPhone XS features an OLED panel with effectively perfect blacks and very deep, rich colour. The iPhone 11 has an LCD screen with a universal backlight, which means blacks won’t look perfectly black in a very dark room. Phone LCDs can’t reach the colour depths of OLED, either. 

However, Apple uses some of the best LCD panels around, so don’t think this is a reason to turn your nose up at the iPhone 11. Brightness should be similar too. Apple rates the iPhone 11 at 625 nits, and most readings say the iPhone XS manages slightly over 600 nits. 

Side by side the iPhone XS will likely look a bit bolder than the iPhone 11. But equally you could argue the extra size makes the iPhone 11 better for both video and games, even if they aren’t always quite as sharp when you look critically. 

iPhone 11 vs iPhone XS camera

The iPhone generation camera comparison is a little challenging. Both phones have dual rear cameras, but where the iPhone XS’s second camera has a telephoto lens with 2x magnification, the iPhone 11 has an ultra-wide lens. 

If you want optical zoom in a new iPhone, you’ll have to upgrade to the iPhone 11 Pro or 11 Pro Max, which costs around $300 / £300 more. 

All four of these phones’ rear cameras have 12-megapixel sensors, but is an ultra-wide better than a zoom? It depends on context. If you want to capture a big group of people or emphasise the scale of a building, you want an ultra-wide. Want to get closer to the action without moving? You need a zoom. 

A zoom is likely more important in making people’s images 'better', as so many of us still use digital zoom rather than moving to compose with a standard 26mm-ish lens.

The iPhone 11 does have some real advantages, though. It has Apple’s new Night mode, which merges nine exposures to get the same kind of bright, high dynamic range shots you might get from a Huawei P30 Pro. Low-light image quality has been an iPhone weak point for several years now.

Its camera app also lets you see a some of the area around the main camera view, handy when you’re not quite sure if you need the wide view or not. The wide has a 120-degree view of the scene, which Apple likes to call a “2x zoom out”.

Both the rear cameras can also shoot video at 4K, 60 frames per second, with dynamic range enhancement. The iPhone XS’s main camera can shoot at 4K/60 too, but we can’t be sure yet if it’ll get all the same processing upgrades in a software update. 

The iPhone 11 also has the upper hand for selfies. Its sensor has been upgraded to 12MP, from 7MP in the iPhone XS. And Apple has had a hand at making up its own term, “slofies”. These are slow-motion selfies, essentially short slow-mo videos you’ll likely share on social media or WhatsApp with friends. 

iPhone 11 vs iPhone XS battery

As the iPhone 11 is actually based on the blueprint of the iPhone XR, 2018’s longest-lasting iPhone, it’s the obvious choice for battery life too. Apple says the new phone lasts even longer than the iPhone XR.

Want the official times? The iPhone 11 should last for 17 hours of video, to the iPhone XS’s 14. It is good for 65 hours of audio, the iPhone XS 60 hours. 

Apple also usually publishes stats for internet and call time, but it hasn’t at the time of writing. But there’s no real contest here, as the iPhone 11 is likely to have great battery life, while most power users find the iPhone XS’s stamina OK at best. 

Both phones will also reach 50% charge in 30 minutes, but the iPhone 11 doesn’t actually come with a charger. That Apple is slightly stingy here should surprise no-one. 

iPhone 11 vs iPhone XS power

Apple makes its own processors. And that means a quick read-out of the CPU names of these two phones is entirely opaque. The iPhone 11 has an Apple A13 Bionic processor, the iPhone XS an A12 Bionic. But what’s the difference? 

Apple is always ready for a bold power claim. But this year the gains are slightly more conservative than usual. 

Both CPU and GPU sides of the A13 Bionic are around 20% more powerful than those of the A12 Bionic. This is a very solid boost that gives weight to Apple’s claims that this is the “fastest CPU in a smartphone” and “fastest GPU in a smartphone". It’s just not quite as impressive-sounding a figure as the 40 per cent it has been able to boast about in some previous years. 

Apple also claims to have improved the processor’s machine learning abilities, which should help with speeding up camera processing and AR. 

iPhone 11 vs iPhone XS price

The iPhone 11 has booted the iPhone XS off of Apple’s shelves. It’s now a legacy model, as only the iPhone XR made the leap across generations. But we can compare the iPhone 11 prices to what the iPhone XS cost the day before it arrived. 

Apple’s new iPhone 11 starts at a (relatively) tantalising $699 / £729 / AU$1,199. This is far more affordable than the $999 / £999 / AU$1,629 launch price of the iPhone XS.

While a great many Androids come in at price tags far lower than this, the iPhone 11 may have a chance of converting some new devotees. In the usual Apple fashion, the cost increases significantly as you add more storage.

The base model has 64GB. You’ll pay an extra $50 / £70 / AU$80 for the 128GB version, and the 256GB iPhone 11 is $849 / £879 / AU$1,449. 

Takeaway

Apple has cleverly shifted its iPhone marketing this year. Where some thought of the iPhone XR as the “affordable” iPhone, as perhaps found it less desirable as a result, there’s no R-rated stigma to the iPhone 11. And it even launches at $100 less than the iPhone XR.

This phone is destined to be very popular, and it deserves to be. It has much of the same hardware as the Pro models, at a much more sensible price. 

Compare it to the iPhone XS and what you miss from a true top-end iPhone becomes evident. There’s no ultra-high resolution OLED screen, no steel sides, no telephoto camera lens and the screen surrounds are thicker in the iPhone 11. 

However, we’ll only really miss the telephoto camera, and the extra power and longer battery life of the iPhone 11 makes up for it. Most of the time.  

• iPhone 11 Pro Max is the most powerful smartphone Apple's ever made

The difference between optical and digital zoom is important to know when shopping for a new phone. It’s not the only tech category where these two kinds of camera zoom pop up, but they butt heads here like nowhere else.

Want the one sentence version? Optical zoom uses magnifying lenses to get you a much closer-up view of a scene than you’d see with your eyes. Digital zoom relies on software to get a similar effect. In almost all situations optical zooming is superior, but let’s look a little closer to find out why.

Optical zoom in phones

Optical zoom in phones is completely different to that used by dedicated cameras. Standalone DSLRs, mirrorless cameras and compacts use a series of lens elements that move back and forwards in the barrel of a lens to provide a smooth tradition of focal lengths from its minimum its max.

You can think of these lens elements as a series of magnifying glasses, and the camera sensor behind them as your eyeball (although, of course, our own eyes have a lens too).

Phones use completely separate cameras for their different focal lengths. While phone cameras also have multiple lens elements inside their 'lens', they don't move about. 

If a phone has, for example a 'normal', 0.6x ultra-wide and 5x zoom view, each has its own lens and sensor. Only the software and processor are shared.

You only have to look back to the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom to realize why this style is used. That phone-like camera had a traditional optical zoom, but was much thicker than other Androids around at the time. There's not much demand for inch-thick phones.

Zoom phones effectively have two or three 'prime' (non-zoom in the traditional sense) lenses with two or three different sensors. That may seem quite an expensive way to get different views of a scene. But it also raises the question of how legit the term 'lossless' is when used about these zoom cameras.

Phone makers sometimes use this term when talking about optical zoom. It tells you "crop 'n' enlarge" digital zoom techniques aren't used. But it is potentially misleading.

You need to remember the quality of the photos depends entirely on the quality of the lenses and sensors uses by your zoom camera. You could argue there's a suggestion in 'lossless' that zoomed photos will be of the same quality as your non-zoom ones. This is never really the case.

Most phones with zooms use lower-quality cameras in their 2x/3x/5x zooms. It's one of the main ways higher-end phones plough ahead on camera quality. They tend to have ultra-wide and zoom cameras that don’t scrimp so much on lens and sensor quality, and they may also have more pronounced zooms.

The Oppo Reno 10x Zoom and Huawei P30 Pro currently have some of the best zoom lenses in town.

Digital zoom in phones

Digital zooming is used when either your phone does not have a zoom lens/camera, or you try to zoom-in beyond the capabilities of that camera.

The classic description of digital zoom is that you crop into an image and then blow up that cropped segment so it’s the same size as a non-zoom image. There’s no extra detail in the source, which is why digital zoom photos tend to look blurry.

Things get more complicated here once more. The quality of digital zoom depends on several factors.

At the lowest end, phones simply crop into the image you’d see when snapping a standard shot, expand the result to the same resolution as the initial image and blur things slightly to hide the craggy edges.

Smarter processing used by higher-end phones will interpolate the missing information. This is where an image processor looks at the pixels in the raw cropped image and tries to work out the detail that might be 'seen' by a higher-end camera sensor. As machine learning and imaging 'artificial intelligence' improve, so will this interpolation.

For example, if the camera can recognize the object of texture it needs to render, it’s more likely to create convincing 'made up' detail. It’s particularly true for tight-knit textures like glass and foliage.

Right now you won’t see a huge amount of this kind of these smarts in phones. Google is the leader in this field, largely because it’s the one phone-maker that has stuck to putting just the phone camera on the back of its phones. 

Google takes digital zoom a step further in the Google Pixel 3 series phones too. Zoomed images are made using a composite of multiple images shot, as the optical image stabilization motor moves the camera slightly during capture. 

It’s used to emulate the data that would be captured by a higher-resolution sensor, as that movement is so slight it captures detail between the 'real' pixels.

Now that is what we call clever. Google calls this Super Res Zoom (and you can learn more about it in the video below).

In our experience this doesn’t compete with the best optical zoom phones, but it does perform better than a few of the lower-end ones.

Hybrid zoom in phones

And what about hybrid zoom? This is a term phone makers are more-or-less forced to used when describing zoomed photos that exceed, or are between, the local lengths of the actual lenses.

At times this simply means digital zoom is used to, say, take a 10x image with a 5x lens. And much like digital zoom, this may entail a simple smoothing filter or more intelligent interpolation algorithm.

Some other phones also use the information from other cameras to help out. For example, if a phone has an 8MP 2x 'optical' zoom and a 48-megapixel primary camera, it may use the image data from both to create the final photo.

Which is better?

The traditional view on optical versus digital zoom still applies. Optical zoom almost always trumps digital zoom because it does not rely on tricks or effectively guessing image data the camera sensor can’t really see.

There are interesting advancements on both sides, though. Phones like the Huawei P30 Pro and Oppo Reno 10X Zoom have a 'periscope' zoom. This is where a mirror bounces light off at an angle before it reaches the lens, making it possible to fit a more pronounced zoom into a thin phone.

And if you want to read more on the innovations Google puts into its Super Res Zoom feature, there’s a great blog post on the subject on its AI Blog.

• The best camera phones available right now

The Asus ZenFone series has been around for half a decade. We would not be surprised to hear that some of you have not realized Asus makes phones, though. 

Its ZenFone 6 is the one of most concerted efforts to change that since the series began in 2014. It’s a high-end, mid-price phone that wants to attract a few would-be Samsung Galaxy S10 owners. 

It costs significantly less and has an eye-catching motorized camera that flips between roles as the main and selfie snapper. The Samsung Galaxy S10 can seem conservative next to it. 

How do the two phones really compare? Let’s take a closer look.

Price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy S10 was announced in February 2019. Asus’s ZenFone 6 arrived in May 2019. 

As of May, the Galaxy S10 costs around $799 (£699, AU$1349). The ZenFone 6 is significantly more affordable. It starts at $499 / £499 (about AU$725) although this has less RAM and storage than the base S10. It has 6GB RAM instead of 8GB and 64GB storage rather than 128GB. 

You can bump these up. £549 gets you a ZenFone 6 with 128GB storage and 6GB RAM. The top model has 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, and costs £599.

Design

Phone design seems to have reached a stable norm. High-end phones are made of metal and glass. Cheap phones are made of plastic, designed to look like metal and glass. Really expensive phones use curvier glass.

Glass and metal sandwiches are like, well, ham and cheese sandwiches.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 is one of the definitive examples of this in action. It has a dramatically curved glass front, which makes what small bezels exist seem to melt into the phone’s sides.

Asus’s ZenFone 6 is a little different. It front is much flatter. This style is often used by challenger manufacturers who want to make lower-cost Galaxy S10 (and co) alternatives.

News flash: flat glass is cheaper to produce and employ than the curved stuff. The ZenFone 6’s screen surrounds are still petite, but aren’t quite as slick-looking as Samsung’s.

In person the Galaxy seems a little more sophisticated and expensive. The ZenFone 6’s rear glass is curved, though, and the sides are aluminium. It still seems a swish, high-end mobile.

Other hardware features are similarly mixed. The Asus ZenFone 5 has a headphone jack. Samsung’s Galaxy S10 doesn’t. The S10 has IP68 water resistance, the Asus does not.

Display

The Samsung Galaxy S10 and Asus ZenFone 6 screens are a little different too. You get a 6.1-inch display in the Samsung, a slightly larger 6.4-incher in the Asus. The real display differences aren’t about inch counts, though.

Samsung uses a punch hole in the Galaxy S10. There’s a little hole in the display layer to accommodate the selfie camera. It’s like a notch, but is even more economical.

Do you notice a black hole more than the black alcove of a notch? Perhaps you will.

Asus’s ZenFone 6 gets around this. There are no notches or holes. The phone has no dedicated selfie camera. Its rear camera sits on a motorized hinge that flips around when you need a front camera, leaving the screen uninterrupted. It’s rather nice.

This earns it bonus points for watching anamorphic aspect ratio movies.

Samsung’s S10 still has a higher-spec display, though. The ZenFone 6’s screen is made up of 2340 x 1080 pixels, an elongated Full HD-grade resolution. The Samsung is at least one step up, with 3040 x 1440 pixels.

Look close up and you can see the difference. But it’s not a night-and-day difference, viewed the distance you hold your phone.

The underlying tech varies too. Samsung uses a Super AMOLED panel (made by Samsung Display), Asus a high-quality LCD. OLED wins this fight, with better contrast and viewing angles, although the ZenFone 6’s color saturation is good for an LCD.

Performance and software

Some versions of the Samsung Galaxy S10 use the same processor as the Asus ZenFone 6, but not all.

Samsung splits the S10 line-up across countries. In the UK, the rest of Europe and the wider EMEA region, the phone has a Samsung-made Exynos 9820 processor. The US and China versions have a Snapdragon 855.

It’s this Snapdragon 855 you get in the Asus ZenFone 6. Which CPU would we pick? The Qualcomm Snapdragon 855. It’s more battery-efficient, and has a faster graphics chipset.

For power-per-penny, the Asus ZenFone 6 wins this fight.

It also, surprisingly, is the phone to go for if you want a pure Android experience. The ZenFone 6 has a custom interface called ZenUI 6, but it looks and feels very similar to vanilla Android.

The Galaxy S10 has Samsung’s custom UI. It looks distinct, with a more specific visual flavor. We’re fans of both the Samsung look and a classic Android style. Trust your eyes on this one.

Camera

In early-mid 2019 at least, the Asus ZenFone 6’s motorized camera seems the most dynamic part of either of these phones. It has a camera duo that doubles as the selfie and standard camera array.

As such it’s different to the Oppo Reno and OnePlus 7 Pro, which have dedicated front cameras that emerge from the top of the frame.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 looks conservative by comparison. It has one front camera and three rear ones, but they are all fixed to the frame. No motion here.

Look a little deeper and you’ll see the Galaxy has its own compelling features. Its main camera has a dual aperture lens. It’s f/1.5 in low light, f/2.4 in bright sunlight.

Its triple rear array also lets you shoot ultra-wide and 2x zoom photos, using solid 12MP and 16MP sensors. The ZenFone 6’s extra camera is a 13MP ultra-wide. Any zoomed images use “lossy” digital zoom.

When the Asus ZenFone 6 has a 48-megapixel camera, applying a little digital zoom doesn’t sound like a bad idea. However, in our experience the IMX586 sensor used here (and in several 2019 phones) does not tend to render much more useful image data at 48-megapixel resolution than it does at 12MP. We’d still rather have a proper “optical” zoom.

This sensor is not as good as the 40-megapixel one of the Huawei P30 Pro. You can tell from the mid-price phones that use it, including the £269 (about $350 / AU$500)  Motorola One Vision.

This sensor is designed to “pixel bin”, where four pixels on the sensor create one in the actual image.

Look out for more Asus ZenFone 6 camera insights in our upcoming full review. We have doubts as to whether it can really beat the lovely Galaxy S10 rig, but for the price it has the potential to be a little stormer.

Battery

In some areas, Samsung’s years of fine-tuning and the higher overall cost may see the Galaxy S10 beat the ZenFone 6. But Asus has the jump on battery power.

The ZenFone 6 has a massive 5000mAh battery. Asus says it lasts two “non-stop use” days, or for 33.3 hours of calls. We can’t think of anyone we’d want to talk to for that long, though. 

If we can’t get it to last a full two days of normal use, we’ll be gravely disappointed. 

This is particularly important if you live in the UK or Europe. The version of the Samsung Galaxy S10 sold there is the Exynos variety, and its longevity is disappointing. 

You can drain its 3400mAh battery fairly easily in a day.  It’s one key reason for heavy users to consider the Asus. 

Both phones have fast charging, although the Asus’s will likely take significantly longer to recharge thanks to its huge capacity. Want wireless charging? Better buy a Galaxy S10 because the Asus ZenFone 6 does not have this feature.

Takeaway

The Asus ZenFone 6 is a stranger phone than the Galaxy S10. No doubt about that.

But some of you may find it easier to live with too, particularly if you’d end up with the lower-stamina Exynos version of Samsung’s flagship. Its 5000mAh battery should last like few others. 

The Asus ZenFone 6’s flip-around camera is bizarre even by the standards of motorized cameras, but at the least it’s a conversation piece. And it has real benefits for regular vloggers too. 

Would we pick it over the Galaxy S10 if they were the same price? No, most likely not. But it has cost on its side too, making it an interesting choice for the more ambitious phone buyer. 

• Read our hands on Asus ZenFone 6 review

Image Credit: TechRadar

Unlike the best gaming keyboards or gaming mice, the best racing wheels are decidedly niche. That doesn’t mean that these gaming racing wheels aren’t worth your time – especially if you play a lot of racing games or sims.

While low-end racing wheels might remind you of those old racing arcade games, the best racing wheels will make it feel like you’re actually driving a race car. It all comes down to a feature called force feedback, with a series of motors giving the wheel some resistance, simulating what you’d feel when tearing up the track in a mini cooper (or whatever your favorite car is).

But, what is the best racing wheel on the market right now? Well, we here at TechRadar have gathered up all the best racing wheels you can buy today. So, from Thrustmaster to Logitech, we’ll make sure all the biggest and best racing wheels are covered.

For years Logitech made virtually the default console race wheels - the Logitech G25 and G27 were crackers. 

The Logitech G29 (PS4) and G920 (Xbox One) are great too, but are quite similar to those older wheels. That comes with good and bad parts. 

First, the G29 is a lot more affordable than the direct Thrustmaster alternatives, the T300 series wheels. The quality of the wheel itself is great too. 

There’s a metal core and leather stitched over the parts your hands grip. Fanatec and Thrustmaster charge a lot more for leather wheels.

The Logitech G29 gets you higher-end extras at no extra cost. Its pedal board is much better than anything else at the price too, with a board that has a clutch and very solid metal plates. It’s not plastic rubbish. 

There is one reason to prefer a Thrustmaster wheel, though. The Logitech wheels still use a completely gear-based system for their force feedback rather than belts. While it’s very powerful, you can feel this geared effect as you turn the wheel, as its motion is a bit notchy rather than completely smooth. 

After a while you get used to it, but it makes the whole experience that bit less realistic; unless you drive a Flintstone’s era car it shouldn’t feel notchy, right?

The Logitech G29 is also a bit noisier than the more expensive belt-driven models.

The Logitech G920 is pretty much the same as the G29 above, except it's for use with the Xbox One while the G29 is for use with the PlayStation 4.

Like it's PS4 counterpart, the G920 is more affordable than Thrustmaster wheels but still boasts great quality. However it also comes with the same downfall of being a bit nosier than most wheels on the market.

The Thrustmaster T300 RS and TX are the ‘default’ enthusiast racing wheels from Thrustmaster, and they’re some of the best around. There’s now an even more expensive T-GT but, as that costs £699/$799, it’s out of reach for most budgets. 

What makes the Thrustmaster T300 RS one of the best racing wheels is the improved force feedback system. It’s not geared, rather using a series of belts that are powered by brushless motors. This gives it that perfect mix of power and smoothness, for a sense of realism and immersion you can’t really beat at the price. 

Any force feedback wheel will add a whole new dimension of fun to reasonably realistic racing games like Forza Motorsport and Driveclub, but at the price these Thrustmasters are the obvious choice. There’s a little gnawing rumble as you fight against the wheel, which is the feel of the motor working, but it’s otherwise great. 

The belt system does cause a fair bit of heat after a while, necessitating a fan system that kicks in after you’ve been playing for 10 minutes or so. However, it’s not too distracting, and quieter than the Logitech G29 in action. 

There are a few downsides to these generally great wheel sets, and it’s all about the parts outside of the wheel base. The steering wheel is solid and very grippy, but uses a rubber grip rather than a leather one. 

Many people will be fine with the material, but after using the G29 we did miss the feel a little. 

The pedals that ship with many variants of the T300 RS and TX aren’t great either, like the set we’ve been using in the pic. The pedal caps are metal, but this is really just a basic plastic construction, without the stiffness of a great board or more advanced features like a high-end progressive brake. 

There’s a solution, but it’s not cheap. These wheels are actually part of a system – you can get other steering wheels and more advanced pedal boards, the T3PA and the fab T3PA Pro. There’s even a manual gearbox if you want a proper old-school driving feel. 

Fresh out of the box the Thrustmaster T300 RS lacks a few of the Logitech G29’s touches, but its force feedback is a lot better.

Much like with the G29 and G920, these Thrustmaster wheels are essentially the same but boast the key difference of working with different consoles. The Thrustmaster TX is for Xbox One and the T300 RS is for PlayStation owners.

Again, the TX boasts a force feedback system and is considerably quieter than the Logitech G29 with a rubber-grip wheel, but it does lack a lot of the little touches that make the Logitech wheels great - including a more comfortable wheel - and the pedals have some issues.

The Thrustmaster T300 RS and TX are the ‘default’ enthusiast racing wheels from Thrustmaster, and they’re some of the best around. There’s now an even more expensive T-GT, but as that costs £699/$799 it’s out of reach for most budgets. 

What makes the Thrustmaster T300 RS and its brothers so easy to recommend is the new force feedback system. It’s not geared, using a series of belts instead, powered by brushless motors. This gives it the perfect combo of power and smoothness, for a sense of realism and immersion you can’t really beat at the price. 

Any force feedback wheel will add a whole new dimension of fun to reasonably realistic racing games like Forza Motorsport and Driveclub, but at the price these Thrustmasters are the obvious choice. There’s a little gnawing rumble as you fight against the wheel, which is the feel of the motor working, but it’s otherwise great. 

Read the full review: Thrustmaster T-GT

While those with plenty of cash to spend should definitely consider the T300 RS and its brothers, there’s also a lower-cost version that still has many of the same benefits at half the price.

So, what are the differences between T150 and T300 RS? The main one is that while the T300 RS has force feedback driven entirely by belts, the T150 uses a combo of a helical gear system and a belt.

Predictably enough, then, the effect is half-way between the Logitech G29 and T300 RS. It’s smooth-ish, but not entirely, and you feel the effect of the geared motor as it pulls against you when you take a corner at high speed. 

Given the price, the results are great, though.

The parts that seem a little cheap in the more expensive Thrustmasters are even more budget-y here, though. All-plastic, flimsy pedals are miles off what you get with the Logitech wheel. Their low-resistance action makes them feel like arcade racer fodder, while the force feedback is definitely deserving of the most navel-gazing of realistic driving sims. 

The exterior of the steering wheel part itself is also all-plastic, without the metal parts that make these wheels seem a bit less toy-like. There are still sports car-like metal spoke shifters behind the wheel, though.

A wheel that packs in a lot of substance if not the luxury touch, the Thrustmaster T150 is probably the best budget wheel around. You can get an even cheaper model, the T80, but as that’s not a force feedback model it’s in a completely different, lower league.

While, for PS4 fans, there’s the Thrustmaster T150; Xbox lovers should pick up the Thrustmaster TMX. They use the same wheel base tech, but have the controls and compatibility chips needed to get on-board with these seemingly picky consoles. 

That means, like with the Thrustmaster T150, you're looking at a great budget wheel with excellent force feedback but downfalls include a notchy feel and pedals that are wanting. 

Fanatec makes some of the best, and most expensive, racing wheels going. The Fanatec CSL Elite is actually one of its more affordable models, made with a mainstream audience in mind, not least because it supports consoles rather than just the PC.

As usual there are different versions for Xbox One and PS4, and the Microsoft version is actually slightly cheaper.

The force feedback is a level above what you get in the Thrustermaster T300 RS too, even smoother and with a more precise feel, a little faster and cleaner. It’s an excellent wheel base, and also has a rev counter, supported by some games.

Fanatec’s pedals are excellent, with seriously tough metal frames and proper progressive brakes, and you can even choose how stiff the brake is. It goes so stiff, in fact, that to really get the most out of the CSL Elite you want a frame into which you screw the pedals. But the price alone tells you this is an enthusiast wheel.

Just looking at the Fanatec CSL Elite, you can tell it’s made by nerdy obsessives. After all, who else would choose that funky grey disco ball effect on the base? Not all will love the look, but at least it’s not super-shiny. 

The included wheel is big, well-made and looks like it could survive the apocalypse. Heck, it wouldn’t look out of place on a Mad Max car. However, Fanatec also makes some much nicer wheels. Like the Thrustmaster wheels, this is part of a system you can upgrade.

The included P1 steering wheel has rubbery grips and no vibration motors in the thing itself – all the effects come from the force feedback motors. Some of the pricier steering wheels (which you can plug into the same base) do have vibration too, though.

You need serious money to get the most out of the CSL Elite, and the basic setup isn’t cheap. But as long as you don’t look too much into what you’re missing with a replacement wheel, you’ll be very happy.

The Hori Apex looks a lot like the other wheels here, but it’s actually rather different. This isn’t a force feedback wheel, relying on rumble instead.

Fire up a game like Project Cars and the Thrustmaster T150 will decimate the Hori for quality of experience. However, the Hori is perfect for arcade racers, some of which only have rumble effects rather than force feedback programmed in anyway. The more expensive wheels are lost on a game like Need for Speed. 

The Hori isn’t. It rumbles when you drift, hit a barrier or car, or go over road markings, but you don’t have to fight with the wheel. There’s a little bit of resistance to turns, and the wheel rights itself when you take your hands off, but there aren’t motors in the base at war with your arms.

As a result, the Hori is also much lighter than any other wheel here. You’ll still need something to clamp it to, but this is the one wheel here that won’t seem hard done by if it’s not treated to a proper frame or wheel stand. 

Clearly made for racers where you’ll use nitrous every 4.5 seconds, it tries harder than the rest to put all the main PS4 buttons at your fingertips; there’s a pair of them right on the wheel rim itself. You can also alter the D-pad to emulate the DualShock’s own D-Pad, or either of the analogue sticks. 

There are good bits, sure, particularly the lower price. However, the Hori Apex (and the Hori Overdrive) is easily the most toy-like wheel in this group. It has plastic gear shifters, fairly cheap plastic pedals and no parts to upgrade. It also has very limited rotation compared with all the other wheels here, turning just 270 degrees rather than 900 or 1080. 

This is what Hori was aiming for, though – it's a maker of arcade gear, and this is clearly an arcade wheel. And while the Logitech G29 makes it look like a toy, it’s miles better than the no-brand £30/$50 racing wheels you may have tried over the years. 

Like others on this list, Hori offers two different wheels depending on the platform you're playing on. While the Hori Apex is for PS4, the Hori Overdrive is for Xbox One. 

Like its PS4 counterpart, the Hori Overdrive is a good budget alternative for those who prefer arcade racing. However, this wheel comes with no force feedback and feels considerable cheaper.

Best racing wheels at a glance

• Logitech G29
• Logitech G920
• Thrustmaster T300 RS
• Thrustmaster TX Ferrari 458 Italia Edition
• Thrustmaster T-GT
• Thrustmaster T150
• Thrustmaster TMX
• Fanatec CSL Elite 
• Hori Apex
• Hori Overdrive

• Ready to rev? Check out the best racing games right now 

Feeling overloaded by the number of gadgets in your home? The best universal remotes bring efficiency, simplicity, and peace to your setup – taking control of all the gadgetry you've got installed without breaking sweat and can be upgraded via their firmware to be compatible with anything you buy down the road.

Of course, like so many other things in life, there's more than just one option out there, and it can be hard to tell whether the cheap remotes out there will be good enough, or if you need to splash out on a $300 / £300 / AU$500 clicking machine.

But to help you from overspending on the best universal remotes, we've put together a complete guide for the gadget – what you need to know, how much you should spend, and which models we really like.

With the rise of voice-activated smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Home, the humble universal remote may have less of a role to play in the living room than it had in its heyday, but until voice controls are advanced enough to take over entirely, there's still plenty reason to palm the remote when you need it.

So, what is the best universal remote, and what makes it worthy of your hard-earned cash?

Best universal remotes FAQs: quick questions answered

• Can universal remotes work on all TVs? Most of the time, yes. But it'll depend on the make and model of your remote and your TV. On the whole, your universal remote should work with all TVs made in the past ten years or so. But it's worth checking out the specific requirements of each before you buy one.
• How do I set up a universal remote control? That depends on the make and model of your universal remote. But on the whole, you'll need to ensure that your remote is fitted with the correct batteries and that you can point your remote at the TV, or other device, you're trying to control. From there, there are a couple of different ways to search for and add new devices, whether that's direct code entry, auto code search, brand code search or manual code search. It'll all depend on which remote you have, so be sure to follow the set-up instructions that come with it.
• Are universal remotes worth it? There are two key scenarios where universal remotes are ideal: either you've lost your original remote and are looking at a pricey replacement, or you're wanting to have fewer remote controls because your AV experience needs streamlining. If you fall into one of those two camps, then yes, they're worth it.

What is a universal remote?

To put it simply, universal remotes are just remote controls – exactly like the ones that come with your TV – but these devices are able to imitate the signals sent by your TV's original remote, AV receiver or other device.

If you're wondering why you should buy one, there are two key scenarios where they're ideal: either you've lost your original remote and are looking at a pricey replacement, or you're wanting to have fewer remote controls because your AV experience needs streamlining.

The best universal remotes are the perfect answer in both cases, and almost every universal remote uses infrared (or IR): the same signal protocol used by remote manufacturers as well.

Take a step up in price, and many mid-tier universal remotes boast companion apps and large databases that let you just select the TV or receiver you have on your mobile device: it's quicker, easier and less of a hassle to add new devices, in case your AV setup ever changes. These remotes will also be able to support a larger number of devices with the one remote, as well as set up custom activities that action several commands at once.

One remote activity, which you might call Watch TV, could turn on your cable box, audio receiver and TV, change the receiver to the right channel and switch your TV to the right HDMI input, for example. Another popular option is to turn all of your equipment off with a single press of a button, but it's really up to you how you configure your remote.

At $250 (£99, AU$449), the Logitech Harmony Elite obviously no small investment – and if you're not absolutely serious about the form and function of your home entertainment setup, then you needn't bother. But for anyone who wants one remote to control just about everything, you'd be hard-pressed to find anything that is both this functional and relatively easy to use out of the box.   

If your setup is complex and you're seeking some automation in your routine, or you just can't stand the sight of a handful of differently-shaped remotes laying on your couch, then the Logitech Harmony Elite might be a luxury worth splashing out for. Despite the occasional hitch, it's a powerful universal remote that can wrangle your audio/visual madness, plus it looks and feels pretty good doing so. 

The uptick in price is fully worth it for the number of devices that can be controlled with the one remote – 15 – compared to cheaper models that only support one.

Those after something even less pocket-draining for their universal remote should check out the Harmony 650, which has a display but no Harmony Hub support, and the Harmony 350, a basic £35/$38 remote that's a classic universal remote but can still combine the functions of eight remotes. 

If you're wanting to save money when shopping for the best universal remote you'll want something like the One For All Essence (which is only available in the UK by the way). These remotes work by utilizing a pattern of button presses to program the remote, selecting the right set of instructions for your hardware.

Manufacturers like Panasonic and Sony have only ever used a couple different patterns of instructions over the last decade or so for most of their TVs, and that means you can just cycle through them until you find the set of instructions that lets you operate the television you're trying to use.

In the US, you'll also see a plethora of low-price remote controls to choose from. And if you're buying for an elderly relative, or want a super-simple remote that only covers the TV basics, then the Doro HandleEasy lets you change volume and channels – it's been around for years, but is a great lo-fi gadget without any added complications. It's very cheap, too!  

If all of that preamble sounds too overwhelming, consider this: you might be holding the answer to your home entertainment solution in your hand right now. 

That's because some phones will also function as universal remotes, although perhaps not the models you may think. They need to have a feature called an IR blaster, which enables them to transmit the same signals as a normal remote control.

These used to be somewhat common, but are now much rarer: current phones with an IR blaster include the Honor 9 and Huawei P20 Plus, and some Xiaomi phones have one too. The common thread is of course that these are Chinese companies.

The most recent mainstream phones to feature IR blasters were the LG G5 and LG V20, while the last flagship Samsungs with IR were the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, and those came out several years ago. These phones have apps that let you configure your own setup, with on-screen buttons for (almost) all your remotes' functions. 

We know people who owned phones with IR blasters a few years ago, but who ended up spending a significant amount of cash on a universal remote, oblivious to their phone's abilities.

Have a phone with an IR blaster? You might want to check out a third-party remote control app like Peel or Sure, as these have a smarter interface than most of the built-in apps you'll come across.

A weakness that the vast majority of universal remotes share is that they can't control most smart home devices, or indeed the Sony PlayStation 4. This is because they use either Bluetooth, RF or Wi-Fi instead of our old friend infrared. 

With that in mind you might not need a universal remote at all: instead, the answer might be to invest in a hub that supports these other standards, and right now you have two major options. 

Logitech offers the best, and the most popular one – the Logitech Home Hub is compatible with Microsoft and Sony game consoles, and a wide range of smart home gadgets including Philips Hue lights. It connects to your home Wi-Fi network, and can be controlled either by a mobile app or one of Logitech's higher-end remotes if you prefer.

Using one of the Harmony series' tasty macro activities, you could therefore set the lighting level for movie night, as well as turning on your AV setup, with a single press on a button... welcome to the future.

Elsewhere, the Broadlink RM and RM Pro are hubs that can control IR and RF (Pro model) devices through a mobile phone app. They're significantly cheaper than the Logitech Home Hub, although as they don't use Bluetooth you can't use them to control a Sony PS4 console.

That gives you another low-cost way to make up for the lack of an IR blaster.

One additional benefit of the Logitech Home Hub system is that you can already control it through Amazon's digital voice assistant Alexa.

If you have an Amazon Echo, or an Echo Dot, or any other product with Alexa built-in, you can add a Harmony skill to it: using this you can say something like "Alexa, tell Harmony to turn on the TV", and it'll do exactly that (we've tried it out as part of our research for this guide, and it works rather well). 

One day we'll be able to control everything over Wi-Fi, but until that day arrives, it's reassuring to see that universal remotes aren't content to become 'retro' gadgets – they’re actually keeping up with the times.

• Got your ultimate remote? Good. Now check out the best TVs out there

If you've already bought into the Apple ecosystem, AirPlay is the wireless streaming standard you're probably using already - but to go with that, you need some speakers: and have we got some fantastic AirPlay speaker for you.

AirPlay (and AirPlay speakers) are back in the headlines, with the protocol appearing on more devices, and AirPlay 2 – the next generation of Apple's own cutting-edge proprietary wireless platform – now on the scene. 

AirPlay 2 turns the streaming standard into a proper multi-room platform, and even adds Siri integration into speakers that never would've had it before.

To prepare you for this imminent renaissance of Apple-friendly wireless speakers, here are the best Apple AirPlay speakers on the market. 

The best AirPlay speakers in 2020 at a glance:

1. Sonos One
2. Libratone Zipp 2 
3. Bowers & Wilkins Formation Wedge
4. Sonos Beam
5. Naim Mu-so Qb
6. Orbitsound Dock E30
7. Riva Arena
8. Apple HomePod
9. Libratone Zipp

The best AirPlay speakers in 2020:

Sonos One started a revolution. It's the first smart speaker that doesn't make users choose between smarts and sound quality (it features both). 

Given that this is a Sonos speaker, you won’t be surprised to hear that the Sonos One sounds pretty fantastic. Throw Elegie by Mouse on the Keys at the speaker, and sound has real punch and energy to it. The song’s kickdrum...well...has kick to it, and drives the energy of the song. It’s an impressive amount of power from such a small speaker. 

The speaker even deals admirably with more complicated pieces of music. Silent Earthling by Three Trapped Tigers sounds clear and crisp, despite the multiple layers of instruments circulating throughout the song. 

Of course, much of what’s written above could also have been said of the original Play:1 when it was first released back in 2013. The real story here is about how voice control is integrated – it is simply wonderfully executed. 

If that wasn't enough, the Sonos One got an update earlier this year, which added AirPlay 2 into what was already a winning speaker. Now you can play any sound from an iPhone or iPad, or Mac computer – including YouTube videos and Netflix movies – on the Sonos One. You can also ask any Siri-enabled device to control Apple Music on Sonos speakers.

Read the full review: Sonos One Review

Although some devices may beat the Zipp 2 for overall fidelity and definition, there isn’t the big gulf in performance you might expect. 

Instead, the Zipp 2 manages to get up to an impressively uncomfortable output level at full blast without a hint of distortion, but maybe just lacks a little mid and low range definition to make it the best in its class.

The Danish design philosophy of less is more, doesn’t quite apply to the Zipp 2 with a connectivity list that’ll make most other smart speakers envious. This makes it almost platform-agnostic, allowing it to handily fit into a lot of existing multi-room arrangements (folks using AirPlay 2 enabled Sonos systems or Apple AirPods look most likely to benefit here). 

Take this into consideration, along with the flexibility its battery brings and its all-round satisfying sound, and you have the smartest multi-room speaker currently out there.

Read the full review here: Libratone Zipp 2 review

It will divide people with its looks, and it will exclude some people with its price, but the Formation Wedge is Bowers & Wilkins doing what it does best, delivering bold looks and bigger sound.

Sound from the Wedge is spread far and wide, without becoming vague or ill-focused, and there’s enough outright power to fill even large rooms with sound. While it’s apparent where the music originates, there’s a much less pronounced ‘sweet spot’ than some less capable wireless speakers generate and the Wedge is an enjoyable listen, no matter where you are in relation to it.

Bluetooth (proper aptX HD Bluetooth, what’s more) is available, as is Spotify Connect. And, of course, Apple AirPlay 2.

Read the full review: Bowers & Wilkins Formation Wedge review

If you're looking for an AirPlay speaker that can not only stream music but tackle TV audio as well, the Sonos Beam is the best option money can buy.

It's a fantastic soundbar for its price, one that takes full advantage of the Sonos ecosystem as well as Apple's, and is a joy to use (and set up, if your television has HDMI ARC). Its smaller form factor means it’s a device that will sit comfortably next to a 32-inch TV, but it’s got enough of a footprint to not be dwarfed by a much bigger set either.

If you're an Apple enthusiast who is also after additional functionality (like Amazon Alexa support and the possibility of multi-room audio via Sonos products), then you can't do any better than this for an AirPlay speaker.

Read the full review: Sonos Beam

Naim makes some of the most stylish wireless speakers available and the Naim Mu-so Qb, a smaller version of the Mu-so soundbar released in 2014, is no exception. 

In simplest terms, it’s an AirPlay-ready speaker cube that adds style to just about any room. And yes, these are our words, not Naim’s. The fabric grille on its sides is curved and a glass-like acrylic block at its bottom makes the Qb look like it’s floating. (Sort of.)

It also has a striking control wheel up top, and lit touch buttons that control playback away from your phone. 

The Naim Muso Qb sound is lively, with great bass for its size, and good soundstage separation for a wireless speaker. It uses tilted drivers to make dispersal as wide and stereo-like as possible. This isn’t just an AirPlay speaker, either: It has Bluetooth, multi-room using the Naim app, a USB port for direct playback and a digital connector that lets you plug in your TV or AV receiver.  

Performance, portability and versatility? It doesn't get much better than this.

Read the full review: Naim Mu-so Qb

The Orbitsound Dock E30 has a lot going for it: This is an AirPlay speaker with quite a few extra features, and while it might not match everyone's home decor, it certainly tries its best to avoid looking like a plain plastic speaker. 

Some highlights of the design are the groove in which you can rest your tablet or phone, and the way you can also wirelessly charge your phone using a Qi panel on the top. Check online to see if your phone supports this standard: if it doesn’t, there’s also a USB port on the front to let you plug-in your charging cable.

The Orbitsound Dock E30 has a different approach to sound too. It uses clever side-firing speakers that separate out the ambient parts of a song’s mix to increase the width of the sound. This occasionally gets confused with some songs, but for the most part the sound is great for a fairly low-profile speaker. 

Read the full review: Orbitsound Dock E30

The Riva Arena is about as close as you can get to a Sonos One with AirPlay on-board. To that point, sound quality is the best feature here. 

Like other Riva speakers, the Arena has carefully crafted mids that make vocals sound well-textured and warm. It doesn’t throw out as wide a soundstage as some, but you can pair two Arenas together, like smart bookshelf speakers. 

This is also a speaker that wants to let you connect anything. It has Bluetooth as well as Wi-Fi/AirPlay, and Spotify Connect too. A 3.5mm aux input on the back lets other devices get involved. 

There’s no battery in the Arena as standard, but you can buy a battery pack that slots onto the bottom for 20 hours of adapter-free use. It’s not cheap, though. And that’s the issue with the Arena: no part of it screams value. 

It’s more expensive than the Sonos One, which may be less flexible without Apple AirPlay, but makes up for it with voice assistant support. 

Read the full review: Riva Arena

Apple’s official AirPlay and Siri speaker is the HomePod. 

As you might expect from Apple, it’s one of the most impressively engineered wireless speakers ever. It’s only 142mm in diameter and 170mm tall, but is home to seven tweeters and one 4-inch woofer/bass driver. 

This array delivers not just 360-degree sound but incredibly deep bass for its size, reaching down to the kind of frequencies many wireless speakers don’t touch. It is almost certainly the best-sounding wireless speaker of its size. 

It looks good, too. A seamless fabric grille covers most of its exterior, and there’s a neat little display on the top that animates as you interact with Siri. 

On the debit side, the HomePod doesn’t have Bluetooth and doesn’t work with Android phones. And while it has the voice control most other speakers here lack, it only works with Apple Music, not Spotify. If you don't mind being locked in to Apple's ecosystem for the rest of time, consider the HomePod the best option out there.

Read the full review: Apple HomePod

The Libratone Zipp is one of the few good battery-powered AirPlay speakers, in part because Wi-Fi (which powers AirPlay) sucks more battery than Bluetooth. It lasts for up to 10 hours between charges, making it a decent pick if you're looking to take your AirPlay powered show on the road. 

And the Zipp part isn’t just a cute design gag – unzip the zipper and you can remove the wool cover and replace it with a different one. 

Sound is great for a relatively small, battery powered speaker, too. It has enough bass power to make nearby objects rattle, and goes very loud without tilting the sound toward one end of the audio spectrum or the other. 

You might not initially think you need a portable AirPlay speaker, but being able to move the Zipp from the living room to the kitchen is a big plus. And stops you from having to buy a full multi-room setup. Libratone does offer multi-room control through the less-than-stellar app, if you feel up to the challenge. 

Read the full review: Libratone Zipp

• Looking for the best Bluetooth speakers? We have you covered

Some of you may be working on your 2019 resolutions. Want to try being vegan for a month, start doing to the gym again or stop stealing from the stationery cupboard at work because it's all getting a bit out of hand? Good for you.

But, as we all know - hand on heart - giant companies are citizens too. According to the 14th amendment, corporations are afforded some of the protections of personhood. So why shouldn't they have to make some New Year's resolutions too?

Here are the 2019 resolutions the smartphone giants should adopt. For their phones. For us. And for the world. Amen.

Stop assuming we can spend half our income on phones

One of the scariest developments in phones over 2018 was the flirting with the $1000/£1000 price boundary. Heck, Apple even sailed right across it with the iPhone XS Max.

How about we get real, and realize that most of us can't, don't want to, or really shouldn't, spend this much on a phone? Sadly, this one is likely to happen as your pledge to go to the gym four times a week, every week.

The latest news suggests we'll see even more expensive phones next year, with 5G models reportedly commanding a $300 premium over this year's priciest phones. 

For those willing to spend that much we ask: how fast do you need to stream YouTube videos, exactly?

Bring back the headphone jack (what did it ever do to you?)

Changes in mobile phone tech usually get us a bit excited. But the whole "ditch the headphone jack" thing? There's not much to excite there.

And why is it happening? You can make water resistant phones with headphone jacks, last time we checked those sockets don't cost $100 in parts, and claims phones can no longer fit them in seem deeply suspicious when the things didn't suddenly get smaller when jack sockets were wrenched out.

Some lobbyists from big headphone must have some dirt on the big phone-makers or something. Saying that, most phone-makers now make wireless earphones or headphones too. 

You won, we all bought wireless sets. Can we just have the jack back now?

Get over this glass obsession

For the past two years, phone makers have nailed glass designs. We've seen matte ones, super curvy ones. There are even phones, like the Google Pixel 3 XL, that you could mistake for aluminium from a distance.

It's time for an intervention. Phone companies need to get over this glass obsession in 2019.

Let's not just roll back onto the familiar combination of aluminium and plastic, though. There are other options out there in the world. The obvious one, as tried and tested as glass or plastic, is magnesium.

There are magnesium alloy tablets and laptops. And this metal is tougher and lighter than aluminium. And unlike glass it won't smash if you drop it on the sidewalk from the wrong angle.

Expandable storage for all

Phone developers can act like annoying live-in parents sometimes. Bear with us on this one.

Don't use something for a while and they quietly file it away into the bin while you're not looking. It happened to IR blasters, now headphone jacks and microSD card slots are in the great cleaner-upper's targets.

Granted, a lot of phones now have lots of storage. But with a half dozen flavors of apocalypse looming, you'll want a good amount of local content stored, loads of storage space and a solar charger handy. Well, unless we manage to scorch the sky, but a stack of 90s club classics and every episode of Friends won't get you too far then anyway.

Bring back the headphone jack. Bring back the microSD slot. The IR blaster can stay in the past, though.

Get over the notch obsession

We're over 18 months into the era of the notch. And phones like the Pixel 3 XL prove maybe it is time for something new. Or old, like no notch at all.

Remember when phones didn't have miniature trunks hanging down from the top of their screens? A half-desperate way to convince us our last phone was out-of-date and in need of a cab to eBay, or the dusty drawer in the spare room? 

Notches make it seem like your screen is bigger without actually making it more useful, as movies, games and articles don't flow around those lines.

But what will we actually get in 2019? The notch will still be around, but top phones will also use punch holes, which are like notches just large enough to fit around the front camera.

Don't forget security

Here's one for the Android phone makers. Android security updates are like taking a ten-minute meditation during busy weeks or forcing yourself to do exercise. You might not feel the difference from missing it once, but you'll be much better off in the long run if you stick to the plan.

Google releases monthly security updates for the Android platform. And how many phones actually get them? Hardly any, not regularly at any rate. Without these updates your mobile is more vulnerable.

Some phones are barely updated after launch, in any fashion. It's time to shape up. We do have to give a prop or two to Sony here, though. Often when we return to a Sony phone to write a feature, there are often a half-dozen updates to trawl through.

Discover camera enlightenment beyond 12MP

For years almost every top phone camera has used a 12MP sensor, usually one made by Sony. Sure, we know this approach works, and increasing resolution adds its own issues, caused by a shrinking of sensor pixels that reduces how much light a sensor gets to make up each pixel in the image.

But it's now time for phone-makers to give up the burdens of 2018 and follow their 2019 bliss, as Gwyneth Paltrow might say when not trying to sell you an avocado enema.

It looks like this progress will happen in 2019 too. And once again it's mostly thanks to Sony. In July it revealed the IMX586, a 48MP sensor for phones.

To the camera traditionalist, this sounds like a bad idea. Tiny sensor pixels means bad low-light performance and dynamic range. However, we're in the era of computational photography, which effectively lets a phone bunch together several of these pixels to boost performance when light isn't perfect.

It'd likely take 12MP images, until you switch on the "Pro" mode and force the full-res capture, which could work brilliantly on a sunny day. And we can't wait to see what the big smartphone names do with it.

Cheap phones deserve color too

Remember a few years ago, roughly 45 years in smartphone terms, during good old days of Nokia Lumia phones? Bright and colorful they were. So cheery they'd put a smile on your face just to look at the cute little palm sized things. What happened to fun, affordable phones? 

Today just about the only phone that brings some of that bold color to the party is the iPhone XR. And if you think that's affordable, you're wrong.

Phone-makers are now pros at making sub-$200 phones seem like ones that would have cost $600 or more a few years ago. But it's time to bring the fun back with some bold shades that don't try to look like the equivalent a TV host's shiny suit. 

Make it bold, make it pastel if you like. Just don't make it all-black.

Use bigger batteries, please (again)

This resolution turns up every year. We still want phones that last longer, between charges. Break it down honestly and you'll probably find this is more useful than 5G, more useful than a slightly better camera or a phone that folds.

Oddly enough, it seems some phone makers actually listened to this one in 2018, and ended up making some real bruisers in the budget category like the Moto G6 Play. A phone that lasts longer is much easier to live with.

It's not necessarily about being able to spend four extra hours poring over Instagram and Twitter, but having the extra juice so you can forget about the thing, without worrying whether it'll have enough power left for some Spotify on the way home. 

The big names in phones need to swallow their engineering pride and let a phone get slightly thicker for reasons other than fitting in a crazy camera or some new hardware most will barely use.

• Folding phones: the future of the smartphone, or just another fad?

2018 was a great year for phones. We saw huge leaps in the power of computational photography, cheap phones that look and feel like they could pass for a model three times the price, and glass designs as far as the eye can see.

Will 2019 top it? Judging by what's coming, quite possibly.

Next year we'll get 5G phones, the first true folding screen model from one of the big names, still more CPU power. And, with any luck, even more progress in phone cameras.

Here are the launches you need to watch out for in 2019 that will bring these goodies.

• The best smartphones of 2018: US | UK | AU | AE

Samsung Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 Plus

When? March 2019

Sure, by the end of 2019 we may end up recommending you buy a Galaxy Note 10 rather than the Galaxy S10. However, it's the Galaxy S10 we'll see first, and it will set the tone for Samsung's 2019 phones.

The big feature here is the follow-up to the notch. Instead of a lip on the top, screens will look as though they've been attacked with a hole punch. While you may be able to make fingerprint scanners that sit behind screens, standard camera sensors aren't designed to deal with that hurdle. That hole is needed.

It looks a bit odd at first glance. But hopefully once your eyes have adjusted it'll stop looking like someone has stolen a tiny portion of your OLED.

• Story so far: Samsung Galaxy S10 | Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus

Sony Xperia XZ4

When? March 2019

Sony has had a bit of a struggle in staying relevant as a maker of top-end phones. In 2018 it did a pretty good job, though, with an OLED screen and a price far lower than some of the direct competition, in the Sony Xperia XZ3.

The Sony Xperia XZ4 may go bold with its screen tech once more, and use a 21:9 aspect display without a notch. This would make the phone arguably the most "cinematic" to date, as it is close to the 2.39:1 anamorphic standard.

Sony reportedly designed a 21:9 phone in 2017, the Xperia X Ultra, but it was never released.

• Read our in-depth Sony Xperia XZ3 review

Huawei P30 Pro

When? March/April 2019

If you're not impressed by Huawei's phones these days, you should be. After the amazing P20 Pro and Mate 20 Pro in 2018, the Huawei P30 Pro is right near the top of our 'most wanted of 2019' list. 

The big question is where Huawei can go next with its camera technology. Early reports suggest it will use a 38-megapixel main camera sensor, the Sony IMX607. However, it will be tough to improve the already-great low-light image quality of the P20 Pro.

From a user experience point of view, though, perhaps speed rather than a drastic image quality change is what Huawei wants. The P20 Pro can take up to 6-7 seconds to shoot a low-light photo. If it can bring that down to a second or two, the P30 Pro will be even more fun to use.

• Huawei P30/P30 Pro: what we want to see

Motorola Moto G7 and G7 Plus

When? March/April 2019

We're in the recommendations game. As much as we love new and exciting tech, telling you which phone, laptop, speaker or graphics card to buy is perhaps our most important job. And that's why the Moto G7 and Moto G7 Plus are so important.

Motorola's G-series phones may not be the flashiest around, but each year since 2013 they've offered some of the best value choices for those after a phone that works well and doesn't cost too much.

The Moto G7 is expected to have a small teardrop notch, to fit more display onto its front, and have at least two cameras on its back.

• All the latest news and rumors: Moto G7 | Moto G7 Plus

LG G8 ThinQ

When? May 2019

LG's early 2018 flagship the LG G7 ThinQ stood out because it had an ultra-wide rear camera instead of the more popular zoomed kind. But nowadays several phones have both a zoom and a wide. Including LG's own five-camera LG V40 ThinQ.

What LG will do next to stay relevant is a head-scratcher. We've written an entire article on what we want from the LG G8 ThinQ.

Right now the price seems the most important part to get right. Sorry LG, but you might struggle if you try to go dollar for dollar against the Samsung Galaxy S10.

• LG G8: what we want to see

Samsung Galaxy X

When? Mid-2019, TBC

The top candidate for strangest phone of 2019 is an easy one to call. It's the Samsung Galaxy X, the foldable phone rumored for half a decade. And it is almost here.

A prototype version of what is presumed to be this foldable monster was seen in 2018 at the Samsung Developer Conference. 

It's effectively a vehicle for Samsung's Infinity Flex display technology, the OLED panel and folding mechanism and makes such a futuristic-looking design possible. OK, so it's "2002-era futuristic", but we still want to give it a try.

You effectively get a phone-shaped handset with a screen on the outside that can open up to reveal a tablet-size display. It's one way to let a phone take on the serious jobs you might otherwise use a laptop for. One snag: it's likely to be hugely expensive, enough to make the Galaxy S10 look cheap.

• Samsung Galaxy X: everything we know so far

OnePlus 7

When? Before end of May 2019

OnePlus thrives on "leaks" and teasers rather than carefully keeping them to a tight pre-release schedule. And we already know the next OnePlus phone, which may be called the OnePlus 7, will have 5G mobile internet.

It will make it one of the first to offer 5G mobile internet. And unless you live in a country with some of the best mobile network infrastructure in the world, it also likely means that extra speed won't be meaningful for a while.

Still, shiny new things still shine. OnePlus let this tease out at Qualcomm's Snapdragon conference in December 2018, suggesting the phone will use the Snapdragon 855 CPU. You can expect existing OnePlus goodies too, like an in-screen fingerprint scanner and, probably, largely glass build.

The one snag is the price. OnePlus has suggested the 5G version of the OnePlus 7 will be $300 more than the norm, so let's hope there's a 4G version for us mere mortals too.

• OnePlus 7 release date, price, news and leaks

iPhone 11 and 11 Max

When? September

As ever, it'll be months before we see anything vaguely reliable leaked about the next iPhone. Apple likes to keep its surprises fresh for the big day, and that big day isn't until (most likely) September.

The roll call of current spurious suggestions about what the iPhone 11 will be like include a pop-up camera module, a TouchBar display on its side and an iPad Pro-like stylus. 

We don't believe a word of it, but we're happy to be proved wrong.

• iPhone 11 release date, price, news and leaks

Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL

When? October

It's too early for any major Pixel 4 leaks. But some references to 2019's upcoming 'first-party' Android have already appeared. Product codenames were spotted in the ARCore developer kit. This is what developers use to make Android AR apps.

"Bonito and Sargo" may be the behind-the-scenes names for the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL. This also suggests they may have next-generation augmented reality abilities. 

Such a feature would work in Google's favor, as it may well mean they have something rivals around at the same time lack.

• Read our in-depth reviews: Google Pixel 3 | Google Pixel 3 XL

Xiaomi Mi 9

When? TBC

This is a very important time for Chinese phone maker Xiaomi. After racking-up massive sales in China and India, the brand is moving further west. It finally made its official UK debut in 2018. 

And while the US may be a tougher proposition thanks to the continuing friction between the US government and Chinese giants Huawei and ZTE, Xiaomi's intentions are clear.

The company has many phone series, but the Xiaomi Mi 9 will be one of its key 2019 flagships. You can expect a large screen, in-screen fingerprint scanner and, most important for many buyers, a lower price than those of Samsung and Apple, for a comparable phone.

• The Mi 8 Pro was the firm's 2018 flagship