Samsung’s second big event of 2022 is fast approaching, and to build hype the company has now launched an official trailer for the next Galaxy Unpacked, in which it shows off the designs of at least two phones, which from the look of them are almost certainly the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.

While Samsung hasn’t mentioned these handsets by name, we’ve long been expecting to see them both at this event on August 10. However, previous teasers had focused specifically on a successor to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3, so seeing a new Z Fold here as well is reassuring.

As for what to expect from these phones. Well, the video only shows brief glimpses of each, but various angles are shown, and some details can be made out.

In the case of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 then (or at least the foldable flip phone believed to be named that), there appears to be two rear camera lenses, along with a flash. That’s in line with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3, and so is the two-tone design on the rear, and the arrangement of ports, buttons, and antenna lines from what we can see here.

Glimpses of the next Samsung Galaxy Z Fold are more fleeting, but this too looks very similar to its predecessor from what we can see. None of which is surprising, since leaks had suggested as much.

Beyond the imagery, this trailer also includes some text that hints at possible improvements. There’s mention of new ways to work and play, new ways to capture life, and new experiences that will forever change our behavior.

Some of that is fairly vague and could just be highlighting the advantages that foldables have over flat phones, but the bit about capturing life is likely a hint at camera upgrades, especially as it’s followed by an image of the Galaxy Z Flip 4’s lenses.

The mention of new ways to work and play meanwhile could be a hint at the rumored S Pen slot in the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4. We should find out for sure on August 10.

Analysis: more than just foldables

While the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 are likely to be the stars of Samsung’s August 10 event, they’re not the only things we’re expecting to see, with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 5 Pro also likely to make an appearance.

These are expected to be top-end wearables with worryingly high prices but big upgrades to battery life.

We may also see other gadgets, such as the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro – though at least one source reckons they’ll land before August 10. Either way, this looks set to be a packed event, and a big deal for Samsung fans.

TechRadar will be covering the launch in full, so make a note in your calendar to head back here then for all the news on what could be some of the best foldable phones and best smartwatches.

Apple has proven itself resistant to the economic challenges a lot of consumer technology companies have faced of late and the opening of a new flagship retail store in one of London's most affluent areas embodies its ongoing success pretty perfectly. We got an early peek inside.

The new Brompton Road Apple Store - nestled in Knightsbridge, amidst designer fashion retailers and just along from famous luxury department store Harrods - is located on the spot of the old Brompton Arcade, which dates back to 1903.

Like the company's other London stores in Regent Street and Covent Garden, the design of Brompton Road pays homage the site on which it's found; with seven meter tall floor-to-ceiling arched glass windows, the shape of which echoes the original arcade. As storefronts go it's hard to miss, especially when you can see what's inside.

Building green

As with the company's original Regent Street location - which opened in London in 2004 and was subsequently refitted in 2016 - Brompton Road's Apple Store features a familiar open-plan layout, dressed in natural materials, designed to reflect the company's green credentials.

Sandblasted Castagna stone lines the walls and pillars, the terrazzo flooring is made from a bio-resin that includes castor oil and recycled glass, and both the tables dressed with iPhones, iPads and Macs, as well as the arched ceilings, are all hewn from sustainable wood; with twelve sizeable ficus trees helping soften the space, with the intention of reminding visitors this isn't solely a retail space.

Located just a stone's throw from one of the city's most centrally-located green spaces, Hyde Park, at launch Apple has dressed the windows with plant-based motifs, blended with some of their most popular products, and attendees from the preview event walked away with a packet of wildflower seeds sporting this same bespoke designs - not the typical thing Apple customers can expect to pick up, when the store formally opens on July 28.

Grab and go

Speaking of picking up, the Brompton Road Apple Store is the first in the country to feature Apple Pickup: a new dedicated area where those who've ordered online can stroll straight in and grab their new Apple gadgets, with staff on-hand to tempt new iPhone owners into picking up a case with their latest purchase, or a fresh set of AirPods.

Beats having to flag down a store rep in amongst the throngs of customers, as can be the case around the launch of new Apple products.

Educate and entertain

Just as with its other flagship locations, Apple's new Brompton Road store will host numerous free events too; with training, talks and more, revolving around areas like fitness and creativity.

To mark opening day, Apple’s VP of Fitness Technologies, Jay Blahnik, is going to be on-hand, accompanied by trainers Cory Wharton-Malcolm, Jamie-Ray Hartshorne, Kim Ngo, and Jonelle Lewis, who'll be leading an Apple Fitness+ Q&A session, followed by a three-kilometer walk and a five-kilometer run around Hyde Park.

Additional sessions including talks on AR (the preview event also marked the launch of the new 'United Visions' AR experience, created for the Getty Museum by Tin&Ed and award-winning producer, Just Blaze), as well as illustration sessions, where attendees will be shown how to create using 'inspiration from the local blooms,' as Apple puts it.

Fans inside and out

The staff in Apple's retail stores are a famously passionate bunch and that rang true based on the interactions we had during the preview event.

The 200-strong team is reportedly comprised of musicians, artists and developers from 26 nationalities, speaking 45 languages, and chatting with a handful of them, there was a tangible sense of excitement surrounding opening day and the interactions they were expecting to have with the initial wave of curious customers.

The stage is set

The Apple Store Brompton Road makes a strong first impression, carrying all of the hallmarks that make the company's other London locations such appealing retail experiences.

There's little doubt that this new store will play host to a familiar line of excited Apple fans in the coming months, when the iPhone 14 series eventually arrives (expected to be around late September). Even if the rumors are true and the iPhone 14 does end up sporting a higher price than its predecessor, nowhere more so in the city of London will a few extra Pounds go unnoticed than in affluent Knightsbridge.

Samsung Galaxy S22 has a new color option, Bora Purple, which reminds us that as phones look and work more alike, it's design accents that matter.

The name is derived from the Korean word for "Purple," which means the actual color name might be "Purple Purple." However, for Samsung, a South Korean company, the term also refers to creativity and "sparking joy."

Looking at and holding the new Samsung Galaxy S22 Bora Purple phone, I don't so much get the joy or creative vibes, but instead, a distinct fuchsia presence. I mean, this color is not a deep purple, but a softer, fuchsia blend, the kind that you might use as a wall covering.

Colors can elicit feelings and the Bora Purple Galaxy S22 does have a lighter, maybe more joyful appearance than Phantom Black, which feels bold and a little intimidating. There are now five color options in total: along with the new Bora Purple and aforementioned Black, there's the Phantom White (a bold choice if it's not summer), Pink Gold (which reminds me of a Rose Gold), and the lovely, rich Green I tested earlier this year.

Aside from a new color, there are no differences in design, function, features, or specs between this new option and the original quad.

In case you've forgotten, the flagship Galaxy S22 Samsung unveiled in February has a 6.1-inch Dynamic AMOLED display, a triple camera array on the back (50MP, 12MP, 10MP), one drill-through 10MP selfie camera on the front, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, 8 GB of RAM, and a 5G option. It's a great phone, though a little small, and it doesn't quite compare to the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, especially in the camera space.

Now, does Fuschia - I mean Bora Purple - fundamentally change how I feel about the phone? No. But for Samsung, adding a color option is like opening the door to another segment of customers who, though possibly impressed with the S22, weren't inspired by the original color choices. Perhaps they thought, "If only it came in purple." Well, now it does.

The color is clear and prominent across the glass back and more faint over the camera array's metal housing. It also appears in a subtle, easy-to-miss hue on the steel band surrounding the chassis that I could see more clearly when I compared the new color phone with its siblings.

I already recommended the S22 in my review. Does a new color raise it a notch? Of course not. But it is a lovely hue that should make someone who needs a little Bora in their lives very happy.

The Samsung Galaxy S22 in Bora Purple arrives on August 10, Samsung's Unpacked Day, for the same prices as all the other S22s: $799 / £769 / AU$1,249 (AT&T, T-Mobile, UScellular, Verizon, and Xfinity Mobile).

When the Google Pixel 6 debuted it brought a new feature in the form of Magic Eraser, which lets you use AI to remove unwanted background subjects in pictures, and the Pixel 6a took it a step further with Camouflage mode. Turns out, this expanded mode is now coming to the earlier Pixel 6 devices.

When the Google Pixel 6a goes on sale on July 28, the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will be getting an update that brings Camouflage mode with it - confirmed to The Verge by a Google spokesperson.

Camouflage mode in Magic Eraser doesn't remove an unwanted object but instead tweaks the colors so it isn't as obvious, usually by dropping the saturation. This method isn't as prone to failure as the AI-powered standard Magic Eraser mode, which can often leave noticeable smudges when the AI doesn't quite work out what was meant to be in the background.

This new mode coming to Pixel 6 devices should give owners of those older phones an extra camera tool to play around with, and is another in a long line of updates that Google has given to its flagship phones.

Analysis: making the Pixel 6 an even more tempting buy

In our Google Pixel 6a review, we pointed out that a year of Pixel 6 price cuts made the older phone roughly similar in terms of price to the newer one - despite the Pixel 6a ostensibly being a budget version.

And with Pixel 6a features finding their way over to the Pixel 6, there's one more reason to opt for the superior older phone over its budget alternative.

That's as long as the Google Pixel 6a's price remains stable after it launches - when 'cheap' phones like this are overpriced on launch, we often see the companies cut the prices quickly after only a month or so on sale. So maybe towards the end of the year we'll see the Pixel 6a get a more tempting price point.

Until then, though, the Google Pixel 6 is by far the best phone out of the two.

Apple is reducing the price on a number of its biggest mobile products in the next few days - including the iPhone 13 series. These discounts will only be available to customers in China, though.

Although we're used to seeing reductions from third-party retailers, Apple is famously resistant to offering price drops on its own wares (outside of a recurring student discount in select markets), making these forthcoming cuts a surprising move and raising questions about the potential for such deals elsewhere.

As spotted by Bloomberg, from July 29 to August 1 Apple is hosting what it's calling its Summer Shopping Event, which sees a CNY 600 (around £75 / $90 / AU$130) cut on the price of all four iPhone 13 models, a CNY 500 (£60 / $75 / AU$105) reduction on the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini, CNY 200 (£25 / $30 / AU$40) off the iPhone SE (2022) and Apple Watch SE, CNY 250 (£30 / $35 / AU$55) off AirPods Pro, and CNY 150 (£18 / $22 / AU$32) off AirPods 3, available to customers who use specific payment methods, including Alipay.

In the shadow of COVID-19, many established players in China's mobile market have run into challenges, including temporary shut-downs and supply chain upsets, paired with weaker product demand from consumers, rising manufacturing costs, and inflation. Apple, however, saw market share growth in the last quarter - between April and June.

Analysis: why just China?

While it might seem unfair that Apple is dishing out deals that fans outside of China can't get their hands on, the company clearly closely monitors the conditions of each market it sells in and makes very different decisions, often informed by local factors.

The price of the iPhone actually increased in Japan recently - as the value of the yen dropped against the dollar to a 24-year low (again, via Bloomberg) - while the iPhone SE (2022) was made more expensive for consumers in the US, compared to its 2020 predecessor, when it launched back in March.

The silver lining is that, in many markets, even if it hasn't made them cheaper, Apple has made the process of being able to afford one of the best smartphones on the market a little bit more palatable, with options including installment plans that offer 0% interest.

Even if Apple isn't offering you a deal, there are iPhone discounts to be had from third-party retailers. Start your search by checking out our best iPhone deals available right now.

Leaks hinted towards it, but now the company has confirmed it: the upcoming OnePlus 10T will be the first main-series OnePlus phone to arrive without an alert slider. It's an intriguing shift of focus for the company.

The news comes directly from OnePlus, which has been frantically detailing information on its new phone ahead of the official launch on August 3. In a forum post, OnePlus defended its decision to lose the feature, blaming new features coming with the phone.

"Our users expect OnePlus devices to have high wattage charging, a large battery capacity, and better antenna signal. To excel in each of these three areas, the space inside the OnePlus 10T needs to be occupied by new technology."

This line of reasoning does make sense - there's only a certain amount of space within a phone, and unless a brand is willing to make a huge mobile (which apparently OnePlus isn't), sacrifices must be made.

Alert sliders were popularized by iPhones, but in the Android phone world, OnePlus has been the real champion of them. They're a physical slider that you can use to easily jump among silent, vibrate, or full-volume ringing modes, which saves you from having to unlock your handset and change these settings if you go into a meeting or want to catch a call.

Most recently, the OnePlus 10 Pro had the slider, though we should point out that the feature isn't used in the company's mid-range and cheap OnePlus Nord devices.

Analysis: clearly an unpopular decision

This decision hasn't gone down well with OnePlus fans.

In comments in the forum thread, many fans expressed displeasure, with some accusing the brand of stripping away the uniqueness of its devices, and one pointing out the irony of the brand's slogan (Never Settle) when it's going to remove features like this.

Still, it's possible that those fans will change their tune when the mobile launches. 

Fast charging, in particular, is a popular feature among phone fans right now, and OnePlus debuted 150W fast charging in phones earlier in 2022. So, it's very possible that the 10T will get it, too.

We'll need to see what hardcore OnePlus fans say beyond August 3 when the company launches its next mobile. Be sure to check back then, as we'll have our initial impressions on whether this could join our ranking of the best smartphone.

OnePlus' hype machine is rumbling into action - the company likes to slowly drip-feed information before each phone launch, and the OnePlus 10T is currently getting the treatment. We recently learnt about its launch date (August 3), and now the company has confirmed a load of camera specs for the 10T too.

This comes from the OnePlus Community forum, where the company posted a long thread, taking a deep-dive into the 10T's rear camera hardware and processing abilities.

We now know that the main camera sports a 50MP resolution, using Sony's IMX766 sensor. We've seen loads of affordable phones utilize this sensor, as it performs admirably well in low-light conditions. OnePlus' sister-brand, Realme, has utilized it to great effect in budget mobiles like the Realme C35 and Realme 9 Pro Plus.

Recently, we saw the Nothing Phone 1 use this sensor too. This was the debut smartphone of tech startup Nothing, which was formed by OnePlus' co-founder Carl Pei, and there's certainly a bit of rivalry between the two brands.

Joining that main camera are two additional sensors, one with an ultra-wide lens and the other with a macro one, and we're a little more apprehensive about these. Nearly every budget phone goes with a 'high-res main camera, low-res ultra-wide, useless macro/depth sensor' combination, and it sounds like the OnePlus 10T will be just the same.

This particular lens combination usually doesn't bring as much photographic versatility to the overall experience, especially compared to what a telephoto or periscope lens would offer, however, even though such zoom modules are often more expensive, phone makers seem to prefer to ship more affordable phones with mediocre secondary and tertiary sensors, rather then serve them up with the solo (more capable) primary snapper.

One other thing of note, is that the OnePlus 10T won't continue the Hasselblad partnership that the last few generations of the company's flagships (including the OnePlus 10 Pro) have had. The company says this is because "we wanted to offer an ultimate performance flagship smartphone experience at the device’s chosen price point." which likely means that the Hasselblad branding would have cost the company too much to be worth it.

Analysis: if the price is right...

We generally see OnePlus' T series phones launch as updated versions of the existing flagship model of a respective year, but with slight improvements across a few areas. As such, they generally cost as much as - or more than - their earlier-in-the-year counterparts.

We're hoping that's not going to be the case for the OnePlus 10T - lots of the leaks, and now these confirmed specs, make it seem a lot more like a mid-range device with a powerful heart, than an enhanced OnePlus 10 Pro.

That makes sense given the aforementioned Nothing Phone rivalry, as that mobile costs £399 / €469 / AU$749, which is a lot less than the 10 Pro did, when it first launched. 

So although the camera specs may inspire a mixed reception, if the phone has a competitive price, it might be worth writing off just yet. Perhaps we'll see a main-series OnePlus device on our list of the best cheap phones, for once.

While some questions have been answered about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 – the launch date is set for August 10, for example – there's still plenty that we don't know, including how much these phones are likely to cost.

Retailer listings published ahead of time and picked up by GSMArena show prices for these two phones that are marginally higher than the ones we saw for their predecessors last year. The difference isn't great but it is there.

Speculation about how much the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 will cost has been swirling for months, and while it's disappointing that Samsung hasn't been able to bring costs down, at least we're not seeing a huge price hike (according to this leak).

The price is right?

According to the unconfirmed retailer listings that have popped up, the Z Fold 4 will cost you €1,864 for the cheapest model, the one with 256GB of internal storage. That's an increase of €64 over the €1,800 starting price we saw for the Z Fold 3.

As for the Z Flip 4, that's apparently going to start at €1,080 for the variant with the 128GB storage, which is again a small increase – the 128GB Z Flip 3 that Samsung launched last year originally went on sale for €1,049.

You still need to convert those figures into your own currency – we haven't done that here as Samsung is unlikely to use a straight currency conversion – but expect small increases over the previous starting prices of $1,799 / £1,599 / AU$2,499 (Z Fold 3) and $999 / £949 / AU$1,499 (Z Flip 3).

Analysis: pricing is key

The price of any smartphone is an important factor in how appealing it is to potential buyers, but that's especially true when it comes to foldable phones: these handsets need to win over people who are used to their standard, affordable smartphone designs.

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Galaxy Z Flip 3 actually managed to bring prices down compared with the models that came before them, so it's something of a shame that Samsung hasn't managed to repeat the trick in 2022.

That said, we can understand the challenges: folding phones are much more challenging to engineer than phones that use a traditional form factor, and then there are all the supply and labor problems brought on by the global pandemic we're living through.

With that in mind, it's actually impressive that Samsung has managed to keep pricing more or less the same – assuming that the information in this new leak is accurate of course. We'll find out for sure on August 10.

• Samsung's new foldable announcement has me excited for the Galaxy Z Fold 4

T-Mobile and Apple have launched a new tariff in the US for small businesses that combines devices, wireless connectivity, and enterprise-grade applications and support, hoping to capitalise on demand for flexible and mobile working.

Business Unlimited Ultimate+ for iPhone includes an iPhone 13 handset with 200GB of 5G data and Apple Business Essentials, a package of device management software, support and cloud backup and storage.

Organisations can set up and change employee plans when required, remotely wipe a lost or stolen device, and determine which apps and updates go to which employee devices. 

5G FWA broadband

On top of this AppleCare+ provides 24/7 support and on-site repairs within four hours.

T-Mobile also offers unlimited Wi-Fi on selected airlines and inclusive roaming in 210 countries.

“Teaming up with Apple is just one more way we can support small businesses as they continue to be the source of countless jobs and innovations across America,” said Callie Field, President, T-Mobile Business Group.  “

We’re always looking for ways to provide more value to our customers and working with Apple gives us the opportunity to tackle a whole new pain point for small businesses — IT management.”

"Apple is committed to helping small businesses thrive, and we’re proud of the longstanding relationships we’ve built with this community,” added Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Enterprise Product Marketing.

“Apple Business Essentials helps small businesses manage the entire lifecycle of their Apple products — from device management and storage, to support and repairs — so they can focus on running and growing their business.”

• Here are the best iPhone deals

Although Motorola has been teasing the release of the next Razr foldable for some time, the company has now officially set a launch date for the arrival of its next foldable of August 2.

The 'dual flagship' event that Motorola shared news of via Chinese social media platform Weibo is also set to play host to the launch of the Moto X30 Pro, which will reportedly be the world's first phone with a 200MP camera.

Samsung recently confirmed the date of its next launch – August 10 – at which we're expecting to see the new Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4, however, Motorola's new announcement places the Motorola Razr 3's launch date ahead of Samsung's by eight days. The caveat is that Motorola's dual flagship launch looks to be a China-exclusive for the time being, while the Korean company's new foldables are thought to be releasing in multiple markets, internationally, from the outset.

Analysis: more widespread and affordable

Unlike the last two generations of Razr foldable, Motorola is thought to be dressing the Razr 3 with more traditional flagship-class hardware, up from the mid-range internals that we saw on the 2019 and 2020 models.

The main difference is expected to be the move to a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, while the phone is also set to sport a 6.7-inch 120Hz AMOLED main display, a 3-inch cover display, a 50MP main camera paired with a 13MP ultrawide and up to 512GB of internal storage.

Although this spec sheet suggests that Motorola is finally addressing the current Razr line's biggest shortcomings, it may be a case of too little too late.

Samsung's Z Flip clamshell foldable line now sets the pace for this particular form-factor and based on the announcement article Samsung's Dr. TM Roh, President & Head of MX Business shared on July 21, fans can expect more of what the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 brought to the table: high-end performance with increased affordability.

The Z Flip 3 launched at a price of $999 / £949 / AU$1,499, while the next Motorola Razr 3 is expected to clock in at around $1,399 / £1,399 / AU$1,900, despite a hardware rundown that – although showing improvement – doesn't render it the most competitive clamshell to Samsung's forthcoming Z Flip 4.

The Oppo Find X6 could be one of the best phones of 2023 – or at least the Oppo Find X6 Pro might be. After all, the Oppo Find X5 Pro is currently taking up a spot on our list of the best phones, so there’s every chance its successor will do the same.

This upcoming line doesn’t have the same level of hype around it as the likes of the OnePlus 11, let alone the Samsung Galaxy S23 or iPhone 14, but there’s every chance it will be able to compete with them in terms of specs and performance, so the Oppo Find X6 is worth paying attention to.

So far, we haven’t heard much about this phone (or its likely Pro and Lite siblings), but we have heard a few things, all of which you’ll find below – and we’ll add to this article as soon as we hear more.

We’ve also included a list of the things we most want from the Oppo Find X6 line, to make it as good as possible.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? The next line of flagship Oppo phones
• When is it out? Probably March 2023
• How much will it cost? Unknown

Oppo Find X6: release date and price

While there’s no news on the Oppo Find X6’s release date yet we can take a good guess, as the Oppo Find X5 and Oppo Find X3 lines (there was no Find X4) went on sale in March of their launch years.

So March 2023 seems highly likely for the Oppo Find X6 – along probably with the Oppo Find X6 Pro and Oppo Find X6 Lite, since the standard model, Pro and Lite were all announced at the same time in the Find X5 line.

The actual announcement could be in late February though, as it was with the Find X5 series. But either way, sometime towards the end of the first quarter of 2023 seems very likely for when we’ll see the Oppo Find X6.

There’s no information on what the Oppo Find X6 line might cost, but the phones could have similar prices to the current models.

For reference then the Oppo Find X5 starts at £749 / AU$1,399 (around $920), the Find X5 Pro costs £1,049 / AU$1,799 (roughly $1,285), and the Oppo Find X5 Lite costs £399 / AU$799 (around $490).

The lack of US pricing is because Oppo doesn’t have much presence in the US, so don’t count on easily being able to buy the Find X6 line there.

In any case, the prices above probably won’t be exactly right for the upcoming models, but we doubt the Find X6 line will be much more expensive, as the Find X5 and Find X5 Pro are already on the pricey side for the specs they offer.

Oppo Find X6: news and leaks

The Oppo Find X6 might charge incredibly fast, as Oppo has unveiled both 150W and 240W charging tech – though it hasn’t confirmed that either technology will appear in this line of phones. The latter though can fully charge a 4,500mAh battery in just 9 minutes.

According to Nikkei Asia meanwhile, Oppo might start putting its own chipsets in smartphones from either 2023 or 2024, so there’s a chance these could be ready in time for the Oppo Find X6 line. Current models use a mix of Snapdragon and Dimensity chipsets, which are the main two chipset lines used by most Android phone makers.

It’s unclear whether Oppo’s own chipsets would be any better, but this switch could help the company avoid shortages and disruptions.

Oppo Find X6: what we want to see

The Oppo Find X5 line is largely impressive, but there are certainly ways that the Oppo Find X6 series could be a lot better, including the following.

1. A longer distance zoom

While the Oppo Find X5 Pro is a top-tier smartphone in many ways, it’s lacking on the zoom front, with just a 2x optical zoom. Most high-end handsets have at least three times, and some such as the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra go all the way up to 10x.

So we’d like to see at least 3x zoom on the Oppo Find X6 Pro – but even longer distance optical zoom, or a range of zoom levels, would be better. Ideally those changes would also come to the standard Find X6, as the Find X5 is stuck at 2x optical zoom as well.

2. Lower prices

The entire Oppo Find X5 line is quite expensive for what you get, particularly considering that Oppo doesn’t quite have the brand name appeal of Samsung or Apple. So if the company really wants to compete in 2023 then we’d like to see lower prices for its next wave of phones.

That’s especially true for the Find X6 and Find X6 Pro, as they’re sure to be competing with heavy hitters like the Samsung Galaxy S23 line and the OnePlus 11 Pro.

3. Water resistance

The Oppo Find X5 Pro has water resistance, but the standard Oppo Find X5 doesn’t, despite carrying a fairly high-end price.

We can live with no water resistance on the Lite model, but we really want to see some on both the Oppo Find X6 and the Find X6 Pro, as many rivals at these sorts of prices do have it, and when you’re spending that sort of money you don’t want to have to fear a little rain.

4. A microscope camera

The Oppo Find X3 Pro had an unusual camera setup in that it included a microscope camera, which let you take super-close-up pictures of tiny details. We were disappointed to find this absent from the Find X5 line, as while it’s a bit of a novelty it works well and helped the Find X3 Pro’s cameras stand out.

So we’d love to see it make a return – perhaps with some improvements – for the Oppo Find X6 line.

5. Wider availability

The Oppo Find X5 and its siblings aren’t sold in the US, which is a real shame, as they’re excellent smartphones that are sure to appeal to many people there.

It’s probably unlikely that the situation will change for the Oppo Find X6, as gaining a foothold in the country likely isn’t easy, but we’d love to see Oppo try.

• Check out all the best Oppo phones

Ericsson has completed its €6.2 billion acquisition of cloud-based communication specialist Vonage in a move that will allow it to expand beyond telecoms and into enterprise services.

The deal was first agreed back in November but had been subject to an investigation by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

Now that the probe has concluded without any impediment, Ericsson has finalised the largest transaction in its history, building on the $1.1 billion takeover of edge networking firm Cradlepoint in 2020.

Ericsson Vonage

The Swedish telecoms equipment manufacturer believes there is an opportunity for it to diversify revenues and to add value by integrating its 5G technology into Vonage’s cloud-based communication tools and services.

Vonage offers cloud-based unified communications services to businesses but 80% of its annual $1.4 billion revenue comes from the Vonage Communications platform (VCP) which used is used by more than 120,000 businesses.

The VCP offers APIs that allow developers to embed high quality communications, whether its text, voice, or video, into their applications without the need to invest in infrastructure.

Ericsson believes it can bring cellular connectivity and other technologies to this platform, enhancing the power of the tools that Vonage offers and allowing telcos to benefit from their investments in 5G through new services.

In addition to increasing R&D spend, Ericsson plans to offer Vonage’s unified communications services to its operator partners as white label products, expanding their offerings and increasing revenues.

“In the future, network capabilities will be consumed and paid for through open network APIs, creating the opportunity for unparalleled innovation,” said Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm. “We have already launched the first network API, Dynamic End-user Boost, based on existing 4G infrastructure … and we aim to launch the first 5G network APIs in the coming year.

“We will continue to create new, enhanced applications and services for enterprises, while driving continued innovation on Vonage’s UCaaS and CCaaS applications, helping businesses create new digital experiences for better communications, connections and engagement.”

The acquisition also strengthens Ericsson’s presence in the US, where it is a partner for the major operators, and has manufacturing and development operations.

• Here are the best 5G phones around right now

It looks like Samsung could be taking a quality over quantity approach to the cameras on some of its upcoming phones, as a report suggests that the Galaxy A54, Galaxy A34 and Galaxy A24 will all have one fewer lens each than their predecessors.

Specifically, TheElec claims that none of these phones will have a depth sensor, leaving them with triple-lens setups where the Samsung Galaxy A53, Galaxy A33 and Galaxy A23 all have quad-lens camera configurations.

That’s good news, as while a decent depth sensor isn’t a total waste of time, (as it can aid with portrait shots and the like), the ones on cheap and mid-range handsets tend to be total filler that add little to nothing to the camera’s performance.

Of course, if Samsung was removing the depth sensors but keeping everything else the same that wouldn’t be great either, but according to this report the company will focus on strengthening the core camera offering. So presumably the money saved by not including a depth sensor will be pumped into the other lenses or sensors.

Speaking of which, apparently the Samsung Galaxy A54 will have a 50MP primary camera, a 5MP ultra-wide one, and a 5MP macro one, while the Galaxy A34 is said to have a 48MP primary camera, an 8MP ultra-wide, and a 5MP macro. Finally, the Galaxy A24 will supposedly get a 50MP primary camera, an 8MP ultra-wide, and a 5MP macro.

In terms of megapixel numbers then the Samsung Galaxy A24 will oddly be in the best shape if this is right, despite presumably being the cheapest of these phones, while the most premium – the Galaxy A54 – reportedly has the fewest total megapixels.

But that just goes to show that megapixels aren’t everything either. If they were then Apple’s 12MP handsets wouldn’t keep ranking among the best camera phones.

As well as potentially leading to camera improvements, ditching the depth sensor could also reduce costs – though whether those savings will be passed on to consumers remains to be seen.

As for when you might be able to buy these phones, the Samsung Galaxy A34 will apparently land in March, with the Galaxy A54 said to land in April. There’s no word on when the Samsung Galaxy A24 might launch, but the Galaxy A23 landed in March of this year, so a launch around March 2023 seems likely.

Analysis: less is more

This news is promising, assuming this report is accurate, as while a quad-lens camera might make for a good bullet point on the specs box, the actual quality of the cameras is likely to be improved by this change.

Ideally, it would be good to see Samsung go even further and ditch the macro cameras on those phones. Macro lenses on cheap phones also tend to be filler, and as these are reportedly just 5MP we’re not optimistic that they’ll be any good. So it would be nice to see Samsung either skip the macro lens or focus on making it actually worthwhile.

But this is a step in the right direction anyway and could help these handsets compete with the best cheap phones – most of which currently have either triple or quad-lens cameras, with some filler.

Meta has announced an update to its Facebook app on iOS and Android, where a feeds tab will appear at the top of the app, allowing you to filter the feed for your friends, your Pages, or anything else.

As confirmed in a post by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, you can also add certain friends and pages to a new 'Favorites' list, allowing you to cut back from the memes and other bits of content you find yourself scrolling through subconsciously.

Whether you're on iOS or Android, you'll see this tab at the top or the bottom of the app where you can create these lists. There's also a 'Home' list in this tab, which shows you an overview of the latest posts when you launch the app.

This looks as though it's another concerted effort to give users on Facebook more control over what they see on the social platform, and it's further proof of Meta doubling down on helping users view what they want.

Analysis: Giving you more control over what you see

Customization in Facebook's app has been something that's been difficult to do. For too long, Meta has believed that users should trust its algorithm to curate the content it thinks you would like to see.

Recently, there have been ways to view your feed with the latest posts, or top posts, but that's all you've been able to do. With these new tabs, it's encouraging to see that there's more power being given to users to essentially create their own feeds, but Meta has made it clear that there will be ads in these regardless.

But after so long of users wanting these features, it may be a small price to pay to catch up with your friends in an easier-to-read feed.

After being in testing, the ability to transfer your full WhatsApp chat history from an Android phone to an iPhone is available in an update to Apple's Move to iOS app.

This means that all of your photos, videos, voice messages, and chat history since you installed WhatsApp can now be moved over, alongside being able to do the same vice-versa.

It's a feature that's been long-requested by users, as before, you would have had to manually transfer your content to an iPhone, or use a third-party app on a laptop. However, Apple and Meta have clearly found a way to make this work on Move to iOS, free to download on the Google Play Store. It's going to mean much less of a headache when someone wants to switch from an iPhone to Android, or vice versa.

Analysis: A feature long awaited

In what almost feels like another life, I used to work at a phone store where I'd help to set up and transfer customers' data from their old phones to a new one, and WhatsApp was always a challenge to make sure everything transferred from one device to the other.

There were times when I'd have to transfer individual files from one Android device to another through Bluetooth, or if it was from Android to iOS, I'd try to transfer the media, but admit defeat that transferring the chat history was next to impossible.

Thanks to this update for Move to iOS, that's no longer a problem. It's now just an additional step in the app when you're transferring your contacts and other personal data.

WhatsApp has stated in a post that you must have your Android phone updated to version 5 at least, and your new iPhone at iOS 15.5, alongside the latest WhatsApp version on your Android device.