Review Rebuttal | Mobiles365

Apple iPhone 12 review rebuttal: from an Android user’s perspective

Posted on November 12, 2020November 12, 2020 by Prakhar Khanna

Our initial iPhone 12 review was published on our website and YouTube channel. This review rebuttal is a different perspective on the same device.

I’ve been an Android user for my whole life since I got my first smartphone in 2012. Later, I purchased the iPhone 6s in 2016, but there wasn’t much to like apart from the cameras, so I switched to the OnePlus 3T. At that point in time, you needed to spend almost double the amount on an iPhone for the features that you could get on an affordable Android (read OnePlus) smartphone. It’s 2020, and while Android is more flexible, it is no more objectively better than the Apple offerings, and here’s why in our iPhone 12 review rebuttal.

Unlike previous years, the iPhone 12, which is the least expensive 6-inch+ iPhone of 2020, provides almost the same experience as the Pro variant. You no longer need to compromise on display and camera quality to purchase the latest iPhone on a budget. In my 11-day usage, I never once had the urge to switch back to Android. Here’s why I think Apple has released an iPhone that could sway many Android users like me to the Apple ecosystem with the iPhone 12.

iPhone 12 review: Design and Display

Right out of the box, you’ll notice how compact the iPhone 12 actually is. I never thought I’ll be calling a 6.1-inch display clad phone “compact” but with time, the perspective for the term has changed. In a world of 6.7-inch+ Android smartphones, the iPhone 12 is a breath of fresh air. It fits well in one hand, and the thumb can reach the top of the display without doing any acrobatics. Despite the same display size, the iPhone 12 is smaller than the iPhone 11 and lighter than any of the Android flagship that I’ve used in 2020. It weighs just 162 grams.

The phone sports flat edges with aluminum railings on all four sides. There’s no fancy curved glass and your palm won’t touch the display. It will mostly rest on the edges. When I hold my phone, my pinky finger sits at the bottom of the device, and if you are anything like me, you won’t have troubles reaching the top of the display.

The volume rockers, speakers, power button all reside at their usual position, while the back is made of glass. It attracts smudges, but I like using the phone without a case for its size. Coming to the front, there’s a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display that comes with a resolution of 2,532 x 1,170 pixels. The display itself looks gorgeous, the blacks are deep and the colors are bright. It is easily visible under direct sunlight and goes down to a level where it’s easy for the eyes to read books on the Kindle app before sleeping.

In my opinion, the display is a huge leap forward from the LCD display of the iPhone 11. However, when you compare it with the latest Android smartphones, it doesn’t look like much of a leap. It still comes with a 60Hz refresh rate. By 2020 standards, 60Hz might look like an outdated number on paper, but it’s a different story when you experience the device. I’m not saying you won’t notice the absence of 120Hz but the iPhone 12’s 60Hz display feels smoother than the 60Hz display on any other Android smartphone. Hence, it is not a deal-breaker.

There is still a notch at the top that houses the selfie shooter and the tech for Face ID. It’s obtrusive while watching videos, to say the least. Meanwhile, it is quite useless in 2020 since everybody’s wearing a mask, which means FaceID doesn’t work when you are out of your house. I’d prefer Touch ID any day over it. But credit where it’s due, FaceID works very well even in low light conditions when you are without a mask.

Apple has put on a ‘Ceramic Shield’ over the iPhone 12’s display. The company says that it makes the screen four times harder and less likely to break. I couldn’t put those claims to test for obvious reasons, but glass is glass. That said, I didn’t manage to scratch the panel.

iPhone 12 review: Performance and Battery

The iPhone 12 is powered by the in-house A14 Bionic chipset, which is built on the 5nm process. We at Pocketnow don’t care about the benchmark numbers but report the day-to-day usage. And, I had absolutely no problems while using the device. The apps launch instantly. They don’t get cleared in the memory. Switching between apps is a breeze. Plus, it is one of the best phones you can game on. The speakers are loud, but they are average at high volume in terms of clarity. Further, the phone calls sounded clear as well.

The iPhone 12 comes with 5G but there is no 5G in India yet so I couldn’t test the feature. My usage mostly included me connected to the WiFi or at times LTE. My unit gave me a screen on time of around 7 hours consistently, where the usage includes jumping between WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, and Twitter, using the camera for 20 minutes, and streaming two episodes of The Office on Amazon Prime.

I’m amazed how well the iPhone 12 is optimized

The iPhone 12 easily lasted me a day, and at times, there was 40% battery left at the end of it. I’m very happy with the battery life I’m getting on this device. I’m amazed how well the iPhone 12 is optimized since it comes with a battery that is almost half the size of Android flagships but still doesn’t fail to impress.

You can charge your iPhone 12 via the Lightning cable or the MagSafe charger, wirelessly. Notably, you don’t get a power adapter in the box. Frankly, I don’t get the “it’s for the environment” argument since the adapter ships in its separate box with its own booklets! The iPhone 12 supports 20W fast charging with the cable and 15W fast charging with the MagSafe charger. If you compare it with any Android flagship from OnePlus, OPPO, or Xiaomi, it might feel like a big let down. It did to me. But again, the on-paper numbers don’t justify the experience.

I used the MagSafe charger, and it charged my iPhone 12 in almost 110 minutes from 10% to 100%, while wired charging takes about 90 minutes. This is a respectable number, but it still lags behind what Chinese OEMs are doing with their fast charge tech. For instance, my OnePlus 8T charges from zero to full under 70 minutes. I wish the iPhone 12 had better fast charging capabilities. I only used the cable twice as I used the MagSafe charger more so I’m fine with my iPhone not having a USB-C port. However, if you are traveling it’s always better to carry just one USB-C charger for all your devices, but that isn’t the way it is for now at least.

iPhone 12 review: Camera

The iPhone 12 sports a dual rear camera setup of 12MP primary and 12MP ultra-wide-angle lens. These are the same as the ones used on the iPhone 12 Pro. Hence, blurring the gap between the two devices. These two cameras explain that the Android ecosystem is just playing the number game and quality is better than quantity. Moreover, the main camera has an f/1.6 aperture that gives it the ability to take in more light. This results in better low-light photos. Still, there is one thing I’d like Apple to fix.

In broad daylight, the difference between a Google Pixel, Samsung Galaxy S and Note series, and the latest iPhones, is blurring. The iPhone 12 captures sharp, and detailed images in broad daylight. It’s the night and indoor lighting conditions where the difference with the competition is noticeable.

Prakhar Khanna iPhone 12 review — Portrait shots

As for portrait shots, the iPhone 12’s edge detection is very good, and it gives a natural-looking depth-of-field.

As for the ultra-wide-angle camera, the distortion is lesser than its Android competitors. Plus, the iPhone 12 now supports Night Mode in the secondary camera, which gives more use-case scenarios to the already-versatile camera setup. However, the images aren’t as detailed as the primary sensor, and sometimes they aren’t color accurate either. I’ll still prefer this ultra-wide camera since it exposes the subject better and there is less noise.

The one issue I faced on the rear camera at night was lens flare. As you can see from the images above, it seems as if the lens has some dirt on it, but it is in fact glare from multiple sources of light. The flare is visible in images as well as the videos captured at night.

The iPhone 12 doesn’t pack a telephoto lens, which means zoom shots rely on digital zoom. It is usable till 2x but anything over that, and you’ll start noticing significant loss of detail. However, I’m happy with the inclusion of an ultra-wide angle lens over the telephoto camera as I use the former more than the latter.

When it comes to videos, the iPhone 12 hits it out of the park. I have never noticed such stabilization on an Android phone. Plus, Apple has now given you the ability to shoot in Dolby Vision. However, the videos shot in this format will only be viewed as they are meant to be viewed on other iPhone 12 displays as they aren’t compatible with every screen. But I expect software applications to adapt to the new standard sooner than later. That said, if you’ve been wanting to start a YouTube channel, and all you’ve got is your phone, make sure it is this one.

The Android-domination story continues to the selfie shooter. Above is a sample shot on the iPhone 12 and the OnePlus 8T. As you can see, the iPhone 12 not only exposed the subject better but it captured more details. It doesn’t smoothen the skin with any beauty effect, which is found on most Android phones.

iPhone 12 review: Software

I like Android because it gives me the freedom to customize my phone the way I like it. In contrast, iOS is a restricted territory. However, it has improved over the years. You can now place widgets on the homescreen. This is mainly useful because I like to have the calendar widget tell me the date and events for the day. Just one look at the screen and you know the info you were looking for. It is on top of my main screen.

The bad

However, I don’t feel like iOS is designed to be used single-handedly. Firstly, you can’t place apps at the bottom of the screen. You have to arrange the apps the way Apple wants you to and not the way you want, that is, in a top-down, left-to-right grid. Secondly, despite having one of the best haptics engines on a phone, Apple decides to not provide haptic feedback on the inbuilt keyboard. I switched to Swiftkey for this very reason.

The good

I noticed that several apps I use daily are designed better for iOS than for Android. Heck, even Google’s own apps feel better on iOS. Twitter and Instagram are the other two apps that I use a lot, which are better designed on iOS. Plus, the seamless connectivity Apple ecosystem offers is a godsend. I mean, I can access photos I clicked on my iPhone 12 directly on my Mac within seconds! My first reaction was: “Whaaaat?” And, one of the best parts about iOS is the longevity you get. The iPhone 12 is likely to get at least five years of major iOS updates, which is easily much more than any Android manufacturer.

iPhone 12 review: Verdict

The iPhone 12 is one of the most powerful compact devices I’ve ever used. It features a great display, an excellent set of cameras, offers exceptional performance, and robust battery life. It ticks all the right boxes, and in my opinion, this is the best phone you can buy for under $850. Even for Indian readers, this is the best phone under INR 85,000 (128GB variant).

But who should upgrade? If you are using iPhone Xs or anything below it, you’ll be very happy with the new iPhone 12. This is the phone to buy if you are looking to upgrade since there is not much of a difference between the vanilla and Pro variant this year. If you are an Android user who has a Mac and have been contemplating making the shift to iOS like me, I’d say, “do it!” The seamless experience with the Mac feels so rewarding.

iPhone 12 photo gallery

iPhone 12

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HUAWEI P40 Pro review rebuttal: new normal? (video)

Posted on May 11, 2020May 11, 2020 by Anton D. Nagy

Our original HUAWEI P40 Pro review can be found here.

A new normal — it’s a term that’s being thrown around a lot these days. And while I’m trying to work through all of the recent changes that have happened in recent months, it’s rather fitting that I’m using a phone that is a product of some radical changes for HUAWEI. One of the results is a high end smartphone that has been isolated from one of the main tools users across the world might wish they could access. So, what is it like adapting to this new normal?

Balanced elegance

Obviously the P40 Pro isn’t made available in the US, which is kind of a shame because plenty of manufacturers could glean a thing or two from HUAWEI’s design language here. I’ll just start with the hefty feel of the phone, there’s a good amount of weight that makes gripping the phone feel very secure. The weight is also balanced, which is interesting because the P40 Pro is actually a bit smaller than other phones I’ve used recently with even larger screens. We’ll get more into the various curvatures in a second, but the fact that the back has a curve too further smooths out the feel. And the shiny white backing is quite the looker, again taking on the design aspects of a point and shoot camera. Of course that big camera square in the corner is an eye-catcher, but for now I’m going to commend the camera bump for not protruding too much.

So let’s get to that screen, which really doesn’t cut corners. I mean that quite literally — you can see that the left and right sides as well as the top and bottom have curves, taking this edge display to another level. The corners are still there, making it look like the chassis is literally gripping or clamping the screen in place. There is a little bit of bezel all around and while we’re always aiming for a full screen display, having this little bit of black around the panel helps give the viewing experience a bit of contrast and likely helps the palm rejection.

Viewing experiences on the display are top notch, even though there’s no notch here. The cutout does literally cut into some content from time to time, which is a tiny nuisance alongside how some elements fall beneath the display corners. The pill cutout is pretty big due to three items: the camera lens, a depth sensor, and infrared. Aside from selfies, this all helps with face unlock, which is nice and fast here, especially with raise to wake switched on. There is also an in-display fingerprint reader that works fine, even if the sensor graphic seems a bit small.

Scrolling through everything is at a nice 90hz refresh rate and at QuadHD resolution. Some displays are going above and beyond, but the P40 Pro OLED panel still sits right among the best. Even if my usual viewing experiences are somewhat limited — for obvious reasons — the ways I can still enjoy content come through very well. The same goes for games, though we’ll get to the app experience in a moment.

Overall, this might be one of the nicest looking and feeling high-end smartphones I’ve used in a while. It doesn’t try too hard in any one design aspect, especially the size, which leads to a pleasantly balanced start.

What’s inside that counts

There’s no denying that this phone is high on performance, thanks to the Kirin 990 which is the in-house 7nm processor complete with tried and true enhancements like GPU Turbo for gaming. Call of Duty: Mobile was sharp yet smooth as butter with all settings turned on. The 90hz refresh rate shined through, and it continues to even when just jumping around EMUI. Throw on top of that 8GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage. A 4200mAh battery isn’t super high on capacity but with all of the power modes that you can access in the battery settings, there are plenty of ways to get more time. Topping up is super fast, anyway — not only is there fast 40W wired charging, wireless charging can get up to 27W. Charging other items via reverse wireless is available, too. (Using this with the Pixel Bugs felt ironic, maybe even a little naughty…)

So let’s get into the cameras — I keep mentioning the ‘new normal,’ which is evident by the fact that I can’t show you everything this camera is capable of in the best ways. Imagine having this phone in some beautiful parts of the world, using the 50MP main sensor for the main shots, the 40MP wide angle camera for the tight spots, and the 12MP periscope zoom lens to compress that background and make subjects really pop. Even if 10x is possible with extra digital help, a lossless 5x is plenty of range to get some good close up shots. The good result of HUAWEI and Leica’s partnership seems to continue in the P40 Pro, as I’ve been able to get some really great photos around my house and neighborhood. I can only so many take pictures and video of myself making coffee, though. The pixel binned 12MP results definitely show how much more light and data can get in compared to just the full resolution 50MP shots via the Pro mode. This is a large sensor too, meaning the plane of focus is quite fine — notice how my fingers are very close together but aren’t all in focus.

Night mode is expectedly good too, but I have to admit — the inherent pixel binning and multi-frame HDR capture of the auto mode does a pretty damn good job already in these scenarios. Best way I can describe it is that the Night mode does a better job of portraying that it’s actually night and not just a low contrast version of a real evening scene. Night mode definitely makes a difference once you get zooming.

The front facing camera is a 32MP shooter that gets sharp and detailed regular selfies, with the portrait mode putting in more work to blur the background and remove my freckles if the beauty mode is on. 4K selfie video is possible here, making this a viable camera for social media like TikTok. Beauty mode even works on front facing video, though it shoots the resolution back down to 1080p. And speaking of video, the main sensor does a great job of hitting all the right marks with great detail, smooth stabilization, and good autofocus. The wide angle sensor brings similar results even if its a fixed focus lens. Colors can get a little washed out, but the same filters that are available in the photo mode can be used in video, too — I kept everything at the Leica Standard setting, though. Plenty of fun can be had with this camera, including that super super slow motion video that is crazy impressive to see in action even if it’s 720p.

HUAWEI gets a lot right with the raw specs of this phone, and by and large they all translate to an experience that fits the premium. From the performance down to the capture quality, these are the parts of the P40 Pro that count and that some of us miss out on. That’s because the software is a totally different and impactful story.

The missing link

EMUI might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I remember when this UI was a pretty rough way to use Android on the daily. Over time, HUAWEI got better at streamlining the look while maintaining many of the different features that gave it extra functionality. But now we’re in a situation where all that EMUI has achieved gets pulled back by a trade war that deprives this version of Android of a major foundational piece — Google. Jaime had to contend with this new normal with the Mate 30 Pro, and — spoiler alert — I basically agree with his assessment.

So, the way that I approached this phone started out simple: I would just rely on everything the phone has pre-installed because those are the obvious essentials. There might not be Google Photos, but HUAWEI Cloud provides a sizeable amount of free data storage. I wouldn’t have GMail, but there’s a mail app — and it uses the browser to do a Google login, so at least I don’t have to mess with any IMAP settings. The EMUI browser, by the way, is pretty smooth at accessing other web-based applications like YouTube, but of course you miss out on certain features such as background play or picture in picture. But that’s what happens when you’re a power user of such apps, which I understand is a bit more niche. For most people, this communication device will still have most of the tools required to get work and some play done.

That’s due to the App Gallery, HUAWEI’s long running app store that, to my delight, did have some of my other essentials. Some Chinese market mainstays are front and center, like TikTok and WeChat. I got Telegram for messaging peers and colleagues, HERE maps is now HUAWEI’s answer to not having Google Maps, and even games like Asphalt 9 and the Epic Games launcher were prominently represented. I do think that for most people there will be a bit of a curve toward achieving a proper workflow — especially if you’re used to a Google-based work-life balance. But the beauty of Android is that there are always alternatives — there’s even the Microsoft Office mobile suite in the AppGallery, for instance. Just like how a number of people say they would get a simple laptop for browsing and casual media consumption, pretty much any casual app user can get plenty done with the P40 Pro.

If you need to get creative, there are places to acquire down the list of extra apps. The Amazon App Store got me Facebook and Instagram and surprisingly enough DDPYoga, and then I had to find APKs for other things like my password manager Dashlane and my calorie app LoseIt. A mix of both methods helped me get Call of Duty Mobile and War of the Visions — but one thing I realized is that apps or games that are otherwise behind a paywall in the Google Play Store will either need to be bought again if available in the Amazon App Store or simply no longer there.

Player three?

So I have to think that the necessary move to HUAWEI Mobile Services basically means that we have a somewhat new third category of smartphone. There’s iOS, there’s Google-powered Android, and then there’s not-Google-powered Android. That means if you’re coming from a Google backed phone, the P40 Pro will take a genuine adjustment and a bit of creativity to replicate previous experiences. Users who aren’t so reliant on Google for their work-life balance can still find the barrier of entry pretty low because there are plenty of apps, including those in the AppGallery, that get the same jobs done. We don’t know what the future holds for HUAWEI’s issues in the US and with Google, but for the time being, it’s worth hoping that the company can continue building their own ecosystem so that the best parts of this phone — design, performance, and cameras with Leica — can stick around.

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LG G6 review rebuttal: nitpicking the best LG release

Posted on April 10, 2017April 10, 2017 by Jules Wang

No smartphone is perfect, but we do not want to leave an impression that everything will be hunky dory for everyone. We nitpick on the G6 in our LG G6 review rebuttal.

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Huawei Honor 8 review rebuttal: Beauty and the Beast

Posted on October 21, 2016October 21, 2016 by Adam Doud

As efforts like After The Buzz, the Pocketnow U-Review, and Empty Nest demonstrate, we’re constantly searching for fresh ways to review mobile technology. The newest product of those efforts is Pocketnow’s “Review Rebuttal” series, in which a member of our team is assigned to test a smartphone or tablet that’s already gone through our standard review process. While the resulting video or ...

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HTC 10 review rebuttal: What’s in a 10?

Posted on July 1, 2016July 1, 2016 by Adam Doud

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Samsung Gear S2 review rebuttal (Video)

Posted on January 29, 2016January 29, 2016 by Michael Fisher

As efforts like After The Buzz, the Pocketnow Weekly and Empty Nest demonstrate, we’re constantly searching for fresh ways to review mobile technology. The newest product of those efforts is Pocketnow’s “Review Rebuttal” series, in which a member of our team is assigned to test a smartphone or tablet ...

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Apple Watch Review Rebuttal: Better than most, but still lacking

Posted on July 26, 2015 by Jaime Rivera

Here at Pocketnow we’re fond of review rebuttals, mainly because the needs of one editor are different to the needs of others. Michael’s review of the Apple Watch has been live for a few weeks now, but just like it’ll happen to you and even a close friend, his taste is dramatically different to mine. I’m particularly very picky about watches, mainly because I have to actually like one in order to ...

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LG G4 review rebuttal

Posted on July 24, 2015July 24, 2015 by Joe Levi

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Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge review rebuttal

Posted on July 6, 2015July 6, 2015 by Adam Doud

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Samsung Galaxy Note Edge review rebuttal: Worth the weird

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Adam Doud

I’ve had a lot of weird phones cross my desk lately. Some of them were good in a weird way, and some were just weird in a weird way. But every one of these phones had something in common. I believed in the weird. I thought the weird added a tremendous amount of value to the device, and I wanted to explore it and see for myself that my vision was correct. This was true for every single phone, except one. The Samsung Galaxy Note Edge.When we

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HTC Desire EYE review rebuttal: bold and powerful, with a selfie on top

Posted on January 24, 2015 by Rithvik Rao

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Motorola DROID Turbo review rebuttal: power-packed, but not perfect

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Rithvik Rao

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The Moto 360 review rebuttal: flawed beauty

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Adam Doud

The Moto 360 is quite possibly the most anticipated smartwatch of the year. This was to be the culmination of all of our Android Wear dreams in a round-faced, bezel-free masterpiece. Motorola was so proud of this device that it showed us every facet of its life span, from when it was a twinkle in its daddy’s eye to the time it rolled off the factory conveyor belt. It is a gorgeous device.But the Moto 360 to me is a bit of an enigma. It’s really so great in a lot of ways, but it’s not what I expected or ultimately need in others. I’m not really sure how I am supposed to feel about ...

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HTC One E8 Review Rebuttal: A colorful cousin

Posted on August 22, 2014 by Joe Levi

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Surface Pro 3 review rebuttal: Laptops and tablets beware

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Adam Doud

Here at Pocketnow, we’re not so certain that just one review is enough. After all, different reviewers have different perspectives. One editor loved this device so much, I’m surprised it didn’t have a ring on it when I got it. I was equally surprised when I found no red pentagram from another editor. That being the case, after our Surface Pro 3 review dropped a couple months back, I knew I ...

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