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More gadget reviews

The OnePlus 15 takes a new direction with a 165Hz display, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, huge 7,300mAh battery, and native 165 FPS gaming. It drops Hasselblad and uses smaller sensors, but focuses on performance, battery, and a cleaner design.

OnePlus 15 Review: Playing the Long Game?  (ft iPhone 17 & OnePlus 13)

<h2>The OnePlus 15 takes a new direction with a 165Hz display, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, huge 7,300mAh battery, and native 165 FPS gaming. It drops Hasselblad and uses smaller sensors, but focuses on performance, battery, and a cleaner design.</h2>

The OnePlus 15 is a turning point for the brand, and to really understand what this phone is trying to do, you have to look at it next to its closest rivals. So while this is a review of the OnePlus 15, it also makes sense to compare it to last year&rsquo;s OnePlus 13 and Apple&rsquo;s new iPhone 17 &mdash; because together, they paint a very interesting picture.
This year, OnePlus has taken a noticeably different direction. The OnePlus 15 comes with several trade-offs. The Hasselblad branding is gone, the display resolution steps down, the camera sensors are smaller, and even the haptics aren&rsquo;t as strong as before. On paper, it looks like OnePlus is pulling back.
Meanwhile, Apple is pushing forward. The iPhone 17 finally brings a smooth 120Hz ProMotion display to the base model, upgrades the ultrawide camera to 48MP, and starts at a much more practical 256GB.
And then you have the OnePlus 13, which still stands as a well-rounded flagship &mdash; strong performance, solid cameras, and that classic OnePlus feel.
So the question is simple: did OnePlus really take a step backward with the 15, or is this part of a bigger, smarter strategy? Let&rsquo;s dive in.
<h2>Design &amp; Build</h2>
The OnePlus 15 feels cleaner and more industrial this year. The new Sandstorm finish gives it a matte, grippy texture that hides smudges well, and the whole thing&rsquo;s flatter and lighter. This Sandstorm variant gets a glass-fiber back, while the black and purple versions use either Gorilla Glass 7i or Crystal Shield Glass.
So, depending on which color you pick, you&rsquo;re also getting a different material feel. Overall, it&rsquo;s a really comfortable phone to use and despite that 6.78-inch display, it doesn&rsquo;t feel bulky or oversized in the hand.
That said, I still prefer the frosty matte back on the OnePlus 13 &mdash; it has a nicer in-hand feel.
Side by side, the change is obvious. The circular camera bump is gone, and it&rsquo;s now a squared-off module. It's &nbsp;sharper, simpler, and clearly inspired by Oppo&rsquo;s design language.
The new nano-ceramic metal frame is aerospace-grade, 26% lighter than titanium, tougher, and better with heat. It feels dense yet cool &mdash; like metal and ceramic had a baby.
As for durability, the OnePlus 15 is rated IP66, IP68, IP69, and IP69K &mdash; basically meaning it&rsquo;s protected against dust, water, and even high-pressure jets. That&rsquo;s a level of protection you don&rsquo;t really see on other flagships.&nbsp;
For comparison, the OnePlus 13 has IP69 and iPhone 17 offers IP68, which is good, but not quite this extreme.
The OnePlus 13 still feels great in the hand &mdash; &nbsp; solid build, nice grip and yes, the alert slider&rsquo;s still here. Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 is the most compact and balanced of the bunch &mdash; light, premium, and classic Apple comfort.
<h2>Display</h2>
Now, let&rsquo;s talk about the display on the OnePlus 15 &mdash; this one&rsquo;s a bit of an oddball. It&rsquo;s the first phone with a 165Hz LTPO AMOLED panel, which sounds impressive&hellip; but you probably know by now that the screen resolution drops from QHD+ to 1.5K, and the 165Hz refresh rate isn&rsquo;t available when scrolling or swiping through the UI. That&rsquo;s capped at 120Hz.&nbsp;
Only select games, like Call of Duty Mobile, can take advantage of that high refresh rate. It does support 165FPS gameplay, but I&rsquo;ll discuss that later. &nbsp;So no, you&rsquo;re not seeing 165Hz magic in the UI or everywhere else. The 120Hz experience is still super smooth &mdash; but to be fair, you already had that on the OnePlus 13.
Infact, the OnePlus 13 still hits harder on paper with QHD+ resolution and 4,500 nits of peak brightness, but the 15 fights back with smarter HDR tone mapping and Ultra HDR support, giving you richer contrast and more lifelike colour. It also has some of the thinnest and most symmetrical bezels I&rsquo;ve ever seen on a smartphone.
As for the iPhone 17, it finally brings 120Hz to the base model and achieves a peak brightness of 3,000 nits. It&rsquo;s the smallest display here at 6.3 inches, but day to day, it&rsquo;s buttery smooth, incredibly bright, and the color accuracy is classic Apple &mdash; easily one of the most premium screens you can get right now.
<h2>Perfrmance and 165 FPS Gaming</h2>
The OnePlus 15 runs what OnePlus calls a Tri-Chip system, and it&rsquo;s kind of wild. There's the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, a 330 Hz Touch Response Chip, and a Wi-Fi G2 chip that keeps connections rock solid, even with weak signal. Put all that together &mdash; CPU, touch, and connectivity &mdash; and you&rsquo;ve basically got a holy trinity of performance.&nbsp; &nbsp;
Compared to the OnePlus 13, which had the Snapdragon 8 Elite, you&rsquo;re looking at roughly a 20% boost on AnTuTu. Geekbench numbers tell a similar story &mdash; the 15 edges out both the 13 and the iPhone 17 in multi-core performance. It does run a little warmer under sustained load, but it barely throttles. (See video for exact benchmark results). That means even during long gaming sessions or heavy multitasking, you&rsquo;re not going to see sudden dips in performance.
Speaking of gaming &mdash; the OnePlus 15 takes things up a notch. As I mentioned earlier, it can run select games at a full 165 FPS, thanks to OnePlus&rsquo;s OP FPS Max technology. This isn&rsquo;t fake frame interpolation &mdash; it&rsquo;s true native 165 FPS on a custom 165Hz panel. We tested it with COD Mobile, and even after half an hour, the phone held that frame rate steady.&nbsp;
Will it matter to everyone? Probably not. Casual gamers won&rsquo;t see a huge difference beyond smoother motion. But for competitive players, that faster response and fluid gameplay can be a legit edge. Either way, it&rsquo;s super cool to see a phone actually hit native 165 FPS &mdash; because right now, no one else does.
Now, that&rsquo;s not to say the other two phones are bad for gaming. The OnePlus 13 can handle 120 FPS in supported games, and the iPhone 17 tops out at 60 FPS, but that A19 chip can crush any title you throw at it. But if you&rsquo;re chasing pure performance and high frame rates, the OnePlus 15 is the new king.
The OnePlus 15 pulls ahead when it comes to RAM and storage. The 16GB version uses LPDDR5X Ultra+ RAM, which boosts multitasking and overall responsiveness, while both the 12GB and 16GB variants get faster UFS 4.1 storage.
The OnePlus 13, on the other hand, offers up to 24GB of RAM but relies on regular LPDDR5X and slightly slower UFS 4.0 storage.
The iPhone 17 might only have 8GB of RAM, but Apple&rsquo;s tight integration between hardware and software keeps performance consistently smooth.
All three phones start at 256GB of storage, even the base iPhone 17.
Battery &amp; Charging 
&nbsp;The OnePlus 15 is packing a huge 7,300 mAh cell. That&rsquo;s one of the biggest batteries we&rsquo;ve seen in a flagship. Pair that with 120W wired charging &mdash; you&rsquo;re going from 0 to 50% in just about 17 minutes, and a full charge takes around 40. Plus, there&rsquo;s 50W wireless charging, making it a dream setup for gamers or heavy users.
The OnePlus 13 isn&rsquo;t far behind &mdash; 6,000 mAh battery, 100W wired charging and 50W wireless. This setup still offers excellent endurance and super-fast top-ups. For most people, that easily lasts a full day and more.
Then there&rsquo;s the iPhone 17 with just 3,692 mAh on paper, but Apple&rsquo;s efficiency is next level. The A19 chip and iOS optimization easily push it through a full day. Charging also got faster &mdash; 40W wired, 50% in 20 minutes, full in about 90. So yeah, smaller battery, but still really dependable in real-world use.
<h2>Camera Performance</h2>
Cameras are where you can see OnePlus shifting its priorities. When you line up the camera specs, it&rsquo;s clear the OnePlus 15 steps down a bit from the OnePlus 13. The new phone swaps last year&rsquo;s larger sensors and faster apertures for smaller ones across the board.
The main sensor moves from the 1/1.4-inch Sony LYT808 to a 1/1.56-inch IMX906. The ultrawide now uses a smaller OmniVision OV50D, and even the periscope zoom shifts from a larger IMX882 to the Samsung JN5.&nbsp;
OnePlus has also officially ended its partnership with Hasselblad. Instead, the company has moved to its own in-house DetailMax Engine for image processing.&nbsp;
Overall, photos clicked on the OnePlus 15 look sharp and detailed, but they do lean a little too saturated at times. Skin tones, especially, can come out warmer than they should. On the plus side, the video capabilities are seriously strong. You get 10-bit Log, 4K at 120 FPS video with Dolby Vision HDR, and even 8K at 30.&nbsp;
The tools are there, but it&rsquo;s clear OnePlus isn&rsquo;t trying to chase the absolute best camera crown this year. They&rsquo;ve made trade-offs to focus on performance and battery instead.
The OnePlus 13, on the other hand, feels more like the camera-focused OnePlus we used to know. You still get that triple 50MP setup (with larger sensors), and thanks to Hasselblad&rsquo;s color tuning, the images come out balanced and natural.
It&rsquo;s versatile across all focal lengths, and low-light performance holds up really well. Honestly, between the two, the 13 is still the better OnePlus camera phone in my opinion.
Then you&rsquo;ve got the iPhone 17, which takes the classic Apple route &mdash; a dual setup with a 48MP main and a 48MP ultra-wide. But here, it&rsquo;s not about the hardware, it&rsquo;s the processing.&nbsp;
Colors are consistent, dynamic range is excellent, and low-light shots look clean without getting noisy or crushed. And video quality is still the gold standard &mdash; smooth stabilization, natural tone, and that 24MP selfie camera with Center Stage is genuinely one of the best front-facing setups out there.
If you just want a phone that takes great photos and videos every single time without any tweaking, the iPhone 17 still makes that experience effortless.
<h2>Audio, Haptics &amp; Software</h2>
Now, let&rsquo;s talk about the little things &mdash; haptics, speakers, and all the extras that actually make using these phones feel premium day to day.
On the OnePlus 15, the speakers sound better this year. It's louder and more balanced, but the haptics have taken a hit. They feel softer than they did last year, and that iconic alert slider is gone. It has been replaced by a new programmable &ldquo;Plus Key,&rdquo; which is handy but lacks the same charm.
The OnePlus 13 keeps things classic &mdash; strong, crisp haptics and the alert slider still right where it should be. It just feels more familiar and satisfying to use.
As for the iPhone 17, it&rsquo;s peak polish. Haptics are perfect, stereo speakers are rich and full, and the overall experience &mdash; from hardware to software &mdash; just feels cohesive.&nbsp;
Sotware wise, the OnePlus 15 ships with OxygenOS 16 based on Android 16. I won&rsquo;t dive deep into it here, as we&rsquo;ve already written a full article on the topic when we tested Oxygen OS 16 on the OnePlus 13s. If you&rsquo;re curious, feel free to check it out. But in short &mdash; faster animations, deeper customization, and a bunch of new AI features that actually work pretty well.
&nbsp;The OnePlus 13 still runs OxygenOS 15 based on Android 16, but the OxygenOS 16 rollout has already started. So, most users should see the update hit their phones by the end of November. &nbsp;
On the iPhone 17, you&rsquo;re getting iOS 26. If you&rsquo;re an Apple user, you're probably going to swear by it. But even Apple fans would agree that Apple Intelligence still isn&rsquo;t quite on the same level as what OnePlus is offering with AI right now.
That said, Apple still wins on longevity &mdash; six to seven years of iOS updates versus four on both the OnePlus phones.&nbsp;
<h2>Final Verdict</h2>
Ok, so which one should you go for?
The OnePlus 13 remains the classic all-rounder &mdash; boasting great design, solid cameras, and that signature OnePlus feel. The iPhone 17 is easily the safest bet, especially if you are an Apple user&mdash; super consistent, great cameras, excellent software, and long-term reliability.
But the real standout this year, for me, is the OnePlus 15. It might look like a downgrade on paper, but once you actually use it, it&rsquo;s easily the most balanced phone of the bunch.&nbsp;
The performance is rock-solid, the battery life is excellent, and that new 165Hz FPS gaming feels ridiculously smooth. If the cameras were just a bit better, this would&rsquo;ve been an easy A+. But even as it stands, it&rsquo;s a solid A &mdash; and that&rsquo;s still pretty great.

The ROG Xbox Ally is built for take-anywhere play, with a comfortable grip, a smooth 120Hz display, and enough power to carry your PC and Xbox library on the move.

Asus ROG Xbox Ally review:

Asus ROG Xbox Ally review: For the ultimate portable gaming experience

Built for gaming away from the desk, the ROG Xbox Ally blends console-like comfort with a smooth 120Hz display and practical performance for everyday play.

Handheld gaming has been slowly finding its feet again, and the Asus ROG Xbox Ally feels like a product that understands the assignment. It isn&rsquo;t trying to take over from your main gaming laptop or console, and it doesn&rsquo;t chase the title of &ldquo;strongest handheld on the planet.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Instead, the point here is simple: make your existing game library feel easier to access, more comfortable to play, and a lot more fun to carry around. And honestly, it succeeds more often than it fails.
Calling it an Xbox is a stretch. It&rsquo;s better described as a compact Windows machine that just happens to play really nicely with both your Xbox and PC titles. The design choices show that someone actually thought about how people hold and use these things; the ergonomics are quite good, the hardware is capable, and the experience feels well-rounded when everything is running the way it should.
Is it flawless? No. There are quirks, some rough edges, and certain moments where you&rsquo;ll be reminded that Windows wasn&rsquo;t built with handhelds in mind. But as a portable gaming companion for people who like playing on the move, the ROG Xbox Ally has more than enough charm to make you seriously consider it.
<h2>Design and in-hand feel</h2>
The first thing that stood out to me about the ROG Xbox Ally is how naturally it sits in the hand. Asus has clearly leaned into that familiar Xbox controller shape, and it pays off. If you&rsquo;ve ever held an Xbox pad, your fingers will know where to go before you even think about it. The grips flare and curve in a way that lets your hands relax instead of clench, and that makes longer play sessions genuinely easier on the wrists. The display also tilts forward ever so slightly. It&rsquo;s a tiny detail, but over a couple of hours of steady play, it keeps your posture from feeling tense or hunched.
The button layout follows the classic Xbox-controller&rsquo;s template: ABXY buttons, triggers, D-pad, and two analogue sticks. The buttons have a satisfying, confident click, and the hall-effect triggers feel smooth and precise. The thumbsticks, though, are where I wish Asus had gone the extra step. At this price, hall-effect sticks would have been the obvious durability win, so it&rsquo;s a small miss. The two rear macro paddles are practical and easy to map, and the haptics feel unexpectedly put-together for a handheld of this size.
Since it&rsquo;s an ROG device, so yes, there&rsquo;s RGB. But it&rsquo;s not screaming for attention. It&rsquo;s subtle, customisable, and actually adds a touch of personality rather than noise. The real surprise, though, is the audio. The front-firing speakers are loud, clear, and frankly better than what I&rsquo;ve heard in a lot of mid-range gaming laptops. Dolby Atmos improves things further, especially if you switch to headphones. The built-in mic won&rsquo;t impress anyone, but it gets the job done for quick party chats.
Connectivity is flexible too: a 3.5mm jack, two USB-C ports with DisplayPort, and a microSD slot. And if you want to use it docked like a mini PC, that&rsquo;s absolutely an option.
<h2>Display and viewing experience</h2>
The ROG Xbox Ally comes with a 7-inch Full HD IPS panel running at 120Hz, and for handheld gaming, it hits a very comfortable sweet spot. The size feels just right. It&rsquo;s compact enough that the device stays easy to hold for long stretches, but still large enough that games don&rsquo;t feel cramped or visually cluttered. I do wish this was an OLED panel, because that extra depth in blacks and contrast would have taken the experience up a notch. But even without that, what&rsquo;s here holds up well enough that the absence doesn&rsquo;t feel like a deal-breaker.
The resolution works well for this screen size. Text, UI elements, and textures appear sharp, and the higher refresh rate makes everything feel smoother, from navigating through menus to fast-paced gameplay. Colour performance is better than I expected. With full sRGB and good Adobe RGB coverage, things look lively without that artificial, boosted look some handheld displays tend to lean towards. Shadows and darker scenes retain clarity instead of turning into muddy patches.
Brightness indoors feels solid, though the glossy surface can be reflective if you&rsquo;re near strong light or trying to play outside. It&rsquo;s manageable, but noticeable. The Gorilla Glass Victus helps with durability, so dropping it into a bag without a case doesn&rsquo;t feel nerve-wracking.
Where the display really shines is motion. The 120Hz refresh combined with FreeSync Premium keeps gameplay smooth even when frame rates dip. Whether a game was coasting at 60FPS or hovering around the 40s in heavier titles, the overall motion stayed clean and controlled, which goes a long way in handheld play.
<h2>Performance and real-world gaming</h2>
The ROG Xbox Ally runs on AMD&rsquo;s Ryzen Z2 APU, which pairs older Zen 2 CPU cores with RDNA 2 graphics. On a spec sheet, that doesn&rsquo;t exactly scream cutting-edge, and I went into testing with fairly measured expectations. This isn&rsquo;t trying to compete with a dedicated gaming laptop. But once I actually started playing, the performance felt a lot better than what the raw numbers suggest.
The biggest advantage here is that the hardware and display resolution are well matched. You&rsquo;re not forcing a tiny chip to push unrealistic pixel counts. The device comes with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and a 512GB PCIe 4.0 SSD, so in theory, loading speeds should be snappy. In practice, lighter and indie titles load fast, while heavier AAA games can take a bit longer to get going. Once they&rsquo;re up, though, the experience smooths out and feels surprisingly steady.
At 1080p with medium to low settings, most modern games are perfectly playable, and the experience is closer to console-like than I expected. If you switch down to 720p, performance jumps in a noticeable way, and honestly, on a 7-inch screen, the drop in sharpness is barely something you register mid-game. It&rsquo;s a very practical trade-off.
Forza Horizon 5, for instance, looks vibrant and runs fluidly, and it feels right at home on this device. Even something heavier like Black Myth: Wukong is enjoyable as long as you don&rsquo;t chase ultra settings. Keep expectations grounded and settings sensible, and the Ally holds up remarkably well.
So the conclusion is pretty simple: the Ally performs best when you play to its strengths instead of trying to brute-force performance. Dial your settings realistically, and it gives you a consistently smooth, genuinely enjoyable handheld gaming experience.
<h2>Software and overall user experience</h2>
The software side of the ROG Xbox Ally is honestly where I was most pleasantly surprised. When you turn it on, it doesn&rsquo;t just dump you into a regular Windows desktop. Instead, it boots into a clean, full-screen Xbox-style launcher that immediately makes it feel like a proper console rather than a shrunken-down PC. The interface is simple, controller-friendly, and gives the device a full gamer-y vibe, right out of the box.
As long as you're living inside the Xbox ecosystem, the experience stays smooth and console-like. It launches games quickly, keeps navigation simple, and everything feels unified. The moment you step outside that space though, the Windows reality shows up.&nbsp;
Opening Steam, Epic, or Ubisoft Connect brings back the usual PC friction: logins, update prompts, background windows, and the occasional stubborn error pop-up. It&rsquo;s not frustrating enough to ruin the experience, but it&rsquo;s a reminder that this is still Windows, just wearing a nicer jacket.
There&rsquo;s also a quirk with switching environments. Holding the Xbox button lets you view open apps or jump over to the traditional Windows desktop, which is great if you want to use it like a mini PC for a bit.&nbsp;
But switching back to the full-screen Xbox interface isn't as smooth. Performance can dip unless you restart the device entirely, so it's easier to commit to one mode per session.
The saving grace here is Armoury Crate. It&rsquo;s integrated cleanly and actually feels useful rather than like bloatware.&nbsp;
I used it constantly to change performance modes, adjust RGB, tweak fan curves, or lock frame rates per game. It&rsquo;s quick to access mid-play, which genuinely matters when you&rsquo;re trying to get the best balance of performance, heat, and battery life on the fly.
<h2>Battery life and charging</h2>
Battery performance on the ROG Xbox Ally really comes down to what you&rsquo;re playing and the performance profile you choose. The 60Wh cell is actually pretty decent for something this compact, and when I stuck to lighter or less GPU-heavy games, I was able to get a pretty decent hours of playtime without thinking about the battery too much.
The moment you jump into heavier hitters like Black Myth: Wukong, the story changes. In those cases, I was getting roughly an hour and a half before needing to recharge, which honestly feels in line with what this hardware can realistically deliver.&nbsp;
In one of my sessions with Skillsong, the battery dipped by around 20% in an hour, which matched this general trend. Higher brightness, Bluetooth headphones, and RGB lighting all nudge the drain a bit faster.
The 65W charger does soften the blow. A quick top-up during a break can get you back in the game without waiting too long. It&rsquo;s not built for continuous marathon play, but with a bit of performance tuning, the battery is workable.
<h2>Verdict</h2>
The Asus ROG Xbox Ally isn&rsquo;t trying to replace your main gaming setup, and going in with that expectation makes all the difference. For around ₹69,990, what you&rsquo;re paying for is the freedom to take your existing library with you and play comfortably wherever you are, not chase raw, desktop-level performance.&nbsp;
If sheer power matters most, a proper gaming laptop or tower is still the better call. And if you&rsquo;re looking to save money, the Steam Deck remains a reliable option, even if its hardware is starting to feel a little dated now.
What makes the Ally stand out is its balance. It&rsquo;s genuinely comfortable to hold, the display works great for handheld gaming, the speakers are surprisingly strong, and the performance feels better than the specs would have you believe. If you&rsquo;ve been wanting a portable gaming buddy that&rsquo;s simply enjoyable to use, this one&rsquo;s easy to like.

Nothing’s open-ear earbuds are bold, breathable, and made for runners — but do they sound as good as they look? Read our review.

Nothing Ear (open) Review: Brilliantly designed, but a niche experience

<h2>Tried the Nothing Ear (open) for a week &mdash; stylish, airy, and surprisingly clear. But they&rsquo;re not for everyone. Here&rsquo;s why.</h2>

Although I have had some experience with open-ear headphones, I wasn't sure what to expect from a pair of open-ear earbuds like the Nothing Ear (open), simply because they are nothing like I have ever seen before.
In the past I have done reviews for traditional in-ear or over-ear audio products, so I know what to expect from them. For the <a title="Nothing Phone 3a Lite First Impressions: Lite in name only" href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/mobiles/nothing-phone-3a-lite-first-impressions-lite-in-name-only-1761742925943" target="_blank">Nothing</a> Ear (open) I went in with a clean slate.
Now, I&rsquo;ve always had a bit of a hit-and-miss experience with earbuds and how they fit, mostly because I have small ears. But I still gave them a fair shot, especially because these are made for athletes, not for those who casually enjoy music, often while sitting in a metro, or while working. After using them for a week, I can say this: they&rsquo;re bold, interesting, and quite unlike anything else, but not without their fair share of flaws.
<h2>Design: Classic Nothing</h2>
Let&rsquo;s start with the design because that&rsquo;s where my first impression got complicated.
The Nothing Ear (open) comes in a sleek, pill-shaped case that feels premium to hold but is also larger than it looks in photos. It&rsquo;ll fit in your jeans pocket, but definitely not that tiny coin pocket. The plastic build feels sturdy enough, though the lid for my unit was slightly loose which made the buds rattle a bit when I would spin the case like a fidget spinner, which, to be honest, I did quite a few times. It&rsquo;s oddly satisfying.
The earbuds themselves carry <a title="Realme 15 Pro Review ft. OnePlus Nord CE 5 &amp; Nothing Phone 3a: One mid-ranger to rule them all!cc" href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/realme-15-pro-review-ft-oneplus-nord-ce-5-nothing-phone-3a-one-mid-ranger-to-rule-them-all-1753372808953" target="_blank">Nothing&rsquo;s</a> signature transparent design, continuing with that &ldquo;tech-showcase&rdquo; aesthetic that the brand has made its own. They&rsquo;re extremely lightweight at just 8.1 grams, so you barely feel them when you wear them.
But here&rsquo;s where my small-ear problem kicks in. These buds just didn&rsquo;t fit my ears perfectly, no matter what I did. They did stay and never fell off during my tests. But it was never a snug fit. In this open design, the buds sit in your outer ear instead of being pushed inside the canal. Because of this, when you workout, they are comfortable and good for your safety.
So, when I went for my morning jog, I could hear the ambient noise, people talking, traffic noise. Basically, it feels open and natural.
I also tried taking them to the gym, but that wasn&rsquo;t such a great idea. I couldn&rsquo;t block out my gym&rsquo;s loud and weird music, and since these don&rsquo;t have ANC, I had to switch to my ANC earbuds.
If you&rsquo;re someone who likes listening to your own playlist in your gym, these aren&rsquo;t meant for you.
The IP54 rating for both the buds and the case is reassuring though, so sweat or rain won&rsquo;t cause trouble.
<h2>App Experience: The Nothing X App Brings True Power</h2>
If you buy these, don&rsquo;t forget to download the Nothing X app, cause that&rsquo;s where you can customise them.
It gives you control over pinch gestures, lets you activate low-latency gaming mode, and even allows you to assign ChatGPT as your voice assistant. But the highlight for me was the 8-band customisable EQ. I changed the frequencies according to my taste, and it genuinely makes a difference.
There are presets for &ldquo;More Bass,&rdquo; &ldquo;More Treble,&rdquo; &ldquo;Balanced,&rdquo; &amp; &ldquo;Voice&rdquo;, but the advanced EQ lets you fine-tune the sound exactly how you like. It&rsquo;s a great feature for those who care about audio personalisation.
The pinch controls themselves work well, single pinch for play/pause, double for skipping tracks, and triple for going back. But I didn&rsquo;t find the volume control to be very convenient. You have to pinch and hold the buds to change the volume, which happens at a very slow pace. I found this to be a bit annoying.
<h2>Connectivity and Mic: Modern and Reliable</h2>
Connectivity is rock solid. You get Bluetooth 5.3, SBC &amp; AAC codec support, Google Fast Pair, Microsoft Swift Pair, low lag mode for gaming and even dual device connection, so switching between your laptop and phone is seamless.
For calls, the Nothing Ear (open) uses two microphones on each of the earbuds. In quiet enviroments, the audio captured by the buds sounds clear and natural, but in crowded environments, a lot of ambient noise creeps in. Still, it's perfectly serviceable for everyday calls or quick meetings.
<h2>Sound: Natural Clarity, Limited punch</h2>
Now, for the most important part of any earbuds review: the sound quality. Let me start with one thing: the <a title="Nothing Ear (2) review: A worthy sequel" href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/nothing-ear-2-review-a-worthy-sequel-1680158937144" target="_blank">Nothing</a> Ear (open) isn&rsquo;t trying to replace your ANC earbuds or studio monitors. These are built not for immersion but to let users be aware of their surroundings. The drivers sit in front of your ear canal, creating an airy, spacious sound.
The mid-range is where these shine; vocals sound crisp and forward, instruments are nicely separated, and the overall tonality feels open. This makes podcasts, acoustic music, and live recordings sound great.
The treble is detailed and brings sparkle to the mix without being sharp, though at higher volumes, you can get a hissing sound.
The bass, however, is where these buds struggle. Even after cranking up the bass with the &ldquo;More Bass&rdquo; preset, the low-end lacks the punch that in-ear earbuds or over-ear headphones deliver. You can still hear the beat, but just not feel it.
This open sound signature works beautifully in quiet or outdoor settings, like morning runs or cycling, where you want situational awareness. But in noisy environments, the experience takes a hit. Since there&rsquo;s no isolation, external sounds often overpower the music, and you end up increasing the volume just to compensate.
It&rsquo;s not bad, just context-dependent. Think of it as a &ldquo;hear-your-surroundings&rdquo; companion, not a &ldquo;get-lost-in-your-playlist&rdquo; pair.
<h2>Battery: As Solid As It Gets</h2>
Nothing claims that you&rsquo;ll get 8 hours of playback on a single charge and up to 30 hours with the case. In my testing, though, I got around 6 hours of music playback, which I would say is pretty solid for a pair of earbuds.
The charging is also quick, and 10 minutes of charging will give you 10 hours of music playback.
<h2>Verdict</h2>
After a week with the <a title="Epic Performance Test! iQOO Z9s Pro vs OnePlus Nord CE 4 vs Nothing Phone 2a Plus" href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/mobiles/iqoo-z9s-pro-vs-oneplus-nord-ce-4-vs-nothing-phone-2a-plus-full-performance-test-1725354984496" target="_blank">Nothing</a> Ear (open), I walked away both impressed and frustrated. Impressed, because Nothing clearly knows how to build striking products that push boundaries. The design feels bold, the app integration is thoughtful, and the sound clarity in the mids is genuinely enjoyable.
But I was also a little frustrated with the Ear (open), because the fit didn&rsquo;t work for me. The keyword in that sentence was &ldquo;me&rdquo;, which is to say they might me great for you.
The open nature of the design limits where and how you can enjoy them. They&rsquo;re great for runners or people who need to stay alert while enjoying their music. But if you want a strong bass, a tight seal, these just won&rsquo;t cut it.
If you're looking for earbuds that are ultra-lightweight, and have a futuristic design, the Nothing Ear (Open) will surprise you. But if you want an immersive audio experience, you will be better off looking somewhere else.

Apple’s iPhone Air redefines ultra-thin design with a 5.6 mm body, 120 Hz OLED display, and A19 Pro chip — but some trade-offs hold it back.

iPhone Air Review: Apple’s slimmest iPhone yet is an engineering masterclass

iPhone Air Review: Apple's slimmest iPhone is an engineering marvel, but not for everyone

<h3 data-start="559" data-end="700">Apple&rsquo;s iPhone Air is stunningly thin, beautifully built, and fast &mdash; but its single camera and modest battery remind you beauty has limits.</h3>

Ultraslim phones are having their moment again, and the iPhone Air fits right into that comeback story. Apple wasn&rsquo;t the first to go ultra-thin, but it&rsquo;s managed to grab everyone&rsquo;s attention with how refined and light the Air feels.&nbsp;
On paper, it ticks almost every flagship box &mdash; gorgeous looks, a crisp display, and smooth, reliable performance. But at ₹1,19,900, a few trade-offs are hard to miss.&nbsp;
The single rear camera, borrowed straight from the iPhone 16e, feels like a step down for something at this price. And while Apple&rsquo;s chase for thinness makes the phone look stunning, it&rsquo;s also come at the cost of battery life. After swapping my SIM from the iPhone 16 Pro Max and using the Air for over a week and a half, I&rsquo;ve got a clearer picture of who it&rsquo;s built for &mdash; and where Apple&rsquo;s design ambitions start to overreach.
<h2>iPhone Air&rsquo;s refreshing new take on design</h2>
The iPhone Air grabs your attention the second you see it. It&rsquo;s unbelievably thin, the kind of phone that makes you stop and look twice. And, trust me, photos really don&rsquo;t capture how sleek it looks in person. During the week and half that I was testing iy, I was stopped at least 3-4 times by strangers, asking me which phone I was holding. I honestly can&rsquo;t remember the last time an iPhone got that kind of reaction purely because of how it looked.
For something so slim, it feels impressively sturdy. There&rsquo;s a reassuring solidness to it, almost like a small block of metal. The glossy titanium frame gives it a futuristic vibe, and the way it sits in your hand feels very different from any iPhone I&rsquo;ve used before. Apple has gone all out on materials this time, with Ceramic Shield 2 on the front, a grade-5 titanium frame, and Ceramic Shield glass back.
You also won&rsquo;t have to worry about it bending in your pocket, either. The phone feels tough, and it comes with IP68 protection, so it&rsquo;s safe from dust and water.&nbsp;
The buttons are laid out in the usual Apple way, with the power and camera controls on the right, and the volume and Action buttons on the left.&nbsp;
The speaker grilles and USB-C port sit at the bottom, although the port only supports USB 2.0 speeds.&nbsp;
The only thing missing is a SIM tray. The iPhone Air is Apple&rsquo;s first phone that&rsquo;s fully eSIM-only across all regions.
Then there&rsquo;s the camera plateau. It&rsquo;s pretty thick, considering the rest of the phone, but for a good reason. Apple has tucked most of the key components inside it, including the logic board and camera modules under the plateau. The rest of the phone is left for the battery. The plateau also runs across the width of the phone, which makes it more stable when placed on a table compared to phones like the Galaxy S25 Edge or Fold 7.
Apple says the iPhone Air is 5.6 mm thin, making it the slimmest iPhone ever. Now, while that&rsquo;s true, the camera plateau is still hard to ignore. I get that better cameras need more space, but it reminds me of the iPhone 6 from 2014. That one felt like a truly slim phone, bump included. The iPhone Air may not be quite as seamless, but it&rsquo;s easily one of Apple&rsquo;s boldest design moves in years.
<h2>The iPhone Air comes with only one rear camera. Does it hold up?</h2>
On paper, the iPhone Air&rsquo;s camera setup might seem a little underwhelming, and to some extent, that&rsquo;s true. When you compare it to rivals like the Galaxy S25 Edge, which manages to stay almost as slim while offering one more camera, Apple&rsquo;s choice does come across a bit conservative.&nbsp;
The phone comes with a 48MP Fusion camera that also delivers 2x lossless zoom. The photos out of this sensor are nothing short of breathtaking. The photos I took turned out crisp, full of detail, and with properly balanced, which looked lively. Daylight shots pop beautifully, while low-light images retain solid clarity with minimal noise.
Still, I couldn&rsquo;t help but notice the absence of an ultrawide lens after using it for a few days.&nbsp;
The Air also misses out on some high-end tools found on the Pro models, like ProRes video and ProRAW photo capture.&nbsp;
That said, it still offers all of Apple&rsquo;s latest photographic styles and keeps the interface refreshingly simple. You just open the app, shoot, and get solid results, its that simple.&nbsp;
Video performance holds up well too. You can record in 4K at 60fps, and the stabilisation feels rock steady, though zooming in, even a little does lead to a noticeable dip in quality.
The front camera, however, is where Apple has made a real leap. The new 24MP square sensor outputs 18MP images and introduces Centre Stage to the iPhone lineup. It automatically adjusts framing based on orientation and the number of faces in view, and it genuinely makes selfies and group shots look more natural and well-composed.
<h2>The iPhone Air has a gorgeous display</h2>
The iPhone Air feels like the perfect middle ground in size, sitting neatly between the iPhone 17 Pro and the Pro Max with its 6.5-inch display. Personally, I think it&rsquo;s just the right balance, big enough for watching videos comfortably, but still light and compact enough to use one-handed. The screen itself is classic Apple quality. It&rsquo;s a Super Retina XDR OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate, and it feels incredibly smooth while scrolling through Instagram, Twitter, or even reading articles online.
But where it really blew me away was during video playback. It supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and with its 3,000 nits of peak brightness, the visuals just pop. I rewatched Despicable Me and Minions on it, and honestly, the colours and contrast looked so good that I caught myself smiling at a few scenes. It&rsquo;s bright, sharp, and just beautiful to look at.
Even the speakers surprised me. They&rsquo;re not as loud or full as the iPhone 17 Pro Max, but considering how thin this phone is, they sound way better than I expected. Music, podcasts, even a few late-night Netflix episodes, it all sounded clean and balanced. For something this slim, the iPhone Air really nails the media experience.
<h2>The iPhone Air&rsquo;s performance and software experience</h2>
The iPhone Air runs on the same A19 Pro chip as the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, although it&rsquo;s tuned a little differently. It uses a six-core CPU and a five-core GPU, just like the regular iPhone 17. On paper, that should put its performance somewhere between the two, and benchmark scores reflect that. In AnTuTu, the 17 Pro Max scores around 2.3 million, the iPhone 17 comes in at 2.2 million, and the Air follows closely at about 2.0 million.
In daily use, though, I barely noticed any difference. Apps open quickly, multitasking feels smooth, and everything runs with the same polish you expect from a flagship iPhone. The only time I felt a slight difference was while gaming. I played BGMI and a few other demanding titles, and while gameplay stayed fluid, the phone did heat up faster than both the 17 and 17 Pro Max. It is not a deal-breaker, just physics doing what it does when you pack so much power into a body this thin. Even after half an hour of gaming, I didn&rsquo;t experience frame drops or slowdowns, so performance still feels top-tier.
Out of the box, the iPhone Air runs iOS 26, and this update feels like a major step forward. The new Liquid Glass design gives the interface a more dynamic look. Messages and Phone have cleaner layouts, the Music app has a few subtle but smart tweaks, and the new lock screen setup allows you to customise every detail.
I have been using iOS 26 since the first developer beta after WWDC 2025, and while the early versions were buggy, the final build feels stable and intuitive. Once you adjust, the entire interface feels modern and cohesive.
Where Apple still falls behind is in AI. Features like Image Playground, the AI writing tools, and Visual Intelligence sound impressive but feel basic compared to what Android phones can do. Visual Intelligence tries to mimic Google&rsquo;s Circle to Search, but it lacks the same smoothness. Even Siri has not really evolved yet. If AI features are what you care about most, Android still leads that race, at least for now.
<h2>How&rsquo;s the battery life on the iPhone Air?</h2>
The iPhone Air packs a 3,149 mAh battery, and I&rsquo;ll admit, I wasn&rsquo;t expecting much from it. The fact that Apple announced a dedicated MagSafe Battery Pack, particularly for this model, almost felt like a warning sign. But after using it for a week, I was pleasantly surprised.&nbsp;
Despite the small capacity, it easily lasts a full day on a single charge. I&rsquo;m a heavy user, constantly switching between photos, videos, YouTube, and even some gaming, and I usually ended the day with around 15 per cent still left.
On busier days, the MagSafe Battery Pack really helped. Starting from 1 per cent, it topped the phone up to about 65 per cent, which was enough for another half day of use.&nbsp;
Charging speeds were decent too, but that&rsquo;s largely because the battery&rsquo;s small. Using a 70W charger, I got about 17-18W charge and got to 50 per cent in roughly 30 minutes and a full charge in about an hour and a half. Wireless charging via MagSafe supports up to 20W.
<h2>Verdict: Should you consider buying the iPhone Air?</h2>
So, who exactly is the iPhone Air meant for? In my opinion, this is Apple experimenting before its next big leap. A foldable iPhone is almost inevitable at this point, likely arriving with the iPhone 18, and the Air feels like a test run for that future. Much like how Samsung used the S25 Edge to refine the design language for its Galaxy Z Fold 7, Apple seems to be testing how far it can stretch its design and manufacturing limits &mdash; and how users respond.
The iPhone Air is built for those who value aesthetics and design above all else. It&rsquo;s light, elegant, and feels premium in every sense. The display is gorgeous, performance is fast, and the craftsmanship is pure Apple.
However, it isn&rsquo;t for everyone. If you want great cameras or long battery life, the iPhone 17 or 17 Pro Max make more sense. The Air exists to showcase design brilliance, not all-out specs.

Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones offer industry-leading noise cancelling, balanced sound, long battery life, and premium comfort. See why these headphones are the top choice for music lovers.

 Sony WH-1000XM6 Review: Comfort, Sound, Noise-Cancelling & Battery Life Explained

<h2>A deep look at the Sony WH-1000XM6 covering design, comfort, sound, noise-cancelling, battery life, touch controls, app features, and overall performance.</h2>

The Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones are finally here in India, and on paper, they don&rsquo;t look like a radical reinvention. But spend a week with them, and you realize Sony has quietly fixed the small annoyances, fine-tuned the sound, and made a<a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/dyson-ontrac-review-beautiful-headphones-but-should-you-buy-them-1730290242220"> great pair of headphones </a>even better.&nbsp;
This isn&rsquo;t a complete overhaul. It feels more like a thoughtful refresh and the kind of upgrade that answers long-standing complaints.
And yes, if you owned the <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/sony-wh-1000xm5-review-the-best-just-got-better-1663752187567">WH-1000XM5</a>, the first thing you&rsquo;ll notice is that the XM6 folds again. It is silly how much joy this brings me, but these little choices matter when a product costs nearly Rs. 40,000.
<h2>Sony WH-1000XM6 Unboxing and Design Overview</h2>
Sony&rsquo;s packaging is the usual understated, eco-friendly deal. Recycled paper, minimal plastic, and just enough protection to keep your expensive new toy safe.
Inside you get the headphones, a short USB-C charging cable, an aux cable, and a carrying case. No airplane adapter this time, which is probably fine since most airlines don&rsquo;t use the old two-prong system anymore.
The case is slimmer now, and while it's not as compact as the &nbsp;<a href="https://www.editorji.com/amp/sony-wh-1000xm4-headphones-debut-with-active-noise-cancellation-1596795938430">WH-1000XM4</a> case, it locks shut magnetically and slides into a backpack without turning into a brick. Small detail, big win.
At first glance, the XM6 could pass for the XM5. The design language hasn&rsquo;t really changed &mdash; still simple, still matte, still very Sony. But once you&rsquo;ve had them on for a while, you notice the tweaks.&nbsp;
The headband feels a bit broader and sits more evenly across your head and the earcups have been stretched just enough to give your ears extra breathing room without adding any bulk.
There&rsquo;s also a sturdier metal accent on the hinge that makes the whole thing feel more solid. Weight is about 254 grams, which is right in line with the Bose QC Ultra and noticeably lighter than Apple&rsquo;s AirPods Max.
Comfort has always been Sony&rsquo;s strong suit, and the WH-1000XM6 keeps that streak going. I had them on during a two-and-a-half-hour flight to Goa and barely noticed them after takeoff. &nbsp;
The earcups feel very soft, and the fit blocks out enough noise without ever clamping too hard. After a couple of hours, my ears got a little warm, but that&rsquo;s bound to happen if you wear headphones nonstop.&nbsp;
What I really liked is that the cups now swivel inward again when you hang them around your neck. The XM5 had them sticking out awkwardly, and I never understood that choice. Glad Sony brought the old design back.
The &nbsp;WH-1000XM6 comes in three colors: silver, black, and midnight blue. Sony says they&rsquo;ve added a fingerprint-resistant finish, but my blue pair still easily picks up smudges and greasy marks.
<h2>WH-1000XM6 Touch Controls and Usability</h2>
There aren&rsquo;t many physical controls on the XM6. On the left earcup you get the power button, and just above it a differently shaped button that toggles noise cancelling so you can tell them apart by feel.
The same side also has the 3.5mm jack for wired listening. Charging is handled by a USB-C port on the bottom of the right earcup. Most of the controls are touch gestures. Swiping skips tracks, a tap plays or pauses, and sliding your finger changes the volume.
I usually find touch controls clumsy, but Sony&rsquo;s actually works. In my testing they picked up the gestures consistently, without the usual misfires that make me want proper buttons.
<h2>Sony WH-1000XM6 Features&nbsp;</h2>
The &nbsp;Sony WH-1000XM6 can connect to two devices at the same time over Bluetooth 5.3 and handles SBC, AAC, and LDAC audio formats.
They also support the newer Bluetooth LE Audio (LC3), which isn&rsquo;t widely used yet but means these headphones are ready for whatever comes next. Sony&rsquo;s DSEE Extreme makes a return from the XM5, boosting lower-quality digital tracks so they sound closer to high-res.
On top of that, Sony has applied what it&rsquo;s learned from its Walkmans to reduce crosstalk and interference, so everything stays clean and detailed.
The XM6 works with Sony&rsquo;s Headphones Connect app, which opens up a bunch of extras. You can fiddle with the EQ, tweak the <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/sennheiser-momentum-true-wireless-4-review-audiophile-must-have-check-specs-price-pros-and-cons-1715954554409">noise-canceling</a>, or set up Adaptive Sound Control. The app itself is a bit clunky and doesn&rsquo;t feel modern, but you honestly don&rsquo;t need it that often.
One of the fun little features is Background Music mode. Turn it on and it kind of spreads the sound out, so it feels like the music is coming from around you instead of directly in your ears.
I tried it with Tame Impala&rsquo;s Let It Happen and it actually gave the impression the track was playing from small speakers nearby. It&rsquo;s not a game-changer, but it&rsquo;s a neat trick. Definitely worth experimenting with if you grab the XM6 &mdash; you&rsquo;ll know right away if it clicks for you.
<h2>WH-1000XM6 Noise Cancelling and Call Quality</h2>
Sony finally gave the &nbsp;WH-1000XM6 a proper brain upgrade. The new QN3 chip is about seven times quicker than the last one, and it works with a dozen microphones to catch and cancel noise more precisely.&nbsp;
In practice, that means the usual low rumbles, like airplane engines, get knocked down to a faint background hum.
However, what stood out was how well it handled sharper sounds. The clacking of a keyboard, people chatting nearby, and even metro announcements got dialed back far more than I&rsquo;m used to with other headphones.
The transparency mode is just as polished. Instead of that tinny, artificial passthrough you sometimes get, voices and street noise come through naturally. You can fine-tune it across 20 levels or let the headphones adjust on their own, depending on what is around you.
There is also a setting that prioritizes voices so you can catch what someone is saying without letting in the rest of the chaos.
Call quality has also improved. On Zoom, they just worked, no complaints from the other side. I also tried a few calls outside with wind whipping around, and the &nbsp;Sony WH-1000XM6 held up way better than the last couple of models.&nbsp;
Sony has reworked the mic design so your voice cuts through without all the wind noise, and it makes a noticeable difference. The person on the other end hears you more clearly, and you&rsquo;re not distracted by that whooshing sound bleeding into the noise-cancelling or ambient modes.
<h2>Sound Quality and Performance of Sony WH-1000XM6</h2>
The WH-1000XM6 sound balanced and detailed, and they handle just about any genre without breaking a sweat. That's pretty much what I&rsquo;d expect from Sony at this level. They've reworked the 30mm driver with a sturdier dome and some smarter tuning, and you can hear the difference right away.
Vocals sound present and natural. Instruments have breathing room instead of blending into mush. Bass is warm but never bloated, and highs have a pleasant shine without turning harsh.
I bounced between Kendrick Lamar&rsquo;s Money Trees, Taylor Swift&rsquo;s All Too Well (10 Minute Version), and a couple of The Weeknd tracks. Each one came across clean and layered. Little things like background harmonies or a faint guitar line come through instead of getting lost in the mix.
Compared to older Sony models, the XM4 still has the deepest bass but sacrifices clarity. The XM5 sharpened things up but sometimes felt a bit thin. The XM6 strikes the right balance: clarity, separation, and enough low-end punch to stay engaging.
If you&rsquo;re coming from Bose, the QC Ultra is still the more neutral and musical choice, but Sony&rsquo;s tuning is more versatile and enjoyable for daily listening. The AirPods Max delivers the sharpest detail and spatial audio magic, but they are heavier and costlier. The XM6 lands in a sweet middle ground, but they're also not flawless.
Play a track that&rsquo;s supposed to feel raw, like Pixies&rsquo; Where Is My Mind, and they tidy it up a little too much. The default tuning leans warm with some added bass, which makes for an easy listen, and you can always dive into the EQ if you want to shape the sound yourself.
Sony also added a few extra modes, including one that fakes a caf&eacute; or living-room vibe and a cinema option for movies. If spatial audio is your thing, these headphones handle both Sony&rsquo;s 360 Reality Audio and Android&rsquo;s head-tracked version without a hitch.
<h2>Sony WH-1000XM6 Battery Life and Charging</h2>
One of the best things about the &nbsp;WH-1000XM6 is how long they last. I didn&rsquo;t have to think about charging once. Sony says you can get up to 30 hours of playback with noise canceling on, and in my testing they easily hit that mark. I wore them throughout the week, including a five-hour flight, and still had plenty of juice left.
If you do run low, topping them up is quick. The fast-charging feature is impressive. You can get roughly three hours of listening from just three minutes on the charger. I tried it out and got about 11 percent in three minutes, which worked out to just over four hours of playback for me.
<h2>Verdict: Should You Buy the Sony WH-1000XM6?</h2>
Sony&rsquo;s WH-1000XM series has long been the go-to for noise-cancelling headphones. Whenever someone asks me what to buy, I usually just tell them to grab the latest model and call it a day.
I&rsquo;m saying the same this year. The WH-1000XM6 blocks tricky high-pitched noises like background chatter better than anything else I&rsquo;ve tried. Outside of that, it&rsquo;s mostly fine-tuning what was already great.
The sound is excellent, they&rsquo;re light and comfy to wear, the touch controls actually work, the battery lasts, and the folding design with a solid case makes them really easy to live with.
I won&rsquo;t lie, Sony&rsquo;s design is a bit safe, and they aren&rsquo;t cheap at Rs. 39,990 &mdash; even if some competitors go higher. But if you want the best noise-cancelling money can buy, the WH-1000XM6 are still the headphones to beat.
&nbsp;

The Vivo T4 Pro blends a massive 6,500mAh battery, dual 50MP cameras, and AMOLED display, making it a top pick for all-day use and reliable camera performance.

Vivo T4 Pro Review: Big Battery, 50MP Cameras & Smooth Performance

Vivo T4 Pro Review: All-round performance with epic battery & cameras

<h3 dir="ltr">The Vivo T4 Pro packs a huge battery, dual 50MP cameras, and top-tier display&mdash;delivering reliable all-day performance and versatile cameras at a competitive price.</h3>
&nbsp;

Vivo has always been that smartphone brand you check out when you want a phone that has the aesthetic and takes solid pics that are sure to blow up your Instagram. So, when the Vivo T4 Pro showed up on my desk, I thought, &ldquo;Cool, another solid-looking phone, that takes wonderful pictures.&rdquo;&nbsp;
But after two weeks of living with it- constant WhatsApp pings, Netflix marathons, midnight selfies, and even surviving a couple of clumsy drops&mdash;I figured out that there&rsquo;s more to this phone than just aesthetics.&nbsp;
On the spec sheet, the T4 Pro looks solid. You get a Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 processor, dual 50MP rear cameras, and a massive 6,500mAh battery that just doesn&rsquo;t quit. As for pricing, the base 8GB + 128GB version comes in at ₹27,999, while the 12GB + 256GB model I tested is ₹29,999.
Now here&rsquo;s the real question: Does all that translate into an actually good daily driver? Because let&rsquo;s be real, nobody cares if the phone sounds great on paper but lags when you&rsquo;re trying to reply to DMs or takes ages to charge when you&rsquo;re about to head out.
We find out if the Vivo T4 Pro is just another pretty face or a legit all-rounder that Gen Z can rely on.
<h2>Design &amp; Build: Vivo T4 Pro is light but tough</h2>
The first thing that surprised me about the Vivo T4 Pro was how light it feels for a phone packing such a huge battery. At just 192 grams and 7.55mm thick, it&rsquo;s super easy to carry around. I took it through my daily metro rides, and honestly, it never felt bulky or tiring to hold. The curved edges give it a comfy grip, and overall, the in-hand feel is solid.&nbsp;
Design-wise, it&rsquo;s nice but not flawless. The plastic back does catch fingerprints, and the frame doesn&rsquo;t feel as premium as glass or metal would. Still, it looks clean, especially in the Nitro Blue variant I tested (the other option is Blaze Gold). If you ask me, Nitro Blue looks nice without being OTT.
I have one small gripe, though the camera bump on the rear. It sticks out just enough to make the phone wobble when it&rsquo;s lying flat on a table. Not a dealbreaker, but it gets annoying when you&rsquo;re typing or scrolling on a desk.
Everything else is where you&rsquo;d expect: volume and power buttons on the right, a dual-SIM tray + USB-C port at the bottom, and stereo speakers that are loud enough for YouTube and Netflix binges.
Where the T4 Pro really levels up is durability. Unlike last year&rsquo;s T3 Pro (which had an IP64 rating), this one is rated IP68/69, meaning it can technically handle dust, splashes, and even being dunked in water for up to 30 minutes.&nbsp;
On top of that, the screen is protected by Diamond Shield Glass, which Vivo says makes it tougher against drops and scratches. I didn&rsquo;t go full chaos mode to test that, but it&rsquo;s a reassuring upgrade on paper.
<h2>Display &amp; Multimedia: Is the T4 Pro&rsquo;s display binge-worthy?</h2>
When it comes to the screen, you&rsquo;re getting a 6.7-inch AMOLED panel with 10-bit colour and a 120Hz refresh rate. Translation? Colours look super vibrant, feel smooth, and it&rsquo;s exactly the kind of display that makes OTT content consumption fun.&nbsp;
The T4 Pro has HDR10 support, and it works well on both Netflix and YouTube. Pair that with the stereo speakers, and what you get is a commendable media experience. I ended up watching half a K-drama episode on YouTube, the experience was pretty solid.&nbsp;
Brightness is another flex here. The display can hit 1,500 nits normally and up to a wild 5,000 nits peak. Even under harsh sunlight, you&rsquo;ll have zero issues.&nbsp;
Security-wise, there&rsquo;s an in-display fingerprint scanner that works quickly and reliably.&nbsp;
Overall, the Vivo T4 Pro nails the display and multimedia experience.&nbsp;
<h2>Performance &amp; Software: How does the T4 Pro handle heavy tasks and gaming?</h2>
The Vivo T4 Pro runs on the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4, a basic bump up from the 7 Gen 3 inside last year&rsquo;s T3. My review unit had 12GB RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage, so on paper it&rsquo;s plenty powerful. Benchmarks back that up too, around 1.2 million on AnTuTu and 1,290 / 3,678 on Geekbench.&nbsp;
But let&rsquo;s be real: most people don&rsquo;t care about numbers, and in daily use, this phone feels smooth. Apps launch quickly, switching between them is seamless, and even with a bunch of apps running in the background, I didn&rsquo;t notice any lag.
For gaming, I tested BGMI at the highest settings it allowed for FPS. The T4 Pro held up fine&mdash;no lag, no overheating.&nbsp;
That said, this isn&rsquo;t marketed as a gaming phone. It&rsquo;s great for casual or mid-level gaming, but if you&rsquo;re someone who spends hours grinding heavy titles, you&rsquo;ll probably want something more performance-focused.
On the software side, the T4 Pro ships with Android 15 + Funtouch OS 15. And the good news is that there&rsquo;s very little bloatware. You do get some random games like Candy Crush, but you can uninstall them in seconds. The UI is clean, responsive, and easy to navigate.
Vivo is also promising 4 years of OS updates and 6 years of security patches, which is fine for this price range. It means your phone won&rsquo;t feel outdated anytime soon.
The AI features are where things get interesting. Tools like Smart Call Assistant can transcribe live calls, translate instantly, and even give you summaries after.&nbsp;
AI Captions makes meetings way easier by pulling out key points, and spam protection does a good job of blocking random callers.&nbsp;
Plus, with Google Gemini built in, you basically have an AI sidekick for writing, planning, or brainstorming on the go.&nbsp;
<h2>Camera: The T4 Pro&rsquo;s got zoom that actually delivers</h2>
The cameras are easily one of the Vivo T4 Pro&rsquo;s biggest flexes. On the back, you get a 50MP main sensor, a 50MP periscope telephoto lens (way better than the 8MP ultrawide from the T3 Pro), and a 2MP depth sensor. Up front, there&rsquo;s a 32MP selfie shooter.
In daylight, photos come out sharp, colourful, and nicely balanced thanks to solid HDR. Indoors, it keeps things natural without over-saturating, which is rare at this price.&nbsp;
Portrait mode is pretty good too, though sometimes edge detection struggles when the background&rsquo;s busy. And yes, Vivo still loves that face-smoothing filter fine if you like the polished look, but it can blur details like hair.
The real star here is the periscope telephoto lens. Up to 3x optical zoom, shots are crisp and colour-accurate both day and night. Beyond that, details start to fade a bit, but colours stay surprisingly natural. Night mode also impresses, keeping noise low and light bleed in check.
Selfie lovers won&rsquo;t be disappointed either; the 32MP front camera captures natural skin tones and sharp detail. Honestly, I&rsquo;d post them straight to Instagram with no edits.
<h2>Battery: The T4 Pro&rsquo;s designed to keep up</h2>
If you&rsquo;re constantly snapping pics or bingeing on reels, you&rsquo;ll love the 6,500mAh battery. It&rsquo;s paired with 90W fast charging, which gets you from 0 to 75% in about 50 minutes. On moderate use, it easily lasts more than a day.
During my test, the phone lost just 10% after two hours of YouTube and only 2% after 30 minutes of gaming. That&rsquo;s seriously efficient and makes the T4 Pro one of the most reliable mid-range phones I&rsquo;ve used.
<h2>Verdict: Should you buy the Vivo T4 Pro?</h2>
The T4 Pro isn&rsquo;t perfect. The plastic body doesn&rsquo;t feel as premium as glass rivals, the camera bump causes some wobble on flat surfaces, portraits can get a little too airbrushed, and the front protection isn&rsquo;t the toughest around.
But here&rsquo;s the thing, those drawbacks quickly fade away once you look at the overall package. You&rsquo;re getting a killer battery with fast charging, a bright AMOLED display, smooth performance, and cameras that punch above their weight.
In the mid-range segment, I usually want a phone that looks good, lasts all day, and doesn&rsquo;t slow me down. The Vivo T4 Pro checks those boxes confidently.&nbsp;
If you&rsquo;re comparing, the Realme P4 Pro is a solid alternative at the same price, while the Nothing Phone 3A Pro is worth a look if you&rsquo;re willing to spend a little extra.

Google Pixel 10 features a vibrant OLED display, upgraded AI tools, a powerful zoom camera, and reliable battery life for everyday use in India.

Google Pixel 10 Review: Smarter AI, Stunning Display, Big Battery

Google Pixel 10 review: AI gets smarter than ever—is this peak Pixel?

<h3>Pixel 10 brings fun AI, a sleek design, and solid battery, but the downgraded camera means it&rsquo;s no longer the best for photography fans.</h3>

The Pixel 10 is Google&rsquo;s latest shot at flagship glory, bringing a mix of fresh design tweaks, a punchy new display, smarter AI features, and a camera setup that&rsquo;s always trying something different.&nbsp;
On paper, it looks like a serious contender, offering big hardware upgrades, long-term software support, and a playful, almost effortless user experience that&rsquo;s true to the Pixel vibe.&nbsp;
But with some unexpected downgrades, a few new tricks, and India still waiting for the best AI features to go live, is the Pixel 10 really worth your money in 2025? Here&rsquo;s how it all plays out in real life.
<h2>Design: How premium does the Pixel 10 feel?</h2>
The Pixel 10 gets the whole premium vibe just right, and you feel it as soon as you pick it up. With Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on both the front and back, plus a solid aluminium frame, it just feels sturdy&mdash;like it can handle life&rsquo;s usual bumps without breaking a sweat. The design itself is refreshingly straightforward: flat sides, soft corners, and a shape that actually feels good in your hand, whether you&rsquo;re messaging, gaming, or just mindlessly scrolling.
The glossy back is a real highlight, especially in the Obsidian colourway. Of course, glossy does mean fingerprints, so be ready to give it a quick wipe every now and then.&nbsp;
Around the back, Google keeps its signature horizontal camera bar, now sporting three cameras in a single neat cutout.&nbsp;
It not only gives the Pixel 10 its unmistakably Pixel-esque look but also helps the phone stay steady when it&rsquo;s on a table; no annoying wobbling when you tap or swipe.
Practicality hasn&rsquo;t been overlooked either. The Pixel 10 is rated IP68, so it can easily shrug off dust, splashes, and even a surprise downpour.&nbsp;
There&rsquo;s a USB-C port with 3.2 speeds for zippy data transfers, and for the first time, Google brings in Pixelsnap, Google&rsquo;s take on Apple&rsquo;s MagSafe. This allows you to snap on accessories like wireless chargers, power banks, and wallets etc., making the Pixel ecosystem a lot more flexible and fun.
Everyday controls are simple, with all the buttons on one edge for easy access. Security is fast and fuss-free too: you get camera-based face unlock and an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, both of which work quickly and reliably whenever you need them.
<h2>Display: Pixel 10&rsquo;s vibrant colours</h2>
The Pixel 10 really makes its mark with the display. Google&rsquo;s gone with a roomy 6.3-inch OLED that&rsquo;s not just crisp, but also super smooth thanks to the adaptive 120Hz refresh rate. That means whether you&rsquo;re just scrolling Insta, gaming, or zipping through your apps, everything feels really slick and fast&mdash;no lag, no stutters.
Brightness is another area where the Pixel 10 stands out. The screen can push up to 2,000 nits in high brightness mode, and even peak at a wild 3,000 nits. So if you&rsquo;re outside on a sunny day, you&rsquo;ll have zero trouble seeing what&rsquo;s on your phone. It&rsquo;s bright, vibrant, and handles sunlight like a champ.
For binge-watching, the Pixel&rsquo;s HDR10+ support means colours pop and content just looks rich. The display tends to be a little warmer, but unless you&rsquo;re putting it next to another phone and comparing the panels, you don&rsquo;t even realise it.
The speakers get nice and loud, whether you&rsquo;re watching videos or taking a call on speaker. And the haptics, are punchy and satisfying, so you actually feel all those little taps and swipes.&nbsp;
<h2>Performance: A mixed bag for the Pixel 10</h2>
Under the hood, the Pixel 10 runs on Google&rsquo;s latest Tensor G5 chip, paired with a generous 12GB of RAM. You can choose between 128GB of storage (UFS 3.1) or bump it up to 256GB (UFS 4.0) if you need more space and speed.&nbsp;
This combo makes the phone feel fast and responsive in pretty much any situation, from daily multitasking to heavier tasks like editing photos or videos. However, if you are chasing benchmark numbers, the Pixel 10 will disappoint, especially when you compare it to something like the iPhone 16 or the Samsung Galaxy S25
Performance in day-to-day use though, is smooth as butter. Apps launch quickly, switching between them feels instant, and you can keep a bunch of apps open without worrying about slowdowns.
The Pixel 10 is absolutely up for everything you throw at it&mdash;browsing, social media, productivity, and even a bit of light gaming.&nbsp;
In fact, it supports up to 120FPS in games like BGMI, which means gameplay can feel ultra-fluid&hellip; at least most of the time.
The Pixel 10 isn&rsquo;t built for hardcore gaming. You might spot the occasional frame drop in graphically intense games like BGMI, especially when chasing higher frame rates. But unless you&rsquo;re after console-level gaming on your phone, you&rsquo;re unlikely to be disappointed.&nbsp;
The Tensor G5 is tuned for AI-powered features and efficiency rather than just chasing benchmark numbers.
In the real world, the Pixel 10 feels every bit as fast and capable as a flagship should. Whether you&rsquo;re juggling a dozen apps, editing videos on the go, or just keeping up with day-to-day tasks, it delivers a reliably smooth experience from start to finish.
<h2>Cameras: The Pixel 10 gets some nifty upgrades</h2>
When it comes to cameras, the Pixel 10 shakes things up this year&mdash;though not all of it is an upgrade. Google has actually trimmed down the specs a bit compared to last year&rsquo;s Pixel 9. The main sensor drops from 50MP to 48MP, and the ultrawide has been reduced to 13MP, which is a step down from before.&nbsp;
But in exchange, you get a brand-new 10.8MP 5X telephoto lens, giving the Pixel 10 some serious zoom power that was missing in previous generations.
Thanks to the updated Tensor G5 chip, which now includes a new imaging signal processor (ISP), image processing gets a boost. Daylight shots from the main sensor are still packed with detail and have that signature Pixel punch&mdash;bright, colourful, and instantly social-ready.&nbsp;
You&rsquo;ll notice the Pixel 10 really goes for eye-catching results, with colours that pop and contrast that makes images look lively. If you&rsquo;re after those true-to-life, balanced tones, you might find the Pixel&rsquo;s photos a bit over-the-top, but for most people, it&rsquo;s just fun to shoot with.
The new 5X telephoto setup does a pretty decent job if you like zooming in, offering crisp and usable images up to about 10X. Push past that, and quality does take a dip, but for most everyday shots, it&rsquo;s a solid upgrade. The downgraded ultrawide still does the job for group shots and scenery, though it doesn&rsquo;t capture quite as much detail as before.
Low-light performance benefits from the upgraded ISP as well. Night Mode works hard to keep things bright, though you might see a bit more noise sneaking in. Selfies come out decent from the front camera, but, as always, there&rsquo;s a bit of that typical Pixel processing.
For video, the Pixel 10 tops out at 4K 30fps&mdash;good for social clips, but not the go-to for pro-level shooting. Still, if you want a phone that takes punchy, ready-to-share photos and finally brings in strong zoom, the Pixel 10 is a fun, capable pick.
<h2>Software: It&rsquo;s all about AI on the Pixel 10</h2>
On the software side, the Pixel 10 boots up with Android 16 right out of the box, giving you that classic clean Pixel experience&mdash;no clutter, no bloat, just a smooth and customisable setup from the get-go. Google is promising a solid seven years of both OS and security updates for the Pixel 10, which means you&rsquo;re set for the long haul in terms of features and safety patches.
The real flex for the Pixel 10 is how deeply Google has woven Gemini AI features into the whole experience. Things like &ldquo;Add Me&rdquo; and &ldquo;Best Take&rdquo; are actually useful in daily life, letting you tweak group photos or pick your favourite expression with barely any effort. The software just feels smart and gets out of your way, which is exactly what you want in a modern phone.
But here&rsquo;s the reality check: not all those shiny new AI features are actually live in India yet. Stuff like text-to-edit and voice-to-edit for photos are still &ldquo;coming soon,&rdquo; even though Google keeps saying India is a priority market. So, while the potential is there, you might be waiting a bit for the full suite to unlock.
<h2>Battery: How long does the Pixel 10 last?</h2>
The Pixel 10&rsquo;s big 4970mAh battery means you can get through a full, busy day without hunting for a charger. Whether you&rsquo;re streaming, snapping photos, or just on social all day, it holds up really well.&nbsp;
When it&rsquo;s time to top up, the 30W wired charging gets you back to full in about ninety minutes, and you&rsquo;ve also got 15W wireless charging for those times you just want to drop it on a pad and forget about cables. There&rsquo;s even reverse charging for your earbuds or watch, and bypass charging to keep things cool while gaming.
<h2>Verdict: Should you buy the Pixel 10?</h2>
The Pixel 10 gets a lot right, especially if you love vibrant photos, a clean software experience, and steady, all-day battery life.&nbsp;
The Pixel 10 doesn&rsquo;t try to reinvent the wheel, but it brings enough small updates to keep things interesting. The new camera bar design looks cleaner, the phone feels solid and comfortable, and Pixelsnap adds a bit of extra flexibility with accessories. Day-to-day performance is smooth, battery life holds up well, and Google&rsquo;s AI features are genuinely helpful&mdash;even if some are still rolling out in India.&nbsp;
Google&rsquo;s decision to downgrade the main and ultrawide cameras is hard to ignore&mdash;especially for long-time Pixel fans who expect camera upgrades, not cutbacks. Also, this isn&rsquo;t the phone for hardcore gamers, but if you want a fresh, easy-to-use Android with a focus on photos and smart features, the Pixel 10 is a solid pick.
&nbsp;

Check out the OnePlus Nord Buds 3R review: bass-heavy sound, long-lasting battery, and fast charging make these earbuds a great budget pick.

OnePlus Nord Buds 3r Review: Powerful bass, great battery, but are they worth they hype?

<h2>The OnePlus Nord Buds 3r offers powerful bass, long battery life, and ton of other features, making them a solid pick for budget buyers who love a punchy sound.</h2>

The OnePlus Nord Buds 3r are the latest budget-friendly TWS offering from OnePlus, promising great features at an affordable price point under ₹2,000. With a host of impressive specs and a sleek design, they&rsquo;re aimed at those looking for a solid audio experience without breaking the bank.
But with the growing number of wireless earbuds flooding the market, do the OnePlus Nord Buds 3r stand out enough to justify their place in your ears? We find out!
<h3>OnePlus Nord Buds 3r: Design &amp; Comfort</h3>
When it comes to design, OnePlus has gone for a fresh, rectangular-shaped design with sharp lines, which makes the Nord Buds 3r look modern. The matte finish adds a premium touch, and it does a great job of resisting fingerprints.
The case itself is a bit chunkier compared to some of the most popular budget models, but this bulk allows for a larger battery, but, this makes case not that pocket-friendly.
If you're used to ultra-compact designs, the OnePlus Nord Buds 3r might feel a little on the bulkier side. But when you factor in the larger battery, it's a trade-off I&rsquo;m willing to accept.
Fit-wise, the OnePlus Nord Buds 3r offers a solid and comfortable fit. I even tested them how well they stay seated by shaking head violently a few times, and I must say, the buds stayed in place, which is always a good sign for a secure, snug fit. The buds also come with extra eartips, so you can find the perfect size for your ears.
Plus, with IP55 rating for water and dust resistance, you don&rsquo;t have to worry about sweat or light rain.
<h3>OnePlus Nord Buds 3r: Touch Controls</h3>
You get some basic touch and tap controls with the earbuds. A single tap allows you to play/pause your music. Volume control is also sorted on these; just tap and hold to adjust the volume.
What&rsquo;s even better is that the OnePlus Nord Buds 3r let&rsquo;s you customise various gesntures and taps for the touch controls via the HeyMelody app, which is available on both Android and iOS. You can also even set the double tap function on the OnePlus Nord Buds 3r to take selfies, which I found fun and practical.
I did miss the wear detection feature, though. So when you take the buds out, your music keeps playing. Not exactly a a dealbreaker, but it&rsquo;s definitely a miss in 2025.
<h3>OnePlus Nord Buds 3r: Audio</h3>
When it comes to audio quality, the OnePlus Nord Buds 3R are definitely bass-heavy. They come with a 12.4mm driver, and right off the bat, the bass is punchy. If you&rsquo;re someone who loves deep, thumping lows, these earbuds will deliver.
I tested these buds with a few tracks, starting with Bohemian Rhapsody, and I noticed that the vocals felt a bit muffled. The highs weren&rsquo;t as crisp as I would have liked, and there was some distortion in the higher frequencies. The bass, though powerful, was clearly the dominant feature in the sound profile.
I switched to Tu Jhoom, and the story was somewhat the same. The bass was strong, but it also drowned out the vocals. While I do enjoy a good, punchy bass, having too much of it can make it difficult to truly enjoy other aspects of the song. It&rsquo;s all about balance, and for me, the OnePlus Nord Buds 3R tipped the scale too far towards bass, making the experience a little too overwhelming.
However, it&rsquo;s not all bad. If you're a bass lover, the OnePlus Nord Buds 3R will definitely satisfy your cravings. They have a fun, punchy sound that works well with genres that thrive on low-end frequencies, like EDM or hip-hop. But if you&rsquo;re someone who prefers a more balanced sound with clearer vocals and detailed highs, you might find the OnePlus Nord Buds 3R a bit too overpowering in the bass department.
The OnePlus Nord Buds 3r do come with custom EQ settings, so you can adjust the sound to suit your preferences.
<h3>OnePlus Nord Buds 3r: Battery Life</h3>
Now, let&rsquo;s discuss battery life, which is an area where the OnePlus Nord Buds 3r really impresses. With a 560mAh battery, these buds provide up to 54 hours of total playback with the case. The earbuds themselves last around 12 hours on a full charge, which is fantastic considering the price point. You won&rsquo;t have to charge these every day, and for someone like me who is always on the move, that&rsquo;s a win.
But the real winner here is how quickly it charges. In just 10 minutes of charging, you get 8 hours of playback, which is insanely good when you&rsquo;re in a rush. If you forget to charge them the night before, you&rsquo;ll still be able to use them for hours with just a quick top-up.
<h3>OnePlus Nord Buds 3r: Software &amp; Features</h3>
The OnePlus Nord Buds 3r comes with the HeyMelody app for Android and iOS, which allows you to customise your EQ settings and adjust the touch controls. The app is easy to navigate and does its job well. Real-time adjustments to sound, control, and features make it a breeze to personalise your experience.
Another great feature is dual-device connection. You can connect the OnePlus Nord Buds 3r to two devices at once, which is super handy if you need to switch between your phone and laptop without having to disconnect and reconnect each time.
Another feature worth mentioning is spatial audio. It adds a sense of depth to the audio, but it&rsquo;s not quite as immersive as it would be on higher-end headphones. Still, for budget earbuds, it&rsquo;s a nice addition that enhances the listening experience.
<h3>OnePlus Nord Buds 3r: Verdict</h3>
If you&rsquo;re looking for budget wireless earbuds with bass-heavy sound quality, long battery life, and great fast charging, the OnePlus Nord Buds 3r are a solid pick. The bass-heavy audio is perfect for bass lovers, and the battery life is outstanding for the price.
However, if you&rsquo;re someone who prioritises balanced sound, clear vocals, and ANC in your earbuds, you might want to look elsewhere. These earbuds are built for people who want fun, bass-heavy sound without paying a premium price.

Realme P4x combines a premium build, 144Hz LCD screen, Dimensity 7400-Ultra performance, and a huge 7000mAh battery for long runtime.

Realme P4x Review: Premium design, dependable performance, but is it worth?

Realme P4x Review: Budget performer with a beast of a battery

<h3>Realme P4x delivers strong battery life, steady performance, a premium feel, and a 144Hz LCD display that confuses a little.</h3>

Realme has launched the P4x in a segment that is overtly saturated and brands, in order to stand out, experiment quite a bit. This one though, one feels a little different. It looks simplistic, but far more premium than its price suggests, leans heavily on battery endurance, and delivers surprisingly steady performance for everyday use and mid-tier gaming, especially for a device that starts at ₹15,499.
On top of that you get a 144Hz display which is pretty rare even in the mid-range segment. But then, Realme decided to use an LCD panel for that.
During the two weeks I was testing the P4x, the device kept swinging between impressive value and soome head-scratching decisions, that Realme has taken with this one.&nbsp;
I take a closer look at where the P4x &nbsp;shines, where it stumbles, and whether it actually deserves your money.
<h2>Realme P4x Review: Design</h2>
The first thing that hit me when I picked up the Realme P4x was how closely it resembles the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, especially that raised pill-shaped camera island. Testing the Matte Silver variant only amplified the d&eacute;j&agrave; vu.
At this price, brands usually try something quirky with materials, but Realme has gone with a mostly polycarbonate body and very flat panels. Honestly, it works. The phone looks far more premium than its materials suggest, and the matte finish on this Silver unit handles fingerprints and grime exceptionally well. It adds a calm, clean vibe that feels intentional rather than cost-cutting.
The downside is that those flat polycarbonate sides and sharper edges make the phone slippery. If you have smaller hands, it becomes even trickier to grip securely. Using a case is pretty much non-negotiable, and Realme thankfully includes a TPU one in the box.
Despite the plastic build, the Realme P4x weighs 208 grams and feels surprisingly dense, almost brick-like in a reassuring way. Its 8.39 mm thickness contributes to that solid, sturdy feel. What doesn&rsquo;t feel as sturdy are the bezels. They&rsquo;re thick by 2025 standards, especially the bottom chin, but at this price, it&rsquo;s hard to complain too much.
In terms of protection, you get an IP64 rating, which is acceptable for the segment, though some rivals do offer better. What&rsquo;s odd is Realme staying quiet about the front glass. Online reports suggest a KK panel instead of Corning protection, which is an unusual place to cut costs.
Everything else sits where it should: power and volume buttons on the right, USB-C port, hybrid SIM tray and speaker grille at the bottom.
For a phone starting at ₹15,999, the Realme P4x looks and feels far more premium than most competitors in its bracket.
<h2>Realme P4x Review: Display &amp; Speakers</h2>
The display is where the Realme P4x starts getting a little puzzling. On the surface, a Full HD panel at this price is perfectly acceptable, even for the top-end variant. Things get complicated when you see Realme has gone with an IPS LCD panel. For the base model, that&rsquo;s fine. For the price of the top-end variant, things feel a bit murky, because competitors do offer AMOLED displays at that price.
Then comes the strangest part of the entire setup: the refresh rate. Yes, technically, the phone supports 144Hz, but the phone doesn&rsquo;t really use it. During my tests, the only apps that consistently hit 144Hz were the calculator and the voice recorder, which absolutely must have ultra-fast refresh rates, obviously.&nbsp;
Jokes aside, the fact that even navigating the UI doesn&rsquo;t trigger 144Hz is genuinely disappointing. It feels like wasted potential rather than a meaningful feature.
In day-to-day use, the display is still pretty good actually. Text and images look sharp enough for casual viewing, and the colours hold up well for an LCD. You don&rsquo;t get the punch, contrast or depth you&rsquo;d expect from AMOLED, but that&rsquo;s the nature of the panel.&nbsp;
Brightness is also limited. The screen tops out at 1000 nits (HBM), which is fine indoors but starts struggling under strong sunlight. I often found myself hunting for shade just to see what was on the screen.
As for the speakers, Realme does give you a stereo setup, which is a win at this price. The performance, though, is average. They get loud, but there&rsquo;s no real richness or tonal character. They&rsquo;re perfectly serviceable for reels, shorts or the quick YouTube scroll, but for movies or long OTT sessions, they sound a bit flat.
<h2>Realme P4x Review: Performance</h2>
The Realme P4x runs on the MediaTek Dimensity 7400-Ultra, and the performance story is a mixed but mostly positive one. The base variant starts with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of UFS 3.1 storage, and goes up to 8GB of RAM with a generous 256GB of storage.&nbsp;
Realme&rsquo;s decision to use UFS 3.1 instead of the usual UFS 2.2 at this price deserves real credit. You also have the option to use a microSD card and expand your storage. What doesn&rsquo;t earn the same applause is starting the RAM at 6GB in 2025.&nbsp;
In everyday use, though, the P4x holds its own. Apps open quickly, animations stay smooth, and the UI feels surprisingly responsive for a phone in this segment. Across my testing period, I didn&rsquo;t run into stutters, dropped frames, or any noticeable slowdowns. It behaves exactly the way a budget device should behave, but not always does.
Budget phones rarely deliver impressive benchmark scores, and the P4x doesn&rsquo;t suddenly break that pattern. We still ran the usual set just to see what would happen, and the results were more than acceptable for the price. In fact, in Antutu, our unit managed to outscore what Realme claims about the P4x in their own marketing materials.
Gaming is where things get a little more interesting. The P4x has a 144Hz display, but none of the popular mobile titles like BGMI or Call of Duty Mobile touch that number. They don&rsquo;t even hit 120FPS. Both max out at 90FPS, and even then, the display refuses to switch to 120Hz during gameplay. It&rsquo;s an odd limitation that makes the 144Hz spec feel more decorative than practical.
Despite this, the actual gaming experience was solid. During my sessions with BGMI and CoD:M, frame rates stayed consistently between 87&ndash;90FPS for over half an hour. Thermal performance was also surprisingly controlled. The device warmed up during long sessions and during benchmarks, but never to an uncomfortable or alarming level. Realme credits this to using the largest vapour chamber in its segment.
Overall, the P4x delivers steady, reliable performance with a cooling system that genuinely works, even if the 144Hz story still feels unfinished.
<h2>Realme P4x Review: Cameras</h2>
Phones in this price bracket almost always compromise on cameras, and the P4x follows the same pattern. At first glance, the rear module looks like a triple-camera setup, but you actually get just two cameras: a 50MP main sensor and a 2MP secondary unit that exists purely for symmetry. It adds nothing to image quality and is essentially wasted space.
The 50MP main camera did a good job for me in bright, outdoor conditions. Colours looked mostly accurate, details came through well, and the images felt reliable. I did notice the processing getting a bit overeager at times, especially with textures and fine patterns, but nothing deal-breaking.
At 2X, the weaknesses show immediately. I lost a lot of detail, and while the colours were still okay, the images were just about good enough for casual use. Nothing more.
Low-light shots were acceptable as long as I kept expectations realistic. Noise definitely creeps in, especially in dim indoor scenes, and shadows tend to get mushy. But honestly, this is the standard story for phones in this price band.
The 8MP selfie camera felt like a downgrade when I compared it to what competitors offer. Even so, the selfies I took looked fairly natural. Skin tones were handled well, though textures were noticeably smoothed out and overall sharpness wasn&rsquo;t great.
For video, I could shoot up to 4K 30fps, which is impressive at this price. Colours and dynamic range were solid, but without OIS, stability definitely suffers.
<h2>Realme P4x Review: Software and UI</h2>
The Realme P4x runs Android 15 with Realme UI 6 on top, and Realme has sprinkled AI features all over the place. I spotted them inside the Gallery, Notes, Sound Recorder, Camera, and even in system-wide tools like AI Smart Loop. There are also plenty of lock-screen customisation options, plus a Live Alerts feature that behaves a lot like Apple&rsquo;s Dynamic Island.
That said, I&rsquo;m still not a big fan of Realme UI 6 on budget phones. The interface looks dated and a bit clunky, and the amount of bloatware continues to be a major pain point. What bothered me even more were the constant, unnecessary notifications that kept popping up throughout the day. It all adds to an experience that feels unnecessarily noisy.
For software support, Realme promises two years of OS updates and three years of security patches. It doesn&rsquo;t sound like much, but it&rsquo;s standard for this price segment.
<h2>Realme P4x Review: Battery &amp; Charging</h2>
Battery life is &nbsp;is easily one of the P4x&rsquo;s strongest areas. The 7000mAh battery is massive, and because the phone uses a fairly light SoC along with an FHD+ LCD panel, the system never really demands too much power. In my testing, I was consistently getting two full days of use without even thinking about a charger. If you&rsquo;re smart with it, you can even push it to three.
My screen-on time usually sat between 8 hours 30 minutes and 9 hours on a single charge, which is seriously impressive for a phone at this price.
Charging is handled through 45W wired fast charging, and Realme thankfully includes a 45W charger in the box. Now, 45W isn&rsquo;t blazing fast by today&rsquo;s standards, but given the huge 7000mAh capacity, I wasn&rsquo;t expecting miracles anyway. From zero to full, it took me around an hour and a half, which felt reasonable considering the size of the battery.
<h2>Realme P4x Review: Verdict</h2>
The Realme P4x isn&rsquo;t your typical budget phone &mdash; it feels like it&rsquo;s aiming just a bit higher. Performance is where it really shows off, consistently hitting 90FPS in BGMI and CoD:M, and handling daily tasks without any stutters. The cameras won&rsquo;t blow you away, but they&rsquo;re more than dependable for what you&rsquo;re paying.
But then the phone makes a few odd choices. The biggest one is the 144Hz display. What&rsquo;s the point of having it when barely any pre-installed apps &mdash; or even the most popular games &mdash; can't take advantage of it? It feels like a spec added for the sheet rather than real-world use.
What complicates things further is the competition. The P4x starts at ₹15,499 for the base 6GB variant. For just a little more money, the Nothing Phone 3a Lite gives you a better display and a better gaming experience. Even Realme&rsquo;s own P4 is a very capable alternative.
That said, if you want a phone that looks premium, feels great in the hand, lasts multiple days on a charge, and you don&rsquo;t mind an LCD panel, the P4x still stands as a solid option for the price.

Gadget Review

A compact flagship with a 200MP camera, big 6040mAh battery, fast charging and smooth OriginOS 6. The Vivo X300 delivers more than its size suggests.

Vivo X300 Review: The compact flagship for 2025

The Vivo X300 brings a compact form factor, a powerhouse of a camera set up, strong performance and clean software. Read before you buy.

Do you usually pick a phone for its camera, its raw horsepower, or a clean, reliable software experience? With the Vivo X300, you don&rsquo;t really have to choose. This compact flagship tries to nail all three, and surprisingly, it gets pretty close.
I&rsquo;ve been using it as my main phone for the past week, and that&rsquo;s been enough to understand where it shines, where it slips a little, and what it actually feels like to use every day. The overall experience turned out to be more impressive than I expected, largely because of the hardware Vivo has packed in at a starting price of ₹75,999. It&rsquo;s a small phone, but definitely not a lightweight in what it delivers.
<h2>How does the Vivo X300&rsquo;s design come together in real use?</h2>
What caught my attention first wasn&rsquo;t the camera; that crown belonged to last year&rsquo;s X200. This time, it was the design. Vivo has shifted to a cleaner, more minimal look, and the frosted glass back lands in that sweet spot where it resists smudges without losing its premium feel. The unibody 3D glass design helps too, giving the phone a smoother, more cohesive look. I still gravitate toward the Elite Black variant, but the Mist Blue finish adds a softer, calmer vibe for anyone who prefers something understated.
The camera module also feels far more polished. The X200&rsquo;s bump was noticeably chunky and made the phone wobble on tables; the X300 still has a bump, but it blends seamlessly and keeps the phone steady on flat surfaces.
The essentials are neatly placed along the flat aluminium frame, which curves slightly at the corners for a more comfortable grip. You get the power button and volume keys on the right, plus a dual-SIM tray and USB-C 3.2 port at the bottom. Stereo speakers round out the basics.
The biggest highlight, though, is the size. At roughly 190 grams and about 7.9mm thick for the Elite Black model, the X300 feels compact in a world where flagships keep getting bulkier. With both IP68 and IP69 protection, it&rsquo;s a device that&rsquo;s genuinely easy to use and carry every day.
<h2>Is the Vivo X300&rsquo;s screen actually worth the hype?</h2>
Turn on the display and the X300 keeps the momentum going. It packs a 6.31-inch 1.5K LTPO AMOLED panel with a smooth 120Hz refresh rate, boosted by Vivo&rsquo;s Ultra Motion algorithm for noticeably fluid animations. The 10-bit screen supports HDR10+, HDR Vivid and Ultra HDR across apps like YouTube and Netflix, delivering rich but well-controlled colours with excellent overall calibration.
There&rsquo;s also a Visual Enhancement mode if you prefer a punchier look, though the default profile already feels lively without going overboard. For protection, Vivo uses SCHOTT Xensation XT Core. It isn&rsquo;t quite on the level of Gorilla Glass Victus 2, but it&rsquo;s still dependable for everyday safety.
Brightness peaks at 2000 nits globally and hits a local high of 4500 nits, making outdoor visibility solid even under harsh sunlight. The ultrasonic in-display fingerprint reader is fast, accurate and easy to trust.
<h2>How well does the Vivo X300&rsquo;s battery hold up?</h2>
The Vivo X300&rsquo;s battery life was stronger than expected. Its 6040mAh cell, combined with 90W wired and 40W wireless charging, easily carried me through a full day of heavy use &mdash; everything from long camera sessions to nonstop streaming and even intensive gaming. Only during multiple benchmark loops did it drain a bit quicker, but it still made it to the evening without stress.
On most days, I consistently got around 7&ndash;8 hours of heavy usage on a single charge. A full recharge takes roughly an hour, which feels reasonable considering the massive battery size.
<h2>How strong is the Vivo X300 when it comes to performance and gaming?</h2>
The Vivo X300 delivers performance that comfortably sits in flagship territory, even though it&rsquo;s not completely immune to occasional heat spikes. It&rsquo;s powered by the Dimensity 9500 chipset built on a 3nm process, paired with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.1 storage. In everyday use, the phone feels fast, fluid, and consistently reliable, whether you&rsquo;re juggling multiple apps, editing photos, or zipping through social media, it never shows any hesitation.
Benchmarks back this up. The X300 scored around 3.3 million on AnTuTu with only mild warmth during the run, while Geekbench results came in at 3278 for single-core and 9825 for multi-core. These numbers place it right alongside other 2025 flagships. In a 20-minute CPU throttling test with 30 threads, the chip dipped to roughly 76 percent of its peak performance. That&rsquo;s still respectable, though the heat during this specific stress test was noticeable.
When it comes to gaming, the X300 handles titles like Call of Duty Mobile smoothly at basic settings. You&rsquo;ll feel a bit of warmth near the camera module after longer sessions, but it never becomes uncomfortable. Vivo&rsquo;s new Glacial Cooling system also kicks in effectively, helping the phone cool down faster than expected once gameplay stops.
In everyday performance, even for heavy users, the device stays cool, responsive, and stable. It&rsquo;s a dependable flagship for gaming, content creation, and everything in between.
<h2>How polished is the software experience on the Vivo X300?</h2>
The biggest upgrade on the Vivo X300 is easily the software. It runs Vivo&rsquo;s new OriginOS 6 based on Android 16, and the difference is obvious the moment you unlock the phone. The redesigned icons, smoother animations, and refreshed control centre give the interface a cleaner, more premium look. Origin Island adds an interactive layer for apps like Maps, Music, and Clock, though it still needs wider app support to reach its full potential.
What really stands out is the overall refinement. Funtouch OS often felt a bit scattered, but OriginOS 6 feels far more organised and visually consistent, even if some of the translucent elements clearly take cues from iOS 16&rsquo;s liquid-glass style.
There are genuinely useful additions as well, including phone-to-PC mirroring and cross-device note syncing. The AI suite is stacked too, with text and image generation, AI Circle for search, Gemini-powered features, and handy editing tools like object erasers and background expand options.
Vivo is also promising long-term support with 5 years of OS updates and 7 years of security patches, ensuring the X300 stays reliable well into the future.
<h2>Is the Vivo X300 the best camera phone you can buy right now?</h2>
The Vivo X300 stays true to Vivo&rsquo;s imaging-first legacy. Powered by the Dimensity 9500&rsquo;s built-in processing and supported by Vivo&rsquo;s in-house VS1 and V3+ imaging chips, the camera system produces consistently impressive photos and videos. The 200MP main sensor delivers rich, detailed shots with excellent colour accuracy and dynamic range. Skin tones look natural, and the phone handles complex lighting conditions with confidence.
The 50MP 3x periscope telephoto lens also holds up well. Colours remain consistent with the main camera, and portrait mode, especially at 100mm, looks almost DSLR-like with sharp detail, clean separation, and realistic texture. In bright conditions, results are strong, though very fine detail can occasionally dip.
The ultrawide is where the system stumbles slightly. Despite using a 50MP sensor, images sometimes appear softer and less detailed, but switching to the high-resolution mode improves sharpness noticeably. Selfies from the 50MP front camera look crisp with accurate skin texture and pleasing depth.
In low light, the main sensor performs impressively, keeping noise low and detail high. Telephoto shots soften a bit and portrait edge detection can slip around hair, but overall output remains reliable.
For video, the rear camera shoots up to 4K 120fps while the front goes up to 4K 60fps. Footage is good overall, though finer detail can waver at times, and the standard X300 misses out on Dolby Vision. Even with those drawbacks, the X300 remains one of the strongest all-round camera phones available, especially for still photography.
<h2>Is the Vivo X300 a smart buy in 2025?</h2>
After pushing the Vivo X300 through everything from heavy multitasking to camera stress tests, calling it &ldquo;good enough&rdquo; would be selling it short. Sure, the ultrawide camera needs work and parts of OriginOS 6 clearly take inspiration from elsewhere, but none of that overshadows the bigger picture.
The X300 gets the fundamentals absolutely right. Smooth, reliable performance, standout main and telephoto cameras, a premium build, strong battery life, and a compact form factor that feels almost rare in 2025&rsquo;s flagship world.
I liked the X200 last year, but the X300 makes an even stronger mark. If you want a compact flagship without compromising on core features, this one is genuinely easy to recommend.

Nothing Phone 3a Lite delivers solid performance, clean software and a premium display, but faces strong competition from the CMF Phone 2 Pro 

Nothing Phone 3a Lite review: Strong basics, tough rivals

Nothing Phone 3a Lite nails the basics with a premium display and clean software, but its price puts it too close to the stronger the CMF Phone 2 Pro.

I&rsquo;ve been trying to make sense of the Nothing Phone 3a Lite, and it has honestly left me a little unsure. When I look at it in isolation, it feels like a genuinely good package. For ₹20,999, the overall experience holds up well, whether it is the performance, the design, or the software polish Nothing is known for.
The confusion starts the moment I compare it to the CMF Phone 2 Pro. That phone matches the 3a Lite almost part for part. The display feels the same, the software behaves the same, and the cameras on the CMF option are clearly ahead. When two products under the same larger brand start overlapping this tightly, it makes me wonder what the actual plan is.
So I am now trying to understand who the 3a Lite is really meant for and whether it genuinely deserves a spot next to a much stronger sibling.
<h2>Nothing Phone 3a Lite&rsquo;s Design: Still turning heads</h2>
The Nothing Phone 3a Lite grabbed my attention from the moment I unboxed it, which honestly didn&rsquo;t surprise me. Nothing has always had a way of making phones that stand out, and this one follows that tradition. Even if someone isn&rsquo;t familiar with the brand&rsquo;s transparent, industrial look, this design has enough visual character to make them stop and take a closer look. It carries the familiar Nothing flavour, but there is a tiny bit of novelty in the way it has been executed.
I have always seen Nothing&rsquo;s design language split opinions. Some people love the whole exposed-tech, slightly futuristic vibe, while others think it goes a bit over the top. Personally, I appreciate that the company never plays it safe. Their phones always have personality, and the 3a Lite is no exception. My white review unit highlights this even more. The exposed screws pop nicely, the small red accent draws your eye without trying too hard, and the entire back looks premium without needing to shout about it.
There is a new design detail here called the Battery Simulation layout on the rear panel. It adds a retro feel that instantly reminded me of old remote controls. It is quirky in a way that feels intentional, and I actually find it fun. At the same time, I do feel Nothing is starting to rely a little too heavily on the same visual formula. After eight phones that broadly look like variations of the same theme, I am hoping 2026 is when they attempt something riskier.
While using the phone, the build impressed me more than I expected. Its 8.3 mm thickness and 199 gram weight give it a dense, confident feel. It sits well in the hand and feels more premium than its price would suggest. The front and back both use Panda Glass, while the frame is plastic. The back picks up fingerprints faster than I would like, so for me, going without a case is not practical. Thankfully, Nothing includes a clear case in the box, which helps immediately.
There is an aluminium mid-frame on the inside that keeps everything solid and reassuring. You also get IP54 protection, which may not sound like much, but plenty of phones in this bracket skip any form of rating, so I definitely see it as a positive.
The rear camera arrangement is one area I am a little unsure about. The three lenses sit directly on the surface with no traditional camera island, which gives them a floating look. I am still deciding whether I like it or not.
And despite Carl Pei hinting at a future beyond the Glyph system, the 3a Lite still keeps it alive. There is a single Glyph strip at the bottom that handles countdowns, alerts and basic notifications. It is subtle but still gives the phone that Nothing identity.
The last design element is the Essential Key under the power button. It has a slightly curved shape, but the moment you put a case on, both buttons feel almost identical. I kept mixing them up until I eventually started checking before pressing anything.
<h2>Nothing Phone 3a Lite&rsquo;s Display: Smooth, sharp and mostly impressive</h2>
The Nothing Phone 3a Lite uses a 6.77-inch FHD+ flexible AMOLED panel, and the moment it lights up, it feels far more premium than what you usually get at this price. The screen is crisp, colours look rich without going overboard and the 120Hz refresh rate genuinely lifts the experience. Whether I am scrolling through socials or watching YouTube, everything feels fluid and clean. Nothing says this is the same panel used on the 3a and 3a Pro, and based on how refined it looks, I do not doubt that for a second.
Because this is a flexible AMOLED screen, the bezels are slim on all four sides, giving the phone a more polished look. Viewing angles hold up well, touch response feels snappy and overall, it performs at a level that reminds me of phones that cost much more. Black levels are exactly what you expect from OLED, and the colour tuning feels tasteful.
The compromises start to show once you dig deeper. This is not an LTPO panel, so the refresh rate cannot drop down to 1Hz when you enable Always On Display. That means the phone keeps running at a higher refresh rate even when it does not need to, which is not ideal for long-term battery efficiency.
Brightness is also where I noticed the first real limitation. HDR peaks are impressive at 3000 nits, but the 1300 nits outdoor brightness is just about fine. On a sunny day, the glossy glass on top makes reflections more noticeable. Nothing OS&rsquo;s high-contrast UI helps a bit, but there were still plenty of moments where I had to shift angles just to see things clearly.
Audio, unfortunately, is the biggest disappointment. A mono speaker on a phone costing over ₹15,000 in 2025 simply feels outdated. It gets loud, but it has no depth or fullness, and the bottom-firing setup gets blocked far too easily when I am holding the phone. It is passable for quick clips, but not something I would trust for long movies or gaming sessions.
<h2>Nothing Phone 3a Lite&rsquo;s Cameras: Capable, but clearly limited</h2>
The Nothing Phone 3a Lite technically arrives with three cameras, but in real-world use, only one of them truly feels meaningful. The 50MP primary sensor with EIS is the workhorse here and carries almost the entire shooting experience. The other two cameras are an 8MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro, and I will say it straight: the macro lens adds nothing of value. Even one of Nothing&rsquo;s own executives publicly criticised the industry trend of adding filler macro sensors, and this feels like exactly that kind of decision.
The main camera, thankfully, performs well enough to hold the setup together. In daylight, it captures solid detail, gets colours fairly accurate and handles dynamic range with confidence. There are times when the processing becomes a little too intense, especially in scenes with a lot going on. Some photos look slightly over-processed, but not to a point where the image becomes unusable.
At 2X zoom, which is just a crop from the main sensor, you do lose a bit of sharpness and consistency in colour. Even then, for a phone at this price, the results are acceptable and sometimes surprisingly decent. The ultrawide camera is serviceable but clearly limited by its 8MP resolution. It often produces slightly darker images, and while sharpness is fine in the centre, finer details quickly fall apart. It is usable, but it never really impresses.
Low-light photography is where things start falling apart. Both the main and ultrawide sensors struggle to control noise, and 2X zoom becomes very grainy. You can get okay results when there is enough ambient light, but once the lighting becomes challenging, noise becomes difficult to ignore.
For video, the Phone 3a Lite records up to 4K at 30fps, which is reasonable at this price. Colours look good, dynamic range is handled well and EIS keeps footage fairly steady. There is also a 1080p 120fps option for slow motion.
The 16MP selfie camera turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It delivers good detail, natural skin tones and surprisingly clean portraits. Overall, the camera system is fine for casual use, but there are clearly stronger options available if photography is your priority.
<h2>Nothing Phone 3a Lite&rsquo;s Performance: Surprisingly strong for the segment</h2>
The Nothing Phone 3a Lite runs on MediaTek&rsquo;s Dimensity 7300 Pro, the same chip used in the CMF Phone 2 Pro. Because of that, I went in expecting solid everyday performance, and the phone delivered exactly that. It feels smooth in day-to-day use, apps open quickly and moving between tasks never really slows it down.
The bigger surprise showed up in the benchmark tests. I assumed the phone would pull in a fairly standard score for this segment, but the AnTuTu result climbed to almost 9.6 lakh. That instantly got my attention, especially because the phone barely warmed up during the run. Geekbench results were just as reassuring, with 1015 for single-core and 2942 for multi-core.
My review unit came with 8GB of RAM, and Nothing also gives you the option to add virtual RAM through their RAM booster feature. Storage options include 128GB and 256GB, and there is even a microSD card slot that supports up to 2TB. It is rare to see expandable storage on phones in 2025, so I genuinely appreciate this flexibility.
I spent a fair amount of time gaming on it as well. For casual and moderately demanding titles, the experience was smooth, and BGMI ran well enough for me to play comfortably. Still, the Dimensity 7300 Pro is not built for serious competitive gaming. It cannot fully utilise the 120Hz display in heavy titles, and you will notice the limitations if you push it too far. For anyone who plays casually, though, the 3a Lite performs better than expected for the price.
<h2>Nothing Phone 3a Lite&rsquo;s software experience and UI: Clean, but some unhappy changes</h2>
My time with the Nothing Phone 3a Lite started on a slightly uneven note. It runs Nothing OS 3.5 based on Android 15, and while the interface looked familiar and clean, the first two days were not perfectly smooth.&nbsp;
Apps like Chrome and the Play Store sometimes refused to open or would shut down halfway through loading. A small update arrived almost immediately, and once I installed it, the phone settled into the stable, polished behaviour I normally expect from Nothing. Animations felt consistent again, and the UI regained that clean rhythm that has become one of the brand&rsquo;s strengths.
Nothing is said to be working on a major design overhaul for early 2026, but the 3a Lite sticks to the current blueprint. I have seen a few early hints of Nothing OS 4.0, and some of those ideas do not sit well with me yet. Lock Glimpse is the clearest example. It cycles through curated wallpapers and short pieces of content on the lockscreen, and the first thing I thought of was Glance. I have never liked the idea of turning the lockscreen into a space that seeks engagement, and while Nothing&rsquo;s approach is much more toned down right now, I hope they do not lean further into this direction.
There is also a small but noticeable shift in the amount of pre-installed apps. Facebook and Instagram now come bundled with the phone. I use both, so it does not bother me personally, and you can uninstall them without any trouble. Still, it does feel like a departure from the original promise of keeping the software as clean as possible.
Once those concerns are out of the way, the good parts shine through. Nothing OS still has one of the most cohesive visual identities in the Android world. The widgets feel polished, the menus are tidy and the stock apps have a simple, thoughtful design. I genuinely prefer their gallery app over Google Photos when I want to browse images quickly.
In terms of updates, Nothing promises three years of OS upgrades and six years of security patches. Since the phone launches with Android 15 and Android 16 is already on the horizon, this effectively means two major platform upgrades. The Essential Key, Essential Space and Essential Search continue to be genuinely useful tools and round out the experience in a practical way that I appreciate in daily use.
<h2>Nothing Phone 3a Lite&rsquo;s battery life &amp; charging: Reliable for daily use</h2>
The Nothing Phone 3a Lite&rsquo;s 5,000mAh battery has been dependable in my usual day-to-day use. I can get through a full day without worrying about charging, and even on heavy days, the phone does not leave me anxious. The 33W fast charging helps a lot, although some rivals now offer larger batteries at similar prices.
A quick 20-minute top-up gets the phone close to the halfway point, and a complete charge finishes in just under an hour. There is also 5W reverse wired charging, which I find useful for quickly powering smaller accessories when I need it.
<h2>Verdict: Does the Nothing Phone 3a Lite hold its ground?</h2>
The Nothing Phone 3a Lite is actually quite easy to appreciate. The screen feels premium, day-to-day performance is steady, and Nothing OS still delivers that clean, minimal vibe that makes the brand stand out. The cameras won&rsquo;t amaze you, but for casual photography they&rsquo;re perfectly capable. Add dependable battery life, and the fundamentals are all in place.
The problem starts when you look at the price tag.
At ₹20,999 without any launch deals, the 3a Lite walks straight into the territory of the Phone 2 Pro. And that&rsquo;s where the equation tilts. The 2 Pro simply offers a stronger overall package, especially with its better camera setup, and that naturally makes buyers think twice.
Then there&rsquo;s the India-specific angle. CMF has become a massive part of Nothing&rsquo;s strategy here, and the CMF Phone 2 Pro sits extremely close to this device in both pricing and performance &mdash; while still offering clear hardware advantages. That creates unavoidable overlap.
So the 3a Lite isn&rsquo;t a weak product. It&rsquo;s just running into competition from its own family. If someone genuinely likes Nothing&rsquo;s design language, the UI, and the overall aesthetic appeal, the 3a Lite will absolutely fit their taste. But for most buyers, it may take a strong launch offer or a very specific preference for the phone to stand out as the better pick.

iQOO 15 is a balanced 2025 flagship with a 2K 144Hz LTPO OLED display, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, big camera upgrade and a 7000mAh battery for all-day use.

iQOO 15 Review: A Balanced 2025 Flagship That Delivers Big Time

iQOO 15 Review: A premium leap that finally puts iQOO in the top tier

<h3>The iQOO 15 delivers top-tier performance, refined design, strong cameras and a massive battery, making it one of the most balanced flagship phones you can buy in 2025.</h3>

The iQOO 15 lands at a time when &ldquo;affordable flagships&rdquo; don&rsquo;t really feel affordable anymore. For the last few years, phones like the iQOO 13, Realme GT 7 Pro and OnePlus 13 stayed safely under ₹60,000, but this generation has pushed past that ceiling, forcing brands to justify the hike in different ways. OnePlus went all-in on a 165Hz display, but the drop in resolution annoyed long-time users. iQOO, meanwhile, decided not to gamble. Instead, they took the already-solid iQOO 13 blueprint and simply polished everything that needed attention.
After using the iQOO 15 for two weeks, it&rsquo;s clear those tweaks were deliberate. The new Q3 chip is less about chasing headline FPS and more about making games look smoother and more detailed. The camera system also gets meaningful upgrades. So the real question is: does this subtle refinement strategy pay off? In many ways, it absolutely does.
<h2>iQOO 15 design check: Real upgrade or minor refinement?</h2>
The design is really where the iQOO 15 starts making its case. On spec sheets it looks like a gentle evolution of the iQOO 13, but the moment you pick it up, it feels like a completely more grown-up device. There is a noticeable jump in how premium it feels, and that caught me off guard in the best way.
I have been using the Legend White variant, which leans into a very clean, almost classy look. It is a proper glass sandwich with Schott Xensation Alpha on the front and a glass back that feels more expensive than the price suggests. The frame is metal, likely an aluminium alloy, and it ties the whole thing together with a solid, reassuring feel in the hand.
All that glass and metal does have a consequence. The iQOO 15 is not trying to be a featherweight. My unit weighs around 220 grams, and you do feel that density. However, at roughly 8.17mm thick, it never becomes awkward to hold. The flat sides and the matte finish on the back help a lot with grip, and considering there is a 7000 mAh battery inside, the phone feels surprisingly well-balanced rather than bulky.
Visually, the Legend White version keeps things minimal. It is essentially a clean white slab with shiny metallic edges and a small racing-flag strip near the bottom. If you enjoy simple, uncluttered designs, this will probably hit the spot. For me, it borders on being a little too plain, but the fact that it barely shows fingerprints is a big win.
If you want something slightly different, there is the Alpha Black version with a fibre-glass back. It shaves off a bit of weight and thickness, but the difference is subtle enough that you will only really notice it if you compare them side by side. The one I really wish was available globally is the Lingyun edition from China, with a marble-like rear panel that gives the phone a genuinely distinctive character.
iQOO&rsquo;s Monster Halo light is back as well, but it has been moved outside the camera module and now sits under the outer ring. The glow is softer and more subdued, to the point where I actually missed a few notifications because it was so faint. Interestingly, once you put on the bundled case, the light stands out a bit more.
In terms of durability, there are no real complaints. The chassis feels solid, there is no creaking or flex, and the phone carries IP68 and IP69 ratings, so dust, splashes and the occasional dunk in water should not be a problem. Overall, the iQOO 15&rsquo;s design feels more refined, more secure in the hand and noticeably more premium than I expected when I first saw it on paper.
<h2>The iQOO 15&rsquo;s display is one of the best in its segment</h2>
The moment you switch on the iQOO 15, the display makes it very obvious that this phone is aiming for top-tier territory. It uses a 6.85-inch 2K LTPO AMOLED panel with a 144Hz ceiling, and the visual quality hits you instantly. iQOO has gone with Samsung&rsquo;s M14 OLED, and the clarity and colour accuracy honestly make it feel like something straight out of a much more expensive flagship lineup.
Brightness is where this screen flexes the hardest. It can comfortably hold 2600 nits in HBM and jump all the way to 6000 nits for tiny highlights in HDR scenes. With that kind of range, HDR movies and games pop beautifully, and since this is the first iQOO model with Dolby Vision support, the contrast and tone mapping across Netflix and YouTube look extremely polished. Everyday use also benefits &mdash; everything from menus to social feeds feels crisp and punchy.
The 144Hz refresh rate is more of a bonus than a constant. You will mostly see 120Hz across the UI, but a few titles can push the full 144Hz. I tested this with BGMI and Call of Duty Mobile and both ran smoothly at higher frame rates. Because the panel is LTPO, it can drop right down to 1Hz for the Always On Display, which helps keep battery drain under control.
Another small win is the ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. It unlocks quickly, works even with slightly wet fingers and feels more dependable than the optical readers most phones still use.
Where the iQOO 15 takes a step back is audio. The stereo speakers can get reasonably loud, but they do not match the richness or low-end punch you get from bigger flagships like the iPhone 17 Pro Max or Galaxy S25 Ultra. For casual viewing, calls or background videos, they are fine; they just don&rsquo;t stand out in any way.
<h2>The iQOO 15 gets some pretty big camera upgrades</h2>
Anyone who has followed iQOO&rsquo;s flagship phones over the years knows that cameras have never been the brand&rsquo;s strongest claim. The company has usually prioritised raw performance, display technology and gaming features, while treating photography as a supporting act. With the iQOO 15, that behaviour finally changes. This is the first time I have felt the brand genuinely invest in its camera system, and the difference is visible in both hardware choices and the way the images are processed.
The camera setup looks impressive even before you take a photo. The primary sensor is a 50MP Sony IMX921 with optical stabilisation. The telephoto camera is the biggest upgrade in the entire system. It now uses a 50MP 3x periscope based on the Sony IMX882. The ultrawide camera is also a 50MP unit. On paper, it is one of the most balanced triple camera systems iQOO has ever shipped.
Real improvements only reveal themselves when you start shooting, and this is where the iQOO 15 genuinely surprised me. The main 50MP camera produces clean photographs with excellent detail and a much more natural approach to colour. Many older iQOO devices boosted saturation a little too heavily, which often made scenes look artificial. That behaviour has now been toned down. Even in a difficult situation like shooting directly into bright sunlight, the exposure stayed controlled. Skies kept their texture, highlights stayed intact and shadow areas did not collapse into muddy patches. This feels like the most confident tuning iQOO has done until now.
The ultrawide camera keeps up well. It matches the primary camera in colour tone and contrast, which helps the entire system feel more cohesive. Sharpness remains respectable and distortion correction is handled with much more care than before. Edges look straight, buildings do not lean unnaturally and the frame stays accurate. This was a clear weakness in older models, so the improvement feels meaningful.
The standout upgrade is the new 3x periscope telephoto. This is easily the most capable zoom experience iQOO has created. Images at 3x are crisp, stabilised and full of detail. The real surprise is how well the phone performs at longer focal lengths. Up to around 20x or even 30x, the results remain very usable. Even beyond that point, the phone manages to produce images with decent clarity. At 165 mm and even close to 600 mm equivalent, textures remain visible and colours stay surprisingly consistent. This is a huge jump compared to anything the brand has previously offered.
Portrait photography benefits from this stronger telephoto system. The 85 mm portrait mode offers pleasing facial compression and natural tones. The 2x portrait mode from the main sensor also performs well. Skin tones remain clean and believable. Edge detection is accurate and the separation between subject and background looks smooth. Portraits from the 3x telephoto lens feel almost cinematic. You get sharp subject detail and a soft, controlled depth effect that looks much more polished. iQOO has added new portrait style filters too. They are fun and can add some variety, even if they are not transformative features.
Low light performance shows the biggest generation-over-generation leap. The main camera brings in a significant amount of light without producing the waxy textures that many phones fall into. Skin tones remain realistic and finer details stay intact. The phone sometimes takes a moment longer to capture the frame, but the results justify the extra second. The ultrawide camera is the only area where some refinement is still needed. Noise becomes noticeable when you zoom in on night shots, although the overall output is still good enough for social media.
For video, the iQOO 15 can record in 8K at 30 fps, although most people will prefer 4K 60 fps for stability and practicality. Footage in 4K looks clean with solid dynamic range and reliable stabilisation. Motion is handled smoothly and colours look natural. It is a strong video performer for its segment.
The 32MP selfie camera performs well too. HDR is handled intelligently. Even in strong outdoor lighting, the background maintains detail while the face stays properly lit. Skin tones look authentic and not overly softened. The consistency between indoor and outdoor selfies is particularly impressive.
After spending time with the iQOO 15, it is clear that the brand has finally put serious effort into its camera system. It is not the absolute best camera phone you can buy, but it is polished, reliable and far ahead of previous iQOO flagships.
<h2>The iQOO 15&rsquo;s real-world performance is top-notch</h2>
If there is one thing iQOO has been known for since the beginning, it is sheer brute-force performance. Even their so-called entry-level flagships often trade blows with much more expensive devices. The iQOO 15 continues that tradition with a level of confidence that feels very deliberate. It is clear that performance is still the brand&rsquo;s favourite arena.
At the centre of the phone is Qualcomm&rsquo;s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. It is paired with LPDDR5X Ultra RAM and UFS 4.1 storage. The RAM deserves a special mention because the &ldquo;Ultra&rdquo; tag is not simply a marketing flourish. It actually runs at a higher clock speed than the standard LPDDR5X modules used in most flagships.&nbsp;
This gives the phone an incredibly responsive feel. Navigating the interface, loading heavy assets, switching between multiple apps or jumping into visually demanding games all feel genuinely instantaneous. During my entire testing period, the phone did not stutter or hesitate once.
Benchmark numbers match what you feel in day-to-day use. The iQOO 15 delivers around 3.89 million on Antutu. On Geekbench, it records 3672 in single-core and 10548 in multi-core. These results place the phone very close to the Realme GT 8 Pro and the OnePlus 15. Realme&rsquo;s flagship reaches approximately 3.83 million on Antutu with 3611 single-core and 10482 multi-core scores. The OnePlus 15 pushes slightly ahead with 4.06 million on Antutu and 3646 single-core and 11025 multi-core. In simple terms, the iQOO 15 is right in the middle of this pack and competes confidently.
However, benchmarks are only a small part of the story. The iQOO 15 becomes far more interesting once you start gaming. After adjusting a couple of in-game settings, I was able to get consistent 144 Hz output in both BGMI and Call of Duty Mobile. The smoothness is immediately noticeable, but the real highlight is not the high refresh rate. The most surprising improvement is how well the phone handles ray tracing in supported titles.
Ray tracing is known for destroying performance on gaming PCs. Seeing it run comfortably on a phone is genuinely impressive. This capability comes from the new Q3 Supercomputing chip that iQOO is using. It has its own dedicated RT core and works with Vivo&rsquo;s QNSS Super Rendering Engine. Games that support ray tracing, such as Genshin Impact, gain far richer reflections, more realistic lighting behaviour and deeper shadows. All of this happens without the performance dip you would normally expect.
The Q3 chip also brings two helpful technologies called Game Super Resolution and Lossless Frame Interpolation. Game Super Resolution allows the phone to render scenes at a lower internal resolution and then upscale them to 2K using AI. This significantly reduces the load on the GPU during heavy battles or open-world exploration. Lossless Frame Interpolation inserts artificially generated frames between real ones, which results in smoother motion and a more consistent frame rate. When both features work together, the iQOO 15 delivers an experience that feels very close to a dedicated handheld gaming device.
Thermal performance deserves credit as well. Even after long gaming sessions, the phone maintained comfortable temperatures. iQOO uses an 8K single-layer vapour chamber, and the company claims it is the largest cooling system in the industry. After hours of continuous testing, I can confidently say the phone stayed far cooler than expected.
If you want a device that performs like a top-tier flagship, excels at gaming and stays cool throughout heavy use, the iQOO 15 stands out as one of the strongest performers of 2025.
The software on the iQOO 15 feels like a clean break from everything the brand has done until now. Instead of the familiar Funtouch OS, the phone boots into OriginOS 6 built on Android 16, and that instantly changes the personality of the device.
<h2>iQOO 15&rsquo;s OriginOS 6 completely changes the user experience</h2>
The overall design direction feels far more refined. The interface leans into a lighter, more airy aesthetic with soft gradients, semi-transparent layers and rounded elements that give the UI a calmer look. Animations feel smoother, transitions flow more naturally and the entire OS carries a sense of polish that older iQOO phones struggled to maintain. Although a few aspects remind you of visionOS or iOS, the general styling still feels unique enough to stand on its own.
Performance within the OS benefits as well. App launches feel quicker, multitasking behaves predictably and background management has noticeably improved. I did not run into random closures or apps resetting themselves, which used to be a mild annoyance on earlier models. Most system apps have already adopted the new design language. The few that have not yet been updated do not interfere with usability.
OriginOS also introduces several thoughtful touches. Photo editing tools feel more capable, and moving data or interacting with other devices in the Vivo ecosystem feels more seamless. These are small changes, but they add up during daily use.
The AI feature set remains fairly basic. You get writing assistance and AI-based photo tools, but nothing that rivals the more advanced experiences offered by Samsung, Google, Oppo or OnePlus.
What stands out is iQOO&rsquo;s long-term update promise. Buyers get five years of Android updates and seven years of security patches, which gives the software experience a strong sense of longevity.
<h2>The iQOO 15 manages power and charging pretty well</h2>
The iQOO 15 behaves exactly like a phone with a massive 7000 mAh battery should. The extra capacity over the iQOO 13&rsquo;s 6000 mAh pack is immediately noticeable in daily use. Screen time stretches longer, power drops more slowly and the phone generally feels built for endurance.
Charging, however, sees a slight reshuffle. The wired system now tops out at 100 W instead of 120 W, but in return you get 40 W wireless charging. There is no magnetic alignment, so you need to place the phone carefully on a pad, although the charging speed remains consistently strong. Using the wired charger, the device went from 5 percent to a full charge in under an hour during my testing.
A full battery easily carries the phone through a full day of heavy usage. If you drop the resolution and manage background activity sensibly, reaching close to two days on one charge is very achievable.
<h2>Verdict: Is the iQOO 15 worth it?</h2>
After spending a considerable amount of time with the iQOO 15, I kept waiting for a major flaw to appear, and it never really did. The only area that consistently felt behind its competitors is the AI suite. For a 2025 flagship, the AI tools feel quite basic and lack the depth you see on devices from Oppo and OnePlus. To be fair, iQOO has never marketed this phone as an AI pioneer. The focus has always been on performance, day-to-day reliability and strong hardware, so the software limitations are not completely unexpected.
What you do get is a phone that handles the fundamentals extremely well. Performance is consistently top tier, the UI feels polished and responsive, and the camera setup finally steps into territory where it can comfortably compete with other brands in the segment.&nbsp;
The main and telephoto cameras deliver dependable results in almost every lighting condition. The ultrawide camera is the only part of the system that still needs a step up in low light. It performs well enough, but it does not fully match the standard expected from a premium flagship.&nbsp;
If photography is your primary reason for upgrading, the Vivo X300 or Oppo Find X9 will offer a more complete camera package. The OnePlus 15 also remains a strong all-rounder, although its display compromises make the choice a little more complicated.
What makes the iQOO 15 stand out is how well it balances everything. It does not chase one headline feature at the cost of another. Instead, it offers strong performance, reliable software, capable cameras, excellent battery life and premium design in a way that feels cohesive. For many buyers, this is exactly what a flagship should be.
The pricing shift is the one factor that will spark debate. The iQOO 13 launched below ₹60,000 and even dipped close to ₹52,000 during early sale offers. The iQOO 15 starts at ₹72,000 before discounts, which is a significant jump. However, the overall situation is more complicated. Rising component costs, the weaker rupee and higher RAM and storage prices give brands very little room to manoeuvre.
Whether long-time iQOO fans accept the new pricing is something only time will answer. What I can say with confidence is that the iQOO 15 earns its place in the 2025 flagship crowd. If you are planning an upgrade, it absolutely deserves to be on your shortlist.
&nbsp;

Realme GT 8 Pro Dream Edition review — racing-inspired flagship with Ricoh cameras, Snapdragon 8 Elite & 7,000mAh battery. See if the Dream Edition is truly worth it.

Realme GT 8 Pro Dream Edition review — Truly premium or just hype?

Realme GT 8 Pro Dream Edition: Premium or Just Racing Paint? Full Review  

The Realme GT 8 Pro Dream Edition mixes Aston Martin F1's styling with Ricoh-powered cameras, Snapdragon 8 Elite muscle, and a 7,000mAh battery for a loud, unapologetically extra flagship experience.

Back in May, Realme came out of nowhere with that Aston Martin Aramco F1 collab &mdash; the GT 7 Dream Edition. Nobody expected it, and suddenly people were like&hellip; okay, Realme is trying something.
Now six months later, we&rsquo;ve got the follow-up. The Realme GT 8 Pro Dream Edition. Same racing pedigree, full Aston Martin vibe, and a ₹79,999 price tag. For context, the normal GT 8 Pro starts at ₹72,999
But here&rsquo;s the thing&hellip; the moment you open the box, you kind of get it. This variant doesn&rsquo;t just show up &mdash; it performs an entrance. There&rsquo;s real premium energy here, and after using it, a lot of it actually lands.
There are also a few choices that made me tilt my head a little and go&hellip; huh. So let&rsquo;s break down what Realme nailed, and what probably needed another round of changes.&nbsp;
<h2>Realme GT 8 Pro Dream Edition: Top-Notch Unboxing Experience!</h2>
The unboxing is dramatic. Like, Realme actually committed to the bit.
You lift the lid and the box opens with these wing-style flaps inspired by Aston Martin&rsquo;s Silver Wing emblem. Sitting inside is the phone in full Racing Green. The texture on the back has these aerodynamic carve lines &mdash; it has grip, it has attitude, it looks fast even when it&rsquo;s not moving.
Even the SIM ejector tool looks like something pulled out of an F1 pit garage. It&rsquo;s extra&hellip; but it works. Then you flip the phone around and&hellip; boom. Aramco. Front and center. Loud and proud.
It kind of steals the spotlight from the Aston Martin badge sitting below it. And look...I understand the sponsorship thing. Aramco is Aston Martin F1&rsquo;s headline partner. Fair.
But nobody (and I mean nobody) is buying this because it&rsquo;s an Aramco phone. They&rsquo;re buying it because it&rsquo;s the &ldquo;Aston Martin edition,&rdquo; and yet the Aston Martin crest feels like it got demoted.
Realme also gives you a tiny Torx screwdriver in the box so you can remove the circular camera plate and swap it for a square one. It&rsquo;s cool for about five minutes. You do it once, look at it, realize the phone looks 98 percent the same, and then that screwdriver goes straight back into the box for the rest of its life.
And because of this whole swap system, Realme throws in two cases &mdash; one cutout for the round plate and one for the square. Cute idea, but let&rsquo;s be real &mdash; nobody is changing these plates every weekend.
Once you push the branding decisions and the novelty hardware aside, the phone itself is legitimately premium. The Realme GT 8 Pro Dream Edition feels great in the hand.
It&rsquo;s got a metal frame, a very manageable 214-gram weight, and legit durability with both IP68 and IP69 ratings. This is one of those phones you can actually use outdoors, not just admire on your desk.
<h2>Realme GT 8 Pro Dream Edition: 2K 144Hz AMOLED Display &nbsp;</h2>
The display is one of those parts you notice immediately. You&rsquo;re looking at a 6.78-inch 2K AMOLED panel that feels fast from the moment you unlock it. It&rsquo;s sharp, it&rsquo;s responsive, and every swipe lands exactly how you expect. Would LTPO have pushed it into ultra-premium territory? Definitely. But even as LTPS, the way it handles brightness, contrast, and colour makes it feel like a proper flagship display.
Now, Realme loves throwing big numbers around and yes, the display technically does 144Hz. The catch is that it only unlocks in a small list of supported games. Everywhere else, the UI is capped at 120Hz. On the plus side, the bezels are super thin and the panel is fully flat, which means zero accidental side touches and no strange edge reflections outdoors.
Brightness is where Realme goes full &ldquo;spec sheet chaos.&rdquo; They&rsquo;re claiming 7,000 nits peak and around 2,000 nits outside. And it actually holds up. Outdoor visibility is solved. Pair that with HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, and HDR content pops without blowing out skin tones or nuking shadows.
The stereo speakers are loud, but kind of one-note. You get volume, but not much texture in the highs or weight in the lows. It&rsquo;s fine for TikTok runs and reels, but not something you&rsquo;ll brag about.
The good news is that everything else around the display feels locked in. The haptics land clean, and the ultrasonic fingerprint sensor is one of the most reliable I&rsquo;ve used. It just works every single time. &nbsp;
<h2>Realme GT 8 Pro Dream Edition: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Power</h2>
Once you look past the special green paint, the GT 8 Pro Dream Edition is running the same hardware as the standard GT 8 Pro &mdash; and honestly, that&rsquo;s a win. At the heart of it is Qualcomm&rsquo;s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and the phone wastes no time flexing it. Heavy apps, big games, long sessions&hellip; nothing makes it hiccup. It stays smooth in the way a proper flagship should.
Benchmarks do bring out the drama, though. During stress runs, the phone can hit around 45&deg;C, which is hot, but not unusual for top-end silicone. In real gameplay, it settles under 40&deg;C even after an hour of BGMI. On Antutu, it drops a 3.8 million score. That&rsquo;s a step below the OnePlus 15&rsquo;s 4 million, but still very respectable.
You also get 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.1 storage, so multitasking never chokes and apps stay loaded for long stretches. My only real &ldquo;why though?&rdquo; is the USB 2.0 port on an 80K phone. That one stings.
Now, for the gaming side. BGMI and Call of Duty: Mobile run smoothly, and the display does switch to 144Hz. Realme claims its new Hyper Vision+ AI chip injects extra frames to make gameplay appear smoother, even when the game isn&rsquo;t actually rendering them. And yes, it does feel fluid.
However, in my testing, COD: Mobile still caps at 60fps if you want max graphics. I unlocked 120fps, but only by dropping everything to Low plus Ultra frame rate.
<h2>Realme GT 8 Pro Dream Edition: New Ricoh Cameras!</h2>
This is the first Realme phone made in collaboration with Ricoh, and they didn&rsquo;t treat it like a token marketing badge. Ricoh&rsquo;s GR series is iconic in the street-photography world, and Realme actually pulls some of that DNA into the camera app.&nbsp;
There&rsquo;s a dedicated GR shooting mode with 28mm and 40mm focal lengths, a 3:2 aspect ratio, film tones tuned by Ricoh, and a &ldquo;Snap Focus&rdquo; mode that lets you raise the phone, tap, and instantly capture fixed-focus shots the way street shooters do.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s a surprisingly well thought-out creative tool but strip away the Ricoh flair and the hardware still holds its own. On the back you&rsquo;re working with a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide, and a 200-megapixel telephoto with 3X optical zoom, which is a first for Realme. Up front, there&rsquo;s a 32-megapixel selfie camera.
The main camera delivers crisp detail, vivid colours, and strong contrast, though it does nudge toward the saturated side. Night shots lean brighter than necessary at times, but the noise control is solid. Since it&rsquo;s using the same Sony IMX906 as the OnePlus 15, the results feel familiar.
The 200MP telephoto is easily the most fun lens on this phone. At 3X, portraits and zoom shots look sharp and clean with a nice depth to them. Push up to 6X and you&rsquo;ll see small losses in texture and clarity. Beyond that, it&rsquo;s mostly about bragging rights &mdash; yes, it does 120X, but the quality falls off well before you get there.
The ultra-wide is the weak link. It works fine in daylight, but fine textures get mushy, and low-light scenes lose dynamic range fast. It gets the job done, but it&rsquo;s not the lens you&rsquo;ll reach for unless you have to.
On video, Realme went aggressive. You can shoot up to 4K 120fps on the main and telephoto cameras, or 8K 30fps if you&rsquo;re feeling brave. You also get 10-bit LOG and Dolby Vision HDR, and the results are genuinely impressive for a phone in this price bracket.
Colour depth is strong, highlights don&rsquo;t blow out easily, and you can still use pro formats at 4K 120, which is wild. Stabilisation is the only area that needs polish &mdash; quick pans, fast movement and low-light clips can introduce wobble or jitter that breaks the otherwise solid footage.
The selfie camera lands firmly in the middle. In good lighting it&rsquo;s sharp and vibrant, but in poor light it slips quickly. There&rsquo;s no autofocus either, which hurts group shots or close-range framing more than you&rsquo;d expect.
<h2>Realme GT 8 Pro Dream Edition: &nbsp;Realme UI 7 is here!</h2>
On the software side, the GT 8 Pro Dream Edition boots straight into Realme UI 7 on top of Android 16. It&rsquo;s actually the first Realme phone to launch with it out of the box, so you&rsquo;re getting the newest version without waiting for an update.
Because this is the Dream Edition, Realme went all-in on the Aston Martin theme. The UI comes pre-dressed in racing green accents, custom icons, and F1-style wallpapers. It&rsquo;s cool for the first few days, but after that, I switched back to the standard icon pack because it&rsquo;s cleaner and way easier to live with.
Realme is promising 4 years of major Android updates and 5 years of security patches, which puts it in a comfortably &ldquo;flagship&rdquo; upgrade cycle. Not quite Samsung or Google territory, but much better than expected.
The big visual change is something Realme calls &ldquo;Light Glass.&rdquo; Think translucent widgets, softer highlights, and a more layered lockscreen that mimics depth. Yes, there&rsquo;s obvious inspiration from iOS 26, but to Realme&rsquo;s credit, it doesn&rsquo;t feel like a copy-paste. It feels like their take on the idea.
Expanded icons are genuinely useful &mdash; tap and stretch an app icon, and it turns into a mini widget with shortcuts. It&rsquo;s quicker than long-press menus and way more intuitive. There are also video lockscreen backgrounds and a revamped theming engine that finally paints the UI more consistently instead of half-colouring everything.
The AI additions are everywhere but not in your face. You get Google&rsquo;s big hitters like Gemini Assistant, Gemini Live, Circle to Search, and instant translation on-screen. Inside the gallery, Realme adds its own tools like AI Eraser, AI Ultra Clarity, Unblur, Perfect Shot, and a few other smart edits that actually deliver usable results. They&rsquo;re not &ldquo;demo features,&rdquo; they&rsquo;re things you will genuinely end up using.
Then there&rsquo;s Mind Space &mdash; the same system you&rsquo;ll find on the Oppo Find X9 Pro and on the OnePlus lineup as Plus Mind. It&rsquo;s basically a digital catch-all for everything your brain wants to collect throughout the day. Screenshots, notes, links, webpages &mdash; dump them all in, and AI organizes the chaos into summaries and reference boards. If you&rsquo;re a student, a reviewer, or someone who constantly screenshots ideas, this might be your new favourite app.
<h2>Realme GT 8 Pro Dream Edition: 7,000mAh Battery &amp; 120W Fast Charging</h2>
The 7,000mAh battery on this thing is borderline absurd &mdash; in a good way. I was cruising past six and a half to seven hours of screen-on time without trying to baby it.&nbsp;
But, as always, gaming is where the real story shows up. Forty-five minutes of Call of Duty: Mobile knocked off around 11% of the charge. That&rsquo;s almost double what the OnePlus 15 burns through in the same session, and that phone is literally pushing 165fps. So if you&rsquo;re grinding competitive matches or long sessions, the battery will remind you it&rsquo;s human.
Charging is where Realme flexes. With 120W wired charging and Smart Rapid enabled, it jumps from zero to full in about 45&ndash;50 minutes. Switch that mode off, and the charge time stretches past an hour, but the phone stays noticeably cooler while it juices up &mdash; which I&rsquo;ll take any day. There&rsquo;s 50W wireless charging too. Not crazy fast, but perfect for that &ldquo;drop and forget&rdquo; desk or bedside setup.
<h2>Realme GT 8 Pro Dream Edition Review: Verdict</h2>
The Realme GT 8 Pro Dream Edition does not try to blend into the lineup. It walks into the room loud, polished, and very sure of itself. And honestly, a lot of the package backs that confidence &mdash; performance is strong, the display feels premium in everyday use, and the Ricoh camera features actually make shooting more enjoyable.
But then you hit a few head-scratchers. A USB 2.0 port on an almost ₹80k phone. An LTPS panel instead of LTPO. A camera plate swap system that feels gimmicky.
Spend a few days with it though, and the real personality shows. This is Realme at its loudest, most experimental, and honestly, most fun.&nbsp;
So is it worth the extra ₹7,000 over the regular GT 8 Pro? If you&rsquo;re into F1, Aston Martin, or you just want a phone that looks like it came from a pit lane&hellip; you already know your answer.
If you just want the performance, cameras and battery without the cosplay? Save the cash &mdash; the standard GT 8 Pro gives you the same muscle minus the drama.

Blaupunkt 65-inch Mini QD Google TV brings premium design, bright Mini LED visuals, and a feature-packed Google TV experience at a premium price. But is it the right big-screen upgrade for 2025 buyers?

Blaupunkt 65-inch Google Mini QD TV Review: The Surprise Package of 2025?

Blaupunkt 65-inch Mini QD Google TV brings premium design, bright Mini LED visuals, and a feature-packed Google TV experience at a premium price. But is it the right big-screen upgrade for 2025 buyers?

Blaupunkt&rsquo;s reputation in India has always leaned more toward audio products than televisions. That&rsquo;s why the arrival of its first Mini QD Google TV in the country feels like a major shift &mdash; not just in product strategy, but in ambition.&nbsp;
This isn&rsquo;t another entry-level TV meant to blend into the crowded budget segment. At ₹94,999 for the 65-inch model and ₹1,49,999 for the 75-inch variant, Blaupunkt is deliberately entering territory dominated by established premium players.
And the brand doesn&rsquo;t tiptoe in. It walks in confidently, offering a 4K Mini LED panel with 1500 nits peak brightness, Google TV, Dolby Vision, Atmos support, and a premium design that immediately sets expectations high.&nbsp;
What becomes interesting is how this TV performs when you push beyond first impressions &mdash; because Blaupunkt gets several big things right, several small things wrong, and a few surprising things unexpectedly uneven.
<h2>Design &amp; Build: Understated but Firmly Premium</h2>
One thing Blaupunkt clearly didn&rsquo;t compromise on is build quality. The 65-inch unit I received for review has slim bezels, a metal stand, and a clean design that gives it a premium look many mid-range brands still miss.
It also feels solid. Whether you set it up on the stand or mount it on a wall, the panel sits firm and stable &mdash; a level of sturdiness you don&rsquo;t always see even on more expensive TVs.
This sense of physical quality matters more than people think. A TV this large becomes part of your living space, and Blaupunkt&rsquo;s design feels considered rather than decorative. It&rsquo;s a design that communicates, &ldquo;We may be new to premium TVs, but we understand what one is supposed to feel like.&rdquo;
<h2>Start-up Delay: The First Thing You'll Notice</h2>
Ironically, the very first interaction with the TV highlights one of its biggest usability drawbacks. From the moment you press the power button on the remote, there is a noticeable pause &mdash; roughly 10 seconds &mdash; before the screen lights up.
Ten seconds isn&rsquo;t catastrophic, but it&rsquo;s long enough to feel like the system is gathering itself before waking up. On a daily basis, the delay becomes part of the TV&rsquo;s personality: capable once running, but slow to get moving. It&rsquo;s unusual for a modern Google TV, and definitely an area where Blaupunkt needs optimization.
<h2>Picture Quality: Natural, Controlled and Dependably Bright</h2>
Blaupunkt&rsquo;s Mini LED implementation avoids the common trap of prioritizing sheer brightness over picture stability. Mini LED, essentially, uses more densely packed, smaller LEDs for better illumination control. The advantage is obvious in real-world use: higher brightness, stronger colours, better shadow separation than standard LED TVs.
But Blaupunkt doesn&rsquo;t push the panel into overly vibrant territory. Instead, it takes a balanced, almost conservative approach &mdash; and this turns out to be one of the TV&rsquo;s quietly impressive strengths.
Blaupunkt&rsquo;s take on brightness is actually pretty interesting. A lot of TVs in this price range try way too hard to look &ldquo;impressive,&rdquo; cranking up highlights until everything looks like it&rsquo;s glowing. This one doesn&rsquo;t do that.&nbsp;
With 1500 nits of peak brightness, it plays it cool. The picture stays steady and controlled. It looks consistent across different types of content, whether it&rsquo;s animation, travel videos or fast sports. Colours stay natural and don&rsquo;t slip into that fake, over-processed look.
Moreover, with Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG, the TV pulls out more detail from supported content. Highlights look cleaner and shadows show more depth, revealing things you&rsquo;d usually miss on a standard LED panel.
Where the TV feels immediately confident is in sports. Fast camera pans in football matches, and tennis smashes all hold up well. The action feels smooth, with minimal judder or artifacts.
The 120Hz panel refresh rate plays a huge role here. Even rapid transitions between brightly lit frames do not throw the TV off. Motion interpolation doesn&rsquo;t create that unnatural &ldquo;soap-opera&rdquo; sheen either &mdash; a welcome relief, given how often mid-range TVs mishandle fast content. Viewers who binge sports during the day will find this TV especially satisfying.
Darker scenes on this TV is&hellip; fine. Not amazing, not bad &mdash; just right in the middle. The 100,000:1 contrast ratio and local dimming do help, so you actually see more in the shadows than you would on a basic LED TV.
When you&rsquo;re watching darker scenes in crime dramas or thrillers, the little details don&rsquo;t disappear. You can still follow what&rsquo;s going on. That said, the panel still can&rsquo;t escape the inherent limitations of Mini LED technology.
Blacks hover closer to charcoal than true deep black, and certain scenes expose faint halos around bright objects. I noticed this clearly while watching Paul Thomas Anderson&rsquo;s One Battle After Another.&nbsp;
The film relies heavily on night sequences, and while the TV kept the overall image coherent and watchable, the deepest shadows never quite reached the inky richness you&rsquo;d get from an OLED. Subtle gradients in the darkness were visible, but they lacked the velvety smoothness that cinephiles would hope for.
<h2>Audio: Loud, But Lacking Control</h2>
On paper, Blaupunkt&rsquo;s 108W Dolby Atmos-certified system sounds formidable. Six speakers and two subwoofers should theoretically offer depth, power and spatial clarity. In practice, the system delivers volume, not finesse.
The TV can get genuinely loud &mdash; loud enough to overwhelm smaller rooms &mdash; but the audio profile becomes messy at higher volumes. The bass resonates so strongly that the frame vibrates, particularly during explosions, chase scenes or high-intensity soundtracks.&nbsp;
This isn&rsquo;t the controlled rumble you get from a premium audio system. It&rsquo;s a rattling, boomy vibration that interrupts immersion rather than enhancing it.
Dialogue clarity remains usable, but midrange tones sometimes compete with the overactive bass. The result is sound that feels unbalanced, powerful but undisciplined.
A soundbar is not merely an upgrade here &mdash; it is almost mandatory.
<h2>Software &amp; Performance: Perfect Polish</h2>
So the software here is Google TV &mdash; and honestly, that&rsquo;s a win right out of the box. You get all the usual heavy hitters: Netflix, Prime Video, JioCinema/Hotstar, Apple TV+. Everything&rsquo;s right there on day one, no hunting, no weird app store stuff.
And the UI? It feels clean. It feels intentional. Nothing looks slapped together. Your rows make sense, the recommendations aren&rsquo;t chaotic, and the whole thing just feels&hellip; modern. Like, this is what a smart TV in 2025 should look like.
Bluetooth 5.0 and dual-band Wi-Fi handle the connectivity side pretty well, so everything just stays connected without drama.
Chromecast is also built in &mdash; as it should be &mdash; so sending a YouTube video or a tab from your laptop is basically instant. Google Assistant also does its job without acting confused or lagging behind your voice.
But really, the best part is how the whole thing flows. App switching feels smooth, animations are subtle but satisfying, and the entire experience has that polished &ldquo;yeah, this is nice&rdquo; energy you usually expect from brands that have been doing premium TVs for years.
<h2>Remote Control: Too Busy for Today&rsquo;s Streaming World</h2>
The remote feels like a relic of an older TV era &mdash; large, button-heavy and visually cluttered. While Google Assistant performs well through the microphone, the physical button layout lacks intuitive flow. For a streaming-first television, the remote feels unnecessarily complicated.
<h2>Verdict: A Promising First Attempt With Clear Strengths and Gaps</h2>
The Blaupunkt Mini QD TV doesn&rsquo;t try to be something it isn&rsquo;t. It doesn&rsquo;t chase OLED-level deep blacks. It doesn&rsquo;t try to win with exaggerated colour. And it doesn&rsquo;t pretend to offer perfect audio.
What it does offer is a thoughtfully built, bright, stable, premium-looking TV with a natural picture profile and excellent daytime performance. For households that prioritize sports, streaming, general entertainment and all-day usage, the 65-inch model at ₹94,999 is more compelling than expected.
But if you require fast startup, disciplined audio, and better handling of darker scenes, you&rsquo;ll find the weaknesses harder to ignore.
&nbsp;For now, this TV stands as a respectable, confident debut aimed squarely at everyday Indian viewers rather than videophile purists.

Oppo Find X9 Pro brings a massive 7500 mAh battery, a powerful 200MP telephoto, a flat ultra-bright AMOLED and the Dimensity 9500. At ₹1,09,999, it wants to beat Samsung, OnePlus and Apple at their own game.

Oppo Find X9 Pro Review: Massive Battery, Pro Cameras, Big Price — Worth It?

The Oppo Find X9 Pro goes all-in with a 7500 mAh battery, a flagship-grade 200MP telephoto camera, a flat 6.78" AMOLED display and the Dimensity 9500 chip. At ₹1,09,999, it aims to be the premium Android flagship of 2025.

The Find X9 Pro doesn&rsquo;t try to ease into the flagship conversation. It comes out looking and feeling like Oppo finally wants to sit at the very top.
The camera hardware is noticeably better, the battery is the biggest you&rsquo;ll find on any premium phone right now, the build feels cleaner and more thought-out, and the whole package gives off this energy that says, yeah, this is the one we want you to judge us by.
But when a company swings for the top spot, the price tag usually jumps with it. And at ₹1,09,999, this phone has zero room to slack. Everything has to land. Let&rsquo;s get into it
<h2>Oppo Find X9 Pro: Design &amp; Build</h2>
The X9 Pro doesn&rsquo;t throw away Oppo&rsquo;s design language, but it definitely feels like someone went back through the blueprint with a red pen and fixed the things that mattered in everyday use. My Titanium Charcoal unit has a soft, almost suede-like finish on the back that instantly feels more secure than the glossy, curved surface from last year.
The new flat frame helps too. It gives your fingers something firm to hold without feeling sharp, and even though the phone weighs 224 grams, the balance is so even that you stop noticing it after a few minutes.
The camera bump has had a design ovrhaul as well. Oppo ditched the big circular island for a cleaner, squared layout that blends into the frame much better. Sure, it wobbles a bit on a desk, but the trade-off is a sleeker, less smudge-prone module that doesn&rsquo;t dominate the entire back of the phone.
The thing that really stands out, though, is durability. Oppo went all-in this time. You get IP66, IP68, and even IP69 &mdash; which basically covers dust, water, and high-pressure jets. Pair that with the aluminium frame and Gorilla Glass Victus 2, and it finally feels like a flagship built for more than careful desk use.
Overall, the design doesn&rsquo;t scream for attention, but it doesn&rsquo;t need to. It&rsquo;s clean, it&rsquo;s refined, and it immediately feels like a phone made for the top tier.
<h2>Oppo Find X9 Pro: Display Quality</h2>
The move to a flat display might look like a small tweak on the spec sheet, but the moment you start using the Find X9 Pro, it feels like the right call. It&rsquo;s still a 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED with all the flagship buzzwords attached, but removing the curves changes the whole vibe.
No reflections catching the corners, no accidental palm inputs, no light bending off the edges. It just feels cleaner and easier to use, whether you&rsquo;re gaming or doom-scrolling at 2AM.
The bezels are another flex. Oppo shaved them down to roughly 1.15mm on all sides, and that uniform border gives the phone this near-floating screen effect. Watching HDR content feels more immersive simply because there&rsquo;s nothing pulling your attention away from the frame.
Speaking of HDR, brightness is kind of ridiculous here. The panel peaks at around 3,600 nits and sits comfortably at about 1,800 nits outdoors. That means sunlight is not a problem, and HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and HDR Vivid content all look punchy without over-cranking contrast.
Comfort is also clearly part of Oppo&rsquo;s plan. With 2160Hz PWM dimming and the ability to dip all the way down to a single nit, this is one of the easiest flagship screens to use late at night. No harsh flicker, no burning your eyes in a dark room.
You also get a couple of underrated extras. The ultrasonic fingerprint reader stays fast even with slightly sweaty or damp fingers. And Oppo&rsquo;s Vehicle Motion Alerts subtly stabilise the UI when the phone detects motion, making in-car reading noticeably less shaky.
So no, Oppo didn&rsquo;t reinvent displays here. What they did instead was refine every piece of the experience &mdash; the shape, the brightness, the comfort, the little usability upgrades &mdash; and the end result feels like one of their most mature panels yet.
<h2>Oppo Find X9 Pro: Camera Performance</h2>
After shooting with the Find X9 Pro for a while, the biggest thing that stands out is how confident this camera system feels. On paper it looks wild with a 50-megapixel main, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide and a 200-megapixel telephoto. Once you start taking photos, it becomes clear that Oppo is not just showing big numbers this year.
All three rear cameras now capture full-resolution 50-megapixel shots by default. You do not need extra toggles or hidden modes. Motion Photos also record in 4K instead of 1080p, so those short clips around your photos finally look clean and usable.
The 200-megapixel telephoto is easily the most interesting part of this setup. It uses a large 1/1.56-inch sensor with an f/2.1 aperture and a 70mm focal length, and it can focus as close as 9 centimetres. That allows proper macro-style shots on a zoom lens. At 3X and 6X, the images look sharp and detailed, and you can crop further without the photo falling apart. There is some sharpening and a bit of haloing around strong highlights, but it stays controlled.
The main 50-megapixel camera gets Sony&rsquo;s LYT-828 sensor, and it feels like a proper step forward. Autofocus is fast, dynamic range is balanced, shadows look natural and colours stay vivid without looking pushed. Older Oppo and OnePlus cameras used to brighten everything a bit too aggressively. This one looks more natural and cinematic.
Low-light results are strong as well. Even without Night mode, images stay detailed with minimal noise. When Night mode activates, it brightens the scene without blowing out highlights or creating that over-processed HDR look.
The ultra-wide camera is decent but clearly the weakest of the three. It uses the same 50-megapixel Samsung JN5 sensor found in the front camera. You get those wide, dramatic shots, but finer textures sometimes look softened, almost like a digital watercolour.
What is impressive is how consistent the output is across all lenses. Exposure, colour and tone remain steady whether you shoot ultra-wide, main or telephoto. Oppo&rsquo;s colour science with Hasselblad tuning has matured a lot. Images get a warm, slightly cinematic look with smoother highlight roll-off.
The phone also includes a small True Colour sensor that splits the frame into zones and measures colour temperature. It helps produce better white balance and more natural skin tones, especially indoors or in mixed lighting.
The pressure-sensitive Quick Button makes a return. A quick tap takes a photo, a long press fires a burst and in video mode it starts or stops recording. A capacitive slider underneath lets you zoom smoothly. It is clever hardware, even if the learning curve is not the easiest.
Video performance is excellent. The main and telephoto cameras record up to 4K at 120 frames per second. The ultra-wide and the front camera go up to 4K at 60. Footage looks sharp with accurate colours and wide dynamic range. Low-light video holds up well with controlled noise. Stabilisation is strong whether you walk, pan or hold the phone still.
The front camera finally gets a major upgrade. It is now a 50-megapixel sensor with autofocus. Selfies look sharp, HDR is handled well and the 4K60 recording makes the phone great for front-facing video.
Overall, this is the most complete camera system Oppo has made. It still has small issues like mild oversharpening and the ultra-wide trailing behind the other lenses, but the consistency and versatility make it a genuine flagship-level setup.
<h2>Oppo Find X9 Pro: Benchmarks &amp; Performance</h2>
The Find X9 Pro runs on MediaTek&rsquo;s new Dimensity 9500, a flagship chip built to take on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and Apple&rsquo;s A19 Pro. On paper it is finally a proper three-way fight, so I put the Find X9 Pro up against the OnePlus 15 and the iPhone 17 Pro Max to see how it actually performs.
In Geekbench 6, the OnePlus 15 posts 3646 in single core and a huge 11025 in multi core. That gives Qualcomm the strongest multi core numbers in this group. The Find X9 Pro scores 3198 in single core and 9383 in multi core.
The interesting bit is that this multi core number actually edges out the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which lands at 9634. Apple still keeps the lead in single core with a score of 3725, but this is the closest MediaTek has ever been in a flagship comparison.
The 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress Test tells a different story. The Find X9 Pro starts strong at 7248 and drops to 3560, which works out to 49 percent stability. That shows clear throttling during long gaming or GPU-heavy workloads.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max begins at 5531 and dips to 3769 for 68 percent stability, so performance stays more consistent. The OnePlus 15 comes out on top in sustained GPU results with a 7683 peak and 5282 minimum for 68.8 percent stability.
None of the phones dominate every benchmark, which is a good reminder that numbers only show part of the story. In the VN video export test, where the same 4K60 clips were stitched into a two-minute file, the Find X9 Pro finished first by a comfortable margin. It beat both the OnePlus 15 and the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which makes it the fastest when you look at real workflows.
The important thing is how the phone behaves in hand. Apps open instantly, the UI stays smooth under heavy load, and games run without stutter. BGMI held around 60 and pushed to 120 in supported modes, all while the phone stayed cooler than expected.
The 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB UFS 4.1 storage pair well with the Dimensity 9500, so the X9 Pro never feels like it falls behind any flagship in daily use.
<h2>Oppo Find X9 Pro: Software &amp; AI</h2>
ColorOS 16 sits on Android 16 and feels familiar if you have used any recent Oppo or OnePlus phone. However, the polish is where the difference shows. Animations feel smoother, the colour palette is more subtle and the whole UI feels less busy than before. There is some iOS influence in places, but that is becoming common across Android skins now.
There are a few smart additions. You can set a video as your lock screen wallpaper. Icons can expand to show shortcuts without long-pressing, which saves time if you use apps like Messages or the Camera frequently.&nbsp;
AI tools are everywhere this year. You get translation inside the recorder, Circle to Search, Gemini Live, and AI edits like object removal or sharpening. They work about as well as Samsung and Google&rsquo;s versions.
The standout addition is Mind Space, which collects screenshots, snippets and voice notes in one place. Oppo even added a Snap Key on the frame to make it easier. Tap it to capture whatever is on screen. Hold it to record a voice snippet that turns into text immediately. If you collect notes all day, this is genuinely handy.
AI Studio is the only part that feels unfinished. It turns your photos into stylised portraits, but the output looks odd and the gender selection options feel outdated.
Oppo says the Find X9 Pro will get five years of major Android updates and six years of security patches. It is not at Samsung or Google levels, but it is still a strong long-term commitment for an Android flagship.
<h2>Oppo Find X9 Pro: Battery &amp; Charging</h2>
The Find X9 Pro is carrying a battery that feels almost unfair. It packs a 7,500 mAh cell, the biggest ever in a mainstream flagship, and even bigger than the OnePlus 15&rsquo;s already huge 7,300 mAh pack. What makes it even more impressive is the fact that Oppo squeezed all of this into an 8.25mm body, thanks to its third-gen Silicon-Carbon tech that boosts energy density without adding bulk.
In day-to-day use, the phone holds up better than almost anything else right now. Light users can stretch it to two full days without even thinking about it. Heavy users still wrap up a full day with battery left. I was consistently seeing around seven hours of screen-on time, and even during gaming tests with BGMI and Call of Duty: Mobile, it only dropped roughly five percent in a half-hour session.
The streaming test was the biggest surprise. Three hours of YouTube took the Find X9 Pro from 100 to 93 percent. The iPhone 17 Pro Max dropped to 90 percent under the same conditions, and the OnePlus 15 ended at 91 percent. This is the best result I have logged in that test so far.
Charging speeds are solid as well. The 80W SuperVOOC charger takes the phone from almost empty to around 80 percent in about 70 minutes. Wireless charging hits 50W through AirVOOC, and the phone also supports 10W reverse wireless charging for accessories.
<h2>Oppo Find X9 Pro Review: Should You Buy it?</h2>
After using the Find X9 Pro for a while, it became obvious that Oppo wasn&rsquo;t trying to make a safe flagship this year. This feels like a phone built to sit right at the top of the Android stack, and most of the time, it actually does.
The camera system is the most complete Oppo has put on a phone, the performance goes toe-to-toe with the best hardware from Qualcomm and Apple, the battery life borders on overkill, and the build finally matches the durability claims on paper.
It is not perfect. The ultra-wide still trails the other cameras, and the Quick Button is more of a fun trick than a must-use feature. But none of these feel like dealbreakers.
What stands out is the consistency. Whether you are shooting photos, gaming, exporting videos, or jumping between apps, the X9 Pro behaves like a phone that knows exactly what lane it wants to dominate.
At ₹1,09,999, you are paying a premium, and that automatically raises expectations. The surprising part is that the Find X9 Pro meets those expectations in almost every area.
If you want raw power, long battery life, a seriously versatile camera system, and a level of refinement Oppo has never delivered before, this is the one to look at. Whether the price makes sense will depend on what you prioritise, but after living with it, I can say this much. Oppo finally made a flagship that justifies the number on the box.
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