Saturday, April 30, 2022

Which music services are supported on Google Assistant and the Google Nest speakers?

One of the most common uses for all the best smart speakers, like the Google Nest Audio, is as a music device. The Nest speakers are more than just a fancy music device, but it’s definitely one of the most used features. For music, you need a service to supply the tunes.

You could always send music from your smartphone. But when you have an AI like Google Assistant built into the Nest Audio, you’re really going to want to take advantage of that. So, which music services can you use?

Here are all the supported music services for the Google Nest speakers.

Which music services are supported on the Google Nest speakers?

Google Nest Audio

Unlike some of the competition, such as the Apple HomePod Mini, the Google Nest speakers have wide-ranging support for third-party music services. The primary one for folks embedded into Google’s ecosystem will be YouTube Music.

YouTube Music

YouTube Music isn’t free, so unlike on the Amazon Echo, you’re going to need to pay to get anything from the first-party service. The good news is that YouTube Music is included as part of YouTube Premium. This subscription gets rid of ads on YouTube, enables background play on mobile, and allows downloads, so it’s worth having just for that.

Access to the YouTube Music library is a nice bonus to have. The service perhaps isn’t as user-friendly as Google Play Music used to be, but for hands-free access on the Nest Audio, you have no worries at all. And since it’s most likely already linked to the same Google account as your speaker, there’s no additional setup involved.

YouTube Premium costs $11.99 a month for an individual plan but there’s currently a two-month free trial to check it out first.

Spotify

Spotify is available on the Amazon Echo for both free and paid subscribers, though if you’re on the free tier your experience is significantly more limited.

Free members can listen to music through Google Assistant but with pretty strict limitations. Paid subscribers will have full access to the Spotify library. In supported markets, this also includes Spotify’s podcast library.

New subscribers who haven’t had Spotify Premium before can currently sign up and enjoy a three-month free trial before paying.

Apple Music

Apple Music subscribers can link their accounts to Google Assistant to listen on the Nest Audio and other supported speakers, but it isn’t as widely supported as some of the other services.

Currently, Apple Music can be used on the Amazon Echo in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

If you haven’t tried Apple Music yet, or in some cases even if you’re a returning user, you can get a month’s free trial to take it for a test listen.

Deezer

Deezer’s 73 million-strong song library is available to use on Google Assistant for paid subscribers on the Premium and Hi-Fi plans.

Deezer is also region-restricted on Google Nest devices to Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.. As with other popular services you can try it first for free with a one-month trial.

Pandora

Pandora users in the United States (currently the only market for the service) can link their free, plus, or premium accounts to Google Assistant and enjoy music through the Google Nest speakers.

This includes podcasts and tier-specific perks such as unlimited skips on the plus and premium subscriptions.

Sirius XM

Sirius XM users in North America have full access to the service through Google Assistant with the various subscription tiers available. The service is unavailable to users outside of this region.

Sirius XM has one of the more generous free trial periods available with three-months access to try it out before you have to pay.

iHeartRadio

iHeartRadio is one of the free music services available on the Google Nest speakers, albeit only to users in North America, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand.

Radio stations, music, and podcasts are all available through iHeartRadio and if you have an account you can link it up and keep your activity in sync across all your devices.

TuneIn Radio

The basic tier of TuneIn Radio comes preloaded inside Google Assistant for use on the Nest speakers to listen to radio stations from around the world. If you have a premium subscription you can also link this and have full access to your account.

Google Cast

The Google Nest speakers have an additional bonus over the competition by supporting the Google Cast protocol. This means that unsupported services, for example, Tidal, that have Cast built into their apps can be used this way with the speakers.

It works the same as with video. Tap the Cast icon, choose the speaker you want the music to come out of, and you’re all set. While this isn’t quite as convenient as full hands-free access with the Google Assistant, it’s a decent alternative and better than using Bluetooth.


That covers all the main ways you can listen to music on a Google Nest speaker. While the free services you can use are limited to radio and radio-like experiences, there is at least something to get started with. For the rest, there are plenty of free trials you can use before settling on your favorite service.

    Google Nest Audio
    Google's latest and best speaker for music pairing a subtle design with a room filling sound at a great price.

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WWDC22 Wishlist: 25 features we want Apple to announce for iOS 16

The Worldwide Developers Conference  — our favorite time of the year — is right around the corner! For many of us, it’s more exciting than the actual iPhone event. Apple will be holding the main keynote of WWDC22 on June 6. There’s plenty to expect from this event and even more to wish for. For starters, the company will most likely be revealing iOS 16, iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, and macOS 13. Following the keynote, we expect to get our hands on the first developer betas of these operating systems. Last year, iOS 15 and macOS Monterey introduced some interesting features, including Focus, SharePlay, Safari improvements, and more. We’ve heard some rumors regarding iOS 16 upgrading Focus, improving notifications, and bringing additions to Health. However, there’s much more we want Apple to include across its operating systems. Here’s our WWDC22 wishlist for iOS 16 — including 25 features!

iOS 16 Feature Wishlist for WWDC 2022

Redesigned icons

While there’s no need to fix what isn’t broken, change is sometimes good and rejuvenating. Our feature wishlist for iOS 16 starts with redesigned icons. Apple has been using these same app icons since iOS 7 — for the most part. It’s true that the company has tweaked or completely changed some of them. However, they retain the same feel as that ancient OS version. When comparing iOS 6 to iOS 7, the design changes were groundbreaking, and that’s exactly the kind of change we hope to see in iOS 16’s app icons. Android brought some sweeping UI changes with Android 12 and Material You, so Apple is in prime position to play catchup with some refreshes of its own.

Tweaked system UI elements

iOS toggles

Just like the redesigned icons wish, we also hope for some user interface (UI) element changes. Apple makes changes to UI elements with almost every major, annual release. However, some toggles, icons, and other elements remain out of place. For example, the on/off toggle is too chunky and stands out when Apple still places it on the more minimalistic UI of iOS. It’s about time the company smoothens out some of these elements to make sure they blend with the rest of the operating system.

More default apps

How to change the default web browser on iOS

Back in 2020, iOS 14 introduced the default app selection. However, it comes with a catch — users can only change the default web browser and email apps. We only hope that Apple expands its limits in iOS 16 and support more apps. These could include the default Maps, Music, Notes, Reminders, and Calendar apps. One use case would be for those who prefer Google’s tools over Apple’s. Supporting more default apps would let them have a smoother experience on iOS — rather than feeling the need to switch to Android. It would also give the company some breathing room for counter-arguments when regions like EU allege anti-competition practices. Choices here would be much appreciated all around.

System app updates through the App Store

One of the features I miss from Android OS is the ability to update system apps from the Google Play Store. This way, phone manufacturers can implement new features without forcing users to go through a full software update. Despite this being on our feature wishlist, I personally don’t see it happening with iOS 16. iPhones receive software support for a longer time than Android phones. So even if someone has a 4-year-old iPhone, they can still take advantage of the latest changes. Additionally, Apple tends to release new software updates somewhat frequently, so users don’t really have to wait for a long time to get their hands on the latest and greatest. It’s a nice addition to have, though I don’t personally need it, because there are still people out there using iPhones that don’t support the latest iOS version. Decoupling the app from the system might just make Apple’s update situation even better.

Some proper goddamn wallpapers

iOS wallpapers

Back in the day, Apple used to put in actual effort when including new iPhone wallpapers. iOS 9 was the first version to start the drift from stunning photography to random abstract pictures that don’t always make sense. iOS 12 was when this transition reached completion and the company switched to total nonsense. It feels like Apple just throws in some colors now and calls it a wallpaper. Yes, there are wallpaper apps on iOS too — but it’s not too much to expect the trillion-dollar company to spend some time giving a better wallpaper experience. Those “Shot on iPhone” images could make for some stunning wallpapers, and it would be a good use of the marketing campaign too.

Background OS upgrades

As someone who installs every single iOS beta build, I can’t stress enough how much I want to see this feature on iOS 16. Instead of watching my devices’ black screens while they all update, it would be very handy for the system to install the update in the background — as the phone remains on and functional. The user can then reboot their iPhone to switch to the updated OS version in an instant manner. We shouldn’t need to wait for an upgrade in 2022. Android has largely moved onto seamless upgrades, with the notable exception of Samsung, and Apple should consider it too.

RCS support

Google Messages and Apple iMessage icons

iMessage is a great way to text your friends and family. It’s minimalistic, straight to the point, and fully integrated into the system. What’s not-so-great, though, is that it’s not a cross-platform messenger. So if you’re texting an Android friend, your iPhone will switch to SMS — which lacks most of iMessage’s features and can cost money (depending on your carrier’s plan). If only there was a way to bridge this gap…

Well, there is, and it’s called Rich Communication Services (RCS). If Apple bakes it into the Messages app, Android and iOS users will be able to text each other over mobile data or Wi-Fi and take advantage of more advanced messaging features. Please, Apple, in iOS 16. It’s a pipe dream, but we’re making a wishlist, so why not.

Apple Music additions

Apple Music now playing

Apple Music is about seven years old now, and that’s a lot in tech years. The Cupertino giant has had enough time to catch up with some of its rivals. However, plenty of essential features remain missing from the streaming service. Apple has had products — both hardware (iPod) and software (iTunes) — in the music field for over a decade. So theoretically, there shouldn’t be anything holding it back from filling the gaps, but oh well.

In iOS 16, we would like to see:

  • Better algorithms for music personalization and discovery.
  • UI/UX improvements — the current design is clean but not very practical.
  • Absolute continuity — Apple and Ecosystem go hand in hand. Why is there still no Spotify Connect equivalent? I’m sure it’s easier to implement than Universal Control.
  • Richer yearly statistics and listening fun facts.

Better Mail and Calendar

Screenshot of Alias creation menu on the desktop web version of iCloud Mail

The Mail app on iOS 15 is very limited when compared to other email clients, such as Spark. Yes, you can execute the basics and send emails, but it’s too basic. Additionally, it lacks some of the features Apple includes on the web app — like vacation auto-replies, aliases, and more.

Just like Mail, the Calendar app is also not enough. That’s not to mention that collaboration features on it are a hit or miss. Sometimes you invite people to an event, they accept it, yet it still shows as pending. The app simply won’t refresh. Ideally, a redesigned Calendar app with more productivity features is what we want to see in iOS 16.

Upgraded iMessage

How to set an iMessage photo and name on your iPhone

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, people have been resorting to online communications significantly more. There are plenty of free instant messaging apps to choose from. However, iMessage remains an easy option that is available for all Apple users by default. That’s why the company should take it to the next level and offer features that make it similar to Telegram or WhatsApp. Right now, many users find themselves unsatisfied with its limited features. As a result, they seek third-party alternatives. Sharing your name and photo with contacts is far from being enough.

Another wish that is unlikely to happen is iMessage access on iCloud.com. Apple already allows users to store their messages on iCloud. It makes sense to be able to access them from the web app and send an iMessage even if accessed from a Windows or Android web browser

Universal battery widget

battery widget on iOS

On iOS 15, the Battery widget already supports viewing the percentages of connected Bluetooth devices. These include the Apple Watch, AirPods, supported wireless speakers, etc. Considering the Find My app already displays a battery icon of each internet-connected iDevice, it wouldn’t require Apple a lot of resources to display these battery levels on the Battery widget. The iPhone already knows the battery charge of the iPad and MacBook — why can’t we access that from the Home Screen? Fingers crossed we get that in iOS 16.

Interactive widgets

iOS 14 introduced real widgets. However, it eventually turned out they’re not real widgets. Yes, you can place them on the Home Screen for the first time on iOS. They also come in different sizes, offering useful information at glance. But they only do that, and this is the problem with them. You can’t use the Music widget to pause/play/skip, for example. This makes them so limiting — especially since the legacy widgets support controlling an app or getting info without launching the actual app. We hope iOS 16 makes the widgets interactive and adds support for real-time information, rather than refreshing them a few times per hour.

Proper Phone app with predictive dialler

Phone app iOS

Believe it or not, back in the day I was a hardcore Android power user. My first smartphone was the Samsung Galaxy Mini — that was around a decade ago. It had this little feature that made life so much easier. You could use the Phone app’s dial-pad to type someone’s name (instead of their number) and call them. Additionally, it would suggest to auto-complete the number you’re typing by comparing your input to your saved contacts. Yes, this revolutionary feature indeed existed over a decade ago. Guess what — yes, it still isn’t supported on iOS. You have to either type the correct digits from A to Z on the dial-pad or use the Contacts section/Spotlight Search/Siri to call someone. We beg you, Apple. Better late than never. iOS 16?

Revamped Podcasts app

The Podcasts app used to be in sync with the Music app in terms of some design elements. Apple would use the same UI for both apps’ players. This would add some coherence and harmony between the company’s system apps. At some point, though, Podcasts started lagging behind — as Music got some extra additions and fresh coats of paint. The Podcasts app now feels half-baked and features some outdated design elements. It’s almost like a malnourished creature fighting for its last breath.

This surprises us because Apple now offers paid podcast subscriptions. So the company is making money out of the commission it charges creators. Why it neglects this app makes no sense. If it can’t spare the resources to rebuild it, at least kill it and merge it with the Music app as an independent section — the Spotify way.

Wireless OS recovery

Restore Apple Watch with iPhone

Remember when you’d need to take your Apple Watch when it bricks to an Apple Store or authorized repair center for software recovery? Apple recently added support for wireless watchOS recovery. This allows users running the latest iOS and watchOS versions to use their iPhones to bring their dead watches back to life.

In iOS 16, we want Apple to add this feature to the iPhone. This way if you brick your iPhone, you can seamlessly restore it with a wireless solution — through another iPhone, iPad, or Mac. This would spare users needing to connect it through a cable and use Finder/iTunes. Additionally, it allows users who use the iPad as a PC replacement to restore their iPhones through their “PC replacements.” That’s not to mention that this would be needed if Apple decides to go portless on a future iPhone model.

Push notifications from PWAs

Safari on iOS supports Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) — in a limited manner, though. You are allowed to add a web app as an icon to your Home Screen, and it will load as an “app” rather than launching Safari. However, PWAs still don’t support push notifications. So if you’re trying to use the web instead of a native app solution, you won’t get the timely information you need. Push notifications remain absent on Safari as a whole, not just in PWAs. That surprises us because Safari on macOS has supported push notifications for a very long time. iOS 16, please?

iTunes retirement

Apple sometimes implements new features on macOS before it rolls them out on iOS in the following years. For example, macOS Mojave introduced Dark Mode on the Mac. Then Apple brought this anticipated feature to iOS 13 — a year later. The tech overlord killed the iTunes Mac app on macOS Catalina a few years ago. That’s because TV purchases live in the… TV app, and Music purchases live in the… Music app. iTunes on iOS is even more broken than the Podcasts app — and this says a lot. On iOS 16, Apple should just follow suit on the iPhone and bring the iTunes Store to the Music and TV apps for the respective purchases.

More iCloud storage

icloud plus features and pricing

What’s a “5GB,” and what do I do with it? In 2022, even as a free offering, 5GB of cloud storage is unacceptable. Call me a choosing beggar, but back when cloud storage used to cost companies more, Google was offering 15GB. Apple has no excuse to stick to this low quota. I get that it’s a free trial (of sorts) to give people a taste of iCloud and then lure them to pay for iCloud Plus. However, even as a free trial, it is still below the acceptable minimum. Most people (including me) have more than 5GB of data and a significant portion is willing to pay for the expansion and additional features. The low number 5 is just shameful when associated with a company as wealthy as Apple.

Scheduled Optimized Battery Charging

One of the features I immediately turn off when setting up a new iPhone is Optimized Battery Charging (OBC), and not because I want my battery to die faster. The engineers in Cupertino probably assume we all have our lives figured out. The truth is, not even I know when I’ll charge my iPhone and till what hour. I don’t even plug my iPhone every day. The OBC algorithm never gets me because I don’t have stable charging routines. We want to see the option to specify the time we want the iPhone to fully charge on iOS 16.

View saved Wi-Fi passwords

A few years ago, Apple added a handy feature to its devices. When one of your contacts attempts to join a Wi-Fi network that you have the password of, your device will prompt you to share it with them. This feature requires both devices to be in proximity and have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled. However, if an Android user or a guest whom you haven’t saved to your contacts comes over, there’s no way to view your saved Wi-Fi passwords from iOS. Apple must stop pretending that everyone around the globe is an iPhone user and design features that are friendlier to other platforms. We can only hope that iOS 16 allows users to view saved Wi-Fi passwords.

Face ID screen orientation

You know how some people (most of us?) use their phones when lying down on their sides? For some reason, our smartphones are still not smart enough to detect that our faces are sideways before switching to landscape orientation. A simple fix would be using the Face ID sensors to analyze the face’s position and switch the orientation accordingly. We shouldn’t be needing to toggle the orientation lock each time we lie down. iOS 16, maybe?

Lock Screen customizations

The camera is accessible from the Lock Screen and Notification Center with a simple left swipe. Why Apple places another Haptic Touch toggle to access it on these screens is beyond me. It’s redundancy in its peak form. It would be cool if iOS 16 allows us to add custom app/action shortcuts to these screens, and maybe even customize the clock’s style/font.

A smarter Siri

Almost every WWDC, Apple claims that Siri has gotten smarter. However, these changes seemingly aren’t obvious. I can’t tell the difference between iOS 15 and iOS 10 Siri. Both are equally dumb in my opinion. The smart assistant still struggles with maintaining context and understanding commands when worded in a certain way.

“Hey Siri, call mother dearest.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t tell which mall is the nearest to you right now.”

More Translate languages

iOS translate language list

If Apple wants to compete with Google Translate, the least it could do is provide more language. Right now it only supports a handful, while the latter goes for over a hundred. People need more than just Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese. And don’t get me started on the actual accuracy of the translations. It’s a shame I have to keep Google Translate installed on my iPhone only because the Cupertino tech giant doesn’t take its equivalent seriously.

Custom Wallet cards

Mobile app screen showing QR code for vaccine certificate in Apple Wallet

The Wallet app is a great place to store passes, QR codes, tickets, bank cards, and more. The problem, though, is that you can’t add a custom card by default. There are third-party apps that support creating custom cards with a QR code or barcode of your choice. However, not all of us are comfortable sharing this data with other developers. We can hope that iOS 16 allows us to create our own so we can add our gym entry code, vaccination certificates in unsupported countries, and more to our Apple Watches.


With WWDC22 being around a month away, we can only cross our fingers and hope that Apple has some exciting surprises for us. Considering major software updates only land once per year, it will be really disappointing if the company settled for mostly bug fixes across iOS 16, iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, and macOS 13. Now we sit and wait. In the meantime, check out our feature wishlist for iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, and macOS 13!

What’s your personal wishlist for iOS 16? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post WWDC22 Wishlist: 25 features we want Apple to announce for iOS 16 appeared first on XDA.



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Acer TravelMate P6 (2021) review: A super-light business laptop

XDA Recommended Award Badge
Acer’s latest TravelMate P6 is a delightful business laptop. It’s lightweight, and it’s stylish yet subtle. But as with any Acer PC, you just have to get past the bloatware, which can be done by uninstalling software or installing a clean build of Windows 11.

It comes in an a black aluminum-magnesium chassis that weighs in at 2.2 pounds, or just less than one kilogram. That makes it super easy to carry, and it doesn’t compromise on performance or ports, offering 11th-gen vPro processors, modern ports like Thunderbolt 4, and legacy ports like USB Type-A.

Indeed, it’s a pretty sweet business laptop. For a business user that’s productivity focused and on-the-go, it’s easy to recommend.

    Acer TravelMate P6
    The Acer TravelMate P6 weighs in at a kilogram, making it among the lightest 14-inch business laptops. It also packs 11th-gen processors, an FHD webcam, and more.

      Features:

      Pros:

      Cons:

Navigate this review:

Acer TravelMate P6 (2021) Pricing and availability

  • The Acer TravelMate P6 starts at $1,299.99 and is available now.

Refreshed in 2021, Acer’s TravelMate P6 doesn’t have a whole lot of configurations. You pretty much get a Core i5-1135G7 model with a 512GB SSD for $1,299.99, or a Core i7-1165G7 model with a 1TB SSD for $1,499 (Acer sent me the latter for review). There might be other models from some retailers that I’m unaware of, but these are the ones that show up on Acer’s website.

The rest of them are the same. They both come with 16GB LPDDR4x memory, and they have a 14-inch 16:10 1,920×1,200 display. Probably even more importantly, they weigh in at 2.2 pounds, considering that the ultra-light form factor is a key feature of the device.

You can order an Acer TravelMate P6 from the usual suspects, such as Acer, Amazon, and Newegg.

Acer TravelMate P6 (2021) specs

CPU Up to Intel CoreTM i7-1165G7 processor (12 MB Smart Cache, 2.8 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 4.7 GHz, DDR4 or LPDDR4x, Intel Iris Xe Graphics)
Graphics Intel Iris Xe Graphics, supporting OpenGL 4.5, OpenCLTM 2.2, Microsoft DirectX 12
Display 14” display with IPS (In-Plane Switching) technology, Full HD+ 1920 x 1200, high-brightness (340 nits) Acer ComfyView LED-backlit TFT LCD. Wide viewing angle up to 170 degrees.
Body 12.28 x 8.9 x 0.66 inches, 2.2 pounds
Memory Dual-channel LPDDR4X SDRAM support
  • 16 GB of onboard LPDDR4X system memory
Storage Solid state drive
  • 1TB, PCIe Gen3, 8 Gb/s, NVMe
Audio
  • DTS Audio, featuring optimized bass response and micro-speaker distortion prevention
  • Two built-in front facing stereo speakers at any display modes by discrete smart amplifier with real time sensing on I/V protection
  • Acer Purified.Voice technology with AI noise reduction in dual built-in microphones. Features include far-field pickup, dynamic noise reduction through neural network, adaptive beam forming, and predefined personal and conference call modes.
  • Compatible with Cortana with Voice
  • Acer TrueHarmony technology for lower distortion, wider frequency range, headphone-like audio and powerful sound
Connectivity
  • WLAN networking • Intel Wireless Wi-Fi 6 AX201
  • 802.11a/b/g/n/acR2+ax wireless LAN
  • Dual Band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)
  • 2×2 MU-MIMO technology
  • Supports Bluetooth 5.1
  • Wi-Fi CNVi Interface
Ports and interfaces USB Type-C port supporting:
  • USB 3.2 Gen 2 (up to 10 Gbps)
  • Thunderbolt 4
  • USB charging 5 V; 3 A

One USB 3.2 Gen 2 port featuring power-off USB charging
HDMI port with HDCP support
3.5 mm headphone/speaker jack, supporting headsets with built-in microphone
microSDTM Card reader
Nano SIM slot optional
NFC (Near Field Communication) optional

Keyboard and touchpad Keyboard:
83-/84-/87-key Acer FineTip keyboard with international language support
TouchPad:
Multi-gesture touchpad, supporting two-finger scroll; pinch; gestures to open Cortana,
Action Center, multitasking; application commands
  • Microsoft Precision Touchpad certification
  • Moisture resistant
Webcam
  • T-Type MIPI FHD camera + IR camera
  • 1920 x 1080 resolution
  • 1080p HD video at 60 fps with Temporal Noise Reduction
  • Dual Mic (33 mm + 33 mm)
OS Windows 11 Pro
Material Magnesium-aluminum
Price $1,499.99

About this review: Acer shared the TravelMate P6 with us for review. It did not have any input in this review.

Design: Super-light, but still stylish

  • The Acer TravelMate P6 weighs a kilogram.
  • It comes in black with silver accents.

I really like reviewing super-light laptops like this one, which comes in at just 2.2 pounds. There’s something about devices at that kilogram mark that are just delightful. They’re so easy to carry around in a bag that you’ll forget they’re even there. They’re comfortable to use when you’re just lounging around the house.

Top down view of Acer laptop

The magnesium alloy build looks clean, yet stylish.

The thing I enjoy the most is seeing what OEMs do to make them not look and feel cheap. In order to get to this weight, you have to use a magnesium alloy, and that can feel plasticky. Acer does a pretty good job here in making a solid-looking laptop from a magnesium alloy. It comes in black, but the hinges have silver accents, which is a nice touch. I really like how it looks and feels, although like most magnesium alloy laptops, you’ll find that the lid easily bends if you press on it, and stuff like that.

The lid has a squared-off Acer logo stamped in the corner, which is typical for the company’s business laptops. The consumer notebooks tend to have a logo stamped in the middle, which is more flashy. This is meant to be a cleaner design.

Side view of Acer TravelMate P6

As for ports, there are lots of them, something that you’d expect from a business laptop. On the left side alone, there are dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, and HDMI. Either of those Thunderbolt 4 ports can connect to dual 4K monitors, one 8K monitor, an external GPU, or something else.

Side view of Acer TravelMate P6

On the right side, you’ll find the 3,5mm audio jack and a microSD card slot. A microSD card slot is always welcome, even if it’s not quite as useful as a full-size one.

I really like the design of this laptop, as I do with a lot of Acer’s laptops. The company makes magnesium sexy. I’ve seen Swift laptops in blue with silver accents or green with gold accents, but for a TravelMate, the design needs to be a little more subtle. That’s why we have a sort of metallic black with silver accents. And of course, it only weighs a kilogram.

Display: The 14-inch FHD display is pretty good, and it’s 16:10

  • The matte, anti-glare display is better than a lot of Acer laptops that I’ve used.
  • The FHD webcam is excellent.

The Acer TravelMate P6 comes with a 14-inch 1,920×1,200 display, and yes, that resolution means that it has a 16:10 aspect ratio, something that’s becoming more and more common. 16:10, as opposed to 16:9, it taller, and it has more surface area. Screens are measured diagonally, so the closer the aspect ratio gets to square, the more surface area you get.

Acer TravelMate P6 front view

It’s a matte non-touch display, but it doesn’t suffer from some of the pitfalls I’ve seen on anti-glare screens in the past. In fact, this is actually a better display than I’ve seen from a lot of Acer laptops.

Acer TravelMate P6 display test

As you can see, it supports 100% sRGB, 78% NTSC, 83% Adobe RGB, and 85% P3. That’s pretty solid, at least compared to the rest of the market. 100% sRGB isn’t uncommon for a laptop to obtain, but averaging in the 80s for the rest of the categories is pretty good.

Acer TravelMate P6 display test

Brightness maxed out at 366.9, which exceeds the 340 nits promised by Acer but still less than I’d like in a laptop. It’s not going to be great for outdoor use. Contrast is 1250:1, which is pretty good.

Acer TravelMate P6 webcam

The FHD webcam on the TravelMate P6 is excellent.

Above the display, you’ll find a 1080p webcam, which is pretty solid. Indeed, considering that this laptop comes from the 11th-gen Intel age before FHD webcams were added to the Evo spec (as a suggestion), it’s really impressive that Acer took the initiative on this. Considering how many people are working from home and taking video calls, webcam quality is super important, and this one is quite good.

Keyboard: It’s standard for Acer’s products

  • The keyboard is backlit and it has a Microsoft Precision touchpad.

The keyboard and touchpad on the Acer TravelMate P6 are pretty straightforward. The keyboard is Chiclet-style, and it’s pretty standard for Acer’s laptops. It’s fine, but frankly, it just doesn’t compete with some of the phenomenal stuff that HP and Lenovo are doing with their business laptop keyboards.

Top down view of Acer TravelMate P6 keyboard

The keyboard is backlit, which is good, but the keys themselves feel pretty standard. It’s not particularly quiet, it doesn’t have that particularly comfortable force curve that we see from other laptops, and so on. It’s definitely accurate, but other than that, it’s average, which is fine.

As you can see, the Precision touchpad doesn’t quite make use of the available real estate that it could, although it still feels big enough. I just personally want touchpads to be as large as possible.

Performance: Like all Acer laptops, it comes with a ton of bloatware

  • You’ll have to spend some time getting rid of bloatware.
  • It has 11th-gen Intel processors.

The model that Acer sent me includes a Core i7-1165G7, 16GB RAM, and a 1TB SSD, which is pretty sweet. It’s also got a pretty sizable 56WHr battery, and unfortunately, a ton of bloatware.

The bloatware

You can identify bloatware in a number of ways. Some people consider any pre-installed software that they don’t find useful to be bloatware, and while that’s fair, that’s not the definition that we’re going for here. We’re not even going to talk about the bloatware that Microsoft installs with Windows, such as Solitaire Collection, although that would be fair too. The difference is that Microsoft’s bloatware is a constant across the Windows landscape. No, we’re talking about software that’s been separately installed by Acer.

Acer bundles more third-party software than any other mainstream PC manufacturer.

Most companies don’t do this anymore. Over a decade ago, it was common for companies to load up PCs with third-party apps, which would subsidize the cost a bit. This can still happen on the low end, but for a $1,499 PC, it’s very rare. OEMs like Dell, Lenovo, and HP will install an antivirus program on consumer PCs, but that’s about it, and business PCs won’t even have that.

Let’s take a look at some of what’s pre-installed on the Acer TravelMate P6:

  • Acer Jumpstart
  • Acer Product Registration
  • Acer ProShield Plus
  • Aura Privacy
  • AxCrypt
  • Booking.com
  • Control Center
  • Dropbox Promotion
  • Evernote
  • Firefox
  • Norton Security Ultra

Believe it or not, this is actually impressive compared to a consumer Acer laptop, which usually contains an array of games as well. My biggest issue is with things like Norton, Evernote, and Firefox. They’re all there to compete with something that’s already in Windows. It reminds me of the older days of Android phones when they’d all have two of everything, one from Google and one from the OEM.

Angled view of Acer TravelMate P6

Some of it is super useful. Acer ProShield Plus is great. You can drag and drop files into it to encrypt or decrypt them, there’s a File Shredder functionality that overwrites the data so it can’t be recovered, you can make a partition as a Personal Secure Drive, you can control which kinds of USB devices can be used, and more. It’s phenomenal. ProShield Plus is a one-stop shop for all of your security needs that you’d expect from a business laptop.

But ProShield Plus is really all we should be getting from Acer here. You shouldn’t have a shortcut to Booking.com on the Start Menu of a business laptop.

It’s easy enough to get rid of this stuff, as you can just uninstall it. Like I said, there’s a lot less useless stuff than on an Acer consumer laptop, so it doesn’t even take a lot of time.

Performance and battery life

The Acer TravelMate P6 checks the right boxes for a business laptop. Sure, 12th-gen processors are better than 11th-gen, and I’m sure Acer will refresh the product at some point. But still, for a productivity machine on the go, this thing is nearly perfect.

If you’re doing your work in the browser or something similar that’s not graphics-intensive, this gets the job done. Speaking of graphics though, the Iris Xe graphics in 12th-gen chips are mostly the same as in 11th-gen, so you’re really not missing anything there. My work load, as usual, consists of having over a dozen tabs open in a Chromium browser (the browser varies, but these days, it’s usually Vivaldi), while using other apps like OneNote, Skype, Slack, and Photoshop. There were no pain points in usage.

Acer TravelMate P6
Core i7-1165G7
Lenovo ThinkPad Titanium Yoga
Core i7-1160G7
HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8
Core i7-1185G7
PCMark 10 4,498 4,488 4,948
Geekbench 5 1,427 / 4,887 1,333 / 4,055 1,518 / 4,966
Cinebench R23 1,362 / 4,690 1,127 / 2,597 1,296 / 3,975
3DMark: Time Spy 1,618 1,334 1,560

Interestingly, when I sort my benchmark scores by PCMark 10 scores, the Acer TravelMate P6 aligns more with the lower-watt Tiger Lake UP4 chips, like the one in the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga.

Battery life is solid, maxing out at just below six hours. The way I test laptops is by using them. Then, I create battery reports and average the times, so this is real-world usage, as opposed to streaming video constantly or something. On average, it got between five and five and a half hours, which is still better than many of the laptops that I test. It’s impressive.

Should you buy the Acer TravelMate P6 (2021)?

As is the case with everything, the Acer TravelMate P6 is not for everyone.

Who should buy the Acer TravelMate P6:

  • Business professionals that are on-the-go and need something portable
  • People who want something that’s great for productivity, and has some additional security features

Who should not buy the Acer TravelMate P6:

  • Consumers that want a laptop for consumption
  • Anyone that needs dedicated graphics

I found the Acer TravelMate P6 to be an excellent laptop that checks all of the right boxes. It’s a great business laptop, but it seems to be something that would be great for almost everyone.

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OnePlus Nord N20 5G Hands On: Pretty phone with some questionable choices

The OnePlus Nord N20 5G is in the house, and there’s a lot to love here for an inexpensive Android phone. The successor to the Snapdragon 690-powered Nord N10 5G, the Nord N20 has a Snapdragon 695 with an improved CPU and the same GPU. Aside from the internal improvements, there’s a better camera, a 60Hz AMOLED display instead of a 90Hz LCD, and 33W SuperVOOC charging. It also comes with an all-new design, which actually reminds me a bit of the OnePlus X (that’s right; we’re going back to those days).

There’s a lot to unpack here. It’s a lot of good, some bad, and frankly, most of the bad goes away when you factor in the price point for the intended market.

Navigate this article:

OnePlus Nord N20 5G: Specifications

Specification OnePlus Nord N20 5G
Display
  • 6.43-inch FHD+ AMOLED
  • 60Hz refresh rate
SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 695
RAM & Storage
  • 6GB RAM + 128GB storage
  • Expandable up to 512GB
Battery & Charging
  • 4,500mAh
  • 33W wired fast charging
Security In-display fingerprint scanner
Rear Camera(s)
  • Primary: 64MP
  • Monochrome: 2MP
  • Macro: 2MP
Front Camera(s) 16MP
Port(s) USB Type-C
Audio N/A
Connectivity
  • 5G
  • 4G LTE
  • Wi-Fi
  • Bluetooth
Software OxygenOS 11 based on Android 11

About this hands-on: OnePlus US shared the OnePlus Nord N20 5G with us for review. OnePlus did not have any input in this hands-on.

OnePlus Nord N20: Design and Display

I want to be clear that in my opinion, this is the most beautifully designed OnePlus device that we’ve seen in a very long time. I wish this was the OnePlus 10 Pro; it looks so good. The Nord N10 5G looked like a plasticky version of a premium OnePlus device, with smaller camera housing. In other words, if you held a Nord N10 next to a OnePlus 9 Pro, it was clear that the Nord was the cheaper sibling.

Blue phone on brown chair

That’s not the case anymore. The Nord N20 has a flat back and flat sides, something we haven’t seen in a OnePlus device since the Snapdragon 801-powered OnePlus X. Indeed, despite the 8-series processor, the X was the firm’s first attempt at the mid-range, so the throwback is fitting.

The blue color sparkles in the light, and it’s delightful to look at. This is a device that looks and feels premium.

OnePlus Nord N20 side view

The OnePlus Nord N20 5G keeps the headphone jack. I didn’t test it out, because frankly, I haven’t used a headphone jack in years. But the option is there for users who want to, and that is what matters.

OnePlus Nord N20 side view

Just like its predecessor, the Nord N20 doesn’t have my favorite OnePlus feature, the alert slider to turn on and off notification sounds. On the OnePlus 10 Pro and other flagships, it has settings for sound, vibrate, and silent. You won’t find it here, so you have to toggle the sound states from the software as you do on every other Android device.

Top-down view of OnePlus Nord N20

The OnePlus Nord N20 5G has a 6.43-inch 2,400 x 1,080 AMOLED display, which has a 60Hz refresh rate. Thanks to the AMOLED technology, you get true blacks and more vibrant colors than the backlit LCD that was on the N10. However, as tends to be the case with budget phones like this, that comes with a trade-off. The screen is indeed prettier, but it doesn’t have the 90Hz refresh rate that we saw on the N10.

I don’t want to go too deep into the refresh rate, because frankly, this is a sub-$300 phone and the scope of this article is not to compare it to the 120Hz screen on the OnePlus 10 Pro. That would be silly. The OLED screen is beautiful, but it’s not as smooth as the screen on the N10. Devices outside of the US do come with a better positioned 90Hz AMOLED that would have been a good upgrade for this Nord series, but the US market has fewer options when you go down the budget. So you get a 60Hz AMOLED instead. The phone also comes with a hole-punch cut-out, which is a bit smaller than the one on its predecessor.

Close-up of hole-punch cut-out

Ultimately, I love the design of this device, and for the price, I like the display as well. This is a phone that feels good to carry, and I reckon that average consumers shopping in this price range will agree on these points as well.

OnePlus Nord N20 5G has a 64MP f/1.8 camera, which needs work

Alright, I’ve praised the design, so now it’s time to look at something that doesn’t work. That’s the camera. I have no doubt that OnePlus will improve this with a few updates in the first few weeks of availability, but you should not rely on that happening.

Blue phone on brown chair

The OnePlus Nord N20 5G has a 64MP main sensor with an f/1.8 aperture, and that’s it. There’s no ultra-wide sensor, and no telephoto lens. It has a couple of sticker cameras, including a 2MP depth sensor and a 2MP macro lens, both of which will provide zero value to you throughout the lifetime of the phone. We call them sticker lenses because they may as well be stickers, and they only serve the purpose of allowing the OEM to say that it’s a triple-lens camera.

First, let’s go straight into samples, including some from the 16MP front camera.

I didn’t go too crazy, since this is just a hands-on article and I’ve only had the phone for a short period. You’ve got some low-light photos from when I was out to dinner, and some nighttime photos. There are some issues here. First, we’re going to compare one of these photos to one taken with the iPhone 13 Pro. Yes, I know it’s silly to compare a $300 phone to a thousand-dollar phone, but this isn’t about hardware quality. It’s about the color reproduction.

OnePlus Nord N20 5G iPhone 13 Pro

To be clear, I originally had no intention of shooting this shot with my iPhone at all, and to be clear, it’s the iPhone that’s accurate while the Nord is completely washed out. The reason I pulled out my iPhone was that I saw the results on the Nord and realized just how bad they were. It’s really bad.

Here’s the issue. In my opinion, smartphone cameras require a lot of trust. Even with a $300 smartphone, the user is going to use that camera, and they need to know what they’re getting when they take that phone out of their pocket to get that shot. The biggest flaw is taking a picture and not knowing if you’ll get the desired result. Other pictures looked fine. This one looks horrible.

Other shortcomings of the camera are pretty typical for a mid-ranger like this one. The nighttime photos don’t handle tricky lighting very well, and it’s tough to focus on certain parts of images like flowers.

33W SuperVOOC charging is fast

This year’s OnePlus 10 Pro ships with 80W SuperVOOC charging (and 65W SuperVOOC in the US), but we shouldn’t ignore just how fast 33W SuperVOOC is on a sub-$300 device. The Nord N10 supported Warp Charge 30T, and I’ve noticed relatively slow charging speeds from plugging the 33W SuperVOOC charger into it. Frankly, that’s neither here nor there, as the charger does come in the box, so you probably won’t use a Nord N20 charger to charge a Nord N10, or vice versa.

I did compare the charging speed to that of the OnePlus 10 Pro, which actually uses 65W SuperVOOC in the United States, so to be clear, 80W charging isn’t being used here.

OnePlus Nord N20 charging chart

The OnePlus Nord N20 5G took 73 minutes to charge from 0-100% for its 4,500mAh battery, which is pretty great. With double the wattage, the OnePlus 10 Pro takes half the time, which shouldn’t be surprising. You also get up to 80% in less than 45 minutes, so you’re still getting a lot of juice in a short amount of time.

Performance is solid, but incremental

The OnePlus Nord N20 5G packs a Snapdragon 695 chipset and 6GB LPDDR4x RAM, along with 128GB UFS 2.2 storage. This is a modest improvement over the Snapdragon 690 that was in the Nord N10, especially given that the predecessor had the same RAM and the same amount of storage, although the storage in the N10 was UFS 2.1. You continue to retain the microSD slot on this device as well.

Geekbench single-core Geekbench multi-core AnTuTu
OnePlus Nord N10 5G 605 1,847 345,671
OnePlus Nord N20 5G 687 1,956 375,885

Given the price, I feel like you’re getting more than you pay for here. The biggest competitor in the space is going to be Motorola’s Moto G, and I don’t think they’re as competitive as they used to be. Even the latest Moto G costs $100 more than this, packing an HD 90Hz display, 6GB RAM, and a Dimensity 700.

Also, strangely, the Nord N20 runs Android 11, which seems like an odd choice given that Android 13 is around the corner. OnePlus is promising one major update, which will then bring this device to Android 12 in the future. The device should have launched with Android 12 in 2022, which would then give any water to the update promise — otherwise, OnePlus is just playing catchup. The company does promise a total of three years of security updates as well.

Conclusion

There is a lot that I love about the OnePlus Nord N20 5G, and there’s some that I don’t. Let’s start with the bad.

The camera is unacceptable. The reason that it’s unacceptable isn’t to do with low-light performance or general image quality. If that was the case, it would be a matter of managing expectations. It’s unacceptable because you won’t know if you’re going to get a good photo or not. Things might be fine most of the time, but then you’ll go to shoot the wrong color in the wrong lighting, and suddenly, you won’t be able to capture that memory the way you remember it.

Angled view of OnePlus phone on a tree

The display feels shaky if you’re used to a higher refresh rate, but that AMOLED screen sure does look pretty. And I have to say, if I’m choosing between this 60Hz AMOLED display or the 90Hz LCD of the Nord N10, I’m picking this one. Your opinion may differ, and yes, a 90Hz AMOLED would have served the best of both worlds.

And of course, the design of this phone is just stunning. I wasn’t kidding when I said I think this is the prettiest phone since the OnePlus X. It’s a touch of Pacific Blue iPhone 12 Pro with the frosted back, a touch of the LG Velvet with the lack of a large camera housing, and yet it’s still definitively OnePlus. You’ll feel good about carrying this around. 33W SuperVOOC charging is pretty sweet too. A lot of companies still aren’t including charging with this wattage in flagships, let alone lower mid-tier devices.

The OnePlus Nord N20 5G is available now from T-Mobile for $282 full price, or free if you add a new line. At that price, it becomes hard to see faults even though some choices on the phone can be considered questionable. The US smartphone does not have a whole lot of good options under $300, and if you care about the experience beyond the simple spec sheet, the OnePlus Nord N20 ticks that box and lets you get a phone that seemingly works for what it says it can do. The previous Nords have done well in the US market, and there’s nothing really here that fundamentally impedes this one from doing so again. So if you are in the market for a budget smartphone, the OnePlus Nord N20 is worth considering.

    OnePlus Nord N20 5G
    The OnePlus Nord N20 5G looks to succeed the Nord N10 in the US market, but makes some curious decisions in the process like a lower refresh rate but AMOLED display, Android 11, and more.

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POCO F4 GT Hands-On: Real shoulder buttons, great speaker and thermals make for excellent gaming phone

I used to think gaming phones were gimmicks. I’m not talking about the initial batch of pre-iPhone era devices like the Nokia N-Gage or Gizmondo, nor early 2010s-era devices from Sony and Samsung with slide-out controllers. Those devices actually brought something new and different to the mobile market. I am instead referring to the recent gaming phone resurgence that began four, five years ago led by the likes of Razer, ASUS, Honor, and Nubia, to name a few.

My main gripe was that, other than adding an LED light strip on the back of the phone and supposedly superior copper cooling in the internals, those first batch of gaming phones mostly operated just like any other Android phone on the market. I still remember testing the Honor Play in 2018 and having to ask the company exactly how the phone differed from the six other Huawei/Honor devices I had tested that year.

But gaming phones began justifying their existence in the past couple of years with actual meaningful additions like a physical fan, controller accessories, or my favorite, shoulder buttons, which instantly made a phone more suitable for gaming. Most of these shoulder buttons have been in the capacitive sensor variety, but Xiaomi has offered actual pop-up buttons that provide real tactile, clicky feedback in a few devices now. The latest one is the POCO F4 GT.

The POCO F4 GT is not exactly an all-new device. If you follow the Chinese smartphone scene closely, or if you’re just familiar with Xiaomi’s tendency to rebrand an existing mid-tier phone for another market, you will know that the POCO F4 GT is the exact same device as the Redmi K50G (the G stands for gaming) that launched in China two months ago. I don’t think most people would mind the rebrand, because you’re getting a lot of flagship components at a very reasonable price.

    POCO F4 GT
    The POCO F4 GT's pop-up shoulder buttons and excellent speakers truly add to the mobile gaming experience. Even if you don't game, the F4 GT is still a solid all around phone.

POCO X4 GT

POCO F4 GT: Pricing and Availability

The POCO F4 GT comes in two configurations: 8GB RAM+128GB ROM and 12GB RAM + 256GB ROM, priced respectively at €599 ($639) and €699 ($746) in Europe, and roughly equivalent in Asian regions like Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. But if you order the phone between April 27 to May 7, POCO is offering an early bird discount that shaves €100 off each price, meaning the base 8GB+128GB variant can be had for €499 ($532).

The POCO F4 GT will be on sale at POCO’s online store, as well as online retailers such as Amazon, Lazada, AliExpress, Shopee, among others.

POCO F4 GT: Specifications

Specification POCO F4 GT
Build
  • Corning Gorilla Glass Victus on display
  • Metal frame
  • Glass back
Dimensions & Weight
  • 162.5 x 76.7 x 8.5mm
  • 210g
Display
  • 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED
  • 2400 x 1080 resolution
  • 120Hz refresh rate
  • 480Hz touch sampling rate
  • 800nits typical brightness
  • DCI-P3 wide color gamut support
  • HDR10+
  • 1920Hz high frequency PWM dimming
SoC
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
  • Adreno 730
RAM & Storage
  • 8GB LPDDR5 RAM + 128GB UFS 3.1 storage
  • 12GB + 256GB
Battery & Charging
  • 4,700mAh
  • 120W wired fast charging support
Security
  • Side-mounted fingerprint scanner
  • AI Face Unlock
Rear Camera(s)
  • Primary: 64MP Sony IMX686, f/1.9
  • Ultra-wide: 8MP, f/2.2, 120° FOV
  • Macro: 2MP, f/2.4
Front Camera(s) 20MP, f/2.4
Port(s) USB Type-C
Audio
  • Symmetrical quad speakers
  • Dolby Atmos certification
  • Hi-Res Audio certification
  • Hi-Res Audio Wireless certification
Connectivity
  • 5G (SA+NSA)
    • Supported bands: n1/3/5/7/8/20/28/38/40/41/77/78
  • 4G LTE
  • Wi-Fi 6E (2.4GHz/5GHz/6GHz)
  • Bluetooth 5.2
  • NFC
Software MIUI 13 for POCO based on Android 12
Other Features
  • CyberEngine super wideband X-axis linear motor
  • LiquidCool Technology 3.0
  • Colors:
    • Stealth Black
    • Knight Silver
    • Cyber Yellow
  • Magnetic pop-up triggers

About this hands-On: Xiaomi Global provided me with a review unit of the POCO F4 GT for testing. Xiaomi did not have any input in this article.

POCO F4 GT: Hardware and Design

If you’ve seen the Redmi K50G, then the POCO F4 GT won’t bring any surprises. The design is identical, with the only visual difference being the branding that has changed from Redmi to POCO in the lower-left corner of the device. My unit is the “Knight Silver” color and I quite like how it looks and feels (I prefer it over the yellow and black colorways). The glass back is a bit reflective and not entirely matte, however, and it can attract subtle fingerprints.

POCO X4 GT

There’s a bit of texture in the two inward-pointing arrows (“> <“) as they’re ever so slightly raised above the glass. Since this is a gaming phone, there of course is an LED light strip. There are two of them present, also forming inward-pointing arrows in the camera module. Another nice touch is the LED flashlight in the shape of lightning sitting next to the camera module.

POCO F4 GT

As a gaming phone, the POCO F4 GT needs to offer better visual and audio experiences than usual, and the phone knocks it out of the park in the speakers department

As a gaming phone, the POCO F4 GT needs to offer better visual and audio experiences than usual, and the phone knocks it out of the park in the speaker department: there’s a quad-speaker system consisting of two speakers and two tweeters, housed inside large speaker grills at the top and bottom of the device. The grills are noticeably larger and deeper than usual, allowing for more room for the sound to disperse. They are also symmetrical in placement and size. I can definitely hear fuller audio. However, there is no headphone jack.

POCO F4 GT POCO F4 GT

As for the 6.7-inch, 2400 x 1080 OLED display, it’s sharp and vibrant enough, but the 800 nits of brightness is a bit lacking, and the refresh rate can only be either 60Hz or 120Hz, but it’s got a touch sampling rate up to 480Hz and is covered by Gorilla Glass Victus.

Magnetic Pop-Up Triggers

POCO F4 GT triggers POCO F4 GT triggers

The two shoulder buttons are called “magnetic pop-up triggers,” and by default they stay recessed, only popping up when you physically flip a switch. The buttons offer very clicky, bouncy feedback, and can be used outside of gaming for launching specific apps or phone functions like a flashlight (customizable in Settings). The switch to release the buttons, however, is a bit loose and can be accidentally toggled on or off when pulling the phone in and out of the pocket. I wish they were more firm. POCO claims the buttons have been tested to withstand at least 1.5 million times.

POCO F4 GT triggers POCO F4 GT triggers

POCO has given the X4 GT the latest and greatest components when it comes to processing power and memory: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, with LPDDR5 RAM (8GB or 12GB) and UFS 3.1 storage (128GB or 256GB). The battery size, at 4,700 mAh, is a bit small for a gaming phone, but it can be charged at insanely fast 120W speeds. From my testing, I was able to get the phone from 0-100% in 18 minutes — that’s pretty insane.

Cameras

The cameras are fine. The main system consists of a 64MP IMX686 sensor with a small-ish 1/1.73-inch image sensor, along with an 8MP ultra-wide camera and a 2MP macro sensor. Around the front is a 20MP selfie camera. During the day, photos have solid sharpness and dynamic range. In fact, the main camera holds up okay at night too thanks to pixel-binning and Xiaomi’s really good night mode. But the ultra-wide really struggles at night.

POCO F4 GT main camera POCO F4 GT ultra-wide POCO F4 GT main camera POCO F4 GT ultra-wide

Colors are accurate without an exaggerated look, and if you point close enough to a subject you even get some bokeh — although I am guessing it is mostly software-generated due to the smaller image sensor.

POCO F4 GT, main camera POCO F4 GT, main camera POCO F4 GT, main camera

POCO F4 GT: Software

The POCO F4 GT runs on MIUI 13 over Android 12. Overall performance is similar to Xiaomi/Redmi phones, with a fast, responsive UI that’s heavy on animations and whimsical touches (like app icons exploding into bits when uninstalled).

As a gaming phone, there is an additional gaming feature called Game Turbo. This is a floating menu that can be swiped into view when a game is in progress. It does the usual performance boost stuff like clearing background memory, turning off notifications, as well as allow assigning shoulder triggers and recording screen with a tap of a button.

The most unique feature is perhaps the “voice changer,” which as the name suggests, will alter how my voice sounds to other gamers (in games that support voice chat, like online first-person shooters).

Game turbo in poco phones Game turbo in poco phones

POCO F4 GT: Performance and Battery Life

When I reviewed Xiaomi’s flagship smartphone, the Xiaomi 12 Pro, last month, I noted that the phone heated up faster than usual. In fact, it could not finish a 20-minute “Wild Life Extreme Stress Test” in the app 3DMark. I’m happy to report that the POCO F4 GT’s improved thermals — which include adding extra large copper cooling plates — work wonders, as the F4 GT can finish the same 20-minute stress test with a score higher than what my Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Galaxy S22 Ultra scored. Other benchmark numbers are also respectable and sit firmly in flagship phone territory.

Gaming performance was fine for me, although I am not the heaviest of gamers. Genshin Impact ran at a steady framerate, and the shoulder triggers came in very handy for playing my preferred game, Call of Duty. The phone got a bit warm, but I rarely saw major framerate stutters. The phone’s speaker and microphone placements are also well thought out, as they’re not easily blocked by fingers.

As a typical smartphone, I saw no issues — apps like Instagram, Gmail, and Slack obviously worked flawlessly, and because of the top-notch speakers, the phone is excellent as a NetFlix/YouTube watching machine too.

Battery life is the only area that’s below par — as the phone is meant for gaming, the 4,700 mAh cell isn’t large, and from my experience, a one-hour gaming session can quickly drain around 30% battery. But considering how fast the phone can top up, it’s not a big deal. Under normal usage, the phone can last a 12-, 13-hour day on a single charge.

gaming on the POCO F4 GT

POCO F4 GT: Early Impressions

With an early bird starting price of €499 ($531), the POCO F4 GT is a good value even if you don’t play any games. It’s got one of the best speakers of any smartphone right now, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip that’s less likely to throttle, and a 120Hz AMOLED display. The cameras are the only areas where you can do better at this price range.

With an early bird starting price of €499 ($531), the POCO F4 GT is a good value even if you don't play any games

But if you do play mobile games? Particularly graphically intensive first-person-shooters and open-world RPGs? The addition of shoulder buttons and improved thermals make the POCO F4 GT a top performer. Not only is the POCO F4 GT not a gimmick, but it’s also a really good value all-rounder.

    POCO F4 GT
    The POCO F4 GT's pop-up shoulder buttons and excellent speakers truly add to the mobile gaming experience. Even if you don't game, the F4 GT is still a solid all around phone.

The post POCO F4 GT Hands-On: Real shoulder buttons, great speaker and thermals make for excellent gaming phone appeared first on XDA.



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