Tag Archives: smartphone

Getting Away From It All

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I was recently away on holiday in Connemara, Ireland, an area which Oscar Wilde described back in the 19th century as “savage beauty”. I can’t imagine a whole lot has changed in the 150 years since he visited. It’s still wild and rugged with all four seasons regularly experienced in one day. I was staying a few miles outside of the main town, Clifden, where aviation pioneers Alcock and Brown landed in a bog after the first non-stop transatlantic flight in 1919.

Needless to say, the mobile phone signal wasn’t exactly four bars and while I appreciated getting away from the nuisance calls, I was a bit concerned when I noticed that an elderly relative had tried to call me four times in a relatively short period without leaving a voicemail. That’s always a bit worrying as it’s as if the news is so bad it has to be delivered personally rather than by a recording.

I trudged outside into the horizontal rain to make the call and I get, “It has not been possible to connect your call” in soft feminine tones. This is not looking good. I try again over the next few hours – there’s no reply – and by the next day, I’m sending texts and WhatsApps. They’re being delivered but not read.

Finally, I get a call back. No one’s died. There’s no emergency. Simply calling for a chat. It’s great to hear from them, catch up with their news and pass on mine.

I imagine many of us have relatives like this who only use technology when it suits them. Yes, it can be annoying and maybe it seems old-fashioned to us but it’s perhaps a refreshing change from having smartphones and tablets glued to our hands, always needing to respond immediately to whatever notification pops onto the screen. So for my next holiday, I think I’m going to leave the phone behind a bit more often and not worry about the beeps, dings and warbles. What about you?

OnePlus Shows Off New Products

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OnePlus LogoOnePlus’ big summer reveal is still on in Milano next week (16th), but to pre-empt the Galaxy Unpacked event, they’ve dropped some teasers to show off what’s coming soon. As expected, there are four devices inbound: the Nord 4, the Pad 2, Nord Buds 3 Pro and the Watch 2R. No new product lines, simply updates of existing models, unless there’s a “one more thing” moment on the day. Here’s what can be expected on Tuesday.

One Plus Nord 4

The new Nord 4 brings the metal unibody back to the smartphone world. A new antenna design allows the phone to be made from aluminium, bringing up market feels to their mid-range device. At a smidge under 8 mm, this will be the thinnest Nord ever. That’s a good looking phone.

OnePlus Pad 2

The Pad 2 joins the original Pad and the newer Go in the tablet line up: The new Pad 2 is slightly bigger at 12.1″ though retains the 7:5 aspect ration. Although not confirmed, it’s strongly rumoured to be running the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and if the price bump isn’t too big, this could be a great alternative to the Samsung Tab series.

 

 

 

 

OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro

I’m always confused by OnePlus’ naming convention when it comes to earbuds but let’s assume that this will be excellent value-for-money earbuds with ANC. The blurb says they’re a “significant leap” from their predecessor with “a symphony of depth and richness”.

 

 

 

 

OnePlus Watch 2R

It was only February when the Watch 2 came out to considerable acclaim and now there’s the 2R. It’s not totally clear what the difference will be but pics and specs point to a revised case design aluminium rather than steel case for the smart watch. I’d suggest avoiding swimming in the sea with this one.

More next week.

OnePlus 12 Design Revealed

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OnePlus LogoOnePlus has revealed the design of the upcoming OnePlus 12 smartphone and it’s definitely an evolution of the 11 rather than a radical redesign, retaining the large circular camera array on the rear. The alert slider remains, although it’s moved to the right-hand side to accommodate a new integrated antenna which will improving gaming latency. Although not mentioned in the current press release, wireless charging is expected to make a return: this is great news as this feature is missing from the OnePlus 11 and its absence puts many people off upgrading, including myself.

The picture is a little gloomy (expect a short film to be released soon), but if you zoom in, there’s an interesting pattern on the rear of the phone. “Flowy Emerald” is a representation of the Dart River in New Zealand based on a photo taken with the OnePlus 12 camera and than transformed into the design for the back of the device. It’s a novel change from the norm.

More info was revealed on Weibo and (translated to English) the OnePlus 12 will launch in China on 5th December with a worldwide launch expected in January. The phone will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and the partnership with Hasselblad continues, supporting the Sony Lytia sensor seen in the Open. As mentioned earlier, wireless charging makes a return as does an IR blaster. It seems like OnePlus is returning to its flagship-killing ways, but we’ll need to see the price to be sure.

OnePlus Open Joins The Folding Phone Club

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OnePlus LogoAt a launch event coming from Mumbai, India, OnePlus unveiled the Open, a flagship smartphone that unfolds into a tablet. Unlike some of the popular phones that fold neatly in half, the Open has dual screens – a normal exterior 6.3″ display and an interior screen that unfolds to a 7.8″ picture with an almost square aspect ratio. Look at these pictures.

Let’s get some of the key specs out of the way before turning to the hinge and the Open’s other new features. When folded, the phone itself is 73 mm wide and 153 mm tall. It’s a smidge under 12 mm thick and weighs in at 245 g for the UK version. For comparison, the OnePlus 10 Pro is 74 x 163 x 8.6 mm and 201 g. It’s impressive how little the Open adds in size and weight. The Open is very pocketable.

There’s no doubt OnePlus is very proud of their new Flexion hinge. Co-developed with OPPO, it has only 69 parts, yet allows the phone to fold together perfectly with no gap. Made with titanium alloys it’s strong and lightweight and a carbon fibre lattice supports the screens on either side. The crease is almost imperceptible – OnePlus wants purchasers to have  confidence in the hinge and folding display: in tests, the Open was subjected to 1 000 000 test-folds by the TUV organisation. Even if you opened and closed your phone 100 times a day for three years, that would be 11% of the tested folds. There’s no doubt that this is an expensive phone and you’re going to want it to last. This is reassurance that it will.

Android’s not known for its good use of larger screens on tablets, though it is getting better. Fortunately, OnePlus have developed an extension to OxygenOS 13.2 called Open Canvas which brings productivity extensions to allow display of up to three apps simultaneously while avoiding any weird stretching of the windows .

A taskbar along the bottom let’s you keep track of the apps and commonly used configurations of apps can stored for quick launches into desired layouts. It’s pretty nifty and shows how much OnePlus have thought about how to use the Open as an effective tool rather than just something that’s nice to look.

The Open’s cameras are pretty obvious with a large circular camera array on the rear, not terribly dissimilar to the OnePlus 11. The partnership with Hasselblad continues and the main camera is powered by Sony’s new Lytia “Pixel Stacked” technology. The main camera is 48 MP sensor using the LYTIA-T808 with OIS. There’s a 64 MP telephoto camera with up to 120x zoom and a 48 MP ultra wide camera. For selfie fans, there’s a 20 MP camera inside, but thinking about the form factor, it’s more likely that camera will be used for video conferencing and selfies will use the rear camera but with phone open. See the picture below to see how usage might change.

Inside is a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, with 16 GB LPDDR5X RAM and 512 GB of UFS 4 storage. The outer screen is a 6.31″ AMOLED display with 120 Hz refresh; 1116 x 2484 giving 431 ppi. The inner screen is 7.82″ when unfolded. It’s a Flexi-fluid AMOLED, also with 120 Hz refresh and 2268 x 2440 (426 ppi). Both those screens are going to be lovely and are protected from damage by Ceramic Guard.

The Open is powered by a pair of asymmetric batteries giving a total of 4800 mAh that are good for at least 1600 charging cycles. That means you could fully discharge and recharge every day for over four years. 67 W charging will take the battery from flat to full in 42 minutes. Sadly, there’s no wireless charging.

As revealed earlier, the Open’s OnePlus pedigree is revealed by the alert slider, which is now a little bit bigger.

Even before the launch, the Open was selling like hot cakes and the first batch is already sold out, according to OnePlus. Several pre-launch deals had offered incentives that reduced the price and these look to have been popular. In terms of price, here’s the bottom line…the OnePlus Open will sell for UK£1599, US$1699 and 1799€. There’s no doubt that’s the most expensive OnePlus phone ever but it’s competitively priced against the Google Pixel Fold and the Galaxy Z Fold 5, both of which are about £250 more expensive for similar devices.

I can’t wait to get my hands on one. Full launch event below:

OnePlus Joins the Fold with the Open

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OnePlus LogoOnePlus has confirmed that their new folding smartphone is the long-rumoured OnePlus Open and it will be announced on Thursday 19th October with a launch event coming from Mumbai, India.

Co-developed by OnePlus and Oppo, the device looks to open out into a tablet-style device. Although it’s not shown, the expectation would be that there’s an additional outer screen in the way as the Samsung Galaxy Fold and the Google Pixel Fold, but with OnePlus, who knows?

The classic alert slider is clearly shown (off) in the invite, so it’s definitely a OnePlus phone: the OPPO version will only be available in China. OPPO already has folding screen technology so both companies have brought experience to the table. There’s no sign of the rear cameras in these shots but some detail was revealed by an Indian movie star, showing a large disk, not terribly dissimilar to the OnePlus 11.

“The OnePlus Open is the dream smartphone, set to break the compromise between display technology, imaging performance, and weight that has become the status quo for existing foldable devices,” said by Kinder Liu, President and COO of OnePlus. “Inheriting OnePlus’s signature fast and smooth experience, plus its elegant, lightweight, and slim design, alongside an imperceptible screen crease, unprecedented imaging performance, efficient software, and premium quality, the OnePlus Open will redefine the concept of foldable smartphones by delivering all-round flagship-level experiences that push the limits of current foldable smartphones and take the standard of foldables to the next level.”

There are some pre-order benefits which vary by region. In the UK, it’s a £99 deposit to get £250 off OnePlus Open plus free OnePlus Buds Pro 2. The full list price hasn’t been announced but given the price of the competitors, it’s going to be the most expensive OnePlus phone ever.

Set your alarms for 10:00 EDT / 15:00 BST / 19:30 IST next Thursday. More info here.

Nord 3 Crosses the Channel

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OnePlus LogoGNC readers may remember that when the OnePlus Nord 3 launched in early July, the mid-range smartphone wasn’t available in UK. No official explanation was given, but the good news is that the phone has now crossed the channel and is available for pre-order now at UK£499 for delivery on 18th August, if you pay for express delivery. To sweeten the deal, pre-orders come with a free pair of Nord Buds 2, which are worth £69.

As a quick reminder, the Nord 3 is OnePlus’ mid-range phone for Europe and India, sitting below the OnePlus 11 in the line-up. A MediaTek Dimensity 9000 chipset powers the phone and the UK variant comes with 16 GB RAM and 256 GB storage. On the screen front, the Nord 3 sports a 120 Hz Super Fluid AMOLED display measuring 6.74″ with a resolution of 2772 x 1240 pixels (450 ppi). All this is powered by a 5000 mAh battery, charged using 80 W SuperVOOC, which will restore the battery level from 0% to 60% in 15 mins.

The main camera is a 50 MP Sony IMX890 sensor with OIS (and that’s the same camera sensor as used in the 11). In addition, there’s a 112° ultra-wide camera and a 2 MP macro lens for close-up detail. On the front, the selfie cam is a 16 MP sensor.

Although two colours were announced in July – Tempest Gray and Misty Green – disappointingly it appears that only the Gray is currently available for pre-order. There’s no explanation why at the moment or if the Green will arrive at a later date. Let’s hope it does because the OnePlus greens always look great on the phone.

So, if you are in UK, and you’re looking for a mid-range phone, take a good look at the Nord 3. I haven’t had a chance to go hands-on with this one but I was impressed with the Nord 2 (which my wife currently uses as her daily phone).

OnePlus ups the mid-range game with Nord 3

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OnePlus LogoSurprisingly, it’s been nearly two years since OnePlus launched the Nord 2 back in the pandemic, and while Covid 19 has now waned, OnePlus has gone on stronger with the continued success of the Nord series plus the introduction of entirely new products such as the Pad tablet. Keeping pace with progress, OnePlus today launched the Nord 3 5G smartphone, conveniently providing an upgrade path for the phone’s fans who are beginning to think about a new device.

As is OnePlus’ style, the phone’s been comprehensively teased for several weeks, continuing with the tagline, “Pretty much everything you could ask for” and, to be honest, they’re not wrong: my wife has been using a Nord 2 and she’s very happy with it. If the Nord 3 upholds this level of price, performance and materials, OnePlus will continue to have a winner on its hands.

As before, the Nord 3 sits atop OnePlus’ mid-range devices, below the OnePlus 11 but above the Nord CE 3 and N-series of phones, so I think we should be expecting a well-specified device with quality materials that most smartphone users will be pleased to use. For people new to OnePlus’ products, the Nord series tends to be for European and Indian markets, whereas the N-series goes to the Americas.

Moving onto the specs, the Nord 3 continues with MediaTek as silicon supplier and specifically the Dimensity 9000 chipset. For those unfamiliar with MediaTek, it’s a Taiwanese firm and is the third-largest fabless IC designer in the world with chips in thousands of products round the world. The Dimensity 9000 is their flagship ARM chipset and is very much on a par with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 in terms of performance (which is in the OnePlus 10T).

In terms of RAM and storage, there will be two variants with some variations between territories – 8 GB+128 GB, 16 GB+256 GB. On the screen front, the Nord 3 sports a 120 Hz Super Fluid AMOLED display measuring 6.74″ with a resolution of 2772 x 1240 pixels (450 ppi). That’s a bigger, faster and more detailed screen than the Nord 2, and it’s further improved by the removal of the bezel giving a seamless flat display. That’s a good upgrade.

Taking in the camera array round the back, it appears from the twin black circles that there are only two cameras, but further inspection reveals that there are two lenses embedded in the lower disc, similar to the CE 3. The main camera is a 50 MP Sony IMX890 sensor with OIS and that’s the same camera sensor as used in the 11, so it’s a top notch unit. In addition, there’s a 112° ultra wide camera and a 2 MP macro lens for close up detail. On the front, the selfie cam is a 16 MP sensor, which is a drop from the Nord 2’s 32 MP. For video, the Nord 3 will do up to 4K video at 60 fps. The OnePlus camera app supports the usual plethora of camera modes and filters – HDR, Nightscape, Portrait Mode, Video Portrait, Pano, Macro, Slo-mo, Time-lapse, etc. And for adventurous people, there’s dual-view video which will record from both the front and rear cameras simultaneously.

Powering the Nord 3 is a pair of 2,500 mAh batteries for a total of 5,000 mAh. The twin batteries  which takes advantage of 80 W SuperVOOC and will charge 0 to 60% in 15 mins – that’s quick. Both battery size and charging speed are a step up from the Nord 2: back then it was Warp charging! As expected, it’s a USB C port on the bottom, but while there’s no 3.5 mm audio jack, there are stereo speakers. Somewhat surprisingly, it looks like the IR-blaster is making a return. Cool. Size-wise, the Nord 3 is 163 x 73 mm x 8.1mm which is pretty much the same size as the previous Nord 2. It weighs in at 193g, give or take.

There are only two different phone colours this time  – Tempest Gray and Misty Green and from the the pictures, both look pretty good.

As would be expected, the Nord 3 supports 5G offering nearly 3 Gb/s in perfect conditions and there’s the usual dual-SIM tray for those looking to have, say, separate personal and business SIMs. Of course, there’s still OnePlus’ signature alert slider.

The Nord 3 comes with OxygenOS 13.1 which is based on Android 13 and OnePlus is now committing to three major Android updates and 4 years of security updates. I think that’s great to hear and in an increasingly resource-aware world, it means that you could be using the Nord for three years without worry. Being OxygenOS 13, the Nord 3 comes with many of the same software features as its siblings, the 11 and CE 3.

Let’s talk pricing….

OnePlus Nord 3
8 GB + 128 GB: 449 €
16 GB + 256 GB: 549 € (with a 499 € July special)

The Nord 3 is available to pre-order now from OnePlus for 16 EU countries plus India and Middle East. It’s not yet coming to the UK for “logistical challenges” which I expect is code for “problems caused by Brexit, the stupidest thing any country has done in modern history”. The unconfirmed UK price is £499 which I think is for the 16 GB version.

So far, what I’ve seen looks good…if you can get your hands on one. The Nord 3 is a step up from the original and continues to slot in neatly below the OnePlus 11 but above the Nord CE 2. With the 11 priced from 849 €, there’s clear water between the two in pricing and I’m struggling to think of the differences between the 11 and the Nord 3: Snapdragon Gen 2 chipset, better second lenses, Hasselblad camera tweaking…there’s not much really. Is it a “flagship killer”? Not in the sense of having unbeatable specs, but definitely in terms of thinking about what’s really relevant in your phone and what it’s worth.

Here’s the launch video.