Month: May 2022

If you want a flagship phone without the associated high cost, the Find X5 offers sensible compromises for significant savings

Price when reviewed
Not available in the US

Oppo Find X5 full review
As the middle child, sitting between the Lite and Pro models, the regular Oppo Find X5 is easy to overlook. Even Oppo itself dedicated just four pages to the phone in its reviewer’s guide, compared to over 40 for the Pro.

To be fair, the Find X5 is so similar and shares so many of the Pro’s features that it didn’t warrant going over the same ground again. Then again, while Oppo would like you to think it’s virtually identical but cheaper, there are many subtle differences that mean it is quite a different phone overall.

The question is, is it a better buy than the Xiaomi 12 or Galaxy S22? Arguably it is, but to explain why, let’s get into the detail.

Design & build
Matt glass rear
No IP rating
Gorilla Glass Victus on display
If you’re familiar with the Find X5 Pro, then the X5 looks mostly identical. It has the same quirky 75° ‘organic curve’ beneath the camera module but aside from the distinctive design, this offers no practical benefit.

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The new Realme C31 offers good long-lasting battery, a stylish design, and it comes with a super-low price tag, but the cameras aren’t great, the display is basic and Wi-Fi is slow

Chinese phone maker Realme has recently announced two new budget Android phones, the Realme C35 and Realme C31, and it’s the Realme C31 that’s the cheaper of the two.

Going for a mere £129, the Realme C31 sounds like a steal – that’s roughly one third of the price of an entry-level iPhone SE. This price tag will likely be music to the ears of those who ‘just want a phone to do the basics’, or anyone who wants a burner phone for festivals and holidays.

It’s certainly a very attractive price, but what do you get exactly? A big 4890mAh battery which Realme says will give you 45 days’ worth of standby power and a multi-lens camera unit which promises detailed wides and close-ups.

Design-wise, the Realme C31 is slim and compact, so despite it coming with a long-lasting battery, it should slip comfortably into pockets and bags.

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The Oppo Find N is one of the best foldable smartphones available in 2022, but you’ll likely never get your hands on one

Foldable smartphones are the next big thing, with companies including Motorola, Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung, and now Oppo all dabbling with the foldable form factor.

Despite being comparatively late out of the gate with the Oppo Find N, the company seems to have struck gold, with features, design, and functionality that often surpass the competition, and at a cheaper price point too.

The only catch? It’s a China-only smartphone for now, with no plans for Oppo to release the Find N internationally – and that’s a massive disappointment considering the stellar foldable experience on offer.

Design & build
Solid, robust design
Impressive hinge system with no visible gap
No water-resistance
The Oppo Find N is, in some ways, a very familiar device. It sports the same internal fold that opens like a book as key rivals including the Huawei Mate X2 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, but it introduces a few key differences that could make it the best foldable design to date.

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The Honor Magic 4 Lite 5G offers a huge display, 5G capabilities and solid performance, but disappointing cameras and speakers put it in the middle of the pack

It’s not often I start a review with a comment on a phone’s overall size, but the Honor Magic 4 Lite 5G is a hefty slab of tech. While I’m glad the term ‘phablet’ has gone the way of the dodo, it’s no exaggeration to say that the Honor Magic 4 Lite 5G is big.

That’s largely down to its whopping 6.81in screen, but it’s also pretty tall, too – even taller than the iPhone 13 Pro Max I normally use. While it’s not the brightest screen around thanks to its LCD tech, it’s still going to draw a crowd thanks to its monolithic nature and high refresh rate.

The best part of the Honor Magic 4 Lite 5G, though, might be in its performance, with games like Call of Duty: Mobile really taking advantage of the Snapdragon 695 5G chipset and pushing the panel to its 120Hz limits.

Sadly, though, it’s not all good news. The phone’s cameras, despite decent specs and megapixel counts, are inconsistent at best, with daytime shots looking washed out and dark mode actually being clearer in most instances, while a single speaker at the bottom of the device makes it feel less of a multimedia powerhouse than the screen would have you believe.

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The iPhone SE may be Apple’s cheapest iPhone, and one of its most powerful, but with a dated design and dreadful display it’s not good value

Our Verdict
The iPhone SE only makes sense for buyers who simply have to have an iPhone, but can’t afford the step up to the 12 Mini – or won’t give up on Touch ID just yet. If that’s you, then the iPhone SE will serve you well so long as you can stomach the dinky display and retro aesthetic – but equivalent Androids are far, far better.

Price when reviewed
From $429

Apple iPhone SE (2022) full review

The iPhone SE is a funny old phone. With a design and display that you could generously call “aged”, but the latest Apple processor and 5G connectivity, this is a very old-fashioned phone in some respects but a supremely modern device in others.

The same inconsistencies were there to be found in the (almost identical) 2020 iPhone SE, but while Apple’s budget offering has remained static, the rest of the market has moved on.

So while the previous SE was a phone I could recommend – with some serious caveats – this 2022 edition is a tougher sell.

To be blunt, it serves one audience and one audience only: those who absolutely will not under any circumstances buy an Android device, but can’t afford the iPhone 12 Mini or any of the other more expensive Apple phones.

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