Spotify says its monthly limit for lyrics on its free subscription tier is “unreachable.” 

Swedish audio streaming service Spotify has announced that it is bringing back a highly requested feature, months after it was made paid and removed from its free plan. The lyrics feature will be rolled out to users who don’t have a Spotify subscription following widespread backlash, but monthly limits will still apply. The rollout comes weeks after the company detailed plans for a new “Deluxe” subscription plan that will offer users higher quality audio streaming.

Spotify Lyrics Return to Free Subscription Level

Spotify first announced it would limit the display of lyrics for free users in September 2023, following widespread complaints about the unavailability of lyrics on the service’s community forums and on social media in May of this year. The change means that free users will need a Spotify Premium subscription to see lyrics once they exceed the three-song limit.

Spotify spokesperson told TechCrunch that the music streaming platform will bring back lyrics for users who don’t have a premium subscription : ” In the coming weeks, we’ll be expanding the availability of lyrics to free Spotify users, making more lyrics available to more people around the world,” the spokesperson said.

However, Spotify has no plans to offer unlimited access to lyrics without a premium subscription. While it didn’t disclose the exact limit, a company representative told 9to5Google that the number is “high enough that no one can reach it.” The change is expected to be rolled out to the platform in the coming weeks.

According to the music streaming service’s second-quarter 2024 earnings report, the company has a total of 626 million monthly active listeners, of which only 246 million are paying subscribers, meaning that more than half of Spotify’s user base is still on the free tier.

The company has also implemented price hikes in recent months: In June, the price of all Spotify Premium subscriptions in the US increased for the second time in 12 months, increasing the monthly fee for the individual plan from $10.99 (roughly Rs. 920) to $11.99 (roughly Rs. 1,003).

The post Spotify To Bring Back Enhanced Lyrics Feature For Free Users, But With Monthly Cap: Report appeared first on Review Products.

It has a larger battery and screen compared to the Galaxy S24.

Samsung’s Plus is the most overlooked mid-range model in the Galaxy S lineup. For most people, the Galaxy S24+ is simply a Galaxy S24 with a bigger display and battery. Most people will spend more and opt for the better Galaxy S24 Ultra. But the Galaxy S24+ is so much more. Sure, it has almost the same specs as the Galaxy S24, but bigger is better, and that’s what I realized after using the Galaxy S24+ for about a week.

Should you consider the Galaxy S24+ instead of the Galaxy S24 or Galaxy S24 Ultra? Find out below.

Samsung Galaxy S24+ Price in India

The Galaxy S24+ is pricey! It is available in two versions in India – the 12GB + 256GB option priced at Rs 99,999 and the 12GB + 512GB version at Rs 1,09,999 .

The Galaxy S24+ supports 45W fast charging, but no charger is included.

In terms of colour options, the Galaxy S24+ is available in Cobalt Violet and Onyx Black, while online buyers can also get the phone in exclusive finishes like Sapphire Blue and Jade Green. We received the Cobalt Violet option with 12GB RAM and 512GB storage.

Inside the box you’ll find the phone, documentation, a SIM eject tool, and a USB Type-C to Type-C cable.

Samsung Galaxy S24+ 5G Review: Design

Design-wise, it’s basically a larger version of the Galaxy S24, or the Galaxy S23/Galaxy S22. The design hasn’t changed in years, but the materials are better and stronger. Compared to the Galaxy S23+, the new Galaxy S24+ has a stronger Armor 2 aluminum frame. Despite the larger footprint compared to the standard Galaxy S24, if you have larger hands, this phone can be held comfortably in one hand. It weighs 197 grams, but is 7.7mm thick, almost the same as the Galaxy S24. The phone feels premium and can withstand impacts (not tested).

The Galaxy S24+ features an Armor 2 aluminum frame.

The front features slim display bezels that are uniform throughout, even slimmer than last year’s. At the top are slits for the speaker/earpiece and an in-display ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. The Galaxy S24+ has the same Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection and IP68 rating as its smaller sibling. At the back, there’s the familiar triple-camera system, with each camera housed in a separate metal ring. The LED flash is next to the three vertically-aligned sensors, but is positioned lower than on the Galaxy S23+.

Samsung Galaxy S24+ Review: Specs and Software

In terms of specifications, the only difference between the Galaxy S24+ and the Galaxy S24 is the larger battery. It’s powered by a 4nm Exynos 2400 SoC with an Xclipse 940 GPU, up to 12GB of RAM (up from 8GB on the Galaxy S23+), and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. There’s no expandable storage on the phone. For communications, you get tri-band Wi-Fi 6E, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3 LE, a USB Type-C 3.2 port, and the usual GPS satellite support.

Samsung’s ultrasonic fingerprint reader is also reliable, and I honestly think more smartphone brands should adopt this technology instead of optical sensors. It’s faster and more accurate, and I’ve never had any issues with it.

Samsung has promised to provide software updates for the Galaxy S24+ for seven years.

The Galaxy S24+ comes with a 4,900mAh battery, much larger than the 4,000mAh cell in the Galaxy S24 and slightly larger than the 4,700mAh unit in the older Galaxy S23+, but the phone still only supports 45W fast charging and 15W wireless charging, which is the same as last year.

What’s different this year is the promised software support. Samsung now offers seven years of Android OS and security updates. The Galaxy S24+ runs Android 14-based One UI 6.1 out of the box. It also gets the new Galaxy AI suite of features, which you can read more about in our Galaxy S24 review.

Samsung Galaxy S24+ Review: Performance

Talking about performance, the Exynos 2400 SoC in the Galaxy S24+ offers flagship performance in all scenarios. Looking at the benchmark numbers, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the Galaxy SoC is better, but you won’t notice the difference in everyday use or gaming. We ran some tests on the Galaxy S24+ and its scores were almost the same as the Galaxy S24. In AnTuTu, the phone scored 1,457,608 points, and in Geekbench, it had a single-core score of 1987 and a multi-core score of 6137. The AnTuTu score was slightly lower than that of the Galaxy S24, but the Geekbench score was higher. This is probably due to the larger area for cooling in the Plus model. The results were similar in GFXbench as well.

The Galaxy S24+ display has a peak brightness of 2,600 nits.

Now, let’s talk about the display, where you’ll find the changes. The Galaxy S24+ comes with a 6.7-inch display, which is slightly larger compared to last year’s Galaxy S23+ (6.6 inches). The display also has slimmer bezels and is now a brighter LTPO AMOLED 2x panel with 2,600 nits peak brightness and QHD+ resolution. It still offers a 120Hz refresh rate. The display is bright enough and easy to read even outdoors.

The phone comes with a hybrid dual speaker setup that delivers loud volume and decent bass, and the call quality is also excellent.

Gaming on the Galaxy S24+ is a similar experience to gaming on the smaller S24. All games run at maximum settings and there is no noticeable lag. What you do notice is heat. During extended gaming sessions, the phone gets a little warm. We also noticed that the phone heats up quickly when running benchmark tests.

My phone gets hot while charging or playing games.

Talking about the battery performance, the phone lasted for 19 hours and 17 minutes in the HD loop test with the screen resolution set to QHD+. High resolution screens drain the battery, but you can extend the battery life by lowering the resolution. With normal usage, the phone easily lasted more than a day. But with heavy usage, it needed to be charged at the end of the day. With a 45W+ charger and a higher rated cable, the phone takes around 1 hour and 15 minutes to charge. The phone comes with a 3A rated cable that only supports 25W fast charging. We used a 125W charger for the charging tests.

Samsung Galaxy S24+ Review: Camera

The Samsung Galaxy S24+ features the same camera setup as the smaller Galaxy S24 we’ve already reviewed: a 50-megapixel main rear camera with OIS, a 10-megapixel telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom, and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle unit with a 120-degree FoV. For selfies, it has a 12-megapixel sensor with autofocus support.

The Galaxy S24+ can take great photos even in daylight.

To be honest, there is no difference in the photo and video performance of these two smartphones. However, compared to last year’s Galaxy S23+, there is slightly less saturation and more contrast. Ultra-wide shots are good, but the lack of autofocus results in blurry shots, especially in low light. Night shots from the main camera are good in low light. Below are some sample shots to gauge the camera performance.

Samsung Galaxy S24+ Review: Verdict

Before making a final decision, let’s talk about the alternatives. The OnePlus 12 (Review) is a great choice with a larger screen, slightly better camera, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, a bigger battery, and faster charging. It’s also cheaper than the Galaxy S24+. The Google Pixel 8 Pro (Review) offers better stills camera performance, added AI features, and an equal or better software experience. Again, the Pixel 8 Pro is also cheaper and has a better telephoto camera. You could also switch to the iPhone 15 Plus . It doesn’t have a telephoto camera, but it has better battery life and performance. Finally, you could try the Galaxy S23 Ultra. It has better performance, a similar display size, S Pen support, a bigger battery, and a better camera. You could probably get the phone for about the same price as the Galaxy S24+.

As mentioned at the beginning, the Galaxy Plus is often ignored by consumers because it only has a larger screen and battery compared to the smaller S. That may have been the case for the past few years, but the Galaxy S24+ changes things. It offers a better and brighter display, improved build quality, 12GB RAM as standard, and 7 years of software updates. It’s closer to the Galaxy S24 Ultra in terms of specifications, so it’s the better buy if you’re looking to save money, aren’t particularly interested in the better camera that the Ultra offers, and want a bigger display and battery.

The post Samsung Galaxy S24+ Review: Bigger is Better appeared first on Review Products.

Xiaomi’s Redmi 13C 5G offers 5G connectivity at an affordable price, but leaves out a lot.

Xiaomi’s Redmi 13C aims to offer a solid 5G experience combined with an attractive design and good battery life. Moreover, it also comes with a large display, which makes it a good choice for content consumption. The design is not only stylish but also dust- and splash-proof. Indeed, the Redmi 13C 5G seems like the perfect starter phone for those upgrading from an entry-level smartphone with a focus on battery life. Or for those buying their first smartphone after years of using a feature phone. With this criteria in mind, let’s see if the Redmi 13C 5G meets the basic smartphone requirements of such users.

Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5G Review: Price in India

The Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5G price in India starts at Rs 10,499. For this price, you get 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. This is essentially the entry-level hardware for a smooth software experience and running apps. But it’s nice to have 128GB of base storage, which should be enough to meet most app requirements of smartphone buyers in this price range. The phone also comes in a more future-proof 6GB RAM model, attractively priced at Rs 11,999.

Of the three, the 6GB RAM is the best value for money as it helps with basic multitasking and storing apps in memory. Finally, there is the 8GB RAM model with 256GB storage. This model is not costly at Rs 13,999, but in this price range, you will find more attractive and competitively priced options from Samsung and other brands.

Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5G Review: Design

The Xiaomi 13C 5G has a sleek design with straight lines and flat sides. The back panel of the phone is made from polycarbonate, as is the frame and chassis. But it feels well-built and very sturdy.

The phone has a 6.74-inch display with a waterdrop notch on top for the selfie camera. Overall it has a modern look, but when the display is on, the waterdrop notch makes it look a bit dated.

The back panel of the Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5Gs has a flat mint green appearance from a distance.

Most premium devices have such large displays, but these panels also have thin black borders. As this is a budget smartphone, the Redmi 13C 5G does not have such a border. Therefore, the large panel and thick bezels make it a bit too large to handle with one hand. It is also heavy at 192 grams, but this is not unusual considering its size.

I’m not a fan of flashy back panels, but the Startrail Green finish (which is similar to the Startrail Silver finish) is a nice understated touch. Thin lines run from side to side on the back panel, giving it an animated look. These lines animate when light hits the phone at an angle. Otherwise, the phone looks like a mostly flat, monochromatic green finish. If you don’t like animated back panels, Starlight Black is a more understated option.

If you hold it near a bright light source, you’ll see lines running from side to side.

This modern, minimalist design also offers basic water and dust resistance, although Xiaomi hasn’t confirmed these ratings on its website so they’re not official, so we wouldn’t recommend submerging this phone in water or taking it out in the rain.

Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5G Review: Specs and Software

The Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5G is equipped with the MediaTek Dimensity 6100+ SoC, which is also found in some budget smartphones at a slightly higher price point. This chipset is not performance-focused. It is not made for gaming, but it is efficient when running everyday apps and offers a stable 5G connection. It also supports a number of 5G bands (both NSA and SA), dual-band Wi-Fi for a decent data connection in the home, and Bluetooth 5.3, which is more than enough to connect to TWS earphones and other accessories. There is also support for the regular GPS navigation system, so you won’t have any problems using the Maps app for navigation. The phone has a 5,000mAh battery and comes with a 10W charger in the box. It also offers microSD card storage expansion up to 1TB for those who need extra space. Finally, there is a fingerprint reader for secure biometric authentication, which worked reliably during the testing phase of this review.

The Redmi 13C 5G comes preloaded with a large number of third-party apps and games.

What really disappoints me (even at this price point) is the sheer number of pre-installed apps. Moreover, there are a lot of duplicate apps, such as two web browsers (Chrome + Opera), two gallery apps (Gallery + Photos), and two file managers (File Manager + Google Files). You can uninstall and clean up the unnecessary apps, but for a first-time smartphone user, it can be confusing and overwhelming. Add to this several daily spam notifications from apps like GetApp, Game Center, Theme Store, and more, and your software experience will be ruined.

The phone runs MIUI 14, which is based on Android 13. It feels a bit outdated for a budget phone in 2024. The software experience is typical MIUI and a bit outdated, but upcoming HyperOS updates should improve this experience.

Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5G Review: Performance

As for software performance, it worked very smoothly and without any issues on the 8GB RAM + 256GB model, and apps even stayed in memory, but we couldn’t say the same for the 4GB base model as we weren’t able to test it.

The 6.74-inch HD+ LCD display isn’t the sharpest we’ve seen at this price point. Performance is adequate and it shows the best colors in the standard display color scheme, but we did notice a yellowish tint to the bottom half of the panel when viewing indoors.

The Redmi 13C 5G’s LCD panel has a waterdrop notch on the top and thick bezels around the display.

Since this is an LCD panel, it cannot reproduce the deep blacks that an AMOLED display can, so you might find yourself squinting at the display when viewing content in dark scenes. Surprisingly, there are phones like the Samsung Galaxy M34 5G that offer AMOLED displays at this price point.

The Redmi 13C 5G’s display is bright enough indoors, but I found it lacking outdoors, especially in direct sunlight. Content looks dim and colors look a bit washed out. If you spend most of your time outdoors or in the field (rather than in the office), this might not be the phone for you.

Aside from making software animations and transitions look smooth, the 90Hz screen refresh rate doesn’t do much else with games running mostly at medium graphics settings, and while watching movies, this refresh rate is fixed at 60Hz and rarely drops to 30Hz.

We’re pleased that the phone supports Widevine L1, which means streaming content is displayed in full HD quality, with everything appearing sharp and clear. However, the single speaker, while clear enough, wasn’t loud enough and we often found ourselves cranking the volume all the way up, which also introduced noticeable distortion.

The Redmi 13C 5G’s bottom speaker isn’t loud enough for hands-free listening.

Battery life is pretty good, thanks to the power-efficient processor, HD+ display, and large battery. The phone will easily last a day and a half, and two days with normal usage. Though Xiaomi offers 18W wired charging, you only get a 10W charger in the box, which takes a very long time to charge this phone. The charger charges to 21% in 30 minutes, reaches 40% in an hour, and is fully charged in just 2 hours and 37 minutes. So, if you’re buying this phone, make sure you add the optional 18W charger to your shopping cart.

Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5G Review: Camera

Photos taken in sunlight with the 50MP main camera don’t have much high-resolution detail or sharpness: Objects in any scene lack definition, making everything look a bit blurry, and the HDR system doesn’t have good control over bright and dark areas, so highlights in photos were often clipped.

The phone has two rear cameras, but only one of them is available to the user.

Shooting with 2x digital zoom makes the situation even worse, as most images look like paintings. Selfies taken with the 5MP camera are only passable in terms of overall quality, with portrait mode not showing the edges of the subject in the frame very well. Shooting in low light or using the dedicated night mode makes the situation even worse, as most images are unusable.

The second camera is only used to gather depth data for the main camera when using portrait mode, but edge detection isn’t very good here either, and the same goes for the overall quality of the image. This means that despite having dual cameras and a selfie camera, you can only really use one selfie camera and one rear camera.

Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5G camera samples: Top: Main camera in daylight, Bottom: Main camera in low light (tap image to enlarge)

The Redmi 13C 5G can record videos at up to 1080p 30fps. The quality of these videos is about average, with decent dynamic range and saturated colors. There’s little detail, and the frame rate is choppy and there’s no stabilization, making panning look quite shaky.

Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5G Review: Verdict

In fact, Xiaomi has cut some costs with the Redmi 13C 5G, bringing 5G connectivity (often referred to as the “5G tax”) to a price of under Rs 11,000, which includes an extremely bloated and spammy software experience, poor camera performance (for a budget phone) and painfully slow charging.

At the same time, it ticks some boxes when it comes to style, content streaming (clearer video), battery life, and a smooth (but outdated) software experience. But it’s very hard to recommend it, especially when you consider the existence of phones like the Motorola Moto G34, which offers a smoother display, a cleaner software interface (updated to Android 14), stereo sound, and faster charging. That’s if you can ignore the average camera performance.

If you’re looking for better value and don’t mind spending Rs 13,999, the Samsung Galaxy M34 5G is a strong contender, with a much better and higher-resolution Full HD+ 120Hz AMOLED panel, updated software with OneUI 6.0 (Android 14), better camera options, and a 6,000mAh battery.

The post Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5G Review: 5G on a Budget appeared first on Review Products.

OnePlus reportedly said that the soft preload on the OnePlus 12 was an error that occurred during testing.

The OnePlus 12 and OnePlus Open are the Chinese smartphone maker’s top-end devices. Now, users of these phones are complaining that the phones are suggesting to install “bloatware” apps. One user claimed on X (formerly Twitter) that in India, OnePlus is installing up to four additional third-party apps on the OnePlus 12 during the device’s setup process. These unwanted apps appear under the “From OnePlus” header on the “Check for additional apps” screen during setup. The issue has since been resolved by the company.

X user Gauraang Arora spotted a new “Check for additional apps” screen that appears during the setup process of the OnePlus 12. The screen has four Google Play apps selected by default: LinkedIn, Policybazaar, Block Blast and Candy Crush Saga. The apps are found under a header that reads “From OnePlus.”

Android Authority recently tested the setup process in three regions and found that the Indian version of the OnePlus 12 running the latest Oxygen OS 14.0.0.610 build has four apps pre-selected during setup. The US is reported to offer one third-party app, while the EU is not offered any pre-selected apps. Users can opt out of installing the listed apps, which are selected by default, but this could mean skipping the setup process and pushing bloatware onto your device.

Additionally, the publication discovered that there are three more Meta apps pre-installed on the OnePlus Open: Meta App Installer, Meta App Manager, and Meta Services. All these Meta apps were previously reported to have been spotted on the OnePlus 8 series, and the brand had received criticism for this as these apps could not be easily uninstalled from the device.

OnePlus has reportedly addressed the issue, calling it a mistake: “The soft preload on the OnePlus 12 was an error that occurred during testing and was fixed on May 6. The OnePlus 12 does not come preloaded with these apps and will continue to keep the phone light, fast and smooth,” OnePlus told Android Authority.

The company added that OxygenOS is free of any bloatware, but acknowledged that two apps — Instagram and Agoda — came pre-installed on the OnePlus Nord CE 4. It also said that apps are easy to remove or uninstall, and that the company works closely with app developers to improve the performance of OnePlus devices.

Prominent X tipster 1NormalUsername has suggested that the latest OxygenOS version will bring even more bloatware to the OnePlus 12. Third-party apps like Fitbit, Bubble Pop, Facebook, Amazon, Amazon Music, Amazon Prime Video, Zomato, Agoda, Swiggy, etc. may come pre-installed or appear as APK shortcuts.

The post OnePlus 12 and Open Found with Bloatware: Company Responds appeared first on Review Products.

The price of this phone in India starts at Rs 13,999.

As per schedule, Motorola launched a new G-series smartphone last month to enter the premium budget segment. I am talking about the Moto G64 5G, the successor to last year’s Moto G54. The new smartphone is the world’s first smartphone to feature the MediaTek Dimensity 7025 SoC , but the design has barely changed and is only a marginal improvement over its predecessor.

Here are my thoughts on the Moto G64 5G after using the phone thoroughly for about two weeks: If you’re considering this as your next budget phone purchase, make sure you read this review.

Moto G64 5G Price in India

First, a quick word on pricing: The Moto G64 5G is currently available in India for Rs 13,999 for the 8GB + 128GB storage model and Rs 15,999 for the 12GB + 256GB model. Our review unit comes with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage.

The Moto G64 5G comes in three color options: Ice Lilac, Mint Green, and Pearl Blue. I received the Mint Green model.

The Moto G64 5G also comes with a case.

Motorola continues to be mindful of environmental issues and ships the Moto G64 in a plastic-free box, but inside the box is a plastic/silicone case. Besides the case, the box also contains the usual paperwork, a SIM ejector tool, a USB Type-A to Type-C cable, and a 33W fast charging adapter.

Moto G64 5G Review: Design

As mentioned at the beginning, the new Moto G64 5G doesn’t have any major design changes compared to the Moto G54 5G. The only difference is that this year, the black color option is gone, with Motorola taking a colorful turn. The phone has a plastic frame with the power and volume buttons on the right edge, the SIM tray on the left edge, and a microphone on the top. The bottom frame houses the 3.5mm headphone port, USB Type-C port, second microphone, and speaker.

The plastic back panel has a glossy finish that reveals a pattern when light hits it. The top left corner of the back has the familiar rectangular camera module, which protrudes and causes the phone to wobble when laid flat on its back. The front now has a Gorilla Glass panel to protect the display, but there are still thick bezels all around, especially at the bottom. There’s a hole at the top to house the front camera.

The phone features hybrid dual speakers with Dolby Atmos support.

Overall, the Moto G64 5G feels similar to last year’s phone. It weighs 192g and is 8.9mm thick, roughly the same as the Moto G54. The phone is IP52 rated for dust and water resistance, but we don’t recommend exposing the phone to water or rain.

Moto G64 5G Review: Specs and Software

The Moto G64 5G is equipped with the world’s first MediaTek Dimensity 7025 SoC, a slight improvement over last year’s model. The chipset is paired with an IMG BXM-8-256 GPU, up to 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM, and 256GB UFS 2.2 storage that’s expandable via microSD card.

In terms of connectivity, the Moto G64 supports 14 5G bands with three carrier aggregation, dual SIM support with a hybrid SIM tray, Bluetooth 5.3, dual-band Wi-Fi, GPS, A-GPS, LTEPP, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, NFC support, a 3.5mm headphone port, FM radio, and a USB Type-C (USB 2.0) port.

The Moto G64 5G comes with some bloatware, but you can uninstall it.

The phone comes with a side-mounted fingerprint scanner housed within the power/wake button, it’s a capacitive sensor and it worked flawlessly during the review period – we found it to be flawless and fast.

Like last year’s Moto G54 5G, the new phone comes with a 6,000mAh battery that supports 33W fast charging.

Talking about the software, the Moto G64 5G comes with Android 14 based My UX. You get the latest software, but Motorola will only provide the Android 15 update on the phone. However, it will provide three years of security updates. In terms of features, the phone comes with Motorola features like Family Space 2.0, Moto Secure, Game Mode, and several Moto apps. You also get a lot of bloatware in the form of pre-installed apps, GamesHub, entertainment, and shopping apps. Luckily, most of the bloatware on the phone can be uninstalled.

Moto G64 5G Review: Performance

The Moto G64 5G is equipped with a slightly better MediaTek Dimensity 7025 SoC compared to its predecessor the Dimensity 7020. Motorola claims the phone has achieved a score of 500k+ on AnTuTu and in my testing it scored 4,94,364 points. On Geekbench, the phone scored 1012 points in the single-core CPU test and 2403 points in the multi-core test. Overall, the phone performed reasonably well in day-to-day usage and I hardly encountered any lag or stuttering while doing app launches, system animations etc. This is also thanks to the screen.

This Phone Supports Widevine L1

Motorola has equipped the G64 with a 6.5-inch IPS LCD display. The panel offers up to 120Hz refresh rate, Full HD+ resolution, 240Hz sampling rate, and HDR10 support. In terms of brightness, the display is rated at 560 nits peak brightness , which isn’t very high. Indoors, the display is bright enough without using maximum brightness, but outdoors it’s hard to read. The display has Natural and Saturated color modes and has good viewing angles, although colors appear washed out at certain angles.

The Moto G64 5G has a hybrid dual-speaker setup, with the earpiece acting as the second speaker. Audio quality is adequate, but it lacks bass and isn’t very loud. Call quality, on the other hand, is excellent. The phone has two microphones.

You can play most games and your phone won’t heat up too much.

Can I play graphic intensive games on the Moto G64 5G? Definitely, but not at full settings. I was able to play Asphalt 9 at very high graphics, but it gave me a warning that this mode is not supported on the phone. Casual games are fine though, I can play BGMI and Call of Duty at medium settings too.

In terms of heat management, Motorola has done a good job: the phone didn’t heat up while gaming, using apps like the camera, or even while charging.

The phone has a large 6,000mAh battery that can easily last for two days with normal usage. In our HD video loop test, the phone delivered about 16 hours of screen-on time. Even with heavy usage, the Moto G64 5G can last for about a day and a half. Despite supporting 33W fast charging, charging is slow. It took about an hour and 50 minutes to fully charge the battery from 0%.

Moto G64 5G Review: Camera

Now, let’s talk about the camera. The Moto G64 5G has a dual rear camera with a 50-megapixel primary sensor with f/1.8 aperture, quad pixel binning, and optical image stabilization. It also has an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera with autofocus, macro mode, and a 118-degree field of view. For selfies, it has a 16-megapixel sensor with f/2.4 aperture. The phone has an easy-to-use camera app with several modes, including Pro and Night modes.

The 50MP main rear camera takes good photos even in daylight.

The main rear camera’s image quality is good in daylight. The colors are a bit oversaturated and you lose detail when you zoom in. The ultra-wide camera also takes good photos in good light, but there is inconsistency in the colors between the main and ultra-wide cameras. You’ll also notice less detail in the photos. The phone offers 2x digital zoom, which is basically a crop of the main sensor, and produces good images when the sun is out. The selfie camera also takes good images in daylight, but it’s not the sharpest and can be blurry at times.

In low light, enabling Night Mode on the main camera takes decent photos. Without Night Mode, photos are washed out with lots of noise and artifacts. The same goes for the ultra-wide camera, where even photos taken in Night Mode aren’t that great. Check out the samples below.

Video performance in sunlight is not bad, but not great either. Colors look oversaturated, panning is not smooth, and stabilization is also so-so. The phone can only shoot in 1080p resolution with a maximum frame rate of 60fps. Videos in low light lack detail and are noisy.

Moto G64 5G Review: Verdict

The Moto G64 5G has a lot of competition in this segment. The recently launched Realme P1 (Review) has a more powerful processor but only 8GB of RAM, no ultra-wide camera and a tiny 5,000mAh battery. There’s also the Redmi Note 13, Vivo T3x and Samsung Galaxy A15, all of which are around the same price but inferior in most ways to the Moto G64 5G. The Vivo T3x has a better processor and the same size battery, but falls behind in other key areas like camera and RAM.

If you’re looking for a budget phone with great battery life, a great display, and a decent camera, the Moto G64 5G is a great choice. You might not get the best gaming performance on this phone, but you can still play all your favorite games with lower graphics settings. Motorola has only slightly improved the specs on the Moto G64 5G, but it’s still an easy phone to recommend.

The post Moto G64 5G Review: Just Better Specs appeared first on Review Products.

There’s little invention or imagination in the open world of Team Ninja’s action-RPG, but its core mechanics set it apart from other games.

It’s the season for samurai when it comes to video games. Medieval Japan is no stranger to video games. From Okami and Onimusha to Tenchu and Total War, the setting has been explored in poetic and powerful ways before. But a few popular games have recently rekindled interest in the sword masters and ninjas. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice established the spirit of modern action games set in Japan’s turbulent past, while Ghost of Tsushima refined the open-world action-adventure genre with a samurai tale.

Team Ninja’s latest action RPG, Rise of the Ronin, released on March 22nd, sits somewhere between these two titles. Set in the late Edo period, the game employs a deep role-playing system and challenging parry-based action combat reminiscent of Sekiro, presenting a vast open-world map littered with checklist activities and distractions. It’s a lot like Ghost of Tsushima, which itself follows the familiar open-world path established by the Assassin’s Creed games. But Rise of the Ronin, a best-of-both-world approach, loses the sanctity of the strong, unforgiving combat language established in Team Ninja’s previous games and fails to bring any new original ideas to the open-world formula.

That’s not to say that Rise of the Ronin doesn’t bring something completely new to the genre. The game’s combat is a good balance of approachability and difficulty, with a variety of melee and ranged weapons and stances to choose from. The companion system encourages you to indulge in side content and bond with your friends. And the accurate period setting gives it a more realistic portrayal of the era compared to other games set in medieval Japan. But despite striking a good, if somewhat shaky, balance between the hard-edged combat and serious systems of old-school games and the ambitious, vast scope of modern open-world titles, Rise of the Ronin can easily get boring.

The story is set in the mid-19th century, during the decline of the Tokugawa Shogunate, a time of great turmoil in Japan, where political and cultural revolutions steered the country in a new direction. Rise of the Ronin begins with the game’s protagonists, the Blade Twins, twin brothers who have grown up and trained together as part of the Veiled Edge resistance movement against the Shogunate. At the start of the game, you can customize the twins’ appearance to your liking and choose their gender, but you will only play as one of the twins, with the other appearing as an ally. An early assassination mission goes wrong, resulting in the loss of your partner.

You then embark on a bloody, decades-long path of revenge that will take you through Yokohama, Edo and Kyoto, navigating the changing political climate of the time. Along the way, you’ll encounter real historical figures who determined the fate of Japan. In Yokohama, the first city you explore in Rise of the Ronin, you’ll befriend Sakamoto Ryoma, a powerful samurai from the end of the Edo period. Join Sakamoto and his friends on a quest against the Shogunate, but you can also choose missions that favor the Shogunate.

The opening of Rise of the Ronin sets you on a path of revenge.

The element of choice remains a key part of Rise of the Ronin’s gameplay. How you approach quests will tilt and shift your loyalties and alter your interactions with people on both sides of the divide. Early in the game, I was faced with the choice of executing a minor antagonist or sparing his life at the end of the mission. I chose the latter, and he ended up becoming a powerful ally, aiding me in future main missions. Rise of the Ronin presents you with several such impactful choices throughout its story, and its narrative structure always feels like a piece of tailoring of its own making.

As you progress, the story branches and your objectives change. What starts as a tale of personal revenge soon becomes an epic tale of political intrigue and national interest across a Japan on the brink of revolution. Your initial adventure in Yokohama and the surrounding area will lead you to Edo (Tokyo’s former name) and Kyoto as you absorb allies and turn the pages of Japanese history. The setting is fascinating, but the meaty story, which spans years and involves dozens of major and minor players, suffers a bit under its weight. Like most RPGs, Rise of the Ronin approaches storytelling with a light touch, lacking the emotional thrust and narrative structure of character-driven action-adventure titles like Ghost of Tsushima.

Yokohama is the first city you’ll explore in Rise of the Ronin.

The main campaign is no cakewalk either. It can take 20+ hours to complete, with at least another 20 for side quests, activities, and exploration. Even if you focus solely on the main quest (and you probably won’t), it’s not that hard to lose track of what’s going on. There are multiple factions, side characters, allies, and enemies, all competing for your loyalty and attention. But over time, they all blend into one mass of exposition-guzzling NPCs, with only a few memorable standout characters. It also doesn’t help that the side quests remain poor throughout the game. The game map is littered with icons promising things to do soon, in true Ubisoft style, but these missions and activities don’t bring anything fresh to the formula.

While Rise of the Ronin is lacking in terms of story, it is packed with mechanics. From weapon variety, combat stances, and an extensive skill tree to a deep bond system, gear bonuses, and soul-like inspiration, the game is packed with so much that it often feels overwhelming. Much of how the game plays and feels is similar to Sekiro : Shadows Die Twice, but without the crushing difficulty and complexity of the combat. Team Ninja’s games are known for their uncompromisingly tough combat. The company’s Nioh games and more recently Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty were firmly rooted in the Soulsborne ethos with their tough combat and complex level design. Rise of the Ronin opens that door by making combat much more accessible by implementing one-button combos, a forgiving parry window, and a wide variety of weapons and skills for every situation. The open-world design also brings it closer to modern action-adventure titles, allowing you to always turn around and explore in another direction even when you come across a difficult obstacle.

Rise of the Ronin’s open world gives you the freedom to explore beyond the main story.

Let’s jump into the combat. The masochistic difficulty of previous Team Ninja games has been wiped away, but it’s still pretty challenging. There are three sets of multiple stances for each weapon type, all of which are effective against certain enemies. The combat moveset is simple, with a single attack button to launch into combos, but the sheer number of weapon types at your disposal creates confusion. Though the controls are the same, the versatility of the Uchigatana is quite different from the speciality of the spear. The careful, blunt swings of the Odachi are a far cry from the agile swings of the Dual Blades. And the stiff, direct movements of the polearm contrast with the flexible flair of the Oxtail Blade.

Each weapon type has its own animations and set of fighting skills, which work like Weapon Art in Elden Ring, unleashing special attacks by pressing the right bumper and corresponding face buttons on the PS5 DualSense controller. I kept switching between weapons to get a sense of the different styles and break the monotony of the shallow combat mechanics. There are also plenty of ranged weapon options. Revolvers are quick and can stun close-range enemies for a second if you pull the trigger at the right time. Rifles, on the other hand, are more accurate and better for targeting enemies from a distance. Bows are a stealthier option and also allow elemental attacks, adding fire and acid arrows to your quiver.

Rise of the Ronin’s combat is easy, but difficult.

Melee combat itself is predicated on parrying, blocking, or dodging attacks and counterattacking with quick combos to defeat opponents. As in previous Team Ninja titles, all offensive and defensive actions are controlled by Ki, or stamina. Your health bar is accompanied by a Ki meter, which depletes while dodging, blocking, and attacking. Ki regenerates if you’re not performing these actions, but being too zealous will quickly drain your Ki and make you susceptible to heavy damage from attacks. The same goes for enemies: normal attacks, martial arts moves, and well-timed parries (called counter sparks in the game) chip away at your opponent’s Ki, eventually enabling critical hits that may one-hit kill weaker foes.

Despite ticking most of the boxes for a modern action RPG, Rise of the Ronin’s combat never feels as tight or powerful as Sekiro’s. The counterspark deflection, triggered with the Triangle button, feels out of sync with other actions, making the timing difficult to get right. The parry window isn’t narrow, but the action itself is accompanied by an exaggerated animation that feels out of place for a maneuver that requires dexterity. Inventory management in the heat of battle is also tedious. Switching between two equipped melee weapons, a third ranged weapon, and quick items for healing and status effects is never smooth, and it often feels like you’re drowning in menus and UI every time you want to tinker with your loadout. The custom loadout slots are helpful, but a more intuitive weapon swapping system would have improved the experience.

Stealth is extremely useful for clearing out enemy lines.

Combat in Rise of the Ronin may not be as responsive as you’d like, but it’s always fun. Trying out different weapons keeps it fresh, and fighting multiple enemies at the same time is also challenging, especially if you keep switching stances to fight different types of enemies. Clearing out enemy camps (which you do often in the game) always requires a thoughtful approach. I thought of them as reminiscent of camps and bases in the Far Cry games, where you’re given the freedom to clear out however you want. You can charge in and attack enemies head-on, or carefully rush through them and silently take down unaware guards one by one. Combat isn’t always fluid, but it does look smooth. Each weapon’s fighting skills often come with elaborate animations that add a touch of glamour to the combat. A skill tree spanning strength, dexterity, intelligence, and charisma traits adds meaningful abilities to your bag of tricks, bringing a bit more depth to the relatively shallow combat experience.

In the main missions, you will also be accompanied by two companions. You can choose your companions from among the characters you have met and bonded with over time. The level of your bond with your companions will determine their effectiveness on the battlefield. Companions are especially useful in difficult boss battles; they attract enemy attacks and give you an opportunity to attack. At any time during the main mission, you can also control your companion characters. Most companions are handled with great care, with well-developed personalities and clearly defined traits. Showing a personal favor to a companion will deepen your bond and they will reveal more to you. All companions are deeply tied to the overall story, and your choices may determine their fate. As a result, over time, you will come to care about them and their objectives.

Companions Don’t Just Pose on the Battlefield

While you have companions in the form of friendly NPCs when completing main missions and actual players online in co-op mode, you’re alone when exploring the open world. To move around the world more quickly, you’re given a horse, a grappling hook, and a glider. The horse companion is perfect for the rolling countryside, while the hook and glider are useful when traversing dense cities. With two tools at your disposal, your character becomes more agile, and while you’d imagine you could easily parkour across rooftops a la the Assassin’s Creed series, the Blade Twin is surprisingly stiff. You can climb rooftops with the help of ladders, carefully placed boxes, and dangling ropes, and you can jump from rooftop to rooftop for some distances, traveling on foot never feels smooth.

The open-world elements of Rise of the Ronin are pretty much what you’d expect from the genre: a never-ending and ever-growing checklist of things to do and errands to run. When you defeat an enemy camp in an area, icons representing side activities appear on the map for that area. You can find and pet stray cats, ask your companions for favors, do NPC quests, take photos, find landmarks, shoot targets, or find “random” encounters. These get boring quickly, and the limited variety of quests means there’s little incentive to dive into the side content. Scaling up to an open-world design doesn’t really add much meaning to Rise of the Ronin, other than the freedom to waste time trying to finish the main story. Whereas Team Ninja’s previous games benefited from a linear level design that felt tense, this latest game loses tension by switching to an open-world approach. And unlike Elden Ring, it fails to justify the switch by digging up the carcasses of every open-world trick.

The bonds you forge in Rise of the Ronin shape the story.

Visually, Rise of the Ronin is also not a standout. If the game had stuck to a Nioh-style linear design, I wouldn’t have minded as much, but an open world needs great vistas and breathtaking scenery. It needs lush environments and a striking visual style. Rise of the Ronin looks boring, flat, and gray compared to modern open world games. The game’s environments are not diverse or vibrant, and the textures lack detail. Even the character models look poor compared to other games. The game looks good in certain moments, and the lack of graphical finesse can be ignored for the most part, but the bar has been set high by games like Ghost of Tsushima and Horizon Forbidden West. It’s unfair to expect a Team Ninja game to approach that standard, but Rise of the Ronin could have chosen a bolder visual style to make up for its shortcomings in visual fidelity.

Meanwhile, performance on the PS5 leaves little to be desired. The game offers a Performance mode at 60fps, a Graphics mode at 30fps, and a Ray Tracing mode at 30fps that enables ray tracing lighting. I stuck with Performance mode, as the graphical gains in the other modes weren’t enough to justify the drop in frame rate. The frame rate drops as expected in crowded sections and densely populated cities, but overall it’s stable. However, Rise of the Ronin, a PS5 exclusive, excels at taking full advantage of the DualSense controller’s capabilities, with responsive vibration and adaptive trigger feedback to in-game actions.

Rise of the Ronin looks good, but it lacks the polish of modern open-world games.

Rise of the Ronin is clearly Team Ninja’s most ambitious work to date. Known for its tense, linear, and challenging Souls-like experiences, the studio is aiming wider this time around, hoping to attract a wider audience more receptive to open-world games. It makes sense that a studio whose previous games were well-received by a niche audience would make their next project more accessible, and Team Ninja’s latest title largely succeeds in blending the specific essence of its games with the general familiarity of the open-world formula.

The problem, though, is that the formula has become stale over the past few years. And games that don’t add a unique twist to the genre tend to get lost in a pile of similar titles. FromSoftware also pushed the scale of its games with Elden Ring. But rather than adapting from an existing open-world blueprint, the studio chose to challenge established tropes at every step. That’s not the case with Rise of the Ronin. Its open world has little invention or imagination, but its core mechanics and compelling story are what set it apart from the rest.

The companion system adds meaningful decisions and choices, and seeks to add depth to each character in the game. The variety of weapons and tools at your disposal keeps combat fresh and engaging, while the game’s evocative settings and colorful cast of characters keep the story constantly evolving. Rise of the Ronin is clearly punching above its weight class, and you can feel your knees wobbly, but it’s worth praising it for never succumbing to the strain.

Pros:

• Challenging Combat
• Engaging story and setting
• Likeable characters
• Diverse weapons and tools
• Companion System

Cons:

• Uninspired open-world design
• Lack of visual sophistication
• Repetitive side activities
• Troublesome inventory management

Rating (out of 10): 7

• Rise of the Ronin was released exclusively for PS5 on March 22nd.
• The price of the PS5 standard edition on the PlayStation Store will start at Rs 4,999.

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With Samsung promising four years of Android OS updates, are these the phones worth buying and holding onto until 2027? Here’s our review.

Samsung’s Galaxy A series brings some of the company’s premium software features to the mid-range segment at a slightly higher cost compared to the Galaxy M and Galaxy F series. The company launched the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 smartphones in India earlier this year, priced at under Rs 40,000 and Rs 30,000 respectively. These devices are powered by the company’s Exynos chip and come with four years of OS updates up to Android 18. But how do they compare to smartphones in the same price range? I’ve been using both the handsets for a while now and here are my impressions.

Samsung Galaxy A55 vs Galaxy A35 Price in India

The Samsung Galaxy A55 is priced at Rs 39,999 for the 8GB+128GB RAM and storage model. The phone also comes in 8GB+256GB and 12GB+256GB memory models, priced at Rs 42,999 and Rs 45,999 respectively.

Meanwhile, prices of the Samsung Galaxy A35 start at Rs 30,999 for the base model with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, while the 8GB+256GB storage variant is also available for Rs 33,999.

The Samsung Galaxy A55 has a flat display, flat edges and a flat back panel.

The Galaxy A55 comes in Ice Blue and Navy, while the Galaxy A35 comes in Ice Blue, Lilac and Navy. Samsung sent us both the Ice Blue (Galaxy A55) and Lilac (Galaxy A35) devices for review.

Both devices are sold in a slim box that includes a charging cable, a SIM ejector tool, and some documentation, but they don’t come with a clear TPU cover or charging brick, so you’ll need to buy those separately.

Samsung Galaxy A55 vs Galaxy A35 Review: Design

The Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 share a striking similarity in appearance, with the SIM tray location, USB Type-C port, triple rear camera layout, and bottom speaker grille. The Boost device also features a new key island for the volume and power buttons, which are also in the same location. If you look at both the devices together, you’ll be indistinguishable.

Among Samsung’s mid-range smartphones, the Galaxy A series is known as the most premium looking smartphones, and the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 are no exception. The back panel is very similar to this year’s Galaxy S24 (review) device, which is a premium smartphone. In my experience, both the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 have a glossy back panel that is less susceptible to fingerprints.

Samsung Galaxy A55 (left) and Galaxy A35

On the front, these devices come with a Super AMOLED screen with up to 120Hz refresh rate and Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection. The display bezels are quite thick and the selfie camera is located in a center-aligned punch-hole cutout.

The Galaxy A55 has flat brushed aluminum edges, while the Galaxy A35 also has flat matte-finished aluminum edges. Neither phone came with a TPU case, so we used them without a cover during the review.

Samsung Galaxy A55 vs Galaxy A35 Review: Specs and Software

Both the Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 feature 6.6-inch Full HD+ (1,080 x 2,408 pixels) Super AMOLED displays with a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of up to 1,000 nits. Protected by Gorilla Glass Victus+, these screens are flat with somewhat thicker bezels compared to other devices in their price range.

Samsung is promising four OS upgrades and five years of security updates for the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35, meaning these devices running Android 14-based One UI 6 will be supported until 2028. That’s far better than any other mid-range smartphone, even by today’s standards.

The phone comes with a few pre-installed apps, including Spotify, but you can uninstall them. The Galaxy A35 also downloaded Candy Crush Saga via the pre-installed AppCloud service, but there doesn’t appear to be an opt-out option. And both phones periodically prompt you to enable the built-in Glance lock screen feature after every software update, requiring a few taps to skip through this menu.

Samsung’s One UI 6.1 Interface

However, the software experience is largely clean, which is to be expected of Samsung’s One UI interface, which has matured over the years since it was introduced in 2018. These Galaxy A- series smartphones also come with features like Samsung Wallet for contactless payments and secure document storage, advanced Link to Windows integration, and Good Lock for further customization and theming options.

The devices also come with Samsung’s Object Eraser feature, which uses machine learning to remove unwanted objects in photos.In terms of connectivity, both the devices have 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, GPS, a USB Type-C port for charging, data transfer, and audio output, but no 3.5mm audio jack.

Samsung Galaxy A55 vs Galaxy A35 Review: Performance

The Galaxy is powered by a 4nm Exynos 1480 chip with up to 12GB of RAM, while the Galaxy A35 5G is powered by a 5nm Exynos 1380 processor with 8GB of RAM. In theory, these devices should have enough performance overhead to stay fast for a few years, and they’ll handle everyday tasks like web browsing, social media apps, light gaming, and photo and video capture without a hitch.

Most games were playable on the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35, with titles like Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) and Asphalt 9 running well without throttling even after around 30 minutes of gameplay. However, slightly heavier titles like Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile couldn’t run without noticeable lag, and even the Galaxy A55 struggled with MiHoYo’s graphics-intensive Genshin Impact.

Android 14-based One UI 6 offers a polished software experience on the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35, with a few exceptions. RAM management is excellent, and your most used apps like Instagram, WhatsApp, Gmail, Outlook, X (formerly Twitter), Threads, etc. remain in memory even when you switch between apps.

Samsung should follow Motorola and Nothing’s lead and stop annoying users with prompts to enable features like Glance on their Galaxy A series phones with every software update, especially after the user has explicitly opted out once. On both devices, updates were available after the initial setup process. Additionally, Samsung has finally added support for system A/B updates (Galaxy A55 only), making it much faster to use your phone after an update.

The displays on the Samsung Galaxy A55 (left) and Galaxy A35 offer decent outdoor visibility.

We also ran synthetic benchmark tests, and both the Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 lagged behind the competition: the Galaxy A55 scored 1,132 points and 3,346 points in Geekbench 6’s single-core and multi-core CPU tests, respectively, while the Galaxy A35 scored 1,013 points in the single-core test and 2,805 points in the multi-core test.

In the AnTuTu v10 benchmark test, the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 scored 678,167 and 606,767 points respectively. Interestingly, the Galaxy A55’s PCMark Work 3.0 score of 13,315 is only slightly higher than the Galaxy A35, which scored 13,176 points.

For comparison, the iQoo Z9 I recently reviewed had a single-core score of 1,151 points and a multi-core score of 2,669 points. It also scored 687,545 points in AnTuTu v10. The Dimensity 7200 chip in iQoo devices performs better than the Exynos chips in these devices. The AnTuTu score and Geekbench single-core score of the iQoo Z9 is higher than both the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35, and the price of this device starts at Rs 19,999.

Both the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 feature 6.6-inch Super AMOLED screens with a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of up to 1,000 nits. These screens are bright enough to be used outdoors during the day, as long as auto-brightness is enabled. One UI also has an Extra Dim mode that can be enabled via a quick settings toggle. This mode allows you to dim the screen even further to reduce eye strain.

Equipped with 5,000mAh batteries, the devices are highly optimized, and in our HD video loop battery playback test, the Galaxy A55 lasted 28 hours 14 minutes on a single charge, while the Galaxy A35 lasted 26 hours 34 minutes. In real-world usage, with moderate usage, they didn’t need to be charged more than once every 30-35 hours.

Samsung doesn’t include a 25W charger with the Galaxy A55 or Galaxy A35, so you’ll need to buy one separately. My Belkin USB PD 3.0 charger charged both devices up to 50 percent in about 45 minutes, but it took an average of an hour and 25 minutes to charge from 0 to 100 percent. Both devices are IP67-rated for dust and water resistance, which means they shouldn’t be damaged if you accidentally drop them in water, which is good for a mid-range device.

Samsung Galaxy A55 vs Galaxy A35 Review: Camera

Both the Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 have a 50-megapixel main camera with f/1.8 aperture, a 5-megapixel macro camera with f/2.4 aperture, and a 12-megapixel and 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera with f/2.2 aperture, respectively. The Galaxy A55 has a 32-megapixel front-facing camera, while the Galaxy A35 has a 13-megapixel front-facing camera for selfies and video calling.

The Samsung Galaxy A55’s Auto (left) and Portrait modes produce images with vibrant, punchy colors.

The Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 feature the same camera interface as the more expensive Galaxy S series smartphones, which includes a Pro mode that lets you tweak various settings, including white balance, focus, and exposure. You can also access these settings when shooting video using the Pro Video mode, which is great. Both devices also support Samsung’s Super Steady (stabilization), Slow-Mo, and Super Slow-Mo modes for video recording.

The main cameras on the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 are capable of taking detailed images, and both devices support 2x in-sensor zoom, which allows you to take clearer images of objects at a distance. These cameras work very well outdoors when there is sufficient natural light, and tend to provide somewhat more vibrant colors in images. These devices can also take high-quality portrait shots, which work best in natural light.

The Galaxy A55’s ultra-wide-angle camera is slightly better than the one on the Galaxy A35, but both are significantly worse than the main camera, especially in low light. They can be used to take photos of nearby buildings and other subjects, but images taken with these cameras are a bit distorted around the edges and color accuracy isn’t as reliable as with the more advanced 50-megapixel main camera.

Samsung’s Camera app takes long exposure photos by default in low-light conditions (Night Shot), but you can manually disable it with a tap to capture darker but less blurry images of moving subjects. For very dark scenarios, the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 come with a dedicated Night mode that delivers very bright images that are smoothly processed to reduce noise.

The 5-megapixel macro cameras on the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 were able to capture images of the subject well, but only when there was enough natural light. Also, I had to tap the subject in the viewfinder to take multiple images of the subject to ensure the image was in focus. Selfies taken using the front cameras on both phones are clear, but selfies taken with the Galaxy A55, which has a higher-resolution 32-megapixel camera, have more detail.

Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 Take Nearly Identical Macro Photos

Both the Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 support video recording at 4K/30fps or 1080p at 30fps and 60fps. The rear cameras’ gyroscope-enabled Super Steady mode provides excellent stabilization in most lighting conditions. The selfie cameras on both phones offer 4K/30fps and 1080p/30fps, while the Galaxy A55 also offers 1080p/60fps video recording from the selfie camera.

Samsung Galaxy A55 vs Galaxy A35 review: Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 have great cameras and processors, but are they the best mid-range smartphones you can buy right now? The answer depends on what you want from a smartphone. Subjectively speaking, these are good-looking smartphones that are promised to receive Android OS updates for four years, plus one year of security updates.

It’s also nice to see that these phones are IP67 rated, and battery performance is excellent, despite Samsung sticking to support for 25W charging and not including an adapter in the box.

On the other hand, if you want a smartphone with pure performance, you’re better off looking at the Nothing Phone 2 (Review), OnePlus 12R (Review), or iQoo Neo 9 Pro (Review) rather than the Galaxy A55. Similarly, the OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G (Review), Redmi Note 13 Pro, Infinix GT 20 Pro, or iQoo Neo 7 Pro (Review) offer better CPU performance at a similar price point.

If you’re looking for a smartphone with good camera performance under Rs 40,000, Samsung’s Galaxy S23 FE (Review) is a good choice. It has more versatile cameras, including a good telephoto camera, and a more powerful Exynos chip. As an alternative to the Galaxy A55, you could also consider the Google Pixel 7a (Review). Other alternatives to the Galaxy A35 include the Galaxy M55 (Review), Vivo V30e, and Oppo Reno 11 5G.

The post Samsung Galaxy A55 vs Galaxy A35 Review: Mid-Range Performance, Impressive Battery Life appeared first on Review Products.

HP Envy Move all-in-one desktop with Intel Core i5 processor.

When it comes to portable computing, everyone has their own preferences. For some, an 11-inch laptop might be the perfect size for carrying around, while for others, a laptop with an 18-inch display might be fine.

But what about a full desktop computer?

This year, HP has combined the best of both worlds, aiming to achieve the practicality of an all-in-one (AIO) computer and a laptop. It’s called the HP Envy Move All-in-One Portable Desktop PC, and it’s packed with interesting hardware choices and software features. This unique device, which can be described as an all-in-one (AIO), is designed for a specific group of users who want the power and ease of use of a desktop PC, but also the flexibility of portability. Traditional all-in-one PCs are compact, but they are still stationary and require a constant power connection. The Envy Move aims to change this by using a built-in battery and a simple solution that allows you to take it wherever you need it. But with laptops with foldable and dual displays already on the market, does a portable AIO PC make sense? Read on to find out more.

HP Envy Move All-in-One Desktop Price in India

is available in India in a single model in Shell White colour for Rs 1,24,999 . This model is powered by a 13th Generation Intel Core i5 processor with Intel UHD Graphics. It has 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 1TB of PCIe NVMe M.2 storage. The retail package includes the HP Envy Move, a 90W adapter, and a wireless Bluetooth keyboard with integrated touchpad.

HP Envy Move All-in-One Desktop Review: Design and Display

The HP Envy Move has a dual-tone design with textured polycarbonate and mesh fabric for the chassis. At the front, the speaker system is hidden under the mesh with a chrome HP logo. At the back of the desktop, there is a large HP logo engraved in chrome. Above it, there is a handle to lift the computer. The handle also has the same color scheme, but the hinge is made of leather, giving it a premium feel. On the right side of the desktop, there is the power port, HDMI 1.4b port, brightness adjustment button, and power key. On the left side, there is a USB Type-C port (10Gbps), a USB Type-A port (10Gbps), and volume controls. At the top, there is also a privacy shutter for the webcam. The entire machine weighs 4.1kg, which may not seem that heavy for a desktop machine, but it is quite heavy by laptop standards. During testing, we felt it was quite heavy to lift it by the handle.

When not in storage or transport, the HP Envy Move uses rotating kickstand legs that stay in place only when placed on a table. These legs are also made of polycarbonate, so the desktop feels stable and doesn’t wobble when placed on a table. This is a good thing, as HP expects users to move this 4kg PC around the house while exercising or when the kids are using it.

Talking about the display, the HP Envy Move comes with a 23.8-inch QHD touchscreen IPS panel with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. HP claims a peak brightness of 300 nits, but we found it quite low when using it in a bright room.

HP Envy Move Display HP Envy Move Display – Equipped with a touchscreen display

The screen becomes hard to read when a light source is pointing at it. I noticed this mainly while photographing the product for this review. The touchscreen is responsive and I had no issues with that, but the resolution feels a bit low considering the size of the display. Since the Envy Move is targeted at people who want an entertainment machine, I watched a few movies on the device and the color saturation levels were quite disappointing and the clarity was a bit low as well. The QHD display is fine for work and app usage, but when it comes to entertainment, it doesn’t quite hit the sweet spot as a sharper display would be nice.

HP Envy Move All-in-One Desktop Review: Keyboard, Speakers, Touchpad, Camera

The keyboard used has a built-in trackpad, which may be a bit awkward to use for users who buy a desktop and expect to use a mouse rather than a trackpad, but the trackpad is responsive, the keys are tactile, and it makes for a compact setup to carry from room to room.

The HP Envy Move is equipped with a 5W dual speaker system co-tuned with Bang and Olufsen. The audio quality is adequate for watching movies and listening to music, but don’t expect thumping bass when watching action movies or bass-heavy music.

HP Envy Move Speaker System HP Envy Move Speaker System

The speaker system is hidden under a mesh material.

As for the camera, the HP Envy Move uses a 5-megapixel webcam that supports Windows Hello and can also be used to take pictures. It uses some AI to reduce noise during video calls, but the video is still not clear enough. The camera is supported by dual microphones for better audio reception.

HP Envy Move All-in-One Desktop Review: Specs and Software

The HP Envy Move doesn’t offer much customization when it comes to core specs. The all-in-one desktop only comes with a 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD and 16GB LPDDR RAM (soldered in), with no upgrades beyond these. For the processor, the HP Envy Move comes with a 13th Gen Intel Core i5 1335U with Intel UHD Graphics, again with no upgrades. This may be a bit limiting for end users, but seems fine for a basic home PC with a focus on multimedia and entertainment. The desktop runs off a power cord, but it does have a 6-cell 83Wh Li-ion battery that can be charged using a 90W adapter.

HP Envy Move Webcam HP Envy Move Webcam

Equipped with a physical switch that allows you to block the webcam at will.

The all-in-one can charge to 50 percent in 45 minutes, which is roughly in line with my testing results. In terms of wireless connectivity, the HP Envy Move comes equipped with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

HP Envy Move All-in-One Desktop Review: Performance and Gaming

This all-in-one can easily handle most productivity apps like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere Pro for 1080p editing without much GFX. It does overheat while rendering and the fans are quite loud. As for benchmarks, we ran Geekbench and got a score of 1,602 for single-core and 3,975 for multi-core. This all-in-one does not support Cinebench R23. Although the HP Envy Move is not meant for gaming, we tried a few games. The performance was not very good. Forza Horizon 5 ran fine at around 60FPS at optimal settings, but as soon as we increased the settings, the frames dropped significantly. Casual games can run fine, but graphics-intensive games will struggle on this machine, so it is not ideal as a gaming machine.

HP Envy Move All-in-One Desktop Review: Battery Life

Although the HP Envy Move can run off a power cord, the built-in battery is especially useful during a power outage or when you need to move your desktop to another location without losing the current state of your PC. Despite the battery being the secondary power source on this machine, it can run for around four hours, which is very impressive.

HP Envy Move All-in-One Desktop Review: Verdict

Simply put, the HP Envy Move is better suited to home use than the office, and it has a battery backup so you can use it as a secondary display if you need to, which in theory makes it great for continuing to work or watch entertainment as you move from room to room.

The price of Rs 124,999 is a bit too high considering the hardware offered, and the heavy weight of 4kg is also an unavoidable fact. For entertainment on the go, a larger (but compact) tablet (Android or iPad) would be a better choice. As well as being much lighter, these are also cheaper and more power efficient, so will last much longer. If you need a compact work PC, there are larger laptops available too, such as Asus’ Zenbook Duo, which has a foldable display that is 19 inches wide (or tall), but is a bit more expensive (starting at Rs 159,990).

The HP Envy Move is still great if you want a compact all-in-one PC that you can carry around your house occasionally, as it’s not as lightweight as a laptop. It’s not a laptop replacement , and it’s certainly not a tablet replacement, meaning it will appeal to a very niche demographic, one that finds it the perfect sweet spot for work and productivity rather than entertainment.

HP Envy Move All-in-One Portable Desktop PC

• Price: Rs 1,24,999

Pros:

• Rugged construction
• The on-board battery is a nice addition
• The speaker system provides excellent sound output

Cons:

• The display could be brighter and not adjusted enough
• Not suitable for heavy-duty applications
• Basic Graphics Performance

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