Phones

This is the latest foldable screen Smart Phone from HONOR. Instead of the idea of a tiny phone enlarging to normal size this offering from HONOR starts as normal size and opens like a normal book to increase to double the size.

This is one of the latest offerings from HONOR and it is currently available from Vodafone with SIM for an excellent 24 month offer.

This is the latest offering from Emporia, this company are best known for Smart Phones suitable for older people as they do not assume you know how to use it and as an added bonus they have an emergency button on the back that circles though up to five friends/neighbours and relatives until an answer is received.

For those who do not want a full size screen but still want to use everything that a modern Smart Phone has and the help that older people and those whom this is their first Smart Phone need this offering from Emporia may fit the bill.

While the vast majority of younger people are perfectly happy with 'bare' Android phones those 'more mature' and those of 'retired' age who may only have used a basic Nokia type phone to make a receive calls. These people still need assistance when doing more online.

Joining the ever-increasing ranks of smartphone models is the Sony Xperia I V handset which has been keeping out reviewer company.

It looks like any standard 15x7cm phone both in size and weight however it unfolds to become almost 15x14cm to give a much larger surface viewing area. So when folded the display is the front and the units three cameras are the back. When unfolded the right of the back are the cameras the left of the back is blank while what was the inside becomes the double sized front.

This mid-range offering from Honor is the latest to cross my desk. Based on the recent Honor 90 it’s a bang up to date offering for those whom a full priced unit is out of reach.

This is the latest offering from Honor the Magic5 Pro. Like almost all recent mobile phones the emphasis is on the cameras and what they can do both in photo and video mode. Not so long ago a units cameras were hidden away in one corner of the back, now they are spread out, here they are in a large circle taking the top 6cm of the phones back.

This is the latest Smart Phone from a new company to me. POCO is the gaming arm of Xiaomi who I have reviewed phones from in the past. The M5 can switch refresh rates Video 30Hz or 60Hz, Gaming 60Hz or 90Hz and Scrolling at 30-60-90 Hz. Overall the cost of this POCO offing is not very much at all.

A problem shared can be a problem solved as happened with this product.

This is the latest offering to cross my desk; it is a SmartPhone that takes the screen right to the edge of the display. Like most recent quality SmartPhones it is all about the cameras and here they are amazingly good. The rest of the phone is also rather nice.

If you do not use a device then maybe somebody will pay you to let them use it.

When is an Android smartphone not an Android smartphone? Could it ne when it has been deGooglised?

Another recent offering from Emporia a company that produces phones that look normal while offering extra assistance for those of us over 65 who may or may not be retired. Early assistance phones tended to look rather different and while they offered the assistance needed some were reluctant to use them as they were embarrassed.

The CES show in the USA is where a lot of technology gets launched however the show made a big thing of not inviting certain big players this year as their support for Ukraine holds firm. There are still a good number of new offerings around launched at about the same time but not actually in the CES show. Technically this SmartPhone was launched in 2022 but only now have I been offered one to review.

This can be a near standard Android phone or by clicking on Emporia during the initial setup one that offers more assistance and help without looking like a phone designed for the older user. While it does have an emergency button the back below the camera it does not look like one it just looks like a second camera so no one need know.

This is the latest Gimbal from Zhiyun. It comes in a solid fitted zip up case with the parts easily accessible. In facts the only assembly required is attaching the tripod to the base of the handle for those times that you use it remotely. The whole Gimbal has a very solid construction and feel in your hand.

Having recently reviewed the best phone I have ever used and then one that any other company apart from Google would have consigned to the bin 18 months ago this was always going to be, shall we say, difficult. In the past I have reviewed several other Honor offerings, so to be as fair as possible I took a good bit longer before presenting my thoughts.

Not everyone wants the latest or biggest phone that can take fantastic photos in near darkness. What they do want is something that can make and receive calls and take the odd photo or three and browse the Internet while out and about for things like when will that bus or train arrive and possibly will it ever rain again in my lifetime. So perhaps a solid reliable phone like this Google Pixel 4A, while this is well over two years old it still gets updated to the latest version of <

As with most recent SmartPhones it is all about the cameras. Here one of its four cameras is an amazing 108MP. However with 5G those who download a lot to their phone are also able to do this with minimal delay. So what has this latest offering got to make you choose it apart from of course the extremely powerful camera that it has?

Having recently reviewed another Find X5 device that had what I considered a ‘strange’ feature I was more careful when I did the setup and this unit did not have it, however as it also did an update to the ‘Color Overlay’ of the Android operating system this could have been why it now works as I would consider all phones should function.

Having just told you about a very unusual phone the Samsung Fold I expected my next to be more normal the initial setup seemed to go OK but here a cautionary tale do read the choices carefully and I must admit I did not and so after two days trying to switch it off I conceded and started again and read the choices more carefully now I do have a normal phone.

This can be considered two phones in one, ‘folded’ it’s a little narrow compared to most recent offering, ‘unfolded’ you need large hands or a flat surface to lay it on. Having told you about the Samsung Flip last year here is its big brother the Samsung Fold.

Last year I told you about a Pixel 5 and if the advertising is correct the Pixel 6 is available so why should I now get the look at the Pixel 4XL. On the face of it a phone launched at least two years ago would be well past its sell by date. After a few days of use I was offered an upgrade to Android 12 so Google certainly do not consider it past it. Yes more recent phones offer more from their cameras but I still took some excellent pictures and videos.

Like a lot of recent SmartPhones this was one of a range of models. Having told you about one of the lower specification’s model I now get to test the top of the range model – the one they use in the TV ads – so what does this latest offering from Apple have to temp you away from your current SmartPhone?

This phone folds horizontally across the centre of the screen it means when open you are able to have 6.7 inches of depth in a single view. When your finger moves across the central area of the screen there is a little resistance and if you look closely at the darkened screen you can see the crease in the screen, however does this affect anything else?

Apple seem to offer new phones each year so here is one of the recently launched iPhone 13 range. I have been using it out and about over the last few weeks with especial attention paid to its photographic abilities. So what does it offer the user apart from a name to justify its high end price?

The latest offering from Vodafone to cross my desk is the Motorola Edge 20 Pro, this SmartPhone feels nice and well balanced in your hand and comes supplied with a silicon back and sides cover. While the face is of course shiny black it remains almost mirror like as finger marks do not tend to show, the back is a shimmering midnight blue.

As smartphones enter the 5G environment, Fairphone joins the trend.