HUAWEI MateBook E review: An OLED Windows tablet made for media consumption

The HUAWEI MateBook E is the company’s first Windows tablet with an OLED display, and it delivers a fantastic viewing experience. It’s the first laptop with an OLED panel I got to review, and it looks amazing. Paired with powerful speakers, this makes for a fantastic tablet for media consumption, whether that’s movies, videos, or music. I also like the versatility of the form factor, with the detachable keyboard allowing you to use the tablet as a laptop or by itself. It’s light enough that you can easily take it anywhere to get some work done, too.

But everything doesn’t come together as well as I’d like it to, with some touchpad issues making usability less than ideal. Plus, performance suffers due to the low-power 9W processor, and battery life could also be better. That said, it’s not far from what you get with many other lightweight laptops.

HUAWEI Matebook E

The Huawei MateBook E is a lightweight detchable 2-in-1 PC. It has a 12.6-inch OLED display and it supports Thunderbolt 4.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

See at HUAWEI

Navigate this review:

• Pricing and availability
• Specs
• Design: It’s thin and light, but the keyboard adds some heft
• Display: It has a vibrant and sharp OLED panel
• Keyboard and trackpad: Typing works well, but the touchpad doesn’t
• Performance: It can handle some productivity, but battery life is disappointing
• Who should buy the HUAWEI MateBook E?

HUAWEI MateBook E pricing and availability

• The HUAWEI MateBook E won’t be available in the United States, but it’s coming to Europe and other markets.
• The model I reviewed costs €1,199 in Germany, including a Smart Magnetic Keyboard and M-Pencil, but the M-Pencil isn’t included in every market.
• The base configuration costs €649 with a Core i3, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. There’s also a more expensive model with a Core i7.

As per usual with HUAWEI devices, if you’re living in the United States, you won’t be able to buy the HUAWEI MateBook E via traditional methods. HUAWEI devices simply aren’t available in that region, and haven’t been for a while. HUAWEI is mostly focused on its home market in China, as well as various European markets.

For now, you can only buy the MateBook E in Germany, and only a couple of configurations are available. The base model, with an Intel Core i3-1110G4, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and Windows 11 Home in S mode, which costs €649; and a mid-tier configuration with an Intel Core i5, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a normal version of Windows 11 Home, which costs €1,199. The device is coming to other markets including France, and there will also be a model with an Intel Core i7-1160G7 processor.

Specs

CPU	Intel Core i5-1130G7 (4 cores, 8 threads, up to 4 GHz, 8MB Intel Smart Cache)
Graphics	Intel Iris Xe Graphics (80 EUs, max 1.1GHz)
Display	12.6-inch OLED, 2.5K (2560 x 1600), 240 DPI, 100% DCI-P3, up to 600 nits (HBM mode), touch
Body	286.5 x 184.7 x 7.99 mm, 709g
Memory	16GB LPDDR4x
Storage	512GB NVMe PCIe SSD
Battery	42Wh battery
Ports	1x Thunderbolt 4/USB Type-C (DisplayPort, data, power)
Audio	Quad speakers, quad microphones
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.1
Camera	8MP front-facing webcam, 1080p 60fps video 13MP rear-facing camera, 4K 30fps video
Color	Nebula Grey
OS	Windows 11 Home
Price	€1,199

Design: It’s thin and light, but the keyboard adds some heft

• The HUAWEI MateBook E measures just 7.99mm in thickness and weighs 709 grams, so it’s lighter than the Surface Pro 8.
• The included magnetic keyboard protects the entire tablet, but it also makes it thicker.

The HUAWEI MateBook E is all about portability, and that really shows in the design of the device. The HUAWEI MateBook E is just 7.99mm thin, and it weighs 709 grams. That’s noticeable thinner than the Surface Pro 8, which measures 9.3mm thin and weighs 889 grams. At first glance, it looks like a big win for HUAWEI, but there is a caveat, because the MateBook E doesn’t have a built-in kickstand. All of those measurements are for the tablets without the keyboard attached, but the Surface Pro 8 still has a kickstand when you don’t attach the keyboard, so it’s always ready to be propped up if you want to watch a video. That’s not the case here.

The kickstand on the HUAWEI MateBook E is part of the Smart Magnetic Keyboard, and there’s an upside to this. When you attach it, it protects both the front and back of the tablet, so it feels a bit safer compared to Microsoft’s Surface devices. But it does come with the downside of making the device thicker and heavier. According to my measurements, the tablet is roughly 15mm thick with the Smart Magnetic keyboard attached, and it weighs 1.15kg.

The kickstand is also a little different from the usual, as you fold the top of the cover downward to serve as a kickstand. This does limit its usability in some edge cases, since the minimum opening angle is about 60 degrees. It can technically open all the way to 180 degrees (where the case snaps back onto the tablet), but that also means some angles closer to 180 degrees aren’t usable, as the weight of the tablet will just cause the kickstand to close.

The tablet itself looks nice. It only comes in Nebula Grey, which is practically black, and the same goes for the keyboard. It uses a magnesium alloy for the middle frame, and the back is made from glass fiber, so it looks very distinct from most Windows tablets out there. Usually, you’d see an all-metal chassis, and this is a nice change of pace. Vents run between the metal frame and the back panel, covering pretty much all sides. This helps with cooling as well as serving as speaker grills.

Ports are very limited here, and that’s, in my opinion, a big downside of this tablet. You get one Thunderbolt 4 port on the right (in landscape orientation), and a headphone jack at the bottom on the left side – that’s it. The left side also houses the power button, which has a fingerprint sensor built-in, and on the top, you’ll find the volume rocker. This is also where the M-Pencil attaches magnetically if you have one. Finally, there are just the pogo pins on the bottom to connect the Smart Magnetic Keyboard.

Display: The HUAWEI MateBook E has a vibrant and sharp OLED panel

• The HUAWEI MateBook E has a 12.6-inch OLED panel with Quad HD+ resolution.
• A quad-speaker stereo system delivers an immersive audio experience.
• The 8MP webcam on the front works great for video calls.

To me, the highlight of the HUAWEI MateBook E is definitely media consumption. It’s the first PC I’ve ever reviewed that has an OLED panel, and I have to say, it looks fantastic. HUAWEI says it covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, and I’m inclined to believe that. Everything looks incredibly vibrant on this display, and when it contrasts against a black background, there’s nothing quite like it. I didn’t realize just how much punchier the colors are until I put it next to my main laptop, but it’s a huge difference.

This all applies to the display’s native mode, but you can change it to DCI-P3 or sRGB modes, which look significantly duller by comparison. However, having this option is great to ensure parity when you’re working on color-sensitive projects. I should mention that the display has rounded corners since I know some people might not like that. I think it’s fine.

To make the media experience that much better, the HUAWEI MateBook E also packs a set of four stereo speakers, and the audio experience is great. The speakers get quite loud so I can listen to something while I move around the house easily. It did seem to me like the speakers are a bit heavy on the low frequencies, but that could just be because I’m used to the tinnier speakers on my phone. I’m not exactly an audiophile, so my judgment may not be the best on that front.

When it comes to capturing media, the HUAWEI MateBook E has some of the better webcams you’ll find on a Windows device, and it’s all because it’s a tablet. The cameras here are more in line with what you’d find on an Android tablet than they are like a Windows PC. There’s an 8MP camera on the front, which sits at the top of the screen when you use the tablet in landscape mode. On the back, there’s a 13MP with an LED flash, so you can take pictures or record 4K video in a pinch with this tablet. It’s not going to be as good as your smartphone, but that’s to be expected.

The front-facing does have much better quality than most laptop webcams, though I’ve noticed that in web apps like Google Meet, my video feed is vertical even though the laptop is in landscape orientation. This is certainly a bug, since the Camera app works as intended, so hopefully it can be fixed with an update. Another bug I found initially was that I can’t rotate the tablet while the camera is in use, but that was fixed with a BIOS update near the end of my review period. Sadly, the vertical video in Google Meet didn’t change.

Keyboard and trackpad: Typing works well, but the touchpad doesn’t

• The HUAWEI MateBook E includes a Smart Magnetic Keyboard, with an impressive 1.3mm of key travel.
• The included touchpad is uncomfortable to use, however.

Now, the HUAWEI MateBook E is a tablet, but it knows what it’s about. A Windows PC makes much more sense with a keyboard, and HUAWEI packs in the Smart Magnetic Keyboard, which, as we’ve mentioned, also doubles up as a case for the tablet.  For something as thin as this keyboard is, I was positively impressed by how comfortable it was to type on. HUAWEI touts 1.3mm of key travel for the MateBook E, and that seems to hold up. The keys feel very nice to press, they don’t bottom out too soon, and I’ve never had any problems getting them to actuate.

Some keys are a little smaller than usual, which is understandable for a keyboard of this size, but it’s not a huge deal to me. I rarely use the keys that have been shrunk here, so it doesn’t really affect my usage. My biggest problem frankly came from the fact that the keyboard has a US layout, and I’m more used to Portuguese keyboards.

Where things turn sour is with the trackpad, however. In terms of size, HUAWEI got it right. It’s a fairly large touchpad for the amount of space available here, so it should be quite nice to use. But the surface of the touchpad has a surface that’s slightly grippy and it just feels bad to use it. When clicking and dragging, I often have problems where the mouse starts moving erratically and it just doesn’t do what I want. I also wish the entire touchpad could be clicked. It would have helped considering it’s not very tall, so having to press the bottom half is a bit restrictive.

I’ve also often had a problem where moving the mouse simply starts legging when I use the touchpad. It works fine with the external mouse (which I almost always have plugged in now), but using the touchpad feels like it’s only refreshing the screen once per second. I found that I can fix this by just disconnecting the Smart Magnetic Keyboard and reconnecting it, but it’s still annoying and it gets in the way of my work.

There’s also the M-Pencil, which is supposedly not included with the tablet, though it seems to be bundled for free in at least some markets. It’s a proper digital pen with 4,096 levels of pressure and it works quite well, in my experience. It comes with replaceable tips, too, and there’s even a feature that lets you double-tap the pen to take a screenshot or do some other action.

There’s no eraser or button on the other end of the pen, though, something other pens have been doing for a while. It charges by attaching magnetically to the top of the tablet, but it’s really easy to misalign it. The magnets can hold the pen in some incorrect positions where it doesn’t charge. Once you get used to it, though, it’s easy to tell when you’ve incorrectly attached the pen.

Performance: It can handle some productivity, but battery life is disappointing

• The HUAWEI MateBook E is powered by an Intel Core i5-1130G7, with Core i3 and Core i7 models also available.
• These CPUs are from Intel’s 9W range, so they’re not as fast as a typical laptop processor.
• Despite the low wattage, battery life barely gets past 4 hours.

This review was my first time using a device powered by Intel’s 9W processors, but I had heard pretty good things about the 11th-generation models. Most laptops, and devices like the Surface Pro 8, use the more typical 15W processors, and those deliver more than enough performance for productivity. My review unit of the HUAWEI MateBook E came with an Intel Core i5-1130G7, and it left me feeling a bit disappointed, though my expectations may be to blame here.

When I first set up the laptop, there was a little bit of sluggishness to the experience as app updates were being downloaded, but most of that fades away after you’ve got everything you need. I still find that it struggles when it comes to editing some photos, especially if they have a high resolution and I have other programs open. That’s not too surprising for the kind of processor it has, though, and it’s still totally usable. You might just want to be a bit more conscious of how many things you want to do at once.

What left me truly disappointed was the fact that I can’t plug in an external monitor for a dual-screen setup. If I do, the tablet becomes nearly unusable, specifically for typing. Whenever I would type with my second screen connected, the laptop would quickly stop responding properly, and whatever key I pressed last would just continually be entered until I pressed another key. With this being my first experience with this kind of processor, it was disappointing, but it’s probably to be expected.

For benchmarks, I used my usual combination of PCMark10, Geekbench, Cinebench, and 3DMark:

	HUAWEI MateBook E Core i5-1130G7	Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 5G Core i5-1130G7	Microsoft Surface Pro 7+ Core i5-1135G7
PCMark 10	4,193	3,815	3,963
Geekbench	1,323 / 4,614	1,333 / 4,745	1,358 / 5,246
Cinebench	1,028 / 2,647	1,269 / 3,403	1,235 / 2,854
3DMark: Time Spy	1,021	1,115

Compared to the similarly-specced Galaxy Book Pro 360 5G, the HUAWEI MateBook E did well in some tests, but it struggled more with others, especially Cinebench. Still, performance isn’t too far from the 15W processors, at least on paper.

I would have thought the low-power processor meant this was a great portable machine, but it usually only lasted me for about four hours of work. The most time I got out of it was roughly four hours and 28 minutes, and that’s with the display usually set to 50% brightness or less, while connected to stable Wi-Fi. I wouldn’t recommend this if you need a device that lasts you through a workday. That seems to be a trend with other devices powered by these processors, like the Lenovo ThinkBook 13x, so it’s not exactly HUAWEI’s fault. That’s just the price of having an extremely light device like this.

Who should buy the HUAWEI MateBook E?

The HUAWEI MateBook E has some positives, but ultimately, there are many people that probably shouldn’t buy it.

Who should buy the HUAWEI MateBook E:

• Users who want to watch a lot of movies and TV shows on a stunning OLED display
• Customers that need a lightweight laptop for occasional work on the go
• People who appreciate a good webcam for video calls and meetings

Who shouldn’t buy the HUAWEI MateBook E:

• Anyone in the United States
• People who need a long-lasting laptop to work away from an outlet
• Users with dual-monitor setups or with demanding workloads like video editing
• Customers planning to use the touchpad often

One of the things I liked the most about the HUAWEI MateBook E was definitely the OLED display. It looks absolutely stunning, and it makes Windows 11 feel that much more lively. It’s truly a different effect when you see colors shining through the Mica material on an OLED display compared to an LCD. The speakers were also great and help make this a fantastic device to consume media on. I was very displeased with the touchpad, though, as it just feels bad to use. I always want to have my mouse with me when I use this as a laptop. I was also a bit disappointed that I can’t use my external monitor with it since it makes typing insufferable.

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Where to buy a replacement S Pen for the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra?

Samsung’s new Galaxy S22 Ultra is the most interesting phone out of the S22 lineup mainly because it’s the first Galaxy S phone with an integrated S Pen, marking it as a successor to the Galaxy Note lineup. The Galaxy S21 Ultra from last year only had support for the stylus, but no place to store it. The new phone changes that with a slightly wider body to accommodate an S Pen. We suggest you check out our Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra review to know what we make of its design after using it for a couple of days.

While it’s fantastic that the Galaxy S22 Ultra now comes with a slot to store the S Pen, there’s no denying that it’s relatively easy to either lose or damage the stylus. Because, you know, life happens. Well, if you lose the S Pen or it gets damaged somehow, you’ll need to buy a replacement unit for your Galaxy S22 Ultra. There’s only so much that’s covered under warranty, so you may have to pay out of pocket if you need a replacement.

Luckily, you can get a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra S Pen replacement pretty easily. You can either buy the simple replacement unit of the S Pen that was included with your Galaxy S22 Ultra or you can get the Samsung S Pen Pro that was announced alongside the last year’s Galaxy S21 Ultra. The S Pen Pro is a bit pricier than the one that’s included with your phone but it can be used with all the S Pen compatible devices including Galaxy smartphones, tablets, and PCs. If you are a heavy S Pen user, you’d get better use out of the Pro, but it’s the regular replacement pen that will fit inside your phone.

The S Pen Pro is Bluetooth enabled and is rated for 16 days of battery life with 50 minutes of charge time. You can check out the links to purchase both S Pen variants below, so feel free to pick the one that works best for you. We’d recommend getting the integrated S Pen for the Galaxy S22 Ultra since otherwise you would be left with an empty silo, which would look rather odd.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra replacement Pen Stylus

If you lost or damaged the Galaxy S22 Ultra S Pen included with the phone, you can buy this as a replacement unit.

Buy from Samsung

Samsung S Pen Pro Stylus

The Galaxy S Pen Pro is a more advanced version of the accessory that's included with your phone. This one works with all S Pen-compatible devices.

Buy from Amazon

Buy from Samsung

If you want to learn more about what the Galaxy S22 Ultra stylus can do, then be sure to check out our write-up detailing the S Pen features. Also, don’t forget to stop by a couple of our other pages including the Galaxy S22 Ultra deals, best Galaxy S22 Ultra cases, and screen protectors if you’re looking to either buy this phone or the accessories to protect it.

The post Where to buy a replacement S Pen for the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra? appeared first on xda-developers.

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How to stop Apple from collecting diagnostic and usage data on iPhone

Apple is famous for its commitment to users’ privacy. When you buy an iPhone or a Mac, you know that you’re investing in products from a company that has pledged to protect your data. And that’s very essential in our day and age — as we’ve been increasingly storing more of our personal information on these devices. Most of the devices we use collect usage data to improve the respective products and services. For example, when an app crashes on your phone, the developer could be notified to help them pinpoint the cause of this bug. While this data is typically anonymized, some users aren’t comfortable with having companies collect their logs. Additionally, by sharing these diagnostics, your device is uploading them to a company’s server. This could drain your (limited) data plan and some of your battery’s charge. The impact may be very small, but some users would prefer to not incur it at all. In that case, here’s how to stop Apple from collecting diagnostic data on iPhone.

How to stop Apple from collecting diagnostic and usage data on iPhone

• Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.

• Scroll down and click on Privacy.

• Again, scroll down, and this time select Analytics & Improvements.

• Disable Share iPhone & Watch Analytics.

• Confirm you want to do so by clicking OK.
• It’s worth mentioning that this will also stop Apple and developers from collecting diagnostic data from your Apple Watch as well — assuming you’ve paired one to your iPhone. There’s no way to enable/disable this option for one device without affecting the other.

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Personally, I disable diagnostic and usage data collection on all of my devices. If I discover a notable bug or glitch in a certain app or service, I report it to the respective company. That’s because I dislike having my iPhone uploading my analytical logs — even if they’re anonymized.

Do you enable diagnostic data collection on your iPhone? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs Galaxy S21 Ultra: What are the differences? Should you upgrade?

Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra seems at first glance like a significant upgrade over the Galaxy S21 Ultra. After all, it brings an entirely new design, with a new hardware component never seen in the S line before: a built-in S Pen. But if you ignore the S Pen and the harder/sharper corners of this year’s model, the Galaxy S22 Ultra is actually an iterative update of the Galaxy S21 Ultra, offering very similar user experiences. The camera hardware, in fact, remains mostly unchanged from last year. Heck, one could argue the Galaxy S series made bigger leaps forward in the previous two years — the Galaxy S20 Ultra over the S10 Plus; then the Galaxy S21 Ultra over the S20 Ultra.

But this doesn’t mean Galaxy S21 Ultra owners can conclude there’s no reason to upgrade. Samsung has made subtle refinements that add up to more than the sum of its parts. Plus, if you do care about the S Pen, that’s immediately a differentiator.

Galaxy S22 Ultra

The Galaxy S22 Ultra is the best of the best right now in the Android space, with the best screen, the best zoom camera, and an S Pen to boot!

View at Samsung

Galaxy S21 Ultra

The Galaxy S21 Ultra may be a year old, but it still holds up very well in 2022, offering a lot of the same things that make the Galaxy S22 Ultra great!

View at Amazon

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs Galaxy S21 Ultra: Specifications

Specifications	Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra	Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Build	Aluminum mid-frame Gorilla Glass Victus back Gorilla Glass Victus front	Aluminum mid-frame Gorilla Glass Victus back Gorilla Glass Victus front
Dimensions & Weight	163.3 x 77.9 x 8.9mm 229 grams	165.1 x 75.6 x 8.9mm 227 grams
Display	6.8″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X curved display Variable refresh rate up between 1Hz to 120Hz	6.8″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X curved display Variable refresh rate between 10Hz to 120Hz
SoC	International: Exynos 2200 US, China, India, among others: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1	International: Exynos 2100 US and China: Qualcomm Snapdragon 888:
RAM & Storage	8GB/12GB RAM 128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB	12GB/16GB RAM 128GB/256GB/512GB
Battery & Charging	5,000mAh 45W USB Power Delivery 3.0 fast charging 15W wireless charging 4.5 reverse wireless charging No charger in box in most regions	5,000mAh 25W USB Power Delivery 3.0 fast charging 15W wireless charging 4.5 reverse wireless charging No charger in box in most regions
Security	Ultrasonic in-Display fingerprint scanner	Ultrasonic in-Display fingerprint scanner
Rear Camera(s)	Primary: 108MP wide, f/1.8, 1/1.33″, OIS, Laser AF Secondary: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.2 Tertiary: 10MP telephoto, 3x optical zoom, f/2.4 Quarternary: 10MP, Periscope, 10x optical zoom, f/4.9	Primary: 108MP wide, f/1.8, 1/1.33″, OIS, Laser AF Secondary: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.2 Tertiary: 10MP telephoto, 3x optical zoom, f/2.4 Quarternary: 10MP, Periscope, 10x optical zoom, f/4.9
Front Camera(s)	40MP	40MP
Port(s)	USB-C	USB-C
Audio	Stereo speakers	Stereo speakers
Connectivity	5G (mmWave) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) with 2×2 MIMO Bluetooth 5.2 NFC	5G (mmWave) Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) Bluetooth 5.1 NFC
Software	One UI 4.1 over Android 12	One UI 3.1 over Android 11
Other Features	Single physical SIM in Korea and US; dual physical SIM in most other regions S Pen included	Single physical SIM in Korea and US; dual physical SIM in most other regions

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Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs Galaxy S21 Ultra: Hardware and Design

One phone is easily more comfortable to hold than the other

I know I’m not alone in feeling this, but I have always thought the boxy design language of the last few Galaxy Note phones looked great (the hard corners evoke the feelings of authority in my opinion). but they didn’t actually feel great in the hand. The same is true with the Galaxy S22 Ultra because it really is just a renamed Galaxy Note. I love how the Galaxy S22 Ultra looks in product photos, when it’s standing upright on a table, towering over everything with an intimidating menace like the monoliths in 2001: Space Odyssee. But within a few minutes of holding the actual thing, I start feeling the constant jabs at my palm from the hard corners.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra has no such problems. It’s rounder, curvier, nestling in my palm in a softer, more gentle manner. Both phones technically have the same screen size, but the Galaxy S22 Ultra has a bit more screen because its corners are angled, unlike the rounded corners of the Galaxy S21 Ultra. The bezels around the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s display are a bit thinner too. Even if it doesn’t feel as good in the hand, the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s front looks a bit better in my opinion.

Beautiful, vibrant OLED panels on both — but one is more battery efficient

The display in the Galaxy S21 Ultra was the best in the industry at the time of release last year, and even now, the screen holds up and looks virtually as good as any 2022 flagship screen so far. However, if we nitpick, then the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s display is a bit superior. The latter’s screen gets brighter, at 1,750 nits of max brightness to the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s 1,500 nits (though this difference isn’t as notable practically for a variety of reasons, including our inability to perceive brightness linearly). And while both phones have variable refresh rates that can go as high as 120Hz, the Galaxy S21 Ultra screen can drop to as low as 1Hz, while the Galaxy S21 Ultra screen only gets to 10Hz. This last bit is important, as it improves power consumption efficiency.

Galaxy S22 Ultra (left) and Galaxy S21 Ultra (right).

Despite both phones having the same 5,000 mAh battery capacity, I find the Galaxy S22 Ultra to offer noticeably better battery life. This is likely due to the combination of the newer device’s OLED panel that is able to achieve a lower refresh rate, and the newer, more power-efficient SoC. I am a very heavy user on weekends, where I tend to be out for 10-12 hours taking dozens of photos and videos and constantly streaming music during bus rides and social media. And the Galaxy S22 Ultra can last a full 12 hours out and still return home with like 30-35% battery. The Galaxy S21 Ultra under the same scenario would be teetering dangerously close to under 10%.

I must remind you again — I am testing the Snapdragon variants. My colleague Adam says the Exynos version of the Galaxy S22 Ultra has sub-par battery life, amongst other differences.

SoC and Performance

The Galaxy S22 Ultra obviously runs on a newer processor, running on either a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or Exynos 2200 compared to the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s Snapdragon 888 or Exynos 2100. I have only tested the Snapdragon versions of this device (lucky me, as the Exynos Galaxy S22 Ultra is far inferior according to my colleague Adam Conway’s testing), and to be honest, the newer SoC is hardly noticeable in normal day to day use, with perhaps the only noticeable difference coming in camera performance (more on this later). The Snapdragon 888 is still more than powerful enough for 99% of consumers. Benchmark numbers, of course, favor the newer chip — no surprises there.

S Pen

The biggest difference between the two devices is the S Pen: the Galaxy S22 Ultra has one built into the phone, free of charge. The Galaxy S21 Ultra can support one, but it costs extra and you have to use a special case to house it with the phone. The added effort and expense of needing to buy a separate S Pen and a case means most people owning the Galaxy S21 Ultra just use the phone as-is, without the S Pen.

The S Pen experience on the Galaxy S22 Ultra is Samsung's best ever phone stylus experience

The S Pen experience on the Galaxy S22 Ultra is Samsung’s best-ever phone stylus experience: the latency has been lowered to 2.8ms (the Galaxy S21 Ultra, if you were to pay for that additional S Pen, produces 9ms of latency), and all the features Galaxy Note users have been used to, such as off-screen memo, or using the S Pen as a Bluetooth remote, are here. Whether or not these features bring a lot of value depends on the person. For me personally, every time I have reviewed a Galaxy Note phone in the past, I’d play with the S Pen for a few days, then sort of forget it’s there. The Galaxy S22 Ultra doesn’t change that. The S Pen to me is still a nice bonus but not essential. But that’s me. There are plenty of loyal Note users who vehemently disagree with me, and that’s okay. And if you’re in that camp, you don’t even need this article — you’ve probably already purchased the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

But even if I use the S Pen only once in a blue moon, the fact it’s here, included free of charge and not affecting battery capacity, is great. It’s basically a free bonus — and this automatically adds value proposition to the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

Almost the exact same camera hardware — but newer ISP and superior software smarts make a difference

Samsung promised major improvements to the Galaxy S22 Ultra, which was bold claims considering it brings back almost the exact same camera hardware as the Galaxy S21 Ultra, just with apparently superior glass lenses. Otherwise, the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s main camera system still consists of the same quad-camera system covering the wide, ultra-wide, 3x, and 10x focal range and the image sensor sizes and aperture are all the same too.

This means the camera improvements come entirely via the new ISP in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Samsung’s own software tweaking. And after taking dozens of photos with both phones side-by-side, I can conclude that the Galaxy S22 Ultra cameras do bring noticeable improvements, but you have to know where to look. If you’re just taking a photo in favorable conditions (you’re not shooting against harsh backlight, it’s not particularly dark or contrasty) then photos captured by the two phones are identical.

Where the Galaxy S22 Ultra wins is if you take photos in tougher situations, like 10x zoom shots. Even though both phones have identical 10x zoom Periscope camera hardware, Samsung’s newer software processing and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1’s ISP is able to recover more details and maintain lighting consistency. In low light situations, like the second set of 10x samples below, the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s shot is noticeably sharper with less noise too.

Both Ultra devices can digitally zoom up to 100x, and since at this point it is more about software fine-tuning than hardware prowess, the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s superior software produces a slightly better image too. It’s still far too blurry or noisy a photo to upload to social media, but it is a step up from the impressionist painting vibe of the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s 100x zoom. The “Zoom Lock” feature, which uses AI to lock onto subjects from far away, works a bit better on the Galaxy S22 Ultra than on the Galaxy S21 Ultra too.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra’s main camera is also better in low light performance due to a new software trick Samsung introduced, “Adaptive Pixel,” which essentially lets the Galaxy S22 Ultra combine data from a 108MP shot and a pixel-binned 12MP shot (whereas the Galaxy S21 Ultra can only shoot in either 108MP or 12MP shots). This allows the Galaxy S21 Ultra to achieve a larger micron-pixel size with software trickery. See the below samples for yourselves, it’s subtle, but the Galaxy S22 Ultra shot has less noise and more accurate colors.

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Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs Galaxy S21 Ultra: Software

The Galaxy S22 Ultra ships with One UI 4.1 over Android 12, while my unit of the Galaxy S21 Ultra is still on One UI 3.1 over Android 11 (although the One UI 4 update has rolled out in other regions). Overall UI aesthetics remain similar across both devices. App icons, notification panel, settings panel mostly look the same. The “sharing” menu has been streamlined a bit.

All the new Android 12 addition has carried over to the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s, including a customizable color palette that tries to match the phone’s UI to wallpaper colors, and the light indicator that shows in the upper right corner of screens whenever the phone’s cameras or mics are being accessed.

Obviously, having the newer version of Android is better, so right now the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s software is superior, but the Galaxy S21 Ultra is getting this same update across regions, so these two phones should have the same UI. Samsung also upgraded its update promise with the launch of the Galaxy S22 series: you now get four generations of Android updates and 5 years of security updates on both devices. However, since the Galaxy S22 Ultra is newer and launches with a newer Android version, it will stay updated for another year and generation beyond the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

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Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs Galaxy S21 Ultra: Which one to buy?

If we tick off typical smartphone review boxes, the Galaxy S22 Ultra is clearly the superior device — more powerful SoC, a 1TB storage option, longer battery life, slightly brighter screen, better low light, and zoom camera performances. However, there are other factors to consider, such as price and in-hand comfort. As I said up top, I am not a huge fan of how the Galaxy S22 Ultra (or the last few Galaxy Note phones) feel in my hand due to the pointy corners. Not everyone will feel this way, and if you get a Galaxy S22 Ultra case, that could help fix the issue. But for me, I constantly prefer holding the Galaxy S21 Ultra more.

If we tick off typical smartphone review boxes, the Galaxy S22 Ultra is clearly the superior device, but there are other factors to consider.

And of course, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is cheaper. Currently, the Galaxy S22 Ultra retails for $1,200 for 128GB of storage, though you get 8GB of RAM on it. While there are deals that could shave some off the final price tag, there is no way the Galaxy S22 Ultra won’t be the pricier of the two devices. The Galaxy S21 Ultra, meanwhile, can currently be found listed at the same price on Amazon, but you get 12GB of RAM. Prices should drop more in the coming weeks as the Galaxy S22 Ultra rolls out to more countries. I think in another month, there should be a $300 price gap between the two.

If you don’t need the S Pen, it’s worth saving money and opting for the Galaxy S21 Ultra instead. Yes, I did say the Galaxy S22 Ultra has better battery life, and a better camera system, but these improvements did not go from a C to an A, they went from like an A+ to an A++. The Galaxy S21 Ultra’s battery life is still enough to last a whole day of heavy use, that screen is still going to be absolutely stunning to your eyes, photos will still be really good. For this reason, if you already have the Galaxy S21 Ultra, you don’t need to upgrade to the Galaxy S22 Ultra. There is a regional caveat here: if you live in a region like India, which is now getting the Snapdragon version of the flagship, creating a noticeable delta in gaming performance between the two generations — then there is more of a case wherein it might just make sense upgrading from the Galaxy S21 Ultra to the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

As a standalone comparison and not a year-on-year upgrade: if you know you want the latest and absolute best, with money being a non-issue, or if you really want the S Pen, then the Galaxy S22 Ultra is an easy decision.

Galaxy S22 Ultra

The Galaxy S22 Ultra is the best of the best right now in the Android space, with the best screen, the best zoom camera, and an S Pen to boot!

View at Samsung

Galaxy S21 Ultra

The Galaxy S21 Ultra may be a year old, but it still holds up very well in 2022, offering a lot of the same things that make the S22 Ultra great!

View at Amazon

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Geekbench accuses Samsung of benchmark manipulation, delists last four years of Galaxy flagships

The Samsung Galaxy S22 series is clearly a hit, with pre-order sales through the roof. However, that hasn’t stopped it from facing its own set of controversies. The most recent of which surrounds the company’s Game Optimization Service, which reportedly throttles approximately 10,000 applications. Samsung has since said that it will give users the choice to prioritize performance in an upcoming update, but it’s too little, too late, as Geekbench has now delisted the last four years of Galaxy flagships from its benchmark browser.

Today we delisted these handsets from the Android Benchmark chart on the Geekbench Browser.

— Geekbench (@geekbench) March 4, 2022

Currently, Geekbench policy is that once a device is delisted from its device browser, there’s no coming back. Even when Samsung releases the update that will allow users to prioritize performance to have a “normal” experience, all of the Galaxy S22, S21, S20, and S10 devices will still remain delisted. This includes the Galaxy S20 FE and Galaxy S21 FE. Furthermore, Samsung hasn’t even said when it will release the update that will give users the ability to prioritize performance.

In a statement provided to Android Police, Geekbench said the following:

Earlier this week, we were made aware of Samsung’s Game Optimizing Service (GOS) and how it throttles the performance of games and applications. GOS decides to throttle (or not to throttle) applications using application identifiers and not application behavior. We view this as a form of benchmark manipulation as major benchmark applications, including Geekbench, are not throttled by this service.

Geekbench has previously delisted devices from its results browser before, the most famous example of which is the OnePlus 9 series. It was discovered that when OxygenOS detected certain apps running, it would disable the Cortex-X1 primary core in order to conserve power. This did not affect benchmarking apps, and therefore, Geekbench considered it to be benchmark manipulation. Other companies that have had devices delisted in the past include Huawei and Xiaomi.

Of course, this won’t stop you from running Geekbench on your Samsung smartphone. Instead, it just means that the publicly traversable directory of benchmarking results will not be available for affected device models. We’ll be sure to keep a close eye on this situation for any further developments.

Geekbench 5 (Free, Google Play) →

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Source: Android Police

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Hands-on with the Honor Magic V: Honor’s first foldable phone

Honor unveiled the Honor Magic V at a Chinese launch event in January 2022, its first foray into the foldable smartphone market. It’s a Chinese exclusive with no international launch date in sight, but it packs high-end specifications in one folding package. It’s a similar form-factor to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, though slightly wider on the front-facing display. Specs-wise, it packs a 120Hz cover display, a 90Hz inner-display, and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset powering the entire device.

We recently got some hands-on time with the Honor Magic V at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the company’s launch event for the Honor Magic 4 series. While it still didn’t have Google apps (and thus, doesn’t point to an international launch event anytime soon), we got to play around with it for a little bit.

About this hands-on: Honor recently sponsored my attendance to Mobile World Congress 2022 in Barcelona. However, Honor did not have any input regarding the content of this article.

Honor Magic V: Specifications

Specification	Honor Magic V
Dimensions & Weight	Dimensions: Folded: 160.4 x 72.7 x 14.3mm Unfolded: 160.4 x 141.1 x 6.7mm Weight: Burnt Orange: 288g Space Silver, Black: 293g
Display	Cover: 6.45-inch OLED 2560 x 1080 pixels 431ppi 21:9 aspect ratio 120Hz refresh rate Main: 7.9-inch OLED 2272 x 1984 pixels 381ppi 90Hz refresh rate
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Adreno 730
RAM & Storage	12GB+256GB 12GB+512GB
Battery & Charging	4,750mAh 66W fast charging support
Security	Side-mounted fingerprint scanner
Rear Camera(s)	Primary: 50MP f/1.9 Secondary: 50MP f/2.2 ultra-wide Tertiary: 50MP f/2.0 Spectrum Enhanced
Front Camera(s)	42MP f/2.4
Port(s)	USB Type-C
Audio	Stereo speakers
Connectivity	5G 4G LTE Wi-Fi 6 (2.4GHz + 5GHz) Bluetooth 5.2
Software	MagicUI 6 based on Android 12
Colors	Black Space Silver Burnt Orange

Honor Magic V: Design

The Honor Magic V has a pretty similar look and feel to the Galaxy Z Flip 3, packing a 6.45-inch 120Hz FHD+ display on the front with a hole-punch cutout for the selfie camera. There’s a rectangular camera module on the back, surrounded by what feels like faux leather. When the device is unfolded, it reveals a massive 7.9-inch foldable OLED display with a 2272 x 1984 resolution and 90Hz peak refresh rate. There’s also a fingerprint sensor embedded in the power button on the right-hand side, meaning that it’s convenient to use when folded or unfolded.

Just like the OPPO Find N, the Magic V packs a waterdrop hinge that reduces creasing on the display. There was no visible crease unless you really looked for it, and even then, you’d forget about it very quickly. Honor also claims that this hinge design is the slimmest when compared to similar products in the market. Finally, there are no visible gaps between each side of the display when it’s folded shut. It’s also certainly one of the thinnest.

Using it felt sturdy, and it felt comfortable to use. It’s also one of the biggest foldable phones out there — the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is a tad bit smaller in day-to-day usage. There’s not really much of a difference though, and if this one launches in the west, it’ll look more or less the same. There’s also the camera cut-out at the top right which impedes on the display if that’s something that might bother you. It feels like a bit of a weird placement.

Honor Magic V: Pricing & Availability

The Honor Magic V is a lot of fun to use, and it’s great to see the proliferation of foldable smartphones. It runs Android 12-based MagicUI 6, which still retains pretty much of its EMUI similarities. There weren’t really any folding-phone-specific software features that I could spot on this particular unit, aside from it being much easier to hop into multi-window mode from within apps. Even still, that’s more of  a typical Android feature that just becomes more useful on a larger display.

The Honor Magic V is currently available for purchase in China as of January 18, and it’s priced as follows:

• 12GB+256GB: CNY 9,999 (~$1,570)
• 12GB+512GB: CNY 10,999 (~$1,725)

It’s not slated for an international release currently, but we’ll be sure to let you know as soon as we learn more about it.

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Leaked renders showcase the upcoming Xiaomi Watch S1 Active

At the Xiaomi 12 series launch event in China late last year, Xiaomi also launched the Xiaomi Watch S1 — a premium smartwatch featuring a 1.43-inch AMOLED display, up to 117 workout modes, continuous heart rate monitoring, an SpO2 sensor, up to 12 days of battery life, a built-in app store, and more. The company is reportedly gearing up to launch a new variant of the Watch S1, called the Xiaomi Watch S1 Active, and leaked renders of the smartwatch have now surfaced online.

The Xiaomi Watch S1 Active will feature a more rugged design compared to its predecessor, according to the renders shared by 91mobiles. The smartwatch looks to have a metal case with a circular dial, silicone straps, and two hardware buttons on the right side. However, unlike the regular Watch S1 (which features tiny circular buttons), the buttons on the Xiaomi Watch S1 are a bit larger and resemble the ones found on Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4.

Credit: 91mobiles

The renders further reveal that the watch will have Home, Sport, Outdoor, and Active text engraved on the bezel. The text lines up with the hardware buttons on the right side, which leads us to believe that the watch could have two more buttons on the other side corresponding to the other modes. However, we can’t be sure of that at the moment, as the renders only showcase the watch from one angle.

In addition, the leak reveals that Xiaomi might launch the Watch S1 Active in three colorways — Black, Blue, and White — with matching bands. Interestingly, the black and blue variants of the watch feature a color-matching case, while the white variant has a silver case. All three models have a red accent on the button labeled Sport.

At the moment, we have no further details about the Xiaomi Watch S1. However, it’s safe to assume that it will offer all the features available on the regular Watch S1, along with a couple of extras. We’ll make sure to let you know as soon as we have more information about the smartwatch.

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Source: 91mobiles

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