Here are all the S Pen features and functions on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

The Samsung Galaxy S Ultra lineup officially succeeds the Galaxy Note lineup, meaning that the S Pen is here to stay. In fact, we can even hope to see Samsung’s foldables come with S Pen support and even an integrated S Pen if space allows for it. The Galaxy Note series has its fans who know all about the S Pen and its features. But an integrated S Pen is still new for the S series, and Samsung provides a fair few features that take advantage of the active stylus. Here are the features and functions of the S Pen on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.

Navigate this article:

• Overview of the S Pen on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
• S Pen Features:
  • • Screen Off Memo
    • Samsung Notes app
    • Air Actions
    • Smart Select
    • Screen Write
    • Penup
    • Coloring
    • Live Messages
    • AR Doodle
    • Translate
    • Magnify
    • Glance
    • Bixby Vision
    • Write on Calendar
• S Pen Settings

Overview of the S Pen on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

One of the big talking points for the S Pen specifically on the Galaxy S22 Ultra is that Samsung has reduced the latency down to 2.8ms, down by almost 70% from the previous 9ms latency on the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. This is the closest Samsung has come to simulating the pen on paper feeling with the S Pen. Samsung has even added artificial “scribbling” sounds that originate from the phone’s speakers (and that you can turn off), further adding to the pen-on-paper experience.

Beyond that, there aren’t any further talking points for this generation itself — they come carried from previous S Pens. The S Pen integrates within the chassis of the Galaxy S22 Ultra and recharges itself wirelessly when in there. Note that this charging is different from Qi wireless charging, so you can’t just place your S Pen on a wireless charger to charge — you have to place it back inside the phone to charge. It connects via Bluetooth to the device, which is how it can communicate with the device for battery status and for functions such as remote shutter. If you manage to drain out the battery of the S Pen, it will still work as a dumb stylus, but you will lose out on remote functions until you get some charge back in it.

Samsung doesn’t want you to leave behind the S Pen. So there is an option in the settings that lets your phone alert you with audio and vibration if the S Pen isn’t in the phone and it gets disconnected (i.e. you move far away from the S Pen). If you lose your S Pen, you can buy a replacement S Pen. Just know that at $50, the replacement S Pen isn’t exactly what I would consider cheap. So take good care of this stylus.

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

As for the Pen itself, it comes with a non-replaceable 0.7mm nib/pen tip with 4,096 pressure level support. S Pens in the past have come with replaceable tips — I am not sure why Samsung went back to a non-replaceable tip as a replaceable tip would have given some more peace of mind in case you managed to damage just the tip of the pen. You get a pack of 5-10 replaceable tips for about $7, but that’s unfortunately no longer an option.

For the shape, the S Pen has a thin and somewhat flat body, much thinner, flatter, and smaller than the usual ballpoint pen and other S Pens like the S Pen Pro. There are two tiny indents someways down the tip, which is used to sense when the pen is placed back inside the phone. There is a flat button on one side, which is the button you need to press for remote functions. The top of the pen has a clickable button — this has no other functions apart from helping you remove the pen from the phone, and accidentally acting as a fidget toy (the clicks are very satisfying).

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S Pen Features

Samsung’s latest One UI 4.1 update on the Galaxy S22 Ultra comes with the following S Pen-related functionality. The popup that opens up when you remove the S Pen is referred to as the Air Command menu, and it comes with a few default selected functions. In the image below, you can also see the Air Action commands, as well as the other options that you can enable within the sidebar.

Note that you can also add any other app to the Air Command menu. So if you have an app that you usually use with an S Pen, you can have it placed here so that you can open it easily whenever you pull out the S Pen.

Screen Off Memo

One of the first S Pen related features you will encounter on the Galaxy S22 Ultra is Screen Off Memo. Essentially, as soon as you pull out the S Pen from your device, you can start writing things down, without even needing to switch on your screen.

You get a few basic color options for scribbling here (red, green, blue, yellow, gray), five different stroke sizes for the digital pen, an eraser, an option to pin a note, and buttons to scroll up and down. The note that you create is saved automatically in the Samsung Notes app when you place the S Pen back inside the phone.

Samsung Notes App

Further conversation about the S Pen will remain incomplete without talking about the Samsung Notes app. It’s the app where you will be doing your jotting down outside of Screen Off Memo. By itself, the Samsung Notes app is a great note-taking app that competes against the likes of Google Keep. But pair it with the S Pen, and the Samsung Notes app unlocks a new level of note-taking.

In addition to the usual text-based notes, the Samsung Notes app also lets you continue using the S Pen for handwritten notes. You can also import images and PDFs to it, and then use the S Pen to draw, highlight, and many other actions. You can even handwrite text and the app will let you convert it into typed text.

Air Actions

Air Actions take advantage of the Bluetooth functions on the stylus as well as the other sensors to detect movement. With Air Actions, you can use the button on the S Pen for various tasks on single and double click, as well as for hold-down movements. You’re almost waving the S Pen like a wand for certain hold-clockwise actions.

Air Actions are neat. You can set the defaults for navigation, and then enable certain options for certain specific apps. You can even enable/disable Air Actions on a category of apps, namely for camera apps and media player apps. All of this is rather neat, but mastering it and remembering the actions takes some practice. You also cannot set actions on any additional apps that aren’t listed, nor can you modify the preset commands within the apps (you can only modify the general presets). I like the idea of Air Actions, but I find remembering the commands a bit tedious.

Smart Select

Smart Select is an extension of Screenshot functionality, supercharged with the presence of the S Pen. With Smart Select, you can screenshot a rectangular, circular, or freeform shape. This way, you go beyond the regular screenshots that Android provides. You can choose to just save and share the smaller screenshot that you just took, or do further actions such as removing the background from the image, adding drawing and text, or even inserting this subset-screenshot over another screenshot. Further, you can even create a GIF screen recording of a rectangular subset area.

This is a lot of screenshot overkill, and photo editor apps also let you accomplish similar results by taking different routes. But Samsung has built all of this functionality into the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and you can access it by just pulling out the S Pen and choosing the Smart Select option in the Air Command menu.

Screen Write

If Smart Select felt too overwhelming to you, Screen Write is a simpler way to screenshot. You can take a screenshot of the screen, and then scribble on it to save and share further.

There’s fairly limited functionality over here, and that is intentional to keep the process simple and quick.

Penup

Penup is the app where you get really serious about having fun and creating art with the S Pen and sharing it with other members in the app community. Penup comes pre-installed on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and other S Pen supporting devices and can be uninstalled and reinstalled from the Google Play Store. You can sign in with your Samsung, Facebook, Google, or Twitter account, or use the app as-is without needing to log in.

There’s a fair bunch to unpack in the app, but some of the key highlights of the app are finding art outlines that you can then color in, and finding tutorials (called as “Live Drawing”) that handhold you through creating art. There are challenges and other competitions thrown into the mix to keep it lively for the community.

I’ve used Penup on Samsung tablets briefly, and my nephews adore the coloring functions. On a bigger screen, it’s almost like giving them a coloring book. On a smaller device like the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the experience is admittedly a little cramped, but still entirely serviceable to show off what you can do with the S Pen.

Coloring

Coloring gets its own submenu within Air Commands. But it just opens up the Coloring tab within the Penup app. The functions remain the same as within the Coloring tab within the Penup app.

Live Messages

Live Messages lets you create videos and GIFs with scribblings on them. You can choose to scribble over an image, video, or colored background.

This feature is intended to be used as a fun extra. As long as you have some creativity, you can get some good results.

AR Doodle

The AR Doodle feature can be accessed through the Air Command menu that pops up when you remove the S Pen, as well as through the AR Zone app. As the name implies, AR Doodle lets you doodle in Augmented Reality. This feature works only with the front camera.

Essentially, the phone camera recognizes the objects in your viewfinder as faces and environmental surfaces. You can doodle over a video and have the doodle “stick” to its position relative to the object it has been stuck on. So you can draw on the people present within the front camera view and the environment around them. This is another one of those fun implementations of the S Pen, that isn’t productivity-focused.

Translate

Samsung offers Google Translate-powered translation with the S Pen, and you don’t need to have the Google Translate app installed for it. You can choose to translate between practically all the languages that Google Translate offers, and you can choose to either translate it on a word-to-word basis (helpful if you are a proficient speaker and just get stuck on some words from time to time), or select longer sentences and paragraphs. Just hover over the text with the S Pen, wait for a second, and the translation will appear.

Magnify

As you would expect from this feature, Magnify lets you magnify the content on your screen. You can choose from two preview sizes, and from four magnification options: 150%, 200%, 250%, and 300%.

This is a nice accessibility feature to have, providing an alternative to zooming in, especially for content that does not support native zooming in.

Glance

Glance is a tool that flies under the radar for many S Pen users. The concept of Glance is that you can peek into an app while using a different app. It’s a different take on multitasking, one that rests on quick app switching instead of side-by-side multiwindow.

Open any app, pull out your S Pen and start Glance. In the above screenshots, I opened Twitter and started Glance. The app then minimizes into a small thumbnail that can rest on any corner, and stays in this minimized state while you use the rest of the phone. When you hover your S Pen over this thumbnail, the app returns to its normal state, and you can interact with it normally. Pull the S Pen away from the display and the app minimizes back and you can interact with the rest of your phone. To exit the Glance session, drag the minimized app to the trash icon and leave Glance mode.

This is a nifty feature and can work out in certain scenarios. For instance, the Calculator app is a good candidate for this, letting you navigate through multiple notes and spreadsheets and pulling open the calculator only when you need to make a calculation. A Notes app also works in the same situation. Samsung should have done a better job at promoting the existence of this feature (it’s not even enabled on the Air Command menu by default) as it can be rather nifty.

Bixby Vision

Bixby Vision is like Google Lens, but with Samsung’s virtual assistant instead. And since this is S Pen related functionality and not something that makes use of your camera (as it otherwise would), you get a limited set of features. Bixby Vision identifies things on your phone screen.

For text, you can select text and do actions like translate it. For images, it performs a reverse image search, but for some reason, it searches on….Pinterest? The feature would have been far more useful if it could do a Google Reverse Image Search instead.

Write on Calendar

Write on Calendar lets you…write on the Samsung Calendar app. This isn’t creating an entry within Samsung Calendar (and synced across to your other calendars). Instead, this is just a scribble that is displayed as a layer on top of the Calendar view within the Samsung Calendar app. The layer is mapped to the Month, but other than that, I could not notice it affecting the Calendar in any way. When you enter the Write on Calendar action, you enter the view that was open in Samsung Calendar — you can’t switch to any specific day or month view. So this feature is quite frankly, useless and rightfully not enabled within Air Commands by default.

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Other S Pen Settings

S Pen gets its own submenu within Settings > Advanced Features. Within this, you get access to toggles and other parameters for a bunch of additional settings.

Of these, I recommend familiarizing yourself with Air Actions, taking some time out to configure your Air Command menu shortcuts, and turning off the S Pen system sound (or don’t, if you like the squiggly sounds that come from the speaker to give a more pen-on-paper feeling). The Air View features are neat too, but they work within Samsung apps only from what I have observed so far.

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Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is the top flagship for 2022, bringing over top of the line performance, display and camera capabilities alongside S Pen capabilities to deliver an ultra experience for power users.

Buy from Samsung.com

The S Pen on the Galaxy S22 Ultra is practically just the same as the S Pen on the last few Galaxy Note devices. With the stylus getting integrated within the body of the device, the Galaxy S22 Ultra is practically a Note now. Many people will be picking up the device for its overkill cameras, and likely be oblivious of what all can be done with the S Pen. We hope this article is helpful in letting you know all that you can do with S Pen. If you’re looking at picking up this stylus flagship, you can check out the best deals for the Galaxy S22 Ultra. And if you’ve already bought it, you can check out some of the best cases for the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

The post Here are all the S Pen features and functions on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra appeared first on xda-developers.

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Download: OnePlus 8 series and OnePlus 9R receive stable Android 12 with OxygenOS 12 update

OnePlus is gearing up for the global launch of the OnePlus 10 Pro. And while that is something to look forward to, existing OnePlus 9R and OnePlus 8 series owners also have something to rejoice about. After releasing a single Open Beta build based on Android 12 for these devices, the OEM is now rolling out the stable OxygenOS 12 update to the OnePlus 8, 8 Pro, 8T, and the OnePlus 9R.

Thanks to OnePlus Community member Jeff Alamo for the screenshot!

The build number of the stable release is C.11 (for the OnePlus 8 series)/C.14 (for the OnePlus 9R). Apart from the Android 12 foundation, the first obvious change in the OxygneOS 12 update is the reimagined user interface. There are a number of new quality of life features and improvements as well, such as Canvas AOD and the OnePlus Watch Card in Shelf. The Android security patch level (SPL) is a bit old, though, as OnePlus ships February 2022 security patches with these builds.

Here is the complete changelog for the update:

Changelog for OxygenOS 12 stable update for the OnePlus 8, 8 Pro, 8T, and 9R

• System
  • Optimized desktop icons with improved textures, by using a design inspired by brand-new materials and uniting lights and layers
  • Fixed the issue that background applications are abnormally closed in specific scenarios
  • Fixed the issue with lens permissions when using third party camera applications
  • Fixed the issue of screen cannot respond when receiving notifications
• Dark mode
  • Dark mode now supports three adjustable levels, bringing a more personalized and comfortable user experience
• Shelf
  • New additional style options for Cards, making data contents more visual and easier to read
  • Newly added Earphone Control Card with Bluetooth earphone one-click adjustment
  • Newly added access to OnePlus Scout in Shelf, allowing you to search multiple contents on your phone, including Apps, Settings, Media Data, etc
  • Newly added OnePlus Watch Card in Shelf, to easily glance at your health stats
• Work Life Balance
  • Work Life Balance feature is now available to all users, allowing you to effortlessly switch between Work and Life mode via quick settings
  • WLB 2.0 now supports automatic Work/Life mode switching, based on specific locations, Wi-Fi network, and time, also bringing customized App notification profiles according to the personalization
• Gallery
  • Gallery now allows you to switch between different layouts with a two-finger pinch gesture, intelligently recognizing the best-quality pictures, and cropping the thumbnail based on the content, making the gallery layout more pleasing
• Canvas AOD
  • Canvas AOD brings you new diverse styles of lines and colors, for a more personalized lock screen experience with inspiring visuals
  • Newly added multiple brushes and strokes and support for color adjustment
  • Optimized software algorithm and improved face recognition to better identify the features and skin color of different figures
• Network
  • Fixed the issue that unable to automatically connect to Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth
  • Fixed the issue that wireless earphones cannot play sound when connecting Bluetooth in specific scenarios

Although this is the stable build, the release is currently limited to existing Open Beta participants only. Moreover, for the OnePlus 8 series, the update for the European variant hasn’t been ready yet due to additional validation requirements. We expect the stable OxygenOS 12 OTA to roll out to all users over the coming week, unless any showstopper bugs are spotted.

XDA Forums: OnePlus 8 || OnePlus 8 Pro || OnePlus 8T || OnePlus 9R

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Download: Stable OxygenOS 12 for the OnePlus 8, 8 Pro, 8T, and 9R

You can either wait for your device to get picked up on the staged rollout, or you can sideload the update using the download links provided below. We’ll continue to update this article as we get more download links.

• OnePlus 8
  • India (IN2011_11.C.11):
    • Full update
    • Incremental from Open Beta 1 (C.10)
  • Global (IN2015_11.C.11):
    • Full update
    • Incremental from Open Beta 1 (C.10)
• OnePlus 8 Pro
  • India (IN2021_11.C.11):
    • Full update
    • Incremental from Open Beta 1 (C.10)
  • Global (IN2025_11.C.11):
    • Full update
    • Incremental from Open Beta 1 (C.10)
• OnePlus 8T
  • India (KB2001_11.C.11):
    • Full update
    • Incremental from Open Beta 1 (C.10)
  • Global (KB2005_11.C.11):
    • Full update
    • Incremental from Open Beta 1 (C.10)
• OnePlus 9R
  • India (LE2101_11.C.14):
    • Full update
    • Incremental from Open Beta 1 (C.13)

In case you wish to downgrade to the OxygenOS 11 release at any point, you can download the rollback package from the link below. Keep in mind that this will wipe all your data, so you should take a backup before proceeding.

• OnePlus 8
  • India:
    • Rollback package
  • Global:
    • Rollback package
• OnePlus 8 Pro
  • India:
    • Rollback package
  • Global:
    • Rollback package
• OnePlus 8T
  • India:
    • Rollback package
  • Global:
    • Rollback package
• OnePlus 9R
  • India:
    • Rollback package

Thanks to XDA Senior Member Some_Random_Username for the download links!

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Source: OnePlus Community Forums (1, 2, 3)

The post Download: OnePlus 8 series and OnePlus 9R receive stable Android 12 with OxygenOS 12 update appeared first on xda-developers.

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Realme GT 2 Pro Review: A practical no-nonsense flagship at a sensible price

Realme has been slowly upping the ante with each and every release in the past few years. I reviewed one of the company’s first flagship outings in the form of the Realme X50 Pro 5G, and I’ve been following them closely ever since. At MWC 2022, the company launched the Realme GT 2 and Realme GT 2 Pro variants.

From my testing, the Realme GT 2 Pro is the best phone that it’s ever released, in terms of how complete of a package it currently is. It’s a beautiful device with a clean software experience and fantastic specifications across the board, and I think it’s fair to say that Realme is really hitting its groove. It’s not aiming or claiming to be an Ultra smartphone, but much more importantly, it delivers on all of what it aims to deliver: great display, great performance, great camera, great battery, and great charging. It’s a well rounded package, and it shows, as you will see in this review.

The Realme GT 2 Pro is the best flagship made by Realme yet, and it packs flagship specifications across the board.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

See at Amazon

Realme GT 2 Pro: Specifications

Specification	Realme GT 2 Pro
Dimensions & Weight	163 x 74.7 x 8.18 mm 189g
Display	6.7-inch AMOLED LTPO (Samsung E4) QHD+  (3216 x 1440) 120Hz – 1Hz refresh rate 1000Hz touch sampling rate MEMC 1400nits 100% DCI-P3 wide color gamut coverage Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
SoC	Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 1x ARM Cortex-X2 @ 3.0GHz 3x ARM Cortex-A710 @ 2.50GHz 4x ARM Cortex-A510 @ 1.80GHz Adreno 730 GPU
RAM & Storage	8GB/12GB LPDDR5 RAM 128GB/256GB/512GB UFS 3.1 storage
Battery & Charging	5,000mAh battery 65W fast charging support
Security	In-display fingerprint scanner
Rear Camera(s)	Primary: 50MP IMX766, OIS Secondary: 50MP ultra-wide, 150-degree Tertiary: 2MP macro
Front Camera(s)	32MP
Port(s)	USB Type-C
Audio	Dual stereo speakers
Connectivity	5G NR Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.2 NFC GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo Dolby Atmos support Stereo speakers
Software	Realme UI 3.0 with Android 12
Colors	Paper White Paper Green Titanium Blue Steel Black

About this review: I received the Realme GT 2 Pro for review from the company on the 2nd of March, 2020. Realme did not have any input into the contents of this review.

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Realme GT 2 Pro: Design and Display

• High-end LTPO 120Hz QHD AMOLED panel
• Unique design
• Not as bright as I’d like it to be in direct sunlight

This is one of the best screens you can get on a phone at the moment

The Realme GT 2 Pro packs a 6.7-inch QHD+ AMOLED LTPO 2.0 panel with support for an adaptive refresh rate that can go from 1Hz all the way up to 120Hz. The front is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus, and there’s a punch-hole camera at the top left of the display. This is one of the best screens you can get on a phone at the moment, purely specification-wise. It has pretty much everything that you could want, though it’s not quite as bright as some other displays that I’ve used. The top spot is occupied by the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, but there are a whole bunch of others, including the Realme GT 2 Pro, sitting at the close second spot.

The phone comes in two different finishes, and ours is a textured paper-like back designed by Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa (who also designed the Realme GT Master Edition). It’s cool but it feels kind of strange. It’s close to the fake leather of the OPPO Find X2 Pro, but it’s not completely the same feel. I’m also not a huge fan of green phones so that in itself is a bit of a subjective miss for me. One thing that it does really help is that it makes the phone a lot grippier to hold, whereas phones made of metal or glass can often be slippery or attract fingerprints.

There’s a triple camera setup on the back adjacent to the company’s Realme branding and Fukasawa’s signature. The triple camera array is comprised of a 50MP primary shooter, a 50MP 150-degree ultra-wide, and a 2MP macro camera. There are also two flashlights on the back for greater illumination of photos, but the only way to trigger the second flashlight is by taking a photo. Turning on the flashlight from quick settings won’t turn on the flashlight on the bottom.

Nevertheless, the Realme GT 2 Pro is a lot more comfortable of a phone to hold in one hand than some others that I’ve already used this year. It’s not small by any metric really, but it’s thinner which certainly helps when holding it in one hand. The Realme GT 2 Pro’s paper-like design won’t be for everyone, but it’s fantastic to see companies trying something new in the design department.

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Realme GT 2 Pro: Performance

• Fantastic flagship performance thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
• Great high refresh-rate panel
• Smooth and fast in all tasks

Packing the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, the Realme GT 2 Pro has the latest and greatest chipset from Qualcomm. It has all the generational leaps over its predecessors and a 4nm node size for better performance without a substantial increase in power draw. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 retains the 1+3+4 configuration which Qualcomm has been running for a while, with the single Prime core being based on ARM’s new Cortex-X2. You also get up to 12GB of RAM, up to 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage, and that high resolution, high refresh rate display.

Despite all of that, the Realme GT 2 Pro is not really a gaming phone, and that’s something clever that the company has achieved with its marketing. The GT series started off as a somewhat enthusiast-focused lineup, and the included “GT Mode” is very clearly aimed at being used for games and is exclusive to the GT lineup of phones. GT Mode is essentially a performance mode that prioritizes performance over all else, something that a lot of gaming phones also offer. Realme isn’t advertising this phone exclusively for gamers, but it certainly wants gamers to know that they’re catered for.

I'm extremely happy with the performance on the Realme GT 2 Pro

The Kryo cores in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 are based on the ARMv9 architecture. The first CPU designs to be announced using the new technology were the Cortex-X2, Cortex-A710, and Cortex-A510, and those are the exact CPU designs that form the basis for Qualcomm’s Kryo chips. The Cortex-A710 promises a 30% boost in efficiency and a 10% performance uplift over its predecessor, the A78. The Cortex-A710 cores are clocked at 2.5GHz. As for the three Kryo Efficiency cores, they are based on the new Cortex-A510 design. A major criticism of last year’s Efficiency cores in the Snapdragon 888 surrounded the use of the aging Cortex-A55 cores, so now we should see a nice efficiency boost this year. The Cortex-A510 boasts a 35% increase in performance over the A55, with a 20% efficiency improvement, too. These cores are clocked at 1.79GHz.

The beauty of having the latest chipset in your smartphone is that it’s the best that you can get on any phone currently, and as such, pretty much everything will run on it. I ran into no problems on this phone whatsoever, and everything from games to normal browsing and hardcore emulation through the likes of AetherSX2 worked better than any other device I had used to date. Unlocking the phone is fast, taking photos presents no issues, and overall, I’m extremely happy with the performance on the Realme GT 2 Pro.

Benchmarks: Geekbench 5 & AndroBench

These storage speed results are in line with what we would expect from UFS 3.1 storage. Geekbench 5’s multi-core result is a little bit lower than expected, according to benchmarks that we ran on the Qualcomm Reference Device, though not something that I’ve seen reflected in real-world usage. Storage speed is important for gaming as it ensures fast, consistent load times in your games, as slower storage speed will act as a bottleneck.

Sustained performance

The Realme GT 2 Pro packs a significant punch in performance, but it means nothing if it throttles quickly. Sustained performance is a metric we use to measure whether or not a phone is capable of maintaining its peak performance, and if so, for how long. If the sustained performance is poor, then you’ll have greatly reduced performance after what could potentially be a short period of time. We used the CPU Throttling Test app on the Google Play Store for half an hour with both GT Mode on and with GT Mode off. I was impressed by the results.

CPU Throttling Test (Free, Google Play) →

As you can see above, GT Mode does make a significant enough difference. Its maximum performance (even with GT Mode on) is still slightly below what the Red Magic 7 was capable of with the SoC, but nevertheless, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of discrepancy. The phone didn’t get too hot to the touch either which is good, as that can be an issue when running some smartphones at full speed for too long.

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Realme GT 2 Pro: Camera

• Great primary shooter
• Similarly excellent ultra-wide
• Fun 2MP microscopic camera

The Realme GT 2 Pro has one of the best Realme cameras yet, and I was impressed by some of the shots that I’ve been able to snap with it. The primary 50MP camera can produce some stunning shots with excellent colors, whereas the 50MP ultra-wide isn’t too much of a step down either. There’s no dedicated telephoto lens though, which is something that bothers me and is something that I value greatly in smartphones.

The Realme GT 2 Pro has one of the best Realme cameras yet

I found that low-light performance in particular has been really good, and I also enjoy using the ColorOS/Realme UI camera app. It has a lot of useful features and is quick and easy to find what you want. You can also enable 10-bit color photos if you wish from the settings, though it’s not on by default which I appreciate on account of the HEIF image format that’s required to store them. Most social media apps won’t recognize that format.

Another feature that I greatly appreciate on the Realme GT 2 Pro is that it packs a similar microscope camera to the one that can be found on the OPPO Find X3 Pro. You can point it at anything, take a photo, and see it super up-close. For example, it will show you the pixels on your screen, the threads in your clothes, or anything you want, really.

It’s worth noting that the macro camera has flashlights above and below the camera, not in a ring around the sensor itself. That means you can’t place it straight down on some surfaces, as the camera viewfinder will be entirely black. It’s also only 2MP, so while you can zoom in up to 40x, it’s not going to be super high resolution. The OPPO Find X3 Pro offered a 3MP magnification camera that had 30x zoom and 60x zoom instead, though it’s also a significantly more expensive smartphone.

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Realme GT 2 Pro: Software

• Realme UI 3.0 is basically ColorOS 12
• Lots of useful features with a clean UI
• Expected fast updates

First and foremost, let’s get it out of the way: the Realme GT 2 Pro comes with Realme UI, which is basically just ColorOS with some small tweaks and a new name. It looks the same, has the same features, and feels the same too. It’s not as if it’s an issue, it’s just something that’s interesting and important to keep in mind if you don’t like ColorOS. This isn’t some vastly different operating system developed by Realme or anything.

There are a lot of useful features and it looks incredibly clean

For what it’s worth, I’ve had no problem with Realme UI, especially as ColorOS is one of my favorite (if not my absolute favorite) Android variants on the market. There are a lot of useful features and it looks incredibly clean, without any real bloat that I’ve seen present on some other smartphones. However, I’ve never found ColorOS to get in the way of anything I’m trying to do on my smartphone, and Realme UI is no different. It’s easy to access anything that I want at any given time, and that’s the most important thing.

This iteration of Realme UI (Realme UI 3) is based on Android 12, and it features all of the major changes introduced in ColorOS 12. For example, Android 12 introduced Material You theming which changes the System theme based on the color of your wallpaper. OPPO has introduced a similar feature as a part of ColorOS 12 where you can pick the theme based on colors in your wallpaper. While this isn’t as seamless as Android 12’s default implementation, it’s surely nice to have. It also does not integrate with apps that incorporate the Material You API.

One particular thing to be mindful of is that when setting up the phone, it will default to full HD resolution, not QHD. It will also default to “auto-select” screen refresh rate, though I set it to “high” to ensure that I’m always using the 120Hz display.

Updates-wise, Realme has generally been on top of things in the past, and the Realme GT 2 Pro is promised to be the company’s longest supported device yet. Realme has promised that it will offer three years of Android upgrades and four years of security updates for this particular smartphone, potentially bringing it all the way to Android 15.

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Realme GT 2 Pro: Battery Life and Charging

The Realme GT 2 Pro has a fantastic battery life in my experience, lasting me a full day of usage without needing to charge it. Above is a typical day of usage, where I’ve been consistently seeing 5 to 6 hours of screen on time daily. Not only does the battery last, but the 65W charging (with a charger included in the box) can also top the phone up to 100% in just over half an hour. It’s great to be able to top up my phone in a pinch if I forget to charge it, and I can rest assured that my battery will last if I really need it to. There is no wireless charging though if that’s your kind of thing.

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Realme GT 2 Pro: Miscellaneous

Signal strength

I’ve had no problems with the Realme GT 2 Pro’s signal strength, and in fact, it holds a signal better than some of my other phones. I typically have problems with signal strength in my apartment when my phone is on my desk, but I have no problems with this device whatsoever.

Speakers

The speakers are fine, they’re smartphone speakers, but they’re a little bit quieter than both the iPhone 13 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. They’re certainly not bad, they just can be difficult to hear in noisier environments.

Vibration motor

The vibration motor in the Realme GT 2 Pro is noticeable in my pocket, which is something that I’ve also had issues with some other devices. You’ll feel if you get a phone call, text, or email, and haptic feedback is also nice whilst typing.

Bootloader and kernel sources

Realme has so far not released the Realme GT 2 Pro kernel sources, and newer Realme devices have not been officially bootloader unlockable outside of China. There have been some APKs floating around that can unlock the bootloader on some Realme devices, but these aren’t officially endorsed by Realme and we are unable to recommend them in a review.

What’s in the box

• Phone (duh)
• 65W charging brick plus cable
• Basic case
• Pre-applied screen protector

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Should you buy the Realme GT 2 Pro?

The Realme GT 2 Pro is a fantastic smartphone that comes in at a price below a lot of the competition. It costs €749 outside of the early bird pricing, which still puts it below a lot of other flagships that are available now or will be made available in the future. It’s hard not to recommend it, especially if what you’re looking for is a flagship experience with a great camera, too.

I would definitely feel comfortable calling it one of the best phones of this year so far

It’s genuinely difficult to find any major flaws in the Realme GT 2 Pro, aside from the software experience if Realme UI isn’t something that you’re interested in. If you’re the average user though, it’s filled with good features and is easy to use, and won’t get in the way of you using your smartphone. I’ll definitely be using this device as my daily driver for a while to come, as its lightweight design and comfortable feel in hand make it a comfortable phone to use for long periods of time.

Is this phone a competitor to the Ultra smartphones of the world? Arguably not, as there are some noticeable omissions. There’s no wireless charging and there’s no telephoto camera, two features that some people will definitely care about more than I do. There are also faster charging solutions, though 65W charging is perfectly capable and more than what most people are still getting currently on other smartphones. If you don’t care about any of that though, then I can honestly say that this is definitely a phone worth considering. I would definitely feel comfortable calling it one of the best phones of this year so far.

The Realme GT 2 Pro is the best flagship made by Realme yet, and it packs flagship specifications across the board.

See at Amazon

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Interview: Arm SVP talks about Windows on Arm, competing with Apple, and making more powerful devices

Anyone that knows me knows that if you put me in a room with someone to talk about Windows on Arm, or computing on Arm processors in general, I can talk until the sun goes down. When Arm reached out and asked if I wanted to speak to Paul Williamson, its SVP and General Manager of Client Line of Business, I knew it would be the highlight of my Mobile World Congress.

There was only one Windows-powered Arm device announced at the show, and that was the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s. There was a Chrome OS tablet as well though. Still, the first thing that I wanted to talk about was Apple. While I’ve had several interviews with Qualcomm on the subject, discussing it with someone from Arm is a bit different, because MacBooks are using Apple Silicon, which is based on Arm. Apple is just designing its own chips that use the Arm instruction set, rather than licensing Arm’s designs.

However, this isn’t new to the computing market. Apple has been building custom Arm processors for over a decade, and those have been outperforming the chips that go in Android phones for a while too. So the biggest question on my mind was, why are Apple’s Arm processors better than the ones that are actually designed by Arm?

Comparing Arms to Apples

24-inch Apple iMac using M1 processor

Rich: The first thing I want to ask about is why Windows on Arm PCs can’t match Apple’s performance. Qualcomm’s chips use Arm’s designs, while Apple uses its own. Why are Apple’s Arm processors better than Arm’s?

Paul: If you’re looking for ultimate performance for laptop class, in the past, you would take a specific implementation of the Arm architecture, and it will target a certain performance point. You’ll see us do implementations at different sizes. So you’ll see our ultra cores, our X-series, the big cores (7 series), and small cores (5 series). Put those into a cluster and optimize for performance.

When you’re targeting laptops, you take a different approach to mobile because the tradeoffs are slightly different. You’ll have a different power envelope, so you can afford to have more bigger cores. If the price of the silicon is higher – you can put down bigger caches and more layers to increase the frequency of what you’re doing, because the power, the thermals, and the price allow you to do that. So, I think part of the headache for performance in the laptop space is that we are yet to see the max on what is possible with that.

When we announced our X2 series last year, we made a big point of saying this can be configured to be top-end performance if you put down the right frequency, if you put down the right cache sizes, if you put low enough latency path to memory, you can deliver really, really premium performance.

So, you can get there with Arm’s implementation IP. The question is, when you’re into a market, making that investment in premium silicon when you can’t guarantee the volume is a big challenge for some of our silicon partners.

Rich: Well there’s only one silicon partner right now.

Paul: It depends how you look at it, because you’ve got Qualcomm in the Windows space but you’ve also got MediaTek with their Kompanio chips for Chromebooks.

Rich: MediaTek also even said that they’re planning to enter the Windows space, whenever that exclusivity deal between Qualcomm and Microsoft ends.

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The Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 uses Cortex-X1 while the Snapdragon 8 uses Cortex-X2, but there’s an actual reason for that

One concern that I have about Windows on Arm in general is that the PC market is slow. You might recall that Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 at the same time. But while the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 has Cortex-X1 cores, the Snapdragon 8 has the newer Cortex-X2 cores.

That’s an issue that’s directly related to how the PC market operates. OEMs operate slowly, and they like to have a new CPU in hand a good year to 18 months out. Unless Qualcomm wants to announce a chip and say devices will be out in a year – something that it actively tried to change when it announced the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 with almost no changes – it has to use the previous generation of Arm’s cores.

Snapdragon 8cx Reference Design

Rich: Also, since you mentioned the X2 design – obviously Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 uses X1 – the way I understand it is that this is a problem less with Qualcomm’s chip and more with the PC market. The PC market moves so slowly that these OEMs want this chip in their hands 12 to 18 months out from when the product is released. So, Qualcomm’s release is always going to be a year behind what Arm is putting out, because they don’t want to announce their chip in December and say the products will be out in 16 months.

Paul: I think some of that is absolutely the case. There is definitely a longer development cycle in the PC industry. We’ve seen that the development cycle compresses in the smartphone industry. OEMs working with silicon partners have squeezed that timeframe.

Rich: Do you think they’ll squeeze it in the PC industry?

Paul: I think it’s entirely possible. It takes that ambition.

Rich: It’s a fundamental problem with the way it’s set up. When you’re Apple, everything is in-house and you can do it. When you’re Intel, you’re developing the chip in-house, so you own that roadmap. When you’re Qualcomm, you have to wait for Arm, they put out the design, then you put out the chip after the fact.

Paul: If you look at the mobile device timeframe, there’s no reason that you couldn’t match that with Arm’s IP timeframe. We work really early with the silicon partners.

Rich: But now you’re asking the PC market to shift.

Paul: To meet that ambition, it would be Microsoft on the software platform and it would be the silicon partners to condense their timeframe for development, and that is not what they’ve done historically.

Rich: This is an industry that is built around Intel. So, it’s like trying to disrupt from multiple angles, which is tough. You’re asking consumers to buy into it, you’re asking Microsoft to develop for it, and you’re asking OEMs to build faster. So it can’t be easy.

Do you ever try to think of ways that you can work better with them and make it happen?

Paul: Totally. We are working closely with our silicon partners, with the OEMs directly, and with Microsoft to ensure that the software ecosystem is there for a smoother transition. One of the other things that becomes beneficial is things like where we’re talking about Total Compute. Because Arm can offer consistency in the underlying approach toward building an SoC, it means a developer is building a game on one platform, you can just take it from mobile to tablet, and on one of our booth demos at MWC, we’re showing it on the front screen of a fridge. The compute capabilities are consistent to the developer and you can take it anywhere you like. Similarly, if we can do that so that the PC SoC has a similar level of portability and similarity, you’ll get a much more rapid cycle where you don’t have to validate a completely new platform every generation. So, we think the scope to bring the mobile SoC approach to the world of the PC. But many of the things you say are challenges.

Rich: They’re roadblocks. When the 8cx Gen 3 was announced, and I’m a big Windows on Arm fan, so I’m not knocking it, but some people were surprised that the chip was X1 based when X2 is the thing. X2 is in the Snapdragon 8. As a writer, I have to explain why it’s still X1.

Paul: I genuinely think that this will get better. With the right level of investment from the silicon partner side, they can be sampling silicon at the same time as their mobile silicon. So, this can definitely improve.

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Custom silicon, Linux on Arm, and more powerful tiers of Arm processors that compete with Apple’s M1 series

Lenovo ThinkPad X13s, using Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3

Rich: I know Qualcomm wants it to improve too. But now, they’re working on custom silicon too; they’re trying to go the Apple route.

Paul: Right, so they’re hiring their own team and they’re looking at building their own cores.

Rich: Where does that leave the Arm implementation IP?

Paul: We’re fully committed to an Arm implementation roadmap that will happen year after year. We’ve got hundreds of partners that use that technology, and we offer a business model that means people can build their own implementations.

Rich: I’m excited to see more competitiveness in the Arm chip space for PCs.

Paul: I’m loving some of the other trends we’ve seen in the industry. If you look at Google coming in to build their own silicon, it shows that people are taking the Arm implementation CPUs and bringing in custom accelerators like Tensor and making genuinely innovative steps. If we can bring that kind of mobile innovation to the PC platform I think it’s going to be really exciting.

Rich: What do you guys think about different tiers of Arm chips? In the PC space, we’ve had this focus on thin and light. The focus is in comparing with the Intel U-series. Qualcomm has compared the Snapdragon 8cx to a U-series Core i5. What do you think about gaming? Creator laptops? Stuff that competes with Intel’s H-series with dedicated graphics or even an M1 Max?

Paul: I think that’s an exciting prospect. There are different approaches and I think we will see discrete graphics with Arm. That will be exciting. It’s going to be interesting to see how the market evolves and how the disruption of Arm might influence that. There’s definitely an increased focus on that MacBook Air form factor and price point.

Rich: I asked Qualcomm three years ago if they were interested in gaming or creator laptops, and they told me it wasn’t happening. Then Apple switched to Arm and legitimized it. It’s good for everyone in the space. Do you think we’ll see designs like that?

Paul: I think it’s possible to see Arm packages with discrete graphics, and I’m really excited about Linux on Arm. I know the focus is Windows, but for developers that are developing for the cloud on Arm, they’re looking for Linux on Arm-based machines to do that development on. They want big rigs where they can do Linux on Arm development on. That’s an area where we’ll see some innovation as well.

Rich: I’d like to see some Linux on Arm laptops ship, because I don’t think they do. There’s some confusion, because you can’t download an ISO for Windows 11 on Arm. I know Microsoft will change this at some point.

What do you think are the key value propositions of using an Arm processor in a PC? I know what Qualcomm tells people and I want to know if it’s the same. Because it’s different with Apple.

Paul: There are a couple of really interesting factors that are playing out. One is people taking a mobile SoC approach to the design, so we’re seeing a lot more dedicated accelerators for certain use cases, for improved audio, better face recognition, more AI-type accelerators built-in, which really makes a big difference. Obviously, there’s thermal efficiency and the power envelope that you can achieve. That Lenovo device with 28 hours battery life is showing you can do that with Windows.

Rich: Well, I’ll believe the battery life when I see it. I feel like the Arm promises of battery life on laptops has not lived up to the promise.

Paul: I’m very keen to try the X13s to check it out.

Rich: Apple’s Arm laptops have great battery life, so I blame Microsoft at this point. I wonder how hard they’re working to optimize Windows for Arm. I know they’re focusing more on Arm now because Apple legitimized it but the reason they got involved in Arm was to light a fire under Intel.

Paul: I think the best thing for us to do is see what Microsoft says next. Build should be coming up soon. That’ll be the time for us to see what they say next. The devices are coming together and now it’s time to see the software support.

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There’s a lot going on here, and this all turned out to be super interesting. It seems like Arm is poised to take over the entire world of computing. Whether it’s Windows or Linux PCs getting Arm Cortex-based processors or Apple getting custom Arm chips, the platform seems to be everywhere.

But Intel is still an incumbent in the Windows space. In fact, Intel actually says that it plans to retake the lead in performance-per-watt by 2025. To do that, it would have to try and make its chips more like Arm’s, something that it’s already doing with its new hybrid architecture.

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Apple iPad Air 5 (2022) Review: The best tablet option for just about everyone

When Apple announced it would be building its own silicon to replace Intel processors a couple of years ago, the tech industry didn’t know what to expect. Intel’s processors had been so dominant for so long, that even the most diehard Apple fans weren’t sure Apple silicon could truly power laptops.

And then not only did the Apple M1 deliver — garnering critical acclaim and immediately making Intel-powered Macs lose most of their resale value — Apple is now working towards democratizing the chip to make it available in nearly everything but iPhones (and who knows what will happen there eventually?). With the announcement of the new M1-powered iPad Air 5 (2022), Apple’s silicon is now powering everything from a tablet to a 24-inch desk-bound iMac. The fact that an iPad Air technically packs the same processing power as an iMac is bonkers — but yet here we are.

I already reviewed the M1-powered iPad Pro last year and absolutely loved that tablet. The iPad Air offers more of the same, but in a more affordable package. This is the iPad most people should buy, which means it’s the tablet most people should buy.

Apple iPad Air (2022)

The new iPad Air with M1 brings iPad Pro level performance to a more affordable, smaller, iPad.

Pros:

Cons:

Apple iPad Air (2022)

iPad Air (2022): Price and Availability

The iPad Air (2022) is available on sale now on Apple’s website, Apple Stores, or anywhere else that sells Apple products. The base model with 64GB of storage retails for $599, while the 256GB model is priced at $749.

iPad Air 5 (2022): Specifications

Specification	Apple iPad Air 5 (2022)
Build	Glass front Aluminum frame
Dimensions & Weight	247.6 x 178.5 x 6.1 mm 461g
Display	10.9-inch LCD 60Hz 1640 x 2360
SoC	Apple M1
RAM & Storage	64/256GB storage 8GB
Battery & Charging	Battery size not disclosed Wired charging up to 45W 20W charging brick included
Security	Touch ID fingerprint sensor
Rear Camera(s)	12MP, f/1.8
Front Camera(s)	12MP, ultra-wide, f/2.4
Port(s)	USB-C
Audio	Dual Stereo Speakers
Connectivity	5G Bluetooth 5.0 Wi-Fi 6
Software	iPadOS 15.4
Other Features	Compatibility with Apple Pencil (gen 2) and Magic Keyboard

About this review: Apple provided me with an iPad Air (2022) to test. Apple did not have input in this article.

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Apple iPad Air 5 (2022): Design and Hardware

Just like the iPhone SE 3 that was launched at the same event, the 2022 edition of the iPad Air brings back the exact same design from the previous 2020 model, save for some new flashy colors like blue or purple. The dimensions are exactly the same, so all accessories that worked with the 2020 iPad Air will work here, including the pricey but excellent Magic Keyboard.

In fact, there are really only three hardware changes: the new 2022 iPad Air sees its RAM doubled to 8GB this time, the front-facing camera is now a 12MP ultra-wide camera, and the most important update: the processor got bumped up to M1. Everything else, from display size (10.9-inches) to display technology (2,360 x 1,640 LCD panel with 60Hz refresh rate) to the rear camera hardware are identical.

This isn’t a bad thing — the iPad’s modern industrial redesign, which first debuted in 2018’s iPad Pro, looks and feels great, without any controversial/divisive decisions like a notch. At 6.1mm, it’s relatively thin (though not as thin as the Galaxy Tab S8 series), and the 1 pound weight is light enough for one-hand carry.

The display at just 60Hz is disappointing

The display, at just 60Hz, is disappointing; I’ve been using both the iPad Pro and Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra (both with 120Hz panels), and the scrolling animations here in the iPad Air are noticeably not as smooth. Like the 2020 model, there’s a fingerprint scanner located in the power button and it works perfectly fine.

How does the iPad Air (2022) differ from the iPad Pro (2021), also with M1?

With the addition of the M1 chip, the gap between the new iPad Air and the 2021 iPad Pro narrows further, particularly with the smaller 11-inch iPad Pro, which has dimensions very similar to the iPad Air. I, however, only have the larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro model on hand for comparison. But still, other than screen size, the 12.9-inch and 11-inch iPad Pro are identical.

Here are all the differences between the 2022 iPad Air and 2021 iPad Pro

• The iPad Pro has a better display panel, it uses Mini LED technology that produces deeper blacks, has a higher refresh rate of up to 120Hz, and it also gets noticeably brighter than the iPad Air’s 60Hz LCD screen
• The iPad Pro houses a Face ID scanning system inside the bezels, while the iPad Air uses Touch ID that’s part of the power button
• The iPad Pro packs a quad-speaker system that pumps out louder and fuller audio than the iPad Air’s dual speaker array
• The iPad Pro’s rear camera system has an extra ultra-wide camera and LIDAR scanner (for AR apps)
• The iPad Pro can have RAM up to 16GB and storage up to 2TB; the iPad Air is stuck at 8GB RAM and either 64GB or 256GB or storage

Everything else is identical: the iPad Air’s front-facing and rear main camera are the same as the iPad Pro’s; they run on the same software; support the same Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard.

Performance between the two is also really similar, despite the fact I’m testing a 16GB RAM iPad Pro against the 8GB RAM iPad Air. I exported a seven and a half minute 4K/60 footage in LumaFusion on both iPads, and they rendered and exported at the exact same pace (took about eight minutes). Geekbench numbers are very similar, with the iPad Pro winning slightly in multi-core. The only test the iPad Pro shows a conclusive victory is in 3DMark’s Wild Life graphic test. The iPad Pro was able to sustain a higher frame rate throughout the test, due to the combination of the iPad Pro having more RAM and a larger body for better heat dissipation.

If you read my review of the 2021 iPad Pro, I called the M1 chip overkill, as it was far too powerful a chip for “just” an iPad; on the iPad Air, it’s even more overkill. This is a small, $600 machine with more raw processing power than most laptops or Android devices costing two or three times as much. There’s more power here than what the average user needs or knows what to do with.

There's more power here than what the average user needs or knows what to do with

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Apple iPad Air 5 (2022): Software, Performance, Battery Life

The iPad Air (2022) runs on iPadOS 15.4, a fork of iOS that is better suited for the large screen. The most notable deviation from iOS is the ability to run two apps at once in split-screen mode. While this process was tedious in iPadOS 13 and 14, requiring several swipes, it’s now much easier on iPadOS 15, with the addition of a multi-tasking menu (in the form of three dots) that is constantly showing in the top middle of most apps. Tapping on the three dots open up the options to either go split-screen, float the window, or go back to full screen (if you were already in the previous two state).

When I use the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, being able to just open two apps at once (technically you can do three, with two in split-screen and one in floating mode, the floating app covers a chunk of one of the split apps) feels limiting; I wish Apple would give us a three-app grid or let us resize the floating windows.

But on the smaller 10.9-inch iPad Air, I don’t mind the two-screen limit, as it seems ideal for the screen size. Still, this doesn’t let Apple off the hook — iPadOS could and should do better in terms of multi-tasking anyway.

Overall software behavior and performance work the same here on the iPad Air as the iPad Pro or the older 2020 iPad Air. The animations here obviously aren’t as fluid as the ProMotion iPad Pro, but I saw no animation stutters, or app freezes, everything works.

The iPad Air 2022 offers solid battery life — for productivity use (word processing with some Spotify streaming and video watching), the machine can last a full nine, ten-hour workday and finish with 20% battery left still. If I’m editing videos or using AR apps, then obviously there’s a bigger battery drain at up to 10-12% per hour. Charging is done via USB-C and — surprise, surprise! — there’s a 20W USB-C charging brick included with the packaging.

Using the iPad Air (2022) as a machine for fun

The iPad Air’s lighter weight and smaller size is more ideal as a portable hand-held tablet than the 12.9-inch iPad Pro in my opinion. At 10.9-inches, the display is large enough to offer more immersion than a phone screen (or even a foldable phone screen), but it’s not so large that it becomes unwieldy to hold like the larger iPad Pro or Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra.

I do miss the iPad Pro’s speakers, which are the best in any handheld machine. The iPad Air’s speakers are fine, but the iPad Pro’s speakers can fill an entire room.

Using the iPad Air (2022) as a work machine

To do this you would very likely need a keyboard, which Apple will gladly sell you at a very high price. Still, if you can afford it, the Magic Keyboard is excellent. It provides protection for the iPad Air and also lifts the tablet slightly off the table or lap for a slightly more ergonomic angle, but more importantly, it has backlit keys with good key travel and an uncannily accurate trackpad. Apple’s trackpads (for iPad keyboards or Macs) in my opinion, the best in the business by far. Despite the fact the iPad Air Magic Keyboard’s trackpad is so small in size, I can move the mouse cursor perfectly fine, without accidental taps or the slippery feeling that I get from many other non Apple trackpads. I’m not just talking about tablets here, even the trackpad on Windows laptops (at least the ones I’ve tested, from the likes of Lenovo and Huawei) don’t work as well as Apple’s trackpads. And yes, the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra keyboard’s significantly larger trackpad doesn’t work as well as the iPad Air’s tiny trackpad too.

The ability to run only two apps at the same time will be too limiting for some, but it could be acceptable for others. For me, whose work includes writing/reading words and editing photos/videos, I can, in fact, do all my work on an iPad (in 2018 I did not own a laptop and worked almost exclusively off an iPad Pro, including producing written and video content while covering trade shows in Barcelona and Berlin). I’d prefer to edit videos on Final Cut Pro these days, but LumaFusion is excellent (far more powerful than any video app in Android tablets) and can handle a 4K/30 timeline with ease.

There’s also support for the Apple Pencil, which creatives find very handy. But ultimately, the reason iPads can do all this is the superior processor (even before the M1, the A series chips could do the job), and a superior app ecosystem. LumaFusion, as I said, is the best tablet video editing app and is only available on iOS/iPadOS. Adobe Lightroom works better on iPadOS than on Android.

I think Android fans who just read the above several paragraphs are probably rolling their eyes, assuming I’m just the typical Apple fanboy. I am not — I carry an Android phone most of the year and my Twitter feed is full of snarky jokes about how much I don’t like the iPhone 13 Pro’s cameras or form factor. Apple’s iPad is just more polished than other rival tablets, with only the Galaxy Tab S8 series even being able to compete.

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Who should buy the iPad Air 5 (2022)?

The iPad Air (2022) is the iPad that makes the most sense for most people, which means it’s the tablet that makes the most sense for most people. While the iPad Pro brings a superior screen, speakers, and comes in a larger screen size that’s more suitable for real work, it is perhaps too pricey and too big for some people.

The iPad Air with M1 is basically giving you iPad Pro level performance for less

The iPad Mini, meanwhile, is ultra-portable and the most affordable of all the modern iPads (not counting the entry-level one with the physical home button), but it’s likely too small to get any real work done. The iPad Air, then, is the happy medium. It’s neither too big nor too small and its starting price of $599 is reasonable, especially since you’re getting the all-powerful M1 chip (that’s overkill on an iPad).

However, as is usual with Apple products, you will likely pay way more than the base retail price to get the full experience. The $599 model of the iPad Air comes in just 64GB of storage, which is really low in 2022 standards. The next (and only) option up is 256GB, whose price jumps to $749. Then you may want a keyboard or Apple Pencil to take advantage of the awesome capabilities of the iPad Air. Adding both will run your cost closer to $1,000. There are third-party options for keyboards, but not the Apple Pencil.

Despite that, I still think the iPad Air is worth it. I have long said Apple’s best products — the one product that in my opinion deserves the hype — is the iPad Pro. This iPad Air, with M1, is basically giving you iPad Pro-level performance for less. And that’s an absolute win.

Apple iPad Air (2022)

The iPad Air (2022) brings iPad Pro level performance to a more affordable and smaller iPad

View at Best Buy

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