Surface Laptop Go 2 review: A delightful entry-level laptop

If you’re looking for a super-light Surface PC that won’t break the bank and still feels premium, the Surface Laptop Go 2 is the way to go. Unlike the Surface Go, its tablet sibling, the Laptop Go 2 contains a proper Core i5, and that Core i5 has been upgraded to Intel’s 11th-generation SKU, which includes powerful new Iris Xe graphics.

Indeed, the key word that I’d use to describe the Surface Laptop Go 2 is “delightful”. However, it’s still far from perfect, only fixing some of the shortcomings of the first-gen model. The pixel density is still just 148ppi, with the screen resolution falling short of 1080p. It’s also still got the same HD webcam, with some improvements to the ISP and such.

But if you’re looking for something that has a 12.4-inch display, is easy to take on the go, doesn’t break the bank, and looks pretty while doing it, the Surface Laptop Go 2 is a great choice.

Surface Laptop Go 2

Microsoft's new entry-level laptop is super-light, feels premium, and comes in a pretty new color, Sage. It also packs 11th-gen processors, and more.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

See at Best Buy

Navigate this review:

• Surface Laptop Go 2 pricing and availability
• Surface Laptop Go 2: Specs
• Design: It comes in a new Sage color
• Display: The pixel density is still the lowest of any Surface
• Keyboard: One of the best you’ll get at this price point
• Performance: The Surface Laptop Go 2 is upgraded to Intel 11th-gen
• Should you buy the Surface Laptop Go 2?

Surface Laptop Go 2 pricing and availability

• The Surface Laptop Go 2 starts at $599.99, and it’s available now
• It comes in Platinum, Sandstone, Ice Blue, and Sage

Announced at the beginning of June, the Surface Laptop Go 2 was available for pre-orders immediately and began shipping on June 7. You can buy one from the Microsoft Store now, and walk into and Best Buy and grab one.

It comes in four colors: Platinum, Sandstone, Ice Blue, and Sage. Sage is the new color in the lineup, and it’s the new color you’ll see in other Surface devices through 2022.

It starts at $599.99, which is $50 more than its predecessor’s starting point. There’s a reason for that price bump though. The base model no longer comes with 64GB eMMC storage; instead, it has a 128GB SSD, which is a welcome change.

Surface Laptop Go 2: Specs

Processor	Quad Core 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 Processor
Graphics	Intel Iris Xe
Body	10.95” x 8.12” x 0.62” (278.2mm x 206.2mm x 15.7mm), 2.48 lbs
Display	Screen: 12.4” PixelSense Display Resolution: 1536 x 1024 (148 PPI) Aspect ratio: 3:2 Touch: 10 point multi-touch
Memory	8GB LPDDR4x RAM
Storage	Removable drive (SSD): 256GB
Ports	1 x USB-C 1 x USB-A 3.5 mm headphone jack 1 x Surface Connect port
Cameras, video, and audio	720p HD f2.0 camera (front-facing) Dual far-field Studio Mics Omnisonic Speakers with Dolby Audio Premium
Security	Firmware TPM 2.0 Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello sign-in One Touch sign in with Fingerprint Power Button (excluding i5/4/128)
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 6: 802.11ax compatible Bluetooth Wireless 5.1 technology
Battery	Battery Capacity Nominal (WH): 41.0 Battery Capacity Min (WH): 40.0
What’s in the box	Surface Laptop Go 2 39W Power Supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents
Material	Top: Aluminum Base: Aluminum and polycarbonate composite resin system with glass fiber and 30% post-consumer recycled content.
Color	Sage
OS	Windows 11 Home
Price	$799.99

Design: It comes in a new Sage color

• It’s made out of aluminum with a polycarbonate base for a stylish two-tone design
• Ports include USB Type-A, USB Type-C, Surface Connect, and a headphone jack

Aside from the new Sage color, the Surface Laptop Go 2 chassis is the same as it was on its predecessor. In fact, the new color is an addition to the lineup, rather than replacing something. I was told that this is the new color for 2022, so while Microsoft won’t officially confirm it, you can expect to see other Sage Surface products, like perhaps the next Surface Laptop and Surface Pro Keyboard Covers. Ice Blue, which is available across the board now, actually debuted with the original Surface Laptop Go.

I like Sage a lot. To be honest, while I like Ice Blue, I was disappointed when it debuted because I miss the bold colors of previous years. The original Surface Laptop came in colors like Burgundy and Cobalt Blue (and Graphite Gold, but we don’t talk about that), and those are now long gone in favor of more subtle colors like Ice Blue and Sandstone. Sage is still subtle, but it’s just a bit more bold than Ice Blue.

The Surface Laptop Go 2 is the perfect size and weight for taking on the go.

The product comes in at 2.48 pounds, making it the lightest Surface Laptop (obviously, Surface tablets are lighter). It’s also the smallest Surface Laptop. Personally, I think it’s the perfect size and weight for taking on the go, hence the name. It’s really comfortable to carry in a back, or to just kick back with on the couch.

It also feels premium, which is nice given the $599 starting price point. The lid and palm rest is made out of aluminum, while the base is made out of polycarbonate, something that I personally think we don’t see enough of. It gives it a two-tone look, which is cool. Unfortunately, we really only see the aluminum lid / polycarbonate base combo in mid-tier devices like this, but I’d love to see it more.

As for ports, you get Surface Connect on the right, and on the left, there’s a USB Type-A port, a USB Type-C port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. I never used Surface Connect for charging; obviously, I just used the USB Type-C port. I know Microsoft loves to keep its proprietary charging and docking solution, but at some point, it’s going to have to come to the realization that it’s the only company that uses one.

While this is Microsoft’s entry-level Surface Laptop, it doesn’t feel entry-level. This feels like a premium laptop that’s been designed to be small and light.

Display: The pixel density is still the lowest of any Surface

• The Surface Laptop Go 2 has a 12.4-inch 1536 x 1024 display
• There is no pen support, unlike other members of the Surface Laptop family
• The webcam is still 720p

Still rocking the signature 3:2 aspect ratio that Surface is known for, the 12.4-inch screen on the Surface Laptop Go 2 is 1.1 inches smaller diagonally than the smallest Surface Laptop 4. This is an important distinction, because you really shouldn’t think of the Laptop Go series as just a cheaper Surface Laptop. It’s smaller, and it’s 3:2, the implications of which means that the size lends itself to being taller instead of wider. If you plan to have two apps side-by-side frequently, this probably isn’t the laptop for you.

The 1,536×1,024 resolution means that the screen is less than 1080p, and it also leaves this PC with a 148ppi pixel density, by far its largest shortfall. For comparison, the Surface Laptop 4 and Surface Laptop Studio have 201ppi screens, and the Surface Pro 8 has a 267ppi pixel density. 148ppi is the smallest pixel density of any Surface in history, tied with the Surface RT from a decade ago. In short, you can definitely see pixelation with the display.

For color gamut, it supports 99% sRGB, 70% NTSC, 76% Adobe RGB, and 76% P3, according to my testing. Here’s how it compares to the rest of the lineup.

Surface PC	sRGB	NTSC	Adobe RGB	P3
Surface Laptop Go 2	99%	70%	76%	76%
Surface Pro 8	100%	77%	82%	83%
Surface Go 3	100%	71%	77%	78%
Surface Laptop Studio	100%	80%	83%	87%

Brightness maxed out at 368.3 nits with a 1,000:1 contrast ratio. For comparison, the Surface Go 3 maxed out at 421.3 nits, the Surface Pro 8 maxed out at 445.3 nits, and the Surface Laptop Studio maxed out at 500.2 nits.

It has the worst display of the current Surface lineup.

While Microsoft is known for using color-accurate displays on its Surface PCs, I think it’s fair to say that the screen on the Surface Laptop Go 2 is the worst out of the current Surface lineup. Also, Microsoft doesn’t say the viewing angle in its specs, but it’s certainly not a full 178 degrees like you’d get from more premium Surfaces, and not that you should expect it, but it doesn’t have the 120Hz refresh rate found in the Laptop Studio or the Pro 8 either.

The Surface Laptop Go 2 has one of the smallest top bezels of any Surface, and it’s also the only one that doesn’t have an IR camera up there. The webcam that is there is 720p still, using the same sensor as before. Microsoft says it’s improved thanks to a new ISP and some other tweaks, but it’s still not the FHD resolution that you’d want.

Keyboard: One of the best you’ll get at this price point

• The keyboard is great, but it’s not backlit
• There’s no fingerprint sensor in the base model

I really like the keyboard on the Surface Laptop Go 2. It feels comfortable, quiet, and accurate, and it even seems like it’s been upgraded over the original model. The plastic key caps match what’s found on the rest of the Surface Laptop family, although there’s one big difference, which is that this keyboard is not backlit.

The touchpad is pretty sizable too, making use of most of the available real estate. Again, the only real drawback here is that there’s no backlight on the keyboard.

In the top-right, there’s a fingerprint sensor, so you’re not lacking biometric authentication. When you press the button to power on the PC, it scans your fingerprint, so it automatically logs you in when the PC boots up. You don’t have to touch the sensor again. Unfortunately, the fingerprint sensor is still not included on the base model.

Performance: The Surface Laptop Go 2 is upgraded to Intel 11th-gen

• The Surface Laptop Go 2 comes with a Core i5-1135G7, up to 8GB RAM, and up to a 256GB SSD
• There is no more eMMC option

Microsoft is staying a generation behind with the Surface Laptop Go 2 processor, so it’s upgrading to Intel 11th-gen. It comes in any SKU you want, as long as it’s a Core i5-1135G7. That’s notable though. With the Surface Go 3 tablet, it comes with a Pentium Gold processor in the base model, and you have to pay extra for a Core i3. No matter which Surface Laptop Go 2 configuration you get, it comes with a Core i5.

It’s also a notable upgrade from the Core i5-1035G1 that was in the original Surface Laptop Go. With Intel’s 10th-gen ‘Ice Lake’ processors, it had three U-series Core i5 SKUs. They had different levels of graphics power. The ‘G7’ model had Iris Plus Graphics, while the ‘G1’ option had the old UHD Graphics. With 11th-gen ‘Tiger Lake’, there’s only one SKU, and it includes Iris Xe graphics, so if you’re coming from a Core i5-1035G1, you’re going from UHD Graphics to Iris Xe, a big difference.

The Surface Laptop Go 2 offers a massive performance boost over its predecessor.

That means that there’s actual power under the hood here for some light gaming and photo editing. RAM maxes out at 8GB, so there are still limits, but you do get much better graphics power.

Another big change is that the base model comes with a 128GB SSD. Previously, the base model had 64GB eMMC storage, which is much slower.

For benchmarks, I used PCMark 10, 3DMark, Geekbench, and Cinebench.

	Surface Laptop Go 2 Core i5-1135G7	Surface Laptop Go Core i5-1035G1	Lenovo ThinkBook 14 Gen 2 Ryzen 5 4500U
PCMark 10	4,362	3,139	4,177
3DMark: Time Spy	1,193	409
Geekbench	1,307 / 4,075	1,180 / 3,430	969 / 3,142
Cinebench	1,240 / 3,582	1,060 / 2,581	1,121 / 5,782

If nothing else, you should be able to see that there are some really significant performance gains gen-over-gen.

For battery life, it’s about what I’d expect for something of this size. I got around four hours, with a minimum of three hours and 10 minutes, and a maximum of four hours and 30 minutes. It’ll get closer to three hours if you set it to best performance, and close to five hours at recommended power settings.

Microsoft promises 13.5 hours, an increase of the 13 hours promised with the original Surface Laptop Go. This isn’t any less accurate than any other OEM claims; however, it’s the reason that I do my battery testing by doing actual work while not connected to power. There is simply no real-world use case where you’d get 13.5 hours of use out of this.

Should you buy the Surface Laptop Go 2?

While the Surface Laptop Go 2 is delightful, it’s not for everyone.

You should buy a Surface Laptop Go 2 if:

• You’re looking for something stylish to take on the go
• You need a laptop for school
• You’re on a budget

You should not buy a Surface Laptop Go 2 if:

• You frequently use apps side-by-side
• You need more then a Core i5 or 8GB RAM
• You need a really great display for creative work

Probably the biggest thing to be aware of when purchasing the Surface Laptop Go 2 is the display size. At 12.4 inches with a 3:2 aspect ratio, it’s small. You should plan on using apps fullscreen. Also, while an 11th-gen Core i5 and 8GB RAM is great, it’s something to be aware of in case you need more than that.

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ZTE Axon 40 Ultra Review: Fantastic at everything, except selfies

ZTE has been working on its under-display camera tech for quite a while now, with the ZTE Axon 20 5G being one of the first commercial devices to pack one. Back then it wasn’t great — the pixel density over the camera was incredibly low and stood out like a sore thumb, and the picture quality itself wasn’t very good. Now, two generations later with the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra, the company has improved on its under-display cameras a whole lot.

However, even without the headlining feature of an under-display camera, the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra is a fantastic phone in its own right. The flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset alongside the Full HD 6.8-inch panel makes it a premium experience, and the build quality of the phone is excellent in the hand. Even better is the fact that the display is completely unimpeded by any kind of notch or punch hole, making it an excellent smartphone for media consumption.

Is the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra worth your money, though? It’s hard to say. If you find yourself taking selfies more than once a month, then it’s best to give it a pass. Alternatively, if it’s rare you take a selfie but you want it to be the best possible quality when you do, then you should still pass. If selfies don’t matter to you, though, then read on. This may be the phone for you.

ZTE Axon 40 Ultra

The ZTE Axon 40 Ultra has an under-display camera that doesn't do a great job, but stays well hidden. It packs other flagship specs too that help it contend as a top smartphone.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

See at ZTE

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ZTE Axon 40 Ultra: Specifications

Specification	ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
Dimensions & Weight	163.28mm × 73.56mm × 8.41mm 204grams
Display	6.8-inch AMOLED Full HD+  (2480 x 1110) 360Hz touch sampling rate 1500nits 100% DCI-P3 wide color gamut coverage
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 UFS 3.1 storage
Battery & Charging	5,000mAh battery 65W fast charging support
Security	In-display optical fingerprint scanner
Rear Camera(s)	Primary: 64MP IMX787 16mm equivalent focal length Wide angle and macro 2-in-1 4cm AF micro Free form surface with low distortion f/2.35 Secondary: 64MP IMX787 ultra-wide 35mm equivalent focal length OIS f/1.6 Tertiary: 64MP telephoto 91mm equivalent focal length 5.7x optical zoom f/3.5 OIS
Front Camera(s)	16MP under display
Port(s)	USB Type-C
Audio	Dual stereo speakers
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 6E 5G NR NFC GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo Stereo speakers
Software	ZTE MyOS based on Android 12
Colors	Black

ZTE Axon 40 Ultra: Band support

• For Europe:
  • NR: n78/1/3/5/7/28/38/40/41
  • FDD: B1/3/5/7/8/20/28
  • TDD: 38/40/41 UMTS:B1/2/5/8
  • GSM: B2/3/5/8
• For non-Europe:
  • NR: n77/78/1/2/3/5/7/28/38/40/41/66
  • FDD: B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/20/28/66
  • TDD: 38/40/41 UMTS:B1/2/4/5/8
  • GSM: B2/3/5/8

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ZTE Axon 40 Ultra: Design

• Beautiful design
• Big camera array
• Completely unimpeded display

The ZTE Axon 40 Ultra packs an incredibly premium design, with thin bezels and a soft-touch glass back that sparkles under specific lighting conditions. It feels good in the hand and the camera island on the back packs three equally-sized sensors, along with additional camera branding. Finally, the “ZTE” insignia is emblazoned on the bottom.

The ZTE Axon 40 Ultra packs an incredibly premium design

The front of the phone is equally premium. The large 6.8-inch panel goes edge to edge thanks to the waterfall display, and the corners have such a small radius that it doesn’t quite look like they’re curved. It basically looks like a recent Samsung Galaxy Note/S22 Ultra, or a Google Pixel 6 Pro.

The best part of the front is how completely undetectable the under-display selfie camera is. It’s way harder to see this time around, and it’s very easy to forget that it’s even there. Watching Netflix, YouTube, and just using my phone is extremely nice thanks to it. It’s something I missed from the likes of the OnePlus 7 Pro with its pop-up camera, and while the Axon 20 nearly scratched that itch for me, the low pixel density around the camera ruined it.

When it comes to pixel density, I was worried that the Full HD panel would be poor on this size display, but I was wrong. It looks good and is barely noticeable when just using your phone — though I still wish it had a Quad HD display. I do wonder if the lower pixel density of the Full HD panel is helpful for the camera, as it would explain why an otherwise super-flagship phone only has a 1080p display.

Focusing on that under-display camera itself, it’s possible to see it, but only in specific lighting and only when tilting the phone a certain way. It’s much harder to catch it, and you won’t really ever spot it when looking at it head-on. It’s a big improvement from the company’s past devices that packed this camera system, as you’ll nearly never see it. Even in the above photo, you need to look hard for it. Here’s a tip: look directly beside the Google News notification icon.

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ZTE Axon 40 Ultra: Cameras

• Completely “meh” front camera
• Decent back cameras

Selfie camera

While the selfie camera on the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra is better hidden than ever before, it’s hard to say that it’s actually improved by much. It still looks “soft” in how it smoothens out photos, and it struggles with any strong light sources. When in direct light, any light sources shown in the viewfinder will bloom heavily and destroy the photo quality entirely. “Bloom” in photographs refers to the halo-like effect which is visible around light sources in photos and is a problem in particular on under-display cameras.

If you want to get a phone where you know you'll be taking a lot of selfies, then stay away from this one

The reason for the poor selfie quality is because it’s as if you were trying to take a photo through a window — which is literally what’s happening, except it’s through your phone screen. If you want to get a phone where you know you’ll be taking a lot of selfies, then I suggest staying away from this one. I would never use this phone camera for taking selfies with friends and family, but I can see it being used sometimes for video calls and the like.

All in all, this feels very similar to the selfie camera on both the ZTE Axon 20 and the ZTE Axon 30. The company has gotten better at hiding its under-display cameras for sure, but I’m not sure I can say they’ve improved the quality all that much.

Back cameras

The back cameras on the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra, however, are actually quite decent. I’ve used better across a ton of other devices, but they still do a good job at providing consistent quality across all three lenses as they maintain great hardware for all three rear cameras. I’m a big fan of the versatility, as it doesn’t feel like I’m downgrading just because I switch to another sensor. All three punch at about the same level, which is an often overlooked aspect of smartphone cameras.

Shooting with the primary camera on this phone feels a little bit zoomed in, and that’s thanks to the 35mm equivalent focal length. ZTE says it allows for better photos, but the problem is that it can just be annoying to shoot with as it means you need to back up from your subject even more when taking a photo.

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Performance

• Typical Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 heat vs. performance challenges
• Interesting throttling performance

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is the latest flagship chipset from Qualcomm, and it’s the basis of pretty much every flagship phone we’ve seen released so far. It’s a powerful chip, though we’ve consistently seen manufacturers struggling to tame it and the heat that it generates. ZTE is no different in that regard, as the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra manages to strike a balance between power consumption and performance. There are some missteps, but overall, it’s a very decent implementation.

The ZTE Axon 40 Ultra manages to strike a balance between power consumption and performance

First and foremost, it’s important to mention that yes, at times, the phone can indeed end up feeling slow or laggy. I especially notice it when unlocking my phone, though the same can occasionally happen when opening the camera app too. I also came across this on the Honor Magic 4 Pro, and I think it’s a result of throttling the chipset. Cameras are pretty hefty on the software computational side, and it would make sense that it might struggle if the chip is being throttled.

The results obtained through CPU Throttling Test and Geekbench 5 are representative of what the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 can achieve though. I found it interesting when running CPU Throttling Test, as it started off quite poor, and picked up pace over the course of five minutes or so. It would spike up then back down, getting slightly higher on some spikes than others.

This behavior was consistent across multiple runs, and I believe there may be some clever process scheduling going on to try and figure out if an application requires consistent additional resources. I’ve never seen this behavior when running this test before, but it’s interesting to see and just might be a unique approach to dealing with this chipset.

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Battery and charging

• Uses 65W Power delivery charger included in the box
• Charges to full in ~40 minutes

The battery life on the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra has been quite impressive, and that may be because of how ZTE is handling the chipset. I was achieving anywhere between four and six hours of screen on time when using my smartphone, with the higher-end of that spectrum seemingly being nearly unachievable with this generation of flagship phones.

That 5,000 mAh battery in the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra can be charged at 65W with the included charger in the box, and that charger also supports USB Power Delivery with PPS. That means not only can you fast charge your phone, but you can also use it to fast charge other devices too like the Nintendo Switch or the Samsung Galaxy S22 series. Plenty of gadgets use Power Delivery and even more are going to thanks to the European Union, so it’s likely this will end up being one of the best USB PD chargers.

As for charging speed, I’ve found that the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra charges generally in around 40 minutes, which is pretty stellar for any smartphone. I don’t have any complaints in that department.

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ZTE’s MyOS isn’t great

• It has a really nice implementation of Android 12.
• Aggressive background task killing and delayed notifications hold it back.
• ZTE’s longer-term update track record is abysmal.

The ZTE Axon 40 Ultra comes with MyOS based on Android 12, and it has a few good ideas that set it aside from the rest of the crowd. Spoiler, I really wanted to like it. It’s a unique flavor of Android with some good ideas, and as far as Android variants go, it’s certainly not the worst that I’ve used. Nevertheless, it has quite a few problems. I’ll start with what I like first, though.

Looks-wise, it actually retains quite a lot of the Android 12 look and feel. It has four large toggles at the top, and pulling down the notification shade to its next level will show additional toggles. You can also create a customizable always-on display, modify your lock screen, and change a lot about the launcher, too. From a usability perspective, the launcher is one of the best I’ve used that’s come preloaded on a smartphone. It has an app drawer that you can scroll through alphabetically on the left-hand side, and there are a few personalization options too, including animation choices.

Now, some of the stuff I don’t like that’s incredibly frustrating. For starters, the notification center itself feels incredibly disjointed. Even in the screenshots above, you can see how “Device controls” is almost long enough to extend outside of the bubble. The icons below quick settings feel jumbled and confusing. I’ve also found that when I’m listening to music, it doesn’t anchor Spotify or YouTube to the top of my notifications like Android is supposed to. It’s treated as any other notification and thrown somewhere in the rest of the pile.

When it comes to notifications, I just don't get a lot of them

Not only that, but when it comes to notifications, I just don’t get a lot of them. The worst offender is Slack, where for some reason, they come in delayed. I don’t mean delayed as in they take a few minutes to arrive but if I open the app they arrive instantly, I mean delayed. I can get a message from a colleague on Slack, reply to it on my phone, and then close the app and get a notification minutes later. It’s a behavior I have only ever experienced one other time, and that was with the OnePlus Nord 2. It’s also particularly overzealous at killing apps in the background, with it taking several minutes at a time to get Facebook Messenger notifications.

MyOS is so close to being a really good Android variant, and so far, I’m mostly enjoying it. As well, while the company hasn’t been known for its commitment to software updates, I’ve already received three updates throughout the review period. They’ll almost certainly taper off, but I’m hopeful that ZTE may stay on top of things a bit more this time around versus the company’s previous attempts at updating its own flagships. For context, the ZTE Axon 30 Ultra from last year is only now starting to get a stable Android 12 build… in China. Don’t buy this phone for the update promise, albeit we stay hopeful for a turnaround.

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ZTE Axon 40 Ultra: Miscellaneous

Signal strength

The ZTE Axon 40 Ultra has no problem holding a signal pretty much wherever I am. I get VoLTE too for high-definition calls, though I can’t get Wi-Fi calling working for whatever reason.

Speakers

The speakers are loud, but not the loudest that I’ve used. They’re a pair of dual speakers with the top-firing speaker being quieter than the bottom-firing. They get the job done and are your typical smartphone speakers, so you know what to expect here.

Vibration motor

The vibration motor on the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra is pretty good, and the haptic feedback feels good when typing. I’ve missed a few notifications on occasion when it’s in my pocket, but not often enough that I think it’s a weak motor.

Bootloader and kernel sources

The kernel source for the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra is currently available on ZTE’s own website. As for bootloader unlocking, it’s currently not officially possible.

Box contents

• Phone (duh)
• 65W charging brick
• USB-C to USB-C cable
• Basic case

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Should you buy the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra?

The ZTE Axon 40 Ultra is a phone with a lot of compromises, but it’s aimed at a very specific type of user. If you don’t care about the selfie camera, it’s probably already high up on your list thanks to that stellar display. Coming in at €829 though, it’s a pretty tall ask when there are smartphones with a lot of the same features and better cameras for a lot cheaper.

For example, in Europe, you can save €80 and get the Realme GT 2 Pro, a phone that honestly offers a lot more. You get a longer support window, much better cameras, the same charging speed, better software, and a much nicer QHD+ LTPO display. The ZTE Axon 40 Ultra’s best selling point is the display, but even that a lot of people likely won’t care about and falters behind the display tech of a cheaper phone. A friend of mine saw the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra and thought it was cool, but pointed out that the front-facing camera on their phone doesn’t bother them because it’s in the center of the status bar anyway. To be honest, I completely see where they’re coming from.

Do consumers really care that much about punch-hole cameras?

It’s great to see ZTE spearheading under-display camera technology, but I don’t know how much consumers care. While photos and videos still look awful, most people won’t care if they get a few pixels back on their phone’s display. I like it for viewing content, but the trade-off isn’t worth it. Just like small phones, the demand is there for a very niche userbase, but time and time again it’s been shown that people overall prefer the versatility of a larger phone. The same can be said here about the front-facing camera.

Is this phone worthy of the “Ultra” tagline, then? I think despite the flaws in its camera system, I think so. ZTE has crafted a magnificent smartphone here, even if it’s not the best of the best that you can get. I like it and you probably will too, but the price tag is something that you’ll need to weigh up against the competition to see if it’s really worth your money.

The ZTE Axon 40 Ultra is available in the following regions, at $799/829 euros/709 pounds.

• North America: Canada, United States (56 of 62 states. American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands not included)
• Europe: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain(50 of 52 provinces), Sweden, United Kingdom
• Middle East: Israel, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates
• Asia Pacific: Australia, Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, Japan, Macao SAR, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam
• Africa: South Africa (8 of 9 provinces)

ZTE Axon 40 Ultra

The ZTE Axon 40 Ultra has an under-display camera that doesn't do a great job, but stays well hidden. It packs other flagship specs too that help it contend as a top smartphone.

See at ZTE

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A minor issue fix arrives in Android 13 Beta 3.1 update

Google released a new update for Android 13, delivering a small but necessary fix for its Beta 3 update. The fix will restore the Android Beta Feedback app, which was found to be missing for some in the third beta update.

The update is now live and brings the build number to TPB3.220513.017.B1. This build should be nearly identical to the previous update. The exception is of course, the fix that was mentioned previously. If you are running the Developer Preview or Beta build, the update will automatically arrive over-the-air (OTA).

The Android Beta Feedback is a critical app, as it is the best means of submitting bugs, requesting features, and leaving other feedback with regards to the current beta or Developer Preview build. So, you can see how this might be something that Google would want functioning while it is running its Android 13 preview

Since the release of Beta 3, the OS has reached Platform Stability. This milestone will signal developers that they can begin testing their apps to ensure full compatibility. This will be the final push before the stable release of Android 13. The Android 13 Beta is currently available for the following handsets:

• Pixel 4 and 4 XL
• Pixel 4a and 4a (5G)
• Pixel 5 and 5a
• Pixel 6 and 6 Pro

If you’re curious, you can download the latest Android 13 update by enrolling in the Android Beta for Pixel program. Once enrolled, the update should arrive OTA, making this the easiest method. There are more aggressive methods, where you can manually install the update by flashing the system image to your compatible device. Of course, before performing any of the above, you’ll want to back up your information, as there is always a chance you could lose it. As a final method, if you aren’t in possession of a compatible device, you can always check out the update via the emulator in Android Studio.

Source: Android

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HTC set to announce ‘Viverse’ smartphone on June 28

There was a time when HTC reigned over the smartphone landscape, dominating its rivals with more than 50 percent of the market share. A decade later, HTC is still around, but it is far better known for its VR equipment. Today, HTC announced a new handset that would be coming to market on June 28, centered around the ‘Viverse’.

So you might be asking yourself – what is the Viverse? The Viverse is described by HTC as:

A Metaverse ecosystem that connects people from all walks of life to an open and accessible virtual world. Through this new form of living, everyone is empowered to explore, work, and play in a safe environment, each experience is unique, and your transactions and data are secure.

While this sounds all well and good, HTC has not provided much information about what we can expect. But, from a previous report, the phone will be a high-end device that will integrate “metaverse” functions. While this all sounds quite gimmicky, this isn’t the brand’s first rodeo in this space. Back in 2018, the firm announced the Exodus 1, a phone built with cryptocurrency in mind. Naturally, this device didn’t exactly catch the attention of the world and fell under the radar shortly after its announcement.

Metaverse > Crypto?

Although the same might occur for HTC’s upcoming device, it might stand a better chance, especially since the firm has quite a bit of expertise in the virtual reality space. Despite not receiving much press coverage, HTC has released new smartphones over the past few years. Most of these devices have been low to mid-range products with uninspiring designs and limited regional availability.

The last time HTC delivered a high-end smartphone, the firm released the HTC U12+. The phone wasn’t available in retail stores in the United States and offered some unique features like doing away with standard physical buttons and making way for pressure-sensing bezels. Will this phone perform any better? Time and the Metaverse will tell.

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Source: HTC (Twitter)

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Apple iPads will support new external hardware thanks to iPadOS 16 DriverKit update

This week, Apple held its WWDC event, ushering in a new era of software for its iOS 16, iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, and macOS 13 devices. While there were plenty of highlights, iPadOS 16 might be the most curious, as the new update blurs the lines even further between Apple’s tablet and computing products. Furthermore, iPadOS 16 will allow manufacturers to create drivers for iPad, ushering in a new wave of devices that can be connected to Apple’s tablet.

Previously, DriverKit was used exclusively on Apple’s Mac computing products and was introduced in 2019. It was developed in order to offer a more reliable and secure method to deliver drivers to Mac users. With iPadOS 16, Apple is delivering the same reliability and security, just on a different platform. If there is one caveat of the system, it is that it only currently applies to iPads powered by Apple’s own silicon. For now, that means iPads running an M1 chip.

New hardware support for M1-powered iPads thanks to DriverKit

As far as other benefits, developers that have created drivers in the past for Mac using DriverKit will be able to use the same drivers on iPadOS without the need for conversion. Furthermore, by using the multiplatform apps feature in Xcode 14, developers will be able to create one app that can deliver to both the Mac and iPad.  Out of the gate, DriverKit for iPadOS will offer support for USB, audio, and PCI devices – that means support for Thunderbolt devices.

If this sounds enticing, you can experiment with the developer build of iPadOS 16. But, this probably isn’t recommended for a device that is used daily.  A more stable build of the OS will arrive next month in the public beta. Apple will officially release iPadOS 16, delivering other enhancements like a new multitasking experience and support for external displays in the fall of 2022.

Source: Apple
Via: 9to5Mac

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Google’s Immersive Stream for Games powering Capcom’s new Resident Evil Village online demo

Google Immersive Stream for Games is the technology behind Google Stadia, but slowly also being used by other third-party partners. One of the most recent examples is AT&T, adding Control to their offering, but now there’s another. Capcom has launched an online demo of Resident Evil Village and, you guessed it, Immersive Stream for Games is behind it.

Resident Evil Village is already available on Google Stadia, but the new demo is a completely separate product. You go to Capcom’s website, hit the play button, and you’re straight into the game. Keyboard and mouse are supported as well as controller, though not the Google Stadia controller it seems.

“Immersive Stream for Games, Google’s cloud gaming technology, powers both our Stadia gaming platform and publishers’ ability to deliver games directly to their players. And today, Immersive Stream for Games is supporting world-renowned publisher Capcom with their launch of a cloud demo for their award-winning survival horror game, Resident Evil Village.”

The demo itself works really well, albeit capped at 1080p and without HDR, but it plays exactly as you would hope. Stadia already has a standalone demo of Resident Evil Village for its players to try out, but there’s a bigger picture play here. Imagine a future where you land on the website of a new or upcoming game and there’s a button that lets you try it instantly. All without leaving the browser. The ability to push a game in this manner has huge implications for discoverability and even just the future of game demos.

Google has been doing its own work on Stadia with demos, providing one-click access to play full versions of games for a limited time. There’s no technical reason why future partners couldn’t offer the same type of access directly either pre or post-launch. There’s a lot to be said for just being able to click a button and instantly try out a new game.

For Capcom, specifically, this is something of an experiment. Once the demo has been completed players are presented with ways to continue playing on supported platforms. In this case, it’s already on Stadia, but it doesn’t have to be. We don’t have AT&T’s Batman game, after all. But pushing Immersive Stream for Games to publishers such as Capcom certainly won’t hurt Stadia going forward, either.

Hit up the Resident Evil Village website to take it for a spin yourself.

Source: Google

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Android 13 Beta 3 prompts users to review notification settings

Android 13 may not be as massive an update as Android 12 as far as visual changes are concerned, but it still brings forth many important improvements. One of the most notable changes in Android 13 is the new runtime permission model for notifications. In previous Android versions, apps could post notifications by default without requesting any permission. But that stops in Android 13. And to better educate users about this new change, Android 13 Beta 3 now prompts users to review their notifications settings.

Starting with Android 13 Beta 3, the Android System now gives users a heads up of the new runtime notification model. It also asks users to review their notification settings. This helps new users understand how notifications work in Android 13. Tapping on the notification takes the user to the “App notifications” page, where they can toggle on or off the notification permission for apps.

Starting in Android 13, apps that you install need your permission to send notifications. Tap to change this permission for existing apps.

When I booted up, the Android System posted a notification asking me to review notification settings for apps. This educates users about Android 13’s new runtime permission for notifications: https://t.co/s6LahOea3m pic.twitter.com/ZM9pzTJLJJ

— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) June 8, 2022

It’s a minor change, but one that can go a long way in educating average users on new system-level changes that might otherwise not be readily apparent and lead to confusion.

Android 13 Beta 3 marks the first Platform Stability milestone, bringing us a step closer to the final release. All app-facing behavior and APIs are now final, and developers can start readying their apps for the stable release of Android 13. From this point forward, there won’t be any changes to the platform — most of the focus will be on improving performance and polishing. Interested users can try out Android 13 Beta 3 on a supported Pixel phone.

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