How to make the most of your Galaxy Watch 4 with a non-Samsung phone

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic are undoubtedly one of the best Wear OS smartwatches available on the market. It’s currently one of the only smartwatches that run the latest version of Google’s operating system for smartwatches — Wear OS 3 — making it the go-to choice for most Android smartphone users looking for a premium smartwatch.

Sadly, the Galaxy Watch 4 does not offer the same experience with non-Samsung phones as it does when connected to a Samsung Galaxy device. This makes it a less than ideal purchase for those who own an Android smartphone from a different OEM. Fortunately, you can use a couple of third-party apps and mods to get some of the Samsung-exclusive features on the Galaxy Watch 4.

Which Galaxy Watch 4 features are exclusive to Samsung phones?

Before we get to the third-party apps and mods, let’s first take a quick look at some of the Samsung-exclusive features you don’t get when connected to a non-Samsung device.

Galaxy Watch 4 features that you don’t get when connected to non-Samsung devices:

• ECG
• Blood pressure monitoring
• Samsung Messages
• Camera controls
• Do not disturb mode syncing
• Bedtime mode
• Make/receive calls when not connected to a phone via Bluetooth
• Customizable AR Emoji watch faces

Now that you know what you’re missing, let’s take a look at some workarounds and third-party apps to get some of these features on your Galaxy Watch 4.

Make the most of your Galaxy Watch 4 with a non-Samsung phone

Enable ECG and blood pressure monitoring on the Galaxy Watch 4 with a non-Samsung phone

First and foremost, we’ll talk about enabling ECG and blood pressure monitoring on the Galaxy Watch 4 when connected to a non-Samsung phone. ECG and blood pressure monitoring are two of the most useful Galaxy Watch 4 features, and not having access to them just because you don’t own a Galaxy smartphone is a bummer. Thankfully, a modded version of the Samsung Health Monitor app by XDA Senior Member Dante63 can fix that.

The modded Samsung Health Monitor app enables both ECG and blood pressure monitoring on the Galaxy Watch 4 when connected to a non-Samsung device. Check out our in-depth tutorial on installing the modded Samsung Health Monitor app to enable ECG and blood pressure monitoring on the Galaxy Watch 4.

---

Enable BP sync on the Galaxy Watch 4 with a non-Samsung phone

While the modded Samsung Health Monitor app enables ECG and blood pressure monitoring on the Galaxy Watch 4 with any non-Samsung device, it doesn’t enable BP sync. Without the feature, your blood pressure data won’t sync with the Samsung Health app on your phone, making it difficult to track. However, Dante63 has you covered. Follow the link for our step-by-step tutorial on how to enable BP sync on the Galaxy Watch 4.

---

Use these third-party apps to get some of the missing features on your Galaxy Watch 4

Google Messages

Now that you have enabled ECG and blood pressure monitoring on your Galaxy Watch 4 and turned on BP sync, it’s time to move on to the other features. As mentioned earlier, the Galaxy Watch 4 does not give you access to the Samsung Messages app when you’re connected to a non-Samsung device. Fortunately, you don’t have to look too hard to find an alternative.

The Google Messages app is a great replacement for the missing Samsung Messages app, and it works on the Galaxy Watch 4 even when connected to a non-Samsung device. You can download the app by opening the Play Store on your Galaxy Watch 4, searching for Google Messages, and then selecting the Install button. The only drawback to using Google Messages over Samsung Messages is that it lacks two features. The Google Messages app does not offer support for sending audio messages from the Galaxy Watch 4 or a shortcut to help you quickly open a message on your phone. Sadly, you can’t get these features with a third-party app.

Messages (Free, Google Play) →

Camera One: Wear, Galaxy Watch

While you don’t get access to camera controls on the Galaxy Watch 4 when connected to a non-Samsung phone, you can get the same set of features with the Camera One app. You can download the app from the Play Store on your Galaxy Watch 4 and use it to preview the viewfinder on your watch’s screen, click photos, capture videos, and even record audio.

The Camera One app features a functional UI with buttons for all commonly-used camera features right on the viewfinder. Its default interface includes shutter buttons to help you quickly capture photos and videos, along with buttons for the power saving mode, timer, flash, zoom, exposure value, white balance, and filters. The app opens the rear-facing primary camera by default and you can swipe down from the top of the display to switch to the selfie shooter.

Camera One: Wear, Galaxy Watch (Free, Google Play) →

Unfortunately, you can’t get Do not disturb mode syncing, Bedtime mode syncing, the ability to make/receive calls when not connected to a phone via Bluetooth, and customizable AR emoji watch faces on the Galaxy Watch 4 using third-party apps. But there are a couple of other third-party apps that you can use to enhance your experience further. Check out the section below for a few app recommendations and tips to make the most of your Galaxy Watch 4 when connected to a non-Samsung phone.

---

Miscellaneous apps and tips

Use Gboard instead of the built-in keyboard app

The built-in T9 keyboard on the Galaxy Watch 4 is a blast from the past and, frankly, it should’ve stayed there. It’s a pain to use, and you’d be better off installing the Gboard app on your watch.

The Gboard app gives you access to a full keyboard layout on your watch’s display and the best part about it is that it offers support for swipe input. It’s well optimized for the watch’s tiny display and offers a significantly better typing experience than the stock keyboard app.

Gboard - the Google Keyboard (Free, Google Play) →

Launch apps and perform actions faster with Wear Gesture Launcher

The Wear Gesture Launcher app is a handy app that lets you open apps and perform actions by drawing custom gestures on your Galaxy Watch 4 display. For instance, if you want to open Google Maps, you have to open the app drawer by swiping up on the homescreen and then tapping on the Google Maps icon in the app drawer.

With Wear Gesture Launcher, you can do so by simply tapping on the right edge of the display, no matter which page you’re on, and drawing the Google Maps gesture. The app lets you add custom gestures for all apps installed on your phone and a few timer actions, like setting a new alarm, managing alarms, opening the timer, and opening the stopwatch.

Wear Gesture Launcher - Wear OS - Wear launcher (Free, Google Play) →

Enable notifications only for essential apps to improve battery life

One of the biggest drawbacks of using a Wear OS smartwatch is the below-average battery life. When I first started using my Galaxy Watch 4, it barely lasted a full day and I had to take it off while going to bed to charge it back up for the next day. Because of this, I couldn’t use the sleep tracking feature.

While you can’t do anything to get the Galaxy Watch 4 to last several days like some fitness trackers without sacrificing several features, you can turn off notifications for all non-essential apps to eke out about a day and a half of use on a single charge. I personally only have Telegram and Slack notifications enabled on my watch, and it now lasts me slightly over a day and a half on a single charge, even with continuous heart rate tracking turned on.

Turn on Airplane mode while charging to charge your watch faster

Another issue that I encountered in the first few weeks of using the Galaxy Watch 4 is the painfully slow charging speed. That’s why it initially made sense for me to charge the watch overnight. But I can’t do so anymore, since I wear it to bed for sleep tracking.

To overcome this, I now turn on Airplane mode when I put the watch on charge and I’ve noticed that it charges slightly faster. You can improve the charging speed further by turning it off while it’s charging. But I find that a bit inconvenient, so I’m sticking with Airplane mode. Thankfully, Samsung is reportedly doubling the charging speed on the upcoming Galaxy Watch 5 lineup, so this shouldn’t be an issue if you plan on upgrading to one of the newer models.

---

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic

The Galaxy Watch 4 is Samsung's latest generation of smartwatches, and this Classic model retains the beloved spinning bezel from earlier watches.

Buy at Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4

If you want a more minimalist look without the rotating bezel, the standard Galaxy Watch 4 offers all of the same features as the Classic.

Buy at Samsung

That sums up our guide on making the most of the Galaxy Watch 4 with a non-Samsung phone? Which of these tips did you know already? Did you find something useful to enhance your experience? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post How to make the most of your Galaxy Watch 4 with a non-Samsung phone appeared first on XDA.

from XDA https://ift.tt/1nJyczl
via IFTTT

These are the Best Alexa Skills for Amazon Echo devices you can use in 2022

Amazon’s Echo lineup has many great smart speakers that can make your lives easier by automating some everyday tasks. You can use these speakers to summon Amazon’s virtual voice assistant Alexa to automate day-to-day activities like turning off the lights. But there’s more to Alexa than simply checking on the weather or turning off the kitchen lights. Did you know that you can use Alexa Skills to get a lot more things done?

That’s right, there are thousands of skills in the Alexa Skills store that are capable of making Amazon’s digital assistant a lot more useful than you think. Not all the Alexa skills in the Skills store are worth checking out, of course. Well, we took one for the team to comb through thousands of Alexa skills to pick some of the best ones for you to try. Here’s a list of the best Alexa skills that you can use with your Amazon Echo speakers or any other Alexa-enabled devices in 2022:

Navigate this article:

• What are Alexa Skills?
• How to enable Alexa skills?
• Best Alexa skills

What are Alexa Skills?

Alexa skills, in general, refer to the individual capabilities of Amazon’s digital voice assistant. The skills allow Alexa to perform various tasks including answering your questions, controlling various smart devices at your home, and more. Alexa can do a lot of things on her own without having to install/enable a new skill from the Skills store. But, you will have to activate the ones developed by third-party developers manually via the Alexa app on your phone or from the Alexa web portal.

You can download the Alexa app on your smartphone using the download links below:

Amazon Alexa (Free, Google Play) →

‎Amazon Alexa (Free, App Store) →

---

How to enable Alexa skills?

Here’s how to enable Alexa skills using the Alexa app on your smartphone:

• Open the Alexa app and select More from the menu at the bottom.
• Now, look for an option named Skills & Games and select it to enter the skills page.
• On the next page, choose the search button on the top and enter the name of the skill you want to install.
• Once you’re on the skill’s listing page, select the Enable to use option to enable the skill on your account.

Alternatively, you can also visit alexa.amazon.com on the web browser on your PC or Mac. After signing in, select the Skills option from the menu on the side and start browsing or searching for the skills you want to install.

---

Best Alexa skills

Now that you know what Alexa skills are and how to enable them, let’s check some of the best Alexa skills out there right now.

Note: We’ve included both free as well as paid Alexa skills to this particular list. Also, a lot of the skills mentioned in this list may not be available in your region, so be sure to search for them in the Alexa skills store or find alternatives that work in your region.

Alexa Guard

Amazon’s Alexa Guard is a simple yet clever way to turn your Echo speaker into a security device that can listen to signs of trouble when you’re away from home. With Alexa Guard, your Echo speaker can listen to smoke and CO alarm sounds, glass break sounds, and even activity sounds via the microphone and sends alerts about the emergency on your smartphone. Additionally, Alexa can also turn on the smart lights in your house to make it look like you’re home if/when it hears the sound of someone breaking in or any other activity when you’re away.

You can also choose to subscribe to the Alexa Guard Plus which will allow you to call the emergency helpline hands-free from your Echo speaker. With Alexa Guard Plus, your Echo speaker can also make the sound of dogs barking or a siren when it detects an activity inside your home. You’ll obviously need a lot of Echo speakers — preferably one in each room of your house — along with other smart home devices for this to work. With Alexa Guard, all you have to say is, “Alexa, I am leaving“, to turn your Echo speaker into a DIY security device. Alexa Guard and the Alexa Guard Plus are only available in the US right now, so keep that in mind.

Get your daily news from Alexa

Alexa’s built-in news curator works very well to deliver the latest headlines from a bunch of reliable news sources. There are different ways to ask Alexa to read you the news. For instance, the “Alexa, play live news” command will pull in all the headlines from dozens of topics. But if you want to listen to sports news in specific, then you can say, “Alexa, play live sports news“. Additionally, you can also ask Alexa to curate headlines in your regional language too. In India, you can say, “Alexa, give me Tamil news“, to listen to the news in Tamil. The best thing about this skill is that there’s no need for a setup and it works automatically when you Alexa for news.

Amazon shopping with Alexa

In addition to helping you automate some of your day-to-day tasks, Alexa can also help you shop on Amazon with just your voice. From signing you up for Amazon’s Prime membership to adding items to your shopping cart, Alexa can be very handy for shopping. You can also just say, “Alexa, what are my deals?“, to make Alexa read out a bunch of Prime member-exclusive deals for you. You can choose to complete the purchase with just your voice or have Alexa add them to your cart for you to check out later. You can also visit Amazon’s voice shopping page to learn more commands that’ll help you shop on Amazon.

Get a detailed weather report with Big Sky

Alexa, as you probably already know, has built-in support for weather forecasts. This is probably one of the most used commands when it comes to smart speakers in general. But did you know that you can get a more detailed weather forecast from Alexa? The Big Sky is one of the best free Alexa skills you can use with your Echo speakers. With this skill enabled, Alexa can fetch you highly detailed weather reports. We’re talking up-to-the-minute weather report here. One of the best things about Big Sky is that it’ll give you forecasts based on your street address. All you have to do is enable the skill, link your account by entering your address, customizing metrics, and you’re good to go. Just say, “Alexa, ask Big Sky if it will rain” once you’ve enabled the skill and listen to a detailed weather report.

Listen to audiobooks

If you enjoy reading books but don’t have the time to sit back and pull out your Kindle or open a hardcover copy from your favorite author, then Alexa has got you covered. You simply ask Alexa to read you a book while you’re doing other things. A simple command like, “Alexa, read me a book“, will make Amazon’s digital voice assistant recite the book you’re currently reading or listening to on Audible. For those that don’t know, Audible is Amazon’s mobile audiobook service with a huge library of audiobooks. This is a great way to finish your books through an Alexa-enabled speaker.

Relaxing ambient noise

You deserve a good night’s sleep after a long day of work. if you’re having trouble falling asleep or you’re unable to take your mind off things and just relax, then Alexa can help you with that too. With the Ambient Noise skill, Alexa can play the soothing sounds of thunderstorms, rain, ocean, wind chimes, and more. Search for the Ambient Noise skill in the Alexa Skills store and enable it. You can say, “Alexa, ask Ambient Noise for a list“, and pick the one you feel like relaxing to.

Bedtime stories for kids

Yes, Alexa can help you put your kids to sleep with the Short Bedtime Story skill. One of the best things about this particular skill is that you can customize these stories for your children by putting their names in the story. You can do this by visiting the companion website, the link for which can be found within the description of the skill’s listing in the Alexa Skill store. Notably, you can also use the same website to disable any stories you don’t want your kids to hear. It’s a great skill for those who want to take some time off and let Alexa put the kids to sleep at night.

Manage Zoom meetings

Alexa can help you manage your Zoom meetings for you with the help of the Zoom companion skill. Once enabled, you can just say, “Alexa, ask Zoom to show my upcoming meetings“, to give you a glimpse of what your day looks like. The Zoom skill is meant to be used on your phone as your command can directly trigger Alexa to open the Zoom app on your phone. In addition to looking at your list of meetings for the day, you can also use this skill to start a new one or join an existing meeting to which you’ve been invited to join.

TED Talks with Alexa

If you like listening to podcasts and talk shows then you might want to check out the TED Talks Alexa skill. This skill, as the name suggests, will let you listen to TED Talks. You can just ask Alexa to find the TED Talk you want to listen and she’ll find the right one and start playing it over your Echo speaker or on your phone. If you don’t have a specific TED Talk in mind, then you can also specify the sort of TED Talk you want to listen to. Even a simple command like, “Alexa, ask TED Talks to find talks about fitness“, should work.

Get recipe ideas from Alexa

If you happen to have an Echo speaker or an Alexa-enabled device in your kitchen then it might be worth checking out the Easy Meal Ideas skill on the Alexa skill store. There’s no shortage of Alexa skills when it comes to cooking but the Easy Meal Ideas skill suggests some quick and easy recipes for you to try out.

Alexa as a workout buddy

If you lack the motivation to exercise at home, then you can use Alexa as your workout buddy with the help of a bunch of workout and fitness skills. With the 7-minute workout skill. you can use Alexa as your trainer. Once you enable this skill, you can simply say, “Alexa, start a 7-minute workout“, and start a 7-minute workout that includes some tested exercises.

This day in History

This particular skill will trigger Alexa to give you a quick rundown of noteworthy historical events that occurred on today’s date. This educational and reference skill works very well to pique your curiosity and keep your mind sharp. What’s more interesting about this skill is that you can either ask for the historical events that occurred on today’s date or specify a different date to Alexa.

Ask Alexa to clean your apartment

If you have one of the best robot vacuums that work with Alexa, then this skill is for you. Once your robot vacuum cleaner is set up and ready to go, you can trigger Alexa with command specific to your vacuum and send the robot to clean your house. This hands-off cleaning experience is supported by a bunch of robot vacuum cleaners on the market including the Dreame D9, the Shark ION AV751, and more.

Ask Alexa to schedule a meeting

This one might be a bit of a stretch but you can also ask Alexa to schedule a meeting with your contacts. Alexa will, however, need access to both yours as well as your contact’s calendar for this to work. Once given access to the calenders, Alexa can then suggest meeting times based on both of your schedules. The supported calendars for this particular skill include iCloud, Gmail, G Suite, Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Outlook, and more.

Getting help during an emergency

The most valuable help, as they say, is the one that’s available to you when you need it. If you are in an emergency at your home and you don’t have access to your phone or can’t contact your emergency contact, then you can use the Ask My Buddy skill to alert someone in your Personal Alert Network. While this skill isn’t an alternative to 911 or a similar emergency service number in your region, it’ll ensure someone in your trusted network knows that you need help. You can choose to alert either just one contact or all your contact with a single command. Ask My Buddy will then send a text message, an email, and even a voice message to the contacts.

Start and prep your car for a drive

While this isn’t supported by all the cars, several auto brands let you start your vehicle remotely using Alexa. You’ll have to download the Alexa skill specific to your car for this to work, so keep that in mind. Hyundai’s supported cars, for instance, use the Hyundai Blue Link skill. Ford cars use the MyFord Mobile skill and more. In addition to remotely starting your vehicle, you can also use Alexa to lock and unlock your car’s doors, change the interior temperature, and more.

Ask Alexa to read tweets

This unofficial Twitter Reader skill can pull out the latest tweet of your celebrity or personality. You can use this particular skill to go through the tweets of pretty much anyone with an open profile. All you have to say is, “Alexa, ask Tweet Reader to read tweets of [your person of interest]”.

Play games with Alexa

You don’t always have to wake up Alexa to ask a burning question or to control your smart home. You can also play some fun games with Alexa and have a good time when you’re bored. There are a bunch of different games to choose from including Jeopardy, RuneScape, Twenty Questions, Magic 8-ball, and more. While some of these games like Jeopardy may require you to install a third-party skill, others like Twenty Questions and Magic 8-ball can be played directly without having to install anything new. Try asking Alexa to play a game of Twenty Questions with you now, it’s fun!

Other miscellaneous skills

A lot of Alexa skills, as we mentioned earlier, don’t require a manual activation via the Alexa app. Many of them are enabled by default and all you have to do is trigger them with your voice command.

• Ask Alexa to open a fortune cookie: Alexa can crack open a fortune cookie for you at any given time. All you have to say is, “Alexa, open a fortune cookie“.
• Ask Alexa to interview you: You can ask Alexa to conduct a mock interview for you if you’re about to tackle an interview in real life. Simply say, “Alexa, interview me”, to make Amazon’s digital voice assistant ask you questions that you may hear during a job interview.
• Alexa open stopwatch: This is perhaps one of the most basic skills you can use, but it may come in handy if/when you don’t have a smartphone or a stopwatch next to you.
• Alexa, open Deep Breath: This skill will take you through a deep-breathing exercise to reduce stress and make your body relax.
• Alexa, compliment me: What’s better than starting your day with a small piece of compliment from your very own digital voice assistant.

More Alexa Skills

While we’ve covered only a limited number of skills in this article, there are thousands of others available for Alexa. You can easily search them on your app, or head over to alexa.amazon.com to browse through a selection of categories. And if you think the Alexa Skills library doesn’t have the one you want, then you can also use the Alexa Blueprints portal to create your skills too.

Well, that brings us to the end of this particular topic. There are thousands of Alexa skills that are waiting to be explored, so be sure to check out the Alexa app or visit the Alexa portal to check the available skills. This is an ever-evolving list of Alexa skills, so be sure to bookmark this page and visit frequently to see the new additions. Also, if you think we missed any of your favorite or most used Alexa skills, then be sure to let us know by dropping a line in the comments below.

All these Alexa skills can be used on Echo speakers or any other Alexa-enabled devices. We tested these Alexa skills using an Echo Dot (4th gen) speaker, which we also think is a great option to consider if you’re new to the world of Alexa and smart speakers. Be sure to read our Echo Dor (4th gen) speaker review to learn more about this product.

Amazon Echo Dot (4th gen) speaker

Almost all the benefits of the full-sized Amazon Echo, including the full Alexa ecosystem, for a more wallet-friendly price.

Buy from Amazon

The post These are the Best Alexa Skills for Amazon Echo devices you can use in 2022 appeared first on XDA.

from XDA https://ift.tt/z48h1kf
via IFTTT

How to connect your Windows computer to an Amazon Echo smart speaker

One of the best things about Amazon’s Echo smart speakers is that they don’t rely on your phone to operate. Once you are done setting up the Echo speaker, it can be operated entirely with your voice. From playing music from your preferred music streaming service to helping you get through your day-to-day tasks, your Echo speaker can do all that and more with just your voice. But did you know that you can also connect your Echo speakers via Bluetooth or a 3.5mm audio jack to your Windows computer? In this article, we’ll tell you how to connect your Windows computer to an Amazon Echo smart speaker in a few easy steps.

Connecting your Windows Computer to Amazon Echo

In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to connect an Echo Dot 4th gen speaker to your Windows computer. We’ll pair the Echo speaker to the Windows computer via Bluetooth and use it as an audio output device. If you don’t have a Bluetooth-enabled Windows computer, then you can also connect your Echo device to the Windows computer via a 3.5mm audio cable and use it as audio output. Either way, your Echo speaker will continue to stay connected to your home network and work with your voice for other commands, in addition to serving as an audio output device for your Windows computer.

How to connect your Windows computer to Amazon Echo

As far as the prerequisites are concerned, just make sure your Amazon Echo device is online and is registered to your account. You’ll also need a Bluetooth-enabled Windows computer for this to work, of course. Once you have everything you need, you’re all set to connect your Windows computer to Amazon Echo. Here’s how to do it:

• Open the web browser on your Windows computer and visit alexa.amazon.com to log in to your account.
• Now, select Settings in the sidebar menu on the left, then choose your Echo speaker from the list of devices.

• On the next page, select Bluetooth.

• After that, choose Pair a new device option to make Alexa search for available devices.

• As Alexa is searching for new Bluetooth devices, open the Bluetooth settings on your Windows computer and select Add device.

• Choose Bluetooth in the pop-up window, and select your Echo device in the list of devices.

• Simply select Done on the confirmation screen, and your computer will then be paired to your Echo speaker via Bluetooth. You will, however, have to go back to the Settings page on your computer and connect the speaker once again by pressing the three-dot icon to enable it as an audio output device.

Once the Echo speaker is connected to your computer via Bluetooth, you can start using it as an audio output device to listen to music, watch movies and TV shows, and more.

Alternatively, you can connect your Echo speaker with your Windows computer via a 3.5mm audio cable too. Your computer should recognize the Echo speaker as an audio output device which you can confirm by heading over to the Sound settings in Windows.

---

These are two simple ways with which you can connect your Windows computer to your Echo speaker. With these methods, your Echo speaker will serve as an output device for your computer, and work independently with your voice commands too as long as it’s registered and connected to your home network.

We used an Echo Dot 4th gen speaker to connect to our Windows machine in this tutorial, but the process remains the same for other Echo devices too. This method won’t work for companion Echo devices such as the Echo Sub, but you should be fine as long as you’re using a standard Echo speaker that supports Bluetooth and has a 3.5mm port for the alternate connection. If you don’t have an Echo speaker and you’re confused between all the options, then we suggest you check out the Echo Dot speaker. It’s a great speaker to purchase for those who are new to the world of Echo speakers.

Amazon Echo Dot 4th gen speaker

The Echo Dot is a slimmed down Echo in almost every way, packing Alexa's power and decent quality sound into a tiny form factor.

Buy from Amazon

The post How to connect your Windows computer to an Amazon Echo smart speaker appeared first on XDA.

from XDA https://ift.tt/KMDS38v
via IFTTT

Xiaomi 12 Lite Review: Good looking compact mid-ranger that gets the job done

Earlier this week, Xiaomi introduced the Xiaomi 12S series, which as the “S” signifier suggests, is an iterative update to the Xiaomi 12 series that launched back in March. Usually in smartphone land, once a company updates a phone series, the previous line is either discontinued entirely or fades into the background. For example, when Apple released the iPhone 5S, it stopped promoting the iPhone 5. When Huawei launched the Mate XS, it stopped selling the Mate X.

But not Xiaomi, which has a habit of releasing phones with confusing naming schemes. The latest device to come from this prolific phone maker is the Xiaomi 12 Lite, meaning this is a variant of the 12 series from March, not the 12S series that was just announced.

Confused? Most of us are. But say what you will about Xiaomi’s convoluted naming schemes, there’s no denying it makes some of the best mid-range phones. As I said in my recent Poco F4 review, Xiaomi’s mid-range phones in the $300-$500 range are generally better than anyone else’s phones in this range, including and particularly Samsung’s.

Xiaomi 12 Lite: Pricing and Availability

The Xiaomi 12 Lite will be available on XXX. Prices will vary from region to region, but will be about equivalent to below figures in US dollars.

• 6GB + 128GB, $399
• 8GB + 128GB, $449
• 8GB + 256GB, $499

Xiaomi 12 Lite

The Xiaomi 12 Lite is a compact phone with a great value-to-price ratio

Pros:

Cons:

View at Xiaomi

---

Xiaomi 12 Lite: Specifications

Specification	Xiaomi 12 Lite
Build	Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Colors: blue, purple, grey
Dimensions & Weight	159.3 x 73.7 x 7.3mm 173g
Display	6.55-inch FHD+ AMOLED 2400 x 1080 resolution 120Hz refresh rate Up to 360Hz touch sampling rate 100% DCI-P3 coverage HDR10+ Dolby Vision certification
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G
RAM & Storage	8GB LPDDR4X RAM + 128GB UFS 2.2 storage 8GB + 256GB
Battery & Charging	4,300mAh 67W wired fast charging support 67W charging brick included
Security	In-display fingerprint scanner
Rear Camera(s)	Primary: 108MP f/1.79 with OIS Ultra-wide: 8MP f/2.2, 119-degree FoV Macro: 2MP f/2.45
Front Camera(s)	32MP f/2.45
Port(s)	USB Type-C
Audio	Dual speakers Dolby Atmos certification Hi-Res Audio certification Hi-Res Audio Wireless certification
Connectivity	5G (SA/NSA) Bands: n1/3/5/7/8/20/28/38/40/41/77/78 4G LTE Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.2 NFC
Software	MIUI 13 for Poco based on Android 12
Other Features	X-axis linear vibration motor

About this review: Xiaomi sent me a Xiaomi 12 Lite for testing. This review was written after three weeks of using the device on and off, including a week as my main phone. Xiaomi did not have input in this review.

---

Xiaomi 12 Lite: Hardware and Design

The Xiaomi 12 Lite is a thin and lightweight phone measuring 7.29mm thick and weighing just 173g. While the 6.55-inch screen is still considered large by some, the phone feels very compact to me, someone used to carrying 6.7- or 6.8-inch flagships that weight over 200g.

The phone’s flat front and back make for a boxier phone than the typical Android fare, and it makes the phone very easy to hold. I’m usually not a big fan of flat-screened phones (I know, I know, I’m the anomaly in the tech reviewing space) because flat screens often have pointy, slightly sharp edges (where the display meets the chassis), with the best example being the iPhone 12 and 13 series.

The Xiaomi 12 Lite, like last year’s 11 Lite, works around this by adding a subtle chamfering to the edges of the phone, so the result is a flat panel phone that still feels slightly rounded at the edges. It certainly digs into my palm much less than the iPhone 13 Pro phones.

Look closely and you can see Xiaomi 12 Lite’s edges (top) don’t end in a sharp 90-degree angle like the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s (bottom).

The 6.55-inch screen is a 2400 x 1800 OLED panel with symmetrical bezels, meaning the bottom chin bezel isn’t noticeably thicker than the top. This is a relatively recent development in the Android scene, and it’s usually reserved for flagships only. For example, Samsung and OnePlus’ flagship phones give you symmetrical bezels, but drop down a price level to the Galaxy As, the Galaxy FEs, or the OnePlus Nords, and you will see the thicker chin. It’s a cost-cutting measure by Samsung and OnePlus, as it takes more effort and technical skills to manufacture/assemble a phone without that extra chin bezel space. This is an example of Xiaomi offering flagship-like flourishes at mid-range price points when other brands do not.

Another area where this is clear, at least to a trained reviewer like me who knows where to nitpick, is in the vibration motor. The Xiaomi 12 Lite’s haptics are excellent and flagship level. Again, with Samsung and OnePlus devices, you get great haptics only at the flagship level.

Symmetrical bezels are usually reserved for flagship phones, but Xiaomi is giving you flagship-like flourishes at mid-range prices

There’s an optical in-display scanner under the display, along with a hole-punch housing a 32MP selfie camera. Both of these (the scanner and selfie cameras) work fine. Like most recent Xiaomi phones, the speaker grilles are also located at the top and bottom of the phone for a more symmetrical sound output compared to many phones.

Flip the phone around and you get a matte glass finish that comes in three colors. I’m a fan of the light blue, almost green, finish on my unit. The colorway also stretches over the chassis too so you get a uniform color scheme. While the front screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 5, the back glass panel is just normal glass without any specific reinforcement. Xiaomi includes a clear jelly case with the packaging though for those who may want to use a case. Overall, I think the Xiaomi 12 Lite looks and feels great in the hand, which is not something I usually say about phones that are not flagships (yeah I know, I know, I’m spoiled).

Internals

The Xiaomi 12 Lite is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of storage. This is a 6nm silicon that supports 5G connectivity. The memory standards are where we see the first signs of corner-cutting, as they’re not the latest standards: LPDDR4X and UFS 2.2. This means the phone won’t load things as fast as phones using LPDDR5 or UFS 3.1. I’ll talk a bit more about this in the performance section later.

There’s a 4,300 mAh battery that can be charged at 67W fast charging speeds, and the charger is included with the packaging. No wireless charging support on this phone, though.

---

Xiaomi 12 Lite: Cameras

The Xiaomi 12 Lite’s rear camera system consists of a 108MP camera using Samsung’s HM2 sensor; an 8MP ultra-wide; and a 2MP macro sensor.

The main camera uses a 1/1.52-inch sensor, which is respectable — not huge, but not too small either. With an f/1.8 aperture and Xiaomi’s proven software processing, shots can appear very nice. Maybe even flagship quality to untrained eyes. For example, look at the below samples, captured by the Xiaomi 12 Lite and the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Xiaomi’s shot is actually less noisy.

If you want to look at the full-size images to pixel peep yourself, I uploaded all the samples shown in this article in this Flickr album below.

The main camera produces shots with lively colors, solid dynamic range, and a bit of bokeh if I get close enough to a subject/object. At night, the phone turns on night mode automatically and shots are still pretty good at this price point. You’ll see a lot more motion blur as the phone needs to slow down the shutter speed to pull in more light.

The ultra-wide, like almost all mid-range phones’ ultra-wide, is best reserved for daytime use only, because it really struggles at night due to its small image sensor, producing night shots that are very soft on details.

That 2MP macro sensor is mostly just here for decoration, producing “macro” shots that are lacking in details and not even that close to the subject. The iPhone 13 Pro phones have the best macro lens in smartphones right now, and you can see the difference between a good macro shot and a mediocre one.

Selfies are fine; Xiaomi applies a bit of skin smoothening filters, but nowhere near as strong as Samsung’s phones. The shutter speed is a bit slow, as Xiaomi is likely using a longer exposure to help with light intake. But this does result in motion blur if anyone/anything is moving behind you.

Video capabilities are good at this price range but obviously can’t compare to higher-priced devices. The phone can shoot at up to 4K/60, but there’s no stabilization at 4K/60 or even 4K/30. But shoot at 1080/30 and you get good electronic stabilization. I’m also a fan of Xiaomi’s “clone video” shooting mode — this isn’t a new feature, but essentially the mode lets you quickly stitch together two or three videos as one so the same person can appear in the video two or three times, simultaneously.  The video below includes day and night video samples, as well as a “clone video” clip.

Overall the Xiaomi 12 Lite cameras are more than satisfactory for a mid-ranger.

---

Xiaomi 12 Lite: Performance and Software

The Snapdragon 778G chip is widely used by mid-range phones in 2021, and for good reason. It’s a balanced performer that offers more than enough power for daily tasks and some gaming, but also isn’t a power hog nor does it run too hot. Throughout my days of use, I encountered no issues in terms of daily tasks. Apps never froze nor stuttered, I didn’t see any major slowdown like I did with the Galaxy A53.

Benchmark scores for GeekBench and PCMark are solid, but Xiaomi for some reason blocked the phone from running 3D Mark.

The lightweight, flat sides, and symmetrical speakers make the phone easy to hold and a good YouTube-watching machine when I’m walking around the apartment.

Battery life

For a thin and light phone, the Xiaomi 12 Lite battery is decent. On lighter usage days like weekdays when I’m seated at a table for chunks of the day, the 12 Lite can last a full day easily. But on weekends when I tend to be out for 12 or 13 hours and use the phone heavily (cameras, social media, streaming Spotify), the 12 Lite lasts about 11 hours, with roughly four hours of screen-on time (using 120Hz refresh rate setting), this is acceptable. The phone charges fast with the included 67W charger: 28 minutes will take it from 0-100, so a 10-minute top-up in the late afternoon or early evening is enough to ensure the phone makes it into the wee hours.

Software

The phone runs MIUI 13 over Android 12, it’s a fast, colorful, animation-heavy UI that does a lot of things right (animations are smooth, you can pull down the notification shade by swiping anywhere instead of needing to reach for the top of the screen, etc), but Xiaomi’s settings page continues to be unnecessarily complicated. MIUI has three different settings pages for display-related matters: there’s a general “display” setting, an “Always-on display” setting, and a “Full-screen display” setting. The last two are not sub-sections under the main display page, they’re separate pages. Every time I get a new phone, I have to change screen time out to much longer than the default (usually 30 seconds) because I need the screen to stay on when I take product shots, and it always takes me a couple of minutes of digging before I find the setting in Xiaomi phones, because it has three display pages.

You also cannot open apps in floating window form here. This seems to be a limitation Xiaomi is putting on mid-range phones because MIUI can definitely do this. In fact, the button to launch the floating window is still there, just grayed out as “not available.” I multi-task with my phone often, and I think floating window is a superior option to Android’s conventional split-screen method.

---

Should you get the Xiaomi 12 Lite?

There are two ways to evaluate the Xiaomi 12 Lite. There’s no denying that, at $399, it’s a good value product. But how much this is a good value depends on point of view. If you’re only comparing the Xiaomi 12 Lite against other brands, then the closest competition are the $449 Galaxy A53, $429 iPhone SE 3, or something like the $450-ish iQoo Neo 6.

The Xiaomi 12 Lite beats the Galaxy A53 in almost every way that matters — better screen, better main camera, better processor, better build quality. The only reason to choose the A53 in this scenario is if you just like Samsung or don’t like Xiaomi. The iPhone SE is a much trickier comparison because it’s a different eco-system entirely, but the iPhone SE wins in processing power and video recording but loses badly in display, design, and photography. The iQoo Neo 6 has a more powerful Snapdragon 870 chip, but inferior camera and haptics, and the phone doesn’t appear to be as widely available globally. So Xiaomi 12 Lite makes a strong case if you’re comparing it to other brands.

But as I wrote recently in the Poco F4 review, it seems Xiaomi’s biggest competition at this price point is itself. The Xiaomi 12 Lite costs $399, the Poco F4 starts at $410, and it has a better Snapdragon processor and faster memory standards (LPDDR5 and UFS 3.1). The Xiaomi 12 Lite does offer a slightly better main camera and display design (symmetrical bezels), but everything else is about equal, down to that useless 2MP macro sensor. If both phones are available in your region, I’d say the Poco is the better option. Otherwise, the Xiaomi 12 Lite, in a vacuum, is yet another very, very good mid-tier phone.

Xiaomi 12 Lite

The Xiaomi 12 Lite is a great mid-ranger with lots to offer.

View at Xiaomi

The post Xiaomi 12 Lite Review: Good looking compact mid-ranger that gets the job done appeared first on XDA.

from XDA https://ift.tt/3C05Eay
via IFTTT