Gboard is one of the best Android keyboards out there, and Google keeps adding new features and improvements from time to time to keep things exciting. In December, Gboard gained thousands of new emoji kitchen combinations. Now the company is testing a neat feature that generates contextual stickers based on your texts.
As spotted by Android Police, Gboard is picking up a new feature that automatically generates stickers based on the text. As you type your message, Gboard identifies the text and displays various stickers in the suggestion row with different styles and colors. For example, typing “See you soon” followed by a heart emoji will generate the following stickers, as shown below.
Gboard shows a preview of the sticker in the left corner of the suggestion row, tapping on which reveals additional variants of the sticker with different styles. These stickers don’t appear in the emoji picker or the existing sticker gallery. Android Police reports that sticker suggestions work with both long and short phrases but don’t work with just about any text. The feature is quite similar to Gboard’s Emoji Kitchen, which lets you pick two different emoji and merge them into one to create unique supersized stickers.
Text-based stickers have rolled out to some users with the latest Gboard beta update. The feature isn’t live on my device running Gboard version 11.4.08.422524001-beta, suggesting this is a limited beta rollout. You can increase your odds by joining the Gboard beta program on the Google Play Store.
Google recently rolled out Gboard’s Pixel 6-exclusive grammar correction tool to other Pixel phones. The tool automatically catches your grammatical errors and provides corrections as you type. It works locally on your device and can be disabled from the keyboard settings.
Have you received the new text-based stickers in Gboard? Let us know in the comments below.
Lenovo has announced the new IdeaPad Gaming 3 series laptops at this year’s MWC. The latest models of Lenovo’s entry-level gaming laptop comes with the latest hardware from Intel (IdeaPad Gaming 3i) or AMD (IdeaPad Gaming 3). The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i comes with 12th-generation Intel Core H-series processors, up to a Core i7-12700H, while the IdeaPad Gaming 3 features AMD Ryzen 6000 series CPUs up to a Ryzen 7 6800H.
There are some differences on the GPU side, too. The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i is available with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card with 6GB of memory and 105W of power, or you can opt for Intel’s brand-new Arc discrete graphics. Meanwhile, the AMD version maxes out with a GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, with 4GB of memory and 85W of power.
On the other hand, while both laptops can be configured with up to 32GB of RAM, the Intel model uses DDR4 RAM clocked at 3200MHz, while the AMD version has DDR5 RAM at 4800MHz. That should give you much lower latency in memory-heavy applications. Both AMD and Intel models come with up to a 1TB SSD. For the battery, the 15-inch versions have either a 45Whr or 60Whr unit, while the 16-inch models come with a larger 71Whr battery with support for Rapid Charge Pro.
Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 15-inch in Glacier White
Both laptops come in two variants, one with a 15.6-inch display and a typical 16:9 aspect ratio and one with a 16-inch display in a taller 16:10 format. The 16-inch display comes in up to Quad HD+ (2560 x 1600) resolution, a 165Hz refresh rate, and 500 nits of brightness. Additionally, the 16-inch models have a Full HD webcam. If you opt for the 15.6-inch models, you still get Quad HD (2560 x 1440) resolution and a 165Hz refresh rate, but the display isn’t as bright. Specifically, the Intel models max out at 350 nits, while the AMD version only hits 300 nits. Audio is delivered by a dual speaker setup with Nahimic Audio.
As for ports, all the models are identical. On the left, there’s a USB Type-A port and a headphone jack, with another Type-A port on the right. On the back of the laptop there’s USB Type-C, HDMI 2.0, RJ45, and the power input. Some of the Intel models support Thunderbolt 4 in the USB Type-C port, but not if you choose the GeForce RTX 3060 GPU.
In addition to the new laptops, Lenovo also announced the new Legion M600S Qi wireless gaming mouse. The mouse features a 19,000 DPI sensor and an ambidextrous design so it’s suitable for different types of gamers. It supports Bluetooth connection or custom 2.4GHz wireless connectivity for lower latency, it has RGB lighting, and it can be charged via USB Type-C or using a Qi wireless charger.
The 15-inch Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i will be available in April starting at $989.99, while the AMD-powered IdeaPad Gaming 3 will launch in May starting at $929.99. Both Intel and AMD variants will come in either Glacier White or Onyx Grey. If you want the 16-inch models, both will launch in June, starting at $1,489.99 for the Intel version or $1,139.99 for the AMD variant. This model only comes in Onyx Grey.
The Lenovo Legion M600s Qi Wireless gaming mouse will be available in September for $99.99.
It’s Mobile World Congress, and while there are lots of announcements, some are like clockwork. Once again, Lenovo is announcing a wide array of ThinkPads in Barcelona, including the ThinkPad X13s Gen 1, a new ThinkPad X1 Extreme, a ThinkPad T14, ThinkPad T14s, and even some new P-series laptops. There are also a couple of ThinkBooks.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X13s
Perhaps the most interesting of the bunch is the new ThinkPad X13s, and the thing that makes it so interesting is that it’s the first ThinkPad to use a Snapdragon processor. And in fact, it’s the first PC to use Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, a chipset that we’ve actually had a chance to test out.
That means that it’s going to get great battery life, which is up to 28 hours according to Lenovo. It also comes with optional 5G connectivity, and it will be one of few 5G laptops that actually supports mmWave as well as sub-6.
Lenovo ThinkPad X13s
Lenovo did say that it was waiting until the time was right to do this. While the company was quick to adopt Windows on ARM and it’s been on board with every generation, it wasn’t so quick to put a Snapdragon processor in a ThinkPad. But performance has come a very long way with the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, and there aren’t as many compatibility issues now, since 64-bit apps can be emulated on ARM with Windows 11.
As for the rest of the laptop, it has a 13.3-inch 16:10 display, and it also gets a 5MP webcam. That comes with AI-based auto-framing and intelligent noise suppression, features that Qualcomm showed off at Snapdragon Summit in December.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X13s is coming in May, starting at $1,099. It’s also going to arrive on AT&T and Verizon later this year.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5
Next up is the ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5, which is the most powerful of Lenovo’s premium X1 class of ThinkPads. First of all, it’s got a bigger screen now. It’s now moving to a 16-inch 16:10 screen, with a 165Hz refresh rate. If you want to opt for a higher resolution, you can get the 4K panel that gets you 600-nit brightness.
That’s not all either. Remember, the X1 Extreme is all about power. It was born in an age when most of Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 laptops had 14-inch displays and U-series processors, so it was the first to use a 45W Intel processor. Now, it’s getting the obvious bump to Intel’s 12th generation, up to a Core i9 and with optional vPro.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5
Graphics are getting a bump too. Last generation was when Lenovo redesigned the product to allow for up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, so now you can get it with an RTX 3080 Ti. Lenovo does a lot with the cooling to make this possible, such as pulling in air through the space around the keys on the keyboard and using liquid metal thermal paste.
It also comes with DDR5 memory, which is new to Intel’s 12th-gen processors. That’s not a given though. With most generations, if a new CPU supports new memory, you can bet that that memory is in the product. That’s not the case with DDR5, which is still too cost-prohibitive to be ubiquitous. The good news is that it’s in the ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5 though.
The ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5 is coming in June, starting at $2,049.
The Lenovo ThinkPad T-series and P-series
The ThinkPad T-series is considered the workhorse of the lineup, and it’s also Lenovo’s bestselling ThinkPads. This year, the company is killing off the 15-inch model in favor of a new 16-inch model.
With the new ThinkPad T14 Gen 3, T14s Gen 3, and T16, you’ll get your choice of Intel 12th-gen processors and AMD Ryzen 6000 chips. With the 16-inch model, you’ll get H-series processors no matter which brand you choose.
Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 3
For display options, you get a 16:10 aspect ratio with 4K options, and there’s even a 2.8K OLED option on the T14s. Powering those graphics will be AMD Radeon 600M integrated graphics on the AMD variants, or if you go Intel, you can get NVIDIA MX550 or RTX 2050 graphics.
Other stuff has been improved too. The touchpads are larger, and they come with FHD webcams. Ultimately, it’s a pretty significant upgrade over the previous generation.
Lenovo also talked briefly about a new ThinkPad P14s Gen 3 and P16s Gen 1, which come with 12th-gen Intel processors, NVIDIA T550 graphics, and are ISV-certified.
The Intel-powered ThinkPad T14, T14s, and T16 are coming in April, June, and April, respectively, and they’ll start at $1,399, $1,529, and $1,419. The AMD-powered models are coming in June, May, and June, and start at $1,299, $1,399, and $1,299, respectively. Finally, the ThinkPad P14s and P16s are both coming in April, and both start at $1,419.
There are new ThinkBooks as well
Lenovo also introduced the ThinkBook 14s Yoga Gen 2 and the 13s Gen 4. They both include Intel’s 12th-gen processors with Iris Xe graphics, and FHD displays. Naturally, they have Thunderbolt 4 as well.
Lenovo ThinkBook 13s
The new ThinkBook 13s is boating being the thinnest ThinkBook, at 14.9mm, and it comes in Cloud Grey and Arctic Grey, because Lenovo really likes calling colors grey. It also comes with LPDDR5 memory and a 56WHr batter, which should get some good battery life.
Both the ThinkBook 14s Yoga Gen 2 and ThinkBook 13s Gen 4 are coming in April, starting at $849.
Lenovo has a ton of announcements coming out of MWC 2022, and among them are a handful of new laptops geared towards consumers under the IdeaPad brand. The new Lenovo IdeaPad devices are powered by 12th-generation Intel processors, and they’re mostly convertibles running either Windows 11 or Chrome OS. There’s also a new iteration of the Lenovo Tab M10 running Android 12.
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i and 5 (Gen 7)
IdeaPad Flex 5 (14-inch) in Stone Blue
The first of the bunch are the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i and IdeaPad Flex 5, which are essentially Intel and AMD versions of the same laptop. The Flex 5i is powered by 12th-generation Intel Core processors up to a Core i7-1255U with 10 cores (2P + 8E) and 12 threads, while the Flex 5 oddly comes with last-gen AMD Ryzen 5000 series CPUs up to a Ryzen 7 5700U.
Otherwise, the two laptops are very similar. They both come with up to 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD for storage, and they both come in either 14-inch and 16-inch sizes. The display comes in a 16:10 aspect ratio, and there are three resolution options: Full HD+ (1920 x 1200), 2.2K (2240 x 1400), and 2.8K (2880 x 1800), though that last option is exclusive to the 14-inch Intel model. The two laptops also come with either HD or Full HD webcams depending on the configuration.
For ports, both laptops come with oen USB Type-C port, two USB Type-A port, HDMI, a 4-in-1 card reader, and a 3.5mm audio jack. On the Intel models, the USB Type-C port supports Thunderbolt 4, while the AMD models came with USB 3.2 Gen 2 speeds.
As for the build quality, both laptops use a metal cover in the 16-inch model, or a plastic cover in the 14-inch variant. The Intel model also has an optional metal cover in the smaller 14-inch size, though. The laptop starts at 1.5kg (3.3lbs) in the 14-inch models and 2.1kg (4.62lbs) in the 16-inch versions.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 and 5i will be available in both sizes in May, and they’ll come in Storm Grey, Cloud Grey, and Stone Blue. The 14-inch Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i starts at $619.99, while the 16-inch version starts at $899.99. As for Flex 5, the 14-inch model starts at $689.99, while the 16-inch variant starts at $749.99.
Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5i
Next up is the IdeaPad Duet 5i, which is a detachable 2-in-1 Windows PC. It’s a 12-inch tablet with a 16:10 aspect ratio, and it comes in Quad HD+ (2560 x 1600) resolution. It can reach up to 450 nits of brightness and it covers 96% DCI-P3, plus it supports Dolby Vision. There-s also support for the Lenovo Active Pen. On the inside, the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5i is also powered by 12th-generation Intel processors up to a Core i7-1255U, and you can configure it with up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.
The IdeaPad Duet 5i has a built-in kickstand, and while the included keyboard can be attached, it’s actually Bluetooth, so you can use it while it’s detached. The tablet itself weighs just 809 grams, though it also comes with a folio case that adds 360 grams. The tablet also has two 5MP cameras, one on the front and one on the back, so you can use ti for video calls and recording videos in a pinch. The front-facing camera also has an IR sensor for Windows Hello.
For ports, you get two USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack, but there’s no Thunderbolt support here. The IdeaPad Duet 5i supports Rapid Charge Express, meaning you can get three hours of video playbakc with a 15 minute charge.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5i will be available in July starting at $749.99. It’ll be available in Storm Grey or Stone Blue.
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook
Moving on to Chromebooks, there’s the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook, which is a 14-inch convertible. It comes with a 16:10 aspect ratio for the display, and the resolution is Full HD+ (1920 x 1200). While you can’t upgrade the resolution, there are two models, one with a 300-nit screen and another one with a 400-nit panel with 100% of sRGB. Above the display, there’s a Full HD webcam.
This model is powered by Intel’s 12th-generation processors up to a Core i5-1235U, which is still a 10-core, 12-thread CPU with Iris Xe graphics. It comes with up to 8GB RAM and up to 512GB of SSD storage. It’s worth noting that there are 64GB and 128GB storage tiers, you’ll be getting eMMC storage instead, though. It comes with a dual-speaker system tuned by MaxxAudio and the battery life is rated for 10 hours.
For ports, it comes with two USB Type-C ports (one USB 3.2 Gen 2, one 3.2 Gen 1), one USB Type-A port, a combo audio jack, and a microSD card reader.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook will launch in June 2022 starting at $499.99, and it’ll come in Storm Grey and Stone Blue.
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3i Chromebook
If you want something a bit more affordable, there’s also the IdeaPad Flex 3i Chromebook. This is a 15.6-inch convertible laptop and it comes with a 16:9 aspect ratio and Full HD resolution. It can also reach 300 nits of brightness, and it has the same audio sustem as the Flex 5i Chromebook.
It’s powered by Intel processors up to a Celeron N6000, which is low-end processor with four cores, four threads, and speeds up to 3.3GHz. It comes with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of eMMC storage, too. As for ports, there’s one USB Type-C port, two USB Type-A ports, HDMI, a combo audio jack, and a microSD card reader.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3i Chromebook will be available in May starting at $399.99. It’ll come in either Arctic Grey or Abyss Blue.
IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook
For fans of Arm-based devices, Lenovo announced the IdeaPad 3 Chromebook, which is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 chipset. It’s a detachable 2-in-1 PC, and it’s the spiritual successor to the Chromebook Duet. It also comes with up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of eMMC storage.
The display is an 11-inch 2K panel, slightly bigger than the 10-inch panel of the Chromebook Duet, and it comes in an odd 5:3 aspect ratio. it support pen input, though the pen is sold separately. There’s a pair of 1W speakers for audio, and battery life goes up to 12 hours. For ports, the IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook comes with two USB Type-C ports and pogo pins for the detachable keyboard.
The Lenovo Ideapad Duet 3 Chromebook will be available in May and it’ll start at $399.99. it-ll come in either Strom Grey or Misty Blue colorways.
Lenovo Tab M10 Plus (3rd Gen)
Finally, Lenovo also announced a new version of its Android tablet, the Tab M10 Plus. This new tablet is running Android 12, though Lenovo is promising an Android 13 update by 2023, as well as three years of security updates. It has a 10.61-inch display with a resolution of 2000 x 1200 and 400 nits of brightness, so it should be pretty good for content consumption. In addition to touch, the Lenovo Tab M10 Plus also supports the Precision Pen 2 with 4,096 levels of pressure for doodling and taking notes. Audio is delivered by a quad-speaker system optimized for Dolby Atmos, so this is truly meant for watching movies and TV shows.
On the inside, it’s powered by a MediaTek Helio G80 chipset for the Wi-Fi-only version, or a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 if you choose the variant with LTE connectivity. The MediatTek variant comes with up to 4GB of RAM and 128GB of eMCP-based storage, while the Snapdragon models can be had with up to 6GB of RAM and faster uMCP-based storage (with the same 128GB max capacity). If you do get the LTE model, you’ll be getting Cat13 speed with the Snapdragon X11 modem, up to 390Mbps downloads.
If you need to capture content, the Lenovo Tab M10 Plus comes with an 8MP fixed-focus camera on the front for video calls and selfies. On the back, there-s another 8MP camera with autofocus for taking pictures and videos in a pinch. Lenovo is promising up to 12 hours of video playback with the 7,700mAh battery, too.
The new Lenovo Tab M10 Plus will be available in June 2022 and it’ll start at just $189.99.
A few months after unveiling the ZenFone 8, ASUS confirmed that it planned on bringing its compact flagship to the Indian market. However, after making the announcement in July last year, ASUS went AWOL, leading many fans to believe that the company had skipped the Indian market altogether. But that’s not the case. Today, the company finally launched the compact ZenFone 8 in India as the ASUS 8Z.
ASUS 8Z: Specifications
Specification
ASUS 8Z
Dimensions and Weight
148 x 68.5 x 8.9mm
169g
Display
5.9-inch FHD+ (2400 x 1080) Samsung E4 AMOLED display
90.02% screen-to-body ratio, 20:9 ratio, 445ppi
120Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time, 240Hz touch sampling rate
112% DCI-P3, 151.9% sRGB, Delta E average < 1, 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio
800nits outdoor-readable brightness
1100 nits maximum brightness
Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
SGS Eye Care 6.5% & SGS Seamless Pro (120Hz)
SoC
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
1x Kryo 680 (ARM Cortex X1-based) Prime core @ 2.84GHz
Despite the name change, the ASUS 8Z is the same device that launched as the ZenFone 8 in international markets. It packs Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 chip, a 5.9-inch FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection, 8GB LPDDR5 RAM, 128GB UFS 3.1 storage, a 4,000mAh battery with 30W wired fast charging support, and a dual-camera setup featuring a 64MP primary shooter and a 12MP ultra-wide camera.
The device also features a 12MP front-facing camera for selfies, a USB Type-C port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and an in-display fingerprint scanner. It measures just 148 x 68.5 x 8.9mm and weighs about 169 grams, making it one of the most compact flagships of 2021. Other noteworthy features include a stereo speaker setup and IP68 certification for water and dust resistance.
Pricing & Availability
The ASUS 8Z will be available through Flipkart in two colorways — Horizon Silver and Obsidian Black — starting March 7. ASUS has launched only one RAM/storage configuration in India, which is priced at ₹42,999 (~$570).
The Paranoid Android team has released fresh builds of Sapphire Alpha based on Android 12 for several POCO and Xiaomi phones. The POCO X3 Pro, Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro, and Mi 8 Explorer Edition have received the first build of Paranoid Android Sapphire Alpha. Meanwhile, the POCO X3 / X3 NFC and POCO F2 Pro / Redmi K30 Pro are getting the Alpha 3 and Alpha 2 build, respectively.
Owners of the Mi 8 Pro, Mi 8 Explorer Edition, and POCO X3 Pro can now try out the initial build of Paranoid Android based on Android 12. If you want to give it a shot, download the ROM zip from the links below. Make sure to take some time to read through the step-by-step flashing instructions as well.
Next up, the POCO X3 / POCO X3 NFC has received the third Alpha build of Paranoid Android. The latest build fixes bugs, adds features like per-app refresh rate support, screen-off gestures, Quick-tap Columbus gestures, and bumps the security patch level to February 2022. If you’re running Sapphire Alpha 2 build, you can simply sideload the new OTA in recovery. First-time users or those on Alpha 1 build, however, will need to do a fresh install by wiping user data.
Update changelog
Device-specific changelog:
Changed to User Build
Add per-app refresh rate
Add blocklist feature for Refresh Rate QS Tile( Add all dfps values below 60 to the blocklist)
Add pt-rBR Translations
Fix audio record in gcam
Fix Fastbooot problem because vbmeta.img
Fix OTG issues
Update firmware from V12.5.5.0.RJGEUXM
Update stock blobs from V12.5.5.0.RJGEUXM
Update vendor blobs from LA.UM.9.1.r1-11500.02-SMxxx0.QSSI12.0
Update common system blobs from LA.QSSI.12.0.r1-05800-qssi.0
Finally, the team has released Paranoid Android Sapphire Alpha 2 for the POCO F2 Pro / Redmi K30 Pro. The new release improves the Monet theme engine, adds swipe to screenshot feature, brings an Extreme battery saver mode and Quick Tap, and more.
HMD Global has been selling Nokia-branded Android phones for years at this point, though in recent history, it has started to slip behind with software support. That isn’t stopping the company from making even more phones, and now there are three more budget devices on the way: the Nokia C21 Plus, Nokia C21, and Nokia C 2nd Edition.
HMD Global says the Nokia C series has already amounted to 16% of the company’s total smartphone sales in the last five years, even though the lineup has only been around for two years. There’s a decent level of demand for these phones, which is apparently why HMD is announcing three more at the same time.
Specification
Nokia C21 Plus
Nokia C21
Nokia C2 2nd Edition
Build
“Dark Cyan” and “Warm Grey” colors
“Dark Blue” and “Warm Grey” colors
“Dark Blue” and “Warm Grey” colors
Dimensions & Weight
164.8 x 75.9 x 8.55 mm
178 g (4000 mAh)
191 g (5050 mAh)
169.9 x 77.9 x 8.8 mm
195 g
153.95 x 75.9 x 9.55 mm
180 g
Display
6.5-inch “HD+” 20:9
6.5-inch “HD+” 20:9
5.7″ 480 x 960 18:9
SoC
Unisoc SC9863A
8-core, up to 1.6GHz
Unisoc SC9863A
8-core, up to 1.6GHz
Unspecified 4-core 1.5GHz SoC
RAM & Storage
2/3/4GB RAM
32/64GB internal storage
microSD card slot (up to 256GB)
2/3GB RAM
32/64GB internal storage
microSD card slot (up to 256GB)
1/2GB
32GB internal storage
microSD card slot (up to 256GB)
Battery & Charging
4,000/5,050mAh battery
10W wired charging
3,000mAh battery
5W charging
2,400mAh battery
5W charging
Security
Fingerprint sensor
Face unlock
Fingerprint sensor
Face unlock
Fingerprint sensor
Face unlock
Rear Camera(s)
13MP main camera
2MP depth sensor
8MP
8MP
Front Camera(s)
5MP
5MP
5MP
Ports
microUSB (USB 2.0)
3.5mm audio jack
microUSB (USB 2.0)
3.5mm audio jack
microUSB (USB 2.0)
3.5mm audio jack
Connectivity
4G LTE CAT4
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n (Wi-Fi 4)
Bluetooth 4.2
GPS/AGPS
4G LTE CAT4
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n (Wi-Fi 4)
Bluetooth 4.2
GPS/AGPS
4G LTE CAT4
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n (Wi-Fi 4)
Bluetooth 5.0
GPS/AGPS
Software
Android 11 Go Edition
Android 11 Go Edition
Android 11 Go Edition
Other Features
IP52 splash/dust resistance
Two years of quarterly security updates
FM radio (wired only)
Two years of quarterly security updates
FM radio (wired only)
Two years of quarterly security updates
Removable battery
FM radio (wired + wireless)
First up is the Nokia C21 Plus, which is the best out of the three phones. It’s still a low-end budget device, with a Unisoc SC9863A chipset, two rear cameras (though one of them is just a depth sensor), IP52 splash/dust resistance, a 6.5-inch “HD+” screen (presumably 720p with added height), and a microUSB connector instead of USB Type-C. Even though USB Type-C is a better connector, these phones will likely be sold in countries where microUSB is still the norm.
The rest of the hardware will likely vary by country and model, with anywhere from 2-4GB RAM, 32-64GB of internal storage, and a battery capacity of 4,000 or 5,050mAh. On the bright side, there is a headphone jack and FM radio, which you won’t find on most flagship phones at this point.
Next is the regular Nokia C21, which drops the battery capacity to 3,000mAh, and also reduces the charging speed to just 5W — it’s gonna take a while to fully charge this phone. There’s also only one rear camera, at least according to the press release and specification sheet, but there are two camera holes. Either the announcement is wrong, or this phone has a fake camera.
The Nokia C 2nd Edition is the last of the bunch (pictured at the top), which is one of the worst product names for a smartphone I’ve heard in recent history. It has a smaller 5.7-inch display that is only 480p, 1-2GB RAM, 32GB of internal storage, and a 2,400mAh battery (with the same slow 5W charging). HMD wouldn’t even say what chipset this phone uses, only that it’s another Unisec SoC with four cores.
Even though these are all budget devices, these phones are about as low-power as you can get and still technically run Android. HMD also didn’t mention pricing or exact availability for any of these phones, but the Nokia C20 Plus was originally priced at ₹11,099 in India, which is around $148. HMD has never sold its C-series phones in the United States, so these new models likely won’t be available in the US either.
The thing that really stands out about the MSI Creator 15 is its beautiful OLED display. Indeed, when you use it, you’re going to fall in love with it, especially if you’ve never used an OLED display on a laptop before. It’s incredible, and if you’re editing photos or videos, that kind of color makes a difference.
The biggest thing that feels a bit strange is that it feels like a repurposed gaming laptop. It has that thick and squared-off design that’s common in gaming devices, and it has a loud fan. When I put it next to other creator-focused devices like Dell’s XPS 15 or HP’s Spectre x360 16, the MSI Creator 15 definitely stands out as something different.
Aside from the OLED display, the other thing that I absolutely love about this machine is the battery life. It has a 99.9WHr battery, which is literally as big as it gets. Speaking of other creator laptops, I’m pretty confident that this one gets the best battery life, so when I talk about that boxy design, it just might be worth it.
The MSI Creator 15 starts at $1,849, but it’s frequently discounted.
There’s a higher-end model with a GeForce RTX 3080 and 1TB storage.
The MSI Creator 15 has been out since 2021, so it’s not too hard to get your hands on one. The model that MSI sent me for review includes a Core i7-11800H, 16GB DDR4-3200 RAM, a 512GB SSD, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 graphics. The MSRP is $1,849, but it seems to be discounted pretty regularly.
That model is actually the base model, which is pretty impressive. You can get it with up to RTX 3080 graphics and up to a 1TB SSD. This top-end model costs $2,349, and it’s up to you what kind of graphics and storage you need. Personally, I think an RTX 3060 is pretty solid for a creator laptop.
This laptop isn’t very configurable, and there are only three options. Luckily, the OLED display comes standard.
MSI Creator 15: Specs
CPU
Intel Core i7-11800H
Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU 6GB GDDR6
Up to 1517MHz Boost Clock, 95W Maximum Graphics Power with Dynamic Boost.
Killer Gb LAN (Up to 2.5G)
Killer ax Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth v5.2
Webcam
IR HD type (30fps@720p)
Color
Core Black
OS
Windows 11 Home
Price
$1,849
Design: It looks and feels a lot like a gaming PC
Essentially, the black chassis has a boxy design that feels like a gaming laptop was repurposed as a creator laptop.
The MSI Creator 15 looks a lot like the company took a gaming laptop and swapped out a bunch of features to make it more appealing to creators. For example, there’s no RGB light bar in the front, there’s a 4K OLED screen instead of an FHD screen with a high refresh rate, it has an IR camera for Windows Hello, and the design is just more subtle. It comes in a color called Core Black, which you might know by its street name: black.
Obviously, it comes with the MDI logo stamped in the lid, and that’s subtle as well, as it’s only a darker shade of black instead of a more flamboyant chrome color.
But as you can see from the side view, it has that sort of boxy look. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s just a design that I expect to see more often from gaming devices. It does have lots of ports, which are all on the left and right sides. This is different from MSI’s gaming laptops, which have ports in the rear.
And here’s what’s cool about the ports. All three of the USB Type-A ports are USB 3.2 Gen 2, meaning they get 10Gbps data transfer speeds. You’ll find two of those on the right side, along with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, a headphone jack, and an Ethernet port. That USB Type-C port also supports DisplayPort, so you can use it to connect another monitor.
On the left side, there’s an HDMI port that you can use to output to an 8K 60Hz or 4K 120Hz display, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, and a Thunderbolt 4 port. Obviously, the USB Type-C port on this side is a lot more versatile than the one on the other side, supporting 40Gbps data transfer speed, dual 4K displays, or even an external GPU thanks to Thunderbolt. As always, I’m not a fan of the user having to know the difference between two ports that look the same, but at least they’re labelled.
Display: MSI brings that sweet, sweet OLED with the Creator 15
The 4K OLED screen means that the experience is as delightful as it gets.
Unfortunately, the webcam is 720p.
The MSI Creator 15 comes with a 15.6-inch 3,840×2,160 OLED display, and it’s awesome. Seriously, it makes the laptop an absolute delight to use. When you use an OLED display, your PC goes from being a utility to something more personal.
The 4K OLED display makes the MSI Creator 15 a delight to use.
If you’re not familiar with OLED displays, your phone probably has one if you use a premium device. Since parts of the screen actually get turned off, blacks are truly black, to the point where you wouldn’t be able to see where the screen ends and the bezels begin in a dark room. Colors rendered on top of that instead of a backlight are more vibrant.
With wider color gamuts, higher contrast ratios, and more, OLED displays are perfect for creative work like photo and video editing. MSI also has an app called True Color that lets you adjust for Adobe RGB, sRGB, and more.
In my testing, I came up with 100% sRGB, 90% NTSC, 96% Adobe RGB, and 89% P3. Those are really good, and you won’t get those scores from almost any non-OLED laptop.
Brightness maxed out at 411.9, and contrast maxed out at 28,020:1, although that contrast ratio is really just the largest that my SpyderX Pro is going to be able to read.
To be clear, none of these display tests are a surprise. This is what you get with a premium OLED display. The contrast ratios are essentially infinite, and it makes that much of a difference to the user experience.
Speaking of consumption, the dual 2W speakers sit in a soundbar above the keyboard. They don’t get incredibly loud, but they’re still fine for listening to music or streaming media. The quality is great though. Obviously, you’ll do fine with calls if you’re working from home too.
There’s one problem though, which is that it has a 720p webcam. The quality of the webcam actually seems pretty decent for what it is, but with Intel’s new Evo spec, you’re about to see a lot of new laptops with FHD webcams on the market. If you’re on a lot of video calls, it’s something to be aware of.
Speaking of calls though, there’s another app on here called MSI Center Pro. It has lots of productivity features like battery optimization, but it also has noise cancellation, which definitely helps in the work-from-home scenario.
Keyboard and touchpad: The keyboard is RGB, and the touchpad is a bit small
The RGB keyboard also feels like something that’s more gaming-oriented.
The most interesting thing about the keyboard is that the backlight is RGB. That’s a feature typically reserved for gaming laptops, so the colors are more subtle, like pastel colors. The only other time I’ve seen something like this was from Razer with the Razer Book 13. I don’t mind it; it’s just an interesting choice, and it seems to be what happens when a gaming laptop company makes something aimed at another market.
As for using the keyboard itself, I feel like the keys require just a little too much force. This feels like the kind of keyboard that’s great for gaming, but for typing, it’s going to take a little bit of getting used to. I spent a lot of time with the MSI Creator 15, and I definitely made more errors writing articles than I usually do. Like I said, you’ll just have to get used to it a bit.
I just have to say it, but the Precision touchpad should be taller. It’s nice and wide, which is great. Now, it just needs to be taller. There’s some real estate on the deck that could have been used, but the whole thing could have been done differently; in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it done differently in future generations. A lot of OEMs are moving to 16:10 screens, which makes them taller, adding more room on the deck for a taller touchpad.
The thing is, the touchpad isn’t even particularly small. It’s just that with it going so wide, the Y dimension feels small. If you look at something like a Dell XPS 15 or a MacBook Pro, which compete directly with this laptop, you can see what companies are doing with larger touchpads. It’s not a big deal. It’s just something I’d like to see from a laptop like this.
Performance: With a Core i7-11800H and RTX 3060 graphics, it gets the job done
The Core i7-11800H, RTX 3060, and 16GB RAM are great for photo and video editing, but there’s an option for an RTX 3080 if you want that extra boost.
The 99.9WHr battery is literally as big as it gets, so battery life is great for such a powerful laptop.
I mentioned earlier that the model that MSI sent me is the base model, packing a Core i7-11800H, RTX 3060 graphics, 16GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD, but to be honest, I don’t think most people need more than that. This thing flies, and most of the time, I used it connected to dual 4K monitors.
The higher-end model is going to be better if you need more storage for sure, but it also comes with an RTX 3080, so you’ll get more graphics power. If you’re looking for a creator laptop that can double up as a gaming machine, that’s the one you want.
The base model should offer all of the performance you need, but you can get an RTX 3080 if you want it.
But for what I used it for, the performance was great. That includes batch exports in Adobe Lightroom Classic, editing images in Photoshop, and of course, my general work flow of writing articles, having over a dozen Chromium tabs open (Vivaldi specifically), and using other apps like Slack, Skype, and OneNote at the same time. I did a bit of gaming too, playing some Forza Horizon 5. It doesn’t go for Ultra or Extreme settings, which is fine, but the game plays nicely, and it looks beautiful on the OLED display.
For benchmarks, I used PCMark 10, 3DMark, Geekbench, Cinebench, and VRMark.
MSI Creator 15
Core i7-11800H, RTX 3060
Acer Swift X
Ryzen 7 5800U, RTX 3050 Ti
Dell XPS 15 9510
Core i7-11800H, RTX 3050 Ti
PCMark 10
5,965
6,019
5,988
3DMark: Time Spy
6,880
4,046
4,801
Geekbench 5
1,417 / 6,217
1,447 / 8,104
1,538 / 7,514
Cinebench R23
1,370 / 8,382
1,434 / 10,568
1,491 / 9,399
VRMark: Orange Room
9,772
VRMark: Cyan Room
2,752
VRMark: Blue Room
2,101
The MSI Creator 15 also has a big old battery at 99.9WHr, and that’s as big as it gets. Anything bigger than that wouldn’t meet certain regulatory restrictions, such as being allowed on planes. In my testing, it got between four and five hours of usage, which is really good for a machine like this. that’s about average for what I get in an ultrabook or a convertible, but this thing has a 45W CPU and RTX graphics. Five hours of battery life under real-world use is killer.
The MSI Creator 15 has the biggest battery that exists in a laptop.
I didn’t use any particular setting this time. It’s not like a productivity machine where I can set the power slider to balanced all the time. There was a lot of photo editing happening, and sometimes, it was also powering a 15.6-inch FHD OLED display that was sent by INNOCN. I didn’t try to preserve power, or run a test by looping local video playback or something like that. This was straight-up real-world usage, and the results are really good.
Who should buy the MSI Creator 15?
There’s a lot about the MSI Creator 15 that’s really good, and there’s some that’s not that great, so obviously, it’s not for everyone.
Who should buy the MSI Creator 15:
People who want a laptop for photo and video editing, but also might want to play some games too
Customers that want to be delighted by an OLED display
Creators that aren’t able to be connected to power all the time
Who shouldn’t buy the MSI Creator 15:
Users who are on a lot of video calls and would benefit from an FHD webcam
People who are looking for a laptop that’s primarily for productivity
Other than the OLED display, which is absolutely stunning, one of the biggest things that stands out to me here is that boxy design. MSI’s laptops are traditionally made for gaming, and it feels like the firm took a gaming laptop design and swapped out a bunch of gamer-centric features for creator-centric ones. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; indeed, it might be quite the opposite, but it should give you an idea if this laptop is for you.
MWC 2022 is officially underway in Barcelona, and instead of smartphones, HUAWEI is taking the stage to announce new Windows devices at the show. The lineup of devices coming in 2022 includes a new HUAWEI MateBook X Pro, the MateBook E 2-in-1 tablet, the MateStation X all-in-one (AiO), and the MatePad Paper e-reader. All of these devices are underpinned by HUAWEI’s Super Device connectivity, enabling cross-device collaboration in HUAWEI’s ecosystem, including HarmonyOS/Android smartphones and tablets.
HUAWEI MateBook X Pro
The first device coming out of MWC 2022 is the new HUAWEI MateBook X Pro laptop, which has been completely redesigned for this year. This new model is as thin as 15.5mm at its thickest point and weighs just 1.38kg. It has a 14.2-inch display in a sharp 3120 x 2080 resolution and a 3:2 aspect ratio, plus it has a 90Hz refresh rate and can reach up to 500 nits of brightness. It’s color-accurate, too, covering 100% of DCI-P3 and touting a Delta E < 1 rating for color accuracy. Above the display, there’s a 720p webcam for video calls.
HUAWEI says the new design of the MateBook X Pro (2022) allowed it to redesign the cooling system as well, promising 60% more airflow and 100% more heat dissipation compared to previous models. This allows the CPU to run at a higher wattage, though HUAWEI is still using Intel U-series processors. These are 11th-generation processors, though, so it’s not the newest hardware.
The new MateBook X Pro also comes with an improved touchpad that makes use of smart gestures. For example, swiping up or down on the left edge will adjust the display brightness, while swiping the same way on the right edge can change the volume. You can also swipe left or right on the top edge to rewind or fast-forward a video or movie. Finally, you can knock twice on the touchpad to take a screenshot.
The audio system is promising as well. There’s a six-speaker setup with what HUAWEI calls “sound field reconstruction” technology to deliver high-quality, powerful sound.
Finally, you get four USB Type-C ports, all of which support charging – but none of them supports Thunderbolt 4. Two have USB 3.2 Gen 2 speeds, while the other two have USB 3.2 Gen 1 speeds. The included GaN charger can deliver up to 90W of power to the MateBook X Pro, but you can also use on your HUAWEI phone, with support for 50W SuperCharge.
HUAWEI MateBook E
Next up from MWC 2022 is the HUAWEI MateBook E, a detachable 2-in-1 Windows PC, meant to compete with the likes of the Surface Pro. It does have some advantages, being just 7.9mm thin (compared to 9.3mm on the Surface Pro 8), and weight 709 grams, which is also less than the 891 grams of Microsoft’s premium tablet. The tablet has a magnesium middle frame and a carbon fiber back panel.
A big benefit of the HUAWEI MateBook E is the OLED display, which is something that’s still not too common in laptops. It’s a 12.6-inch panel with a resolution of 2560 x 1600, and it reaches a maximum brightness of 600 nits, making it pretty good for outdoor use. It also covers 100% of DCI-P3 and has a Delta E < 1, so color reproduction should also be great here. And of course, because it’s OLED, you get a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, so colors should really pop, especially on dark backgrounds.
The HUAWEI MateBook E is powered by Intel’s 11th-generation processors, specifically the 9W models, and it uses a 3D cooling system to keep things running smoothly. For connectivity, you get a single USB Type-C port, which is also used for charging, but it does support Thunderbolt 4 if you want to use a docking station. There are also pogo pins used to connect the detachable keyboard.
On that note, the HUAWEI MateBook E supports the HUAWEI Smart Magnetic Keyboard, which also serves as a case and kickstand, since the tablet doesn’t have one built-in. The case wraps around both sides, and the keyboard features full-size keys with 1.3mm of travel, which isn’t bad for something this thin. There’s also a Glide keyboard sold separately, which is backlit and includes a passthrough USB-C port with 65W charging.
The HUAWEI MateBook E also comes with support for the M-Pencil (2nd generation), and it can actually attach magnetically to the side of the tablet and charge wirelessly. The M-Pencil supports 4,096 levels of pressure and has just 2ms of latency on Windows, so it should be a pretty good inking experience overall.
HUAWEI MateStation X
Moving on from the MateBook series to the desktop side of things, HUAWEI is also introducing the MateStation X at MWC 2022, an all-in-one PC. It’s powered by AMD Ryzen 5000 H-series processors, which are designed for laptops and no longer the newest hardware in town. You also don’t get discrete graphics of any kind, but you do get 16GB of RAM and a 1TB PCIe Gen 3 SSD.
The highlight of the MateStation X is the display, which is a 28.2-inch panel in the 3:2 aspect ratio, similar to the MateView monitor the company launched last year. it can reach up to 500 nits, it covers 98% of DCI-P3, and it has a Delta E <= 1, so color accuracy is also great, and to round things out, it’s a touchscreen with 10-point multitouch. HUAWEI describes it as a floating screen due to the minimal bezels and the 86.3% screen-to-body ratio. You can tilt the screen easily with one finger, too.
Sound should also be quite good, seeing as the MateStation X has three speakers built-in. There are two 5W full-range speakers and a 10W woofer, all using Devialet technology. The PC also has four mics for calls.
HUAWEI MatePad Paper
Finally, HUAWEI introdiced MatePad Paper at MWC 2022 – an e-reader running HarmonyOS. It has a 10.3-inch display and it seems impressive on a few levels. For starters, it has a “smart refresh” mode, which makes it more feasible to watch videos in a pinch, while still working great for text. This is also helped by a 256-level grayscale, which allows both text and images to display more naturally. It’s also readable at night thanks to backlight with 32 levels of intensity.
In addition to all that, the MAtePad Paper also supports the M-Pencil with its full 4,096 levels of pressure. In fact, the e-reader has a PPMA textured surface to simulate the feel of paper more closely while writing on the screen. The device also has some cool features for taking notes. For example, you can take notes while recording a voice clip, and the notes you take are linked to time stamps on your voice recording, so you can always get the full context of the notes you took. There’s also handwriting conversion to text, if you want notes to be a bit easier to read.
As for the internal specs, the HUAWEI MatePad Paper comes with 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and the battery promises to last over four weeks in standby. There’s also a fingerprint reader built into the power button.
Since it runs HarmonyOS, the HUAWEI MatePad Paper supports the Super Device integration, too. You can easily share files from your Huawei phone to the tablet. You can even use it as a second screen for your PC, something that you can already do with HUAWEI tablets as well.
HUAWEI also announced the standard MatePad tablet, with a 10.4-inch FullView display and running HarmonyOS 2.
HUAWEI ecosystem
Connecting all of these devices is HUAWEI’s ecosystem integration, which it calls Super Device. You can easily connect these devices to each other to do all sorts of things, such as mirroring your phone’s screen on your PC, using a tablet as a second screen for your Windows PC, and easily moving files between devices. You can also easily connect peripherals like earbuds to your HUAWEI ecosystem using a simple drag-and-drop gesture.
Super Device as a brand is now coming to PCs for the first time, and that means you’ll see a new HUAWEI control panel on your taskbar. If you click it, you get a handful of quick actions, but you’ll also see the Super Device panel, which lets you easily connect wirelessly other devices with the drag-and-drop gesture mentioned above. Those devices also include the new PixLab X1 laser printer and the HUAWEI Sound Joy soundbar that were also announced today.
One of the big things coming to HUAWEI devices, specifically laptops, is the new Mobile App Engine for PC. This is essentially Android app emulation, similar to what’s built into Windows 11 now, but there’s a key difference: This works on Windows 10. This has been available in China for a while, and HUAWEI says thousands of apps are already compatible. For users in other markets, a beta version is rolling out today for various HUAWEI PCs as part of an update to HUAWEI PC Manager.
Samsung updates its flagship lineup of smartphones yearly, and every year, there’s always one contentious issue: which is better, Snapdragon or Exynos? Exynos is the company’s in-house chipset that powers some of its phones every year, though nearly always, Europe is the one region guaranteed to get an Exynos chip. The U.S. tends to get a Snapdragon chip, and then it’s a toss-up in all of the other regions what chipset they’ll get. This year, India got a Snapdragon chip for the first time in the Samsung Galaxy S22 series, and like clockwork, Europe got Exynos.
As we’ve noted, it appears that retail units of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra have some major problems. There were display flickering issues that have since been fixed, and performance problems too. Since publishing our article, I’ve had numerous consumers reach out to me on Twitter to say that they have had similar performance problems on their Exynos-based S22 units. I’ve even seen some users saying that it has gotten worse since the most recent update. Keep in mind as well that, at least according to renowned leaker Max Jambor, Samsung is aware of the performance problems that Exynos devices are currently facing.
To be fair to Samsung, I have also had numerous consumers tell me that they have no problems with their units. The purpose of this article is not to say that every user will have this experience, but there is a sizeable number of consumers who are complaining about the performance of their devices. I’ve now managed to get my hands on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-powered Galaxy S22 Ultra unit provided by Samsung PR in the U.S., and I put it to the test against my Exynos-powered retail unit purchased directly from Samsung Ireland. The results are probably in line with what you expected to happen.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Snapdragon vs Exynos
For context, I was initially going to set up both of these devices as new to compare against each other, but I felt that any tests done would not be illustrative of an actual device that is currently in use. Benchmarks can be idealistic on an empty device with nothing installed, and people buy phones to use them beyond benchmarks, right?
Instead, developer options were utilized to prevent any background processes from running on the devices, and “don’t keep activities” was enabled on both devices. Where possible, these devices were also disconnected from the internet so that push notifications could not be received to interfere with the test. In essence, I ensured that no background processes were running, and I ensured that there was no network interference, either.
Both devices have also been updated to the latest available software versions, and build numbers and build date are below.
Exynos Version: S908BXXU1AVBF / S908BOXm1AVBF (Build date: February 23rd)
Snapdragon Version: S908U1UEU1AVA6 / S908U1OYM1AVA6 (Build date: January 8th)
Benchmarks
First and foremost, I benchmarked both devices side by side to test for differences. I ran a Geekbench 5 test on both of the Galaxy S22 Ultras that I have and asked Nils Ahrensmeier of TechnikNews to run it as well on his Exynos device.
These results already show a massive performance disparity between the Exynos variant of the Galaxy S22 Ultra and the Snapdragon variant, and even within two runs on the same unit. However, benchmarks aren’t everything, and it’s entirely possible for a phone to perform well while also not hitting the specific key indicators in a benchmark to net it a high score.
Throttling and sustained performance
Sustained performance is one of the most important metrics to pay attention to when using a smartphone. If the sustained performance is poor, then you’ll have greatly reduced performance after what could potentially be a short period of time. I ran the test comparing both of these devices, and while both were consistent in their performance, the Snapdragon chipset was ahead the entire time. This still showed a much more reasonable outcome for the Exynos though and is not indicative of a problem in itself.
Power consumption
I was able to measure the peak power consumption of both of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra devices in my possession while running the CPU Throttling Test. I was shocked to find that with the screen on its lowest brightness on both devices, at the peak of the test, the Exynos variant and the Snapdragon variant drained 11.84W and 7.76W respectively. That is a massive difference in power consumption and shows how inefficient the Exynos chipset can be. This means that in long-term usage, the Exynos 2200 device will have reduced battery life when under load.
To be clear, some of this is contributed to by other factors of the phone such as the screen. Nevertheless, there is a big difference in energy usage.
In my testing, I also identified a high idle drain meaning that users will experience lower standby times on Exynos devices than Snapdragon.
App launch test
We’ve devised a real-world test of app launch speeds that launches a few popular apps we use each day in succession for 10 iterations. These apps are all “cold” launched on the device, meaning the app isn’t cached in memory before it’s launched. Timing is stopped when the app’s main activity first begins to draw, so there’s no waiting on content to load from the network. Thus, this test can determine how quickly a device can load an app from storage into memory, with the caveat being this test is sensitive to changes in the app and OS version. Given we are comparing two variants of the same phone though, it makes it much easier to draw direct conclusions.
The Snapdragon device is much, much quicker to launch apps than the Exynos device. The Exynos device is one of the worst-performing devices in this metric that I have ever come across. On average, it takes apps over a full second to launch. That doesn’t sound like much, but imagine trying to do multiple things at once on your smartphone quickly? It gets grating fast when you meet every little hindrance along the way between you and your work.
The Exynos Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra falters in general usage
Above, I’ve included a video to showcase just a few of the problems that I’ve noticed with the Exynos variant that does not exist on the Snapdragon variant. It’s included as evidence to show the real-world ramifications of some of these problems, and on both devices, I am logged into all of the same apps. I am not using either device differently than I normally would, and all of the same apps that I am logged into on the Exynos device are the same apps I was logged into on the OPPO Find N, the OnePlus 9 Pro, and the Google Pixel 6 Pro, to name a few.
All of these performance problems, from the delayed login to the UI stutters and the delayed S Pen integrations add up to form a poor experience. The phone is slow, it actively gets in the way of my work, and a software update did not improve the situation. It takes several seconds to even take a screenshot and crop it, whereas it’s a near-instantaneous process on the Snapdragon device. The Exynos 2200 experience is almost equivalent to using a budget device, with everything taking a second longer than expected from a top-tier flagship.
The Exynos 2200 experience is almost equivalent to using a budget device, with everything taking a second longer than expected from a top-tier flagship
As I’ve already mentioned, I’ve had several users reach out to me to talk about the poor experience they have had with the Exynos 2200 variant of this device. Not one user with a Snapdragon chipset has reached out to me to complain about the same. I’m not sure if every Exynos user will have these problems, but a sizeable number certainly will. I even went so far as to try to enable high-performance mode in my battery settings but it didn’t make a difference. I’m also not seeing any signs of memory management being an issue, as there is free RAM available at all times.
In other aspects of these devices, I haven’t really noticed any differences. Cameras are close — if not on par — with each other (though I think a slight edge goes to Qualcomm from my own usage) and stabilization appears to be about the same for anything not too extreme. Walking around in Barcelona and filming works just as well on both devices, and I haven’t noticed any problems in that regard.
Exynos is important to the Android ecosystem, but this experience is unacceptable
When talking about Android smartphones, it pains me to say it, but Exynos is important. Qualcomm has a near-monopoly in the Android flagship market… though admittedly, MediaTek is catching up quickly. Having Samsung, the biggest Android OEM in the space, use its own chipsets in a significant part of its portfolio puts some pressure on Qualcomm, and in an ideal world, an equal number of users would desire an Exynos chipset as the number of users that desire a Qualcomm chipset.
It’s hard to say what the cause of these problems is. It could well be the Exynos 2200, as other Exynos in the past haven’t exactly been neck-to-neck against Snapdragon either. Or it could be that Samsung has coincidentally managed to mess up the software on Exynos variants. It doesn’t appear that Samsung has publicly given a statement to any publication about Exynos variants, as ComputerBase even says that while the company reached out, it declined to say whether an update would be coming.
In the past, like with the Exynos Galaxy S21 Ultra, gaming performance remained poor all through the product lifecycle, as the Exynos 2100 just couldn’t perform, and no amount of software updates could bring it up to par with its Snapdragon counterpart. Consequently, the Galaxy S21 Ultra failed to get a blanket recommendation as an excellent performer, because how well you could game on the device was very largely dependent on where you purchased the device from. And that is rather unacceptable considering that the phone maintained its launch price of ₹1,06,000/€1,249.
As it stands currently, the Exynos 2200 Galaxy S22 Ultra is completely unusable as a daily driver
For now, the only thing I can say is to hold off on purchasing the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra if you live in Europe. As it stands currently, the Exynos 2200 Galaxy S22 Ultra is completely unusable as a daily driver. It’s incredibly laggy and the battery life is terrible, too. It hasn’t improved whatsoever, and I’ve had to top my phone off multiple times during the day. I find it hard to recommend a product that costs this much and performs this poorly, and I would be doing a disservice as a reviewer if I did not highlight these issues that I face on my retail unit. As long as other OEMs offer top-tier flagships that consistently perform like top-tier flagships in your region, there’s very little reason to buy the Exynos Galaxy S22 series and play a lottery of whether you will get a device that performs like a top-tier flagship. Some Exynos users get a good device, some don’t — and that’s unacceptable.
In closing, the Snapdragon Galaxy S22 Ultra and the Exynos Galaxy S22 Ultra are two entirely different smartphones in my eyes. When you buy the latest Samsung Galaxy S series smartphone, you’re buying an entirely different smartphone depending on the region that you live in. In nearly any other smartphone series, purchasing a device in one country would not mean that it would perform exceedingly better than the same device bought in another country, but that’s exactly the dichotomy that Samsung has created.
