After a teaser earlier this year, Samsung is showing off the Galaxy Ring for the first time at MWC 2024. We were able to get a quick look at the upcoming health-focused wearable and pick up a few tidbits on the device.
The Samsung Galaxy Ring won’t be coming out for a while yet but the company is giving a first look at the product in Barcelona this week and, technically, “unveiling” the product more formally.
As a new addition to our wearables portfolio, Galaxy Ring will offer users an all-new way to simplify everyday wellness, empowering them with greater insights and more ways to understand themselves day and night. With Galaxy Ring, users can embrace an unrivalled experience during every step of their wellness journey, all while being delivered in lockstep with Samsung’s broader vision for a more connected, integrated and seamless digital wellness platform.
The launch of Galaxy Ring is just one of Samsung’s many initiatives that exemplifies this and delivers on our vision of improving the health and wellness of billions, starting at home, with you.
While we, unfortunately, weren’t about to get an opportunity to try the device on, we did get to take a quick look at Samsung’s booth.
Galaxy Ring comes in three colors – silver, black, and gold. All three have a slick polished finish, almost a mirror on the silver and gold models. Just based on this first look, I’d certainly go for the black, and I do feel this particular shade of gold is a bit gaudy, but I do really hope Samsung expands color choices and maybe offers other finishes for the metal.
Each will be available in a total of nine sizes. These are categorized into small, medium, large, and extra-large, with two available of each, and three available for small. Presumably, when the Galaxy Ring goes on sale, Samsung will relate these sizes to traditional ring sizing. Samsung told The Verge that sizes range from 5 to 13 and also mentioned the wearable will support a new Samsung Health feature called “My Vitality Score” which will also come to Galaxy Watch (only when paired to Galaxy S24) alongside other health tracking (heart rate, sleep, cycle, and more).
The hardware looks like a normal ring from the outside, but inside is where you can see the smarts.
There’s a contact space for charging pins, and a heart rate sensor visible that very slightly juts out from the inner circle. It looks to be a more subtle implementation compared to something like Oura’s smart ring.
Samsung Galaxy Ring to have up to nine days of battery, launching second half of 2024
The Samsung Galaxy Ring is quickly on its way and new information keeps coming, including an official estimate on battery life.
Speaking to FNNews, Samsung has confirmed that the battery life of the Galaxy Ring will fall somewhere in-between five and nine days. That estimate puts Samsung’s ring in pretty good company, potentially beating the 4-6 day estimate of rings from UltraHuman and RingConn, while also potentially beating out the one-week estimate of the Oura ring.
This extended battery life falls in line with Samsung’s pretty obvious vision for this product, which is to have a health-tracking device that largely fades into the background.
Beyond that, though, Samsung also confirmed to The Elec that the Galaxy Ring will see its release in the second half of this year. That comes as no surprise, as previous reports have pointed at July 2024 for the launch, but it’s nice to have further confirmation nonetheless.
It was showcase the first look at the Galaxy Ring at MWC 2024 to check out its charging method, colors, and various sizes.
It sounds less drastic than the visual changes seen in the iOS 6 to iOS 7 transition, though. He writes “the company is indeed working to update the design of iOS as early as this year, but I don’t believe it will be a total overhaul that mirrors visionOS”. While Gurman says we can expect to see changes in iOS 18 this summer, the work on macOS has only just started and won’t be ready until 2025 or 2026.
Since Apple Vision Pro operating system was first unveiled, many people have wondered whether Apple will update the design of its other operating systems to match the visionOS aesthetic of 3D buttons and and glassy background textures. This doesn’t necessarily hold, as the visionOS design is specific to a platform that revolves around passthrough video. Being able to see the context of the world around you ‘through’ the open app windows is a concept that doesn’t really apply to iOS.
However, it has been a while since we’ve seen major design changes come to the iPhone and iPad. A visual refresh of any kind would make for an exciting release, that is also set to include significant AI-powered features.
Indeed, Mark Gurman previously said that Apple sees iOS 18 as its “ambitious and compelling” with major new features and designs. The company will officially unveil its next-generation operating systems at the annual WWDC conference in June. iOS 18 will be in beta over the summer and release for everyone in September, assuming Apple follows its usual traditions.
With the latest beta updates to Android 14, Google seems to have drastically sped up how fast Pixel devices can install an OTA update. Now, we’re getting a closer look at how that’s been accomplished.
First spotted with Android 14’s QPR2 Beta 1 update, the “Seamless Updates” feature has gotten a whole lot faster on Pixel phones.
Where Google’s updates used to take upwards of 20-40 minutes to install a simple OTA, the new process could be as quick as 10-15 minutes, perhaps even less. It’s extremely impressive and would make anyone wonder how Google pulled it off.
On Twitter/X, APKMirror founder, Artem Russakovskii, discusses a few main points of improvement that seem to be responsible for faster seamless updates. Russakovskii cites “Google’s tests” and Google’s David Anderson (a software engineer working at the company since 2018), but Google itself doesn’t seem to have publically shared this data.
That starts with compression operations, which Android is now parallelizing for a speed boost of 26% in Google’s own tests, Russakovskii explains. OTA updates on Android require the compression of thousands of “small blocks” of data, so putting those operations in parallel certainly speeds things up.
Related to that, Android is now batching operations for those same blocks. Where the OS previously would make 200 separate writes of 4KB files, it now makes a single write of one 800KB file. Google apparently found a 24% reduction in install time with this method.
Finally, the biggest improvement comes in newer Pixels switching from the GZ compression method to the LZ4 method. Google describes LZ4 as “extremely fast compression,” and it certainly shows here.
This apparently results in a 50% reduction in install time but only applies to specific devices. Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 7a, Pixel Tablet, Pixel Fold, Pixel 8, and Pixel 8 Pro are the only devices eligible for this new compression method, as older Pixels will stick with the slower GZ method. It’s unclear why this is the case, but it could have something to do with the chip. Mishaal Rahman highlighted on Twitter/X that, when installing Android 14 QPR2 Beta 1, Pixel 8 Pro was taking advantage of Tensor G3’s mid-cores to speed things along, and Google specifically notes that LZ4’s faster compression is “scalable with multi-cores CPU.”.
Google is, according to Russakovskii, changing its guidance for other Android OEMs with this new method in mind, so there’s a chance we could see similar improvements outside of Pixel in the future.
3. Google switched the Pixels (I'm getting clarification on exactly which, but at least P7) to use LZ4 compression instead of GZ. This resulted in a 50% (!!) decrease in install time.
All of these combined take a ~25 min install time down to around 6 minutes.
In addition to new features like the ability to log and access Health data with Siri, this week’s watchOS 10.2 update also makes it easier to switch watch faces on your Apple Watch. Here’s how to enable the option to swipe between Apple Watch faces with watchOS 10.2.
What’s new in watchOS 10.2 is the ability to swipe left or right on watch faces to easily switch between different configurations. Prior to this week’s update, watchOS 10 required that users long-press on their watch faces, and then swipe left or right.
Long-time Apple Watch users may remember that the ability to swipe left and right to switch watch faces isn’t actually new. The feature was available for years, but Apple removed it with watchOS 10’s release in September. This led to an influx of complaints from Apple Watch users, and Apple has now reversed its decision.
Still, the default behavior in watchOS 10.2 requires the long-press gesture. To enable the ability to swipe without long-pressing first, follow these steps:
Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch.
Scroll down and choose “Clock”
Toggle on the “Swipe to Switch Face” setting
“Switch between your watch faces by swiping left or right from the edge of the screen,” Apple explains.
watchOS 10.2 beta 3 brings back gesture to swipe between watch faces
Apple has made many changes to the Apple Watch operating system interface with watchOS 10. Among these changes, watchOS 10 no longer lets users quickly swipe between different watch faces, frustrating some users. Luckily, this gesture is back with the latest beta of watchOS 10.2.
Swipe to switch Apple Watch faces with watchOS 10.2
As noted by Aaron on X (formerly Twitter), watchOS 10.2 beta 3, released earlier this week to developers and public beta testers, brings back the option to swipe on the Apple Watch screen to switch between watch faces. In previous versions, changing the watch face requires pressing the screen for a second and then scrolling through the list using the Digital Crown.
watchOS 10.2 beta 3 adds back the feature that allows you to swipe between watch faces!
I was upset that Apple had removed this gesture – I even filled out a radar during the first watchOS 10 betas, and the company told me this was an intentional change. However, it seems that more users missed this gesture on the Apple Watch.
But there are a few things to keep in mind. At least in this beta, the gesture is not enabled by default. Instead, it requires you to enable it manually in the Clock settings. The toggle is also only available on the Apple Watch – you can’t find it using the Watch app on the iPhone. At least it’s back and working like it used to.
The current version, watchOS 10.1, was released last month and introduced NameDrop, which lets users share their contact details with other people simply by holding their Apple Watch near another Apple Watch or iPhone. watchOS 10.1 also enables the Double Tap gesture for the latest Apple Watch models.
However, the watchOS 10.2 update comes along with iOS 17.2, which brings some nice improvements for iPhone users.
iOS 17.2 includes Apple’s new Journal app, first announced at WWDC. There’s also support for collaborative playlists in Apple Music, changes to Tapback reactions, and new widgets for Clock and Weather. The update also enables recording Spatial Videos for Apple Vision Pro using iPhone 15 Pro.
Apple is expected to release iOS 17.2 and watchOS 10.2 to the public by the end of the year.
Apple’s non-Pro lineup is arguably the most cost-effective way for consumers to keep up with the most recent and polished Apple experience without breaking the bank. The newly introduced iPhone 15 and 15 Plus models come with a handful of meaningful updates. There’s little to no difference between the two feature-wise, so screen size, battery size and price seem to be the major differentiators.
Last year, the large screen and the large battery were not enough to justify the 14 Plus’ high price, and its sales were the lowest in the family. The Plus lineup may not have a much longer lifespan than the iPhone mini if the 15 Plus’ sales are as unexciting as the 14 Plus’. The future of the entire Plus series may be hanging on the success of this device that we have for review today.
It’s not like Apple set it up for success this year, either. Its launch price is €50 lower in Europe, which is a nice start, but the US pricing remains the same. And the fact that last year’s 14 Plus remains officially on sale will add an extra dimension to the inter-sibling rivalry that the 15 Plus will have to endure. In other words, if you are looking for a big-screen iPhone, you have an even wider choice this year.
But this year’s changes are a step above the usual yearly update cycle. This year marks the shift to USB-C port for the iPhone, and we couldn’t be happier. The convenience of sharing the same charging connector as every other phone brand out there is unsurpassed. Not to mention the wide host of accessories you can plug directly into the phone, allowing you to easily transfer files, output video to a TV/monitor or even reverse charge your smartwatch or earphones.
Disclaimer. We can not guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.
Aside from the USB-C, the main camera is now a more advanced 48MP sensor with pixel binning, promising substantial improvement in image quality, with Apple promising great 2x zoom photos as well.
Although screen size remains the same – 6.7″, the iPhone 15 Plus now boasts almost twice as bright an OLED panel and finally replaces the old notch with the pill-shaped Dynamic Island. Even if you are not a fan of the software features revolving around the Dynamic Island, you can still appreciate the more modern and Pro-like look of the homescreen now that the sightly notch is gone.
Under the hood is last year’s pro chipset – the A16 Bionic. The chipset is still a powerful and well-optimized piece of hardware, and it offers faster performance than what the 14 Plus had.
Besides these changes, you still get the same ultra-wide camera without autofocus, and the screen is still 60Hz without an Always-On Display, which is a feature reserved for the Pro models. Speaking of Pro-only features, the USB-C port here provides only USB 2.0 speeds, and we don’t get the new customizable Action key on the left side of the device.
Unboxing the iPhone 15 Plus
Just like the rest of the iPhones, the iPhone 15 Plus comes in a modest box containing just some user manuals, a SIM ejector tool and a USB-C to USB-C cable for charging. US buyers don’t even have the pin for the SIM card tray as these iterations rely only on eSIM.
Even though you have to buy a new charger if you don’t already have one, the good news is you are not obligated to buy an iPhone charger. Any PowerDelivery charger should do the job. The recommended power output is 20W, but a 30W charger should provide even faster charging in the first 40-50min.
Competition
We’d consider the iPhone 15 Plus a big step up from its predecessor. The move to the universal USB-C port is landmark moment for the iPhones in its own right. The performance jump from the A15 Bionic chipset to the A16 Bionic is substantial; the new OLED panel is brighter, the full charge is considerably faster now, the battery life is longer, and the new 48MP main camera makes a sensible difference in daylight and low-light photography.
The iPhone 14 Plus remains officially available alongside the 15 Plus at a discounted price, so despite its poor market sales up until now, it will readily cater to consumers who find the 15 Plus too expensive but would like the same formula.
An even tougher choice would be between the iPhone 15 Plus and last year’s iPhone 14 Pro Max. The latter now costs €1,100, just about the same as the 15 Plus, but delivers a more premium experience – 120Hz display, better cameras all-around with proper 3x optical zoom shooter, longer battery life and the same SoC.
But as always, we also need to look at the market as a whole in case you are one of those rare breed of users looking for the best option available at a certain price instead of staying within your ecosystem. Sure, in iPhone terms, the 15 Plus is a nice phone with more upgrades than initially expected. However, the handset falls short of its direct Android rivals.
Right now, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is a slightly cheaper flagship phone with a better and more versatile camera system, better display, similar battery life and stylus as a nice bonus.
The same goes for the Xiaomi 13 Pro, which is cheaper and checks a flagship phone’s boxes. The 15 Plus is no match for cameras, and its 60Hz display doesn’t sit competitively on its spec sheet either.
There are other notable mentions in the sub-€1,000 category from Android manufacturers, which give the iPhone 15 Plus a good run for its money, like the Pixel 7 Pro (with the 8 Pro release just around the corner), OnePlus 11, Sony Xperia 1 V, etc. So, if you are not married to iOS just yet and you are within this price bracket, you should check out the Android-based alternatives.
Verdict
Overall, the iPhone 15 Plus boasts a significant upgrade over its predecessor in a couple of key departments – display, battery life, performance, main camera and charging.
It’s still nowhere near the Pro lineup, and it’s missing features such as this year’s chipset, the optical zoom camera, the autofocus on the ultra-wide camera, the 120Hz high-refresh-rate screen that comes with Always-On Display, or the new customizable Action key. Depending on your priorities, the lack of some of these might be a deal-breaker for you.
More importantly, however, Apple might have hindered the 15 Plus market odds the same way it did with the 14 Plus by placing it in a limbo where it has the feature set of the cheaper-tier iPhone but it’s priced way too close to the Pro-tier iPhones for its own good.
There is nothing inherently wrong with the iPhone 15 Plus; in isolation, we’d be happy to give it our full recommendation in an instant. But the market realities mean it will be a hard sell at its current price, regardless of whether you are comparing it to current or previous-gen iPhones or Android devices. This puts this particular device in a really tight spot and makes us less than optimistic for the future of the Plus lineup as a whole.
Pros
Excellent build quality, IP68 certified.
Brighter OLED panel with Dolby Vision and Dynamic Island.
Even better battery life than last year.
Nice-sounding stereo speakers.
Flagship-grade performance even if not the latest chipset.
Improved main camera performance, nice selfies.
Outstanding video quality and stabilization across the board, great action clips.
Standout charging speed to 100% for an iPhone.
Every iPhone gets at least five years of iOS updates.
Finally USB-C.
Cons
Considerably more expensive than corresponding Android alternatives.
The display is 60Hz; there is no Always On option.
No charger in the box, still rather slow charging overall.
No dedicated telephoto camera and disappointing performance out of the ultrawide.
Apple’s iOS restrictions can be off-putting to newcomers to the ecosystem.
For years, it’s been possible to share a playlist you’ve made on Apple Music with others. However, a new feature allows for shared, editable playlists in iOS 17.2. Here’s how to use Apple Music collaborative playlists.
Two new features come to Apple Music with iOS 17.2 (currently in beta) – collaborative playlists and a new automatic “Favorites” playlist.
To find the latter, you can head to Library > Playlists in Apple Music and swipe down to find the new auto-generated Favorites playlist.
While Spotify has often led Apple Music in terms of social features, it’s great to see collaborative playlists arrive with iOS 17.2, let’s dig into how they work.
How to use Apple Music collaborative playlists
iOS 17.2 is available now in beta – read more on how to install it for free on your device
Running the iOS 17.2 beta, open Apple Music on iPhone or iPad
Choose the Library tab at the bottom, then tap Playlists
Select a playlist that you’ve created (or create a new one – this does not work for now with Apple Music’s playlists that you’ve saved)
Tap the … icon in the top right corner
Now choose Collaborate (second from the top)
You can choose if collaborators need to be approved or not
Tap Start Collaboration to invite people
You can head back to the playlist and tap the … icon to get the Manage Collaboration option
Here’s how the process looks to use Apple Music collaborative playlists on iPhone:
Now you’ll see the new Collaborate option. Apple notes anyone you share a collaborative playlist link with will be able to edit and reorder songs and change the name and photo of the playlist.
It’s yet another year of incremental refinement for the vanilla iPhone. Not that anybody expects any major changes at this point. The iPhone 15 offers a few steps forward compared to the 14 without altering the formula in any significant way.
Still, there are a few changes worth noting. The vanilla iPhone finally gets the Dynamic Island from its Pro siblings. In fact, the display is all new this year with significantly improved max brightness. You also get a new 48MP main camera, again bringing the vanilla closer to the Pro models. This includes a new 24MP default resolution for photos, as well as next-gen portraits and 4K@60fps HDR video capture.
Disclaimer. We can not guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.
The new iPhone 15 also brings about a new Apple A16 Bionic chipset. As is tradition, this is not the latest and greatest Apple has to offer and is shipping with the Pro models, but rather last year’s flagship chip. This might be a blessing in disguise since the new Apple A17 Pro chip is currently amidst a thermal-throttling controversy. The A16, on the other hand, is tired and true. The iPhone 15 also gets a few other “minor” changes, like the inclusion of an Ultra Wideband 2 (UWB) chip for more precise precision finding for the Find My Friends feature.
Oh, and last but not least, Apple has finally moved to USB Type-C. Cupertino was kind of forced to do so due to mounting regulatory pressure, but regardless, the switch is finally a reality. So, if you are in the market for an iPhone 15 series device, you might also need to change out some cables you own.
Left: iPhone 15 • Right: iPhone 15 Plus
However, The real question is how popular the iPhone 15 will be and whether it is worth picking up. It seems that most of you are rather unenthused about the new Dynamic Island and lukewarm at best towards the new 48MP main shooter and Type-C port. Even so, in both relative and absolute terms, we still expect the iPhone 15 to sell very well. Perhaps not as well as its Pro Max and Pro sibling, but most likely better than the iPhone 15 Plus. So, without further ado, let’s dive into the iPhone 15.
Unboxing
Apple pays plenty of attention to packaging, and rightfully so. Cupertino tends to focus on reduction and reuse in this department, which is always great to see. The boxes have become smaller still, allowing Apple to fit more units in any single shipment, saving on transport and carbon emissions. In terms of materials, the box is made entirely out of cardboard (even the sturdy phone cradle on the inside) and thus is recyclable.
Inside the box, you’ll find a relatively short 1-meter-long USB Type-C to Type-C cable, a SIM ejector tool (outside the US, where the iPhone 15 is eSIM only and lacks a physical SIM tray) and some leaflets. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. Apple started the whole “less accessories” trend and is not about to backtrack now. The good news is that if you already have a decent USB Type-C charger, you might only need to swap some Lightning cables and not actually purchase a new charging brick. You just need at least 20W of power to charge the iPhone 15 optimally, ideally a bit more, perhaps in the 30W ballpark just to be safe.
The competition
Apple has been consistent with its base phone pricing, at least in the last few years. The iPhone 15 is no exception. Its MSRP for a base 128GB model is USD 799/GBP 799/EUR 949/INR 79,900/CNY 5,999/JPY 124,800 in the US, UK, Germany, India, China and Japan, respectively. In fact, looking at some historical pricing, in the UK and Germany, the base iPhone 15 and 15 Plus are now £50/€50 cheaper than the 14 and 14 Plus. Even so, that’s a pretty hefty price tag, and there are plenty of alternatives to consider.
Left: iPhone 15 • Right: iPhone 13
To be perfectly frank, if you are after an iPhone, chances are that you won’t just go for an Android phone instead. At least, that’s what most statistics nowadays claim. So, when examining the market alternatives, the first and probably most obvious choice would be to consider last year’s iPhone 14 Pro model. It is currently selling for about as much as the vanilla iPhone 15. And sure, it is last year’s model, which means that in relative terms, you will be getting shorter software support in the future. However, that’s about the only downside to picking the iPhone 14 Pro instead of the iPhone 15. Well, that and buying into the now effectively defunct Lightning port. Other than that, you get the same A16 Bionic chipset on the inside and practically the same performance. Being a Pro model, however, the 14 Pro gets a few extra goodies like a 120Hz display refresh rate, a dedicated 3x, an OIS-enabled telephoto camera and extra camera features like ProRes.
Of course, if you’ve already made peace with using an older model with a Lightning port, then the other obvious choice would be the iPhone 14. You can save a substantial amount of money by going for it, but you will be missing out on some of the new additions and upgrades of the iPhone 15. Notably, the iPhone 14 has an older and less bright display with the signature notch design instead of the Dynamic Island. You will also have to settle for the old 12MP main camera instead of the fancy new 48MP one and its superior default 24MP stills.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro • Apple iPhone 14
Moving on to the Android realm and probably the most obvious competitor – the Samsung Galaxy S23. It is noticeably cheaper to buy than the iPhone 15, which is a plus. Besides that, it is roughly the same physical size and well-endowed as a proper flagship with various quality-of-life extras like great stereo speakers and an IP68 ingress protection rating. Compared to the iPhone 15, the Galaxy S23 does offer a 120Hz refresh rate on its Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, which doesn’t get quite as bright as the panel on the iPhone but is still in the same ballpark. The Galaxy S23 also gets a dedicated 3x, OIS-enabled telephoto camera and a larger battery, which does result in slightly better battery life, but not by a lot.
While on the subject of Samsung flagships, it is worth noting that the Galaxy S23 Ultra can be had for about as much as a vanilla iPhone 15. Though, we can’t exactly say that the two devices are good direct competitors, given the massive size difference.
It’s back to compact devices then, and the Xperia 5 V. It is yet another proper flagship, housed in a relatively small chassis. The Xperia 5 V has a particularly interesting 6.1-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 10-bit color, BT.2020 HDR support and a 21:1 cinematic aspect ratio. You get excellent stereo speakers and a powerful dual rear camera system to accompany the display. Last but not least, the Xperia 5 V has a massive 5,000 mAh battery.
Left: iPhone 15 • Right: iPhone 13
Speaking of compact Android flagships, we can’t fail to mention the Asus Zenfone 10. Its 5.92-inch display is smaller still than the iPhone’s and not as bright, but it does offer a 144Hz refresh rate. Despite the small size, Asus still managed to fit in stereo speakers, a 4,300 mAh battery and a powerful dual-rear camera system with a gimbal-OIS setup on the main cam.
Samsung Galaxy S23 • Sony Xperia 5 V • Asus Zenfone 10 • Xiaomi 13
Finally, we should also mention the Google Pixel 7a, which is equally compact and has a similar set of cameras. It represents the best Google currently offers, including clean and snappy AOSP OS and some of the best computational photography around. It’s also considerably cheaper than the iPhone 15, and it’s got a 90Hz refresh rate screen. Its battery life, however, is a bit behind the iPhone’s.
Over in camp Xiaomi, the Xiaomi 13 seems like a good competitor to the iPhone 15. It has a slightly larger 6.36-inch, 120Hz AMOLED display that also gets extremely bright. There are stereo speakers on board, as well as IP68 ingress protection. In terms of cameras, the Xiaomi 13 is rocking three on the back, including a 50MP main snapper, a 3.2x OIS-enabled telephoto and a 12MP ultrawide. The onboard battery is a hefty 4,500 mAh pack, and the Xiaomi 13 gets very speedy 67W wired fast charging.
verdict
As much as we like offering Android-powered alternatives to the iPhone, by all major accounts and statistics, Apple’s smartphone lineup is currently, more or less, an isolated island. That is to say that not many people are jumping ship one way or the other with Android. If we assume that is indeed the case and that an iPhone user will inevitably also be an iPhone buyer at some point, then it makes sense to mostly look at the iPhone 15 in the context of Apple’s own selection of devices.
If historical data is anything to go by, the vanilla iPhone 15 won’t be the most popular of the iPhone 15 lot. That title will likely go to the iPhone 15 Pro Max. That doesn’t mean it will be unpopular, though. Quite the contrary. Apple has one of the most robust market research operations, and you can rest assured that if Apple deems it so, there is definitely an iPhone 15-shaped spot in its lineup.
As far as innovations go, the iPhone 15 brings a lot more to the table compared to its predecessor. The all-new and incredibly bright OLED display is a great step forward, and we appreciate Apple finally unifying its design with Dynamic Island across all models. And speaking of unification, Type-C was a long-overdue change. The other major novelty this year must be the new 48MP main camera. We found it to be excellent all-around and a noticeable improvement over last year’s 12MP cam.
The bottom line here is that, in our view, Apple has again managed to strike the delicate balance between familiarity and meaningful innovation – enough to justify an upgrade to the iPhone 15 from an older vanilla iPhone model. And as usual, the Android realm has better hardware and overall value to offer, though that almost seems irrelevant and beside the point.
Pros
Subtle redesign makes it more comfortable to hold and use; we like the new colors.
Great build quality, water-resistant up to 6m deep, industry-leading front glass scratch and shatter resistance.
Extremely bright OLED screen, HDR10, Dolby Vision and excellent color accuracy, and now the more modern-looking Dynamic Island.
USB-C is here, and we love it.
Solid battery life for the size.
Excellent loudspeaker quality.
Great all-around performance.
Great photo and video quality across all three cameras.
Every iPhone comes with at least five years of iOS updates.
Cons
A lot more expensive than corresponding Android alternatives.
The display is 60Hz; there is no Always On option, and the bezels are thicker than the Pro models.
No charger in the box, and charging isn’t particularly fast.
Apple’s iOS restrictions can be off-putting to newcomers to the ecosystem.
No dedicated telephoto camera or autofocus on the ultrawide.
It’s official: Apple will add support for the RCS messaging standard in iOS. This won’t happen until the end of next year, and we don’t have many details about how Apple will implement RCS. In the meantime, we can reflect on the impact this will have on Android and iPhone users – and honestly, I don’t think it will be as huge as people might think.
A look back at Apple’s history with RCS
RCS, or Rich Communication Services, is a communication protocol created in 2007. Still, it only gained traction recently when Google implemented RCS in Android’s native messaging app. It was designed to replace the old SMS standard, which is quite limited by today’s standards.
Compared to SMS, RCS supports messages with audio, video, and other file formats and is not limited to 160 characters. It also supports better group messaging, typing indicators, and read receipts.
iMessage users are probably already familiar with all these features. However, when iPhone users send messages to Android users using the system’s native messaging app, they’re limited to the basic features of the old SMS standard since the iPhone never had RCS support. At the same time, Apple has never been interested in making iMessage available on Android.
In the US, where the iPhone dominates the smartphone market share, many people use iMessage daily. This has resulted in Android users not being able to have a good messaging experience when chatting with iPhone users, and vice versa. This created the debate known as the “green bubbles vs. blue bubbles.”
Apple executives have already secretly admitted that they have no reason to make messaging between iPhones and Android more seamless because it would hurt iPhone sales. Some people buy an iPhone just because of iMessage, and there are even cases of teenagers being bullied at school for not being included in group chats because they have an Android phone.
Adding RCS to iOS would fill this gap, as communication would be similar to the experience that users have when chatting via iMessage. But again, that wouldn’t benefit Apple in any way.
So what happened?
With all this in mind, what has changed to make Apple finally adopt RCS? Is Apple being a good company that loves to support open industry standards? Well, not really.
Apple has been under scrutiny from regulators around the world in recent years because of its dominance and strict rules when it comes to iOS. The company is accused of using its power to undermine competition with the App Store and iMessage (built into the native iOS messaging app also used to send SMS).
With the approval of the Digital Market Acts antitrust law by the European Union, Apple would be forced to not only open iOS to sideloading but also make iMessage interoperable with other messaging apps. This would certainly hurt Apple in markets where iMessage has a large user base.
By adopting RCS, Apple can argue that it supports an open messaging standard, so there’s no need to bring iMessage to other platforms or make it compatible with third-party apps. It’s a painful way to avoid even more damage, which seems inevitable at this point. But will RCS change anything for most iPhone users?
RCS won’t have much impact on iPhone users
Apple adopting RCS on the iPhone is a huge thing. But at the same time, it won’t change anything for the vast majority of users, and here’s why.
The “green bubbles vs. blue bubbles” discussion is very niche to a few countries, especially the US. Again, because in those places, Apple dominates the market with the iPhone. But there’s more to it: in the US, people are already used to sending SMS, so many people have no idea they’re using iMessage when texting someone with an iPhone.
To be honest, I think the title should be “…but will it change anything for anyone outside North America?”
Data from multiple research firms, such as Similarweb and Sinch Engage, show that WhatsApp has become the most popular messaging app in the world. It is notably strong in some European and Latin American countries. In Brazil, WhatsApp is used by 96% of people who own a smartphone. In China, everyone uses WeChat.
In these places, smartphone users are not worried about iMessage or RCS. They already use third-party messaging apps and will probably continue to do so.
Even in countries where iMessage dominates, the impact may not be as significant as some people might think. That’s because we don’t know how Apple will implement RCS. Perhaps RCS will still have green bubbles. Maybe RCS group chats will be one thing, and iMessage group chats will be another.
It’s great to see Apple finally supporting another industry standard, especially when SMS is so outdated and extremely vulnerable to security breaches. But at the end of the day, things will be the same for a lot of people.
RCS messages will use green bubbles, Apple confirms
Last November 16,2023, Apple announced its plans to bring RCS support to the iPhone in 2024. Since I published my story on the news this morning, there’s one thing everyone wants to know: is the blue bubbles vs green bubbles debate coming to an end?
I’m happy to say I now have an official answer: nope. RCS will use green bubbles just like SMS.
More details on iPhone’s RCS features
RCS (Rich Communication Services) will bring a number of iMessage-style features to texts between Android and iPhone users. This includes things such as read receipts, typing indicators, and higher-quality images and videos.
The one thing that won’t be changing, however, is the color of the messaging bubbles.
Apple has confirmed to me that blue bubbles will still be used to represent iMessages, while green bubbles will represent RCS messages. The company uses blue bubbles to denote what it believes is the best and most secure way for iPhone users to communicate, which is iMessage.
The green vs blue bubbles debate has become a cultural staple over the years. Google and Samsung have both used the color of bubbles in advertising campaigns criticizing Apple for not supporting RCS.
This news shouldn’t come as a surprise. As I reported this morning, iMessage isn’t going anywhere. Apple is adding RCS as an upgrade to SMS and MMS, while iMessage will exist separately. Again, today’s news is not Apple opening up iMessage to other platforms.
On Android, SMS texts are denoted by a light blue color, while RCS messages are denoted by a dark blue. Based on what we know now, Apple’s implementation will be blue for iMessage and green for RCS and SMS.
For more details on Apple’s plans to bring RCS to the iPhone in 2024, check out our complete coverage from November 16,2023. Our friends over at 9to5Google also have new details on Google’s response to today’s news.
Nonetheless, the green bubbles vs blue bubbles debate is here to stay. Is this the right decision on Apple’s part? Let us know in the comments.
How Google Messages will let you edit recent sends
While we wait for a slew of existing features to roll out, Google Messages is working on the ability to edit what you’ve recently sent.
It’s a staple of modern messaging services at this point. Long-press on a message you sent and a new “Edit” pencil icon — as shown by AssembleDebug — will appear in the toolbar at the top next to copy, delete, star, and overflow. Editing is available to messages sent in the last 30 minutes.
This will place that message in the compose field for you to edit, with a checkmark in place of the send button.
Strings in the latest beta today (version 20240213_01_RC00) indicate that Google will note the “Original message” in addition to what it was “Edited to”:
<string name=”edited_message_title”>”Edited to: “</string>
From what was enabled by AssembleDebug today, something you’ve edited is sent as a new message for those that don’t have the feature active. What could be happening behind-the-scenes is that the receiving Google Messages client is more or less interpreting that edit and seamlessly displaying it to the recipient. This would be similar to how emoji reactions work today with the iPhone.
Meanwhile, this beta also reveals that the double tap gesture will also work to remove a reaction.
Google Messages might be switching to double tap to react
Following the wide rollout of Photomoji a few weeks ago, Google Messages is readying a small change wherein you double tap to react.
About APK Insight: In this “APK Insight” post, we’ve decompiled the latest version of an application that Google uploaded to the Play Store. When we decompile these files (called APKs, in the case of Android apps), we’re able to see various lines of code within that hint at possible future features. Keep in mind that Google may or may not ever ship these features, and our interpretation of what they are may be imperfect. We’ll try to enable those that are closer to being finished, however, to show you how they’ll look in case that they do ship. With that in mind, read on.
Now, you long-press on a text or chat to get the tray of emoji and Photomoji options. The latest Google Messages beta (version 20240208_00_RC00) adds a promo string detailing how double_tap_to_react is coming. This change is not yet live.
It remains to be seen whether you still press and hold to access copy, delete, star, share, forward, and view details from the top toolbar. Divorcing how you react in Google Messages and that menu makes some sense. That said, I’m not sure there will be much of a time savings.
Meanwhile, this beta release renames various Bard strings to Gemini now that the rebrand is live. It would suggest Google is proceeding with this one-to-one chatbot inside Messages.
Google Messages rolls out text field redesign with shortcuts bar [U]
2023 Google Messages is rolling out a redesign of the compose text field that features a dedicated shortcuts bar.
Update 1/30: Over the past few days, this redesign has widely rolled out to the stable channel (version 20240116_01_RC04).
Update 1/27/24: The redesigned RCS and Text message field is starting to appear for those not enrolled in the Google Messages beta.
Compared to the other features announced in late November, Google never detailed this change. At the start of this month, Photomoji and Magic Compose exited beta. (Animated emoji is also widely available.) Other capabilities like Custom Bubbles, Voice Moods with a redesigned recorder, and Profiles are not widely available yet.
Despite the standalone button, the redesigned voice recorder with Voice Moods is not yet rolled out for most users. The same can be said of Custom Bubbles and Profiles.
Original 12/2: Historically, the RCS/Text message field takes up the right two-thirds of your screen and expands to hide the “plus,” gallery, and Magic Compose buttons as you enter more text. At the other end, you get emoji and voice memo shortcuts.
I don’t like it. I like the text box more to the right with the icons on the left. I don’t have this change yet and I’m not looking forward to to. Also, the voice recording button doesn’t work for me and if I tap it then the other buttons on the left like emoji and add picture stop working. It took me a while to figure out that’s why the other buttons weren’t working. I have to close and reopen the keyboard to fix it.
Google Messages is now switching to a left-aligned text field with an emoji button up first. You then get Magic Compose, gallery (which has a new icon), and the plus, which is now on the opposite end. The voice recorder, which is getting thoroughly revamped with Moods, is now its own separate button outside the pill.
As some have pointed out, it’s somewhat odd that the text field is aligned to the left when the messages you send continue to appear at the right.
Meanwhile, when you start typing, there’s a new UI that’s split into two lines. The text field is at the top, while a bar keeps all the shortcuts on the same strip. This makes for a slightly more complex/heavy interface that might take some time to adjust to.
Some users in the Google Messages beta are already seeing this text field redesign with the dedicated bar, but it is not yet widely rolled out, which is also the case with the other functionality Google announced last November 2023.
Samsung has struck gold with the Galaxy A73 5G– this phone comes as a really well-balanced package with great performance and a camera that blows almost every other mid-range phone out of the water, Sure, Samsung has made some compromises but those won’t be deal-breakers for most users.
The Samsung Galaxy A73 5G is one of the best mid-range phones we’ve looked at and has the best camera phone you can find in the mid-range segment with its impressive 108MP camera sensor.
When it comes to performance, you’ll get a capable Snapdragon 778 5G processor that’s more than capable of handling gaming and other heavy tasks. Samsung’s efforts in de-bloating One UI also have a hand as well in keeping the phone as fast as possible.
In addition to the high-performing chipset, you will also get a fantastic screen with good color reproduction and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate that will give you a pleasant experience in gaming and scrolling through web pages.
With a 108 MP main camera and 50 MP ultra-wide, you’ll be able to capture great shots in different lighting conditions, the camera’s prowess in this phone is really fantastic.
Where the phone falls behind is with charging speeds compared to other phones- it only supports 25 Watts charging and you’ll have to buy a charger separately as Samsung doesn’t bundle one in the box.
Disclaimer. We can not guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.
Design
The Samsung Galaxy A73 5G is made entirely of plastic, as it’s the case with most Galaxy A series phones. The back of the phone comes in a matte plastic that prevents getting any fingerprints stuck on it. However, the sideband is made of shiny plastic that feels a little bit cheap.
With a thickness of only 7.6 mm, the Samsung Galaxy A73 5G is fairly impressive given the big battery it contains. Samsung has also done a really good job in hiding the camera bump that comes slightly thicker than the phone. With the smooth edges, the phone feels thinner in your hand than it actually is.
At just 180 grams, the Samsung Galaxy A73 5G is also easy on your hands even when used all day long.
The button layout on the Galaxy A73 5G is standard with what you’d find in most phones these days. The power and volume buttons are on the right-hand side of the phone and feel nice with a solid clicky feeling to them. The only thing we didn’t like is that the back of the phone feels a little hollow when you press on it.
The Samsung Galaxy A73 5G comes with a trusty IP67 dust/water resistant rating which means you’re safe to use it around water as it can withstand a dip in the water. You don’t see IP ratings on mid-range phones and we really like that Samsung is pushing this segment with the Galaxy A73 5G.
Display
With an AMOLED display that Samsung has perfected over the years, the Galaxy A73 5G gives you a very pleasant viewing experience. With a pixel density of 393 and a screen size of 6.7 inches, the phone is a joy to consume media, play games and surf social media.
The display’s design is nice and flat with nearly symmetrical bezels, The selfie camera’s punch hole is a bit wider than usual, however you get used to it easily.
Even though the display doesn’t support the higher 144Hz refresh rate that has made its way to some other mid-rangers such as Motorola Edge 30 and the Poco X4 GT 5G, we found the 120Hz refresh rate to be very smooth. The Snapdragon processor equipped on the Galaxy A73 5G coped up perfectly with no signs of sluggish performance or low frame rates.
The color reproduction in this display is nice buy a little bit oversaturated as is usual with all Samsung phones. The extra saturation makes the color pop and feel more punchy.
Outdoor viewability is great with this phone as it reaches up to 800 nits in HBM (High brightness mode) and we didn’t have any problem using the phone in direct sunlight.
Camera
Samsung went all out with the quad-camera setup on the Galaxy A73 5G that’s highlighted up with the 108MP flagship sensor and accompanied by a 12 MP ultrawide lens as well as a pair of 2 MP lenses that are used for zooming and macro.
The phone is capable of producing beautiful shots in well-lit environments as well as night shots. The phone uses pixel binning to take 9MP shots as standard, however you have access to a 108MP mode which is useful in zooming in and capturing more details.
Shutter lag on this phone is barely noticeable and we found it quite snappy to capture shots right away in well-lit scenes. It does took a little longer in night time or dimly lit scenes as the shutter needed to capture more light to the camera.
Thanks to both optical and electrical image stabilization, this phone produced some of the best night shots we’ve seen that blow all of the other mid-range phones out of the water. Even the video quality in low light was pretty good and usable.
Using the ultrawide lens was also a pleasant experience with the high fidelity camera that produces well-balanced pictures with good sharpness and colour reproduction.
With a 32 MP selfie snapper, the selfie shots come out with really good details and quality that approaches flagship cameras.
The TLDR of the camera’s on the Galaxy A73 5G is the best camera phone in any mid-range phones we’ve got our hands-on.
Performance and software
Using the Snapdragon 778 SoC paired with an 8GB of RAM, the Samsung Galaxy A73 5G is smooth. Samsung has done a good job optimizing One UI 4.1 that now gives you the option to opt out of installing third-party apps and not force them on you.
Even though the screen isn’t the fastest we’ve seen on a mid-range, the 120Hz display here is good enough for gaming and other tasks. The Qualcomm SoC keeps up in providing the phone with a stable supply of frames to make the most out of the 120Hz display.
Using the phone in multitasking, gaming and other heavy demanding scenarios we didn’t notice any signs of slowing down or sluggishness with the phone.
There are a lot of customization options available through the system to tweak the phone to your liking. The Always-on-display on Samsung’s phones, is one of the best experiences with many customizations and useful info you can find glancing on the phone.
Battery life and charging
Samsung has decided on ditching the bundled chargers which is good for the environment and makes sense on higher-end phones where its customers can easily afford buying an additional charger.
We’re not sure if that idea works on mid-range on budget phones as the target for these phones are consumers looking to save money. Inside the box, you only get documentation, a sim card remover tool, and a charging cable only.
On the bright side, the phone has an excellent 5,000 mAh battery that has an impressive life. We didn’t hold back on turning the high refresh rate along with the always-on-display and we still couldn’t drain the battery after a full day of usage. Dialing down the screen refresh rate and with moderate usage, you should easily get two days of battery life out of this phone.
While that large battery sounds great, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns as you’d be surprised on how much time it takes to fully charge this phone. The Galaxy A73 5G has a maximum charging speed of 25 watts which takes a while to juice the phone up. It took the phone close to an hour and half to fully charge which is not the worst thing but it could be much better.
Samsung has lagged behind when it comes to fast charging since the infamous Note 7 incident and has been really conservative to use fast chargers. The Korean giant really needs to step up their game with faster chargers as we see other companies are now supporting charging speeds upwards of 100 watts.
Needless to say that this phone doesn’t support wireless charging and you’ll have to settle for wired charging only to charge it.
Should I buy a Galaxy A73 5G?
Buy it if …
You want the best camera phone in the mid-range phone
The Galaxy A73 5G arguably has the best camera in the mid-range segment and blows the competition out of the water with its photography chops.
You need a large battery
The battery on the Galaxy A73 is as impressive on paper as it is in real-life usage. You can easily get over a day of usage from the battery on this phone.
You need a phone with a great display
Samsung continues to lead the industry in smartphones panels, and the Galaxy A73 5G is no different. It features a vibrant OLED display with 120Hz and great viewability outdoors with a peak brightness of 800 Nits
Don’t buy it if …
You can’t stand slow charging
This phone’s charging speed is mediocre at best and doesn’t cope with the modern charging speeds that are supported by other manufacturers.
You don’t want to spend extra on a charger
If you are already stretching your budget with the Samsung Galaxy S73 5G, you should think twice as you will also need to invest in a charger as Samsung doesn’t include one in the box.
