Need to archive an iTunes backup of an iPhone or iPad for safe-keeping? Creating an archived backup in iTunes is helpful because it allows you to preserve a specific device backup while still allowing for backing up to iTunes on Mac or PC, without those new backups overwriting the archived backup.
Creating routine backups of iPhone and iPad are important in general, but if you ever plan to try a beta release of system software like iOS public beta or iPadOS public beta, you’ll want to go a step further and archive an iTunes backup as well, since it makes it easier to revert to a prior release (like downgrading iOS 13) if necessary.
How to Archive iTunes Backup of iPhone or iPad on Mac & Windows
This obviously focuses on archiving backups in iTunes, but in MacOS Catalina these same actions are performed in the Finder, where device management occurs, rather than in iTunes.
Open the iTunes application if you have not done so already on Mac or Windows
Optionally, start and complete a new encrypted backup to iTunes if you wish to create a fresh backup to archive then proceed when finished
Pull down the iTunes menu and choose “Preferences”
Go to the “Devices” tab in iTunes Preferences
Under the Device Backups list locate the device backup you want to archive, then right-click on that backup and choose “Archive”
Ensure that the iPhone or iPad backup has been archived by checking for the lock icon and date stamp on the backup name, when finished click on “OK” to exit out of iTunes Preferences
Archiving a backup essentially locks that backup so that it is not overwritten by subsequent device backups made to iTunes.
Again, iCloud has no impact on backups in iTunes. You can backup to both iCloud and iTunes if desired.
Identifying Archived Backups in iTunes
In the device list this is easy to identify because there is a lock icon and a time and date stamp on when the backup was archived.
You can un-archive a backup by right-clicking on it from within the same Devices settings list, and of course you can also delete backups from iTunes there as well.
Remember that in iTunes it’s important to encrypt backups so that all Health data and sensitive data is also backed up, because without the backup encryption feature enabled that data will not be backed up to iTunes. Backing up iPhone or iPad to iCloud is encrypted by default and does not require the manual encryption setting.
Note you can not currently archive iCloud backups, so if you wish to preserve an iPhone or iPad backup you must use iTunes and archive the backup there, or a Mac with at least Catalina and archive the backup there.
One of 2017’s major smartphone trends has been the move to 18:9 extra-tall displays that take up most of a device’s body. While Samsung and LG were the trailblazers with their 2017 flagships, the rest of the industry has followed suit. Huawei is no exception, but it’s brought these newfangled screens to a surprisingly low price point with the Nova 2i : $499.
Key specifications for the Nova 2i include a 5.9-inch display running at 2160×1080, a Huawei-made Kirin 659 eight-core processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of expandable storage, a rear-facing fingerprint reader, and a 3340mAh battery. It runs EMUI 5.1 based on Android Nougat.
The Nova 2i is also known as the Huawei Mate 10 Lite in some markets. Other than a slightly different name, the two are essentially identical (with the exception of minor regional differences such as antenna band configurations).
The phone comes with a 5.50-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1080×2160 pixels and an aspect ratio of 18:9.
Huawei Nova 2i is powered by a 1.7GHz octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 659 processor. It comes with 4GB of RAM.
The Huawei Nova 2i runs Android 7.0 and is powered by a 3,340mAh non-removable battery.
As far as the cameras are concerned, the Huawei Nova 2i on the rear packs a 16-megapixel primary camera and a second 2-megapixel camera. On the front, the Huawei Nova 2i packs a 13-megapixel primary camera and a second 2-megapixel camera.
The Huawei Nova 2i runs EMUI 5.1 based on Android 7.0 and packs 64GB of inbuilt storage that can be expanded via microSD card (up to 256GB). The Huawei Nova 2i is a dual-SIM (GSM and GSM) smartphone that accepts Nano-SIM and Nano-SIM cards.
Connectivity options on the Huawei Nova 2i include Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, GPS, Bluetooth v4.20, NFC, USB OTG, FM radio, 3G, and 4G (with support for Band 40 used by some LTE networks in India). Sensors on the phone include accelerometer, ambient light sensor, gyroscope, proximity sensor, and compass/ magnetometer.
The Huawei Nova 2i measures 156.20 x 75.00 x 7.50mm (height x width x thickness) and weighs 164.00 grams. It was launched in Black, Blue, and Gold colours. It bears a metal body.
What’s good about the Huawei Nova 2i?
The Nova 2i is – physically and aesthetically – an impressive package; Huawei has managed to squeeze a 5.9-inch display into a body that’s almost identical in size to 5.5-inch devices like the OnePlus 5 and OPPO R11, and a touch smaller than iPhone 8 Plus.
For a $499, it’s a little nuts. The display itself isn’t quite edge-to-edge – there’s still a noticeable frame on the left and right of the phone, which is something Huawei has managed to reduce almost entirely on the Mate 10 – but this is also the case with pricier devices.
While the Nova 2i‘s screen runs at 1080p+ rather than Quad HD+ as found in the majority of other extra tall phones, it doesn’t really make much of a difference unless you’re shoving the device right up against your eyeballs. It’s still a high quality screen that’s bright, works alright in sun for the most part, and has great viewing angles; it ticks all of the boxes you’d expect.
As novel as 18:9 displays are, they aren’t without their challenges. Since they’re still quite new, not all apps are optimised for them. This means you’ll end up with a black bar between the Nova 2i‘s software buttons and your unoptimised app. This bar gives you the option to run the app in “full screen” mode, but this mode can obscure parts of an app’s interface. Frustratingly, the button asking you whether you want to run an app in full screen never disappears, and looks especially awkward in landscape.
App compatibility issues aside – which will almost certainly be worked out in time, given the entire industry’s pivot – the extra tall display does make reaching to the top of your phone a little bit awkward, especially if you’re trying to get things done with one hand. This also affects the reachability of Nova 2i‘s volume rocker, but that’s more of a minor quarrel. To be honest, we wouldn’t have cared if Huawei made the Nova 2i a 16:9 phone with minimal bezel.
There’s more to the Nova 2i than its futuristic display – the overall build has a very polished feel to it. Aluminum might be considered the bare minimum for a phone these days, but the Nova 2i still impresses thanks to a slender yet solid frame with a seamless join between glass and its body. A microUSB port is the only feature that lets you know the Nova 2i isn’t a pricier phone.
The Nova 2i is fast and smooth for the most part, especially when it comes to day to day tasks. It can get a little sluggish with games, but it’s far from unusable, even when it comes to the more demanding apps. In terms of battery, you’ll easily get a full day of usage with a comfortable buffer, but two is probably out of the question. We typically found we had around 35% left at the end of the day.
64GB of storage at $499 is a nice bonus too.
What’s not so good about the Huawei Nova 2i?
Quality tends to be more important than quantity, and the Nova 2i proves this with its cameras. While the phone has four – two on the front, two on the back – they’re easily its biggest shortcoming. Both the front-facing and rear-facing cameras have been paired with a secondary lens that’s solely used to capture extra information to simulate depth of field – there’s no option to use them individually as on the latest iPhones.
The depth effect – essentially blurring the background behind your subject – works best when it comes to portraits, results tend to be very inconsistent when dealing with other objects. Extremities such as ears can get a little lost, but the effect is reasonably convincing provided you don’t dial it up too high (or look too close). You can however adjust the amount of blur after you’ve taken a photo, which can help get it just right.
While the Nova 2i can take good photos in a lot of conditions, it struggles in lowlight and sharp daylight. While hit-and-miss lowlight performance (and the motion blur that entails) is the norm in this price range, struggling with bright sunlight isn’t. We found that the Nova 2i could overexpose photos taken on sunny days, potentially leading to blowout and reduced contrast. This won’t necessarily ruin an image in the way poor lowlight performance will, but it’s nonetheless worth mentioning.
Huawei is known for being quite liberal when it comes to customising Android, and its take on Google’s operating system – EMUI – won’t be to everyone’s liking. EMUI has certainly gotten better over the years, but you can still find yourself going up against a couple of quirks.
The most egregious has been a reoccurring notification about “essential” apps you should install, which is tantamount to an ad. Once is fine, but it’s not great when it pops up multiple times in a day.
I’m not the biggest fan of the Huawei’s default iconography; the gradient heavy icons contrast heavily with Android’s flatter aesthetic. Some of the pre-installed themes let you tone this down, and you can always replace the Huawei launcher with the Google Now launcher, the Google Pixel launcher (which you’ll need to get through an APK mirror), or another third party solution. I went as far as replacing any app with an “ugly” icon with something else. Yes, I know I sound like a wanker, and I’m guessing you’re probably not going to be as bothered by any of this as much as I am.
Android purists won’t dig EMUI, but Huawei’s gotten much better at not letting software modifications get in the way of the user experience for the most part.
The $499 price tag means the Nova 2i makes a couple of omissions; the most notable missing features are NFC and water-resistance. Water-resistance is still far from common when it comes to midrange devices, but the lack of NFC means you can can’t use the Nova 2i for services like Android Pay.
Huawei Nova 2i camera samples
Who’s the Huawei Nova 2i for?
If you’re after a $499 phone that looks a $1,000 phone, the Nova 2i is for you. Slim bezels, an 18:9 display, and a seamless unibody mean Huawei’s latest midrange smartphone feels more like a flagship. You’ll make some compromises on camera quality, but the Huawei Nova 2i offers the best look and feel of any budget smartphone around.
Huawei Nova 2i Full Specifications
General
Brand
Huawei
Model
Nova 2i
Release date
October 2017
Form factor
Touchscreen
Body type
Metal
Dimensions (mm)
156.20 x 75.00 x 7.50
Weight (g)
164.00
Battery capacity (mAh)
3340
Removable battery
No
Colours
Black, Blue, Gold
Display
Screen size (inches)
5.50
Touchscreen
Yes
Resolution
1080×2160 pixels
Aspect ratio
18:9
Hardware
Processor
1.7GHz octa-core
Processor make
HiSilicon Kirin 659
RAM
4GB
Internal storage
64GB
Expandable storage
Yes
Expandable storage type
microSD
Expandable storage up to (GB)
256
Camera
Rear camera
16-megapixel + 2-megapixel
Rear flash
Dual LED
Front camera
13-megapixel + 2-megapixel
Software
Operating system
Android 7.0
Skin
EMUI 5.1
Connectivity
Wi-Fi
Yes
Wi-Fi standards supported
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
GPS
Yes
Bluetooth
Yes, v 4.20
NFC
Yes
Infrared
No
USB OTG
Yes
Headphones
3.5mm
FM
Yes
Number of SIMs
2
SIM 1
SIM Type
Nano-SIM
GSM/CDMA
GSM
3G
Yes
4G/ LTE
Yes
Supports 4G in India (Band 40)
Yes
SIM 2
SIM Type
Nano-SIM
GSM/CDMA
GSM
3G
Yes
4G/ LTE
Yes
Supports 4G in India (Band 40)
Yes
Sensors
Compass/ Magnetometer
Yes
Proximity sensor
Yes
Accelerometer
Yes
Ambient light sensor
Yes
Gyroscope
Yes
Barometer
No
Temperature sensor
No
The Nova 2i is a smartphone that pushes the envelope forward on what you should expect from an “affordable” device. The screen wouldn’t look out of place on a phone twice its price, and neither would the build quality. Camera quality can be inconsistent, but for the money, the Nova 2i is a top handset.
Want to watch MKV videos stored in the Files app on an iPad? You can do that easily once you learn how. This makes it simple to keep locally stored MKV movies on iPad within the Files app to be able to watch directly on the device.
If you have an MKV video file in the Files app of iPad that you want to watch, you may have noticed that by default the Files app is not able to play mkv video files. But not to worry, with the help of a free app you can easily watch any MKV movie that is located in the Files app of an iPad.
Open the Files app on the iPad and navigate to the MKV movie file you want to watch
Tap on the MKV video and then tap on the Share button, it looks like a box with an arrow flying out of the top
Choose “Open in VLC” to open the MKV movie file into the VLC app*
Watch your MKV video in VLC, you can play, pause, fast forward, rewind, and perform all other expected video watching capabilities in VLC on iPad
*Sometimes you must first choose to “Copy to VLC” from the Sharing menu, then tap out of the Share sheet, wait a moment or two, and then open the Sharing screen again to choose “Open in VLC”.
Note that every time you wish to watch the MKV video in VLC you will need to manually choose to do so through the same Sharing menu within Files app.
With iPadOS 13 (and later) you can even use this same trick to watch MKV video files from the Files app that are on a local network share, so if you have an SMB file server you can access that through Files app and then load any mkv movies directly into VLC too.
If for some reason this method doesn’t work from playing the MKV video file directly from Files app on iPad or iPhone, you can also use the wi-fi upload method to VLC to watch MKV, AVI, and other videos on iPhone and iPad, which basically copies the movie file directly to the VLC app storage on the device.
Need to save a webpage as a PDF file on a Mac? Safari on the Mac makes saving webpages as a PDF very easy. Exporting a webpage in PDF format is useful for many purposes, whether you want to access an offline version of a webpage or article, to transmit information on a webpage as PDF format like a health record, call record, bill, or statement, for records keeping purposes, to send to someone else or a print shop, and so much more.
This tutorial will show you how to easily save a webpage as a PDF file using the Safari web browser on a Mac.
Note if you’re using an iPhone or iPad, you can save webpages as PDF on iPhone or iPad with these instructionsinstead.
How to Save Webpages as PDF on Mac with Safari
Open Safari on the Mac, then navigate to the webpage you want to save as a PDF file
Pull down the “File” menu in Safari
Choose “Export as PDF” from the File menu
Set the file name and choose a file destination and choose “Save” to save the webpage as a PDF
The PDF file of the saved webpage will be wherever you saved the file to, whether that was your user Documents folder, the Desktop, Downloads folder, or elsewhere.
The resulting webpage PDF can be used just like any other PDF file, you can email it, share it, upload it, or whatever else just like any other PDF document.
If for some reason this doesn’t work for you, or if you’re using a different web browser on a Mac that doesn’t support the direct ‘Export as PDF’ option, you can still easily save a webpage as a PDF by simply using Print to PDF on the Mac, which is available on every Mac OS release. If you find yourself using that feature often enough you can even set a “Save as PDF” keyboard shortcut for use on the Mac to be able to quickly perform that function.
Obviously this covers saving a webpage as a PDF file on Mac OS with Safari, but iPhone and iPad can save webpages as PDF too using an equally simple and direct feature.
Huawei‘s newest mid-range phone arrived in China. It’s called the Nova 4 with an all-screen display and a new design to boot. Does the beauty run skin deep and is deemed worthy for a successor?
Design and Construction
If you’ve seen the Nova 3, then the new Nova 4 sports the very same aesthetic, save for noticeable design changes.
Huawei got rid of the notch, and it’s now an all-screen with a cut-out hole at the top-left corner for the 25-megapixel front camera. No call speaker grill here, if you see it from this view. If you’re not down with a hole on your screen, there’s an option to hide it via the settings menu.
The device’s front panel is still a bit flat and is assisted by the arched metal sides and curved glass back for a better hand grip. At the bottom of the phone is the USB Type-C port, a speaker grille, a microphone hole, and two lines that aid in signal reception.
The call speaker grill sits at the topmost edge of the front display, and you’d probably see it better if you look at it from the top. Herein also lies the IR blaster, another microphone hole for noise cancellation, and the 3.5mm audio port. When laid on a flat surface, the protruding rear camera gets in the way.
At the right side of the device are the volume rockers and the power/lock button. Pressing any of these feel well-built and relatively silent. The left side, of the device, on the other hand, houses a dual SIM card tray setup which could be a bummer for some. Sorry folks, no microSD card slot here.
When looked at the back, the phone will remind you of a Nova 3 with the cameras at the corner. This time, a triple module setup of a 20-megapixel, 16-megapixel, and a 2.2-megapixel shooter for depth-of-field, along with the accompanying LED Flash. The fingerprint scanner sits right at the center while the Huawei wordmark is at the lower left part. While it bears an Aurora blue gradient finish, it is a lot lighter in hue compared to the Nova 3 and resembles the one on the Y9 2019.
The glossy finish may leave a few fingerprint smudges and grime from time to time, but its gradient back does a decent job at hiding this. You’d typically enjoy holding an enormous, all-screen phone, but I sometimes find myself uneasy with one-hand operation and use two hands to navigate the device most of the time. The phone also bears a good grip, but its smooth finish may leave one the need to buy some protective gear.
Display and Multimedia
The Nova 4 sports a 6.4-inch Full HD+ IPS display with a 19.25:9 display aspect ratio, amounting to around 398 pixels per inch. While it’s packing a good density, the quality is inconsistent when viewed at different angles. While there are manual options for choosing the color and temperature, it feels a bit lacking compared to what we saw in other Huawei phones with IPS screens.
The punch hole camera sitting at the top-left corner can be a bit distracting at first, especially if you love to watch videos in full screen. If that is the case, you can get it out of the way by enabling the black bar to hide the punch hole.
When it comes to audio, the speaker can fill up a small, quiet room with its 76dB average loudness, and the details are crisp with decent tones and a hint of bass. The included headphones in the package are decent at its best for casual listeners.
Camera
This Nova 4 we have for review has a triple camera setup consisting of the 20MP sensor with f/1.8 aperture for low-light shots, a 16MP secondary, and a 2MP as a third lens. The software offers AI scene detection, 480fps slow motion, a night mode, a portrait mode similar to Apple’s new camera mode, AR lens, 3D panorama, and even light painting, to name a few. The camera can digitally zoom up to 10 times, and also offers ultra-wide angle mode at the rear camera.
Colors are vivid and punchy, images are all sharp, we get a decent amount of brightness and contrast, and its dynamic range is quite okay. You may find yourself struggling a bit with low-light and night photography, though, as shots may tend to work slower than the usual since the built-in AI compiles consecutive shots to create a brighter image.
Videos, on the other hand, offer good details and colors, and its gyro-EIS enables the device to record clips with fewer shakes than the usual. Here’s a sample clip.
The Nova 4’s cameras are good for an upper mid-range phone but are nowhere as good as what you could have with its P or Mate series of phones.
OS, UI, and Apps
As with other Huawei devices, the Nova 4 comes with EMUI 9 based on Android 9 Pie inside. The absence of app drawers makes the smartphone use more straightforward, and constant app organization into home screen folders is a must if you want to keep it clutter-free. As we mentioned in our unboxing video, one thing we liked about the Nova 4 is the more simplified way to record what’s on your screen. A two-knock by a single knuckle instantly captures what’s on your screen, while knocking twice with two activates the phone’s video screen recording function.
The company’s homebrew features are also here. Party Mode lets you join more Nova 4s for an amplified loudspeaker experience, while a mirror app allows you have, well, a mirror with a fancy border — think of it as a more fancied version of the phone’s front camera preview.
With a 128GB internal storage built in, would you need more? The Nova 4 has around 113GB of free space left when we first opened the device, that’s just enough for casual phone users who download a few massive games while upping their selfie game.
Performance and Benchmarks
For a smartphone sporting a 2017-released HiSilicon Kirin 970 chip coupled with 8GB of RAM, we expected a lot. True enough, we played a lot using games such as Tekken 7 and Asphalt 8, and we barely noticed any lags or hiccups during our gameplay. Multitasking is also a breeze, but noticeable warmth is felt at the upper left part when heavily used for prolonged periods.
We tested the Nova 4 with our standard benchmark tests, and here are the scores we got:
For a smartphone packed with such beefy hardware, we’re surprised to know that the device’s AnTuTu score ranks even lower than what the Nova 3 could offer. The score also is at not that far when compared to mid-range smartphones bearing Snapdragon 660 or even Helio P60 chips.
Call Quality, Connectivity, and Battery Life
Calls made on the Nova 4 were great. The noise-canceling microphone at the top aids well in effectively eliminating background noise, while the actual microphone at the bottom relays speech audibly and clearly. Connectivity was not an issue — WiFi connects strongly to approved routers, Bluetooth connects quickly, and mobile Internet connection is excellent with 4G LTE.
Security add-ons are also helpful. The fingerprint scanner can accommodate up to five registered fingerprints and reads them well when used to unlock the phone. Face ID is also okay with recognition well-received on brightly-lit environments, while it struggles in low light.
The phone’s battery life was great, thanks to its 3,750mAh battery. Daily use lasted almost 20 hours with moderate calls, texts, and online activities both via WiFi and 4G. It scored 11 hours and 22 minutes in our PCMark battery test, while our video loop test yielded 14 hours and 16 minutes of playback.
Conclusion
The Huawei Nova 4, coined as the successor to the much-favored Nova 3, is a smartphone that we can say could be an all-screen twin of its predecessor. We sure got an all-screen device with an innovative punch-hole camera, triple camera setup, and long battery life. Those, though, does not justify the fact that we’ve seen more significant downsides than that.
For a smartphone line deemed by many as bang-for-the-buck, this specific Nova phone does not meet the performance expectations at CNY 3,099 or roughly PHP 23,100 when converted. While its daily performance is actually good, the benchmark scores do not sit well for a device that features 8GB of RAM and a 2017 flagship chip. The Nova 3, equipped with the same chipset and a slightly smaller RAM, excelled more if we’re talking about that. I can’t call it a worthy successor myself because the upgrades we’ve seen are just incremental.
Huawei Nova 4 specs:
Specification
Huawei Nova 4
Display
6.4-inch Full HD+ 19.25:9 display @ 2310 x 1080px, ~398 ppi
CPU
HiSilicon Kirin 970 octa-core (4x Cortex A73 2.36GHz + 4x Cortex A53 1.8GHz) CPU
As our mobile devices move towards thinner and more elegant form factors, we lose track of a lot of the aspects the really matter in a phone. Battery life. Durability. These have been falling by the wayside since the days of the flip phone. When was the last time you didn’t worry about your phone’s battery or looked down terrified when you dropped your phone without a bulky case?
This isn’t a top-tier Android device. It doesn’t have the most impressive spec sheet, and you’re not going to get Note 8-level performance out of this thing. This phone is made for a special kind of user, who values ruggedness and battery life over everything else.
How does the S41 fare as an ultra-rugged piece of technology? Let’s find out.
Design
Are you tired of using a bulky case on your phone? What if your phone was a bulky case? That’s what the CAT S41 feels like. It’s made of a thick, rubberized material reminiscent of a tire — fitting for a device from a company that makes construction equipment.
The shell raises from the screen a bit, which will keep it from taking too much damage from unexpected drops. Think about the design like an Otterbox Defender case built into the device. This might be a great option for those who value durability above all else.
This rugged design continues throughout other aspects of the phone, such as the physical navigation keys. This was pretty nostalgic for me, since I haven’t had physical keys on a device since the Droid Charge (shudder). They are very tactile and responsive, which is important to me as a keyboard critic and enthusiast (don’t hate). Double-tapping the home key turns the screen on, which is nice for those who don’t want to shift their hand position.
The phone’s got a microSD and SIM card tray, power and volume keys, a headphone jack, a microUSB charging port, and a bright orange “Push to talk” key. Each ports is covered by a flap made of the same material as the shell, and shields the ports from water, dust, and more. It’s IP68 rated, so you could theoretically drop it from 1.8 meters or submerge it in two meters of water for up to 60 minutes.
The “Push to talk” key is the real indicator of who this device is for. A group of CAT S41 users would be able to rapidly exchange information when close together. This will be most useful on construction sites for coordinating workers doing separate tasks. If you’re not a construction worker, you can also remap the button to execute different actions via short or long presses. This isn’t the Bixby button — you can use the key for pretty much anything.
The button also has an underwater mode, which locks the screen and allows you to take photos under water. I’m not sure why you would want to submerge this thing on purpose, but it’s nice to have.
Display
The CAT S41 sports a 5.0-inch Full HD IPS LCD display with Gorilla Glass 5. Overall, I feel very mixed about it. The color is fine. It has a respectable pixel density, at 441 PPI. But the bezels make the display feel more encased in the device than other options. Compared to something like the Razer Phone, which has large bezels that house front-facing speakers, the CAT phone’s display feels outdated. It has more bezels within the screen portion itself too.
For general use and web browsing, the screen performs quite well. Colors are quite saturated (though not as technically accurate as something like the Pixel 2), which makes for a pretty satisfying experience overall.
The CAT S41 can be used with gloves on, which is pretty rare. This adds to the construction-friendly nature of this device, since many hard labor workers will be wearing gloves while working.
Performance & hardware
Performance might be one of the CAT S41’s weakest spots. I noticed plenty of lag and stuttering around all areas of the OS, even when moving around the home screens. It’s not huge, but the stuttering can be annoying, and it detracts from the experience of the device quite a bit. These caveats probably won’t be all that noticeable on the job, though. It might be slower than their primary device, but as a work phone this should work just fine.
This lag is likely due to the device’s sub-par MediaTek Helio P20 processor. This mid-range chip was released over a year ago, so obviously you’re going to see some substantial performance differences between it and new chips in 2017. The SoC features a Mali T880 GPU, which is also decidedly mid-range, as is apparent during heavy gaming sessions.
Where the processing of this phone drop the ball, other features lift it back up. The S41 comes with an absolutely enormous 5,000 mAh battery which makes it last an incredibly long time. I was able to go a full two days of consistent use. It will last even longer if you’re a light user with a lot of standby time. The closest flagship we could compare this device to is the Razer Phone, which lasted a respectably long time with it’s 4,000 mAh battery. We ran our own battery test software on this device as well, and it beat out even the best ranking phone from our Best of Android battery test by miles, coming in at 23 hours and 18 minutes. That is extremely good.
It great to see a headphone jack present in this phone, but I wish it used USB Type-C instead of microUSB. Every device has trade-offs, but for the price it would have been nice if the S41’s specs were just a bit better.
One thing to note about the CAT S41 is its MIL-STD-810G certification. This certification was established by the United States military to test equipment and ensure it is up to their standards — it can cover a number of different environmental conditions such as temperature, explosive atmosphere, and salt fog, among other thing. Most consumer electronics certified with the standard are rated specifically for shock. That said, CAT specifically stated the S41 is certified for thermal shocks and salt mist spray.
Because the anticipated consumer for this device is a construction or hard labor worker, this certification is very important. If you want to read more about the MIL-STD-810G certification, check out the Wikipedia entry.
Cameras
It’s hard to put it any other way — the CAT S41 cameras are bad. The 13 MP rear shooter is incredibly soft in anything but the most ideal lighting situations, and the front-facing 8 MP camera streaks when exposed to any significant light source. The front camera actually seems to do slightly better than the rear in many situations, which is pretty strange. Don’t use this phone as your main imaging device.
The rear camera tends to oversaturate photos more than any other smartphone camera we’ve tested. Images in standard look like the saturation slider was pulled a bit too far to the right in editing software. There is an interesting settings menu here that allows you to tweak aspects of the camera to your liking, but they didn’t seem to do much.
One interesting feature this phone has is the ability to take “Picture-in-Picture” shots, which takes an image with the rear and front camera at the same time, allowing you to pin the second image anywhere on the screen. I’m not really sure how this feature would be useful, but I’m also not a construction worker, so I’ll have to defer to those guys on this one.
The video mode is capable of 1080p video at 30 fps, but it suffers from the same saturation and softness issues as the photo mode. Another weird feature Caterpillar decided to include is the ability to record using filters like Negative, Aqua, and Sepia. I can’t see why you would want to use these modes in, well, any circumstance, but the option is there for those who want it.
Software
The CAT S41 is running Android 7.0 Nougat, which, at time of writing, is a 17-month-old build of Android. We do not expect new devices to launch with 7.0 Nougat at this point. Newer, more secure builds of Android have been out for months. The target buyers of this phone probably won’t care as much about timely software updates, but the fact that it runs such an old version of Android makes us feel like it might not ever receive one.
The S41 features CAT’s extremely light user interface. It feels mostly stock, with a few small UI tweaks like some custom icons, which make the phone feel more like a Caterpillar device. There’s a registration app, FM Radio, App toolbox, and a “Catphones” app which is just a link to the online support page. The most useful app built into the phone out of the box is the “Share” app, which allows you to charge other devices with the massive 5,000 mAh battery packed in this thing. You can usually only do this with devices using USB Type-C, so it’s nice to see this feature available, especially since it has one of the biggest batteries on the market.
If you’ve used a Nexus or Pixel device, the software essentially reflects what you would see on one of those devices. I’m always happy to see a built-in FM radio, but you will need to use some wired headphones as an antenna for this to work. Still, it’s very nice to have.
Specs
Caterpillar S41
Display
5.0-inch IPS LCD
1,920 x 1,080 resolution
401 ppi
16:9 aspect ratio
Corning Gorilla Glass 5
When I discovered that Google was deprecating Android Beam in Android Q, I was surprised to see how many people were upset by the news. The file transfer service used NFC to transfer files between devices, and although it was slow and rarely used, it still had its fans because of how widely available it was. Every Android device supported Android Beam, as a matter of fact. Now, in order to share files, you have to use other methods that aren’t guaranteed to work on every device. Google has pushed users toward the Files by Google app, but it now appears that the company is working on a new file-sharing tool. The tool, called Fast Share, is part of the Nearby service in Google Play Services, and it looks to be not only an Android Beam replacement but also an Apple AirDrop competitor.
Fast Share was first spotted by 9to5Google earlier today, but we quickly figured out how to access it for ourselves to share the below screenshots. We also thank XDA Recognized Developer Quinny899 for his assistance in getting some of these screenshots. The screenshots show that the new file-sharing tool will let you “share to nearby devices without Internet,” much like Android Beam once did. Rather than NFC, the service uses Bluetooth to initiate a handshake and then subsequently transfers files over a direct Wi-Fi connection. This will allow for larger files to be transferred much more quickly than Android Beam. Fast Share even allows you to give your device “Preferred Visibility” to nearby devices, which lets those devices “always see your device when you’re nearby, even if you’re not using Fast Share.”
The share flow seems similar to Apple’s AirDrop file sharing service, which Android users have wanted for years. You can send one or more files to another device by selecting the files you want and picking the “Fast Share” option in the share sheet menu. Then, you can pick which device you want to send to once the devices appear in the scanning menu. The activity currently shows generic share targets, including a Chromebook, a Google Pixel 3, an iPhone, and a smartwatch. Hopefully, the service will actually support sending files to Chrome OS devices, Apple iOS devices, and Wear OS smartwatches once it goes live, but we can’t say for sure just based on the presence of these generic share targets.
What we can be sure of is that the service will support sending and receiving files to and from other Android devices with Google Play Services installed. Whether Fast Share will require a specific Android OS version is something we’re not sure of, though. I would imagine that it’ll support most modern Android releases given that it only requires Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Direct support.
We’ll keep an eye out on this file sharing service and will let you know if or when it goes live. It looks like it’ll be a decent competitor to Apple’s AirDrop, but given its reliance on Google Play Services, some will be disappointed that it won’t be as ubiquitous as Android Beam. Google is known to rip services out of AOSP and put them into Google Play Services, so this move shouldn’t come as a surprise. Still, given how many Certified Android devices are on the market, you’ll likely have a hard time finding a device that won’t support this new file sharing tool once it’s available.
Wondering how long an iCloud backup restore to an iPhone or iPad will take to complete? Restoring an iPhone or iPad from an iCloud Backup can take a while, depending on the size of the iCloud backup, and the speed of the internet connection the iOS device is connected to.
If you want to check on the progress of an active iCloud Restore, you can do so in modern versions of iOS.
How to Check Progress of iCloud Restore from Backup on iPhone or iPad
Open the “Settings” app in iOS
Tap on “Your Name” at the top of the Settings
Tap on “iCloud”
Tap on “iCloud Backup”
Locate the data remaining information on the iCloud backup restore process under the ‘Stop’ button to get a rough idea of how much longer the restore will take
The data remaining information will be shown in megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB).
It’s best to let the iCloud Restore process complete, however long it may take. Failure to let the iCloud restore from backup process complete can lead to permanent data loss.
Optionally, but not recommended, you can stop an iCloud Restore from backup to an iOS device. Stopping an iCloud Restore can result in data loss and is therefore not recommended unless there is a compelling reason to do so.
While the iCloud Restore process is ongoing, you may notice notably poor battery life on the iPador iPhone as the devices “Ongoing Restore” background activity and downloading of data uses more energy than usual. Letting the iCloud Restore process complete will return the device to normal expected battery performance.
Note that much earlier versions of iOS do not support this feature.
By comparison, checking the restore progress of an iTunes backup restore is much more obvious because the iTunes window has a progress indicator showing the current progress and how long it will take to complete.
If you liked the look of the Huawei P20 Pro, but didn’t fancy the price, then the Honor 10 is a solid alternative. It packs the same Kirin CPU as the P20, has an excellent FHD+ screen and a premium design that makes it look and feel way more expensive than it is.
Pros
Sleek design
Powerful hardware
Good value
Cons
EMUI Android skin is bloated
Some performance bugs
Key Specifications
5.84-inch 2280p x 1080p FHD+ display
Kirin 970 CPU
4GB RAM
128GB storage
Android Oreo with EMUI
3400 mAh
Rear 24-megapixel and 16-megapixel, f/1.8 dual-camera dual-camera, 24-megapixel front camera
What is the Honor 10?
If you liked the look of Huawei’s uber-swish, triple-camera-packing P20 Pro, then the Honor 10 may well be the phone you’re after.
The Honor 10 is a baby Huawei P20 aimed mid-range phone market. It follows the same tried and tested pattern as the Honor 9, stripping the more expensive aspects of Huawei’s current flagship, while retaining its core design features and hardware to offer a great-value smartphone.
Editors Note: Due to the recent retraction of Huawei’s Android license, future Huawei and Honor phones won’t be able to access Google Play Services and as a result many Android apps including YouTube and Gmail. Both Huawei and Google have confirmed Huawei and Honor phones, like the one in this review, will continue to have access for this time being. Until we know more about the situation we’re leaving the scores on all our Huawei reviews, however as the situation changes we’ll revisit this.
The strategy worked a treat on the Honor 9, which was one of 2017’s best mid-range phones – and it generally still works out for the Honor 10. This phone has a pretty, albeit slightly flashy, mixed metal and glass design, a top-end Kirin CPU and solid battery life.
The only real downside is its slightly buggy EMUI software. However, that’s forgivable given the Honor 10’s cost – you’ll still struggle to do better for the money.
Honor 10 – Design
Honor made a huge deal about the 10’s design during its London launch. Specifically it claims to have achieved the super-polished, ridiculously blue finish by stacking more than 15 layers of glass over each other.
But outside of the ultra-bright colouring, the Honor 10 has a similar mixed metal and glass design to pretty much every other flagship to arrive this year. The phone has metal sides and a shiny 2.5D glass back; were it not for the Honor branding, it could easily be mistaken for a Zenfone 5 or LG G7 ThinQ.
It also has the same ‘notch’ that’s become increasingly common since Apple launched its iPhone X. This is a consequence of the phone’s near-bezel-free design. The notch is a rectangular bump breaking up the top of the screen, where the phone’s front camera is housed.
Android P is set to support using the screen around the notch, but as it stands Honor’s set it to display incoming notifications as well as battery life and network availability. Those who wish to can also turn it off in the phone’s settings leaving a plain black bar.
The only minor difference to those other notched phones is the appearance of a 3.5mm socket, and the absence of a rear-facing fingerprint scanner. Instead Honor’s baked the scanner into the home button just under the screen.
Lack of originality aside, the design is solid and ticks all the right boxes when it comes to functionality. It gives the phone a much more premium feel than your average handset.
Build quality is excellent. The glass back has zero give and a seamless, slightly curved join to the metal sides that makes it comfortable to hold. The bottom fingerprint scanner is also wonderfully reactive, though take Honor’s claims of it being an in-screen scanner with a pinch of salt. The scanner sits at the phone’s bottom, in the same location as the home button. The only difference between it and past handsets is that it’s actually under the glass. It’s also a less essential addition since the Honor 10 has a reliable face unlock feature, which lets you open the phone simply by looking at it after registering your identity to it.
My first issue with the phone’s design is that, like all glass-backed phones, it’s an outright smudge magnet. Within minutes of taking the phone out of the box it was covered in marks. I’m also nervous about dropping it. Though it feels solid, I don’t trust any glass-backed phone to survive even a minor accidental drop scratch- or crack-free without a case.
The more serious issue I have with the design is its slightly lacklustre speaker. This sits on the phone’s bottom and, like most standalone units, is at best functional and a far cry from the boombastic dual-driver setups you’ll find on things like the Razer Phone.
It’s just about good and loud enough for watching the odd YouTube clip and playing a round of PUBG. But max volumes are noticeably lower than on most competing handsets. The low end is also fairly weedy.
Going beyond skin-deep, the 128GB of internal storage will be more than enough for most users.
Honor 10 – Display
The Honor 10’s 5.8-inch IPS display is one of the best you’ll find at this price. Blacks aren’t as deep as on competing AMOLED screens, but colours are nicely calibrated and whites are pristinely clean. Holding it next to the Pixel 2, the Google phone’s whites were horribly yellow by comparison.
Those who prefer cooler or warmer colours can also tweak the colour temperature and contrast in the phone’s settings, though by default I kept it in the out-of-the-box Vivid mode.
Max brightness levels don’t match the quoted 1000 nits brightness of LG’s flagship G7 ThinQ and the Honor 10 isn’t Mobile HDR certified. However, at this price you’ll struggle find a handset that does either, and the screen is more than bright enough. On a sunny day in the park the screen remained legible in everything but direct, very bright sunlight.
The HD+ 2280 x 1080 resolution isn’t noticeably higher than regular FHD, as it’s mainly a move to accommodate the phone’s longer 19:9 aspect ratio. You can get higher-resolution phones at this price point, but I never had any issues with it. Text and icons uniformly look sharp and are readable and in general I had no issues with the Honor 10’s display.
I’m a little less enamoured with the software, however, which I cover in detail on the next page of this Honor 10 review.
Honor 10 – Software
Honor phones use the same EMUI skin as parent company Huawei. In the past EMUI has been a key contributor stopping Honor and Huawei phones from achieving top marks on Trusted Reviews for a variety of reasons.
The first is the sheer number of pointless UI changes and duplicate applications it adds to Android. Key offenses here include removing the app tray and rejigging where certain options sit in the settings menu to the point even seasoned Android users can’t find them straight away.
Being fair to both, the skin has gotten a lot better in recent years and makes it easy for you to do simple things such as re-add the app tray. The settings menu has also been cleared up so it’s now fairly easy to find most options. But the fact is that EMUI is still nowhere near as clean or pleasant to use as vanilla Android.
The UI’s full of duplicate apps for things like music, calendar and email. The company’s also ditched the OS Material Design, replacing the app icons with fairly childish looking equivalents. Since Android Nougat the OS design has been pretty nice and I really wish companies would stop feeling the need to make needless changes like this.
Honor 10 – Performance
EMUI also had a terrible track record for impacting phones’ performance. Early Huawei phones running it were terribly buggy and suffered from serious performance degradation over time, in part because of the Android Skin.
Huawei and Honor have done excellent work addressing these issues over the years, but the Honor 10 does still seem to have a few issues. In general the phone is smooth to use, wonderfully reactive and plays even the most demanding of 3D video games, like PUBG, with zero effort.
But it can on occasion still feel a little buggy. At least once a day I notice a very, very minor chug swapping between menu screens or have an application inexplicably crash. The events aren’t anywhere near frequent enough to be deal breakers, but considering the Honor 10’s powerhouse Huawei Kirin 970, octa-core and more than adequate 4GB RAM, they shouldn’t be happening at all after a week’s use. The CPU is the same one seen in Huawei’s premier P20 and P20 Pro phones.
The Honor 10’s synthetic benchmark scores back up my findings, showing the device is, outside of its minor bugs, a powerhouse performer. You can see how it compares to the P20 and Galaxy S9 in the table below.
The other benefit of the Kirin chipset is its AI camera features. These work pretty much the same way as on Huawei’s latest P20 phones. Specifically, the features mean the cameras can intelligently optimise their settings to capture “500+ scenarios in 22 categories” in real time.
These features aren’t at all unique to Honor or Huawei. Qualcomm’s been making a similar move via its latest line of Snapdragon CPUs, and you’ll struggle to find a mid-to-top-tier handset that’s not boasting something similar. Even the (expected to be) more affordable Asus Zenfone 5, has a similar camera feature set.
The only differentiator is the addition of Huawei’s “Semantic Image Segmentation technology”, which apparently lets Kirin 970 phones recognise more than one object in photos. I’m not sure I’ve seen a radical improvement in recognition over other Snapdragon AI cameras I’ve tested, but the tech works just fine on the Honor 10’s dual lens rear camera.
The only downside I’ve noticed is that, for people eyeing the Honor 10 as an affordable alternative to Huawei’s P20 Pro, the camera hardware doesn’t match its more expensive sibling on specs. The Honor 10 is completely free of Leica branding and features a regular 24-megapixel and 16-megapixel, f/1.8 dual-camera setup which is a far cry from the insane triple setup you’ll find on the P20 Pro.
Image quality, particularly in low, or awkward mixed lighting conditions isn’t as good as a result. But compared to other £400 the rear camera is pretty darned good.
The AI mode does add a little bit of processing time, but for the most part it does a decent job fixing blemishes, improving contrast and adding minor bokeh effects to photos. If it’s not to your taste the camera also automatically saves a non-optimised version of the photo that you can check just by tapping the top AI icon on the top right of the camera app UI.
This is important as in very bright conditions, I have noticed the AI camera can oversaturate photos’ colours, though being fair, a lot of people I showed the before and afters to actually prefered the optimised version.
The only real issue I’ve noticed with the AI cam is that, when viewing photos blown up on the big screen, it is sometimes possible to spot mistakes in the processing. These are generally basic things, like areas where pixels have been sloppily cloned or the fake bokeh has accidentally blurred a section it shouldn’t have. I only noticed the issues when viewing the images on a 55-inch TV but it is something to be aware of.
Low-light performance isn’t best in class, but it’s still a cut above what you’d find on most £400 phones. Noise can creep in and there’s definitely some pixelation when you look at photos blown up on a big screen, but they’re usually usable for social media.
Video works well enough, though the lack of any form of stabilisation means you’ll want to invest in a tripod before shooting to avoid unwanted wobbling. The only downside is that the mic feels underpowered, so captured sound quality is fairly poor.
For the more vain amongst us, the 24-megapixel is more than good enough for selfies. Image quality is generally more than good enough for sharing on social media, and the addition of lighting and an AI Portrait mode mean you can take a usable selfie, even when shooting in a dingy bar.
Honor 10 – Battery life
The Honor 10’s 3400mAh isn’t the biggest around for a phone this size, but after a week with it, I’ve found it’s more than good enough.
Using the Honor 10 as my main work and personal smartphone, the handset usually lasts between one to two days on a single charge. Regular use entails listening to music on my morning and evening commute, regularly checking my social media and email feeds, playing the odd round of PUBG, constantly browsing the internet and streaming some video to my Chromecast during the evening.
More intensive tasks put a more serious drain on the battery, but overall life still held up well on the Honor 10. Looping streaming video the Honor 10 lost an average of 8-12% of its charge per hour, which is solid for a phone this size.
Playing demanding 3D games, like PUBG and Riptide GP2, the phone lost a heftier 15-22%, but again this is a decent result. Other handsets I’ve tested have lost as much as a quarter of their charge per hour running the same processes.
The only downside is that, during prolonged gaming sessions the Honor 10 did heat up, though not to the point I noticed any CPU throttling.
Sometimes, an iPad Pro must be placed into DFU mode as a troubleshooting step before being able to restore the iPad Pro. DFU stands for Device Firmware Update and DFU mode is basically a lower-level device restore state than regular Recovery Mode for iPad Pro.
Placing an iPad Pro into DFU mode is for advanced users and for specific troubleshooting scenarios where an iPad Pro is unable to recover or restore through regular methods.
This approach for entering into DFU mode covered here applies only to newer iPad Pro devices of the 2018 model year and later, meaning those without a Home button and with Face ID as the primary unlock mechanism, including the iPad Pro with 11″ screen and iPad Pro with 12.9″ screen. Other iPad models with Home button can enter DFU mode with these instructions instead, which uses a different method.
To use DFU mode properly, you’ll need the iPad Pro a USB cable, and a Mac or Windows PC with iTunes, or macOS Catalina.
How to Enter DFU Mode on iPad Pro
Warning: Restoring a device with DFU mode will erase the iPad Pro and may cause permanent data loss. If you do not have a backup of the iPad Pro available you will have no data to restore to the device.
Connect the iPad Pro to the computer by using a USB cable
Open iTunes on the Mac or Windows PC (this is not in MacOS Catalina)
Press the Volume Up button and release it on the iPad Pro
Press the Volume Down button and release it on the iPad Pro
Now press and hold the Power button until the iPad Pro screen turns black, this can take 10-15 seconds or so
While still holding the Power button, now press and hold both the Power and the Volume Down button for another 5 seconds
Release the Power button, but continue to hold the Volume Down button for another 10 seconds
At this point iTunes should pop-up an alert message stating that “iTunes has detected an iPad in recovery mode. You must restore this iPad before it can be used with iTunes”, this indicates the iPad Pro is successfully in DFU mode
After the iPad Pro is in DFU mode it can be restored or updated as necessary.
If on the computer you do not see an “iTunes has detected an iPad in recovery mode. You must restore this iPad Pro before it can be used with iTunes” message, then start the process of entering DFU mode over again. Following the steps exactly is necessary to properly enter DFU mode.
If the iPad Pro screen turns on, or if you see an Apple logo on the iPad Pro, or if you see an iTunes logo on the display of iPad Pro, then the iPad Pro is not properly in DFU mode. If you see the iTunes logo on the screen it likely means the iPad Pro is in Recovery Mode instead, which sometimes is sufficient to restoring a problematic device, but generally people aim to enter DFU mode because Recovery Mode fails.
Usually you can simply restore the device from iTunes or MacOS to whatever the latest available version is, but you can also use firmware to restore from if desired. You can get iOS IPSW firmware files here if needed. To use an IPSW file you must be sure you are using the proper version for the particular device, and it must be actively signed by Apple. You must use an iOS firmware file that is compatible with the iPad Pro model, and the iOS IPSW file must be signed by Apple in order to use and restore from.
How to Exit DFU Mode on iPad Pro
Exiting DFU mode can be achieved by successfully restoring the device, or by rebooting the iPad Pro with the following steps:
Press and release Volume Up button
Press and release Volume Down button
Press and hold the Power button until the Apple logo appears on screen
This effectively force restarts the iPad Pro, causing it to leave DFU mode. Of course if an iPad Pro is ‘bricked’ and must be restored through DFU mode, then exiting DFU mode this way is not going to solve anything because the device must be restored through iTunes or macOS.
Every iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Apple Watch, and Apple TV can enter into DFU mode (as well as recovery mode), though how to do so depends on the particular device and model. Other DFU mode instructions are as follows:
Ultimately using DFU mode with iPad Pro (or any other device) is rarely needed, because with almost all regular troubleshooting scenarios you can restore an iPad Pro either directly through iTunes, macOS, or by using Recovery Mode.
