Samsung’s rivals are thinking bigger, though, and the South Korean firm is falling behind the curve in the flip-style phone segment as well.
Xiaomi MIX Flip will have a telephoto camera and Galaxy Z Flip 5 doesn’t
Last year, OPPO became the first brand to introduce a flip phone with a dedicated telephoto camera. The Find N3 Flip has a 32MP telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom. In February 2024, Huawei introduced the Pocket 2, a flip phone with an 8MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. Now, Xiaomi is ready to launch its first flip phone—Xiaomi MIX Flip—in China, and it will have a dedicated telephoto camera.
According to reports, the Xiaomi MIX Flip has a 60MP telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom. It reportedly uses an OmniVision OV60A sensor (1/2.61-inch) with 0.6µm pixels. Its primary camera is reportedly a 50MP OmniVision OVX800 sensor (1/1.55-inch), which is bigger than the one used in the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and as big as the primary camera on the Galaxy S24. The MIX Flip seems to lack an ultrawide camera, though. It is expected to have a 32MP selfie camera on the foldable screen.
In comparison, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 doesn’t have a telephoto or high-resolution primary camera. You can watch our Galaxy Z Flip 5 camera review in the video below.
Galaxy Z Flip 6 could use a 50MP primary camera for in-sensor zoom, but it might not be enough
A few weeks ago, the first renders of the Galaxy Z Flip 6 were leaked. If those are accurate, the upcoming flip phone from Samsung will continue to have two cameras. It means we won’t see a telephoto camera on the Galaxy Z Flip lineup for the sixth year in a row.
Some reports claim the Galaxy Z Flip 6 will have a 50MP primary camera. Samsung could use the in-sensor crop for improved 2x zoom shots. However, those shots will likely not be as good as shots captured using the dedicated telephoto camera on the Xiaomi MIX Flip. This is a bit disappointing, especially since three of Samsung’s rivals have decided to ship flip phones with telephoto cameras.
Nubia itself has confirmed that the Flip 5G – which is known in selected regions as the ZTE Libero Flip – will officially launch in Europe on April 9 as part of a global reveal event. Set to kick off at 7am ET / 4am PT / 12pm BST, this event will presumably play host to a pricing and release date announcement, since we’ve already handled the Flip 5G in-person.
At MWC 2024, Nubia teased that the Flip 5G will be available in Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia for the local equivalent of $599, though pricing could vary with different specs in different markets. There’s a good chance that the phone will ship in the US, too, albeit at a later date (and potentially through third-party retailers rather than Nubia itself). An Australian release seems unlikely, though.
The Flip 5G now has a dedicated page on Nubia’s website, and UK shoppers can currently get £20 off by signing up to the company’s mailing list (you’ll also be entered into a free Nubia Flip 5G giveaway for your troubles).
Image 1 of 4
(Image credit: Future / Axel Metz)
(Image credit: Future / Axel Metz)
(Image credit: Future / Axel Metz)
(Image credit: Future / Axel Metz)
As for what we already know about the device, the Nubia Flip 5G sports a 6.9-inch folding AMOLED display (1188 x 2790) with a 120Hz refresh rate, as well as a versatile external display that can function as a camera, a calendar, a stopwatch, and more.
Under the hood, the Nubia Flip 5G is powered by Qualcomm’s mid-range Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chipset, and a 4,310mAh battery with 33W fast charging. For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 boasts an objectively faster Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, but that phone will set you back an almighty $999.99 / £1,049 / AU$1,649 (its 3,700mAh battery is significantly smaller, too).
On the cameras front, Nubia’s upcoming foldable is equipped with a 50MP wide lens, a 50MP telephoto lens and a 16MP selfie camera. Again, for comparison, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 sports a numerically lesser 12MP wide lens, 12MP ultra-wide lens and 10MP selfie camera, though the superior processing power of Samsung’s latest flip-style foldable could see it outperform the Nubia for image quality.
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That said, the Nubia Flip 5G boasts an impressive suite of specs for its as-yet-announced $599 price tag; it’s all-but-certain to be half the price of the Galaxy Z Flip 5, but it’s much more than half the phone. As for whether the Nubia Flip 5G will earn a spot on our list of the best foldable phones, the jury is out, but it could well end up being the best cheap phone of its kind. Roll on April 9!
Galaxy M15 5G and Galaxy M55 will be launched in India on April 8
While both phones have OLED screens and high-capacity batteries, the Galaxy M15 5G is an entry-level phone, and the Galaxy M55 is a mid-range device.
The Galaxy M15 5G will reportedly have a starting price of INR 13,499 ($162), while the Galaxy M55 could be priced at INR 26,999 ($323).
Galaxy M15 5G specifications
The Galaxy M15 5G has a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED screen with Full HD+ resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. It has a 13MP selfie camera, a 50MP primary camera, a 5MP ultrawide camera, and a 2MP macro camera.
It is powered by a Dimensity 6100+ processor, 4GB/6GB RAM, 128GB storage, and a microSD card slot. It is powered by a 6,000mAh battery and supports 25W fast charging. It also has a side-mounted fingerprint reader and runs Android 14-based One UI 6.1. It will get four major Android OS updates.
You can watch the features of One UI 6.1 in our video below.
Galaxy M55 specifications
The Galaxy M55 has a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED+ screen with Full HD+ resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and 1,000 nits peak brightness. It has a 5,000mAh battery with 45W fast charging, stereo speakers, and an in-display fingerprint reader.
It has a 50MP primary rear camera and a 50MP selfie camera. It can record 4K 30fps videos with EIS using both those cameras. It also has an 8MP ultrawide camera and a 5MP macro camera.
Samsung has equipped the Galaxy M55 with the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 processor, 8GB/12GB RAM, 128GB/256GB storage, and a microSD card slot. It runs Android-based One UI 6.1 and will get four major Android OS updates.
Samsung has launched a new watch face for Galaxy Watch users who like to look up to the sky and wonder about our solar system. Samsung is doing justice to the ‘Galaxy’ moniker with the release of this new watch face, which was developed in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA).
This new release for Galaxy Watches allows wearers to obtain real-time information about the solar system. Each planet rotates around its axis and the sun at a different rate than Earth. And even though the passage of time, as a fourth dimension, is relatively the same across our solar system, each planet has different day and year lengths compared to Earth, depending on how slow or fast they rotate relative to our home planet.
This new watch face puts all that into perspective. It tells Galaxy Watch users their ‘Earth time’ but can also display information about the individual rhythms of neighboring planets.
Know what time it is on other planets Galaxy Time
In its recent announcement, Samsung says the new watch face, called Galaxy Time, achieves a high level of precision thanks to the collaboration with ESA and its measurements.
Galaxy Time can show information about the eight planets rotating around the sun, from Mercury to Neptune and every other in-between, including Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus.
Each planet has its own dial that shows time running faster or slower relative to our 24-hour system. In addition, the watch face provides extra information such as distances from Earth or the Sun to neighboring planets, how many moons they have, and their planetary seasons and exact positions in the solar system.
Samsung says Galaxy Time is compatible with every Galaxy Watch running Wear OS, which means the Galaxy Watch 4 series or newer. The watch face reportedly hit the Google Play Store on March 31, but availability might differ by region.
If you’re on the hunt for a reliable tablet not made by Apple, this is a good sale to check out. Currently, Amazon, Best Buy and Samsung’s own site are selling the base-model Galaxy Tab S9 for $670. That’s $130 off the list price and the lowest price we’ve seen yet, beating the previous low it hit a few weeks ago. The Tab S9 family is our top choice for Android tablets, thanks to their multitasking abilities, great screens and useful available accessories like keyboards.
Samsung
We like the Galaxy Tab S9 tablets because they can do everything you’d want a tablet to do, plus a little more with added productivity features. The tablet’s DeX mode creates an environment similar to a PC in which you can easily flit between different apps and windows, making it easier to do more complex tasks. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processors are speedy to support all of that productivity and the OLED displays look gorgeous. One of our few concerns in recommending the Tab S9 series is they tend to be expensive, but the $130 discount takes away some of that hesitation.
The base model that’s on sale here comes with 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, an 11″ Dynamic AMOLED touchscreen, an IP68 dust- and water-resistance rating and support for Wi-Fi 6E. The included S Pen can be used for taking notes by hand, doodling and making art. Other accessories, like the keyboard case, are sold separately, and we can’t help but notice the current price of that add-on is nearly the same as the discount on the tablet.
For a less expensive tablet, it’s worth noting that the budget recommendation from our Android tablet guide is also on sale. The Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ 11” Tablet is $50 off and down to $220 at Walmart. The Google Pixel Tablet with charging speaker dock, which we think is the best pick for a tablet that doubles as a smart display, is 20 percent off and down to $399 at Amazon. That matches its all-time low.
Today, Samsung has released the One UI 6.1 update to the Galaxy S23 FE.
Galaxy S23 FE gets dozens of AI features with One UI 6.1 update in India
The Galaxy S23 FE has finally started getting the One UI 6.1 update in India. It comes with firmware version S711BXXU2CXCF and has a download size of around 2.8GB. It brings several Galaxy AI features to the Galaxy S23 FE, and you can download it by opening the Settings app, navigating to Software update, and tapping Download and install.
The update still includes the March 2024 security patch and not the April 2024 patch that’s available for the Galaxy S24 series.
What’s new with One UI 6.1 update on Galaxy S23 FE?
Some of the most important new features that One UI 6.1 brings are real-time language translation in messages and voice calls, Interpreter Mode for face-to-face language translation, voice transcribing and automatic person tagging in Voice Recorder, and Generative AI-based wallpaper generation.
The update also brings AI-powered image editing, letting you remove unwanted objects, move or resize subjects, correct images with slanted angles, and the ability to move subjects from one image to another. It can also turn normal videos into slow-motion videos with the help of Generative AI.
Samsung Keyboard now offers AI-powered grammar correction and language styling suggestions. Circle to Search with Google is another great feature that lets you search for anything on the web that matches the content on the screen. One UI 6.1 also lets you summarize webpages and Samsung Notes. Notes can also get formatting templates.
Other features include more lock screen clock font options, improved search within the Gallery app, improved video playback speed controls, and compact widgets for the lock screen. Samsung Wallet gets support for passkeys, while Samsung Health brings options to compete with your own records.
Galaxy AI is now rolling out to more devices through the One UI 6.1 firmware update, but Samsung’s Advanced Intelligence suite won’t be available across the board.
As you likely know, if you don’t own a Galaxy S24 or one of the few 2023 high-end phones that got Galaxy AI through the One UI update this week, Samsung’s AI systems will stay out of your reach.
Samsung won’t update devices older than 2023 with Galaxy AI. And if you own a Galaxy A phone, you can forget all about Samsung’s AI suite.
However, the good news is that there are alternatives to some of the tools Samsung offers through Galaxy AI. These alternatives are not developed by Samsung but by Google and Microsoft. And most importantly, you can use them with virtually any Galaxy phone. Even if it doesn’t run One UI 6.1.
Alternatives to Galaxy AI tools
You won’t find substitutes for every Galaxy AI feature, but there are a few. Starting with Google Lens.
We previously talked about this in greater detail, but in short, Samsung’s Circle to Search is more or less based on the technology underlying Google Lens.
As a result, you could use Google Lens on pretty much any Galaxy phone to get similar results to Circle to Search. Now, granted, Lens is not quite as fast or convenient as Circle to Search, but if you’re looking for this kind of search tool, Lens certainly is better than nothing.
You can access Google Lens by tapping the photo icon in the Chrome browser search bar or the Google Search widget on your phone’s home screen.
Interpreter is built into Google Assistant
If you regret not having access to the Galaxy AI Interpreter feature, you might be happy to learn that your phone probably already has an interpreter tool ready to be used.
You can try it out by opening the Google Assistant on your Galaxy phone and asking the digital assistant to “interpret for me in [language].”
Get Generative Wallpapers without Galaxy AI
Galaxy AI’s Generative Wallpapers are a fun way to customize your phone and give it a unique look. But, once again, this tool is very limited in reach, as far as Galaxy phones go.
Fortunately, there is an alternative you can install on your Galaxy phone right now. It’s called ‘Wallpapers’ by Google, and it is available via the Galaxy Store.
Using Google’s Wallpapers app, you can generate AI wallpapers for your phone using keywords. It works very much like Galaxy AI’s Generative Wallpaper tool does.
Here’s one unexpected reason you might like Microsoft Edge
Chances are that your mobile browser of choice is Samsung Internet, Google Chrome, or even Firefox. However, Samsung limiting the Galaxy AI’s summarize tool to select devices and its Internet app may have backfired and given people one extra reason to look elsewhere for similar AI tools.
Surprisingly, that’s where Microsoft Edge: AI browser, for Android, comes in. You might have never considered using Edge on your Galaxy phone, but the Copilot AI could change your mind. The Edge browser is available via the Galaxy Store and Play Store.
The Copilot AI in Microsoft Edge is powered by ChatGPT4 and it is capable of summarizing articles you find online. In fact, since it is powered by ChatGPT4, it can do much more.
Using Microsoft Edge on Android and its Copilot feature, you can identify objects (similar to Google Lens and Circle to Search) and even create digital art using DALL-E 3. All without Galaxy AI.
The rising cost of living has led to some holding onto their phones longer than ever. Coupled with the steady rises in the price of phones, we’re buying phones less often but expecting longer hardware and software lifespans.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 and Google Pixel 8 series have addressed the software side by providing support cycles of seven years of OS updates. This extended software support seems appealing at first glance, but I’m not so sure. Instead, I feel that the promise of longevity via continued updates is just another marketing strategy to convince you to buy an expensive flagship device.
Call me cynical, but holding on to a phone for seven years and expecting it to run seamlessly seems unrealistic. Even if the software is updated, the outdated hardware will struggle with modern apps’ increasing complexity and demands. If you want your phone for anything more than light use, this could be a problem.
What’s more, older hardware could miss new features applied in future software updates. For instance, the seven-year-old Google Pixel 2 lacks 5G support, and older Samsung devices may not run the latest Galaxy AI features.
Extended OS support made me think about what it would be like to use my hopelessly outdated Samsung Galaxy S8 from seven years ago today. Not that it was a bad phone, it’s just that technology has advanced rapidly in the past few years, particularly in processor, battery, and camera technology, and many devices begin to feel sluggish and old long before their software support period is up.
Instead of returning to a seven-year-old device and tearing my hair out waiting for it to load, I switched to my relatively newer and more capable, four-year-old Samsung Galaxy S20 to see if it could still hold its own among the newest smartphones.
So, I begrudgingly removed my SIM card from my cutting-edge OnePlus 12 and slapped it back into my old Galaxy S20, transporting myself back to 2020…
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Design
The first thing that struck me about the Samsung Galaxy S20 was how compact and light it is compared to many modern phones. I’m also a big fan of the curved design that has been mostly replaced by a thicker, flat body in many recent flagships.
The compact size feels so comfortable and much more pocketable than many of today’s phones, bar the base iPhone 15. Still, this more compact design comes at the cost of a smaller screen, which makes watching films and videos and gaming a little harder, but not impossible.
On my second day using the Galaxy S20, I accidentally dropped it in the sink. Thankfully, I discovered it is more water resistant than my OnePlus 12, with an IP68 rating compared to the IP65 on that device, meaning I can honestly say “they don’t make them like they used to”.
(Image credit: Future)
Display
The screen on the Galaxy S20 holds up the best to its modern contemporary. The 6.2-inch AMOLED display supports HDR10+, a fast 120Hz refresh rate, and 1,200 nits peak brightness, which is respectable even four years later.
It’s also a pixel powerhouse due to its high resolution of 1440 x 3200, which makes it better than its successors, the Galaxy S21, S22, and even the S23. It’s even slightly higher resolution than my OnePlus 12’s 1440 x 3168; it really is incredibly sharp.
Samsung is known for its vibrant displays and the Galaxy S20 is no exception, offering rich, saturated colors. That said, gaming felt a little cramped and slightly less responsive on this screen, which led to more than a few untimely deaths.
Performance and gaming
The Galaxy S20 uses a Samsung Exynos 990 processor, and I had low expectations for this older chip. I needn’t have worried: it was much snappier than I predicted, with most apps booting up quickly and feeling responsive.
It could just about run demanding games like COD Mobile and Genshin Impact at mid-to-high settings, albeit with a few issues. For instance, I did notice the odd stutter, and it couldn’t seem to maintain high performance. The phone also became noticeably warm when running games, and despite running the battery down very quickly, I was too worried to plug it in while playing due to the heat build-up.
The Galaxy S20’s performance was confirmed with benchmarking software. It received a decent score of 1,260 for Single-Core processing and 3,287 for Multi-Core, outperforming newer mid-rangers such as the Google Pixel 7a and Samsung Galaxy A54.
My Galaxy S20 came with 8GB RAM, but this can be boosted by up to an additional 8GB of virtual RAM, another feature I assumed was a more recent development but was pleased to see included. This allows you to run more apps in the background simultaneously.
However, the version I used had only 128GB of storage, which seems small until you consider it comes with expandable memory via a microSD slot. This feature is almost extinct in modern smartphones and certainly doesn’t appear in flagship phones these days. I had forgotten how easy microSD slots made transferring files such as photos and music to and from my PC, and I wish this feature would return to premium handsets.
Camera
(Image credit: Future)
The S20’s camera system isn’t much to look at; the phone’s compact size means it has to use smaller sensors than some contemporary camera modules. However, it does still have a triple camera system, which consists of a 12MP main, a 12MP ultra-wide, and a 64MP telephoto.
In use, it was decent enough – but not a patch on the best camera phones available today. Like chipsets, cameras have developed incredibly quickly over the past five years, so while the Galaxy S20 still takes sharp and good-quality pictures in ideal lighting conditions, it lacks some modern features that I take for granted.
One of the modern features I missed most was the periscope zoom from my OnePlus 12; the S20’s 64MP telephoto loses image quality as soon as you get a little over three times zoom. Its low-light performance wasn’t nearly as clear or detailed as some modern phones, either, and it was also harder to take pictures with a nicely blurred-out background.
(Image credit: Future / James Ide)
The colors were inconsistent, sometimes appearing quite bright, but other items looked dull. Neither seemed as accurate as those on the newer Google Pixel or OnePlus 12. Oh, and the dynamic range was slightly more limited than with my OnePlus 12, with some details blown out in highlights or lost in dark corners.
Battery
The S20’s 4,000mAh capacity battery can’t compete against the latest phones, which generally hold a larger charge and support faster charging, usually aided by much more efficient hardware.
However, the Galaxy S20 lasted almost a full day during the time I was using it, as long as I didn’t play intense games, watch lots of videos, or attempt to do anything fun. Otherwise, it dropped to under 5 hours. It supports 24W wired charging, which isn’t great – but on the flip side, the iPhone 15 only gets 20W charging, so it isn’t terrible either.
One big difference I noticed is was that the Galaxy S20 took over an hour to charge, which seems too long these. Then again, maybe I’ve been spoilt by the OnePlus 12’s fast charging, which is truly incredible; that phone takes just 26 minutes to juice up in full.
Admitting defeat?
So, did my time with the Samsung Galaxy S20 prove my point that older hardware will never stand up to the test of time and be worth continued software support? Well, yes and no.
First, the good: the S20 is an exceptional phone with hardware that held up much better than I had expected.
However, it still has some fundamental problems related to its age that a slick design and an exceptional screen couldn’t help me overlook. For example, it has a less efficient chipset, weaker battery and slower charging, and mixed photo quality. These drawbacks made it harder for me to rely on for day-to-day use, and I was ultimately relieved to return to my OnePlus 12.
The fact is, I wouldn’t keep it as my daily driver even if this model were still supported for another three years. What’s more, I suspect most phones won’t age as gracefully as the four-year-old Galaxy S20 has. And in another three years, it will truly be an anachronism.
So while I don’t consider long software support commitments to be a bad thing in themselves, I really don’t see the likes of the Pixel 8 Pro and Galaxy S24 Ultra being able to keep up in the far-flung year of 2031, and I suspect I’ll have my eye on the Pixel 15 or Galaxy S31 by then.
Yesterday, Samsung started rolling out One UI 6.1 to many high-end smartphones and tablets, including the Galaxy S23 series devices. While the new software customization brings a ton of exciting and useful features, including Galaxy AI, many people have been complaining on the internet that their Galaxy S23 is charging at a slower speed and lower wattage after upgrading to One UI 6.1. Well, we decided to check out if that’s the case, and what we found will not keep you from installing the update.
The Galaxy S23 supports charging at up to 25 watts. However, on Samsung’s Community forum for UAE, a user that goes by ‘Pruone’ made a post claiming that One UI 6.1 has restricted the charging speed of their Galaxy S23 to 15 watts. They shared a screenshot of Electron, an app that gives you battery and charging statistics, which shows that the device is charging at 15 watts. Quoting that post, an account on X/Twitter with the handle @theonecid asked people if they were facing the same issue, and many people agreed that they noticed their Galaxy S23 charging at a slower speed.
To check if that’s the case, we took our Galaxy S23, which is running on One UI 6.1, plugged it into a 120W PPS charger, and measured the charging speed using the Pluggable Voltage And Amperage Meter. According to it, our Galaxy S23 was getting charged at around 20W as you can see in the image below. That’s 5W lower than what Samsung claims but the phone charges at 25W occasionally, especially when the battery is very low. Typically, it gets charged at 20 watts, even on One UI 6.0. So, no, Samsung hasn’t limited the charging speed of the Galaxy S23 to 15W with the One UI 6.1 update.
It is also worth mentioning that as the battery percentage keeps increasing, the charging wattage keeps going down. So, it is possible that the phones of those users might be charging at 15W because the battery percentage is at a higher level. It is also possible that Electron could be showing wrong readings but the chances of that happening are very low. We will soon check the charging wattage with Electron and also perform the test on our Galaxy S23 Ultra and update the article with our findings.
Samsung released the much-awaited One UI 6.1 update to millions of high-end phones yesterday. After installing the One UI 6.1 update on their phones, some users have had issues with the UI navigation system and some new limitations that Samsung has imposed.
If you want to hide the UI navigation gesture bar on your phone running One UI 6.1, here’s how you can do it.
Hide UI navigation gesture bar in One UI 6.1
To hide the UI navigation gesture bar in One UI 6.1, you have to install the Good Lock app and the NavStar app from the Galaxy Store. Make sure that your phone is running version 6.1.05.40 of the NavStar app. If you can’t find that version on the Galaxy Store, download it from here and install it. Now, follow the steps mentioned below.
Open the Good Lock app and then click on NavStar.
Now, turn on the Enable Extra Gesture Settings option.
Open the Settings app on your phone and navigate to Display » Navigation Bar » More Options.
Now, turn off the Gesture Hint option.
You can have a look at the screenshots above to get a proper idea of what you need to do to hide the UI navigation bar on your device running One UI 6.1.
Some people were confused after installing the One UI 6.1 update, as their phones reverted to on-screen buttons on Android’s navigation gesture system instead of Samsung’s navigation gesture system. We will explain how to revert to Samsung’s ‘Swipe From Bottom’ gesture system in a separate article.
