Engadget review recap: Samsung's Galaxy S25 phones, OnePlus 13 and Oura Ring 4
Samsung has given us the first flagship phones of 2025 and they rely heavily on AI features to lure users. Sam notes that the company has improved those tools, but the Galaxy S25 Ultra feels like an iterative update due to the limited hardware upgrades. "This means a lot of what Samsung focused on in this generation feels more like a bonus rather than a must-have feature," he writes. "And when you can get around 90 percent of the phone's capabilities from previous models, the most dangerous thing Samsung is asking buyers to consider is why they need to upgrade at all."
Like the Galaxy S25 Ultra, Samsung leaned heavily into the AI features on the regular S25. However, the company didn't spend a lot of time updating the design and major components of this model either. As Mat explains, this makes for a boring release for the long-running flagship line. "Unless you're desperate for a bump in processing power and battery life, it would be wise to see how heavily last year's models get discounted in the coming months," he says.
The Eufy E20 is a first-of-its-kind transforming robot vacuum. While it works best in its core function as a robo vac, you do have the option of cordless stick and handheld vac configurations in the same device. "While Eufy isn't a stranger to making solid robot vacuums, this device is still a first-gen product in my mind — and a solid one at that," Valentina notes. "But you have to know what you're buying upfront: an above-average robot vacuum that can turn into a just-average stick and hand vacuum."
Smart rings may still be niche, but there's one company that stands above the rest. With the Ring 4, Oura fixed flaws of the previous model to ensure its crown is safe for the time being. "If there's a downside, it's that Oura remains forever constrained by the limitations a smart ring imposes," Dan explains. "If you want something more comprehensive, then it's likely a smartwatch is a better option, but for everything else, there's this."
While most phone companies are focused on AI features, OnePlus decided to build a compelling, flagship-level handset that isn't overloaded with bloat. "Throughout the years, OnePlus has used taglines like 'flagship killer' and 'ultra in every way' as a means of taking shots at its biggest rivals from Samsung, Google and more," Sam writes. "But for the OnePlus 13, it feels like the company just went and made a really solid premium handset without a bunch of AI fluff."
Weber's first pellet grill, the SmokeFire, was a learning experience for the company. Thankfully, the longstanding brand learned from those missteps when it built the Searwood. The company's second smart pellet grill offers more reliable performance, excelling at low-and-slow smoking. Weber opted for an all-new design for this model, from the cooking area to the new display. There's also a manual mode that allows for open-lid griddling and searing. And while there are some caveats, the Searwood is a much-improved grill compared to its predecessor.
According to Bloomberg, Apple will debut a new iPhone SE next week. This will be the first update to that model since 2022, and will reportedly nix the home button. The report also details specifics like a camera notch, USB-C and the use of Apple's first in-house cellular modem. If the timing holds true, we'll expect to begin our testing shortly after the news drops.
In that same report, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman explains that Beats' PowerBeats Pro 2 earbuds are expected to debut next week as well. The Apple-owned brand first teased an update to its fitness-focused model with a over-the-ear hook design last September. Gurman reports that the new model will have heart rate monitoring, which will be a first for a set of Apple earbuds. If the PowerBeats Pro 2 are indeed announced soon, we'll expect to have a review ready shortly after.
I've got the Technics EAH-AZ100 earbuds in for testing too. These buds won one of Engadget's Best of CES awards last month and I've been eager to get my hands... er, ears... on them ever since. During a brief hands-on in Las Vegas, the company's newly designed Magnetic Fluid drivers offered impressive sound, but I'm looking forward to seeing how this set holds up during a full gamut of tests.
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The Verge
5 hours ago
- The Verge
OnePlus Nord 5 review: selfie-centric midranger
The OnePlus Nord 5 does exactly what the company's Nord phones have always done: deliver strong specs at a relatively low price. It's one of the more powerful phones at this price point and should easily outstrip Samsung and Google's more expensive alternatives. This is a function-over-form phone, one where the key selling points are a powerful processor and long battery life, which are the boring mainstays that tend to matter the most in midrange models like this. The problem for the Nord 5 is that other midrange phones in the markets where it's available — including Europe and India, but not the US — offer even faster chipsets and bigger batteries, leaving the new OnePlus phone a little stranded and reliant on an above-average selfie camera to help it stand out. 7 Verge Score Performance sits at the heart of the Nord 5 sales pitch. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 chipset was designed for more expensive phones than this, albeit when it launched a little over a year ago. Combined with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage in the base £399 / €449 (around $530) model, and 12GB RAM and 512GB storage for £100 / €100 (around $125) more, it offers potent specs for the price. That lends itself well to gaming, which explains why OnePlus has opted for a display that's big, bright, and fast: a 6.81-inch OLED panel with a 144Hz refresh rate. I'm still skeptical about such high refresh rates in phones — few games are ever going to break past 120fps anyway. OnePlus says it's repositioned the antennae to perform better when the phone's held in landscape mode for gaming, though manufacturers have been touting that sort of work for years. Battery is the other half of the performance equation, and the 5,200mAh capacity here is good, too. I spent my first week with the phone traveling (which is how I discovered one annoyance: there's no eSIM support), which is always demanding on power, and never felt much battery anxiety. It'll last a day comfortably, and about halfway into a second, but I think you'd struggle to make a full two days without a top-up. The 80W wired charging delivers a full charge in 45 minutes, including bypass charging that powers the phone directly, without overcharging the battery, if you wanted to keep it plugged in during long gaming sessions. The major concession to price is that there's no wireless charging. The problem is that for all that power, this isn't the most capable phone at this price point. The Poco F7 is slightly cheaper than the Nord 5 and comes with a better chipset, bigger battery, and faster charging. The OnePlus phone wins on refresh rate, but that's hardly enough to make up for being comfortably less powerful elsewhere, meaning the F7 is still likely to hit higher frame rates during demanding games. Anyone looking for gaming performance first and foremost will likely be drawn to the F7, so what can the Nord 5 offer elsewhere to make up the difference? The most unique element of the hardware is the Plus Key, a new button that replaces OnePlus' traditional Alert Slider. This is a customizable key that, by default, does the same thing the Alert Slider did — it lets you cycle between ring, vibrate, and silent modes. But it can also be set to open the camera, turn on the flashlight, take a screenshot, and more. It's not fully customizable, though, so you can't set it to open any app or trigger custom functions. The Plus Key can also be used to take a screenshot and add it to Mind Space, an AI tool that analyzes images to summarize them, create reminders, or generate calendar events. It's remarkably similar to Nothing's Essential Space, which does almost the same thing — also using a dedicated hardware key — but unlike Nothing's version, you can't add voice notes to give the AI more information, get summaries of longer audio recordings, or even open Mind Space itself using the Plus Key, so OnePlus' take on the software is more basic. There's little else to complain about on the software side. The Nord 5 ships running OxygenOS 15, based on Android 15, and will get a respectable (but certainly not category-leading) four years of major OS updates and six years of security support. One extra bonus is easy wireless file-sharing between the phone and a Windows PC, Mac, iPad, or iPhone, though you'll need to install the O Plus Connect software on the other device — and sadly, there's no support for the full Mac remote control found on the OnePlus Pad 3. OnePlus has made an unusual choice by prioritizing the phone's selfie camera, which features a 50-megapixel sensor that's larger than the average selfie cam. I'm not a natural selfie-taker, but the results are good and packed with detail. They're not markedly better than rivals in normal lighting, but that's because most phone cameras now handle daylight comfortably. The portrait mode is the only small weak point, struggling to separate the strands of my hair most of the time. But this camera comes into its own at night: the large sensor and fast f/2.0 aperture helping the Nord 5 to capture impressive detail in the dark, when most other selfie cameras fall apart. If you need a phone to capture you and your crew on nights out and at dimly lit dinners, this might be the one. The main 50-megapixel rear camera is good but not great. It struggles with fast-moving subjects like pets and kids, and you'll need a steady hand to get great shots at night, but that's all typical for phones at this price. Colors tend to be a little oversaturated and artificial from this lens; the 8-megapixel ultrawide is more subdued but loses much more detail in shadowy spots. The Nord 5 faces stiff competition on both sides. You could spend less for more power with the Poco F7 or spend £100 / €100 (around $125) more for Google's Pixel 9A for comfortably better cameras, tougher water resistance, and more years of software support. The Nord 5 isn't a bad phone. But it's unclear what its unique selling point is. OnePlus has leaned into power and performance, but it has been outplayed by Poco. The Pixel 9A, while more expensive, beats it on camera and design. Even its dedicated AI button is done better elsewhere, for less, in the Nothing Phone 3A. The Nord 5's best hope for finding an audience is its selfie camera, which is better than any other phone around it, at least in low light. But as selling points go, that feels like a minor one. Photography by Dominic Preston / The Verge Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. It's impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we started counting exactly how many times you have to hit 'agree' to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don't read and definitely can't negotiate. To use the OnePlus Nord 5, you must agree to: There are many optional agreements. Here are just a few: Final tally: there are six mandatory agreements and at least 10 optional ones. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Dominic Preston Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Gadgets Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Mobile Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All OnePlus Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Phone Reviews Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. 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Forbes
6 hours ago
- Forbes
Samsung Makes New 5 Year Trade-In Offer To Galaxy Z Fold 7 Buyers
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 can be bought through Samsung's new trade-in scheme. Samsung Samsung wants to capitalize on its trade-in pricing supremacy with a standalone trade-in program that isn't directly linked to buying a new phone. But how do these static valuations compare to Samsung's recent deals? The new U.K.-based scheme is fairly straightforward. If you want to trade in your phone (it will only accept Galaxy S and Galaxy Z models at this time) without buying a new handset, you can do it through this portal. Samsung will then gift you store credit that lasts for up to five years and be used to buy anything Samsung sells. Forbes Samsung Makes $963 Offer To Galaxy Z Fold 7 Buyers By Janhoi McGregor There is also an option to trade-in and instantly buy a new device. Samsung will accept more brands through this route, including Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo, Sony, and other devices it doesn't normally accept. Typically, when trading-in to buy a new phone, Samsung will group any handsets not made by Apple, Google, or itself under a single 'any other Android' category, which comes with a single price, so this is a clear change of strategy. While we're on price, Samsung's valuations fall short of previous deals if you're swapping in a Samsung phone. The news is much better for Apple handsets, though. More on that shortly. For now, here's a selection of what the new trade-in scheme is offering for 512GB used phones. Forbes A New Samsung Galaxy S26 Design Upgrade Makes Perfect Sense By Janhoi McGregor Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 - £665 ($893.49) (up to £735 for the 1TB model) Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra - £453 ($608.65) Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 - £402 ($540.13) Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra - £340 ($456.82) Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra - £216 ($290.22) Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra - £181 ($243.19) Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max - £615 ($826.31) Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max - £455 ($611.34) Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max - £335 ($450.11) Google Pixel Fold - £290 ($389.64) Google Pixel 8 Pro - £256 ($343.96) Pixel 7 Pro - £110 ($147.80) The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 smartphone is displayed at a Samsung store in Seoul on July 10, 2025. ... More Samsung unveiled on July 9, the new generation of its foldable smartphone, the Z Fold7, dramatically slimmed down in an attempt to jumpstart this still-niche market. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP) (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images In a promotion last month, Samsung U.K. suddenly raised trade-in prices that competed with Samsung U.S. valuations. For the unaware, U.K. and European trade-in pricing has historically been poor. Instead, the Korean company prefers to bundle free hardware in its British promotions, like a free tablet, earbuds, or a chromebook. That changed in June with an offer that raised trade-in prices to the highest I have ever seen them on this side of the pond. Here's a selection of those prices up against Samsung's new trade-in scheme. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra June price: £581 ($784.06), new scheme price: £453 ($608.65) Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra June price: £449 ($449.39), new scheme price: £340 ($456.82) Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max, June price: £230 ($310.39), new scheme price: £335 ($450.11) Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max, June price: £500 ($674.75), new scheme price: £615 ($826.31) As you can see, the new scheme won't pay as much for some Samsung handsets, but it will pay more (than the last major promotion) for Apple phones. The new scheme's pricing also appears to be based on the current pre-order deal for the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which makes me wonder if Samsung's valuations—for this scheme—will change based on whatever offer the company is running that day. If they broadly stay as they are, this is a solid good option for people looking to lock in a decent trade-in price to use later (as store credit). That's important because these valuations do change as the phones age and lose software support, which was the case with the Galaxy S20 Ultra earlier this year. But always check if Samsung is running a promotion on its site, or the Samsung Shop app, because there's a decent chance you will find a better price for your used phone.
CNET
7 hours ago
- CNET
Camera Champs Galaxy S25 Ultra and iPhone 16 Pro: Is It Even a Toss-Up Between the Two?
Yes, you can justify getting a top-end phone for its camera quality alone, but which one is best? Until we see what the iPhone 17 Pro photo system might bring (I have some suggestions), I pitted the iPhone 16 Pro against the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, which are both capable of capturing stunning photos. How do these mobile titans compare? To find out, I shot hundreds of photos using both phones in a variety of conditions to see which takes the best images. What's "best" often comes down to personal perspective. So though I'll share my take on each test as a professional photographer -- including why I prefer one over the other -- you might find you prefer the opposite. Have a look through the range of examples below and see if you come to a different conclusion. Read more: Best Camera Phone of 2025 All images shown have been taken using each phone's default camera mode and default settings, unless otherwise noted. Images from the Galaxy S25 have been uploaded as taken, but the iPhone's images have had to be converted through Adobe Lightroom, because our publishing platform doesn't support Apple's default HEIF image format. This process doesn't affect the image in any way. Ready? Let's dive in. iPhone 16 Pro, main camera Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S25 Ultra, main camera Andrew Lanxon/CNET Starting out with an easy outdoor scene. Both phones have done a great job capturing an even exposure here and both images are packed with detail. It's difficult to choose between them, but the iPhone has the edge for me as it's achieved a slightly warmer image with more natural-looking tones. The S25 Ultra's image looks too saturated, especially in the blue sky, which I find quite distracting. iPhone 16 Pro, ultrawide lens Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S25 Ultra, ultrawide lens Andrew Lanxon/CNET It's much the same story when we switch to the ultrawide lenses on both phones. I prefer the warmer tones in the iPhone's shot, which makes the S25 Ultra's look quite cold by comparison. I also prefer the lighter shadows on the iPhone's image, making it an easy win for the iPhone here. Notably, both phones are doing a good job of compensating for the ultrawide lenses at the edges (a function turned on by default on both phones); the railing remains straight in each shot and not curving as you'd typically see using a lens this wide. iPhone 16 Pro, main camera Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S25 Ultra, main camera Andrew Lanxon/CNET There's almost no difference between these two outdoor scenes. The blossom looks crisp on both images, with excellent overall exposure. The iPhone's image is again slightly warmer in tone but it's negligible. iPhone 16 Pro, main camera Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S25 Ultra, main camera Andrew Lanxon/CNET The Galaxy S25 takes an easy win with this image of bluebells. The colors are much more vibrant, especially in the greens on the blades of grass, which look quite washed out on the iPhone's image. It actually looks like the S25's camera lens is slightly polarized to reduce reflections and increase saturation, but I don't know if that's the case. Either way, Samsung takes the win here. iPhone 16 Pro, 5x zoom Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S25 Ultra, 5x zoom Andrew Lanxon/CNET At 5x zoom things get worse for the iPhone. Despite the bluebells being reasonably far away, the phone seemed unable to achieve a sharp focus on the flowers. The S25 Ultra, meanwhile, managed to achieve a sharp image with richer colors. iPhone 16 Pro, main camera Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S25 Ultra, main camera Andrew Lanxon/CNET I prefer the iPhone's image here though. It's brighter and the warmer colors on the bricks on the surrounding buildings look much more true to life. iPhone 16 Pro, 5x zoom Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S25 Ultra, 5x zoom Andrew Lanxon/CNET The iPhone's image is again brighter here and I prefer its colors too. The Galaxy S25 Ultra does have the edge in fine detail, though. You really need to zoom in to see it but the tiny lines on the building are slightly sharper on the S25. Galaxy S25 Ultra, 10x zoom Andrew Lanxon/CNET The S25 Ultra does have a physical advantage over the iPhone with its 10x optical zoom lens, which allows it to zoom in even further while still maintaining a pin-sharp image. iPhone 16 Pro, 10x digital zoom Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S25 Ultra, 10x optical zoom. Andrew Lanxon/CNET You can still digitally zoom in with the iPhone to 10x, and the results aren't bad. I prefer the colors of the S25 Ultra's shot here, but the difference in detail isn't that noticeable. Close crop of iPhone 16 Pro (left) and S25 Ultra (rigiht) Andrew Lanxon/CNET Zooming in close to see the fine details, the S25 Ultra's optical zoom image definitely has a bit more clarity but the digital upscaling on the iPhone's shot has done a great job here, as the difference isn't immense. Watch this: Galaxy Z Fold 7 Review: Samsung Finally Nailed the Foldable 07:14 iPhone 16 Pro vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra: Night modes compared iPhone 16 Pro (left), Galaxy S25 Ultra (right), both at 5x zoom Andrew Lanxon/CNET At first glance, the only real difference between the iPhone's 5x shot and the S25 Ultra's 5x shot is the color balance. And honestly, I don't have a preference between the warmer tone of the iPhone or the more magenta bias of the S25. Detail crop on iPhone (left) and S25 Ultra (right) Andrew Lanxon/CNET However, when you zoom in close to the details, the iPhone has produced a sharper image here, with an odd sort of digital blurring around the lamp post in the S25 Ultra's image. So sometimes the S25 Ultra's zoom is sharper, other times it's the iPhone's. I'm glad they're making this easy for me. iPhone 16 Pro, main camera Andrew Lanxon/CNET S25 Ultra, main camera Andrew Lanxon/CNET Again, the only real difference here is in the color balance and I don't really know which I prefer. The exposure, noise levels and amount of detail are practically identical. iPhone 16 Pro, ultrawide lens Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S25 Ultra, ultrawide lens Andrew Lanxon/CNET Things changed when I switched to the ultrawide lenses, though. The S25 Ultra's shot is definitely brighter, capturing more detail in the cobblestones in the foreground and in the buildings in the distance. The iPhone's image is much darker overall. iPhone 16 Pro, ultrawide lens Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S25 Ultra, ultrawide lens Andrew Lanxon/CNET Just to confuse things further, the iPhone's nighttime image with its ultrawide lens is noticeably brighter than the S25 Ultra's in this example that I shot in the Arctic. I actually had to double-check the image metadata to make sure I hadn't mixed these up, but I haven't. The iPhone's image has captured more light information here and produced more detail on the ice door to the right. iPhone 16 Pro, main camera Andrew Lanxon/CNET S25 Ultra, main camera Andrew Lanxon/CNET The iPhone's nighttime image is again slightly brighter here but it's also kept the bright highlights on the pub sign under control. On the S25 Ultra's image, those highlights are almost lost to pure white but the lovely green and yellow tones have been retained in the iPhone's image. The colors overall are noticeably warmer on the iPhone's shot, however, which may not be to your taste. Here, I think they work well. iPhone 16 Pro, main camera Andrew Lanxon/CNET S25 Ultra, main camera Andrew Lanxon/CNET But in this example, the iPhone has produced a weirdly warm-looking image that I really don't like. Those warm colors were not present at the time of capture and it doesn't work for the scene, especially not with such strong orange tones in the sky. The S25 Ultra's image is much more balanced overall and it's a slightly sharper image too. It's a very easy win for Samsung here. iPhone 16 Pro, ultrawide lens Andrew Lanxon/CNET S25 Ultra, ultrawide lens Andrew Lanxon/CNET Things don't improve for the iPhone when using the ultra-wide lens. Its image is again plagued by overly warm tones, while the S25 Ultra's shot is both more color-accurate and brighter. iPhone 16 Pro vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra: Which takes better selfies? iPhone 16 Pro, selfie camera Andrew Lanxon/CNET S25 Ultra, selfie camera Andrew Lanxon/CNET While the Galaxy S25 Ultra's selfie is slightly brighter, I don't like what it's done with the colors. My face has been made a weird shade of orange and my denim jacket is a much deeper blue than it really is. The skin tones on the iPhone's shot are much more accurate, and its shot is sharper as well. iPhone 16 Pro, selfie camera in wide mode Andrew Lanxon/CNET S25 Ultra, selfie camera in wide mode Andrew Lanxon/CNET Both phones have a wider-angle mode for the selfie camera, although the iPhone's seems to be a lot wider. That's definitely worth keeping in mind if you frequently like to cram lots of friends into your group pics. You could probably squeeze at least one or two extra friends in if you used the iPhone, or have to decide who you like least and leave them out of frame if you used the S25 Ultra. Otherwise, the image differences are the same as before. iPhone 16 Pro Vs Galaxy S25 Ultra: Which camera is better? I've written many of these comparison pieces on various generations of phones in my 14 years at CNET and I don't remember having done one that's felt this close. The problem is that neither phone excels consistently in one area; the iPhone 16 Pro's ultra-wide shots aren't as bright as the S25 Ultra's, except on those occasions when they actually are, confusingly. I've taken many more images not included here that both support some of my conclusions and argue against them. Go figure. But there are some takeaways I can give with confidence. Generally speaking, the iPhone's colors are more natural than the S25 Ultra's, which can sometimes look overly saturated. This has been the case with almost every Samsung phone since the company started putting cameras in them and it's still the case today. Those looking for a more natural base image to apply your own filters and effects over will be better suited with the iPhone 16 Pro. But that's less the case at night, when the iPhone more consistently delivers warmer tones that look less natural than the S25 Ultra's. So, if night photography is important to you, the S25 Ultra may be the better option. Overall, its night mode images from all lenses were brighter and sharper. James Martin/CNET Sure, the S25 Ultra has the extended zoom range, but you'd really need to know you'll make the most of a 10x zoom to justify picking one over the other. Personally, I find the 5x zoom level a perfect sweet spot, and here the phones are pretty much on par. And on those rare occasions you may want to push things further, the iPhone's digital zoom can still deliver sharp results. There are other things for photographers to consider too: Apple's ProRaw is superb and while the company's Photographic Styles can be good for adding a creative look to your images, Samsung's new tool for mimicking the color grade from example photos you feed it works surprisingly well -- I actually think I might get more use out of that overall. I haven't even gone into video quality either, which is a whole other article, especially when you consider both phones shoot Log video, although only the iPhone uses ProRes. Deciding between the phones based solely on the cameras is nigh on impossible. Which one you should get will instead come down to the bigger question of iOS versus Android; which platform you're already using and which one will work best with other pieces of tech in your life. But for simple picture quality, you may as well toss a coin.
