Latest news with #HadleeSimons
Android Authority
4 days ago
- Android Authority
This $400 budget gaming phone runs the same chip as the Nothing Phone 3
Hadlee Simons / Android Authority TL;DR POCO has launched the POCO F7 globally today. The new phone offers a powerful Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset and a 6,500mAh or 7,550mAh battery, depending on the region. Expect to pay a starting price of $399 or £389 for the POCO F7. The POCO F5 and POCO F6 were two of the best gaming phones on a budget as they offered powerful chips for the price. Now, the Xiaomi sub-brand is back with the POCO F7. The POCO F7 continues the trend of offering great performance for your buck, as it uses the brand-new Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 processor. This chipset offers an impressive CPU (1x Cortex-X4, 7x Cortex-A720) with no little cores. The chip also uses an Adreno GPU based on the Snapdragon 8 Elite's sliced architecture, albeit with two slices instead of the high-end chip's three slices. This processor theoretically means that the POCO F7 could offer performance that's roughly on par with last year's flagship phones. However, our own POCO F7 benchmark article reveals a sizable gap to Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 phones when it comes to peak CPU and GPU performance, but sustained performance is another matter altogether. In any event, I tried a few demanding games like Genshin Impact, GRID Legends, and War Thunder Mobile, and they all ran smoothly in extended play sessions. I also had enough headroom to turn up the graphics in GRID and War Thunder, and the device didn't get hot, either. So you should definitely keep this phone in mind if you're a mobile gamer on a budget. POCO's phone also has an impressively large 6,500mAh battery to keep the lights on. This means you should be able to game for a while compared to other handsets. This is a downgrade compared to the Chinese model (Redmi Turbo 4 Pro), which features a ridiculously large 7,550mAh battery, but a 6,500mAh battery is still plenty large in 2025. I'm also glad to see 90W wired charging here, with POCO claiming an 80% charge in 30 minutes. I reached the 80% mark in a slightly slower but still great 33 minutes. In fact, it only took 45 minutes for a 100% charge. Very impressive for a 6,500mAh battery. Hadlee Simons / Android Authority The POCO F7 isn't a photography champion by any measure. Expect a 50MP main camera (IMX882, OIS) and an 8MP ultrawide shooter. Meanwhile, a 20MP camera is available in a central punch-hole cutout for selfies. The cameras do a good job at 1x, but the ultrawide lens is a budget-tier camera that falls apart indoors and after sunset. The ultrawide camera also tends to differ wildly from the 1x camera in terms of image consistency. These cameras aren't going to threaten the likes of the Pixel 9a, then. However, I am glad to see features like 4K/60fps video capture and motion capture functionality. 1x Ultrawide Selfie 1x Ultrawide Otherwise, the new phone also offers a 6.83-inch 120Hz OLED screen (1.5K) that gets bright enough for outdoor viewing. As for the phone's durability, you can expect an aluminum frame, Gorilla Glass 7i on the front, a glass back covered in Panda Glass, and an IP68 rating. In fact, this might be the first standard POCO F series phone (i.e., not Pro) with full-fledged water resistance. The F7 is quite hefty at 217 grams, though, putting it on par with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. POCO is offering four years of major OS upgrades and six years of security patches. That's not on par with Samsung's six years of OS/security updates for the Galaxy A36 5G and seven years for the Pixel 9a, but it's still a respectable update policy. POCO F7 pricing and availability Hadlee Simons / Android Authority The POCO F7 starts at just $399/£389 for the base 12GB/256GB model, while the 16GB/512GB model costs $449/£429. This makes it slightly cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy A36 5G (£399) and significantly cheaper than the Google Pixel 9a (£499). The company is also offering early bird promotional pricing, taking the phone down to a base price of $339 and £319. The phone will be available in various markets, including Europe, India, Latin America, the UK, and Southeast Asia. POCO is also offering the device in Black, White, and a special Silver option with a Snapdragon logo on the back. So you should definitely give this a look if you want a cheap, powerful, and long-lasting phone — if you don't care about the camera experience. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Android Authority
4 days ago
- Android Authority
Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 benchmarks show why Nothing Phone 3 might not be truly Elite
Hadlee Simons / Android Authority Nothing announced last week that its Nothing Phone 3 will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset. This is a somewhat polarizing move in light of the company marketing the phone as a 'true' or 'real' flagship, where customers would expect a top-flight Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. However, the POCO F7 just launched today, and it's the first global phone powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4. So, should you be worried about the Nothing Phone 3's horsepower? How does this chip compare to full-blown flagship processors? We put the POCO F7 through a series of benchmarks to find out. Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 CPU and system benchmarks I decided to pit the POCO F7 against last year's Galaxy S24 Plus, the current Galaxy S25 Plus, and the Google Pixel 9a. Bear in mind that the POCO F7 is a mid-range phone that starts at $399/£389, so its closest rival is the Pixel 9a more than anything else. Hadlee Simons / Android Authority It's worth noting that the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 doesn't have any little CPU cores; Qualcomm opted for one Cortex-X4 clocked at 3.2GHz and seven Cortex-A720 cores clocked at various frequencies. I initially thought this CPU setup would pay dividends for multi-core CPU performance, but that's not how it plays out. Geekbench 6 testing reveals that the POCO F7 doesn't beat last year's Galaxy S24 Plus and its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. Samsung's phone is 9.3% faster and 7.7% faster in single-core and multi-core benchmarks, respectively. Nevertheless, the POCO phone still keeps the S24 Plus honest. I'm guessing that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3's higher overall clock speed and increased cache helped offset any performance penalty associated with retaining the power-sipping little cores. The POCO F7 enjoys a notable ~20.6% single-core CPU advantage over the Pixel 9a. This is a bit of a surprise as the Pixel's Tensor G4 chip has the same Cortex-X4 CPU core, albeit at a slightly lower clock speed. This balloons into a massive 48.7% advantage in POCO's favor when we look at multi-core scores. This isn't a shock due to the Tensor G4's four little CPU cores. However, there's a humungous gap to the Galaxy S25 Plus and its Snapdragon 8 Elite chip in both tests. Samsung's latest phone is 48.5% and 53.3% faster in single- and multi-core tests, respectively. That's in large part due to Qualcomm's Oryon CPU cores, which blow past Arm's latest IP, let alone previous-generation CPU tech. I'm guessing that increased cache also plays a role. Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 GPU benchmarks One of the best ways to really push a phone is to put it through a GPU stress test. So we put it through our preferred tests, namely 3DMark's Wild Life, Wild Life Extreme, and Solar Bay Stress Tests. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 inside the POCO F7 uses an Adreno GPU with a so-called sliced architecture, much like the Snapdragon 8 Elite. However, the Elite chipset uses three slices while the 8s Gen 4 uses two of them. The two Wild Life tests show that the POCO F7 isn't a stable performer, scoring just 59.7% and 56.7% stability. That's a pretty poor showing in isolation, suggesting that bleeding-edge games and apps will slow down significantly over time. The device also sees peak temperatures of just over 45 degrees Celsius in these two tests, with only the S25 Plus beating it in this regard. However, the POCO phone does enjoy lower average temperatures than both Samsung phones. Xiaomi's phone absolutely loses out in terms of peak scores, as the Galaxy S24 Plus beats it by about 30% while the Galaxy S25 Plus is ~66% faster. That looks like a major advantage when running demanding titles. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4's GPU doesn't match even last year's Snapdragon chip for peak performance, but stress testing reveals a different story. Take a close look at these graphs, though, and the POCO phone actually beats the S24 Plus in portions of each test. In fact, it just pips the S24 Plus at the end of the Wild Life Extreme Test. The POCO F7 doesn't beat the Galaxy S25 Plus at all here, but it comes extremely close a few times. Samsung's latest phone offers a disappointing ~53% stability for both tests, while the S24 Plus offers 58.5% and 60.9% stability, respectively. The graph also reveals that the Samsung phones suffer from significant performance drops almost immediately, while the POCO phone only sees severe drops from runs 14 to 18. Google's Pixel 9a is clearly a step below the competition in terms of peak performance, but it displays unmatched stability in these tests. The phone maintained 79.1% and 77.1% stability in these benchmarks, and this allowed it to almost match the POCO F7 for extended runs. The Pixel 9a also ran cooler than rivals in terms of peak and average temperatures. Hadlee Simons / Android Authority The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 also sports hardware-based ray tracing, although the technology is a bit of a dud in the mobile space right now. Nevertheless, this test provides a unique workout for a GPU and its ray tracing components. The Pixel 9a doesn't offer this tech, though. The results are quite surprising here, as the Snapdragon 8 Elite falls apart with 52.2% stability. Last year's S24 Plus doesn't fare better as it's only able to maintain 50.2% stability. Meanwhile, the POCO F7 maintains an impressive 87.1% stability by the end of the test. That rock-solid performance means that the POCO F7 is actually able to beat both the Galaxy S24 Plus and the S25 Plus over long stretches. The Xiaomi device ends the test a smidge behind the S25 Plus and just edges out the S24 Plus. Something for Nothing to worry about? Hadlee Simons / Android Authority The POCO F7 shares the same chipset as the Nothing Phone 3, and these benchmarks show that the processor is still a step behind last year's flagship Snapdragon silicon when it comes to CPU performance and peak GPU workloads. That means Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and 8 Elite phones should enjoy a handy advantage in less demanding games. These full-blown flagship phones should also offer better performance when playing advanced games for a short period of time. Sustained GPU workloads are another matter, though, as the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is able to outdo the Galaxy S24 Plus and seriously threaten the S25 Plus. This strongly suggests that the Nothing Phone 3 can take the fight to some Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 phones and maybe even a few Snapdragon 8 Elite devices when playing demanding games in an extended session, or if you're in a hot country. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is far from perfect in the POCO F7, though. It enjoys a healthy lead over the Pixel 9a in CPU workloads, but the POCO F7's throttling and the Pixel 9a's rock-solid stability mean the Google phone was within touching distance in GPU stress tests. So I hope Nothing doesn't skimp on cooling measures. Ultimately, it looks like the Nothing Phone 3 won't enjoy peak performance on par with even last year's flagship phones, but things should even out over an extended workout. However, it looks like performance might not be the main worry for the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4. The chip misses out on mmWave 5G, 8K recording, and 4K/120fps video capture, but offers Bluetooth 6.0, Wi-Fi 7, and XPAN support. You'll just have to decide for yourself whether this is a fair trade.
Android Authority
4 days ago
- Android Authority
Your Android phone could soon buzz when your Fitbit is charged (APK teardown)
Hadlee Simons / Android Authority TL;DR An Android Authority teardown has revealed that your Android phone could soon get a notification when your Fitbit is fully charged. This would come years after Android owners first requested this feature, while iPhone owners have had this option for a long time. This would still be a great addition to the Fitbit app, as you don't have to constantly check to see if your tracker is charged. Google recently updated the Fitbit app with an overhauled Device Settings page, bringing it in line with the Pixel Watch app. It looks like the company isn't stopping here, as it's also working on a long-requested feature. Authority Insights story on Android Authority. Discover You're reading anstory on Android Authority. Discover Authority Insights for more exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage you won't find anywhere else. An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release. We conducted a teardown of the Fitbit app for Android (version and discovered that it could soon display a notification on your Android phone when your Fitbit device is fully charged. Check out the strings below. Need to include code? Paste it and then swap from the VISUAL to the TEXT version of the WP editor and wrap the code as below: Code Copy Text Reminders when your device is fully charged Full batteryThis is some properly formatted code. Swap to the text editor to see the HTML. This would be a helpful addition to the Fitbit app, as it means you don't have to constantly check the tracker or watch to see if it's fully charged. It's also been a long-requested feature, with users asking for this option for years now. What's particularly disappointing is that iPhones already had this feature back then. So Android owners have been missing out for a long time. This notification option would complement the Fitbit app's ability to send a Low battery alert to your Android phone, letting you know when you need to charge your tracker/watch. In any event, there's no word on when we'll see this full battery notification option come to the Android app, but we hope it's sooner rather than later. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Android Authority
21-06-2025
- Android Authority
How does a phone with a crazy external lens compare to the S23 Ultra's zoom camera?
Hadlee Simons / Android Authority The vivo X200 Ultra is a great camera phone in its own right (if you're willing to import it), in no small part due to its impressive 200MP 3.7x periscope camera. However, the company switches things up by offering an optional external lens for even better zoom. The X200 Ultra's 2.35x telephoto converter lens effectively turns the phone's 200MP periscope camera into an ~8.6x shooter. I thought it would be a good idea to compare this lens to the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which was the last of Samsung's flagships with a dedicated 10x camera (10MP). I wasn't expecting the S23 Ultra to hold up very well, but here's how it went. vivo X200 Ultra's external lens vs Galaxy S23 Ultra Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 10x Vivo X200 Ultra lens 200mm Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 30x Vivo X200 Ultra lens 800mm Is it any surprise that I think the vivo X200 Ultra and its external lens handily beat the two-year-old Galaxy S23 Ultra's 10x camera in the comparisons above? Absolutely not, I'm comparing a 2023 flagship to a brand-new flagship phone with a bulky lens. Samsung's 10x and 30x images are washed out and lack detail compared to the vivo pictures. You can see this disparity most clearly in the second set of images, as I can make out the '1919' on the mini-lighthouse in the vivo picture. I also quite like the sea in the second vivo picture, which looks like a painting in the Samsung image. Samsung's 10x picture also contains plenty of noise in the dark parts of the scene. vivo's images are a little overly contrasted for my tastes, though, so it's not a complete win here. You can take a closer look at the difference in definition via the comparison below. I can actually see the cable car inside the station with the vivo as opposed to a blob with the Galaxy. In saying so, the X200 Ultra's heavy-handed image processing at long range is apparent. The phone's AI-driven processing seems to struggle with complex scenery, resulting in these over-sharpened, almost striated textures on the mountain. I would like to see the company take a step back with this aggressive image processing in more situations. What about people, though? Well, the good news is that the X200 Ultra's lens offers a shallow depth-of-field effect without needing to switch to the portrait mode. This gives the scene a good level of depth owing to the blurred background, while the S23 Ultra's rendition appears flatter by comparison. This is also apparent when zooming in to 30x and 800mm. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 10x vivo X200 Ultra lens 200mm Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 30x vivo X200 Ultra lens 800mm The X200 Ultra pictures also show significantly more detail, allowing me to crop in a little further and still end up with a decent image. By contrast, the S23 Ultra's images simply lack the same level of clarity and are significantly noisier. It's not a clean sweep for the vivo handset and lens. Neither phone truly captured accurate skin tones here, but the Galaxy S23 Ultra got closer to the actual scene at 10x. I also noticed mesh-like artifacts in the 800mm vivo image around the left ear. It's a very minor issue and not something you'll see unless you're really pixel-peeping, but it's worth pointing out anyway. When I compared the lens-free X200 Pro to the Galaxy S23 Ultra earlier this year, I thought that the vivo was really able to stretch its advantage over the Samsung in low light. So what happens when you add an external lens into the mix? Galaxy S23 Ultra 10x vivo X200 Ultra lens 200mm Galaxy S23 Ultra 10x vivo X200 Ultra lens 200mm The first set of images highlights one of vivo's traditional strengths, namely its ability to tame light sources in low light. Meanwhile, the signage in the S23 Ultra's image is blown out. Vivo's snap also gives us a much clearer look at the building's artwork. Neither phone manages to stay noise-free in this challenging scene, but you don't have to zoom in to see it on the Samsung image. The second set of pictures reveals a greater disparity, as noise dominates the Samsung picture while vivo's aggressive noise reduction pays off in this situation. I can also make out various bits of text in the X200 Ultra's image, which is a testament to the detail on offer here. You can view full-resolution images from each phone via our Google Drive folder. What do you think of this camera shootout? 0 votes The X200 Ultra's lens is the winner by far NaN % The lens was better, but didn't make a big difference NaN % I preferred the shots from the S23 Ultra NaN % Were there any doubts about the winner? Hadlee Simons / Android Authority It's really no surprise that the vivo X200 Ultra and its bulky telephoto converter lens came out on top in this comparison. In fact, I'd be more concerned if this were a closer fight. The combination of that 200MP 3.7x camera and the external lens results in significantly better image quality, particularly at long range and in low light. It wasn't a flawless victory for vivo, though, owing to the occasional image processing issue. If anything, this shootout makes me sad that we haven't seen a camera phone since the Galaxy S23 Ultra with a proper 10x zoom shooter. I don't think a modern 10x camera would actually beat the X200 Ultra and its giant lens, but updated hardware and more sensible image processing would certainly help it get much closer. So my fingers are crossed for more 10x cameras in 2026.
Android Authority
19-06-2025
- Android Authority
Samsung's next foldables look crazy thin in this new leak
Hadlee Simons / Android Authority TL;DR New 'official' images of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 have leaked. The images show both foldables in two different colorways. These colorways are said to be called Blue Shadow and Jet Black. Samsung is gearing up to launch the next generation of its foldable phones. As we inch closer to the eventual announcement, predictably, leaks have been ramping up. Previously, we've seen CAD renders of both the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7. Now, a new leak claims to give us a look at 'official' renders of both handsets. Courtesy of Android Headlines, we have a new collection of renders for the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7 to check out. These 'official' renders present both foldables in two colorways, which are reportedly called Blue Shadow and Jet Black. More colorways are expected to be available, but these are the only two included in this report. According to earlier leaks, Samsung has made both foldables fairly thinner than previous iterations. The Fold 7, in particular, is rumored to be about 4.54mm thin when unfolded, which would be only slightly thicker than the OPPO Find N5 (4.21mm). In the images above, we can see the Flip 7 and the Fold 7 compared to their predecessors. While the Flip has never been overly thick, it's clear Samsung has found a way to cut off some of the fat. However, the difference in size is even more noticeable between the Fold 7 and Fold 6. Both devices are also expected to get larger cover displays. For the Flip 7, Samsung is ditching the manila folder-like design and is opting to use the entire cover. Meanwhile, the cover display on the Fold 7 is expected to grow from 6.3 inches to 6.5 inches. This will also result in a bigger inner screen, which is said to be 8.2 inches. Rumors are pointing to June 9 as the date for Samsung's next Unpacked event. If true, that means we'll only have to wait a few more weeks for the launch. In addition to these foldables, it's expected that Samsung's next smartwatches will appear at the show. We could possibly even get a teaser for Project Moohan. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
