According to The Guardian, the new series, which is set to kick off on BBC One and iPlayer on November 1 (8:00 p.m. GMT), will include cloudier and more “authentic” underwater scenes in a bid to stave off any accusations of generative AI (gen AI) having been used.

“As AI booms we will probably lean more into the more organic, murkier and less polished footage,” Elizabeth White, executive producer of the forthcoming series, told The Guardian.

Now, I can understand that the BBC, a leading institution in visual media with a huge reputation to uphold, is wary of being accused of producing AI slop.

What’s more, I can see how it would be even more cautious when this would also risk tarnishing the reputation of a cultural icon as important as Sir David Attenborough.

But as a leading institution, it’s also the BBC’s responsibility to be at the helm of fighting back against gen AI, not pandering to the pressure the technology has piled on photographers and videographers with regard to authenticity.

This situation reminds me of the high-school bullies we all knew when we were younger. Only in this case, the bully is gen AI, and the victims being forced to play elsewhere are the producers of Blue Planet III.

But here’s the thing: bullies have always been around and the only way to disempower them is to stand up to them, which is what the BBC appears to have shied away from in the production of this new series.

Sceptics, who I guess would be a bully’s entourage in my high-school scenario, have always existed too, and now that gen AI is here, there will undoubtedly be comments on whether the technology was used in the latest Blue Planet production.

Above: Trailer for Blue Planet III

But as far as we all know, the BBC has never used gen AI to create programs. And, according to The Guardian, Jack Bootle, the BBC’s head of specialist factual commissioning, even assured journalists at a Blue Planet III press screening that “no gen AI was used in this series. Not a single frame. It’s all real photography.”

So, just because gen AI now exists, it’s not as if skeptics would have any grounds for taking aim at the BBC. Like a victim fighting back, what the BBC producers really should’ve done was not use lower-quality footage out of fear of a scandal these skeptics could whip up.

Instead, it should’ve done the Blue Planet III camera crews and all the viewers who will watch the series justice by producing the highest-quality scenes we already know to be possible.

I really hope that the BBC will not make this approach of using lower-quality, “authentic” footage a concrete policy for any other productions, unless it really does add to the visual narrative. It seems like a victim mentality when, really, the institution should be leading the pushback against gen AI bullies.

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Here's our pick of the best underwater housings for cameras and phones.

Following in the same vein, Pexar has now released the VivKeep Pro 12.5 model, which offers not only a larger image size but also a higher resolution. Almost all other specs are the same, so the only reason to opt for the 12.5-inch model is if 11 inches doesn't quite cut it for the photos that you have in mind.

The VivKeep Pro 12.5 offers a sharp resolution, true color, and anti-glare glass that aims to keep photos looking the way they were taken. The display also comprises etched anti-glare glass that is fully laminated and boasts touchscreen functionality. It's a premium frame, but does the performance match the specs?

Pexar VivKeep Pro 12.5: Specifications

Pexar VivKeep Pro 12.5: Price

The VivKeep Pro 12.5 launched in September 2026 and retails for $249.99 / £229.99. At this price, the frame sits at the more expensive end of the market, although that's to be expected given the quality of the unit and the resolution of the display.

One of the very best alternatives around this size is the Aura Aspen, which scored an impressive five stars in our testing. Or, if you'd like something completely different, then you could opt for the Homture Magic Frame, which converts still images into short videos courtesy of AI technology.

This specific model is not available in Australia at the time of writing, although the slightly smaller VivKeep Pro 11-inch is available to Australian customers and is very similar in terms of specs.

Pexar VivKeep Pro 12.5: Design & Handling

The VivKeep Pro 12.5 is one of the most premium-looking digital photo frames on the market. The frame comprises four individual parts, each of which is beautifully designed and expertly engineered. Pexar has clearly given a lot of time to thinking through what customers want and how the design affects the viewer's enjoyment.

At the heart of the frame is a large 12.5-inch touch display that is fully laminated and etched with anti-glare technology. It features a 2120 x 1590 resolution, 100% sRGB color gamut, 1600:1 contrast, and a 170-degree IPS viewing angle. We'll cover the quality of the output in the performance section below.

The display is surrounded by a thick white plastic mount with a gorgeous textured finish that looks similar to an art canvas. The result is that it provides a warm, rooted feeling and perfectly frames any photo on the display. The mount also features a bevel in each corner to accommodate the recessed screen.

The mount is then surrounded by a refined and elegant soft gold metallic-like finish, which delivers a refined and elegant look. The material offers a soft reflection, which helps it blend effortlessly into any space. Recessed into the top of this frame is the power button.

You might have expected Pexar to have stopped there with the design details, but they've actually given as much thought to the back as they have the front. The unibody plastic panel contains an innovative cross-shaped recess that holds the upright bracket. It's easy to switch between portrait and landscape orientations, and the absence of any movable parts means the stand isn't going to fail after a little while.

The panel contains four ports: power, USB-A, USB-C, and SD card. This offers a solid selection of means by which users can display their digital photos. That is, of course, if you'd prefer not to use the app. There's also a small speaker, which offers rudimentary sound quality for videos.

Pexar VivKeep Pro 12.5: Performance

Moving onto what most people care about when they're considering a digital photo frame, the quality of the displayed images. Where it matters most, the VivKeep Pro 12.5 excels in abundance. Photos are delivered in beautiful clarity thanks to the 212 PPI capabilities, and no matter the angle you're viewing them at, they remain as vibrant as if they were being viewed straight on.

Colors are replicated with expert accuracy courtesy of the 100% sRGB color and 1600:1 contrast specs. This is ideal for people who care deeply about the color representation of their photos and those who want synergy between how their photos look on their phone as well as their photo frame.

The image quality benefits from the use of an etched anti-glare glass, which means photos stay legible even under direct light. It's amazing to see how well the images maintain their strong contrast even when exposed to bright light sources. In addition to this, a built-in light sensor auto-adjusts brightness to match the room, with the display able to push out up to an impressive 400 nits of brightness.

The frame is incredibly easy to set up, taking just a matter of minutes to plug in the device, download the app, create an account, and send some photos to the frame. Even the least tech-savvy of users will have little problem setting the device up.

The ease of use continues with the general operation of the frame. Menus and settings are easy to access and navigate, and the screen is responsive to the touch. Photos are auto-rotated at the exact moment that you change the orientation of the frame itself.

The app allows users to invite friends and family to upload photos to the frame. All you have to do is share the frame code with your loved one, who then has to enter it into their own version of the Frameo app. This is perfect for grandparents who might like to share photos with their grandchildren.

The only downside to the whole experience is that some features are restricted to paid subscription plans. If you'd like to manage frame photos remotely, access a cloud backup, send 100 photos at once, or send two-minute videos to the frame, then you'll require a Frameo+ subscription. This costs $7.99 / £7.99 per year, which isn't a significant amount, but when I've paid $249.99 / £229.99 for the device, I expect those features to be included as standard.

Pexar VivKeep Pro 12.5: Verdict

Digital photo frames don't get much better than the Pexar VivKeep Pro 12.5. My only gripes are that it's very expensive for a photo frame, it requires mains power, and a subscription is required for some of the features, which I believe should be included as standard. These are small quibbles that are quickly forgotten after just a few days of use of the frame.

The device is beautifully designed with Pexar utilizing a set of high-quality materials that are paired together to deliver a pleasing and elegant finish. Every part is masterfully engineered with a generous set of ports for maximum connectivity. As for image quality, the VivKeep Pro 12.5 serves up bright, vibrant, true color photos that look fantastic thanks to the high density PPI and etched anti-glare glass. If you can afford it, the frame is guaranteed to impress.

Alternatives

But, the best iPhone power banks won't be powerful enough to do the job. Instead, you'll need a power bank with at least 18,000mAh capacity, as well as the right ports to connect to your specific laptop.

As an added bonus, with a power bank this powerful, you'll be able to charge your cameras, tablets, phones,and other devices too. To find you the best model for your needs, we've put our experts to work. They've been testing and reviewing power banks, as well as using them within their own workflows, in order to compile this list of the absolute best.

Here is a round-up of four big "power stations" that we have tested…

The DJI Power 1000 is a rugged, high-capacity power station designed with drone users in mind. With 1,024Wh of capacity and 2,200W continuous output (4,400W peak), it provides ample power for charging multiple drone batteries, cameras, and other essential gear on location. The two USB-C ports (140W each) allow for fast charging, while the SDC and SDC Lite ports support DJI’s proprietary adapters for even more efficient drone charging.

Weighing 13kg, the Power 1000 is not the lightest option, but its sturdy build and rounded handles make it easy to carry. The clear display offers essential battery information, though it lacks smart features like an app or battery health monitoring. Additionally, there’s no built-in light or wireless charging, which could be a drawback for some users.

Despite these limitations, the DJI Power 1000 excels at providing reliable, high-wattage power for drone operators and creatives working off-grid. Whether you're filming in remote locations or need a dependable backup power source, this station delivers efficient, high-speed charging for DJI drones and other kit.

Read more: DJI Power 1000 review

Want the best power bank that will fit in your pocket? We reckon that's the UGREEN 300W 48,000mAh; a robust and high-capacity portable charger designed for users seeking extensive device charging capabilities.

This power bank stands out for two main reasons. One is its impressive 48,000mAh capacity, which makes it capable of charging an iPhone 15 Pro nearly 11 times. The second is its ability to charge up to five devices at the same time, with a maximum output of 300W. That makes it particularly well-suited for camping trips, weekend hikes, or emergency power situations.

Despite its somewhat hefty weight of 1.86 kg, the power bank features a sleek design with high-quality materials, including a low-light display that provides real-time information about battery level and power input/output. Equipped with two USB-A ports and three USB-C ports, the power bank offers versatile charging options.

It's likely to last you a while too; Ugreen claims the device will retain 80% of its capacity after 3,000 charge cycles. However, our reviewer also noted a few drawbacks, such as its heavy weight, the lack of an included charging plug, and variable charging speeds depending on the cables used.

Read more: UGREEN 300W 48000mAh Power Bank review

If your primary concern is charging your PD devices as fast as possible then this power bank from UGREEN is for you. Capable of 145W power split across its USB ports, with one 100W capable USB-C, it's ready for all your devices that can be fast charged, as well as laptops that need lots of juice, and it's also future-proofed for those devices that haven't come along yet. With enough capacity to charge your phone several times over, or run your camera and accessories off while on long shoots away from a constant power supply.

However it isn't the only 25,000mAh capacity power bank on the market, so if you don't need its fast charging powers then you can get cheaper and lighter options elsewhere (or from UGREEN themselves), and the complex and varying power outputs might just be enough to put a lot of people off.

Read more: UGREEN 145W Power Bank review

You don't really need to have an informative screen on your power bank, but the Anker Prime power bank has the easiest power percentage and countdown timer for charging/discharging the battery I have used yet. And knowing exactly how fast my laptop is charging is both just plain interesting to know, but I can also plan ahead to give make sure I have enough juice left throughout the day.

The Anker Prime power isn’t just about a screen though, it also has a solid 20,000mAh of battery which I managed to get a few days' worth of keeping my phone and laptop going with short bursts of recharging, or one big recharge of my MacBook Pro 13. The big 200W maximum output, with a 100W single port output, also allowed me to use my laptop at full power. The power bank is a little boxy for slipping into pockets, but it looks great.

Read more: Anker Prime 20,000mAh Power Bank (200W) review

FAQs

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The Vivo X500 Pro Max is the newest flagship in the company's X500 series, sitting above the smaller X500 Pro and offering a more ambitious camera setup, larger display, and bigger battery. It also arrives just a few months after the Vivo X300 Ultra, a phone I rated extremely highly for its camera and video capabilities, so the Pro Max has some pretty big shoes to fill.

Interestingly, Vivo has taken a slightly different approach with this model. Rather than the X300 Ultra's unusual 35mm main camera with a 200MP sensor, the X500 Pro Max switches to a more conventional 24mm main camera with a new 50MP Sony LOFIC sensor designed to improve dynamic range. There is still a 200MP telephoto camera, alongside a 50MP ultrawide, and the whole system continues to benefit from Zeiss optics and Vivo's increasingly sophisticated computational photography.

Video is also a major focus, with 4K recording at up to 240fps, new Log recording capabilities, and improved subject tracking designed to challenge the best phones for video recording.

But with competition from Apple, Oppo, and Xiaomi stronger than ever, is Vivo doing enough to make this one of the best camera phones you can buy?

Specifications

Price & Availability

The X300 Ultra launched in Europe for an eye-watering €1,999, and while I loved almost everything about that phone's camera capabilities, its price made it incredibly difficult to recommend over alternatives from Oppo and Xiaomi.

Although the official European price wasn't available at lauch, I am expecting the X500 Pro Max to be another premium device. Although there is a lot of camera technology here for the money, it's still hard to justify this phone over similarly specced rivals that undercut the Vivo – and over just buying a dedicated camera.

Design

The Vivo X500 Pro Max is a really nice-looking phone, and in terms of build quality, there isn't much I can fault. It feels solid and exceptionally well made, with a premium finish that gives it the sort of feel I would expect from an expensive flagship device.

The overall design is relatively understated, especially in the gray model I have been testing, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I rather like the simplicity, although anyone who prefers something a little more adventurous might find it underwhelming.

Vivo offers the X500 Pro Max in Moonlit Black, Sunny White, Starry Gray, and Sunset Orange (depending on the market), with the gray, white, and orange models featuring a subtle two-tone finish. There is also a very slight sparkle in the material that catches the light, giving the phone a bit more visual interest than you might initially expect.

I think Vivo has done a good job balancing a minimalist aesthetic with some small details that make the phone look more premium, but if you're someone who loves the bold Cosmic Orange iPhone, this probably isn't going to be the phone to get you excited about its design.

The biggest visual feature is, unsurprisingly, the enormous circular camera bump on the back. Unfortunately, the camera bump is one area where I think the design could be improved. Unlike some phones that taper the edges of their camera modules, Vivo's has a relatively abrupt edge that can catch on things when I slide it into my pocket or take it out.

As it is lower than the cameras on Samsung, Google, or Apple flagships, I frequently found my fingers creeping into the shot or leaving fingerprints on the camera lenses while holding it. It is an unfortunate compromise of squeezing such substantial camera hardware into something that still needs to function as a reasonably slim smartphone.

The phone itself measures 163.32 x 76.82mm and is just over 8mm thick, weighing 229g in the gray, white, and orange finishes. The black version is marginally thinner and lighter, at 7.95mm and 225g.

These are fairly typical dimensions for a large flagship phone, and despite the size of the camera system, the phone is comfortable enough to hold. However, anyone wanting something more compact might be better served by the smaller X500 Pro, which has a 6.36-inch display, although this comes at the expense of the Pro Max's superior telephoto hardware.

Vivo has also equipped the phone with IP68 and IP69 dust and water resistance, providing protection against immersion and high-pressure water jets under specified conditions. The display is protected by Armor Glass, while the camera lenses feature a hard anti-reflective coating intended to reduce reflections and improve durability.

When it comes to physical controls, I am very pleased that Vivo hasn't followed the trend of adding a dedicated camera button. I have never particularly liked these buttons, and on most phones I find myself ignoring them entirely in favor of simply tapping the screen.

I would much rather have a customizable button that can perform several different functions, and thankfully Vivo has included an Action Key. This is something I find genuinely useful, whether it is set to launch a particular feature or quickly access a frequently used tool, and I would love to see more Android phones take this approach.

Display

Vivo has equipped the X500 Pro Max with a completely flat 6.85-inch Zeiss Master Color AMOLED screen, offering a 3168 x 1440 resolution, a variable refresh rate of up to 144Hz, and a claimed peak brightness of 4,400 nits under specific conditions.

In everyday use, it is a lovely display. Everything looks incredibly sharp, colors are vibrant without appearing excessively saturated, and the screen gets bright enough that I haven't had any trouble seeing what I am shooting or reviewing my images outdoors.

For a phone aimed so heavily at photographers and videographers, color accuracy is particularly important, and I have been impressed by how natural photos look on the display. I don't want a screen that makes everything look artificially beautiful only for images to appear completely different when I view them on my computer, and Vivo has struck a good balance here.

There are also several eye-comfort features, including high-frequency dimming and adaptive brightness and color adjustments, which should make the screen more comfortable for longer editing sessions.

Camera Performance

The cameras are obviously the main reason to consider the Vivo X500 Pro Max, and after spending time with the phone, I have been hugely impressed by what Vivo has managed to achieve, even if there are a few areas where I think the company could still improve.

The phone has three rear cameras, covering 15mm, 24mm, and 85mm equivalent focal lengths. These are all supported by Vivo's image processing and Zeiss color science, while the telephoto camera can also be paired with optional optical extenders for substantially longer focal lengths.

Overall, photo quality is excellent. Images are exceptionally sharp, with plenty of detail, and the colors are some of the most natural I have seen from a phone. There is still enough saturation to give images some pop, but Vivo generally avoids the overly vivid rendering that can make certain smartphone photos look unrealistic.

I also found the color and white balance consistency between the main and telephoto cameras particularly impressive. Moving between focal lengths doesn't result in the sort of sudden shifts in color temperature or contrast that I still occasionally see on rival phones, and this makes the whole system feel more cohesive.

However, my biggest complaint from the X300 Ultra remains. Vivo's processing is still just a little too aggressive for my taste, particularly when it comes to sharpening and HDR. Photos often look fantastic at first glance, but look a little closer, and there is sometimes an artificial crispness to fine details, while the HDR processing can lift shadows a bit further than I would like. I personally prefer more natural contrast, with deeper shadows and a slightly less processed appearance.

Low-light photography is similar. The phone captures a considerable amount of detail in darker scenes without constantly resorting to long exposures, although once again, I occasionally found myself wanting to reduce exposure to stop the camera from brightening everything quite so much.

Vivo does offer a Raw Lighting mode that tones down some of this processing, and I think it makes a welcome difference, although I would like it to go further. There is also a Zeiss Natural Color mode, which helps produce a more natural overall image.

Nevertheless, I still think Xiaomi's Leica Authentic profile and Oppo's Hasselblad processing offer slightly more convincing alternatives for photographers who want images that look a little closer to those taken with a conventional camera.

I also experienced occasional autofocus issues when switching between lenses, where the camera would briefly become completely defocused for several seconds before recovering. This wasn't something I encountered to the same degree on previous Vivo phones, so I suspect it could be improved through a future software update. It is a relatively minor annoyance in an otherwise excellent camera system.

Main Camera

The main camera is a 50MP Sony LYTIA L910 with a 1/1.28-inch sensor, f/1.57 aperture, and 24mm equivalent focal length. It also features Vivo's impressive 3-degree gimbal-grade optical image stabilization.

The move back to 24mm is a change from the X300 Ultra, which used a 35mm main lens with a 200MP sensor. I actually enjoyed shooting with the longer focal length on the Ultra, as it offered a slightly more natural perspective, but the 24mm lens is unquestionably more versatile as an everyday camera. I find it particularly useful when shooting indoors, photographing architecture, or simply trying to fit more into the frame without switching to the ultrawide.

Image quality is excellent, with very good sharpness, attractive colors, and a generally well-balanced exposure. However, when compared with the X300 Ultra's 200MP main camera, the lower resolution does become apparent when looking closely at very fine details.

Complex textures such as leaves, tree branches, and certain surfaces don't always retain quite as much detail, particularly when cropping heavily into an image. It is not something that will make much difference to many photographers, but the extra resolution of a 200MP camera can be useful.

The headline feature of the new sensor is its LOFIC technology. LOFIC (Lateral Overflow Integration Capacitor) acts like a tiny overflow bucket for each camera pixel, catching excess light so bright spots, like streetlights or sunny skies, don't wash out into solid white. Vivo claims it offers up to 17 stops of dynamic range.

In ordinary photography, though, I don't think the improvements are particularly dramatic. The X500 Pro Max does an excellent job of capturing high-contrast scenes, retaining plenty of information in highlights and shadows, but I wasn't convinced that it was substantially better than the X300 Ultra.

LOFIC tech has impressed me before, and I think the Xiaomi 17 Ultra's one-inch LOFIC sensor alongside its Leica processing does a better job of preserving highlights with rich shadows. I also think Oppo's DeepPix technology produces convincing results in some particularly challenging scenes, retaining more natural contrast while protecting details in bright areas.

The X500 Pro Max is really good at HDR photography, but I don't think the new sensor has quite delivered the enormous leap in natural HDR quality that I expected.

Telephoto Camera

The telephoto camera is arguably the star of the show. Vivo uses the same 200MP HP0 sensor with a 1/1.4-inch format and an 85mm equivalent lens, supported by optical stabilization from the X300 Ultra which I was so impressed with.

Images are packed with detail, sharpness is outstanding, and the 85mm focal length is wonderfully versatile for portraits, details, and photographing subjects at a distance. The 200MP resolution also allows the phone to crop into the sensor for longer equivalent focal lengths without immediately sacrificing too much quality.

However, there are limits. Up until around 10x zoom, quality is really good, with forgivable levels of artificial sharpening, but go further, and the phone starts relying heavily on computational zoom and AI enhancement; fine textures can begin to look unnaturally sharpened or smoothed. This is particularly noticeable with foliage, hair, and other complex details.

Ultra Wide and Macro

The 50MP ultrawide camera also produces very good results, with sharp images, good color consistency, and a useful 15mm equivalent field of view.

I used to absolutely hate ultrawide cameras on phones, as they often felt like an afterthought, with noticeably worse sensors and image quality compared with the main camera. However, the technology has improved dramatically in recent years, and the X500 Pro Max is a good example of how far these cameras have come.

That said, the ultrawide is one area where the X300 Ultra has a clear advantage on paper, with its much larger 1/1.28-inch sensor compared with the 1/2.75-inch sensor used here, but for everyday wide-angle photography, it still produces very pleasing results.

Where the Vivo really excels is macro photography. The telephoto camera can capture incredibly tiny details, producing some genuinely outstanding close-up images that are among the best I have taken with a phone.

I love the longer working distance of a telephoto macro camera compared with ultrawide macro systems, as it makes it much easier to photograph subjects without getting ridiculously close or casting a shadow over them.

My only frustration is that I would like a little more control over the depth of field. Vivo offers computational effects that can simulate different looks, but I would love more focus stacking options for precise control over exactly how much of the subject is in focus, particularly when shooting very small objects.

Telephoto accessories

Vivo continues to offer some of the most interesting accessories available for smartphone photography, particularly its Zeiss telephoto extenders.

The X500 Pro Max is compatible with both the 200mm equivalent telephoto extender and the larger 400mm equivalent extender, allowing the phone to achieve focal lengths that would be difficult to match with built-in smartphone cameras alone.

Optical quality is outstanding, with excellent detail and impressive stabilization, even at substantial focal lengths. They make the phone feel much closer to a modular camera system than a conventional smartphone, and for anyone interested in wildlife, concerts, or photographing distant subjects, they open up some genuinely useful possibilities.

Beyond the optical range, the phone still applies considerable processing to its digital zoom, so I wouldn't expect miraculous results at every magnification, but the actual optics are excellent.

One of the biggest positives is how well integrated the telephoto extenders are into the camera experience. Vivo supports them across a wide range of camera modes, including professional shooting options, whereas some rival systems are frustratingly restrictive about when their add-on lenses can be used.

Sample Images

Video Performance

Video is where the Vivo X500 Pro Max really comes into its own, and having been such a big fan of the X300 Ultra's video capabilities, I had high expectations for this phone.

Thankfully, Vivo has delivered. The video quality is excellent, with beautifully sharp footage, natural-looking colors, and superb stabilization. I would comfortably put it alongside the iPhone 18 Pro Max when it comes to overall video quality, although the two phones take slightly different approaches to how footage looks.

I find the Vivo's rendering a little more natural than Apple's default video output, with less aggressive HDR and slightly more restrained color. The iPhone's footage arguably has more immediate visual impact, but I often prefer the more realistic look of the Vivo. Of course, that comes down to personal preference, and both phones are capable of producing fantastic results.

The headline feature is 4K video recording at up to 240fps, which is a pretty outrageous specification for a smartphone. What is more impressive, though, is that it is actually usable. I expected the footage to look heavily compromised compared with standard 4K 30p or 60p video, but while there is some additional sharpening, the quality holds up remarkably well.

There are limitations, as the mode needs plenty of light to achieve the best results. In darker conditions, fine details start to disappear, and contrast deteriorates noticeably, so this isn't something I would use for every situation. However, for shooting action, movement, or anything that benefits from dramatic slow motion, having 4K 240p in your pocket is a fantastic creative tool.

Stabilization is equally impressive. Standard video stabilization is excellent, producing wonderfully smooth handheld footage, while the enhanced stabilization mode takes things even further. I have been genuinely impressed by how steady the footage looks when moving around, although the enhanced mode is unfortunately limited to 2.7K resolution, which is a compromise if you want to maintain a full 4K workflow.

Vivo's Pro Video mode is another strong point, offering extensive manual controls and Log recording for anyone who wants more control over their footage in post-production. The new Log profile is designed to take advantage of the main sensor's claimed 17-stop dynamic range, and this gives videographers more flexibility when working with challenging lighting conditions.

However, I am less convinced by Vivo's included LUTs. The standard SDR LUT looks washed out, with a lack of contrast, while the HDR LUT is desaturated, introduces some unusual color shifts, and has a noticeable green tint. Neither is particularly attractive straight out of the box, and I would much rather grade the Log footage myself.

Thankfully, Vivo allows custom LUTs to be imported, so there is plenty of scope to get the look you want, although I think the default options should be better on a phone that puts so much emphasis on professional video.

Phone Performance

The Vivo X500 Pro Max is powered by MediaTek's Dimensity 9600 Pro processor, replacing the Qualcomm Snapdragon chip used in the X300 Ultra.

This is MediaTek's most powerful smartphone processor, built on a 2nm manufacturing process, and it is designed to compete directly with Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon chips and Apple's high-end A-series processors.

In everyday use, the X500 Pro Max feels incredibly fast. Apps open almost instantly, animations are smooth, and multitasking is effortless, even when jumping between demanding photography and video applications. It has more than enough processing power to handle high-resolution images, extensive computational photography, and demanding video recording without feeling sluggish.

I didn't notice any meaningful performance problems during normal use, and while the Dimensity 9600 Pro is undoubtedly a very capable chip, I think we are now at the point where differences between flagship processors are becoming increasingly difficult to notice outside benchmarks and particularly demanding workloads.

Software

Vivo's OriginOS 7 is a decent Android interface. It looks good, feels exceptionally smooth, and is generally very easy to navigate, with plenty of customization options. The interface feels modern and polished, and I like that Vivo has retained its own visual identity rather than simply trying to copy either Google or Apple.

However, there are still several small annoyances that prevent it from feeling quite as refined as I would like. For example, there are plenty of customization options, but you still can't install your own system fonts, and Vivo's theme store displays prices in Chinese renminbi rather than my local currency.

There is also some unwanted bloatware. Although the situation is hardly unique to Vivo, I still find it frustrating that an expensive flagship phone comes with apps and services I don't particularly want. Vivo's V-Store and proprietary browser are among the apps that I couldn't fully remove, and while this isn't going to ruin anyone's experience, I think it makes the software feel a little less premium.

AI editing

The Vivo X500 Pro Max includes an extensive collection of AI photo editing features, ranging from the usual object removal and reflection removal tools to detail enhancement and generative image expansion.

For relatively simple edits, these tools can be very useful. Removing a distracting person from the background of a photograph or cleaning up an unwanted reflection can be done quickly, often with convincing results.

However, I think Vivo's AI features work best when you ask them to make relatively small changes to an existing image. Larger edits, particularly substantial image expansions or the removal of large objects, are much less consistent. The phone often generates new textures that don't quite match the detail in the surrounding photograph, and occasionally introduces objects or details that simply weren't there.

I find this particularly noticeable because the actual cameras are so good. When a photo contains beautifully rendered fine detail, the softer, less convincing textures generated by AI become quite obvious.

For quick edits destined for social media, many people probably won't notice or care, but I wouldn't rely on these tools for anything where maintaining photographic accuracy is important.

I also think there is a wider question about how much generative editing we really want in photography, but at least Vivo gives users the option to use these tools rather than forcing them into the normal camera experience.

Battery life

The Vivo X500 Pro Max has a large BlueVolt battery, rated at 7,800mAh in Asia, although European units come with a smaller 6,750mAh capacity.

In my testing, battery life was excellent. With moderate everyday use, I could comfortably get between one and two days out of the phone before needing to recharge. When using the phone more heavily for photography and video, I still managed a full day without needing to reach for a charger, which is particularly impressive considering how demanding some of its camera features can be.

Of course, recording extended periods of 4K 240p video or spending hours editing high-resolution files will drain the battery more quickly, but for most photographers, there is plenty of power here for a full day out shooting.

The X500 Pro Max also supports 90W wired charging and 40W wireless charging, allowing it to be topped up quickly with compatible charging equipment.

Final Verdict

The Vivo X500 Pro Max is another excellent camera phone from Vivo. I am particularly impressed by the telephoto camera, which produces detailed images and some of the best macro photography I have seen on a smartphone. The main and ultrawide cameras are also excellent, with attractive, natural colors and generally consistent results across the different focal lengths.

However, I do think Vivo's image processing still needs a little refining. Photos can look a little too processed, and despite the new LOFIC sensor, I am not convinced it made a substantial difference to the natural dynamic range of photos.

Video is where the X500 Pro Max really makes its strongest case. The ability to shoot genuinely useful 4K 240p footage is incredible, while stabilization, manual controls, and Log recording make this one of the most versatile video phones available. I do wish Vivo would improve its supplied LUTs, which right now are pretty dreadful, but for anyone willing to spend time grading footage, there is an enormous amount of creative potential here.

Ultimately, the X500 Pro Max is a fantastic camera phone that I would happily recommend, especially to anyone who prioritizes video, zoom photography, or macro. It doesn't necessarily surpass the X300 Ultra in every area, especially when it comes to main and ultrawide camera hardware, but it offers a slightly different approach that makes it an equally compelling choice for serious smartphone photographers.

Alternatives

The 8th-generation iPad Mini makes some big changes with its first ever OLED screen, that also slightly bigger than its predessor. The new iPad Mini diagonal width up to 8.5in from the 8.3in display of the 2024 model – using a Super Retina XDR screen instead of the previous generation's Liquid Retina LED.

The screen upgrades promise a brighter, crisper display with the brightness now topping out at 1,200 nits, a big jump from the previous Mini's 500 nits. The refresh rate stays at 60Hz, however, so doesn't get the 120Hz max frequency of the recent iPad Pro M5.

A surprise bonus new feature is that the new model is IP67 water and dust resistant – making it an even better option for those wanting a table that is suited to travel.

Desite the slight boost in screen size, the 2026 iPad Mini is thinner and lighter than its predecessor, measuring 5.33mm thick and weighing in at 254g, compared to 6.35mm and 295g, respectively.

Under the casing, Apple has upgraded the new iPad Mini's chipset to the A20 Pro. We are told that the new chip delivers 4.5x faster AI performance than the previous-gen iPad Mini with its A17 Pro chip, along with 2.7x faster graphics performance and up to 60 percent faster multithreaded performance for everyday tasks like editing photos and working across apps. It also offers support for the P3 wide color gamut for more vivid and accurate imagery.

The OLED iPad Mini starts at $699 / £699 / AU$1,099 for Wi-Fi, or from $849 / £849 / AU$1,349 if you also want a cellular network connection. Pre-orders open on October 28, with shipping starting on November 6.

Check out our guide to the best iPads for photographers

Earlier this month, Meta previewed an update to the platform’s terms of service that some experts argued would give the company permission to scrape data from business websites to train its AI platform.

The updated terms go beyond Meta’s current permissions for using Meta platforms and add terms that allow Meta to use automated software such as crawlers and bots to analyze the business’s website.

The proposed terms would allow for using the business website, not just content posted to Instagram and Facebook, prompting concern across a number of groups from news publishers to photographers and creators.

The proposed terms update initially would give Meta permission to “use any content from such domains, web pages, or URLs to provide, develop, improve, research, train, and maintain the integrity of, the Meta Company Products, services, and features.”

The update initiated a rash of new videos and posts from creators concerned that the terms would allow Meta to use their work to train its AI system, including a US Senator who worried the update could harm businesses and creators.

After the creator backlash, that update has now been delayed from October 30 to November 20. Meta has also now removed the word “train” from the list of permissions actions it could take with a business’s website content. Meta has since changed the language from using that data for “Meta Company Products” to “advertising and business products.”

The proposed terms update is for public business accounts, not private accounts, but would affect public profiles and businesses, including photographers with public profiles on Instagram or Facebook.

The News/Media Alliance also sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg demanding the withdrawal of the updated commercial terms, as publishers expressed concern that the terms' language would allow Meta AI to use content from news websites for training without licensing.

Much of the backlash from the originally proposed terms update comes from the lack of an option to opt out.

In a statement, Meta said that it delayed the terms “to allow more time for us to explain to our partners and stakeholders what’s changing and what’s not, including how Meta uses web crawlers and the fact that content owners will still be able to use robots.txt to signal preferences.”

Robot.txt files can serve as signals to AI platforms to block training on web platforms that support adding those files to the root directory, though researchers note crawlers are not required to follow those restrictions.

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Take a look at the best photo editing software or the best cameras for professional photographers.

The plan was for restaurants that use the service to deliver to customers to be able to visibly represent their menus even if they don't have their own pictures of the food, as the AI would generate it for them.

Food photographers, however, might have a little longer before the rise of the machines can replace them. There are still reasons to worry (which I'll get to), but first it's worth enjoying generative AI's particular type of creativity...

Probably the highlight was a 'jacket potato', for which the AI drew a winter jacket covered in baked potatoes.

Others included 'Tiger Prawn' which appeared to have little tigers swimming in the bowl of food.

There was also bacon and egg soda bread which the A.I. confused with a soda drink, so it created a drink with floating bacon and egg.

Part of that issue might have been resolved if the AI understood that the use of 'soda' referred to an Irish bread, and not a fizzy drink. 'Soda' for drinks is less common in British English, but thinking American is an issue we've seen with Ring camera's AI and wildlife too.

Other treats were a 'Cheese Roll' that was generated as six pieces of (admittedly possibly cheese-filled) sushi.

There was another problem for Just Eat's attempt to make life easier for its clients (the restaurants). Errors in the clients' menu submissions.

One had misspelt 'plain' as 'plane' on its garlic bread menu, so the gen-AI had created a shaped piece of garlic bread, potentially very disappointing for a customer.

And herein lies the worry that should still rest with both photographers and those inclined to order their food for delivery (yes, me, occasionally, since you ask):

Just Eat have stopped for now and apologized, so restaurants need to supply photos again now. That should mean photographers are still required (where the restaurants feel a photo is needed at all).

It occurs to me that some of the restaurants might choose to use gen-AI, but presumably a human will check (not to say that the restaurants won't do their own generating).

But the key point that should worry people is that the reason this feature is being switched off is, essentially, because they were 'found out'; it didn't work well enough to convince people to order their food and then not complain afterward.

After all, if I'm ordering food and I see a photo, I'd be instinctively convinced. But in practice I'd be looking at a generative image created not even by the restaurant, but by a service one step further down the chain.

That AI generation is still their goal, I presume. They just don't want to be publicly embarrassed.

Incidentally, the best camera for food photography is likely a better solution, and if you need some tips read how to shoot appetizing photos with a basic setup – it needn't be expensive and it's a lot less dishonest than generated images.

No, I’m talking about a seemingly increasing acceptance of that hyper-refined AI imagery we’ve all come to recognize, along with computer-generated scenes whose creators have tried to pass them off as real life but who didn’t quite manage to pull the veil over our eyes. It’s not real!

Comments like “who cares if it’s AI” seem to cross my radar more and more now, and the more I read them, the more absurd I think the whole idea of AI-generated imagery is. It’s not real!

How on Earth can you ever allow yourself to trust an image of something that supposedly exists but which you know never did? It’s like reading Alice in Wonderland or The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, perhaps the most absurdly brilliant stories ever – but they’re not real!

I’ve been seeing it increasingly in e-commerce, especially. Comments like “as long as it looks like the real product, then I don’t mind” are among the silliest I’ve read. How could you ever buy from a company using a made-up image to advertise a real, physical product? The image isn't real!

The very notion of trust goes completely out the window when a computer-generated image depicts a seemingly real-life event. The details could be lifelike; hell, there could even be a hyper-realistic video of a model demonstrating the product, but neither the model nor the product are real!

If these “gen-slop acceptors,” as I like to call them, actually said the words “it’s not real” out loud every time they looked at one of these "real" images, perhaps then they’d realize just how absurd it is to be okay with being deceived. It’s not real.

It’s not real! It’s not real! It’s not real!

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Here’s our expert pick of the best photo-editing software – all platforms we’ve tried and tested to help point you in the right direction.

Every PD2732U comes factory calibrated to a color accuracy of Delta E <2, and benefits from BenQ's full-panel global calibration to ensure brightness and color consistency across the entire display. The screen runs at 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution, which is plenty sharp enough for a 27-inch panel viewed from a typical distance.

Factor additional features like Thunderbolt 4 connectivity with 90W Power Delivery to an attached laptop, along with BenQ's Hotkey Puck wireless remote control dial for easier settings adjustment, and the BenQ Creative Pro PD2732U offers a lot for its $700/£650 RRP.

Specifications

Display area: 27 inches
Aspect: 16:9
Panel type: IPS
Panel bit depth: 10-bit
Display colors: 1.07 billion
Resolution: 3840 x 2160
Pixel density: 163 ppi
Refresh rate: 60Hz
Response time: 5ms
Brightness: 400 cd/m2
Contrast ratio: 1000:1
Color space coverage: 100% Rec.709, 99% AdobeRGB, 99% P3
Video inputs: HDMI x1, USB-C Thunderbolt 4 (DP Alt Mode), DisplayPort

Read more:
The best monitors for video editing
The best photo-editing monitors
The best monitor calibrators

Build & handling

The BenQ Creative Pro PD2732U is aimed at serious creatives, not flashy gamers: styling is simple but elegant, while build quality is reassuringly solid. The bezels around top and sides are only around 2mm wide (though the visible screen area starts a further 7mm within these bezels).

The monitor is supplied with a high quality stand with a weighty metal base that keeps the monitor stable and prevents vibrations reaching the screen. The stand enables 115mm of height adjustment, 90-degrees of rotation (so the screen can be changed to portrait orientation), plus a good range of tilt and swivel adjustment.

Physical connectivity is another strong aspect of the PD2732U. This isn't your average USB-C monitor with a USB 3.2 connection speed; rather the PD2732U uses Thunderbolt 4 to enable a 40Gbps single-cable connection between monitor and laptop. That means two 4K monitors can be daisy-chained to a recent/high-end MacBook, while still leaving enough remaining data bandwidth for you to use the monitor's numerous USB inputs for connecting peripherals like memory sticks or external hard drives. The latter is made possible thanks to three USB-A ports and one USB-C port positioned on the bottom of the monitor panel, each running at USB 3.2 Gen 1 speed (5 Gbps), and all offering 4.5-7.5W of charging to an attached device.

Also on the base of the panel you'll find the joystick and buttons used to control the PD2732U’s on-screen menu. Once you get used to feeling your way around the controls (they're not visible from a normal viewing position), they provide a tactile and responsive means of changing settings. BenQ's on-screen display layout is clear and easy to navigate, but if you'd prefer a more ergonomic alternative to the on-board controls, there's always the included Hotkey Puck remote control dial.

This allows you to bypass the monitor's menus for instant access to brightness, contrast, and volume settings, with the rotating dial speeding up each adjustment. The Puck also has three shortcut buttons, which as standard enable quick access to Color Mode, Input, KVM, or app launch. The shortcut buttons can be customized using BenQ's free Display Pilot 2 software, which adds even more control to monitor settings, as well as a Desktop Partition feature for easy multi-window browsing, all with a more friendly interface than the standard on-screen menus.

Performance

In its default 'User 1' color profile mode, the PD2732U produces immediately pleasing image quality with excellent contrast and color intensity. Being an IPS LCD panel, contrast consistency doesn't vary according to your viewing angle, as it would with lesser LCD panel technologies. The PD2732U's 4K resolution is also lovely and crisp on a screen this size, with the outline of individual pixels barely visible from a normal viewing distance.

Complaints? As I've found with other recent BenQ displays, the extreme left and right edges of the visible screen area appear to curve backward behind the screen bezels if you’re closer than 50cm from the panel – it isn’t distracting, but I've not encountered this with LCD monitors from other brands.

However, there’s a bigger issue, and it’s one that affects all LCD monitors. I recently reviewed my first desktop OLED monitor, and that set a new benchmark for subjective image quality. OLED screens offer a level of contrast, brightness consistency and color fidelity that even an LCD monitor as good as the PD2732U just can't match, and the difference is clear to see with the human eye. That said, PD2732U's image quality is up there with the very best LCD monitors I've reviewed, at least subjectively.

Lab results

To test BenQ's color space coverage claims, as well as precise backlight uniformity and color accuracy, we need some technological help: specifically a gadget called a colorimeter, more typically called a monitor calibrator. The Datacolor Spyder Pro is my tool of choice, so let's see whether BenQ's image quality specs for the PD2732U are as advertised.

Gamut

BenQ claims 99% AdobeRGB and 99% DCI-P3 color space coverage - I was able to pretty much match those figures in my testing.

Color accuracy

Every PD2732U is said to be pre-calibrated to an accuracy of less than Delta-E 2. In the default User 1 color profile, I recorded a Delta-E deviation from perfect color of 0.82 - an outstandingly accurate score. What's more, unlike some monitors which can return an impressive overall score, but with one color patch (usually cyan) being significantly less accurate than the other colors, the PD2732U returned great accuracy for all 24 tested colors.

Uniformity (color)

Color uniformity is pretty good across the 9 tested panel regions with brightness set to 100%, and gets even more consistent when you reduce brightness to a more comfortable 67%.

Uniformity (luminance)

Luminance (brightness) uniformity at 100% overall brightness is fairly average, with the left and right sides of the screen being around 11% dimmer than the center. However, at 100% brightness the screen is too bright to view comfortably: you'll want to drop down to 67% or lower, whereupon brightness uniformity gets significantly worse, with the dimmest region being 21% darker than the brightest area. That sounds like a poor result, but the irregularity really isn't as obvious to the naked eye as the numbers suggest - it's certainly not distracting.

The PD2732U does have a special uniformity mode that aims to improve brightness uniformity across the whole screen. With this enabled brightness uniformity goes from a disappointing 21% variation to a more acceptable 12%. There is a catch though: enabling the uniformity mode drastically reduces the monitor's maximum overall brightness, from 480 nits with the feature disabled, to just 233 nits. That wouldn't be too big a problem, as 233 nits is still bright enough for most conditions, but the uniformity mode also cuts the contrast ratio in half, to around 600:1. So not only does the screen look dimmer with uniformity mode enabled, image quality also looks much less punchy. Consequently you'll probably want to leave the uniformity mode disabled.

Brightness and contrast

The PD2732U has an advertised peak brightness of 400 nits - I recorded 480.5. And at between 1230:1 and 1500:1 (depending on panel brightness), contrast also turned out to be better than BenQ's claimed 1000:1 figure.

Verdict

BenQ has a strong history of producing high quality monitors aimed squarely at discerning content creators, and the PD2732U is a good example of the breed. Its color space coverage is superb, as is its out-of-the-box color accuracy. Brightness and contrast are also excellent. The only image quality shortcoming is brightness uniformity across the whole panel, which is relatively disappointing when measured with a colorimeter, but doesn't appear that noticeable to the eye.

The PD2732U continues to make a solid case for itself when you consider its excellent Thunderbolt 4 connectivity, strong build quality, and handy Hotkey Puck remote control dial. With a $700/£650 retail price at the time of review, it offers an awful lot for the money if you'll be using it for color-critical workloads.

However, for roughly the same price you could instead buy the stunning 27-inch ASUS ProArt Display OLED PA279CDV Professional Monitor. Though this can't match the BenQ screen for AdobeRGB color space coverage, it equals or beats it in every other image quality metric, while its OLED screen tech and incredible contrast make it look instantly more impressive to the naked eye.

Ultimately, the BenQ PD2732U is a great example of an IPS LCD monitor, but once you've seen the image quality from an OLED display, sadly even the best LCD monitor seems like a step backwards.

While the set of surveys suggests that a large majority prefer human-made over computer-made, only 13 percent said that they have not used any AI-generated visual or audio content in the last year, which means 87 percent have.

The data comes from a survey conducted by Storyblocks, a stock platform for photos, videos, and audio. The platform conducted four surveys this summer, totalling more than 1,400 people who regularly license content for their jobs.

But while a majority have used AI-generated content in the past year, half said that they’ve rejected a piece of stock content because it was AI-generated.

Across the four surveys, Storyblocks said that labeling was a “near-universal” demand, with between 74 and 94 percent calling for AI-generated content to be labeled. Even respondents open to AI seemed to agree on the label, the company said.

About 63 percent of those surveyed said they work for organizations that now have policies on AI-generated content. When Storyblocks asked what qualities mattered most in a stock content platform, the availability of AI-generated content consistently ranked last. (Content made by computers, unlike content made by humans, can't be copyrighted in the US.)

Between 33 and 37 percent of those surveyed believe that AI content may be of better quality, but when restricted to respondents who already use a non-AI platform for photos, videos, and audio, that number dropped to between 5 and 8 percent.

Around 83 percent said they felt confident that they could spot AI-generated content.

The survey comes as Storyblocks announces that it has reached a 10 million file milestone, a growth of 66 percent in just one year. Storyblocks does not accept AI-generated content, but the platform does offer generative AI tools to customize stock content or generate new content based on references.

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The answer, of course, is a bit of both.

For cameras, though, let's not make a mistake. The lack of a tele camera was obvious before handing over the money and, if you're used to having really good zoom (like, say, the iPhone 17 Pro), be prepared to come up against a physical hardware limitation.

That, though, isn't actually the most annoying one.

That is authentication.

I've grown very used to Face ID – the camera and 3D scanner system Apple tucked into the notch and then cut out, which unlocked previous generations of the iPhone.

Now I have to use a fingerprint scanner on the side, which isn't so bad when using the phone folded (it's bound to rest where my thumb is as a right-handed user), but to get the best use of the 'mini iPad' that is the open phone you'll find yourself rotating the pad, which may well confuse.

Apple's solution is to have the button slightly raised from the outside so it's easier to find when an app insists on more authentication, which is, er, okay, but not quite as magical as the 'anyway is fine' solution of the iPad Pro.

The other thing I've been coming to get used to is the apps. At first it's easy to be optimistic because you encounter Apple's carefully re-created apps.

There are limits, though. The Apple TV app and Netflix's app have both been given the top-tier treatment in terms of excellent browser views with the phone closed or open, but neither can change the face that most TV is 16:9 – perhaps even 16:10 – leading to black bars, which means that, as standard, the open iPhone Duo view is not noticeably bigger than the one you see on an iPhone Pro Max 18 (or 17 come to that).

Soon after you realise that all your other old apps are going to open with giant black bars down either side unless and until the developer does something about it.

On the plus side, web browsing and exploring still images is impressive on the larger screen.

I imagine it could be very useful on the move, and is already starting to make me wonder about my actual need for an iPad (it's worth knowing that I'm the kind of person happy to carry a stupidly heavy MacBook Pro 16 where most people would take the iPad, just in case!)

Still, Apple has improved Safari on the iPhone Duo still further with a hint of the desktop experience – draggable tabs feel 'proper', and a lot of the apps I enjoy in the day seem to have been adapted already, giving me hope for the future.

Photography with the iPhone Duo

On the down-side is that pictures taken with the telephoto are frankly disappointing, and, for me, I used that nearly as much as the main camera (and far, far more than the wide-angle lens).

The loss of the tele/zoom camera is apparently a necessity to make the design so small, but I find myself thinking that I wouldn't actually mind a slightly wider handset either.

Photo management with the iPhone Duo

So one of the reasons for having a big screen in your pocket is to be able to review your images, and the inner display is surprisingly good. Perhaps I've gotten too used to shiny phone screens and iMacs with their apparent contrast, but the matte finish looks good. I get the point of Apple's pricey nano-texture now!

Importantly, the Apple photos app also benefits hugely from the power of the A20 processor. Scrolling, swiping, and pinch-zooming is so fluid and natural it's a joy. It makes me want to spend more time looking at the photos I've taken!

Honestly, in the past, with my phone at least, I often just took photos to document events.

In either view, a single tap on the pic reveals or hides the control icons.

Overall first impression of iPhone Duo

The weight – criticised by some – feels fine for me. I suspect slightly bigger hands and a tendency to use jeans pockets for my phones make these comfortable for me.

That means that it's already clear to me that Apple ought to be considering a 'Max' variant that is slightly bigger and also brings the 'Pro' camera arrangement. That'll be a problem for their naming and pricing structure, of course.

Until then the question is whether I can put up with a phone with a significantly lesser camera, and a slightly irksome authentication system (which I will get used to) in exchange for a very cool screen?

That, too, is the question you should be asking yourself as I spoke to Apple staff today who told me that the rush to snap up devices hadn't been quite as rapid as anticipated – see how i got an iPhone Duo without a pre-order.

That might well mean that Apple's shipping dates for pre-orders turn out to be a bit pessimistic and – even if you've not thought about it yet – you'll be able to wrestle with the idea of having your own foldable iPhone very soon.

LAST UPDATED: Oct 24 10:22

Nikon says that firmware versions 5.33 for the Nikon Z9 and 3.12 for the Nikon Z8 fix a bug that “would cause the camera to stop responding with some lenses.”

Not so helpfully, the company hasn’t provided any more detail, so it’s unclear which lenses were affected and which previously affected lenses now function correctly when attached to these camera bodies.

Nikon Firmware Downloads

Firmware version 3.12 (Nikon Z8 camera body)

Firmware version 5.33 (Nikon Z9 camera body)

Firmware version 1.10 (Nikkor Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S lens)

Firmware version 1.10 (Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S II lens)

It’s a good idea to hold off downloading the latest firmware for a few weeks. This should give enough time for any new issues to arise in community chatter and for Nikon to address them. Keep an eye on Digital Camera World, and we'll let you know about any problems.

Firmware version 1.10 for the Nikkor Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S lens brings a minor but important change.

According to Nikon, when a setting other than “Non-linear” is selected for “Focus ring rotation range,” the lens now changes the focus distance according to the amount of focus ring rotation during manual focus, regardless of the speed at which it is rotated.

Before this latest update, turning the focus ring quickly would make the focus jump a long distance. Whereas, if the ring was turned slowly, the focus would move a small amount, even if turned the exact same distance.

Nikon says that the final firmware release, also called version 1.10, albeit for the Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S II lens, has “improved aperture operation reliability” and “reduced aperture operation noise,” with no further details shared.

So, aside from the outlined focusing update to the Nikkor Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S lens, it’s pretty vague stuff from Nikon. As always, I recommend waiting a few weeks before going ahead with any firmware update to give any issues a chance to arise and be solved by Nikon.

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• Plenty of unreserved iPhone Duos of all types on the day
• UPDATE: See the store opening launch clap at the end of my insta video...
• UPDATE 2: Check my first impressions in my iPhone Duo hands-on

I strolled up to the store at 6:30, having side-stepped the 'Closed' signs on some of the shopping centre doors. I wasn't the only one: there is an open Starbucks which I casually stopped at too before climbing the two tall escalators (not yet turned on) to reach the Apple Store on the third floor.

I didn't really know what to expect as useful information about non-flagship Apple Stores like this has been hard to find (London has a very fancy store on Regent Street, where any queueing happens outdoors on the street, and the weather here is very, well, British today).

When I did get there, I certainly wasn't the first. Rope lines had been put up to accommodate the queues for pre-orders later in the day, or at least that is what I was told at first by the security staff from the mall.

I asked why there were people hanging out then and they shrugged and said it was for the atmosphere (of a closed shopping center and the happy noise of tiles being polished).

I thought it better to ask them.

What I found was that the Apple Store staff were taking reservations for the additional stock – what I've been calling the 'Walk-in' units – so there was a small but moving queue even though the store wasn't going to open for an hour and a half.

I shrugged and decided I'd join the fun – I've not actually queued for an iPhone since the first one back in 2007 and this queue was only about four people long!

I gave my details and chose the model I wanted – none seemed to be out of stock when I did (though the reason for the line was clearly that as configurations went out of stock people could be encouraged to choose others).

I was told to come back at 11:30 as that was the first pickup slot.

So, in other words, despite the panic, there will be a chance to grab a phone on the day.

If not, though, there is definitely a finite number and supply is still constrained. So you might well still want to look at the pre-order options, especially if you like reliability.

If you like the on-the-day fun, at least (for a few hours in the morning) Apple has kept the possibility of getting a device open.

(It probably still isn't the best iPhone for photography, but at least I'll get to find out!)

• New Chinese smart glasses have eye-tracking
• Camera is 50MP when Meta manage 12 MP
• Technology is futuristic, trade rules will make them hard to get

The new Qwen Glasses N1 series boast a 50MP camera sensor, which is a long way in advance of the 12 megapixels that even the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 3 camera glasses offer.

But these glasses, launching at 3,499 RMB (just under $500 US), have a much more impressive trick up their sleeve: they have an eye-tracking functionality (achieved using a tiny 1.7mm camera facing the user). This means the connected AI can see what you're looking at (what direction your eyes are pointing) and respond accordingly.

The more accurate the AI's understanding of your request, the less frustrating it is to use.

The camera can also see enough resolution to use your iris for biometric payment confirmation. Assuming, that is, you feel happy enabling Alipay and just buying things by looking at a QR code. Me? I might leave this feature turned off!

That's not all. Admittedly this is just taking the company's word for it thus far, but a 25 hour standby time or nine hours of music play comfortably beats the Meta equivalents, while all looking even more discrete (for those not desparate to feature the Ray-Ban logo on the side of their face, anyhow).

Before you dismiss them as cheap Chinese junk, it's worth noting that the ear-buds are co-engineered with Bose, too, so there are some names that sceptical Westerners will have to accept.

Not, of course, that there will be much competition – Alibaba and Meta are currently quite closed markets. But now, like drones, the Chinese market seems to be getting the cleverest and newest tech for less.

For now, however, my guide to the best smart glasses will stick to covering things available more broadly.

Digital frames for displaying your photos have been around for years, but they have got more popular in recent years as a handy part of the smart home - showing your best shots on a screen that can be controlled from your mobile phone. But whilst they work well on a shelf or worktop - they can't be easily be mounted on the wall like a tradition photograph. That's because they need a mains lead to work - so you get an ugly wire trailing from the frame, unless you are prepared to the extreme effort of chasing the cable into the wall.

Aura has solved this problem with the Aura Ink - which uses a low-energy e-ink screen like you get on a Kindle, so that it can be run from a built-in battery for months at a time - so that you don't need a visible wire.

The 13.3in e-ink display also gives your images a different aesthetic - as the pictures are not backlit, so are more subdued in color and more grainy, giving a feeling of viewing an old printed photograph.

In our review, our on-team reviewer concluded that "The Aura Ink is quite unlike any digital photo frame I've used and is genuinely the only one I'd hang on my living room wall. The images it displays really do have the feel of photographs that have been physically printed, rather than digital pictures displayed on a screen. While the e-paper images do have something of a 'dotty' look about them if you get really close, this has a charm of its own that adds to the 'print' vibe.

Designing it meant “reinventing the whole product," Aura co-founder and CTO Eric Jensen tells Time. "For instance, because e-paper reflects ambient light (unlike a back-lit LCD), the Ink has a built-in front light that automatically adjusts to the room’s brightness".

The Aura Ink is automatically set to swap images just once per day – users can change those settings, though increasing the number of photographs displayed each day will decrease the advertised three-month battery life rating.

The drawback of the Aura Ink is that it more expensive than Aura's best-selling photo frames - retailing for $499. In addition, it is currently only available in the US.

That’s because, following the update, A7R VI users will now be able to use the camera’s Preset Focus feature with non-power zoom lenses.

Preset Focus enables users to map specific focus distances to the camera’s custom buttons, meaning users can jump straight to that focus point in the frame at the click of its registered button, rather than manually moving the autofocus ring or Flexible Spot.

For wildlife photographers, this is especially useful as it enables them to quickly snap back to a pre-measured feeding station, nest, or obstacle zone when a subject momentarily leaves and returns.

Sony Firmware Download

Firmware version 1.02 (Sony A7R VI)

It’s a good idea to hold off downloading the latest firmware for a few weeks. This should give enough time for any new issues to arise in community chatter and for Sony to address them. Keep an eye on Digital Camera World, and we'll let you know about any problems.

Prior to firmware version 1.02, the A7R VI’s built-in Preset Focus feature was restricted to power zoom lenses.

Lenses without a motorized power zoom mechanism (standard manual zoom and prime lenses) could only register and recall focus positions when tethered to a computer and using Sony's Remote Camera Tool software.

Sony says that firmware version 1.02 also fixes an issue where focusing operations may become unavailable when the movie mode is set to “Manual Focus.”

The company has also stated that the latest release fixes a bug where monitors may turn on at regular intervals despite being off, which may have minor power-saving benefits. As usual, Sony also says the new firmware boosts “operational stability.”

So, these are the goodies packed into firmware version 1.02 for the Sony A7R VI. My advice, as always, is to hold off downloading it for a few weeks, which should give enough time for any issues to arise in community chatter and for Sony to resolve them.

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Whether you're a filmmaker, content creator, photographer, or someone looking to take your editing to the next level, this is an excellent opportunity to get your hands on some seriously powerful software for less.

DaVinci Resolve Studio has become one of the most impressive all-in-one creative platforms available, combining professional video editing, color grading, visual effects, motion graphics, audio post-production, and now photo editing into a single application. Rather than jumping between different programs, everything you need is right at your fingertips, making it an incredibly appealing option for anyone working with both stills and moving images. And while there's already a fantastic free version of DaVinci Resolve, the Studio edition unlocks a whole collection of advanced features, including some particularly impressive AI-powered tools.

What makes this deal even more interesting is that Blackmagic Design has also announced significant performance improvements for users running the latest Apple M6 and NVIDIA RTX Spark processors. According to the company, AI SuperScale is almost 70% faster when upscaling HD footage to 8K on an M6-powered Mac compared with the M5, while AI Speed Warp delivers improvements of more than 60%. Windows users haven't been forgotten either, with DaVinci Resolve 21.1 bringing support for NVIDIA RTX Spark systems, delivering AI Magic Mask tracking that's up to 17 times faster and AI Speed Warp performance that's up to 41 times faster than on ARM-based Windows laptops without NVIDIA RTX graphics.

Personally, I think one of DaVinci Resolve Studio's biggest attractions is just how much creative freedom you get from a single piece of software. From editing cinematic footage and producing compelling short-form content to applying professional color grades and cleaning up audio, it's a remarkably complete package. The addition of AI-powered features such as Magic Mask, SuperScale, and Speed Warp only makes that proposition more appealing, particularly for creators who want professional-looking results without spending hours working through complicated editing processes.

And it's not just the software that's getting a discount. Blackmagic Design is also offering 20% off a selection of DaVinci Resolve editing keyboards and color control panels, giving editors and colorists the opportunity to build a more professional hands-on workflow for less. However, you'll need to be quick, as these special prices are only available through participating Blackmagic Design resellers until Friday, November 20, 2026, with hardware offers subject to availability. At just £185 instead of £225, DaVinci Resolve Studio is certainly worth considering if you're serious about taking your video editing to the next level.

Firmware version 1.0.6.1 for the Canon EOS C50 is seemingly the most important of the update. According to Canon, the new firmware “fixes an issue” where image recording to the memory card may not complete while shooting in Photo mode.

That’s to say, some users were finding that their still images were not saving when using the EOS C50 for photos rather than video. Photo mode enables capturing 32MP full-frame images at up to 40fps, with RAW, C-RAW, HEIF and JPEG support.

Canon EOS Firmware Downloads

Firmware version 1.0.6.1 (Canon EOS C50)

Firmware version 1.0.8.1 (Canon EOS C80)

Firmware version 1.0.8.1 (Canon EOS C400)

It’s a good idea to hold off downloading the latest firmware for a few weeks. This should give enough time for any new issues to arise in community chatter and for Canon to address them. Keep an eye on Digital Camera World, and we'll let you know about any problems.

The other new firmware release, version 1.0.8.1, brings a pair of updates to the EOS C80 and EOS C400 cameras. Canon says that the latest firmware “enhances IP streaming security” and “corrects display problems" in some language environments.

IP streaming enables you to livestream video from your EOS camera directly over Wi-Fi or Ethernet to computers, decoders or online platforms. The camera's manufacturer says that the EOS C50 has also benefited from this upgrade through its respective firmware update.

That’s it for this Canon firmware bulletin. Seemingly routine stuff regarding the bolstered IP streaming security and corrected language display bugs, but surely a much-welcomed development for EOS C50 users finding that their still images had disappeared.

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Whether you're a filmmaker, content creator, photographer, or someone looking to take your editing to the next level, this is an excellent opportunity to get your hands on some seriously powerful software for less.

DaVinci Resolve Studio has become one of the most impressive all-in-one creative platforms available, combining professional video editing, color grading, visual effects, motion graphics, audio post-production, and now photo editing into a single application. Rather than jumping between different programs, everything you need is right at your fingertips, making it an incredibly appealing option for anyone working with both stills and moving images. And while there's already a fantastic free version of DaVinci Resolve, the Studio edition unlocks a whole collection of advanced features, including some particularly impressive AI-powered tools.

What makes this deal even more interesting is that Blackmagic Design has also announced significant performance improvements for users running the latest Apple M6 and NVIDIA RTX Spark processors. According to the company, AI SuperScale is almost 70% faster when upscaling HD footage to 8K on an M6-powered Mac compared with the M5, while AI Speed Warp delivers improvements of more than 60%. Windows users haven't been forgotten either, with DaVinci Resolve 21.1 bringing support for NVIDIA RTX Spark systems, delivering AI Magic Mask tracking that's up to 17 times faster and AI Speed Warp performance that's up to 41 times faster than on ARM-based Windows laptops without NVIDIA RTX graphics.

Personally, I think one of DaVinci Resolve Studio's biggest attractions is just how much creative freedom you get from a single piece of software. From editing cinematic footage and producing compelling short-form content to applying professional color grades and cleaning up audio, it's a remarkably complete package. The addition of AI-powered features such as Magic Mask, SuperScale, and Speed Warp only makes that proposition more appealing, particularly for creators who want professional-looking results without spending hours working through complicated editing processes.

And it's not just the software that's getting a discount. Blackmagic Design is also offering 20% off a selection of DaVinci Resolve editing keyboards and color control panels, giving editors and colorists the opportunity to build a more professional hands-on workflow for less. However, you'll need to be quick, as these special prices are only available through participating Blackmagic Design resellers until Friday, November 20, 2026, with hardware offers subject to availability. At just $236 instead of $295, DaVinci Resolve Studio is certainly worth considering if you're serious about taking your video editing to the next level.

The Oppo Find X9 Pro and Find X9 Ultra were two of my favorite photography phones of the past 12 months, so I have been keenly awaiting the Find X10 Pro Max. Though, I do wish Oppo could have found a slightly more original name than Pro Max, which has become the default designation for seemingly every phone manufacturer this year.

The X10 Pro Max's headline this year is an industry-first triple-200MP camera system, with a new Samsung sensor for the main camera and a massive resolution increase for the ultrawide. Oppo has also introduced a new image processing engine designed to produce more natural-looking photos, alongside an updated Hasselblad teleconverter accessory.

With the iPhone 18 Pro Max continuing to set the standard for smartphone video, and incredible photography-focused phones coming out of China from the likes of Vivo and Xiaomi, the Find X10 Pro Max is entering an incredibly competitive market. So, can Oppo continue to distinguish itself from the competition, or have we reached a point where the differences between generations are becoming increasingly difficult to spot?

Specifications

Price & Availability

With no deals, the Oppo Find X10 Pro 12GB+512GB costs £1,499 / €1,799. Which is considerably more expensive than the previous generation. There have been price rises across the board this generation as the ongoing memory crisis hits everyone, and unsurprisingly Oppo isn't excluded, but this is quite a substantial leap for the benefit of those three 200MP sensors.

Although, this is no more than the iPhone 18 Pro Max when configured with 512GB of storage, and is slightly more than a 512GB Samsung Galaxy S26+. But I think the biggest challenge facing Oppo isn't necessarily convincing people that its cameras are good enough, but convincing them to move away from brands and ecosystems they already know, which is a mountain to climb without undercutting rivals on cost.

However, buying directly from Oppo might mean you don't pay that headline amount. Trade-ins can reduce the price significantly, and for Oppo upgraders, Oppo is offering a £250 trade-in bonus for Oppo and OnePlus devices (plus an additional £100 before Oct 28). At the current advertised trade-in price for an Oppo X9 Pro (up to £390), plus the £350 bonus, it can actually reduce the price of the X10 Pro Max to around £759, which is more reasonable.

Oppo is also giving away a free gift at launch. You can choose from either the Hasselblad telephoto adapter, Oppo X3 watch, or Oppo Pad 5, any of which sweetens the deal, even if it doesn't reduce the initial outlay.

Design

After a pretty major revamp last year, Oppo has further built upon the design introduced with the Find X9 Pro, its a good looking phone, but mostly I am just glad it hasn't become another Apple clone.

Last year's move away from the large central camera circle to a smaller square camera island in the top corner made the phone look considerably tidier, while also keeping the lenses away from where my fingers naturally rest when holding the device. The X10 Pro Max camera housing now adds an additional smaller island alongside it, accommodating the flash and Oppo's dedicated True Color Camera. The result is effectively a double camera bump.

The camera islands might not be to everyone's taste, and they might make finding a protective case a little trickier. Some of Oppo's official cases don't bother to go between the islands, but the included silicone case and the telephoto adapter case both do a good job of following the contours of both camera bumps.

I have been testing the Luna White version, which is my favorite of the two available finishes (the other being Titanium Grey). The attention to detail is excellent, from the small engraving on the secondary island to the silver knurled metallic camera bump with a subtle orange accent. The back combines different visual textures for a camera-inspired look, although I wish the textures were tactile as well.

The construction feels good; there is a matte aluminum frame and textured glass back that feel reassuringly premium in the hand, and the phone has IP66, IP68, and IP69 ratings for dust and water resistance, while Oppo also claims improved drop durability thanks to Crystal Guard Glass on the front and back.

Despite the camera hardware and substantial battery, the Find X10 Pro Max has not become dramatically heavier than its predecessor. The international Luna White model weighs 233g, around 9g more than the Find X9 Pro, although the European version is lighter at 226g due to a smaller battery. At 8.4mm thick, it is a substantial device, but not unusually so compared with other flagship phones, and I have found it perfectly comfortable to carry and use.

Oppo has also finally removed the dedicated camera control button found on the previous generation, which I am personally pleased about. I have never found these touch-sensitive camera controls especially useful, whether on an Oppo or an iPhone. I certainly won't miss it.

The customizable Snap Key remains on the left-hand side, however, and this is a button I genuinely like. I have mine configured to quickly turn on Do Not Disturb mode, but it can also launch the camera, open AI Mind Space, activate the flashlight, or perform various other functions. Being able to choose what the button does makes it considerably more useful.

One feature I am really disappointed to see missing once again is built-in Qi2 magnetic charging. Oppo supports very fast 50W AIRVOOC wireless charging (only with a compatible charger), and magnetic charging is possible using a compatible case, but I have accumulated a selection of Qi2 accessories that I would really like to use directly with the phone. Oppo says integrating magnets would require compromises to the battery capacity, but personally, I would happily trade a little of the ginormous battery capacity for built-in magnetic charging.

Display

The Find X10 Pro Max has a 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED display with a 2772 x 1272 resolution, which works out to a very sharp 450ppi. It also features impressively slim 1.15mm symmetrical bezels and a completely flat panel. It also supports a wider BT.2020 color gamut, with Oppo claiming 95% coverage, alongside 10-bit color depth and Dolby Vision.

I have very little to complain about here. The screen is bright, beautifully sharp, and extremely colorful, with excellent viewing angles that make it great for reviewing photos and video on the move. Oppo quotes a peak brightness of 3,600 nits, while the adaptive refresh rate runs up to 120Hz in normal use and can reach 144Hz in supported apps and games.

There are plenty of controls for adjusting the display, including softer or more vivid color profiles and manual color temperature adjustments, which I particularly appreciate for being able to tune the screen so photographs look more consistent between my phone and MacBook.

Oppo has also included a fairly comprehensive selection of eye-care features, including 3,840Hz PWM dimming, blue light reduction, and a minimum brightness of just one nit. There is even an AI-powered eye-care system that can suggest viewing distances and remind you to blink, although that might be a little more assistance than I personally need from my phone.

Camera Performance

I've praised Oppo's camera systems a lot over the past few years, and the Find X10 Pro Max gives me plenty more reasons to continue doing so. This is an outstanding photography phone, with three genuinely excellent cameras producing some of the sharpest, most detailed, and most consistent images I have taken on a smartphone.

The headline hardware upgrade is the triple-200MP camera system, with a new 1/1.3-inch Samsung ISOCELL HPC sensor for the 24mm main camera, alongside two 1/1.56-inch ISOCELL HP5 sensors for the 13mm ultrawide and 70mm periscope telephoto. The latter retains the 3x focal length of the previous generation, while the high-resolution sensor can also crop to 6x while retaining 50MP of resolution.

These are impressively substantial sensors, especially for the ultrawide, which has historically been the weak link in many smartphone camera systems. All three cameras are capable of producing excellent results.

In the standard Photo mode, images are sharp and clear, with well-balanced exposure and colors.

Oppo has also made improvements to its LUMO True Image Engine, aided by a dedicated 24-channel True Color Camera that analyzes the colors in a scene to improve white balance and color reproduction.

The sharpening and HDR have been toned down to look more natural. Images aren't quite as "camera-like" as photos shot using Hasselblad Master Mode (which we'll get into in a second), but they have the photos look nowhere near as intensely processed as the previous generation, or indeed other brands, but it really hasn't affected the X10's ability to get a good shot even in challenging situations.

I have been particularly impressed by the consistency between the lenses. Switching from the main camera to the ultrawide or telephoto barely changes the overall appearance of the scene, which is something even the best smartphones still can struggle with.

Hasselblad Master Mode

I really cannot overstate how much I like Oppo's Hasselblad Master Mode, and it remains the main reason I now regularly choose an Oppo phone as my personal device. The results are some of the most "camera-like" photographs you can capture on a smartphone.

While the standard camera mode is really toned down this year, occasionally it still produces images that are a little too sharp or HDR for my tastes, but Master Mode takes an even more restrained approach to processing. Contrast looks more natural, colors are true-to-life, and fine details keep their texture without the artificial sharpening applied.

I think only the Xiaomi-Leica partnership comes close to producing this kind of authentic, less-processed look straight out of a phone.

Master Mode is also the place to go for manual shooting controls, and it supports high-resolution JPEG and RAW capture. Frustratingly, though, you still can't save a JPEG and RAW file simultaneously, which would be a hugely useful addition for photographers who want an immediately shareable image alongside a file for more extensive editing later – and it's something most other phones and cameras can do.

Looks, macro, and camera assistant

Oppo has expanded its collection of photographic presets, with 18 looks available through its LUMO Color Palette. There are some genuinely good options here, and I especially like Bold B&W, inspired by Kodak TX400, and Primrose, which has something of a Kodak Portra-inspired appearance.

The presets can also be customized, making them much more useful and personalizable. Although the customization is moderate, it would be great to be able to tweak the S-curve or individual colors.

Also, almost criminally, there is still no way to add film grain. Having several filters designed to recreate film without the ability to add grain feels like a glaring omission.

There is also no option to rearrange the filters or hide them, which means I have to swipe through a ridiculous number (seriously, 11 swipes) every time I want to use the Bold B&W look, which is often frustrating enough to just not use them. Luckily, you can just shoot in standard mode and apply these filters in the gallery app, but it's not the same as shooting for the strengths of a particular filter in the moment.

Macro photography is outstanding, with really nice natural-looking depth of field and a surprising amount of fine detail.

The ultrawide lens can focus as close as 4cm, but I much prefer using the telephoto camera, which offers telemacro and a much more flattering perspective. It also allows me to keep a little distance from the subject so as to not cast a shadow or block out light, which is very beneficial for sensors this size.

You can even shoot macro images at 6x thanks to the in-sensor crop from the 200MP resolution still producing a huge amount of detail.

There is also a kind of automated focus-stacking option for macro photography, which can extend the depth of field beyond what would normally be possible. It works reasonably well, although I did notice occasional faint lines of blur across the frame where the software hadn't managed to combine the images perfectly.

Oppo also has an AI-powered composition guide called LUMO Framing, which analyzes the scene and suggests ways to improve your framing. It actually works reasonably well, and I found myself not necessarily disagreeing with its suggestions, although I do think it takes some of the originality and enjoyment out of photography when the phone starts telling you exactly how to compose every photograph.

Hasselblad teleconverter

Oppo has once again released a Hasselblad teleconverter accessory for the X10 Pro Max, which extends the built-in 3x telephoto camera to approximately 10x optical magnification or 20x with in-sensor cropping.

The new version is essentially the same concept as the teleconverter available for the Find X9 Pro, although Oppo has updated the exterior to better complement the silver/white finish of the X10 Pro Max. It now has a silver metal body with orange accents, accompanied by a matching silver tripod foot.

The build quality is excellent, with solid metal construction that feels substantial without being excessively heavy. However, the silver finish also seems rather susceptible to scuffs, and I managed to mark mine quite a lot during just a few weeks of testing.

Unfortunately, Oppo appears to have ignored almost all the criticism of its mounting system from last year, which is disappointing.

The teleconverter attaches to a special mount built into a case, which has a small sliding cover that moves over the camera array. This cover allows the external lens to be attached, but it also obstructs the other cameras, meaning you must constantly remove or replace it whenever you want to switch back to normal shooting.

It is an awkward solution, made worse by the fact that the little cover can be potentially lost quite easily, rendering the already expensive teleconverter accessory useless until you buy a replacement.

Vivo, Honor, and even Oppo itself with the Find X9 Ultra have already demonstrated teleconverter mounting systems with cutouts that leave the other cameras accessible, so I really don't understand why Oppo hasn't adopted the same approach here.

There are other restrictions too. The teleconverter can only be used in its dedicated camera mode, meaning it isn't compatible with Hasselblad Master Mode, Night mode, long exposures, slow motion, or Pro Video mode. Not being able to use my preferred shooting mode is a particularly frustrating limitation, especially if I want to mix video shot in Pro mode and with footage from the teleconverter, which have noticeably different looks. Other rival phone brands do let you use their teleconverters in nearly any camera mode, so Oppo is behind the curve here.

The X10 tele is also incompatible with the teleconverter developed for the Find X9 Ultra – if you were thinking of picking one up for its superior focal length. Both phones have different sensor sizes and flange distance, although given that interchangeable-lens camera manufacturers have been accommodating different sensor sizes with shared lens mounts for decades, I don't believe this is an insurmountable engineering problem.

All this said, the actual optics are outstanding. Considering underneath its still a phone with a phone-sized sensor, image quality is incredible and there is a suprising amount of really nice depth of field. At 10x and 20x sharpness is very good, Oppo's new LUMO engine applies a little artificial sharpening, but not so much that it looks over-processed (although again, I would love to use this lens in Master Mode). At 40x AI has kicked in and you can see a bit more of that processing in play as its sharpend up and texture is smoothened out a little.

Video performance

Overall, Oppo's video capabilities are very technically impressive. All three rear cameras can now record 8K at 30fps or 4K at 120fps, while the new Pro Video mode includes O-Log2 recording, support for custom LUTs, and professional manual controls. Oppo has also introduced Open Gate recording across all three rear cameras, allowing the sensor area and reframe footage into different aspect ratios during editing.

Open Gate is a particularly welcome addition, although it is only accessible through Pro Video mode, which means you have to work within that mode's image profiles. It would have been great to see this in the regular video mode as well, as I frequently just want to shoot clean, simple video without worrying about settings.

Electronic enhanced stabilization is also unavailable when shooting Open Gate, leaving only the optical stabilization. Lots of brands don't support this, so it's not unexpected, but Panasonic has managed to provide both EIS and Open Gate in its cameras, so I am holding out hope this could be possible on Oppo phones in the future.

Oppo has also partnered with Blackmagic to optimize the Blackmagic Camera app for the Find X10 series, including support for professional controls, O-Log2, and Open Gate. Although this isn't available at launch, it is currently scheduled for November.

In the regular video mode, footage from the X10 Pro Max is really nice. I mostly shot at 4K30, and it is incredibly sharp at the optical focal lengths of all three cameras; colors are punchy but not oversaturated, and there is a good HDR balance, keeping details in both the highlights and shadows without the highs being searingly bright.

I would prefer my video to be more contrasty; the default video processing raises shadows more than I would like. You can't manually tweak colors and contrast in normal mode; you can apply Oppo's presets, but this limits video to 1080p.

However, there is also Pro Mode, which by default gives footage a much more, well, pro look to it. In both the standard SDR and HDR settings, I found colors are more true-to-life, although much more muted than in normal video (but this can easily be changed in post). Contrast is also much better; it allows shadows to be dark, and there is just more richness in the footage.

You also get full manual control if you want to attach an ND filter to get a 180º shutter angle. I think Oppo is also missing a trick in not making ND filters that slide onto its Hasselblad camera case. It would be a much more elegant solution than clipping a 67mm circular filter over the phone.

There is also O-Log2, and should you wish to import your own LUTs, you can, or there are SDR and HDR pre-loaded, which give really nice results and should take advantage of the full dynamic range of the sensor, although I do struggle to see any significant differences between the HDR setting and O-Log with the HLG LUT.

One area I did find the X10 struggled with a little was skin tones. In different modes, my skin tone would shift a bit. In normal video, I was always a little red, while Pro SDR mode was more accurate, but HDR washed me out. With the true-color camera, I hoped this would be a little more consistent.

Autofocus is good; it's incredibly quick, and it can lock onto people. However, it can be quite skittish. It's really not confident about holding focus, often twitching at the slightest movement. I could manually lock focus, but that only really works when the subject (or me) isn't moving. I really wish there was an Oppo version of deep tracking as you find on a DJI Osmo Pocket, or I could set a specific focus area like with a digital camera.

Optical image stabilization is generally good for holding a static shot, although I found it a bit stiff and jerky when trying to pan smoothly, and it can't keep up with heavy movement. But there is also enhanced stabilization, which comes at a slight crop, but produces very smooth footage and it predicts movement well.

I did notice some jello-like distortion when trying to shoot at longer focal lengths handheld with the stabilization. This is particularly obvious with the teleconverter lens attached, which I would probably try to avoid if possible when shooting serious footage, but for more casual shots the telephoto adapter stabilization is incredibly impressive.

Phone Performance

The Find X10 Pro Max is powered by MediaTek's flagship Dimensity 9600 Pro processor, built on TSMC's new 2nm process, and it is an absolute powerhouse in everyday use. Moving between demanding apps, processing high-resolution photographs, editing video, and working through the usual day-to-day tasks has been completely effortless.

Oppo doesn't make full use of every headline capability of the Dimensity 9600 Pro, as the phone lacks the chipset's 4K 240fps video recording ability, but this is hardly a dealbreaker, as I am sure it would have caused compromises with the phones 200MP sensor – which I'd rather have.

Battery life and charging

Like its predecessor, battery life is one of the Find X10 Pro Max's biggest strengths, and I continue to be impressed by how much endurance Oppo manages to squeeze into its designs.

Battery capacity does vary depending on the market, with the international model receiving an enormous 8,000mAh silicon-carbon battery, while European models are limited to 7,150mAh. The latter is actually smaller than the 7,500mAh battery found in last year's Find X9 Pro.

In my own testing (I have the 8,000mAh version), with normal usage, I can get two days between charges, while even on days spent heavily photographing and filming, I am easily getting a full day, which just gives the freedom from constantly worrying about finding somewhere to charge my phone.

Charging is fast, with support for 80W SUPERVOOC wired charging and 50W AIRVOOC wireless charging, with the right SUPERVOOC chargers. Oppo also supports up to 55W USB Power Delivery with compatible third-party chargers.

Software and editing

Oppo's ColorOS 17, built on Android 17, has had a bit of a glow-up, quite literally. There are some new glowing and translucent interface elements that clearly take inspiration from Apple's Liquid Glass design. Oppo does give you some control over these appearances, including the ability to reduce transparency and tone down or turn off some of the visual effects.

I really like how ColorOS looks; it also manages to strike a good balance between offering some customization and remaining simple to navigate. One small change I particularly appreciate is that the Google Search bar has moved to the bottom of the home screen, removing some of the awkward wasted space that previously surrounded the page indicators.

Oppo's built-in photos app is also excellent, with comprehensive adjustments for color, exposure, and lighting, alongside an increasingly extensive range of AI-powered tools.

There are familiar options such as AI Eraser, generative expansion, AI Unblur, and reflection removal. Some are more effective than others. The reflection removal tool is probably my most used, it manages to just tone down unwanted reflections from windows and other reflective surfaces convincingly without using a lot of gen-AI to invent detail that wasn't there.

The generative AI tools remain a little more hit-and-miss. They can produce perfectly passable results when used sparingly. Below then asked to just remove a couple of smalll people from a shot, I don't think you could tell any AI has been used.

However, it has its limits if you ask it to erase larger areas. Looking closely often reveals repeating textures, unnatural patterns, and details that don't match the original photograph. Generative expansion is especially vulnerable to these issues.

Final Verdict

The Oppo Find X10 Pro Max continues Oppo's run of producing some of the best camera phones on the market, and when it comes to still photography, there are very few smartphones I would rather have in my pocket.

The new triple-200MP camera system is outstanding, but the resolutions aren't necessarily what makes it great. What I appreciate most is the way Oppo processes images, especially using Hasselblad Master Mode, which strips away so much of the artificial processing that continues to make smartphone photographs look like smartphone photographs. Although I have a love/hate relationship with the Hasselblad teleconverter, which optically is a fantastic accessory undermined by an unnecessarily awkward mounting system and too many software limitations.

The biggest issue is the price. The X10 Pro Max is an expensive phone. It is not more expensive than Apple's or Samsung's similarly specced phones, and it's camera hardware supasses both, but

Alternatives

The updates bring new controls and usability improvements to the GR IV and GR IV HDF, including greater control over AF (autofocus) point memory, User Modes and wireless connectivity.

The GR IV Monochrome also gets these updates, alongside a new Solarized Effect that lets photographers create surreal black-and-white images in-camera.

Ricoh GR IV / GR IV HDF

Version 1.20
Download link for Windows+Mac

Short overview: enhancements and fixes
- The “AF Point” option has been added to Customize Settings → Memory
- Added [Restore User Mode Settings] to [1] USER Mode under Menu > Customize Settings
- Added [Connection While Power Off] to the Wireless Communication Settings under Menu > Setup > [6] Communication Settings
- Added the certification mark required for use in India
- You can now change the end screen displayed when the camera is turned off using the smart device app GR WORLD
- Improved stability for general performance

Find all info and imagery on the updates here.

Ricoh GR IV Monochrome

Version 1.10
Download link for Windows+Mac

Short overview: enhancements and fixes
- Added the [Solarized Effect] Image Control
- Added [AF Point] to [Mode Memory] under Menu > Custom Settings > [2] Operation Customization
- Added [Restore USER Mode Settings] to [1] USER Mode under Menu > Custom Settings
- Added [Connection When Power Off] to the Wireless Communication Settings under Menu > Setup > [6] Communication Settings
- Added the certification mark required for use in India
- You can now change the end screen displayed when the camera is turned off using the smart device app GR WORLD
- Improved stability for general performance

Find all info and imagery on the updates here.

Pro Advice

If you caught Episode 4 of Bokeh Face: Digital Camera World podcast, above, we discussed the best time to install firmware updates, why they matter, and what issues they can cause. It's a helpful listen if you're unsure when – or if ever – you should update.

It's smart to wait a week or two after release to see if any users hit snags. In the past, brands have had a few hiccups with major updates – for instance, introducing memory-setting bugs or minor interface glitches before being reissued.

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What are the differences between the Ricoh GR series cameras

• iPhone Duo on-the-day queues started 49 hours before opening in New York
• Some pre-orders have had delivery times improved
• Apple have cancelled orders that are 'suspicious' to help meet demand

According to sources from the Apple Store chain, though, stock should have arrived in stores by Tuesday, when the boxes are then opened and audited. (Each store has an allocation for pre-orders and for demo units – the big question is what might be left.)

More than one person on x, including Lexus C, has taken pictures of people queuing outside the stores with more than a night ahead of them and reports that they said they didn't have a pre-order.

Some leakers have definitely been opening the boxes...

The internet is not short of unboxing videos too, so some are definitely on the way!

In terms of Demo units the allocation is expected to be high (which might disappoint people who actually want one). Mark Gurman said that the Fifth Avenue store alone is expected to have 150 units for demo (whether they'll all be out or the hinges mean it's necessary to keep a few spare is not something he comments on!)

Initial orders, incidentally, were sold out in 1 minute according to research by @YCBETA. If, like me, Apple didn't even let you in until 7 minutes past, you'd be bound to be in December! Others who had been waiting on the site were let in immediately, as it if were a lottery.

Nevertheless queues have already been seen forming outside Apple Stores.

Is Apple cancelling orders of the iPhone Duo?

Short answer: Yes. Some customers have reported that their orders have been cancelled online.

Why is the more important question. It seems Apple has decided that ordering more than 2 iPhone Duos (or, according to @techdroider more than any two iPhones in the last 12 months) makes someone a potential scalper and, in order to improve supply for 'genuine' customers, others are being dropped.

Is Apple's cancellation of iPhone Duo orders speeding things up for others?

The only evidence I've seen online is from some (apparently all US-based) customers reporting they have received emails with better delivery times from Apple, headed "There's been a change to your order".

Other than the country, I've not seen any very consistent evidence; one husband and wife reported that one of their orders had been improved but not the other!

We examined iPhone Duo availability before the 'store unboxings' – we'll keep you posted on changes.

For years, Google was one of the leaders in smartphone photography, but increasingly it faces serious competition from Chinese manufacturers such as Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi, which have been investing heavily in larger sensors, more ambitious telephoto cameras, and partnerships with established photography brands. Meanwhile, Apple continues to set a very high standard for smartphone video.

The Google Pixel 11 Pro XL is the latest and largest flagship in Google's lineup, sitting alongside the smaller Pixel 11 Pro, which shares essentially the same camera capabilities. This year's updates include a new Tensor G6 processor, upgraded main and telephoto sensors, a brighter display, and several AI-powered camera features, including Magic Capture and more extensive controls over how your photos look.

However, with a higher asking price and some increasingly fierce competition, the question is whether Google's famously reliable approach to photography is still enough to make the Pixel 11 Pro XL one of the best camera phones you can buy.

Specifications

Price & Availability

The Google Pixel 11 Pro XL launched starting at $1,299 / £1,279 / €1,399 / AU$2,099 for the base 256GB model. Google has thankfully dropped the 128GB starting capacity of earlier generations, although the base model now comes with 12GB of RAM rather than the 16GB offered by last year's Pro XL.

It's another price increase without any particularly significant hardware changes. The ongoing memory shortage might help explain some of the increased cost, but Google is a trillion-dollar company, and I can't help thinking it could absorb a little more of the burden.

At $1,299, the Pixel 11 Pro XL costs the same as the iPhone 18 Pro Max, however, its camera hardware isn't nearly as ambitious as what you'll find in some similarly priced models from Oppo, Vivo, or Xiaomi, while its processing power and battery endurance also lag behind several rivals. Google is increasingly asking customers to pay a premium for its software experience, rather than offering the best hardware for the money.

Design

Google hasn't made any dramatic changes to the Pixel 11 Pro XL's design, and at first glance, it looks almost identical to the previous several generations of Pixel phones. The flat front and rear panels, rounded corners, and distinctive horizontal camera bar are all present, with only a few refinements to differentiate this year's model.

I'm not sure where Google can really go from here, though. The camera bar has become such a recognizable part of the Pixel's identity that changing it dramatically would almost seem counterintuitive, especially when so many other manufacturers are still experimenting with camera islands but no one has landed on the same design yet.

Personally, I still really love the Pixel's design. The camera bar is one of my favorite elements because it sits high enough on the back that my fingers rarely get in the way when taking photographs, and I don't constantly find myself cleaning fingerprints off the lenses.

The Pixel 11 Pro XL is made from a polished aluminum frame sandwiched between Gorilla Glass Victus 2 panels, with a silky matte finish on the rear. It's a substantial phone at 226g, although it's a little lighter than some competing large-screen flagships, and the IP68 rating provides protection against dust and water.

Google has also introduced some lovely new colors this year, including Canyon, Fog, Olive, and Obsidian. I have the Olive, which combines a muted green rear panel with gold-toned metal edges. I think it's a gorgeous combination, adding a little personality without being overly flashy.

One of the biggest physical changes is the removal of the previous temperature sensor, which was always a fairly questionable addition, in favor of Google's new HiLight system. This surrounds the camera flash with a ring of colored LEDs, which can be used for displaying notifications or glow in different patterns when Gemini is listening or responding, while you can also assign individual colors to your favorite contacts so you know who's calling without looking at the screen.

It's a neat idea, and it's a more useful take on notification lights that used to be a feature of many Android phones several years back. However, I haven't found the Gemini integration particularly useful. When I'm talking to Gemini, I have my screen open about 99% of the time anyway, so I can already see what it's doing without needing a light on the back.

The other welcome design addition is Pixelsnap, Google's magnetic accessory system that works much like Apple's MagSafe. This was introduced with last year's Pixel generation, and it remains one of my favorite recent Android features.

It allows the Pixel to attach to compatible magnetic chargers, stands, wallets, and other accessories without needing a special case. I love the simplicity of MagSafe, and it has always frustrated me that Android manufacturers have been so slow to embrace something so useful. Google deserves some credit for bringing it to the Pixel, and I hope more manufacturers follow.

On the front, the Pixel 11 Pro XL has a 6.8-inch Super Actua OLED display with a 1344 x 2992 resolution and an adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz. This is easily one of my favorite screens on any smartphone. It's sharp, clear, and has vibrant colors that pop without being excessively saturated. I've also found its color reproduction particularly accurate when reviewing photographs.

Google has increased peak brightness to 3,600 nits this year, and the improvement over last year's model is noticeable. I've had no problems seeing the screen outdoors, even in bright sunlight.

Google also claims its new anti-scratch coating makes the display more than twice as resistant to scratches as its predecessor. I managed to scratch the screen on my previous Pixel relatively easily and even cracked it after a comparatively minor drop, so durability is something I'm particularly interested in this time around. After around a month of use, my Pixel 11 Pro XL's display still looks as good as new, although obviously that isn't enough to prove Google's claims conclusively.

Camera Performance

Google's approach to smartphone photography continues to rely on a mix of computational photography and relatively modest camera hardware. The Pixel 11 Pro XL has a 50MP main camera, 48MP ultrawide, and 48MP 5x telephoto, with the most meaningful hardware improvement coming from a larger telephoto sensor. There is also a 42MP ultrawide front-facing camera with autofocus.

In terms of outright optical quality, I don't think the Pixel is quite competing at the very top of the smartphone market. I've tested phones with larger sensors and substantially higher-resolution telephoto cameras that can extract more genuine detail from a scene.

Pixel photos also have a very distinctive smartphone photography aesthetic, and while the results are consistently pleasing, they don't necessarily have the same character or natural depth that I can get from some competing Chinese camera phones with their camera brand-tuned processing.

However, where Google continues to impress me is consistency. The Pixel 11 Pro XL produces remarkably reliable photographs, and I can almost always trust that whatever I point it at will come back looking good.

Image quality

The 50MP main camera is excellent, particularly when it comes to color reproduction, exposure, and dynamic range. Photographs have a very recognizable Pixel look, with balanced colors, plenty of detail, and an HDR processing style that manages to preserve bright highlights without completely flattening shadows.

When it comes to telephoto, I'm still undecided about whether I prefer a 3x, 4x, or 5x telephoto camera for everyday photography, but Google makes a convincing argument for the longer focal length.

Photographs at 5x have excellent sharpness and detail, with the same pleasing colors and reliable exposure as the main camera. It's particularly useful for picking out subjects in the distance, and the upgraded sensor gives better results in lower light.

Google also offers its AI-powered Pro Zoom, which extends digital magnification up to an frankly silly 120x. I've been very impressed by how effectively this can clean up fine details and improve the definition of distant subjects, particularly when there's enough genuine information in the original image for the software to work with. Google simply works on enhancing information rather than using gen-AI to invent detail that wasn't there, and I think this is one of the best implementations of AI zoom.

The ultrawide camera is also surprisingly good. In good light, photographs are sharp, colorful, and well balanced. In low light, it also struggles more than the main and telephoto cameras, with finer textures becoming noticeably softer.

I also really appreciate how consistent the Pixel is between its cameras. Switching between the main and telephoto lenses doesn't result in dramatic color or exposure differences.

Looks and Macro

Google has introduced a new Camera Looks system that allows you to customize image processing. There are four new default options: Standard, Natural, Shadows, and Vanilla, alongside several additional creative styles.

Standard is the same Pixel processing we know and love, while Natural produces slightly flatter, less saturated photographs, Shadows creates a moodier image with deeper shadow tones, and Vanilla is noticeably warmer, which I actually think it comes closest to the default photographic style I get from an iPhone.

There's an impressive amount of customization available, and I appreciate the depth you can go to with tweaking a look. Although I find the implementation can be a little confusing.

You effectively have two layers of looks, with the default processing options and then additional creative styles that can be applied on top. There are a lot of style combinations to play with, but it's almost overwhleming, it's not immediately obvious how to layer them.

Macro photography is fine, with the Pixel switching between its ultrawide and telephoto cameras depending on the shooting distance. However, I don't think the results quite compete with the best close-up photography I've seen from recent Oppo and Vivo flagships, particularly in terms of fine detail and sharpness, results look heavily processed.

Magic Capture

Perhaps the most interesting new camera feature is Magic Capture, which allows the Pixel to record video and automatically extract photographs from it using AI. Google analyzes the recorded frames, identifies what it thinks are the best moments, and then processes those selections to improve their quality, attempting to produce results that look like photographs taken in the regular camera mode.

I was genuinely impressed by how well this worked. At normal viewing sizes, many of the selected images looked very close to ordinary photographs, and I can think of plenty of situations where being able to film and photograph something simultaneously would be incredibly useful.

The downside is that Google doesn't always pick the precise moment I would have chosen, and on a few occasions, I missed a particular frame that I wanted. Thankfully, you can go back into the recording and select frames manually, but I could do this with an ordinary video.

There are also some some technical limitations. The video footage is limited to 1080p, and the 4:5 framing isn't ideal for social media. Zooming into some of the extracted photographs also revealed a little motion blur and softness, particularly with moving subjects.

Nevertheless, I think Magic Capture is one of the most genuinely useful AI camera features I've tested recently.

Camera controls

Google's camera app is pretty simple to use, navigation is straightforward, and it's one of the least cluttered camera interfaces on Android.

However, there are some manual Pro controls for photography tucked away in the lower corner of the interface, although Google also lets you customize the viewfinder to display more convenient shortcuts for exposure, shadows, white balance, and image looks.

I still wish Google would just adopt the simple tap-and-slide exposure adjustment used by Apple and several Android manufacturers. It's one of those small features that makes a surprising difference when trying to adjust a photograph quickly, and Google's alternative still feels unnecessarily cumbersome.

Video performance

Video is where the Pixel 11 Pro XL starts to fall behind the competition. The phone is capable of recording 4K video at up to 60fps, as well as 8K through Google's cloud-processed Video Boost feature, but the standard video quality simply isn't as impressive as what I've seen from other flagship phones.

Footage frequently looks oversharpened, and colors can become a little strange. Skin tones don't have the same natural accuracy I get from still photographs, and challenging lighting conditions can produce some odd results.

The results are still very usable, and it's certainly possible to capture good footage, but if I were using a phone for serious filming, the Pixel wouldn't be my first choice.

Google's clearly hoping AI can come to the rescue, and its Video Boost feature uses AI to improve sharpness, color, and lighting after recording, with the footage uploaded to Google Photos for processing. This did noticeably change my videos, although they felt a little more processed afterwards. I'd much rather the Pixel simply recorded better video directly on the device instead of relying on AI to fix it afterward.

It's also disappointing that 4K recording is still limited to 60fps when competitors, including considerably cheaper phones, now offer 4K at 120fps. Are we seeing the limitations of Google's processor here?

Some more positives though, Google has introduced some additions for content creators, including an in-camera teleprompter, audio monitoring, and the ability to save footage directly into individual projects to keep recordings organized and separate from the main camera roll. I like these additions, but I think Google needs to just get better at the fundamentals of video quality.

Phone Performance

The Pixel 11 Pro XL is powered by Google's new Tensor G6 processor, which is an improvement over last year's Tensor G5 but still falls some way behind the fastest flagship chips from Apple and Qualcomm in raw processing power.

However, I increasingly think we've reached a point where most smartphone processors are all so good that the differences between them are becoming almost impossible to notice in ordinary use. The Pixel 11 Pro XL has never felt slow to me. Navigating through Android, switching between apps, browsing the web, and editing photographs all feel smooth, and I haven't experienced any significant frustrations with performance.

I also think Google's version of Android is the cleanest and most enjoyable to use. Android 17 is simple, everything is logically arranged, and there is none of the unnecessary bloatware or duplicate applications that can make some other Android phones feel cluttered.

Face Unlock has also been excellent, recognizing me quickly and reliably throughout testing, while Google's promise of seven years of operating system and security updates is reassuring for anyone planning to keep their phone for several years.

AI photo editing

Unsurprisingly, AI is a major focus of the Pixel 11 Pro XL when it comes to editing tools.

I actually quite enjoyed Google's AI-enhanced automatic editing, which makes relatively subtle improvements to exposure, lighting, and color. I've used similar automatic editing options in countless applications over the years, but Google's implementation actually shows some restraint; most of the edits I tried made photographs look good rather than garish.

Google also offers its conversational editing system, which allows you to describe the changes you want using text or voice commands and have Gemini attempt to carry them out. The feature is impressive in some situations, particularly when adjusting lighting, removing unwanted objects, or changing backgrounds. When I asked Google to change a rainy photograph into a sunny one, it did a surprisingly convincing job, removing puddles from the ground and even introducing people carrying umbrellas into the scene.

But I found it much more limited when attempting more conventional photographic corrections. For example, I couldn't get it to correct the perspective of a building or center a subject within a crop, even though those are relatively straightforward tasks to do manually.

There are also plenty of other tools, including Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur, Portrait Touch Up, moving and resizing subjects, and Google's Best Take feature, which can combine multiple photographs to get a better group shot.

Thankfully, with all this AI, Google does support C2PA Content Credentials, which can record AI edits you make to an image and mark any images in Google Photos where AI has been detected.

Battery life

Battery life is one of my biggest disappointments with the Pixel 11 Pro XL. Google has fitted a 5,115mAh battery. In my regular use, which includes messaging, social media, browsing, photography, and some video recording, the Pixel has been good for around a day, but I've frequently found it entering power-saving mode by the evening.

This simply isn't good enough for a premium flagship phone in 2026, especially when I can get substantially better battery life from some competing devices. Apple's iPhone 18 Pro Max is particularly impressive given its much more efficient use of battery capacity, while manufacturers such as Oppo and Vivo are now offering significantly larger batteries without dramatically increasing the size of their phones.

Google has improved charging, with support for up to 75% battery capacity in approximately 30 minutes when using a compatible 45W or higher USB-C PPS charger. There's also 25W PixelSnap wireless charging, although the charger itself is sold separately.

Final Verdict

There is an awful lot to like about the Google Pixel 11 Pro XL, and after spending a month with it, I'm reminded why I've always had such a soft spot for Google's phones.

I love the design, and Google's clean Android interface also continues to be my favorite version of the operating system, while the new Tensor G6 processor feels effortlessly quick in everyday use, even if it isn't particularly impressive when compared with the fastest chips.

For photography, I still think the Pixel is one of the most dependable camera phones you can buy. The main and telephoto cameras are excellent, colors are consistently natural, and Google's HDR processing produces a remarkably high proportion of photographs that I'm happy with.

I don't think the images are quite as impressive as those from the best Chinese flagships when it comes to outright optical quality or camera-like processing, but there's something to be said for a camera that produces reliably good results without needing any effort. However, video is a substantial weakness, battery life is distinctly average.

Ultimately, I still think the Pixel 11 Pro XL is an excellent phone for anyone who primarily takes photographs, but Google can't continue relying on great software to compensate for increasingly uncompetitive hardware indefinitely.

Alternatives

Another day, and another resourceful gearhead has managed to shoehorn classic 1993 first-person shooter Doom onto an old camera, but that’s not all. Daniel Cook has also managed to port Tetris onto another camera to boot! The news, by way of Fuji Rumors, involves porting the software onto a Fujifilm X-A2 and Fujifilm XF1, with Doom running on the former and Tetris on the latter.

According to the Doom video's description, Cook states: "This was not an easy feat, it took days of debugging bare-metal ARM assembly, not to mention the year of reverse engineering leading to this point."

The Tetris port is particularly interesting because rather than using the d-pad, the positioning of the blocks is performed by physically twisting and turning the camera to make use of its internal movement sensor. You can watch both the Doom and Tetris videos above.

As an avid gamer myself, this entirely useless process tickles my nerdy soul, but it’s not for the fainthearted. Any time you stray from a manufacturer’s official firmware, you risk doing serious damage to your camera and voiding any warranty. This is why these sorts of experiments are almost exclusively carried out on older tech, like the aforementioned Fujifilm cameras.

More useful firmware incoming?

It’s not just video games that are making their way onto older Fujifilm cameras, though. Fuji Rumors also referenced a Reddit post from justice-jake, regarding custom firmware for redundant Fujifilm cameras, in a bid to introduce a plethora of modern features including new Film Simulations, a Film Simulation editor, highlight-weighted metering and more. The Redditor even mentions creating custom firmware for newer Fujifilm cameras such as the Fujifilm X100VI and Fujifilm X-M5.

Again, this carries the exact same risks as any other form of unofficial firmware, but rather than being an exercise in futility, I can certainly understand the appeal of unlocking modern Film Simulations on an older Fujifilm camera.

The news comes following a spate of similar instances, where Doom has been ported onto a Hasselblad X2D 100C camera and a slightly more suspicious claim of the video game running on a Nikon Zf.

If you’re wondering why there’s so much interest in the practice, it’s become a little bit of a techie rite of passage to port Doom onto random consumer electronics, from calculators to pregnancy tests. Yes, you heard that right!

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Want more? I just bought a Fujifilm X-T1. Am I mad? Now you can play Doom on this 16-year-old DSLR! Plus, here's the latest camera news.

Open Eyes is a Quick Action inside the mobile app – Lightroom won’t show the option unless it detects a photo that has the eyes closed. But when that Open Eyes icon appears, Lightroom makes the eye swap in one tap to correct closed eyes inside portraits, selfies, and group shots.

The Open Eyes tool is built with generative AI – which begs the question: how can the AI get things like eye color and shape accurate when that information is not in the original photo?

While Lightroom can generate open eyes without any references, the mobile app also allows users to select reference photos of that same person, in order to generate a set of eyes that more closely match the person’s features.

The new tool uses generative AI to simplify a common photography edit. Photographers have long used platforms like Photoshop to correct a blink by copying a person’s eyes from one photo and pasting them onto another – particularly for group photos where the odds of getting a blink are much higher, even when taking several photographs.

While the new eye-opening tool is built using generative AI, Adobe says that the tool is one of the free tools available inside Lightroom mobile.

Open Eyes is far from the mobile app’s only generative AI tool, joining options like Generative Expand, Generative Remove, and Photo to Video. In the App Store, the iOS version of the app is now listed as “Lightroom: AI Photo Editor.” (On Google Play, the app is Lightroom Photo & Video Editor).

The description looks more like a search term to aid those looking for photo apps in the App Store than an official name change, but some photographers across Reddit and Threads have expressed disappointment over the name change – and the push for generative AI features.

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The teaser came hidden in Adobe’s announcement of a partnership with Nvidia that allows devices with the new RTX Spark chip to edit up to twice as fast across apps like Photoshop and Premiere. During a demo of what the GPU-accelerated workflow could do, Adobe also snuck in a teaser of an entirely new way of working with filters.

Currently, Photoshop’s filters menu applies those changes only to the active, visible layer. But, a future version of Photoshop will allow those filters to act more like a non-destructive layer. That allows creatives to drag and filter in the Layers panel to only apply a Gaussian Blur to the background, for example.

Supported filters will also update in real time on the canvas, adjusted in the Properties panel rather than in a pop-up.

But with those changes, Adobe is also introducing a film-inspired filter: Light leaks. In a demo, the new filter includes presets to get started quickly. Then, in the Properties panel, creators can adjust the pattern, strike amount, and color using sliders.

On the canvas, photo editors can also adjust the size and rotation of the light leak and shift the center point.

Adobe told Digital Camera World that the new light leak filter is not generative AI. The updates to the filters will be coming to every device with a supported GPU and is not exclusive to RTX Spark devices.

Photoshop's AI Assistant may soon build custom filters

While the upcoming light leak filter does not rely on generative AI, Adobe also teased a new feature that allows creators to build their own filter inside Photoshop’s AI Assistant.

In a demo of the upcoming tool, Adobe showed the tool being used to create a custom lens flare filter as well as a rain droplet filter. In both examples, the user can also ask the AI to build in specific sliders to customize the tools that accompany the generated filter.

Adobe says that the updates to Photoshop are expected to “start rolling out later this year.”

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The Parisian-based outfit has just launched the latest incarnation of its image geometry-based photo editing software, and the headline new feature is the ability to combine geometric corrections with AI masking for precise, local edits.

Local geometric corrections

The introduction of AI masking into ReShape Fusion allows users to mask a specific object, such as a tall building, and correct its geometry independently from the rest of the photograph. Traditionally, you’d have to correct the geometry of the entire image by cropping into the frame simultaneously. The introduction of AI masking is designed to prevent that.

Users simply draw a selection box around the intended subject, and DxO ViewPoint 6 will mask it and form a mesh that the user can then manually manipulate to adjust the object's geometry. Rather than a uniform mesh across the entire frame, ViewPoint 6 creates a mesh with control points that sit directly on top of the subject in question.

ViewPoint 6 also boasts more subdivision options, allowing you to tailor the mesh to your exact needs, for example, allowing you to work with finer control points locally, surrounding only your intended subject.

It may seem obvious that this would require some form of genAI to fill in the gaps as the object is moved, but DxO is keen to point out that no AI image generation takes place, stating: “It rearranges the components of the scene the photographer captured rather than recreating them”.

A less exciting, but no less important, new feature is DxO ViewPoint 6’s ability to open RAW files (as well as TIFF and JPEG) when used as standalone software. Rendered in DxO Wide Gamut, lens corrections are applied automatically, and adjustments are made to a sidecar file, so the integrity of the original is always preserved. The software can also be used as a plug-in alongside Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom Classic, and DxO PhotoLab 10.

What is DxO ViewPoint 6?

DxO ViewPoint 6 isn’t just about manually correcting the geometry of an image or subject. It allows users to fix three common barrel distortions: the curvature of straight lines, converging verticals, and stretched subjects.

In addition to ReShape Fusion, the editing outfit is famous for its DxO Modules, in-house laboratory-crafted lens-correction profiles used to automatically correct distortions in just a few clicks. Volume Deformation is designed to fix stretching at the edges of the frame, but without affecting the rest of the image, correcting only what’s needed. It also does so while maintaining image dimensions, thus preventing forced cropping.

The software also includes Horizon Correction to automatically straighten skewed horizons and Miniature Effect, which can be used to add a shallow depth of field to scenes that are far away. This can make real-life scenes look like miniatures by employing a tilt-shift effect.

DxO ViewPoint 6 is available now and priced at $129.99 / £109.99 for a new license or a reduced rate of $84.99 / £69.99 for existing customers upgrading from ViewPoint 5. You can also take advantage of a 30-day free trial.

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The gorgeous Ricoh GR IV 30th Anniversary Edition compact camera is finally on sale – but with only 6,000 being made, you'd better be quick! Once presumed lost forever, these eerie photos show us all what horror movies were like 100 years ago. Plus, here's the latest camera news.

This will come as welcome news for many. I've recently reviewed the powerful Meeting Owl 5 Pro, which brings a lot of power to the range, but also costs $2,599 and isn't the lightest weight device in the range.

By contrast, the new Meeting Owl 5 is much more accessibly priced, and built a little more simply, while still putting out 4K video. The new design also lowers the center of gravity, making it safer.

The sharper new design is – according to Owl – echoed with sharper video, even when people are sat further from the camera. Presumably that is in part assisted by that Qualcomm processor, though the company also makes a point of the AI-powered audio processed by the 8 beamforming microphones.

Admittedly, the inner components might also be a little more modest – the camera's resolution is a lower 20MP – but this is adequate to supply video for a 4K video stream, while the 28.5cm / 11.25 inch tall.

An interesting aspect of the design, which has always had more than a wink to nature thanks to its light-up 'eyes', is that the plastics making up the new design are 45% post-consumer recycled content.

The device is still a little heavier than these at 1.9kg (4.2 lb) , though that is less than the Pro version, already out there, which comes in at 2.0kg (4.4 lb). Admittedly, the original model, and the Owl 3 are more portable 1.2kg (2.6 lb), but can only manage 1080P video.

Owl Labs is keen to indicate the wide compatibility of the new Meeting Owl 5 with professional setups, even if it leaves out the Ethernet port (without an adapter).

Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, Webex, GoToMeeting, Slack are all supported, though the device can be plugged straight into a laptop and act as a webcam too.

At launch, this model has one key thing in common with the non-pro predecessor: if used, it has to be the only camera. The premium pro camera can be connected to an additional model to cover a larger meeting room.

That means it is best suited to sitting in the middle of a huddle meeting of around 8 people, though apparently a software update in 2027 will mimic the features of multi-device pairing from the Meeting Owl 5 Pro.

Specification

Price and Availability

The model we’ve got here is a custom one with a lot more RAM and storage on-board than you’d usually see, but even the lower-specced models aren’t exactly cheap. You’ll be looking at $3,099.99 / £3,499.99 for the version with a top-end CPU, 32GB RAM and a 1TB SSD, $3,549.99 / £2,799.99 for a marginally lesser CPU but 64GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD, and in the UK you can spend £4,299.99 for one with 128GB of RAM and 3TB of storage.

There are a few different CPU and GPU variants available, and you can keep the price down by not buying one with the biggest and best components. The Helios comes in a little cheaper than something like an MSI Stealth 18 HX AI or Razer Blade 18 with similar specs, but all gaming laptops at this level are expensive beasts, and it can be worth seeing what kind of a MacBook Pro you can spec up for a similar amount of money.

Design

The first thing you’ll notice when taking the Predator Helios 18 out of its box is its weight. It’s got a definite presence, and once it’s on your desk you may find yourself rearranging your pen pot and mug to make room for it. If you’re used to a 14- or 15-inch screen it seems significantly larger, and you won’t be wanting to use it on your actual lap for very long. You’ll also need to make sure your transport arrangements are appropriate. Most laptop sleeves, and camera bags with a laptop compartment, are sized for a 15in model at most. You might need to look into a messenger bag, or just an enormous backpack, to hold it while you’re travelling.

It also has a light-up keyboard and logos, and makes a loud noise when you start it up - it’s not exactly a stealthy laptop - but both of these can be turned off, and with its mostly black exterior it won’t look too out of place in a sea of Macs and ultrabooks. The size makes it stand out - there's no disguising an 18in screen - but it’s not too garish.

One point in its favour as a mainly desktop-based machine is that the charging port (the charger is larger than some mini PCs, and will also need to be carefully placed in a bag if you’re taking it with you), HDMI and both Thunderbolt ports are along the back edge of the chassis. This makes for a tidier desk, as they’re not sticking out the side only to bend across to where they’re needed, but makes unplugging a more complicated process. The SD card slot is conveniently placed on the left of the machine near the front, so you can copy your footage easily without needing a card reader (unless you’re using CF Express or something else that’s not SD).

Being a large laptop means that the keyboard can be full-sized, and on the Helios 18 you find a numpad and arrow keys that haven’t been shrunk to fit them in, and the Copilot key to the right of the space bar is bafflingly large, like Acer was worried you might miss it. The trackpad also takes up a large area, though for the most precise edits you’re going to want an external mouse or even a graphics tablet. The 16:10 screen is extremely nice to look at, though using the HDMI or Thunderbolt port to output to something even larger and sharper is a constant temptation when you’re dealing with photos or videos. Acer claims it can display 100% of the DCI-P3 colour gamut, which makes it a pretty good choice for editing or design work, and the 240Hz refresh rate will please anyone who wants to play back their 120fps footage.

Performance

The specs list further up this page should give you a pretty good idea of what the Helios 18 is capable of. Little expense has been spared in the choice of components (and a version with an RTX 5090 is available if you have the cash).

The Core Ultra 9 275HX is a popular CPU for high-end gaming laptops, the 24-core chip made up of eight of Intel’s Performance cores, and 16 of its Efficient ones. This gives it enormous multi-core processing capability to accelerate batch operations in Lightroom, even though the Arrow Lake generation doesn’t support hyper-threading, and with a maximum turbo frequency of 5.4GHz it can blaze through tasks, such as many Photoshop filters, that are executed on a single processor core. As such, it scores well in Geekbench 6, with a single-core result that puts it in the company of the ASUS ProArt PX13 GoPro Edition, beating the likes of the HP Omnibook Flip 16. In the multi-core test it manages to beat the M5 version of the MacBook Pro, though pitting a 24-core chip against the Mac’s 10 cores hardly seems fair.

The RTX 5080 graphics card is Nvidia’s second-best laptop chip, but the enhanced cost of the 5090 will put it out of reach of all but the most deeply pocketed users. It’s a top choice if you want to play games, and with a Geekbench score that tops 200,000 points, it’s exceptional for all graphics tasks too. If you’re frustrated by the amount of time denoising in Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw can take, especially on today’s 60MP+ raw files, then the ability of the 5080 to chew through that workload in the time it takes to get a glass of water can be nothing short of a revelation. Other AI tasks that offload to the GPU - there is also an NPU on the CPU die, but it only provides 13 TOPS against the Nvidia chip’s 1300 or more - are similarly accelerated.

Battery sadly life isn’t great: Acer claims five hours, but you’ll be lucky to reach that in normal use. Start pushing the GPU hard and it will fall quickly, making this a machine that needs to be regularly taken to a power socket for a top-up.

Verdict

If you’re in the market for a very large gaming laptop, this is a good choice. It’s a little cheaper than some of its competitors, while retaining the strong CPU and GPU choices that allow it to throw graphics and video around without breaking a sweat.

As a portable workstation, it’s large, heavy, and a bit intrusive, but it’s also very capable, and if editing high-res images or video footage on the move is what you want, it’s got the guts to get it done.

Alternatives

• iPhone Duo ship dates via Apple's pre-order slipped to January across world
• It may still be possible to queue IRL at an Apple Store (traditionally, store stock has been allocated separately)
• Retail availability (and lucky first shipments) due October 23

If you're looking for a solution, that's understandable – the question is what it is, and whether there will be one at all.

(Article Updated Oct 20)

Can I get an iPhone Duo on October 23?

Can I get an iPhone Duo on October 23 at an Apple Store if I don't have a pre-order?

Traditionally Apple have kept some products back to be bought by customers on the launch day, but on this occasion some Apple staff have indicated, via rumor sites, that they have been told to discourage customers without pre-orders from coming into the store on October 23.

I tried pre-ordering the phone online, and very briefly the 2TB black model (outside my budget and not the color I wanted) appeared for store pickup on launch day once I was finally allowed in, but it disappeared almost immediately.

Online, if you have a pre-order, Apple's store tells customers to check for pre-order availability the day after – October 24.

What IS going on at Apple?

What IS going on at Apple? Is this launch chaos?

It seems that there is a "constrained launch". Bloomberg's Apple Rumors expert Mark Gurman hinted as much before the launch.

In mid September news of really bad yields circulated via Jiemian, suggesting about 60% of the phones were being successfully made, putting Apple a year behind where they'd want to be, and the bad news had been flowing since early September.

As a journalist, I have to acknowledge that this is impeccable marketing. Just a few days ago people weren't even sure Apple could generate demand for a device this costly.

Now the world seems to agree that the company made a major mistake by launching without enough phones to meet demand. The problem is likely that some relatively late changes effectively meant starting again.

What if you ask in an Apple Store now?

On my way back from work today I popped into the Regent Street Apple Store in London – a classic location for queueing photos on launch day.

I asked one of the geniuses – who didn't want to be named – whether there would be any stock, and they said they would check both order for home and store pick up for me – when they both came back as January he said "Yikes!"

Is there any reason to have hope there will be unallocated stock?

Actually yes – just because some Apple stores are discouraging customers doesn't mean they all know exactly what is happening. As of yesterday (as I type), Apple Stores didn't actually know how many iPhone Duo units they would recieve, or how many would be allocated for pre-order collection.

It is likely that some locations (possibly major stores – London, New York etc.) have had messages directly from Apple HQ. Others simply don't know yet.

It is probably worth noting, however, that Apple was very keen to talk about customers "experiencing" the device in stores, rather than actually buying them.

Are other suggestions?

Try to buy again on October 24

A "Former Apple Park employee" has suggested to the internet a solution is that "Replenishment varies by location, but you won’t have to wait until next year. After launch day, add your Duo to the cart to check nearby availability for same or next day pickup."

In other words, try again and perhaps the pre-order will work on the 24th and after, at which point the stock system will have been updated.

It's not impossible – devices could get to stores or online retailers faster than Apple is currently anticipating. (Stock updates will not only be affected by increased manufacturing – some people might re-think their spend in the time Apple is giving them).

Xfinity

Xfinity mobile still had stock of the 256GB model for consumers prepared to sign up for their home internet (in the US).

Carriers

A word of caution – some carriers have pretty optimistic dates (EE in the UK suggests 28 days – but to be specific "More than 28 days"), and Vodafone also has some dates slightly earlier than January 25 (but still in 2027).

These may have as much to do with the carrier's software for measuring supply chains.

One more thing...

Apple is known for under-promising and over-delivering in this kind of scenario.

It might not be as much as hoped, but a sensible strategy – that will guarantee you the version you want – might still be to pre-order soon through one of the deals below, and trust that, as has happened before, Apple's estimated delivery dates improve.

Do check the live deals below or, of course, don't forget that the iPhone Duo is very unlikely to unseat the iPhone 18 Pro Max from top spot as the best iPhone for photography.

Live deals

It’s like having a desktop PC that you can take with you, with the kind of price attached that will make you think twice before pressing the ‘buy’ button.

Specifications

Price and Availability

For the spec that’s reviewed here, which is about in the middle of the Blade 18 range, you’re looking at $5,399.99 / £4,999.99.

That’s a lot of cash, but it may be worth it if the increased speed you’ll experience will pay for itself as you power through work more quickly. Alternatively, it makes the perfect double-duty machine for photo and video editors who like to play games once the day is done.

The model we’ve reviewed here has 32GB of RAM, but video or AI enthusiasts might want to look into an upgrade to 64GB, which will push the price even higher.

Design

The Razer Blade 18 for 2026 is certainly substantial, though Razer minimises its visual bulk through a stepped design that sees the edges remain relatively slim before the body thickens toward the center, where the cooling vents are located. Despite this styling trick, it’s best viewed as a desktop replacement rather than a truly portable machine - it’s certainly not something to take hiking, and you’ll always need to be aware of the position of the nearest power socket.

Razer maintains its familiar gaming laptop aesthetic, combining a matte-black finish with green highlights. These accents appear inside the USB ports and on the illuminated lid logo, while the rest of the chassis remains understated black. When powered off, the display and keyboard blend seamlessly into the dark body. Switching it on reveals a customisable RGB keyboard with per-key lighting options, though a simple white setup can also be set.

Connectivity is a major strength of the Blade 18. Among its five USB ports are both Thunderbolt 5 and Thunderbolt 4 connections. The Thunderbolt 5 port links directly to the Nvidia graphics processor, making it the preferred choice for external monitors, while the Thunderbolt 4 relies on the CPU’s integrated graphics.

Unfortunately, neither port is clearly labeled, making identification less intuitive than it should be. Most users will likely opt for the convenient HDMI connection, reserving the Thunderbolt ports for docks or high-speed storage devices.

Networking is handled by Wi-Fi 7, and there's a fast Ethernet socket too. Power comes from a large external adapter that connects via an L-shaped plug, which can partially obstruct the Ethernet port next door. Audio is delivered through a six-speaker THX-certified system that outperforms typical laptop speakers, although headphones will remain the better option, as the noise of the fans can be considerable.

The Blade 18’s standout feature is the stunning 18-inch 4K display, which can exceed 600 nits of brightness and offers excellent colour accuracy across the DCI-P3, Adobe RGB, and sRGB gamuts. Battery life for gaming laptops is usually paltry, but the Blade’s is surprisingly good, surpassing eight hours of video playback, a remarkable achievement for a gaming laptop of this class. Make it work harder than this, however, and it will drop quickly - don’t expect to do eight hours of video editing on location without some sort of power bank on hand.

Performance

The Razer Blade 18 delivers exceptional performance for photo and video workloads, making it one of the most capable laptops available for photographers, videographers, and other digital artists. Equipped with Intel's Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor and Nvidia's flagship GeForce RTX 5090 laptop GPU with 24GB of VRAM, it has the power to handle demanding editing tasks from high-resolution image manipulation to complex video production workflows.

The Blade 18 excels in Photoshop, Lightroom, and similar applications, producing some of the quickest results we've seen, especially when denoising. Large RAW files, layered compositions, AI-assisted editing tools, and batch exports are all processed quickly, keeping waiting times to a minimum. High memory bandwidth and reduced system latency, thanks to the Ultra 9 290HX Plus getting a die-to-die frequency boost (speeding up communication between different parts of the processor), help maintain responsiveness, even when working with extensive projects.

Video creators are equally well served. Whether rendering timelines, exporting 4K footage, applying visual effects, or enhancing clips using AI-powered software such as Topaz Video AI, the Blade 18 delivers outstanding results and allows editors to work more efficiently without as much waiting around.

A major contributor to this performance is the presence of Nvidia's top-tier laptop graphics processor, whose generous 24GB VRAM allocation is particularly beneficial when working with high-bitrate video, large image files, motion graphics, or other GPU-accelerated applications. The heat this generates is controlled by an advanced cooling system that includes a vapour chamber and improved thermal materials designed to maintain sustained performance during lengthy rendering sessions. The trade-off for this capability is noise. Under heavy workloads, the three-fan cooling system becomes clearly audible as it works to control the temperatures.

Verdict

For creators working with demanding photo and video projects, the Razer Blade 18 combines desktop-class power with the flexibility of a laptop, making it a compelling option for professional production environments. It’s also a great choice for enthusiastic amateurs looking for a desktop replacement that can whiz through all their photo and video editing needs and then play the latest first-person shooters until bedtime; the Razer Blade 18 will do all that and more.

Alternatives

The only issue with it is its cost, as you add extras, particularly RAM, the price goes up and up, though the entry-level 36GB allocation should be generous enough for many tasks.

Specification

Price and Availability

The Mac Studio is available directly from Apple, and with the M5 Max processor starts at £2,499 or $2,499, which nets you an 18-core CPU and a 32-core GPU, 36GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. The model reviewed here, with a couple of extra GPU cores and much more RAM and storage, is £6,899 or $6,899. There is also an M5 Ultra, which is literally two M5 Max chips joined together, that starts from £5,499 and comes with 96GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. This model is also heavier, as the extra processing cores require a larger cooling system.

Design

The Mac Studio hasn’t changed the way it looks for many years, and there's really no need to. If you’re used to desktop PCs, it’s really small, though still larger than mini PCs or Apple’s own Mac Mini. It’s compact enough to sit under monitors or be tucked away in corners, and the cooling fan, which will come on when it’s working hard, is quiet enough that it doesn’t draw too much attention to itself.

Unlike the Mac Mini, the Studio’s power button is easily accessible at the back, and there are plenty of front and back USB ports, including some incredibly fast Thunderbolt 5s, for peripherals, an SD card slot, 10-gigabit Ethernet for networking and a full-size HDMI for your monitor. With the latest versions of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on board too, it’s well equipped to connect to just about anything.

It’s also very well built. While it’s only about as heavy as an 18-inch laptop, it feels densely packed and the aluminium enclosure gives it a sense of solidity. The Mac Studio name is inscribed underneath, where you can’t easily see it, and there's an Apple logo on the top, but there's no indication as to which processor is inside or what any aspect of the spec is. One thing that stands out is the single LED that tells you whether the Mac is switched on, something that can be hard to ascertain if the screen isn’t active.

Otherwise, it’s not a computer design that can be upgraded after you’ve bought it, which means your choices on the build-to-order page matter. You can add more storage via Thunderbolt or USB, but you’re not going to be able to slip in more RAM in the same way you might with a desktop PC in a tower case.

Performance

The M5 has always been a good chip to build a Mac around, as the MacBook Pro and Air that share the same processor show. Beefing it up with extra processing cores doesn’t make it any faster at single-core tasks, but if a job can be split up into chunks and run on multiple cores simultaneously, then the more you have, the faster it can be.

The Mac Studio also has the advantage of having more space inside it than a laptop, and so its cooling system can be more efficient. In tests, the Studio’s M5 beats the laptop versions by a small amount in single-core tests, even besting the M5 MAx version of the MacBook Pro. It’s in the tasks that allow it to flex all its cores, especially the GPU’s, that it does its best work. Batch exporting in Lightroom, or just generating previews from a folder full of raw image files, becomes faster the more cores you can throw at it, while AI denoising is speeded up by the GPU and Neural Engine, though still isn’t quite as fast as on a PC with a top-end Nvidia or AMD graphics card - 60MP raw files can still take a while to get through.

The M5’s hardware-accelerated encoding engine means exporting or transcoding video is speedy, while the high single-core performance means timeline-scrubbing doesn’t show much lag. The high memory bandwidth sees the chip process even 8K video smoothly (helped no doubt by the 128GB of RAM in the version sent to us for review).

Apple is going very big on AI at the moment, and the M5 is the first generation of its processors to include neural accelerators in the GPU cores as well as in the Neural Engine. While less powerful than an Nvidia GeForce 5070Ti desktop card in AI benchmarks, the M5 Max nonetheless manages to leave many laptop GPUs (mostly other Nvidia chips, but including the AMD Ryzen AI Max in the Asus ProArt PX13 GoPro Edition) behind it. This means neural filters in Photoshop and locally run AI agents and LLMs will get a boost, but once again you’ll need to splash out on extra RAM if you’re experimenting with local AI.

Verdict

The Apple Mac Studio with M5 Max is an ideal desktop machine for photo and video editing, and it’s not even the best computer Apple produces (that would be the Studio with M5 Ultra). It may be expensive, especially compared to a desktop PC or lower-end gaming laptop, but it packs an enormous amount of pixel-pushing power into a small space, has the capacity to do any job you ask of it, and makes it look smooth and effortless in motion.

Alternatives

Unfortunately, the looks aren't the only thing that's familiar here. The S26 FE shares almost all of its specifications with the S25 FE that came before it. The only major changes are an upgraded processor and some new colours.

Really, though, spending time with it is the only way to tell how good it is. So after using it as my main phone for the past week and snapping hundreds of photos, here's what I think.

Specifications

Price

The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE starts at $699 / £699, but that only gets you 128GB of storage (unlike the main S26 flagships, which start at 256GB). If you want 256GB, the price rises to $799 / £799, and 512GB will set you back £949, but it's not sold in the US.

Compared to last year, that's a $/£50 price increase for the base model, $/£100 for the 256GB, and £150 for the 512GB. No matter which storage option you choose, you'll get 8GB of RAM.

The biggest problem with the pricing is that the mainline S26 models have already been out for a while, so they're often discounted. Many retailers are currently selling the base model S26 (256GB) for less than the 256GB S26 FE.

Competition is stiff elsewhere, too. Most of the upper mid-range "flagship killer" phones that we've tested recently are selling around the same price, and almost all of them offer superior specs. There's the Poco F9 Ultra, Honor 600 Pro, and Xiaomi 17T Pro, just to name a few.

Design

The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE sticks to the usual Samsung design formula. It has a flat front and rear covered in glass, a flat aluminium frame, and the usual traffic-light style camera arrangement in the top left corner.

The main difference with this model is the camera surround. There's now a raised island that encircles the camera lenses, made from a frosted translucent material. There are also three new colour options: Pistachio, Blueberry and Graphite.

Every colour looks good in its own right, but I'm especially fond of the Pistachio version that I have in for testing. Each has a high-gloss back panel, which looks impressive, but it's quite prone to fingerprint smudges. The lighter coloured Pistachio model hides this better than the darker options.

It's a big phone, almost exactly the same size as the S26+, but it's quite slim and lightweight. If you have particularly small hands, you might struggle with it, but I found it perfectly comfortable to use all day long.

The S26 FE is IP68 rated, and Gorilla Glass Victus+ on the front and rear aims to keep the phone protected from cracks and scratches. As ever, there's no screen protector or case in the box.

The screen has the same specifications as its predecessor. It's a 6.7-inch 120Hz OLED panel with a 1080x2340 resolution and a peak brightness of 1900 nits. It's spacious, vivid, and sharp, just as you'd expect from a high-end Samsung phone. It's not the brightest screen around when comparing raw specs, but I never had any trouble seeing it outdoors.

My biggest gripe is with the bezels. The bottom bezel is thicker than the other three, which makes the phone look a little cheap, in my opinion. It's the kind of thing you expect from a budget handset, but at a price like this, it's disappointing.

Nothing has changed with the speakers, but they're still a solid showing. They can get plenty loud enough, and the dual speaker setup creates a decent stereo effect. The bass isn't too impressive, but there's enough low end to prevent the speakers from sounding tinny.

Camera Performance

The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE has an almost identical camera arrangement to its predecessor. The most impressive lens is the main camera; it's a 24mm equivalent with an f/1.8 lens and a 50MP 1/1.56-inch sensor. It's joined by a 12MP fixed-focus ultrawide and an 8MP 3x telephoto with a tiny 1/4.4-inch sensor.

On the front, there's a 12MP selfie camera with the same specs as the previous model, but it has a wider FOV, so you can fit more in the frame. There's no autofocus on this one, though, so focus can be hit-or-miss if you're using it for group photos.

In daylight, photos from all cameras have the signature Samsung style. They're sharp, vibrant and have very high dynamic range. They aren't likely to wow you with their colours, but they're extremely consistent and reliable.

If you want to give your photos some more personality, there are several customisable filters to choose from, or you can shoot in RAW and edit in software of your choosing. It's worth doing so, as while photos from the S26 FE are inoffensive, they can look slightly bland when the lighting isn't on your side.

The camera system has two main weak points. The first is with long-range zoom. It may have a dedicated telephoto camera, but it's very low resolution, so while photos look good at 3x zoom, anything beyond that quickly becomes a bit of a mess.

The other is low-light shooting. The main camera handles darker scenes perfectly well, but the other cameras, with their smaller sensors, struggle a lot more. The ultrawide and telephoto both give pretty grainy results that look quite desaturated and flat.

I like the added flexibility that the widened selfie camera offers. It means you can get a lot more of your surroundings in the shot, or more people, but the lack of autofocus holds it back. It's capable of decent results, but it's not on the same level as the mainline S26 flagships.

In video mode, you can shoot at a maximum of 8K30 or 4K60, but only using the primary camera. Every other camera maxes out at 4K30. There's a full Pro Video mode, which includes things like audio level monitoring, 24 fps, and manual focus, but unfortunately it's lacking the Log profile and APV codec that the full-fledged S26 models get.

There are some new software features to sink your teeth into, which debuted with other Samsung flagships earlier this year. There's the FanCam mode from the Z Fold series, which can automatically crop a video to follow a certain subject, and there's full 360-degree horizontal lock stabilisation, too.

Phone Performance

The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE is powered by Samsung's own Exynos 2500 processor. It's a 3nm chip that replaces the 4nm Exynos 2400 in last year's phone and should provide some gains in both performance and efficiency. It should be noted, though, that it's a generation behind the chip inside the base model S26, so it's not exactly Samsung's latest and greatest.

The phone comes with 8GB of RAM in all configurations, and either 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB of storage. I have the 128GB model for testing, and I found it quite limiting. All the other S26-series phones start at 256GB, and once you've taken a few videos and installed a couple of large games, you might find that storage running out rather quickly.

In practice, the S26 FE performs decently well. My experience was mostly smooth and stutter-free, and I had to load up a fairly demanding game to make it sweat. It had no trouble with usual favourites like COD Mobile, for example. With games like NTE or Wuthering Waves, though, you'll have to settle for fairly low graphics presets at 30fps.

The S26 FE has the same battery and charging specifications as its predecessor. They aren't bad, but they aren't too impressive, either. The 4900 mAh battery could see me through an average day's use (one mostly spent at my desk), but on travel days, with higher screen-on time and GPS use, I needed a charge before the day was done.

Thankfully, it does charge quite quickly. On paper, 45W wired charging doesn't sound too special, but I was able to get well over 60% charged in half an hour, which is more than quick enough for most scenarios. The phone charges wirelessly, too, but you'll be waiting much longer, as it only supports 15W speeds.

On the topic of the USB port, Samsung has quietly downgraded this one to USB 2.0, from USB 3.2. You might not notice it, but if you frequently transfer files with a cable, the slower speeds could drive you nuts. It also means that support for wired DeX mode is gone.

The software is one of the biggest draws for this phone. It runs One UI 9, based on Android 17, just like all of Samsung's flagship phones. If you want a phone that behaves like an S26 Ultra, but you don't want to spend Ultra cash, then this will certainly appeal.

To be honest, I don't love the default One UI aesthetics, but that doesn't really matter. It's extremely customisable, and using Good Lock, you can change the look and behavior of just about anything.

The Galaxy S26 FE has inherited most of the headline features that debuted with Samsung's other flagships earlier in the year. Now Brief is quite handy; it uses AI to summarise your day, pulling in things like calendar events, weather info, traffic updates, travel documents, and more. It's now even more customisable, and you can add things like health data from your Galaxy Watch.

Samsung talks about Now Nudge a lot, which is supposed to pop up in appropriate situations to offer helpful nudges. For instance, if someone texts you suggesting to meet at a restaurant, Now Nudge might pop up and suggest opening Maps or creating a calendar event. It's a nice idea, but the problem is that it never seems to pop up for me, so the reality is a little less exciting.

Of course, you get all the AI-powered transcription, translation, summarisation, and photo editing tools that Samsung owners have been enjoying for the past few years, and all of Google's best, like Gemini and Circle to Search.

Samsung also offers some of the best long-term software support in the business. This phone will continue to get OS upgrades and security patches for the next 7 years, which is a big perk if you plan on keeping your phone for a long time.

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE is a decent phone overall. It has reliable cameras, a nice big screen, solid speakers, and performs well enough for most people's needs. The pricing, though, presents a rather large issue.

The last phone I tested was the Poco F9 Ultra, which can currently be had for the same price, or less (if you find the right offer). It's on a completely different level in almost every department, with one of the biggest batteries of any phone I've tested, one of the best screens, the best speakers, flagship-level performance, and much more impressive cameras.

The only reason to pick the S26 FE over something like that is the software. It's a valid reason, but I still think you're better off opting for the base model S26, which, again, can be had for around the same price (or less).

When the price falls, the S26 FE will begin to make more sense. As of this moment, though, the S26 FE is a good phone and a bad deal.

Using a technology called a Brain Interaction Transformer (BIT), the new Brain-IT, presented by academics, can read a person's brain waves and interpret the signal as a visual image using A.I.

What the computer does, in simple terms, is scan the 3D pixels – voxels – of the brain using fMRI, and interpret this data to predict the image.

This is a technology which has been worked on for some time, however, and scientists have struggled for a number of reasons. Unlike humans, an AI needs a large amount of data to learn from.

People also interpret data through both the factual information (what color is it?) and the semantic. In fact the semantic information is used as a kind of key to lock onto in the brain, before the rough layout of the image is translated using a 'diffusion process'.

The process is not the first – others such as MindTurner, MindEye2, and NeuroVLA have all offered alternatives, but none have been as accurate.

This is especially true if the system has only had an hour of training. The usual goal is 40 hours.

This study, led by Roman Beliy of the Weizmann Institute of Science, built on other academic works as far back as 2013, when it was identified that different aspects of the cognition of objects took place in connected but different areas of the brain.

The testing was performed using the Natural Scenes Dataset (NSD), which is one of the few datasets available. It is made up of 73,000 pairs of images (one real, one an fMRI scan made while the subject was looking at it). There are only around 1,000 images that were shown to all 8 test subjects; many of the images (around 9,000 each) couldn't be compared.

The upshot of this research, though, is that the AI was trained to predict what it would see on the fMRI scan from a photographic image as well as interpret an fMRI image of the brain to understand what might be seen.

While the final results are still not perfect, they are far closer to the original image than previous models, incorporating additional details.

From a photography perspective, it seems perfectly possible to read an image from the brain using this kind of technology.

Accuracy wouldn't be guaranteed by optical paths in the same way that true photography is, but it seems very plausible that a version of your memory could simply be scanned from your brain and printed out.

And if that can happen, why bother with a camera at all? It might be more accurate, but you'll probably prefer your memory!

The technology is also just looking through the skin and into the brain to see what pictures are floating around in your head. It could, for example, be worn while asleep (or worse, put onto someone while asleep) to capture the images from dreams. That has more than a few privacy concerns!

It's also been suggested to me that OCD sufferers might not appreciate having their visual thoughts brought out and shared.

But this is a technology we might have to face up to and there are clearly far broader implications than helping some people with very specific forms of blindness regain some form of sight.

The paper was published earlier this year but work continues. At the time only about a couple of seconds of data was collected for each sample – but one of the scientists, Michal Irani, even said that while decoding video was challenging because the images change so frequently. Nonetheless he suggested recording dreams was a future possibility.

Is it worthy of the Ultra title? That's debatable. It shares a lot of DNA with the Z Fold 7 that came before it, but there are a few upgrades to make it more appealing. We get brighter screens, a less visible crease, a faster processor, and a new ultrawide, to name a few.

Unfortunately, as with everything else in 2026, it's a little more expensive. Is the Z Fold 8 Ultra worth your hard-earned cash? I've been using it for the past week to find out.

Specifications

Price & Availability

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra starts at $2099 / £1899 with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The 512GB model also comes with 12GB of RAM for $2299 / £2069. The 1TB model is the only one that gets 16GB of RAM, and that costs a cool $2699 / £2319.

That's an increase of $100/£100 for the base model, when compared to the Z Fold 7, and an even bigger increase for the higher storage options. As always, the RAM shortage is to blame, but on the plus side, we didn't see any RAM downgrades for this generation.

It's a pricey phone, but it's nothing outlandish when compared to other folding phones - and it undercuts the upcoming Apple iPhone Duo, but not by a lot.

Design

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra looks almost identical to its predecessor, but that's not a bad thing. The Z Fold 7 was already one of the slimmest and best-looking phones on the market, so why fix something that isn't broken?

The newer model is marginally slimmer than the old one, but the difference is 0.1mm. That's about the thickness of a sheet of paper, so the difference is virtually imperceptible. It's also the same weight, so it feels about the same in your hand.

That said, it's probably the slimmest folding phone you can buy right now, and it's already lighter than the S26 Ultra. The days of chunky, cumbersome foldables are long gone.

As always, there's a range of new colours to choose from, and they're all fairly subtle and professional-looking. There's a lighter Cream option, alongside darker Graphite and Violet Shadow options. There's also Green Shadow, which is a Samsung store exclusive. I have the Violet Shadow model in for testing, which has a dark purple rear with a matte finish. It almost looks brown or burgundy in some lighting conditions.

In use, the biggest design change is with the way the Fold 8 Ultra opens. There's a new bevelled edge that makes it easier to get your thumbs in between the screens, and the magnets have been reworked to make it easier to open.

It's a tiny change, but it makes a big difference to an action that you perform several times a day. When I tried opening the Fold 7 and 8 Ultra back-to-back, the older model felt extremely cumbersome by comparison.

The other big change is with the folding screen. Samsung has changed the underlying structure, incorporating titanium layers for extra strength and flatness.

The result is Samsung's least noticeable crease ever. And while it's no match for the virtually creaseless Find N6, it's not worlds apart. Another thing that helps in this department is the fact that the screen now opens to be completely flat, whereas the previous model sat at a very slight V-shape. In use, you'll quickly forget the crease exists at all.

The folding screen looks better in bright conditions, too. There's a new anti-reflective coating that helps to reduce glare, and it can now reach up to 3000 nits at peak brightness. It also has a slightly higher resolution.

There aren't so many changes with the cover display, but it's also brighter. It can now reach the same 3000 nits, up from 2600.

A small oddity that I haven't seen many people mention is the fact that the Z Fold 8 Ultra only has space for a single SIM card in its tray. I'm not really sure why, but the smaller Z Fold 8 is the same way. No issue for me, but if you're rocking two SIM cards, it's worth knowing about.

The speakers seem unchanged, but they're still impressive, especially considering how slim the chassis is. And you still get the same IP48 rating for dust and water resistance. So, while it's fine around fresh water, you'll need to be very careful around sand.

Camera Performance

For the most part, the camera hardware is exactly the same as the Fold 7; the only upgraded camera is the ultrawide.

The new ultrawide has a 50MP resolution, up from 12MP, and a wider f/1.9 aperture, up from f/2.2. The sensor is also very slightly larger, but it's not enough of a change to make a practical difference.

The main camera still has a 200MP 1/1.3-inch sensor with a 23mm f/1.7 lens. It's very similar to the one found in the S26 Ultra, so we already know how capable it is.

The 3x telephoto is also very similar to the one in the S26 Ultra, but that's not such good news. It has a tiny 1/3.94-inch sensor, and a measly 10MP resolution. Unlike the candybar flagship, you don't get an extra telephoto to handle longer zooms.

Each screen has its own 10MP selfie camera, with no upgrades to speak of. As before, they get the job done handily, but they lack autofocus, and you'll get much more impressive results flipping the phone around and using the rear cameras. One of the perks of a foldable.

As the specs suggest, the main camera is the star of the show. It gives the best results in all lighting conditions, and it's noticeably sharper and more detailed than the other cameras. At night, the gap widens further, and the larger sensor provides the least noisy images of the trio, with a much higher shutter speed.

In most scenarios, I could barely tell the difference with the new ultrawide camera. Smartphone ultrawides never look the sharpest, and the extra resolution hasn't really changed that. Plus, despite having a wider aperture, the relatively small sensor doesn't handle dark conditions too well, so it's still best avoided in the dark.

That said, the ultrawide pulls double duty as a macro camera, and that's where this extra resolution comes into play. If you try to get too close with one of the other cameras, the camera app will switch to a cropped view from the ultrawide lens, and images from this sensor look noticeably sharper and more detailed than those from the Fold 7.

The telephoto is crying out for an upgrade. Of course, it's better than having no telephoto at all (like the Fold 8), but the low resolution means that cropping much further than the native 3x focal length reduces the image quality dramatically. The camera UI will let you push it to 30x, if you wish, but going past 6x or so looks atrocious. It's also pretty terrible in low-light conditions.

On the whole, images from the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra have Samsung's signature look to them. You can expect sharp photos with wide dynamic range and fairly realistic colours. The images won't knock your socks off, but they're reliable and consistent.

If you want something with a little more personality, there's a range of customisable filters, or you can import an image you like and Samsung's AI will try to replicate the tones as a new filter. It's well worth playing with these effects, as otherwise, photos can tend toward looking a little bland. I need to give a shoutout to Samuel Nam, who made a great clone of Vivo's vintage filter for the S26 Ultra - it works just as well on the Fold 8 Ultra.

On the video front, there are a few more upgrades. You now get the APV codec, Samsung's answer to Apple ProRes that was introduced with the S26 lineup earlier this year. Plus, to handle these massive files, you can also record directly to an external SSD. Another handy addition is the ability to apply real-time LUTs for monitoring, as well as apply LUTs to your Log footage directly in the camera app.

The Z Fold 8 Ultra also gains horizontal lock recording mode and my FanCam, which can crop into a video to follow a specific person in an aspect ratio of your choice.

Phone Performance

The Z Fold 8 Ultra sports the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, and it's a specially overclocked 'For Galaxy' edition. The 256GB and 512GB models both come with 12GB of RAM, while the 1TB model has 16GB. I tested the base model for this review.

Unsurprisingly, it's a very quick phone. Navigating the OS is as smooth as can be, apps open in an instant, and you can multitask heavily without feeling any slowdown. Gaming performance is solid, too, but the thermals could be better.

Since Samsung prioritised slimness, there's no room for a vapor chamber in this phone, and that means it struggles to dissipate the heat during longer sessions with graphically intense titles. When running Wuthering Waves at maxed-out settings, frame rates will begin to dip after about 10 minutes.

The most annoying side effect is that Samsung dims the displays to keep the temperature down, which can be especially irksome outdoors. Of course, titles that aren't so demanding won't heat up the device as much, so you can enjoy long sessions on games like COD Mobile without worry.

This is one of the first Samsung phones to take advantage of silicon-carbon battery tech. So, while it's one of the slimmest foldables around, it actually has a relatively large battery. The 5000 mAh capacity matches the S26 Ultra. Impressive, considering it's lighter, slimmer, and folds in half. That said, Chinese foldables like the Honor Magic V6 and Oppo Find N6 are still miles ahead.

Charging speeds have been boosted, too. The Fold 8 Ultra charges at 45W with a wire and 20W wirelessly, up from 20W and 15W. This is a very welcome upgrade, and I was able to take the phone from fully dead to well over 60% charged in just half an hour.

On the software front, the Fold 8 Ultra runs One UI 9, Samsung's customised version of Android 17. If you've tried a recent Samsung flagship, you won't be in for too many surprises; it has a very familiar look and feel.

The default look isn't my favourite, but thankfully it's very easy to customise. Plus, if you install Good Lock, you can take the customisation to a whole new level and tweak just about anything.

My main gripe, as ever, is how messy One UI feels. It's loaded with all of Samsung's first-party apps, plus most of Google's, and a lot of them do the same thing as each other. Like, why would I use Samsung Wallet rather than Google Wallet? Or choose Bixby over Gemini?

On the plus side, the multitasking is excellent; there are plenty of options to split your screen and resize each app, as well as floating window support. The UI always feels speedy, too, which I think is partly due to Samsung's animation style.

As we've seen for the past few years, Samsung is big on AI, and you'll find all manner of helpful tools littered throughout the OS. Some are powered by Google, like the new Notebook app, and Gemini and Circle to Search - both of which have expanded capabilities.

Samsung also overhauled its Now Nudge system to make better use of the folding display. If you're not familiar, Now Nudge pops up with helpful suggestions, like a prompt to add a calendar event when someone suggests meeting up. Now, it'll open the related app in a split-screen view on the folding display, which is quite convenient. Well, if it ever pops up, because I see these nudges so rarely, I kind of forget about the feature.

Final Verdict

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra isn't the same generational leap that the Z Fold 7 was, but the upgrades here are welcome ones. The smaller, wider Z Fold 8 may have hoovered up most of the excitement, but the Ultra feels more polished and refined as a whole. If you're looking for a serious productivity tool, I still think it's the best choice - it's just not quite as fun as its newer sibling.

To summarise what's new, you get brighter screens inside and out, a less noticeable crease, a more powerful chip, a new ultrawide camera, a bigger battery and faster charging. Nothing mind-blowing, but enough to make for a noticeably better experience overall. It's also more expensive, but that's par for the course in 2026.

I can't imagine any Z Fold 7 owners rushing out to upgrade, but for everyone else, this is a very compelling foldable that's a pleasure to live with.

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