The iPhone Duo looks gorgeous in the company's pictures, but that's before you experience third-party apps or use the compromised cameras yourself. There are definitely problems. The question is, are they going to last weeks, or until the next version?

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.

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.

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.

If you were worried you couldn't get an iPhone Duo on launch day because there wasn't enough walk in stock, I've just checked out my local Apple Store and I can tell you there were unreserved devices available for purchase.

• Some unreserved iPhone Duos had been kept aside at Stratford, East London Apple Store
• Both colors and all configurations could be reserved for collection later in the day
• UPDATE: See the store opening launch clap at the end of my insta video...

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!)

Oppo has become my favorite smartphone manufacturer over the past few years when it comes to photography. While Apple, Samsung, and Google continue to dominate the conversation around the best camera phones, Oppo has quietly been producing some of the most capable camera hardware on the market, backed up by a partnership with Hasselblad.

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

We know it's a massively anticipated. We knew it was sold out on pre-order until January. What we didn't know (until today) was just how many iPhone Duos would be available for walk in customers on the launch day October 23.

• 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.

Google's Pixel phones have built a reputation as some of the best camera phones available, not necessarily because they have the most impressive camera hardware, but because Google's computational photography has consistently managed to get excellent results from relatively modest sensors and lenses.

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

The Apple iPhone Duo – the company's first folding phone – has proven an exciting new form factor for potential customers, with buyers the world over reporting 'Sold out' or very delayed shipping dates on social platforms even when attempting to pre-order within the first moments.

• 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

Samsung's more wallet-friendly almost-flagship for 2026 has landed. The Galaxy S26 FE looks quite a lot like last year's model, and even more like the S26+, but with a higher asking price, is this still a solid upper mid-range deal?

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.

Samsung changed things up in 2026. Rather than the usual Flip and Fold options, there's a new passport-sized fold in the mix. The new one is called the Z Fold 8, while the Fold 8 that we were all expecting is now called the Fold 8 Ultra.

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.

Alternatives

Vivo has unveiled its latest V-series smartphone, the Vivo V80, bringing Zeiss camera technology, a substantial battery, and a growing collection of AI photography features to its latest mid-range contender.

The headline camera is a 50MP Zeiss Super Telephoto, featuring a 1/1.95-inch Sony IMX882 sensor, optical image stabilization, and 3x optical zoom. Vivo is particularly keen to push its portrait photography credentials, with a new ZEISS 100mm Center-Stage Portrait mode offering flattering perspectives, simulated Planar-style bokeh, and cinematic color grading.

The telephoto is joined by a 50MP main camera using Sony's 1/1.56-inch LYTIA 700V sensor, an ultra-wide camera, and a 50MP autofocus selfie camera. It's a respectable setup for a mid-range phone, although the relatively modest sensor sizes mean Vivo's image processing will have an important role to play in the final results.

And Vivo certainly isn't holding back on AI. The new AI Creative Camera lets you completely transform the lighting in photographs, adding artificial sunlight, dramatic spotlights, or a flattering glow that wasn't there when you pressed the shutter. AI Best Face can rescue unfortunate expressions from Live Photos, while AI Magic Move can reposition subjects, AI Erase removes distractions, and AI Image Expander can extend the scenery beyond the original frame.

At this point, I'm beginning to wonder whether we'll ever need to take a good photograph again, or whether we'll simply take an average one and ask AI to sort everything out afterward. Joking aside, these tools offer some genuinely interesting creative possibilities, particularly for anyone who enjoys experimenting with portraits, even if they continue to blur the boundaries between capturing a moment and creating one.

There's also a CCD Flash Portrait mode, which recreates the punchy contrast and nostalgic colors of older digital cameras. It's another example of the current appetite for retro photography, although rather amusingly, we're now using sophisticated modern processing to recreate the imperfections we spent years trying to eliminate.

For video creators, the V80 offers 4K recording at 60fps on both front and rear cameras, alongside cinematic color presets, although more serious filmmakers might find the creative controls limited.

Elsewhere, there's a huge 7,200mAh battery with 90W charging, a 6.59-inch 144Hz OLED display, and a slim 7.69mm body.

The Vivo V80 will launch across India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, with pricing and European and UK availability yet to be confirmed.

You might also like...

Check out more of the best camera phones or the best Android phones for photography.

Back in July we reported on the exit of OnePlus from US and Europe markets, but the brand wasn't being discontinued from all regions. It’s still alive and kicking in its Chinese homeland, where it has just announced its next flagship handset: the OnePlus 16. Ordinarily a China-only phone release wouldn't be of much interest to us, but annoyingly for western OnePlus fans, the OnePlus 16 looks like one heck of an upgrade from the previous OnePlus 15.

Arguably the most impressive statistic is the gargantuan 9,000mAh battery; a significant boost over the 7,300mAh unit in the OnePlus 15. Combined with the new, more efficient Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, a genuine two-day battery life looks easily possible. The battery supports rapid 100W wired charging and 50W wireless charging, yet all this doesn't come at the expense of device portability: the OnePlus 16 is only marginally thicker and heavier than its predecessor. The new Snapdragon SoC should also supply plenty of processing punch, as it's the same chip we've seen in flagship phones like the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max, Honor Magic 9 Pro Max, and it looks set to feature in the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra. In the OnePlus 16 it can be teamed with a choice of 12GB or 16GB of RAM.

The OnePlus 16 doesn't disappoint in the camera department, either. Where the OnePlus 15 'made do' with a trio of 50MP modules, the '16 gets a new primary camera with a 200MP, 1/1.4" sensor fronted by a 23mm, f/1.6 lens. The ultrawide and 3x telephoto cameras still use 50MP sensors, as does the selfie camera. You should have a great view of proceedings, too, thanks to the new 6.78-inch AMOLED display. This runs at 1272 x 2772 resolution, is capable of up to 1000 nits peak brightness, and it supports refresh rates as high as 185Hz - great news for gamers.

As you might imagine, given the escalating price of flash memory during 2026, the OnePlus 16's upgrades don't come cheap. Where the OnePlus 15 launched at start price of RMB 3,999 last year, the OnePlus 16 costs a whopping RMB 5,999 for the entry-level 12/256GB variant. That converts to nearly $900 US, and you'd need to part with the equivalent of around $1,270 to get your hands on a 16GB/1TB OnePlus 16. However, these kind of price increases are an industry-wide issue, and certainly not confined to OnePlus.

For die-hard OnePlus fans in the west, importing a OnePlus 16 for China is likely to be a tempting prospect, but warranty and potential app compatibility issues mean this isn't really recommended for most. If you want to get as close to the OnePlus 16 experience from a handset you can buy in Europe, the closest option would be from OnePlus's parent company, Oppo. The new Oppo Find X10 Pro Max sports a similar screen to the OnePlus 16, and manages to outdo it in terms of camera hardware. You get the same 200MP main module, alongside a more advanced 200MP, 1/1.56" periscope telephoto camera. With OnePlus and Oppo sharing the same ColorOS operating system, a Find X10 Pro Max should also feel very similar to the OnePlus 16 in use.

If you miss your Sony Walkman – and I very definitely do – then the first app on this list might make you forget that the iPhone Duo has more cost and fewer cameras than the iPhone 18 Pro which came out a few weeks before.

I'm one of those people who has been sitting, waiting, wondering but for every day I don't buy the new iPhone 18 Pro (as I have every one of its predecessors), I get a little bit better at not buying iPhones.

Rather than worry about that, Apple seems to have been encouraging developers to be creative with the new form factor and – even though they have only been able to use simulators – Duoman is a great example of the kind of thing that has already drawn my attention.

I grew up in the UK and, call me ungrateful, but I never quite overcome the embarrassment of getting a Boots-brand personal stereo first.

Boots is the UK's main high-street pharmacy – think CVS – and back in the late 1980s, as well as being the place to get your film developed, it was also a place to buy home stereos and all sorts of goods.

Eventually, though, I got a Sony Walkman (you know what? It was a lot better), and got used to swapping tapes to change

Potentially of interest to photographers – or their subjects – is the Saura App, a "voice first" beauty app which uses one half of the screen as a mirror and the other half to provide a hands-free vanity assistant.

In other words, in case you don't know what that is (don't worry, I didn't), the phone will tell you what make up to apply where to get the look you're after.

Thanks to the design of the phone, it can become a self standing vanity mirror, as well as one that actually talks back.

It's all a bit "Mirror mirror on the wall" for my liking, but it can remember your personal routine, and the developers have suggested that it is at its most powerful when it helps boost your confidence.

Another app that has been doing the rounds is Accorduon, which uses the hinge of the phone as the bellows. The reed sound is fully synthesized and it's been tested on the iPhone Duo simulator.

MPC fans – might be excited by a music sampler created by Shuhan-Zhang Zhang, Aradhya Mishra and Mahin Bharathwaj which beat the others in a competition on Devpost. Called Crate it is an AI-powered music sampler that splilts the controls across the two halves of the device.

That's great, but sadly this isn't a tech that I have the talent for.

Of course these creative new apps aren't really the big new feature, which is side-by-side use of existing apps.

The thing is I've spoken to plenty of people I know who have Android folding phones (yes, I don't know if you heard, but Apple didn't get here first). All of those people tell me that they very rarely end up using that feature.

So I was hoping that there might be something a bit more special to draw me into the new iPhone – Apple-specific software.

Especially as the iPhone Duo isn't actually that big; it folds small and passport sized so that it opens with a more 4:3 shaped screen; 7.6-inches rather than 6.9-inches of the iPhone 17 or 18 Pro Max. Somehow I doubt that'll make a lot of difference for enjoying 16:9 TV/movie content – it'll have black bars or be cropped.

Perhaps there is TranslateCat to look out for though. Should I be lucky enough to get sent on any international trips where my shameful lack of language skills might be exposed, this app using the dual screen system to present both sides of a conversation with a live conversation looks promising.

I didn't say I'd need a lot of convincing, after all. Now admittedly a fake Walkman is asking a lot of my "nostalgia budget," but altogether these apps do start to show that there is potential in the new form factor.

Perhaps I will get a new iPhone this year after all.

Chargers are not typically the most exciting accessories I get to review, but Anker is doing its best to change that. In recent generations it has increasingly experimented with displays on its larger power banks and desktop chargers.

The Anker Nano Charger brings that idea down to one of the smallest products Anker makes. It is essentially a compact 45W USB-C wall charger with a tiny color screen on the front, which can show information including live charging power, charging mode, temperature status, and, with supported devices, the device model and battery level.

The question is whether any of that information is actually useful, or if this is just putting a screen on something that was perfectly fine without one?

Specifications

Price

The Anker Nano Charger costs $39.99 / £34.99 / €42.99, though Anker is also offering a temporary discount on its store for early adopters (at the time of writing).

That puts it at a slight premium over Anker’s standard Nano 45W charger, which is not surprising considering the screen and additional charging modes. Anker's cheaper charger is also frequently available bundled with a USB-C cable.

I don’t think the premium for the Smart Display version is unreasonable, but if all you want is to get power into your phone as quickly as possible, you can save some money by skipping the display entirely.

Design & Handling

I really like the overall design of the Nano. It is very small, feels well-made, and actually looks quite cute for a wall charger. The little screen dominates the front, and the interface also includes a few playful animations alongside the useful charging information.

Although I didn't get off to a winning start with the display. When I first plugged the charger in, I immediately thought my unit was broken because everything on the screen was upside down. Obviously, I had not read the instructions.

It turns out holding the small touch-sensitive control for two seconds rotates the screen by 180 degrees. Problem solved, and an important reminder that occasionally reading instructions can be beneficial. A single tap cycles through the various information screens, while a double tap on the mode page switches between Auto and Care charging.

All my complaints are about the UK version of the charger, so US readers can skip the rest of this section and be smug with your simpler (if less safe) plugs.

The US version has clever folding pins that also rotate, making the charger much easier to pack and to plug in. The UK/EU version has the usual chunky plug permanently sticking out of the back. I appreciate that fitting rotating UK pins is impossible, but I have used enough chargers (including from Anker) with folding UK/EU pins. For a small "Nano" device, this feels like a miss.

This also means that the USB-C port is always positioned on the bottom of the UK charger. This can be awkward when using wall sockets close to a desk, counter, or floor.

I also dislike how much regulatory information is printed across the top of my UK sample. I know this is the law, and the information has to go somewhere, but it is usually hidden a little more elegantly. Here it is quite prominent on top of what is otherwise a very clean product.

Performance

The screen is obviously the headline feature here, and I found it useful, although I am not sure it is really a necessity for everyone – it really depends on how much you obsess over your charging speeds.

Beyond just displaying the output, there are two main charging settings: Auto and Care. Auto lets the charger adjust power based on what your device requires, while Care deliberately takes a gentler approach designed to reduce charging temperatures and battery stress. Anker says Care Mode can keep the phone battery up to 5°C cooler.

I mostly charge my phone overnight, so Care Mode suits me perfectly. I don’t need my phone charging at maximum speed while I am asleep. But if I suddenly realize I am about to leave home with 10% battery remaining, it takes only a couple of taps to put the charger back into its faster Auto mode.

It is additionally useful if you live in the Apple ecosystem. When I connected my iPhone 17 Pro Max, the charger recognized what I had plugged in and could adapt the charging speeds for the device. This is not universal, though. My Pixel phone charged perfectly well, but the charger did not recognize it by model.

But I genuinely like being able to glance at the charger and see what is happening. I could watch my devices charge at close to their maximum speeds when the batteries were low, before the power gradually reduced as the charge level increased. Is that needed though? Probably not.

The maximum 45W output is a useful sweet spot. It is enough to cover the maximum charging speeds of most mainstream phones, tablets, cameras, and accessories.

It can even charge something like a MacBook Air without much trouble. A MacBook Pro will also take power from it, although 45W isn’t enough to keep up with the more powerful model doing sustained heavy work. For browsing, writing, or light editing, however, it can still be a useful emergency laptop charger.

Verdict

I have used chargers with displays before, I like knowing exactly what my devices are drawing, and it is particularly useful when testing different cables or devices and wondering whether they are actually charging as quickly as they should. Auto and Care modes also make good use of the additional intelligence.

There are still a few things I would change. Device recognition should work with more hardware, and the UK design loses all of the cleverness of the US design and feels like an afterthought.

But underneath all the smart features is simply a very capable little 45W charger, and the premium over a conventional charger is small enough that I think the added information and control are worth paying for.

Alternatives

The iPhone 18 Pro Max arrives as Apple's yearly update to its best camera phone formula, sitting alongside the smaller but identically equipped iPhone 18 Pro, and arriving just before the company takes a swing at the folding form factor with the forthcoming iPhone Duo.

The headline upgrades are centered around its new A20 Pro processor, improved battery life, a smaller Dynamic Island, and, most importantly for Digital Camera World readers, new Photographic Styles alongside a variable-aperture 48MP main camera.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max was already one of the best camera phones available, and some of the best video capabilities of any smartphone – in fact, it has been our benchmark in guides such as the best phone for video recording. But with both significant software and hardware changes this year, can Apple's latest still retain its crown?

Specifications

Price & Availability

The iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at $1,299 / £1,299 / €1,599 / AU$2,299 for 256GB, with 512GB, 1TB and 2TB versions also available, although, as ever, Apple's storage upgrades come at a significant premium.

iPhones were already expensive phones, and Apple has added $100 to the launch price compared with the equivalent iPhone 17 Pro Max. But this isn't entirely down to Apple; thanks to the ongoing memory shortage, there have been price rises across top devices this year.

Google's Pixel 11 Pro XL and Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra also launched this year at $1,299 for 256GB (although the latter contains more camera hardware for that price), but Apple is firmly amongst mainstream flagship pricing rather than being an outlier on its own.

But do I think anyone with an iPhone 17 Pro Max should upgrade? The biggest photographic change is the variable-aperture main camera, and as I'll get into below, I don't find that nearly useful or exciting enough to justify spending another $1,299. But if you are coming from older iPhone models, then there is a lot more value to be found.

Design

If you put the silver iPhone 18 Pro Max next to last year's model, you might struggle to tell which is which. Apple has kept almost exactly the same design, right down to the dimensions – so much so that iPhone 17 Pro Max cases even fit the new phone. Not that I am disappointed; I liked the iPhone 17 Pro Max design, and I still like it here.

The colors have changed, with Burgundy replacing Cosmic Orange as the headline option, alongside Glacier (a light metallic blue), Silver and Black. I like the burgundy, but I don't love it. It isn't remotely as in-your-face as last year's Cosmic Orange, which some people will no doubt appreciate, but as the signature color for this generation, it feels a little underwhelming. I actually prefer Glacier and Silver, although in some lighting they are perhaps a little too close together in tone, while black is there for anyone who wants to play it safe.

Apple has also stuck with an aluminum unibody rather than returning to titanium, accompanied by Ceramic Shield 2 and an IP68 water- and dust-resistance rating. I have some reservations about that decision after living with my iPhone 17 Pro for the last year, which has picked up a fairly impressive collection of scratches and nicks across its frame and rear panel.

The body measures 163.4 x 78 x 8.75mm and weighs 249g, which is up from 233g for the previous Pro Max.

The physical controls haven't changed either, including the Camera Control button, which I continue to dislike, not just on the iPhone but also on its many Chinese copycats. I find the combination of presses and swipes fiddly enough that it is almost always easier for me to simply use the controls on screen. I also press it accidentally all the time. I am waiting for Apple to find the "courage" to take this one away.

However, I do really like the Action button, and I find it is considerably more useful for quick functions that actually suit how you use your phone.

The screen is fundamentally very similar to last year's. It is a 6.9-inch 2868 x 1320 Super Retina XDR OLED with ProMotion up to 120Hz, a 3,000-nit rated outdoor peak brightness and Apple's new anti-reflective coating. There have been changes behind the scenes to improve battery efficiency with new LTPO+ tech, while the most visible difference is the Dynamic Island, which is around 35% narrower after Apple moved part of the Face ID hardware beneath the display.

I have also seen discussions online around the screen looking worse than the one on the 17 Pro Max, but having compared the two side by side, I can't really spot any meaningful difference in quality.

Camera Performance

Apple's rear camera system remains built around three 48MP cameras covering 13mm, 24mm, and 100mm equivalent focal lengths, with 2x and 8x options generated from sensor crops.

The big change is that the main camera adds a physical six-blade variable aperture with f/1.48, f/1.8, f/2.8, and f/4 settings. Variable aperture is intriguing, as the concept of buying a mirrorless camera without a physical aperture is laughable. However, on a phone, I just remain unconvinced by it.

I have used similar systems on phones from Xiaomi and Huawei with even larger sensors and didn't think they lived up to the hype there either. On a sensor this small, the majority of everyday photographs simply don't show enough difference in depth of field between aperture settings for me to care.

You really only start to see it when focusing close to a subject. That makes it potentially useful for close portraits with the main camera, although I don't personally think 24mm is an ideal focal length for close-up portraits in the first place. I just really struggled to find any practical uses for the variable aperture when I was out shooting. If I wasn't testing the phone for review, I don't think I would ever use it.

Computational photography has also removed some of the reasons I might otherwise want a physical aperture on a phone. Portrait modes are now incredibly good at faking shallow depth of field, while computational long-exposure and light-trail modes mean I don't need to stop a lens down to force a longer shutter speed.

I also don't love how Apple handles the manual aperture selection. Apple has finally added proper Pro Controls for aperture, shutter speed, white balance, and a histogram to its Camera app, which is a welcome move, but getting to the aperture controls still feels more buried in menus and more complicated than it needs to be.

The more useful part of the new aperture is actually the fact that the main camera can now open to f/1.48, compared with f/1.78 on the previous generation, allowing more light to reach the sensor. That is a tangible benefit for low-light shooting, even if it isn't as exciting as watching physical aperture blades move.

For outright image quality, while I don't think the iPhone 18 Pro Max takes the best photographs you can get from a phone, where Apple continues to excel is reliability. Some rival phones can look absolutely spectacular when everything falls into place, but I have more confidence in the iPhone that whatever I point it at will come back as a usable photograph. Colors are generally accurate and true to life, exposure is extremely dependable even in awkward or harshly lit scenes, and there is excellent consistency when moving between cameras.

Chinese manufacturers have pushed much harder on camera hardware, with larger sensors, higher-resolution telephoto cameras, and collaborations with established imaging brands for camera processing. The Xiaomi 17 Ultra, for example, combines a 1-inch-type main sensor with Leica tuning and a 200MP telephoto camera, and it can simply extract more quality than the iPhone, but while I love Xiaomi's processing far more than Apple's, I can't rely on it every single time. There is a lot to be said for the "iPhone look", even if it's a bit boring.

The 4x telephoto is particularly good, and the 8x crop still holds up remarkably well without an immediately obvious collapse in quality.

But beyond that, Apple starts to fall behind. Digital zoom tops out at 40x, and Apple's processing at extreme zoom levels isn't in the same league as the AI-assisted systems offered by Google, Samsung, and the Chinese manufacturers.

The ultrawide is also very good overall, although I have noticed more muddiness in harsh lighting than I get from the main or telephoto cameras, with dynamic range seeming a little less convincing. If I start pixel peeping, it isn't as crisp as the other lenses either, although at normal viewing sizes it looks perfectly good.

Macro remains one of my biggest frustrations because the iPhone still switches to the ultrawide camera for close focusing rather than embracing tele-macro. I really do not like the perspective that ultrawide gives close-up subjects, and if macro is something you take seriously on an iPhone, I would invest in an accessory such as Moment's 75mm Macro lens for a more natural working distance and perspective.

The big software feature for Apple's camera this year is Photographic Styles, its answer to the growing demand for more stylized images straight out of camera – think Fujifilm film simulations. Most of Apple's presets are very good; a few wander a little too much into obvious "filter" territory, but if you are bored of the standard iPhone look, there is a lot to experiment with here.

Apple has expanded the system with additional tone, saturation, texture, and grain controls, and you can create some very cool results. This isn't quite as in-depth as LUTs or even Fujifilm's system, but there is a lot of promise if you're willing to play around enough with the settings.

However, if you are after the most "film-inspired' looks, then there are still plenty of third-party apps I prefer.

Video has always been one of Apple's strongest suits, and I think the iPhone 18 Pro Max is still top of the pile.

Standard iPhone video is beautifully balanced, with accurate colors, very dependable exposure, and excellent matching when switching between lenses, something a surprising number of otherwise brilliant camera phones still struggle with. Apple's HDR processing can be heavy, but I rarely find it aggressive enough to ruin the image.

Stabilization is also the best I have used on a phone. And more serious filmmakers get a frankly ridiculous range of options, including 4K 120fps Dolby Vision, ProRes, ProRes RAW, Apple Log 2, genlock, and 4K 120fps ProRes recording directly to external storage.

My only real complaint is that the standard Camera app still doesn't give creators enough control over settings. If you want to get properly involved, you can switch to Final Cut Camera or Blackmagic Camera, both of which reveal just how powerful the iPhone can be as a filmmaking tool, but they introduce a fairly steep learning curve (and an additional app). I would love it if Apple had a revamped Pro mode where controls were just more in reach.

Apple has also fitted four studio-quality microphones this year. I am not sure how many serious creators are relying on their phone's internal microphones when wireless systems are so easy to carry, but if you leave your mic kit at home, it is certainly useful to know the built-in option is more capable.

Phone Performance

Apple has been difficult to beat for outright smartphone performance since it began designing its own processors, and the A20 Pro keeps that advantage intact. Built on a 2nm process, it combines a six-core CPU, seven-core GPU, and dual 16-core Neural Engine, while Apple claims up to 40% more GPU performance than the A19 Pro.

My Geekbench 6 results put the iPhone 18 Pro Max at 4,653 for single-core and 12,511 for multi-core performance. For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra scored 3,659 and 11,305, respectively, so Apple still holds a small advantage, although Qualcomm does have a new chip since the last Galaxy.

Numbers aside, the phone feels incredibly quick. Everything from day-to-day navigation to editing and exporting video happens almost instantly, and I can scrub through huge video files without stuttering. There is already far more processing power here than the majority of owners are likely to need, but photographers and filmmakers working with large RAW files, 4K video, and increasingly demanding AI tools can actually make some use of the headroom.

Battery life has improved too. In my normal mix of web browsing, streaming, messaging, and photography, I get around a day and a half before needing to charge. Particularly impressive is Apple's much smaller cell is competing remarkably well with Chinese manufacturers that are putting enormous silicon-carbon batteries into their flagship phones.

There hasn't been much change to Apple OS. iOS 27 continues to refine Apple's Liquid Glass interface, which is probably sensible as it's been a pretty divisive visual change. Apple doesn't publish an exact number of guaranteed OS updates for the iPhone, but its historic support is among the longest in the industry, so I have very few concerns about the 18 Pro Max remaining useful for years.

The biggest new software push is, inevitably, AI. Siri's AI (or Apple Intelligence) is more capable and uses more on-device processing alongside Apple's Private Cloud Compute, while Photos gets tools including Spatial Reframing, Extend, and a more powerful Clean Up function.

There are also some interesting developments around image authenticity. Apple's new Reference Image feature can record data alongside a photograph, allowing an original reference to be compared with edited versions. Apple is also adding support for Google's SynthID later this year so AI-generated or AI-edited images can carry an invisible watermark. All of which should help in the fightback against AI-slop.

Final Verdict

The iPhone 18 Pro Max is a fine update; it's Apple refining an already very good phone. Not all the additions, I think, are worthwhile, but none of them detract from an incredible device.

For photography, there are phones I would choose ahead of it if image quality were my greatest concern, and Apple's headline variable aperture hasn't changed photography nearly as much as the marketing would suggest. Yet there is a lot to be said for how dependable the iPhone is. I can pull it from my pocket, snap away, and the photos will just look good. It remains a very capable everyday camera even if it isn't the outright stills champion.

But for video, I think it is still the phone to beat. The consistency between lenses, excellent stabilization, accurate color, and huge choice of professional codecs and formats make it my first choice for recording on a phone.

However, I just wouldn't upgrade from an iPhone 17 Pro Max for it, as the 17 is already just such a good phone, and I don't feel the 18 Pro Max adds quite enough. But for anyone coming from an older model, the iPhone 18 Pro Max remains one of the best camera phones you can buy right now.

Alternatives

The first iPhone launched in 2007, $499 – far less than the recently announced iPhone 18 Pro's entry price of $1,199. By contrast, the price of a quality camera has hardly changed – a Digital Rebel XTi was $899 ($1,445 adjusted for inflation) in 2007 while a broadly equivalent modern camera – the Sony ZV-E10 II – comes in for less, allowing for inflation, at $1,099.

In both cases, the cameras produce better results than the iPhone then and the iPhone 18 Pro now.

And there has been a marked – and you'd think off-putting rise – in the price of the iPhone. Despite that, I think photographers should be a lot more worried about the future of the cameras in this class than the phones – I know I am.

Why?

Because the iPhone started from close to zero when it came to its camera. That first iPhone had a 2-megapixel camera – that's 1600 x 1200 pixels. The low-light capabilities, as I recall, were little more than the ability to produce noise.

It was fixed focus and didn't even have digital zoom in the standard Camera app (not that it'd be much use at that resolution).

The camera was kept flush against the back of the relatively small phone, in a design which felt very much like Apple prioritised the form and style over the camera's functionality, but in fairness no one was sure what a camera in a phone was for.

In fact, no one really knew what a camera in a phone was going to be capable of.

There was also not even an App store at the time, let alone tons of social media apps to create pristine content for. There was no Instagram until 2010. No SnapChat until 2011. Let alone TikTok (2016).

Now the iPhone 18 Pro has an entry price of $1,199. There are much cheaper ways to get hold of a phone, and a camera.

But the new iPhones (and they're certainly not the highest megapixel counts), sports a 48-megapixel main camera with a variable aperture, and (as is common now) not just a digital zoom but a 48-megpixel camera with 4x native telephoto lens.

Combined with a 'Center Stage' front camera and ProRes RAW, Log 2 video recording and – simply but usefully – a Night Mode there are far fewer cases for reaching for the still technically better 'real camera'.

Real camera v iPhone: the value difference

I think that consumers understand the difference isn't what it used to be, and that there is one more enormous factor: speed.

A huge number of creators want their images to be immediately available on their phone to post, or to edit in a user friendly app and then post.

Plenty of cameras can transfer them via Wi-Fi and the like, but nothing is as convenient or quick as coming from the phone's own camera.

So, for most creators, most of the time, it's a battle of "good enough" versus "good".

I speak to YouTubers and other content creators all the time, and premium phones are winning that battle for them more often than not.

Not long ago I criticized the likes of Apple, Google and Samsung for being lazy; for producing flagship phones with minimal improvements to camera hardware, year after year. By contrast, Chinese brands like Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi are continually upping the ante in this area, the most obvious example being bespoke teleconverter lenses, such as the Oppo Hasselblad 300mm Explorer Teleconverter.

But there’s another Chinese phone manufacturer we in the West tend to overlook now: Huawei. Ever since Google banned Huawei from accessing Google Mobile Services in 2019, the brand all but died in the US and Europe, but it continues to thrive in its Chinese homeland. So much so that it's just launched what is quite possibly the most audacious piece of camera hardware for a phone I've ever seen.

Not content with simply copying Oppo or Vivo by offering another fixed focal length telephoto lens, Huawei has produced a lens for a camera phone that boasts 10x continuous optical zoom, equating to a 24-240mm focal range (in full-frame terms), plus you get a respectable f/2-4.5 max aperture.

And if that wasn't impressive enough, Huawei has teamed the lens with its own, dedicated 1-inch-type, 50-megapixel RYYB image sensor. This is capable of ISO6400 maximum sensitivity, 4K/60p video recording, and up 960fps slow motion video capture.

The result is the Ruiying Z10: an entire camera attachment that can be mounted directly to the camera island of a Huawei Mate 90 Pro Max, or Mate 90 RS phone - no intermediary case or separate mounting system required. The Z10 takes over all camera hardware duties from the phone, leaving the phone to handle image processing, the control interface, and image preview.

Sure, at approximately 80mm x 70mm in size and weighing 346g, the Z10 is a chunky piece of kit. But it's not unreasonably bulky: the Oppo Hasselblad 300mm Explorer Teleconverter is even heavier at 400g, and let's face it, none of these big lens attachments are going to fit in a jeans' pocket anyway. You really need to think of the Z10 not as an add-on lens you take out with you on a daily basis, but as a camera converter. It gives you the option to turn your phone into a full-on camera with genuine, continuous 10x optical zoom. No switching between your phone’s own individual camera modules and getting varied image quality as a result. No relying on AI zoom, with its sometimes sketchy interpretation of reality.

For everyday use you'd shoot with the cameras in the Mate 90 Pro Max or Mate 90 RS, and that'd be no hardship, as these phones are imaging powerhouses in their own right. We're talking a main camera with a 1/1.28-inch, 50MP sensor and an f/1.4-f/4.0 variable aperture lens, a 200-megapixel 4x periscope telephoto module, also using a 1/1.28-inch sensor, and a 40-megapixel ultrawide camera. But for holidays, events, or other special occasions when you might otherwise want a 'proper' camera, you'd simply attach the Z10 and away you go.

And the price for all this versatility? RMB 5,999, or around $895 US. Sure, that's far from cheap - the same money would buy you a 256GB Pixel 11 phone. But let's consider the alternative: you already have a high-end phone, but also want a dedicated compact camera with a 1-inch sensor and at least 10x optical zoom. An obvious choice would be the Panasonic ZS300/TZ300, which costs $897, and while this does have 15x zoom reach, I'd bet my left arm its image quality won't be as impressive as that from the Mate 90/Ruiying Z10 combo.

But sadly I'm ignoring the elephant in the room here: the Ruiying Z10 looks incredible, it'll probably perform very well, but unless you live in China, you'll never actually get the chance to find out. Who could have predicted in 2019, when the US was doing its best to kill off Huawei's consumer phone division, that in 2026 the brand wouldn't just be prospering in this sector, it'd be at the cutting edge of camera phone innovation.

A lot of the best camera phones deliver 50MP camera technology, but with many of them offering flagship specs they also attract flagship prices. With the release of the Poco X8 and Poco C95 Pro, Xiaomi's value phone brand, Poco is aiming to buck the trend.

The Poco X8 retails at a price of £329 but, in an attempt to attract customers, the handset can be snapped up for just £269. If that seems like aggressive sales tactics, then it's nothing compared to the Poco C95 Pro – which is discounted down from £249 to just £159.

Both handsets feature 50MP main cameras, but it's the Poco X8 that offers the best overall camera specs. In fact, Poco has upgraded the imaging system with the aim of elevating "portrait quality across all scenarios to help users capture the moments with true authenticity."

Its 50MP main camera, equipped with optical image stabilization and electronic image stablization, is backed up by a 16MP front camera, both of which promise "greater detail in diverse lighting conditions."

Aside from the hardware, one of the most innovative features available on the X8 is Dual Video, which enables users to capture both front and rear views at the same time. This feature is aimed directly at content creators who want to create more dynamic and engaging content without requiring further investment in additional cameras.

Another feature available on the X8 is the AI editing tools, including AI Glare Removal, AI Erase Pro, AI Image Expansion, AI Image Enhancement, and AI Beautify.

The C95 Pro also features a 50MP main camera, but at the front Poco has opted for a lower-resolution 8MP camera for selfies and video calls. There's also no Dual Video video recording like there is on the X8.

Beyond the cameras

Both phones offer industry-leading battery specs, with the X8 featuring a huge 8,340mAh battery and the C95 Pro still having an impressive 7,500mAh battery. The result of these batteries is more than two days of battery life on a single charge.

Where the C95 Pro shines in comparison, the X8 is in its immersive display, which, at 6.9 inches, is slightly larger than the 6.83 found on the more expensive X8. Both displays offer sufficient nits of brightness to be used in bright sunlight.

Availability

The Poco X8 and Poco C95 Pro are now available in the UK. The X8 can be purchased at Mi in three different colors: White, Black, and Orange with one variant: 8GB + 256GB.

The C95 Pro is available in three colors exclusively on Amazon: Blue, Green and Black and comes in two variants: 6GB + 128GB and 8GB.

You might also like...

Find more of the best Android phones for photography or the best camera phones in our guides.

OnePlus has taken to Weibo to announce the launch of its latest flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 16. As impressive as the specs are, and we'll get to those in a minute, the most notable part of the announcement is that it will not be released in US or European markets.

At the back end of 2025, we praised the "blistering speed, battery stamina, and solid camera system" of the OnePlus 15. At the time, we were already looking forward to the release of the 16, expecting significant improvements and for the brand to expand its market share.

It was, therefore, with disappointment that in July, OnePlus announced that they would no longer be selling their products in North America and Europe. That put an abrupt end to a decade of building market share and influence in these fiercely competitive regions.

A new 200MP main camera

Diving into what most of us will now miss out on, beginning with the camera system. The OnePlus 16 will feature a huge 200MP main camera with a 1/1.4-inch sensor. It will also support a special mode called Expert, which includes film-like colors and a Hasselblad-inspired aspect ratio.

The three remaining cameras boast 50MP sensors. This covers the ultrawide, telephoto, and even the selfie camera. The most notable improvement here is that the telephoto camera has been upgraded to a Sony IMX882 1/1.95-inch sensor with larger 0.8µm pixels. This will capture more light and deliver better results in low-light locations.

The OnePlus 16 promises to be fast

According to the Weibo announcement, the OnePlus 16 will be "among the first to feature the 6th generation Snapdragon 8 Super Edition, paired with a new generation of gaming kernel, pre-programmed into the chip for maximum performance!"

The result will be flagship performance that will be noticed by all types of power users, including photographers, creative professionals, and gamers. In fact, the last of these will enjoy the fastest FPS gaming experience with a 185Hz refresh rate.

The OnePlus 16 will be available in three unique colors: Tomorrow’s Starlight, The Dark Forest, and A Martian Masterpiece.

We still hope to test and review the flagship device, but if you'd like to get your hands on one for yourself, then you'll have to be satisfied with an import. The phone will be released in China on October 12th and is already available on display at OPPO stores.

You might also like...

Find more of the best Android phones for photography or the best camera phones in our guides.

Honor has officially launched its Magic 9 series in China, and while there are a couple of new models, it is the Honor Magic 9 Pro Max that is the most exciting for photographers and filmmakers.

The headline feature is an ambitious triple-camera system developed around Honor’s new partnership with cinema camera specialist ARRI. This is the second Honor-ARRI collaboration after the niche Honor Robot phone – which put a pop-up gimbal camera on the back of a smartphone – and the first taste of ARRI’s contributions in a mainstream device.

ARRI’s involvement goes beyond simply lending its name to the cameras. The Magic 9 Pro Max can record up to 4K 60p using an ARRI Cinema Mode, with ARRI LogC3, 10-bit color and ARRI Wide Gamut 3. For more tuned footage straight out of the camera, there are 14 ARRI Looks built in, with access to a wider library of 87 Looks that can be imported and applied to footage.

The Magic 9 Pro Max camera system consists of a 200MP main camera with a large 1/1.28-inch sensor, f/1.57 aperture and OIS, alongside a second 200MP telephoto camera using a 1/1.4-inch sensor and f/2.6 aperture, while a 50MP f/2 ultrawide completes the trio.

Up front is a 55MP camera paired with a 3D depth sensor, with an Apple-style square-format sensor allowing landscape or portrait compositions without physically rotating the phone. It’s unclear at this stage if either the front or rear cameras support open gate recording.

Honor is making particularly bold claims about stabilization. Both the 200MP main and telephoto cameras carry a CIPA 8.0 stabilization rating, while the main camera offers what Honor calls 3-degree “gimbal-level” stabilization, designed to compensate for considerably more movement than conventional smartphone OIS, and without having to rely on electronic image stabilization (EIS) cropping into an image.

While internal audio often gets overlooked on phones, with wireless mics so cheap and prevalent, the Magic 9 has ambitions to make internal audio recording more feasible without needing additional accessories with a four-microphone Cinematic Directional Microphone system. Honor is promising targeted directional pickup, isolating background noise around your subject, even from a distance. The demos so far look very cool, but I’m eager to see how this compares to external mics in less controlled situations.

Finally, in the camera department, it seems no modern Chinese flagship phone is complete without an optional photography kit, so Honor is treating us to a new Photography Master Kit that includes 200mm and 500mm teleconverter lenses. The Magic9 Pro Max also supports a dedicated SmallRig mobile video kit with handles and connection points for accessories, including a cooling fan for long recording sessions.

Powering all of this is Qualcomm’s newly announced Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, paired with Honor’s own H1 imaging processor. Interestingly, despite Qualcomm advertising support for 8K/60p and 4K/240p capture from the Extreme chip, the Magic9 Pro Max itself tops out at 4K/60p.

The other number of note is the enormous 8,800mAh battery (although that number is likely to be lower when the phone reaches the EU due to battery regulations) with 100W wired and 80W wireless charging. There is also a 6.8-inch 1-120Hz LTPO OLED display, and up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

The Honor Magic 9 series has just gone on sale in China, and Honor has confirmed that an international launch is planned, although it has yet to say when the Magic 9 Pro Max will arrive in markets including the UK and Europe (the US, as usual, won’t get an official launch).

When it does make the journey overseas, the Magic 9 Pro Max looks set to be one of Honor’s most serious attempts yet to challenge the best camera phones and best phones for video.

Leica is making an even bigger play for iPhone photographers with the launch of Leica LUX 2.0, the biggest update yet to its mobile camera app, alongside a new silver LUX grip and matching leather cases for Apple’s latest iPhone 18 Pro series.

The updated Leica LUX app brings the mobile experience closer to Leica’s wider camera ecosystem, with a new gallery interface based on the Leica FOTOS app, a redesigned user interface and a selection of alternative app icons inspired by some of Leica’s most recognizable cameras. Leica has also introduced elements of Apple’s Liquid Glass design language while keeping the main photographic controls in familiar positions, so existing LUX users shouldn’t have to relearn how to use the app completely.

One of the headline additions is a new Artist Look created in collaboration with legendary photographer Steve McCurry. Rather than attempting to automatically turn every photograph into something resembling one of McCurry’s images, Leica says the look has been designed around his distinctive approach to color, light, and atmosphere, giving photographers a starting point from which to develop their own images. It follows the earlier Greg Williams Artist Look and will be included with Leica LUX PRO, while also being made available for the Leica Q3 and Leica SL3 through the Leica FOTOS app.

“With Leica LUX 2.0, mobile photography is becoming more closely integrated with the Leica system. The shared gallery, the new user interface and Steve McCurry’s Artist Look offer photographers new ways to develop their own visual language using an iPhone. Together with the silver Leica LUX grip and matching cases, the result is a coordinated range for mobile photography,” says Marius Eschweiler, Leica Camera AG’s Vice President of Mobile.

Leica LUX 2.0 also introduces a number of useful workflow improvements. A new filmstrip makes it possible to select individual photographs directly from the detail view, while multiselect functionality has been added to the grid for photographers working through larger groups of images.

Adobe Lightroom and Capture One can also now be opened directly from the app alongside Darkroom, making it easier to move images into a more advanced editing workflow. The app will support the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max from launch, with additional optimizations designed around the photographic capabilities of Apple’s newest Pro models.

The app itself is only one part of Leica’s increasingly ambitious mobile photography system. The Leica LUX grip is now available in silver for the first time, joining the existing black version while retaining the same physical controls. That includes a two-stage shutter release, a control wheel, and two customizable function buttons, with the grip attaching to an iPhone via MagSafe and communicating with the phone over Bluetooth. Leica says its battery will last for up to 1,000 shots before needing to be recharged through USB-C, while compatibility stretches back to the iPhone 12.

Leica is also introducing new black leather LUX cases designed specifically for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. The cases feature a red microfiber interior and are designed to work directly with the LUX grip and other MagSafe accessories. Leica has also replaced the previous open cutout around the iPhone’s camera button with an integrated button, creating what it describes as a more robust and completely enclosed design.

The new accessories are certainly positioned at the premium end of the iPhone photography market. The silver Leica LUX grip costs $395.00 / £260 and includes one year of Leica LUX PRO, while the leather Leica LUX cases are priced at $95 / £85 each. Both the grip and cases are available from today through Leica Stores, Leica’s online store, and authorized retailers.

The Steve McCurry Artist Look and support for the iPhone 18 Pro series are also available now, while the full Leica LUX 2.0 update, including its new gallery, redesigned interface and alternative app icons, will arrive on the Apple App Store in early October.

Leica says LUX has already been downloaded millions of times since its introduction in 2024, and with the company now bringing its app, physical controls and accessories closer together, it is becoming increasingly clear that Leica sees the iPhone as much more than simply another smartphone camera.

Qualcomm has unveiled its latest chipset, which will power some of the best Android phones for photography for the next year. The flagship chip comes in two variants, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, both built on the latest 2nm processes and with performance improvements across the board – but it’s perhaps photographers and video creators who get some of the most substantial upgrades.

The headline features sit with the Extreme chip. Qualcomm says it can capture 8K video at 60fps and 4K at 240fps, while supporting the Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec and 10-bit Log workflows.

A new Elite Color Engine is designed to improve color, gradients, and noise, while Intelligent Pixel Control can analyze scenes at the pixel level to reduce artifacts such as halos and flare. This extra power and control could come in handy as phones increasingly become more end-to-end production devices, capable of capture, editing, grading, and posting without leaving the handset.

The standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 keeps the new Elite Color Engine and adds Motion Intelligence for stabilization, but Qualcomm reserves the Extreme model's 8K60, 4K240, and APV headline features for its top tier.

The Extreme Gen 6 adds these considerably higher video frame rates alongside a 44% faster GPU and 35% faster NPU compared to last year's top Gen 5 chip, according to Qualcomm.

Competition is also fierce. MediaTek's new Dimensity 9600 Pro supports native 4K240, 4K120 cinematic Log video and up to a claimed 17-stop dynamic range. Meanwhile, Apple's A20 Pro does not chase 8K, but the iPhone 18 Pro supports 4K120 ProRes, ProRes RAW, Apple Log 2, and ACES support. Its new chip also doubles AI processing capability over the A19 Pro and increases memory bandwidth by 50%, potentially benefiting computational imaging and demanding editing tasks.

As always, silicon specifications are only part of the story. Sensor choice, lenses, thermal design, and each manufacturer's image processing will ultimately decide whether these gains translate into visibly better photographs and video. But we won’t have to wait long; the first phones to feature the new chips will be the Xiaomi 18 Pro & Pro Max (the Pro Max getting the Extreme version) and Motorola Signature 27 both due to land outside of China sometime soon.

You might also like...

Find more of the best camera phones and the best phones for video in our guides.

Friday September 18 is the days the stores open around the world for the iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 12, Ultra 4, and AirPods 5. In the USA 14 of the brand new iPhones will also be used to capture the Giants take on the Dodgers and broadcast live on Apple TV to subscribers in 60 countries.

Originally announced last month, Apple phones are being hidden in parts of the Major League Baseball (MLB) stadia that are just impossible to tuck traditional broadcast gear, including the pitch clock, behind the backstop, on a foul pole, and in both bullpens.

Since the game starts at 7:15pm on the West Coast today (3.15am tomorrow for British fans), it comes sometime after the first iPhones went on sale around the world.

Interestingly in the first market to open, Australia's Sydney, there was some sweary debate and general childishness over who was first, much to the entertainment of US tabloids like the New York Post.

The point is that it's a busy day for the iPhone – but it isn't stopping MLB getting them out on the field.

The iPhone 18 Pros will be used to shoot part of the Friday's Giants at Dodgers game. Eight of the 14 iPhones will be sending a live feed using a private T-Mobile 5G network.

This private network is at a different frequency to the 50,000 or so fans in the stadium, and makes the difference between reliable broadcast video and a connection at the mercy of thousands of other phone users nearby.

The upshot is that the iPhone's footage will be involved in the live coverage, not just a highlights package.

iPhones will get more involved too – essentially anything which was previously shot with a camera on a shoulder rig then transmitted via a broadcast truck can be shot using an iPhone. That means batting practice or the players receiving their instructions, even events in the dugouts.

An iPhone can fit in new places – like hanging on a foul pole for nine whole innings. The new 48-megapixel fusion camera boasts a variable aperture, as well as easier to access pro controls like white balance, which should make the process a little easier to cope with for longstanding broadcast engineers. That said, iPhones have been used before for live sports – the iPhone 17 (four of them, in fact) made an appearance at Fenway Park in September 2005 and that is described as the first by Apple.

Check out our guides to the best cases for the iPhone 18 Pro Max and the best cases for the iPhone 18 Pro

Apple has finally brought variable aperture to its iPhone cameras – and that alongside its first folding device. But as a photographer, the reason I want an iPhone 18 Pro is actually much simpler: an anti-AI tool called reference image.

The rise of AI has introduced tools to drastically alter images without any complex technical know-how. But the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max’s have a hardware-level ability to save an untouched, unprocessed image as a reference image.

On a device running iOS 27, that reference image can be accessed in the Photos app with a tap. This not only allows viewers to see whether or not the photograph was altered in any way, but also displays an image without the camera’s usual processing algorithms that tweak things like colors and contrast.

That means that a reference image may not have the pretty colors of the final image, but it serves as a record of what the scene looked like and whether or not any tools were used to alter the image.

Reference image works in two phases. First, the sensor captures what Apple calls a “secure digital negative.” That image needs the barest amount of processing in order to become a viewable image, so in the second part of the process, Apple uses Private Cloud Compute and demosaics, tone maps, and compresses the image.

A reference image works on a hardware level – the iPhone camera sensor captures the reference image and saves it with the standard photo type. During manufacturing, both the camera sensor and processor are given a unique identifier. This allows reference images to be validated by confirming that the photo was taken with a sensor and matching processor.

That does, unfortunately, mean that a reference image needs an internet connection to verify that those keys match with Private Cloud Compute. Apple says that it doesn’t have access to those reference images and doesn’t use those images for AI training, but if you are in a spot without internet, the reference image won’t be available until you’ve restored the connection.

Apple says that hardware solutions are less susceptible to compromise. But that also means it requires the new iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max camera’s sensor to work, so this isn’t a feature that Apple is going to bring to older devices through an iOS update.

Reference image is an opt-in feature – users have to go into the Settings app, navigate to the Camera section, select Reference Image, and then follow Apple’s instructions for setup.

Once that setup is complete, iPhone users can turn reference mode on and off directly inside the Camera app. This is important, as the added data means photos taken in this mode will take up more space on the device.

In the Photos app, the photograph can then be compared to the original reference image by tapping “reference” at the top of the photo to develop the reference image – which requires an internet connection. Once developed, tapping the reference icon will allow you to compare the image with the original reference data.

While building authenticity directly into the hardware at the time the photo is captured can be more secure, there’s still one significant downside to the new reference image – a device running iOS27 or later is needed to view those images, meaning an Android user can’t check the authenticity unless a supported app comes out in the future.

Users can also choose whether or not to share the reference image data inside the camera settings.

While cross-platform compatibility is going to be a must for a truly verifiable image, I’m glad to see Apple taking steps towards transparency about how much a photograph has been altered. I love that the approach is not only hardware-based, but that you can see the actual reference image – because edits like applying a filter shouldn’t have the same warning flags as using AI to add a generated object or remove something from the image.

Am I going to buy a new iPhone just because there’s an anti-AI photo tool built in? Well, no, but I’m glad to see Apple putting resources into the growing issue of AI slop.

You may also like

Take a look at the best camera phones. Or read about what the iPhone 18 Pro's new variable aperture means.

The first iPhone became a near-overnight success – but new research suggests that the iPhone 17 could be the most popular generation in the entire series.

According to market research firm Counterpoint, more than $170 billion of iPhone 17s sold were in its first year, which is the highest first-year revenue in the iPhone’s entire history. (That's about £125.8 billion / AU$238.4 billion / CA$236.9 billion.)

Looking at the iPhone 17 in terms of revenue may not quite indicate which generation of iPhone is the most popular as well as the number of smartphones sold – after all, the base model iPhone 17 costs nearly twice what the 4GB iPhone cost in 2007.

The base model iPhone has launched at a similar list price for the last five years – though the Pro and Pro Max models in the 17 came with a price jump. Counterpoint’s data suggests that the iPhone 17 series generated 11 percent more revenue than the iPhone 16.

The data echoes what Apple said earlier this year, calling the iPhone 17 the “most popular” model in its entire history, as Apple posted double-digit sales growth back in April.

The details on the iPhone 17’s first year of sales couldn’t have come at a more interesting time. Apple has now announced the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, and the first folding version, the iPhone Duo.

Ahead of Apple’s fall events, analysts predicted the rising cost of memory would impact costs – but that prediction came true for both the fresh models and the older iPhone 17. Both the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max sit at a higher price point than their predecessors, but the price on the base model iPhone 17, as well as the 17e and iPhone Air, also increased this month.

In the US, the base model iPhone 17 now costs about $100 more than it did at launch, with a similar £100 increase in the UK. That’s the first time in five years that the base model iPhone has increased in price.

While Apple launched the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, Apple’s fall launch event did not come with a new base model iPhone 18, which leaves the earlier iPhone 17 still a current option.

This comes after John Ternus takes over the role of Apple CEO, following Tim Cook’s 15 years in the role.

The iPhone will turn 20 years old in the fall of 2027. The success of the iPhone 17, along with the newly launched features like a variable-aperture camera and the company’s first folding device, will make that particular milestone even more interesting to watch.

You may also like

Read more with the guide to the best camera phones.

The foldable iPhone Duo may have stolen much of the limelight at the iPhone 18 launch event, but Apple was also keen to show off its new variable aperture lens that fronts the primary camera in the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. Along with a new 48MP sensor, it's made this "the most advanced camera Apple has ever made".

The camera can automatically select an aperture setting depending on whether a faster shutter speed or greater depth of field is to be prioritised, or users can manually chose between four aperture settings in the Camera app. The aperture diaphragm is comprised of six laser-cut blades controlled by a new rotor mechanism, which apple states will smoothly transition between f/4 and the maximum f/1.48 aperture.

It all sounds mightily impressive, but it raises a couple of questions: why don't all high-end camera phones have a variable aperture camera lens? And considering these lenses are nothing new, why has it taken so long for Apple to embrace this technology?

Firstly, though variable aperture lenses aren't common in camera phones, the iPhone 18 Pro is far from the first phone to use one. In 2022 Huawei gave us a variable f/1.4-f/4 aperture lens in its Mate 50 Pro, and Xiaomi used a similar variable aperture a year later in its flagship 14 Pro handset. Even back in 2018 you could have had a dual-aperture camera lens, courtesy of the Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+. And yet despite the technology clearly being viable for years, it's yet to become the norm in the camera phone sector.

There's actually good reasoning for this. A variable lens aperture is essential in a lens designed for a conventional, large-sensor camera like a full-frame DSLR or mirrorless body. This is because the larger the sensor, the shallower the depth of field at a given aperture. With a full-frame camera, if you want a subject close to the camera and a distant background to both be in focus, you'll need to significantly reduce the lens aperture. But shrink the sensor down to the size of a typical camera phone sensor - 1/1.28in, in the case of the iPhone 18 Pro - and, even at the lens' f/1.48 max aperture, there'll still be a huge depth of field.

So if a camera phone is inherently good at producing a deep depth of field, there's little reason for having a lens with a variable aperture. You may as well fix the aperture to be as large as possible to get the maximum amount of light through to the sensor, thereby keeping shutter speeds high and ISO sensitivity low - the ideal recipe for sharp, low-noise shots.

Apple is keen to show off the benefits of a variable aperture lens in its press material for the iPhone 18 Pro, with several sample images demonstrating how the new lens can give you the best of both worlds: a wide aperture for better low light image quality, and a narrower aperture for when you want a greater depth of field to keep subjects at different distances in focus. It sure looks impressive from the press material, but having reviewed camera phones for many years and seen just how much depth of field you can get from a large aperture, I’ve almost never wished I had the ability to stop down.

And this may answer the question of why Apple hasn't seen fit to use a variable aperture lens sooner. This isn't cutting-edge tech - it could have implemented it years ago - and yet it didn't. Could that be because Apple also knows that this really isn't a game-changer for camera phone image quality? I can only speculate as to why it's now chosen to incorporate this tech into the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, but my best guess is that at least it represents some form of hardware improvement, even if the real-world benefits may be marginal. In a world where most phone camera 'upgrades' now come in the form of AI, Apple likely needed to do something different to stand out, and a variable aperture lens, if nothing else, is indeed different.

The iPhone 18 Pro Max is Apple's top-of-the-line iPhone, at least until the folding iPhone Duo comes along in October. And when you've invested $1,299 / £1,299 / AU$2,299 the first thing you'll want to do after taking it out of its box is put it straight into a protective case.

Apple, of course, makes its own range of cases, but they are on the pricey side and – dare I say it – a little boring. But there are plenty of third-party options available, too, and these tend to be a little more adventurous in their design.

Here's my pick of cases that I've personally tried and tested. These are all for the iPhone 18 Pro Max, but most are also available in variants to fit the smaller iPhone 18 Pro. If you're sticking with the previous-generation iPhone 17 Pro / Pro Max, but fancy treating it to a new case, the good news is that there's precious little difference in the form factor between generations, so all the cases in this guide will also fit and protect the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Indeed, you may see cases variously labeled as for 'iPhone 18 Pro Max' or 'iPhone 18 / 17 Pro Max', and both will fit either generation of phones nicely and snugly. But while a case designed for the 'iPhone 17 Pro Max' will phyically fit the newer phone, its camera bump is slightly deeper, so an older case might not quite offer the same level of protection.

Best Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max cases

Best iPhone 18 Pro Max case for photographers

Peak Design has earned an enviable reputation among photographers, with a range of reliable, well-designed, no-nonsense products including camera straps, bags, and tripods, and the company is also beginning to make a name for itself as a maker of quality phone cases, too.

The Everyday Case is, in fact, the name for a range of elegantly designed but protective cases made from various materials, including nylon canvas, full-grain leather, and a vegan leatherette for the ecologically minded. All cases in the range feature machined aluminum buttons that complement the main color, a responsive camera control passthrough, and MagSafe charging and connection.

You then have the choice of the rear of the case being plain, featuring a pull-out finger loop for more secure handholding, having a Slimlink recess that locks mechanically to car or bike mounts, or both the loop and Slimlink. All cases are Fair Trade Certified and are backed by Peak Design’s lifetime guarantee.

Prices vary quite considerably depending on the materials and features selected, but I think it's worth paying the extra for the all-bells-and-whistles variant with the Slimlink connector and finger loop – both hold your phone more securely on mounts and in the hand, while adding negligible depth to the size of the case.

• Back to the top ⤴

Best iPhone 18 Pro Max case for fashionistas

If you want an eye-catching case that's as individual as you are, then one of the Burga Tough iPhone 18 Pro Max cases will be right up your alley. With well over 500 designs on offer, from cute cats and animal prints to geometric patterns and mirror finishes, there's bound to be one that suits your sense of style. Anti-fade printing ensures the design holds its color.

All cases are MagSafe compatible, and the CloudGuard 2-in-1 Defense System features a dual-layer construction: a shock-absorbing silicone inner lining wrapped in a hard polycarbonate outer shell to protect against drops. Raised 2mm bezels around the display and camera lenses keep delicate glass surfaces elevated in the case of flat drops, while a microfibre lining prevents scratching from within.

You can buy each iPhone case design alongside matching AirPod case covers, power banks, and magnetic ring holders for an accessorized look. For those who like to change their style as their mood suits them, Burga has a 'buy 4, pay for 2' offer, so you can swap cases as the whim takes you. In addition to the Tough line, Burga also offers Elite cases, with a similar seemingly endless choice of designs along with tougher rubberized edges for even greater protection.

• Back to the top ⤴

Best clear iPhone 18 Pro Max case

You spend ages deliberating on which color of iPhone to buy, only to hide it away in a case. But it doesn't have to be this way. The Mous Clarity case is transparent to enable the full beauty of your shiny new iPhone 18 Pro Max to shine through. And, as it has been constructed from PCTG co-polyester with UV-resistant technology to resist yellowing, the case should look as good a few years down the line as the day you bought it.

There are a lot of cheap and nasty clear cases on the market that offer little in the way of grip or protection, but that's certainly not the case with this case. While the main body is clear, it is built around an aluminum frame and has an opaque textured surface for improved grip in stone or black colorways. This frame hides an AiroShock protection system built into the edges of the case, focused on the corners to protect against drop damage, and has a reinforced ring around the camera bump. Indeed, Mous is famed for videos of lobbing brand-new phones in its cases off tall buildings and living to tell the tale, without picking up as much as a scratch.

The case comes with black or stone-colored edges, and this color option is mirrored in the MagSafe ring (non-MagSafe versions are also available, but there's not much price difference). They really do offer the best of both worlds: a see-through case that is grippy and protective.

In addition to the clear case, Mous also has non-transparent Limitless cases in various patterns and materials, including leather and aramid fiber, and even an Intralock case for active types that clips into mounts for bike handlebars, all with the same AiroShock protection system. You can further modify the cases with a pop-in camera kickstand or lens guard; the basic lens bump pops out, and the replacement pops into its place.

• Back to the top ⤴

Best luxury iPhone 18 Pro Max case

Nothing screams luxury like leather, and the Troubadour Modular Leather Case is crafted from full-grain leather that promises to age beautifully. The 'modular' refers to a back panel that attaches to the phone via MagSafe and can be removed to show off the rear of the iPhone or replaced with a matching wallet that stashes three cards, yet has a slimmer profile than most because it, too, attaches directly to the rear of the phone.

The cases really are a delight to hold and behold. It has that wonderful leather smell, and the buttons are made from machined metal, rather than plastic, to add to the top-quality feel. On the inside, a microfiber lining keeps your phone protected.

The case is part of a wider Troubadour ecosystem, which includes the aforementioned leather wallet-cum-kickstand that snaps to the phone case via MagSafe and can support the phone for watching media; there's a matching AirPods case; and a keyfob with an Apple AirTag compartment to end the problem of mislaying your keys. While I think the case itself is an affordable luxury – it's typically around the same price as Apple's no-frills silicone case – adding all the accessories does add up.

• Back to the top ⤴

Best iPhone 18 Pro Max case for sports

The Quad Lock iPhone 18 Pro Max case has a nice rubberized feel with a chunky surround that should give you confidence should you accidentally drop the phone. Not that that's very likely, because around the back, in the middle of the MagSafe-compatible ring, is a recessed indent that forms the Quad Lock mechanism. This securely attaches the phone to all manner of mounts. There's a running armband, bike handlebar mounts, in-car kits, and a whole lot else. You simply slot the case onto the mount at a 45º angle and give it a twist, whereby it locks firmly in place until released by pressing a latch on the mount.

It's really rock solid and offers a much safer support than the strongest of magnets could ever muster; I trust it entirely when going out for a run, and it has the bonus that the front face of the phone is unobscured, so the touchscreen works, which I've found isn't the case with typical running straps.

Previous-generation Quad Lock cases only came in black, but for the latest iPhone 18 models, the company has introduced a range of colorways to match the phone. Quad Lock also makes matching AirPods cases with a similar rugged, super-protective build.

• Back to the top ⤴

Best slim iPhone 18 Pro Max case

While your shiny new iPhone 18 Pro Max demands protection from the rigors that daily life can throw at it, it can seem a shame to hide that sleek form factor with an overly bulky case. The Pitaka Edge case aims to remedy this with an incredibly thin and light construction: it's just 1.2mm thick and a featherweight 25 grams.

It's crafted from aerospace-grade aramid fiber, a high-tech woven material that Pitaka says is five times stronger than steel, while being much, much lighter. It really, truly adds no noticeable size to the phone, and has a lovely, elegant textured feel. There are lots of design options, with colors applied to the woven fibers for a cool and distinctive pixelated look, with names such as Milky Way Galaxy and Glints of Gold.

A raised camera bump protects the precious lens array, and it's MagSafe compatible too. A PitaTap Camera Control cover transfers full functionality to the Camera Control button it sits over, while preserving the sleek lines of the case; however, none of the physical buttons are protected, but have cutouts instead.

Pitaka also makes the Cairn, which is essentially the same case with added corner bumpers and button covers for even greater protection, at the expense of the ultra-slim form factor.

• Back to the top ⤴

Best budget iPhone 18 Pro Max case

The Gripmunk with MagSafe is Smartish's most basic iPhone 18 Pro Max case (aside from the GripMunk without MagSafe), but there's little price difference between them, and I'd pay the extra for the version that is compatible with magnetic chargers.

There may be cheaper cases than the Gripmunk, but probably not at this level of quality. It is available in a wide range of colors, both opaque and translucent, with bold and striking designs that not only look great, but also provide great value.

Despite the low asking price, the case edges are gently contoured with finger-shaped indents for grip, and the case offers plenty of protection; Smartish says that it has been 'drop-tested 50 times from a six-foot height'. I can't claim to have tried this myself with my own phone!

• Back to the top ⤴

Best iPhone 18 Pro Max case for video

The ESR Atelier case's party trick is that its protective camera lip is hinged to form a neat flip-out kickstand that props the phone up at a comfortable viewing angle for watching movies, YouTube, or hands-free FaceTime calls. The mechanism is strong enough to support the phone either hinge side up or down in horizontal orientations, and while it will also prop the phone vertically, the viewing angle is rather shallow in this orientation.

The main material is a "Vegan leather", which comes in burgundy, misty blue, light grey, and black, to complement the iPhone 18 Pro Max's colorways. It feels nice and grippy in the hand and has a claimed 3x military-grade drop protection from up to 11 feet. MagSafe compatibility is present and correct, for a secure and reliable hold on stands and chargers.

ESR also makes a Magnetic Hybrid Case, which has the same hinged stand mechanism as the Atelier, but is instead made from a translucent plastic "Clearguard" material. This one is a little cheaper and offers enhanced 4x military-grade protection, which is a good thing, as the smooth, plasticky finish doesn't feel as grippy (nor look nearly as nice) as the Atelier.

• Back to the top ⤴

Best iPhone 18 Pro Max case for carrying cards

Many of us use our iPhones to pay for everything these days, but it's wise to carry a traditional credit card for emergencies, not to mention other everyday fantastic plastic, such as a driver's license, key passes, and so on. The Wallet Slayer Vol. 1 can stash up to four cards in a slot at the rear, which are held firmly in place with a spring mechanism, but can be easily slid out via a thumb recess.

The front of the phone and rear camera are well-protected by raised bumpers, and air pockets provide additional protection against drops and impacts. The phone's Camera Control is exposed but deeply recessed to enable direct operation.

There are various colors and patterns available, as is par for the course with Smartish gear. It certainly adds less bulk than folding wallet-style cases, but the ability to stash cards in the slot around the back means this case forgoes MagSafe functionality.

If you want the best of both worlds, Smartish also makes a Side Hustle Vault that snaps onto other cases (or the bare phone itself) via MagSafe, though it's a little bulkier than the all-in-one case. It has the added benefit of RFID protection, so your card details can't be read by unscrupulous types in crowded places.

• Back to the top ⤴

Best leather iPhone 18 Pro Max case

For a touch of timeless elegance, nothing beats the look, feel, and smell of leather. Casebellé's cases are made from responsibly sourced materials from Leather Working Group Gold-rated tanneries. Color options include Burgundy, Racing Green, Umber, and Glacier Blue to match the latest colorways of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max series, and there are a couple of distinct leather finishes on offer, too.

The Timeless Luxe Collection is crafted from full-grain Italian nappa leather and maintains a smooth, pristine look that resists daily scuffs and water. But if you ask me, the best leather cases are those that age with time, and the Vintage Luxe Collection is made with Tuscan vegetable-tanned vachetta leather to develop a rich, personalized patina with everyday wear and tear. You can personalize the cases further by embossing them with up to four initials in gold, silver, or a 'blind' stamp.

But it's not all style over substance. Powerful N52SH magnets ensure reliable MagSafe compatibility, while a plush internal microfiber lining safeguards the phone's back glass from scratches. Drop protection is ensured by a raised screen lip, reinforced corners, and a 1.8 mm bumper to shield the camera lenses.

• Back to the top ⤴

Best iPhone 18 Pro Max case for grip

A step up from the Smartish Gripmunk case, the Gripzilla has more deeply contoured finger grooves and textured sides designed to help you grip the case firmly in hand. But should the worst happen, and you allow the phone to slip from your grip, this case offers an even greater level of protection, with raised corner bumpers and built-in air pockets to better absorb shocks from drops.

Unlike the Gripmunk, the Camera Control is covered with a conductive strip, rather than being open, which still enables you to use the camera functionality. It's fully MagSafe compatible and comes in a range of bold and beautiful designs.

The enhanced protection does add quite a bit of bulk to the size and shape of the case, but it feels very well guarded. If you're particularly accident-prone, this could well be the case for you!

• Back to the top ⤴

How to choose the best iPhone 18 Pro Max case

I've tested these cases on the iPhone 18 Pro Max, but there are variants for the Pro, Air, and standard iPhone too, so make sure you pick the correct one for your phone model. The dimensions of the iPhone 18 and 17 Pro Max are identical, so a case labelled for one will work just as well on the other. If you're upgrading to the iPhone 18 Pro Max from an iPhone 17 Pro Max, you could simply use your existing case, although with the 18's camera bump being a little deeper, an older 17 case may not offer optimum protection. However, if you're upgrading from an iPhone 16 Pro Max or earlier, then you will need a new case.

A good level of protection should be your top priority. All the cases in this guide are from reputable manufacturers that claim to have proven the integrity of their products with drop and impact tests. I advise steering clear of cheap unbranded cases.

For many, MagSafe compatibility is a must; so many cases have a built-in magnetic ring that enhances the attachment properties of the phone to chargers and stands, while ensuring inductive charging remains efficient. Ensure your chosen case supports this feature if you plan to use MagSafe chargers or accessories.

Last but certainly not least, there's the look of the thing. You may prefer a translucent design that lets the beauty of your phone show through, sleek lines that show off its form factor, or bold patterns that mirror your personality. Helping you pick the best for you is the purpose of this guide!

• Back to the top ⤴

How we test

I have personally tried and tested all the cases in this guide, checking for a snug fit, evaluating their grippiness and protective capabilities, ensuring that all the controls work correctly and MagSafe charging is not impeded, and reporting on their standout features and unique selling points.

But I also understand that a phone case is more than just a protective accessory; its look is important – after all, you don't want to encase your beautifully engineered smartphone in something boring to behold – so I tell you what I think of its design qualities too!

Other iPhone accessory guides
Best iPhone charger
Best iPhone gimbal
Best iPhone printer
Best iPhone microphone

• Back to the top ⤴

The iPhone Duo (or iPhone Fold) brings inferior specs and a new premium price – the only thing it will do is separate real photographers from so-called "Pro" customers who just buy the top-of-the-line without thinking what that means.

Until now, the top of the line – measured in cost – was also the best iPhone for photography. It had Apple's best arrangement of cameras, a three camera array, and I had little trouble persuading myself to "invest" in one each year. OK, a depreciating asset isn't really an investment, but I could at least tell myself that I'd have the best cameras I could get without leaving iOS.

Now the advantages of a folding phone – principally a larger inside screen for enjoying content and for productivity – come at a compromise: fewer cameras in the array. Specifically, there is no telephoto camera, which is the one which boasted a similar EFL to a traditional portrait lens and (when cropped and digitally zoomed) also provided half-decent telephoto.

So if you use the device to create content, you're better off with one of the iPhone 18 Pros. If you use it to view it then the folding phone will afford you a bigger screen. So there is no one 'best' iPhone.

And that makes it very difficult for me, and, oddly, it brings another voice that usually loses out entirely in the excitement that comes when a new iPhone is announced. The voice that says; "If the choice isn't obvious, why buy a new iPhone at all?"

That isn't to say I'm going to switch platforms. I regularly test Android-based phones, and I have no problem with the system, but I'm also well into the Apple ecosystem and I find I get on better with it.

And that hints a little at the situation I suspect many will now find themselves in.

Apple has gone to great pains to cultivate an ecosystem – if you own an Apple phone you'll find life is a good deal easier if you also have an Apple Mac computer and (if you're so inclined) an Apple Watch, Apple's own headphones, and an iPad.

And, though it isn't always easy for people who grew up with computers at the top of the tech tree, the iPhone is the key to this empire. Despite a lot of diversification, 50% of Apple's $416 billion revenue last year came from the iPhone – and there are thought to be around 1.5 billion active iPhones out there.

For contrast, the iPad made $28 billion and the Mac $33 billion in the same period.

Even if you can't conceivably afford the best of every part of your Apple ecosystem (and who needs a fully specced out Mac Studio with a five-figure price tag?) it was easy to have the best iPhone, and so the best 'key'.

Having the best phone was something that was within reach for many, and a pretty simple choice, which is why around 40-50% of sales come from the Pro or Pro Max line, and the Pro Max is routinely the top-selling single flagship phone.

I strongly feel that by making the premium phone a compromise, Apple has shot itself in the foot.

If I buy the folding phone, I'll feel I've finally got a new and exciting form factor. But the first time I go to take a photo of something a little distant from me I'll be disappointed.

And for a device that carries the price premium, there shouldn't be a compromise. Certainly not one that doesn't seem beyond the bounds of possibility to fix.

After all, the cameras tend to be on a stick-out module anyway, so it can't be that difficult to add three rather than two.

So why would Apple do this? Sure it'll save a gram or two and perhaps even make the phone a little more compact, but forcing me and others to make a difficult choice – essentially to have no one 'best' phone – is going to be hard work.

It won't make life easy for Apple Store staff, for a start.

And it'll create disappointment among many buyers too. Especially photographers, who will have seen the iPhone 18 Pro opening Apple's event on September 9 – and heard from new CEO John Ternus about a true adjustable aperture in the camera.

The iPhone 18 Pro also gets a 6-Core A20 Pro CPU with 7-core GPU and accelerated "Neural Accelerators" and 32-core Neural Engine cores, like the Duo, but only on the Pro presentation did Apple discuss thermal management which (hopefully) will keep the SOC cool this time. (I experienced a lot of overheating with my iPhone 17 Pro Max on holiday in Spain last August.)

The iPhone Duo also has slightly inferior battery times and, despite fast charging, tops up only 5 rather than 6 hours playback from the same 5 minutes charging.

The "Biggest camera improvement in years" forced Apple to explain the Aperture to consumers, but the 100mm EFL lens is there.

The main camera on the 18 Pro Max is upgraded with a "48MP Fusion" main camera with 6-blade variable Aperture (f/1.48 - f/4). There is a new Pro interface to access this, and timelapse is upgraded to Dolby Vision HDR 4K.

The Duo's main camera, though, is a f/1.6 fixed aperture (though the phones share the same ultra-wide camera).

The camera also boasts subject tracking similar to that on action cameras that can handle subjects leaving and re-entering the frame.

Surveys (and sales in the Android world) have shown that not many customers are interested in folding phones. But perhaps the compromises are the reason.

Then again, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 managed three cameras last year.

Perhaps Apple will eventually address it with a Pro version with the same 'sacrifice' of a little more weight for more capable cameras?

So everyone who buys the first generation will be forced to upgrade in the end?

That's disappointingly plausible, isn't it?

Apple's launch also talked about "Rethinking design principles that have been set for years." How long will it take to recover from the inevitable dent to years of use experience?

In exchange, the main screen is only 50% bigger than the iPhone Pro Max, while you lose Face ID – it only has Touch ID.

Though there is another feature: Apple also announced "Handoff" which will let you attach a second phone to the same phone number.

So perhaps the solution Apple wants is for you carry two iPhones.

$1199 for iPhone Pro 256GB will be available for pre-order on Saturday, while the Duo will be $1999 and not available for pre-order until October. Will it be the best iPhone for photography? The Duo doesn't seem to want to be!

While most phones are just slabs with a side of glass, the Xsnap 7 Pro attempts to do merge something a little unusual – being rugged – with something wholly unique: a built-in detachable action camera. That earned it an Innovation Award at IFA 2026.

The concept seems to have a little in common with the best POV cameras – like the Insta360 Go Ultra or the DJI Osmo Nano – but the detachable camera pops out of a phone, not just a charging case, as we see in my colleague Gareth's reel:

The 'rugged' phone category is a major niche, popular amongst tradespeople and people who'd just rather the handset – rather than a case – could survive a few impacts. the best rugged phones have also been home to some of the most interesting experimental features, with thermal and night vision cameras, not to mention laser measures amongst some of the options out there.

Indeed, this device also features a 64MP night vision camera, but that's far from unique.

The Xsnap 7 Pro builds on this tradition, but targets creators with a detachable POV (Point Of View) camera. This is a tiny action camera, like a tiny GoPro.

The device isn't going to trouble the best action cameras in terms of resolution – it maxes out at 2.7K – but so too did the Insta360 Go 3, and that device, so light it could easily be worn on a helmet, or tied to a pet's collar.

The detachable camera is a 50MP unit and uses magnets to keep it in place (and charge itself via pogo pins on the device). It can, thus, be easily popped out and attached to any ferrous metal structure: the fridge door, a railing, a tent pole and so on.

Accessories available include a charging dock and a magnetic pendant, not unlike those seen with other POV action cameras.

Away from the phone, the 39g camera has up to 40 minutes of recording time.

It has a dedicated capture button on the camera, and a 133-degree field of view, as well as image stabilization software called 'SteadyX' which even features a horizon lock function, as well as slow-mo, distortion correction, and free-frame video, putting it up there with recent action cams.

The phone also boasts a 6.67-inch AMOLED display, 12GB RAM, MediaTek Dimensity 8400 chipset, and a 9300mAh battery (enough to recharge the detachable camera 20 times).

There are more details of the Xsnap 7 Pro on RugOne's own site, but until we test it here, we can't vouch for the quality. And, despite an award at IFA, the camera also has a "Launching Soon" page on Kickstarter, which suggests that the company might not be as confident as the award suggests.

IFA was the official debut, so perhaps that Kickstarter just needs tidying away?

Poco’s wallet-friendly flagship destroyer is back, just 8 months after the last one. But this early arrival has a downside: it means that the F9 Ultra doesn't get Qualcomm's next-gen processor, and instead uses the same Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 as its predecessor.

In lieu of a processor upgrade, Poco has super-sized the battery, upgraded to a brighter, faster display, and added a 200MP main sensor.

Are these changes enough to remain competitive? I’ve been using it as my main phone for the past week to find out.

Specifications

Price

The Poco F9 Ultra starts at $799, with early bird deals bringing that down to $729. Last year's F8 Ultra started at $729, so the price has increased by $70.

There are three models to choose from. The base model gets 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, while the 512GB model and (all-new) 1TB variant both get 16GB of RAM. They cost $949 and $1,199, respectively, but each has its own early-bird discounts available.

The pricing puts the phone in competition with other upper-mid-rangers like the Oppo Reno 16 Pro, Honor 600 Pro, and Xiaomi 17T Pro. It's also up against the base model Samsung Galaxy S26 and iPhone 17. In any case, the spec sheet holds up well against all opponents. It has the largest battery, the best processor around, and solid cameras, too.

Design & Handling

The Poco F9 Ultra looks very similar to its predecessor; only this time, there's no crazy denim-coated option. Instead, you can choose between a rather understated Black model or a slightly more eye-catching Dark Cherry, and I have the latter in for testing.

I absolutely love the colour. It manages to stand out from the crowd without being too bright or garish. The hue is perfectly matched on the aluminium side rails and camera island, and the glass-fibre rear panel has a smudge-resistant finish with a little texture to it.

It's no doubt an iPhone-inspired design, and rumors say Apple will have its own Dark Cherry colourway, but the Bose-branded subwoofer helps to ensure that it doesn't look too much like a copycat. There's a hidden new feature with this button-shaped speaker grille, too. It now has a white LED backlight encircling it, and it can pulsate along with your music, or when someone calls you. It's not the most useful addition, but it's cool, and I think that matters.

The phone is as sizable as ever, with a 6.9-inch display, and it's fairly hefty, at 235g. This is essentially a gaming phone, though, and that comes with territory. Unlike some competitors, there are no extra buttons or triggers, just the usual volume rocker, lock button, and SIM tray.

I was pleased to see that Poco has kept the ultrasonic fingerprint scanner; it's incredibly quick and reliable, outshining most similarly-priced competitors. It's also IP68-rated and has Corning Gorilla Glass 7i protecting the screen, along with a factory-applied plastic screen protector and a free hard-shell clear case included in the box.

The display has a blazing-fast 185Hz refresh rate, making it one of the fastest we've ever come across. Sadly, apps that will make use of this feature are few and far between, but at the very least, it should offer a competitive advantage in games like CrossFire: Legends and Blood Strike, while games like Call of Duty will cap out at (a still impressive) 165Hz.

It's also a super-bright panel. Poco says it can reach 10,000 nits covering 1% of the display area, or 4500 nits for 25% of the display. They're slightly confusing metrics, but all you really need to know is that it's one of the brightest screens around, and it's more than bright enough to compete with direct sunlight. Equally important, it can dim all the way down to 1 nit for late-night doomscrolling.

Otherwise, it's the type of crisp, vibrant OLED panel that you'd expect from a 2026 flagship, with fairly slim symmetrical bezels on all sides. Strong haptic motors aid the gaming and typing experience, but the speakers are the real star of the show.

Poco has, once again, teamed up with Bose to engineer a 2.1 sound system with a dedicated subwoofer. This time, Poco says the system has been refined to produce deeper bass and clearer sound overall.

I never tried the F8 Ultra, but I spent a lot of time with the Honor Magic 8 Pro, which also comes with a built-in subwoofer. I often found Honor's solution to be too bassy, and eventually ended up turning the bass down in the software, so I didn't have the highest hopes for the F9 Ultra, but it surprised me.

These speakers are shockingly well balanced. The bass is deeper and fuller than most phones, without being overpowering; the mids and highs are clean and detailed, and there's a good amount of stereo separation. It makes for a great experience when watching videos or playing games around the house.

Of course, we are still talking about phone speakers, so keep your expectations in check. They can't match an affordable Bluetooth speaker or a pair of headphones, but they come closer than most.

Camera Performance

The Poco F9 Ultra's main camera has been upgraded significantly. It now uses a 200MP 1/1.56-inch sensor from the HP5 family. It's slightly smaller than last year's 50MP 1/1.31-inch sensor, but the extra resolution should help a lot with digital crops between 24mm and 115mm, before the dedicated telephoto takes over. I think that's a good thing, because I find 5x telephotos to be a little more zoomed-in than I'd like for a lot of situations.

Said telephoto is unchanged from last year, but that's fine, because it was already pretty great. I believe it's also the same unit that the Xiaomi 17T Pro uses, and I was impressed with it there, too. I just can't help but wish it was an 85mm-equivalent instead.

The ultrawide is also unchanged, with a 50MP resolution and a respectable 1/2.88-inch sensor size. Its weakness is that it's fixed focus, so it's no good for close-up shots. The selfie snapper is 32MP. It does a decent job and has a nice wide FOV, but the lack of autofocus means you have to stand in the sweet spot to get the sharpest shots.

Aside from the lack of AF on the ultrawide and selfie camera, it's a very well-rounded camera setup. All sensors are high resolution, and the main camera can focus pretty close up; combined with a bit of digital zoom, it does a solid job for macro capture. The telephoto is also decent; it has a minimum focus distance of around 30cm, but with its 115mm equivalent focal length, you can get nice and close for some detail shots.

Poco lets you zoom up to 100x in the camera app, but I wouldn't recommend pushing it that far. The AI image processing gets very heavy-handed at such zoom levels, and the finer details become filled with oil-painting-like artifacts. At 10x, though, the image quality is superb, and you can even push it a bit further when the situation calls for it.

In low-light conditions, you'll want to stick to the main camera as often as possible. The larger sensor, combined with pixel binning and software enhancement, results in the cleanest images of the trio, mostly free from noise and blurring. The other cameras do a decent job, but smaller sensors mean they're quite prone to motion blur

If you want to give your photos some more personality, there are lots of filters to choose from in the camera app. They're mostly the same as the ones you'll find on other Xiaomi phones, but of course, you don't get the Leica-branded ones. That said, my personal favourites, the Positive and Negative film simulations, are both available here - and they look as excellent as ever.

Video capture is also impressive on this phone. Not only can you shoot at 4K 60fps on every single lens, but you can do so with Log enabled, and you can even apply preview LUTs. You can also shoot at 8K, if you fancy, but that only works on the main camera.

Sadly, there's no 4K120, but there's nothing unusual about that in this price bracket. The Poco F9 Ultra still offers more than most of its direct competition.

Phone Performance

The Poco F9 Ultra, somewhat strangely, is powered by the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor as its predecessor. Normally, the Poco F-series devices always feature the latest Snapdragon chip, but this time, the brand has jumped the gun and released devices before Qualcomm’s next-gen chips are announced.

I suspect this was done to keep the phone in its affordable price bracket without sacrificing specs elsewhere. That's fine by me; it's still the fastest SoC that money can buy (right now), and it's more power than most users need.

This move also means that we haven't seen a RAM downgrade, as we have elsewhere. The 256GB base model still comes with 12GB, and the higher storage capacities both come with 16GB. I have the fully loaded 1TB option for testing.

Unsurprisingly, the phone is a rocket. It’ll handle all of your daily needs without breaking a sweat, and if you're into graphically intensive games, the F9 Ultra will handle them with finesse.

I loaded up my usual performance-hungry favourites, NTE and Wuthering Waves, and the phone was able to run both on high graphics settings at 60fps. It didn't get too hot in the process, and a solid game overlay let me tweak my settings further.

The experience is made all the more pleasurable by the super-bright screen, powerful speakers, and absolutely gigantic 8050 mAh battery.

The Poco F9 Ultra has the largest battery capacity of any phone I have tested to date, and despite frequent gaming sessions and plenty of camera use, I was getting two days from a charge on a regular basis. You could probably go longer with more conservative usage.

What's more, it charges super quickly. It supports up to 100W speeds with a wire or 50W wirelessly, with a compatible Xiaomi charging stand. There's no charger in the box, though, just a USB cable.

As for the software, it's the usual Hyper OS experience. I found it to be reliable and bug-free throughout my testing, and it's extremely customisable, so you can easily make it your own.

It isn't my favourite Android skin from an aesthetic standpoint, but that's easy to tweak. And there's a bit of bloatware when you first set it up, but it's all easy to remove.

There aren't really any standout features to mention; you get all the same stuff that we've seen on recent Xiaomi and Poco devices. That includes plenty of AI assistance like translation, transcription, and photo editing tools - plus the usual Google goodies like Gemini and Circle to Search.

Poco says you can expect six years of security patches and four major OS upgrades for the F9 series. It's not a class-leading promise, but decent enough at this price.

Verdict

Historically, Poco phones have been my go-to recommendation for people who want flagship-level gaming at an affordable price. Now, though, I feel like Poco has something to offer for just about everyone.

The F9 Ultra has one of the biggest batteries around; it's super powerful, it looks and feels premium, the speakers are top-notch, and the cameras are really impressive, too. No matter what you want from your phone, you'll likely find it here.

At this price, I don't think you'll find a better all-rounder - and with the way prices are trending, I don't see that changing any time soon.

Alternatives

The Redmi Note series has always occupied that incredibly competitive space between cheap phones that simply get the job done and more ambitious mid-range models that start borrowing features from flagships.

However, for Digital Camera World readers, the Pro Max moniker doesn’t signal better camera sensors or a collection of more elaborate lenses, as it might do on other devices like the iPhone.

Xiaomi still talks up the phone's photography credentials, including a 50MP optically stabilized main camera, 4K video, Pro modes and a collection of AI-assisted editing tools, but the hardware itself is relatively simple. Alongside the main camera, there is just an 8MP ultrawide, with, like last year, no dedicated telephoto at all.

However, the phone does pack in a frankly ridiculous 10,000mAh (9,210mAh on the European model) silicon-carbon battery, paired with 100W charging, inside a phone that remains just 8.65mm thick in most finishes.

Xiaomi has also given the Note 17 Pro Max an impressive 6.83-inch 1.5K AMOLED screen, Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 processor, up to 12GB of RAM, and a tougher body protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2.

So has Xiaomi created the perfect mid-range all-rounder, or does the Note 17 Pro Max leave photographers wishing some of that enormous battery had been traded for another lens?

Specifications

Price & Availability

At £499, the Redmi still offers excellent value, with an excellent AMOLED display, unusually robust construction, fast 100W charging and, above all, that enormous 10,000mAh / 9,210mAh battery.

There are compromises, though. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 is perfectly capable rather than particularly powerful, and photographers are getting just a 50MP main camera and 8MP ultrawide, with no 200MP sensor (as found on the Redmi Note 15 Pro+) or dedicated telephoto lens. That puts it up against the Pixel 10a with its two-camera system.

But as an all-round phone, particularly for anyone who values battery life, I think there is plenty here for the money.

Design

The Redmi Note 17 Pro Max is a perfectly nice-looking phone, although my black review unit is especially understated and hard to really get excited about. There is little accenting or contrast between the back and sides, and while there is nothing inherently wrong with that, it isn't exactly eye-catching. Xiaomi also offers more interesting Green, Purple and Cloud Blush versions.

Cloud Blush is the most glamorous. Xiaomi says its fiberglass back uses photochromic technology to shift from white towards a pink-orange finish when exposed to sunlight. I haven't had that version to test, but from the marketing images it reminds me strongly of some of the finishes Vivo has used in recent generations. It is eye-catching, certainly, although not enormously original.

This isn't really a Xiaomi problem specifically. Smartphone design has reached the point where an awful lot of devices from Vivo, Oppo, OnePlus, and Xiaomi are converging on essentially the same formula: flat sides, softly rounded corners, a large rectangular screen, and a camera block pushed into the top-left corner. And yes, a lot of them owe at least some debt to recent generations of iPhone.

Still, I prefer this design to the previous generation of Redmi Note. Moving the cameras into the corner rather than placing them inside a large circular central island makes more practical sense to me. It keeps my fingers further away from the lenses while I am holding the phone, which means fewer greasy fingerprints and fewer opportunities to get my fingers in photos.

The actual camera bump is refreshingly small. I spend a lot of time testing Ultra phones with huge camera housings, so having something this restrained is a pleasant change. Of course, Xiaomi has managed that partly because there simply isn't a telephoto camera hiding underneath it.

The Black version feels fine in the hand, although the rear panel has a slightly hollow sensation when handled. But it doesn't feel fragile, and Xiaomi has given the phone its latest Titan build. Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protects the display, while the phone carries IP66, IP68, IP69, and IP69K dust and water resistance, so you can take it swimming in fresh water.

Xiaomi also cites certified testing involving drops of up to three meters onto granite and water immersion at two meters for as long as 72 hours. I have dropped the phone a few times (onto concrete, not granite) to investigate that claim, and it has held up fine with some minor scratches to the frame.

What impresses me much more is what Xiaomi has managed internally. The Note 17 Pro Max contains a colossal 9,210mAh silicon-carbon battery (10,000mAh in some markets) yet measures only 8.65mm thick in the Black, Green and Purple versions. At 225.1g, it doesn't feel disproportionately heavy against rivals considering the battery capacity.

There are the usual power and volume controls around the edge. I am quite glad Xiaomi hasn't felt compelled to add one of the increasingly common dedicated camera buttons, which I still don't find especially necessary on most phones. I would, however, happily take a customizable Action-style button on the opposite side for launching a favorite setting or function. That would be more useful to me on a daily basis.

My sample also came with a simple silicone case. There is nothing particularly luxurious about it, but I will always take a functional case in the box over having to go online and overpay for one.

The under-display fingerprint reader is quick, but it sits noticeably lower than on many phones I use, below the point where my thumb naturally lands when I pick up the device. I eventually adapted, but even after several days I still found myself having to slightly reposition my grip.

Xiaomi has fitted an excellent screen for its class. The 6.83-inch AMOLED panel has a 2772 x 1280 resolution and refresh rate of up to 120Hz, and it looks fantastic. It is sharp, colorful and, to my eyes, pleasingly accurate. Brightness is impressive. Xiaomi quotes a peak of 3,500 nits, and I had no difficulty using the display in brighter conditions outside.

There is also 12-bit color, DCI-P3 coverage, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and 3840Hz PWM dimming, alongside TÜV Rheinland certifications for low blue light, circadian-friendly viewing, and flicker reduction.

Camera Performance

The camera system consists of a 50MP main camera with optical image stabilization and an f/1.5 aperture, paired with an 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide. There is then a 32MP front-facing camera. This has been reduced from the 200MP sensor included in last year's Redmi Note 15 Pro Plus, and again, there is no dedicated telephoto lens.

That is the single biggest weakness of the Note 17 Pro Max as a photography-focused smartphone. I don't necessarily expect every mid-range phone to offer some enormous periscope camera, but a useful short telephoto would have made this a substantially more compelling all-round camera.

The main camera itself is respectable. In good conditions it can produce plenty of detail, and one area where I think Xiaomi has done particularly well is color. Images generally looked true to life, without excessive saturation or dramatic tonal shifts. Although there is none of the Leica co-engineered processing here from more premium Xiaomi phones.

Xiaomi's default sharpening and processing can be a little overeager. Photos often have a slightly crisp, processed appearance when viewed closely. I wouldn't describe the results as bad, but there is a visible "phone photo" quality that keeps them from feeling particularly natural.

HDR performance could also be stronger. On bright days, I encountered blown highlights in skies where I would expect a more sophisticated camera phone to recover substantially more information.

The 2x option is useful and produces perfectly respectable results in decent light. Beyond that, things deteriorate quickly. This is where the 200MP sensor, or a dedicated telephoto, would transform the experience. The phone has a good-enough main camera, but I think it's asking too much for a 50MP 1x camera to handle zoom for anything past 4x, at a push, in good light.

There is no dedicated macro camera or macro mode that I could find either. Instead, I relied on the main camera and its 2x option to get closer to subjects. It can focus reasonably close, and the results are usable for details and casual close-ups, but I wouldn't call it true macro photography.

Portrait mode fares better. The artificial background blur looks reasonably convincing and subject separation is generally good. Hair remains the classic issue, and the Note occasionally gets confused by finer strands, but overall I was pleased.

There is also a Pro mode for both stills and video. Phones obviously have fixed apertures, so you don't get anything resembling the complete creative control of an interchangeable-lens camera, but having access to manual shooting controls remains useful. You can also switch into the full 50MP mode when maximum resolution matters.

There is a trade-off, however. Shooting at full resolution means giving up some of Xiaomi's computational low-light processing, so bigger numbers don't automatically translate to better pictures in every situation.

The camera app includes several built-in filters. I find some of them a little tacky straight out of the box, but Xiaomi at least allows adjustments to color, contrast, and other characteristics, which makes them much more useful.

One slightly worrying performance quirk appeared when I launched the camera and immediately hit the shutter. On a handful of occasions, the resulting image came out completely corrupted (see below), producing a kaleidoscopic nightmare. It wasn't frequent enough to really cause an issue, but it also wasn’t a one-off occurrence. Hopefully this is the sort of software problem Xiaomi can eliminate with an update.

Phone Performance

The Redmi Note 17 Pro Max is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 6 Gen 5, which is clearly a compromise to keep the overall device cost down, as it's actually a weaker processor than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 that powers other devices in this bracket.

Storage configurations run from 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage up to 12GB and 512GB. One detail worth noting is that the 128GB model uses slower UFS 2.2 storage, while the 256GB and 512GB capacities move to UFS 4.1.

My Geekbench results came in at 919 single-core, 2,829 multi-core, and 3,279 for the GPU test. (3DMark was not available at the time of testing).

Those aren't numbers that are going to trouble many new phones, but my day-to-day experience was largely fine. Apps opened quickly enough, general navigation felt smooth, and I didn't encounter persistent hanging, with only some minor operating-system sluggishness.

However, editing photographs in Xiaomi's Gallery app can take a beat longer to preview changes than I am accustomed to on more powerful phones. It doesn't ruin the experience, but there is a noticeable difference if you regularly use premium devices.

Xiaomi's HyperOS 3 is generally straightforward to navigate, although it has some quirks and a fair bit of bloatware out of the box. But I particularly like Xiaomi’s built-in Gallery editor. It strikes a nice balance between giving me useful tools without being overly complicated.

There is also the now-obligatory collection of AI features. Xiaomi offers generative expansion, object removal, sky adjustments, simulated bokeh, and other computational edits.

For straightforward jobs, they can be genuinely handy. Removing a small reflection or adding a little artificial background blur can work surprisingly well. But more complicated edits reveal that Xiaomi still has some catching up to do with the best tools I've used from Adobe and Google.

The AI eraser in particular can struggle around shadows and complex edges. Generated areas can appear visibly softer or more pixelated than the surrounding photograph, and I occasionally saw repeated textures that gave away exactly where the image had been reconstructed.

Finally on to the mammoth battery. Xiaomi has achieved that 9,210 mAh capacity using silicon-carbon battery technology, with 100W wired charging and up to 27W wired reverse charging also supported.

In my own use, battery life was outstanding. With a mixture of web browsing, streaming, photography, photo editing, and general everyday use, I comfortably exceeded two days between charges. For lighter users, it could go substantially further. I left the Note 17 Pro Max sitting on standby largely untouched for four days, and it used only around 20% of its battery.

Final Verdict

So Xiaomi has chosen the Pro Max in the Redmi Note 17 Pro Max to represent battery capacity, rather than cameras. And I can’t really fault that. I comfortably got more than two days of fairly heavy use from it, while lighter use can stretch much further. More importantly, Xiaomi has achieved this in a device still just 8.65mm thick. There is also an excellent 6.83-inch AMOLED screen, good durability, and smooth enough everyday performance – despite the processor downgrade.

But the camera system has taken a bit of a backseat. The 200MP sensor in last year's model has become a 50MP main camera. It takes decent photographs with pleasantly realistic color, but processing can be too aggressive, and HDR needs improvement. The 8MP ultrawide is fairly basic, while the complete absence of a telephoto camera feels like the most obvious compromise Xiaomi has made.

That won't matter to everyone. But for Digital Camera World readers, and anyone buying a phone partly because they want a versatile camera in their pocket, this might be the deciding factor.

Alternatives

If you're in the market for a new high-end camera phone, three brands are likely to spring straight to mind: Apple, Google and Samsung. Thanks to their huge marketing might, they enjoy unrivalled brand recognition. It's therefore easy to assume that these industry titans must produce the best camera phones on the market - after all, how could a smaller brand possibly compete?

But the reality is that the competition isn't just catching up, or even equalling the camera phone giants - it's already overtaken them. Massive brand recognition can become an easy way to generate sales, reducing the need for genuine hardware innovation. We’ve seen exactly this from the last few generations of iPhone and Galaxy S Ultra phones, with the latter reusing camera sensors not just for one phone generation but three, and counting. Incremental upgrades are now the order of the day. This is currently somewhat understandable, as the skyrocketing cost of NAND flash is increasing the overall price of camera phones, thereby preventing manufacturers from making substantial camera hardware upgrades without raising unit costs still further. However, this alone doesn't excuse what is now multiple years of stagnating camera phone hardware from the major players.

So if the latest iPhone or Galaxy S Ultra isn't going to give you the most advanced camera experience available right now, what will? For that you need to turn to China. Not content with dominating almost every other area of consumer electronics, China also now gives us the most innovative and impressive camera phones on the market. The three brands at the top are Vivo, Xiaomi and Oppo. For the last few years all three have consistently produced more compelling flagship camera phones than anything from Apple, Samsung or Google. The Chinese contenders pack bigger image sensors, more optical zoom, and extra features that make recent iPhones and Galaxy S Ultra handsets look downright dull.

I've been lucky enough to long-term test Oppo's current flagship, the Find X9 Ultra, for the past three months. With a launch price of £1449, it can't rely on being substantially cheaper than its rivals, but it doesn't need to be. In its Tundra Umber colorway, it's immediately more distinctive than the comparatively bland Galaxy S26 Ultra, even to those not in 'the know'. And if you are a photographer that recognises the Hasselblad design cues, the Find X9 Ultra just looks better still.

Start shooting and the consistency of image quality from the four separate camera modules is immediately apparent. There's seamless focal length transitioning from 0.6x (ultrawide) through to the maximum 10x optical (230mm-equivalent) zoom. But the Find X9 Ultra’s zoom capability doesn't stop there. Through a combination of on-sensor cropping and clever AI zoom, up to 120x reach is possible, and with surprisingly competent image quality. Stick with the default photo mode and shots look immediately appealing, with strong vibrancy and contrast, as well as bags of fine detail. Dynamic range is high, but thankfully stops short of looking over-processed. If you'd rather have an even more natural image aesthetic, there's always Hasselblad Master mode. This has been tuned to emulate the more subtle image quality from Hasselblad's medium format cameras, and it opens up various manual controls. I’m also a fan of the X-Pan mode, which enables instant panorama recording and is a lot more convenient than using the much slower and fiddly sweep panorama mode.

All well and good, but most flagship phones have plenty of optical zoom, along with manual control and a plethora of shooting modes. Where the Find X9 Ultra really pulls ahead of its rivals is its ability to be teamed with Oppo’s Hasselblad Earth Explorer Kit. This contains a bespoke 300mm teleconverter lens, along with a special phone case to which the lens mounts, plus a tripod collar and other small accessories. You might assume this is all a bit gimmicky – after all, clip-on telephoto lenses can be plasticky garbage – but you’d be very wrong. With aesthetics and build quality that are truly befitting of the Hasselblad branding, this is so much more than just a publicity stunt: it turns what’s already a darned good camera phone into a genuinely usable option for capturing sports and wildlife. Check out our full review of the teleconverter lens for more details.

Oppo isn’t the only Chinese brand pushing camera phone boundaries. Vivo also offers a similar case+teleconverter kit for its flagship camera phone, the X300 Ultra, and though I’ve yet to test this, it looks just as impressive as Oppo’s implementation.

I fully admit that optional teleconverter lenses aren’t going to change the camera phone world: as effective as they are, they’ll always be a niche product. Rather, Oppo and Vivo’s camera cases and teleconverters serve as symbols of China’s desire to innovate and enhance the camera phone industry, while also highlighting the comparative lack of hardware development we've seen from the more established brands.

So when the time comes to choose your next phone, and you want something that’s been designed for enthusiast photographers, I implore you: don’t just default to the current iPhone/Pixel/Galaxy S: check out the competition from Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi, as these are now the brands at the forefront of phone camera development.