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 and this queue was about 4 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!)

In the company's newsletter, Alizila, Chinese distributor Alibaba unveiled new smart specs that present far higher specs (sorry) than the alternatives from established brands like Meta.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Aura Ink digital photo frame has just been awarded one of the Innovations of 2026 by Time magazine.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sony has released the latest firmware for the A7R VI, the newest and most powerful rig in its A7R professional lineup. While the latest firmware release, version 1.02, doesn’t bring any major general benefits, wildlife photographers in particular will be pleased.

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

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

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

Sony Firmware Download

Firmware version 1.02 (Sony A7R VI)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Here’s our expert pick of the best Sony cameras and the best Sony lenses to pair with your E-mount rig.

If you've been thinking about upgrading your video editing software, now might be the perfect time to make the jump. Blackmagic Design has announced a limited-time 20% discount on DaVinci Resolve Studio, bringing the price down from £225 to just £185, saving you a rather welcome £40.

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

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

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

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

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

Canon has released new firmware for three of its Cinema EOS cameras – the C50, C80 and C400 – fixing a crucial Photo mode bug in the former and bolstering IP streaming security in the latter two models.

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

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

Canon EOS Firmware Downloads

Firmware version 1.0.6.1 (Canon EOS C50)

Firmware version 1.0.8.1 (Canon EOS C80)

Firmware version 1.0.8.1 (Canon EOS C400)

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

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

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

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

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Here’s our editor-in-chief and resident Canon expert James Artaius’ pick of the best Canon cameras.

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

Ricoh Imaging has released new firmware updates for three of its latest compact cameras: the Ricoh GR IV, GR IV HDF, and the GR IV Monochrome.

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

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

Ricoh GR IV / GR IV HDF

Version 1.20
Download link for Windows+Mac

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

Find all info and imagery on the updates here.

Ricoh GR IV Monochrome

Version 1.10
Download link for Windows+Mac

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

Find all info and imagery on the updates here.

Pro Advice

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

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

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What are the differences between the Ricoh GR series cameras

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

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

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

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

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

More useful firmware incoming?

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

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

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

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

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

Lightroom’s free mobile app can now fix a longstanding photography problem: the photo taken mid-blink. Open Eyes is a new Quick Action inside Lightroom’s mobile app – which now has “AI Photo Editor” added to its name in the App Store.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Take a look at the best photo editing software, or the best Lightroom alternatives.

Adobe Photoshop’s filters are about to get a makeover that allows the longstanding tool to act like a non-destructive layer – and with those updates, Adobe is also bringing a new light leaks filter to the photo editor.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photoshop's AI Assistant may soon build custom filters

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

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

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

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Struggling to correct wonky buildings? Perhaps you want a tilt-shift look without investing in a specialist lens. Or maybe barrel distortion has stretched your subject at the corners of the frame. If any of those seem like a you problem, then DxO ViewPoint 6 might be of interest.

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

Local geometric corrections

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

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

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

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

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

What is DxO ViewPoint 6?

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

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

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

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

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

Owl Labs has introduced the Meeting Owl 5, a significant update to its iconic portable conference room camera, at a more accessible price than the first of this new generation.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This huge gaming laptop comes with some similarly huge specs, and while the model we’ve got here is overkill, a machine with a large screen and the kind of chips inside that can make the most of it will become a useful portable workstation for photographers and videographers. It’s big and heavy, a desktop replacement you’ll want to leave in your car rather than something you can slide into a camera bag, but the kind of on-the-move editing it enables will be very valuable to anyone who wants to shoot and publish while on location.

Specification

Price and Availability

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

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

Design

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

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

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

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

Performance

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

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

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

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

Verdict

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

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

Alternatives

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

The Razer Blade 18 is an absolute whopper of a gaming laptop, probably too big and heavy to be easily portable (unless you’re used to carrying camera lenses like the 600mm f/4 and 400mm f/2.8 around, as it’s light compared to those) but when used on a desk, or even in the back of a car, its top-end components and superb screen really make themselves known. If you’re editing 8K video, doing dense GPU-accelerated effects work, or passing high-res raw files through Lightroom’s denoise function, you’ll appreciate this kind of power.

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

Specifications

Price and Availability

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

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

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

Design

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

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

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

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

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

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

Performance

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

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

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

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

Verdict

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

Alternatives

As the Mac Pro is still missing in action, the Studio sits at the top of Apple’s desktop computer range. It’s the same dumpy aluminium box it’s always been, but with an M5 Max inside, it becomes one of the most potent photo- and video-editing computers you can buy.

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

Specification

Price and Availability

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

Design

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

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

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

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

Performance

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

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

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

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

Verdict

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

Alternatives

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Apple has released its new HomeView, a home hub for a smart home system which is also part of the Apple ecosystem.

The company hasn't been afraid of the existing competition – screen-based hubs for smart homes from Google and Amazon Alexa – and, indeed, has set its price at $299 / £299, comfortably above the equivalent devices in the alternative systems.

The device is not just an iPad on a speaker – or an iPad on the wall – however. It has a new operating system of its own, which owes a fair bit to WatchOS as well other parts of Apple's system.

The real question, though, is whether it offers an ideal solution.

Clearly you're not going to be picking this up unless you want to move to (or already have) an Apple-based smart home, and are in need of a central touch-screen to tie the devices together.

Apple's offering looks a lot like a modernized, miniaturized iMac G4. Interestingly for those acutely aware of the iMac it has a black bezel – like the Apple watch – rather than the white trim that some of us thought Apple intended to make the future with the latest iMac.

This device is even more pared back than an iMac, though – with no App store you cannot even install apps. You can make requests of Siri, peruse photos, and do the kinds of things you'd expect.

So, to answer the "Is it any good for photographers?" or indeed creators making video, the answer is "Not especially" – it's one more screen on which you can view files in your standard Apple photo album, but your phone already served you just fine there.

It is also indirectly compatible with a lot of other apps by acting as a remote display (essentially it pretends to be a car and allows CarPlay to take place), which may prove a little useful occasionally, but I don't imagine often.

Playing music, viewing photos, all is done using the Apple apps, so the device is clearly targeting a customer base that has a whole family using Apple devices with a family subscription.

It will, however, keep the answers private to each user.

It has built-in facial recognition using its 12-megapixel camera – not FaceID. For added security it might lack the 3D view of Apple's FaceID system.

What this can do is vbe kept informed about recent nearby uses of an iPhone, so if someone tries to unlock the device while the phone is a long way off it will at least have reason to be suspicious.

So long as you don't let people watch behind you when you ask a question, a reasonable degree of privacy is suggested – though we'll need to wait and see whether this holds out in reality.

Apple is introducing the 'Home Collection' of smart doorbells and cameras, in collaboration with LG and Schneider.

Apple's new devices, albeit released with partner companies, can all be managed through the Apple Home app and are all encrypted.

These are designed to build on the Apple Home collection, and will be launched for sale in early 2027. Matthew Costello, Apple’s vice president of Hardware Engineering, said: “Working closely with industry leaders LG Electronics and Schneider Electric, we designed every accessory to work seamlessly with Apple Home, so managing your home is simple, reliable, and private.”

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.

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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.

Dedicated black-and-white cameras eliminate the color filters for a cleaner, crisp monochrome image. But one color scientist and cinematographer has just reverse-engineered the iPhone camera to create a fully monochrome 16-bit RAW photograph.

Koloristika is an iPhone photography app built from scans of every available type of Kodak film. The app eliminates Apple’s entire processing pipeline – including sharpening and AI upscaling – to create a 12MP photograph with nostalgic colors in an editable RAW photograph.

For the first time, Koloristika has launched a new black-and-white mode, called Monolith, that works at the sensor level. Monolith isn’t a filter – the monochrome iPhone camera mode instead reverse-engineers the iPhone’s camera to create a 16-bit RAW file that, like the files from a dedicated black-and-white camera, is entirely in monochrome.

I sat down with the app’s creator, color scientist and cinematographer Renato R. Renierra, ahead of the launch for an exclusive interview – and tried out the pre-release build for myself.

The new Monolith takes the iPhone’s color sensor and rebuilds the image as a monochrome digital negative. Rather than simply eliminating the color data, – a process that usually results in artifacts – Monolith uses the data on the sensor design itself to reconstruct the image in black-and-white.

“Every sensor is essentially black and white,” Renierra explained. “The Bayer data that we get from Apple is not color data, it is just a measurement of white light through a red, a green, and a blue filter.”

“The easy logic would be to take the engineering data from the sensor manufacturer and nullify the filters, and you would get some type of black-and-white image,” he continued. “That was always a good idea and is a simple approach, but you can get checkerboarding, artifacts, all kinds of problems.”

Koloristika’s new Monolith reconstructs the data rather than simply subtracting some of that data. “We tried to approach it from a different angle,” Renierra said. “If 50 percent of the image is already green, we can reconstruct the rest from the red and blue filters. That’s quite easy. It is processor-intensive, but with some clever mathematics, we can assemble an image with no artifacting from that data. The concept was always there; it just had some engineering problems, and it’s probably why it wasn’t approached.”

The resulting image is a fully monochromatic 16-bit RAW file. Like the color photos from Koloristika, Monolith doesn't use any of Apple's processing at all – which means every photo taken on an iPhone launched since 2016 is 12MP, as the app doesn't use upscaling from the iPhone's Quad Bayer design.

I shot a few photos with Monolith, then I compared them to the same photo shot with the native iPhone camera app with a filter added. Apple’s already-processed JPEG had more contrast right from the start, but Monolith’s adjustable RAW data is far more customizable.

The native iPhone camera has a higher resolution, thanks to upscaling. But the Monolith photographs have a more natural grain structure. Zooming in on the background, the filtered iPhone photo background looks a bit mottled, whereas Monolith looks like it has the grain of a more traditional photograph.

Koloristika is an iPhone camera app built for color nerds, but the app is also gaining traction among iPhone users looking for a more classic, traditional image – without any AI-based processing.

Koloristika processes the image using its own algorithms through every step. The app processes the image not just with color science based on real Kodak film scans, but also skips Apple’s sharpening and HDR algorithms. The resulting images feel made for those who think iPhone photos look “too crunchy.”

“We all know the plasticky, over-processed look of iPhone,” Renierra said. “Deleting all of that processing gets to our own color and the pipeline, without touching any of the sharpening, without AI upscaling. We package the color in our own organic way."

Renierra said that what often hooks users on the app is when they see photos of themselves shot with Koloristika’s color science. “I think people get the idea of Koloristika as soon as they see themselves, how they turned out on the camera, and they do get a nostalgic feeling from the model. I believe it's obvious that it's different from an Instagram filter or VSCO filter. Most of our user reviews on the App Store, everybody mentions exactly that: how they haven’t seen that type of organic color for a while.”

Koloristika’s focus on color is evident right from the live view screen, which displays the photograph’s color palette. Taking a photograph delivers a soft buzz meant to feel like an old film camera shutter.

Along with the Kodak-based color science and new black-and-white mode, Koloristika also includes a Silverlith slider modeled after bleach bypass and a double exposure tool that creates a RAW rather than a JPEG from two photographs.

The Monolith mode is launching to the Koloristika app beginning October 14 and is available from the App Store. The app is free to try with a 36-photo trial – the same number as one roll of film. The full app is available for $2.99 / £2.99 /AU$4.99 / CA$2.99 a month or $19.99 / £19.99 / AU$29.99 / CA$24.99 a year.

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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.

Nikon has launched not one but two firmware updates, version 2.01 for the Nikon Z6 III and version 2.6.1 for Nikon NX Tether. The former brings Pre-Release Capture to compatible Bluetooth remote controllers among several quality-of-life upgrades and fixes, while the latter adds support for the Nikon Z5IIC alongside various quality-of-life upgrades.

If you’re updating your Nikon Z6 III, make sure you know how to update your Nikon camera’s firmware and be sure to follow Nikon’s own documentation on the download page, which warns to not perform an update with third-party lenses or adapters attached. Only Z-mount Nikkor lenses or the FTZ/FTZ II mount adapters are compatible.

Nikon Z6 III version 2.01

- Pre-Release Capture available from compatible Bluetooth remote controllers

- Focus limiter settings support for…

• Nikon Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR
• Nikon Z DX 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR
• Nikon Z DX 50-250mm f/4.5-6.3 VR
• Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR
• Nikon Z 24-50mm f/4-6.3
• Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S
• Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S
• Nikon Z 14-30mm f/4 S

- Picture Controls item name changes…

• ‘Cloud Picture Control’ is now ‘Imaging Recipe’
• ‘Add Cloud Picture Control files’ is now ‘Download Imaging Recipes’

- The following fixes have been made…

• Some Custom Settings menu item numbers fixed
• In rare cases, photos could be overexposed during burst photography in Manual mode
• F-mount lens fixes…
• Rare, unstable exposure during burst shooting with type E lenses
• The camera would sometimes stop responding during burst shooting
• AF wouldn’t always function while using FV lock with flash unit attached
• A non-CPU lens could cause the camera not to capture the required number of shots in Pixel Shift
• When using a manual lens and subject detection, the camera would sometimes stop responding when zooming in or out of the live view display

Nikon NX Tether 2.6.1

• Nikon Z5IIC support
• Imaging Recipe selection now available for Picture Control item in shooting settings pane when connecting to camera with Imaging Recipes registered (Available with ZR, Z5IIC, and Zf)*
• “R3D NE 12-bit (R3D)” video file now also available in auto mode. (Available with ZR)*
• In-focus focus point color displayed in NX Tether when using AF now matches that used in the camera. (Available with Z5II and Z50II)*
• More cameras now support live view. (Now available with Z50II and Z30)*

*Update camera to latest version

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I’ve shot with both the GoPro Mission 1 Pro and the mirrorless ILS, but as a photographer, there was one thing that bothered me about the experience of shooting stills with cameras: the shutter delay. Now, GoPro is making the still photos on its new compact cinema camera line feel like shooting stills on a traditional camera does, thanks to new firmware.

A GoPro Labs update is also bringing anamorphic lens support to the ILS.

The Mission 1 cameras, like the Hero series cameras, had a one-second countdown from one second every time you took a photo, which made timing the shot a bit trickier. With the newest Mission 1 firmware, the cameras now take still photos without that delay.

The Mission 1 cameras can take burst photos, but the burst mode previously shot a preset number of photos. The new firmware will also make the Mission 1 series burst mode operate more like a traditional stills camera. Pressing and holding the shutter in photo mode will activate a burst that continues for as long as the shutter is pressed, or until the camera’s buffer fills up.

The camera's display will also now show a countdown that shows how many shots can still be taken before that buffer is filled up.

Finally, GoPro has added a shutter sound to signal that the photo has been taken, describing it as “a clear, distinguishable audio confirmation.”

Those changes will help shooting still photos with the Mission 1 cameras feel a bit more like working with a traditional stills camera.

GoPro calls the Mission 1 series “compact cinema cameras” – the lineup is video first, photos second. But the update fixes my biggest complaints about shooting photos with the cinema cameras.

The Mission 1 Pro’s biggest features are all video-focused – I think the stills photographers who are picking up something like the Mission 1 Pro are likely grabbing the small camera to record behind-the-scenes footage for social media, not for stills.

But, photographers have long been asking for a waterproof compact camera with a one-inch sensor, and the firmware update will make the Mission 1 Pro feel a bit more like one. I took one to a beach day to use as a point-and-shoot, and the biggest thing that kept it from feeling like a waterproof compact camera was that shutter delay.

The Mission 1 Pro doesn’t have the zoom or adjustable focus of a dedicated compact camera like the OM System Tough TG-7. But I think the firmware update is going to make the camera a lot more enticing as a dual-purpose camera.

That same update also improves the photo experience on the Mission 1 Pro ILS, GoPro’s first mirrorless camera. For still photos, the manual focus adjustments and one-inch sensor aren’t going to entice photographers over some other budget options like the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV. But it’s a nice update for filmmakers looking to snap stills along with videos from an affordable 8K shooter.

Filmmakers may be more drawn to an update that’s coming via the public beta platform GoPro Labs: anamorphic lens support. Anamorphic lens support has now been added as a beta feature, which writes pixel aspect ratio metadata to the file so that video software can correct the anamorphic automatically. The beta feature supports squeeze ratios of 1.33x, 1.5x, 1.6x, 1.8x and 2.0x.

The updated firmware is available directly from GoPro as well as through the GoPro Quik app. This is an update that I’m eager to try out – though it’s not a bad idea to wait a few days in case of firmware bugs.

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Take a look at the best GoPro cameras, or read the Mission 1 Pro and Mission 1 Pro ILS reviews.

Canon has released new firmware updates for its R6-series cameras, including the EOS R6 Mark III and EOS R6 V. While there's just a single fix in each update, it's the same important one: addressing an issue where image recording to the card may not complete.

Canon advises performing the firmware update with only the relevant firmware file stored on the memory card. After downloading the compressed file, you'll need to extract the ZIP archive to access the firmware file and the accompanying PDF instructions.

Here's an overview of the updates, download links and expert advice on when it's best to download firmware to your camera.

EOS R6 Mark III

Version 1.1.2
US 🇺🇸 download link: macOS + Windows
UK 🇬🇧 download link: macOS + Windows

Enhancements and fixes
1. Fixes an issue where image recording to the card may not complete

EOS R6 V

Version 1.1.2
US 🇺🇸 download link: macOS + Windows
UK 🇬🇧 download link: macOS + Windows

Enhancements and fixes
1. Fixes an issue where image recording to the card may not complete

Pro Advice

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

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

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Panasonic has released a round of firmware updates for its Lumix S series full-frame cameras.

This update includes the Lumix S9, S1R II, S1 II, and S1 IIE. Whereas the S9 receives new video recording options and expanded customization, the S1 mirrorless cameras share the same improvements and operational stability updates.

Here's an overview of the updates, download links, and expert advice on when it's best to download firmware to your camera.

Lumix S9

Version 2.1
Download link: Windows + Mac

Enhancements and fixes
1. Addition of 4K 60p/50p and FHD 120p/100p/60p/50p recording options for MP4 (Lite)
2. Support for LUMIX Flow ver.1.7.0 or above
3. Expanded assignable functions for Lens Fn Button settings

Lumix S1R II + S1 II + S1 IIE

Lumix S1R II Version 1.6
Download link: Windows + Mac

Lumix S1 II Version 1.5
Download link: Windows + Mac

Lumix S1 IIE Version 1.5
Download link: Windows + Mac

Enhancements and fixes
1. Improved shutter release time lag and burst shooting performance when using an external flash
2. Operational stability has been improved

Expert Advice

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

You can check out the episode for more insights, potential risks, and expert advice on our YouTube channel, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all your favorite podcast services.

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OM System has released a firmware update for three of its telephoto lenses, expanding their high-speed shooting capabilities and making it easier for photographers to capture fast-moving subjects at a distance.

Firmware version 1.1 for the M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4.0 PRO, M.Zuiko Digital ED 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3 IS II and M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-600mm f/5.0-6.3 IS adds support for shooting at up to 50 frames per second (fps) in Sequential Shooting SH2 and Pro Capture SH2 modes.

The new functionality works in these lenses when paired with the OM System OM-1, OM-1 Mark II or OM-3 camera bodies.

Download OM System Firmware Version 1.1

M.Zuiko ED 40-150mm f/4.0 PRO

M.Zuiko ED 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3 IS II

M.Zuiko ED 150-600mm f/5.0-6.3 IS Version 1.1

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

A previous firmware update already brought 50fps shooting in both Sequential Shooting SH2 and Pro Capture SH2 modes to other M.Zuiko lenses – such as the Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO.

Version 1.1 widens this feature to other models within OM System’s Micro Four Thirds lens lineup, bringing greater versatility for wildlife photographers in particular. Bird photographers, who often need to capture fleeting moments, will especially appreciate 50fps while using Pro Capture SH2 mode.

This mode continuously buffers images following a half-press of the shutter button, enabling you to save frames captured before fully pressing it. Sequential Shooting SH2, on the other hand, captures a rapid burst of images while the shutter button is fully depressed.

Rather than introducing new optical capabilities, firmware version 1.1 gives more opportunities to make use of high-speed continuous shooting with your existing OM System telephoto equipment, ideally helping you capture fast action without needing to change lenses.

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Here’s our pick of the best Olympus and OM System lenses: great glass for Micro Four Thirds cameras of any brand!

President Donald Trump is now referring to artificial intelligence as ‘super intelligence’; that’s according to a post from the commander-in-chief on Truth Social. In that same post, he refers to it as a “highly accepted new and more accurate term,” going so far as to say that the White House considers those who use the original moniker, artificial intelligence, “The ENEMY!”

AI under the microscope

The move to ‘super intelligence’ would make sense from an industry perspective. In recent weeks, AI has come under the microscope following revelations by Anthropic whistleblower Jacob Coxon, most notably that the technology “could kill us all by the end of the decade”. And while Coxon’s comments are hypothetical, what isn’t hypothetical is how the core AI industry remains largely unprofitable.

Some experts are waiting for the AI bubble to burst in what feels very much like Y2K all over again. The Guardian’s Heather Stewart cites Bloomberg in stating: ““The price of AI is collapsing,” while the economics editor also highlights Meta’s smart glasses debacle that has seen them labelled by some as ‘pervert glasses’, which has only added to a rising hysteria.

Heck, I’ve just written an article on how an AI has cloned a large chunk of Adobe’s Creative Cloud photo editing software suite, and that’s before you consider concerns regarding the rapid expansion of data centers, not to mention the raw materials required to keep the AI train rolling. As we near the end of 2026, it certainly doesn’t seem quite so rosy in AI land.

A good old-fashioned rebrand, then, is exactly what the advocates of AI need. But changing the name of artificial intelligence won’t be easy. It’s a term that far predates the genAI boom and has long been used as a marketing buzzword. As such, AI or artificial intelligence is everywhere.

From the micro, such as the names of tools in photo editing software like AI Assistant or the AI algorithms in autofocus systems, to the macro, OpenAI, Meta AI it’s literally in the name. It’s also possible that the introduction of ‘super intelligence’ could confuse the consumer, who, at this point, is very used to AI marketing.

Transparency is paramount

Personally, I don’t want to see the term ‘artificial intelligence’ dropped precisely because it reminds us that AI removes the human element. And in the creative industry, that’s a very important distinction. I’ve noticed that while plenty of people don’t enjoy consuming AI content, they don’t always notice what is and isn’t AI content.

As genAI advances, it’s only going to get harder and harder to decipher what is and isn’t AI. But people deserve to know what they’re consuming so they can make an informed choice about it. I firmly believe that AI-generated content requires more transparency, not less.

Only time will tell if ‘super intelligence’ catches on, but perhaps ‘super artificial intelligence’ would be a better naming convention. SAI certainly has a better ring to it than SI. Still, it’s going to be interesting to see if the industry follows the President’s lead or if AI is simply too ingrained at this point to change.

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I’m trying not to be overly dramatic here, but as soon as I heard that an AI had been used to clone Adobe’s biggest software hits, my first thought was: It’s finally happened. That’s not to say I’m jumping for joy; rather, I’ve been wondering when AI would become a direct threat to a large company. And they don’t come much bigger than Adobe. But before I explain why that matters, let’s delve into the unfolding situation.

What’s happened?

Tech news outlet Ars Technica released an article entitled: “Software is over: Bold AI developer takes aim at Adobe with open source clones”. It turns out that small AI developer Artcraft has used Anthropic’s Claude to build a series of open-source applications based on Adobe’s biggest hitters: Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere, After Effects, Illustrator, InDesign, and Acrobat Pro.

To be clear, these aren’t like-for-like replications. Each software has its own name, such as PhotoCraft, LightCraft, FilmCraft, etc. But as can be seen on the company’s website, the interfaces of each software are very familiar. So much so that in the YouTube video (above) by AI Samson, he says when comparing both Photoshop and PhotoCraft’s user interfaces: “They are so similar that you’re able to move from one tool to another with zero learning curve.”

Before we get too excited, these free-to-downoad open-source applications are said to be far from perfect in their current state. And yet, Artcraft is bullish in its commitment to refine its offering. In replying to a post in which the announcement was made on Reddit, the developer who goes by the name of ai_art_is_art, replied to a comment stating: “We have a really long way to go to get to complete parity on functionality and file format support, but that's 100% our goal”.

What does this mean for the industry?

So, back to my original point. The reason I find this situation fascinating is that it’s AI directly impacting a giant company. Don’t get me wrong, competition is nothing new for Adobe. In recent years, a plethora of releases, including a free model for Canva's Affinity, have only made things harder.

But when you consider the size of the software titan, its thousands of employees, years of refinement, and billions of dollars spent, the fact that anything remotely close to its Creative Cloud suite is even possible this quickly and with comparatively minuscule investment and personnel will surely be concerning to both Adobe's board and investors – not to mention its legal team!

Don't get me wrong, editing software companies have been riffing off of Adobe for decades. There's a reason why Creative Cloud is still, in many cases, the industry standard. It's not just about the look and feel of the software; it's the quality of the end product. I've not used any of the aforementioned ArtCraft software, but replicating a user experience is one thing; replicating the performance and the quality of the output is another thing altogether.

And yet it poses a question I’ve been thinking about for a long time. Adobe aside, it’s all well and good for all these huge companies to invest in the so-called AI boom, but what happens if/when AI comes for them, too?

Is the AI wolf knocking at the door?

As a creative, my biggest worries about genAI have historically been questions over the pilfering of copyrighted work, the erosion of creative autonomy, and the threat cheap AI alternatives pose to working creatives. That’s why I’ve long believed more stringent measures are required and boundaries enforced. But these are problems that have largely threatened smaller companies and working individuals.

And while Adobe does seem to get a lot of hate online, it has at least tried to walk some kind of tightrope between embracing AI and its commitment to the creative industry, with examples including its commercially safe Firefly models and Content Credentials.

But Artcraft’s software suite is direct competition for Adobe, and it’s appeared largely out of nowhere. If it works, what’s to stop others from cloning and undercutting other pieces of software? At the very least, this must have put the entire digital economy on notice. It sure feels like a boundary has been broken and the AI cat is out of the bag.

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There is something about the look of analog film that digital cinematography has never quite managed to replicate, and while modern cameras have come an incredibly long way, filmmakers are still turning to film-inspired looks to give their footage that unmistakable cinematic character. Arri is looking to take that creative freedom even further with the release of Film Lab 1.5, a major update to its OpenFX plugin that brings a host of new controls, improved performance, and greater flexibility to digital video editing workflows.

One of the biggest additions is the ability to choose between different film formats, something that was previously limited to the traditional 35mm aesthetic. With Film Lab 1.5, filmmakers can now select 8mm, 16mm, 35mm, or 65mm as their starting point, opening up a much wider range of creative possibilities. Whether you're chasing the nostalgic, grain-heavy character of Super 8-style footage or the cleaner, more refined look associated with larger film formats, there is now considerably more freedom to achieve the aesthetic you're looking for.

But Arri hasn't stopped at simply introducing new film formats. Two additional controls, Grain Size and Rendition of Detail, allow users to fine-tune the appearance of their footage even further, adjusting everything from the scale of the grain to the perceived sharpness of the image. Both controls offer adjustment ranges between 0.75 and 1.5, meaning filmmakers aren't restricted to the traditional characteristics of each format and can instead create something that sits somewhere between them.

Another particularly interesting addition is the new Anamorphic Ratio control, which offers eight squeeze ratios ranging from 1.25x to 2.0x. This allows filmmakers to adjust how film grain and halation are stretched horizontally, helping the effect better match footage captured using different anamorphic lenses. There is also a new Halation Spread adjustment for controlling the glow around highlights and high-contrast edges, while the maximum Grain Intensity and Halation Intensity settings have both been doubled to 2.0. For anyone who likes to push their footage toward a much more pronounced analog aesthetic, these changes should make a noticeable difference.

Of course, creative controls are only half the story, because there is little point having an impressive film emulation tool if it slows your entire workflow to a crawl. Thankfully, Arri has also made some significant improvements under the hood, with Film Lab 1.5 now offering processing speeds up to four times faster than before. According to Arri, this means smooth, real-time 4K playback is now possible on a much wider range of systems, including Apple Silicon MacBook Pro models, making it considerably easier to experiment with different looks without constantly waiting for footage to render.

The update also brings improved integration with color-managed workflows, including new ACES 2.0 ACEScc and ACEScct input and output options for applications such as DaVinci Resolve and Baselight. Baselight users also benefit from OpenFX 1.5 color management integration, allowing Film Lab to automatically recognize the timeline color space and apply the correct input transform. It might not sound quite as exciting as the new creative controls, but for professional colorists working across complex projects, improvements like these can make a substantial difference to the editing experience.

What makes Film Lab 1.5 particularly interesting is that Arri isn't simply trying to recreate the appearance of traditional film. It is giving filmmakers the freedom to take those characteristics and shape them into something of their own. From subtle grain and delicate highlight glow to much more expressive, vintage-inspired looks, this latest update offers another compelling way to bring analog character into an entirely digital production.

Arri Film Lab 1.5 is available now through RE Effects for $494.60 (or $24.74 per month), with the update offered free of charge to existing license holders, while new users can purchase a license.

Anyone looking for one of the best laptops for video editing or photography workflows needs to look no further than the Apple MacBook Pro. That is assuming you don't need or want a Windows laptop and are not on a super tight budget. The MacBook Pro isn't cheap, but with its industry-leading hardware and build quality, it's sure to pay for itself over its lifetime.

Now shipping with the M5 chip, the MacBook Pro features a 10-core CPU alongside a 10-core GPU. This can be paired with up to 32GB of RAM and 4TB of storage. It's a true powerhouse that is built for creative professionals who need a portable laptop that will also deliver incredible performance.

If the standard M5 chip isn't sufficient for your needs, then Apple offers two upgrades, either to an M5 Pro chip or an M5 Max chip. With these, you'll get 16 cores and more power than most creatives need. When we reviewed the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M5 Max), we questioned whether it was possible to buy a laptop that’s too powerful. For most, the standard M5 model balances performance and value perfectly.

Specifications

Price & Availability

The 32GB RAM version of the MacBook Pro (M5) that I tested costs $2,399 (£2,399 / AU$3,799). If this is more than your budget allows, then your only option for reducing the price, other than downgrading to a MacBook Air or MacBook Neo, is to reduce the RAM to 16GB. If you do that, you'll only need to part ways with $1,999 (£1,999 / AU$3,199).

The only silver lining in terms of price is that it's nowhere near as expensive as the MacBook Pro with an M5 Max (18-core) CPU. For that, you'll need a small mortgage because it costs $5,699 (£5,699 / AU$8,949).

Design

I spend most of my time working on the Apple MacBook M2 Pro 14-inch (2023), and you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between that and the latest M5 model released in 2025. In fact, it's the exact same chassis, and Apple obviously feels like they've nailed it with this line of laptops.

The lack of any design iteration is not necessarily a problem because there are very few flaws that I've found in the materials, aesthetic, or build quality. The bottom line is that it is well made, beautifully compact, and solid as a rock. It measures 155 x 313 x 221 mm and weighs 1.6kg, which makes it light enough to throw in a bag and transport on location or have with you if you're working remotely. It's available in either Space Black or Silver colors.

The display is a gorgeous 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display with a huge 3,024 x 1,964 pixel resolution. It's bright, vibrant, clear, and absolutely what any photographer or videographer requires when working with visual media. One small change from its predecessor (M4, 2024) is that the display is now capable of boosting the mini LED backlight, which delivers better performance when used in bright surroundings. Another win for on-location workers.

More importantly, especially for usability, is the new optional nano-textured glass, which delivers a smooth matt finish, which all but eliminates sharp reflections. Unfortunately the downside is that it picks up more fingerprints and is more difficult to wipe clean.

The backlit keyboard continues to perform well with a small enough travel between keys while maintaining a good overall key size. There's no dedicated numpad here, though, but for a compact, portable laptop, that's no surprise. More impressive than the keyboard is the large and responsive trackpad. With so many other manufacturers limiting their trackpads to around 80% clickability, it's a breath of fresh air that the trackpad found on the MacBook Pro has a 100% clickable area.

The webcam (Center Stage camera) takes pride of place at the top of the display and, despite its small size, seems to still require a large notch cutout of around 35mm width. Considering the impact on menus, I'm surprised Apple hasn't tried to reduce this.

In terms of ports, you'll find all the familiar favorites with Magsafe charging and three Thunderbolt 5 ports. Apple has chosen to retain the single HDMI 2.1 port for connecting to an external display. There's also an SDXC port, which is essential for a lot of photographers' workflows. The presence of these ports means that the laptop is thicker than the MacBook Air, for example, but that's the trade-off.

Performance

The MacBook Pro is built to deliver outstanding performance across creative applications and AI workflows. I used it for photo and video editing as well as a little 3D rendering. In all areas, it performed brilliantly, predictably, and without fuss. It didn't get warm or generate any annoying level of fan noise, and there wasn't even a hint of software looking like it was struggling.

Editing photos in Lightroom and Photoshop went without a hitch. I was able to view and edit large libraries of photos and apply varied and complex edits across these batches. Generative AI in Photoshop was also quick and painless. All of these are backed up in the Geekbench CPU scores of 3,728 for single-core and 18,397 for multi-core. And for GPU-related tasks such as handling RAW files and applying filters to photos and videos, the Geekbench GPU OpenCL score came out at 46.833.

These are very impressive numbers, which demonstrate the MacBook Pro M5's ability to handle a wide range of creative tasks with consummate ease. This continued with video editing in Premiere Pro. With it, I was able to effortlessly edit a video and apply complex color grades.

If you're also planning on using the laptop for 3D rendering, then the M5 chip is going to struggle a little compared to the very best GPU technology that NVIDIA offers, but if you only adopt this workflow from time to time, then you won't have any issues. The CPU single-thread score was 734, and the multi-thread score was 4,485.

As you would expect, the laptop was nippy across web browsing, video viewing, streaming of content, and a whole host of other everyday applications. It is a supremely reliable and powerful laptop that will not let you down. It also boasts an impressive all-day battery life—literally 24 hours—and can achieve a 0 to 50% recharge in just 30 minutes.

Overall, I found that the M5 chip outperformed both the Apple M4 Max chip and the Apple M3 Ultra chip, so if you're planning on investing in a previous-generation MacBook, then it might be worth considering that the base-level chip in the latest MacBook Pro may outperform 'superior' chips in older laptops.

Verdict

Apple has made very few changes to the design of the MacBook Pro M5 14-inch compared to its predecessor, but the latest model is still one of the very best laptops for creatives. With the powerful 10-core M5 chip, the laptop devours most tasks, including photo and video editing, 3D rendering, and audio production. This proved true in both our benchmark tests and in practice.

Aside from performance, the MacBook Pro 14-inch is the ideal size for on-location photographers or professionals who work in a variety of different locations. The Liquid Retina XDR display, with its 3,024 x 1,964 pixel resolution and up to 1,600 nits of peak brightness, is one of the laptop's best features. It's large enough for most workflows and is bright, vibrant, and clear.

At some point the MacBook Pro will be updated to an M6 chip, which will bring even more power, probably in the realm of the current M5 Pro chip, but for now the M5 version is more than most creatives will need.

Alternatives

Nikon has announced that the winner of its 2026 Small World in Motion Video Competition — a long-running and prestigious scientific imaging contest — has been disqualified.

According to the company, the winning video, created by Dr. Ning Xu of China’s Tsinghua University, “did not comply with the competition rules regarding generative AI,” although Nikon did not state exactly how the rules were broken.

The company did, however, subsequently name Nguyen Nam Nhat, of Vietnam, the new winner for a video depicting a tiny roundworm and a single-celled Dileptus “exploring their microscopic world.”

In late September, Dr. Xu, a biomedical imaging specialist, took first place at the 16th edition of the Nikon contest. His microscopic video captured the abnormal beating of a cellular structure in a patient with a rare genetic respiratory disorder called primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD).

According to the BBC, after the entry appeared on a now-deleted post on the competition's official LinkedIn page, scientists began pointing out to Nikon that Dr. Xu’s video appeared to be computer-generated.

Among them was Dr. Robert Hirst, principal scientist at the University of Leicester’s Division of Respiratory Sciences, who told the BBC he “knew immediately that the video was fabricated.”

“I have been diagnosing PCD for 20 years by examining their cilia waveform, length, cell size and shape,” he said, adding that the cells and cilia in the video looked “nothing like” those of PCD patients.

Dr. Xu defended his use of AI in the post comments before it was deleted. According to CNN, he stated that he wanted the video to be “visually engaging as well as scientifically interesting."

The disqualified winner explained that AI assistance was used in the post-processing of grayscale images to “distinguish and visualize" features in the region below the cilia, not to “anatomically reconstruct the underlying cells or organelles."

Dr. Xu concluded that "a more detailed description” of his optical system and quantitative analysis of the ciliary motion are currently being prepared for publication.

Following the outcry, Nikon removed Dr. Xu’s entry from the winners’ webpage, stating that it had “thoroughly” reevaluated the video and supporting materials, while also consulting members of the judging panel.

Nikon said that the disqualification was “based solely” on the submitted video’s eligibility under the competition rules and should not be interpreted as a “judgment of the entrant’s professional reputation, scientific contributions, or intent.”

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In both of our guides to the best tablets for photo editing and the best tablet camera it's no surprise to see that the iPad Pro M4 takes pride in place as 'best overall' winner. When we reviewed it in 2024, we said it "lets you put your foot down with video editing and photo fixing" and praised its Ultra Retina XDR display and powerful M4 chip.

Since then Apple has released the M5 version: an even more powerful chip with 10 cores and an integrated 10-core GPU. Its performance is second to none, and with a five star rating is now the best tablet for all types of creatives, beating the M4 when it comes to sheer power.

There are, of course, many worthy alternatives in the Windows and Android realms with the Microsoft Surface Pro 10 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra worthy of consideration. But if you want the very best, Apple has delivered it yet again.

Specifications

Price & Availability

The 13-inch model of the iPad Pro ranges from $1,499 / £1,499 for 256GB storage and standard glass all the way up to $2,699 / £2,699 if you choose 2TB storage and nano-textured glass.

The model I tested featured 1TB storage and nano-textured glass, which off-the-shelf costs $2,099 / £2,099. The quoted prices are for Wi-Fi only, although for a little extra you can add cellular connectivity.

Compared to the 13-inch iPad Pro M4 (2024), Apple has increased all prices by $200 / £200. The iPad Pro is also available as an 11-inch model with prices beginning at $1,199 / £1,199.

Design

The iPad Pro M5 is everything you'd expect from Apple: sleek, refined, and incredibly well-engineered. It is thin, lightweight, and compact—so much so that it feels like Apple has nowhere to go when it comes to design iterations. That reality is demonstrated in the fact that the iPad Pro M5 is almost identical in design to the M4 2024 version. That means anyone thinking about upgrading shouldn't do so based on the design.

At the heart of the iPad Pro is a huge 13-inch slab of glass, which is contained inside a gorgeous and smooth aluminum chassis. The four smooth corners are complemented by small, sharp bezels on all edges. As a result, it feels comfortable in the hand without putting any strain on your wrist or fingers.

The iPad Pro boasts an Ultra Retina XDR display, which, thanks to 1,600 nits of peak brightness, is bright enough to use in almost all scenarios, including outdoors with bright sunlight. There's also an anti-reflective coating, which comes into its own when you're surrounded by bright lights.

The display itself is everything a person who cares about photos and video needs. The 2,732 x 2,048 px resolution means images pop with detail and clarity. Creatives will also love the P3 wide color gamut and Apple's True Tone white balance feature, which, when combined together, delivers colors you can trust.

On the back there's a small camera bump that houses a 12MP wide camera that is capable of capturing 4K video with the ProRes codec. The rear camera is backed up by a landscape 12MP Center Stage camera located centrally on the front. Thanks to its design, it blends in beautifully with the surrounding black strip, so you'll hardly notice it's there.

The iPad Pro is available in two sizes. The one I tested is the 13-inch model, which measures 11.09 x 8.48 x 0.20 inches and weighs just 1.28 pounds. The larger size is perfect for photographers and videographers who plan on using the tablet for editing. If you can forgo the larger display, then the 11-inch model is a perfect alternative. It measures 9.83 x 6.99 x 0.21 inches and weighs 0.98 pounds.

As has been the case for a number of years, the tablet is limited to just one USB-C port. Through this you can charge the tablet, pair with and charge an Apple Pencil, and finally connect to other peripherals such as headphones.

On either side of the port, which is located at the bottom (when in portrait mode), are two speakers. The design is mirrored at the top with two more speakers. The power button is also found on the RHS of this top edge. And finally, the volume buttons are located towards the top of the right edge.

As for colors, the tablet is available in two colors: Space Black and Silver.

Performance

Beginning with Geekbench 7 CPU tests, the iPad Pro M5 scored 3,606 and 16,841 in single-core and multi-core tests, respectively. This benchmark covers things like using File Compression, PDF Viewer, Photo Library, Text Processing, Photo Editor, and Video Encoder. It's a solid all-round test of the CPU, and the M5 performed incredibly.

Impressive performance continued with the GPU test, with the tablet scoring 72,057. This benchmark looks at items such as Background Blur, Face Tracking, Super Resolution, Horizon Detection, Photo Filter, and RAW. The integrated GPU found on the M5 chip offers some of the best performance found on any tablet from any brand.

These amazing test scores are backed up by experience. When using Adobe Lightroom for the iPad, I was able to perform a whole host of color corrections and edits to a library of photos with no hang-ups or issues at all. It simply cracked through them, displaying results instantly and without fuss. Being able to do this makes the iPad Pro the perfect companion for photographers who need to be able to edit and deliver their photos before they've managed to get back to their desk.

In recent years, we've also seen an increase in dedicated video editing software for the iPad. So I downloaded and installed DaVinci Resolve for iPad and proceeded to make some edits and carry out some color grading. Despite not pushing the software to the absolute limit, I was impressed by how the M5 chip was able to handle what I threw at it.

Both the front and rear cameras deliver respectable results with solid resolution and color replication. They can be relied upon to produce accurate and reliable images, but they lack the creative control you get from flagship phone cameras, namely telephoto lenses with gorgeous depth of field effects.

The bottom line is that the iPad Pro M5 is the fastest and most capable tablet you can buy at the moment, and if you buy it for your creative pursuits, I'm sure you'll quickly find yourself using it for a whole host of tasks that you used to use a laptop for.

Final Verdict

I'm running out of superlatives for the iPad Pro M5. With the very latest silicone power of any Apple tablet, the iPad Pro M5 is arguably the best tablet we've seen, from any brand, ever. It might look almost identical to its predecessor, but that just goes to show how good the previous design was. Other than the provision of more ports, there's literally nothing that I would change about its design.

The tablet is a performance powerhouse that is built with photographers and videographers in mind. Our experience as well as the CPU and GPU benchmark tests that we ran confirm how fast, smooth, and responsive the tablet is. In fact, it's so good that it could replace most people's laptops, especially if it's only being used to edit photos. Video editors will love the ability to edit on the go, but if you're handling a lot of large files with complex edits and filters, then you'll need something with more power.

All in, the iPad Pro is for serious creative professionals who can afford the financial outlay. It delivers great results on almost every front, and despite the potential imminent release of the M6 version, the M5 chip will be more than powerful enough for most people for a long time to come.

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