ZTE Blade A3 Prime Review

Times are tough and budgets are tight. You might be wondering whether to keep an aging phone for another year or replace it with something relatively inexpensive. Decent smartphones priced under $100 are rare, but Visible's ZTE Blade A3 Prime ($99) is one of the better ones in that bracket. It handles basic tasks with relative ease and has solid connectivity with surprisingly good call quality. You'll notice a bit of lag when you're using it, and battery life could definitely be better, but it's a fine option for the price. However, if you're willing to spend just a little more and shop around for discounts, you can probably find much better phones for $130 to $180.

Design: Blast From the Past

Remember "candy bar" budget phones from a few years back? The Blade A3 Prime feels just like one. It's a rectangle with a plastic back and a relatively small display. It measures 5.8 by 2.8 by 0.4 inches (HWD) and weighs 5.7 ounces, making it nicely balanced and easy to hold in one hand.

On the front of the Blade A3 Prime you'll find a 5.45-inch LCD with thick bezels. That's a little smaller than the 6.2-inch display you'll find on the slightly more expensive Motorola Moto e ($149.99). The screen has a resolution of 1,440 by 720 pixels for a density of 291ppi. Despite its low resolution, the display is pretty crisp. Color accuracy skews cool; in direct sunlight, seeing the display becomes a challenge.

The top is home to a headphone jack. The USB-C charging port is on the bottom. The left side is bare; a volume rocker and textured power button are on the right. The buttons are easy to identify and reach, though there is a bit of lag in response when pressing the buttons.

The back is a textured gray plastic shell that can be removed to swap out the battery—a rarity in today's phones—and insert SIM and microSD cards. There's a small camera stack in the upper left-hand corner and a grille for the speaker on the bottom right side. A fingerprint sensor sits top center; it's easy to reach with small hands and unlocks the phone quickly.

With the exception of the Motorola Moto e's strengthened glass display and water-resistant body, durability for just about any entry-level phone is a pain point. The Blade A3 Prime is no exception. If you drop it on its back, the back might fly off and let the battery pop out, which isn't a big deal. But the display appears to be made out of traditional glass. Drop it face down and you'll likely be shopping for a new phone. The phone also has no water protection whatsoever and its removable back makes it very easy for water to seep in from a spill. If you plan to use this phone daily, you'll want to get a sturdy case.

Clear Calls, Adequate Connectivity

The Blade A3 Prime is a Visible exclusive and has limited LTE band support. The phone supports LTE bands 2/4/5/12/13, which effectively locks it to Visible and Verizon's networks. Band 66, a superset of band 4 that Verizon uses to improve coverage in highly populated areas, is noticeably absent.

We tested the Blade A3 Prime on Visible's network in downtown Chicago and recorded poor speeds. Average download speeds came in at 15.8Mbps, and uploads averaged 6.3Mbps. Those speeds are fine for streaming and just about everything else but fail to compare to speeds we've recorded on other phones on the same network. We are pretty confident the reduced speeds are due to the phone's aging modem more than the network.

Call quality is excellent. We made several calls on the phone and the connection was perfect each time. Peak earpiece volume comes in at 78dB, which should be loud enough to hear the other party in most situations.

Dual-band Wi-Fi is onboard, as is Bluetooth 4.2. There's no NFC, which should come as no surprise for an entry-level phone.

The bottom-firing speaker has a maximum volume of 92dB. Audio quality is acceptable, though timbre is aggressive, with overly bright mids and not a hint of bass to be found. Overall, the speaker is fine for video calls or scrolling through your TikTok feed, but you'll want to take advantage of the headphone jack or a decent pair of Bluetooth headphones for Spotify or Netflix binges.

Entry-Level Cameras

The Blade A3 Prime sports a very basic camera setup and performs as well as you'd expect for an entry-level phone. It has an 8MP rear-facing camera with an f/2.0 aperture and a 5MP front-facing camera with an f/2.4 aperture.

In good light, the front camera does an adequate job. Our test shots appeared a little flat and there was noticeable loss of fine detail.

Low-light performance, on the other hand, is an absolute mess. Nearly all our test shots were flat, muddy, and filled with edge noise.

The 5MP camera on the front of the phone is fine for a quick selfie in good light. Most of our test shots lacked depth of field, but color accuracy was spot on. In low light, however, our selfies were completely blurred, with noise throughout the image.

Though we're not impressed by the cameras on the Blade A3 Prime, we think they're acceptable for the price. Smartphone manufacturers often cut corners with hardware in order to keep prices low, and camera sensors tend to be one of the first concessions made.

If image quality is important to you, your cheapest bet is the Moto G Power ($249)—though it's more than double the price of the Blade A3 Prime, unless you find a discount deal. The Google Pixel 4a takes flagship-worthy shots but also has a $349 price tag.

Fine for Basic Tasks, But Gaming Is a No-Go

A MediaTek Helio A22 chipset and 2GB of RAM provide moderate power for the Blade A3 Prime. It has 32GB of storage, of which a little over 19GB is available out of the box. You can add up to an additional 2TB of storage with a microSD card.

The Helio A22 is an entry level smartphone chipset that can most closely be compared with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 429 processor. Both are 12nm process semiconductors, and both have 4 CPU cores. The Helio A22 is technically a little faster than its Qualcomm competition, running at 2GHz per core versus 1.95GHz. The Helio A22's 1,600Mz RAM is also an improvement over the 933MHz RAM supported on the Snapdragon 429 but, to be perfectly honest, you're not going to see much difference in performance between the two chipsets.

It's hard to compare the Blade A3 Prime to other similarly spec'd smartphones simply because there aren't a lot of phones sold in the US with the Helio A22 or Snapdragon 429 chipsets. For the most part, these processors are shipped on budget phones sold in China and in emerging markets like Africa and India.

For the price, performance is adequate. The Blade A3 Prime does well with basic tasks like web browsing and checking emails, but stutters when given more difficult tasks. There's a noticeable lag when opening apps or searching for apps, but it's not unbearable.

The Blade A3 Prime is not a phone for gamers—end of story. Basic games such as Candy Crush work fine, but anything that requires more resources is a no go. We attempted to load Asphalt 9: Legends and the app continuously crashed.

The 2,660mAh capacity battery is underwhelming. While using the phone, we noticed the battery drained quickly; over an eight-hour idle period, the battery depleted by nearly 20%. In our battery drain test, which streams HD video over Wi-Fi, the Blade A3 Prime eked out just 6 hours and 3 minutes before dying. That's a far cry from the Motorola Moto e's battery life of 10 hours and 2 minutes. If you're planning to use this phone for a full day, you'll want to pick up a spare battery or power bank.

The phone comes with a 10W charger and a USB-A–to–USB-C charging cable. Wireless charging is missing—which isn't unexpected for a phone at this price—and there's no fast charging option either. It takes about two and a half hours to recharge the phone from empty to full.

Stock Android 10, Missing Security Patches

The stock version of Android 10 that ships with the Blade A3 Prime is blissfully free of bloatware, usually a given on budget phones. Visible is one of the few carriers that doesn't add preloaded software on any of its phones.

Neither ZTE nor Visible has announced plans for software updates, and we don't believe the phone will get an Android 11 update. It also looks like the phone will not get frequent security patches, since the last update on our phone was from April 2020.

Good for Ultra-Tight Budgets

If you're on a tight budget, the ZTE A3 Prime is a decent choice. For $99, you get a phone that handles simple tasks well, offers good call quality, and gets a reliable, albeit slow, network connection. That said, mediocre battery life and infrequent Android security patch updates are significant concessions to make in the name of saving money.

The Motorola Moto e, though slightly more expensive, addresses both of these pain points and is a better value for your money. If you're looking for a relatively inexpensive phone that will last several years, the Google Pixel 4a is your best bet.

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Samsung: Prepare for More Foldable Phones

Expect Samsung to release even more foldable phones next year. 

“True to our heritage of staying ahead of the curve with trailblazing mobile tech, we’ll be expanding our portfolio of foldables, so this groundbreaking category is more accessible to everyone,” Samsung Electronics President TM Roh said on Tuesday.

The company currently has two foldable models up for sale, the Galaxy Z Flip and the Galaxy Z Fold 2, which both launched this past year. However, both products originally had starting prices at $1,380 and $1,999, respectively, before Samsung began giving discounts on them. 

According to Roh, the Z Fold 2 offers a mere glimpse of what the company has planned for the foldable smartphone category. But more importantly, he’s indicating that prices may come down. “We believe everyone should have access to the latest mobile technologies and a spectrum of product options that offer unfettered, personalized experiences,” he added. 

However, Samsung’s growing focus on foldables may come at the expense of the Galaxy Note line. Last month, Reuters reported that Samsung had no plans to release a new Note device next year in order to focus on foldable phones. However, to placate Galaxy Note fans, Samsung is working on adding a stylus to the Galaxy S21. 

In today’s post, Roh made no mention of phasing out Note devices. But he did say this: “We’ve also been paying attention to people’s favorite aspects of the Galaxy Note experience and are excited to add some of its most well-loved features to other devices in our lineup.” Expect more details in January.

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Samsung Galaxy S21 Rumors and News: Release Date, Cameras, Pricing, and More

Samsung's current flagship lineup includes the Galaxy S20 phones, the stylus-enhanced Note 20 devices, and the surprise midrange Galaxy S20 FE. But a new year is upon us, which means smartphone refreshes. Here's what Samsung has up its sleeve for 2021, according to reports.

How Many Galaxy S21 Models Will Be Announced?

Samsung has remained mum on its next-gen flagships, but a regulatory filing in Brazil may hold some clues. A document found in the Agência Nacional de Telecommunicações database appears to show that Samsung will release three phones in the near future. Though they're listed by model number, the phones will likely be called the Samsung Galaxy S21, Samsung Galaxy S21+, and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. 

The Galaxy S21 has been completely redesigned, but even if you're a fan of the Samsung Galaxy S20's design, there's a lot to love in the changes. The Galaxy S21 and S21+ will reportedly have a flat display and plastic body with an aluminum frame, part of which will wrap around the top of the phone to house the camera module. 

The Galaxy S21 Ultra sports a curved display and glass body. It has the same camera module design as its less expensive counterparts, though that module may be slightly larger to accommodate the extra camera sensors. 

The Galaxy S21 trio will also have matte displays and several color options for the housing. Android Police reports the Galaxy S21 will be available in violet, pink, gray, and white. Expect to see the S21+ in black, violet, and silver and the S21 Ultra in black and silver.  

What Hardware Does the Galaxy S21 Have?

Each year, Samsung packs its Galaxy S series phones with top-of-the-line hardware, and this year will be no different. 

The Galaxy S20 will feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset in the US. Europe and the majority of the globe will likely get the S21 with Samsung's Exynos 2100 SoC.

On paper, Qualcomm's latest flagship chipset looks similar to its predecessor, but there are some significant changes. It's Qualcomm's first 5nm chipset, which will greatly improve efficiency over previous 7nm chipsets such as the Snapdragon 865. 

The Snapdragon 888 is also Qualcomm's first flagship processor with three different types of core. It features a Cortex-X1 CPU high-performance core, along with three Cortex-A78 cores and four Cortex-A55 cores. This core configuration, along with updated machine learning processors, should make the Snapdragon 888 the most powerful and energy-efficient Intel chipset to date. 

Details are scarce on storage and RAM configurations, but we can make some predictions based on specs from Samsung's past flagships and its current manufacturing schedule. 

• We believe the Samsung Galaxy S21 will be available in two different storage configurations. Samsung will offer an entry-level model with 128GB of storage (with the option to upgrade to 256GB) and 12GB of RAM.

• You'll likely have three options when it comes to the Galaxy S21+: a 128GB/12GB base model, along with 256GB/12GB and 512GB/12GB upgrades. 

• The Galaxy S21 Ultra will be the most powerful of the bunch. It will be available in 128GB/16GB and 512GB/16GB configurations. 

Again, these are just predictions based on Samsung's manufacturing processes and past Galaxy S models. Samsung will likely want some parity between models, and right now it is manufacturing UFS 3.1 storage for flagships in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB configurations.

For RAM, the tech giant is currently manufacturing 12GB and 16GB, 10nm-process LPDDR5 RAM with peak transfer rates of 5,500Mb/s. There's a chance it may offer an 8GB LPDDR4X RAM (4,266Mb/s) on its entry-level Galaxy S21, but that would result in significantly reduced performance and energy efficiency—two essentials for 5G phones.

A slew of FCC documents also provide a little more detail about the S21 lineup. All three phones will support multi-band 5G. Bluetooth 5.1 will be on board as will NFC. 

Not much will change in terms of battery capacity for the Galaxy S21 series. The Galaxy S21 will reportedly sport a 4,000mAh battery, and the S21 Ultra will reportedly have a 5,000mAh battery—the same as their predecessors. The S21+ is likely to get a slight bump to 4,800mAh from the 4,500mAh battery found on the current S20+. 

Samsung teased Apple for not shipping a power adapter with its iPhone 12 models, but now appears poised to follow suit. A Brazilian regulatory filing states the phones will not be marketed with power supplies or headphones. The same filing suggests Samsung will sell a 25W adapter for fast charging.  All three phones will have wireless charging and wireless powershare. 

How Big Is the Samsung Galaxy S21's Screen? 

For years, Samsung has relied on gorgeous AMOLED displays for its Galaxy S flagships. The upcoming Galaxy S21 models, however, will reportedly use a different display technology, according to Android Police, which released extensive details about the phones in November, and has a pretty solid track record with leaks. 

Reportedly, the Samsung Galaxy S21 and S21+ will sport flat FHD+ LTPS displays with 120Hz refresh rates. The S20's display will be 6.2 inches on the diagonal, while the S21+ will have a 6.7-inch screen. We believe these phones will use an LTPS-OLED process as opposed to traditional LTPS LCDs, since Samsung has long used AMOLED panels in most of its flagships.

The S21 Ultra will have the largest display at 6.8 inches. It's also the only phone in the bunch to have the curved WQHD+ LTPO display with a 120Hz refresh rate, which was introduced on the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. 

In addition to the updated displays, there are a few other screen-related treats reportedly on board. According to Twitter leaker Ice Universe, the S21 trio will have an improved in-display fingerprint sensor that's both larger and faster; this may be Qualcomm's 3D Sonic Max sensor, though it has yet to be confirmed.

Finally, it looks like the S21 Ultra will support Samsung's S Pen, though it will not have a built-in place to store it. Phone Arena reports Samsung will offer the S Pen as a separate SKU along with different cases for storage.

How Many Cameras Does the Galaxy 21 Have? 

Samsung's Galaxy flagships have long been known for having some of the best smartphone cameras on the market, and the S21 lineup looks like it will continue the tradition. 

The Samsung Galaxy S21 and S21+ are rumored to have a triple camera module with 12MP primary and ultrawide lenses. There's also a 64MP telephoto lens on board. 

The S20 Ultra will pack the most sophisticated camera stack of the bunch. It will likely have an improved 108MP primary lens along with a 12MP ultrawide lens. The primary lens is reportedly Samsung's new ISOCELL M3 sensor, which has better light sensitivity for low-light photos. There are also two 10MP sensors in the mix, capable of 3x and 10x optical zoom, respectively. Laser autofocus is also on board—an essential addition since the Galaxy S20 Ultra had significant problems with image pulsing and focus lock that were never fully corrected.

The other major change this year is the actual camera stack design. Instead of the big bump found on the Galaxy S20 models, the new Galaxy S21 smartphones will be almost flush with the body of the phone.

How Much Does the Samsung Galaxy S21 Cost? 

When Samsung announced its Galaxy S20 series in early 2020, the world was a very different place. Though flagship demand was already sagging, Samsung launched its most expensive phones to date. It positioned the Galaxy S series as its ultra-premium brand while expanding its Galaxy A portfolio for more budget and midrange options. 

With the Galaxy S21 trio, it appears Samsung plans to pull on the reins a bit. According to Korean tech site SamMobile, all three phones will be less expensive than their predecessors. The Galaxy S21 will reportedly retail for $849 to $899, while the Galaxy S21+ will hit store shelves with a $1,049 to $1,099 price tag. The S21 Ultra will reportedly start at $1,249.

It's worth noting that all the pricing rumors come from a single source. SamMobile also states these figures are merely under consideration by Samsung. Long story short: take these prices with a grain of salt. 

When Is the Samsung Galaxy S21 Coming Out? 

For the past several years, Samsung has announced its Galaxy flagships in February. This year, it appears we may be in for an early surprise. 

After speaking with Samsung's mobile experience store in India, Android Authority reports that the Galaxy S21 trio will be announced globally on Jan. 14. The store is already accepting preorders for the next-gen flagship, which will reportedly be available on Jan. 29. 

Of course, nothing is set in stone yet, though we're fairly confident the announcement date is correct. There's a chance that Samsung may stagger release by region, but we'd still expect to see Galaxy S21 models on sale in the US within a few weeks after the company's announcement.

If you can't wait until January and need a Samsung phone right now, it's worth taking a look at Samsung's best-selling Galaxy S20 FE. If you're looking for top-of-the-line hardware, here's how to choose among the S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra.

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Samsung Galaxy S21 Leak Suggests S Pen Support But No Stylus Slot

There are still many aspects of the Samsung Galaxy S21 that remain shrouded in mystery. We won't know everything there is to know about the upcoming phone until Samsung's official reveal. The latest intel on the Galaxy S21, however, reveals some interesting new tidbits.

According to TechRadar, citing WinFuture, the Galaxy S21 will likely support the S Pen. However, there won't be a special storage slot for the pen, like the Galaxy Note series included. Users will need to purchase the pen separately, as well as a case in which to store it.

WinFuture can't confirm whether or not the Galaxy Note line is set to perish, as rumored at the beginning of December. At the very least, it seems that S Pen support will be something of an afterthought going forward without official integrated storage.

The Galaxy S21 will reportedly come in several colors and memory configurations. The vanilla S21 will come in white, pink, gray, or purple, while the S21 Plus will only be available in black, silver, or purple. Further, the S21 Ultra will reduce color options even further, with only black or silver versions up for grabs.

Additionally, the phone will come with various memory configurations, as the Galaxy S21 and S21 plus will include 128GB and 256GB options, with the S21 Ultra offering 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB models.

Samsung has yet to confirm any official details, but the Galaxy S21 is currently rumored to debut in January.

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LG Wing 5G Review

The wildest phone of late 2020, the LG Wing ($999) has a unique swiveling screen that brings a breath of fresh, creative air to the stale world of rectangular smartphones. Its T-shaped two-screen layout makes it the ultimate phone for multitaskers who like to take notes while in Zoom meetings or access both music and maps while driving. It also has a Gimbal video mode that simulates a Steadicam attachment. I wish this innovative device were a slam dunk, but the phone is extremely heavy, and underpowered for the price. The promise of using two screens at once also falls a little flat when you realize that third-party apps likely won't take advantage of the new design.

Perfect to a 'T'?

The LG Wing looks like a big, thick, but ordinary smartphone. At 6.67 by 2.93 by 0.43 inches (HWD), it's roughly the same width and height as other large flagships, and thicker by about 0.1 inch. But whoof, it weighs 9.17 ounces. I called the 8-ounce iPhone 12 Pro Max too heavy, so this one is a brick—though there's a reason for that. Push the bottom of the screen up and clockwise, and boom! The phone is in a "T" shape, with the large screen above in landscape orientation and a smaller screen below.

The main screen is a 6.8-inch, 2,460-by-1,080 AMOLED at 395ppi. The smaller one is a nearly-square, 3.9-inch, 1,240-by-1,080 OLED display at 419ppi. Unlike with folding phones, the two screens aren't designed to be used as one fluid display: They're a primary and a secondary panel. On the glossy back of the lower screen, there's a triple-camera stack. To use those cameras, you hold the phone up as if it were a cross to ward off vampires.

Once you get past the coolness, you'll notice some flaws. The color balance isn't very saturated, especially in comparison to Samsung phones, which really punch up the colors. There's a single, loud, aggressively tinny speaker on the bottom; USB-C or Bluetooth headphones are a must. (There's no 3.5mm headphone jack.)

The hinge moves smoothly, and LG says that it's rated for at least 200,000 rotations. It doesn't hold at any location other than zero and 90 degrees; once you push it, it's going to swivel automatically on a spring until it snaps into place.

Shockingly for something this oddly shaped, the phone has an IP54 rating for water resistance. The internal components have a spray-on waterproof coating; how long it will hold up with the parts constantly moving is hard to say.

Performance That Doesn't Really Take Flight

The Wing's Qualcomm 765G chipset benchmarks below where I'd expect. I didn't see any problems in video calling, web browsing, or movie watching, even while multitasking on two screens, but high-performance games that aren't optimized for the device may have issues. The included game, Asphalt 9: Legends, was fine; it's designed for the phone. In the extremely high-test but popular open-world adventure game Genshin Impact, occasional stutters somewhat marred the gameplay experience.

The Wing scores 7,946 on PCMark Work 2.0; 596 single-core, 1,858 multi-core on Geekbench; 318 on Basemark Web; and 17fps on-screen, 21fps off-screen with the GFXBench Car Chase graphics benchmark. By comparison, the $699 Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G scores 12,705 on PCMark Work 2.0, 392 on Basemark Web, and 45fps and 52fps on the GFXBench tests. It's clear that the Wing is operating at sub-flagship performance levels. Its scores are closer to those of the LG Velvet and the OnePlus Nord N10, two midrange phones that cost at least $300 less than the Wing's premium price.

The Wing does have flagship levels of RAM, though, and that's important. The 8GB of RAM is needed to keep all of that multitasking running.

How We Test Phones

The giant 4,000mAh battery runs out of juice surprisingly quickly. With the main screen in portrait orientation and the smaller screen hidden, the Wing streamed video over Wi-Fi for 9 hours, 15 minutes before conking out. Any recent large-size Samsung or Apple phone will surpass that by two hours or more.

The Wing has wireless charging and Qualcomm QuickCharge 4, allowing for fast charging using USB-C PD adapters at up to 28W.

Middling Connectivity

LG does not sell an unlocked, all-carrier Wing. There are two different hardware models: a Verizon/AT&T version and a T-Mobile version. I tested a Verizon model.

You shouldn't expect to see 2Gbps speeds on the Wing; 800Mbps will be more like it. The Wing uses a Qualcomm X52 modem, which we've previously seen run into trouble with AT&T's network (see our LG Velvet review). The X52 doesn't have a problem with Verizon 4G, but where flagship X55 phones will see peak speeds on Verizon's the 5G network, phones with the X52 modem will only use half of Verizon's millimeter-wave spectrum and see slower speeds. (To be fair, that difference will only show up in near-ideal circumstances in a limited number of cities.)

The T-Mobile version of the Wing can presumably handle T-Mobile's mid-band 4G as well as any other phone on the market. However, my Verizon-locked phone can't connect to T-Mobile's network, so I couldn't test its performance there.

5GHz Wi-Fi reception was about on par with the iPhone 12 Pro and behind the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. Using an attenuated signal from a 100Mbps source connection, I saw around 8Mbps on both the LG Wing and the 12 Pro, and 35–40Mbps on the Note 20 Ultra. The iPhone 12 mini, on the other hand, frequently dropped that attenuated connection.

Software as Unusual as Its Hardware

The Wing runs Android 10, which is a year old at this point. It will get an upgrade to Android 11, but LG is notoriously slow to provide OS updates, so you'll have to wait for your carrier to push it. Upgrades beyond Android 11 are unlikely.

The Wing's software has been thoroughly customized to take advantage of its unusual form factor. When you swivel the top screen open, it switches from displaying the Android home interface to offering a carousel of dual screen–friendly apps: Asphalt 9, the gallery, the camera, YouTube, and Maps. There's no immediately obvious way to look at any other app on the main screen while it's horizontal. However, if you open an app while the screen is in portrait orientation and then rotate the screen, the app will stay open (sometimes adjusting well to the change of orientation, sometimes ending up displayed sideways).

Once revealed, the bottom screen displays a small version of the Android home screen. Among the icons at the bottom of the small screen, you now have pairs of apps that will open together, such as YouTube and Chrome, or Google Maps and YouTube Music.

Most of the time, the two screens operate independently. This comes in handy. My most frequent use was to pop open LG's QuickNote or Microsoft's OneNote on the bottom screen and jot notes while reading a web page or watching a video on the top screen. The Music-Maps combination looks great for driving, but there's one big UI failure: no Skip Ad button on the small screen, leaving you to endure long ads instead of your favorite playlist. A texting-and-Maps combination isn't bad if you're lost (but please pull over before texting).

You can also read two web pages at once. That's convenient, but the top page is in Landscape mode and the bottom one is small. They're certainly readable, but it isn't as natural an experience as, say, two side-by-side, portrait-style pages on the Galaxy Z Fold 2.

The Ecosystem Pitfall

The Wing's ambitious form factor looks destined to fall to the ecosystem pitfall that a lot of innovative phones have run into over the past several years.

There are four companies with enough market share to drive third-party app and accessory development. They are Apple, Google, and, to a lesser extent, Huawei and Samsung. Even Samsung hasn't done that well at it; the only success I can think of is Samsung making sure creative apps are compatible with its S Pen. Unfortunately for everyone, attempts to promote innovative APIs by other OEMs have universally failed. We saw this with the dual-screen Kyocera Echo and ZTE Axon M, and with Asus's convertible phone-tablets.

LG's dual-screen case for the V60 and the most recent round of foldable phones work around this problem by working with standard Android apps. But the Wing has two screens, with different sizes and aspect ratios, that aren't next to each other and don't form a single rectangle together, and third-party developers don't plan for that.

The result: I don't think we're going to see many games that use the second screen, or third-party camera apps that build on LG's innovative control scheme. LG has announced a few software partners—Rave, Tubi, Ficto, and Naver (which is big in Korea)—but they aren't companies well-known in the US.

Cameras: a Gimbal Gambol

The LG Wing has a main 64-megapixel camera on the back that defaults to taking 16-megapixel photos by combining every four small pixels into one brighter one. The camera has a "2x zoom" option, but it's digital zoom; it just crops the middle out of a 64-megapixel image. I found those resulting zoom shots to look quite good. They didn't seem dimmer than shots taken with the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, and they were plenty sharp. There's also a 13-megapixel, 117-degree wide-angle camera on the back, and a 32-megapixel pop-up selfie camera on the front.

Compared to the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, the LG's sharpening is more aggressive, but I like that. Photos taken with this camera really brought out the texture of bricks and the stubble on my face. The Wing's primary camera is flagship level, no question about it. You may like it more or less than other flagship cameras, but I think that comes out to a matter of taste.

In low light, it's hard to compare the LG and the Samsung because they make consistently different exposure decisions. In my tests, the LG always went for a longer exposure: 1/10 when the Samsung chose 1/20, or 1/30 when the Samsung chose 1/60. That results in more detailed images, but with a greater risk of blur if you don't hold the camera still. (I noticed this when whipping out both phones to take a quick snapshot indoors. The LG was blurry at 1/24, while the Samsung was sharper at 1/40.) The LG may have been using a longer exposure because the sensor isn't as sensitive as the Samsung's. Photos taken on the Samsung have more saturated colors in low light; the LG's images look a touch washed out.

I ran into one irritating problem: In low light, when taking photos of objects at short distances, there were sometimes problems with focus lock, resulting in blurry images. This tends to happen on high-megapixel phones that don't have some sort of focus assist light, and it can be frustrating. The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a focus assist sensor, so it does better in those situations.

The Wing's Portrait mode is particularly fun and notable because of its filters. Sure, it can do the usual background blur and "stage lighting" where it blanks out the background. But it can also turn the background into a cartoon or an outline, making for a great effect I haven't seen on other phones.

A neat Dual Recording video mode lets you capture videos with the front and rear cameras at the same time—great for YouTubers. The videos can be saved as two files or one. A whole bunch of phones a few years ago had this feature, but it's been less common in the past two years.

The Wing's Gimbal mode, which imitates a Steadicam, appears to be magic, and it is—of the sleight-of-hand variety. The Gimbal mode relies on a 12-megapixel, 120-degree ultra-wide-angle camera that's rotated 90 degrees relative to the other cameras on the phone. I've seen this trick once before, on the Moto One Action, which used a rotated camera to let you take horizontal videos while holding the phone vertically.

In Gimbal mode, the phone captures up to 1080P video—that's 2.1 megapixels. Think of the 12-megapixel sensor as divided into six 2-megapixel rectangles, and your field of vision as a moving 2.1-megapixel window onto that larger panorama. With a real gimbal, you're moving your camera around. With this, you're just moving a virtual window onto an extremely wide-angle fixed field of view.

There are a bunch of options to play with in the Gimbal mode. You can lock the view so that when you move the phone around, the frame stays still. You can let the frame move, but only on the horizontal axis, preventing vertical shake when you're walking. You can pan with a joystick rather than by moving the phone. (You can't zoom, because you're already using all the pixels.)

The best thing about the Gimbal mode is the panning and what that does to your mind. Typically, when I shoot a video with my phone, I try to keep the frame still because moving the phone around with my hand introduces some wobble and a kind of motion that can be distracting. But the digital panning on the Wing's Gimbal mode is perfectly smooth and feels very professional. That's really nice.

There are a few downsides to this. For one thing, you can't combine pixels to detect more light. On the main camera, the default mode is to combine four 0.8-micron pixels into 1.6-micron pixels for 12-megapixel images; with 1080p video, you can do further pixel combination because you only really need 2.1 megapixels at one time. The gimbal camera says it has 1.4-micron "big pixels," but since it can't ever combine them, images are dimmer and basically useless at night.

Also, at least some of the anti-shake is digital, and you can see it in the resulting video. The gimbal camera has a hexa motion stabilizer to physically reduce shake, but of course it's not going to be as smooth as if you had a real gimbal. When I created intense shaking by skipping along the street while I took video, I could see some distracting digital tearing in the image as the algorithms tried to keep it together.

Will the Wing Be a Thing?

The Wing is a genuinely innovative product. Its Gimbal mode can enable some great filmmaking. Its two screens let you pair passive activities (streaming videos, watching webinars) with active ones (researching on IMDB, taking notes) for a rich, engaged experience.

On the other hand, it's really heavy, performance isn't what I expect from a $1,000 phone, and, most importantly, I don't have faith in LG to further develop and expand the software ecosystem for the form factor. The phone's basic app experience isn't likely to improve or expand with time.

Gimbal mode is cool, but real gimbals aren't that expensive. A DJI Osmo Mobile 3 or Om 4 gimbal costs $80–130. Pair that gimbal with a $699 iPhone 12 mini or Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, and you have better overall phone performance at a lower price than the $999 Wing. Of course, having to tote an extra gimbal around isn't quite as convenient, which is part of the point of the Wing.

There's an old lyric from the British rapper The Streets that always comes into my head for phones like this: "Cult classic, not best seller." When you're out with friends and you flip open an LG Wing, you're going to get comments and stares. You'll be a cool weirdo. Then you can pan around the table with your Gimbal mode, capturing reactions. If that's your game, it'll be a fun one.

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LG K92 5G Review

Over the past few years, midrange phones have come into their own. Gone are the mediocre build quality and disappointing displays; instead, you can easily find something with a gorgeous screen and top-notch construction for a reasonable price. Unfortunately, the LG K92 5G ($400) is the wrong kind of blast from the past. This 5G smartphone can't match its obvious competitors, the Google Pixel 4a 5G ($499) and TCL 10 5G UW ($400). It's a carrier-locked phone, like the TCL 10 5G, but only works on AT&T's painfully slow low-band 5G network. It also suffers from poky performance, short battery life, and lackluster build quality that make it hard to recommend. 

Big Display, Flimsy Build

At 6.6 by 3.0 by 0.3 inches (HWD) and 7.1 ounces, the K92 5G is a big phone that will fight for room in your pocket. The front of the phone is dominated by a 6.7-inch LCD with pronounced bezels all the way around. 

Display resolution clocks in at 2,400 by 1,080 with a 393ppi pixel density. The display is bright and crisp; colors skew slightly warm. Viewing angles are decent, but you'll definitely lose some clarity if you're not looking at the display head on. The biggest issue, however, is the very noticeable shadow beneath the camera cutout. Head on, you'll only notice a slight shadow, but if you look at the phone at any other angle, it becomes very pronounced.

The back of the K92 5G is constructed of a glossy purple plastic. It looks sharp at first but picks up fingerprints and scratches very easily. Though other midrange phones like the Pixel 4a use plastic backplates, they still feel substantial. The K92 5G, on the other, hand, feels a little flimsy. If you tap its back, you'll be greeted with a hollow thud. 

There's a thick horizontal stripe for the camera module and flash on the back of the phone. Everything, with the exception of the primary lens, sits flush against the phone and looks very sleek.

The speaker grille, USB-C charging port, and headphone jack sit on the bottom of the bottom of the phone. The top is home to a SIM/microSD slot. On the left you'll find the Google Assistant and volume buttons. The buttons are thin and fairly flush with the phone, and if you have small hands they can be difficult to reach. 

There's a power button on the right side of the phone that also houses the fingerprint sensor. It's accurate but a little slow. When you tap your finger to unlock, the screen goes dark for about a second, leaving you to wonder whether your fingerprint registered at all. 

Though plastic backplates tend to withstand drops and dings better than their glass counterparts, it feels like there's very little additional support behind the K92 5G's backplate. When we've noticed this in the past, most often on entry-level phones, we've found them to be much more prone to cracks. 

There's also no IP rating on the phone, meaning any accidental immersion in water is likely going to mean its demise. And then there's the issue of the display. LG doesn't state that the K92 5G uses any sort of strengthened glass for its display, and we reached out to the company and did not receive a reply. After some digging, it appears the display is made of traditional sodium glass, which will not weather drops well at all. If you're planning to make the K92 5G your next daily-use phone, you'll definitely want to pick up a sturdy case. 

Half the 5G Goodness

When it comes to connectivity, the K92 5G is a bit of a strange bird. It's a carrier exclusive for AT&T and Cricket Wireless that is optimized for that network, and it is a 5G phone, but it will never work on AT&T's ultra-fast mmWave network because it only has a sub-6GHz modem. That said, AT&T has played down the importance of its mmWave network, to the point of never releasing a map of the areas it covers.

Overall connectivity is poor, but that's due more to AT&T's network and software requirements than to the K92 5G's hardware. We tested the phone on AT&T's 5G network in Memphis and recorded average speeds of 28.4Mbps down and 3.81Mbps up. On a less congested network in Arkansas, average speeds increased to 45.2Mbps down and 4.67Mbps up. I suspect LTE network speeds would be much better, but AT&T disables the option to turn off 5G connectivity on its phones, so there's no way for us to verify it or for a user to take advantage of it.

We found call quality to be adequate during our test calls. Maximum earpiece volume clocks in at 88dB, which is loud enough to use in just about any scenario. We noticed some static at higher volumes during half of our test calls. Noise cancellation, however, worked perfectly on every call. 

Audio quality is disappointing. Though the K92 5G boasts stereo speakers, the top and bottom speakers are unbalanced; in our tests, the bottom speaker maxed out at 101dB compared with just 81dB for the top speaker. In general, audio is forward and harsh, creating significant congestion. Fortunately, there's a headphone jack on board for wired audio. 

The K92 5G supports dual-band Wi-Fi, as well as Bluetooth 5.1. NFC is also onboard for mobile payments and boarding passes. 

Sluggish Performer

With the exception of the recently released OnePlus Nord N10 5G, the LG K92 is the only 5G smartphone in the US that uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon 690 processor. It's a step down from the 700-series processors that have become common on midrange 5G phones such as the Google Pixel 4a, the Revvl 5G UW, and the TCL 10 5G UW. There's 6GB of RAM as well as 128GB of storage, of which just 95GB is available when you open the box. You can add storage with a microSD card. 

In theory, the K92's Snapdragon 690 chipset should be powerful enough to hold its own for the average user, but we found it limped along in our tests. Apps took a little longer than expected to open, screen transitions lagged, and, on more than one occasion, the phone briefly froze up when we opened apps. 

Gaming is a miss as well. We tested the K92 5G with Alto's Odyssey and Asphalt 8: Airborne for nearly two hours and noticed long load times and intermittent skipped frames. The phone froze entirely at one point while playing Asphalt 8, forcing us to reboot it. 

Benchmark tests yielded interesting results. On Geekbench 5, a suite of tests that measures raw computing power, the K92 5G earned 602 single-core (SC) and 1,734 multi-core (MC) scores. That's on par with the OnePlus Nord N10 (578 SC/1,846MC) and even the more powerful TCL 10 5G UW (618 SC/1,911MC). 

Of course, Geekbench results only tells part of the story. On PCMark 2.0 and Basemark Web, benchmark suites that use real-world applications, the K92 5G lagged behind on tasks like video editing and web browsing. Add in a GFXBench Car Chase Offscreen score of 14fps versus the average score of 21fps we've seen on Snapdragon 765 chipsets, it starts to look like the phone's underwhelming GPU may be at least partially to blame for some of the lag we experienced. 

A 4,000mAh battery powers the K92 5G. Despite the phone's energy-efficient processor, its battery is anemic for a phone with a 6.7-inch display. In our battery drain test, which streams HD video over Wi-Fi at full brightness, the K92 5G eked out just 8 hours and 7 minutes before shutting down. What's more, we found that the battery depleted quickly even when it wasn't being used; during our week of testing, the battery drained an average of 17 percent overnight. 

If you do find yourself veering into the red by the end of the day, the K92 5G supports fast charging with Quick Charge 4.0. That means you can easily gain a few hours of battery life in about five minutes, or add 80% charge to your depleted battery in about an hour. Wireless charging, however, is not an option. 

Cameras That (Mostly) Shine in Good Light

On the back of the K92 5G, you'll find a quad camera stack with a 64MP primary lens with an f/1.8 aperture, a 5MP ultra-wide sense with an f/2.2 aperture, and 2MP depth and macro sensors. A 16MP selfie camera with an f/2.0 aperture sits on the front of the phone. 

Let's start with the 64MP primary lens. In good light, it does a surprisingly solid job. Our test shots were crisp with excellent background detail and depth of field. In low light, there was some loss of fine detail, and we noticed overly aggressive noise cancellation in a few test shots, but overall, the K92 5G does well for a midrange phone. 

The 5MP ultra-wide lens did a pretty decent job in good light. There was no complex distortion like we often see on midrange wide-angle lenses. However, there was a noticeable loss of fine detail in most of our shots. Low-light photos, on the other hand, featured noticeable edge noise. There were some unexplained halos in a few shots that may have been caused by natural phenomena. 

The K92 5G's macro lens, like most we've tested, fails to stand out. Nearly all our test shots appeared flat and had significant detail loss in the foreground. 

The 16MP front-facing camera does an excellent job in good light. All of our test photos were crisp with excellent depth of field. In low light, however, the selfie cam struggles. Our test shots looked flat and noise started to creep in around the edges. 

LG offers several different Portrait mode options on the K92 5G. Thanks to the 5MP depth sensor, all work well on the rear camera. For our test shots, we used the Blur setting. All of our test shots had a natural-looking bokeh with accurate subject mapping. 

Portraits with the selfie cam are a bit more hit or miss. We found issues with subject mapping around shoulders and hats in nearly every shot. In photos where the subject and background were the same color, we noticed areas where the bokeh effect simply didn't work. 

Android 10 With Dozens of Unwelcome Extras

The K92 5G ships features Android 10 with LG's custom UI. Over the past few years, LG's skin has become more user-friendly, but it's still a pretty heavy-handed take on Android. Icons have a unique look, the Settings menu is organized a little differently, and even the Search bar is not the same as you'll find on stock Android. It's not a bad thing, necessarily, but if you're not used to LG devices, it takes a while to get your bearings. 

Unfortunately, the K92 is filled with nearly two dozen bloatware applications, including shopping apps, games, and AT&T and LG's branded apps. It's excessive and completely inexcusable for an unsubsidized phone to ship with nearly 15GB of apps you didn't request. 

It's not clear whether the K92 5G will get an upgrade to Android 11. If it does, expect to see it in the distant future, since it will need to be pushed through the carrier. We've reached out to LG inquire about future software upgrades but have yet to hear back.

Simply Not a Contender 

The LG K92 5G sounds like a solid smartphone on paper, but we found it to be a weak competitor when compared to the Google Pixel 4a and TCL 10 5G UW. Given the quality concerns, poor battery life, and underwhelming performance—not to mention its mediocre display—it's hard for us to find any outstanding features that makes the K92 5G worth consideration. AT&T customers looking for a 5G phone will find the Pixel 4a 5G a far superior option.

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Apple iPhone 12 mini Review

The iPhone 12 mini (starting at $699) is the smallest and most affordable phone in Apple's late 2020 iPhone quartet. It's sure to appeal most to owners of older iPhones (particularly the iPhone 5 through 8), as well as anyone fed up with a handset that doesn't fit into their pocket. The mini is also the best value in the iPhone 12 family, packing premium power and the latest features (including 5G and a very capable Night photo mode) into a smaller build for less money than its siblings. It's our top-pick iPhone this year and easily earns our Editors' Choice award.

Where the mini Fits in the iPhone 12 Lineup

Apple has a rich crop of phones this year. In addition to the iPhone 12 mini, there's the iPhone SE ($399), the iPhone 12 ($799), the iPhone 12 Pro ($999), and the iPhone 12 Pro Max ($1,099). Last year's iPhone 11 is also still available for $599.

If that long list makes your head spin, turn to our iPhone 12 series review for a fully detailed analysis of all the iPhone 12 phones and guidance on how to choose the right one for you.

The mini looks and feels like an iPhone 12, just smaller. Like the iPhone 12, it comes in glossy black, blue, green, red, or white, with a new "ceramic shield" glass front that Apple claims is less prone to smashing than previous iPhone fronts. The backs of our iPhone 12 review units haven't yet shown scratches when being knocked around in my pocket, which is a good sign. You're probably less likely to drop a small phone, but if you do, it's IP68 rated and should survive a voyage to the bottom of the bathtub.

At 5.18 by 2.53 by 0.29 inches (HWD) and 4.76 ounces, the mini is the smallest, lightest premium phone I've seen in a while. That 2.53-inch width measurement is the key, since width affects how easily you can reach across a phone. In my experience, when you get over 2.7 inches, you start to have to stretch, and many people's comfort limit is just about at 2.8 inches. The main iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro are 2.83 inches wide; the Pro Max is over 3 inches wide.

The mini's luxury experience starts with the screen. The highly saturated OLED display makes the iPhone SE's LCD look washed out. At 5.4 inches and 2,340 by 1,080 pixels, it's even denser than the iPhone 12's display, with 476 pixels per inch. Yet it's the same brightness, averaging 625 nits, brighter than previous-generation iPhone screens.

Removing the big top and bottom bezels gives the phone significantly more screen real estate than the iPhone SE, 6, 7, and 8. With a Microsoft Word document open in portrait mode, with very small type, I saw nine more lines of text on the mini than on the iPhone SE. On NYTimes.com, which has a more readable text size and freer line spacing, I got three more lines of text. Of course, bigger phones with larger screens will give you more, but it's impressive that the mini delivers more information than the SE despite being smaller.

Little But Fierce

All of the iPhone 12 series phones are powered by an Apple A14 processor running at 3GHz. Like the iPhone 12, the mini has 4GB of RAM and comes in 64GB ($699), 128GB ($749), and 256GB ($849) storage sizes. Those prices are for carrier models; the unlocked model costs $30 more.

Our benchmark results were the same as the iPhone 12, as you'd expect. Its Geekbench scores of 1,602 single-core, 4,029 multi-core, Basemark Web score of 593, and GFXBench graphics benchmark scores were all very similar to both the iPhone 12 and the 12 Pro. They're also all better than the iPhone SE, to the tune of 20% higher on Geekbench Multicore and 10% on the Web browsing benchmark. It's pleasantly surprising to me that the mini even benchmarks the same as the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which costs $400 more and feels twice as large.

Like the other 2020 iPhones, the mini runs Apple's iOS 14. For more details on what's new in iOS, see our iOS 14 review.

Top-Notch Night Vision

No expense was spared for the cameras on the iPhone 12 mini; they're the same as in the iPhone 12. On the back, there are 12-megapixel regular and ultrawide cameras. On the front, there's a 12-megapixel selfie camera. Both the front and back cameras feature Apple's excellent Night mode, and they can record 4K video at up to 60fps. For a comparison of the iPhone 12 cameras with other leading flagships, see our main iPhone 12 review.

I took care to compare the mini directly with the iPhone SE. The biggest difference is Night mode. The SE doesn't have it, and Night mode makes a huge difference in terms of the quality of low-light pictures. That alone is a reason to upgrade to the mini. The SE also lacks the wide-angle camera; has slightly less light gathering in the main camera; and has a 7-megapixel, not 12-megapixel, selfie camera.

The mini also has better HDR than the SE. That means you get richer colors in shots with bright backgrounds and darker foregrounds, for instance. You can see that in the shot below: The sky is a bit overexposed on the SE photo, but it's rich and blue on photos from both the 12 and the mini.

If you want a better iPhone camera, you have to step up to the 12 Pro, which starts at $300 more than the mini. With the Pro, you get a 2x zoom lens and LiDAR, which improves focusing and gives you a gorgeous Night bokeh mode. I found that when I tried to focus on very close-up berries and branches with the iPhone 12 mini or the regular iPhone 12, the phones had trouble figuring out what the foreground object was, but the LiDAR on the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max really locked that in.

In test shots of complex, non-human objects, the iPhone 12 Pro performed better than either the iPhone 12 mini or the iPhone 12. On a portrait-mode shot of an apple, the mini and the 12 had some trouble keeping the whole fruit in focus while also blurring the background; the 12 Pro handled it well. When I photographed a cup, the bokeh blur went a bit wonky around the handle with the mini and the 12, but the Pro's LiDAR focusing clearly helped it judge focus there. I didn't see any difference between the models in my portrait-mode photos of myself, a human.

Clean and Clear Audio

The iPhone 12 mini has the same 4G and 5G capabilities as the bigger iPhone 12 models. That means much better cellular connections than the iPhone SE, the iPhone 11, or any previous iPhone. It supports all US carriers, including Verizon's millimeter-wave 5G network, and is the first line of phones to be certified for the "C-Band" networks that will be coming in late 2021.

Voice call quality is very good. It's worth noting that the dual (top and bottom) stereo speakers on this phone are much louder, clearer, and richer than the single speaker on the bottom of the iPhone SE and older iPhones. Of course they don't have bass, but they're surprisingly non-tinny considering the size of the phone, with treble that's rich, not squeaky.

I tested the mini against the iPhone 12 and SE on the Bell and Rogers networks in Canada. Speeds and reception were very similar between the Mini and the iPhone 12. On Bell's 5G network, the mini averaged 366Mbps down while the iPhone 12 averaged 393Mbps; on Bell's 4G network, the mini averaged 296Mbps down while the 12 averaged 261Mbps. Given the relatively small number of samples I took, both of those differences are within the margin of error.

But wow, the mini and the 12 deliver much better performance than the SE does. The SE doesn't have 5G, so I compared 4G results with 4G results. On Bell's 4G network, the mini got 296Mbps down where the SE got 147Mbps. On Rogers' 4G network, the mini got 111Mbps down where the SE got 77.8Mbps. That is a significant, real performance improvement, probably down to the mini's improved carrier aggregation and 4x4 MIMO antennas. I'd expect to see the same gains over the iPhone 11 or XR as well (they don't have 4x4 MIMO antennas), though the iPhone 11 Pro should perform closer to the mini and 12 (it does have 4x4 MIMO).

For those wondering whether these are Canada-specific results, never fear; the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro were tested in the US and showed good results, so I'd expect the same from the mini.

Dual-band Wi-Fi performance is similar to the iPhone SE's. Range on 5GHz Wi-Fi was a few feet short of the iPhone 12, meaning the 12 could get past one more wall where the mini and SE couldn't.

Battery: Not Bad for the Size

Battery life is the biggest concern with the iPhone 12 mini. It's a smaller phone, and it has a smaller battery than the bigger phones do. Comparing it to the iPhone 12, Apple says it gets 10 rather than 11 hours of streaming, and 50 rather than 65 hours of audio playback on a charge.

Our video streaming test didn't reveal much here: I got 10 hours, 37 minutes of streaming video over Wi-Fi, similar to the iPhone 12. But when left alone all night, the mini's battery dropped 9% while the iPhone 12's battery dropped 6%; I saw a similar difference on the second night. If you often forget to charge your phone, you might find that difference frustrating.

The mini's stats look better when it's compared with other small iPhones. Apple says the mini has better battery life than the iPhone 6, 7, 8, or SE. Overnight, the SE dropped 14% and the mini dropped 12%. Running some speed tests for two hours killed 13% of the mini's battery, but 18% of the SE's. So yes, the mini does have more battery capacity than the 2020 iPhone SE.

The speed test suggests that the iPhone 12 mini's battery can handle 7 to 8 hours of heavy use; my video rundown test and Apple's estimate put its use time around 10 hours on a charge. So the mini will last you a day if you aren't looking at it the whole time.

There's no charger in the box, but there are lots of options for charging your iPhone. The mini works with up to 20-watt wired charging and with Apple's own MagSafe wireless charger. I also have a Qi wireless charging stand, and the Mini worked on it once it had been propped up with a folded piece of paper—unassisted, the phone is just a little too short to properly link up with the coil on the stand. It'll work better on flat pad-style chargers.

Mini Price, Mini Size, Maxi Power

I really like the iPhone 12 mini. Now, I am biased. For years, I've wanted phones to be much more manageable in one hand. When there isn't a pandemic happening, I spend a lot of time out and about, holding on to a subway pole or a shopping bag or a child's hand. I gave into the large phone trend a while ago, but I definitely felt like I was giving up a bit of facility in the world in exchange for the big screen.

This year, we've spent a lot of time sucked into our phones. But just for today, I'm going to dream of the future when we'll go outside to shop and hold hands again. The iPhone 12 mini isn't the phone for the life I've had in 2020, but it's the phone for the life I want.

The mini has the best price-to-power ratio of any iPhone right now, with a beautiful screen, a lovely design, a terrific camera, and 5G for $100 less than the iPhone 12. It will serve you well for up to four years; it's a good investment. If I have to choose one iPhone right now, this one is it.

I won't fault you for choosing a different one, though. Bigger screens may appeal to you more than they do to me. Larger phones have bigger batteries; that's just physics. The Pro models also have better features for serious photographers, such as their LiDAR focusing system, their 2x or 2.5x zoom lenses, and improved Dolby Vision color video capture.

Should you upgrade from an earlier iPhone? If you want 5G (especially on T-Mobile, Bell, or Telus, where it makes a real difference) or photo Night mode (which makes a big difference for everyone), then yes! Many potential iPhone 12 mini buyers are likely currently using iPhone 6, 7, or first-gen SE models, which probably feel sluggish at this point. The mini will zip right along. All of this makes the 12 mini our Editors' Choice winner for iPhones, and one of the best phones of the year.

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Some iPhone 12 Mini Owners Plagued by Unresponsive Lock Screens

The iPhone 12 mini is the smallest of the new crop of iPhones. It also appears that it might be the most troublesome, at least for some user across multiple Reddit threads, Apple forums, and MacRumors.

The problem arises when users attempt to swipe up from their Lock Screen using a thumb or one specific finger. There are also delayed responses when attempting to use the flashlight or camera buttons while the phone is locked.

Some users, like Redditor dupontcircle, indicate they've even been unable to enter their phone passcode because of this sensitivity issue. Others, like KristiBrudmagnet, wondered if the problem stemmed from their usage of a screen protector, but it's happening to iPhone 12 mini owners with and without them.

As MacRumors notes, frustrated iPhone owners have theorized that the problem could be localized to a grounding or conduction issue, as some have been able to avoid it entirely when the phone is used without a case or plugged in and charging. Apple has yet to comment on the situation.

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Nokia 8 V 5G UW Heading to Verizon

HMD, the company behind Nokia, announced its first multi-band 5G smartphone for the US. Not only that, the $699 Nokia 8 V 5G UW, coming to Verizon November 16, is Nokia's first phone available through a US carrier in six years.

For the most part, the Nokia 8 V 5G UW looks like your standard flagship, made of glass and aluminum. It has a 6.81-inch FHD+ display with a hole at the top for the 24MP front-facing camera, and a thick bezel at the bottom. It comes in a glossy finish called Meteor Grey. 

The phone packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chipset along with with 6GB of RAM. Storage comes in at 64GB, though you can add an additional 1TB with a microSD card. While the specs seem pretty predictable for the price, Nokia hopes the phone's camera will help it stand out among the competition: It sports a rear camera module with a 64MP quad-pixel lens and a 12MP ultra-wide lens, as well as a 2MP depth sensor and a 2MP macro sensor.

Like most Nokia phones, all the lenses on the 8V 5G UW are tuned by Zeiss. It also features Zeiss Cinema, a camera app with advanced editing features. 

The Nokia 8 V 5G UW ships with Android 10, but HMD says an Android 11 upgrade is forthcoming. And while the 8 V isn't an Android One device, HMD promises it won't come with any preinstalled apps and that it will receive two Android upgrades and 18 months of security updates.

As mentioned, this is the first Nokia phone to be sold through a major US carrier in six years. Originally intended to launch with the James Bond No Time to Die film (which has since been postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), Nokia is planning an aggressive marketing campaign in the US that will continue into next year when the phone is prominently displayed in the film. 

We'll be getting a Nokia 8 V 5G UW in for testing, so check back soon for a full review.

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iPhone 12 Pre-Orders: How to Prepare

Over the years, standing in line for an iPhone in front of your local Apple Store on launch day has shifted to frantically refreshing the Apple online store checkout page to pre-order an iPhone from the comfort of your home.

If you consider the strain that COVID-19 has put on product availability, as well as our ability to even pick up an iPhone at a retail store, getting an iPhone 12 on launch day could be more difficult than ever. So this year, every shortcut counts when rushing to get your online iPhone 12 pre-order confirmed by Apple.

Apple has recognized the increased need to pre-order an iPhone 12 online with a tool that will let you prepare your order ahead of time, though there are some limits. Read on for details.

When Can I Pre-Order an iPhone 12?

Apple is staggering its release of the different iPhone 12 models this year.

The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro pre-orders started on Friday, Oct. 16. The iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max pre-orders begin Friday, Nov. 6 at 8 a.m. ET / 5 a.m. PT.

If you're unsure which iPhone 12 model is right for you, we broke down the differences, and here's what photography enthusiasts should consider.

iPhone 12 Release Date

The iPhone 12 and 12 Pro arrived on Friday, Oct. 23 in Australia, China, Germany, Japan, the UK, and the US. They launched in India, South Korea, and more than a dozen other countries on Friday, Oct. 30.

The iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 mini are in stores beginning Friday, Nov. 13.

Prepare Your Pre-Order

Like it did with the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, Apple will let you go through a "pre pre-order" phase for iPhone 12 mini and 12 Pro Max that lets you prep everything ahead of time so all you need to do is hit purchase once pre-order time rolls around. The option should be available until 9 p.m. PT / midnight ET tonight.

Open the Apple Store app on your current iPhone or iPad and sign into your account. In the Featured section of the app, tap the Get ready for iPhone pre-order now header. You are instructed to go through the typical process of selecting your iPhone 12 model, color/finish, carrier (or unlocked), capacity, and whether you have a device to trade in.

In order to "save" your prepared pre-order, you must select Apple Card Monthly Installments and go through the process of agreeing to a monthly installment payment plan, then confirming your current Apple Card. If you don’t have an Apple Card, you will be required to go through the process of applying for an Apple Card monthly installment plan.

When ordering an iPhone 12, I could not get the process to complete by selecting the one-time payment option. Even though I would prefer to pay in full at a later date, I could not find a way to select that as an option up front. My speculation is you will have the option to pay in full once your order is complete and you receive your iPhone 12. 

If you’re willing to go the Apple Card/installment plan route to set up your pre-order, opt in/out of Apple Care and select Get Ready for Pre-Order and add your selection to your account. The next page will give you a breakdown of the steps you’ve already taken to choose your device, and the remaining steps to complete your pre-order.

Selecting Continue on this page only confirms your device selection and your method of payment. You still have to be ready on the actual pre-order day/time to complete your order and confirm a shipping date, so be sure to set those alarms and get your iPhone 12 pre-order trigger fingers ready. 

View Your Pre-Order

Now that you have confirmed your pre-pre-order, view your confirmation in the For You section of the Apple Store app. You will also receive an email confirmation. Within those confirmations, you can add the pre-order start dates to your calendar, as well as add a Siri Shortcut to open the Apple Store app and take you directly to your pre pre-order for an even faster checkout.

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Budget-Friendly 5G: Verizon Tips TCL 10 5G UW for Just $399

While the beginning of 2020 was punctuated by an array of 5G flagships, the year ends with nearly as many midrange options. Verizon’s newest offering, the TCL 10 5G UW, is a perfect example; it offers multi-band 5G and solid hardware for just $399.99. 

This is Verizon’s third TCL-branded offering in 2020, and the most affordable 5G smartphone in its portfolio by $200. For the most part, it’s similar to T-Mobile’s Revvl 5G (also made by TCL), with one significant difference—it includes support for Verizon’s super fast, and sporadic, 5G network without adding the mmWave tax found on other phones like the Pixel 4a 5G. 

The TCL 10 5G UW's hardware is similar to midrange 5G smartphones like the Pixel 4a 5G and Samsung Galaxy A71 5G. It sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 chipset, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. There’s a 4,500mAh battery, which seems small on paper, but the similarly spec’d Revvl 5G got more than 10 hours of uptime in our battery test. 

A vertical camera stripe sits across the back of the TCL 10 5G UW with a 48P, 8MP, and 5MP lens. There’s a 16MP sensor on the front of the phone. Some variation on this camera configuration seems to be popular for midrange 5G phones; the Motorola One 5G, Revvl 5G, and Samsung Galaxy A51 5G all feature the same sensors. 

And while the TCL 10 5G UW ships with Android 10, the company confirmed it will get an Android 11 update in the near future as well as quarterly upgrades for at least two years. TCL’s phones ship with a stock version of Android, though Verizon has preloaded about a dozen apps on the phone. Fortunately, most can be removed if you need extra storage.

The TCL 10 5G UW is available today online and in Verizon stores. We'll have a full review on PCMag.com soon.

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OnePlus N10 5G and N100 Phones Tipped for US Release With Mid-Tier Prices

Two new smartphones from OnePlus may be headed to the North American market soon, starting at only $250 and $450. 

The OnePlus N100 and N10 5G, a pair of Android smartphones, will first go on sale in Europe.

Both products are part of the OnePlus Nord line, the company’s answer to consumers looking for a more affordable mid-tier product. The first model, the OnePlus Nord, arrived in August for around $450 and came packed with strong features, making it a great deal for consumers. 

However, the Nord has only been officially available in Europe and India. US consumers, on the other hand, have had to settle for the company’s pricier flagship products, which can start at $600 or more. (Earlier this month, OnePlus also launched the 8T, which goes for $749 and up.)

Now it appears OnePlus is ready to bring the Nord line to the US. In today’s announcement, the company’s product manager Ricky Wang said availability in North America for the N10 5G and N100 “will be shared at a future date.”

The products' biggest selling points are the low price: In the UK, the N100 will arrive starting at £179 ($233) while the N10 5G will go for £329 ($428). Another highlight is how the N10 also comes with support for 5G, although the company hasn't said which 5G bands it'll support in the US market.

We also like how both phones come with 3.5mm headphone jacks and microSD card slots for expandable memory. However, to bring down the product’s cost, OnePlus is using lower-end CPU processors from Qualcomm.

The N100 also doesn't have a camera capable of shooting 4K video or a 90Hz screen like the N10 5G does. (Here are full specs for the N100 and N10 5G.)

In Europe, the company hasn't announced an official release date for the products. For now, OnePlus is offering local users a chance to learn about immediate availability through an email sign-up on its websites.

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Apple's iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro: Sharper Edges, Faster Benchmarks

We just received the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. We're going to take several days to test them and see how they compare with other phones on the market (as well as other iPhones), so we won't have a full review until next week. But for now we have some first impressions after unboxing the phones and handling them for a couple of hours.

For starters, the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro feel a lot alike—much more than the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro do. At 5.8 by 2.8 by 0.3 inches (HWD), they're exactly the same size and width; I keep having to turn them over to figure out which is which.

The Pro is noticeably heavier at 6.7 ounces to the iPhone 12's 5.8 ounces, with a shiny band around the edge that attracts fingerprints; I very much prefer the iPhone 12's matte band around the edge. The textures are reversed on the back: My dark blue iPhone 12 has a shiny, reflective back, while my dark gray iPhone 12 Pro has a smooth, matte surface.

Both phones are a lot squarer than the iPhone 11 series, designed so the edges can contain their millimeter-wave 5G antennas. There's a gray antenna window on the right side of each phone. The sharper, harder edges give the phones a different personality in the hand than the iPhone 11 has, and definitely different from the iPhone SE: They feel a little more serious and high-tech just because of those angles.

The one test I've been able to run so far has been Geekbench. The phones have the same 3GHz A14 Bionic processor; the iPhone 12 has 3.6GB of available RAM, while the Pro has 5.6GB. The iPhone 12 scored 20 percent better than the iPhone 11 Pro in single-core testing, and 10 percent better in multi-core testing. It scored an impressive 45 percent better on the Geekbench Compute benchmark, which tests the GPU.

Other than that, the obvious difference between the two phones is in the cameras. The iPhone 12 Pro offers a 2x optical zoom lens, while the iPhone 12 doesn't.

The color balance on the screens is interesting. The True Tone OLEDs seem richer and yellower than the LCD in the iPhone 11; of course, that's true for the iPhone 11 Pro's OLED screen as well.

Both phones fit higher-resolution screens into bodies slightly smaller than the iPhone 11. But I wouldn't call them small phones; my thumb still can't reach all the way across them. If you're looking for a small phone, the iPhone 12 mini is coming next month.

Both phones have 5G, of course, and each showed a 5G icon as soon as I popped my T-Mobile SIM in. I have it on pretty good word that all of the devices this year use Qualcomm's X55 modem, the same as in other leading 5G smartphones. Unlike other phones released in the US, though, these seem to be already certified for the upcoming c-band networks in late 2021, making them more future-proof.

I'll have a full review of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro after I get a chance to spend more time with them, so check back soon.

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iPhone 12 Screen Repairs Cost $279

When you're about to pay $699 or more for a new iPhone, it's important to know how much repairs are going to cost over its lifetime, and Apple just revealed its repair pricing for the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro.

Last year, repairing damage to an iPhone 11 screen out of warranty cost $199, but that was an LCD panel. The iPhone 12 uses an OLED panel, which means screen damage repairs now cost $279. iPhone 12 Pro screen damage repairs cost the same, and while pricing for iPhone 12 Pro Max repairs isn't available yet, I suspect it will match the iPhone 11 Pro Max pricing of $329 for a new screen.

If you need a new battery in your iPhone 12 out of warranty, it's $69 for both models, and probably for the Max, too, although that's unconfirmed. Then we're on to "other damage" repairs, which is when you end up asking the question of whether it's worth paying for the repair or opting to buy a brand new handset instead. For the iPhone 12, out of warranty other damage repairs cost $449. For the iPhone 12 Pro the price increases to $549. If the Pro Max follows the iPhone 11 Pro Max pricing, it will be $599 for such repairs.

You can, of course, minimize or remove these repair costs by opting to sign up for an AppleCare+ plan. Screen repairs then cost $29, and battery replacements are free. The biggest saving is if your iPhone gets "other damage" though, as Apple charges just $99 to fix it, which is much easier to swallow than the $449+ you'd otherwise pay.

Last year, Apple turned AppleCare+ into a monthly subscription. You can still pay upfront for two years, but the subscription option spreads out the cost and is ongoing as long as you keep paying the monthly charge. Earlier this year, Apple also quietly improved AppleCare+ by increasing the number of accidental incidents covered to four every 24 months (it was two previously), and the theft or loss deductible was capped at $149.

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iPhone 12 Will Include EarPods in France

Apple decided that the iPhone 12 would be the first of its smartphones to launch without EarPods and a charger included in the box. However, there's one country where it can't remove the EarPods for fear of breaking the law.

As MacRumors reports, France insists that every mobile phone includes some form of hands-free kit or headset in a bid to protect children aged under 14 years old from exposure to electromagnetic waves. Failure to do so results in a criminal fine of 75,000 euros. With that in mind, Apple will ship the iPhone 12 in France with EarBuds and a USB-C to Lightning cable in the box. There won't be a charger, though.

Apple also decided to remove the EarBuds and charger from the iPhone 11, iPhone XR, and iPhone SE, but the same concession will need to be made for those handsets in France. It's surely a headache for Apple due to the extra packaging and weight involved, but France has a population of over 66 million people, so it's definitely worth the effort for the company.

It's hoped existing chargers, earphones, and headphones will be used by consumers purchasing a new iPhone, but Apple also opted to reduce the price of the EarPods and the 20W power adapter by $10 each. The new MagSafe chargers are sure to be popular, and you can bet Apple will be putting a lot of marketing dollars behind them to encourage further purchases.

The iPhone 12 starts at $699 for the iPhone 12 mini, $799 for the standard iPhone 12, $999 for the iPhone 12 Pro, and $1,099 for the iPhone 12 Pro Max. The iPhone 12 and 12 Pro will be available to pre-order first on Oct. 16 and delivered on Oct. 23. Anyone wanting an iPhone 12 mini will have to wait until Nov. 6 to place a pre-order and Nov. 13 for delivery. The iPhone 12 Pro Max won't go up for pre-order until Nov. 13 before launching Nov. 20.

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Should You Upgrade to the iPhone 12?

2020 is a big year for the iPhone. It's not only Apple's first major upgrade since the iPhone X, the iPhone 12 also marks the company's first lineup of 5G phones. With such a big change, you're likely asking yourself if it's time to upgrade. The answer is: It depends. We've put together a handy guide to help you figure out which old iPhones are worth upgrading, and which still have some life left in them.

iPhone SE: Don't Upgrade

The iPhone SE, released earlier this year, is a perfectly capable smartphone and Apple's most affordable offering. If you own one, you probably either like getting a deal or you like the phone's small form factor. Either way, there's no reason to update just yet.  

If you simply can't wait, however, we recommend the iPhone 12 mini, which will bring you 5G connectivity, an OLED display, all nice upgrades from what you get with the iPhone SE.   

iPhone 11/11 Pro: Don't Upgrade

If you purchased your iPhone in the past year, there's no compelling reason to upgrade to the iPhone 12 lineup. The iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro have snappy A13 Bionic chipsets, solid battery life, and excellent cameras. That's not to say the iPhone 12 isn't a solid upgrade—it is, but you can easily hold off at least another year. 

If you're an avid smartphone photographer/videographer who simply must have the latest and greatest, we recommend the iPhone 12 Pro Max. It has all the bells and whistles like Apple's new Dolby Vision video at 60fps, a telephoto lens with 12x zoom, and it supports the new Apple ProRAW format.

iPhone XS/XR: Don't Upgrade

If you own an iPhone XS or iPhone XR, there's no rush to upgrade. Sure, the iPhone 12 offers 5G connectivity and a host of other new features, but Apple's 2018 iPhones are still powerful enough to accomplish just about anything you throw their way. 

If you do decide to upgrade, the iPhone 12 will be a nice change for iPhone XS owners, and a huge leap for iPhone XR users. The iPhone 12 features the same processor and modem as the more expensive iPhone 12 Pro, without quite as many high-end camera features. Even so, you should still see a noticeable upgrade in image quality from your iPhone XS/XR.

iPhone X: Consider Upgrading

Apple's iPhone X felt revolutionary at the time. It's was the company's first phone with FaceID, as well as the first iPhone with an OLED display. And it still feels pretty current now, so casual iPhone X users can definitely hold off another year or so before upgrading.

If your iPhone X is starting to feel a little long in the tooth, however, go for the iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 mini. Both will get you 5G support and much faster processors. Once again, smartphone photographers and videographers will want to look at the iPhone 12 Pro.

iPhone 8: Consider Upgrading

The iPhone 8 was Apple's last model with TouchID, and has a relatively small 4.7-inch display. And while it was recently updated to iOS 14, there's a chance it won't get iOS 15. In addition to future software updates, there are some other reasons to consider an upgrade. The iPhone 8's A11 Bionic processor and modem were snappy at the time, but in 2020, both feel a little sluggish. The 12MP camera has also started to show its age, especially in low light.  

That said, you should be able to get an extra year out of your iPhone 8, especially if you purchased it in the last 12 months or have recently replaced the battery. If you want to upgrade now, however, the iPhone 12 Mini is a nice, affordable option. 

iPhone 7 or Older: Upgrade

If you're sporting an iPhone from 2016 or earlier, it's time to upgrade. You've managed to get several years out of your iPhone and it's likely showing its age. Things are slowing down and your photos are probably just barely worthy of an Instagram post. 

The iPhone 12 mini or iPhone 12 will feel like they're light years ahead of your old phone. In addition to much faster hardware, the entry-level iPhone 12s have much better camera sensors, Face ID, OLED displays, and 5G. Most people will also notice faster network and Wi-Fi speeds thanks to the iPhone 12's support for Wi-Fi 6, as well as 7x carrier aggregation and 4x4 MIMO. 

For more on which iPhone is right for you, see our comparison of all four iPhone 12 models. And if you're looking for which one takes the sharpest photos, check out our story on which iPhone 12 is best for photographers.

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Which iPhone 12 Is Best for You: All of Apple's iPhone 12 Models Compared

If you're in the market for a smartphone, Apple has four new options. The iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Max all sport a new design, updated color offerings, and 5G connectivity. But starting at $699 for the iPhone 12 mini, up to $1,099 for the iPhone 12 Pro Max, each new model requires a substantial investment. Wondering which one is right for you? We've collected the most important specs in the table below, and have some additional info to help you decide.

Size

The iPhone 12 lineup offers a size for everyone. It’s probably no surprise that the iPhone 12 Mini is the smallest of the bunch at 5.2 by 2.5 by 0.3 inches (HWD) and just 4.8 ounces.

Both the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro measure 5.8 by 2.8 by 0.3 inches (HWD). The iPhone 12 is a little lighter at 5.8 ounces, while the iPhone 12 Pro comes in at 6.7 ounces. 

The iPhone 12 Pro Max is the largest of the bunch. It measures 6.3 by 3.1 by 0.3 inches (HWD) and tips the scales at 8 ounces. 

If you prefer a phone that easily fits in a pocket without weighing it down, the iPhone 12 Mini is the way to go. The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro look like nice middle ground options, while the iPhone 12 Pro Max is ideal for hard-core gamers and media streamers.

Display

Last year, one of the main differences between the entry-level iPhone 11 and the high-end iPhone 11 Pro was display technology. Apple reserved its Super Retina XDR OLED display for its Pro lineup and used a less expensive LCD for the iPhone 11. This year, however, things have changed. 

The entire iPhone 12 lineup now features Apple’s Super Retina XDR OLED display and the main difference is size. The iPhone 12 Mini features a 5.4-inch display, while the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro have 6.1-inch displays. The 6.7-inch display on the iPhone 12 Pro Max is the largest ever for an iPhone. 

And while all the new iPhone 12 models have a maximum brightness of 1,200 nits in HDR, typical maximum brightness varies a bit on the Pro series. The iPhone 12 and 12 Mini have a maximum typical brightness of 625 nits, while the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max offer a typical maximum brightness of 800 nits.

All four iPhones should be more than bright enough to use in direct sunlight without any issue. The main difference here boils down to size, so you'll need to consider your individual needs and preferences. 

Cameras

Cameras are the most important differentiator between iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro models. On the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini, you'll find dual 12MP wide and ultrawide cameras on the back, and a 12MP selfie sensor on the front. Both phones support 2x optical zoom. While that may sound the same as last year’s iPhone 11, there’s one major difference: The primary (wide) sensor on the iPhone 12 sports a wider f/1.6 aperture that should perform better in low light.

On the iPhone 12 Pro, you get a triple camera stack with 12MP sensors, along with a LiDAR Scanner. There's a primary wide-angle lens, an ultrawide lens with a 120-degree field of view, and a telephoto lens with a 4x optical zoom range as well as 10x digital zoom. Again, the main difference between the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro is a wider f/1.6 aperture for improved low-light performance. The selfie cam comes in at 12MP.

While the iPhone 12 Pro Max appears to have similar specs to the 12 Pro's three lenses and LiDAR Scanner, its telephoto sensor is a little different. It's also 12MP, but it has a narrower f/2.4 aperture than the iPhone 12 Pro, and it supports 5X optical zoom and 12x digital zoom.

In addition to hardware differences between the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro models, there are also some notable software differences. The Pro series are the only iPhones to support the new Apple ProRAW mode. The Pro models also support Dolby Vision HDR at 60fps, while the iPhone 12 and 12 Mini max out at 30fps. 

If you’re a mobile photographer or videographer, the iPhone 12 Pro Max looks to be your top choice, though the iPhone 12 Pro is also a strong option that can save you a little money. For everyone else, the iPhone 12 or 12 Mini have the same primary lens with a wider aperture than their more expensive siblings, and should take solid photos in every lighting scenario. 

Price and Availability

The iPhone 12 Mini is the least expensive of bunch, starting at $699 for the 64GB model. If you want to double your storage space, add an extra $50. For 256GB of storage, you'll have to shell out $849. 

The iPhone 12 at $799 for 64GB of storage, and goes up to $849 for 128GB and $949 for 256GB.

The iPhone 12 Pro comes with 128GB of storage for $999, while the 256GB model sells for $1,099 and the 512GB version will set you back $1,299. 

The iPhone 12 Pro Max starts at $1,099 for 128GB, goes to $1,199 for 256GB, and maxes out at $1,399 for 512GB.

The new iPhones will become available at different times. Pre-orders for the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro start October 16, for delivery October 23. The iPhone 12 pre-order starts on November 6, for delivery November 13, and the iPhone 12 Max goes on pre-order November 13, for deliver November 20.

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iPhone 12 Wishlist: 6 Things We Want on Apple's Next Smartphone

Apple's iPhone 12 event is upon us; Cupertino is expected to unveil its next-gen smartphones via a virtual presentation at 1 p.m. ET on Oct. 13.

Apple has typically released its latest iPhones in September, but the pandemic forced it to push back the launch a few weeks and release the Apple Watch Series 6 and new iPads first, not to mention iOS 14 and iPadOS 14. If the company follows its usual release schedule, we'll likely be able to pre-order the new iPhones this week and have them in hand by month's end. A few rumors suggest that pre-orders for the iPhone 12 Pro models will be delayed until November and ship the same month, but we'll have to wait until tomorrow for full details.

Until then, here's what we hope Apple will add to its smartphone.

5G Technology

Apple tends to deploy a “wait and see” approach before adding trendy features to its flagship device. So while other smartphone makers have been busy rolling out 5G phones over the last year, with or without the available spectrum or upgraded tower hardware, Apple has resisted.

Now that wireless carriers are solidifying their 5G networks, it seems like a good time for Apple to roll out an iPhone that taps into the technology. And Cupertino seems ready. The tagline for Tuesday's event is "Hi, Speed," and as PCMag's Sascha Segan explained earlier this year, Apple's App Clips in iOS 14 get developers ready for a 5G world where cloud and local data start to become indistinguishable from each other.

Slimmer Notch

Apple added a "notch" to its lineup with the iPhone X in 2017, ditching the Home button and Touch ID for a TrueDepth camera and Face ID. But despite some early concerns, few people seemed to mind, and the notch became pretty common.

Still, I would like to see the notch get smaller and thinner, or at least more refined in order to display more information across the top of the iPhone 12. With more real estate, Apple could bring back displaying the battery percentage so I can avoid accessing the Control Center just to see how much “life” my iPhone 12 has left.

Aluminum or Steel Rear Housing

Current rumors tip an outer housing for the iPhone 12’s antennas made of aluminum for the entry-level iPhone 12 and 12 Max, and steel for the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max.

I would like to see the entire glass rear housing replaced with either aluminum or steel to give the device a more industrial look. I have replaced the glass rear housing on multiple iPhones, and it’s not an easy task. Going to a metal rear housing will differentiate the overall look, while making it more rugged.

Magnetic Rear Housing

If Apple were to respond to my wishes and add metal to the rear housing, another wishlist feature that could easily be accomplished would be to make the rear housing (or at least a portion) magnetic. 

That way, iPhone 12 case makers don’t have to include a small piece of metal on the case, thus adding to the overall size and bulk of the iPhone 12. Instead, users could magnetically lock the iPhone in place when mounting/docking their iPhone in their car or to a vertical desk stand.

USB-C Port

Even though most of the rumors and leaks I’ve seen point to the traditional Lightning port, a personal wishlist item would be to “rip off the Band-Aid” and add USB-C to the iPhone 12. Since the iPad Pro and MacBooks are shipping with USB-C ports, it would make sense for Apple to follow the industry trend and move forward with USB-C on its iPhones as well. 

I’m sure accessory makers would have to scramble to replace all the current Lightning products, but I think USB-C is a foregone conclusion. Apple bit the bullet on removing the 3.5mm jack from the iPhone, so it’s not a stretch to say it won’t do the same with with the Lightning connector.

Device-on-Device Charging

Another “wait and see” feature Apple has seemingly refrained from offering on the iPhone is the ability for it to charge other devices, which is currently available on some Samsung and Huawei smartphones. Newer iPhones support wireless charging, but reverse charging is not featured.

It would be a nice touch if while on-the-go, I could quickly re-charge my AirPods or my Apple Watch just by placing them on the (metal and magnetic) back of my iPhone 12. It would also cut down on the amount of cables I have to carry if I could change my iPhone 12 and another device at the same time.

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