Motorola is launching some high-profile models in different regions this week, while Samsung’s Galaxy S23 tempts would-be buyers with cashback offers. We also discovered lots of deals on accessories (watches, earphones, and more).
Germany
Motorola Razr 40 and Razr 40 Ultra will launch next week. Well, the vanilla model is already available in Europe, although Motorola Germany is not showing any action. Amazon has units on hand, but they’re asking €900 instead of the €800 this phone should cost.
Amazon has the correct price for the Moto Razr 40 Ultra, $1,200, and will start shipping the phones on June 15.
The Samsung Galaxy A34 cost €320 for a 6/128GB drive a couple of weeks ago, now its price is down €30. With 4 OS updates and 5 years of security patches, this is one of the phones with the best value for money for people who don’t change phones very often.
You can also get the cheaper Galaxy A14 5G: its Dimensity 700 chipset offers it next-generation connectivity and the 6.6-inch 90Hz LCD display has an FHD+ resolution, which is not a given in phones under 200 euros. There’s also a large 5,000mAh battery (15W charging) and a decent 50MP main camera. The phone has a 3.5mm headphone jack and a microSD slot to boot.
The Motorola Moto G72 forgoes 5G, but spends the savings on a better screen and camera than the A14. It has a 6.6-inch 10-bit 120Hz P-OLED (FHD+) display and a 108MP main camera, as well as an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera. The 5,000mAh battery charges faster (33W), and the microSD slot and 3.5mm jack are still there.
Later, some Lenovo tablets. The Lenovo Tab P11 Gen 2 has an 11.5″ (2,000 x 1,200 px, 15:9) IPS LCD and a Helio G99 chipset. With 4 speakers and 7,700 mAh, this is a great machine for browsing/streaming with the option for some games as well (but don’t expect AAA titles to work 100%).
The Lenovo Tab M 10 Plus (3rd Gen) might be the best bang for your buck. It has LTE connectivity for Internet on the go (thanks to the Snapdragon 680 chip) and a 10.6-inch IPS LCD (2,000 x 1,200 px, 15:9). You still get 4 speakers and a 7,700mAh battery for less money.
For even less money you can go for the Lenovo Tab M9. It combines a 9″ (1,340 x 800px, 15:9) IPS LCD with a Helio G80 and a 5,100mAh battery. You also get very little RAM and storage (3/32GB), but at least there’s a microSD slot The M9 isn’t particularly capable, but it costs half as much as the M10.
We’ll wrap things up with some smartwatches. Last year’s second-generation Apple Watch SE receives the watchOS 10 update, which is a major redesign of Apple’s wearable operating system. The original SE is also eligible for this update, as is 2018’s Watch Series 4 — Apple has been supporting its hardware for a long, long time.
Garmin unveiled the Fenix 7 Pro a couple of weeks ago and it features a number of improvements over the Fenix 7S generation. However, the 42mm model costs €850. You can get the Fenix 7S Solar Edition (42mm) for €575 and save a lot of money. There’s no flashlight, and you only get 16GB of storage instead of 32GB, but the premium for Pro is pretty steep.
The Garmin Instinct 2 Solar’s black-and-white display makes it look old-fashioned, but it’s so efficient that the solar panel can keep the watch powered forever. Well, forever as long as you use GPS in Expedition mode. Check out our announcement post for a table of battery life numbers (note: this is the 45mm model).
UK
In the UK, the Galaxy S23 series is enjoying several cashback offers. For example, Amazon has the S23 Ultra (512GB) at £1,250 with £200 cashback. Samsung has a different take on the deal: the 512GB phone costs £1,450, but the £200 cashback comes with free Galaxy Buds2 Pro (worth £220).
The Galaxy S23 (8/256GB) and S23+ (8/512GB) come with £100 and £150 cashback offers from Amazon and Samsung, but Amazon’s base prices are lower. For example, the S23 costs £750 on Amazon before cashback, but costs £900 in Samsung’s store. You may still want to check out that shop as in addition to the £100 cashback there is a guaranteed trade-in value of £100.
Another reason to visit the Samsung UK site is the Galaxy A54. It too has a £100 guaranteed trade-in deal – Anyone The Galaxy A series or even a Samsung with a cracked screen is worth at least £100. Of course other brands are also accepted. And you can claim an extra £100 cashback.
The Poco X5 Pro is a well-balanced phone: it has a Snapdragon 778G chipset and a 6.67-inch 10-bit 120Hz AMOLED display, as well as a 108MP main camera and an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera, a 5,000mAh with 67W charging, even stereo speakers and a 3.5mm jack. Aside from a microSD slot, there aren’t any major omissions on this sub-£300 phone.
If you’re looking for a budget Android phone, the Honor X6 is just £100. It’s a 4G phone and its 6.5in LCD is only HD+ resolution, but you get a 5,000mAh battery, a 50 MP along with a headphone jack and a microSD (which you’ll need as there’s only 64GB on board).
The Nothing Ears (sticks) are stylish TWS buds with a lipstick-style case. They also have good battery life, but not the best audio quality we’ve heard. Check out our review for more.
A year ago Samsung announced that the SmartThings Find network has reached 200 million devices. These are devices that can help you find your lost item if you have a connected Galaxy SmartTag. For better range (and direction indication) there is also the SmartTag+ with UWB. Note that you need a phone that supports UWB (S23+ and S23 Ultra, for example, but not Vanilla S23).
Apple has unveiled its most powerful chipset, the M2 Ultra, and used it to power a new version of the Mac Studio (and the new Mac Pro). If you don’t need a 24-core CPU and 76-core GPU, how about a refurbished Mac Studio with an M1 Max (10 CPU cores, 24 GPUs)? It’s £280 cheaper than a new drive in the base 32/512GB configuration.
If you don’t already have one, you can also pick up an Apple Magic Mouse to pair with your Mac.
PC users, especially gamers, should check out the deals on Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti cards. They cost less than the 4060 Ti – for example an MSI 4060 Ti Ventus 2X costs £400, the MSI 3060 Ti Ventus 3X costs less than £300. Performance is nearly identical, if you disable DLSS 3.
United States of America
We found OnePlus offers in three segments. Starting with the flagship OnePlus 11, the 16/256GB model is now $700, down from its original $800 price (the 8/128GB model is also $700). With a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and a 6.7-inch QHD+ LTPO display, not to mention a 50+32+48MP camera setup and a 5,000mAh battery with 80W charging, this is a lot of hardware for the price.
But maybe you can drop the price $270 and get the OnePlus 10T instead. It’s a year old at this point, but it’s young at heart with a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip. However, you only get half as much RAM and storage as the 11. Also, the 6.7″ 120Hz AMOLED display is not an LTPO panel and only has FHD+ resolution. The 50+8MP camera also lacks Hasselblad touch.
The company unveiled the Nord N30 this week, a budget 5G phone with a Snapdragon 695. We know it’s not anyone’s favorite chip, but $300 gets you a 6.72-inch 120Hz IPS LCD, a 108 MP (not ultra wide angle) and a 5,000 mAh battery with 50W charging.
We also found many accessories on offer. Starting with the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro, the Bluetooth model costs $400, the one with LTE is only slightly higher at $430.
For less than that you can get the Apple Watch Series 8 (45mm, aluminum) for $360 for the Bluetooth/GPS model. The one with LTE costs an extra $100.
If you want an affordable Apple Watch, the second-generation SE is available for $220 for a 40mm model and $250 for a 44mm one. All three Apple Watches will update to watchOS 10 as soon as you set them up, of course.
Apple is rolling out an update for AirPods Pro 2 that will enable adaptive audio, custom volume, and conversation awareness. You can pick up these buds for $50 off.
The more gaming-oriented among you might prefer Sony’s over-ear headphones instead. INZONE H3 is 42% off and although it is a wired headset, it still supports 360 Spatial Audio.
If you want to go wireless, you should choose the INZONE H7 instead. That’s $120 more, but you get both Bluetooth and a proprietary low-latency wireless connection with the included dongle. Note that neither the H3 nor the H7 have active noise cancellation—you’ll have to step up to the H9 (which costs $280) if you want that.
India
The Motorola Edge 40 will soon be launched in India with a discount of ₹5,000 (this is for the 8/256GB phone). It boasts a vegan leather back for some colors and a Dimensity 8020 chipset with a 6.55-inch 144Hz P-OLED display. The 50MP main camera has a 1/1.55-inch sensor and decently large OIS. it is joined by a 13MP and 32MP ultra-wide selfie camera.The 4,400mAh battery supports both 68W wired and 15W wireless charging.
The Realme Narzo 50 Pro is a 5G phone with Dimensity 920 chip. It has a 6.4″ 90Hz AMOLED display (FHD+) along with a 48+8MP rear camera and a 5,000mAh battery with 33W charging It has both stereo speakers and a 3.5mm jack (but no microSD).
The Narzo N55 is a cheaper 4G-only option with a Helio G88 (12nm). It has a large 6.72″ IPS LCD (FHD+, 90Hz) and a 5,000mAh battery with the same 33W charging as its bigger brother.
The Tecno Pova 4 costs basically the same, but has the more advanced Helio G99 chipset (6nm). And it has a bigger 6,000mAh battery, although its 18W charge is quite slow. The only major drawback of this phone is that the huge 6.82 inch (90Hz) IPS LCD is only HD+ resolution.
Another budget option, this one under ₹10,000, is the Infinix Hot 30i. It too has an IPS HD+ LCD, although at 6.56″ (at that price point) it’s slightly more tolerable. It’s powered by the Unisoc T606 and a 5,000mAh battery with 18W charging. The 13MP camera it’s pretty straightforward (the Pova can at least record 1440p video, this maxes out at 1080p/30fps).
If you’re looking for a Wear OS watch, the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 (Bluetooth) costs less than ₹30,000 for both the 40mm and 44mm versions. LTE versions are also available if you need data connectivity that doesn’t rely on a phone.
Finally, some budget TWS buds: Realme TechLife Buds T100 cost just ₹1,500. They don’t have ANC, but they offer up to 28 hours of battery life (with the case on, the buds alone can go on for 6 hours) and a not-so-low latency mode of 88ms.
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