Google has made some of its Gemini 3-based AI tools free in Gmail. AI Overviews and tools like Smart Replies and Help Me Write were only available for users with an AI subscription (Google AI Plus or Ultra), but no longer.
AI Inbox filters out the clutter in your inbox and gives you a briefing with quick highlights. It also sums up those long Reply to All emails, which is very handy.
Help Me Write is just what it sounds like - you can give Gemini a prompt of what you want to write, and it will do the rest. You can also refine specific parts of the generated messages. Suggested...
Dreame Technology, the China-based smart home appliance brand, has entered the wearables market with the introduction of its first AI-powered smart and health rings.
The company showcased the new lineup at CES 2026, unveiling three models. The lineup consists of the AI Smart Ring, an AI Health Ring with ECG, and the AI Health Ring with NFC. Dreame promises each of those will offer about a week of battery life.
Dreame AI Health Ring with NFC and AI Smart Ring.
The AI Smart Ring features comprehensive health tracking, including heart rate, SpO2, skin temperature, HRV insights, sleep...
As CES 2026 kicks off, right out of the gate, we have one of the biggest surprises of the show as far as laptops go, and that is the return of the Dell XPS 14 and XPS 16.
Last year, Dell underwent a major overhaul of its laptop lines, consolidating them under a kind of grid scheme of Dell, Dell Pro, and Dell Pro Max laptops, each with a base model, a Plus model, and a Premium version for different sizes.
It was controversial, for sure, and whether that controversy prompted Dell to change course or there was something in the sales performance of the rebranded laptops that gave Dell pause, whatever it was has given us back the iconic Dell XPS laptops, and it’s more than just a return to the old name.
The new Dell XPS lineup has had a solid redesign that at first sight goes a long way towards fixing the complaints I had with the last few generations of XPS laptops. It’s also powered by the new Intel Core Ultra 300 series processors, and by powered by Intel, I mean entirely.
With the new redesign, the XPS laptop is losing a discrete graphics option for the foreseeable future, which is putting a lot of trust in Intel’s new chips to deliver the mix of creative and productivity performance users expect from the XPS brand.
Whether the new Dell XPS 14 and Dell XPS 16 achieve that balance remains to be seen, but for right now, these two laptops are a fantastic return for the beloved laptop line.
Dell XPS 14 & Dell XPS 16: Price & availability
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
When is it out? The XPS 14 and XPS 16 go on sale January 6, 2026
How much is it? Starting at $2,049.99 for the XPS 14 and $2,199.99 for the XPS 16
Where can you get it? Only available in the US at launch, with global availability to follow
The Dell XPS 14 and Dell XPS 16 will go on sale in the US on January 6, 2026, with a limited number of configurations, starting at $2,049.99 for the XPS 14 and $2,199.99 for the XPS 16. Lower-priced configurations will be launching soon, as will wider availability in the UK and Australia, though no dates or pricing for those regions have been given yet.
Without knowing what the specific specs of the initial configurations are, it’s hard to tell how much the price of the new XPS laptops will vary from earlier models. With RAM prices being what they are, I would not be surprised if they come in somewhat higher, but Dell is also better able to absorb those price hikes or negotiate volume pricing down, thanks to its size, so we’ll just have to keep an eye on it over the next few weeks and months before I can give it a proper value assessment.
Dell XPS 14 & Dell XPS 16: Specs
Powered by Intel Core Ultra 300 series
No discrete graphics option
Dell XPS 14 2026 & Dell XPS 16 2026 specs
Dell XPS 14
Dell XPS 16
Processor
Up to Intel Core Ultra X9 388H
Up to Intel Core Ultra X9 388H
Graphics
Intel Arc Graphics, Intel Graphics
Intel Arc Graphics, Intel Graphics
NPU
Up to 50 TOPS
Up to 50 TOPS
Memory
Up to 64GB LPDDR5x-9600
Up to 64GB LPDDR5x-9600
Storage
Up to 4TB PCIe 5.0
Up to 4TB PCIe 5.0
Display
Up to 14-inch 2.8K (2880 x 1800) OLED InfinityEdge touch display, 400-nits typical, 500-nits peak brightness, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500
Up to 16-inch 3.2K (3200 x 2000) OLED InfinityEdge touch, 400-nits typical, 500-nits peak brightness, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500
Wireless
Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0
Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0
Ports
3x Thunderbolt 4, 1x 3.5mm Universal Audio jack
3x Thunderbolt 4, 1x 3.5mm Universal Audio jack
Battery
70WHr
70WHr
Webcam
8MP / 4K HDR w/ Windows Hello
8MP / 4K HDR w/ Windows Hello
Dimensions (W x D x H)
12.19 x 8.26 x 0.58 ins | 309.5 x 209.7 x 14.6mm
13.88 x 9.35 x 0.58 ins | 352.6 x 237.47 x 14.6mm
Weight
3.0 lbs | 1.36kg
3.65 lbs | 1.65kg
Dell XPS 14 & Dell XPS 16: Design
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
New, thinner, and more modern design
Fixes most of the accessibility issues with previous gen XPS models
The biggest change here for the Dell XPS 14and XPS 16 is the design of the two laptops, which significantly improves things over earlier generations.
First, the laptop feels lighter and sturdier than its predecessors, and it definitely looks more modern. The move from the Dell logo to the XPS logo on the lid also makes the laptop feel less like an office product and more like a proper ultrabook.
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
From my limited time with the two laptops, the keys had good travel and felt comfortable enough in my testing, but having not typed on them extensively, I can’t say how they’ll feel after a few hours of work.
The three Thunderbolt ports along the sides and the headphone/mic jack are sufficient for most people, and while the lack of USB-A ports might annoy some, at this point, I can’t fault Dell for sticking with the faster, more intuitive USB-C interface.
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
The webcam is an 8MP 4K HDR webcam, which is what I would expect for a laptop in this class, and the 10W audio is spread out between a number of hidden speakers along both sides of the laptop. Given the noise in the testing area, the audio was audible, but it was also really loud. I’ll reserve judgment on that until I can do more extensive testing with it.
The OLED displays looked great on the two laptops, with the XPS 16-inch feeling much more roomy as you’d expect, but the 14-inch display is also more than enough for most. The lighting in the testing space wasn’t the greatest, so I wouldn’t trust my eyes to judge the color accuracy without a longer look in better conditions, but I honestly can’t think of anything I’d fault them for.
The biggest changes, for me at least, are the return of physical Function keys and a more visible border for the trackpads. The old virtual Function key bar along the previous gen devices and the complete lack of a visibly defined trackpad on a smooth, glassy surface were accessibility headaches that simply weren’t necessary. The trackpad could be better defined, I’ll say, but I’m just happy that you can at least see it more clearly.
Dell XPS 14 & Dell XPS 16: Performance
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
I didn’t have a chance to benchmark either the XPS 14 or XPS 16, so I can’t tell you how either will perform versus their predecessors. I will say that the lack of discrete graphics will not work in the new XPS models' favor if you are comparing them to a Dell Premium with an Nvidia RTX 4050, like the Dell 14 Premium I tested last year.
That said, I haven’t fully tested the new Intel Panther Lake chips yet, so the new XPS’s performance might end up surprising me. We’ll know soon enough.
Dell XPS 14 & Dell XPS 16: Final thoughts
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
I personally didn’t lose much sleep over the XPS rebranding last year, the way many of my colleagues did, but I’m sure the XPS’s triumphant return from exile will make plenty of people happy.
What I care far more about, though, is the redesign of these two laptops, particularly the Function keys and the trackpad. Those fixes alone make this the one laptop I’m most excited to test out in the next few weeks, and if Intel Panther Lake can live up to its hype, these two models just might be the laptops to buy in 2026.
TechRadar will be extensively covering this year's CES, and will bring you all of the big announcements as they happen. Head over to our CES 2026 news page for the latest stories and our hands-on verdicts on everything from wireless TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.
In a world of smart glasses that can listen and speak to you, show you new worlds, and provide information on top of your world, Xreal's brand of display glasses is almost quaint. They're not smart. There's no effort to bring in information from the outside world or redefine how you see the real world. Put simply, this is a virtual 200-inch screen in your backpack, bag, or pocket that you can put on at any moment to enjoy a movie, gaming, or even a much larger laptop work screen.
Xreal, in fact, delivers this niche capability better than most and, with the new Xreal 1S, offers greater clarity, a wider view, and a better price than ever before.
From a practical perspective, Xreal 1S is a wearable display that uses impressive passthrough technology to take the display feed from almost any display-laden device that offers USB-C output and project it in front of your eyes on a pair of prisms backed by high-resolution Sony Micro-OLED displays.
There's no power source; inside the lightweight frames are powered by the connected device. There is virtually no setup beyond donning the frames and connecting your device.
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
Instead of fancy gesture and gaze control, you still control your external device as you would without the Xreal 1S. You use the touchscreen on your phone, the keyboard and mouse on your laptop, and joysticks on your gaming devices.
The Xreal 1S brings a handful of important upgrades, including brighter screens (now 700 nits, up from 600 nits on the Xreal One), higher resolution (was 1080, now 1200), and a slightly wider field of view (was 50-degree, now 52-degree FoV).
Nestled under some settings in the new eyewear is a new Real 3D capability that can turn virtually everything on-screen, including 2D photos and videos, even an interface, into a 3D landscape. It's a work in progress that, as of this writing, provides decidedly mixed results (I suspect slipstream software updates will improve it over time).
As for how the eyewear works, the Xreal 1S headset is an excellent companion at home, work, or on the road (think a long flight or commute). It's quite easy to lose yourself in the immersive screen, and now, with a somewhat cheaper device, this might be the antidote to all those more expensive, immersive, and intelligent wearables. It qualifies as one of the best AR glasses I've used to date.
Xreal 1S: Price and availability
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
The Xreal 1S was unveiled on January 4, 2025, and is now available to order in the US and UK from Xreal.com for $449 / £399.
This is notably a $50 price reduction from the Xreal One, while enhancing several features. The Xreal 1S frames are still more expensive than the Meta AI-sporting Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer Gen 2 ($329), but, despite their intelligence, the Meta frames do not include a pair of displays (See the Meta Ray-Ban Display for that).
Throughout this review, I also test-drove a couple of optional accessories, including the $99 Xreal Eye, a 12MP modular camera, and the Xreal Neo ($99), a battery pack and video passthrough device necessary for using the Xreal with your Nintendo Switch. While the camera is a nice-to-have and nudges the Xreal 1S toward Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses territory (it takes passable photos and fun POV videos), the Neo is a must-have if you want the Nintendo Switch virtual big-screen experience.
Value: 4/5
Xreal 1S: Design
Wired USB-C connection
Lightweight – just 84 grams
Auto-dimming shades
The benefit of the Xreal 1S not being stuffed with technology and battery power is immediately obvious. It's a light, almost stylish piece of eyewear that doesn't weigh heavily on the face.
At a glance, it might be easy to mistake them for a large-ish pair of sunglasses. The flexible stem does get a bit bigger than your standard ones to house microphones, Bose speakers, and, on one side, control and volume buttons.
The frames rest comfortably on your nose with a sort of floating bridge. Xreal provides three sizes of nose pads. I was able to stick with the mid-sized.
Behind the dimmable lenses are a pair of thick prisms that aim the Sony Micro OLED displays, which sit horizontally at the top of each lens, at each eye.
I wear glasses, and since I can't put contacts in my eyes, I needed the optional $99 prescription insert from Honsvr. It's pretty easy to attach the prescription lens's lightweight frame to the main Xreal 1S housing: you just have to pop out a pair of tiny rubber stoppers (I used a SIM car remover) and then stick the tiny matching stems into the newly exposed holes. Once my prescription was firmly in there, it never shifted or fell out.
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The good news is that the inserts do not push the frames any further from your face (they're already further away than your standard eyewear). If there's one downside to my inserts, it's that the Xreal 1S already looks a little odd when viewed from the side. Now I have another set of lenses in front of my eyes.
Without a companion system, the Xreal 1S is just an inert pair of awkward-looking glasses.
On the back end of one stem is a USB-C port that accepts one side of the roughly, included 4 ft woven cable (the Xreal 1S also ships with a case and cloth for cleaning). The other end plugs into your device of choice. As I mentioned earlier, there's no external battery. Plugging the Xreal 1S into, say, your laptop automatically powers up the glasses.
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
I also added the optional Xreal Eye modular 12MP camera. Like the subscription lenses, I had to remove a rubber plug before inserting the camera at the peak of the bridge. The camera is useful for capturing decent photos and videos (stored locally, you offload them by plugging the frames into a device and switching to transfer mode). The placement of the camera dead-center on the frames may make them less than welcome in some social situations.
Overall, these are relatively low-key digital frames that won't draw much attention at the office, on a plane, in a train, or at home. They are not for deep immersion of walking about and will draw the occasional stare, but are otherwise well-built for their purpose, and even with a cable running out of the back of one stem, they never feel heavy or uncomfortable to wear.
Design score: 4/5
Xreal 1S: Performance
1200p, 120Hz image at 700-nit brightness
Works with almost any USB-C device with a screen
Good Bose audio
As I mentioned, there's minimal setup to use these display glasses. All you need is a device with a screen and a USB-C port that supports video output.
Inside the Xreal 1S is the X1 chip that handles its video processing duties as well as spatial awareness that allows me to either fix the virtual screen in place or let it follow my gaze.
As soon as I plugged into the frames, they powered up (yes, they draw power from the host system), and within seconds, I saw an extended screen; the system does not instantly present you with the Mac's main desktop. Instead, my MacBook Pro saw the Xreal 1S as another display. I was then able to use the Mac to arrange my displays so that the Xreal 1S virtual display was stacked above my laptop display.
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
After that, I could use the mouse to move windows onto that screen. Because the Honsver prescription inserts only had my near-vision prescription and not the far-vision one to match my progressive eyeglasses, I could not effectively see and use the laptop keyboard while wearing the Xreal 1S.
That's okay, though, it's with entertainment and social content where the Xreal 1S's virtual display really shines.
I started my entertainment journey by plugging the lenses into the new Lenovo Legion Go S, where I played Spider-Man Remastered.
As I held the portable game platform in my hand and used the Legion's joysticks to play, I marveled at the large, clear, and colorful virtual display. Not only is the 1200p screen sharp, but the motion is perfectly smooth thanks, in part, to the 120Hz refresh rate, and there is effectively zero lag time (it's been measured at 3ms latency). Even in bright spaces, the now 700nit displays held fast, looking just as bright and solid, almost as if I were in a darkened theater. The Bose speakers delivered clear, crisp, and relatively loud sound to my ears, and I quickly lost myself in the gameplay. If you plan on wearing these while, say, on a flight, I would suggest you use earbuds (they'll still pull audio from the host system) so you don't disturb your seatmates.
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
The Xreal 1S offers two view styles: one fixes the big, virtual screen in place, and if you look away, the display remains anchored in space (this is the extent of the system's spatial capabilities). The other option is to let the screen follow you. Xreal smartly made sure that the screen follows with a smooth lag so that you never feel even a hint of motion sickness.
Switching between these screen modes is easy. You just single-press the control button to anchor the screen or let it move with your gaze. I generally found that I like fixing the screen in place. If you choose the anchored view and you can't see all of the screen, you can long-press the button to realign the view.
There's also the ability to move the screen further away or closer to you, or enlarge os shrink the virtual screen by inch increments. Doing so, though, means accessing the Xreal 1S's slightly confusing menu system. To access the menu, you double-press the control button under the left-hand stem and then press one side of the volume, which also doubles as menu navigation. You can choose to make the screen quite large, but then you're looking all around the 52-degree FoV to see everything. I'd suggest always keeping the four screen corners in full view.
It's through the volume button that you access the lens darkness control. I made it full darkness for a more immersive feel, which is especially useful when watching video.
I next connected the Xreal to my iPhone. As soon as I unlocked the iPhone 17 Pro Max, my virtual screen appeared. I opened social media, including Instagram Reels and TikTok, and had a ball leaning back and flicking through posts on my phone, as the big screen floated in front of my eyes. It's worth noting here that the video feed from the phone to the Xreal 1S does not turn off your iPhone screen. So, yes, someone next to you could still see what you're viewing. You might want to lower the brightness on your iPhone screen for some degree of privacy.
I particularly enjoyed watching Netflix videos in full-screen mode and can honestly imagine myself enjoying a full, big-screen movie on my next cross-country flight.
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
Xreal's new Real 3D mode was in beta when I tested the glasses. It can convert any image or video (even interfaces) into 3D. Some of it looks good, but most of my early experiences with it on the iPhone 17 Pro Max were not great. Some images developed duplicate images behind them (there was me and an outline of me behind me), and others looked jagged. I'll withhold judgment on this feature until I get the final version.
Xreal 1S also works with the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, but not without a special $99 adapter, the Neo. Nintendo has blocked some third-party video adapters, but Xreal quickly updated the Neo to get around the latest block.
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Neo is not just an adapter. It's also a 10,000mAh battery backup and can power the Nintendo Switch or any other device you plug into it. It even has an integrated MagSafe-style magnet if you want to attach it to the back of your iPhone.
It took me a minute to realize I needed to remove the Joy-Cons from the console to make this work. (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
To use the Neo, you connect it to the Nintendo Switch or Switch 2 and then plug the Xreal 1S into the Neo. The Nintendo Switch only works with the adapter in docked mode, which means you need to remove the Joy-Cons. After that, it's another great experience. I played Super Mario Kart on both the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. It was easy to get lost in the big-screen gameplay, and, in a way, not having to hold the entire Nintendo Switch was a side benefit. To play, I just gripped the two Joy-Cons.
The Neo will work with almost any device, delivering power while also passing the video signal through. You can even plug an external power source into it, which will then let you keep using your third-party device even if it's run out of power (and the Neo is tapped, too). Just remember, the Neo will run you another $99.
Performance score: 4.5/5
Should you buy the Xreal 1S glasses?
Xreal One Scorecard
Attribute
Comment
Score
Value
The Xreal 1S are more affordable than the last model but with even better visual clarity and a larger viewport. Does that make then fully-worth nearly $500. That deopends on how much you value a lean-back big, virtual screen experience.
4/5
Design
Sticking to one core feature makes these frames lither and more comfortable than most AR glasses. They still have some awkwardness, but are generally attractive and rugged enough to wear whenever yo want a big virtual screen experience.
4/5
Performance
This is an excellent virtual screen experience that enhances social media, gaming and video watching. I do wish the menu system was easier to navigate.
4.5/5
Buy it if…
You want a big screen wherever you go The Xreal 1S is a no-fuss virtual big screen for all your devices.
You want a lean-back experience Stop leaning over your phone. The Xreal 1S's virtual screen lets you lean back and enjoy.
You don’t need AI and connectivity on your face Xreal 1S do one thing and do it well: deliver a big-screen experience in a wearable, but don't weigh it down with extra AI and notifications.
Don’t buy it if…
You were expecting augmented reality Xreal 1S puts a floating screen in front of you but that image does not interact with the real world in any meaningful way.
You don’t want to spend more than $250 The Xreal 1S are excellent but they do cost almost $450, If you have a Nintendo Switch, you'll be shellign otu another $99 for the Neo.
You want full immersion These glasses can dim to cut out some of the outside world, but the sound is open-eared, and the glasses do not wrap around your face to form a light seal.
Also consider
Xreal Air 2 If you want to stick with Xreal, the Xreal Air 2 or its electrochromic dimming-enhanced Xreal Air 2 Pro are both solid options that cost a little less – though expect a slightly less good image and noticeable inferior audio. Read our Xreal Air 2 reviewView Deal
Meta Quest 3 While not a direct competitor to Xreal’s glasses, the Quest 3 is an XR product that you should consider if you want to experience what VR and MR have to offer – it’s simply superb. Read our Meta Quest 3 reviewView Deal
How I tested the Xreal 1S glasses
I spent a couple of weeks with the Xreal 1S using them to play games. view movies, and pursue social media. I tried them with the Neo adapter on a Nintendo Switch (1 and 2) and also connected that accessory to my iPhone.
The Noise Luna Ring 2 is the second generation of the Luna Ring. I reviewed the original in early 2025 and liked that it felt comfortable, offered solid insights, and was impressively accurate for sleep tracking from a first-gen product.
On paper, the Luna Ring 2 doesn’t sound like a huge leap forward and, visually, you’d be forgiven for not immediately spotting what’s changed. The design tweaks are subtle, and if you already own the first Luna Ring I don’t think this is a must-have upgrade.
But taken on its own, this is a good smart ring. A few pain points have been ironed out. The ring is around 10% slimmer, there’s a new charging case which looks great and stores multiple top-ups, battery performance has improved slightly and the app feels quicker to update. I also felt like sleep tracking was more precise this time round, which is probably due to the improved sensor accuracy.
The main advantage here remains the same as last time round, there’s no subscription here. That immediately makes it more appealing than the Oura Ring 4 (the most popular smart ring) if you’re not keen on adding another subscription to your life, especially if you consider that the Oura Ring 4 is more expensive to begin with.
Personally, the best new feature here is Luna’s circadian alignment tools, presenting guidance about when to get sunlight, drink coffee and exercise throughout the day. It includes a “caffeine window” that tries to stop you sabotaging your sleep with badly timed coffee. These are genuinely useful, presented nicely and feel actionable and meaningful than an arbitrary score.
There are still some things I didn’t like here. The app is pretty information dense and yet again the typography choices feel too small and fussy, which makes daily use less enjoyable than rivals. There’s an AI coach here, but it delivers generic chatbot advice rather than anything helpful. And while battery life here is good, it doesn’t quite make it as long as some rivals.
But the biggest issue here is the market. When I first reviewed the Luna Ring Gen 1, I said one of the main problems wasn’t the ring itself but the competition. That’s even more true now. The Oura Ring 4 still offers the most refined overall experience, the Samsung Galaxy Ring is great as long as you’re not on iOS and the Ultrahuman Ring Air and RingConn 2 Air are strong subscription-free alternatives to both. More and more cheaper alternatives are now entering the market too, like the Amazfit Helio Ring, which isn’t as good but is cheaper.
If you want a capable, subscription-free smart ring with strong sleep tracking and don’t mind that it doesn’t look quite as premium as the big names, the Luna Ring 2 is a good choice. It’s just not the obvious pick and even though I like it I’m not sure there’s anything standout here to recommend it over the competition.
Noise Luna Ring (Gen 2) review: Price and availability
(Image credit: Future)
Price is around $329/£299/AU$510
No subscription fee
Several color options at the same price
The Luna Ring 2 is available for around $329/£299/AU$510. I say around as pricing seems to vary across regions and I’m writing this during sale season when prices are fluctuating.
It comes in a range of finishes, including Sunlit Gold, Stardust Silver, Rose Gold, Midnight Black and Lunar Black – that last one is a matte shade. All of these finishes are the same price, which is good as some rivals charge more for specific colors or materials. Then again, that could explain why the Luna Ring 2 has a less premium look and feel than rivals, but I’ll get to that later.
That puts it below the Oura Ring 4, which typically retails for $349/£349 at full price, though more premium materials and colors can push that up to $499/£499. What’s more, you’ll need an ongoing membership to unlock full insights, which is a further $5.99/£5.99. The Samsung Galaxy Ring was also more expensive at launch at $399/£399/around AU$750, though it’s hard to compare given it’s not for iOS users.
Meanwhile, subscription-free rivals include the Ultrahuman Ring Air at £329 (it isn’t available in the US at the time of writing) and RingConn Gen 2 Air at $299/£280/AU$570 (approx). You can also find the Amazfit Helio Ring for £119.90 as a budget option.
All of this means the Luna Ring 2 is more affordable than the Oura Ring 4 but not a budget pick. The lack of subscription does help it seem better value, but it’s not so cheap that it’s a no-brainer over the rest.
Value score: 3.5 / 5
Noise Luna Ring (Gen 2) review: Specifications
Colors
Silver, Black, Matte Black, Rose Gold, Gold
Weight
3-5g (depending on size)
Material
Titanium
Battery life
Up to 7 days
Connectivity
Bluetooth
Waterproofing
Up to 50m/164 ft
(Image credit: Future)
Noise Luna Ring (Gen 2) review: Design
Light and comfortable
Slightly slimmer than first Luna Ring
Can look cheaper than rivals, especially in gold
The Luna Ring (Gen 2) is a light and compact ring, weighing between 3g and 5g depending on the size you need. On paper, that’s a small shift from the Gen 1 ring, and Luna says its Gen 2 ring is 10% slimmer and lighter overall. In reality, the difference is subtle. But the Gen 2 is genuinely very comfortable to wear 24/7.
Sizing runs from 6 to 14 and you get a sizing kit in advance, which works the same way as most smart ring brands. It’s based on standard ring sizes, but I still find that different brands fit slightly differently, so the kit is worth using.
The ring itself is made from titanium with a PVD coating and there’s a non-allergenic and seamless inner surface that sits against your skin. It’s rated 5ATM, which means you don’t need to take it off for showers, swimming or getting caught in the rain. Ideal if you’re trying to build a habit of wearing it constantly.
(Image credit: Future)
As for colors, there’s a nice choice here. Stardust Silver, Rose Gold, Sunlit Gold, Midnight Black and Lunar Black, a matte shade. The marketing images make most of them look shiny, and in real life the Sunlit Gold I tested is particularly shiny. Other brands have glossy finishes too, but here it tips over into looking a bit more like a plastic gold ring rather than blending in to look like jewellery, at least to my eye.
The real star of the design in this newer version isn’t the ring itself, but the new charging case that comes with it. Instead of the little charging plinth that came with the Gen 1 version, you now get a compact case that looks more like the cases you get with earbuds, or the Samsung Galaxy Ring. Not only does it pack in lots of extra charges, it’s one of the nicest smart ring charging solutions I’ve used so far.
Design score: 4 / 5
Noise Luna Ring (Gen 2) review: Features
(Image credit: Future)
Strong core health and sleep data
Circadian alignment tools genuinely helpful
AI integration feels gimmicky
The Luna Ring (Gen 2) follows the familiar smart ring formula, lots of sensors in a tiny band. You get green and red LEDs for heart rate, blood oxygen and skin temperature tracking, photodiodes and a 3-axis accelerometer for movement.
From those, Luna tracks your sleep time, sleep stages and sleep score, resting heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV), respiratory rate and SpO2, temperature fluctuations, stress, activity and menstrual and ovulation tracking, based on temperature and HRV.
There’s automatic detection for walking and running, plus basic workout logging for other exercises. Though, as with most smart rings right now, this isn’t designed to replace a full-on running or fitness watch, but it works well for general movement.
It’s worth noting there’s no VO2 max estimate here, which you’ll find on some rival rings and many of the best smartwatches. If you like that training metric, you might miss it here.
The more interesting additions on the software side are Luna’s “Life OS” platform, which has been updated in this version. It brings new tools like the aforementioned circadian alignment guide and a “caffeine window”. These suggest the best times to get sunlight, eat, exercise and drink coffee based on your patterns, with the aim of nudging you into a more consistent rhythm and protecting sleep.
I found those features genuinely useful and really nicely presented. Even if they don’t transform your sleep overnight, they did gently encourage me to think about my day in a way that’s more aligned with my sleep and rhythms.
There’s also an AI coach here, but I found it quite gimmicky (like most AI integrations these days). It’s essentially a chatbot bolted onto your health data. Now, some people might enjoy asking it questions, but in my testing the nutrition and lifestyle advice felt generic. Responses could be slow and if you already know the basics of health and fitness you might find it a little condescending.
On the integration front, the Luna Ring currently works with Apple Health and Google Fit, which at least lets you pull workouts from other platforms. But there are no deeper third-party integrations yet, so you can’t plug it directly into more specialized training apps or health dashboards, for example.
Features score: 3.5 / 5
Noise Luna Ring (Gen 2) review: Performance
(Image credit: Future)
Sleep tracking feels upgraded
Battery life is good, not class-leading
Good app but a bit cramped
Let’s start with the battery, as that’s been updated over the previous version. Noise says you’ll get between 4 to 7 days, which is quite a broad amount of time. During my testing I consistently got just under 6 days out of it, which I think is good. It’s an improvement over the first ring, which only ever reached 4 days.
The charging case can store around 30 days of power before you need to plug it in, which was really handy. Especially considering the charging case is light, small and looks nice.
For content, the Oura Ring 4 and Ultrahuman Ring Air can deliver six to eight days, while the RingConn Gen 2 Air can stretch to 10 to 12 days. So Luna sits in the good but not outstanding bracket where battery is concerned. Good thing it’s got the charging case this time around, which helps – did I mention I love the charging case?
The Luna Ring (Gen 2) will automatically detect walking and running and in my experience it did this reliably. You’re prompted to confirm detected sessions, which is handy.
For other exercise types, you’ll need to log activities manually and there are lots to choose from, including yoga, treadmill, cycling, bouldering, pilates, even surfing. As with most smart rings, it’s not a hardcore training tool, there’s no GPS or dedicated workout models. Think of it more as an everyday health tracker that handles simple workouts reasonably well rather than something you’d use for serious training.
I have mixed feelings about the Luna app. On the plus side, it’s packed with information and you can dig deeper into information about sleep, readiness, activity, temperature and more. In some places, scores are accompanied by short explanations, which I always appreciate more than a bare number.
(Image credit: Future)
However, the presentation of the data still doesn’t quite land for me. Fonts are tiny and a lot of elements are tightly packed together. It’s a subjective complaint, sure, but one that does impact on my day to day enjoyment of using it.
Some of the language and flagging around health data also feels more alarming than it needs to be. For example, waking up to a red exclamation mark on my SpO2 with a blunt “Pay Attention” message isn’t in line with how I think wearables should be talking to us about health. The same goes for some of the coaching prompts, they’re technically accurate, but not particularly warm or human.
Sleep tracking is where the Gen 2 shines, it does a great job at picking up on sleep and wake times, even on nights when my sleep was broken. I often wake up around 3am, read for a few hours, then go back to sleep. The Luna Ring 2 picked up this pattern consistently, where in the past other wearables have not detected the break or not detected me falling back to sleep again. It also detected short naps accurately.
You get a full breakdown of your sleep stages, a nightly sleep score and insights into what’s pushing that score up or down. Over time, trends are handy to see.
(Image credit: Future)
As for whether those circadian tools I mentioned earlier improve my sleep, that’s hard to say definitively, but having prompts about when to get outside, drink coffee or exercise did make me more intentional about my routine.
Finally, there’s the AI coach. I know other reviewers enjoy this kind of feature, but here it still feels like a very basic chatbot sat on top of your data rather than anything geared to personalized guidance. Generic nutrition tips, slow responses and a lack of nuance mean it’s not something I enjoyed using.
Though I will say one of the suggested prompts was “Which health metric needs my attention today?” which does highlight anything noticeable without digging around. Without that I’d say it was a bit useless.
Performance: 4 / 5
(Image credit: Future)
Scorecard
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Design
Light, comfortable and slightly slimmer than Gen 1. The gold color looks less premium than rivals. But the charging case is excellent.
4 / 5
Features
Strong core health and sleep tracking with useful circadian alignment feature. The AI coach and lack of VO2 max are my only bugbears.
3.5 / 5
Performance
Accurate sleep tracking, decent activity detection and good but not class-leading battery. App is overall great but needs a design refresh in my opinion.
4 / 5
Value
Cheaper than some rivals and subscription-free but not cheap enough or polished enough to be a really obvious choice over rivals.
3.5 / 5
Should I buy the Noise Luna Ring (Gen 2)?
Buy it if…
You want a smart ring without an added subscription Oura is still the most popular choice, but its monthly membership and initial price make it an expensive choice. The Luna Ring 2 is one of several capable subscription-free alternatives.
You want accurate tracking and plenty of data I’ve focused a lot on rivals in this review, but taken by itself this is a good device with accurate sleep and recovery tracking, and a generous amount of data and trends to explore.
You want strong sleep tracking without bulk If you mainly care about sleep and general recovery, smart rings are hugely appealing because you can ditch the bulk of a smartwatch at night.
Don’t buy it if…
You want the absolute best tracking and polish I was impressed by the Luna Ring 2 overall but the Oura Ring 4 will still deliver the most polished experience in terms of design, app refinement and depth of insights.
You care a lot about premium materials and finishes If you want your smart ring to double as jewellery, Oura’s rings do look and feel more high-end.
You already own the first Luna Ring This is a nice step up with a better charging experience and extra features. But if you’re happy with the Gen 1 and not itching for a new ring, there isn’t a killer upgrade here.
Noise Luna Ring (Gen 1): Also consider
Oura Ring 4 Still the best all-rounder for design, app experience and depth of data across iOS and Android. More expensive than the Luna Ring 2 and does require a subscription to unlock its full potential. But for some the extra polish and insights will be worth it. Read our full Oura Ring 4 review
Ultrahuman Ring Air A strong subscription-free alternative. With a slick design, polished app and good sleep and recovery tracking. It’s widely considered the second best option after Oura. Ultrahuman Ring Air review
How I tested the Noise Luna Ring (Gen 2)
(Image credit: Future)
Paired with an iPhone 16 Pro
Wore the ring 24/7
I’ve been testing wearables for 12+ years
I tested the Noise Luna Ring 2 for several weeks, paired with an iPhone 16 Pro. I wore it all day and night, including running outdoors, to gym sessions, during long workdays in coffee shops, evenings at home and, of course, while sleeping. I only took it off to charge it or when showering – yes, it’s waterproof but I never like to risk soap or shampoo messing it up.
Over the past 12 years I’ve reviewed dozens of wearables, including smart watches, fitness trackers and smart rings from Oura, Ultrahuman, RingConn, Motiv, and more. Having got hands-on with so many, I’ve got a strong sense now of what makes a smart ring comfortable, truly useful – from design and comfort to performance, app quality, and long-term wearability – and standout in a busy and competitive space.
What makes a great sequel? Across film, gaming, and indeed smartphones, the best follow-ups carry forward and amplify the good things while dialing down any pretension. In the phone world, this means zeroing in on the features and functions that give a phone its purpose.
That’s exactly what Oppo has done with the Find X9 Pro. It takes everything great about last year’s Oppo Find X8 Pro and dials it up to 11, while ditching the idea that this is anything other than an iPhone 17 Pro Max for Android lovers. It's both simpler and somehow more obscenely powerful than its predecessor, and I, for one, love it.
Now sporting a drastically simplified flat-edged design, flat display, and top-left-mounted square camera housing, the Find X9 Pro resembles an iPhone more than any other Oppo phone before it, but the Chinese tech giant is banking on the idea that if you’re willing to spend pro-flagship prices on an Android phone, that’s not too big a deal.
For all its cool designs over the years, the Find X series has always been defined by hardware power – and more recently, extremely powerful camera systems – so it’s quite something that the Find X9 Pro still managed to surprise me with its specs sheet. The phone is one of the first to ship with the MediaTek Dimensity 9500 chipset, alongside a healthy 16GB of RAM, and a ludicrously large 7,500mAh silicon-carbon battery with 80W wired charging. It's almost excessively performant, but can get a bit hot in even moderate use.
But what about that camera system? The Oppo Find X9 Pro has a 50MP main camera, 50MP ultra-wide camera, and – brace for impact – a 200MP telephoto camera with 3x zoom. That super-high-res sensor allows for a 50MP crop at 6x, which helps make up for the loss of the dedicated 50MP 6x camera from last year’s model, and a 12MP crop at 13.2x zoom. And that’s not even mentioning the detachable 10x zoom lens – you’ll have to read on for my thoughts on that.
In adequate lighting, the main camera defaults to 50MP shots rather than binning to 12MP as most phone cameras do, and a special mode allows for 200MP full-res shots with the telephoto camera. The capability here is immense, but unfortunately, Oppo’s post-processing is still a bit too aggressive, sometimes veering into AI-flavored reconstruction.
For the Star Wars fans out there, the Oppo Find X9 Pro is the Empire Strikes Back of smartphone successors – bigger, brasher, and close to objectively better than last year’s Oppo Find X8 Pro. Yes, polishing the experience has buffed out some of the quirky charm of last year’s model – I especially miss the vinyl-like rear panel, which has been replaced with glass – but the final product is so much greater than the sum of its parts that this simply ceases to matter.
This is a superb phone that would immediately rank amongst the best phones on the market, were it not for its tragically limited availability. As with previous Oppo phones, no US release is expected.
Oppo Find X9 Pro review: Price and availability
The Oppo Find X9 Pro in the Oppo Aramid Fiber Case (sold separately) (Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)
Not available in the US
Costs £1,099 / AU$2,299
One configuration with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage
Despite launching “globally”, the Oppo Find X9 Pro is unavailable through official channels in the US. It is, however, available in the UK and Australia, where it competes with and slightly undercuts other large pro-grade flagship phones when it comes to price.
The Oppo Find X9 Pro costs £1,099 / AU$2,299 for its single configuration. For that, you get 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
At face value, that price is about right for a large Pro-labelled camera phone, but as usual, Oppo is actually offering great value for money. Compared to the iPhone 17 Pro Max – an obvious analogue to the Find X9 Pro, not to mention an influence – the Find X9 is £100 less with double the storage in the UK. In Australia, the Find X9 Pro comes in at AU$300 cheaper than the iPhone 17 Pro Max with 512GB of storage.
Let’s keep it real: the Oppo Find X9 Pro isn’t cheap, but it's a pretty good deal compared to its plus-sized, Pro-powered camera phone contemporaries. It’s a shame it’s not more widely available, which will probably keep it off our lists of the best camera phones, best AI phones, best Android phones, and more. I’d expect to see it top our list of the best Oppo phones soon, though.
Oppo Find X9 Pro review: Specs
In this review, I’ll go through the Oppo Find X9 Pro’s features and capabilities in detail, but if you just want an overview of the phone’s key specs, check out the handy table below.
Dimensions:
161.3 x 76.5 x 8.3mm
Weight:
224g
Display:
6.78-inch AMOLED
Resolution:
1272 x 2772 pixels
Refresh rate:
120Hz
Chipset:
MediaTek Dimensity 9500
Rear cameras:
50MP main + 50MP ultra-wide + 200MP telephoto (3x)
Front camera:
50MP
Storage:
512GB
RAM:
16GB
OS (at launch):
Android 16 with ColorOS 16
Battery:
7,500mAh
Charging:
80W wired, 50W wireless
Value score: 4 / 5
Oppo Find X9 Pro review: Design
(Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)
Comes in two colors – Silk White and Titanium Charcoal (named as such despite the phone containing no titanium)
Flat edges, flat display, flat rear panel
Square camera housing
With its flat edges, rounded corners, and almost square camera housing in the top-left corner, there are no prizes for guessing where Oppo got its inspiration for the Find X9 Pro's design. This is probably as close as a phone maker can legally get to the iPhone before Cupertino starts asking questions.
Specifically, the Find X9 Pro resembles last year’s iPhone 16 Pro Max. Its Snap Key and Quick Button are echoes of the Action Button and Camera Control and serve similar, if not identical, functions, and the curvature and overall ergonomics of the phone are reminiscent of last year’s Apple flagship (why the "Snap" key doesn't control the camera is lost on me).
As on OnePlus phones, the Snap Key replaces the ringer switch from last year’s model. While I was a fan of the convenience of the ringer switch, the modularity of the new button helps to make up for it. It's set to the new AI Mind Space feature by default, but I mostly had it set to control the flashlight.
The Find X9 Pro is beautifully made. My review unit came in the striking Silk While finish with a matte glass rear panel and satisfyingly bold aluminum rails. I’m a big fan of how subtle the branding is, too. The Oppo logo and Hasselblad icon on the camera housing only show up as light hits them, which gives the phone a sense of prestige.
As for the front panel, the 6.78-inch screen is surrounded on all sides by 1.15mm bezels that barely feel present during use. A punch-hole selfie camera sits at the top of the display. There’s also the standard power and volume buttons on the right side of the phone, and a USB-C port on the bottom edge by the main speakers. Unfortunately, I noticed some wobble in the buttons after just a few weeks of use, which isn’t the most encouraging thing to see.
At 8.3mm, the Find X9 Pro is barely thicker than last year’s Find X8 Pro, but feels a lot heftier due to its flattened sides. I think this makes the phone easier to take photos with, considering the location of the Quick Button, but I’ve got large hands – your mileage may vary. Overall, the Find X9 Pro is a good-looking phone, but doesn’t leave as much of an impression as the marbled design of the Find X8 Pro or the faux-leather body of the Find X6 Pro before that. It trades originality for subtlety, and I’m not sure that’s an equivalent exchange.
Design score: 3 / 5
Oppo Find X9 Pro review: Display
(Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)
6.78-inch display
1272 x 2772 resolution
120Hz refresh rate with 3600 nits of peak brightness
The Oppo Find X9 Pro’s display is second only to its camera system in the list of its best features. This is a huge, bright, sharp, and immersive panel that makes photos, videos, and games look vivid while providing plenty of room for browsing, scrolling, and even multitasking.
The Find X9 Pro’s display feels truly immersive. At 6.78 inches, it’s almost as large as the iPhone 17 Pro Max or Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, which have 6.9-inch panels, though to be honest, the Find X9 Pro is about as large as I’d want a phone to be. Its flat edges make the panel feel much more present and consistent than last year’s Find X8 Pro, but make using the phone a touch less comfortable, especially when dragging in gestures from the edges.
At a resolution of 1272 x 2772 pixels and a pixel density of 450ppi, the Find X9 Pro’s display is sharp and detailed, and its maximum typical brightness of 1800 nits is plenty bright for indoor or outdoor use (brightness peaks to 3600 nits for HDR media). It also gets down to a single nit at its minimum brightness – handy for use at night or in darker environments.
The display cycles at a static 120Hz, which works synergistically with ColorOS’ brilliant animation processing to offer a super-smooth UI experience. The display is unfailingly bright. Colors may be a touch less saturated than other flagship handsets, but not to a problematic degree. The settings app has a full section dedicated to color balance, too, so you can fine-tune the visuals to your liking.
The Find X9 Pro’s display is calibrated for balance out of the box, but the settings app is rich with color and brightness settings.
Display score: 5 / 5
Oppo Find X9 Pro review: Cameras
(Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)
50MP main camera
200MP telephoto camera with 3x zoom
50MP ultra-wide camera
50MP selfie camera
The Oppo Find X9 Pro has one of the most powerful camera systems you’ll find on any phone. Its 50MP main camera with a large 1/1.28-inch sensor picks up an excellent amount of light and detail. Its 200MP telephoto camera, with 3x relative optical zoom, can take full-resolution photos and reach into double-digit zoom lengths with a solid amount of detail. Its 50MP ultra-wide camera is sensibly relegated to third place but still produces great pictures in good conditions, and its 50MP selfie camera is a real step up from the Find X8 Pro’s 32MP sensor.
Taking photos is comfortable and enjoyable with the Find X9 Pro. I’m a big fan of the Quick Button, Oppo’s answer to the iPhone’s Camera Control, which is easy to work with thanks to the phone’s general bulk and flat aluminum chassis. The camera app is clean and keeps all the important settings within immediate reach or under a single menu, while the large display makes for a great viewfinder. As for video, the Find X9 Pro can shoot at a maximum of 4K at 120fps, or 1080p at 240fps.
The Find X9 Pro will default to taking full-resolution photos with its 50MP main camera, as long as the phone judges there's enough light around. That leads to more detailed photos, but it also takes up more storage. Similar is the new 4K motion photo capability, which ups the resolution of the video clip taken with each image, but again takes up more space.
So far, so good, but there is unfortunately a catch – Oppo has filled its image processing pipeline with what appears to be some pretty aggressive AI, which is hard to anticipate and impossible to switch off. At all ranges, there's a chance your image may become a mess of swirls and smudges as the AI image signal processing tries to replicate what you saw through the viewfinder. This seems to happen whether the AI Telescope Zoom feature is turned on or off.
Shooting on the Find X9 Pro is a joy, but aggressive post-processing can make it hard to predict how the final image will look. (Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)
That means that photography on the Find X9 Pro is intermittently transcendent and frustrating. When it’s good, the Find X9 Pro captures brilliant photos that contend with those taken on the best camera phones – dynamic, rich in detail, and naturally vivid. But every now and then, you’ll scroll through the gallery and find something that looks like it came straight out of the early days of Dall-E mini. It’s not too common, but it is unpredictable, which is almost worse.
In terms of photo-focused accessories, the Oppo Find X9 Pro launches alongside the Oppo Hasselblad Teleconverter Kit, which requires the Aramid Fiber Photography Case. The kit centers on an attachable telephoto lens that extends the reach of the telephoto camera to 10x, resulting in genuinely breathtaking images. It’s a beautiful and confusing thing to capture this much detail with a phone camera system.
However, the teleconverter kit isn’t available in the UK or Australia, so it doesn’t impact the score here – you can read my Oppo Find X9 Pro camera impressions for more on that. Still, even without a huge attachable zoom lens, the Find X9 Pro’s camera system is brilliant – yet I can’t ignore how much its aggressive post-processing annoys me.
Oppo Find X9 Pro Camera Samples
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Camera score: 4 / 5
Oppo Find X9 Pro review: Software and AI
(Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)
Android 16 with ColorOS 16
Possibly the smoothest Android wrapper
AI Mind Space is well executed
The Oppo Find X9 Pro ships with ColorOS 16, built on Android 16, and like ColorOS 15, it’s a smooth and well-formatted Android wrapper that takes obvious influence from iOS. You’ll notice Liquid Glass-style transparency effects, rounded square app icons, and a near-identical control center to the one found on an iPhone. But the outsider Oppo Find X9 Pro isn’t trying to compete with the iPhone – it’s trying to provide an alternative for Android enthusiasts, and under that lens, the aesthetic choices make sense.
If it seems like I’m being lenient on Oppo for jacking Apple’s style, it’s because I can’t get over how well ColorOS 16 runs. ColorOS (and by extension OxygenOS, the OnePlus equivalent) is the most performant and smoothest-running Android wrapper I’ve ever used. Thanks to parallel processing, several UI animations can run at the same time, and I like the way app windows and other elements react to your inputs.
This is the other end of the scale from the stiffness of Samsung’s One UI, and while some may find ColorOS feels a bit loose, for me, it’s the perfect way to keep things feeling fast and reactive.
That’s not to say ColorOS is perfect; there are some quirks. The one that appears most often is the Snap Key triggering things on screen – it seems the software registers a long press as some kind of input – not a dealbreaker by any means, but a strange oversight for a premium phone. And the Find X9 Pro comes with the usual folders of suggested apps (read: advertisements) and a handful of preinstalled bloatware apps, which is completely unacceptable on a phone that costs £1,099.
Unfortunate bloatware aside, the big-ticket software item on the Find X9 Pro is AI Mind Space, a transplant of OnePlus’ AI Plus Mind feature that launched earlier this year. The concept is a good one – a dedicated space for your various notes, screenshots, and digital ephemera that uses AI to pick out the important stuff.
AI Mind Space is bound to the Snap Key by default, with a short press taking a screenshot and scanning for information, and a long press recording an audio message. AI Mind Space can also be paired with Google Gemini to merge your assorted memories with the phone’s onboard Google AI tools. Even as an AI skeptic, I like AI Mind Space – it’s an intelligent and well-presented home for the disparate notes, screenshots, and audio recordings I make on a daily basis. You can also add your own notes to each memory, which is useful for context that the straightforward AI screenreader can’t gather.
It’s also worth giving O+ Connect a mention, Oppo’s app for cross-platform file management and remote control, specifically with Mac computers. It’s no replacement for AirDrop, but it is nice to have the option of easier cross-platform collaboration if you need to send something to a Mac-wielding friend or, like me, run a hybrid Android/MacOS everyday carry.
Software and AI score: 4 / 5
Oppo Find X9 Pro review: Performance
(Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)
MediaTek 9500 chipset
16GB of RAM
Performs admirably in a variety of tasks
The Oppo Find X9 Pro is one of the first phones in the world to launch with the MediaTek Dimensity 9500 chipset. Taiwan-based chipset manufacturer MediaTek has been a growing name in the mobile industry for a while, and the Dimensity 9500 delivers. The Find X9 Pro is fast and fluid in pretty much any scenario, and even with multiple apps open and on-screen I couldn’t find a way to slow it down.
For web browsing and social media, using the Find X9 Pro is like driving to the grocery store in a tank, but when things heat up, that extra power really comes in handy. Things do literally heat up, though, as I noticed the Find X9 Pro getting a bit toasty at times – understandable during long gaming sessions or when pushing the camera system, but a little puzzling when swiping through Instagram.
As for memory, the Find X9 Pro comes in a single configuration, with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, and both feel plentiful. That large RAM budget gives the phone flexibility when it comes to multitasking and AI – I noticed that I rarely had to reload pages or apps. And 512GB of storage is, in my opinion, more than enough for any smartphone – though the camera’s high-resolution imaging modes will fill up that space pretty quickly.
Everything about the Find X9 Pro is just fast. The in-display fingerprint scanner is basically instant. Installing and opening apps is painless; I can hop into Call of Duty or Fortnite or Capcut and trust things will just work, which, to me, is the ideal phone experience. Accessing the camera is fast thanks to the Quick Button. And thus far, I haven't encountered any crashes or experience-breaking glitches. The phone does get hot intermittently, which I’m keeping an eye on, and if I can get really nitpicky, the speakers are a little too sibilant for my preference. Otherwise, the Find X9 Pro excels.
Performance score: 4/5
Oppo Find X9 Pro review: Battery
(Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)
7,500mAh silicon-carbon battery – almost as large as an 11-inch iPad
80W wired charging
50W wireless charging
The Oppo Find X9 Pro has a 7,500mAh silicon-carbon battery. There are no adjectives I could use to accurately convey how huge that is, so let’s get into some comparisons.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has a 5,000mAh battery, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max with e-SIM has a 5,088mAh battery. These are considered excellent battery capacities by phone standards.
The Oppo Find X8 Pro managed an impressive 5,910mAh, while the OnePlus 13, which we showered with praise for its fantastic battery life, has a 6,000mAh battery. That’s quite a bit larger than the average phone battery already, but the Oppo Find X9 Pro blows both of these flagships out of the water.
The Find X9 Pro’s battery is so large that it makes more sense to compare it to tablets. According to PhoneArena, the 2025 base-model iPad has a 7,698mAh battery, which is fractionally larger than the battery in the Oppo Find X9 Pro. Holding the two devices side by side makes this feel physically impossible, but Oppo has leveraged the energy density and capacity benefits of silicon-carbon technology to make it so. It’s a serious engineering win that other phone makers should look to for inspiration.
As you might expect, battery life is unfailingly excellent. I frequently got one and a half or even two full days of use from the Oppo Find X9 Pro, and support for 80W SuperVOOC charging (that’s proprietary Oppo charging tech, so not all high-wattage chargers will deliver it) meant top-ups were pretty swift too. I would often plug in the Find X9 Pro to charge, look away for what felt like no time at all, and come back to an additional 40% charge, and topping up from empty to full took no more than an hour.
Battery score: 5/5
Should you buy the Oppo Find X9 Pro?
Oppo Find X9 Pro score card
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Value
The Oppo Find X9 Pro isn't cheap, but it steadily undercuts its closest mainstream competition
4 / 5
Design
Without the quirky materials and curved frame of last year's model, the Find X9 Pro is left feeling a little unoriginal. Superb build quality, though.
3 / 5
Display
A terrific display made all the more immersive by new flat edges and a sharp resolution.
5 / 5
Software
Bloatware is inexcusable at this price point, and there are a few quirks to smooth out, but, damn, ColorOS 16 is just so smooth.
4 / 5
Camera
The Find X9 Pro comes equipped with an overpowered camera system that opens a world of photo possibilities. Aggressive post-processing adds annoying guesswork to shoots.
4 / 5
Performance
Oppo has done its thing and equipped the Find X9 Pro with a handful of very powerful internal components. No complaints other than a bit of occasional heat.
4 / 5
Battery
A 7,500mAh cell means the Find X9 Pro is in a league of its own when it comes to battery life. Charging is quick, considering the massive capacity.
5 / 5
Buy it if
You want a powerful camera phone
If you can bear with its occasionally aggressive post-processing, the Oppo Find X9 Pro's camera system is one of the most powerful on the market, and takes fabulous photos. View Deal
You want a huge battery
The Oppo Find X9 Pro's battery is so large it'll make you rethink the way you approach charging, and how much battery life is enough for a day's use. Ludicrously good. View Deal
Don't buy it if
You want something familiar
Oppo has created a powerful phone with a great software experience, but it'll be harder to find others using the same platform if that matters to you. View Deal
You don't need loads of power
Despite offering pretty good value for money, the Find X9 Pro is mighty expensive. If you're not a power user, there are cheaper and more suitable options, such as the OnePlus 13R listed below. View Deal
Also consider
iPhone 17 Pro Max
The Oppo Find X9 Pro takes so much inspiration from the iPhone 16 Pro Max that anyone who isn’t a diehard Android fan should give the latter’s current-gen counterpart some consideration. Apple’s latest big flagship is the company’s best camera phone ever, and it produces excellent photos despite boasting lower-resolution sensors than the Find X9 Pro. You also get access to the App Store and easier networking with MacBooks and other Apple devices.
Want a beastly Android camera phone but need a more familiar interface and a more developed ecosystem than Oppo can offer? The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra could be for you. Its quad-camera setup is one of the best on the market, while the 6.8-inch display and built-in S Pen make it a great productivity tool.
The Oppo Find X9 Pro is a heavyweight, both in its build and its ability. If you’d rather have something a touch lighter in the hand and on the pockets, the OnePlus 13R is a great choice. With the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, 12GB of RAM, and a genuinely great camera system, the OnePlus 13R is a cheaper flagship with few compromises.
I used the Oppo Find X9 Pro over the course of a month, putting it through daily use and a number of specific performance and charging tests. I made and received calls, chatted over SMS, WhatsApp, and social media, took plenty of photos and videos, and played games like Fortnite and Call of Duty Mobile. I also tried out AI Mind Space.
Before completing this review, I adopted the Oppo Find X9 Pro as my daily driver, then combined my experience with the phone with my journalistic training and knowledge of the phone industry to provide an accurate assessment.
Today, Opera has announced that it's opening up public access to Opera Neon, which is its experimental browser for AI power users, "who wish to get access and make the most of the newest AI technologies as they emerge".
Neon has been available in a closed "Founders" phase since October 2 - think of it like a closed beta. Now we're in the open beta phase, and anyone can join - on Windows and Mac.
Neon is described by its maker as "an agentic browser". It uses AI agents to perform tasks and even code web apps rather than just display web pages. It also gives you access to Gemini 3 Pro...
The European Commission is now launching an investigation into whether WhatsApp's new policy that disallows AI providers from using its business tools to communicate with users may breach EU competition rules.
On the face of it, things are pretty clear - WhatsApp owner Meta has Meta AI, which is very prominently featured inside all of its apps, including WhatsApp. And while competing AI providers have been able to offer their chatbots inside WhatsApp, Meta recently prohibited third party AI providers from using the WhatsApp business tools "when AI is the primary service...
Opera has announced new AI upgrades for its Android browser, Opera for Android, as it aims to bring its AI capabilities closer to those of its flagship desktop browser, dubbed Opera One.
First is Ask AI, which gets a new access point for all AI queries in the browser. Just tap on the browser's search bar and select the "Ask AI" option to open a new search bar. This will allow you to switch between traditional web search and AI queries easily.
Next is the ability to attach files in the new search bar for AI to translate, summarize, or explain. This includes support for PDFs and...
Samsung has been testing One UI 8.5 for a while, though not everything is going to plan. But now we have a detailed list of what to expect from the next major update.
Tarun Vats has posted a leaked changelog for One UI 8.5. There will be improvements to DeX, e.g. the size and position of app windows will be remembered. The battery will get a new, more detailed info screen with remaining time, charging status and daily usage reports for the past week. Adding to this is the improved Power Saving mode that will offer a choice between Standard and Maximum saving levels.
Leaked Samsung...
