Prices of flagship phones blew past the $1,000 mark a few years ago and unlike, say, the Asian market, the US doesn’t have a wide selection of “flagship killers”. But the right model at the right discount could be a great deal.
The new Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is down to $600 and you get a $100 Amazon Gift Card with that. When we say “new”, we should mention that it uses last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. On the plus side, you get Samsung’s long term software support (4 OS updates so it will get Android 17 and will get security patches until late 2028). There’s also DeX, the desktop...
Wing is Finnish brand Suunto’s first foray into the best bone conduction headphones market, and while it may be dominated by Shokz (formerly AfterShokz), there is clearly room for more players here.
Suunto is best known for making some of the best running watches, including the Suunto 9 Peak Pro, and it brings with it a wealth of outdoor experience which really shows in Wing. It’s well-designed in that it feels tough and built to withstand whatever you can throw at it.
The addition of a carry-case that doubles up as a charger is brilliant, as it extends battery life to more than 20 hours, which is perfect for ultra-endurance athletes or off-grid enthusiasts. It’s unusual to find in connected bone conduction headsets, and it’s nice to see tech common in the best workout earbuds make its way here.
Plus, the decision to place customizable LED safety lights at the flanks is proof that Suunto really understands its audience. These are people trail-running in the wilderness or forging new pathways at the weekends.
The biggest issue facing bone conduction technology is the sound quality and anyone making the leap from respected in-ear or over-ear headphones will likely be disappointed. But the additional spatial awareness afforded by open-ear headphones designed for outdoor sports unfortunately comes with a little audio quality compromise and it is the same story here.
Suunto Wing: Specifications
Suunto Wing: Price and availability
(Image credit: Future)
$199 in the US
£169 in the UK
AUS $319 in Australia
Suunto Wing is, quite predictably, available to buy from the brand’s own website, where it retails at $199 / £169 / AUS $319.
Suunto also sells via online retailers, such as Amazon, although stock has been a little patchy at time of writing. Failing that, it is also available via some outdoors and sports retailers, such as BikeInn, but prices are standardized across the board, so it’s currently tricky to find a bargain.
The only variable available to the customer is color, with Suunto Wing coming in either a stealthy all-black offering or a slightly more noticeable black and red. Both pack the same price tag: more than the Shokz OpenRun Pro, its nearest competitor.
Value score: 3/5
Suunto WIng: Design
Lightweight, tough titanium alloy structure
Three-button controls
Bold design, attractive red colorway
Most bone conduction headphones look largely the same: the general theme sees two buds that sit just in front of the ear, conjoined by some sort of metallic band that is covered in a softer material so it doesn’t rub on the back of the neck.
To that extent, the design of the Suunto Wing is nothing revolutionary, but it feels altogether more premium as soon as you lift it out of the equally bougie box. The Suunto branding is bold and the color choice looks good, particularly with the red highlights on the model that I tested.
Suunto opts for a titanium alloy structure, covered in soft silicone, for its band, which proves both lightweight and tough. The buds that conduct sound to the inner ear via a series of vibrations are also covered in soft silicone and feel comfortable against the skin.
Control is taken care of by a trio of buttons that, although small, are easy to locate once familiar with the system. The main multi-function button on the right-hand earbud takes care of most functionality, as it is possible to answer calls, play music, and skip tracks with a combination of clicks.
Arguably coolest of all are the three red LEDs that sit on either side of Wing, which can be turned on or off (or cycled through the various flashing modes) by long-holding the volume down button, or through the Suunto smartphone app when the headphones are paired. For some reason, it reminded me of The Predator’s laser-targeting vision.
Finally, and perhaps what sets Suunto apart from rivals, is the unique charging dock that not only stores the headphones neatly when not in use, but also adds additional battery power every time the Wing is mounted. It’s a slick piece of design that features its own red LED lights that reveal the charge level of both the dock and the headphones.
Design score: 4/5
Suunto Wing: Features
(Image credit: Future)
20Hz bone conductive technology
IP67 water resistance rating
Three hours of audio on 10-minute charge
The technology that powers Suunto Wing is housed within the two buds at the end of the band. These then sit on the jawbone of the wearer and send frequencies in the range of 20Hz～20kHz through the bone structure and into the inner ear.
This leaves the ear canal open to natural sounds from the environment, making bone conduction technology a lot safer to use when you need your wits about you - i.e. trail running or even cycling on a busy road.
Built tough, the Wing has been IP67 rated for water, dust and muck resistance, meaning they can be submerged in water up to a maximum depth of 10m for around 30 minutes. Granted, they aren’t fully waterproof and as such, aren’t sold as a device to lap the local pool in, but can handle most other situations. Suunto has also implemented a microphone into the design, which allows the wearer to make and receive hands-free calls.
There is also head movement control that gives the option to answer or reject incoming calls and skip tracks with various head movements, like nodding or shaking your noggin. This is fully controllable through Suunto’s smartphone app and you can easily turn the feature off if you don’t like it.
Again, the power bank that comes with the Suunto Wing is fairly novel, as it adds a further 20 hours of music playtime to an already impressive battery life and delivers three hours of audio via a quick 10-minute charge. It’s small enough, unobtrusive and designed to fend off the worst of the elements, so can be shoved in a backpack or bundled into some bike luggage and taken along for the adventure.
Features score: 4/5
Suunto Wing: Performance
(Image credit: Future)
Better audio than Shokz
Tangible vibration
Fends off rain
If you test Suunto Wing back-to-back with its closest rival, which in this case is arguably the Shokz OpenRun Pro in terms of price and features, Suunto’s offering comes out on top of the audio quality battle.
Bass is handled better and the overall experience isn’t as tinny. But let’s be real, the sound quality is still pretty bad. I found that I had to pump music up to high volumes to hear it over the general noise of traffic or the rush of trees flowing past on a gravel ride.
The brain is clever, and it tunes into the bone conduction technology after a few minutes, doing its best to block out ambient noise until it is required, but I still couldn’t get into my favourite musical tracks and playlists.
Instead, I opted to binge podcasts and audiobooks as a preferred distraction when out on a boring run or long hike. The sonic spectrum of a podcast is more limited than, say, a Slipknot track, so I found it much easier to tune into. With music, I found my brain tuned out after a while and often stopped listening altogether, with music becoming a sort of faint backing track.
Another issue that blights bone conduction technology is increased tangible vibration at higher volume. In other words, you can physically feel the headphones shake if you turn things up too loud, which can be off-putting.
In terms of fit, I found them comfortable and secure. The design is such that they don’t bounce or rub around the back of the neck when jogging, trail running or participating in other energetic tasks. They are also tough, and will withstand a fair amount of rolling around the bottom of a gym bag without worrying about providing an additional carry case.
With regards to water-proofing, I didn’t want to test these in a pool, seeing as they are not really marketed as waterproof headphones, but the IP67 rating states it can happily undergo “short periods of immersion”. I can say they will happily fend off a deluge when you are out running. In fact, I can’t remember a run I’ve been on in the last month that hasn’t been damp and dismal.
In the third quarter of this year (July to September), smartphone shipments in the US grew sequentially (compared to Q2) by 21% to 31 million units, according to the latest report by Canalys.
This growth was driven by Apple's release of the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max, which accounted for 34% of all iPhone sales in the US in Q3 despite only being on sale for a few days. However, the market was down 5% year-on-year.
Carrier promotions targeting premium device upgrades helped that downward trend not be any worse, but Apple's very late in the quarter...
Samsung is finally ready with the US One UI 6 update for the Galaxy S23 series, nearly two weeks after the firmware was issued to European users.
It seems Samsung needed more time to iron out some early bugs and bring the firmware up to the November security patch - you'll remember EU units got bumped to the October patch.
T-Mobile users in the US are reporting on Reddit that they're receiving the One UI 6 update. It's around 3.3GBs. It seems the update hasn't reached Verizon or AT&T units just yet.
The firmware update, source: Reddit
Source 1 | 2
The Oppo A78 doesn’t exactly make a glowing first impression – take it out of the box, tap its back, flick through its menus and you’ll find what seems to be your generic budget phone. But use the phone for a while and you’ll find that it’s surprisingly impressive for its price.
At £219 / AU$359 (roughly $280), this sits comfortably in the ‘cheap phone’ category, a smartphone sector that’s as competitive as it is devoid of brand-new ideas. And the Oppo doesn’t win its commendations by trying something novel and whacky, but by being solid with a few areas that reach above its position…
… and two areas that fail dramatically. More on those later.
The Oppo A78 is one of Oppo’s budget A-series mobiles, which sits below the mid-range Reno and top-end Find X families of premium devices. The A-series has often suffered from a lack of love compared to the Reno and Find lines. But like a forgotten third child, A-series phones can often surprise you; that’s the case here.
While the A78 has a few traits that immediately give away its budget status, like the flat-edge design and tear-drop notch that breaks up the screen, it feels a lot more premium than many rivals. There’s no cheap, tacky plastic casing, instead, you'll find a shiny textured rear and a fingerprint scanner that’s one of the best around.
(Image credit: Future)
This Oppo A78 is surprisingly great at gaming too/ Despite having a low-end chipset and only 4GB RAM, in testing there were rarely stutters or issues playing top-end titles. If you’re a gamer on a budget, this mobile is well worth considering.
The stereo speakers here are genuinely impressive too, as they sound more balanced than you usually hear on a cheap smartphone. It was genuinely a treat playing games or watching shows on the Oppo, which is something it’s pretty hard to say about lots of its rivals.
But let’s put a pin in the compliments – you were promised criticisms too. Firstly, there’s the pre-installed app situation (that’s bloatware, to give it its less complimentary name). These are sadly commonplace in budget phones, but the A78 had a ludicrous number of them – including 18 different games.
The phone’s camera is pretty pathetic too, with the camera test snaps looking so much more pixelly and duller than they should; seriously, they're the closest thing cameras can create to impressionist paintings. Skip straight down to the ‘Camera samples’ section if you want to have nightmares tonight.
So it’s easy to recommend the Oppo A78 as a great budget phone if you’re not a big photographer, and if you’re happy spending some time deleting a load of random apps that come on the phone or automatically install themselves.
While “you’ll like it if you ignore some of it” may seem like a very loaded compliment, it’s generally the case for all budget and mid-range phones, and more so than for many of its rivals, the Oppo genuinely does shine for most use cases.
Oppo A78 review: price and availability
Unveiled in early 2023
Hard to find in UK, not on sale in US
Costs £219 / AU$359 (around $280)
(Image credit: Future)
The Oppo A78 was unveiled at the beginning of 2023, though you may find it hard to track down in the UK, as not many retailers appear to stock it.
The handset costs £219 in the UK and $359 in Australia, where it’s a lot easier to buy. That roughly converts to $280 in the US, however, Oppo doesn’t offer its mobiles in the country.
You could have guessed that price from the name, though, as Oppo’s A-series is its budget family of mobiles, with the A78 one of the first of the AX8 family, replacing the AX7 line.
Some of the phone’s biggest competitors at that price are its own Oppo A siblings as well as Moto’s G53 and G73, the Redmi Note 12 and the Nokia G42, to name a few – all of these are budget mobiles around the same price point that offer relatively comparable specs and experiences.
Value score: 4 / 5
Oppo A78 review: specs
The Oppo A78 roughly matches your typical budget smartphone in its specs:
Oppo A78 review: design
Surprisingly premium feel in hand
Reliable fingerprint scanner
3.5mm headphone jack and USB-C port
(Image credit: Future)
The Oppo A78 doesn’t vary much from the standard budget phone design template used for the majority of similar mobiles over the last few years: it’s a ‘chocolate-bar’ style mobile with flat and angular edges.
It’s not a small phone, measuring 163.8 x 75.1 x 8mm, so it might be a stretch to comfortably hold if you have a smaller hand, but weighing 188g it’s not that heavy.
The glossy rear back looks surprisingly premium compared to the cheap feel of the plastic used for many budget phones. TechRadar’s test unit came in black, but depending on your region, you can also get your hands on a vibrant glowing lilac model. This version also has a glossy rear, broken up by a strip to the side that houses the two slim camera bumps, as well as the words ‘innovative AI camera’.
Around the edges of the chassis, you’re getting the standard phone fare: the bottom houses a USB-C port and 3.5mm headphone jack, the left side has a volume rocker, there’s nothing on top and the right edge has the power button with an embedded fingerprint scanner. This sensor was incredibly responsive, a surprise how much of a wild west this kind of tech can be in phones.
Another important thing to raise is the IP54 rating of the phone, which means the Oppo is protected from splashes of water or dust, but won’t survive immersion in liquid or blasts of many fine particles.
Design score: 4 / 5
Oppo A78 review: display
Low max brightness
HD resolution and 90Hz don't match some competitors
Big 6.56-inch size
(Image credit: Future)
Touting a 6.56-inch LCD screen, the Oppo A78’s display could easily be called ‘big’, even if there are larger screens in use for top-end and even some budget phones. Still, the size is useful for gaming or streaming.
It’s an HD+ screen, with a resolution of 720 x 1612; some rival handsets at this price do boast FHD+ displays. You can also find 120Hz refresh rates on some same-priced mobiles, though the 90Hz here does trump many other rivals – and won’t matter to people who don’t notice the smoother motions that higher refresh rate displays provide.
If you’re not accustomed to other screens on modern phones, then you certainly won’t mind the Oppo A78’s display – it’s big and bold (though not quite as bright as you’d want, capping at 600 nits).
Display score: 3 / 5
Oppo A78 review: software
Older Android 12 build
ColorOS has a colorful design but few features
The phone has staggering bloatware issues
An illustration of the bloatware on the Oppo A78. Other than Ecosia (our chosen browser, as Android asks you to pick), PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty: Mobile and City Smash 2, these apps all either came pre-loaded on the phone, or installed themselves during the set-up process. (Image credit: Future / Oppo)
The Oppo A78 doesn’t come with the newest version of Android, something that may irk software aficionados but that doesn’t have much of a functional impact on the phone. It comes with Android 12, which has been replaced by Android 13 these days.
Laid over the top of this is Oppo’s ColorOS, a largely aesthetically inclined fork that replaces stock Android with a colorful and punchy user interface. There aren’t that many unique features here, but the swipe-down quick settings menu is more attractive than most.
The phone has a truly jaw-dropping number of pre-installed apps, though, more so than other budget phones. As well as useful first-party apps there are a number of third-party ones that you might choose to delete like Netflix, Spotify, TikTok, LinkedIn and Facebook, but the egregious issue is the sheer number of games that come on the phone by default.
These include big-name ones like Candy Crush Saga and Lords Mobile but plenty more dodgy-looking small ones too – in the above image, you can count 18 that either came on the phone by default or are automatically downloaded without a user clicking 'install' in the app store. Not a good look by any means, unless you like feeling alienated from your own mobile.
Software score: 2 / 5
Oppo A78 review: cameras
50MP main and 2MP depth-sensing camera
Photos are grainy and lack dynamic range
The 8MP selfie camera performs better
(Image credit: Future)
Is it a budget Android phone if it doesn’t have a 50MP camera? Oppo has opted to use the same type of camera that the vast majority of the A78’s competitors also boast. But that’s far from a bad thing, as the 50MP camera phone revolution has brought benefits to the photography of low-cost mobiles.
Somehow, though, the A78 takes worse pictures than basically any other phone using this kind of main sensor. Snaps looked grainy and fuzzy, as though the whole world was made of Lego. Plus there's poor dynamic range and a deficit of sharpness. This wasn’t even a resolution issue, with pictures defaulting to 12.5MP thanks to pixel binning – though at a glance you’d think snaps were 1.25MP.
Of course, you can’t expect premium-tier photography from a budget device, but the Oppo A78 really couldn’t be further from the likes of the Oppo Find X6, and isn’t recommendable to people who use phone cameras much. Let’s not even talk about AI optimization, oftentimes the saving grace of budget phones, because the A78’s designers seemingly didn’t either.
The phone offers the ability to capture 108MP snaps in its Extra HD mode – while the usefulness of this is deeply questionable, given the aforementioned resolution issues it worked as intended during testing, capturing high-res snaps that you could zoom far into. For some users, this may compensate for the lack of a dedicated zoom camera, letting you get closer to a picture without losing quality as standard digital zoom does.
Joining the main camera is a 2MP depth sensor for portrait photography, which presumably brings some benefits for artificial bokeh blur. But isn’t as useful for photo fans as, say, an ultrawide, telephoto or macro camera would be.
The phone has an 8MP camera at the front. Selfies weren’t especially detailed or sharp, though thanks to the AI processing (which makes a belated appearance!) they’re punchy and vibrant. Portrait mode though provided some pretty questionable bokeh, with a tendency to blur too much of the subject’s hair or face. Oppo would have done well to indulge in a better camera here, and as it stands the A78 isn’t ideal for people who want Instagram-worthy snaps.
Some standard photo modes are present on the phone, like Night or Panorama, and Night does give you a bit more detail for low-light shots, with most other modes performing exactly how you expect. There’s no macro mode, with Oppo dropping it with no macro or ultra-wide lens to use it with, but there is a Pro mode.
Video recording maxes out at 1080p on both the front and rear cameras (not simultaneously). And while there are time-lapse and slow-mo modes, they offer little control over resolution and frame rate.
Oppo A78 camera samples
Image 1 of 7
While this isn't an artistic shot, zooming into the grass betrays all of the camera's issues. It looks more like an optical illusion than a grassland. (Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 7
London's blocky architecture makes the phone's grainy style seem natural. (Image credit: Future)
Image 3 of 7
Golden Hour lets you forget camera issues to an extent, but zoom into the grass or buildings. (Image credit: Future)
Image 4 of 7
In this park shot, the trees look blocky enough to be in Minecraft, with dynamic range issues making them all look like similar species. (Image credit: Future)
Image 5 of 7
The natural quirks of low-light photography plaster over the Oppo A78's issues. (Image credit: Future)
Image 6 of 7
Selfies on the Oppo A78 are sufficiently bright, but scroll along to Portrait mode next. (Image credit: Future)
Image 7 of 7
As you can see, hair is a little blurry at the edges of the face in Portrait mode. (Image credit: Future)
Camera score: 2 / 5
Oppo A78: performance and audio
Dimensity 700 is relatively powerful
128GB expandable storage plus 4GB RAM
Fairly balanced stereo speakers, plus 3.5mm and Bluetooth 5.3
Now from the Oppo A78’s surprising weakness to its surprising strength: the phone is a wolf in sheep’s clothing when it comes to performance.
The phone packs a MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset, a piece of hardware that has a proven history of transforming cheap phones into worthy processing champs (well, compared to same-priced rivals, don’t expect iPhone power here).
In gaming tests, the Oppo performed much better than its same-priced contemporaries – it rarely stuttered in Call of Duty Mobile and powered through PUBG Mobile without any issues. Through an overabundance of caution the random pre-installed apps weren’t included in testing, but sticking to big-name titles, the A78 is thoroughly impressive.
The handset comes with 128GB storage, though there’s a microSD slot that lets you bump that figure up if you need more space. The RAM is at 4GB, a fairly low amount for a modern phone. Clearly, it didn’t matter much given the performance. RAM expansion, which temporarily uses the phone’s storage space as RAM, helps a lot too.
In terms of audio, the Oppo A78 has stereo speakers – but unlike many budget phones, which have a powerful down-facing but pathetic top-mounted output, these are two fairly equal speakers. This makes gaming and watching streaming services a much more enjoyable experience than on some rivals.
There’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack for people who like wired headphones or aux cords, and Bluetooth 5.3 for those living the wire-free life. This latter is actually a fairly new standard, and many of the A78’s same-priced and even pricier rivals still use 5.1 – the benefit of 5.3 comes in the form of energy saving, better encryption and increased switching between low- and heavy-duty cycles.
Performance score: 3.5 / 5
Oppo A78 review: battery life
Reliable day-long battery power
Nice big 5,000mAh power pack
33W charging powers to full in over an hour
(Image credit: Future)
Like 50MP cameras, 5,000mAh batteries are arguably synonymous with the budget smartphone in this day and age, and the Oppo A78 isn’t shaking anything up here. It packs this same heavy-duty power packet, and it performs just as expected.
That means that the phone will sail through a day of use easily, without needing to be charged mid-way through. Intensive tasks like gaming binges or photography sessions will tax it (though heaven knows why you’d want to do much of the latter), but in testing, it always managed to last through a day.
Don’t expect a two-day battery life though, unless you’re very economical with your use – just a reliable one-day battery life.
Charging is done at 33W, which is a little slow given that 67W and higher are becoming used in low-cost mobiles. That means you’ll have to be charging for over an hour to get from an empty tank to a full one, though Oppo states that you can get to half-charge in half an hour.
Battery score: 3.5 / 5
Should you buy the Oppo A78?
Buy it if...
You're a mobile gamer on a budget There are very few mobiles at this price point that are fun to game on, but the Oppo's big screen, decent speakers and processing power are a match made in heaven.
You like side-mounted fingerprint scanners Different phone fans prefer their fingerprint scanners in different places, but if you like the phone's edge to house its sensor, then you'll love the A78, as it was really responsive.
You're not fussed about software Some phone fans really care about having the newest Android build, but the A78 doesn't and likely won't see an update any time soon. This is one for those who don't even know what OS their current phone has.
Don't buy it if...
You're a photography fan Unless you want to take photos that look like Minecraft screenshots, avoid the A78's camera.
You want a working phone out of the box Given its huge number of bloatware apps, you'll need to spend time deleting these additions, which isn't great given how clean some rivals are.
You have small hands With a big screen and bigger body, the Oppo A78 won't feel great for people with smaller hands, as you'll need to stretch to reach the screen or fingerprint scanner.
Oppo A78 review: Also consider
There are plenty of fantastic budget Android phones out there. If you want to see what the Oppo A78 is bumping up against, here are a selection of its close rivals:
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Costing the same as the Oppo, this Redmi phone has a much better display and cameras that aren't horrible, but has a weaker chipset and a bigger body.
Nokia G42 This Nokia is a touch cheaper than the A78, and it has very similar specs in the display, battery and camera departments. The lower cost gets a weaker chip and slower charging.
How I tested the Oppo A78
Review test period = 2 week
Testing included = Everyday usage, including web browsing, social media, photography, video calling, gaming, streaming video, music playback
The model of Oppo A78 I tested was the black one, in its sole configuration of 4GB RAM and 128GB storage, though I spent the majority of the test period using RAM boost to get 8GB effective RAM.
After receiving the Oppo A78 I turned it on to let the battery power settle (and to ready up all the apps I wanted), and it was activated for roughly a week when I was simply preparing it. This time isn't included in the aforementioned test period.
Lots of the test period was taken up with the phone simply being used as an everyday handset, for social media, music streaming and Google Maps. And I'm currently deep into Call of Duty Mobile, so that took up a lot of the use time too. Several camera test sessions were conducted, but it was pretty sad to spend time lining up the perfect snap only for it to turn out as a pixel art piece.
I was a writer and editor for TechRadar's phone team for several years so I've got plenty of experience testing mobiles like this, particularly in the budget end of the market – I've used low-cost devices from almost every major brand, and also focused lots of my efforts on Chinese mobiles like those from Oppo. I still review phones for TechRadar, especially budget devices, so have tested some of the Oppo's contemporary rivals.
OnePlus has been using its budget Nord line to shake things up compared to its top-end numbered line. And its latest phone finds another way to be different; while the likes of the OnePlus 11 have nice and simple names, the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite opts to instead have a ridiculously bloated title.
‘Nord’ is the budget arm of OnePlus, ‘CE’ is the budget arm of Nord and ‘Lite’ tells you that this is an even budget-ier phone than its budget brothers. Confusing etymology out the way, the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite is a pretty standard Android phone, with its only noteworthy feature being its obnoxious name.
This handset is partly an affordable alternative to the OnePlus Nord CE 3, with a similar design and software but weaker specs in a limited few areas. But it’s just as easy to call it a successor to the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite from 2022, with a few upgrades and several curious features carried over. It’s also seen a relatively major price jump from that previous handset.
Admittedly the Nord CE 3 didn't launch in many regions, making the Lite a bigger opportunity for OnePlus to get people to give its CE line a fighting chance.
The price increase here is an issue because costing £299 (around $350 / AU$520), the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite is bumping heads with some (relatively) super-spec’d similar-price rivals, and it’s not a favorable comparison given the competitive nature of phones at this price point.
(Image credit: Future)
One of the selling points of the phone is its 108MP main camera, making the Nord CE 3 Lite the first CE handset to use a high-res main camera like this. Functionally this doesn’t change much, but it does give you the option to eat through your storage space at an even faster rate.
A new feature that’s actually useful is the 67W fast charging; Nord phones generally come with luxuriously big batteries, but with the slow charging taking ages to power them to full. Now, however, you’re getting a day’s worth of power from just half an hour of charging.
Most of the best parts of this phone are carried over from the Nord CE 3 too like the aforementioned big battery, as well as the large display and microSDXC card slot. However, some of the downgrades are where the phone is weakest: its chip is weak for gaming, it misses out on an ultra-wide camera and the screen uses LCD tech instead of OLED.
Curiously, these were all some of the weakest points of the Nord CE 2 Lite – clearly, OnePlus missed a memo somewhere.
So the handset is a mixed bag with some useful features but a few too many weak areas to make the device recommendable over similar-priced rivals.
OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite review: price and availability
Released in April 2023
Costs £299 (around $350 / AU$520)
Unavailable in US or Australia
(Image credit: Future)
The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite went on sale in April 2023, in Europe at least because OnePlus doesn’t sell its CE models in the US.
The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite costs £299 (around $350 / AU$520), and for that price you’ll get 8GB RAM and 128GB storage – in the UK, this is the only variant available, though you can pick between Pastel Lime and Chromatic Gray.
At that price, the phone straddles the line between ‘budget’ and ‘mid-range’ mobile, Some other phones at this price point include Xiaomi’s impressive Redmi Note 12 Pro or the Poco X5 Pro, two handsets explored in the comparisons section later.
Value score: 2.5 / 5
OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite review: specs
The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite is your typical budget smartphone in most regards when it comes to specifications:
OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite review: design
Standard chocolate-bar phone
Mostly-reliable fingerprint scanner
3.5mm headphone jack and USB-C port
(Image credit: Future)
OnePlus has opted to use the same rough design for the Nord CE 3 Lite that it uses for basically all of its budget mobiles. That means it’s your standard ‘chocolate-bar’ style smartphone.
The back of the handset has circular camera bumps, which don’t protrude too much, so the phone won’t wobble a lot when put down on a flat surface. The fingerprint scanner is mounted on the right edge of the OnePlus, built into the power button – it was fairly reliable to use, but there were occasions when it didn’t pick up a print. Then on the opposite edge is the volume rocker, with both a USB-C port and 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom frame of the device.
This Nord CE 3 Lite is big, as smartphones go, with dimensions of 165.5 x 76 x 8.3mm, though weighing 195g it’s not especially heavy. Still, don't opt for this mobile if you want a nice compact phone, as it could be hard to use – in fact, even fairly average-sized hands and will see you stretching to reach the fingerprint scanner.
Both the frame and the back panel of the CE 3 Lite are made of plastic, a common material for budget mobiles. While it doesn’t lead to a premium feel in the hand it does make the handset a little more durable. An official IP rating would add to that durability but unfortunately there isn’t one – don’t get this device wet!
Sadly, OnePlus has followed the mainstream phone trend of using a flat frame, which means that when you’re holding the phone – especially if you’re stretching your hand to do so, it can dig into your hand a little bit and get uncomfortable.
There are two colors to the phone: green and gray. TechRadar's test unit was the former, a vibrant lime hue that’s a little more exciting than the options you see in many other Nord devices.
Design score: 3.5 / 5
OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite review: display
Giant 6.72-inch screen
FHD+ resolution fit for games or movies
LCD screen means colors aren't bold
(Image credit: Future)
The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite’s display is nice and big, with its 6.72-inch screen giving you plenty of viewing room for social media or your streaming service of choice. Plus, its resolution is 1080 x 2400 or FHD+, so unlike some low-budget mobiles you won’t have to drop any pixels.
The display also has a 120Hz refresh rate, so the image updates 120 times per second, making motion look nice and smooth on the display.
The downside to the display is that it’s LCD, which means colors aren’t quite as bold and bright as they would be on another phone – LCD used to be reserved for budget phones but nowadays many use OLED too. If you care about screen quality this may be a reason to spend a little more on the AMOLED-touting Nord CE 3.
Display score: 3 / 5
OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite review: software
Phone runs newest Android software, Android 13
OnePlus' OxygenOS laid over the top
OxygenOS brings useful extra tools like Zen
(Image credit: Future)
As with all OnePlus phones, the Nord CE 3 Lite uses Android with OnePlus’ own user interface laid over the top. In this case, it’s Android 13 on the base with OxygenOS 13.
OxygenOS is a popular user interface for Android fans, even though in recent years it’s lost its unique identity due to it blurring together with Oppo’s ColorOS (a merger several years ago made OnePlus just one part of Oppo).
Some of the unique features of the software include a Zen Space app that lets you limit the phone to focus when you’re working, and a Smart Launcher that dynamically adjusts your home page widgets and apps to help your workflow.
Coupled with the 120Hz refresh rate display, the software made navigating the phone feel smooth and easy, which is certainly something you can’t say often for handsets at this price point. That’s despite OxygenOS 13 feeling a little more cluttered than earlier versions of the software.
In TechRadar's OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite review, the reviewer criticized its app bloatware, a complaint critics have been leveling against cheap phones since the dawn of time, but usually to little avail – until now. The CE 3 Lite has barely any pre-installed apps that aren’t the default system ones, adding to OxygenOS’ clean feel.
Software score: 3.5 / 5
OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite review: cameras
High-res but mid-performance 108MP main sensor
Two 2MP auxiliary cameras add nothing
Decent 16MP selfie camera
(Image credit: Future)
OnePlus has upgraded its Nord CE main sensor to 108MP in the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite. But that numerical upgrade certainly doesn’t transform this device into a budget camera powerhouse.
Photos taken on this main camera were detailed and often fairly bright, so they’ll be fit for purpose for social media use, although the automatic AI optimization sometimes made questionable decisions in tweaking white balance, so we’d recommend keeping that off. There’s an example of this in the camera samples section below.
You’re not getting as vibrant colors or adept night shooting as on a more premium sensor, but that’s a sacrifice you make by buying a budget smartphone. Snaps are pixel-binned into 12MP shots, to save you from burning through the storage space, but you can get 108MP shots if you want.
Joining the main camera is a 2MP macro camera and another 2MP depth sensor, and these add nothing to the photography experience, as has almost always been the case with budget mobiles that have this duo tacked on.
With no telephoto camera you’re left to rely on digital zoom which loses quality quickly. There’s also no ultra-wide camera, which is a surprise given that the vast majority of budget mobiles come with these.
On the front of the phone is a 16MP f/2.4 selfie camera. Snaps taken on this appear a little naturalistic compared to equivalents on the top-end phones of the day, largely because of the AI processing’s light touch, but depending on your taste you might prefer this look over super-processed selfies.
Video recording on both the front and rear cameras is available at 720p or 1080p, so there’s no 4K recording here. Other modes on offer cover the basics: slow-mo, time-lapse, Pro and macro, as well as the full-resolution main camera mode previously mentioned.
OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite camera samples
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A church captured on the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite's main camera. (Image credit: Future)
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A tennis racquet and balls captured on the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite (Image credit: Future)
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A wider landscape OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite (Image credit: Future)
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A building with a distant skyline captured on the main camera of the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite (Image credit: Future)
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A 3x zoom picture of a building, with AI off, to compare to the next image. (Image credit: Future)
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A 3x zoom picture of a building, with AI on, to compare to the next image. (Image credit: Future)
Camera score: 2.5 / 5
OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite: performance and audio
Snapdragon 695 chip is rather sluggy
Phone doesn't manage gaming well at all
Lots of space for storage
Powering the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 695 chipset, which can be seen in quite a few budget phones over the last few years. It’s quite an old component and quite a weak chip, not suitable for intensive purposes or power users.
The phone was tested on common games like Call of Duty: Mobile and New State, and found that the chip just couldn’t manage average-intensity titles like these. When playing online, the games would stutter and grind to a halt frequently, which isn’t ideal for competitive online games.
Basic games functioned fine, and if the extent of your gaming passion is the likes of Mini Metro or Candy Crush, you’ll be fine. But don’t expect to use that spacious 6.7-inch screen for shooter action.
There’s at least lots of space on the phone. While the version of the mobile readily accessible online has 128GB storage, there’s a microSDXC card slot to expand that space, perfect for if you save lots of files or like to load your mobile with apps.
There’s a single down-firing speaker on the OnePlus. But music fans will be happy to hear that there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack, so you can plug in wired headphones to listen to tunes. There is of course Bluetooth connectivity, with Bluetooth 5.1 on board.
Performance score: 2.5 / 5
OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite review: battery life
Big 5,000mAh battery
Phone lasts over a day per charge
67W charging gets you to 80% in 30 minutes
(Image credit: Future)
If there’s one thing that a budget phone reliably does better than a premium one, it’s its lasting power; cheap phone manufacturers strip out loads of features to cut the handset’s price, but compensate by shoving in a huge battery, leading to a phone that’ll last for ages on a single charge.
That’s certainly the case with the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite – as with most of the other CE models, there’s a chunky 5,000mAh battery here, and it means the device will breeze through a day without needing to be charged.
In fact, even with some heavy use – photo shoots, Netflix binges, the aforementioned failed attempts at gaming – the handset was at no risk of running out of power after a day of use. You’d need to use the phone very sparingly to get it to two, but either way, it’s a reliable device.
The charging speed is 67W, and OnePlus claims that the phone will get from empty to 80% in half an hour. That’s a speed that makes your iPhone or Samsung Galaxy look sluggish.
Battery score: 4.5 / 5
Should you buy the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite?
Buy it if...
You want a long-lasting mobile With a 5,000mAh battery, this mobile will last you for easily a day before you need to charge it, and possibly two days if you're using it sparingly.
You love the headphone jack OnePlus has opted to keep the 3.5mm headphone jack here, and is generally good at retaining the audio port on its Nord devices.
You want a side-mounted fingerprint scanner Side-mounted fingerprint scanners are getting rarer on mobiles, even budget ones, despite how easy they are to use. If it's your preferred way of unlocking your phone, the CE 3 Lite is here for you.
Don't buy it if...
You have small hands With its large display and size, you'll find the Nord CE 3 Lite tough to use if you have small hands, with the screen extremities and fingerprint scanner in particular hard to reach.
You're a mobile gamer With its Snapdragon 600-series chipset, the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite just isn't a good device for playing action-packed games.
You're a photography fan You're going to be hard-pressed to take award-winning pictures on a single 108MP rear camera, especially with the phone's questionable AI processing choices.
OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite review: Also consider
As we've mentioned in this review, the low-price Android phone market is a competitive one. Here are some other mobiles you might want to consider:
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro With a more powerful chipset, improved main and additional cameras and better-looking screen, Xiaomi has made a fantastic budget mobile here that rivals the OnePlus in terms of price.
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite The CE 3 Lite's predecessor isn't much weaker than the older model, but it's now a little older and therefore cheaper, so it's definitely a good budget alternative. Just be aware you might struggle to find it on sale.
How I tested the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite
Review test period = 2 week
Testing included = Everyday usage, including web browsing, social media, photography, video calling, gaming, streaming video, music playback
I tested the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite in its lovely green model, as you can see from the pictures. And the test unit featured 8GB RAM and 128GB storage space.
Due to receiving the review unit two weeks prior to the testing period, I activated it then to let the battery use settle. This period isn't included in the two-week test period cited above.
Much of the review period saw me using the phone as you would, using it for social media, photography and streaming, and I tried many times to use it for gaming too, though that was never a fun experience.
I used to work full-time for TechRadar both as a writer and editor in the phones team, and so have several years of experience covering phones, tablets and wearables. I've reviewed previous OnePlus phones as well as the plentiful rival budget Chinese phones on the market, so know what's best to compare the Nord to.
Modern mirrorless cameras now come with more bells, whistles and buttons than ever. That’s why it’s been so refreshing to review the OM System Tough TG-7, a rugged all-in-one that you can take out shooting without the worry of damage from water, dust, dirt, sand, or clumsy drops.
The TG-7 is reminiscent of the compact cameras I grew up with on family vacations (and took to nightclubs as a late teenager). They’d easily slip into a pocket and come along to the beach, or on hiking and camping trips, and their built-in zoom and scene modes meant you’d be set to capture you adventures largely regardless of skill level.
The waterproof, shockproof TG-7 is equally versatile, equally designed for use in challenging conditions, and equally as good a fit for families as it is for construction workers and surveyors – not to mention hardcore adventurers who push their gear to the limits.
The TG-7 only offers modest improvements over its predecessor, however. The popular Olympus Tough TG-6 compact, released in 2019, had a spot in our best waterproof camera guide, but has been discontinued to make way for the new OM name with the TG-7. On the outside, the cameras look very similar (aside from the updated branding) and much of what's inside is familiar too.
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With a 4x zoom lens, the TG-7 offers a versatile focal range and macro focus (Image credit: Lauren Scott)
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The majority of the buttons are on the right hand side at the rear (Image credit: Lauren Scott)
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The OM Tough TG-7 is compatible with a wide range of accessories such as flash modifiers and floating cases (Image credit: Lauren Scott)
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The Log/Off switch at the top of the TG-7 is used to toggle GPS. It can also record information in the image metadata like temperature and elevation (Image credit: Lauren Scott)
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A screw-on fisheye converter adds new creative effects and possibilities (Image credit: Lauren Scott)
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Focus modes (Image credit: Lauren Scott)
The Tough-series build is IPX8-rated and can withstand 15m dips underwater (an extra underwater case lets you go deeper), drops from 2.1m, and temperatures down to 14F / -10C. Oh, and just in case you manage to stand on the camera, it’s crushproof to pressures of 220lbs / 100kg.
So the TG-7 is still tough, and it's lightweight at a very pocketable 8.8oz / 249g. But what about the camera specs themselves? The 12MP BSI CMOS 1/2.3-inch sensor (similar in size to those in typical smartphones) is unchanged from the TG-6, and video recording is limited to 4K at 25 or 30fps, or 1080p at 25 / 30 / 50 / 60fps. Those options are a bit dated, and I found that the stabilization struggled to keep up when I shot video while walking. The quality is fair if you just want to capture record footage, but don't expect sharp, cinematic footage.
The camera has an internal 25-100mm zoom lens with a variable aperture of f/2-f/4.9, plus 1cm close-macro focusing, which sets it apart from most action cameras. The ISO range runs from 100-12800, although during testing I found this was best kept below 1600.
Several new features bring the TG-7 up to date, but they’re arguably too niche to entice current TG-6 users into upgrading. There's a handy USB Type-C connector for charging, although the camera can’t be powered up while plugged in (and I couldn't shoot while attached to a power bank). A full battery should be good for around 340 shots – I was able to get about 250 images with GPS activated.
What's great is that remote shooting is now possible using the O.I. Share app or the RM-WR1 wireless remote. You also get the option of vertical video recording – great for social-first content – a timelapse mode, and three Construction modes that further establish the TG-7 as a practical camera for builders, project managers and those with messy work to do.
In the Construction modes, most of the work happens after you press the shutter, as computational processing steps are designed to reduce dust particles in the scene and enhance clarity. I didn’t get to test these modes out, but I’m sure they'll benefit workers needing photos on-site who don’t want to risk damaging their smartphones.
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The Tough TG-7's controls and somewhat guided interface are great for beginner and intermediate photographers. Up top, there's the GPS Log toggle, power button, shutter, zoom rocker and a scrolling dial for changing settings depending on your mode. The zoom rocker is slightly slow to spring into action, but the raised buttons make it easy to change settings with wet hands, although it becomes more fiddly with gloves on.
The four-way nav pad with the familiar ‘OK’ button in the center lets you bring up and change settings outside of the main menu, and this is where I set raw and continuous shooting (you can max out at 20fps, but focus and exposure remains the same throughout). The mode dial illustrates each mode sensibly, with a fish for Underwater mode, for example. I suspect many users will just stick to auto mode, so it's a good job that this works well in daylight. In trickier lighting situations, users might want to try out the 22 Scene modes, which include Indoor, Candle, Children, Documents, and Panorama. Most of these adapted to the shooting environment admirably, although the focus did hunt noticeably for me during night scenes.
You get some more control over the exposure by switching to aperture priority, as you can choose f/2, f/2.8 and f/8 at 25mm, or f/4.9, f/6.3 and f/18 with the lens set to the full 100mm. As a nature lover, I made a lot of use of macro focusing with the Tough TG-7. With the Super Macro Mode allowing for a 1cm minimum focusing distance (the closest is 10cm without this) I was able to get some colorful, sharp shots when I had enough light between the camera and the subject. Using the Olympus Guide Light helped with extra illumination, while the in-built flash was a little too harsh for close-ups without a diffuser attached.
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Ultimately, the Tough TG-7 isn't the best action camera for photo and video quality, and its sensor lagged behind my aging iPhone 12 in many situations. But it undeniably lets you shoot in situations where you couldn't otherwise, and is versatile thanks to the zoom lens and a wealth of additional accessories like lenses and lights. The array of buttons also makes it more tactile to handle than a phone or GoPro, even if the 3-inch screen isn't touch-sensitive.
The Tough TG-7 is likely to be the best travel camera to buy if you’re an off-the-beaten-track explorer who needs a light, reliable companion to document your tales – the highlights and the tough bits. The TG-7 will never compete with my mirrorless camera for sheer specs or quality, but I don’t need it to. It serves a different purpose altogether; to break down the barrier between you and nature, so that you can shoot more precariously and more freely.
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(Image credit: Lauren Scott)
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OM System Tough TG-7: Price and release date
Available in the US, UK and Australia for $549.99 /£499.99 / AU$799
Available in red and black colorways
The OM System Tough TG-7 began shipping in October 2023, and is available now in black or red. In the US its list price is $549.99, but some retailers have been offering the camera at $499.99. In the UK the TG-7 is £499, while in Australia the price is AU$799.
In the unassuming cardboard box that the TG-7 comes packaged in, there's an LI-92B battery (the same as the battery in the TG-6), a USB-C charging cable, a wrist strap – also red if you have the red model – and a user manual.
Although the TG-7 doesn't ship with any additional accessories, there are plenty of extras you can buy to add to its functionality. All TG-6 accessories are compatible with the TG-7, and therefore some still have the Olympus branding. For example, the Olympus LG-1 LED Light Guide effectively illuminates macro subjects more evenly than flash, and it's around $50 / £40. The Fish Eye Converter will set you back $195 / £130, while a dedicated underwater housing is more than $300 / £300.
OM System Tough TG-7: Should I buy?
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
OM System Tough TG-7: also consider
If this OM System Tough TG-7 review has you interested in rugged cameras, here are a couple of alternatives to consider.
OM System Tough TG-7: How I tested
Shot in the rain and underwater, in daylight and at night
Used Olympus accessories such as the guide light and fisheye converter
I carried the OM System Tough TG-7 in my coat pocket for several weeks, taking it out on wet and rainy hikes, while dining with friends, and out at night in the city where I live. It was submerged in several rivers to test out the clarity and focus underwater, as well as the effectiveness of the anti-fog lens cover.
I used the camera's Auto, Aperture Priority, and Program modes, along with Microscope mode for close-ups and Nightscapes for photos in low light. I also experimented with Olympus' add-on accessories, including the guide light, flash diffuser and the fisheye converter which screws onto the front lens.
I shot raw and JPEG images, and tested out the video quality and stabilization by capturing handheld footage of children, my dog, and birds in my local park. Lastly, I used the O.I Share app to see how the remote shooting and image transfer worked.
Samsung is now selling its top-of-the-line S Pen in the States for $99.99. The S Pen Creator Edition, which has been on sale in Europe since it was announced, brings a few notable improvements over other S Pen models.
For starters, it's bigger and more comfortable for both drawing and writing. It supports 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity (the same as the S23 Ultra's S Pen) but adds a 60° tilt angle for a better drawing experience.
The S Pen Creator Edition
The S Pen Creator Edition supports Samsung's Galaxy phones from the Galaxy Note10 and higher, as well as the entire...
Considering their main job is to keep you cool, it always surprises me just how much the performance of different fans can vary. It’s not just a case of blowing cold air at you,; the best fans can completely change the environment you’re in, making you cooler and comfortable.
The Govee Smart Tower Fan almost perfectly ticks this box. It offers a huge range of performance levels, as well as customizable options, designed to suit your specific temperature needs. I particularly like the Nature mode, which changes the rhythm of the air to make it feel more like a breeze from a window rather than sitting or sleeping in a wind tunnel.
Looks- and size-wise, it’s subtle enough for you to stick it in a corner and forget about it. And thanks to its 26-foot air range and 75-degree oscillation, it can cover most medium-sized rooms with ease.
Connecting the fan to my network was easy and intuitive, and being able to change the fan using my voice, when connected to my Amazon Echo, soon became my go-to control method. It was never a feature I thought I needed, but I soon found myself use turning the fan off and on, if I needed to leave the room briefly, or I would effortlessly switch to Sleep mode without getting out of bed, as just two examples.
Having app control was welcomed when looking to select more advanced settings, such as scheduling the fan to come on when I arrived home, but for everything else, I always relied on my voice. The only downside to this was that the voice controls were sometimes temperamental - though I’m not sure if that was me and my commands, Alexa, or the fan. This didn’t really detract from the convenience of the voice controls, but it was frustrating at times.
I'm one of those people who finds the humming of a fan oddly soothing at night, and Govee's low 38dB noise level was quiet enough for me. However, it disturbed my partner, and although touted as a low-noise appliance, at higher speeds the fan can get noticeably louder. This could be a deal-breaker for some.
One optional extra is the addition of Auto Mode. Auto Mode adjusts the fan's speed automatically based on the room's temperature and humidity, but you need to be connected to a Govee thermo-hygrometer (sold separately) to take full advantage of this.
For us, this was a nice-to-have feature, but there were times when the fan's idea of a comfortable temperature didn't exactly align with mine and I had to manually adjust the controls anyway, making the function somewhat moot.
Despite these hiccups, the fan impressed me with its performance and versatility, especially at the price point of $89.99 / £99.99. If you’re looking to make your first foray into smart fans, Govee’s model is a great, easy-to-use, and effective introduction. If you’re a smart fan pro, there is enough about the Govee Smart Tower Fan to pique your interest, but you may want the more advanced features seen on more expensive models.
Govee Smart Tower Fan review: price and availability
List price: $89.99/£99.99
Only sold with US plug
Not available in Australia
As tower fans go, Govee's model is great value on its own , let alone when you factor in the wide range of smart and connected features it offers. It costs $89.99 in the US and £99.99 in the UK (about AU$140).
There are tower fans from the likes of Lasko, Holmes and Vornado that don't offer smart features yet cost more than the Govee model. There are also smart tower fans from Dreo and Dyson that offer similar features and are much more expensive.
Granted, Dyson fans offer advanced features such as purifying, and heating (depending on which model you compare it to), but few come with the smart, remote control options found in Govee's much cheaper model. And those that do, such as the Dyson Big+Quiet range, cost in excess of $650 / £699.99 / $1,499.
What's more, one of Dyson's most recent features – called Autoreact because it automatically adjusts the fan's settings in response to the ambient temperature – is also possible with the Govee tower fan. You just need to pair it with the $40 / £39.99 (about AU$60) Govee Wi-Fi Thermo-Hygrometer. Yes, it means spending more money, but even with the Govee fan and thermometer combined, you're still spending as much as five times less as on the Dyson.
Value: 5 / 5
(Image credit: Future / Victoria Woolaston)
Govee Smart Tower Fan: Design
Subtle and sleek design
Intuitive touch controls with adjustable lighting
Lightweight nature makes it a little unstable
The Govee Smart Tower Fan is designed to blend in and fit with most home decor. It’s sleek, tall, and slim – measuring 36 inches (914 mm) tall and 10.6 inches (269 mm) wide and deep – and therefore fits easily in corners and small spaces. What’s more, because of its 75-degree oscillation and 26-foot (about 8 meters) range, you can still feel the benefits, even if it is tucked in a corner.
With its all-black design, the Govee Smart Tower Fan is attractive yet subtle. This gives it an air of luxury that makes it look more expensive than its price tag would suggest.
Instead of buttons or dials, the Govee Smart Tower Fan has a touch panel built into the top of the appliance. The power button sits bottom left. The left column of controls relates to the fan’s three modes (the large M stands for Modes) – Normal, Sleep, and Nature. The central column controls the fan’s timer function, and the right-hand column controls the fan’s speed. There is then an oscillating button, plus the option to lock the timer or speed setting in place.
This panel is fitted with subtle lighting that is bright enough to see in the dark, but dim enough to not distract you while you sleep or if you have the fan on while watching a film, or similar. You can also turn the lights off if you need or want to.
In addition to the onboard touch panel, you can control the fan remotely via the Govee app or using your voice when the fan is connected to your wider smart network. These provide more options than the built-in panel. Namely, the option to build custom settings, and greater precision over the speed – the built-in panel offers three speeds but you can choose from eight on the app.
This added customization is welcomed but it soon becomes frustrating when you don’t have your phone to hand. You can get around this using your voice, but in my experience the commands are temperamental.
There’s a small handle on the rear of the fan which makes it easy to pick up and move, and the fan is surprisingly lightweight too. Given its robust, expensive-looking design we had expected the fan to be heavy so we were pleasantly surprised when it wasn’t.
The only downside to this is that if you have pets or children, the fan has a tendency to wobble and topple over with very little contact.
Design: 4.5 / 5
(Image credit: Future / Victoria Woolaston)
Govee Smart Tower Fan: Performance
Range of control options is super convenient
Nature mode mimics natural airflow
Fan can be loud on faster settings
The standout feature of the Govee fan, and what sets it apart from standard tower fans is its compatibility with the Govee Home App. Once connected to the app, the fan joins your smart home network and it can be controlled via your phone and smart speakers, as well as linked to a Govee thermo-hygrometer.
Connecting it to the app is easy and intuitive, as is the app itself. Just swipe up from the bottom of the screen and you can switch the fan on and off; select your fan’s mode – Normal, Nature, or Sleep; choose your desired wind speed from a scale of 1-8; and turn the oscillation feature on or off.
You can additionally press Custom to create your own personalized setting, set a timer, create a schedule, and enable Auto mode. The scheduling tool is useful for switching the fan on when you get home from work, or off when you wake up. Auto mode only works if you’ve connected the fan to the thermo-hygrometer but once enabled, the two appliances work together to monitor changes in temperature and humidity and adjust the fan’s setting accordingly. We didn’t notice much of a difference during the day, but it became particularly useful at bedtime as the temperature dropped throughout the night, and the fan slowed down accordingly to avoid us getting too cold.
Our only criticism of this was that the fan's idea of a comfortable temperature didn't always align with mine, meaning I had to manually adjust the controls anyway.
(Image credit: Future / Victoria Woolaston)
The app is the only way to see the full range of features and customisations. The built-in touch panel offers enough options to make it useful, but with the app and voice controls enabled, we barely used the panel.
For the most part, the smart features work well, but in our experience, the voice commands can be a little temperamental. This is a minor flaw, and you have the app and the onboard controls as backup, but having to repeat myself to a fan when I’m already frustrated from the heat isn’t ideal. I should note that this may be my fault or my Alexa, so take this criticism with a pinch of salt.
Onto the speeds and modes. The Govee fan comes with three standard modes: Normal, Nature, and Sleep. It also allows you to toggle between eight speeds, although only three are accessible through the onboard touch panel. The airflow moves at 20ft/s and I felt the highest settings were a bit too intense for my liking, but the mid-range speed settings were perfect.
During my testing, I found the Nature mode to be a welcome touch, mimicking a more natural airflow. Especially at night when it felt like a light breeze. I preferred this Nature mode over the more gentle, quiet Sleep mode.
Speaking of sleeping, I'm one of those people who finds the humming of a fan oddly soothing at night, and Govee's low 38dB noise level was quiet enough for me. However, it disturbed my partner, and, although touted as a low-noise appliance, at higher speeds the fan can get noticeably louder. It also depends on the type of flooring it’s placed on. In our dining room, on the wooden floor, it was louder than on our carpeted bedroom floor. We haven’t ever noticed this with any other fan we’ve used.
Performance: 4.5 / 5
Govee Smart Tower Fan: Specs
Should I buy the Govee Smart Tower Fan?
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
Govee Smart Tower Fan: Also consider
If you would prefer other options over the Govee Smart Tower Fan, then one of the best fans would be an alternative to consider...
How I tested the Govee Smart Tower Fan
Tested for four weeks, including during a heatwave
Used it while working during the day, and at night
Tested all the various modes and functions
To test the Govee Smart Tower Fan, I used it as my main fan for four weeks in my bedroom, front room, home office and child's bedroom. I used the built-in controls, the app and used voice commands.
I tested it at night, while I slept, on all three standard modes. I created my own customized mode using the app, and I scheduled the fan to turn automatically at 10pm every night. All dials and buttons were pressed to see what they would do as well.
A new report adds credibility to earlier rumors that Samsung will indeed hold the Galaxy S24 Unpacked event in mid-January and in the US.
The report by Korean outlet Biz SBS points to January 17 as the specific date for the event. It's interesting to note that insider Ice Universe suggested a January 18 date for the event, but with the time difference between China and the US both might be correct.
Reportedly, Samsung is looking for the Galaxy S24 launch to boost its revenues after slowing down semiconductor sales.
Additionally, Samsung will launch the Galaxy S23 FE in South...
