Fast Charge

It's official: Fast Charge is 100 (episodes).

To celebrate, we're going to throw out our best bad tech takes, live on air, ready to be eviscerated in the comments for all the nonsense views we're desperately clinging to.

But before that, we'll be reviewing the two latest Huawei flagships. First up is the P50 Pro, the camera-first slab phone that Huawei launched in China almost a year back. With its global launch now upon us, Toddy is ready to find out if the camera can still compete with the latest and greatest camera phones on the market.

Then there's the P50 Pocket. Confirmed Z Flip obsessive Dom has been testing the Pocket out all week, and is ready to declare if Huawei is the new clamshell king - along with some live comparisons to last year's Z Flip 3.

This podcast is produced by IDG Communications.

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New week, new phones. Xiaomi has unveiled the Redmi Note 11 series, while the Fast Charge team is ready to review new offerings from both Samsung and Motorola.

There are four phones in the Redmi Note 11 series, ranging from a regular model up to the Note 11 Pro 5G. Even that top-end model is affordable, coming in below $400, but offering a 120Hz AMOLED display, 67W charging, and a 108Mp camera.

Dom is ready to review the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE - just in time before the launch of the Galaxy S22 next month - and answer the question of whether this phone has something to offer in 2022, or if it's just too little, too late.

Finally, Lewis has been testing out the Moto G200 - a mid-range marvel from Motorola that offers a lot more bang for your buck than you might be expecting. Is this actually one of the best mid-range phones around now?

This podcast is produced by IDG Communications.

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This week Dom is ready to review Vivo's selfie-focussed V23 Pro, while we take advantage of the lull in launches to look ahead to what Samsung and Apple each have ready to launch this spring.

The V23 Pro is the first Pro phone in Vivo's selfie-centric V-series, and launched alongside the regular V23 in India a couple of weeks back. It boasts a slick design and powerful front-facing cameras, but is that enough to make it a mid-range must-buy?

Meanwhile we're just weeks away from what's hotly tipped to be an early February launch for Samsung's Galaxy S22 range and Tab S8 series, both of which have been leaked extensively. Here's everything we're expecting to see, with a focus on Samsung's new flagship phones.

Apple has its own launches lined up though, and with new leaks hinting at what to expect from a new iPhone SE and iPad Air, we round up what we think Apple is working on too.

This podcast is produced by IDG Communications.

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It's the week after CES, which means things are a little quieter. A little. Because it's still the week that's seen a major new foldable phone launch.

Honor has unveiled the Magic V, its first attempt at a foldable phone - and already the most powerful foldable on the market, as it's the first to arrive with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 inside. With a Galaxy Fold-esque form factor, this looks like a solid foldable offering - but is it enough from Honor, and will we ever see it break out of China?

Meanwhile, fresh iPhone 14 rumours point to a pretty unusual new notch/punch-hole camera design. It's enough to prompt us to wonder if that's really what the iPhone 14 might look like - and if it is, does it matter? Knowing us, we'll probably also start chatting about under-display selfie cameras and the like, including a new Google patent in exactly that area that we think might be for the Pixel 7 or Pixel Fold.

Finally, it's been a tumultuous start to the year for BlackBerry fans. First existing handsets basically stopped working, then OnwardMobility confirmed it is still working on a new BlackBerry phone for 2022, and in the meantime British company Planet Computers brought their Astro Slide phone - complete with a physical QWERTY keyboard - to CES. What's going on with it all, and is there really a market for BlackBerries in 2022 anyway?

This podcast is produced by IDG Communications.

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CES is normally a quiet trade show for smartphone fans, with launches focussed on cars, TVs, and the smart home - but 2022 has decided to buck some trends, with major phone launches taking place at the show.

First up, Samsung finally launched the long-awaited (and much-rumoured) Galaxy S21 FE. This mid-range successor to the S21 line packs strong specs and a really sleek design, but after months of delays can it really command Samsung's $699 asking price?

We also know a lot more than we expected to about the OnePlus 10 Pro. The phone's design and specs were revealed at CES this week ahead of a full launch in China next week, and we like a lot of what we've seen of the phone. OnePlus will have an uphill battle to win its fans back over though, and the absence of a regular OnePlus 10 isn't likely to help matters.

Finally, Realme didn't attend CES, but did go ahead and launch the GT 2 series anyway - in China at least. The heavily leaked GT 2 Pro was joined by a regular GT 2, but it's still the Pro that held our attention thanks to the appearance of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and other specs that mark this out as the true flagship that Realme promised.

This podcast is produced by IDG Communications.

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Hot on the heels of last week's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 unveiling, Motorola has managed to take the lead, in terms of launching a phone running on this cutting-edge silicon. Meanwhile, Oppo's forthcoming Inno Day event looks set to give us a wealth of interesting technologies, including the company's first foldable.

First up, we're delving into the reveal of the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 smartphone, the Motorola Edge X30. Revealed on 9 December in China, the smartphone boasts flagship-level specs that could compete with some of the best. We'll also discuss the Motorola Edge S30, a larger and – relatively speaking – more modest mobile powered by the still-current top-tier Snapdragon 888+.

Next, we're moving on to Oppo's Inno Day teasers. While Oppo Inno Day doesn't officially kick off until next week, the company has teased a bunch of new technology including what's thought to be a new camera-focused NPU (neural processing unit), the next evolution in its conceptual AR (augment reality) glasses, a phone concept with a retractable camera and its first foldable phone – now known as the Oppo Find N. 

This podcast is produced by IDG Communications.

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It's a Qualcomm double-whammy this week, with the company hosting its annual Snapdragon Summit in sunny Hawaii, with announcements aplenty.  

First up, it's time to talk Qualcomm's next mobile chipset – dubbed the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Rivalling Mediatek's Dimensity 9000 – revealed last week – we now have a better idea of what the 8 Gen 1 actually brings to the table, as well as the assorted mobile manufacturers chomping at the bit to stick this new silicon into their next flagship phones.

Next, we're moving on to another Qualcomm announcement, but this one's a little different. Created to showcase the power of its new G3x Gen 1 gaming chipset, Qualcomm has revealed a Switch-style handheld console, built in conjunction with Razer. Is the portable form factor the future for gaming, or is it simply a big Android smartphone with a permanent game controller mounted on it? We discuss. 

And then, finally, we hop over to China, where the Honor 60 and Honor 60 Pro were just unveiled. While the Honor 60 only appears to be an incremental upgrade on the Honor 50, the 60 Pro debuts a beefier chipset – in the Snapdragon 778G+ – and an even larger display. We talk about the announcements, and when we should expect to see the Honor 60 Series launch internationally. 

This podcast is produced by IDG Communications.

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Alright, fine - we said we wouldn't do a Black Friday episode, but here we are. But it's only the one segment, OK?

Before that, we'll chat through the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 - announced just hours after last week's pod. This is the new flagship chip from Qualcomm's biggest rival, and for the first time it packs specs that not only stomp all over the Snadpragon 888, but may even best the upcoming Snapdragon flagship.

Then there's the OnePlus 10 Pro. No, it hasn't been announced, but after the design leaked in renders a few weeks ago, we now have a near-complete spec leak. But don't get your hopes up - not a lot has changed from the 9 Pro. Is OnePlus turning up a dud?

And then, finally, yes: Black Friday. The year's biggest sales season is here. But are there any good deals around on phones and other mobile tech, or are you better off saving your money?

This podcast is produced by IDG Communications.

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Didn't everyone get the memo that it's the end of the year and they're supposed to stop launching phones?

Motorola just dropped five new G-series phones, led by the G200: a surprisingly powerful Snapdragon 888+-powered device that's targeting the mid-range market at €449. It's joined by the Moto G71, G51, G41, and G31, with prices ranging down to €200 - even with waterproofing across the lot of them.

Realme also held a launch event this week, though at least this was primarily for the European launch of devices we'd seen elsewhere. Still, the GT Neo 2 looks like a very competitive mid-range option, and the Realme Pad marks yet another major Android brand throw a new tablet out into the market.

Finally, Apple has taken the major step of letting iPhone owners do their own repairs. The new Self-Service Repair program will let consumers buy tools and parts to repair their own phones, and eventually MacBooks and more. Is this a revolutionary step towards sustainability by Apple, or just San Cupertino bowing to regulatory pressure before it gets forced to?

This podcast is produced by IDG Communications.

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The tech world is slowing down right now, but that didn't stop Poco from barrelling in with its final phone launch of 2021, while Microsoft unveiled a more mobile version of Windows 11 and we unveiled our 2021 awards.

The Poco M4 Pro is a pretty capable budget device from Poco, albeit one with some quirks. Like some other Poco phones this is really a re-branded version of an existing Redmi phone, but as part of that it borrows one real oddity: cosmetic camera lenses. Huh.

Meanwhile Microsoft held yet another launch, this time for Windows 11 SE, a lightweight version of its OS intended to take on ChromeOS. Naturally there's a new Chromebook rival to go with it, with the cheap and cheerful Surface Laptop SE making its debut too.

Finally, this week we unveiled our official awards for 2021, with the top tech in ten categories earning prizes, as decided by the Tech Advisor editorial team. We're gonna run through our winners, including our big 3 phone awards.

This podcast is produced by IDG Communications.

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