Nintendo Switch Sports is another one of those first-party titles that appear to have some restrictions in place.
As identified by 'Akfamilyhome' on Twitter, you won't be able to play the game's local multiplayer mode with two or more players if you're playing on a Switch/Switch OLED in tabletop mode, or are using a Switch Lite.
If you do attempt to access this mode with two or more players, you'll be presented with the following message, which informs you to insert the Switch into a dock to play the game in TV mode.
"When two or more people are playing, you'll need to play in TV Mode. Please insert the Nintendo Switch console into the Nintendo Switch dock."
Even if you attempt to start up a local multiplayer match on the big screen and then swap to tabletop mode, you'll be presented with the follow message:
"You cannot change to tabletop mode now. Please insert the Nintendo Switch system into the Nintendo Switch dock."
Although this might not be the most surprising news, how do you feel about not being able to play Switch Sports local multiplayer with two or more players in tabletop mode or on a Switch Lite? Would you have played this way if it was a possibility?
Article From & Read More ( PSA: Nintendo Switch Sports Local Multiplayer Won't Work On Switch Lite Or In Tabletop Mode - Nintendo Life )
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Technology
Apple announced back in February that it's introducing changes that would make AirTags easier to find after several stories of bad actors using the tracker to stalk people came out. One of the upcoming changes it promised is adjusting the sound AirTags emit to be as loud as possible to make them "more easily findable." Now, as MacRumors reports, the tech giant has started rolling out that capability with the device's latest firmware update.
While Apple has published release notes to reveal what the update adds to the tracker, it didn't mention that the company is gradually making the feature available on a staggered basis. According to the publication, only one percent of users received the update when it went out on Tuesday, but it will be delivered to 10 percent of users by May 3rd and to 25 percent by May 9th. Apple expects to complete the rollout by May 13th.
Earlier this April, Motherboard had obtained police data that included 50 cases of women receiving notifications or hearing alert sounds revealing that someone was tracking them with an AirTag. While that's not a particularly large number, it suggests a growing number of cases wherein the trackers are being used for stalking purposes. In an effort to prevent the device from a creepy character's tool of choice, Apple promised a handful of anti-stalking features that include showing people a warning that it's a crime to use the device to track people. The company will also update newer iPhones' precision finding technology to make them capable of displaying the direction and distance to an unknown AirTag.
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Sony will no longer let users stack subscription memberships to PlayStation Plus or PlayStation Now, a policy shift blatantly preventing PS5 users from scoring long-term discounts on the revamped PlayStation Plus service.
The new PS Plus, now broken into three tiers—Essential, Extra, and Plus—essentially combines PlayStation Now and the soon-to-be-former PlayStation Plus. As a reminder, PS Now is a streaming service that gives users access to hundreds of games made for current and former console generations, while the current PS Plus gives users access to online multiplayer games, discounts, and a few free games each month. Both of those services will be retired on June 13 and combined into the new PS Plus.
Previously, PlayStation users could “stack” PS Now and PS Plus subscriptions by purchasing multiple (say, if there was a discount) and activating them all at once or one after another. With this newly instated hold, PS Now and PS Plus subscribers are unable to redeem voucher codes that had been sitting dormant until either their current membership ends or the new PS Plus service becomes available in their region—whichever happens first.
“As we prepare to launch the new PlayStation Plus membership service, we are doing some work behind the scenes to make the transition as smooth as possible for all of our existing members,” Sony wrote in a blog. “As part of this work, we’ve temporarily disabled stacking memberships for existing customers until after the launch.”
If you have a voucher code and aren’t currently subscribed to either service or if your membership runs out before the new one, then you can still redeem it. If you have an active PS Plus membership when the new version launches, you’ll be placed into PS Plus Essential, the lowest tier of the new service. If you have an active PS Now account, you’ll migrate to PS Plus Premium, the highest tier.
Here is where the fine print matters: if you weren’t already an active member, a PS Plus voucher redeemed after the new version arrives will net you PS Now Essential access for the length of time denoted on your original voucher (12 months=12 months). The same goes for PS Now but with PS Plus Premium. If you were an existing PS Plus or PS Now customer, any unredeemed voucher will convert to a length of time equivalent to the monetary value of the voucher you are redeeming.
Image: Sony
What does that conversion look like? Sony published a table showing how much of each new tier an old PS Now or PS Plus subscription gets you. As a taster, a 1-month (previous-gen) PS Plus voucher gets you a full month of PS Plus Essential or 21 days of PS Plus Extra or 17 days of PS Plus Premium.
Those who already redeemed codes and are subscribed to both services are in luck; Sony clarified earlier this week that it will honor whichever subscription remains active the longest. So, for example, if you have a PS Now subscription expiring in one month and a PS Plus subscription expiring in three years, you will get PS Plus Premium access until 2025.
This is the exact loophole Sony is plugging by preventing users from stacking subscriptions, then migrating to the new service to enjoy the additional perks without paying the price difference. As a reminder, the PS Plus Premium service costs $17.99 a month and gets all the benefits of the original PS Plus plan, plus access to more than 400 PS4 and PS5 games and 340 additional titles from previous Sony consoles via cloud streaming.
Activision Blizzard stockholders have overwhelming voted in favour of Microsoft's proposed $69BN acquisition of the publisher, with 98% of shares approving the transaction.
There's still some way to go until the deal is finalised, however; while Activision Blizzard stockholders - and, earlier in the week, board members - have now given the deal the go-ahead, it's still subject to regulatory review around the world, by the likes of the Federal Trade Commission in the US, to determine if the deal constitutes unfair competition.
Should the deal make it through regulatory review, the acquisition has until June 2023 to close, whereupon Microsoft will welcome some of the industries most recognisable franchises into its fold, including Call of Duty, Warcraft, Overwatch, and mobile hit Candy Crush.
However, as reported by Bloomberg today, uncertainty still remains over whether the deal will be allowed to go through, with some Wall Street investors believing the Biden administration's antitrust investigators will block or delay the acquisition - a belief that's reflected in Activision Blizzard's current share price, trading at 23% below Microsoft’s offer of $95.
Still, with Microsoft's acquisition offer having now been approved by Activision Blizzard shareholders one more hurdle has been cleared. In response to the news, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said, "Today’s overwhelmingly supportive vote by our stockholders confirms our shared belief that, combined with Microsoft, we will be even better positioned to create great value for our players, even greater opportunities for our employees, and to continue our focus on becoming an inspiring example of a welcoming, respectful, and inclusive workplace”.
Microsoft's acquisition of Activision comes at a troubling time for the Call of Duty publisher, which remains mired in controversy following last year's shocking allegations it had fostered a company culture where sexual harassment, assault, and inappropriate behaviour could thrive.
Activision Blizzard was described as a "breeding ground for harassment and discrimination against women" in a State of California lawsuit filing last July, and CEO Bobby Kotick subsequently became the focus of a damning report claiming he was aware of sexual misconduct within the company "for years".
More recently, the parents of a former Activision Blizzard employee who committed suicide during a company retreat in 2017 launched a lawsuit suing the publisher for wrongful death, alleging the suicide was the result of sexual harassment by work colleagues.
Events took a further dramatic turn earlier this month when the governor of California was accused of interfering to support Activision Blizzard in the state discrimination and harassment lawsuit that kickstarted the publisher's woes.
Article From & Read More ( Activision Blizzard stockholders vote in favour of Microsoft acquisition - Eurogamer.net )
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Technology
Epic Games has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop Google from removing independent music storefront Bandcamp from the Android app store — which Google has apparently threatened to do because Bandcamp is using its own billing system instead of paying Google an app store fee.
Bandcamp, which Epic acquired in March, has used its own billing system on Android since 2015, and was able to do so because of rules exempting digital music from having to use Google’s billing system, according to a blog post from Bandcamp co-founder and CEO Ethan Diamond. “However, Google is now modifying its rules to require Bandcamp (and other apps like it) to exclusively use Google Play Billing for payments for digital goods and services, and pay a revenue share to Google,” Diamond says.
Under Google’s new rules, Bandcamp would have to make changes beginning June 1st. Diamond says Bandcamp would be forced to choose between passing on fees to customers, passing on fees to artists, running its Android business at a loss, or turning off digital sales in the Android app.
Epic argues that the switch to Google’s billing system would affect its ability to continue giving artists 82 percent of their Bandcamp revenues, because it would have to pay Google 10 percent — yes, 10 percent, not 30 percent, since it seems Google offered Bandcamp some sort of sweetheart deal here. “Paying Google even a 10 percent revenue share would force Epic to change Bandcamp’s current business model or else operate the Bandcamp business at a long-term loss,” argues Epic.
Epic also claims music artists might have to wait longer for their money, too, saying that its current payment system allows artists to be paid within 24 to 48 hours of a sale, but that Google doesn’t pay developers until “15 to 45 days after a sale.”
While that argument certainly sounds compelling, it didn’t work when another platform that tries to pay creators, Fanhouse, tried it against Apple last year. Fanhouse wound up adding a 50 percent surcharge to cover the Apple tax. That could be why Epic is going to the courts rather than simply trying to publicly shame Google — but it could also be that Epic hopes to use Bandcamp as a pawn in its larger fight against Google and Apple. Epic sued both Apple and Google in August 2020, alleging antitrust violations after both platforms kicked Fortnite off their stores when Epic introduced its own in-app payment mechanism to the game. The Google case won’t go to trial until 2023.
In today’s filing, Epic says Google is changing its policies “under the guise of a ‘clarification’ that it announced in September 2020.” But that update hasn’t just affected Epic — earlier this month, Barnes & Noble removed the ability to buy digital books from its Android app, while Audible no longer lets you use a debit or credit card to buy Audible titles, seemingly to avoid paying Google’s fee. And in this case, Google appears to have offered Bandcamp a discount at 10 percent rather than 30.
Epic also notes that building infrastructure to integrate Google’s billing system would “require significant time and effort” — right now, Bandcamp’s in-app solution is “fully integrated with PayPal.” But again, as Epic admits, Google announced these changes well over a year ago, and before Epic bought Bandcamp. It seems likely Epic knew about the upcoming billing changes when it purchased the company.
And it wouldn’t be out of character for Epic to lay the groundwork for a legal trap well in advance. Epic’s own internal emails show that it laid such a trap in the Fortnite case: “[T]he goal is draw Google into a legal battle over anti-trust,” wrote Epic marketing director Haseeb Mailk in a September 2019 email. “If we are rejected for only offering Epic’s payment solution. The battle begins. It’s going to be fun!”
Article From & Read More ( Epic is asking a court to stop Google from yanking Bandcamp off the Play Store - The Verge )
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Technology
It’s becoming a fundamental law of the internet: where people socialize, they must also shop. Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and practically every other social network and messaging app on the planet has spent the last couple of years trying to make every pixel of your chats and pictures into a one-click purchasing possibility.
Snap’s plans on this front are more ambitious than most. It’s trying to take the whole shopping experience — you see a shirt you like on a stranger, figure out what it is and where to buy it, try it on, buy it, wear it, return it because everything looks better on Ryan Reynolds than you, rinse and repeat — and funnel it through Snap’s AR camera. Through Camera Kit, most of that tech can also work within brands’ websites and retailer apps. And there’s always — always — a buy button.
That’s a lot to do, but Snap’s moving quickly. The company announced on Thursday at its annual Creator Summit that it’s expanding its AR try-on features that let users use their cameras to virtually try on glasses and clothes, and it’s also creating an in-app hub called Dress Up that it hopes could be something like the future of the shopping mall.
Dress Up isn’t meant to feel like just a catalog of stuff to buy, though it certainly is that. Snap hopes it can be a little more fun and experiential than your average Amazon page. “It’s not just a product-feed shopping tab,” Carolina Navas, Snap’s head of AR strategy and product marketing, said in an interview. “Now, there’s a really core utilitarian use case that we’re also focused on driving,” because obviously getting to buy things is how everybody gets paid, “but there’s also a huge area of fashion that’s all about self-expression and asking friends for advice and having fun with friends.”
When you open the Dress Up hub and pick an item, you’ll be able to try it on through Snap’s AR lenses but also take a picture of how it looks on you and share it with friends to get their thoughts. Dress Up will also have creator content, as well as tips and ideas from brands, all changing based on what you like, how you use the platform, and even where you’re located. And everything everywhere can be bought in just a tap or two.
AR shopping as a concept can seem sort of hokey — how many times do you really need to AR a couch into your living room to see if it fits? — but Snap says it’s starting to catch on. More than 250 million users have used AR shopping lenses a total of more than 5 billion times, and Snap says its data shows those lenses convert a much higher percentage of possible buyers than a normal ad. And Navas said the appeal goes back to the idea that shopping is more than just purchasing. “A lot of people think about the shopping funnel as ending at the purchase,” she said, “but that is the beginning of the customer experience for a brand or retailer who is selling a product.” She pointed to one company, Too Faced cosmetics, that lets users scan their new eyeshadow palette with the Snapchat camera to get a tutorial on how to use it.
The big challenge for Snap will be to grow its catalog to bring all the things people can buy into those AR experiences. So far, that has required a lot of specialized work building three-dimensional digital versions of everything you make, but Snap’s trying to make it easier. It announced a new technology called Snap AR Image Processing, which is exactly what it sounds like: it uses machine learning to take regular product photos and turn them into 3D models. The tech comes from Forma, a virtual-try-on company Snap quietly acquired to improve its try-on experiences. All users need to do is take a full-body selfie, and they can try on almost anything.
Snap has been working on the tech for about 18 months, Navas said, and has been testing it with a few brands before rolling it out to more businesses this year. “The actual process to build an AR lens has gone from an 8–12 week experience to minutes.” The tech is new but impressive, she said, and, when combined with user-inputted information about height and weight and whether that shirt that fit in AR actually fits in real life, can get better fast.
Snap, like every other platform trying to embrace in-app shopping, has to be careful not to let the buying experience overrun everything else. Snapchat users might like to shop their friends and favorite celebrities’ looks, but they’re going to like every photo they send being hidden behind a hundred buttons telling you where to buy their eye shadow, necklace, and the plant behind them. Navas said that’s part of the reason Snap made Dress Up its own tab, rather than needlessly integrating the feature everywhere else.
But she’s also pretty confident people like to shop. A lot. “We’re meeting people where their mindset isn’t just, ‘I’m coming to this tab to buy a pair of Prada sunglasses.’ It’s, ‘I’m coming here to explore and have fun and discover products along the way.’”
Xbox and Bethesda have announced that a summer showcase will air on June 12 at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK (that's June 13 at 4am Sydney time).
This showcase will include upcoming games coming to Xbox and PC, as well as Xbox Game Pass. Currently, Xbox's most highly anticipated game with a set release date is Starfield on November 11 - we'll almost certainly see first gameplay at the showcase, if it doesn't come beforehand. Arkane's Redfall is also scheduled to launch sometime in 2022, so a release date for it might be revealed too.
While Bethesda already announced The Elder Scrolls VI back in 2018, it might be a while until we hear anything else about it. Since it was annouced before Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda, we could possibly receive confirmation of Xbox and PC exclusivity. MachineGames announced last year that the studio was working on an Indiana Jones game, so more information about it could be shown as well.
One last possible reveal could be Deathloop's inclusion into Xbox Game Pass later this year when its timed-exclusivity period on PlayStation 5 expires. Of course, Bethesda can also announce new games in addition to the ones already mentioned above.
As for Xbox's other first-party studios, Ninja Theory is hard at work on Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 and Undead Labs is working on State of Decay 3. A Perfect Dark reboot is in development at The Initiative as well as a Fable reboot over at Playground Games, though they are most likely to be farther out from release. Obsidian is also working on Avowed. There hasn't been much information on Rare's Everwild recently. The last bit of news heard was that it was reportedly overhauled.
Last year's Xbox showcase saw reveals such as The Outer Worlds 2 and Forza Horizon 5.
George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey
The OnePlus Nord N20 5G is OnePlus at its best. While the company hasn’t quite mastered the flagship, it has dialed in the recipe for a stellar budget phone.
For $282, the N20 delivers performance that feels like you’re getting away with something. It’s not perfect, but it strikes an excellent balance of price and features that makes it easy to recommend — if you’re on T-Mobile.
That’s one of a few “ifs” that makes it difficult to recommend the N20 5G to absolutely anyone looking for a budget Android phone. As it’s being introduced in the US, the N20 5G will only be sold through T-Mobile. OnePlus says it plans to sell the phone unlocked at a later date, but a company spokesperson, Spenser Blank, wouldn’t offer any comment on whether the company will seek 5G certification on Verizon and AT&T when it does.
There’s also the fact that OnePlus is being a little disingenuous by saying that the N20 5G offers a triple rear camera array. Sure, there are technically three image sensors back there, but only one of them is worth caring about.
There are some minor trade-offs to be aware of, too, like the fact that the phone doesn’t shoot 4K video and has a low-grade built-in speaker. But overall phone performance is a strength, along with a good OLED screen in a category stacked with mediocre LCD panels. Those are important things to get right, and the N20 does just that.
One of the N20 5G’s standout specs is its 6.43-inch 1080p OLED with a standard 60Hz refresh rate. More expensive phones offer contrast-rich OLEDs and faster refresh rates, but a budget phone can’t have both — at least not right now. While other manufacturers like Samsung and Motorola have opted for lower-contrast LCDs that offer higher 90Hz refresh rates, OnePlus went the other way with the N20 and skipped the fast refresh rate to offer an OLED.
The difference in refresh speeds is really only something you’ll notice if you’re coming from a phone with a fast refresh rate screen. Animations will look just a little bit choppier compared to the smooth motion of a 90Hz or 120Hz display. But for everything else, this OLED panel is just nicer to look at than a mediocre LCD. Colors look a little punchier, and watching video is more enjoyable, especially when it’s something with a lot of dimly lit scenes (looking at you, The Batman). I think this is a trade-off a lot of people can appreciate.
The screen’s 1080p resolution is above average, too, since 720p is more common in the budget class. For a screen this big, you really do need that higher resolution to keep images looking sharp. This isn’t the brightest OLED I’ve used, but it does get bright enough to be usable in direct sunlight.
One of the N20’s best features is embedded in that display: a fingerprint sensor — a good in-display fingerprint sensor. It’s quick and reliable even with wet fingers or outside in bright sunlight. A flaky fingerprint reader is an annoying thing to have to deal with a hundred times per day, and a good in-display sensor in a phone under $300 is very uncommon.
The Nord N20 5G uses a midrange Snapdragon 695 5G chipset, which is a cut above the budget-level 400-series Snapdragons and 700-series MediaTek chips commonly found in this class. It’s also paired with 6GB of RAM, another improvement over the 4GB more typical of budget phones.
These are great specs for a $300 phone, and the N20’s performance reflects that. It runs graphics intensive games like Genshin Impact reasonably well (with some noticeable stuttering but nothing that impacted gameplay). In day-to-day use, jumping from app to app is quick, and I’m rarely left waiting for the phone to catch up as I switch from scrolling Instagram to typing an email or taking a picture. I do notice apps closing in the background but not to the point that it’s bothersome. Turning high-performance mode on seems to help a bit but doesn’t totally solve the problem.
There’s just one downward firing built-in speaker on the N20 5G, and it’s really easy to cover with your finger when holding the phone. It’s also just not a good speaker. But you can’t have everything on a budget phone, and this seems like a reasonable trade-off.
The N20 includes a healthy 128GB of built-in storage, which can be expanded by way of the microSD card slot. There’s also a real, live headphone jack on this phone, and it ships with a fast charger in the box. That completes the trifecta of features that are quickly disappearing from flagship and midrange phones but that you can still find in the budget class.
OnePlus’ trademark fast charging (with Oppo’s SuperVOOC branding) is included in the N20 5G, and it’s another standout feature in the under-$300 class. The phone supports 33W wired charging with the included charger (but, unsurprisingly, no wireless charging). With the phone powered off and the battery completely depleted, it charged up to 30 percent in a mere 20 minutes. In total, the phone charged from flat to 100 percent in an hour and 15 minutes in my testing — at least 15 minutes faster than the typical budget phone. Most of the time, you can get to a very usable 90 percent much sooner, as charging slows down considerably for the last 10 percent of battery.
The N20’s 4500mAh battery isn’t the biggest in the class, but it does power the phone through a full day of use — even heavy use. With the always-on display and high-performance mode enabled, a mix of Wi-Fi and 5G usage, and some battery-hungry activities mixed in, like downloading and playing 20 minutes of Genshin Impact, I’ve gotten close to 3.5 hours of screen-on time in the last 24 hours and I’m down to 20 percent battery. Based on those numbers, it’s fair to say that the N20 5G will easily get a light or moderate user through a full day of use.
Google has started taking its Android 13 beta public, but the N20 5G is still back on Android 11. OnePlus says it will get an update to Android 12, but it couldn’t give an estimated timeframe for it. In the meantime, OnePlus’ version of Android 11 (and 12 for that matter) is a little more minimalist and a little less whimsical than the Samsung or Google versions. It’s easy to navigate, and there are mercifully few pre-downloaded T-Mobile apps.
OnePlus says that Android 12 will be the only OS platform upgrade for the N20, which is a bummer with the next OS version right around the corner, and that it’s scheduled to receive three years of security updates. Three years of support isn’t the worst policy among Android device makers, but it’s not the best — that honor would go to Samsung, with four or five years of support depending on the phone. I’d love to see OnePlus commit to additional years of software support for its devices, but three years strikes me as sufficient for a lot of people.
When OnePlus introduces an unlocked version of the N20, its story of which 5G bands it supports will get a little more complicated. The n77 C-band frequency, which Verizon and AT&T rely on a lot, isn’t on the spec sheet, for example. So if it does get 5G certification on those carriers, it may only be for the slower might-as-well-be-LTE variety. But for now, the story is simple: the N20 5G supports T-Mobile 5G. While Verizon and AT&T are hurrying to build out their mid-band 5G networks (read: the good 5G) T-Mobile got a big head start years ago when it bought Sprint. Long story short: it’s really good, and it’s good now, not in a year or two.
It’s been a little while since I used a 5G phone on T-Mobile, and I’m seriously impressed by the speeds I saw both at home and out in my neighborhood around T-Mobile’s corporate backyard of Seattle. I’ve been able to pick up T-Mobile’s faster Ultra Capacity 5G signal fairly often, and I get download speeds of 300–500Mbps when I do. For comparison’s sake, my home Wi-Fi is around 100Mbps on a good day. All this is to say that the N20 is in great shape to take advantage of a very fast network if you happen to live somewhere with good T-Mobile 5G coverage.
There are two large camera modules on the back of the N20 5G, which might lead you to think that there are two important cameras on this phone. There are not. The top camera is a 64-megapixel f/1.8 standard wide, and the module below it is a 2-megapixel macro camera — the same kind of small, low-grade macro camera found on many other budget phones. Its relatively large housing is just window dressing. The third, smaller lens belongs to a 2-megapixel monochrome sensor, which is the only thing more pointless than a tiny macro camera.
The good news is that the 64-megapixel main camera is good. Images taken outdoors in good lighting are pleasant; exposures are balanced, and colors look a little warmer than on Google’s Pixel phones but less saturated than on Samsung’s Galaxy devices. It’s a nice sweet spot. I’m impressed with the 2x digital zoom on this camera, too. In good lighting, details are surprisingly sharp. It’s not a lot of reach, but it’s good enough that I’d use it in a pinch when getting closer to my subject isn’t possible.
Images taken indoors in less good lighting can look a little artificially bright, as is common with other OnePlus phones. Night mode has a habit of taking this a step further, with color saturation that tends to look artificial. But given the choice, I’d take just about any night mode over no night mode at all.
The macro camera is about the same as any other smartphone macro camera: very low res and not very useful. To even enable it, you need to tap “more” in the camera app and pick it out of a grid of options where it’s dead last in the third row after “text scanner.” Maybe OnePlus is hoping you won’t find it. I wish this camera were an ultrawide instead.
As for the monochrome sensor, OnePlus quietly phased it out of its flagship phones, but it’s still hanging around here in the budget class. Supposedly, it supplies additional image information when you’re shooting in the black-and-white filter mode. Covering the sensor with my finger produces an image that looks exactly the same as with it uncovered. Counting this sensor as the phone’s third rear camera is definitely a stretch.
Video, as mentioned above, is limited to a maximum resolution of 1080p. That’s too bad since 4K has really become the standard for high-resolution video. As it is, the 1080p clips are good, if a little noisy in low light. There’s an aggressive crop, but as a trade-off you get some fairly good electronic image stabilization.
No $300 phone is going to take great photos in every situation, but it feels like the N20 5G could do better here. Swapping out the macro and monochrome sensors with even a mediocre ultrawide would have been a worthwhile exchange in my book; at least an ultrawide is tangibly useful. The main camera does fine in the right lighting conditions. It’s just a shame that it’s doing all of the legwork on the N20.
The OnePlus N20 5G is an excellent deal if — these are important “ifs”: you’re on T-Mobile and camera quality isn’t your top priority. If so, it’s just a pleasure to use. The screen is rich and detailed, performance is good, the fingerprint scanner is quick, and wired charging is seriously fast.
In this price bracket, the Samsung Galaxy A32 5G is more or less the default recommendation. The N20 doesn’t quite overtake it, but it’s a very worthwhile alternative. The A32 offers an ultrawide in addition to its standard wide camera and shoots 4K video, so it’s a better choice if image quality is a priority. It’s almost a year old at this point, but it’s still scheduled to get three more years of security updates. It’s already getting Android 12, too, so it’s a step ahead on the software side.
But the N20 is a better choice if you’re looking for a great screen and a more sophisticated software experience. You’ll also get double the built-in storage and 2GB more RAM than the 64GB / 4GB RAM version of the A32 5G sold in the US. We interact with our phones roughly a million times per day, so it’s worth making sure the device you pick is one that you enjoy using. Personally, I’d find a way to live without an ultrawide camera and pick the N20 over the A32 just based on its enjoyability factor. It’s OnePlus at its finest — delivering an experience that feels like it cost more than it actually did.
Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge
Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. It’s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we started counting exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don’t read and definitely can’t negotiate.
To use the OnePlus N20 5G, you need to agree to:
OnePlus’ End User License Agreement and Privacy Policy
Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service
Google Play Terms of Service
Install updates and apps: “You agree this device may also automatically download and install updates and apps from Google, your carrier, and your device’s manufacturer, possibly using cellular data. Some of these apps may offer in-app purchases.”
There are also several optional agreements that you need to get past during setup:
Participation in Co-Creation User Programs, which includes built-in app updates, push notifications for surveys and product updates, and system stability reporting
Assistant Voice Match
Back up to Google Drive: “Your backup includes apps, app data, all history, contacts, device settings (including Wi-Fi passwords and permissions), and SMS.”
Use location: “Google may collect location data periodically and use this data in an anonymous way to improve location accuracy and location-based services.”
Allow scanning: “Allow apps and services to scan for Wi-Fi networks and nearby devices at any time, even when Wi-Fi or Bluetooth is off.”
Send usage and diagnostic data: “Help improve your Android device experience by automatically sending diagnostic, device and app usage data to Google.”
On this carrier-locked device, there are three more optional agreements from T-Mobile:
Help improve your experience by sharing device performance, app and network usage data
Help improve your local network experience by including your device’s location
Use diagnostics data for personalized ads
In total, that’s six mandatory agreements and at least seven optional agreements.
Motorola is back at it again in the mid-range smartphone market with a new and very compelling offering. The Motorola Edge 30 is here with updated specs and new looks, but keeping what we loved about its predecessor, the Edge 20, which was released less than a year ago. Unfortunately, the Edge 30 will also not be available in the US.
With a price of just €449.99 and a new camera system, the Edge 30 has set its sights on the Galaxy A53, considering how close the two devices are in terms of specs. We praised the predecessor of the Edge 30 for its interesting design language and amazing value last year. Is that still the case? Well, let’s look at what this new mid-range Motorola brings to the table. Also, while you wait for our full review of the Edge 30, make sure to read our
which is already up.
Design and display
Finally, after a couple of years with mostly big mid-range phones, Motorola has decided to bring more diversity to its Edge lineup. The new Edge 30 is smaller than its predecessor, which is good news, considering last year’s device was pretty big and this year’s Edge 30 Pro is rather big too. The Motorola Edge 30 measures 159.38 x 74.236 x 6.79mm and weighs only 155g. Fans of more compact and light phones should be delighted, as this means that the Edge 30 is not only the thinnest 5G phone currently on the market, but also one of the lightest. For comparison, the iPhone 13, which is similar in size, weighs 174g, and the Galaxy A53 is 189g.
In terms of design, the phone is easy on the eyes. It has a glossy flat back, just like its predecessor, with an updated camera system, which is now rounder, just like on other new Motorola devices.
Because of how thin the Edge 30 is, it looks like its cameras are protruding a lot from the body, but that’s the price one has to pay in order to achieve this slim figure. Also, unlike the more expensive Pro model, the Edge 30 features an in-display fingerprint scanner. Our guess is Motorola couldn’t mount a scanner on the side of the phone, as it was probably too thin.
There are also some very pretty-looking color options to choose from: Meteor Gray, Aurora Green, and Supermoon Siver. We especially like the latter option, as it looks very interesting and rather bright and happy.
The Edge 30 in Aurora Green
The rails of the phone are made from what Motorola describes as quality, premium-feeling plastic, which is probably the main reason the phone is so light. Stay tuned for our review of this phone if you want to find out how this device feels in real life. With its glossy back and sides, the Edge 30 will probably be a pretty slippery phone. That’s fine though, as most markets will get the phone with a protective case as part of its package.Display-wise, the Motorola Edge 30 rocks a 6.5-inch 144Hz AMOLED screen with an FHD+ resolution. The bezels of the phone look to be very tiny, which is welcome. The phone automatically adjusts the panel's refresh rate between 60Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz, and 144Hz, thus saving battery by optimising the user experience.
The Motorola Edge 30 is IP52 water-resistant. This means that it can withstand the occasional drops of water, but it cannot be submerged. Unlike the Edge 20, this new model does have stereo speakers, which support Dolby Atmos audio. That's quite a nice improvement.
Camera and performance
As we mentioned earlier, the new Motorola Edge 30 also has a new triple-camera system. It consists of a 50MP f/1.8 main camera with Quad Pixel technology. Quad Pixel combines four pixels into one larger one for better results in challenging photo conditions, while it also saves on memory.
The second camera is a 50MP f/2.2 ultra-wide shooter with Macro Vision. The third camera is a 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor. The front punch-hole camera on the other hand is a 32MP f/2.4 shooter, which also features Quad Pixel technology.
Video-wise, the Edge 30 is capable of recording in 4K 30fps and 1080p 30 or 60fps. There is also an HD 960fps slow-motion setting.
The Motorola Edge 30 is powered by the new Snapdragon 778G+. This processor is 5G enabled, and is coupled with 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of non-expandable storage. The phone also supports Wi-Fi 6E.
Software and battery
Motorola’s new mid-range offering runs Android 12 out of the box with the brand’s software features and touches, like the double chop to turn on the flashlight.
This phone also features the Motorola ReadyFor platform. This platform lets you turn any screen into a desktop-like computer just with your phone, but also lets you transfer files between a Windows 10 PC and the phone more easily.
We bet you wonder about the battery size of the Edge 30, especially considering it is smaller than its predecessor but just as thin. We are glad to tell you that the battery size hasn’t seen a decrease. The battery is 4,020mAh, which according to Motorola should last you at least a day.
In terms of charging, the Edge 30 is pretty good too. It features 33W fast-wired charging, and the charger comes in the box. With this battery size, the Edge 30 should charge from 0 to 100% in about an hour.
Price and availability
As we mentioned in the beginning, the starting price of the Motorola Edge 30 in Europe is €449.99. The phone will also be available in Latin America, Asia, Australia, India, and the Middle East in the coming weeks.
Motorola might have a mid-range winner on its hands
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