Quick verdict

The POVA 8 Pro distinguishes itself through a sci-fi-inspired design that sets it apart from other devices, paired with a vibrant display that delivers an engaging viewing experience. Its primary camera produces images with adequate detail, and the software incorporates stunning-looking glass elements, making it fun to use. However, the device trails rivals in raw processing performance, and the promise of only two OS upgrades constrains its long-term software support compared to others.

Design: easily distinguishes itself from others

Kicking things off with the design, the POVA 8 Pro flaunts a semi-transparent rear panel with multiple elements etched underneath the plastic layer, similar to the POVA 8. POVA calls it an Interstellar Spaceship Design, with subtle hints of a spaceship's exterior by incorporating texture, screw and plate-like patterns. The main highlight, however, remains the triangular camera module and the Alive Matrix Display integrated within it. Since no smartphone ships with such a camera island, it helps in giving the POVA 8 Pro its own identity.

For a smartphone with a 6,500mAh battery and a sizeable 6.78-inch display, the POVA 8 Pro feels relatively light to hold at 189g, while its side profile measures 7.39mm. With an extensive range of IP ratings in tow, including IP66, 68, 69, and 69K, I actually submerged the phone under a running tap after getting it dusty, and yet it remained flawless to use. In fact, the IP69K rating, in particular, allows the phone to withstand pressure from jet sprays in rare instances when you happen to face one.

While the POVA 8 Pro offers a near-premium in-hand feel, its closest rival, the Nothing Phone (4a) (review), features a metal unibody aluminium frame, making it feel even more premium. While we received our unit in the Arc White colourway, it is also available in Tundra Green and Graphite Black.

Display: rich viewing experience

The POVA 8 Pro packs a 6.78-inch HyperLux 1.5K AMOLED display with up to 144Hz refresh rates and up to 4,500-nit peak brightness, while the high-brightness value is 1,600 nits. The panel is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, and after removing the pre-applied screen protector and using the device, there are no visible scratches or scuffs on the display after a week or so.

Coming to the panel's actual experience, I was completely satisfied with its output. The details are sharp, the colour tuning by default leans towards vibrancy, and the contrast levels are rock solid. During my time, I watched the first two episodes of DCU's Lanterns on JioHotstar, and the panel didn't disappoint. On top of this, the Dolby Atmos-supported stereo speakers deliver crisp sound and don't distort at high volumes.

When comparing the POVA 8 Pro's display with the Redmi Turbo 5 (review) side by side, the former not only offered higher brightness levels indoors and outdoors but also appeared perfectly saturated for my liking. On the other hand, the Turbo 5 features slimmer bezels, giving it a more high-end feel. My only major gripe with the POVA 8 Pro's display is that when you install a new app, it's often limited to 60 or 90Hz. As a result, you'll have to manually set the app's refresh rate to 120Hz, while 144Hz is supported only in certain first-party apps, like Settings.

Performance: trails behind the competition

While the significant rise in smartphone prices is understandable due to the memory crisis, the POVA 8 Pro runs on the MediaTek Dimensity 7400 Ultimate, the same chipset that recently debuted on the Rs 34,999-priced Realme P4s. This puts it significantly behind performance-focused smartphones, such as the OnePlus Nord 6 and POCO X8 Pro Max and lifestyle-oriented phones, like the Motorola Edge 70 Pro+, all of which sell under Rs 50,000 at the point of drafting this review.

The processor is paired with a P1 Graphic chip, a dedicated chip to boost the graphics performance. That said, here are some benchmark results for your reference to assess how the POVA 8 Pro fares against the competition in raw performance:

[comparative-benchmark type="1" title="AnTuTu score" caption="AnTuTu assesses a smartphone's CPU, GPU, memory, and overall user experience (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42030,41555,41931,42053,41523" ][/comparative-benchmark]

[comparative-benchmark type="10" title="Geekbench single-core score" caption="Geekbench assesses the efficiency of the CPU's single and multiple cores (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42030,41555,41931,42053,41523" ][/comparative-benchmark]

[comparative-benchmark type="11" title="Geekbench multi-core score" caption="Geekbench assesses the efficiency of the CPU's single and multiple cores (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42030,41555,41931,42053,41523" ][/comparative-benchmark]

While I duly enjoyed using the HiOS 16.3 software on the POVA 8 Pro, more on this later, there were several instances when I felt the performance was being bogged down due to the midrange-level chipset. While the Dimensity 7400 Ultimate is a skilful chipset for daily use and even for running games at decent graphics settings, I often encountered stutters and scrolling delays when opening or closing apps or navigating social media apps.

Nevertheless, it doesn't hamper the daily usability unless you have a very keen eye and are particular about animations. In Call of Duty: Mobile, the POVA 8 Pro delivered an average of 59.4 frames per second during a 30-minute gaming session at 'Very high' graphics and 'Ultra' frame rates, which is appreciable given the hardware on board. On the other hand, in BGMI, we achieved an average frame rate of 39.6 after playing for 30 minutes straight. In both games, temperatures remained well below 32 degrees Celsius, indicating efficient performance even over long periods.

This could also be attributed to the inclusion of a relatively large 5,000mm2 vapour chamber. Gamers into casual titles such as Clash Royale can expect consistently smooth gameplay with 120FPS support. I played the game every day during the review period for at least an hour and never experienced jarring animations or motions.

Software: incorporates stunning-looking elements

The POVA 8 Pro runs on Android 16 with HiOS 16.3 layered on top. From my experience with the standard POVA 8, the 'Pro' variant features smoother, more detailed animations, which makes sense given the significant price gap of almost Rs 20,000. On top of this, I really adored the real-time frosted-glass effects on HiOS 16.3, scattered throughout the UI. From the lockscreen clock to first-party apps to buttons and menus, POVA has curated the effects excellently.

Apart from the software design, POVA has added a multitude of AI features to the 8 Pro, with the AI Assistant as the major highlight. While I didn't get the chance to use it in depth, the feature can record, transcribe, summarise, and even create to-dos for regular or WhatsApp calls in multiple languages, including English, Hindi, Marathi, and Bengali. Apart from that, Tecno AI offers several AI features, including AI Writing, AI Note, AI Recording, AI Gallery, and more.

What doesn't fall in POVA 8 Pro's favour in terms of software is its update longevity. It's promised just two OS upgrades and three years of security patch updates, falling behind the Motorola Edge 70 Pro+ and Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, both of which are set to get three major Android updates.

[comparative-benchmark type="3000" products="42030,42053,41800,41555," pias="57,46,30,53,"][/comparative-benchmark]

Battery and charging: power-packed to last for days

The POVA 8 Pro runs on a 6,500mAh battery. While the capacity may not seem large by mid-2026's standards, when every other brand is chasing higher numbers, say 7,000mAh or above, POVA claims the battery is tuned to run normally even during extreme conditions. These include places with temperatures ranging from -20 to 60 degrees Celsius.

While we used the POVA 8 Pro in the stable weather conditions of New Delhi and Gurugram, the phone consistently delivered over 1.5 days of battery life on a single charge. On top of that, almost every battery cycle ended with some juice left in the tank. Coming to the real-world battery stats, the phone can easily provide 7.5+ hours of screen time under heavy use within a 24-hour window, while light to medium users can expect around 5 to 6 hours of screen time in a 35+ hour duration with over 20 percent battery remaining.

For an overview of how well the battery performs, you can view the stats from multiple charge cycles below:

[gallery link="file" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" ids="713627,713624,713625"]

In our in-house PCMark Battery drain test, though, we expected better results from the POVA 8 Pro, as its 6,500mAh cell lasted just over 10 hours. The Vivo V70 with the same battery capacity clocked 15 hours in the same test. With 45W charging support in tow, which is on the lower end for a device priced at Rs 49,999, we were able to fully top it up from 10 percent in under 1 hour and 25 minutes.

[caption id="attachment_713626" align="aligncenter" width="900"] POVA 8 Pro charging test[/caption]

Cameras: lacks flexibility, but gets the job done

In optics, the POVA 8 Pro is equipped with the highly capable Sony LYTIA 700C primary camera with OIS, an 8MP ultrawide lens, and a 13MP selfie shooter. Coming straight to the camera results, the POVA 8 Pro shoots natural-looking images, though it tends to produce cool tones in some instances, such as when the sky occupies a dominant part of the frame. Similarly, while the dynamic range is well portrayed when photographing distant subjects, it can be challenging for the phone to maintain it, as the skies can be blown out or darker areas show heavy blue tones when there's a prominent subject in the foreground.

While the POVA 8 Pro doesn't have a telephoto lens, you'd have to resort to a 2x digital crop to take close-up photos. Fortunately, the results are quite usable, with the images retaining adequate detail unless you zoom in to examine specific parts.

While the LYTIA 700C sensor delivers adequate detail, the daylight results aren't as sharp as those of the Redmi Turbo 5 and Motorola Edge 70 Pro+, both of which have a similarly sized or smaller main camera sensor. Despite that, shots taken indoors with good lighting turn out quite decent, as the images pop and are finely detailed with no signs of heavy smoothing or noise. Similarly, in low light, you can make out individual leaves when capturing trees or plants, while the exposure control is balanced, so the scene isn't too bright or too dull. However, the details can be improved in low light.

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In order to assess how well the cameras of the POVA 8 Pro fare against the competition, I compared it against the Motorola Edge 70 Pro+:

Daylight

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/09/POVA-8-Pro-daylight-scaled.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/09/Moto-Edge-70-Pro-daylight-scaled.jpg" offset="0.5" before="POVA 8 Pro" after="Moto Edge 70 Pro+"]

While both smartphones have done their best to deliver natural results, the Motorola Edge 70 Pro+'s shot is closer to reality, retaining the building's dark red shade. Similarly, with higher contrast levels, the image pops out more. Upon zooming in, Motorola's output is slightly sharper, while the POVA 8 Pro handles dynamic range better, though the darker areas show a bit of noise.

Ultrawide

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/09/POVA-8-Pro-ultrawide-scaled.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/09/Moto-Edge-70-Pro-ultrawide-scaled.jpg" offset="0.5" before="POVA 8 Pro" after="Moto Edge 70 Pro+"]

Right off the bat, it's evident that the Moto Edge 70 Pro+'s ultrawide lens has a noticeably wider field of view, allowing it to fit in more of the landscape. Since it's equipped with a 50MP sensor, the details are better than those of the POVA 8 Pro's 8MP ultrawide camera. However, an area where the POVA 8 Pro's ultrawide comes out on top is colour consistency compared to the main camera, an area where the Moto phone struggles.

Portrait

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/09/POVA-8-Pro-portrait-2x-scaled.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/09/Moto-Edge-70-Pro-portrait-2x-scaled.jpg" offset="0.5" before="POVA 8 Pro" after="Moto Edge 70 Pro+"]

In portrait mode, the POVA 8 Pro has overexposed the subject's clothes and face, which has also resulted in crushing the shadows in various parts of the image. On the other hand, while the Moto Edge 70 Pro+ adds high levels of warmth, the exposure and highlights are well maintained, and the detail levels are also better than those of the POVA 8 Pro. It's also worth noting that the portrait images from both phones were captured with the primary cameras at around 50mm to keep things fair and square.

Selfie

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/09/POVA-8-Pro-selfie-scaled.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/09/Moto-Edge-70-Pro-selfie-scaled.jpg" offset="0.5" before="POVA 8 Pro" after="Moto Edge 70 Pro+"]

Even though the POVA 8 Pro captures selfies with a wider field of view, the reddish tones make the image less appealing than the Motorola Edge 70 Pro+. The Moto phone's image also carries balanced contrast tones and sharpness.

Low light

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/09/pova-8-pro-low-light-scaled.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/09/Moto-Edge-70-Pro-low-light-scaled.jpg" offset="0.5" before="POVA 8 Pro" after="Moto Edge 70 Pro+"]

In low-light conditions, the POVA 8 Pro gathers sufficient light by default and renders the scene naturally, whereas the Moto Edge 70 Pro+ introduces a reddish tint. As in previous scenarios, the POVA 8 Pro's primary camera doesn't match the Moto Edge 70 Pro+ in detail.

Night mode

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/09/pova-8-pro-night-mode-scaled.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/09/Moto-Edge-70-Pro-night-mode-scaled.jpg" offset="0.5" before="POVA 8 Pro" after="Moto Edge 70 Pro+"]

With night mode enabled, the differences remain the same: the POVA 8 Pro delivers better exposure and more natural colours, with accurate red tones on the signboard, while the Moto Edge 70 Pro+ offers sharper details.

The extras worth knowing

Haptic feedback: The POVA 8 Pro is equipped with a strong haptic motor that delivers tight feedback, though it isn't as good as the one on the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro.

Active Matrix Display: The small display within the camera module comprises 177 LEDs that work in tandem to display symbols, animations, and custom styles during various scenarios, such as incoming calls, music, charging, and more. During my use, I figured that only those who keep their phones facing down can take advantage of the Active Matrix Display, and I am clearly not one of them. Therefore, while there's a lot to play around with, it didn't suit my phone usage patterns.

[gallery link="file" columns="2" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" ids="713551,713546"]

SGS 5-Star drop resistance: Along with multiple IP ratings, the POVA 8 Pro is SGS 5-Star drop-resistant, meaning it can withstand the shocks from drops or bumps on hard surfaces to a certain extent.

One-Tap Button: The POVA 8 Pro features a dedicated button on the right side of the frame that lets users trigger actions such as turning on the flashlight, capturing screenshots, switching sound profiles, and more. During my use, I used the One-Tap Button to turn on the torch, and it never failed on my end.

Final verdict

Much like the POVA Curve 2 and POVA 8, the POVA 8 Pro strikes its own identity with a spaceship-inspired design that's unique, tasteful, and visually appealing. The 6.78-inch AMOLED display is equally impressive, outputting sharp details and punchy colours in all sorts of content. While the cameras aren't the phone's strongest suits and lack the versatility many photography enthusiasts may seek at this price, they deliver usable, social media-ready photos.

On to the deal breakers, at a price of Rs 49,999, the MediaTek Dimensity 7400 Ultimate falls short of the performance delivered by close rivals such as the Motorola Edge 70 Pro+ and POCO X8 Pro Max, whether in everyday use or gaming. Minor hiccups and stutters during regular operation indicate that the POVA 8 Pro would benefit from one or two software updates to refine its responsiveness. The update cycle (2+3) of the smartphone also feels limited compared to other similarly priced phones in the segment.

Moreover, users seeking flexible cameras with a telephoto lens, better everyday and gaming performance, and more software upgrades may consider alternatives such as the Motorola Edge 70 Pro+ and the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro.

Having said that, the POVA 8 Pro at Rs 49,999 is a viable option for its striking design, rich display experience, comprehensive software design and features, and decent primary camera output. 

Editor's ratings: 8/10

Reasons to buy

• A design that stands out and integrates fun, nifty additions such as an LED display on the rear and a side button to trigger actions.
• Display outputs detailed and vibrant tones for enjoying content.
• Primary camera offers usable and social media-worthy results.
• Great attention to detail in software, while offering loads of AI and customisation features.

Reasons not to buy

• Gaming and raw performance aren't on par with its close rivals.
• It promises only two OS upgrades, whereas four OS upgrades have become standard in the segment.

The design of the Xiaomi 18 Fold is similar to the leaked images that surfaced a few days ago. It is Xiaomi's passport-style foldable, similar to Samsung's Galaxy Fold8. The foldable showcased at IFA 2026 today was housed in a deep maroon-red glass box, so I couldn't hold the device to get a feel for its size and weight. Suffice it to say that it looks compact even from a distance. 

Folded shut, the Xiaomi 18 Fold has a single circular punch-hole camera, while the inner display tucks the camera into the top corner, which I feel is the right place to keep the sensor so it doesn't get in the way of your content. There was also no visible crease on the inner display, but then again I was looking at it from a distance, so it's too early to tell exactly how creaseless Xiaomi has managed to keep it.

While Xiaomi hasn't confirmed the specifications yet, reports so far suggest the Xiaomi 18 Fold features a 5.38-inch cover display and a 7.58-inch main display when unfolded. It is also expected to be the first wide foldable to house a 6,000mAh battery, which would be impressive for a foldable this compact. The phone is also tipped to come with an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, making it the second foldable to have this rating after the Pixel 11 Pro Fold. 

The horizontal camera strip houses three sensors, an LED flash, and Leica branding. The camera system includes a telephoto lens, but the megapixel count hasn't been officially revealed yet. 

What Xiaomi was able to officially announce today at IFA 2026 is that the Xiaomi 18 Fold is its first smartphone powered by the company's in-house XRING O3 chip, a 3nm deca-core chipset said to deliver impressive benchmark scores and raw performance. Xiaomi's adoption of an in-house chip places it firmly within a growing industry trend where major players like Apple and Google are seeking greater control over their hardware and software integration, potentially leading to optimised performance and unique features.

The foldable should launch with up to 16GB of RAM. Speaking of its launch, the foldable will be announced in China on September 7th, which is when we will have the official specifications and China pricing. As for its India launch, it's still unclear if Xiaomi plans to bring this foldable to the country.

Disclosure: The writer is attending Xiaomi's debut IFA 2026 showcase in Berlin on Xiaomi India's invitation.

Big build but lightweight

The Galaxy S26 FE has a relatively large footprint, but it manages to remain slim and lightweight. At 193g, the handset feels surprisingly light in the hand and is comfortable to carry around despite its size. The in-hand feel is good, and you can still get most things done one-handed, thanks in part to One UI's well-placed controls.

The power button and volume keys are positioned on the right side and are easy to reach. I also appreciate that Samsung hasn't added any extra AI or camera keys, which can sometimes feel more like an inconvenience than a useful addition. The Galaxy S26 FE shares the same form factor as the Galaxy S26+, so if you prefer a larger screen for watching movies, TV shows, or other content, you'll likely appreciate the extra real estate.

The handset also features a dual-speaker setup, with the earpiece doubling as the second speaker. Dolby Atmos support further enhances the experience, delivering a more immersive soundstage when watching movies or TV shows. Combined with the large 6.7-inch display and slim bezels, the Galaxy S26 FE offers an immersive viewing experience.

Design-wise, the phone gets a flat frame with slim bezels and an aluminium construction that gives it a distinctly flagship look and feel. You also get an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. Samsung offers the Galaxy S26 FE in Graphite, Pistachio, and Blueberry. We have the Pistachio variant, which has a light aquamarine-like shade and feels very much in line with Samsung's colour palette. If you prefer something more understated or bold, the Graphite and Blueberry options should be worth considering.

Display goodness

Further adding to its appeal is the 6.7-inch FHD+ (1080 x 2340) AMOLED display, which supports a 120Hz refresh rate. The panel is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus+, offering a good level of durability for a phone in this segment. In comparison, the Galaxy S25 FE also offers the same display specs. As you'd expect from Samsung, the screen delivers vibrant colours, deep contrast, and plenty of visual punch, which should make everything from scrolling through social media to watching videos look engaging.

The 120Hz refresh rate also makes animations and scrolling feel fluid, while One UI's feature-rich and intuitive interface complements the panel well. So far, the combination makes the Galaxy S26 FE feel responsive and snappy during everyday use. Peak brightness is rated at 1,900 nits, which may not be the most impressive figure for direct sunlight, but it is more than adequate for indoor use and most everyday scenarios.

Based on our early experience, the Galaxy S26 FE's screen should be a strong draw for users who spend a lot of time watching videos, browsing, or consuming other content on their phones. The high refresh rate and responsive touch experience should also make it appealing to mobile gamers.

What else to expect

As for the rest of the experience, we'll be able to dive deeper into these aspects in our detailed review. The Galaxy S26 FE is powered by Samsung's in-house Exynos 2500 SoC, a 3nm deca-core chipset. It's a generational upgrade over the Exynos 2400 found in the
, so we expect to see improvements in overall performance, although that's something we'll need to assess through real-world usage.

For photography, the device features a 50MP primary sensor, a 12MP ultra-wide camera, and an 8MP telephoto lens with 3x optical and up to 30x digital zoom. Selfies are handled by a 12MP front-facing camera. The combination offers a versatile setup, allowing you to capture everything from wider landscapes and group shots to subjects at a distance.

Powering the phone is a 4,900mAh battery with support for 45W wired charging. While the capacity may seem modest compared with some competing devices that are increasingly opting for much larger batteries, its real-world endurance will ultimately depend on how well the hardware and software are optimised. We'll put this to the test as part of our full review.

On the software front, the Galaxy S26 FE runs One UI 9 based on Android 17 out of the box. Samsung is also promising seven generations of Android OS upgrades alongside security updates, giving the phone one of the longest software-support commitments in the segment.

Whether the Galaxy S26 FE represents a meaningful upgrade over its predecessor, the Galaxy S25 FE, is something we'll determine in our full review. We'll also put it through different usage scenarios to see how it performs in everyday conditions and how it stacks up against its competition. While we await pricing, if the S26 FE lands in the Rs 70,000 price bracket, it could be a strong contender for users prioritising a large, vibrant display and long software support over raw performance or a large battery. However, current S25 FE users might consider waiting for the full review to assess the performance jump.

Then there is the newer question, the one that did not exist three years ago: can it run a model locally, or are you renting a GPU by the hour?

Seven machines below, all tested in our lab on the same suite. They cover very different kinds of developers, from someone shipping React on a train to someone training models in a studio. Every number here is ours.

The ASUS ExpertBook Ultra is the overall pick, the ASUS Zenbook Duo suits web and app work, the Dell Pro Max 16 Plus handles data science, and the Apple MacBook Pro M5 Max is built for LLM work. The MacBook Pro M5 is the sensible Mac, the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Pro is the value pick, and the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 is the one to put Linux on. Updated for July 2026.

A note on pricing: all prices are what each machine cost when we tested it. Memory and storage costs have moved sharply through 2026, so check before buying.

How we tested

The suite is the same across every laptop we review. Cinebench 2026, R24 and R23 for multi-threaded throughput, which is the closest synthetic proxy for compile and build times. Geekbench 6 for cross-platform comparison. PCMark 10 and PCMark 10 Extended for real productivity, CrossMark for responsiveness, the 3DMark stack for graphics, PugetBench for DaVinci Resolve, and CrystalDiskMark for storage speeds, which decide how quickly a large repository indexes or a Docker image builds. Battery is the PCMark 10 video loop test at 80% brightness.

Benchmarks do not cover the rest of it, so every machine here spent weeks being worked on. Long typing sessions to judge the keyboard. Twenty-plus browser tabs alongside an IDE, a terminal and a video call, because that is the actual load. Sustained builds to see whether clocks hold or the fans give up first. Where a machine felt different in daily use, we have said so.

ASUS ExpertBook Ultra — Best Laptop for Programming Overall

Price at time of review: Rs 3,49,990

Why we picked it

The ASUS ExpertBook Ultra (review) gets more of the developer checklist right than anything else we have tested, and it does it in a machine that weighs roughly 1.1kg.

Storage is the part that will surprise you thanks to the 2TB Gen 5 drive, which posted 11,378MB/s sequential reads and 9,548MB/s writes, and that number could resonate more to a developer than almost anything else on the spec sheet. Cloning a large monorepo, indexing it in your IDE, building a container image, restoring a database dump: all of it is storage-bound before it is CPU-bound. Nothing else on this list except the Dell workstation comes close.

The 64GB of memory is the other half of it. Running Docker alongside a language server, a local database, a browser with thirty tabs, and a couple of VMs is where 16GB machines start swapping, and 32GB machines get tight. This does not. Behind it, the Core Ultra X7 358H scored 17,199 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 4,246 in Cinebench 2026 multi-core and 10,105 in PCMark 10, consistently ahead of the Dell XPS 14 running the identical processor because the extra memory and faster drive do real work.

Then there is the display, which is the reason to buy this over rivals. It is a Tandem OLED with Corning Gorilla Matte coating, and the anti-glare finish means you can read code beside a window or under overhead office lighting without hunting for an angle. Text stays sharp, the 120Hz refresh keeps scrolling smooth, and the keyboard is genuinely comfortable across a long session. Battery ran 13 hours 47 minutes.

The trade is that everything is soldered, and the matte layer softens OLED's blacks a little. Neither is likely to bother you. It scored 9.3/10.

Key specs:

• Processor: Intel Core Ultra X7 358H (25W)
• GPU: Intel Arc B390
• Display: 14-inch Tandem OLED, 120Hz, Gorilla Matte with Gorilla Glass Victus
• RAM/Storage: 64GB LPDDR5x / 2TB Gen 5 SSD
• Battery: 70Wh, 13 hours 47 minutes (PCMark 10 video loop), 90W USB-C PD
• Build: Around 1.1kg, Ceraluminum finish
• Rating: 9.3/10

ASUS Zenbook Duo — Best for Web and App Development

Price at time of review: Rs 2,39,990 (currently around Rs 2,29,990)

Why we picked it

Two screens, no monitor, no desk. That is the entire pitch of the ASUS Zenbook Duo UX8406MA-QL971WS (review), and for front-end work it lands better than any accessory ever has.

The workflow is something very few, if any, can offer. Editor on the top panel, browser and dev tools on the bottom. Or terminal below, code above. Or a running app on one screen while you edit the source on the other, watching it hot-reload in real time without alt-tabbing. Both panels are 14-inch OLEDs, and the Bluetooth keyboard detaches and sits over the lower screen when you want a conventional laptop, or comes off entirely when you want the full stacked layout with the kickstand out. It is the rare gimmick that survives contact with actual work.

Both panels are 2,880 x 1,800 OLEDs at 120Hz, and they are vibrant enough that dense text stays comfortable across a long session. The detachable keyboard runs over Bluetooth when it is off the machine and reattaches magnetically over the lower screen, charging through pogo pins, with a separate Type-C port if you want to top it up directly. The keys are backlit, spacious and have ample travel, which makes for genuinely comfortable typing rather than the compromise these designs usually force. A bundled ASUS Pen 2.0 with 4,096 pressure levels handles diagramming and design markup.

The internals hold up. The Core Ultra 9 285H scored 18,699 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 16,038 in Geekbench 6 multi-core, with 7,893 in PCMark 10 and 8,281 in Extended, which comfortably covers the Node, Python and JavaScript toolchains most web and app developers live in. Storage runs 6,385MB/s reads on a 1TB Gen 4 drive, and 32GB of memory holds a dev server, a database and a full browser without swapping. Battery is the real surprise for a dual-OLED machine: 13 hours 38 minutes in our video loop test from a 75Whr cell, with a compact 65W Type-C charger barely bigger than a phone brick.

Ports are the weak spot, with two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C, one USB-A, HDMI and an audio jack but no Ethernet. It is also a tad heavy, and Intel Arc graphics mean this is not a machine for serious gaming. Our review scored it 7.5/10 and framed it clearly: this is for serious multitaskers and creative users who genuinely want a dual-monitor setup everywhere they work.

Key specs:

• Processor: Intel Core Ultra 9 185H (35W)
• GPU: Intel Arc
• Display: Dual 14-inch OLED, 60Hz, touchscreen with detachable Bluetooth keyboard
• RAM/Storage: 32GB LPDDR5x / 2TB Gen 4 SSD
• Battery: 75Wh, 8 hours 13 minutes (PCMark 10 video loop)
• Review: 7.5

Dell Pro Max 16 Plus — Best for Data Science and ML

Price at time of review: Rs 9,00,000

Why we picked it

Data science hits a wall that other development work does not. Your notebook runs fine until the dataset does not fit in memory, and then nothing runs at all. The Dell Pro Max 16 Plus MB16250 (review) is built specifically so you do not hit it.

There is 128GB of CAMM2 memory here, and unusually for 2026, it is upgradeable rather than soldered. Behind that sits an RTX Pro 5000 Blackwell with 24GB of VRAM and full CUDA support, which is what actually matters when you move from exploratory analysis to training. Model training, batch inference, and GPU-accelerated libraries like RAPIDS all want VRAM, and 24GB is enough to work with real models rather than toy ones.

The raw throughput backs it. Cinebench R23 multi-core came in at 36,274, Geekbench 6 multi-core at 20,962, and Geekbench OpenCL at 239,234. On the AI runs, it scored 15,678 in OpenVINO quantized and 11,368 in ONNX quantized. Storage hit 16,037MB/s sequential reads, so loading a hundred-gigabyte dataset off local disk stops being the bottleneck it usually is. The 16-inch 4K Tandem OLED gives you room for a notebook, a terminal and a visualisation side by side.

Worth noting is the CPU side too, since a lot of data work never touches the GPU at all. The 24-core Core Ultra 9 285HX handles parallel preprocessing, feature engineering and anything scikit-learn throws at it, and 128GB means you can hold a dataset in memory while a training run occupies the GPU.

It is also serviceable in a way almost nothing is now, i.e. memory, storage, even the GPU on a modular DGFF board and the USB-C ports individually, all replaceable. The chassis meets MIL-STD-810H for durability, and the battery ran 7 hours 7 minutes.

Rs 9 lakh puts this in lab and studio territory, and it runs hot under sustained load. It scored 9.5/10.

Key specs:

• Processor: Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (55W)
• GPU: NVIDIA RTX Pro 5000 Blackwell, 24GB
• Display: 16-inch 4K Tandem OLED, 120Hz
• RAM/Storage: 128GB CAMM2 / 2TB Gen 5 SSD
• Battery: 96Wh, 7 hours 7 minutes (PCMark 10 video loop)
• Rating: 9.5/10

Apple MacBook Pro M5 Max — Best for LLM and AI Development

Why we picked it

Configure a MacBook Pro M5 Max with 64GB of unified memory, and you get something no Windows laptop can currently offer: a single memory pool that both the CPU and GPU address directly, with nothing to copy between them.

For anyone running large language models locally, that architecture can become the whole argument. A discrete GPU with 24GB of VRAM hits a hard ceiling on model size regardless of how much system memory sits alongside it, because weights have to fit in VRAM. Unified memory removes that boundary, and the consensus among developers working with local models on Apple silicon has been consistent for two generations now: the memory pool is what determines which models you can run, and Apple sells the largest one available in a laptop.

The M5 Max pairs an 18-core CPU with a 32-core GPU, and a 40-core version sits above it. This generation puts a Neural Accelerator inside every GPU core, so inference scales with graphics horsepower rather than competing with it. Reviewers who have run extended workloads on these chips report the same thing about the 16-inch chassis specifically: it has the thermal headroom to hold clocks through multi-hour jobs rather than tapering after twenty minutes.

The supporting hardware is Apple's best. Liquid Retina XDR with 120Hz ProMotion, Thunderbolt 5, Wi-Fi 7, up to 4TB of storage, and up to a 100Wh battery with 96W charging.

The friction is tooling. A great deal of the ML ecosystem still assumes CUDA, and while MLX and Metal have improved fast, anyone whose stack depends on NVIDIA-specific libraries will spend time working around it. It is also very expensive, and the M5 Pro finishes most jobs for considerably less.

Key specs:

• Chip: Apple M5 Max (18-core CPU, 32-core or 40-core GPU with per-core Neural Accelerators)
• Display: 14.2-inch or 16.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR, up to 120Hz ProMotion
• Memory/Storage: 36GB unified, up to 64GB / 2TB SSD, up to 4TB
• Battery: Up to 100Wh, up to 96W charging
• Connectivity: Thunderbolt 5, Wi-Fi 7

Apple MacBook Pro M5 — Best MacBook for Developers

Why we picked it

Most developers who want a Mac do not need an M5 Max. They need a Unix-based machine that compiles quickly, runs all day, and does not sound like a hairdryer during a build. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 is that machine, and it costs less than half what the Max does.

The base M5 is a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerators built into each graphics core, and Apple quotes roughly double the SSD speed of the previous generation, which shows up in package installs and build times more than in benchmark charts. Sixteen gigabytes of unified memory is the entry configuration, and for iOS and macOS development specifically, Xcode, a simulator, and a browser all run comfortably within it. Anyone running heavier container workloads should step to 24GB or 32GB.

What makes it the sensible developer Mac is the fundamentals. The 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR panel with 120Hz ProMotion is easy to read code on for long stretches. The battery is rated up to 24 hours. The keyboard is good, the six-speaker system handles calls, and the port selection covers HDMI, SDXC, MagSafe and Thunderbolt without a dongle. If your work is native Apple development, this is not a compromise pick, it is the correct one.

The limits are worth knowing. This model gets Thunderbolt 4 rather than the Thunderbolt 5 on the Pro and Max chips, wireless trails the newer models, and the fans do become audible under sustained full load. Nothing is upgradeable, so buy the memory you will need for the machine's whole life.

Key specs:

• Chip: Apple M5 (10-core CPU, 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerator per core)
• Display: 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR, 120Hz ProMotion, nano-texture option
• Memory/Storage: 16GB unified, up to 32GB / 512GB SSD, up to 4TB
• Battery: Rated up to 24 hours
• Ports: Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, SDXC, MagSafe 3

Samsung Galaxy Book6 Pro — Best Value

Price at time of review: Rs 1,90,000

Why we picked it

The Galaxy Book6 Pro is the cheapest machine on this list and the one that lasts longest away from a socket, which for a developer who codes on trains and in coffee shops is a combination worth more than another few thousand points in Cinebench.

It runs close to a day and a half unplugged, the longest of any x86 machine we have tested. That comes from a Core Ultra X7 358H, the same Panther Lake silicon Dell puts in the XPS 14 at Rs 67,000 more, paired with Intel Arc B390 graphics and 32GB of memory with a 1TB drive. In our testing, it sat comfortably alongside the XPS across productivity workloads and pulled ahead on graphics, which matters if you are doing anything with GPU-accelerated tooling or driving external monitors.

32GB is the right amount of memory for most development work. It holds a container stack, a language server and a browser without swapping, and it is what the machines costing Rs 3 lakh and up on this list ship with too. The 14-inch AMOLED panel is bright and high contrast, which makes small text easier to live with across a long day, and the whole thing stays slim enough to carry without thinking about it.

The known irritations are consistent: Samsung ships a lot of pre-installed software you will want to remove, the port selection is thinner than rivals offer, and pricing has climbed noticeably over the previous generation.

Key specs:

• Processor: Intel Core Ultra X7 358H (25W, Panther Lake)
• GPU: Intel Arc B390
• Display: 14-inch AMOLED
• RAM/Storage: 32GB LPDDR5x / 1TB Gen 4 SSD
• Battery: 67Wh, longest-running x86 laptop we have tested

HP OmniBook Ultra 14 — Best Linux-Friendly Laptop

Price at time of review: Rs 2,21,999

Why we picked it

If you are going to wipe Windows and install Fedora or Ubuntu, the hardware underneath needs to support the software on top. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 (review) is a straightforward Intel machine with no exotic silicon to fight, which is exactly what you want.

ARM-based Windows laptops still have patchy Linux support, and machines with discrete NVIDIA graphics bring their own driver questions. An Intel processor with Intel Arc graphics runs on mainline kernel drivers that have been maintained for years, which means Wi-Fi, sleep, brightness keys and external displays tend to work on first boot rather than after a weekend of forum posts.

The hardware itself is well suited to development. Storage is Gen 5 rather than Gen 4, posting 10,341MB/s sequential reads and 8,691MB/s writes, second only to the ExpertBook here, so package installs and repository operations are quick. The Core Ultra 7 356H scored 14,096 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 8,349 in PCMark 10 and 14,428 in Geekbench 6 multi-core, which handles builds and containers comfortably. Battery ran 14 hours 39 minutes, the longest of any Intel machine here with a published review.

The 3K OLED at 120Hz with variable refresh gives you real estate and sharpness for dense text, and the 65W GaN charger is small enough to leave in a bag permanently. Sixteen gigabytes of memory is the one specification to think about: fine for most work, tight if you run several containers at once.

The chassis edges are sharp enough to notice against your wrists during long sessions, and the port selection is limited. It scored 8.5/10.

Key specs:

• Processor: Intel Core Ultra 7 356H (25W)
• Display: 14-inch 3K OLED, 120Hz with variable refresh rate
• RAM/Storage: 16GB LPDDR5x / 1TB Gen 5 SSD
• Battery: 70Wh, 14 hours 39 minutes (PCMark 10 video loop), 65W GaN charger
• Storage speeds: 10,341MB/s read, 8,691MB/s write
• Rating: 8.5/10

Winners at a glance

Prices are as of the time each machine was tested and are subject to change.

FAQs

Which is the best laptop for programming in India?

The ASUS ExpertBook Ultra. It combines 64GB of memory, the second-fastest storage we have tested at 11,378MB/s reads, a matte OLED display that stays readable in bright rooms, and 13 hours 47 minutes of battery in a 1.1kg body. It scored 9.3/10 in our review.

How much RAM do I need for coding?

Sixteen gigabytes handles most web development, scripting and general programming comfortably. Thirty-two is the sensible target if you run Docker containers, virtual machines or heavy IDEs alongside a browser, which is what the Galaxy Book6 Pro and Zenbook Duo provide. Sixty-four and above, as on the ExpertBook Ultra, is for data science and large-scale work.

Is a MacBook good for programming?

Yes, particularly for anything Unix-based, and it is the only option for native iOS and macOS development. The MacBook Pro M5 at Rs 1,69,900 covers most development work with excellent single-core performance and a rated 24 hours of battery. Step up to the M5 Max only if you are running large models locally.

Which laptop is best for machine learning and data science?

The Dell Pro Max 16 Plus, with 128GB of upgradeable memory and an RTX Pro 5000 carrying 24GB of VRAM with full CUDA support. Dataset size and VRAM are the constraints in this work far more often than processor speed.

Do I need a dedicated GPU for programming?

For most development, no. Web, app, backend and general software work are bound by memory, storage speed and single-core performance. A dedicated GPU becomes necessary for machine learning, local model inference, game development and GPU-accelerated data work.

Which laptop is best for running Linux?

The HP OmniBook Ultra 14. Its Intel processor and Intel Arc graphics run on long-maintained mainline kernel drivers, so Wi-Fi, sleep, display brightness and external monitors tend to work without configuration. ARM Windows machines and laptops with discrete NVIDIA graphics both require more setup.

Which programming laptop has the best battery life?

The Samsung Galaxy Book6 Pro is the longest-running x86 machine we have tested. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 managed 14 hours 39 minutes and the ASUS ExpertBook Ultra 13 hours 47 minutes, both enough for a full day away from a socket.

Are dual-screen laptops worth it for developers?

For front-end and full-stack work, genuinely yes. The ASUS Zenbook Duo lets you keep an editor on one panel and a browser with dev tools on the other, watching changes hot-reload without switching windows. The cost is battery life, which drops considerably with both screens running.

What has not caught up is the buying advice. Every laptop on a shelf in India right now has AI somewhere on the box, and the spec sheets are a mess of TOPS figures, NPU generations, and platform names that change every nine months.

So we tested. Eight machines, same benchmark suite, same battery test, including Geekbench AI in both the ONNX and OpenVINO runtimes, which is the closest thing there is to a portable measure of on-device AI throughput. The numbers below are all ours.

Where they land: the Dell Pro Max 16 Plus is the outright pick, the HP EliteBook X G2q 14 AI leads on Snapdragon, the Dell XPS 14 (2026) on Intel, and the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 on AMD. The Apple MacBook Pro M5 Max is the Mac to buy, the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra is the value play, the Galaxy Book6 Pro runs longest, and the MSI Titan 18 HX AI is the flagship. Updated for July 2026.

A note on pricing: all prices are what each machine cost when we tested it. Memory and storage costs have pushed this category up sharply through 2026, so verify before buying.

How we tested

Every machine here ran the same set. Geekbench AI in ONNX and OpenVINO for on-device inference throughput, Cinebench 2026, R24 and R23 for processor work, Geekbench 6 across platforms, PCMark 10 and PCMark 10 Extended for productivity, CrossMark for responsiveness, the full 3DMark stack, PugetBench for DaVinci Resolve where creative work matters, and CrystalDiskMark for storage. Battery is the PCMark 10 video loop test at 80% brightness.

Benchmarks only take you so far with these machines, though. AI features are the sort of thing you either notice or you do not, so every laptop here spent weeks doing actual work: live transcription in meetings, local image generation, background processing during calls, and the usual grind of tabs, documents and video. Where a machine felt different, we have said so.

Dell Pro Max 16 Plus — Best AI Laptop Overall

Price at time of review: Rs 9,00,000

Why we picked it

The Dell Pro Max 16 Plus MB16250 (review) is the most capable AI machine we have tested, and it is not close.

The specification reads like a desktop that lost an argument with a suitcase. A Core Ultra 9 285HX, an RTX Pro 5000 Blackwell with 24GB of VRAM, and 128GB of upgradeable CAMM2 memory. In our AI runs, it posted 15,678 in the OpenVINO quantized test and 11,368 in ONNX quantized, alongside a Geekbench OpenCL score of 239,234 that only the Titan beats. Running Llama locally, generating in Stable Diffusion, working through PyTorch: this is the machine on this list that finishes the job while the others are still loading.

The rest is workstation-grade. Cinebench R23 multi-core came in at 36,274, PCMark 10 Extended at 11,599, and PugetBench for DaVinci Resolve at 9,179. Storage runs 16,037MB/s sequential reads. The 16-inch 4K Tandem OLED at 120Hz is accurate enough to grade on, the chassis meets MIL-STD-810H, and almost everything inside is serviceable: memory, storage, even the GPU on a modular DGFF board and the USB-C ports individually.

Battery ran 7 hours 7 minutes, which is respectable for the hardware. The price is not: at Rs 9 lakh, this is a studio or lab purchase, and it also runs hot under sustained load. It scored 9.5/10.

Key specs:

• Processor: Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (55W)
• GPU: NVIDIA RTX Pro 5000 Blackwell, 24GB
• Display: 16-inch 4K Tandem OLED, 120Hz
• RAM/Storage: 128GB CAMM2 / 2TB Gen 5 SSD
• Battery: 96Wh, 7 hours 7 minutes (PCMark 10 video loop)
• Rating: 9.5/10

HP EliteBook X G2q 14 AI — Best Snapdragon X Laptop

Price at time of review: Rs 2,88,116

Why we picked it

Qualcomm has spent two years insisting ARM belongs on Windows. The HP EliteBook X G2q 14 AI (review) can arguably be considered one of the few machines that can make the argument without asterisks.

The Snapdragon X2 Elite X2E-90-100 has the biggest NPU in this guide at 85 TOPS, and it backs that up with the best CPU numbers of any thin-and-light here. Geekbench 6 single-core hit 4,042 and multi-core 21,041, both the highest on this page, ahead of every Intel machine we put against it. Cinebench 2026 multi-core reached 3,723. This is the generational leap Qualcomm has been promising since the first Snapdragon X laptops landed, and this time it arrives.

Graphics are where it gives ground. Time Spy came in at 4,284 against the XPS 14's 5,821, and the ONNX quantized score of 7,690 sits below the Intel and AMD machines. It still runs GTA V at 116fps through Microsoft's Prism emulator, which nobody expected from an enterprise ultrabook.

For its intended buyer, none of that matters much. Battery ran 11 hours 52 minutes, the 14-inch WUXGA IPS touch panel is easy on the eyes over a long day, MIL-STD 810H handles travel, and 32GB with a 1TB drive is a sensible enterprise configuration. Our reviewer noted that the only hiccups encountered traced to ARM-on-Windows translation rather than anything HP built. It scored 8.3/10.

Key specs:

• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite X2E-90-100 (18 cores, 85 TOPS Hexagon NPU)
• GPU: Qualcomm Adreno X2-90
• Display: 14-inch WUXGA IPS touch, 60Hz
• RAM/Storage: 32GB LPDDR5x / 1TB Gen 4 SSD
• Battery: 56Wh, 11 hours 52 minutes (PCMark 10 video loop)
• Build: MIL-STD 810H certified
• Rating: 8.3/10

Dell XPS 14 (2026) — Best Intel Laptop

Price at time of review: Rs 2,57,890

Why we picked it

Dell killed the XPS line in 2025 and revived it back a year later on Panther Lake. The Dell XPS 14 (2026) (review) is the best version of Intel's new silicon you can buy in India, and it seems the year off did it good.

The Core Ultra X7 358H brings a 50 TOPS NPU, with Intel quoting 180 TOPS across the whole platform once the Arc B390 graphics are counted. In our AI runs, it scored 8,330 in OpenVINO-quantized and 8,303 in ONNX-quantized, near-identical across both runtimes, which is exactly what you want: AI tools behave the same regardless of which backend they were built against.

Elsewhere, it is the most balanced machine in this guide. PCMark 10 came in at 10,365 with 10,487 in Extended, both the highest of any non-gaming laptop here, and CrossMark hit 2,204. The Arc B390 posted 5,821 in Time Spy and 11,081 in Fire Strike, well ahead of every other integrated-graphics machine on this page, so external monitors and GPU-accelerated effects are handled without complaint. Cinebench R23 multi-core reached 12,500 and Geekbench 6 multi-core 16,438.

The 14-inch OLED touchscreen at 120Hz remains the reason people buy an XPS, battery ran 11 hours 8 minutes, and at 1.36kg it travels well. The glossy panel gets reflective with a light source behind you, and there is no physical webcam shutter. It scored 9.2/10.

Key specs:

• Processor: Intel Core Ultra X7 358H (25W, Panther Lake, 50 TOPS NPU)
• GPU: Intel Arc B390
• Display: 14-inch OLED touchscreen, 120Hz
• RAM/Storage: 32GB LPDDR5x / 1TB Gen 4 SSD
• Battery: 70Wh, 11 hours 8 minutes (PCMark 10 video loop)
• Rating: 9.2/10

ASUS ROG Flow Z13 Kojima Edition — Best AMD Ryzen AI Laptop

Price at time of review: Rs 3,79,990

Why we picked it

AMD's answer to the AI laptop is unified memory, and the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 Kojima Edition (review) pushes the idea further than anything else running Windows.

The Ryzen AI Max+ 395 pairs a 50 TOPS XDNA 2 NPU with 128GB of LPDDR5x, and up to 96GB of that pool can be handed straight to the Radeon 8060S graphics. It returned 18,179 in the OpenVINO quantized run, the highest number on this page including the two workstations, alongside 10,032 in ONNX quantized. 

The conventional numbers are absurd for a 13-inch detachable tablet. Cinebench R23 multi-core hit 30,344, Cinebench 2026 multi-core 6,643, PCMark 10 10,992 with 13,458 in Extended, and CrossMark 2,307, the highest here. Graphics land at 10,346 in Time Spy and 23,943 in Fire Strike, so Cyberpunk 2077 runs at 76fps at FHD native, and a PugetBench DaVinci Resolve score of 6,422 makes it a real creative tool.

Then you pull the keyboard off, and it becomes a Windows tablet, or plug it into a TV with a controller, and it becomes a console. The Kojima Productions finish makes it a collector's item that benchmarks like a workstation. Battery ran 8 hours 1 minute and drops sharply under load, the speakers are ordinary, and the Rs 3,79,990 price is a lot. It scored 8.3/10.

Key specs:

• Processor: AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (55W, 50 TOPS XDNA 2 NPU)
• GPU: AMD Radeon 8060S, up to 96GB assignable memory
• Display: 13.4-inch IPS touchscreen, 180Hz, detachable keyboard
• RAM/Storage: 128GB LPDDR5x unified / 1TB Gen 4 SSD
• Battery: 70Wh, 8 hours 1 minute (PCMark 10 video loop)
• Rating: 8.3/10

Apple MacBook Pro M5 Max — Best Apple Laptop for AI

Price at time of review: From Rs 3,66,900

Why we picked it

Apple took a different route to on-device AI, and the M5 Max is the most complete expression of it.

Rather than bolting a separate NPU onto the die, Apple puts a Neural Accelerator inside every GPU core, so AI work scales with graphics horsepower instead of competing with it. The standard M5 Max pairs an 18-core CPU with a 32-core GPU, and a 40-core GPU version sits above it. The consensus among developers running local models on this generation is consistent on one point: unified memory is the deciding factor. Configure it to 64GB, and the machine holds models in memory that a 24GB discrete GPU cannot, with no transfer penalty between CPU and GPU because there is nothing to transfer.

The supporting hardware is the best in Apple's range. Liquid Retina XDR with 120Hz ProMotion, Thunderbolt 5, Wi-Fi 7, up to a 100Wh battery with 96W charging, and up to 4TB of storage. The 16-inch chassis has the most thermal headroom Apple offers, which is why sustained multi-hour inference and render workloads hold their clocks rather than tapering.

The catch is the ecosystem. A great deal of AI tooling still assumes CUDA, and while MLX and Metal support have improved rapidly, anyone whose workflow depends on NVIDIA-specific libraries will hit friction that no amount of unified memory solves. It is also very expensive, and the M5 Pro below it will finish most jobs for considerably less.

Key specs:

• Chip: Apple M5 Max (18-core CPU, 32-core or 40-core GPU with per-core Neural Accelerators)
• Display: 14.2-inch or 16.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR, up to 120Hz ProMotion
• Memory/Storage: 36GB unified (up to 64GB) / 2TB SSD (up to 4TB)
• Battery: Up to 100Wh, up to 96W charging
• Connectivity: Thunderbolt 5, Wi-Fi 7

Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra — Best Value AI PC

Price at time of review: Rs 3,10,990

Why we picked it

Value at Rs 3.1 lakh sounds like a stretch until you count what it replaces. The Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra (review) is the only laptop here that pairs a Panther Lake NPU with a discrete RTX GPU and still runs for almost 13 hours.

The Core Ultra 7 356H brings a 50 TOPS NPU, and behind it sits an RTX 5070 with 8GB of VRAM, enough to run mid-sized quantised models and accelerate Stable Diffusion properly rather than nominally. Nothing else under Rs 6 lakh on this page offers both. It scored 8,798 in OpenVINO quantized, and 8,263 in ONNX quantized, with a Geekbench OpenCL result of 133,134.

The conventional performance is strong too. Cinebench R23 multi-core hit 19,170, PCMark 10 9,579 with 11,691 in Extended, and PugetBench for DaVinci Resolve 7,130, second only to the Pro Max among non-gaming machines. Time Spy came in at 11,194, and Cyberpunk 2077 ran at 79fps at FHD native.

What seals it is restraint. The vapour chamber keeps throttling out of the picture, and the fans stay quiet even in Turbo, which matters if you record audio near the machine. The 16-inch AMOLED at 120Hz is excellent, the six-speaker array is genuinely good, and the 80.2Whr battery ran 12 hours 57 minutes. The keyboard's shallow travel divides opinion, and the GPU is deliberately held at 90W. It scored 9/10.

Key specs:

• Processor: Intel Core Ultra 7 356H (25W, Panther Lake, 50 TOPS NPU)
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070, 8GB, 90W TGP
• Display: 16-inch AMOLED, 120Hz
• RAM/Storage: 32GB LPDDR5x / 2TB Gen 4 SSD
• Battery: 80.2Whr, 12 hours 57 minutes (PCMark 10 video loop)
• Rating: 9/10

Samsung Galaxy Book6 Pro — Best Battery Life

Price at time of review: Rs 1,78,990

Why we picked it

The Galaxy Book6 Pro runs for close to a day and a half unplugged, the longest of any x86 machine we have tested, and it does that without giving anything up in return.

Endurance at this level normally means an ARM chip and the software questions that follow. Here it comes from a Core Ultra X7 358H, the same Panther Lake silicon in the XPS 14, with a 50 TOPS NPU and Intel Arc B390 graphics. Every application, driver and management tool behaves exactly as expected, and transcription and background processing stay on the machine, which matters when you are handling material that cannot go to a cloud service.

In our testing, it sat comfortably alongside the XPS 14 across productivity and AI workloads, and its graphics performance is stronger still. The Panther Lake efficiency gains are the real story of this generation, and the consensus among reviewers who have spent months with these chips lands in the same place: the peak numbers are respectable, but the performance-per-watt is what changes how you use the machine.

The 14-inch AMOLED panel is bright and saturated with the contrast that makes long document sessions easier, and 32GB of memory with a 1TB drive is a generous standard configuration. Consensus is equally consistent on the drawbacks: the volume of pre-installed Samsung software is an irritation on a machine positioned for professionals, the port selection is thinner than rivals offer, and the price has climbed noticeably over the previous generation.

Key specs:

• Processor: Intel Core Ultra X7 358H (25W, Panther Lake, 50 TOPS NPU)
• GPU: Intel Arc B390
• Display: 14-inch AMOLED
• RAM/Storage: 32GB LPDDR5x / 1TB Gen 4 SSD
• Battery: 67Wh, longest-running x86 laptop we have tested

MSI Titan 18 HX AI — Best for Gaming

Price at time of review: Rs 6,20,990

Why we picked it

Calling the MSI Titan 18 HX AI (review) a laptop feels like an understatement. It is a desktop that agreed to fold in half.

A Core Ultra 9 285HX sits alongside an RTX 5090 with 24GB of GDDR7, and for AI work that means image generation, video upscaling and model inference running alongside whatever else you have open. It scored 16,151 in OpenVINO quantized and 10,598 in ONNX quantized, with a Geekbench OpenCL result of 241,274, the highest number on this page.

As a gaming machine, it is simply the fastest thing here. Cyberpunk 2077 ran at 162fps at FHD native and 354fps with DLSS, ray tracing and frame generation, Valorant hit 506fps, and Black Myth Wukong held 83fps at native settings. Time Spy came in at 22,823 and Cinebench R23 multi-core at 35,617. Storage is a trio of 2TB Gen 5 drives in RAID 0 averaging 16,475MB/s reads, the fastest we have tested.

The 18-inch 4K Mini-LED at 120Hz clears 1,000 nits in HDR with full DCI-P3 coverage, close enough to reference that HDR grading on it is legitimate. Cooler Boost Titan keeps throttling out of the equation. At 3.7kg with 3 hours 39 minutes of battery, this moves between rooms rather than cities. It scored 9.5/10.

Key specs:

• Processor: Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (55W)
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, 24GB GDDR7, 175W TGP
• Display: 18-inch 4K Mini-LED, 120Hz, DisplayHDR 1000
• RAM/Storage: 64GB DDR5-6400 / 6TB Gen 5 RAID 0
• Battery: 99Wh, 3 hours 39 minutes (PCMark 10 video loop)
• Rating: 9.5/10

Winners at a glance

Prices are as of the time each machine was tested and are subject to change.

FAQs

Which is the best AI laptop in India?

The Dell Pro Max 16 Plus. Its RTX Pro 5000 with 24GB of VRAM and 128GB of CAMM2 memory took the top OpenVINO quantized score on test at 15,678, and it runs large local models the thin-and-lights on this list cannot load. For something more portable, the Dell XPS 14 (2026) is the pick.

What is a Copilot+ PC?

A Copilot+ PC is a Windows laptop built to run AI features like Recall, Live Captions and Cocreator on the device itself rather than in the cloud, using a dedicated neural processing unit. Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Elite, Intel's Panther Lake and AMD's Ryzen AI Max chips all power Copilot+ machines.

Which laptop has the most powerful NPU?

The HP EliteBook X G2q 14 AI, whose Snapdragon X2 Elite carries an 85 TOPS Hexagon NPU, comfortably the largest here. Intel's Panther Lake and AMD's Ryzen AI Max both sit at 50 TOPS.

Which AI laptop is best for running local language models?

The ASUS ROG Flow Z13, with 128GB of unified memory and up to 96GB assignable to graphics, or the Dell Pro Max 16 Plus with 24GB of dedicated VRAM and CUDA support. Model size is limited by available memory long before it is limited by raw compute, so memory capacity is the specification to prioritise.

Which AI laptop has the best battery life?

The Samsung Galaxy Book6 Pro is the longest-running x86 machine we have tested. Behind it, the Galaxy Book6 Ultra managed 12 hours 57 minutes and the HP EliteBook X G2q 11 hours 52 minutes, both strong figures for machines with this much silicon inside.

Is ARM or Intel better for an AI laptop?

ARM chips like the Snapdragon X2 Elite offer the largest NPUs and the best efficiency, which suits Windows AI features and long unplugged sessions. Intel and AMD machines pair smaller NPUs with stronger graphics and broader software support, which suits creative work and anything that leans on the GPU.

Do AI laptops need an internet connection?

Not for on-device features. Transcription, live captions, background blur and image generation all run locally on these machines, which is the point of the hardware. Cloud services still need a connection, but the AI features built into Windows do not.

Which AI laptop is best value for money?

The Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra at Rs 3,10,990. It is the only laptop here combining a Panther Lake NPU with a discrete RTX 5070, a 16-inch AMOLED panel and nearly 13 hours of battery, and it scored 9/10 in our review.

Priced at Rs 1,34,999 for the base 12GB/256GB variant, the Pixel 11 Pro XL is Rs 10,000 more expensive than what the Pixel 10 Pro XL (review) launched at last year, and the base RAM hasn't moved up to compensate. That puts it squarely against the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, and once again, Google isn't trying to win the spec sheet war. The idea remains the same as always: AI features and software polish over raw numbers. The question this year is whether that idea still holds when the hardware trade-offs, a smaller battery and slower charging among them, are harder to ignore than before.

Same design, smaller battery

If you owned last year's Pixel, you'd be forgiven for not spotting the Pixel 11 Pro XL from across a room. The camera bar, the two-button layout, and the overall silhouette are unchanged, with the new colours and the HiLight strip being the only real giveaways. The display stays at 6.8 inches with the same 120Hz LTPO panel, now pushed to a brighter 3,600 nits peak, and outdoor visibility remains excellent. The bezels around the screen look slightly slimmer than before, which is nice to see.

Battery is where this generation actually takes a step back. Capacity has dropped slightly to 5,115mAh from last year's 5,200mAh, and despite Google's efficiency claims for the Tensor G6, real-world battery life ends up nearly identical to that of the Pixel 10 Pro XL rather than better. The 45W wired charging speed remains the same as last year, taking between 80 and 85 minutes to charge from 20 to 100 percent.

[comparative-benchmark type="3" title="PCMark Battery score (in hours)" caption="PCMark battery test measures phone battery life from 100% to 20% (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42360,41172,41205,38703," ][/comparative-benchmark]

HiLight: a light that doesn't do much yet

Google's other headline addition this year is HiLight, an LED strip on the back of the phone that replaces last year's temperature sensor. The idea is that it lets you keep your phone face down and still get alerts without picking it up, lighting up in different colours depending on what's happening. In practice, its usefulness is limited. It only activates for phone calls from favourite contacts and when Gemini is listening or thinking, not for regular texts or notifications from other apps, which is where most people would actually want a glanceable alert.

There's no way to customise colours per app or contact either, which makes it feel more like a proof of concept than a finished feature. It's a reasonable start, but as it stands, a custom ringtone for your favourite contacts does the same job with less hardware involved.

Performance and software: Tensor G6 is quicker, but AI is the real headline

Google's claims for the Tensor G6 read well on paper: up to 25 percent faster web browsing, 15 percent quicker app launches, and 50 percent more TPU compute, which Google says lets on-device AI tasks run up to 3.5 times faster while using up to 3.5 times less power than older Tensor chips. In day-to-day use, the improvement shows up mostly as a snappier, less laggy phone rather than anything you'd notice in isolation: apps open a touch quicker, and the phone doesn't bog down as easily when you're juggling several AI features at once.

[comparative-benchmark type="1" title="AnTuTu score" caption="AnTuTu assesses a smartphone's CPU, GPU, memory, and overall user experience (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42360,41172,41205,38703," ][/comparative-benchmark]

[comparative-benchmark type="11" title="Geekbench multi-core score" caption="Geekbench assesses the efficiency of the CPU's single and multiple cores (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42360,41172,41205,38703," ][/comparative-benchmark]

What it still doesn't do is close the gap with Qualcomm and Apple on raw performance. Tensor G6 is comfortably the fastest chip Google has built, but it remains behind the competition on synthetic benchmarks, the same asterisk that's followed every Tensor chip so far. Paired with the G6 is Google's Titan M3 security chip, which now supports quantum-safe secure boot, a forward-looking addition that most people won't notice but is a sensible thing to have baked in for a phone you're meant to keep for years.

The Pixel 11 Pro XL ships with Android 17 out of the box and carries Google's now-standard promise of seven years of OS, security, and Pixel Drop updates, matching what the Pixel 10 Pro XL offered and continuing to be one of the strongest software support commitments on any Android phone.

Every Pixel launch also comes with a list of new AI features, and most of them fade into the background within a week. That isn't true of Rambler, though, Google's new AI dictation tool, and it's the standout addition on the Pixel 11 Pro XL. Rambler cleans up your speech as you talk, stripping filler words like "um" and "ah" and formatting the output properly, and it handles switching languages mid-sentence and noisy environments better than I expected from a first-generation feature. This isn't the first time we're seeing such a feature, though. Nothing introduced Essential Voice, which is essentially (pun intended) the same as Rambler and is also based on Google's Gemini 3 Flash.

[caption id="attachment_713391" align="aligncenter" width="306"] Rambler does a fantastic job removing "ums" and "ahs" during natural speech to deliver a clean output in messages.[/caption]

Much like Essential Voice on Nothing phones, Rambler on the Pixel 11 Pro XL is genuinely useful, and it's the kind of tool you'll find yourself reaching for daily rather than opening once out of curiosity.

The rest of the Gemini additions are more of a mixed bag. Proactive Suggestions, which is meant to surface context-aware information from your apps without you asking, sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. It automatically opened a location in Google Maps if a friend mentions it in a chat, but failed to resolve something as simple as pulling an address from email when asked directly - the same inconsistency that plagued Magic Cue on last year's phone. Gemini's newer agentic capabilities, which can complete tasks like placing an order on your behalf, remain a US-only feature for now, so Indian buyers won't get to test that part yet. Live Translate, which overlays translated captions on videos and livestreams, works well once you've downloaded the relevant language pack, and is a genuinely handy addition if you consume a lot of non-English content.

The camera is the real upgrade this year

Camera hardware largely carries over the same megapixel counts as before: a 50MP primary, a 48MP ultrawide with macro focus, and a 48MP 5x telephoto. But Google says both the main and telephoto sensors are physically larger this generation, which should mean more light and better detail in theory. What's more noticeable day-to-day is how much snappier the whole experience feels, thanks to the new processor and software tuning. Shot-to-shot times are quicker, and Night Sight captures low-light photos faster too, so you don't need to hold the phone as steady for as long to avoid blur.

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The bigger addition is Magic Capture, a new mode (added as a quick toggle button at the bottom next to stills and videos) that records a short video clip and uses AI to pick out the best moments as standalone photos. It's built for exactly the kind of subjects that are hard to photograph normally - kids, pets, and moving objects - and when it nails the moment, the results feel closer to actual magic than most AI camera gimmicks manage. The catch is that it doesn't always handle fast-moving subjects gracefully, and the output caps out at 12MP, so it's better suited to social posts than large prints.

[caption id="attachment_713388" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Camera Looks allows you to swipe between stylised filters, such as Classic and Digi, in the viewfinder to adjust warmth, shadows, or aesthetic style in real-time.[/caption]

Google has also added Camera Looks, a set of colour and processing profiles that go beyond simple filters and change how the computational photography pipeline itself renders a shot. There are ten to choose from, ranging from a natural, true-to-life look to a grainier "classic" profile that leans into a film-like aesthetic. It's a nice way to add some personality to shots without reaching for a third-party editing app afterwards. Pro Res Zoom, Google's AI-assisted zoom beyond the optical range, now goes up to 120x instead of last year's 100x, and while keeping the phone steady enough for a clear shot at that range is still a challenge, results at more usable zoom levels are sharper than before. The 42MP front camera is also a big jump on paper from last year's sensor, and selfies hold up noticeably better in tricky light.

Verdict

The Pixel 11 Pro XL is a predictable successor. It won't surprise you with brand new features, but it will comfort you with its dependable hardware and software. The AI and camera additions, Rambler especially, and Camera Looks to a slightly lesser extent, are genuinely useful upgrades that make daily use better.

But the hardware trade-offs this year are hard to ignore: a smaller battery, slower charging, 12GB base RAM despite a higher price, among other things. If you're coming from a Pixel 9 Pro XL or older, the jump is easy to justify. If you already own last year's Pixel 10 Pro XL, this is a much harder sell.

Editor's rating: 8.3 / 10

Pros:

• Genuinely useful AI features, such as Rambler
• Magic Capture makes candid, fast-moving subjects easier to shoot well
• Seven years of software support makes it future-proof
• Respectable cameras and features like Camera Looks

Cons:

• Battery capacity and charging speeds have both gone down from last year
• 12GB base RAM despite the price increase
• HiLight is limited in scope and can't be customised yet

In 2025, you could expect a phone at this price to come with a powerful triple rear camera setup and a decent selfie lens, without significant performance compromises. That's not the case anymore, and you have to choose between performance or camera capabilities. Even so, in this current situation, we've brought you a list of some great camera phones launched in 2026, available under Rs 40,000 currently.

If you want a good versatile camera phone, the Motorola Edge 70 Pro is the one to go for. If you enjoy human shots and portraits more, the Tecno Camon 50 Ultra is worth looking at, thanks to its telephoto lens. Want great selfies? The Realme 16 offers a great front camera. The Samsung Galaxy A27 is very capable for static shots in good lighting. If you shoot in the dark or at night often, the Vivo T5 Pro's camera setup won't disappoint you.

Let's now take a closer look at each phone's camera setup and its key strengths below.

Motorola Edge 70 Pro — Best cameras overall

Price: Starting at Rs 39,999

Camera specs: 50MP OIS main + 50MP ultrawide, 50MP selfie with AF

Why we chose it

The Motorola Edge 70 Pro's (review) camera setup remains one of its biggest strengths this year. Its cameras performed consistently well in most of our tests, making it the most versatile camera phone on this list. Its primary camera takes excellent shots in both daylight and low light, with punchy colours and good contrast.

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The 50MP ultrawide camera outputs images consistent in style and colours to the primary camera, with a great level of detail and minimal distortion. Finally, the selfie camera comes with autofocus and takes very appealing selfies in almost every scenario. You'll like the phone's cameras in most situations you use it in.

Tecno Camon 50 Ultra — Best portraits and human shots

Price: Starting at Rs 39,999

Camera specs: 50MP OIS main + 50MP OIS telephoto + 8MP ultrawide, 50MP selfie

Why we chose it

The Tecno Camon 50 Ultra (review) brings with it a telephoto lens and is the only device currently under Rs 40,000 to offer one. You get a 50MP front camera, and at the back there is a 50MP 1/1.56-inch main camera with OIS, a 50MP 3x telephoto lens, and an 8MP ultrawide camera. The telephoto lens is what immediately gives it a big advantage in this segment.

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The telephoto lens is very useful for zoom and portraits, with believable skin tones and great detail. The lens has a mixed output at night, with softer and less consistent results, but the shots are still very likeable. If you take a lot of human and portrait shots, it's hard to match the Tecno's output without a telephoto lens, which is why it's positioned this low.

Realme 16 — Best selfies

Price: Starting at Rs 35,999

Camera specs: 50MP main + 2MP auxiliary, 50MP selfie

Why we chose it

While the Realme 16 (review) has a slightly downgraded rear camera system compared to its predecessor, its selfie lens remains one of the best in the segment. It's a 50MP sensor that outputs some exceptional results, particularly in good lighting conditions.

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Selfies captured on the Realme 16 deliver accurate colours, natural-looking skin tones, and the subject's details come out sharp and better defined. If you enjoy taking selfies, this device is worth looking out for.

Samsung Galaxy A27 — Best daylight

Price: Starting at Rs 31,999

Camera specs: 50MP OIS main + 5MP ultrawide + 2MP macro, 12MP selfie

Why we chose it

The Samsung Galaxy A27 (review) takes the top spot here because it outputs extremely likeable results in good lighting conditions. Its primary camera is a 50MP sensor with OIS, and its images come out rich, detailed and very authentic to the actual scene.

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If you primarily use the camera to take static shots in the day, you'll be pleased with the Galaxy A27's output.

Vivo T5 Pro — Best lowlight

Price: Starting at Rs 35,999

Camera specs: 50MP OIS main + 2MP depth sensor, 32MP selfie

Why we chose it

Vivo toned down the camera system in the T5 Pro (review) this year, but you still get the 50MP Sony IMX882 primary camera with OIS, paired with a 2MP depth sensor and a 32MP selfie camera. The primary camera is no slouch, however, and still outputs some pretty good results in daylight and low light both.

The Vivo T5 Pro and Motorola Edge 70 Pro are both extremely capable low-light shooters with different strengths. The Edge 70 Pro's images come out closer to the actual scene with good contrast and sharp details. It's good for users who prefer a more realistic output.

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If you enjoy more stylised night shots with excellent detail levels and lively colours, the Vivo T5 Pro's cameras do that better. There's minimal loss of detail, the frame remains sharp throughout, and it controls exposure and lens flares excellently, meaning no ambient light to make your images hazy.

FAQs

Will the global memory shortage continue to drive up phone prices?

Rising memory costs have already pushed smartphone prices up by 30–40 percent. Because production costs remain high in 2026, manufacturers are cutting back on secondary camera sensors, so buyers have to choose between raw processing power and specialised camera setups at these multiple price points.

Do I really need a dedicated telephoto lens for good portraits?

Digital crop will work just fine for slightly zoomed shots (think 2x, 3x), but it cannot recreate the realistic depth and blur of an optical lens. The Tecno Camon 50 Ultra is the only phone under Rs 40,000 with a physical telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, giving you much sharper human shots and natural skin tones.

How much does Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) actually matter?

OIS helps physically offset hand movements to keep shots steady. It prevents blurry photos in low light and keeps videos smooth, giving phones a massive advantage in dim environments and videography.

Which phone works best if I create video content or vlogs?

Choose the Motorola Edge 70 Pro for vlogging since it offers 4k support on both rear and front cameras. Its 50MP front camera also includes autofocus to keep your face sharp on the move, while its main rear camera records clear, stabilised footage across most lighting conditions.

How should I decide between the sub-Rs 36,000 options?

Pick the Samsung Galaxy A27 for Rs 31,999 if you want detailed, true-to-life daylight photos. Grab the Vivo T5 Pro for Rs 35,999 if you frequently take pictures in dark or nighttime settings. Choose the Realme 16 for Rs 35,999 if high-quality front-camera selfies are your main priority.

Reasons to buy Google Pixel 11

Compact and premium design

The Pixel 11 continues to stand out for its compact form factor. The 6.3-inch display makes it considerably easier to handle than larger flagship phones, while the 197-gram weight keeps it comfortable to use for extended periods. The phone also feels suitably premium, thanks to its glass-and-metal construction. An IP68 rating and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection on the front and back add further reassurance for everyday use.

Excellent battery life

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Battery life is one of the Pixel 11's biggest strengths. Despite its 4,985mAh battery, which is not particularly large by current flagship standards, the phone managed an impressive 18.7 hours in the PCMark battery test. More importantly, its real-world battery performance is equally convincing, with the phone comfortably lasting through a full day of fairly heavy usage. This makes the Pixel 11 a good option for users who want a compact flagship without having to compromise significantly on endurance.

Useful AI and creator-focused features

Google continues to differentiate the Pixel experience through AI, and the Pixel 11 takes this further with deeper Gemini integration and faster on-device AI processing. Some of these features are genuinely useful rather than simply being added for the sake of AI. The phone also introduces several creator-focused tools, including a teleprompter, Social Media Grid, Audio Visualiser and Camera Coach. These additions make the Pixel 11 particularly appealing to users who frequently shoot photos and videos or are getting started with content creation.

Dependable cameras

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The Pixel 11's cameras remain one of its strongest reasons to consider the phone. Images generally offer good exposure, contrast and dynamic range, while the phone maintains consistent colours between the primary and ultrawide cameras. This makes the camera system reliable across different shooting conditions, without requiring users to spend time tweaking settings. Google's AI-powered camera and editing features further add to the experience, giving users more creative flexibility after taking a shot.

Reasons not to buy Google Pixel 11

Thick display bezels

The Pixel 11's display itself is good, with a vibrant OLED panel and a 120Hz refresh rate, but the thick bezels take away some of the premium appeal. At a time when several flagship smartphones offer slimmer and more uniform bezels, the Pixel 11's display looks somewhat dated by comparison. The adaptive brightness also isn't as responsive as we'd have liked, particularly when moving between different lighting conditions.

Charging is relatively slow

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Charging remains one of the Pixel 11's biggest shortcomings. The phone supports only 30W wired charging, which feels particularly underwhelming at its Rs 89,999 starting price. In our testing, it took almost an hour and a half to go from 20 to 100 percent. The fact that Google does not bundle a compatible charger in the box adds to the inconvenience, especially when competing flagships offer significantly faster charging.

Lacks raw performance

[comparative-benchmark type="1" title="AnTuTu score" caption="AnTuTu assesses a smartphone's CPU, GPU, memory, and overall user experience (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42006,41312,38768,41626,40420" ][/comparative-benchmark]

The Tensor G6-powered Pixel 11 delivers a smooth experience for everyday tasks and can handle gaming reasonably well, but outright performance isn't its biggest strength. It falls behind flagship phones powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8-series and MediaTek's Dimensity 9500-series chipsets in benchmark performance. Sustained performance is also not as strong, which means users looking for the highest possible performance for demanding gaming or heavy workloads will find better alternatives at this price.

Verdict

The Google Pixel 11 is priced in India at Rs 89,999 for the base 12GB + 256GB variant, while the 12GB + 512GB option costs Rs 1,04,999. That's a steep asking price for a phone that aims to provide a flagship experience but lacks raw performance. At this price, buyers have alternatives such as the OnePlus 15 (review), OPPO Find X9 (review), and Vivo X300 FE (review). The OnePlus 15 is more performance-oriented, the OPPO Find X9 focuses heavily on photography, while the Vivo X300 FE is a compact flagship with reliable cameras.

The Pixel 11's value lies in delivering a clean, software-focused experience, with AI deeply integrated for productivity and creativity. Combined with capable cameras, reliable battery life, smooth performance for most tasks, and a relatively compact form factor, the smartphone makes a strong case for itself.

The Pixel 11 now costs almost Rs 90,000. So, who is it really for, and what makes it worth considering at this price? We answer these questions and more in our Google Pixel 11 review. Read on.

Verdict

The Google Pixel 11 is a refinement rather than a major generational upgrade. The handset delivers a polished software experience, useful AI features, reliable cameras and respectable battery life, while the compact design and seven years of updates add to its appeal.

Performance: AI smarts over raw power

[pdp-expert-review]
The Pixel 11, powered by the latest Tensor G6, delivers a noticeable upgrade in AI and everyday performance, with faster image processing, smooth multitasking and reliable gaming. While it may trail flagship Snapdragon and Dimensity-powered rivals in raw and sustained performance, its real strength lies in AI optimisation and Google's software-driven experience rather than benchmark scores.
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It's one of the biggest upgrades on the Google Pixel 11. The handset is powered by the latest 2nm Tensor G6 chipset, which comes with seven cores as opposed to eight on the 3nm's Tensor G5 SoC, but all its cores deliver superior clock speeds - up to 4.11GHz. That said, the Pixel still lags behind the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8-series and MediaTek Dimensity 9500-series SoC phones in raw performance. Its AnTuTu benchmark and Geekbench scores remain close to mid-range smartphones, while the performance is throttled to less than 20 percent in the Burnout CPU Throttle test.

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But performance is not the Pixel 11's core USP; its key strengths lie in its AI capabilities and cameras. Google says it has optimised the chipset to deliver 50 percent more processing power for AI tasks than last year, allowing it to run Gemini Nano 3.5 times faster while consuming 3.5 times less energy. The phone is also claimed to support 4K Portrait Video and process Instant Night Sight 4.5 times faster.

[comparative-benchmark type="888" title="Burnout Score" caption="Burnout assesses CPU throttling and sustained performance under heavy load (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42006,41312,38768,41626,40420" values="19.4,43.3,,37,39.6"][/comparative-benchmark]

Unfortunately, I didn't have the Google Pixel 10 at my disposal for a direct performance comparison. However, the Geekbench AI scores show that the Pixel 11 delivers higher Half-precision and Quantised scores, which should translate to faster performance in tasks such as photo editing, voice recognition, and running on-device LLMs. I also tried several AI tasks on the phone, and in my experience, they were completed noticeably faster than before.

Moving on, the Pixel 11 feels snappier when capturing multiple shots at once, processing images, and more. The everyday tasks, multitasking, and animations also appear buttery smooth. Turns out the gaming is reliable, too, with FPS and thermal performance while playing BGMI and COD: Mobile on par with competitors during our internal testing.

Battery: efficient

[pdp-expert-review]
The Pixel 11's relatively small 4,985mAh battery offers respectable backup, with the Tensor G6's efficiency helping it outperform some phones with much larger batteries. In real-world use, it can comfortably last over a day with moderate to heavy usage, delivering around five hours of screen-on time. However, the charging speeds could have been better.
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The Google Pixel 11 houses a 4,985mAh battery, only marginally bigger than its predecessor (15mAh to be exact) and significantly behind other Android smartphones from the Chinese makers. However, the efficiency claims of the Tensor G6 seem to be paying off, with the Pixel 11 outperforming other smartphones with 7,000mAh and more within the segment.

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The Pixel 11's real-world efficiency, meanwhile, remains on par with its competitors, with the battery draining by around 6 percent on average after an hour of video streaming and gaming. While that may sound impressive, the smaller battery could still mean more frequent charging for some users. Speaking of which, the Pixel 11 takes almost an hour and a half to go from 20 to 100 percent. This is largely down to its 30W wired charging support, which feels underwhelming for a phone at this price. A compatible charger has to be purchased separately. The Pixel 11 additionally supports 25W Qi2.5 magnetic wireless charging.

A full charge can easily last a little more than a day on moderate to heavy usage. I was averaging around 5 hours of screen time, which is respectable for a phone with close to a 5,000mAh battery. This is with social media scrolling, browsing, streaming, calling, messaging, and testing out all the AI features the Pixel 11 has to offer.

Software: smarter than ever

[pdp-expert-review]
The Pixel 11 offers one of the more feature-rich software experiences in its segment, with Android 17, seven years of updates and deeper Gemini integration. Its AI features extend across apps, while tools such as Camera Coach, Nano Banana and Magic Capture add useful functionality. Content creators also get dedicated tools such as a teleprompter, Social Media Grid and Audio Visualiser, making the Pixel 11 an appealing prospect.
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The Google Pixel 11 runs Android 17 out of the box and is promised seven years of software and security updates, along with Pixel Drops. You get deeper integration of Gemini across apps, with the required permissions. The AI can perform tasks across apps, such as launching Google Maps when it detects a location name, opening the Photos app to share images, saving calendar invites, and more. Most of these features currently seem exclusive to Google's suite of apps, as similar suggestions did not appear on popular third-party platforms like WhatsApp.

The Pixel 11 lets you Circle to Search directly via the camera app, instead of first capturing the shot and then doing the same, and generate images using Nano Banana. Additionally, the phone gets the latest Google Maps' power-saving mode, which turns the route black and white to save battery while still keeping you updated with directions on the lock screen.

While many of these features could make their way to other smartphones running Android 17, the content creator-focused tools may remain exclusive. Most of these are built into the camera app, including a teleprompter that displays your script while recording and scrolls as you speak. Moreover, the OEM has added a Social Media Grid, which provides a safe area less likely to be cropped when posting content on platforms such as Instagram, along with an Audio Visualiser that displays audio levels during recordings. These could be super useful for someone just starting their creator journey.

Camera Coach on Google Pixel 11 can guide users to capture the best possible shot, with assistance for aspects such as angle, framing, exposure, and more. The process feels fractionally faster than the Pixel 10's Camera Coach. There are plenty of AI-powered photo editing tools as well, and if you don't want to go through the hassle of editing images manually, you can use the Magic Capture mode within the camera app. Head to the camera section to learn more about the mode and the Google Pixel 11's image performance.

Cameras: capable and useful AI features

[pdp-expert-review]
The Pixel 11 is a capable camera phone with strong contrast, exposure, dynamic range and colour consistency. It performs particularly well in challenging lighting, but isn't a segment winner with relatively underwhelming fine detail, portraits and skin tones. The new Magic Capture mode is a useful addition, combining photo and video capture with AI-powered enhancements, although it is currently limited to the rear cameras.
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The Google Pixel 11 camera setup includes a bigger 1/1.56-inch 48MP f/1.7 OIS main sensor as opposed to a 1/1.2-inch 48MP sensor on its predecessor. This is paired with an unchanged 13MP f/2.2 ultrawide lens and a 10.8MP 5x optical zoom unit. Up front, the smartphone sports a 10.5MP sensor in the punch-hole setup for selfies and video calling. The handset produces images with impressive contrast, exposure, and dynamic range, resulting in punchy, vibrant colours and sufficient detail even in shadowy areas.

There is also reliable colour consistency between the phone's primary and ultrawide lenses, even though the telephoto lens might oversaturate the tones. However, it falls short at capturing fine details, as observed in the comparison with the iPhone 17 (review). The latter also excels with superior edge detection and accurate skin tones in portraits and selfies.

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These drawbacks put the Pixel 11 behind some of its rivals in this segment. However, it remains a reliable camera phone that excels in challenging lighting conditions and delivers consistent results across a range of shooting scenarios. The phone supports up to 4K video recording at 30fps from all four cameras, although it records in standard dynamic range rather than 10-bit HDR. For social media content creators, this should not be a major concern, as the footage should still look sharp and detailed for most platforms.

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Next to the video mode on the camera app is a new button called 'Magic Capture'. The feature is just as fancy as it may sound, capturing videos and photos at the same time. You just hit the shutter button, and the phone records a video of the entire moment, then processes it and picks the best moments. It's backed by Google's AI, which automatically stylises the photos, unblurs them, and more, so that you don't have to.

The Magic Capture on the Pixel 11 is currently exclusive to the primary camera; not even the front camera is covered, save for the ultrawide and telephoto. The feature works best at capturing moments in motion, similar to Live Photos, but giving it a separate mode and adding AI could make it more useful.

Design: premium, compact but not flawless

[pdp-expert-review]
The Pixel 11 retains the familiar design of the Pixel 10, with the main changes being its slimmer camera visor and new colour options. Moreover, its compact form factor, premium build, IP68 rating and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection make it comfortable and durable for everyday use.
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These are pretty identical to the Google Pixel 10. The only notable differences are the camera visor and, of course, the colour options. The Pixel 11 comes in all-new Frost, Hibiscus, and Pistachio shades, other than the standard Obsidian. While not as standout as the Hibiscus (Pink), the Frost variant we received for review features a light lavender shade that adds a sense of calm.

Moving on, the Pixel 11's camera visor ditches the dual-tone finish of its predecessor for a standard black shade with colour-matched borders across variants. However, I noticed the border colour starting to chip despite the phone never being dropped or hitting any surface. The visor tends to accumulate dust around the edges, which can be difficult to clean. I recommend using a case with a raised lip around the visor for added protection. On the bright side, the visor is 30 percent thinner than ever before, ensuring a relatively seamless finish.

I wish Google had used the same matte finish as the aluminium frame on the back of the Pixel 11, instead of the glossy glass finish, for better grip, especially when using the phone without a case. The handset also misses out on the HiLight feature of the Pro models, which uses a multicoloured LED to alert you when speaking to Gemini or when receiving an incoming call.

Leaving these quirks aside, many will appreciate the Pixel 11's relatively compact form factor and premium build, backed by an IP68 rating and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection on both the front and back. The handset weighs 197 grams, making it lighter than last year's Pixel 10 and comfortable to hold for prolonged hours.

Display: vibrant visuals with a few compromises

[pdp-expert-review]
The Pixel 11's 6.3-inch OLED display delivers punchy colours, HDR support, a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness. However, the LTPS panel, relatively thick bezels and inconsistent adaptive brightness hold it back against some rivals.
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The Google Pixel 11 sports a 6.3-inch ‘Actua' OLED display with FHD+ (1,080 x 2,424 pixels) resolution, an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, and up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness. However, Google continues to use an LTPS panel instead of the more power-efficient LTPO technology, which remains exclusive to the Pro models. The bezels don't feel as slim as they should for a phone at this price point, making content feel slightly less immersive compared to smartphones with razor-thin bezels.

I also found the Pixel 11's adaptive brightness could do a better job of adjusting to the ambient lighting. The screen often remained a notch dimmer than expected, making text and other content less legible than they should be. The display is otherwise amply bright and supports HDR and Widevine L1 for high-resolution multimedia playback on platforms such as Netflix and YouTube. Colours appear punchy and vibrant, with minimal loss in quality when viewed from different angles.

The display houses an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, positioned where the thumb naturally rests. While it isn't the fastest I've used, the scanner is accurate and reliably unlocks the smartphone. The Pixel 11 also delivers excellent haptic feedback, while its dual stereo speakers remain sufficiently loud and clear for an enjoyable multimedia experience indoors.

Final verdict

Back when reviewing the Pixel 10 (review), I said it had Pro-level ambitions. The Google Pixel 11 continues to chase that goal with incremental upgrades, bringing faster AI processing, deeper Gemini integration, improved image processing and better battery efficiency. However, it still misses several features that you get with its 'Pro' models and have become fairly standard even for regular flagships. These include a more power-efficient LTPO display, a larger ultrawide sensor and a telephoto camera capable of more than 30x zoom.

The Pixel 11 also misses the new HiLight feature found on the Pro models, which alerts you to incoming calls and Gemini interactions. However, given the feature's current limitations, its absence isn't as significant as the hardware compromises. For camera enthusiasts, phones such as the OPPO Find X9 (review), Vivo X300 FE (review) and Xiaomi 17 (review), all of which are due for a refresh later this year, offer stronger value.

The Pixel 11's appeal lies elsewhere: it is primarily about Google's clean, feature-rich software experience, with AI deeply integrated to make everyday usage more convenient.
If you already own a Pixel 10, or even a Pixel 9, there is little reason to upgrade. However, those coming from an older Pixel or another smartphone can consider the Pixel 11 for its software longevity, AI capabilities, and compact design. At Rs 89,999 in India, though, it is a phone that makes more sense for those specifically seeking the Pixel experience than for buyers simply looking for the best hardware at this price.

Editor's rating: 8.3/10

Reasons to buy

• Compact, premium design with a comfortable form factor and durable build.
• Efficient battery life that can comfortably last over a day with moderate to heavy usage.
• Useful AI features and creator-focused tools that enhance everyday usage and content creation.
• Reliable cameras that deliver consistent results across different lighting conditions.

Reasons not to buy

• Relatively thick bezels make the display feel less immersive than some rivals.
• Slow 30W charging speeds feel underwhelming for a flagship at this price.
• Lacks the raw performance offered by competing Snapdragon- and Dimensity-powered flagships.

Today, we are focusing on the main event: what the larger 31.5-inch screen and upgraded internals bring to your desk, and whether it's worth the step up.

Big Screen Productivity

The move to a 31.5-inch canvas fundamentally changes how you interact with your PC. Being a larger screen, I found myself much more comfortable sitting a bit further back. While I've used and understand the appeal of multi-monitor setups or massive ultrawides, the "traditional" 16:9 form factor remains the undisputed king if you have limited desk space but still need one display to do it all.

Having multiple tabs, heavy documents, and video calls open side-by-side feels completely seamless on a screen of this scale. When it comes to actual work, the 4th-gen QD-OLED panel is a revelation. Historically, OLEDs struggled with text clarity due to unconventional subpixel layouts, but text on the EX321UZ looks incredibly crisp, easy to read, and entirely free of colour fringing or shimmering.

While the monitor can get blindingly bright for gaming, I kept the brightness relatively low for daily productivity. Even then, documents and images remained perfectly legible without causing any eye strain. If you type or code heavily but still want to jump on the OLED bandwagon for after-hours gaming, this monitor is easy to recommend. Furthermore, normal desktop usage shouldn't spark any burn-in anxiety that's generally a concern reserved only for the most extreme, static use cases, and BenQ's built-in OLED protection features handle the rest.

Cinematic Entertainment

Giving a high-end OLED TV a genuine run for its money is the best way to describe this display's media capabilities. It fully supports HDR, and if you consume content through a dedicated streaming stick like an Apple TV box, the experience is phenomenal.

OLED's signature inky, perfect blacks combined with bright, punchy highlights make HDR content sing. Watching visually explosive movies like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a treat, with colours popping right off the 32-inch panel.

Uncompromised Gaming Performance

Gaming is where the EX321UZ justifies its existence. The marquee difference between this monitor and the smaller EX271UZ is connectivity. Paired with a high-end GPU, you can take full advantage of the EX321UZ's DisplayPort 2.1 connection. This delivers completely uncompressed 4K visuals at a blisteringly fast 240Hz. By contrast, the EX271UZ relies on DP 1.4, which requires Display Stream Compression (DSC) to hit the same targets.

And the games look absolutely phenomenal. If you read my recent review of Resident Evil Requiem, you'll know I praised its next-gen lighting mechanics and pitch-black corridors. Playing that game on this 32-inch OLED elevates the fear factor completely. When playing as Grace in the first-person segments, relying purely on a lighter to illuminate the flawless, true-black environment is deeply terrifying. Conversely, when the perspective shifts to Leon, seeing his buttery-smooth melee animations rendered at 240Hz feels incredible. Requiem is a staple for highlighting why modern survival horror must be played on an OLED.

It's not just dark games that benefit. Vibrant titles like Ori and the Will of the Wisps feature Ori shining brilliantly in the centre of the screen against lush, dark forest backdrops. Even Marvel's Spider-Man 2 looks incredibly natural.

One of my favourite features is that you rarely need to tweak complex HDR settings in Windows or in-game menus. BenQ includes hardware-level colour presets like Sci-Fi, Realistic, and Fantasy. I found the "Fantasy" mode provided the perfect amount of vivid punch to game environments without compromising overall colour accuracy.

(Note: Just like the EX271UZ, you also get two HDMI 2.1 ports, one supporting eARC, making it incredibly easy to hook up a high-quality soundbar directly to the monitor).

The Verdict

Both the EX321UZ and EX271UZ are phenomenal monitors featuring exceptional OLED panel performance, premium build quality, and the sheer convenience of a remote control.

If you aren't sure which to buy, I lean toward the EX321UZ. The uncompressed DP 2.1 bandwidth, larger 32-inch screen size, and punchier gaming experience make it a true endgame display. However, if space is limited, the EX271UZ remains a phenomenal choice. While Dell and ASUS are strong contenders in the Indian OLED market, BenQ's strength lies in its factory colour accuracy, unmatched port selection, and an immersive, hassle-free HDR experience.

When it comes to the price, the EX321UZ has an MRP of Rs 1,24,998 while the smaller EX271UZ has an MRP of Rs 90,998. If you look for deals or offline, you could get it at a cheaper price point.

Editor's Rating: 9 / 10

Pros:

• Stunning 4th-gen 4K QD-OLED panel
• Future-proof DisplayPort 2.1
• Great connectivity
• Handy remote control for easy menu navigation

Cons:

• Larger footprint requires adequate space on a desk

To be fair, charging accessories rarely excite anyone. Looking for a new one is the tech equivalent of buying a new toothbrush. So when the URBN 200W GaN Power Hub landed on my desk, my first thought had nothing to do with charging speeds. It was simply about how many of those bricks I could finally shove into a drawer. The answer, after a couple of weeks of daily use, turned out to be all of them.

The pitch from the brand is pretty straightforward. Four USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, 200W of total output, and a form factor designed to sit on your desk rather than dangle off a wall socket. At Rs 6,999 (against an MRP of Rs 12,999), this is not an impulse buy. But if you're the sort of person who has three or four devices plugged in at any given moment, I believe there's a genuinely strong case here. Let me explain why.

Features that offer versatility

Here's a quick look at what the URBN 200W GaN Power Hub brings to the table.

• Six ports in total: four USB-C and two USB-A
• 200W maximum combined output
• Up to 100W on a single USB-C port, up to 18W on a single USB-A port
• PPS support (3.3-21V/5A) alongside standard PD voltage profiles
• Wide input range of AC 110-240V, 50/60Hz, 3A (max)
• GaN internals to keep size and heat in check
• Bundled desk stand
• 1-year warranty
• Currently bundled with a free 240W Flex Cord USB-C to C cable (1.2m) worth Rs 1,999

Design and everyday convenience

Let's get the obvious out of the way first. This is not a compact travel charger, and URBN isn't pretending otherwise. The Power Hub is a tall, slab-like unit, and it feels even bigger once you slot it into the bundled stand. If you're used to the palm-sized GaN bricks that have become the norm, the first impression is that this thing is considerably large in size.

That said, I'd argue the size is entirely justified. Squeezing six ports and 200W of headroom into something pocketable simply isn't happening with today's technology, and I'd much rather have the ports. What did surprise me is how light it is for its footprint. Picking it up, it feels closer to a hollow shell than the dense, weighty bricks I'm used to, which is very much a GaN (Gallium Nitride) benefit.

The stand is a smart inclusion, and it solves the single biggest problem with high-wattage multi-port chargers, which is that six taut cables will drag a loose brick around your desk all day. With the stand, the hub stays upright and planted. My one gripe is that the fit isn't snug. There's noticeable wiggle room between the charger and the stand, which makes it easy to lift out when you need to, but also means it never feels properly locked in. A slightly better fit would have made this setup feel a lot more premium.

Now, the part that genuinely changed my routine. Because the hub sits on your desk rather than at the socket, the ports come to you instead of the other way around. This sounds like a small thing. In practice, it was the single most useful aspect of living with this charger. I have a couple of shorter cables that simply could not reach my usual wall socket, and they had been sitting unused in a drawer for months. With the Power Hub parked next to my laptop, every one of them suddenly became viable again. In effect, it works as an extender as much as a charger, and I could keep all my devices on the desk surface where I actually use them.

The second quality-of-life win is the end of cable swapping. My previous routine involved unplugging a Type-C to Type-C cable from one device so I could free up the port for my MacBook's Type-C to MagSafe cable, or switching to a Type-C to Type-A cable depending on what needed juice. With four Type-C ports live at once, every cable now has a permanent home. In my experience, this is the sort of tiny friction you don't notice until it's gone.

How 200W actually gets divided

This is one of the important aspects worth understanding before you buy, because "200W" is a ceiling, and crucially not a promise for every port at once. URBN has published the full breakdown, and I'd recommend reading it carefully. Here's how the combinations work out.

The takeaway from all this is that two-port and three-port usage is where this hub is at its best. Dual 100W means you can run two laptops at full pelt, which is rare at this price. And the three-port split of 100W, 65W and 30W maps almost perfectly onto a laptop, tablet and phone, which is exactly the combination most of us are dealing with. If you push the usage to five or six ports, the charger would still give a decent performance but the top-end numbers drop considerably. So if you regularly need a laptop charging fast while five other things are plugged in, temper your expectations.

Charging performance

I ran two sets of tests. First, each device on its own from zero, and then all three together to see what simultaneous charging actually costs you.

Individual charging, 0 to 100 percent

The iPhone 16 also crossed the 50 percent mark in 24 minutes and hit 80 percent at the 50-minute mark, which is right in line with what I'd expect from a good 30W-class charge. The MacBook going from empty to full in an hour and 25 minutes is the number that impressed me most here, and the iPad's slightly slower run to 100 percent is most likely down to the usual trickle behaviour in the last few percent rather than anything the hub is doing wrong.

All three charging together

This is the result that sold me on the product. Compare the two tables and the simultaneous numbers land within a few percentage points of the solo runs, and in a couple of cases (only for iPhone) they're marginally ahead, which I'd put down to run-to-run variance and iPhone charging speed limit rather than the hub somehow going faster. Either way, there is no meaningful penalty for charging all three at once.

There's a logical reason for it, and it goes back to that three-port split. With 100W available to the MacBook, 65W to the iPad and 30W to the iPhone, none of my three devices were ever hitting their allocated ceiling, because none of them can draw those figures in the first place. The hub isn't rationing power so much as it is comfortably over-provisioned for a typical Apple trio. That's precisely the scenario URBN seems to have designed this for, and it delivers. The unit did get slightly warm during the three-device runs, which is far from unusual, but crucially it never got anywhere close to worrying.

Verdict

The URBN 200W GaN Power Hub is not a charger for everyone, and I want to be clear about that. If you carry one laptop and one phone, a good 65W or 100W dual-port brick will serve you better and cost a third of this product. This is a desk product, aimed squarely at people whose workstation looks like mine did.

For that audience, though, I think it's an easy recommendation. Six ports, dual 100W output, near-zero performance penalty when everything is plugged in at once, and the underrated benefit of bringing the ports up to desk level. Add up what you'd spend on a 100W laptop charger plus a couple of decent multi-port adapters bought separately, and you land in a similar ballpark anyway, but without the tidiness.

The complaints I have with the product are fairly minor. It's big, and even bigger with the stand, and it rattles around a little in that stand. The 1-year warranty is also on the short side for something at this price, especially when some competitors in the charging space offer two years.

None of that changes the fundamentals. In my experience, the best accessories are the ones you stop noticing because they've quietly removed a daily annoyance, and this one cleared four bricks off my desk. At Rs 6,999, if you're charging three or more devices every day, this is worth your money.

Editor's Rating: 8.4 / 10

Pros:

• Six charging ports (4 USB Type-C)
• Effortless simultaneous charging
• Lightweight for its size
• Eliminates cable-swapping routine

Cons:

• Large, especially with the stand
• Loose fit in the stand
• 1-year warranty

At Rs 1,999, the Buds Neo pack a surprising number of features for the price, with ANC and dual connectivity being the key highlights. Several competitors at this price also offer active noise cancellation; however, it is rare when the feature works as intended. I've been using the Buds Neo to see how well the ANC works, along with how they handle audio, calls and connectivity in everyday use. Here's my experience with them so far.

Audio: quality sound with a bass emphasis

The Buds Neo come with 12.4mm dynamic drivers that follow similar tuning to most budget earbuds, with an emphasis on bass that makes them sound pleasing right out of the box. I don't consider that a bad thing, and there's a reason why it works. The mids remain clear, and the overall sound has a warm character. Basically, the output is bass-forward, with a slightly boosted mid-range and somewhat recessed treble.

The Buds Neo offers six EQ presets in the Nothing X app, giving you some room to adjust the sound to your liking. As a side note, the earbuds can also get extremely loud. I usually listen at around 35-40 percent volume, and I found 30 percent more than sufficient with the Buds Neo. At around 70 percent and above, I noticed some distortion, although that isn't a safe space to listen anyway.

My favourite preset was Pop, which tones down the bass slightly. I also preferred keeping the bass boost at 0, although even level 1 sounded good to me. Level 2 pushed the low-end a little too far for my liking. Bass-heavy Bollywood tracks such as Challa, Sadda Haq, the Aashiqui 2 album, and various Cyberpunk 2077 OSTs, which I often listen to while working, sound particularly lively on the Buds Neo. At the same time, softer tracks from artists such as Sufjan Stevens and Iron & Wine also sounded perfectly enjoyable.

The Buds Neo don't try to deliver a particularly neutral sound. They go for a warmer, bass-forward presentation that works well for casual listening, and I found the tuning enjoyable across the music I regularly listen to.

ANC and calls: pretty good for most situations

The ANC works surprisingly well for the price, with up to 35dB of noise cancellation. That's not something I often see working this effectively on earbuds in this segment. CMF offers three levels of ANC, and I found the highest setting good enough in everyday situations without putting too much pressure on my ears.

It does a good job of suppressing the constant background noise you typically encounter in offices, living rooms, and cafeterias. The buds won't completely eliminate your surroundings, but they take the edge off enough to make it easier to focus on your music or work.

Traffic is a different story, which was expected. You will still hear honks and the general sound of vehicles, but the ANC smooths them out to a decent level and makes sudden noises feel less harsh. That's about what I'd expect from earbuds at this price, and I don't think the Buds Neo need to do much more than that. If ANC is one of your core requirements, the Buds Neo fulfil that requirement particularly well for their price.

The microphones also do a good job of handling background noise during calls. Calls came through clearly, and the other person could hear me well during most of my testing. Even in traffic, the person on the other end could hear my voice without too much trouble, although the ambient noise did make its way through alongside it. That's fairly normal given the environment, and I was satisfied with the call quality.

Design: classic CMF design 

The Buds Neo follow CMF's familiar design language, with a square charging case and rounded corners. The case has a rotating ring on the top corner that doubles as a lanyard attachment, unlike the Buds 2 Pro, where it could control volume and change listening modes.

The matte finish also does a good job of keeping fingerprints away, while the overall build feels appropriate for the price. I like the simplicity of the design, and the Buds Neo don't feel cheap in hand. There are three colours to choose from, and I happen to like all of them.

You get a USB Type-C port on the side for charging, while an LED on the front indicates the charging and pairing status. The earbuds sit securely inside the case thanks to strong magnets, and I didn't have any trouble taking them out or putting them back in.

The earbuds themselves use a matte finish on the stems and a glossy finish around the main body, giving them a slightly more premium look than their price suggests. There are two microphones on each earbud, while the buds carry an IP54 rating for dust and water resistance. This should be enough for light splashes, sweat and occasional rain.

Comfort: good fit and light enough for long sessions

The Buds Neo are very light, and I almost felt nothing when I first put them in my ears. The default silicone tips also fit my ears quite well, although CMF includes other size options if you need to find a more secure or comfortable fit. I never had problems with the earbuds getting loose even when moving around.

I usually don't wear earbuds continuously for more than an hour or two, as that's about my self-imposed upper limit. The Buds Neo remained comfortable throughout that time without putting much pressure on my ears. Given how light they are, I wouldn't expect longer listening sessions to become particularly uncomfortable either, provided you find the right ear-tip size: medium, small, and large, provided in the box.

Connectivity: works as advertised, mostly 

The Buds Neo support Bluetooth 6, Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair, giving you a fairly straightforward experience across phones and laptops. You need to wear the earbuds, touch both of them and hold for five seconds to enter pairing mode. I initially had some trouble getting the Google Fast Pair notification to appear, although it worked fine after a few attempts. Swift Pair worked immediately on my laptops, so both features work as intended.

I wish CMF had included a physical pairing button, however, as it would make the process quicker and more convenient, especially when you want to connect the earbuds to a new device. Another thing some users might miss is the wear detection, which stops audio when an earbud is removed. I don't mind the omission here, but if you're coming from a device that has it, you might miss it. 

I didn't experience any random disconnections during my testing, and the range was good enough for me to walk into other rooms without interrupting playback. Your mileage may vary depending on how many walls or other objects sit between the earbuds and your connected device, but I found the connection reliable overall.

CMF sticks to the AAC, SBC, CVSD and mSBC codecs, without support for more advanced options. I don't see that as a major drawback at this price, as most users are unlikely to notice a major difference unless they have unusually discerning ears or use higher-quality audio sources.

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The Nothing X app acts as the central hub for Nothing's peripherals and offers plenty of useful features and customisation options. Dual connectivity is my favourite, and it's still pretty rare to find it at this price. You do have to manually pause playback on one device before switching to the other, but it works well enough and makes moving between my laptop and phone much easier.

Battery: more than enough for most users

Battery life is another area where the Buds Neo have worked well for me. CMF rates them for up to 52 hours of total playback (without ANC), and based on my usage, I have little reason to doubt that figure. I have only recharged it once, and that was towards the middle of next week, so you should rarely run into battery trouble unless you spend six to eight hours a day listening to music.

Even then, the quick-charge feature can give you around five hours of listening from 10 minutes of charging, which is useful when you forget to charge them before heading out. Overall, I'm quite satisfied with both the connectivity and battery performance here.

Verdict

I've been using my older CMF Buds Pro 2 for about two years now, and they continue to work well even today (except for being a little dirty). That experience also gives me some confidence in CMF's products and their longevity, and the Buds Neo have largely reinforced that opinion.

The Buds Neo do well in almost every area that matters. The audio sounds good, the ANC works surprisingly well, call quality is reliable, and the connectivity remains stable throughout everyday use. More importantly, the features CMF promises here generally deliver in actual use, which isn't always a given at this price.

I don't have any major complaints with the Buds Neo. The lack of a physical pairing button and wear detection would have been nice, but I can live with those omissions considering everything else the earbuds offer for Rs 1,999. They look stylish, feel comfortable and deliver where it matters most.

If you're looking for an affordable pair of earbuds that offers good audio, effective ANC and useful features without cutting too many corners, the CMF Buds Neo are easy to recommend.

Editor's Rating: 9/10

Pros:

• Great audio, ANC, and call quality for the price
• Reliable connectivity and dual-device support
• Comfortable and lightweight
• Long battery life

Cons:

• Some distortion at high volume levels
• No physical pairing button

Let's start with unboxing and what you get inside the box.

Unboxing & In-box content

The Milagrow iMap Max W300 ECO arrives in a massive squarish box, and understandably so, due to the following contents:

• Vacuum cleaner
• Base station
• Dust box
• Rolling brush: Anti-tangle
• 2x Water tanks
• 2x BLDC, anti-tangle side brushes
• 2x Dust bags
• 2x sets of mops
• Cleaning brush
• 2x HEPA H12

Design

The Milagrow iMap Max W300 ECO (yes, the name is a mouthful) comes in a pristine white finish from head to toe. Apart from the branding, controls, and sensors, which account for about 10 percent of the product and use slightly different tones, almost the entire device is white. While I appreciate the choice of colour, as it gives the device a sense of cleanliness that feels appropriate for the product, it also made me constantly worry about stains. Even the slightest mark is noticeable from a distance.

Thankfully, the matte finish makes the surface relatively easy to clean with a simple wet wipe. I would have appreciated it if Milagrow offered more colour options, perhaps some of the smoky shades that are currently in vogue.

Talking about the form factor, the Milagrow iMap Max W300 ECO sports a circular design, with a height roughly equivalent to the width of a cricket bat. This allows it to easily squeeze under most furniture and reach areas that are otherwise difficult to clean. The base station, meanwhile, features a squarish shape, roughly knee-height for most adults and has a footprint that is about the length of an arm. I had the cleaner neatly tucked away in a corner, where it occupied very little space and didn't get in the way.

Setup

Milagrow sends a technician to help you set up the iMap Max W300 ECO and give you an overview of the product. However, if you wish to do it yourself, the process is straightforward. Instead of hard plastic locks, the robot and base station primarily use magnetic locks, making assembly easier.

The base station comes with two water tanks that can be lifted from the top using their handles. One tank is meant for clean water, while the other collects the dirty water after mopping. There is also a front clasp that opens to reveal the dirt bag slot, which collects dust and debris picked up by the robot. Below this is the platform where the robot docks itself. That's pretty much all there is to setting up the base station.

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Moving on to the robot itself, you first need to remove the top flap to access the dust box. The flap is held magnetically, so removing it is fairly easy. On the underside, there is a slot for the anti-tangle brush and two plates for attaching the mop pads. Once everything is in place, remove the rubber protection from the front, turn on the device, and it is ready to go.

Controls and connectivity

Long-press the power button on the iMap Max W300 ECO to turn it on. During my time with the device, it had enough charge to pair with a smartphone and scan the house for cleaning. However, I would recommend plugging in the base station and placing the robot on it before starting the setup. This allows the robot to remember the station's location and return to it once the scanning or cleaning is complete.

The robot can start scanning and cleaning on its own, but you will need to connect it to the companion app for greater control over its functions. Both the robot and the base station use LED indicators to alert you when something goes wrong. However, they don't specify what the issue is, so you may have to figure that out yourself, unless you have the app.

The Milagrow iMap Max W300 ECO pairs with a smartphone using the SmartLife app, which is available on both Android and iOS. To put the robot into pairing mode, press and hold the Power and Home buttons simultaneously. Then, open the app with Bluetooth enabled and scan for nearby devices. Once the robot is detected, connect it to your 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network, and you're good to go.

The app doesn't require you to create an account, though it's recommended if you want to share access to the iMap Max W300 ECO with other family members. This means they can control the same robot without pairing their smartphones separately, while retaining the settings and controls you've already configured.

The SmartLife app can be paired with a variety of smart home devices, and my experience with it was largely the same as with the Sekyo Smart Alarm door sensor, which I tested recently. The app fetches all the information from the robot in almost real time. However, I do wish the app were ad-free, as ads can make the overall experience feel less polished.

Cleaning performance

The Milagrow iMap Max W300 ECO took around five minutes to scan each corner of my house, which was pretty impressive. This was followed by around an hour and a half (depending on the surface area) of simultaneous vacuuming and mopping. The app also lets you customise the cleaning mode, with options including Vacuum, Mop, Vac & Mop, and Mop after Vac. The latter takes longer, as the robot first vacuums the entire house, room, or selected zone, returns to the base station to clean itself, and then begins mopping.

Interestingly, the iMap Max W300 ECO's mops have an extension mechanism that widens them by 7mm to reach corners that regular robotic vacuums may struggle to clean. This is a genuinely handy feature, as it allows the robot to cover more of the floor and ensures fewer corners are left untouched. Furthermore, the mops can lift themselves by up to 17mm from the surface for easy carpet cleaning or when only the vacuum function is enabled.

The right corner-aligned brush may not have a similar extension or telescopic mechanism, but they are wide enough to clean even those corners. While I don't have carpets at home, there are a few doormats that the robot easily detected, and it increased its suction power and force to overcome the obstacle. You would need slightly heavier doormats so they don't get sucked up by the vacuum and dragged around.

I can totally imagine that happening, since the robot seems incapable of detecting objects small enough to get caught in its rolling brush. Twice, I had to rescue it after it tried to swallow an iPhone charging cable that was plugged into a wall charger, with the other end lying on the floor. The iMap Max W300 ECO not only sucked in the cable, but also pulled the power brick out of the socket. This interrupted its cleaning, and I had to manually remove the wire from the rolling brush.

The other incident involved a toothpick. The robot ran over it and, unable to push it through the brush, encountered an obstruction that made a loud noise. Unfortunately, the app didn't send any notification about the issue, so I had to manually clear the obstruction to get the robot running smoothly again. So, while the iMap Max W300 ECO can navigate around larger objects, I would recommend clearing cables and other small items from the floor before letting it loose. It can clear dust and soft debris as large as a peanut with no trouble whatsoever.

Maintenance: Largely automatic

During and after cleaning, the iMap Max W300 ECO's robot goes to the base station to empty its trash can and clean the mop, if used. Everything is automated, saving you the hassle of disposing of the collection from time to time. One only has to replace the trash bag inside the station once it is full. The bag has a capacity of 3.5 litres, and sadly, there isn't a way to track it in the app as you can with other accessories: Filter, Side brush, Roll brush, and Mop. A spare of each accessory is provided in the box; after that, one has to buy them via the official website to continue using the robot.

Despite its self-cleaning capabilities, the iMap Max W300 ECO still requires some manual maintenance. I would suggest cleaning after a week of usage, basically tidying up things around the robot's vacuum and the base station. While the robot uses a tangle-free brush, it can still struggle with hair that gets caught in it. The brush is free on one side to easily remove the bunch of hair. But in case you can't, a cleaning brush is included in the box. It comes with a built-in comb and a blade, tucked behind the handle cap, to deal with those tangled brushes.

The base station tray can also get dirty during the mop cleaning process, but it can be easily wiped clean with a cloth. One will need to empty the dirty water tank either when the machine indicates it needs emptying or after every mopping session. Interestingly, a Milagrow technician advised me to use RO water for mopping to prevent dust and debris from affecting the machine's functioning. As always, you are not supposed to use any detergent or chemical for mopping with the machine.

The Milagrow iMap Max W300 ECO is said to self-wash mops with 68-degree Celsius hot air to prevent bacterial growth, mould, and odours. Moreover, an H12 antibacterial HEPA filter captures fine dust, allergens, and pollutants to maintain indoor air quality.

Plenty of customisation and smart features

There is an array of other features that you get with the vacuum cleaner. A handful of them would need an app.

• The Milagrow iMap Max W300 ECO doesn't attack obstacles - easily getting around slippers, toys, and other objects - thanks to its advanced LDS LiDAR 3-backed navigation and other sensors on board.
• With the compatible app, users can define zones where the robot will be forbidden to enter and initiate spot cleaning. The robot can also be remote controlled and customised to one's native language. At the time of writing this article, you get support for eight different languages.

• One can also split the room, schedule cleaning, increase suction speed, customise mopping and vacuuming per the rooms/ areas, adjust dust collection frequency and mop washing, turn off 'Auto-boost' mode for carpets, and disable 'Smart Obstacle avoidance' within the app.
• You get voice assistants: Alexa and Google Assistant, for hands-free control with the device.
• Other features include Multi-map support and management, Do Not Disturb mode, Cleaning Record, OTA update support, and more. The cleaner could do with an OTA update soon to fix a mapping issue I encountered once during testing, when it even failed to locate its base station. Apart from this one minor glitch, I didn't encounter any other issue with the device.

Battery

The Milagrow iMap Max W300 ECO robot houses a 5,000mAh battery, which is rated to provide a runtime of 5 hours and coverage of 3,500-4,000 sq ft per charge. I live in a roughly 734 sq ft area, with a marble floor and plenty of open space, and it was able to vacuum and mop the place with 52 percent juice still left in the tank. This is lower than the claimed figure, and I operated the robot in mostly 'Auto' mode, which runs at 'Normal' suction power, 'Low' water output, and cleans itself at least thrice during the process.

Charging the device takes more than two hours, but if the robot is low on battery (around 20 percent) during the cleaning, it will return to the base station, charge itself and start cleaning again where it left off.

Thoughts

The Milagrow iMap Max W300 ECO is priced at Rs 56,990 on the company's official website at the time of writing. It gets plenty of things right and comes close to delivering the kind of hands-off experience you would expect from a robot vacuum cleaner. Most notably, it addresses one of the biggest pain points with these devices: dealing with dust and cleaning the mops after they have done their job. The W300 ECO handles most of this on its own, although the process is not always as clean as it could be.

However, I appreciate how little manual maintenance the cleaner requires. There are also several alternatives in the market offering similar functionality. The ECOVACS N50 Pro Omni Black is one of the closest options in terms of price and features. It has also received several positive reviews from buyers on e-commerce platforms, and has the added advantage of a black colour option.

The Milagrow iMap Max W300 ECO ultimately stands out for its largely seamless operation and anti-tangle rolling brush, which can be easily cleaned manually if required, thanks to its side opening. If Milagrow can address some minor mapping issues and improve the robot's handling of small objects, the W300 ECO could be a compelling option for those looking to reduce manual cleaning and maintenance.

Editor's rating: 8.5/10

Pros

• Effective cleaning and mopping
• Anti-tangle rolling brush is easy to clean
• Long battery life with automatic recharge and resume
• Minimal manual maintenance

Cons

• Struggles with small objects such as cables and toothpicks
• Occasional mapping issues during testing

Design: thinner, lighter, smoother flip

[pdp-expert-review]
Samsung has refined an already compelling design without fixing what wasn't broken. The Galaxy Z Flip8 boasts meaningful refinements where they matter. It is thinner, lighter and more pocketable, while the refined hinge feels smoother and the new Pink finish is surprisingly tasteful. 
[/pdp-expert-review]

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 is being promoted in Pink, which looks surprisingly subtle and subdued in person. And I say that as a male user; the colour certainly doesn't make the phone look overly feminine. Samsung has also done a good job with the edges, giving them a soft lavender shade that complements the overall look. It is only on the back panel that you get a more pronounced shade of pink, but even that doesn't look tacky, thanks to the matte finish.

This year's Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 is also marginally thinner and lighter than ever before. The handset features a refined Armour FlexHinge, which not only makes the hinge mechanism smoother but also appears to have helped reduce the phone's overall weight and thickness. As a result, the Flip8 weighs 180 grams and measures just 6.1mm in thickness when unfolded. This despite Samsung sticking to the same form factor, design, and material as last year's Galaxy Z Flip7, which measures 186 grams and 6.8mm in thickness.

This slight improvement makes the device even more compact and pocketable, making it easier to carry around for prolonged periods - something that should appeal to younger users. The Flip8 also feels incredibly premium in hand, thanks to its aluminium frame. Both the front and back of the phone, when folded, are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The smartphone is also IP48-rated, making it suitable for casual use in the rain or by the swimming pool. However, I'd still be cautious about taking it to the beach.

As for the new hinge, it definitely feels more fluid than ever before. No, you still can't flip the phone open as effortlessly as Shah Rukh Khan does in one of the sequences in Don 2. There is still some resistance, and attempting it would require a firm grip and plenty of caution to prevent the phone from flying out of your hand.

Beyond that, you can still use the phone with the inner display folded at a 90-degree angle, allowing you to use FlexCam to check your appearance on the cover screen while taking selfies or shooting content, among other things. It doesn't seem a cause for concern, but I did feel a slight feedback from the hinge when unfolding the phone around the 45-degree mark, which is missing from its elder siblings.

Display: smarter cover screen

[pdp-expert-review]
The Galaxy Z Flip8's displays deliver a more polished experience, with a less noticeable crease, slimmer bezels and a more immersive main screen. The biggest upgrade, however, is the FlexWindow, which now supports a much wider range of apps and makes the cover screen genuinely useful beyond notifications and widgets.
[/pdp-expert-review]

Moving on to the most interactive part of the Galaxy Z Flip8—the displays. The handset sports a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X main display and a 4.1-inch cover screen, both of which have received some quality-of-life improvements. The crease on the main display is now shallower, if not negligible. This will be particularly noticeable to those coming from an older-generation foldable, as scrolling across the display feels considerably smoother. The thinner bezels also make multimedia consumption feel more immersive than on its predecessor.

The bezels have also been trimmed on the Galaxy Z Flip8's cover screen. More importantly, it now supports a wider range of apps, along with usual notifications, music controls, widgets, and camera preview. Samsung is calling it FlexWindow, and the small, squarish display now supports as many as 16 apps out of the box. You can add more apps to the list by scrolling to the bottom of the cover screen, tapping the option to 'Add apps', and downloading the MultiStar app.

The cover screen supported nearly every app I tried, and most of them appeared to be well optimised for its aspect ratio, except for vertical videos such as Reels. Nevertheless, it makes the outer display much more approachable. The FlexWindow seems to be a software feature, which could be rolled out to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 via an OTA update.

Software and performance: polished & effortless

[pdp-expert-review]
The Galaxy Z Flip8 delivers a polished software experience, with One UI 9, Galaxy AI and useful foldable features such as Flex Mode, FlexWindow and FlexCam. The Exynos 2600 also keeps everyday use, multitasking and even demanding workloads running smoothly. However, thermal management is a slight weak point, with the phone getting warmer than expected under sustained loads.
[/pdp-expert-review]

The Galaxy Z Flip8 runs One UI 9, based on Android 17, out of the box, and is promised to receive seven years of software and security updates. You get all the latest Android features (check out our roundup), along with Galaxy AI tools and various improvements and optimisations to Samsung's custom skin, which you can read more about in our Galaxy Z Fold8 review. The Galaxy Z Flip8 specifics include FlexWindow and FlexCam, as discussed above.

The smartphone also supports Flex Mode, which adapts compatible apps when the phone is partially folded. Depending on the app, this can enable a split-screen layout, turn the lower half of the display into a trackpad, or support other layouts. You can also use the phone in Tent Mode, which lets it stand on its own while folded.

[comparative-benchmark type="1" title="AnTuTu score" caption="AnTuTu assesses a smartphone's CPU, GPU, memory, and overall user experience (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42129,40954,41148,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

Everything works as advertised, and pretty smoothly too. This can be attributed to the latest 2nm Exynos 2600 SoC, paired with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8. Ultimately, this isn't a device designed primarily for gaming or other demanding workloads, but if pushed, it can handle all of that and more without breaking a sweat. Animations are smooth, multitasking is effortless, and on-device AI tasks feel seamless. That said, thermals could have been managed better. The advanced graphite sheet cooling structure inside fails to dissipate heat as effectively as one would expect.

Battery: good backup

[pdp-expert-review]
The Galaxy Z Flip8 offers all-day battery life on regular usage. Heavy camera use and demanding workloads can drain it faster, though, and the 25W charging takes around 90 minutes for a full charge. While the charging speeds feel slower, the battery endurance is respectable for a flip.
[/pdp-expert-review]

[comparative-benchmark type="3" title="PCMark Battery score (in hours)" caption="PCMark battery test measures phone battery life from 100% to 20% (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42129,40954,41148,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

To keep things running, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 packs a 4,300mAh battery with support for 25W wired and 15W wireless charging. This is identical to its predecessor and, in my experience, delivers similar endurance. The smartphone can comfortably last a day on regular usage between charges, while extended camera use, multitasking, and demanding workloads may require a quick top-up by the end of the day. For a flip, that's a respectable backup. Charging the smartphone from 0 to 100 percent can take around one and a half hours.

Cameras: punchy colours, strong dynamic range

[pdp-expert-review]
The Galaxy Z Flip8's cameras deliver punchy colours, strong dynamic range and good detail, making them impressive for a flip phone. Portraits are convincing, too, though low-light photography could be better.
[/pdp-expert-review]

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 sports a dual rear camera setup comprising a 50MP f/1.8 OIS main sensor and a 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide lens with a 123-degree field of view. Up front, there is a 10MP camera for selfies and video calls. Of course, you can also use the superior rear cameras to capture selfies, with the cover display serving as a viewfinder. All three cameras support HDR video recording at up to UHD (4K) resolution and 60fps. The resulting footage appears stable and well-balanced, with decent detail, if not on par with the regular slab-based flagships. Still, for a flip phone, the cameras are commendable.

As for colours, both stills and videos appear punchy and vibrant, with a very Samsung-like look characterised by brighter tones and saturated greens, while still keeping the overall scene close to reality. The dynamic range is equally impressive, with good exposure and plenty of detail retained in shadowy areas. While there is no dedicated telephoto lens for portraits, the software does a good job of separating the subject from the background, resulting in natural-looking portraits. The skin tones and colours may not always be the most accurate, but they are punchy and easy on the eyes.

[smartslider3 slider=2173]

Users can switch to a more natural profile for more realistic tones. Samsung has also included several filters, beauty modes, and exposure controls to further enhance the camera experience. However, I wish the Galaxy Z Flip8 did a better job of controlling light flare and graininess after sunset. Despite this, the images do a good job of preserving finer details and textures in low-light conditions.

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 is priced in India at Rs 1,24,999 for the base 256GB variant, while the 512GB storage option costs Rs 1,44,999. That's a significant jump over its predecessor, although the higher pricing is understandable given the ongoing rise in RAM and storage costs.

The upgrades may feel modest, but the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 comes across as a polished refinement of a compelling flip-phone formula. Its slimmer design, smoother hinge, improved displays and genuinely useful FlexWindow make it a more complete foldable experience. Performance is smooth, and the cameras are impressive for a flip phone, while battery life is respectable for casual usage.

Overall, the Galaxy Z Flip8 is a strong choice for anyone looking for a stylish, compact foldable without compromising on everyday usability, especially if you are coming from a generation or two older flip phones.

Editor's rating: 8.3/10

Pros

• Thinner and lighter design, smoother hinge
• More useful FlexWindow
• Excellent everyday performance
• Good cameras with punchy colours

Cons

• Power users may want more

The phone arrives at a time when rising memory prices have put considerable pressure on the budget smartphone segment. Brands are increasingly having to introduce phones with more modest hardware to keep costs under control, making appealing options below Rs 20,000 fewer and farther between.

The realme C100x takes a similar approach, prioritising the essentials for everyday use. In this review, I look at how well that strategy works and whether the device is worth its asking price.

Short Verdict

The Realme C100x has its limitations, but that is expected at this price. Its attractive design, smooth display and smooth UI make it a decent choice for basic everyday use, while the battery life will comfortably get most users through the day and more. The limited 64GB storage and slightly heavy build are drawbacks, but for first-time smartphone users, students or anyone looking for a simple starter device, it gets the basics right without trying to do too much.

Design: big and beautiful

[pdp-expert-review]
The Realme C100x has an attractive design that looks more premium than its price suggests, with eye-catching wavy patterns and coloured camera rings. It feels solid too, although the 219g weight makes it slightly heavy for longer use.
[/pdp-expert-review]

This is clearly one of the areas where this phone wants to stand out from its competition. The colourways look especially pleasing, with the wavy patterns on the rear adding some character without making the phone look too flashy. The camera module also fits well with the overall design, and the coloured rings around the camera lenses add another small touch that helps the phone stand out.

The phone does feel substantial in the hand, though. At 219g, it is on the heavier side, and its large size takes some time to get used to, especially if you are coming from a lighter or more compact phone. It is not uncomfortable to hold, but you will notice the weight during extended use.

[comparative-benchmark type="1000" products="42034,42318,41802,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

The build quality is reassuring, too, as the phone has an IP64 rating for protection against dust and water splashes, along with 2m drop protection. This provides good protection for everyday use and should offer some peace of mind if you are a little rough with your devices.

Overall, the phone looks and feels more premium than its price suggests. The weight may take some getting used to, but the attractive finish, distinctive rear design and build make it one of the better-looking phones in its segment.

Battery: lasts exceptionally long

[pdp-expert-review]
The Realme C100x's 8,000mAh battery is one of its biggest strengths, delivering over 21 hours in our battery benchmark test. It easily handles long streaming and gaming sessions, while 45W charging takes around two hours to fully top up.
[/pdp-expert-review]

Battery life is another major strength of this phone, thanks to its mammoth 8,000mAh battery. It is likely the biggest battery in this segment, and the numbers back up its endurance. In our battery benchmark test, the phone lasted for over 21 hours, which is currently the best score in its segment.

[comparative-benchmark type="3" title="PCMark Battery score (in hours)" caption="PCMark battery test measures phone battery life from 100% to 20% (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42034,42318,41802,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

The phone lost only 4 per cent battery after an hour of video streaming, while 30 minutes of gaming used around 4.5 per cent. This means you can comfortably spend a lot of time watching videos, playing games, or browsing without worrying about reaching for the charger.

[comparative-benchmark type="4000" products="42034,42318,41802,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

The 45W fast charging support also does a decent job of topping up such a large battery. It takes around two hours to fully charge, which is reasonable given the sheer size of the battery. While it is not the fastest charging phone around, you are unlikely to need to charge it often in the first place.

If long battery life is high on your list, this phone is an easy recommendation. With normal use, it can comfortably last around two days on a single charge, making battery life one of its biggest advantages.

Cameras: good enough

[pdp-expert-review]
The 50MP main camera delivers good daylight shots with punchy colours and decent detail, while Night mode improves low-light images. The 5MP selfie camera produces pleasing colours and natural skin tones, making the setup good enough for everyday photography.
[/pdp-expert-review]

The Realme C100x has a capable 50MP main camera for casual photography. In daylight, it captures a good amount of detail and produces punchy colours, although the processing can sometimes make the images look more vibrant than the actual scene. Portrait shots are decent as well, with natural-looking separation in most situations, although finer details can appear a little soft when you zoom in.

The 5MP selfie camera prioritises pleasing colours over fine detail, and it generally does a good job of keeping skin tones and the overall scene close to what you see in real life.

[smartslider3 slider=2177]

In low light, the main camera benefits from Night mode, which improves exposure, detail and colours while keeping noise under control. Overall, the camera setup is not its strongest selling point, but it is good enough for everyday photos, social media and the occasional portrait or selfie.

I've compared the Realme C100x and the Lava Virat V1's (review) cameras in different scenarios below.

Daylight

When comparing the two phones and their images side by side, you'll notice a few key differences straight away. The C100x adopts an aggressive, vibrant colour scheme which makes the scene appear punchy, while the Virat takes a more modest approach with colours.

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Realme-C100x-daylight-scaled.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Lava-Virat-daylight-scaled.jpg" offset="0.5" before="Realme C100x" after="Lava Virat "]

Neither of them is wholly accurate, and both struggle to render the actual scene. The Realme C100x is in the definitive lead here thanks to its detail and sharpness level compared to the Lava Virat. 

Portrait

The colours in the portrait are consistent with those in regular daylight shots. The subject's skin tone has a reddish tint in Realme's image, while it appears slightly duller in Lava's image.

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Realme-C100x-portrait-scaled.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Lava-Virat-portriat-scaled.jpg" offset="0.5" before="Realme C100x" after="Lava Virat "]

The latter has an advantage here in terms of detail level since the former's image appears softer when zoomed in. Finally, edge detection is also better on the Lava Virat's image. 

Selfie

Talking about selfies, the Lava Virat captures a very detailed shot with decent exposure and sharpness. The Realme C100x, while not as detailed as its counterpart, does a much better job with colour science. The C100x's image matches the actual scene and colours much more closely. 

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Realme-C100x-selfie-scaled.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Lava-Virat-selfie-scaled.jpg" offset="0.5" before="Realme C100x" after="Lava Virat "]

Lowlight

With night mode enabled on both phones, Realme C100x is clearly the better performer of the two. It delivers better-exposed images, detail level and colours, while the Lava's image is much darker and grainy, making it less appealing.   

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Realme-C100x-lowlight-scaled.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Lava-Virat-lowlight-scaled.jpg" offset="0.5" before="Realme C100x" after="Lava Virat "]

Performance: could have been better

[pdp-expert-review]
The Unisoc T2750 and 4GB RAM offer basic performance, with some sluggishness during everyday use. However, Realme UI helps smooth things out, making the phone capable enough for browsing, social media, streaming and basic gaming.
[/pdp-expert-review]

Performance is easily the least capable aspect of this phone, and as a 4G device, it uses the Unisoc T2750 chipset, paired with 4GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 64GB of eMMC 5.1 storage. You also get microSD support for up to 2TB of additional storage, which is useful if you plan to keep many photos, videos, or apps on the phone. However, the core hardware is fairly basic and offers little beyond everyday usability. 

[comparative-benchmark type="1" title="AnTuTu score" caption="AnTuTu assesses a smartphone's CPU, GPU, memory, and overall user experience (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42034,42318,41802,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

There is a general feeling of sluggishness when using the phone, especially when moving between apps or navigating around the UI. It is not unusable, but you can tell that this is not a phone built for heavy workloads. The OS, however, does a decent job of keeping things smooth. When I compared it with the Lava Virat V1 (review), which uses a more powerful Unisoc chipset, both phones felt surprisingly similar in terms of smoothness. This suggests that the software is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here.

[comparative-benchmark type="10" title="Geekbench single-core score" caption="Geekbench assesses the efficiency of the CPU's single and multiple cores (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42034,42318,41802,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

For basic day-to-day use, the phone remains capable enough. You can browse the web, use social media, stream videos and switch between common apps without major issues, as long as you keep your expectations in check. Gaming is also fine for basic titles, but more demanding games will push the hardware beyond what it can comfortably handle.

[comparative-benchmark type="11" title="Geekbench multi-core score" caption="Geekbench assesses the efficiency of the CPU's single and multiple cores (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42034,42318,41802,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

The phone's performance is clearly behind what some of the other areas of this phone offer, but it is still reasonable for the segment. The hardware is basic, but the software does a good job of making the most of it, and that keeps the phone usable for everyday tasks.

Software: uplifts the overall experience 

[pdp-expert-review]
Realme UI 7 helps smooth out the phone's basic hardware with useful everyday features, AI tools and performance options. While software support remains unclear, most pre-installed apps can be removed, making the overall experience more practical for casual users.
[/pdp-expert-review]

The phone runs on Realme UI 7, based on Android 16, and comes with quite a few pre-installed apps out of the box. Most of these apps can be removed if you do not need them.

The software is one area where this phone does a lot to smooth out the rough edges of its basic hardware. Realme UI offers a good mix of useful quality-of-life features, including an eye-care mode, extra brightness controls and tools to help speed up the phone when it starts to feel slow. There are also plenty of AI features, covering everything from the cameras to productivity tools.

[comparative-benchmark type="3000" products="42034,42318,41802,," pias="61,34,58,,"][/comparative-benchmark]

While the more advanced AI features may not be something every user will rely on, the smaller additions are arguably more useful for most casual users. Features such as eye care, extra brightness and simple performance tools can make a real difference in everyday use without requiring you to change how you use the phone.

This is where Realme UI works well for this particular device. The hardware is clearly limited, but the software helps hide some of those limitations and makes the phone feel more complete than the specifications suggest. There are quite a few pre-installed apps, although most can be removed if you do not need them.

One thing that is still unclear is software support. Realme has not specified how many Android versions or security updates this phone will receive, which is worth keeping in mind if you plan to use it for several years.

Display: good visuals, average sound

[pdp-expert-review]
The 6.8-inch 120Hz LCD display offers a smooth and enjoyable viewing experience, with vibrant colours and good indoor brightness. However, outdoor visibility can be challenging, while the single speaker lacks the depth of a stereo setup.
[/pdp-expert-review]

The 6.8-inch LCD display is one of the phone's biggest strengths, especially if you enjoy watching videos or simply prefer a larger screen. It has a 120Hz refresh rate, which makes scrolling through apps, browsing the web and moving around the interface feel smooth. The colours also look good, and I prefer using the Vivid setting, which gives the display a livelier look.

With a peak brightness of 900 nits, it works well enough for most indoor use, and you should have little trouble viewing the screen under normal conditions. The display, however, can struggle a little outdoors, particularly in well-lit surroundings or when using the phone directly under the sun. This is not a major issue for everyday use, but it is something to keep in mind if you spend a lot of time outdoors.

The bigger issue here for me is the single speaker. It gets loud enough for watching videos or listening to casual content, but it does not offer the same depth or sense of space as a stereo speaker setup. If you often consume media using the phone's speakers alone, the experience can feel a little flat.

Overall, the large 120Hz display works well for everyday use and offers a pleasant viewing experience. The outdoor brightness and mono speaker are its main weaknesses, but neither detracts much from what is otherwise a capable screen.

Final Verdict

The Realme C100x is priced at Rs 16,999 in India for the 4GB + 64GB variant. It is a phone that gets the basics right while putting a clear focus on battery life, design and everyday usability. The 8,000mAh battery is its biggest advantage, comfortably lasting around two days with normal use, while the 6.8-inch 120Hz display makes the phone enjoyable for watching videos and browsing. Its design also looks more premium than its price suggests, and the cameras perform well enough for casual photography, with particularly good results in low light.

The Lava Virat V1 (review) makes a worthy rival if you want more performance and 5G connectivity. It uses a more capable Unisoc chipset and has slightly better overall hardware, making it the better option for users who want to play more demanding games or use 5G frequently. However, its battery life and camera performance do not match those of the C100x.

This ultimately makes the Realme C100x a sensible choice for users who value long battery life, a large, smooth display and a good-looking phone over raw performance. It is not the most powerful option in the segment, but for casual users, first-time smartphone buyers and anyone who simply wants a phone that can comfortably last through the day and beyond, the C100x makes a good case for itself.

Editor's Rating: 8.1/10

Reasons to buy:

• Attractive design that looks more premium than its price suggests.
• Large 6.8-inch display with a smooth 120Hz refresh rate.
• Realme UI offers a smooth experience with useful everyday features.
• Excellent battery life that can comfortably last around two days.

Reasons not to buy:

• Only 64GB of base storage, which can feel limiting for some users.
• The 219g weight makes the phone slightly heavy in the hand.
• The single speaker lacks the depth and separation of a stereo setup.

Winners at a glance

*Prices and models as of August 24, 2026

The Motorola Signature stands out as the best overall phone, giving you the best value for your money in this segment. For performance-focused buyers, the OnePlus 15R is the top choice for its excellent gaming and power efficiency. The OPPO Reno 16 is the best when it comes to cameras, while the Vivo X200T is also another option to consider. For battery life, the iQOO 15R is the most reliable option in this segment. Lastly, the Galaxy A57 is recommended for those considering long-term software support. 

Motorola Signature - Best overall

Price: Rs 59,999

Why we chose it 

The Motorola Signature (review) marks the brand's entry into the premium sub-flagship segment, offering a well-rounded package at a starting price of Rs 59,999. Despite its large 6.8-inch display, the phone remains impressively slim and lightweight, with a fabric-textured rear that feels comfortable in hand. Its LTPO AMOLED display supports a 1-165Hz dynamic refresh rate and up to 6,200 nits brightness, delivering an immersive viewing experience. You also get a clean and near-stock Android experience with up to seven years of OS and security updates. 

Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, the Motorola Signature delivers near-flagship performance, making it well-suited for everything from everyday tasks to demanding workloads. Its versatile 50MP triple-camera setup also makes it a capable option for photography enthusiasts and social media users. While the battery capacity is smaller than what some rivals offer, it can comfortably last a day and supports 90W fast charging for quick top-ups. So unless battery capacity is a major issue, the Motorola Signature can easily become your pick for the best overall smartphone under Rs 70,000. 

Key specs:

• 6.8-inch AMOLED FHD+, 165Hz refresh rate
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5
• 50MP + 50MP + 50MP; 50MP front
• 5,200mAh, 90W fast charging

OnePlus 15R - Best performance

Price: Rs 59,999

Why we chose it

The OnePlus 15R (review) stays true to its performance-focused approach. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset, which sits just below the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and delivers benchmark scores among the highest in the segment, coming close to some flagship phones. In everyday use, its performance is comparable to that of the flagship OnePlus 15, with no noticeable stutter or choppiness during our testing.

[comparative-benchmark type="1" title="AnTuTu score" caption="AnTuTu assesses a smartphone's CPU, GPU, memory, and overall user experience (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="41310,41718,41330,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

The phone also handles sustained workloads well, thanks to its 360-degree Cryo-Velocity Cooling System, which kept temperatures in check during games such as COD Mobile and BGMI. Combined with LPDDR5X Ultra RAM and UFS 4.1 storage, the OnePlus 15R is well equipped for demanding tasks and extended gaming sessions. Taken together, you get a smartphone you can easily consider for performance. 

Key specs:

• 6.83-inch AMOLED FHD+, 165Hz refresh rate
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5
• 50MP + 8MP; 32MP front
• 7,400mAh, 80W fast charging

OPPO Reno 16/Vivo X200T - Best cameras

Price: Rs 66,999

Why we chose it

The OPPO Reno 16 (review) takes the top spot for the best camera phone under Rs 70,000, thanks to its versatile 50MP setup across the primary, ultra-wide, 3.5x telephoto, and selfie cameras. It handles everything from landscapes and portraits to zoom shots and selfies with ease. The telephoto lens adds useful flexibility, while the low-light selfie flash and AI-powered tools further enhance the camera experience. With capable hardware complemented by useful software features, the Reno 16 offers one of the most well-rounded camera packages in this segment.

• 6.32-inch AMOLED FHD+, 120Hz refresh rate
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4
• 50MP + 50MP + 50MP; 50MP front
• 6,700mAh, 80W fast charging

Price: Rs 59,999

Why we chose it

We'd also like to mention the Vivo X200T (review), which ranks among the strongest camera phones in this segment. It features a Zeiss-branded triple-camera setup with a 50MP primary, 50MP ultra-wide, and 50MP 3x telephoto lens. The X200T produces a more stylised and visually pleasing output, with sharp, contrast-rich images, reliable exposure, and good dynamic range, and portraits producing a pleasing depth of field. Meanwhile, the 32MP front camera captures selfies with accurate skin tones, sharp facial details, and good overall clarity. The Vivo X200T is another option you can consider for cameras under Rs 70,000. 

• 6.67-inch AMOLED FHD+, 120Hz refresh rate
• MediaTek Dimensity 9400 Plus
• 50MP + 50MP + 50MP; 32MP front
• 6,200mAh, 90W fast charging

iQOO 15R - Best battery

Price: Rs 53,999

Why we chose it

The iQOO 15R (review) packs a large 7,600mAh battery with 100W FlashCharge and support for bypass charging. The handset is powerful enough to last a long time, no matter your usage style, as it delivers excellent battery life, even better than the OnePlus 15R.

[comparative-benchmark type="3" title="PCMark Battery score (in hours)" caption="PCMark battery test measures phone battery life from 100% to 20% (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="41748,41310,41713,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

The iQOO 15R delivers around 7 to 8 hours of screen time, which translates to over two days of battery life with regular usage and less than two days for power users. Since it comes bundled with a 100W charger, it's also easy to quickly top up the phone's battery. You also get bypass charging, which helps keep the phone cool while charging and gaming simultaneously. If battery woes are a major concern for you, the iQOO 15R will more than impress you. 

Key specs:

• 6.59-inch AMOLED FHD+, 144Hz refresh rate
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5
• 50MP + 8MP; 32MP front
• 7,600mAh, 100W fast charging

Samsung Galaxy A57 - Best software

Price: Rs 53,999

Why we chose it

Samsung continues to offer one of the most polished Android UIs and long-term software support. The Galaxy A57 runs One UI 8.5 based on Android 16 out of the box with six years of OS upgrades (up to Android 22) and security updates. This is one of the longest software support periods you can get in this price segment, making the phone reliable for long-term use. Samsung has also bundled Galaxy AI features such as Object Eraser and Best Face for group photos. These features integrate well into everyday use and add a layer of convenience without feeling gimmicky.

If long-term software support with good productivity features are your priorities, then the Galaxy A57 makes total sense. 

Key specs:

• 6.7-inch Super AMOLED Plus FHD+, 120Hz refresh rate, Gorilla Glass
• Exynos 1680
• 50MP + 12MP + 5MP; 12MP front
• 5,000mAh, 45W fast charging

Reasons to buy

Impressive battery life

[comparative-benchmark type="3" title="PCMark Battery score (in hours)" caption="PCMark battery test measures phone battery life from 100% to 20% (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42356,42253,42030,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

The 7,000mAh battery is one of the Moto G Max's biggest strengths. In the PCMark battery test, the smartphone lasted over 18 hours, outperforming the Redmi Note 17 despite the latter packing a larger 8,000mAh battery. In real-world usage, the Moto G Max should comfortably last a full day, although heavy users may need to top it up by the end of the day.

Stereo speakers

The Moto G Max is one of the few phones in its segment to feature a dual stereo speaker setup. The speakers are backed by Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res Audio support, complementing the large 6.72-inch FHD+ LCD panel for multimedia consumption. They get decently loud and deliver relatively crisp audio at moderate volume levels.

Reliable everyday performance

[comparative-benchmark type="1" title="AnTuTu score" caption="AnTuTu assesses a smartphone's CPU, GPU, memory, and overall user experience (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42356,42253,42030,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

The Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 SoC, paired with LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.1 storage, delivers a smooth experience for everyday tasks. The phone doesn't feel particularly snappy, but it handles multitasking without stutters and runs games such as BGMI and COD: Mobile without noticeable frame drops or lag. Thermal performance also remains under control during extended use.

Strong selfie camera

Reasons not to buy

Average rear cameras

[gallery link="none" columns="1" size="full" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" ids="712357,712356,712355"]

The Moto G Max's dual 50MP + 8MP rear camera setup looks promising on paper, but its real-world performance leaves room for improvement. Images tend to have punchy and slightly oversaturated colours, while exposure, dynamic range and detail retention are also inconsistent. The cameras are particularly underwhelming when compared with rivals such as the Redmi Note 17.

LCD instead of AMOLED display

The Moto G Max packs an LCD display, which is sharp, reasonably vibrant, and supports a 120Hz refresh rate for smooth animation and scrolling. However, it lacks the punchy colours, deep blacks, and excellent viewing angles that an AMOLED panel on competing smartphones provides.

Slow charging and relatively limited software

The 33W charging is another area where the phone falls behind, taking almost 80 minutes to charge from 20 to 100 percent. Its two major Android OS upgrades and three years of security updates are reasonable but not class-leading. The Redmi Note 17, notably, offers up to four major OS upgrades and six years of security updates.

To conclude…

The Moto G Max gets the basics right with a smooth 120Hz display, reliable performance, stereo speakers and impressive battery life. Its 32MP selfie camera is also a strong performer. However, the LCD panel, average rear cameras and relatively slow charging prevent it from being a truly "Max" offering, especially against rivals such as the Redmi Note 17 (review) that offer AMOLED displays and longer software support. The Redmi smartphone also delivers more natural-looking images.

That said, the Moto G Max remains a capable all-rounder within the segment, particularly for users who prioritise battery life, speakers and selfies over camera performance and display quality.

Design and display

Samsung is sticking to the design language as before, so you'll see a circular screen framed by a familiar-looking squircle case when you lay your eyes on the Watch Ultra2. Look closely, though, and you'll see the new-generation watch has gone on a healthy diet and shed a few millimetres from its waist. And considering that the predecessor was quite bulky, this bodes well for the Galaxy Watch Ultra2. The new model is actually thinner by a whopping 12% as compared to the previous version, and that's no mean feat, especially when you consider that the battery capacity has been bumped up by no less than 35%. Of course, the numbers don't mean anything unless they offer real benefits, and in this case, they definitely do.


The thinner case means a slimmer profile, making the watch easier to wear, especially during outdoor sports activities. Combine that with the softer, lighter bands that Samsung has provided with the watch this time, and your wrist shouldn't have reason to complain. Speaking of the bands, they use the same proprietary mechanism as before, so regular watch bands aren't compatible. The bigger battery means more time away from the charger, but more on that later.


The 47mm titanium case features solid build quality, and the watch conforms to the MIL-STD-810H standard. It's rated for 10 ATM water resistance, and the IP rating has also been bumped up to IP69K. In fact, the watch can be used as a full-fledged diving computer, as it's now capable of recording dives, measuring the depth, time and water temperature in real time. A dedicated diving app coming later in the year will offer more advanced features, including ascent/descent speed tracking and safe dive limits.


The 1.52-inch Super AMOLED display features Sapphire Crystal for protection and has received a big upgrade of its own. The 3,000 nits brightness boasted by the OG Watch Ultra was pretty good, but the new model takes it several notches higher by offering up to 5,000 nits, making screen legibility even better outdoors. This is yet another meaningful upgrade designed to improve usability, and it helps quite a bit.

Features

The Galaxy Watch Ultra2 is Samsung's flagship smartwatch, and as the torchbearer of the lineup, it takes the responsibility of showcasing the brand's might in this field. And it succeeds in that endeavour too. Samsung uses a healthy dose of Galaxy AI across health monitoring, fitness tracking, and productivity features, with algorithms also helping with personalised insights that help make the data meaningful to users.


Here's a list of some of the noteworthy features it brings from a health and fitness perspective:

• Trail Run feature that tracks elevation, climbing progress and terrain impact
• Vitals feature that monitors the user's personal health baseline during sleep and provides alerts if there are significant deviations
• Heart Health Score that shows an actionable score for cardiovascular wellness
• Daily Cardio Load for guidance on workouts and recovery
• Fitness Index for a holistic view of physical fitness
• ECG, blood pressure

An impressive assortment of sensors is on board, each responsible for capturing and monitoring a specific aspect. This list includes a BioActive sensor, temperature sensor, accelerometer, barometer, gyro, geomagnetic sensor, and a light Sensor

It's worth pointing out that the features listed above are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The feature list is quite extensive, so I think most users should focus on the core metrics they want to monitor instead of getting overwhelmed by the numbers. For instance, as you use the watch and peek at the captured data in the Samsung Health app, you'll see a bunch of different scores. Apart from the Heart Health Score, Daily Cardio Load and Fitness Index I mentioned above, you'll see numbers like Energy Score, Sleep Score, Antioxidant Index, etc, and it's up to you to zero in on the ones that look relevant to you based on your own health and fitness goals. Rather than obsessing over the numbers, it'd be a good idea to proceed based on what your body is telling you. That said, the extensive array of metrics and indicators serves as a solid indicator of how your overall health is progressing.

UI and app connectivity

The Galaxy Watch Ultra2 runs a customised build of Wear OS 7, offering full access to Google's suite of applications and third-party apps via the built-in Play Store. The UI is intuitive and swipe-driven, and shouldn't involve much of a learning curve even for first-time users. Swipe down for quick settings, swipe up for the app drawer, swipe right for notifications, and swipe left for tiles (or widgets) you can customise to show the data you want at a glance. On the right side of the watch, you get a Home and a Back button, along with a customisable action button in the middle.


For setting up the watch, controlling its settings, etc, you need Samsung's Wearable app, and to view the captured data, you can use the Samsung Health app. Both of these come pre-installed on Samsung phones, and can be downloaded via the Play Store if you want to pair the Watch Ultra2 with a different Android phone. iPhone users are out of luck, since the Galaxy Watch Ultra2 doesn't play well with iOS. And if you do have a Samsung phone, you should also get hold of the Health Monitor app from the Galaxy App Store, since that's the one you'd need to measure your ECG and Blood Pressure. And since this app is only available via the Galaxy App Store and doesn't work with non-Samsung phones, this means that the advanced health features I mentioned are only available to those Ultra2 users who pair the watch with a Samsung phone.


Also worth mentioning that the Galaxy Watch Ultra2 features built-in LTE connectivity (via eSIM), so you don't need to carry your phone with you all the time. This is especially useful while partaking in outdoor activities and adventure sports, since the LTE connectivity lets you handle calls, basic messaging etc without your phone, and apps like Amazon Music etc can work standalone. Also, despite the fact that Samsung has made the Ultra2 much thinner than its predecessor, it's still a chunky watch. Something to be kept in mind if you aren't used to wearing a watch to bed, especially considering that many of the health tracking parameters it monitors only get measured while you're sleeping.

Performance and battery

From an accuracy perspective, the numbers I saw during my usage seemed on point, so suffice it to say that you won't have any complaints in that regard.


The Galaxy Watch Ultra2 has another big upgrade to boast of, and that comes in the performance department. Utilising Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon Wear Elite platform, paired with 2GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, the wearable offers smooth and fluid usage. The battery capacity is yet another noteworthy hardware upgrade, moving to 800mAh (up from 590mAh in the predecessor), and in my usage, it lasted about 2.5-3 days on a single charge. This is with the always-on display enabled and about 30-40 minutes of active GPS-based workout tracking per day, plus all the standard features like heart rate, sleep tracking etc in use. A full charge takes a tad less than a couple of hours, using the bundled charging puck.

Verdict

For its asking price of Rs 64,999, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra2 squarely lands in the premium segment, befitting its positioning as the top-end wearable from the brand. Scoring high on pretty much all aspects like durability, performance and features, it stands out as a compelling health platform that sits on your wrist and guides you on your fitness journey. Equally at ease in the great outdoors as in the boardroom, it takes its place on the throne as the most loaded smartwatch money can buy right now, with the only caveat of note being that you should be a Samsung phone user to make the best of its capabilities.

Editor's rating: 8.5 / 10

Pros

• Durable & well made
• Gorgeous display, smooth performance'
• Loaded with health & fitness features
• Holistic health platform

Cons

• Advanced health features need a Samsung phone
• Proprietary strap mechanism

Reasons to buy the iQOO Z11

Tall and vibrant display

The iQOO Z11's display is one of its strongest reasons to consider the phone. It features a large 6.8-inch 3D curved AMOLED panel with a 1.5K resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, and 2,000 nits of HBM brightness. In everyday use, the screen delivers vibrant colours and remains clearly visible outdoors, while the curved edges and slim bezels make content consumption more immersive.

The tall frame also works well for reading manhwas and other long-form content, as more information fits on the screen at once. Despite the curved design, accidental touches weren't an issue during gaming. The 144Hz refresh rate further adds to the experience with smooth scrolling and fluid animations. If a bright, immersive display is high on your priority list, the Z11's screen is a strong reason to consider it.

More than a day's battery life

While larger batteries have become increasingly common, the iQOO Z11 shows that its 7,050mAh battery is more than enough to deliver strong endurance. In everyday use, the phone comfortably lasts a full day and can stretch further depending on your usage, even with activities such as social media scrolling, video streaming, casual gaming, and multitasking. Standby drain is also minimal, adding to the overall endurance.

The battery backed this up in our testing, lasting 16 hours and 12 minutes in the PCMark battery test. This is a strong result for a phone in this segment and highlights the Z11's optimisation across different workloads. For users who prioritise long battery life and don't want to worry about frequent charging, the Z11's endurance is a definite advantage.

Good cameras

The iQOO Z11 comes with a dual-camera setup featuring a 50MP primary sensor and an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens, along with a 32MP front camera. For everyday photography, the Z11's camera setup is more than capable. The primary camera captures good detail and pleasing colours, while the ultra-wide lens adds versatility for landscapes and group shots.

In our comparison with the OnePlus Nord CE6 across different shooting scenarios, the Z11 delivered the more consistent overall camera experience, particularly in terms of detail, clarity, low-light performance and colour reproduction. The Nord CE6 had an edge in areas such as dynamic range, exposure and selfies, but the Z11's more consistent photography performance gives it an advantage.

If your camera requirements include casual photography and social media, the Z11 is worth considering for its reliable primary camera and added ultra-wide versatility.

Dependable performance

The iQOO Z11 is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7500 Turbo, making it the first phone in India to feature the chipset. It is paired with LPDDR4X RAM, UFS 3.1 storage, and a 3,800mm² vapour chamber for heat management. In our testing, the phone's temperature increased by just 4.4°C after 30 minutes of gaming, while its AnTuTu score of 10,99,769 was broadly in line with similarly specced phones.

[comparative-benchmark type="1" title="AnTuTu score" caption="AnTuTu assesses a smartphone's CPU, GPU, memory, and overall user experience (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="41836,42000,42023,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

The Z11 handled everyday tasks with ease, including social media, streaming, and multitasking. Gaming performance was also dependable, with stable gameplay in BGMI and Honor of Kings, although COD Mobile averaged 37.5fps due to its High graphics limit on the device. Overall, the Z11 offers reliable performance for everyday use and casual gaming.

Reasons to skip the iQOO Z11

Higher memory variants may seem pricey

While the iQOO Z11's starting price of Rs 34,999 is competitive, the higher memory variants can get considerably more expensive. The phone is available in four configurations, going up to 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, with a Rs 5,000 price difference between each variant. This can make a significant difference for buyers considering the higher-end configurations, especially since the OnePlus Nord CE6 offers comparable RAM and storage options at a lower price.

If you're considering a higher RAM and storage variant of the Z11, it's worth comparing alternatives before making a decision.

Rear panel catches fingerprint smudges

The iQOO Z11's curved design and edges give it a premium look, while also offering a refreshing change at a time when most smartphones are opting for flat frames. The Celestial Blue variant looks particularly classy, with a subtle shimmer that changes depending on how the light hits the back panel. However, the glossy finish is a fingerprint magnet, with smudges becoming quite noticeable after regular use. You may need to wipe the phone frequently or use a case to keep it looking clean.

Verdict

The Moto G Max gets a lot going for it. It addresses the limited software support we highlighted on the Moto G57 Power and G77 Power, while also offering a likeable design, a good display, immersive stereo speakers, serviceable cameras, and dependable battery life. However, the smartphone could have lived up to its "Max" moniker better with an AMOLED panel instead of an LCD and a slightly larger battery.

Design: likeable

[pdp-expert-review]
The Moto G Max retains the familiar G-series design but stands out with its serene Alaskan Blue finish and satin-textured back. Despite being slightly heavy, the phone remains manageable, and useful additions such as a 3.5mm headphone jack, MIL-STD-810H durability, and IP64 rating add to its practicality.
[/pdp-expert-review]

The Moto G Max has been designed similarly to the other G-series smartphones launched since the start of the year. However, the phone's Alaskan Blue has a more serene appearance than the Nautical Blue on the Moto G77 Power and G57 Power. The back of the Moto G Max also features a satin fabric finish for a good in-hand feel, as well as to keep fingerprints and smudges at bay.

The phone features flat edges with a matte finish for a comfortable grip. The edges don't extend all the way to the display, which is understandable for a budget device. The handset measures 8.6mm in thickness and weighs 213 grams, which may not be the lightest in the segment but remains manageable. The camera module blends into the back panel and sits almost flush with the surface, although the two camera rings protrude slightly. Both rings are neatly highlighted with a shiny, dark blue finish around the edges.

Other highlights include a 3.5mm headphone jack and a USB Type-C port on the bottom edge, along with MIL-STD-810H military-grade durability against drops and falls. The phone also carries an IP64 rating for protection against dust and minor splashes.

Display and audio: good enough, but lacks the edge

[pdp-expert-review]
The Moto G Max delivers a sharp 120Hz viewing experience with decent colours and a more immersive stereo speaker setup. However, its LCD panel falls short of AMOLED rivals in viewing angles, brightness, and overall vibrancy.
[/pdp-expert-review]

The Moto G Max sports a 6.72-inch FHD+ LCD display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 1,050 nits of peak brightness. While the brightness is on the lower side, LCD panels are becoming increasingly common in this segment amid rising component costs. The Moto smartphone also features relatively thick bezels and a considerably large bottom chin.

Nevertheless, the viewing experience remains sharp and crisp for the price segment at 1080p. Colours are also reasonably accurate and vibrant for an LCD panel. However, the viewing angles could have been better. A slight shift in colours is noticeable when viewed from an angle, which is where the Moto G Max's competitors have an advantage, with AMOLED panels offering punchier colours, deeper blacks, and a more vibrant overall viewing experience.

That said, the Moto G Max gets a stereo speaker setup with support for Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res Audio, delivering a more immersive listening experience than the mono bottom-firing speakers found on some of its rivals. Moving on, the 120Hz refresh rate delivers smooth animations across the UI and supported apps. This ensures a decent multimedia experience on the smartphone, particularly when used indoors.

Performance and software: smooth

[pdp-expert-review]
The Moto G Max delivers dependable performance for basic usage, handling multitasking and casual gaming without noticeable lag. Hello UI remains feature-rich, though it has moved away from Motorola's traditionally clean Android experience.
[/pdp-expert-review]

The Moto G Max ships with Android 16-based Hello UI out of the box. The experience remains largely the same as other Moto G-series smartphones launched since the start of the year, including the Moto G37 Power. You can refer to our Moto G37 Power review for an in-depth analysis of the software experience.

[comparative-benchmark type="3000" products="42356,42253,42030,," pias="43,62,57,,"][/comparative-benchmark]

In short, Hello UI no longer stays as close to stock Android as Motorola's software was traditionally known for. The interface comes with a bunch of pre-installed apps, along with app recommendations appearing in the app drawer. Regardless, you still get Moto's custom gestures to turn on the flashlight, launch the camera app, and more. The handset also supports live updates for Google Maps, a bevvy of lockscreen wallpapers and clock styles, and a pill-shaped setup for tracking timers, stopwatch, torch, and more from the status bar itself.

As for the software update policy, the Moto G Max is promised to receive two major OS upgrades and three years of security updates. While this is better than what Motorola offers with its more affordable G-series smartphones, it still falls short against competitors such as the Redmi Note 17, which is said to receive four major Android OS upgrades and six years of security updates.

[comparative-benchmark type="1" title="AnTuTu score" caption="AnTuTu assesses a smartphone's CPU, GPU, memory, and overall user experience (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42356,42253,42030,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

At the core of the Moto G Max is the Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 SoC, paired with LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.1 storage. While Motorola launched the G57 Power with the same combination earlier this year for under Rs 20,000, getting this setup in the sub-Rs 30,000 segment is justifiable given the current market scenario, where RAM and storage component prices have skyrocketed.

[comparative-benchmark type="11" title="Geekbench multi-core score" caption="Geekbench assesses the efficiency of the CPU's single and multiple cores (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42356,42253,42030,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

As for performance, it didn't feel very snappy, but I was pleased that the Moto G Max didn't stutter during everyday tasks and a bit of multitasking. The smartphone also handles casual gaming, such as BGMI and COD: Mobile, pretty well, with no noticeable frame drops or lag. Even its thermal efficiency remained on par with other smartphones in the segment. 

[comparative-benchmark type="888" title="Burnout Score" caption="Burnout assesses CPU throttling and sustained performance under heavy load (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42356,42253,42030,," values="57.6,61,73.7,,"][/comparative-benchmark]

Cameras: saved by selfies

[pdp-expert-review]
The Moto G Max's camera setup looks impressive on paper, but the rear cameras struggle with exposure, colours, dynamic range, and detail. The 32MP selfie camera is the highlight, delivering impressive results.
[/pdp-expert-review]

In optics, the Moto G Max packs dual rear cameras, including a standard 50MP main sensor. The secondary camera is a macro + ultrawide setup, which many manufacturers have started ditching in this segment due to cost-cutting. The smartphone's front camera is also an impressive 32MP sensor in the punch-hole setup.

Although the camera setup looks impressive on paper, its real-world performance falls short of expectations. Both rear cameras struggle to produce well-exposed images with accurate colours, sufficient detail, and a good dynamic range. The colour output leans towards punchy and slightly oversaturated tones, which may appeal to some users, but shadow areas often lack exposure, while detail retention remains underwhelming across the frame.

However, if selfies are your primary concern, the Moto G Max delivers capable results. In fact, its selfie camera performs better than that of its immediate rival, the Redmi Note 17. Read on to see how the Moto G Max's cameras compare with the Redmi smartphone across different shooting scenarios.

Daylight

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Moto-G-Max-daylight.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Redmi-Note-17-daylight-1.jpg" offset="0.5" before="Moto G Max" after="Redmi Note 17"]

The Moto G Max produces oversaturated, highly contrasty images that completely deviate from reality. The overall output may look appealing, but it isn't as close to reality as the Redmi Note 17, which also preserves details both in bright and dark areas.

Portrait

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Moto-G-Max-portrait.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Redmi-Note-17-portrait-1.jpg" offset="0.5" before="Moto G Max" after="Redmi Note 17"]

With portraits, again, it is the Redmi Note 17 which offers near-accurate skin tones and colours. The handset also outperforms the Redmi smartphone with cleaner edge detection and a natural-looking bokeh effect.

Selfie

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Moto-G-Max-selfie.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Redmi-Note-17-selfie-1.jpg" offset="0.5" before="Moto G Max" after="Redmi Note 17"]

When it comes to selfies, you will find the Moto G Max outperforming the Redmi Note 17 through and through. Its superior 32MP snapper produces well-exposed images with sufficient details and well-preserved highlights compared to the Redmi Note 17's 8MP camera.

Low light (night mode)

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Moto-G-Max-low-light.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Redmi-Note-17-low-light.jpg" offset="0.5" before="Moto G Max" after="Redmi Note 17"]

The Redmi Note 17 manages the realism better in low light, but when it comes to managing the noise and light flare, the Moto G Max is ahead. However, both smartphones do an average job in low light.

Battery and charging: reliable

[pdp-expert-review]
The Moto G Max's 7,000mAh battery comfortably delivers a full day of usage and performs well in synthetic tests. The 33W charging is the bigger drawback, taking around an hour and a half for a full top-up.
[/pdp-expert-review]

The Moto G Max ships with a 7,000mAh battery, which feels rather standard given that the Redmi Note 17 and Realme P4 Power pack 8,000mAh and 10,001mAh batteries, respectively. While the Moto G Max falls well short of the Realme P4 Power, which continues to lead the segment, it still outperforms the Redmi Note 17 in the PCMark battery test. This suggests that the Moto G Max is better optimised for the test, delivering a runtime of over 18 hours compared to the Redmi's 16 hours.

[comparative-benchmark type="3" title="PCMark Battery score (in hours)" caption="PCMark battery test measures phone battery life from 100% to 20% (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42356,42253,42030,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

However, the difference wasn't evident across all usage scenarios. In our YouTube streaming and gaming tests, both smartphones delivered almost identical results (dropping their batteries by almost 13 percent), suggesting that the Moto G Max's optimisation advantage is more apparent in synthetic workloads than in real-world media consumption and gaming.

The Moto G Max's 7,000mAh battery should last more than a full day of use, though heavy users might need to top it up by the end of the day. The handset supports 33W wired charging, which takes almost 80 minutes to go from 20 to 100 percent.

Final verdict

As part of the G-series, the latest Moto G Max is a well-rounded smartphone. It offers the best of both the Moto G57 Power and G77 Power. This includes a likeable design, a sharp 120Hz display, immersive stereo speakers, dependable everyday performance, capable selfies, and a 7,000mAh battery that can comfortably last a full day. The G Max also offers better software support than some of its more affordable G-series offerings.

However, compared to rivals, the Moto G Max doesn't feel as "Max" as it should. The LCD panel lacks the vibrancy and viewing angles of the AMOLED displays found on rivals such as Redmi Note 17 (review), while the rear cameras struggle with exposure, colours, and detail. The 33W charging is also relatively slow. Its two major OS upgrades and three years of security updates trail some competitors that offer considerably longer support.

Nevertheless, at Rs 27,999, the Moto G Max is one of the few phones to offer dual-speaker output. This is complemented by its impressive battery life, durability, selfies, and dependable performance, making it a capable all-rounder.

Editor's rating: 8/10

Reasons to buy

• Sharp 120Hz FHD+ display with decent colours and smooth visuals.
• The 7,000mAh battery comfortably lasts a full day.
• Stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res Audio support deliver an immersive audio experience.
• The handset offers dependable everyday performance, with smooth multitasking and casual gaming.

Reasons not to buy

• The rear cameras struggle with exposure, colour accuracy, dynamic range, and detail.
• Display lacks the punchier colours, deeper blacks, brightness, and wider viewing angles of AMOLED displays.

iQOO has launched the Z11 at a starting price of Rs 34,999, which is considerably higher than its predecessor, the iQOO Z10, which debuted at Rs 21,999. Given the ongoing price hikes in the smartphone market, however, the increase isn't entirely surprising. But what upgrades does the iQOO Z11 bring to the table, and how well does it fit into this increasingly competitive price segment? Let's find out in our detailed review.

Verdict

The iQOO Z11 is a well-rounded mid-ranger with a vibrant curved display, dependable performance, long battery life, and capable cameras. While rivals like the Motorola Edge 70 and OnePlus Nord CE6 offer advantages in certain areas, the Z11 remains a solid choice for those seeking a balanced overall package.

Design, display: stylish and durable

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The iQOO Z11's large and vibrant display makes it a valuable option for watching content. It has a slim and lightweight design, and despite the tall frame, the phone still gives a comfortable in-hand feel. 
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The iQOO Z11 stands out with its curved design and edges, which not only give it a premium look but also feel refreshing at a time when most smartphones have adopted flat designs. The Celestial Blue variant has a classy finish, with a subtle glimmer that seems to change as you look at the phone from different angles. The smartphone is also available in an Aurora Green colour option.

The only drawback is that the back panel attracts fingerprint smudges quite easily. Meanwhile, the horizontal camera bar looks sleek and doesn't protrude too much, even when the phone is placed on a flat surface. The handset also comes with IP68 and IP69 ratings for dust and water resistance. Overall, the iQOO Z11 offers a comfortable in-hand feel and a design that stands out in the segment.

Up front, the iQOO Z11 features a large 6.8-inch 3D curved AMOLED display with a 1.5K resolution, a 144Hz refresh rate, 2,000 nits of HBM brightness, and a peak brightness of 5,000 nits. The display is bright and vibrant, and remains clearly visible even when used outdoors. The curved screen adds to the immersive viewing experience, particularly when watching content, while accidental touches were not an issue during gaming.

The phone's tall frame also makes it particularly comfortable for reading manhwas (comics), as you get more content on the screen at once. The bezels are impressively thin as well, further adding to the immersive experience. Meanwhile, the 144Hz refresh rate ensures smooth scrolling and fluid animations throughout everyday use.

Performance: reliable daily driver

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The MediaTek Dimensity 7500 Turbo powering the iQOO Z11 achieves good benchmark scores, making it a reliable daily driver. The smartphone can also handle popular gaming titles with ease. 
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The handset is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7500 Turbo, making it the first phone in India to launch with this chipset. It's a generation ahead of most phones in the same segment using a MediaTek chipset, like the Vivo S2 (MTD 7360 Turbo) and Tecno Camon 50 Ultra (MTD 7400 Ultimate). The handset also packs LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 3.1 storage and a 3800 mm2 vapour chamber for heat dissipation. Speaking of which, the iQOO Z11 registers an average of 4.4 Celcius temperature increase after playing games for 30 minutes.

[comparative-benchmark type="1" title="AnTuTu score" caption="AnTuTu assesses a smartphone's CPU, GPU, memory, and overall user experience (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="41836,42000,42023,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

The smartphone also scores a respectable 10,99,769 on the AnTuTu benchmark, which is on par with other similarly specced phones like the OnePlus Nord CE6 and the Infinix Note 60 Pro. However, there's the Motorola Edge 70, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4, which has scored 14,02,932 on AnTuTu, and it's also priced lower at Rs 34,999. 

When it comes to everyday usage, the iQOO Z11 doesn't disappoint. The handset handles typical tasks such as browsing social media, streaming TV shows and movies, and gaming with ease, making it a reliable companion for day-to-day use.

We also tested the phone with popular titles including COD Mobile, BGMI, and Honor of Kings. In COD Mobile, the iQOO Z11 averaged 37.5fps, which is lower than the 57–59fps typically seen on comparable devices. This is mainly because the game supports only up to the High graphics setting on the phone. In BGMI, the device maintained a consistent 39.6fps, with smooth and stable gameplay. Honor of Kings was equally pleasant to play, with no noticeable lag or stuttering during our testing.

Overall, the iQOO Z11 delivers dependable performance and is more than capable of handling everyday tasks and popular games with ease.

Cameras: consistent results

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The iQOO Z11's dual-camera setup achieves consistent results in different lighting scenarios. It also has a strong 32MP front camera that captures detailed selfies. Overall, the phone will get your job done for social media and casual photography. 
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The iQOO Z11 features a dual-camera setup comprising a 50MP primary sensor and an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens. For selfies and video calls, there is a 32MP front-facing camera. This combination is fairly standard for smartphones in this price segment. While the lack of a telephoto lens may be a limitation for some users, phones offering one typically require a higher budget.

For casual photography, however, the iQOO Z11's camera setup should be more than adequate. The primary camera captures good levels of detail and delivers pleasing colours, making it well suited for everyday shots and social media.

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To see how the iQOO Z11 fares against the competition, we tested its cameras against the OnePlus Nord CE6 across a range of shooting scenarios.

Daylight

In daylight photography, the iQOO Z11 has an edge over the OnePlus Nord CE6 when it comes to detail, with images appearing noticeably sharper. The Z11 also delivers more accurate colours and better realism, particularly when capturing the building and sky, although it tends to add a touch of contrast. However, the Nord CE6 does a better job with dynamic range and exposure.

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/iqoo-z11-daylight-scaled.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/op-nord-ce6-daylight-scaled.jpg" offset="0.5" before="iQOO Z11" after="OnePlus Nord CE6"]

Portrait

Neither phone has a dedicated telephoto lens, so both rely on their primary cameras for portrait shots. The iQOO Z11 does a better job with skin tones and colours, capturing the outfit and skin tones more accurately. The handset also delivers better detail and clarity, although there is a slight amount of skin smoothing. Thankfully, it isn't excessive or distracting. In terms of edge detection and bokeh, both phones are fairly matched, though neither delivers particularly impressive results.

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/iqoo-z11-portrait-1-scaled.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/op-nord-ce6-portrait-2-scaled.jpg" offset="0.5" before="iQOO Z11" after="OnePlus Nord CE6"]

Selfies

Selfies tell a slightly different story, even though both phones feature a 32MP front camera. This time, the OnePlus Nord CE6 does a better job with skin tones and colour accuracy, while the iQOO Z11 edges ahead in terms of detail and clarity. A similar trend is seen in dynamic range and exposure, with the Z11 retaining more detail in the background than the Nord CE6.

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/iqoo-z11-selfie-scaled.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/op-nord-ce6-selfie-scaled.jpg" offset="0.5" before="iQOO Z11" after="OnePlus Nord CE6"]

Low-light

In low-light shots, the iQOO Z11 offers better control over light flares and exposure. The handset also produces less noise and does a better job of retaining details despite the challenging lighting conditions. In terms of colour accuracy and realism, the Z11 again has an edge, while the OnePlus Nord CE6 tends to add a bit too much contrast.

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/iqoo-z11-lowlight-scaled.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/op-nord-ce6-lowlight-scaled.jpg" offset="0.5" before="iQOO Z11" after="OnePlus Nord CE6"]

Night mode

With Night mode enabled, the OnePlus Nord CE6 manages to improve its handling of light flares and exposure. The OnePlus smartphone even reduces noise and improves detail, but the iQOO Z11 still maintains an edge in these areas. The Nord CE6 also delivers slightly better colour accuracy with Night mode enabled, although the Z11 continues to produce more natural and realistic colours overall.

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/iqoo-z11-night-scaled.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/op-nord-ce6-night-scaled.jpg" offset="0.5" before="iQOO Z11" after="OnePlus Nord CE6"]

Overall, the iQOO Z11 offers the more consistent camera experience, particularly with detail, clarity, low-light performance, and colour reproduction. The Nord CE6 has its strengths in dynamic range, exposure, and selfies, but the Z11 comes out ahead for photography.

Battery life: dependable for everyday use

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The 7,050mAh battery on the iQOO Z11 is well optimised and reliable for regular to moderate usage. You can get good standby time, more than a day's juice on light usage, and there's bypass charging for gamers. 
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The iQOO Z11 packs a sizeable 7,050mAh battery, which is more than enough for both casual and power users. The phone can comfortably last a full day and more with a mix of gaming, social media, calls, and other everyday tasks. Standby performance is equally impressive, with minimal battery drain. On the PCMark battery test, the iQOO Z11 lasted an impressive 16 hours and 12 minutes, outperforming several phones with similarly sized batteries. This indicates that the phone is well optimised to deliver strong endurance even under varied workloads.

[comparative-benchmark type="3" title="PCMark Battery score (in hours)" caption="PCMark battery test measures phone battery life from 100% to 20% (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="41836,41770,42023,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

Gaming does consume slightly more power than on some competing devices. The battery dropped by 7 percent after 30 minutes of COD Mobile and 6 percent after the same duration of BGMI. While this is marginally higher than the roughly 5 percent drop typically seen in this segment, the difference is unlikely to have a significant impact on real-world usage.

The iQOO Z11 also supports bypass charging, allowing users to game while plugged in without relying heavily on the battery and helping keep heat under control. As for charging speeds, the phone takes a little over an hour to charge from 20 to 100 percent, which is fairly quick considering its large battery capacity.

Software: Smooth with useful AI features

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The Z11 ships with Android 16-based OriginOS 6, which brings a smooth and customisable UI, AI features, and five years of security updates. It also has a moderate number of pre-installed apps. 
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The iQOO Z11 runs OriginOS 6, based on Android 16, out of the box. It is promised three years of Android OS upgrades and five years of security updates, which is fairly standard for the segment. OriginOS 6 offers a smooth experience with plenty of features and customisation options to explore, including wallpapers, Origin Island, fingerprint animations, and more. iQOO has also introduced several AI-powered tools, such as AI Creation for summarising and reworking text for different purposes, AI Transcript Assist for tasks such as interviews, and AI Captions.

The phone also features Shake and Share, which enables quick transfers of photos and 4K videos between compatible devices. In terms of bloatware, the iQOO Z11 comes with 51 pre-installed apps. While this is a fairly moderate number for a heavily customised Android interface, most of these apps can be uninstalled if you prefer a cleaner software experience.

OriginOS 6 officially made its debut in India only last year, so there is still some room for refinement. That said, the overall experience on the iQOO Z11 remains smooth, responsive, and interactive.

Final Verdict

The iQOO Z11 is a well-rounded mid-range smartphone that gets most things right. Its tall, vibrant curved-edge display makes for an immersive viewing experience, while the dependable chipset and long-lasting battery easily handle everyday usage. The camera setup also delivers consistent results, making it suitable for social media and casual photography.

There are strong alternatives, such as the Motorola Edge 70, which offers a faster chipset and a better ultra-wide camera, and the OnePlus Nord CE6, offering a larger battery. However, the iQOO Z11 remains a compelling option if you're looking for a balanced mid-range smartphone.

Editor's rating: 8.2/10

Reasons to buy

• The smartphone's tall and vibrant display with a curved design makes it a good choice for multimedia.
• The Z11's 7,050mAh battery can last more than a day depending on your usage.
• The dual-camera setup with a 32MP front camera is reliable in delivering consistent results across different lighting scenarios. 
• The Z11 can handle regular to moderate tasks, as well as popular titles like BGMI and COD Mobile. 

Reasons to skip

• The Z11 comes in four memory variants, and the prices go really high, even touching the Rs 50,000 mark.
• The phone's rear panel easily catches fingerprint smudges.

Rounded Edges, Very Intentional Vibe

Let's start with my favourite part, and a bunch of my colleagues also agree, the design. ASUS absolutely nailed this Volt Green colour scheme. While ASUS doesn't explicitly explain where the "Jelly" name comes from, a little digging and a quick glance make it obvious. The Jelly75 rocks a translucent, see-through chassis across the entire body, except for the keycaps. Save for the kickstand, literally everything here features a rounded shape. Rounded edges, rounded keycaps, and rounded cutouts completely do justice to the name.

Our review unit sports the Volt Green shade, and for the love of God, someone please help me figure out where I've seen this exact vibe before. I keep thinking of the Ben 10 Omnitrix and Nike Air Max sneakers, but a third thing exists that I just can't place. Still, the green, white, and dark grey colour combination works amazingly well together. One thing worth mentioning is that the white keycaps can easily get dirty.

Layout-wise, it features a 75% compact layout that hits the sweet spot for both casual users and gamers. Coming from a full-sized keyboard, the Jelly75 never felt awkward. It took a short moment to adjust, but I felt right at home quickly. I have zero complaints about key placement. The spacing gives you plenty of breathing room for a comfortable typing experience. Like most mechanical boards, though, it still attracts a bit of dust. On the flip side, you get a three-level adjustable kickstand and four rubber feet for grip. I do feel disappointed by the lack of onboard storage for the 2.4GHz dongle, though.

Overall, ASUS made very intentional design choices here, including limiting it to just two colours. Whether you pick Volt Green or Meadow Green, both drop a minimal yet beautifully chaotic aura onto your desk. ASUS even notes in their reviewer's guide that they built this for "young adults and professionals from 20s to early 30s," aiming right at the Gen Z audience.

Built Like a 1.2kg Brick (In a Good Way)

The first thing you notice is the weight. My colleagues and I all pointed it out immediately. It weighs nearly 1.2 kg, which sounds heavy, but trust me, it works in the board's favour. That heft, combined with the rubber feet at the bottom, anchors the keyboard firmly in place. I tried aggressively rage-typing and clicking through frantic Counter-Strike firefights, this thing didn't slide an inch.

At this price point, I initially expected some aluminium. However, the all-plastic build didn't disappoint me at all. The overall density and solid construction hit the mark and feel genuinely premium.

Ultimately, ASUS built this to sit on your desk and elevate your setup. You won't easily toss this heavy board into a backpack to carry around every day. Trust me, I tried it!

Hot-Swappable & Happily RGB-Free

Now, let's get down to business: how does it actually feel to type on? The Jelly75 features a gasket mount structure with damping foam. Basically, soft rubber, silicone, or Poron foam gaskets float the internal plate holding the switches between the top and bottom cases. By eliminating direct screw contact with the shell, typing feels noticeably softer and sounds much quieter. This setup leans heavily toward a deeper, "thocky" sound profile rather than a high-pitched clicky one. Personally, I prefer thocky boards anyway.

You get none of that cheap, hollow clackiness found on budget boards. The Jelly75 also features hot-swappable switches, meaning you can pull and swap switches without soldering anything. If you type a lot and love customising your board to match your taste, this is a massive plus. It's a great touch that has become standard in mechanical keyboards around this price range.

The pre-lubed linear switches deliver buttery smooth keystrokes. However, larger keys like the spacebar still have a slight rattle. The stabilisers perform okay; they aren't perfect, but they work well enough that most people won't feel forced to customise them right away.

ASUS opted for a simple, four-level white backlight instead of full RGB. Personally? Thank God. But if you love vibrant RGB lighting, boards like the Aula F75 Max might suit you better with its gamer aesthetic, RGB lights, knob, TFT screen, and multiple colour choices. Or you could look at the Evofox Ronin X75, which offers similar specs plus a metal knob for under Rs 6,000, making it a solid budget pick.

Meanwhile, on the Jelly75, the light glows around the keys rather than shining through the keycaps. In my usage, I had zero issues hitting the right keys during low-light sessions.

Fast Enough for CS, Chill Enough for Work

Behind all the thockiness and soft typing, this keyboard handles gaming surprisingly well. It delivers a 1000Hz polling rate in wired mode, 500Hz over the 2.4GHz dongle, and 133Hz over Bluetooth. This translates to low latency and snappy responsiveness. From daily typing tasks to fast-paced shooters, I noticed zero lag. That said, it isn't trying to be a dedicated esports keyboard. For the vast majority of gamers and daily users, it offers more than enough performance.

If you need a hardcore gaming board, options like the Razer BlackWidow V4 might fit your setup better. Or you could check out one of the slickest boards I've seen, built by an unlikely brand: OnePlus. Yes, the OnePlus mechanical keyboard costs significantly more than the Jelly75, but it's genuinely worth considering if you can stretch your budget to Rs 18,000.

Tri-Mode Flexing

Versatility stands out as one of the Jelly75's biggest strengths. It features tri-mode connectivity: USB-C wired, 2.4GHz wireless, and Bluetooth. The 2.4GHz connection delivers low latency for gaming, while Bluetooth handles easy multi-device swapping. It pairs with up to three Bluetooth devices at once, making life easy if you juggle a PC, laptop, and tablet. It also includes a toggle for Mac and Windows layouts, which switched flawlessly between my Windows PC and Mac.

Inside, a 4,000 mAh battery delivers solid endurance for wireless use. It easily lasts several days even with the backlighting on, and goes significantly longer if you dim or turn off the lights.

The Final Thock

The ASUS Jelly75 is priced at Rs 8,999 on the ASUS eStore. To be fair, it offers exactly what you need, nothing less, nothing more. Everything about the Jelly75 feels deliberate. From the translucent design language and colour choices to picking clean white backlighting over loud RGB, ASUS made intentional moves here. Pivoting toward the lifestyle aesthetic really works, and it resonates well with young adults and professionals.

While some might debate the pricing, established brands often command a small premium. However, that brand name brings major perks, especially when it comes to after-sales service for mechanical keyboards. ASUS offers a Free Doorstep Replacement Service, including pickup and replacement for warranty accessories across 17,000+ PIN codes in India. Covering keyboards, mice, backpacks, adapters, chargers, docks, and dongles makes ownership hassle-free.

Editor's Rating: 8 / 10

Pros

• Unique translucent aesthetic
• Deep, "thocky" sound profile
• Hot-swappable & smooth
• Flexible tri-mode connectivity

Cons

• No built-in dongle storage
• Slight key rattle

Has Google made behind-the-scenes improvements to enhance image quality through the software wizardry it is known for? The only way to find out is to see whether the Google Pixel 11 can convincingly beat last year's iPhone 17 across different scenarios in this camera comparison.

Google Pixel 11 vs iPhone 17 camera hardware

Hardware-wise, the Google Pixel 11 definitely has an edge in camera versatility. But the iPhone 17 excels with superior camera resolution for the ultrawide and the selfie camera. Moreover, the main camera uses Apple's fusion technology to deliver optical-quality zoom at 2x, and the selfie camera comes with Centre Stage to automatically zoom and rotate the frame to conveniently capture portrait and landscape shots - both in natural vertical orientation.

I wish Pixel 11 had also implemented a similar feature on its selfie camera. Hardware aspects aside, how do the two smartphones perform in their point-and-shoot capabilities in various modes/ scenarios? Let's find out.

Daylight

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Pixel-11-daylight.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/iPhone-17-daylight.jpg" offset="0.5" before="Pixel 11" after="iPhone 17"]

The main cameras on both smartphones deliver near-accurate colours in daylight. However, the Pixel 11 produces slightly more contrasty images, making them more appealing to the eye. It also handles exposure in shadowy areas and colour gradients better. That said, the iPhone 17 captures sharper images with more detail, particularly towards the centre of the frame.

Ultrawide

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Pixel-11-ultrawide.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/iPhone-17-ultrawide.jpg" offset="0.5" before="Pixel 11" after="iPhone 17"]

The Pixel 11 delivers near-identical colour science when switching from its primary to the ultrawide camera, whereas the iPhone 17 produces more contrasty and slightly duller images. However, the iPhone 17 captures more detailed shots, thanks to its higher-resolution ultrawide camera when zoomed in. In terms of dynamic range and distortion control, though, the Pixel 11 remains marginally ahead.

Portrait

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Pixel-11-portrait.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/iPhone-17-portrait.jpg" offset="0.5" before="Pixel 11" after="iPhone 17"]

We used the Pixel 11's 10MP telephoto camera to capture portraits, but there is a noticeable drop in colour accuracy and detail. The lens tends to oversaturate tones and even makes the subject appear bulkier, as evident in the comparison sample above. Furthermore, despite the higher focal length, the lens fails to neatly separate the subject from the background.

The iPhone 17, on the other hand, does a better job with its in-sensor 2x zoom for capturing portraits. The results appear more natural, with accurate edge detection that even accounts for individual strands of hair.

Selfie

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Pixel-11-selfie.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/iPhone-17-selfie.jpg" offset="0.5" before="Pixel 11" after="iPhone 17"]

The iPhone 17 is ahead of the Pixel smartphone for obvious reasons (superior lens) when it comes to details. The iPhone also excels in background exposure and dynamic range. But when it comes to the scene's accuracy, the Pixel 11 is a tad better in terms of skin tones and colours.

Low light

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Pixel-11-low-light.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/iPhone-17-low-light.jpg" offset="0.5" before="Pixel 11" after="iPhone 17"]

In low light, the iPhone 17's main camera captures the scene accurately but struggles to control light flares and exposure as effectively as the Pixel 11. The latter also outshines its rival by preserving finer details and keeping noise under control.

Low light (night mode)

[twenty20 img1="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/Pixel-11-night-mode.jpg" img2="https://static.hub.91mobiles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2026/08/iPhone-17-night-mode.jpg" offset="0.5" before="Pixel 11" after="iPhone 17"]

With Night mode enabled in low-light conditions, the Pixel 11 continues to offer better exposure and more controlled light flare, but falls behind the iPhone 17 in terms of detail. The iPhone 17 produces sharper images while preserving a more natural look, whereas the Pixel 11 slightly enhances the scene with a mild pinkish tone.

Verdict

This concludes our Pixel 11 and iPhone 17 camera comparison. Both smartphones perform nearly identically across scenarios, with a minor difference in how they handle colours, details, dynamic range, and exposure. The Pixel 11 generally delivers better exposure, dynamic range and colour consistency across its cameras. It also performs particularly well in low-light conditions, where it handles highlights and noise better than the iPhone 17.

However, the iPhone 17 has the edge in overall detail, thanks to its higher-resolution ultrawide and selfie cameras. Its 2x in-sensor zoom also proves more effective for portraits, while Night mode produces sharper and more natural-looking results.

Ultimately, opting for one over the other depends on your priorities. The Pixel 11 is the more versatile camera phone and a strong choice for low-light photography, but the iPhone 17 remains the more consistent option if detail and natural-looking portraits top your list.

At the time of writing, the iPhone 17 remains the more affordable option at Rs 82,990 for the base variant, while the Pixel 11 starts at Rs 89,999.

Reasons to buy

Massive AMOLED display for streaming

One of the biggest reasons to consider the Redmi Note 17 is its 6.99-inch AMOLED display. It is almost tablet-sized, and the difference is immediately evident when you start watching videos, browsing social media or simply scrolling through apps. The 120Hz refresh rate also keeps animations and scrolling feeling smooth, while the colours and contrast make most content look lively.

The display is also bright enough for outdoor use, with Xiaomi claiming a peak brightness of 1,800 nits. In my use, I did not have much trouble viewing the screen outdoors. There are some limitations, particularly the lack of HDR support on YouTube and the 1080p playback cap, but these are less likely to matter if you mostly use OTT apps, social media and other everyday services. For buyers who want a large screen at this price, the Note 17 is one of the few options that currently offers a good AMOLED panel. 

Battery lasts beyond your expectations

Battery life is where the Redmi Note 17 really lives up to its promise. Its 8,000mAh battery may not lead in our benchmark tests, but real-world usage tells a different story. In my testing, the phone lost just 4 percent battery after an hour of gaming and another 4 percent after an hour of video streaming, which is excellent for a phone in this price range.

[comparative-benchmark type="3" title="PCMark Battery score (in hours)" caption="PCMark battery test measures phone battery life from 100% to 20% (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42253,41761,42273,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

For lighter users, this should comfortably translate to around two days of use, while even heavier users can expect roughly a day and a half before reaching for the charger. The 45W fast charging support takes a little over an hour to fill the battery, which is reasonable given its size. You also get 22.5W reverse-wired charging, letting you use the phone to top up smaller devices such as earbuds or a smartwatch when needed.

You get class-leading software support

The Redmi Note 17 is also a good buy if you plan to keep your phone for several years. Xiaomi has promised four major OS updates and six years of security updates, which is among the best software support you can get in this price segment. That makes the Note 17 a sensible long-term purchase, especially if you don't plan to upgrade your phone every couple of years.

[comparative-benchmark type="3000" products="42253,41761,42273,," pias="62,60,41,,"][/comparative-benchmark]

The phone runs HyperOS 3 based on Android 16, and the software experience is fairly well tuned for its entry-level hardware. There are quite a few pre-installed apps, but most can be uninstalled or disabled, while features such as the IR blaster and Mi Remote app remain useful additions. The interface can feel slightly laggy at times, particularly during heavier use, but future updates could improve this. 

Everyday performance is good enough for most users

The Redmi Note 17 may not be a performance-focused smartphone, but that does not mean it struggles with everyday tasks. The Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 chipset handles common workloads such as calls, WhatsApp, social media, video streaming and casual browsing without much trouble. Scrolling through apps is generally smooth, and the 120Hz display also helps make the experience feel more responsive.

[comparative-benchmark type="1" title="AnTuTu score" caption="AnTuTu assesses a smartphone's CPU, GPU, memory, and overall user experience (higher is better)" highlight="product_1" products="42253,41761,42273,," ][/comparative-benchmark]

You can also play games such as BGMI and Call of Duty: Mobile at moderate settings, with frame rates reaching around 40–45fps. The phone remains reasonably cool during longer sessions, thanks in part to its large vapour chamber. It is not a phone for competitive gaming or demanding workloads, but if your usage revolves around everyday apps and occasional gaming, its performance should prove sufficient. For buyers who do not need a lot of power, this is unlikely to be a major concern.

Reasons not to buy

Cameras are a little basic 

The Redmi Note 17's 50MP main camera is capable of taking decent photos in good light, but it is not a particularly versatile setup. Daylight shots have natural colours and good overall exposure, while portrait images handle skin tones and edges reasonably well. However, fine detail and sharpness are only average, especially when you zoom in. Check out the cameras below.

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The limitations become more obvious in challenging conditions. The lack of OIS and the smaller sensor affect low-light shots, with textures getting smoothed out and noise becoming more visible. There is also no ultrawide camera, so you have fewer options when shooting landscapes or larger groups. Video recording is limited to 1080p at 30fps, while the 8MP selfie camera is best used in good lighting. If photography is high on your list of priorities, there are more capable options around this price.

Audio could have been better

The Redmi Note 17 has a huge display that looks well suited to watching videos, but the rest of the multimedia experience does not quite match up. You get a single bottom-firing speaker, which gets reasonably loud but lacks the depth and stereo separation that some rivals offer. This is especially noticeable when you are watching content without earphones.

If you plan to use your phone primarily for watching videos and listening to content through its built-in speaker, the Note 17's otherwise impressive display feels somewhat let down due to its audio. 

128GB storage could become limiting

The Redmi Note 17 is limited to 128GB of internal storage, which feels a little conservative for a phone that otherwise positions itself as a device you can keep for several years. Out of the box, you get about 108GB of usable space. 

Apps are getting larger, while photos, videos, downloaded content and games can quickly eat into the available space. If you plan to keep the phone for three or four years, it could start feeling restrictive over time. 

The good news is that Xiaomi does offer expandable storage, so you can add a microSD card when you need more space. However, that is still an extra purchase and does not completely solve the problem for users who regularly install large games or store lots of media locally. 

To conclude

The Redmi Note 17 is a product shaped by its time. With rising component costs, it takes a different approach from some of its predecessors, putting more emphasis on endurance and long-term use while making compromises in areas such as cameras and performance. Compared to phones like the  Realme P4 Power (review) and  Motorola Edge 70 Fusion (review), it does not offer the most complete package, but it does deliver on the aspects it prioritises

The choice between these phones ultimately comes down to what you value more. The Edge 70 Fusion is the better fit if camera versatility and performance are higher on your list, while the Realme P4 Power makes more sense if battery life is your biggest priority. The Redmi Note 17, meanwhile, strikes a balance between a large display, good endurance and long-term software support.

For anyone looking for a phone around Rs 30,000 that can comfortably handle regular use for several years, the Redmi Note 17 is still worth considering. 

Verdict

On the outside, the Fold8 Ultra doesn't look different from its predecessor, but the changes under the hood make it the best foldable on the market right now. Those changes include a better inner display with a less visible crease and an anti-reflective coating, better battery life, faster charging, One UI 9 out of the box with 7 years of OS updates, improved performance with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, among other things.

Design and displays: refined and (almost) creaseless

The Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra follows a tried-and-tested formula. Samsung doesn't need to reinvent the wheel here; they have the Fold8 for that. The Ultra looks familiar with its book-style foldable design, a tall cover display, and a large inner display. Every year, Samsung tends to make certain refinements to the design language, improving the hinge or making it sleeker.

This year is no different. The Fold8 Ultra is 1mm slimmer than its predecessor at 4.1mm when unfolded. 1mm slimmer might not sound like much on paper, but it makes the Fold8 Ultra feel sleek nevertheless. If you're coming from the Fold7, though, you might not feel a major difference in the in-hand feel.

Where you will see (and feel) a difference, however, is when you unfold the Fold8 Ultra. The inner display gets closer to being completely creaseless thanks to what Samsung calls its new Flex Titanium Technology. This new technology uses two titanium-based components - a titanium-alloy film and a titanium plate - working together to balance slimness, flexibility and strength within the foldable display structure.

This means a significantly less noticeable crease both visually and if you run your finger across the middle, especially when watching content. You'll still see some crease at certain angles when the screen is blacked out, but it's a step in the right direction for Samsung.

As for the displays themselves, there's very little to fault. The outer screen, which is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3, is a 6.5-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x display with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. The inner screen is an 8-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x display with the same refresh rate as the outer screen. Both displays are bright, sharp and colourful. The inner screen also gets a new anti-reflective coating that makes it easier to view under direct sunlight.

I primarily used the outer cover to do most of my day-to-day work, such as messaging on WhatsApp, scrolling through social media, and ordering food through food delivery apps. The only times I felt I needed to unfold the phone were for reading emails and articles, or for using two apps in split-screen to get some work done. And for these purposes, the Fold8 Ultra's large 8-inch display does a stellar job.

And while the Fold8 Ultra's inner display looks great in general, it isn't the best for watching content, like movies or shows on streaming apps, because the aspect ratio creates thick black bars that can make the experience much less immersive. For this, the passport-sized Fold8 is the one to go for.

Performance: most powerful foldable yet

Performance gets the expected generational upgrade with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy under the hood. Qualcomm's 2026 flagship processor inside the Fold8 Ultra scores over 3 million on AnTuTu, significantly higher than the 2.1 million the Fold7 managed with the previous-gen Snapdragon 8 Elite. The "for Galaxy" tag with the chipset is important too, as it becomes a custom chip designed for flagship Galaxy phones, essentially offering an overclocked CPU and enhanced GPU. So yes, the foldable feels exceptionally fast and smooth, both folded and unfolded, no matter what you're working on.

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I didn't face any noticeable lag or issues when using the Fold8 Ultra as my primary phone. Apps opened quickly, the UI was smooth, and the transition between the outer and inner displays was seamless. I did notice the phone get warm at the back near the camera module, especially when using the camera app for a while, but it wasn't anything to be alarmed about.

Software: polished, refined and long-lasting

The Fold8 Ultra, Fold8, and Fold8 Flip are the first set of Galaxy phones to ship with One UI 9 based on Android 17. Much like previous One UI iterations, Samsung is ensuring that the newest version delivers a more refined experience for anyone familiar with the UI. It is clean and easy to use, yet packed with a bunch of Galaxy AI features, many of which quietly work in the background.

Now Brief, the AI-powered personal assistant first introduced with the Galaxy S25 series and One UI 7, provides daily summaries and smart suggestions based on your routine, location, and device activity. It even reminded me to call up family members I hadn't spoken to in a few days, along with a dash of guilt. Over time, Now Brief has also expanded its scope, becoming more deeply integrated with the UI to provide more personalised cards. On One UI 9, Now Brief now supports bill payment reminders by tracking incoming bills and due dates and sending timely alerts.

The Fold8 Ultra is definitely for the buyer who prefers to have multiple apps open at the same time. The inner display lets you have two or three apps open simultaneously in split-screen view, plus a bunch more floating windows, if you like that kind of heavy multitasking. The 8-inch display is expansive enough for multitasking, although personally having two apps in split-screen was more than enough. Strangely enough, a few colleagues in the office asked me about my experience with multitasking while looking at the stock market. I'm not into trading much, but the fact that a few people asked me about it suggests this is a genuine use case for a foldable. And to answer your question, it is quite good.

You can also trust Samsung to provide long-lasting software support, with all the newest foldables promised to receive 7 years of OS upgrades and 7 years of security updates, ensuring they stay relevant through 2033.

Battery: improved endurance to handle two displays

Battery life is by far the most noticeable upgrade on the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra. Previous Galaxy Fold models would typically last from morning to evening and call it a day by bedtime, but the Fold8 Ultra goes further. I've consistently gone through a full day on moderate to heavy usage, shuffling between the cover screen and inner display and ending up with around 30-40% battery by the end of the day. This meant the phone could comfortably last 1.5 days on a single charge.

Even the PCMark Battery test we ran had the same to say. The Fold8 Ultra went 20 hours and 45 minutes non-stop from 100 to 20 percent, which is the highest we've recorded for a foldable phone.

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With the Fold8 Ultra, I didn't have the kind of battery anxiety I did with the Fold7. That said, I would still charge it fully the next morning while getting ready for work. And with the foldable now supporting faster charging at up to 45W (a major bump from 25W on the Fold7), it took less than 1 hour to charge the phone from 20% to 100%. For reference, the Z Fold7 would take around 75 minutes to charge from 20% to 100% at 25W.

Cameras: dependable primary, improved ultrawide

The Fold8 Ultra has the best camera system among the three new Galaxy foldables. The rear camera system includes a 200MP main camera, which is the one responsible for crisp images in most lighting conditions. It captures 12MP pixel-binned photos by default, but you can switch the resolution to 50MP or even 200MP raw, depending on how sharp you want your photos to look. Keep in mind that higher-resolution photos take up a lot of storage space.

The ultrawide camera has received a major bump from 12MP on the Fold7 to 50MP on the Fold8 Ultra. Not only does this lead to brighter, sharper ultrawide photos in daylight, but it also lets you capture sharper macros. While the ultrawide lens is far more usable than it was on the Fold7 and almost as good as the S26 Ultra's, it is best used in daylight, as photos start leaning towards softer, noisier output in low light.

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The 10MP telephoto camera with 3x zoom remains largely unchanged from last year. It works well in daylight for portraits, but the results aren't as exciting as those from the main and ultrawide cameras. While portraits look decent at first glance, zooming in reveals softness around the edges, rather than clear edge detection and subject separation from the background. Portraits get progressively softer as you move towards evening or night, with less natural light.

Meanwhile, you get a 10MP selfie camera on the outer display and a 10MP camera on the inner screen; both work well enough for video calls and capturing usable selfies. However, the best thing about using a foldable like the Fold8 Ultra is that you can use the 200MP rear camera for sharper, more detailed selfies by unfolding and using the outer display as the viewfinder.

In total, you get five cameras that work well in daylight with ample lighting around. You get features like Super Steady with Horizontal Lock from the S26 Ultra. But if you're looking for a really good camera phone, you'll have to look towards non-foldables, such as the OPPO Find X9 Ultra and Vivo X300 Ultra at this price point.

Final verdict: best foldable phone in 2026?

There's no denying that the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra is the best book-style foldable you can buy right now, bringing several improvements over its predecessor even if it doesn't look like it on the outside. The near-crease-less display, using the new Flex Titanium Technology, is a noticeable improvement the moment you start using the inner display. The battery life is improved, giving you 1.5 days on a single charge rather than giving you less than a day and some anxiety to go with it. Add 45W charging, a faster chipset, One UI 9 out of the box with 7 years of updates, and the Fold8 Ultra makes a strong case for being 2026's best foldable.

The camera system is good across the board in daylight, with the 200MP main camera and the improved 50MP ultrawide. However, the 10MP telephoto lens could have been better, and it is one area where regular ultra-premium phones like the OPPO Find X9 Ultra and Vivo X300 Ultra have a genuine advantage. But the Fold8 Ultra is primarily a foldable phone for multitasking, not a camera-first one, and that's what you need to consider when buying a phone priced near Rs 2 lakh.

Which leads me right into the price. The price is what it is, given the state of the market in 2026. Foldables, especially one as stacked as the Fold8 Ultra, don't come cheap. But if you've been waiting to buy a foldable, the right time was last year; the second-best time is right now. The more you wait to pull the trigger, the more expensive these foldables become. The Razr Fold (review) is a good alternative, but it is Motorola's first attempt at a book-style foldable, whereas Samsung has had 8 years to refine its foldable. The newest Pixel 11 Pro Fold is also worth considering if an IP68 rating and Google's baked-in AI features matter, but Samsung's foldable edges it out with a faster chipset, faster charging, a larger battery, and a sleeker design.

Editor's rating: 8.6 / 10

Pros:

• Polished foldable design
• Improved creaseless inner display
• AI features and long software support
• Better battery life than Fold7

Cons:

• Pricier starting price compared to Fold7
• Telephoto camera could have been better