Well, it finally happened. After years of waiting and requests, Amazon debuted the $280 Kindle Colorsoft, its first ereader with a color display. The company’s ereaders have dominated this space since the original Kindle came out 17 years ago, but in this case, it feels like Amazon is playing catch-up. Color E Ink displays aren’t novel: we’ve tested and reviewed a number of color ereaders and E Ink tablets from Kobo, Boox and reMarkable in recent years. But Amazon is essentially trying to pull an Apple with the Colorsoft: with claims that color E Ink technology just wasn’t good enough to put into a Kindle until now, Amazon’s promising the Colorsoft gets this implementation right thanks in part to the custom tweaks it made to the display. And, unsurprisingly, Amazon’s ready to charge you a premium for it. So is it all it’s cracked up to be? As you might suspect, the answer isn’t as simple as yes or no.
Update 11/4/24, 11:54am ET: There have been multiple reports of Kindle Colorsoft owners seeing a yellow band at the bottom of their ereader’s display. My review unit was not affected during the time I spent testing the Colorsoft, but upon checking this morning, it has appeared for me, too. I reached out to Amazon for comment and a spokesperson told Engadget: “We’re aware of a small number of reports from customers who see a yellow band along the bottom of the display. We take the quality of our products seriously and are looking into it. If customers notice this on their device, they can reach out to our customer service team.”
Screen technology and comparisons
Let’s get the tech details squared away first. The Kindle Colorsoft’s seven-inch screen is based on E Ink Kaleido 3 technology, but a representative from the Kindle team explained to me that they developed a custom display stack for this device. That means they made quite a few changes to the tech in order to achieve things like higher-contrast pigments and improved speeds overall. The Colorsoft’s custom oxide backplane uses 24 driving volts to move pigments around more quickly and it helps those pigments appear with better contrast. Nitride LEDs enhance colors and brightness, and a custom coating in between the display’s layers helps focus light through each pigment so there’s less color mixing. Some of the same tech helps make page-turns quicker and supposedly reduces excessively noticeable screen refreshing when you go from one color page to another, or pinch-and-zoom on an image.
Engadget / Amazon
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The Kindle Colorsoft (finally) brings color to Amazon’s ereader lineup. It’s a solid premium ereader that will be ideal for those who primarily read things like comics, graphic novels and other material best experienced in full-color glory.
Pros
Color on a Kindle, finally!
Quick page-turns and load times
Pinch-to-zoom feature lets you get closer to details
Auto-adjusting front light
No lock screen ads by default
Cons
Expensive
Screen has a noticeable blue skew to it when the warm light is off
Slight reduction in sharpness and contrast when reading black-and-white text
That’s all to say that Amazon would like you to believe that this E Ink Kaleido 3 screen is not like the other girls in this space, and while I do not doubt the Kindle team’s efforts, the differences are not as dramatic as the story would suggest. Until Kobo updates the Sage with color, the closest competitor to the $280 Kindle Colorsoft is the $220 Kobo Libra Colour (in size, platform and overall experience), so I did a lot of side-by-side comparisons of the two.
The biggest difference I saw was that the Kobo’s screen skews warmer than the Kindle’s; I kicked the brightness up to the maximum and turned all warm/natural light settings down to zero on both devices and the difference was noticeable, regardless of if the displays were showing color images, black-and-white text or a mix of the two. This would suggest that the Kindle will show more accurate colors more often since there’s less of a warm lean to its display.
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But on the flip side, the Kindle screen’s blue tint was just as noticeable, particularly in low-light situations (like a dark office or a dimly lit living room). At max brightness with warmth down to zero, the Kindle’s screen was borderline uncomfortable to read in those environments — but all it took was a slight adjustment to warmth level four (out of 24) to get it to match the Kobo’s display in warmth almost exactly (at least to my eyes). That made it more comfortable to stare at in dark spaces. I also compared the Colorsoft’s screen to my personal Kindle Paperwhite (previous generation) and the blue skew was noticeable there too.
1 / 5
Kindle Colorsoft vs Kobo Libra Colour
Kindle Colorsoft vs Kobo Libra Colour: 100 percent brightness on both screens, 0 percent warm light on both screens
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Ultimately, how much warm or cool light you prefer while reading is up to personal taste. My preferences would lead me to adjust the warmth on the Kindle to be a bit higher than zero, mimicking that of the Kobo. In an unscientific poll of the Engadget staff, both in person and with device photos, everybody preferred the screen on the Kobo. I think the slight added warmth in Kobo’s screen makes colors appear a bit more saturated and more inviting overall. It also gets close to mimicking the look of actual physical pages (as much as one of these devices could, at least), and that’s the experience I’m going for when I read pretty much anything. But I could understand why some hardcore comic fans would want to start off with the most color-accurate baseline as possible, and then adjust from there to fit their preferences.
In addition to adjusting the warm light, the Kindle Colorsoft has vivid mode, which “enhances color in less saturated images.” For the sake of efficacy, most of my time was spent in standard mode when testing the Colorsoft. But in trying out vivid mode, I noticed that its enhanced saturation was most noticeable in warm-toned images: reds appeared ever-so-slightly more striking, while oranges and yellows had a more bronze effect and the like. But I had to turn vivid mode on and off a few times to clock the effect because it’s quite subtle.
Then there’s the question of actually reading words on the Colorsoft. Even the Kindle team representative I spoke with acknowledged that, due to the extra physical layer in the screen that enables color, one might notice a bit less sharpness and contrast in black-and-white text on the Colorsoft’s screen. That’s not unique to this particular Kindle — every color ereader will have this issue to some degree.
When comparing the text-only experience of the Kindle Colorsoft to that of the Kobo Libra Colour, I found both to be quite good and comparable to one another. Where there’s a bigger possibility for discrepancies is in a comparison of the Colorsoft to, say, the new Kindle Paperwhite. I did not have the latter device to compare to, but I did have my personal, previous-generation Paperwhite, and the difference was ever so slight, with the standard Paperwhite having the (small) upper hand in the contrast and sharpness departments.
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Reading experience
Photo by Valentina Palladino / Engadget
The color screen is the most consequential thing about the Kindle Colorsoft, and chances are if you’ve had a Kindle in the past, the reading experience on this new device will feel quite familiar. The Kindle UI hasn’t changed much, still dividing the main screen into Home and Library options. The former is basically a space for Amazon to serve you personalized book recommendations and promote new Kindle releases, while the latter shows your entire digital library including books, documents, Audible audiobooks and library loans. The Library page is striking in color and there is something undeniably satisfying about seeing all of your title covers in full-color glory.
While reading a book, you can still customize and save different themes with fonts, font sizes and page layouts that best suit your preferences. You still have the option to quickly navigate within a title by page, location, chapter and even popular highlights. Page turns are speedy and will likely be an improvement for anyone coming from an older Kindle or other ereader.
Annotations and your own highlights are collected in the same place for easy reference, and with the latter, you can filter by highlight color as well. You have four colors to choose from on the Colorsoft — orange, yellow, blue and pink — so if you use the yellow highlighter to mark favorite quotes, you can then filter by just that color. Note that all highlighting and note-taking must be done with your fingers because, unlike the Kindle Scribe, the Colorsoft has no stylus support.
The pinch-to-zoom feature on the Colorsoft is good for those who read a lot of graphic novels and comics. Amazon developed a custom algorithm to make this motion as smooth as possible, and it’s a pretty good experience, albeit not a unique one. You can also pinch to zoom on the Kobo Libra Colour, which mostly helps get in closer to comic panels to read small text or better see minute details.
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On both devices, there are full-screen refreshes when you pinch to zoom on color images and the speed of completion is roughly the same. I also found image quality to be quite similar as well, and it’s worth noting that art style can skew your impression of an image’s quality. A comic that employs clean, distinct lines compared to one that’s more grungy and watercolor-like will always come off more crisp.
The Colorsoft, like the regular Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, also has an auto-adjusting front light that promises to illuminate the display just right depending on if you’re reading outside on a sunny day, in the dark cabin of an airplane or anywhere else. It’s a nice hardware perk to have and, with the feature turned on, removes much of manual fiddling that some might find annoying to do when they take their Kindle into different environments.
The competition
Photo by Valentina Palladino / Engadget
While we already went through the screen comparisons for the $280 Kindle Colorsoft and the $220 Kobo Libra Colour, there are plenty of other differences between the two that you should consider when picking your next ereader. I’ve added a spec list below to break down the basics, and the most consequential to me are the fact that the Kobo has page-turn buttons and stylus support.
The former is really a matter of preference — you either love physical buttons or you find no use for them — but the latter is pure added value even if you do have to purchase the $70 Kobo stylus separately. It essentially allows you to turn the Libra Colour into a makeshift Kobo Sage or Kindle Scribe, which could be useful for anyone in academia (students and educators alike) or anyone who just loves the feeling of putting pen to “paper.” Meanwhile, the Kindle has the upper hand in its wireless charging capabilities and its slightly cleaner flush-front design.
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When it comes to actual content available on Kindle and Kobo devices, the libraries you can purchase from on both are vast: both have ebooks and audiobooks available, and both the Colorsoft and Libra Colour support Bluetooth, so you can listen to audiobooks directly from the device with your wireless headphones. At the time of writing this review, all of the top five New York Times bestseller titles were available on both platforms at the same prices, with the only discrepancies being one that was on sale as a Kindle ebook and one that was available to read for free for Kindle Unlimited and Kobo Plus subscribers. Both of those monthly subscriptions give you unlimited reading access to thousands of titles, but I would give the advantage to Amazon on this one since Kindle Unlimited has been around for much longer. Amazon also has Prime Reading and Kids+ subscriptions that work with Kindle devices and provide even more content to paying subscribers.
As far as borrowing ebooks from your local library goes, it might be a draw. Kobo integrates elegantly with Overdrive, making it nearly seamless to get borrowed books on your ereader. Simply connect your Overdrive account and library card in the settings menu and you can then either browse your library’s offerings directly on device, or use the Libby mobile app to borrow titles and those will appear automatically on your Kobo. My only gripe with this system is that it works best if you have just one library card, since you can only connect one at a time. I’m a unique case where I have at least three library cards and I switch among them in Libby depending on which has the title I’m looking for.
Those like me might prefer the “send to Kindle” option in Libby, which just takes a couple more clicks to get any book from any library network to your Kindle device. The biggest downside here is that my Colorsoft review unit did not show all of my library book covers in full-color glory on the lock screen. After troubleshooting with a representative from Amazon, it was determined to be a title-specific issue. According to Amazon: “For library books, the lock screen is taken from the designated marketing cover for the book used by the library, which may not be the same as the actual book cover.” So just know that if you get most of your reading material from your local library, there’s a chance some of the covers may not display properly on the Colorsoft.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the $250 Boox Go Color 7, which earned a spot in our best ereaders guide after my colleague Amy Skorheim tested it. First, it’s imperative to know that Boox devices require a bit more tech-savvy than a Kindle or a Kobo, as well as a willingness to experiment. They are full-blown Android tablets after all, and that might be exactly what you’re looking for if you get your reading material from many different sources, since it offers access to the Google Play Store and all of its apps. As for specs, the Go Color 7 has a seven-inch Kaleido 3 display with 300 ppi in black and white and 150 ppi in color (similar to the Colorsoft), along with a warm light, page-turn buttons, a splash-resistant design and 64GB of storage (and a microSD card slot for more space!). It’s even more similar to the Kobo Libra Colour in feature set and price, so it’s another option for anyone willing to think a bit outside the standard ereader box.
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The decision between Kindle, Kobo and Boox is infinitely more complicated than choosing between the Colorsoft or the standard Kindle Paperwhite — and that’s precisely because of the stark price difference. The Colorsoft is $120 more than the regular Kindle Paperwhite ($100 more if you pay to remove the lock screen ads from the Paperwhite, and $80 more than the Signature Edition) and aside from the color panel, it only adds wireless charging, the auto-adjusting front light sensor and doubles the storage. Remove color from the equation, and arguably the most useful of all of those is the extra storage but, make no mistake, 16GB of space on the Kindle Paperwhite is nothing to scoff at and will be just fine for most people. Unless you’re 100-percent certain that color will make a huge difference in your day-to-day reading experience, the standard Paperwhite is the better value.
Wrap-up
Photo by Valentina Palladino / Engadget
While it’s very late to the color E Ink party, the Kindle Colorsoft is a solid premium ereader that provides an excellent experience both in color and black and white. I focused a lot on comparisons in this review because most people will not have the opportunity to have the Colorsoft and any of its contemporaries side by side (unless you’re my dad, who buys almost every ereader and small tablet under the sun). But to be clear, the Colorsoft is a good Kindle, and in many ways, Amazon did pull an Apple here. If you’re already heavily entrenched in the Kindle ecosystem and have been holding out for a color ereader, this is the device to get — just be prepared to pay a premium for it.
Also, like Apple and its various operating systems, there’s something to be said about the convenience and ubiquity of the Kindle ecosystem. The library is seemingly endless (with discounts galore), supplemented by Prime Reading and Kindle Unlimited, so it’s easy to get sucked in when you’re already shopping on Amazon for household goods and holiday gifts. But when it comes to value for your money (and a pure spec breakdown), you can get more from Kobo and Boox devices. Kindle isn’t the only name in town anymore for ereaders, and it hasn’t been for a long time, and that seems to be a more pronounced fact now with the introduction of the Colorsoft. If nothing else, Amazon has finally filled a glaring hole in its ereader lineup with this device.
Amazon Kindle Colorsoft vs. the competition
Amazon Kindle Colorsoft
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Kobo Libra Colour
Boox Go Color 7
Price
$280
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$220
$250
Display size
7-inch color E Ink Kalaido 3 (with custom display stack)
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7-inch color E Ink Kalaido 3
7-inch color E Ink Kalaido 3
Pixel density
300 ppi (black-and-white), 150 ppi (color content)
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300 ppi (black-and-white), 150 ppi (color content)
300 ppi (black-and-white), 150 ppi (color content)
We’re all having a bit of a budget crunch this year, but the good news is that when it’s time to bestow presents on the young ones (or young at heart), you don’t have to break the bank. This list of our favorite tech, science and design toys is stacked with items under $100, with plenty of reuse packed in so the fun can extend far beyond the holiday season.
Apple’s second iOS 18.2 developer beta includes a new feature for update’s integration with ChatGPT: users will be able to upgrade to ChatGPT Plus from the Settings menu, 9to5Mac reports.
ChatGPT Plus is OpenAI’s paid version of ChatGPT, offering features like more messages with its GPT-4o model, for $19.99 per month. If you end up using ChatGPT a lot within iOS — you’ll be able to track in Settings if you approach the daily free limit of ChatGPT’s more powerful capabilities — the upgrade could be worth it.
It’s unclear if Apple is taking a cut of those subscriptions made from Settings. Apple and OpenAI didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Apple is also reportedly in talks with Google on an integration with Google’s Gemini. If that comes to pass, I would guess that there will be some kind of in-Settings upgrade path to Gemini Advanced, too.
New Windows 11 preview build is almost entirely about bug fixing
There are some important fixes delivered for the Start menu and more
Microsoft is working hard to firefight all the glitches in Windows 11 24H2
Windows 11 has been hit by a whole load of bugs in recent times, with the move to version 24H2, as you’ve probably noticed – but the more positive news is that Microsoft is busy fixing a fair few of those gremlins in the works.
We’ve got evidence of this courtesy of the latest preview release of Windows 11 pushed out to the Dev channel, namely build 26120.2213.
Microsoft lists the work underway in terms of bug fixing in the usualblog post, and while there’s a whole lot of resolving glitches going on, some of it’s more mundane – so let’s pick out some of the highlights.
A notablebug we’ve recently reported has hit Task Manager, resulting in it showing that there are zero apps and processes running on the host PC – which, of course, can never happen (otherwise Windows 11 itself wouldn’t be working, never mind anything else). Microsoft informs us that it has resolved this issue where Task Manager is claiming a zero count for running processes.
On top of that, an ‘underlying issue’ with the most recent 24H2 preview that meant some games were completely failing to launch has been cured here.
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Multiple bugs with the Windows 11 Start menu have been fixed with build 26120, including one where people were seeing a large amount of spacing between the apps present in the menu’s list of applications. There also a broad cure for an issue “impacting Start menu reliability” we’re told.
There’s a similar problem with File Explorer where items in the navigation pane were also becoming too spread out, with too much spacing between them for some users, and this has been remedied too. A more minor issue where RAW images taken in portrait mode were displaying in landscape mode with File Explorer’s thumbnails has also been fixed.
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Furthermore, Microsoft has applied a clutch of fixes for various minor problems with the taskbar, including a glitch where the ‘X’ button to close a window off the taskbar preview (that pops up when you hover over the app on the bar) wasn’t working.
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(Image credit: Shutterstock)
Analysis: It’s all about the bug squashing
This preview release of Windows 11 is notable because there’s hardly anything at all here in terms of feature additions (just a minor change for the IME toolbar which won’t make any difference to most users).
Almost all of this build is about fixing bugs, and aside from that, there are a couple of known issues flagged which haven’t yet been resolved. One of those is the bugs with the new gamepad keyboard layout for Windows 11 users that have meant it hasbeen put on ice for the time being, and the other is a problem where those running multiple monitors are seeing corruption with their desktop background (with “big black areas” appearing mysteriously).
Microsoft is still working on the cures for those issues, and a fair few other problems besides that are affecting the latest incarnation of its desktop OS. To say Windows 11 24H2 has got off to arocky start in terms ofbugs is something of an understatement, in fact, but it does appear that Microsoft is working hard to firefight thesevarious problems.
Samsung is one of the most recognizable names in modern smartphones. It has a well-deserved reputation for offering an expansive lineup of great phones with something for just about everyone. This means if you’re looking for an Android phone, you’ll easily find a Samsung model that’s worth considering based on your needs and budget. In fact, the number of choices can be a bit overwhelming, but the good news is that we’ve explored the entire range and highlighted the best Samsung smartphones you can buy in 2024.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus gets the nod for the best overall Samsung phone, and while it’s odd it’s not the ultra-premium S24 Ultra that takes the prize, that’s because Samsung has outdone itself this time around with the Plus model. The big phone has the same power, display, and Galaxy AI features as its larger sibling, with only a few small downsides that are easily balanced out by the $300 price difference. But if this year’s Plus doesn’t tickle your fancy, we have so many other great Samsung smartphones that one is sure to be perfect for you.
Joe Maring / Digital Trends
Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus
The best Samsung phone overall
Pros
The flat sides are wonderful
New QHD+ screen looks fantastic
Runs fast and cool
One UI 6.1 is really nice
Seven years of updates
Phenomenal battery life
It’s a surprisingly good value
Cons
Camera struggles with moving objects
Galaxy AI features are hit-or-miss
Why you should buy this: It’s a surprise contender for the best phone of the year.
Who it’s for: Anyone who wants the best Samsung phone around, pound-for-pound.
So, this was definitely a surprise. We were all set to crown the Galaxy S24 Ultra as this year’s best Samsung phone, but then the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus came steaming into our lives. While you may expect the Plus entry to be the awkward middle child, 2024’s S24 Plus is simply one of the best phones you can buy, with a sublime design, powerful processor, phenomenal battery life, and gorgeous display.
Samsung has made some big tweaks to last year’s already great formula, and that’s the root of this year’s success. The most obvious changes are those made to the phone’s design. The S24 Plus’ flat sides have made the phone more comfortable to hold, added grip, and don’t pick up fingerprints. Samsung has also upgraded the phone’s display, and the 120Hz dynamic refresh rate now goes down to 1Hz, boosting battery life. It’s also brighter than before, and is capable of going up to 2,600 nits. The resolution has been upgraded too, going up to 1440p now.
Performance is as great as ever, thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Qualcomm’s flagship CPUs are as fast as ever, and are even a noticeable improvement over last year’s chip, giving the S24 Plus stupendously fast processing speeds. It doesn’t get hot, even when running punishing games like CoD: Mobile, and it’s also partly responsible for the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus’ incredible battery life.
We’re used to flagship phones lasting about a day on a full charge, but the S24 Plus blows straight past it. After a demanding day with over four hours of screen time, the S24 Plus went to bed with 38% still in the tank. A more reasonable day saw it advance pretty happily into the second day, even with almost three hours of screen time. Pair this lengthy battery life with 45W fast charging, and you’ve got a phone that won’t spend a lot of time on the charger.
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The big new addition this year is Galaxy AI, and while these features are interesting, they’re certainly not a reason to buy into the newest generation of Galaxy flagships. Many of them mirror similar AI-powered features on the Google Pixel 8 Pro, like the Magic Editor-like Generative Edit, and the Live Translate function. The message suggestions are just hilariously bad, with the offered changes coming out somewhere between an awkward robot and a flirty Mr Darcy.
The camera is one of the weakest parts of the phone, which is a big compliment to the phone as a whole, as it’s still very good. A 50-megapixel main camera joins a 12MP wide-angle camera and a 10MP telephoto with a 3x optical zoom, and it’s a great combination. Samsung seems to have tamed its saturation filters, so stills come out very well. But “stills” has never been more literal a description, as the camera really struggles with even the smallest amount of movement.
That fairly common issue being the most serious negative to a phone tells you everything you need to know: The Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus really is an excellent piece of technology, and the best overall Samsung smartphone. With prices starting from $1,000, it’s not as bank-breaking as the S24 Ultra, but offers the same level of high performance, and close to the same level of premium features.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus
The best Samsung phone overall
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Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
The best premium Samsung phone
Pros
High performance processor
Improved telephoto cameras
Flatter screen aids S Pen use
Battery will last two days
Long software support
Durable build and materials
Circle to Search by Google
Cons
Unfortunate price increase
Speakers easily covered up
Chat Assist is almost unusable
Charging speeds are only average
Why you should buy this: It’s the pinnacle of Samsung’s smartphone creation.
Who it’s for: Someone who wants the most impressive Samsung smartphone, regardless of cost.
The S24 Plus may top this list, but there’s no way we’re going to leave the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra out. The Ultra is something of a testing ground for new features, and that makes the Ultra the biggest and most technologically advanced smartphone Samsung offers — even if that means it comes at a high price.
Like the Plus above, the S24 Ultra has had a few small design tweaks, but it’s still largely the same phone as last year. The Armor Aluminum frame has been replaced with titanium, and the sides and screen have been flattened slightly, making it easier to handle and use the S Pen on. It’s still a beast of a device, though — a real pocket-stretcher that you’ll need hefty forearms to use for a long period of time.
The screen’s peak brightness is now set at 2,600 nits, making it exceptionally bright. Not that the 6.8-inch display is hard to see, as the Dynamic AMOLED 2X tech means it’s bright and vivid, with some of the deepest inky blacks you can find on a smartphone. A 1440p resolution is available (though you have to change to it manually), and the dynamic refresh rate means your experience is buttery smooth when it needs to be, but not when it doesn’t. As with the S24 Plus above, performance is extremely swift thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. It’s joined by 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage as standard.
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The camera system seems to have had a downgrade this year, dropping from a 10x optical zoom to 5x, but it’s actually better because of the change. Since a 5x zoom is actually a zoom level most people use, it’s a much better inclusion on the whole. The entire system comprises a 200MP main camera, a 12MP wide-angle camera, 10MP telephoto camera with a 3x optical zoom, and the aforementioned 50MP telephoto lens with a 5x zoom. It’s as excellent a camera system as you’d expect. Galaxy AI is here too, and it’s about as useful as it is in the S24 Plus — i.e., don’t expect too much of it.
There’s a 5,000mAh battery inside the massive frame, and it’s extremely long-lasting. During our time with it, it would regularly achieve five hours of screen time, and end the day with 50% remaining. You’ll have to use it for around a week for the phone to adapt to your usage, but once it has, it’ll deliver some excellent power efficiency. Charging times are good, with 45W fast charging available. It’s not the fastest charging available, but it’s also far from the slowest.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is the most expensive phone in Samsung’s S-range lineup, but it’s also the most premium one you’ll find outside of foldable phones. As such, it has a price tag to match. The Galaxy S24 Ultra will set you back $1,300, and that’s before you expand your storage at all. On the plus side, you get an S Pen, which is kept inside the phone, but it’s still an expensive phone to buy. But if you want the best, this is it.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
The best premium Samsung phone
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Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends
Samsung Galaxy S24
The best small Samsung phone
Pros
Small and compact design
The flat edges are great
Beautiful and bright display
Long lasting battery life
Powerful performance
Improved color balance in photos
Useful Galaxy AI features
Cons
Matte glass feels slippery
No big camera upgrades
Only 25W wired charging
Why you should buy this: It’s everything amazing about Samsung’s phones, but smaller.
Who it’s for: Someone who wants a more compact smartphone, but doesn’t want to compromise on performance.
We can keep this one a little briefer than the other entries because a lot of what makes the Samsung Galaxy S24 great is also what makes the S24 Plus great. Well, except for one thing, of course — and that’s that the S24 is downright svelte when compared to its siblings.
It benefits from the same flat sides as the S24 Plus, with the added bonus that the body itself is even smaller, so even easier to handle. The 6.2-inch display uses LTPO tech in the Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, meaning it should be more power efficient than ever before, especially with an always-on display. Unlike the other entries in the range, though, it tops out at a 1080p resolution. However, it still has a 1-120Hz dynamic refresh rate and a peak brightness of 2,600 nits, so it’s easy enough to forgive the lower resolution.
It has the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 you’ll find in the two larger phones, so performance is just as good, and it also contains the new Galaxy AI. Once again, try these out, play with them a little bit, but don’t expect them to transform your smartphone experience forever. It’s just not there yet.
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The camera system uses the same three lenses as the S24 Plus, and a lot of our criticisms of that phone apply to this one, too, with the additional downside that low-light photos can be a little bit underwhelming. But, still photographs look great, and Samsung has fixed its oversaturation problem, meaning photos no longer have an over-the-top color pop that’s just not realistic.
Charging speeds are lower than the S24 Plus and S24 Ultra, though, being limited to 25W. Thankfully, the battery is similarly good, with a solid day’s use from one charge.
Ultimately, a lot about this phone is very similar to the S24 Plus, with the exception of the size and the price. It’s the Samsung flagship to grab if a compact phone is a must, as the small size really doesn’t mean compromises have been made. Rather, it’s just as powerful, good-looking, and technically impressive as its larger siblings, and it’s a steal at $800.
Samsung Galaxy S24
The best small Samsung phone
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Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6
The best foldable Samsung phone
Pros
Fantastic folding design
Refined size and weight
IP48 water and dust resistance
Two colorful, usable screens
Main camera takes fun, vibrant photos
Long software commitment
Cons
Slow battery charging
One-day battery life
More expensive than last year
Why you should buy this: The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a productivity buff’s dream, with its dual display, up to 1TB of storage, and robust, yet light Armor Aluminum frame.
Who it’s for: Anybody who wants a productivity punch and top-notch specs bundled into a foldable format.
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is the best Samsung phone for productivity, with a foldable form factor and dual screens. Its front display measures 6.3 inches, just slightly larger than the Z Fold 5. Once you open it up, you get the full 7.6-inch main display with the series’ most seamless crease yet. Both screens reach up to a 120Hz refresh rate, too. You almost forget you’re using a smartphone instead of a mini tablet.
The Armor Aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the cover screen and back enhance durability while maintaining a sleek, comfortable hold. The IP48 rating also adds an additional layer of protection from dust and water. You can also add a special case for the S Pen, which you need to buy separately, but works wonderfully if you want to use the Z Fold 6 as a notepad.
The Z Fold 6 upgrades its processor to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which provides a light performance boost and powers Samsung’s Galaxy AI. Many of its specs like its 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage transfer over from the past generation. Meanwhile, AI now assists with tasks from translations to note-taking and shows up as generative AI in the camera and photo-editing apps. Speaking of which, the Z Fold 6 features the same 50MP main camera, a 12MP wide-angle lens, 10MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, and 4MP Under Display Camera as its predecessor. It’s not a camera system that’ll dethrone the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s, but it’s still very, very good.
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The Z Fold 6’s productivity is a double-edged sword. While it can juggle demanding tasks and seamlessly process them on a bright, foldable screen, those processes take a toll on its 4,400mAh battery. Two and a half hours of everyday usage already saps the energy down to 50%, even without playing games. It isn’t much of a problem, though, if you have portable batteries or alternative ways to charge while you’re outside of the house. It supports 25W wired charging and 15W wireless charging, but no charger in the box.
Samsung is set to support the Z Fold 6 with at least seven years of Android OS and security updates. The device runs on Android 14 OS with Samsung’s One UI 6.1.1, including the improved Taskbar that now displays up to four recent apps instead of two. The Taskbar is particularly useful for multitasking on the Z Fold 6, allowing users to drag apps onto the main screen. You can use up to three apps on the unfolded screen and add a fourth app as a floating window. You can also easily alter the shape and size of each app window and activate multitasking.
If you already have the Z Fold 5, it’s hard to recommend upgrading to a phone that’s almost the same. However, if you’re new to the foldable phone world, it offers plenty of pros as a smartphone that can basically double as a tablet.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6
The best foldable Samsung phone
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Joe Maring / Digital Trends
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6
The best Samsung flip phone
Pros
Top-notch hardware
IP48 dust and water resistance
Very good inner display
Fast, snappy performance
New 50MP camera is great
Seven years of updates
Cons
Bad cover screen
Slow charge speeds
Frustrating price increase
Extremely similar to the Flip 5
Why you should buy this: If you can afford a folding phone that costs over $1,000 right now, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is the one you should buy.
Who it’s for: Those who simply must have the latest and most popular foldable.
There are several reasons why tech enthusiasts are buzzing about Samsung’s latest folding phone, the Galaxy Z Flip 6. For starters, it boasts an improved camera, a sturdier hinge construction, a newer and faster processor, and extended software support. On top of that, it features an overall sleek and elegant build that’s sure to turn heads. The Z Flip 6 offers a diverse palette of colors, including yellow, mint, blue, gray, peach, white, and “crafted black” — a black, textured colorway that makes monotone cool again.
When you flip the phone open, you’ll see the 6.7-inch AMOLED 2X display and its bright, pixel-perfect 2640 x 1080 screen. Its 2,600 nits of brightness can outshine daytime glare and the 120Hz refresh rate with VRR seamlessly plays videos and games. The cover screen is a 3.4-inch Super AMOLED that’s much more useful than previous models — it even allows you to run full Android apps. It almost makes up for the fact that its sluggish 60Hz refresh rate and fuzzy 720×748 resolution demystify the magic a bit.
The Galaxy Z Flip 6 upgrades to the Snapdragon Gen 3, the new standard in Samsung phones. However, that’s not the biggest improvement in this model. The Z Flip 6 ramps up the RAM to 12GB (the Galaxy Z Flip 5 had 8GB) and offers up 512GB of storage. Finally, it has the same amount of processing power as its larger foldable cousin, the Galaxy Z Fold 6. It also boasts the privilege of being the first Z Flip phone with a vapor chamber 50% larger than that in the S23 Ultra. As a result, it’s cool to touch, even under stress.
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The Galaxy Z Flip 6 has a 4,000mAh battery, which is technically more than the Z Flip 5 but still isn’t enough to call it a two-day flip phone. If you’re fine with charging overnight, you’ll have more than enough juice to make it through an early morning to a late evening. It offers multiple charging options, including 25W wired charging, 15W wireless (including MagSafe), and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. It’s serviceable, but still the same as the Z Flip 5.
The 12MP ultrawide camera with a 123-degree field of view and 10 MP selfie camera on the Z Flip 6 match the specs on its predecessor. However, it does make a significant jump to its 50MP main camera from the 12MP on the Z Flip 5. It’s the same camera used in Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus phones, hailed as some of today’s best camera phones.
Other than that, it’s basically identical to last year’s model. To Samsung’s credit, the Z Flip 6 does feature upgrades to its cameras. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2’s improved image signal processor provides better color reproduction, while the main and ultrawide cameras have a new “clear lens coating” to prevent lens flares. Its Android 14 OS and Samsung’s One UI 6.1.1 support are a strong start to its seven years of updates.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6
The best Samsung flip phone
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Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Samsung Galaxy A35
The best value Samsung phone
Pros
Light and comfortable to hold
IP67 rating makes it durable
Main camera takes fun photos
Long software update commitment
Cons
Battery doesn’t last two days
No wireless or fast charging
Why you should buy this: It costs significantly less than the Galaxy S24 while still delivering a lovely display, decent cameras, and good performance.
Who it’s for: Anybody who wants a dependable smartphone for under $500.
Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series is outstanding, as are its folding phones. But the truth is that a lot of people can’t afford those expensive handsets — and that’s why the Galaxy A35 is so important. You get many of the same features found on Samsung’s more expensive phones at a fraction of the price.
For starters, the Galaxy A35 still looks like its pricier Galaxy counterparts, even though its frame is made from plastic instead of aluminum. It only weighs 209g and measures 8.2mm thick, so it’s light and comfortable to hold and thin enough to slip into the average pocket. The IP67 rating also safeguards it from dust and water, though you shouldn’t take it for a dip at the pool anytime soon. It still features Gorilla Glass Victus over the front, but it has regular glass on the rear. I wouldn’t drop the phone on purpose to test the difference, but at least one side still benefits from the higher-quality material.
The Galaxy A35 sports a slightly larger screen than its predecessor, the Galaxy A34. The 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display delivers crisp text and strong, vibrant colors and reaches up to 1,000 nits of brightness with 2340×1080 resolution. Even more impressive is the 120Hz refresh rate that enables everything to feel fast and smooth. It’s mostly thanks to the Exynos 1380 processor and 8GB of RAM. The Galaxy A35 isn’t the fastest phone you’ll ever use, but it’s more than capable for anything you’d want to throw at it.
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Despite the price, the Galaxy A35 also features a respectable 5,000mAh battery. One 30-minute YouTube video eats about 6% of battery life. Based on that, the battery can last over eight hours with just everyday use. It supports the USB Power Delivery 3.0 standard of 25W wired charging, which can take it from “flat to full” in 1 hour and 25 minutes or up to 50% in 40 minutes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t support wireless charging or fast charging.
What about the cameras? Well, the 50MP main camera isn’t the best we’ve ever seen, but for quick and casual photography, it gets the job done. It also tends to produce very bright and overly saturated photos, more so than its S24 cousins. It also has an 8MP wide-angle camera and fixed focus 5MP macro camera on the back, and a 13MP selfie camera is on the front. These cameras don’t take nearly as detailed photos as the main one, but they still take respectable photos when used with their strengths in mind. As a plus, the editing suite in the Gallery app is easy to use.
Does that mean pictures look lifelike and 1:1 accurate to the real world? Not exactly. But if you prefer your photos to have a real punch to them, the Galaxy A35 certainly delivers.
If you have more money to burn, a phone like the Galaxy S24 or Galaxy S24 Plus is going to deliver a better experience in every department. However, if $400 is the most you can spend, you’ll find very little to be disappointed about with the Galaxy A35.
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Samsung Galaxy A35
The best value Samsung phone
Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends
Samsung Galaxy A14 5G
The best cheap Samsung phone
Pros
Only $200
Large display with a 90Hz refresh rate
5,000mAh battery
50MP rear camera, 13MP selfie camera
Respectable performance
Unique, textured back
Cons
Secondary cameras aren’t impressive
No water or dust resistance
Fast charging up to 15W only
Why you should buy this: It has no business being this good when it costs just $200.
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Who it’s for: Anyone looking for a Samsung phone that doesn’t break the bank but still performs very well.
The $200 phone market is usually where you’ll find phones full of compromises. A low price often means harsh cost-cutting, and as a result, you’re unlikely to find something that can be described as “good”. That’s not the case with the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G, which is a true diamond in the rough.
You’ll struggle to define the A14 as a stunner, but it’s not a bad-looking smartphone. The body is made from plastic, but it has a unique texture that feels good and adds grip, something glass-bodied phones can struggle with. The display is worth pausing over, though. It’s a 6.6-inch LCD with a 1080p resolution, which isn’t bad by itself — but the inclusion of a 120Hz refresh rate definitely pushes this phone into a higher grade. There isn’t any water resistance, but hey, you can’t have everything, especially at this price.
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It’s modestly powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 700 processor, the same chip from the A13. We found it stuttered a little during use, which reduced the smoothness of the 120Hz refresh rate, and it was sometimes sluggish to open apps, so make sure to clear out those running apps once in a while to keep it speedy. Storage starts from 64GB, which is relatively low these days, but there’s the option to use a microSD card to expand that by 1TB. It comes with Android 13, and Samsung has committed to two major Android updates and four years of security updates — a strong promise for a budget smartphone.
The main camera is impressive for a $200 smartphone. The main lens has a 50MP sensor, and it consistently took good, crisp images that are more than good enough for social media. Surprisingly for a cheap phone, it even takes clear night mode shots too. The second lens, a 2MP depth sensor, is there to assist the main camera in portrait shots, so it’s really technically a dual-lens system. Unfortunately, the third lens, a 2MP macro lens, continues the strong tradition of macro lenses being a bit rubbish, and it’s not one to rely on at all. Stick with the 50MP main lens instead, you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised by how good your shots are for a $200 smartphone.
The A14 has a 5,000mAh battery, and it’s capable of going for two days on a single charge. That’s helpful, as the charging rate is limited to 15W, so you’ll be wanting to leave it for a little while when charging. There’s no wireless charging, which makes sense on a phone this cheap.
The Samsung Galaxy A14 5G is available now, with prices starting from $200. As always, keep an eye on the sales, and you could snag this excellent phone for even cheaper. It’s available on all major U.S. carriers, though the U.S. only gets the rather boring plain black color.
Android 15 has started rolling out to global Xiaomi 14 smartphones. Do note that the rollout has started for the regular Xiaomi 14, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra will have to wait its turn. Chances are the rollout will start very soon, though.
The global Xiaomi 14 units have started receiving Android 15
What’s interesting is that this update is based on HyperOS 1.1, not HyperOS 2.0, as was expected. HyperOS 2.0 does come with Android 15 in China, with the Xiaomi 15 and Xiaomi 15 Pro, and it’s also rolling out to the Xiaomi 14 phones. So we expected the same to happen with the global Xiaomi 14, but it seems like that’s planned for the future.
In any case, there are two builds that were spotted. The OS1.1.4.0.VNCEUXM build is for the European phones, while the OS1.1.3.0.VNCMIXM build is for other global markets.
This update is not earth-shattering in terms of changes, well, at least on Xiaomi’s side of things. You’re still getting all the underlaying changes that Google delivered with Android 15, the most important ones.
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Here’s the changelog
In regards to HyperOS, however, let’s see what’s new. Xiaomi fixed some issues with the home screen. Some folder icons were not displayed properly, at times, so that should not be the case any longer.
The home screen layout was leaving a lot of space at the top of the screen at times, that should no longer happen either. The home screen also tended to crash under certain scenarios, but Xiaomi fixed that too with this update.
Xiaomi also fixed the lock screen flickering when adjusting always-on display settings. The app card also tended to start shaking when the order of cards was changed, it will not do that anymore.
There was also an issue with screenshots, they tended to come out black for some apps. That’s also something that was fixed with this Android 15-based HyperOS 1.1 update.
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Do note that the update is rolling out to the Xiaomi 14, but the rollout is staged. So it may take a while for you to get it.
Proton’s latest VPN app will be among the first to work natively on Windows ARM PCs, the company announced. The new app was built in collaboration with Microsoft by the same team that developed the encrypted Proton Mail service and promises “best in class security and privacy” on Windows ARM devices, according to Proton.
The ARM app offers the same functionality as the x86 version and natively supports Proton VPN’s core security and privacy features. Normally, native support means it should also load and run a bit quicker than x86 apps running on Windows 11’s emulator, but improved security is the main selling point.
As for its claim to be among the first native Windows ARM VPN apps, rival Surfshark launched such an app in August and NordVPN recently said that it’s planning to release an ARM-native app “this autumn.”
Proton also revealed its upcoming winter 2024 roadmap, promising new apps for iOS and iPadOS. Those will include commonly requested features like sorting servers by load, selecting a server based on its city, hiding free servers and more. Proton also promised IPv6 support in more apps, port forwarding on macOS and Linux plus guest modes for iOS and iPadOS.
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Proton’s app topped our best VPN services list for 2024, thanks to its overall security, usability and privacy features. It also offers a no-logs policy, an open-source framework and an official vulnerability disclosure program. There’s a free version (with access limited to servers in three countries) or a paid version starting at 4.99 euros ($5.44) per month. Proton recently released an Apple TV app that allow customers with a paid plan to stream their media content from any location on Apple’s set-top box.
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