After two weeks of using this phone, the following is my view of the iQOO Neo 7.

Unboxing And Features

I have unboxed many products, but it is still an experience I love and relish. That said unboxing the iQOO Neo 7 wasn’t much different from other smartphones. The phone comes in a black box with the model name written on it. In the box, you get the usual contents.

• 1 x iQOO Neo 7 smartphone
• 1 x 120W fast-charging brick 
• 1 x type-c cable
• 1 x TPU case 
• Sim ejector tool
• Documentation

Design

Let’s start with the front of the phone, where a 6.78-inch AMOLED display takes up most of the real estate. A thin bezel that grows slightly thicker at the chin lines the edges. The only interruption is a small cutout at the top for the selfie camera.

The 6.78-inch display is an AMOLED panel with a resolution of 1080×2400. It has a peak brightness of 1500 nits, which is usable in all situations, even on very sunny days. The display also has a refresh rate of 120Hz but it can go as low as 60Hz. There is a feature called Smart Switch that works like the Adaptive refresh feature. It switches the refresh rate between 60Hz and 120Hz depending on what you are doing to conserve the battery.

On startup, the phone boots into the Standard color mode as the default color mode. This mode is well-balanced and gives a natural look to the overall color temperature. There are two other color modes: a professional mode that gives the display a warmer look, and a bright mode that makes the colors look a bit washed out. I will stick to the standard. There is no adaptive color option like you will normally find on Xiaomi phones.

In marketing, the company claimed the phone is certified for both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ which means the display can support up to a billion colors. And that seems to be true as the phone handled HDR contents with ease.

The review sample I got was orange, but it is also available in blue and black. The back of the phone is made of a plastic material that doesn’t leave fingerprints. At the top left corner sits a square camera bump that houses all three cameras. The brand name “iQOO” is engraved at the bottom.

The frame of the phone is plastic, but unlike its back case, it feels more like aluminum. Its four corners are rounded off to prevent it from digging into your palm when you hold it, and it curves slightly into the plastic back case. The volume rocker and power buttons are on the right side of that frame. The sim tray, the USB charging port, and a speaker grill for one of the two speakers on board. The second speaker grill can be found on the top of the phone.

Its dimensions are 164.8 x 76.9 x 8.5 mm and only weighs 202g. All in all the phone is well-built and feels good to hold in the hand. 

Performance 

The iQOO Neo 7 runs on MediaTek’s latest chipset, the Dimensity 9000+ octa-core processor, which is really powerful. Memory comes in several configurations. Some of the configurations available include 8GB + 128GB, 8GB + 256GB, 12GB + 256GB, and 8GB + 512GB. The one I have with me is the 12GB + 256GB variant. 

When I put it through the Antutu test, it returned a benchmark score of 1030642 which is a very respectable result considering it is a midrange. But not surprising because it used such a high-end processor from MediaTek. Check out the scores below. 

Software

For software, the iQOO Neo 7 runs Android 13 out of the box with Oxygen OS over it. And I must admit that the software is properly implemented. Everything runs smoothly, swapping around is like butter, and the overall performance is snappy.

You have the usual peck of using an Android including split screens, floating windows, and all the cool widgets. To summon the notification you will have to swap down from the left corner and the top right corner for the control center. The order they are summoned can be changed in the settings.

Aside from that, everything else is pretty much the same, especially for anybody who has used Oxygen OS before. You get the usual customization options for everything including backgrounds, themes, ringtones, and widgets.

Still, in the settings, there is an Ultra Game Mode option. Here, you get to set up some really cool stuff. My favorite is the Cool Light Effects setting which shows light effects when you make impressive moments like triple kills but this effect is only limited to the Arena of Valor game. One of the gaming settings that is sure to come in handy is the Game Countdown. If you are waiting for a game to start up and you switch to the background, the system will display the required waiting time.

For security, the Neo 7 comes with the usual, face ID, fingerprint ID, passwords, and patterns. The fingerprint scanner beneath the display is fast and unlocks almost instantaneously. Face ID is even faster when unlocking the phone.

iQOO Neo 7 Cameras

The Neo 7 is equipped with three cameras, and the primary sensor is a 50MP camera with OIS. There is also an 8 MP ultra-wide camera and a 2 MP macro camera. Vivo, the parent company of iQOO, is known for having some of the best cameras on smartphones, and you see some of those technologies in play here.

Pictures 

I spent the last two weeks taking pictures and videos in various conditions. During the day the photos were really good with excellent balance, and sharpness. The dynamic range and contrast were also excellent. The colors were very vibrant but the photos looked a bit processed. 

The ultrawide also manages to hold up its side of the bargain, and there is no noticeable drop in color richness as you switch between cameras. The zoom camera

In night mode, images were okay with good color saturation. It also manages to reduce noise while maintaining a good amount of detail. The contrast and dynamic range in the night mode are commendable. But the one problem I had with it was how it tended to dial up any source of light to such an extent that you begin to lose details very close to those light sources.

Selfie 

The selfie camera is a 16MP clicker, and it captures some really cool pictures. Again, the company did impressive work with the color saturation, dynamic range, and sharpness here. My biggest problem is that pictures tend to be a bit over-processed. My selfies looked a bit whiter than I personally am. But considering the Neo 7 is only released for the Chinese market, it is not much of a big deal.

Videos

The rear camera can record up to 4K video at 30fps and the front camera is limited to 1080p at 30fps. Here, the company manages to keep up the good work in sharpness and color saturation. The 4k videos were good and the dynamic range was okay. The OIS does great at stabilizing the video

Battery and Charging

The iQOO Neo 7 comes with a 5000mAh battery on board. My phone usage is very gaming-intensive during this process, which makes this phone a perfect fit for me. On any given day, I spend at least three hours in between playing COD, PUBG, and Asphalt Legend. The rest of the time, the phone handled other processes like messaging, checking social media feeds, downloading apps, listening to music, and streaming videos. At the end of an eight-hour workday, I still had about 20% of the battery.  That’s really impressive.

It will take some time to drain the battery, but when you are finally there, refueling is really quick. The Neo 7 comes with a 120W fast charger. In my test, the charger took about 30 minutes to charge from 0% to 100%. Though fast chargers are becoming more common, I am still impressed by them. In this case, I just had to put the phone on charge before I stepped in the shower in the morning, and it was done when I got out.

Haptics and Speakers 

The pair of speakers on the Neo 7 sounds fantastic. They’re loud and clear even at high volumes, when you would expect most phones to struggle. 

Now, I don’t know about most people, but I love vibration feedback on my smartphones, especially when I am gaming. The Neo 7 has some really good haptic feedback. The vibrations on this phone are sharp and very responsive.

Variant

The iQOO Neo 7 comes in three colors, Black, Blue, and Orange. Memory-wise, there are 8GB + 128GB, 8GB + 256GB, 12GB + 256GB, and 8GB + 512GB configurations.

Pros

1. Very capable performer 
2. Extremely fast charger 
3. Large Battery
4. Great display

Cons

1. Limited to only China and India
2. Selfies look over-processed 

Verdict 

Overall, the iQOO Neo 7 is a very capable phone, and at its price point, it is a very easy recommendation.

The post iQOO Neo 7 Review – The Best Value-For-Money Midrange Smartphone appeared first on TechGoing.

The biggest change in the appearance of the vivo X Fold Plus is the new red color. Unlike the traditional red color, this red color, which is deeper and heavier, with the plain leather process, is extremely business-like. The red leather is paired with the black frame and image module, and the red and black combination, as well as the shiny vivo logo on the leather, gives the phone a unique and elegant look.

The image module part, Vivo X Fold Plus adopts the square and round sky step design, the round four-camera module is located on top of the square “sky step”, the right side uses a large area of white, the upper right corner of the obvious Zeiss small blue mark.

Between the round lens module and the square decorative parts, there is a slightly curved extension of the glass surface articulated, this continuous glass surface cleverly transition the abruptness of the camera module. The rotor part, using a metal sandblasting process, matte frosting is very fine.

At first glance, the center frame of vivo X Fold Plus looks angular, but a closer look reveals a small circle of rounded chamfers near the edge, making the whole frame look thinner and lighter.

In addition to the volume and power buttons, there is also a separate physical mute button in the center frame, which allows users to choose whether to turn off/on the media volume with the mute button through the system settings.

On the top, there is a large speaker opening and infrared light; on the bottom, there is a microphone, speaker, SIM card slot and charging port; in addition, the Vivo X Fold Plus+ has three microphones (top + bottom + back lens set) and a barometer, which displays air pressure and altitude in real time in the compass.

As a folding screen phone, Vivo X Fold Plus’s external display ratio is no different from that of a normal phone, measuring 6.53 inches with 2520 × 1080 resolution and an aspect ratio of 21:9, which makes it slightly heavy in the hand.

After the vivo X Fold Plus is unfolded is 8 inches, 4:3.55 aspect ratio, resolution up to 2160 * 1916 large internal screen, this internal screen is also made of E5 material, support 120Hz high brush, also reached the world’s first 19 Display Mate performance records, and got the overall A + level certification, is still the top of the folding screen screen.

Compared to traditional photoelectric fingerprint, ultrasonic fingerprint is one level higher in unlocking rate, speed, anti-interference and security, and there will be no sudden bright light “blindness” at night.

In terms of hardware, the Vivo X Fold Plus has a considerable upgrade. Firstly, the processor has been upgraded from Snapdragon 8 to the latest Snapdragon 8+, which has been greatly improved thanks to TSMC’s 4nm process, especially in terms of temperature control and power consumption.

Secondly, in the charging part, Vivo X Fold Plus battery is upgraded from 4600mAh to 4730mAh, and the fast charging is also upgraded from 66W to 80W, and also supports 50W wireless flash charging and 10W wireless reverse charging. Other specifications are still top-notch, including a custom SPU security chip, 12GB+512GB, 12GB+256GB storage, overclocked UFS 3.1 + enhanced LPDDR5, and more.

In addition, it should be emphasized that Vivo X Fold Plus also supports DSDA technology for the first time and debuts dual 5G dual SIM technology on the folding screen, for example, when the primary card is gaming/ talking, the secondary card can still call/ talk/ text. For business people, this feature is very important, not to miss calls, disconnected, to keep the dual card communication lasting smoothly, and may be able to negotiate a large business list at critical moments.

Where to buy Vivo X Fold Plus? This folding phone is now available on Giztop for $1799. Here is a extra coupon code to save $40: GTD2.

The vivo X Fold Plus is a high-end, business-friendly folding screen flagship. If you need a folding screen phone with everything you need, then the vivo X Fold Plus is the more appropriate choice right now.

The post Vivo X Fold Plus unboxing and first expression appeared first on TechGoing.

According to 9to5 Mac, The Verge, at least after Apple released the 4E71 firmware update in May, more and more AirPods Max users are now convinced that the headphones’ active noise cancellation has gotten worse.

Many users are calling the 4E71 firmware “garbage” and can hear themselves typing, birds chirping, cars on the street, heavy objects clanking at the gym, and other external noises they’ve never heard before after updating the 4E71 firmware. Some users have gone to the Apple Retail Store to get new headphones after the active noise cancellation experience has also dropped a lot.

So far, there seems to be no way to improve the active noise cancellation on AirPods Max. Some users have tried fixing the advanced headphones or resetting the personalized space audio on iOS 16, but that doesn’t seem to be working.

Apple is currently testing a new firmware update for the AirPods Max wireless headphones. While it has been discovered that the headphones will feature a new LC3 codec to improve audio calls, it’s unclear if Apple is actively working on improving the active noise cancellation feature.

The post AirPods Max owners complain: Noise Cancellation Worsens after firmware update appeared first on TechGoing.

The emergence of cell phone images has greatly lowered the threshold for people to take pictures. Pick up the phone and press the shutter, every person can record the meaning of their lives.

The iterative upgrade of hardware can lay a good foundation for excellent shooting experience. This year iPhone 14 still uses the classic dual rear camera, where the main camera lens sensor and aperture are both increased, the amount of light intake compared to the previous generation increased by up to 49%, greatly improving the quality of shooting in dark environments.

On top of the new hardware, Apple’s powerful computational photography capabilities have also been enhanced. iPhone 14 Series features a new “Light and Image Engine” that selects the best pixel from multiple exposures and blends them when the shutter is pressed, which preserves richer image data so that even in low light conditions, photos are brighter, more vibrant, and beautifully detailed. This way, richer image data is retained, so that even in low light conditions, photos can be taken with brighter and more vivid colors and fine textures.

With comprehensive hardware and software upgrades, the iPhone 14’s image capabilities remain in the current top tier. In good lighting conditions, iPhone 14 can capture photos with pure image quality and transparent colors. For example, when taking portrait photos, iPhone 14 will automatically optimize the contrast, skin tone and other details of the image.

Thanks to the fully upgraded imaging system, iPhone 14 is able to get pretty good results in nighttime conditions. When the phone senses low ambient light, it automatically turns on night mode and presents the finished film in the viewfinder after pressing the shutter.

The advent of the iPhone has not only helped more people take good photos in a low-barrier way, it has also helped many people express their emotions through video with this de-elite tool.

　　With last year’s iPhone 13 series, Apple introduced “Movie Effect” mode, which automatically captures the focus of the image based on AI and allows the user to shift focus by manually tapping. With “Focus Shift,” users are freed from the more specialized elements of color, composition, and framing to create a story in the simplest way possible. This year, the iPhone 14 series has a cinematic mode that supports 4K Dolby Vision video, and Apple offers two different options at 24fps and 30fps to meet the needs of different creators.

　　In addition to a sense of “storytelling,” you need to create stable images with your phone. iPhone 14’s “Sports Mode” was created for this purpose. The OIS optical stabilization can provide a good anti-shake effect at the hardware level, but in the face of running, bumpy vehicles and other special environments, just relying on handheld does not bring a stable picture performance.

Since “sports mode” will ensure stable picture quality in the center by cropping the picture, the phone will shoot at 0.5x focal length by default when this mode is turned on, and if you want to shoot with the main lens, you need to adjust to other lenses before shooting.

As you can see from the motion picture, the picture is still stable even when shooting in a running state. However, precisely because of the way the sports mode is cropped, this mode only supports up to 2.8K 60FPS video shooting. But for shooting motion pictures, this image quality is sufficient.

iPhone 14 For those who want to choose a classic, this year’s iPhone 14 is the corresponding option for you. It is still reliable, sturdy and trustworthy with its performance in the first tier, and finds an optimal balance for us in balancing product design and user experience.

The post iPhone 14 Camera Review: Still The Best Camera in 2022 appeared first on TechGoing.

While Intel has been working hard to tune its Arc GPU performance in modern APIs such as DX12 and Vulkan, older games using DX11, DX12 and OpenGL APIs have not been well supported to date.

Lisa Pearce, vice president and general manager of Intel’s Visual Computing Division, said Intel is working to “optimize Arc GPU performance” for the APIs of DirectX 9 and 11. DirectX 11 and 12 are similar, but the updated APIs offer more optimizations and fixes not available in previous versions. DirectX 11 and 12 are similar, but the updated API offers more optimizations and fixes that were not available in previous versions. For some gamers, the plethora of older games is great because now gamers can try some of the award-winning games for themselves. However, for older games, users don’t need a powerful graphics card because the technology is less advanced.

A little over a week ago, Intel released a new driver that eliminated many of the graphics card and control panel compatibility inconsistencies that have not been well received in the PC community. Once again, Intel seems to be “catching up” with NVIDIA and AMD on their specific GPU technologies. With the help of comments and other feedback from the technical community, Intel is improving the compatibility that exists with the Arc A380.

The post How compatible is the Intel Arc A380? 50 games tested in real life appeared first on TechGoing.

I have been using the Xiaomi 12S Ultra for about one month now, and it is one of the most balanced phones I have used in 2022. It features the latest Qualcomm chipset, Leica optics, and a refreshingly new design.

Let me start by saying, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra is a bold statement and reaffirms Xiaomi as a company capable of holding its own in the flagship smartphone space. That’s aside from the fact that Xiaomi is one of the biggest mid-range smartphone brands. This model builds on the reputation of its two previous predecessors but shares a bit more with the Mi 11 Ultra, especially with the outrageous camera bump design.

A disclaimer before we continue, this is going to be a long review because it is my belief that such a special device deserves the time and energy.

But before we dive in, here are the features:

Unboxing

Unboxing is as normal as it gets. The Xiaomi came in a black package and contained the usual – a 67W fast charging brick, a soft transparent case, a USB-A to Type-C cable, a sim ejector, and some documentation.

For this review, I was sent the green one with 12GB RAM and 256GB ROM, but there is a black option also.

DESCRIPTION >>>

The post Xiaomi 12S Ultra Review: 2022 Smartphone Photography Standard appeared first on TechGoing.

However, after just one week of use, some users found a new problem, that is, the midnight-colored version of the body paint is very serious, just a few days, the edge of the touch panel, Thunderbolt interface and other locations have been a big flower face.

It seems that this time the midnight color version of the coating is very unstable, while also easy to leave fingerprints.

Unfortunately, Apple has not given a response, at least this reminds consumers who are interested in getting their hands on the phone, if you care, please avoid the midnight color style.

The post Apple’s M2 version of the new MacBook Air flopped: Only a week after getting it, the body fell out of paint appeared first on TechGoing.

512GB and 256GB M2 MacBook Air 5GB Tests

The Verge also used Blackmagic’s Disk Speed Test app to test the M2 MacBook Air base model (8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage) with SSD write speeds 15-30% slower than the 512GB model (which Apple sent for review); read speeds were 40-50% slower.

512GB M1 MacBook Air 5GB Test

256GB Intel MacBook Pro 5GB Test

The results aren’t surprising, as the base M2 MacBook Air features a single NAND chip, while the M1 model and 512GB M2 model both have two NAND chips, doubling performance.

Dan Seifert, the editor of The Verge, then took a closer look at the M2 MacBook Air and found that the slower SSD speeds affected a range of everyday tasks, including file transfers, and that using the SSD as temporary memory (Swap memory) also reduced overall performance.

The post Basic M2 MacBook Air hands-on test: SSD reads 40-50% slower appeared first on TechGoing.

But now the Nothing Phone 1 in this user’s hands has gone into the water and considering that Nothing is a new brand, netizens are a bit worried about Nothing’s after-sales service.

Nothing Phone 1 is currently on sale in India, Europe, and other places. It features a 6.55-inch 1080×2400 full-screen, made of OLED, with a 120Hz refresh rate and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+ chip.

The front 16MP, rear 50M main camera, 50M ultra wide angle, the main camera is Sony IMX766, support OIS optical stabilization, battery is 4500 mAh, support 33W wired fast charging, 15W wireless charging and 5W wireless reverse charging, pre-installed Nothing OS (customized based on Android 12).

The post Users spent 2,500 yuan to buy Nothing Phone 1 on the first day into the water publicity IP53 is a sham appeared first on TechGoing.

The Pixel 6 Pro’s bad signal problems include not being able to find the LTE network for a few minutes after leaving Wi-Fi, not being able to find the signal after leaving a subway station, and not being able to search for a signal even after opening Airplane Mode and then canceling it, which is not the case with other phones.

The main signal problem with the Pixel 6 Pro is that there is a problem switching between Wi-Fi and LTE signals, and the reason the author of the original article can still use it now is that he is at home most of the time even Wi-Fi.

The Pixel 6 Pro is Google’s flagship machine this year, priced at $899, about 6,000 yuan, but after the launch was spit out many times, the signal problem is not the first time the media criticism.

The post 6000 yuan Pixel 6 Pro cannot connect to the Internet: Foreign Media Editors give the Worst Signal Evaluation appeared first on TechGoing.