Technology
Review of Samsung Galaxy A04s phone, price and specifications
Review of Samsung Galaxy A04s phone, price, technical specifications, design, screen, software, hardware, battery life and charging and other specifications of this phone.
Review of Samsung phone, price and specifications
Introduction and specifications
Are you looking for a cheap Samsung experience? Galaxy A04s is equally in the category of cheap Samsung phones. But cheap doesn’t always mean something is good value, so let’s take a look at this phone.
To our surprise, we also found out that Samsung also offers another model – the Galaxy M13 – which is almost identical with some minor differences in the camera department. The Indian version of the Galaxy M13 is essentially the same phone as the Galaxy A04s, but with an even bigger battery. The Galaxy A13 is another phone that was released earlier this year that almost completely matches the A04s specs.
Samsung Galaxy A04s • Samsung Galaxy M13 • Samsung Galaxy M13 (India) • Samsung Galaxy A13
We won’t blame you if you’re confused, but the bottom line is that the Galaxy A04s will probably offer the same user experience as the M13s. So for all intents and purposes, you can use this review as a reference point for M13 and M13 (India) as well.
Checking the specifications of the Samsung Galaxy A04s at a glance
Body: 164.7×76.7×9.1mm, 195g; Glass front, plastic back, plastic frame.
Display: 6.50 inch PLS LCD, 90 Hz, 400 nits (peak), resolution 720 x 1600 pixels, aspect ratio 20:9, 270ppi.
Chipset: Exynos 850 (8nm): Octa-core (4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 & 4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G52.
Memory: 32 GB 3 GB RAM, 32 GB 4 GB RAM, 64 GB RAM 4 GB, 128 GB RAM 4 GB; eMMC 5.1; microSDXC (dedicated).
OS/Software: Android 12, One UI Core 4.
Rear camera: Wide (primary): 50 MP, f/1.8, PDAF; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4; Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4.
Front camera: 5 MP, f/2.2, (wide).
Video recording: rear camera: 1080p@30fps; Front camera: 720p@30fps.
Battery: 5000 mAh; 15 watt charging
Other specifications: fingerprint reader (installed on the side). NFC; 3.5 mm jack; Virtual proximity sensor
Either way, the Galaxy A04s runs on a low-end Exynos 850 SoC along with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage with a microSD card expansion slot. Obviously, we are talking about a phone with an average price of 100 euros, but we were surprised to see a display with a high refresh rate. The screen is 6.5-inch IPS 90 Hz, albeit with a resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels.
Since the Exynos 850 chipset relies on a low-power CPU with eight low-power Cortex-A55 cores, we expect great battery life in our tests. Your 5,000 mAh battery will last quite a while, though it will take more than an hour to fully charge.
Finally, the device runs on a lightweight version of Samsung’s One UI Core 4, which in turn is based on Android 12.
Samsung Galaxy A04s unboxing review
The device ships in a small retail box that only contains the user manual and a pin for the SIM tray.
Unfortunately, Samsung did not include a charger or protective case. But you get a USB-C to USB-C cable.
You can also read about Xiaomi 13T Pro review, price and specifications
Reviewing the design and handling of the Samsung Galaxy A04s phone
The design of this phone is quite simple and minimalistic. The Galaxy A04s has a unibody plastic design with pleasant rounded edges that are comfortable to hold. The front panel is also slightly rounded, eliminating any bumps or gaps. It’s almost like the chassis is made from one piece – we love that.
However , the plastic surface on the back is a fingerprint magnet and is relatively easy to scratch. We received the green color, which appears to be much darker than what we see in the official product photos. This phone is also available in black, white and copper colors.
Another nice thing about the build is that the plastic is less slippery and the A04s glossy surface makes good contact with the skin. It’s certainly less slippery than your average glass sandwich phone. Not that Samsung has any wiggle room with materials, though. We doubt that the Galaxy A04s price target will be achievable with a glass or metal build.
Rounding the sides, we find the power button, which doubles as a fingerprint reader, and sits in a small recess. It’s easily within thumb’s reach, but you have to stretch your finger a bit to reach the volume rocker, which sits just above the power button. The bottom end houses the USB-C connector, the speaker grill, and the 3.5mm audio jack.
The SIM tray is located on the left side of the frame near the top left edge of the A40s. It has two SIM card slots and a dedicated microSD card slot.
On the front, the Galaxy A04s sports a 6.5-inch display with a teardrop notch for the front camera. The lateral margins are very thin, but the lower edge is considerably thicker. This is par for the course in this price group.
It is interesting to note that this device is somewhat heavy for a 6.5-inch smartphone with an all-plastic construction. Not that it’s a big deal, but 195g usually makes up for a larger device or glass build.
Overall , the Galaxy A04s has a good build quality and is nice and easy to work with. It doesn’t weigh above its weight, but we didn’t expect premium materials and creative design in this price range anyway.
Samsung Galaxy A04s screen review
The Samsung Galaxy A04s is built around a 6.5-inch IPS LCD panel, which is common in this price range. LCDs are still very common and often allow for cost savings. Interestingly, Samsung is going for a 90Hz display instead of 60Hz, which may force the product planning team to settle for a resolution of 720×1600 pixels. Most, if not all, of this phone’s competitors have a higher resolution 1080p display.
In terms of brightness, the phone didn’t quite hit the claimed 400 nits mark, but it came very close. In our tests, the display reached 389 nits in automatic and manual mode. In automatic mode there is no increase in brightness.
The lack of physical proximity and ambient light sensors is somewhat problematic. Virtual proximity sensors do not perform well in turning off the screen during contact due to their poor compatibility. Phones that do not have an ambient light sensor use the front camera to measure the light conditions. This means it consumes less power, takes a long time to react to changes, and is sometimes inaccurate.
After you take the phone out of your pocket, it takes a few seconds for the software to adjust the brightness, if there is a significant difference from the previous ambient light condition when you last used it. We find that we go to the brightness slider most of the time. And when you consider the somewhat low maximum brightness, the overall outdoor experience could be better.
On the other hand, color accuracy isn’t too bad with an average dE2000 of 3.8. Then again the whites and grays look completely blue and there’s no way to adjust the color temperature or change the color mode.
HRR control
Controlling the high refresh rate on the Galaxy A04s is pretty simple – idle screen means 60Hz and interaction with it means 90Hz. All the apps we tried ran at 90Hz, including video players and streaming apps. But when you leave the video for a few seconds without touching the screen, the screen goes to 60Hz.
battery life
The Galaxy A04s uses the power-efficient Exynos 850 chipset and is powered by a large 5,000 mAh battery, so battery life is expected to be excellent. The screen on, as well as the screen off test results, are more than commendable. We also expected a similar overall endurance score to the Galaxy A13 as both phones use almost identical hardware. Either way, the overall endurance rating of 114 hours is a great score.
Charging speed
The Galaxy A04s doesn’t come with a charger but supports standard 15W charging, just like the Galaxy A13. Even the charging time is quite similar as the Galaxy A04s only gets 28% battery charge in the first 30 minutes while a full charge takes 2 hours and 14 minutes on the wire.
Although this is by no means fast, it is somewhat suitable in an elementary class context.
Speakers
The Galaxy A04s has a single bottom-firing speaker, which is a typical audio setup for devices in this price range. In terms of loudness, the small speaker is a bit weak as our test scenario scored an “average” LUFS of -30.3.
In terms of quality, the speaker is also not very impressive. Voices and treble begin to ring higher while the bass is absent, and as a result, all tracks sound quite flat. That’s somewhat expected in this class, though, so we won’t fault the Galaxy A04s for it.
Samsung Galaxy A04s software review
The Galaxy A04s might not run the latest version of Android, but it’s a budget phone that was released in September, so expecting Android 13 is unrealistic. And since the A04s is a budget Samsung device, the customized One UI has been downgraded to One UI 4.1 Core. This means that the core One UI features and aesthetics are here, but some advanced features have been removed.
Samsung uses a software-light version for the Galaxy A04s because One UI is very resource-intensive and the Exynos 850 isn’t the fastest chipset out there. Even with a limited feature set, the One UI user experience could be smoother.
The original version of One UI cuts down on a few apps and services to make the launcher easier on system resources. The list of features that didn’t make it include Samsung Pay service (GPay is available), Easy mode, Bixby assistant, Windows Link service and Good Lock app for advanced customizations. There’s also no Secure Folder, but interestingly, Knox is present on the A04s and even advertised on the official specs page for malware and threat protection.
Android experience with One UI 4.1 Core is very simple and familiar. The app drawer, notification shade, recent apps, lock screen, and home screen all work as usual. Even the general settings menu.
Samsung’s Music Share and Smart View are also unavailable. We suspect few people will miss these things in such a simple phone. Samsung Game Launcher is also missing, but Game Booster is part of One UI 4.1 Core. Samsung’s smart widgets, edge panels, and fancy object eraser aren’t available in the Gallery app either, but the new color palettes are here.
The Galaxy A04s does not support always-on display. Its default lock screen has two shortcuts – dialer and camera, but you can choose different apps. The lock screen has a Wellbeing widget – now you can track how much time you’ve spent on your phone without unlocking it.
Unlocking the screen with the side-mounted fingerprint scanner is a pleasant experience – the reader is always on and incredibly accurate and fast.
We often find ourselves locked out of the device because we accidentally touched the fingerprint reader with our palm too many times. So we preferred to enable the option where it waits until you first press the power button before reading the fingerprint.
All standard layout settings and quick panel and taskbar toggles are included. There are Bubbles notifications for messaging apps – you’ll find them in the ‘Bubble Notifications’ submenu, where you can turn them both off and opt for the old-school flashcards-only interface.
The media screen was previously available in One UI 2.5 before Android 11 and provided similar functionality for selecting the output device. The volume control panel has also been changed and now the four sliders are vertical instead of the horizontal sliders of past One UIs.
One UI always offers a lot of customization, and One UI 4.1 Core on the Galaxy A13 is no exception. You get wallpapers and services like dynamic lock screen and Samsung Global Goals. There’s also a whole range of themes and wallpapers to choose from through Samsung Themes – many of which are free too.
As we mentioned, there is a new color palette feature. It allows you to match the accent colors of the user interface and even the existing app icon colors to your wallpaper colors.
The Galaxy A04s has Samsung’s own Gallery, Internet Browser and Notes app. The gallery notably lacks Samsung’s fancy new Object Eraser feature. The Galaxy Store offers different apps than the Google Play Store, although many of them overlap and can be downloaded and updated through either repository.
Overall , One UI is one of the best and most beautiful custom Android experiences. It’s packed with useful features, even in this lighter version of One UI 4.1 Core that the Galaxy A04s runs.
However, there are plenty of things to be unhappy about with how it performs on the Galaxy A04s. It is not a smooth experience. There is a lot of slowdown and slowdown in animations and transitions. Slow app loading times and even app switching and background performance issues due to limited phone resources. The Exynos 850 seems to be really struggling to keep up with the otherwise excellent One UI 4.1 Core.
Function
This isn’t our first encounter with Samsung’s Exynos 850 chip – after all, it’s 2020 hardware, which is somewhat dated in smartphone terms. It’s based on the company’s 8nm LPP process, which is a slight departure from current low-cost chips at 6nm.
The CPU package is very simple as it consists of only 8 low-power Cortex-A55 cores. In turn, they’re not built for serious number crunching. All eight operate at a frequency of 2.0 GHz. The Mali-G52 leads the GPU department, which in most cases struggles to deliver meaningful performance.
Unfortunately, the device’s memory options start from 32.3 GB and reach up to 128.4 GB. However, we believe that 32/3GB configurations are a thing of the past, even in the budget segment. Sure, there’s a dedicated microSD card slot, but 32GB isn’t enough, especially since most competitors offer 64GB as standard.
The Mali-G52 single-core GPU is enough for affordable gaming on a 720p screen, so this probably won’t be a problem at all.
Poor CPU performance is probably the weakest point of the Galaxy A04s. While an octa-core CPU is standard today, most competitors offer at least two powerful cores such as the Cortex-A75. The weak CPU used here makes for uninspiring UI performance, and there’s some lag or slowness when you start filling those home screens and apps with content.
In terms of performance, the A04s isn’t up to par with the competition, with its disappointingly crippled processor. It’s a budget phone, but we expected a little more even in this class.
Samsung Galaxy A04s camera review
The Galaxy A04s has three cameras on its back, with the main camera being a 50-megapixel Samsung Tetracell sensor, which is likely used in several other Galaxy phones, including the Galaxy A13 and M13. So it can be assumed that the sensor here is ISOCELL JN1 (S5KJN1). The said sensor is paired with f/1.8 aperture and supports PDAF.
There is no ultra-wide camera on it, which is in stark contrast to other similarly priced phones. However, this is not a big problem as ultra-wide camera quality is never good in this segment.
Instead, Samsung has placed two 2MP sensors next to the main one – one used for macro photography and the other a depth sensor. Needless to say, both of these cameras are difficult to use.
The selfie camera is only 5 megapixels and has an aperture of f/2.2.
Camera menu
The camera app is what you see on most Samsung phones these days, just for a few features.
Swiping left and right toggles through all available modes, and there’s an option to reset or remove some modes from the viewfinder. Vertical swipes switch between the front and rear cameras.
The settings icon is located in the upper left corner of the screen and allows you to control the cameras precisely. Network lines, location data – the usual stuff can be found there. You can also turn Auto HDR on and off.
There are fun extras to explore, like Deco Pic and its AR stickers . Also, a Pro mode is available, but only for the main camera and with a fairly limited set of controls. You can set ISO between 100 and 800, exposure compensation in a range of two stops, and white balance between 2300 and 10,000k. No manual focus or peak focus and no shutter speed control.
Also notably missing from the Galaxy A13’s camera experience are Scene Optimizer, Night Mode, and Video Stabilization.
Photos taken during the day
If the light is bright, the Galaxy A04s performs well. Resolution is good, detail levels are impressive for the class, colors are true, and noise is absent. Galaxy A04s is above its class. Even the dynamic range is on point.
However , you won’t get much out of the dedicated 50MP mode as the image quality isn’t very good and the photos look like they’ve been upscaled rather than capturing the sensor’s original resolution. This is probably also due to hardware limitations as the Exynos 850 chipset supports camera output up to 48MP anyway.
Double zoom
However , you won’t get much out of the dedicated 50MP mode as the image quality isn’t very good and the photos look like they’ve been upscaled rather than capturing the sensor’s original resolution. This is probably also due to hardware limitations as the Exynos 850 chipset supports camera output up to 48MP anyway. It’s very optimistic that Samsung will include a dedicated 2x zoom key in the default photo mode. As you might expect, the quality is far from ideal. 2x zoom samples are soft, sometimes grainy, and lack fine detail.
Macro camera
The popular 2MP macro camera makes its way to the Galaxy A04s as well, and to be honest, it’s all just a numbers game at this point. The camera hardly performs well because it has a low resolution that affects detail and, because it’s a small sensor, it only performs acceptably in favorable lighting conditions. However, even in good light, photos are dull, contrast is lacking, and the overall level of detail is very poor. Lack of autofocus is another big weakness.
Photos taken in low light
Main camera
Given the entry-level nature of the Galaxy A04s, low-light photos are good. Photos are well exposed, but HDR processing can’t do much to prevent highlights from being clipped. Colors and contrast are just fine. On the other hand, noise is well controlled and there is amazing detail.
Unfortunately, in harsh lighting conditions, there is no Night mode to fall back on. This is likely due to the SoC’s limited processing power and ISP capabilities. And here are some shots of our test posters captured by the Samsung Galaxy A04s. You can see how it stacks up against the competition with a direct comparison.
selfie camera
In typical Samsung mode, there are two switches on the viewfinder – one for a full-size 5-megapixel image that uses the full field of view, and a slightly zoomed-in mode that crops from the center of the image and produces roughly 3.6-megapixel images. he does. It’s a good thing Samsung didn’t go for the scale upgrade, because upgrading to 5MP looked terrible. Although both modes are comparable in terms of clarity and detail. So it depends on whether you want more FoV or not.
Either way, photos taken in good lighting conditions look pretty good for a budget phone. Colors are vibrant, dynamic range is decent for the most part, skin tones look natural, and as we said earlier, sharpness is good too.
Portrait mode is rough around the edges, blurring the edges of the main subject. As expected, taking pictures indoors, where the light is not so favorable, results in soft and noisy selfies.
portrait camera
Portraits are sharp and detailed and offer good color saturation. We were even surprised by how convincing the artificial bokeh effect was – the blurred background looks good, and edge detection is very accurate. Due to the limited dynamic range, it is beneficial to choose a scene without extreme lighting differences.
drastic light differences.
Video recording
As expected, video recording is limited to 1080p, but surprisingly, there’s no 60fps option either. You can do 720p or 1080p videos at 30fps and that’s it. Once again, the ISP is the limiting factor on the Exynos 850, as the 50MP sensor can handle 4K video recording without issue.
By the way, 1080p videos look pretty good here. Clarity is decent for Full HD resolution, colors are accurate, dynamic range is adequate, and noise is minimal. You can see it mostly in areas with a uniform texture like asphalt or green grass.
Surprisingly , the video mode with 2x zoom is quite decent. Sure, the resolution drops dramatically, but the rest of the strong aspects of the standard 1x Video mode are preserved.
Even at 1080p there’s no EIS and all your videos will look extremely shaky, so you’d better hold your hand steady.
Finally , you can compare the video output of the Samsung Galaxy A04s with other phones we’ve reviewed in our comparison tool below.
1080p: Samsung Galaxy A04s against the Redmi Note 11 and the Poco M4 5G in our Video compare tool
Review of competitors of Samsung Galaxy A04s
An entry-level smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy A04s has simple hardware designed for simple tasks. The phone isn’t anything special, but you get decent camera performance in good lighting conditions and reliable battery life. Samsung’s mature and customizable One UI 4.1 Core is also a plus, albeit a scaled-down version of the original One UI.
Popular phone manufacturers don’t offer many entry-level models, so in our comparative market research for this review, we found few worthy alternatives. Most of the competitors in this price group, such as the Realme C31, C3 or C25Y, are hardly recommended due to the use of weak Unisoc chipsets.
At the time of review, the Samsung Galaxy A04s costs around €150 for the 3.32GB version. If you’re going to be using your phone’s camera and messaging features frequently, we recommend going for the 64GB model as the 32GB model will run out of storage before your phone’s warranty ends.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 falls in the same price category, costing around 160 euros, and uses a much more competent Snapdragon 680 chipset with a standard 4.64GB memory configuration. It also impresses with stereo speakers, a 90Hz OLED panel with Gorilla Glass 3 on top, more versatile camera settings, and of course faster charging and longer battery life. Gorilla Glass 3 and IP53 certification against splashes and dust is a nice bonus. It’s a better smartphone, and the only reason you might want to go for the Galaxy A04s is the Samsung brand.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 • Realme 9i
If you decide to go up the price ladder a bit, you might want to consider the Realme 9i. It costs €170-180, but uses a more capable Snapdragon 680 chip, a better display with a higher resolution, faster charging and a nicer selfie camera. Stereo speakers are also on the menu and Realme’s user interface is smoother on the Snapdragon 680 SoC. It may cost a few dollars more, but you get more value for your money.
Now it’s time for domestic competitions. The Galaxy A04s, Galaxy A13 and Galaxy M13 are priced similarly and have similar hardware and features, and all four have the same sized LCD and Exynos 850 chipset. In fact, the Galaxy A13 is slightly cheaper than the A04s in Europe, while the Indian version of the M13 is cheaper while packing a larger 6,000mAh battery.
Samsung Galaxy A13 • Samsung Galaxy M13 • Samsung Galaxy M13 (India
However , there are a few key differences and they don’t favor the latest Galaxy A04s. The A13 and M13 offer ultra-wide cameras, better selfie sensors and higher resolution displays. Sure, the Galaxy A04s has a 90Hz display, but frequent lag when navigating One UI on the underpowered Exynos 850 defeats the purpose of having a smoother display. And in 2022, a 720p screen won’t sit well. Furthermore, the M13 starts with 4.64 GB, while the A04s settles for a standard 3.32 GB configuration, which is an insufficient level of storage space.
The same goes for the Indian variant of the M13 – making the A04s obsolete at launch. When you have an M13 on the shelves, there’s no reason to go for the A04.
And then there’s last year’s Galaxy A13 5G, which launched in December 2021. It runs a twice as powerful MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset, has a base configuration of 4.64 GB and costs around 170 euros. It’s basically the same device with more horsepower and support for 5G connectivity, so if you’re not looking to buy a Samsung phone, we believe the extra €20 for the Galaxy A13 5G could go a long way towards a better smartphone experience.
Summary
The Samsung Galaxy A04s is a budget device – possibly the cheapest Galaxy smartphone you can get. It has a high refresh rate screen, a good main camera and very good battery life, so it’s a solid upgrade over last year’s Galaxy A03s. Unfortunately, this is hardly enough to tip the scales in your favor.
The performance of the phone is inferior and the storage space provided by the base memory configuration is insufficient. This can work for people who are mainly interested in making occasional calls and messages. But for more demanding uses, we don’t recommend the A04s. With low maximum brightness and low resolution, a laggy software experience, and slow charging, there are better options on the market – some even coming from Samsung’s own camp.
Why should we buy Samsung Galaxy A04s?
- Good battery life
- Daylight camera quality is good, selfies are decent. Video recording is also good despite the 1080p resolution.
- One UI 4.1 Core on top of Android 12 is customizable, mature and feature-rich.
- 3.5 mm jack, microSD, NFC.
Why should we avoid buying Samsung Galaxy A04s?
- Lower performance , lag and slowness are frequent.
- The screen is only 720p, while the smooth 90Hz refresh rate is pointless with UI lag.
- The virtual proximity sensor may be inconsistent, the lack of an ambient light sensor means that the brightness setting is less than optimal.
- Single speaker with mostly unsurpassed quality.
- The camera does not have night mode or video stabilization.
- No charger included
Source: GSMARENA.COM
Google Maps guides you from A-to-B, but has more advanced features. Here are the advanced features of Google Maps.
Introducing the advanced features of Google Maps
You can use Google Maps to check the local weather. According to Android Police, the feature is currently available for the iOS app and the web app, and it looks like Google is currently rolling it out (or at least testing it) for the Android app.
If you’re using iOS, open the Google Maps app and zoom in on a city or region. You should see a small tile below the search bar at the top of the screen that shows the current temperature and a weather icon.
As you move through the Google Maps app, the tile will update to show the local weather. If the tile doesn’t show up for you, tap any location in the current map view, then deselect it. This should return to the default view, including the weather tile.
If you’re using the Google Maps web app, you’ll need to click on a location to access weather information. This time, you will find weather details in the information panel next to the location name.
You can also click on the weather icon to get a more detailed forecast for the location you’re viewing.
Once you’ve chosen a place to visit, you’ll probably want to explore what to see and do while you’re there. Google Maps can help you navigate the hustle and bustle of new places by showing you how busy areas are and even the busiest times to visit attractions, restaurants, and other places.
As you zoom in on a city, the busiest areas are highlighted in yellow. So, if you prefer to stay outside the busiest parts of the city, you can use this information to help you choose the best place to stay. Likewise, if you want to avoid the crowds, you might want to visit the highlights early in the morning.
If you click on a landmark, cafe, or anywhere else you want to visit, Google Maps will show the busiest times, provided the location has enough traffic to provide this data. It shows you the busiest times to visit each day of the week and gives you live data, which shows whether places are less or more crowded than usual.
3. Walking routes of the live show
With Live View in Google Maps, you can use the platform’s Street View overlay to guide you on walking routes. To use this feature, your device must be compatible with ARKit (iOS) or ARCore (Android) tools for augmented reality experiences. You must also be in an area with a street view.
To access Live View when you’re away from home, follow these steps:
- Open Google Maps and select a location to navigate to.
- Drag down the location screen to reveal the Live View icon.
- Tap Live View.
- Point your phone camera at buildings and signs to pinpoint your location.
- Follow the red markers to reach your destination.
Hopefully it goes without saying, but Live View is only designed for navigation on foot, not in moving vehicles. You can also use this feature to navigate and make sure you’re on the right track. This can save your battery (and data!) if you have a long walk ahead of you.
4. Find the most optimal route before departure
If you rent a car on your travels, using fuel-efficient routes can help you cut costs and reduce your environmental impact. Google Maps will automatically recommend the most economical route if you’ve enabled the option to prefer fuel-efficient routes in the settings.
- Open Google Maps.
- Tap your account icon to the right of the search bar.
- Select Settings.
- Go to Navigation settings and tap on it.
- Scroll down to Route options.
- Activate Prefer fuel-efficient routes.
Now, to get the most fuel-efficient route for a road trip, use the Directions feature in Google Maps as usual:
- Enter your destination in the search bar.
- Click on Directions.
- Enter your starting point (or choose your location).
- Make sure the drive icon is selected below the search bars.
5. Save a route for later
You can save routes in Google Maps for later, allowing you to plan trips in advance without repeating the same steps when it’s time to hit the road. To save a route, all you have to do is tap the Pin button on the selected route tab. Once this is done, the button’s label will change to Pinned, indicating that the track has been saved for later.
You can also save routes for other modes of transportation: walking, public transit, etc. This means you can plan those routes to attractions, interesting restaurants, and anywhere else before your trip and quickly access them when you need them.
- Open the Google Maps application.
- Tap on Go in the menu at the bottom of the screen .
- Select the pinned track you want to access from the list.
When you select a route, you will receive updated travel information for estimated arrival times and any disruptions that may cause delays.
6. Download Maps For Overseas Travel
Google Maps is a great travel tool, but it doesn’t help much if you lose internet access on the road. Fortunately, you save maps for offline use before you travel, so you can still navigate without internet access.
- Open the Google Maps application.
- Search for a location (eg, San Francisco).
- Pull up the location tab in full screen mode.
- Tap the three dots icon at the top right of the screen.
- Select Download offline map.
You can still access driving directions using offline maps as long as the entire route is available on the saved map. Keep in mind that when using maps offline, you won’t get travel information or features such as alternate routes, most economical routes, etc.
7. Share your location to make solo travel safer
If you’re traveling alone, sharing your location with someone you trust is a safety travel essential. Whether you’re traveling solo abroad or hiking, sharing your location can help authorities intervene more quickly if there’s a problem.
- Open the Google Maps application.
- Tap your account icon to the right of the search bar.
- Select Share Location.
- Tap on Location sharing.
- Set the sharing time or select Until you turn this off.
- Select the contact(s) you want to share your location with.
- Tap Submit.
Traveling solo is a different experience and overcoming challenges like not knowing the language is all part of the fun. It’s possible that nothing serious will happen, but in the unlikely event that you need emergency help, location sharing can save your life.
Whether you’re planning your next trip or need help finding the best restaurants in a new city, Google Maps has you covered. With live information, you can choose the fastest or least expensive routes for road trips and see how crowded places are to avoid the crowds.
You also have the latest weather forecasts to help you choose the best days to travel and avoid getting caught in the rain. Saving routes for the future and downloading offline maps makes life easier after you’re on the move, and sharing your location can protect you and anyone you’re traveling with. With Google Maps, there’s no excuse for getting lost or running out of ideas for things to do on your trip.
The best student Chromebooks are affordable alternatives to the best Windows laptops and the best MacBooks for both students and those working in education.
The best student Chromebooks 2023, buying guide
In addition to affordability, strong battery life is another feature offered by most Chromebooks. This is useful for students, especially since a single charge can usually get you through a full day of school or college classes. Some even have touchscreens or the ability to fold the screen into a tablet, giving them more versatility.
And as mentioned above, Chromebooks are affordable. While even the most entry-level MacBooks sell for around $900, a mid-range Chromebook can cost up to $300. Plus, for high-income college students or even teachers, there are premium options in the $500-$700 range.
Below, we’ve listed some of the best student Chromebooks you can buy.
Read more: The best gaming PCs 2023, buying guide
The best student Chromebooks you can buy today
1. Samsung Chromebook 4
Technical Specifications
Reasons to buy
- Long battery life
- Thinner and lighter than competitors
- good performance
Reasons to avoid buying
- Dim the screen without touch
- Average voice
The best student Chromebook for those on a budget, the Samsung Chromebook 4 really impresses with its battery life. This laptop surfed the web for more than 10 and a half hours with a single charge. The chromebook 4’s aluminum finish makes it look like a much more expensive computer — though it has a plastic base. Performance is another highlight of this Chromebook, allowing for much faster multitasking than expected at this price point.
The Chromebook 4 is also lighter and slimmer than competing 11.6-inch Chromebooks, though we wish the display supported touch input. Its display offers acceptable performance, but don’t expect to see a lot of color or detail when watching movies or browsing YouTube. Speakers are fine, but you might want to bring your own headphones.
For students on a budget, this Chromebook offers a lot for a relatively small price. It’s ideal for learning at home, while also offering some features you can use after you’re done.
Price on Amazon: $104.88
Technical Specifications
Reasons to buy
- Long battery life
- Great screen for the price
- Affordable, plus keyboard included
Reasons to avoid buying
- The keyboard is best for small hands
- The hinge could be stronger
The second best student Chromebook option is the Lenovo Chromebook Duet. Sometimes, it’s surprising how much you can get for $300 or less. The Lenovo Chromebook Duet, for example, is a 2-in-1 Chromebook that offers something that Microsoft’s Surfaces and Apple’s iPads can’t: a built-in keyboard. Not only do you get this feature, but the Chromebook Duet’s tablet screen itself is excellent, with an amazing amount of color output and a crisp 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution. It’s great that it won the best budget laptop award at the 2021 Tom’s Guide Awards.
The Chromebook Duet’s keyboard is definitely a bit stiff, but at this price, any keyboard is amazing. Making things even better, the Chromebook Duet offers ChromeOS tablet optimizations that are long overdue to take advantage of all that screen real estate. On top of all this? In our battery test , it lasted 12 hours and 47 minutes, nearly 13 hours.
3. Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2
Technical Specifications
Reasons to buy
- beautiful design
- Beautiful QLED screen
- Battery life is improved
Reasons to avoid buying
- The keyboard could be better
- Touch screen input may be inconsistent
The third option of the best student Chromebooks is the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2. Removing the 4K display from the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook was probably the best thing Samsung could have done to popularize this Chromebook. It’s now even more affordable for students, but still has a great QLED display and longer battery life – 7 hours and 50 minutes compared to the previous generation’s 5 hours and 55 minutes. It’ll also sound great, plus its Core i3 configuration will provide plenty of speed for Chrome OS.
We weren’t happy with the vertical travel on its keyboard, which is a bit shallow. This creates a slight learning curve that you will adapt to over time. Plus, the Galaxy Chromebook 2 is a great value at $399 (Celeron) or $549 (Core i3). We love it so much that we awarded it Best Chromebook in the 2021 Tom’s Guide Awards .
Price on Amazon: $328.09
Technical Specifications
Reasons to buy
- Excellent battery life
- Bright and colorful screen
- Amazing performance
Reasons to avoid
- Average speakers
- Small keyboard
The fourth option is the Acer Chromebook Spin 713, the best student Chromebook. When shopping for a great student Chromebook, you should look for a device that is affordable, offers good performance, stylish design, and durability. The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 nails this combination.
That’s partly due to its Intel Core i5-10210U CPU, which provides plenty of speed for Chrome OS (anything more than that is overkill) and 8GB of RAM to handle all the Chrome tabs you can open. use it
In addition, its 2256 x 1504 pixel display provides bright and excellent image output. Additionally, it lasted 11 hours and 54 minutes in our web-based battery test. The only major issue you can have with the Spin 713 is that its size makes it less portable than other options. Admittedly, this is a problem for all 13-inch laptops.
Technical Specifications
Reasons to buy
- Excellent battery life
- Exceptional keyboard
- Gorilla Glass tough screen
Reasons to avoid buying
- Dim and low resolution screen
- No USB 3.0 Type-A port
The Acer Chromebook Spin 311’s excellent battery life and excellent keyboard help it stand out in a field of best student Chromebooks full of small, affordable options. It’s good enough to get a recommendation for the best budget laptop in the 2021 Tom’s Guide Awards . It’s currently only $199 on Amazon .
With a travel of 1.6mm, the Spin 311’s keys are surprisingly comfortable for long periods of typing, and the battery lasted 12 hours in our tests on hold mode, making it a great choice for students who want to type while working. he does. Move.
Just don’t expect a great screen, as the Acer Chromebook Spin 311’s 11.6-inch 768×1366 screen tends to make videos look clean and dim.
Why choose a Chromebook?
As we said above, Chromebooks make ideal laptops for students because of their versatility, ease of use, and affordability. That last point is especially important for those on a budget, as you can often find Chromebooks for less than $100.
The vast majority of Chromebooks have a similar set of features. All use Google’s Chrome OS, which is lighter and easier to use than Windows or macOS. Chromebooks aren’t as powerful as the competition, but they make up for it with their versatility. Thanks to Google Play Store integration, they can run a variety of apps and are ideal for those who are always online.
Almost everything you do on a Chromebook, outside of using non-native apps, happens in a Chrome window. So although they are not the right machines for heavy software users, they are very useful for research, writing and presentations.
Source: TOMSGUIDE.COM
Poco C65/Redmi 13C phone review. Check the price, technical specifications, camera, hardware, software, battery, charging speed and other features of Poco C65 phone.
Poco C65/Redmi 13C phone review, price and specifications
Introduction
If you’re looking for a low-cost Xiaomi experience, the Poco is the way to go, and if you want to spend your money on a Poco phone, there are the ‘C’ family devices to consider.
The Redmi 13C is a very similar device to the Poco C65, and in terms of hardware, they are practically identical. We’re pretty sure that the findings in this review apply to the Redmi 13C as well.
Xiaomi Redmi 13C
The Poco C series phones have been released frequently lately and the naming convention is difficult to decipher. It seems that the first number in the model number indicates the generation of the device, while the second number is somewhat related to its relative position in the product line, perhaps also its display size.
If we assume that this is indeed the case, then the new Poco C65 is the first of a new generation of Poco devices and will come to “replace” the Poco C55, even though the latter was launched in February this year. There are many similarities between the C55 and the new C65. Both devices are roughly the same size and feature a MediaTek Helio G85 chipset, a 5,000 mAh battery, and a 50-megapixel primary camera.
However, there are still some generational improvements to be noted. The screen on the C65, for example, has grown slightly and is now 6.74 inches in diameter. But more importantly, it can now refresh at 90Hz, a first for the Poco “C” line of phones. The Poco C65 now supports 18W PD charging, which may not sound like much in absolute terms, but it’s still a significant improvement over the Poco C55’s 10W.
The Poco C65 sweetens the deal with a new dedicated 2MP macro camera on the back, replacing the C55’s depth sensor. The selfie camera has also been upgraded to an 8-megapixel module. And when we say the Poco C65 is a budget device, we mean budget. It’s on sale for just $129 and $149 for the 6/128GB and 8/256GB models (original prices $109/$129).
Unboxing
The Poco C65 comes in a nice and sturdy two-piece box in the usual Poco yellow and black color scheme. Although the manufacturer doesn’t boast about being eco-friendly at all, the packaging appears to be made entirely of cardboard, which is great to see. There’s no built-in plastic stand for the phone to sit on, but it’s still quite securely in place.
The Poco C65 has a relatively rich retail package for its price. This will be a continuing motif with the C65 as it’s good to keep its low price in mind when analyzing different aspects of the experience. The retail box contains a USB Type-A to Type-C cable and a wall charger. It’s just a simple 10W (5V@2A) unit, not one that can saturate the full 18W of power a phone can accept. There’s nothing inside the box, but at this price point, that’s not really expected.
Design
Poco C65 has a very “traditional” design. Nothing out of the ordinary here, just your regular old phone that blends seamlessly into its surroundings.
The design team still tried to incorporate some distinctive details around the rear cameras with a raised area and some vertical lines. It all ties together well and looks classy. The only thing we don’t like about the back of the C65 are the manufacturer’s markings. I wish there was a better place for them.
The C65 is available in a total of three colors: black, blue and purple. Unfortunately, our review unit is probably the most boring black variant. The other two colors look more interesting.
The C65 has an almost completely flat back that sits flush with the midframe. Both of these are made of plastic. The sides of the phone are also completely smooth and have nice rounded corners for more comfort.
The windshield of the C65 is kind of “floating” on top of the middle frame. It’s well glued, of course, but instead of sitting in the middle frame like the back panel, it sticks out.
The C65 has very thick screen bezels, which is to be expected for its price. The lower chin is thicker than the upper frame. However, there’s plenty of room for multiple sensors and a selfie camera that still requires a display notch, but it’s relatively shallow.
Poco C65 is a very heavy device. Its dimensions are 168 x 78 x 8.1 mm and its weight reaches 192 grams. We’re not saying it’s tough or anything, but you’re still getting a big device with a 6.74-inch display and a 5,000mAh battery to boot.
Read more: Xiaomi 14 review, price and specifications
Poco C65 is quite solid and well made. There are no bends in the frame or hollows in the back.
As for materials, it’s no surprise that the C65 is made of mostly plastic. The back and middle frame are both plastic. Both still look like brushed metal from afar, so there’s that. The front of the C65 is fortunately covered with glass. Specifically, Corning Gorilla Glass. Although the manufacturer hasn’t specified exactly what kind it is, it’s great to hear that some protection is in place.
And as for peace of mind, while again there’s no official manufacturer information on the matter and the C65 lacks any official intrusion protection ratings, we did notice a nice thick rubber gasket on the SIM tray. This represents a minimum level of elemental protection. Although, we don’t exactly recommend trying it out for yourself.
Controls
The Poco C65 has a standard set of controls. Well, maybe, except for the 3.5mm audio jack, which is harder and harder. It’s alive and well and it’s at the top of the C65. There is nothing else on the top of the phone.
The left frame is also very empty. It only houses the SIM card tray. The C65 has a total of two nano SIM card slots in the said tray, along with a dedicated microSD memory expansion slot.
The opposite right side houses the volume and power buttons. The latter acts as a capacitive fingerprint reader. The reader is sharp and accurate. We have no complaints about it.
Both controls are well placed and comfortable to click. They feel a little soft to the touch, though they lack satisfying tactile feedback. This is a very minor inconvenience, though.
The bottom of the C65 is a bit more crowded. This is where the main microphone is next to the USB 2.0 Type-C port. The C65 has a single bottom-firing speaker. No stereo speaker setup here, not even a hybrid speaker.
At the end of the tour of controls, a phone is placed near the top of the phone in the space above the display. Proximity and light sensors are also located here.
Connectivity
The Poco C65 performs well in the connectivity department. Although, we should directly note that this is not a 5G device. Both nano SIM card slots on the phone support simultaneous 4G LTE connection.
The C65 also has dual-band Wi-Fi ac and Bluetooth 5.3. Although it does offer LE support. The C65 also has NFC in some markets. You should check with your local retailer for information on that. A receiver supports positioning with GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO and BDS. There is also an FM radio receiver with recording capability.
A USB Type-C port on the bottom can accept USB Power Delivery up to 18W and also supports USB Host/OTG. However, there’s nothing really fancy beyond that, like the video output. The Type-C port is backed up by a USB 2.0 connection, which means data transfer speeds of up to 480Mbps.
C65 has bma253 accelerometer but no gyroscope. The two are usually a combination. There is an ltr311 light sensor, but it is not paired with a hardware proximity sensor either. Instead, the C65 has a virtual proximity sensor that works well for turning off the screen, but is still far less preferable. There is also an mmc5603 magnetometer and compass combination on board. It is expected that there will be no barometer in the Poco C65.
Large 6.74-inch LCD, now with 90 Hz
Poco C65 is equipped with a very large LCD panel. Its diameter is 6.74 inches . As mentioned earlier, the C65 brings a high refresh rate to the Poco C family. It’s just your “base” 90Hz variation , but the difference between it and the standard 60Hz is still very noticeable, making it a much-appreciated addition.
Let’s start with some performance numbers first. The LCD panel in C65 is actually bright enough for an LCD. We measured about 480 nits of maximum brightness on the slider and 607 nits on auto maximum. The availability of an auto overshoot mode is great for bright environments, although the C65 is still difficult to use in direct sunlight.
It is also worth noting that the screen in C65 is only with HD resolution ( 720 x 1600 pixels ). That’s spread a bit thin on the 6.74-inch 20:9 panel, which makes images a bit blurry. Nothing too extreme, but not exactly sharp either.
On colors, Poco C65 has a total of three color modes plus a color temperature adjustment wheel. Modes include Vivid, which is the default, Saturate, and Standard.
Color modes
All three modes target the sRGB color space and cover it well. Vibrant and saturated modes have a slightly saturated blue color and cool the color palette. This is especially true for saturation. You can still get very accurate colors using standard mode. DeltaE values of 2000 are low enough to be considered color accurate.
Understandably, the C65 has no hardware HDR capabilities. However, it does support decoding for Dolby Vision. No HDR, HDR10+ or HLG though.
HDR modes • DRM info • Netflix streaming capabilities
On a more positive note, we’re happy to report that the Poco C65 supports the highest Widevine L1 DRM certification, allowing services like Netflix to offer FullHD streams. That’s frankly weird because it’s technically higher than the resolution on the phone’s own screen, but we’ll take it anyway.
High refresh rate control
The 90Hz refresh rate is an exciting new addition that makes its way to the affordable Poco C line with the C65. As we said, while 90Hz is more or less “basic” and “entry-level” refresh rate as high as you can get, it still makes a big difference in how smooth scrolling and animations feel.
To further sweeten the deal, the Poco C65 even has adaptive refresh rate switching logic. The phone has a total of three refresh rate modes – the default, which promises automatic switching between 90Hz and 60Hz, and then 90Hz and 60Hz modes. The 60 Hz mode is the simplest. It only offers a locked 60Hz experience. However, the 90Hz mode is not fixed at 90Hz. It’s dynamic and has logic down to 60Hz.
Programs in 90Hz mode
From what we can tell, the phone uses 90Hz for most user interfaces as long as you’re interacting with the phone or there’s movement on the screen. When neither is true, it drops to 60Hz to save power. Some apps, like most Google apps and some non-native apps like Facebook, always run at a fixed 60Hz. When it comes to video playback, the smartphone is smarter. Most multimedia apps like Gallery run at 90Hz in the UI, but once you start playing video, the phone is smart enough to recognize the scenario and drop it down to 60Hz.
Overall, we saw almost the same behavior using the Poco C65 at its default refresh rate. So, effectively, the phone only has two refresh rate modes.
Programs in default mode
It seems that high refresh rate games are prohibited on Poco C65. We tried a few games that we know can push past 60fps, and none of them were able to enable a 90Hz refresh rate regardless of the display’s refresh mode settings. The included Game Center also doesn’t offer refresh rate settings.
Playing with a high refresh rate is prohibited
All things considered, we like how the Poco C65 handles its automatic refresh rate switching. This behavior is smart and multi-faceted and saves battery very well. Playing with a high refresh rate on the phone is prohibited. Anyway, the chipset is a bit closed for power supply. Frankly, we couldn’t ask for more, especially from such an economical device.
The switching rate on actual pixels could be a little better. The C65 has a lot of ghosting and smearing while scrolling, especially in smaller text.
Battery life
The Poco C65 has a very large 5000 mAh battery. That being said, the MediaTek Helio G85 chipset isn’t exactly known for being the most energy-efficient part on the market. As you may know, we recently introduced the new GSMArena 2.0 battery test and the new Active Usage Score metric. You can read all about it here.
The Poco C65 performed very well in our battery test. Nothing spectacular, but still a strong show. It manages great call endurance numbers, and its video playback and web endurance aren’t half bad either. The game component leaves a little to be desired. This is very strange, considering that the phone can’t play continuously at 90Hz, which puts more pressure on the GPU. Plus, it only has HD+ resolution. However, we ran our numbers and retested, and we have another reason why the Poco C65 isn’t a great gaming phone.
Charging speed
One of the Poco C65’s upgrades over the C55 is support for 18W PD charging (compared to the standard 10W charging rate). Admittedly, this still doesn’t make the C65 a fast-charging device.
Fifteen minutes with a PD-compatible charger of sufficient wattage took our review unit from dead to just 14% battery. 30 minutes of charging resulted in 28% battery and full charging took 2:09 hours . To be fair, we’ve seen cheaper devices with slower charging speeds, but the C65 isn’t as fast as you might think.
Things look worse if you use the 10W (5V@2A) charger that comes in the phone’s retail box. With it, fifteen minutes of 11% charge, 22% for 30 minutes, and a full charge takes about 2:35 hours .
Speaker
The Poco C65 only has a single speaker that works at the bottom. There is no stereo setup, not even a hybrid. The single speaker is also not very impressive. In our test, the loudness score was below average . Its frequency response is decent, but nothing to call home. In particular, mids and voices are enough, and certainly an important part. Plus, we have to keep in mind how cheap this Poco C65 is and adjust our expectations accordingly.
In terms of additional audio features, the C65 has something called Voice Assistant . Its notable feature is volume adjustment per program while multiple programs are playing.
MIUI 14 for Poco on top of Android 13
At the time of writing this review, our Poco C65 unit is running Android 13 with MIUI for Poco 14.0.3. This is definitely a very current software combination. Although, we’re not sure what the future holds for Poco devices in regards to Xiaomi’s new HyperOS. There isn’t much difference between the standard MIUI and the iteration for Poco, so we suggest you take a closer look at your MIUI 14. You will find all the information you need there.
The only immediate difference between the standard MIUI and the Poco variants is in the default icon style. It seems to be more in line with Android’s circular icons.
MIUI for Poco also allows you to lock the screen by double-tapping an empty space on the home screen, whereas regular MIUI doesn’t. It also lacks the “large symbols” feature due to its value. We’re still not sure how Xiaomi will decide which features will make it to the global MIUI ROM, which will remain exclusive to the Chinese version, and which features the Poco will eventually receive. Everything is really complicated.
Apparently, MIUI 14 is built almost from scratch as architectural engineers have rebuilt the MIUI core ROM down to the Android kernel level. This includes new CPU, GPU, and memory scheduling, a smaller operating system size, and reduced memory usage overall. As a result, Xiaomi claims a 60 percent smoother experience and more optimized processes. Automatic compression for programs that are not actively used is also in the menu. Unfortunately, however, these are the features we can reliably test.
The split between the notification shade and Control Center isn’t enabled by default on our review unit, which is odd. By default, we got the standard combined notification menu and quick toggle menu.
Notification shade and fast switching
Home screen, recent apps and general settings remain unchanged. The app drawer is also enabled by default and cannot be disabled in Poco phones. We like the search bar at the bottom of the page for easier access. There are custom and preset app categories for faster navigation.
Home screen, recent apps, settings menu, app drawer
MIUI recent apps list comes with some useful shortcuts. You can also choose whether the list of apps is vertical or horizontal. Interestingly enough, the sidebar and floating windows functionality seems to be completely absent from the Poco C65.
Themes have always been a big part of MIUI and they are available in MIUI 14 as well. You can download new ones from the Themes Store and they can change wallpapers, ringtones, system icons and even fonts.
Themes and other customization options
Moving towards privacy and security, MIUI comes with a pre-installed system security app. Aside from the extra layer of malware protection it provides, the app keeps many of the app’s settings and privacy features in one place. It can manage your blacklist, manage or limit your data usage, configure battery behavior and free up some RAM. It can also manage the permissions of your installed apps, define the battery behavior of selected apps, and apply restrictions to specific apps only.
Security application
All in all, MIUI 14 has changed little in terms of overall user experience compared to the 13th iteration, and that’s not a bad thing. Colorful and customizable as always.
Performance and benchmarks
Like the Poco C55, the new Poco C65 is powered by the MediaTek Helio G85 chipset. It’s a very old 12nm chip from 2020 that didn’t perform very well at launch and is starting to show its age today. There’s no use beating about the bush. The performance it delivers is disappointing all around.
In the CPU department, the Helio G85 has two large Cortex-A75 cores running at up to 2.0 GHz and six smaller Cortex-A55 cores running at up to 1.8 GHz. In terms of GPU, the Helio G85 only has two Mali-G52 MC2 cores to work with. In fact, there isn’t much power to go around. The Helio G85 is paired with 1800MHz LPDDR4X RAM.
Specifically, the Poco C65 comes in 6.128GB or 8.256GB trim, which is the unit we have for review.
Compared to the C55, which starts with 64GB of storage and 4GB of RAM, it’s a nice little upgrade, so we can’t complain too much. Although, it’s worth noting that the Poco C65 uses the slow eMMC storage type, which could explain its slow performance.
Let’s kick things off with GeekBench and some CPUs. It is easy to understand that the Helio G85 is not a powerful chip. That’s right, once again, we have to remind ourselves of the incredible price of the Poco C65. Still, however, the amount of performance available is kind of disappointing.
Even the Snapdragon 685 inside the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 4G seems to offer slightly better performance than the Helio G85 in the Poco C65. It’s also worth noting that the older Redmi Note 8 2021 seems to fare slightly better on GeekBench with the same Helio G85 chipset. Not much, mind you, but still worth mentioning.
AnTuTu is slightly more favorable than the older Redmi Note 8 2021 and the Poco C65 in this comparison. However, the overall AnTuTu score is not impressive at all.
Our Poco C65 review unit stubbornly refused to connect to the GFXBench servers and run the benchmark. At least after fiddling for a while, it ran 3Dmark. As expected, the Mali-G52 MC2 GPU is pretty weak. At least you don’t have to work too hard to squeeze pixels onto the C65’s HD+ screen.
Unfortunately, the Poco C65 doesn’t just look bad in terms of performance. Even in practical terms, the phone is very slow and sluggish. The lack of smooth operation is one of the biggest problems with the Poco C65.
On the plus side, at least the C65 doesn’t overheat. Its surface is never uncomfortable to the touch, even with long-term stress testing. And the Helio G85 chipset inside isn’t very tasty either. It loses some performance with the torture test, but a very reasonable amount.
50MP main camera and now a dedicated macro camera
Just like the Poco C55, the Poco C65 is equipped with a 50-megapixel main camera. It may be the exact same camera. We can’t say for sure because the Poco C65 supports two 50MP sensors – the OmniVision ov50d40, which has a 1/2.88-inch sensor size and 0.612µm individual pixels, and the Samsung s5kjns, which we assume is the JN1 with 1. 2.76-inch optical format and 0.64 µm individual pixels. Either way, the camera is 28mm wide, has phase detection autofocus, and sits behind an f/1.8 lens.
The other camera on the back of the C65 is a dedicated 2MP macro. The sensor is based on the SmartSens sc202cs sensor with a 1/5-inch sensor size and 1.75 µm individual pixels. Behind is an f/2.4 lens.
The Poco C65 also seems to have a third camera on the back. A very small one that the official website only lists as an “auxiliary” unit, whatever that means. We assume it’s some kind of depth sensor. However, covering it up doesn’t seem to affect the phone’s portrait photography capabilities.
Finally, we have the 8-megapixel selfie camera. The camera is based on the OmniVision ov8856 sensor with a 1/4-inch sensor size and 1.12 µm pixels. Behind is an f/2.0 fixed focus lens.
Camera app
The camera app is a simple implementation, though it has its own quirks. First, the main operation works for switching modes using a side swipe (on the black frame!), and you can also tap on the modes you can see to switch directly to it.
Up and down swipes do not work to switch between front and rear cameras. Only the button next to the shutter does this.
There is no More tab for modes on the C65. All modes are included in the original Rolodex.
Camera app user interface
There’s a pull-out menu at the top of the camera UI where you’ll find other options, including a macro mode that hasn’t been added to the main carousel of modes yet. Next to that, you have a flash mode switch, an HDR switch, and a shortcut for Google Lens. Oddly enough – like other Xiaomi devices, there is no Ai key.
Camera app settings
Also, there is no Pro mode of any kind in Poco C65. Night mode is available on the main camera.
Day photo quality
The main camera of the Poco C65 takes photos with a resolution of 12.5 megapixels by default. The photos look nice enough, especially for such a budget device. The frame has a lot of detail and the colors are more natural and realistic.
Poco C65: 12.5MP main camera samples
However, the amount of sharpening is clearly visible, liberally applied, and there’s very little noise, especially on flat surfaces. Contrast is a little tricky and so is dynamic range. But again, keep in mind that this device is very affordable.
You can force the main camera to shoot at its full 50MP resolution . These photos don’t really look that different compared to their 12.5MP counterparts. The amount of detail is about the same, and the colors, contrast, and dynamic range are about the same. That being said, in 50MP mode, there seems to be less artificial sharpness applied to the frame, resulting in slightly softer but more natural-looking photos.
Poco C65: 50MP main camera samples
Here’s how the Poco C65’s main camera compares to the competition in our extensive camera comparison database. Pixel-peep away.
Poco C65 vs Samsung Galaxy A14 5G and Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro 5G in our photo comparison tool
50MP: Poco C65 vs Samsung Galaxy A14 5G and Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro 5G in our photo comparison tool
The main camera also takes very good portrait photos . Subject detection and isolation can be done almost at any time. We also like the quality of the background blur effect. Skin tones look convincing and completely natural.
Poco C65: 12.5MP main camera samples
Poco C65: 12.5MP main camera portrait examples
Unfortunately, even without applying a filter, there isn’t much skin texture in these portraits. However, this is a relatively minor problem.
Non-human subjects also work surprisingly well. The C65 has very little trouble picking out these subjects and focusing them correctly, something more expensive phones often struggle with.
Poco C65: 12.5MP main camera portrait examples
The Poco C65 does not have a dedicated ultra-wide or telephoto camera. However, the main camera has plenty of resolution for taking zoom shots . The camera app even has a 2x zoom switch, which shows that Xiaomi is confident enough about the phone’s zoom capabilities.
And indeed, these 2x zoom photos look very decent and look exactly like 1x photos. There is a lot of detail and the colors are beautiful.
Poco C65: 12.5MP main camera samples with 2x zoom
Some liberal sharpening is applied, bordering on oversharpening and contrast, and the dynamic range is excellent. However, these images are perfectly acceptable.
Finally, we have 2MP macro shots from the dedicated macro camera. These also look surprisingly good for what they are. Even with their low resolution, there is plenty of detail in the frame. Colors also look nice and match the main camera well, contrast is good, and the focal length is very wide and impressive.
Poco C65: 2MP macro camera examples
The Poco C65 selfie camera takes great 8MP photos. The detail is excellent and the skin texture is removed well. Colors and skin tones generally look nice and natural. Even contrast and dynamic range are both good.
Poco C65: 8MP selfie camera samples
The only real issue we found with these photos is, once again, the camera’s sharpening. Nothing too dramatic, though, and overall, these are some great selfies. The color surprised us.
Selfie portraits look equally great with excellent subject detection, isolation and a convincing background bokeh effect.
Poco C65: 8MP selfie camera portrait examples
Video quality
As we said earlier, the MediaTek Helio G85 is by no means an impressive chipset. This also applies to its video recording capabilities. As expected, video recording on the Poco C65 is limited to 1080p resolution. However, this is a norm at its budget price, so we can’t complain too much.
By default, the phone saves videos in a standard AVC (h.264) video stream at around 20 Mbps with AAC audio in an MP4 container. Unfortunately, the C65 only records mono audio for its videos. On the plus side, despite its budget nature, the Poco C65 still offers optional HEVC (h.265) video encoding. There is also an interesting option in the settings to automatically reduce the frame rate of videos in low light and high temperature environments. This is a very unusual option that you don’t see very often.
The Poco C65’s main camera shoots decent, if unremarkable, 1080p video. The level of detail is good, with regards to clarity, colors are beautiful and mostly natural.
The dynamic range is a bit narrow for our taste. The contrast is a little high, which results in an over-processed look. Overall, once again, considering the price of the phone, we can’t complain.
Here’s how the C65 compares to other devices in our video comparison database.
Poco C65 vs Samsung Galaxy A14 5G and Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro 5G in our video comparison tool
The C65 offers a quick switch for recording videos with 2x zoom . These look largely identical to the 1x examples, which is impressive in its own right. Again, we couldn’t realistically ask for much better from such a budget device.
The Poco C65 doesn’t appear to offer any form of EIS or other stabilization for its video. At least we did not manage to find such options. Here is an example of video from the main camera in motion. It is quite shaky as expected.
The selfie camera on the C65 is also limited to 1080p video recording. And, expectedly, just like the original camera, it only records mono audio, which is a bit of a bummer. However, in terms of quality, we can’t complain. The details are good and so are the colors.
Contrast is a bit too high, and dynamic range could be better, but these are relatively minor issues.
Camera quality in low light
The Poco C65’s main camera struggles significantly in low-light conditions. Photos look quite soft and noisy, with blown out highlights and light sources.
Poco C65: 12.5MP main camera examples in low light
Fortunately, there’s a dedicated night mode , which slows down processing a bit as expected, but offers a significant improvement in low-light quality.
Poco C65: 12.5MP main camera night mode samples
Night mode greatly reduces noise. Clarity is improved along with detail. Darker areas are much better managed. However, the biggest improvement should be to highlights and light sources. Night mode is the difference between a protruding clutter and usable real photos.
2x zoom shots from the main camera at night tend to look softer and more static than their 1x counterparts.
Poco C65: 12.5 megapixel main camera 2x the standard in low light
You can significantly improve their overall quality by using Night Mode, which has a 2x zoom shift.
Poco C65: 12.5MP main camera 2x night mode sample
Low-light selfies are not for a home phone. These are very soft and noisy. Most of the skin texture and fine facial features are completely lost. At least the skin tone looks quite realistic.
Poco C65: 8 megapixel selfie camera examples in low light
Unfortunately, night mode is not available for Poco C65 selfie camera.
Low-light video from the main camera is serviceable but mostly unimpressive. The amount of detail recorded is actually not bad for a 1080p video.
These videos are noisy and over-sharpened and over-saturated. The Poco C65 also struggles mightily with light sources.
Competitors
The Poco C65 is a really affordable device. There is no doubt about it. However, it seems a bit hard to pin down the exact retail price right now as there are a lot of sales going on. It looks like it will sell for just $129 and $149 for the 128/6GB and 256/8GB models respectively. Early bird pricing appears to be $109/$129.
Let’s look at the rest of Xiaomi’s products first. We mentioned earlier that the Redmi 13C is practically the identical twin of the Poco C65. But it is worth noting that Redmi currently costs a little more than Poco for some reason.
Next up is the Xiaomi Redmi 12. It has a large screen like the C65 and LCD, but with FullHD+ resolution instead of HD+. The Redmi 12 also has an official IP53 ingress protection rating, notably an 8MP ultra-wide camera. The Redmi also has an IR blaster and uses the much better MediaTek Helio G88 chipset. Pricing is pretty similar between the two, which arguably makes the Redmi 12 the better deal in our opinion.
Redmi 12 • Redmi Note 12 5G • Redmi Note 12 4G • Samsung Galaxy A14 5G
Next, we recommend considering the ever-popular Redmi Note 12. It’s also slightly more expensive than the Poco C65, but it has an IP53 rating, a 120Hz AMOLED display and 33W charging. It also has an ultra-wide camera and an arguably better 1st generation Snapdragon 4 chipset.
In the Samsung camp, the Poco C65 seems to be competing with phones like the Galaxy A14. Note that A14 has 4G and 5G versions. The price difference between the two is very small and which one to get depends on your priorities. The 5G variant clearly has superior network connectivity as well as a 90Hz refresh rate on the PLS LCD. Besides being slightly cheaper, the 4G version also has an ultra-wide camera, which the 5G model lacks. It’s only a 5MP camera though. Personally, we think the A14 5G is the best deal of the pair.
If the Galaxy A14 is a little out of your budget, maybe consider the new Galaxy A05s. While most of its specifications are very similar to those of Poco C65. However, you get slightly faster 25W charging with the Galaxy.
Last but not least, Transsion Holdings has at least a few good alternatives under its umbrella. If you can swing it, the Tecno Spark 10 Pro offers a large 6.8-inch 90Hz FullHD+ LCD, a 50MP primary camera and a 5000mAh battery with 18W charging. Very similar to Poco C65. On the plus side, the Tecno offers 1440p video recording instead of 1080p on the back and front with a large 32MP selfie camera.
If the Tecno is a bit out of your budget, then there’s the Infinix Smart 8. You’ll have to settle for a 13MP main camera, 10W charging, and a Unisoc T606 chipset.
Summary
Let’s keep things simple here. Xiaomi Poco C65 is a very affordable device. In fact, as far as trying to find good alternatives and competitors for it with the same value proposition. As such, its primary value will inevitably be price. The overall experience of the phone itself should be just good enough to meet the expectations of buyers at this low price.
As you might expect, the Poco C65 has its ups and downs. It’s a great, well-built phone with Gorilla Glass on the front and virtually no bends or hollows, but it also lacks any official, even basic, intrusion protection, and the design is a little plain.
The display offers a 90Hz refresh rate, which works well enough and is decently bright for an LCD. However, pixel response times aren’t perfect, leading to ghosting and smearing, and gaming at high refresh rates is a no-go. Battery life on the C65 is fairly good, but charging is very slow. MIUI 14 looks great and is feature-rich, but it stutters and slows down on the C65 due to the paltry Helio G85 chipset. The latter is also responsible for the camera’s 1080p video recording resolution, which is otherwise pretty decent for a budget device.
We could go on, but you kind of get the point. Honestly, we didn’t hate our time with the Poco C65. This is a decent enough device. In our opinion, its biggest weakness is the poor performance of the Helio G85 chipset. Other than that, it has almost no glaring flaws, and even its performance at this price is hard to complain about.
If we were shopping in this price range, we’d probably try to get something a little smoother than the Poco C65.
Why should we buy Poco C65 phone?
- Beautiful design with good build quality.
- A decently bright LCD with a 90Hz refresh rate.
- Good battery life
- Good camera performance in daylight
- expandable memory with dedicated microSD slot; A 3.5 mm audio jack
- Charger included in retail box.
Why should we avoid buying the Poco C65 phone?
- Virtual proximity sensor
- Loudness of the speaker is below average
- The Helio G85 chipset has poor performance with stuttering UI.
- Video recording is limited to 1080p and there is no stabilization.
Source: GSMARENA.COM
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