Monday, December 23, 2024

Deals: Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6 go on pre-order, CMF Phone 1 tackles Android mid-rangers

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Samsung’s new foldables are on pre-order now and will be released on July 19. Amazon has interesting bundles, for example, you can get the Galaxy Z Fold6 (256GB) paired with the Galaxy Watch Ultra for £2,160. Considering the phone’s usual price is £1,800, this gets you the flagship watch for £360 – and not its usual £600 price.

Another interesting pairing is the Z Fold6 with the Galaxy Buds3 – somehow, this costs £1,763, which is less than the price of just the phone. If you prefer the Galaxy Buds3 Pro instead, that bundle is £1,817.

You can also pick up the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 (256GB) with a Galaxy Watch7 (40mm) for £1,205. That is £155 for the watch, which normally costs £290. Or you can grab the Buds3 for just £38 more than just the Z Flip, the Buds3 Pro pairing is £92 more.

Here are the Galaxy Watch Ultra and Galaxy Watch7 on their own, if you don’t plan on getting a foldable:

And here are the Samsung Galaxy Buds3 and Buds3 Pro on their own:

The CMF Phone 1 by Nothing is one of the most impressive sub-£200 phones that we have tested yet. It has a unique, kind of practical design, a brilliant display and battery, fast chipset and good camera. It’s the only camera on the back, but it’s good (even without OIS). The lack of NFC, stereo speakers and better than IP52 resistance leaves some things to be desired, but again, you can have this for just £180.

The Nothing Phone (2a), the parent brand’s main budget phone is £120 more. True, this one does have OIS on the main camera, a 50MP ultra wide and NFC. Plus, the chipset is a bit faster (but only a bit) and the water resistance goes up to IP54. The 2a is the better phone, certainly, but is it £120 better?

The OnePlus CE4 Lite is down to £250, but its aging Snapdragon 695 is no match for the Dimensity 7300 of the CMF Phone 1. The CE4 Lite doesn’t have an ultra wide camera either, but at least it has OIS on the main. Also, the 5,110mAh battery is quite a bit faster with 80W charging (vs. 5,000mAh 33W on the CMF). Oh, the OnePlus also has stereo speakers and an IP54 rating.

The Samsung Galaxy A35 is kind of pricey at the moment, we’d wait for a better discount. But for the sake of comparison, the Exynos 1380 is on par with the Dimensity and you get superior IP67 dust and water resistance protection. The 50MP main camera has OIS and the 8MP ultra wide is better than nothing. You may miss the 3.5mm headphone jack, however.

The Google Pixel 8a is also too pricey, but discounts will come. The Tensor G3 chipset easily tops the Dimensity and you get an IP67 rating like on the Galaxy. This one even has wireless charging for its 4,492mAh battery (just 7.5W, but still). The 64MP OIS camera enjoys Google Cam magic and there is a 13MP ultra wide. No microSD slot on this one, however, no 3.5mm headphone jack either.

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