Tag Archives: phones

The First ‘Surveillance Smartphone’ with Thermal Imaging and Night-Vision Cameras: Ulefone Armor 27T Pro+

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Ulefone has a knack for designing rugged phones tagged with unique features that make them unique. Case in point, the Armor 30 Pro with a 4W 118dB loudspeaker in the middle of the hexagonal camera bump. Now the Chinese manufacturer has come up with another durable phone that has a feature most of us would love out in the wild.

This is the Armor 27T Pro+ smartphone that boasts a triple camera setup that has more up its sleeve than most smartphones on the market. The device has a camera system capable of thermal imaging and infrared night vision, which should come in handy in a wide range of situations. Whether you are alone in the wild looking out for sneaky wild animals, tracking heat signatures in a complicated home vent system, or simply showing off some cool party tricks; the device stands out in the crowd. According to Ulefone, the FLIR thermal cam penetrates darkness, glare, fog, or dense smoke for a clear heat signature.

Designer: Ulefone

Armor 27T Pro+ extends its use beyond the daily driver use as it is the perfect fit for outdoor professionals, search & rescue personnel, or hobbyist hunters tracking their next elusive target. Built like a tank, the smartphone has P68 and IP69K water and dust resistance ratings, along with the MIL-STD-810H military durability certification. You can pressure wash it or simply shrug off the beat skipping drops that other phones would not survive. Clearly, the phone is meant for extreme outdoor conditions where your popular flagship will begin to show the signs of submission. With a weight twice that of a normal phone, the Armor 27T Pro+ creates a distinct niche for itself with the advanced camera system.

The 5G Android device is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 6300 system-on-chip and paired with the 24 GB RAM (12GB virtual memory). The onboard storage of 256 GB is respectable, but can be extended to upto 2TB with the microSD card. 6.78-inch Corning Gorilla Glass Victus display is also impressive with the Full HD+ resolution (1,080 x 2,460 pixels), 120 Hz refresh rate and 680-nit peak brightness for viewing in bright outdoor conditions. The premium glass display gives you peace of mind against scratches and drops from as high as 6.6 feet on rock-hard surfaces.

Standout feature of the device is the 10,600-mAh solid-state battery, which offers higher energy density compared to a similar capacity Li-ion battery. On top of that, the battery also has a longer lifespan since it can perform well in extreme temperatures of -30 degrees Celsius. The phone supports wireless charging and reverse charging when needed. It comes with a uSmart 2.0 connector to tether the endoscope and microscope attachment for inspection tasks.

The post The First ‘Surveillance Smartphone’ with Thermal Imaging and Night-Vision Cameras: Ulefone Armor 27T Pro+ first appeared on Yanko Design.

vivo V70 Review: A Concert Photographer’s Phone in Mid-Range Clothes

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PROS:


  • Striking "Sunset Glow" Golden Hour design

  • 4K 60fps video recording on a mid-tier smartphone

  • Powerful 50MP ZEISS Super Telephoto Camera

  • Large 6,500mAh battery with super-fast 90W charging

CONS:


  • 8MP ultra-wide camera is decent but mediocre

  • No wireless charging

RATINGS:

AESTHETICS
ERGONOMICS
PERFORMANCE
SUSTAINABILITY / REPAIRABILITY
VALUE FOR MONEY

EDITOR'S QUOTE:

The vivo V70 proves that a clear camera identity and premium materials still matter at this price.

The mid-range smartphone segment is crowded in ways that make individual products hard to distinguish. Specs converge, designs flatten, and most phones feel interchangeable within days. vivo’s V70 enters that space with a clear point of view: a ZEISS-co-engineered telephoto camera tuned for stage photography and travel, a large battery built for long days, and a physical design that genuinely tries to look and feel like something worth keeping.

The v70 also introduces the Golden Hour edition, the most visually expressive option in the lineup, with an etched glass back, an aerospace-grade aluminum frame, and a ZEISS camera module with serious hardware inside. Running OriginOS 6 on a Snapdragon 7 Gen 4, it promises a telephoto-first camera experience for concerts and travel, backed by a 6,500mAh battery. Does the full package deliver on all of it? Read on.

Designer: vivo

Aesthetics

Of all the V70’s color options, the Golden Hour edition is the one most worth talking about. vivo uses a specialized chemical etching process to form micron-scale texture on the back glass, creating a diffuse reflection that reads as refined matte from a distance but reveals subtle warmth in direct light. It’s fingerprint-resistant and smooth without feeling slippery, a noticeably more considered finish than the glossy or painted backs that dominate this price tier.

What’s more surprising is that the back doesn’t stay a single color. Depending on the viewing angle and ambient lighting, it shifts toward a cooler, slightly bluish hue you wouldn’t expect from a finish called Golden Hour. That unexpected chromatic movement makes it more visually engaging than a standard gradient, the kind of surface detail that keeps catching your eye without you fully understanding why.

Around the front, the aerospace-grade aluminum alloy frame wraps a flat display with ultra-thin bezels measuring just 1.25 mm on the sides. Rounded corners soften the silhouette without cheapening it, and the flat screen is a deliberate departure from curved-edge designs that can distort content near the edges. The overall impression is controlled and considered rather than flashy, which suits the V70’s personality well.

On the back, the camera module is a rounded metallic rectangle sitting just 3.29mm above the surface, low enough that the phone doesn’t rock noticeably on a table. Three lens rings and a ZEISS badge keep the composition clean without feeling crowded. It’s a well-executed rear panel that reinforces the premium identity without needing extra ornamentation to make the point.

Ergonomics

At 194g light and 7.59mm thick in the Golden Hour configuration, the vivo V70 feels present without being heavy. The matte AG glass provides enough grip for confident one-handed use without a case, and the flat sides and rounded corners make it comfortable to hold at its screen size. Weight distribution is balanced, which matters more for all-day carry than any single spec on a data sheet.

The 3D Ultrasonic Fingerprint Scanning 2.0 is one of the more underrated features here. It works reliably with damp fingers, meaning no frustrating tap-and-retry cycle after a workout or a skincare routine. Best of all, it’s located a good distance away from the bottom, so you don’t have to precariously shift your hand from its natural holding position just to unlock the phone.

Performance

Under the hood, the vivo V70’s Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 with LPDDR5X memory and UFS 4.1 storage handles everyday tasks and multitasking without hesitation, and a 4,200mm² vapor chamber keeps sustained performance steady during longer camera sessions. It’s not a chipset that headlines benchmark charts, but it delivers consistent, smooth day-to-day performance, which is more relevant to what the V70 is actually designed for than theoretical peak numbers.

The 6.59-inch 1.5K OLED runs at 120Hz with 459 PPI and peaks at 5,000 nits local brightness, which holds up well in direct sunlight and makes reviewing photos outdoors genuinely practical. Colors are rich without being oversaturated, and the 1.07-billion color depth makes gradient-heavy AI-edited shots look smooth rather than banded. It’s one of the better mid-range displays available at this price tier right now.

The camera system’s two stars are the 50MP main and 50MP periscope telephoto. The main uses a Sony LYT-700V sensor with a 1/1.56-inch surface area and OIS, delivering consistent, detailed portraits across daylight and mixed lighting. The telephoto uses a 1/1.95-inch sensor with its own OIS and a periscope structure that enables 10x zoom in a compact body. Both cameras consistently outperform what you’d expect at this price.

Of the three rear cameras, the 8MP ultra-wide is where things get more ordinary. It’s functional for casual wide shots, but the gap in detail and dynamic range between it and the main and telephoto cameras is noticeable. Given the vivo V70’s travel ambitions, wide landscape shots will come out looking more ordinary than portraits taken at the same destination. The phone’s real camera personality clearly lives in the other two lenses.

AI Stage Mode is a genuine differentiator if you attend live events regularly. At 10x zoom from 10m to 20m away, the AI Image Enhancement Algorithm and AI Style Portrait Technology combine to pull facial detail and expression clarity from performers under challenging stage lighting. It won’t replace a dedicated camera at that distance, but for a phone that fits in your jacket pocket, the results hold up surprisingly well.

Video gets a meaningful upgrade with 4K 60fps, the first time the vivo V series has offered this, and footage looks cinematic when lighting cooperates. AI Audio Noise Eraser in post-editing selectively reduces wind noise, crowd chatter, or ambient sound from recorded clips. It sounds like a spec sheet bullet point until you actually try cleaning up a concert recording with it, and then it becomes a feature you’d miss on another phone.

Battery life is a genuine strength. The 6,500mAh BlueVolt battery with 90W FlashCharge handles a full day of heavy use and then some, including heavy video playback. Wireless charging still isn’t part of the package, though, which will matter to those who’ve built it into their daily routine, but fast wired charging and a genuinely large battery soften that trade-off considerably.

Sustainability

vivo commits to four generations of OS updates and 6 years of security patches for the V70, placing it firmly in the category of phones worth keeping rather than replacing every two years. That’s the most meaningful sustainability argument a phone can make, applying regardless of materials or recycling programs. Longer software support means slower obsolescence, and slower obsolescence means less electronic waste accumulating on a shelf somewhere.

IP68 and IP69 ratings, combined with what vivo calls 10-Facet Drop Resistance, lower the anxiety of carrying a polished phone through real conditions. IP69 covers high-pressure water jets, going well beyond typical rain scenarios. That durability confidence changes how casually you handle the phone day to day, and there’s something genuinely reassuring about owning a device you don’t have to constantly worry about.

The material choices also support long-term ownership. Aerospace-grade aluminum and etched AG glass age more gracefully than glossy plastic, which yellows, scratches, and starts looking tired within a year of daily use. The matte texture stays presentable with minimal cleaning, and IP68/IP69 combined with drop resistance gives the V70 a realistic chance of surviving the accidents that typically end mid-range phones early.

Value

The V70 packages premium design, a ZEISS telephoto-first camera system, a strong OLED display, fast charging, and long software support into a price tier that usually demands more compromises. The Golden Hour finish gives it a visual identity that stands above most phones at its price, and the combination of AI Stage Mode with ZEISS Multifocal Portrait focal lengths makes it genuinely specialized rather than just generically capable.

The 8MP ultra-wide is the honest weak spot, and travelers who rely heavily on wide shots will feel that gap. Wireless charging is also absent. But what the V70 does well, it does consistently, and the combination of a premium-feeling design, a capable telephoto system, and 6 years of security updates makes it a phone that’s easy to justify and hard to grow out of quickly.

Verdict

The vivo V70 in Golden Hour is one of the more cohesive mid-range phones available right now. The etched glass with its unexpected bluish shift, the aluminum frame, the ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, the bright 1.5K OLED, and the ZEISS telephoto and portrait system all work together in a way that makes the phone feel intentional rather than assembled from a spec sheet and a parts catalog.

The 8MP ultra-wide and the absence of wireless charging are unfortunate blemishes on what is otherwise a remarkably well-rounded package. Both are real trade-offs rather than dealbreakers, though, and the vivo V70 earns its place as a phone that’s genuinely hard to fault for what it costs, especially if portrait photography, concert shooting, and long battery life are what matter most to you.

The post vivo V70 Review: A Concert Photographer’s Phone in Mid-Range Clothes first appeared on Yanko Design.

Google Released a New Pixel 10a and It’s Basically the Same Phone From Last Year

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Google would like you to meet the Pixel 10A. It has a new name, new colors, and a press release that runs to several pages. It costs $499, which is exactly what the Pixel 9A cost. It weighs the same. It measures the same. It has the same cameras, the same battery, the same chip, and the same 6.3 inch display. There is a episode of The Office where Pam preoccupies Michael by presenting two identical photo printouts as a spot-the-difference puzzle. Google has essentially done that, except the printout costs five hundred dollars.

To be precise about what actually changed: the display is about 10% brighter, the glass protecting it moved from Gorilla Glass 3 to Gorilla Glass 7i, wired charging climbed from 23 watts to 30, and wireless charging went from 7.5 watts to 10. The camera bump, already barely perceptible on the 9A, is now completely flush. In some regions, satellite SOS is supported. That is the complete list. Google did not forget to send the rest of it.

Designer: Google

The Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro both run on the Tensor G5. The Pixel 10A runs on the Tensor G4, the same chip from last year’s A-series, and the year before that in the Pixel 9 Pro. For years, buying the A-series meant getting the current flagship chip in a cheaper body. That was a genuinely good deal. Google has decided, apparently, that it was too good.

Best Take, Camera Coach, Call Screening, Clear Calling, Now Playing, Gemini as a built-in assistant, and seven years of updates add up to an experience that Android competitors at this price genuinely struggle to match. The Pixel ecosystem has real pull, and Google knows it. The 10A is banking on that pull being strong enough to carry a spec sheet that would embarrass a 2024 phone.

Google looked at the Pixel 9A, decided it had not been wrong about any of it, and shipped it again with brighter glass and a new colorway called Fog. In an industry that routinely invents problems to solve, there is something almost philosophical about a company that simply refuses to fix what it considers unbroken. The Pixel 10A does not have an identity crisis. It has its predecessor’s identity, and it is completely comfortable with that.

It will sell because the cameras are good, the battery lasts, the software support is unmatched at the price, and most people upgrading to it will be coming from something two or three generations older where the difference feels significant regardless of which Tensor chip is inside. Google understands its buyer perhaps better than its buyer understands the spec sheet. The Pixel 10A is a perfectly competent phone that knows exactly what it is. But also… this smartphone announcement could have been an email.

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Peak Design’s Phone Straps Have a Built-In Swivel to Stop Twisting

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Most phone straps are fine until they twist, tangle, or feel like they’ll snap the first time you grab your phone in a hurry. The market has always split between fashion-first and function-first, rarely landing both at once. The phone has become the center of daily carry, but the strap category still feels like an afterthought that nobody took seriously enough to do properly.

Peak Design’s Mobile Straps are quick-adjusting, low-profile, comfy, and durable, built around the new Micro Anchor connection system. The line treats the phone strap like camera gear rather than a decorative loop of fabric, designing for how straps actually behave when you’re moving and constantly reaching for your phone. Micro Anchor handles the attach-and-remove part intuitively, with a built-in swivel to prevent the twisting that makes most straps annoying within a week.

Designer: Peak Design

The Mobile Crossbody Multi-Strap is the carry hub option for days when pockets aren’t enough. A custom-machined, anodized aluminum carabiner locks shut and holds up to three Micro Anchors, so your phone can share the strap with keys, a wallet, or a small point-and-shoot camera. The basket-woven nylon and poly rope balances strength, padding, and stretch, so the whole setup sits comfortably across a shoulder without digging in.

The Mobile Crossbody Strap is the cleaner, lower-profile option for days when you just want your phone secure and accessible without extra hardware clinking around. Two connection points keep the phone stable and prevent it from spinning mid-stride, which is the main reason most lanyards feel unsatisfying in practice. It converts to single-point carry when you want a more minimal setup, making it flexible enough to shift between carrying preferences without swapping straps.

Mobile Cuff is the smallest piece in the family, and the one you’d barely notice until you actually need it. The rope cinches onto your wrist if the phone slips, and an aluminum stopper lets you set a minimum loop length so it doesn’t flop around. Shooting photos one-handed, walking with a coffee, or loading groceries are moments where a wrist loop quietly becomes the difference between relaxed and anxious.

The materials throughout feel like deliberate choices. Glass-reinforced nylon hardware handles quick length adjustments one-handed, the rope holds up to daily use, and the connectors are designed to be reconfigured without fuss. These are the details that separate straps you trust from straps you eventually stuff in a drawer.

Compatibility is handled via built-in strap connection points on Peak Design cases and Apple iPhone cases (17 and onwards), with a universal adapter included for third-party cases. That means you don’t have to commit to a new case to use any of them, which removes the usual barrier that comes with upgrading your phone carry setup.

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Would you pay over $10K for Caviar’s Valentine-special iPhone 17 Pro with 24K Gold and Mother of Pearl?

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What’s the ultimate declaration of love? Sometimes it’s breakfast in bed, other times it’s a $10,000 splurge on a gold-plated iPhone with inlay work. Each to their own, I guess. Me, I’ll stick to avocado toast and OJ served in bed, along with a poem co-authored by ChatGPT.

The Dubai-based luxury customization house, famous for slapping Rolex movements and 24K gold onto iPhones and calling it a Tuesday, has just unveiled the Wings of Love, the latest piece from their Garden of Eden collection. The price? Upwards of three Vision Pros. (And that’s just for the base 256GB variant)

Designer: Caviar

Where most Caviar creations lean into black or stark white as a base, Wings of Love goes with a soft slate blue-grey leather that sits somewhere between storm cloud and morning mist. It’s an unusual, almost painterly choice, and it works brilliantly as a canvas for what’s layered on top: a full scene of swallows in flight, rendered in raised 24K rose gold with mother-of-pearl inlays catching the light at every angle. The birds weave through branching vines and leaves, each leaf tipped with its own iridescent shell inlay. Up close, the craftsmanship looks less like phone customization and more like a miniature Art Nouveau panel that belongs behind museum glass.

The symbolism isn’t arbitrary either. The swallow has carried meaning across cultures for centuries, representing loyalty, return, and love that survives distance. Sailors tattooed them as talismans for safe passage home. In folklore, spotting a swallow was a sign that someone who loved you was thinking of you. Caviar leans into all of that intentionally, positioning Wings of Love as a phone designed specifically for women who, as they put it, treat love as a direction.

The camera plateau, normally the awkward protruding bump that makes every modern iPhone beg for a case, has been fully absorbed and integrated into the decorative overlay. The upper portion of the back is completely redesigned, with the camera module sitting flush within an ornate gold and mother-of-pearl composition featuring a blooming rose motif. The result is a phone that’s slightly thicker overall, yes, but dramatically more coherent as an object. You’re not staring at a camera bump that disrupts the design. The camera IS the design, framed and intentional, like a window in an illuminated manuscript. And because the whole back is already a sculpted, protective structure, you’d be committing a small crime putting a case over it anyway.

The side profile is engraved with “Garden of Eden” and an individual edition number on each unit, and hallmark stamps on the bottom edge certify the 24K gold content, treating the phone with the same seriousness as fine jewelry. Which is exactly what it is.

The whole thing is built for exactly 14 people on Earth. That’s the edition size, 14 pieces, full stop. Which means this isn’t really a phone. It’s a wearable heirloom that happens to run iOS. Pricing starts at $10,340 for the iPhone 17 Pro in 256GB, climbing up to $12,270 for the Pro Max in 2TB. And yes, you can commission just the customization on a device you already own, which is a small mercy for anyone who doesn’t want to explain to their accountant why they bought two iPhones at once. The packaging, naturally, is interactive and comes with a Caviar key finished in 24K gold. Because when your phone costs ten grand, the box has to keep up.

Is it excessive? Absolutely. Is it for everyone? With 14 units in existence, mathematically, it’s for almost no one. But that’s kind of the point. The Wings of Love isn’t trying to be practical. It’s trying to be meaningful, a declaration that sometimes, love deserves to be made in gold. Oh, while you’re at it, close this tab once you’re done just in case your partner happens to glance over your shoulder and ask you for this phone.

The post Would you pay over $10K for Caviar’s Valentine-special iPhone 17 Pro with 24K Gold and Mother of Pearl? first appeared on Yanko Design.

Benks’ $40 Kevlar Case for iPhone 17 Pro Max Features Hand-Woven Horse Patterns for Lunar New Year

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2026 marks the Year of the Horse in the Chinese zodiac cycle, a symbol associated with vitality, independence, and charging ahead without hesitation. Tech companies usually acknowledge this with red packaging and zodiac graphics that disappear by February. Benks decided their limited edition iPhone case should actually reflect what the horse represents: strength, elegance, and refined power. The Knight ArmorAir case uses military-grade Kevlar as its foundation, the same material trusted in aerospace and body armor, then layers in artistic details that transform functional protection into something worth displaying.

The design starts with a deep burgundy Kevlar weave that creates texture through the material itself rather than surface treatments. A lighter champagne-toned pattern forms a running horse across the back, with individual dots creating movement and depth when light hits it from different angles. The camera bump gets the most elaborate treatment, featuring an embossed horse head with flowing mane details inspired by traditional Chinese ornamental metalwork. Rose gold accents on the frame and buttons coordinate with the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s natural titanium finish. It’s a case that works whether you’re celebrating the lunar calendar or just appreciate when limited editions actually bring something new to the table instead of recycling the same festive clichés.

Designer: Benks

The foundation is 1000D DuPont Kevlar, the same aramid fiber family used in bulletproof vests and aerospace components. This material offers tensile strength five times that of steel while weighing considerably less, which is why your phone case can be slim and protective simultaneously. Most people associate Kevlar exclusively with black because that’s its natural woven appearance, but Benks spent years perfecting the dyeing process. They treat the aramid fibers before weaving them, achieving colors like this burgundy base without degrading the material’s protective characteristics.

The champagne horse pattern shows how Benks separates itself from competitors still doing basic Kevlar work. Those lighter dots forming the galloping horse silhouette come from strategic weave density variations rather than printing or painting. Benks essentially programs the weaving pattern to allow more underlying resin exposure in specific areas, creating what looks like pixel art made from industrial fiber. It’s the kind of manufacturing technique that requires custom machinery and tolerance levels most accessory makers won’t bother investing in. The three-dimensional horse head on the camera surround takes this further with actual relief work, meaning it’s sculpted metal rather than flat etching.

The case adds 2mm of thickness total, keeping the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s profile relatively intact while delivering that Kevlar rigidity. MagSafe compatibility maintains 1,200g of magnetic holding force, so wireless charging and accessory attachment work identically to Apple’s official cases. The camera surround raises 1.5mm above the lens surfaces for flat-surface protection. Button cutouts use individual rose gold aluminum inserts instead of silicone pass-throughs, preserving tactile feedback. Benks includes a one-year warranty, which suggests this limited run uses the same construction standards as their permanent lineup rather than cost-cutting for a seasonal release.

The Knight ArmorAir Year of the Horse edition runs $39.99 through Benks’ site and Amazon. That positions it between bargain-bin TPU options and the luxury leather folios that somehow cost more than AppleCare itself. For a limited edition with this level of material engineering and cultural design work, the pricing feels appropriate rather than opportunistic. Whether the horse motif resonates with you culturally or just aesthetically, the case delivers functional protection that doesn’t expire when the zodiac calendar turns over in twelve months.

The post Benks’ $40 Kevlar Case for iPhone 17 Pro Max Features Hand-Woven Horse Patterns for Lunar New Year first appeared on Yanko Design.

The “Shot On iPhone” Lifehack: This 235mm Telephoto Case Packs Manual Controls + MicroSD Storage

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Every time you see “Shot on iPhone” superimposed over a stunning image, ask yourself what’s just outside the frame. Chances are good there’s a telephoto adapter screwed onto the phone, a stabilizing rig keeping it steady, professional lighting bouncing off reflectors, and maybe even an external monitor for the director to watch. Apple loves to showcase the iPhone’s camera prowess, but conveniently omits the ecosystem of professional gear that makes those shots possible. The phone is capable, sure, but it’s getting significant help from its friends.

That’s exactly the gap PGYTECH’s RetroVa Vintage Imaging Kit fills, except it doesn’t hide what it’s doing. The system gives your iPhone 16 or 17 Pro a camera-inspired grip with actual tactile controls, a 13-element optical telephoto system that brings you to 235mm equivalent focal length, external storage support via microSD, and a companion app that offers film-style rendering straight out of camera. Sandmarc and Moment have been in the iPhone lens game for years, but RetroVa takes a more holistic approach by addressing not just optics, but the entire shooting experience.

Designer: PGYTECH

Click Here to Buy Now: $72 $89.95 (20% off) Hurry! Only 192 left of 300. Raised over $157,000

PGYTECH have played this game before. They’re the same company that builds the telephoto extenders for Vivo and Oppo’s flagship phones in China, smartphones that rank second and third in that market behind Apple. The 2.35X telephoto uses a professional 13-element, 3-group optical system crafted from premium ED glass, optimized specifically for the iPhone’s F2.8 aperture. Distortion sits at just 2%, which is impressive for a clip-on system. The optical design delivers razor-sharp clarity and organic bokeh without the digital noise that comes from cranking up your phone’s native zoom. Real glass doing real optical work makes a difference you can see in the final image, especially when you’re shooting wildlife, concerts, or anything else where you need serious reach without turning your photo into a pixelated mess.

The grip changes everything about how you hold and shoot with your iPhone… way more than the ‘Camera Control’ does. Physical buttons include a shutter release that half-presses to focus, just like a real camera. Control dials let you adjust ISO, white balance, and exposure value without tapping through menus on a touchscreen. A zoom lever switches focal lengths in the companion app’s vintage mode, letting you freely adjust zoom in standard shooting. There’s a multi-function button that handles power, quick start, mode switching, camera flips, and Bluetooth pairing. The whole thing weighs between 63 and 65.4 grams depending on your iPhone model, wrapped in classic black pebbled leather with a premium grip that feels like you’re holding a vintage Leica instead of a slab of glass and aluminum.

The grip also packs a built-in microSD slot to offset any storage woes you’d have from saving everything to your iPhone’s camera roll. Imagine this – you’re shooting 4K ProRes video and suddenly your phone throws up a “Storage Almost Full” warning, forcing you to stop everything and start deleting apps or old photos. An independent microSD slot avoids this problem entirely. You can record high-bitrate ProRes and RAW files directly to the card, completely bypassing your iPhone’s internal storage. The USB 3.1 connectivity delivers transfer speeds up to 312MB/s, so offloading footage to your tablet or computer takes seconds instead of the eternity you spend waiting for wireless transfers or slow card readers. The system supports external recording for ProRes, HEVC, and more formats, though 4K60+ ProRes external recording isn’t supported yet.

RetroVa’s companion app delivers film camera texture and mood straight out of the sensor. You get full manual control over shutter speed, ISO, and white balance, creating with the precision of a dedicated camera. The app suppresses iPhone’s built-in sharpening and algorithm processing for a more natural look, avoiding those over-sharpened phone images that scream “shot on smartphone.” You can stamp shots with instant-style watermarks and custom frames for each creation, adding your personal mark before the image even leaves the camera. Vintage film presets give you that classic camera aesthetic without needing to run everything through post-processing filters later.

PGYTECH offers the RetroVa in two distinct tiers to cover different photography styles. The Grip Kit runs $72 for street and everyday shooters who want mechanical controls and external recording support. The Ultimate Kit at $184 adds the 2.35X telephoto extender, tripod collar, lens adapter ring, photography strap, and lens pouch, building a complete creator ecosystem for street, travel, portraits, and long-distance photography. Both kits work with iPhone 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max. First units ship globally starting this month, with future iPhone 18 Pro compatibility requiring only a case swap while the grip continues working.

Click Here to Buy Now: $72 $89.95 (20% off) Hurry! Only 192 left of 300. Raised over $157,000

The post The “Shot On iPhone” Lifehack: This 235mm Telephoto Case Packs Manual Controls + MicroSD Storage first appeared on Yanko Design.

iPhone 17e Rumored for February 19 Launch With MagSafe, Dynamic Island, and a $599 Price Tag

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Apple’s budget iPhone is getting less budget and more iPhone. The 17e, set to arrive later this month, is rumored to bring MagSafe charging and the Dynamic Island to the $599 price tier. For context, MagSafe has been available on iPhones since 2020, but only if you were willing to spend at least $799. Now it’s trickling down to the entry model, along with faster wireless charging speeds and compatibility with the full range of Apple’s magnetic accessories.

The Dynamic Island is the other headline addition. While earlier leaks suggested the notch would stick around, newer reports claim Apple is finally retiring it across the entire lineup. That would make the 17e the first budget iPhone to feature the pill-shaped cutout that handles notifications and live activities. The price is staying put at $599 despite industry-wide component shortages and inflation, which makes this one of the rare years where Apple is adding features without inflating the cost. It’s a smart play in a segment where Google and Samsung are both raising prices.

Designer: Volodymyr Lenard

Look, the 16e was fine. Competent even. But that 7.5W Qi charging was a joke, especially when every other iPhone in the lineup had been doing MagSafe since 2020. You’d slap your phone on a charging pad and hope it actually aligned properly, then wake up six hours later to find it at 60% because you were off by half a centimeter. The 17e fixes this with 20W to 25W magnetic charging, which is fast enough that you can actually top up meaningfully during the day. And yeah, you get access to the full MagSafe accessory catalog without feeling like you’re missing out on features you already paid for.

Apple’s probably sitting on a pile of iPhone 14 display panels, which is why everyone assumed the notch would stick around for another generation. Cheaper to use existing inventory than retool the production line for Dynamic Island cutouts. But multiple sources are now saying the pill-shaped design is coming to the 17e anyway, which means Apple decided it was worth eating the cost to kill the notch completely. The notch lasted nearly a decade. Watching it finally disappear from the budget tier feels like the end of an argument that stopped being interesting years ago.

Component shortages are driving prices up across the industry. RAM is expensive, display panels are expensive, everything is more expensive than it was two years ago. Google’s probably launching the Pixel 10a at $549 or higher. Samsung’s A-series keeps inching upward. Apple could have easily bumped the 17e to $649 and blamed supply chain issues, but they didn’t. Holding at $599 while adding MagSafe and an A19 chip is either aggressive margin compression or a bet that ecosystem lock-in is worth more than short-term profit per unit.

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This Bedside Charger UV-Cleans Your Phone and Pops It Up Like Toast

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Phones go to bed dirty. They’ve been in your hands, on tables, in pockets, collecting bacteria all day, and they usually charge on a nightstand next to where you sleep without ever being cleaned. UV sanitizers exist, but most are clinical white boxes that feel more like medical equipment than something you’d want on your bedside table, and they rarely do anything beyond sterilization.

The Phone Toaster is a charging and sterilization device designed by DIVE for Aprill x Stone that borrows the form and ritual of an analog toaster. You slide your phone into a vertical slot at the top before bed, and the device charges it, sterilizes it with what’s likely UV light inside the chamber, and then “delivers” it back with an alarm in the morning, like toast popping up when it’s ready.

Designers: Minki Kim, Kyumin Hwang (DIVE Design)

The bedtime ritual is straightforward. You drop your phone into the slot, pull the front slider down like a toaster lever, and the device takes over. Inside, the phone charges while UV light cycles through to kill surface bacteria. A digital clock on the front keeps time, and the base glows with a soft, indirect LED ring that casts pastel light from underneath, making the space feel cozier instead of clinical before you turn off the lights.

When the alarm goes off in the morning, the device notifies you that your phone is fully charged and sterilized, ready to start another day. The scenario is meant to mirror the experience of making toast, inserting something, waiting, and getting it back transformed. Instead of bread that’s warm and crispy, you get a phone that’s clean and charged, which is a surprisingly fitting metaphor when you think about it.

The controls lean into that toaster language. Two small buttons on the top handle alarm and brightness settings, while the front slider and round, glossy knob feel tactile and familiar. The strong contrast between the matte, textured body and the shiny button gives the small form a bit of personality, making it read more like a playful bedside object than a piece of tech that’s just doing a job quietly in the background.

Color options include pastel blue, beige, yellow-orange, sage green, and gray, all meant to appeal to millennials who want their gadgets to reflect their personality instead of just sitting there in generic black or white. The soft hues and bottom lighting are designed to make the toaster feel like part of a calm nighttime routine rather than another device demanding attention.

Phone Toaster reframes phone sterilization and charging as a small bedtime ritual instead of something you forget about or do with a tangle of cables. Borrowing the toaster’s form, controls, and even the “pop” delivery moment, it makes putting your phone away at night feel intentional and a bit playful. The design is a gentle nudge that says hygiene tech doesn’t have to look clinical to be taken seriously.

The post This Bedside Charger UV-Cleans Your Phone and Pops It Up Like Toast first appeared on Yanko Design.

Apple iPhone Fold ‘Ultra’ Could Have a 5,700mAh Battery and $2,299 Price Tag

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Apple got thousands of people to pay $3,499 for an ambitious “spatial computing device.” Can they convince millions to shell out $2,299 for a foldable iPhone? Let’s just take a second to piece the logic. $2,299 gets you TWO latest iPhone Pros and some duct tape to hold them together. You’d get two screens, two camera modules, two processors. Heck, for $2,299 you could almost buy three iPad minis, giving you three 8.3-inch displays with Apple Intelligence running on all of them. What could a $2,299 iPhone Fold offer that would justify such a markup? Well, here’s everything we know.

The rumored clamshell-style foldable iPhone is shaping up to be a serious piece of hardware, not just a folding parlor trick. We’re looking at a 5,700mAh battery, which would be the largest ever in an iPhone by a significant margin, promising legitimate all-day power despite running dual displays. The device is expected to feature a 7.8-inch inner display with a 4:3 aspect ratio, essentially giving you an iPad-like canvas that folds into a pocketable form. The outer 5.5-inch screen would function as a standard iPhone when closed. Apple has reportedly solved the crease problem with advanced hinge technology, and the whole package would come wrapped in titanium, measuring just 4.5mm when unfolded.

Designer: 4RMD

Design studio 4RMD has visualized what this device could look like, and they’ve added the “Ultra” moniker to their concept to spice things up. The specs they’ve compiled from various leaks and reports paint a picture of a device that belongs in the upper echelons of Apple’s lineup, alongside the Apple Watch Ultra and potentially justifying that eye-watering price tag. The renders show a book-style foldable with dual 48MP rear cameras and a 24MP ultra-wide front camera, all running on the upcoming A20 Pro chip built on a 2nm process. Three color options appear in the concept: White, Black, and Deep Purple, the latter being a callback to the iPhone 14 Pro’s most popular finish.

Of all those specs, the 5,700mAh battery is the one that really stops you in your tracks. It’s a direct shot at the Achilles’ heel of every single foldable currently available. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 limps along with a 4,400mAh cell, and anyone who has used one knows that’s barely enough to get through a busy day. Google’s Pixel Fold does a bit better with 4,821mAh, but it’s still a compromise. A battery that large, combined with Apple’s legendary efficiency, means this could be the first foldable that you can actually use without constantly hunting for an outlet. That alone is a massive selling point.

Of course, stuffing a battery that big into a chassis brings up the immediate question of weight. Foldables are notoriously heavy; the Pixel Fold is a hefty 283 grams, and the Z Fold 6 is 239 grams. For context, an iPhone 16 Pro Max is around 227 grams. This is where the rumored titanium frame becomes critical. Titanium provides the necessary rigidity for a complex hinge mechanism without turning the phone into a pocket brick. If Apple can keep the weight manageable while achieving that 4.5mm unfolded thickness, they will have solved a core ergonomic problem that competitors are still struggling with.

The physical interaction model also gets a rethink, with Touch ID making a comeback on the power button. This isn’t a step backward; it’s a pragmatic engineering choice. Putting Face ID on both the inner and outer screens would mean two expensive, space-consuming TrueDepth systems. A single fingerprint sensor on the side works seamlessly whether the device is open or closed, and it’s a proven, reliable technology. If anything, it makes sense after years of FaceID not working when the phone isn’t facing you head-on. Just let me unlock my phone while it’s beside me in bed, Apple…

All this premium hardware would be for nothing if the main screen still felt like a compromise, which brings us to the crease. The concept details a nearly invisible one, which lines up with reports of Apple using advanced ultra-thin glass and a unique Liquidmetal hinge. Competitors have made progress, but you can still feel and see the fold on every device out there. If Apple truly manages to create a seamless internal display, it will remove the last major psychological hurdle for potential buyers. It would finally make a foldable screen feel like a single, uninterrupted canvas.

So, when do we actually get our hands on this thing? The consensus has been fall 2026, launching alongside the iPhone 18 Pro. That timing is now looking a bit shaky. Apple has reportedly pushed the standard iPhone 18 into 2027 because of component shortages, and the company is still wrestling with getting Apple Intelligence just right. If the Fold’s software isn’t ready (or even a better Apple Intelligence to pair with it), a delay seems inevitable. A slip from late 2026 to early 2027 would place its release right inside the window for the iPhone’s 20th anniversary. The original launched in June 2007, and it feels fitting that the 20th anniversary iPhone be one that bends in half on purpose.

The post Apple iPhone Fold ‘Ultra’ Could Have a 5,700mAh Battery and $2,299 Price Tag first appeared on Yanko Design.