u/aliward_96

As a tech enthusiast, I’ve always loved iPhone and Android, specifically Samsung Galaxy.

I currently use the iPhone Air and Apple Watch Series 10. Here in the UK, I can sell my devices and get a Galaxy S26 Ultra and Watch 8 for between £285 and £345 down depending on whether I choose the hassle of selling privately.

However, if I go for an S25 Ultra, that lowers by at least £100.

I love the rumoured look of the S27 Ultra next February. I could wait, but as much as I really like the Air (and love the Apple Watch) with the financials involved I’m very tempted to switch to Galaxy S25/S26 Ultra in the meantime.

What would you recommend, considering costs involved? The Watch will be the previous gen which I’m fine with, and I’m not bothered about having the latest gen phone unless I know it’ll be worth it. I’ll be getting either the S27 Ultra or back to the iPhone 18 Pro Max by next February anyway.

I’ve often heard the S25 Ultra was one of the best Ultra phones ever made, with the S26 Ultra underwhelming?

My priorities are battery life, display quality (brightness, viewing angles & resolution) performance, heat management/thermals, a reliable point and shoot camera with a good ultrawide, and the latest software.

Would it be worth it to get the S26 Ultra, or should I save some money on a new S25 Ultra? What is the S25 Ultra like over 12 months on?

I’ll say it now, the defence let us down last night.

I’m convinced that with Hugo Bueno, Krejci and Santi Bueno in that back four, we win, perhaps quite comfortably, in the end. Wolfe doesn’t have a defensive bone in his body, Mosquera is too erratic and Toti nowhere near dominant enough. To concede two goals at home to a side who are tipped to get relegated is rightfully worrying, regardless of it only being match day one.

We will not get promoted with that pair in defence, nor with Bentley in goal, who was also poor last night.

The club need to sort the futures of Hugo, Santi, Krejci and Sa as soon as possible. It’s not right that three of our best defenders and goalkeeper are on the bench. Either sell as soon as possible and replace, or get them in the team.

The attacking talent that we have means I think we’ll often be lucky enough to get bailed out and scrape results this season that we arguably won’t deserve. But something else that concerned me was how we reverted to type after going a goal behind. We let our heads drop, any plan we had went out the window, and we buckled.

Yes we have clearly have talent, but it means nothing if we don’t have the right mentality. Cesar needs to understand fast that a lot of the players who hid too often last season are currently still here this season, and it doesn’t bode well for the challenges of the Championship. We will fall behind in games, we will get pegged back and we will get beat by teams we really shouldn’t be losing too at times.

If players aren’t strong enough to deal with that, they can’t be here.

I still have no idea how this season will go. If Krejci and Santi remain, I’d be happy enough with that defence, but not if it’s Mosquera and Toti. No way. Sa has had his day here but if he’s staying, he simply has to play over Bentley who is useless. Jordan James would be a good addition but we also need another winger to compete with Mane and Gomes, who I think could struggle at times this season.

BBC WM suggested Tom Fellows at Southampton. Talented, home grown, knows the league, can’t get a game with them, I’d have thought affordable wages…and would piss off the Sandwell fans. Get him in!

I work in digital marketing and most of my work includes creating flyers and mailers with Canva Pro, running campaigns, social media management, SEO copy for the website and copywriting.

I’ve actually been really impressed with the MacBook Neo and anyone who does anything remotely close to what I do for either work or pleasure, you’ll be fine with this. I got given the Indigo 512GB with Touch ID for reference and it has replaced my MacBook Air M2, which also had 8GB RAM.

I’m yet to experience any programmes or tabs reload, performance is generally snappy if not quite as quick as my old Air. The design is nice and premium, the screen is fine and oddly enough I actually prefer the smaller 13 inch screen when it’s placed on my desk. The battery life is brilliant and during my only video call with it so far, the quality was very good.

I still prefer the haptic touchpad on my old Air, it feels clickier and a little cheaper on the Neo, and the lack of a backlight is a problem that I don’t think Apple had to do. How much does a backlit keyboard cost, really? At least typing is a nice experience.

On the whole, I think this is great, and of course it represents truly stunning value. I think my company had this new for a little over £600! Having been used to Touch ID on the MacBook for so long now, I’d definitely recommend the higher storage just for that, it makes logging into apps and websites a breeze, but not everyone will be bothered.

I’ve always loved my iPhone Air but prior to iOS 26.6 it did used to warm up at times even when I wasn’t doing anything particularly intensive. It didn’t necessarily impact battery or performance because I’d put my phone down for a bit before it got to that stage, but it was annoying.

Since I’ve upgraded to iOS 26.6 it’s been a major improvement. The phone is running beautifully cool 99% of the time and I have noticed improvements with the battery too. Yesterday I took my phone off charge at 6:20am and by 11pm I was down to 48% with 5.5 hours of SOT. Brilliant.

If Apple can deliver stable software like this, why haven’t they always been able to do it?

For me, based in England, UK:

1. Stella
2. San Miguel
3. Guinness
4. Beavertown Neck Oil
5. Thatchers Gold (had to get a cider in)

What about you?

I’ve had a lot of phones over the years but I can safely say the Air is one of the best.

Battery life, design, heat management, display and performance are the top five things I look for in a smartphone and the Air is either very good or class leading in most of those areas, in my opinion.

Having said that, it doesn’t quite make my top three.

1. iPhone 13 Pro Max

At the time, I loved this phone more than any other phone I’ve had before or since. Absolutely faultless. Stunning design in Sierra Blue, superb battery life, excellent, smooth performance, reliable software, a lovely display and just an all round fantastic phone. The best.

2. iPhone 7 Plus

The first phone I had that I loved in every single way. Beautiful design, excellent performance, brilliant battery life and, again, just an all round fantastic phone. I remember loving the haptic-style home button too, and portrait mode was a game changer. If it wasn’t for the 13 Pro Max, this would be number one.

3. OnePlus 15

I’d only consider the 13 Pro Max and 7 Plus to be totally faultless. Every other phone had flaws and this is one of them, but it was still leading in the majority of areas I care about. Never experienced battery life like it and the performance was unbelievable. I loved the design and thermals too. However, the display could have been a bit brighter and the camera a little more reliable at point and shoot.

4)…iPhone Air

It’s surprised me how much I love this phone. Gorgeous design, not just in terms of style, but durability and usability, too. The screen size is perfect and quality of the display itself is the best I’ve ever experienced. Performance is also joint best, with excellent ram management. The point and shoot camera and selfie cameras have never let me down either. Even the battery life is rather impressive most the time. Only the heat management annoys me, it’s got better since iOS 26.6 but I still can’t always use this phone exactly how I want to. Occasionally I do require an ultra wide too.

For £999 (original RRP) it’s far too expensive, even if what you’re sacrificing doesn’t necessarily mean a huge amount to me.

It was a toss up between this and the OnePlus for third place. Both are flawed but both are and were extremely loved regardless.

If you’re someone who cares about heat management and battery drain on your iPhone Air, do you ever seem to notice that one day it appears quite bad, and even flicking between light apps or typing a lot can cause the phone to heat up and cause battery drain, whilst the next day it can perform quite well?

No difference in usage, no software update, no restart, but something changes? One day I can only get 4 hours of SOT before I’m down to 20%, whilst other days I could get 6+ hours SOT. It’s weird.

I sometimes wonder if I overthink it and it’s psychological, but I definitely feel some days are worse/better than others despite not doing anything different. Especially with the heat management.

I never previously encountered any thermal issues with my Air, I’ve actually been impressed with it.

However, this week I have noticed it get warmer to touch near the camera plateau, even when I’m not doing anything particularly intensive. Even typing for long periods has a noticeable impact.

All this makes sense given the heatwave we’ve been experiencing in the UK this week. You’d think as long as you’re using it out of the sun it’d be fine, but when even our living room at home with the curtains closed is showing 29.3 Celsius on the thermostat, it’s clear everyone’s phone will be working harder this week.

And mine is struggling lol.

What about your phone?

I've had the Air for almost 24 hours later and I do get the hype.

The design is stunning. Going back to my 16 Pro Max feels like a brick, I don't think the thin, light design of the Air will ever get boring. It's so comfortable to use and the size is a real sweet spot. I'm glad I have the cloud white colour, I think that and sky blue really bring out the Air-type beauty.

I haven't had to "charge" the phone yet, as it arrived on 88% and I'm now sitting on around 40%. I can't say I've used it extensively, but for the first hour or so it was downloading a lot of apps and data in the background as part of the set up. I do get the impression though that the battery will be a weak point, especially compared to my Pro Max, and that is probably the biggest "trade off" of the Air for me. But of course I knew that. It is why the 16 Pro Max will probably remain my main phone, however.

As for the camera, I haven't even used it. I'm not an avid photographer, more than happy with just point and shoot, so I don't think this will bother me too much. Same with the speakers, I rarely ever play music or video out loud and prefer to use AirPods.

Performance, ram management, display, all exceptional. It's funny but I was expecting heat management to be an issue given the device is clad in titanium, but again, it's been fine even during set up. My 16 Pro Max heats up more than this. The upside to the titanium as well is the durability, it's staggering how how something this thin can feel so robust. I'm more than happy to use it without a case whilst I wait for my order to arrive. eSim was surprisingly effortless to set up as well.

The real benefit though has to be the design. I just can't stop picking this thing up.

Given everything, it does very much feel like a "first-gen" device and a look at where Apple are looking to take future releases, including the iPhone Fold dare I say.

My only real complaint would be that Apple priced this too high, I know you can find discounts now elsewhere but £1000 was too expensive for this amount of compromise. I'd have priced it more or less in line with the iPhone 17.

I’m an iPhone 16 Pro Max user but as a tech enthusiast I do have a second phone, which for a while now has been a OnePlus 15.

I loved it, but when someone I know asked if I wanted to trade for an iPhone Air I weighed up the pros and cons and eventually went ahead with it…so here we are with the 256GB cloud white.

First impressions as I’m setting it up are impressive! Staggering how thin and light this phone is, it’s absolutely gorgeous & holding it for even 5 minutes makes me realise how much of a brick the 16 Pro Max is.

I’d be surprised if I can put my main sim into the Air because of the battery life, but I have a feeling it’s going to be one of those phones I can’t stop picking up for a while. Does the novelty eventually wear off? Anyone who has come from a 16 Pro Max, or previous gen Pro Max?

So yeah, just wanted to say I’m now an Air user! Any advice, tips, things to watch out for? Mainly around battery, camera quality, heat management etc!

Thanks.

I had have the Garmin Vivoactive 6 for a few days now. I use it to record my swim sessions and I’m impressed with the accuracy. I also like the body battery feature.

One issue though, the step counter. I know for a fact it’s drastically exaggerating my steps.

This morning it said I had done 20 before I even got out of bed! Then coming downstairs, making a cup of tea, walking from a few rooms etc, it had said over 400! lol. Is there any way to re-calibrate or is it a case of it having to learn my steps?

I've been an avid Apple Watch user for about 10 years now. Even on the rare occasion I haven't had one on my wrist, I've had an Android smartwatch instead.

But as I approach 30, I'm contemplating a Garmin watch. I've suffered with stress and anxiety almost all my life and I'm debating whether to forego a lot of "smart" functionality for something that is really focused on health, wellbeing and fitness. I know a lot of smartwatches can track the same things, but I'm intrigued by the sheer number of sensors that Garmin watches have and how they interpret and display all the data, especially around stress, sleep and energy.

If I was to make the switch, I don't really know where to start as there's so many Garmin watches! I've looked at the Venu 4 but I'm wondering whether the metrics that matters to me are available for less.

To confirm, I want the latest sensors and insights for stress, sleep and energy levels. I'm going to try and get into fitness and activity a bit more too. Nothing major, just a walk in nature every day after work and pool swimming 2 or 3 times a week. It'd be good to track all this with the watch. Totally abandoning all smart functionality may be a step too far for me, but I don't really need anything more than general smartphone notifications and ability to see things like my calendar and the weather at a glance.

Excellent battery life is also a must, I dont want to charge any more than once a week. Durability and style are also important, I work in an office and it would be nice to continue wearing something that isn't bulky, heavy, or looks over the top.

I don't want to spend any more than £400-£450 brand new.

What would you recommend?

Just wanted to come on here and share my thoughts about the OnePlus 15, using it alongside an iPhone 16 Pro Max and having been an iPhone user for most my smartphone life.

I honestly never expected to love this phone as much as I do. It's utterly brilliant and feels like a new era for smartphones that in many ways is on another level to anything I've used, including my current 16 Pro Max.

It's still probably quite telling that my main SIM card remains in the iPhone. There are some apps that I prefer on iOS, in the very limited time I've spent with the cameras around London recently I thought the iPhone was slightly better, and I adore my Apple Watch. Must admit on the camera side though, using the camera has probably equated to less than 5% of my overall usage. I just don't take many photos. From what I've heard the camera is very good.

But as each day passes I'm getting closer and closer to switching my SIM, buying a OnePlus/Android watch, and accepting the OP15/Android's (very, very few) flaws to make this my main phone. I love it that much.

Simply because the phone prioritises everything I do. The incredible battery life, charging speed, performance, stability, and reliability day to day is something I don't want to give up. It makes it a joy to use. On my iPhone I'd be putting up with apps restarting in the background, the device warming up on random tasks. Never encountered a single issue on the OnePlus.

It's just fast, smooth and reliable. No matter what I throw at it. I never thought I'd see the day when "it just works" is arguably more applicable to Android than iOS in my experience.

I adore the sandstorm, durable design. The fingerprint scanner is superb. I really enjoy Oxygen OS (apart from lack of lockscreen widgets, what's that all about?) and Android is a refreshing change with better notifications, sound profiles and overall flexibility.

I've always said the best phone I've ever owned was the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Totally flawless. However, this is a very, very close second. I've had it for over a month now and I've only really been using my 16 Pro Max for essential communication, I just prefer using my OnePlus.

Anyone on the fence about getting this, don't debate or overthink. Just do it.