Motorola Edge 30 Neo

It's a long time since I had a new Motorola phone. In fact, since 2020 and the Edge Plus - now abandoned by Moto in terms of security updates, but let's not go there again! The Edge+ (2020) remains close to me however, still the best sounding speakers on a phone I've ever had. For those who want to remember that one, here's a link to my review from 2020. Meanwhile, I'm excited to explore the new Edge 30 Neo.

When phones have 'Neo' attached to them, we expect them to be cut-down, 'lite' versions of flagships (or even mid-rangers). The lower-end versions with compromises left, right and centre, making them less attractive to buy for us nerdy types! However, the major Chinese manufacturers are changing that landscape, slowly and surely over time - adding more and more mid-range (and in some cases flagship) features which defy their position in the plethora of possible choices for the consumer. And Motorola have caught on, it seems!

Caught on, because the Edge 30 Neo is really rather impressive at the £349 price-point. Sales going on all over the place of course - I got this one for £319, but I'm sure you could find it for £299 as I write now. For under £300, what you get here is staggeringly impressive and a really aggressively-priced challenge to others in the space. Motorola have just released this phone in autumn 2022 alongside the Edge 30 Fusion and Edge 30 Ultra - both further up the price range.

The box looks like an eco-friendly affair, brown cardboard which at least looks the part with claims of being plastic-free and recyclable with the use of 'soy ink' where printing is done. It's a nice enough little box, much like previous Moto ones in terms of size. There's a pokey-tool for the SIM Card Tray included, unusually hard-plastic (not soft) transparent case, USB-C to USB-C cable and a 68W Turbo-Charger - yes, in the box! They've done a deal with the colour-design creation firm Pantone to introduce some interesting colour options for the outside and with matching wallpaper - so you can choose Very Peri, Black Onyx, Ice Palace or Aqua Foam - inside and out! I have the Black one here.

The phone is almost dinky! I say almost, because it's not quite Pixel 5 dinky, but it's much smaller than many phones out there (especially Motorola's kind of 'standard' 6.7") and therefore, very pocketable and great for one-handed use. I'm likening it in terms of size to the Pixel 6a in fact. They are very close, but the 6a being a tad wider and with 'squarer' corners makes it a little less dinky than the Neo. Soft TPU cases (I bought one for the Neo) in place on both and the finger/thumb test around the waist of the phone is more difficult on the Pixel, no problem on the Neo.

The back of the phone is plastic with a very slight texture to it. Not enough to stop it slipping out of the hand, but it's certainly not glossy-shiny. There's an embossed Moto 'M' in a dimple in the centre and a Pantene sticker making sure you know what colour you chose! The camera island is a strange-looking two-tone - one lens and LED Flash sitting in a 'glossy' half following the Pantene colour and the other, a matt grey colour. The most interesting thing about the camera island though is the Notification LED surrounding it, which I'll come to. The island sits top-left in portrait.

Around the plastic edge we have various microphones - and even a tiny 'Dolby Atmos' with logo, next to the top front-firing speaker/earpiece. Nothing on the left, volume rocker over power button (which seem sturdy) on the right, then the other speaker, USB-C port and Dual (double-sided) NanoSIM Card Tray on the bottom. Motorola do their usual trick of avoiding IP-rating certification by claiming 'splash and dust resistant' but without guarantees and/or testing. So anyway, it's all plastic - but I'm OK with that. It's certainly very light to add to the dinky nature - at just 155g.

Despite the ongoing 'Edge' name Moto use, the front panel is flat Gorilla Glass 3, a 6.28" P-OLED, 1080p, 20:9 ratio, returning 419ppi. There's a 120Hz refresh rate with manual step-down, forced max or Auto settings. And it really is a bright and colourful display. Certainly up there with Samsung with saturated colours and deep blacks. You get almost 500 nits with manual control but over 1000, amazingly, in auto. And you can tell, outside in sunlight as you can see it very well. Also, the auto-brightness works wonderfully well - so much better in terms of auto-adjustment for environment than others, especially, recently, our experience with some Sony Xperia devices. I can happily leave it on auto - and trust it to get it right.

The black bezels are about a millimetre left and right, a bit more top and bottom. It is all symmetrical and it looks just fine to my eyes - as does the central punch-hole Selfie camera. Very subtle and quickly becoming a blind-spot. You can adjust the display in settings between Natural and Saturated (pre-sets) and also colour temperature with the warm/cool slider. The Night-light has an intensity slider too, with a scheduling option thrown in. I'm very impressed with this panel overall, certainly at this price point.

What you don't get with Moto is a 'proper' Always on Display. However, you do get their own Peek feature which I have spoken about a lot in the past. I accept that it's not 'always on', but the way in which it works almost makes up for it. There are two flavours of Peek. One uses a proximity sensor to wake up the screen, so you can wave your hand over the screen and it wakes and the other, present here, needs the user to nudge, lift or double-tap the screen to wake it. Notifications coming in will wake it if chosen of course - and this is where Peek comes into its own. Press and hold the Notification icon that you want to see and you get a summary at the top of the screen of what it's about. Still holding, if you want to go through and read it properly, slide down to the on-screen, fingerprint scanner and the phone will open up, taking you directly into the relevant app and message. Want to dismiss it without looking? Drag it to the Dismiss 'x'. Then there are app-context options, so if it's a Messaging/GMail app, you get a 'Reply' or 'Delete' option to slide to, YouTube (for example) 'Play', 'Watch Later and so on. It really is a well-coded and thought out system.

You can, of course, if you're not happy with having no Always on Display install a number of Android apps to conjure it up. My favourite is AoA: Always on Display or if you fancy Edge Lights like Samsung's, I recommend aodNotify which does a great job. This is all assuming that the LED Notification lighting around the camera island that I mentioned earlier isn't enough. Moto have done this before. I explained all about it when I had the Motorola One Zoom and it was a great feature, like a toned-down Razer or Nothing Phone. Here they have gone a step further in carefully designing the supplied hard-case so that when the lights go off and the phone is face-up on a desk, the lights reflect around the sides so you can see it going off. Not quite as good as the outrageously-rounded edges of the Edge Plus (2020) but going some way towards. This also works (perhaps not quite so well) with the clear soft TPU which I bought. There are some basic controls for this light, to choose which events make it light up. You can have it stay on whilst charging, but it's white-only and pulse-only for a set length of time. You can change the brightness from Adaptive to High/Medium/Low but anything other than High makes it much more difficult to see (unless it's a darker environment and/or the phone is face-down).

The phone arrived with Android 12 onboard, not 13, but with a promise of two OS updates (so to Android 14 sometime after Google release it in autumn 2023) and the usual bi-monthly security updates for 'at least' 2 years, giving this a supported life until autumn 2024. We hope. Fingers crossed. Motorola have been committing to 3 OS updates and 4 years of security with their 'flagships' but not, it seems down at this end, which I suppose is fair enough. Especially when we talk about what they have included here in terms of features for the price. Writing at the beginning of November here, I have the September Security update.

Powering the unit we have a SnapDragon 695 (6nm) and although that might feel a little low-end, it really isn't in terms of functionality. It's been perfectly fast enough with all that I threw at it - even some light car-racing gaming. No judders or shudders. Throw something really demanding at it and of course it might buckle, but the battery payoff here of a lesser chipset, for the target buyer, is well worth it. Even under load, copying loads of files from one device to the other, or installing 130 apps during setup, it was chugging along very nicely. When executing this kind of task, if you put it alongside a real flagship, of course you can see the difference in speed, but at least it's not heating up while it's doing it, even if it takes a tad longer!

Depending on where you are in the world you can get this in 3 flavours, 128GB/6GB RAM, 128GB/8GB RAM or 256GB/8GB RAM. I have the middle one here and didn't seem to have much choice in the UK. The 8GB RAM seems fine to me as well, switching tasks, not shutting stuff down, swapping back and forward etc. Not noticed a glitch with all that. As for storage, sadly there's no microSD Card slot - which is a diversion for Moto (and others) at this price point. We could always rely on memory expansion at this place in the market, but apparently that's now slipping away. There will only be Sony left soon - I wonder when they'll give up on it. Having said all that as if it's critical, I am changing! I've always been a great advocate of microSD but, actually, I hardly ever use it these days. I have about 60GB of data I want to carry, which leaves 128GB half-free. There's always USB-C on-the-go, so if push comes to shove, a card can be plugged in and read on-the-fly. And with cellular connectivity getting better all the time, being always-connected means that streaming (particularly music with low file-sizes) is really not much of an issue. Yes, it could be, stuck in a train tunnel or on an aircraft, but even those services are becoming more accessible in our ever more connected world.

I mentioned the under-glass optical fingerprint scanner earlier and the only complaint anyone could have with it really (laying aside the fact that it's not capacitive and on the side) is that it's pretty low down on the display. Very low down, in fact. Having said that, I've soon adjusted to it, especially when the Face Unlock works so well. The fingerprint scanner is really very good - you don't have to linger there like you do with the Pixel devices for a second - it's much quicker. Unless it's really dark, your face unlocks the phone before your finger gets there anyway! I watched one reviewer having difficulty getting their face recognised during the registration process - and this happened to me, too. This has happened before with Moto phones and me, which I've always put down to having a full beard. But to be fair, when the September Update came in, I tried it again and it worked fine, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's been tweaked in software. Attentive Display is also present, so the screen stays on when it continues to see your face via the Selfie Camera.

The 68W charging is very fast indeed - we're talking about 0-100% in just over 35 minutes. And about 75% in 20 minutes. It's great for when you really need a quick blast - by the time you've had a shower and breakfast, it's done! Not that the 4,020mAh battery will need charging too often as I'm finding it to be good for 48 hours between charges with about 6-8 hours of screen-on time. My 10% Reading Test is returning somewhere between two and three hours, usually somewhere in the middle, so very good indeed. All tests conducted with auto/adaptive-power features turned off. Added to this, we even have Qi wireless charging! Wow! This was a major draw for me, again, at this price point, a feature that is as rare as hen's teeth, so kudos to Moto. It's only charging at 5W, but actually, sitting on my bedside charger for my typical 7 hour sleep, I always wake up with it being on 100% - which is more than I can say for some other systems - looking at Sony and Nokia! So yes, I'm delighted with the power and charging department.

As you might expect, we have a very clean version of Android here from Motorola. In terms of Bloat, there was FaceBook pre-installed - but it was Uninstallable - and that was it. Google Discover to the left, completely standard Android 12 Notification Shade buttons and options. There is technically a My UX skin over the top, but it doesn't meander far from 'stock'. And the features it adds are useful - and worthy of the intrusion. I won't go through them all again, but the chop-chop torch, twist-twist for camera, three-fingers for screenshot - you will know all this by now if you have read my previous thoughts on My UX. There's some new stuff since the Edge+ though - some of which is Android 12 standard, but some that's not. Enhancements to the available Styles and Wallpapers, for example. Taking the standard Android 12 stuff and expanding it out, for example, meeting somewhere in the middle with what Moto was doing anyway under Android 10 and 11. There's also the new double-tap on the back of the phone to execute an action - open audio recorder, open Ready For (see below), play/pause music or pick any app installed to launch it. Seems to work very well, every time, whatever's assigned. Wonder why there's no torch - probably because of chop-chop! The Neo is largely Vanilla though - and that's a very good thing. Another Motorola-specific enhancement is the Ready For suite...

Ready For is Moto's shot at Samsung's DeX. In some ways, they do it better. Take a phone's brains, connect it to a PC, Display or TV and get an interactive UI up - then make use of the phone's screen as a mousepad to control the screen (with a TV) - or enjoy your PC's mouse and keyboard as pass-through control. You get a custom-designed UI via Windows software (called, imaginatively, the Ready For Assistant, which looks very much like Windows) where you can control the opening of apps on the phone, making use of the phone's software on a bigger screen. Some apps play ball better than others, some are rendered in helpful landscape, others behave just like they are on the phone. Developers are working with this, as are Google with enhancements to Phone Hub for Windows (to catch up with Chromebooks) and Microsoft/Samsung on the Phone Link tools.

Phone Link, unless you have a Microsoft or Samsung phone, is a watered-down version of these ideals and for a full immersive experience, DeX and Ready For have it nailed. Pass-through audio being an example. It doesn't work with Phone Link but it does with DeX and (wired) Ready For. You notice I said wired there because all of the above applies to the wired/USB-C version of Ready For, which this Neo doesn't have - it's wireless only (even though it has the supported hardware, DisplayPort, USB-C 3+ ready to support it). Moto have clearly decided to not throw the switch to make it happen.

However, it's far from all being lost as the Wireless version of Ready For is not that far behind the Wired. You don't get pass-through audio on a PC, for example (like Phone Link) and with a TV you connect via your network to a compatible TV (or in my case, Roku). It all works well enough but not quite as well as wired. For example, film/video lip-sync with some apps is not up to scratch, though on others it is. With wired, it all just works as if it's on the phone. You can choose to use the phone as an 'air mouse' if you like - or trackpad. The TV UI is much better than DeX's as you get a dedicated big-button interface which is much easier to navigate than a 'desktop' environment, which is what Samsung offers. Anyway, all good stuff for consumers. Maybe one day Moto will throw that switch in an update - I shall keep my beady eye on them!

The phone is supplied with stereo speakers which I mentioned, above, and they really are very good indeed. I've been comparing the output here with the Sony Xperia 5 Mk.IV and Motorola Edge Plus (2020) and the results are surprisingly comparable. The volume is really very loud and it's only at the very top-end of that where the components start to show that they're not as top-notch as the Edge+'s reproduction. Tweak it down a bit in volume just a tad, maybe 90%, and it fills out nicely in quality too. Alternatively, employ the Bass Boost (particularly) in the Dolby Atmos Pre-Sets or use the excellent Wavelet app to achieve similar. Whichever method is employed, you get to that same equation of quality/volume which shuffles it down a notch under the Edge+. I was surprised, however, that whatever I did with the output from the Xperia, I preferred the sound coming from this Moto, £600 less to buy! Yeah, I know, there's lots of other stuff you're paying for with the Sony too, but up until now I really thought that the Mk.IV was only being beaten by my Edge+, not coming in 3rd here.

The Dolby Atmos settings are the extended set, so lots of control over speakers as well as headphones - including full manual sliders - and yes, they really do make a difference with the right combination. They also continue to make available the Surround Virtualiser which, again, makes a significant difference to the stereo impact with both music soundstage/width and video/film with decent soundtracks. Placed 18" in front of the head and the listener can appreciate some clever software-driven speaker output enhancement going on, which is most impressive and enjoyable. There's no 3.5mm audio-out, unlike the Edge+ and Sony, but there's always dongles. Like with microSD, I think I'm learning to adjust to life with Bluetooth, particularly as the sound output via that route is staggeringly good these days from, well, pretty much any phone it seems. This unit is equipped with Bluetooth 5.1 utilising A2DP, LE, aptX HD and aptX Adaptive.

Connectivity is sound, it seems. The Bluetooth range seems to be solid, depending on quality of connected equipment of course, NFC for connecting to other gear seems to work as it should along with Google Pay and cellular connectivity seems very good indeed. I had a 2 hour voice call with my sister last night and it didn't flinch for the whole time. She was hearing me perfectly well, and vice-versa. When it comes to WiFi, it seems that here is where Moto have saved a few pennies as it's a bit like stepping back in time I guess... no WiFi6 of any flavour so it's back to 5/ac. Having said that, I have not noticed a thing wrong with my connection, no slower and no battery hit that I can detect. Makes you wonder if these 'improvements' in real-world use, are pretty minimal. Back in the days before these latest versions of WiFi I never had a problem, so maybe it's a bit like 4G and 5G. I'm more than happy on 4G - there's nothing I do or nowhere I go which makes me think that I might need 5G, even if I had it in my area, but I guess everyone's lifestyle is different. I might be worse off in a football stadium than those with 5G. Anyway, this phone might be behind the curve with WiFi but it does indeed have 5G.

I've always quite liked what Moto do with their Camera software and this is no exception. There's a pretty basic set of shooters here - a 64MP f/1.8 main camera with OIS, a 13MP f/2.2 wide-angle secondary and a 32MP f/2.4 Selfie round the front. In my tests I think that the main camera shoots fine pictures, certainly in good light, and the wide-angle at 0.5x too. The jewel in the crown for me here though is the close-focus, dubbed 'Macro' of course by them, regardless of the misuse of the term! But it's really very impressive compared to most others which I have tried here. There's a 'Macro' badge present in most modes on the main view next to '0.5' and '1' - like Moto expect people to be shooting a lot of close-ups!

The Night Vision seems to me to work very impressively - you are led through that 'hold still' procedure, then watch as a photo appears - with subjects in the frame that even the human eye can't see! I'm sure a pixel-peeper will zoom in and pick up on loads of noise and so forth, but for the rest of us 98% of users, the shots are just great. The portrait mode seems to do a decent enough job with controlled depth of field - and you get that fun Spot Colour toy to play with along with an Ultra-Res 64MP forced-mode (to use the whole sensor and stop 'binning') - and bunch of other stuff too. You can edit which modes you want to see on the main view (Samsung style) and dive into settings for a bunch of other tweaks and adjustments. The one thing which seems to annoy people (who care about cameras in phones) is the lack of 4K Video shooting. There's also no optical Zoom, one of the clear advantages of the Edge+ with its 3x Optical which is very handy.

Anyway, I shall soon be out of my depth with digital photography, so I shall do my usual trick here of handing over to the folk at GSMArena who do a great job as they test, prod, poke, sample, assess and conclude. They seem to always know what they're doing (much more than I could) which is why I refer to them so often. Do please support them by visiting their site for the latest mobile news and to tune into their excellent phone reviews. They seem to think that the Neo punches above its weight generally and can produce good results, but is let down by no optical zoom or 4K video recording.

I really like this phone. So much so that I might just have to keep it for myself! I had fully intended to review and move it on, but there's so much to like about it that I don't want to now! It's a lovely size, which always goes down well with me - in the hand for one-handed use. In the pocket it's light and easy to carry, it has a great Macro mode for me and a super bright and colourful screen. The speakers really surprised me - not the best, but for this price, real contenders, the 68W charging is stunning in use, a good long battery life between charges and the cherry on the top is the Qi wireless facility, again, at this price point. Something that many, many are just not including at this price point - so well done Moto.

I started out comparing the Neo with the Pixel 6a and, yes, we all know that the Pixel phones give the user the smartest, cleverest, AI-driven camera stuff that there is (pretty much) but if you take that away (or are uninterested in digital photography) you're left with a very ordinary experience. Yes, you get all the Google goodness, first out of the gate and long support, but there is much enjoyment to be had playing with phones from other OEMs too - and I've always had such a soft spot for Moto. If they would get their finger out with regards to updates, I'd never look back!

There's also the Pixel's IP-rating over Moto's wishy-washy statements about protection from the elements, but there's no Qi charging, which the Moto has. Always on Display against Moto's Peek. The Pixel is certainly similarly priced and has very good stereo speakers too - and with that 4K video recording (which everyone but me seems bothered about)! The only reason I was really comparing the two devices at the outset was size - most other attributes seem arguable. But I remain in the Moto camp with that - the Edge 30 Neo is much nicer in the hand and this could lead me - by the hand - back into a new Moto era! Very impressed and highly recommended at this price.

Fire Will Come (2019)

Galicia is an independent Spanish province in north-west Spain and the setting for this film set in a small community amongst the mountains and hills. French director Oliver Laxe takes the helm and produces something worthy of the many awards and accolades the film has received.

It's a real slow-burner of a film, the irony being that it is ultimately about wild fires and centred around a man who, two years before we join the story, had been put into jail for 'burning down a mountain'. Whether he was guilty of this or not we never find out, but two years later he arrives back at his mother's house to continue with their slow life.

A slow life which is about small-time farming with their three cows and small crop of vegetation, looking like they provide for themselves and a bit more to sell in order to pay their bills. Whilst Amador has been away in prison it is clear that his elderly mother, Benedicta, has struggled to make ends meet - continuing with the heavy workload on her own. She is pleased to see him back.

The local people clearly have the quiet Amador marked as their local criminal and try to avoid him, or when in contact, tease him. He tries hard to keep his head down and not seek conflict. He gains some warmth from a vet who comes to tend to one of the cows, who is an incomer to the area. Although she has heard about his history, remains apparently non-judgemental. The locals who remember, however, have it in for him especially when there is a new fire and one of them attacks him, even though there is no evidence that he is involved.

It was filmed in the Serra dos Ancares area of Galicia and many of the cast were local people and not professional actors. You wouldn't know, however, as they all demonstrate a level of competence which would not reflect the facts. Amador Arias plays Amador (with his own first name) and Benedicta (also playing under her own first name) is played by Benedicta Sánchez, neither of whom seem to have any track record at all of acting. They both do very well though and remain convincing throughout.

The film uses their own language, so it's subtitles time, but actually there is a distinct lack of dialogue throughout. The focus is much more on the movement of the characters, their daily routines, the work of the firefighters, burning landscape and wonderful scenery. The cinematography is excellent throughout, very artistic with lingering shots of a moody landscape, the valley often filled with haunting mists, wonderful lighting and loads of rain. But that's not all, as we're also offered apparently unnecessary shots of the characters in quiet moments, going about their lives, sleeping, smoking, sheltering from rain, thinking - wrapping us up into the characters and their lives.

There is oodles of atmosphere as we spend time with the mother and son in their dour cottage and around their smallholding. A real inside peek at ordinary rural life. It's very well produced and low-budget as it may be, has a gripping quality to it which makes the 90 minutes pass quickly - even though nothing much happens! This is no slick thriller on the streets of Paris but rather an arthouse meandering through country life and a peek into the culture of an area not often filmed. I must not forget the score and songs used, appropriately, throughout as that makes another enjoyable feature - including Leonard Cohen's Suzanne. I caught it on Mubi, but it's also out there on streaming services. Well worth a watch.

PodHubUK Podcasts for the Month of October 2022

...a roundup of our month of podcasting. Links to the team, communities and podcast homes on the net at the foot, so scroll down!

Phones Show Chat

Episode 715 - All Power, All Connection

Saturday 1st October

Steve and I are joined again by Jeremy Harpham this week as we talk power - and tinkering with tech off-grid. Plenty more too, with the latest thoughts on phones as Steve goes all Xperia and I get the Nothing Phone 1 in.

Tech Addicts Podcast

Algorithms and Ballix

Sunday 2nd October

Gareth is back holding things together a for a Pod this week carrying me, still functioning at about 70% I'm afraid. Anyway, we're here, catching up with the stuff that's caught our eye in tech this week. Lots of new hardware, apps, gaming and OS news, mopped up with some bargains in the basement.

Projector Room

Episode 122 - Blonde Lou

Wednesday 5th October

Gareth, Allan and I are back again for our fortnightly roundup of all things film, cinema and TV. This time we head for Turkey on the Midnight Express, compare Psycho films, some Funny Games and consider Blonde And/or Lou!

Phones Show Chat

Episode 716 - Only Buy if the Back is Cracked

Saturday 8th October

Steve and I welcome back Steve Heinrich this weekend and we catch up with what he's been using, playing with and find out what's happening with the PixelSwim Pod! Our thoughts on the Google announcements, I'm tinkering with the Sony Xperia 5iv and Nothing Phone 1 while Steve wirelessly recoils into skinning activities, Xtremely!

Tech Addicts Podcast

A Great Value Pixel 7

Sunday 9th October

Gareth and I are back for our weekend trashing of tech! Yes, the Google event of course, top of the bill but plenty more too from Redmi, OnePlus, Anker, SimpleOS, Nokia and Acer, to mention but a few! We flap our traps about (mostly) crappy apps and hark back to a time when bosses dictated and secretaries transcribed! Lot of fun, so enjoy. Or you'll be slapped with a wet kipper.

Whatever Works

Episode 172 - Caribbean Carabiners!

Friday 14th October

Aidan and I are back again with our fortnightly hour of fruit-loop induced mayhem! We find out Whatever Works for you and us - and this time we're sleeping with fishermen's jumpers, opening and closing chimneys, drooling over Station clocks and plenty more besides.

Phones Show Chat

Episode 717 - The Lure of the Fold

Saturday 15th October

Steve and I are back this weekend with another look at all things mobile phone and are joined once again by Garry Clark who's been on a spending-spree! We mainly chat about folding and flipping phones, pros and cons, but also dive into the Pixel 7 Pro for early thoughts.

Tech Addicts Podcast

Not So New Under the Surface!

Sunday 16th October

Gareth and I are back for our weekend roundup of the tech stuff that's crossed our paths this week. Microsoft's new stuff, the end of colourful phones, a twisty-turny Dell mouse, e-waste and plenty more as we navigate the Razer's Edge!

Projector Room

Episode 123 - The Watcher in The Cellar

Wednesday 19th October

A two-header Halloween Special this time as Gareth and I chew over some upcoming scares - and spooks from the past! Plenty of other stuff too, of course, so do come and join us!

Phones Show Chat

Episode 718 - Wheeling and Dealing!

Friday 21st October

The PSC Duo Surface early this week switching Samsung and Sony, we Watch out for Pixel, negate negativity around Nothing, head North with OnePlus and even learn to pronounce Oppo (again)! And plenty more besides!

Tech Addicts Podcast

Motorola to Roll Out the Rollable!

Sunday 23rd October

Gareth and I are back for our weekly tinker with tech, so why not join us. Plenty to chew over including the latest from Rolls-Royce and Leica. Classy show, this! Back down to earth with smart Samsung and flipping Oppo while Netflix and YouTube do the dirty on couples and families. The cads. A least we have a Fizzie time!

Whatever Works

Episode 173 - My Moist Muff!

Friday 28th October

Aidan and I are back again for an hour of mayhem as we consider Whatever Works in our lives and yours! Loads of goodies from clever scooters and microwave tips to food grating and DIY fire extinguishers! So do tune in and, as Ian Barton might say, don't Puck Off!

Phones Show Chat

Episode 719 - Wheeling and Dealing!

Saturday 29th October

Steve and I are back again this weekend and we find out what Tom Stuart has been up to since last on, in our wonderful world of mobile! Lots to natter about, including a look back at the last 30 years of tech, Android 12L, Apple and Pixel watches and much more.

Tech Addicts Podcast

An Ode to Buddy!

Sunday 30th October

Gareth and I are here again to torment you with badly researched talk about tech! (We take it in turns!) A sad day for Gareth as his buddy, Buddy the dog, has shuffled off ...you must hear the audio clip at the top of the show! ...but the show must go on, as they say. Samsung Maintenance Mode now a thing along with One UI 5 and Android 13, new stuff from the Air brothers (Apple and Xiaomi), 3-second-on heaters, a railway track between Earth and Mars(!), Chrome clap-trap and gaming goodies galore!

The Podcasts
PodHubUK - Phones Show Chat - The Phones Show - Whatever Works - Chewing Gum for the Ears - Projector Room - Tech Addicts

The MeWe Community Groups (follow the links to join up)
Phones Show Chat & The Phones Show - Whatever Works - Chewing Gum for the Ears - Projector Room - PSC Photos - PSC Classifieds - Tech Addicts

The Team
Ted Salmon - Steve Litchfield - Aidan Bell - Gareth Myles - Allan Gildea

Sony Xperia 5 Mk.IV

The evolution of the Xperia range from Sony has been fun, if expensive, to take part in and follow. In my case, particularly, the smaller of the current range - the 5-series. I am already the owner of a 5 Mk.II and although I wasn't able to get my hands on a 5 Mk.III, I thought that a comparison with the former might be a useful way to go on this as I have the II and IV in-hand.

Thanks to Sony PR in the UK for sending over this delayed but just-released unit for Phones Show Chat to review, though to cut to the verdict to some degree, I liked it so much that I bought one! I managed to find one second hand, mint, for two-thirds of the new price as the new price is not cheap, £949 in the UK. As to whether it's worth that money, dip in and find out with me.

The first thing to be said is that as the line has evolved. It has indeed followed the principles of evolution, small changes and improvements - so much so that the Mk.I, II, III and IV in some ways are difficult to tell apart. Which is a good thing. Slight tweaks to size, design, features, components, but essentially a very similar experience. Small in the hand with flagship specs and many that you won't find on any other phone right now - certainly not all in the one small package.

Cutting to the chase, the big news for the 5 Mk.IV over the previous models is that they have, at last, filtered down the Qi wireless charging from the big brother, being the 1-series. That's a huge deal for me, though I know it's a personal matter which people value differently. They've also increased the battery over previous models to 5,000mAh, improved the screen, tweaked the cameras, put in a faster chipset and 'squared up' the design, in keeping with the latest of the 1-series.

Let's start there, then. The outer aluminium frame is 'boxy' with squared edges unlike the more rounded design of the previous models. If you're very careful, it will actually stand up on its end without falling over - though I wouldn't recommend it! The Mk.II's Google Assistant button has been removed from the right-side, which is really no great loss with 100 other ways to invoke the service, but otherwise, around the edges, it's much the same. A camera two-stage shutter button, a capacitive fingerprint scanner/power button, a volume rocker - all on the right, beautifully crafted.

Up the top there's the 3.5mm audio-out socket surviving (well done Sony) and at the bottom, a USB-C socket for data/charging and a hugely improved SIM/microSD Card tray. It remains pull-out with fingernail, no 'tool' needed, but instead of a flimsy double-length plastic tray it's solid, double-sided and feels much better quality. It's a single-SIM 5G capable model with the option to add a second 5G eSIM. On the left side, there's nothing!

The front and back have been made with Gorilla Glass Victus for the first time (over GG6) and the back has an attractive 'matt' finish which does a great job with fingerprint suppression, for those brave enough to use an expensive all-glass slab without a case! The camera island is in the same place as before, top-left when held in portrait orientation and carries those three 12MP shooters which we'll come to later. The device remains IP65/8 rated for water/dust giving the user confidence for at least some extraordinary events.

Physically, the phone is very slightly heavier, but smaller than previous incarnations - not by much - and unless you have them side-by-side you'd never know. The screen size has not been compromised, however, rather that the frame has been brought in by being 'square', bezels slightly smaller - it's all very subtle. The extra weight no doubt reflects the hike in battery size. If the Mk.II felt premium, and it did, this is gold-plated premium! It feels classy and I think because of the squared off sides, more so than the Mk.II.

There's a 256GB version of the unit available in some markets but I'm settling for the 128GB one here, supported by that microSD Card slot for expanded memory - getting close-to unique in flagships these days. I have my 512GB card in the slot and it's all talking nicely. Read/write times from the internal memory and external seem very fast indeed as I copied over loads of data. The execution was impressive over other phones - and I remember noting this about the Mk.II so I guess it's something that Sony just do! Both units have 8GB RAM, which has been consistent in the 5-series, and does the job very well keeping apps alive and processes running without incident.

The chipset has been hiked from a SnapDragon 865 (7nm+) in the Mk.II, through 888 (5nm) in the Mk.III to now SnapDragon 8 Gen 1 (4nm). Both the II and IV fly with any tasks thrown at them, even demanding games, though I do note that some reviewers are complaining that under very big load (gaming or videography) the phone is getting hot to touch. Some gamers have complained about system throttling to manage the heat, impacting their experience. I have not found this in my testing here but maybe I'm not pushing it hard enough. There is, I noticed, an overheating warning which pops up when you initiate the video/cinema apps, which I guess is not the best sign of Sony's confidence in their hardware for those pushing boundaries.

The phone arrived with Android 12 on board and September Google Security as I write towards the end of October. Sony do have a decent track record of timely updates and for the first time with the IV series phones, committed to 3 OS updates (so it should get Android 13, 14 and 15) along with the same (or more) Google Security Updates. Great to see the bar rising for this longer support by many manufacturers. Android 15 will be released in autumn 2024 so won't be 'outdated' until Google release Android 16 in autumn 2025. Some others do better still, but I'm OK with this. 

The front panel remains uncompromisingly, symmetrically cut off, top and bottom, to make way for all the sensors, speakers and camera so that they don't impact the 21:9 viewing area for consuming or creating media. Again, not many phone-makers are still doing this in 2022, certainly within the flagship space. It's a small area, top and bottom, which does make the phone feel 'taller' than it could be but I think it's a good enough payoff. Between the chin and forehead, we have a 2K OLED panel, consistent with previous models, 120Hz Refresh rate possible, 6.1" diagonal and 449ppi.

It's brighter and even more colourful than the Mk.II screen as I compare them side-by-side as Sony throws in their buzzword featured Triluminos with X-Reality engine and so on. Bottom line is that it's a superb panel with excellent viewing angles too. You can still tweak the display via Display Settings if you feel the need, drill down into manual white balance, colour gamut, contrast and enhance video images - either for the built-in screen or an external one. The Creator Mode is still there, compatible with BT.2020 and 10-bit output. Laying aside all the techo-talk, it's a super screen (however you tweak it - or not) which reminds me very much of a top-notch Samsung panel.

The fly in the ointment is, however, Sony's algorithms with regards to Auto-Brightness. I ended up turning this off on the Mk.II and it looks like I'll end up doing the same here. It just doesn't seem to learn from being 'corrected' by the user, flies up and down at the drop of a hat, making for a frustrating user experience. Maybe I'll revisit this in time and see if it's just that the system needs an awful long learning period, but it never did get fixed in the Mk.II.

It also impacts the Always on Display as, unlike with other systems (Samsung is a prime example), there's no direct control of the brightness there. So you can't even turn the 'auto' off - and it keeps getting that wrong. The Always on Display otherwise is excellent and exactly the same as the Mk.II with that near-unique feature of showing full album-art of the playing music when the screen is off. The user doesn't have many clocks to choose from but the ones which are there are well thought out and attractive. Other than that, it's got the usual time, day, date, battery and notifications. It can be set to always on, Smart Activation (comes on when taking the device from a pocket etc.), when the phone is lifted or just off. From there, the lockscreen can be invoked by double tapping the AoD (if set) but lift-to-wake remains a missing link with Sony, as for the Mk.II. Odd, as it's an option for the AoD.

The stereo speakers, front-facing (another rare feature), produce an excellent sound - even better than the Mk.II. They are louder, more bass-orientated, clearer, so with better tone as we used to say! Furthermore, the Dynamic Vibration is better, too. It feels better tuned to the music and with stronger pulses in the right places. The slider works very well for intensity and that Bluetooth DV bug which I reported on widely seems not to be present. (When using DV and sending the sound to a Bluetooth speaker, the system used to get confused with previous models (until a recent update) continually buzzing the phone if engaged and producing a 'clonk' when first connected/engaged. Anyway, happy to see that's gone - even if I am the only person who wants to send music to an external speaker and yet still feel the vibrations!)

All the sound enhancement tools are present too, still with 24-bit output, the drill-down version of Dolby Atmos, 360 Reality Audio, upscaling of music via DSEE Ultimate and so on. Plenty of tools for the audiophile to tinker with including the use of the 3.5mm audio-out socket (which is also a microphone-in, too). Using a wired set of reference headphones produces even better sound than the Mk.II. It seems louder, with more bass and stereo separation. Not by huge amounts, but it’s there. May well be down to an upgraded DAC/amplifier, two years on.

Switch to Bluetooth to get all the clever Sony bells and whistles though, especially if you have a decent set of headphones - tested here with the WH-1000XM4 set. So many settings to play with, so many ways to adjust the sound as to how you want it - via the phone's settings or inside Sony's Headphones app, making the experience even more tweakable, immersive and with all the hooks included to talk to the Google Assistant, control the headphones and what they can do. Your mileage may vary with other headphones, but this whole Sony walled-garden is pretty addictive! Bluetooth is, to some degree, Bluetooth and I'm not surprised that I really can't tell much difference between the two phones two years on, like I could with the wired audio, above.

There's an additional app here for creators called Music Pro aimed at musicians, though it could be podcasters on the move or anyone else who wants to record high quality audio. This can be done via the built-in microphones (which also have a wind-filter setting for those out and about) but also by plugging in an external microphone - so quality is only limited by the gear in the loop. Talking of loops, that's one of the features which can be employed with Music Pro. I have been testing it by recording 'layers' of sound, each recording separately, one after the other, whilst the output can be heard on headphones. This allows for the creation of multi-layer audio, saved into projects and even post-edited on-screen.

It's certainly fun to play with but I'm not sure who would use it in the real world - music professionals are likely to have their own gear anyway. Maybe social media content creators on the move. If you want an even more 'professional' result, you can buy into Sony's cloud service, send up your audio and they'll 'Studio Tune' the result and send it back down to you with 'source separation, noise reduction, reverb elimination, studio microphone simulation' and so on. You get the idea! Currently charged out at £4.99 per month.

The side-mounted fingerprint capacitive scanner is quite superb. After many years of OEMs tinkering with this, position and technology, Sony have hit the nail on the head and seems to be wisely sticking with it. Working first time, every time - it's the perfect position, I contend - and best (if one of the oldest) technologies. A great move. Like with Pixels up to now, there's no Face Unlock which is a bit of a miss - as with both, security would be even better! Google seem to be rethinking that for Pixels this time round, so maybe it will make it into core Android sometime soon, so Sony and others will follow suit.

The 5,000mAh battery is also quite superb! In my 10% Reading Test I have been getting results of 2 hours and 45 minutes, second only to the Pixel 5 in the mainstream Android devices. It's a nice hike from the Mk.II's 4,000mAh which was no slouch (and the 4,500mAh of the Mk.III). For my average use it's getting me well past a day of use - in fact if pushed, heading towards two. To be fair, I'm not likely to push the battery like a heavy gamer, cinematographer or musician might, so I guess they might get different results. Even the biggest batteries will be depleted if you drive them into the ground! Bottom line though, for the average person's use it's very impressive.

There's no charger (or even cable) in the tiny box, incidentally, but the phone will charge at 30W (over 21W for the Mk.II) and that does make a difference if you need a quick boost. Testing that here with my 100W charger (presumably being capped at 30) I was able to half charge the battery from flat in about 35 minutes, then waiting for the second half to get it to 100% another hour or so. Not the fastest out there these days by a long shot, but an acceptable balance for battery protection, functionality and convenience. As for no charger or cable in the box - yes, OK, we get the Save the Planet stuff, but I'd feel a little cheated paying £949 for a phone and not even getting the basics. Hot topic!

Support is here for the first time in the 5-series for Qi wireless charging. So, plonk it on a charger whenever it's not in use and most people won't even have to think about battery running out, or even getting low. After hunting around on the internet chasing data, I think the wireless charging is capped at 15W (if the same as the 1 Mk.IV) but nobody seems to really know that for sure and Sony don’t seem to be saying. I guess that will make the included reverse wireless charging 5W. Whatever it is, it's great to have - particularly for overnight trickle charging, which the Mk.II needed a cable to achieve (or third-party coil). A great move, bringing this feature down from the 1-series.

HDMI-Out (DisplayPort) is present, as it was down the line, to cable up with monitors and TVs via the USB-C 3.2 port without relying on wireless connections, routers, streaming or Mirroring and the like! It's a great feature for Sony to have retained (along with Samsung and a few others), certainly as it's becoming less available generally. Latency is a zero issue via this route and you get top quality instant results. One step further down the Samsung/Motorola path would have been some sort of DeX/Ready For facility so that these functions are not a screen 'echo' and you could similarly turn the phone's screen into a trackpad with a proper UI on the monitor/TV. Microsoft Phone Link works well enough, but just like the Mk.II did with no 'special' features afforded to Samsung phones.

Connectivity is excellent throughout with no doubt good components used. Cellular on 4G (I can't test the 5G, sadly) appears to be sound on testing in known 'flat' zones here with both call quality at both ends and data whilst out and about, Bluetooth is 5.2 and the range seems to be broad, GPS locks on quickly with various apps tested and holds onto the connection when needed, WiFi is excellent, tested here with a couple of home routers and my MiFi unit running off a 4G Router, NFC works very well. Equipment hooks up quickly and slickly and Google Pay now tested for payments down at Tesco with no issue!

The software experience is very much like the Mk.II device, if you discount for now the additional new software relating to Cinema Pro, Music Pro, Photo Pro and Video Pro. It's a clean Android version, the party slightly spoilt by the insane inclusion of a few apps that I guess Sony think everyone in the world will want! FaceBook and LinkedIn, which can't be uninstalled, TIDAL 3, which is presumably there to press people into trying 360 Reality Audio - but again, can't be uninstalled and Bravia Core the same. There is a dialogue during setup which lets you avoid other apps being installed - and at least now there's no huge games pre-installed as there was with the Mk.II - like Asphalt 9 and 2.5GB Play Store downloads lurking around to pounce on the unaware. There is of course Force Stop and Disable to get the apps out of line of sight, but I'd like to have seen these done away with generally. Especially the first two.

The rest of the software experience is very much like the Mk.II - as I say, a nice Vanilla feel to things with slight meandering from what Pixels would have, but with a bit more than an AndroidOne phone would offer, as with, for example, a Nokia. I won't repeat what I have said before because, as I say, much of it is the same or similar and can be read on my previous appraisals of the Sony Xperia 5 and subsequent comparison piece of the Sony Xperia 5 with the Sony Xperia 5 Mk.II so do click through. You don't get all the bells and whistles that you do with other manufacturers' software, but in some ways that's a good thing. Nice that there's space for all tastes - and one of the core strengths of Android's open nature and flexibility.

The basics of the camera setup have changed a little since the Mk.II with an experiment entered into during the Mk.III phase with a different optical two-step zoom with 3x/4.4x magnification. The Mk.II had a 3x optical zoom but this time, it's back down to 2.5x instead. They seem to be leaping all over the place to try and get the zoom element towards the sweet spot - though have been consistent with the three cameras, three lenses, all 12MP. The main shooter has remained the f1.7 unit with OIS throughout, the secondary telephoto at f2.4 (for the Mk.II and Mk.IV), again with OIS and the third wide-angle consistent at f2.2 since the Mk.II. The Zeiss Optics with T* lens coating is now consistent with only slight tweaks to video recording capability (4K at 120fps with OIS). The Selfie has become yet another 12MP sensor, f2, matching the other three, this time with enhanced 4K video shooting possible.

If you fire up the camera via the Photo Pro app icon, you land in Basic mode which lets you shoot in portrait if you want to, but as soon as you switch to anything other than Basic mode, it sweeps round into landscape and offers you the full range of manual settings via Auto, Program, Shutter Priority and Manual with only Aperture Priority missing from making this the whole Sony Alpha experience carried over from their camera range. There's loads of settings, dials and buttons to play with but is limited for casual snap-shooters in terms of what you'd get from a Pixel, iPhone or Samsung for point'n'shoot, AI-driven algorithm-based smart systems. This is not a system for 'most people' but rather a tool for enthusiasts and photographers. Again, I've covered much of this in previous reviews and in the Photo Pro app (and Cinema Pro) nothing has hugely changed since the Mk.II that I have not already mentioned or covered there.

What is new and has come across from the Sony Xperia 1-series is the Video Pro app and in my usual style, I'm going to hand over to the good folk at GSMArena to appraise this as they have done a better drill-down than I could and it'll give you a much better flavour of what's possible. So, they have Xperia 5 IV borrows a lot from Xperia 1 IV which covers Photo Pro, Cinema Pro and Video Pro and Photo and Video Quality drills down with loads of samples and videos of all four lenses (including the 4K Selfie) rounded up with an Xperia 5 Mk.IV vs Xperia 1 Mk.IV comparison. There's nothing groundbreaking here but rather a refined evolution and experience for the more seasoned photographer. The very one who will not only get the most from all these tools but also enjoy the process. Most people out there who just want great results from point'n'shoot will be frustrated and certainly better looking elsewhere for automation.

My colleague from Phones Show Chat, Steve Litchfield has posted some YouTube Shorts covering the Sony Xperia 5 Mk.IV Overview - Who's it for? and Sony Xperia 5 Mk.IV - No Zoom Gap so do take a look at those. There will be more coming soon, especially as he compares the Sony Xperia 1 Mk.IV, so keep an eye on his YouTube Shorts Page. The most concerning thing about the extended use of the camera modes here is the warnings which pop up all over the place about overheating. I don't know if that's anything that in time can be fixed by software updates, but it's certainly at the very least an intrusion, impeding the progress of imaging professionals or serious gamers.

Last word goes to the physical shutter release button on the side of the phone, two-stage, proper 'green' focus area indicators and confirmation of focus too, just like a 'proper' camera would do. It's a joy to be able to use this and probably does more than anything here to make me, at least, feel like it's a phone for people coming from a camera-centric background. Well done Sony!

Sony are clearly aiming at not only traditional photographers, cinematographers, musicians here but also the new wave of VLoggers. Live streaming Gamers, TikTokkers, YouTube creators. They no doubt see where the future is in terms of video creation and have made their tools fit that mould, including output to external monitors, up to now not available on the 5-series. It all feels very much aimed at creators of all kinds and maybe also people with deep pockets - as getting into this is not cheap.

I came into this looking at whether or not there was enough here for me to seriously consider upgrading from the Mk.II which I already owned. The key points for me were about wireless charging, bigger battery, speakers output and Dynamic Vibration. And of course, price. I guess I'm not really the 'pro' target audience for this phone as I won't be VLogging, shooting a movie or even recording high quality audio (unless I'm in a tight squeeze one day for podcasting). My concern is that even if I was, I wonder if I'd really be buying into this when I would likely already have 'pro' gear set up (which would do a better job, no doubt). I think the people who would buy into it for these aspects are tech-aware and enthusiastic creators who just want to use it because they can. Also people like me, arriving via nostalgia for the love of cameras and yesteryear. And that audience is probably huge, especially within Sony-loving Japan and other areas of the far-east where people also have plenty of money to spend.

My key points are all met here - and exceeded. The Qi wireless charging makes a huge difference to me, pads littered around all over the place, the battery increase over the Mk.II is huge and makes a significant difference over the previous phone, which was not half bad anyway, the speakers' output is louder and better quality sound than the Mk.II and similarly, the Dynamic Vibration is better synchronised and stronger. I'm sold on this upgrade, as I think you can tell. If money was no object, I would consider £949 still good value here. For those who can make use of these elements and more, I do think it's not too far off the mark. £849 would have been much better of course. As I said above, I was able to get mine second-hand (for when Sony PR unit has to go back) so have worked in the finance for myself with the sale of other gear!

Laying aside my base criteria though, there's an awful lot more to like here. Much of it is indeed an improvement over previous models, evolutionary as it may be. I really like the 'boxy' design following the 1-series over the 'rounded' of the Mk.II, the OLED panel is significantly brighter and more colourful, for those who will make use of it (and in keeping with the creation theme) the 4K Selfie will be a great bonus - and for me, the fixed optical 2.5x zoom camera is a much better compromise than tinkering with hybrid zooms or relying on clever post-shot software, however good it is. Most of all though, and the same as for the Mk.II pretty much, is the compactness of the phone. There are not that many phones out there which are true flagships, no compromises from bigger siblings, which retain a dinky, pocketable design remaining good for one-handed use. Usually there are indeed a few payoffs. Here, there are none.

It's a gorgeous little phone and slice of technology, which I'm hoping that over time I will use more and more, learning about the features which feel, at the moment, are for other users. Dare I suggest that this might, even, get me back into photography? We'll see! But for now, it's a worthy upgrade and highly recommended for the right users.

Pieces of a Woman (2020)

The background to this film lies in the real life tragic event of the writer, Kata Wéber and director husband Kornél Mundruczó in Hungary. It's been adapted and dramatised from their real-life story in order to make a USA-based Netflix film and it really is very well produced.

We start with a long sequence as Martha is giving birth to a baby daughter alongside her partner Sean. It's a harrowing, long-winded, troublesome sequence which appears to have been shot in one take. She wants to give birth at home, so a midwife, standing in for her regular one, attends. Tragedy strikes - the child is born, but then lost.

The film then starts to open up various insights into Martha's life, her mother, sister, partner and how they all, but mainly Martha and Sean, attempt to deal with the loss. As you would imagine, there's huge impacts on the lives of everyone involved and we follow the pair closely as their lives begin to fall apart.

There's a side story being told about the midwife and how she is being hauled up in court as those impacted seem to want to string her up for gross professional misconduct, when it really was very questionable as to whether or not she could have done any thing differently to change the outcome of the event. In a growing blame culture, that turned into a national witch-hunt which the press were all over - though actually, that part of the film is very much secondary to us following the mourning, broken lives and portrait of those centrally dealing with the loss.

Vanessa Kirby (The Crown) is excellent in her central role alongside Shia LaBeouf (Fury, The Tax Collector) as they both portray the emotional roller-coaster ride from the joy of childbirth to the tragedy which awaits them. The supporting cast is also very convincing with the very experienced Ellen Burstyn picking up the role of Martha's mum.

There are lots of sub-plots and interesting asides going on such as the recurring theme of Apples, reflecting life and growth, the mother's experience in infancy during the holocaust and the resulting strength that she gained, her now fading memory with signs of the approaching end of her life, her manipulative behaviour to some around her - using money as a wrench and Sean's previous life of addiction threatening to surface once more.

It's a beautifully constructed film which could so easily have descended into a soppy weepie, but it doesn't. It's smart and intelligent, telling the tale as the audience gets alongside the main players, feeling the impact of their destroyed lives as they distance themselves from others around them.

It's also a story of hope, through the tragedy, as people seek to find a way back and, like the apples, generate new growth. There's no doubt that the most impactful scene of the film is that opening one though, which makes open-eyed engagement for the viewer as we watch the very difficult time everyone involved is having with the birth of the child.

It's still on Netflix as I write, so do give it a go.

The Innocents (2021) - De uskyldige

The Innocents is a Scandinavian film shot in the Norwegian language and is verging on being a horror, really. A pretty low-key horror, but that remains the best word to use I think. Created by the relatively inexperienced writer/director Eskil Vogt it certainly has plenty going for it and he has drawn the very best out of the young cast.

We join the story in a housing estate in a city where we dip into the lives of a bunch of children living in various apartments, blocks of flats. In the middle there's a playground where many of them spend much of their time. Our central family has two girls, one younger girl called Ida and her sister, who has autism, Anna. They live with mum and dad. Across the way, we have a young boy (Ben) who also lives with his mum and another little girl (Aisha) who lives with her mum. These make up the main characters.

The characters hang out together and Ben starts to show the others some 'magic' tricks, which verge on the supernatural. Things develop and it turns out that eventually, he's able to control events around him with his mind and starts to put that to use. Autistic Anna develops a connection with him and seems to have developed similar abilities, challenging his dominant position in the group. Ben is starting to do naughty stuff and Anna is trying to rein him back in, in their struggle. Before any of supernatural stuff started, we see Ben and Ida 'playing' together doing nasty things to animals, Ben leading, cruelty and violence the outcome.

Anna is unable to talk because of her condition, but this seems to rely on a connection also telepathically with Aisha where the latter 'leads' her speech, telling her what to say even though she's nowhere near her. So yes, there's a bunch of spooky kids starting to do a bunch of spooky things, leading to catastrophic events and acts of more violence. Ben gets more and more out of control, leading to one particularly shocking event, and only the presence of Anna seems to hold him back from being even worse.

Through all this, the viewer really warms to the kids' characters and wants to see the best outcomes for them, even though they are mostly twisted, supernatural and nasty! It's an intelligent horror film with similarities in some ways to the excellent 2008 film Let the Right One In. Smart, thoughtful, measured and well delivered, not relying on daft jump-scare moments.

The kids are really well picked for the roles and remain convincing throughout, particularly Rakel Lenora Fløttum in the lead as Ida. (Incidentally, she and her mum in the film, Ellen Dorrit Petersen are also real-life mum and daughter too.) Playing tricks with their faces, looks to camera, spooky eyes and smiles - they've clearly been well-coached and all come across very well. It's an excellent film which is now available on various streaming services in the UK and really is well worth tracking down.