News

TECNO’s PHANTOM V Fold2 currently has the biggest battery in any foldable

Minor refinements with one major change

Published

September 13, 2024

Vincenz

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

TECNO, one of the budding brands in the tech space, has finally announced the PHANTOM V Fold2 — the successor to the company’s first-gen book-style foldable.

Biggest Battery Ever

Starting with the headliner, the TECNO PHANTOM V Fold2 boasts a humongous 5750mAh battery. This beats the last record-holder, vivo X Fold3 Pro, with its 5700mAh capacity.

50mAh may not sound a lot but something doesn’t mean nothing. And compared to its predecessor, the V Fold2 gets a bigger increase at 750mAh.

Not only that, charging has been improved a lot. It now has 70W Fast Wired Charging as opposed to last year’s 45W. That’s still a lot faster compared to Samsung’s measly 25W support on the Galaxy Z Fold6.

TECNO has also welcomed the idea of wireless charging of up to 15W. There’s reverse wireless charging as well.

Better Durability

The PHANTOM V Fold2 has achieved a serious slimming effect.

Compared to its predecessor, it’s now thinner at 11.78mm (and 5.52mm when unfolded). Last year’s V Fold is thicker at 14.5mm (6.8mm opened). It has also managed to shed 50g (299g vs 249g).

Thanks to its aerospace-grade precision hinge, high-performance lightweight materials, and finger-dimensional engineering design, the PHANTOM V Fold2 can now be folded up to 400,000 folds (versus 200,000 last year).

Its 3D micro-arc extreme middle frame and curved outer screen also make for a comfortable grip. This means its pebble-like shape gives for an easier and effortless opening and closing of the foldable.

The droplet hinge is also responsible for giving it a barely shallow crease of just 0.1mm.

Its aluminum alloy frame is high in performance as well. There’s a 0.2mm aluminum silicon carbide for the battery compartment as well as robust low-density plastics for a resilient build.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

The back cover of the PHANTOM V Fold2 comes with an industry-first laminated fiberglass material. Its just 25% the weight of a regular glass back but 100x greater strength when dropped. And with its NCVM Coating Technology, it creates an overall metallic texture.

Speaking of drops, the screen is protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus. Lastly, there’s an IP54 rating protected agains water splashes and dust. Its predecessor doesn’t feature one.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

There are things that remain totally unchanged in the updated PHANTOM V Fold2.

First and foremost, it still keeps the same 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ SoC.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

On the brighter side, it’s now only available to a single, high-capacity configuration: 512GB UFS 3.1 storage plus a 12GB LPDDR5X memory.

Screen size, ratio, and resolution were barely changed as well: 6.42-inch FHD+ for the cover screen and 7.85-inch 2K+ when you unfold it.

Display tech? Same LTPO AMOLED displays with 120Hz adaptive refresh rate.

Still with improvements

The PHANTOM V Fold2 still has subtle improvements across the board.

First of which is the camera system. Ditching last year’s 50MP Samsung GNV sensor, the PHANTOM V Fold2 now comes with a 50MP f/1.9 based on the OmniVision OV50H sensor instead.

That’s the same camera sensor as those found in some flagships like the HONOR Magic6 Pro and HUAWEI Pura 70 series, as well as the vivo X Fold3 Pro mentioned earlier.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Moreover, the UWA (Ultra-Wide Angle) lens was changed from 13MP 120-degree FoV to a 50MP 114-degree FoV lens. Aperture is the same though at f/2.2.

However, its 50MP telephoto shooter is still stuck at 2x optical zoom (and up to 20x digital).

Main front camera has been upgraded to 32MP (vs 16MP), making both of them 32MP selfie shooters.

Its partnership with Dolby has been brought to the foldable as well with its dual stereo speaker setup powered by Dolby Atmos. Last year’s PHANTOM doesn’t have it.

There are more added features such as Wi-Fi 6E support, satellite communication services, and an intelligent, more precise positioning accuracy.

Freeer Fold

The improvements don’t stop on the hardware side. HiOS Fold 14 based on Android 14 comes with several software additions to make the foldable experience greater.

The FreeCam system allows you to shoot with the PHANTOM V Fold2 freely. There’s the usual cover screen preview, as well as taking selfies using the rear cameras.

And with a folding range between 30 to 120 degrees, you can shoot selfies, videos, and several other more hands-free.

The tripod-less dependency also means you can take timelapse and long exposures more.

There’s also FreeForm where you can unfold and angle your device while using it for video calls, watching videos, and playing music.

There’s even Tent Mode that lets you play videos on the outer screen without totally closing the foldable.

Lastly, there’s now a stylus support on its folding screen by using the optional PHANTOM V Pen.

The pen enables more features other than writing such as taking screenshots, remote operations, and even handwriting calculations.

Eco-Friendlier Approach

Unlike the standard Karst Green colorway made up of fiberglass, TECNO has decided to make its Rippling Blue variant different.

This special variant features an eco-friendly leather material all thanks to their continuous partnership with LOEWE., a German TV and audio brand.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

This special unit comes with an industry-first eco-friendly packaging made mostly of plant fibers such as pulps from sugarcane, wood, and bamboo, as well as discarded cardboard boxes.

The packaging is also fully degradable and got completed through a process of pulping, absorption molding, and drying — all harmless to the environment.

Pricing and Availability

The PHANTOM V Fold2 5G retails for around US$ 1099 (around EUR 996 / GBP 840 / SG$ 1434 / PhP 61,985 / INR 92,288). Pricing will still vary depending on one’s region.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

TECNO also said that they will sell it in key regions such as Africa and Southeast Asia. There’s also Latin America, the Middle East, and more on the list.

It will officially go on-sale first on September 23rd in Africa. Other markets are expected to follow around September to October.

Entertainment

Max vs 100 will feature Max Verstappen race against 100 go-karters

The live event will stream at midnight on September 17.

Published

September 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

As a child, one of my favorite thought experiments is to imagine who would win in a fight between my favorite characters at the time and a number of other random beings. For example, will Superman prevail against 100 Magnetos? Those are the ways I kept my young mind occupied. Now, as a former child, I still do the same thing but with more realistic people, like imagining if Steph Curry can win against 100 high schoolers. This week, ESPN and Disney+ are making one of those imaginary fights real: Formula 1 legend Max Verstappen versus 100 go-karters.

In an upcoming live event streaming exclusively on Disney+, Max vs 100 will pit the four-time world champion against 100 go-karters from everywhere in pop culture. This gaggle of 100 will include popular content creators such as Twitch streamer ExtraEmily, car photographer Larry Chen, and NBA shooting coach Chris Matthews.

All 101 drivers will race around one of the most iconic tracks in Formula 1 history, Silverstone in England. The track will be reconfigured to match the special race.

Of course, this is more than just a parade of go-karts. Max Verstappen will start at the back of the grid, meaning he has to overtake all 100 racers to win. Now, the Dutch driver is no stranger to winning from the back. In 2024, he won the Sao Paulo Grand Prix despite starting from P17 (out of 20 racers). Max vs 100, though familiar for the driver, presents a different challenge. Can he overtake 100 times to win the race?

Max vs 100 will stream live through Disney+ on September 17, 12:00am PHT.

Apps

Apple’s best feature to cure motion sickness is finally on Android

Google copies a good page from Apple’s playbook.

Published

September 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

As an Android user, I’ve been jealous of iPhone users for a while now, but it’s not for the reason you might think. See, I’m ridiculously prone to motion sickness when I’m not driving. So, when I discovered that Apple has a software-based cure called Vehicle Motion Cues, I wanted it immediately. Now, Android does have third-party apps that do the same thing, but they’re not as good as a fully native version. Well, those dark, nauseating days are about to come to an end. Android 17 is finally getting a similar tool called Motion assist.

Before that, let’s rewind for a bit. What do these features do? How can they cure motion sickness?

Whenever you open Vehicle Motion Cues or Motion assist, the interface spawns a series of dots on the screen. These dots respond to movement. For example, if the vehicle turns to the left, the dots also go to the left, mimicking the movement. Without cues like this, the stationary nature of the screen clashes with our brain’s perception of movement. The disparity creates that feeling of nausea. Basically, our eyes are desperately trying to focus on the static screen, but our brains are telling us that we should be seeing motion. Having moving dots reorients our brain and places the phone inside our perception of movement.

Now, you can enable the same feature on your Android 17 device through Settings > All services > Motion assist under Personal & device safety. You can also set it so that the feature turns on automatically when the phone detects that you’re in a moving vehicle. Finally, you can also tweak the shape, color, and opacity of these dots.

Android 17’s Motion assist is rolling out now to compatible devices.

Gaming

Valve unveils price of the Steam Frame

The VR headset starts at US$ 1,059.

Published

September 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

The trifecta is complete. Almost a year after announcing their new hardware, Valve has finally unveiled the price tag of the Steam Frame, complementing the Steam Machine and Steam Controller revealed a few months ago.

Whereas the Steam Machine is a console of its own, the Steam Frame is a traditional VR headset with a pair of controllers for both hands. Unfortunately, despite being in a different segment, the headset is not immune to the rising prices of technology. The Steam Frame will start at US$ 1,059 for a 256GB model and can go up to US$ 1,299 for the 1TB model. On the plus side, each box will come Half-Life: Alyx packaged along with the headset.

Here’s a more detailed rundown of what you’re getting. The Steam Frame will ship with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, paired with 16GB of RAM. Each eye comes with a 2160 x 2160 LCD screen, putting out images at up t0 a 144Hz experimental refresh rate. As mentioned above, the headset will start with 256GB of storage but can go up to 2TB. It will come packaged with SteamOS 3 and a rechargeable 21.6Wh battery.

This might be a hard buy for some. The industry currently has more affordable options, for one. Also, virtual reality isn’t the most thriving segment of gaming today.

If you’re still decided on buying one, however, Valve is using its lottery system. Interested customers can sign up from now until September 17. The company will then randomize the purchasing order. Those who draw the first ones in the lottery can get a purchase email as soon as September 18. Meanwhile, anyone who registers after September 17 will automatically be put at the back of the queue.