Among video creators, all the attention might currently be on the newly launched DJI Osmo Pocket 4P. And that makes sense; it’s the shiny new thing with two lenses that costs a chunk less than the competing Insta360 Luna Ultra gimbal camera. But perhaps lost in the news is a price drop for the DJI Osmo Pocket 3.
According to a disclaimer on DJI’s website, the price of the Osmo Pocket 3 will drop to $599 starting on 3 August, down from $679. A roughly 11 per cent decrease isn’t anything to sneeze at, but it doesn’t tell the full picture.
Back in 2023, when the Osmo Pocket 3 first launched, the camera alone cost $849. Compare that with the upcoming price drop, and you’re looking at a nearly 30 per cent reduction. During a time when the global memory shortage has driven tech prices skyward, it’s nice to see some older tech actually get cheaper.
It certainly doesn’t hurt that the camera is pretty dang good. I have one for filming events and b-roll, and Valens Quinn raved about the Osmo Pocket 3 when it launched.
For those unfamiliar, it’s a small gimbal camera with a large one-inch CMOS sensor, so it’s great at capturing lots of light, even during nighttime. Lots of vloggers and creators love it for the auto-tracking functionality, so they can put the camera on a tripod, hit record, and stay in the centre of the frame, even if they move around.
It’s not clear whether the creator combo — which comes with more accessories, like a battery handle and DJI Mid 2 transmitter — will also get a price drop. GadgetGuy has contacted DJI to clarify and will report back with any updates.
Regardless, it’s nice that one of the best creator cameras in recent years is getting even more affordable.
DJI’s new gimbal camera stacks two cameras on top of one another; the main wide-angle f/2.0 lens uses a new one-inch CMOS sensor (it now supports 17 stops of dynamic range, up from 14), with a 3x optical zoom telephoto lens using a 1/1.28-inch sensor. Providing the zoom equivalent of 60mm, the f/1.8 telephoto lens can also punch in up to 12x using digital zoom. This new lens makes the new model a bit heavier than the 179g Pocket 3, with the Pocket 4’s weight increasing to 230g.
That main camera’s one-inch sensor has been DJI’s bread and butter for a while now. Popular among content creators, the Osmo Pocket cameras produce good-quality footage, aided by a built-in 3-axis gimbal. This yields smooth pan, tilt, and roll footage, but you still have to be careful of heavy footsteps adding unwanted up and down movement.
Image: DJI.
With the Osmo Pocket 4P, DJI has added support for 8K slow-motion recordings and 4K footage at up to 240fps. DJI also launched the brand’s new 10-bit D-Log 2 format, which it claims captures dynamic range “on par with premium cinema cameras”.
DJI Osmo Pocket 4P price and release date
Out now in Australia, the Osmo Pocket 4P’s standard combo — which comes with several basic accessories, like a fill light, carry pouch, and charging cable — costs $959, notably cheaper than the Insta360 Luna Ultra’s $1,229 starting price. DJI also sells a vlog combo for $1,099, adding a Mic Mini 2 transmitter, the detachable Osmo FrameTap remote, and a bigger carry bag.
It’s a big move to undercut the competition by such a margin, but DJI didn’t stop with just the new camera. As of 3 August, the older Osmo Pocket 3 camera will drop to $599. Originally launching at $849 for the camera alone, DJI started selling the 2023 model for $679 following the Pocket 4’s launch. Australia wasn’t hit by some of the drastic price increases overseas, and now it’s more affordable than ever to grab a small gimbal camera.
So, if the dual-lens setup of the Pocket 4P isn’t your speed, there’s a well-priced alternative waiting in the wings.
For years, Samsung has offered two flavours of folding phone: the little Flip phone for fashion and practicality, and the big Fold phone for productivity, gamers and people who want The Most. But with this latest release of folding phones, Samsung is delivering something for those in between, as well as multitaskers cursed with smaller pockets: The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8. Yes, that does follow the previous naming convention of the old Fold, but the old Fold is now the Fold 8 Ultra. Would it have been better for Samsung to pick a new name? Yes. But this is what we have.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is the new Goldilocks phone, with a small footprint for easier portability, and the power of a premium folding phone. It’s my favourite smartphone release in years.
I’ve spent almost a whole week with it, and here’s what’s good, what could be better, and how the camera compares with other major smartphones.
The first thing I noticed about the Fold 8 was how thin it is. Each half is barely thicker than the USB-C port. Next was how squared it is. The front screen has an aspect ratio of 10:16, which is the inverse of most computer monitors’ 16:10 ratio (TVs traditionally use 16:9). The inner screen opens up to have a ratio of 4:3, so it’s perfect for watching Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey in a way that technically honours his vision, but would also make him cry.
Watching Buffy as intended: on the inner screen of a foldable phone. Image: Alice Clarke.
As an old-school TV nerd, I love that this phone is designed for me to watch seasons 1-3 of Buffy on the inner screen in their original aspect ratio, and then switch to the outer screen for seasons 4 through to the last 10 minutes of season 6 episode 19.
Setup was, as always, super smooth because Samsung Smart Switch took care of the transition for me.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 specifications and price
Main display size
193.2mm (7.6″ full rectangle) / 192.5mm (7.6″ rounded corners)
Front display size
138.4mm (5.5″ full rectangle) / 137.5mm (5.4″ rounded corners)
Max refresh rate (main display)
120 Hz
Cameras
Rear cameras 50MP wide-angle + 50MP ultra-wide Front camera: 10MP
Processor
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy
Storage and memory
256GB + 12GB 512GB +12GB 1TB + 16GB
Battery
4,800mAh
Software
One UI 9 (based on Android 17) Seven years of OS updates and security updates
As you can see, the screen sizes are much smaller and have a different aspect ratio to the Fold 8 Ultra. Also, the cameras are more like the S26+ rather than the premium array on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. This is a phone more aimed at people who enjoy watching videos and reading books, rather than content creators and productivity maxxers.
The new titanium layer in the screen means the crease is almost invisible. On the one hand, I miss the tactile nature of the crease. On the other hand, it means the full inner-screen is much more usable and even.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8’s front screen (left) compared to the Z Fold 8 Ultra (right). Image: Alice Clarke.
All up, although I was very apprehensive about the shapes of these screens originally, I just love them so much.
Gaming and entertainment
While I am a bit of a ‘bigger is always better’ person when it comes to screens for watching movies and TV shows, sometimes life doesn’t accommodate that. It’s just not practical to take an iPad to watch Netflix on the tram. Sometimes, your toddler falls asleep on you away from any of your other screens, and you have to make do.
Because of the screens’ aspect ratio, they’re perfect for watching TV. There have been multiple times in my career where I’ve had to watch TV 10 hours a day for work, and I wish I had this phone back then. For now, though, it’s been great to watch Person of Interest on the rare occasions I have 10 minutes when I’m not supposed to be doing something else, or I’m on my way somewhere.
Watching TV shows on the front screen is a nice fit. Image: Alice Clarke.
Yes, this phone is perfect for doing all the regular phone stuff, but because it’s such a familiar TV aspect ratio, it feels like a phone designed for Me Time, rather than Work Time. In an age where everything feels geared towards productivity and side hustles and work at all costs, it feels like a breath of fresh air.
It’s also great for reading books, because the inner screen feels more like a Kobo eReader when turned on its side. With the Fold 8 Ultra, I like reading books with the screen slightly bent so it feels more like reading a real book. But the Fold 8 is so much more comfortable to hold and use like an eReader that I’ve found myself reading more with it than I have with other phones in a long time.
Number one victory royale. Image: Alice Clarke.
The powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chip also means it can run games like Fortnite with a high frame rate and graphics that look better than a Nintendo Switch — for a while. The first half hour of any game is great (if you can handle the ergonomics of holding a phone this thin), then the phone gets so hot that the graphics and frame rate stutter. This is not a phone for gamers, but one for casual players with half an hour here or there.
Samsung’s 4,800mAh battery may not be the biggest, but it now uses silicon-carbon technology. This means it squeezes more capacity into a smaller unit, and that it will last more recharge cycles over its lifetime, which is good for the phone’s longevity.
Cameras
Does the Fold 8 have the best cameras on the market? No. But they’re still very good. I do miss the increased zoom of a telephoto camera, and concert-goers who sit in the cheap seats will miss that ability to zoom in closer.
But, as you can see from the below galleries, it holds its own enough against the superior Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max that most people won’t miss what they don’t have.
Samsung’s main camera colour science is near-identical between the Fold 8 (top left), Fold 8 Ultra (top right), and Galaxy S26 (bottom left). Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro Max (bottom right) opts for darker tones. Images: Alice Clarke.Even without a telephoto camera, you can still get nice images at 3x digital zoom with the Fold 8 (left) compared to the Fold 8 Ultra’s optical zoom (right). Images: Alice Clarke.Click on each photo to look at the details more closely. Images: Alice Clarke.The Z Fold 8’s selfie camera (left) struggles a bit in low light compared to the Z Fold 8 Ultra (right). Images: Alice Clarke.
Who is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 for?
This is the best folding phone on the market for most people. The majority of people don’t need the bells and whistles of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, and I think a lot of people want more screen real estate (and a thinner body) than the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8. Yes, that high price tag means it’s not going to be in reach for most people, and that is unfortunate.
But this is my favourite new phone in a long, long time. I have tried a lot of folding phones over the years, and while I love the Fold 8 Ultra, the vanilla Fold 8 is the Goldilocks of folding phones. If it’s in your budget, and you want a folding phone but don’t have the long pockets required for the Fold 8 Ultra, and don’t need that extra camera, this is the one to buy.
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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8
The vanilla Fold 8 is the Goldilocks of folding phones. If it’s in your budget, and you want a folding phone, but don't have the long pockets required for the Fold 8 Ultra, and don’t need that extra camera, this is the one to buy.
Features
9.5
Value for money
8
Performance
8.5
Ease of use
10
Design
9
Positives
Screen aspect ratios are perfect for TV lovers
Decent battery life
Screens are absolutely gorgeous
Negatives
Expensive starting price
Can be uncomfortable to hold unfolded because it’s so thin
Lacks the extra camera of the Z Fold 8 Ultra that would make it an absolute slam dunk of a phone
One robot rolls, the other reaches far into corners: hot off the heels of Mova’s Z70 Ultra robot with a roller mop, the brand is back with the V70 Ultra Complete, its flagship device with extendable arms.
Extending brushes and mops are used by some robot vacuums to get right into tight spaces, but it’s uncommon to see a robot with both in one unit. That’s likely the inspiration behind the ‘Complete’ part of the Mova V70 Ultra Complete, a robot with multiple extendable components.
Most obvious is its wide-reaching mop arm. Equipped with a spinning mop pad that can apply 15N of pressure, the arm extends to reach out 17cm, while a separate brush arm reaches up to 12cm. Both are designed to clean floors and sweep out dust close to walls, furniture, and other objects robots typically struggle to clean.
Mova’s latest robot uses two arms to reach further into edges and corners. Image: Mova.
Priced at $3,299 in Australia, it’s clear that the Mova V70 Ultra Complete is a high-end appliance. But it’s not solely relying on a couple of arms to do all the heavy lifting.
From a vacuuming standpoint, the robot is one of the most powerful on paper, reaching a 42,000Pa peak suction power. Its included docking station may reduce costs over time, using a bagless design, meaning one less ongoing expense.
Like most premium robot vacuums, the Mova V70 Ultra Complete’s docking station also washes and dries the mops (both the extendable one and the other that remains fixed) between cleaning runs.
Mova also positions its top-of-the-line robot as one capable of moving efficiently through Australian homes, able to clear thresholds and bumps up to 9cm tall.
Out now in Australia, the Mova V70 Ultra Complete is available via Mova’s online store, Amazon, and Harvey Norman. It adds to Mova’s growing local presence, following the recent launch of the N1 window cleaner and a major sponsorship deal with the Essendon AFLW team.
Known for its TVs, projectors and home entertainment systems, Hisense is now in the business of headphones, launching the open-ear HiClips buds in Australia.
Hisense’s $199 wireless clip-on buds adopt a similar design to a form factor that has gradually been gathering steam locally. Australia has also seen recent launches of new Shokz OpenDots and Motorola’s Moto Buds Loop earbuds, with open-ear audio growing in popularity. Less invasive than in-ear headphones while letting you hear what’s happening around you, open-ear formats tend to be popular among runners, cyclists, and outdoorsy types.
“At Hisense, we believe great technology should enhance everyday life, not disconnect us from it,” said Kevin Ke, Managing Director of Hisense ANZ. “HiClips has been purpose-built around that philosophy, combining premium sound with an open-ear design that allows Australians to stay connected to both their content and the world around them.”
Image: Hisense.
Each HiClips bud weighs a svelte 5.5g, with its exterior covered in a soft silicone designed to adapt to different ear shapes. Hisense hasn’t publicly confirmed the driver technology powering the buds, with the product website claiming a “powerful, precise internal speaker design for clearer sound”.
While it’s sometimes tricky to tell which bud goes in which ear at a glance, Hisense’s solution is gyro-sensing technology. Each HiClips bud automatically detects how you put them on your ears and adjusts the audio accordingly.
According to Hisense, the buds last up to 36 hours with the included charging case. Individually, you should get up to 8.5 hours per bud before popping them back in the case.
The HiClips also support wireless connectivity between two devices. So, you can pair them with your phone and a laptop, for example, and quickly switch between them as needed. More customisation, like adjusting settings and gesture control options, is housed in Hisense’s ConnectLife smart home app.
Aussies will be able to get the HiClips from Hisense’s website in four different colours: Vitality Orange, Cloud White, Graphite Blue and Midnight Black.
Apple recently announced its device protection program is getting another tier in Australia, with the local launch of AppleCare One. Aimed at covering multiple devices under the one subscription, is it worth the money?
Distinct from the newly launched Apple Upgrade program in the US, AppleCare One is a new layer to the company’s AppleCare+ device protection subscription service. Launching in Australia on 4 August, the service includes coverage for up to three Apple devices for $29.99 per month.
Sharing the same ‘One’ branding as the Apple One software bundle, the new service includes the same cover as AppleCare+, albeit for multiple devices. Subscribers can access same-day repairs, replacement devices at a lower cost than without a subscription. Battery replacements, if the capacity is below 80 per cent, are free.
Notably, with AppleCare One’s Australian launch, Apple also confirmed that iPads and Apple Watches will be covered for theft or loss under an individual AppleCare+ subscription if the owner chooses the higher-priced tier. Previously, Australians could only access theft and loss cover for iPhones. Other Apple devices, like Macs and AirPods, aren’t covered for theft and loss.
AppleCare+ versus AppleCare One
Individually, covering an iPhone with AppleCare+ starts at $14.49 per month, inclusive of theft and loss protection. An iPad starts at $8.99 per month, while an Apple Watch costs at least $5.99 per month. All up, that’s a monthly cost of $29.47, slightly less than Apple’s new plan.
That’s the starting price of AppleCare+, however. Full cover for an iPhone 17 Pro costs $20.49 per month, for example. You can save a bit of money by forgoing the theft and loss cover, though, which brings the iPhone 17 Pro coverage down to $15.99, while a base iPhone 17 costs $11.49 to cover.
As you’d expect, the more recent and more premium the device, the higher the cost. Without the theft coverage, AppleCare+ costs $6.49 per month for an iPad A16 model, while the monthly cost for a 13-inch iPad Pro M4 increases to $14.99.
Image: Apple.
You can see how much the repairs and device replacement plans cost for each device via Apple’s website, which lists the price of various models.
Another important disclaimer is that service fees apply to any repairs and replacement claims. They’re cheaper with an AppleCare subscription than without, but there’s still a cost involved.
Without coverage, the cost increases and varies per model. Based on Apple’s support site, the current iPhone 17 repair costs (without AppleCare) are as follows:
Battery service: $169
Back glass damage: $269
Rear camera damage: $275
Screen damage: $549
Screen and back glass damage: $699
Other damage: $1,029
Is Apple’s new bundle worth the cost?
As for whether AppleCare One is worth the price, it depends on which devices you have. For Apple’s lower-end iPhones, iPads, and Watches, separate AppleCare+ subscriptions might be more cost-effective.
But if you have the latest and greatest devices, the value of a bundled subscription is more obvious. To use the most extreme example, AppleCare+ with theft and loss coverage for an iPhone 17 Pro Max costs $20.49 per month. Adding $14.99 monthly coverage for a 13-inch iPad Pro M4 already brings the combined cost to $35.48. To go one step further and include a 16-inch MacBook Pro (roughly $20.83 per month), the monthly coverage for all three devices works out to be $56.31.
Apple also offers additional devices beyond AppleCare One’s three-device limit for $8.99 per month for each additional device.
Any device protection program hinges entirely on your needs, though. If you don’t encounter cracked screens or lost devices, and keep liquids well away from your tech, save the money and put it towards something else.
But for accident-prone folks who routinely visit the phone repair shop, there might be merit in a bundled protection plan.
‘What’s old is new again’ feels like an increasingly common philosophy with modern technology. This time, it’s HP harkening back to the 80s with the EliteBoard G1a, a PC built entirely within a portable keyboard from factor.
Although HP’s PC-keyboard hybrid is primarily aimed at enterprise and business use, it’s an interesting design experiment that the company stresses is not meant to replace laptops.
“What we see is that a lot of employees still have, if they have a laptop, they take it to work, they plug it in and treat it as a desktop,” said Neil Westhof, Director Personal Systems, HP Australia & New Zealand. “So what we tried to look at is not to address the mobility factor of that, but address the inefficiency of that type of setup.”
The EliteBoard is much smaller than PCs of old. Image: Chris Button.
But enthusiast-level, the EliteBoard G1a is not. It runs on the AMD Ryzen AI 300 chipset with an integrated Radeon 800M GPU, supporting up to 2TB of storage and 64GB of DDR5 RAM. In Australia, HP’s PC starts at $2,685, although it’s not available as a consumer-level product — only via enterprise sales at this stage.
First look at the HP EliteBoard G1a
HP’s keyboard PC feels nice to type on and ships with a Bluetooth-paired mouse out of the box. The only thing the EliteBoard G1a needs that’s not included is a monitor.
This is where HP’s enterprise vision becomes clearer: the PC can plug into a docking station via USB-C to access external displays, storage, and other peripherals. It’s not as immediately mobile as a laptop, due to requiring something to plug into at any given workstation, but its roughly 700g weight lends itself to easy transport.
Image: Chris Button.
At HP’s launch event, the company showed several potential use cases for the keyboard PC, ranging from office hotdesking, medical stations that could be wheeled between rooms, to hotel kiosks, potentially bypassing other small form factors, like mini PCs.
Also built into the EliteBoard G1a is a set of speakers and a microphone, with the option of a built-in battery that lasts up to four hours when plugged directly into a display, rather than a powered docking station.
Repairability and modularity are part of HP’s push to distinguish its new PC from the ubiquity of laptops. It doesn’t take much time or effort to open up the keyboard, letting you upgrade or replace components as needed.
