The Tovala Oven and Meal Kit Is Like a Robot Chef of Future Past
A garlic-herb salmon with risotto was probably the best among the family meals I tried. The chopped asparagus was less than visually appealing when drizzled in garlic butter, but still tasty and a bit crisp. The salmon was tender and flaky. And the sweet pea risotto had no choice but to be delicious. There was so much cheese, butter, and lemon it was pretty much a concert of fats and acid.
That chicken parm was likewise a mountain of cheese and salt. It reminded me, pleasantly, of countless family meals I had as a child in the 1980s: cheese-topped chicken, garlic bread, shells stuffed with ricotta and topped with even more cheese. The big difference is that there is simply no way my mother would have cooked this meal without a vegetable.
Toval app via Matthew Korfhage
And nutrition is where Toval runs aground a little. The nutritional notes on that chicken parm meal betray 2,300 milligrams of sodium per serving, pretty much the entire daily allowance for an adult human. This is also on par with comparable servings of Stouffer’s meat lasagna. The Tovala meal also carried about 10 times the cholesterol as Stouffer’s.
Many other meals followed a similar pattern, loading up on fats and salt in order to make meals tasty. The net effect is that it’s a lot more like rich restaurant food than what most people prepare at home. Whether this is a good or a bad quality is up to you.
Only one meal of the seven I tried failed utterly: I flagged a teriyaki chicken dinner to my editor as a possible cultural crime against Japan. The meal was sweet soy drenching pale and steaming chicken, with an implausible side of thick egg rolls and some loose, unseasoned broccoli. It felt like the “Japanese” food you’d get at a mall food court in the ’90s. But again, this was a rare major misstep.
A more pernicious issue, in meals designed for the whole family, is the near-universal high-fat, cholesterol, and sodium content. Many with the income and inclination to eat hearty, low-effort meals like the ones from Tovala are either parents with children, or people in the retirement bracket. Each has their own reason to desire a little more nutrition, and less fat and salt.
By the end of a couple of weeks of testing recipes, I’ll admit I felt a little relieved. I was grateful to feel my arteries slowly reopen. Tovala’s culinary model makes a lot of sense to me, as a smart way of splitting the difference between prepared meals and fresh food. And the company has proven it can cook well. It might be nice if they’d also cook a diet that felt more sustainable.
A garlic-herb salmon with risotto was probably the best among the family meals I tried. The chopped asparagus was less than visually appealing when drizzled in garlic butter, but still tasty and a bit crisp. The salmon was tender and flaky. And the sweet pea risotto had no choice but to be delicious. There was so much cheese, butter, and lemon it was pretty much a concert of fats and acid.
That chicken parm was likewise a mountain of cheese and salt. It reminded me, pleasantly, of countless family meals I had as a child in the 1980s: cheese-topped chicken, garlic bread, shells stuffed with ricotta and topped with even more cheese. The big difference is that there is simply no way my mother would have cooked this meal without a vegetable.
Toval app via Matthew Korfhage
And nutrition is where Toval runs aground a little. The nutritional notes on that chicken parm meal betray 2,300 milligrams of sodium per serving, pretty much the entire daily allowance for an adult human. This is also on par with comparable servings of Stouffer’s meat lasagna. The Tovala meal also carried about 10 times the cholesterol as Stouffer’s.
Many other meals followed a similar pattern, loading up on fats and salt in order to make meals tasty. The net effect is that it’s a lot more like rich restaurant food than what most people prepare at home. Whether this is a good or a bad quality is up to you.
Only one meal of the seven I tried failed utterly: I flagged a teriyaki chicken dinner to my editor as a possible cultural crime against Japan. The meal was sweet soy drenching pale and steaming chicken, with an implausible side of thick egg rolls and some loose, unseasoned broccoli. It felt like the “Japanese” food you’d get at a mall food court in the ’90s. But again, this was a rare major misstep.
A more pernicious issue, in meals designed for the whole family, is the near-universal high-fat, cholesterol, and sodium content. Many with the income and inclination to eat hearty, low-effort meals like the ones from Tovala are either parents with children, or people in the retirement bracket. Each has their own reason to desire a little more nutrition, and less fat and salt.
By the end of a couple of weeks of testing recipes, I’ll admit I felt a little relieved. I was grateful to feel my arteries slowly reopen. Tovala’s culinary model makes a lot of sense to me, as a smart way of splitting the difference between prepared meals and fresh food. And the company has proven it can cook well. It might be nice if they’d also cook a diet that felt more sustainable.
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#Tovala #Oven #Meal #Kit #Robot #Chef #Future
OpenAI said in a blog post Friday that this model, which is still in development, reached its “critical cybersecurity threshold,” meaning it could independently identify and carry out cyberattacks against traditionally well-protected real-world systems. Under the company’s “Preparedness Framework,” which it created in 2023, this triggered additional safeguards.
“While we continue to benchmark and assess this model, our preliminary evaluations indicate strong enough performance that we cannot rule out Critical capability level at this time,” OpenAI wrote. “Astra is an upcoming model, and was not involved in exploiting Hugging Face.”
The disclosure highlights an unusual moment in the topsy-turvy and still nascent frontier AI labs sector. Companies across every industry hold back products over potential risks, including for safety and cybersecurity concerns. But they rarely announce those decisions publicly when it’s a product that is still under development.
In this case, OpenAI is already under scrutiny after a different unreleased model breached Hugging Face’s systems during internal testing — the first verifiable incident of an AI lab losing control of its model. Since then, OpenAI and AI labs such as Anthropic have disclosed other incidents in which AI models breached their sandboxes and posed threats during cybersecurity tests.
The string of cases — seems like a new disclosure every day now — has triggered varying reactions from cybersecurity experts, lawmakers, and the AI labs themselves. Some express fear and call for stricter oversight. But there’s also a bit of flexing. In certain circles, any AI lab with a model that has that kind of capability will be seen as an impressive advancement.
OpenAI said it was sharing this information because it believes “it’s important to be transparent with the public and the safety and security communities about this potential shift in capabilities.”
The AI lab said it’s also taking action, including enacting stricter security controls and pausing internal activities involving Astra that don’t meet these beefed guardrails. OpenAI said it is working with relevant government agencies and “select AI safety organizations” to test the capabilities for this model.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
OpenAI said in a blog post Friday that this model, which is still in development, reached its “critical cybersecurity threshold,” meaning it could independently identify and carry out cyberattacks against traditionally well-protected real-world systems. Under the company’s “Preparedness Framework,” which it created in 2023, this triggered additional safeguards.
“While we continue to benchmark and assess this model, our preliminary evaluations indicate strong enough performance that we cannot rule out Critical capability level at this time,” OpenAI wrote. “Astra is an upcoming model, and was not involved in exploiting Hugging Face.”
The disclosure highlights an unusual moment in the topsy-turvy and still nascent frontier AI labs sector. Companies across every industry hold back products over potential risks, including for safety and cybersecurity concerns. But they rarely announce those decisions publicly when it’s a product that is still under development.
In this case, OpenAI is already under scrutiny after a different unreleased model breached Hugging Face’s systems during internal testing — the first verifiable incident of an AI lab losing control of its model. Since then, OpenAI and AI labs such as Anthropic have disclosed other incidents in which AI models breached their sandboxes and posed threats during cybersecurity tests.
The string of cases — seems like a new disclosure every day now — has triggered varying reactions from cybersecurity experts, lawmakers, and the AI labs themselves. Some express fear and call for stricter oversight. But there’s also a bit of flexing. In certain circles, any AI lab with a model that has that kind of capability will be seen as an impressive advancement.
OpenAI said it was sharing this information because it believes “it’s important to be transparent with the public and the safety and security communities about this potential shift in capabilities.”
The AI lab said it’s also taking action, including enacting stricter security controls and pausing internal activities involving Astra that don’t meet these beefed guardrails. OpenAI said it is working with relevant government agencies and “select AI safety organizations” to test the capabilities for this model.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
#OpenAI #slowed #Astra #model #development #security #concerns #TechCrunchOpenAI">OpenAI says it slowed Astra model development over security concerns | TechCrunch
OpenAI said Friday it has suspended work on some aspects of its upcoming model Astra after an internal review found it had made significant advancements in agentic coding and cybersecurity — enough to warrant concern over its capabilities.
OpenAI said in a blog post Friday that this model, which is still in development, reached its “critical cybersecurity threshold,” meaning it could independently identify and carry out cyberattacks against traditionally well-protected real-world systems. Under the company’s “Preparedness Framework,” which it created in 2023, this triggered additional safeguards.
“While we continue to benchmark and assess this model, our preliminary evaluations indicate strong enough performance that we cannot rule out Critical capability level at this time,” OpenAI wrote. “Astra is an upcoming model, and was not involved in exploiting Hugging Face.”
The disclosure highlights an unusual moment in the topsy-turvy and still nascent frontier AI labs sector. Companies across every industry hold back products over potential risks, including for safety and cybersecurity concerns. But they rarely announce those decisions publicly when it’s a product that is still under development.
In this case, OpenAI is already under scrutiny after a different unreleased model breached Hugging Face’s systems during internal testing — the first verifiable incident of an AI lab losing control of its model. Since then, OpenAI and AI labs such as Anthropic have disclosed other incidents in which AI models breached their sandboxes and posed threats during cybersecurity tests.
The string of cases — seems like a new disclosure every day now — has triggered varying reactions from cybersecurity experts, lawmakers, and the AI labs themselves. Some express fear and call for stricter oversight. But there’s also a bit of flexing. In certain circles, any AI lab with a model that has that kind of capability will be seen as an impressive advancement.
OpenAI said it was sharing this information because it believes “it’s important to be transparent with the public and the safety and security communities about this potential shift in capabilities.”
The AI lab said it’s also taking action, including enacting stricter security controls and pausing internal activities involving Astra that don’t meet these beefed guardrails. OpenAI said it is working with relevant government agencies and “select AI safety organizations” to test the capabilities for this model.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
S2 follows the same formula. It features a camera visor-inspired design, with fun colors, a Sony IMX852 camera sensor, and the MediaTek Dimensity 7360 Turbo processor.
All this at a price of ₹39,999 seems like a decent deal given the great AI price surge of 2026. But is it worth your money? To find out, I got the S2 for review and took it with me on a trip to Vietnam. It served as my primary phone in the country, thanks to the eSIM support, and I took about 300 photos in the brutal summer heat on the beaches of Nha Trang.
vivo S2 Review
Hisan Kidwai
Summary
The vivo S2’s design is simply lovely. It’s practical while still managing to turn heads. Beyond that, there’s a big 6.8-inch AMOLED panel that’s great for watching movies, while the Dimensity 7360 Turbo proved capable of handling everyday tasks and games like “CODM” without much trouble. The cameras, or should I say the camera, are good enough for daytime photos, but struggle with sharpness at night, so keep that in mind.
Design & Hardware
Design is where the vivo S2 gets full marks, simply because it’s beautiful to look at. I’ll say this straight: the horizontal visor is the best implementation of the camera module. It not only doesn’t get in the way but also keeps the phone from wobbling on a table. The same benefits apply here. There are two cutouts for the camera setup, with the flash sitting on the right. Color options, of which there are three, comprise Silk White, Regal Bronze, and Sapphire Blue. I received the Silk White model for review, and it’s a looker. The back has a silk-like finish that shines in different ways as the light hits. There’s also a wave-like pattern that adds to the overall appeal and makes it more premium. Thankfully, the finish is matte, so you don’t need to worry about greasy fingers.
To confirm it wasn’t just me liking the design, I also gave the phone to my friends and family, all of whom had similar reactions. I could also see a few people looking at what phone I was using at the airport. Another thing you’ll notice with the S2 immediately is its build. Instead of the flat sides we’ve all gotten used to, the S2 has a curved aesthetic. The frame and rear glass curve toward each other, and it really does feel good. Sometimes I miss the old curved aesthetic, and it’s nice that vivo is keeping the trend alive. The corners don’t dig into your palms, and people with smaller hands shouldn’t have much trouble using it one-handed.
The sides are obviously plastic, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. While I was fiddling around at the airport looking for my passport, I dropped the phone on the moving walkway, and it landed directly on one corner. The S2 survived unscathed, and after that, I just kept it inside the pre-bundled case. Since it was rainy season in Vietnam, the S2’s IP68 and IP69 ratings were quickly put to the test. The phone can survive being submerged in water, so all your pool photos should be fine. That said, please don’t take your phone into the ocean since saltwater can still cause damage. There’s also the fingerprint sensor on the front, and it’s pretty standard. It’s an optical unit, so dirty fingers could be a problem, and it’s a bit slow.
Display
Good smartphone displays have become pretty common, especially on flagships. And even though the S2 isn’t a flagship phone, its display is up to the mark. For some context, the 6.8-inch AMOLED panel has a 1.5K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. All this, as expected, translates to a great multimedia experience. Colors look vibrant, blacks are inky deep, and skin tones look natural while I binge-watched “Ted Lasso” at the airport.
vivo claims a peak brightness of 3,000 nits, and while I don’t carry a light meter on vacations, I can tell you that it’s plenty bright. The S2’s display was legible even in direct sunlight when I tried to read the cab number, and I wasn’t squinting much. A few other nice additions include an SGS-certified eye protection filter and Low Flicker Certification. Both are designed to make the display easier on the eyes, particularly at night. vivo hasn’t specified the exact type of glass it uses on the S2. Since I didn’t drop the phone after the first fall, I can’t comment much on how it’ll survive drops. But as a general rule of thumb, curved panels are less resistant than flat ones, so I’d recommend keeping the pre-applied screen protector.
Performance & Software
You can have all the fancy design and display in the world, but none of it is of any use if the phone can’t open Instagram quickly for a little doom scroll session. Fortunately, that’s not the case with the vivo S2. It’s powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 7360 Turbo processor, paired with up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. I’ll say this straight: DDR4X RAM should not be inside a sub-40K phone. Sadly, that’s the consequence of AI, and we can’t really blame vivo for that.
Everyday performance on the S2 is quite good. It opens and closes regular apps without a hitch or stutter, keeping the experience smooth. Heavy apps open quickly, and vivo’s new OriginOS is a great version of Android. Animations are fluid and clean, and the UI is full of customization options for you to change the phone’s vibe. It’s not overwhelming, and I got used to the interface in just a couple of days.
Since this is 2026, vivo has bundled a few AI features, including transcription tools and Smart Call Assistant, along with the vivo Office Kit. Sadly, except for AI erase, you don’t get many AI editing features, which was a bummer. I also noticed some stutters when flicking through different applications, but nothing major. What was more annoying, though, was the bloatware. I counted roughly 20 pre-installed applications even after saying no to installing anything in the first place. Thankfully, vivo vivo allows users to remove all apps.
I also ran a series of benchmarks to test the raw performance of the Dimensity 7360 Turbo. In Geekbench, scored 1,017 in the single-core test and 2,987 in the multi-core test. In AnTuTu, the S2 went just shy of the million mark with a score of 990,781. For context, those numbers are similar to the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3. vivo has also incorporated a big vapor chamber inside the S2, which I put to the test in CODM. Even on Very High graphics settings and Ultra frame rate, it held up pretty well. There was no noticeable lag or jitter during intense combat, and the phone only got warm after a 30-minute session. To help protect battery health, there’s bypass charging as well.
Battery Life & Charging
Given the slim profile of the S2, I expected the battery life to be nothing to write home about. The truth is, however, way different. With a capacity of 7,050 mAh, the S2 is a battery champ, capable of lasting multiple days on a single charge. I used the phone for navigation while walking around Nha Trang looking for a lunch spot. I then headed to the beach in the evening to capture some photos, and ended the day by taking a few more photos and watching some YouTube videos. I ended that day with about 40% charge remaining, which is pretty impressive.
When it was finally time to recharge, the 44W fast charger came in handy. It took the phone from 20% to 80% in around 50 minutes, which should be enough for any demanding day. vivo also says the cell should be good for over 1200 charging cycles without losing much health.
Cameras
Given that the vivo S2 targets younger, style-conscious buyers, photography is understandably a big part of the pitch. The vivo S2 houses the 50MP Sony IMX852 sensor, and that’s it. There is a secondary camera, but it’s a 2MP sensor and no ultrawide action. That said, the photos from the main sensor are really good. With enough light, the S2 captured rather pleasing photos of Nha Trang’s cityscapes. The shots had plenty of detail, while colors leaned toward the vibrant side, which I personally like. Contrast was mostly spot on as well. The camera sometimes overexposed the sun, but nothing major.
Since there’s no telephoto sensor, the S2’s main camera also doubles as the portrait lens. The same generally held true for portrait shots, with skin tones being true to their color, and a nice shallow depth of field. As far as nighttime photos are concerned, the images do benefit from vivo’s processing, which tries to retain colors and balance everything. However, I did notice a lack of sharpness in photos here, which was further exaggerated by the long shutter times. Moving subjects can be a problem. Video recording tops out at 4K 30 FPS, and they are fine. The resulting shots are clear and very usable in daytime. Selfies are another highlight, with rather good sharpness and colors. Plus, you can also record 4K videos from the front.
Verdict
Starting at ₹39,999, the vivo S2 is an interesting phone, marking vivo’s return to a segment it hasn’t explored in a while. And I must admit, I love this design. It’s practical while still managing to turn heads. If you like your tech to make a statement, then there aren’t many choices in the market. Beyond the design, there’s a big 6.8-inch AMOLED panel that’s great for watching movies, while the Dimensity 7360 Turbo proved capable of handling everyday tasks and games like “CODM” without much trouble. The cameras, or should I say the camera, are good enough for daytime photos, but struggle with sharpness at night, so keep that in mind.
S2 follows the same formula. It features a camera visor-inspired design, with fun colors, a Sony IMX852 camera sensor, and the MediaTek Dimensity 7360 Turbo processor.
All this at a price of ₹39,999 seems like a decent deal given the great AI price surge of 2026. But is it worth your money? To find out, I got the S2 for review and took it with me on a trip to Vietnam. It served as my primary phone in the country, thanks to the eSIM support, and I took about 300 photos in the brutal summer heat on the beaches of Nha Trang.
vivo S2 Review
Hisan Kidwai
Summary
The vivo S2’s design is simply lovely. It’s practical while still managing to turn heads. Beyond that, there’s a big 6.8-inch AMOLED panel that’s great for watching movies, while the Dimensity 7360 Turbo proved capable of handling everyday tasks and games like “CODM” without much trouble. The cameras, or should I say the camera, are good enough for daytime photos, but struggle with sharpness at night, so keep that in mind.
Design & Hardware
Design is where the vivo S2 gets full marks, simply because it’s beautiful to look at. I’ll say this straight: the horizontal visor is the best implementation of the camera module. It not only doesn’t get in the way but also keeps the phone from wobbling on a table. The same benefits apply here. There are two cutouts for the camera setup, with the flash sitting on the right. Color options, of which there are three, comprise Silk White, Regal Bronze, and Sapphire Blue. I received the Silk White model for review, and it’s a looker. The back has a silk-like finish that shines in different ways as the light hits. There’s also a wave-like pattern that adds to the overall appeal and makes it more premium. Thankfully, the finish is matte, so you don’t need to worry about greasy fingers.
To confirm it wasn’t just me liking the design, I also gave the phone to my friends and family, all of whom had similar reactions. I could also see a few people looking at what phone I was using at the airport. Another thing you’ll notice with the S2 immediately is its build. Instead of the flat sides we’ve all gotten used to, the S2 has a curved aesthetic. The frame and rear glass curve toward each other, and it really does feel good. Sometimes I miss the old curved aesthetic, and it’s nice that vivo is keeping the trend alive. The corners don’t dig into your palms, and people with smaller hands shouldn’t have much trouble using it one-handed.
The sides are obviously plastic, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. While I was fiddling around at the airport looking for my passport, I dropped the phone on the moving walkway, and it landed directly on one corner. The S2 survived unscathed, and after that, I just kept it inside the pre-bundled case. Since it was rainy season in Vietnam, the S2’s IP68 and IP69 ratings were quickly put to the test. The phone can survive being submerged in water, so all your pool photos should be fine. That said, please don’t take your phone into the ocean since saltwater can still cause damage. There’s also the fingerprint sensor on the front, and it’s pretty standard. It’s an optical unit, so dirty fingers could be a problem, and it’s a bit slow.
Display
Good smartphone displays have become pretty common, especially on flagships. And even though the S2 isn’t a flagship phone, its display is up to the mark. For some context, the 6.8-inch AMOLED panel has a 1.5K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. All this, as expected, translates to a great multimedia experience. Colors look vibrant, blacks are inky deep, and skin tones look natural while I binge-watched “Ted Lasso” at the airport.
vivo claims a peak brightness of 3,000 nits, and while I don’t carry a light meter on vacations, I can tell you that it’s plenty bright. The S2’s display was legible even in direct sunlight when I tried to read the cab number, and I wasn’t squinting much. A few other nice additions include an SGS-certified eye protection filter and Low Flicker Certification. Both are designed to make the display easier on the eyes, particularly at night. vivo hasn’t specified the exact type of glass it uses on the S2. Since I didn’t drop the phone after the first fall, I can’t comment much on how it’ll survive drops. But as a general rule of thumb, curved panels are less resistant than flat ones, so I’d recommend keeping the pre-applied screen protector.
Performance & Software
You can have all the fancy design and display in the world, but none of it is of any use if the phone can’t open Instagram quickly for a little doom scroll session. Fortunately, that’s not the case with the vivo S2. It’s powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 7360 Turbo processor, paired with up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. I’ll say this straight: DDR4X RAM should not be inside a sub-40K phone. Sadly, that’s the consequence of AI, and we can’t really blame vivo for that.
Everyday performance on the S2 is quite good. It opens and closes regular apps without a hitch or stutter, keeping the experience smooth. Heavy apps open quickly, and vivo’s new OriginOS is a great version of Android. Animations are fluid and clean, and the UI is full of customization options for you to change the phone’s vibe. It’s not overwhelming, and I got used to the interface in just a couple of days.
Since this is 2026, vivo has bundled a few AI features, including transcription tools and Smart Call Assistant, along with the vivo Office Kit. Sadly, except for AI erase, you don’t get many AI editing features, which was a bummer. I also noticed some stutters when flicking through different applications, but nothing major. What was more annoying, though, was the bloatware. I counted roughly 20 pre-installed applications even after saying no to installing anything in the first place. Thankfully, vivo vivo allows users to remove all apps.
I also ran a series of benchmarks to test the raw performance of the Dimensity 7360 Turbo. In Geekbench, scored 1,017 in the single-core test and 2,987 in the multi-core test. In AnTuTu, the S2 went just shy of the million mark with a score of 990,781. For context, those numbers are similar to the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3. vivo has also incorporated a big vapor chamber inside the S2, which I put to the test in CODM. Even on Very High graphics settings and Ultra frame rate, it held up pretty well. There was no noticeable lag or jitter during intense combat, and the phone only got warm after a 30-minute session. To help protect battery health, there’s bypass charging as well.
Battery Life & Charging
Given the slim profile of the S2, I expected the battery life to be nothing to write home about. The truth is, however, way different. With a capacity of 7,050 mAh, the S2 is a battery champ, capable of lasting multiple days on a single charge. I used the phone for navigation while walking around Nha Trang looking for a lunch spot. I then headed to the beach in the evening to capture some photos, and ended the day by taking a few more photos and watching some YouTube videos. I ended that day with about 40% charge remaining, which is pretty impressive.
When it was finally time to recharge, the 44W fast charger came in handy. It took the phone from 20% to 80% in around 50 minutes, which should be enough for any demanding day. vivo also says the cell should be good for over 1200 charging cycles without losing much health.
Cameras
Given that the vivo S2 targets younger, style-conscious buyers, photography is understandably a big part of the pitch. The vivo S2 houses the 50MP Sony IMX852 sensor, and that’s it. There is a secondary camera, but it’s a 2MP sensor and no ultrawide action. That said, the photos from the main sensor are really good. With enough light, the S2 captured rather pleasing photos of Nha Trang’s cityscapes. The shots had plenty of detail, while colors leaned toward the vibrant side, which I personally like. Contrast was mostly spot on as well. The camera sometimes overexposed the sun, but nothing major.
Since there’s no telephoto sensor, the S2’s main camera also doubles as the portrait lens. The same generally held true for portrait shots, with skin tones being true to their color, and a nice shallow depth of field. As far as nighttime photos are concerned, the images do benefit from vivo’s processing, which tries to retain colors and balance everything. However, I did notice a lack of sharpness in photos here, which was further exaggerated by the long shutter times. Moving subjects can be a problem. Video recording tops out at 4K 30 FPS, and they are fine. The resulting shots are clear and very usable in daytime. Selfies are another highlight, with rather good sharpness and colors. Plus, you can also record 4K videos from the front.
Verdict
Starting at ₹39,999, the vivo S2 is an interesting phone, marking vivo’s return to a segment it hasn’t explored in a while. And I must admit, I love this design. It’s practical while still managing to turn heads. If you like your tech to make a statement, then there aren’t many choices in the market. Beyond the design, there’s a big 6.8-inch AMOLED panel that’s great for watching movies, while the Dimensity 7360 Turbo proved capable of handling everyday tasks and games like “CODM” without much trouble. The cameras, or should I say the camera, are good enough for daytime photos, but struggle with sharpness at night, so keep that in mind.
#vivo #Review #Stylish #MidRanger #Battery #Life #SpareVivo">vivo S2 Review: A Stylish Mid-Ranger With Battery Life to Spare
The 2026 smartphone market has been a bit difficult to deal with. Buying a phone has always been about choosing what matters most to you. Some need their phone to run demanding games for hours, while others love to show off a fancy design and a camera that takes pictures worthy of an Instagram story. If you’re the latter, vivo has just resurrected the S-lineup. For the uninitiated, the first S1 targeted style-conscious, younger consumers, and the new S2 follows the same formula. It features a camera visor-inspired design, with fun colors, a Sony IMX852 camera sensor, and the MediaTek Dimensity 7360 Turbo processor.
All this at a price of ₹39,999 seems like a decent deal given the great AI price surge of 2026. But is it worth your money? To find out, I got the S2 for review and took it with me on a trip to Vietnam. It served as my primary phone in the country, thanks to the eSIM support, and I took about 300 photos in the brutal summer heat on the beaches of Nha Trang.
vivo S2 Review
Hisan Kidwai
Summary
The vivo S2’s design is simply lovely. It’s practical while still managing to turn heads. Beyond that, there’s a big 6.8-inch AMOLED panel that’s great for watching movies, while the Dimensity 7360 Turbo proved capable of handling everyday tasks and games like “CODM” without much trouble. The cameras, or should I say the camera, are good enough for daytime photos, but struggle with sharpness at night, so keep that in mind.
Design & Hardware
Design is where the vivo S2 gets full marks, simply because it’s beautiful to look at. I’ll say this straight: the horizontal visor is the best implementation of the camera module. It not only doesn’t get in the way but also keeps the phone from wobbling on a table. The same benefits apply here. There are two cutouts for the camera setup, with the flash sitting on the right. Color options, of which there are three, comprise Silk White, Regal Bronze, and Sapphire Blue. I received the Silk White model for review, and it’s a looker. The back has a silk-like finish that shines in different ways as the light hits. There’s also a wave-like pattern that adds to the overall appeal and makes it more premium. Thankfully, the finish is matte, so you don’t need to worry about greasy fingers.
To confirm it wasn’t just me liking the design, I also gave the phone to my friends and family, all of whom had similar reactions. I could also see a few people looking at what phone I was using at the airport. Another thing you’ll notice with the S2 immediately is its build. Instead of the flat sides we’ve all gotten used to, the S2 has a curved aesthetic. The frame and rear glass curve toward each other, and it really does feel good. Sometimes I miss the old curved aesthetic, and it’s nice that vivo is keeping the trend alive. The corners don’t dig into your palms, and people with smaller hands shouldn’t have much trouble using it one-handed.
The sides are obviously plastic, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. While I was fiddling around at the airport looking for my passport, I dropped the phone on the moving walkway, and it landed directly on one corner. The S2 survived unscathed, and after that, I just kept it inside the pre-bundled case. Since it was rainy season in Vietnam, the S2’s IP68 and IP69 ratings were quickly put to the test. The phone can survive being submerged in water, so all your pool photos should be fine. That said, please don’t take your phone into the ocean since saltwater can still cause damage. There’s also the fingerprint sensor on the front, and it’s pretty standard. It’s an optical unit, so dirty fingers could be a problem, and it’s a bit slow.
Display
Good smartphone displays have become pretty common, especially on flagships. And even though the S2 isn’t a flagship phone, its display is up to the mark. For some context, the 6.8-inch AMOLED panel has a 1.5K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. All this, as expected, translates to a great multimedia experience. Colors look vibrant, blacks are inky deep, and skin tones look natural while I binge-watched “Ted Lasso” at the airport.
vivo claims a peak brightness of 3,000 nits, and while I don’t carry a light meter on vacations, I can tell you that it’s plenty bright. The S2’s display was legible even in direct sunlight when I tried to read the cab number, and I wasn’t squinting much. A few other nice additions include an SGS-certified eye protection filter and Low Flicker Certification. Both are designed to make the display easier on the eyes, particularly at night. vivo hasn’t specified the exact type of glass it uses on the S2. Since I didn’t drop the phone after the first fall, I can’t comment much on how it’ll survive drops. But as a general rule of thumb, curved panels are less resistant than flat ones, so I’d recommend keeping the pre-applied screen protector.
Performance & Software
You can have all the fancy design and display in the world, but none of it is of any use if the phone can’t open Instagram quickly for a little doom scroll session. Fortunately, that’s not the case with the vivo S2. It’s powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 7360 Turbo processor, paired with up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. I’ll say this straight: DDR4X RAM should not be inside a sub-40K phone. Sadly, that’s the consequence of AI, and we can’t really blame vivo for that.
Everyday performance on the S2 is quite good. It opens and closes regular apps without a hitch or stutter, keeping the experience smooth. Heavy apps open quickly, and vivo’s new OriginOS is a great version of Android. Animations are fluid and clean, and the UI is full of customization options for you to change the phone’s vibe. It’s not overwhelming, and I got used to the interface in just a couple of days.
Since this is 2026, vivo has bundled a few AI features, including transcription tools and Smart Call Assistant, along with the vivo Office Kit. Sadly, except for AI erase, you don’t get many AI editing features, which was a bummer. I also noticed some stutters when flicking through different applications, but nothing major. What was more annoying, though, was the bloatware. I counted roughly 20 pre-installed applications even after saying no to installing anything in the first place. Thankfully, vivo vivo allows users to remove all apps.
I also ran a series of benchmarks to test the raw performance of the Dimensity 7360 Turbo. In Geekbench, scored 1,017 in the single-core test and 2,987 in the multi-core test. In AnTuTu, the S2 went just shy of the million mark with a score of 990,781. For context, those numbers are similar to the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3. vivo has also incorporated a big vapor chamber inside the S2, which I put to the test in CODM. Even on Very High graphics settings and Ultra frame rate, it held up pretty well. There was no noticeable lag or jitter during intense combat, and the phone only got warm after a 30-minute session. To help protect battery health, there’s bypass charging as well.
Battery Life & Charging
Given the slim profile of the S2, I expected the battery life to be nothing to write home about. The truth is, however, way different. With a capacity of 7,050 mAh, the S2 is a battery champ, capable of lasting multiple days on a single charge. I used the phone for navigation while walking around Nha Trang looking for a lunch spot. I then headed to the beach in the evening to capture some photos, and ended the day by taking a few more photos and watching some YouTube videos. I ended that day with about 40% charge remaining, which is pretty impressive.
When it was finally time to recharge, the 44W fast charger came in handy. It took the phone from 20% to 80% in around 50 minutes, which should be enough for any demanding day. vivo also says the cell should be good for over 1200 charging cycles without losing much health.
Cameras
Given that the vivo S2 targets younger, style-conscious buyers, photography is understandably a big part of the pitch. The vivo S2 houses the 50MP Sony IMX852 sensor, and that’s it. There is a secondary camera, but it’s a 2MP sensor and no ultrawide action. That said, the photos from the main sensor are really good. With enough light, the S2 captured rather pleasing photos of Nha Trang’s cityscapes. The shots had plenty of detail, while colors leaned toward the vibrant side, which I personally like. Contrast was mostly spot on as well. The camera sometimes overexposed the sun, but nothing major.
Since there’s no telephoto sensor, the S2’s main camera also doubles as the portrait lens. The same generally held true for portrait shots, with skin tones being true to their color, and a nice shallow depth of field. As far as nighttime photos are concerned, the images do benefit from vivo’s processing, which tries to retain colors and balance everything. However, I did notice a lack of sharpness in photos here, which was further exaggerated by the long shutter times. Moving subjects can be a problem. Video recording tops out at 4K 30 FPS, and they are fine. The resulting shots are clear and very usable in daytime. Selfies are another highlight, with rather good sharpness and colors. Plus, you can also record 4K videos from the front.
Verdict
Starting at ₹39,999, the vivo S2 is an interesting phone, marking vivo’s return to a segment it hasn’t explored in a while. And I must admit, I love this design. It’s practical while still managing to turn heads. If you like your tech to make a statement, then there aren’t many choices in the market. Beyond the design, there’s a big 6.8-inch AMOLED panel that’s great for watching movies, while the Dimensity 7360 Turbo proved capable of handling everyday tasks and games like “CODM” without much trouble. The cameras, or should I say the camera, are good enough for daytime photos, but struggle with sharpness at night, so keep that in mind.
Flock Safety’s automatic license plate reader cameras have become targets of public ire and, increasingly, vandalism, with people stealing or destroying them in the dead of night. The company at one point had a plan to keep its eyes open in a way that would be harder to detect, according to 404 Media: by equipping dashcams on rideshare and delivery vehicles with the ability to scan plates while on the road.
In a pitch presentation apparently prepared for the Georgia Office of the Attorney General, Flock reportedly talked up a planned partnership with Nexar, a popular dashcam manufacturer. The theoretical deal would have used Nexar’s network of cameras to scan vehicle plates as drivers went about their business. Flock apparently suggested that it would create a network of more than 350,000 Uber, Lyft, and other delivery service drivers who would all serve as eyes for the company.
Flock’s partnership with Nexar never came to fruition. But the fact that it failed doesn’t really minimize the concern that the company tried to make it happen. Importantly, it’s not clear that drivers would have been made aware of the fact that their camera was serving as a snitch or not—it’s possible the scans would have taken place without any obvious indication that what was being captured on their dashcam was being shared with Flock—and presumably with law enforcement.
Gizmodo reached out to Flock for additional information but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
Nexar is already engaged in a pretty massive project of collecting data from its drivers. The company claims to anonymize data collected from its dashcams and sells it to third parties and publishes a fully user-generated, real-time map called CityStream. Whether drivers are aware of the fact that they are contributing to this or not is unclear—per 404 Media, in some jurisdictions, users are automatically contributing their data to CityStream and have to opt out of sharing.
Flock also isn’t the only company to apparently think up the idea of turning vehicles into mobile surveillance for “safety” purposes. Earlier this year, a company called BusPatrol—which uses cameras on school buses to identify people who blow past the “Stop” sign arm deployed—came under fire when it was revealed that it was planning to let law enforcement use those cameras to scan license plates. Given the abuses that law enforcement across the country have already committed with access to Flock cameras, seems the last thing they need is more camera angles to sift through.
Flock Safety’s automatic license plate reader cameras have become targets of public ire and, increasingly, vandalism, with people stealing or destroying them in the dead of night. The company at one point had a plan to keep its eyes open in a way that would be harder to detect, according to 404 Media: by equipping dashcams on rideshare and delivery vehicles with the ability to scan plates while on the road.
In a pitch presentation apparently prepared for the Georgia Office of the Attorney General, Flock reportedly talked up a planned partnership with Nexar, a popular dashcam manufacturer. The theoretical deal would have used Nexar’s network of cameras to scan vehicle plates as drivers went about their business. Flock apparently suggested that it would create a network of more than 350,000 Uber, Lyft, and other delivery service drivers who would all serve as eyes for the company.
Flock’s partnership with Nexar never came to fruition. But the fact that it failed doesn’t really minimize the concern that the company tried to make it happen. Importantly, it’s not clear that drivers would have been made aware of the fact that their camera was serving as a snitch or not—it’s possible the scans would have taken place without any obvious indication that what was being captured on their dashcam was being shared with Flock—and presumably with law enforcement.
Gizmodo reached out to Flock for additional information but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
Nexar is already engaged in a pretty massive project of collecting data from its drivers. The company claims to anonymize data collected from its dashcams and sells it to third parties and publishes a fully user-generated, real-time map called CityStream. Whether drivers are aware of the fact that they are contributing to this or not is unclear—per 404 Media, in some jurisdictions, users are automatically contributing their data to CityStream and have to opt out of sharing.
Flock also isn’t the only company to apparently think up the idea of turning vehicles into mobile surveillance for “safety” purposes. Earlier this year, a company called BusPatrol—which uses cameras on school buses to identify people who blow past the “Stop” sign arm deployed—came under fire when it was revealed that it was planning to let law enforcement use those cameras to scan license plates. Given the abuses that law enforcement across the country have already committed with access to Flock cameras, seems the last thing they need is more camera angles to sift through.
#Flock #Reportedly #Turn #Uber #Drivers #Mobile #Snitchesartifical intelligence,Dashcams,flock,Flock Safety,license plate readers,Lyft,Uber">Flock Reportedly Tried to Turn Uber Drivers Into Mobile Snitches
Flock Safety’s automatic license plate reader cameras have become targets of public ire and, increasingly, vandalism, with people stealing or destroying them in the dead of night. The company at one point had a plan to keep its eyes open in a way that would be harder to detect, according to 404 Media: by equipping dashcams on rideshare and delivery vehicles with the ability to scan plates while on the road.
In a pitch presentation apparently prepared for the Georgia Office of the Attorney General, Flock reportedly talked up a planned partnership with Nexar, a popular dashcam manufacturer. The theoretical deal would have used Nexar’s network of cameras to scan vehicle plates as drivers went about their business. Flock apparently suggested that it would create a network of more than 350,000 Uber, Lyft, and other delivery service drivers who would all serve as eyes for the company.
Flock’s partnership with Nexar never came to fruition. But the fact that it failed doesn’t really minimize the concern that the company tried to make it happen. Importantly, it’s not clear that drivers would have been made aware of the fact that their camera was serving as a snitch or not—it’s possible the scans would have taken place without any obvious indication that what was being captured on their dashcam was being shared with Flock—and presumably with law enforcement.
Gizmodo reached out to Flock for additional information but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
Nexar is already engaged in a pretty massive project of collecting data from its drivers. The company claims to anonymize data collected from its dashcams and sells it to third parties and publishes a fully user-generated, real-time map called CityStream. Whether drivers are aware of the fact that they are contributing to this or not is unclear—per 404 Media, in some jurisdictions, users are automatically contributing their data to CityStream and have to opt out of sharing.
Flock also isn’t the only company to apparently think up the idea of turning vehicles into mobile surveillance for “safety” purposes. Earlier this year, a company called BusPatrol—which uses cameras on school buses to identify people who blow past the “Stop” sign arm deployed—came under fire when it was revealed that it was planning to let law enforcement use those cameras to scan license plates. Given the abuses that law enforcement across the country have already committed with access to Flock cameras, seems the last thing they need is more camera angles to sift through.
.PNG?ssl=1 "The Tovala Oven and Meal Kit Is Like a Robot Chef of Future PastA garlic-herb salmon with risotto was probably the best among the family meals I tried. The chopped asparagus was less than visually appealing when drizzled in garlic butter, but still tasty and a bit crisp. The salmon was tender and flaky. And the sweet pea risotto had no choice but to be delicious. There was so much cheese, butter, and lemon it was pretty much a concert of fats and acid.That chicken parm was likewise a mountain of cheese and salt. It reminded me, pleasantly, of countless family meals I had as a child in the 1980s: cheese-topped chicken, garlic bread, shells stuffed with ricotta and topped with even more cheese. The big difference is that there is simply no way my mother would have cooked this meal without a vegetable.Toval app via Matthew KorfhageAnd nutrition is where Toval runs aground a little. The nutritional notes on that chicken parm meal betray 2,300 milligrams of sodium per serving, pretty much the entire daily allowance for an adult human. This is also on par with comparable servings of Stouffer’s meat lasagna. The Tovala meal also carried about 10 times the cholesterol as Stouffer’s.Many other meals followed a similar pattern, loading up on fats and salt in order to make meals tasty. The net effect is that it’s a lot more like rich restaurant food than what most people prepare at home. Whether this is a good or a bad quality is up to you.Only one meal of the seven I tried failed utterly: I flagged a teriyaki chicken dinner to my editor as a possible cultural crime against Japan. The meal was sweet soy drenching pale and steaming chicken, with an implausible side of thick egg rolls and some loose, unseasoned broccoli. It felt like the “Japanese” food you’d get at a mall food court in the ’90s. But again, this was a rare major misstep.A more pernicious issue, in meals designed for the whole family, is the near-universal high-fat, cholesterol, and sodium content. Many with the income and inclination to eat hearty, low-effort meals like the ones from Tovala are either parents with children, or people in the retirement bracket. Each has their own reason to desire a little more nutrition, and less fat and salt.By the end of a couple of weeks of testing recipes, I’ll admit I felt a little relieved. I was grateful to feel my arteries slowly reopen. Tovala’s culinary model makes a lot of sense to me, as a smart way of splitting the difference between prepared meals and fresh food. And the company has proven it can cook well. It might be nice if they’d also cook a diet that felt more sustainable.Power up with unlimited access to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting that’s too important to ignore. Includes unlimited digital access and exclusive subscriber-only content. Subscribe Today.#Tovala #Oven #Meal #Kit #Robot #Chef #Futurekitchen,food and drink,cooking,review,meal kits,shopping")
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