ARM

Google’s Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL are already being stocked by Best Buy ahead of next week’s official launch. This is good news for anyone keen to get their hands on the device as it looks like it will go on sale immediately after it is officially unveiled.

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A Samsung Galaxy S10 5G owner has taken to an online platform to share some disturbing photos of the flagship smartphone after it apparently caught fire and exploded. It’s clear to see in the images the massive amount of damage the device has sustained; fortunately, it seems the user was not injured in the incident.
Samsung has issued a brief statement about the matter.

Details regarding the SoC and rear cam setup are still unclear, but everything else is pointing at a solid mid-range handheld with up to 6 GB of RAM and up to 128 GB storage, a 6.3-inch FHD+ IPS screen, 8 MP selfie cam in a teardrop notch, circular fingerprint sensor on the back, plus a 3,930 mAh quick charging battery.

In an issue reminiscent of Apple’s iPhone 4 ‘Antennagate’ woes, it appears that Samsung’s flashy new Galaxy Tab S5e is suffering from Wi-Fi signal attenuation issues when users place their hand in a certain position on the device. The problem is repeatable and has been encountered by several users according to SamMobile.

Even though the OnePlus 7 Pro 12 GB RAM version has similar hardware specs compared to Samsung's Galaxy S10+ model, the GeekBench scores appear to slightly favor the Chinese smartphone. It should be noted that the high-end OnePlus 7 Pro version with 12 GB RAM will cost almost 50% less and it also comes with a better display.

The Unisoc Tiger T310 combines 3 ARM Cortex-A55 cores and 1 A75 core. This arrangement, as the OEM claims, makes it the world's first quad-core 4G/LTE SoC for smartphones. Therefore, the new chipset is a potentially affordable way to gain near-state-of-the-art performance.

Noted tipster Ice universe appears to have gone back on his slightly cryptic comment about the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 (the Pro 4G version) coming with 25 W fast charging capability. The leaker admitted the probability of this was giving out the “wrong message”. However, another rumor that has been around for some time is that the Note 10 will get a pop-up camera.

While the overall smartphone market may be down, Huawei is bucking the industry trend by confirming its position as the number 2 smartphone maker in the world ahead of Apple. While both Apple and Samsung lost ground, Huawei enjoyed incredible year-over-year growth with a 50.3 percent increase in smartphone sales.

Facebook’s Oculus has announced that its two newest VR headsets will begin shipping on May 21. The Oculus Quest is the company’s first all-in-one VR gaming system while the Oculus Rift S is the successor t the original Oculus Rift headset and is targeted at more serious VR gamers with decent PC gaming rigs.

HiSilicon will include 5G modems in all Kirin 985 SoCs, company representatives in Taiwan have confirmed. Manufacturing will begin in Q3 ready for Huawei's probable announcement of the Mate 30 series in October.

Google has admitted its Pixel 3 line of flagship smartphones isn’t selling well. Although failing to break out unit sales numbers at its Q1 conference call, the company cited unspecified pressures in the premium smartphone market for its poorer than expected sales.

Apple already announced its Apple Arcade gaming service, and Samsung clearly does not want to miss on this big opportunity, as the gaming industry is enticed by streaming services like the Google Stadia. Samsung's upcoming PlayGalaxy Link service should be announced soon, and rumor has it that the Korean giant could also launch a gaming smartphone along with it.

Redmi has finally revealed the selfie camera solution for the upcoming Redmi 855 flagship smartphone. The company has opted to go for a pop-up camera, regardless of the general manager’s insistence that the brand would not be utilizing this method. Apparently the phone will also come with a 4000 mAh battery and support for 18 W fast charging.

A handful of official-looking press renders for the upcoming Motorola Razr 2019 foldable smartphone have found their way online. The leaked images show the Razr leaning casually against its magnificent packaging, the supposed full contents of the box, and the Razr in a partially folded state but with its main display facing away from the camera.

At least one of the four expected variants of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 10 phablets will come with a 4500 mAh battery, according to an image of a battery found on a consumer website for South Korean KC certification. At almost the same time, it has been reported that the same device will also support fast 25 W charging.

The well-known smartphone industry tipster Ice universe has sparked a flurry of speculation with two enigmatic tweets pertaining to Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 10. His two clues consisted of the simple line “Da Vinci is symmetrical,” which was followed by a tweet containing a picture of the famous Vitruvian Man drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci.

The A9 was added to OPPO's store without an official announcement, and the store page does not even reveal the full specs. OPPO most likely used the MediaTek Helio P70 SoC to power the A9 and added 6 GB of RAM plus 128 GB of storage. Also included are a large 6.53-inch FHD+ IPS screen and a 4,020 mAh battery, together with a 16 MP selfie cam and a 16 MP + 2 MP dual-cam on the back.

While ZTE is still recouping from last year's bans, the company is certainly not holding back when it comes to 5G tech, as the company is ready to launch its first 5G-comaptible handheld in a few weeks. The Axon 10 Pro integrates Qualcomm's X50 5G modem and the Snapdragon 855 SoC, which can be couple with up to 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage.

Details of the upcoming Honor 20's cameras have been revealed. The phones, the Honor 20 and Honor 20 Pro, are said to feature camera hardware similar to the Huawei P20 Pro and the new P30 Pro. The big, RYYB and RGB sensors are also joined by telephoto and ultra-wide angle lenses.

OnePlus will launch its new OnePlus 7 phones on May 14. This will be the first time the company launches a Pro model and it looks increasingly like an attempt to move upmarket, as the top trim OnePlus 7 Pro is now being touted to have an MSRP north of US$800.

As rumored, and completely expected, Samsung will launch a 5G variant of the Galaxy Note 10. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg spilled the beans on the yet to be officially unveiled device during the company’s fiscal Q1 2019 earnings call.

The supposed key specifications for the upcoming Redmi 855 flagship smartphone have been shared online. The device, which is expected to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, still hasn’t got any other name than “Redmi 855” at the moment. The smartphone is expected to be released in either May or June and could feature an AMOLED display.

Rockchip announced a new 8-core mobile SoC yesterday. The RK3588 will feature four ARM Cortex-A55 cores and four ARM Cortex-A76 cores and will be manufactured on an 8nm process. Rockchip claims that the new manufacturing process will increase performance by up to 30% while reducing power consumption by 40%.

Specifically designed for selfie fans, the new Redmi Y3 from Xiaomi comes with a 32 MP frontal cam that offers AI enhancements for low-light pictures, portrait enhancements, and also provides a face unlock feature. The handheld is powered by the Snapdragon 632 SoC coupled with either 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB storage or 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB storage. There is a bright 6.26-inch display with 720p resolution and a generous 4,000 mAh battery, as well.

The LG V35 ThinQ is now receiving the Android Pie update in certain markets. The device, alongside the V40 ThinQ and V30 were scheduled to receive Pie this quarter, and we expect the two of them to get their share of Pie in the coming weeks. Users of the V20 will, of course, have to wait until Q3.

Underdogs Meizu have finally unveiled their newest flagship that will take on the Mi 9, Honor View 20, and Huawei P30. The device features a slew of competitive hardware feature while being priced appropriately. There's also the fact that it eschews the notch and punch-hole in favor of incredibly slim bezels.

Samsung has expanded the list of devices supporting its Linux on DeX project. Originally supported only on Galaxy Note 9 and Tab S4 devices, it is now supported on the Galaxy S9, S9+ and the Galaxy S10 range along with the Tab S5e.

A photograph of a man holding what is claimed to be the upcoming “Redmi 855” flagship smartphone in his hand has been uploaded to the Chinese social network site Weibo. The whole thing seems incredibly spurious at first until it’s pointed out that the man in question just happens to be the Redmi CEO, Lu Weibing.

Huawei recently confirmed that the Mate X launch is still scheduled for June and the Chinese company could become the first ever to release a foldable smartphone. Samsung still has no ETA for the Galaxy Fold after it delayed the launch, meaning that Huawei has a fair chance to pull ahead by delivering a more affordable and overall sturdier design.

Certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance earlier this month, the Samsung Galaxy M40 (SM-M405F) is expected to hit the market soon as the fourth member to be added to the Galaxy M lineup. This handset would be the first Galaxy M device to run Android 9.0 Pie out of the box and apparently sports 128 GB of internal storage.

Max J. went ahead and leaked most of the specs for the upcoming OnePlus 7 series in a Twitter post. The "revolutionary" 6.7-inch 90 Hz screen with 3,120 x 1,440 will only be featured on the Pro / 5G versions, as the regular version gets a 6.4-inch screen with 2,340 x 1,080 resolution. The Pro will also get rear triple cam setups and 4,000 mAh battery, while the regular one features only two rear cams and a 3,700 mAh battery.

Samsung has announced that it is delaying the launch of the Galaxy Fold. The decision was made following issues experienced with the display by reviewers through a combination of mishandling and potential engineering concerns.

The Nokia 9 PureView's in-display fingerprint reader has been the subject of many a debate, and the company has sent out OTAs that were supposed to improve it. A new video, however, shows a Nokia 9 PureView being unlocked by an unregistered fingerprint, and a packet of chewing gum afterwards. And no, we're not making this up.

Huawei may be having troubles with a few governments but sales are stronger than ever. The company shipped 59 million smartphone units in the first quarter of the year, a hefty 50% year-on-year growth. This all but ensures that Huawei takes back its position as the second-largest smartphone manufacturer, ahead of Apple. It's even more impressive that the company has done this without being able to sell its devices officially in the US.

Samsung is reported to have postponed the launch of the Galaxy Fold in China. The Chinese launch was to take place at two separate venues, one in Hong Kong and the other in mainland Shanghai. Although no official reason for the delay in Hong Kong has been provided, the Shanghai launch postponement related to issues with the venue.

The Chinese manufacturer has already started pushing a stable build of EMUI 9.1 to two of its flagship smartphones just a week after releasing it to beta testers. The update comes in at a whopping 4.56 GB.

A new leak has revealed more details of what appears to be the upcoming Moto Z4. Major takeaways include a 25 MP selfie camera, a single 48 MP rear camera, a teardrop notch, and an in-display fingerprint reader.

Samsung has been copping a lot of flak for the highly publicized issues that some of the Galaxy Fold review units it has in circulation. However, some of these critics fail to adequately credit Samsung for pushing the boundaries of what is possible. Note: The views expressed here represent the views of the author alone and don't necessarily reflect the views of Notebookcheck.

A new report by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners has thrown light on the state of the US smartphone market in Q1. Apple had a tenuous dominance over the market, with the company's devices accounting for 36% of device activations in the first quarter of the year. Samsung is second with 34%.

A finely crafted concept video of a Samsung Galaxy Note 10 phablet has been posted on YouTube. The creator of the video has specifically stated that it is not based on leaks, which helps explain some differences between the device shown in the clip and what is currently expected from the real thing.

The specifications of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 735 processor have apparently been leaked and posted online. It seems the rumored 735 will offer a bit of a bump up from the already announced Snapdragon 730 and 730G mobile platforms. The details offered state that the Snapdragon 735 will be manufactured on a 7nm LPP process.

A few days ago, there were reports that the Galaxy S10 phones would receive a camera update that would improve their night modes. The update was sent out yesterday and it's turned out that it doesn't actually do much.

Rumors claimed the Huawei P30 phones would feature OLED displays made by Samsung. Information disproving that idea has surfaced, though, and it looks like the P30 Pro actually opts for LG-made panels, with some units sporting BOE-made ones, just like the Mate 20 Pro did.

A new report has stated that Xiaomi is developing two new flagship smartphones that will feature Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoCs and pop-up cameras. The rumored devices apparently have the codenames “davinci” and “raphael”. Unfortunately, no other hardware information or specifications are currently known.

A new leak has shown the upcoming Honor 20 Pro's rear camera setup and it looks like it will feature the same 5x optical zoom that debuted on the Huawei P30 Pro. Of course, the real win here is the fact that it will also be much cheaper than the US$1000 Huawei flagship.

A while ago, Samsung announced that its A series would be replacing the old Galaxy M line in the company's pecking order. That move appears to be paying off in style, as the new devices are selling very well.

The Lenovo Z6 Pro smartphone is expected to be officially unveiled to the world on April 23, and it is already making some impressive headlines. The flagship device will come with a quad camera setup on its rear and feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855. Apparently, its high-end hardware helped it post an incredible score on the AnTuTu benchmark.