Android

Google is still months away from releasing the Pixel 8a. Nonetheless, official wallpapers of Google's next mid-range smartphone have already appeared online, which are likely to be Pixel 8a exclusives.

Samsung has unveiled another Maison Margiela-themed foldable a few months after renewing its partnership with Thom Browne. The Galaxy Z Flip5 Maison Margiela Edition comes with some unique accessories, as well as a distinctive back cover design.

Xiaomi has now confirmed the launch date of the Redmi K70 series. As expected, Xiaomi will present its next Redmi K handsets before December rolls around. The company has now revealed initial details about the Redmi K70 Pro too, such as its usage of a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset.

CheckMag If you are a frequent traveler, some smartphones are better suited for that trip than others. Choices will depend on a multitude of features, including camera equipment, battery life, and cellular connectivity. Here are 3 of the best smartphones for travelers.

New information about the Poco F6, one of the two upcoming models in Xiaomi's new Poco flagship series, has surfaced. It is said to be the global version of a Chinese smartphone from the Redmi K70 series, albeit a different one than previously assumed.

Xiaomi has announced that it took in over 70 billion yuan (well over US$9 billion) over its latest quarter, which ended on September 30, 2023. The OEM's smartphones accounted for over half of that revenue, although its smart home, internet services and advertising businesses also made their contributions known.

Samsung has returned with a new One UI 6 release schedule for numerous devices. This time, the company has included over 40 devices on its Android 14 upgrade rollout list stretching into February 2024.

Samsung has released its Android 14 update to more devices. Starting in the US, One UI 6 should now be available to additional flagships, plus the first of Samsung's mid-range product stack.

Xiaomi continues to tease the Redmi K70E, possibly its first Redmi K70 series handset. While the company has revealed a few more device features, hands-on footage with the Xiaomi Redmi K70E has also emerged on Chinese social media.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 inside the Xiaomi 14 Pro has now been tested to measure the raw performance and efficiency of the big Cortex-X4 CPU core. The tests, which were conducted by Golden Reviewer, depict the Cortex-X4 to pack a 14% performance bump over the Cortex-X3 inside the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2+ while utilizing a concerning 28% more power.

RedMagic very nearly got to its next major product event without the main event leaking onto AnTuTu Benchmark. However, a device with a model number linked to one of the upcoming 9 Pro series has made it onto that database after all, achieving a top-ranking score in the process. That might have been due to its top-end specs, the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor included.

The first signs of the next Galaxy M5 model have appeared online. Courtesy of numerous Geekbench listings, it seems that Samsung plans to move away from its in-house Exynos chipset for the Galaxy M55 5G, which will utilise the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 instead.

Oppo is on the verge of unveiling the Pad Air 2, a mid-range tablet stylised as the Pad Air2. Arriving in a few days' time, the Oppo Pad Air2 will feature a 2.4K display with up to 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, among other features.

Xiaomi has now confirmed that it will launch the Redmi K70 series later this month. One of the company's first models will be the Redmi K70E, a MediaTek Dimensity 8300 Ultra-powered smartphone that Xiaomi claims gets close to MediaTek's flagship Dimensity 9300 chipset.

The first sighting of what could be the ROG Phone 8 Ultimate has appeared online. Seemingly, ASUS has upgraded its 'Ultimate' gaming smartphone to 24 GB of RAM, which it will pair with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset.

The MediaTek Dimensity 8300 has been officially unveiled for premium smartphones. It features a tri-cluster Arm V9 CPU, an Arm Mali-G615 MC6 GPU, a 780 APU and LPDDR5X 8533 memory. It will debut later this year alongside the Redmi K70.

Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 SoC has shown up on the Geekbench 6.2 database. Its single and multi-threaded scores show minimal improvements over the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1.

The MediaTek Dimensity 8300's Arm Mali-G615 MP6 GPU scores 9,112 points in Geekbench's OpenCL test, putting it on par with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. MediaTek plans to unveil the AP later today.

Last year's 128 GB flagship Samsung tablet is only US$699.99 in a Best Buy Black Friday sale offering US$400 off. The 14.6-inch Android tablet comes with Samsung's class-leading S Pen and features a bright ~3K, 120 Hz AMOLED panel for crisp video or productivity use. Samsung also guarantees software support until 2027.

According to a new leak, the Honor Magic6 smartphone series will be equipped with a huge 1-inch sensor that will also be used in the Xiaomi 14 Ultra and reportedly solves a well-known problem in smartphone photography.

A leak has revealed more exciting details about the expected features of a new camera flagship, the Oppo Find X7 Pro. In addition to a 1-inch sensor and four 50 MP cameras, two telephoto periscope cameras are said to be on board.

Realme has announced the launch date for the Realme GT5 Pro. In a few days, the manufacturer will present its new flagship and promises nothing less than a "turning point in telephoto photography" with Dolby Vision HDR telephotos.

Reportedly, Samsung has now informed South Korean media about various launch details for the Galaxy S24 series. For now, the company is expected to debut the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24 Plus and the Galaxy S24 Ultra during the third week of January alongside fourth-generation Galaxy Book laptops.

According to new leaks, Samsung will launch the successor to the Galaxy A24 4G in less than a month. Rumoured to arrive in three colours as the Galaxy A25 5G, the handset is expected to feature a 120 Hz AMOLED display, among other hardware improvements.

Nothing and Sunbird have now pulled their iMessage chat apps following revelations that neither app supports end-to-end encryption. Instead, both are riddled with vulnerabilities and privacy concerns, which Sunbird denies publicly at this stage.

The Garmin Fēnix 7x Sapphire Solar is currently at an all-time low on Amazon. An early Black Friday deal has cut the price of the Fēnix 7X Sapphire Solar by US$200, or 22%. The GPS-enabled titanium smartwatch supports a variety of activities with the built-in Sports app, is compatible with both Android and iOS for notification support, and has a rated battery life of up to 37 days.

OnePlus has announced that it will celebrate its tenth anniversary in early December 2023, in an event now believed to also unveil the OEM's next flagship Android smartphone. The 12 is touted to outdo its predecessors (and competitors) as never before with cutting-edge camera and display technology.

Xiaomi is expanding the Redmi Note 13 series with the new Redmi Note 13R Pro. For the equivalent of around 250 euros, the new 5G smartphone offers a 6.67-inch OLED panel with 120 Hz and a 108 MP camera, among other things.

The prospect of the Samsung Galaxy A25's launch has attracted attention as the event is thought to unveil a new 5G smartphone with decent specs at a relatively low price. Now, a leaks blog purports to reveal exactly how cheap it is going to be, and how much RAM/storage the potential buyer might expect to get for their money.

OnePlus has collaborated with BOE to make the 12 with what the OEM is now calling the Android smartphone display of the highest standards in the industry. It is now touted to be particularly eye health-friendly despite its putative ultra-high brightness, and to have a new usability feature that debuted in the Ace 2 Pro. Meanwhile, the device has picked up more certifications on its way to a global launch.

With a list price of US$104.99, the CarlinKit 5.0 wireless adapter is now down to US$55.99. This accessory can help owners of cars featuring Apple CarPlay and Android Auto go wireless. It sports a built-in 5G chip with automatic reconnection and works with most car brands, such as Ford, Mercedes, Honda, Nissan, Porsche, or Audi.

Details about the Oukitel WP19 Pro have leaked online. Supposedly arriving next month, the WP19 Pro is rumoured to feature a few upgrades over the current WP19, including a larger battery, a more powerful SoC and a faster display.

Another move that will bring iOS and Android one step closer has been confirmed by Apple for 2024 when the tech giant's smartphones will get support for RCS. Thanks to it, texts between the two platforms will get typing indicators and read confirmations alongside high-quality multimedia content.

Realme hypes its next top-end Android smartphone as a flagship among flagships thanks to its new Qualcomm platform and Miracle Cooling system. However, it seems to have failed its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 hype on its maiden run on a popular mobile device benchmark. Then again, subsequent testing might paint a better picture for the upcoming GT5 Pro.

The Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus are thought to launch with what Samsung might call the best and most powerful chipset it has ever made in the Exynos 2400. The SoC's projected bragging rights are also now believed to include production using FOWLP, a cutting-edge technique tipped to enhance bandwidth and performance by up to 15% in chips that take up to 40% less space.

OnePlus has announced that its next major stable software upgrade for Android smartphones will make them compatible with Microsoft Phone Link. Eligible devices will thus have a whole new way to move their calls, notifications and photos onto their users' Windows PCs, not to mention their whole UI if necessary.

CheckMag November 2023's top 5 Android games deliver a mix of horror, strategy, and adventure, each game standing out with its unique narrative and immersive gameplay. Perfect for gamers seeking new worlds to conquer and stories to experience.

Google introduced the Tensor series of chips with the Pixel 6 series in 2021. It was meant to usher in a range of chips specially tailored by Google to keep up with its class-leading AI-based software features. Just three Tensor chips in, and many of Google’s new AI features need to be off-loaded to the cloud for processing.

Geekbench has outlined various specifications for the Galaxy xCover7, Samsung's next rugged smartphone. Surprisingly, the Galaxy xCover7 will have a less powerful chipset than the outgoing Galaxy xCover6 Pro, which it will share with the upcoming Galaxy A15 5G.

Samsung has quietly begun upgrading the Galaxy S22 series to One UI 6. Distributed as 'DWK4', the update brings Android 14 to Samsung's older flagships, the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22 Plus and Galaxy S22 Ultra.

Oppo has confirmed the imminent release of another tablet. Arriving next week, the Oppo Pad Air2 appears to be the OnePlus Pad Go in another guise, which leaked promotional images also suggest.

Samsung has released new updates for its Camera Assistant and Expert RAW apps. Principally aimed at the Galaxy S23 series, the updates are also available for a few other recent flagships. While Camera Assistant 2.0.00.0 introduces several improvements, the latest version of Expert RAW enables an ND Filter mode.

The A25 5G might launch toward the lower end of the new mid-range Samsung smartphone spectrum, yet is thought to be interesting as it might sport some of the OEM's latest design refinements. Now, a new tip purports to confirm that rumor, as well as others that hint at how up to date its SoC and color choices are going to be.

OnePlus has finally released the version of its first-gen foldable smartphone with a black vegan leather back to the European market. Not only that, the Open Voyager Black has been unleashed as one of the OEM's Black Friday specials thanks to its introductory discount. The premium device is also on sale in other regions, the US included.

According to new reports, Honor could be the first Android OEM to launch a smartphone with Omnivision's rumoured 1-inch and 50 MP camera sensor. Allegedly, Honor will also equip the Magic6 with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, as well as the Omnivision OV50K.

Qualcomm has officially unveiled its newest upper-mid-range SoC, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3. It comes with a tri-cluster GPU, an Adreno 720 GPU, a Spectra ISP and a Hexagod NPU.