Android

The first photos shot using Google's new Ultra HDR image format have been published online. Available to try out for the first time in Android 14 with the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, the Ultra HDR image format adds an HDR gain map to a standard JPG image, which creates problems with incompatible systems for now.

Motorola launched two variants of the latest generation of its foldable Android smartphone for the first time in 2023. Now, the more vanilla version of the new Razr has finally joined its flagship counterpart on the United States market. It is touted to come in the same vibrant vegan leather color options, but makes some compromises for a more affordable price-point.

The Galaxy Z Fold5 is now available at a US$400 discount as part of Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days discount. The promotion applies to Samsung's latest foldable in Cream and Icy Blue colourways, both with 256 GB of storage.

The K70 might be the vanilla version of Redmi's next high-end Android smartphone line-up, yet is thought to share in Pro-grade advantages such as new flat screen tech and premium build quality. It is also now tipped to have the same generational charging upgrade as the upcoming flagship Xiaomi 14.

Motorola has introduced its latest Edge smartphone for North America. The Motorola Edge 2023 is available for US$499.99 at launch or CAD$849.99 in Canada.

A teardown video of the Pixel 8 has highlighted the internal change that Google has made from the Pixel 7. Unfortunately, this year's smaller Pixel remains difficult to repair and appears to have a weaker cooling solution than the Pixel 8 Pro.

The 2025-bound Exynos 2500 will feature only one Cortex-X5 core instead of the four rumoured earlier. The remaining will be replaced with Cortex-A730 cores in a 1+3+2+4 layout.

A typically reliable leaker has detailed various camera upgrades that are headed to OnePlus' next flagship. Reputedly, the OnePlus 12 will feature the Sony IMX966 as its primary camera, a 50 MP sensor with a 1/1.4-inch optical format. New front-facing and telephoto sensors are rumoured to be heading to the OnePlus 11 successor, too.

Samsung recently launched the Galaxy S23 FE, powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen or Exynos 2200 depending on regional models. It appears, however, that this Exynos 2200 on the S23 FE outperforms the Exynos 2200 on last year's Galaxy S22 lineup.

The Play 50 Plus is Honor's latest affordable-class Android smartphone, yet debuts with the OEM's latest design-language tweaks. It aims for a slim and sleek flat-edge look, yet packs a larger-than-average 6,000mAh battery. It goes well with a sizeable display, although it takes a spec hit to help it start at less than US$200.

The Xiaomi 13T has received its first discount. Available at an 18% reduction from Amazon UK, the Xiaomi 13T combines a 144 Hz AMOLED display with a 5,000 mAh battery, a Dimensity 8200 chipset and a 50 MP primary camera with OIS, among other features.

It appears that OnePlus is closing on launching the Open, the company's first foldable. Allegedly arriving before the end of October, the OnePlus Open is slated to undercut the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 by roughly US$100.

A benchmark listing for Honor's next foldable has appeared online ahead of the device's launch later this week. To be released as the Magic Vs2, the device will rely upon a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset, 16 GB of RAM and Android 13.

OPPO has set the stage for the launch of the next major software upgrade for its Android smartphones during its Developers Conference of 2023. The event will also introduce the OEM's connected smart device ecosystem, not to mention its own generative AI model and latest development in health technology.

@OnLeaks has now shared renders of the Pixel 8a, likely Google's final member of the Pixel 8 series. Corroborating previous leaks, the Pixel 8a has a more curved design than the Pixel 7a and one that resembles the Pixel 8.

Honor has confirmed that it will be unveiling at least another two devices in a few days. Surprisingly, the company has developed a follow-up to the Magic V2, dubbed the Magic Vs2. The Honor Watch 4 Pro will also be in attendance, the design of which Honor has already teased.

A switch to Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 is just one of the ways that Google is attempting to distinguish the Pixel 8 Pro from last year's Pixel 7 Pro. Initial drop and scratch tests suggest that the upgrade to the stronger glass type has paid off, just days before Google begins shipping Pixel 8 Pro pre-orders.

Rumours of Xiaomi abandoning MIUI for MiOS could be wide of the mark. While a well-known leaker has sparked rumours that this will be occurring soon, those familiar with MIUI have shown that Xiaomi continues to prepare MIUI 15 for release later this year.

Last week's agreement between Lenovo and Esper brings the latter's enterprise-grade Android and device management to a wide range of devices. The first one to run the custom Android-based OS is the third-generation Lenovo ThinkCentre M70a desktop, to be followed by a few others before the end of 2023.

Xiaomi has just offered up the Xiaomi 13T and Xiaomi 13T Pro, both cheaper options to the Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro. Based on early tests, the Xiaomi 13T and Xiaomi 13T Pro are not necessarily improvements upon the Xiaomi 12T or Xiaomi 12T Pro in many areas.

Concerns have been raised about the ability of the Pixel 8 Pro to manage heat following the first video teardown of the device to hit the net. As with the Pixel 7 Pro, the Pixel 8 Pro does not have a vapor chamber cooling system as found on devices like the Galaxy S23 Ultra among Android flagship phones, but relies on graphite and copper to keep things cool.

Despite Sony's claims, it seems that the Xperia 5 V can only match its predecessor when it comes to camera quality. Worse still, the Xperia 5 IV has the edge in zoomed-in shots thanks to its dedicated telephoto camera.

The Sony IMX966 is now projected to debut soon in order to become the new main camera for smartphones powered by the upcoming flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. It is said to have sought-after features, OIS included. The combination might be further bolstered by a new, high-res zoom lens from OmniVision for maximum effect.

OnePlus' inaugural Watch launched to limited critical acclaim on its launch. Nevertheless, a second generation is now projected to be on the way. It is believed to debut in 2024, and may be intended to accompany the OEM's next flagship smartphone, as it mirrors the 12's camera hump in terms of design language.

Digital Chat Station has revealed some more information about the MediaTek Dimensity 9300. Its prime Cortex-X4 core will operate at 3.25 GHz.

OnePlus' inaugural foldable Android smartphone is believed to launch very soon. It has made its way onto Geekbench ahead of this event, which might confirm how much RAM the device can have and which SoC it runs on. Despite their top-tier level, they have given the device a low-key start in terms of benchmarking.

Funtouch OS 14, the latest version of the software for the global versions of Vivo and iQOO smartphones, has been declared ready for stable status today (October 7, 2023). It is, as the name suggests, based on Android 14, and is also rated to be more customizable, secure and performance-focused than ever before. It is slated to roll out, starting with two of the OEM's international flagship devices, soon.

OPPO has confirmed that the Find N3 Flip's global version will start to become available soon, starting with India. It is primed to be the only 2023 clamshell smartphone with triple rear cameras on that market at its launch, and may beat its closest rivals in other areas too (on paper, at least). The OEM also asserts that it has the "best hinge" of its class and will have a more versatile cover screen than ever before.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will power the majority of next-gen Android flagships and is scheduled to debut later this month. The premium chipset appears to have made an early trip over to AnTuTu, however, with the benchmark revealing significant GPU performance upgrades.

Google has now confirmed that the Pixel Watch will receive Wear OS 4 before the year is out. Unfortunately, new smartphone mirroring options appear to be Pixel Watch 2 exclusives for one reason or another.

XDA Developers has determined that the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro both contain upgraded primary camera sensors. Unfortunately, it appears that the pair have missed out on the rumoured ISOCELL GN2. Instead, Google may be using the same 50 MP camera found in last year's Vivo X80 Pro.

A new report sheds light on Samsung's plans for the Exynos 2400. It will power all Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ smartphones worldwide, except in the US and China

More details about the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 Plus have emerged online from various sources. Not only has Samsung equipped the Galaxy Tab A9 Plus with a 5G modem, but it has also included an 11-inch display with a 90 Hz refresh rate and a 7,040 mAh battery, among other hardware.

Samsung has quietly released the Galaxy Tab A9 in select markets, with a rumoured wider release slated within the next few weeks. Starting in South America and the Middle East for now, the Galaxy Tab A9 has an 8.7-inch display, a MediaTek Helio G99 chipset, 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of expandable storage.

Google is still a few days away from fulfilling initial Pixel 8 Pro pre-orders. Nonetheless, YouTuber PBKreviews has already shown what the new flagship's cameras are capable of at 10x, 30x and when shooting videos in daylight or at night.

OnePlus has finally launched the Pad Go after a series of teasers. Available to order later this month, the OnePlus Pad Go combines an 8,000 mAh battery with a 90 Hz display and up to 256 GB of expandable storage, among other features.

Realme has released an updated copy of its Android 14 Early Access program schedule, and the GT Neo 3 is next on the list. The smartphone's 80W and 150W variants are the only ones slated to upgrade via this channel in October 2023, with others such as the Neo 3T and the newer 11 Pro series to follow in November. The news is not so good for devices such as the Narzo N53, which have been left until 2024.

The Vivo V29 Pro is now official with a MediaTek Dimensity 8200 SoC, 8/12 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage. The phone packs a triple camera system on the back with a novel Smart Aura Light and a single selfie shooter on the front. Vivo has yet to disclose availability information.

Samsung has covertly announced its next flagship mobile SoC, the Exynos 2400. Details about its CPU and GPU are scant, but the former is said to be 70% faster than the Exynos 2200.

Xiaomi has confirmed that it has now started updating some of its product stack to Android 14. The company's Android 14 rollout begins with the Xiaomi 12T, Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro, which were all previously on its MIUI beta program.

The Redmi Note 12R and 12R Pro might have made for the ideal cost-effective Android smartphones in 2022 - were it not for their outdated charging technology. However, a new successor is now believed to outdo them in this regard, having been registered as a new Xiaomi device with faster speeds over USB.

Google has become the first Android OEM to offer Android 14 across its entire product stack. Android 14 should be available to download now globally, starting with the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5. The release of stable Android 14 builds coincides with the October 2023 Feature Drop, which is also rolling out.

The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro have landed and bring many new features largely delivered through AI software algorithms that are Google’s speciality. The Tensor G3, however, features pretty standard Arm-based architecture across the CPU and GPU, but the early testing isn’t promising in terms of either performance or efficiency with Samsung's nodes once again under scrutiny.

New benchmarks of the Exynos 2400’s Xclipse 940 GPU have emerged online. It scores 1,656 points in Powerboard 4.0’s Sacred Path Vulkan test.

Google may have now revealed the Pixel 8 Pro, but it is still remaining quiet about the smartphone's temperature sensor. Nonetheless, the likes of 9to5Google and MKBHD have offered some insights, including a demonstration of Google's new Thermometer app.

Google is bringing improved face unlock support to its Pixel smartphones, starting with the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. While the pair lack the advanced hardware of the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, the new Tensor G3 chipset apparently has the capabilities necessary to open Android's BiometricPrompt API to their front-facing cameras.