Phablet

Although there is little doubt about the fact that Samsung will make this color option available for the entire world in the coming months, the Ice Blue Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will only launch in China. Fortunately, those who just want a blue contemporary Galaxy S flagship can already find the Coral Blue flavor in most markets.

Only launched in Midnight Black and Mirror Black, the OnePlus 6T flagship also received a Thunder Purple color option after a while. Sadly, it was supposed to be a China-exclusive choice, but now it seems that the US and Europe will receive it as well. The price remains the same and the sales should start on November 15, at 9 AM EST.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 is likely to be coming soon, and with next-generation features such as an under- or in-display fingerprint scanner. A new leak about this phone aligns with the company's intentions for flat display technology, which were announced at the recent Samsung Developer's Conference.

Huawei introduced a new feature known as reverse (or inverted) wireless charging with the Mate 20 Pro. It means that the new flagship can be used as a charging pad for other devices with compatible technology. However, Android Authority found it to work very slowly for a Pixel 3 in comparison with its own chargers.

It appears Samsung already has grand plans for the future of the Galaxy F foldable flagship. A report from the South Korean Yonhap News Agency has stated that the tech giant intends to keep releasing new foldable phones each year in selected markets. This will be alongside the usual yearly updates to the Galaxy S series and the Galaxy Note series.

Only available in a 6 GB/128 GB memory/storage configuration, the Vivo X21s can be acquired in China for around US$360 and sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor, a 12 + 5 MP dual camera setup on the back with AI-driven scene detection, as well as a generous 6.41-inch display with a small notch.

Although Sony promised to deliver Android Pie on October 26 to quite a few supported Xperia handsets, the update was a bit delayed. Fortunately, the Xperia XZ Premium, XZ1, and XZ1 Compact are now finally receiving the Android 9.0 firmware. Obviously, the other supported Xperia devices should get the update in the coming months as well.

Although the recent teaser that Samsung has posted on Twitter only says "Intelligence from within" and contains the date of November 14, it is almost certain that this is all about the launch of the Exynos 9820 processor. This chip would make Samsung the third brand to enter the 7 nm realm, after Apple and Huawei.

The Black Shark is Xiaomi's take on a gaming phone. It is powered by up-to-date hardware, although it lacks a headphone jack. Xiaomi has announced that it will release this phone into the European market on November 16.

The 6T is the late-year refresh of the OnePlus 6T. XDA-Developers has reported that the company has sold 86% more 6T units compared to those of the 6 on its first day on sale in the United States. This is almost undoubtedly due to OnePlus' new partnership with T-Mobile.

The LG G7 Fit is a sort of 'mini' (albeit mainly in terms of specs) variant of the flagship G7 ThinQ. It was announced at IFA 2018, but was not made available in certain markets on release. However, LG has stated that it will go on sale in more regions from now on.

After spending a bit over a month in the Beta stage, Microsoft Launcher 5.0 is finally available for everyone as a stable release. The most important changes are the introduction of an updated Your Feed page and Windows Timeline support, but there are various other goodies in store as well.

This year's Samsung Developer's Conference (SDC) has been interesting already. This is mainly due to the Infinity Flex Display that had finally been confirmed during the event's first day. However, other SDC presenters made announcements that indicate that Samsung also has non-foldable displays in the works - with notches.

Huawei includes access to its Mobile Cloud subscription service in its version of Android, EMUI OS. It is dropping the price for this 50GB cloud storage solution to US$0.011 (€0.01) for Huawei device owners in the EU for this month. The price increases to €0.99 when this promotion expires.

The shares of the company Spotify were down 11% at the start of today (November 1, 2018) due to a forecast that shows relatively poor fourth-quarter performance. In addition, Spotify is now reported to be committed to new investments to boost innovation and future-proofing in its products.

The Honor Magic 2 has been released in an event in China. As expected, the phone has a total of 6 camera sensors, a new type of AI assistant called YOYO and a slide-down display. It also has extremely fast charging and the Kirin 980 with its NPU in tow.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 710-powered Lenovo Z5 Pro comes with a generous 6.39-inch display, 6 GB of memory, and a 16 MP + 24 MP main camera setup. With a slider design similar to the one used by the recently released Mi Mix 3, the Z5 Pro starts below the US$300 threshold (the variant with 64 GB internal storage).

A California-based electronics firm called Royole has unveiled the FlexPai foldable smartphone, seemingly beating tech giants like Samsung and Huawei in the race to release a truly flexible device. The FlexPai will operate on Water OS (based on Android 9.0) and should feature a Snapdragon 8-series SoC. Apparently, the handset has passed an unnamed bending test over 200,000 times.

In certain corners of the Internet, there has been a crowd of enthusiasts calling for the removal of the front-facing camera. While that request isn't exactly viable, Nubia has only just gone and done it, with the new Nubia X ditching the selfie camera entirely.

The next-gen Asus Zenfone 6 was leaked in all its glory a short while ago, showing a device with a never-before-seen notch and three rear cameras.

Since the Xiaomi Mi 8 and Mi 8 Explorer Edition already got Android 9.0 Pie, seeing the Mi 8 SE on Geekbench with the latest Android update onboard is not surprising at all. However, this only means that Xiaomi has begun testing the update and it might need at least a few weeks before being ready for launch.

Although this is only about connecting a custom R15 to a 5G network in the company's research lab for now, OPPO is planning to become the first Chinese company to bring a 5G smartphone to the market in 2019. Unfortunately, they will have to beat Huawei, LG, ZTE, and all the others who are also chasing the same goal.

The 48 MP ISOCELL Bright GM1 and 32 MP ISOCELL Bright GD1 are Samsung's new 0.8-micrometer image sensors for mobile devices that enable camera module manufacturers to build smaller modules or cram more pixels into existing designs. These sensors support Gyro-based image stabilization and the Tetracell technology for increased light sensitivity.

OnePlus has introduced a new feature called NightScape for its latest flagship, the 6T. It is intended to improve on low-light photography for the phone. The 6T also includes re=imagined portrait shots, as a result of a partnership with Kevin Abosch.

After numerous delays, the RED Hydrogen One will finally go on sale at Verizon and AT&T this Friday, November 2. Despite the initial hype built around the device last year, the steep price tag and disappointing feature set threaten to kill the Hydrogen One at launch. The device will be available for $1295.

The OnePlus 6T has been officially launched, even if none of its details were a huge surprise. On the other hand, the company did wow the audience with the price for the base model. In addition, it unveiled a new trade-in program with T-Mobile.

The move of the notch from the top middle area to the corners of the display might not be a bad idea, as revealed by a new patent. In addition to a quad-notch handset, this patent also describes a smart wearable with a similar design, as well as the software approach needed to show the content correctly on such a display.

The Mate 20 Pro was released a short while ago but its DxOMark review is yet to be seen. Sources claim that the report hasn't been published yet because the Mate 20 Pro's scores were just too high and Huawei believes releasing that information to the public would do more harm than good.

Although LG Electronics has reported a profit of almost US$668 million for the third quarter of 2018, the LG Mobile Communications Company had to face a weakening demand and increasing competition and reported an operating loss of roughly US$130 million. However, LG mobile branch seems to be on the right path.

Also known as the M8 Note, the Meizu Note 8 is a 6-inch Qualcomm Snapdragon 632-driven Android handset that comes in blue, red, purple, and black. This handset sports a rather common 12 + 5 MP dual camera setup on the back, and will go on sale in China next week for the equivalent of about US$185 (4/64 GB configuration).

With less than a week to go until its next major launch event, it appears that OnePlus has gained what could be a significant advantage for its next phone, the 6T, in the United States. The company has reportedly succeeded in its application for Verizon LTE certification.

Although it sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor and up to 10 GB of memory, the 6.4-inch Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 launches without facial recognition or an in-display fingerprint reader, and the 5G variant is only supposed to hit the market in the first part of 2019. Nevertheless, this is an interesting device that starts below the US$500 threshold.

Rockstar Games has announced the Companion App for its upcoming release, Red Dead Redemption 2. This app connects an Android or iOS device to the console in question, and allows the player to view maps, stats and progress on their phone or tablet while gaming.

The Pixel 3 XL's display notch is a matter of taste at best, and a matter of tolerance at worst. Google's own rules for notch support in the latest version of Android stipulate only one of them per screen edge. However, some Pixel 3 XL owners claim that the software is not complying with them.

Although both were supposed to enter production in the second half of this year, it looks like the next-gen UFS storage solutions and LPDDR5 will not hit the market as soon as expected. While the UFS 3.0 memory will arrive in the first half of next year, the LPDDR5 DRAM chips will only roll out — if everything works as planned, obviously — in 2020.

Samsung may have completed work on the graphene battery with which it have been linked over the last few years. This next-gen power-storage technology may improve significantly on its lithium-ion counterpart in some respects. A well-regarded leaker believes that the Note 10 may be in line for these enhancements.

Since most major brands should be working on their first 5G handsets already, the fact that Carl Pei has recently confirmed that OnePlus is also set to release its first 5G phone next year is not a surprise. However, the co-founder of this popular brand is apparently not sure if the device will be ready in time for the first 5G wave.

Although virtually no flagship from a major brand comes with just two cameras nowadays, one of the three upcoming Galaxy S10 models is expected to feature a single camera on each side. On the other hand, the top-of-the-line variant apparently has a total of five cameras. In the end, this might be just another partially accurate rumor.

Qualcomm has taken the covers off the successor to its Snapdragon 670 for mid-range smartphones. The new Snapdragon 675 focuses on bringing features typically found in flagships to more affordable devices, particularly in the areas of gaming, imaging and AI.

Google and Apple can celebrate because the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and its non-Pro sibling will not give them a hard time in the US. Unfortunately for Huawei's US fans, the Chinese company has just confirmed that these two devices will not be available locally. However, European and Asian variants might be imported.

With a 6.2-inch full HD+ display and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor, the Lenovo S5 Pro also brings two dual camera setups (one on each side) in the sub-US$200 price range, something that no major brand managed to do so far. Sadly, this handset might remain exclusively available in China.

The Honor Magic 2 is likely to be released soon. It has been slated to come with an OPPO Find X-like sliding mechanism to hide its front-facing sensors behind a notch-free screen. Recent leaks and teasers from Weibo and TENAA indicate that it will also have next-gen camera technology

Although the technical details are shady at this stage, it seems that Samsung is working on an in-house GPU for its upcoming gaming handset. Sadly, there is no release date to talk about yet, but given the increasing popularity of this segment of the market, there is no doubt that Samsung will join the gaming phone sector as soon as possible.

Some Pixel 2 and 2XL units do not save the pictures taken using Google Camera properly, so that they do not show up in Photos or in the phones' storage. This is now apparently happening to some newer Pixels as well. This issue may be linked to the HDR modes and how it processes photos.

As if the various taxes already in place are not enough, Android users in the EU will end up paying more for their phones starting next year due to the licensing fees that Google will start charging for devices that are activated starting on February 1. These fees will start at US$2.5 per device and can hit US$40, depending on the pixel density and market.

Although this premium flagship sports quite a few attractive features, including a dual camera setup with OIS and specs that look great in theory, it failed to score more than 83 DxOMark points. While the test has shown that the G7 ThinQ's cameras can provide vivid colors and good exposure, the zoom and bokeh areas place it well behind its competitors.