Android

Although it is not a compact handset, the new ZTE Nubia Z18 also carries the "Mini" attribute. This 5.7-inch handset is powered by the Snapdragon 660 processor, next to 6 GB RAM, as well as 64 GB or 128 GB internal storage. Sadly, it is only available in China for now, where it can be acquired for the equivalent of US$285 or US$335 (depending on the amount of storage).

The Black Shark gaming phone comes with totally unique features that include a 550 nits 5.99-inch display, special detachable game controller, sturdy back design for improved grip, watercooling system that allows the SoC to run at lower temperatures and thus avoiding throttling, plus stereo speakers that emulate surround sound acoustics.

The successors of the Xiaomi Mi 5X and its Android One variant known as the Xiaomi Mi A1 will soon be unveiled in China. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 626-powered Xiaomi Mi 6X is expected to be unveiled on April 25 with MIUI onboard, while the Android One variant will hit the market as the Xiaomi Mi A2.

Not long after a Samsung device with the model number SM-G8750 surfaced on Geekbench with a Snapdragon 660 onboard, the SM-G8850 hits TENAA with a Snapdragon 845 inside. Nothing is official yet, but insiders familiar with this matter claim that the handset should be unveiled in the coming weeks.

Thuraya has been making satellite phones for two decades now, but none of these were based on Android and had only limited "smart" capabilities. The new X5-Touch model seamlessly integrates the satellite connections with a mid-range Android smartphone that also comes with two SIM slots for quick switches between GSM and satellite networks.

LG has announced the establishment of a new "Software Update Center" at its R&D facility in Korea. The new department will focus solely on delivering timely updates to its Android devices across all of its global markets.

Google has finally called time on the original Pixel smartphones first released in 2016. It had continued to sell the Pixel and Pixel XL alongside the next-generation models following their launch last year, but this has now come to an end.

Samsung may still be the world’s largest smartphone vendor but the South Korean company is struggling to make an impact in the important Chinese market. The smartphone market in China is currently dominated by domestic brands, with Apple also managing a small slice of the pie. It has been reported that Samsung’s share dropped to 0.8% in the fourth quarter of 2017, putting the company in 12th position for that particular market.

A leak detailing HTC's upcoming flagship has surfaced. Going by the leak, the device will feature a 5.5-inch QHD+ display, quad cameras, OIS, IP68 certification, 8 GB of RAM, and Quick Charge 4+ support.

An AnTuTu listing of the next-gen Mate flagship has surfaced. The device is expected to be powered by the Kirin 980, HiSilicon's next-gen premium SoC. The Mate 20 impressed on this listing, showing a significant 30% advantage over the new Snapdragon 845.

Huawei has sent out invites for an event where the upcoming Honor 10 will be officially unveiled. Not much is known about the device itself but it will be powered by a Kirin 970, and could sport a notched 5.8-inch FHD+ display.

LG has announced that its next-generation flagship G7 will carry the ThinQ branding and will officially take a bow on May 2. Rumor has it that LG scrapped the design that made a sneak appearance at MWC in 2018 with a notched display, but this now seems probable that this is indicative of the final design.

Images of a concept phone from ZTE called the Iceberg have appeared on the iF World Design Guide website. The smartphone utilizes a glass unibody, showing off transparent glass corners that give it a unique look. However, haters of the controversial notch design will despair at the Iceberg’s most obvious feature: A second notch!

HMD Global soon plans to manufacture its components in India to avoid import duties and ride along the smartphone wave in the country. The Finnish company, which has license to use the Nokia brand, is in talks with Foxconn to setup surface-mount technology lines and other component manufacturing.

According to supposedly reliable sources, Xiaomi and Google are working together on a smartphone for the US market. This device is said to be neither an Android One smartphone nor a Pixel, which leaves us a bit stumped as to what both companies have in the works.

Xiaomi has released Nougat kernel sourced for the Redmi Note 5 Pro. This will be yet another device that Xiaomi has released sources for over the past few months, which could be an indication of a change in the company's stance on community development.

The Nokia 6 (2018) was launched in China months ago. The device, one of the few to be launched with a 16:9 aspect ratio this year, has finally gone on sale in India. It can be purchased at Nokia’s online store for a token of INR 16,999.

Facebook will allow users to delete/unsend their messages soon. This "feature" was unlikely to be released anytime soon but the company has promised to do so after it was revealed that company executives have had the ability to unsend messages in their private conversations for a while now.

The Essential PH-1's camera has been panned by both critics and users for being a major letdown. While the company has attempted to fix things with software updates, the camera still doesn't hold up to those on its flagship rivals.

Xiaomi has taken its exceptional form of 2017 into the new year. The company has apparently averaged over 10 million smartphone shipments over the first three months of the year. The company leapfrogged Vivo to become the fifth-largest smartphone brand in the world by the end of Q4 2017. If current sales numbers remain steady, Xiaomi could go fourth.

The Blackberry Priv has received yet another update. The company officially ended support for the device a few months ago but promised that patches would be sent out in the event of a vulnerability being found. This appears to be one of such events.

Doogee’s Mix 4 prototype smartphone has been unveiled on a popular YouTube channel, and it seems the Shenzhen-based company has come up with a novel way of discarding the controversial notch. The Mix 4 device has a mechanical slider, allowing the front-facing camera to be neatly placed behind the display when not in use.

Huawei has sent out invites for an event that will take place on May 15 in London. There are no exact details as to what device will be unveiled on that date but a few clues make us believe we could be looking at the Honor 10's launch.

Honor is offering a number of its devices on a two-day deal. The flagship Honor View 10 is on sale for $470, the Honor 6X for $150, and the Honor 7X for just $1. Yes, you read that right. All deals end on April 8.

The teased silhouette of the Black Shark presents rounded edges and a power or volume button on the side, but the previously rumored directional gamepad is most likely not going to get included. Xiaomi confirmed that the Black Shark will be unveiled on April 13 there will be variants with storage capacities ranging between 64 - 256 GB.

Huawei's new Mate RS features technology that hasn't been seen on smartphones before, which is about par considering its hefty $2000 price tag. The device also uses OLED panels made by LG—particularly noteworthy after the issues with the LG V30 and Pixel 2 XL's displays.

Motorola is set to announce the launch of its new G6 series devices, the G6, G6 Plus, and G6 Play, at an event in Sao Paulo, Brazil—on April 19.

A Samsung Engineer leaked the fact that he has been working on the next gen Exynos 9820 since January 2018 on his LinkedIn profile. Additionally, the same engineer has been working on a 5G RF chip that is expected to be integrated directly in the Exynos 9820 ever since May 2017. These chips are expected to debut in early 2019.

The Honor V10 was launched globally months back in December. The device has taken its sweet time to make its way across the pond, though, going on sale via Honor's website a while ago. Potential buyers who prefer doing their shopping on Amazon can finally rest easy, with the device getting listed.

According to Roland Quandt, the first SoC in Qualcomm's new 700-series is on its way. The chip, the Snapdragon 710 (SDM710), is one we believe to be the same as the Snapdragon 670 that was touted a while back.

A video that was briefly present on the Facebook page of OnePlus India reveals that Marvel Studios will team up with the Chinese brand for an Avengers-themed limited edition of the upcoming OnePlus 6 flagships. The video has been removed shortly after being posted, apparently because it was a test video that should not have been shared online.

In a post on the official OnePlus forum, CEO Pete Lau took to mention (or rather confirm) some key OnePlus 6 specs. The upcoming flagship will feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 along with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage. Nothing else was mentioned other than these but the post went into detail of how OnePlus engineers strive to improve the user experience.

There was some excitement among JRPG fans in February when a PC port of Chrono Trigger unexpectedly turned up on Steam. However, that excitement soon turned to exasperation as many gamers complained about the graphics and the user interface. The company behind Chrono Trigger, Square Enix, is aiming to release a series of patches to address the most common issues.

Meizu decided to steer clear from notched or bezel-less displays for its 15/15+ anniversary models, keeping the tried and true bezel-less sides + upper/lower bezel design of yesteryear models. The 15+ model will feature a 5.95-inch QHD screen and an Exynos 8895 SoC, while the standard model will come with a 5.46-inch FHD display and a Snapdragon 660 SoC. Both models integrate 4/6 GB RAM and 64/128 GB storage, plus a sturdy metal back.

The handset that is believed to be the compact (and less potent) version of the Samsung Galaxy S9 flagship has just been spotted on Geekbench, where it is listed under the model number SM-G8750. This handset is rumored to be currently tested in China and features 4 GB RAM and a mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor.

The OnePlus 6 is about due for an announcement. There have been reports that the device will launch with an MSRP of US$700 for its highest-specced variant. We are, of course, not at all convinced.

The S6 was released in April 2015. The device has had its time out in the sun but that is at an end, with Samsung officially ending support for the device. The S6 Edge, S6 Active, and S6 Edge+ also get the same treatment, with the Note 5 set to follow in a few months.

Although Google is currently involved in lower-cost initiatives like Android Go and Android One, the Google Pixel smartphones and phablets released so far always targeted the top tier of the market. However, the company is now planning to adjust its strategy in some markets like India, where a mid-range Pixel phone is expected to launch by the summer's end.

A developer on XDA has devised a means of unlocking bootloaders of the Nokia 2, Nokia 5, Nokia 6, and Nokia 8. While testers have confirmed the fact that it does work, the methods involved may not be the safest.

While the Moto Z3 Play renders that have just surfaced online show a handset with a side-mounted fingerprint reader, as well as a dual-camera setup and the contacts for Moto Mods on the back, the recent FCC listing reveals a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor, 4 GB RAM, and 32 GB or 64 GB internal storage.

A new exclusive report about LG's next-gen flagship — which might not hit the market as the LG G7 after all — reveals that this handset will feature a dedicated AI button and a rear camera with f/1.5 aperture (obviously, a dual camera setup). If the rumor turns out to be true, this device will be unveiled by the end of the month.

After a rather long wait, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 phablet owners on T-Mobile can finally enjoy the benefits delivered by the Android Oreo update. Sadly, the release notes page has not been updated by T-Mobile yet, but the update is most likely based on Android 8.0, as it happens with the other Samsung flagships that recently received the update.

Fans of the Mi X5 will probably be disappointed to learn that the 6X is set to feature only a slightly more powerful Snapdragon 626 SoC. The imaging setup, however, has been substantially upgraded to include a 20 MP selfie cam along with a dual 20 MP + 8 MP rear cam. The display was also replaced with a larger 5.99-inch 2160x1080 IPS panel, but the memory and storage configuration remained the same 4 GB + 64 GB.