Android

At IFA 2018, we managed to have a brief hands-on with the HTC U12 Life. The U12 Life is a mid-range smartphone sporting the same 6-inch display as the flagship U12+. The U12 Life offers 16 MP + 5 MP dual rear cameras and a 13 MP front camera with LED flash.

At IFA 2018, Honor took to stage to give us a glimpse of the Honor Magic 2 smartphone. The Magic 2 sports an all-screen design with slide out cameras and is powered by HiSilicon's 7nm Kirin 980 SoC. Not many details were divulged by Honor apart from the fact that the smartphone comes with a 40W charging mode.

Sony has finally launched its first smartphone with an OLED display. The new XZ3 is also its most contemporary flagship design in some time, which should go a long way to giving the Japanese tech giant its first smartphone hit in years.

[Updated with AnTuTu and Geekbench results]. The tablet is on track to launch next month for only $270 USD. If its upcoming Indiegogo campaign proves successful, then the Alldocube X could be an affordable alternative to the pricier solutions from Apple and Samsung.

The new WSD-F30 is a rugged outdoor smartwatch from Casio. The WSD-F30 is about 4 mm thinner than Casio's other rugged smartwatches but manages to run for longer, thanks in part to a new "Extend Mode" setting that shuts off some wireless radios. Casio has yet to announce pricing or a release date.

Samsung is expected to launch three variants of the Galaxy S10 next year and apparently, all three variants will sport in-display fingerprint sensors with the two higher-end variants housing an ultrasonic scanner and the third lower-end model featuring an optical scanner. The use of in-display fingerprint sensors is expected to define the overall smartphone market next year.

The upcoming OPPO Realme 2 is the successor of the Realme 1, which arrived less than four months ago with a MediaTek Helio P60 processor under the hood and a 6-inch display. The Realme 2 sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor, a 6.2-inch notched display, and will go on sale next month for less than US$160 (4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage).

The Tesla Wireless Charger surfaced on the company's official store but was removed after less than a day. This power bank features 5 W wireless charging and USB Type-C wired charging at 5 V and 1.5 A, has a rather modest capacity of 6,000 mAh, but it lives up to the Tesla name and sports a not-so-friendly US$65 price tag.

Google's latest Pixel devices are billed to be launched on October 9. Here's everything we know about the 3 XL.

The LG V20, G6, and Q6 are finally receiving their Oreo updates. It's only taken the V20 two years to receive its first major update, so LG must be applauded. And yes, that is, indeed, sarcasm.

The Mate 20 Lite has been listed on a Polish retail website, with hands-on reviews also giving us a clearer image of Huawei's next unassuming mid-ranger.

YouTube allows vloggers who use the platform to monetize their videos with AdSense. However, many of these ads can be skipped after a few seconds. Now, however, YouTube now contains options to include skip button-less ads for all creators.

The new Lenovo slates offer a little bit of everything to everyone, starting with the 7-inch, US$69.99 Lenovo Tab E7 with a MediaTek processor and Android Oreo Go onboard, moving on to the Tab E10 with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 chip inside and the same operating system, and going up to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450-powered Tab P10 and Tab M10.

With a repairability score of 4 out of 10 awarded by iFixit, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is considered to have a nicely laid out modular internal design that only uses standard Philips screws. However, to service any of the internal components the glass rear panel must be un-glued (and reglued at the end), and replacing the display is also very hard to do.

LG is adding two new devices to its G7 portfolio. The G7 One is the first LG smartphone to feature a Snapdragon 835 SoC and is part of the Android One program. The G7 Fit, on the other hand, comes with an older Snapdragon 821 SoC but offers two storage options. The G7 Fit is not an Android One phone but shares many features with the G7 One including the Quad Hi-Fi DAC and IP68 rating for dust and water resistance.

If your eyes are sensitive to flickering displays, then it may be best to avoid Samsung's latest flagship. The Galaxy Note 9 display flickers at a frequency of 227 Hz that could potentially cause headaches and tiredness. The practice, known as pulse-width modulation, is rarely seen on smartphones.

The upcoming LG V40 is not official yet and the latest 360-degree video that surfaced online is, unfortunately, an unofficial render based on the details — mainly physical dimensions — that were leaked so far. The handset shown in this video comes with a wide notch and a tri-camera main image shooter, just as expected.

Those who want to remap the Bixby button of their Galaxy Note 9 can do it thanks to the latest update received by the bxActions - Bix Button Remapper app for Android, which now sports full support for Samsung's latest high-end phablet. Thanks to this app, the Bixby button can be used to perform over 30 actions.

Most of the Samsung Galaxy J5s of yesteryear run Android 7.0 (Nougat). However, new reports indicate that some of these phones are receiving an update. This software skips 8.0 Oreo and goes straight to 8.1 instead. So far, reports indicate that 2017 J5s in Poland and India have seen this version of the Samsung Experience ROM.

Those who buy the new Galaxy Note 9 directly from Samsung will also get a Duo wireless charger and an official cover in the retail package for free. For an additional US$99, the two accessories mentioned above can be accompanied by the IconX earphones — a treat which normally comes for no less than US$200.

A document believed to have originated from the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) specifies a new model number associated with the smartphone maker OnePlus. Given the compatibility of the number with the company's naming scheme of the last few years, the document may pertain to the hotly anticipated 6T.

The Poco F1 that was launched in India last week combined performance, essential features, and price into an unbeatable package. The device will make its way to Europe this week but will leave one of those features behind, making it a relatively uninteresting release.

HTC is set to unveil yet another device in a few days. It's unknown what device the company has lined up but there's a chance it's the U12 Life, or a special edition of the U12 Plus.

The name Huawei may not be a fan favorite in the US but you'd be wrong if you thought the company was just another upstart unknown Chinese OEM. According to IDC, Huawei overtook Apple to become the second-largest smartphone brand in Europe last quarter.

Google disclosed a vulnerability in the Fortnite Mobile APK that allows a pre-installed malicious application to exploit the way the game installs for the first time in Samsung Galaxy devices. Thankfully, Epic has patched this vulnerability in the latest version of the installer but is not very happy about Google disclosing it prematurely.

The UMIDIGI Z2 line has jumped into a ring increasingly full of phones with features associated with more well-known names such as the Huawei P20/P20 Pro. These new phones is powered by an octa-core processor, has dual cameras and a dual SIM slot, both of which have 4G/LTE. It also has a notch and color-shifting variants.

An image of the upcoming Sony Xperia XZ3 flagship Android smartphone has leaked and it is largely reminiscent of the renders we've seen so far. The image confirms that the Xperia XZ3 will be devoid of any notch and that it has a single-lens camera at the back.

OPPO has taken the wraps off a better-equipped variant of the recently launched R17. The new model includes the premium Super VOOC charging feature that first debuted on the OPPO Find X Lamborghini Edition.

While users have been able to connect an XBox One controller to their Android device for a few years, the process has always been a bit buggy. A Google developer announced yesterday that the bug should be fixed in Android 9.0 Pie, which will have native support for XBox One controllers.

The Garmin vivofit jr. 2 is a fitness tracker for kids that comes with Disney Princess-themed bands and a mobile app capable of offering an interactive experience which includes popular characters such as Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Mulan, and Rapunzel. This smart wearable is already available for US$79.99.

The international version of the 8-inch Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 tablet with 4 GB of memory and 64 GB internal storage can be acquired for less than US$240 via GearBest by those in a hurry. Those who can live without LTE and with lower specs should be able to grab the 3 GB RAM/32 GB storage WiFi version for around US$170, but the price depends a lot on the retailer.

The new Samsung Galaxy J2 Core rolls out in India and Malaysia today, but other markets should follow in the near future as well. This handset's list of specs includes a low-resolution 5-inch display, 1 GB of memory and 8 GB internal storage space, 5 MP and 8 MP cameras, and the Exynos 7570 processor.

According to reports, the LG V40 may be coming on November 16 with a rectangular notch, tri-rear cameras, two front-facing cameras, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Word of ZTE's upcoming flagships has surfaced once again, and it would appear that we will be getting an Axon 9—and a Pro model—soon, perhaps even sooner than one would expect.

A new report has detailed Huawei's upcoming flagship, the Mate 20, with notable takeaways including the presence of a notch, a single selfie camera, a headphone jack, and a slightly inebriated tri-rear camera design.

According to market analysts, the new Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is currently on course to outsell the S9. What's more, it would appear that most buyers prefer shelling out over US$1000 for the premium model.

New details of Motorola's new device have surfaced, and there's a chance we may be dealing with the Moto P30 Note, a device initially listed alongside the Moto P30 that was launched last week.

The latest approved patent filed by Motorola in May this year seems to confirm the previous rumors launched around MWC time in February regarding the return of the RAZR brand. However, this time Motorola may equip the clamshell design with a flexible display and special hinges with flex sensors, so the new RAZR might actually be Motorola's first foldable phone.

These family-friendly tablets include a "Kid's Bumper" to protect the edges from drops and nicks. Both models share the same Snapdragon 450 SoC and design language but with notable differences in battery capacity, screen brightness, and speaker quality.

Xiaomi's popular mid-range Mi A1 smartphone continues to receive full software support, the latest update for this handset bringing the official security patch dated August 5. Even better, the new firmware also addresses the notification LED bug that arrived earlier this summer with the Android 8.1 Oreo update.

Xiaomi has officially launched the Poco F1 in India to take on rival flagship killers such as the OnePlus 6, Asus Zenfone 5Z, the Honor 10, and the Honor Play. The Poco F1 features 2018 flagship specifications and Xiaomi says that it has been optimized from the ground up for fast performance. The Poco F1 will be available in 3 color variants along with a special Armored Edition and starts from US$300 for the 6GB/64GB variant.

Those who were expecting stellar specs from the upcoming Leagoo S10 will be disappointed because this handset is powered by a MediaTek processor and does not feature 8 GB of memory and 128 GB internal storage as expected. However, this handset with an in-display fingerprint reader is expected to provide a lot for a rather low price.

OnePlus will be starting a new Closed Beta program that will consist of a special group of testers who will be directly interfacing with OnePlus's staff to test out very early software releases before they are seeded to Open Beta testers and consequently to the public. There are certain requirements to qualify for the Closed Beta and OnePlus will be recruiting only 100 people for this program.

Now available in 24 markets across six continents — the latest addition to the list of supported markets being South Africa — Samsung Pay was originally introduced in South Korea on August 20, 2015. This mobile payment service recently hit the 1.3 billion transactions milestone thanks to a global network of 2,000 banking and financial partners.

Before now, users of Nokia devices have been able to unlock their bootloaders via an unofficial channel. Sadly, that will no longer be possible, as a new update has closed off the vulnerability by changing the unlock algorithm.

The new Oxygen OS 5.1.5 update sent out to the OnePlus 5 and 5T has finally granted the devices their very own Treble powers. The update weighs is a heavy 1.69 GB download and will be rolled out gradually.

Vivo's next premium device, the Vivo X23, is set to be launched within the coming weeks. It will be powered by the new Snapdragon 710 and will feature up to 8 GB of RAM.