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One of the most contested aspects of the MIUI software experience on Xiaomi and Redmi phones in places such as India has been the extensive use of ads all over. But it looks like the appeal of introducing ads into your software UI is just too high, because now Realme is doing it too. Realme as a brand is an Oppo offshoot that is pretty clearly aiming to compete primarily with Xiaomi (and mostly, its Redmi sub-brand), and it's been doing a great...

The Nokia 4.2 was released earlier this year in India for INR 10,990 (approximately $154 or €137). Subsequently it got a price cut down to INR 9,499 ($133 or €118), which made the already affordable phone even more so. Now though it's received a new price cut, and this one is huge. The Nokia 4.2 went from INR 9,499 to INR 6,975 ($97 or €87) over at Amazon, and we expect the price change to be reflected on both Flipkart and Nokia's online store in...

Last week, Realme shared a couple of posters of the X50 5G, which revealed the design of the smartphone and confirmed quad rear cameras and a side-mounted fingerprint reader. Today, the company shared a new image, which shows us the front of the X50 5G. A previously shared poster by Realme did reveal that X50 5G will feature a display with a pill-shaped hole in the upper-left corner for the dual selfie camera. But the image shared by Realme today...

Another year is upon us and another cultural decade begins. We can only hope the next 12 months will be as eventful an filled with entertainment as the past 12 have been. Thank you for staying with us for another round of exciting stories from the world of mobile technology. We've been quite the busy bees in 2019 - we are on the brink of reaching 1 million subscribers on our YouTube channel, after publishing more than 140 videos in 2019 - that's...

This year the mobile phone market saw the rise of many new trends - from high refresh rate screens through 108MP image sensors to periscope cameras. The first foldable phones went on sale, charging speeds went through the roof, displays got curvier and grew punch holes. Some brands used these trends to their advantage and grow in the market, others missed the mark. In this series we look at what each company got right in 2019 and where their efforts...

Samsung is working on new M-series mid-rangers, and these will also be sold at offline retailers when they launch next year. For now, rumor has it that the M11, M21, and M31 are on the way, and as their names imply, naturally these will be the successors to the M10, M20, and M30, respectively. A new report today sheds some more light on the Galaxy M21, letting us know that its model number is SM-M215F. It will have 64 and 128GB built-in storage...

Samsung is eager to close out 2019 with all its flagships under Android 10 (well, almost all). Today the maker has seeded the Android 10 update to the Galaxy Note9 and now to the unlocked Galaxy Note10/Note10+ in the US. Up until this point the firmware was available for the Galaxy Note10 devices on Verizon and, as of yesterday T-Mobile. Unlocked devices around the world started receiving the Android 10 update in the middle of December but it's...

You've heard this before - Samsung has chosen the S20 as the name of its next Galaxy S flagship, instead of the logical S11. The information originally came from reputable tipster @Iceuniverse and he's now reconfirmed his statement. The renaming makes some sense. 2020 marks the beginning of a new decade and Samsung has concluded the old one with 10 annual Galaxy S flagships. Making the next one the Galaxy S20 will differentiate it, especially when...

Realme has released a new software update for the Realme 5 Pro that adds Dark Mode toggle to the notification center and bumps up the Android security patch level to December 2019. The new firmware, bearing version number RMX1971EX_11_A.15 also comes with an updated Nightscape algorithm for the selfie camera and extends Clone Apps support to Twitter, Freecharge, Zomato, Swiggy, and Snapchat. Here's the complete changelog of the update: Security...

This year the mobile phone market saw the rise of many new trends - from high refresh rate screens through 108MP image sensors to periscope cameras. The first foldable phones went on sale, charging speeds went through the roof, displays got curvier and grew punch holes. Some brands used these trends to their advantage and grow in the market, others missed the mark. In this series we look at what each company got right in 2019 and where their efforts...

Yesterday Xiaomi quietly-unveiled the Watch Color but skipped revealing any specs prior to its January 3 release in China. Thankfully, a leaked retail box can fill-in the blanks and confirm some of our earlier suspicions. The Wear OS-based Xiaomi Watch Color indeed has a 1.39-inch 454x454px AMOLED display. Underneath, there's a 420mAh battery, NFC and GPS with GLONASS support. Naturally, the Xiaomi Watch Color is water resistant, up to 5 ATM or...

Samsung's new truly wireless Galaxy Buds+ are ticking all the boxes on their way to becoming official. The latest step in their leaked journey is getting Bluetooth certification with the Chinese MIIT. The buds, model number SM-R175 (the current gen carry the SM-R170), are expected to become official alongside the Samsung Galaxy S11 series, if not sooner. Samsung Galaxy Buds+ coming up.#Samsung #SamsungGalaxyBudsPlus pic.twitter.com/ovxv06rS1X— Mukul...

Samsung may have already released Android 10 for a surprising number of devices, including both flagship ones and those on the budget end of the spectrum, but according to the company’s roadmap, it will still be a few months the slew of Galaxy phones launched this year will get the new version of Android. Except for the Galaxy A30, Samsung is currently aiming to start updating all of its A series...

The Oppo Reno3 and Reno3 Pro unveiled last week are now available for purchase in China through the company's official site, JD.com, and TMall. The Reno3 comes in two memory versions - 8GB/128GB priced at CNY3,399 ($490/€435) and 12GB/128GB that costs CNY300 ($43/€38) more. The Pro version also comes in 8GB/128GB configuration, priced at CNY3,999 ($575/€510), and for CNY500 ($70/€65) more you get double storage with 12GB RAM. The Reno3 and Reno3...

We've heard all about the upcoming Realme X50 5G these past few weeks. It's coming on January 7, it will feature a Snapdragon 765G chip, two-day battery , which will get to 70% in just 30 minutes, it will have a 6.67-inch LCD with 120Hz refresh rate and a dual punch hole selfie camera. We also know that its rear cameras will be a 64MP Samsung GW1, an 8MP ultrawide, a 13MP 5x hybrid zoom and a 2MP super macro. But now we can add another name to its...

Samsung has been pretty quick with releasing the Android 10 update to its 2019 Galaxy flagships (not counting the $2000 Fold, which continues to suffer from poor software support), and North American carriers have been kind enough to follow suit. The four major US carriers released the Android 10 update for the Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+ over the last couple of weeks, and the unlocked variants...

Earlier this month, we exclusively revealed that Samsung is working on the Galaxy M11 and M31 and had speculated that a Galaxy M21 may exist as well. Well, our sources tell us that the Galaxy M21 is indeed in development. The Galaxy M20 is perhaps the best-selling device in the entire Galaxy M lineup, so it’s not surprising that a successor is on its way. The Galaxy M21 has model number SM-M215F,...

2019 has been a busy year for Samsung. The company came out with its usual excellent Galaxy S and Galaxy Note flagships and also gave us the flawed-yet-beautiful Galaxy Fold, a device we believe represents the kind of change the mobile market desperately needs. Samsung launched plenty of mid-range and budget phones as well, and as a result, we here at SamMobile have had our hands full the entire year. 2020 is promising to be no different,...

Samsung kicked off the Android 10-based One UI 2.0 beta program for the Galaxy Note9 last month and now it's seeding the stable build of Android 10 for its 2018 flagship. However, the update, sporting version number N960FXXU4DSLB, is currently only rolling to those who participated in the beta program and weighs just 100MB. If you are enrolled in the beta program, you can download the stable build on your Note9 by heading to the Settings > Software...

Samsung is refusing to let up and keeps impressing us with its fervor for releasing security updates as quickly as possible. The company pushed out the January 2020 security patch to the Galaxy A50 and Galaxy Tab S5e yesterday, and it is now rolling out the patch to four more devices. These are the Galaxy A10, Galaxy A10s, Galaxy A20, and Galaxy A30 – all four phones are receiving the January security...

A rather strange patent by Apple has been spotted. The report from LetsGoDigital shows the new patent sketches along with some mock-up screenshots for context. The patent is for a new Apple device that looks like it could be an iPhone, but it is missing a few necessary things that a current iPhone 11 Pro has. As per the sketches, the device has a rectangular display with square corners, it has neither Face ID hardware nor a notch, it has no front-facing...

Realme unveiled the 5 and 5 Pro back in August and followed up with the 5s later in November. Now the company has announced it will add the fourth member to the lineup, dubbed Realme 5i, on January 6. This information comes through Realme Vietnam who took to Facebook to make the announcement. The company didn't reveal anything else about the 5i, but the smartphone's listed on Vietnamese retailer FPTShop's website with specs and images. The images...

Galaxy Note 9 owners who have been using the Android 10 beta on their phone have more reason to celebrate New Year’s Eve, as Samsung has now released the stable Android 10 update. A 100 MB update is rolling out to beta users in India right now – the stable update comes with software version N960FXXU4DSLB and includes the December 2019 security patch. The stable update for beta users should also be released in other markets where the beta program...

Apple is planning to order a batch of OLEDs from China's BOE with the potential of making the display manufacturer its second largest supplier of OLEDs in 2021. The rumor comes from sources in South Korea and claims that Apple could be looking to order some 45 million OLED panels from BOE, intended for use in the 2021 iPhone devices. This would make BOE Apple's second largest supplier of OLED panels with Samsung continuing to satisfy the bulk of...

The OnePlus 7 Pro started receiving the update to Android 10 back in September, but that unfortunately hasn't applied to all units out there. Specifically, those phones sold by T-Mobile in the States have been stuck on Android 9 Pie until today. Now though, owners of a OnePlus 7 Pro purchased from T-Mobile finally have a reason to celebrate. OxygenOS 10.0.1 is rolling out for the handset. It includes everything that's new in Android 10, as well...

Huami which sits under Xiaomi's umbrella is planning to start 2020 with a bang by bringing its latest Amazfit Bip S smartwatch and a pair of truly wireless earbuds to CES. According to the first teaser, the Bip S will reportedly come with "ultra-long" battery life in a light form factor retaining the same rectangular shape. More powerful with an ultra-long #battery life. The #Amazfit BipS is worth the wait!We'll be unveiling it at #CES2020!Learn...

A new report from French website WatchGeneration cited an Apple database that briefly showed mention of a Product (RED) Apple Watch before it was quickly removed. The report was posted along with the following mock-up images, which depict the aluminum body of the Apple Watch Series 5 in a rather pale hue of red. Source: MacGeneration The report doesn't reveal much more than: "it briefly appeared in an Apple database, under a reference number different...

Earlier today, Xiaomi announced that the 5G variant of the Redmi K30 will officially go on sale on January 7 from select online retailers. There is a way for consumers in China to order the Redmi K30 5G even earlier - office, by going into a select Mi Store. In a Weibo post, Xiaomi announced that buyers can start placing orders for the 5G-supported Redmi K30 starting on January 1. It offers a list of specific locations throughout China where customers...

Samsung is expected to raise the bar for premium TVs at CES 2020 next month. According to reports, Samsung is going to unveil the world’s first true Zero Bezel TV at the trade show in Las Vegas. Reports from South Korea suggest that this new premium TV has already received a “two-thumbs up” from Kim Hyun-seok, the consumer electronics boss at Samsung, and other top executives. An indication that this may not just be a proof of concept is that Samsung...

If you're still using an old Android smartphone and rely on WhatsApp messaging, you might want to pay attention to this one. The popular Facebook-owned messaging platform has updated its support page to reflect that the app will no longer be supported on Android devices if they are not running at least Android 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or iOS 9 and above. Source: WhatsApp As reported by Android Central, WhatsApp will stop working on unsupported...

Since Samsung released the Galaxy S10 this year, it wouldn’t have surprised anyone if next year’s flagship was named the Galaxy S11. That’s already what it’s being called online but is it possible that Samsung is looking to shake things up a bit? There’s some speculation that the upcoming Galaxy S flagship series may actually be called the Galaxy S20 instead. We haven’t seen any concrete evidence to support the theory so far, which is why it remains...

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T-Mobile US is the latest carrier to issue the Android 10 update to the Samsung Galaxy Note10 and Note10+. The update requires a download of just over 2GB and brings along OneUI 2.0 as well as a heap of improvements, fixes and tweaks. T-Mobile is only a week behind its local rival Verizon. Meanwhile unlocked Galaxy Note10 and Note10+ units are also receiving the Android 10 update, gradually. However the 5G variant of the Galaxy Note10, not unlike...

Around a month ago Huawei passed the 7 million sales mark with its Mate 30 lineup. Now the figure has grown to 12 million units, according to a new report from Chinese news agency Sina. The figure is quite impressive given the limited availability of the handsets outside of China and their lack of Google Mobile Services. Looking ahead, Huawei's goal with the Mate 30 lineup is to top the 20 million shipments mark which seems like an attainable goal...

C-Lab (Creative Lab), now known as C-Lab Inside, is an in-house start-up incubator set up by Samsung in 2012 to enable its employees to explore new business ideas. Later, the Korean company expanded the scope of its incubator by creating C-Lab Outside, a start-up acceleration program to nurture outside start-ups in Korea by providing them resources, access to technical know-how, and more. Every year Samsung picks a few C-Lab projects to showcase...

It’s dangerous to use your smartphone to text or call while driving: Your eyes are meant to be on the road and your hands on the wheel. However, people often need to use navigation via Google Maps or other navigation apps on their smartphone in order to get to their desired location (or find the fastest route back home after a long day at work), and it’s always best to keep the phone located at a...

The Oppo F lineup has been getting two refreshes per year and we are about to see the Oppo F15 come and replace the Oppo F11. The Indian division of the company has just released an official teaser on its YouTube page, showcasing the device and promoting it with the slogan "Flaunt it Your Way". The device also appears briefly in the 30-second clip with a thin pill-shaped oval flash and four snappers, strongly resembling the Oppo A91, launched in...

Samsung, in collaboration with ERI and CTA, will organize the third annual recycling event in Las Vegas ahead of CES 2020. The event, which will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. PST on January 4 at the Salvation Army at 2035 Yale Street, will provide early CES attendees a convenient way to dispose unwanted electronics in an environmentally-responsible manner. ERI, which is a leading recycler of electronic waste, will securely destroy all the data...

Samsung has been the biggest supplier of OLED displays to Apple ever since the latter made the switch to OLED panels for the iPhone in 2017. That’s because no other display manufacturer has the scale and the quality that Samsung is able to provide its customers. That’s not to say that they haven’t been trying to catch up. China’s BOE Display has been particularly hard at work trying to bridge the...

Google's midrange Pixel 3a duo proved to be a real hit with users who don't care about the latest flagship specs but want a solid camera experience and stock Android. A new set of renders courtesy of @OnLeaks is giving us our first look at the upcoming Pixel 4a which brings the familiar Pixel 4 design with a few twists. For starters the display will feature a punch hole in the top left corner for the front-facing camera marking a first in the Pixel...

Samsung started rolling out the stable Android 10 update for the Galaxy Note 10/10+ earlier this month. Since then, the update has reached more markets and carriers around the world. It is now released for the T-Mobile-branded Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ in the US. This comes a week after Verizon released the same update for the Note 10 models on its network. US carriers are usually late in releasing Android version updates, but they have upped their...

ZTE revealed the Axon 10s Pro will look like the Axon 10 Pro from the outside, but a major change on the inside is incoming. Its TENAA papers were just published confirming the phone will be powered by the Snapdragon 865 chipset with the Snapdragon X55 modem, enabling support for 5G connectivity on the flagship. The company kept silent on any eventual launch, but the handset's appearance on the regulator's website suggests it is already being prepared...

Samsung is once again releasing the next month’s security update for a couple of its devices early. The January 2020 Android security patch is making its way to the Galaxy A50 and Galaxy Tab S5e through software updates released for the two devices in some markets. The A50 update is out in Russia and comes with software version A505FNPUU3ASL6. The update for the Tab S5e is out in Panama, Brazil, Chile,...

After releasing its first "Mi" branded smartwatch in November with the Mi Watch, Xiaomi quietly unveiled the new Watch Color although without the core specs and pricing details which are expected to come on January 3 when the watch goes on sale in China. From the teasers, we know the Xiaomi Watch Color is packing a circular display which is believed to come with a 1.39-inch diagonal and 454 x 454 pixel resolution. It will likely support all the...

The Redmi K30 and Redmi K30 5G arrived earlier this month, and while the vanilla version is already selling hot, the 5G-enabled variant is still waiting for its launch date. Finally, today the Xiaomi subsidiary announced when the phone will be up for pre-order - January 7. The Redmi K30 5G has a Snapdragon 765G chipset that comes with an integrated modem for next-gen connectivity. It is also the first phone of the sub-brand that can reach 5G speeds,...

This year the mobile phone market saw the rise of many new trends - from high refresh rate screens through 108MP image sensors to periscope cameras. The first foldable phones went on sale, charging speeds went through the roof, displays got curvier and grew punch holes. Some brands used these trends to their advantage and grow in the market, others missed the mark. In this series we look at what each company got right in 2019 and where their efforts...

As the year winds down it's a great time to reflect on the top stories of the past 12 months. This is the last installment where we look at the stories that shaped this year. Here are the top stories of Q1, Q2 and Q3. We've now arrived at the final quarter of the year. There were a number of big stories in the months October, November and December, including many important phone announcements. Xiaomi unveiled its Apple Watch-esque Mi Watch with...

The changes in the mobile phone world over the last 10 years are bigger than any other time in history. As we say goodbye to this decade of technological milestones, we wanted to have a look back at some of the most influential phones - not only the best sellers, but also the phones that heralded major developments in hardware, software and user experience. Nokia N8 - 2010, April The Nokia N8 is a glorious beast of a device that came out in 2010...