Tech News

Give it up for UncleKanshan – the tipster correctly predicted that Huawei will unveil the nova 13 series on October 22. Well, the company sort of did that already as it has begun taking pre-reservations for two new models, albeit without announcing their specifications first. The Huawei nova 13 and nova 13 Pro are up on Vmall. You can put down a small CNY 100 deposit and get CNY 150 back when the phones are officially announced. You also enter a lottery with a chance to win one of 3,000 Starry handbags. Huawei nova 13 • Huawei nova 13 Pro While Huawei didn’t reveal any specs,...

Oppo is gearing up for an event on October 24, and we expect the Find X8 series to go official. We also learned that the Pad 3 Pro tablet and the Enco X3 earphones will be revealed, as we saw them in leaked press images. The Find X8 and Find X8 Pro smartphones will have similar designs, but only the Pro will get the Quick Capture button. Here is the vanilla version with a flat frame and practically no curvature on its screen in all four colors: Pink, White, Blue, and Black. Oppo Find X8 The Find X8 Pro's screen is slightly curved on all four...

Huawei’s HarmonyOS Next has been in development for a few years now but the commercially ready version is finally getting a launch date – October 22 which is also the rumored launch date for the Nova 13 series. HarmonyOS Next launch poster HarmonyOS Next is a monumental step for Huawei’s software ambitions as it will abandon the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and support for Android applications in place of its in-house code and apps. The developer version was released last summer and Huawei’s software division has been busy with developing an ecosystem of apps and services...

Honor needed no fanfare to release its latest entry-level smartphones – X5b and X5b Plus. The devices are available in several Middle East markets; as the names suggest, they are closely related. Honor did make the Plus slightly better, but similarities are more than the differences. Honor X5b and X5b Plus have an LTE-only Helio G36 chipset and run Android 14 with MagicOS 8.0 on top. The screen is a basic 6.56" LCD with a waterdrop notch, 720p resolution and 90 Hz refresh rate. The selfie camera mounted inside the notch has a 5 MP sensor. Around the back there are 50 MP main...

Last year, OnePlus 12 launched with the first generation X1 Oriental screen from BOE and the Chinese display maker is now ready to announce its updated second-gen version. BOE will showcase its new X2 Oriental screen at a dedicated joint event with OnePlus and Oppo in Beijing tomorrow, October 15 at 2PM local time. BOE X2 Oriental screen teasers The panel is the first display to receive an A++ score from DisplayMate and set 21 screen display records in the process. The accompanying teasers suggest the new display will offer improvements in brightness, efficiency, and eye...

Huawei is working on a new Kirin 9 series chip with improved CPU performance. Leaksters from China revealed that the processor will have the same 1+3+4 architecture as the Kirin 9010 platform, but with more powerful cores. The SoC will be an in-house project, and it will be manufactured on a 7nm Pro Plus technology. Huawei is working with SMIC, a major semiconductor manufacturer in China, to build its new Kirin chips. Company officials revealed earlier this year that it wants to further develop and work with the 7nm process technology before moving forward towards 5nm and...

Oppo is following Apple's footsteps in bringing back the camera key - it will release the Find X8 series with a physical button on the side for taking photos. The Quick Capture solution is a touch capacitive area, and over the weekend, we saw a video explaining how it will work. The Oppo Find series product manager revealed that the button can be double-tapped to activate the camera app. A single long press will take a photo, but more interestingly, a sideways swipe will zoom the camera. Here's a video of how it would work: The main reason for this button is sometimes the screen...

Over four months after its market release, Sony’s Xperia 1 VI just gained a new feature. The device now supports Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) connectivity thanks to a software update which was promised back during the announcement. Xparia 1 VI now supports the latest generation Wi-Fi connectivity Wi-Fi 7 brings faster connection and improved stability with lower latency (100x lower compared to Wi-Fi 6) thanks to support for the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz frequency bands. It’s also rated at a maximum throughput of 46 Gbit/s. The new update for the Xperia 1 VI appears to be following a...

Xiaomi's original Mi Band was a catalyst for affordable fitness trackers. The lineup didn't even have a display intially (it got one in 2016 with the Mi Band 2), or a heart rate sensor - it was as barebones as they come. Now in its 9th generation, the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 has a 1200-nit display with Always-On functionality, a quality heart rate sensor (which Xiaomi says is 16% more accurate than in version 8), and a new linear vibration motor for better haptics. Compared to series 8, the new band has a bigger battery, and a brighter display. What's missing? Built-in GPS. For that, you'd...

We've been hearing about the iQOO 13 for the past few months, and a recent rumor claimed the smartphone will launch in India on December 5. While iQOO is yet to officially announce the iQOO 13's launch date, a couple of its pictures surfaced on Weibo, showing the smartphone's rear, which doesn't look all that different from its predecessor — iQOO 12. These images also reveal that the iQOO 13 will sport an RGB light around its rear cameras, and it looks cool. This light will presumably be used when gaming and for incoming calls and app notification alerts. Reliable tipster Digital...

The era of getting a new phone every year is over – even the 2-year upgrade cycle is becoming less common. These days even entry-level phones can last several years. And some like the new Samsung Galaxy A16 5G can last a really long time. The phone boasts a wild 6 years of support, meaning it will be receiving OS updates and security patches until October 2030. Let that sink in – a €250 phone will get longer support than most flagships. This includes recent Samsung phones (e.g. the S23 series is only getting 5 years of support) and recent Pixels (Pixel 7 series is also getting 5 years)....

Xiaomi is wasting no time when it comes to its popular Smart wearable line. The Smart Band 9 launched back in August and it hasn't been a full year yet since the last Smart Band 8 Pro model dropped. A new Smart Band 9 Pro is allegedly on the horizon and probably right around the corner since unofficial renders of the upcoming device have started popping up. It's a bit hard to discern proper detail from these renders, and that's if they are accurate, to begin with, but it does look like the new Smart Band 9 Pro has a slightly curvy display, or at least display glass, which is...

As promised, Oppo today introduced the Oppo K12 Plus in China. It's powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 SoC and comes with up to 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage onboard, expandable by up to 1TB via a microSD card. The smartphone runs Android 14-based ColorOS 14 out of the box, but Oppo hasn't made any promises about the number of software updates it will receive. The Oppo K12 Plus is built around a 6.7" 120Hz FullHD+ AMOLED display, having 1,100 nits peak brightness and wet touch control support. Oppo also boasts about its self-developed shock-absorbing diamond structure and...

The 2024 iPhone lineup poses some of the usual challenges in picking the right model for yourself. One of the more obvious dilemmas, we reckon, is between the vanilla iPhone 16 and the small-size Pro version. Sure, the iPhone 16 Pro is a more capable package, but do you really need all of its Pro-ness and isn't the plain 16 actually better-suited for some folks thanks to its more pocket-friendly (in more than one way) attributes? Let's look into it. Table of Contents: Design Display Battery Life Charging Speaker Test Performance Cameras Verdict For...

Amazon’s latest Prime Day sales came and went this week, but that’s not the end of promotions. Today we want to focus on something that the Prime Day offers didn’t touch on much – Apple computers and tablets. We will start with tablets as they are more affordable. The vanilla Apple iPad from 2022 has a 10.9” IPS LCD (just 60Hz refresh rate) and an A14 chipset. It charges using USB-C, so you can use the same cable as current iPhones. A stylus is supported too (the first-gen Pencil). Apple iPad (2022) 10.9", A14,...

Vivo has slowly been trickling out information and teasers regarding the upcoming vivo X200 family and the X200 Pro in particular. The latest one comes from Dunhuang's Mingsha Mountain, which is a beautiful desert location. The phone attended a night-time concert at an oasis, showing off both its toughness and camera chops. As we said, vivo has been sharing information about the X200 Pro, particularly its cameras. Here are some camera details for you, and here are some details about the 10x telephoto in particular and here is some more detail and some samples from the periscope...

nubia launched the Z60 Ultra last December in China, and our trustworthy source tells us its successor - the nubia Z70 Ultra - should be unveiled next month. We are also told the nubia Z70 Ultra is coming to the global markets before the end of the year. There's no word from nubia about the Z70 Ultra yet, but reliable tipster Digital Chat Station posted a video on Weibo showing the incredibly thin bezels of the smartphone. You can watch it below. DCS said this is a 1220p resolution screen with no punch-hole or notch, which is hardly surprising since the Z60 Ultra didn't...

The physical camera shutter button is making a big comeback on smartphones this year and Oppo Find X8 and X8 Pro will launch with a Quick Capture button. In a lengthy Weibo post, Oppo’s Find series product manager Zhou Yibao explained the reasoning behind bringing the Quick Capture button on the company’s upcoming flagship phones. The post describes "pain points" where the Oppo exec felt the need for a fast and easy way to snap photos without using touchscreen controls. These included personal experiences with freezing temperatures and him wearing gloves and a rafting trip which made...

Microsoft has announced that starting in November, users can play and purchase Xbox games directly from the Xbox app on Android. This announcement comes via Xbox President Sarah Bond, who, in a post on X, said, "The court's ruling to open up Google´s mobile store in the US will allow more choice and flexibility. Our mission is to allow more players to play on more devices so we are thrilled to share that starting in November, players will be able to play and purchase Xbox games directly from the Xbox App on Android." The court's ruling to open up Google´s mobile store in the US will...

We’re three days out from the official launch of the vivo X200 series and the company has now confirmed the launch venue as well as a few more details about the upcoming devices. The X200 series consisting of the X200, X200 Pro, and X200 Pro mini is launching on October 14 at the Beijing National Aquatics Center aka Water Cube. The event will be titled “Far Beyond Imaging” with vivo specifying in a dedicated press release, that the X200 series will bring an overhauled camera experience. Some of the X200 Pro's key camera-related features include a refined 200MP periscope camera with a 135mm...

vivo and iQOO are due to start rolling out Android 15 beta to select phones soon (mid-October is the official timeline) and today vivo did a formal introduction of OriginOS 5, the new version of its OS that is based on the latest Android version. It promises improvements across the board, from 15% faster application startup and 30% faster app switching time to reducing CPU power consumption by 26%. The new system also intelligently allocates GPU and RAM resources to keep the foreground app running as smoothly as possible. OriginOS 5 will let you customize the lockscreen by adding...

Production of Apple iPhone 16 devices is on plan, revealed the analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Assembly orders for all four phones remain basically unchanged, with only a negligible 3-5% reduction of component orders for iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. Demand for the base 16 models remains lackluster, while shipments of the 16 Pro models are comparable to the iPhone 15 Pro orders from last year. The report revealed suppliers had been asked to continue producing both Pro models during China's National Day week-long holiday, meaning demand for the duo has generally met expectations for this...

Samsung's latest high-end Galaxy Buds3 and Buds3 Pro are now receiving a new firmware update. The firmware version is R530XXU0AXJ1 for the vanilla Buds3 and R630XXU0AXJ for the Pro. The changelog isn't very descriptive and only mentions improved Bluetooth connection and sound stability. However, we've been using the Buds3 Pro for a while now, and we haven't noticed any issues with the connection or sound. If you still haven't received the firmware update, you can check manually and install it, which requires you to plug in the charger and have at least 80% of the battery...

The vivo X200 series is launching next week and the teaser campaign is heating up. The latest additions include an official design teaser for the X200 Pro and an unboxing video which gives us a pretty good look at the device ahead of its announcement. The unboxing showcases the X200 Pro’s three official colors – White, and Blue. We also get to see the camera ring design and the new “micro-quad-curved” display. We also got additional images of the X200, X200 Pro Mini, and X200 Pro showcasing their designs. vivo X200 series design In related news, the...

Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy S25 in early 2025, but the phone's components are already in production. One photo of the display assembly appeared online, courtesy of Ice Universe, revealing what the phones will look like from the front. The Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25+ and Galaxy S25 Ultra will have thinner bezels, and we have yet another confirmation about the Ultra's slightly more rounded corners. The same source previously reported that the S25 Ultra will match the 6.9" diagonal of the iPhone 16 Pro Max. It will also have 0.2 mm thinner bezels than the Galaxy S24...

Honor's X7 lineup includes vanilla, 'a,' and 'b' models, which will be soon joined by a 'c' model that has surfaced online with its specs and images. The source claims it will be launched as a successor to the Honor X7b, but it's worth mentioning that there are three X7b versions, with only two having 5G support, and the X7c will succeed the 4G variant since it will be powered by the Snapdragon 685 SoC. Honor is also expected to launch a 5G model, but the subject of this article is the 4G version. It will come with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage onboard and run Android 14-based MagicOS 8.0 out...

Amazon has started its October Prime Day deals and discounted many products, including some highly popular phones. We've singled out some good deals for you in this article. Starting off with Samsung - you have a choice of midrangers from the Galaxy A series - A34, A35, A55, and A25 - at reasonable discounts. You can also save big bucks on the Galaxy S24, S24+ and Galaxy S24 Ultra. Samsung Galaxy A55 5G 8/256GB -29% Read our review €378 at Amazon...

Last week, Epic filed a new lawsuit against Google and Samsung in the Northern District of California for gatekeeping access to third-party app stores on Android devices. In a pretty swift decision, the court ruled in Epic’s favor and mandated that Google restructure its Play Store to allow third-party app stores access to the entire app catalog. This development comes nearly ten months after the same court ruled that Google holds a monopoly in the Android app distribution market and in-app billing services. Google will now be forced to allow third-party app stores to be publicly...

Oppo launched the K12 in April, and this weekend, it will follow up with the Plus model. The Oppo K12 Plus will be introduced on October 12 in China at 2:30 PM local time in white and black colors. The teasers shared by Oppo on Weibo reveal that the K12 Plus will pack a display with a centered punch-hole and feature two cameras on the rear, joined by a circular flash. Oppo K12 Plus Additionally, Oppo announced that the K12 Plus would pack a 6,400 mAh battery with 80W wired charging and 10W reverse wired charging. A few more features of the Oppo K12 Plus could be...

Samsung Electronics posted its earnings estimate for Q3 2024 and revealed profit will be 10% less than previously expected. The major reason is an unexpected delay in the AI chip business from an unnamed major customer, but the company didn't elaborate further. Samsung revealed that earnings in the mobile division improved from the preceding quarter, which is the period that saw the launch of Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip6 foldables. The display division also saw an increase as Apple launched its iPhones, most of which are with Samsung panels. (all units in KRW / USD) ...

The vivo X200 series will launch in exactly one week on October 14 and it will consist of three devices – the X200, X200 Pro and the X200 Pro Mini. As its name suggests, X200 Pro Mini will be the compact entry in the flagship series and we now have live video which showcases its design. X200 Pro Mini features an identical design to its Pro counterpart with a flat frame and glossy glass back alongside a circular camera cutout with a metal camera ring and Zeiss branding. While the new video does not showcase the front, previous leaks have confirmed the panel features a dour-way...

Infinix is expected to launch a phone with a 6 mm-thick body based on the Hot 50 5G design. Today, a new leak shed more light on the device. According to Passionategeekz, the phone is called Infinix Hot 50 Pro+ and measures 6.8 mm. It will be limited to LTE connectivity, as it will have a Helio G100 chipset. Infinix Hot 50 Pro+ retail box • Features It appears that the leak claiming the Infinix phone was under 6 mm was misleading. The Hot 50 Pro+ and its 6.8 mm profile are still impressive, as we haven't seen a thinner bar phone on the market for nearly half a decade....

Samsung's Galaxy S24 FE went on sale this week and immediately topped our trending chart, dethroning the Redmi Note 14 Pro+, which had to settle for the silver medal this time around shooting straight to the top of our trending chart. [#InlinePriceWidget, 13262, 1#] Apple's iPhone 16 Pro Max lost its second position in two weeks to place third as the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra climbed back into fourth. Xiaomi's 14T Pro was also on the rise, ending up fifth most popular, while the Galaxy A55 retained its sixth position from last week. In seventh we find the Redmi Note 14, which...

This week saw the launch of the fourth and final member in the Galaxy S24 series member with the S24 FE but the regular Galaxy S24 and S24 Ultra are still around and Amazon US has them on discount. The vanilla S24 is down to $719.99 for the 8/128GB trim. This is still one of the best compact Android flagships around with a great 6.2” 120Hz LTPO AMOLED, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, and a 4,000 mAh battery with 25W charging. Samsung Galaxy S24 8/128GB -10% off Read our review ...

Xiaomi juggles many product lines, but the T-series is special – it still carries some of that “flagship killer” spirit. This year the Xiaomi 14T series builds on the successful formula of the 13T phones from last year mostly with small but worthwhile upgrades. The new models upgrade to the next chipsets down the line. For the Xiaomi 14T Pro, this means that a Dimensity 9300+ replaces the 9200+, which results in a notable performance increase in most benchmarks and a modest bump in some. Xiaomi could have done more with the cooling, though. On the plus side, the jump to faster...

Tecno officially launched the Spark 30 lineup with two phones, vanilla and Pro, joining the Spark 30C from early September. The Spark 30 has a black and yellow Bumblebee variant, while we now present you the Spark 30 Pro in Optimus Prime colors – Red, Blue, and Silver. The phone comes with an adapter, charging cable, and wired earphones, which is a decent retail package, but here go our impressions of its performance once taken out of the box. The Spark 30 series is for budget-conscious users who still want some excitement, nay, spark, from their phones. The Pro version packs a...

While flagships tend to get the most attention in our weekly deals, there are plenty of options in the budget market too. These are our top picks from Amazon UK. Honor’s X6b is currently down to just under £90. For that price, you’re getting a 6.56-inch 90Hz LCD, 50MP main cam and a 5,200 mAh battery with 35W charging. The phone also boots Honor’s MagicUI 8.0 based on Android 14. Honor X6b 4/128GB £89.99 at Amazon UK Motorola's Moto G34 is slightly over the £100 mark. It...

A new massive leak surfaced online, showcasing the Oppo Find X8 in real-life photos along with pretty much all the specs. The live images of the device don't reveal anything new - circular camera island on the back, extremely thin bezels on the front and flat frame design all-around. Oppo Find X8 live images The leaked spec sheet, however, gives us some missing pieces of the puzzle. The vanilla Oppo Find X8 will feature a 6.5-inch BOE-made OLED panel and will run on a still-unannounced Dimensity 9400 SoC. The camera configuration on the back will consist of three 50MP cameras...

With the diminishing iPhone Plus sales over the years, Apple is looking to substitute the Plus lineup with something more exciting. Or that's at least according to the rumors this year. Enter the iPhone 17 Slim, a new iPhone lineup, rumored to be even more expensive than the Pro Max series. New information coming from DigiTimes suggests the upcoming iPhone 17 Slim will feature a new kind of OLED display that could allow an extremely thin build. A lesser-known Taiwanese brand, Novatek, recently introduced a new TDDI OLED panel that combines the touch sensor layer and the display driver...

During this year's Samsung Developer Conference, the company announced its upcoming One UI 7 based on Android 15. Arguably, this is the most interesting bit of the whole keynote. Still, there are other developments with Samsung products, like Tizen OS, for example. As a quick reminder, One UI 7 will arrive in early 2025, while a beta version of the software will be seeded to users by the end of this year. The new OS will feature a UI redesign, more customization options and deeper AI integration that will be more contextual—depending on location, surroundings, etc. Speaking of AI,...

This is the Huawei MateBook 14 2024 ushering the lineup into the OLED realm. It's a solid upgrade over the MateBook 14 2023 and the 450-nit OLED panel that replaces a 300-nit IPS LCD is just one of them. This is also the first stylus-compatible MateBook. Last year's model ran an i7-1360P - this year's model packs a more efficient and much faster Core 7 Ultra 155H. Huawei also made this year's model lighter than its predecessor. The laptop ships with a 65W charger with a built-in USB-C cable, and you can spec the machine with an Ultra 5 125H or Core Ultra 7 155H with 16GB of RAM,...

The Samsung Galaxy S10 and Note10 series are far from current models, but many are still rocking them in 2024. First released back in 2019, Samsung hasn't abandoned them and is still pushing updates. However, a recent one caused a huge problem for some users. The most recent software update for the Galaxy S10 and Note10 phones caused a bootloop issue for many users. There are a growing number of reports on Reddit, and people are trying to investigate the root cause. So far, information is scarce, but it's believed to be related to the SmartThings framework. Unfortunately, the only...

Samsung kicked off its Developer Conference (SDC) today and made One UI 7 official. However, while One UI's track record had us anticipating a release this month, it will arrive next year - ouch! Still, let's focus on the positives - like this Galaxy S24 Ultra running the upcoming OS. It's a short clip that nonetheless reveals some key details, like the redesigned icons, a new standalone command center you access with a swipe from the right side of the screen - like you get on popular Chinese phones and the iPhone. The notification area should be a swipe from the left. The animations...

Following a lengthy teaser campaign, Lava Mobiles announced its Agni 3 smartphone in India today with several noteworthy features. The main attraction is around the back and it’s not the cameras but a 1.74” secondary AMOLED touchscreen. It serves multiple purposes ranging from displaying notifications and allowing you to manage incoming calls, to acting as a camera control for taking selfies with the main 50MP camera. You can also control media playback and use several first-party apps like the weather, timer and step tracker. The back also features a 50MP main cam with a...

Apple launched the A18 and A18 Pro right in time for the iPhone 16 series, and the Pro was said to have a more powerful GPU for intensive graphical tasks like augmented reality, 3D rendering and ray tracing. Now shots of the actual chips were posted online, showcasing the platforms are quite different despite being built by TSMC on the same 3 nm process technology. Front side of Apple A18 • A18 Pro TSMC utilized the InFO-PoP (Integrated Fan-Out Package-on-Package) method, which stacks DRAM packages directly on top of the SoC die, incorporating high-density RDL (Redistribution...

The Samsung Galaxy S FE was once a will-they-won't-they affair, but it is now an established early autumn release by Samsung that is hotly anticipated by Galaxy fans (especially those in North America). 2024's model brings upgrades in display, battery, and processing power that in turn opens the door for AI. And now that we spent some time with it here are our first impressions. It shouldn't come as a surprise that the Galaxy S24 FE looks like the Galaxy S24 and S24+. It packages a flat aluminum frame between two layers of Corning Gorilla Victus+. The three independent camera rings...

As you may know, Galaxy flagships often have exclusive color options that are available through Samsung.com and no other retailer. For the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6, for example, they are White and Crafted Black (the latter has a carbon fiber look to it). Normally, the exclusive colors cost the same as the others – but not today. You can have the Galaxy Z Fold6 in White or Crafted Black for $300 less than the other colorways. This stacks with the $400 straight discount that Samsung US is offering if you choose not to trade-in. This $700 total discount applies to the 256GB model, which...

The Oura Ring 4 is now official and it brings a slew of improvements compared to the outgoing Gen 3 version from three years ago. Oura Ring 4 features a fully titanium exterior and interior ditching the epoxy interior of its predecessor. The new device is 2.88mm thick and weighs between 3.3 and 5.2 grams depending on the ring size. It is also water resistant up to 100m. The sensors inside are a lot slimmer measuring just 0.3mm compared to 1.3mm on the Ring Gen 3 and they don’t stick out. And while the sensors have shrunk, Oura is promising improved accuracy. Oura claims a...

Apple announced its AirPods 4 and AirPods Max with USB-C last month and the team over at iFixt has now shared their teardowns. Long story short, neither of the new AirPods offers improvements in terms of repairability. The small AirPods 4 require a specialized jig holder that keeps them in place while a heat gun helps loosen the adhesive to open up the top half of the buds. AirPods 4 teardown (iFixit) We can then see the speaker and battery components surrounded by heaps of glue. Opening up the bottom of the stem is a lot more challenging and requires a knife to cut...

Sony’s innovative open air LinkBuds have a sequel and so do the closed LinkBuds S. The new models are simply called LinkBuds Open and LinkBuds Fit. There is a speaker too (which makes a lot of sense, we’ll get to it). Sony LinkBuds Open The Sony LinkBuds Open have been redesigned for a more comfortable fit with the Air Fitting Supporters that allow you to wear them all day. Their open design allows you to hear ambient sounds and conversations instead of faking it with the ANC system. Not having your ear canal plugged up with a rubber tip also helps with long wear...