Latest Articles
Read update
We're just one day away from Google's big hardware event, but the company's leaky ship has ensured pretty much every detail about the Pixel 4 and 4 XL is common knowledge by this point. Further images, videos, and possible pricing trickled out over the weekend, so we may as well round them up even if there's not an awful lot of new information.
One of the more novel solutions to the front-facing camera "problem" comes in the form of the Nubia Z20, a bezel-less phone with a display on both sides. The second screen allows you to use the rear cameras to take superior selfies, while the other specs are also fairly impressive. The phone is now on sale globally for the princely sum of $549 (€549, £499).
After ripping up its playbook and launching a premium flagship phone with the 7 Pro this summer, OnePlus is back with an updated version, although this may be the company’s least meaningful upgrade yet. So minor are the differences between the 7T Pro and its predecessor, I find myself questioning its very existence. OnePlus “T” releases seldom offer more than iterative improvements, but even the small bump from the 6T to the 7 felt more relevant than this one.
The latest flagship phone from OnePlus is now official, and it’s fair to say it’s an iterative update to the OnePlus 7 Pro that was released earlier in the year. The 7T Pro looks pretty much the same as its predecessor but comes with a few internal improvements such as the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ processor, a slightly bigger 4,085mAh battery, and new macro photography mode. It’s also one of the first smartphones to ship with Android 10.
With the increasing scrutiny around the privacy of users, Google has announced some new features to give us all some additional peace of mind. Updates to Maps, YouTube, and Assistant will make it easier to control how much of your data the company has access to, and Password Checkup will help you ensure everything stays secure.
To many of us, a simple command such as "Alexa, what am I holding?" might seem redundant, but it could be indispensable for blind or visually impaired users. To that end, Amazon has introduced a new object recognition feature for its Echo Show devices, something Google should take note of now it also has a camera-equipped smart display in the Nest Hub Max.
Xiaomi's most recent flagship from its Redmi sub-brand, the K20 Pro, was first unveiled in May for the Chinese market before being rebadged as the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro for release in Europe. Much like the OnePlus 7 Pro, it featured a pop-up front camera and triple rear lens setup. An upgraded version is now being introduced that packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ with up to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
We're just over a week away from the probable unveiling of the OnePlus TV, but as is customary at the company, little tidbits are being shared in the lead-up. The latest comes in a tweet from CEO Pete Lau and features integration between a phone and the TV that will allow for easier text entry.
According to the official Stadia Twitter account, the Founder's Edition pack that includes the lovely Night Blue controller and 3 months of Stadia Pro for you and a buddy has now sold out in most countries across Europe. To soften the blow, a new Premiere Edition has been cobbled together that includes most of the same bits but isn't quite so appealing.
Read update
ActionDash comes from the same dev who brought us Action Launcher, and the latest update to the Digital Wellbeing add-on bumps it up to version 5.0 with a couple of new features. The most intriguing of the new additions is Fresh Start, which kicks you back to the launcher homescreen after you've locked your phone while in another app. There are also some new focus mode options to play with.
Last summer, The Beeb (as it's affectionately known on my side of the pond) launched a new app for all of its various audio content, inventively called BBC Sounds. At that point, we knew the BBC iPlayer Radio app's days were numbered, but now the time has finally come to say goodbye to what many people still believe is the superior app.
After a few light leaks, OnePlus is almost ready to take the wraps off its new hardware, and it will do so on two separate dates in three different locations. First up will be an announcement on September 26 in North America (10:30 AM EDT) and India (7 PM IST), and then on October 10 at an event in London (4 PM BST), the European launch will take place.
Motorola once held a practically unchallenged position at the top of the budget smartphone food chain, but increasingly capable competition from the likes of Nokia and a host of Chinese brands has changed the landscape in recent years. The now Lenovo-owned company has also lost its value proposition edge, with the Moto G7 not able to justify its $300 price tag and the recently announced Moto E6 arriving with a perplexing $50 price hike. At the same time, the brand’s high-end lineup is also in disarray — the Moto Z4 continues the focus on irrelevant Mods rather than genuinely compelling hardware.
A few months ago, Spotify announced some new features for its Premium Family plan that would be tested with users in Ireland for a short time before being made available to more users in the fall. The Family Mix playlist and parental controls that will make the Family plan far more appealing are now rolling out to users in the US as part of a wider rollout.
Read update
We're likely around a month away from the launch of Google's next flagship phone and the leaks are starting to heat up. Even with Google divulging plenty of information — and sharing an official teaser image months before release — the leaks haven't quite matched last year's Pixel 3 debacle, but we probably still know pretty much all there is to know about the Pixel 4 by now.
The Elite 65t from Danish audio brand Jabra stand among the very best true wireless earbuds on the market, with great sound, decent battery life, and better call quality than the competition. At IFA 2019 in Berlin, Jabra has unveiled an intriguing follow up — the Elite 75t earbuds are 20% smaller, have been designed for greater comfort, and will get up to 7.5 hours on a single charge or 28 hours altogether with what's in the case.
Today at IFA 2019 in Berlin, Huawei has unveiled its next-generation silicon that will power its upcoming mobile products. The Kirin 990 5G is the world's first flagship 5G SoC and it will debut in the Huawei Mate 30 Pro — a product that likely won't ship with access to Google apps. A non-5G Kirin 990 will also come to other Huawei and Honor phones.
Motorola's recent budget and mid-range offerings haven't been as compelling as in years gone by, but the freshly announced One Zoom is a different beast altogether. The highlight, of course, is the quad-camera setup on the back, something few phones in any price bracket can boast. The inclusion of an in-display fingerprint sensor and an OLED display make this the most feature-rich Motorola One phone to date. This also explains the higher price tag of $450/€429. Unlike the One series phones that have come before it, the Zoom won’t be an Android One device at all; not in any market.
HMD Global has just unveiled two new mid-range phones in the Nokia 6.2 and 7.2. CounterPoint rates HMD the number one OEM for the fast updates it delivers to Nokia phones and the company says it's committed to being even faster with Android 10. At today's event at IFA in Berlin, the renewal of the mid-tier Nokia lineup was the hot topic, with the same focus on delivering a premium Nokia experience at a fraction of flagship prices.
Until now, 5G has been reserved for only the most expensive phones on the market. Recent flagships such as the Galaxy Note 10 don't even have it, there has to be a special version with a 5G radio that costs even more. With the announcement of the new Galaxy A90 5G, Samsung is betting that consumers are ready for mid-band 5G in a cheaper handset.