Huawei Mate 20 Lite to arrive in China as Huawei Maimang 7

Huawei officially outed the Mate 20 Lite at IFA 2018 where we got our hands on it, but the phone is yet to arrive on the domestic scene for the company. On Wednesday the new device will finally be unveiled under a different moniker - Maimang 7, following the naming scheme of the Mate 10 Lite, better known as Maimang 6 in China. Promo images of the Huawei Maimang 7 The Maimang 7 will be introduced at an event in Guangzhou, the company confirmed on Weibo. The key specs Huawei highlighted in the social media post are the Kirin 710 chipset for smoother work and GPU Turbo for...

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Top 10 trending phones of week 36

The Xiaomi Pocophone F1 is the most popular smartphone in our database for the third week in a row and its amazing value for money has helped it increase its lead over the second place, which in week 36 is taken by the Oppo F9. The mid-ranger that we just reviewed is joined on the podium by another phone on the rise - the Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite. Samsung's latest flagship - the Galaxy Note9 has slipped two spots to fourth, ahead of the new addition that is the vivo V11. Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro and its stablemate Mi A2 lost a couple of places too and now take sixth and seventh. The...

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Sunday debate: Do we really need gaming phones?

Ro: Mobile gaming is still just a marketing gimmick. The current state of gaming phones is far from what it should be and to be honest, it's not entirely the manufacturers' fault. It's just that for now, they don't offer any real value and like every PC hardware with "gaming" slapped on the box, it's more expensive than their non-gaming counterparts. The performance, however, in both cases is the same across the board. All of the currently existing gaming smartphones feature chipsets, which can be found in normal flagships as well. Even the recently announced Pocophone F1...

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Week 36 in review: iPhone rumors intensify as vivo V11 and nubia Z18 debut

The week after the IFA show was always going to be a bit slower, but it still brought enough so we didn't get bored until next week's big iPhone announcement. There were a announcements too - the Motorola P30 Note as a ZUI 4.0-powered variant of the One Power, the ZTE nubia Z18 and the vivo V11. Leaks made for interesting reads too. The projected pricing of Apple's iPhone 9, iPhone Xs and Xs Max was revealed - the entry-level 6.1-inch iPhone will cost as much as an iPhone 8 does now, the updated 5.8-inch iPhone Xs will cost as much as a current iPhone 8 Plus and the flagship 6.5-inch...

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What's next for smartphone design?

As manufacturers strive towards smartphones with all screen fronts, we look at how they can still differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded market. When it comes to our smartphones the display and the content it conveys is king. Hence the current obsession for manufacturers to deliver us smartphones with that all screen front, relegating bezels to the history books. Yet, a swathe of glass can only ever be just that, and curved corners or beveled edges are the only things that can vary. Looking at them straight on it's pretty tricky to differentiate one phone from another these...

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Weekly poll: vivo V11, love it or hate it?

Companies tripped over themselves to copy Apple in adding a chunky notch to the screens of their phones and advertise some sort of face recognition. That didn't last long - we're seeing a surprisingly strong push against that design coming from China. The vivo V11 (aka V11 Pro) has a teardrop notch and an in-display fingerprint reader. And as we've already established in-display readers are the future. The BKK group is behind several of the phones sporting this look, including the similar Oppo F9. But here's where the V11 has an edge. It has a slightly larger screen - 6.41" vs. 6.3"...

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Apple's Gather round iPhone event - what to expect?

Apple's next big launch is taking place on Tuesday, September 12 at the Steve Jobs Theater within the grounds of Apple's Cupertino Headquarters. Teased with the tagline Gather round, let's take a look at what Apple is likely to unveil at the event. 2018 iPhones Apple will unveil no less than three iPhones for 2018 adopting the design language introduced with last years iPhone X. After much speculation, thanks to our colleagues at 9to5Mac, we even have the closest thing to confirmation of the names of the 5.8" and 6.5" OLED equipped models - the iPhone Xs. While another...

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Winners and losers: IFA 2018

Last week's IFA saw several major launches, but not as many as previous years. You can check out our IFA 2018 wrap-up for an overview of what we saw. But here's a second look at things that aims to put them in perspective. Winners Sony The Triluminos display is beloved by many and indeed looks stunning in person, but despite how much it has improved over the years, it felt like Sony was getting left behind. Earlier this year we saw it jump to 18:9, though still at 1080p resolution. Last week the company finally acknowledged that QHD is a thing. Not only that, but the Sony Xperia...

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