Energizer E500S with Android Go is a 4G smartphone for less than €100

A new Energizer smartphone has been made official today. It's called E500S and right off the bat its most important spec seems to be the price: €99.99 SIM-free and unlocked. It comes with Android Oreo (Go Edition), the special version of Google's OS that is optimized to run well on very low-end hardware. The E500S has 4G support (including VoLTE), an 8 MP main camera with LED flash, a 5 MP selfie shooter, and a 5-inch 800x480 touchscreen. You get 1GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable storage, dual-SIM functionality, and a 2,000 mAh battery - which is frankly unimpressive from the brand...

Read More

BlackBerry KEY2 LE is now available through the company's online store for the EU

BlackBerry's latest smartphone, the KEY2 LE, was announced at IFA at the end of August as a toned down version of the KEY2, with lesser specs but also a more affordable price. This smartphone is now up for grabs from the company's own online store serving the EU. At the moment only the Slate color version is in stock, and you can buy a KEY2 LE in that hue with 32GB of storage for €399. The Champagne colorway is up for pre-order, and will start shipping on November 12. This comes with 64GB of storage and a €429 price tag attached. Regardless of which color you pick, you have a...

Read More

OnePlus releases the kernel source code for the 6T

Shortly after the announcement of the new OnePlus 6T, the company released the kernel source code for on GitHub so that developers can build ROMs and mods taking advantage of the full potential of the handset. In a community forum post, the OnePlus team reminds us that the tradition of unlocking the bootloader and giving away the kernel source code started with the release of the OnePlus 3. A big part of the community goes back to OnePlus every year because the OEM doesn't care if you are rooting, modding or just unlocking the bootloader - the warranty stays valid. So OnePlus is...

Read More

LG patents new phone design with three or four cameras, no notch

LG has filed design patents for a new phone, which sports a quad camera and a traditional fingerprint reader on the back. The design was submitted in three version, each with more rounding on the corners (of the screen and of the phone itself). LG's recent V40 was its first with three cameras and this new phone may go up to four. They are arranged in a square a la Huawei. No flash is indicated in the drawings, so it is possible that just like the Mate 20 phones one of the circles is actually the flash and not a camera. New LG design: Design A • Design B • Design C The company...

Read More

Sony posts record profit, but sold only 1.6 million phones in Q3

Sony's mobile business cannot catch a break - last quarter it published its financial report, revealing only 2 million phones sold between April and June. The July-September numbers are out, and they are even less impressive - just 1.6 million, which is half the sales this time last year. In term of revenue the numbers are down from JPY172 billion to JPY117.8 billion, with an operating loss of JPY29.8 billion, half of it due to an impairment charge against long-lived assets. Sony Mobile Communications financial results During the past quarter, Sony saw decreased sales mainly...

Read More

Nokia 6.1 is now receiving Android 9.0 Pie

Right on schedule! HMD promised to release the OTA update to Android 9.0 Pie for a the Nokia 6.1 and 6.1 Plus this month and it's now happening. Users report that their beloved Nokia 6.1 is now getting the fresh new look and functionality of the 9.0 Pie. The update is 1,462MB big and carries a slew of changes - both visual and under-the-hood. You can expect Android's new gesture-based navigation system, Adaptive Battery optimization, new camera optimizations and UI and much more. You can check out all the changes in the screenshots below. With the regular Nokia 6.1 out of the way,...

Read More

Google Pay arrives in Scandinavia

Google Pay is a payment method for Android devices with NFC in over 20 countries that allows you to leave your credit and debit cards at home. Today the number of markets it's offered in grew by four after banks in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark enabled the service for its customers. Google Pay is already rolling out to users Although we have four more countries, the initial number of banks and platforms in Scandinavia is pretty basic. Nordea and Revolut are two financial services available in all new markets, and they are accompanied by Jyske Bank in Denmark, Edenred in...

Read More

Oppo R17 Neo launches in Japan: its first phone with in-display fingerprint reader

Japan often gets cool tech gadgets first, but not this time - it just got its first phone with an in-display fingerprint reader and it's late to that particular party. The phone itself is quite interesting - the Oppo R17 Neo. For the most part it's based on the Oppo R17. That means a 6.4" AMOLED display with a teardrop notch and 1080p+ resolution, which houses the fingerprint reader in question. The back is painted in two new gradient colors. The computational power of the phone took a bit of a hit. The Oppo R17 Neo has a Snapdragon 660 chipset (down from S670) with 4GB of RAM (down...

Read More

nubia X listed benchmark listing confirms key specs

A TENAA listing from last month gave us a pretty good idea of what to expect from the nubia X smartphone with two displays so the latest leaks serves as more of a confirmation of what the phone will bring tomorrow. The Master Lu benchmark listing shows a respectable 311,411 score that's typical for a Snapdragon 845-powered flagship. It's paired with 8GB of RAM and the screenshot also lists the main screen with 1080 x 2280 resolution. We've seen this concept before on the YotaPhone, but this time around, the nubia X promises much larger rear display. Only one day until the...

Read More

OnePlus 6T price and availability around the world

The OnePlus 6T was announced yesterday but it will go on sale in a manner of days around the globe. This is OnePlus' biggest launch ever, bringing in T-Mobile and Verizon in the US as well as all major carriers and retailers in the UK as partners. So when will the new 6T become available in stores and how much are you going to pay. The when is November 1 in the States and India and November 6 in Europe. OnePlus impressed us when it came to price. The base model costs a few bucks more than its predecessor but it comes with double the storage at 128GB. Here's an easy to read...

Read More

New Apple iPad Pro 11 and iPad Pro 12.9 come with the fastest mobile chipsets

If the new MacBook Air is the new MacBook, then the new iPad Pro is the new MacBook Air. Apple says it's more powerful than 92% of laptops out there and it's running the full-blown versions of Adobe Photoshop and Autodesk AutoCAD and, yes, it could easily transform into a laptop-like device with keyboard or even a desktop with an external monitor. There's so much to cover, but we have to start with the new screens. With thinner bezels, Apple fit larger screen in the same body on the iPad Pro 11 and the same screen in a smaller body on iPad Pro 12.9. The new tablets are available in...

Read More

Apple updates the Mac mini - more RAM, more cores and more connectors

Apple just announced a long-awaited hardware refresh of the Mac mini. The mini desktop computer was overdue for an update as the last one was four years ago. So it's only natural to make the new one considerably faster and more refined. But does it deserve your hard-earned money? The new Mac mini comes in a familiar enclosure with improved cooling to support the considerably more powerful hardware. It's also made of 100% recyclable aluminum and comes in a new cool Space Gray finish. Configurations start from Intel's 8th Generation quad-core Core i3 processors and go up to six-core...

Read More

Apple seeds iOS 12.1 to fix soft selfies, add group FaceTime

Today Apple will seed the final iOS 12.1 firmware to supported iPhone and iPad models. The firmware enables the dual-SIM support of the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR, brings Group FaceTime calls with support for up to 32 people at once and adds some 70 new emoji characters. It also fixes the charging woes of some devices and brings an end to the soft selfies that were coming out of new iPhone XS, XS Max and XR units. Finally iOS 12.1 adds depth control for portrait mode shots while in the camera viewfinder (not only in the Photos app). Supported devices should start getting the iOS...

Read More

Apple finally unveils all-new MacBook Air with Retina Display, thinner bezels, updated internals

The rumors were right: Apple has finally decided to update the very long in the tooth MacBook Air. Apple's best selling laptop (and cheapest one, incidentally) has been in need of a refresh for years, and today we finally got it. The new MacBook Air has a 13.3" 2560x1600 Retina Display with 50% narrower bezels than its predecessor, and a modern-looking design that has glass coverage up to the edges. The screen can show 48% more color, and the FaceTime camera is still at the top. The laptop has Touch ID, which is enabled by the T2 chip that's inside the MacBook Air (and made its...

Read More

Watch the OnePlus 6T's Indian launch here

OnePlus 6T got unveiled yesterday and now the phone is having a separate introduction in New Delhi, India. The global launch was broadcasted on YouTube and this one will be live and freely available as well. The stream will be live at 8.30 PM IST when the event begins. Although we know the OnePlus 6T comes with an UD fingerprint scanner, waterdrop notch, and Snapdragon 845, we are expecting to see prices and availability dates for the Amazon Exclusive device, and hopefully some local promos with gifts.

Read More

The Pocophone F1 will get "at least" Android 9.0 and the one after that

The Pocophone F1 is a great value for money phone and the value just got better - Jai Mani, Head of Product at Poco, has confirmed on Twitter that the F1 will get "at least" Android 9.0 Pie and Android Q. The Pocophone launched with Android 8.1 Oreo and was spotted testing Pie over a month ago. There's no release time frame, though. "Q", the Android version after Pie, is yet to be named, but if Google keeps the schedule, it will be delivered in August next year. That would be a year after the Pocophone F1 launched. "At least" suggests there will be more to come, but Mani offered no further...

Read More

Watch Apple's iPad Pro event live here

It's time - Apple's iPad Pro event is here and will begin in a few short hours but as always you can watch it live online. If you own an iPhone, iPad or a Mac you could tune in at Apple's event page at 11 AM EDT through a Safari browser. Apple TV users will need to download Apple's Events App. If you're a Windows user you should be able to watch the livestream through the Microsoft Edge browser over at the same location. But be sure to stay tuned to GSMArena as we'll be covering the event live as well. And if you have time to spare - here's what's expected of today's event.

Read More

Panasonic P85 Nxt arrives in India for under $100

Panasonic India keeps expanding its presence in the offline smartphone market in India with the latest entry-level device called Panasonic P85 Nxt. The device has basic specs, big 4,000 mAh battery and a price tag of INR6,999 ($95). The phone is equipped with a Snapdragon 210 chipset that has a quad-core CPU clocked at 1.3 GHz. The screen is 5" with a standard HD resolution, and there is Gorilla Glass on top for protecting the LCD and the capacitive keys. The memory combo is 2/16 GB with a slot that can carry up to 128 GB. There is one camera on the back and one on the front of...

Read More

Xiaomi tops Indian market with record numbers, OnePlus leads in satisfaction

Market analysts at Canalys have announced the winner of the Xiaomi-Samsung battle in India. It was neck and neck in Q2, but during the third quarter Xiaomi shot up with a record 12 million smartphones shipped. This represents a 32% jump over the numbers from Q3 last year, meanwhile Samsung's shipments (and the Indian market as a whole) declined slightly. Another success story is vivo's 12% growth year over year to 4.5 million units shipped, which allowed it to expand its lead over sibling company Oppo. Note that Oppo's numbers are worse than they appear on the chart as the analysts...

Read More

Apple's October 30 event - what to expect

Apple's October 30 event is upon us and while it will bring no new phones or smart wearables it will be jam packed with announcements. So let's try and decipher the clues with the help of recent leaks and rumors. The stars will undoubtedly be the iPads. Plural, as Apple will likely present its new 12.9 and 10.5-inch iPad Pros. Both are expected to ditch the home button in favor of Face ID and both will have slimmed down bezels. Some rumors mentioned that the new iPad Pros will use a USB-C port instead of Apple's Lightning and that move will grant the new Apple slates Thunderbolt 3...

Read More

Samsung announces two new ISOCELL sensors

Today Samsung announced two high resolution ISOCELL Plus sensors with 0.8μm pixels for smartphones. The two sensors are named Bright GM1 and Bright GD1 - the first one boasts 48MP while the second one has 32MP resolution. Due to their small physical size and large pixel count coupled with the ISOCELL technology, they would be the perfect fit to today's dual, triple and even quad-camera setups. The ISOCELL tech allows for better performance all-around, especially for small-sized pixels and paired with the so-called Tetracell technology, which combines four pixels into a...

Read More

ZTE to bring four smartphones in India

ZTE had a rough couple of months after it breached US trade regulations, but is finally back on track and even managed to launch a hot flagship on the Android One program - the Axon 9 Pro. According to reports, the phone will arrive in India along with three cheaper devices from the manufacturer - Blade A7 Vita, Blade V9 Vita, and Blade V9. ZTE Axon 9 Pro The Blade trio will be part of "an aggressive comeback in the country" and will arrive as early as November. The Blade A7 Vita will cost less than INR6,000 (about $80/€70), the Blade V9 Vita will be slightly more expensive -...

Read More

AnTuTu: The OnePlus 6T is second fastest Android smartphone

Following last night's launch event, AnTuTu published a screenshot of a OnePlus 6T score sheet with pretty impressive results. The overall score is 298,011, which is an improvement over the OnePlus 6's average score of around 289,424, despite the two phones packing identical chipsets. Last month's AnTuTu global ranking placed the OnePlus 6 in the third position right after Asus' ROG Phone and Xiaomi Black Shark. But the OnePlus 6T is here to disrupt the charts - the screenshot says it takes second place, right behind the ROG Phone. In any case, the score appears to be in line with...

Read More

Sony's PlayStation Classic will have 20 games pre-loaded, here's the full list

Sony's PlayStation Classic will be out on December 3, massively playing the nostalgia card. The console was unveiled last month, but only a few games were teased for it at that time. Thankfully, today Sony has come out and shared the entire list of 20 games that will come pre-loaded on the PSC. Here they are: Battle Arena Toshinden Cool Boarders 2 Destruction Derby Final Fantasy VII Grand Theft Auto Intelligent Qube Jumping Flash Metal Gear Solid Mr Driller Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee Rayman Resident Evil Director's Cut Revelations: Persona Ridge Racer Type 4 Super Puzzle...

Read More

Xiaomi Black Shark Helo goes on sale early

Xiaomi's Black Shark Helo gaming phone was announced a week ago and the release date was supposed to be November 10, but it appears that the handset is arriving a bit early. A lot earlier, in fact. In a Weibo post, Lei Jun, Xiaomi's founder, announced that the official Mi online store will start selling the phone as early as today. The flash sale begins at 8PM local time and as far as we can tell from the post, it's the second one for today. Unfortunately, the 10GB version is still nowhere to be found and the store is offering the 8GB/128GB and the 6GB/128GB configurations only. The...

Read More

Lenovo Z5 Pro to have 24 MP + 16 MP main dual camera

Lenovo is introducing the flagship Z5 Pro in two days that will have a massive screen-to-body ratio and slider form factor as the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 and the Honor Magic 2. The company VP and former president of ZUK Chang Cheng introduced the main camera setup the device will have - dual AI snappers with 24 MP and 16 MP sensors. The phone's tagline is, roughly translated as "An Epochal Flagship" and it will have one of the most advanced cameras in a Lenovo smartphone. The 24 MP + 16 MP setup will have AI Super Night Mode scene and AI Video, according to Cheng who posted a teaser on...

Read More