Samsung's Lite model will actually be called Galaxy S10 E, eschews in-display fingerprint sensor

AT&T's decision to rebrand LTE as "5G E" may not have gone very well with its competitors, but Samsung seems to have taken notice. That is because, according to a new rumor, the smartphone previously known as Galaxy S10 Lite will actually be sold under the name Galaxy S10 E. Make of that what you wish. Additionally, for cost-cutting purposes, this device will not come with an under-display fingerprint sensor, like the S10 and S10+. Hopefully that means it will actually be affordable, and not priced at iPhone XR levels. Then again, it is supposedly Samsung's direct competitor for the XR, so...

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Nokia 8.1 Plus renders show a punch hole camera on a 6.2" display

Renders of a Nokia 8.1 Plus show another change in design direction for HMD - dropping the notch in favor of a punch hole selfie camera. These come from the usually reliable @OnLeaks, but something's not quite right with the device. Despite the "Plus" designation, the phone is essentially the same size as the regular Nokia 8.1 - its screen measures 6.22". Dimensions are very similar too, the new phone will be 156.9 x 76.2 x 7.9mm, the current non-Plus model is 154.8 x 75.8 x 8mm. Nokia 8.1 Plus renders Sure, the punch hole selfie camera opens up a bit of space on the...

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HiSense U30 is the first phone with SD675, Samsung's 48MP camera

As other phone makers nap, HiSense swoops in with the most interesting handset at CES - the HiSense U30. This is the first phone with the new Snapdragon 675 chipset and that's not even the best part. The rear camera features a Samsung ISOCELL Bright GM1 48MP sensor - the first phone to do so. There's also a 5MP depth sensor next to it and a fingerprint reader. The 20MP selfie camera lives in a punch hole in the 6.3-inch 1080p+ display. It's the first panel of this kind made by Tianma, previous models used BOE displays (Samsung Galaxy A8s and Huawei nova 4). HiSense U30...

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Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 review

Once a prop for the communicating devices in sci-fi flicks, today the edge-to-edge screen has become a must-have feature for any flagship smartphone. It was Xiaomi who made the first steps in this direction back with their original Mi Mix phone a year before Apple came up with their notched iPhone X. The Mi Mix 3 proves once again that nothing is impossible and delivers a truly bezel-less screen with a twist (or rather, with a slide).

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Xiaomi unveils the logo for the Redmi brand

Xiaomi has announced plans to spin off the Redmi line as a separate brand and brands need logos. CEO Lei Jun unveiled a minimalistic logo that simply says "Redmi by Xiaomi". The debut phones of the new brand will be the Redmi 7 and Redmi Note 7, which will be unveiled at an event tomorrow. You can see images of both, courtesy of TENAA. They feature gradient paintjobs, which carries over to the alternative rendering of the logo. This move will separate Xiaomi's flagships (under the Mi brand) and the value for money phones (though Redmi might have some heavy hitters like the Redmi...

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Samsung showcases its foldable phone to a limited audience at CES 2019

CES 2019 is taking place in Las Vegas right now and even if there aren't many phone announcements coming from there, some companies still pull some surprises out of the sleeve. According to Korean media, Samsung showcased its foldable phone exclusively to customers behind closed doors. The phone is not yet ready to make a global appearance, since there are some structural issues with the folding process. A company executive said the device looks completely flat when unfolded. When you try to fold it, the phone will break, therefore the prototype demoed was seen leaving a crease...

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Lenovo Z5 Pro GT pops up on Geekbench with Snapdragon 855 on board

Lenovo announced the first smartphone with Snapdragon 855 Z5 Pro GT last month and now we get to see its first benchmark scorecard. The score sheet says the handset tested is the Lenovo L78032 with 6GB of RAM, an octa-core Qualcomm processor and runs Android 9.0 Pie out of the box. This contradicts the official specs of the handset as there are only 8 and 12GB memory variants but then again, the single-core and multi-core scores are in line with what we expect from a Snapdragon 855 and certainly more than the Snapdragon 710 found on the Z5 Pro and Z5s can pull off. After all, the...

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Nokia 8 Sirocco finally getting the Android 9 Pie update

The Nokia 8 Sirocco is finally getting a stable release of the Android 9 Pie update. It brings the new gesture navigation, slices and app actions. Also, it adds Adaptive Battery and adaptive screen brightness level to improve battery life. All of these are standard features of Pie, of course. They lean on machine learning to predict what you will do next and which apps you will use to speed up operation and improve efficiency. Digital wellbeing features are also included. The update also bumps up the security patch to December 2018 (Google released the January 2019 patch for Pixel 3...

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XOLO unveils Era 5X with LEDs on the front and back

Today, XOLO announced that it's starting to sell the Era 4X smartphone exclusively through Amazon India and also unveiled the Era 5X that will go on sale later on. The XOLO Era 4X is priced INR 4,444 (~€55) for the 1GB model and INR 5,555 (~€70) for the 2GB model. XOLO Era 4X Onto the Era 5X - it packs both a fingerprint scanner and face unlock - XOLO claims the former will unlock the device in 0.2s while the latter in 0.6s. On the front the XOLO Era 5X has a 5.7-inch 720x1440px IPS LCD and a 13MP selfie camera with an LED flash. On the rear there's another 13MP camera...

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Oppo is officially arriving to the UK

Oppo just created an official UK Twitter account and using its first post, the company announced its official arrival in the country. UK, OPPO mobile has landed!We combine cutting edge #Technology, #Innovation and #Creativity into every smartphone, so you can light up the New Year in #Style. pic.twitter.com/YlR06dKdZG— OPPO Mobile UK (@OPPOMobileUK) January 8, 2019 The website is still under construction so we don't know which phones from the Oppo portfolio will make it to the UK, but the recently announced Oppo RX17 Pro in Europe will surely be a part of it. Perhaps the Oppo Find X...

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Renders of next Samsung Gear Sport smartwatch show a more rounded design

Unofficial renders of the Samsung Gear Sport successor have arrived, courtesy of @OnLeaks. The CAD-based images show a rounder, smoother design of the device, which is codenamed "Pulse". The watch is round and has a smooth bezel (similar to Gear S2). Last year's Sport had a more square-ish design and a knurled bezel. Even the two plungers have gone from rectangular to round. The watch will be available in Black, Silver, Green and Pink Gold. Samsung Gear Sport sequel ("Pulse") The screen size is likely 1.2" again, matching the current Sport. Note that it's not clear if the...

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Xiaomi CEO briefly shows off Redmi Note 7 on video

The 7th generation Redmi phones will be unveiled tomorrow and the Xiaomi team has been having a bit of fun with the teasers. First the unorthodox durability test of the Redmi 7, now a quick hands on of the Redmi Note 7 by the boss - CEO Lei Jun. The video tells us that the code name of the device is "King Kong". It also makes a joke about water resistance - we get the feeling that it's something that Xiaomi fans have been asking for. Here's a quick preview of what's coming tomorrow. The Redmi Note 7 will be powered by a Snapdragon 660 chipset, a 3,900mAh battery and will more than...

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Google Assistant makes its way into Google Maps

Google Assistant might be pretty much a standard option for Android phones, but Google found another way to extend its reach. During its keynote at CES 2019, the company said it is done integrating the Assistant into Google Maps for both Android and iOS. That way you can share ETA, reply to text messages and play music without closing the navigation window. While putting Assistant into Maps seems a logical next step within the Google ecosystem, the bigger reason for this move was the lack of interest among iPhone users. Apple customers are not installing Assistant as a separate app...

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Google Pixel 3 and 3 XL get an audio fix when recording video

The Google Pixel 3 and 3 XL were plagued by a lot of issues initially but many were already addressed via software updates. One of those that remained was the poor audio quality while recording videos. Luckily, there's a patch that aims to fix that and it's already seeding. It's part of the latest update that Google delivered to its flagship duo. The update is also seeding to older Pixels and the Pixel C, where's it only contains a security patch. It's just 56MB big and if you are too impatient, you can download the factory image and flash it manually. Via

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Apple is lowering iPhone production by 10 percent

Apple is having a tough time on the market - following its lowered earnings guidance Cupertino is reportedly cutting its iPhone production as well. The original plan for 48 million sold units between January and March, later reduced to 43 million, is now taking another hit and is cut with an additional 10% to 40 million. Sources said to Nikkei Asian Review that Apple asked its suppliers to produce fewer of its new iPhones for the upcoming quarter. The request was made before the January 2 guidance announcement, meaning the company was already aware of the lower than expected interest in...

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