Deal: Sony Xperia 1 drops to $549 unlocked

If you're after a high-end Sony smartphone but don't want to splurge for this year's flagship, the Xperia 1 II, perhaps you'd be better served by its predecessor, the Xperia 1 from 2019. It's still a very capable handset, and now you can grab one for the lowest price ever - but you need to act fast. Until October 25 at 11:59 PM EDT, B&H will sell you a brand new, unlocked Xperia 1 for just $549. That's $400 less than its introductory price, and around $150 less than it was going for before this deal went live. This is also the cheapest that the Xperia 1 has ever been. The version...

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Samsung Galaxy F12 (or F12s) is on the way to India, new leak shows

Earlier this month, Samsung made the Galaxy F41 official for the Indian market. This is the first smartphone in the F series, and weirdly enough it's just a rebranded Galaxy M31. So much for Samsung's strive to simplify its midrange offering stables, then. We have Galaxy A, M, and now F, and we're wondering why J had to die way back when. Anyway, the F line is only getting started, and a new phone is soon going to join the F41 in India. This will have the model number SM-F127G, and based on Samsung's naming conventions this means it will launch as either the Galaxy F12 or F12s. Also...

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Huawei Mate 40 Pro takes the AI Benchmark crown

Huawei made the Mate 40 Pro official yesterday, alongside the Mate 40, Mate 40 Pro+, and Porsche Design Mate 40 RS. The Mate 40 Pro has already been put through our review process, yielding some very interesting benchmark results - don't forget to check those out in our comprehensive review. The Mate 40 Pro also took the crown in the DxOMark smartphone camera rankings, both for its rear and front shooters. And as it turns out, it's also the best in the AI Benchmark, basically obliterating the competition with its new Kirin 9000 chipset. The Mate 40 Pro scored 216.6, while the...

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Samsung reportedly considering switching the base S Pen tech so it will work on the Galaxy Fold3

Rumors suggested that the Galaxy Fold2 will come with an S Pen but that didn’t happen. The Elec quotes UBI Research, which says that Samsung will try again for the third generation foldable, though it may need to switch to a different technology. The Galaxy Notes use Electo-Magnetic Resonance (EMR), which works with a passive stylus and is generally cheaper, with good accuracy and low latency compared to Active Electrostatic Solution (AES) styluses. However, Samsung reportedly ran into issues with integrating the EMR digitizer with the Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) and making it flexible,...

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Samsung Galaxy S21+ CAD renders show the same camera as the S21 and a flat screen

The trio is complete – we saw CAD-based renders of the S21 and S21 Ultra earlier this week, now 3D schematics of the Samsung Galaxy S21+ have surfaced as well. What they show is that the vanilla and the plus model will continue to share a camera, only the Ultra will get a fancier setup. This new camera island appears to be part of the metal frame that surrounds the phone. And while the back glass has some bevel to it, the front is flat – just as it is on the base S21. The bezels around the display are said to be of equal size on all four sides. Samsung Galaxy S20+ CAD-based...

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Microsoft’s Surface Duo now starts at $1,199

One of the more interesting devices in recent memory - the Microsoft Surface Duo is getting its first major discount directly from the Microsoft Store. It originally retailed at $1,399 for the 128GB storage variant but is now listed at $1,199 instead. The 256GB trim is also down $200 to $1,299. There’s no information as to how long these offers will be valid. Surface Duo pricing We’ve recently seen reports of the dual-screen foldable’s lackluster build quality and it’s certainly not easy to repair one either. It’s also noteworthy that Microsoft is offering its Accidental Damage...

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Huawei Mate40 Series event summed up in 2 minutes, first promo clip appears

Huawei introduced its Mate40 lineup of smartphones, spanning the Mate 40, Mate 40 Pro, Mate 40 Pro+, and Mate 40 RS Porsche Design. The event was yesterday and was filled with new hardware and you might’ve missed some of those. That’s why there is now an official two-minute-long Highlights reel, revealing everything exciting about the new Mate 40 lineup. Huawei “dares to dream” with the new Space Ring Design of the phone that will immediately stand out in a line of flagships. The new phones come with a Kirin 9000 chipset that is based on the 5nm process and is the fastest on the...

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Teardown reveals the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro are almost identical on the inside

A Chinese tech channel shared a full teardown video of the recently announced iPhone 12 and 12 Pro revealing some interesting insight about how these phones are made. And as it turns out, they are quite similar to one another. Both phones use the same L-shaped logic board with the only difference being the LiDAR connector, which on the vanilla iPhone 12 is missing. Plastic elements filling for the missing LiDAR and telephoto cameras on the iPhone 12 can also be found. What's more, the battery capacity on both models is 2,815 mAh and according to the video, the iPhone 12 could...

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Samsung opens One UI 3.0 beta for Galaxy Note20 series

Not too long after Samsung pushed its One UI 3.0 beta to the Galaxy S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra, the Korean tech giant has begun seeding the new beta firmware to its Galaxy Note 20 series in the US, Germany and South Korea. Note20 and 20 Ultra owners can now access the early beta by signing up on the Samsung Members app. Once registered the beta will be available to install directly from the software update menu. The new firmware should bear the N986NKSU1ZTJH build number and brings plenty of new functionality and looks which we detailed here. The One UI 3.0 beta based Android 11 is...

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LG Q52 leaks in multiple live shots, looks like a rebranded K52

LG introduced the K52 midranger last month. The phone is expected to sell in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia, but apparently, the home scene is getting the phone under a new name - LG Q52. That is revealed by leaked hands-on photos, which show a phone of the same size with triple LED flash, appeared. LG Q52 with some promo materials This LG Q52 is said to have a Helio P35 chipset, coupled with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage. The screen is 6.6” in diagonal and is LCD with HD+ resolution. There is a single punch hole in the top center for the 13MP selfie...

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Popular tipster shares Samsung Galaxy S21+ mockups

Following up on its recent tweet, the popular Samsung-related leaskster Ice Universe shared two mockups aiming to give us a better idea of the upcoming Galaxy S21+ design. The series is reportedly launching in January. Samsung Galaxy S21+ from the front The mockups combine the flat panel with the symmetrical bezels all-around. If the tipster's sources are correct the S21 lineup might have the slimmest bottom bezel and one of the highest screen-to-body ratios around. The Galaxy S21 is also expected to feature a flat panel, with the S21 Ultra the only one to retain a curved...

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Micromax "in" series launch set for November 3

Last week phone maker Micromax announced it will soon make a comeback to the smartphone industry in India with its new "in" series of handsets, and later we heard rumors about the brand launching the new lineup in the first week of November. Today the company confirmed that its "in" series is indeed coming on November 3. The launch event will start at 12PM IST (6:30AM UTC) and will be streamed live on the company's official channels. Micromax also shared a video clip, which takes a potshot at the Chinese brands as it writes "Aao Karein Cheeni Kum" above a glass of tea, which roughly...

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Apple iPhone 12 and 12 Pro now on sale, pre-orders open in second wave countries

Official sales for the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro as well as the new iPad Air are now open. Users who participated in last week’s first wave pre-order will now receive their new phones and tablets. Apple is offering both contactless delivery and in-person store pickup options for buyers. As usual buyers in Australia and New Zealand got their devices first due to time zone differences. In addition, Apple is expanding its “Express Storefront” format to 29 more of its retail stores across the US, UK, Canada and France. This format follows all COVID-19 safety protocols including plexiglas...

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Samsung Galaxy S21 rear camera housing surfaces

Earlier this week, we saw renders of the Samsung Galaxy S21 which revealed the phone's design. It packs a flat, punch hole display and around the back are three snappers with the camera bump wrapping around the corners. Now an image of what's said to be the S21’s camera housing has surfaced on Twitter, which is in line with the camera module in leaked renders. There's no word from Samsung yet about its 2021 Galaxy S flagships, but a recent report claimed the S21 series will be unveiled in January next year instead of February. Alongside the S21, renders of the S21 Ultra had also...

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