The company introduces two core new models this year – the Huawei P20 and P20 Pro, both with notched screens. The regular P20 build on the successful P10 formula, while the P20 Pro is the carrier of the new jaw-dropping Leica Triple Camera. And then there was the company’s “One more thing” – the Mate RS Porsche Design. While using the Mate name, this one was actually built around the P20 Pro and its revolutionary snapper combo. Read all here:
Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ hands-on review
The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ are here, official, unwrapped, and we go in full hands-on mode. We might be sending off another UNPACKED event preceded by weeks of overwhelming leaks, but we are surely heading towards a new chapter in the smartphone photography. Read all here:
Sony Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact hands-on review
Unlike many of its big-brand competitors, Sony didn’t shy away from major announcements at MWC 2018. In fact, it took the wrappers of a shiny new pair of flagships, that boldly marry new design concepts with incremental hardware updates.In many ways, the XZ2 and XZ2 Compact are a logical and incremental step up over their direct XZ1 and XZ1 Compact predecessors. A beastly Snapdragon 845 chipset powers both, HDR support is added to the new panels and video recording. Everything is now either bigger, louder or with more pixels. Read all here:
Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus review
So, no more Redmi Notes eh? The Redmi 5 Plus should clearly have been the Note 5, a successor of the Redmi Note 4, but Xiaomi wanted a fresh start. The fifth generation is trying to shake things up and the new look obviously called for a new name. So, Xiaomi retired the Note brand promoting the Plus from a mere qualifier to a proper name. The phablet lives on regardless, and goes all-in with a wide 6″ screen. Read more here:
Honor 9 Lite mid-range phone goes official with 18:9 display
Huawei held an event in China where it announced the Honor 9 Lite – a more affordable variant of the Honor 9. The Honor 9 Lite will arrive with 5.65” 18:9 screen with FullHD+ resolution. It has dual cameras on both sides and comes with the latest Emotion UI, based on Android Oreo. Read all here:
Huawei announces the Nova 2s: Up to 6GB RAM, four cameras, aggressive pricing
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The successor to last year’s not-at-all-that-shabby Huawei Nova is jumping straight into the bezel-less game by boasting a tall, 18:9 display with slim bezels on the sides that’s pretty up-to-date with the latest fads. Said display is an LCD one that clocks in at 6″ and has a resolution of 1080 by 2160 pixels. Interestingly, unlike the vast majority of bezel-busting devices with tall displays, the Nova 2s does have a physical home button at the front, similar to the Mate 10. It’s a rather narrow button, but nevertheless, it’s up there at the front catering to everyone that’s not yet ready to fully embrace software navigation buttons. The fingerprint scanner is embedded in the button, so no rear-positioned sensors of the type. Read all here:
Oppo A79 With 6-Inch 18:9 Display And MediaTek Helio P23 SoC Launched In China
After launching its first full-screen 18:9 aspect ratio smartphone — Oppo F5, the company has now launched another smartphone in China. The company has launched Oppo A79, a mid-range smartphone. It is the same device that was spotted at TENAA and at China Telecom portal with full specifications, images and pricing details. In terms of design, the smartphone looks quite similar to the recently launched Oppo F5“selfie expert” smartphone. The Oppo A79 comes with a 6-inch FullView AMOLED display that has an aspect ratio of 18:9, with a screen resolution of 2180 x 1080 pixels. The display is almost bezel-less on the side edges and has slim bezels on the top and bottom. Read more here:
Sony Xperia XZ and XZs received Android Oreo update (41.3.A.0.401)
Sony Mobile has today begun to roll the Android 8.0.0 firmware update for the Xperia XZ and Xperia XZs. Sony has updated the building number from 41.2.A.7.76 to version 41.3.A.0.401. The same build number should hit the Xperia X Performance shortly. It’s good to see Sony get Oreo out on the Xperia XZ before the turn of the year. If you’ve updated let us know your impressions in the comments below. via xperiablog.net
Samsung Galaxy S6 to get Android Oreo
Samsung is pushing the beta version of its Oreo update to Galaxy S8 users, and has already confirmed that the Galaxy S7 will get the update too. Now we learn that the 2015 flagshipSamsung Galaxy S6 will also get to taste Google’s latest sweets. Reddit user CyberConCoder got confirmation from four different Samsung representatives, and while support centers aren’t the most accurate source for such intel the sheer number makes it very likely that it’s correct.
On the screenshots, we see all three reps are consistent with their information. They say Samsung will push an Oreo update, but prefer not to mention when since the ETA of the upgrade is still unknown. One of the Samsung employees even said his supervisor confirmed the information.Supporting a three generations old phone is something that Android makers rarely do, but hopefully we’ll see a change in that trend. via gsmarena.com
Sony Xperia XZ Premium gets Android 8.0 Oreo update
Sony has started its Android 8.0 rollout for the Xperia XZ Premium today. Those with the device should see the notification pop up on their displays.
In addition to Oreo-specific features, Sony has also added some new features to the device. One of these is the 3D Creator that was introduced with the Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact, which lets you 3D scan faces and objects and then share it or 3D print it.
There’s also Predictive Capture, which automatically detects a smile on the subject(s) and then starts capturing frames even before you hit the shutter and lets you choose and save the best moment. Read all here