Samsung Galaxy Ring 2 to arrive early with interesting improvements

Samsung fully launched the Galaxy Ring this summer, and so we were expecting its successor (if there was to be one) to arrive next summer. That, however, may not be the case, as one tipster now claims. According to this unverified rumor, the Galaxy Ring 2 is coming, and it's going to arrive sooner than initially planned. Unfortunately the source doesn't go into any more detail about the specific launch time frame, so we can only speculate - January alongside the Galaxy S25 family seems too soon, July with the next batch of foldables isn't early compared to expectations, so the next Galaxy...

nubia Red Magic Nova review

Nothing Phone (2) gets Android 15-based Nothing OS 3.0 Open Beta 1

The Android 15-based Nothing OS 3.0 Open Beta 1 is available for the Nothing Phone (2) users. This announcement comes from Nothing through a post on its community forum, where the brand also revealed that the Nothing Phone (1), Phone (2a) Plus, and CMF Phone 1 will get a taste of Android 15 next month. The Nothing OS 3.0 Open Beta 1 comes with Shared Widgets, a new lock screen customization page, an AI-powered Smart Drawer, and some camera improvements. You can check the changelog's image below for more details. Nothing OS 3.0 Open Beta 1 update changelog Nothing hasn't...

Android 16's exact release date leaks

Google recently announced that Android 16 will be arriving earlier than its predecessor, with the launch scheduled to take place within the second quarter of next year, so between April and June. Today a new rumor claims to give us the exact release date: June 3. That's not just the day on which the code will be released to the Android Open Source Project, but apparently it's also when the over-the-air rollout of the update to Android 16 will start for Google's Pixels, unlike what happened this year when more than a month passed between the AOSP release and the actual OTA updates...

The Pixel 9 Pro is much cheaper to make than the iPhone 16 Pro

A new report from Japan today claims to reveal the bill of materials (BOM) for both Google's Pixel 9 Pro and Apple's iPhone 16 Pro. The bill of materials is essentially an estimation of how much the parts that make up the smartphones cost - obviously these completely exclude R&D and marketing costs, it's important to keep in mind. If this report is accurate (and that's not a given because this isn't publicly available information), then it looks like Google's Pixel 9 Pro is much cheaper to make (when we look at the parts' costs) than the iPhone 16 Pro. The Pixel's BOM adds up to $406,...

Here's when the Redmi Note 14 series and the Xiaomi 15 will reach India

The Redmi Note 14 family made its debut in China in September, and ever since then you may have been wondering when the global launch will take place. Today we have the answer, sort of. What's clear is that the Redmi Note 14 devices are launching in India in December. This comes directly from the company. What's less clear is if that will be the global launch, or only one for the Indian market. We assume the former, but can't be sure just yet. Interestingly, this means India will have gotten two Redmi Note generations this year, as the Redmi Note 13 devices also launched in 2024....

iQOO 12 gets Android 15 update internationally, Circle to search is in

vivo and its sub-brand iQOO seem to be really serious about rolling out Android 15 to as many devices as possible very quickly. Following the rollout to the vivo X Fold3 Pro from earlier today, now the iQOO 12 is also getting its own taste of Android 15 with FuntouchOS 15 on top - thus, this is the international iQOO 12 we're talking about, not the Chinese model. The update arrives over-the-air (though you may have to manually check for it) as a 2.5GB download, so make sure you grab it using a fast enough network. After installation is complete, you'll be on software version...

iPadOS compliance with DMA regulations now examined by the EU

Apple's iPadOS was deemed a "gatekeeper" platform under the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) back in April. This resulted in Apple agreeing to open up iPadOS to third-party app stores in the EU in May, emulating what it had initially done with iOS. The EU granted Apple a six-month period to comply with all the DMA regulations for iPadOS, and that has expired on October 28. Thus, today the European Commission told Reuters that it is currently assessing whether iPadOS complies with the DMA following Apple's concessions. The EU antitrust watchdog said: "The Commission will now carefully...

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE vs. Samsung Galaxy S24+

The Galaxy S24 FE is now out, and it looks a lot like the Galaxy S24+ this year. And if it is as great as the Plus model, then is it worth paying extra for the flagship model, or better get the cheaper FE one? Let's find out! At around €580, the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE seems like a tempting offer right now, more so than the €780 Samsung Galaxy S24+. Then again the flagship Plus model has some nice tricks that are not available to the FE – faster charging, better zoom and selfie cameras, UWB support, among others. Let's put the two phones against each other. Table of Contents: ...

vivo X Fold3 Pro is now receiving the Android 15 update with Circle to Search

It's a great day for owners of the international version of vivo's X Fold3 Pro smartphone. The company has started rolling out the update to Android 15, with its FuntouchOS 15 skin on top. It arrives over-the-air as a 2.47GB download, so make sure you grab it over a fast enough network. After installing the update, you'll be on software version PD2337F_EX_A_15.1.8.21.W30. The changelog is vast (see screenshots below), but we'll mention that there's a new scheduling algorithm that differentiates the priority level and computing power requirements of various apps and tasks to accurately...

Samsung tipped to launch a Galaxy Z Flip FE next year

Samsung was long rumored to launch a more affordable entry in its Z-series lineup, and it’s almost certain that it won’t be a Z Fold book-style foldable. A new rumor suggests that Samsung will instead opt for a Z Flip FE clamshell which could debut alongside the upcoming Galaxy S25 Slim sometime in April. The new report does not detail the specs or pricing of the upcoming Flip FE but it does mention a coinciding Galaxy Z Fold7 launch which should also mean the Z Flip7 too as Samsung usually announces both of its Fold and Flips together. Samsung is rumored to launch two Folds next...

Realme GT7 Pro brings Snapdragon 8 Elite, IP69 and 6,500 mAh battery

Realme introduced its new flagship today - say hello to the GT7 Pro! The Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered phone brings the world's first underwater photography mode. The phone also comes with a massive battery and one of the brightest displays on the market. Realme GT7 Pro comes with a 6.78" Eco2 OLED Plus display, developed by Samsung. It is said to be the industry's lowest power consumption display. Peak brightness is said to reach 6,000 nits, which is another milestone. A 16 MP camera sits inside the display's punch hole. Around the back the Realme GT7 Pro has a 50 MP main camera...

Oppo Reno13 could arrive on November 25

Oppo is expected to bring the Reno13 series just six months after introducing the Reno12 phones in China. According to Digital Chat Station, the midranger lineup will be introduced on November 25, and we already said it should bring devices with increased battery capacity. Oppo launches new Reno phones every six months, so the arrival of the new lineup is not unexpected. We are likely to see a Reno13 and Reno13 Pro, and while we don't know virtually anything about the former, some specs about the latter did appear online. The new phone is said to feature a quad-curved 6.78” LTPO...

Top 10 trending phones of week 44

There was a series of high-profile announcements this week and even though it's going to be months before some of the phones go global everyone was paying attention. The Xiaomi 15 Pro ended up as the most popular phone in our database in week 44, just edging another Snapdragon 8 Elite newcomer - the Oneplus 13. Last week's champion, the Samsung Galaxy A55, had to settle for third, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra dropped to fourth position. [#InlinePriceWidget, 12771, 1#] The vanilla Xiaomi 15 sits in fifth ahead of the Redmi Note 13 Pro that somehow retained its sixth spot amidst...

Deals: the Pixel 9 is back down to its Prime Day price, plus some cheap 8GB MacBook Airs

During Prime Day a few weeks ago, the Pixel 9 was going for €900 for a 12/256GB unit. If you missed that deal, now you have a second chance – you can get it at just that price and this time you don’t even need a Prime subscription. Google Pixel 9 €100 off Read our review 12/256GB - €900 at Amazon DE The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is also €100 off its regular price, €124 off even for one specific color/storage combo that we’ve linked below. It’s a larger, more capable...

Weekly poll results: Oppo Find X8 Pro preferred over the vanilla X8, availability is an issue

Last week’s poll shows that the Oppo Find X8 series has strong potential but also several hurdles to overcome in its fight with other recent flagships. Let’s start with the more popular model. That is the Oppo Find X8 Pro, of course. Unless reviews uncover issues with this phone, it’s looking like a strong contender with half of voters expressing interest. There would be more, but the phone is a bit pricey (not surprising for a just-announced flagship). Availability is an issue (for both the Pro and vanilla models). Older Find X models are not available in Europe, not in India...

Redmi K80 series snags CQC certification with three models in the lineup

Xiaomi's Redmi K80 series is apparently inching towards a release, as it has now passed through the CQC certification authority. The documentation doesn't reveal much, but it does hint that, at least for now, there will be three devices in the lineup: the K80, K80 Pro and K80E. The Redmi K80 and K80 Pro, model numbers 24127RK2CC and 24122RKC7C, respectively, will both support 120W charging, while the Redmi K80E, model number 24117RK2CC will be capable of 90W charging. Redmi K80 series passed the CQC certification #RedmiK80Pro• Model: 24122RKC7C• 120W fast charging#redmiK80• Model :...

Nothing Ear (open) review

Most wireless earbuds have one crucial flaw—they have a tough time staying in your ears. That’s especially annoying if you’re working out, running, or simply walking about. Enter the Nothing Ear (open), which adds clever hooks that go around your ear to secure the buds in place. As their name suggests, these are Nothing’s first open-fit earbuds. They omit the in-ear silicone tips and instead place their 14.2mm drivers next to your ear canal. Nothing developed a new Sound Seal System with directional speakers to keep sound leakage at bay. You get the now signature Nothing look...

Deals: the Galaxy S24 FE price keeps falling, A35 and A55 come with a free Fit3

Last week, the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE was £585 for an 8/128GB model and £640 for an 8/256GB one. It did come with a free Galaxy Watch FE, which was nice, but wouldn’t you rather just have a lower price? If you would, then have another look at Amazon’s offer – the prices for the 8/128GB and 8/256GB models have fallen to £550 and £600, respectively. No free watch this time, but there is an alternative offer for a bundle of S24 FE plus Galaxy Buds3 that comes out lower than the combined S24 FE + Buds3 price. Samsung Galaxy S24...

Mysterious Google chipset shows up on GeekBench

There are a lot of interesting potential developments involving the future Google Tensor chips. A recent massive leak regarding the Tensor G5 and G6 clams that TSMC will be taking over production of the chips from Samsung. The G5 in particular, will be codenamed “laguna”, be manufactured on TSMC’s 3nm-class N3E process and use a 1x Arm Cortex-X4 prime core, 5x Cortex-A725 performance cores and 2x Arm Cortex-A520 efficiency units, plus a dual-core Imagination Technologies (IMG) DXT-48-1536 unit clocked at 1.1 GHz. Tensor chip GeekBench leak In a rather interesting new...

Oppo Find X8 Mini might be launching alongside the Find X8 Ultra

Oppo has unveiled the Find X8 and Find X8 Pro earlier this month, and the Find X8 Ultra is expected to join them in a few months' time. But now it turns out there could actually be a fourth member of the family coming alongside the Ultra. This is speculated to be a Find X8 Mini by Chinese Weibo user Digital Chat Station. If this is true, then Oppo will have a product to rival vivo's recently launched X200 Pro mini, a device that seems tailor-made to compete head-on with Apple's smaller iPhone 16 Pro. Oppo Find X8 Thus, Oppo would also join this fight, with a handset boasting a...

OnePlus 13 and iQOO 13 rule AnTuTu in October, beating the vivo X200 Pro

On the first day of each month, AnTuTu publishes two charts for the previous month, one for flagship smartphones, the other for upper-midrange devices. Today we have the charts for October, with a bonus one at the end. The flagship smartphone chart shows the first entrants using the latest top of the line chipsets from both Qualcomm and MediaTek, and the former is clearly winning. The OnePlus 13 took the AnTuTu crown in October with an average score of 2,926,644, followed by the iQOO 13 with 2,906,489. Both of these are powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC. The first Dimensity 9400...

Ulefone unveils Armor Mini 20 series, its smallest rugged phones yet

Today Ulefone has unveiled the Armor Mini 20T Pro, the Armor Mini 20 Pro, and the Armor Mini 20 4G. These are its smallest rugged smartphones to date, hence the "Mini" in the family name. The 4G model is powered by MediaTek's Helio G99 SoC, while the other two go with the Dimensity 6300 instead. The Armor Mini 20T Pro has advanced FLIR Thermal Imaging Lepton 3.5, with a 57-degree horizontal field-of-view and a thermal resolution of 160x120, and 25 Hz frame rate. The measurable temperature range is -10°C to 450°C and the accuracy is ±3°C. The phone also has a flashlight function...

Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro to have record-breaking screen refresh rate

Asus is announcing the ROG Phone 9 series on November 19, and the duo will unsurprisingly sport the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. This, according to a new rumor, will be paired with the best heat dissipation tech available at the moment. Not just that, but the ROG Phone 9 Pro's LTPO OLED screen will have a record-breaking (for a smartphone) 185 Hz refresh rate. It will be a flat screen, by the way. The phone will be IP68 rated for dust and water resistance, and it's expected to come with AI features as well, because it is 2024 after all and every phone launch needs a lot of talk of AI...

Google confirms: Android 16 is launching early and there will be a second release in 2025

At the beginning of this month a rumor claimed Google would launch Android 16 earlier than its predecessors. Today, Google itself has confirmed this. Android 16, the finalized version, will be out in the second quarter of next year, so between April and June. The company says it's doing this "to better align with the schedule of device launches" across the Android ecosystem. This year, the Pixel 9 family arrived in August with Android 14 on board, even though Google was already working on Android 15 - which eventually came out a couple of weeks ago. If Google manages to release...