US Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban

The US Supreme Court has upheld the law which bans TikTok in the US unless it's sold by January 19. To be clear, the ban only requires Apple and Google to remove the app from their app stores, it doesn't outright ban the app's use in the States. That said, TikTok has already announced that it will completely shut down in the US if the ban is upheld, in a possible act of grandstanding meant to at least put a hold on the ban. Now, incoming US President Donald Trump could do that, but the problem is the ban goes into effect 24 hours before he is inaugurated, so for those 24 hours at...

Samsung Galaxy A26 gets certified on its way to launch

Samsung's upcoming Galaxy A26 was leaked in some CAD-based renders in November, and today it's been certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards. This means it will definitely be sold in India when it arrives. The model number for the Indian market will be SM-A266B/DS. It will have dual-SIM support. According to a previous rumor, the A26 will be powered by Samsung's Exynos 1280 SoC just like its predecessor. Samsung Galaxy A26 leaked image The A26 will however have an ever so slightly bigger 6.64" screen, with FHD+ resolution and 120 Hz refresh rate. It should get up to 8GB of RAM...

Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim's thinness compared to the rest of the family

Yesterday we saw the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim for the first time, and with those renders came a definitive number for its actual thinness: 6.4mm. But without any context, that's just a number. Sure, we already know that the iPhone 17 Air will be even thinner, but how about the rest of the Galaxy S25 family? Thankfully, renowned leaker @onleaks has now posted an image comparing the thickness of all four members of the Galaxy S25 family. As you can see, the S25 Slim is basically a thinner S25+, as the length seems to be identical. The Slim is the thinnest of the bunch, of...

Canalys: vivo and Huawei beat Apple for lead of China's smartphone market in 2024

Canalys reports that 2024 was a year of recovery for the smartphone market in China. A total of 285 million units were shipped, up 4% compared to the year before. The Top 5 is mostly local brands with only Apple in third breaking the pattern. vivo became the new market leader with 49.3 million units shipped, while a rebounding Huawei also moved past Apple with a year-on-year growth of 37% (for a total of 46.0 million units shipped). Apple, which was the #1 company in 2023, is now down to third place followed by Oppo and Honor. People’s Republic of China...

Samsung Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro, Tab S10 FE and Tab S10 FE+ chipsets leak

Earlier today the fact that Samsung is working on the Galaxy XCover7 Pro rugged smartphone leaked, and now the same source is back with some more information about three upcoming Samsung tablets and the chipsets they will use. Let's start with the Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro. Like the Galaxy XCover7 Pro smartphone, this will complement the non-Pro version launched in January of last year. And like the XCover7 Pro, the Tab Active5 Pro is said to employ Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset. The tablet will be offered in Wi-Fi-only and 5G variants. Samsung Galaxy Tab Active5 Now let's...

Sony Xperia 5 V gets Android 15 update

Sony's Xperia 1 V received its update to Android 15 a few days ago, and today the company has started delivering the same update to the Xperia 5 V as well. There are already reports on Reddit from people who have received the update notification. It's a 1GB download and once you've installed it you'll be on software version 67.2.A.2.41. The update brings Private Space with it. This lets you keep apps in a separate space in the app drawer, behind a lock. Additionally, there's a color contrast setting for the Home screen, a new way to change the clock displayed on the lock screen,...

This is the Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim and here's how thin it actually is

Samsung's Galaxy S25 family is growing this year, as alongside the usual vanilla, Plus, and Ultra models we're also getting the Galaxy S25 Slim. This has now been portrayed in the first leaked renders. The Galaxy S25 Slim allegedly measures 159 x 76 x 6.4 mm. That makes it just about the size of the Galaxy S24+ (and, we assume, the S25+ as well), except, obviously, it's much thinner. For what it's worth the Galaxy S24+ is 7.7 mm thick. The Galaxy S25 Slim is apparently 8.3 mm thick at the camera bump, which is just 0.1 mm more than what the Galaxy S25 Ultra is expected to be at...

Global Samsung Galaxy S25+ runs Geekbench with Snapdragon 8 Elite on board

Samsung has long been rumored to equip the entire Galaxy S25 family with Qualcomm's latest and greatest chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Elite. But the Korean company has tested the Galaxy S25+ with an Exynos chipset in the past - not once, but twice in fact. So it looks like the decision to be all-in with the Snapdragon 8 Elite wasn't taken from the get-go. Presumably, the company wanted to use its own SoC but decided against it when yield issues kept popping up. The good news is that today the global Galaxy S25+, identified by the model number SM-S936B, has taken to Geekbench again, and this...

Realme P3 Pro's launch timeframe and memory configuration surfaces

Realme launched the P2 Pro in September, and now we hear the brand will unveil the P3 Pro as its successor in India in the third week of February. The source claims that the Realme P3 Pro will sport model code RMX5032 and have 12GB RAM and 256GB of storage onboard. However, there could be more memory configurations that are yet to be confirmed. Realme P2 Pro In addition to the Realme P3 Pro, Realme is rumored to launch the P3 Ultra in India, but that one's said to arrive earlier - towards the end of this month. Expect to hear about it from Realme soon. Source

4G-only Realme 14x lookalike passes through the FCC

Realme is working on a new phone that looks like a carbon copy of the recently released 14x, only this one is 4G-only. Known so far only by its model number, RMX5020, the device has been certified for sale by the FCC, a move which signifies a global launch. The RMX5020 has dual-band Wi-Fi, NFC, nine 4G bands, and a 5,180 mAh battery with support for 45W wired charging. Different certifications reveal it boasts a 6.67-inch screen (just like the 14x, we might add), 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. It will launch running Realme UI 6.0. The handset will measure 165.69 x 76.22 x 7.99 mm...

Samsung Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra promo images leak

Another day, another Galaxy S25 image leak. This time around we have a couple of shots showing the Galaxy S25 or the S25+ (they look exactly the same, the only difference is the size) on one hand, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra on the other. There's an interesting detail in this first image, namely that the outer part of the camera 'rings' matches the color of the phone's back, at least in this rather dark blue hue. As you can see, the frame is flat, the screen is flat, and the bezels are insanely thin (and thinner than last year). Moving on to the Ultra, the color matching of the camera...

Samsung's AI Sketch to Image gets even better on the Galaxy S25

Samsung is announcing the Galaxy S25 family on January 22, and ahead of that the company has started a full-on teaser campaign, which made its debut yesterday involving Bixby (yes, really). Today's chapter is all about Sketch to Image, the AI feature that launched last year. With the Galaxy S25 series (and presumably the One UI 7 update for older flagship models), this will get even better. Sketch to Image will be integrated into Drawing Assist and will be able to use more than one input. So you can still sketch, either with the S Pen or your finger, but you can also describe the...

Samsung teases Bixby's AI makeover

Bixby. "A true AI companion". Bixby. Yes here we are in early 2025 and Samsung is still trying to make Bixby a thing. If first you don't succeed, try a few million more times, right? Anyway, Samsung is teasing the "AI companion" that will be revealed on January 22 at the launch event for the Galaxy S25 family. And yes, it's Bixby. Jokes about Bixby being peak Samsung tryhard aside, this is really happening and we're wondering just what enhancements the company has prepared for Bixby. And if anyone outside tech product reviewers will ever use them. Or even know they exist. Like,...

Samsung's tri-fold smartphone to be even more limited than previously suggested

Last week we heard that Samsung was working on its own tri-fold smartphone to rival Huawei's Mate XT. Samsung was then said to be unleashing this device in the second half of this year, with less than 300,000 units available due to the very complicated manufacturing processes required. Today a new report from Korea takes that number down even lower. Apparently, there will only be around 200,000 units made. Parts for the device will be produced starting in the second quarter (April to June). Allegedly, Samsung has now shared its plans with "major component manufacturers". The Samsung...

Poco F7 Pro and Poco F7 Ultra get certified, vanilla model missing in action

Poco's X series has recently been refreshed for 2025, and next up is the flagship F series. Today, the Poco F7 Pro and Poco F7 Ultra have both been certified for sale in Indonesia. This process has revealed their model numbers. The Pro is 24117RK2CG while the Ultra is 24122RKC7G - and yes, there will be an Ultra this year. The Poco F7 Pro is rumored to be a rebranded Redmi K80. Thus, it should have a 6.67-inch 1440x3200 120 Hz OLED screen with 3,200-nit peak brightness, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, 12/16GB of RAM, 256GB/512GB/1TB of storage, a dual rear camera system (50 MP main with...

Samsung Galaxy Ring now comes in two new sizes

Samsung announced new size 14 and 15 US ring sizes for its Galaxy Ring today. In addition, Galaxy Ring will debut in 15 new markets from February, including Cyprus, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Taiwan, Vietnam and Zambia. This will bring the total number of markets where Samsung offers its Galaxy Ring to 53. Samsung also announced new Galaxy Ring features coming to the Samsung Health app. These include the Sleep environment report, Sleep time guidance and Mindfulness tracker. Samsung will ship its new...

Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim: what to expect

It's all but confirmed that Samsung will be releasing not three, but four Galaxy S25 smartphones at the first Unpacked event of this year. Samsung will add a "Galaxy S25 Slim", which should fit somewhere between the S25+ and the S25 Ultra in terms of price, at least. Slim design, as the name suggests Unlike the rest of the Galaxy S25 family members, the S25 Slim hasn't leaked in images. We only know that the handset will feature a slightly different design than the rest. Rumor has it Samsung will use the S25 Slim as a base for next year's S26 series design. Samsung Galaxy...

Top 10 trending phones of week 2

We are just 12 days into 2025, but our trending chart is already overrun by the phones of this year. On top we once again have the hotly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, which will be introduced in less than two weeks. It's joined on the podium by the Poco X7 Pro and the newly launched global version of the Redmi Note 14 Pro+. [#InlinePriceWidget, 13582, 1#] OnePlus 13, another phone to just go global, sits in fourth, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra is highest ranked phone from 2024 in fifth. Galaxy A55, another 2024 favorite, took sixth this week, followed by the Redmi Turbo...

Huawei Freebuds Pro 4 review

Huawei went over a year without introducing an update to its flagship earphones, but the Freebuds Pro 4 arrived in 2024's closing weeks. The announcement first took place in China, followed by an international launch just a fortnight later. They were overshadowed by the Mate X6's global reveal (review here) and the nova 13 series debut, but we believe they deserve attention so we took a pair for a test. So here's what we found out. Table of Contents: Design User Interface Sound Charging Battery life Verdict Design and build quality The buds and case of...

Samsung Galaxy S25 leaks, Poco X7 series launched, OnePlus 13 series official, Week 2 in review

We are in the second week of 2025, and it's already getting busy. We saw the Xiaomi Redmi Note 14 series' global debut was, the OnePlus 13 and 13R announcement and the Xiaomi Poco X7 series' debut. Yet, they were partially overshadowed by the numerous Samsung Galaxy S25-related leaks and even the official Samsung Unpacked announcement made it in the top 10 articles this week. We got to see the Galaxy S25 series in leaked renders, some key S25 Ultra specs were confirmed and by far the most popular article this week was the massive Galaxy S25 specs leak. In addition to the good S25...

Weekly poll results: here are your favorite flagships from 2024

Last week we asked you to vote for your favorite flagship of 2024. The results are in and it looks like Samsung had a stellar year. Let’s start with the first poll, the one for the classic bar smartphone. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra dominated this category and received a third of the votes – it was far and away the most popular device on the list. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra and vivo X200 Pro were nearly dead even with 9% and 8.9% of the votes, respectively. The Google Pixel 9 Pro and Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max deserve honorable mentions with 8% and 7.8% of the vote, respectively. Close to the...

WhatsApp might let you create personalized AI chatbots within the app

We recently heard that WhatsApp was testing a new interface for its Android app, where the Communities tab was replaced with the "AIs" tab, possibly to provide all AI-powered features in one place. Now, we have learned that WhatsApp is working on a feature that will let users create personalized AI chatbots. This revelation comes from the folks at WABetaInfo, who spotted this feature in version 2.25.1.26 of WhatsApp beta for Android. They also shared a screenshot, included below, which suggests the AI chatbot would be called AI Character. WhatsApp working on personalized AI chatbot...

Deals: OnePlus 13 launches while 13R goes on pre-order, Red Magic 10 Pro also available

The OnePlus 13 went global earlier this week and at the same time, the more affordable 13R was announced. The flagship model is a bit more expensive this time around, but the 16/512GB option is available with a $100 discount, bringing its price down to that of the OnePlus 12 last year. There is a cheaper 12/256GB model too, but without a discount. We took the OnePlus 13 for a photo tour of Sri Lanka and have a detailed review, which you can check out – video review too. The company has committed to 4 OS updates and six years of security patches. ...

iPhone 17 Air's shocking thinness revealed

The iPhone 17 Air is coming this year to supplant the iPhone 16 Plus because the Plus model has been the worst-selling iPhone since its introduction. Whether this will do any better remains to be seen, but one thing's certain: Apple wants to shock the world with its thinness. According to a new report from famed purveyor of Apple-related rumors Ming-Chi Kuo, the iPhone 17 Air, at its thinnest point, will be just 5.5mm thick. That is incredible. This is the iPhone 16 Plus that the iPhone 17 Air will be replacing It wouldn't be the first time Apple pulls something like this off. The...

iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max refurbished models are now available in Europe

With the launch of the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max in September, Apple stopped selling the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. So if for some reason you've been eyeing one of those 2023 models, you've been out of luck - until now. Apple has now started offering refurbished iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models in Europe. You can get them in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain at the moment. The 128GB iPhone 15 Pro is €929 in Germany, €949 in Spain and €969 in Italy. The 256GB model goes for €1,039/€1,059/€1,079, respectively, while the 512GB iteration is...