ZTE announces the Blade V8 Mini and Blade V8 Lite

ZTE just announced a couple of midrange smartphones at MWC - the Blade V8 Mini and the Blade V8 Lite. The Blade V8 Mini is hailed as the 'perfect smartphone for photography lovers', thanks to its dual camera on the back. The setup consists of a 13MP primary sensor and a 2MP secondary one for depth sensing. You get bokeh effects with simulated apertures in the f/1.0-f/8.0 range and post-capture refocusing. The selfie camera is a no-nonsense 5MP fixed-focus unit. The phone sports a 5-inch 720p display and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 (28nm, 8x1.4GHz Cortex-A53...

Prices and launch dates for the Xperia XZ Premium, XZs and XA1 revealed

Sony waited a bit to confirm the official launch info for its new roster of phones, but dates and prices were just revealed. The Sony Xperia XZs will come out first - on April 5 and will start at $700. The Xperia XA1 is scheduled for later that month, April 26 for a price of $300. The Sony Xperia XZ Premium flagship is set to launch at some point in "late spring", price is TBA. Then the 6-inch Xperia XA1 Ultra will come out "this summer", price is still unknown. Our hands-on impressions are a good starting point to learn all about the four new Xperias. Check out the 960fps...

MWC 2017: Sony Xperia XZ Premium, XZ, XA1 and XA1 Ultra

While Sony seemed timid the last year, now it's ready to roar again. It poured all its tech prowess into the making of the Xperia XZ Premium, which marks a number of world firsts. The XZs is a mid-season upgrade of the former top dog, borrowing the Motion Eye camera from the Premium. Then there are the super mid-rangers - the XA1 impresses with its flagship camera, the XA1 Ultra with its selfie cam.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium and XZs unveiled

Meet the future of Sony flagships - well, what will be future. The Sony Xperia XZ Premium and its 5.5" 4K are scheduled to land in "late Spring" while the smaller 5.2" Sony Xperia XZs will arrive earlier (in April) to dazzle us with its cool new camera, which Sony will be marketing as Motion Eye. Sony Xperia XZ Premium That's what Sony calls the camera used on both the XZ Premium and XZs. Its crowning achievement is 960fps slow motion video - that allows to slow down time 4x slower than current cameraphones. It also features an "anti-distortion shutter" which minimizes rolling shutter....

Sony Xperia XA1 and XA1 Ultra go official with thin bezels, great cameras

Before the XZ came about, our favorite letters of the Xperia alphabet were "XA". Sony revamped both the bezel-light 5" mid-ranger and the selfie-holic 6" Ultra model under the new XA1 heading. Seriously, though, the cameras on these two phones punch well above their weight category. Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra We remember the previous Ultra as being only the second phone with an OIS-enabled selfie camera (behind the HTC 10 flagship). The Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra continues that proud tradition with an impressive 16MP 1/2.6" sensor coupled with a 23mm (equiv.) f/2.0 lens with autofocus and a...

Check out our Sony Xperia XZ Premium and XZs 960fps slow-mo videos

Sony's latest camera sensor features on-board memory making it the first of its kind. This sensor will debut on the Sony Xperia XZs and a little later on the Sony Xperia XZ Premium. Memory makes the sensor versatile and allows it to be used for many things, but we think the most fun feature is the 960fps slow motion. Video is recorded at 720p resolution and at any point you can switch from real time to Matrix-like slow motion. The memory is enough for only a blink of an eye (0.18s), but a lot can happen in that tiny window when time slows to a crawl. Current phones top out at 240fps,...

Watch the Sony MWC press event here

Sony's event should be one of the most action-packed of this year's MWC - yesterday a total of four Xperias got leaked, and some clarifications is undoubtedly needed as to which is which. An Xperia X successor was recently leaked so that should be one, an XZ Premium slide suggests we might be seeing another 4K phone display this year and an Xperia XA follow up is possibly in the works. It will all become clear anytime soon, watch it here as it unfolds.

Over 900,000 Sony PlayStation VR units have been sold in four months

Sony has announced that it has sold over 900,000 units (915,000 to be precise) of its PlayStation VR headset so far. This was revealed by Andrew House, global chief executive of Sony Interactive Entertainment (the Japanese company's video gaming division). The headset was released back in October last year for $399. House also revealed that the company's internal goal was to sell a million units by mid-April (i.e, in first six months), which looks quite achievable now. The PlayStation VR looks to be quite ahead of its competitors - according to a report from research firm SuperData...

Huawei Honor 6X now available on open sale in India

The Huawei Honor 6X - which was announced for India last month, and went on sale in the country earlier this month through flash sale model - is now available for purchase sans registration. Both 32GB and 64GB models are on open sale on Amazon India. Pricing remains the same - INR 12,999 (around $195) for the former and INR 15,999 (around $240) for the latter. The device was first announced back in October last year, and it landed in the US last month. Source | Via

Energizer Energy E550LTE is a rugged smartphone with 4GB RAM and dual camera setup

Energizer - which is known mostly for its batteries - has announced a new rugged smartphone. Dubbed Energy E550LTE, the device is powered by Mediatek's MTK6755 chipset with octa-core 2GHz processor, and sports a 5.5-inch full HD display. RAM is 4GB, while internal memory is 64GB. The camera department is handled by a dual camera setup (13MP +8 MP) on the rear, and an 8MP front shooter. The handset features a fingerprint sensor, it is 11.1mm thick, and is IP68 certified for dust and water resistance. It packs in a 4,000mAh battery that supports fast charging. As for availability, the...

MWC 2017: Alcatel A5 LED, A3, U5, PLUS 12

TCL might have the BlackBerry KEYone for showboating purposes, but it will be its Alcatel-branded phones that will sell in heaps. The company brought three of those to MWC this year, plus a Windows 10 2-in-1, and we got a chance to play around with all of them.

The Alcatel A5 LED has an illuminated back, the A3 and U5 are value-minded

In a rather untypical Alcatel move for a major event, the company unveiled just four devices at this year's MWC (or should we say 'so far'?). Those include a trio of smartphones and a Windows 10 2-in-1. Alcatel A5 LED The Alcatel A5 LED is the most interesting of the phone bunch - on the one hand, it boasts the best specs, but on the other - its back is lit. Literally. First things first, though - the A5 LED sports a 5.2-inch 720 IPS display, and is powered by the Mediatek MT6753 chipset, an octa-core 1.5GHz CPU at the helm. There are 2GB of RAM on board and internal storage...

All major US carriers will carry the LG G6

All major carriers in the United States have confirmed that they'll be carrying the newly-unveiled LG G6. The device will be available through the Big Four (Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile) carriers, with Verizon and T-Mobile even revealing that sales will begin this spring. We're excited to bring the #LGG6 to T-Mobile! 👀 this unboxing from @AskDes all the way from #MWC17. http://ift.tt/2l25aPs T-Mobile📱 (@TMobile) February 26, 2017 Verizon also revealed that the phone will be available in platinum and black color options. Sprint and AT&T, on the other hand...

Motorola Moto G5 Russia pricing and availability info revealed

The Motorola Moto G5 - which was unveiled at the ongoing Mobile World Congress along with the Moto G5 plus - will be available for purchase in Russia in the month of April, according to a new report. The report also revealed that the device will carry a price tag of RUB 12,990 in the country (which translates into around $225 or €210), and will be available through all major retail chains. In case you missed, it was revealed during the official unveiling that the handset will land in Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and North America, beginning early next month. While the Moto G5...

Greenpeace protester makes a guest appearance at Samsung's keynote

During Samsung's press event at MWC, a protestor stood at the foot of the stage during Samsung's keynote at MWC. The sign referred to the unknown fate of the millions of Galaxy Note7 units that are sitting in a facility somewhere. The sign sends a really simple message. It's a recycle symbol with the words "re-think, reuse, recycle". The middle of the triangle reads: "It's simple" and a hashtag that refers to the #GalaxyNote7. Greenpeace protestor takes the stage at Samsung #MWC2017 conference. "I think you've made your point" says Samsung exec. http://pic.twitter.com/wdajZZ9vK0— Andrew Lanxon...

MWC 2017: Nokia 6, 5, 3 and 3310

It's like we woke up in an alternate universe - one where Nokia chose Android over Windows Phone. And oh boy, it is glorious. The brand has a lot of catching up to do but it gets close to the front in a single bound.

LG G6 disassembly reveals an advanced heat pipe, sealed-in Li-Po battery

Dedicated teardown and disassembly outlets like iFixit won't have much work to do on the G6, other than the odd repair guide - LG took its latest smartphone apart right in front of us. Hint: it's good to start by removing the SIM card tray. Popping off the Gorilla Glass 5 back panel reveals a rather massive fingerprint reader assembly complete with controller, all mounted to the cover. On the phone we see the wireless charging coil, but as you've probably already found out, that's only going to be present on the US versions of the G6. Sad. Screwdriver at the ready! Removing a...

Samsung Galaxy S8 to be unveiled on March 29th

A Samsung Galaxy smartphone used to headline the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona for years but after the Galaxy Note7 fiasco last fall the company decided to postpone production and unveiling of its newest flagship. But after the Samsung keynote on Sunday night, we finally know when the Galaxy S8 will be revealed - March 29. The Galaxy Unpacked event will be available live on Samsung Galaxy's website. Samsung presented the Galaxy Tab S3, an Android tablet and Galaxy Book with 10.6" display and a bigger one with 12" diagonal, the latter running Windows 10 and coming with a...

HP Pro x2 is a rugged convertible tablet with Windows 10

HP is also at the Mobile World Congress and it has its own understanding of what mobile stands for. The company has launched a Windows 10 device named HP Pro X2 with a detachable keyboard and a stylus. HP Pro x2 was launched today at MWC in Barcelona. The device is a convertible laptop/tablet that has a 12" display with FullHD resolution. It is developed to work with a detachable keyboard and a stylus, much like a Surface device or the Android-powered Galaxy Tab S3. It is also extremely tough - the Pro x2 is designed to withstand MIL-STD-810G tests. And if this isn't enough, you can...

MWC 2017: Huawei P10, P10 Plus, Watch 2 hands-on

Today was a big day for Huawei at the MWC expo in Barcelona. The company announced its new flagships - the P10 and P10 Plus, both featuring Leica lens on the rear and front cameras. Then we saw two new Watch 2 smartwatches to make an appearance. And finally, the latest EMUI 5.1 jam-packed with optimizations made an appearance.

Moto G5 and G5 Plus promo videos galore

Lenovo just announced the new Moto G5 and G5 Plus smartphones at the MWC. The two phones continue the Moto G legacy of offering an adequate amount of features at an attractive price. The company has now released some videos for the new phones that highlight some of the features of the new phones. The focus here is mostly on the bigger and the more expensive G5 Plus, which comes with a few extra bells and whistles. You can watch all the videos below and let us know what you thought of them and the phones themselves.

New Moto Mods transform your phone into personal assistant or gaming console

Motorola also launched plenty of gadgets at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Along with the long-awaited midrangers Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus, new Moto Mods were also revealed. The most impressive of them is an Amazon Alexa MotoMod. Moto is aiming to change the way you use your Moto Z and the latest addition to the Mod family is Amazon Alexa Moto Mod that easily does things for you on the go - setting the temperature at home when you leave work, requesting a Uber or writing a shopping list without actually having to open a text app like some kind of early-2016 caveman. The...

Huawei P10 Lite leaks ahead of proper announcement

Huawei unveiled the P10 and P10 Plus flagships today, but didn't shed any light on a P10 Lite model. But it just couldn't stay away from the news. A few retailers in the Netherlands have listed the Huawei P10 Lite with official pictures, specs, price, and everything. Maybe they did that prematurely, maybe not, we can't say for sure. Anyway, the fact is that all the details about the Huawei P10 Lite are now out in the open. The phone won't come with the same design as the P10 duo, but it's quite attractive nevertheless. It has a metal frame and a dual-glass design, with its...

Latest Samsung Gear VR comes with a standalone controller

Just because there's no Galaxy S8 flagship to announce just yet, it doesn't mean Samsung can't unveil the next model Gear VR. This latest version of the headset comes with an accessory of its own - a standalone controller. The headset comes with 42mm lenses that deliver a 101-degree field of view and feature an advanced distortion correction tech to minimize motion sickness. It's compatible with both microUSB and USB Type-C devices, so every existing Samsung flagship since the Galaxy S6, plus the upcoming ones, will work with the new Gear VR. The controller is the novelty...

Huawei P10 Lite leaks ahead of imminent announcement

Huawei unveiled the P10 and P10 Plus flagships today, but didn't shed any light on a P10 Lite model. But it just couldn't stay away from the news. A few retailers in the Netherlands have listed the Huawei P10 Lite with official pictures, specs, price, and everything. Maybe they did that prematurely, maybe not, we can't say for sure. Anyway, the fact is that all the details about the Huawei P10 Lite are now out in the open. The phone won't come with the same design as the P10 duo, but it's quite attractive nevertheless. It has a metal frame and a dual-glass design, with its...