Newest HTC teaser: "Even more squeezed in"

HTC has been making the news more frequently now as its next launch event approaches. Earlier today, HTC tweeted a teaser with the launch event date, and the words "Even more squeezed in", making an indirectly direct reference to the rumored re-release of the HTC U11. One that would sport a taller, 6-inch, 18:9 display in a similar footprint, keeping all the other specs and features of the HTC U11. The "squeezed" part makes a reference the HTC's Edge Sense feature, which offers shortcuts to apps or actions. A new squeeze is coming. 11.02.2017 #BrilliantU http://pic.twitter.com/eOZom2RYM0— HTC...

Microsoft Surface Pro with LTE Advanced launches in December starting at $1,149

After having leaked back in September, Microsoft's new Surface Pro with LTE Advanced (that's the actual product name) has now become official at the company's Future Decoded event in London, just as anticipated. The Surface Pro LTE features Qualcomm's X16 mobile data modem, with 20 bands built-in for seamless global connectivity. With its support for LTE Cat.9, the Surface Pro will be able to reach peak download speeds of up to 450Mbps, which Microsoft says makes it "the fastest LTE-enabled laptop in its class", since competitors top out at Cat.6 (300Mbps). The new computer will...

Google outs Hangouts Meet hardware for your conference room

Back in March Google pivoted Hangouts into a business-focused service. And today it's introducing the first Hangouts Meet hardware bundle to make video meetings easier to manage and of better quality. The Hangouts Meet hardware bundle consists of an Asus Chromebox, a 4K camera, a speaker-mic, and a touchscreen controller. The Chromebox runs Chrome OS, and can automatically push updates to the other components in the hardware kit. The 4K camera has a 120-degree field-of-view, thus easily capturing everyone at the table even in small spaces. It's built with machine learning and can...

Best Buy stops selling full price iPhone X and iPhone 8 after pricing backlash

Last week Best Buy was caught overpricing the iPhone X and iPhone 8 units bought outright, without a carrier's monthly installment plan. If you wanted the handset and nothing more, you had to pay $100 extra compared to Apple's prices. That obviously resulted in online backlash against the company, because such a practice was deemed unfair. In response to that backlash, Best Buy has now decided to simply stop selling the newest iPhones outright. Yes, instead of lowering the prices to the Apple-recommended levels, the retailer is taking a stand and now only offers the iPhone X and iPhone 8...

Huawei Mate 10 Pro to land in the UK on November 17 for £699

Huawei's Mate 10 lineup is rather confusing for more reasons than one. If you live in the UK, however, rest assured that you won't have to scratch your head trying to decide between the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro. That's because only the latter model will be officially available in the UK. The Mate 10 Pro is now said to arrive on November 17 for a price of £699, in SIM-free and unlocked form. At the current exchange rates, that equates to exactly €799, which is its recommended retail price for the Eurozone, so the Chinese company isn't trying to play any games here at least. Three and...

"Unstoppable" BlackBerry Motion reaches Canada on November 10

The BlackBerry Motion was made official at the beginning of this month. The keyboard-less smartphone is now almost ready to launch in the company's home country of Canada. The Motion will in fact become available over there on November 10. You'll be able to purchase one from Bell, Telus, Koodo, and SaskTel. Its no-contract price will be CAD 599 at Bell and SaskTel, and CAD 605 at Telus and Koodo. On the other hand, you pick a two-year term from any of the carriers you're looking at a minimum of CAD 99 spent upfront. Looking forward to the release, BlackBerry Mobile has published a...

Bluetooth Fast Pair for Android 6.0 and up seamlessly connects supported accessories

Undoubtedly inspired by the 'magic' Apple was able to accomplish with its W1 chip for Bluetooth accessories, today Google has officially announced Bluetooth Fast Pair for Android. This will work with any device running Android 6.0 and up which has Google Play Services 11.7 or later installed. As the name implies, Fast Pair will make the usually cumbersome pairing procedure for Bluetooth accessories seamless. When a supported device is near your phone, you'll get a notification like the one you see in the capture below (with the image of the product, no less). You simply tap that, and...

Apple releases iOS 11.1, watchOS 4.1, macOS High Sierra 10.13.1, and tvOS 11.1

After a few weeks of beta testing, Apple has finalized iOS 11.1 and made it available today for supported devices. This release doesn't bring huge new features compared to iOS 11, which debuted last month, but that doesn't mean you should ignore it. Headlining iOS 11.1 are over 70 new emoji, including new food types, animals, mythical creatures, clothing options, more expressive smiley faces, and gender-neutral characters. As usual, there are many improvements and bug fixes in tow too. Support for accessing the app switcher by 3D Touch pressing the edge of the display is brought...

Deal: Sony Xperia XZs gets discounted in the US

Earlier this year, Sony released the Xperia XZs, a colorful phone with a 5.2-inch IPS LCD, a Snapdragon 820 with 4GB of RAM, IP68 and Sony's Motion Eye 19MP camera. And while all of that sounds great the XZs was a bit too expensive at launch - something Sony is remedying now. In the US the Sony Xperia XZs has gotten a healthy discount across major retailers and is currently going for $499 at Amazon, B&H Photo Video and Focus. Even so, you might want to consider the Sony Xperia XZ1, which has been discounted from $699 down to $599 (Amazon / B&H) - for that price you'd be getting...

Neffos with 18:9 screen and Snapdragon 835 leaks

TP-Link might be famous with their networking solutions, but the company also outs smartphones from time to time. You may remember the X1 and the X1 Max, but now a flagship is on its way. According to sources, it will have top notch specs like Snapdragon 835 and dual camera setup. The yet unnamed phone is coming with an 18:9 screen with curved edges on the front. This will means there is no room for a home button or a fingerprint scanner, so the latter moves to the back, right below the dual cameras. One of the sensors is 16 MP, while the other is 20 MP and is said to offer 2x...

Next-year Samsung Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7 to come with Bluetooth 5.0

The Exynos 7885 chipset that is expected to power the Samsung Galaxy A5 (2018) and the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) got certified by the Bluetooth SIG. The listing reveals that the new SoC will support Bluetooth 5.0, which brings better data transfer and ability to connect multiple devices to a smartphone. According to an earlier report, the Exynos 7885 will be a 14nm chip with two Cortex-A73 cores and six Cortex-A53 units. The clock speed should be 2.1 GHz and the GPU is supposed to be Mali-G71. The Galaxy A5 (2018) was also seen in a benchmark with Snapdragon 660, but this setup...

Xiaomi ships 10 million phones in October

Xiaomi shipped 10 million phones in September and it has repeated this feat in October as well. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun posted the good news on his Weibo account while reminding people of the upcoming sale of the Mi 5X (known elsewhere as Mi A1) on November 1. Hey, you don't ship 10 million phones in a month without selling 24/7. Upcoming Xiaomi Mi 5X (Mi A1) sale Anyway, the company recently set an ambitious goal for itself - to ship 90 million phones this year. That would be a 50% increase over last year (58 million) and a big growth compared to 2015 (its strongest year for now with 70...

Samsung posts record profits in Q3

After releasing its preliminary guidance two weeks ago, now Samsung has posted its official earnings for Q3 2017. The company registered KRW14.53 trillion in operating profit or $13 billion. This is a massive 179% growth year over year and a record, enabled by high demand for flagship mobile devices and memory chips for servers. The revenue reported by Samsung is KRW62.05 trillion ($55.48 billion) which is an increase from KRW47.82 trillion ($42.75 billion). The net profit also increased drastically - an 89% jump from KRW4.54 trillion ($4.05 billion) in June-September 2016 to KRW11.19...

Razer Phone leak reveals 4,000mAh battery

So we already know Razer is entering the smartphone market, and its debut device is coming tomorrow. The device has already been spotted in a benchmark listing, and an alleged image of the phone also leaked a few weeks ago. Now, the handset has been listed on the website of a Three UK affiliate. The listing not only shows the front of the Razor Phone (in low-resolution though), but also reveals some of its key specs. As per the listing, the phone sports a 5.72-inch screen and comes with 8GB of RAM. It features a dual rear-camera setup (12MP+13MP), and packs in a large, 4,000mAh...

T-Mobile leaks HTC U11 Life in detail

It seems that T-Mobile jumped the gun on HTC U11 Life unveiling and put up a page on its website - it was taken down, but not before screenshots recorded all the relevant info for posterity. Unfortunately, there was no confirmation or refutal of the €369 price. HTC U11 Life in Sapphire Blue Note that the operating system is specified as Android 7.1.1 Nougat with HTC Sense - not 8.0 Oreo as rumors suggested earlier. The U11 Life was supposed to be an Android One phone, but this doesn't seem to be the case. The Snapdragon 630 chipset is a lock, though. The spec sheet shows a...

Apple plans to drop Qualcomm modems in 2018

We already reported Apple is developing an in-house GPU and has purchased CVD machines to build its own OLED panels. A new report says Cupertino is about to change its chipset provider too. According to sources, Qualcomm has stopped providing software for testing the iPhones and therefore Apple is thinking of other options. The change will affect the devices released in fall 2018, which is when the next-gen iPhones will be announced. Right now both companies are involved in a number of legal disputes, but Qualcomm last said it didn't expect that to affect the business...

Camera app on Nokia phones to receive an update, bring Lumia Camera UI features

HMD has confirmed that the camera app on Nokia phones will receive an update. The confirmation came from the company's Chief Product Officer Juho Sarvikas. Yep!— Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) October 30, 2017 Not only that, he also dropped hints that the update may also bring along some features from the Lumia Camera UI, which is considered as one of the best camera UIs by many. I agree with your assesment 😎— Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) October 30, 2017 It's worth mentioning that the UI was originally developed by 'old' Nokia for Windows phones after Microsoft...

Nokia 2 announced with 5-inch display, 4,100mAh battery

As expected, HMD has officially announced the entry-level Nokia 2 smartphone. The device comes with 5-inch HD display, and is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 212 SoC. The handset features an 8MP main camera, and a 5MP front shooter. A large 4,100mAh battery is there to keep the lights on, which the company claims offers a 2-day life. The phone runs Android Nougat out of the box, with Oreo update confirmed to be coming. It comes in three color options: copper, black, and white. Nokia 2 features Google Assistant, which the company says makes the device first of its kind in the...

Google confirms Android 8.1 beta installation issue has been fixed

The Android 8.1 beta update started rolling out late last week. Shortly after the roll out began, user reports started pouring in that the update is failing to install. Well, the good news is that the problem is now fixed. The confirmation came in the form of a forum post by a Google employee Orrin. To give you a quick recap of the issue, users said as they attempted to install the OTA update, the phone rebooted and got to the Google logo (this happened multiple times), following which it rebooted back to 8.0. The system then displayed a notification saying "Couldn't install system...

HTC U11+ to come in a new translucent color

HTC is having a launch event on Nov 2 where it will launch the HTC U11+ and another rumored device called the HTC U11 life. We've already seen the latter leaked through benchmarks and photos. However, we still haven't heard much about the HTC U11+, the device rumored to be a refreshed version of the HTC U11 with a taller 18:9 display. Even though details about the device are scarce, we can pretty much imagine what it would look like. Thanks to @evleaks, we are also expecting a new rumored color. HTC U11+ colors: black, silver, translucent.— Evan Blass (@evleaks) October 30,...

Android 8.1 lets you restore data after initial phone setup

Android 8.1 is the first maintenance release after Android 8.0 Oreo. Currently, Pixel owners can download and install the Android 8.1 Beta now, before the update is publicly available. The new update brings a few notable changes like the possibility of Chrome and SMS integration and self-dimming navigation buttons to prevent burn-in. One other new feature that was spotted on Android 8.1 is the ability to restore data from a Google account after choosing to skip the option during the phone's initial setup. The change was discovered by Henry Roggy, who reported the change on his Google+...

Sprint to call off merger with T-Mobile, clash over control of the combined carrier to blame

Rumors of newly rekindled talks about a merger between Sprint and T-Mobile started popping up in September. Then at the beginning of this month it was claimed that the two companies were actually in the final stages of negotiation, so at this point we were expecting an official announcement on the matter. That, however, isn't going to happen, a Nikkei exclusive report says. Sprint owner SoftBank has allegedly decided to call off the merger. It will approach T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom as soon as tomorrow to let it know. Telekom and SoftBank had apparently reached "a broad...

YouTube TV finally gets apps for smart TVs, Android TV, Xbox, and Apple TV

YouTube TV is Google's live TV service, which launched earlier this year, and has been expanding its reach within the US ever since. While you have been able to view its programming on TVs by using a Chromecast (including with voice commands through Google Home), only now is the company finally announcing that it's developed a YouTube TV app for actual TVs and consoles connected to TVs. Better late than never, sure - but this has been quite an odd omission so far. Anyway, "in the next few days" a new YouTube TV app will be available for Android TV devices and the Xbox One family. Then "in...

Google Pixel 2 XL review

Google has come a long way since the days of Nexus smartphones. This is only the second iteration of the Google Pixel and it shows how much Google's software and hardware have evolved in the past year. Both Pixel smartphones got a refined, yet simpler appearance. This review is specifically for the larger Pixel 2 XL. We'll be reviewing the smaller Pixel 2, separately.

OnePlus 5T Portrait Mode teased through newly outed camera sample

Earlier today we showed you a leaked press render depicting the top half of the upcoming OnePlus 5T, and now the smartphone is back in the news again. This time, OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei took to Twitter to tease us with a camera sample from the yet-unannounced device. While he doesn't outright say that the image was shot with the 5T, it's pretty obviously implied. The picture shows Portrait Mode at work in OnePlus' next handset, and of course it looks impressive - it is, after all, a teaser released by a company exec. It would be weird if it didn't look good. "What phone is he taking...

New, redesigned Skype for Windows, Mac, and Linux is now available

Today Skype is introducing a new look across its desktop apps for Windows, Mac, and Linux. This is in line with the latest redesign of the service's mobile apps. The new version of Skype for desktop has been in a preview state for a while, but it's now rolling out to every single user out there. It features customizable themes, and a chat list that can be organized by time, unread, or your contacts' status. Pinning people or groups means you always have them front and center. You can use a standard or compact view and collapse the chat list to focus more on the conversations. Skype...

Essential Phone update brings October security fixes, improved touch scrolling

Despite its recent price drop clearly signifying that sales aren't going as well as anticipated, Essential is still pushing out software updates for its first smartphone, the PH-1. The latest such release is going out over-the-air today to all the units in the wild, as a 74MB download. It is Android 7.1.1 Nougat, build NMJ20D - so no Oreo here, not yet at least. This update is important, however, for other reasons. First off, it brings with it the October security fixes from Google. Second, it also patches the recently unveiled KRACK vulnerability in the WPA2 protocol that secures Wi-Fi...

ZTE Axon M will be available to order from AT&T on November 1, in stores 16 days later

ZTE announced the foldable Axon M smartphone with two screens earlier this month. Back then we did find out that it would be exclusive to AT&T in the United States, as well as how much it would cost. The one piece of the puzzle that has been missing until today - when you'll be able to grab one. Thankfully, AT&T has decided to clear the air on that one. The carrier has revealed that it will start taking online orders for the ZTE Axon M on November 1, which is this Wednesday. The device will then become available in stores on November 17, "just in time for the holidays". The Axon M...

Asus launches the Zenfone 4 Pro, Zenfone 4, and 5.2" Zenfone 4 Max in the US

Today Asus is significantly expanding the Zenfone 4 family of smartphones in the US. The Taiwanese company launched the 5.5" Zenfone 4 Max stateside last month, and now it's being joined by a bunch of its siblings. Zenfone 4 Pro Let's start with the top of the line offering, in effect Asus' flagship handset at the moment. This one features a 5.5" 1080p AMOLED touchscreen, 6GB of RAM, and the Snapdragon 835 chipset at the helm. It comes with 64GB of expandable storage and a 3,600 mAh battery. Its dual rear camera setup consists of a 12 MP main shooter with a 1/2.55" sensor, 1.4µm...

Samsung Galaxy S8 Oreo beta test markets confirmed

Last week we heard a beta program for Android 8.0 on Samsung Galaxy S8 is about to start It should be available for starting tomorrow, and now we got intel on which countries will get early access to Oreo. The first wave includes South Korea, the United States, and the United Kingdom. There is also a second wave of markets which would get the to beta-test Android Oreo. The countries are Germany, Spain, France, Poland along with India and China. To test the beta version, you must be a member of the Galaxy Beta program, available through the Samsung Members app. The start and...

Nintendo expects to move 14M Switch consoles

Nintendo expects to reach its highest earnings in seven years due to impressive Switch sales. The video games maker company doubled its full-year operating profit forecast on Monday after the console production and delivery issues were cleared out. According to Reuters, the Switch demand nearly doubled Nintendo's stock price to a nine-year high since the March launch of the console. Sales have exceeded the initial estimate and Switch is on track to surpass the Wii U lifetime sales. Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima said at an earnings briefing that the company had boosted Switch...

Nokia 8 teardown shows repairs are tricky but doable

Nokia 8 already went through the grueling burn and bend tests of JerryRigEverything and lived, but what if it didn't? How hard would it be to repair a component that broke or failed? Well, nothing like a comprehensive teardown to answer that question. The phone is certainly well-built, but a novice will have a hell of a time trying to repair it. The first obstacle is the screen, which is glued down. Below that things are mostly held down with screws and plenty of them - 30 in total with different sizes and one standoff screw. The copper heat pipe is interesting. It's pretty big, but it...

Apple gives early iPhone X access to some reviewers

Apple has given a few select reviewers an early look at the iPhone X, for hands-on purposes. The videos, from the likes of Boredatwork and others started to show up a few hours ago and more seem to be coming now. The videos give us an early look at the iPhone X but don't expect detailed reviews - these are first-look videos. Here are a few that you might want to check out.

Oppo R11s and R11s Plus pass through TENAA

Oppo itself leaked the new R11s duo, but that page was a touch light on specifications. Good thing we have TENAA to fill us in on the details before the November 2 announcement. Oppo R11s Plus (photos by TENAA) The Oppo R11s and Oppo R11s Plus share the majority of their specs, the major difference being the screen diagonal - 6" and 6.43" respectively. Both are AMOLED panels with 1,080 x 2,160px resolution and 18:9 aspect ratio. The duo will be powered by octa-core processors - Snapdragon 660 is the most likely chipset, so Kryo 260 cores. The R11s has 4GB of RAM, the Plus...

Top half of OnePlus 5T pictured

We've had many chances to gaze at the upcoming OnePlus 5T, but the clarity of this new image is better than what came before. It shows only the top half, but the new design is so symmetrical that the bottom will look fairly similar. The side bezels look exceedingly thin, though we attribute this to the perspective and to general digital trickery. The top bezel of the 18:9 screen seems smaller than that of the current model, though perhaps not as slim as a Galaxy S8 or LG V30. The new screen will have 1,080 x 2,160px resolution (so still no QHD), the battery might bet a bump in capacity...

Xiaomi Mi Max 2 gets MIUI 9 nightly, price cut in India

There are two interesting bits of news for existing and future owners of the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 in India. According to one user on MIUI forum, Xiaomi is now rolling out nightly build of MIUI 9 to Mi Max 2 devices in India. According to Xiaomi, this is a staged rollout to a small group of users for now, so not everyone will be getting it (our own device is still on 8.5.9.0). Still, with the launch of MIUI 9 just three days away, it won't be long before the stable release starts rolling out officially. For prospective Mi Max 2 buyers, the phone is now a bit more affordable. Xiaomi...

HTC U11 Life to cost €369, launch on Oreo

Earlier this month we heard that the HTC U11 Life will cost around €400 and now a new rumor narrows down the price range and offers a few additional tidbits. A new image of the device shows off the "Brilliant Black" color option, which shows a bit of a greenish tint, similar to the bigger U11. The other two color choices are Sapphire Blue and Ice White. Now the price - €369 for the model with 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage. There will be a 4GB/64GB option available in some regions presumably at a premium. Does that feel like the right price for what the U11 Life has to offer? HTC...

MIUI 9 Global ROM starts hitting Xiaomi Mi 6

MIUI was announced back in July, but Xiaomi needed more than three months to launch a stable global ROM. Days before the planned November 2 arrival, some Xiaomi Mi 6 units already started receiving the firmware. The MIUI V9.0.1.0.NCAMEI brings new system optimizations, new icons, and animations for launching and closing apps. The latest version brings split screen, search for apps in the Dual apps mode and better blocklist rules. Along with some new features, a lot of the existing ones got improved. Some of them include protection from unintentional tapping for Dial pad, the...

Samsung Galaxy Note FE now hits the Philippines

The Samsung Galaxy Note FE has now arrived in the Philippines, making it the third Asian market after South Korea and Malaysia to get the phone. Retailer MemoXpress is offering the device in the country. As you can see in the image above, the phone is only available for a limited time. Officially, there's no information on pricing (the device isn't yet listed on the retailer's website), although reports says its PHP 32,990, which is around $640. Thanks for the tip, Kervin Stoney!!! Source

Canalys: Huawei retains lead in China as Apple grows for the first time in 2 years

Analyst company Canalys published its report on the Chinese smartphone market in Q3. According to the data, Huawei, Oppo, and vivo are in the lead with 19%, 18% and 17% of all shipments, respectively. The overall shipments declined 5% to 119 million units. The big gainer is Apple, which saw its numbers grow 40%. This is the first growth for the company since the iPhone 6S, launched eight quarters ago. Back in June-September 2016, Apple shipped 8 million iPhones. 12 months later the company registered 11 million units. The response to the new iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus has been...

Oreo-powered LG G6 spotted in Benchmarks

Oreo will soon be rolled out to the LG G6.The device has gone through Geekbench running Android 8.0. This indicates that the update is currently under testing. The phone was launched back in March this year, running Android 7.0 Nougat. No official timeframe was given for the Oreo update, but if testing goes smoothly its rollout can't be far away. Source | Via

Essential Phone early adopters get $200 vouchers

Last week Essential dropped the price of its PH-1 smartphone by $200, bringing the tag down to $499. But if you paid full price for it you'll now be compensated. The company is giving a $200 Friends & Family code to use towards a new Essential Phone or Essential 360 Camera. So you can either hook up a family member or a friend to what is effectively a $299 Essential phone, or get a free camera. So there you go. While the initial $200 discount already made PH-1 an attractive proposition, those with a $200 Friends & Family code can get the phone for an absolute steal. Source

Shipments for Apple iPhone X have begun

It was late last week when the Apple iPhone X went up for pre-order. And shortly after that, reports started pouring in that first orders for the device have already started shipping in the United States. Sprint became the first US carrier to start sending iPhone X shipment notifications to customers who placed pre-orders, with delivery date set for November 3, which is when the phone officially launches in the country. Although emails from Sprint contain tracking info, the UPS website doesn't give delivery date and current location. Those who ordered through Apple's own...

Samsung Galaxy S7/S7 edge on AT&T getting new update

AT&T has started pushing out a new update to Samsung's Galaxy S series flagship smartphones from last year. The update - arriving as version G930AUCS4BQJ2 for the S7 and G935AUCS4BQJ2 for the S7 edge - includes October security patch. In addition to the latest security fixes, the update also brings along fix for the BlueBorne vulnerability, which allows a remote attacker to take control of devices via Bluetooth, even if they're not set in discoverable mode. The rollout stated late last week, so it shouldn't be long before you get to a notification for the 135MB update on your device...

Google Pixel 2/2 XL users reporting random crashes with Android Auto

Several users of Google's new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL phones are experiencing issues with Android Auto. Specifically, they say Android Auto crashes randomly while in use, and the only way to get it back up is to unplug and replug the handset into the car. While some say they get these crashes while using Google Play Music and Google Maps, there are others who say the issue also occurs with services like Waze, Audible, and Pocket Casts. Car models range from Ford to VW to Kia to Honda to Volvo, and head units include Pioneer and Sony. Both Pixel 2 and 2 XL users are experiencing the...

Google starts selling Pixel 2 (XL variant) in Italy and Spain as well

The Google Pixel 2 is now available in more European countries. After Germany and the UK, the device - specifically, the XL variant - is now available for purchase in Spain and Italy from the company's official online store. As for price, the device costs €989 in Italy and €959 in Spain. The standard Pixel 2 is mysteriously not yet available in these countries, so those interested in purchasing that model may have to wait a bit longer. Source 1 2 | Via

Week 43 in review: Sony Xperia R1 duo and Oppo F5 announced

Week 43 brought more new hardware as Oppo announced their F5, while Sony brought forward the Xperia R1 and R1 Plus. All three are strictly mid-range affairs and their specs will hardly get the geeks' hearts racing, but they seem to offer good bang for the buck. Despite the new announcements, it's a device yet to go official that featured in most of the most popular stories of the week. The OnePlus 5T is edging closer to its release and it certainly will be monitored carefully. Another hotly anticipated device is coming from Nokia next week. The company officially confirmed it's...

Sunday debate: Stereo speakers vs minimal bezels

Paul When it comes to smart phones, I prioritize display size and quality first. You clearly have to balance size vs pocketability, which is why I'm a huge fan of the design trend of bezelless phones. The display is still the main way for us to interact with our devices. I'm an audiophile, always have been, so no phone will ever sound good enough for me. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to ensuring that my sound systems at home are the best they can be within my budget and that the speakers are orientated and placed exactly where they should be. And for that reason I...

Top 10 trending phones of week 43

These are exciting times for all smartphone enthusiasts - new phones are coming almost daily lately and two of these announcements had a serious impact on our trending phones chart this week. The Oppo F5 leaped straight to the top, becoming the fourth different leader in the last four weeks, while the Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro retained its second position. The Xiaomi Mi A1 rose a spot to get the bronze medal, just edging out the Samsung Galaxy Note8. The iPhone X went on pre-order, which helped it return to the top 10 and snatch the fifth spot, just ahead of last week's leader - Nokia...

Weekly poll: are you buying an Apple iPhone X?

You can now pre-order an iPhone X - but will you? It's the first-ever iPhone with an AMOLED screen and the first to drop the Home button. This also makes it the first to feature advanced facial recognition - via its TrueDepth camera - and the first to shave down the bezels to a point where even most Androids will get a little jealous. Despite some solid upgrades - like the first mobile 4K@60fps video capture, first 1080p@240fps too - the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus felt a little underwhelming. Not much has changed, their design barely differ from 2014's iPhone 6. With the iPhone X Apple...