Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A in for review

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A, aka Redmi Note Y1 in India, is the next phone we have that waits its turn to be thoroughly reviewed. It has modest specs with a Snapdragon 435 chipset and a 5.5" LCD screen with HD resolution, but the selfie camera has an impressive 16 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens. The phone costs around $150, and it doesn't get any lower than that for a large-screen Xiaomi phone. The phone might be cheap, but it doesn't feel that cheap at all. Xiaomi has given a plastic body to the Redmi Note 5A that feels sturdy in hand and pleases the eyes. It has slight design elements like...

Sharp Aquos S3 (FS8032) gets certified in Taiwan

The Sharp Aquos S3 has got one step closer to being made official. The device, carrying a model number of FS8032, has been certified by Taiwan's certification body NCC. The image included in the certification also reveals vertically-aligned dual camera setup as well as rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. The device has already appeared in benchmark listings. A Geekbench outing for the phone revealed key specs, including Snapdragon 630 SoC, 4GB RAM, and Android 8.0 Oreo. Recently, the Sharp FS8015 cleared TENAA. If you compare, the design of that device (at-least the back panel) is...

Fix for Nokia 6 Beta Labs issue faced by Indian users coming this week

Late last month, it came to light that the Nokia 6 Oreo beta is not available in some key markets, including the US and China. While India is not on that list, users in the country have been facing issues participating in beta labs. HMD had earlier said they've identified the issue and working on fixing it. And now, CPO Juho Sarvikas has said the company will be pushing a couple of improvements this week (that will likely fix the problem), before making available the Oreo beta build through Beta Labs. Here's what the executive exactly said: This is why I shouldn't give hard dates. We...

APK tear-down of Nokia's Camera app reveals Nokia 4 and Nokia 7 Plus monikers

APK tear-down of Nokia's Camera app (version 8.0210.20, installed on a Nokia 5 running Android Oreo beta) has revealed some interesting information, including monikers of devices that could be in the pipeline. As clear from the following screenshot, the list of revealed devices includes names like Nokia 1, Nokia 4, Nokia 7 Plus, and Nokia 9. While the Nokia 9 has already been the subject of several leaks and rumors, recently, there has been a Nokia 1-related rumor as well. So the teardown effectively uncovers Nokia 4 and Nokia 7 Plus. It's, however, worth mentioning that dates...

Open Beta 3 for OnePlus 5 brings Face Unlock feature

OnePlus has started pushing out a new Open Beta build to the 5 smartphone. Arriving as version 3 and weighing in at around 1.6GB, the update brings along several changes, prime among them being the Face Unlock functionality. It was late December when co-founder Carl Pei confirmed that the OnePlus 5 will be getting the feature as it has been a popular demand among users. Coming back to the update, other changes include fix for 5G Wi-Fi-related connection issue and optimizations for vibration. The update also adds an app shortcut on Launcher and bumps the Android security patch-level...

GSMArena smartphone buyer's guide:January 2018 edition

'Tis the season! Or rather, 'Twas the season, because the end of 2017 flew by us while we were putting the final touches on this buyer's guide. So, we are clearly a bit tardy for a holiday shopping guide but that was more or less intentional on our part. What better time for an overview of what are the best phones to get than the start of the year where all major announcements are well behind us and prices have settled after the holiday shopping frenzy.

Samsung responds to recently-uncovered Galaxy Note8 battery problem

Last week, it came to light that a significant number of Samsung Galaxy Note8 users have been complaining about a battery-related issue with their devices. Users said their units refused to charge after the battery hit 0%. After the issue received widespread coverage, there were a few reports that some Galaxy S8/S8+ users as well as Galaxy Tab S3 users have also been complaining about a similar problem. Well, Samsung has now offered an official statement on the matter, saying they've only received a few such reports and is yet to collect detailed information about the affected...