vivo X20 Plus UD goes through a scratch test - will that kill its fingerprint reader?

The vivo X20 Plus UD is the first phone to have a fingerprint reader under its display. But can this brand-new tech prove to be a week spot? Imagine for a second the scratches that accumulate on a phone's display after a year or two of use. Will the reader stop working? We'll hand you over to JerryRigEverything and his traditional Mohs' hardness test. The screen's glass handles as expected, with light scratches at level 6 and deeper ones at level 7. And the reader lived! This isn't the first fingerprint reader to undergo the scratch test, but as the video explains this is an optical...

Samsung offers the Galaxy S9 with Hybrid Dual SIM in Germany

The internal storage of the Samsung Galaxy S9 can now be increased by up to 400GB via MicroSD card. That's an increase from 256GB from the Galaxy S8. A version also exists with a Hybrid Dual SIM that allows you to use two SIMS. A local SIM when you're on vacation and keep your home number connected or use separate work and personal numbers on the same phone. When using two SIM cards the MicroSD card can't be used. It now looks like this Hybrid Dual SIM option is available for users in Germany for the first time. SH Telekommunikation Deutschland GmbH, a provider of independent mobile...

We benchmark the Snapdragon 660 inside the Nokia 7 Plus

The Nokia 7 Plus is one of the few phones with a Snapdragon 660 so it was hard finding it a match for a few synthetic tests. The Oppo R11s is the only other Snapdragon 660-powered phone in the tests below. The Nokia 7 Plus has 4GB of RAM and Nokia is yet to say if there will be a 6GB model. The Snapdragon 660 chip relies on 8 Kryo 260 cores - four clocked as high as 2.2GHz and another 4 that go as high as 1.8GHz - and is built around an efficient 14nm process. As with the camera, we'll withhold judgment on the benchmarks as well. This is all preliminary, folks! ...

Canon announces EOS 2000D DSLR and M50 mirrorless cameras

Canon has launched two new budget cameras, the EOS 2000D DSLR (called the EOS Rebel T7 in the US) and the EOS M50 mirrorless camera. The cameras are being positioned as cameras for beginners looking to upgrade from shooting with their smartphones. The EOS 2000D is the new entry-level DSLR in Canon's lineup, replacing the existing EOS 1300D. It features an upgraded 24.1MP APS-C CMOS sensor, 9-point AF system, 3fps continuous shooting, and 3.0-inch LCD. There's also built-in Wi-Fi and NFC for file sharing. Canon EOS 2000D The EOS 2000D will be available in April with EF-S 18-55...

Xiaomi Mi 2s specs leak yet again

The eagerly-anticipated Xiaomi Mi Mix 2s has been such a constant presence in the rumor mill lately, that we don't really think there is any more substantial info on it left to leak. Still, many aspects of the handset have been widely debated, especially its almost entirely bezel-free design. So, we'll still take any info we can get. At least before Xiaomi finally takes the wrapping off the device tomorrow. The new leak in question comes in the form of a screenshot, or rather a photo of the phone's screen itself, showing the MIUI About screen. Going through the various values...

Here are the Nokia 8 Sirocco camera samples

We had a chance to play around with the Nokia 8 Sirocco and snap a few images with its new 12MP dual camera. The samples look really promising, just like the ones from the Nokia 7 Plus. The camera on the Nokia 8 Sirocco is the same as the one on the Nokia 7 Plus - a 12MP snapper with large 1.4um pixels, an f/1.75 aperture but no OIS. Nokia 8 Sirocco camera samples The telephoto camera has regular-sized 1um pixels and an f/2.6 aperture that lets in less light. When light levels aren't enough, there's a two-tone LED flash. Nokia 8 Sirocco camera...

Understanding the new camera features on the Galaxy S9

Yesterday, Samsung kicked off the MWC 2018 with the launch of its Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ smartphones. On the surface, the two phones seem very much similar to their predecessors launched last year, yet Samsung claims they are all new. In particular, Samsung has a lot to say about its "reimagined" camera, which has two headlining features that separate it from its predecessor. So what are these two features and how do they work? The one Samsung talked most about is variable aperture. To understand variable aperture, one must first understand aperture. Aperture of a camera is the...