The OnePlus 8T announced last week is now available for purchase in the US through OnePlus' online store with two color options - Lunar Silver and Aquamarine Green. It's priced at $749 and comes with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. There's also an 8T+ 5G for T-Mobile priced the same, which comes with an IP68 rating while sharing the rest of the specs with the regular 8T. The OnePlus 8T is built around a 6.55" FullHD+ 120Hz Always-on AMOLED display that has a fingerprint reader underneath for biometric authentication. It's powered by the Snapdragon 865 SoC and runs Android 11-based OxygenOS 11...

If you're after a high-end Sony smartphone but don't want to splurge for this year's flagship, the Xperia 1 II, perhaps you'd be better served by its predecessor, the Xperia 1 from 2019. It's still a very capable handset, and now you can grab one for the lowest price ever - but you need to act fast. Until October 25 at 11:59 PM EDT, B&H will sell you a brand new, unlocked Xperia 1 for just $549. That's $400 less than its introductory price, and around $150 less than it was going for before this deal went live. This is also the cheapest that the Xperia 1 has ever been. The version...

Earlier this month, Samsung made the Galaxy F41 official for the Indian market. This is the first smartphone in the F series, and weirdly enough it's just a rebranded Galaxy M31. So much for Samsung's strive to simplify its midrange offering stables, then. We have Galaxy A, M, and now F, and we're wondering why J had to die way back when. Anyway, the F line is only getting started, and a new phone is soon going to join the F41 in India. This will have the model number SM-F127G, and based on Samsung's naming conventions this means it will launch as either the Galaxy F12 or F12s. Also...

Huawei made the Mate 40 Pro official yesterday, alongside the Mate 40, Mate 40 Pro+, and Porsche Design Mate 40 RS. The Mate 40 Pro has already been put through our review process, yielding some very interesting benchmark results - don't forget to check those out in our comprehensive review. The Mate 40 Pro also took the crown in the DxOMark smartphone camera rankings, both for its rear and front shooters. And as it turns out, it's also the best in the AI Benchmark, basically obliterating the competition with its new Kirin 9000 chipset. The Mate 40 Pro scored 216.6, while the...

Read the original post: DEAL: Microsoft Surface Duo Down to $1199 ($200 Off), But Meh Microsoft has its Surface Duo on sale for $200 off the usual price, bringing it down to $1,199. The only issue we have with that is… meh, that’s still too much. Read : Surface Duo Review ! Now, in all seriousness, if the Surface Duo is the device you want, so be it, but do note that we aren’t the only publication who didn’t really care for the device. Furthermore, those who have kept using the device have run into some serious first-gen hardware issues such as cracked USB ports and bloating displays. It’s almost embarrassing that the device is running into so many issues. For the specs, you have a Snapdragon 855 (2019) with 6GB RAM, 128GB+ storage, two 5.6″ AMOLED displays, 3577mAh battery (18W fast charging), single 11MP camera, fingerprint reader, Android 10, and support for Surface Slim Pen. There’s no headphone jack, no NFC, and only a single mono speaker. Meh. Microsoft Store Link ...

Read the original post: New Montblanc Summit Watch Stops Through FCC Lookin’ “Lite” A new Montblanc smartwatch stopped through the FCC this week as the Montblanc “Summit Lite,” giving us hope that Mobvoi and Fossil aren’t the only companies still making Wear OS watches. There isn’t any evidence that this watch will run the Snapdragon Wear 4100, but we do know a couple of other things. For one, the Montblanc Summit Lite also passed through Bluetooth SIG a month ago with “smartwatch” as its product category and SXL20 as its model number. We know it has 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth LE and that you’ll access its e-label in the same way you did on the Montblanc Summit 2 , which suggests this watch runs Wear OS. READ : Montblanc Summit 2 review On its e-label page, the documents mention a 500mAh battery, but that spec was wrong on the same document for the Summit 2+. In other words, it could mean that we’ll get a really big battery or the page could be suggesting something else. Let’s h...

Read the original post: OnePlus Buds for $59 Ain’t Bad ($20 Off) OnePlus Buds , the ones Kellen is always using during the Droid Life Show, are on sale for $20 off, bringing them down to $59. Not bad! If you’re interested in these buds, be sure to read our review , but in my eyes, the fact that Kellen is still using them is quite telling. That means they must not be terrible. For battery life, you can expect 7 hours of listening (30 with included case), with a 13.4mm driver powering your tunes. As for sound quality, Kellen said in his review, “I think for the most part, these OnePlus Buds can give you a quality audio experience as a cheapish pair of true wireless buds. I didn’t find a lot of depth to the sound they gave, but they sort of nail what I think a lot of people want, which is highlighting your favorite artists’ voices and surrounding them with decent bass. For $59, this makes for a great holiday gift to yourself or someone you know who loves OnePlus. Have at it. OnePlus...

Read the original post: Verizon Updates Another 10 Devices, S20 for 2nd Time in Week To kick off the week, Verizon sent out a bunch of updates to its Samsung phones that added a 5G icon to their status bar , since the carrier now has nationwide 5G coverage. To finish out the week, they are sending another round of updates (a 2nd for the S20 line) to at least 10 different phones. For the most part, the majority here are getting the October Android security patch and not much else. That list includes the Galaxy S20 line (not sure why they didn’t get it earlier this week), Galaxy S10 line, LG V50, and LG G8. The Galaxy S20 FE and Motorola One 5G are getting a bit more. Each of these phones is seeing the new 5G icon for nationwide 5G support, performance improvements,  and the October patch. Galaxy S20 : QP1A.190711.020.G981VSQS1BTJ5 Galaxy S20+ : QP1A.190711.020.G986USQS1BTJ5 Galaxy S20 Ultra : QP1A.190711.020.G988USQS1BTJ5 Galaxy S20 FE : QP1A.190711.020.G781VSQU1BTJ5 Gala...

Rumors suggested that the Galaxy Fold2 will come with an S Pen but that didn’t happen. The Elec quotes UBI Research, which says that Samsung will try again for the third generation foldable, though it may need to switch to a different technology. The Galaxy Notes use Electo-Magnetic Resonance (EMR), which works with a passive stylus and is generally cheaper, with good accuracy and low latency compared to Active Electrostatic Solution (AES) styluses. However, Samsung reportedly ran into issues with integrating the EMR digitizer with the Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) and making it flexible,...

Read the original post: It’s OnePlus 8T Launch Day! It’s an easy decision, folks. If you like OnePlus phones, Kellen has already proclaimed the OnePlus 8T to be the company’s best phone yet, so don’t beat yourself up over the decision. Just do it. READ : OnePlus 8T Review ! Should you order today, the OnePlus website says your order will ship within 3 days, meaning you might have your shiny new device in time for Halloween, ahead of all those suckers who ordered the Pixel 5. Just kidding, Pixel 5 friends, but you do have to admit that waiting a month for your phone is super lame. The phone is priced at $750, though, do note that OnePlus has its very own trade-in system that can save you some cash. You know us, we’re all about the trade-in programs around these parts. If you haven’t already, read our review of the OnePlus 8T and then hit that buy button below. You probably won’t regret it. Buy OnePlus 8T

The trio is complete – we saw CAD-based renders of the S21 and S21 Ultra earlier this week, now 3D schematics of the Samsung Galaxy S21+ have surfaced as well. What they show is that the vanilla and the plus model will continue to share a camera, only the Ultra will get a fancier setup. This new camera island appears to be part of the metal frame that surrounds the phone. And while the back glass has some bevel to it, the front is flat – just as it is on the base S21. The bezels around the display are said to be of equal size on all four sides. Samsung Galaxy S20+ CAD-based...

One of the more interesting devices in recent memory - the Microsoft Surface Duo is getting its first major discount directly from the Microsoft Store. It originally retailed at $1,399 for the 128GB storage variant but is now listed at $1,199 instead. The 256GB trim is also down $200 to $1,299. There’s no information as to how long these offers will be valid. Surface Duo pricing We’ve recently seen reports of the dual-screen foldable’s lackluster build quality and it’s certainly not easy to repair one either. It’s also noteworthy that Microsoft is offering its Accidental Damage...

Huawei introduced its Mate40 lineup of smartphones, spanning the Mate 40, Mate 40 Pro, Mate 40 Pro+, and Mate 40 RS Porsche Design. The event was yesterday and was filled with new hardware and you might’ve missed some of those. That’s why there is now an official two-minute-long Highlights reel, revealing everything exciting about the new Mate 40 lineup. Huawei “dares to dream” with the new Space Ring Design of the phone that will immediately stand out in a line of flagships. The new phones come with a Kirin 9000 chipset that is based on the 5nm process and is the fastest on the...

A Chinese tech channel shared a full teardown video of the recently announced iPhone 12 and 12 Pro revealing some interesting insight about how these phones are made. And as it turns out, they are quite similar to one another. Both phones use the same L-shaped logic board with the only difference being the LiDAR connector, which on the vanilla iPhone 12 is missing. Plastic elements filling for the missing LiDAR and telephoto cameras on the iPhone 12 can also be found. What's more, the battery capacity on both models is 2,815 mAh and according to the video, the iPhone 12 could...

Not too long after Samsung pushed its One UI 3.0 beta to the Galaxy S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra, the Korean tech giant has begun seeding the new beta firmware to its Galaxy Note 20 series in the US, Germany and South Korea. Note20 and 20 Ultra owners can now access the early beta by signing up on the Samsung Members app. Once registered the beta will be available to install directly from the software update menu. The new firmware should bear the N986NKSU1ZTJH build number and brings plenty of new functionality and looks which we detailed here. The One UI 3.0 beta based Android 11 is...

LG introduced the K52 midranger last month. The phone is expected to sell in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia, but apparently, the home scene is getting the phone under a new name - LG Q52. That is revealed by leaked hands-on photos, which show a phone of the same size with triple LED flash, appeared. LG Q52 with some promo materials This LG Q52 is said to have a Helio P35 chipset, coupled with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage. The screen is 6.6” in diagonal and is LCD with HD+ resolution. There is a single punch hole in the top center for the 13MP selfie...

Following up on its recent tweet, the popular Samsung-related leaskster Ice Universe shared two mockups aiming to give us a better idea of the upcoming Galaxy S21+ design. The series is reportedly launching in January. Samsung Galaxy S21+ from the front The mockups combine the flat panel with the symmetrical bezels all-around. If the tipster's sources are correct the S21 lineup might have the slimmest bottom bezel and one of the highest screen-to-body ratios around. The Galaxy S21 is also expected to feature a flat panel, with the S21 Ultra the only one to retain a curved...

Last week phone maker Micromax announced it will soon make a comeback to the smartphone industry in India with its new "in" series of handsets, and later we heard rumors about the brand launching the new lineup in the first week of November. Today the company confirmed that its "in" series is indeed coming on November 3. The launch event will start at 12PM IST (6:30AM UTC) and will be streamed live on the company's official channels. Micromax also shared a video clip, which takes a potshot at the Chinese brands as it writes "Aao Karein Cheeni Kum" above a glass of tea, which roughly...

Official sales for the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro as well as the new iPad Air are now open. Users who participated in last week’s first wave pre-order will now receive their new phones and tablets. Apple is offering both contactless delivery and in-person store pickup options for buyers. As usual buyers in Australia and New Zealand got their devices first due to time zone differences. In addition, Apple is expanding its “Express Storefront” format to 29 more of its retail stores across the US, UK, Canada and France. This format follows all COVID-19 safety protocols including plexiglas...

Earlier this week, we saw renders of the Samsung Galaxy S21 which revealed the phone's design. It packs a flat, punch hole display and around the back are three snappers with the camera bump wrapping around the corners. Now an image of what's said to be the S21’s camera housing has surfaced on Twitter, which is in line with the camera module in leaked renders. There's no word from Samsung yet about its 2021 Galaxy S flagships, but a recent report claimed the S21 series will be unveiled in January next year instead of February. Alongside the S21, renders of the S21 Ultra had also...

The Xiaomi Redmi K30S appeared several times, revealing itself as a rebranded Mi 10T. We still don’t have any official confirmation when the device is launched, but according to several leaks, a date has already been set - October 27. The phone will bring all the neat specs like 5,000 mAh battery life, a 64 MP main camera, with the main difference from the non-Pro Mi 10T likely to be the branding on the back. Leaked Xiaomi Redmi K30S promo images If Redmi doesn’t pull a rabbit out of a hat, we’re likely to see the very same specs as the Xiaomi Mi 10T, including a Snapdragon 865...

Huawei unveiled the Mate 40, Mate 40 Pro, Mate 40 Pro+, and Porsche Design Mate 40 RS today, but it seems like every media outlet was only sent the Mate 40 Pro, just like what initially happened with the P40 family. So we have our Mate 40 Pro review out already, but so does DxOMark, and the new device has entered its charts at No.1 both for its rear camera system as well as its selfie prowess. For the rear cams, the Mate 40 Pro takes the crown from the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra, while for selfies it's a family affair, with the previous record holder being the Huawei P40 Pro. If you're...

Huawei had a big day today, announcing the Mate 40, Mate 40 Pro, Mate 40 Pro+, and Porsche Design Mate 40 RS. As it turns out, however, those four just weren't enough, and so the company quietly unveiled a fifth phone in its home market, China. This is the Huawei Mate 30E Pro, which is now up for reservation in the country. It's basically identical to the Mate 30 Pro from last year, save for one difference: the new model is powered by a new chipset, the Kirin 990E. This is itself an improved version of the Kirin 990 that made its debut in the Mate 30 Pro. The Kirin 990E in the...

Read the original post: Google Fi Offering $15/Month Pixel 4a Subscription, Includes Device Protection and 2-Year Upgrade Google Fi is launching a new way for people to get a new Pixel 4a at a reasonable monthly price. Separate from the cost of cell service, which is still starting at $20/month, customers can get a Pixel 4a for as low as $15/month and that includes device protection and an “upgrade” after two years. Google Fi says this will save people $133 over the course of two years. Related : Pixel 4a Review Subscribing is straightforward enough, though, a credit check is required. You select your plan, select the phone subscription option, have your credit check, and if you are approved, you’re getting the phone, device protection, and service for as low as $35/month. Not awful. Subscription Pricing Breakdown As for the device upgrade, it’s not as awesome as it might sound. After the two years is up, users are allowed to keep their Pixel 4a and then automatically enter in...

Read the original post: Google Pixel 5 Review: Simple Kind of Works In the rumor and hype period leading up to the Google Pixel 5 launch, I argued that Google may as well get weird with their next phone because their previous approach was clearly not working. The Pixel 4 was a disaster of a phone that Google killed off only a few months after introducing it, but we also know that the Pixel 3 wasn’t much of a success either. It was time for Google to change it up, a lot . They actually did just that with the Pixel 5 by offering up a phone that isn’t trying to compete with Samsung or Apple’s best, and instead falls somewhere a step below both in specs and pricing. Google went kind of weird , and over the past couple of weeks I’ve been trying to figure out if that was the right play. Here’s our Pixel 5 review. ALSO READ : Pixel 4a 5G review What’s good about the Pixel 5? Design . It has taken some time to get used to the size of the Pixel 5, because for today’s standards it is ...

OnePlus will add two new phones to its Nord line on October 26 (that's next Monday) - the midrange N10 and the entry-level N100. And thanks to Steve Hemmerstoffer, better known as @OnLeaks we have the key specs for both in advance. The 5G-enabled OnePlus Nord N10 will have a 6.49-inch FHD+ display with 90Hz refresh rate (no word if LCD or OLED). The chipset will be Snapdragon 690 and the N10 will come with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. There will be a 64MP main + 8MP ultrawide and a pair of 2MP sensors on the rear. The battery is 4,300mAh. The lower-end OnePlus Nord N100 will be...

Read the original post: T-Mobile Schedules Next Uncarrier Move for October 27 T-Mobile’s Mike Sievert announced this morning that a new Uncarrier move is inbound, scheduled to take place on October 27. There’s no exact telling what this announcement will be about, but the little video has actress Rashida Jones getting mad about fees. Hard to imagine Hollywood starts getting mad about fees, but hey, it’s relatable! October 27. Mark your calendars. Stream Announcement on Oct. 27 at 8:30AM PT It’s time to do something about this… #Uncarrier pic.twitter.com/tgrhgA5xnc — Mike Sievert (@MikeSievert) October 22, 2020

Continuing with the announcements from today’s major Huawei event we have some major software developments. Huawei officially has its own in-house maps app called Petal Maps. It’s part of the broader Petal ecosystem which also includes Petal Search serving as Huawei’s alternative to Google’s mobile suite. In addition, Huawei Docs is here as the maker’s one-stop-shop for document, spreadsheet and presentation viewing and editing. Petal Maps will arrive in beta soon on Huawei’s App Gallery. It will be supported in over 140 countries in multiple languages including English, French, Spanish,...

Read the original post: Google Play Music Starts Shutting Down Like Google Said It Would When Google laid out the timeline for the end of Google Play Music a couple of months back, they told us that users would start to lose access as early as September in select countries. They also told us that once October hit, the general shutdown would begin for everyone else, and well, we’re closing in on the end of October, so that’s now happening. Waves of shutdowns appear to be happening, with users no longer being able to play music within the Play Music app or on its web portal. Google suggested on a support page that your end date might be tied to your billing date, so if you have a billing date coming up, be worried. I can tell you that Tim and I still have access to Play Music in all of our accounts, so the service clearly isn’t fully dead yet. That said, the end is coming. Google told us to expect Play Music to fully shutdown at some point in December and we are getting closer to t...

Caviar is back with a new series of customized iPhone 12 phones, the theme this time is “warrior”. These are based on the iPhone 12 and Pro Max and are currently on pre-order. There are no shipping dates listed, but we imagine that you’ll have to wait a bit longer for the Pro Max model than the regular Pro as Apple staggered the releases this year. The chevron design on the back is meant to represent “a sword plunging into the ‘armor’ of the enemy”. There are four versions ranging from noble warriors to Roman emperors, from $5,490 to $46,460. Caviar's custom Warrior iPhone 12...

Alongside its flagship phones, Huawei featured a new pair of over-ear headphones with impressive noise canceling abilities, long battery life and superior audio quality. There’s also a Porsche Design watch, glasses with built-in headphones, a smart speaker and several accessories for the Mate 40s. The Huawei FreeBuds Studio feature no less than 8 microphones. With four mics on a side they boast 40 dB reduction in noise. Besides the mics, the Tee Audio Tube structure helps filter out medium and high frequency noise. The headphones are smart too, they support three main “scenes” –...

Google finally ripped the bandage off and officially shut down Google Play Music. Although, when opening the app it still says that Google Play Music will soon shut down so you have to make the migration to YouTube Music. In other regions, it doesn't give you any other options except transferring your data to YouTube Music. Google Play Music app There's also the "Manage your data" button that takes you to the GPM website and lets you download your full library and delete it later. You can also delete your recommendation history. However, if you have any songs downloaded onto...

Alongside the four new Mate40 phones, Huawei gave us a few exciting accessories. Kicking things off is the new M-Pen 2 stylus which will work on the new phones as well as Huawei’s tablets. It supports 4096 pressure levels as well as tilt sensitivity. Battery life is rated at 40 days with normal use or 10 hours of continuous writing/drawing. It charges wirelessly and you get 2 hours of usage from a 5-minute charge. Pricing is set at €99. Huawei M-Pen 2 Next up is the new 50W wireless car charger which will go handy if you pick up one of the new Mate40 models, which support these...

The Huawei Mate 40 is the entry level model in the new Mate 40 series and while it misses a couple of the bangs and whistles of the Pros, it's still a very capable phone. The screen is smaller - 6.5-inch vs 6.76-inch - flatter and will smaller 68-degrees curve vs 88-degreees. It's also slightly less crisp with a resolution of 2376x1080px compared to the 2772x1344px on the Mate 40 Pro and Pro+. You still get 90Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling and most importantly, it's still an OLED. The triple camera setup on the rear is more conventional with no periscopes. The Mate 40 still...

The Mate 40 Pro models are finally official and they were well worth the wait. They will try to muscle their way to top of “best camera” charts with their revised hardware co-developed with Leica. But other elements of the phones have received arguably even bigger upgrades. Huawei Mate 40 Pro, Pro+ Still, we want to start with the camera on the Huawei Mate 40 Pro 5G. Huawei has a new 1/1.28” main sensor, which along with the P40 models is the largest on the market. However, resolution has been increased to 50MP (up from 40MP) while maintaining the omnidirectional autofocus and f/1.9...

vivo just added two phones to its Y series in its home market of China - the Y30 and the Y3s. You may also know these devices by different names, though - the Chinese vivo Y30 is the vivo Y20 in India, while the vivo Y3s is known the vivo Y17 in India. vivo Y30 The vivo Y30 has a 6.51-inch IPS LCD of 720x1600px resolution, Snapdragon 460 with 8GB of RAM (Indian models top out at 6GB), a 5,000mAh battery with 18W charging and four cameras - 13MP f/1.8 main snapper, a pair of 2MP sensors for depth and macro, and an 8MP selfie. The vivo Y30 comes in three colors - Dawn White,...

Huawei is holding its Mate40 series launch event in China today, which will be streamed live on YouTube starting at 12PM UTC. You can follow it with us by tuning to the stream below for all the updates. Huawei hasn't divulged much about the Mate40 lineup, but a recent leak revealed the full specs and design of the Mate40 Pro. You can read more about it here. Leaked image of Huawei Mate40 Pro Alongside the Mate40 series, Huawei is expected to unveil the Mate 30 Pro E as well, which is rumored to come with a 6.53" FullHD+ display with curved edges, up to 12GB RAM, up to 512GB...

In these unusual times with people confined at home and losing their jobs, the smartphone market goes at different paces in different places of the world. The latest numbers from Canalys show that after a huge drop in Q2 the Indian scene rebounded to reach a new record for shipments in Q3 2020 - 50 million. Xiaomi remained on top for the 9th consecutive quarter, while all five Top 5 companies recorded annual growth in volume. Samsung has wrestled the second place back from vivo, with Realme sitting just behind it in fourth. According to Canalys representatives, the lockdown...