Flashback: Samsung's Galaxy S minis were small but hardly deserving of the S-branding

Mini phones are on our mind again – when are they not? – but the most recent memory to surface is just another confirmation that the market doesn’t actually want such devices.

Specifically, we want to talk about the Samsung Galaxy S III mini and its ilk. The first one came out in October 2012, about half a year after the big S III. We find it a bit funny that this “mini” phone has the same display as the original Galaxy S, which was just over two years old at this point. Both had a 4.0” Super AMOLED panel with 480 x 800px resolution (15:9). This was 30% smaller (in terms of surface area)...


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Funtouch OS 14 launched, here's a list of vivo and iQOO smartphones eligible for the upgrade

vivo released the Android 14 beta for the vivo X90 Pro in May and announced the Android 14-based Funtouch OS 14 Preview Program for the smartphone in September. Today, vivo officially launched Funtouch OS 14 and shared a list of vivo smartphones eligible for the upgrade in India along with the timeline for the rollout of the beta version.

The list includes 30+ smartphones, with the vivo X90 and X90 Pro getting beta updates in mid-October. These will be followed by the X80 Pro in mid-November, with the X80, V29 Pro, V29, V27 Pro, and V27 receiving the updates in December. You can check...


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Samsung officially unveils One UI 6 with redesigned Quick panel and new font

Samsung kicked off its SDC23 (Samsung Developer Conference 2023) with a few key announcements. The biggest is One UI 6 - the next installment of Samsung's overarching software.

The beta version of the software has been around for a while, but Samsung now laid out some of what to expect from the final version. One UI 6 will focus on enhanced usability and intelligent photo and video editing.

It brings a revamped Quick panel and app interfaces, as well as a new typeface - One UI Sans.

The Gallery will analyze photos using AI features like Photo Remaster and Object Eraser and will...


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Android 14-based Realme UI 5.0's early access roadmap revealed

Realme announced the Android 14-based Realme UI 5.0 early access program for the Realme GT2 Pro last month, and now the company has shared a list of smartphones eligible for Realme UI 5.0 early access.

The list includes over two dozen devices, and the next smartphones in line to get Realme UI 5.0 early access are the GT Neo 3 and GT Neo 3 150W. Realme hasn't shared any specific date, but the update will be available sometime this month for both phones.

Realme GT2 Pro

Next month, five more smartphones will get Realme UI 5.0 early access, including Realme 11 Pro and Realme 11 Pro+....


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Samsung's Exynos 2400's GPU performance and key specs revealed

A tipster on X (formerly Twitter), who's been giving out some solid leaks regarding Samsung's future devices has shed some light onto the company's upcoming Exynos 2400 SoC, which is supposed to power up the future Galaxy S24 series in some regions.

The leakster posted two screenshots comparing the Exynos 2400 chip to Qualcomm's current top-shelf Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in Powerboard 4.0. And in a direct GPU battle, the Xclipse 940 GPU (co-developed with AMD) scored slightly lower than the Adreno 740 inside the SD8 Gen 2.

There are a couple of things to consider here, though. For...


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Android 14 is now rolling out to Pixel devices

Android 14 was in its preview program from February with Google issuing several previews and betas along the way and Pixel users are now finally getting the final public release version. You’ll need a Pixel 4a 5G or a later to download the latest Android version. Android OEMs including Samsung, iQOO, Nothing, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Sharp, Sony, Tecno, vivo and Xiaomi are expected to bring Android 14 updates to their devices in the coming months.

The customization options which Google detailed earlier this year are now here with Generative AI wallpapers on coming first on Pixel 8 and...


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Here are the prices of the new Samsung Galaxy FE devices around the world

Samsung launched a new FE series for 2023 that consists of one phone, two tablets and new TWS buds. The phone is, of course, the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE, which offers a larger display and battery than the S23 while costing less than the S23+.

Then there is the 10.9” Galaxy Tab S9 FE and the larger 12.4” Galaxy Tab S9 FE+. Like the previous model, these use LCDs instead of AMOLED panels, but the Tab S7 FE came in only one size (12.4”) and its LCD was locked at 60Hz, while these do 90Hz.

As for the headphones, the Galaxy Buds FE are the cheapest of the bunch, at least by MSRP (but these...


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Nokia XR21 Limited Edition debuts to celebrate start of EU manufacturing

Just as promised earlier this year, HMD Global is now manufacturing 5G smartphones in Europe – more specifically in Hungary and the first phone from the assembly line is a Limited Edition Nokia XR21. HMD commissioned an initial batch of only 50 devices with a mere 30 going on open sale. Each phone will be engraved with its own unique number in the series and comes in the Frosted Platinum color with its own limited edition box.

Nokia XR21 was announced back in May and brings a rugged design with MIL-STD-810H military-grade and IP69K certification - the highest IP protection against...


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Apple acknowledges iPhone 15 Pro series overheating issues, promises fix

It wouldn’t be a proper iPhone launch without a bit of controversy and this year there have been numerous reports of overheating iPhone 15 Pro series models. Apple has now acknowledged the issue and is actively working on a fix with an upcoming software update.

We have identified a few conditions which can cause iPhone to run warmer than expected. The device may feel warmer during the first few days after setting up or restoring the device because of increased background activity.

We have also found a bug in iOS 17 that is impacting some users and will be addressed in a software...


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Weekly deals: the best smartphone deals from the US, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and India

It has been a week after the iPhone 15 series hit store shelves and it has been a fairly quiet week because of it. With only a few major launches, we focused mostly on older phones and their slide down the price ladder – and how they compare to the new offerings as well. Use the links below the jump to your country.

USA
The UK
The Netherlands
Germany
India

USA

Foldables are still quite expensive, but if you’re patient enough, you can grab a discount. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 with 512GB storage has fallen by $255 several months after launch.

...


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Apple iPhone 15 review

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Fitbit Charge 6 unveiled with improved heart rate sensor, added Google features

Fitbit Charge 6 is the latest addition in the Google wearables division bringing improved health tracking and even deeper integration with Google apps like YouTube Music, Google Pay and Google Maps.

Charge 6 features a 1.04-inch color AMOLED display with Always-On Display (AOD) functionality. The tracker features an aluminum, glass and resin build with a haptic side button for controls.

Heart rate tracking seems to be the Charge 6’s forte thanks to an updated optical sensor paired with new electrical sensors and machine learning algorithms developed by Google. Charge 6 should offer...


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Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ spotted on Google Play Console

Samsung is gearing up to launch its midrange Galaxy Tab A9 on October 5 in India and we already saw the device on the Google Play Console listing last week. We now have a new listing detailing the Galaxy Tab A9+ which may launch alongside the regular Tab A9.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ on Google Play Console

Tab A9+ brings a 1200 x 1920px resolution display alongside a Snapdragon 695 chipset and 4GB RAM. There’s no mention of the display size for the Tab A9+ but we can assume it will be at least 11 or 12-inches in diagonal. The new listing also confirms Android 13, which is presumably...


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Honor V Purse receives a major software update

Honor introduced the V Purse concept in early September just to launch the actual smartphone two weeks later in China. The foldable has been on sale since yesterday, but it's already getting its first update.

The new MagicOS 7.2.0.111 package is massive in size – 6.19 GB and brings safety improvements, as well as features that enrich the user experience with the screen.

Screenshot of the software update log

Some of the improvements include features that were advertised since Day 1. One of them is called Variety Wallet – it allows the part of the screen that folds around the back to...


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CMF by Nothing introduces three new products: Buds Pro, Watch Pro, and 65W GaN charger

Nothing today announced the first three products in its sub-brand, CMF, which stands for color, material, finish. The goal of this sub-brand is to provide more accessible products at lower prices compared to the more premium offerings of the main brand while maintaining the company's focus on design.

The three products include the CMF Buds Pro, CMF Watch Pro, and CMF Power 65W GaN charger.

The CMF Buds Pro offer active noise cancellation with a claimed 45dB reduction across a wide 5000Hz range. They have the largest battery of any Nothing audio product and claim 6.5 hours of use...


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