Since 2015, only Sony has put 4K displays on smartphones, and they even did it last year. But finally, that will be coming to an end, and consumers might be better off.
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Motorola’s two new budget smartphones look great, but how do they compare? We put the Moto G Power 5G (2024) against the Moto G 5G (2024) to find out.
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Fear no longer, as Android 15 will finally bring support for tracking your Android device even when it is switched off. The Google Pixel 9 is expected to debut the feature.
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Even Google’s own phones are not above flaws. Pixel Fold users complain of sticky scrolling, and here’s how it’s affecting them.
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The Motorola Edge Plus (2024) just leaked, touting a fresh design, fast charging, and more. From what we’ve seen so far, it looks like a proper S24 Ultra rival.
Digital Trends
Verizon’s Second Line gives you another number without needing a second smartphone.
TalkAndroid
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is one of the best phones of 2023, here is how to get it on the cheap or free.
Digital Trends
On Tuesday, Shure unveiled its better-late-than-never entry into the creator-focused wireless consumer lapel mic space. The audio company’s MoveMic system — available in single-channel (the $ 249 MoveMic One) and dual-channel (the $ 349 MoveMic Two) models — joins an increasingly crowded space of wireless lavalier mics alongside three tiers of Rode’s Wireless Go system and two iterations of DJI’s Mic.
Most products in this space require a receiver for your phone, but Shure offers direct-to-phone wireless transmission — including for two mics in the dual-channel model. But the catch is that it only works when using Shure’s MOTIV apps (available on iOS and Android), which won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.
For more versatile recording (including with cameras, computers and third-party phone apps), you’ll have to use the MoveMic Receiver. It’s available as a standalone $ 199 purchase or as part of a $ 499 bundle with two dual-channel mics.
The mic has subtle styling, with most of its body designed to tuck away behind clothing. Each mic weighs 8.2g and measures 46 x 22mm, and it has an IPX4 rating for resistance to at least light splashes and sprays of water (including rain).
The MoveMic has a 50Hz to 20kHZ frequency range with a tolerance of +/-1dB. Its range covers up to 100ft away (direct line) from the paired device. Shure estimates eight hours of recording per mic, plus another two full charges when using its bundled charging case.
Shure’s entry into this space isn’t cheap. The single-channel MoveMic One costs $ 249, the dual-channel model (including two mics) jumps to $ 349 and a bundle with a pair of mics with a receiver runs $ 499.
By comparison, the Rode Wireless Go II costs $ 299 for a bundle with a pair of dual-channel mics and a receiver, and the DJI Mic 2’s equivalent package is $ 349. (And that isn’t including those companies’ budget models.) Shure is banking on its industry reputation and the MoveMic’s more subtle appearance to justify the extra cost. Still, creators and video journalists will want to ask themselves whether those warrant the premium before taking the plunge.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/shures-first-wireless-lapel-mic-can-connect-to-your-phone-without-a-receiver-221517242.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
OnePlus has taken the OnePlus 12R to new heights with this gorgeous limited edition inspired by Genshin Impact.
Digital Trends
Nothing appears all set to launch the Phone 2(a), and we have confirmed details on the phone’s design and launch date.
TalkAndroid
Need help setting up the mobile hotspot on your Android phone so you can stay connected wherever you are? Check out our guide and we’ll show you how.
TalkAndroid
Galaxy AI is only on the S24 devices for now, but you can know if they’re worth it before buying by using the Try Galaxy app.
TalkAndroid
Have an old phone sitting around unused? These apps can turn your old smartphone into a home security device.
Digital Trends
Fortnite may not be on the Google Play Store, but it’s still available through Epic. Here’s how to sideload the official app and jump back in.
Digital Trends
Nothing is forever. If you’re rethinking your decision and want to reset default apps, just follow our guide for stock Android and most Samsung phones.
Digital Trends
We’ve gathered the best foldable phone Presidents’ Day deals right here, including our favorite offer — a $ 350 discount on the 256GB Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5.
Digital Trends
Whether you own a new Z Fold 3 5G or a midrange A71 5G, it’s easy to turn off 5G on a Samsung phone. We show you how to do this to save battery life.
Digital Trends
The Google Pixel series has always had a lot of amazing software features, but the Pixel 8 will soon be getting one that allows touch sensitivity to be automatically adjusted.
TalkAndroid
It’s hard to be surprised by Android phones in 2024. But this new mid-range option from Poco does exactly that.
Digital Trends
Check out this BBC news item from 2001 that reports on the arrival of the first (very basic) camera phone — six years before the first iPhone hit the market.
Digital Trends
The Nothing Phone 2a has been pictured for the first time in claimed leaks that show the phone in all its glory. But it’s missing a notable Nothing feature.
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Downloaded an infected app? Our guide will show you the steps to take and some recommended security measures.
Digital Trends
The Phone 2a is gearing up for a launch sometime very soon, with leaked wallpapers announcing its coming. But Nothing is confirmed yet.
TalkAndroid
The Honor Magic V2 is one of the newest folding phones to hit the scene. And it has one big advantage over other foldables.
Digital Trends
Recovery mode is often indispensable for solving phone problems. This guide explains what it is and precisely how to access it on most major Android phones.
Digital Trends
Google’s rolling out its first update of 2024 for Pixel phones and it brings new health features and AI tools. Perhaps the most interesting new doodad is an actual working thermometer, which is only available for the recently-released Pixel 8 Pro. We knew this feature would come at some point, as the phone includes a temperature sensor and, well, a thermometer’s the most likely use case.
All you have to do is scan your forehead to see if your headache is just from staring at a screen too long if you have an actual fever. You can beam these results to your Fitbit profile and integrate them with other health metrics.
The company’s also giving that Tensor G3 chip a workout with the addition of a new AI-powered circle to search tool. It works exactly as advertised. You draw a circle over something on your phone’s screen, and the AI will search for the image, text or whatever else you highlighted. This will likely come in very handy in future episodes of spy and detective shows.
That’s just the first AI-adjacent feature included with the new update. There’s something called Photomoji that works exactly as you assume. It turns your favorite photos into emojis or reactions. Magic Compose is like the Magic Editor tool, but for text. Google says the tool “crafts stylized, suggested responses with the context of your messages.”
Finally, there’s the recently-teased Quick Share icon that shows you a list of devices nearby you can share content with. Google’s actually working to also get this feature included with Windows PCs.
To accompany this new update, Google’s releasing a mint green colorway for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. They look really cute and I sort of want to eat them. The new feature drop starts rolling out today.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-latest-pixel-phone-update-adds-new-ai-tools-and-a-working-thermometer-140006522.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Foldable phones have always carried a high price tag, which is a deterrent for a lot of people. But Samsung could debut a more affordable foldable this year.
Digital Trends
The Samsung Galaxy S24+ and S24 Ultra are the perfect options in the new lineup for people that like bigger phones. But how do they stack up against each other?
TalkAndroid
The shutter click on your Android smartphone camera is usually not a problem, but if you prefer silence as you shoot, we show you how to turn off the sound.
Digital Trends
For the longest time after the touchscreen revolution, Samsung finally loses market share to Apple by a year-to-year growth decline of more than 10%.
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Is the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro the best phone you can buy if you want to play games? Yes, but there’s a lot more to it than that.
Digital Trends
Asus has launched its new ROG Phone 8 gaming phone which packs a punch but offers a more all-round experience and a grown-up design.
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There was a time when smartphone makers rushed to quad-camera claims, most of which did so by throwing in a mediocre fourth camera — usually for macro shots, if not a monochrome filter or just a depth sensor. Nowadays, though, we are blessed with legit quad “main” cameras on some flagship phones, so brands need to be more creative to further differentiate themselves. In Oppo’s case, it decided to feature not just one, but two periscope telephoto cameras on its new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered Find X7 Ultra, as a leap from the triple camera system on the previous model.
The Find X7 Ultra’s “HyperTone Camera System” features the same 50-megapixel resolution across all four rear Hasselblad cameras, thanks to their relatively large sensors compared to the competition, according to Oppo. The main imager packs Sony’s second-gen 1-inch sensor, the LYT-900, which is more efficient in terms of power consumption and thermal performance. This is complemented by an f/1.8 aperture, OIS (optical image stabilization), a 23mm focal length and a 50-percent reduction in lens reflection. The ultra-wide camera features a 1/1.95-inch Sony LYT-600 sensor with an f/2.0 aperture, making this one of the fastest shooters in its class. This comes with a 14mm equivalent focal length and a focus distance down to 4cm.
Then we’re left with the two periscope telephoto cameras. The first one, a 3x optical zoom, has a 1/1.56-inch Sony IMX980 sensor — “roughly three times larger than” the competition, apparently. You also get an f/2.6 aperture, along with “Prism OIS,” a 65mm focal length and a 25cm focus distance — handy for portraits and product shots. Then we have a 6x optical zoom periscope, which is powered by a 1/2.51-inch Sony IMX858 sensor and has an f/4.3 aperture, 135mm focal length, a 35cm focus distance plus Prism OIS. With AI-enhanced zoom at 12x, Oppo says its Find X7 Ultra handles a versatile equivalent focal length range of 14mm to 270mm.”
Oppo also claims to have made some major breakthroughs in mobile photography here. Most notably, it’s finally rolling out its “HyperTone Image Engine,” which supposedly improves computational photography results for HDR, as well as avoiding over-exposure and over-sharpening. This was apparently in development for two years, with input from professional photographers and color experts. It’s all about “merging objective quality together with subjective emotional,” as a spokesperson stated. Better yet, HyperTone Image Engine will eventually be rolled out to some existing Oppo devices, namely the Find N and Reno series, depending on compatibility.
Other areas of improvement include the quality consistency across the zoom range (especially in low-light environment), as well as more realistic portrait shots thanks to the new “Hasselblad Portrait Mode.” For the latter, rather than getting fake-looking bokeh and poor edge detection, Oppo boldly promises to deliver “cinematic bokeh with foreground and background depth,” with a stunning accuracy down to a single strand of hair, plus minimal shutter lag as a bonus.
Oppo is also offering a new “Hasselblad Master Mode” which is based on the characteristics of the Hasselblad X2D 100C medium format mirrorless camera. You get to fiddle with saturation, contrast, sharpness and vignette control to create your preferred style, as well as other shooting features like manual ISO, shutter speed, EV, focus, and white balance. This Master Mode also offers “RAW MAX” capture — pending an OTA update — which supports 13 stops of dynamic range, along with 16-bit color depth in BT2020 color space for each 50-megapixel still.
The Find X7 Ultra comes in three color options: “Ocean Blue,” “Sepia Brown” and “Tailored Black”, all of which feature a vegan leather cover (and the black version comes with decorative stitches). Despite the extra periscope camera, generous 5,000mah battery and wireless charging support (within 60 minutes using 50W; double that for 100W SuperVOOC wired charging), this device actually shares a similar weight and thickness as the Find X6 Pro. This is thanks to a slimmer wireless charging coil, thinner vegan leather and an improved logic board stack design. Oppo was also able to keep the entire rear camera module tightly packed by using “single-sided magnets,” in order to avoid interference between the three OIS parts.
This new phone also features Oppo’s brightest-ever QHD (3,168 x 1,440) panel, with outdoor brightness maxing out at 1,600 nits, and local peak brightness at 4,500 nits for HDR purposes. This 6.82-inch AMOLED panel supports the usual 120Hz refresh rate and ultra-low touch latency, along with “rain water touch” support for wet hands (it has IP68 dust- and water-resistance rating). While the three-stage slider is here to stay, it’s been repurposed to a “VIP slider” for quickly changing notification mode, or cutting off camera, location, and microphone access for an extreme privacy mode.
To our surprise, Oppo doesn’t currently have plans to launch the Find X7 Ultra outside of China, so you’ll have to source one from an importer. For your reference, this model ranges from 5,999 yuan (about $ 845) with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, to 6,999 yuan (about $ 990) with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage. These three options are available for pre-order now, ahead of their January 12th retail launch. There will also be a special edition with satellite call support arriving in late March, but no price was mentioned.
For those on a budget but still want the same fancy look, there’s the Find X7 base model powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9300 processor. It only packs triple cameras on the back: a 50-megapixel main shooter (likely with Sony’s 1/1.4-inch LYT-T808 sensor; f/2.0; OIS), a 64-megapixel 3x periscope zoom camera (f/2.6; Prism OIS; 1/2-inch sensor), and a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera (f/2.0; 119 degrees). It also has a slightly smaller 6.78-inch OLED screen with a lower 2,780 x 1,264 resolution. Unsurprisingly, there’s no VIP slider feature on this model.
The Find X7 starts from 3,999 yuan (about $ 560) and offers 12GB RAM with 256GB storage, and maxes out at 4,999 yuan (about $ 700) for its 16GB RAM plus 1TB storage offering. In addition to the “Ocean Blue” and “Sepia Brown” designs, you may also consider the purple and black options, both of which come in a glass back.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-oppo-find-x7-ultra-is-the-first-phone-with-two-periscope-zoom-cameras-085332818.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Asus has confirmed that it’s new ROG Phone 8 Series will be unveiled on January 8th, 2024. Sporting improved cameras, better protection, an ultra-bright display, and increased cooling, the ROG Phone 8 could be rather special.
TalkAndroid
Knowing when to replace your phone battery could be more scientific in future as Google works on adding Battery Health information to Android.
TalkAndroid
Never heard of Nothing? That’s about to change, because the excellent Nothing Phone 2 deserves everyone’s attention. It really is that good.
Digital Trends
With two phones under its belt, the Phone 1 and Phone 2, Nothing is rumored to be developing…
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The Motorola Razr Plus is a lovely little phone — but it also likes to play on your emotions. Let me explain what I mean.
Digital Trends
There are a ton of great unlocked phone deals to pick from in Best Buy’s 3-day sale, and we’ve collected the best ones we could find below.
Digital Trends
When LG still made phones (sigh), at one point it tried to implement a “Hand ID” unlock gimmick on the G8 ThinQ, though in our experience, there was much room for improvement. For one, you’d have to turn on the screen first to toggle hand tracking. That was dumb. Fast forward to today, Realme is bringing a similar feature back to a new phone, the GT5 Pro, with support for some seemingly practical hand gestures.
Rather than using a time-of-flight camera and an infrared light, the Realme GT5 Pro utilizes its 32-megapixel selfie camera to detect your palm print. In the above demo, you can see how the screen wakes up automatically when the palm moves away from it. I highly doubt that the front camera stays on all the time, so I’m willing to bet that this is working in conjunction with an ultrasonic proximity sensor — most likely by Elliptic Labs, which is present on many Android handsets.
Realme said palm unlock is faster than face recognition, partly thanks to machine learning using over 10,000 models. The company even went as far as claiming that this security feature passed a penetration test involving over 10 million attacks. Still, the good-old under-display fingerprint reader is still there, so palm unlock is just an extra option — probably the most convenient for when you’re cooking or driving.
Like the LG, the Realme GT5 Pro also supports several hand gestures. A pinch gesture would toggle the recent app list, and from there you can gently brush left or right to browse through the recent apps. Holding up your index finger will toggle cursor control, and hovering over a spot triggers a click. A three-finger palm gesture takes a screenshot. Flipping your palm around takes you back to the home screen. Pointing your thumb to the left toggles a “back” action. Finally, moving your palm towards the screen switches it off.
The phone itself is otherwise a standard flagship affair. It packs Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, a 6.78-inch curved AMOLED panel from China’s BOE (2,780 x 1,264, 144Hz, 4,500 nits), a generous 5,400mAh battery which supports 100W fast charging (12 minutes to 50 percent charge) or 50W wireless fast charging, USB-C 3.2, NFC, dual speakers and infrared remote. As part of its nine-layer thermal structure, Realme threw in a three-layer vapor-cooling chamber, which apparently has the industry’s largest cooling surface area. The device is also rated with IP64 for dust and liquid protection.
Photography-wise, you get a 50-megapixel main camera (powered by a Sony LYT-808 sensor; as found on the OnePlus 12), an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera and the same 50-megapixel, 3x periscopic telephoto camera (with a Sony IMX890) as the one on the Oppo Find X6 series. You can already tell the synergy between Realme, Oppo and OnePlus within the BBK family here.
The Realme GT5 Pro is available in China starting from 3,298 yuan or about $ 460 for the 12GB RAM with 256GB storage model, and maxing out at 4,198 yuan or $ 590 for the 16GB RAM with 1TB storage model. Color options include black for the glass body, and orange or gold for the vegan leather options.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/realmes-gt5-pro-phone-can-unlock-itself-by-reading-your-palm-091320182.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
The Samsung S23 Ultra has the best deal this year for Samsung Black Friday deals but there are others to view!
Digital Trends
OnePlus needs a winner after its last phone failed to impress. Is the OnePlus 11 it? We’re glad to say it is.
Digital Trends
The Google Pixel 7a is a great mid-range phone when you grab this deal that discounts it down to just $ 375.
Digital Trends
I returned to the Galaxy Z Flip 5, and feared it may make me yearn for the Galaxy Z Fold 5, but it did not. Here’s why it has changed my mind about foldables.
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The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE has flagship features mixed with frustrating cutbacks. Do its positives override the negatives? Find out in our review!
Digital Trends
Looking to save money on your cell phone plan? We cover the best prepaid plan options and explain precisely what you get for your money.
Digital Trends
There are some early Black Friday phone deals that you can shop right now, including massive discounts for Apple’s iPhones and Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones.
Digital Trends
OnePlus just launched its very first foldable. How does it stack up against the Pixel Fold, which is also Google’s first entry into the foldable market?
Digital Trends
The Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro were just announced last week, but they’re already old news. Another new Google phone coming in 2024 has leaked!
Digital Trends
Amazon’s Prime Day sale is upon us and Motorola is here with some tempting offers on its latest handsets ranging from the budget-conscious to the premium end of the scale. There are savings ranging of up to $ 250 to be had with the Razr+ 2023 reduced down to $ 799, the Think Phone 2023 to just […]
Come comment on this article: [Prime Day] Save at least $ 200 off Motorola’s Razr+ 2023 and Think Phone 2023