Items tagged with smartphone
OnePlus fans in the United States were bummed when the slick mid-range OnePlus Nord launched (read the HotHardware review here), but didn't come Stateside. A new report has surfaced that claims Carl Pei, co-founder of OnePlus, has said that a Nord-branded device will be coming to the United States this year. The caveat is Pei said the device wouldn't necessarily be the same smartphone that launched outside the States. Any Nord-branded device that comes to the United States would likely be a mid-range smartphone, but there is no indication of specifications or exact timing. Smartphone makers from around the world are looking to jump into the mid-range market with devices that feature hardware...
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It’s hard to believe that OnePlus is already six years old. The company’s all grown up now. You can find the OnePlus 8 in T-Mobile and Verizon stores, and the OnePlus 8 Pro competes directly with the best flagships from Apple and Samsung. But this has come at a price -- literally. With the OnePlus 8 costing $699+ and the OnePlus 8 Pro $899+, OnePlus is no longer first and foremost a price leader -- especially in fiercely competitive markets like Europe and India. And now there's the OnePlus Nord. In an outstanding example of masterful marketing, the company has spent months building up hype for a quality sub-$500 5G smartphone that lives up to its “Never Settle” catchphrase....
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Lenovo is a name associated with laptop and desktop computers, but it's expanding its offerings with a new Android-powered smartphone aimed squarely at mobile gamers. The phone is called the Legion Phone Duel and features six customized layout themes to choose from with distinctive design details, colors, and icons. One of those modes is the home mode that allows users to cast or play their games on a connected external TV or computer monitor using a wireless keyboard and mouse, or other wired accessories via a dock. The smartphone features a virtual joystick and dual ultrasonic trigger buttons embedded along with dual vibration engines to provide feedback for more immersion in the game. The...
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Depending on your age and background, the Sony brand might be synonymous with Bravia TVs, Alpha cameras, PlayStation game consoles, or even Walkman audio players. And you’d be right in thinking that way, but did you know Sony also makes Xperia smartphones, and even sells them in the US? Well, it’s true. Sony's Android handsets also often include features found in the company’s TVs, cameras, game consoles, and audio players. They’re always quite premium, differentiated in a unique way, and always very "Sony". However, for years now, Sony has struggled to stand out in the rapidly commodifying smartphone market -- not so much for lack of being different, but more for...
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What better way to usher in the hot, summer season than to give away a bunch of hot, new smartphones to upgrade your mobile gear? We have teamed up with our friends at TCL who have graciously offered up 5 (five units) of their top-end TCL 10 Pro Android smartphones (our full review), packing multiple cameras – including a 64MP main shooter -- 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, all wrapped up in a slim, sleek attractive design. The TCL 10 Pro’s main features and specifications are broken down in the table below... TCL 10 Pro Specifications & Features Processing Platform Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 Display 6.47" FHD+ AMOLED, 2340x1080 resolution, 60Hz, HDR 10 Memory...
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A new Samsung smartphone has turned up that appears to be an updated version of the mid-range Samsung Galaxy A51. The phone has been spotted in Geekbench testing results and carries the model number SM-A516V and is expected to be called the Galaxy A51s 5G UW (as a Verizon exclusive). The same device has been spotted at the Wi-Fi Alliance and the NFC Forum. We particularly like it when smartphones turn up on Geekbench because we also find out what sort of hardware is under the hood. In the case of the SM-516V, the benchmark shows that the device uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chipset and has 6 GB of RAM. On the single-core test, the phone scored 624, and on the multi-core test, it scored 1924....
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For better or for worse, gaming phones are a thing. What started out as a trickle of pricey, specialized handsets from established gaming brands like Razer and Asus ROG has turned into a steady stream of affordable, tricked out smartphones from Chinese sub-brands like Xiaomi’s Black Shark and Nubia’s RedMagic. Which brings us to today’s review of the Snapdragon 865-equipped RedMagic 5G ($579) -- a 5G handset that undercuts the OnePlus 8 ($699) yet offers similar features and a blazing fast 144Hz AMOLED display. If you’re not familiar with Nubia, it started out as a sub-brand of Chinese giant ZTE, but became an independent business in 2015. Since then, it’s been...
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Android users need to be wary of a new issue that could soft brick their smartphone by merely setting an image as the default wallpaper. A soft brick is when the smartphone is prevented from being able to be used in a certain way but is repairable by deleting the offending file or resetting the device. The image that is causing the soft brick issue on Android devices, particularly Samsung models, is seen at the top of the story. Ice Universe is typically leaking details on unrelated Android smartphones via Twitter, but recently tweeted the image along with the warning that if anyone sends the image to an Android user, don't set it as your wallpaper. In a later Tweet, Ice Universe noted that when...
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One of the interesting features of the camera for the OnePlus 8 Pro is the Photocrom color mode. The mode allows the smartphone's infrared camera to see through certain materials, such as black plastic, to give a glimpse at what electronics and other devices look like inside. As cool as that function was for peering inside of electronic devices, details soon surfaced that the mode could also allow people to look through some thin black clothing. The ability to see through clothing led OnePlus to issue a software update intended to eliminate the filter in the Chinese market Hydrogen OS. However, when the software update rolled out, it removed the feature for users in other countries, which OnePlus...
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An interesting new smartphone that appears to be aiming at the mid-range market has leaked. The device is the Motorola One Fusion+, and the leak gives up several details, including a 6.5-inch Full HD display. The Fusion+ has leaked in the past and is expected to run Android 10 and have a massive battery. The battery is tipped at 5000 mAh in capacity, and the leak claims a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 processor runs the show. That processor suggests it's a mid-range device that should be affordable for most. A launch date sometime in June was listed along with hardware details. The render included with the leaked specifications on YouTube appears to be one of the official press renders of a different...
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Rumors continue to insist that the next big smartphone debut from Samsung will be the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Plus. Some new renders have leaked that claim to show what the larger smartphone will look like. It has an attractive design that's almost all screen on the front with thin bezels. The Galaxy Note 20 Plus is expected to be about the same size as the Note 10 Plus. A 6.9-inch curved edge display is expected, which will be quite different than the flat screen expected for the Note 20. Dimensions are 165mm long, 77.2mm wide, and 7.6mm thick. The S-Pen for the Plus model has been moved to the left side on the bottom near the speaker grill, USB Type-C port, and a noise cancellation microphone. On...
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What do the Alcatel, BlackBerry, and Palm smartphone brands all have in common? They’re all owned by Chinese electronics giant TCL -- which also manufactures products under the RCA brand in the US. TCL is best known for its stratospheric rise in the TV business, where it regularly battles with LG for second place in terms of number of TVs shipped globally (Samsung being number one). It also designs and manufactures its own display panels, unlike many other TV brands, which is no small feat. Anyway, back to smartphones... Alcatel makes budget phones sold by various carriers and MVNOs -- mostly for the prepaid market. BlackBerry experienced a bit of a comeback under TCL back in 2017/18 with...
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Smartphone makers are in a constant bid to outdo one another and develop unique features that will set their offerings apart from the competition. This has led to the advent of folding phones, like Samsung's Galaxy Fold and Huawei's Mate X. Not quite following in those footsteps, LG has something else in mind for a dual-screen device. LG is apparently working on a device it is calling "Wing" due to the design of the second screen. It sits behind the primary display and can be flipped to the front in a horizontal position, created a winged (or T-shaped) form factor. It is sort of like what you see in the image above, though that is not an actual product render of the Wing. According to a Korean-language...
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As a HotHardware reader, we’re pretty sure you’ve heard of Oppo before. But if you live in the US and don't follow the latest developments in mobile technology, it’s possible you’re not (yet) familiar with the brand -- unless you’re a hard-core A/V geek and remember the company’s critically acclaimed range of upscaling DVD and Blu-Ray players from the mid-2000s. What you also may not know is that in 2019, Oppo was the top smartphone brand in China and was number 5 worldwide. And if that doesn’t get your attention, Oppo is a subsidiary of BBK Electronics, just like OnePlus, Vivo, and Realme. Is that legit enough for you? Readers abroad know that Oppo makes...
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Typically, when a smartphone maker builds a mobile phone, it makes a device that may have slightly different hardware inside for some carriers, but is physically the same on the outside. That means any case designed for the phone will fit all carrier versions. However, that's not the case with the OnePlus 8 5G sold at Verizon, known as the OnePlus 8 5G UW. Verizon's version of the OnePlus 8 is physically different on the outside compared to versions of the smartphone available from other carriers. The external differences are significant enough that Verizon's device won't fit in cases made for any other version of the smartphone, because this particular version places the volume buttons in a...
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Samsung first announced its Galaxy A51 mid-range smartphone back in early December, and it came packing some very respectable specs for those that don’t want to pay upwards of $1,000 for a flagship Galaxy S smartphone. Recently, the smartphone has arrived locked to various carrier networks, and today the Galaxy A51 is now available in unlocked form. Samsung is selling the smartphone direct from its online store, or you can opt to get the smartphone from Amazon (which might be preferable if you have an Amazon Prime Visa/Store Card that gets you 5% cash back). Purchasing from Samsung, however, gives you the option of trading in an eligible smartphone for [up to]...
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Here’s a question for you: what’s Motorola’s most recent flagship phone? Take your time, we’ll wait... Perhaps the lovely Moto X from 2013 comes to mind, or the Moto X 2nd gen, or even the Moto X Pure/Style? Or maybe you’ll recall the Moto Z and Moto Mods? We’re here to tell you that, technically, Moto’s most recent flagship was the Z2 Force back in 2017. Yes, there was a Moto Z3, but it came with a Snapdragon 835 back when the 845 was still king. And while Moto eventually made an X4 and Z4, these were mid-range phones. So, needless to say, Moto’s recent Edge and Edge+ launch was a big deal. Our focus today is the Moto Edge+, a $1000 flagship exclusive...
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The highly anticipated OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro are on sale starting today, and lucky for prospective Android flagship shoppers, we have our full deep dive review on the pages ahead. OnePlus has made a name for itself over the years, especially with Android enthusiasts, for building high quality devices with thoughtful feature inclusions, while limiting costly unnecessary features and delivering exceptional value at almost unheard-of price points. Top-tier Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered devices with more RAM, more storage, and OnePlus' lean, mean Android-based Oxygen OS -- at price points hundreds less than competitive devices -- has been the hallmark of the brand. However, this new OnePlus 8...
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The LG G8X ThinQ was announced a few months back and right from the get-go it was apparent that LG was heading in a somewhat different direction than many of its competitors – at least for the time being. Whereas large format, foldable devices are all the rage as of late, LG took a different approach with the G8X (and it's bigger-brother, the V60 ThinQ) by focusing on optional, dual-screen functionality. Rather than using a single, large folding screen like the Samsung Galaxy Fold, LG took a more practical approach with the LG G8X ThinQ by pairing it with what the company calls a Dual Screen accessory. The Dual Screen essentially functions like a folio-type case, but instead of merely providing...
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An alleged new detail of the coming iPhone 12 Pro leaked out via Twitter this weekend. The leak consisted of a basic line-drawing of what is claimed to be the backside of an iPhone 12 Pro. The only notable thing on the back of the leaked image is a new camera array that reportedly shows the inclusion of a LiDAR sensor on the iPhone for the first time. Adding a LiDAR sensor to the iPhone would be a first, but it wouldn't be the first time Apple used a LiDAR sensor on one of its devices. The new iPad Pro models that launched last month have integrated LiDAR sensors (pictured above). In addition to having the LiDAR sensor, the leaked image also shows three camera sensors, including a wide-angle,...
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It’s fair to say that when you think of flagship phones, LG may not be the first brand that comes to mind. Although the company's made some strong devices over the years, including some of Google's Nexus and Pixel-branded phones, the South Korean giant hasn't had the same kind of success in the mobile space as some of its larger competitors. The company's introduced some competent handsets over the years, but often seems to rely on the strength of its carrier relationships -- at least here in the US. As a result, LG’s phones often feel designed to please the operators more so than end users, and to meet a particular -- typically aggressive -- price point. Last year’s G8 and...
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Motorola has been working hard on introducing appealing handsets for the mid-range and high-end markets. The company has another device coming that looks like a mid-range offering called the Motorola Edge+, which has turned up in leaked renders -- and it looks pretty good to our eyes. The design reminds more than a bit of the Samsung S10 series of devices to us. Motorola is using a very small hole punch camera in the top left corner of the screen for the front selfie cam. The edges of the screen are curved. Despite the curved waterfall edge, the Motorola Edge+ still has physical buttons on the side for volume and power. The renders show clearly that the smartphone has three camera sensors on...
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