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LG's 49-inch, ultrawide monitor is a multitasker's dream
That rollable OLED TV from LG may have stolen the show at CES 2019, but the company's got a slew of other interesting products up its sleeve. The LG 49WL95C is a 49-inch, ultrawide monitor (32:9 aspect ratio) with a Dual QHD display (5,120 x 1,440 resolution) and two built-in 10W stereo speakers with "Rich Bass." The super wide and high-res screen also features support for HDR 10, USB Type-C and an adjustable stand that lets you swivel it, tilt it and tweak its height.
LG's 32-inch QHD monitor packs AMD FreeSync for around $300
LG is leading the charge with big, cheap gaming displays, having recently unveiled a 32-inch 4K model for less than $500. If you're willing to settle for QHD resolution, you can do even better with another new 32-inch model, the 32QK500-W. It packs AMD's FreeSync with a 75 Hz refresh rate and 8 ms response time, making it a decent gaming monitor. On top of that, the 8-bit + FRC IPS panel offers excellent viewing angles and up to 1.07 billion colors, so it'll be good for streaming video, too. All of that should come at a price around $300, making it one of the cheaper 32-inch displays out there.
HP's new Chromebook 13 is a Pixel for everybody
Hewlett Packard is making another Chromebook. This one, dubbed the HP Chromebook 13, is a little different from its previous efforts, though. It's the result of a design partnership with Google and it looks relatively premium. It features an anodized aluminum chassis, 13.3-inch QHD+ display running at 3,200 x 1800 resolution and a thickness of 12.9 mm. Beyond that, the new Chromebook comes with Bang and Olufsen-tuned speakers and weighs just under three pounds (2.86, to be exact) -- depending on how you configure it.
Razer's new 'Blade' laptop has a touchscreen that won't kill battery life
Beating last year's Blade is a tall order, but Razer hopes throwing a fancy new 14-inch, 3,200 x 1,800 touch display into its 2015 gaming laptop will help it do just that. The outfit's using an Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (IGZO, for short) panel, and all those pixels are powered by NVIDIA's GeForce 970M GPU that runs on Maxwell architecture. In terms of memory, there's 16GB of RAM (double that of last year) in addition to a maximum 512GB of solid-state storage. All that to say, much like our laptop buyer's guide choice from last year, games will almost assuredly look gorgeous and perform incredibly well here.
ASUS' slim metallic Zenbook gets a super sharp 13.3-inch screen
ASUS' Zenbook UX301 was already rather impressive with its glass-covered body and 2,560 x 1,440 touchscreen, but its record has just been broken by yet another Zenbook. Announced at IFA today, the new UX305 is a gorgeous all-aluminum Ultrabook that packs an insanely sharp 13.3-inch 3,200 x 1,800 (276 ppi) display (as used by the bulkier UX303LN), and at just 12.3mm thick, it's certainly the world's slimmest laptop to carry this class of screen resolution. The trade-off here is that this isn't a touchscreen, but the 1.2kg weight does beat the 1.35kg 13-inch MacBook Air. Much like the rest of the Zenbook series, the UX305 is also quite the looker with its diamond-cut highlights plus signature spun-metal finish in either "Obsidian Stone" or "Ceramic Alloy" color option. Little else about this laptop has been mentioned so far: All we know is that it'll pack an Intel Core M processor, 10 hours of battery life and a choice of 128GB/256GB SSDs. We'll get back to you guys when we hear more later this year.
Galaxy S5 LTE-A is Samsung's first phone with a QHD display and Snapdragon 805 chip
Samsung has just announced a special variant of the Galaxy S5 for its home market. The phone -- simply dubbed Galaxy S5 LTE-A -- plays host to the manufacturer's first 2,560 x 1,440 display, which produces an even higher pixel density than the LG G3 (577 vs. 538 ppi) due to the use of a slightly smaller 5.1-inch panel. We're also seeing the first appearance of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 805 chipset (rather than an in-house Exynos processor), which is accompanied by 3GB of RAM and is built to handle 4K video playback and faster graphics in general. This chip supports LTE-Advanced too, which will apparently deliver data speeds of up to 225Mb/s to stunned, jaw-dropped customers on South Korean networks. Meanwhile, there's no word on whether this variant is headed to the West, or whether it's the fabled Galaxy S5 Prime that has been rumored for so long. But even if this is a Korea-only product, it can still be seen as a test-run for the global release of the impending Galaxy Note 4, which will almost certainly pack many of the same specs and components.
LG's top-end G3 phone will rock a Quad HD display
So far, we've only come across beyond-1080p panels in a couple of Chinese phones, like the Oppo Find 7 and the Vivo Xplay 3S. But the spec is definitely about to go mainstream, as LG has just confirmed to us that the successor to the G2 will deliver a "Quad HD" resolution, with four times as many pixels as 720p (that's 2,560 x 1,440, if you want to count 'em). Based on earlier leaks, it's likely that the G3 will have a 5.5-inch display, which means we'll be looking at a pixel density of around 530 ppi -- not far off double what you'd get from a printed glossy magazine.
Hands-on with LG's G2 mini
Just because it's smaller and has the same branding, that doesn't mean LG's G2 mini is anything like its elder namesake. It's just borrowing a bit of the G2's tech halo, is all. With a 4.7-inch, 960 x 540 qHD display, Android 4.4 KitKat, Snapdragon 400 heart (or Tegra 4i, depending on your market) and 1GB RAM, it's clear LG's positioning this as a budget Android KitKat device. But budget doesn't have to mean bad and here at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, we got a chance to see just how modest the G2 mini really is. Read on for our initial thoughts.
Do you really need a 4K smartphone screen?
See those two screens up there? Pretty soon the smartphone will have the same resolution as the much bigger panel (a 27-inch Dell U2711 monitor with 2,560 x 1,440 pixels). While the snappiest CPUs, more RAM, better cameras and other frills are a must for the latest handsets, the current marketing pièce de résistance is a higher-resolution screen. In four years, we've passed from a norm of 800 x 480 to 960 x 540 and up to 720p, 1080p and soon -- likely on Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S5 -- 2,560 x 1,440 Quad HD (QHD). That works out to a borderline-insane 500-plus pixels per inch (depending on screen size) and manufacturers aren't stopping there. But is more resolution worth the extra expense if you can't even see the difference? Well, it's complicated.
Vivo Xplay 3S to be the world's first phone with a 2,560 x 1,440 display
China's appetite for top-spec phones has apparently reached an all-time high. Vivo, the company behind the super slim X1 and the audiophile-friendly Xplay sold in the Far East, announced on Sina Weibo that its upcoming multimedia-centric phablet will be dubbed the Xplay 3S. And yes, it's intentionally skipping the "Xplay 2" name "to break the routine." The main highlight here is that this is the world's first smartphone known to pack a Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440) display (though Vivo calls this "2K" instead, which isn't as precise). While no screen dimension was mentioned, LG did announce a 5.5-inch panel with the same resolution back in August, so it's likely that Vivo will overindulge our retinas with this 538ppi display. Other specs mentioned include Qualcomm's faster Snapdragon 800 SoC variant, the MSM8974AB, which has already been announced for the WCDMA and CDMA2000 flavors of the Xiaomi Phone 3 due later this year. Thanks to this piece of silicon, the Xplay 3S will also support both China's TD-LTE and the more common FD-LTE. That's all the information we've been given so far, so stay tuned for a launch date.
Sharp shows off 14-inch and 15.6-inch 3,200 x 1,800 IGZO panels (eyes-on)
It was only a few hours ago when Fujitsu announced its UH90, the first laptop to feature a 14-inch 3,200 x 1,800 IGZO display. While the device won't hit Japan until June 28th, we were lucky enough to stumble upon the panel itself at Sharp's Computex booth. In fact, the company also had a 15.6-inch IGZO panel with the same QHD+ resolution, 400 nit brightness plus 1000:1 contrast ratio, and both looked super crisp to our eyes. Alas, IGZO is still a bit behind LTPS panels when it comes to viewing angle, but we had absolutely no problem when looking at the displays straight on. With the UH90 rolling out soon, we should see more devices shipping with these panels very soon. %Gallery-190394% Mat Smith contributed to this report.
Pantech Flex review
Pantech is known for producing budget Android smartphones that punch above their weight, and the Flex is no exception. Available now on AT&T for $50 with a two-year contract, it delivers a dual-core Snapdragon S4 -- the same chip that lurks within mightier phones such as the Galaxy S III and One X -- along with a qHD display and LTE connectivity. The phone certainly hits a number of the check boxes for value seekers, but there's something that makes the Flex very different from other smartphones on the market: it has a dual personality. Folks, prepare for memories of At Ease, Microsoft Bob and Packard Bell Navigator to come rushing back. The Pantech Flex features a unique launcher known as Easy Experience, which caters to those who might find Ice Cream Sandwich overwhelming. Fortunately, there's also a standard launcher for experts. In that regard, the Flex is deserving of its name. Unlike most handsets on the market, it's targeting both broke college students and technophobes just the same. Of course, we're here to answer a greater question: is the Pantech Flex worthy of being your next smartphone? Join us after the break for the answer.
Huawei Ascend G600 announced: 4.5-inch qHD screen, dual-core processor, mid-range price (hands-on)
Alongside its new Emotion UI, Huawei debuted a handful of new devices in Berlin this week, including this; the 4.5-inch Ascend G600. Slotting in below the existing Ascend P1, but above the rest of Huawei's phone range, the qHD screen is accompanied by a dual-core 1.2GHz processor and Android 4.0.4. There's 4GB of built-in storage, while the micro-SD slot can add up 32GB of extra space. The phone's shell is coated in a glossy finish similar to the Ascend P1, while the screen is protected by a layer of Gorilla Glass. Beneath that, Huawei has plumped for a 2,000 mAh battery inside the 300 euro (around $375) device, while removing the cover reveals an NFC chip embedded behind it. We got our hands on the phone here at IFA -- skip after the break for our hands-on video and first impressions. %Gallery-163977%
Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE review: the best full QWERTY phone on Sprint's network
More Info Motorola ICS UI review Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE available August 19th for $200 Photon Q 4G LTE is coming 'very soon' The future of Motorola post-acquisition may still be a mystery, but the manufacturer has managed to stay quite active over the last few weeks: it unveiled the Atrix HD, its first smartphone with an HD display and native ICS build, and there's already much anticipation around Verizon's Droid RAZR HD ahead of the holiday season. For the here and now, however, it's Sprint's turn to soak in the Moto love with the Photon Q 4G LTE. (Say it five times fast.) Naturally, the name of the phone doesn't leave a whole lot to the imagination. As you'd expect, it's a follow-up to last year's Photon 4G that trades WiMAX for LTE and adds a full-sized QWERTY keyboard. What the name doesn't tell you, though, is that this phone costs a lofty $200 on contract, and features a qHD ColorBoost display (not to be confused with the Atrix's 720p screen, which uses the same branding). In other words, it's gotta be pretty good to have any success at that price point. How does the latest Googorola device hold up against the rest of Sprint's LTE lineup? Is it worth the premium? Follow us southward to find out.%Gallery-162994%
Acer Liquid Gallant Duo up for pre-order on Expansys, SIM-swappers silently applaud
Acer's line of Liquid handsets aren't really chart toppers on any Android fan's most wanted list, nor should they be. But for the budget-conscious globetrotter, there's a strong case to be made for its awkwardly named Gallant Duo's serviceable specs, dual SIM support and affordable £149 ($230) off contract price tag. The 4.3-incher, available now for pre-order on Expansys, packs a qHD display, single-core 1GHz MTK 6575 processor, 4GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD), a 5-megapixel rear camera and 1,500mAh battery into an unassuming chassis. Sure, this slightly above average handset won't garner the envy of the quad-core crowd, but it'll at least let you sit confidently at the ICS table. Check out the source below to reserve your claim for this under the radar offering.
ASUS PadFone, tablet Station get imported stateside courtesy of Negri Electronics, yours for $860
Having to fiddle with a separate Android tablet and smartphone and a laptop just won't cut it? You might be eager to get your mitts the ASUS PadFone if that's your sentiment, but folks in the US won't exactly find these at their local Best Buy. Still, despite having no official carrier support or definitive launch plans within the states, you'll now be able to snag the smartphone bundled with its tablet dock if you're willing to hit the gray market. As discovered by Phone Arena, our friends at Negri Electronics are now stocking the international edition of the über-hybrid; $860 gets you one to call your own, but tactile-typists should note that it doesn't include the keyboard dock. To refresh your memory, the fone itself is runs Ice Cream Sandwich atop a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 CPU, and features a 4.3-inch AMOLED display, 16GB of expandable storage, HSPA+ connectivity and a 1,520mAh battery. Additionally, the 10-inch PadFone Station (tablet dock) scores you more screen real estate (naturally) and a nine-fold increase in battery life. Feel free to refresh your knowledge of the device (and its accessories) with our previous hands-on posts, then check out the source link below if you decide to pick one up with your hard-earned dough.
Motorola shows three all-touch Android 4.0 phones in China, we see a possible Verizon model
It turns out that Motorola didn't want to wait until the Google deal closed -- or, for that matter, an American launch -- to undertake a significant revamp of its phone line. A quiet Chinese event last week is now known to have brought us three RAZR-derived, all-touch phones for the three carriers in the Asian country: the XT885 for China Unicom (pictured at left), XT889 for China Telecom (center) and MT887 for China Mobile (right). Other than the network types and pretty bits, you're mostly looking at the same device, where the highlight is an official dip into Android 4.0 waters that drops the physical navigation in favor of more Nexusish on-screen keys. Don't expect a revolution in performance over last fall's roster given that they still have 1.2GHz dual-core processors, eight-megapixel rear cameras and 4.3-inch, 540 x 960 displays. The trio arrives in China on June 2nd; Motorola is likely more worried about popping champagne than giving out US launch details right now, but earlier leaks give us a strong hunch that the MT887 could hit Verizon as the uncannily similar (if still very unofficial) Droid Fighter before too long.
HTC's J ISW13HT WiMAX smartphone slips out for KDDI, quickly takes cover
Ooh, what do we have here? Japanese site Sumahon!! (a play on the word for "smartphone" in good, old Nihon) reports that HTC posted details about a new WiMAX-capable phone for KDDI to join the carrier's WiMAX Samsung Galaxy S II -- the HTC J ISW13HT. The company apparently jumped the gun, though, as the page has since been unceremoniously pulled -- but not before the aforementioned site grabbed some screenshots. According to the tale of the tape, er, phone, from the site, the ISW13HT rocks Android 4.0 with a coating of Sense 4.0, a Snapdragon S4 chip, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage plus a microSD slot. One screen grab also states that the phone has a 4.3-inch qHD display. Sizewise, the handset is 66mm wide, 132mm tall and 10mm thick. Weight is listed at about 142 grams. A visit to the official ISW13HT page reveals a "page not found error" but that likely won't be the case for long -- that "Spring 2012" grab probably wasn't created for kicks. UPDATE: The site for the ISW13HT is active again so hit the source link for more details -- in Japanese, of course.
HTC One S for T-Mobile review
A couple weeks ago we got to have our Ice Cream Sandwich and eat it too, thanks to a gorgeous couple phones from HTC -- the One X and the One S. Both run Sense 4 -- a thinner, lighter version of the company's polarizing UI -- and together with the entry-level One V, represent HTC's attempt to make a comeback after a lackluster year of me-too products. The first to make its way to the US is the One S which lands on T-Mobile April 25 for $199 on contract (with a $50 rebate). We just spent a weekend with Magenta's new flagship handset. So how does it compare to the global One S? Find out after the break.
ASUS PadFone priced and ready for pre-order in Taiwan tomorrow, launches mid-April
We were promised that the phone-that-goes-tablet would ship in April, and it looks like ASUS is keeping its word. The PadFone and its corresponding tablet shell and keyboard dock, will be up for pre-order in Taiwan starting tomorrow, going on sale April 20th. On its own, the Snapdragon S4-powered 1.5GHz dual-core phone is priced at NT$17,990 (US$610), while the tablet set -- including that curious Bluetooth headset / stylus -- will set you back NT$24,980 (around US$850). If you're thinking keyboard add-ons are all the rage, expect to pay around NT$28,901 (US$980). Need more of an excuse to step into pre-order territory? Well, ASUS is offering up an extra battery for those that do. While we wait for some global roll-out details, you can remind yourself of what to expect in our hands-on from MWC.
