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OnePlus 10T review: Speed above all
Featuring a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip, a new OLED screen with an adaptive refresh rate and incredibly speedy charging, the OnePlus 10T is one of the fastest Android phones for the money.
Samsung's next Galaxy A Event takes place on March 17th
The tech giant is unveiling its new mid-range phones.
An upgraded OnePlus Nord could land in the US
Leaked details offer a glimpse of OnePlus' next mid-range Nord phone.
Motorola's 5G-capable Edge is $200 off right now
The Motorola Edge drops to its pre-order price of $500.
Qualcomm is bringing 5G to its entry-level Snapdragon 4-series chipsets
Qualcomm plans to scale its 5G tech to entry-level 4-series chipsets.
Samsung's Exynos 880 delivers 5G speeds to mid-range phones
Samsung has unveiled the Exynos 880 processor aimed at mid-range phones that has much of the power of the Exynos 980 announced last year.
Samsung's Galaxy A70 has a huge display and 32-megapixel selfie camera
Samsung has launched its biggest A-series phone ever, and it has a pretty impressive camera setup, too. The Galaxy A70 packs a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED 20:9 1,080 x 2,400 display with an "Infinity-U" notch. That houses the 32-megapixel, f/2.0 selfie camera that beats the main camera on many other phones. On the back is a 32-megapixel F1.7 main camera (trumping the 24-megapixel main camera on the last model), an ultra-wide-angle camera and a depth sensor.
The best cameras under $1,000
Enthusiast cameras like Sony's A7R III, the Nikon D850 and Fujifilm's X-H1 get a lot of attention. The good news is that nowadays, you can spend less than $1,000 for a camera body and get almost as much as you would with a model with three times the price. Cameras like Nikon's D5600, the Sony A6300 and Fujifilm's X-T20 handle both photos and video superbly. As you'd expect, though, each model has a different combination of strengths and weaknesses. This guide is meant to help you figure out which best fits your needs.
Canon's budget mirrorless M100 gets a big sensor upgrade
Canon's M5 and other mirrorless cameras don't get the respect of Fujifilm or Sony models, perhaps because of the blah style and lack of features like 4K that users have come to expect. However, it's gradually improved the lineup and managed to increase mirrorless sales by 70 percent this year. To attract those who want to step up from smartphones, Canon has launched the M100, a replacement for the budget M10. The standout feature is a new 24.2-megapixel sensor that provides a big resolution improvement over the previous model's 18 megapixels.
Sony focuses on the camera with its Xperia X lineup
It was a mystery what Sony was going to unveil at MWC this year, but now we know -- a new line of Xperia X smartphones and "smart products" to go with them. The Xperia X and Xperia XA aren't going to set any performance records, but Sony has tried to make them as compelling as possible in terms of design and photo features. As such, the mobile group worked closely with the engineers who created Sony's popular Alpha hybrid camera products. The result is a smartphone camera that focuses rapidly and accurately by predicting subject motion to eliminate any blur. Both phones also sport all-metal bodies with curved glass around the display "for a familiar form that feels comfortable in the hand," according to the company.
Sony's curvier E4 hints at new Xperia family design
Can't wait for Sony's incoming smartphone with a QHD screen and eight-core Snapdragon 810 CPU? With a qHD screen and MTK quad-core chip, Sony's Xperia E4 is not the rumored Z4 you've been waiting for, but it is the first fourth-gen Xperia device we've seen. The new handset has middling specs with a 5-inch 960x540 screen, single or dual SIMs, Android 4.4.4, a 5-megapixel front camera and "stamina" battery mode that gives two days of usage. More intriguingly, the E4 has a new, rounded corner design instead of the blocky look of nearly every other Xperia handset, possibly marking new Sony mobile design language.
Sony's Xperia M2 offers respectable specs at a mid-range price
Sony's come to Mobile World Congress with three brand-new devices. Its new flagships, the Z2 smartphone and Z2 Tablet, may attract all of the attention, but there's a budget-friendly handset it also wants you to get to know: the Xperia M2. Acting quickly to replace the still youthful Xperia M, which only launched in June of last year, Sony has injected new life into its mid-ranger by including a larger 4.8-inch qHD display, a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 8-megapixel camera, 2,300mAh battery and LTE support to take care of your increasing thirst for data.
HTC set to unveil mid-tier Desire 8 on February 24th
Though we were quite smitten by leaked photos of HTC's upcoming mid-range Desire 8, it's always prudent to hold out for something that's actually official. Now HTC has all but confirmed the phone's existence on its Weibo page with the same image, but a different announcement date of February 24th in Beijing. So far the rumor mill has pegged it as a 5.5-inch handset with on-screen buttons and 13-megapixel rear/5-megapixel front cameras, which seems to jibe with a "super-super" camera tease (after the break). There's no pricing or arrival date outside of China, but at this point, each new product seems critical for the beleaguered company.
Panasonic's 16-megapixel Lumix G6 unveiled with 7fps burst, NFC, WiFi
Panasonic has just announced a new mid-range Micro Four Thirds camera, the Lumix G6, that brings a solid list of specs for a mid-range camera. The 16-megapixel shooter can fire at a respectable 7fps in burst mode, has a top sensitivity of ISO 25,600 and like the recently launched Lumix GF6, has WiFi and NFC for device syncing. It also sports a 1,440K-dot OLED LVF, 0.5 second startup time, 3-inch, 1,036K-dot touchscreen with a 180 degree swivel and 270 degrees of tilt, new Venus image engine and full-area touch AF. It'll likely cheer hard-core video fans as well since it packs a similar sensor to the popular GH2 / GH3 models, along with 1080/60p video, AVCHD or MP4 recording, stereo audio, live autofocus and Touch AF that allows "professional-like rack focusing." There's no pricing or availability yet, but expect it to cost considerably less than the flagship Lumix GH-3's $1,500 sticker -- which may pose a quandary for shoppers on the fence about that model. %Gallery-186679% %Gallery-186681%
NVIDIA outs GeForce GTX 670 GPU: it's Kepler without the mortgage
This'll be old news for some lucky folks, but NVIDIA has just unveiled the GeForce GTX 670 graphics card. It aims to bring Kepler to gamers who don't have off-shore bank accounts, with a price tag of $399 (or £329 in the UK, and €329 in Europe). What sacrifices will be made to reach that bracket, compared to the flagship GTX 680? A loss of 192 CUDA cores, for starters, plus a slightly slower 915MHz base clock speed, which will no doubt have an impact on benchmarks -- we'll do a review round-up shortly to figure out just how much. Nevertheless, you'll still get the same 28nm chip architecture and 2GB of DDR5 RAM, along with NVIDIA's GPU Boost technology that autonomously overclocks the processor to make use of available headroom. In terms of official performance claims, NVIDIA has chosen to compare its benchmarks to AMD's high-end Radeon HD 7950 and boasts that the GTX 670 comes out on top every time by a margin of 18 to 49 percent. Of course, the war of words is little more than performance art at this point, so stay tuned for independent tests. Meanwhile, gaming-friendly manufacturers like Origin and Maingear have declared that they'll carry the card alongside the 690 in its desktop offerings -- you can learn more about that after the jump.
AMD's 'sweet spot' Radeon HD 7870 and 7850 graphics cards get reviewed, recommended
AMD's Radeon HD 7000-series onslaught continues, with still no 28nm retort from NVIDIA. The latest offerings are the 7870 priced at $349, and the 7850 priced at $249. Both are based on the Pitcairn GPU and hog the mainstream gamer spot below the Tahiti-based 79xx cards and far above the 77xx options. In terms of competition, these cards go head-to-head with the older NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 and GTX 560Ti, which currently retail for between $20 and $50 less. However, most reviewers found plenty of reasons to side with AMD despite the extra outlay, as you'll discover at the links below.HotHardware -- hailed the performance, low power consumption, noise levels and features of both cards, but noted that they're "not much faster than previous gen counterparts." For example, 3DMark 11 benchmarks generally beat NVIDIA's rivals by around two or three percent, while the Radeon HD 7850 barely scored any higher than its predecessor, the 6850, in that test.AnandTech -- found the 7870 to be "faster, cooler and quieter" than the GTX 570, with a roughly nine percent performance advantage that puts AMD "in the clear for the time being." As for the 7850, it was regarded as less of a steal, trailing the cheaper GTX 560Ti in some games -- including an eight percent lag in Battlefield 3.TheTechReport -- reckoned both the 7870 and 7850 are "better options than comparable GeForces," because they deliver more FPS-per-dollar when Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Crysis 2 and Skyrim performances are averaged out.PC Perspective -- concluded that the Radeon HD 7870 "more or less matches" the GTX 570 in the six games it compared, with two wins, two losses and two draws for the AMD card, but is still "pretty impressive" for the price. The HD 7850, meanwhile, "completely dominates the performance metrics" while using "56 fewer watts!"TechSpot -- gave the Radeon HD 7850 slightly higher marks for being the "best mainstream card to buy at $250," while also praising the HD 7870 delivering "excellent performance and overclocking" and "almost reaching the level of the more expensive HD 7900 boards."
AMD releases Radeon HD 7750 and 7770 GPUs, reviewers like and don't like
Not into that whole $500 fuse-melting monster graphics card thing? Then good news for you: AMD has finally brought out two more affordable models in its 28nm Radeon HD range. The 7770 is priced at $169 and claims to be the world's first reference GPU that comes factory clocked to 1GHz. Meanwhile, the 7750 comes in at $109 and boasts a low enough wattage (75W, versus 100W for the 7770) that it doesn't require its own power connector. Both cards pack 1GB RAM and run on AMD's Cape Verde architecture, which makes them slightly different to the Tahiti-powered 7900 series, although they do inherit key top-end features like ZeroCore Power, PowerTune and Eyefinity 2.0.Reviewers have mixed opinions, as befits a healthy blogosphere, but the low-power 7750 generally comes off slightly better, especially for those looking to build a budget or HTPC rig. AnandTech likes the power-to-performance ratio of both cards, but dislikes the price-to-performance of the 7770, noting that the older 6850 still offers more in this respect -- at least for gamers. HotHardware concludes that AMD might have "technically" priced both cards "just right," considering how they stack up against NVIDIA's GeForce GTX560 and 550, but in practice those NVIDIA cards deliver a lot more punch for just a few extra dollars. Feel free to glean further details for yourself via the PR and review links below.
Huawei Honor review
Phone makers love to take pride in the extravagant names they give their products, but it's likely that the Huawei Honor is more to its creator than just a decently-specced handset. After all, the introduction of the Honor -- followed by last week's announcement of the super-slim Ascend P1 S -- appears to represent a shift in the OEM's overall product placement strategy. Huawei has done a great job finding customers in emerging and prepaid markets, but now it has its sights set on cranking out noteworthy phones that will gain the attention of anyone looking for a high-end device. Huawei Honor shipping in December to select markets Huawei Mercury arrives on Cricket Huawei Honor gets Ice Cream Sandwich Based on its laundry list of specs, the Honor isn't a high-end handset compared to some of its LTE and dual-core competitors. And yet, it's still the best device Huawei's offered to date, and it's clear the company's upcoming phones are only going to get better. So we're really eyeing the Honor as a step closer to the OEM finally realizing its ultimate goal. Does it live up to its name? Can the Honor play with the big boys, or is it nothing more than just an outward indication of the company's future? Read on to find out.
Nokia Lumia 710 for T-Mobile review
It's not the Nokia / Microsoft lovechild we've all been patiently awaiting here in the states. No, it's the other Lumia -- the low-end one. And it's headed for a berth on T-Mobile's airwaves next week, on January 11th. Rather than go big (or go home), Espoo's chosen to wade gently into the shallow waters of the US smartphone market, loading this budget Mango device with respectable mid-range specs and an irresistible price. The Lumia 710 is a $50 on contract proposition geared towards easing folks inept at the smarter aspects of wireless gadgetry into the 21st century. With a 3.7-inch ClearBlack LCD display, a 1.4GHz Snapdragon processor aided by 512MB of RAM, a decent 5 megapixel rear shoot capable of 720p video capture and, of course, Windows Phone 7.5, it may do just that. The obvious hurdle keeping this able phone from flying off the shelves has little to do with performance and everything to do with Nokia's stateside brand recognition. So, join us after the break as we put this unassuming handset through its paces and determine whether or not the 710's training wheels are worth a Grant.
Nokia Lumia 710 for T-Mobile hands-on (video)
Deja vu? Absolutely. Nokia's chosen to make its first, big Windows Phone splash stateside with the humble Lumia 710 on T-Mobile. Eager Espoo fanboys and girls were likely hoping the company would've opted for a Red, White and Blue polycarbonate debut (see: Lumia 800), but that's not the black and white story being told here. So, put your hands down if you already have a smartphone to call your own -- this one's aimed squarely at mobiledom's stragglers. At $49 on contract, it's a value proposition that could very well lead the uninitiated down a live-tiled, Mango-laden path and help Microsoft ensnare a larger user base for its OS. Join us then, won't you, as we dive deep into our second first impressions after the break. %Gallery-141840%
