Honor X5b and X5b Plus debut quietly

Honor needed no fanfare to release its latest entry-level smartphones – X5b and X5b Plus. The devices are available in several Middle East markets; as the names suggest, they are closely related. Honor did make the Plus slightly better, but similarities are more than the differences. Honor X5b and X5b Plus have an LTE-only Helio G36 chipset and run Android 14 with MagicOS 8.0 on top. The screen is a basic 6.56" LCD with a waterdrop notch, 720p resolution and 90 Hz refresh rate. The selfie camera mounted inside the notch has a 5 MP sensor. Around the back there are 50 MP main...

Google Pixel 9 Pro will be up for pre-orders in India starting October 17

Google introduced the Pixel 9 series in India in August, including the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. But only the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold were sold in the country. However, on October 17, Google will launch the Pixel 9 Pro in India, which will be up for pre-orders in India through Flipkart. Its base variant is priced at INR109,999 ($1,310/€1,200). The Google Pixel 9 Pro comes with the Tensor G4 SoC, Android 14, up to 16GB RAM and 1TB storage, and a 6.3" 120Hz LTPO OLED display of 1,280p resolution. The smartphone is fueled by a 4,700...

Poco C75 leaked images show some glitzy color versions

A while back the Poco C75 was certified by the FCC on its way to launch, and today we have our first ever leaked renders to look at. These show the device in all three colors in which it will be offered, and while the black one is reasonably subdued, the other two are all glitzy and glamorous - or at least they're trying to be. As you can see, the phone will come in black, gold, and green. It will allegedly be powered by the MediaTek Helio G85 SoC paired with up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and up to 256GB of storage, and will have a 6.88-inch HD+ LCD touchscreen with 120 Hz refresh...

Redmi Note 14 Pro 4G is on the way, key specs outed

Xiaomi already announced the 5G-capable Redmi Note 14 Pro, but now it looks like there will be a 4G-only model as well. This has been certified by the FCC under the model number 24116RACCG - that "G" at the end stands for "global". This model will apparently come with a 6.67-inch 1080x2400 pOLED screen, it will have 8/12GB of RAM, 128/256/512GB of storage, and a 5,500 mAh battery. It will run Android 14 with HyperOS 1.0 on top. At the helm should be a MediaTek chipset, but unfortunately we don't know which one. For reference, the Redmi Note 13 Pro 4G uses the Helio G99 Ultra, so...

Sony Xperia 1 VI gets Wi-Fi 7 connectivity via software update

Over four months after its market release, Sony’s Xperia 1 VI just gained a new feature. The device now supports Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) connectivity thanks to a software update which was promised back during the announcement. Xparia 1 VI now supports the latest generation Wi-Fi connectivity Wi-Fi 7 brings faster connection and improved stability with lower latency (100x lower compared to Wi-Fi 6) thanks to support for the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz frequency bands. It’s also rated at a maximum throughput of 46 Gbit/s. The new update for the Xperia 1 VI appears to be following a...

Honor announces launch dates for Magic7 series, MagicOS 9.0

Honor just scheduled a couple of big events in China to take place in the following weeks. On October 23, the company will introduce MagicOS 9.0 - its take on Android 15. The interface will first appear on the Honor Magic7 flagships, set to debut exactly one week later, on October 30. The new MagicOS 9.0 will have a new set of AI features, including an AI Agent, an always-on personal assistant aimed at competing with Apple Intelligence and Google Gemini. The service was first demoed at IFA 2024, and we also saw a video of it on an Honor Magic7 phone, revealing an oval-shaped punch hole...

Top 10 trending phones of week 41

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE is once again the most popular device in our database in week 41. And just like last week the Redmi Note 14 Pro+ grabs the silver medal. [#InlinePriceWidget, 13262, 1#] Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra and Galaxy A55 have overtaken the iPhone 16 Pro Max to place third and fourth, while Apple's flagship is down to fifth position. Xiaomi's 14T Pro slid to sixth, ahead of the Redmi Note 13 Pro and Galaxy A15. The Redmi Note 13 came in ninth as another Xiaomi phone, the vanilla 14T grabbed the final position in this week's...

Nothing CMF Watch Pro 2 review

CMF is a Nothing's more affordable sub-brand and it's already released half a dozen products. Last year it launched its first smartwatch a and this summer, a second one was introduced – CMF Watch Pro 2. We spent a few weeks with the wearable and we are finally ready to share our impressions. Design The CMF Watch Pro 2 features a circular display, in a shift from the rectangular screen of its predecessor. Since the original CMF Watch Pro is still available this effectively lets you choose between two different styles. The watch has an aluminum case with a matte finish, giving...

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro renders hint at a slightly upgraded curvy display

Xiaomi is wasting no time when it comes to its popular Smart wearable line. The Smart Band 9 launched back in August and it hasn't been a full year yet since the last Smart Band 8 Pro model dropped. A new Smart Band 9 Pro is allegedly on the horizon and probably right around the corner since unofficial renders of the upcoming device have started popping up. It's a bit hard to discern proper detail from these renders, and that's if they are accurate, to begin with, but it does look like the new Smart Band 9 Pro has a slightly curvy display, or at least display glass, which is...

Weekly poll results: the Xiaomi 14T and 14T Pro are great, but pricing is an issue in some regions

The Xiaomi 14T phones are hot stuff and they drew a lot of interest in last week’s poll. However, the pricing is proving to be an issue in some regions. Not all, some commenters are reporting that they managed to get great deals and are happy with their purchase. Still, the results speak for themselves – the Xiaomi 14T Pro poll is nearly evenly split between people who like the phone and people who think that it is too expensive. We had more options in the poll and (as we suspected), some are just not fans of the HyperOS software. The hardware, however, had few detractors. The...

Huawei Watch GT 5 in for review

The new Huawei Watch GT 5 series is out, and we have both the vanilla GT 5 and the GT 5 Pro. Now let's take a peek inside the box of the GT 5. At first glance, the GT 5 offers a modest upgrade and for the most part, it's true. The GT 5's hardware is largely the same as the GT 4 from last year. It comes in two variants - 41mm and 46mm, built around 1.32" and 1.43" screens, respectively. Huawei managed to shave 0.3mm off the thickness, though. We have the 41mm option, which is a better fit for smaller wrists. The 316L stainless steel body can still handle 5 ATM pressure and is...

Deals: the Pixel 9 series gets discounts plus special offers for Pixel Watch 3 and Buds Pro 2

Amazon Canada has an offer that applies to all Pixel 9 models – you can get $200 off the Pixel Watch 3 and 50% off the Pixel Buds Pro 2, if you buy them alongside one of the new Google phones. We will start with the Google Pixel 9 Pro as this one has the best discount. It’s not automatic, you have to use the code listed below (but it’s also listed on the Amazon page, so it’s easy to copy and paste). The Pixel 9 Pro is on the small side as far as Android flagships go, but has a high-res LTPO display, a 50+48+48MP camera (including a 5x 113mm periscope), satellite SOS and will receive 7...

New vivo X200 Pro promo video showcases the phone's rugged camera chops

Vivo has slowly been trickling out information and teasers regarding the upcoming vivo X200 family and the X200 Pro in particular. The latest one comes from Dunhuang's Mingsha Mountain, which is a beautiful desert location. The phone attended a night-time concert at an oasis, showing off both its toughness and camera chops. As we said, vivo has been sharing information about the X200 Pro, particularly its cameras. Here are some camera details for you, and here are some details about the 10x telephoto in particular and here is some more detail and some samples from the periscope...

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE is free at Verizon with no trade-in required

Truly great offers are rarer and rarer these days, especially direct from carriers, but today we have one exception for you. You can now get the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE from Verizon for effectively $0. If you get an eligible plan (Unlimited Welcome, Unlimited Plus, or Unlimited Ultimate), regardless of whether you're an existing customer or a new one, you can benefit from this offer. The way it works is you need to use Verizon's three-year installment plan for the purchase, and the carrier will give you bill credits every month in the exact amount that you were supposed to pay. So, as...

Xiaomi Pad 7 and Pad 7 Pro specs leak

Xiaomi will soon launch two new tablets, the Pad 7 and Pad 7 Pro. The main specs for both have been leaked today in China. If you've been waiting for a successor to the Pad 6S Pro, these aren't that. Instead, as the naming implies, they're meant to replace the Pad 6 and Pad 6 Pro, launched in April 2023. The Xiaomi Pad 7 will allegedly be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset, and will have support for 45W wired charging. The Pad 7 Pro, on the other hand, will have the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 at the helm, paired with support for 67W wired charging. Xiaomi Pad 6 Both tablets...

Google confirms it halted the Wear OS 5 update for the Pixel Watch and Pixel Watch 2

Google started sending out the update to Wear OS 5 for the original Pixel Watch and the Pixel Watch 2 back in September. However, shortly after the rollout started, a lot of people reported a very nasty issue with these older watches - following the update, the watch would be stuck on a blank screen. Google listened to all of the reports and halted the update's rollout on September 26, but it only confirmed this today in an announcement on its support pages for the Pixel Watch line. The company says it plans to resume the Wear OS 5 rollout for the Pixel Watch and Pixel Watch 2...

Intel announces new Core Ultra 200S desktop processors

Intel has announced its latest generation Core Ultra 200S series of desktop processors based on its new Arrow Lake architecture. This new generation boasts of modest improvements in performance but with much greater advancements in efficiency. Intel is claiming 9% improvement in IPC (instructions per clock) for the P-cores compared to 14th gen, 32% improvement in IPC for the E-cores, which the company claims results in up to 13% improvement in multi-threaded performance compared to the competition. However, it's not all about performance this generation, as Intel claims 40%...

Sennheiser launches Accentum Wireless SE with bundled Bluetooth dongle

Sennheiser has launched a special edition of the Accentum Wireless headphones, aptly named Accentum Wireless SE. The SE model features just two differences from the standard model, a bundled Bluetooth adapter and colored highlights. The Accentum Wireless SE come with the Sennheiser BTD 600 Bluetooth dongle in the box. This device is meant to ease the process of pairing Bluetooth headphones with your PC or Mac for those who somehow can't figure it out and improve audio quality over the computer's built-in Bluetooth functionality. It supports aptX and aptX Adaptive and Sennheiser...

Infinix Zero Flip will make its debut in India next week

Infinix made its first foldable smartphone, the Zero Flip, official in September. And now it's finally ready to make its debut in India. The phone will launch in India on October 17. Pricing and release information will be unveiled on that occasion. Ahead of the event, Infinix has already started teasing the device in the Indian market. The Zero Flip comes with a 6.9-inch foldable AMOLED touchscreen with 120 Hz refresh rate and 1,400-nit peak brightness, a 3.64-inch 1056x1066 cover display with Gorilla Glass 2 on top, the MediaTek Dimensity 8020 SoC, 8GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, a...

WhatsApp chat-specific themes are now rolling out

WhatsApp has been working on chat-specific theme support for a few months now, and the good news is that the feature has finally started rolling out. The bad news is it's only accessible by those who are using the Android beta of WhatsApp. So, while most of us won't get this right away, at least we can take a look and see what we can expect to roll out to every WhatsApp user in a few months or so. Before you say "WhatsApp already has chat themes", yes it does, but the new feature lets you select different ones for different chats. So you're no longer confined to a one-size fits all...