Here's how Android, iOS, and Harmony OS rank globally

Counterpoint Research (CR) just released its report about the best-selling smartphones in the world in the second quarter of this year (April to June), but it also revealed how mobile operating systems are doing. The following is based on Q2 smartphone shipment data, so the percentages aren't of devices in use, but of handsets shipped during that specific quarter. Globally, Android is king with a 75% share, up from 73% in Q1. iOS follows with 20%, down from 22% in Q1. In third and last place is Huawei's HarmonyOS, which has managed to capture a 5% share, just like it did in Q1. In...

Nothing OS 5.0 open beta is now available

Yesterday, Nothing unveiled the Nothing OS 5.0 release, based on Android 17. The company also detailed its rollout for all supported devices. And today, right on time, the first open beta build of Nothing OS 5.0 has become available for the Nothing Phone (3). You can download the open beta from this page (scroll down almost to the end to see the link). Well, technically, you're not downloading the new firmware, but the latest Nothing Beta Hub version 2.0 app. You need to use that to get the software update. Once you've installed the app, go to Settings > System > Nothing Beta Hub,...

iPhone 17 continues to lead global smartphone sales in Q2 2026

Back in May, the base Apple iPhone 17 was the world’s best-selling smartphone for Q1 2026. Now, a new Counterpoint report shows that the iPhone 17 has retained the top spot in global smartphone sales in Q2 2026. According to the research firm’s latest data, the iPhone 17 accounted for 6% of global smartphone unit sales in Q2 2026. Apple also secured five other spots in the top 10. The iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone 17 Pro ranked second and third, respectively, while the iPhone 17e and iPhone 16 also made the top 10. On the Android side, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra took the top...

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL in for review

Today, we got the new Pixel 11 lineup on our doorstep, so it's time to start unboxing them one by one. The new phones made somewhat of a negative initial impression for keeping things mostly unchanged, but there are some novelties. Let's dive in! From left to right - Google Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, and the Pixel 11 Pro XL The Google Pixel 11 Pro XL is the biggest in the trio, and it feels it. It's tall and wide, and hefty at 226 grams. It feels nearly identical to its predecessor, and it is, dimension-wise, at least. Its battery is a tad smaller at 5,115mAh (vs 5,200mAh on the 10...

After AnTuTu, Qualcomm's upcoming flagship Snapdragon chip appears on Geekbench powering an alleged iQOO 16

Qualcomm is hosting its annual Snapdragon Summit next month, from September 22-24 in Hawaii, where it's expected to introduce two new flagship Snapdragon mobile chips. One is rumored to have part number SM8950, while the other is SM8975. The latter was spotted on AnTuTu over a week ago and has now appeared on Geekbench as well. An unnamed device bearing model code vivo V2606A - and believed to be the iQOO 16 - has been listed on the Geekbench database with Android 17, 16GB RAM, and SM8975. The SM8975 was previously called the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro, but tipster Digital Chat Station...

Samsung launches One UI 9 beta 6 for the Galaxy S26 series

About a couple of weeks after Samsung released the fifth beta of One UI 9 for the Galaxy S26 series, today the company is rolling out the sixth beta build. It's an 851MB update and includes the August 5, 2026 security patches. It's currently available in Germany, India, Poland, the UK, and Korea and should be making its way to the US soon. If you are part of the beta program, once you've installed the sixth beta, your phone will be running build ZZHE. It includes fixes for display errors with the Now Brief widget and the home screen, photo-saving issues in Expert RAW 24MP at some focal...

Leakster details the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro and Dimensity 9600 Pro flagship chipsets

We already saw Xiaomi’s new chipset post some impressive results, but it’s held back by some older tech – it’s a 3nm chip (TSMC N3P) and uses Arm C1 cores. The upcoming chips from Qualcomm and MediaTek promise to be even better, though neither company has revealed official details yet. So instead, leakster Digital Chat Station offers a preview. The "Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6", which we assume means the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro (SM8975), will be fabbed on TSMC’s new 2nm node (N2P). The CPU will crack the 5GHz barrier with its two Prime cores clocked at 5.01GHz. The 8-core CPU...

Take a look at the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra in some fresh high-quality CAD renders

Yesterday a rough CAD render of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra leaked, and now we have a set of much more polished and higher-resolution renders of the device to look at. As is obvious from the very first look, Samsung is redesigning the camera island, opting for an Apple-like (or rather, Poco-like for those who remember) big rectangle up top, with the camera sensors housed in its left side. According to the source of these renders, the Galaxy S27 Ultra will measure 163.76 x 78.25 x 7.97 mm, which makes it imperceptibly larger than its predecessor on all three axes....

Sony Xperia 10 VIII is official with microSD slot, but few upgrades

Sony just announced its latest midranger – the Xperia 10 VIII (Mark 8), and it’s easily one of the most underwhelming updates in recent memory. Very little has changed compared to the outgoing Xperia 10 VII, yet Sony is now charging €599/£549 for what is essentially last year’s phone with a new coat of paint. Xperia 10 VIII gets the same 6.1-inch LTPS OLED screen as its predecessor. It’s a FHD+ panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. Sony claims that it boosted brightness by 50%, but there’s no mention of the exact max brightness figure. The top and bottom bezels house familiar front-firing...

Motorola's 2027 flagships will officially support GrapheneOS

GrapheneOS, the modified version of Android that is devoid of Google while still running normal Android apps and adding stronger security at the same time, is now working on supporting upcoming Motorola devices. These will ship with Motorola's normal Android skin, but you will be able to switch to GrapheneOS later if you want to, thanks to cooperation between GrapheneOS and Motorola. This will apply to 2027 flagship Motorola devices, starting with a regular non-folding device, according to GrapheneOS developers who hinted at it being the successor to the Signature. The next-gen Razr Fold...

The new Nokia 300 Charge has a dedicated power out button and a 3,700mAh battery

The huge battery trend may have started with smartphones, but feature phones are getting in on it too – HMD just announced the Nokia 300 Charge, which has more than double the battery capacity of a typical feature phone. The Charge is equipped with a 3,700mAh battery and a USB-C port. This port can fill up the internal battery at 10W and – at the push of the dedicated “Out” button on the side – can also do 10W reverse charging. The Nokia 300 Charge has a 3,700mAh battery and 10W reverse charging Now, 3,700mAh doesn’t sound huge, but we can’t compare this to smartphones. Look at the...

New Galaxy S27 Ultra CAD render shows a different rear camera design

Recent leaks suggest the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra will feature a redesigned rear camera setup with one fewer sensor than the Galaxy S26 Ultra. However, a newly leaked CAD render shows a completely different camera design from those seen in previous leaks. Well-known tipster Ice Universe shared an alleged CAD render of the Galaxy S27 Ultra on X. The render shows an iPhone 17 Pro-like rear camera plateau, with two sensors in separate cutouts and a third camera alongside the flash in a pill-shaped cutout. According to the tipster, the pill-shaped cutout could house a 5x telephoto...

Galaxy S26 FE will feature the same battery capacity as its predecessor

Samsung is set to launch the Galaxy S26 FE later this week and it’s expected to share plenty of similarities with its predecessor. Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) issued a homologation certificate for the S26 FE, which revealed it will feature a 4,900 mAh battery just like last year’s Galaxy S25 FE. Galaxy S26 FE Anatel certificate and charger (via Technoblog) Smartphones sold in Brazil still get chargers in the box, and the new listing confirmed that the S26 FE will ship with a 25W brick featuring the EP-TA800 part number. The S26 FE will support up to 45W...

vivo X500 series confirmed to launch in September

vivo has officially confirmed that its X500 series will launch in September. The upcoming lineup will succeed the vivo X300 series and will include the vivo X500, X500 Pro, and X500 Pro Max. In a post on Weibo, vivo Product Manager Han Boxiao also revealed key details about the upcoming phones. The new lineup is said to bring cinema-grade video recording capabilities. According to the executive, the vivo X500 Pro models will feature a “ZEISS Ultra Dynamic Main Camera” built around a custom Phantom 900 sensor developed by Sony and vivo’s Blueprint imaging team. The sensor is...

Huawei Pura X View previewed, more iPhone 18 Pro leaks, Week 34 in review

Here’s a recap of this past week’s top stories. Huawei previewed its Pura X View featuring a 6.39-inch OLED and a wide 16:9.5 aspect ratio. This is a proper wide boy, with Huawei advertising its expanded horizontal real estate for more immersive reading, gaming and other content consumption. Huawei Pura X View unveiled with a 16:9.5 wide display, 7,000mAh battery It will be available in four color options. We did not get its full spec sheet yet, but we did get confirmation of a sizeable 7,000mAh battery despite the phone’s...

Deals: Pixel 11 series available, Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra price drop, Oppo Reno16 series on sale

We noticed that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra is now down to €1,810 for the base 12/256GB model – it was €2,120 last week and it has an MSRP of €2,200 (here it is on Samsung.com). This also makes it cheaper than the Galaxy Z Fold8, which is €1,945 for the base 12/256GB model, pretty much the same price as last week. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra €410 off Read our review 12/256GB - €1,810 at Amazon DE If you need help deciding between the two, check out our...

Weekly poll: would you buy the Honor Robot Phone and why?

After months of teasers and red carpet events, the Honor Robot Phone is finally official and it is now available in stores – only in China, but you didn’t want one anyway, right? Wait, did you? The robot-like arm that acts as the gimbal on this device (and gives it its name) feels like the end-stage of popup-camera evolution. It provides stabilization on the move and, if you put the phone on a tripod, it does object tracking better than any phone out there. And yes, it can even look forward for selfies and vlog-style videos. Honor Robot Phone's gimbal in action This teeny, tiny...

Weekly poll results: a clear favorite emerges from the Google Pixel 11 family

Last week, we asked you which Pixel 11 model you would buy and now the results are in. The sentiment is trending towards negative with price being a common reason for skipping the 11 series. Looking at the overall poll, many just aren’t interested in any Pixel 11 model. But those that do want one are mostly leaning towards the Pixel 11 Pro – it almost got more votes than the vanilla and the Pro XL models put together. Almost. The Pro XL is a distant second, while the pricey foldable barely got any love. Focusing in on the Google Pixel 11 Pro, it received the biggest proportion of...

iQOO is allegedly working on a small and powerful tablet

According to a new rumor from Digital Chat Station on Weibo, after having launched quite a few larger tablets, iQOO is getting ready to enter the small tablet space, directly competing with the RedMagic Astra 2, which was released back in June. The iQOO tablet is rumored to have an 8.8-inch screen with an "ultra-high" refresh rate and narrow bezels on all four sides, a metal frame, and a built-in cooling fan. The much larger iQOO Pad6 Pro It will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro chipset. Unfortunately, no other details about it are known at the moment. We'll let you...

vivo V70 Lite 4G arrives with 8,100mAh battery and IP69 rating

The vivo V70 Lite was announced back in June, and its 4G counterpart has not been listed across several markets in Eurasia. As the name implies, this device features a 4G chipset – specifically Unisoc’s T7300. It is paired with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128/256GB of UFS 2.2 storage. The phone also brings an 8,100mAh battery with support for 44W wired charging. V70 Lite 4G is built around a 6.83-inch AMOLED featuring 1,260 x 2,800px resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. It also features an optical fingerprint scanner and a 32MP front-facing camera. The back houses a 50MP main cam and a 2MP...