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Samsung’s Galaxy Fold announcement isn’t even a week old yet, and we already have a competitor that is thinner, has a bigger screen, and folds flatter. Say hello to the Huawei Mate X. Launching at MWC 2019, the Mate X has an 8-inch wraparound OLED display, a folded thickness of a mere 11mm, and a formidable spec sheet highlighted by 5G, a 4,500mAh battery, and Huawei’s in-house Kirin 980 processor. The single OLED display of the Mate X actually serves triple duty. When the device is folded, you essentially have a dual-screen smartphone, with the second display on the rear allowing you to shoot selfies with the main camera or to share what’s on your primary display with a person on the other side. Open up the Mate X, and you get an almost square (but not quite) tablet that has minimal bezels on three sides. One of the sides is reserved for a thicker grip section that houses the three cameras, their accompanying flash, and a push-button latch that secures the folded tablet i...

Sony has long struggled to get its phones noticed in the sea of top-tier Android devices, so at MWC 2019, the company is trying a new strategy to make its phones stand out — literally — by featuring ultra-tall 21:9 displays. That starts with the Xperia 1, its new flagship. The Xperia 1 is the successor to the Xperia XZ3 that Sony released last fall. But as the name implies, Sony is viewing this as a chance to start fresh with its mobile phone brand, beginning with a new design centered on that very, very tall display. And make no mistake, the Xperia 1 — along with the more budget-friendly Xperia 10 and 10 Plus, which also will have 21:9 displays — is a tall glass of water. The screen itself is a 4K HDR OLED panel (supposedly the first on a smartphone) that measures in at 6.5 inches. The key thing here is that aspect ratio; sure, there are plenty of screens that are 6.5 inches on the diagonal, but the Xperia 1 is taller than basically all of them. There’s no notch, although ...

Last year, LG released the G7 ThinQ — by no means a bad phone, but certainly one that struggled to make its mark. At this year’s MWC, LG is announcing its successor, the LG G8, which brings some new features and upgrades to try to stand out where the G7 faded into the background. It’s hard to notice changes on the outside, but LG has done a lot with the updated front-facing camera setup, which it calls the “Z-camera”. What that actually means is that LG is using a ToF sensor that lets the G8 detect motion, gestures, and depth in front of it. And that camera system is getting used for a truly unique feature that LG calls Hand ID: by pulsing an infrared signal at your palm, the G8 can extracts a map of your veins based on how the hemoglobin in your blood absorbs the IR signal, allowing you to unlock your phone by showing it your palm. LG says that these vein maps are extremely hard to beat from a security perspective. And why would you want to use your palm to unlock your pho...

LG is getting in on the 5G hype with the new V50 ThinQ — an updated version of the V40 from last fall that keeps the same basic design, but adds support for the next-generation network. You’ll know that the V50 supports 5G right from the start, thanks to the literally glowing 5G logo on the back of the phone. From a spec perspective, the V50 is only different from the V40 in a few ways: 5G capabilities (obviously), a larger 4,000 mAh battery (since 5G takes more power), and a Snapdragon 855 processor (presumably to support Qualcomm’s X50 5G modem). LG is is also adding a new cooling system to help cope with the extra heat from the new processor and battery. The phone itself is also a bit thicker and a little heavier than the V40, although LG has taken advantage of that to remove the camera bump, which is nice. Otherwise, though, it’s a V40 with 5G, which LG says is very intentional — in order to get a 5G phone to market this quickly, the company had to use the existing V40 platf...

HMD Global has a new Nokia flagship, and it might be the company’s most ambitious phone yet: the Nokia 9 PureView, with a show-stopping five — count ‘em, five — cameras on the back that officially takes the crown for the most rear cameras ever put on a phone. It’s perhaps the biggest play yet by HMD to invoke the old Nokia, from back before it bought and resurrected brand. And while the Nokia 9 PureView may not have the staggering megapixel count Nokia’s phones were known for, it’s certainly a product meant to evoke those glory days. There’s a lot to unpack about the Nokia 9 PureView. Unlike other multi-camera phones, like the LG V40 or Samsung’s newly announced Galaxy S10, the Nokia 9 PureView uses the same key specs for all five cameras: each one has a 12 megapixel sensor and an f/1.8 lens. But only two of those five cameras shoot in color — the other three are monochrome. Whenever you press the shutter, all five cameras shoot different exposures at the same time, which t...

Perhaps spurred on by the hype surrounding Samsung’s Galaxy Fold and Huawei’s Mate X, Oppo VP Brian Shen has revealed images of his company’s own take on a foldable phone. Shen makes it clear in his Weibo post that Oppo isn’t yet planning to ship the prototype device unless it sees a lot of demand, but the pictures show that the company is leaning towards Huawei’s design more than Samsung’s. That’s to say there’s a single large OLED panel that wraps around both sides of the phone when it’s folded, rather than being folded away on the inside. There’s also a thicker bar on one side that houses cameras and other components. Whether Oppo decides to ship this phone or not, it’s clear that we’re approaching the point where similar phones become relatively commonplace. Sure, Samsung and Huawei can charge $2,000 and up for their first flagship foldables as halo devices. But the tech is out of the bag now, and you can expect a lot more to come soon from Chinese makers in particular...

Huawei has announced the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro, two new phones that occupy the highest end of its lineup. The Mate 10 phones see the Chinese giant get on board with the skinny-bezel trend of 2017 while leveraging its ability in silicon design to supposedly improve AI-related performance. The main difference between the two phones is in screen size and shape. The Mate 10 features a 5.9-inch 2560 x 1440 LCD while the Mate 10 Pro’s display is a 6-inch 2160 x 1080 OLED; both have thin, symmetrical bezels at the top and bottom. The Pro feels like the smaller phone, however, due to the narrower 18:9 aspect ratio it shares with many of this year’s similarly sized “bezel-less” phones. The regular Mate 10’s sharper 16:9 screen makes for an unusually proportioned device, albeit one that’ll probably work well for YouTube and other casual video watching — it feels very wide in the hand, but the combination of a huge, standard aspect ratio screen with slim bezels lends a distinctive ...

Smartphones are ubiquitous in our lives: we rely on them to navigate unfamiliar surroundings, look up information, and stay in touch with people with an ever-growing collection of apps. A new, minimalist phone is designed for people want to eliminate all that clutter, but still remain reachable. The size of a credit card, The Light Phone is about as stripped down as one can get: it can receive and make calls, store up to nine numbers, and tell the time. That’s it. No texting, e-mail, or anything else. This also isn’t a bluetooth accessory that pairs to a smartphone: users open an account and install an app on their existing smartphone, which forwards calls to and from the device. It also means that users don’t need to worry about maintaining a second number. The Light Phone has an unlocked SIM card, and operates on a 2G GSM network (users will need to pay five dollars a month for service). According to the company, it will last for three days on standby mode, and runs a “strippe...

Just like the rumor-vine predicted, HMD didn't skip on the opportunity to ride the nostalgia wave and reincarnate the legendary Nokia 3310 for a second go on the 2017 mobile scene. We are sure opinions will be polarized on the EUR 49 feature-phone, but that definitely fits into the whole idea. Whether you find it unsightly, or enjoy its colorful and playful looks, the new 3310 will definitely get fans talking, even if not necessarily buying. Again, as far as design goes, you will just have to judge for yourself. The new 3310 measure only 115.6 x 51 x 12.8 mm and is plastic all around. HMD claims it did the best it can to recreate the original 3310 rounded shape and silhouette. The rounded buttons on the retro keypad definitely hit home. However, the 2.4-inch QVGA display and the curved and polarized layer on top, do look a bit off. So do the buttons on the front. Still, we have to say the four available color options: Warm Red (Glossy), Dark Blue (Matte), Yellow (Glossy), Gr...

At the beginning of this month some people started seeing the ability to create multiple-image posts on Instagram's beta app for Android. After a few weeks of testing, this feature has become official today. From this point on you're able to add up to 10 photos and videos to each of your Instagram posts - no longer is one post confined to one image or video. The batch posting is easy to use too - when uploading you see a new icon that, when tapped, will let you select multiple photos and videos. Once you've decided which of those you want to share, you can add a filter to all at the same time, or go one by one. You can reorder the entries by tapping and holding each one. These posts have a single caption, they're square only for now, and they will show up on your profile grid with a little icon on the first photo or video, which indicates that there's more to see. In the feed, blue dots at the bottom of such posts will indicate that your followers can swipe l...

We already know that a new version of the iconic Nokia 3310 is coming, and it will cost €59. And now we have some more details about the phone. According to a new report, the re-imagined 3310 will have broadly the same design but will be slimmer and lighter. The report also confirms that the handset will remain a featurephone with physical keyboard (size of the keys will be adjusted though), adding that it will sport a larger color display compared to the 84 x 84 monochromatic unit that was there on the original model. No word on whether or not the battery will be removable. Color options for the new Nokia 3310 may include red, green, and yellow. GSMArena

THE world’s largest smartphones manufacturers use the annual Mobile World Congress event to unveil the latest innovations in technology. While cutting edge is exciting, it’s the rumoured return of the ‘unbreakable’ Nokia 3310 that is creating a buzz around the upcoming event. According to a report from VentureBeat, sources from the Finnish company with exclusive rights to make phones under the Nokia name, claim the company will launch a “modern version” of 3310 at the MWC in Barcelona this month. HMD Global Oy is tipped to be announcing a total of four new phones, including a revamped $80 version of the retro handset from the early 2000s. In addition to its near-indestructible build, the legendary brickphone’s relatively small 900mAh battery was able to last 55 hours on standby — something modern smartphones struggle to rival. When released, the 3310 introduced vibration, an extended SMS character limit, screen savers and other features taken for granted on today’s devices....