Category: Mobile Phones

Samsung began open sales of the Galaxy S23 series last week and if you got one, you should know that the first update for the trio is already out. It’s a small update that mostly catches up the phone to security fixes that arrived between the phone’s manufacture and release.

The Galaxy S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra came with the January security patch out of the box, this update brings it up to February 1 2023. The changes include 48 security improvements common to Android 13 phones and 7 for Samsung’s One UI.

The Samsung Galaxy is receiving its first software update

This update…

The Galaxy S22 phones were quick to get the new One UI 5.1, but it turned out the update isn’t fully polished. Multiple reports online revealed last year’s flagships are experiencing increased battery drain following the update.

According to some users, the culprit might be Samsung Keyboard, and support pages are suggesting users to clear out the cache and data of the app and then restart the phone.

OneUI 5.1 changelog

The One UI 5.1 update automatically switched all Galaxy S22 devices to Maximum Performance Mode, which is another reason for the battery drain, provided…

The latest Starlink internet plan is now in its testing phase and it promises internet connection “almost anywhere on land in the world”. The Global Roaming service will cost $200 per month in addition to the $599 Starlink Kit satellite dish. The Space-X owned company’s new offering uses the Starlink inter-satellite links to beam internet to users anywhere where Starlink coverage is available.

Starlink Global Roaming service message

Due to its experimental nature, Starlink mentions the new Global Roaming service will offer high-speed, low-latency internet service mixed with periods…

The Poco X5 series arrived earlier this month with X5 and X5 Pro. Multiple listings revealed that a third series member is on its way and will be called Poco X5 GT.

The device with model number 23049PCD8G was listed on IMDA (Infocomm Media Development Authority), which is Singapore’s regulator on media content, services and applications.

A similar device with model number 23049PCD8I was spotted on BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards), suggesting the device will also hit India.

Poco X4 GT

The Xiaomi-developed smartphone was also spotted on the IMEI website, suggesting the X5 GT could…

We are just a week away from the MWC 2023 and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra still reigns supreme in our trending chart. It’s once again joined on the podium by the Poco X5 Pro and the vanilla Galaxy S23.

The Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max is on the rise, placing fourth this week and edging the OnePlus 11.

We then have the Galaxy A53 and the third member of the new Galaxy S23 series – the Plus – in sixth and seventh.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra rises to eight place, while the Xiaomi 13 Pro that is preparing to make its global debut is back on the chart in ninth position.

The final spot goes Redmi…

The Blackview BV9200 is the latest tough smartphone to land in our office. It is a rugged phone, certified to survive the toughest conditions, and the company claims it has improved materials to respond to a wider range of challenges.

The device can be thrown in a lake, driven over by a car or dropped from over 1 meter and live to tell the story. It comes with MIL-STD-810H, IP68 and IP69K certification so you don’t have to take BlackView’s word for it.

It is also a pretty capable midranger with a 50MP main camera, a dedicated button for quick access to select apps, and a notification…

Welcome to another week’s recap. Samsung published the reparability score of its as-of-yet-unannounced Galaxy A54 and it’s a solid 8.4 out of 10. Great news for the many potential buyers of Samsung’s bound-to-be-popular midranger.

Even better news is the reported return of the Samsung Fan Edition phone. By Korean outlet The Elec, it appears Samsung will unveil a Galaxy S23 FE edition in the second half of the year. The report claims that Samsung will forgo the Galaxy A74 and focus on the Galaxy S23 FE.

We got our first look at the iPhone 15 Pro thanks to leaked CAD schematics. They show…

Samsung started regular sales of the Galaxy S23 series this week, so the pre-order bonuses are no longer available. But there are still plenty of good deals to choose from. Just like last week the Google Pixel phones offer a premium experience for less money than most flagships these days, for example.

We also picked out a number of refurbished units – you don’t have to buy a brand new phone to get a premium experience. Use the links below to jump to the region that’s relevant to you:

Germany
The Netherlands
The UK
USA
Canada
India

Germany

The…

As the saying goes “home is where the Wi-Fi connects automatically”. As much focus as smartphone makers put on advertising the next-gen cellular connectivity of their phones, many of us spend most of the day connected to the Internet over Wi-Fi.

Wi-Fi is certainly not the first method of transferring data between nearby devices wirelessly. Early PDAs used infrared, which allowed them to sync calendar appointments and email inboxes, for example. Infrared is directional, however, so to connect your PDA and PC you needed to aim at the IR adapter and keep still for several seconds. The easiest…

Realme reclaimed the charge speed crown last week with the launch of the first phone to do 240W. Last year the company briefly held the title with the arrival of the GT Neo3 with a 150W charge system, but the progress made in a year means 150W is now the slow option.

The Realme GT Neo 5 240W has a 4,600mAh battery, 100mAh larger than the GT Neo3 150W had last year. As for the 150W version of the GT Neo 5, that one is back up to the full 5,000mAh capacity that the 80W GT Neo3 had.

This is amazing progress in a year and while it is still true that you lose battery capacity on phones…