The Samsung Galaxy S24 FE is expected to launch later this year, and we’ve seen some notable leaks already. Now, it looks like the launch is creeping ever closer thanks to a database filing.

Qualcomm has already announced the pseudo-flagship Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3 chipset and the less capable Snapdragon 7 Gen 3. Now, the company is ready to take another step down with the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor.

As the name implies, the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 is the least capable chip of the trio. But it still looks like a solid upgrade over the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 seen in mid-range Android phones like the Motorola Edge 50 Fusion and Redmi Note 13 Pro.

Qualcomm says the new processor’s CPU is 20% faster than the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 CPU. That’s largely due to the new CPU cores, featuring four Cortex-A720 cores and four Cortex-A520 little cores. We’ve got one Cortex-A720 core running at 2.5GHz, three A720 cores at 2.4GHz, and those four little cores clocked at 1.8GHz. Either way, we’re glad to see newer CPU cores in a mid-tier chip.

The Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 brings a significant CPU upgrade over the older chip.

The Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 also brings a much faster GPU, claiming a 40% speed boost over the last-generation processor. Qualcomm is also tossing in related features like its Adaptive Performance Engine for improved sustained performance in games, Adreno HDR Fast Blend for faster rendering, and 144Hz refresh rate support at WFHD+ resolution.

There was also a leak that the internal name for the new chip’s GPU was the Adreno 810. This would be a major rejig for the Adreno naming convention and bizarrely suggests a higher positioning than the Snapdragon 8 series. The company refused to confirm the internal name but may have hinted at a reason for a change.

“Regarding naming, the Adreno GPU in Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 is simply the next generation of Adreno. It doesn’t mean that it is a premium tier GPU, simply that it’s a new architecture,” a representative told us. This answer suggests that the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 GPU is a new design for the segment but (unsurprisingly) isn’t a flagship-tier part.

What else does the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 offer?

The new processor also brings plenty of AI-related functionality as you’d expect in 2024. Qualcomm claims 30% better AI performance than the previous generation, along with support for “multi-language translation/transcription” and on-device AI models like Llama 2 at one billion parameters.  One notable AI model missing from Qualcomm’s announcement was Gemini Nano.

“We support a wide range of LLMs. We are working with Google towards enabling the next generation of Gemini models for Snapdragon mobile platforms,” the company told us when we asked whether the chip supported Gemini Nano.

The chip also touts two camera-focused AI features in the form of AI Remosaic (a process typically used to produce ultra-high-resolution images) and AI Video Retouch for real-time tone-mapping. Staying with the camera specs, you can expect support for 200MP snapshots, 64MP single capture, up to 21MP+21MP+21MP triple camera capture, and 4K HDR video support. Unfortunately, 4K/60fps support isn’t listed while slow-motion video still tops out at a measly 120fps at 1080p.

Qualcomm also says the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 brings 12% better power savings compared to the previous generation. That’s good news if all you want out of your mid-range phone is a no-frills yet long-lasting device.

Other notable details include a 4nm TSMC design, Bluetooth 5.4, support for various AptX codecs (Adaptive, Lossless, Voice), peak downlink speeds of 2.9Gbps, Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+ tech, and Wi-Fi 6E.

Qualcomm says the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 will first be adopted by Xiaomi with the first device slated for launch in September. However, the chipmaker added that Realme, Samsung, and Sharp are also working on devices with this chip.

We’re particularly keen to see what Galaxy device uses this mid-range processor. Samsung has typically used Exynos chips in its most prominent Galaxy A phones, but we have seen mid-range Snapdragon chips used in devices like the M and F series. We can’t rule out this chip coming to a cheap Galaxy tablet, either.

One of the most disappointing things about the original Pixel Watch was that it couldn’t actually be repaired. Instead, users would need to get a replacement watch. This trend seemingly continued with the Pixel Watch 2, and it now turns out the brand-new Pixel Watch 3 can’t be repaired, either.

In response to an Android Authority query, a Google representative revealed the steps you need to take if your Pixel Watch 3 is damaged:

If your device is damaged, you can contact the Google Pixel Watch Customer Support Team to check your replacement options.

The above statement didn’t mention repairs, so does that mean the Pixel Watch 3 can’t be repaired at all?

“Correct! Pixel Watch 3 is replacement only,” the representative told us in response to a follow-up question.

The Google representative also noted that Preferred Care is available in the US. This insurance program covers accidental damage and out-of-warranty issues, although Pixel Watch 3 owners still have to pay a $49 service fee. Needless to say, you’ll be getting a replacement smartwatch instead of a repaired device.

This is nevertheless a disappointing turn of events as it strongly suggests that any broken Pixel Watch 3 units could end up in landfills. This is also bad news if you were hoping to keep your new Google smartwatch for years and wanted to swap out the battery or conduct any repairs yourself.

Google’s Pixel phones have been powered by semi-custom Tensor processors since 2021, but these chips have never really been a major threat to rival flagship processors in most benchmarks. Now, a Google executive has reportedly claimed that the Tensor G4 in the Pixel 9 series isn’t designed for benchmarks.

“When we are designing the chip, we’re not designing it for speeds and feats. We’re not designing it to beat some specific benchmark that’s out there. We’re designing it to meet our use cases,” Google Pixel product manager Soniya Jobanputra told the Financial Express.

The executive also noted that improving app launch speeds were a priority with the new chip:

We knew that we had a pain point with opening apps. And so as we built G4, we really focused on, okay, what do we need to do to make sure that experience is better for users.

Google Tensor: A history of AI over benchmarks?

This isn’t a new stance from Google, though. Company representatives have long asserted that the Tensor chips weren’t designed with raw horsepower in mind. Google Silicon executive Monika Gupta noted back in 2022 that the company was “comfortable” not winning benchmarks because the Tensor chips were built for AI features.

Fellow Google Silicon executive Phil Carmack also told Ars Technica back in 2021 that they opted for two big CPU cores in the original Tensor chip as it was the best solution for efficiency. He claimed that one big CPU core — seen in rival chips of the era — was only useful for winning single-thread benchmarks. So there’s a clear history of Google dismissing benchmarks as a consideration, subsequently lagging behind rivals in this category.

However, Google’s claim that it prioritizes efficiency and AI use cases does deserve closer scrutiny. For one, owners of Tensor-powered Pixels have complained about battery life for years, although the Pixel 8 series seemed like a step in the right direction. Furthermore, we’ve seen phones with non-Tensor chips offering impressive AI features too, such as the Samsung Galaxy S24 series. So you clearly don’t need a Tensor-powered phone if you want nifty AI use cases.

There’s also evidence that the Tensor G4 in the Pixel 9 series was supposed to be a more ambitious chip. According to previous reports, Google initially wanted the Pixel 9 chip to be a fully custom design manufactured by TSMC instead of long-standing partner Samsung. However, these same reports suggest that Google missed a deadline for this ambitious chip and decided to go for a Tensor G4 chip that was an incremental upgrade over the Tensor G3. These claims seem to bear out as the Tensor G4 shares plenty in common with the Tensor G3 (i.e. GPU, media decode blocks, TPU), with the exception of the CPU and modem.

Google Pixel phones were the first to offer an astrophotography mode, letting you take hitherto unprecedented images of the night sky. One notable downside is that you couldn’t actually activate this mode manually, but that’s changing this week.

The Google News Telegram channel spotted the ability to manually activate astrophotography mode in version 9.5.118 of the Pixel Camera app. Unfortunately, this update isn’t available on the Google Play Store just yet, but you can grab it via APKMirror as a split APK bundle. If you’re not experienced with sideloading then we suggest waiting for the updated app to arrive on the Play Store.

Nevertheless, activating astrophotography mode in the updated Pixel Camera app is pretty easy:

1. Launch the camera app and swipe to the Night Sight mode.
2. Tap the duration icon and then adjust the resulting slider from “auto” to the new “Astro” option (to the right of “Max”).
3. You’ll then have a five-second timer by default before the astrophotography mode starts capturing exposures.

In other words, you can now activate astro mode via the slider normally used to adjust the capture time for Night Sight images.

The five-second timer can be adjusted (to three seconds or 10 seconds) or even disabled by visiting the Night Sight settings page. It’s also worth noting that the old method of activating astro mode is still available. That means launching the Night Sight mode in the Pixel Camera app, placing your phone on a stable surface or tripod, and waiting for the shutter button to display a star icon.

We’re glad Google now offers a way to manually activate astrophotography mode, even if it’s still not a discrete mode in the Pixel Camera app. Nevertheless, I’d definitely like to see a handheld astro mode in the near future as this is already a thing on some Chinese flagship phones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1Um_nLH2pY

Not all flavors of Android are made equal, but which ones are actually the best, and which ones are at the bottom of the pile? Well, we decided to rank the major Android skins.

We took several factors into account when ranking these Android overlays, namely aesthetics, the level of polish, the number of features, and the OEM’s update policy. It’s also worth noting that this isn’t an authoritative ranking; it’s more for fun than anything else.

So with all that in mind, let’s get on with it, going from worst to best!

11. Tecno HiOS

I’ve heard some people call Xiaomi’s MIUI a bad Android skin, but these people really have no idea what a bad Android skin is if they haven’t used Tecno’s HiOS.

The Transsion-owned brand might be a number five player globally today, but HiOS is the worst Android skin in our ranking. That’s due to a derivative aesthetic akin to MIUI and iOS, separate dropdowns for notifications and quick toggles (my pet peeve), and plenty of obscure bloatware. Compounding matters is the fact that you’re also forced to install some bloatware after booting up.

Last year’s TECNO Phantom V Fold even shipped with a forum app that displayed NSFW images. There aren’t a ton of features, either, although we had fun with the “plump butt” camera filter. Finally, TECNO is only promising up to two major OS updates and three years of security patches for its high-end phones. That’s basically the bare minimum.

10. Xiaomi MIUI/HyperOS

If this ranking was purely about functionality, Xiaomi’s MIUI and HyperOS would definitely be in the top three. Between per-app volume controls, slick gallery features, and shutdown confirmation (requiring a PIN to turn off the device), Xiaomi has always delivered in this regard. Unfortunately for the Chinese brand, there’s more to a good Android skin than the number of features.

The biggest issue with MIUI and HyperOS is the amount of bloatware and ads. Making matters worse is that Xiaomi doesn’t actually make it easy to disable system ads in the first place. The company has eased up in recent years, but its phones still offer plenty of bloatware, app “recommendations,” and a GetApps store with persistent notifications. At least you can uninstall most of the bloat and disable these notifications, but do you know what would be better? Not dealing with this stuff in the first place.

Another major issue with Xiaomi’s software is the iOS-inspired look and feel, with my biggest complaint being (again) the split notification shade and quick settings menu. The company offers a respectable four major OS updates and five years of security patches on its flagship phones, but Samsung’s mid-tier A series still beats the Redmi line for updates.

9. HONOR Magic OS

It was a tough battle for ninth place, as we couldn’t decide between HONOR’s Magic OS and Xiaomi’s Android skin. Fortunately for HONOR, we decided to place Magic OS above MIUI and HyperOS.

HONOR’s Android software fails to stand out from a visual perspective, bringing to mind HUAWEI’s EMUI and Apple’s iOS. The skin brings a healthy variety of features, but there are also some gimmicky additions (e.g. Air Gestures, AI app recommendations, Yoyo Assistant), Apple-inspired features (e.g. Magic Capsule), and some bloatware. It’s also worth noting that top HONOR phones only ship with three years of OS updates and five years of security patches. Even rivals like Xiaomi and OnePlus do a little better than that with a 4+5 update policy.

There’s still a lot to like here, though. Magic OS brings some great eye protection features, text extraction capabilities, and the Magic Portal feature to quickly share content between apps. But HONOR needs to learn that it’s okay to say “no” to a feature suggestion.

8. vivo Fun Touch OS

Fun Touch OS used to undoubtedly be one of the worst Android skins around, but vivo’s software has made major improvements since then. It’s just that the skin is largely inoffensive and drab rather than exciting.

The aesthetic is similar to stock Android in many places, such as the app drawer and home screens. Fun Touch OS brings brisk performance, a great camera app, and a healthy list of features, although it’s not quite on par with HyperOS or Color OS in terms of the latter.

The biggest issue with Fun Touch OS has traditionally been the copious amount of pre-installed apps. Things improved somewhat with the X100 Pro, but the company isn’t out of the woods yet. Vivo phones also top out at just three major OS updates and four years of security patches. Even HONOR has it beat in this regard, but at least it’s ahead of Sony. Again, it’s an inoffensive, merely adequate experience that won’t make you say “wow.”

7. ASUS Zen UI

Zen UI has made some meaningful improvements over the years, ditching the bloated, visually horrid approach of bygone years in favor of a relatively lean, stock-like experience. You’re not getting a lot of features here, although the ability to choose your quick-setting tile style (see above) is a welcome addition. The company has also added a couple of trendy AI features to the recent Zenfone 11 Ultra, namely audio recorder summaries and call translations.

Easily the biggest issue with ASUS software is the update situation, as you’re only getting two major OS updates and four years of security updates. That’s way behind most of the brands on this list. What’s even worse is that ASUS has dragged its feet in actually delivering these updates. A real shame.

6. Moto My UX/Hello UI

Motorola used to have one of the best software overlays in the game, and Hello UI (formerly My UX) still delivers a good experience in 2024. This Android skin effectively looks and feels like pure Android with a few tweaks. This approach has the added benefit of smooth performance as it isn’t encumbered by years of legacy crud.

The skin maintains beloved features like gestures (e.g. chopping your hand for the flashlight) and attentive display functionality, but has also introduced welcome new additions in recent years. This includes the well-received ReadyFor desktop mode, Spot Color camera functionality, and Google’s own Material You customizations. Motorola’s foldables even outdo Samsung when it comes to cover screen functionality.

There are two significant issues that drag things down, though. The first problem is that Motorola’s update policy varies wildly, from just one major OS update on its budget Android phones to three OS updates and four years of security patches on high-end phones like the Razr Plus 2024. But the policy for its flagship phones still lags behind the likes of OnePlus, Samsung, and Google, while the pace of updates is glacial too. The other issue with Motorola’s software is that its cheap phones are often filled with ads, “recommendations” masquerading as ads, and a horrible weather app.

5. Sony Xperia UI

Much like Motorola, Sony’s Android overlay builds features on top of stock Android rather than offering a full-blown overhaul. The result is a performant, lightweight Android skin for Xperia phones.

Sony’s Android skin brings an almost unparalleled variety of multimedia and camera features to high-end phones. This includes PlayStation remote play, loads of advanced photo/video controls in the camera app, a Video Creator app, and streaming your gameplay to YouTube. In saying so, those hoping for more general features and customization options seen in the likes of One UI might be a little disappointed. The Xperia UI also ships with a few bloatware apps, although it’s not as bad as others on the list.

The biggest issue with Xperia UI has historically been Sony’s pathetic update commitment, topping out at two major OS updates and three years of security patches. That’s poor form when Sony is regularly charging ~$1,400 or more for its top phones. The good news is that the recent Xperia 1 VI will receive three OS updates and four years of patches — still far behind the best in the industry but an improvement nonetheless.

4. Nothing OS

It’s a huge achievement for Nothing OS to be in the top five after just a few years on the market — most good Android skins usually require years of iteration.

The best thing about Nothing OS is its distinctive aesthetic, which features heavy use of monochrome colors, dot-matrix effects in places, and a few neat widgets. This skin would be higher on the list if we were judging things by looks alone. Nothing’s software also brings plenty of visual customization options as well as customization for the Glyph lighting seen on its phones. It doesn’t hurt that there’s little in the way of bloat here.

Unfortunately, the biggest issue with this software skin has to be the dearth of features. Sure, Nothing Phone 2 owners get stuff like ChatGPT integration, app locker functionality, and clone apps, but it lags behind pretty much every other major OEM in this regard. Nothing also promises three major OS updates and four years of security patches for its top-flight phones. That’s solid but a long way off OnePlus and OPPO, let alone top dogs Google and Samsung.

3. Color OS (OPPO/OnePlus)

OPPO’s Android skin — which also forms the basis for OxygenOS on OnePlus phones and Realme UI on Realme devices — is the best Android software from a Chinese smartphone brand in our book. One big reason for its high ranking is due to the variety of customization options. This includes changing the shape of quick setting tiles, tweaking system colors and icon name sizes, and the ability to adjust the speed of app launching/closing animations.

There are also plenty of useful everyday features, such as image clipper functionality, auto-pixelation of sensitive info in shared images, and some AI features (e.g. webpage summaries, object erasing). Color OS doesn’t beat Samsung and Google in terms of the all-important update policy, but you’re still getting four major OS updates and five security patches.

OPPO’s skin isn’t without flaws, though. For one, the sheer amount of bloatware and recommendations in some cases. This is usually restricted to Realme UI in some markets, but we noticed bloatware recommendations upon setting up the OnePlus 12 and OnePlus Open too.  The software also lags behind Samsung One UI as far as foldable-specific features are concerned.

2. Samsung One UI

Is it any surprise that Samsung’s all-conquering Android skin is placed so highly? The Galaxy maker continues to offer a dizzying variety of features, including much-loved additions like Dex, Samsung’s Expert RAW camera app, lock screen widgets, and Bixby Routines. Samsung also brought a ton of Galaxy AI features to recent phones, covering everything from recorder summaries and webpage/file summaries to generative AI editing and live translations during calls.

Samsung is tied with Google when it comes to all-important updates, offering seven years of updates on its latest high-end phones. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention its Good Lock suite of modules too, offering an unparalleled level of official customization options for every facet of your phone.

One UI just misses out on the top spot due to a ton of bloatware. It’s seriously hard to look past the sheer variety of pre-installed Samsung apps, Microsoft apps, and third-party bloatware. But nobody — not even Google itself — matches One UI for the sheer number of features.

1. Google Pixel UI

The Pixel UI has long been one of the best Android skins in the game, borrowing stock Android’s look and feel while offering some truly innovative features. Long-time Google Pixel features include call screening, a Now Playing feature that passively recognizes music around you, the ability to select text and images from the Recents menu, and the Google Recorder app. More recent additions include the Best Take photo mode, using your phone as a PC webcam, and webpage summarization smarts. One major downside is that some Pixel features, such as call-related capabilities, aren’t available around the world.

Another point in the Pixel UI’s favor is that there’s virtually no bloatware, unlike Samsung, Xiaomi, and others on this list. Google also offers an impressive seven years of OS and security updates for recent phones — in line with Samsung.

Perhaps the only significant issue I have with Google’s own Android skin is that it lags behind Samsung One UI when it comes to foldable-specific capabilities (e.g. per-screen customization). The Pixel UI lacks some traditional features compared to rivals, such as floating app windows and auto-pixelate functionality for shared images. Nevertheless, you’re getting plenty of exclusive features in return.

Do you agree with our Android skin rankings? What’s the best software in your book? Let us know via the poll below!

Google says the Pixel 9 phones have better screens compared to the Pixel 8 series, and it specifically offers so-called Super Actua screens with LTPO technology for the Pro models. Unfortunately, the company’s own support page suggested that Pro and Pro XL phones in India, Malaysia, and Singapore lacked Super Actua displays and LTPO tech.

Now, a Google representative has clarified to Android Authority that all Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL models actually have Super Actua screens:

 I can confirm that both Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL have Super Actua displays across all regions.

Google’s Super Actua branding debuted on the Pixel 8 Pro and refers to the screen’s ability to get incredibly bright without compromising color accuracy. So the lack of Super Actua branding on some Pixel 9 Pro series models would’ve implied that these devices have worse screens than variants in the US, Europe, and other markets. We’re, therefore, glad that Google has effectively confirmed that this was an error. For what it’s worth, the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL tout 2,000 nits of HDR brightness and 3,000 nits of peak brightness.

The original spec sheet didn’t list LTPO screens for Pixel 9 Pro series phones in India, Malaysia, and Singapore. Google didn’t specifically tell us that these variants actually have LTPO tech, but the company’s spec sheet has since been updated to note as such. Check out the original spec listing and the updated listing below.

LTPO technology enables more granular screen refresh rates, down to 10Hz or even 1Hz. By comparison, phones without LTPO screens usually offer a minimum refresh rate of 60Hz. The ability to dip far below 60Hz opens the door to improved battery life, especially when reading, viewing pictures, or using an always-on display.

Either way, we’re glad Google has clarified this situation. So you don’t have to worry about getting an inferior phone if you’re in India, Malaysia, or Singapore.

We’re in the second half of the year and we’ve already seen plenty of leaks about next-generation flagship phones. Now, a long-time leaker has posted images showing what these new-generation phones could look like.

Digital Chat Station posted drawings showing off numerous upcoming flagship phones from various Chinese manufacturers. For starters, the tipster posted images of what appears to be the OPPO Find X8 Ultra and vivo X200 series.

The Hasselblad logo and alert slider suggest we’re indeed looking at the Find X8 Ultra. Meanwhile, the logo in the center of the apparent vivo phone has the same shape as the ZEISS logo used on vivo X series devices.

Digital Chat Station also posted an image showing four upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 flagship phones from various sub-brands. Check out the picture below.

The tipster didn’t dish out any names, but some followers have surmised that we’re looking at devices from Redmi, Realme, Iqoo, and OnePlus, respectively. Other followers have swapped Realme and OnePlus, which makes sense as there doesn’t appear to be an alert slider on the fourth phone. Nevertheless, Iqoo also makes sense as the third phone given the brand’s propensity for squircle-shaped camera housings.

In any event, Qualcomm and MediaTek are tipped to launch their next-generation flagship processors in October. Digital Chat Station claimed that a variety of OEMs will launch phones powered by these chips in October and November. They specifically pointed to the Redmi K80 series, vivo X200 range, OPPO Find X8 family, Xiaomi 15 series, Iqoo 13, OnePlus 13, Realme GT7 Pro, and HONOR Magic 7 phones. Global availability is another story, though.

We’ve heard rumors for a while now that Apple could be working on a foldable iPhone and a foldable iMac/iPad hybrid. Now, it sounds like both devices might launch in 2026.

Opinion post by

Hadlee Simons

I’ve owned an NVIDIA Shield TV streaming box since early 2020, and it was a fantastic experience for the first couple of years. This was largely due to a steady stream of updates (until the last year or two), plenty of features, and good performance.

Unfortunately, my Shield TV hasn’t received updates in a long time. But an even bigger problem was the fact that performance degraded to horrible levels in the last 12 months or so. So, I went back to the most basic tech trick ever to fix it.

Android TV and iffy long-term performance

It’s not uncommon for Android TV boxes to see a major drop in performance over time, owing to their modest specs to begin with. However, my Shield TV tube was on another level when it came to performance degradation, despite its slightly above-average specs.

The biggest issue I had with the box was massive lag. Simply navigating system menus, Prime Video, and Netflix became a huge pain. It got to the point where there was as much as ten seconds of lag between tapping a button on the remote and seeing the action take place on the screen. That’s not an exaggeration, by the way. Another major problem I had with my Shield TV was extremely juddery video playback in the aforementioned streaming apps.

Multi-second lag and juddery video playback were ruining my Shield TV experience.

All of this made for a truly frustrating experience in the last year or so, particularly in the last couple of months. I tried clearing the cache of various apps to no avail. Reboots didn’t work, either. My next path of action was a tried-and-tested solution. I decided to factory reset my Shield TV.

An obvious but helpful solution

The thought of having to set things up again initially deterred me from a factory reset. After all, signing in to apps via Android TV can be a tedious process. But I reached the end of my tether and decided to just go ahead and wipe the Shield TV earlier this month.

I had enough foresight to store APKs on my Shield TV’s microSD card for apps that I sideloaded (e.g. streaming apps that aren’t available in my region). But perhaps one of the more notable revelations was that signing into these apps wasn’t a major pain at all. I’d totally forgotten that many streaming apps now let you sign in to the TV app by entering a code on your phone instead of manually typing credentials. This included Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video, and more. It’s clearly been a while since I’ve set up an Android TV box.

I still needed to set up streaming over the local network via VLC media player (Plex stopped working for me for some reason), but I could always log into my Shield TV from the Windows file explorer to transfer files if need be. For now, I’m 90% of the way there as far as my setup and restore processes are concerned.

Newsflash: Resetting a buggy tech product might fix those bugs.

What about the all-important performance, though? Now that the dust has settled, I’m glad to report that performance has improved in a big way. I still see the occasional jitter and rare bout of lag, but it’s a far cry from just a few weeks ago. Needless to say, you might want to factory reset your own Android TV box if it’s suffering from major performance issues. It’s not a silver bullet by any means, but it’s an obvious, time-tested option that can really make a big difference.

Quick Share is Samsung’s own file-sharing feature, allowing you to locally share files between Galaxy phones. Samsung also lets users share content between non-Galaxy devices over the internet, and it turns out the Galaxy maker is doubling the daily sharing limit for files shared over the web.

Quick Share lets users share files to non-Galaxy devices over the internet, but there is a 5GB individual file size limit and a 5GB daily transfer limit. That’s changing this week (h/t: @theonecid on X) as Samsung has increased the daily transfer limit to 10GB while also bumping up the individual file size limit to 10GB. This was also confirmed by the official Quick Share page. Check out the screenshot below.

We’re glad to see this transfer limit boost as it makes Samsung Quick Share a more useful file transfer service. So you don’t have to rely on a third-party transfer app if you want to send larger files to an iPhone, Mac, or something different altogether.

In any event, you can update the Samsung Quick Share app (version 13.6.51.13) via the Galaxy Store to take advantage of the raised file transfer limits. The app store listing also notes two other changes: displaying the total file size for the recipient in the incoming pop-up menu and showing up to two lines for nearby device names.

The iPhone 15 series all offer the same 12MP selfie camera, but it seems like Apple could change things up with the iPhone 17 line in 2025.

MacRumors obtained a research note from Apple analyst Jeff Pu, and the analyst asserts that all four iPhone 17 models will pack a 24MP selfie camera. This camera is said to offer six plastic lens elements.

There’s no word on other details (e.g. sensor size, pixel size), but this could be a handy upgrade. Many phones offer selfie cameras with a wide field of view (ideal for group selfies), but also let you crop in for more conventional selfies. So a higher resolution selfie camera could make for more detailed cropped selfies.

A higher resolution selfie camera could also potentially make for improved low-light snaps via pixel binning. Although a pixel-binned 24MP shot is equivalent to an 8MP snap.

This wouldn’t be the highest resolution selfie camera in the smartphone space, as we’ve previously seen phones with 32MP, 40MP, and even 50MP selfie cameras. Samsung, in particular, offered a 40MP selfie camera on its Ultra phones. But the Galaxy S24 Ultra has since reverted to a 12MP lens. So we’re curious to see what’s the megapixel sweet spot for selfie cameras.

The OnePlus Buds Pro 3 leaked in a big way a few days ago, as renders and specs were posted online. Now, a veteran source has revealed apparent pricing information for the new wireless earbuds.

Google is constantly bringing new features to Google Photos, giving you more tools to edit desired snaps. What if you need to edit a photo you just saw in your Memories? Well, the company is working on an easier way to edit these older snaps.

An Android Authority teardown of the Google Photos app (version 6.93) has revealed that Google could bring an edit button to photos in Memories. That means you can quickly edit an old photo by tapping the Edit icon directly in Memories. That’s much easier than the current solution, which sees you tap the three-dot-menu > View day, scroll to the relevant photo in your timeline, and then tap the Edit icon. Check out the first image below, which shows the newly added Edit icon.

Our video below also gives a better idea of how this editing shortcut works in Memories. More specifically, tapping the icon takes you to the usual editing menu, featuring a host of tools for you to play with.

In any event, this would be a great timesaver if you frequently share old photos. It’s also a very convenient addition if you’d like to quickly try out more modern editing features (e.g. Magic Editor) on older images.

This isn’t the only upcoming Google Photos feature we’ve uncovered in recent days. We also discovered that Google is working on an “enhance photo” button in the sharing menu prior to actually sharing a snap. We also uncovered a “Show more” option for faces, allowing you to see more of a specific face.

We’ve been expecting the Samsung One UI 7 beta program to launch for a while now, but it looks like we have to wait a little longer for the new Samsung software. However, a long-time leaker has just posted a lengthy One UI 7 changelog.

Ice Universe posted an apparent One UI 7 changelog on Weibo, and there are loads of tweaks and additions worth knowing. Check out the machine-translated screenshot below.

There are several notable visual changes worth highlighting, such as new system app icons, a new battery icon and charging animation, a new camera app UI, and new animations.

Ice Universe also asserts that you can choose between separate or unified dropdown menus for notifications and quick settings. That’s good news as earlier leaks suggested Samsung could switch to separate dropdown menus in One UI 7. So we’re glad to hear we might be given a choice between the two styles.

Other notable One UI 7 tweaks mentioned by the leaker include more desktop widgets, more lockscreen widgets, and large folder support. The latter in particular is a staple on some Android phones from rival brands.

One of the more underrated Samsung Keyboard features is support for extensions. Unfortunately, it looks like the company has shut down several big-name extensions.

Samsung removed some notable extensions from its keyboard app (h/t: SamMobile), namely Grammarly, Spotify, and YouTube.

The Grammarly extension looked out for typos and other grammatical errors as you typed. Meanwhile, the Spotify add-on let you search for and share links to songs without visiting the Spotify app. Finally, the YouTube extension lets you search for and share videos without hopping into YouTube.

There’s no word on why Samsung dropped these extensions, although comments in videos online suggest the change was made several months ago. Nevertheless, this is still a disappointing turn of events as Samsung Keyboard was one of the few keyboard apps with third-party extension support.

We’ve asked Samsung why it removed these extensions from Samsung Keyboard. We’ll update the article if/when the manufacturer gets back to us.

The Google Pixel 9 series and Pixel 9 Pro Fold are less than two weeks away from release, and we’ve already seen a smorgasbord of leaked renders and real-world media. Now, a trusted source has posted some high-quality renders of the devices.

We’ve heard rumors for a while now that Apple could be working on a foldable iPhone and a foldable iMac/iPad hybrid. Now, it sounds like both devices might launch in 2026.

Opinion post by

Hadlee Simons

I’ve owned an NVIDIA Shield TV streaming box since early 2020, and it was a fantastic experience for the first couple of years. This was largely due to a steady stream of updates (until the last year or two), plenty of features, and good performance.

Unfortunately, my Shield TV hasn’t received updates in a long time. But an even bigger problem was the fact that performance degraded to horrible levels in the last 12 months or so. So, I went back to the most basic tech trick ever to fix it.

Android TV and iffy long-term performance

It’s not uncommon for Android TV boxes to see a major drop in performance over time, owing to their modest specs to begin with. However, my Shield TV tube was on another level when it came to performance degradation, despite its slightly above-average specs.

The biggest issue I had with the box was massive lag. Simply navigating system menus, Prime Video, and Netflix became a huge pain. It got to the point where there was as much as ten seconds of lag between tapping a button on the remote and seeing the action take place on the screen. That’s not an exaggeration, by the way. Another major problem I had with my Shield TV was extremely juddery video playback in the aforementioned streaming apps.

Multi-second lag and juddery video playback were ruining my Shield TV experience.

All of this made for a truly frustrating experience in the last year or so, particularly in the last couple of months. I tried clearing the cache of various apps to no avail. Reboots didn’t work, either. My next path of action was a tried-and-tested solution. I decided to factory reset my Shield TV.

An obvious but helpful solution

The thought of having to set things up again initially deterred me from a factory reset. After all, signing in to apps via Android TV can be a tedious process. But I reached the end of my tether and decided to just go ahead and wipe the Shield TV earlier this month.

I had enough foresight to store APKs on my Shield TV’s microSD card for apps that I sideloaded (e.g. streaming apps that aren’t available in my region). But perhaps one of the more notable revelations was that signing into these apps wasn’t a major pain at all. I’d totally forgotten that many streaming apps now let you sign in to the TV app by entering a code on your phone instead of manually typing credentials. This included Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video, and more. It’s clearly been a while since I’ve set up an Android TV box.

I still needed to set up streaming over the local network via VLC media player (Plex stopped working for me for some reason), but I could always log into my Shield TV from the Windows file explorer to transfer files if need be. For now, I’m 90% of the way there as far as my setup and restore processes are concerned.

Newsflash: Resetting a buggy tech product might fix those bugs.

What about the all-important performance, though? Now that the dust has settled, I’m glad to report that performance has improved in a big way. I still see the occasional jitter and rare bout of lag, but it’s a far cry from just a few weeks ago. Needless to say, you might want to factory reset your own Android TV box if it’s suffering from major performance issues. It’s not a silver bullet by any means, but it’s an obvious, time-tested option that can really make a big difference.

Quick Share is Samsung’s own file-sharing feature, allowing you to locally share files between Galaxy phones. Samsung also lets users share content between non-Galaxy devices over the internet, and it turns out the Galaxy maker is doubling the daily sharing limit for files shared over the web.

Quick Share lets users share files to non-Galaxy devices over the internet, but there is a 5GB individual file size limit and a 5GB daily transfer limit. That’s changing this week (h/t: @theonecid on X) as Samsung has increased the daily transfer limit to 10GB while also bumping up the individual file size limit to 10GB. This was also confirmed by the official Quick Share page. Check out the screenshot below.

We’re glad to see this transfer limit boost as it makes Samsung Quick Share a more useful file transfer service. So you don’t have to rely on a third-party transfer app if you want to send larger files to an iPhone, Mac, or something different altogether.

In any event, you can update the Samsung Quick Share app (version 13.6.51.13) via the Galaxy Store to take advantage of the raised file transfer limits. The app store listing also notes two other changes: displaying the total file size for the recipient in the incoming pop-up menu and showing up to two lines for nearby device names.

The iPhone 15 series all offer the same 12MP selfie camera, but it seems like Apple could change things up with the iPhone 17 line in 2025.

MacRumors obtained a research note from Apple analyst Jeff Pu, and the analyst asserts that all four iPhone 17 models will pack a 24MP selfie camera. This camera is said to offer six plastic lens elements.

There’s no word on other details (e.g. sensor size, pixel size), but this could be a handy upgrade. Many phones offer selfie cameras with a wide field of view (ideal for group selfies), but also let you crop in for more conventional selfies. So a higher resolution selfie camera could make for more detailed cropped selfies.

A higher resolution selfie camera could also potentially make for improved low-light snaps via pixel binning. Although a pixel-binned 24MP shot is equivalent to an 8MP snap.

This wouldn’t be the highest resolution selfie camera in the smartphone space, as we’ve previously seen phones with 32MP, 40MP, and even 50MP selfie cameras. Samsung, in particular, offered a 40MP selfie camera on its Ultra phones. But the Galaxy S24 Ultra has since reverted to a 12MP lens. So we’re curious to see what’s the megapixel sweet spot for selfie cameras.

The OnePlus Buds Pro 3 leaked in a big way a few days ago, as renders and specs were posted online. Now, a veteran source has revealed apparent pricing information for the new wireless earbuds.

Google is constantly bringing new features to Google Photos, giving you more tools to edit desired snaps. What if you need to edit a photo you just saw in your Memories? Well, the company is working on an easier way to edit these older snaps.

An Android Authority teardown of the Google Photos app (version 6.93) has revealed that Google could bring an edit button to photos in Memories. That means you can quickly edit an old photo by tapping the Edit icon directly in Memories. That’s much easier than the current solution, which sees you tap the three-dot-menu > View day, scroll to the relevant photo in your timeline, and then tap the Edit icon. Check out the first image below, which shows the newly added Edit icon.

Our video below also gives a better idea of how this editing shortcut works in Memories. More specifically, tapping the icon takes you to the usual editing menu, featuring a host of tools for you to play with.

In any event, this would be a great timesaver if you frequently share old photos. It’s also a very convenient addition if you’d like to quickly try out more modern editing features (e.g. Magic Editor) on older images.

This isn’t the only upcoming Google Photos feature we’ve uncovered in recent days. We also discovered that Google is working on an “enhance photo” button in the sharing menu prior to actually sharing a snap. We also uncovered a “Show more” option for faces, allowing you to see more of a specific face.

We’ve been expecting the Samsung One UI 7 beta program to launch for a while now, but it looks like we have to wait a little longer for the new Samsung software. However, a long-time leaker has just posted a lengthy One UI 7 changelog.

Ice Universe posted an apparent One UI 7 changelog on Weibo, and there are loads of tweaks and additions worth knowing. Check out the machine-translated screenshot below.

There are several notable visual changes worth highlighting, such as new system app icons, a new battery icon and charging animation, a new camera app UI, and new animations.

Ice Universe also asserts that you can choose between separate or unified dropdown menus for notifications and quick settings. That’s good news as earlier leaks suggested Samsung could switch to separate dropdown menus in One UI 7. So we’re glad to hear we might be given a choice between the two styles.

Other notable One UI 7 tweaks mentioned by the leaker include more desktop widgets, more lockscreen widgets, and large folder support. The latter in particular is a staple on some Android phones from rival brands.

One of the more underrated Samsung Keyboard features is support for extensions. Unfortunately, it looks like the company has shut down several big-name extensions.

Samsung removed some notable extensions from its keyboard app (h/t: SamMobile), namely Grammarly, Spotify, and YouTube.

The Grammarly extension looked out for typos and other grammatical errors as you typed. Meanwhile, the Spotify add-on let you search for and share links to songs without visiting the Spotify app. Finally, the YouTube extension lets you search for and share videos without hopping into YouTube.

There’s no word on why Samsung dropped these extensions, although comments in videos online suggest the change was made several months ago. Nevertheless, this is still a disappointing turn of events as Samsung Keyboard was one of the few keyboard apps with third-party extension support.

We’ve asked Samsung why it removed these extensions from Samsung Keyboard. We’ll update the article if/when the manufacturer gets back to us.

The Google Pixel 9 series and Pixel 9 Pro Fold are less than two weeks away from release, and we’ve already seen a smorgasbord of leaked renders and real-world media. Now, a trusted source has posted some high-quality renders of the devices.

Gemini offers support for extensions, allowing you to use other Google and third-party apps within the voice assistant. The company currently offers a YouTube Music extension, but what if you use a different music streaming platform?

An Android Authority teardown of the Google app (version 15.30.27.29) has revealed that a Spotify extension for Gemini is in the works. A description of the extension (seen in the first image below) suggests that this will let you play both music and podcasts.

We were able to get the feature working on our phone, asking Gemini to play a song via Spotify. Gemini briefly shows a YouTube Music info card after processing the request, but the song indeed plays via Spotify. It’s also worth noting that the chatbot can play music via Spotify in the background instead of launching the app. Check out our video below for a better idea of how this extension works.

Nevertheless, this is good news as there are hundreds of millions of Spotify users out there. So you don’t have to sign up for YouTube Music Premium if you want Gemini integration on your Android device.

This isn’t the only upcoming Gemini extension we’ve spotted in recent days. We discovered that several more unannounced Gemini extensions are in the works, including Google Home, the Phone app, and Utilities. This is all encouraging news if you thought Gemini could use more comprehensive integration with other apps and services.

The Galaxy S24 series seems like a great seller for Samsung, but the company is hard at work on next year’s Galaxy S25 series. We’ve already seen some leaks about the new phones, but the Galaxy maker has now briefly outlined what we should expect.

Samsung mobile experience (MX) vice-president Daniel Araujo promised notable Galaxy S25 upgrades in a Q2 2024 earnings call (h/t: Seeking Alpha):

So on your second question, we’ve consistently upgraded the hardware in our S Series to deliver industry-leading experiences to customers, and we’ll continue to enhance key experiences as well (as) upgrade hardware so that we can offer top performance. For camera and display specs in particular, where we’ve been leading, the S25 at launch will have top-of-the-line upgrades. And we’re also preparing industry-best APs and memory to boost AI performance and offer an overall premium experience.

The executive didn’t delve into specific camera and display upgrades. However, the most recent leaks suggest the Galaxy S25 Ultra, in particular, would get a 50MP 3x camera, which would be a major upgrade in theory from the S24 Ultra’s 10MP 3x sensor. We hope the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus also see significant hardware upgrades, especially in light of the vanilla and Plus phones using the same camera hardware since 2022.

Araujo also broadly touched on Samsung’s future mobile AI plans:

So looking forward, we expect to be able to understand the context of conversations and provide a natural conversation and experience across our devices. To achieve this, we’ll strengthen partnerships and collaborations while developing our AI technologies further.

This statement comes a couple of weeks after Samsung announced the acquisition of UK startup Oxford Semantic Technologies, which specializes in knowledge graph technology.

“Combined with on-device AI technology, such as that on Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series, personal knowledge graph technology facilitates hyper-personalized user experiences while ensuring sensitive personal data remains secure on the device. It will be applicable across all of Samsung’s products, extending beyond just mobile devices to televisions and home appliances,” the Galaxy maker explained at the time.

Google will launch the Pixel 9 series and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold in two weeks, and we’ve already seen a host of leaks. The claims aren’t stopping there, as we’ve now got more apparent details about the foldable phone’s dimensions.

Android Headlines reports that the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold measures 155.2 x 77.1 x 10.5mm when folded and 155.2 x 150.2 x 5.1mm when unfurled. That makes it thinner than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 (12.1mm) and the OnePlus Open (11.7mm). However, it still lags behind foldables from the likes of HONOR and vivo.

The outlet also notes that the Google foldable weighs 257 grams, which is lighter than the original model (283 grams) but still heavier than the Z Fold 6 (239 grams) and OnePlus Open (239 grams). In fact, the device is slightly heavier than the Galaxy Z Fold 5 (253 grams) too.

Android Headlines also posted some apparent screen details, claiming that the device has a 6.3-inch smartphone display with a 20:9 aspect ratio and an HDR brightness of 1,800 nits. Meanwhile, the folding display is said to be an 8-inch panel with 1,600 nits of HDR brightness. Most of these details broadly line up with our exclusive Pixel 9 Pro Fold display leak. We haven’t heard any leaks regarding peak brightness until now, though, but the outlet asserts that both screens have 2,700 nits of peak brightness.

In any event, we’re glad to see Google upping the foldable phone ante in some ways. But we really hope the Pixel 10 Pro Fold brings a much lighter design.

OnePlus has just launched the Nord CE 4 Lite in global markets, but one major difference between the European model and other variants is the battery capacity. Other models, such as the Indian device, have a 5,500mAh battery, but the European variant brings a 5,110mAh battery instead.

Now, OnePlus has explained this disparity in an emailed statement, and it turns out that European regulations are to blame:

Google already offers Gemini to teenagers using their personal accounts, but teens weren’t able to use the chatbot with their educational accounts.

Now, Google has announced that Gemini is coming to teenagers via their school-issued accounts in the “coming months.” The company added that this option will be available in English in over 100 countries.

There’s no shortage of concerns about Google’s ethics, ranging from its privacy issues to YouTube’s promotion of toxic videos. However, it looks like Google might be barring Gemini on mobile from answering questions about its parent company’s ethics.

Athenil noticed that Gemini on mobile abruptly changed its answer when asked whether Google had done anything unethical. We were able to reproduce this on our own phone — check out our video below.

Sleep timers are a common feature on podcast and music streaming apps, letting you specify when playback stops. This is handy for bedtime, as the name implies, automatically stopping playback after you’ve fallen asleep. YouTube lacks this feature, but our teardown reveals that the option is in the works.

Android app expert AssembleDebug, in conjunction with Android Authority, dug into a beta version of the YouTube app for Android (version 19.25.33). We discovered references to sleep timer functionality — check them out below.

Several companies have offered augmented reality (AR) glasses in recent years, featuring a display, smart features, or other tricks. It now sounds like Apple is stepping up its efforts to enter this segment, but we could be in for an extremely long wait.

Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman reported in his Power On newsletter that Apple has “renewed” efforts to develop its own AR glasses. The journalist added that these would be “lightweight” glasses that could be worn all day.

Apple launched the Vision Pro XR headset earlier this year, and it’s not exactly set cash registers on fire. The company is apparently pushing ahead with a cheaper headset, but it sounds like Apple could take a cue from the Samsung Gear VR by requiring a tethered companion device.

Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman reported in his Power On newsletter that Apple’s cheaper Vision headset is codenamed N107. The device will apparently cost $1,500 to $2,000 and was originally slated to launch as soon as late 2025.

Apple announced a variety of new AI tricks for its iPhones earlier this month, dubbed Apple Intelligence. Unfortunately, most iPhone owners are left in the lurch as only the iPhone 15 Pro series will get these features.

Google launched its Find My Device network earlier this year, and several brands have already chipped in with tracking tags. It looks like Motorola’s offering is a step closer to release with a new regulatory filing.

The Motorola Moto Tag was listed by the FCC today (h/t: IT Home), and it supports Bluetooth LE and UWB connectivity. The latter feature means that you can expect more fine-tuned, granular tracking support compared to a Bluetooth-only tracker.

This filing also reveals that the tracker, which has the model number XT2445-1, runs on a standard watch battery (CR2032). That means sourcing replacement batteries shouldn’t be a problem.

The listing doesn’t confirm whether this device will support Google’s Find My Device network. However, the search colossus previously noted that Motorola would offer a compatible tracker later this year. So it stands to reason that the Moto Tag is the product in question.

There’s no official word on a launch date just yet, but the company is holding a launch event on June 25. Motorola is expected to unveil its Razr 2024 foldable phones, but we’re guessing it could also reveal the Moto Tag on the day.

We’ve already seen the first Galaxy Tab S10 series leaks and rumors appearing online, and a trusted source has now posted renders for the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra.

Steve ‘OnLeaks’ Hemmerstoffer and Android Headlines posted apparent Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra renders online. Check the image above and the gallery below to get a look.

The renders show a tablet with a similar design as the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, featuring the same display notch that hosts two selfie cameras. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra also retains the previous tablet’s magnetic S Pen holder on the back and the same dual rear camera design.

Other design-related details include what appears to be a metal design, quad speakers (two on each side), and power and volume keys at the top.

The outlet also posted dimensions, claiming that the new tablet measures 326.4 x 208.6 x 5.45mm. That makes it virtually identical to the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra (326.4 x 208.6 x 5.5mm).

There’s no word on other specs, but we’re expecting a flagship processor, an OLED screen, and Galaxy AI features. The launch date is another mystery as it doesn’t seem like Samsung is gearing up for a tablet launch next month at its Unpacked event.

Samsung’s Unpacked event is a few weeks away, but the leak train continues to steam ahead. Now, European pricing for the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, Galaxy Watch 7, and Galaxy Watch Ultra may have been revealed.

YTechB reported that a European retailer has listed the aforementioned gadgets on its website, along with pricing. The news outlet shared screenshots too (seen below), but didn’t specify the retailer. The outlet also claimed that these prices were slightly discounted compared to the full recommended prices. Either way, you’ll want to take this report with some caution.

The retailer apparently lists the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro at €313.49 (~$335), which would be a steep increase over the Buds 2 Pro‘s €240 (~$257) launch price. Expect to find it in Silver and White colors.

Meanwhile, the 40mm Galaxy Watch 7 BT is reportedly listed at €314.49 (~$336) while the 44mm model costs €344.99 (~$369). The watches are apparently available in Cream, Green, and Silver color schemes. There’s no word on pricing for the cellular models.

Fancy buying the Galaxy Watch Ultra? The unnamed retailer is listing it for €688.99 (~$737), with the outlet claiming that it’s available in Titanium Gray, Titanium Silver, and Titanium White.

Device pricing can undoubtedly change between now and the Unpacked launch event. It’s also worth noting that European prices tend to be more expensive than US prices, so a direct conversion isn’t necessarily indicative of US price tags.

Samsung is expected to hold its Unpacked event next month, and we’ve heard rumors about a variety of devices. One persistent wearable-related claim is that the company will launch a so-called Galaxy Watch Ultra on the day, and it looks like Samsung itself has accidentally confirmed this name.

91mobiles spotted an official “Galaxy Watch Ultra” support page on Samsung’s regional websites. The now-pulled pages listed the name, 47mm size, and LTE support. Check out a screenshot below.

Samsung may have pulled these pages, but you can still use a Google search (seen below) to view the company’s mention of the “Galaxy Watch Ultra” name and other details.

The news comes a few weeks after regulatory bodies listed a Galaxy Watch Ultra too. But now Samsung itself has indeed outed the name, albeit accidentally.

Leaked Galaxy Watch Ultra renders show a watch with a curious dial shape, along with a mysterious third button. It’s believed the new watch could retail for $699 to $710, undercutting Ultra watches from the likes of Apple and HUAWEI.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 series is available with in-house Exynos or Qualcomm Snapdragon chips. However, there seems to be uncertainty over whether the Galaxy S25 series will use Exynos silicon. Now, a new report suggests that Samsung is making a concerted effort to make an Exynos-powered Galaxy S25 a reality.

ZDNet Korea reports that Samsung is making “all-out efforts” to improve the yield of the upcoming Samsung Exynos 2500 processor. The outlet reports that Samsung’s LSI division is focused on improving the yield of the new chip by the second half of the year.

The Exynos 2500 is built on Samsung’s 3nm manufacturing process, but the yield rate reportedly remained in single-digit percentages until the first quarter of the year. A project to supply engineering samples of the new chips was also apparently postponed at the time.

Will an Exynos Galaxy S25 actually happen?

ZDNet Korea further claimed that Samsung has since improved the yield rate to just under 20% by Q2 2024. The website adds that this yield rate isn’t enough and that yield rates typically need to reach 60% or higher for mass production. For what it’s worth, leaker Revegnus claimed back in February that the 4nm Exynos 2400 had a ~60% yield rate.

Samsung apparently still has time to improve yield rates as mass production of the Exynos 2500 is said to be scheduled for the end of the year. So it seems like Exynos-powered Galaxy S25 units aren’t out of the question just yet, but it’s looking like a tall order.

The news comes after analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently claimed that the Galaxy S25 would likely be exclusively powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset, citing the Exynos 2500’s poor yield rates.

Many Android phones sold in the US come with a one-year warranty, while the European Union and several other markets mandate a two-year warranty for devices. What if two years isn’t enough for you? Well, Motorola has a phone for you — if you live in the right country.

Motorola has revealed that the upcoming Moto S50 Neo budget smartphone will have a four-year warranty, beating warranty offerings from other manufacturers.

The four-year warranty consists of a one-year warranty plus a free, three-year extended warranty service, according to the fine print in an official image (below).

The Moto S50 Neo is also confirmed to come with a 5,000mAh battery while weighing just 171 grams. The phone has apparently surfaced on China’s TENAA regulatory website too, featuring an FHD+ OLED screen, a 2.3GHz octa-core chip, a 50MP+8MP rear camera pairing, and a 32MP selfie snapper.

Unfortunately, the Moto S50 Neo and the accompanying warranty offer seem to be China-only affairs for now. We’ve asked Motorola whether it plans to offer four-year warranties for any phones in the US, and will update the article accordingly. But we’d love to see it or other brands up the ante with four-year warranties in global markets.

Counterpoint Research previously predicted that people would hold onto their phones for roughly 40 months in 2023. We’ve also seen several manufacturers offer five or even seven years of software updates. So it seems sensible for warranties and spare parts availability to match these software promises.

Google confirmed a while back that it would be shutting down its VPN By Google One service on June 20 (yesterday). Pixel owners received a replacement service, dubbed VPN by Google, from June 3. Unfortunately, it looks like there are issues with this replacement service for some users.

Several Pixel owners have chimed in on Reddit to note that the new VPN By Google service either isn’t working or isn’t showing up for them. That means these users don’t have access to the original VPN by Google One service or the replacement option, forcing them to use an alternative VPN service for their needs.

The issue seems to affect the Pixel 7 series (including the Pixel 7a) and the Pixel 8 range, but it will likely affect some Pixel Fold owners too.

In any event, some Redditors in the thread observed that their phones haven’t received the June update from their carriers yet. However, a few others chimed in to say they received the update but still don’t have access to the VPN By Google service.

We’ve asked Google for comment regarding this issue and will update the article if/when the company gets back to us.

T-Mobile previously announced that it would address a loophole that allowed customers to access its 5G Home Internet service while traveling. It looks like the company has finally closed this gap.

Qualcomm has already confirmed that its next-generation Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 processor will launch in October, and it’s expected to power a host of high-end phones in 2025. But you won’t need to wait until 2025 to see the first phone with this processor.

Weibo tipster Smart Pikachu has claimed that the Xiaomi 15 will be the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 smartphone. The leaker reiterated that the phone will have a small flat screen, adding that it’ll be a “little rounder” than before.

When will the phone launch, though?

Smart Pikachu didn’t dish out a specific launch window. However, fellow leaker Digital Chat Station claimed in a now-edited post that the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 phones would indeed launch at the end of October.

An October launch window for the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 phones wouldn’t be a surprise. The Xiaomi 14 and 14 Pro launched in October 2023 as the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 handsets, after all.

However, we’re guessing that the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 devices will be China-only releases at first, with global launches following in the new year. This was indeed the case for the Xiaomi 14, which eventually received a global release in February 2024.

This isn’t the first time we heard about the Xiaomi 15 series being the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 phone family, either. Leaker Yogesh Brar claimed back in April that Xiaomi had “exclusive first launch rights” for the new chip and would offer the Xiaomi 15 and Xiaomi 15 Pro. Brar added that OnePlus and Iqoo would follow as the next OEMs to offer the new silicon.

We heard our first One UI 6.1.1 leaks earlier this week, and it seems that Samsung is planning to bring plenty more AI features with this software. Now, a long-time leaker has revealed one more apparent AI feature.

Ice Universe claimed on X that the upcoming Samsung One UI 6.1.1 update will include an AI feature for portrait mode. More specifically, the tipster claims that “you can use AI to paint the portrait photos you take into various styles.”

It’s unclear whether this will be a highly customizable feature (e.g. using prompts), a handful of pre-defined on-device styles akin to filters, or something different altogether. We hope it’s not a few predefined styles as filters aren’t anything new.

In any event, this wouldn’t be the first time we see generative AI used for portraits on phones. Chinese brand vivo has offered generative portrait functionality on its high-end phones (seen below), allowing you to change the season in your portrait images. Your captured images are uploaded to vivo’s servers for processing, and the results aren’t convincing at all.

More recently, Xiaomi marketed an AI Portrait feature on the Xiaomi 14 series, which allows you to place yourself in a variety of scenes based on prompts. This doesn’t work locally, though, and requires you to feed previous photos of yourself as a reference so the feature can learn what you look like. This also doesn’t specifically work with portrait mode.

Either way, the aforementioned attempts to fuse generative AI and portraits have generally been very gimmicky. So our expectations are low for Samsung’s take on this in One UI 6.1.1, but we hope to be proven wrong.

We’re in Taipei for Computex 2024, and we covered plenty of interesting, unique, and exciting products this week on our website and YouTube channel.

PC chipmakers AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm made a splash with their Ryzen 300 AI, Lunar Lake, and Snapdragon X series chips, respectively. But processors mean nothing without products, so what were the best products and devices at Computex this year?

Google has offered Android Feature Drops for quite some time now, dishing out a new set of features to Android phone users at large. The company has just revealed Feature Drop for May 2024, and it brings some Apple-style cross-device functionality to the table.

The new Android Feature Drop will offer two cool features via its cross-device services functionality. The first feature, dubbed Instant Hotspot, lets you quickly share your phone’s Wi-Fi hotspot with your Android tablet or Chromebook in a single tap. You don’t need to manually enter your hotspot password or share a QR code.

Samsung has ruled the global foldable phone market since it launched the original Galaxy Fold back in 2019 and the Galaxy Z Flip back in 2020. Unfortunately for the Korean manufacturer, it’s just been knocked off its perch for the first time.

Counterpoint Research reports that HUAWEI has overtaken Samsung to be the top foldable phone manufacturer in Q1 2024. The Chinese brand’s foldables accounted for 35% of the global foldable market, compared to Samsung’s 23%. Just a year ago, HUAWEI had a 14% global share versus Samsung’s 58%.

Netflix has long offered HDR support on Android phones, giving you a more immersive viewing experience for supported content. What if you don’t want HDR on your device, though? Well, you couldn’t disable this feature up until now. But that could change in a future version of Netflix for Android.

Android Authority and leaker AssembleDebug dug into a recent version of the Netflix app for Android (version 8.117.0 build 3 50695 beta), discovering evidence of an HDR toggle as an experimental setting. This would allow users to choose between an HDR and SDR stream when watching content on their Android devices.