This is the global BlackBerry KEYone Black Edition in all its dark and mysterious glory, with both an extra touch of style and more fluid user experience.
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With no silver accents in sight, 4GB RAM under the hood, as well as 64GB storage space, the BlackBerry KEYone Black Edition is ready to travel the world.
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The BlackBerry KeyOne Black Edition has been officially released at IFA 2017 in Berlin, offering physical keyboard fans a fresh new(ish) look and a bit of extra grunt under the hood.
In terms of design and most of its specs, the new KeyOne Black Edition is identical to the silver variant that launched at the start of 2017, but there are two key upgrades (over and above the stylish, yet understated black finish).
Firstly BlackBerry – or rather TCL, the firm that licenses the brand name to stick on handsets – has upped the RAM from 3GB in the original to 4GB in the Black Edition.
While it gives the Black Edition a little extra zip on screen, you’re unlikely to notice too much difference during day to day usage.
It should mean that the new KeyOne should perform better when it comes to heavy lifting tasks, although we were unable to put it to the test during our brief hands on time.
The second upgrade comes in the form of more space for all your stuff, with 64GB of storage stuffed inside (up from 32GB). It may be a welcome addition for some users, but the fact that both the KeyOne and KeyOne Black Edition both come with microSD slots that support cards up to 2TB in size means the boost here is a little less impressive.
For handsets such as the OnePlus 5 and iPhone 7 that don’t have an expandable storage option, offering different tiers of space makes sense. It’s a little more difficult to justify the move, and additional cost, here.
BlackBerry KeyOne Black Edition hands on gallery
The new color is actually rather nice, and we prefer it over the silver version. The black matte finish is sleek and stylish, which will suit those looking for something a little more understated than the slightly flash, silver KeyOne.
We still have reservations about the physical keyboard though, as typing on it requires a low grip on the phone which can make things a little top heavy and unwieldy in the hand – although there’s still a staunch fan base for physical keys out there.
In terms of the rest of what the KeyOne Black Edition offers, there’s a 4.5-inch full HD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset, 12MP rear camera, 8MP front facing camera, Android 7.1 and a 3,505mAh battery. Oh, and the physical keyboard with a fingerprint scanner built into the space bar.
It also comes with BlackBerry’s security and privacy features, with additional safety functions built into the software and the inclusion of the DTEK app which helps you control which apps can see your personal data.
So what will the extra RAM and storage, and that new color scheme, set you back? The BackBerry KeyOne Black Edition will go on sale initially in the UK during mid-September with a retail price of £549 (around $700, AU$890).
That’s a small jump from the £499 ($579.99, around AU$730) price tag of the standard KeyOne, and BlackBerry says it’ll roll the handset out to more countries, including the US and Canada, in the weeks following the UK launch.
KeyOne vs KeyOne Black Edition hands on gallery
IFA 2017 is Europe's biggest tech show. The TechRadar team is in Berlin to bring you all the breaking news and hands-on first impressions of new phones, watches and other tech as they're announced.
The LG V30 is officially coming "this fall" to T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T, but exact release dates and price tags worldwide are still up in the air.
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There's a new color variant of the well-equipped, and surprisingly well-priced Honor 9, although this hue takes the shine off the key selling point as the price increases with the inclusion of extra storage too.
Announced at IFA 2017 in Berlin and dubbed the Honor 9 REB it's not, in fact, a red handset that's fallen victim to a spelling error, rather it stands for 'Robin Egg Blue.'
Other than the limited edition color and an upgraded 128GB of storage space (versus 64GB in the current models), everything else on the handset is the same as the Glacier Grey and Sapphire Blue versions.
That means you get a 5.15-inch full HD display, Kirin 960 chipset, 6GB of RAM, 20MP + 12MP dual rear cameras, 8MP front snapper, 3,200mAh battery and a front facing fingerprint scanner.
All of this is due to set you back £459.99, which is considerably more than the £379 you pay for the grey and blue variants - although the new model does have double the storage.
Want to see a few more shots of the Robin Egg Blue Honor 9? Sure you do, so check out the little gallery below.
IFA 2017 is Europe's biggest tech show. The TechRadar team is in Berlin to bring you all the breaking news and hands-on first impressions of new phones, watches and other tech as they're announced.
Garmin has a wrist payment-capable smartwatch, touchscreen hybrid wearable and basic-looking activity tracker to showcase at IFA 2017 this week.
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Sony is one of the only companies still making fairly high-end compact phones, but it’s been a year since its last one, the Sony Xperia X Compact – and that phone didn’t impress us as much as some of its earlier small-screeners, so fans of compact handsets haven’t had much to get excited about lately.
That could all be changing though, as Sony has just announced the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact, alongside the Sony Xperia XZ1.
But just how different is the XZ1 Compact to the X Compact? And was it worth the wait? To help answer those questions we’ve put the two phones head to head.
The Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact is constructed from glass fiber weave plastic, giving it a different look and feel to the ceramic-like plastic on the Sony Xperia X Compact.
It’s going to largely be subjective as to which is better, but otherwise these are very similar-looking phones, with a similarly rectangular design and a distinctive power button on the side that incorprates a fingerprint scanner (unless you’re in the US).
The two phones even have the same dimensions of 129 x 65mm. However, the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact is marginally slimmer and heavier at 9.3mm thick and 143g, compared to the Xperia X Compact’s 9.5mm and 135g.
Perhaps the biggest design win for the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact though is that it’s IP68 certified dust- and water-resistant, so it can survive the rain or even submersion.
Waterproofing is a common feature on high-end Sony phones, but it's lacking from the Sony Xperia X Compact.
The XZ1 Compact also sports dual S-Force front surround speakers for 50% more sound pressure than the X Compact.
At 4.6 inches the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact certainly has a small screen by modern standards, and at 720p it's not overly high-resolution, but the small size ensures it’s still fairly sharp.
However, that’s exactly the same setup as the Sony Xperia X Compact, so there’s little to choose there. Either of these phones will be easy to operate with one hand.
We had no real issues with the Xperia X Compact's screen, despite its relatively low resolution, and in our early tests we've found the XZ1 Compact's display to be similarly high-quality.
The Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact comes with Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box, while the Sony Xperia X Compact is still on Android 7.1.1 Nougat and it’s not known if or when it will be updated.
The XZ1 Compact is also more powerful, sporting a high-end Snapdragon 835 chipset and 4GB of RAM, compared to the mid-range Snapdragon 650 chipset and 3GB of RAM in the Sony Xperia X Compact.
Both phones also come with 32GB of storage and a microSD card slot with support for cards of up to 256GB.
There’s a 19MP camera on the back of the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact, just like on other recent Sony flagships. And while it’s a lower megapixel count it can likely be considered an upgrade on the 23MP one on the Xperia X Compact.
It’s capable of 4K video recording and super slow-motion shooting at 960fps, neither of which can be matched by the Sony Xperia X Compact’s video camera, which tops out at 1080p.
The Xperia XZ1 Compact also has an 8MP lens on the front and it’s a super wide-angle one, so you can fit more in your shots. The Sony Xperia X Compact on the other hand has a more conventional 5MP front-facing snapper.
Both phones have a 2,700mAh battery though, so there’s no change there. We’ll be sure to put the XZ1 Compact’s fully to the test in our review, but the X Compact is quite a long-lasting phone, so we’re hopeful that its successor will be too.
There’s no word yet on what the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact will cost, but the Sony Xperia X Compact launched at $499/£359 (around AU$635) so the Xperia XZ1 Compact is likely to be similar. You can now find the Xperia X compact for around $100/£100 less than that though.
With a much higher-end chipset, more RAM, dust and water resistance, a likely better camera and a tweaked design, the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact sounds on paper like it could be the phone we hoped the X Compact would be.
Of course, how good it is in practice remains to be seen – we’ll let you know when we put it through our full review. It’s also not an improvement in all areas, with the screen and battery size remaining much the same, while the XZ1 Compact will also likely cost more to get hold of.
Still, if you’ve been holding out for a compact flagship this could be the phone to buy.
IFA 2017 is Europe's biggest tech show. The TechRadar team is in Berlin to bring you all the breaking news and hands-on first impressions of new phones, watches and other tech as they're announced.
Android 8.0 Oreo will soon roll out to a bunch of Sony Xperia devices, including the X, X Performance, X Compact, XZ, XA1 and XA1 Ultra.
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Lenovo is all set to launch two more devices in its K Series in India after the launch of the K8 Note earlier this month. The devices set to be launched are the K8 and K8 Plus, which will be aimed at the budget segment.
Lenovo has been teasing the K8 Plus on social media since the launch of the K8 Note earlier this month. Now, the company has confirmed that the device will be launched in India on September 6. The teaser from Lenovo comes with the following tagline “Do you look at your smartphone and always #KraveForMore? It's time to end that with the new and powerful #LenovoK8Plus. Coming soon!”
E-commerce portal Flipkart has also teased the device, mentioning that the K8 Plus will come with a dual camera setup, similar to the K8 Note. It also confirmed that the K8 Plus will be sold exclusively by Flipkart in India. The teaser also highlighted that the device will come with bokeh effect feature, similar to the K8 Note.
As per reports, both the K8 and K8 Plus are scheduled to arrive in India by mid-September. Considering this, we expect both the devices to be launched on the same day. As far as the specifications are concerned, the K8 Plus has been spotted on Geekbench running on Android 7.1.1 Nougat with a 1.69GHz MediaTek Helio P25 processor clubbed with 3GB RAM.
To recall, the Lenovo K8 Note was launched with a 5.5-inch full HD display, Helio X23 processor, 3 / 4 GB RAM, 32 / 64 GB internal storage, 13MP + 5 MP dual camera setup, 13MP front camera and a 4,000mAh battery.
Coming to the pricing, the K8 may be priced lower than the K8 Note as it is under powered compared to it. Considering the pricing of the K8 Note, the K8 Plus may be priced below Rs. 10,000, giving good competition to the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 and the recently launched Micromax Canvas Infinity.
The newly unveiled Sony Xperia XA1 Plus looks an awful lot like the XA1 and XA1 Ultra on the outside, sporting a 5.5-inch 1080p screen however.
The post Mid-range 5.5-inch Sony Xperia XA1 Plus squeezes large battery into familiar design appeared first on Pocketnow.
Both the Sony Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact pack Snapdragon 835 processors and 4GB RAM, also offering sweet camera capabilities.
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The Sony Xperia XZ Premium will receive improved camera features and a 3D scanning application when its Android Oreo update hits later this year.
Sony confirmed that its 4K-toting smartphone will get the latest version of Android as part of the launch of the new Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact at IFA 2017, and with it the XZ Premium will inherit the features which arrive on its new siblings.
The most interesting addition will be Sony’s new 3D Creator app, which allows you to take 3D scans of faces, heads, food and random objects with your phone and then upload them to social media, apply them to a GIF and even send the scan to a 3D Printer for a physical version of your creation.
Oreo will also bring improvements to the camera on the Xperia XZ Premium, with a smarter predictive capture mode that’s able to detect smiles and take three snaps before you’ve even hit the shutter key, ensuring you never miss a grin.
Then there’s the improved burst mode that uses automatic phase detection to track moving objects as you snap shots at a rate of 10 pics per second, ensuring your subject is always in focus.
Sony was unable to say when exactly the Android Oreo update for the XZ Premium will arrive, but we expect it to hit phones before the end of the year.
IFA 2017 is Europe's biggest tech show. The TechRadar team is in Berlin to bring you all the breaking news and hands-on first impressions of new phones, watches and other tech as they're announced.
The Sony Xperia XZ1 has been officially launched at IFA 2017 in Berlin, and it is Sony’s latest flagship smartphone targeted at a more mainstream audience than the pricier, 4K-toting XZ Premium.
It arrived alongside the smaller Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact which packs the same power, camera, OS and battery into a one-handed-use friendly form factor.
We’ve got everything you need to know about Sony’s new flagship duo below, but make sure you check out our hands on reviews of both phones for the full rundown of what they’re like to use and how they perform.
Check out our hands on Sony Xperia XZ1 video below to see the new flagship phone in action
Sony took the covers off the Xperia XZ1 (and the smaller Xperia XZ1 Compact) on August 31 at the IFA 2017 show in Berlin.
It's been confirmed that the Sony Xperia XZ1 release date will be sometime in September, but we're still waiting for a specific date.
We also don’t have a XZ1 price yet, but you can expect it to set you back a similar amount as the Samsung Galaxy S8, LG G6 and HTC U11.
We do know that it will be available in both the US and UK, with pre-orders going live in Britain from August 31 at Carphone Warehouse.
The Sony Xperia XZ1 is crafted from a single piece of aluminum for a premium metal unibody design.
Each side of the phone is rounded, with three antenna breakouts on the side allowing for better network connection no matter how you hold the phone.
Meanwhile the boxier, chunkier Xperia XZ1 Compact boasts a glass fiber woven plastic construction which is both strong and lightweight.
You’ll find a centralized power/lock key below a volume rocker and above a dedicated camera shutter button on the right side of each handset, and the former key also houses a fingerprint scanner (unless you’re in the US, where the biometric function has been removed).
Both handsets are IP65/68 rated, meaning they’re fully dust and water resistant as well as being able to survive a dunk into water for up to 30 minutes.
The Sony Xperia XZ1 comes with a 5.2-inch full HD display which makes it smaller and lower resolution than its main flagship rivals - however it does have a trick up its sleeve.
There’s HDR support also built into the screen, allowing you to enjoy the selection of HDR programming on Amazon Prime Video and Netflix.
The display isn’t quite as dazzling on the XZ1 Compact, as its 4.6-inch panel has a 720p, HD resolution and no HDR support. However, for a handset that you can use easily with one hand, the screen is still bright and clear.
Both the Sony Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact have the same 19MP rear-facing camera which brings with it all the features seen on the Xperia XZ Premium.
That means you'll be able to shoot in super slow motion at 960fps and take advantage of the raft of modes and features Sony's packed into the camera.
However, there are a couple of new features - or, more accurately, two improved features.
First up, burst mode can now stay focused on a moving subject thanks to Sony’s predictive phase detection, allowing you to take up to 100 snaps in just 10 seconds with every shot in focus.
The second camera improvement sees Predictive Capture given a boost. Smile detection will see the phone snap three shots before you hit the shutter key, so even if you miss a person’s smile the XZ1 will have captured it anyway.
On the front the two handsets differ. The Xperia XZ1 boasts a straightforward 13MP lens, while the Xperia XZ Compact comes with a super wide-angle 8MP snapper with a 120 degree field of view - allowing you to cram more people into your selfies.
You’ll find the same 2,700mAh battery in both the Xperia XZ1 and Xperia XZ1 Compact. While that’s good news as far as the smaller handset goes, it’s a little more concerning for the larger device.
It means the Xperia XZ1 has a 200mAh smaller battery than its predecessor (the Xperia XZ), which raises questions about its potential battery life. Keep an eye out for our full review in the coming weeks to see how it performs.
There’s no doubting the flagship credentials of the Sony Xperia XZ1 when you take a look at the power it’s packing under the hood.
You get the top of the range Snapdragon 835 chipset - the same one found in the HTC U11 and OnePlus 5 - along with 4GB of RAM, which should give you plenty of grunt.
There’s also 64GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot, giving you loads of space for your games, videos, apps and photos.
Not to be outdone, the XZ1 Compact has the same Snapdragon 835 chipset and 4GB of RAM, with only the internal storage taking a hit. You get 32GB here, plus a microSD slot.
Both phones also run the very latest version of Google's mobile software out the box, with Android Oreo installed on both, albeit with Sony's interface on top.
Sony's Hi-Res audio support continues on the Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact, with both handsets able to handle higher bitrate audio files as well as upscaling MP3 files for improved quality.
It's not just improvements via the 3.5mm headphone jack though, as Sony has also done some work on the front-facing dual speakers of each phone, applying its S-Force Surround technology, which has improved sound pressure by 50% from that of their predecessors. That means louder, cleaner music from the speakers.
There are four color options for the Sony Xperia XZ1, and Sony’s calling them Black, Warm Silver, Moonlit Blue and Venus Pink.
The XZ1 Compact is also available in four shades, which are very similar to its bigger brother, but with slightly different names and hues; Black, White Silver, Horizon Blue and Twilight Pink.
IFA 2017 is Europe's biggest tech show. The TechRadar team is in Berlin to bring you all the breaking news and hands-on first impressions of new phones, watches and other tech as they're announced.
The iPhone 8 isn’t even here yet, but apparently Apple has already started work on the iPhone 9, and the latest rumor suggests that one model will be very, very big indeed.
According to sources speaking to The Investor, Apple plans to launch a 5.85-inch iPhone 9 and a 6.46-inch iPhone 9 Plus. The former is likely to be the same size as the upcoming iPhone 8, while the latter would be larger than even the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.
Supposedly both phones will have an OLED screen sourced from Samsung, and work on them is said to have begun earlier than usual due to funding, facility investment and production plans - possibly to avert any possible supply issues.
The sources added that apparently Apple had originally planned on launching a 5.28-inch iPhone 9 alongside the supersized iPhone 9 Plus, but scrapped the idea due to the growing popularity of massive screens.
As with any rumor this far out from a product launch we’d take all this information with a huge side of salt, as even if it’s accurate plans can change and Apple is known to prototype multiple versions of possible iPhones before deciding on a final form factor.
Surprisingly though this isn’t even the first iPhone 9 rumor we’ve heard, with an earlier leak pointing to a big battery. Again though, with the phone not likely launching for over a year we can’t be confident of anything.
With the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 launched, we're automatically turning our attentions to the Galaxy S9, but the latest rumors suggest it might be a slight disappointment for some super smartphone fans.
According to a source speaking to XDA Developers the Samsung Galaxy S9 will have just 4GB of RAM. That’s the same amount as the Samsung Galaxy S8 and 2GB less than the Galaxy Note 8.
That’s unlikely to be a major issue for the bulk of users, as the Galaxy S8 is a very speedy phone and most flagships are still using 4GB with no issue, but it’s sure to disappoint some buyers.
However, there's something that's going to bother more people: Samsung will apparently be keeping the fingerprint scanner on the back for the Galaxy S9.
This is rather than moving it under the screen, as it’s long been rumored to be working on, or even moving it back to the front or the side, where it would be easier to reach.
However, there is apparently one change coming there, as the fingerprint scanner will apparently be in the center of the back, rather than at the top and near the camera where it's hard to reach.
The source also adds the very obvious fact that the Galaxy S9 will apparently use a Snapdragon 845 chipset, which is likely to be one of the highest-end mobile chips available at that point, and that it will retain the 1,440 x 2,960 QHD+ 18.5:9 aspect ratio display of the S8 and Note 8, though there’s no word on what size it will be.
Finally, the source says that apparently the Galaxy S9 will have an overall similar design to the S8 and will come with 64GB of internal storage and run Android 8.0 Oreo.
It’s worth noting that even if this information is accurate it could be subject to change, as it’s apparently based on a very early prototype of the Samsung Galaxy S9, but it's all thoroughly inline with what we expect.
Although Samsung tends to deliver cutting edge specs, if it thinks 4GB of RAM will get the job done it wouldn’t necessarily pack in more just to tick a box.
The news about the fingerprint scanner is no surprise, as the technology to build it into the display has reportedly been a struggle for multiple tech companies, and moving it anywhere else could mean redesigning the phone.
The rest of the specs listed here are even less surprising - indeed they’re exactly what we’d expect. But with the Samsung Galaxy S9 likely not launching until March or April 2018, there's plenty of time for change as a brand goes through a number of prototypes to see what will be the best option to bring out.
Via Phone Arena