More changes could come to the displays of Apple devices like the iPhone and Apple Watches with the new MicroLED and MiniLED displays
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The ZTE Axon 9 Pro just became official at IFA 2018 and it's everything you hoped it would be. A true multimedia flagship.
The post ZTE Axon 9 Pro announced as a true multimedia flagship appeared first on Pocketnow.
At the launch of the Honor Play, we were treated to a tasty little teaser for a new phone from the brand: the Honor Magic 2.
This - unsurprisingly - follows the Honor Magic, launched in Asian markets in 2016, and will bring 'more innovation' when it debuts in December this year.
Despite only being a teaser there were a number of interesting tidbits given out - the first being the ever-so-slightly-creepy 'YoYo' voice assistant.
Well, at least that what we assume it is... the voiceover simply said 'Hello, YoYo', to which a young voice replied: 'I'm here [giggle]! What's up?'
No more information was given, although we did get to see the phone in action, complete with the manual sliding camera, which allows the Magic 2 to shed the notch.
Some will note the similarities to the Oppo Find X on this phone, but where that has a mechanical, automatic camera that pops up, it's a manual slide on the Honor Magic 2.
We don't know any further specs for the phone (other than it'll be using Huawei's new Kirin 980 chipset), other than assuming it's going to be sold fairly globally given it was shown off at the European launch of the Play.
It's interesting that Honor would want to create its own artificially intelligent (AI) assistant, given the huge investment and effort it takes for a brand to get such a thing accepted by the public - just looking at the apathy to Samsung's Bixby assistant paints such a picture.
That said, Honor has long-touted its status as one of the first brands to bring AI smarts to phones - the Honor Magic was the first device it used such branding on - so the Honor Magic 2 seems like a natural fit if Honor is going to go down this route.
Will we see the same skill applied to other Huawei phones? Given it's using the Kirin 980 chipset that will be used in other flagship handsets, it's fair to assume we'll be seeing YoYo used in further devices soon.
New ASUS ZenBook ultrabooks were unveiled at the IFA 2018 pre-show in Berlin. ASUS really came prepared with a cornucopia of devices.
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Sony’s second main flagship of 2018 - the Sony Xperia XZ3 - has arrived, but it has got some steep competition, including from the iPhone X, which – despite launching back in 2017 – is still Apple’s latest handset and still a top seller.
With its QHD+ OLED screen, stereo speakers, high-end power and more the new Sony flagship has a lot going for it but, of course, so does the iPhone X, and while they’re both high-end phones there are a number of key differences.
If you’re not sure which to choose you should definitely wait for our full review of the Sony Xperia XZ3, but ahead of that we’ve compared the specs of the two phones, so you can see what strengths each has on paper.
The Sony Xperia XZ3 and the iPhone X both have a metal frame and a glass back, but the rear of the Sony Xperia XZ3 is much curvier and the phone is thicker at 9.9mm, to the iPhone X’s 7.7mm.
They also look quite different. There’s an Apple logo in the center of the iPhone X’s rear, while you’ll find an annoyingly-placed fingerprint scanner there on the Xperia XZ3 (the iPhone X doesn’t have a fingerprint scanner, relying instead on face detection with Face ID).
The cameras are also laid out differently, with two of them towards the left edge of the iPhone X and just one in the center of the Sony Xperia XZ3.
The Sony Xperia XZ3 has a curvy glass back
Even bigger differences come when viewing the phones from the front. We’ll cover the screen itself below, but note that the iPhone X has a notch at the top and basically no bezel below the screen, while the Xperia XZ3 has a full-length bezel both above and below its display.
One area where the XZ3 has the edge though is in water resistance, as its IP68 rating means it’s slightly more waterproof than the IP67-rated iPhone X.
The iPhone X is also clad in glass, but less curvy
The two phones also come in a different selection of colors. For the iPhone X you can choose from Space Grey or Silver, while the Sony Xperia XZ3 comes in White Silver, Forest Green, Black or Bordeaux Red.
Of course, their weights and dimensions also differ. The Sony Xperia XZ3 is 158 x 73 x 9.9mm and 193g, while the iPhone X is 143.6 x 70.9 x 7.7mm and 174g. So the iPhone X is smaller in all dimensions as well as being lighter.
Sony and Apple both switched to OLED screens for these phones, so both should be quite vibrant with good contrast – the iPhone X certainly is but we’ll give you our final verdict on the Xperia XZ3’s screen when we’ve fully reviewed it.
The Sony Xperia XZ3 has a 6-inch QHD+ display though while the iPhone X has a 5.8-inch 1125 x 2436 one, so the XZ3’s is a bit bigger and sharper.
The Xperia XZ3 has a bigger screen but more bezel than the iPhone X
The Xperia XZ3’s screen is also curved, while the iPhone X’s is flat, but where the iPhone X has just a notch, the Sony Xperia XZ3 has quite large bezels.
The aspect ratios also differ a bit, with the Sony Xperia XZ3 being 18:9, while the iPhone X is 19.5:9. However, both phones can playback videos in HDR, so both are banking on the next-gen display tech being important to consumers.
Which screen is better could well be subjective but keep an eye out for our full Xperia XZ3 review to get a better idea.
The Sony Xperia XZ3 runs Android 9 Pie, which is the brand-new version of Android currently found on very few phones. The iPhone X meanwhile runs iOS 11.
As ever when comparing Android and Apple phones the difference in operating system is one of the biggest differences – you probably already know which you prefer.
As for power, the Sony Xperia XZ3 has a Snapdragon 845 chipset and 4GB of RAM. The former being a top-end chipset and the latter being more or less competitive with other flagship phones (though a few have 6GB or even 8GB of RAM).
Both phones are powerful, the big difference is the operating system
The iPhone X on the other hand has a similarly top-end Apple A11 Bionic chipset and 3GB of RAM.
As ever with Apple phones the specs don’t tell the whole story, so don’t be put off by the lesser RAM amount – this thing is at or near the top of most benchmarks and silky smooth in use.
For storage you get 64GB plus a microSD card slot in the Xperia XZ3, while the iPhone X comes with either 64 or 256GB but doesn’t have a microSD card slot, so there’s no expansion potential.
You get a 19MP single-lens f/2.0 camera on the back of the Sony Xperia XZ3, one with the ability to shoot 4K HDR videos or Full HD slow motion 960fps videos.
The iPhone X meanwhile has a 12MP dual-lens camera, with one f/1.8 aperture lens and one f/2.4 aperture.
We haven’t properly tested the Xperia XZ3’s snapper yet, but we can tell you that the iPhone X’s is impressive and even works quite well in low light. It can also record video in 4K at 60fps (though not with HDR).
Sony has stuck with a single-lens camera on the Xperia XZ3
Round the front you get a 13MP f/1.9 camera on the Sony Xperia XZ3, while the iPhone X has a 7MP f/2.2 one, but that doesn’t tell the whole story as it’s a TrueDepth camera, capable of judging depth to effectively blur parts of the image for an impressive bokeh effect.
Neither phone has a particularly large battery. The Sony Xperia XZ3 has a 3,330mAh one and the iPhone X has an even smaller 2,716mAh one.
In our review we found that the iPhone X offered a solid day of life – we’ll let you know how the XZ3 fares once we’ve properly tested its battery. However, both phones support wireless charging.
The Sony Xperia XZ3 will start hitting stores from the end of September in some regions, but the UK will have to wait until October 5. However, you can at least pre-order it now.
We don’t know if or when the Xperia XZ3 will land in the US or Australia, or how much it will cost there, but in the UK it costs £699 (around $910/AU$1,250).
The iPhone X on the other hand is available now in all those regions, but it costs a lot, starting at $999 / £999 / AU$1,579 for the 64GB version and rising to $1,149 / £1,149 / AU$1,829 if you want 256GB.
We won’t know exactly how the Sony Xperia XZ3 compares to the iPhone X until we’ve put it through a full review, but going purely on specs it has a larger, higher resolution screen and a similar amount of power, but a chunkier build and one less camera.
There are other differences too, highlighted above, with the most notable of course being the operating system, along with the price, as the Sony Xperia XZ3 is significantly cheaper, despite being newer.
It's only six month since the Sony Xperia XZ2 launched, but we already have the Sony Xperia XZ3. Despite that tight turnaround this looks to be a big upgrade in some ways, most notably in its new OLED screen.
However, in some other ways the Xperia XZ3 seems like business as usual for Sony and very similar to its predecessor.
So to help you get a handle on exactly what’s new and different about this model we’ve put the XZ3 head-to-head with the XZ2, comparing them across every key spec category.
You won’t be able to tell much difference between the Sony Xperia XZ3 and the Xperia XZ2 from a brief glance, but as Sony somewhat refreshed the design for the XZ2 we wouldn’t really expect much to change visually less than a year later.
Both phones have a metal frame and a curvy glass back protected by Gorilla Glass 5. Both also have a rear-facing fingerprint scanner (maddeningly) halfway down the back and come with IP68 certification, meaning they can survive being submerged up to 1.5 meters deep in water for up to 30 minutes.
There's not much difference between the back of the XZ3 (pictured) and the XZ2
Both phones also have sizable bezels above and below the screen, rather than a notch, but they are at least put to somewhat good use, as both handsets sport front-facing stereo speakers (though they’re apparently 20% louder on the XZ3), while one thing that neither handset has is a 3.5mm headphone port.
The Sony Xperia XZ3 is slightly slimmer than the Xperia XZ2, with the former coming in at 9.9mm while the latter is 11.1mm, but other than that the main design difference is the colors they’re available in
Even with that there’s a lot of overlap, as the XZ3 comes in white silver, forest green, Bordeaux red and black, while the XZ2 is available in black, silver, green and pink.
The display is the single biggest difference between the Sony Xperia XZ2 and the Sony Xperia XZ3, because while the Xperia XZ2 has a 5.7-inch 1080 x 2160 LCD screen, the Xperia XZ3 has a 6-inch QHD+ OLED one.
This is the first time Sony has stuck a QHD screen on a phone and the first time anything outside its Premium range has been more than Full HD+, so that’s a big change that’s been a long time coming. As is the move to OLED – another first for the company.
The XZ3 has a bigger, sharper, curvier screen than the XZ2
In all that means the Xperia XZ3 has a bigger, sharper screen that’s more vibrant than the XZ2’s. It’s also curved, which the Xperia XZ2's isn’t.
Those curved edges are more than just a stylish finish too, as they also give you a new way to interact with the XZ3, letting you for example quickly access favorite apps by double tapping on the edge.
However, both handsets have an 18:9 aspect ratio in line with most modern smartphones and both are also capable of displaying HDR content.
The Sony Xperia XZ3 has a Snapdragon 845 chipset paired with 4GB of RAM, which, funnily enough, is exactly what the Sony Xperia XZ2 has, so don’t expect vast upgrades in performance, though those are high-end specs. Both phones also have 64GB of storage and a microSD card slot.
The Xperia XZ2 should have the same raw power as the Xperia XZ3
One difference between them though is the operating system, as while the Sony Xperia XZ2 currently runs Android 8 Oreo, the Xperia XZ3 ships with the brand-new Android 9 Pie.
The XZ2 will get upgraded to that at some point, but it doesn’t have it yet and probably won’t be supported with updates for as long as the XZ3 is.
Both the Sony Xperia XZ3 and Sony Xperia XZ2 have a 19MP f/2.0 single-lens rear camera with a similar assortment of features, including, notably, the ability to film in 4K HDR. So there’s not much to choose between them there, at least on paper.
That said, the camera software has been updated a bit for the Xperia XZ3, as lifting the phone horizontally can automatically launch the camera, so you don’t miss a snap.
Both phones have a 19MP rear camera
Sony has also upgraded the front-facing camera for the XZ3, kitting it out with a 13MP f/1.9 snapper – a likely improvement on the basic 5MP f/2.2 camera on the front of the Xperia XZ2.
We’ll let you know whether the XZ3’s snapper is better in practice once we’ve put it through a full review.
As for the battery, the Sony Xperia XZ3 has a 3,330mAh one, which is just a tiny bit bigger than the 3,180mAh battery in the Sony Xperia XZ2.
In this case bigger should be better, but it remains to be seen whether the extra capacity is enough to compensate for the larger, sharper screen. That’s another thing we’ll be sure to tell you once we’ve put the XZ3 through a full review.
The Sony Xperia XZ3 is hitting stores at the end of September, with pre-orders opening from August 31. We don’t know the price everywhere yet, but in the UK it costs £699, which is around $910 / AU$1,250.
The Sony Xperia XZ2 launched at the same price in the UK and was $799 in the US – so that’s probably around what US buyers will pay for the XZ3. The XZ2 has now dropped in price in many stores, but only by around $100 / £100.
The Sony Xperia XZ3 feels focused entirely on the screen, a screen which – on paper at least – is a huge upgrade from the display on the Sony Xperia XZ2.
There are other changes and upgrades, including a slightly larger battery, a slimmer build, a new front-facing camera and some new software elements, but it all sounds quite minor other than that display.
We’ll let you know how well all the XZ3’s components come together once we’ve put it through a full review, but looking just at the specs it’s really all about the screen.
If you want the best screen Sony has to offer (and aren’t fussed about the 4K Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium) then the Xperia XZ3 is likely the phone for you. But if you’re happy with a Full HD+ LCD screen then the Xperia XZ2 could be a cheaper choice.
The Sony Xperia XZ3 has been officially announced at IFA 2018 and it brings the BRAVIA OLED display to the palm of your hand.
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Learn more about the new Sony WH-1000XM3 that were just announced at IFA 2018, in addition to other products focused on audio.
The post Sony’s new WH-1000X Mark 3 take audio and comfort further appeared first on Pocketnow.
Sony just announced its next flagship smartphone at IFA 2018 and the follow-up to this year's Xperia XZ2 is called the Xperia XZ3 and comes with some major display upgrades.
The 18:9 aspect ratio has returned for the Sony Xperia XZ3, but the exciting new feature is the 6-inch QHD+ HDR OLED display that replaces the LCD tech Sony used to use.
It's a similar tech to what's used in Sony's range of BRAVIA OLED TVs, so it should allow for better colors, blacker blacks and even sharper images overall.
The screen is capable of upscaling standard content to HDR quality too, which should allow for better images in everything rather than just when you're watching HDR compatible shows on Netflix or YouTube.
The design of the phone has been refined so it's now more curved on the rear, with a 3mm aluminum frame, plus curved 3D glass on the front and back of the phone, protected by Gorilla Glass 5.
Don't be fooled by the 3mm frame - the glass brings the dimensions up to 158 x 73 x 9.9mm, and it weighs in at 193g.
It's also IP65/68 water resistant, so this should be able to survive the odd slip into your sink. For color options you've got Black, White Silver, Forest Green and Bordeaux Red.
There's no 3.5mm headphone jack here, but Sony has improved the speakers so it's 20% louder than the Xperia XZ2 and it comes with high-res audio features we've seen on previous Sony handsets. The Dynamic Vibration System that shakes the phone while you're playing games or watching films is back too.
Sony has enhanced the new screen tech with something called Side Sense too, which will allow you to open apps by sliding your finger down the side of the screen. This will pop out a small menu that will give you some shortcuts that should make it easier to use such a large phone.
Sony Xperia XZ3 with Side Sense shortcuts
There's a 19MP main camera on the rear of the Sony Xperia XZ3, the same one that we saw on the Xperia XZ2. It's capable of 4K HDR recording and Full HD 960fps Super slow mo, as well as a variety of other features. There's a 13MP selfie shooter on the front that can do bokeh shots too.
Powering the Xperia XZ3 is the latest generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset alongside 4GB of RAM, plus there's 64GB of storage. If that doesn't sound like enough to you, there's microSD support for up to 512GB.
The battery pack inside the phone is 3,330mAh, plus there's wireless charging and it will come running Android 9 Pie software right away.
You're able to pre-order the Xperia XZ3 in the UK now with a launch date set for October 5, but we've yet to learn whether it will be coming to the US or Australia. If you pre-order now you'll also get a free copy of Call of Duty: Blacks Ops 4 on release day and access to the beta for the game on PS4.
The Xperia XZ3 price is set at £699 (about $900, AU$1250) and we've yet to see any official deals from mobile phone networks and carriers. We'll be sure to update this and our hands on Sony Xperia XZ3 review when we hear more.
Demand for the iPhone 9 could be far higher than initially predicted according to a survey by technology research firm Loup Ventures.
Researchers asked 530 US-based iPhone users when they planned to upgrade their handsets. To their surprise, almost half of respondents said they were planning to upgrade within the next 12 months – far more than last year.
According to the survey, 48% of current iPhones owners intend to upgrade to a newer iPhone model in the next year, compared to just 25% in 2017.
Of those, 42% plan on buying one of the three new iPhones to be announced next month, while 18% plan to purchase an iPhone X, 16% want to upgrade to an iPhone 8, and 24% intend to upgrade to another iPhone.
In addition, 19% of the 212 Android users surveyed said they intend to change to an iPhone within the next year, compared to only 12% last year.
Loup Ventures' survey was small and its figures might not be a totally accurate prediction of upcoming sales (not everyone who says they will buy an iPhone actually will), but the results are still a good indication that there's particularly keen interest in the iPhone 9.
So why are iPhone users to keen to upgrade? It may be a matter of looks. As other phone makers rush to copy the iPhone X's distinctive design, customers are beginning to feel a bit left out if their phone's screen isn't sporting a notch, and are more willing to upgrade from their old devices.
Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 9, iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Plus (official names TBC) in the next few days, and the caché that comes with a modern notched design will surely be a factor for customers considering a new handset.
Honor is about to launch one of the most exciting phones of the year for people who care about their bank balance as much as cutting-edge tech. It’s the Honor Play.
We’ve already met the phone in person, and if you’re a gamer, a demanding user or just someone after a high-end model that doesn’t cost a packet, you need to pay attention.
The phone is about to get a full global launch at the IFA tech show in Berlin - and Honor still has another secret to reveal too. And you can watch it from your computer.
To get the low-down as it happens, tune into Honor’s live stream of the launch. You can watch it, drum roll, right here.
Honor will stream the event from YouTube, and the video below goes live at 13:00 on today.
So, why should you care about this phone? The Honor Play has all the essential elements of a phone made for enthusiasts like us. First, it has a big 6.3-inch screen that, thanks to an ultra-long 19.5:9 aspect ratio, won’t make your strain your fingers just to hold the thing.
The Honor Play is also, amazingly, as powerful as some of the most celebrated phones of the year. It uses the same CPU as the impressive Huawei P20 Pro, an octa-core Kirin 970. That’s serious power.
There’s GPU Turbo optimisation inside too, which maximises performance in games to make sure the most demanding 3D titles run like a dream.
Honor has even come up with a 4D “Smart Shock” gaming mode. This makes the Honor Play’s vibrate motor react to the action on-screen in games, including PUBG. Smart Shock is like the rumble function of a console gamepad.
Finally, a large 3750mAh battery will last for up to 1.5 days of heavy use. The Honor Play is a bit of a dream phone.
But why should we tune in to the launch when we already know its vitals? Two of the most important stats are missing - plus that mystery reveal is something you’ll be itching to find out more about.
How much will the Honor Play cost, and when can we get our hands on it? This is what we want, what we need, to know.
If some rivals released a phone like this, you’d expect it to cost a lot. An awful lot. However, Honor has a history of making super-powered phones like this accessible to an audience who traditionally just wouldn’t have been able to afford models at this level.
The Honor 10 and Honor 9 Lite are two of the best examples of this in action that you can still buy today. For just $460/£369.99 the Honor 10 can challenge some of the year’s most expensive phones. And the Honor 9 Lite gets you a Full HD+ resolution screen for under $190/£150.
Honor performs mini phone miracles, and we’re hoping for more of the same magic on 30 August. The Honor Play lands somewhere between those two phones in terms of its spec. We can’t wait to see exactly where its price will land.
Make sure to come back to this page at 13:00 BST to see if the Honor Play should be your next phone.
We expect Sony will announce the Sony Xperia XZ3 at its IFA 2018 press conference later today, but ahead of that images and information have painted quite a clear picture of what we might see.
Shared by leaker Roland Quandt through Winfuture.de, the images appear to be high-quality press renders, apparently showing the XZ3 in black, green, red and white shades.
Those colors are in line with another recent leak, as is the design of the phone, which has just a single-lens rear camera and sizable bezels above and below the screen, but no notch.
The accompanying specs and information are perhaps more interesting though, as the Sony Xperia XZ3 apparently has an OLED screen, which would be a first for a Sony phone. It’s said to be a 6-inch 1440 x 2880 panel with an 18:9 aspect ratio.
The leak also notes that the Xperia XZ3 has “special touch areas at the edge of the screen that can trigger certain actions”, with an example given of being able to touch the edge of the display to take a photo.
We're not sure whether this would be like the squeezable sides of the Pixel 2 or the HTC U12 Plus, but it will be interesting to note if they work a little more effectively.
Other specs listed in the leak include stereo speakers, a Snapdragon 845 chipset clocked at up to 2.8GHz, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a 19MP rear camera, a 13MP front-facing one and a 3,300mAh battery.
As ever, we’d take this leak with a pinch of salt, especially as some earlier leaks are at odds with it, but this close to launch and coming from a reputable source there’s a good chance it’s accurate.
That’s not all the Xperia news we have though, as while it’s likely that we’ll get an official look at the Sony Xperia XZ3 soon, one thing we apparently won’t see is the Sony Xperia XZ3 Compact.
That again is according to Roland Quandt, who in reply to the question of whether Sony will be launching the Xperia XZ3 Compact alongside the XZ3 said the company wouldn’t.
It’s not clear from his wording as to whether we might see an XZ3 Compact further down the line or whether there won’t be one at all, but we certainly wouldn’t count on seeing it today.
The HTC U12 Life became official today at the IFA 2018 pre-show. It features a notchless design, but it won't be available in the US.
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