The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra has held onto its title of the best smartphone in the world right now throughout 2021, and it's now just hit its lowest price yet in the Black Friday phone deals.

A new deal on Amazon has dropped the SIM free price of the phone by $50, bringing it below $900 for the 128GB version. That's the first time we've seen it drop this low from any retailer, including Samsung itself.

That's a lot of money to drop on a phone outright, so we've followed up the details of this deal below with some other options if you're looking for a Galaxy S21 Ultra right now. 

Plus, the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 Plus are both discounted from Samsung directly right now. You'll be able to read about all those deals below, plus some other picks of top Samsung offers.

Not in the US? Scroll down for deals in your region.

Today's best Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Black Friday deals

Other Samsung Galaxy S21 series Black Friday deals

Other Samsung Black Friday deals

More Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra deals

No matter where you live, you'll find all the lowest prices for the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra below.

More Black Friday deals

• Amazon: 30% off 4K TVs, Fire TV Stick and more in the Black Friday sale
• AirPods Pro: on sale for $189.99 at Amazon
• Adidas: 50% off sportswear and shoes + free shipping
• Best Buy: up to 50% off Keurig coffee makers, 4K TVs, laptops and more
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $99.99 at Best Buy
• Christmas: lights, trees, and ornaments from $6.99 at Amazon
• Christmas pajamas: matching family sets from $14.99 at Amazon
• Clothing: up to 50% off coats, running shoes, and watches at Amazon
• Costco: up to $900 furniture, laptops, TVs, and jewelry
• Dell: up to $700 off the XPS 13, Inspiron, and Alienware
• DIY: 40% off power tools, leaf blowers, and more at Walmart
• DreamCloud: $200 off luxury mattresses + $399 free gifts
• Gifts under $30: books, toys, and cheap gift ideas at Amazon
• H&M: fashion gifts from $5.99 for men, women, and kids
• Home Depot: up to 40% off tools, grills, appliances and Christmas decor 
• HP: laptops starting at $199.99
• Instant Pot: from $84 at Amazon
• Keurig: up to 30% off single cup and carafe coffee makers at Amazon
• Layla: up to $900 off mattress bundles in the Black Friday event
• Lowe's: 50% off tools, appliances, and holiday decor
• Microsoft: save up to $400 on the Surface Pro 7
• Nectar: $499 off mattresses + $399 in free gifts 
• Nike: up to 40% off running shoes, hoodies, sweatpants, and more
• Nintendo Switch: latest stock updates on consoles and games
• Nordstrom: up to 40% off North Face, Adidas, UGG, Nike, and more
• Oculus Quest 2: get a $50 e-gift card at Best Buy
• Saatva: TechRadar exclusive - save $250 on luxury mattresses
• Samsung: Black Friday savings of up to $3,500 on 4K and 8K QLED TVs
• Shark vacuum: up to 15% off cordless and corded vacs at Amazon
• Target: massive deals on TVs, toys, Dyson, Keurig, and more
• Toys: discounts on LEGO, hoverboards and Barbie at Walmart
• TVs: smart Fire TVs from Amazon starting at $99.99
• Walmart: big savings on TVs, cordless vacs, and more
• Wayfair: up to 50% off Christmas trees, decor, wreaths, and stockings

AT&T and Verizon Wireless have agreed to undertake additional measures to prove to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that 5G using C-Band frequencies does not interfere with aircraft equipment.

Mid-range C-band 5G spectrum offers a compromise between these two desirable outcomes and will be a vital resource in the rollout of 5G.

5G networks will use a much more diverse range of spectrum than previous generations of mobile technology, with low-band frequencies like 700MHz offering wide coverage and high-band millimetre Wave (mmWave) delivering huge capacity over short distances.

5G safety

Both AT&T and Verizon, along with T-Mobile and US Wireless, won licenses for C-Band airwaves located between 3.7GHz and 3.98GHz in an auction earlier this year that raised $80 billion.

However, the FAA fears that 5G services using this spectrum could affect sensitive aviation electronics like altimeters that rely on frequencies located between 4.2GHz and 4.4GHz.

Mobile operators and industry bodies say there is no credible evidence of interference, noting that other countries have deployed C-Band 5G with no problems and that there is a sufficient spectrum gap between bandwidth allocated for mobile and for aviation. Others have questioned why the FAA has waited so long before expressing is concerns.

The first tranche of C-Band spectrum allocated during the auction was set to be released to winning bidders next month, but AT&T and Verizon agreed to delay the launch of C-Band 5G services for a month while more research was conducted.

Now the operators have also agreed to take additional steps to minimise the energy coming from 5G base stations for six months, especially around airports and heliports. They say that unless credible evidence that demonstrates interference emerges during that period, the commitments will expire on July 6 next year.  

Via Reuters

Here are the best 5G mobile phone deals if you're thinking of an upgrade

If we were betting people, we’d have put money on the Samsung Galaxy Note range having been killed off for good, despite some suggestions to the contrary, and it’s looking ever more like we’re right, as reportedly the range isn’t included on Samsung’s 2022 smartphone production plan.

That’s according to South Korean site ETNews, though it’s not clear where they got this information.

The site adds that not only will there apparently not be a Samsung Galaxy Note 22, but that Samsung will stop manufacturing Galaxy Note 20 range units at the end of this year, meaning it could soon be impossible to find any Note models in stores, other than pre-owned ones.

• These are the best Samsung phones
• The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra supports the S Pen
• Read our full Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra review

The site claims that Samsung’s main reason for abandoning the Note range is that it’s now focused on foldable phones, with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 likely landing around when a new Note handset might otherwise have done.

This might be a sensible course of action, as reportedly Samsung sold just 9.7 million Note units in 2020, down from 12.7 million in 2019.

Those might sound like big numbers, but apparently Samsung is targeting 13 million sales for its foldable Galaxy Z series in 2022, so it seems foldable phones are increasingly big business, while the Galaxy Note range was falling out of favor.

Analysis: The Note range is probably dead in name, but not in nature

While we’d take the above leak with a pinch of salt, we’d be surprised if there was a new Note in 2022 – or at all.

But that probably doesn’t matter, because it looks as if the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra will be more Note than not.

In fact, if leaks are to be believed it will be a Galaxy Note phone in all but name, with a similarly square design and an S Pen slot. So the Galaxy Note range probably is dead, but probably not really.

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Via XDA Developers

With the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 (along with their predecessors) Samsung already has more foldable phones on the market than other companies, but it looks like this might just be the beginning, with new models and whole new form factors possibly in the works.

The company has launched a site highlighting various different uses for flexible OLED screens, and as well as the designs we’ve seen so far, the site also shows a ‘Slidable Flex’ design, which appears to be a flat display that can be extended by pulling the edges, and a ‘Rollable Flex’ screen which can unfurl from a tube.

Then there’s also the ‘Flex Note’, which is less interesting as it’s basically just the Galaxy Z Fold design turned on its side, for more of a laptop-like look.

• These are the best foldable phones
• And these are the best Samsung phones
• The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is on the way

It’s worth noting that Samsung hasn’t confirmed it’s working on phones with any of these designs – they’re simply possible use cases of its flexible OLED screen tech. Still, the fact that they’ve been shown here suggests the company might at least be considering them.

Then again, the word ‘phone’ isn’t actually used alongside any of these displays, so they could just as well be used in TVs, laptops, or other gadgets. So don’t get your hopes up about seeing a rollable Samsung phone anytime soon, but don’t count it out either.

Analysis: a rollable revolution

Samsung isn’t the only company exploring rollable phones, as we’ve also seen rollable phone concepts from the likes of TCL, while we even went hands on with the rollable Oppo X 2021.

LG reportedly even came very close to putting one (dubbed the LG Rollable) on sale, before abruptly exiting the smartphone market.

So it seems that rollable phones could be the next step in smartphone design, and by the looks of things Samsung might have some competition in the space, though when we’ll actually be able to buy such a phone still isn’t entirely clear.

• We're waiting for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4

The Xiaomi 12 and its siblings are likely to be exciting and popular phones, but they might all have a feature that could prove slightly less popular.

According to leaker Digital Chat Station posting on Weibo (a Chinese social network), every phone in the Xiaomi 12 range will have a curved screen. That’s a slight departure from the Xiaomi Mi 11 range, where the Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite had a flat display.

Still, given that the standard Mi 11 and the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra had curved screens it’s not such a surprise, but it’s a decision that won’t please everyone, since while curved screens look good, they can be more vulnerable to damage and accidental presses.

• Check out the best Xiaomi phones
• Bag a bargain in the best Black Friday phone deals
• These are the best smartphones

As well as this, the same source claimed that the Xiaomi 12 range will have a symmetrical speaker arrangement, meaning that the top and bottom speakers would be on the same side (or possibly both central). That’s in contrast to the Xiaomi Mi 11 range, where they were on opposite sides.

Elsewhere, MyDrivers reports that the Xiaomi 12X will be unveiled alongside the standard phone in December. This is a phone that has leaked in the past, but which was assumed to be landing slightly later, since its predecessor – the Xiaomi Mi 11X – was unveiled after the bulk of the Mi 11 range.

Leaked specs suggest this could slot in somewhere between the standard Xiaomi 12 and the Xiaomi 12 Lite (if such a phone exists), with the Xiaomi 12X apparently having a Snapdragon 870 chipset, a 6.28-inch 1080 x 2400 AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, and a 50MP main camera.

We’d take all of these claims with a pinch of salt, but with December just around the corner we should know for sure soon.

Analysis: curved screens could be on the way out

While Xiaomi might be embracing curved screens more than ever in 2022, other brands could be on the way to phasing them out.

Notably, Samsung might use flat screens for all Galaxy S22 models other than the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, with even that phone’s display barely curving. Given that Samsung was once the biggest proponent of curved screens, that’s a notable shift.

Motorola also shifted away from curved displays with the Edge 20 series, and Xiaomi itself has previously said that it found 60% of users prefer flat displays – which makes the rumored focus on curves in 2022 all the more surprising.

So if you are a fan of curved screens, you might soon not have many options, but for now at least Xiaomi should have you covered if the rumors are right.

• We're also expecting the OnePlus 10 soon

Via GSMArena

Vodafone says self-powered phone masts will help it achieve net zero in the UK by 2027 and reduce the cost and complexity of deploying mobile infrastructure in the most remote parts of the UK.

Energy consumption is one of the biggest expenses for mobile operators, while it is also one of the biggest causes of emissions. Meanwhile, the availability of fibre backhaul and a connection to the electricity grid are two of the greatest difficulties associated with building masts in rural areas.  

Vodafone believes the new mast design it has been working on with Crossflow Energy for the past two years helps address these two challenges. 

Vodafone self-powering masts

The design combines Crossflow’s wind turbine technology with the latest innovations in solar and battery power to create a reliable energy source that eliminates the need to be connected to the electricity grid and to diesel generator backups.

The use of renewable energy reduces the environmental impact of the site, and a quiet bird-friendly turbine ensures the mast is suitable even for areas of outstanding natural beauty. All of these qualities will be useful when helping the government achieve its mobile coverage targets.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to show how our self-powered Eco-Tower solves the problem of harnessing ‘small wind’ to offer not just that all important carbon reduction but also significant commercial benefits,” said Martin Barnes, Crossflow energy CEO.  “In the case of Vodafone, it will help to accelerate the expansion of rural connectivity, transform energy consumption patterns and deliver significant economic and carbon savings.

“Our turbine technology has equally strong applications for so many other industries, but to have such a high-profile player as Vodafone deploying our Eco-Tower is a major endorsement for us and our technology.”

Vodafone’s UK network is already powered by 100% renewable energy while its consumption has been minimised thanks to more efficient network equipment and analytics technology, as well as the decommissioning of less efficient legacy core and 3G radio infrastructure.

It plans to achieve net zero by 2030 and across its entire supply chain by 2040. Other environmental initiatives include the use of more power-efficient 5G radio units as well as the use of drone technology to create digital twins that eliminate the need for site visits by engineers. It also hopes OpenRAN technology will reduce energy use even further.

A trial of the new mast design will be held later this year before a wider rollout across the UK.

“We are committed to improving rural connectivity, but this comes with some very significant challenges. Connecting masts to the energy grid can be a major barrier to delivering this objective, so making these sites self-sufficient is a huge step forward for us and for the mobile industry,” said Andrea Dona, Vodafone chief network officer.

“Our approach to managing our network as responsibly as possible is very simple: we put sustainability at the heart of every decision. There is no silver bullet to reducing energy consumption, but each of these steps forward takes us closer to achieving net zero for its UK operations by 2027.”

If you're looking for a new contract, then our best Vodafone mobile phone deals are a good place to start

Apple's fight against the alleged rogue Pegasus software from the Israeli firm NSO, which is said to have been used to spy on politicos, journalists, lawyers and activists in many countries including India, is getting serious and sincere.      

After announcing that it was suing NSO for attacking iOS users, Apple has revealed that it is notifying users who have been targeted by Pegasus for surveillance. "Apple threat notifications are designed to inform and assist users who may have been targeted by state-sponsored attackers. These users are individually targeted because of who they are or what they do," Apple said.

According to media reports, Apple has already done so for at least five Thai activists and researchers.

Earlier this year, a global investigation by a clutch of 17 media organisations along with Amnesty International and the Paris-based non-profit organisation Forbidden Stories had claimed that Pegasus was used to extract messages and information from the phones of journalists, politicians and activists in many countries including India.

Pegasus infected Android devices and iPhones, giving operators (governments, in this case) access to messages, photos and emails. It can also record calls and surreptitiously activate microphones.

• AWS bans NSO Group following Pegasus spyware accusations
• Many businesses are still unprepared for ransomware despite past attacks
• This malware pretends to be Amnesty International protection from Pegasus

Apple turns the heat on NSO

While there has been no real fight back from the Android ecosystem to the disturbing infiltration by Pegasus, Apple has chosen to take on the NSO Group holding it accountable for circumventing iPhone security mechanisms.

Apart from suing NSO, Apple has said it would contribute $10 million, as well as all the damages awarded from the lawsuit, to supporting organizations involved in the advocacy and research of cyber-surveillance abuses.  

Concomitantly, Apple is also actively monitoring devices in its ecosystem for signs that they have been compromised by Pegasus.

Here's what Apple will do and what you need to do

If Apple discovers activity consistent with a State-sponsored attack, it will notify the targeted users in two ways:

• A threat notification will be displayed at the top of the page after the user signs into appleid.apple.com.
• Apple will send an email and iMessage notification to the email addresses and phone numbers associated with the user’s Apple ID. 

The notifications will also give out additional steps that notified users can take to help protect their devices.

Apple made it clear that the threat notifications will never ask the users to click any links, open files, install apps or profiles, or provide their Apple ID password or verification code by email or on the phone.

"To verify that an Apple threat notification is genuine, sign in to appleid.apple.com. If Apple sent you a threat notification, it will be clearly visible at the top of the page after you sign in," Apple said.

Apple also advised all users to protect themselves from cybercriminals and consumer malware by following best practices for security that include updating devices to the latest software and latest security fixes, protecting devices with a passcode, using two-factor authentication and a strong password for Apple ID, installing apps from the App Store and using strong and unique passwords online.

• Pegasus Spyware: Is your mobile ever really safe from being hacked?

• Follow TechRadar India on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates.

We’ve heard a number of times that the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra will have more or less the same camera specs as the Galaxy S21 Ultra, and now we’re hearing that yet again – but with additional details this time.

According to @UniverseIce (a leaker with a solid track record), the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra will have an improved version of the 108MP main sensor we saw in the Galaxy S21 Ultra, and exactly the same 12MP ultra-wide sensor.

Where things could change a bit (beyond the unnamed improvements in the main sensor) is with the zoom lenses, as these will apparently both use new sensors – but they don’t sound too different to the old ones.

• These are the best camera phones
• And these are the best Samsung phones
• Will there be a Samsung Galaxy Note 22?

Apparently the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra will have a 10MP 1/3.52" Sony sensor with an f/4.9 aperture, offering 10x optical zoom, along with another sensor that sounds similar, except with an f/2.4 aperture and offering 3x optical zoom.

The megapixel counts and apertures here are the same as on the Galaxy S21 Ultra, but the pixel and sensor sizes slightly differ, with the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s zoom lenses having 1/3.24" sensors and 1.22µm pixels.

So presumably these changes will lead to some improvements, but it doesn’t sound like there will be any drastic differences if this leak is right. However, we could see much bigger upgrades on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, as the same source claims that Samsung will equip a phone with a 200MP sensor in 2023.

Analysis: Motorola and Xiaomi could be the camera kings in 2022

Samsung isn’t the only big-name brand that might be sticking similar snappers on its 2022 flagships, as the OnePlus 10 Pro is also rumored to have similar cameras to the OnePlus 9 Pro, so 2022 might not be a year of big camera improvements.

That said, @UniverseIce claims that Motorola will launch a phone with a 200MP camera in the first half of the year, followed by Xiaomi in the second half, so while megapixels aren’t everything, these could be the brands to watch in 2022.

Apple could also bring some upgrades for the iPhone 14 range – though nothing like a 200MP snapper. Instead, sources suggest that the main sensor on the Pro models might get bumped up from 12MP to 48MP.

2023 could be a much bigger year for smartphone cameras though if Samsung really does move to 200MP, as it’s also rumored that Apple might finally equip an iPhone with a periscope snapper, allowing for long-distance optical zoom.

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Via PhoneArena

Thanks in large part to smartphones and their cameras, there are near endless pictures of modern handsets that you can turn up with a quick Google search, while sites like TechRadar also extensively detail these phones, but what about older handsets? That’s where the new Mobile Phone Museum comes in.

This newly launched website houses over 2,100 unique handsets, dating as far back as 1984. As well as seeing photographs of each phone, you can also read a detailed overview highlighting key features, and see other details such as their weights and codenames.

To help you browse the included phones, they’ve been sorted into various collections, such as best sellers (like the Motorola Razr V3), ugly handsets (including the Nokia 7600), and firsts, such as the Sony Ericsson W800, which was the first Walkman phone.

• We don't need a museum to know today's best smartphones
• A complete history of Huawei smartphones
• Check out a history of Samsung Galaxy S phones

The Mobile Phone Museum is the brainchild of Ben Wood (who’s also Chief Analyst at technology research firm CCS Insight), and it’s designed not just as a way to remember old handsets you might have had, but also to inspire and educate a new generation of engineers and designers.

It’s not complete though. Many handsets are missing from the collection, and the site is calling for donations of those missing mobiles. If you do send an old phone that’s absent from the site then it will be photographed and moved to a secure storage facility, so it will never be lost to time.

Opinion: an important project for remembering the industry’s history

Many histories are patchy and incomplete, but mobile phones are a recent enough invention that no older model needs to be forgotten, and the Mobile Phone Museum is a great way to ensure every key handset is remembered.

While you can probably find photographs and details of most mobile phones online, in many cases it will take a lot of digging, and the images might be low quality. As time goes on, it could become even harder to find these older handsets if they’re not catalogued properly.

But with the Mobile Phone Museum they’ll all be in one place, with complete details, high-quality images, and with the phones themselves carefully stored so that at least one example of each handset will survive for a long, long time.

All it needs now is for people to dig out and donate the missing handsets, so that records of mobile phone history can be made complete.

• 5 phone concepts we’re angry never happened

Xiaomi recorded increased revenues and higher profits during the third quarter of 2022, but the ongoing chip shortage affecting the industry and intense competition in the market meant the figures were not quite as high as some had predicted.

The company’s figures show revenues rose by 8.2% to 78.1 billion Yuan during the three-month period, while pre-tax profits jumped by 25.4% to 5.2 billion Yuan. However, the rate of growth has slowed when compared to recent quarters.

Xiaomi briefly supplanted Apple as the world’s second largest manufacturer earlier this year, boosted by international expansion and an increased share in China thanks to rival Huawei’s well-documented struggles in gaining access to US technologies.

Xiaomi results 

However, it is competing for the same market as fellow Chinese vendors Oppo, Vivo and now Honor, which was spun off from Huawei last year to become an independent entity. Compounding these challenges is a chip shortage that is impacting production.

Xiaomi President Wang Xiang said he was satisfied with the company’s performance so far this year given the shortages, which he predicts will continue well into 2022. However, he acknowledged that the situation was becoming more challenging.

“Even with the serious supply situation we achieved record high shipments in the first three quarters,” he told investors. “We are working very closely with our suppliers to get [as many components] as possible.

“Unfortunately, we will see some structural challenges in the first half of 2022 but the supply situation will be very much improved.”

Xiaomi is not alone in having to deal with the shortage, which is affecting the mid and low ends of the market more than the premium segment. Shipments fell by 6.8% during Q3 as manufacturers struggled to get their hands on components such as radio frequency units, power management circuits, and other chips.

Gartner says Xiaomi increased its market share during the period from 12.1% to 13.1% - despite sales remaining flat – making it the world’s third biggest manufacturer.

If you need a new phone then check out our best mobile phone deals

Apple has filed a lawsuit against the Israeli NSO Group holding it accountable for circumventing iPhone security mechanisms in order to surveil Apple users via its Pegasus spyware.

NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware came into limelight earlier this year in July, when Amnesty International revealed that it was used to spy on journalists and human rights activists worldwide. 

This was followed by a further revelation by cybersecurity threat researchers at Citizen Lab who found evidence of surveillance on iPhone 12 Pro’s of nine Bahraini activists, through an exploit that evaded the latest security protections in iOS 14 known as BlastDoor. 

“State-sponsored actors like the NSO Group spend millions of dollars on sophisticated surveillance technologies without effective accountability. That needs to change,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering.

Cyber-surveillance research

Citizen Lab had accused the NSO Group of using two zero-click iMessage exploits, including a new BlastDoor exploit that the researchers have dubbed FORCEDENTRY. Apple says it has shared new information on this now-patched exploit in its legal complaint. 

In its release, Apple has commended the efforts of groups like the Citizen Lab and Amnesty Tech “for their groundbreaking work to identify cyber-surveillance abuses and help protect victims.”

Apple has decided to provide technical, threat intelligence, and engineering assistance to the Citizen Lab researchers pro-bono, and has promised to offer the same assistance to other organizations doing critical work in this space. 

In fact, the company has gone to the extent of contributing $10 million, as well as all the damages awarded from the lawsuit, to supporting organizations involved in the advocacy and research of cyber-surveillance abuses.

Shield your online with these best identity theft protection services, and if you are really concerned about privacy, you should consider using one of these best VPN services

The OnePlus 10 Pro looks set to be one of the first flagship phones of 2022, and we now have a good idea of what it might offer, as the specs of the phone have leaked almost in full.

Leaker @OnLeaks has shared these details in partnership with 91Mobiles, revealing that the OnePlus 10 Pro apparently has a 6.7-inch QHD+ display with a 120Hz refresh rate, and a top-end Snapdragon 8 Gen1 chipset (which could alternatively launch as the Snapdragon 898).

The phone also apparently has a choice of 8GB or 12GB of RAM, 128GB or 256GB of storage, an IP68 water and dust resistance rating, a 5,000mAh battery, a 32MP selfie camera, and a triple-lens main camera with a 48MP primary sensor, a 50MP ultra-wide one, and an 8MP telephoto one with 3.3x optical zoom.

• Check out the best OnePlus phones
• These are the best smartphones
• The Samsung Galaxy S22 is also on the way

Those camera claims are worth emphasizing, as another source recently suggested the OnePlus 10 Pro would have a quad-lens rear camera – we were skeptical of that at the time, and we’re now even more so, with a triple-lens one looking likely.

That said, there are still some questions around the camera, as yet another source has claimed that it will offer 5x optical zoom, rather than the 3.3x claimed here.

As for the rest of the specs, we’ve heard some of them before from the same source at today's leak, but not from anyone else. So until other sources chime in we’d take this with a pinch of salt, but camera aside there aren’t any dissenting voices, and @OnLeaks has a good track record, so these details may well be accurate.

We should find out for sure before too long, as it’s rumored that the OnePlus 10 range will be unveiled in January or February, though initially only for China, with a global launch in March or April.

Analysis: spot the difference

Taken in isolation these leaked specs sound promising but compare them to the OnePlus 9 Pro and you’ll see that very little appears to be changing.

If this specs leak is accurate then the rear camera setup could be exactly the same, as could the screen, the amounts of storage and RAM, and the water resistance rating.

The only things here that are different are the chipset, the battery, which could be higher capacity in the OnePlus 10 Pro (up from 4,500mAh in the OnePlus 9 Pro), and the front-facing camera, which could have twice the megapixels of the 16MP one in the OnePlus 9 Pro.

So that doesn’t sound like the most exciting of upgrades. Of course, leaks suggest the design is also changing a bit, and there could be other adjustments too, such as the charging speed. But overall, owners of this year’s model might not need to be in a rush to upgrade.

• Read our full OnePlus 9 review

Via GSMArena

South Korean electronic major Samsung today announced that it has chosen Taylor, Texas as the location for its new $17 billion plant to make advanced chips to be used in mobiles, 5G, autonomous vehicles, high-performance computing and artificial intelligence. Samsung said the facility will become operational in the second half of 2024. 

The factory will be Samsung's second one in Texas, where it already operates a plant in Austin. The Taylor site, at 5 million square meters, is expected to serve as a key location for Samsung’s global semiconductor manufacturing capacity along with its latest new production line in Pyeongtaek, South Korea.

The US is where Samsung and its archrivals TSMC and Intel are battling it out for chip contract manufacturing. The expansion is expected to address the global semiconductor shortage that is affecting multiple industries.

• Samsung shares the future of its foldable, slidable displays 
• Samsung to manufacture Qualcomm's 5G modem chips 

New facility to create 2000 jobs

“As we add a new facility in Taylor, Samsung is laying the groundwork for another important chapter in our future,” said Kinam Kim, Vice Chairman and CEO, Samsung Electronics Device Solutions Division. 

“In addition to our partners in Texas, we are grateful to the Biden Administration for creating an environment that supports companies like Samsung as we work to expand leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing in the US,” he added. 

The total expected investment of $17 billion is the largest-ever investment made by Samsung in the US. This will also bring Samsung’s total investment in the US to more than $47 billion since beginning operations in the country in 1978, where the company now has over 20,000 employees.

Samsung said it zeroed in on Taylor after taking into account multiple factors, including the local semiconductor ecosystem, infrastructure stability, local government support and community development opportunities. 

The proximity to Samsung’s current manufacturing site in Austin, about 25 kilometers southwest of Taylor, allows the two locations to share the necessary infrastructure and resources.

Samsung will also contribute financial support to create a Samsung Skills Center to help local students develop skills for future careers as well as providing internships and recruiting opportunities.

The new facility will create over 2,000 high-tech jobs directly and thousands of related jobs once it is in full operation. 

Samsung  is expected to make chips of 5-nanometres or less for companies like Qualcomm at the new facility. An official word on the same is expected soon.

• Best budget tablets under Rs 20,000

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We haven’t heard much about the Google Pixel 6a’s specs, but our first big leak at least suggests exactly what we’d hoped: that the next mid-range Google phone will have a Tensor chipset like those in the Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro – potentially even the same one.

The details of the leak come from 9to5Google’s investigations in the Google Camera app, which contains reference to a device internally codenamed Bluejay, which supposedly refers to the Google Pixel 6a. The good news, of course, is that they’ve found evidence that the phone will have the same Google Tensor GS101 chipset as the Pixel 6 (and not a variant – more on that below). 

That could mean the Pixel 6a would inherit all the features only available to the Tensor-powered Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, including Live Translation performed on the device, Google Assistant voice typing, and more. By extension, it should also get any other Tensor phone-only advancements coming down in the line in future Android updates.

Less exciting are the Pixel 6a camera details 9to5Google allegedly extracted – namely that it would miss out on the Pixel 6’s 50MP 1/1.31-inch main sensor and instead have the same 12.2MP 1/2.55-inch Sony IMX363 primary sensor that helmed the company’s phones from the Pixel 3 to the Pixel 5a. The smaller sensor means it will capture less light and may have more noise and take poorer night photos than the Pixel 6.

And fitting the recently-released Pixel 6a render leaks, the phone will retain the visor-like camera block of the Pixel 6 and likewise only have two rear cameras – the main and ultrawide. The new leak claims the latter will have the same IMX386 sensor as the ultrawide camera on the Pixel 6, and the same 8MP IMX355 front-facing camera. In short, ultrawide and selfie shots taken by the Pixel 6a could look similar to images taken by the Pixel 6.

Analysis: too Tensor, or not Tensor enough?

Google’s investment in improving software and machine learning over hardware has allowed its new features and perks to trickle down easily to older Pixel phones...until the Tensor chipset, which has on-device processing capabilities that enable the features we mentioned above, like Live Translation. 

But evidenced emerged earlier in November that Google was experimenting with installing Tensor chipsets (potentially earlier versions) on 2020’s Google Pixel 5, according to XDA Developers. A developer known as Freak07 tweeted findings from diving into the Pixel 6 source and found kernel files for variants of the Tensor chipset, referred to internally as GS101. 

The variants were referred to as GS101-b0, which purportedly refers to the Pixel 6’s eventual Tensor chipset, and GS101-a0, which was linked to a device with an internal codename Whitefin. That codename had come up before as XDA’s Mishaal Rahman tweeted in late October that the name could be a cute mash-up of Redfin (codename for Pixel 5) and Whitechapel (codename for Tensor SoC).

This could mean the Pixel 5 was originally meant to have Google’s in-house silicon, or that the company’s developers simply used the current flagship phone to refine Tensor’s integration to the Pixel platform while they were finishing the flagship Pixel 6. 

What does this have to do with the Pixel 6a? Thus far, we’ve only heard about one Tensor chipset, but news of the variants could suggest Google has experimented with multiple versions. That means the silicon that ends up in the next mid-range Pixel could have the same chipset as its flagship sibling and compete with it, much like the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 had such similar specs that we had a hard time recommending the pricier flagship. We’ll know more as further leaks give us a better idea of what’s coming with the Pixel 6a.

Via Droid Life

• The first Google Pixel 6a leaks are these unofficial renders and specs

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