As good of a phone as the Samsung Galaxy S9 was, it was an iterative upgrade over the Galaxy S8 and was released in a year where Android phone makers such as Huawei pushed real hard on their flagship products- overtaking Samsung in many areas. 

Samsung knew that it had to come up with something special with the Galaxy S10- especially considering that it’s also the 10th anniversary edition of the phone.

While the Galaxy S10 doesn’t go on sale until the 8th of March, we’ve been using it as our daily driver for the last three days. You’ll have to wait for our full review to find out how it compares to other phones, but here’s what we think of it so far.

It starts with the screen

While there is plenty to love about the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, the one feature that will mesmerize you is the screen. At 6.4-inches and edge-to-edge with a punch hole for cameras, the Dynamic AMOLED panel is breathtakingly gorgeous.

The 1440 x 3040 resolution makes it plenty sharp as well but those are specs that you’ll likely see on other phones. What sets Samsung apart is the quality of the screen- there is nobody in the industry that makes as good of a display and it clearly shows on the Galaxy S10 Plus.

 Traditionally, Samsung sets the colors to pop but on the S10, the default is set to the toned down “Natural” mode which is well calibrated. You can still change the screen mode to “Vivid” if that’s what you prefer the colors to pop. 

Another improvement Samsung has made is that these new OLED panels emit 61 percent less blue light and that is something you only realize when you switch the night mode on and don't see a huge difference. 

•  Check out our Galaxy S10 Plus hands on
•  Check out our Galaxy S10 hands on
• Check out our Galaxy S10e hands-on
• Everything we know about the Samsung Galaxy Fold

Have you been working out?

Once you’re done marveling at the screen, you realize how thin and light the Galaxy 10 Plus is for a phone with a 6.4-inch display. Folks around the office wondered if this was the non-plus version of the phone when they initially picked it up.

We’re not quite sure how Samsung managed to keep the weight of the phone down to 175 grams but if feels really light in your hands. It also not as slippery as last year's model. 

While we still prefer the size and in-hand feel of the regular Galaxy S10, the Plus is definitely smaller and lighter than you’d expect.

Ultrasonic sensor - Supersonic experience

The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus is the first phone to use an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. Although it's not as fast as a capacitive sensor, it works much more reliably than optical fingerprint sensors. The only time we struggled with the ultrasonic sensor on the Galaxy S10 Plus was when we took it inside a pool.

 Also, you don’t have to worry about the blinding light in the dark that the current generation of in-screen optical fingerprint sensors use. 

Rocking performance

The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus comes in two variants- the Snapdragon 855 for the US market and the Exynos 9820 for almost everywhere else in the world. We received the Exynos model for review which will also be the one that goes on sale in the Middle East.

The Exynos 9820 is an octa-core processor arranged in three clusters with four cores running at 1.95GHz, two cores at 2.31GHz and two more cores at 2.73GHz. Coupled with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, the Galaxy S10 Plus produced the highest Geekbench scores we’ve seen on an Android phone yet- 4473 for single-core and 10031 for multi-core.

It’s not just the benchmarks that the Galaxy S10 Plus is fast at- even everyday operations felt extremely zippy with apps launching and switching almost instantly. While we'll continue testing the speed, we won't be surprised if the Galaxy S10 takes the performance crown for Android phones.

Go wide or go home

With the Galaxy S10 line-up, Samsung has introduced a triple camera setup on its flagship phone. Like last year’s Galaxy S9, the primary camera is a 12MP sensor with a variable aperture while the secondary 12MP telephoto provides 2X optical zoom and bokeh effects. 

 What is new is the third sensor which is 16 MP at f/2.2 and 12mm for an ultrawide angle giving you good versatility when composing your images. Here are some sample shots from the Galaxy S10's camera in different lighting conditions. 

Samsung has introduced new scenes and AI capabilities on the Galaxy S10 bringing it more in line with the current generation of competing handsets. We’ll definitely be looking at the camera in greater detail in our full review.

More testing to be done

There are many more features on the Galaxy S10 Plus that need to be looked at in greater detail and require more time. For example, the S10 Plus is equipped with a massive 4,100mAh battery but that takes a few days to settle and measure. 

There’s also Wi-Fi 6 capabilities that aren’t present on any other phone and HDR10 video recording that will come with a software update. And last but not the least- the front cameras inside the punch hole. 

We’ll cover all of that in our upcoming review to see where the Galaxy S10 stands amongst other Android phones and whether it’s worth the price tag it’s asking for. But based on this quick look, we’re mighty impressed with what Samsung has done with the Galaxy S10.

The Huawei Nova 4 is now available to buy in the UAE for AED 1,799.

It replaces the Huawei Nova 3, which featured a great selfie camera and was a big hit with consumers selling 65 million units globally.

For AED 1,799 you get one of the first phones with a 6.4-inch punch-hole display boasting 86.3% screen-to-body ratio, 25MP AI camera, Kirin 970 chipset, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage and Android 9 Pie. That's a lot of phone for the what you're paying.

Audio fans will be pleased to hear that the handset does include a 3.5mm headphone jack, while a microSD card slot allows you to add up to 512GB of additional storage space, plus there's a fingerprint scanner located on the back of the Huawei Nova 4

Triple lenses

One of the key features on the Huawei Nova 4 are the triple rear cameras, with a main 20MP AI camera, a 16MP Ultra Wide angle camera and a 2MP depth sensing snapper for bokeh effects. It offers up HDR support, portrait mode, solid low light capabilities and AI scene recognition.

You'll also find the Super Night Photography mode within the camera app, which uses AIS (AI Image Stabilization) to produce better snaps in extreme low light.

Android 9 is covered in parent firm Huawei's EMUI 9 interface, and Huawei has also included GPU Turbo technology, making the Huawei Nova 4 better at gaming with higher frame rate support and a reduction in jitter rate.

The Huawei Nova 4 is available in two colors; Crush Blue and Midnight Black.

• Read our hands on: Huawei Nova 4 review

Oracle has announced the immediate availability of its new data centre in Abu Dhabi, and will offer public cloud applications services to customers in the UAE and wider Middle East.

Keepping data local

“By locating a data centre in the UAE, we will be able to better manage service levels and respond to local customers, who, for data governance requirements and other reasons, need to keep their data local,” said Arun Khehar, Senior Vice President – Business Applications, Middle East and Africa, Oracle. 

The Abu Dhabi data centre will support the rapid adoption of Oracle Cloud in the UAE and act as a key catalyst for the implementation of UAE’s strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution aimed at building the country’s leadership in education and advanced technology, including artificial intelligence, robotics and genomic medicine.

Etisalat, one of the world’s leading telecommunication groups, is the telecom partner for Oracle’s applications data centre in Abu Dhabi.

“With digital transformation driving the future, more companies are enabling digital innovation in their business and services. Our collaboration with Oracle complements very well the existing capabilities of Etisalat Digital and will help accelerate this transformation and cloud adoption to further empower government and commercial entities in the region” said Miguel Villalonga, Vice President of Cloud & Data Center, Etisalat Digital.

Although the smartphone industry keeps producing tons of new smartphones every year, the amount of really good phones that we saw was this year incredible. There was a great phone for everyone this year, no matter what your budget was.

That definitely made it much harder to choose our favorites from the year, but it is something that needs to get done. Today, we're announcing the categories in which we'll be honoring products from 2018 as well as opening our People's Choice awards up for voting.

Voting will close by mid January, following which we will reveal our Editor's picks as well your picks.

Categories for Editor's Choice Awards

• Phone of the Year
• Best Mid-Range Phone
• Best Camera Phone
• Best Wearable
• Best Tablet
• Best Laptop
• Best Headphones
• Best TV
• Best Smart Home Device
• Innovation in Technology

Categories for People's Choice Awards

• Phone of the Year
• Best Mid-Range Phone
• Best Camera Phone (Blind Test)
• Best Online Retailer
• Best Tech Brand

Vote for your favourites and win awesome prizes!

It won't be fun if there weren't any giveaways and we've got plenty of gear to giveaway. We will randomly select one entry from each category for People's Choice awards to win a prize. 

On top of that, everyone who picks all the right winners will go in a draw to get a collection of assorted goodies. You know you want them! Just make sure you follow us on Instagram and YouTube for more surprises.

But hurry up as the voting closes on the 15th of January 2019, following which we will randomly select winners.

Competition T&C's

By taking part in this competition you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions and the Competition Rules: www.futuretcs.com. Entries are submitted by completing the form above.

Open to persons aged 18 years or over and living in the Middle East. The winners will be chosen at random and be notified via email. The prizes are non-transferable and non-refundable. There is no cash alternative and winner will have to collect the prize from Dubai.

2018 was a good year for mobile users with tons of new apps and games added to Apple's App Store. We've highlighted many of the best in our best iPhone apps as well as best iPad apps guides and now it's time for Apple to reveal what it considers are the best from 2018:

Phone App of the Year - Procreate Pocket

iPhone Game of the Year - Donut County

iPad App of the Year - Froggipedia

iPad Game of the Year - Gorogoa

Mac App of the Year - Pixelmator Pro

Procreate Pocket is a great app if you fancy dabbling in digital finger-painting. Whether you’re a novice scribbler or a jobbing artist, this app’s sleek interface wants to get out of your way and let you paint.

Donut County is a physics puzzler where you play as a hungry hole in the ground. The more the hole eats, the larger it grows. Initially you are only able to swallow a few blades of grass but as you crack the correct order of items to gulp down you’ll soon be downing cars, buildings and even hillsides.

The best of the rest

On the music side, the winners from Middle East included Aseel Hamim who won the Artist of the Year while Sherine scored Album of the Year for Nassay. The song “Waynak” was Apple's choice for Song of the Year and Mohamed El Sharnouby gained the title Breakout Artist of the Year.

Coming to movies the list included summer blockbusters such as Avengers Infinity War as well as Mission Impossible - Fallout. Here is the full list of movies Apple selected for the best of 2018.

Avengers Infinity War 
Deadpool 2 
Ready Player One 
A Quiet Place 
Isle of Dogs 
Mission Impossible - Fallout 
Black Panther
Game Night 
The Incredibles 2 
The Insult

The world’s first smartphone with four cameras, the Galaxy A9 (2018) is coming to UAE on November 22nd. 

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy A9 (2018) in October at an event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the first smartphone to have a quad camera setup on the rear. Samsung says the camera is 'optimized for Instagram', as it aims to serve millennials who care for camera quality. 

The price for for the Galaxy A9 (2018) is set at AED 2,149 in the UAE.

The four cameras

The four camera setup is a combination of a 24MP primary camera, an 8MP 120-degree wide angle lens, a 5MP depth-sensing camera, which collects data used in Samsung’s Live Focus bokeh mode, and a 10MP telephoto lens to allow 2X zoom over the primary camera. 

The phone uses the primary camera to capture in auto mode and is also the best for low-light situations. The wide angle lens allows you to capture a wider frame, whereas the 5MP depth-sensing camera works with the primary lens to create background blur effect in the pictures.

Round the front, there's a 24MP selfie camera for selfies and video calling.

Specifications

Samsung is equipping the latest Galaxy A9 with a 6.3-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display, Snapdragon chipset, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, microSD slot, Android 8 Oreo and a 3,800mAh battery with fast charge support.

• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) hands on

Etisalat is positioning itself as one of the first telcos in the world to offer e-SIM support for the new iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR. The services will be available on these Apple phones following the release of iOS 12.1 later today.

The three new iPhone models launched this year support dual SIM technology on an iPhone for the first time and will allow consumers to have two active connections.

Such functionality has been available to Android users for many years though through physical SIM cards. Apple is the first company to introduce an unlocked version of eSIM that can be used by any global carrier supporting this technology.

Etisalat launched an eSIM with the Apple Watch LTE earlier this year and is now extending an updated version of this technology to the iPhone.

• Apple introduces dual SIM capabilities on the iPhone with the intention of killing SIM cards

The Honor 8X has been launched for the Middle East during an event held in Dubai with the phone going on sale in the UAE right away and Saudi Arabia on the 8th of October.

The highlight of the Honor 8X looks to be its 6.5-inch 1080 x 2340 screen, which should see it dwarf most handsets, as even the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 'only' has a 6.4-inch display.

It has a 19.5:9 aspect ratio and like so many other phones this year there’s a notch and very little bezel, leading to a 91% screen-to-body ratio. And it’s not just the front of the Honor 8X that has minimal wasted space, as at 7.8mm thick it’s no chunkier than necessary either.

It has a metal frame and a glass back, and that back is constructed from 15 layers of glass, causing light to dance across it, much like some other Honor handsets such as the Honor 10.

Packed with power and a big battery

The phone also looks to have a reasonable amount of power, packing an octa-core Kirin 710 chipset (the same as you’ll find in the Huawei Mate 20 Lite) and 6GB of RAM, putting it solidly in the mid-range.

There’s also a 20MP and 2MP dual-lens camera pairing on the back, a 16MP camera on the front, a big 3,750mAh battery, 64GB or 128GB of storage and a fingerprint scanner.

There's only one variant of the phone being sold in the UAE and Saudi Arabia which is equipped with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. It's priced at AED 999 in the UAE and SAR 999 in Saudi Arabia.

You can purchase the phone in the UAE from Carrefour, Axiom, Lulu, Jumbo, Emax, JollyChic, Sharaf DG and KM trading while consumers in Saudi can pick it up from Jarir, Extra and Lulu.

Honor is holding a special launch promotion at GITEX Shopper 2018 where you get an Honor smart scale worth AED 199 and your entrance ticket cash back from the Honor stand if you buy the phone from the show.

• The Honor 7X is already available

The Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has announced the Mi A2 and Mi A2 Lite at for the UAE at a press event held in Dubai today.Both these handsets are based on Android One.

Xiaomi Mi A2 Specifications

The Xiaomi Mi A2 will run on Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box and will be a part of Google’s Android One program. The device features a 5.99-inch full HD+ 2.5D curved glass display with a resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels and an aspect ratio of 18:9.

In terms of performance, the Mi A2 is powered by the octa core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC coupled with Adreno 512 GPU. In terms of memory, the device will be available in the UAE with two variants – 4GB RAM + 64GB internal storage, and 6GB RAM + 128GB internal storage.

Coming to the camera department, the Xiaomi Mi A2 will feature a dual camera setup at the back consisting of a 12MP primary camera with Sony IMX486 sensor, 1.25μm pixel size, f/1.75 aperture and a secondary 20MP camera with Sony IMX376 sensor, f/1.75 aperture and 1.0um pixel size. On the front, the device is reported to feature a 20MP selfie camera with Sony IMX376 sensor, 1.0um pixel size and a soft LED flash.

The Mi A2 is powered by a 3,010mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 support. Connectivity options on the device will include Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac, Bluetooth 5 LE, 3.5mm audio jack, GPS and a USB Type – C port.

Pricing for the Xiaomi Mi A2 is set at AED 919 for the 4GB/64GB model while the higher-end 6GB/128GB model will retail for AED 1,079. Both these variants will be available in Black, Blue and Gold colours.

Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite Specifications

The Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite is the Android One variant of the recently announced Redmi 6 Pro. It looks similar to the Mi A2 at the back but at the front it has a notch, giving it a different look. The device also run on Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box but will have a smaller 5.84-inch full HD+ 2.5D curved glass display with a resolution of 2280 x 1080 pixels and an aspect ratio of 19:9.

In terms of performance, the device is powered by the octa core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC coupled with Adreno 506 GPU. In terms of memory, the device is expected to be announced in two variants – 3GB RAM + 32GB storage and 4GB RAM + 64GB storage.

Coming to the camera department, the device features a dual camera setup at the back consisting of a 12MP primary camera with Sony IMX486 sensor, 1.25um pixel size, phase detection autofocus, f/2.2 aperture and a secondary 5MP camera with Samsung S5K5E8 sensor, f/2.2 aperture and 1.12um pixel size. On the front, the device is expected to sport a 5MP selfie camera.

The Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite will be powered by a 4,000mAh battery for a 2 day usage and connectivity options on the device will include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, 3.5mm audio jack and GPS.

Pricing for the Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite is set at AED 619 for the 3GB/32GB model while the 4GB/64GB model will retail for AED 749. 

Xiaomi today held the regional unveiling of their new sub-brand — POCO — with its first smartphone, the POCO F1. It is the new budget-focused flagship phone that’s made it to India before any other part of the world and is now coming to the UAE. It packs flagship features, promising camera, top of the line chipset and the most important, an insanely low price tag. 

It’s the cheapest Snapdragon 845 smartphone that starts selling at mere AED 1,249 (approx $300).  In the UAE, the POCO F1 family has two variants— 6GB RAM/64GB storage and 6GB RAM/128GB storage and will be available in Graphite Black, Steel Blue, and Rosso Red colours. 

Gets ample of processing power

The POCO F1 features the top-end Snapdragon 845 chipset with 6GB of RAM. On top, it gets LiquidCool Technology cooling system for thermal management. The company claims that it delivers sustained peak performance for extended periods. It is also claimed that the system is 300% more effective than conventional, non-liquid cooling solutions as it allows heat from the CPU to dissipate in a go. To make it even speedier, the phone uses an LPDDR4x DRAM and UFS 2.1 storage.

Bigger battery than most competitors

We have seen phones like the OnePlus 6 or Oppo Find X killing it with the performance, but it’s uncommon to find a big battery on them. POCO F1 get a 4000mAh cell, which is said to sustain 8-hours of continuous gaming. Moreover, with the Qualcomm QC 3.0 support, it shouldn’t take unusual charging time.

Borrows flagship camera setup from the Mi 8

It’s not revolutionary, but the rear camera setup on the POCO F1 looks quite promising on paper. To have an idea, it’s the same module that was seen on the Mi 8 earlier this year. It gets a 12MP Sony IMX363 primary sensor with 1.4-micron pixel size and a 5MP secondary sensor. It gets dual-pixel autofocus technology that was first seen on the Samsung Galaxy S7, and it enhances focus speed and accuracy.

Up front, there’s a 20MP sensor featuring Super Pixel tech that is said to combine information from four pixels into one large 1.8-micron pixel for clearer images with minimum noise.

Both the cameras get AI features for photos. Xiaomi says the AI intelligently identifies and optimizes the images in real-time by judging the scene. It is pre-fed with 206 scenes across 25 categories.

What else?

POCO F1 also includes a tweaked MIUI launcher called the POCO launcher, which will be available on the Google Play store eventually. The launcher is a slightly improved version of MIUI, which feels faster and smoother. For a change, the POCO F1 comes with an app drawer that can automatically categorise apps. Moreover, MIUI for POCO also priorities security and regular updates from Google. 

The launcher is currently based on Android Oreo 8.1, but the company has promised to release the Android P by Q4 2018. 

POCO F1 Price and availability

The POCO F1 will retail at AED 1,249 for the 6GB+64GB and AED 1,349 for the 6GB+128GB configuration. It will go on sale at Mi stores and mi-mena.com as well as official partners like Etisalat, Noon and Carrefour.

With the latest iPhone XS release, the iPhone finally, officially supports dual SIM capabilities. There are plenty of reasons why many people are excited about this feature landing on the iPhone as this allows you to have the flexibility of using one phone for your work number as well as your personal number, or use different carriers for voice calls and data.

Depending on which part of the world you live in, the iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Plus (and soon the iPhone XR) either have a tray that can take dual SIM cards or work have a tray that takes one nano SIM card like previous iPhones and have one built-in eSIM. An eSIM is an electronic version of the SIM card and pretty much the future of using all phones. With the iPhone XS, Apple is sending a message to carriers that it’s time to start implementing eSIM technology.

Although Apple hasn’t enabled eSIM on the iPhone XS just yet, it is expected to do so in a future iOS update. But the Chinese variant of the iPhone XS has a tray for two physical SIM cards and we managed to get our hands on one to see how dual SIM technology works on the iPhone. 

We like how Apple has used a double-sided SIM tray to house both the SIM cards. Apple has done this by adding a little piece on bendable plastic that pushes down and keeps the secondary SIM card from falling off when it’s facing down. It’s a nice little tweak to keep the SIM card locked in its place and we wonder why Apple hasn’t done this for the primary SIM card as well.

Almost all Android phone we’ve recently looked at have a tray with two slots next to each other with the second slot used either for a SIM card or an SD card. Using a double sided tray could help all Android manufacturers build support for dual SIMs AND a microSD card and not have consumers decide between one or the other. 

Coming to the functionality of dual SIM cards on the iPhone, it’s very much like what we’ve seen on Android phones over the last few years. You can independently choose which SIM you want to use for phone calls, messaging and data, and, can rename each of the SIM cards to help you easily distinguish between the two.

When you’re calling someone, you can select which SIM you want to use for outgoing calls. A small button appears on top the dialter that lets you switch between the SIM cards on the phone.. When you receive an incoming call, iOS 12 lets you know which SIM the call is coming through and the Call History screen also shows which SIM was used for each call.

The functionality of the iPhone using either two physical SIM cards or using an eSIM as well as a regular SIM card is expected to be the same so whenever Apple enables eSIM functionality on the iPhone XS and XR, expect it to work much like what we’ve described above.

However, there is one particular area where the iPhone will need to catch up with Android phones and we’re not quite sure if Apple will allow this in future iOS updates. It’s called App twinning or App cloning which basically allows you to have two instances of an app working independently of each other. 

To give you an example, with two numbers on your phone, you might also want two different WhatsApp accounts. Most Android phones with dual SIM cards will allow you to create a clone of WhatsApp and use it with your secondary number. 

However, this is not possible on the iPhone just yet. Either Apple will need to build support for app cloning in iOS or app developers such as WhatsApp will need to extensively rewrite their apps to support working with multiple numbers. 

At the moment, either of those options options look a bit unlikely but then again, so was the thought of having a dual SIM iPhone a couple of years back.

There are many, many people who have already pre-ordered the new Apple iPhone XS or iPhone XS Max and we salute them for being able to easily part with over AED/SAR 4,000 so easily.

But for the rest of us, spending that much money on a phone, any phone, is not justifiable. And this article is for those of us. We've picked out five mobile phones that you should consider instead of Apple's latest and greatest that won't make as big of a dent on your wallet.

1. iPhone XR

Okay, let's start with the obvious option. If you really dig the design and functionality of the iPhone XS, the iPhone XR is the cheaper alternative that's over AED/SAR 1,000 cheaper than the iPhone XS.

It has the same A12 bionic processor, the same 3D facial recognition technology and an identical primary camera. What you are missing out on is screen technology which is LED with a lower resolution compared to the OLED panel on the iPhone XS, 3D Touch and a secondary camera.

The catch is that you'll have to wait as Apple is expected to released the Phone XR in mid October. Prices start from AED/SAR 3,179.

2. iPhone 7 Plus

If you're looking to stick to an iPhone, Apple has dramatically dropped the prices on the iPhone 7 and the uPhone 7 Plus and these phones gave you a great iOS experience with reasonably good performance and features for a phone that is not three generations old.

Prices for the iPhone 7 at Apple start at AED/SAR 1,899 while the iPhone 7 Plus starts at AED 2,399. 

3. Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus

The Galaxy S9 Plus arrived earlier this year at great expense, but thankfully prices fell fast and far. At 6.2 inches the screen is still massive and its cameras really impressed us, especially in low light.

The Galaxy S9 Plus is currently selling for AED 2,749 but you can find it as low as AED 2,500 and that gets you 128GB storage and 6GB RAM. 

4. Huawei P20 Pro

The Huawei P20 Pro has been the smartphone sleeper hit of the summer. It takes a lot to break the stranglehold of Samsung and Apple, but Huawei has done it in 2018 with its 6.1-inch wonder. People have fallen over themselves to get that 40MP main camera and massive battery.

The Huawei P20 Pro is now selling for AED 2,769 which is 200 Dirhams off it's original price. It is also expected to get the latest Android 9 Pie update soon.

5. OnePlus 6: Half the price

OnePlus released its latest phone the OnePlus 6 just a couple of months back and it has all the latest specs such as the Snapdragon 845 processor along with an almost 6.3-inch screen. You get all that for less than half the price of the iPhone XS.

Currently, the OnePlus 6 is selling for AED 1,879 which is a whopping 2,300 cheaper than the iPhone XS. 

Apple launched the iPhone XS, the iPhone XS Max and the iPhone XR last week and one of the new features shared between these phones is dual SIM capability. Apple has implement this through an eSIM as well as a regular nano sized SIM, with China being the exception for getting a model with dual nano SIMs.

However, it looks like the model released in the UAE will not have any kind of dual SIM capabilities- neither through a physical SIM or through eSIM. The following information was posted by the local telco du on their FAQ page concerning the iPhone XS:

"E-SIM / dual SIM handsets will not be available in UAE"

We couldn't locate anything related to the above on Etisalat's website for the iPhone XS but have reached out to both Apple and Etisalat to confirm.

Apple is not enabling eSIM capabilities on the iPhone XS at launch but it is expected to be available through a future software update. However, the information posted by du suggests that the iPhone XS sold in the region will not get these capabilities. 

Apple has played a big role in cutting the size of SIM cards from standard to micro to nano as well as introduce eSIM capabilities with the Apple SIM on the 9.7-inch iPad Pro a couple of years back. 

However, there’s been one area that Apple has been ignoring for a while now which is dual SIM capabilities and with the iPhone XS, Apple finally checks that box as well.

What would you need dual SIM capabilities for?

Many people living in the US or Western Europe don’t really view dual SIM cards as a much needed feature but step out to Asia or Africa and this almost becomes a required feature for multiple reasons.

Some people use it to get the best data and calling plans which might not be on the same telco while others use it to have two different numbers, such as, for work and personal. Frequent travellers also love this feature to save on roaming costs by equipping their secondary SIM slot with a local SIM card at their destination. 

There are plenty of scenarios that highlight the importance of using dual SIM cards and until now, an Android phone was pretty much the only option available to smartphone users.

Why is Apple moving to dual SIM solutions now? 

With the latest 2018 iPhone X lineup, Apple has gone all-in with dual SIM capabilities found on all three models introduced today- the iPhone XS, the iPhone XS Max and the iPhone XR. The way Apple has implemented this feature differs for phones sold in China and phones sold in the rest of the world.

The Chinese version of the new iPhones has two SIM slots for adding two physical nano SIM cards whereas the rest of the world gets one SIM slot and an embedded SIM or eSIM. Although the new iPhones are equipped with eSIM technology, it does not work out of the box and will be enabled by Apple through a software update later this year.

While the usage of eSIM is certainly on the rise, it’s surprising that Apple has only introduced the dual SIM tray version in China. Most countries where this is a required feature don’t really have a telco that offers eSIM capabilities. However, because China doesn't allow eSIM at the moment, is the reason new iPhones have dual physical slots there.

For the rest of the world, maybe, this is Apple's plan to push telcos into offering eSIM services. Much like Apple pushed the SIM card sizes down with earlier iPhones, this could be Apple's play for eliminating the SIM Card altogether. 

We all know that Apple dislikes physical connectors and introducing a secondary eSIM seems to be the safest way to remove the SIM slot entirely from future iPhones.

Oppo Find X has been launched in the Middle East today, marking the re-introduction of Oppo’s flagship Find series of smartphones. The Find X is an interesting new smartphone that features a set of sliding cameras – it is one of the first smartphones in the world to feature such a setup.

Launched in China last month, the Oppo Find X’s headline feature is its Camera Slider, allowing the company to reduce the bezels of the phone drastically - overall, the Find X has an impressive screen-to-body ratio of 93.8 percent.

Oppo Find X price and availability

The Oppo Find X is priced at AED 3,999 for the UAE, EGP 16,990 for Egypt and KES 99,990 in Kenya. It is available in Bordeaux Red and Glacier Blue color options and on sale in the UAE with other Middle East countries to follow.

Oppo Find X specifications

The Oppo Find X runs on Android 8.1 Oreo with the company’s ColorOS 5.1 skinned on top. The device features a 6.42-inch full HD+ AMOLED Panoramic Arc display with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels and an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

In terms of performance, the Oppo Find X is powered by the flagship octa core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC coupled with Adreno 630 GPU. In terms of memory, the device has been launched in one variant only – 8GB RAM + 256GB internal storage. In Paris, the device was also launched in a 128GB variant.

Coming to the camera department, the placement of the cameras is one of the USP of the device. It features a dual rear camera setup consisting of a 16MP primary camera with f/2.0 aperture, OIS, LED flash and a 20MP secondary camera with f/2.2 aperture. On the front, the device sports a 25MP selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture.

The Oppo Find X is powered by a 3,730mAh battery with VOOC flash charge support. Connectivity options on the device include 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0 LE, GPS and a USB Type – C port.

Another highlight of the Find X is the O-Face Recognition technology, which uses 15,000 dot projection and 3D light structuring to scan the user’s face. While it may add a slight delay in unlocking the smartphone, Oppo claims that it is 20 times safer when compared to fingerprint unlock.

Oppo has also added another feature called 3D Omoji that presumably uses the same 3D light structuring technology. Using 3D Omoji, users can create animated 3D emojis which imitate the user’s real-life expressions, akin to the Animoji feature that Apple introduced with the iPhone X. 

The Lamborghini Edition

Oppo is also releasing an Automobili Lamborghini Edition with a Carbon Fibre look and 512GB of storage as well as SuperVOOC charging that can fully charge the phone in half an hour. This limited edition is priced at AED 6,999 in the UAE.