Apple is expected to announce at least two new iPhone models next week that might be called the iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Plus. As is the case every year, the new phones will feature the latest in processor technology and improved cameras. 

But there are a few features currently missing from the iPhone that are already present on competing handsets and ones that could technically be easily implemented on an iPhone. 

 Dual SIM support 

Apple has long neglected the dual SIM band-wagon, which has almost become a standard on Android phones and is a required feature for many in markets such as India and China. 

Flagship phones from Huawei and Samsung have been supporting dual SIM cards for a few years now. It certainly makes travelling with your phone a lot more convenient and affordable. Many people also use it at home by paying one telco for calls and the other for data. 

There are strong rumors that Apple might be releasing an iPhone with dual SIM this year, thanks to code found on beta versions of iOS, though it's not clear which models of the iPhone will get this feature.

 A 120Hz ProMotion display 

Remember when you first saw the retina screen on the iPhone 4 and everything else paled in comparison? Moving to a panel with higher refresh rates has a similar effect and Apple has already done that on the 10.5-inch iPad that features a “ProMotion” display. 

The fluidness of scrolling web pages or the animation effects in iOS really stand out, and would make it into a great feature on the iPhone. Apple could possibly restrict this to the larger iPhone XS Plus to differentiate between the two models and maybe even include support for Apple Pencil.

 Launch camera with a hardware button 

Launching the camera on the iPhone requires a tap or swipe on the screen, whereas many Android manufacturers allow launching the camera by double pressing the power or volume buttons. 

This action lets you get to the camera app in the time it takes for you to hold the phone up to take a picture. 

 Always on display 

Do you find yourself double tapping the iPhone X every few minutes just to see the time or any notifications? An always-on display is becoming increasingly common on Android phones equipped with an OLED panel and we'd love to see this feature on an iPhone.

OLED screens are quite efficient when it comes to selectively powering up the phone's screen. With Apple switching to OLED last year on the iPhone X, there is little reason to not support this feature and would give us less reasons to pick up or double tap the iPhone.

 Replace Lightning port with USB-C Port 

This is one of those things that will never happen, but it would be extremely convenient to charge your Mac and your iPhone with the same cable.  However, other than that, there’s no reason for Apple to switch to a USB Type-C port on the iPhone, especially with the incompatibilities that Android users have faced connecting headsets to that port. 

One can dream though, right?

We’ll only know which (if any) of the these features make it to the new 2018 version of the iPhone at Apple's iPhone 2018 launch event, scheduled for September 12.

Huawei's next flagship, the Mate 20 series lands later this year and details for it slowly emerging. We can already guess that it will come equipped with the Kirin 980 processor, a rather large battery and a triple camera setup found on the Huawei P20 Pro.

One feature that has been lacking on Huawei phones is wireless charging and looks like Huawei is set to make a grand entry with that. According to Android Authority, an image posted on Weibo shows Huawei's wireless charger LZ80 with a 20W output. To put things in perspective, Samsung's latest wireless charger has an output of 9W.

Interestingly, the Huawei charger supports Qi charging which has evolved as the industry standard with both Samsung and Apple supporting it. However, this standard supports a maximum of 15W so there's a good chance that Huawei might deploy a custom chip to support faster charging, or, there's a revision to the Qi specs expected soon.

“It’s not easy every year” said DJ Koh, President & CEO Samsung’s Mobile division at the launch of the Galaxy Note 9. He was speaking about pushing the boundaries on flagship phones and spending a few days with the Galaxy Note 9, we can understand why he said that.

Similar to the Galaxy S9 update earlier in the year, the Galaxy Note 9 builds upon its predecessor, addressing all of its shortcomings. It looks almost identical to the Note 8 which means that it’s still a massive phone with a gorgeous screen and a stylus but Samsung has replaced the innards and given the battery life a much needed boost.

While the Galaxy Note 9 doesn’t go on sale until the 24th of August, 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 there’s what we think of it so far.

This looks familiar...

Not much has changed between Note 8 and the Note 9 as far as the design is concerned. The Galaxy Note 9 is slightly shorter and wider than last year's model as well as a tad bit thicker and heavier but you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference.

It measures 161.9 x 76.4 x 8.8 and weighs 201g meaning it’s strictly a two handed device unless you have very large hands. The metallic frame around the Galaxy Note 9 is now diamond cut and gives the phone sharper edges. It's a subtle but noticeable improvement and we're really liking how the Note 9 feels in your hands.

Samsung has shaved the bezels slightly and along with the wider width, the Galaxy Note 9 has a larger 6.4-inch screen compared to Note 8's 6.3-inch screen. Unless you put both these phones side-by-side, you're not going to notice the increased screen space.

The fingerprint sensor on the back has been moved below the dual cameras which is a much better position that being placed next to them. That being said, this is still a large phone and it may still be a bit high for some people.

Sexy specs and a new S Pen

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 we tested came equipped with an Exynos 9810 chipset that's also present on the Galaxy S9. Coupled with 6GB RAM, this makes the Note 9 fly when launching, running or switching between apps. For power users, Samsung is also releasing a version with 8GB RAM and 512GB storage.

Network performance has also been improved on the Galaxy Note 9 to support 1.2Gbps LTE speeds though we couldn't find a network that's fast enough to support such speeds. 

With the Galaxy Note 9, Samsung builds upon the stylus by equipping it with a low powered Bluetooth module and a rechargeable battery that can give you half an hour's usage on a 40 second charge. 

That allows you to use the S Pen to control presentations or the camera to take pictures and switch between front and back lenses. Honestly speaking, we don't see much value in that but Samsung is also released the SDK for app developers. It would be interesting to see where this goes- we'd love to see games along the lines of Nintendo DS.

Also worth mentioning is that you can continue using the S Pen as a passive device without using the battery, i.e, very much like the S Pen on the Note 8. You'll only need that charge when you start using the Bluetooth functionality.

A battery that's supposed to last long

Samsung is claiming an all day battery life with the Galaxy Note 9 by bundling its largest ever on a Note device. With a capacity of 4,000mAh the Note 9 has a 20% larger battery than its predecessor. 

The first three days of using the Note 9 have been erratic in terms of battery life, which is somewhat expected with a new phone. Downloading apps and setting them up with their data is intensive and takes a toll on the battery. We'll reserve our judgement on the battery in our full review.

Camera updates- its all about AI

The camera setup on the Galaxy Note 9 is the same dual camera module found on the Galaxy S9 Plus released earlier in the year. It’s in a horizontal orientation but you get the same 12MP primary sensor with dual aperture as well as the secondary 12MP fixed at 2X optical zoom. 

Samsung has made tweaks to the software with scene recognition added to the camera that can identify twenty scenarios and take better photos. We’ve seen this in other Android phones such as the Huawei P20 Pro. You can switch this off if you don’t like software tinkering with your photos.

Samsung has also added flaw detection which kicks in right after you’ve taken a photo and informs you if your shot was blurry or your subject’s eyes were closed. We tried testing this out but couldn't quite get it to work.

Here are some sample shots from the Galaxy Note 9's camera in different lighting conditions. 

More testing to be done

On the surface the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 may appear to be an unexciting phone looking very much like handset it's replacing, but it's more complex than that. Even though it's not bringing anything revolutionary with it, it is shaping up to be the best Android phone currently available.

We have a lot more testing to do before we publish our full review and we'll continue testing the phone but for more, check out our Galaxy Note 9 hands on.

There exist in this world the kind of people that are going to pre-order the new Samsung Galaxy Note 9, and to hell with the price tag. You know that. Samsung knows that. We know that. 

But everybody else is looking at that AED 3,699 or AED 4,599 pre-order prices and thinking there's no way they'll be splashing out on the Note 9 any time soon.

Well this article is for the latter camp. The anything-but-the-Note 9 brigade. We've picked out five mobile phones that you should consider instead of Samsung's new behemoth, and the best-value deals on them that you can pick up right now.

And for those wondering why the iPhone X doesn't feature... well that's even more expensive than the Note 9!

1. Samsung Galaxy Note 8: AED 1,660 cheaper than Note 9

Okay, let's start with the obvious option. The Note 9 doesn't make massive leaps and bounds over the Galaxy Note 8, and yet the 2017 model will cost you waaaaaay less. You still get a 12MP dual-lens main camera, Quad HD+ 6.3-inch display and plenty of power.

Souq.com is selling last year's Galaxy Note 8 for just AED 2,039 which is a phenomenal saving over the Note 9. Granted this is just the 64GB model, the Note 8 also comes with an expandable microSD card. Even if you're looking to get the 128GB model, that's also priced at AED 2,699 which is a thousand Dirhams cheaper.

2. Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus: AED 900 cheaper than Note 9

Sticking with Samsung for a moment, 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 a tad smaller than the Note 9's, but it's noticeably lighter and its cameras really impressed us, especially in low light.

The Galaxy S9 Plus is currently selling for AED 2,799 and gets you the same 128GB storage and 6GB RAM as the Galaxy Note 9. 

3. iPhone 8 Plus: AED 700 cheaper than Note 9

As we said, we're leaving the iPhone X out of this little roundup, and that makes the iPhone 8 Plus your best big-screen option on Apple iOS. At 5.5 inches the screen is quite a lot smaller that the Note 9's, but you know with Apple that you're going to get a stylish phone that's a delight to use.

The iPhone 8 Plus is selling for AED 2,987 which is the 64GB model. Granted that's lower than the storage you get from Note 9, but you're also saving over 700 Dirhams.

4. Huawei P20 Pro: AED 900 cheaper than Note 9

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 and over 900 Dirhams cheaper than the Galaxy Note 9.

5. OnePlus 6: Half the price of the Note 9

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 half the price of the Galaxy Note 9.

Currently, the OnePlus 6 is selling for AED 1,879 which is a whopping 1,800 cheaper than the Galaxy Note 9. You can literally buy two of these phones for the same price as the Galaxy Note 9. If you prefer more than 64GB storage, the 128GB model of OnePlus is still very affordable at AED 2,175.

The Honor Play has just been announced for the UAE and Saudi Arabia and,as the name implies, it's being positioned as a gaming-centric phone with GPU Turbo technology. 

Highlights including a 6.3-inch FHD+ screen with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio and a notch. That seems a bit puzzling as most mobile games are designed for a 16:9 aspect ratio which means that you'll most likely see black borders around the screen.

The Honor Play has dual rear camera in a 16MP+2MP configuration along with a 16MP front-facing one, and like all recent Huawei and Honor phones, these cameras are AI enabled.

With the GPU Turbo technology, Honor is guaranteeing fast speeds and wants to address the common performance issues that plague mobile gamers. The GPU Turbo technology leverages hardware-software integration solution and increases graphics processing. 

According to Honor, the graphics processing efficiency is increased by 60%, while the SoC (System on Chip) energy consumption is reduced by 30%. Jitter rate and temperatures have been minimized for a smoother, more comfortable performance.

More Specs

The Honor Play has a Kirin 970 NPU chipset which is the highest performing processor from Huawei owned HiSilicon and powers the company's flagship products., You get 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage along with a microSD card slot and support for two SIM cards.

The battery is beefy at 3,750mAh which will definitely be required when gaming. Honor is releasing the phone with the latest EMUI 8.2 software based on Android 8.1.

The Honor Play will be available in Midnight Black, Navy Blue, Ultra-Violet, and a special Player Edition patterned in red and black. It's been priced at SAR 1,199 in KSA and at AED1,199  in UAE, and, will be available at retail stores from August 1.

• What is Honor GPU Turbo

We knew the new Nokia 2.1 (2018) was coming soon, but now we know exactly when and how much it will cost you - at least in the UAE, where the phone is confirmed to be landing on August 8.

Sold across major retailers in the UAE, the Nokia 2 is powered by Android Oreo Go edition that has optimized for low spec phones with lower prices. The phone will cost you just 389 Dirhams in the UAE

Besides Android Go, the other highlight of the Nokia 2 (2018) is the large battery life. Equipped with a 4,000mAh battery, the new Nokia 2 is expected to last for two full days on a single charge. 

Nokia 2 (2018) specs

The Nokia 2.1 is powered by the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor with 1GB of RAM, 5.5-inch 720p screen, 8MP rear camera and 5MP front-facing snapper.

Like other Nokia handsets released in this year, expect premium craftsmanship and design. There’s only 8GB of built in storage but you do have a microSD card for additional space.

You’ll be able to grab the phone in three colors when it arrives August 8- Blue/Copper, Blue/Silver and Grey/Silver. 

• Not convinced? Then check out the best budget phones in the UAE