HE world can rest easy, as Samsung today answered that — pardon us — burning question on everyone’s lips. At a news conference, the tech giant confirmed that bad batteries and bad decisions were to blame for the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 fire incidents that led to its discontinuation just two months after its launch.
These are the top 5 smartphone brands in Q3 2016
HINESE smartphone vendors still reign over the industry amid a 1.1 percent growth to 363 million shipments in Q3 2016, according to the latest numbers published by market-research firm IDC.
Vivo V5 Plus review: Selfie superstar
T seems that the battle for best camera phone will be fought in the front, what with all the selfie-centric handsets that keep coming in, often with something new to brag about. Even Samsung, though quietly, has joined the usual suspects — you know, OPPO and Vivo — with the launch of the new Galaxy A5 and A7 (2017) in the Philippines. As we noted in our review, the A7 isn’t marketed as serious competition in the selfie game, but it probably should be.
Huawei Mate 9 hands-on: Built to outsmart, outpace, and outlast
NNOUNCED in November 2016, the Huawei Mate 9 (click for complete specs) is the company’s latest entry to its large-screened flagship series that promises to outsmart, outpace, and outlast the competition with machine learning and gradual software optimization. It also aims to fill the gaping hole left by Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7, which could have been the popular choice among big-phone aficionados had it not been prematurely retired.
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) initial review: Off on a positive note
AMSUNG announced at CES 2017 in Las Vegas this month refreshed models of the Galaxy A series phones. And as if to confirm that the Philippines is an important market for the Korean electronics giant, the new Galaxy A5 (click for complete specs) and A7 (click for full specs) have made their way to local stores (without much fanfare), where they retail for P19,990 and P23,990, respectively. The more impressive of the duo, the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017), which has a generous screen size and battery capacity, is what we will be taking a closer look at today.
Here are the top-performing phones of 2016, according to Antutu
NTUTU closed the year by publishing its latest charts featuring the top-performing Android and iOS devices that have been put through their paces last year using the company’s own Antutu Benchmark app.
Hands-on: This red OPPO R9s smartphone is lit
HE countdown to Chinese New Year is on. And just in time for the festivities at the end of the month, OPPO has launched a New Year Anniversary edition of the R9s in red (click for complete specs). Devilishly hot red. It’s an absolute stunner — the company’s best-looking phone to date — and we have the photos to show it.
Samsung Galaxy S8 leaks again, may have dual speakers
HERE have been numerous leaks involving Samsung’s next flagship model, some of which seem more credible than others. Like this set of photos published on Weibo — China’s Twitter, if you may — that are said to be a Samsung Galaxy S8 unit in gold.
Nintendo Switch: Your questions answered
INTENDO just unveiled the Switch in its native Japan. It was met with oohs and aahs and hand claps from spectators, as expected, but it also armed critics with plenty of skepticism over whether it can truly make Nintendo relevant again in this generation.
Leaked Nokia 8 flagship to feature Snapdragon 835 and 24MP camera?
S we previously reported, Nokia is back… sort of. The Nokia 6 by Finnish company HMD Global, which won the rights to stamp the universally celebrated brand on both smart and basic phones, is the first Nokia to run Android. It’s also a midranger with an aggressive price tag (1,699 yuan, roughly $250 or P12,200) and an even more aggressive strategy for the Chinese market, where it will be exclusively available for online purchase.
The affordable Cherry Mobile flagship you’ve been asking for is here
HERRY Mobile has a new phone on the market — and it isn’t the dual-screen Taiji, which could unceremoniously launch this month or the next. The flavor of the week (or the next few weeks?) is the Cherry Mobile Cosmos Three (click for complete specs), a phone we played around with alongside the Defender and Taiji in mid-November. It’s currently rolling out to stores nationwide with a P9,999 price tag.
ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom finally gets priced… in China
SUS unveiled the ZenFone 3 Zoom last week at CES 2017, but gave no word on how much it will cost when it drops in stores next month. The consensus is that it could be pretty expensive because of the advanced dual-camera array strapped to its back. But now we know the price of the top-of-the-line Zoom variant (click for complete specs).
Huawei Honor Magic is smarter than your smartphone
T’S the final call at CES 2017 in Las Vegas. It’s been weird and at the same time brilliant. We’ve seen some memorable tech over the past week, and we’re very much looking forward to the day some of the products arrive in Philippine stores. Or maybe they won’t — because it’s totally plausible that most of the devices we’ve covered won’t make the trip to this side of the planet.
The iPhone is 10 years old and still has a trick that others can’t replicate
T’S been 10 years since Steve Jobs introduced the original iPhone. Yes, it has been that long. Today, the iPhone remains Apple’s most important product and its biggest cash cow, though it hasn’t been smooth-sailing for the Cupertino-based tech firm lately.
OPPO A39 is a smaller, cheaper F1s minus the selfie camera we love
HERE’S a new OPPO smartphone on the Philippine market, this time carrying a more affordable price tag than the one that came with the P12,990 ($262) OPPO F1s. In keeping with that comparison, we like to think of it as a smaller, cheaper version of the F1s sans a fingerprint sensor and the 16-megapixel front camera that made us do a double take.
Nokia 6, the first Nokia-Android mash-up, is here. Should you care?
HE cellphone pioneer from your childhood is back, albeit with a lot of help from a company you probably haven’t heard of. After months of speculation, the first true Android phone with the Nokia branding has surfaced.
Laptop with 3 screens is the gaming rig we’ve always wanted
EHOLD, the world’s first laptop with three (yes, three!) screens! This future case of technological wizardry comes courtesy of Razer — which, if you haven’t heard, is essentially the Apple of the PC gaming community.
Is this the Samsung Galaxy S8?
T’S early in the new year, which means the internet is again rife with rumors about the possible design, specs, features, and whatnot of the next Samsung Galaxy flagship. We’ve heard quite an earful about how different (and how important) the Samsung Galaxy S8 would be compared to its predecessors, but so far we haven’t seen anything in the wild to confirm or support those claims. Until now.
SKK will sell you a Huawei P9 clone for super cheap
FTER releasing an iPhone clone in the Philippines, SKK Mobile is at it again, this time coming out with a smartphone that apes the Huawei P9, intellectual property be damned.
New ASUS ZenFone is ready for AR and VR and comes with 8GB RAM
SUS just finished taking the wraps off of the ZenFone 3 Zoom and the ZenFone AR during its press event at CES 2017 in Las Vegas, and there’s admittedly a lot to unpack after all the hoopla.