Articles about Smartphone

It's just a couple of days until new EU regulations come into force which makes European roaming charges a thing of the past. Put simply, all mobile operators will have to permit their customers to use their bundled text, call and data allowance within the EU at no extra charge from June 15.

With many UK travelers caught out by high mobile bills after a trip, this change should be great news. But consumer watchdog Which? warns that there could be a catch, and mobile users are warned to continue to keep an eye on their bills.

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Nearly a year after unveiling the Moto E3, today Lenovo officially announces its successor. It's called the Moto E4 and it is offered in two versions, with some major differences between them.

There's the base Moto E, which comes with a 5-inch screen and a 2,800mAh battery, and the larger 5.5-inch Moto E Plus, which features a 5.5-inch display and a massive 5,000mAh battery.

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BlackBerry has endured a checkered last few years, as the company dialed down its original smartphone offerings to focus more on software and security offerings. However, the former smartphone icon has recently returned to the mobile market after signing a number of partnership deals to get the BlackBerry name back out there.

The BlackBerry KEYone is the latest product of this, as the company once again joins forces with Chinese firm TCL to reveal a new business-focused smartphone.

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We're now only a couple of weeks away from the launch of the OnePlus 5, but concrete details about the smartphone are still a little thin on the ground. And "thin" is an important word -- OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has said that the OnePlus 5 will be the thinnest flagship phone.

Ahead of the launch, and after sharing samples of photographs taken with the smartphone, the company has finally shared an image of the OnePlus 5. The picture shows that the handset is indeed thin, and confirms that there is a dual camera setup.

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It looks like iOS 11 will be a great upgrade for iPhone and iPad users, but not everyone will be able to join the party. As usual, Apple has dropped support for older -- yet still popular -- devices, and this time around two iPhones and an iPad are getting the axe.

As you might expect, the devices in question are the oldest iPhones and iPads that can run iOS 10, namely the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c and 4th-generation iPad. All the 32-bit devices, and the last to debut with a 32-bit processor, which means that iOS 11 will be a 64-bit-only affair.

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One of the weak points of the iPhone -- like just about any other smartphone -- is the screen. All it takes is a fall onto a hard surface and you could find yourself in shatter city. Getting a replacement screen is simple enough, but if you head off to an Apple store you could find that you're in for a bit of a wait.

All of this is about to change, as Apple is set to install official screen fixing Horizon Machines in around 400 third party repair centers around the world, including Best Buy in the US. The move will mean that third parties will now be able to repair iPhone screens without voiding warranties.

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The launch date for the OnePlus 5 has officially been announced. The big day is June 20, and the latest flagship will be revealed online after an exciting teaser campaign, but there are also 10 pop-up events taking place around the world.

This time around, OnePlus is referring to its upcoming smartphone as "our next flagship phone," with no reference to it being a "flagship killer" as has been the case in the past. While details keep trickling out about the OnePlus 5, in announcing the launch date, OnePlus is giving little more away other than suggesting the importance of the camera by saying: "Focus on what matters."

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After selfie taking, the act of face swapping is an incredibly common use for smartphones. iPhone users have a plethora of tools to choose from -- as, indeed, do those who prefer Android devices, and Microsoft has decided to get in on the action with the appropriately-named Face Swap app for Android.

The free app does very much what you would expect -- combining the joy of selfies with the fun of face swapping. Snap a selfie and you can then swap faces from another photo -- it's a simple idea, and Microsoft has put its own twist on it by integrating Bing Image search.

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If you asked why the Moto Z Force Droid Edition appeals to me, I couldn't identify one thing, which arguably is odd considering this is a review. Benefits and features feel finely balanced, which is a hallmark of good product design. Oh, and that satisfaction is for the pure smartphone experience, which is premium by nearly every measure that matters; I didn't test Moto Mods that expand capabilities.

Lenovo/Motorola and Verizon released the smartphone in July 2016, so this exploration is belated—and then some. Apologies, the delay was necessary. In mid-December 2016, Verizon sent a holiday review package unexpectedly. At the time, my father-in-law's health rapidly declined—and he passed away about 30 days later. In the months following, as we settled his estate and finalized other matters, I occasionally recharged the battery and picked up the Droid but had no real time to test it. Still, something about how well the Moto Z Force feels and fits in the hand compelled me to handle it. Often. To caress the ridged bezel. To read blog posts and news stories on the beautiful display.

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There was a time, not so long ago, when all you could get for £100 was a feature phone or one based on an antiquated operating system.

Nowadays, the increasing competition in the far-east and in mainland China has caused prices to tumble down, so much so that there has never been so much choice if you’re after a so-called mid-market smartphone.

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Qualcomm officially announced Quick Charge 4 late last year, alongside its Snapdragon 835 processor which continues to reign supreme in its mobile lineup. However, the fast charging technology now gets an update, which adds three key improvements.

Qualcomm says that Quick Charge 4+, as the new version is officially known as, operates up to 3°C cooler, is up to 15 percent faster and up to 30 percent more efficient than Quick Charge 4. And it is already live in the ZTE nubia Z17 smartphone, which is powered by Snapdragon 835.

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There are not a lot of smartphones nowadays that offer support for hardware add-ons. The just-unveiled Essential Phone is among the few that have this feature, and so is the new Motorola Moto Z2 Play.

The Moto Z2 Play is the successor to last year's Moto Z Play, and is positioned as a mid-range smartphone -- albeit at a price that is much closer to the premium segment than the entry-level. It also comes with a bunch of new Moto Mods for users to customize their experience.

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For a newcomer, it is reassuring to know that HMD Global cares about software updates. The company has announced that the Nokia 6, Nokia 5, and Nokia 3, which were unveiled earlier this year, will all receive an update to Android O.

HMD Global has not provided an estimate as to how long it will take for the Android O update to be available for the Nokia 6, Nokia 5, and Nokia 3 but, in the past, large manufacturers have needed a few good months to push out such major software releases.

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Rarely does a phone -- or even a company -- generate quite as much interest as the OnePlus 5. The upcoming flagship killer is hotly anticipated, and the mood among the almost cult-like following is reaching a fever pitch.

Of course, OnePlus is doing nothing to calm things down, having embarked on an advertising campaign that involves teasing its customers until they can take no more. The latest move finds the company tweeting an image of the OnePlus 5, while a separate leak gives a glimpse at the packaging complete with the tagline "Dual Camera. Clearer Photos."

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On top of the official software releases, OnePlus 3T and OnePlus 3 users also have access to beta versions of OxygenOS. The builds, which are labeled "Open Beta," typically add new features and improvements to the Android distribution, but may also cause some issues -- something that's to be expected, given their nature.

The latest Open Beta build, which was just released, bears the 17/8 version number and comes with a number of new features, improvements, optimizations and changes to OxygenOS. Here's what you should be looking forward to.

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