Phones

Before it became a brand of its own, Samsung's ISOCELL was first a new kind of image sensor technology that aimed to solve the color crosstalk between pixels in a regular BSI (Backside Illuminated) sensor used in almost all digital cameras, including those on smartphones. That proved to be highly successful, at least in Samsung's view, and it is now taking it to the next level with ISOCELL 2.0. This new iteration promises not only to improve light absorption but, in the long run, also allow for smaller pixels to be packed in larger amounts on the same sensor size.

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It seems that the parade of phones toting Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 888 has begun. In addition to the likes of Xiaomi, Vivo, and, soon, OPPO, ZTE's former subsidiary nubia is also joining the fray with a device that's built for a very specific use case. Trying to push the boundaries of hardware, the nubia Red Magic 6 brings the first gaming-oriented smartphone of the year and it has brought in Chinese gaming giant Tencent to further cement its place in that market.

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The price of the Redmi Note 10 Pro seems to be far lower than its features might imply. Before you drop down too low, note that the entire Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 series is intended for India and greater Europe, not necessarily anywhere near the USA. If you live in the USA and are a big fan of Redmi devices, by all means, read on - but don't expect to be able to pick these machines up through any in-person storefront.

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Although it doesn't reach the top 5 in terms of numbers, OnePlus is arguably one of the more well-known brands in the smartphone market, particularly among Android phones. Its mix of specs and price continues to enchant some consumers, even though those prices continue to climb every year. It launched the OnePlus Nord to balance the scales and the mid-range phone received the same warm welcome in markets where it was made available. Its successor, however, might give some fans pause as it switches out the most important component from Qualcomm to MediaTek.

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While most of the focus has been on Samsung's high-end and expensive flagships, the smartphone maker naturally caters to a wide range of customers and markets. That includes the market for rugged smartphones whose needs and budgets differ greatly from consumers. These also come with less than impressive specs, as far as regular smartphones go, but the Galaxy Xcover 5 will at least come with a price tag that would endear it to its target audience.

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OnePlus has always been proud of what it's able to accomplish despite being a small company and exactly because it is a small company. It is able to be more agile and flexible, to establish more intimate relationships with its customers, and to take risks that richer companies are ironically more afraid to take. Unfortunately, it also means it may have fewer resources, especially for things like developing its custom OxygenOS Android experience whose latest version has still to reach its older phones. Fortunately for OnePlus 7T and 7T Pro owners, the wait might be well worth it.

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It seems that LG just can't catch a break. Despite finally showing some positive numbers for its mobile business after years of being in the red, the company has been reportedly rumored to be winding down its smartphone projects. First was the supposed communication about LG closing up its mobile business later this year, followed by rumors of the LG Rollable cancellation. Now even the company's "normal" flagship has been rumored to have been put on hold, possibly for good.

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In just a few days, OPPO will be officially revealing its premier flagship for the year. Before that could happen, however, a single leak may have uncovered all there is to know about not one but three phones under the OPPO Find X3 banner. While OPPO might still have a few surprises to show, not to mention confirmations of these unofficial details, this massive leak already shows what the brand's fans and customers can expect, and it's a pretty interesting one at that.

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The Samsung Galaxy S2 (or Galaxy S II, if you prefer,) works with Android 11 based on LineageOS 18.1 right this minute. The update was released in an earlier form at the tail end of last year, for the most intrepid and brave developers working on the fringe of code life. Now you'll be able to load this software with confidence - if you're confident in the developers behind the project.

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How much RAM do you need for a smartphone? Disregarded the old joke about 640KB of RAM for PCs in the late 80s, smartphone memory seems to have stalled at 12GB in the past year or so with very few exceptions. That said, it seems that high-end smartphones are ready to push the envelope again with the ROG PHone 5 going beyond the 16GB that you'd find on the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G this year.

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Although not really its flagship brand, the OnePlus Nord was definitely one of the company's highlights last year. It came at an opportune time when people were looking towards mid-range phones due to a pandemic and a global economic crisis. The phone also came just months before Google rolled out Android 11 to the masses, which meant that owners of OnePlus' first new mid-range line would have to wait to get their turn. That time has finally come and, after two months cooking in beta, OxygenOS 11 is ready to be served with Android 11 on the side.

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Although it isn't exactly terrible, Samsung's performance in the mobile photography department can be described as inconsistent at best. It does take great photos and videos but, at least as far as DxOMark is concerned, it simply isn't the best by a long shot. Every new generation of the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note flagships are expected to bring improvements in that arena but that didn't seem to work for the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G which actually fared worse than its predecessor.

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