CUBOT Teases KINGKONG Dura, a Rugged Phone Built Around Swappable Battery Power

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/cubot-kingkong-dura-sponsored/-184x111/gsmarena_000.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>CUBOT is preparing to unveil the KINGKONG Dura, a rugged smartphone built around a practical replaceable-battery system designed to reduce charging downtime and keep users moving. Instead of connecting the phone to a charging cable and waiting, users can remove the depleted battery, install a fully charged spare, and quickly return to work, travel, or outdoor activities. It is a straightforward approach to mobile power created for people whose days cannot always pause for charging. To make the system even more convenient, KINGKONG Dura will be available with a Dual Battery Kit and a...</p> August 17, 2026 at 10:00AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/0m9LwZI

Poco M8x to be powered by Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 SoC, key specs and pricing tipped

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/poco-m8x-specs-design/-184x111/gsmarena_00.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>Poco recently began teasing the M8x 5G's launch in India. While the company has yet to reveal details about the upcoming phone, a teaser on Flipkart has confirmed the chipset powering the handset. A tipster has also leaked several other key specs and pricing details. According to the Flipkart teaser, the Poco M8x will be powered by the Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 chipset. However, tipster Yogesh Brar claims the handset will instead feature MediaTek's Dimensity 6300 SoC. Brar also claims that the handset will sport a 6.9-inch LCD display with an HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The...</p> August 17, 2026 at 09:09AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/EBTUnYs

Tipster claims Xiaomi 18 Ultra cancelled, upcoming vivo and Oppo Ultras won't go global

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/xiaomi-18-ultra-cancelled-rumor/-184x111/gsmarena_00.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>The Xiaomi 18 Ultra, which was rumored to debut in December this year, has reportedly been cancelled. According to a new leak, Xiaomi will launch only three smartphones as part of its upcoming 18 series. In a post on X, tipster Kartikey Singh claims that Xiaomi will not launch an 18 Ultra this year. According to the tipster, the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max will instead sit at the top of the company's upcoming flagship lineup. However, this does not necessarily mean Xiaomi has abandoned the Ultra model altogether and we could see a Xiaomi 17 Ultra successor next year. The company is likely...</p> August 17, 2026 at 07:30AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/jFXRt5T

Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 series tablets now appear in Google Play Console's supported devices list

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/samsung-galaxy-tab-s12-series-google-play-console-listing/-184x111/gsmarena_001.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>The Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 series tablets were recently spotted on Bluetooth SIG's website, as they were Bluetooth-certified. Now those same tablets have appeared in Google Play Console's supported devices list. The Galaxy Tab S12 series consists of two tablets - the Galaxy Tab S12+ and the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra. The Google Play Console lists five models of the Galaxy Tab S12+ and three models of the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra. Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra's leaked renders | Source: OnLeaks and Smartphone Checker The Wi-Fi-only version of the Galaxy Tab S12+ has codename "gts12pwifi"...</p> August 17, 2026 at 02:11AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/EYjWumd

Deals: the Google Pixel 11 series is now on pre-order with gift cards and trade-in bonuses

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/weekly-deals-14/-184x111/gsmarena_us.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>Google launched its new Pixel 11 series earlier this week – there is a new vanilla, two new Pro and one new foldable model. All that’s missing now is an affordable a-phone. The massive increase in RAM prices has affected the Pixel series. Google now offers 256GB storage as standard on all 11-series models, which is a good thing, but the Pixel 11 Pro and 11 Pro XL start with 12GB of RAM. If you want 16GB (which is what all Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL phones had), you will have to get a 512GB or a 1TB model. The vanilla phone only comes with 12GB of RAM, while the foldable always gets...</p> August 16, 2026 at 12:51PMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/YEMTmde

Weekly poll results: a surprising number of people are using feature phones

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/weekly-poll-results-feature-phone/-184x111/gsmarena_000.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>Feature phones are not as dead as you may have thought – one third of voters in last week’s poll use one at least occasionally. Some even use a feature phone full time as their only phone. And others are at least thinking about the idea of ditching their smartphone. As some commenters point out, smartphones are basically a necessity in some countries – you might need one for messaging family and clients, for bank authentication and so on. Even so, some manage to get by with a feature phone as their only handset. That said, a large portion of voters are never going back to feature phones...</p> August 16, 2026 at 09:31AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/sSvKCrm

iQOO 16 tipped to come with a higher refresh rate screen, new design

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/07/iqoo-16-neo12-z12-series-battery-capacity-tipped/-184x111/gsmarena_001.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>iQOO is said to launch the iQOO 16 in September, with the latest rumor from China claiming it will have a higher refresh-rate screen than its predecessor. The word comes from reliable tipster Digital Chat Station, who claimed the iQOO 16 will feature a 165Hz refresh rate screen. It will be a 6.85" flat 2K display sourced from Samsung. For comparison, last year's iQOO 15 came with a 6.85" flat display having a 144Hz refresh rate. Furthermore, DCS claimed that the iQOO 16's rounded corners and bezels have minimal changes, but said the camera module on the rear is small, square-shaped, and...</p> August 16, 2026 at 03:45AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/2Uy5aor

Deals: Pixel 11 series goes on pre-order, Galaxy Z8 foldables and S26 models drop prices

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/weekly-deals-14/-184x111/gsmarena_de.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>Google launched its new Pixel 11 series earlier this week – there is a new vanilla, two new Pro and one new foldable model. All that’s missing now is an affordable a-phone. The massive increase in RAM prices has affected the Pixel series. Google now offers 256GB storage as standard on all 11-series models, which is a good thing, but the Pixel 11 Pro and 11 Pro XL start with 12GB of RAM. If you want 16GB (which is what all Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL phones had), you will have to get a 512GB or a 1TB model. The vanilla phone only comes with 12GB of RAM, while the foldable always gets...</p> August 16, 2026 at 12:41AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/69CBTia

Poco starts teasing the M8x 5G, shows us a glimpse of its back

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/poco-m8x-teaser/-184x111/gsmarena_000.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>Poco launched the M8 and M8 Pro in January, the M8s in April, and the M8 Power earlier this month, but now it turns out that there's a fifth member of the family on the way too. This will be called the M8x, and Poco has started teasing it today via a dedicated microsite on Flipkart. That tells us where you'll be able to buy it once it launches. We also get the teaser image you can see below, showing us a glimpse of the phone's back. The microsite reveals that this device will support 5G, and that's it for now. More specs should be revealed in the coming days and weeks, and we'll...</p> August 15, 2026 at 08:02AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/Qzlcqav

Honor Robot Phone hands-on review

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/honor-robot-phone-handson/-184x111/gsmarena_000.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>In the somewhat stale smartphone market, Honor decided to shake things up a bit and finally launched the much-anticipated Honor Robot Phone. As the name implies, it's no ordinary phone, and it doesn't belong to the already existing Honor smartphone lineups. Instead, the Robot Phone bags several "industry first" technologies and it's built on over 100 patents. And if the photos are not obvious enough, the centerpiece feature is the robot arm-like gimbal that extends and can do all sorts of stuff. Honor says it's the world's most compact gimbal, weighing only 2.6g and being 6mm thin....</p> August 15, 2026 at 05:04AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/OIZk7Af

Here's when Huawei's non-folding wide-screen phone is launching

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/huawei-16-10-smartphone-launch-month/-184x111/gsmarena_000.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>Following up on the success of the Pura X, Huawei has, for quite some time now, been working on a new non-folding smartphone with a similar 16:10 screen aspect ratio. This device is now rumored to be launching in September. According to a previous leak, it will be powered by a Kirin 9-series chipset, and will have a battery capacity of at least 7,000 mAh. The device is also said to have a 50MP main camera using a 1/1.3" type sensor, as well as a 50MP periscope telephoto camera and a multispectral camera. The phone was initially expected to be launching between October and December,...</p> August 15, 2026 at 03:03AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/859OPwq

Here's our first look at Samsung's upcoming One UI 9.5

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/one-ui-9-5-first-look/-184x111/gsmarena_000.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>While Samsung is still in the process of beta testing One UI 9, with the fifth beta having gone out to the Galaxy S26 series just a couple of days ago, the company is also already working on One UI 9.5. This may be the version that the upcoming Galaxy S27 family will ship with out of the box. An enterprising X user has now installed a leaked One UI 9.5 firmware on their Galaxy S26 to see what it looks like, and the screenshots below show what you can expect. If you had "more glass" on your bingo card for One UI 9.5, then you will be happy. One UI 9.5 screenshots While...</p> August 15, 2026 at 01:07AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/V0ZfGLu

Poco F9 Pro and Poco F9 Ultra mega leak brings images, specs, and prices

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/poco-f9-pro-f9-ultra-mega-leak/-184x111/gsmarena_000.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>A few hours ago a leak talked about the battery capacities of the upcoming Poco F9 Pro and Poco F9 Ultra, and now we have a mega leak with renders and specs for both devices. As expected, the Poco F9 Pro is a rebranded Redmi K100 Pro with a smaller battery, and the Poco F9 Ultra is a rebranded Redmi K100 Pro Max with a smaller battery. Otherwise, the specs are identical to their Chinese counterparts. The F9 Pro has a 6,330 mAh battery and the F9 Ultra has an 8,050 mAh battery (compared to 8,580 mAh and 9,070 mAh on the Redmi K100 Pro and Pro Max, respectively). Poco F9 Pro...</p> August 14, 2026 at 05:31AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/uhokxpR

Here's when the Fairphone 6+ is rumored to launch and how much it will cost

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/fairphone-6-plus-price-launch-date/-184x111/gsmarena_000.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>According to a new rumor, the Fairphone 6+ will become official on August 18. It will be priced at around €685, based on a listing in Denmark. Of course, the price may slightly vary in other European markets because of different VAT rates. In fact, it may not be that bad in the Eurozone - a leak from France said the RRP would be €649. That's €50 more than the Fairphone 6's launch price, and €100 more than it costs today. According to recent leaks, the Fairphone 6+ will have a 6.31-inch OLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 SoC at the helm, 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, 256GB...</p> August 14, 2026 at 04:01AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/axC2Pg7

Galaxy Z Fold8 does not impress in teardown

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/galaxy-z-fold8-ifixit/-184x111/gsmarena_000.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>Earlier this week we saw the Galaxy Z Fold8 go through JerryRigEverything’s torture durability test where it survived some hard bends and close encounters with blades and sand. And the team over at iFixit has now brought its teardown expertise to Samsung’s trendy bendy phone. Here’s the full video: The Z Fold8 earned a 4/10 repairability score. That’s not impressive by regular smartphone standards, but it is a point higher than last year’s Z Fold7 repairability score. If you don’t feel like watching the whole thing, here are the key takeaways. The folding screen is still a...</p> August 14, 2026 at 02:02AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/pcEhrbl

Counterpoint: US smartphone market contracts, budget devices hit hardest

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/cr-us-q2-shipments/-184x111/gsmarena_000.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>Counterpoint Research’s latest report examines smartphone sales in the US for the April 1 – June 30 period, aka Q2. The overall market fell by 5% compared to last year as the ongoing memory chip crisis resulted in increased average asking prices (ASP) for devices across the board. In addition, rising gas prices due to the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East also affected consumer purchasing power. Apple, Samsung, Motorola and Google saw their combined sales drop by 4% on a year-over-year basis. The remaining brands doing business in the US saw their sales decline by up to 45% compared to...</p> August 14, 2026 at 12:04AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/ZWLBV3g

Motorola Signature is now receiving its Android 17 update

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/motorola-signature-android-17-update/-184x111/gsmarena_000.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>Motorola has now started rolling out the update to Android 17 for the Signature, a smartphone that it launched in January. The update is a 5.75GB download, so make sure you grab it over a good enough connection. Once you've installed it, your Signature will be on software version A171WVH.21-16-1-3-4, which has to be the most convoluted naming scheme for smartphone software builds we’ve ever seen, and that's really saying something. Anyway, the changelog says you can expect "a fresh, expressive design", reduced clutter with smarter notifications, faster multitasking with more apps...</p> August 13, 2026 at 03:53AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/bXyfmZ2

Poco F9 Pro and F9 Ultra battery details leak

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/poco-f9-pro-ultra-battery-leak/-184x111/gsmarena_00.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>Poco is expected to launch the successors to the F8 Pro and F8 Ultra in the coming weeks. While the Poco F9 Pro and Poco F9 Ultra have surfaced on multiple certification websites recently, a new leak has now revealed the battery specs of the two phones. The Poco F9 Pro is expected to be a rebrand of the recently launched Redmi K100 Pro, whereas the F9 Ultra is likely to be a rebadged K100 Pro Max. According to a tipster on X, the Poco F9 Pro could pack a 6,330mAh battery. If accurate, that would mark a significant downgrade from the 8,580mAh battery in the Redmi K100...</p> August 13, 2026 at 02:33AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/bTEadUf

Samsung Galaxy S26 series receives fifth One UI 9 Beta update

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/07/samsung-galaxy-s26-ultra-india-price-discount/-184x111/gsmarena_001.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>Last week, a Samsung representative announced that the fifth One UI 9 Beta update for the Galaxy S26 series would arrive sometime this week. Well, Samsung kept its promise and released the One UI 9 Beta 5 for the Galaxy S26 lineup. It comes almost a month after the fourth beta was rolled out. [#InlinePriceWidget,14320,1#] The One UI 9 Beta 5 for the Galaxy S26 series has firmware version S948BXXU4ZZH6 and requires a download of around 1.1GB. It comes with the August 2026 Android security patch and some bug fixes. Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra You can check the complete changelog of...</p> August 13, 2026 at 01:13AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/mN0ahqP

New rumor tells us all about Apple's imminent iPhone price hike

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/iphone-price-hike-details/-184x111/gsmarena_000.jpg" width="184" height="111" hspace="3" alt="" border="0" align=left style="background:#333333;padding:0px;margin:0px 4px 0px 0px;border-style:solid;border-color:#aaaaaa;border-width:1px" /> <p>According to a new rumor from a tipster on X, Apple will be raising prices for all existing iPhone models, as well as those launching next month, by $100. The same source also seems to imply that Apple's launch event for the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and iPhone Ultra will be held on September 8. That is a Tuesday and Apple has in the past held events on Tuesdays, so it's definitely not out of the question. We all know an iPhone price hike is coming. In late June, Apple increased the prices of all of its products except for iPhones. This is the next logical step, and a $100 bump for...</p> August 13, 2026 at 12:11AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/xdtMmWT