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

The Fairphone 6+ will have an upgraded chipset for slightly higher performance too, leak shows

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/fairphone-6-plus-full-spec-sheet/-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>So, there is more to it than more RAM and a new color – the Fairphone 6+ will feature a new chipset too. EvLeaks has posted the complete specs sheet for the upcoming phone, an “exploded view” image of the phone’s internals and even a promo video. Leaked: Fairphone 6+ complete specs sheet The specs sheet helpfully marks the changes from the original Fairphone 6 in bold. As previously reported, the RAM capacity on the Plus model will increase to 12GB, up from 8GB (LPDDR5 in both cases). Storage remains the same, 256GB of UFS 3.1, plus the microSD card slot. An exploded view of...</p> August 12, 2026 at 04:51AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/kFdJWL6

Alleged iPhone Ultra screen protector surfaces online

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/iphone-ultra-screen-protector-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>Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to debut this September with a design similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 and Huawei Pura X Max. While several renders of the rumored iPhone Ultra have already surfaced, a new leak now offers a glimpse at the phone's alleged front screen protector. Well-known tipster Ice Universe has shared images and a hands-on video of what is claimed to be the front screen protector of the rumored iPhone Ultra. The leaked screen protector has an unusual shape, with square corners on the side that sits next to the hinge and rounded corners on the...</p> August 12, 2026 at 03:27AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/VxkUWwE

Samsung reportedly begins One UI 9.5 development for the Galaxy S26 series while users await stable One UI 9's release

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/06/samsung-galaxy-s26-good-lock-quickstar-network-speed-indicator/-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>Samsung released the first One UI 9 beta for the Galaxy S26 series in May, and the company recently confirmed that the fifth One UI 9 beta for the lineup will be rolled out this week. While Galaxy S26 series users await the rollout of One UI 9 Beta 5, and of course the stable update, Samsung has reportedly begun working on One UI 9.5 for the S26 lineup. The source also claims that the One UI 9.5 build Samsung is developing for the Galaxy S26 series has a version ending in CZH1, but doesn't provide a timeframe for the release. Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Samsung had begun One UI 8.5...</p> August 12, 2026 at 01:51AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/41ldnXr

New Google Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro XL, and Pixel 11 Pro Fold renders leak

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/google-pixel-11-pixel-11-pro-xl-pixel-11-pro-fold-new-renders/-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>Google is unveiling the Pixel 11 family at a special event tomorrow, on August 12. Ahead of that, a last-minute leak brings us some new renders depicting the Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro XL, and Pixel 11 Pro Fold. The Pixel 11 is shown here in the Obsidian colorway, which, as you can see, is a dark shade of gray. Google Pixel 11 leaked renders Moving on, we have the Pixel 11 Pro XL, also shown in Obsidian. This phone's camera bar protrudes way more from its back than the Pixel 11's. Google Pixel 11 Pro XL leaked renders Finally, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold...</p> August 12, 2026 at 12:31AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/gCzKSIl

Verizon's latest outage saw mobile and internet services disrupted in Southern California

<img src="https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/news/26/08/verizon-outage/-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>Verizon hasn't had a great day, to say the least. The carrier has announced that vandals cut multiple fiber cables, causing service disruptions for both mobile and internet customers in parts of Southern California. Repairs were swiftly initiated, and the service was restored within a few hours. Law enforcement was notified and is investigating the incident. Theft and vandalism like this, Verizon says, "represent a direct threat to the safety and security of our communities". The company is "committed to raising awareness and driving proactive solutions to prevent these direct...</p> August 11, 2026 at 02:31AMvia GSMArena.com - Latest articles https://ift.tt/CvHVX8w