News and Updates about Smartphones

Motorola has started rolling out stable Android 17 to the Razr Ultra 2025, but only a narrow group of owners has confirmed receiving it so far. The update has been reported on an unlocked unit in the United States, according to Android Authority and TuttoAndroid.

Yes, a laser pointer can damage a phone camera sensor, but the outcome isn't a single fixed result. Research on camera sensors shows effects ranging from temporary overexposure that clears on its own to permanent dead pixels or a sensor that stops producing usable images altogether. None of the studies cited here support the blanket claim that any laser pointer aimed at any phone will wreck the camera. The risk depends on the laser's power, wavelength, exposure duration, and how much energy...

Google began rolling out the Android 17 QPR3 Beta 3 Pixel update on October 29, with a changelog listing 26 fixes, according to 9to5Google (yesterday). The report names three of those fixes directly: a foldable's inner display staying black after unfolding, intermittent crashes clustered around the lock screen or shortly after startup, and a Recents overview that flickers when a home gesture follows quick app-switching (9to5Google, yesterday).

A notification pings when someone tags you in a group chat, but after you open WhatsApp, finding that message can mean scrolling through dozens of other texts. WhatsApp is testing a fix: a mentions and replies filter spotted in Android beta version 2.26.42.12, according to WABetaInfo's Oct. 24 report.

Tom's Guide put the iPhone Duo and the Galaxy Z Fold 8 through a 20-minute 3DMark Wild Life Extreme stress test earlier this week, and the result reads backwards at first glance. The phone that ran hotter to the touch also posted the stronger sustained performance. In Tom's Guide's test, the Duo registered approximately 103°F on its rear surface, compared with roughly 96°F for the Galaxy Z Fold 8.

OpenAI is rolling out ChatGPT multiple accounts on mobile, letting iPhone and Android users stay signed in to two accounts at once and jump between them without logging out. The feature lives in Settings > Switch account.

Nothing's official changelog for the Phone (3a) Series, posted three days ago, confirms a new camera feature called Tuning: seven adjustable effects plus a single reset button built into the Camera app. That makes Nothing Phone (3a) camera tuning controls a documented part of the OS 5.0 release rather than something pulled from a leak or forum rumor, according to the changelog.

Install a system update, and within the hour the phone feels different: apps stutter, the case warms up, and the battery percentage drops faster than it did yesterday. That's the opposite of what an "update" is supposed to deliver, and it happens on iPhone and Android alike.

WhatsApp has started suggesting the newest photo or video from a phone's gallery directly inside open chats, skipping the usual tap-to-attach-and-browse routine, according to GSMArena and Digital Trends today. When someone opens a conversation, WhatsApp can now offer to send whatever was most recently saved to the gallery, per GSMArena. The feature, called Recent Media Suggestions, is rolling out gradually to some Android and iOS accounts and turns on automatically rather than requiring anyone...

Nothing's $399 Headphone (1) Pro launched Sept. 29, immediately setting up a direct comparison with Sony's WH-1000XM6, which carries a $449.99 list price.

Apple's first foldable iPhone goes on sale this Friday, Oct. 23, after preorders opened Oct. 16. The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999, and Apple says the device has an IP68 dust-and-water rating and a stiffer polymer cover layer to protect the folding display.

More than 2,700 Android Authority readers answered a blunt question this week: handed $2,000 of their own money, would they spend it on Apple's iPhone Duo or Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8?

OPPO is reportedly developing a 16:9 wide-format flagship smartphone with a body wider than most conventional Android phones currently sold, according to a Weibo post from tipster Digital Chat Station, cited by Android Authority on October 9.

WhatsApp is reportedly developing a call screening feature for Android that would let unknown callers explain why they're calling before the recipient decides whether to answer. The tool, which WABetaInfo describes as a new call filtering feature, would replace the app's single-toggle Silence Unknown Callers setting with three selectable modes.

If your phone turns into a hand warmer twenty minutes into a drive, it doesn't necessarily mean something is broken. Phone overheating while using CarPlay or Android Auto can result from several heat sources piling up at once, rather than a single app or hardware issue. Navigation, music, wireless radios, and charging all draw power at the same time, and if the cabin is already warm, that heat has nowhere to go.

Hold a phone to your ear during a call, and the display should go dark almost right away. If it doesn't, a cheek pressed against the glass can mute the microphone, hang up the call, or open a menu without anyone meaning to touch anything. That small failure is usually the first time most people stop to wonder what a phone proximity sensor does: it's a tiny component near the earpiece that tells the phone something, usually a face, has gotten close to the screen, so the system can shut the...

Motorola has become the first phone maker to announce a device built around Qualcomm's new flagship chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. The company unveiled the Motorola Signature 27 at Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii, with Qualcomm and Motorola both confirming the new platform inside the phone.

A lower phone bill is welcome; a discount that lasts beyond the first year is worth a closer look. Visible's five-year offer gives eligible new customers $5 off monthly service, bringing its advertised Visible+ price to $30 and Visible+ Pro to $40.

Apple and Xiaomi introduced their first passport-style foldables within two days of each other, and anyone running an iPhone Duo vs Xiaomi 18 Fold comparison right now will notice how closely the hardware converges.

WhatsApp says it is introducing guest calling, a feature that lets people without a WhatsApp account join a voice or video call through a shared link, the company announced yesterday. Guests open the link in a computer browser, type in a name, and wait for the host to let them in. No app install, no sign-up.

Nothing began rolling out the stable Nothing OS 5.0 update on October 12, but so far only the Nothing Phone (3) is in the current wave. Nine more phones across Nothing and CMF have tentative rollout windows extending into mid-January 2027, according to Nothing's published roadmap and subsequent reporting.

Is the Xiaomi 18 Ultra cancelled? That's the claim circulating after leaker Digital Chat Station posted on Weibo, with the information subsequently relayed by Abhishek Yadav and multiple technology outlets.

Fenix 8 and Forerunner 970 owners are reporting serious battery drain tied to Garmin's "OK Garmin" wake word, with battery estimates falling from 15 days to nine in some cases and from 12 days to six in others, according to TechRadar, reporting October 19.

Straight Talk raised the hotspot data included with its three unlimited plans without touching the monthly base prices, according to a Verizon announcement published Oct. 20. Silver, Gold, and Platinum Unlimited still run $45, $55, and $65 a month, but each now comes with a bigger hotspot allowance, 5G Ultra Wideband access for eligible customers, and a cheaper home internet bundle.

HONOR launched three new gaming phones, the Win 2, Win RT 2, and Win Turbo 2, at an event in Hangzhou on Oct. 21, 2026. All three share a 6.89-inch QHD+ 185Hz OLED display that HONOR and Xiaomiui describe as the industry's first 2K/185Hz phone panel.

The idea that high school students oppose full-day cellphone bans gets repeated as settled fact, but the national data behind it cover a broader group than high schoolers alone.

Xiaomi is taking a different approach to the book-style foldable with the Xiaomi 18 Fold, a shorter, wider flagship that starts at ¥10,999, or roughly $1,640, in mainland China. Xiaomi unveiled the phone and opened preorders on Sept. 7, with general sales scheduled to begin Sept. 10 at 10 a.m. local time.

Two phones, same price, different stickers: one says "pre-owned," the other says "refurbished," and a third might claim "certified pre-owned." None of those words alone tells you which phone is the smarter buy (Engadget, this week). The short version: pre-owned describes a phone's ownership history, while refurbished describes a process the phone went through before resale. All refurbished phones are used, but not every used phone has been refurbished (Engadget, this week).

Phones with 8,000mAh to 10,000mAh batteries used to be a trade-show curiosity. Not anymore. The vivo T5 Pro shipped with a 9,020mAh cell, and the Redmi Note 17 Pro Max has already been confirmed at 10,000mAh, Gadgets Now reports. Batteries that size used to demand a phone thick enough to double as a doorstop, but the same chemistry now lets manufacturers fit 7,000mAh or more into bodies under 8.5mm, per Gadgets Now.

Talk to enough app developers about platform strategy and someone will eventually repeat a version of the same claim: foldable phone users spend more on apps, so building foldable-specific features is worth the engineering cost. It's a tidy story, and it fits with what everyone already assumes about early adopters of expensive hardware. It also isn't backed by any published dataset. No research reviewed for this article measures in-app spending, subscription conversion, or revenue per user by...

At roughly $1,300 apiece, the iPhone 18 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra make price almost irrelevant at the starting line. The real choice comes down to how differently the two phones approach cameras, battery life, software, design, and the features you'll use long after the novelty wears off.

Starting tomorrow, Thursday, August 6, T-Mobile customers will be able to spread the cost of a new phone, including taxes and activation fees, across 36 months instead of the previously available 24-month term, with well-qualified buyers paying nothing at checkout, according to WebProNews. The T-Mobile 36-month phone financing plan actually comes in two distinct versions, and the gap between them decides whether a customer walks out paying $0 or simply pays less than before.

Should you restart your phone regularly? The honest answer is: probably less often than you think, and for different reasons than you've been told. Your phone is not a 2003 Windows PC. It doesn't need a Sunday-night reboot to stay functional. Modern smartphones are built to run for weeks at a time without issue, and the idea that routine restarts keep a phone healthy is, at best, weakly supported by the evidence.

Oukitel is heading into IFA 2026 with three rugged phones that don't just carry bigger batteries. They build in a night-vision camera, a fire starter, and a gaming cooling rig, treating the phone itself as a chassis for gear you'd normally pack separately. The headline device, the Oukitel WP70 Ultra rugged phone, packs a 16,000mAh silicon-carbon battery that Oukitel calls the slimmest in its class, Gadgets 360 reports.

A single Galaxy Z Fold 7 wearing a Temdan MagSafe Kickstand Case went through repeated pocket-height drops onto concrete, and it came away with no damage. The reviewer at Tech with Jerad reported the phone survived the drops intact and the case itself showed only minimal wear (Tech with Jerad). That's a strong result for one case built around impact and scuff resistance. It says nothing about a major durability concern with foldables: dust working its way into the hinge and scratching the inner...

Search interest around "Xiaomi and Motorola phones launched at Snapdragon Summit" is pulling together three phones tied to Qualcomm's newer chips this week: Motorola's Signature, Motorola's Razr 60 Ultra, and Xiaomi's 17 Pro Max. Nothing in the material reviewed for this article backs up a shared Snapdragon Summit launch. Motorola's spec pages, the one available Xiaomi hands-on report, and Qualcomm's own chip announcement never place these three phones at the same event, in the same region, or...