News and Updates about Smartphones

When you picture a budget phone, you brace for trade-offs. Sluggish performance, middling cameras, build that whispers "cheap." The Motorola G86 Power 5G flips that script. It costs $499, yet it behaves like it missed the memo on compromise. The price is almost the least exciting part.

When you think about flagship smartphones these days, you usually have to pick your battles. Do you want incredible camera performance or all-day battery life? Well, Oppo just said "why not both?" with their new Find X9 Pro, and the specs are genuinely revolutionary.

WhatsApp is finally addressing one of its biggest privacy limitations with the upcoming introduction of usernames, allowing users to connect without revealing their personal phone numbers. The messaging platform is reportedly gearing up to launch this long-awaited feature, which has been spotted in recent beta versions and represents a major shift from the app's traditional phone number-based identity system. Even more interesting, WhatsApp's beta builds show a username reservation feature that...

Reviewed by Meg Flores

Reviewed by Jame Jimenez

Qualcomm just dropped a bombshell with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, officially unveiled on Sept. 24, 2025, as perhaps the fastest smartphone chip in the world. The naming might catch you off guard. Many expected it to be called the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2, but Qualcomm decided the "Gen" suffix now applies to their entire series, making this the fifth generation.

Reviewed by Jame Jimenez

WhatsApp just made communicating across languages ridiculously easy. Engadget reports that the messaging giant is now rolling out message translations on both iOS and Android apps, a big step for more than 3 billion monthly users who chat across borders. The twist, and it matters, is that translations are handled entirely on your device to maintain privacy, so WhatsApp still cannot peek at your encrypted chats.

Reviewed by Jame Jimenez

Mark Zuckerberg isn't just talking about the future of technology, he's building it. Meta, led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is shifting focus from smartphones to advanced smart glasses and AR devices. This is not a distant sci-fi pitch. The company has been pouring resources into projects like Supernova and Hypernova that aim to enhance digital experiences with versatile smart glasses. And yes, Zuckerberg predicts the end of smartphones by 2030, replaced by smart glasses. That date is closer than it...

Looking at Trump Mobile's original promises, you could be forgiven for getting excited about an American-made smartphone that could compete with the big players and support domestic manufacturing. The Trump Organization's T1 Phone launched with bold claims about being "MADE IN THE USA" and bringing smartphone production back to American soil. Then the messaging shifted, the big talk faded from the website, and the reality of smartphone manufacturing caught up.

Your smartphone's next battery upgrade is already happening in electric cars, and it is about to make dead phone anxiety a thing of the past. You have been plugging in every night. Meanwhile, researchers have been perfecting silicon-based battery technology that could change how long your device lasts and how fast it charges.

When Bethlehem High School in Upstate New York banned students' cellphones and started offering analog entertainment, it sparked a culture change you could notice even with your eyes closed. "Our cafeteria is loud again," social studies teacher David Rounds observed. Then it got interesting. Students did not just accept these bans, they adapted in ways few predicted. Young people are turning to legacy technology such as MP3 players and cassette players to fill the digital void. A simple policy...

Apple's about to make its biggest battery leap in iPhone history, and the numbers are genuinely impressive. The iPhone 17 Pro Max will see an iPhone break the 5000mAH barrier for the first time, topping out at 5088 mAH, which puts it squarely in flagship Android territory. And here is the kicker: the 5088 number is in the ballpark of high-end Android phones, but iPhones generally run much more efficiently as well. Big cell, bigger payoff.

When you fire up your Kindle and see that familiar screen, there's one feature that transforms the entire reading experience from good to absolutely game-changing: Libby integration. Libby connects you with your library's digital collection, turning your e-reader into a gateway to thousands of free books. What makes this combination so powerful? Libby enables sending borrowed books directly to Kobo or Kindle devices, creating a seamless bridge between your local library and your personal...

Reviewed by Jame Jimenez

Here's what really matters after nearly a year with the iPhone 16: it's aged remarkably well. While tech reviewers were busy debating specs at launch, real users found something more important, this phone just keeps delivering, day after day, month after month. The iPhone 16 is not just holding up. It is proving that Apple built something genuinely lasting this time around.

Reviewed by Julianne Ngirngir