With reference a media source in Korean, Huawei is coming out a unique smartphone design that may help propel us towards a notch-less era. The proposed new design features a small display cut-out for the camera with screen surrounding it on all sides. Instead of placing the front camera on the notch, the engineers intend to place it away from the top bezel as to fit in a tad more display on the front and dispose the redundant notch. Yes, it does sounds promising. However, this concept is likely to pose challenges for app developers. How will the apps behave and how will the extra screen space be utilized? Those are valid questions that need to be addressed. The design pictured from ETNews shows a very slim upper bezel that houses the earpiece, ambient and the proximity sensors. What’s more is that the report mentions a 6.39-inch LCD and a possible launch in Q4 this year. This is sync with Huawei’s roadmap which was leaked last year. It’s definitely something keep an eye out for and time will tell whether this is a winning design. At the present, vivo’s and Oppo's designs with their respective periscope-like camera on the NEX S and slide-out top on the Find X seems classier.

Expect the Samsung’s Galaxy A6+(2018) model to be a much better value for your money unlike its smaller sibling the Galaxy A6. The A6+ packs some decent mid-range specs. Just for spending a bit more to get the plus model, you will get a better and larger screen, faster chipset, secondary camera and a larger battery. Design wise, A6+ spots the same aluminium unibody design of A6; an aluminium back and rounded edges, a tall Super 6.0" AMOLED screen that offers a 1080 x 2280 pixel resolution supporting the Always-on display feature. An OLED panel on a mid-range device is still much a rarity, as such the Galaxy A6+ is a perfect choice for people looking for that.  A6+ comes equipped with a Snapdragon 450 chipset with is tad better than Exynos 7870 in Galaxy A6 and comes in 4GB RAM/64GB and 3GB RAM/32GB configurations. Camera setup is by no means outstanding but it can do a decent job. The primary camera is a 16MP with f/1.7 aperture and that is supported with a secondary one - a 5MP f/1.9 unit for depth sensing. The front camera is a 24MP f/1.9 snapper so clear selfies and much better performance in general can be expected as compared to the Galaxy A6's 16MP front shooter. The battery is also a large improvement over the smaller model i.e. 3,500 mAh vs. 3,000 mAh. Battery life should be better, notwithstanding spotting a bigger display. Android 8.0 Oreo runs out of the box with Samsung's own Experience UI.

HTC is back with next generation of liquid surface phones and this year flagship is the HTC U12+. HTC has added a 'plus' to the U12 despite not having a non-plus model as it wants to let people know that this new model is comparable to other  plus’ phones such as iPhone 8 plus & Samsung Galaxy S9+. With this latest flagship, HTC embraces the latest taller display 18:9 trend. The display is notch-less too.  Edge Sense gets new gestures, phone cameras have been upgraded to high performing dual camera on both the front and rear and even the HTC’s liquid surface glass on the U12+ arguably much nicer, in comparison to S9+. Even the battery is an improvement over U11; now stands at 3,500 mAh and is Quick Charge 4.0 compatible. U12+ is equipped with the latest Snapdragon 845 along with a 6GB of RAM and up to 128GB of expandable storage. It has a 6-inch LCD display a.k.a. Super LCD 6 that has a QHD+ resolution and HDR support . This Super LCD 6 display is protected by a custom layer of Gorilla Glass 3. The rear side is also covered by same Gorilla Glass. The upgraded Edge Sense, Edge Sense 2.0 brings new noteworthy features. A third gesture is now possible with the new sensors in the frame that can pinpoint the position of your fingers. Edge Sense 2.0 will also lock the screen orientation when it detects that you’re holding the phone in portrait mode. This new feature is known as the "Holding Gesture". This means that if you are reading on your phone while lying down, the rotate feature is disabled so you can carry on reading in the portrait mode. Also, so long as the phone in your grasp, the display stays on. The buttons have been totally digitized without the need for clicks of conventional buttons. Pressure sensors that are used for Edge Sense are also used for these new "buttons". When pressure is applied directly into one of them, haptic vibration feedback of the input is given. U12+ also has a IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. There is a mic at the top and bottom but the phone does not come with a headphone jack. At the bottom there are also the BoomSound speaker port, and a USB-C port. Camera-wise, the U12+ seems to be an upgrade over its predecessors, at least on paper. It sports a 20MP telephoto lens as well as a 16MP wide-angle lens on the back, while the front has two 8MP cameras.  The 12MP wide camera comes with a f/1.75 aperture while the 16MP camera  comes with a telephoto lens of an aperture of f/2.6. This second camera brings artificial bokeh and 2x optical zoom. However, it seems that it only takes 12MP photos despite a higher native resolution. The front-camera like the back ones provides artificial bokeh for selfies in spite of the lack of OIS and autofocus. U12+ uses image stacking to process an image with HDR Boost for both the front and the rear cameras just like the U11 and U11+. The camera performance is notably dependent on its HDR Boost. However, ironically if you keep HDR Boost on all the time, some blurring of people or objects in motion can be observed. The summary of U12+ specs are as below: Operating System Android 8.0, HTC Sense Platform Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Adreno 630 GPU Display 6-inch 2880x1440 2:1 aspect ratio Super LCD 6Gorilla Glass 3 DCI-P3, HDR10 RAM 6GB Storage 64 / 128GB UFS 2.1 Main Camera 12MP, 1.4μm pixels ƒ/1.75 lens, OIS, EISUltraPixel 4, UltraSpeed AF, HDR Boost Secondary Camera 16MP 1μm pixels ƒ2.6 lens, 2x optical zoom, portrait mode Video 4K @ 60fps 1080p @ 240fps slo-mo 360° 3D Audio with 4 microphones Front Cameras Dual 8MP sensors 1.12μm pixel size, f/2.0 84° wide-angle FOV, portrait mode Water/Dust Resistance IP68 Battery 3,500mAh Qualcomm QuickCharge 4.0 Audio HTC BoomSound Hi-Fi editionHTC USonicUSB-C + noise cancelling headphones Dual SIM Some regions Hybrid SIM2/SD slot Network 4G LTE Cat. 18 up to 1.2Gbps FDD Bands 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,12,13,17,20, 28, 32, 66 TDD: Bands 38, 39, 40, 41 Voice assistants Google Assistant, Alexa Colors Translucent Blue, Flaming Red, Ceramic Black Dimensions 156.6 x 73.9 x 8.7-9.7mm Weight 188 grams  

LG G7 ThinQ latest update brings a major upgrade for the camera: 4K video recording at 60fps. As such, there is now an option for UHD 16:9 (60fps) 3840x2160 for video resolution setting. G7 ThinQ has always had the ability to record videos in 4K 30fps since launch but now users are able also capture 4K videos at an ultra smooth 60 frames per second. With 4K@60fps, there is expectly a limit on the duration of recordings and this limit for G7 ThinQ is 6 minutes. Other than the aforementioned, this new update also brings better sharpness for auto mode photo-shooting, a "Super Bright" mode for improved flash shots as well as enhanced rendering of green & red colors. Presently the update is only being rolled out to South Korean users but we can expect other regions will get it soon.

TENAA has certified three models, M1804E4C, M1804E4T, and M1804E4A of the Xiaomi Mi Max 3 recently and we now have some photos on how the upcoming device looks like. A dual rear camera with an LED flash located in between has been confirmed as well as the position of fingerprint sensor – remains on the back. Both at the top and bottom bezels of the front screen panel have been notably reduced. The Mi Max 3 handset is powered by an octa-core 1.8GHz processor and has a 6.9-inch display of 2160×1080 pixel resolution. It packs a massive battery of 5400mAh. RAM comes in 3GB, 4GB, and 6GB and corresponding storage options are 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB respectively. The 12MP sensor is the highlight for the dual camera setup, while the selfie camera is 8MP (except for one model that features a 5MP one instead). The device will run Android 8.1 Oreo and users will be able to choose from all of the following colors: Black Rose Gold Gold White Blue Red Pink Gray / Silver

Samsung is working on its new foldable smartphone and it's not the only phone maker to do so. It appears that Samsung has invested a large amount of R&D money in the project in the past few years and is now striving to launch a completed product in 2019. A working concept has been shown behind closed doors during the CES 2018. The device is expected to be launched as Galaxy X. If industry sources are to be believed, the Galaxy X will cost around $1,850 and will go into production sometime in November - in preparation for the 2019 launch. With such an expensive price, the Galaxy X can be expected to attract a large number of early tech adopters like hardware geeks. These foldable OLED displays will probably get affordable and well within comfortable reach of many regular consumers after some amount of time. The phone's screen is expected to be 7.3" when opened and 4.5" when folded. We will know more details during February's MWC 2019.

Chinese OnePlus 6 received an update to the HydrogenOS 5.1.6 a few days ago that added some of the features that were absent at launch and improved with overall system stability. Now, the international OxygenOS 5.1.6 OTA update has arrived. This update brings Portrait Mode for the front camera and preview for Light Bokeh effect in Portrait Mode for the rear camera. Other noteworthy additions include the DND (Do Not Disturb) schedule, battery percentage in the status bar, dual 4G network support in SIM and Network Settings and smart answering for Bluetooth devices. Smart answer allows the automatic answering of incoming calls when being connected to a Bluetooth earphone device. Many bugs like the issue with ringtone volume are no more. The update brings improved sound quality, optimized call quality, power optimizations and improved system stability. Hopefully, after this latest update few bugs will be left.

Pretty hi-res renders the purported budget iPhone with 6.1-inch IPS LCD display has been released by OnLeaks. Now, we also have a heads up on the 6.5-inch variant. This 6.5-inch model is said to feature an OLED panel and will start a new iPhone X Plus lineup. The notched design remains as with the metal frame, almost bezel-less display and the dual camera setup on the back of the phone. As usual the camera module is sticking out just a little like the one on iPhone X and the notch has all the needed sensors for the Face ID, the earpiece and the selfie camera. The dimensions are rumored to be 157.5 × 77.4 × 7.7 mm. The fingerprint scanner is apparently not on the phone.

It is official, Xiaomi is celebrating its 8th anniversary with the release of the Xiaomi Mi 8. Mi 8 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, dual cameras and dual GPS. This will be Xiaomi first ever phone with a notch on the display. The notch can be hidden with a toggle and it is used for an in-house infrared 3D face unlock that works even in the dark. The more exclusive version of the Mi 8, known as the Explorer Edition has an under-screen fingerprint scanner as well as a translucent back panel that gives a peek into the internals. Xiaomi Mi 8 dual camera setup is 12 MP (f/1.8, 1.4µm) & 12 MP (f/2.4, 1.0 µm) with the latter being a telephoto cam. It is able to perform AI enhancements for scenes and 4-in-1 pixel binning for better low-light shots. The front camera is a 20 MP with f/2.0 aperture and is also equipped with hyped AI for beautifying portrait selfies. The face detection sensor is not used for selfies. Mi 8’s score on Antutu is a staggering 301,472; the highest ever score for a Chinese phone. Mi 8’s screen is 6.21” and uses an 18.7:9 Samsung AMOLED panel. The resolution is Full HD+ at 2248 x 1080 pixels. The 3.5 mm audio jack will not be present as per its past 2 predecessors, instead there will be a USB-C for all the connections. The Xiaomi Mi 8 has been announced as the first smartphone with Dual GPS. What this means is that the phone binds the traditional L1 frequency - used in phones, with the L5 frequency which is used mainly by the aeronautical industry. This is going to make the location-based services like navigation more accurate than ever. Mi 8’s market launch is scheduled for June 5. The Explorer Edition will only be available in one variant – 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage and will hit the shelves a month later.

As you would expect from OnePlus, it is not the least bit surprising that the new OnePlus 6 model is not a revolutionary redesign. OnePlus has always been known to offer a flagship experience at a lower price than the competition and they don’t intend to change their trademark modus operandi anytime soon. Here’s more information you need to know of the OnePlus 6: Screen Display The Optic AMOLED display on OnePlus 6 is 6.28” with a resolution of 1,080 x 2,280 px, a 19:9 aspect ratio and a notch. It is the largest screen OnePlus has created yet; OnePlus purports it to cover 84% of the front. The screen supports both sRGB and DCI-P3. Camera specifications The camera boasts 4K @ 60 fps video recording. It can shoot 480 fps slow-mo videos at 720p resolution for 3.75s. This results in 1 minute videos. The 16 MP main camera on the back that is capable of video recording this has a sensor 19% larger than the one in the 5T. OIS is back with OnePlus 6; a feature the 5 duo lacked. The secondary camera of the dual cam setup uses a 20 MP sensor and has a Smart Capture feature that automatically optimizes image quality based on the photo subject and with the newly improved HDR algorithm. The front camera uses an AI to create the bokeh in Portrait mode. Phone unlocking can by achieve with the front camera in 0.4s besides using the fingerprint reader on the back. OnePlus 6 colors This time OnePlus goes all glass with three distinct color options for OnePlus 6 – a reflective Mirror Black, a matte Midnight Black and a Silk White (limited edition). Each of them gives a depth to the Gorilla Glass 5 with layers beneath. The phone has a basic water resistance of purportedly IP54 equivalent (there’s no officially listed IP rating as yet). Hardware specifications OnePlus 6 is powered by a Snapdragon 845 chipset and comes with either a 6 GB or 8 GB RAM. It allows you to have up to 256 GB of 2-lane UFS 2.1 storage. There is no microSD slot is available on the phone as usual. The battery capacity remains unchanged at 3,300 mAh and battery is charged via fast Dash Charge (5V at 4A). Notwithstanding its glass back, OnePlus 6 does not provide any wireless charging support. The latest model sports gigabit LTE due to its 4x4 MIMO antennas. There will be two major variants for OnePlus 6 – NA/EU (40 bands) and CN/IN (37 bands). Early units will be up for sales from May 22 onwards. However, the Silk White limited edition will only be available from June 5.