The Xiaomi Watch S4 is a big hit. It has good battery life, solid looks, and a capable hardware package. But with a 47mm case, it isn't for people with smaller wrists. Cue in the Xiaomi Watch S4 41mm, a more slender and more refined variant of the S4. It's lightweight at just 32 grams and features a more discreet 41.2mm case. It doesn't feel cheap however, on the contrary, the stainless steel case is solid and has the air of premiumity people want in a timepiece. There are two case finishes to choose from - this Sunset Gold, which exclusively comes with a Milanese strap, and Silver,...
We had quite the busy week in tech! Summer is truly over, bring on the tech announcements! MediaTek and Qualcomm both unveiled their next-gen mobile chipsets this week - the Dimensity 9500 and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. The Snapdragon brings a 20% improvement in CPU performance with a 35% improvement in efficiency. On the GPU side, expect 23% improved performance, 20% better power efficiency, and 25% improved Ray Tracing. The chipset has a 37% faster Hexagon NPU and upgraded Qualcomm Sensing Hub, which together unlock agentic AI assistants for personalized experiences. We're already...
Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days are less than two weeks away, but while we wait, we found some great deals on iPads (up to 25% off) and we also checked in on the state of Android phones. The US market is served by only a few makers and some aren’t carrying their weight. The vanilla Google Pixel 10 is on sale right now, but the $100 discount seems pretty light. Google Pixel 10 $100 off Read our review 12/128GB - $700 at Amazon US For comparison, the Samsung...
Xiaomi unleashed the new 17-series of flagships this week (and the 15T duo, but we’ll save that for another week). This year there are three models – a vanilla Xiaomi 17 that takes over from the Xiaomi 15, a Xiaomi 17 Pro that has the same 6.3” size but offers more premium features (better tele camera, secondary screen) and the large model that is now called the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max. The Xiaomi 17 starts at the same price that the Xiaomi 15 cost last year. This is no longer the best 6.3” Xiaomi flagship, though – that would be the Pro, which is around 10% more expensive. Finally, the Xiaomi...
Xiaomi hosted a big event this week where we saw the debut of several new devices, including the Redmi Pad 2 Pro. We got to test out the Pad 2 Pro with the Matte Glass screen, and these are our first impressions. For a €380 tablet, the Redmi Pad 2 Pro Matte Glass Version looks and feels like a more expensive device. It brings an aluminum unibody, which is cool to the touch, and at 610 grams, it has some heft to it, but not in a bad way. It actually feels lighter than what you’d expect from a tablet of this size, and it's fairly slim too at 7.5mm. The 12.1-inch IPS LCD features a...
Sony makes phones like no other company on the market, but Sony fans are one of a kind too – they came out in force in last week’s poll and showed strong support for the Sony Xperia 10 VII. The new mid-ranger changes things up while staying true to the Xperia spirit. The perfectly rectangular display, the 3.5mm headphone jack and the microSD slot are must-haves for some and they also happen to be things you can’t get anywhere else. Not in this segment, anyway. There were some concerns about the price. Still, the vote went 5:1 in favor of “I want one” vs. “no, not at this price”. The...
Google has released a new software update for the Pixel Buds Pro 2 TWS earphones, which comes with firmware version 4.467. The update brings Adaptive Audio and Loud Noise Protection to the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2, along with head gesture support for calls and texts, as well as an enhanced Gemini Live experience. You can read the changelog of the update below for more details. Adaptive Audio Adaptive Audio keeps you aware of your surroundings while dynamically reducing the volume of unwanted noises and sounds. Whether you’re out walking, cycling, on the metro, or at...
Honor will launch the Magic8 series soon, and the devices will be powered by Qualcomm's recently unveiled Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC. If you were wondering how well it would perform, no need to wonder anymore, as Honor's Li Kun has shared the Magic8's AnTuTu results on Weibo earlier today. As you can see from the screenshot below, the phone managed a total score of 4,166,339 in AnTuTu v11. The CPU score is 1,213,845, the GPU score 1,468,351, the memory score is 570,553, and the UX score is 913,590. Honor's exec has compared this very favorably to what the just-unveiled Xiaomi 17...
If you are using a OnePlus smartphone running OxygenOS 12, 14, or 15, we have news that should be concerning to you. Earlier this week, cybersecurity firm Rapid7 revealed that OnePlus smartphones running these OxygenOS versions have a major security flaw that could allow malicious apps access to SMS and MMS data on your smartphone without permission, user interaction, or consent. The firm also said that the "user is also not notified that SMS data is being accessed," which "could lead to sensitive information disclosure and could effectively break the security provided by SMS-based...
vivo will introduce the Android 16-based OriginOS 6 on October 10 in China, with a global debut, including in India, set for October 15. That's exciting news, as OriginOS has been exclusive to China for years, while vivo and iQOO devices outside China run Funtouch OS. The upcoming vivo X300 series and iQOO 15 will boot OriginOS 6, and while we are unlikely to receive its rollout schedule for older devices before next month, vivo and iQOO's Indian branches have announced the OriginOS 6 Preview Program for their local users. Both brands stated that registration for OriginOS 6 in India will...