Author: batteryforpc

We still have a few months of waiting ahead before Samsung unveils its Galaxy S10 series, but thanks to a bunch of teasers and reports last week we already have Galaxy S10 teasers to look at. And the purported all-screen, no-notch design of the Galaxy S10 looks better and better with each new render.
A few days ago, a Twitter user posted Galaxy S10 renders showing a phone with almost no bezels and a hole at the top of the screen where the selfie camera would go. Now, the same person is out with a new render of the phone.
It all started with Samsung teasing this particular display design for the unannounced Galaxy A8s. It’s not surprising to see Samsung launch new smartphone features on mid-range phones before they make it to flagship handsets, as Samsung is trying to make its other Galaxy devices more competitive.
A few days after Samsung shared its teaser, a very detailed Bloomberg report said the Galaxy S10’s “front camera is visible and tucked under the screen,” further fueling speculation that the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy A8s will share similar Infinity displays. Then, a screen protector that would accommodate such displays leaked, suggesting that some smartphone makers are about to launch phones with this nifty new design.
The huge downside of this particular type of design is that it doesn’t support 3D facial recognition, which needs a bunch of extra components, and would therefore need more holes in the screen. But if you don’t want Face ID-like secure face unlock on your phone, then Samsung’s screen design may be the best option for further increasing the screen-to-body ratio.
In the last few weeks, we’ve seen a bunch of novel approaches to “fixing” the notch. Some, like Huawei and OnePlus, have reduced the notch to a teardrop on some phones. Others like Xiaomi launched a phone with a slide-out selfie camera. Nubia, meanwhile, placed two screens on a smartphone with the rear-facing display meant to help out with selfies. That’s right, that phone has no front-facing camera.
But Samsung’s compromise sure looks like a much better idea than any of these. And Samsung isn’t alone thinking about such displays. Apple already has a patent that explains in great detail how to drill holes into screens, while camera supplier Largan is supposedly working on a pure black coating that could be applied to smartphone cameras so that the selfie cam would basically be invisible.

Despite some notable exceptions, many 2018 smartphone batteries can’t keep up. Here’s why — and what we can do about it.
Phone makers promise “all-day battery life.” Sure, and you haven’t stolen any of the kids’ Halloween candy.
If you recently bought a new flagship phone, chances are its battery life is actually worse than an older model.
For the last few weeks, I’ve been performing the same battery test over and over again on 13 phones. With a few notable exceptions, this year’s top models underperformed last year’s. The new iPhone XS died 21 minutes earlier than last year’s iPhone X. Google’s Pixel 3 lasted nearly an hour and a half less than its Pixel 2.
Phone makers tout all sorts of tricks to boost battery life, including more-efficient processors, low-power modes and artificial intelligence to manage app drain. Yet my results, and tests by other reviewers I spoke with, reveal an open secret in the industry: the lithium-ion batteries in smartphones are hitting an inflection point where they simply can’t keep up.
“Batteries improve at a very slow pace, about 5 percent per year,” says Nadim Maluf, the CEO of a Silicon Valley firm called Qnovo that helps optimize batteries. “But phone power consumption is growing up faster than 5 percent.”
Blame it on the demands of high-resolution screens, more complicated apps and, most of all, our seeming inability to put the darn phone down. Lithium-ion batteries, for all their rechargeable wonder, also have some physical limitations, including capacity that declines over time — and the risk of explosion if they’re damaged or improperly disposed.
And the phone power situation is likely about to get worse. New ultrafast wireless technology called 5G, coming to the U.S. neighborhoods soon, will make even greater demands on our beleaguered batteries.
My test has limitations. Your experience will depend on how you use your phone, and there are steps you can take to make your phone life stretch.
We’re not without hope. Two phones that performed well in my tests, Samsung’s Note9 and Apple’s iPhone XR, offer ideas about how to design phones to last longer — at least until a totally new battery tech comes along.

Why your phone battery dies

My results made me do a double take, so I called up a squad of other tech journalists also obsessed with testing at CNET, Tom’s Guide and Consumer Reports. “Our overall average battery life is coming down,” says Mark Spoonauer, the editor in chief of Tom’s Guide, who also found the iPhone XS battery died sooner than the iPhone X. Many of the phones with the longest battery life, he adds, are a year old.
But not all other reviewers have noticed the same declines — and the differences in our results help shed some light on what’s going on.
Larger phones often last longer, but it’s not as simple as the size of the battery inside. Remember the Blackberry? Those had much smaller batteries than today’s smartphones, but could go days without being charged.
There’s no perfect battery test. Mine, which I borrowed from an industry group called the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium, particularly stresses the screen.
I use a light meter to set all the phones at the same brightness and then force their web browsers to reload and scroll through a series of sites I serve through a local WiFi network. I rerun the tests as many times as possible, and then average the results.
CNET, which like me found conspicuous dips in battery life between the iPhone 8 and iPhone X (and Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and S9), tests screens at 50 percent brightness playing a looping video with Airplane Mode turned on.
What we both discovered: phones with fancy screens that are especially high-resolution or use tech such as OLED perform worse. (That tech can require more power to push out light.) So if you want your phone to last longer, turn down the screen’s brightness. Or stop looking at your phone so many times each day, if you can break our nationwide spell of phone addiction.
Tom’s Guide throws another factor into the mix: the cellular connection. It makes phones run through a series of websites streamed over LTE. Unlike me, it also saw a big battery life hit to the Pixel 3 XL versus the Pixel 2 XL.
Another lesson: If you want the battery to last longer, use WiFi when possible — or even Airplane Mode when you don’t need to be reachable. Both Apple and Android phones also offer low-power modes (not reflected in our testing) that reduce some draining data functions without taking you offline.
The counterexample is Consumer Reports, which found the new iPhone XS lasted 25 percent longer than last year’s iPhone X. Its test uses a finger robot — yes, you read that right — to make phones cycle through lots of different functions and apps, including pauses in use where the screen turns off.
Consumer Reports is likely better testing the phone’s processor, an area where a number of companies — but particularly Apple — have made efficiency gains.
So overall, are battery lives decreasing or increasing? “You can’t make a straight trend,” says Consumer Reports director of electronics testing Maria Rerecich.
I wish companies had more standardized ways to talk about battery life. Since the earliest days of the iPhone, Apple has described battery life through specific measures, including “talk time” and “Internet use.” Recently it’s also taken on some more squishy language: The iPhone XS “lasts up to 30 minutes longer than iPhone X,” it says, a measure based on data about how long people go before plugging back in.
How phones are dealing

So what about the two 2018 phones that did better in my tests?
Samsung’s Note9 succeeds by stuffing in more battery. It contains a battery capacity of 4,000 mAh, up from the already-huge 3,300 mAh in the Note8. (The iPhone XS battery is only 2,659 mAh, and actually slightly downgraded from the X.)
Lots of phones have followed the bigger battery trend. iFixit, a repair community that performs teardown analysis of phone components, says battery capacities have almost doubled in the last five years.
How much further can the size game go? Huawei just introduced a phone called Mate 20 Pro, not sold in the U.S., with a 4,200 mAh battery. Larger, denser batteries can be more dangerous (remember Samsung’s exploding Note7?), not to mention heavier. The Note9, which also has a giant screen and a stylus, weighs 7.1 oz — more than twice a deck of cards.
Apple’s iPhone XR, the new phone I recommend to most people, has a different approach. It scales back on the screen tech — lower resolution, less bright and lower-quality color — in ways that benefit battery life tremendously: The XR lasted 3 hours longer than the top iPhone XS, even though the its screen is actually a smidge larger. (Bonus: It also costs $250 less.)
“Consumers have to start getting ready for compromise,” says Maluf, the CEO of the battery optimization company.
Perhaps the market will fragment further, making phones more like buying cars. That market was eventually upended by fuel-economy models; instead of the gas-guzzling Cadillac, you could choose the Honda. Apple’s iPhone XR is the Civic of smartphones.
Our near-future choices are likely either: Get an economy phone — or plug in more often. Faster and more convenient charging is the strategy for some makers. Lots of phones now support wireless charging, though still few cafes, offices and airport lounges offer it.
And then there’s the plug itself. Apple, which has shipped the same 5 watt charging brick for years, could take a lesson from Google, which sells its Pixel phones with an 18 watt charger and claims you can get 7 hours of use from just 15 minutes of charging. The one thing that’s almost as bad as running out of juice is being tethered to an outlet.

iOS 12.1 has landed and it is Apple’s AAPL +1.57% first major upgrade to iOS 12, bringing some major new features and important fixes. Unfortunately, however, it comes with two significant problems of its own…
The first is something that has become an increasing concern for Apple: lockscreen security. In short: a hack was discovered to bypass Face ID and Touch ID giving hackers access to your personal contacts. Moreover, the hack was found within just two hours of iOS 12.1 being released and it’s worryingly simple.
Shown off by in the video below by security researcher Jose Rodriguez, the hacker simply calls your iPhone from another iPhone and, once connected, the call is turned into a FaceTime video call and ‘Add Person’ pressed on the target iPhone. This brings up the device’s full contact list and using the 3D Touch shortcut on any contact reveals additional data such as their phone numbers, email addresses and more.
The flaw is specific to iOS 12.1 as it doesn’t work on any other version of iOS and, ironically, it affects premium iPhones most as cheaper models like the iPhone XR and iPhone SE don’t have 3D Touch.
But the biggest worry is how fast this hack was discovered.
Apple loves to promote its devices as having the best security in the industry, but this hack is far from a one-off. Rodriguez has found simple lockscreen bypasses in every iOS 12 release so far, with two in iOS 12 (1,2) and another in iOS 12.0.1 (link) prior to the iOS 12.1 hack today.
As for the other iOS 12.1 problem, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X owners might want to look away now.
Despite Apple promising owners of these phones last year that they would not be subject to the same controversial performance throttling the company applies to older iPhones, iOS 12.1 has introduced it for all three models.
Forbes’ Ewan Spence has written about this, and Apple already faces almost 60 Class Action lawsuits in the US and legal action from multiple governments around the world for silently introducing what many deem is ‘planned obsolescence’ and Italy has already issued fines. So iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR owners, clearly it will be your turn this time next year.
And note, this may not be the end of the problems.
My iOS 12.1 Upgrade Guide reports cases of graphics glitches, WiFi problems and battery life complaints. So you would be wise delay your upgrade unless you suffer from one of the flaws it does fix.
All in all, it’s a disappointingly rocky start for iOS 12. Especially given Apple has promoted it as being a back-to-basics focus on speed, stability and security. On the plus side, iOS 12 is packed with numerous secret featureswhich show Apple does still care about finely crafting its software.
What next? I would expect iOS 12.1.1 to arrive as a dedicated bug fix before the end of November. Unsurprisingly, Apple has already announced it is in beta testing…

In last year’s review of the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, AppleInsider called it the king of tablets. Apple’s new 2018 iPad Pro is so much better in so many ways that it is hard to even think of what to call it.
The main question that many existing iPad Pro owners will be asking is if it’s worth upgrading to the new iPad Pro generation.
For starters, the new 11-inch base iPad Pro is priced at $799. If you’re planning on using the Apple Pencil, you also have to buy the new second-generation Apple Pencil for $129, bringing the base model up to a grand total of $928.
Even with that price, it’s easily has the power and features to make it worth that much.
This is the iPhone X story all over again, as the new iPad Pro is basically an iPad revolution. It’s packing Face ID that works no matter what orientation you hold the device, a refined exterior design, a new edge-to-edge display, the first USB-C port in any iOS device ever, support for a brand new Apple Pencil, and shocking performance.
Last year’s iPad Pro also shocked us by outperforming Apple’s 12-inch MacBook in both processor performance and graphics performance, and the new iPad Pro is supposed to double the graphics performance and almost double the processor performance of last year’s model.
Geekbench 4 benchmarks have already leaked, revealing the new iPad Pro’s processor is nearing the performance of Apple’s new 15-inch MacBook Pro, and it’s even closer to the performance of the best processor in the 2017 5K iMac. The new iPad Pro actually outperforms the best processor in the 2018 13-inch MacBook Pro, and even the best processor in the 2017 15-inch MacBook Pro.
Of course, this is just Geekbench 4, which doesn’t factor in thermal throttling, but the raw power is incredibly impressive.
Despite the difference in size, the 12.9-inch model is identical in terms of performance, making the decision to buy one over the smaller version more based the mass and the cost than anything.
So, let’s say you already have a 2017 iPad Pro. Should you upgrade? If money isn’t an issue. Face ID and the new display alone should make the upgrade worth it, and you could probably sell your current iPad Pro for at least $400 to 450.
If you’re happy with your current iPad Pro and you don’t have that much spare cash, just stick with the 2017 model for another year.
For owners of older iPad Pro models, I would definitely recommend upgrading. The biggest things those models lack is a very bright and color-accurate display, Apple Pencil lag improvements, and 120hz ProMotion technology, which really makes the new iPad Pros shine.
If you’ve got any other kind of iPad, you should only think about if you really need the performance and the Apple Pencil support. The 2017 budget iPad for $329 supports the Apple Pencil and has a decent A10 processor, but the display is definitely lacking.
Apple has just released a brand new Apple Pencil, and next years’ budget iPad will probably support it, which means it’ll also come with the new boxy design to incorporate it. If you don’t need the extra power and the amazing display, you could just wait until March.
Now some of you may be thinking about skipping this year’s iPad Pro in favor of the 2019 model. Here’s something to think about.
Apple basically went all out on this new iPad Pro, and there’s a lot of firsts in this generation; it’s the first iPad to switch to this boxy design since the original iPad, the first with an edge-to-edge rounded display, the first with Face ID, the first with a USB-C port, the first with support for the new Apple Pencil, the first with a 7-nanometer chip that outperforms a MacBook Pro, and it’s also thinner than any iPad or even iPhone ever, if you’re not counting the camera bump.
Speaking of the camera, it gets the same wide camera as the iPhone XS, with the latest video recording improvements and features like Smart HDR and Portrait Mode selfies.
Based on that, next years’ iPad Pro models are unlikely to be that much different, and since it’ll be running on the same 7nm architecture, the performance won’t see as big of a jump as this year’s versions. It’s doubtful Apple will switch to an even smaller chip architecture for at least a couple of years.
There may be some changes here and there, but the 2019 models will generally be very similar to the 2018 iPad Pro.
If you’re thinking of upgrading to an iPad Pro within the next two years, you might as well just just upgrade right now. That’s the same advice we gave when the revolutionary iPhone X came out, and as you can tell by the iPhone XS, there really isn’t much different apart from the larger iPhone XS Max.
Here’s the rundown: if you’ve got a 2017 iPad Pro and you’re perfectly happy with it, don’t upgrade unless you’ve got a bunch of extra cash. If you’ve got anything else and you’re thinking about getting an 11-inch iPad Pro within the next couple of years, seriously just upgrade right now, because the 2019 iPad Pro won’t be that much different, and it definitely won’t get any cheaper.
As for the 12.9-inch model, it’s $200 more expensive, but the chassis is now significantly smaller than the previous 12.9-inch iPad Pros, making it a lot more convenient to use. If you’re trying to use your iPad Pro as a laptop replacement, the 12.9-inch model will be the better choice if you have the extra cash, while artists will enjoy the extra screen space that the larger model offers.

Where to buy

Apple authorized reseller Adorama is accepting preorders for Apple’s newest iPad Pros with no sales tax collected on orders shipped outside New York and New Jersey. Orders are filled on a first come, first served basis and your credit card will not be charged until the iPad Pros are ready to ship.
For product availability and the latest deals across multiple Apple authorized resellers, be sure to visit our 11-inch iPad Pro and 12.9-inch iPad Pro Price Guides.

The Pixel line is known for, above all else, its wicked cameras. But one problem a certain type of mobile photography enthusiast has run into with the phones is that they don’t currently allow for the use of external microphones in the default camera app. That’s set to change next week, though.
Some camera apps on Pixel actually do support external mics, making the absence of the ability in the default app even more grating. Today, though, a Google employee commented on a Pixel support thread from all the way back in 2016 to let users who have been asking about the feature for years know it’s coming October 18, the day the Pixel 3 and 3 XL launch:
Hi, folks — Isaac here from the Pixel Camera engineering team. I have been keeping an eye on this thread since the beginning and have good news. At the same time as Pixel 3 launch (October 18th), we will introduce support for Android-compatible plugged-in external microphones in the default camera app for all Pixels. I hope you all enjoy the update.
Isaac’s language suggests that all models of Pixel will get support next Thursday, which should be a boon to serious cell phone videographers. (Of course, if you’ve got a Pixel 2 or 3, you’ll also need a dongle.)

If you’ve been keeping up with all things 5G, you might have heard that Chinese phonemaker Xiaomi is working on one of the first 5G-enabled phones you can buy. But you’ll have to wait until next year for it. Announced in Beijing Thursday at the Forbidden City, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 is the latest addition to Xiaomi’s line of all-screen flagship phones. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, it has a 6.39-inch display like the Mi Mix with a 2,340×1,080-pixel resolution, meaning 93.4 percent of its body is screen. (The Mi Mix 2 is just 5.99 inches, by comparison.)
It has four cameras — two each on the front and back — as well as a whopping 10GB RAM variant. Battery capacity is a less impressive 3,200 mAh — we’ve seen bigger ones in other Xiaomi phones like the Mi Max 3 — though the phone supports wireless charging. The fingerprint sensor remains on the back of the phone.
The Mi Mix 3 also comes in a 5G version touted by Xiaomi as the world’s first such commercially available phone, though it’s not expected to launch till the first quarter of next year. This might disappoint fans who were excited by a leak showing 5G support on the phone last month, but the delay won’t matter too much — even if 5G capabilities were available on it now, you won’t be able to use it until network buildouts are completed. This is true even in Xiaomi’s home country, even though China is at the forefront of 5G development.
In terms of design, the Mi Mix 3 takes a step closer to losing its signature chin. Mi Mix phones used to have a bottom bezel — now reduced to 4.46 mm — that housed the selfie camera. But the cameras have now been moved to a magnetic slider on the phone. You can slide the entire screen downwards to answer calls or customize it to launch different functions. The feature is similar to ones seen in the recent Oppo Find X and Huawei’s Honor Magic 2, which will be launched on Oct. 31.
You’ll be able to customize the sound the phone makes when you slide the display, but I suspect it will still become annoying eventually.
The Mi Mix 3 features powerful cameras on its front and back. On the back are 12-megapixel dual rear cameras — wide-angle and telephoto — with f1.8 and f2.4 apertures respectively that can support slow-motion videos at 960 fps. For selfie lovers, Mi Mix 3 sports a 24-megapixel primary camera backed up by a secondary 2-megapixel camera. These can be found on the retractable module along with a soft light.
The cameras also come with AI-powered features, including AI beautify, AI portrait mode and AI studio lighting on both the front and back. The rear cameras also have AI scene detection and AI background music, which adds audio to your videos automatically. Xiaomi also said that an AI face unlock feature will be added in future updates, but this feature will be limited to selected markets.
The Mi Mix 3 will come in three versions. You can get 6GB or 8GB RAM and 128GB onboard storage, or the top-end model with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. It will be available in three colors: onyx black, jade green and sapphire blue.
The 10GB RAM variant (with 256GB onboard storage) is unveiled as a Forbidden City special edition available in a different hue of blue, featuring a Chinese mythical beast in gold called Xie Zhi.
Xiaomi’s Mi Mix phones are traditionally its most expensive and configurations with more storage typically cost more. The Mi Mix 3 is priced like the Mi Mix 2S was when it launched. The base model will start at 3,299 yuan (about $475, £370 or AU$675) and the top-end model will be 3,999 yuan. Global availability of the phone has not been disclosed but it will go on sale first in China on Nov. 1.
The Forbidden City special edition comes with a heftier price tag and will retail at 4,999 yuan when it goes on sale at the end of next month.

Quick specs

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor
• 6.39-inch AMOLED screen, full-HD+ display (2,340×1,080 pixels)
• 6GB RAM with 128GB onboard storage; 8GB RAM with 128GB storage; 8GB RAM with 256GB storage; 10GB with 256GB onboard storage
• 12-megapixel dual rear cameras
• 24- and 2-megapixel dual front cameras
• Rear fingerprint sensor
• 218 grams (7.69 ounces), 158 by 75 by 8.5 mm

AMD’s next graphics card is almost certain to be the Radeon RX 590, and we may have our first official piece of proof of its existence.
PowerColor, a third-party Taiwanese graphics card manufacturer, seems to be readying the release of a new Radeon RX 590 graphics card, based on product listings from the Eurasian Economic Union certification office.
The listing points to an AXRX 580 8GBD5-3DH/OC product code, which seems to reference a factory overclocked GPU with 8GB of GDDR5 video memory, as well as an AXRX 590 8GBD5-3DH/OC product code.
Rather than a leak or rumor, the source of this latest information comes from a government organization. What’s more, certification tends to come at the very end of the product development cycle, so it seems certain that an AMD Radeon RX 590 will indeed launch soon.
As for what we can expect from the AMD Radeon RX 590, the GPU appeared in the 3DMark database with performance fitting in neatly between the Nvidia GTX 1070 and GTX 1060.
Of course, until the card is out and we’ve tested it ourselves, you shouldn’t buy into any rumors completely. However AMD’s next graphics card shakes out, you can be certain we’ll report on it with everything you need to know.

• Our best graphics cards guide could use some new AMD additions

Related product: AMD Radeon RX 480

Our Verdict:

☆☆☆☆☆

AMD has returned with another value-driven card that delivers the goods. Whether you’re looking to game at 60 fps at 1080p, hook up a 120Hz FreeSync monitor or even dip your toes into 1440p gaming, this card does it all without breaking the bank.
FOR

• Exceptional 1080p performance
• VR-ready
• GTX 980 performance for less

AGAINST

• WattMan clearly still in BETA