LG rumoured to be releasing 2018 flagship in June

LG isn’t giving up on the mobile business just yet. And while the company has all but scrapped the G7, it looks like they’re gearing up to launch an entirely new flagship device around the middle of the year. LG’s CEO supposedly ordered the company’s mobile department to go back to the drawing board and it looks like we’re getting some news about what this entirely new flagship is going to look like. The phone, which is supposedly launching in June, is being referred to as “Judy” and will reportedly feature a “brand new design.” According to Venture Beat it will come with a 6.1-inch 18:9 Full Vision display. But instead of using OLED, Judy will reportedly feature an MLCD+ panel. This panel has an RGBW matrix with white sub-pixels. It will come with a brightness rating of 800-bits but will use 35% less power when compared to IPS LCD tech.

Some of the other key specs reportedly include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, 64GB of internal storage, dual 16-megapixel rear cameras with an f/1.6 aperture for each sensor, 4GB of RAM IP68 dust and water resistance, and support for HDR10. It’ll supposedly have “boombox” stereo speakers, wireless charging, its own digital assistant, and AI camera technology that we’ll be seeing at a new V30 model coming out at MWC.

Sony will reportedly launch Xperia XZ Pro at MWC 2018

Apparently Sony is not done releasing new smartphones, the Japanese company is set to release its flagship device at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month. What’s being dubbed as the Xperia XZ Pro, the phone will supposedly come with a 5.7-inch OLED screen with 4K resolution, slim bezels, and a “tall” aspect ratio (possibly an 18:9 aspect ratio). According to the rumours coming out of China, it’ll have a dual rear camera setup with an 18-megapixel shooter with 1.33μm pixel size paired with a 12-megapixel sensor with 1.38μm pixels. Its front shooter, on the other hand, will feature a 13-megapixel camera.

The phone is expected to run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 processor, 6GB of RAM, and up to 128GB of built-in storage. And like its predecessors, the Xperia XZ Pro is expected to be IP68 water and dust resistant, and will employ a 3,420mAh battery. Expected retail price in China is over CNY 6,000, which is close to CA$1,200 at current exchange rates.

Source: GSMArena

Samsung rumoured to release Galaxy S9 at the start of March 2018

Looks like Samsung is getting more confident that it’s back to business for them as the South Korean company reverts to its standard launch pattern for previous flagships—at least according to this new report. Aside from launching the rumoured Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus at Mobile World Congress, which will run from February 26 to March 1, we are supposedly expected to see the new devices go on retail on March 11, at least in South Korea and the US. If Samsung follows tradition, they’ll launch the S9 phones on February 28, giving them just two weeks for the phone to go officially on sale.

Samsung pushed back the sale of the S8 last year following the self-imposed pause the company took to after investigation over the Galaxy Note7 had to happen. But it looks like the company is ready to get right back to business and with the S9 seen as an incremental update to the S8. Plus, with no big issues plaguing the current flagship, there isn’t anything hampering them from going about things as scheduled.

Source: Forbes

Upcoming OnePlus phone rumoured to have under-screen fingerprint sensor, to come early 2018

OnePlus 5T

Looks like OnePlus is prepping for the next big trend in smartphone tech. Rumour has it that OnePlus, which will likely be called OnePlus 6, will reportedly feature an under-screen fingerprint scanner. The report claims the phone might launch as early as March 2018. According to GizmoChina and their source who they claim has accurately shared information about OnePlus flagships in the past, the OnePlus 6 will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845. At this point, these are all speculation, but OnePlus has been known to put the latest tech in their devices.