Google is expanding the availability of its Stadia game streaming service to more TVs and streaming devices later this month. The first version of Stadia on Chromecast with Google TV is launching on June 23rd, more than eight months after the device launched without official Stadia support.
Alongside Chromecast with Google TV support, Stadia will also be available on a number of Android TV devices on June 23rd. Not every Android TV device is supported, but Nvidia’s Shield TV devices have made the list. Here’s the official support list:
Chromecast with Google TV
Hisense Android Smart TVs (U7G, U8G, U9G)
Nvidia Shield TV
Nvidia Shield TV Pro
Onn FHD Streaming Stick and UHD Streaming Device
Philips 8215, 8505, and OLED 935 / 805 Series Android TVs
Xiaomi MIBOX3 and MIBOX4
If you don’t see your Android TV device listed, you may still be able to get Stadia running. You can opt into experimental support to play Stadia, just by installing the Stadia app from the Play Store and hitting continue on the opt-in screen. Android TV devices will need a compatible Bluetooth controller or Google’s own Stadia Controller to play Stadia.
The Realme GT, Realme’s Snapdragon 888-equipped flagship phone, is coming to Europe and will sell for €549 (about $670) for a model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, according to the company’s website. The price makes it among the cheapest Snapdragon 888 devices available to date, if not the cheapest. Xiaomi’s excellent-value Mi 11 started at €749 (~$910) for an 8GB / 128GB model, for comparison.
Realme says the GT will ship to Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Portugal, though the device isn’t currently available to actually order. It’s not clear which other European markets it’ll be available in when it does launch.
Realme announced the Chinese version of the GT in March. It started at 2,799 yuan there for the 8GB / 128GB model, or about $440 at current exchange rates. Madhav Sheth, CEO of Realme’s Indian and European business, confirmed last week that the GT would get a global launch — a performance-focused flagship model in June and a camera-focused flagship model in July.
The GT series will be a part of realme’s new flagship focusing on high-performance and image, respectively. This will not only allow us to achieve technological breakthroughs but will also keep us ahead of the market.
— Madhav Max 5G (@MadhavSheth1) June 3, 2021
It’s not quite clear yet how those models will differ in Europe spec-wise, but the Chinese version of the GT had a 64-megapixel primary camera with an 8-megapixel ultrawide and a 2-megapixel macro sensor, so there’s certainly room for improvement on the camera flagship. Elsewhere, the GT has a 6.43-inch 120Hz OLED display, up to 12GB of RAM, and a 4,500mAh battery with 65W fast charging.
Realme started out as a sub-brand of Oppo focused on the Indian market but quickly turned into a major force in its own right and is now focusing on capturing Europe with more premium devices. The launch of the GT follows last year’s €499 X3 Superzoom, which had a Snapdragon 855+ and a periscope telephoto lens.
Apple’s annual developer extravaganza, the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), is coming up fast, kicking off with the keynote presentation on June 7th at 1PM ET. Like last year, WWDC will be an entirely digital and online-only event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for the keynote, that means we can likely expect another tightly produced video highlighting everything Apple has in store.
While we aren’t expecting any announcements on the level of Apple’s shift to custom silicon in its computers, which was WWDC 2020’s big news, Apple presumably has some notable changes in the works for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and its other operating systems. And if the current rumors pan out, we could also see brand-new MacBook Pros with the return of some long-missed features, such as MagSafe charging.
Read on to learn everything we expect from the big show. And don’t be surprised if Apple has a few surprises in store, too.
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
iOS 15 may bring improvements to notifications and iMessage
We haven’t heard much about what may be coming to Apple’s next version of its mobile operating system, which will presumably be called iOS 15, but we could see big changes to notifications and possibly iMessage, according to Bloomberg.
For notifications, you may be able to have different notification settings for situations like driving, working, sleeping, or even a custom category, and you’ll be able to flip those on as you need to. You might also be able to set automatic replies based on which notification setting you’re currently using, like what you can do now with Do Not Disturb while driving mode. Personally, I’m hoping iOS 15 will let me allow notifications from a select few people while silencing just about everything else.
As for iMessages, Apple is apparently working on features to make it act like “more of a social network” to compete with Facebook’s WhatsApp, Bloomberg said, but those features are still “early in development” and could be announced at a later date.
Apple also plans to add a feature that shows you apps that are silently collecting data about you, continuing the company’s trend of adding privacy-focused updates to its operating systems.
For iPadOS 15, you can apparently expect a major update to the homescreen, including the ability to put widgets anywhere you want. And with Apple just introducing the new M1-powered iPad Pros, here’s hoping we see some new upgrades to take advantage of the new chip.
In May, Apple also announced a lot of new accessibility features coming to Apple’s operating systems, such as improvements in iOS to VoiceOver, support for bidirectional hearing aids, a built-in background sounds player, and new Memoji customizations like cochlear implants. Apple said these features would arrive “later this year,” which suggests they’ll be included in iOS 15.
We don’t know much about macOS, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15 — but we could see a new “homeOS”
We haven’t heard all that much about upcoming software updates for the Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV, so we’ll just have to wait and see what Apple is cooking up. One tidbit: macOS could be a “more minor” update, Bloomberg says. That wouldn’t be too much of a surprise, given that the macOS operating system got a big overhaul with Big Sur last year.
However, we could see the introduction of a brand-new operating system called “homeOS,” which was recently mentioned in and later removed from an Apple job listing. While it’s unclear exactly which devices this OS is for, perhaps it will work on Apple’s home-focused products like the Apple TV and HomePod Mini.
Photo by Alexander Kramer for The Verge
New, redesigned MacBook Pros and a new Apple CPU could be announced
Apple doesn’t always introduce new hardware at WWDC, but this year, new MacBook Pros seem like a possibility. In a May 18th report, Bloomberg said that new MacBook Pros might arrive “as soon as early this summer,” which could indicate an announcement at WWDC.
These new laptops would have new Apple-designed processors that would “greatly outpace the performance and capabilities of the current M1 chips,” according to Bloomberg. The M1 is already pretty dang good, so it sounds like these new chips could be even more impressive.
Apple is apparently planning on releasing two chips for the new Pros. Both should have eight high-performance cores and two energy-efficient cores, while leaving you with the option of either 16 or 32 graphics cores. (By comparison, the M1’s CPU has four high-performance and four energy-efficient cores, while its GPU is offered with either seven or eight cores.) You’ll probably also be able to spec the laptops with as much as 64GB of memory, up from a max of 16GB on M1-equipped computers.
The new laptops should be offered with either 14-inch or 16-inch screens and those screens could have “brighter, higher contrast” displays, according to a Bloomberg report from January. The laptops may also have a new design with flat edges as in the iPhone 12, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in January. I’m curious to see what that design might look like in practice — I worry that the hard edges could be uncomfortable if you have the laptop on your lap.
The best rumor is that the new design may also mark the return of some of the ports and features that were taken away with the now-infamous 2016 MacBook Pro redesign, including a MagSafe charger, an HDMI port, and an SD card slot, Bloomberg said in its May report. And, according to Kuo, the OLED Touch Bar currently found on Intel-based MacBook Pros will apparently be removed in favor of physical function keys.
We could see at least one other new Mac
While it seems like MacBook Pros are the only new hardware we’ll be seeing at WWDC this year, that hasn’t stopped some other Mac rumors from swirling lately, and there’s always the chance Apple could announce more at its big event. According to Bloomberg, Apple also has “a revamped MacBook Air, a new low-end MacBook Pro, and an all-new Mac Pro workstation” in the works as well as a “higher-end Mac Mini desktop and larger iMac,” all of which would be powered by Apple’s custom silicon.
The new Mac Mini may have the same chip as the new MacBook Pros. The new Mac Pro could be a beast, with processors that are “either twice or four times as powerful as the new high-end MacBook Pro chip.”
And the redesigned “higher-end” MacBook Air could arrive as early as the end of this year. Frankly, I hope that refreshed Air arrives even later. I just bought the M1-equipped Air and it’s one of the best computers I’ve ever used, but I have a bad feeling I’ll be first in line to buy a redesigned and more capable Air anyway. (Especially if it gets the MagSafe charger that’s rumored for the new Pros.)
Apple might have dropped a hint about its AR / VR headset
Apple has long been rumored to have a mixed reality headset in the works, and recently, we’ve learned a few more potential details about it. The headset might be very expensive — approximately $3,000, according to one report — though it could be packed with 8K displays, more than a dozen cameras to track hand movements and capture footage, and might weigh less than an iPhone, too.
While the headset could be a ways out, as it’s not expected to ship until 2022 at the earliest, a few suspicious details in Apple’s WWDC promotional images may be hinting toward some kind of reveal of Apple’s upcoming headset or the software on which it runs.
Check out this image below (that I also used at the top of this post), which Apple released alongside the announcement of WWDC in March. Notice the way the app icons are reflected in the glasses — I could imagine some sort of mixed reality headset showing icons in front of your eyes in a similar way.
Those icons sure are reflected in an interesting spot.Image: Apple
Apple continued that reflections motif with new images released in May — you can see things from the laptop screens reflected in all of the eyes of the Memojis.
Look at those reflections.Image: Apple
Now, these reflections may just be Apple’s artists flexing their design chops. And if I had to guess, given how far out a rumored mixed reality headset is, I don’t think we’re going to see anything about it at WWDC this year.
But Apple has surprised us in the past, and maybe these images are an indication of one more thing Apple has in store for WWDC.
Apple has only just announced an iPad Pro with a Mini LED screen, but already there is word of a successor. The next iPad Pro will have ‘MagSafe’ magnetic wireless charging – just like the iPhone 12 – according to Bloomberg. It apparently won’t launch until 2022, but a redesigned iPad Mini is due this year, the report says.
To accommodate wireless charging, the next iPad Pro will have a glass back, instead of the current aluminium one, sources say. This would likely pave the way for a whole new market of iPad accessories, like magnetic docks that hold the tablet suspended in air, and cases that ‘snap’ into place.
Apple could also give the device reverse wireless charging, which would let the tablet wirelessly charge other devices like iPhones and AirPods. All you would have to do is place the device on top of the iPad and the tablet would transfer some of its battery power.
There aren’t many details on what to expect from the new iPad Mini due later this year, though. All the report mentions is narrower screen borders and that the removal of the home button “has also been tested”. Could we see Face ID unlocking to replace it? Or a Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the power button, like the iPad Air? We’d take either!
Apple is also rumoured to be working on a slimmer version of the standard iPad, also due for release this year. Next year, it’s expected to bring OLED screens to some models of iPad, which you’d imagine would include the 2022 iPad Pro.
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(Image credit: Future / The Boy From Medellin, Amazon Prime)
Sony is giving away a £50/€50 PlayStation Store voucher with select Bravia XR TVs.
The promotion is already up and running in seven European countries: UK, France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. All you need to do is pick out a Bravia XR TV (LED or OLED) at a participating retailer between June 1st and July 31st 2021.
According to the official announcement on Sony’s website, you can redeem the £50/€50 gift card for, “anything on PlayStation Store: games, add-ons, subscriptions and more”.
Not familiar with Bravia XR? The range boasts some of the best TVs in the Sony 2021 TV line-up and featues the Japanese giant’s “cognitive intelligence” tech, which aims to optimise every pixel, frame and scene to produce the most lifelike picture possible.
As you’d expect the Bravia XR range is a decent match for a next-gen console such as the PS5. The presence of HDMI 2.1 with support for 4K@120Hz and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) should help you max out the PS5’s capabilities.
The XR line-up covers Sony’s top-tier models. The 55-inch A80J starts at £1999/€2299 (around $2800, AU$3600) while the A90J Master Series, the firm’s top 4K OLED for 2021 costs from £2699 ($2800, around AU$3700). Not cheap, but recently we called the 55-inch XR-55A90J “simply one of the best TVs we’ve tested”.
The Bravia XR models also come with free access to Bravia CORE, Sony’s high-bitrate video streaming service, which promises lossless Blu-ray-quality “streaming up to 80Mbps.”
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Your guide to the Sony 2021 TV line-up
Samsung 2021 TV lineup: everything you need to know
Nintendo is holding an E3 event on June 15th, and the company promises it will be “focused exclusively on Nintendo Switch games mainly releasing in 2021.” The Nintendo Direct presentation will begin at 9AM PT / 12PM ET on June 15th, and Nintendo will hold three hours of gameplay deep dives once the event has concluded.
Nintendo’s wording suggests we won’t be seeing any hardware announcements at the company’s E3 show. A “Switch Pro” has been rumored for months, with recent reports suggesting it may be announced ahead of E3.
Nintendo’s E3 event starts at 9AM PT / 12PM ET on June 15th.
Bloomberg has previously reported that this new Switch model will use more powerful silicon from Nvidia that supports DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling). The updated Switch is also said to support 4K output when connected to a TV and reportedly includes a seven-inch OLED display.
If a new Switch is imminent, Nintendo’s E3 show would be the perfect opportunity to show how games run at 4K and to demonstrate the power of Nvidia’s latest chip and DLSS support. As E3 kicks off in virtual form on June 12th, there are only 10 days left to see if Nintendo is ready to announce an updated Switch ahead of E3.
Huawei has announced a trio of new MatePad tablets; a new 12.6-inch MatePad Pro, a smaller 10.8-inch MatePad Pro, and a new MatePad 11. Not only are they the company’s first tablets running its own HarmonyOS operating system, but the smaller MatePad Pro and MatePad 11 use Snapdragon chips produced by Qualcomm rather than the Huawei-designed Kirin processors found in its previous devices.
Between these hardware and software changes, the tablets highlight the challenges that the Chinese technology giant is going through. It’s simultaneously trying to break free of Android, which outside of China is dominated by the Google apps and services that Huawei is unable to preinstall on its phones. But they also speak to the problems US sanctions are causing for Huawei’s Kirin processor production, forcing it to source chips from competitor Qualcomm.
The 10.8-inch MatePad Pro is equipped with a Snapdragon 870, while the 10.95-inch MatePad 11 is powered by a Snapdragon 865. The flagship 12.6-inch MatePad Pro, meanwhile, is still running Huawei’s own Kirin 9000E processor, and it’s the device Huawei has shared the most information about.
But more interesting than the chips inside is the software these new tablets are running.
From an end user point of view, the “switch” to HarmonyOS fundamentally doesn’t bring back the missing Google apps and services that have made Huawei’s recent devices so difficult to recommend outside of China. Huawei’s AppGallery store offers an increasing array of native apps, and workarounds for some others, but it’s still a far cry from having Google’s suite of apps and services pre-installed on a device.
There have been big questions surrounding HarmonyOS ever since an Ars Technica investigation alleged that it’s a glorified open-source Android fork. I can’t speak to its underlying code, but I was able to download WhatsApp’s official Android APK and install it on the new MatePad Pro as though I was using an Android device, which suggests Ars is correct. Huawei did not respond to my questions about shared code between HarmonyOS and Android.
The 12.6-inch MatePad Pro’s webcam is in the bezel on the tablet’s long side, the right place for video calls.
With its keyboard cover and M-Pencil stylus, last year’s MatePad Pro invited obvious comparisons to Apple’s iPad Pro, and this year’s HarmonyOS model packs in a few more features that are eerily reminiscent of Apple’s tablets. There’s a new FreeNote feature that lets you use the M-Pencil to write into dialog boxes and see your handwriting automatically turned into typed text (a feature which Apple introduced last year) and the tablet’s homescreen now includes a dock with your most used apps (ahem).
But with the 12.6-inch MatePad Pro, Huawei deserves some credit for not imitating some of Apple’s less popular design decisions. Its webcam, for example, is built into the bezel on the long edge of the screen, so it’s in the right place for conference calls made in landscape mode, unlike the iPad Pro’s. It’s also got a vibrant 1600 x 2560 OLED screen with excellent black levels, while Apple’s lineup is still using variations of LCD panels.
Also announced today is a new M-Pencil stylus.
Huawei’s screen-mirroring technology also returns with the new MatePad Pro. While this previously let you mirror a smartphone’s screen onto the tablet, now you can mirror and interact with the tablet’s screen on compatible Huawei laptops.
The 12.6-inch MatePad Pro has a 10,050mAh battery which Huawei claims can playback video for 14 hours on a single charge. It can be fast-charged at up to 40W with a cable, 27W wirelessly, and also offers reverse wireless charging at 10W. Rounding out the specs, there are three rear cameras on the tablet, four mics, eight speakers, and Wi-Fi 6 compatibility. Huawei is yet to detail any 4G or 5G support for its new tablets.
Alongside the new tablets, Huawei is also announcing a second-generation of its M-Pencil stylus. The company says the new stylus is more precise, has lower 9ms latency, and also has a platinum-coated transparent nib.
Huawei is yet to confirm pricing or release details for its new tablets, but said it would be releasing more information soon.
Huawei has announced its first smartwatches running its own HarmonyOS operating system, the Huawei Watch 3 and Huawei Watch 3 Pro. In theory it’s the third separate operating system Huawei has used for its smartwatches, which originally ran Google’s Android Wear (now Wear OS) before introducing its own LiteOS software with more recent devices.
Despite the new OS, the Watch 3 offers a similar set of features to Huawei’s previous wearables. New additions includes a redesigned home screen that now consists of a watchOS-style grid of apps rather than a list, and there’s also support for video calling through Huawei’s own MeeTime service.
Although it’s branded as a HarmonyOS device, the Watch 3’s long battery life suggests its operating system is significantly different from the version of HarmonyOS Huawei is using on its new tablets, and may have more in common with LiteOS on its previous watches. Huawei did not respond to questions about any similarities between HarmonyOS and its existing operating systems.
The Watch 3’s design doesn’t deviate much from Huawei’s previous smart watches. It’s got a circular 1.43-inch OLED display with a 60Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 1000 nits. The display is edge-to-edge, so there’s no rotating bezel on this smartwatch. Instead you control it via a rotating crown, similar to an Apple Watch. The watch is available in a couple of different styles including an “active” model with a rubber strap, a “classic” model with leather, and an “elite” version with a metal bracelet.
For activity tracking, the watch features many of the same sensors as previous models, including heart rate tracking, an Sp02 sensor, and sleep tracking. But new for this version is a temperature sensor, similar to Fitbit’s Sense smartwatch from last year. Huawei says this sensor can continuously track the temperature of your skin throughout the course of the day. Huawei says the watch supports a hundred different workout modes, ranging from running to climbing, cycling, and swimming.
eSIM support returns from the Watch 2 Pro, which means the Watch 3 can also be operated independently from a phone with its own 4G LTE connection. The watch supports making voice calls directly, and there’s also support for video calls via Huawei’s MeeTime service (though there wasn’t any confirmation about whether the watch will work with other video calling services like WhatsApp).
With 4G turned on, Huawei says you should get around three days of battery life from the Watch 3, but that extends to 14 days if you’re willing to turn off 4G and use the phone in “ultra long lasting mode.” Even in this low-power mode, Huawei says you should still be able to track your activity and workouts, and its watch faces will still be animated.
As well as the Watch 3, Huawei is also announcing the Watch 3 Pro today, which offers up to 5 days of battery life with 4G turned on, and up to 21 days in its long battery life mode. Other improvements include a more premium titanium construction, and more accurate GPS tracking.
Third-party app support is still a big question mark hanging over Huawei’s first HarmonyOS watches. As always, Huawei promises it’s working with developers on bringing their apps to its devices, and showed off a range of app logos including one for the Emirates airline. But beyond that, there weren’t any app logos for services I recognized, and Huawei hasn’t confirmed support from any of the major music streaming services.
Huawei is yet to confirm pricing or release details for the Huawei Watch 3 and Watch 3 Pro, but said an announcement should be made soon.
The Samsung and LG-sourced screens for the iPhone 13 are already in production, and there will be support for 120Hz refresh rates. That’s according to Korean news site TheElec.
Production has started a month earlier than last year, suggesting that Apple’s iPhone 13 range will return to its normal launch schedule of September. The iPhone 12 launched a month later last year due to component sourcing issues caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.
The site says Samsung Display started production in the middle of May, with LG Display following “recently”. Samsung is planning on making 80 million OLED screens for the iPhone 13, while LG will make 30 million.
Samsung’s TFT OLEDs (which have a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz) are destined for the top two iPhone 13 models (likely the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max), according to the report. LG’s will be used in the lower-end models (iPhone 13 and 13 Mini).
The report doesn’t explicitly say that the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini won’t have 120Hz refresh rates, but it’s implied.
A 120Hz refresh rate would double that of the handsets in the iPhone 12 range. A higher refresh rate should mean less blur – especially noticeable in fast-moving content like sports and games.
So it appears to be full steam ahead for September, although we expect to see plenty more leaks before then – we’ll bring you the most credible as they arrive.
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Apple is expected to adopt OLED displays in “some” iPads starting next year, according to Korea’s ETNews.
“Apple decided to apply OLED instead of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) from some iPad models in 2022,” says the publication. “It is reported that Apple and display companies have agreed on production and delivery.”
Samsung and LG already supply the OLED displays used in the current generation of Apple iPhones. If the latest rumours are to be believed, the Korean tech titans are primed to manufacture the OLED displays for the next wave of iPads, too.
The report – spotted by 9to5Mac – ties in with previous rumours that have tipped Apple to transition to OLED displays in 2022. It doesn’t specify which models will make the leap, but in March, noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo tipped the mid-range iPad Air for an OLED display by 2022.
Last month, Apple launched the M1-powered 12.9-inch iPad Pro complete with cutting-edge Liquid Retina XDR (Mini LED) display. Mini LED technology delivers deeper blacks and richer colours, but it doesn’t have the pixel-level contrast control of OLED.
Many analysts believe Mini LED is a one-year ‘stop-gap’ solution due to its high price in comparison to OLED. According to ETNews, all iPads released in 2023 could have OLED screens.
The iPad is the world’s best-selling tablet with sales of around 50 million per year, so keeping up with demand could be quite the challenge. Especially with Samsung reported to be flat-out making 120Hz OLED displays for the upcoming iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro (via PhoneArena).
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New Apple TV 4K uses iPhone sensors to boost picture quality
AMD introduced its new Radeon RX 6000M-series laptop graphics at Computex, during a keynote by AMD’s CEO, Dr. Lisa Su. The new mobile graphics lineup is made up of the top-end AMD Radeon RX 6800M, a mid-range RX 6700M and the entry level RX 6600M. For now at least, the GPUs are being paired in systems from laptop vendors with AMD’s Ryzen processors for what the company calls “AMD Advantage.”
These are the first laptop GPUs from AMD that use its RDNA 2 architecture, with Infinity Cache for higher memory bandwidth, low power consumption (AMD claims near 0 watts at idle) and high frequencies even when the system is running at low power. The company is claiming up to 1.5 times performance over last-gen RDNA graphics and up to 43% lower power consumption.
AMD Radeon RX 6800M
AMD Radeon RX 6700M
AMD Radeon RX 6600M
Compute Units
40
36
28
Game Clock
2,300 MHz
2,300 MHz
2,177
Memory
12GB GDDR6
10GB GDDR6
8GB GDDR6
Infinity Cache
96MB
80MB
32MB
AMD Smart Access Memory
Yes
Yes
Yes
AMD Smart Shift
Yes
Yes
Yes
Power Targets
145W and above
Up to 135W
Up to 100W
Resolution Targets
1440p
1440p/1080p
1080p
The most powerful of the new bunch is the AMD Radeon RX 6800M, which will be available starting June 1 in the Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition. It has 40 compute units and ray accelerators, along with a 2,300 MHz game clock, 12GB of GDDR6 memory and a 96MB cache. It will also be compatible with AMD SmartShift and Smart Access Memory.
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(Image credit: AMD)
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(Image credit: AMD)
AMD compared the ROG Strix G15 with the RX 6800M and a Ryzen 9 5900HX to a 2019 MSI Raider GE63 with a 9th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and an RTX 2070, claiming up to 1.4 times more frames per second at 1440p max settings in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Cyberpunk 2077, 1.5 times the performance in Dirt 5 and 1.7x more frames while playing Resident Evil: Village.
In closer comparisons, to an RTX 3070 (8GB) and RTX 3080 (8GB), AMD claimed its flagship GPU was typically the top performer – within a frame or so – in several of those games, as well as Borderlands 3 and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, though it’s unclear which settings and resolutions were used for these tests.
Unlike Nvidia, AMD isn’t aiming for 4K gaming. The most powerful of the cards, the RX 6800M, aims for a power target of 145W and above and is designed for 1440p.
(Image credit: AMD)
The middle-tier AMD Radeon RX 6700M is designed for 1440p or 1080p gaming, depending on the title. It has 36 compute units with a 2,300 MHz game clock, 10GB of GDDR6 RAM and an 80MB infinity cache, as well as the same support for SmartShift and SAM. AMD says these will ship in laptops “soon.’ It also said that the GPU will allow for 100 fps gaming at 1440p and high settings in “popular games,” though didn’t specify which games it was referring to.
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The RX 6600M sits at the bottom of the stack for gaming at 1080p. AMD compared it to an RTX 3060 (6GB) on 1080p max settings, and found that it led in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Borderlands 3 and Dirt 5. It was five frames behind in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War in AMD’s tests, and there was a one-frame difference playing Cyberpunk 2077. Like the RX 6800M, the 6600M will start shipping on June 1.
(Image credit: AMD)
AMD Advantage Laptops
AMD is now referring to laptops with both AMD processors and graphics as offering the “AMD Advantage.” The company says these designs should offer great performance because of power sharing between the CPU and GPU.
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AMD says its technologies can achieve up to 11% better performance in Borderlands 3, 10% in Wolfenstein Young Blood, 7% in Cyberpunk 2077 and 6% in Godfall.
(Image credit: AMD)
Additionally, the company says AMD Advantage laptops will only have “premium” displays — either IPS or OLED, but no VA or TN panels. They should hit or surpass 300 nits of brightness, hit 144 Hz or higher and use AMD FreeSync.
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Each laptop should come with a PCIe NVMe Gen 3 SSD, keep the WASD keys below 40 degrees Celsius while gaming and allow for ten hours of video on battery. (AMD tested this with local video, not streaming.)
(Image credit: AMD)
The first of these laptops is the Asus ROG Strix G15, with up to a Ryzen 9 5900HX and Radeon RX 6800M, a 15-inch display (either FHD at 300 Hz or WQHD at 165 Hz) with FreeSync Premium, liquid metal for cooling both the CPU and GPU along with a vapor chamber. It will launch in mid-June.
(Image credit: AMD)
The HP Omen 16 will also come with a 165 Hz display with up ao a Ryzen 9 5900Hx and AMD Radeon RX 6600M for 1080p gaming. It will launch sune on JD.com, then become available worldwide.
(Image credit: AMD)
In June, we should see more releases from HP, Asus, MSI and Lenovo.
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There are plenty of buying guides for figuring out the best phone to buy at a given time, across a wide variety of prices. We have two of them, in fact. But if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool phone enthusiast, you don’t need a guide that’s going to give you the best rational recommendation. You need something that’s going to help you scratch your new gadget itch in the most satisfying way.
I’m here for you because, well, I’m one of you. This is the internet’s premiere buying guide for phone enthusiasts. We’re not going to focus on practical, rational choices, nor are we going to concern ourselves with budgets. These are the dream phones, the ones you buy not as a utilitarian tool, but for the fun of playing with a new piece of tech that you’ll probably sell or trade in for a loss in six months. I’m not even going to single out a specific model that you should buy, because you’re likely buying a new phone every year (or maybe more!) anyway. This is all about throwing caution to the wind, diving deep into a hobby, and buying something you don’t need but absolutely want. Budgets be damned.
Grab your cargo shorts, we’re going shopping.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 5GPhoto by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
1. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G
The best folding phone because you know you need one in your collection
Folding phones are the future, right? You can’t call yourself a Real Phone Enthusiast without one in your life. Hands down, the best folding phone you can buy right now is Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G. It’s got everything you might want from a modern smartphone, but it also opens up into a tablet-sized screen that lets you put more than one app side-by-side or look at a giant version of Google Maps. It’s easy to justify because you can tell yourself that you will get SO MUCH WORK done on it, right after you finish watching that YouTube video. Promise.
The Fold 2 costs more than most laptops, you have to baby it, and there’s a really good chance the screen will crack or break on you even if you are careful, but that’s just the price you have to pay to be on the bleeding edge.
Apple iPhone 12 MiniPhoto by Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge
2. Apple iPhone 12 Mini
The best iPhone for when you’re double-fisting an Android phone
Look, I know that you know that everyone in the world has an iPhone and it’s the farthest thing from an “interesting” phone. But at the same time, it’s hard to ignore what Apple’s doing, and really, iMessage and the Apple Watch are pretty great. Lots of people carry an iPhone alongside an Android phone, and you could be one of them.
The best iPhone for doing this is the iPhone 12 Mini. It does everything its bigger siblings can do, but it can easily fit in a secondary pocket and isn’t a burden to carry around. The battery life is kinda lousy, but who cares, that’s why you have a second phone on you anyway, right?
The Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate comes with a clip-on fan and has 18GB of RAM.Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge
3. Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate
The best phone for seeing what this “gaming phone” trend is all about
Gaming phones are so hot right now (unless they’ve got a great cooling system) — it seems like a new model is released every three months. You can’t call yourself a true phone enthusiast without being up on this trend, and the best one to dip your toes into it with is the Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate.
The ROG Phone 5 Ultimate has a ton of features that can make any mobile accomplisher swoon. A massive battery. A ridiculously high refresh screen. An OLED screen on the back you can customize to show whatever you want. A bunch of accessories to make gaming better. 18GB of RAM! How could you not buy this phone?
Asus ROG Phone 5
$1,000
Prices taken at time of publishing.
The Asus ROG Phone 5 is the quintessential example of a modern gaming phone. It has over-the-top specs, lots of gaming accessories, and a head-turning design.
$1,000
at Asus
The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 UltraPhoto by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
4. Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
The best phone for pretending you’re going to use a stylus
Writing on a phone screen with a pen is so cool! It feels futuristic and is just so natural. At least, it is for the first week until you forget about it and it never leaves the little garage built into the side of the phone again.
If you’ve been telling yourself that little “I’m gonna be a stylus person” lie, you need a phone that supports one and it’s hard to see buying anything other than Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20. It’s got a low latency S Pen, a bunch of software features that can utilize the stylus, and all of the other bells and whistles of a modern smartphone, which means it works quite well long after you’ve forgotten about the stylus.
The Google Pixel 4A
5. Google Pixel 4A
The best phone for messing around with the Android 12 beta
Okay, I said I wasn’t going to recommend anything rational in this guide, but this is perhaps the recommendation that makes the most sense: if you want to mess around with the Android 12 beta but don’t want to install it on your main phone, you should just buy a Google Pixel 4A. It’s only $350 (that’s just $20 more than it costs to fix a broken screen on an iPhone 12 Pro Max) and can work with Google’s latest and greatest software even before it’s released to the public.
You know the Android betas are going to be messy — battery life is going to be bad, there will be lots of bugs, certain apps might not work correctly — so you don’t want to put it on a device you actually need to rely on. Once the beta period is over, the Pixel 4A is a great device for experimenting with the aftermarket ROM world. Get a Pixel 4A and flash those ROMs to your heart’s content.
The Microsoft Surface DuoPhoto by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
6. Microsoft Surface Duo
The best phone for making people go “Whoa, is that a phone?”
As a phone enthusiast, you already know this harsh truth: the Microsoft Surface Duo is not a good phone. It has an old processor. The camera is worse than any iPhone of the past five years. The battery life is decidedly Not Great. It gets hot doing simple tasks. There are SO MANY software bugs. It’s got a generation-old version of Android. It doesn’t even support wireless charging or NFC payments! Oh yeah, and there’s that questionable build quality to worry about.
But there’s something undeniably cool about the Surface Duo, like it’s a device from the future coming here to bless us in the early 21st century. It’s so thin, it has two screens, the hinge is incredibly neat. Open it up in public and you’re sure to get someone to ask “wow, is that a phone?” which we all know is the ultimate goal here. You can then show them all of its cool features, right after it’s done rebooting itself for the fifth time that day.
Apple iPhone 12 Pro MaxPhoto by Becca Farsace / The Verge
7. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
The best phone for telling yourself that you don’t need an actual camera
For years now we’ve been told that phone cameras are so good that you don’t need an actual camera. The iPhone 12 Pro Max might be the best example of that yet. It’s got a bigger sensor! It’s got three focal lengths! It can shoot video in Dolby Vision HDR!
At the end of the day, it’s still a phone camera and can’t really hold a candle to the image quality or creative control you get with a larger mirrorless camera. But hey, it’s fun to live in that lie and you can totally see the difference between the 12 Pro Max images and other phones. When you blow them up on a big screen. And zoom in.
Oppo Find X3 ProPhoto by Sam Byford / The Verge
8. Oppo Find X3 Pro
The best phone for saying “you can’t get this in the US”
Perhaps the ultimate phone flex is pulling a phone out of your pocket that nobody else is going to have. If you’re in the US, the Oppo Find X3 Pro is that phone. It’s got features you can’t get on any American phone and a design you won’t see everywhere, like a microscope camera and softly rounded camera bump. Sure, it won’t really work great on the cellular networks here, importing it is an expensive hassle, and you won’t have any warranty whatsoever. But just think of the envy on your friends’ faces when you tell them they can’t have this phone.
Oppo Find X3 Pro
$1,178
Prices taken at time of publishing.
Oppo’s Find X3 Pro is the company’s latest flagship and it’s not sold in the US. It has a unique camera system and head-turning design that you won’t see on American phones.
$1,178
at Amazon
OnePlus 9 ProPhoto by Becca Farsace / The Verge
9. OnePlus 9 Pro
The best phone for when you realize that Pixel phones aren’t great, but you don’t want a Samsung either
Google’s Pixel phones have such great software and then… mediocre everything else. Samsung phones have incredible hardware but are laden with heavy software and actual ads inside of the stock apps. The OnePlus 9 Pro splits that difference — it has software that’s similar to Google’s on hardware that’s virtually a Samsung with a different logo on it.
The 9 Pro is just what the phone enthusiast ordered: a high-end, bells-and-whistles device with All Of The Specs but none of the cruft.
Samsung Galaxy Z FlipPhoto by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
10. Samsung Z Flip 5G
The best weekend phone for when you’re “disconnecting”
Here comes the weekend, with all of its promises of relaxation and enjoyment. You don’t need a phone that’s going to make you more productive, you need something that’s going to slip into your pocket and won’t distract you with a colorful display unless you absolutely need it to.
The Z Flip 5G is this phone. You can flip it closed to ignore it and then pop it open and have a full smartphone inside, complete with every feature you get on non-flippy phones. You’re making a compromise without really making a compromise, because we all know that you had no intention of actually disconnecting for the weekend.
(Pocket-lint) – The ‘Style Edition’ edition of Acer’s Predator Triton series returns in a 16-inch format, bringing gaming/creator levels of performance into an altogether more discreet, less flashy clamshell than the ‘gaming norm’.
The Predator Triton 500 SE arrives hot on the heels of the smaller-scale Triton 300 SE becoming available to buy. So if the smaller model doesn’t quite pack enough of a punch then is the larger device worth waiting for – and worth saving up for?
Design & Display
16-inch Mini LED panel
2560 x 1600 resolution (WQXGA)
1600 nits brightness maximum
240Hz refresh rate
16:10 aspect ratio
Built-in fingerprint sensor
Thickness: 19.9mm
DTS:X Ultra audio
The 500 SE is, as its 16-inch diagonal panel would dictate, a larger machine than the original 14-inch 300 SE. Not only that, the 500 SE is a rather more developed device, its screen embodying the latest Mini LED technology for a much brighter experience.
Pocket-lint
Mini LED – a technology used by some high-end TVs – houses multiple LEDs behind the surface for a more intense brightness, because there are literally more of the illuminators than earlier technologies could cram into place.
In the case of the Predator Triton 500 SE that means a maximum of 1600 nits – which is as bright as you’ll see the most flagship of mobile phone achieve. It’s better than most high-end OLED tellies, too, so this panel has got the guns to really deliver a strong image to the eyes.
Not only that, it’s a WQXGA resolution, bringing greater sharpness potential to your games, movies and content. All across a 16:10 aspect ratio, which is versatile for all kinds of content and not ‘tall’ like some older laptops.
Pocket-lint
The screen, then, is the Triton 500 SE’s main event, no doubt. But the sell of this laptop is in its design – the idea being that its silvery colour is subtle enough to not scream ‘gaming laptop!‘. The lid has a simple raised Predator symbol logo to the top corner, but no in-your-face text or other logo prints anywhere else to be seen.
However, just as we said of the smaller-scale Style Edition original, the Triton 500 SE’s panel just feels a bit, well, flimsy. There’s too much flex to it; the lid looks and feels too plasticky – when it really shouldn’t at this end of the market.
Pocket-lint
It’s all pretty discreet, although switch on the RGB lighting under the keyboard and there’s no hiding it. And you only need to look at the large vents to the rear to know that it’s ready to pass a lot of air through for the sake of cooling. Still, at 19.9mm thick, it’s really not that massive for such a device.
11th Gen Intel Core i7 / Core i9 processor options
Nvidia RTX 3070 / 3080 GPU options
Up to 4GB PCIe storage / 64GB RAM
5th Gen AeroBlade fan cooling tech
Turbo button for overclocking
Killer Wi-Fi 6 (AX1650i)
Predator Sense
In terms of power available the Triton 500 SE delivers a lot more than the 300 SE can muster. The 16-inch model packs in 11th Gen Intel Core i7 and Nvidia RTX 3070 for its circa two-grand asking price (£1,999 in the UK). That’s nearer three-grand (£2,999 in the UK) if you opt for the Core i9 and RTX 3080. No small chunk of change, more just a big chunk of awesome power.
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All of that obviously requires more cooling than your average, hence those big vents to the back and side of the device. But we’ve found the fans do kick in with little fuss, meaning there’s quite a bit of potential noise. There are additional fan controls within Predator Sense software – which has its own dedicated activation button – to take extra command, including maxxing them during gaming sessions.
Even the dedicated Turbo button to the top left area above the keyboard, can push overclocking – and that’ll send those fans into a frenzy. The cooling setup is called AeroBlade 3D – now in its fifth generation – a system that uses the fans to pull air in over the most heat capacitive components (CPU, GPU, RAM) and hold air in chambers to aid with this cooling process.
We’ve not had the time to test this laptop under full pressure, merely see it at a pre-launch Acer event to gauge some of how well it will handle serious tasks. Being a gaming laptop with Intel architecture we wouldn’t assume the battery will last especially long – and you’re going to need it plugged into the wall to get maximum potential anyway – but Acer does claim it can manage up to 12 hours in altogether more work-like conditions.
Pocket-lint
Interestingly there’s some pretty serious ports built into the design, from the dedicated Ethernet port for best connectivity, to the full-size SD card reader – which is a really rare sight these days on laptops. As for speeds, the USB-C ports are Thunderbolt 4, so there’s certainly no slack there – a bit like the Predator Triton 500 SE’s overall ethos really.
First Impressions
If Acer’s original 14-inch ‘Style Edition’ Predator Triton didn’t quite deliver on scale or power, then the Predator Triton 500 SE is here to up the ante. It’s got a bigger, brighter and meaner screen, plus power options that are far more considerable – but then so is the price tag, so you’ll need to get saving.
The design – pretty much pitched as ‘gaming laptop for the business person’ – is more discreet than your gaming laptop average, but there’s still all the RGB lighting, cooling vents, ports and Turbo overclocking that you could want.
It’s good to see something a bit different to diversify the gaming laptop and creators market. Although, as we said of the original SE model, the 500 SE ought to up its game when it comes to screen sturdiness – especially at this price point.
There’s a new Acer Predator in town: the 16-inch Predator Triton 500 SE. It has a new subtle design with a touch of RGB as well as the latest chips from Intel and Nvidia. It also has a feature that I am much too excited about: a 16:10 display.
Put this next to the previous Triton 500, and this device looks much more like something you might bring to a meeting or a lecture. It’s not quite as flashy. The last model’s glowing Triton logo has been removed from the center of the lid and squeezed into the top-right corner. The previous Triton also had “Predator” printed along the large bottom bezel, which has been replaced by a smaller and subtler Triton logo as well. The corners are sharper, the keyboard is a bit blacker — it’s a more modern, professional look.
No more logo in the center.
The biggest thing you’ll probably notice, though, is that the laptop is taller. The new 16-inch 16:10 display affords extra vertical space compared to the 15.6-inch 16:9 display on the previous Triton. I got to spend a bit of time with a pre-production unit of the Triton 500 SE, and I’m going to have trouble going back to a 13-inch 16:9. This is one of the roomiest displays I’ve ever used. I had no trouble stacking 2-3 tabs and apps alongside each other and jumping in between them. I never had to zoom out of anything.
There are three panel options: a 165Hz LCD panel, a 165Hz Mini LED panel, or a 240Hz IPS PolarBlack panel (which Acer says will cover 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut). All the screens have 2560 x 1600 resolution. Mini LED, which also powers the screen of Apple’s latest 12.9-inch iPad Pro, is unusual to see on laptops. It’s designed to emulate the look of an OLED screen on an LCD panel, and it can produce excellent contrast.
The Triton has new chips as well; it’s configurable with up to an 11th-Gen Intel Core i9 processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU. (Acer hasn’t shared the clock speeds and graphics power you can expect from these chips yet, so I look forward to digging those up during the review process.) It also provides more ambitious specs for power users than previous Tritons, supporting up to a whopping 64GB of memory and 4TB of storage. (Last year’s Triton 500 maxed out at 32GB and 2TB, respectively.)
It’s a roomy screen.
The Triton 500 SE has pretty much every port you might need, including two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one on each side, in addition to two USB 3.2 Gen 2, one HDMI 2.1, one 3.5mm audio jack, one SD card reader, an ethernet port, and a DC-in for power. One of the USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports supports power-off USB charging as well.
There’s a fingerprint in the top-left corner of the touchpad. The webcam in the top bezel actually didn’t look too terrible in my testing and produced a viewable picture in low-light conditions. It doesn’t support Windows Hello, though.
Finally, Acer is also very excited about the new cooling system, which features what it refers to as its “5th-Gen Aeroblade 3D fan” in a triple-fan system with five heat pipes. Acer says this will provide up to 10 percent better airflow than the previous Triton 500. We’ll have more specific metrics once we’ve been able to write a full review of this device; my first impression is that the fans were often audible on this pre-production unit, but I never felt an uncomfortable amount of heat and never saw the CPU get anywhere close to a worrying temperature.
Power port, Ethernet, USB-A, USB-C, audio jack on the left.
I really like the keyboard, it’s nice and clicky.
You can make various fun effects with the per-key RGB keys.
HDMI, USB-C, USB-A, SD slot, and a lock slot on the right.
Altogether, a fun machine to use — but we’ll have to wait for the full review before making a recommendation.
The Predator Triton 500 SE will be available in North America in June, starting at $1,749.99. The base configuration that Best Buy will be selling for that price includes a Core i7-11800H, a GeForce RTX 3060, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, and the 165Hz LCD display.
Acer also announced an updated version of its bulkier, pricier, and high-performance Predator Helios 500, which also has new 11th-Gen processors and Nvidia 3000-series GPUs. This laptop can come with a 4K Mini LED 120Hz display or an FHD 360Hz display. The Helios can be configured with up to 64GB of RAM as well. That model is coming to North America in August starting at $2,499.99.
Nintendo could announce its OLED Switch console in the next couple of weeks. Sources have told Bloomberg that the portable games console could be unveiled ahead of the E3 gaming conference which kicks off on 12th June.
Assembly is planned to start in July, with the console going on sale in September or October, they added.
An announcement ahead of E3 would let publishers showcase their full range of Switch games at the conference.
The new machine is likely to be more expensive than the current model, which it will eventually replace, leaving the OLED model and Switch Lite as the two models in Nintendo’s line.
The new console is thought to be called the Nintendo Switch Pro, though its official name is only known to a handful of people within Nintendo.
Its main selling point is the screen. According to leaks, it will be bigger than the current model’s (7in vs 6.2in) and use OLED technology to offer better contrast and colour (the current model has an LCD display). OLED is also more energy-efficient, which could mean better battery life – crucial for a console you can play on your travels.
It’s also thought to boast a new Nvidia chip with 4K upscaling, which would make game graphics look far better on a big-screen TV without the need for huge file sizes.
Next-gen games consoles are in the midst of a chip shortage caused by the pandemic, meaning the PS5 and Xbox Series X have been in short supply since launching in November 2020. Hopefully, the situation will be a distant memory by September, or will the Nintendo Switch Pro be another console that struggles to meet demand?
MORE:
Next-gen console showdown: PS5 vs Xbox Series X: which is better?
Find your Xbox: Xbox Series X stock update
And the same for the PS5: Sony PS5 stock and where to buy
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