Latest news with #Oppo
GSM Arena
16 hours ago
- GSM Arena
Oppo Find X9 Pro's Dimensity 9500 SoC goes over an important threshold
The Oppo Find X9 Pro will use the upcoming MediaTek Dimensity 9500 chipset, and today in China a new rumor claims that the SoC's CPU has gone past the 4 GHz threshold in testing, for the first time in MediaTek's history. Whether this will be the same for production units remains to be seen. For reference, note that the Dimensity 9400+, MediaTek's current top dog, has one core that can be clocked up to 3.73 GHz. The Find X9 Pro is said to come with a "1.5K" resolution flat screen with symmetrical bezels, with a glass or fiberglass back for the white version. Oppo Find X8 Pro It will boast a 200 MP periscope telephoto camera. This has been rumored before to use Samsung's upcoming ISOCELL HP5 sensor, a 1/1.56" type. Source (in Chinese) | Via
Phone Arena
a day ago
- Phone Arena
Samsung Galaxy Fold 7 review: This one is a winner
When Samsung first introduced the Galaxy Fold back in 2019, it was more akin to a bold, futuristic prototype – exciting, but flawed. Fast-forward to 2025, and we now have the Galaxy Fold 7 : a product that feels like the perfected vision Samsung had all along. It finally fixes all the major criticisms: the narrow cover screen, the thick profile, the deep crease, and long-standing reliability concerns. The Fold 7 is also significant because, after years of arguably lagging behind forward-thinking foldables from Chinese brands, Samsung's pioneering product has reclaimed the top dog status. The Galaxy Fold is once again the apex predator, outplaying the competition and reaffirming Samsung's engineering dominance. This is a full-circle moment for king is back. Maybe it will only hold the top spot until a next-gen challenger appears at some point in the coming months, who knows. But boy, is it back. Table of Contents: Let's start with an overview of the Galaxy Fold 7 's specs and see how they compare to last year's Fold 6 : Something felt off when I first held the Galaxy Fold 7 during my early briefing phone felt super-thin. I expected that, but I was still surprised by just how thin it was. I remembered holding the Honor Magic V5 around the same time – the phone that promptly claimed the 'thinnest foldable phone' title with its reported 8.8mm thickness, outdoing the Oppo Find N5's 8.9mm. The Galaxy Fold 7 was supposed to be 8.9mm thick, so, if there was to be any perceived difference between the two, it had to be in the Magic V5's favor. Yet, the Fold 7 subjectively felt just as thin, if not thinner than what I felt when playing with the Magic V5. I couldn't have known it at the time, but eventually, a bunch of objective, real-world measurements came out, and it was proven that the Galaxy Fold 7 is, indeed, thinner than the Magic V5. Turns out Honor didn't count some components, like the factory screen protector, into its measurements. Regardless of all that, I have a bigger point to make, and it's that foldables have become thin and light enough! Seriously, I'm holding the Fold 7 and I'm like... I don't need this phone to be any thinner than that. It's great as it is! Any future improvements should be focused on other areas. The weight is also a big deal, but check this out: the Fold 7 is now lighter than the Galaxy S25 Ultra! At 215g, it's perfectly convenient to hold and use. At no point have I wished for it to be lighter. Now, for all the design prowess on display here, this has to be the phone with the worst wobble when put on a table! Seriously! Due to it being so thin, and the camera being big and offset to the side, it really doesn't look good when laid flat on a surface. The silver lining here is that since the Fold 7 is now so thin, you can comfortably put a case on, without it getting too bulky, and I guess this will, to a large extent, deal with the wobbling. Samsung has also finally fixed the Fold's cover screen, thanks to a wider, 21:9 aspect ratio. The 6.5" display is spacious and perfectly usable. You no longer feel forced to open the phone just to get simple things done, like typing out a message, for the cover and inner displays feature outstanding brightness, variable refresh rate up to 120Hz, and rich color modes ranging from vibrant to natural. In direct sunlight, the panels crank up to impressive brightness levels for excellent readability. One thing to note, though: when the phone gets hot, which doesn't take long on a warm, sunny day, the ultra-bright mode gets automatically disabled promptly. Display Measurements: What is of note here is the improved crease. This has also been one area where Samsung tended to be behind some competitors like Oppo or Vivo. However, the Fold 7 catapults Samsung right up to the top again, as the Fold 7 has a pretty much imperceptible crease. You literally don't feel anything as you slide your finger across the middle of the screen. You can still see it if you look at the screen from an angle, you can see there's something there, but physically – it's pretty much flat, for all intents and purposes. This has partly been achieved thanks to the new, stronger and thicker 'ultra-thin' glass layer on top of the flexible panel. Not only does it eliminate the crease, but it's also tougher – how cool is that?! Really, Samsung has nailed it here. Foldables have officially entered the mature phase. The Samsung Galaxy Fold 7 finally inherits the full 200 MP main camera from the Galaxy S25 Ultra . This is the upgrade we've been waiting for. Fold users are paying top dollar, and they now get top-tier camera performance to match. Aside from that, the 10 MP 3x telephoto camera hasn't changed much, while the 12 MP ultra-wide has been upgraded with a new sensor. The new main camera on the Galaxy Fold 7 produces shots that are roughly the same as those from the Galaxy S25 Ultra . This is the type of top-tier performance Fold users deserve. After all, they're paying $2000 for this phone! In terms of zoom capabilities, the 3x camera on the Fold 7 does its job well – I can't see any real issues in 3x photos. Naturally, quality starts to suffer as we zoom beyond that, as the Fold 7 isn't equipped with a longer-range periscope shooter, unlike the S25 Ultra. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the ultra-wide camera on board, either. I'm very much satisfied by the video recording quality with the Samsung Galaxy Fold 7 . To my eyes, it's not too far from that of the Galaxy S25 Ultra in most situations. Our detailed PhoneArena Camera Test reveals that there are certain nuances where the overall video performance of the Fold 7 isn't quite up there with the S25 Ultra, but again, for most day-to-day scenarios, the difference won't be too visible. Compared to the Fold 6, I find the look of video produced by the Galaxy Fold 7 to be slightly less overprocessed and HDR-y, which is a good thing. Being equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, we'd be right to expect top-notch number-crunching capabilities from the Galaxy Fold 7 . Of course, it doesn't disappoint. In day-to-day use, the Fold 7 flies. The benchmark results paint a picture that doesn't surprise. The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy brings a very substantial performance boost over last year's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy, but the Fold 7 's particular implementation slightly trails that in the S25 Ultra. This is understandable, considering the much thinner profile of the Galaxy Fold 7 , which, I'm sure, is a real pain to optimize thermals for. Under prolonged heavy load, there is considerable throttling observed, but it's not really any different from what we see on the Galaxy S25 Ultra . One UI 8, based on Android 16, strikes me as a very mature operating system. It is very colorful – way more than most other Android implementations, and that's perfectly fine. Samsung has seriously invested in making One UI 8 look and feel both modern and unique, and it shows. Beyond that, Samsung's One UI 8 continues to be an extremely feature-packed piece of software, complete with all sorts of features, including super-advanced ones like DeX, which can turn the phone into a desktop computer. Samsung has largely succeeded in its quest over the years to add and refine meaningful functionality to its Galaxy phones, while slowly getting rid of old stuff that didn't catch on with consumers. The usual suite of AI features is, of course, on board, complete with the industry-standard object removal and generative fill algorithms in the photo gallery. Speaking of which, some improvements have been made specifically for the Fold. For example, when editing a photo in Photo Assist, you can see both the original and the edited picture side by side when using the large, inner display. Gemini is also very well represented in One UI 8 . You can even speak to Gemini Live while using screen sharing (or when using the camera), so it can assist you with whatever you're doing. One of the few major concerns with the Galaxy Fold 7 is the 4400mAh battery, which hasn't grown from the Fold 6. This type of battery capacity is not as impressive as what many Chinese makers are using nowadays, so let's just say that it's normal for users to be concerned about the personal impressions are that the 4400mAh unit is perfectly sufficient for a full day of use. I didn't notice a dramatic drop in battery life compared to the other foldable I've been daily-driving, the Huawei Mate X6. The battery life is definitely not as amazing on the Fold 7 , that much is certain, but it's not bad by any stretch of the imagination. I can't see anyone having too much trouble to go though a full day of intense use. Now that we don't need the Galaxy Fold to get any thinner or lighter, perhaps Samsung will focus on getting silicon-carbon battery tech inside the Fold 8? When it comes to charging, this is another area where I'd like to see Samsung make major improvements going forward. The Galaxy Fold 7 is limited to the same old 25W charging. The speakers on the Galaxy Fold 7 haven't been improved from the Fold 6. Some people even say there's been a slight downgrade. Personally, I don't think they've gotten worse; I'd rank them about the same. Perhaps they've lost just a little bit of punch, but they do sound slightly tighter than before. The Samsung Galaxy Fold 7 is a terrific foldable, that much is certain. I don't know if it's overall the best foldable out there, because it absolutely is the most complete and impressive book-style foldable phone . From the record-thin and light design, to the outstanding screens and performance, to One UI 8 , which is overflowing with great features, the Galaxy Fold 7 is a true powerhouse of a phone that will serve its future owners very, very well. Once you get over the super-premium starting price of $2000, I don't think there will be many people out there who'll regret buying the Galaxy Fold 7 . It is that solid. Besides, don't forget that Samsung is often running great deals on its flagship phones, so chances are you won't even need to shell out the full $2000 to get it. Just be sure to check for any running promotions before making the purchase, and you'll be fine!
Phone Arena
a day ago
- Phone Arena
Galaxy Z Fold 7 crushes it again, because Samsung listened to feedback
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, though not in the hands of most users who've placed an order, has excelled massively over the Galaxy Z Fold 6. Samsung listened, and its new phone is apparently exactly what fans had been hoping for after the archaic Fold 6. China is a major market, but it's also extremely competitive. The Fold 6 quickly fell behind domestic foldable phones after its launch, and Samsung had to release the region-exclusive Fold 6 SE just to claw back some market share. However, with the Fold 7 , Chinese consumers have shown that they're quite willing to support Samsung if the company listens to feedback. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 has already sold ( translated source ) double what the Fold 6 had managed in the same time frame. Chinese customers have shown quite clearly that they value a competitive product. The Fold 7 is easily one of the best foldables of 2025, in my opinion. It's super slim, it has a fantastic display with an improved crease, you get excellent cameras, and the seven years of software support is always a plus. Samsung listened to user feedback, ditched the archaic and bulky design of the Fold 6, and delivered a phone that gives the competition a run for its money. The Galaxy Z Fold improves drastically over its predecessor. | Video credit — Samsung Of course, it's not perfect, yet. The Fold 7 uses the same 4,400 mAh battery that the Fold 6 came with. This battery, from a purely numbers-focused perspective, falls behind alternatives like the Oppo Find N5 and the Honor Magic V5. Nevertheless, there is a case to be made for the Fold 7's battery. The Fold 7 is very similar to the Fold 6 SE that came before it. It's slimmer than the base Fold 6, has a main display that's the same size, and even has the same punch hole design instead of an under-display camera. If, for the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Samsung is able to increase the battery capacity, then it'll have a winner on its hands. And that's something that the company needs, because next year is likely to be the year when Apple finally announces its foldable iPhone. $1120 off (53%) Pre-order the Galaxy Z Fold 7 at Samsung and grab a free storage upgrade on the 512GB model. On top of that, you can save an extra up to $1,000 with eligible device trade-ins. Alternatively, you can buy the phone with a $300 Samsung Credit. Pre-order at Samsung
Economic Times
a day ago
- Business
- Economic Times
India's smartphone shipments rebound in Q2, driven by new launches and inventory push
India's smartphone market rebounded in Q2 2025, with shipments rising 7% year-on-year, driven by new device launches and easing inventory challenges. Vivo and Oppo experienced significant growth, while Samsung took a more cautious approach. Brands are now focusing on channel execution and affordability strategies to boost demand during the upcoming festive season. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads New Delhi: Smartphone shipments rose in the three months ended June, rebounding from two straight quarters of decline, as inventory challenges eased for brands, spurring fresh launches and vendor activity, according to market grew 7% on-year and 21% sequentially to 39 million units in Q2 2025, according to Canalys. IDC's preliminary data reported an estimated 34-36 million units getting shipped, a 3-4% rise Research expects the industry to record flat shipment growth in the first half of 2025, after recovering in the second quarter with 7% on-year increase, recovering from a 7% decline in Q1 to 32 million in the March quarter got impacted by persistent demand weakness and elevated channel inventory from late 2024.'The growth in Q2 was primarily launch-led momentum, rather than organic demand in the market, which remains persistently low,' said Sanyam Chaurasia, analyst at Canalys. 'Many new devices were launched in Q2, particularly in April and May, with some launches possibly being strategic shifts rather than direct delays from the March quarter.''While specific numbers are still being compiled, the expectation is that more launches occurred in Q2 than in Q1 this year,' he to IDC, brands significantly added inventory in the June quarter, particularly through offline retail channels.'Offline heavy brands like Vivo/Oppo continue to support offline channels with extra margins and schemes to liquidate old stocks and even on new launches, thus preparing ahead of the upcoming festive season,' said Upasana Joshi, senior research manager, and Oppo saw sustained growth in the first half of 2025, growing 31% and 24% on-year respectively, according to Canalys. Offline channels embraced new launches from the two Chinese brands due to higher dealer like Samsung kept a more measured approach ahead of the festive season, with shipments growing a marginal 2% on-year. Xiaomi's shipments were 25% lower on-year in Q2 but improved sequentially after a muted first quarter, Canalys continued its growth momentum, ranking sixth in Q2, with the iPhone 16 accounting for over 55% of shipments.'Recovery came despite a seasonally soft quarter amid multiple headwinds, including extreme weather conditions, US tariff tensions and geopolitical uncertainty,' Canalys brands are now actively locking inventory with distributors and retailers through channel incentive programmes ahead of the festive season.'With limited organic demand, India's smartphone market in H2 2025 will hinge more on channel execution than product launches,' Chaurasia said, adding brands are offering high-value rewards, ranging from foreign trips to vehicle awards for meeting sales targets during the festive the industry is doubling down on affordability by expanding long-tenure financing options, especially for mid to high-end models, to boost demand in the short term, he added.
India Today
2 days ago
- Business
- India Today
Indian smartphone market grows 7 per cent, iPhone 16 drives Apple's numbers
India's smartphone market saw a healthy recovery in the second quarter of 2025, with total shipments reaching 39 million units, which is a 7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase. The rebound follows a quiet first quarter and was largely driven by a slew of new launches and improved channel activity. According to a report by Canalys (now part of Omdia), while Chinese brands continued to dominate the top five spots, Apple stood out with over half its shipments driven by the iPhone 16 series, despite finishing sixth led the market during the quarter, shipping 8.1 million units and securing a 21 per cent share. The company's success was supported by strong offline campaigns and deeper distribution, especially in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. 'Vivo's new launches were widely embraced by channels, driven by strong partnerships,' said Sanyam Chaurasia, Principal Analyst at Canalys. The company's V50 series performed well in larger cities, while the Y-series remained a popular pick in smaller followed in second place with 6.2 million units shipped and a market share of 16 per cent. Oppo and Xiaomi tied at 13 per cent market share each, with 5 million units sold. However, compared to the previous quarter, Oppo's shipments have grown by 24 per cent, while Xiaomi's have plummeted by 25 per cent. Finally, realme came in at the fifth spot, with 3.6 million smartphones shipped and a market share of 9 per cent. Apple's sixth-place finish may not seem impressive at first glance, but there was clear interest in its current-generation models. The iPhone 16 series made up more than 55 per cent of Apple's total shipments in the quarter. However, the iPhone 16e — the most affordable version in the lineup — did not perform as well. 'The iPhone 16e lost momentum post-launch, as consumers questioned the value of its single-camera design and largely unrealised Apple Intelligence features,' Chaurasia brands have also contributed to the mid-range and premium smartphone space in India. Motorola, which ranked seventh, focused on expanding its reach in smaller cities. Infinix gained popularity among young buyers, especially with its design-forward marketing and gaming campaigns. Nothing continued its growth story, with a 229 per cent YoY jump driven by models like the Phone 3a Pro and CMF Phone 2 forward, the Indian smartphone market will likely depend more on channel activity than new product launches in the second half of 2025. Chaurasia noted that 'brands are actively locking inventory with distributors and retailers through channel incentive programs ahead of the upcoming festive season.' Canalys expects these efforts to boost short-term sales, but projects a modest overall decline for the full year due to structural demand challenges.- Ends
