Virgin Mobile USA Goes ‘Exclusively iPhone’ With Unlimited Plan Priced at $1 for First Year

Virgin Mobile USA is moving to an iPhone-only business model beginning June 27, and to entice customers to switch it’s offering an entire year’s worth of unlimited talk, text, and data for $1.

Called the “Inner Circle,” the unlimited plan is available until July 31, and only to customers who purchase a new iPhone and transfer their phone number to an Inner Circle plan. After their first year on the plan, users will switch over to the normal $50/month price tag.

There’s iPhone. And then there’s everything else. At Virgin Mobile, we’re teaming with Apple to offer you nothing but the world’s most popular phone. Because life in the Inner Circle is about living big, expanding your horizons and pursuing your passions. And it starts with an iPhone you’ll adore. Pre-order your iPhone now, or head to an Apple Retail Store on June 27th to be one of the first members of the Virgin Mobile Inner Circle!

Currently, Virgin Mobile offers a variety of iPhones in all storage capacities, including the iPhone SE (32GB for $279.00), iPhone 7 (64GB for $749.99), iPhone 7 Plus (256GB for $969.99), and others. The iPhones are up for pre-order on the Inner Circle plan today, and will ship on June 27, with the plan going into effect upon the iPhone’s activation.

The unlimited Inner Circle plan does have restrictions related to data throttling, becoming “deprioritized” in some areas after exceeding a certain data cap, and even risking service termination after specific amounts of off-network roaming are reached. Per the fine print on Virgin Mobile’s website:

– Plans are domestic only and include unlimited data, talk, text, 800 domestic voice roaming minutes and 100MB domestic data roaming.

– Customers who use more than 23GB of data during billing cycle will be deprioritized during times and places where the network is constrained.

– To improve data experience for the majority of users, throughput may be limited, varied or reduced on the network. Virgin Mobile may terminate service if off-network roaming use in a month exceeds: (1) 800 mins or a majority of mins.; or (2) 100MB or a majority of KB.

For an additional $5/month users can gain unlimited calls to Mexico and Canada, and unlimited worldwide texting. A $10/month bundle includes everything in the $5/month tier with unlimited calls to landlines in 70+ countries, 200 minutes to “select mobiles” in 200+ countries, and reduced per-minute rates to over 200 locations. A full list of countries and details on the international plans can be found here.

Check out Virgin Mobile’s website for information about iPhone protection plans, member benefits, and more.

Related Roundups: iPhone 6s, iPhone 7
Tag: Virgin Mobile
Buyer’s Guide: iPhone (Caution)
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New 27-Inch iMac Has Up to 80% Faster Graphics at Compute Tasks Compared to Previous Model

Earlier this month, Apple launched new iMac models with Intel’s seventh-generation Kaby Lake processors and improved AMD Radeon Pro discrete graphics options at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference.

Early benchmark results for the new 27-inch iMac have already surfaced on Geekbench that suggest the 2017 models are up to 15% faster in multi-core CPU performance compared to last-generation models.

Apple’s new high-end 27-inch iMac stock configuration with a 3.8GHz quad-core Core i5 processor has an average multi-core score of 14,886, for example, compared to 12,953 for the equivalent 2015 model.

John Poole of Primate Labs, the creators of Geekbench, said the new 27-inch iMac also has up to 80% improved graphics performance compared to the equivalent 2015 models at compute tasks such as image processing.

Geekbench’s new GPU Compute Benchmark measures the performance of GPUs at performing compute tasks such as image processing, computer vision, and physics simulations, rather than rendering tasks.

Poole said compute performance is becoming more important as more applications, such as Photoshop, take advantage of GPU compute.

The built-to-order 27-inch iMac with a 4.2GHz quad-core Core i7 processor is Apple’s fastest Mac ever in single-core CPU performance, according to the Geekbench results, continuing a trend set with the late 2014 model. The 2013 Mac Pro remains Apple’s fastest Mac in multi-core CPU performance on Geekbench.

That will undoubtedly change in December when Apple launches the iMac Pro with workstation-class tech specs, including up to an 18-core Intel Xeon processor, top-of-the-line Radeon Pro Vega graphics, up to 4TB of SSD storage, and up to 128GB of ECC RAM. iMac Pro will start at $4,999 in the United States.

The new 27-inch iMac starts at $1,799. New 21.5-inch models are also available from $1,099. Prices vary by country.

Related Roundup: iMac
Tags: Geekbench, benchmarks
Buyer’s Guide: iMac (Buy Now)
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PSA: AppleCare+ for Mac and iPhone Must Be Bought Within 60 Days of Purchase

All of Apple’s AppleCare+ plans for Macs, iPads, and iPhones, must be bought alongside a new device or within 60 days of purchase, according to AppleCare+ support staff that MacRumors spoke to this morning.

Following its Worldwide Developers Conference in June that saw the debut of new iMacs, MacBooks, and MacBook Pro models, Apple introduced an updated AppleCare+ for Mac warranty plan that provides standard AppleCare coverage along with accidental damage coverage.

Apple’s AppleCare+ for Mac plan was introduced on June 5
The original AppleCare plans for the Mac could be purchased while the Mac was still under its standard warranty, so customers had a year to buy it, but with the new AppleCare+ plan for Mac, a purchase must be made within 60 days.

Apple in March changed its AppleCare+ policy for the iPhone and iPad and temporarily allowed customers to purchase the plan for up to one year after the device’s purchase, while it too was still under standard warranty, but that policy appears to have been reverted back to 60 days.

In March of 2017, an iPhone 7 Plus purchased in September was temporarily eligible for AppleCare+. That is no longer the case due to policy reversion
AppleCare+ plans for the iPhone and the iPad must once again be purchased within 60 days of a device purchase. Attempting to make an AppleCare+ purchase on an iOS device purchased more than 60 days ago now brings up no AppleCare+ purchase options when logging into the AppleCare+ website.

AppleCare+ is no longer available for an iPhone 7 Plus purchased less than a year ago
As for the Mac, customers who have had their Macs for longer than 60 days but less than a year are not eligible for AppleCare+ but are still able to purchase a standard AppleCare Protection Plan, MacRumors has learned. Apple is only offering AppleCare+ for Mac on its website, so customers will need to call in to Apple Support to make the standard AppleCare purchase. Standard Mac AppleCare is priced at $149 to $349, depending on the machine.

A MacBook Pro purchased in October 2016 isn’t eligible for AppleCare+, but standard AppleCare can still be purchased via Apple Support
AppleCare+ for Mac is available for the MacBook, 13-inch MacBook Pro, 15-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, Mac Pro, and Mac mini, with prices ranging from $99 to $379. The plan extends the warranty of the Mac to three years and includes coverage for two incidents of accidental damage, but a service fee of $99 will be charged for screen damage or external damage while a service fee of $299 will be charged for any other damage.

AppleCare+ for iPhone is available for $129 for the iPhone 6s and later, $99 for the iPhone SE, and $99 for iPad models. It extends warranty coverage to two years and covers two incidents of accidental damage, with a service fee of $29 required for screen repairs or $99 for other damage.

Purchasing AppleCare+ for Mac, iPhone, or iPad after the device has already been purchased requires customers to run a remote diagnostic to ensure the device is working properly or have it inspected at an Apple retail location.

Tag: AppleCare
Discuss this article in our forums

Lasers and ultrasound may allow ‘while-you-wait’ breast cancer diagnosis

Why it matters to you

The PAMMOTH may make breast cancer screenings less painful and stressful for patients.

A device being developed by European scientists may help make breast cancer tests easier and less painful. It’s called the PAMMOTH (or, photoacoustic ultrasound mammoscopy for evaluating screening-detected abnormalities in the breast, if you have time to say it) and combines light and sound sensors to offer a 3D image of the suspected tumor. The goal is to create a “while-you-wait” test that minimizes discomfort and uncertainty of cancer diagnosis.

“Despite advancements in X-ray imaging, ultrasound imaging, and MRI, these clinical imaging [methods] have shortcomings,” Srirang Manohar, project coordinator and professor at the University of Twente, told Digital Trends.

Although artificial intelligence has significantly improved successful breast cancer diagnoses, current breast cancer evaluations may take many weeks and multiple steps that can be stressful for a patient, who may begin by visiting their GP before being referred to a specialist for a number of procedures.

University of Twente

“In general … discrimination between malignancy and healthy tissue or a benign abnormality is challenging,” Manohar said. “This results in use of multiple and/or repeat imaging, and often unnecessary biopsy.”

With the PAMMOTH, a patient simply rests her breasts in a hemispherical bowl, which uses lasers and ultrasound — combining photonics and acoustics in a technique called photoacoustics — to scan the suspected tissue.

“Light scatters within the breast and is selectively absorbed by blood in the strongly vascularized tumor site,” Manohar explained. The energy absorbed by the tumor is converted into thermal energy, creating a pressure wave that can be detected with ultrasound sensors. “From the detected signals the locations where the initial acoustic pressure was created can be reconstructed” he added. This data can be used to develop a 3D map of of the blood vessels within the tumor.

The photoacoustics technique will provide data on the blood vessels within the tumor and “also enable the calculation of oxygen saturation with the use of multiple wavelengths and clever image reconstruction algorithms,” Manohar said. “This is expected to give information which is specific for cancer. ”

The PAMMOTH still has at least another two and a half years of development, but it offers a promising alternative to current diagnostics in an industry that’s expected to reach $8 billion by 2022.

“The imager will be noninvasive, will not require contrast agents nor use ionizing radiation,” he said. “Furthermore, the patient will feel no pain or discomfort.”

5 common Sony Xperia XZ Premium problems and how to fix them

The Sony Xperia XZ Premium is Sony’s top-of-the-line phone this year, and it boasts impressive hardware and specs. It hit retailers on June 19, but people in other parts of the world have already gotten their hands on the highly anticipated smartphone, allowing us to assemble some tips and tricks, and to take a look around various forums to see what Xperia XZ Premium problems they have run into so far.

It is Sony’s latest smartphone, running the latest version of Android, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe from harm and the occasional technical issue. Fortunately, we can give you a heads up on what problems to brace yourself for, and how you might handle them.

Problem: Camera distortion

A couple of threads on the XDA-Developers and Sony Mobile forums have detailed accounts from people who have experienced a weird distortion or wavy affect when taking pictures with the phone’s camera. In some cases, like when taking pictures of flat objects, it’s a little subtle, but with 3D objects and people, it becomes noticeable enough to be an issue.

Potential solutions:

• A future update for the Xperia XZ Premium may sort out this particular problem.
• You can try adjusting the camera’s focus by going to Settings > More > Touch to adjust > Focus and brightness. (Can only be done when camera is in Superior auto mode).
• Try running a diagnostic. While you have an internet connection, open the camera and go to the Camera’s settings > More > Help > Camera, Front camera, Flash or Camera button, then follow the steps provided on screen.
• You can perform a factory reset by going to Settings > Backup & Reset > Factory Data Reset > Reset Phone > Erase Everything. Remember to back up first. Alternatively, you can install the Xperia Companion program for PC, and use it to backup, restore, update, and repair your phone.
• Reach out to Sony Mobile support, as it may be a hardware issue you’re unable to deal with. You may be entitled to receive a replacement phone.

Problem: Bluetooth connectivity

Like other smartphones, the Xperia XZ Premium can have issues with Bluetooth; mostly issues involving people being unable to connect their phones to Bluetooth accessories. There are a few options and steps that worked for other people, and may work for you.

Potential solutions:

• Restart your phone and try Bluetooth again.
• Turn Bluetooth off and on by going to Settings > Bluetooth and tapping the slider.
• To unpair a Bluetooth accessory, go to Settings > Bluetooth > Paired devices, tap the gear icon next to the devices you’re connected to, and tap Forget.
• Back up, then perform a factory reset.

Problem: Constantly losing Wi-Fi connection

Like the Bluetooth issue above, Xperia XZ Premium owners have also been losing their Wi-Fi connections. Some lose their connection despite being within range of their router, while others have a constant connection but are notified that they’re currently offline.

Potential solutions:

• As always, try a quick phone restart. This has been known to help a couple of people in the thread linked above.
• You can turn Wi-Fi off and on again by going to Settings > Wi-Fi and tapping the slider.
• This Sony Mobile support page suggests removing your protective phone case, as it may be interfering with the connection.
• Make sure your phone has the correct internet settings. You can download current ones by going to Settings > More > Internet Settings > Accept.
• You can try setting a new Wi-Fi Sleep Policy that will ensure you maintain a connection even when the phone is asleep. You can do this by going to Settings > Wi-Fi, tap the gear icon, tap Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep, and choose one of the options shown.
• Boot your phone into Safe Mode to see if your Wi-Fi performs as expected. If it does, this means a third-party app is causing your connection problems. To boot into Safe Mode, do the following:
  • Press and hold the Power Key until the Power off screen appears.
  • Tap and hold Power Off until you’re given the option to Reboot into Safe Mode. Tap OK.
  • The phone will reboot, and you’ll know you’re in Safe Mode when you see the text Safe mode in the bottom left corner.
• Back up and perform a factory reset.

Annoyance: Unable to Double-tap to Wake phone

A number of users have voiced concerns about not being able to double-tap their phone’s screen to wake the phone up.

Official solution:

• Current models of the Xperia XZ Premium simply do not have this specific feature. The Xperia Blog notes that it may be added in later models or as part of a future software update and there’s a lengthy thread full of people hoping for the same. For the time being, however, people will have to live without it. You can double tap to turn the screen off if you toggle on the option in Settings > Double-tap to sleep.

Issue: Viber no longer working

Look no further than the Sony Mobile and XDA-Developers forums to read multiple accounts from people having issues with the Viber app no longer working the way it should. Some have said the app will crash, or go to a white screen and become unresponsive, while others are unable to even install it.

Potential solutions:

• Restart your phone and try using the app again.
• If there’s an update available for Viber, consider applying the update. The app was last updated on June 13 to version 6.9.5.
• If the app is already on your phone, but not working, uninstall it and install it again.
  • If the app freezes during use or startup, you can force close it by going to Settings > Apps > Viber > Force Stop > OK.
• Go to Settings > Apps > Viber > Storage > Clear Data, then restart your phone.
• Go to Settings > Apps > Viber > Storage > Clear Cache > OK.
• A few people have said that previous version of the app work fine. Go to Settings > Apps > Viber, tap the three vertical dots icon, then tap Uninstall updates > OK. Alternatively, you can download previous versions of the app here.

Best app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time

Everyone likes apps, but sometimes the best ones are a bit expensive. Now and then, developers put paid apps on sale for free for a limited time, but you have to snatch them up while you have the chance. Here are the latest and greatest apps on sale in the iOS App Store.

These apps normally cost money and this sale lasts for a limited time only. If you go to the App Store and it says the app costs money, that means the deal has expired and you will be charged. 

Six Pack Abs

Six Pack Abs by VGFIT helps you get in shape, lose belly fat, improve your core strength, and stay fit. Get your six-pack abs with the most intensive range of exercises you can perform at home, outside, and at the gym, with four levels of difficulty.

Available on:

iOS

3D Earth

3D Earth presents a stunning, live 3D simulation of our planet with weather, forecasts, and a world clock for cities around the world.

Available on:

iOS

Note-ify

This app is a simple and convenient note-taking tool. Organize your notes, ideas, shopping lists, tasks, and different reference information. It features a user-friendly and customizable interface.

Available on:

iOS

Magnifier Flash

Did you forget to take your reading glasses with you this morning? Just pick your iPhone to transform it instantly into a magnifying glass with a flashlight.

Available on:

iOS

Pocket Yoga

With Pocket Yoga you can keep up with your practice at your own pace in the comforts of your own home. Simply roll out your mat, place your device in front, and Pocket Yoga will guide you through your entire session.

Available on:

iOS

Ananda

Ananda promises to help you meditate, focus, and relax with progressive binaural tones and high quality peaceful sounds.

Available on:

iOS

Mobile smash hit ‘Threes’ has an actual ending — check it out here

Why it matters to you

If you were one of the countless players that got caught up in the Threes craze, this video might satiate your curiosity about what happens when the game is completed.

Back in 2014, indie puzzler Threes was the mobile game to have installed on your phone — it was something of a phenomenon, even being named the iPhone game of the year by Apple. However, unlike many of its peers in the puzzle genre, it’s now been discovered that the game has an ending.

A big part of the appeal of puzzle games, especially those designed for portable devices, is their capacity to waste time. Threes is certainly an effective time sink, but there’s also some real strategy to its numerical gameplay, and only a true expert will have the necessary skills to reach the very end.

Threes is all about sliding numbered tiles around a grid. Tiles that have the same value can be combined to make a bigger number, with higher values contributing more to the player’s high score at the end of the game.

As the numbers increase in size, a host of cartoon characters are introduced — Volleo, a lionlike beast that accompanies the number 6,144, is the final creature that most players come across, according to a report from A.V. Club. However, there is another individual that only shows up when the game has been completed.

OMG YOU CAN BEAT @ThreesGame

HOLY COW WE BEAT @ThreesGame

????????????????????????????‼️⁉️

Thank you @aeiowu & @AsherVo we are delighted!!!!!

7/7 pic.twitter.com/kCwR2XRnnC

— ThreesPorn (@ThreesPorn) June 20, 2017

Two Volleo tiles combine to form an ascendant, winged character wearing a crown of triangles, as seen in the above video posted on the official Twitter account of  preeminent Threes fan site ThreesPorn. Its regal appearance should leave players in little doubt that they have proven their complete mastery of the game.

This isn’t actually the first time that someone has uploaded footage of the ending of Threes to the internet. However, this particular clip is gaining some traction across the web, simply because many players weren’t aware that it was possible to complete the game — which may well spark a resurgence of the app’s popularity.

Threes originally launched as a paid iOS app, but a free-to-play version was made available in June 2015. It’s since been released on various other platforms, including Android and the Xbox One, and there’s even a free version of the game that you can play directly from your browser.

How does wireless electricity work? The magic of wire-free power transfer, explained

When you hear the term ‘wireless electricity,’ it might bring to mind Nikola Tesla and his grand plan to deliver wireless power to the world. While Tesla was a pioneer in the field, his work in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was not practical from a real world standpoint. However, since then, scientists have used his concepts to build real world applications for wireless electricity.

Unlike Tesla’s plans, however, electricity isn’t delivered by air per se. Here the term ‘wireless’ refers to the fact that you don’t have to plug the device into a wall outlet or other power source. Instead, the charging surface and the device being charged must be in contact.

As it stands now, there are two major wireless power standards. One, called Qi, is the product of a group of companies known as the Wireless Power Consortium. The other is the AirFuel Alliance, which makes an array of devices that generally carry the brand name PowerMat. While the two groups are competitors, the underlying technology is essentially the same.

Both rely on something called “resonant inductive coupling.” While it sounds complicated, the actual process of transferring power is not as complex as you think. It involves two coils — one a transmitter and the other a receiver — to create an electrical connection. Let’s look at the process in a little more detail.

How does it work?

Resonant inductive coupling (which is also referred to as inductive or resonant power transfer) works like this. Direct current (DC) is supplied to the charging system by a power source. In the transmitting coil, this is energy is converted into alternating current (AC) within the transmitter itself.

This AC energizes the transmitter coil, causing the coil to generate a magnetic field. Placing a receiving coil nearby triggers or induces AC within that receiving coil, and the process happens in reverse to charge the power source of the receiving device.

If you have an induction cooktop in your kitchen, the process here works much like that. In your kitchen, that magnetic field is heating a piece of metal in the special type of cookware necessary to cook on these ranges. Wireless power works in almost exactly the same way — but instead of using that energy to heat a piece of metal, it’s used to fill up a battery.

A Samsung-branded wireless charging pad.

What are the benefits?

There are a few tangible benefits to wireless charging technologies. The most obvious is the lack of wires. No doubt you have spent quite a bit of time at some point fishing around in a mountain of cables to find where you put the charger. Another nice feature is that the technologies can be built into a wide array of everyday objects — say, a kitchen countertop or a desk.

The lack of a power plug allows manufacturers to close up a potential entry point for water, dust, and other corrosive materials that might make their way into your device. It also includes built-in functionality to shut down the process when charging is complete.

What are the drawbacks?

Regardless of the technology used, wireless charging is still a rather inefficient process. As much as half of the energy is lost, either in the process of creating the magnetic field or the process of sending the energy from the transmitting to receiving coil. This is part of the reason why wireless charging is not as quick as wired.

As we mentioned earlier, the charging surface and the device itself must be in contact. This means that once you remove the device from that charging surface, it halts the process. These technologies are also quite expensive to produce at the moment, so if your device doesn’t have it built in, you’ll likely pay a pretty penny to add it retroactively.

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Which technology is better?

Since both technologies generally work in the same fashion, it’s difficult to give one method the advantage over the other. However, Qi has thus far attracted the most attention. The group counts over 200 companies as members, and is the technology of choice for smartphone wireless charging. Qi is also working on wireless charging for not only mobile devices (5 watts), but a 120 watt standard for monitors and laptops, and a high end spec that can deliver up to 1KW of power.

Don’t count out the AirFuel Alliance however. While it does focus on inductive charging, in 2014 it signed a deal to merge with another wireless consortium called Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP). A4WP’s technologies work through magnets, and the two groups are pooling their resources and patents. This could result in some interesting new wireless power technologies down the road.

Does my phone support it?

Built-in support for wireless charging isn’t widely available, but by and large those who do support the Qi standard. Modern popular phones that support it include:

• Samsung S6, S6 Active, S6 Edge
• Samsung S7, S7 Active, S7 Edge*
• Samsung Galaxy Note 5
• BlackBerry Priv
• Moto Z (with mod)

* – also supports AirFuel

Most other devices — the Apple iPhone a good example — will support the technology with the addition of a special case or attachment/dongle of some kind. Do keep in mind, however, that adding wireless charging technologies after the fact is quite expensive: We would recommend buying a device with the technology built in, instead.

How does wireless electricity work? The magic of wire-free power transfer, explained

When you hear the term ‘wireless electricity,’ it might bring to mind Nikola Tesla and his grand plan to deliver wireless power to the world. While Tesla was a pioneer in the field, his work in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was not practical from a real world standpoint. However, since then, scientists have used his concepts to build real world applications for wireless electricity.

Unlike Tesla’s plans, however, electricity isn’t delivered by air per se. Here the term ‘wireless’ refers to the fact that you don’t have to plug the device into a wall outlet or other power source. Instead, the charging surface and the device being charged must be in contact.

As it stands now, there are two major wireless power standards. One, called Qi, is the product of a group of companies known as the Wireless Power Consortium. The other is the AirFuel Alliance, which makes an array of devices that generally carry the brand name PowerMat. While the two groups are competitors, the underlying technology is essentially the same.

Both rely on something called “resonant inductive coupling.” While it sounds complicated, the actual process of transferring power is not as complex as you think. It involves two coils — one a transmitter and the other a receiver — to create an electrical connection. Let’s look at the process in a little more detail.

How does it work?

Resonant inductive coupling (which is also referred to as inductive or resonant power transfer) works like this. Direct current (DC) is supplied to the charging system by a power source. In the transmitting coil, this is energy is converted into alternating current (AC) within the transmitter itself.

This AC energizes the transmitter coil, causing the coil to generate a magnetic field. Placing a receiving coil nearby triggers or induces AC within that receiving coil, and the process happens in reverse to charge the power source of the receiving device.

If you have an induction cooktop in your kitchen, the process here works much like that. In your kitchen, that magnetic field is heating a piece of metal in the special type of cookware necessary to cook on these ranges. Wireless power works in almost exactly the same way — but instead of using that energy to heat a piece of metal, it’s used to fill up a battery.

A Samsung-branded wireless charging pad.

What are the benefits?

There are a few tangible benefits to wireless charging technologies. The most obvious is the lack of wires. No doubt you have spent quite a bit of time at some point fishing around in a mountain of cables to find where you put the charger. Another nice feature is that the technologies can be built into a wide array of everyday objects — say, a kitchen countertop or a desk.

The lack of a power plug allows manufacturers to close up a potential entry point for water, dust, and other corrosive materials that might make their way into your device. It also includes built-in functionality to shut down the process when charging is complete.

What are the drawbacks?

Regardless of the technology used, wireless charging is still a rather inefficient process. As much as half of the energy is lost, either in the process of creating the magnetic field or the process of sending the energy from the transmitting to receiving coil. This is part of the reason why wireless charging is not as quick as wired.

As we mentioned earlier, the charging surface and the device itself must be in contact. This means that once you remove the device from that charging surface, it halts the process. These technologies are also quite expensive to produce at the moment, so if your device doesn’t have it built in, you’ll likely pay a pretty penny to add it retroactively.

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Which technology is better?

Since both technologies generally work in the same fashion, it’s difficult to give one method the advantage over the other. However, Qi has thus far attracted the most attention. The group counts over 200 companies as members, and is the technology of choice for smartphone wireless charging. Qi is also working on wireless charging for not only mobile devices (5 watts), but a 120 watt standard for monitors and laptops, and a high end spec that can deliver up to 1KW of power.

Don’t count out the AirFuel Alliance however. While it does focus on inductive charging, in 2014 it signed a deal to merge with another wireless consortium called Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP). A4WP’s technologies work through magnets, and the two groups are pooling their resources and patents. This could result in some interesting new wireless power technologies down the road.

Does my phone support it?

Built-in support for wireless charging isn’t widely available, but by and large those who do support the Qi standard. Modern popular phones that support it include:

• Samsung S6, S6 Active, S6 Edge
• Samsung S7, S7 Active, S7 Edge*
• Samsung Galaxy Note 5
• BlackBerry Priv
• Moto Z (with mod)

* – also supports AirFuel

Most other devices — the Apple iPhone a good example — will support the technology with the addition of a special case or attachment/dongle of some kind. Do keep in mind, however, that adding wireless charging technologies after the fact is quite expensive: We would recommend buying a device with the technology built in, instead.

There’s a single OnePlus 5 version for the whole world

OnePlus managed to build a single version of the OnePlus 5 for the whole world. That means easier roaming and much better worldwide compatibility.

The OnePlus 5 is here, and it’s a pretty great device in a lot of ways. But in terms of network connectivity, it breaks down interesting new ground, and finds itself among a select few devices that takes advantage of some of the Snapdragon 835’s latest advances.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the device that is available to purchase right now.

Every model comes unlocked out of the box

Like all previous OnePlus devices, the OnePlus 5 comes unlocked out of the box. This means that as long as it supports a particular network, you’ll be able to put in your SIM card and it will just work. If the network is really obscure, you may have to enter the APN information manually, but those are edge cases and shouldn’t apply to the vast majority of users.

What is an APN and how do you change it?

It’s dual-SIM

The OnePlus 5 has two SIM slots, which for many Americans will be an unusual inclusion but for millions of others it will be essential. Both SIM cards can operate at 4G LTE speeds which is nice, and Android can dynamically switch between them if necessary. Flexibility FTW!

There’s only one version for the entire world

This is really neat. The OnePlus 5 is only being released in one version for the entire world, which means that the version sold to Americans is physically the same hardware as the one sold in China, India and South Africa. This is a big deal. Last year’s OnePlus 3T had two distinct versions for the U.S. and Europe/Asia, and the LTE bands were largely not compatible between the two regions, which made it difficult to roam.

Now, the OnePlus 5 has 34 distinct cellular bands, covering at least one band in every country — in one piece of hardware. That’s pretty impressive.

It’s only meant to work on AT&T and T-Mobile in the U.S.

The OnePlus 5 may have 34 distinct cellular bands, but none of them form explicit compatibility with Verizon or Sprint in the U.S. Instead, the phone has been developed with AT&T and T-Mobile users in mind, and it will work flawlessly out of the box with both of them.

It has even been optimized for T-Mobile’s Advanced Calling features, including VoLTE (Voice over LTE) and VoWiFi (Voice of Wi-Fi), which are configured and enabled out of the box. Just pop in a T-Mobile SIM and it should work.

So no Verizon compatibility?

Nope. It may look that way because the phone technically supports one of Verizon’s legacy CDMA frequencies and a handful of its LTE bands, but OnePlus has no intention of ever officially supporting Verizon.

Turn a bunch of technical jargon into English for me

From a network perspective, the OnePlus is more about efficiency than speed.

Sure! The OnePlus 5 supports download speeds of 600Mbps and upload speeds of 150Mbps thanks to the use of 3x carrier aggregation, 256QAM and 2×2 MIMO.

Let’s break things down: carrier aggregation is the combination of three separate “channels” of airwaves into a single stream of data. It forms the foundation of the LTE-Advance standard, and makes it possible for phones to come close to those “gigabit” speeds that we’ve seen in recent marketing.

256QAM is the modulation, or shape, the data forms. Think of it as a ones and zeroes packed really tightly together into a box; the more tightly packed the data, the more information the box can store.

And finally, 2×2 MIMO indicates the number of antennas in the phone that can send and receive data at the same time. Other phones like the Galaxy S8 and HTC U11 support 4×4 MIMO, which together with 3x carrier aggregation and 256QAM can achieve download speeds of close to 1,000Mbps, or 1Gbps.

OnePlus 5 specs

Does this matter in the real world?

Will you notice a difference in download speeds between the OnePlus 5 and Galaxy S8 on the same network? Maybe, but only in artificial speed tests, since real-world usage maxes out at speeds much lower than even the OnePlus 5’s theoretical maximum.

At the same time, it’s unfortunate that OnePlus chose not to try to implement 4×4 MIMO, which from an engineering perspective is admittedly quite hard to do, but would have been great for its speed-focused marketing to include gigabit cellular.

What about Wi-Fi? Bluetooth?

Here there’s some good news. The OnePlus 5 supports 2×2 MIMO, dual-band (2.4/5GHz) 802.11ac Wi-Fi, which is among the fastest you can find in a device today. It also supports the nascent Bluetooth 5.0 standard, which has no hardware support at this point, but this should future-proof the phone for when speakers, smartwatches and other gadgets beginning including the new wireless tech.

It also supports aptX and aptX HD audio codecs, which is great for those (like me) who use Bluetooth headphones and want to eke the best-possible sound quality.

Anything else cool?

Yes! The OnePlus 5 is actually the first phone from a Chinese manufacturer to support Envelope Tracking and closed-loop Antenna Tuning, two technologies that, relatively new to the industry, maintain high signal quality while keeping battery use down and prevent the dreaded “death grip” that older devices used to suffer from.

So what’s the takeaway here?

The OnePlus 5 is one of the most advanced phones on the market from a network perspective, and manages to reinforce the company’s strategy of simplicity by building one model for the entire world. Even Samsung and Apple, with its enormous resources, haven’t managed to do that. Sure, OnePlus alienates a few networks in the process — Verizon and Sprint, in particular — but this is as worldwide a phone as it comes these days.

OnePlus 5

• Complete OnePlus 5 review
• Reviewing our first OnePlus 5 photos
• OnePlus 5 vs. OnePlus 3: Should you upgrade?
• OnePlus 5 specs
• The latest OnePlus 5 news
• Join the discussion in the forums

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