Is the Galaxy S9+ a better purchase over the Pixel 2 XL?

This is a tough one.

In regards to large Android flagships, the Samsung Galaxy S9+ and Google Pixel 2 XL are your two best options at the moment. The S9+ is the newer of the two phones and is certainly the most eye-catching, but the Pixel 2 XL still more than holds its own thanks to the excellent camera package and software experience.

Some of our forum users recently started debating which of these phones is truly the best, and as you’d probably be able to guess, this resulted in a lot of conversations.

A few of the top responses so far are as follows.

monicakm
04-14-2018 01:10 PM

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HOLY SMOKES! I am SO glad I didn’t settle for the Pixel I bought last week. It took less than a couple of hours for me to realize the Pixel 2 XL wasn’t going to cut it for me. When am I going to stop believing everything I read and hear? LOL I can’t think of one thing about that phone that has an advantage over the 9+. Oh wait, yes I can. There is one thing I’ll miss. That’s the squeeze…

Reply

goji26
04-14-2018 11:40 PM

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I received another S9+ yesterday. I also have a Pixel 2 XL. For taking pictures of my kids or pets the Pixel seems better. I don’t know if the shutter speed is faster, or if it’s some sort of processing. I’ll have both phones and take a picture of my 9 month old with each one. He constantly moves so the pictures on the S9 are always blurred. The pictures on the Pixel are always clear. If anyone…

Reply

UdiBerry
04-15-2018 01:36 AM

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Yep, the S9+ is really amazing!
I’m enjoying it so much, what a great phone.
It’s not free of problems obviously, but they are pretty minor and hopefully Samsung will fix them soon.
I was really unimpressed with the Pixel 2xl, and the whole “stock Android” thing is way overrated IMO. I actually prefer TW and Samsung’s apps over Google’s…

You can use a Bixby button remapper app…

Reply

Itsa_Me_Mario
04-15-2018 07:01 PM

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Pixel 2 XL has a better camera, better build materials, better and more up to date software, better and more up to date security, is better for updates on both of those fronts, out of the box is better for user privacy, has a better FPS, 128 GB option is more widely available, has smoother performance despite less RAM, has better resource management, has better battery life, better charging…

Reply

With that said, we’d now love to hear from you – Do you recommend getting the Galaxy S9+ or Pixel 2 XL?

Join the conversation in the forums!

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+

• Galaxy S9 review: A great phone for the masses
• Galaxy S9 and S9+: Everything you need to know!
• Complete Galaxy S9 and S9+ specs
• Galaxy S9 vs. Google Pixel 2: Which should you buy?
• Galaxy S9 vs. Galaxy S8: Should you upgrade?
• Join our Galaxy S9 forums

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Samsung Galaxy S9 second opinion review: A battery short of perfection

Samsung once again nails the one-size-fits-all flagship, but mediocre battery life holds it back from an A+.

There’s rarely a more consumer-facing phone than the latest Samsung flagship. Say what you will about the Pixel 2 having cleaner software or the LG V30 being better for filmmaking, but the fact is that the Galaxy S9 is the phone plastered on every billboard, every web ad, and every subway station. For the vast majority of consumers, it’s the Android phone to consider right now.

When Andrew Martonik reviewed the Galaxy S9 last month, he called it “the new standard Android phone by which all others are measured as a baseline.” Unexciting, but uncompromising. But he spent most of his time with the larger Galaxy S9+ which, while mostly the same, benefits from an additional camera and a larger battery. So what’s the deal with the smaller S9?

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beautiful curves

Galaxy S9 Hardware

There’s no way around it; the Galaxy S9 is one of the finest displays of craftsmanship money can buy. The curved glass and aluminum frame scream high end, and make the phone feel almost more like fine jewelry than just a gadget. If you’ve used a Galaxy S8, you should already have an idea of what I’m talking about. The Galaxy S9 is largely unchanged when it comes to the design and in-hand feel.

That doesn’t mean it’s identical to last year’s model, though. After endless complaints about the S8’s hard to reach fingerprint sensor next to the camera, Samsung has moved the Galaxy S9’s sensor to a much more sensible place beneath the camera. It’s remarkably easier to reach than before, though it’s still a bit closer to the camera than I’d like; too often, I find myself accidentally smudging the camera, and the software even warns you against it when you’re registering your fingerprints.

Dongles be damned.

Oh, and it wouldn’t be a Samsung flagship without a long list of hardware benefits. Like last year, the Galaxy S9 is IP68 water resistant, and supports great features like wireless charging and NFC. It also still contains the MST component necessary for Samsung Pay, which allows you to use the S9 to pay at any terminal — even those that don’t typically accept mobile payments. There’s also a microSD card slot, as well as a good old 3.5mm headphone jack, a constant and hopefully long-lasting staple of Samsung’s lineup.

Interestingly, there’s also a heart rate monitor next to the camera, as well as a blood pressure monitor. While not everyone will make use of these features (I know I haven’t), they can be a huge benefit for people who need to closely monitor their health status and don’t have the necessary equipment at their disposal.

This may be one of the only major flagships of 2018 without a notch.

Despite its relatively pocketable size, the Galaxy S9 carries an impressively large display. It’s a 5.8-inch display with an elongated 18.5:9 aspect ratio that occupies most of the face of the device, with reduced vertical bezels compared to last year’s Galaxy S8. The curved glass wraps the display around the sides of the phone, an effect Samsung calls the Infinity Display.

It’s a bright and vibrant Super AMOLED panel, and a reminder that Samsung does displays better than anyone else. It’s still more saturated than I care for out of the box — I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve set my phone to the basic screen mode — but it’s 15% brighter than before, and just as sharp as ever with its QHD+ resolution. That’s a whopping 2960×1440, though by default the UI is scaled to FHD+ (2220×1080).

Even better, Samsung still managed to fit stereo speakers into the Galaxy S9 despite having limited space to work with up front. No, it doesn’t have dual front-facing speakers, but like the iPhone X and HTC U11, it combines the earpiece speaker with a bottom-firing speaker grill to create a stereo experience. It’s not quite as loud or detailed as the other phones mentioned, but it’s a huge improvement over last generation’s tinny mono speaker.

same but different

Galaxy S9 Software

Last year was the first time I could say that I was finally happy with Samsung’s software experience out of the box, without having to spend hours setting up third-party launchers and alternative apps to replace Samsung’s default services. This year, things get even better — though that’s partially thanks to my unlocked model shipping without carrier bloatware.

With version 9.0, Samsung Experience feels to me like the closest the company has gotten to a stock Android feel, without giving up what makes a Galaxy phone unique. That is to say, features like Edge Panel (not my favorite feature, but it’s more useful than most give it credit for), Knox, and Samsung Pay. And yes, even Bixby, which, while still inferior to Google Assistant in many ways, can pull off some more complex system-level commands.

There’s still Samsung’s usual collection of redundant apps that effectively mirror the functionality of Google’s existing offerings — apps like Email, Galaxy Apps, and Internet — but there are less of them here than in previous generations, and they’re finally good. I actually prefer Samsung’s Internet browser to Google Chrome, though I still use the latter since it syncs my browsing history with Chrome on my computers.

Samsung can finally offer the fast, responsive UI its beautiful hardware deserves.

In daily operation, the Snapdragon 845 inside truly shines with unyieldingly fast performance. Whether I’m playing graphics-intensive games or making simultaneous use of Multi Window and Android Oreo’s floating window for YouTube playback, the Galaxy S9 never fails to keep up — the 4GB of RAM play a role in this too. Simply put, Samsung has never made a faster phone.

I still absolutely love the pressure-sensitive virtual home button, which works even with the screen off or with the navigation buttons hidden. Especially if you’re coming from an older phone with physical controls, it makes the transition to on-screen keys feel much more natural, something Galaxy S7 holdouts might appreciate.

One major annoyance I had in my first few days of using the Galaxy S9 is the app power monitor, which I eventually disabled in the advanced menu of the battery settings. Don’t get me wrong, it’s useful to have insight on which apps are causing significant battery drain, but the power monitor doesn’t do much about those apps, save for putting them to sleep after three days without use. I found the constant notifications to be more trouble than they were worth.

While we’re on the topic of annoyances, let’s talk about Bixby. One of the most common complaints with recent Samsung phones is that the Bixby key under the volume rocker is far too easy to accidentally press, flinging you out of whatever app you were in to open Bixby Voice. Whether this is by design to encourage more use of the service is debatable, but you can actually turn this into a convenience.

Disabling the Bixby key in the settings will stop Bixby Voice from opening when you accidentally tap the button, but it doesn’t disable the feature following a long press. This means that even fans of Bixby may want to disable the button, and using it this way I found myself actually using Bixby Voice more often for quick commands like disabling Bluetooth. I’d still rather remap the button to launch Google Assistant instead, but this felt like a fine compromise.

dual apertures

Galaxy S9 Cameras

Unlike its larger counterpart, the Galaxy S9 only has one rear camera — a rarity in today’s flagship space. It’s a 12MP sensor that introduces a new trick to the smartphone camera game: dual apertures. The Galaxy S9 can switch between f/2.4 and f/1.5, and you can even watch it happen on the lens. On such a small sensor, the difference in aperture doesn’t make as big of a difference as you might expect, but it still helps the S9 take on different lighting situations a little more effectively.

Samsung’s camera software has always felt a bit messy to me, and to my delight, it’s been dramatically simplified this time around. Instead of a looming grid of shooting modes like on previous devices, you can just swipe between each shooting mode for quicker access. It’s a bit slower if the mode you’re after is at the end of the list, but you can rearrange the order of the shooting modes in the settings.

For the most part, though, you’ll be just fine in auto shooting mode. The Galaxy S9 has no trouble figuring out most of the right settings on its own, and particularly in low light, the results can be stunning. I took a quick photo of my drink at a dimly lit bar and was stunned not only at the level of detail on the glass, but at the natural depth of the shot and the absence of noise in the background. Simply put, the Galaxy S9 is the most impressive phone for low light photography I’ve ever used.

Its daylight shots are nothing to scoff at either, though. Where I’ve always found Samsung’s color science to err a bit too far on the cool side, the Galaxy S9 produces delightfully natural-looking images, with sharp details and plenty of dynamic range. With other amazing shooters like the Pixel 2 and the P20 Pro, I don’t know that I’d call the Galaxy S9 the absolute best smartphone camera around, but it’s certainly in the running.

Of course, you can have fun with the camera too. This is one of the few phones capable of delivering 960fps slow motion video. You need a ton of light to make it work well, and you’re limited to 720p, but even with its limitations, it’s one of the Galaxy S9’s coolest new features if you ask me. There’s also AR Emoji, if you’re into that sort of thing, but … well, I’m not.

Something to keep in mind if you plan on shooting a lot of video on the Galaxy S9 is that it’s set to 1080p by default. You still have the option for 4K at up to 60fps if you need the extra resolution, but unfortunately, you’ll lose out on tracking autofocus in the process. If you have a compatible video editor like Final Cut Pro, you can also choose to shoot in the HEVC codec for smaller file sizes.

the Achilles’ heel

Galaxy S9 Battery life

Lastly, there’s the matter of battery life. It’s not great. There’s no way around it. The Galaxy S9 houses a 3000mAh battery inside — the same capacity as last year’s Galaxy S8 — and as usually the case, I would’ve happily traded some of the phone’s thinness away for a larger battery.

With a typical load of social media apps, work apps like Slack and Trello, and some Spotify streaming to Bluetooth devices, I can get by on a casual day with light use — say, 2.5 to 3 hours of screen-on time — but much more than that will have my phone in the red by the evening. Depending on your usage, you could see better results than I did, but if you’re rarely in close proximity to a charger, this might not be the right phone for you.

Thankfully, the Galaxy S9 is still quick to charge through either a cable or a fast wireless charger. Strangely, it only supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 2.0 standard, rather than the newer Quick Charge 4 like the Razer Phone, but it at least has USB-C Power Delivery in its place. From a fully depleted battery, you can expect the Galaxy S9 to take just over 1.5 hours to reach a full charge through a cable, and about 2.5 hours using a wireless charger like Samsung’s own convertible fast charger.

the bottom line

Should you buy the Galaxy S9? Yes

Despite its less-than-stellar endurance, the Galaxy S9 reminds us why Samsung remains a staple in the Android lineup every year. It refines all of the Galaxy S8’s accomplishments and improves on its flaws, fitting almost every headline feature imaginable into a phone that’s readily available across all carriers without costing an arm and a leg compared to similar alternatives. With the Galaxy S9, you don’t have to choose between a great camera and a headphone jack, or between small bezels and stereo speakers. It’s a jack of all trades that just does everything right, so long as you don’t need two-day battery life.

If you prefer a larger phone, the Galaxy S9+ is still the better option for you; you’ll enjoy (slightly) better battery life, a bigger screen, a dedicated zoom lens on the back, and an otherwise identical experience. For everyone else, it’s hard to think of many reasons not to recommend the Galaxy S9. It may not be the most exciting phone around anymore, but it offers something for everybody, and leaves little to be desired.

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Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+

• Galaxy S9 review: A great phone for the masses
• Galaxy S9 and S9+: Everything you need to know!
• Complete Galaxy S9 and S9+ specs
• Galaxy S9 vs. Google Pixel 2: Which should you buy?
• Galaxy S9 vs. Galaxy S8: Should you upgrade?
• Join our Galaxy S9 forums

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The Morning After: Google AI and talking to books

Hello, Monday! We give our verdict on LG’s latest, AI-powered smartphone, hear how the next version of Android might lift some of the smarter features of Apple’s iPhone X and get yet another Sony phone to muse on.

LG could probably trim some fat, starting with this.
LG V30S ThinQ review: a solid but pointless phone

LG’s V30, launched last year, was a surprisingly strong device from a company that has trouble selling smartphones. Ahead of a G-series flagship, though, LG decided to build this — the V30S ThinQ. But the hardware differences are nearly negligible, and the AI image recognition features that define the V30S ThinQ are being made available to the original V30. We struggle to see the point.

This is on top of screen notch support.
Android P might include iPhone X-style navigation gestures

It’s well established that Android P will support notched displays when it arrives later in the year. However, that might not be the only iPhone X-like feature in the finished release. The 9to5Google team has noticed that a Google developer blog post briefly included an Android P screenshot (below) with a very different set of navigation buttons. Instead of the usual three buttons (back, home and multi-tasking) that have been present for years, the OS includes just a back button and an iPhone X-style strip.

It’s acknowledging that players need more things to do.
‘Sea of Thieves’ updates will focus on new maps, not perks

There’s not enough to do. In Sea of Thieves, you can only dig up so many treasures on the same islands. Rare is at least aware of that and has detailed content plans for the first several months after launch, including a shift in priorities. While Rare had talked about adding pets and ship captaincy early on, those features are “on the back burner” as the company focuses on adding more raw gameplay, including maps, enemies and events.

And this being Sony, there’s a 4K HDR display.
Sony’s dual camera Xperia XZ2 Premium takes ultra-low-light photos

Sony’s regular Xperia XZ2 is a little underwhelming, without much to recommend it over its rivals. Perhaps the Xperia XZ2 Premium will fare better. The new handset preserves the 4K HDR visuals of its predecessor (this time on a 5.8-inch screen that’s 30 percent brighter), but the real centerpiece is the photography. Sony is hopping on the dual rear camera bandwagon with a focus on low-light performance: It melds the input from a monochrome sensor (for contrast, 12MP, 1/2.3-inch, 1.55um) and a regular color sensor (19MP, 1/2.3-inch, 1.22um) to capture video at ISO 12,800 sensitivity and photos at a whopping ISO 51,200. We wait to see whether low-light performance can actually rival pro cameras, but this might help you shoot with confidence in those low-lit restaurants and birthday parties y’all are always going to.

But wait, there’s more…

• SpaceX will try ‘giant party balloon’ to slow upper rocket stages
• Google AI experiment has you talking to books
• After Math: The golden age of streaming

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Samsung’s newest phone can’t connect to the internet

If you’re worried about racking up a big mobile data bill, or want a phone for your kids or elderly relatives, the options aren’t great. Mostly because the default is to just opt for whatever low-end Nokia candybar is available for $30 on the aisle end at the mall. Samsung is hoping to capture some of this market with its new smartphone, the Galaxy J1 Pro, which is shipping without the ability to access 3G, LTE and WiFi.

Essentially, it’s a low-end Android smartphone with the modems ripped out, making it perfect for kids, seniors and paranoid* types. And Samsung is offering a refund to South Korean school students aged 18 to 21 until June 30th, presumably to coincide with the country’s college admissions exams. It appears that, if you plonk down the cash for one of these phones before the exam, you’ll get your money back afterward.

Spec-wise, J2 Pro has specs that are decently mid-range, with a 1.4GHz quad-core chip paired with 1.5GB RAM and a 2,600mAh battery. The qHD Super AMOLED display measures in at 4.9-inches and, on the imaging front, there is a 8-megapixel lens on the back and a 5-megapixel shooter up top. As for pricing, the Galaxy J2 Pro is priced at 199,100 Korean Won ($185) and comes in either black or gold.

* Although, given what’s been going on recently, it’s probably not paranoia.

Via: Ayrne

Source: Samsung

watchOS 4.3.1 Beta Hints at Future Support for Third-Party Apple Watch Faces

Apple may be considering allowing third-party developers to create custom Apple Watch faces, if a line of code discovered in the latest watchOS beta is anything to go by.

Historically, Apple has resisted allowing third-party developers to create and release custom watch faces for Apple Watch, instead electing to add to its stock options for watch faces in successive iterations of the device’s operating system, such as the Siri and kaleidoscope watch faces introduced in watchOS 4.

However, a log message in watchOS 4.3.1 beta, unearthed by 9to5Mac, suggests Apple may be considering the possibility in a future version of Apple Watch software. As part of its NanoTimeKit framework which provides developer access to watch face components, the beta includes references to a currently inactive developer tools server that will likely allow communication with Xcode on macOS.

Within this portion of code is a log message that reads: “This is where the 3rd party face config bundle generation would happen.”

Image via 9to5Mac
Whether or not Apple decides to implement the missing feature for watchOS 5 or in a later version is unknown, but the mere mention of third-party face configuration will likely be cause for hope for anyone longing for additional personalization beyond the existing color-adjustable stock options, custom “Photo” watch face, and accompanying third-party watch complications.

On the other hand, any such hope could prove misplaced given Apple’s traditional reluctance to open up the most outward-facing aspects of its operating systems to third parties (such as the lock and home screens in iOS, for example). Apple imposes strict limits on changes to major interface elements out of a concern that they guarantee a high level of usability, stability and security, and it’s hard to imagine the company casting aside those principles.

It’s worth noting that Apple tends to reject third-party Apple Watch apps that closely duplicate existing functions, as per its developer guidelines, although whether watch faces would come under this provision remains unclear. At any rate, while Apple welcomes “creative ways of expressing time as an app interface”, currently it does not allow apps that look like watch faces.

Meanwhile, rival smartwatch operating systems like FitbitOS and Android Wear have allowed users to install third-party watch faces on their devices for some time, but the design and usability standard on offer is highly variable and Apple isn’t likely to warm to the idea unless it can enforce a consistent means of quality control.

Apple is expected to release the fifth version of watchOS and iOS 12 at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4Tag: WatchOS 4Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
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Tesla batteries will live longer than expected, survey finds

Tesla batteries retain over 90 percent of their charging power after 160,000 miles, according to data gathered by a Dutch-Belgium Tesla owners group. According to its survey of over 350 owners, the EVs dropped about 5 percent of their capacity after 50,000 miles, but lose it at a much slower rate after that. If the trend holds, most Tesla vehicles will still have 90 percent capacity after around 300,000 km (185,000 miles), and 80 percent capacity after a whopping 800,000 km (500,000 miles).

Tesla has no battery degradation warranty on its Model S and X luxury EVs, but guarantees that the Model 3 will retain 70 percent battery capacity after 120,000 miles (long-range battery) and 100,000 miles (shorter-range battery). That’s a bit more generous than the one Nissan offers on the Leaf (66 percent over 100,000 miles) for instance. According to the survey data, Tesla will easily be able to meet this mark.

Lost battery capacity over time is one of the biggest concerns for EV buyers, so this new data, based on real-world usage, should be reassuring. There are some outlier EVs that lost capacity more quickly than others, for reasons that aren’t clear, though. As such, while the data looks promising, it might be best to reserve judgement pending larger scale surveys with higher-mileage EVs.

Via: Electrek

Source: Tesla Motors club

Sony announces Xperia XZ2 Premium with 5.8-inch 4K HDR display, dual cameras, spec bumps

Sony Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact

The new high-end model forms a triumvirate trying to save Sony’s smartphone business in 2018.

We’re over a month removed from the announcement of the Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact, which have just gone on sale in the U.S., but Sony has a third member of the lineup to launch now: the Xperia XZ2 Premium. The XZ2 Premium is mostly the same as the standard XZ2, aside from a handful of notable internal changes: the display is 4K resolution, HDR capable and moderately larger at 5.8 inches; and it has dual cameras on the back with a new sensor that has the highest ISO sensitivity of any mobile camera.

Sony Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact specs

Sony’s latest 4K HDR smartphone display tech is 30% brighter than the last version, which is a welcomed addition, though the situation of finding native 4K HDR content to play on your phone hasn’t really improved. Of course you can shoot your own with the XZ2 Premium, and the software can up-scale other content, but how much better it looks and how great it is to warrant the battery hit of playing it back is still questionable.

Sony keeps improving its camera setup, but still won’t add OIS.

The pair of cameras consists of a standard color sensor and a separate black-and-white sensor, which Sony says are both used to collect data and process into a single image. You can of course shoot with just the black-and-white sensor for striking greyscale shots, or use both cameras at once for an enhanced bokeh depth-of-field effect like so many other cameras offer today. Sony is also touting some pretty crazy ISO ratings for this camera pair, with up to ISO12800 for video and a bonkers ISO51200 for photos.

Now from Sony’s announcement it isn’t clear how it’s deriving this number … because it references using both cameras for real-time processing to achieve them, I’m skeptical as to whether each sensor is capable of that high ISO rating or it’s the combination of the pair that do it. In either case, mobile camera sensors typically struggle at any sort of high ISO rating, and being that sensitive should improve low-light performance — and it better, because per Sony’s release this phone still doesn’t have OIS.

Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact review: The new standard for small

A nice set of spec bumps, but that also comes with a jump in price.

Sony’s continuing the camera story with a different front-facing camera, a new 13MP (1/3.06″ in size) sensor that promises better low-light shots than the 5MP unit on the other models. The slightly larger device also has a bump in battery capacity to 3540mAh, up over the XZ2’s 3180mAh — we don’t yet know what, if any, increased thickness is involved with that. It also has 6GB of RAM, which is expected on this expensive of a phone but not present on the regular XZ2.

The XZ2 Premium will come in just two colors, Chrome Black and Chrome Silver, which are both exclusive to the top-end model. Unfortunately at the time of writing, Sony hasn’t even revealed photos of the XZ2 Premium.

You may be asking why Sony chose to wait this long to announce the third member of the XZ2 lineup, and it seems the answer is that it’s not ready to ship. Sony is giving a loose launch time frame of “summer 2018,” and isn’t providing a price. The phone’s predecessor, the XZ Premium, launched in late June last year for $799 … though this year that’s the price of the regular XZ2. We can expect the XZ2 Premium to reach or exceed $899, which is a whole lot to ask for relatively minimal upgrades over the standard XZ2.

Press release:

Sony’s New Xperia XZ2 Premium takes a bold step forward with ultra-high sensitivity dual camera, 4K HDR display and movie recording

• World’s highest ISO sensitivity video recording in a smartphone, 12800 for video and 51200 for photos with bright live view-finder
• 4K HDR display and the world’s first 4K HDR movie recording so you can capture stunning 4K HDR movies and play them back directly in the palm of your hand

San Mateo, California, April 16, 2018 – Sony Mobile continues to push the boundaries of innovation with the new Xperia XZ2 Premium, featuring one of the most remarkable cameras ever made in a smartphone. Xperia XZ2 Premium boasts the world’s highest ISO 12800 sensitivity for video recording in a smartphone, as well as ultra-high sensitivity 51200 for photos, enabling ultra- low-light capture previously only seen in interchangeable lens cameras. The advanced camera technology on Xperia XZ2 Premium is thanks to the new dual sensor system in the Motion Eye Dual camera and AUBE fusion image signal processor that captures more than the human eye can see. With XZ2 Premium, you can also film like a pro using 4K HDR Movie recording and play it back in the palm of your hand on the 4K HDR display, showcasing your favorite moments in crystal-clear detail and eye-popping color and contrast. It’s the only smartphone to bring you true professional camera quality plus a premium entertainment experience, all powered by the ultimate in processing power with the Qualcomm® Snapdragon 845.

Unprecedented camera capabilities

Xperia XZ2 Premium is the first-ever smartphone to feature the new Motion Eye Dual camera, consisting of a black-and-white sensor for capturing clear contrast and the color image sensor for accurate color. Details from both sensors are then processed by the AUBE fusion image signal processor in real time, enabling video recording with the highest ISO12800 sensitivity ever in a smartphone (as well as an ultra sensitive ISO51200 for photos). The camera’s ultra sensitivity with clean, noiseless images was previously only possible with interchangeable lens cameras. With this new addition to the flagship family, Xperia brings this highly advanced technology to the palm of your hand.
With the Motion Eye Dual camera you can also express your artistic side. Select Bokeh and see your subject stand out from a defocused background, and take timeless photos in monochrome with a smooth gradation between black and white. The camera’s low-light capability – as well as its artistic effects – are available for viewing with the live view-finder for an accurate representation of your subject.
The Motion Eye Dual camera also features more professional features, such as 4K HDR Movie recording, so you can capture reality in incredible detail and true- to-life color. Plus, you can record 960fps Super slow motion in HD or Full HD to make highly dramatic videos. Xperia XZ2 Premium also offers one of the best front-facing cameras on a smartphone with its 13MP, 1/3.06″ low-light sensor and display flash – for outstanding selfies in any light.

Immersive viewing

Xperia XZ2 Premium has the ultimate display with a huge 5.8″ 4K HDR (that’s 11% larger and 30% brighter than our previous 4K HDR display), so you can immerse yourself in your favorite movies and content in crystal-clear detail and eye-popping color. Thanks to this display you can enjoy your own 4K HDR content (since this is the only smartphone capable of both creating and viewing 4K HDR). Plus, whether you’re watching a blockbuster or a video on YouTube, Xperia XZ2 Premium uses Sony’s BRAVIA® TV technology, X-Reality for mobile, to up- convert content to near High Dynamic Range (HDR) for more cinematic contrast, color, and clarity.

Not only can you see your movies with powerful realism, but you can even feel them thanks to Sony’s brand new Dynamic Vibration System that analyzes audio data and lets you feel the action in your hands, bringing your movies, games, and videos to life. Xperia XZ2 Premium creates a cinema-like audio quality when you’re sharing your favorite videos with your friends thanks to its powerful front-facing stereo speakers. Featuring S-Force Front Surround, they’re our loudest Xperia speakers ever. Sony’s audio expertise also enables sound enhancing technologies for Xperia, such Hi-res Audio, DSHEE HX, and LDAC.

Sophisticated design

Xperia XZ2 Premium’s cutting-edge technology is packed into a fluid and elegant design. It has a 3D glass surface that surrounds the exterior to create a seamless finish that’s comfortable to hold and easy to carry. With an exclusive glass and metal finish, this smartphone not only looks beautiful with a premium feel but is also designed to be durable thanks to Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5 on both sides. Xperia XZ2 Premium is IP65/IP68 certified to withstand splashes and spills. It will be available in two contemporary colors: Chrome Black and Chrome Silver.

Ultimate Performance to the Extreme

Enjoy industry-leading performance with the cutting-edge Qualcomm® Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform with X20 LTE. You will get immersive user experiences at lightning-fast connection speeds (up to 1.2Gbps) with the second generation Gigabit LTE solution. XZ2 Premium has 6GB RAM for additional speed and efficiency.

Xperia XZ2 Premium is built to keep you going all day with its high-capacity 3540mAh battery and Xperia’s useful battery features, including Smart Stamina and STAMINA mode. Battery Care and Qnovo Adaptive Charging technology help the battery stay healthy to give you a longer battery lifespan. Qi charging is enabled to power up effortlessly and works with the new wireless charging dock (WCH20) and other compatible Qi chargers.

Availability

Xperia XZ2 Premium is available globally from Summer 2018 and will ship with Android 8.0 Oreo.

Sony’s dual camera Xperia XZ2 Premium takes ultra-low-light photos

Sony’s regular Xperia XZ2 is, to put it mildly, underwhelming — as capable as it is, there’s little to recommend it over its rivals. You can’t say that about the just-announced Xperia XZ2 Premium, though. The new handset preserves the 4K HDR visuals of its predecessor (this time on a 5.8-inch screen that’s 30 percent brighter), but the real centerpiece is the photography. Sony is hopping on the dual rear camera bandwagon with a focus on low light performance: it melds the input from a monochrome sensor (for contrast; 12MP, 1/2.3-inch, 1.55um) and a regular color sensor (19MP, 1/2.3-inch, 1.22um) to capture video at ISO 12,800 sensitivity, and photos at a whopping ISO 51,200. (Huawei’s P20 Pro is also claiming similarly crazy high-level ISO options in a forthcoming software update — we yet haven’t tested that either.) We’d be skeptical of Sony’s claim that the performance rivals pro cameras, but this might help you shoot with confidence in truly dark environments.

The dual cams also enable the obligatory portrait mode (here called Bokeh) with soft-focus backgrounds, and you can snap shots with just the monochrome sensor if you’re going for the classic look. Sony is also promising a better front camera — you’re now looking at a 13MP, 1/3.06-inch sensor that Sony says can take quality low-light selfies.

Most of the other features are carryovers from the standard XZ2, although that’s not entirely a bad thing. That means 4K HDR video recording (still a relative novelty), 960 FPS slow-motion video capture at 1080p, stereo speakers and a Dynamic Vibration System that promises more than the usual buzzes from haptic feedback. The Premium is still running a Snapdragon 845 processor, but there’s now 6GB of RAM (up from 4GB) to help with the extra performance demands.

When compared to the XZ Premium, we couldn’t help but notice that the XZ2 Premium comes in at a whopping 236g, which is a notable jump from its already-bulky predecessor’s 191g. You do get an extra 310 mAh worth of battery juice (not to mention the secondary rear camera), but that’s hardly a convincing justification for such a weight gain.

Sony ships the new handset “globally” in the summer. There’s no word on a US launch or pricing, although it’s bound to be expensive when the garden variety XZ2 goes for $800 in the US (£699 in the UK). With that in mind, this could be the XZ2 variant to get. Its camera implementation and 4K HDR display help it stand out at a time when differences between phones are becoming indistinguishable.

Source: Sony Mobile

How to set up and start using gestures in MIUI

Full-screen gestures will transform the way you use MIUI.

Xiaomi rolled out the MIUI 9.5 update last month, introducing a slate of new features, including support for gestures. The goal with gestures is to maximize screen real estate by eliminating the navigation bar at the bottom of the display, and offering an easier way to navigate the interface.

For instance, the default gesture to go back in an app or exit to the home screen is a swipe left or right from either edge of the screen. Gesture-based navigation isn’t new — but the current implementation is akin to what you get on the iPhone X. OnePlus also introduced similar gestures in OxygenOS a few months ago, so it looks like more and more manufacturers will be looking to go down this route.

Getting started with gestures definitely takes a few days, but if you’re interested in taking a look, here’s how you can start using gestures on MIUI. As stated previously, the feature made its debut in MIUI 9.5, so if you’re on an earlier build of the ROM, you won’t see it.

How to set up and start using gestures in MIUI

Open the Settings app from the app drawer or home screen.
Scroll down to the System & Device sub-category.

Tap Full screen display.

Select the Full screen gestures option.
You’ll see a dialog box with a tutorial for learning the gestures. Hit Learn.

The guide will highlight the actions possible with gestures. Tap Learn to initiate the tutorial.

Swipe from the bottom of the display to go to the home screen.
Swipe from the bottom and pause to show the multitasking pane.

Swipe right from the edge to go back

Swipe left from the right edge also lets you go back in an app.
Tap I’m done to end the tutorial.

You’ll find that the nav bar is no longer present. You’ll be able to demo the feature again from the same page if you need a refresher.

That’s all there is to it. It took me three days to get acclimated to the gesture-based navigation, but I haven’t looked back after making the switch. What are your thoughts on the new gestures feature in MIUI 9.5? Let me know in the comments.

Zillow will flip houses on its own internet marketplace

Zillow is no longer just a real estate marketplace that can help find your next home — the company has decided to become an active participant in the field. In an announcement today, Zillow has revealed that it’ll flip houses in Phoenix and Las Vegas starting this spring. The company has teamed up with local brokerages in those areas to offer sellers money for their homes. If they accept, Zillow will make repairs and then list those houses on its own marketplace as quickly as possible.

By choosing to buy and sell houses, Zillow is now officially an OpenDoor competitor. “We are genuinely excited, having invented this new category in 2014,” OpenDoor chief Eric Wu told TechCrunch, “and it’s invigorating to see a host of others in the industry recognize the importance of removing hassle and time from the transaction.”

It doesn’t sound like everybody’s happy that Zillow has launched a new business model, though. As TechCrunch noted, its shares fell 7 percent after the revelation, probably because flipping houses has a whole other list of risks a simple real estate marketplace won’t have to face. In fact, Zillow chief Spencer Rascoff has admitted that it’s taking on debt to fund its new venture.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Zillow