Sony might have skipped on phablet announcements and news on the traditionally high-end “Z” series, but it sure didn’t come to MWC 2016 empty-handed. The Japanese giant introduced a new line of Xperia X phones with a total of three 5-inch devices.

And don’t let the lack of size variation fool you, the Xperia X, XA and X Performance span from mid-range all the way up to flagship territory, so, there is something to be had by all Sony fans.

We made sure to spend quite a bit of time at the Sony booth and now have a quite in-depth hands-on impression from each one to offer. Be it the 720p, MediaTek MT6755 Xperia XA, the Snapdragon 650 Xperia X or the powerhouse Snapdragon 820 Xperia X Performance, you can read up on any of them in our review section. There you will also find the couple of hands-on…

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Yesterday Samsung detailed its new Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge and for us the camera was one of the more interesting bits of news.

Samsung reduced the resolution, which in turn made the pixels larger. Samsung also increased the f-stop to an industry-leading 1.7 and shrunk the camera hump on the back down to just 0.46mm.

Among these tidbits the Dual Pixel autofocus technology took a back seat but it’s the most advanced aspect of the module. You have got to understand that Dual Pixel is the same well-known phase detect technology that top-tier smartphones, DSLRs and mirrorless cameras use. However, Samsung chose to call it differently this time around because their implementation is nothing like what we’ve seen on any other smartphone up so far.

We’ve already seen quite a few smartphones touting Phase Detect autofocus but what it means is that they use a hybrid autofocus solution, which combines the benefits of contrast detect and phase detect auto focus system while phones in the past only had contrast detection to rely on. The advantage of phase detection is that in good lighting this hybrid autofocus system acquires accurate focus faster than contrast…

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SanDisk always has an impressive SD card to show at big events. This year at the MWC it’s not about storage, it’s about speed – 275MB/s worth of speed from a tiny microSD card.

The SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-II card makes offloading all your 4K footage that much easier. It comes bundled with a USB 3.0 reader for guaranteed downloads at max speed.

The card is no slouch when it comes to write speeds either – up to 100MB/s.

This card will be available in Q2 two in two capacities – 64GB and 128GB. For $180 and $300 respectively. They have a lifetime limited lifetime guarantee.

The company also unveiled new flash drives with a USB Type-C plug that you can use many of the new phones that launched at the MWC. They start at $20 for 16GB and go up to 128GB for $80. Read speeds reach 150MBps.

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Microsoft has begun seeding a new update for Windows 10 Mobile. The firmware’s build number is 14267 and it tweaks the multi-tasking performance on mid and high-end Lumia phones.

With this new update, Microsoft has doubled the number of apps Windows 10 Mobile can keep alive in the RAM. The number is now 16, up from 8 apps previously. This will allow high RAM Lumias to switch faster between different apps.

Doubling the app limit won’t drain the battery more unless the apps kept alive aren’t doing additional background activity such as downloading, syncing, navigation, etc.

The multi-tasking on the affordable Lumia smartphones with 1GB RAM or less won’t be affected by this new update.

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Alongside its Vibe K5 and Vibe K5 Plus smartphones, Lenovo also announced a trio of tablets: Lenovo Tab3 7, Lenovo Tab3 8 and Lenovo Tab3 10. As you can probably guess, the number after the Tab3 model name corresponds to each of the slate’s size.

Lenovo Tab3 7

Starting with the Lenovo Tab3 7″, which is built around a 7″ LCD display with a rather low 1024 x 600 pixels resolution. It runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow on a 1.0GHz quad-core processor (unspecified MediaTek chipset) teamed with 1GB of RAM.

Internal storage is 16GB, expandable via microSD card slot. At the back, Lenovo has equipped the Tab3 7″ with a 5MP snapper, while at the front there’s a 2MP front-facing camera.

Interestingly, the company decided to give this low-end slate a dual-SIM card slot with LTE support. The battery should last a whole day of regular usage with its 3,450mAh capacity.

Pricing for the Tab3 7″ $129 for the LTE model, but there’s no word for the WiFi version, which is ought to be slightly cheaper.

Lenovo Tab3 8

The 8″ version of the tablet gets the same MediaTek chipset but with either 1GB or 2GB depending on the region. The 8″ display now has a 1280 x 800 pixels resolution, which feels more 21 century.

The battery is also larger at 4,290mAh, but as a result, the slate is slightly thicker by 0.1mm and becomes 8.9mm thick. The Wi-Fi only model retails for mere $99, while the LTE one goes up to $149.

Lenovo Tab3 10

Finally, the Tab 3 10 is the most interesting of the lot offering a 10.1″ 1080p display with Gorilla Glass and dual-speakers. Lenovo hasn’t specified if the MediaTek chipset has been updated, but the CPU clock is up to 1.3GHz. RAM is also up and depending on the model is either 2GB or 3GB.

Since there’s more room due to the 10.1″ display, the battery is 7,000mAh and should last a couple of days with regular use. There’s also microSD card slot for expanding the 32GB/64GB internal storage.

The Lenovo Tab 3 10 Wi-Fi costs $199, and the LTE model starts at $249 for the 2GB RAM version, while the top of the range model with 3GB of RAM costs $299.

Expect the Tab3 trio to be available in…

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ZTE released information about its Premium Axon Pro’s Android 6.0 Marshmallow update.

The company outlined a few new Marshmallow features coming to the Axon Pro. Some details about the battery-saving Doze feature, and contextually-helpful Google Now on Tap.

There is a new app drawer that has found its way into the new update on the Stock launcher, promising easier ways to find your apps faster like most used apps and alphabet scrolling.

ZTE reminds us to connect to a Wi-Fi connection before downloading the 845MB update. When you are ready to take advantage of Marshmallow’s features, you can start downloading the update by finding the settings > About phone > System updates > Update now.

ZTE Axon owners shouldn’t feel left out! Information about the Marshmallow update for the ZTE Axon will be available soon.

The ZTE Axon Pro launched in July of 2015 as a premium phone for the ZTE brand with high end specifications. It features a 5.5 inch 1440p screen with a shatter-resistant Gorilla Glass 3 layer, 4GB of RAM paired with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, a 3000mAh battery, 13MP rear camera with a 2MP companion sensor, and Adreno 430…

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Yesterday Lenovo upgraded its Vibe line with tho new mid-range offers – the Vibe K5 and Vibe K5 Plus. The pair almost managed to elude us amidst all the event commotion, so we wanted to make sure you wouldn’t miss them as well.

Both are interesting offers and come with a big emphasis on audio, which should appeal to the right kind of crowd.

Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus

You can find our Lenovo Vibe K5 and Vibe K5 Plus hands-on inside the MWC 2016: Various brands…

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ZTE announced the Blade V7 and Blade V7 Lite smartphones earlier today. Both are made of metal and run on the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS.

We found the two phones at the ZTE’s booth on the MWC and spent some quality time with them. Here is a teaser for you.

ZTE Blade V7

You can find our ZTE hands-on inside the MWC 2016: Various brands…

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In keeping with its current product development path, as well as naming convention, MediaTek expanded its “P” family of chipsets with a new model – the Helio P20, expected to come to consumer devices in the second half of 2016.

It is an all-around upgrade over the Helio P10, with a big focus on improved power efficiency. The chip promises to draw around 25% less power than its sibling while also upping performance. This is achieved through the use of an octa-core ARM Cortex A53 setup, running at clocks up to 2.3GHz. Graphics come courtesy of the new Mali T800, running at a speedy 900 MHz, which is currently the most powerful GPU offer by ARM. The package is complete with support for low-power double data-rate random access memory (LPDDR4X), which is a world first in a mobile chip.

The latter technology comes with an estimated 70% increase in bandwidth and 50% less power consumption over LPDDR3, achieved in part by lowering its operating voltage to 0.6v. Jeffrey Ju, Executive Vice President and Co-Chief Operating Officer at MediaTek commented on the Helio P20, saying:

MediaTek designed the MediaTek Helio P20 to meet today’s consumer demand for sleek and powerful yet highly power-efficient mobile devices … Consumers place increasing importance on the battery life and multimedia capabilities of their smartphones. MediaTek has risen to this challenge with a leading solution.

Other specs on the Helio P20 include support for up to two FullHD displays, working at 60 fps. ISP support is also impressive, capable of handling a maximum of one 24MP shooter, or a 13MP plus 13MP dual setup and video recording up to 4Kx2K resolutions at 30FPS. Connectivity is covered by Cat.6 LTE and 2×20 carrier aggregation at up to 300Mbps down/50Mbps up data speeds and Dual-SIM plus Dual Standby support. There is also Wi-Fi ac, GPS/Glonass/Beidou, Bluetooth and FM…

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Not a full day since Samsung unpacked the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge and crafty Russians over at hi-tech.mail.ru managed to tear an S7 apart and show its insides. Some of what they discovered you already know from Samsung’s keynote, while yet other bits of info make up intel you can only get with a heat gun, guitar picks, and lots of patience.

For starters, the S7 is dismantled from the back, like the previous generation, which means that replacing a battery would be easier, and replacing a display would require harder work. The back Gorilla Glass panel is glued to the frame, and it is that glue that provides the waterproofing – there is no gasket. So if you’re doing any DIY repair work, you’re certainly going to end up with a non-waterproof device. The SIM/microSD slot does get a gasket though.

The reviewers point out the use of a heat pipe for cooling the Exynos 8890, a first for Samsung. In our repeated benchmark runs on the floor of MWC, it seemed to be doing a great job of keeping temperature in check, even if it did get a little warm.

The buttons get praised for being a more reliable solution than most, even if that seems speculative. Layer by layer, the various chips are revealed, and extra points are awarded for removable components, which are not directly soldered to the main board.

Oh, and the Galaxy S7 was left unharmed in the end, for those that care.

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