Do you ever look at your Android phone and think, “Yea, this is great…why would I want to upgrade again?” Qualcomm has an answer for that with their new Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 mobile platforms, which aim to bring amazing features and speed to future phones!
Another Mobile World Congress is in the books, and it was great to be able to attend in person for the first time since 2019! Seriously great. MWC is always heavy on new smartphone releases, and this year was no exception. Even so, there were plenty of other remarkable devices touting worthy upgrades or making their debuts. So with that, I give you Gear Diary’s Best of MWC 2022.
At the yearly Snapdragon Summit, we’ve come to expect news regarding Qualcomm’s upcoming mobile platforms that will be powering soon-to-be-released flagship mobile devices, and this year was no exception; we now have the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Mobile Platform to anticipate. Building on the success of the Snapdragon 888+ 5G system on chip, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is touted as able to deliver even faster 5G speeds, create more impressive photographs and video, take AI experiences to new levels, and yes, it will also provide more visually stimulating and immersive gaming experiences.
MediaTek’s flagship chipset is the Dimensity series — Dimensity is the most powerful of MediaTek’s offerings, and these chips power a number of 5G smartphones, including the Xiaomi 11T. MediaTek is ready to push the envelope even further with its flagship Dimensity 9000 and the chip has a jaw-dropping set of features!
The realme GT Explorer Master Edition has a solidly built glass slab design with an aluminum frame, as we’ve seen from just about every other brand’s flagship smartphone, or you can opt for something a bit different if you get it in the Voyager Gray option. As I catch myself admiring this smartphone’s expensive feel, brilliant display, and curved edges, I have to remind myself that with starting price of $499 for the 8GB RAM with 256GB user memory version, the GT Explorer Master Edition is a very decently priced flagship device. Who is realme? And why should you consider…
Amazon Prime Day 2021 is about to start, so if you’ve held off buying a new phone, TV, tablet, headphones — or pretty much anything and everything that Amazon sells — you might be in for a surprise when you check prices June 21 and June 22.
MediaTek has just introduced it’s latest 5G smartphone chipsets, the Dimensity 1200 and Dimensity 1100. These chipsets will give device manufacturers even more options to choose from as they design smartphone models that feature top of the line cameras, graphics, connectivity enhancements, and more.
For a few years now, Apple and Samsung have battled for leadership in the global smartphone market share. This is particularly obvious in regions like the US, where both brands dominate. But did you know that Chinese manufacturer Huawei is consistently in the top three as well? In fact, it was #1 in Q2 2020 — yes, the same Huawei that the US government put on an entity list in 2019, barring it from doing business with US companies like Google.
Today kicked off the annual Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit, held virtually this year instead of in Maui, of course. As is usual at this event, their latest chipset was announced; we will now have the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G mobile platform to look forward to in next year’s high-end Android devices.
The LG Wing 5G is one of the most intriguing phones I’ve ever tested. I’ve got the Verizon version in hand, and the AT&T version will be available soon. While phones with swivel displays are not unique or new, the LG Wing 5G is the first and only 5G smartphone to use this form factor. Their iteration of a swivel display is surprisingly innovative, intuitive, and cool.
Samsung recently announced the Galaxy Note20 Ultra, and it packs a very interesting camera system. It’s similar to what Samsung offered on the Galaxy S20 Ultra earlier this year, but with a few key differences. Since I’ve been using the company’s latest flagship for a few days, I wanted to share my experience shooting photos (primarily) and videos. So what’s new, what’s different? Is it better, is it worse? Let’s dive in.
For fans of classic PC role-playing games, few games evoke as much love and loyalty as the original Fallout 1 & 2 from the late 1990s. So in late 2017, when ATOM RPG arrived for the PC, it was met with much anticipation and excitement. In the last couple of years, the developers have been making improvements and filling out some gaps, and now the full game has arrived for iOS devices and will soon also be available for Android!
As Mobile World Congress 2019 gets underway, Qualcomm Technologies announced their new Qualcomm QCA6390 Connectivity system-on-a-chip (SoC.) This is the company’s most advanced integrated offering yet and it promises to provide improved Wi-Fi and Bluetooth performance on both mobile and computing devices.
Stan Lee, the creator of every Marvel character you love, has passed away at age 95. He’s lived a remarkable life and has left a huge mark on the world. We have him to thank for X-Men, Iron Man, Fantastic Four, and yes, Spider-Man!
I love being barefoot. I work out barefoot, and in the spring and fall I wear Vibram FiveFingers when I need shoes and flip-flops in the summertime. While being barefoot is free, minimal shoes tend to be really, really expensive, as well as really polarizing in appearance. Fitkicks Shoes handily solves one of these issues!
When it comes to fitness trackers, you can usually follow the age-old adage “cheap, fast, or good” with a few modifications: “cheap, feature-filled, or attractive”, pick two. Depending on what you think of Fitbit’s style, maybe not even two. The LifeTrak Zone R420 aims to change that with an attractive design, a slew of great features, and a wallet-friendly price!
Doesn’t it feel like I was just writing about the Garmin Forerunner 225 announcement? While it has actually been 5 months since the FR 225 reveal, since then they also added the FR 25 entry level GPS watch and each slowly trickled into availability. This year has been all about big new launches and slow product roll-outs that have left me scratching my head wondering what is happening with Garmin. Today Garmin announced three new watches that should have me excited, but instead resulted in a cynical eye-roll and vague interest in when they might hit stores – but why…
My office is business formal. Men wear suits and ties, and women must wear skirts, pantsuits, or similar attire. It’s actually easy to dress that way once you’re used to it, but the dilemma for me is always in how to haul my gear. I am looking at the first of a few potential solutions in the Moshi Urbana Mini!
Have you heard of the Stonewall Riots? Here’s a quick refresher: on June 28th, 1969, the police raided a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn in New York City. The patrons fought back, and this sparked the modern gay rights movement. Now there’s a movie coming, but along with the trailer came a well-justified backlash from within the LGBT community.
After 24 hours of teasing, Bethesda Game Studios announced the long-awaited fourth installment of the Fallout video game franchise ahead of the full reveal at E3. Fallout 4 takes place in, you guessed it, an open-world post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland…but this time, it appears to be in post-nuclear fallout Boston! Fallout 4 will be released on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
For years Garmin had an unassailable position with their GPS watches representing the ‘gold standard’ for runners. The move to low-cost Bluetooth activity trackers rocked the industry as it pushed manufacturers to include more features, wireless syncing, and lower prices. Garmin pushes the envelope again with ForeRunner 225, the first major running watch with integrated optical heart-rate sensor from Mio.