Smartphones

Asus Flips Cameras in ZenFone 6

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Another day, another smartphone maker looking into how to avoid the dreaded notch-- this time around it is the turn of Asus ZenFone 6, a flagship all-screen device with a flipping camera.

Azus Zenfone 6The idea is admittedly not a first, since we'd seen something similar in the recently launched Samsung Galaxy A80. The implementation in the ZenFone 6 is a bit different, but it still makes for a clever solution to creating a bezel-free smartphone display. In the case of the Asus handset, the camera rotates by 180-degrees using a custom stepper motor, and the company says the camera automatically rotates back in case the phone detects it has been dropped.

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Google Goes Mid-Tier With Pixel 3a

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Google takes a step back in smartphones as it announces the Pixel 3a and 3a XL-- a pair of handsets aimed squarely at the mid-tier market featuring lower-end specs and an appropriately cheaper pricetag.

Pixel 3aThe two Pixel smartphones still appear to be fairly nice, with OLED displays (5.6-inch for the 3a, 6-inch for the 3a XL) for crisp blacks and bright colours and the same rear-facing camera setup as the higher-end Pixel 3. The camera offers features such as Night Sight, Photobooth mode, AR stickers and a Geo AR functionality using Street View images to show walking directions in major cities. However the front-facing camera is an 8MP wide-angle number, and lacks the group selfie mode the dual-camera Pixel 3.

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A Gaming Phone With a Built-in Cooling Fan

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Chinese phone maker Nubia takes the gaming smartphone concept a step further with the Red Magic 3-- a device featuring a built-in cooling fan, a first according to the company.

Nubia red magic The fan spins up to 14000 rpm, and works in conjunction with a "liquid cooling" copper heat pipe system to ensure the handset stays frosty even while playing the most demanding games. An isolated chamber houses the fan, and Nubia says it is rated for up to 30000 hours of continuous use (although it fails to specify the speeds the fan is running at during tests).

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Samsung Galaxy A80 Camera Slides AND Rotates!

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The mid-range Samsung Galaxy A80 has an interesting solution to the notch issue-- a rear-facing camera able to slide upwards before automatically rotating to handle selfie duties, allowing use of an "Infinity" notchless display.

Galaxy A80The pop-up camera is technically a 3-camera array consisting of a main 48MP f/2.0 shooter, an ultra-wide 8MP f/2.2 camera and a Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensor. The result, Samsung says, allows users to shoot vivid photos during both day and night, while the ToF sensor creates Life Focus videos by scanning objects for measurement and depth.

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Oppo Intros Reno Flagship

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The next flagship device from Chinese smartphone maker Oppo is the Reno, launched in a choice of 3 versions-- Standard, 10x Zoom and, teased for an upcoming launch event in Zurich, a 5G version.

Oppo RenoThe Reno is perhaps most notable for the pop-up selfie camera, housed together with a soft light flash in a wedge-shaped panel. The design allows for a notch-free display, even if the camera lacks a 3D Face ID-style mechanism. Instead, an in-display fingerprint scanner handles security duties. As for selfie camera specs, it carries a 16MP sensor and an f/2.0 lens, and Oppo claims the motorised mechanism lasts up to 5 years even if one flips it up and down 100 times a day.

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