Wireless charging is definitely the new craze and with integrated support for both major standards – Qi and PMA in the Galaxy S6 edge, Samsung has earned some bragging rights. And a new commercial seems to prove that the Korean giant is not above dangling its new toy in the face of Apple and its “wall hugging” fans.

This advertisement tactic is really nothing new, but still exploiting the “look at what you are missing out on” angle has a powerful effect on users, especially trend-conscious ones. The real situation might be far from the tangle ball of cables the video portrays, but, there is some grain of truth, as Apple is guilty of requiring a ton of adapters and cables, just to get everything working together. For a company that puts such great value on simplicity and user experience, this is an issue that has persisted for surprisingly long. Read more »

We’ve already heard that the One M9 is doing anything but great for HTC in terms of sales, and now Sprint may have sort of confirmed that through its latest move. The carrier is now offering HTC’s latest flagship smartphone for just $99.99 with a new two-year contract.

That’s the pricing territory of mid-rangers you normally don’t consider unless you can’t afford more expensive top of the line offerings. Generally when a price cut like this occurs so soon into a product’s life, poor sales can be to blame. Read more »

A while back we tested the fastest smartphone charging technologies and remarked that wireless charging is convenient but slow. The Wireless Power Consortium is coming up with an upgrade of the Qi charting standard that pushes out a whopping 15W of power – that’s as much as the wired Quick Charge 2.0!

This will allow Qi wireless charging to put as much as 60% charge into a battery in just 30 minutes. Read more »

Samsung has tweaked the new TouchWiz interface with several new features including the new theme engine and themes section. The Galaxy S6 and S6 edge buyers went ahead to try out different themes which has lead to over 6 million downloads already. Now this number is expected to grow rapidly as Samsung is reportedly expecting to ship 45 million units of Galaxy S6 and S6 edge units this year.

The Galaxy S6 edge Iron Man Limited Edition spurred the craze of superheroes among rest of the owners with the release of the Avengers: Age of Ultron movie in the summer. Not all could buy that limited edition unit so it seems a lot of people went for the next best thing and the Avengers: Iron Man theme was the most downloaded theme globally. Samsung has shared an infographic about top five themes globally as well as in different regions. Read more »

There is really no doubt that Samsung has created a highly likeable flagship pair. Both devices offer cutting edge tech and stellar performance and you can’t really go wrong if you pick one up. There is, however, the question of the steep price tag. So if you happen to live in the US and are waiting for a better deal on a new Galaxy device, now seems to be a the most opportune moment, as both Samsung and T-Mobile are running promotions on the Galaxy S6 and its edged sibling.

Samsung just announced its Ultimate Upgrade promo. It boils down to a price cut of $100 on the 64GB model, bringing it down to the price of the 32GB one. Double the space for the same price really sounds like a nice deal. The promotion is live now and will remain up until July 5. You do have to apply for the $100 rebate, but, the extra hustle is worth it. Read more »

We have the HTC One E9+ over at the office for our usual routine. As you probably know, that’s the company’s 5.5-inch QHD offering, the largest member of the 2015 One lineup.

Unlike the One M9, which is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, the rest of this year’s Ones, including the E9+, rely on the Mediatek MT6795 chipset. As it’s our first encounter with the SoC we were eager to test it out, and ran a few benchmarks, with the results coming after the break. Read more »

The HTC One M9+ is the estranged big brother of the One M9 that grew up in Asia and learned a few new tricks. It is literally bigger, thanks to its 5.2-inch Quad HD display, has a fingerprint sensor, a MediaTek helio X10 processor, and even brings back the Duo Camera sensor from the M8.

The M9+ is only available in select Asian markets where the standard M9 isn’t available, and will be coming to certain parts of Europe later this year. If you were thinking of picking this up over the standard M9 or just stuck with this one option in your region, read on to find out more. Read more »

The Saygus V2, or rather V Squared, is a rare bird of a smartphone. Its designers have focused on a few key areas, which typically ignite wars in the comments section, and delivered on them, at times even more than you could possibly know what to do with.

Only 5 days into the crowd-funding campaign on Indiegogo, the smartphone has already reached its million-dollar goal. Trying not to lose momentum, the team behind the V Squared has uploaded a series of short hands-on videos showcasing the smartphone’s main selling points. Read more »

Slow-motion-filming-specialists-slash-arms-enthusiasts over at FullMag took it upon themselves to destroy an LG G4 in style and had a go at it with a French assault rifle.

More of a fun afternoon at the shooting range than an actual durability test for the G4, the endeavor yields the results you would expect from such unfairly matched opponents. Read more »

As part of its daily deals, Amazon is now offering the second generation Moto G for just $139.99, unlocked and SIM-free. This is the cheapest it’s ever been in the US, with its normal price being $179.99.

So you’ll only save $40, true, but at this price level that’s quite much percentage-wise. You have to act quick, though, as the deal will only remain live for around 12 more hours. Read more »

There’s avast market for customization in the tech world and V-Moda’s approach to their headphones has always had that in mind. The company is offering buyers the option to trick out their set with custom 3D printed shields, and different models could set you back as much as $40K, we’re told.

We struggled to hit maximum and only managed about $32,000 in the configurator, $270 worth of headphones included. Read more »

Motorola is planning a summer sale for the UK, which will take place from tomorrow, June 17, and until June 30. The two devices involved are basically the company’s flagships at the moment – the Moto X (2nd Gen) and the Nexus 6. The former being the one for people who like ‘normal’ sized phones, while the latter should fit fans of the phablet genre perfectly.

So, starting tomorrow, you’ll be able to save a whopping £166 on the second generation Moto X. The 16GB model will be offered for just £229, compared to £395 right now. If you want more storage, the 32GB version will go for £269. Read more »

Collecting phones is a thing you do out of passion. And as passions go, I've rarely seen someone as enthusiastic about old mobile phones as Momchil Nechev - Maxx, who quite happily agreed to bring most of his personal collection of phones to our office.

Going through his stuff, I felt as excited as a boy going through his Christmas presents, only these were not presents I was handed but boxes full of memories. Those boxes held Momchil's memories, but mine as well. It's fascinating how you can share so much with someone you barely know.

Our get-together was a fun experience, and we did a lot of shooting and a lot of talking. You already got a glimpse of what came out of the shooting, and today I have here the result that came out of the talking.

Momchil is a genuinely nice guy and he had a lot to share about what it's like to collect mobile phones. I hope you will enjoy his insight as much as we did. Read more »

Xiaomi is apparently working on developing its own independent SoC solution to power the next iteration in its Redmi line of smartphones. The company is looking to join a group of select few manufacturers, who have engineered in-house chipsets and aim to put an end to the Qualcomm/Mediatek dependance.

The info comes from Mr. Kevin Wang, a senior executive at industry analyst IHS Technology‘s Chinese branch. Read more »

The Samsung Galaxy S6 Active has been available for only a few days now on AT&T’s network, and keen vloggers were quick to test on camera its claim to fame. The rugged smartphone was dropped from various heights, in an decidedly unscientific manner, but sustained no visible damage nonetheless.

The test included such day-to-day accidents like dropping your phone upon taking it out of your pocket and also from head’s height when talking. The phone then meets a hard floor surface with various parts of its body, and emerges unharmed. Read more »