The week in phones: an 18,000 mAh Energizer phone, a port-less Meizu, S10 leak

We’re just weeks away from Mobile World Congress 2019, where most of the world’s top phone makers will be showing off their new wares. Coincidentally, news is picking up. Here are some of the most interesting this week:

Energizer phones

Energizer, a brand best known for its batteries, announced that it will unveil more than two dozen new smartphone models in MWC this year.

According to 9to5Google, 26 new models will be launched across four different product lines: Power Max, Ultimate, Energy, and Hardcase.

Each line is built around a set of unique features. The Power Max line, for instance, houses batteries no lower than 4,000 mAh while the Ultimate comes with the latest smartphone innovations. Two of the phones are pictured above, the U620S Pop and the U630S Pop

The highlight of the announcement: a model under the Power Max line, which will be powered by a whopping 18,000mAh battery, the largest ever on a smartphone and a model from the Ultimate Line, which will flaunt edge-to-edge display and dual pop-up cameras.

Honor on foldable devices

Foldable devices are expected to be the next big thing in the highly competitive smartphone industry. Huawei sub-brand Honor, however, is in no hurry to release such a device.

“We are looking into foldable phones deeply, but for us it is all about experience” Honor president George Zhao told TechRadar. “From a technology point of view, it’s good but why do we need a foldable phone? What can the experience offer the user?

While Zhao is interested in the technology, he believes that Honor is not quite ready for it yet.

“Maybe it’s two phones together? But that’s too thick and not convenient. From my point of view the technology needs to bring the better experience, to improve the service. That’s more important.”

Huawei foldable 5G phone teaser

Huawei’s official Twitter account kicked off the month of February with a teaser image of their MWC 2019 reveal — their next flagship.

Come with us to explore #ConnectingTheFuture LIVE from #MWC @GSMA. Are you ready to reveal the unprecedented? #HuaweiMWC #MWC2019 pic.twitter.com/ErPD7eKMh1

— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) February 1, 2019

The image just confirms last week’s announcement that Huawei will reveal a foldable 5G phone at the event.

The still-unnamed device will be powered by the Kirin 980 chip coupled with Huawei’s own Balong 5000 5G modem.

Another port-less entry

Last week, Vivo teased the a brand new concept phone that has no ports, buttons, or any other openings.

Chinese electronics company Meizu appears to have followed in their footsteps as it reportedly pulled the curtains back on a new phone that similarly does not have holes — not even a SIM card slot.

Called Zero, the phone has Bluetooth 5.0, embedded SIM technology (eSIM), 18W wireless charging, and wireless USB connectivity, which is touted to be as fast as USB 3.0, to make up for its lack of ports and buttons.

It features 5.99-inch QHD OLED screen that doubles as the phone’s speaker, an in-display fingerprint reader, 12MP and 20MP dual rear cameras, and a 20MP selfie camera.

Samsung Galaxy S10E leaked image

A new leaked image seems to confirm some of the previously reported features of Samsung’s lower-cost flagship variant allegedly called the Galaxy S10E.

The Galaxy S10E has noticeably much thicker bezels but retains the new hole-punch design.

It’s also expected have the fingerprint sensor on the side rather than on the rear or under-display, as pointed out by The Verge.

The device will supposedly sell for $859, which is approximately P44,944.

Vivo V15 Pro

Vivo has revealed the specs of the upcoming V15 Pro ahead of its February 20 launch in India.

The device will feature a triple rear camera setup comprised of a 48MP, 8MP, and 5MP sensor. Meanwhile, the front has a 32MP pop-up camera. 

Spec-wise, it houses a Snapdragon 675 chipset, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of internal storage.

Other features include a Super AMOLED display and an in-display fingerprint sensor. — Rappler.com