1 week Ago
Taking a look back at this week’s news and headlines across the Android world, including Galaxy S25 Edge disappointment, Pixel 10 Pro Fold details, OnePlus Watch 3 arrives, happy birthday Redmagic, CMD Phone 2 Pro announced, OnePlus’s brave design choice, and Mediatek’s updated flaghip chip...
Android Circuit is here to remind you of a few of the many discussions around Android in the last seven days. You can also read my weekly digest of Apple news here on Forbes . 22 January 2025, USA, San Jose: At the presentation of the Galaxy S25 smartphone series, Samsung .
.. More also gives a preview of the thinner Edge model.
It is set to be launched on the market by the middle of the year. Photo: Andrej Sokolow/dpa (Photo by Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance via Getty Images) Samsung may restrict the latest design flex to South Korea and China. The Galaxy S25 Edge is the fourth model in the S25 family announced at January’s Galaxy Unwrapped event, but the only model not yet on sale.
Given the presumably high manufacturing cost alongside the limited audience for such a fashionably thin and expensive device, the decision is understandable: “It sounds like the Galaxy S25 Edge may share its fate with another limited-edition Samsung phone, i.e., the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition, which debuted in Korea and China last year.
Fortunately, the Galaxy S25 Edge should come to other markets down the line rather than staying limited to only two." ( SamMobile ) This week saw details on not only the Pixel 10 family pricing, but the future plans for the Pixel family over the next few years. In terms of devices, Google looks to be settled on a main line of the Pixel and Pixel Pro smartphones (with Pro and Pro XL models) in Q3, and the mid-range Pixel A Series in Q1.
As for the Pixel Fold, it looks to have found a stable home: "It is also likely that the Pixel Fold model will continue to be released alongside the other Pixel flagship devices, as was the case in 2024 with the Pixel 9 series. This means we can look forward to seeing four Pixel devices released at the same time, every August, for the next few years. With the Pixel a-series launching in the Spring, as has been the case since the start of the Pixel a-series back in 2019 with the Pixel 3a series.
" ( Android Headlines ) OnePlus has released the OnePlus Watch 3 in the UK. Of note is the “60 second check-in” feature. This triggers the various biometric sensors to poll your body and offer a snapshot of data, including heart rate, ECG, blood oxygen, mental wellness, and temperature.
As Matt Evans points out in his review, this is the current Wear OS many believe sets the standard: "As a Wear OS watch experience, functionally it performs as smoothly and as well as any Wear OS watch I’ve yet used, including the Google Pixel Watch 3. It’s an option most Android phone users should consider, and it’s sure to make its way into our best Android watches list in future." ( OnePlus via T3 ).
To celebrate its seventh anniversary of producing gaming phones, the Redmagic team have announced several special offers built around the current Redmagic 10, with flat discounts, bundles, and bonus discounts for returning customers. As for the Redmagic 10 itself, it has the high specifications a gaming smartphone needs, but that comes at a price: "For those looking to be as competitive as possible when playing, a new RedMagic phone is guaranteed to provide top-of-the-line hardware. But that competitive price comes with a cost.
.. the number of software and security updates Nubia will provide.
For me, this is the weakest point of the RedMagic 10 Pro package—it comes with just one Android update (taking the handset to Android 16 but no further), two years of UI upgrades, and three years of security updates." ( Redmagic via Forbes ). Nothing Tech’s next budget-focused smartphone has been announced.
Under the CMF brand, the CMF Phone 2 Pro will go on sale in the UK on April 28 alongside a refreshed set of accessories, including the CMF Buds 2, CMF Buds 2a and CMF Buds 2 Plus. While we don’t have full specs for Phone 2 Pro, there are some intriguing possibilities: "Last year, the company released the CMF Phone 1, which sold for $199 and was a cool piece of affordable tech. Exactly what the meaning of Pro is in the name isn’t clear — though I’d imagine it involves multiple cameras.
Last year’s model had two, so the Pro addition may indicate a third, as it did on the recent Nothing Phone (3a) Pro." ( Forbes ). Ahead of the OnePlus 13T launch in China, a significant design change has been announced on social media.
While it has been attempted before (and reversed on subsequent handsets), OnePlus is once more looking to remove the iconic three-way Alert Slider: "Recently, we learned it will be a small phone with a 6,000+ mAh battery. And now, OnePlus has confirmed it will replace the signature ‘Alert Slider’ with an all-new button called Quick Key on this phone. A company executive revealed this new button on the Chinese website Weibo.
" ( 91mobiles ). Mediatek has launched a mid-cycle upgrade to its flagship chipset. The Dimensity 9400+ bumps up the CPU speed and improves on the AI performance of the base model.
Expect to see Vivo, Oppo and Realme phones use the new silicon, challenging Qualcomm and Samsung in the system-on-chip field. "The Dimensity 9400+ clocks its prime Cortex-X925 at 3.73 GHz vs 3.
62 GHz on the regular Dimensity 9400. A Geekbench leak from earlier confirms its four Cortex-A720 cores get a boost to 2.4 GHz (vs 2.
0 GHz). Otherwise, both chips are largely identical to each other on the CPU front." ( Notebookcheck ).
Android Circuit rounds up the news from the Android world every weekend here on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any coverage in the future, and of course, read the sister column in Apple Loop! Last week’s Android Circuit can be found here , and if you have any news and links you’d like to see featured in Android Circuit, get in touch!.
