Mobile News 3 Days

Last updated: August 6, 2026, 10:28 PM ET

Samsung's foldable wave hits 106 markets

Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold8, Z Fold8 Ultra, and Z Flip8 will be available in 106 markets worldwide starting tomorrow, with pre-orders closing today. All three foldables managed to exceed Samsung's pre-order targets in Europe, a strong signal for the company's premium category. Prospective buyers weighing the new form factor against the established design will find the Fold8 Ultra offers the more traditional foldable experience, while the standard Fold8 introduces a fresh approach. Samsung's preorder deal can get buyers the Galaxy Z Fold8 for as little as $699.99 with hefty trade-in discounts, though the offer expires soon. In India, Samsung has introduced No Cost EMI financing for the Fold8, Fold8 Ultra, and Flip8, letting eligible customers spread the cost over up to 18 months without interest or a down payment.

Samsung's broader mobile roadmap

Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S26 FE has received official FCC approval, which likely means it will launch next month just like its predecessor did last year. Beta users of the Galaxy S26 series are eagerly awaiting the One UI 9 Beta 5 build, which Samsung released the first version of in May with the last beta rolling out more than three weeks ago. Samsung is also working on a new smartwatch that will not run Wear OS, allegedly slotting in between the Galaxy Fit and the Galaxy Watch FE in price under a new codename.

Xiaomi's expanding portfolio

Xiaomi has announced the India launch of the Redmi Note 17 5G, which will take place tomorrow, August 6, at 12:00PM IST as an online-only event live-streamed on YouTube. The Redmi Note 17, which is functionally identical to the Poco M8 Pro and succeeds last year's Redmi Note, is already in for review. Ahead of the Redmi K100 Pro series launch on August 11, the company has revealed that the K100 Pro Max will pack a massive 9,070mAh battery, along with official renders of the smartphone in its white colorway. Poco has also unveiled the M8 Power, the fourth smartphone in its M8 series, featuring a 120Hz screen, a Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 SoC, and an 8,000mAh battery.

Huawei and Honor refresh their lineups

Huawei has officially unveiled the nova 16 SE in China, which packs a large 8,500mAh battery and a 6.84-inch display with a claimed 8,000 nits peak brightness. Alongside the nova 16 SE, Huawei announced the MatePad Pro 2026 tablet, featuring a 12-inch OLED screen with 3036x1952 resolution and 1,600-nit peak brightness. The company also introduced the 2026 Mate Book Fold, its foldable laptop powered by the Kirin X90 Plus SoC, following last year's Mate Book Fold Ultimate Design and Extraordinary Master Edition. Over at Honor, the company is continuing its brand refresh with a new logo and the tagline "Dare to Be," and says it grew 25% in the first quarter of 2026. Honor's long-awaited Robot Phone will be fully unveiled on August 12, and a new leak from Digital Chat Station has revealed additional specs beyond the camera details the company confirmed in late July.

vivo, Oppo, and Realme make their moves

vivo today introduced the vivo S2 in India, marking the comeback of the S series to the country after a hiatus of seven years. vivo is also working on the V80 Lite 5G, the first member of the V80 family, which according to a recent rumor should become official around the middle of this month. Oppo has fully unveiled the A7 Pro Max, a mid-range smartphone with Oppo's biggest battery yet at 10,000mAh. Oppo is already working on the F35 family for India, and a new rumor claims the series is actually a rebrand job with a huge battery. Realme has confirmed that the Realme 16x will launch in India on August 12, with a 7,000mAh battery confirmed for the device.

Other launches and market shifts

HMD has had its Nokia-branded feature phone license extended by three years, and its new HMD 215 4G and HMD 235 4G have been listed by an online retailer alongside the HMD 3210. TCL is working on the P80 and P80 Pro smartphones for Europe, with official-looking renders, specs, and prices leaked by a reliable source, with the P80 allegedly powered by a Media Tek chipset. Fire-Boltt has officially revealed that its first Boltt smartphones, the Ace 5G and Evo 4G, will launch on August 25, with Flipkart confirming the date for the Indian market. Indian handset maker Lava is set to make its UK debut with the Agni 4N, and has posted another teaser taking digs at Samsung while showing off the phone's metal build. A ZTE Blade A35e has been listed with confusing specs, following the Blade A35's 2024 launch and an earlier certification sighting. Motorola has teased the launch of the Edge 70 neo in an unusual way via a forum post, adding to its extensive Edge 70 lineup. OnePlus is officially out of the US and Canadian markets, with no more phones available on the official site following its July 16 announcement that it will exit North America and Europe.

Google's mobile ecosystem expands

Google is planning to unveil the Pixel Tag, its first Air Tag-like tracker, on August 12, which is also when it's announcing the Pixel 11 series and the Pixel Watch. A new mega leak has revealed all of the Pixel Watch 5's specs as well as full pricing through leaked marketing materials. Technically, Google only releases one major Android version per year — this year it was Android 17 — but the company has now made Android 17 QPR 2 Beta 2 available as part of its Quarterly Platform Releases. Google Assistant will vanish from Android phones and connected devices in September, with the company fully pivoting to Gemini. Google Wallet now lets parents send money securely to their kids, which can be used anywhere Google Pay is accepted. Google is also bringing Ask Maps chat features to 150 more countries and territories, allowing users to order food and reserve hotels through the app.

Apple's supply chain and accessories

Apple is reportedly short on DRAM just weeks away from its iPhone 18 unveiling and scrambling to find more stock, but its offer to get Chinese DRAM on the cheap was denied by CXMT. Apple Pencils differ significantly in terms of features, charging methods, and iPad compatibility, with the USB-C and Pro models serving different needs.

Mobile accessories and reviews

I drop-tested several Pixel cases to see whether "military grade" claims actually add impact protection, and found that the buzzwords don't always translate to real-world durability. The new Twelve South tiny charging pad is perfect for a nightstand, according to Engadget's deputy editor, who loves it in spite of its price. Bose has refreshed its QuietComfort headphones with two-way USB-C audio and better noise cancellation at a price of $359. Viture is releasing the $299 Pro 2 smartglasses, its lightest and most comfortable model yet, alongside a more compact $99 Mobile Dock Mini. San Disk's Extreme Fit USB drive, the world's smallest, has more storage than an iPhone 17 at a time when storage space commands a premium price. After 2,500 hours of testing and 50TB of writes, the 4-bay DXP4800 Pro NAS became my go-to media server and the only one I trust with my data. I've been testing the ePaper notebooks TCL Note A1 NXTPAPER and Boox Go 10.3 Gen II for weeks, just in time for back-to-school season. TCL's new Tab A1 Plus NXTPAPER budget tablet is finally getting a full US launch, with a $100 discount off the price to mark the occasion.

Industry, policy, and the broader tech landscape

Congressman Ro Khanna thinks it's time for a "Data Center Bill of Rights" to protect the right to oppose data centers. The California Teamsters union is suing the state over self-driving truck regulations, saying they could eventually cause around 400,000 people to lose their jobs. Texas governor has ordered an audit of new data centers after realizing that over 400 gigawatts of power is a lot, with the state already hosting more than 500 data centers. Advertisers seem to be spending a whole lot less than they used to on X, and we just got our first real look at how small X's ad business actually is. X's head of product, Nikita Bier, who was the face of some of the platform's biggest changes, is leaving the company one year after joining. The DOJ has extracted $3.2 million from OpenAI over hiring discrimination allegations. New Jersey's antitrust suit accuses Amazon of unlawfully wielding power over delivery contractors. Amazon's public fight with Perplexity over online shopping, which started in November 2025, has taken a turn as Perplexity successfully overturned Amazon's injunction on its AI shopping bot. Meta claims its own AI model accessed the internet during testing and hacked an organization thanks to a blunder by its evaluation partner. OpenAI's employees revealed more about the events that culminated in the company's agents hacking Hugging Face on their own, with the agents reportedly sharing exploits with each other through a messaging board. Suno is adding audio watermarks so AI-generated songs are more easily identifiable. Netflix will hold the exclusive rights to an extended look at Grand Theft Auto VI before it hits YouTube six hours later. Nintendo's Switch 2 sales fell ahead of an expected price hike next month. Minecraft is coming to the Switch 2 on October 27, and while it feels like a perfect place for mouse controls, Mojang hasn't said anything about that feature yet. Spotify just hit 300 million Premium subscribers, which is three times more than Apple Music. Ford's first midsize electric truck has a name and a price — the $28,350 Fathom — but we're still waiting for a proper design reveal. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket used in the January 2025 Blue Ghost mission has crashed into the lunar surface. NASA says its PUNCH mission has greatly advanced the prediction of solar storms, accurately forecasting when they will hit Earth.