The highly anticipated first software update for the Galaxy S24 series is finally here. For real, this time. Samsung has begun the rollout in South Korea, its home country. It should soon release the update in other markets, including the US. Along with the February security patch, the update brings bug fixes and performance improvements to the new flagships.
The Galaxy S24 series is getting its first update
On Wednesday, Samsung announced the first update for the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+, and Galaxy S24 Ultra. However, much to users’ disappointment, the company said it plans to begin the rollout on February 22. Thankfully, it isn’t making users wait another week, at least not those in South Korea. The update is rolling out in Samsung’s homeland with the firmware build number S92xNKSU1AXB5.
The OTA (over the air) package for the Ultra model weighs just under 555MB. The other two Galaxy S24 models should also receive the update with a similar file size. As Samsung promised, the update introduces a slider to manually adjust the vividness of screen colors after switching to the Vivid color profile in Settings. Previously, the Vivid mode produced similar color saturation as the Natural mode with no option to adjust colors.
The Galaxy S24 series is also getting a host of camera improvements and fixes. A Samsung Community moderator detailed all the changes in a lengthy post. Samsung has improved the quality of backlit shots in high-pixel mode (50MP/200MP) by adjusting the brightness. Night mode gets saturation and white balance optimization for more accurate colors. It has also applied additional color data to make colors pop when shooting in food mode.
Additionally, Samsung has optimized the Expert RAW app to let you explore images in greater detail. For Galaxy S24 Ultra users, this update should improve the clarity of text when zooming in. The company also promises improved videos and photos of fast-moving subjects in backlight conditions captured by the rear camera. You are getting optimizations for photo previews, exposure, and color expression as well.
Another feature update might follow soon
According to the Samsung moderator, some of the features mentioned in this changelog may not be part of this update. Samsung will push a second update to the Galaxy S24 series to add those, and possibly more functional improvements. There is no timeline available for the second update but it might arrive within a few weeks. If you’re using Samsung’s latest flagships, watch out for a new update or check for it from the Settings app.
Samsung‘s Galaxy Tab Active 5 is now available in the US. Originally scheduled to go on sale in March, the new rugged Android tablet arrived a few weeks earlier. You can purchase it through the Samsung Business website. The device comes in Wi-Fi and cellular (5G) variants.
Galaxy Tab Active 5 arrives in the US early
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Tab Active 5 in early January. At launch, the company only announced its pricing and availability details for Europe. It followed up with the US release details about two weeks later. The Korean firm said the new rugged tablet will be available through its business website starting in March.
However, on Thursday, Samsung announced that the Galaxy Tab Active 5 is available for purchase in the US. Its business website lists both Wi-Fi and 5G variants of the device. The former is priced at $548.99, while the latter costs $658.99. You can bring the prices down with eligible trade-ins. Samsung is also offering some freebies and coupons with the devices.
As far as specs are concerned, the Galaxy Tab Active 5 sports an 8-inch TFT LCD screen with a Full HD+ resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and Touch Sensitivity. You get Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, a MIL-STD-810H military standard build with shock resistance, and an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. The bundled S Pen is equally rugged and durable.
The tablet is powered by Samsung’s Exynos 1380 processor, the same chipset found inside the Galaxy A54 premium mid-range smartphone and the Galaxy Tab S9 FE series mid-range tablets. Both connectivity variants of the tablet come with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage in the US. An 8GB+256GB configuration also exists, but it isn’t available stateside. Thankfully, it supports microSD cards of up to 1TB capacity.
The tablet can be used without a battery
Samsung has equipped the Galaxy Tab Active 5 with a 5,050mAh user-replaceable battery. It charges via a USB Type-C port as well as a Pogo Pin. However, if you continuously use the device, you can run without a battery. There’s a built-in No Battery Mode that directly sends the power to the device, bypassing the battery.
Other highlights of the Galaxy Tab Active 5 include a 13MP rear-facing camera with LED flash, a 5MP selfie camera, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth v5.3, NFC, face recognition, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, a 3.5mm headphone jack, Dolby Atmos audio, GPS, a customizable Active Key, and Samsung Knox security with Samsung Knox Vault. The tablet ships with Android 14 out of the box.
Two major companies may not launch flip phones this year. In a new report, Ming-Chi Kuo mentions that the global sales momentum of foldable phones has slowed down recently.
That is rather interesting, as it has been on the rise for the longest time. In any case, the report states that even huge companies in the space, such as Samsung, are forced to revise their foldable phone shipment targets.
Two major companies may not launch flip phones at all in 2024
What’s even more interesting is that two major players don’t really plan on launching flip phones at all this year. The companies in question are OPPO and Vivo. Do note that the report states that they are not planning to do so in its homeland, China.
Still, those companies almost always launch their devices in their homeland first, before making them available globally. Or at the very least they launch at the same time. So if they’re not planning to launch something in China, chances are that it’s not coming to global markets either.
Vivo didn’t really make a single one of its foldable phones available globally. OPPO is a different story, though. The company’s OPPO Find N3 handset turned out to be a huge success, that device is basically identical to the OnePlus Open, by the way, so that statement goes for both devices as a whole.
OPPO offered two of its clamshell foldable phones in markets outside of China
That is a book-style foldable, though. OPPO also launched two clamshell foldables to global markets, the OPPO Find N2 Flip and Find N3 Flip. Well, it seems like we won’t see their successor this year.
The sales have slowed down in the Chinese market as well. Flip phone foldables were usually more appealing to consumers due to their price tags. It seems like most Chinese brands kind of lost interest in flip phones (at least this year), other than Huawei.
This doesn’t mean that OPPO and Vivo won’t continue offering flip phone foldables in 2025, though. Also, this is just a report from a market analyst, nothing has been confirmed just yet.
The HONOR Magic V2 was one of the most talked-about, if not the most talked about foldable smartphones in the last couple of months. How does it stack up to probably the best-known one? Well, that’s what we’re here to find out. In this article, we’ll be comparing the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 vs HONOR Magic V2. The very best foldable smartphone from Samsung vs the best from HONOR.
If you have the option of getting the HONOR Magic V2, now that it’s available outside of China, this may interest you. HONOR really made true strides with the hardware, and the difference truly is interesting. We’ll first check out their specifications side by side, and will then move to compare them across a number of other categories. We’ll compare the two phones’ designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio performance.
Specs
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 & HONOR Magic V2, respectively
Both of these devices are made out of aluminum and glass. The HONOR Magic V2 also comes in a variant with a vegan leather backplate. These two phones do feel entirely different in the hand. The HONOR Magic V2 is a much thinner and considerably lighter smartphone. That’s actually one of its main advantages over any other foldable. It’s the thinnest and lightest inwards-folding large-format foldable in the market.
The HONOR Magic V2 measures only 4.7-4.8mm when unfolded, and 9.9-10.1mm when folded. The Galaxy Z Fold 5, on the other hand, measures 6.1mm when unfolded, and 13.4mm when unfolded. The Magic V2 weighs 231 grams or 237 grams, depending on the model. The vegan leather variant is lighter. The Galaxy Z Fold 5, on the other hand, weighs 253 grams. That is a difference you will feel in the hand, that’s for sure.
The Galaxy Z Fold 5 also has a very narrow cover display, narrower than any other regular smartphone. The HONOR Magic V2, on the other hand, has a regular cover display width, thus it’s more useful as a regular smartphone (when unfolded). Furthermore, the crease on the Magic V2’s display is very well maintained, while that’s not the case with the Galaxy Z Fold 5. Both smartphones do fold flat, however.
You will find three cameras on the back of both phones, though those camera islands do look a bit different. The cameras are vertically aligned on both devices. The power/lock key also doubles as a fingerprint scanner on both of these smartphones. Samsung’s foldable does have the advantage of offering an IPX8 water resistance rating, while the Magic V2 doesn’t have any such rating.
The HONOR Magic V2 actually feels like a regular smartphone when you’re holding it in its folded form. When you’re using it too, it’s probably the first smartphone that can say that for itself. That’s definitely not the case with the Galaxy Z Fold 5.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 vs HONOR Magic V2: Display
Both phones include two displays, one foldable, and one non-foldable. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 features a 7.6-inch 1812 x 2176 Foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel as its main display. That display has a refresh rate of 120Hz, and it supports HDR10+ content. It also has a 6.2-inch cover display which offers a resolution of 2316 x 904 pixels. That is a Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. The maximum brightness of these displays is 1,750 nits. Corning’s Gorilla Glass 2 protection is used here.
HONOR Magic V2
The HONOR Magic V2, on the other hand, has a 7.92-inch 2156 x 2344 Foldable LTPO OLED display for its main panel. That panel can project up to 1 billion colors, and it has a 120Hz refresh rate. This display does support HDR10+ content, and it’s IMAX Enhanced. It has a peak brightness of 1,600 nits. The cover display measures 6.43 inches, and it’s an LTPO OLED display. It can also project up to 1 billion colors, its refresh rate also goes up to 120Hz, and it also supports HDR10+ content. This panel has a max brightness of 2,500 nits, and it’s protected by the nanocrystal glass 2.0.
I have to say that all four displays are actually really good. They are vivid, have great viewing angles, and they are also more than sharp enough. They do get bright enough as well, and neither main display feels too plasticky or anything of the sort. It is worth noting that the HONOR Magic V2 has a much less noticeable crease on its main display, though, it’s not even close. Also, its cover panel has a more “normal” aspect ratio, though some of you may prefer the very narrow ratio of the Galaxy Z Fold 5’s cover display.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 vs HONOR Magic V2: Performance
Both of these phones are fueled by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, but the Galaxy Z Fold 5 has the overclocked version. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 also includes 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage. The HONOR Magic V2 sports 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage as well. The Magic V2 does have more RAM, while the Galaxy Z Fold 5 has higher clock speeds, but in order to performance-related hardware, they’re on the same playing field, pretty much.
They do show their power when it comes to performance. Both smartphones do deliver great performance with no lag or anything of the sort. An occasional stutter is present, but that’s pretty much it. Truth be said, we did notice that those happen a bit more frequently on the Galaxy Z Fold 5. HONOR’s MagicOS 7.2 may not be the most modern-looking skin, but it does offer really smooth performance. They both do a fantastic job when it comes to regular, everyday performance, regardless of what you’re doing. They’re great for multitasking, though the Galaxy Z Fold 5 has more features that take advantage of its main display. We’ve enjoyed using it for multitasking a bit more.
In terms of gaming, both of these phones do a really good job. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 may not be the best chip Qualcomm has to offer at this point, but it’s not far from it. Even games like Genshin Impact run really well on both of these phones, so if you’re planning to use them for gaming, that’s perfectly fine. They both do get quite warm if you push them with games, but we did not notice any drops in gaming quality after 30-60 minutes of intense gaming. Neither phone got too hot to handle either.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 vs HONOR Magic V2: Battery
Samsung’s handset includes a 4,400mAh battery, while the HONOR Magic V2 features a 5,000mAh battery. HONOR is using a more advanced silicon-carbon battery in its phone, which explains how the company managed to fit such a huge unit in such a compact body. Is the battery life any good, though? Well, they both offer good battery life, but the HONOR Magic V2 does have an edge, at least that was the case for us.
We were able to get up to 7 hours of screen-on-time on the Galaxy Z Fold 5, but very rarely. It was more like 6-6.5 hours, depending on the day. The HONOR Magic V2 is capable of going over the 7-hour mark on a regular basis, without a problem. Do note that this is based on our mixed usage, with no gaming involved on those days, or very light gaming. We did not baby either phone, and have used them both under Wi-Fi and mobile internet, but mostly under Wi-Fi… for context’s sake.
The Galaxy Z Fold 5 supports 25W wired, 15W wireless, and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. The HONOR Magic V2, on the flip side, has support for 66W wired charging and 5W reverse wired charging. Do note that only the HONOR Magic V2 comes with a charger in the box, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 does not. Also, the Magic V2 does charge a lot faster in comparison, though it lacks wireless charging.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 vs HONOR Magic V2: Cameras
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 features a 50-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera (123-degree FoV), and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera (3x optical zoom). The HONOR Magic V2, on the flip side, has a 50-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel ultrawide unit, and a 20-megapixel telephoto camera (2.5x optical zoom). The results that these cameras offer are different, though.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
The Galaxy Z Fold 5 likes to add a bit more saturation to images, while both phones tend to prefer to offer brighter rather than more color-accurate photos. Images during the day are sharp and nice-looking from both phones, though they both can push things a bit too far when it comes to saturation. During the night the Magic V2 tends to brighten up images a bit more, but both of them like lighter photos in lower light with brightened shadows. Ultrawide cameras are good on both phones, while the ones from the Magic V2 do provide a bit more detail, and keep up with the main camera a bit more overall.
Telephoto images look good on both sides, though nothing truly special in all honestly. The differences between telephoto images and the main ones are kind of obvious, especially when the light goes away. All in all, neither phone offers the very best camera performance, but both are really good, and the vast majority of people won’t really care about the difference, in all honesty. Video performance, on the other hand, is good on both, but nothing to write home about. It’s above average, but not outstanding.
Audio
When it comes to speakers, both phones offer stereo setups. The ones on the Galaxy Z Fold 5 are tuned by AKG, and the loudness both smartphones provide is good. Both sets of speakers are also well-balanced, though the ones from the Galaxy Z Fold 5 do provide a bit more oomph.
If you were hoping to get an audio jack on either of these two phones, well, you’ll be disappointed. Neither phone offers it, but you can always utilize their Type-C ports for audio connections. Both phones also come with Bluetooth 5.3 support for wireless audio.
Google Messages is now an essential app for billions of people globally in this fast-paced age of communication. Google Message provides a smooth experience for anything from short text messaging to sharing images and videos.
The capability to edit messages after they have been delivered, on the other hand, has proven to be elusive thus far. The exciting news that Google Message will soon include an edit message option is examined in this article, along with how this much-needed addition will improve our messaging experience.
Google Message’s new edit message feature
You may view the modified message’s change history in Google Messages as well. The source states that there is a string called “Original message.” Additionally, there is a time limit on message editing. Only messages sent within the past 30 minutes are editable.
Moreover, the source validates their results following many further weeks of work by the Google Messages team. After changing a few settings, he was able to access the edit message capability in the most recent beta version of Google Messages (messages.android_20240213_01_RC00.phone.openbeta_dynamic).
It seems that Google still has to complete certain tasks before releasing the Messages Edit feature. The leaker noticed that his altered messages appeared as distinct texts in a group RCS discussion, indicating that the functionality is presently not functioning as intended. Additionally, it appears that both participants must have the Edit option selected to edit a sent message in Google Messages.
According to AssembleDebug, Google might release the feature of editing sent messages in Google Messages at the end of February or the beginning of the next month in the app’s beta channel. Keep in mind that normal text messages will not have the ability to modify delivered texts in Google Messages; only RCS conversations will have this feature. SMS does not allow alteration of transmitted text messages, even though it has been around for a few decades.
Will the recipient know that a message has been edited?
Google Messages app will display that a message has been modified using a modest signal to ensure transparency in communication. This signal, which shows that modifications have been made, will show up next to the message that has been modified. To protect privacy and minimize misunderstanding, the recipient will not be able to see the precise changes that were made.
How does it work?
A user only needs to tap on a message and choose the edit (pencil icon) option to change it. The message editor will then open, allowing them to make the required adjustments. When the changes are finished, the recipient receives the modified message automatically, replacing the previous one. Even if changes are made after the message has been read, this easy procedure guarantees that everyone agrees.
Google just released the first Android 15 Developer Preview. It’s actually a week later than it was last year for Android 14, but where Google is getting away from their monthly release dates for updates these days, we might be able to expect that a bit more.
It first leaked earlier this week on February 15, which was the release date for the first developer preview for Android 15. But it looks like it was pushed back a day to February 16. It’s being called “Android V” internally, with it being called “Vanilla Ice Cream” internally.
There’s not a lot of new user-facing features in Android 15 so far. This is quite common with the past few Android releases. Google normally keeps a lot of the new user-facing features for the first beta or two, which is released during Google I/O in May.
What’s new in Android 15
The first developer preview for Android 15 focuses on three main areas: prioritizing privacy and security, supporting creators, and helping developers manage heat and processing power better.
As with every Android release, Google is working on prioritizing privacy and security, and in Android 15, they are incorporating the latest version of Privacy Sandbox, which will improve user privacy and add new APIs to the FileIntegrity Manager to help protect files that could compromise a developers app.
On the creator front, Google is adding more extensions that will allow for precise control of camera hardware so creators can take advantage of high-end camera capabilities. Google is also refining the OS before the final consumer release so that developers can leverage premium hardware features like power GPUs and AI processing so developers can deliver top-tier app experiences to their users.
Finally, Google is adding new capabilities to the Android Dynamic Performance Framework. This is going to help developers optimize thermal, CPU, and GPU management so that performance-intensive apps and games work more efficiently.
As mentioned before, there’s not a lot of user-facing features in this developer preview, it is mostly under-the-hood things that are going to help developers make your phone even smoother. We do expect to see some user-facing features coming in the first beta, which is set for April.
Google is going to do two developer previews, followed by four betas starting in April, with the final release being after that fourth beta in July. This time around, Google is not putting a month for the “Final Release” like they’ve done in the past. So it could be anywhere from August to October.
The Google Pixel Watch (Review) was one of the most popular and anticipated devices of 2022. The wearable launched with RAM and storage comparable to the competition. However, it appears that Google didn’t originally intend for it to. According to a new report, a Reddit user accidentally bought a prototype of the Pixel Watch, and the specs were pretty surprising.
As we know, the Google Pixel Watch launched with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. Sure, that may sound like what you would have gotten on a 2015 mid-range phone, but that is a lot for a modern smartwatch. This lends to the performance and the number of apps that you can download on the device.
However, the Pixel Watch prototype had specs that were not quite robust
A Reddit user ordered a Pixel Watch that had some extreme burning on the screen, along with terrible performance and spotty charging. When they tried to reset the watch, the watch said that it had “less than intended Ram”, and asked if they still wanted to pair it.
Upon entering the fastboot mode, the user saw that this model had only 1GB of RAM and only 8GB of storage. That’s half the amount of RAM that the Pixel Watch debuted with and a fourth of the storage. In the post, the user stated that this was possibly a scam or a knockoff. However, it appears that this is a prototype of the Pixel Watch.
Looking at the specs, it appears that, somewhere along the line, Google planned on giving this watch very mild specs. While smartwatches typically have pretty modest specs, only 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage would have definitely been a major letdown.
This is especially true because it is one of the pricier smartwatches on the market. The cheapest version of the Pixel Watch costs $349.99. If Google launched this watch at that price with those specs, people would not have liked that.
In any case, the user said that they had shelled out for a used Galaxy Watch 5. So, life goes on.
While a new version of Android is always exciting, it’s also sad. As this generally means that a phone or two will be getting support dropped. And this time around, it’s the Google Pixel 5a.
The Google Pixel 5a is guaranteed to get updates until August 2024 – that’s Android and security updates. This could be when Android 15 launches, but Google also mentions in their blog post today that the developer preview is available for the Pixel 6 and later. That means the Pixel 5a is definitely not going to see Android 15 – officially, at least.
On that note, this will be the last major Android update that the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will see actually, as their guaranteed Android updates end in October 2024. However, they will continue to get security updates until October 2026.
This marks the first Android update that will only be available for Pixels running on Tensor chipsets. Not that it matters much since this is going to be available for many other devices, not running Tensor, either.
Android 15 developer preview is available for Pixel 6 and later
If you have a Pixel 6 or later, and you want to run the developer preview on it, feel free to go ahead. But keep in mind that you do need to flash the entire image onto your phone. This means you’ll be losing all of your data, as your phone will be wiped. It also won’t be very stable at all, so we recommend holding off from updating your daily driver, at least until the betas start in April.
Google purposefully makes the developer previews tougher to install because they are pretty rocky and really only meant for developers. And not everyday people who might flash it onto their daily driver. As that can cause a lot of issues. But if you’re brave enough, here’s how you can flash the image.
Working in the technology industry has been particularly tumultuous over the past year or so, as the sector has been rocked with extensive layoffs. There was once a time when it seemed like there was no limit to the growth that big tech companies could experience. However, a lot has changed in the tech industry, and we have new numbers to qualify just how volatile it has been. Just last year, more than 250,000 workers in the tech industry were laid off. More importantly, the biggest tech companies were the worst offenders.
The totals are courtesy of layoffs.fyi, a layoff tracker for the companies in the tech sector. It was started following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and is the most expansive database of tech layoffs available on the internet. According to the site, 1,191 tech companies are known to have laid off employees in 2023. Those layoffs resulted in 262,735 employees being laid off. They are just the ones we know about, too. It’s likely that the real total is higher than that. More people in the tech industry were laid off last year.
Meta and Google laid off the most workers in 2023
Notably, the biggest companies in the tech industry laid off the most workers last year. This contrasts from what is usually the case, when startups fold and experience mass layoffs while large corporations continue to rise. In fact, two of the largest companies — Meta and Google — have continued to layoff employees in the name of efficiency. Meta laid off more than 20,000 employees in 2023, which is the most by any one company. Google eliminated 12,000 jobs to start last year as well, setting the tone for what would follow.
A common theme amidst these widespread layoffs is the focus on “efficiency.” Due to potential overhiring and redundancy, many of the companies said the layoffs were aimed at efficiency.
Will more workers in the tech industry be laid off in 2024?
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this year holds a better outlook. We are just over a month into 2024, and there have been plenty of layoffs already. In fact, layoffs.fyi reports that 154 companies in the tech industry laid off 24,496 workers so far. Some companies are even preparing their employees for the worst. Google laid off thousands of workers to start this year, and its CEO Sundar Pichai told employees to expect those layoffs to continue. We don’t know what the future holds, but it’s a rough time to be working in tech.
Well, the GoldPickaxe Trojan does not literally steal your face, but it does steal an image of your face in order to be able to identify as you.
Researchers have found a family of Trojans, attributed to a financially motivated Chinese group, which come in versions for iOS and Android.
Cybercriminals try to trick victims into scanning their faces along with identification documents. The victims are approached through phishing and smishing messages claiming to be from local governments or other trusted sources. They ask the target to install a fake government service app.
At this stage there is a crossroads where Android and iOS infections are different. While Android users go straight to the malicious app, due to measures taken by Apple the criminals ask the iOS users to install a disguised Mobile Device Management (MDM) profile. MDM allows a controller to remotely configure devices by sending profiles and commands to the device. As such MDM offers a wide range of features such as remote wipe, device tracking, and application management, which the cybercriminals take advantage of to install malicious applications and obtain the information they need.
The criminals then request that the victim take a photo of an official ID and scan their face with the app. Additionally, the criminals request the target’s phone number in order to get more details about them, particularly their bank accounts.
Once the criminals have a scan of the face they can use artificial intelligence (AI) to perform face-swaps. Face swapping is a technique that allows you to replace faces in images with others.
With the face swap and the photo of the ID the criminals can identify themselves as the victim to the victim’s bank and withdraw funds from their account. Many financial organizations use facial recognition for transaction verification and login authentication. Although the researchers found no evidence that bank fraud was the goal of the cybercriminals, their story was confirmed by warnings from the Thai police.
Although this group is mainly active in Asia, more precisely in Thailand, it makes sense to expect such a successful method to be copied.
Malwarebytes and ThreatDown solutions detect the GoldPickaxe Trojan as Android/Trojan.Agent.prn1.
We don’t just report on phone security—we provide it
