Taking a look back at seven days of news and headlines across the world of Android, this week’s Android Circuit includes Galaxy S24 Ultra specs leak, Pixel 8 Pro feature drop, improving Genshin Impact, Foldable phones financial success, New OnePlus 12 details, Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 specs, and Discord’s brand new app…
Android Circuit is here to remind you of a few of the many things that have happened around Android in the last week (and you can find the weekly Apple news digest here).
The Galaxy’s Missing Some Memory
Leaked specs of the Galaxy S24 Ultra have disappointed community members this week. Many expected the premium handset to come with the previously leaked 16 GB of memory. Alas, it looks like the Ultra will top out at 12 GB.
“The latest leaks around the three new Galaxy S handsets highlight the memory options available; the Galaxy S24 will come with 8 GB of RAM, the Galaxy S24+ with 8 GB or 12 GB, and the S24 Ultra with 8 GB or 12 GB. It is the latter that has upset the community. Although not yet released, several Galaxy S24 Ultra models were spotted running 16 GB of RAM. It now appears that Samsung has pulled back the specs on the top-tier smartphone.”
(Forbes).
Pixel 8 Pro Feature Drop
This week, Google started to roll out a software update to the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones. The Pixel 8 Pro Feature Drop unlocks several features announced at the launch but were marked as coming soon. These include the AI-powered Video Boost to tweak your recorded video into something better:
“Video Boost, which is exclusive to Google’s larger-size flagship, will be available starting today. It “uploads your videos to the cloud where our computational photography models adjust color, lighting, stabilization and graininess,” according to Google’s blog post. After that, you receive a touched-up video that “looks true to life.” This isn’t something anyone’s really gotten to test much yet, so we’re all about to find out together where Video Boost works well and where it doesn’t.”
(The Verge).
A New GPU For The Pixel
Also included in the update is a new driver for the GPU. This is having a noticeable impact on high-end games such as Genshin Impact and Fortnite, two titles that highlighted the weaker performance of the Pixel 8 series at launch.
“Since this is just a GPU kernel driver upgrade, it shouldn’t be expected for Pixels to suddenly outperform devices with Snapdragon chips, but it should result in improvements across a multitude of games. From the QPR2 beta, users have noticed upgrades in Fortnite, as mentioned, as well as Genshin Impact, both of which are among the more intensive games available on Android today.”
(9to5Google).
A Record Quarter for Foldables
They may still command a high price, but foldable phones have engaged the minds of designers across the ecosystem, and consumers are responding with rising sales across the established and new foldable manufacturers.
“Foldable smartphones surged 215% Q/Q and 16% Y/Y in Q3’23 to 7.0M units, 1% above expectations and eclipsing the previous high in Q3’22 of 6.1M by 16%. Samsung enjoyed its traditional peak market share in Q3’23 with European demand dominating, reaching 72% which was down from last year’s 86% as its competitors launch more models and aim for higher volumes. Huawei was #2 with a 9% share followed by Honor at 8%. “
New OnePlus 12 Details
Following last week’s confirmation of the OnePlus 12, several previews have been published, giving us a look at the specs of the flagship handset. The critically acclaimed camera from the OnePlus Open makes its way to this more traditional design along with 24 GB of RAM to give it as much memory as possible to boost performance:
“The phone’s RAM isn’t the only eye-catching spec. Charging speeds are also speedy, with support for 100W wired fast charging and 50W wireless charging (a feature that was missing entirely from the OnePlus 11)… The OnePlus 12’s battery has a rated capacity of 5,400mAh.”
(The Verge).
Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 Details
While Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is rolling out into flagship handsets worldwide, it is busy designing and preparing next year’s Gen 4 chip. One interesting detail this week is about its manufacturing partner. Qualcomm is sticking with TSMC:
“According to @Tech_Reve, Qualcomm will once again rely solely on TSMC for making the 3nm-based Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset next year. Reportedly, the chip designer has decided to bet on TSMC once again because it’s planning to use custom Oryon CPU cores and doesn’t want to compromise power and efficiency with the new set of cores. You could say that Qualcomm just isn’t convinced with Samsung’s yields or performance.”
(GSMArena).
And Finally…
Discord has released a significant update to the popular chat-based service. At first glance, not much will change, but the underlying ethos of the app is now mobile-first, as opposed to desktop-echo:
“Rather than retrofitting designs meant for mice and keyboards, it’s a fresh look intended for the touchscreen that fits in your pocket… this time we designed mobile as its own independent experience — as something you can use as your main Discord app when you’re on the go, not as something you use alongside the desktop app.”
(Discord Blog).
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!
Alex Mitchell is your go-to expert for all things mobile. With a passion for the latest smartphones, apps, and mobile innovations, Alex provides in-depth reviews, insightful analyses, and breaking news about the ever-evolving world of mobile technology. Stay connected with Alex to navigate the fast-paced realm of mobile devices.
