Mobile | The Verge

Huawei made a whole camera to attach to its latest phone

2026-10-01T06:15:48-04:00

I’m sorry, this is just a camera that makes phone calls. | Image: Huawei

Over the last few years, Chinese Android manufacturers have followed Vivo's example of launching add-on "teleconverter" lenses for their flagship phones, enabling long-distance photography that the phones on their own could never match. Today, Huawei one-upped everybody with the add-on lens for its Mate 90 Pro Max flagship, which is not only a comically huge zoom lens, but also includes its own image sensor.

The 1-inch-type, 50-megapixel RYYB sensor inside the Ruiying Z10 is bigger than any inside the phone itself, so attaching this lens doesn't just give you better glass, it's actually a complete overhaul of the camera capabilities. And wh …

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Vivo’s X Fold 6 accidentally feels like a throwback

2026-09-30T11:27:57-04:00

The X Fold 6 looks like foldables did three months ago.

It's a quirk of the release calendar that when Vivo's X Fold 6 launched in China this June, it was just another foldable. Now that it's ready for its global release, the size and aspect ratio feel oddly old-fashioned.

The X Fold 6 is much the same size as Vivo's previous foldables, and most other foldables that launched before both Apple and Samsung pivoted to a shorter, wider form factor with the Z Fold 8 and iPhone Duo. The 6.51-inch cover display is in the standard smartphone 20:9 aspect ratio, opening to an almost square 8.02-inch panel. The crease is a little behind rivals, since it's quite visible, and the IP59 rating is good but not …

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Samsung gives its two-year-old Galaxy Tab S Plus an overhaul

2026-09-30T06:11:11-04:00

The Galaxy Tab S12 Plus and Ultra arrive together, with no regular Tab S12 in sight. | Image: Samsung

Since the Galaxy Tab S10 line, Samsung has updated its flagship Ultra tablet annually, but alternates its regular and Plus variants. It means that this year's Galaxy Tab S12 series includes an Ultra model with few changes from last year's Tab S11 Ultra, and a Plus variant that brings a bigger overhaul to the two-year-old Tab S10 Plus. There's no regular Tab S12, suggesting fans of the smaller size will have to wait until 2027 for the next version of that tablet.

The Galaxy Tab S12 Plus should be a meaningful update to owners of the Tab S10 Plus or older. Compared to that tablet, it has a slightly larger and brighter 12.6-inch display, despi …

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Honor’s Magic 9 Pro Max has a big camera and a bigger battery

2026-09-28T04:00:36-04:00

This mossy green looks great, but the 9 Pro Max is also launching in black and silver. | Image: Honor

Honor launches its new Magic 9 flagship phones in China today, and the 9 Pro Max features a design revamp, a capable camera, and a colossal battery.

This is Honor's first flagship launch - Robot Phone aside - since it announced its collaboration with camera company Arri. The initial impact is twofold. The new camera island is Arri-inspired, drawing from the "three-lens turret" design first introduced in 1937's Arriflex 35, complete with a knurled texture around the main lens.

Arri used variants of this three-lens turret design across most of its film cameras. | Image: Honor" data-portal-copyright="Image: Honor">

Arri has played a part in the camera itself, contributing the ability to shoot in Arri LogC3, together with 14 preset Arri Look LUTs, access to Arri's wider library o …

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Xiaomi’s new 18 Pro phones improve on Samsung’s privacy display

2026-09-23T10:24:50-04:00

Both 18 Pro phones feature rear displays, just like last year’s 17 Pro models. | Image: Xiaomi

Xiaomi's new 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max launched in China today, and feature a more flexible take on the privacy display tech introduced this year on Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra. They combine it with returning rear screens, two 200-megapixel cameras, and both of Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 chips. A global launch is confirmed for later this year - especially welcome since last year's 17 Pro phones skipped international markets.

The two 18 Pro phones look similar to the 17 Pros, with similar compact displays built around the rear cameras, capable of displaying notifications, taking selfies, playing simple games, and more.

The bigger …

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Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 comes in an Extreme version too

2026-09-22T12:25:43-04:00

The 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 and 8 Elite Gen 6 share most of their specs in common. | Image: Qualcomm

Qualcomm has announced the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, this year joined by the 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 too. The company describes both new phone chips as flagships, and the spec differences are relatively minor, mostly limited to improved AI processing, video capture, and gaming performance on the Extreme model.

Both Gen 6 chips are built on a 2nm process, and share much in common, including their modems, display specs, security features, GPS, and memory and storage support. Qualcomm no longer publishes detailed breakdowns of the cores across its silicon, but the CPU details given are identical, with two big cores at up to 5GHz and six performa …

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Motorola’s wild-looking Signature 27 runs Qualcomm’s new Extreme chipset

2026-09-22T12:47:13-04:00

You couldn’t accuse Motorola of designing a boring phone. | Image: Motorola

Motorola is the first company to announce a phone running Qualcomm's top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chip. The Signature 27 looks set to be Motorola's most advanced flagship in some years, though we're still waiting for the full specs, price, and release date.

Any prospective buyers will first have to get over the design, which seems guaranteed to earn mixed reception. The aluminum phone has a thin body, available in either black (sorry, "Pantone coal smoke") or green ("Pantone capulet olive"), with a woven tactical texture on one and a "feather-inspired" finish on the other. Either way, it slopes upwards into what Motorola calls a …

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Oppo’s new phone is the first with three 200-megapixel cameras

2026-09-22T09:10:36-04:00

All three rear cameras use 200-megapixel sensors. | Image: Oppo

Oppo's new Find X10 Pro Max flagship phone, launched today in China, is the first anywhere to use 200-megapixel sensors on all three of its rear cameras. A 17-stop dynamic range for the main camera, delivered thanks to what Oppo calls "DeepPix sensor technology," suggests megapixel count won't be the only thing this camera has going for it - a good thing, since raw resolution hasn't been the main driver of smartphone image quality for some time.

The triple rear camera is built into a square, raised camera island, with a separate bar to one side holding the flash and an additional sensor. An orange accent line nods to Oppo's ongoing camera p …

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Vivo’s X500 Pro Max has 17 stops of dynamic range and 4K240 slo-mo

2026-09-21T09:17:49-04:00

All three new X500 phones support at least one of Vivo’s teleconverter lenses. | Image: Vivo

Vivo's new X500 flagship phones have arrived in China, and as usual the company's focus is firmly on photography. The X500 Pro Max - a new tier in its lineup - is the first phone to use new sensors and silicon from Sony and MediaTek that enable impressive dynamic range and slow-motion video recording.

The X500 Pro Max uses Sony's new Lytia L910 image sensor, its first to use LOFIC, a sensor technology that enables expanded dynamic range. The 50-megapixel, 1/1.28-inch-type sensor delivers what Vivo calls "true 17 EV ultra-high dynamic range," more than the 16.5 stops claimed by the Xiaomi 17 Ultra. The excellent 200-megapixel, 3.7x telephoto …

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Where to preorder the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max

2026-09-14T10:16:25-04:00

Which color suits you best? | Photo: Nilay Patel / The Verge

The iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max are almost here. Announced at Apple's September 2026 "Sunrise and shine" event alongside the iPhone Duo and other new gear, the two upgraded phones feature the faster A20 Pro processor with more GPU power as well as more neural cores for AI-related tasks, plus some welcome improvements to the camera.

The phones will arrive on Friday, September 18th, and preordering one is never a bad idea if you want to ensure you get the color and storage capacity configuration you're seeking. Speaking of, preorders are officially open.

The 6.3-inch iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 for the 256GB model, and goes all the way u …

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