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A TechInsights teardown of the iPhone 18 Pro Max confirms that the US model uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon X80 modem instead of Apple's own C2 chip, which powers the device everywhere else and in the smaller iPhone 18 Pro globally. The X80 is the same modem found in last year's iPhone 17 Pro line, meaning Apple hasn't fully extended its in-house modem rollout to this specific US model.
Samsung's Galaxy Watch9 brings a new Snapdragon Wear Elite processor, Wear OS 7 with customizable widgets, and a raise-to-talk Gemini feature, alongside a modestly larger battery. Despite the bigger battery, real-world battery life stayed around 25 hours with always-on display enabled, similar to its predecessor. The reviewer calls it a solid but incremental update over last year's Watch8, better suited for those upgrading from older Galaxy Watches.
Motorola released a new teaser confirming its upcoming Signature 27 flagship will run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, though the exact chip remains unnamed. The device is set to debut on September 22, the same day Qualcomm kicks off its Snapdragon Summit where next-generation flagship silicon is expected to be unveiled.
Amazon is selling the Retroid Pocket Flip 2 for $229, down $40 from its $269 list price, marking the handheld's lowest price yet. The clamshell Android device uses a Snapdragon 865 chip with active cooling and a 5.5-inch 1080p AMOLED screen, enabling emulation up to GameCube, Dreamcast and PS2 as well as lighter Switch and Android titles.
Best Buy is offering a limited-time deal on Lenovo's Yoga Slim 7X, a 14-inch laptop with a 2K OLED touchscreen, Snapdragon X2 Elite 12-core processor, 16GB RAM, and 1TB storage, for $1,000. The deal undercuts comparable Windows machines like Microsoft's Surface Laptop, which costs significantly more for less storage.
Leaker Digital Chat Station shared a near-complete spec list for the OnePlus 16 after it cleared network access certification in China. The phone is tipped to pack a 9,000mAh battery with 100W wired and 50W wireless charging, a 200MP primary camera alongside 50MP ultrawide and telephoto lenses, and a 165-185Hz display. It's expected to run on a Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chip with up to 16GB of RAM.
WIRED's roundup of the best Android phones for 2026 includes guidance for shoppers considering models outside the main recommendations, covering display type, screen size, processor, RAM, cooling and refresh rate. It notes that OLED screens are now common even in budget phones, that Qualcomm Snapdragon 7-series or MediaTek Dimensity 7000-series chips or better offer reliable performance, and that 8GB of RAM (ideally 12GB) suits multitasking and AI features.
HTC's Vive Eagle smart glasses, styled after Ray-Ban's Wayfarer-inspired smart eyewear, are now available in the US for $499 with a 12-megapixel camera, four-microphone array and bass-enhanced speakers. The device runs on a Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 chip with 4GB RAM and 32GB storage, but its 235mAh battery only lasts 4.5 hours of music playback or three hours of calls.
MediaTek announced its Dimensity 9600 Pro and 9600M mobile processors, both built to handle demanding gaming and on-device AI tasks. The Pro variant is MediaTek's first chip built on TSMC's 2-nanometer process, promising better efficiency and performance than last year's Dimensity 9500, while the 9600M offers similar AI and gaming capabilities as a more affordable option. Both chips can reportedly sustain console-quality gaming at 185 frames per second.
Reviewers compared the Galaxy S24 against three newly released mid-range rivals—Google's Pixel 10a, Nothing's Phone 4a Pro, and Samsung's own Galaxy A37 5G—all priced near $450-$500. Each offers a distinct edge, from the Pixel's long software support and camera software to the Nothing phone's larger screen and periscope zoom, to the A37's battery life and display quality within Samsung's own lineup.
Valve engineers Jeff Leinbaugh and Pierre-Loup Griffais spoke with Tom's Hardware about the Steam Frame headset, explaining that development began right after the Index shipped. They said the focus shifted from raw VR performance to comfort, ease of use, and wireless streaming across a user's whole Steam library, resulting in a lighter, more accessible device than the Index.
Valve has released the Steam Frame, a VR headset that runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip and offers up to 1TB of storage, letting it play games independently without a connected PC. The device is significantly lighter than the older Valve Index, weighing 440 grams versus 809 grams, and uses six cameras for tracking, passthrough, and eye-tracking. It arrives as the third major hardware release from Valve in 2026, following the Steam Controller and Steam Machine.