smartphone – Digitex Solutions

Google’s Pixel 10 Pro Fold is the first to ‘go up in smoke during a bend test,’ JerryRigEverything says

digitex — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 02:03:44 +0000

Google might have yet another Pixel with a battery problem, and this time, affecting the brand new Pixel 10 Pro Fold. In a video published today, YouTuber JerryRigEverything, aka Zack Nelson, subjected the foldable to his usual durability tests, but as he’s filming his bend test — after having already broken the phone open — the battery expands, appears to overheat, emits enough smoke to set off a nearby fire alarm, and ultimately ends up as a charred wreckage on his testing table.To be fair, Nelson puts an extraordinary amount of stress on the phone. He originally breaks open the phone by bending it backwards while the phone is fully unfolded, and the battery doesn’t swell up until he exerts a lot of force on the broken part of the phone in such a way that he’s essentially folding the screen behind itself.That’s not a scenario any normal person is going to encounter day to day. But it’s still unusual even given the extreme circumstances, according to Nelson. He says he hasn’t seen anything like it during prior tests.“Surprisingly, in the decade that I’ve been durability-testing phones, I have never had a smartphone explode before,” Nelson says. “The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is the first phone to go up in smoke.” And while he notes that this is an “extreme test,” he adds that “I’ve also subjected every mainstream smartphone made in the past 10 years to these exact same tests. And this is the first time I’ve ever had one fail so spectacularly to the point where my fire alarm is going off.”“As dramatic as a battery fire is, we don’t think this is necessarily a sign that something is wrong with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold design,” iFixit’s Elizabeth Chamberlain tells The Verge. “The possibility of thermal runaway is just a reality of Li-ion batteries. Looks like Zack probably didn’t discharge the battery before opening up the phone (most new phones have 60%+ charge out of the box). We usually recommend discharging a battery below 25%, but with the extreme stresses Zack places on devices, that may even be too high.Chamberlain adds that “thermal runaway is basically a local short circuit, and it is most likely to happen when you break through the insulating layers of a jelly roll-style battery.” She also pointed to a post and a video from iFixit about batteries catching fire.Nelson put the Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s IP68 dust resistance to the test, too. While Google has called the phone its “most durable foldable yet” and highlighted the benefits of the phone’s gearless hinge, Nelson pours some dust right onto the hinge and opens and closes the phone, resulting in some sickening crunches as dust gets stuck inside. “This is kind of embarrassing,” Nelson says.

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The standard iPhone needs ProMotion more than ever

digitex — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 17:17:14 +0000

Apple’s goal with the new iPhone 16E seems to be the same as with the iPhone SE: offer a very good, cheap smartphone to entice price-sensitive shoppers to either leave Android or upgrade from a much older iPhone. From what we’ve seen so far, the company seems to have succeeded — but maybe a little too well: there’s not a whole lot of space differentiating the 16E from the pricier iPhone 16. That’s something Apple will have to remedy the next time its flagship phone updates come around if it wants that model to stand out.There used to be a large gap between the iPhone SE and the standard model iPhone. The SE had an old design with thick bezels and a home button. It had a small screen, a slower processor, and less storage. If you bought the SE, you knew you weren’t getting the latest and greatest.The iPhone 16E looks a lot more like a flagship phone at a budget price. It has an OLED display, FaceID, Apple’s latest processor, and even the customizable Action Button — a perfect feature for nerding things up that was once exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro phones. It only has a single camera, but it’s been upgraded to a 48-megapixel affair that Apple bills as a “2-in-1 camera” with a 2x zoom.Meanwhile, the iPhone 16 has a second rear camera, the Camera Capture button, MagSafe, and effectively the same OLED display, albeit slightly brighter and with the sleeker Dynamic Island design. Is all of that worth paying $200 more?When the iPhone 17 comes around, Apple is going to need to do more to give buyers a clear reason to choose the standard model phone. And the most obvious upgrade is for Apple to give it a 120Hz ProMotion display — the carrot it’s dangled for years to upsell people to a Pro phone.It makes a lot less sense for ProMotion to be limited to those phones now, when so many competitors are putting high-refresh screens in their more affordable models. The Google Pixel 8A and the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE each have 120Hz displays and beat Apple’s phones on price; Google’s does especially so — at $499, it’s $100 cheaper than the iPhone 16E.There are plenty of reasons to want a 120Hz display. The first and most obvious is that it makes scrolling so much smoother — you can actually read a webpage while you swipe through it, something that’s harder on a jittery 60Hz display. ProMotion also enables Apple’s always-on mode, which lets you continuously see the time and widgets. That’s necessary for the screen to turn on automatically when you come near it while it’s in StandBy mode, a feature that turns the iPhone into an ambient smart display when it’s on a charger. It works on regular iPhones, too, but you have to tap the screen to make it appear.Meanwhile, the Pro phone models have other features that should keep them in a class of their own. That includes a telephoto camera, titanium build, and more capable chip.Apple seems to be perfectly aware that it needs to make this change, at least if the rumors are true. The company is expected to put high-refresh rate OLEDs in all of its flagships this year, from the iPhone 17 Pro down to the regular iPhone 17 and alleged iPhone 17 Air. That’ll give shoppers a good reason to skip the 16E. But if it doesn’t, the 16E might look like even more of a deal come fall.

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Apple Launches New iPhone 16e: What to Know

digitex — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 23:29:23 +0000

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.

Apple announced the iPhone 16 lineup in September, but it wasn’t done launching new phones. It was widely expected Apple would announce the latest iPhone SE this week, which was last refreshed in 2022. Instead, today Apple announced the iPhone 16e, which replaces the budget-friendly SE line. It will be available to preorder on Feb. 21 and release on Feb. 28.

The iPhone SE has long been popular among fans of small phones, thanks to its ultra-compact form factor and economical price. And while at $599, the iPhone 16e is cheaper than the iPhone 16, the dream of the tiny iPhone is dead. That’s because the iPhone 16e has a 6.1″ screen, which is the same size as the iPhone 16. The third-generation SE was just 4.7″ and cost $429.

What’s New With the iPhone 16e?

The newest iPhone borrows some of the most popular new features from the flagship line, including the action button, a physical customizable button for quick access to your favorite features. The 16e doesn’t include the camera control button, although the action button can be customized to open the camera app.

Related: The Samsung Galaxy S25 Is Here: Incremental Upgrades, Lots of AI

Also on the hardware front, the phone features a single 48MP Fusion camera, similar to the single camera found on earlier SE models. As expected, the Lightning cable has been replaced by USB-C, bringing all of Apple’s new releases up to the same standard. The phone also replaces the Touch ID found on the 2022 iPhone SE with Face ID. The phone is wireless charging compatible, though it doesn’t have MagSafe compatibility.

The phone features Apple’s A18 chip and 6-core CPU, and it brings Apple Intelligence to the most affordable iPhone. Features include writing assistance and the ability to create unique Genmojis. The phone has an OLED 60 Hz display and up to 26 hours of video playback.

That marks a significant improvement upon the similarly sized iPhone 16, which has up to 22 hours of video playback. That makes battery life one of the standout features of the new iPhone, and Apple claims the new Apple C1 cellular modem helps keep the battery going longer.

The iPhone 16e will be available to preorder on Feb. 21 and release on Feb. 28, and you can shop cases below.

iPhone 16e Cases

Spigen iPhone 16e Case

Spigen is a go-to brand for affordable smartphone cases, and this clear case has anti-yellowing to preserve the clear look.

Apple iPhone 16e Case

Apple’s official line of phone cases for the iPhone 16e includes a silicone case in five colors.

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