The Note 9 is available in three different colours – Ocean Blue, Metallic Copper and Midnight Black – as well as two configurations, one with 128GB of onboard storage and 6GB of RAM for $1,499, and the other with an unprecedented 512GB of storage and 8GB of RAM for $1,799.
The Note 9 is available in three different colours – Ocean Blue, Metallic Copper and Midnight Black – as well as two configurations, one with 128GB of onboard storage and 6GB of RAM for $1,499, and the other with an unprecedented 512GB of storage and 8GB of RAM for $1,799.
Boasting flagship features and impressive specs at affordable prices, the up-and-coming Chinese smartphone manufacturer Realme has announced that it will officially launch a range of devices in the Australia market on October 17, 2019.
The launch lineup promises to shake up the Australian budget handset market, with Realme set to offer four handsets priced between AU$200 and AU$500.
While the Shenzhen-based phone maker is saving specific model announcements for its October 17 launch event in Sydney, we have to assume it'll bring its hero handset, Realme X (pictured above), to Australian shores.
Realme X sports numerous premium-level features, including a bezel-free 1080p OLED screen with in-display fingerprint scanner, a Snapdragon 710 chipset, up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, a 16MP pop-up selfie camera and a 48MP + 5MP dual camera setup on the device's rear – an impressive set up for around US$260 (roughly AU$386).
Get to know the Realme
Once a subsidiary of fellow Chinese manufacturer Oppo, it perhaps comes as no surprise that Realme's handsets operate on Oppo's own ColorOS firmware, which is based on Android.
Realme plans to sell its four handsets exclusively online via the e-commerce sites of Australia's biggest retailers, including JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys, Bing Lee, along with the likes of eBay, Amazon, Kogan, Catch, Mobilciti and its own website.
Make sure to check back in on October 17 to find out exactly which affordable smartphones Realme is releasing in Australia.
Boasting flagship features and impressive specs at affordable prices, the up-and-coming Chinese smartphone manufacturer Realme has announced that it will officially launch a range of devices in the Australia market on October 17, 2019.
The launch lineup promises to shake up the Australian budget handset market, with Realme set to offer four handsets priced between AU$200 and AU$500.
While the Shenzhen-based phone maker is saving specific model announcements for its October 17 launch event in Sydney, we have to assume it'll bring its hero handset, Realme X (pictured above), to Australian shores.
Realme X sports numerous premium-level features, including a bezel-free 1080p OLED screen with in-display fingerprint scanner, a Snapdragon 710 chipset, up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, a 16MP pop-up selfie camera and a 48MP + 5MP dual camera setup on the device's rear – an impressive set up for around US$260 (roughly AU$386).
Get to know the Realme
Once a subsidiary of fellow Chinese manufacturer Oppo, it perhaps comes as no surprise that Realme's handsets operate on Oppo's own ColorOS firmware, which is based on Android.
Realme plans to sell its four handsets exclusively online via the e-commerce sites of Australia's biggest retailers, including JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys, Bing Lee, along with the likes of eBay, Amazon, Kogan, Catch, Mobilciti and its own website.
Make sure to check back in on October 17 to find out exactly which affordable smartphones Realme is releasing in Australia.
5G networks are the next generation of mobile internet connectivity, offering faster speeds and more reliable connections on smartphones and other devices than ever before.
Combining cutting-edge network technology and the very latest research, 5G should offer connections that are multitudes faster than current connections, with average download speeds of around 1GBps expected to soon be the norm.
The networks will help power a huge rise in Internet of Things technology, providing the infrastructure needed to carry huge amounts of data, allowing for a smarter and more connected world.
5G networks are already starting to appear and are expected to launch across the world by 2020, working alongside existing 3G and 4G technology to provide speedier connections that stay online no matter where you are.
When will 5G launch?
In the US
Verizon surprised most of the world by launching its 5G network at the start of April 2019, making it the first globally to offer the next-generation network.
It's currently only available in limited parts of Chicago and a few other locations, and there are just two handsets currently available to use on the new 5G network.
In Chicago, US we've managed to obtain speeds of up to 1.4Gbps, which is massively faster than 4G's theoretical top speed of 300Mbps (although average speeds tend to be below 100Mbps).
However, 5G coverage is patchy and we had to move around the city's various 5G masts to get this top speed. We did tend to get around 1Gbps quite consistently though.
5G in London, UK is more of a mixed bag, with speeds in our test ranging from 200Mbps to 550Mbps - still much quicker than 4G, but not the same level as we are seeing in Chicago.
AT&T has rolled out its 5G network to 19 cities across the States, but it still doesn't offer any 5G phones - with your only option for now a 5G Netgear Nitehawk mobile hotspot.
Meanwhile, T-Mobile is yet to launch its 5G network in the US, but it previously said it would bring 5G to 30 cities, starting in New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Las Vegas.
EE was the first UK carrier to launch its 5G network, switching it on in six cities on May 30 2019. It has promised to bring 5G to 10 further cities by the end of 2019.
It was followed by Vodafone on July 3, 2019, when it launched 5G in seven cities, rolling out to a further eight towns and cities on July 17.
Next up was Three, which launched a 5G service in London on August 19, however, there's a catch - it's initially only available for home broadband. However, it will be coming to mobile later this year, as well as to 24 more towns and cities.
O2 meanwhile is the only major UK network not to have any sort of 5G service yet, but it plans to roll 5G out in October.
Telstra's 5G coverage went live as of May, 2019, with the launch of the first 5G smartphone in Australia – the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G – and Optus has now joined in.
At the time, Telstra coverage was limited to 10 major cities and regions and, within those regions, was somewhat limited and patchy. This includes Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Gold Coast, Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, and Toowoomba.
The rollout continues, however, and coverage is steadily increasing for both major telcos. For a detailed and up-to-date map on coverage across Australia, check out Telstra's dedicated 5G page as well as the Optus 5G page.
What 5G phones are available?
Image Credit: TechRadar
A number of 5G phone announcements have been made in 2019, however only a handful are currently available, and the choice is further limited by country and carrier.
In the US, Motorola's 5G Moto Mod provides next-generation connectivity to a select few Moto Z handsets, plus the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G is also available.
For those in the UK, you can currently get hold of six 5G phones; the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, Oppo Reno 5G, OnePlus 7 Pro 5G, Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 5G, Huawei Mate 20 X 5G, and the LG V50 ThinQ 5G. The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G is also available for pre-order at the time of writing.
5G speeds will vary between locations, countries, carriers and devices, but on the whole the average internet speed you can expect should be much greater than what's currently offered on 4G.
We've been testing the first 5G networks in the US, UK, and Australia, and have found speeds to be a little bit of a mixed bag.
01/07 - NETWORKS - Three: 5G is our "biggest opportunity" - Contiguous spectrum and infrastructure boost could be the key to helping Three pull ahead in 5G...
05/04 - NETWORKS - Mobile networks fork out £1.4bn for 5G spectrum - Ofcom publishes the results of its 5G spectrum auction, revealing that the UK's biggest mobile network operators spent almost £1.4 billion...
Expansion of advanced technologies - such as self-driving cars & smart cities
How fast will 5G be?
It’s still not exactly known how much faster 5G will be than 4G, as much of the technology is still under development.
That being said, the networks should provide a significant upgrade to current download and upload speeds - with the GSMA proposing minimum download speeds of around 1GBps.
Most estimates expect the average speed of 5G networks to reach 10Gb/s, and some even think transfer rates could reach a whopping 800Gb/s.
This would mean that users could download a full-length HD quality film in a matter of seconds, and that downloading and installing software upgrades would be completed much faster than today.
What will a 5G network need?
The GSMA has outlined eight criteria for 5G networks, with a connection needing meet a majority of these in order to qualify as 5G:
1-10Gbps connections to end points in the field (i.e. not theoretical maximum)
Nintendo's Switch Lite may have only been released less than a fortnight ago, but it appears the company is already prepping an updated model, according to new FCC filing spotted by Digital Trends.
The new filing sports the identification number BKEHDH002 (the original Switch Lite's ID number was BKEHDH001), suggesting a minor update rather than a drastic redesign.
The name 'Joy-Con drift' has been applied to an issue which sees the Switch analog sticks continue to register movement, even when sitting idly in a neutral position.
Originally, the drifting issue was thought to only affect the original Switch console's detachable Joy-Cons, but users are now reporting that the Switch Lite's built-in analog sticks have the same problem.
While the FCC filing doesn't explicitly state that Nintendo is addressing the Joy-Con drift issue, it's hard think of any other reason why the company would be thinking about hardware revisions this soon after the Switch Lite's release.
In the meantime, Switch Lite users affected by Joy-Con drift can opt for one of these matching third party controllers – even if they do lack thumbsticks.
With this new range of phones, however, comes a series of disclaimers about the current state of the Optus 5G network, namely that it’s “starting to be rolled out in selected areas”, and that 5G coverage within buildings “is not currently available”.
While its primary competitor, Telstra, has made a bit of a display about being the first Australian telco with the next generation in mobile connectivity enabled, Optus hasn’t had quite the same fanfare, instead opting to quietly creep onto the market.
As per the dedicated 5G page on Optus’ website, the company has enabled 165 sites so far, with over 1,000 planned to be live by March 2020. You can check the full coverage map for finer details on where these locations are, but the zones are somewhat spread out and the coverage within them is noticeably patchy.
Regarding the indoor coverage, it’s worth noting that a similar disclaimer is found on Telstra’s coverage map – ”our maps depict approximate 5G coverage only and do not include indoor coverage” – so this could well be an issue surrounding the current signal strength of the telcos’ respective 5G signals.
For those that do opt for a 5G-ready handset with their Optus plan, you’ll still be able to experience high-speed 4G connections when 5G isn’t available, as is the case with Telstra customers.
From our testing within the Telstra network, however, we’ve noticed that the 5G signal strength makes for significantly slower download and upload speeds than 4G when at the boundary of the coverage zone, which could be problematic if you find yourself on the fringes often.
We’re yet to trial Optus’ 5G network in the same manner, but it’s likely that a similar issue will occur while the rollout is still in its very early stages. Our advice for new customers at present is to wait it out a little longer until either telco's 5G network is better established.
5G networks are the next generation of mobile internet connectivity, offering faster speeds and more reliable connections on smartphones and other devices than ever before.
Combining cutting-edge network technology and the very latest research, 5G should offer connections that are multitudes faster than current connections, with average download speeds of around 1GBps expected to soon be the norm.
The networks will help power a huge rise in Internet of Things technology, providing the infrastructure needed to carry huge amounts of data, allowing for a smarter and more connected world.
5G networks are already starting to appear and are expected to launch across the world by 2020, working alongside existing 3G and 4G technology to provide speedier connections that stay online no matter where you are.
When will 5G launch?
In the US
Verizon surprised most of the world by launching its 5G network at the start of April 2019, making it the first globally to offer the next-generation network.
It's currently only available in limited parts of Chicago and a few other locations, and there are just two handsets currently available to use on the new 5G network.
In Chicago, US we've managed to obtain speeds of up to 1.4Gbps, which is massively faster than 4G's theoretical top speed of 300Mbps (although average speeds tend to be below 100Mbps).
However, 5G coverage is patchy and we had to move around the city's various 5G masts to get this top speed. We did tend to get around 1Gbps quite consistently though.
5G in London, UK is more of a mixed bag, with speeds in our test ranging from 200Mbps to 550Mbps - still much quicker than 4G, but not the same level as we are seeing in Chicago.
AT&T has rolled out its 5G network to 19 cities across the States, but it still doesn't offer any 5G phones - with your only option for now a 5G Netgear Nitehawk mobile hotspot.
Meanwhile, T-Mobile is yet to launch its 5G network in the US, but it previously said it would bring 5G to 30 cities, starting in New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Las Vegas.
EE was the first UK carrier to launch its 5G network, switching it on in six cities on May 30 2019. It has promised to bring 5G to 10 further cities by the end of 2019.
It was followed by Vodafone on July 3, 2019, when it launched 5G in seven cities, rolling out to a further eight towns and cities on July 17.
Next up was Three, which launched a 5G service in London on August 19, however, there's a catch - it's initially only available for home broadband. However, it will be coming to mobile later this year, as well as to 24 more towns and cities.
O2 meanwhile is the only major UK network not to have any sort of 5G service yet, but it plans to roll 5G out in October.
Telstra's 5G coverage went live as of May, 2019, with the launch of the first 5G smartphone in Australia – the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G – and Optus has now joined in.
At the time, Telstra coverage was limited to 10 major cities and regions and, within those regions, was somewhat limited and patchy. This includes Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Gold Coast, Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, and Toowoomba.
The rollout continues, however, and coverage is steadily increasing for both major telcos. For a detailed and up-to-date map on coverage across Australia, check out Telstra's dedicated 5G page as well as the Optus 5G page.
What 5G phones are available?
Image Credit: TechRadar
A number of 5G phone announcements have been made in 2019, however only a handful are currently available, and the choice is further limited by country and carrier.
In the US, Motorola's 5G Moto Mod provides next-generation connectivity to a select few Moto Z handsets, plus the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G is also available.
For those in the UK, you can currently get hold of six 5G phones; the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, Oppo Reno 5G, OnePlus 7 Pro 5G, Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 5G, Huawei Mate 20 X 5G, and the LG V50 ThinQ 5G. The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G is also available for pre-order at the time of writing.
5G speeds will vary between locations, countries, carriers and devices, but on the whole the average internet speed you can expect should be much greater than what's currently offered on 4G.
We've been testing the first 5G networks in the US, UK, and Australia, and have found speeds to be a little bit of a mixed bag.
01/07 - NETWORKS - Three: 5G is our "biggest opportunity" - Contiguous spectrum and infrastructure boost could be the key to helping Three pull ahead in 5G...
05/04 - NETWORKS - Mobile networks fork out £1.4bn for 5G spectrum - Ofcom publishes the results of its 5G spectrum auction, revealing that the UK's biggest mobile network operators spent almost £1.4 billion...
Expansion of advanced technologies - such as self-driving cars & smart cities
How fast will 5G be?
It’s still not exactly known how much faster 5G will be than 4G, as much of the technology is still under development.
That being said, the networks should provide a significant upgrade to current download and upload speeds - with the GSMA proposing minimum download speeds of around 1GBps.
Most estimates expect the average speed of 5G networks to reach 10Gb/s, and some even think transfer rates could reach a whopping 800Gb/s.
This would mean that users could download a full-length HD quality film in a matter of seconds, and that downloading and installing software upgrades would be completed much faster than today.
What will a 5G network need?
The GSMA has outlined eight criteria for 5G networks, with a connection needing meet a majority of these in order to qualify as 5G:
1-10Gbps connections to end points in the field (i.e. not theoretical maximum)
