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ASUS ZenFone 6 goes all out with Snapdragon 855 and new Flip Camera

A different approach to avoid the notch

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ASUS ZenFone 6 | GadgetMatch

ASUS‘ entry to the 2019 smartphone game may be a little late this year, but the Taiwanese company made sure that it’ll be worth it. True to their new “Defy ordinary” tagline, ASUS’ new smartphone is unlike anything we’ve seen before.

First and foremost, the ZenFone 6 is now ASUS’ main flagship phone. The ZenFone lineup started as a modest budget lineup from 2014 and it took five generations for it to become ASUS’ primary high-end phone — no need for “Z” or “Deluxe” monikers.

Since the ZenFone 6 is now a full-blooded premium smartphone, it has all the bell and whistles you’d expect from a 2019 flagship phone with a few extra surprises. For starters, it has an All-Screen NanoEdge display that’s free of any notch or hole-punch for the front-facing camera. The phone features a 6.4-inch IPS panel with a Full HD+ resolution, topped with Gorilla Glass 6.

ASUS ZenFone 6 | GadgetMatch

Inside, the phone is rocking a Snapdragon 855 chip paired with up to 8GB of memory and up to 256GB of storage using UFS 2.1. In order to keep up with the phone’s speed, ASUS has once again redesigned ZenUI (now called ZenUI 6) and it’s almost like pure Android. Additionally, ASUS has promised to bring Android Q when it launches later this year and even Android R in the future.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the ZenFone 6 is its cameras. In order to get rid of any display cutouts, ASUS resorted to a new and rather unique motorized Flip Camera. With this approach, the ZenFone 6’s main camera is also its selfie shooter.

ASUS ZenFone 6 | GadgetMatch

ASUS’ Flip Camera houses a 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 sensor with an f/1.79 aperture and 6p lens. It’s accompanied by a secondary 13-megapixel ultra wide-angle shooter with real-time distortion correction, dual-LED flash, and laser AF system.

With the main camera acting as the front camera at the same, the ZenFone 6 is practically the ultimate selfie phone.

The device stays true to the traits of a ZenFone including the large 5000mAh battery — one of the biggest we’ve seen in a flagship-specced phone. ASUS has no special fast charging tech, but the ZenFone 6 supports the universally available Quick Charge 4.0 standard through USB-C.

The rest of the phone’s features include stereo speakers with dual NXP amplifiers, 3.5mm headphone jack with Hi-Res Audio output, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and Face Unlock.

The ZenFone 6 will be shipping in Europe on May 25 starting at EUR 499 or roughly US$ 560 for the base variant with 6GB of memory and 64GB of storage. The 6GB+128GB configuration will go for EUR 559 (US$ 625), while the top 8GB+256GB model is priced at EUR 599 (US$ 670). It will only be available in four Asian markets: Japan, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and India.

SEE ALSO: ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) Hands-on: Still a great budget contender

News

OPPO Find X9 series are now live in China

Global launch to follow on October 28

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Just days after vivo’s widely-anticipated X300 series, its sister brand OPPO releases the Find X9 series, their latest line of flagships for 2025.

Flagship Find

The OPPO Find X9 and Find X9 Pro are the next line of smartphones equipped with MediaTek’s latest Dimensity 9500 SoC based on a powerful and power-efficient 3nm process.

Much like its closest cousins, the base and Pro models of the Find X9 differ in certain aspects.

First and foremost, the Pro has the bigger 6.78-inch display. Meanwhile, the vanilla variant has a “more compact” 6.59-inch.

OPPO says though that both units boast an ultra-thin 1.15mm symmetrical bezels on all sides.

Moreover, battery capacities are also different.

The Find X9 has 7025mAh while the Find X9 Pro possess a larger 7500mAh battery.

These phones are expected to run the all-new ColorOS 16 with primary focus on silky-smooth animation, as well as smarter AI feats, seamless connectivity between PCs, Macs, and other accessories, as well as band overall user experience.

Hasselblad Legacy

Different from what OnePlus is doing, OPPO continues to strengthen its partnership with the renowned Swedish camera-maker Hasselblad.

With this continuous collaboration, both the Find X9 and X9 Pro feature the Hasselblad Camera System alongside OPPO’s all-new LUMO Image Engine.

Furthermore, the Find X9 Pro offers a 200MP telephoto camera co-developed with Hasselblad — both in sensor calibration and optical design.

Additionally, these Find models also deliver exceptional video capabilities with up to 4K / 120fps Dolby Vision support as well as LOG recording with ACES support for that seamless and professional workflow.

The Find X9 series are also concert-ready with cutting-edge telephoto optimizations such as Stage Mode and AI Sound Focus.

Pricing and Availability

The OPPO Find X9 are available in three colorways: Titanium Grey, Space Black, and Velvet Red.

Meanwhile, the Find X9 Pro is being offered in two shades: Silk White and Titanium Charcoal.

In line with the China-exclusive launch, the announcement of the Find X9 series slated for global markets will be held in Barcelona, Spain on October 28th.

Mark your calendars!

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Accessories

Samsung launched a charger that’s incompatible with all its phones

None of their phones have built-in Qi2 magnets.

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In the world of wireless charging, Qi2 is where it’s at. The newer magnetic system automatically aligns the phone with the best positions to charge wirelessly. That said, it’s taking a while for most smartphones to get the charging standard. In an odder twist, Samsung, who does not currently have any native Qi2 devices, has launched its own Qi2 chargers.

In the United States, Samsung rolled out the Qi2-compatible Single Wireless Charger and Car Wireless Charger. As both their names indicate, the chargers will allow for wireless charging in a variety of situations.

Retailing for US$ 34.99, the single puck can charge by up to 25W when paired with a charging adapter (sold separately). The car charger, on the other hand, comes with its own 12V car adapter and a rotating mount. It’s very pricy, coming in at US$ 84.99.

Now, the kicker is that the chargers are compatible with Samsung’s current flagships including the Galaxy S25, the Flip7, and the Fold7. Technically, yes, these smartphones can charge using this duo. However, none of them have the built-in magnets to natively connect to the pucks. They need a separate case with a Qi2-certified magnet included.

It seems pretty scummy to offer a Qi2 charger for smartphones without the magnets built inside. On the bright side, it’s a good sign that Samsung’s upcoming smartphones, starting with the Galaxy S26 early next year, will likely offer Qi2 charging natively. (At least, we hope. Otherwise, this might be the priciest charger in recent memory.)

SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy S25 FE review: Closer to flagship than ever

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ChatGPT will soon allow NSFW conversations

The platform will start age-gating users in December.

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Every day, we inch closer and closer to the strange reality of Joaquin Phoenix’s Her. Today’s AI-powered chatbots have inevitably adapted to address our more carnal desires. Some, such as those offered by xAI, are even explicitly designed to only flirt with the user. Soon, ChatGPT will offer the same thing: a way for adult users to… well, be adults.

Through a post on X, OpenAI’s Sam Altman reiterated ChatGPT’s impending drive to introduce age-gating in December. Keeping younger users from the platform will open ChatGPT to more “mature” conversations. Altman specifically names “erotica” as one of the potential uses of a looser platform.

Additionally, ChatGPT is rolling out an update which will make the platform more personable and comparable to actual conversations. This includes using more emojis or talking like a friend.

The platform is also adding more safeguards when it comes to mental health issues, given that more people are using it as a makeshift therapist. Recently, Altman made sure that ChatGPT treated mental health with more delicateness. To some, especially those without such issues, the platform became more unusable. To bring back how it used to be, the platform will add better tools to detect whether the user is in “mental distress.”

Finally, OpenAI is implementing a backend solution to mental health by creating a new council of researchers and experts to accurately determine the impact of AI on mental health. Currently, it’s still unknown how much this new technology is helping (or harming) our wellbeing.

SEE ALSO: ChatGPT Go now available in the Philippines, more Asian countries

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