The most secure passwords are also the most complex. That’s why cybersecurity experts recommend using a password manager to keep track of your login details. There are many to choose from — here are six of the best, now with up to 93% off subscriptions at the XDA Developers Depot.
Password Boss Premium: Lifetime Subscription
Rated at 4 stars by PC Magazine, this service lets you store unlimited passwords on unlimited devices. Password Boss uses 256-bit encryption to keep your data locked down, and you can give family or colleagues secure access. It can store your payment details for faster online checkout, too.
In terms of security, NordPass Password Manager is second to none. This cross-platform service uses zero-knowledge architecture and the latest encryption methods to keep your data secure. PCMag also described it as, “An easy-to-use password manager with attractive web and mobile apps.”
Cyclonis Password Manager for Unlimited Devices: Lifetime Subscription
If you’re looking for a simple, secure solution, Cyclonis has you covered. This password manager uses military-grade AES-256 encryption to protect your password, payment info, important notes, and more. One subscription covers unlimited devices.
If you prefer to keep complete control over your data, Enpass is the password manager you need. Available on Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS, this app works offline and offers syncing via your preferred cloud storage. Rated at 4 stars on ProPrivacy, this service can handle logins, credit cards, bank accounts, licenses, files, documents, or any other information.
This PCMag Editors’ Choice lets you choose between cloud syncing and offline storage. Either way, you can save unlimited passwords and payment details behind biometric security, with secure password-sharing and highly responsive support. With this deal, you get two separate lifetime Premium accounts.
Enpass Password Manager Family Plan: 1-Yr Subscription
With the Enpass Family Plan, you can help both your family and your colleagues to stay secure. Under one subscription, you can create multiple vaults for work and home life. The passwords are accessible on unlimited devices, with accounts secured by two-factor authentication.
The OnePlus 9 Pro is a highly polished, well-rounded flagship that is in contention for the best Android phone of the year so far. But OnePlus is aiming higher than that — it wants to be seen as the best phone, period. To do that, it’ll have to take on more than just Samsung, but Apple as well. So in this piece, we’re going to compare the OnePlus 9 Pro against the iPhone 12 Pro.
OnePlus 9 Pro & Apple iPhone 12 Pro: Specifications
The iPhone 12 Pro design should be familiar to most readers by now: it looks similar to iPhones of the last three years, except the chassis (sides, top, and bottom) have been made flat for a boxier look. The front of the iPhone 12 has been upgraded to the so-called “Ceramic Shield,” which Apple claims is more shatter-resistant. Overall it’s a very typical Apple design.
The OnePlus 9 Pro, meanwhile, is a typical Android flagship design: curved front and back glass, hole-punch cutout instead of the iPhone’s notch. The silver color I tested looks great, but unlike the iPhone’s matte glass, the OnePlus 9 Pro attracts fingerprints. At 8.7mm thick and 163.2mm tall, the OnePlus 9 Pro is noticeably taller and thicker than the iPhone 12 Pro’s 7.4mm and 146.7mm. Still, the OnePlus 9 Pro isn’t as uncompromisingly large as the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
When it comes to displays, it’d be hard to argue in Apple’s favor. The OnePlus 9 Pro uses a gorgeous LTPO OLED panel that refreshes up to 120Hz and is only interrupted by a small hole punch. The iPhone 12 Pro, as everyone knows by now, has a 60Hz OLED screen with a relatively chunky notch.
In pre-Covid times, one can argue the notch is worth it because Face ID worked really well. But in these mask-wearing times, Face ID gets in the way much more than it helps.
When it comes to processor, the OnePlus 9 Pro’s Snapdragon 888 is no slouch, but I think the iPhone 12 Pro’s A14 Bionic is just a tad bit more capable. This is most noticeable when editing and exporting 4K videos, as I regularly see much faster export times on an iPhone 12 Pro than any Snapdragon 888 device. I concede editing and exporting 4K videos on a phone is a very niche usage case, and it’s not a 100% accurate direct comparison because I use different software (LumaFusion for iOS; PowerDirector for Android), but it’s a good real-world example of how the A14 Bionic is superior, which benchmark numbers back up.
Cameras
Technically speaking, the OnePlus 9 Pro’s main camera system has one more camera than the iPhone 12 Pro’s, but in real-world use cases, both phones effectively have the same triple-lens setup covering the wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto focal lengths. The OnePlus 9 Pro’s fourth lens, a 2MP monochrome sensor, is so pointless it might as well not be there.
When it comes to the three lenses that matter, each phone trade blows. In general, I prefer the iPhone 12 Pro’s main (wide) camera, as it produces more natural skin tones and offers better stabilization and exposure adjustment in video shooting. But the OnePlus 9 Pro’s whopping 50MP ultra-wide camera produces noticeably sharper photos than the iPhone 12 Pro’s 12MP ultra-wide. Both ultra-wide struggle in low light, but the OnePlus 9 Pro’s shooter fares better. When it comes to zoom, I’d have to hand the win to OnePlus too, as the OnePlus 9 Pro’s 3.3x optical zoom is further than the iPhone 12 Pro’s 2x optical, and the OnePlus 9 Pro can max out at 30x digital to the iPhone 12 Pro’s 10x.
Software
The iPhone 12 Pro currently runs iOS 14.5 while the OnePlus 9 Pro runs on OxygenOS 11.2.4.4, over Android 11. There’s no use dwelling too much on iOS vs Android, but personally, I prefer the latter, especially OnePlus’ take, which is full of extra customization options that Google itself doesn’t offer.
One thing both software have in common: they’re not too one-hand friendly. This is to be expected with iPhones, as its draconian UI (you can’t place apps lower on the screen by themselves; you can’t activate the Control Center without reaching for the very top right corner of the screen) has never been one hand-friendly. But for OxygenOS, I’m disappointed, as it is one of the very last Android skins left to not offer a one-hand mode (which shrinks the screen temporarily to a more manageable size). It does have some UX elements brought down to the middle of the display in recent updates, but that’s a half-solution.
However, as the iPhone 12 Pro is a smaller device, it is easier to use with one hand than the OnePlus 9 Pro.
Battery Life
The OnePlus 9 Pro has a much larger battery at 4,500 mAh than the iPhone 12 Pro’s reportedly 2,815m mAh, but since the former phone has a WQHD+ screen that refreshes up to 120Hz while the latter has a pedestrian 60Hz 1080p panel, so in daily usage, I find the iPhone 12 Pro to last longer. I’m a very heavy user, so for me, the OnePlus 9 Pro can only go about 10 to 11 hours during an active weekend day out (in which I am outside for 13-14 hours and using phone constantly for photos, videos, navigation, social media, and music streaming). The iPhone 12 Pro can usually go the full 14 hours, but just barely.
But the OnePlus 9 Pro can be topped up far easier than the iPhone 12 Pro. It uses USB-C instead of Lightning and it charges much faster with or without cables (65W wired; 50W wireless).
Conclusion
Both the iPhone 12 Pro and OnePlus 9 Pro are highly polished, excellent handsets that can check almost every box. In a vacuum, it’s almost too close to call — though I’m partial to the OnePlus 9 Pro because I prefer the superior screen and more customization options.
However, those who care about getting timely software updates, or have a large eco-system of accessories will likely want to go for the Apple iPhone 12 Pro, as the AirPods, AirTags, and Apple Watch are all excellent accessories that work very well with the iPhone.
The OnePlus 9 Pro starts at $969 for the 8GB RAM, 128GB storage model, while the iPhone 12 Pro starts at $999, also for the 128GB storage. While the $30 price difference is negligible, readers may also want to keep in mind that the OnePlus 9 Pro includes a charging brick and protective case, while those are separate purchases for the iPhone 12 Pro.
The iPhone 12 Pro is one of the best smartphones around. While the OnePlus 9 Pro has a better screen, the iPhone 12 Pro has better performance and eco-system of accessories.
WhatsApp had recently announced a new privacy policy to clarify how the company collects and uses data when a user messages a business. However, because of WhatsApp’s failure to properly educate users on the changes, implications of data sharing with Facebook, a healthy dose of skepticism, and social media being social media, millions of users were up in arms about the changes, with many fleeing to alternative apps like Telegram and Signal. And now as it turns out, WhatsApp has decided to scrap the May 15 deadline for its controversial privacy policy.
According to a tweet from the Press Trust of India, WhatsApp has scrapped the May 15 deadline for accepting its privacy policy. The report further states that no accounts will be deleted if the new terms are not accepted by users, which is a complete U-turn from its stance before.
WhatsApp scraps May 15 deadline for accepting privacy policy, says no accounts will be deleted if terms not accepted by users
“While the majority of users who have received the new terms of service have accepted them, we appreciate some people haven’t had the chance to do so yet. No accounts will be deleted on May 15 because of this update and no one will lose the functionality of WhatsApp either. We will follow up with reminders to people over the next several weeks.”
At the time of the first announcement, users had to accept this new privacy policy that opened the way for deeper Facebook integration before February 8, failing which they would not be allowed to use the messaging service. The deadline was then pushed forward to May 15 after public backlash, and now it seems that the deadline and related coercive action has been dropped entirely. The Indian government had also recently asked WhatsApp to roll back its controversial policy. But from what we can interpret, the policy is not rolled back and will remain in place for users who have already accepted, and there appears to be no clear way to reject the policy once accepted. There is no clear information available yet whether this applies only to Indian users, or is applicable globally.
If your car doesn’t come with an Android Auto head unit, you can install the Android Auto for phone screens app from the Play Store and turn your phone into an Android Auto dashboard. However, the app offers limited functionality, and its 2.9-star rating leads me to believe that it isn’t nearly as good as the native Android Auto experience. Thankfully, there’s a new app, called AutoZen, that addresses this issue.
AutoZen is a third-party car launcher (via autoevolution) that turns your phone into an Android Auto dashboard. As you can see in the attached screenshots, the app’s home screen shows a map of your current location with a search bar in the top left corner. You can use this search bar to search for your destination, quickly lookup contacts, and even search for nearby gas stations, parking spots, restaurants, and more. The map also has a couple of buttons towards the bottom that let you show/hide traffic on the map and re-center on your location. It even features a small icon in the bottom right corner that shows you your current speed.
Underneath the map, you’ll find a couple of additional buttons. The first button from the left opens up the app drawer and gives you quick access to apps like YouTube Music, Google Maps, WhatsApp, Telegram, and more. Right next to it is a button with a phone icon that opens up the dialer and lets you make a call with just a couple of taps. Besides that, the bottom bar also houses music playback controls for the music streaming app of your choice, a button to trigger voice commands, and a button for quick access to all your notifications.
On top of all the features mentioned above, AutoZen comes with a couple of premium features like built-in turn-by-turn navigation powered by Mapbox, speed camera alerts, and road construction/accident alerts. The premium version also lets you use AutoZen as the default launcher app on your phone, which lets you return to AutoZen from other apps when you tap on the home button. Furthermore, the premium version unlocks gesture support for some actions, a Do Not Disturb mode, Bluetooth auto-launch, and more.
If you want the complete Android Auto experience on your phone, you can download AutoZen by following the Play Store link below. Most of its basic features are free to use, and it offers a 7-day free trial for all the premium features.
The OnePlus 9 series is the current flagship lineup from OnePlus, and the company has rolled out a fair few updates with fixes and improvements in the past two months. The latest update rolling out to the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro is OxygenOS 11.2.5.5, with further camera improvements and a bump up to May 2021 security patches.
This OxygenOS 11.2.5.5 build has been spotted for the Indian unit of the OnePlus 9 Pro at the moment, but it should be arriving for the OnePlus 9 as well as for all other regional variants. The highlight of this update is the bump up to May 2021 security patch, and some improvements for white balance on the rear Hasselblad cameras. The complete changelog for the update is as below:
System
Improved charging performance
Fixed the small probability lagging issue of the keyboard
Fixed known issues and improved system stability
Updated Android security patch to 2021.05
Camera
Improved the HDR effect in some shooting scenes
Improved the white balance performance of the rear camera
Network
Improved the stability of network communication
Improved the performance of Wi-Fi connection
As always, the OTA update is rolling out in an incremental fashion. It will reach a small percentage of OnePlus 9 series users initially, which will help OnePlus ensure that it doesn’t have any major issues. Once that’s confirmed, the update should roll out to all devices. However, if you don’t wish to wait, you can download the build from the links below and sideload it manually.
The vanilla OnePlus 9 is for those who want flagship performance but don't want to pay top dollar. It offers a 6.5-inch 120Hz AMOLED display, a triple-camera setup tuned by Hasselblad, and the Snapdragon 888 SoC.
With a large, 6.7-inch Quad HD OLED display and a Smart 120Hz refresh rate, the OnePlus 9 Pro may have the best display on the market. The cameras, tuned in collaboration with Hasselblad, produce excellent still photos and capture superb 4K video.
During the early days and subsequent maturing days of Android, you’d have to fork up several hundred dollars for a flagship smartphone, one that could guarantee a great experience. There were several Android phones to consider in several price points, mind you, but the budget ones weren’t all that great. This panorama was, however, disrupted in recent years. Now, you have a lot of options to consider without needing to fork up obscene amounts of money towards a smartphone. We’ve seen a lot of exciting flagship smartphones this year: from foldable options like the Galaxy Z Fold 2 to more conventional devices like the OnePlus 9 Pro. With so many options in the high-end space, it can be hard to see the vast amount of options you have just one tier below flagships, and how little you lose by going for those options instead of fully-fledged flagships. You can even get 5G connectivity for that price! So let’s see some of the best cheap phones under $500.
Are you looking for a good cheap smartphone that will beat it out of the park, but you don’t want to break the bank? Don’t worry — we have you covered! Here are some of the best cheap phones under $500 that you can buy right now in the U.S. We’ll also sneak in some non-US devices that are good enough to actually be worth importing, although we’ll mostly focus on devices that will work in the American market. Let’s dive in!
The Google Pixel 4a 5G is a step in the middle between the Google Pixel 4a, Google’s new mid-range phone we got to know earlier, and the Google Pixel 5, the company’s new flagship smartphone. But as it turns out, it shares a lot more of its DNA with the Pixel 5 rather than the Pixel 4a, despite what its name might suggest. And it’s priced more closely to the Pixel 4a. Bear with me here, though, because it gets better.
It features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G, the same processor found on the Pixel 5, and features the exact same camera setup with a main 12.2 MP lens and a 16 MP ultra-wide sensor. It does do away with some things found in the Pixel 5, though: there’s no 90Hz display on the Pixel 4a 5G, it gets 6 GB of RAM rather than the 8 GB in the Pixel 5, and it has no wireless charging. It also has a slightly bigger footprint than both the Pixel 4a and the Pixel 5. But, hey. You get 90% of the phone for $200 less. It’s hard to complain about what we’re losing here.
The Pixel 4a 5G is one of the best phones under $500 available right now. Check it out!
At $499, it is very close to the Pixel 5 in terms of specs and features while keeping the price tag a whopping $200 less, making for an excellent value proposition for a Google phone with stock Android and a world-class camera.
The OnePlus 8 launched last year and, while it may have been outshined by the OnePlus 8 Pro and the OnePlus 8T, it was still an amazing phone in its own right. It has a Snapdragon 865 processor, which is still a very capable mobile processor even though the Snapdragon 888 is already making the rounds. And this was one of the phones that showed that OnePlus was still able to deliver excellent bang for the buck, with prices for flagship smartphones in a seemingly permanent upward trend. It also enjoys amazing developer support in our forums, making it an amazing deal for enthusiasts.
It was an amazing device then, and it’s still an amazing device now, even with the OnePlus 9 series now available and the OnePlus 8T, its direct successor, being old news. Now, it’s one of the best cheap phones under $500. It’s available on the OnePlus website right now for $499, making it an excellent deal for a last-gen flagship.
At $499, you're getting one of the best devices of 2020, with a Snapdragon 865 processor, up to 12 GB of RAM, and a 90Hz display. The new launches by OnePlus have only made it an even better deal now than ever.
Google deserves a lot of kudos for the Pixel 4a lineup. While I recommended the Google Pixel 4a 5G earlier on, I also mentioned that the device actually had a slightly bigger footprint than both its older brother, the Pixel 4a, and its newer, more powerful cousin, the Pixel 5. But the Pixel 5 is $700, and we’re talking about slightly cheaper phones. So the logical step down here is the Pixel 4a.
You’re still getting a lot of phone for what you’re paying. The Snapdragon 730G, while a step down from the Snapdragon 765G on the other phones, is still a very capable and snappy mid-range SoC, and one of the best cheap phones under $500. And at 5.8″ instead of 6.2″, you’re getting a more compact phone that does very similarly. Oh, and the camera. Don’t forget the camera. While it has only one 12MP sensor instead of the dual-camera setup in the higher-end variants, it is just as capable.
At $349, you're getting a very capable mid-range Pixel with the same world-class camera on the higher-end models, a Snapdragon 730G processor, 6 GB of RAM, and Google's amazing software. It's one of the best, if not the best, budget phones of the year.
The Motorola One 5G from last year turned heads around by being one of the cheapest 5G smartphones available in the United States, and the Motorola One 5G Ace follows in those footsteps as well. While the One 5G managed to have a unique footprint and design, the One 5G Ace looks more “normal” but still packs plenty of unique might inside. It comes with a Snapdragon 750G SoC, up to 6 GB of RAM, and up to 128 GB of storage.
And another very unique thing about it is the battery. It has a 5,000 mAh cell, quite outstanding for a device around this price point as bigger batteries are normally relegated to lower-end, budget devices. And with an 8nm processor on it, we’re expecting a very good mix between battery life and performance out of this phone. It also has a 48MP quad-camera, Android 10, and comes for pretty cheap compared to the alternatives.
Starting at $379, you're getting a 5G-enabled Motorola device with a Snapdragon 750G and a massive 5,000 mAh battery that should be more than able to keep up with you and your habits, no matter how exigent they are.
Moto is taking another of our recommendations here. The Motorola Edge is the smaller, lower-end brother of the Motorola Edge+, Motorola’s first flagship smartphone in years. But it shares the very same outstanding looks that can be seen on the higher-end model. It already looks good in a phone that launched with a $1,000 price point, and at an even lower price point, it looks even better.
The materials aren’t anything outstanding, featuring a glossy plastic back, an aluminum frame, and a glass front courtesy of Gorilla Glass 5. But it has a 95% screen-to-body ratio, has an extra-curved display that extends through the sides of the phone (in a waterfall-like fashion), and the front-facing camera hole punch is pretty small, helping with its premium looks. It has a Snapdragon 765G, up to 6 GB of RAM, and a 4,500 mAh battery.
This phone normally retails for around $700, but you can grab it from Motorola’s website right now for just $500.
The Motorola Edge can be yours for $499 with a beefy 4,500 mAh battery, a Snapdragon 765G, and a waterfall 90Hz display. It's also sporting the looks of a much more expensive smartphone on a budget.
TCL might not be the first brand you think about when choosing a smartphone, but as it turns out, they’re bigger than you think. They manufactured a lot of devices from BlackBerry quite recently, for example, and they also made the newest Palm ultra-small Android phone. This time, though, they are making phones under their own brand, and their two newest ones, the TCL 10L and the TCL 10 Pro have also been released state-side, and while they’ve been out in the market for several months and successors are already on the way, I’m still counting TCL as a “new player” because their brand name is still relatively unknown.
The TCL 10 Pro comes with a Snapdragon 675, a very capable mid-range processor, up to 6 GB of RAM, and 128 GB of storage, making for one of the best cheap phones under 500 dollars. The phone is running Android 10 with TCL’s own UI on top and has a planned upgrade to Android 11. TCL is a rising player in smartphones in the USA, and their latest offering is very much excellent for what a lot of people will be using a smartphone. Check it out!
The TCL 10 Pro retails for $449 and brings excellent value to the table with a Snapdragon 675, quad cameras on the back, a stunning display, and up to 128 GB of storage. It's a fan favorite on Amazon, and we see why.
I’ll have to go down quite a bit from our suggested pricing for this one, but it’ll be worth it. The Nokia 5.4 costs a little bit over $200, but for that price, you get a Snapdragon 662 processor, up to 6 GB of RAM, a 4,000 mAh battery, and Android One software based on Android 10. This is Redmi-like levels of value with considerably lighter and arguably better software, as it’s running stock Android instead of MIUI. HMD also does pretty well with updates.
It does have its downsides, though: the rear camera’s overall performance can be quite poor depending on who you ask, but it’s still pretty versatile with ultra-wide and macro sensors. The front camera is a single 16 MP sensor housed in a punch-hole camera. All in all, though, it’s still agood smartphone for what you’re paying and it should be able to satisfy most users looking for an ultra-cheap device.
The Nokia 5.4 is an ultra-affordable smartphone packing a mid-range Snapdragon 662 processor and quad cameras for just a little bit over $200, providing both the cheapest device and possibly the best value out of this list.
The Samsung Galaxy A51 and the Galaxy A51 5G (or the Galaxy A51 5G UW if you were on Verizon) were one of Samsung’s biggest hits in 2020 for the mid-range specs, improving upon what the company did in 2019 with the Galaxy A50 and the Galaxy A50s. And that lead was further extended by the Galaxy A52 5G, which swaps out the Exynos 980 in the previous device and goes up to a Snapdragon 750G 5G processor, which is based on an 8nm process. It also comes with 64MP cameras, up to 8 GB of RAM, and up to 256 GB of storage. Oh, also, Samsung finally shipped a 120Hz display in a non-flagship phone: this bad boy has one.
The Galaxy A52 5G is available in an unlocked flavor as well as in T-Mobile and AT&T. It earns a spot in our list of the best cheap phones under 500 dollars because you can get it on most US carriers and it will be compatible with 5G networks on all of those carriers, making it quite a nice deal for US consumers looking for a cheap phone with 5G capability. Check it out!
The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is Samsung's cheapest 5G device, featuring a Snapdragon 750G processor, quad cameras, and support for 5G connectivity across all US carriers. You can also grab it unlocked if that's your sort of thing.
The Mi 11 lineup is already out, sporting Snapdragon 888 processors and other top-of-the-line specifications, and this makes last year’s Mi 10 lineup more compelling than ever since prices have gone down. And the Mi 10T is one of the most brilliant devices in this lineup. It is one of the very few sub-$500 devices to be powered by a full, fat flagship-grade Snapdragon 865 processor — and, of course, touting 5G support. And it also features a 144Hz display for buttery smooth performance.
It’s not a perfect phone. It doesn’t have water or dust resistance, it features no wireless charging or 3.5mm headphone jack, and the display is LCD instead of AMOLED (although quite frankly, expecting a 144Hz AMOLED at this price point is probably a long shot). It’s also not available in the US, meaning that you’ll have to import it if you want to give it a go. But if you really want the raw horsepower the Snapdragon 865 brings on an extreme budget and don’t mind hopping through some hoops to get your phone working on your carrier… then heck, this might be one of your only choices. It’s one of the best cheap phones under 500 dollars, and very clearly one of the best-performing ones, if not the best.
The Xiaomi Mi 10T brings unparalelled performance to a lower price point, and it's quite likely one of the only Snapdragon 865 devices that you can find right now for under $500. It's also got versatile cameras and a punch-hole 144Hz display.
OnePlus knocked it out of the park with the launch of their first device in their mid-range Nord series, the OnePlus Nord. Not the Nord N10 5G or the Nord N100 that were just announced, just the regular, OG Nord. While the flagship killer vibes that once made OnePlus so great are not here anymore, the Nord returns to this price range while bringing a lot of the DNA from the newer, more powerful OnePlus flagships.
You get Android 10 based on OxygenOS and it’ll be surely one of the first phones in line for Android 11 once OnePlus does a wider roll-out. It also comes with up to 12 GB of RAM, 256 GB of storage, and a 48MP quad rear camera setup with dual front cameras.
It gets an honorable mention because it’s the option that OnePlus is pushing for users looking to buy a phone under $500, yet it’s not available in the US, and importing it might get more expensive than you’d like, coming in at just $499.99. The Nord phones that have launched in the US, the Nord N10 5G and the Nord N100, seem more like watered-down versions of the regular Nord, featuring LCD panels, cheaper builds, and worse cameras. The regular Nord is one of the best cheap phones under 500 dollars, as long as you live in a country where it’s sold or you’re willing to import one.
The OnePlus Nord is the company's first smartphone to not feature a Snapdragon 800 series processor, and represents the company's comeback to the mid-range market after the OnePlus X. It also has a lot of the genes from the flagship models as well, and comes just as packed with features.
Second Honorable Mention: Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
There’s just no other way to put it: if you want a phone that has a decent price-to-performance ratio, Xiaomi’s Redmi sub-brand is probably the best way to go. And the Redmi Note 10 Pro (known as the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max in India) delivers excellent performance considering what you’re paying for. You really can’t go wrong with this smartphone if you don’t have a big budget: it has a Snapdragon 732G CPU, a 120Hz AMOLED display, and a 108MP camera for delivering excellent smoothness, performance, and camera prowess for what its price might otherwise suggest.
The reason why this phone is going into our honorable mentions, then, is pretty simple: there’s no easy way to get this phone in the U.S. If you do decide on importing one, just like we warned you with the Mi 10T up top, make sure it’s compatible with your carrier. You get Android 11 based on MIUI 12, up to 8 GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, a 5,020 mAh battery, and support for 33W fast charging.
It’s really a shame no phone in the U.S. can deliver the kind of bang for the buck this phone offers. While some get close, like Nokia smartphones, they don’t quite get there.
The Redmi Note 10 Pro is Xiaomi's best Redmi Note series smartphone to date, and also the most feature-packed, taking on lots of features from the more expensive Xiaomi flagships, like a 108MP camera and a 120Hz AMOLED display, for an excellent balance of performance and price.
Here are the options we can recommend for different needs under the $500 price tag. Do you agree with our choices? What would you choose under the different categories? Let us know in the comments below!
Israeli security firm Check Point Research has discovered a flaw in Qualcomm’s Mobile Station Modem that affects millions of Android phones worldwide. The firm claims that hackers can exploit the vulnerability and gain access to your text messages, phone calls and, in some cases, even unlock your SIM card.
Check Point’s report reveals that the Mobile Station Modem is an integral part of Qualcomm’s chips dating back to the early 1990s. It’s still a part of some of the latest 5G-chipsets from the company, and it can be found on some of the latest models from Samsung, Google, Xiaomi, LG, OnePlus, and more. Therefore, the vulnerability affects a significant chunk of Android smartphones worldwide. Check Point estimates that up to 30% of all Android phones have the Qualcomm modem software that includes this vulnerability.
The report further reveals that hackers can exploit the vulnerability to “inject malicious code into the modem from Android. This gives the attacker access to the user’s call history and SMS, as well as the ability to listen to the user’s conversations.” Attackers can also exploit this vulnerability to unlock the SIM card and overcome any limitations set in place by service providers.
Qualcomm is aware of the vulnerability, and the company has already issued a fix. In a statement to Tom’s Guide, a Qualcomm representative said, “Qualcomm Technologies has already made fixes available to OEMs in December 2020, and we encourage end users to update their devices as patches become available.” It’s worth mentioning that the catalog number assigned to the vulnerability (CVE-2020-11292) is not included in any Android security bulletin published since December 2020. But Google may have included it in a previous security update without mentioning it in the bulletin. The company will publicly address it in the June 2021 security update, though, according to a Qualcomm spokesperson.
At the moment, it isn’t clear if all affected devices have been patched or not. “From our experience, the implementation of these fixes takes time, so many of the phones are likely still prone to the threat,” a Check Point representative told Tom’s Guide. If you’re using a Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered device that has not received a security update since November 2020, your device is likely still vulnerable. In case you have, though, your OEM may have patched the vulnerability.
For more details about the vulnerability, head over to Check Point’s report by following this link.
