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Dominic Preston

Dominic Preston

News Editor

News Editor

    More From Dominic Preston

    Dominic Preston
    Dominic Preston
    Here’s Xiaomi’s wide 18 Fold.

    It’s short, it’s wide, and it’s red. It’s also powered by Xiaomi’s new in-house Xring 03 chip, so it’ll be interesting to see how performance stacks up. Oh, and it’s launching in China on September 7th, which I’m sure has nothing to do with upcoming events in California.

    <em>You get a 7.58-inch inner screen, with a squat 5.38-inch outer one.</em>
    <em>It’s squat, wide, and passport-shaped, similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 8.</em>
    <em>I love the red finish, though it’s similar to the rumored new cherry iPhone color.</em>
    <em>The 6,000mAh battery is larger than Samsung’s, though the phone itself doesn’t look any bigger.</em>
    <em>There’s a 200MP, 1/1.56-inch-type main camera; a 50MP, 3.5x periscope; and a 50MP ultrawide.</em>
    <em>Xiaomi’s own Xring O3 chip powers the phone, supposedly delivering similar performance to a Snapdragon 8 Elite.</em>
    1/6
    You get a 7.58-inch inner screen, with a squat 5.38-inch outer one.
    Photo: Dominic Preston / The Verge
    Dominic Preston
    Dominic Preston
    Packard Bell is back, and more colorful than ever.

    Acer, which has owned the historic PC brand since 2008, has resurrected it in a line of cheap, cheerful, and exceedingly colorful hardware, ranging from a 14-inch laptop to a portable food steamer. It all goes on sale in Q4 this year, though for now it’s only hitting the market in Europe.

    <em>The €499 DotBook is the most expensive part of the lineup by far.</em>
    <em>So colorful!</em>
    <em>The DotLine is a 4G feature phone, while the DotLook glasses have speakers but no camera.</em>
    <em>These are the DotBass headphones.</em>
    <em>This suitcase vinyl player has built-in LED speakers, but Bluetooth out too.</em>
    <em>Weirdest of all, a portable mini-steamer for reheating leftovers, in partnership with Steasy.</em>
    1/6
    The €499 DotBook is the most expensive part of the lineup by far.
    Photo: Dominic Preston / The Verge
    Dominic Preston
    Dominic Preston
    A smaller Atlas handheld.

    Alongside a laptop / handheld hybrid concept, Acer is expanding its Predator Atlas line with a smaller 7-inch model. The Windows 11 handheld comes with up to an Intel Arc G3 Extreme CPU and Arc B390 GPU. It’s due in Q4, after the Atlas 8 releases this month. Pricing for both remains unknown.

    <em>The Atlas 7 is another gaming handheld that runs Windows 11.</em>
    <em>The 7-inch IPS-level touchscreen is FHD, with a 120Hz refresh rate.</em>
    <em>Ports include two Thunderbolt 4, microSD, and a headphone jack.</em>
    <em>It’s smaller than the Atlas 8, but still a sizeable handheld.</em>
    1/4
    The Atlas 7 is another gaming handheld that runs Windows 11.
    Image: Acer
    Get ready for a really busy month of smartphones

    Xiaomi, Apple, Huawei, and more are all launching flagship phones this month.

    Dominic Preston
    The Galaxy Z Flip 8 is at its best when there’s friction

    8

    Verge Score

    The cover screen feels more like a phone than ever, but the limitations are still what makes it.

    Dominic Preston
    Dominic Preston
    Dominic Preston
    Three 200-megapixel cameras? In this economy!?

    That’s what the fairly reliable leaker Digital Chat Station thinks Oppo has planned for its Find X10 Pro Max, tipped to launch in either September or October. It’s a different approach to the Find X9 Ultra, which leaned into a 10x periscope lens to stand out.