It’s that time again, Richard, one of our in-house device experts takes a look at the new phones that are rumoured to be hitting the market soon. We bring you news of a few exciting handsets today and we’ll be thinking about how these will affect the world of development and what it means for testing and QA.
BlackBerry Key2
After the success of BlackBerry’s first traditionally styled Android KeyOne last year, BlackBerry’s official Twitter account posted a teaser for an upcoming event on 7th June where it apparently plans to unveil ‘An icon reborn’, which most people are predicting to be the BlackBerry Key2.
Rumoured features appear to be up to the standard of current Android devices available on the market, keeping its expected price at a reasonable sub £500. Additionally, a rear dual camera is confirmed, however the features this may include are purely speculation.
Rumoured release: June 2018
Rumoured features:
- Dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz and 5GHz)
- Eight-core Snapdragon 660 processor with 6GB RAM
- Physical QWERTY keyboard
- Convenience Key is likely
What to look out for in testing:
It will be interesting to see how many web forms and applications deal with different ‘soft’ keyboard requests when the BlackBerry Key2 has a physical qwerty keyboard. Particularly when issues have already arisen around dial pad (number only) fields allowing BlackBerry users to input special characters. Despite the success of the KeyOne, BlackBerry still hasn’t seen the resurgence they’d hoped for, and testing on their devices in our experience is rarely requested. Will the Key2 change this?
Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium
Like many of this year’s flagship handsets, this phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 platform and there’s 6GB of memory with the additional 64GB of storage. Sony claims the speakers are the “loudest Xperia speakers ever”, accompanied by Sony’s S-Force surround sound tech.
The most talked about feature is the dual cameras on the back of the phone, the key one is a Motion Eye 19 megapixel camera with a 25mm wide Sony G lens f1.8. There’s a 1/2.3-inch Exmor RS sensor. Then there’s a black and white 12 megapixel camera, again with a 1/2.3-inch Exmor RS sensor and a Sony G Lens f1.6.
According to Sony, the phone offers the “world’s highest ISO sensitivity video recording in a smartphone”, an incredible 12,800 for video and 51,200 for photos.
Rumoured release: Summer 2018
Rumoured features:
- 4K HDR display
- 6GB of memory
- Sony’s S-Force surround sound tech
- Sony G Lens f1.6.
- 960fps super slow-mo and Steady Shot stabilisation
What to look out for in testing:
While the phone offers many improvements, there aren’t many new features to look out for, but if it’s as popular as the original XZ, it’s likely to make regular appearances on our project device lists.
Apple iPhone XI or iPhone X2
The official name of the new iPhone has not yet been confirmed, whether it’s called the iPhone XI or iPhone X2 is up for speculation. It’s suspected to launch in September this year with many eager Apple loyalists anticipating its release being announced at the next Apple smartphone-focused event, which routinely takes place in September.
A few interesting features that are currently rumoured include the estimated 25% larger battery on the 6.5-inch version and the exclusive use of Intel modems rather than Intel & Qualcomm combinations; supporting faster mobile data speeds and consisting of a dual-SIM card slot.
Rumoured release: September 2018
Rumoured features:
- Face ID
- 6.5-Inch model with a battery of around 3,300/3,400mAh
- In-screen Touch ID
- Dual front-facing speakers
What to look out for in testing:
The iPhone XI/X2 will undoubtedly be a flagship model and rumours of removal of the controversial “notch” is making the fan base very happy. During testing here at Zoonou, the notch has led to multiple cosmetic issues being observed for applications that did not account for it on the iPhone X.
For more information on our Device lab and the large range of devices we have available to test on, please see our Device Lab page. For more details on our compatibility testing service please contact us at info@zoonou.com and one of our team will get back to you. If you’d like to get in touch about anything else, please head over to our Contact page.
Points raised in this article are based on general rumour and should not be used as actionable advice until specifications are confirmed.
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Published by Richard King
on the 29th May 2018
Test Analyst at Zoonou