Android News: New Galaxy S10 Leak, Nokia 9's Monster Camera, OnePlus 5G Fights OnePlus 7

Taking a look back at seven days of news and headlines across the world of Android, this week’s Android Circuit includes five lenses for Nokia, six lenses for Samsung, a new OnePlus 5G handset, leaked images of the Pixel 3 Lite, the UK’s first Mi Store from Xiaomi, and Microsoft’s latest fitness feature in its Android launcher.

Android Circuit is here to remind you of a few of the many things that have happened around Android in the last week 

How Many Lenses?

While the Galaxy S10 likely to make up the bulk of Samsungs’s high-end handset sales in 2019, the South Korean company is focusing on two more models to showcase its innovative talent. As well as the Galaxy F folding smartphone, more details came out this week of a monster six-lensed cameraphone.

The headline changes are head-turners. Samsung’s Beyond X will have six cameras, a massive 6.7-inch display and built-in 5G. This will make the Beyond X (release name unknown) Samsung’s biggest and, arguably, most ambitious flagship to date. It will sit above the regular 5.8-inch Galaxy S10, a 6.4-inch Galaxy S10+ and a new ‘flat’ budget Galaxy S10 designed to take on Apple’s iPhone XR.

As for the six cameras, two are expected to be on the front with four on the rear. Standard, optical zoom and wide-angle lenses seem logical but the role of the fourth lens is unclear. That said, renowned Samsung insider Ice Universe recently tweeted that boardroom pressure is mounting to reclaim the smartphone photography crown it has conceded to Apple and Google in recent years.

Six Lenses For An Even Closer Shave

Samsung is not the only company working with multiple lenses in its smartphones. The latest leaked details of the Nokia 9 suggest that an even more complicated camera is coming out of Finland.

OnePlus Prepares A Challenger To The OnePlus 7

Given the historical rhythm, the geekerati are expecting OnePlus to release the OnePlus 7 at some point in late Q2. But that might not be the next handset from the Shenzhen-based manufacturer. There’s a motive (5G networks), there’s an opportunity (with a US network), and as OnePlus grows as a company, there is a means to explore further growth, 

T-Mobile will be looking to launch 5G in the US during 2019. If OnePlus has a 5G handset, and T-Mobile is looking for a 5G handset, there is a clear opportunity.

Curiously, this handset is not going to be the presumptively named OnePlus 7… the 5G handset is going to kick off a new line from OnePlus.

Pixel 3 Lite Images Leak

The rumors of a ‘lite’ version of the Google Pixel have been building this week with leaked specs and images showing up online. It appears that the handset is sporting a SnapDragon 670, backed up by 4GB of RAM and 32GB of on-board storage. It may also ship with a 2915mAh battery, USB-C, and a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack. Ben Schoon reports:

Courtesy of Rozetked.me, a Russian publication who also leaked the Pixel 3 XL ahead of launch, we’re seeing the device known as “Sargo.” We’ve heard the “Sargo” codename just in the past couple of weeks too alongside “Bonito.” The report refers to this device as the Pixel 3 Lite, but there’s nothing to back up that this is what Google’s branding for the device is.

At first glance, this device looks a whole lot like the Pixel 3 family, especially the smaller model. There are some pretty huge changes here, though, including the fact that the entire phone is built from a plastic material instead of the metal and glass that make up the Pixel 3.