Samsung says that it plans to release a patch for its phones’ in-display fingerprint sensors as early as next week, after reports emerged that the biometric security method could be rendered useless by certain screen protectors. The issue relates to some “silicone screen protecting cases,” according to Samsung, and affects the Galaxy S10, S10 Plus, and S10 5G, as well as the or Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10 Plus.
According to the company, the issue is caused by the phones’ ultrasonic fingerprint sensor incorrectly reading 3D patterns in the screen protector as fingerprints. As a result, any person could then unlock a phone wrapped in such a case, creating a security issue.
Until the patch is available, Samsung is advising users not to use any such covers. It says users should remove the cover, delete any previously-registered fingerprints, and then re-register them without the cover applied. If you’re using the screen protector that came pre-applied to your phone then you should be fine. But for everyone else, it couldn’t hurt to try and unlock your device with a non-registered fingerprint, just to check.
In the right circumstances, there’s nothing wrong with a minor spec bump, especially when it comes just six months after the device it’s improving on. That’s exactly what OnePlus has done with the £699 OnePlus 7T Pro, a newly upgraded version of the OnePlus 7 Pro from earlier this year. It’s coming to Europe and Asia but not the US.
If you’ve already read The Verge’s OnePlus 7T review, you’ll know what sort of improvements to expect from the Pro model. There’s a new macro camera mode, a bigger battery, and the phone’s processor is also slightly faster at rendering graphics. There’s nothing mind-blowing here, but it’s also a list of improvements that’s been added without having to make any compromises.
Then again, if you’ve already read our OnePlus 7T review, you’ll also know that we called that phone “the best of the 7 Pro, for less” because with it, OnePlus took the Pro’s super-slick 90Hz refresh rate, and included it on a device that costs between $70 and $100 less. The OnePlus 7T Pro is objectively a better phone than the OnePlus 7 Pro, but it’s now got much stronger competition from its own maker in the form of the OnePlus 7T.
The OnePlus 7T Pro is a very similar device to the OnePlus 7 Pro that was released earlier in the year. In fact, if you go back and read our OnePlus 7 Pro review from May, almost all of the points still apply to this new device.
In particular, the 7T Pro’s OLED screen is every bit as stunning as it was on the 7 Pro. It’s still got a super-smooth 90Hz refresh rate, it’s still super crisp, colorful, and bright, and it still curves elegantly around the edges of the device. It’s also still completely notchless, thanks to the phone’s small 16-megapixel pop-up selfie camera and an in-display fingerprint scanner that’s still wicked fast.
When it comes to the changes OnePlus has made to the new phone, they can be a little hard to quantify. Take the processor spec bump as an example. OnePlus has equipped its latest device with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus processor, which, in theory, means it’s 15 percent faster at rendering graphics.
Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. It’s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we’re going to start counting exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don’t read and definitely can’t negotiate.
While you’re setting up the OnePlus 7T Pro, you need to agree to the following in order to use your phone:
Additionally, there are a couple of optional agreements that you need to get past during setup:
Participation in the User Experience Program
System stability reporting
Push notifications for surveys and product updates
Built-in app updates for the phone, contacts, and settings apps
That leaves us with four mandatory agreements and four optional agreements for the OnePlus 7T Pro.
In practice, however, the actual improvement is hard to discern. What I will say is that I never once experienced slowdown while using the phone. The recently released Call of Duty: Mobile ran brilliantly, despite the phone’s high-resolution 1440p display, and there were no hiccups as I switched between apps. Is this an improvement over the 7 Pro? It’s hard to say, but I’m certainly not complaining.
It’s a similar story when it comes to battery life. The OnePlus 7T Pro has a 4,085mAh battery, which is technically a whole 85mAh more than the 7 Pro. Does this make a measurable difference? Who cares. What matters is that I struggled to drain the phone by more than 50 percent in a day. When I let the phone run down to zero, I found that it lasted me from 8AM until 4PM the following day. These were two comparatively light days of usage filled with mainly email reading and Twitter browsing, but you get the idea.
The OnePlus 7T Pro uses the company’s new Warp Charge 30T, which is apparently 23 percent faster than the Warp Charge 30 standard found in the 7 Pro. It works well, and it could charge my device quickly without it getting excessively warm. When charging a completely powered-down device, I found that I got 28 percent of charge after just 12 minutes, 46 percent after 20 minutes, 96 percent after an hour, and I was left with a fully charged device roughly one hour and five minutes after plugging it in. It’s still a bummer that OnePlus is using its own proprietary fast-charging technology (so you won’t get these same results from third-party chargers), but at least it works well.
The camera hardware inside the 7T Pro is basically unchanged from the 7 Pro, so I’m not going to spend too much time covering old ground. We went over this triple-camera array pretty extensively in our original 7 Pro review as well as when we compared it to the Pixel 3A. Suffice it to say, you’ll get reasonable photos out of the OnePlus 7 Pro, but they won’t be class-leading like the Pixel’s photos.
That’s not to say the camera is completely unchanged, though, because the OnePlus 7T Pro has inherited a couple of tricks from the 7T. There’s a new macro mode that will let you focus on objects that are as little as 2.5cm away, and the Nightscape mode now works when you’re using the wide angle camera. Both modes produce reasonable images, but it’s nothing mind-blowing.
In terms of software, you’re getting the same OxygenOS-flavored version of Android 10 that was present on the OnePlus 7T, and you can get a full rundown of its features in our previous review.
The OnePlus 7T Pro is every bit the great phone that the One Plus 7 Pro was when it released earlier this year. While a lot of upgrades — like its bigger, faster-charging battery and faster processor — are minor, none of them come with any noticeable downsides. In pretty much every way, the 7T Pro is a better device than the 7 Pro was — although the difference is small enough that I don’t think any 7 Pro owners out there need to worry about upgrading.
It’s a better device, but I don’t know if that means it’s the better purchasing decision. Last time around, you basically had to buy the OnePlus 7 Pro if you wanted its lovely high refresh rate screen. But this time, you can get a 90Hz display on the OnePlus 7T, and it costs £150 less. Sure, if you opt for it, you’ll have to put up with a notch, a lower resolution display, and a screen that doesn’t curve around the edges of your device, but those seem like reasonable compromises considering the price difference. There’s also the recently announced Google Pixel 4. At £669, it doesn’t offer you as much savings, and it’s got much bigger screen bezels, but given Google’s track record, it could get you a better camera.
The OnePlus 7T Pro is a high-spec phone with a reasonably good camera at a price that’s still cheaper than many other flagships. I don’t think it’s quite the steal it was now that the OnePlus 7T has inherited what I think is the 7 Pro’s best feature, its 90Hz refresh rate. But if you want to make sure you’re getting the absolute best phone that OnePlus currently produces (and one of the best smartphone screens, full stop), then the 7T Pro could yet earn its price premium.
Photography by Jon Porter / The Verge
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Google’s Pixel 4 sure seems like the best in the series to date, but the company isn’t giving owners of its previous devices a break when it comes to trade-in values. Even if you have a maxed-out Google Pixel 3 XL that debuted just a year ago, the Google Store trade-in will only value your device at $295.
Nomad case for Pixel 3
If you head over the Google Store and try to buy Google’s Pixel 4 or Pixel 4 XL, you’ll see an option during checkout to trade in your current smartphone to get the newer hardware. Not all devices are accepted, but it includes major brands including Google’s own Pixel lineup, Apple iPhones, Samsung devices, and more.
Google advertises this program as offering up to $400 off your Pixel 4, which is actually not too bad, but it’s a bit painful to see that not a single one of Google’s previous flagships are eligible for that amount.
Even if you have a Google Pixel 3 XL with 128 GB of storage in pristine condition — the top tier of last year’s lineup, it should be noted — Google will only give you $295 for your trade-in. That value just continues to plummet at $260 for the 64 GB, and a maximum of $250 for the smaller device. Things are even worse for older Pixels, where a top-tier Pixel 2 XL only grabs $158.
Want to trade-in for a Pixel 4? You’ll get a maximum of $295
Considering that T-Mobile is literally offering matching bill credits — effectively making a Pixel 4 free — with the trade-in of a previous Pixel device including the 3, this is a really pathetic offering from Google. Still, it’s not too far from what most people would get by selling through a third-party. Looking at Swappa, Pixel 3 XL devices are selling for as little as $275.
Making matters just a bit more insulting, you can trade-in an iPhone XS Max for $600 or an iPhone X for $395. Google should really take notes from Samsung if it wants to move phones.
The cloth is stiff enough for headset duty, but it's flexible.
This makes loading the phone a snap. Just slam it in wherever and close the flap.
Moving the phone back and forth across the nubs moves the image.
Different nub contact point, different image center point. You'll never do this during normal usage, but it was a cool demo.
The face cushion pops off with velcro.
The inside of the device without the cushion.
The remote. The front has a trackpad, action button, and home button.
The back has a "G" logo and lanyard holes.
The store/platform interface is quite easy to use, in VR or out.
Google Street View is a lot more impressive in virtual reality.
YouTube already has a wide variety of 360 degree videos that work well in VR.
Wonderglade is a collection of four extremely simple mini-games appropriate mainly for very young children.
VR Karts is a bog standard kart racer that gets tiresome extremely quickly.
The simple block sliding puzzles of Mekorama are cute, but they don't really gain much from VR.
Looking at and creating beautiful 3D panoramas in Google Photos VR is the closest thing Daydream has to a killer app.
Google's big hardware event happened yesterday, which saw the announcement of the Pixel 4, Pixelbook Go, Nest Wi-Fi, Nest Home Mini, and new Pixel Buds. While the "Made by Google 2019" event was going on, Google was quietly shutting down enough products that it could have also held a mini "Killed by Google 2019" event that same day. Pour one out for the Google Daydream VR headset and the Google Clips camera.
Google Daydream now sleeps forever
Google Daydream View launched in 2016 and was Google's swing at proper phone-based virtual reality. Like the Samsung and Oculus collaboration Gear VR, the Daydream View was a cheap, light, "dumb" headset that featured VR lenses and little else. You slotted a smartphone into the front, and the phone switched to a VR mode, rendering a stereoscopic image that was blasted into your eyeballs through the lenses. You already have an expensive smartphone, so why not dip your toe in the VR waters with a cheap $100 headset.
Google originally experimented with phone-based VR with Google Cardboard, but the Daydream View added key features, like a head strap, a controller, and a material that wasn't literal garbage. Unlike Cardboard, Daydream made it so you'd actually want to stay in VR for more than 5 minutes. There was even a second-generation Daydream View headset released in 2017.
The Daydream View, and it seems like Google's VR phone ambitions in general, are dead. Not only is the Daydream View no longer for sale in Google's Store, but the Pixel 4 isn't compatible with Daydream headsets. Daydream support has mostly died in the Android ecosystem, too. Despite support from Samsung, LG, Motorola, Asus, and Huawei, Daydream support is no longer included on current flagships. Ironically, the Pixel 4's 90Hz display would have offered one of the best phone VR experiences available, as a higher frame rate would have been significantly more comfortable than the 60Hz or 72Hz that most phone displays run at in VR mode. Oculus and Valve both recommend at least 90 frames per second for comfortable VR.
In a statement to Engadget, Google gave a post-mortem on the project.
We saw a lot of potential in smartphone VR—being able to use the smartphone you carry with you everywhere to power an immersive on-the-go experience. But over time we noticed some clear limitations constraining smartphone VR from being a viable long-term solution. Most notably, asking people to put their phone in a headset and lose access to the apps they use throughout the day causes immense friction.
There also hasn't been the broad consumer or developer adoption we had hoped, and we've seen decreasing usage over time of the Daydream View headset. So while we are no longer selling Daydream View or supporting Daydream on Pixel 4, the Daydream app and store will remain available for existing users.
We're investing heavily in helpful AR experiences like Google Lens, AR walking navigation in Maps, and AR in Search that use the smartphone camera to bridge the digital and physical worlds, helping people do more with what they see and learn about the world around them.
With Google quitting the market, phone-based VR is essentially dead. Samsung and Oculus quit supporting the Gear VR with new devices, too, choosing instead to focus on standalone headsets that basically take all those phone parts and make them a permanent part of the headset.
Google shutters Google Clips
Google Clips has been removed from the Google Store, marking the quiet death of one of Google's more head-scratching product releases over the years. Clips was an action camera that... took pictures for you? It didn't have a viewfinder—you just set it up somewhere and relied on "AI" to decide what moments were important enough to take pictures of. Did we mention it was two hundred and fifty dollars? It was two hundred and fifty dollars.
The device was panned in reviews for poor image quality and for not recording sound for its video clips. I can't imagine using it for a genuinely important event without being filled with picture anxiety. Is this thing actually working? Will it really capture this one important moment? I also don't get the idea here: if you think an auto-recording camera is valuable, why not just write a smartphone app?
Google Clips was just one of those schadenfreudian products that seems like a bad idea on paper, seemed like a bad idea when it was announced, was poorly reviewed, and then flopped in the market. It's the definition of a DOA product that will not be missed.
Google frequently dips its toes into new markets, and while it's easy to declare that the juggernaut of a company will dominate any new market it chooses to step into, more often than not, that just isn't the case. It's far more likely that the company either goes to market with an unpopular idea or just loses interest in something that is popular—but not popular enough for a company that is used to having billions, not millions, of users.
Google's frequent product shutdowns make any new Google product tough to immediately jump behind when it is unclear just how committed the company is to any new project. The recent lack of confidence in Google's brand is something the company is having to deal with most recently for Google Stadia, where many users and industry experts openly wonder how long Google will stick it out in the gaming realm.
According to a post on Microsoft's community forum, KB4517389 included Intel Display Driver Update 26.20.100.7157 and led to a variety of poor user experiences. One user on Reddit reported Chrome becoming blacked out and Edge crossing out images and search boxes while another user on Twitter reached out to Microsoft Support after observing pixelation issues.
Let's check all the possible factors that's causing the issue after the update, Sai. We have to know the troubleshooting steps that you've done on your end first, so we can skip those and proceed with the things that you haven't done yet.
Although the problem with display glitches is inconvenient, it doesn't appear to render affected machines completely inoperable. As a result, this provides users the opportunity to simply roll back the driver update to avoid the issue until the offending update is automatically downloaded again. However, you can now pause updates for up to 35 days if you've installed the May 2019 Update as follows:
Press Win + I (for India)
Click "Update & Security"
Click "Pause updates for 7 days"
Repeat to pause updates for up to 35 days as desired
Of course, if you want to resume updates for your affected machine, simply click on "Resume updates" on the Windows Update screen which will then force an immediate check for available updates. In the meantime, Microsoft has yet to acknowledge the issue but users may be able to obtain a later driver directly from their device manufacturer to remedy the problem.
The Samsung Galaxy S10's fingerprint reader has been balky from day one, with users reporting it could be unlocked with a 3D-printed fingerprint. Worse, a buyer recently discovered that if you install a third-party screen protector, a non-registered user could unlock the phone. Now, Samsung has acknowledged the problem and promised to patch it soon, according to Reuters.
"Samsung Electronics is aware of the case of the S10's malfunctioning fingerprint recognition and will soon issue a software patch," the company told Reuters in a statement. The problem has been deemed serious enough that an online bank in South Korea, KaKaobank, has advised owners to switch off fingerprint recognition until it's resolved.
It's not clear what's causing the problem, but the Galaxy S10 uses an ultrasonic sensor to detect fingerprint ridges. Plastic or silicon screen protectors can stymie it, so Samsung has been recommending that buyers used approved protective devices. That doesn't explain why the system is allowing access to non-registered fingerprints, however, so Engadget has reached out to Samsung for more information.
Samsung originally told UK publication the Sun, which first reported the issue, that it was looking into the issue. Until a patch comes, you could use Samsung's face unlocking, but that has had its own issues. For now, maybe just use a good old code.
Update 17/10/2019 5:52 AM ET: Samsung told Engadget that "We're investigating this internally. We recommend all customers to use Samsung authorized accessories, specifically designed for Samsung products."
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If you were planning to play Stadia games on your computer or phone while using its official controller, you'll have to get used to being tethered to your device with a USB-C cable. The Google Stadia controller's wireless capability will only work on TV with a Chromecast Ultra at launch, the tech giant has revealed in a fine print on a Stadia video. A Google Community Manager handling the Stadia subreddit has confirmed the information and also clarified that you'll need the official controller to play games through Chromecast Ultra.
Since the Stadia controller only uses Bluetooth for setup and connects via WiFi for gameplay, you truly can't use it without a cable at first. It's still not clear when wireless play will be available for the other Stadia-compatible devices, but the tech giant told The Verge that it's focusing on getting wireless right on TV first to make the big screen gaming experience as good as possible.
Google's Stadia game streaming service will debut on November 19th in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. The Stadia Founder's Edition will set you back $130 and will come a controller, a Chromecast Ultra and two three-month Stadia Pro subscriptions.
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
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