Samsung has a new 1200 PPI AMOLED display for virtual reality

While Samsung hasn’t said anything about a standalone Gear VR that would work with a built-in display instead of requiring a smartphone’s screen, the company has certainly been very active in making AMOLED displays for virtual reality. At the SID 2018 exhibition last week, Samsung unveiled its most pixel-dense VR display yet: a 2.43-inch panel with a resolution of 3840×2160 pixels, which amounts to a pixel density of 1200 PPI.

Standalone Gear VR headset in the works?

Samsung had three different panels on display (pun unintended) at the show. The other two were 3.5-inch and 3.2-inch panels with 1440×1600 and 1824×1824 resolution, equating to pixel densities of 616 PPI and 806 PPI. Seeing those panels up there makes us wonder if Samsung is working on standalone virtual reality headsets across different price ranges. It’s just speculation on our part, and the company could simply be showing off its display technology as display makers are wont to do, but Gear VR (or Galaxy VR, as Gear-branded devices are expected to be dependent on a smartphone or tablet) headsets with different specs and prices would be a nice way to get things going for its standalone headset.

But, again, this could just be Samsung showcasing its advances in VR displays, though the 1200 PPI panel seems to have reached that density by reducing the display size while increasing the resolution. That makes it less impressive than the 4.3-inch VR OLED display that LG has introduced with a pixel density of 1443 PPI, which was also showcased at the same event.

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Galaxy S9 May update seems to have fixed the black crush (color banding) issue

Since launch, the Galaxy S9 and S9+ have been plagued with minor issues that angered a lot of users. Most prominent among them are the call glitches and display color banding issues. While Samsung has issued multiple updates to fix the calling problems, the Galaxy S9’s color banding issue hasn’t been addressed so far.

Thankfully, with the May update, Samsung seems to have fixed the Galaxy S9’s color banding issues as well. Though Samsung hasn’t officially mentioned the fix in the update changelog, affected users have noticed the change after the update and posted the same on the company’s help forums. Samsung might have intentionally omitted to mention the fix in the changelog as doing so would amount to an official acknowledgment of the problem.

The update is not available in all the markets yet

For those unaware, the color banding issue, also known as the black crush, refers to a phenomenon where the screen has trouble displaying shades of dark accurately. It results in a grainy or a pixelated picture with blocks of black which is immediately apparent when watching dark images or videos. The problem is not entirely new as even some of the previous Galaxy flagship smartphones were affected by this as well.

The May update, which is either XXU1BRE5 or XXS1ARE6 depending on market, started rolling out to the Galaxy S9 and S9+ earlier this month. However, the update hasn’t been released in all markets yet. If we go by Samsung’s track record with monthly updates, it may even skip this update in some countries. If that’s the case, Galaxy S9 users in those countries can expect to get the black crush fix with the next update, whenever that rolls out.

If you have received the May update on your Galaxy S9 and S9+, do let us know if it has fixed the color banding issues for you.

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Galaxy A3 (2017) Oreo update might be causing random reboots and bootloops for some users

For all the time Samsung has taken to get the Android 8.0 Oreo update for its devices out the door, it’s rather unfortunate that it hasn’t been an entirely smooth ride. The Galaxy S8’s Oreo update was halted because of a random reboot issue encountered by some users, and the same problem was later discovered in the Oreo update for the Galaxy S7. While Samsung has since resumed the updates for both its 2016 and 2017 Galaxy S flagships, it turns out random reboots and bootloops might also be affecting Oreo on the Galaxy A3 (2017).

Public Wi-Fi networks to blame for the random reboots?

GalaxyClub has heard from a few users that their Galaxy A3 (2017) either got stuck in a bootloop right after the update or started restarting on its own. Pretty much what Galaxy S7 and S7 edge users faced after upgrading to Oreo, indicating a serious underlying problem in Samsung’s generic code for the latest version of Android.

That’s apparently just the bootloops, though. Some users on the Samsung Community forums say the reboots happen when connected to some Wi-Fi networks, such as those supplied by the eduroam international roaming service for students in European universities. At least one user says the phone works fine on his or her home Wi-Fi network, so public Wi-Fi networks like eduroam may to be to blame for the reboots.

But while one can avoid connecting to such Wi-Fi networks, those who have their phone stuck on a bootloop after installing Oreo aren’t so lucky. Samsung had suggested Galaxy S7 owners to take their device to a local support center to get it fixed without losing all data, but there’s no guarantee the data will remain intact.

Those who cannot hop down to a support center can attempt to fix the device through recovery, which also requires a data wipe. To make it worse, the company hasn’t acknowledged the issue yet, although one of the forum moderators has asked a user for more details so we should hear something soon.

Refrain from installing the update if you haven’t already

In the meantime, you should refrain from installing the update if you haven’t already, until there’s an official all-clear from Samsung. The fixed update would be different from the one currently going out, but since there is no confirmation yet on whether the rollout has stopped, it’s best to steer clear if you have a Galaxy A3 (2017).

Have you run into issues on Oreo on your A3 (2017)? Let us know in the comments!

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Galaxy S7 Oreo update rolling out in Nordic countries

The Galaxy S7 Oreo update has been taking its sweet time to make its way to Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge owners, who have been getting more and more impatient as the months have gone by. Samsung released the Oreo update for the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge a month ago in the UK, halted its rollout to fix a serious issue, then resumed soon after, but the company has been quite slow at expanding availability of the update to other regions. For those in Sweden and other Nordic countries, though, the wait is now coming to an end, a week after Samsung released Oreo for the Galaxy S7 in its home country.

Galaxy S7 Oreo update rolling out in Nordic countries

We have received tips from a couple of users who say the update is available in Sweden. Samsung usually releases major updates to countries in the Nordic region around the same time, and there’s no reason that won’t be the case this time around as well. Only the Galaxy S7 seems to be getting the update right now, but the Galaxy S7 edge is likely to join the party soon. It’s a 1.2 GB download that gets you the new Samsung Experience 9.0 UX (though not every feature from the Galaxy S8 and later flagships is included). The build number is G930FXXU2ERE8, the same as the update that released for the UK earlier. The security patch date, meanwhile, is April 1.

Have you received the Oreo update on your Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge? Let us know by leaving a comment; do tell us your country as well, and if you haven’t already, you can check if the update is available by going into the Software update menu in the phone’s Settings app.

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Exclusive: Samsung Galaxy A9 Star may be launched in these markets

It has now been confirmed that the Samsung phone with the iPhone-like rear camera placement is called the Galaxy A9 Star, and it will be launching in China at some point. The Galaxy A9 Star isn’t just different when it comes to the design, though. It has 24-megapixel and 16-megapixel sensors in the dual camera setup at the back, which is higher than anything Samsung has put out before. There’s even a 3,700 mAh battery that drives the Super AMOLED Infinity display on the phone, so this phone has a few features that make it a rather attractive proposition. And, from what we have learned from our sources, the Galaxy A9 Star won’t be limited to just the Chinese market, at least not forever.

Galaxy A9 Star headed to more Asian markets

We have been able to obtain a list of countries where the Galaxy A9 Star could launch, and it’s comprised of mostly countries from Southeast Asia. The non-Chinese version carries model number SM-G885F (the Chinese version is SM-G8850), and the fact that it’s listed on the Samsung Vietnam website pretty much confirms that a launch outside China is in the pipeline. Whether the name will remain unchanged across various markets remains to be seen. Samsung will probably stick to Galaxy A9 Star in markets where the Galaxy A9 or Galaxy A9 Pro were launched, though that’s just guesswork on our part.

Here’s the list of countries where Samsung is planning to launch the Galaxy A9 Star:

• CAM – Cambodia
• MM1 – Singapore
• MYM – Thailand (MPT, Mectel)
• SIN – Singapore (SingTel)
• STH – Singapore (StarHub)
• THL – Thailand
• XID – Indonesia
• XME – Malaysia
• XSP – Singapore
• XXV – Vietnam

It’s a rather short list that might not expand later on, although we will know more once the Galaxy A9 Star is officially launched in China and the rest of the countries listed above. Pricing remains the most important question. With the Galaxy S Light Luxury – the Galaxy S8 Lite – costing a bomb for what it offers, the Galaxy A9 Star may not be very sensibly priced, either.

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