High-speed Samsung microSD cards heavily discounted on Amazon.com

If you’re looking for a microSD card for your smartphone or any other device that accepts SD cards, Amazon.com has nice discounts running on Samsung’s Evo Select microSD cards at the moment. 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB variants are all available for a considerably lower price than what they normally cost.

Higher the storage, bigger the discount

For $60 (40 percent off), you can pick up a 256GB class 10 card. If you own a Galaxy Note 9, you can pick up two of these for a much lower price than what Samsung’s new 512GB card is expected to cost. Don’t need all that storage? You can grab a 128GB card for $25 (also a 40 percent discount). Both 128GB and 256GB cards have read and write speeds of 100 MB/s and 90 MB/s respectively.

If you want to go even lower, the 64GB card can be yours for just $14 (39 percent off). The read speeds remain the same, but you will have to make do with 60 MB/s write speed. The 32GB card, meanwhile, is available for $7, which is 30 percent off its regular price. This one has read and write speeds of 95 MB/s and 20 MB/s respectively, so it’s a basic card fit for basic needs.

Every EVO Select Samsung microSD card comes with a 10-year warranty. To buy one from Amazon, just hit the links below.

Buy Samsung EVO Select microSD card: 32GB | 64GB | 128GB | 256GB

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Samsung’s AR Emoji feature isn’t optimized enough for budget and mid-range phones

Samsung has been quite serious about bringing new camera features from its latest flagships to existing devices. AR Emoji, which debuted on the Galaxy S9, is now supported on the Galaxy S8, Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy A8 Star, and the Galaxy A7, just to name a few. It also made its way Samsung’s budget lineup with an update to the Galaxy J7 Duo, and we can rest assured we will see AR Emoji on new Galaxy devices across various segments in the coming months.

I just hope Samsung plans to optimize AR Emoji to make it less cumbersome than it is at the moment.

AR Emoji has too much lag and stutter

On the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 9, AR Emoji works great. It doesn’t work great in terms of how well the emojis it creates look like your real self, because it’s only a software trick that doesn’t take long enough to make realistic digital avatars of the user. But the process of creating AR Emojis is a quick affair on the S9 and Note 9, with even real-time mapping possible. On devices like the Galaxy A7 or Galaxy J7 Duo, however, there’s an enormous amount of lag when an emoji is being created. The same goes for the Galaxy Note 8 as well.

Even the general interface itself has stutter when it’s playing out animations, like zooming in on the face after you have gone through the initial process of clicking your picture and selected your gender. Perhaps the feature requires considerable processing power despite being just a software trick, which might be why no existing device got the ability to change your facial expressions in AR Emoji in real time. But as it stands, AR Emoji is simply too slow on non-flagship devices.

And I know AR Emoji is a gimmick, that some of you will point out that it’s not worth any serious discussion. But if Samsung is bringing the feature to more and more of its devices, especially existing ones and those in the budget range, the company needs to optimize the underlying code. It’s great to see the latest update for a device bring AR Emoji support with it, but it’s no use if the actual procedure of using it is slow enough to turn people off from ever trying it again.

Do you use AR Emoji on a Galaxy phone that is not a flagship device? Do you agree with my opinion that it is too slow and unoptimized?

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Fresh SM-W2019 images reveal the new flip phone in all its glory

Samsung has a new flip phone in the pipeline that it’s going to launch in the coming weeks. Some fresh SM-W2019 images have surfaced online today. They show off the device in all its glory. We have previously seen some leaked images of this device as well. It appears to be quite similar in design to its predecessor, the SM-W2018.

The company is yet to confirm when this device will be unveiled. Whenever it arrives, it will only be available in South Korea and China. Samsung doesn’t launch its flagship flip phone widely as there’s not a lot of demand for it in other markets.

Fresh SM-W2019 images surface online

The SM-W2019 has already hit China’s main certification agency. This suggests that the official launch may not be that far off. Samsung announced its predecessor in December last year. It’s highly likely that we may get an official announcement for this phone around the same time this year.

The flip phone will have two Full HD resolution AMOLED displays. There will be the Snapdragon 845 processor under the hood. These images also show us that the device will have a dual rear camera. It should come with some camera software features like the Scene Optimizer as well.

Samsung’s flip phone is meant to be a premium device. We can see that it’s fashioned out of metal and appears to have a solid build. It does look and will certainly feel like a premium device. On the software front, it will most likely ship with Android 8.1 Oreo. The device would eventually receive an update to Android 9 Pie as well but who knows how long that’s going to take after it’s released.

The company will soon be confirming the official pricing and availability details for this device. It may not be more than a few weeks now before all of the details about the SM-W2019 are divulged by Samsung.

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Galaxy S6 update rolling out, brings October 2018 security patch

The Galaxy S6 crossed its three-year software support period earlier this year, but as is par for the course, that isn’t stopping Samsung from releasing a new security update for the device. The Galaxy S6 is getting an update in South Africa at the moment, carrying software version G920FXXU6ERI1 and the October 2018 security patch.

Galaxy S6 October security update released

Since the Galaxy S6 is almost four years old, the new security update is unlikely to reach many markets. Samsung only updates its devices past the support period when it’s necessary. For example, South Africa’s last Galaxy S6 update came out in May, while the device was updated with the June patch in some markets later on. The October update doesn’t seem to be available for the Galaxy S6 edge just yet, but it’s probably not far behind and will make the jump to the newer software in the coming days.

You can download the Galaxy S6 October security update from the Software update menu in the phone’s Settings app. As usual, we have the related firmware available in our firmware section for those who don’t want to wait for the over-the-air release. Do let us know if the update makes any notable changes once it has been installed on your Galaxy S6 (or Galaxy S6 edge).

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[Poll] Galaxy S9 will run in DeX mode without the dock on Android Pie

The Oreo update for the Galaxy S8 brought support for turning the phone’s display into a trackpad, removing the need for an external mouse to use the DeX Station. Then the Galaxy Note 9 came out with the ability to run in DeX mode with just a USB Type-C to HDMI cable, a feature the Galaxy Tab S4 supports as well. And thanks to Android Pie, DeX mode will be coming to the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+.

Galaxy S9 will offer desktop experience without a DeX dock on Pie

Leaked Android Pie firmware for the Galaxy S9 and S9+ have revealed a number of features that will be introduced with the next major upgrade for Samsung flagships. The ability to offer a desktop-like experience without Samsung’s DeX station or DeX Pad is one of them. We can already see it in action on a Galaxy S9+ thanks to a video published by XDA Developers, and it seems to work just as well as it does on a Galaxy Note 9. That’s not surprising as both the S9+ and Note 9 have the Exynos 9810/Snapdragon 845 SoC and 6GB RAM inside.

The regular Galaxy S9 should also be getting the feature despite having only 4GB RAM, as the Galaxy Tab S4 has the same amount of RAM and manages to run in DeX mode just fine. Of course, it remains to be seen if built-in DeX mode will make more people use the feature on the Galaxy S9 or S9+. In fact, we here at SamMobile have been wondering just how many folks use Samsung DeX, so we have added a poll below that you can use to let us know. Don’t forget to leave a comment to give us more of your thoughts on DeX.

Do you use Samsung DeX?

• Nope, my DeX dock is lying unused for a long time now
• I do, but not very often
• Never did, never will
• Yes, all the time
• Might use it once my Galaxy S9 gets Android Pie

Results

• Nope, my DeX dock is lying unused for a long time now 33%, 1 vote
  1 vote 33%

  1 vote - 33% of all votes
• I do, but not very often 33%, 1 vote
  1 vote 33%

  1 vote - 33% of all votes
• Never did, never will 33%, 1 vote
  1 vote 33%

  1 vote - 33% of all votes
• Yes, all the time 0%, 0 votes
  0 votes

  0 votes - 0% of all votes
• Might use it once my Galaxy S9 gets Android Pie 0%, 0 votes
  0 votes

  0 votes - 0% of all votes

Total Votes: 3

31 October 2018

×

You or your IP had already vote.

• Nope, my DeX dock is lying unused for a long time now
• I do, but not very often
• Never did, never will
• Yes, all the time
• Might use it once my Galaxy S9 gets Android Pie

×

You or your IP had already vote.

Results

Galaxy S9

• Model: SM-G960F
• Dimensions: 147.7 x 68.7 x 8.5mm
• Display: 5.8” (146.5mm) Super AMOLED
• CPU: Exynos 9810
• Camera: 12 MP, CMOS OIS (F1.5/F2.4)

More specifications

Galaxy S9+

• Model: SM-G965F
• Dimensions: 157.7 x 73.8 x 8.5 mm
• Display: 6.2” (158.1mm) Super AMOLED
• CPU: Exynos 9810
• Camera: 12 MP, CMOS Dual OIS (F1.5/F2.4) & Telephoto: 12MP AF F2.4)

More specifications

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Samsung promises foldable and 5G phones as mobile division disappoints

Samsung posted record profits in Q3 2018 which were largely contributed by its semiconductor division. This has been the case over the past few years. Samsung’s mobile division hasn’t contributed significantly to its record profit run. It’s a similar story in Q3 2018.

The company revealed today that its mobile division has reported a drop in earnings “despite solid sales of its flagship smartphones.” It attributed the decline in earnings and profit due to a decrease in sales of mid- to low-end products. Overall smartphone shipments remained flat this past quarter.

Foldable and 5G phones to diversify Samsung’s lineup

The mobile division earned 24.77 trillion won or $22 billion in revenue in Q3 2018 with just 2.2 trillion won or $1.9 billion in profit. That’s almost a billion dollars less in profit made during the same period last year.

Samsung doesn’t provide shipment figures in its earnings releases. However, it says that shipments remained flat in the quarter as increased competition in the affordable segment decreased sales.

The company now has a new strategy in place to try and regain its strong footing in the affordable segment. It blames the overall profit decline for the division on increased promotional costs as well.

Samsung predicts that its smartphone shipments will increase in the fourth quarter due to the year-end peak season. It predicts increased demand for newer models like the Galaxy A7 and Galaxy A9. Earnings are forecasted to take a dip owing to increased marketing expenses. Samsung expects competition to intensify across all segments of the market next year.

The company says that it’s going to work harder to expand the sales of its premium handsets through a diversified lineup. It also promises to improve its competitiveness in the mid- to long-term by launching foldable and 5G phones.

We may get a peek at Samsung’s foldable smartphone at SDC 2018 next week but it may not arrive until early next year. The 5G smartphone may also be due for an early 2019 release. Clearly, the company needs to do more in order to improve the performance of its mobile division.

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