Samsung isn’t just working on its upcoming premium Galaxy S25 series. The company is also revamping its mid-range and budget devices in the Galaxy A lineup. Samsung recently launched the Galaxy A16 5G with flagship-level software support. Another upcoming device will be the Galaxy A36 5G, whose design has been leaked in renders.

The leaked renders, courtesy of Giznext and @Onleaks, show that the Galaxy A36 5G’s design will deviate from the guidelines Samsung has been using on its latest mobile devices. While the look is still clean and minimalist, it’s now a bit less so thanks to a camera module around the rear sensors.

Samsung will revamp the design of its mid-rangers with the Galaxy A36 5G

Over the past couple of years, Galaxy phones have opted for a module-less rear camera design. In other words, Samsung arranges each sensor independently, leaving no connection between them. However, according to the leaked renders, the Galaxy A36 5G will break the trend by surrounding the rear cameras with an elongated pill-shaped module.

Perhaps Samsung is looking for a way to further differentiate its budget devices from premium ones. Another possibility is that this design is a preview of what we will see in all future smartphones from the company. The leaks about the Galaxy S25 series have already shown its look, and it will not follow this line. Anyway, let’s not rule out seeing something similar in the future Galaxy A56 5G.

Another notable change in the design of the Galaxy A36 5G is the presence of a punch-hole for the front camera. Previous models of the Galaxy A3x lineup used a U-shaped notch, which made them look “cheaper.” The changes will result in a more modern and attractive look for the company’s next-gen Android midranger.

The rest of the design elements of the Galaxy A36 5G are similar to its predecessor. There are flat sides and relatively reduced bezels around the display. The bezels are not the same on all sides, as the bottom one is still a bit thicker. It also retains the “key island” design for the volume and power button area.

Some expected specs

According to the report, the Galaxy A36 5G (SM-A366B) will have dimensions of 162.6 x 77.9 mm. An octa-core chipset, potentially the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 or the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, will power it. It would also have 6 GB of RAM and the Adreno 610 GPU. Lastly, a 120 Hz AMOLED display with an integrated optical fingerprint reader could be on the specs list too.

Move over Sony, Canon is trying to take the lead in bleeding-edge tech for mirrorless cameras. The company’s new $4,300, 45-megapixel EOS R5 II offers advanced features like eye-tracking autofocus (AF) that can’t be found on any recent Sony model. The new camera is also pushing Sony’s A1 and other models in the key areas of speed, video and autofocus. And it’s arguably more desirable than Canon’s own upcoming flagship R1 as it has nearly double the resolution.

I’ve had the R5 II for a few weeks, evaluating not only its practicality and speed for both professionals and serious amateurs, but also how it stacks up against Sony’s A1, the gold standard for high-resolution mirrorless cameras. And frankly, I’m impressed.

Canon

The EOS R5 II is Canon’s best camera in years thanks to improvements in key areas like autofocus and video.

Advertisement

Pros

• Fast shooting speeds
• Canon’s best autofocus yet
• Powerful video capabilities
• Good image stabilization

Cons

• Still overheats for high-res video

$4,299 at Adorama

Design and handling

I love the handling of Canon’s mirrorless cameras and the EOS R5 II may be its sweetest design yet.

The body and controls are very similar to the R5, apart from a couple of changes. Canon moved the power switch to the top right where it’s easier to access, and added a dedicated photo/video switch on the left. The company gave photo and video modes their own settings, making it much easier to jump from one to the other. Canon also made a rare change to its menu system, adding a new olive green tab for control customization. This new tab also contains the settings for eye control AF tracking.

Otherwise, the R5 II’s layout is similar to its predecessor. That’s a good thing, as the control placement is the most natural of any camera I’ve used, from the comfortable grip that provides a secure place to hold, to the nicely tactile controls that fall perfectly to hand.

Moving to the displays, the R5’s 2.1-million-dot fully articulating rear touch screen was already sharp and easy to use, so Canon didn’t mess with that. The R5 II has the same sharp 5.76-million dot OLED electronic viewfinder as before, but the company boosted the brightness and redesigned the optics to accommodate the new eye control autofocus.

The R5 II supports CFexpress Type B cards for capturing 8K RAW video, along with SD UHS II if you’re okay with cheaper and slower media. Other key features include headphone and microphone ports, a full-sized HDMI input and a USB-C port for charging and transfers. Canon also released three new battery grips, including one with a cooling fan that extends video shooting times, as I’ll discuss soon.

I’m a big fan of the R5 II’s design, and my pro photographer friend agreed, saying that like most Canon products, the R5 II’s ergonomics are so good the device is comfortable to hold for long periods of time. He also said he slightly preferred the R5 II’s handling to his Sony A9 III and A1 cameras, thanks to how easy it is to use with one hand.

Performance

The EOS R5 II offers a blend of speed and resolution that rivals and sometimes even surpasses the Nikon Z8 and Sony A1. That’s mostly due to the new stacked 45-megapixel sensor and updated Digic X processor to crunch all those pixels.

The R5 II can shoot bursts at up to 30 fps in electronic shutter mode with a blackout-free view. That’s slower than the R1, but I’ll trade a small hit in performance in exchange for the extra resolution. I was able to capture about 100 RAW frames before the buffer filled. Speeds drop to 12 fps with the mechanical shutter, but there’s rarely any need to use it because there’s no issue with rolling shutter distortion – thanks to the stacked sensor. The R5 II’s new pre-capture mode can record up to 15 photos when you half-press the shutter. That’s great for photojournalists or wildlife photographers who may otherwise miss a shot by a fraction of a second.

Canon’s “Dual Pixel” autofocus has always been good, but on the R5 II it’s the best I’ve ever seen. When shooting bursts with a subject biking toward the camera, 80 percent of my shots were in focus. And the EOS R5 II now tracks animals, birds and vehicles, on top of faces, eyes and bodies of people.

The camera also has a couple of new autofocus tricks, including one called action priority. That keeps the AF focused around the ball in three specific sports: volleyball, basketball and soccer. I didn’t notice any particular AF improvement, as my hit rate seemed to be about the same without it, but dedicated sports photographers might see the difference.

Another new function keeps the tracking point on your subject even if someone crosses in front of them. That did seem to work well most of the time, but it would occasionally wander off and lock onto someone else.

When Canon launched the R5 II and R1 in July, it introduced pre-registered person priority AF that lets your camera memorize up to ten specific people, like star athletes for instance. This feature functioned as advertised, switching AF to a registered person and tracking them instead of other people in the scene.

Finally, I tested Canon’s famous eye control AF that detects where the photographer is looking and moves the subject tracking point there. This is an undeniably cool feature and has improved compared to the first implementation on the EOS R3, but is still too unreliable for professional use.

In fact, the pro photographer friend I mentioned pointed out that though eye control feels futuristic, it’s still a bit too flakey for paid gigs where focus reliability is paramount.

On the R5 II, in-body stabilization is the best I’ve seen on any Canon camera, keeping the sensor rock-steady for handheld shooting, with up to 8.5 stops of shake reduction. It was so reliable that I never felt the need to carry a tripod when using slow shutter speeds.

I’ve always found Sony cameras to be slightly superior to Canon when it comes to autofocus and speed. I can no longer say that, as the EOS R5 II is very even with Sony’s latest models. My Sony-using photographer friend agreed, saying he couldn’t see any real difference between the R5 II his A1 or A9 III.

Image quality

Image quality on the R5 II is largely the same as the R5, and that’s a good thing. The 45-megapixel sensor produces photos as good as or better than the Sony A1 at a much cheaper price, and compares favorably to Nikon’s similarly priced Z8.

When shooting in RAW mode at lower ISOs, the R5 II offers good dynamic range in high contrast bright and dark scenes. Like other stacked sensor cameras, though, there’s a bit more noise than with regular CMOS sensors. Quality also drops slightly in electronic shutter mode, so it’s better to use the mechanical shutter in tricky lighting conditions.

High ISO performance isn’t too bad for such a high-resolution camera either, with noise staying under control up to ISO 12,800. After that, the R5 II doesn’t quite measure up to models like the Nikon Z7 II or Sony A7R V, as both of those offer cleaner images with less grain.

If you don’t want the hassle of processing RAW, JPEG rendering is excellent straight out of the camera, with well balanced sharpening and noise reduction. For low-light shooting, skin tones are flattering at all ISO settings, and the best among all cameras in this price range.

One new notable feature on the R5 II is the AI-powered upscaling applied after the photo is taken. The result isn’t quite as good as a dedicated app like Topaz, but it’s not bad considering it’s in-camera processing.

Video

The original EOS R5 would have been a darn near perfect video camera if not for its pesky overheating issues. Canon has improved this to a degree with a new passive cooling design and $400 fan grip. With those updates, heat is only really an issue at the highest resolutions (8K 60p and 4K 120p). However, these limitations are less severe on the rival Nikon Z8.

Aside from the heating issue, the EOS R5 II has impressive specs. It can shoot up to 8K 60p and 4K 120p video, but does so with far less rolling shutter than the R5, again thanks to the new stacked sensor. The camera now has Canon Log 2 (CLog 2) capability that allows for higher dynamic range capture than the R5.

Video autofocus is outstanding at all resolutions, with rapid acquisition of the subject and reliable tracking. Face- and eye-detection work very well, and I only occasionally noticed AF lag with fast-moving subjects.

As for stabilization, I could shoot smooth footage while handheld in optical mode with no crop, provided I didn’t move the camera too much. Digital stabilization allowed for more movement while only cropping in a touch, and the enhanced setting let me shoot smoothly while walking with a 1.5x crop. Panasonic’s S5 II is still the best in this regard, but the R5 II is close behind.

As for quality, video on the EOS R5 II is extremely sharp, particularly with supersampled 4K HQ. Other 4K modes are subsampled, but nearly as sharp. Rolling shutter is well managed, so you won’t really notice it unless you do whip pans or jostle the camera while shooting.

Canon’s excellent color science delivers warm skin tones and accurate colors. RAW video allows lots of room for adjustments in post, while the CLog 2 brings dynamic range up to 14 stops to enable shooting in contrasty conditions. With all this, the Canon R5 II is now my go-to camera for shooting video — even over Sony and Panasonic models.

Wrap-up

The $4,300 EOS R5 II is Canon’s best camera in years, thanks to improvements in key areas like autofocus, video, shooting speeds and overall feel. Newly introduced tech like eye control AF is less useful, but it’s still nice to see Canon try to innovate, and the feature should improve in subsequent models.

The R5 II is up against some great competition in this price range, especially the $4,000 Nikon Z8 that holds its own against this camera in most situations. However, Canon’s autofocus is slightly faster and more reliable, and I greatly prefer the R5 II’s handling. The only other full-frame option with a stacked sensor and similar resolution is the Sony A1, which costs $2,200 more.

The main issues with the R5 II are overheating, the wonkiness of action priority and unreliable eye control autofocus. However, it now stacks up extremely well against Sony’s A1 in terms of speed and autofocus, while offering superior stabilization and handling. Which one you choose may simply come down to brand preference or existing lens collection.

Social networking startup Bluesky, which just reported a gain of half a million users over the past day, has now soared into the top 5 apps on the U.S. App Store and has become the No. 2 app in the Social Networking category, up from No. 181 a week ago, according to data from app intelligence firm Appfigures. The growth is entirely organic, we understand, as Appfigures confirmed the company is not running any App Store Search Ads.

In addition, the growth is not limited to the U.S. market, either. A number of countries are showing four-digit growth in downloads, compared to last Wednesday, leading Bluesky to enter the top 10 in countries like Japan, Thailand, and Taiwan, where it’s No. 1; Hong Kong, where it’s No. 2; Canada and South Korea, where it’s No. 4; and Singapore, where it’s No. 8.

While data on the app’s growth on Google Play is delayed, the early indications are that it’s rising there, too. At 4 AM EST, the app moved from No. 100 on the Android app store to No. 5 in the Social Networking category and is continuing to climb.

Appfigures can’t yet account for Bluesky’s claimed half a million new users over the course of a day, but its estimates do confirm a massive growth spurt. So far, the firm is seeing 197,000 new installs on the App Store on Thursday, up from just 3.4K the day prior. The majority of those — 80K, or 40% — came from the U.S. Japan also contributed with 53K installs (27%), and downloads have grown by 4 digits in around 90 total countries, Appfigures tells TechCrunch.

As to what’s driving the surge, there are likely several factors working in combination.

On X, users are understandably upset over the company’s decision to change how the block function operates. Soon, users with public accounts can have their X posts viewed by anyone, including those they’ve blocked, unlike before. Blocked users will only be prevented from engaging with those posts by liking, replying, and reposting, for instance. That introduces a safety issue for many who use the platform but face harassment and abuse, and for some, it was the final straw.

In addition, X updated its Terms of Service and Privacy policy this week, giving it the right to share X user data with third parties, including those companies developing AI models.

X may also still be feeling the effects from the earlier Brazil ban, though lifted, which saw some active users from that region making the shift to Bluesky, possibly pulling their followers with them.

Plus, Bluesky could be benefitting from the moderation issues plaguing Threads, which saw users getting their accounts banned or their posts downranked for no reason. (Meta had partially attributed the problem to internal software used by Threads’ moderators.)

In any event, X isn’t yet feeling the impacts of the changes, adding 17K more downloads between Tuesday and Thursday. However, the app is no longer in the U.S. App Store’s top 10, now sitting at No. 29. The Elon Musk-owned app is seeing a mild downward trend, Appfigures says, but this is in line with the entire news category in the U.S. App Store being down 8.4% this year.

Bluesky has seen big surges before, including when it opened its doors to the public after a long invite-only phase and more recently, when Brazil banned X, driving half a million new users to the social networking startup over the first two days of the ban, and more in the days that followed.

Google’s NotebookLM now lets you customize its podcast-like Audio Overviews. Before you generate a discussion using the note-taking app, you can give your AI hosts instructions about what topic you’d like them to focus on, or even tailor their discussions for different audiences.

Google launched NotebookLM’s Audio Overviews last month, with two AI hosts that offer a “lively” discussion of your research. The company notes that its Audio Overviews aren’t meant to be a “comprehensive or objective overview of a topic” and are “simply a reflection of the sources that you’ve uploaded and any instructions you provide.”

To customize the chat, open up a notebook in NotebookLM, select “Notebook guide,” and then navigate to the “Deep dive conversation” option. From there, hit “Customize,” and enter instructions that you want your AI hosts to follow. NotebookLM will then generate a conversation based on the directions you’ve provided.

In addition to taking the “experimental” label off NotebookLM, Google is introducing background listening for Audio Overviews, allowing you to listen to the AI hosts’ discussion while you work in other areas of the app. Last month, Google also added the ability for NotebookLM to dig deeper into YouTube videos with transcriptions.

You can buy a lot for $15,000 even in this day and age – that fee could bag you 54 years of Netflix Premium, about 94 pairs of Nike sneakers or even a Caddy (albeit one of the, ahem, slightly less commercially successful models). Or, it could buy you the huge chunk of analog hi-fi heaven you see in the image above – and I’ll bet it tracks just as smoothly…

What you’re looking at is Pro-Ject’s latest flagship turntable masterpiece, the Signature 12.2. It weighs over 80 lbs – the platter alone comes in at 23lb – and comprises over 100 “high-precision CNC-machined parts”.

Donald Trump has claimed he received a phone call on Thursday from Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook, in which the tech boss shared concerns about the European Union.

He says Mr Cook told him he was concerned about recent financial penalties issued by the EU, which ordered Apple to pay Ireland €13bn (£11bn; $14bn) in unpaid taxes in September.

Mr Trump, who is running as the Republican candidate for the upcoming US Presidential Election, made the claim in a podcast released on Thursday.

The BBC has asked Apple for a response.

Mr Trump told presenter Patrick Bet-David in his appearance on the PBD Podcast that Mr Cook had called him a few hours prior to complain about fines the company was forced to pay after breaching EU rules.

He said Mr Cook had told him about a recent $15bn fine from the EU, to which Mr Trump said he responded “that’s a lot”.

“Then on top of that, they got fined by the European Union another $2bn,” Mr Trump continued, “so it’s a $17-18bn fine.”

Apple and the Irish government lost a long-running legal dispute over unpaid taxes in September.

The EU’s highest court upheld an accusation by the bloc’s legislative arm, the European Commission, that Ireland gave Apple illegal tax advantages.

Mr Cook described the Commission’s findings as “political” and said Ireland was being “picked on” in 2016.

The European Commission fined Apple €1.8bn several months earlier in March for allegedly breaking music streaming rules, in a win for rival service Spotify.

According to Mr Trump, the Apple chief executive went on to make a remark about the EU using the money received via antitrust fines to run an “enterprise”.

Antitrust fines paid by firms which breach EU competition rules go towards the bloc’s general budget and “help to finance the EU and reduce the burden for taxpayers,” the Commission’s website states.

A Commission spokesperson said antitrust fines are designed to sanction companies that have breached competition rules, as well as deter them and others from engaging in anti-competitive behaviour.

“When determining the amount of the fine, the Commission considers both the gravity and the duration of the infringement,” they told BBC News.

“All companies are welcome in the EU, provided they respect our rules and legislation.”

Mr Trump said he told Mr Cook he would not let the EU “take advantage of our companies”, but he needed to “get elected first”.

The former president has spent some of his campaign trying to woo prominent tech figures, with Tesla and X (formerly Twitter) boss Elon Musk among those backing Mr Trump.

He also said he spoke to Google boss Sundar Pichai earlier this week, and claims to have had multiple calls with Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg in August.

Mr Musk and the heads of several large tech firms have criticised the EU’s approach to regulating their platforms.

The bloc has set of rules and requirements that firms must comply with in order to offer digital products and services in the region.

These include the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and its Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act.

Its two digital laws aim to rein in powerful “gatekeeper” tech companies, provide more choice for consumers and protect users of online platforms or services from illegal or harmful content.

Apple has previously claimed that opening up services including its app store to third parties, as required by the DMA, could be bad for users.

The EU’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act, passed earlier this year, also created concern for some tech firms in regulating products according to their risks.

It will also make producers of general purpose AI systems be more transparent about data used to train their models.

Meta executive Nick Clegg recently said that “regulatory uncertainty” in the EU was behind the delayed roll out of generative AI products there.

Apple has also said its own suite of generative AI features will not be coming to iPhones in the EU when they become immediately available elsewhere.