Mobilkanal Phone Guide

Buying a phone in South Africa means thinking about a few things buyers elsewhere rarely worry about: registering your SIM under RICA, coping with power cuts, and choosing between contracts that can run for two years. Consumer law is strong, though, and knowing your rights can save you money. This guide covers what is specific to the South African market. 1. RICA: register your SIM Under the RICA law, every SIM card in South Africa has to be registered to a person. When you buy a new SIM or a phone on contract, you will need your ID or passport and proof of address. Without RICA registration, a SIM will not work. If you are buying a second-hand phone, it is your SIM that needs to be registered, not the phone, but make sure the seller has removed their accounts from the device. 2. Plan for power cuts Load-shedding has eased compared with its worst years, but outages still happen, and long ones can affect coverage when mobile towers run out of backup power. Two things help: a phon...

Samsung's 2026 calendar was busier than usual. Alongside the expected Galaxy S26 family and the summer foldables, the company put a three-panel Galaxy Z TriFold on sale at the very start of the year, added a larger "Ultra" version of the Fold, and kept refreshing its affordable A and M lines. Eleven distinct models carry a 2026 release date, and taken together they tell a clear story about where Samsung is heading. Three themes stand out. First, chips: Samsung's own Exynos 2600, built on a 2nm process, returns to the regular S26, S26+ and Z Flip8, while the S26 Ultra and the big folds use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Second, batteries: the budget models are the endurance champions this year at 6,000 mAh, while the flagships stay between 4,300 and 5,000 mAh. Third, charging: Samsung is still cautious here, with 25W on the smaller phones, 45W on most of the range and 60W reserved for the S26 Ultra. Every model with a listed refresh rate runs at 120Hz, so s...

Buying a phone in Ireland comes with a few advantages: prices include VAT, EU roaming rules work in your favour, and consumer protections are strong. There are also a couple of local quirks, like roaming across the border into Northern Ireland and patchy coverage in parts of the west. This guide covers what is specific to buying a phone in Ireland. 1. Compare the full cost, not the monthly price You can buy a phone on a bill-pay plan that spreads the cost of the handset, or buy it outright and pair it with a SIM-only or prepay plan. The honest comparison is the total: any upfront cost plus the monthly price for the full minimum term. Many SIM-only and prepay plans in Ireland are cheap and flexible, so buying the phone outright often works out well over two years. 2. Prices include 23% VAT The standard VAT rate in Ireland is 23%, and it is already included in the price you see. That is one reason a phone can look cheaper in a US listing, where tax is added at checkout. If you ord...

New Zealand is a small market with big distances. Prices are simple because tax is included, and consumer law is on your side, but coverage can change dramatically once you leave Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch. This guide covers what is specific to buying a phone in New Zealand and the checks worth doing before you pay. 1. Coverage first: it changes fast outside the main centres In the cities, all three networks perform well. In hill country, on rural roads and in holiday spots, the picture can be very different, and the best network for one valley may not be the best for the next. Before you commit to a plan, check each network's coverage map for the places you actually spend time, not just your home address. Low-frequency bands help here. The 700 MHz band travels further and gets into buildings better, so a phone that supports it is a safer choice if you live or travel outside the main centres. For 5G, the main mid-band is n78, around 3.5 GHz. 2. Three networks, seve...

Tecno's Camon line has always been the brand's camera-focused series, and the Camon 50 Ultra, released in March 2026, takes that idea seriously with a 3x telephoto and a 50MP selfie camera. It also stands out for something else: it is one of the lighter large-screen phones in its class. So is the Tecno Camon 50 Ultra worth buying ? This guide looks at the specifications listed in the mobilkanal database and what they mean for daily use. The key specs at a glance Screen: 6.78-inch AMOLED, 144Hz. Chip: MediaTek Dimensity 7400 with 12 GB of RAM. Storage: 256 GB. Battery: 6,500 mAh with 45W charging. Cameras: 50MP main with OIS (Sony Lytia LYT-700C), 8MP ultra-wide, 50MP 3x telephoto with OIS; 50MP selfie. Body: plastic with a metallic look, 178 g. A real camera phone at mid-range level The Camon 50 Ultra lists three rear cameras. The 50MP main camera uses the Sony Lytia LYT-700C sensor with OIS, a good basis for detailed daylight photos and steadier night shots...

"What is the fastest phone?" sounds like a question with a single answer. In practice it rarely is. Speed on a phone comes from several parts working together, and two phones with the same chip can feel quite different after a few months of use. This guide explains what actually makes a phone fast, which chips sit at the top of current spec sheets, and how to match "fast" to the way you really use your phone. The chip sets the ceiling The processor, or system-on-chip, decides how much work a phone can do at its peak. It combines the CPU cores that run apps, the GPU that draws games and animations, and dedicated units for photos and AI tasks. In the current generation, three families dominate the high end: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 – found in phones such as the Poco F9 Ultra, Honor Magic9, Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, Xiaomi 17 Ultra and the gaming-focused nubia RedMagic 11S Pro. MediaTek Dimensity 9500 – used in the Xiaomi 17T Pro, vivo X300s and Oppo ...