What you need to know

• Leaked renders reveal a modular design for the Fairphone 6, allowing for easy replacement of components.
• The Fairphone 6 is expected to feature a new design with flat edges and a distinct neon-themed power button, available in black, white, and green color options.
• The Fairphone 6 is rumored to launch on June 25th starting at €549, and could include a 6.31-inch pOLED 120Hz display, Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, and a 4415mAh battery.

Fairphone is expected to launch its sixth sustainable phone next week. And ahead of the release, we now have the alleged device in renders showcasing its design and prominent features.

Per the render images shared by Roland Quandt through WinFuture, it reveals the alleged Fairphone 6 in three colorways including black, white, and green. While the colors appear to be familiar to the previous iteration, the design of the phone itself is notably different. Irrespective of the colors, there is some sort of neon-themed power button, which at first glance is similar to previous Pixel phones, like the Pixel 3.

We will likely see more flat edges, and the protruding camera visor is ditched in favor of an individually placed camera system at the back.

Per the leaked marketing images of the alleged Fairphone 6, we should be seeing a back cover right under the camera sensors featuring just a couple of screws. When unscrewed, users are likely to be greeted with an option to remove the battery as well as it isn’t attached to the device with the help of glue but rather with additional screws.

The publication further notes that the same process is likely to be applied to the cameras, display, and speaker module — all serving the purpose of the sustainable phone, which the Fairphone 6 aims to be.

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The device is set to launch on June 25 starting at €549, and the specifications of the upcoming Android handset include a 6.31-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, along with Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 under the hood paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB built-in storage, which is further expandable through microSD for up to 2TB.

A 4415mAh battery capacity is expected to power the Fairphone 6 with support for 33W fast charging. Optics on the handset should include a 50MP primary sensor, 13MP secondary sensor, and a 32MP selfie shooter. Lastly, the Fairphone 6 is supposedly having a Class “A” certification for both reparability and durability, according to EU standards.

Shares of electronic design automation company Cadence Design Systems (CDNS -10.44%) dropped late Wednesday, finishing the day down 10.4%.

Cadence is just one of a handful of companies that makes the software semiconductor designers use to design chips. With the increasing variety of chips and number of chipmakers proliferating over the past decade, it has been an excellent business.

However, a Financial Times article published late Wednesday said that the Trump administration may cut off these companies’ Chinese revenues.

Will the Trump administration cut off China?

Late on Wednesday, the Financial Times said the Trump administration’s Commerce Department has instructed Cadence, along with its oligopoly competitors Synopsis and Siemens EDA, to stop selling their software to China.

Image source: Getty Images.

The past couple of presidential administrations have been grappling with how to slow China’s advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology, without hurting U.S.-based chipmakers that also sell into China’s massive market. Past administrations have already cut off the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China, but if the FT article is correct, it appears the Trump administration may be attempting to cut the leading chip design software technologies off as well.

In its most recent annual report, Cadence stated that China made up about 12% of its revenue, down from 17% in the prior year. So, it’s perhaps no wonder Cadence’s stock is down by roughly the same percentage today.

Shareholders should sit tight

It’s hard to draw conclusions from this late-day FT piece, but it appears that the market may already be pricing in a worst-case scenario already, given the sudden double-digit decline.

That said, Cadence was an expensive stock to begin with, as shares were trading at 82 times trailing and 47 times forward earnings coming into the day.

As is the case with most leading chipmakers and semiconductor-oriented names, these are generally high-quality businesses with strong growth outlooks on the back of the AI boom; however, that means they are also vulnerable to geopolitics. It makes for a volatile brew.

That being said, Foolish investors shouldn’t shy away from chip stocks, as semis have been the best-performing sector over the past decade.

What you need to know

• Motorola announced its new Edge 2025, which boasts a 6.7-inch Super HD pOLED display, the MediaTek Dimensity 7400 chip, and a 50MP primary camera.
• The device is also the recipient of a new AI key, which lets users quickly surface Moto AI for on-screen content suggestions, custom playlists, and more.
• The Edge 2025 will be available on June 5 for $549 at Best Buy, Amazon, and Motorola.com.

Surprise; Motorola’s not done with its flurry of phone launches, as this next one is a series you might recognize.

Today (May 27), Motorola announced the launch of the Edge 2025 smartphone. Similar to the Edge phones of old, Motorola has continued to feature the curved-glass 6.7-inch Super HD pOLED display. However, the company states its newest display technology should give users roughly 13% “more resolution,” as well as 120Hz refresh rate.

The Moto Edge 2025’s display isn’t the only thing that’s upgraded, as Motorola highlights the device’s “redefinition” of protection plus design.

With that, the device features MIL-STD-810H (military standard) certification. Motorola states this should help protect the Edge 2025 from “extreme temperatures, up to 1.5-meter drops, and high-altitude locations.” Joining this is something to help the 6.7-inch display: Corning Gorilla Glass 7i.

This enhancement lends its strength to better protect the display from scratches and impacts.

The back of the Moto Edge 2025 sports a stylish soft leather finish, which is where another key bit of information dwells.

Cameras & Moto AI

The latest Edge features a triple rear camera array with a lead-off 50MP Sony LYTIA 700C primary camera. Motorola calls this its most “capable” camera array yet. With the Sony LYTIA sensor, the post states users can take more “vibrant” and “bright” shots in low-light scenarios. Joining this main sensor is the Edge’s 50MP ultrawide with Macro Vision built in.

Macro Vision enables users to take shots up to 2.5cm away from their target with clarity. Moreover, this camera’s strength is a notable upgrade from the 13MP ultrawide on the Edge 2024. There’s also a 10MP telephoto camera with Super Zoom capabilities. Another important upgrade is with the selfie camera, which Motorola says has jumped to 50MP from the past generation’s 32MP.

Moto AI is also showing up for users in a big way. The suite brings its Photo Enhancement Engine to the triple camera array to “reduce noise, accentuate details, and improve dynamic range.” Additionally, Moto AI lives right in the Edge 2025’s new AI Key.

Pressing this key will surface features like “Next Move,” which can give intelligent suggestions based on what’s on your screen. Users can even leverage this to create a custom playlist to match what they see. “Catch Me Up” will summarize missed notifications, “Pay Attention” concerns recordings and transcriptions, while “Remember This” will reportedly memorize key pieces of information present in your photos, like dates.

Most of the Edge 2025’s functionalities are enhanced further by MediaTek’s Dimensity 7400 SoC.

The Cutting Edge

Moto’s AI additions include Google Photo’s suite of photo editing tools, Gemini Live, and Circle to Search.

Elsewhere, the Edge 2025 sports a 5,200mAh battery to keep you scrolling for roughly two days on a single charge. This will, of course, be dependent on a multitude of factors, so your length between charges may vary. This battery is paired with 68W fast charging and 15W wireless charging capabilities.

Those interested in purchasing the Edge 2025 will find 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for photos, videos, and more.

The Moto Edge 2025 is available “universally unlocked” on June 5 for $549. Consumers can look for the phone at Best Buy, Amazon, and Motorola.com. The post states you may also find it at T-Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile, Total Wireless, Visible, Spectrum, and Xfinity Mobile “in the coming months.”

Consumers in Canada will also find the Moto Edge 2025 on June 5.

Google Pixel devices are one of the few smartphones that you can readily identify from far away. The camera housing, whether a full bar on older Pixels or the newer oval shape, is immediately recognizable. That’s why when Google ditched the iconic camera bar on the most recent Pixel 9a, it made waves. Some people love the move, but many more seem to hate it.

The company originally gave Android Central a few reasons it decided to make the Pixel 9a nearly flat at the camera bar’s expense. Improved thermal performance, a larger batter capacity, and the need to give the Pixel 9a its own personality were at the top of the list.

Now, Google has more to say on the change in a blog post.

“We wanted to have a physical interpretation that would match the personality of the device,” said Soniya Jobanputra, a Pixel product manager.

Contrary to what you might think after seeing the Pixel 9a online or in photos, the camera bump isn’t flush — it’s referred to as a “dome” by the company. The design is said to mimic a water droplet, like the Pixel Watch 3 design. However, industrial designer Yomi Matsuoka notes that “if you put a case on it, there’s no bump at all.”

It turns out that the Pixel 9a wasn’t guaranteed to ditch the camera bar, or the more recent camera oval. It tested a few of them in experiments that “focused on [the camera bump’s] overall form and appearance as well as certain shapes’ ability to withstand drops and impact.” Eventually, the company settled on the Pixel 9a camera bump design we have today.

The reception to the Pixel 9a’s design is odd

People aren’t thrilled with the Pixel 9a’s design, according to multiple social media posts. One user described their take on the phone, saying it “kinda looks like a colored brick with a weird camera shape.” As someone with a Pixel 9a review unit, I’m qualified to say that take isn’t exactly wrong. What’s unusual about the public reception to the Pixel 9a’s design is that Google seemingly gave customers exactly what they asked for.

The idea of removing the camera bump in favor of adding more battery has been around seemingly since the dawn of smartphones. More specifically, since phones universally accepted the idea of non-removal batteries and large camera bumps protruding from their rear casing. If you don’t believe me, one Redditor pondered whether phones should just get thicker instead of sporting camera bumps six years ago on the Google Pixel subreddit.

More battery instead of camera bump? from r/pixel_phones

This specific thread isn’t an outlier, either. Multiple times per year, the concept of making phones thicker to incorporate more features and longer battery life trends on social media.

This time, Google actually listened. It made the Pixel 9a thicker, added more battery life, and swapped out camera sensors. The phone measures 8.9mm, has a giant 5,100mAh battery, and has an almost-flat design. On paper, the Pixel 9a — with multi-day battery life and a utilitarian design — should’ve impressed enthusiasts who have been clamoring for this kind of thing for the better part of a decade.

The takeaway here isn’t that the Pixel 9a design is perfect, because it’s absolutely not perfect. It’s boring and lacks the character that made Pixel phones popular in the first place. However, the design satisfies a long list of requests by smartphone buyers made for years, and that proves consumers don’t always know that they want.