5G

The FCC has certified several new Google smartphones ahead of the release of the Pixel 4a (5G) and Pixel 5. A new leak has detailed the prices and colours of both devices in Europe too.

Today (September 1, 2020), Samsung has launched the Galaxy Z Fold2 5G for a number of markets worldwide, Germany included. This means we finally get to find out how the premium device is priced in various different regions. The new foldable has a recommended price of over €1900, in one European country at least.

Realme has unveiled the eye-catching new X7 series of smartphones today (September 1, 2020) today during a virtual event in China. This launch also introduced a new member of the V line, which is also powered by a MediaTek Dimensity chipset. However, its specs allow for pricing that starts at just 999 yuan (~US$146).

mmWave is a sub-type of 5G associated with the potential for ultra-high speeds. However, it is also lumbered with a perception of being unreliable due to weak reception. Qualcomm, Ericsson and Casa Systems seek to change that with its latest claim of a data call using these bands conducted over a distance of nearly 4 kilometers (km).

Huawei has been rumored to release the first phone with HarmonyOS - its contingency against the loss of access to Android - out of the box by the end of 2020. However, the CEO of its Consumer Business Group has reportedly confirmed that this will not be the case. Speaking at a Chinese conference, the executive indicated that this plan might be implemented in 2021 instead.

LG’s innovative twist-out ‘Wing’ phone will be coming to market as soon as this fall. Moreover, it will be priced at around US$1,000 which seems reasonable for a device sporting two displays.

The ninth console generation is rapidly approaching. However, with the rise of more powerful mobile hardware and the major strides made in terms of thin client game streaming, a mobile Nintendo Switch successor could prove to be a better ninth-gen pick than either the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X.

Qualcomm and Ericsson have been collaborating on the development of 5G technology for quite some time now. The partners' latest achievement is the successful completion of data calls using carrier aggregation. This was done using the standalone sub-6GHz form of the radio standard, which means the same could become more usable and attractive to mobile networks in the future.

We haven't even found out when exactly the new Galaxy Z Fold 2 is going to be available, yet rumors about other upcoming foldable models are already circulating on Twitter. Details are quite skimpy, but it looks like Samsung plans to finally add S Pen support on next year's flagship foldable, while the highly anticipated sub-US$1,000 model is supposed to integrate a cheaper screen protective layer. Moreover, there apparently is another model, which is getting a screen that folds both inwards and outwards.

International pre-orders for the latest in RedMagic gaming phones have gone live today (August 26, 2020). This device is a variation on this series' early 2020 flagship, which launched with a 144Hz display and active cooling. That phone, the 5G, is also still available with a slight discount.

A leak suggests that the upcoming Poco X3 will be the world's first smartphone to run Qualcomm's mid-range Snapdragon 732G SoC. Some of its other specs include a 64MP quad-camera array, a 5,160mAh battery chargeable at 33W, and a 6.6-inch LCD panel clocked at 120Hz. The phone will likely be released on September 8.

It appears that there are multiple Realme X7 Pro variants in the works. One of them —the Realme X7 Pro Player Edition— is expected to come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 5G SoC. The Realme X7 series will be released in China on September 1.

The OEM Realme is now said to have incorporated the flagship MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ chipset in an upcoming phone called the X7 Pro. A model number that could be from the brand associated with the same SoC has surfaced on the Geekbench database. Its new results suggest that it will add Android 10 and 8GB of RAM to its specs list.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 series are now available to reserve with online retailers in the Chinese market. This has led to an observation from the well-known leaker Ice Universe as to how its 2 variants are faring in this market. It seems that the more expensive Ultra model is outselling its vanilla counterpart by an emphatic amount

The Realme 7 has begun leaking weeks before its September launch. It will allegedly come with a MediaTek Helio G95 SoC, a quad-camera setup with a 64MP Sony sensor at the helm, and a 16MP selfie camera. Its 5,000mAh battery can be charged at 30W.

In response to the often harsh realities of the peri-Covid-19 world from the enterprise perspective, Qualcomm implemented the Small Business Accelerator Program to help firms of that description during this time. It exists to donate specific kinds of support and device from the OEM's partners in this initiative. The first round of successful applicants has now been announced.

OPPO is currently thought to have updates for its Reno4 series of premium mid-range phones in the works. The highest-end of these may be the first to launch with the also-rumored Snapdragon 860 processor. This SoC, as the name suggests, is projected to be a "Lite" version of the 865.

In a post that’s since been taken down, a Redditor shared pictures of what appear to be the Google Pixel 4a 5G and the Google Pixel 5, along with battery capacity information. The Pixel 4a 5G could sport a sizeable 3800 mAh battery, allaying fears of it having a small battery size.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G will launch for the first time on September 1, 2020. However, any remaining mystique around this second-gen flexible-display phablet may have been disspelled by what looks convincingly like a leaked ad for the device. It indicates that the Z Fold2 has a 120Hz refresh rate, but with an increasingly familiar caveat.

The first smartphone with an in-screen selfie camera is almost here, and manufacturer ZTE has published an amusing teaser video ahead of the device's launch on September 1. The Axon A20 5G will only have a 1080p AMOLED screen though, and its Snapdragon 765G chipset will not turn any heads.

Fans of physical keyboards will be excited to learn that there will be an all-new Blackberry smartphone launch in 2021. The makers say that it will be state-of-the-art and will also incorporate 5G connectivity.

Prolific leaker Roland Quandt has revealed the upcoming Asus ZenFone 7 Pro's retail price. The base variant of the phone with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage will allegedly cost €499. It shouldn't be long before we know for sure, as the phone will be released on August 26.

The Dimensity 800U is MediaTek's newest 5G-ready SoC. It comes with two Cortex-A76 cores (2.4GHz), six Cortex-A55 cores (2.0Ghz,) and an ARM Mali-G57 GPU. Other features include support for 120Hz HDR 10+ displays, sub-6GHz SA and NSA 5G networks, LPDDR4X RAM, and UFS 2.2 storage.

The iQOO 5 series is a new line from this Vivo sub-brand that has been hyped with its novel spec of 120 watt charging. Now, on their launch, it is revealed that the Pro variant is the one with this new ability. However, the iQOO 5 still offers its Snapdragon 865 SoC, 120 hertz refresh rate and 12GB RAM top-end SKU.

We now have an idea about the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition 5G's looks, thanks to some renders of the device that showed up online. The renders confirm that the phone will come with three rear camera sensors and a hole-punch selfie camera. Samsung is expected to unveil the ~US$750 phone later this year.

The first smartphone to launch with an under-display selfie camera will launch on September 1. First seen in prototypes over the past twelve months or so, the ZTE Axon 20 5G will eschew punch-holes or pop-up cameras to achieve the dream of a no-compromises all-screen phone.

The Moto G 5G Plus proves to be a solid mid-range phone in our test. The Snapdragon 765's gaming performance suffers in the Motorola smartphone.

A report out of South Korea has stated that over 1.17 million devices from the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 series have now been pre-ordered, with a few days of the pre-order period still remaining. Although the Mystic Bronze Galaxy Note 20 has already sold out, the total is still just short of the Galaxy Note 10’s record pre-order figures.

Geekbench 5 now lists a set of results for a "HMD Global Nokia 8 V 5G UW". The last part of this elongated name suggests that it can use Verizon's ultra-wideband (or UW) form of the latest mobile-data standard, and may thus be locked to or at least sold through the carrier at launch. Therefore, this device, should it be real, may be a rebranded 8.3.

The MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ in the new Redmi K30 Ultra has been put through a battery of tests alongside the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 and the HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G chips. The Dimensity 1000+ proved to be an affordable processing champion by surpassing the Kirin 990 nearly every time and nipping at the heels of the SD 865 in most cases.

A report suggests that the Redmi K30 Ultra and Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra will be exclusive to China. A Xiaomi representative has confirmed that the company doesn't plan on selling either handset internationally, even as a Poco device.
A Xiaomi executive has hinted that there could be a future wider release.

The rise of ultra-expensive foldable devices like the Samsung Galaxy Fold, Motorola Razr, and Apple’s rumoured iPhone/iPad hybrid underline a greater issue with the smartphone industry on the whole: the lack of genuine innovation and an inertia to move beyond a format that’s becoming less suited to meet the needs of today’s connected audiences.

The Realme X50 was one of the first phones to rock the Snapdragon 765G, thus also making it among the first 5G phones of 2020. Now, there is evidence that a version of the same without this connectivity may launch in Singapore. This is in accordance with a new leak from Twitter.

BMW is lending its name to the first iQOO phone to feature this OEM's latest, 120 watt (W) form of charging. At least, this is the impression given by a new poster alleged to be an official teaser for its upcoming launch event. The 2 brands are also now partners in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) racing series.

Move over, punch-holes, under-display cameras may be here soon. However, they are not to be premiered by OPPO or Huawei as previously thought, but by another smartphone OEM: ZTE. Its CEO has just revealed that it will be first to this tech, although no specific date for this event was mentioned.

Tipster @komiya_kj shared rather remarkable specs for a purported upcoming Apple foldable product. The foldable will evidently fill the gap between the iPad and iPhone by folding out into tablet form and folding into smartphone form. The Apple foldable reportedly features an A16X SoC, microLED tech, and phone call support.

The Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra is living up to its hype by immediately going to the top of the DxOMark charts. The device has hit the number one position for both its still camera performance and its video performance.

Xiaomi's hotly-anticipated 10th-anniversary edition of the Mi 10 - or Mi 10 Ultra, according to the latest rumors - is expected to drop today (August 11, 2020). A down-to-the-wire leak purports to unbox this phone on camera beforehand, however. The video appears to confirm many primary specs of the impending super-flagship.

The yet-to-be-announced Google Pixel 5 has allegedly shown up on AI Benchmark. Test results indicate that the phone is running a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G SoC along with 8GB of RAM. Google is expected to unveil the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G later this year.

The Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra flagship smartphone will soon be officially unveiled and yet another price leak concerning the high-end device has turned up online. A third-party retailer apparently has the Mi 10 Ultra prepared for sale at a price of 6,999 yuan (US$1,005), which points to a very high price tag if the smartphone is released outside of China.

According to a DigiTimes report, the chairman of Epistar, a manufacturer of microLEDs purportedly working closely with Apple, claimed that smartwatch vendors are “showing an interest” in microLED technology. However, volume adoption will take a couple more years at least.

A Xiaomi Mi 10i device has been spotted in MIUI 12 code that could indicate a new release is on the cards for the Indian market. It’s possible that the mystery Mi 10i smartphone will actually end up being a rebranded Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite, which was released in April of this year for other markets.

New case leaks may reveal how a pair of Huawei phones called the Enjoy 20 and 20 Plus may look ahead of their launch. They may both have triple rear cameras, housed in a square module for the former and a round one for the latter. The Plus variant also has a feature that is getting rare in 2020: a motorized front-facing camera.

Many Samsung fans may have been disappointed to learn that the latest in the Galaxy Note lines were getting Exynos-powered SKUs in some markets via pre-launch leaks. However, other reports claimed that this processor – the 990 – had been updated so as to improve performance in these newer devices compared to the Galaxy S20 series with which they share the chipset. Preliminary customer feedback hints this is indeed the case.

Our test of the Mi 10 Lite reveals a good trend in the smartphone mid-range: The OLED displays used in the mid-range price segment are at a very good level at this point. A while ago (in the 60-Hz era), the AMOLED panel of the Mi 10 Lite could have passed also as a flagship panel.

Samsung has reportedly applied for a European trademark for a "Book Flex" with an unusual new addition: 5G. Therefore, it may have a convertible PC with this connectivity in the works. This leak offers no hints as to the putative next-gen device's further specs, OS and chipset included, however.

MediaTek and Intel had previously announced a partnership to ultimately result in 5G-capable laptops powered by the latter's CPUs. Now, this collaboration has reached a stage at which the modem necessary has been tested and validated for these purposes. It is thus now rated for standalone- and non-standalone sub-6GHz connectivity.