Chinese Tech

In addition to the usual system optimizations and general bug fixes, the OxygenOS 9.5.9 OTA update for the OnePlus 7 Pro comes with new enhancements for the camera: improved back-to-front switching, faster autofocus, advanced Panorama mode photo-stitching, as well as better quality of 48 MP JPG images in Pro mode.

Amazon workers at a warehouse in Shakopee, Minnesota have pledged to strike for six hours on July 15th, the first day of the company's annual Prime Day sale. While the workers are striking over alleged poor pay and other conditions, Amazon has responded by claiming they are already offered excellent and highly competitive benefits.

Although its relationship with the US has improved a lot and last month's troubles seem to be gone, Huawei is working hard on its own operating system. HongMeng OS will replace Android on a wide range of devices and some of its components — LiveFace, Meetime, LinkTime, and Belink — have just been trademarked.

The Redmi 7A boasts an improved camera, processor and SKU choices compared to its predecessor, the 6A. It will go on sale in India at a special starting price of INR 5799 (~US$85). However, even its "normal" price translates to about $95: the Redmi 6A's price when it launched.

With its Snapdragon 855 processor, in-display fingerprint sensor and 48MP main camera, the Meizu 16s is a 2019 flagship smartphone in its own right. An electronics blog claims to have found screenshots indicating that the e-store Taobao is preparing to sell Pro variants of this phone.

Mobvoi has released a YouTube video offering hints of its next product release. It appears to be a new smartwatch, most likely of the Ticwatch line. The OEM claims that it can "boost your daily efficiency" and has an improved heart rate monitor.

TENAA has reportedly certified a new device for Vivo. It is described as a 6.38 inch-display phone with a 4420mAh battery. The images associated with this listing show 3 rear-facing cameras and no visible fingerprint scanner.

Xiaomi will release the Mi Mix 4 in the coming months and a company executive has confirmed that the upcoming flagship will feature a class-leading camera sensor. Not Samsung's 64 MP GW1 but something "better".

The Redmi Note 7 Pro was launched a few months ago and has been hailed as the indubitable best-value mid-range option in the markets in which it's sold. Huawei's sub-brand, Honor, is a rival to Xiaomi on many counts and the company's upcoming Honor 9X may finally dethrone the Redmi Note 7 Pro as king of the mid-range.

The Mi CC9e is one of Xiaomi's latest phones on the Chinese market. Despite its mid-range specs, it still features an in-display fingerprint scanner and the new Snapdragon 665 processor. There is now evidence that this device may be released as the long-awaited Mi A3 in other regions.

A new report includes images of a heretofore-unseen phone linked to Nokia with triple cameras in a single circular module. Some material allegedly posted alongside these photos asserts that the main lens has a 48MP resolution. However, as a rear-facing fingerprint sensor is also visible, this putative new phone is not likely to be a premium product.

First, we had a back glass leak, next a few fan-made renders, and now apparently a set of official adverts? A deepfake or something more legit?

Some intriguing patents have been published by the German patent office. They show that Huawei is toying with the idea of how to contextualise UI and UX around a punch-hole camera. So, it appears that the Chinese manufacturer is hedging its bets that punch-hole cameras are here to stay, at least for the time being in some capacity.

The Finnish carrier Elisa now offers the 5G version of ZTE's 2019 flagship smartphone. It joins the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G as options that can use the new bands on this network. The Axon 10 Pro 5G costs €899 (US$1009) outright through this medium.

The OPPO A9x is a mid-range smartphone based on the MediaTek Helio P70 SoC. It was released as a single 6GB RAM SKU in May 2019. Now, it has reportedly returned to the TENAA certification authority in a new, 8GB incarnation.

UMIDIGI's latest smartwatch, the Uwatch2, boasts a fully metallic unibody, an IP67 rating and a 1.33-inch 240x240 display. The OEM claims that it offers 25 days' worth of standby time and 7 to 10 days of active use. It is sold at US$33.32, although this comes down to $24 with an upcoming promotion.

The Chuwi LapBook Plus comes with a 15.6-inch 4K display, an Intel Atom X7-E3950 processor, 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD. Yes, you read that correctly, an Atom CPU powering a 4K display. The device comes with a 36.5 Wh battery too, which will surely result in woeful battery life. The LapBook Plus weighs 1.53 kg, has two USB Type-A ports along with a microSD card reader and a micro HDMI port. The device is available to order on Gearbest for US$459.99 and will ship on July 11.

Lenovo has unveiled its latest phone, the Z6, in China today (July 4, 2019). It has a 6.39-inch FHD+ OLED display with a waterdrop notch and a 120-hertz refresh rate. The Lenovo Z6 also has 3 rear cameras, a 4000mAh battery and the Snapdragon 730 SoC.

The Vivo Z1 Pro has been released for sale in the Chinese and Indian markets. It is a mid-range device with the relatively new Snapdragon 712 processor. The Z1 Pro also offers a 5000mAh battery, a punch-hole display, and 4GB of RAM for INR 14990 (~ US$217) - on the other hand, it has some compromises too.

As with all previous Mate flagships, lenses are provided by Leica, and it looks like the main camera will also feature 5X optical zoom. The high-resolution render also reveals Leica Vario-Summilux-H 1:1.6-3.4/16-125mm ASPH specs and the return of the emerald green color option. No sign of fingerprint sensor on the back, so an in-display implementation looks to be the case.

A new rumor posted to Weibo suggests that Honor is working on a next-generation flagship already. It links the V30 to the Kirin 985, one of Huawei's next premium SoCs. The leak also hints at 5G support in this phone.

Xiaomi has finally premiered its new brand, CC, in China. So far, it consists of 3 discrete variants: the Mi CC9e, the Mi CC9 and Mi CC9mt. These phones strongly resemble the Mi 9, have 6 inch-plus AMOLED displays and triple rear cameras. The Mi CC9 and CC9mt will be first to go on sale on July 5, 2019.

While the regular Vivo iQOO features the top-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, the new iQOO Neo is only powered by the flagship processor of the previous generation, namely the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845. This new handset also sports up to 8 GB of memory and 128 GB of internal storage space, liquid cooling, and a 4,500 mAh battery.

The Red Magic 3 is already probably one of 2019's most interesting gaming phones. Its manufacturer, Nubia, has also now made a 12GB RAM variant available on its international retail platform. This phone also has a camo finish that is exclusive to the SKU.

While everyone is expecting for the return of the legendary Motorola Razr, the US market should get ready to receive another handset from this brand. Unfortunately, this phone has no official name yet. For now, all we know is that it bears the model name XT2025-1 and was recently listed on the website of the Federal Communications Commission.

Redmi's K20 phones were always going to be best-sellers. The devices, in about a month since they went on sale, have done impressively on the market, with the company confirming sales of a million units. This is even more astonishing when one considers that the K20 Pro is currently exclusive to China, and the regular K20 has been rebranded as the Mi 9T in Europe.

OPPO has announced a new technology at MWC Shanghai: MeshTalk. It is described as a way to talk or text without the need for a cellular, Bluetooth or online connection. MeshTalk apparently works when 2 compatible devices are within a maximum of 1.86 miles of each other.

The Android version of the 3DMark benchmarking suite is regarded as one of the best for non-iOS mobile devices. Its latest update has improved its compatibility with the ARM Mali-G72 and Mali-G76 chipsets. Then again, this fix may in fact downsize certain scores achieved with these GPUs.

A device called the Xiaomi Mi CC 9e has appeared on the Geekbench 4 website. Its results in these tests depict it as a 6GB phone powered by the Snapdragon 660 SoC. The Mi CC 9e also apparently runs Android Pie, but that is all that can be gleaned from this leak.

A photo of what is supposedly the back of the Mate 30 Pro has leaked out of China, showing a distinct change in the design language of its predecessor. Call us cynical, but the timing of this "leak" coincides awfully well with the partial lifting of US sanctions against Huawei. Hype generation for its next flagship or just a camera happy employee?

Until now, under-display fingerprint readers have come with the prerequisite of AMOLED displays. Chinese display maker BOE is set to break the wheel, though, as it has confirmed the production of LCD panels that support the under-display sensors.

Xiaomi has announced that it has a build of Android Q for the Pocophone F1. However, it is still not ready for public release. Therefore, it has issued a call for testers who will install and run this OS on their device.

The US and Chinese presidents have met at the latest G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. As a result, a ceasefire in the trade war between the two nations has been called. Accordingly, it has been agreed that Huawei can conduct certain amounts of business with US companies again.

Those who own or plan on owning Huawei or Honor Android devices may have been alarmed by reports that their parent company had lost crucial certifications necessary to use this OS. Despite this, however, Honor's latest flagships (the 20 and 20 Pro) have been found on the Google Play Certified list. One of Huawei's latest phones, the Nova 5i, is also present here.

Motorola has indefinitely shelved its plans to release the Pie update to most users of the Moto Z2 Force in the US. The Z2 Force can be said to be Motorola's last true flagship and it's a shame that the company appears to be showing complete disregard for users of the device.

The TUL PYNQ-Z2 is a single-board computer (SBC) designed for development with the open-source Python Productivity for Zynq (PYNQ) framework. The board has Arduino and Raspberry Pi headers along with a host of other ports and connectors. The TUL PYNQ-Z2 ships worldwide from Seeedstudio for US$119 or for US$114 from Newegg if you live in the US. The former is currently offering a US$5 discount on orders too.

iQOO is a new brand from the OEM Vivo that has already released a flagship smartphone for this year. Now, it is to be joined by the Neo, a more mid-range device with a 2018 premium SoC. The company has also reportedly confirmed that it will have a 4500mAh battery, to be kept going with 22.5-watt (W) Flash Charge technology.

Honor's UK division has released a statement reassuring users that its "most popular current devices" will be upgraded to Android Q. This pledge applies to the Honor 20 series (including its Lite and Pro versions). The brand also confirmed rumors that it will release a 5G phone by the end of 2019.

With a name that stands for "Curious & Creative," the Xiaomi Mi CC9e will soon launch in China with 4/6 GB of memory and 64/128 GB of storage space. Expected to use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 processor, this handset will allegedly feature a 48 MP triple camera setup on the back and will start at roughly US$230.

The Realme 1 is a sub-US$200 phone released in 2018. Despite this, the brand is now pushing an update to ColorOS 6. This ROM is based on the latest stable version of Android.

The Red Magic 3 is a 2019 gaming phone with a 90Hz refresh rate. Its maker Nubia has just released the Pro Handle, a joystick attachment, as well as a Magic Adapter, especially for this device. These new accessories add off-screen controls and a 3.5mm jack respectively.

Qualcomm has partnered with ZTE at MWC Shanghai to expound on 5G and what it means for the future of mobile gaming. To that end, it has demonstrated cloud gaming - which is powered by Tencent Instant Play in China - on phones with Snapdragon X50 modems. They are sold by ZTE itself, OnePlus, Vivo and Xiaomi.

HMD Global has delivered on its pledge to upgrade its entire range of Android phones to the current latest stable software version. This also now encompasses the Nokia 1, its "most affordable smartphone". Its new Pie-based ROM also comes with a June 2019 security patch.

OPPO VP Shen Yiren recently confirmed that there will be a Find X 2, but it will only be launched in 2020. The company is looking to add more innovative technologies to the upcoming flagship, so we can expect a dual-in-display selfie cam setup, plus quad or pent-cam setups with 10X optical zoom on the back, and maybe even wireless charging.

CHUWI has announced that it will be adding the option to upgrade to 16GB of RAM as rewards to its Indiegogo campaign for the Minibook. These SKUs will have the same Intel m3-8100Y SoC as the UMPC's current higher-end version. The first 50 of these are to cost US$10 more than their 8GB counterparts.

The OPPO sub-brand Realme has posted a new teaser to its official Weibo channel. It purports to show an upcoming phone with a total of 4 rear cameras. The most prominent of these is the Samsung GW1, a revolutionary 64MP ISOCELL sensor.

Samsung has allegedly filed a patent for a foldable device that looks quite different from the Galaxy Fold as previewed earlier this year. It describes a device with one extensive display that behaves more like the Huawei Mate X. The document also specifies a punch-hole camera for this flexible phone.

A leading cyber-security firm has uncovered a brazen Chinese-affiliated 7-year-long attack against telecommunications companies across the globe, compromising Call Detail Records (CDRs) and allowing collection of call meta-data for intelligence actions against targets.

The OnePlus 7 Pro stands out in the crowd for its display—a groundbreaking 90 Hz, QHD+ AMOLED panel. A new mod for the Xiaomi Mi 9 has surfaced that brings the Xiaomi flagship's display into close territory, though.