Chinese Tech

Only a few days after Huawei unveiled the 7 nm HiSilicon Kirin 810 mobile processor, the upcoming Nova 5 handset surfaced on AnTuTu with this new piece of silicon inside. Its score of no less than 237,437 places it well in front of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730, which usually tops around 210,000.

Good news Huawei fans: The company has announced its EMUI 9.1 roadmap for the end of Q2 and most of Q3. An array of Huawei devices will receive EMUI 9.1 in the next two months. There are a couple of notable absentees though, while Honor owners may feel hung out to dry.

The Xiaomi Mi Max 4, as well as a possible Pro variant for this phone, had been rumored for release. However, Lei Jun, the OEM's chief executive officer (CEO) has contradicted this on Weibo. It now seems that any devices of this line, in addition to the Mi Notes, have been axed, for 2019 at least.

A recent teaser for the upcoming Lenovo Z6 smartphone suggested that it would have Sony AI cameras, a high-capacity battery and a "next-generation" processor. Subsequently, the OEM's vice president got on his Weibo and released more concrete details on the new device. It seems this phone will indeed be getting the Snapdragon 730 SoC.

Xiaomi is seemedly already building hype for its new brand, CC, and its upcoming devices. One of them is apparently featured in a new video released onto Chinese social media by the company. This clip does not offer many actual details about the phone, however.

A popular tech blog claims to have gotten the word from Motorola that its latest major release, the Moto Z4, may only get 1 full Android version update during its life cycle. Therefore, the new phone will see Q, but could miss out on R. On the other hand, the OEM also pledges to support the device with 2 years' worth of security updates.

Huawei has refuted reports that the volume of its orders for new smartphone units from the manufacturer Foxconn have been downsized. This allegation is linked to the OEM's recent ban from working with US companies. On that note, it has also been claimed that one of these businesses, FedEx, refused to complete a shipment because it contained Huawei hardware.

The company behind the Rock Pi 4 is back, this time with a tiny SBC powered by a Rockchip RK3308 quad-core SoC. The board comes with either 256 MB or 512 MB RAM, a built-in voice activity detector (VAD) along with a host of ports and connectors. The Rock Pi S measures just 3.8 x 3.8 cm and will sell for US$9.90.

The crowdfunding campaign for the Chuwi MiniBook has exceeded all expectations, having achieved over 1,000% of its funding goal. This would be an impressive feat in a full campaign period, let alone 2 days. The Chuwi MiniBook is an 8.0-inch ultra-mobile convertible laptop that starts at US$430 for the Celeron N4100 model and US$530 for the Core m3-8100Y model on Indiegogo. The MiniBook will ship worldwide in September.

Xiaomi's CEO, Lei Jun, recently took to Weibo to introduce the OEM's latest split-off, CC. It is apparently informed by the "Chic & Cool 90 team", or designers that were born in the 90s, came from the main company's recent acquisition Meitu or both. Its first release will be for the Mi CC9 and CC9e, which may be released soon.

The performance of the 16 nm KX-6000 octa-core CPU might not impress too much, as it only manages to be as fast as Intel's 14 nm i5-7400 quad-core model launched in early 2017, but this is no mere feat for the Chinese industry, especially now when the country is looking to be less and less reliant on the U.S.

The Lenovo Z6 will soon take its place in Lenovo's portfolio straight between the Snapdragon 855-powered Z6 Pro flagship and the Snapdragon 710-driven mid-range Z6 Youth Edition. This upcoming handset will come with Sony AI triple cameras, two-day battery life, and a new processor — most likely the Snapdragon 730.

One-Netbook seems to be constantly updating its product portfolio and now the One Mix 1S Yoga mini laptop can join that list. The pocket-sized computer with a 7-inch 1920x1200 resolution display is joining a growing and competitive market thanks to rival products from manufacturers such as GPD and Chuwi. The One Mix 1S Yoga comes with an Intel Celeron 3965Y processor.

Xiaomi, the Chinese industry giant, sells practically every product imaginable in its home market from smartphones and fitness bands to e-scooters and home appliances. It also has a successful TV business, which surpassed all expectations recently during the JD.com's 618 sales campaign on June 18 with over 100,000 units flying off the shelves in just a few minutes.

The Huawei Watch GT is the OEM's latest smartwatch, which runs on LiteOS rather than the Wear OS of its predecessors. The company has reported that it has shipped more than 2 million of these devices since their launch in 2018. It also claims to have new data on the performance of its wearable business in general from the first quarter of 2019.

The direct successor of the Mate X appears to take a few cues from the galaxy Fold, but the overall design remains consistent with the original one. Instead of an outwards-folding single display, the mate X II features a full-size separate front display and an inwards-folding larger display on the back, with an updated metal casing and rubberized protection for the hinge.

Vivo's own teasers for the IQOO Neo and TENAA's partial spec sheet are pointing to an affordable sub-premium model. Powered by last year's flagship Snapdragon 845 SoC, the IQOO Neo is expected to get 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB storage, a 6.38-inch teardrop-notched display, rear triple-cam setup, in-display fingerprint sensor and a 4,420 mAh battery.

Chinese smartphone maker announced an incredibly powerful 120W fast charging system. Appropriately dubbed the Super Fast Flash Charge, the technology can charge a 4,000 mAh battery in just 13 minutes

Although ZTE is also affected by various bans similar to those imposed by the US on Huawei, this Chinese brand seems to be doing all right in Spain. Yesterday, Orange and its Chinese partner have shown various 5G applications at the Global 5G Event and the European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC) in Valencia.

A new certification for a phone called the Xiaomi M1904F3BC has allegedly been found on the TENAA website. It is depicted as having triple rear cameras in a straight line aligned with a corner of its black rear panel, a waterdrop notch and a possible under-display fingerprint sensor. Therefore, the phone strongly resembles the Mi 9.

A Lenovo device with the novel model number L78121 has posted several scores already on the Geekbench website. It is powered by a chipset also found on results for other phones with the Snapdragon 730 SoC. This new mid-ranger's scores measure up respectably against its probable competition.

PWM sensitive people rejoice! You now have one more OLED smartphone to choose from thanks to Huawei bringing DC dimming to the P30 Pro. The feature comes bundled in EMUI 9.1.0.178, which includes a host of other refinements too.

The Huawei bans prove to be source of concern for industry giants like Intel, Qualcomm and Xilinx, as profit predictions signal significant losses. In order to mitigate such dire consequences, these companies reportedly pressed the U.S. government to lift the restrictions imposed on Huawei.

The PerfXLab Perf-V is an FPGA based RISC-V developer board that comes with 256 MB of DDR3 RAM along with 8 MB of FPGA and 8 MB of RISC-V flash storage. The board features a host of connectors and interfaces, while it can be programmed with Vivado and supports an IDE for Windows RISC-V development. The Perf-V will ship worldwide on June 21 from Seeedstudio and costs US$79.

Trump initially postponed the second wave of tariffs in hopes for an eventual agreement with the Chinese government, then snapped back with 15% increased tariffs and the Huawei ban shortly after, yet China does not seem to be moved. The increased tariffs are now estimated to impact U.S. laptop and tablet sales with 19% raised prices.

Shortly after its full specs surfaced online, the upcoming Motorola One Action was spotted on FCC's website. This listing confirms the specs that became public last week, including the Exynos 9609 processor, up to 4 GB of memory and 128 GB of internal storage space, as well as a 6.3-inch full HD+ display.

Showcased last month, Oppo's under-display camera technology seems to be ready for the masses. A recently released poster carries the "not only comprehensive" slogan and suggests that the company's next handset will carry more than just a full-screen design, although it does not reveal exactly what is this all about.

The Nova 5 is the subject of Huawei's next smartphone release. It has been rumored to launch alongside a few variants, including a Pro version. The OEM has now issued a teaser for this device, which has also allegedly gained an Antutu benchmark score and several new leaked photos showing its screen, color options and (possible) fast-charging status.

The successor of the already postponed Mate X could come with a larger screen that folds on each side. Huawei's new patent also reveals sturdier hinges with a more elegant look, multiple modes including desk-stand, laptop and tablet, and an in-display camera.

Huawei's sub-brand, Honor, launched the Honor 20 phones in China two weeks ago. Only the regular Honor 20 has been on sale in that market since, though, and the company has confirmed that it has already shipped a million units of the device.

The Kirin 810 may be introduced with the upcoming Nova 5 phone from Huawei. Now, it appears that Honor also has access to this new, mid-range SoC. This brand is rumored to use it to make a new device, the 9X Pro.

Lenovo's PSREF page shows a new Legion Y545 model that is listed as being available in the Western Europe and Russia regions. The Legion Y545 is very much identical to the recently launched Y540 apart from sporting an aluminum construction, button-less trackpad, and RAM options up to 32 GB.

The Nova 5 is the next major smartphone release from the OEM Huawei. Some rumors surrounding this device suggest that it is getting a 32MP selfie camera in its waterdrop notch. Today, (June 17, 2019) this was officially confirmed via Weibo. Other rumors suggest that this device will be powered by the Kirin 810.

After the successful completion of its Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, the Chargerito phone charger is now up for sale. Priced at US$25, this accessory only measures 2x0.6x1.8 inches and can deliver a 5 V, 1 A, 5 W output. Available in both micro USB and USB Type-C versions, this accessory can be easily stored thanks to its folding prongs.

Qualcomm claims that the audio codec integrated into its flagship mobile SoCs can rival DACs produced by dedicated manufacturers. Its latest iteration of these are found in the new Snapdragon 730 mid-range chipsets. They are called the WCD9370 and WCD9375 Aqstic codecs.

Huawei is forecasting a calamitous drop in smartphones sales across the globe following the Trump Administration's decision to blacklist the Chinese company. According to Bloomberg, the embattled company is expecting sales to drop by between 40 million to 60 million units torpedoing its ambitions to overtake Samsung as the number one smartphone maker in the world.

The Nova 5 is a new quasi-high-end smartphone destined for launch on June 21, 2019. Despite this, its leaks seem to keep coming. The latest is a device with a model number and specs that may match the upcoming device on Geekbench.

Xiaomi has announced that its software division will stop releasing global betas of its OS, MIUI, on July 1, 2019. This applies not merely to older and slower devices, but to all phones of its brand. However, the OEM has also stated that this decision will not affect the frequency of security-related updates.

Most SKUs of the Huawei P30 Pro flagship have 8GB of RAM. However, it appears that the OEM is about to release a further variant of this phone with an additional 4GB. Then again, this new, ultra-high-end device may be a Chinese-market exclusive.

The POCO Launcher, originally designed for the Pocophone F1, has gained popularity due to its advanced customization options. Now, its makers at Xiaomi have released a 2nd version, which can be downloaded and tried out now. It mainly improves on the app drawer and dark theme of this interface.

The Huawei Mate X has reportedly appeared as a retail item on a Chinese retail site. This is highly suspicious, however, particularly as the OEM has announced that this foldable phone's launch will now be delayed. In addition, the price included on the order page in question is out of line with previous projections.

It appears GPD has gone into marketing overdrive in preparation for its crowdfunding campaign for the GPD P2 Max pocket-sized laptop. The Chinese manufacturer is now calling the P2 Max the “world’s smallest Ultrabook” and is comparing it favorably with some of the industry’s major players. The company has also announced there will be a third variant that will come with a 1 TB SSD.

Xiaomi has confirmed that nine of its recent smartphones will be getting the MIUI 11 update based on Android Q in Q4 2019 with two others, the Redmi Note 7 and Redmi Note 7 Pro, slated to get the update by Q1 2020. The present availability is with regards to the Chinese ROM and information about global variants is not yet clear.

Several leaks have hinted at the release of the Huawei MediaPad M6 and new Samsung Galaxy Tab-line devices in the recent past. Now, new certifications appear to lend yet more weight to these rumors. One of these listings makes overt references to the probable 2019 MediaPad, whereas another contains new, yet partially familiar, Samsung model numbers.

Xiaomi has issued a recall of its Mi Electric Scooter (or M365) product. This request to return items does not apply to all units of the personal transport accessory, however, but to a subset of the same sold in certain countries. These devices have a hardware fault that could affect their function and the safety of their users.

Huawei is still developing EMUI 10, despite rumours about it developing an AOSP-based fork for its future smartphones. Better still, early beta versions are being compiled with Google Play Services, indicating that it may not be all doom and gloom for the Chinese company yet. An early beta is now available to download for the P30 Pro too.

Huawei has announced that it is pushing back the launch of its vaunted foldable Mate X smartphone. Where it looked like it might beat the Samsung Galaxy Fold to market, its launch has been pushed back until at least September.

Hot on the heels of the One Mix 3 and 3s comes the 3s Platinum Edition, an 8.4-inch UMPC equipped with a Core i7-8550Y processor, 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD. The One Mix 3s Platinum Edition is available to order for US$1,199.99 on Geekbuying and will ship on July 9.