Chinese Tech

Vivo's IQOO sub-brand is rumored to be dedicated to premium foldable devices. The leaked renders posted on Weibo show a outwards-folding device with very thin bezels. The unfolded state will get a display with a ratio close to 1:1, while the folded state will practically turn the device into a smartphone with front and rear screens.

According to IceUniverse, Xiaomi has announced that the release of its next flagship, the Mi 9, will take place on February 20. However, the event at which a similarly-tiered device, the Galaxy S10, will be unveiled on the same day by Samsung. This shows what could be considered a great amount of ambition on Xiaomi's part, at best.

The native dark mode in the latest MIUI 10 beta covers most areas of the operating system — Phone, Contacts, Gallery, Screen recorder, Updater, Messaging — as well as the notification shade, volume slider, and the Recents menu. Xiaomi confirmed a month ago that MIUI 11 is in the works, so the stable MIUI 10 with dark mode should come out soon.

SamMobile has reportedly spotted security updates for the Samsung Galaxy S6, which should bring its patch level up to January 2019. This is not hugely unusual, except for the fact that this phone is now nearly 4 years old. It joins a very short list of devices this age to still receive official software support from its OEM.

A new report from the NBD Group shows that smartwatch sales in the US increased by 51% from November 2017 to November 2018. Wear OS only accounted for a maximum of 12% of all of these wearables sold. The rest of the sales were those from the top 3 in this market: Apple, Fitbit and Samsung.

The F11 Pro was recently confirmed in an official teaser video posted on OPPO's Twitter account. The short teaser also mentions the inclusion of a 48 MP main camera. Other rumored specs for OPPO's upcoming flagship include a Snapdragon 855 SoC coupled with 6 GB of RAM and 64 / 128 GB of storage, a 6.5-inch IPS display and a 32 MP selfie cam with pop-up design.

The Mi 9 is Xiaomi's most likely candidate for the OEM's next flagship. It may improve on its predecessor with triple cameras and a more up-to-date front panel. SlashLeaks has posted not 1 but 3 new pages on this subject today (February 13, 2019).

Released a few months ago, the LiteOS-driven Huawei Watch GT is now finally available for purchase in the US. Listed by Amazon for a regular price of US$199.99, this smart wearable will start shipping on February 19. Its specs and features include continuous heart rate monitoring, built-in GPS, sleep tracking, and more.

Despite its critical and commercial failure, the PlayStation Classic may be an attractive retro gaming device, especially given Walmart's latest price cut. The PlayStation Classic can be found at Walmart for a mere $40, 60% less than its original retail price. Additionally, those willing to hack or modify their PlayStation Classic may find the mini-console to be a suitable emulation box.

The Xiaomi M365 electric scooters is popular with ride-sharing companies such as Bird in the US. They can hire out such vehicles online thanks to the ability to remotely lock rental units as and when they need to. The research group Zimperium has claimed to be able to hi-jack this mechanism due to vulnerabilities found in Xiaomi's Bluetooth authentication procedure for the M365.

Chinese brand UMIDIGI is back with the S3 Pro, a handset that sports a generous 6.3-inch display with waterdrop notch and a main camera setup that combines a 48 MP Sony camera with a 12 MP shooter for bokeh effects. Early Indiegogo backers can get this MediaTek Helio P70-driven phablet for just US$269 and shipments should begin next month.

ZTE's sub-brand Nubia came out of the blue with a teaser for a flexible smartphone that will be unveiled at MWC 2019. Unfortunately, the "Flex Your Life" headline doesn't say much. While this can suggest something different than a foldable handset, most major brands are expected to unveil such a device later this month in Barcelona.

Most major Chinese smartphone brands also have successful sub-brands: Huawei has Honor, Oppo's Realme is just one year old but already doing great, Xiaomi's POCO is also quite popular, and now the time has come for Vivo to create its own sub-brand. iQOO is now an official brand and the first smartphones to carry its name are expected to arrive pretty soon.

LetsGoDigital has published some fantastic artistic renders of Xiaomi’s upcoming foldable device, which could end up being called the Xiaomi Dual Flex, the Xiaomi MIX Flex, or something completely different. The device in the renders certainly catches the eye with its sophisticated look and somewhat slender profile. But the images also show a facet of the foldable that could end up bothering some users.

The OEM OnePlus had previously announced that it would release a 5G phone this year. Today (February 11, 2019), the company has apparently released a confirmation that this device would feature at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) this year. It will showcase the device at Qualcomm's booth during the event.

While the global smartphone market is slowing down, the volume of smartphone sales in India continues to grow and it soon might leave the US behind. According to Canalys, Xiaomi shipped 41 million handsets in 2018 — 29.9 percent of the Indian market, up from 25.7 million and 20.6 percent during the previous year.

A patent for a Xiaomi smartphone with a full-screen display that extends halfway down the device’s edges has been spotted by LetsGoDigital. The same publication has crafted impressive renders of an elegant-looking smartphone based on the drawings included in the patent. Little additional information is offered in the patent filing.

Everything was normal until our glass display suddenly cracked. If you're planning on getting a cheap Android from a Chinese OEM, then hopefully you won't be unlucky as we are. We're just glad that nothing caught on fire.

The OPPO K1 is now available on the Indian market. This phone may compete with others such as the Redmi Note 7, as it has many specs in common with this device, but also has an in-display fingerprint reader. The K1 is exclusive to Flipkart, which sells it for about US$237.

Zack Nelson of JerryRigEverything has done it again and disassembled another smartphone, this time the Vivo NEX Dual Display. The teardown is not without its issues though.

Some live photos of the upcoming Vivo V15 Pro have been published by MySmartPrice, along with a very brief hands-on video. The Chinese manufacturer has provided the upcoming V15 smartphones with still uncommon pop-up selfie cameras, and the video shows the Pro version with a unique black and red gradient finish on the rear cover.

Our recent reviews demonstrated that the Huawei P Smart Plus is a worthy alternative to the P Smart 2019. The price difference between the two devices varies, but it is often minimal, so the question is, which is the better buy?

Xiaomi's new patent filings may cause a stir if they come to fruition. The company has filed several designs at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) that point towards it producing a smartphone with dual punch-hole front-facing cameras.

Get a new 128 GB OnePlus 6 for just $419 or $60 off the retail price. Other Chinese brands like Teclast, Alldocube, Voyo, Chuwi, Xiaomi, and Moto are also on sale until early next week. Coolicool specializes on offering inexpensive smartphones for customers both inside and outside of Asia.

Xiaomi sub-brand Redmi is reconsidering its marketing strategies. Up until now, Redmi has been focusing on premium mid-range phones, but it looks like Xiaomi will allow it to release flagships, as well. The Note 7 Pro is going to be released soon, and afterwards, Redmi intends to launch a value high-end handheld powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 SoC.

The Huawei Mate 20 series was launched with a triple rear camera associated with Leica and informed by AI. Now, a new update to EMUI has enabled this AI to extract or isolate colors from still images taken using the Mate 20 X or 20 Pro. This feature was available during video recording on the 2 phones, and now extends to their photography as well.

The upcoming Vivo V15 Pro managed to score 2,382 points in the single-core test and 6,479 multi-core points on Geekbench, where it can be found as the Vivo 1818. Running Android Pie-based software and featuring a pop-up camera, this mid-range handset is expected to hit the Indian market on February 20.

Wang Teng Thomas, Xiaomi’s product director, has written a post on Weibo indicating that a follow-up to the 2018 Black Shark Helo is on the way. The executive claimed to have seen this phone in the flesh, describing it as "too fast". However, no further details on this next-gen gaming device were discussed.

OnePlus has launched a new contest that could see the winning entry as a feature in a next-gen version of OxygenOS, the OEM's custom skin for its international Android phones. This competition is calling for entrants to find their inner software designer, and submit their ideas in the form of a full product requirements document. PMChallenge is open from now until Febrauary 22.

Although most technical details are not present in the TENAA listing, the appearance of the Moto G7 XT1965-6 model on the website of the Chinese certification authority comes with information regarding the physical dimensions of the device, its display size, and the capacity of its battery.

The Super Bowl is coming up this Sunday in the US, and all authorities from the FBI to the FAA have prepared themselves for disruptions and threats from drone pilots. No-fly zones have been set up, and new radar technology and drone interceptors will monitor the stadium.

Huawei Mobile has taken to Twitter to finally show off its upcoming foldable phone, or at least a very small part of it. However, some tweeters have responded to Huawei’s post, which is basically a promo for the company’s presence at MWC19, with some concerns over the foldable’s seemingly askew appearance.

A live photo of what is believed to be the Xiaomi Mi 9 has been posted online. The Chinese company’s product manager initially uploaded the picture to his Weibo account but then deleted it shortly afterwards. Although only a portion of the smartphone’s rear side can be seen, it has led to some details being apparently confirmed.

Droid Shout has received a tip claiming Lenovo has a new tablet in the works. The device, which is apparently called the Lenovo Tab V7, is expected to be a midrange slate that runs on Android 9 Pie straight out of the box. The latest addition to the Chinese manufacturer’s tablet line-up could be announced at MWC19.

Huawei will soon be revealing how its Mate 20 Pro smartphone and its Kirin 980 SoC fared with completing Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D 759 – better known to the world as the Unfinished Symphony. The finished Schubert/Huawei symphony will be performed at Cadogan Hall in London on February 4.

A European Union Intellectual Property Office trademark application has been spotted by LetsGoDigital for “Pikiu”. The application was made at the end of January and comes under NICE classification 9, which includes chips and chipsets. It has been deduced that the trademark application has been made on behalf of Huawei, meaning Pikiu could be a new processor from the Chinese manufacturer.

The Intel Core i9-8950HK represents the top of the line, but users with tighter budgets can opt to get one of the variants sporting Core i5-8300H / i7-8750H / Xeon E-2176M CPUs. All models may be equipped with up to 32 GB of DDR4-2666 RAM and up to 1 TB of NVMe SSD storage, plus there is room for a 2.5-inch HDD as well. With a standard issue CPU cooler, these mini PCs will be anything but quiet.

A new report suggests that the Xiaomi Mi Max 3 will have 2 successors: the Mi Max 4 and a Pro variant of the same. Both of these may have 7.2-inch displays and 48MP rear camera sensors. The Mi Max 4 Pro may have an in-display fingerprint sensor and a slightly better processor.

In a recent interview, OPPO's CEO, Chen Mingyong, stated that the OEM would "strive" to release the first phone with 5G in 2019. This goal would follow on nicely from earlier reports that the company had conducted the world's first video call last year. Otherwise, OPPO plans to release at least one model with the Snapdragon 855 processor in 2019.

Renders produced by the talented team at LetsGoDigital have given extraordinary life to some rather bland-looking Huawei patent drawings. The patent in question is for a foldable smartphone that could end up being the Chinese company’s expected 5G foldable device. It is believed the handset will feature a single bendable display that covers the exterior.

Pine64, the organization behind the Pine A64 SBC and Pinebook, is planning to release a new Linux-based laptop and a new tablet. Dubbed the Pinebook Pro and PineTab, respectively, the two devices aim to offer an open-source computing experience at a low price. The Pinebook Pro is priced at US $199 while the PineTab is priced at US $79.

The alleged successor of the Blade V9 steps into mid-range territory with a bigger 6.3-inch display, 4 / 6 GB of RAM, up to 128 GB storage and an impressive 32 MP selfie cam. As far as the SoC is concerned, TENAA mentions that the frequency is around 2 GHz, so ZTE could be adding the Snapdragon 710.

Xiaomi's Pocophone F1 has been hailed for offering incredibly high value for money. The device was tested by DxOMark, and managed to impress, outperforming devices like the Galaxy Note 8 in certain departments.

The Honor 7X was launched on Android Nougat and received the update to Oreo last year. The device is currently receiving the Pie beta in China, with other parts of the world billed to get theirs later this year. Pie would be the second major update the phone receives, which is impressive considering it launched with an MSRP of just US$200.

The Huawei MAR-LX1M was now spotted on the Huawei website, although the full product page is not up yet. However, its UA profile confirms that this handset will come with Android 9.0 Pie onboard — with EMUI on top, of course — and features a full HD+ display. Given this screen resolution, it is likely that the MAR-LX1M will launch as a P30 Lite variant.

As the demand for OLED displays continues to grow, Taiwanese manufacturers are stepping up to the plate and adjusting their business structures for increased production. Many companies, such as AU Optronics and Novatek Microelectronics, are expecting a massive boom in OLED sales and are more than willing to provide the necessary supply.

The Lenovo Z5 Pro GT is the first phone to be released with the 2019 flagship Snapdragon 855 chipset. It had its first general release today (January 29) in China. The OEM claims that it took only 32 seconds for the Z5 Pro GT to sell out online.

TSMC confirmed that around 10,000 wafers were compromised, but the Taiwanese company has yet to make an official statement about the full extent of the damages and the exact circumstances of the incident. The unfortunate event could create AMD / Nvidia GPU shortages and artificial MSRP increases in the coming months.

Besides integrating UHD Blu-Ray players or DVD writer drives, the new VivoMini HTPCs come with internal PSUs and generous room for storage expansions. These mini PCs are powered by Intel's 35 W Core T CPUs that bridge the gap between the ULV chips and the desktop processors. Additionally, there is support for up to 32 GB of RAM and up to 4 HDDs.