Android

Another sign of the MIX 5 has appeared online, this time courtesy of Geekbench. Unsurprisingly, the MIX 5 contains flagship hardware, albeit it remains to be seen if the MIX 4 successor will launch outside China.

Xiaomi is only a day away from releasing more Redmi K50 series handsets, along with the Redmi K40S. Hands-on photos of the Redmi K40S and Redmi K50 Pro have already leaked online. There could be a nasty surprise for people hoping that the Redmi K50 Pro would offer an all round premium experience, though.

Xiaomi has announced for how long the Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Pro will receive software and security patch updates. Not only will the Xiaomi 12X be cut off from updates sooner than its siblings, but Xiaomi also cannot match Samsung for the longevity of software coverage it provides to its recent flagship smartphones.

The Google Pixel 6 debuted with a much larger footprint than the Pixel 5. Google looks set to make the Pixel 7 smaller, though, but barely so, while the Pixel 7 Pro is tipped to maintain the Pixel 6 Pro's 6.7-inch size.

A new leak has now revealed some more information on Google's upcoming foldable device, the Pixel Notepad. Codenamed "pipit", the Pixel Notepad could debut alongside the Pixel 7 series and may be more affordable than initially thought.

The Huawei P50 Pocket offers some interesting equipment in addition to the foldable OLED panel. However, the high price point of the foldable may not turn a purchase of the 1200-Euro (~$1310) smartphone from Huawei into an attractive proposition.

Foldables are increasingly likely to be the future of mobile devices; then again, even the highest-end of them come with some compromises right now, one of which is often a lack of in-display fingerprint readers. However, Vivo's rumored first-gen X Fold is now slated to have not just one but two of them.

Samsung has announced it will start distributing One UI 4.1 soon, starting with the Galaxy S21 series, the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G and the Galaxy Z Flip3 5G. The update introduces numerous Galaxy S22 series camera features to older flagships, such as the Expert RAW app and Object eraser functionality, among other changes.

Carl Pei's latest tech company, Nothing, has just revealed the date and time for its first product event since that for its inaugural ear (1) TWS buds. Apparently, that event was just a warm-up for the OEM's upcoming keynote, now scheduled for late March 2022. To date, there are already strong hints that it might introduce a new mobile device.

Honor has announced that it will follow its MWC 2022 launch for the new Magic4 series with one specifically for the Chinese market. This event, now set for an imminent March 2022 start-time, is said to introduce a novel Ultimate variant in addition to the models unveiled earlier. Should this rumor prove true, the new top-end handset might debut with a new main camera from Sony.

OPPO has already asserted that its K10 would be the first phone to launch with a MediaTek Dimensity 8000-series processor. Now, this mid-ranger's looks may have been revealed in a new leak. It points to an updated take on the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra-esque look debuted in its K9 predecessors, as well as the presence of a 3.5mm jack and triple rear cameras.

Xiaomi has introduced the Xiaomi 12 globally, its smallest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-powered smartphone. The Xiaomi 12 launches in three colours and two memory configurations, all of which have 4,500 mAh batteries, 50 MP primary cameras and a 120 Hz AMOLED display.

Xiaomi has released the Xiaomi 12 Pro outside China, two and half months after its debut in China. The Xiaomi 12 Pro retains most of its original features, but loses its entry-level 128 GB of storage configuration and its green colourway.

A new leak from a Chinese source has now revealed devils of the imminent Redmi K40S—a phone that could well debut outside China as the Poco F4—along with more important information on its stablemates, the Redmi K50 and Redmi K50 Pro.

Samsung will launch a couple of devices in its Galaxy A-series on March 17. The Galaxy A33, Galaxy A53, and Galaxy A73 are expected, and word on the grapevine now indicates that Samsung is lining up its Galaxy Buds Live earbuds as a gift for early buyers.

Redmi's K50 series event is not far away now; however, the OEM is still raising its hype with juicy details on the upcoming smartphones ahead of their launch. Now, it seems that not only will there be a new colorway, a high-res display with other potentially welcome attributes.

Vivo is a smartphone OEM projected to launch its inaugural foldable device soon. Now, this rumored flagship has allegedly leaked again, and in the wild this time. The live image in question has been posted to Weibo and may thus put the “X Fold’s” main display on show in real life for the first time.

DxOMark tested the three cameras in both of Samsung's cheaper flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22+. While the pair offer superior image quality than their predecessors, neither can surpass the Apple iPhone 13 or the Google Pixel 6, among others.

Earlier MediaTek Dimensity 9000 benchmarks were run on a prototype machine and showed the MediaTek chipset with a 40%+ efficiency advantage over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. The Dimensity 9000 has now debuted on an actual smartphone, though—the OPPO Find X5 Pro—and new CPU benchmarks tell a different story.

Google has forced YouTube Vanced to end, just over four years after the service started. Reputedly, Google threatened YouTube Vanced with a cease and desist, and asked it to remove all references to YouTube. Existing YouTube Vanced installations will not be affected, though.

YouTube has had a toggle to open a transcript of a compatible video for some time now. However, it has only been available on via desktop browsers so far. Now, however, it has reportedly been spotted on the app's Android version. The feature seems to have been heavily modified for its new format.

The OnePlus Nord CE 2 is a recently-launched smartphone that is now expected to gain a Lite alternative soon. The latest leaks include renders that might show how this potentially affordable device might look. They have arrived alongside interesting allegations that it, like the CE 2, will support external storage and more.

Xiaomi has already indicated that its Redmi brand's 2022 K50 flagship smartphones will launch with some of MediaTek's latest Dimensity SoCs. Now, the OEM has pointed out that this will also make them the world's first Bluetooth 5.3 mobile devices. They are also now slated to support a new audio codec on top of that.

Xiaomi's latest Android 12-based MIUI 13 updates seem to be breaking phones. According to Xiaomiui, phones like the Mi 11, Mi 11 Ultra, and Mi 11 Lite 5G have all been hard-bricked recently after installing the new MIUI 13 builds.

Word on the grapevine has now provided a list of improvements expectant fans can look forward to in the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold4. The premium foldable will debut at Unpacked in August, expectedly alongside the Z Flip4 and Galaxy Buds Pro 2.

A new report has now revealed the best-selling smartphones of 2021. Apple dominates as usual, taking seven slots in the top ten charts, thanks to impressive iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 series sales. Comparatively, only three extreme budget Android devices find their way in.

The Xiaomi 12 Ultra might have been expected to launch by the end of March 2022, going by the rumored super-flagship phone's predecessor, not to mention the frequency of leaks surrounding the supposed device. However, according to a legendary tipster, it is in fact at a relatively early stage in development and may not make it to the market until later in 2022.

OnePlus has had a new smartphone approved for sale in China. This new leak, courtesy of the 3C authority, shows that it is the one teased earlier as the first to launch with 150 watt (W) SuperVOOC charging. This new cutting-edge tech is slated to fill the handset's 4,500mAh battery in just 5 minutes.

Recently, the top-end Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra proved a "disappointment" on appearing in a YouTube drop test. Now, its smallest S22 sibling has joined it on the same vlogger's channel. Can a newly-bought unit of this compact flagship hold up any better to the same destructive treatment?

Nothing is a new tech company that often backs itself to have the potential to bring uniquely-designed hardware to market. Now, a design blog has taken this "ethos" into account in publishing a new set of high-quality images that outline how it imagines the OEM's first-gen smartphone is going to look. It has indeed gotten creative in areas such as the putative device's biometrics and rear cameras.

Xiaomi has developed another version of the Redmi Note 11S, a 5G model that borrows heavily from the POCO M4 Pro 5G. The Redmi Note 11S 5G will be available in multiple memory configurations, plus single-SIM and dual-SIM variants.

Reports a while ago claimed Samsung was set to launch new Galaxy Buds later this year. It appears now that the Buds in question are the Galaxy Buds Pro 2 which will debut alongside the Galaxy Z Fold4 and Galaxy Z Flip4 at Unpacked in August.

Xiaomi may not be that far away from unveiling the POCO F4 and POCO F4 Pro, global versions of the Redmi K50 and Redmi K50 Pro+. Seemingly, the FCC has confirmed that the former will launch with MIUI 13 and a 4,400 mAh battery, while the POCO F4 Pro will be a 5G-capable smartphone.

Honor has introduced the X8, a new mid-range smartphone based on the Snapdragon 680. The Honor X8 also has a 64 MP quad camera, 6 GB of RAM, 128 GB of storage and runs Magic UI 4.2 based on Android 11. A 4,000 mAh battery is onboard too, as is a 1080p display that measures 6.7-inches across.

Redmi launched a special Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1-themed edition of its K50 Gaming phone alongside its vanilla counterpart in China recently. The Xiaomi subsidiary has released the phone with a 120W power brick in the box, rated to run on advanced gallium nitride (GaN) technology provided by the OEM's industry partner Navitas.

Xiaomi has started teasing the Redmi 10 series through its Redmi India Twitter channel. Nigerian retailers have already started selling the Redmi 10C though, albeit with conflicting specifications. Reputedly, the Redmi 10C could cost as little as €150 in Europe too.

The Xperia Ace 3 has leaked, courtesy of OnLeaks. The compact handset is just 139.7 mm tall and has a basic set-up, including a single rear-facing camera. The Xperia Ace 3 could be another Japanese exclusive, though.

Xiaomi continues to reveal more details about the Redmi K50 series ahead of its March 17 hardware launch event. It seems that Xiaomi will launch more than one smartphone this time, all running Android 12 and with up to 12 GB of RAM. Xiaomi's new Redmi K50 smartphones will feature a nano-microcrystalline-based back panel too.

Realme has launched the TechLife Watch S100 alongside its new 9 5G and 5G SE smartphones today (March 10, 2022). It appears to be a new version of an existing smartwatch from this OEM, with a potentially crucial upgrade in the form of a user body-temperature tracker. Its estimated battery life is also improved over its apparent predecessor.

Realme has just launched the latest members of its 9 series of mid-range smartphones. They consist of the 5G-enabled vanilla model and its SE variant. In this case, the acronym refers to the fact that it has the better refresh (and charging) rate of the two. They both also have different processors, albeit similar specs otherwise.

Huawei has quietly brought the Nova 9 SE to market, its first smartphone with a 108 MP camera. The Nova 9 SE has four other cameras, along with a stylish design, EMUI 12 based on Android 12 and a 4,000 mAh battery that it can recharge at 66 W.

Samsung's large-scale #EpicUnboxing event has entered the Guinness World Records for the most people who unbox their smartphones at the same time. To achieve this, Samsung invited over 1,800 people from 17 cities to its event, which took place in India.

Xiaomi has started teasing the Redmi K50 Pro, its next entry in the Redmi K50 series. So far, Xiaomi has confirmed a few details about the Redmi K50 Pro, including its SoC and primary camera. More Redmi K50 series devices will arrive in China on March 17, and perhaps not just the Redmi K50 Pro.

Redmi has announced the Note 11 Pro+ and the Note 11 Pro in India. Both models sport fairly similar specifications save for the SoC and camera setup. The Redmi Note 11 Pro+ features the Snapdragon 695 SoC while the Redmi Note 11 is based on the MediaTek Helio G96. Both phones also feature a 108 MP Samsung HM2 primary sensor. Redmi also launched the Watch 2 Lite smartwatch with heart rate, SpO2, and sleep monitoring.

A new leak has now provided exact pricing details of the Xiaomi 12X, Xiaomi 12, and Xiaomi 12 Pro ahead of their global debut on March 15. The prices, however, remain unfriendly and appear to show Xiaomi competing with Samsung's Galaxy S22 series in that segment of the market.