Chinese Tech

Xiaomi is planning to release new MediaTek-backed smartphones, codenamed Evergreen, Evergo, Pissaro and Pissaropro. All models will feature high-resolution primary cameras, with the Samsung ISOCELL HM3 due for Pissaro and Pissaropro.

Realme India has confirmed that one of its upcoming smartphones will run the new MediaTek Dimensity 810 chipset. The only device that fits the bill is the Realme 8s. Realme is expected to launch it sometime in September 2021.

An apparent fan-made concept design of the Xiaomi 12 has started appearing on social media, with some sites reporting it as a first look at a live image of the upcoming flagship. However, this particular “Xiaomi 12” has a fatal flaw in the design for the main camera arrangement.

A new leak appears to reveal the launch date of Apple's next batch of smartphones, the iPhone 13 series. The launch event will see the unveiling of the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Mini, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max, with a couple other mobile products potentially also scheduled for release on that date.

AMD Cezanne Ryzen 5000 Creator Edition processors will now be available in Lenovo laptops. References to Yoga Slim 7 Pro variants with Ryzen 7 5800HS Creator Edition and Ryzen 9 5900HS Creator Edition APUs have now surfaced on Lenovo PSREF. There's also a Yoga 14s 2021 in the offing powered by a Ryzen 7 5800HS Creator Edition and Nvidia GeForce MX450 paired with GDDR6 VRAM.

Speculation in China indicated that the upcoming Realme Pad could come equipped with a Snapdragon 768G. Those look to have been completely off the mark, as new information claims the upcoming AMOLED tablet will sport the much less impressive MediaTek Helio G80 instead. Other specifications have now also been confirmed.

A Vivo executive is now quoted as saying that this Android OEM's former flagship NEX line is indeed to be brought back from the dead. It will apparently follow an annual product cycle, which will resume from the first half of 2022 onward. Nevertheless, leaks for the upcoming top-end X70 series continue apace.

Motorola is currently said to have a couple of new Moto E-series smartphones in the works. One of them may have found its way onto Geekbench, in a new leak that purports to confirm numerous rumored specs for the device. They include SoC and RAM profiles that are emphatically in the lowest of market tiers, especially for 2021.

While the expected announcement of the Apple Watch Series 7 is still a few weeks away, Chinese copycats have already started selling smartwatches that precisely replicate the design of Apple's latest wearable. Even though the marketing images look great, these cheap knockoffs from China are often of inferior quality.

OPPO is conspicuous in the absence of the mid-year flagship (or flagship refresh) launches in which other Android OEMs have come to indulge in 2021. However, according to a knowledgeable leaker, such devices from this company might be on the way after all. Some of them are slated to come in foldable, ColorOS 12-powered form, no less.

Honor unveiled the Watch GS 3 a few weeks ago, with the company highlighting the smartwatch's industry-leading heart rate monitor. While the company has not launched the Watch GS 3 yet, it has finally shown how the wearable looks in the flesh.

Vivo is slated to launch its next top-end mobile Android devices as the X70 series. Now, the OEM has confirmed that they will debut a chipset that the OEM has designed and developed in-house, called the V1. It will act as an image-signal processor (ISP) in the new phones. Meanwhile, the vanilla X70's appearance may have been spoiled in a new leak.

Huawei has unveiled EMUI 12, the apparent successor to EMUI 11. The new OS features a tweaked design, a revised control panel and is apparently designed 'in line with your senses'.

Weeks after unveiling MIUI 12.5 Enhanced and starting the rollout in China, Xiaomi has now announced the imminent release of the update to Global MIUI users. As expected, the rollout will start with the company's premium devices in the Mi 11, Mi 10, and Mi 10T series.

The Redmi Note 10 has been given another price hike in India. The popular smartphone from Xiaomi was officially launched in March of this year at the highly attractive price of ₹11,999 (US$162) for the 4/64 GB model. The Redmi Note 10 received a hefty price hike in early August and now the base model price tag has been upped again.

Motorola is now said to have 2 new Moto E-series smartphones in the works. Two well-known leakers indicate that they will continue in the usually cost-effective vein of their predecessors, with modest specs and the Go version of Android 11. Then again, they might stand out with interesting rear-panel finishes and decently large screens.

Xiaomi is getting the recognition it deserves in China. At the just awarded China Mobile Awards, the company put up an incredible showing, with devices like Mi 11 Ultra, Mi 11 Pro, Mi 11, Redmi K40, Redmi Note 10 Pro, and Redmi Note 10 all earning plaudits.

Xiaomi's smart-tech event of today (August 26, 2021) was perhaps dominated by the launch of 2 new Mi Notebooks and the Mi TV 5X in India. However, there were one or two other appearances at this show, such as the new Mi Router 4A (Gigabit Edition) - not to mention the new Xiaomi Running Shoes.

Another Vivo X70 series handset has leaked online, following the X70 Pro yesterday. Now, it is the turn of the X70 Pro Plus, the presumed flagship of Vivo's upcoming smartphone series.

Xiaomi has unveiled its latest TVs, all with 4K and 10-bit colour panels. The Mi TV 5X series will be available next month in 43-inch, 50-inch and 55-inch sizes.

Xiaomi has upgraded its Mi Notebook 14 Series to the Mi Notebook 2021 Series with the launch of the Mi Notebook Pro and Mi Notebook Ultra SKUs. Both models are powered by Intel Tiger Lake-H35 processors and feature largely identical specifications with the primary differences being with respect to the display and battery capacity.

The Realme 8 and Realme 8 Pro smartphones have been included on an unofficial list of devices that support the company’s dynamic RAM expansion (DRE) technology. The amount of virtual RAM that can be added depends on the phone, with the upper limit hitting an extra 7 GB. The update for the Realme 8 has already started rolling out.

Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro users still have to wait for at least a few weeks before the Enhanced Edition firmware, but the arrival of the MIUI Global 12.5.5 Stable update is still good news. In addition to the August 2021 security patch, this piece of code also comes with an all-new Notes app and multiple optimizations.

An extensive leak has revealed more about the Vivo X70 Pro, one of the company's next flagship killers. The Vivo X70 Pro not only has a premium design, but also Zeiss-branded cameras, among other flagship-grade hardware.

Third-party retailers have started selling the Tab V7 Pro, Honor's latest tablet. The Magic UI 5.0 tablet starts at US$569.99 and comes with a 120 Hz display and a MediaTek Kompanio 1300T SoC.

Xiaomi plans to sell its refreshed Mi 11 Lite under different names depending on where you buy it. The new device will also lose the 'Mi' from its name while gaining 'NE', becoming the Xiaomi 11 Lite NE.

The Realme Pad has now been claimed to be scheduled for a September 9 release. Specs of the AMOLED tablet surfaced days ago, and a new leak now also tips it to be more of an affordable option than an Apple iPad-fighting device.

The existence of a Redmi Note 10 Lite smartphone, which is apparently headed for the India market, has been confirmed in app code and the IMEI database. It seems this upcoming Redmi Note 10 Lite is simply a 2021 version of the Redmi Note 9 Pro (India), which is also known in other parts of the world as the Redmi Note 9S.

A new leak has revealed the internal aliases of Xiaomi's upcoming flagship phones, the Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Ultra. The phones will bear the codenames "Cupid" and "Zeus" respectively, and "Cupid" has now been tipped to launch in November without MIUI 13 out of the box.

Xiaomi is now rumored to have new laptops to introduce to the Indian market. The Mi Notebook Pro and Ultra are slated to be 14- to 15.6-inch devices that go up to 3.2K in terms of display resolution. However, they may differ in terms of refresh rate and graphics solutions.

The OEM Huawei has had a patent for a new kind of smartphone display approved by the US Patents and Trademarking Office (USPTO). It describes a device with a screen that goes all the way down to meet the rear panel. Therefore, the 2 "arc-shaped" pieces of panel that effectively form the sides of the phone act as its buttons, and, possibly, other controls depending on context.

Xiaomi has published a teaser website for the Redmi 10 Prime, the latest entry in its Redmi series. The website confirms not only the device's launch date, but also the device's design and numerous hardware details.

Two European retailers have published their listings for the Mi 11T and Mi 11T Pro, or 11T and 11T Pro as Xiaomi will seemingly call them. The retail listings not only reveal colours and memory configurations, but also prices for all SKUs.

Lenovo has released the Legion Phone Duel 2 (also known as the 2 Pro) as its flagship Android gaming phone for 2021. Now, the OEM has announced that a third generation of this line is indeed on the way, and will be powered by the true successor to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 on its launch.

OPPO is mostly known for more conventional smartphones such as the Find X3s and Renos of 2021. However, it also had more interesting units in its history, not the least of which were the N-series phones with main cameras that could twist around to face either the front or back of the device. According to an eminent Weibo leaker, they are now on their way back and might be here soon.

The OnePlus 9RT will be a strategic update to the OnePlus 9R that was released earlier this year. Specs and pricing of the sub-premium device have now surfaced ahead of its expected October release, with notable takeaways including both outdated display and RAM.

Realme is all set to launch the world's first MediaTek Helio G96-powered smartphone, the Realme 8i. The mid-ranger is rumoured to ship with a 120Hz screen, 50MP primary camera sensor, and a 5,000mAh battery.

It has been reported that Xiaomi will no longer use the “Mi” trade name as part of its branding. Apparently, this process already started with the Mix 4 smartphone and should continue with the upcoming Xiaomi 11T range. It seems “Mi” has become superfluous as Xiaomi targets worldwide brand recognition and consumer electronics dominance.

OPPO is currently at the Smart China Expo 2021 to launch new additions to its VOOC line of mobile-device chargers. They are (surprise, surprise) new magnetic wireless chargers for improved attachment to their compatible phones. This new MagVOOC series consists of a slim charging puck, a power bank and a new charging stand thus far.

Xiaomi has now begun rolling out the MIUI 12.5 update to the Poco X3 NFC and the Redmi Note 9 Pro—both in Europe. While the rollout for the Redmi Note 9 Pro is a limited one, all Poco X3 NFC owners in Europe should be getting their first taste of MIUI 12.5 right about now.

Xiaomi has now officially revealed its plans for a global product launch event scheduled for September 15. While the company doesn't reveal which products it will release on that day, other sources indicate the Mi 11T series and Mi Pad 5 will be the stars of the show.

The iQOO 8 Pro has just launched in China to challenge the Xiaomi Mi Mix 4 with its Snapdragon 888+ SoC and brand-new, extremely premium E5 display. Now, the appearance of a new phone from its OEM on the Google Play Console has sparked rumors that it is about to get a global launch. However, it seems not to have the full-fat specs of this new Pro smartphone.

Recent leaks have hinted that Lenovo is working on the Tab P12 Pro, a new tablet with high-end specs, especially when compared to its putative predecessor. Now, a device with its rumored model number has been approved by the FCC. This new certification suggests the device will have an ~11-inch display and a single rear camera.

ZTE'S high-end Android gaming brand Nubia may be gearing up for its next launch event, despite having already released its flagship 6 and 6 Pro in 2021. This leak has given rise to speculation that this upcoming show is for a 6S, which would succeed an analogous iterative refresh from the previous year.

Xiaomi is on the verge of releasing a 27-inch monitor in Europe. The 1080p and IPS monitor will arrive as the Mi Desktop Monitor 27" with TÜV Rheinland certification, a 75 Hz refresh rate and 300-nit peak brightness. The Mi Desktop Monitor 27" will launch in September.

According to recent leaks, the first foldable to be launched by the OEM Honor will be called the Magic Fold and might be here as soon as the last quarter of 2021. Now, a well-known tipster has posted what could be renders of this phone. They strongly suggest that it will look much like counterparts from Samsung or Huawei, but will have rear cameras similar to those of the brand's 50-series smartphones.

Realme is geared to release a slew of devices next month but the star of the show will be the company's first tablet, the Realme Pad. The Realme Pad is expected to rival Xiaomi's new Mi Pad 5, and details of the tablet have now surfaced ahead of launch, revealing some specs, dimensions, and even pricing speculation.

Xiaomi failed to release a successor to the Mi Note 10 last year. The company appears to finally be working on such a device, though, and initial details of what could be the Mi Note 11 have now surfaced. As expected, the cameras are the stars of the show here.

The design of the rear case of the upcoming Xiaomi Mi 11T has been revealed in an FCC listing. The certification database also mentions that the Mi 11T will operate on MIUI 12.5 out of the box and that it has an “overall diagonal dimension” of 174 mm. The Mi 11T is expected to sport a MediaTek Dimensity chip.

The latest market research suggests that an important tipping point in the mobile processor market has arrived. It seems the cost-effectiveness of new 4G/LTE processors will start dropping soon, as manufacturers and chip-makers inevitably turn their focus on 5G-capable platforms instead. On the other hand, this kind of connectivity is still not widespread enough to kill its predecessor off completely.