Chinese Tech

Meizu is set to release its next flagship phones, the Meizu 18s and 18s Pro, shortly. Both phones will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888+, with the Meizu 18s Pro also laying claim to some impressive camera hardware.

Honor has leap-frogged Xiaomi and Apple to become the third most successful mobile device OEM in its native China for the month of July 2021. This growth is most likely attributed to the sale of phones such as the mid-range 50 series.

The Mi Notebook Pro 14 Enhanced Edition has made its way out of China, and with up to an Intel Core i7-11390H processor. The laptop has a 14-inch and 120 Hz display too, along with an NVIDIA GeForce MX450 GPU.

Xiaomi is slated to launch a direct successor to the Mi 11 Ultra that might also have a 50MP main rear camera. Now, a reliable leaker claims that this "12 Ultra" will come with not just 1 but 3 sensors of this resolution. This, apparently, will give the potential flagship secondary functions such as ultrawide-angle shooting at a top-quality resolution.

According to a report, Xiaomi is planning to eventually bring Android 12 to over 70 devices, including those released under its Redmi, POCO and Black Shark brands. Older handsets like the Mi 9 and Redmi K20 series are supposedly set to miss out on Google's upcoming OS, though.

MediaTek is rumored to launch the Dimensity 2000 as its next-gen 5G flagship SoC. Now, the latest word on this chipset is that it might be announced prior to 2022 as a processor based on a 4 nanometer (nm) architecture, not to mention ARM v9. Therefore, it is now projected to offer a serious challenge to the likes of Qualcomm's own next top-end mobile processor.

A new leak has now given a good look at Realme's next sub-premium device, the Realme GT Neo 2. The Realme GT Neo 2 takes heavy styling cues from its stablemate, the OnePlus 9, and is expected to rival Xiaomi's Redmi K40G.

Xiaomi has started rolling out a new update to the Redmi Note 8 Pro in India. V12.5.3.0.RGGINXM brings several new elements to the device as part of an upgrade to MIUI 12.5. The update finally brings Android 11 to the Redmi Note 8 Pro, too.

A reliable leaker has recently asserted that the Android OEM OPPO is now close to launching its first ever foldable device. Now, the same tipster has elaborated further with a new claim that this phone's main display will integrate LTPO technology. It is also now said to launch with the latest version of Android.

A Weibo-based leaker has posted an in-the-wild image of a phone allegedly set to launch from the OEM Honor soon. It could be taken to be the pre-existing X20 - were it not for the apparent size of the device from the back. The tipster asserts that its display is 7 inches in diagonal length at least, and, thus, belongs to the rumored X20 Max.

Some recent leaks have hinted that the OEM Vivo would launch an X70 Pro Plus as the flagship of its upcoming premium Android smartphone line. Now, the company has posted a new domestic pre-order page that essentially confirms these details. It also reveals the device's launch date for the first time.

Huawei has signalled that it is ready to move on to premium devices with rollable displays, thanks to a new patent that locks its take on this next-gen type of display down. This new IP has been converted into new, high-quality renders that may show how next-gen Mate-series phablets based on this technology might look. The essential effect is somewhat reminiscent of the OEM's first-gen foldable.

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.