Android

According to a new leak, the Galaxy Z Fold3 has obtained an actual certification for ingress-protection. The new tip fails to mention the exact IPxx number in question; nevertheless, it will still be the first time a foldable phone has had such a spec. Meanwhile, the Z Fold3 is also now rumored to be lighter than its predecessor.

Sony’s promotional efforts for the upcoming release of its Xperia 1 III flagship smartphone is now in full swing. The company has published a new video to YouTube depicting its Alpha camera engineers discussing how they developed its new camera system.

With the Redmi Note 10 Pro, Xiaomi has managed to create an all-around successful mid-range phone with a focus on the display. The mid-range competition will have a hard time beating this package of features at an MSRP of less than 280 Euros (~$336).

Another Sony Xperia smartphone could be in the pipeline for a 2021 release, with a noted leaker hinting at a further device launch for later in the year. A single letter mentioned by the tipster has created speculation that either a budget Sony Xperia phone could be coming or there might even be a return to the Ultra variants, possibly under a different model name.

Augmented reality applications may have been boosted Apple's adoption of LiDAR sensors in iPads and iPhones. However, rumour has it that Samsung will not include 3D ToF cameras in the Galaxy S22 series. Samsung started equipping DepthVision cameras in its flagship Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series, starting with the Galaxy S10 series in 2019.

Xiaomi's official MIUI 12.5 device list is rather lacklustre; only eighteen devices are confirmed to receive the OS update so far. Reportedly, Xiaomi is testing MIUI 12.5 on over three dozen handsets, including the Mi 8 and Redmi Note 8 Pro.

Samsung has reportedly applied to trademark the phrase "Armor Frame" in the EU, US and South Korea. Its new American IP application specifically indicates that it applies to smartphones, inviting speculation that it refers to a new engineering or design tweak for its upcoming flagships, particularly those of a foldable nature.

Many Android phone owners use apps that mirror or "wrap" the mobile Facebook interface rather than use this company's app. However, the social media giant has started to deprive them of this option. It has already had the apps Simple Social and Swipe taken down from Google's Play Store.

Xiaomi has updated the Mi A3 to the April 2021 security patch, a patch that addresses 18 critical or high CVEs for the Android One handset. However, V12.0.8.0.RFQMIXM also reportedly fixes a few bugs on the Mi A3, including DPI and charging status indicator issues.

Tipster Ice Universe has targeted the second half of 2021 for a breakthrough of smartphones with under-display cameras (UDCs). Devices expected to feature the technology include the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold range, Xiaomi MIX 4, an Oppo foldable, VIVO and ZTE.

Samsung will release the Galaxy M42 soon exclusively through Amazon India. This device is most likely the Indian-market rebrand of the pre-existing A42. The OEM has confirmed that this version still runs on the Snapdragon 750G processor, and is thus a 5G smartphone.

The Android OS should upgrade to its latest 12 version in just a few months. There are some preview builds around, the latest of which is now reported to have a new and powerful feature. It is a service that translates app contents to a phone's system language. Some pre-existing third-party apps are capable of this, although it seems Google may want to bake it into their new UI.

The iQOO 7 was the cheapest phone to launch with the top-end Snapdragon 888 SoC on its Chinese-market launch. Now, the OEM has announced that it will venture into its first international market soon. It will be joined by a "new" vanilla variant with a different processor in India later in April 2021.

LG has announced that it is out of the Android smartphone game; on the other hand, the cutting-edge Rollable mobile device is apparently being readied for launch. The latest step in this process is having it certified to use NFC, as the leaker Mukul Sharma has discovered.

The noted Chinese benchmark Master Lu has published a chart of what it considers to be the best mobile phone user interfaces for the first quarter of 2021. ColorOS from Oppo heads the table followed by Realme UI and Huawei’s EMUI. There is no space for MIUI from Xiaomi in the top 10 positions.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite will launch soon with Android 11 out of the box - based on its latest leaks, that is. The latest tip relating to this possible budget slate indicates that it will debut in a silver colorway as well as the darker gray hinted at earlier. This option has a white front panel that may make its bezels more pronouced in real life.

Not only does Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888 have a reputation for being extremely fast, but also for being very hot. Asus has already demonstrated that it can cool its smartphones excellently in the past, but the new chip poses a challenge even for the gaming king.

The Xiaomi Mi 11 may be a great smartphone, but it is not up there with the camera performance of other flagship smartphones released this year, Mi 11 Ultra included. Unfortunately, the Mi 11 cannot meet Xiaomi's marketing, even with its 108 MP camera.

The Realme executive Chase Yu has strongly hinted at a brand-new style for the OEM's upcoming Q3, a phone that might start as low as ~US$153 (or 1000 yuan). That would be an impressive feat, as the device is also rumored to run on the upper-mid-range-at-worst Dimensity 1100 SoC and to have a 120Hz display.

Samsung is slated to launch the next generations of the Z Fold and Z Flip flagship lines in the second half of 2021. However, the OEM is now said to have an even more interesting foldable in the works for the next year after that. This "Galaxy Z Fold Tab" might be capable of bending at two points and, thus, have the scope for more modes compared to its predecessors.

The Mi Mix Fold is Xiaomi's first-gen foldable phablet, and thus offers an 8-inch main display in a book-like form-factor. It has just been released for sale in China, which, according to the OEM, has been a complete success. Xiaomi claims to have sold all stock of the device for ~US$61 million in just 1 minute.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra ships with an Exynos 2100 SoC in Europe and other regions, but with the Snapdragon 888 in China and North America. While the two SoCs are more or less even in terms of performance, DxOMark has shown that the Exynos 2100 model delivers worse image quality.

Weibo and Twitter stalwart Ice Universe has heard from multiple sources that the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 3 will use an unannounced chipset from Samsung. It could likely be the Exynos 2100 successor, tentatively called the Exynos 2200.

Redmi has affirmed that it will launch its first "gaming phone" in 2021 - perhaps even this month, should the latest rumors prove true. As if to give this idea more weight, a device with its alleged model number is now approved for sale by the Chinese regulator 3C. Its new certificate also suggests it might launch with the same charging tech as the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra flagship.

OnePlus released the US$159 OnePlus Watch a while ago. Sadly, though, the watch looks set to be a colossal flop, with reviews consistently panning it for its inability to be good at being, well, a smartwatch at the very least.

Motorola will launch the Moto G60 soon. This phone is the OEM's 108MP mid-ranger for 2021 that will come with the Snapdragon 732G processor and a 120Hz screen. According to its latest tip, these specs will be joined by 6GB of RAM - or 4GB in the G40 Fusion. This secondary variant has a 64MP main sensor instead, but will be very similar to the G60 otherwise.

Multiple ASUS ZenFone 8 Mini variants just showed up on Geekbench running a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset. The top-of-the-line model has 16GB of RAM, while the scaled-down versions make do with 12GB and 8GB.

ZTE has debuted its 2021 flagship smartphone series with a launch for the Axon 30 Pro and 30 Ultra in China. The latter is the one with the OEM's intensely-hyped "Trinity" rear camera system. It also has a 6.67-inch AMOLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate, and, of course, that Snapdragon 888 SoC.

TCL has launched new smartphones at its latest press conference. They include the 20 Pro 5G, which offers this brand's NXTVISION 2.0 screen optimizations and the Snapdragon 750G processor. However, the 20 L and 20 L+ also have an interesting new feature to introduce: a new TÜV Rheinland-certified polarizing treatment designed to make their displays easier to use while wearing sunglasses.

We may still be two months from the Galaxy Tab S7 Lite's release, but Evan Blass has delivered several marketing renders. Shown in Mystic Black, the 12.4-inch tablet is expected to launch with a Snapdragon 750G, 5G connectivity and S Pen support.

Mobvoi is not stopping with the TicWatch GTH, which it released this week. Instead, the company also plans to launch the TicWatch E3, a smartwatch that will run Wear OS. The TicWatch E3 has a round watch face, slimmer bezels than the E2 and two physical buttons.

Pre-order prices for both the Sony Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III have been published on the company’s country-specific site for Russia. While the prices for the new phones are expectedly high, it seems there is a decent headphones-related gift to be had for Russian Xperia fans who make a timely pre-order booking.

An alleged Geekbench record for the just-launched Sony Xperia 1 III has been shared on Reddit, showing the flagship smartphone surpassing the Samsung Galaxy S21 devices in both single-core and multi-core disciplines. The Xperia 1 III with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC completely overwhelms the Xperia 1 II with SD865.

At a current price of about 89 Euros (~$106), it's almost impossible to find anything cheaper than the Redmi 9AT. However, Xiaomi cuts some corners in its entry-level phone in order to push the price below 100 Euros (~$119). Our review of the Redmi smartphone also reveals some unexpected differences compared with the Redmi 9A.

Xiaomi has started rolling out MIUI 12.5 to the Mi 11, one of its latest flagship smartphones. The update includes not only bug fixes from MIUI 12, but also new features and noticeable performance improvements. MIUI 12.5 should reach other Xiaomi smartphones later this year.

The Redmi Note 10 series is now available in India - on the other hand, it is missing its vanilla 5G variant. Now, there are signs that this Dimensity 700-powered phone is coming to the market after all, albeit under a different name. Xiaomi has attested that it will bear the POCO brand in India - and possibly in the US as well.

Sony has introduced two new Xperia premium phones — the Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III. Both phones sport largely similar specifications including the Snapdragon 888 5G SoC with the main differences being with respect to the display, storage options, wireless charging, and a 3D ToF camera. The highlight of this launch is the introduction of a variable telephoto lens that offers a focal length between 70 mm and 105 mm.

Motorola is geared to release its next budget device, the Moto G20, in the near future. Specs, features, and images of the phone have now been revealed, with a major talking point being the SoC—Motorola eschewing offerings from Qualcomm and MediaTek in favor of a UNISOC T700.

Sony has unveiled the Xperia 10 III, which builds on the Xperia 10 II. The Xperia 10 III retains its predecessor's design, but Sony has upgraded its battery capacity to 4,500 mAh. Additionally, the Snapdragon 665 from last year's model has been swapped out for a Snapdragon 690.

The LG Wing is, as it turns out, one of this OEM's last ever high-end smartphones. It is also the only one around with an innovative "swivel-action" main display. It is currently on sale for 62% (or ~US$665) off its normal price via Flipkart in India: clearly, the retailer has noticed LG has left the smartphone market.

Google Camera modders have found what could be an exciting feature of the Pixel 6. It seems that Google has added support for Samsung's camera sensors to its Super Res Zoom feature, indicating that the next Pixel could use an ISOCELL camera sensor.

The latest update for this custom Android ROM now supports four more Xiaomi handsets and integrates the latest security patch from Google. The list of added features includes multiple UI changes, fixes, as well as always-on scheduling, system-wide app locking, and a new ringtone.

A live image of the upcoming Sony Xperia 1 III has been leaked showing the flagship smartphone clad in black and purple. An accompanying specs leak has revealed 12 GB RAM, a 6.5-inch 4K display, and a 120 Hz refresh rate. The Xperia 1 III will also apparently have a larger battery than the Sony Xperia 1 II predecessor.

MediaTek and Nvidia have announced a new partnership that will see the former’s Arm-based CPUs married with the latter’s GPUs. It will see Nvidia’s RTX graphics joined with Arm-based PCs and laptops, including Chromebooks, for the first time, substantially increasing their graphics performance.

The US Patent and Trademarks Office (USPTO) has approved Samsung's patent for what is depicted as a "display device" that folds in half. It appears to be at least tablet-sized, and may thus be for the long-rumored Galaxy Tab Fold, or a very similar device. The document shows how Samsung intends to make a flexible display work on a larger scale.

The ZenFone 7 series is Asus' 2020 camera-focused flagship phone series. Despite this, the 2 devices are only just now receiving the OTA to update them to Android 11. This worldwide roll-out also upgrades their security patch level to March 5, 2021.