Android

Samsung’s next major Galaxy Unpacked event is tipped for August 3. The event is expected to see the unveiling of the Galaxy Z Fold 3, Flip 3 and Galaxy Watch 4 series.

Realme has set the international launch of its flagship smartphone, the GT, for June 15, 2021. Now, its latest teasers hint that it has an additional new product by the same name to debut alongside it. This prospect is presented alongside images that might show the profiles of not only its rumored first laptop, but a tablet as well.

When a smartphone does exactly what is expected from its price range, this can definitely be an advantage. At least this is the impression given by the Oppo A94 5G.

HMD Global has presented the Nokia C20 Plus, another budget smartphone for the company. The C20 Plus retails for equivalent to US$110 and comes with 3 GB of RAM, a 4,950 mAh battery and 32 GB of expandable storage.

The June 2021 security patch has arrived for the Mi A2 Lite, courtesy of its V11.0.20.0.QDLMIXM update. V11.0.20.0.QDLMIXM is rolling out now as an OTA, but it may be the Mi A2 Lite's penultimate update.

The next major upgrade to Android, simply known as 12, has started on its path to a final form with the launch of its second beta. The vice-president (VP) of engineering at the OS' team has released an interesting statistic to go with this new milestone: its immediate predecessors apparently attracted the most downloads and installs of any pre-stable Android version in its history.

Contrary to previous reports, Mobvoi has denied that the TicWatch Pro 3 will necessarily receive Wear OS 3.0, or 'Wear' as Google now calls it. Supposedly, Mobvoi awaits 'official confirmation...from Google' on the matter.

According to reports, neither the Surface Duo nor the Surface Duo 2 will receive Android 12 this year. An Android 11 release date has been mooted for the Surface Duo, though. For some reason, Microsoft plans to release the Surface Duo 2 with what will be an outdated OS by that point, albeit with flagship components.

Samsung is continuing its habit of providing timely updates. The company sent out the June update to its current flagship phones last week and is now expanding the rollout to include its 2019 premium devices, the Galaxy S10 and Note 10 series.

Some consumers all set to buy the rumored Samsung Galaxy S21 FE may have been put off by leaks pointing to only 6GB of RAM for the upcoming flagship variant. However, the same model number quoted in this leak has turned up on Geekbench again, but with 8GB of RAM this time. It also still has its top-end Snapdragon 888 SoC.

The Honor 50 and 50 Pro are Android smartphones subject to numerous leaks that purport to out their design and specs ahead of their launch. The latest of these comes from AnTuTu, and may offer an insight into their new SoC, the Snapdragon 778G, for the first time. It also indicates that the Pro variant will debut with a 120Hz display.

MIUI 12.5 has now found its way to over 35 devices globally. Xiaomi's latest OS upgrade should reach even more devices by the end of the month, according to the company's official release schedules.

The Xperia 1 III may not be available globally yet, but Sony has already started selling it in China. Accordingly, the first hands-on videos of the new flagship have arrived, and it seems that Sony has stepped up its camera game compared with the Xperia 1 III compared to last year's model.

OnePlus has introduced three new additions to its upper midrange U-series smart TV range in 50, 55, and 65-inch variants. The new U1S series feature largely similar specifications as the previous 55U1 with some features removed to keep costs competitive. The company has also launched the OnePlus TV Camera for video conferencing with Google Duo.

Samsung has delivered on an earlier teaser with the launch of the ISOCELL JN1 camera for mobile devices today (June 10, 2021). It packs the industry's smallest pixel size of 0.64 microns, which fits in well with its relatively tiny overall size. The OEM asserts that it is ready to become the main, wide, ultra-wide or telephoto camera of the mid-range to flagship phones of the immediate future.

OnePlus has revealed the Nord CE 5G, its latest assault on the mid-range. The Nord CE 5G offers much of what the regular Nord does, but at an even more affordable price. The Nord CE 5G will be available with up to 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage.

Facebook is prepping its first smartwatch that can also double as standalone camera of sorts. According to The Verge, the new smartwatch will feature two cameras and can be detached from a watch band and used for taking photos and videos.

The Sony Xperia 1 III will soon be available for pre-order in North America via one of Sony's authorized dealers. B&H Photo has added a pre-order date to its listing for the Xperia 1 III, although there is still no official price mentioned. Buyers will be limited to frosted black when it comes to colors though.

Samsung has set a date for presenting its 'New Watch Experience', following the announcement that Wear OS and Tizen will merge. The presentation is only a few weeks away, of which the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch Active 4 are expected to be a part.

Currently, Xiaomi's most premium Android smartphones include the Mi 11 Ultra and Mi Mix Fold. However, the renowned leaker Digital Chat Station claims to have information on an impending successor that could blow even these super-flagships out of the water. It will apparently do so with cutting-edge tech such as ultrawide-band (UWB) and under-display technology.

Motorola has launched a new low-cost 5G smartphone in the US. The Moto G Stylus 5G comes with significant upgrades, such as a newer Snapdragon chipset and a new stylus design. It will hit shelves on June 14 and cost US$400.

While the fate of existing Wear OS smartwatches remains undecided, Mobvoi has committed to upgrading the TicWatch Pro 3 to Google's new Wear OS platform. The TicWatch Pro 3 remains the most powerful Wear OS smartwatch, thanks to its Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100 SoC, nearly nine months after its release.

Samsung is thought to introduce the Galaxy Watch 4 and Active 4 lines of smartwatches during its next major product event. Now, another domino in this rumored sequence might have fallen, in the form of 3C certification for new wearables from this OEM. It may confirm earlier leaks pointing to nearly unchanged charging specs for one new Active SKU.

The jump from version number 3.8 to 4.0 comes with a few massive changes for Vivaldi users, starting with the three features still in Beta status: Mail, Calendar, and Feed Reader. This update also intros Vivaldi Translate, three interface layouts to choose from, and more. The Android update is also moving to version 4.0.

Realme CEO Madhav Sheth's latest tweet hints strongly at the imminent launch of this company's inaugural laptop. Judging from a possible product teaser included with this post, the machine is intended to be a MacBook clone, along the same lines as the Xiaomi Mi Notebook line. Realme's new take on this category is slated to launch by the end of June 2021.

A new report from China tells us that Xiaomi could resurrect its long-dead mobile chipset department. The company is allegedly in the process of hiring staff and securing patents for an in-house smartphone SoC.

Razer has launched its latest Hammerhead True Wireless earbuds. The new Hammerhead TWS X earbuds are targeted at mobile gamers and feature the latest connectivity for quick pairing and low latency.

According to a report, Samsung Display will begin mass-producing foldable displays for Google, Vivo and Xiaomi in October 2021. The three companies will supposedly unveil foldable smartphones, including the so-called Pixel Fold, in Q4 2021. A Pixel Roll has been tipped by a lead analyst at DSCC, too.

OnePlus is projected to launch a smartphone with silicon from MediaTek, rather than Qualcomm as usual, later in 2021. Now, the notable tipster Digital Chat Station claims that this phone will have a high-end main camera sensor, as well as an increasingly popular flat display. It may or may not be available internationally on its launch.

The LG Wing feels like abandonware at this point, with LG affording the device awful software support. Not only has the company silently switched to bi-monthly security patch updates, but it continues to keep the handset on Android 10.

All attention may have now turned to HarmonyOS 2.0, but Huawei is not done with EMUI 11 just yet. The company continues to roll out its Android 10-based OS globally, albeit for only a handful of devices. The company now claims that it has delivered EMUI 11 to most devices too, with the remaining receiving the OS in batches.

Fossil has commented on the fate of the Gen 5 and Gen 5E, its most recent Wear OS smartwatches. The company has confirmed a Gen 6 model is due soon with the latest version of Wear OS, albeit only as a premium smartwatch.

Samsung has announced that its next new ISOCELL sensor for smartphone cameras is "for everyone", thereby suggesting a new, mid-range variant is slated to join this series soon. The OEM has invited its Twitter audience to "stay tuned" for more details to be released on June 10, 2021.

Realme has officially announced that its flagship GT smartphone will finally get a global launch later in June 2021. However, the "price" section of this show may have been spoiled already thanks to an accidental leak of the OEM's EU product page for the device, showing that the phone will start at ~US$668 in the region.

Prices for both the Sony Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III have appeared on a US retailer site. While it’s possible these might just be placeholders, the amounts chosen seem reasonable and arguably even cheap compared to what many expected would be the price tags for the Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III.

A new report from a South Korean news outlet tells us that the Samsung Galaxy S22 series might not feature an under-display selfie camera. Poor yields, combined with less than ideal image quality, prompted Samsung to take the step. However, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is still on track to debut the technology.

Google's latest Feature Drop has arrived for the Pixel 3, Pixel 4 and Pixel 5 series. The June 2021 update includes an astro-time-lapse video mode, a locked folder option in Google Photos and an improved Gboard, among other improvements. The latest update addresses several bugs for Pixel handsets, too.

Xiaomi has opened MIUI 12.5 to another 16 devices. The additional devices form part of its second batch for devices enrolled on MIUI's Chinese branch. Most of the devices are Redmi handsets, including the K and Note series.

Although not perfect, MIUI 12.5.1 pushes the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro out of the red zone and irons out most of the bugs present in MIUI 12.1.5. The latest Android 11-based update for this handset makes the whole interface snappier and comes with a few changes to the Notes app, new sounds, and more.

The Honor 50 and 50 Pro are slated to launch in mid-June 2021. Prior to this event, however, the OEM has seen fit to release new teasers that confirm prior design leaks for the phones. They appear to confirm the new kind of quad rear camera hump the devices will rock, as well as their color options.

The RedMagic 6R offers the top-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor in a more mid range-looking chassis than is usual from this gaming-focused smartphone brand. The 6.67-inch display device will be released via its global website on June 24, 2021, starting at just under US$500.

A new leak suggests that Samsung plans on making its upcoming foldable smartphones a bit more affordable. Both the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 could be 20% cheaper than their antecedents.

MIUI code has confirmed the global model name for the new Redmi Note 10 Pro. The device, which has a MediaTek Dimensity 1100 SoC and a 6.6-inch display, is already available in China.

Samsung has reportedly certified a new battery with the group SGS Fimko, listed as intended for what looks like 2 variants of the same upcoming smartwatch. Their model numbers have become linked to the next-gen Galaxy Watch Active in earlier leaks. This latest one suggests that this model will get an upgrade in these terms, albeit not much of one.

The supposed price tag for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S21 FE smartphone has been leaked, shortly after renders of the device appeared online. The Galaxy S21 FE, which is expected to sport a Snapdragon 888 processor, is gearing up to be a surprisingly affordable and good-looking Fan Edition phone.

The Redmi Note 10 lineup is Xiaomi's current bread and butter for the mid-range segment. Sometimes, though, newer doesn't mean better, and it appears that last year's Redmi Note 9 may actually edge the Redmi Note 10 in some important performance tests.

For years, Samsung has been the leader when it comes to high-end smartphones, at least as far as the Android market is concerned. But the review of the Galaxy M12 once again showed that the manufacturer prefers to settle for mediocrity when it comes to budget phones.