Android

OPPO teased a new kind of phone at its latest developer conference: one with an extending, rollable OLED display. This device was reportedly showcased by an engineer from this OEM after the show. This employee asserts that the X 2021 is rated to withstand 5 years of active use, during which thousands of its new special move can be executed.

The rumor mill is already working through reports on OnePlus' next-gen flagship smartphones. One of them is thought to be called the 9, and is linked to renders showing triple rear cameras, two of which are much larger than the third. A new leak asserts that they are both to be 48MP in resolution, although they both have different functions.

Lenovo has been trolling Xiaomi on social media by taking a subtle stab at the current marketing of the upcoming Redmi Note 9 smartphones for the Chinese market. It appears Lenovo has something planned to take the shine off the Redmi Note 9 competitor, with speculation suggesting a Lenovo K6 Note or even a Lenovo Lemon resurrection.

Samsung's Exynos SoCs aren't very popular in high-end smartphones because they offer less power. But even in mid-range devices, the in-house processors fall behind.

A new leak hints at the existence of a Galaxy A12 smartphone to be launched in early 2020 or 2021. It suggests this device will have the same new square rear camera module as the higher-end A42 5G. However, should it prove accurate, its display may be a downgrade on its budget predecessor.

The 10000 mAh power bank houses individual USB Type-A, Type-C, Micro-USB, and Thunderbolt cables in a neat fashion for easy transporting.

The Redmi Note 9 4G, Redmi Note 9 5G and Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G are almost here. Xiaomi has now confirmed that it will unveil new Redmi Note 9 devices on November 26. The trio are expected to feature the Snapdragon 750G and Dimensity 800U chipsets.

Xiaomi has finalised a fixed MIUI 12 update for the global version of the Redmi Note 8, according to a new report. The new update will be called V12.0.2.0.QCOMIXM, and is now thought to be arriving before the end of the month.

The Nord N100 may be dead on arrival thanks to OnePlus' woeful software support, but the budget smartphone does have a trick up its sleeve. While OnePlus markets it with a 60 Hz IPS display, the Nord N100 actually supports a 90 Hz refresh rate, making it one of the few smartphones to do so at its price point.

Huawei has released a new update to the P20 and P20 Pro. The update, which is rolling out in Europe, contains system stability improvements. Neither device are ever likely to receive EMUI 10.1 or EMUI 11, though.

Xiaomi has now moved onto bringing its devices onto Android 11, having already upgraded most of them to MIUI 12. The Redmi K30 Pro, POCO F2 Pro and Mi 10 Pro are some of the first handsets to receive Android 11, although those outside of China must await the call to Google's new OS.

Xiaomi has begun upgrading the Redmi Note 7 and Redmi Note 7S to MIUI 12 in India. V12.0.1.0.QFGINXM will arrive as an OTA, but the recovery ROM can be downloaded manually now.

The PlayStation 4 smash-hit adventure game The Last of Us Part II has amassed 10 nominations for The Game Awards 2020, including in the Game of the Year category. Indie hit Hades managed to grab eight nominations, while the critically acclaimed Ghost of Tsushima received seven nominations. Winners will be announced on December 10.

ZTE was first to the under-display selfie camera with the launch of its Axon 20 5G smartphone earlier in 2020. Now, it has teased an "Extreme" variant of the same device, although how it earns this moniker is not clear at present. What is more certain is that the new 4G-only version of the same phone runs on the UNISOC Tiger T618 SoC.

Xiaomi has released eight Redmi K30 series devices this year with a variety of display types. The Chinese company has used everything from 60 Hz AMOLED screens to 144 Hz LCDs, but all Redmi K40 handsets should have high-refresh-rate panels. Fast-charging will be headed to all Redmi K40 series models, too.

Xiaomi is running its Mi Friday deals until November 29, and it is offering plenty of tasty morsels for smartphone fans. From tomorrow, the Redmi 9 will be cut to £99, while the Redmi Note 8 Pro will be available for just £129. The POCO F2 Pro has been reduced to £299, too.

The under-display sensor may come to replace the punch-hole in smartphones as time goes on. A new report by a Korean media outlet asserts that Samsung has them in the works for 2021; however, they will only feature in the OEM's highest-end foldable device. Meanwhile, the same company is now said to also have affordable versions of the Galaxy Z Flip in development.

Poco has confirmed that the M3 will be its next smartphone to receive a global launch, and one which will occur on November 24. The design and specifications of the device have already leaked though, and may be another Xiaomi re-brand rather than a distinctive Poco smartphone.

The 5G version of the Realme 7 —the Realme 7 5G— has been launched in Europe. It features a MediaTek Dimensity 800U SoC, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, four rear cameras, a 6.5-inch IPS LCD panel clocked at 120Hz, and a 5,000mAh battery that can be charged at 30W. It will cost €229, but for a limited time only.

Citizen has unveiled its inaugural WearOS smartwatch, the CZ Smart. Sadly, the company has used the outdated Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform rather than the newer, and considerably more powerful, Wear 4100 or Wear 4100+ platforms. The Citizen CZ Smart retails for US$395, which is mighty expensive for a Wear 3100 smartwatch.

OnePlus has finalised some of the changes that it will be adding to OxygenOS. The new features have been whittled to seven from thousands of community suggestions, and include a proper dark mode, not a dark grey mode as is currently available on OxygenOS 11.

Without an official changelog to go with it, the Sony Xperia 1 II has just received a new software update. The 108.6 MB patch is available via OTA and contains the November 2020 Android security patch from Google, most likely combined with a few Sony-exclusive tweaks and fixes.

Samsung has updated the Galaxy S6 series and Galaxy Note 5, years after official support for the devices ended. The four handsets remain on Android 7.0 Nougat and the September 2018 security patch, but Samsung claims to have optimised security-related code in some regard.

Redmi has been celebrating the news that the total amount of Redmi Note smartphones sold around the world has now topped 140 million units. The lasting popularity of devices such as the Redmi Note 7 and Redmi Note 8 has assisted the Xiaomi sub-brand with achieving this phenomenal sales record.

OnePlus has revealed its 2020 Black Friday deals for the US market. They include discounts on the flagship 8 and 8 Pro, as well as 40% off its latest wireless earphones. However, the best deal here may be the 7T, which can be had for just US$349 during this holiday sale.

LG is projected to launch phones called the Q63 and Q83 in 2021. Now, a new leak points to a design for one or both of these devices that seriously bucks the square-cam trend. It seems the OEM has crafted triangle-shaped housings instead, that encompass a large main sensor and up to 3 more.

The Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro flagship smartphone will apparently utilize MIUI 12 firmware to deliver users with a top-notch screen-viewing experience according to a noted leaker. On top of that, it appears the Pro model of the upcoming Mi 11 series will sport some serious camera sensors, with a main lens that could even approach 200 MP.

The latest potential Samsung Galaxy S21 Geekbench 5 scores are out there, and they show the Snapdragon 875 variant may be ahead of what might be this phone's Exynos 2100-powered counterpart. However, according to a famous leaker, this is not the whole story.

Huawei is set to upgrade only 14 devices to EMUI 11, according to a new report. Citing official confirmation from Huawei, it will apparently take the Chinese company until March 2021 before it finishes the rollout. Devices like the Mate 30, Mate 30 Lite and P40 Lite have missed the cut for EMUI 11, too.

Vivo held its Developer Conference today (November 18, 2020). This event was dominated by the introduction of OriginOS, a new UI the OEM has developed in order to replace Funtouch OS on its smartphones. With its adaptive, dynamic widgets, "behavioral" wallpapers and Multi-Turbo 5.0 engine, it may be a vast improvement over its predecessor.

Sony may have paired the Xperia 10 III with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 690 chipset, according to a new leak. The Japanese company appears to have a Snapdragon 875-powered handset in development too, which could be the Xperia 1 III.

While still distributing the Android 11 update to the Mi 10 series, it seems Xiaomi has already set its sights towards the popular, mid-range Snapdragon 720G-powered branch of the Redmi Note 9 family. Yes, it appears that the Redmi Note 9 Pro is now receiving Android 11. In India, at least.

Huawei has sold its low-cost subsidiary Honor to a Chinese consortium. The former parent company has emphasised that US sanctions forced it to sell Honor, and the sale was more about the survival of the Honor brand than providing Huawei with needed cash flow.

A week ago, Xiaomi rolled out the MIUI 12.2.2.0.RJBCNXM update for the Mi 10 flagship, but pulled it back shortly after, most likely due to bugs. Now, the Android 11-based firmware is finally back on track and this time everything seems all right. The update sports camera VLOG and AI watermark, as well as the usual Android 11 changes.

A leak pointing to a new Samsung smartphone battery with a 5830mAh battery may also imply the imminent launch of a device called the Galaxy M42. This putative phone is rumored to have a 64MP primary camera, and may be available in India soon.

Lemfo produces many unusual smartwatches, but it has outdone itself with the LEM14. Not only does the smartwatch feature built-in GPS and LTE, but it features two cameras for video calls and capturing general photos on the go. The Lemfo LEM14 has a 1.69-inch display and a 1,600 mAh battery, too.

The CarDroid is a mini-PC that promises to replace Android Auto with fully-fledged Android 9.0 Pie. The mini-PC comes with either a quad or octa-core processor, along with up to 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of flash storage. The device has generated over US$150,000 in crowdfunding on Indiegogo, while the manufacturer aims to begin shipping from next month.

Xiaomi has issued new MIUI 12 updates to several devices, including the Redmi Note 7, Redmi Note 9S, Mi 8 and Mi 8 Pro. The updates bring the global and Russian branches of the devices onto MIUI 12, which remains Xiaomi's latest OS.

Belkin's new BOOSTCHARGE TrueFreedom PRO Wireless Charger is a mat-style accessory rated to handle the demands of 2 Qi-compatible mobile devices thrown on it any old how. Therefore, it might solve the traditional problem of getting cable-less power to stay on without absolute precision in lining up contacts. Therefore, it may suit newer Android phones as well as iPhones up to the 11 series with ease.

The Montblanc Summit Lite will be mighty expensive, going off the US$1,000 asking price of the Summit 2. However, the Google Play Console has confirmed that Montblanc will sell the smartwatch with either a Snapdragon Wear 2100 or a Wear 3100 chipset, which are now over four years old.

Xiaomi has its eyes trained on releasing yet more smartphones under the Redmi Note 9 - this time two editions of the Redmi Note 9 5G. Apparently, Xiaomi will unveil the Dimensity 800U and Snapdragon 750G-backed handsets on November 24 in China. However, the two models will receive a global launch as the Redmi Note 9T and Redmi Note 9T Pro, respectively.

Poco will launch the Poco M3 globally on November 24. Its Geekbench listing indicates that it will run a Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 SoC and come with 4GB of RAM. It appears to be identical to the Redmi 10, which surfaced a few days ago.

Oppo has unveiled its Oppo X 2021 rollable OLED display smartphone. The concept device takes a different approach to the smartphone-tablet hybrid foldable OLED designs we have seen from Huawei and Samsung. The end result, however, is similar as it delivers a device that is both a smartphone and tablet in one.

Google has unveiled a new colour option for the Pixel 4a. Called Barely Blue, the colour will be a limited edition variant only available in the US and Japan.

The Nord is OnePlus' much-hyped contender in the 2020 upper-mid-range smartphone market. Now, a new report claims that it will get a second generation. It might run on a new Snapdragon 5G processor, have a high-refresh-rate display and run Android 11 out of the box.

The gaming phone brand RedMagic will release its latest TWS earbuds, the CyberPods, globally in November 2020. These accessories' design is an original take on the AirPod-clone form-factor that might complement its maker's flagship devices. They are not ANC, but claim extreme low latency and a Gamer Mode instead.

A new leak has offered more details on the Mi 11 Pro, Xiaomi's first flagship smartphone of 2021. The Mi 11 Pro will a few display upgrades from the Mi 10 Pro, including a 1440p (QHD) resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate. The punch-hole and curved finish of this year's model will remain, though.

The Samsung Galaxy M12 may be an interesting budget phone on its launch, especially if it comes with the 7,000mAh battery apparently destined for it. A new leak purports to show what it looks like from all angles, including an Infinity-V display and square module for its quad rear cameras.