Android

Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi have taken up all 10 places in the Q3 2020 table for most shipped smartphones of the quarter. While Samsung has five different Galaxy A-branded devices in the charts and Xiaomi has great results with the Redmi Note 9 and Redmi 9, it’s the Apple iPhone 11 that rules the roost once again.

Word on the street is that the smartphone featuring the new wrap-around display would be part of the Galaxy Z series and could be launched soon in response to Xiaomi's commercial version for the Mi Mix Alpha. The upcoming Samsung phone would also come with sliding rear camera setup, in-display selfie cam and fingerprint sensor, wireless charging and no physical buttons, plus a host of new UI functions that make use of the expanded screen real estate.

Beta builds tend to include more bugs than stable ones, but few will wipe your data as a new update for the OnePlus 8, and OnePlus 8 Pro, on the Open Beta program has. OnePlus has, to its credit, provided a workaround to prevent data loss, though.

Huawei might be doing it tough with a shortage of components due to US sanctions, but it is still pushing ahead with the last of its major 2020 releases. Fresh certification for the Mate X2 66 W charging system in China suggests that it continues to be on track for release.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro has started receiving MIUI 12 globally. The update is called V12.0.1.0.QJZMIXM and is rolling out as an OTA following the arrival of similar updates for other regional variants of the Redmi Note 9 Pro.

OnePlus introduced a range of new always-on display (AOD) options with OxygenOS 11 (this OEM's take on Android 11) on its late-2020 flagship, the 8T. Now, one of these, Canvas, is available to this phone's immediate forebears the 8 and 8 Pro in a new "stable" update. The company has also addressed a serious error with a previous software version.

OnePlus is expected to release the low-cost OnePlus Nord SE sometime in March 2021. The smartphone is set to feature a 4,500mAh battery that supports fast charging at 65W. It will likely be released in India first, followed by the EU. A U.S launch seems unlikely.

Samsung has issued yet another fix to address the Galaxy S20 FE's touchscreen issues. Some users have reported that the update only partially addresses the problem, with some touchscreen functions not working as intended. The defect is likely due to faulty hardware, as multiple updates have failed to mend it.

The Xiaomi Mi 10 has received its call to Android 11. The Mi 10 is one of the first Xiaomi handsets to be upgraded to Android 11, albeit only in China for the time being. V12.2.2.0.RJBCNXM is rolling out as an OTA to devices now, but it is available to download manually.

Nokia has just completed its latest product unveiling, and it's a new version of the 8.3 5G. This smartphone is a variant optimized for the Verizon network in the United States. To this end, it has much the same specs as the original mid-ranger on which it is based, but also has 3 "powerful" antennae for its carrier's mmWave 5G.

Alleged details about the Redmi K40’s display have been leaked, and they seem to point to an intriguing improvement over the confusing situation of the screens used in the Redmi K30 smartphones. The Redmi K40 is predicted to appear in the first quarter of 2021 sporting a new Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.

A list of devices that will receive One UI 3.0 has appeared online, suggesting that Samsung may bring Android 11 to up to 90 smartphones and tablets over the next few months. The list includes representatives from Samsung Galaxy A, M, Note, S and Tab series, among others.

The eagerly anticipated OnePlus Watch is said to have dumped Google’s WearOS according to a reliable leaker. Instead it will run an unspecified operating system that is presumably a bespoke solution.

Square Enix has published its earnings report for the last 6 months (ending on September 30, 2020). It claims to have made 172.7 billion yen (~US$1.7 billion), or 46% more in sales year-on-year (YoY), for this period. This was attributed to strong performance in areas of its business such as its games (mobile titles including) and merchandising arms.

The One UI 2.5 update has been sent out to a host of Galaxy smartphones across the globe. If you haven't received it, it may be a good idea to not install it even when you do get the OTA—if Google Camera support means anything to you.

The Your Phone facility in Windows 10 is Microsoft's answer to syncing an iPhone with a macOS device. However, it has been rather restrictive in that it only allows 1 Android app open on a given phone to be mirrored on a PC's screen at any one time. A new version now gradually rolling out from the Insider Preview addresses this issue, although there are caveats to the new solution.

Nokia has invited US fans to join it for a new live event set for November 9, 2020 (tomorrow). Based on the hastag used in the Twitter-based announcement for this launch, it is likely to pertain to new phones from this HMD Global brand. Therefore, long-anticipated units such as the 7.3 5G could make their debut very soon.

Another Xiaomi Android 11 update list has been uploaded by the Telegram group Xiaomi & MIUI News that shows a considerable change from the last list published in September. Apparently, the Xiaomi Mi A3, the popular Mi 9 series, and the devices created in cooperation with Black Shark have all moved to the internal testing phase.

More rumors have appeared in connection with the upcoming Xiaomi Mi 11, and this time they concern the camera equipment. It appears the Mi 11 could end up sporting a 48 MP ultra wide-angle lens in its main camera system, compared to the 20 MP sensors found in the Huawei Mate 40 Pro and Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra devices.

Smartphone shipments in India - one of the top 3 markets worldwide - shrank by a worrying 48% in the second quarter of 2020 (2Q2020). However, three months later, the story has changed: the same market had posted year-on-year (YoY) gains of 17%, whereas the US and China failed to show any growth for the same quarter at all.

Recently, signs of a new and more premium version of the popular Redmi Note 9 emerged in leak form. A new certification issued by the Chinese regulator TENAA may shed more light on these rumors: it may be a variant of this phone that is both Pro and 5G. It may launch soon with the new Snapdragon 750G SoC onboard.

Model numbers and key specifications for the OnePlus 9, OnePlus 9 Pro, and a potential OnePlus 9 “Ultra” have appeared online. Unsurprisingly the OnePlus 9 series of smartphones is expected to sport the cutting-edge Qualcomm Snapdragon 875 SoC, and a 144 Hz refresh rate will be made available to at least one of the SKUs.

The MIUI 12 rollout for the Global variant of the Redmi Note 8 has been stalled. Apparently, there has been an issue reported with the OTA (over the air) process that is preventing the Android 10-based MIUI 12 update from reaching owners of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8. It’s unknown how long a fix for this issue might take.

The 9.7-inch display variant of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 hails from all of five years ago. Nevertheless, its units served by the carrier Verizon have been issued with October 2020 security patches. Therefore, even though it remains on an older version of Android, it is up to date in one respect, at least.

The Mi 10 Pro will go down as Xiaomi's first actual flagship phone on par with the regular juggernauts of the segment but the company is already phasing the device out, likely in preparation for the release of the Mi 11. The Mi 10 Ultra remains available, however, but not for much longer.

The Xiaomi Mi 11 has just made its second Geekbench appearance. The Snapdragon 875-powered smartphone nets single and multi-core scores of 1,105 and 3,512, respectively. Although the multi-core score seems a bit lot, the results reconfirm what we already know about the chip. Xiaomi is expected to launch the Mi 11 in Q1 2020

A leak supposedly of the Meizu 18 Max 5G is doing the rounds online, and it points towards the smartphone being a true flagship challenger. Allegedly, Meizu's next smartphone will feature a 3K OLED screen, a Snapdragon 875 chipset, LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage, among other attention-grabbing specifications. A render of the Meizu 18 Max 5G, possibly fan-made, does not look half-bad either.

Huawei has reached another milestone in its release of EMUI 10.1, this time finishing its OS rollout in North-Eastern Europe. EMUI 10.1 should now have been delivered to all devices in the region, from the likes of the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro to the new P40 Lite.

Huawei has unveiled the Nova 8 SE, and it has borrowed heavily from the design of the iPhone 12 series. The Nova 8 SE comes in standard and 'High Edition' versions, which means to say that the latter has a more powerful chipset and superior 5G support. All other elements of the Nova 8 SE and Nova 8 SE High Edition are identical though, including a large OLED screen and 66 W fast charging.

The midrange smartphone Redmi Note 9 Pro already offers plenty of punch for its price, but with Banggood offering a further 34-40% discount off the Xiaomi smartphone in key markets like India, UK, Brazil, Australia, and more, now could be the time to snag an absolute bargain. The Redmi Note 9 Pro shines with great battery life and NFC functionality.

A new report states that Samsung is working on a high-end Galaxy M series phone, allegedly coming with up to 256GB of internal storage. Dubbed as the Galaxy M62, it will succeed the Galaxy M51 released earlier this year. We can expect the Galaxy M62 to offer minor upgrades over its predecessor, including a better SoC, cameras, and a larger battery.

Xiaomi has introduced the Mi Box 4S Pro, its latest Android TV box. The device can output in up to 8K for just CNY 399 (~US$60), meaning that it supports HDMI 2.1. The Mi Box 4S Pro also has 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage.

Today, (November 5, 2020) Google has released the 5G variant of the Pixel 4a for pre-orders in Germany, France, the UK and Ireland. As with its flagship sibling, the 5, they come with an offer of free Bose wireless headphones with each order (while stocks last). The same phone is also now live in Taiwan and Australia.

Motorola has unveiled the Moto G 5G, its latest mid-range smartphone. Paired with a Snapdragon 750G, the Moto G 5G has a 6.7-inch punch-hole display, a 5,000 mAh battery and up to 6 GB of RAM. The Moto G 5G is available with either 64 GB or 128 GB of storage too and starts at €299.

The newest entry in the Moto G9 family comes with a 6,000 mAh battery that Motorola claims should last up to 60 hours on a single charge. The Moto G9 Power comes with a 6.8-inch display too, along with a Snapdragon 662 chipset, 20 W fast charging and four cameras. Motorola has priced the Moto G9 Power at €199.

The reliable tipster IceUniverse has posted what appear to be marketing images for Galaxy S21 and S21 Ultra cases. The high-quality photos unambiguously show the new and super-prominent rear camera modules linked to this upcoming flagship line in earlier leaks. Therefore, Samsung fans may have to brace for a 2021 of these frame-hugging humps.

The Xiaomi Mi Developer Conference (MIDC) is underway and an incredible prototype smartphone with a mechanical zoom lens has already been revealed. Xiaomi is also apparently planning on becoming the number one smartphone brand in Europe and will recruit a whole new army of engineers to help with that task.

A new fan-made concept video of the Xiaomi Mi 11 has been posted online, and it offers an intriguing vision of the upcoming flagship smartphone. The Mi 11 rendered here has an extremely curved design and borrows its rear view from the Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha.

After a few luxury handsets available exclusively for the Chinese market, such as the W2018, W2019, and the W20, Samsung is back with the W21 5G. With a 7.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED screen inside and an external 6.23-inch display, the Samsung W21 5G looks like the Galaxy Z Fold2 5G and runs on the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ processor.

A prominent leaker has asserted that Xiaomi has a new variant of the pre-existing Redmi Note 9 in the works. This device is to have a 6.67-inch display with a refresh rate that can range from 30 to 120 hertz (Hz). It is also apparently certified for low blue light emissions and improved sunlight visibility.

After sending the MIUI 12 update to the global models of the Redmi Note 8T and Redmi Note 8, Xiaomi is now bringing the update to Europe. The new OTA finally brings MIUI 12 to the horde of European Redmi Note 8T owners, with new updates also landing on the Mi Note 10 Lite across the board.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 series will reputedly launch on January 14, 2021, with wireless earbuds in the box, according to new reports. The Galaxy S21, S21 Plus and S21 Ultra will launch simultaneously and will begin shipping 3before the start of February 2021.

A seasoned Weibo leaker has shed some light on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 875's specifications. Its 1+3+4 design consists of a Cortex-X1 super core clocked at 2.8GHz, three Cortex-A78 cores at 2.4GHz, and four Cortex-A55 cores at 1.8GHz. The chip will be released in December 2020 and likely debut alongside the Xiaomi Mi 11 the next month.

WhatsApp is gradually rolling out two new features to iOS and Android users. Disappearing messages brings added privacy to WhatsApp chats by deleting messages automatically within seven days. There's also a new storage management feature that enables deletion of repetitive media in multiple forwarded chats. Future versions of the app may offer a Vacation Mode that does not de-archive chats when new messages arrive.

Xiaomi is reportedly working hard on 200 W and above fast charging, foldability, 2K screens, and the under-display selfie camera. There has been speculation that some of these features may end up being incorporated into a Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro smartphone, while work on a Mi Mix 4/Mi Mix 2021 is apparently on hold for the foreseeable future.

Two more classic Nokia smartphones are being brought back from the grave, according to Roland Quandt. This time, HMD Global has its sights set on the Nokia 6300 and Nokia 8000; two classics of the early smartphone era. The two revamped handsets are thought to be arriving within the next few weeks, too.

The OEM Vivo is slated to launch its new X60 flagship smartphone later in November 2020. The rumor mill also has something called OriginOS to launch alongside it. It will be a new UI, at the least, which will apparently allow reverting back to an Android interface on the phones equipped with it.