Android

Paranoid Android Quartz 5 has now been released, and it will be the final stable version of the Android 10-based custom ROM as the devs want to focus on Android 11. Devices such as the Xiaomi Mi 9, Mi 9T Pro, Redmi Note 5, and Pocophone F1 can take advantage of the latest release and there is new Quartz support for the Xiaomi Mi A3 and Mi 6X too.

The less expensive Reno4 Z features a MediaTek Dimensity 800 5G SoC coupled with 8 GB LPDDR4x and 128 GB storage, but also comes with dual front cams and a quad-cam rear setup, plus a 6.5-inch LCD display with 120 Hz refresh rate.

Previous leaks have suggested that the "Galaxy S21 Ultra" will have a battery of the same size as its 2020 counterpart: 5000mAh. Now, the regulatory body 3C has reportedly produced some more evidence of this possibility. The new registration made by Samsung is for a model number that may match its upcoming flagship smartphone.

Today (September 30, 2020), Google has finally made the 5G Pixels official. They are the flagship 5 and the new version of the 4a, which of course come with Android 11 out of the box. These phones have been joined by the Chromecast with Google TV and Nest Audio products, thereby confirming months' worth of leaks.

The V20 Pro is the Snapdragon 765G-powered flagship for Vivo's latest smartphone series that the OEM now pitches at "various regions". The devices run on Android 10; however, they were also linked to a planned upgrade to its successor. They also all have the same 6.44-inch FHD+ AMOLED display, but differ otherwise in terms of specs.

The Huawei Mate X series consists of outward-folding premium smartphones. It is rumored to get a new addition in 2020 that may come with a re-done design. A device newly submitted to the Wi-Fi Alliance by the OEM is thought to be this possibly upcoming flagship.

The Mi 10T and Mi 10T Pro will be available to order from tomorrow, Xiaomi has confirmed. The two smartphones have been priced aggressively, undercutting the likes of the Galaxy S20 FE and the Poco F2 Pro. The Mi 10T and Mi 10T Pro will be orderable through multiple sales channels.

Xiaomi has now launched its newest bang-for-buck mid-range device, the Mi 10T Lite. The Mi 10T Lite offers a slew of features including a quad-camera setup, Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 750G, dual speakers, and LTE support for most of Europe at an affordable price point.

Xiaomi has launched the new Mi 10T onto the market, with the smartphone featuring a decent array of specifications so it can appeal to a wide audience. Chief among its features are the 144 Hz AdaptiveSync display with MEMC technology and a beefy 5,000-mAh battery that can take advantage of 33 W wired fast charging.

The Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro is the top-end choice in the new Mi 10T series, and it shows it by having a 108 MP sensor in its main camera system. The Mi 10T Pro also offers configuration options that allow it to have up to 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage, and the 5G smartphone can please gamers with its 144 Hz display and Snapdragon 865 SoC.

An alleged AnTuTu listing of Realme's upcoming Realme Q2 Pro has shown up online. It nets a total score of 519,992, which indicates that it is likely running a MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ SoC. Realme will reportedly unveil the device on October 13 at an event in China.

The LG Wing has now got an official US price and launch date in the US. Verizon will be carrying arguably the year’s most interesting handset for US$999 while it will reach the hands of customers on October 15.

OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has effectively confirmed that the OnePlus 8T Pro would not be released this year. The OnePlus 8T will instead be joined by a low-cost alternative, along with other OnePlus-branded smart devices. Industry insiders suggest that OnePlus has up to five products in store for us, unveiled on October 14.

The Galaxy W20 is a variation of Samsung's Galaxy Fold released as a Chinese-market exclusive with 5G. Now, it seems it is getting a successor in the coming months. The OEM has certified a new device with a model number likely to match such a device with the regulator 3C.

The Lenovo A-series is a line of often cost-effective smartphones. A leaker asserts that it will get a new addition soon. This is based on a new Geekbench 5 listing for a device with a heretofore-unknown model number with 4GB of RAM, the MediaTek Helio P22 SoC and Android 10.

Realme is reportedly working on another entirely new line of smartphones. The first Realme Q smartphone is billed to support 5G, an AMOLED screen, and 65W fast charging. It is expected to make its debut in China on October 15, and remain exclusive to the market for the foreseeable future.

Xiaomi is officially launching its new Mi 10T series on Wednesday 30 September, and it now seems that the complete specifications for the Mi 10T and Mi 10T Pro have been leaked along with some new renders. A Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite is also expected to make an appearance, and price predictions have started coming in thick and fast.

Thanks to its giant battery, the Samsung Galaxy M21 delivers very impressive battery runtimes. However, there is more to the M21 than that, as our comprehensive review reveals.

Mobile phone accessories are big business: they made for a US$118 billion market for the combined Middle East/Asia-Pacific regions in 2019. New market research indicates this worth could grow to nearly $155 billion by 2027. Australia and New Zealand may have the greatest share of it by sub-region in that year.

Pete Lau is the CEO of OnePlus, an OEM with a late-2020 flagship phone refresh on the way. He has taken to Weibo to discuss lag in mobile devices of this tier. The executive also indicated that the impending 8T will resist it until it is 3 years old at the earliest.

Another unofficial Xiaomi Android 11 update list has appeared on Telegram with a few changes worth noting. Both the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra and Redmi 9 have been promoted to apparent internal testing, while it appears no smartphones that were operating on MIUI 9 at launch time will receive Android 11 from Xiaomi.

The latest word on HarmonyOS, Huawei's alternative to Google's AOSP-based Android, was that it would not be available until 2021 at the earliest. Now, a new report claims that the OEM will release the software to developers as early as December 2020 so as to make this happen. The company may also take this opportunity to integrate smartphones into the rest of its device ecosystem.

RollingSquare has launched the HYPHEN 2 truly wireless (TWS) earbuds on Indiegogo. They are touted as having internals and advantages that set them apart from other products in their category. These include a slight departure from the AirPod-clone form factor, a different type of battery and a new type of noise isolation that is apparently as good as active noise cancelling (ANC) with fewer downsides.

A video clip of the purported MIUI 13 power menu animation has recently been leaked. Along with that, a completely unofficial and somewhat bewildering MIUI 13 eligible device list has been drawn up that includes the practically ancient Redmi Note 4 but forgets about the Xiaomi Mi 9 series and the brand-new Redmi Note 9 range.

Xiaomi looks to be keeping up rather nicely with security patches—at least on some of its phones. After sending out the September update to the Indian model of the Redmi Note 8 Pro, the company is now rolling out the update to the global variants of the Redmi Note 9 and Redmi Note 9 Pro.

Epic Games has been in open litigious conflict with Apple over the latter's 30% levy on developer revenue in exchange for the use of its App Store. Now, the studio has escalated this situation with the implementation of the Coalition for App Fairness (CAF), a new non-profit for "developer rights". Spotify, another company openly disgruntled with Apple's "unfair" practices, has also helped form the group.

The first details about the Qualcomm Snapdragon 775G have leaked, courtesy of Roland Quandt. Apparently, the Snapdragon 775G will be a huge upgrade for the Snapdragon 7xx series and will support a host of flagship components, including 120 Hz displays and LPDDR5 RAM.

Huawei has issued a new round of updates for the Mate 10, Mate 10 Pro, P20 and P20 Pro. The new build, called EMUI 10.0.0.180, seeks to deliver system improvements for the four devices as they near the end of software support.

The Galaxy A71 sports four cameras at the back and new information indicates that the upcoming Galaxy A72 will do one better, by adding a 3x optical zoom lens to the mix, bringing it in line with more premium offerings. At the front of the phone will be a 32 MP shooter for a total of six cameras.

The latest member of the Geniatech XPI family packs a Rockchip RK3128 chipset, along with up to 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. A Wi-Fi module can be added to go with the board's four USB Type-A ports, HDMI port and 40-pin GPIO header. The Geniatech XPI-3128 starts at US$25 and can currently be configured up to US$35.

The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE was released earlier in the week and is already listed for pre-order on stores like Amazon and B&H with a US$599 price tag. Comparatively, the OnePlus 8T and Pixel 5 have been touted to be prices higher than that while also offering worse hardware.

With the Pixel 4a, Google has created a real success. The price is right, performance too, and minor defects can be ignored. Let's just hope that there will also be enough units available.

Several leaks have painted the OnePlus 8T as a flat-screen refresh of the existing 8 flagship series. Now, it has released a new preview post to its community website revealing that it will get the next generation of this OEM's in-house Warp Charge USB type C charging standard. This system will use dual cells to allow the battery in question to attain full capacity in an estimated 39 minutes.

OPPO has unveiled an electrocardiography (ECG) -enabled version of its first-gen smartwatch in the course of its 2020 Developer's Conference. The wearable is essentially the same as the 46mm variant of this Watch, just with the new in-depth heart rate-tracking feature. The Watch also now also has a new League of Legends Limited Edition.

After releasing the Redmi Note 9 back in April, Xiaomi is set to launch the Redmi Note 10 series soon. The latest report claims that the Redmi Note 10 or Redmi Note 10 Pro will be powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 750G and could, in fact, be a rebadged Mi 10T Lite in China and/or India.

Renders of the Nokia 7.3 5G have leaked, and they show a device that resembles the Nokia 8.3 5G. The device is rumoured to be launching in Q4 2020 with a Snapdragon 690 and up to 8 GB of RAM. The Nokia 7.3 5G will have five cameras too, along with a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a possible starting price of €399.

Leaked images of the Pixel 5 have confirmed that Google has a green edition in the works. The muted colour scheme wraps around the back and frame of the device, unlike the Pixel 4 series. The device will be available with a Snapdragon 765G, 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, along with two rear-facing cameras.

John Lewis has, perhaps mistakenly, revealed the design of the Pixel 4a (5G) before its release next week. Google's mid-tier smartphone for this year will share many of its components with the Pixel 5, except for its rather larger bottom bezel and 3.5 mm headphone jack. The Pixel 4a (5G) is not expected to support wireless charging either, but it will have three cameras and a capacitive fingerprint scanner.

Mobvoi's latest smartwatch is here, the TicWatch Pro 3 GPS. The new smartwatch features a 1.4-inch AMOLED screen, a heart rate monitor and a 577 mAh battery that can last up to 45 days. The TicWatch Pro 3 GPS retails for US$299 and is based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100 platform.

WinFuture's Roland Quandt recently claimed on Twitter that the Snapdragon 875 (codenamed Lahaina) would be joined by a high-performance variant, presumably the 875 Plus. This could lead to another generation of performance segmentation at the high end, as we've seen with the Snapdragon 865 and Snapdragon 865 Plus.

LG has added three new smartphones to its K-series mid-range line up for 2020. The new LG K62, K52, and K42 will arrive in October in Europe followed by key markets in Asia, Latin America and the Middle ast.

Redmi Note 8 and Redmi Note 8T owners are not going to be too happy with the latest news about Android 10-based MIUI 12 for their devices. Delays are already expected anyway and now the general manager of Xiaomi Indonesia has claimed that the company is “still testing” the firmware for the Redmi Note 8/8T.

The Huawei MatePad T8 is a solid entry-level tablet, which sells for less than 100 Euros (~$118). The hardware of the T8 proves to be very competitive in our review. However, this is not enough, due to the Google situation.

Asus launched the ROG Phone 3, its latest gaming flagship Android phone, in July 2020. However, it never materialized on the US or Canadian markets. The device has just appeared on the FCC database, suggesting that it is finally approved for sale in the region.

The Google Pixel 5 will have a plastic back, according to YouTuber Dave Lee. The Pixel 4a (5G) will be the larger of the two models and will be the only one to feature a 3.5 mm headphone jack. Google will announce both the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a (5G) on September 30.
Update: WinFuture contradicts Dave Lee's assertion with claims of an aluminium chassis.