Android

AnTuTu has published its flagship smartphone performance chart for August and top position has been snatched up by the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra. The chart has thoroughly been shaken up lately thanks to some powerful new releases, including the iQOO 5 and the Asus ROG Phone 3 with its Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus processor.

Xiaomi has now kicked off the Mi Pilot program for Android 11. The beta-testing program allows owners of the Mi 10, Mi 10 Pro, and Poco F2 Pro to sign up for early Android 11 builds. As always, there are a few noteworthy stipulations, however.

The Xiaomi Mi 8 SE and Mi 10 Lite have received the call to MIUI 12. Both updates are rolling out as OTAs. The one for the Mi 10 Lite brings the global version of the device into line with the European variant, which Xiaomi upgraded to MIUI 12 in July.

The Xperia 1 II and Xperia 5 II will be the first Sony smartphones to receive three OS upgrades, according to a new report. This would mean that the devices will be upgraded through to Android 13. By contrast, software support for older devices like the Xperia 1, Xperia 5, Xperia 10 II will cease as of Android 11. The Xperia XZ3 and other older handsets will remain stuck on Android 10, too.

After mulling on the decision for over a month, the Indian Government has finally banned PUBG Mobile. Over 110 other Chinese-origin apps join it, most of which appear to be mobile games from lesser-known developers like NetEase. We can expect the ban to be implemented in the coming weeks.

LG has shared a teaser video for its upcoming smartphone, the so-called LG Wing. The device will debut on September 14 with a completely new form factor that twists out to reveal a secondary display. The T-design smartphone may retail for upwards of US$1,000, though.

The FCC has certified several new Google smartphones ahead of the release of the Pixel 4a (5G) and Pixel 5. A new leak has detailed the prices and colours of both devices in Europe too.

Samsung appears to have confirmed an impending successor for the Galaxy S10 Lite. A device with a name to match this description has appeared alongside existing devices on development websites for the US and German divisions of the OEM. They suggest the upcoming phone will run Android 10, at least.

OnePlus may release its typical late-year refreshed flagship series soon. The first snapshot of this 8T line may have leaked courtesy of material found in the OEM's own version of Android. Should this be the case, there may be a display without curves and a single punch-hole in the offing for one of the upcoming phones.

The Poco M2 is billed to be the company's newest offering. Not much is known about its hardware, and its name seems to indicate that it will be less powerful than the Poco M2 Pro. It will be released in India on September 8 via an online event.

MediaTek has now officially announced the launch of its latest mid-range gaming-oriented SoC, the Helio G95. The Helio G95 succeeds the Helio G90 and is expected to debut on the upcoming Realme 7, while offering better performance than the Helio G90T.

The Axon 20 5G is finally here in three SKUs and four colours. The world's first smartphone with an under-screen selfie camera has a 6.92-inch and 90 Hz OLED screen, a Snapdragon 765G SoC and five cameras. The Axon 20 5G will be available with up to 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage.

Xiaomi has begun issuing MIUI 12 to the global editions of the Mi Note 10, Mi Note 10 Pro and Mi Note 10 Lite. The updates are available as OTAs and should be rolling out now to handsets.

Prepare your wallets: the Mi 10T is on the way and will be launched around the globe. Xiaomi has now officially teased the launch of the Mi 10T, with the phone slated for a global release while carrying a starting price tag under €300.

Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G foldable smartphone, which seeks address most of the shortcomings of the original Fold. The Galaxy Z Fold 2 will only be available in a Snapdragon 865+ version and comes with an improved CAM hinge, larger Cover Screen display, better usage and photography flexibility, and improved multitasking. One thing that is unchanged from the Fold, however, is the premium pricing that the Galaxy Z Fold 2 commands.

Asus has made the Zenfone 7 and Zenfone 7 Pro available to purchase in eleven more countries, just not the UK or the US. The Zenfone 7 costs €699 for 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, while the Zenfone 7 Pro retails for €799 with the same volume of RAM and double the storage.

Today (September 1, 2020), Samsung has launched the Galaxy Z Fold2 5G for a number of markets worldwide, Germany included. This means we finally get to find out how the premium device is priced in various different regions. The new foldable has a recommended price of over €1900, in one European country at least.

Realme has unveiled the eye-catching new X7 series of smartphones today (September 1, 2020) today during a virtual event in China. This launch also introduced a new member of the V line, which is also powered by a MediaTek Dimensity chipset. However, its specs allow for pricing that starts at just 999 yuan (~US$146).

Land Rover has launched its second branded smartphone. The new Android-powered device is ruggedized and is designed with the same off-road adventurous spirit as its Land Rover Defender series.

Huawei has updated its EMUI 10.1 upgrade plans in eight regions. The company now claims to have finished rolling out its latest OS in Canada and Western Europe following its completion in Japan. Other regions like Africa, Central Asia, North-Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Russia are not far behind either. The rollout in Latin America is a similar story, also.

Realme has now launched its two newest devices, the Realme X7 and Realme X7 Pro. Both devices are powered by MediaTek 5G chipsets, with the Realme X7's Dimensity 800U matching the Snapdragon 765G and the Realme X7 Pro's Dimensity 1000+ trading blows with the Snapdragon 855.

Xiaomi has now launched a "new" smartphone in the form of the Mi 10 Youth Doraemon Edition. The Mi 10 Youth Doraemon Edition offers the phone in a Doraemon box with a packed-in Doraemon figure and phone case. MSRP remains unchanged from the regular Mi 10 Youth Edition 5G.

A supposed list of Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones in connection with the Android 11 update has recently been altered. Now, the Redmi Note 9, Redmi Note 9 Pro (global), and Redmi 9A are reportedly at the internal testing phase. There are also status changes for the Redmi 9 Prime, Redmi 9 India, and Xiaomi Mi Note 10 (Mi CC9 Pro).

Poco has been hinting that the upcoming X3 may be a phone to take on the OnePlus Nord in its mid-range category. The brand has just sent out press invitations for this phone's worldwide launch. It will be a virtual event that will take place on September 7, 2020.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 (2020) is almost here, and will be available in at least two colours. The budget tablet is thought to be based on the Snapdragon 662, which will power a 10.4-inch display. The mid-range SoC will be complemented by 3 GB of RAM and up to 64 GB of storage.

Samsung has captivated some tech enthusiasts with its Galaxy Z Flip neo-clamshell phone, the second of its kind to be foldable. Now, a different mobile device company, OPPO, has designed one much like it, but in reverse. Its screen is on the outside, with a sensor that detects the angle at which it is unfolded.

The Xiaomi Mi A2 has received a new update. The new update, called V11.0.13.0.QDIMIXM, upgrades the device to the August 2020 set of security patches. There are complaints of Android 10 still be a buggy experience for the Mi A2, though.

Qualcomm has lifted the veil off its newest mid-ranger. The Snapdragon 732G comes with two high-performance Kyro 470 Gold cores, six Kyro 470 Silver cores, and an overclocked Adreno 618 GPU. It is billed to debut alongside a Poco phone, which is very likely the Poco X3.

The Huawei Watch Fit is an interesting sports-focused smartwatch as it has launched with a screen that is rectangular rather than the usual square or strip-like shapes. Now, it seems this company's second major brand, Honor, is also going to adopt it in an upcoming wearable. It would join products like the MagicWatch on the market.

A huge volume of Xperia 5 II renders have dropped, confirming yet more features of Sony's upcoming flagship smartphone. The three 12 MP rear-facing cameras from the Xperia 1 II will be making a return, as will 8 GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 865, according to two Geekbench listings.

Xiaomi has what appear to be a Pro variant of its Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 in the works. This has been confirmed overtly by the certification of products going by this name by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). This is a strong indication they will be introduced to the market soon.

The Poco F1 rocked the world when it was launched back in 2018, with its incredible performance to price ratio setting up the young Poco brand for greatness. Two years after, that greatness is yet to be seen, but the upcoming Poco X3 may be a return to what fans expected Poco to represent.

Samsung Pay users in South Korea just got a new physical card that can be used for multiple tasks and comes with discounts that can reach 5 percent. This move comes not long after the introduction of similar cards in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Samsung has announced that it has started fabricating 16-gigabit LPDDR5 RAM for mobile devices. Samsung claims that its new fabrication process is a breakthrough in RAM scaling as well as bandwidth. Expect to see the new RAM in Samsung’s Galaxy S21 due for launch in Q1 2021.

Samsung's Wireless Charger Duo is a device that allows a phone and a smartwatch to charge simultaneously using the Qi standard. Now, Evan Blass asserts the OEM has come up with a new generation of this product. Called the Wireless Charger Pad Trio, it calls the Apple AirPower to mind, although the two may not work exactly the same way.

A respected leaker has reportedly let it be known that the successor to the Mi Band 4 will be unleashed on the Indian market soon. It will apparently be joined there by the Mi Watch Revolve, the global version of Xiaomi's first round-faced smartwatch. However, the tipster did not mention an exact date for this event.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy S9, and Galaxy S9+ smartphones are likely to receive a cut-down version of the One UI 2.5 Android skin when it becomes available, due to hardware constraints. Samsung has been praised for offering the software update to older Galaxy models in its lineup though.

Realme will launch the Realme 7 and Realme 7 Pro on September 3. Details of the device have now been revealed, showing a phone aimed straight at the heart of the Redmi Note 9 Pro and even successfully outperforming it in some key aspects.

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Fan Edition will allegedly retail at US$699, says a leaker. However, it is unclear if that price is for the 4G or 5G variant of the phone. It will likely be released alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 2 in September 2020.

Square Enix has announced that the remastered Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles title has gone live. It has PS4, Nintendo Switch, Android and iOS versions, across which gamers can form teams and explore all the dungeons. It also has a Lite (or free) version and a Mimic Mode for those who want to play as original characters.

The Galaxy M51 has finally been confirmed as a smartphone that is soon to be released. It is now avaialble to pre-order, albeit only via Samsung's German website. However, it is also currently being teased on Amazon India, suggesting that it will launch very soon on that platform. One of its new campaigns confirm the phone's 7000mAh battery spec.

The Redmi Note 8 was tipped to receive the MIUI 12 and Android 10 update in August. That doesn't look to be feasible anymore, though, with official channels announcing that the MIUI 12 update for the phone, alongside those of the Mi Max 3, Mi 8 SE, and Redmi K20, has now been suspended.

Huawei has been rumored to release the first phone with HarmonyOS - its contingency against the loss of access to Android - out of the box by the end of 2020. However, the CEO of its Consumer Business Group has reportedly confirmed that this will not be the case. Speaking at a Chinese conference, the executive indicated that this plan might be implemented in 2021 instead.

The smartwatch market continued to flourish in the first 6 months of 2020 (1H2020), with Apple, Garmin and Huawei as its new top 3 brands. This growth was seen worldwide, albeit particularly in India, the US and Europe. The demand for these wearables is linked to the increased regard for personal health in a new report from Counterpoint Research.

LG’s innovative twist-out ‘Wing’ phone will be coming to market as soon as this fall. Moreover, it will be priced at around US$1,000 which seems reasonable for a device sporting two displays.

With the second edition of the Xperia 10, Sony brings almost all of its features to a more up-to-date smartphone. In addition to known qualities, this also concerns known weaknesses.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro has received a fresh MIUI 12 update, following the recent rollout to the European variant of the device. Xiaomi is issuing the update as an OTA, but it can also be downloaded and installed manually.