Android

Recent reports claimed that Xiaomi has planned a QHD+ display for its next flagship device, the Mi 11 Pro. New information in the form of MIUI 12 code has further lent credence to those claims, and it appears that Xiaomi is, indeed, set to offer a QHD+ display on a smartphone for the first time.

It’s possible the Xiaomi Mi 11 might get officially announced at the upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon Tech Summit 2020, as it has been reported that the Chinese company’s CEO, Lei Jun, will be in attendance. As the Mi 11 and Mi 11 Pro are expected to sport the upcoming Snapdragon 875, the Tech Summit could be an ideal place for a surprise reveal.

The first few OPPO Reno-series phones had some of the most innovative pop-up front-facing cameras out there, as they rose from the top of the phone in a wedge. Now, it seems the OEM has taken this idea even further with a new, semi-circular module. Like others of its kind, it leaves the device in its schematics with an edge-to-edge screen.

The successor to the Mate Xs has reared its head again, this time at the TENAA. Two models have been certified with the TENAA, both with dual-SIM connectivity and 66 W fast-charging. The Mate X2 has been listed as a 5G device too, suggesting that it will have Huawei's Kirin 9000 chipset.

Nebula is a brand that has seen success on crowdfunding websites for its portable, compact projectors. Now, it is back with a more conventional launch for its new Cosmos and Cosmos Max products. They are rated for 1080p and 4K resolutions respectively, run Android 9.0 for TV and support HDR-10 with static or active contrast ratios.

Qualcomm has announced times and dates for 2020's Snapdragon Tech Summit keynote speeches. They will feature guest speakers from companies such as OnePlus, NTT Docomo, Sony and Verizon. The company has also stated that it will also have some word on its next mobile flagship SoC at this event.

Huawei plans to use the Kirin 9000 chipset for the upcoming P50 series, according to a new report. We first saw the 5 nm chipset on the likes of the Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro, but Huawei will be forced to use it again because of ongoing sanctions imposed by the US government.

This week will be a busy one for Xiaomi, with the launch of the Poco M3 and new Redmi Note 9 series devices scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. However, the company has hinted that more 'smart things' will be arriving at Thursday's event, possibly including two versions of the Redmi Watch.

Despite the recent shake-up in ownership at Honor, tipsters still expect the launch of V40 smartphones from the company sometime soon. However, this line's most premium variant may now not run on the Huawei Mate 40's Kirin 9000 as first thought. The series might turn out full Dimensity instead.

Xiaomi is bringing a 108 MP camera to its Redmi series of smartphones. The Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G will be the first Redmi device to possess a camera with over 100 MP, which will also have a Snapdragon 750G SoC and a 120 Hz display, among other impressive components. The Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G will arrive on November 26 alongside at least the Redmi Note 9 5G.

While previous information heavily indicated that the Redmi Note 8 Pro, Redmi Note 8, and Redmi Note 8T would not be eligible for Android 11, a new report leans towards the contrary. Apparently, the three phones are set to get Android 11 sometime in the future, with Xiaomi recently kickstarting internal testing.

Huawei has outlined its EMUI 11 upgrade plans in nine regions. Only nineteen devices will be eligible to receive EMUI 11, but most must wait until a vague Q1 2021 before Huawei's latest OS arrives. There is no word on Android 11 availability, either.

The release of the Poco M3 is almost upon us, but Xiaomi could not wait to divulge key specifications about its next smartphone. The company has left nothing to the imagination of its Cyberpunk 2077-inspired smartphone, raising the question of why it is even having a dedicated launch event.

Rising Taiwanese semiconductor maker MediaTek looks like it wants a bigger slice of the high-end mobile devices segment. The company’s recent Dimensity 1000 series signalled its intentions and now the purported appearance of a new MT6893 SoC on Geekbench 5 suggests it is closing in on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 chipset.

A report from a South Korean news outlet hammers the final nail in the Galaxy Note 21 series' coffin. The critically-acclaimed phablet is likely to be replaced by the Galaxy Z Fold 3, which reportedly ship with an S Pen out of the box. Even the upcoming Galaxy S21 Ultra is expected to support S Pen inputs.

The Stylo 7 is currently rumored to become the latest in a line of LG phones with an in-built digital pen. Its latest leak shows that it has a rear panel that makes this abundantly clear. It is designed to look as though it has been moulded around the housing for this stylus, with an additional separate hump for its rear cameras.

There are now rumors of Sony's resurrecting the Compact versions of the Xperia smartphone series. Such stories have been around before, although this one comes with mention of the Snapdragon 775 SoC, which might grace the premium mid-rangers of 2021. This Compact is also now said to have a display size of just 5.5 inches.

The launch of the Snapdragon 875 is almost upon us, and it will apparently bring 100 W fast charging with it, according to a respected leaker. OEMs will release up to five flagship smartphones with these capabilities by Q1 2021 too, leaving us spoilt for choice.

The famous leaker Ice Universe now claims that the Galaxy S21 Ultra will launch as the phone with the "narrowest chin in history" on its launch. This is due to new renders that show a device with practically non-existent bezels. Meanwhile, one of this upcoming flagship's smaller siblings might have been approved for sale in India.

A new MIUI 12 update has started being pushed out to random users of the Redmi Note 8 Pro. The firmware build, which is in a beta stable status, is for the Global variant of the Redmi Note 8 Pro. If the testing phase is successful, MIUI V12.0.5.0.QGGMIXM will proceed to a wider public rollout.

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.