Android

The existence of a new Mi 10 variant, the "Lite Zoom" was inadvertently leaked by none other than Qualcomm not long ago. Now, a new tip asserts that it is headed for a European launch shortly. It may be revealed as an international Mi 10 Youth Edition at such an event.

Redmi is currently linked to the launch of a phone called the 10X. Despite the novelty of this name, recent leaks have suggested that this device has the same specs as the Note 9 from the same brand. However, a new tip contradicts this idea with a different spec-list.

The Samsung Galaxy A41 will go on sale in the Netherlands soon. This new affordable option has a 6.1-inch FHD+ screen and an IP68 ingress-protection rating. It is listed on some Dutch retail sites as an unlocked phone, and will also be available via several carriers.

The Snapdragon 855-powered Mi Mix 3 5G was launched about a year ago. Since then, it hasn't received a major OS update, and remains stuck on Android Pie with no hope for a change of status anytime soon. Even worse, the Mi Mix 3 5G hasn't gotten the MIUI 11 update either, and owners of the phone refuse to take that sitting down.

A trademark application filed in September 2019 reveals that Vivo is reportedly working on an in-house chipset. It reveals very little about the specifics of the chipset, or even if it is intended for smartphones. It does, however, give credence to an earlier rumor that said Oppo was working on an in-house chip.

The Honor X10 is probably going to be its brand's next Kirin 820-powered phone. A new leak in conjunction with this device has shown how it might retain this SoC's performance in demanding circumstances. This may consist of thermal management involving a relatively substantial amount of graphene.

The Mate 10 Pro, P20 Pro, and Mate 20 Pro all delivered sub-par selfie cameras, and it seemed Huawei was working on that with its recent flagship phones. The Honor V30 Pro appears to be a deviation from that path, as the phone only recorded scores on par with two-year-old flagships when tested by DxOMark.

AnTuTu has reportedly tested a device with the Snapdragon 865 SoC and a novel Realme model number. This has led to speculations that a true X2 Pro successor is in the works. If so, it might join the X3 and X3 Super Zoom variants on its launch.

Chinese manufacturer Meizu has now launched its flagship phones for the year: the Meizu 17 and Meizu 17 Pro. The phones pack in an assortment of current-gen technology including 90 Hz AMOLED displays, LPDDR5 RAM, UFS 3.1 storage, 30 W fast wired charge, and 27 W wireless charge in a bid to compete against the Mi 10 and OnePlus 8 series.

Redmi is all set to unveil yet another member of the K30 family in the form of the Redmi K30 Speed Edition. It will also be the world's first phone to run Qualcomm's newest Snapdragon 768G chip. The smartphone will be unveiled on May 11th at an event in China.

Sony has started updating the Xperia 10 and Xperia 10 Plus with Android 10 in some regions. The software is bundled with the March 2020 security patch along with all the standard Android 10 features. It will make its way to eligible devices OTA in the coming weeks.

The highly-anticipated MIUI 12 update will make its way to Xiaomi and Redmi devices starting May 19th. A total of 32 devices will be eligible for the MIUI 12 open beta before the final release hits the airwaves. Users on the beta version of MIUI 11 will get the software via an OTA while those on a stable version will have to sideload it.

Canalys has tweeted a graph showing the global top 10 smartphones in Q1 2020 and all of the positions are taken up by devices from just three OEMs: Apple, Xiaomi, and Samsung. The big winner for the quarter was the iPhone 11 with over 18 million units shipped. There were strong figures for the Redmi Note 8 & 8T and the Galaxy A51 too.

Today, (May 8, 2020) Xiaomi's gaming brand Black Shark has announced the beginning of open sales for its latest generation of flagship phones, the 3 and 3 Pro. These devices pack the Snapdragon 865 SoC, along with some genre-specific hardware tweaks. However, only some SKUs are actually available to order at present.

The prices for Xiaomi Mi 10 smartphones for the Indian market have been revealed and have shocked fans expecting something more affordable. For example, the Xiaomi Mi 10 with 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage will cost ₹49,999 (US$662). This has led to many comments that smartphone users will be considering a OnePlus 8 Pro purchase instead.

Honor is looking good in the latest AnTuTu chart for midrange smartphones, with the Honor 30S powering into a strong second position with the help of its Kirin 820 chipset. Its score of 364,077 points sets it apart from those behind it, but it is still a long way off the 405,159 points managed by the OPPO Reno3 5G with its impressive Dimensity 1000L SoC.

The arrival of the iQOO Neo3 and OPPO Ace2 into AnTuTu’s latest flagship chart have shaken things up a little bit, but the leaderboard is still headed by the OPPO Find X2 Pro. All of the top 10 smartphones feature Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoCs, and the iQOO Neo3 is only the third device so far to manage an average score over 600,000 points.

After months of waiting, the Mi Note 10 is finally receiving its first taste of Android 10. The update carries the version number "MIUI 11.1.1.0.QFDMIXM" and weighs a typical 2.6 GB. It's the global stable beta build, so we expect a full rollout in the near future.

Is it a coincidence that multiple OEMs are now activating the Sp02 sensors in their smartwatches via an update? After Huawei did so with the Watch GT 2, Honor has now rolled out an equivalent firmware update for the MagicWatch 2 that enables blood oxygen saturation monitoring.

Google has released three colour variants of the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL so far, but a fourth has appeared on a Chinese auction site. Adorned in a matte grey finish, the device can be had for CNY 2,699, equivalent to around US$380.

The successor to the Nokia 6.2 remains on track, according to latest rumours. Called the Nokia 6.3, the mid-range smartphone will feature a PureDisplay with a teardrop notch, along with four Zeiss-branded rear-facing cameras and a Snapdragon 675 chipset.

MediaTek has unveiled a new 5G platform for premium phones - well, sort of. This Dimensity 1000+ (or 1000 Plus) has the same make-up as the current 1000 SoC. However, this refreshed version boasts a number of features intended to further enhance its potential flagship game.

The TUV Rheinland body has reportedly certified a new power supply unit (PSU) from the OEM OnePlus. This apparent next-gen Warp Charger is rated for a maximal rate of 10 volts (V)/6.5 amps (A) - or 65 watts (W). Therefore, it could boost charging speeds using this company's in-house system considerably.

The One UI 2.1 update is now available for Samsung Galaxy A51 owners. It comes with the April 2020 security patch but is missing a lot of features such as Single Take Mode, Pro Video Mode, Selfie Tone, and more. The firmware is available for download globally OTA and via Samsung Smart Switch.

The Galaxy S20 Ultra features a 40 MP sensor as its selfie camera. Bigger is supposedly better and one would expect it to be the best on the market, yes? Well, no. The S20 Ultra only finishes joint second on DxOMark's selfie chart, and more interestingly, with just one more point than the Galaxy Note 10+ 5G and its meager 10 MP sensor.

A device listed as the Mi 10e has surfaced on Geekbench. While that's already surprising enough, the phone is shown to be powered by an Exynos 990, and actually posts scores typical of the disappointing Samsung SoC.

Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S21 Ultra will come with a penta-lens setup, according to a Korean tech forum. The primary 150MP sensor will be assisted by a 64MP telephoto lens, a 16MP wide-angle lens, a 12MP macro lens, and a ToF sensor. It will also come with Laser Autofocus, and OIS on two of the lenses.

The Meizu 17 is an upcoming Snapdragon 865-powered smartphone. According to a new benchmarking leak, it will also have 8GB of RAM, whereas its possible Pro variant may have 12. However, this does not explain why the former got better scores than the latter.

An analyst with the ARK Investing group has reported that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) now has a market cap that exceeds that of Intel. Therefore, the former may now be more valuable than the latter. This is mainly attributed to the Company's smartphone SoC business.

Xiaomi India is now accepting registrations for its MIUI 12 pilot testing program. At the moment, it is only available for Redmi K20 and Redmi K20 Pro users. Xiaomi says that it will expand the program to more devices and regions in the coming weeks.

Xiaomi has extended the rollout of Android 10 for the Mi A3 to Europe. Sadly, the initial build has plagued some handsets with several bugs, just as early international builds did.

Xiaomi India's RF exposure page has confirmed the existence of a new Poco device called the Poco M2 Pro. It will reportedly feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G SoC. We can expect Poco to tell us more about it in the coming weeks as the company has been putting out several teasers on its official Twitter handle.

Xiaomi has been celebrating the sales of over 30 million smartphones from the Redmi Note 8 series, which was launched in August 2019. Redmi general manager Lu Weibing has been talking about the success of the Redmi Note 8 and also delivering news of temporary price cuts for certain models. Apparently, a focus on young users has contributed to the amazing sales record.

A few weeks ago, new information surfaced claiming the Redmi Note 7 would receive the Android 10 update in the first half of May. We're already in May, however, and a new statement from a similar source has now indicated that Redmi Note 7 owners may have to while a while longer; perhaps till the MIUI 12 rollout.

The Xperia 10 II is now available for pre-order in Europe, and Sony has also confirmed its pricing in the UK. Camera samples from the phone have also surfaced, showing off the capabilities of the phone's versatile triple camera setup.

Google has released its latest security patches for Android, and as usual, the Pixel series of phones had first pick of them. However, Samsung has reportedly gotten ahead of all other OEMs by rolling these May 2020 upgrades to 3 of its phones. One is its latest foldable, whereas another is a 2019 mid-ranger.

A tech blog now touts the Snapdragon 865 SoC's next generation as the first of its line to launch with a 5 nanometer (nm) architecture. It also claims to be able to name several important components of its platform, its GPU, VPU and DPU. This 2021 premium mobile processor may also have new security features and (of course) 5G support.

The Mi Mix brand has been left to founder, with the last proper device, the Mi Mix 3, having been released over eighteen months ago. However, Xiaomi has registered a new Mi MIX Weibo account, hinting that it may not have long to wait until the announcement of a new Mi Mix. Could the Mi Mix 4 be almost upon us?

More and more Android OEMs are also releasing wearables these days; now, it seems that Vivo is about to join them. A Twitter leaker claims to have found images, apparently derived from a "patent", showing that this company has designed its first-gen smartwatch.

Xiaomi has reportedly filed a new patent for smartphone displays with under-display selfie cameras. This one depicts them as part of a triple-camera phone, which suggests this tech is closer to real-world use at this point. In addition, the new sensors in question appear better integrated into the rest of the device compared to the OEM's last known IP on this subject.

In an attempt to bolster Galaxy S20 sales in the subcontinent, Samsung India is now throwing in a voucher worth Rs 4,000($53) for everyone who pre-ordered a Galaxy S20 series phone. The offer is eligible for pre-ordered devices that are activated between May 4th and May 20th, and is only valid for purchases made via the Samsung India website.

Today (May 5, 2020), Realme unleashed its 6 Pro on the European market as promised. This event also saw the launch of the 5i, as advertised - as well as the X50 Pro 5G. This much less expected premium phone now sells for just under €600 (~US$652) in the region.

The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 smartphone lineup recently got larger thanks to the release of the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite variant. The new addition to the series shares the same decent-sized 5,260 mAh battery as the regular Mi Note 10, and Xiaomi has been busy bragging about the various runtimes users can expect from the Lite model.

Marketing videos from Lenovo have revealed a wealth of details about the upcoming Lenovo Legion gaming smartphone. The device features two USB Type-C ports for charging a 5,000 mAh dual-cell battery and the company claims 0-100% charge in 30 minutes. Unusually, the Lenovo Legion smartphone has a pop-up camera on its side.

The upcoming Google Pixel 4a has surfaced on Geekbench confirming some of its specs such as the Snapdragon 730 and 6 GB RAM. While the Pixel 4a stands to offer an excellent camera and stock Android 10 experience, it has to compete with similarly specc'ed phones such as the Xiaomi Mi 9T that offer more raw performance and better value for money.

The OEM Meizu has already confirmed that its upcoming premium smartphone 17-series will come with 30-watt (W) "mCharge" standard. Now, it has hinted at the prospect of a powerbank with the same technology. This would be handy in the absence of the gallium nitride (GaN) charger the phones are also rumored to ship with.