Android

The Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite and the Mi Max 3 global variants are finally receiving the stable Android 10-based MIUI 11 update after having had an initial rollout in China. Both updates weigh-in around 1.8 GB and come with the February security patch. The updates, though stable, are still being seeded only to a few users and will roll out to others if all goes well.

Camera quality has been a major pain point for owners of Android Go phones, due to the quality of hardware the phones sport. Computational photography is Google's bread and butter, though, and the newly launched Camera Go app is expected to deliver much-improved camera performance to the extreme budget Android Go devices.

In a public post on his website since locked, former Essential designer Kevin Hoffman has posted renders of two Essential PH-1 sequels that until now have never seen the light of day. The Essential PH-2 and Essential PH-3 provides a tantalizing glimpse of what might have been had Andy Rubin’s company not gone under.

OnePlus introduced a new facet of its OxygenOS called Instant Translation during its last product launch. It allows a phone to generate automatic captions during live video chats. This function has finally been added to new Open Betas for the 7, 7T, 7 Pro and 7T Pro.

HMD Global has announced its latest flagship-esque device, the Nokia 8.3 5G. The Nokia 8.3 5G is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 5G and features a tall 20:9 6.81-inch HDR PureDisplay, a quad-camera setup with Zeiss optics, and is part of the Android One program. While the specs are good for the most part despite some cut corners, the pricing of the Nokia 8.3 5G may work against its favor.

Teased on Weibo, ZTE is announcing a new smartphone before it releases the Axon 10s Pro. Called the Axon 11 5G, ZTE has scheduled a release for March 23. While all signs may point to it being a mid-range smartphone, ZTE insists on calling it a flagship. What gives?

Déjà vu, Mi A3 owners. Xiaomi has now pulled the latest update for the device, which would have brought Android 10 to many devices. Seemingly as bug-ridden as the first Android 10 update, Xiaomi needs to get its act together.

ZTE is already linked to a device called the Axon 10s Pro based on the Snapdragon 865 SoC and the 5G X55 modem. Now, it appears the Axon 11 is also on the way. This one is no flagship, however: it is more likely to offer the mid-range 765 (or possibly 765G) chipset, which still gives it next-gen connectivity.

Not only have Xiaomi and Redmi now confirmed the impending arrival of the Redmi K30 Pro Zoom, but they have also shown off some camera samples from both it and the regular K30 Pro. Featuring dual-OIS, a 64 MP main sensor and a telephoto sensor capable of 3x optical zoom, the K30 Pro and K30 Pro Zoom could well off a flagship camera experience for those on a budget.

Google has already rolled its own form of rich communication services- (RCS) based messaging to US users, as well as some other markets across the globe. Now, Spain is the latest to join this list. Interested Android owners can try it out via the company's own-brand Messages app.

The OPPO A11 is a budget phone with quad cameras from 2019. Now, it appears it has a successor destined for markets such as that of Thailand (and also possibly Indonesia). However, it seems this phone is, if anything, even more low-end than the existing model.

Fancy a quad-curved display this year? Well, the P40 Pro may be your best bet, with new promotional renders show the device's minimal bezels too. The P40 may suit those who are looking for a more practical design though, albeit one that still has a high screen-to-body ratio.

LG's latest flagship phone, the V60 ThinQ 5G, goes on sale today. The phone's price tag starts at US$799 depending on the carrier you buy from and the options selected. That's US$200 less than the regular Galaxy S20. At most, potential buyers will have to fork out US$950.

When shelling out up to the equivalent of US$1600 for a new phone, one would expect it to be the class-leading in performance, or at least better than last year's releases. Not the Galaxy S20, though, as a new test has shown the Exynos Galaxy S20+ getting absolutely destroyed by a Snapdragon 855-powered S10+ at gaming.

Following protracted speculation, Samsung has debuted the Galaxy A41. It has a 6.1-inch SuperAMOLED display with a U-shaped notch and a 3500mAh battery. It also has an IP68 ingress-protection rating and 4GB of RAM.

Xiaomi may be focusing on the release of the Redmi K30 Pro right now, but do not forget that a Zoom Edition of the Redmi K30 Pro is on its way too. The device has now made its way to Geekbench, suggesting that the Zoom Edition will come with a Snapdragon 865 and at least 8 GB of RAM, too.

The last few years have seen a scatter of articles about Surge, Xiaomi's supposed competitor to the Kirin or Exynos SoC series of the world in development. Now, however, there are indications that the Chinese OEM is finally giving up on this idea. However, it will continue with other, related projects that may produce chipsets for wireless communications.

The Redmi Note 9 Pro has gotten off to a great start, with Amazon selling out of stock within minutes in India. However, there are conflicting reports about whether the device supports L1 or L3 DRM certification. The device may not be capable of streaming Netflix in HD even if it has the former, though.

Hoping that Xiaomi would release an update for your Mi A2 that would the numerous bugs that Android 10 introduced? Think again, as Xiaomi has opted for a different tactic instead.

Following on from previous teasers, Xiaomi has now announced a new raft of features of the Redmi K30 Pro ahead of its launch on March 24. With 180 Hz touch sampling, 1,200 nit peak brightness and a 3,435 mm² stainless steel vapour chamber cooling the system, Xiaomi is not holding back. The breathing notification LED from the Redmi K20 Pro is making a return, too.

Geekbench 5's database has just turned up a new entry for a "Samsung SM-T307U". This model number may be for a tablet, in which case it would be a slate running on the Exynos 7885 processor and 3GB of RAM. As if to underpin this putative upcoming device's bargain nature, it is described as running Android 9.0 (Pie) rather than the newer 10 version.

The Mi 9 Lite and Mi CC9 have now started receiving a stable Android 10 update globally. Already rolled out to Chinese handsets, Xiaomi has now extended the Android 10 upgrade to Global and Russian devices. Those enrolled on the European branch of MIUI may be in for a wait until Android 10 reaches them, though.
Xiaomi has now rolled out the Android 10 upgrade to EU handsets.

Realme India Tweeted out a teaser for a new line of smartphones called Narzo. The company claims that the devices will be centered around 'uniqueness' and 'high-resolution cameras'. The phones are expected to compete with the likes of Redmi, Poco, Xiaomi, and the likes. We can expect Realme to tell us more about its Narzo-branded phones in the coming weeks.

Realme has confirmed leaks pointing to a Helio G80-powered phone with the launch of the 6i in Myanmar. Unlike the rest of its new series, this phone has an HD+ display, although it outdoes the rest with a 5000mAh battery. It also features a novel "pinstripe" rear panel in 2 new colors.

If previous teasers about the Redmi K30 Pro have not whet your appetite, then the latest might. Xiaomi has now shown off a vibrant white version of the device, along with its notchless display. The AMOLED panel may also be HDR10+ capable, while Xiaomi has hinted at some impressive camera hardware too.

Advanced Protection is a program offered by Google to those potentially in need of enhanced mobile-device security. The Mountain View giant has announced some new changes to its policies. They include a built-in blocker for side-loaded, non-Play Store apps.

Redmi has just announced a launch date for a phone called the Note 9S in Malaysia. Now, a new entry on the Geekbench 5 website for this device returns the same specs as the Note 9 Pro. This suggests the 2 products are one and the same.

Samsung announced the Galaxy M21 today. The budget-oriented handset shares many of the same specifications with the slightly more expensive Galaxy M31. However, the Galaxy M21 cuts back on cameras to hit a lower retail price. The Galaxy M21 will launch in India on March 23.

There is a lot to like about the new iPad Pro. Its new LiDAR scanner is certainly cutting-edge and its new Magic Keyboard accessory is everything Apple fans have been wanting. But its battery life continues to be stuck at 10 hours all these years after its launch.

The chances of the Mi A1 receiving Android 10 look increasingly slim, with Xiaomi issuing a new underwhelming update for its first Android One smartphone. Expect to see Xiaomi and Google abandon the Mi A1 altogether by the end of the year.

Owners of the Mi A3 have been waiting for the release of an Android 10 build that fixes the bugs Xiaomi's OTA last month calamitously introduced. A new update has now been released for the phone, but it appears to be rather disappointing.

With the new coronavirus forcing most of us to stay at home, we are all going to be looking for things to do to keep us entertained. Enter Korg and Moog, which have both made a couple of their popular synth apps available to download for free for a limited time.

Recently, the Honor 30S has allegedly appeared in promos sponsored by Sprite in China. Now, their flagship siblings have reportedly leaked in a new render that shows they will join the round-camera brigade on their launch. These phones are thought to be powered by the Kirin 990 SoC and to have 5G variants.

Motorola is currently believed to have a Snapdragon 865-powered phone called the Edge+ in the works. Some renders worked up for this device may show how the OEM will combine its rumored triple cameras with a waterfall display. Now, Evan Blass has posted very similar images for the same that also shows a new color option for the possible flagship.

PlayGalaxy Link is a feature of some Samsung Galaxy flagships by which PC gaming can be done on these devices via a streaming connection. Or was, rather: the OEM has announced that it will wrap this resource up by March 27, 2020.

The Reno3 smartphone was released earlier with the MediaTek Dimensity 1000L SoC, which made it a 5G device. Now, its maker OPPO has announced a 2nd version of this phone with a Helio P90 processor instead. Otherwise, the phone comes with the same specs as the original.

While the Mi Note 10 series is an unashamed P30 Pro clone it has one thing that Huawei's flagship lacks, a glaring Bluetooth issue. Poor design or a software issue? It could be both.

Mi A2 Lite owners have had a bad time of things lately. With the device's Android 10 update causing bootloops on some units, Xiaomi has now urged people to bring their affected handsets in for repair. The company is hoping to release a new Android 10 OTA later this month, too.

Say what you want about its design and its Snapdragon 720G chipset, but the Redmi Note 9 Pro is already proving a best-seller. Selling out in a just a few minutes, the Redmi Note 9 Pro will be available to purchase again from March 24.

Chinese smartphone OEMs like Xiaomi, OPPO and Vivo apparently demanded the development of a 200 MP sensor by the end of 2020, but Samsung could only offer 150 MP for that specific time-frame. The upcoming sensor is supposed to offer 1 inch of effective pixel area, and will integrate Samsung's Nonacell technology with 1:9 pixel binning.

The latest mobile storage standard is optimized for 8K videos and large image files. With sequential write speeds improved by almost 3 times, users will soon be able to transfer 100 GB of files in only 1.5 minutes. General responsiveness and app load times will also be improved by up to 60%.

Confirmed to be launching on March 24, the Redmi K30 Pro will not just be a Snapdragon 865 version of the Redmi K30. Instead, it is shaping up as a dream for smartphone enthusiasts.

Lenovo Legion is back with more teasers for its first gaming phone and has taken a swipe at Red Magic in the process. Hailed as "No Red. It's Magic", the Legion gaming phone will feature a Snapdragon 865, 55 W charging, an in-screen fingerprint scanner and detachable accessories. The company has offered a first look at the device, too.

Samsung's Android 10-based One UI 2.0 rollout continues; this time with its mid-range phones, the Galaxy A40 and A80. Both phones are now receiving the One UI 2.0 update with all the typical features like system-wide dark mode and new navigation gestures.

In November 2019, a Chinese user alleged that his Redmi Note 7 Pro exhibited spontaneous combustion following normal function. Now, an Indian owner has claimed that his phone did much the same, in an abrupt and alarming fashion. Xiaomi asserts that this incident is attributed to pre-existing battery damage to the device.

LG recently unveiled the V60 ThinQ 5G. Typically, though, the LG flagship that's launched this time of the year is the G-series phone, but there's been little to no word on the G9 ThinQ.

While the Redmi Note 8 Pro has already received Android 10, it seems that Xiaomi is putting the OS upgrade on hold for the Redmi Note 8 until at least next month. Released to handsets today, the latest MIUI 11 update remains on Android 9.0 Pie and only brings a handful of changes.

The Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro may be stealing the headlines currently, but Xiaomi is launching the Redmi K30 Pro before the end of the month too. Said to possibly be the cheapest Snapdragon 865-powered smartphone released this year, a new leak shows Xiaomi returning to a pop-up selfie camera. An in-screen fingerprint scanner and an AMOLED panel may be in order, too.