Chinese Tech

OnePlus is all set to launch a Cyberpunk 2077-themed OnePlus Watch in China. Much like the limited-edition OnePlus 8T, the wearable will use UI elements from the game, such as a black and yellow colour scheme, font, and more. There is no word about its global launch just yet.

Honor has finally announced the Play5, a mid-range smartphone with plenty going for it. The device features an OLED display, a Dimensity 800U SoC and 8 GB of LPDDR4x RAM, along with five cameras.

The GT is Realme's Snapdragon 888-powered flagship smartphone that launched early in 2021. Despite this, it has not made it far outside the Chinese market thus far. This situation will change soon however, with a release onto AliExpress' EU website. It will join the Narzo 30 5G on this platform in June of this year.

Rumors of the Honor 50 flagship smartphones' imminent launch has fueled speculation that these devices would be based on the top-end Snapdragon 888 SoC. However, the OEM has now officially announced that the series will go with the new 778G platform for premium mid-rangers instead, and that the new combination is set to launch in June 2021.

The Realme Watch 2 Pro is a new smartwatch with a blood-oxygen sensor, 90 sports modes and sleep-tracking - as does its vanilla sibling. However, it has a bigger 1.75-inch display, as well as the in-built GPS the plain Watch 2 lacks. It also has exclusive new watch-faces, as well as a larger battery rated for up to 14 days of use between charges.

Xiaomi began the MIUI 12.5 rollout for the Redmi Note 10 Pro last week, but is now expanding it to include the European model of the device. This means that the global, Indian, and European are now receiving the MIUI 12.5 update, albeit only in stable beta form.

Xiaomi has officially confirmed the existence of the Redmi Note 8 2021 as part of an announcement revealing over 25 million unit sales for the original Redmi Note 8 smartphone, which was launched in 2019. Rumors about the Note 8 2021’s specs show some key differences with those of the 2019 model, especially in regard to the SoC.

Nubia's Z30 Pro is a new Snapdragon 888-powered flagship smartphone with a generous amount of high-end specs, including a 144Hz 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED display, quad rear cameras and 120W ultra-fast charging. Then again, it has also launched with a punch-hole selfie shooter, rather than the next-gen under-display alternative hinted at in earlier leaks.

MIUI 12.5 is now available to the Mi 11 globally. The Mi 10 Pro has started receiving Xiaomi's latest OS on its European branch, too.

The Huawei MateView GT features a soundbar, a lightbar and a 34-inch panel with a 21:9 aspect ratio. The 1440p display also runs at up to 165 Hz and has a 4,000:1 peak contrast ratio.

The MateBook 16 is Huawei's latest laptop, and one that comes with plenty of enticing features. The device will be available in two configurations, each with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage.

Microsoft is yet to repurpose the Surface Studio as an external monitor, but the Huawei MateView comes close to realising that dream. The MateView has a 3:2 aspect ratio, a 28-inch panel size, a 4K native resolution and plenty of built-in ports.

Xiaomi has unveiled its latest mid-range smartphone, the POCO M3 Pro 5G. A re-branded Redmi Note 10 5G, the POCO M3 Pro 5G features a 90 Hz display, a 5,000 mAh battery and MediaTek's Dimensity 700 SoC.

The OPPO K9 5G is a somewhat rare new smartphone in 2021, as it has launched with the lesser-spotted Snapdragon 768G processor. It has debuted as a "performance"-focused device in its OEM's native China; however, there are now signs that it may completely change its name - even its brand name - in order to become available outside that country.

Xiaomi has announced its plans to launch a new Mi Notebook Pro 15 Ryzen Edition laptop in the near future. The Chinese OEM has confirmed a processor from AMD’s Ryzen 5000 series will be at the heart of the device. The Xiaomi Mi Notebook Pro 15 Ryzen Edition will go on presale in China on May 24 and be launched shortly afterwards.

A leaker from China has named the date when Huawei will begin rolling out HarmonyOS 2.0. Apparently, the Mate 30, Mate 40, P40 and Mate X2 series will be the first devices to receive Huawei's new OS.

Google has announced that the first non-development beta of Android 12 is available for Pixel phones, as of the new OS upgrade's introduction at I/O 2021. The OEM has also unveiled various new features now found in its own-brand phones' UI. It is now called Material You, and incorporates new privacy, performance and navigational tweaks.

Xiaomi has already announced the upcoming Mi Notebook Pro X laptop and now the device’s design has also been teased. The Chinese company revealed that the Mi Book Pro X would come with a GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU for gaming power, and an apparent specs leak has unveiled the presence of an Intel Tiger Lake H35 processor.

Huawei has confirmed that it will launch its latest ANC TWS earbuds, the FreeBuds 4, very soon. However, a new Weibo post may have spoiled their reveal with new hands-on images. They suggest that the accessories will resemble their predecessors, although they are expected to be improved in other ways.

Owners of the iQOO 7 are now being invited to join an official beta program for this phone's first-ever publicly-available build of Android 12. The Snapdragon 888-powered flagship is thus now touted as the first Chinese-market phone to reach this stage of testing. It may be able to use this OS' latest and most cutting-edge features as a result.

POCO is scheduled to launch a Pro variant for its M3 smartphone on May 19, 2021. It is thought to be a highly re-styled version of a pre-existing Xiaomi 5G smartphone. The latest teasers from its brand seem to confirm this, indicating both devices have the same size of screen and battery - even if the "new POCO" has a different look.

A new leak from Weibo states that Xiaomi is researching parallel charging technology. Future Xiaomi smartphones could use it to offer nearly double charging speeds, maybe even cross the 200W figure, which has been speculated for quite some time now.

A patent registered by Xiaomi has revealed a modular smartphone concept that consists of three separate modules. It seems Xiaomi is considering hardware costs with this particular design, which would fit nicely into the modern Mi Mix range. Under-display camera technology could also be integrated into this Xiaomi modular phone.

Xiaomi sells the Redmi Note 10 and the Redmi Note 10 Pro with the Snapdragon 678 and Snapdragon 732G respectively. While certain other features differentiate the two models, it appears raw performance between the two chipsets is close enough to raise questions about how "Pro" exactly the Redmi Note 10 Pro is.

OPPO has commemorated the recent touchdown of China's rover on Mars with a new edition of its 2021 Find X3 Pro flagship Android smartphone. It has 16GB of RAM, as well as a new color apparently inspired by outer space. It can be pre-ordered for the equivalent of ~US$1090 from now.

The ZTE brand Nubia has confirmed that its Z series of flagship phones is back and is just about to launch in 2021. A combination of leaks and teasers appear to confirm an upgrade to an under-display selfie camera for this upcoming device. Meanwhile, rumors of a 64MP main shooter and a periscope lens might be backed up in its previews.

Another Xiaomi patent has turned up, this time revealing that the Chinese OEM is still looking into slider technology and its utilization in future smartphones. The innovative Mi Mix 3 came with a slide-out top-side camera but Xiaomi has gone much further in this particular patent, producing an intriguing dual side-slider smartphone with a secondary display.

Xiaomi has announced when it intends to announce the POCO M3 Pro 5G, its next budget smartphone for the brand. The re-branded Redmi Note 10 5G will arrive with a more arresting design though, and will be available globally.

Honor has reportedly certified 2 new phones with the Chinese 3C authority. One has been approved in conjunction with a power adapter that can charge the device at up to 66W, whereas the other apparently has a brick that can do so at up to 100W. These high-end specs have led to talk that the devices are none other than the upcoming Honor 50 flagship series.

Specifications and details have leaked in regard to a Redmi Note 8 (2021) smartphone that is allegedly heading for the Global, EU, and Russia markets. The 2021 Redmi Note 8 has appeared on the FCC, revealing its MIUI 12.5 software. The latest addition to the Redmi Note 8 series is expected to feature a MediaTek Helio G85 SoC.

The Xiaomi Mi A3 is near the end of its software support, but it has still picked up the May 2021 security patch update. V12.0.9.0.RFQMIXM is rolling out now as an OTA and addresses over a dozen critical or high CVEs for the device.

Xiaomi's FlipBuds Pro are the OEM's first TWS earbuds with triple-mic active noise cancellation. They also feature a dedicated audio chip from Qualcomm, Bluetooth 5.2 and up to 28 hours of battery life. These high-end specs do make them more expensive than their predecessors.

Huawei is expected to launch the Watch 3 series in a few weeks, which should comprise the Watch 3 and Watch 3 Pro. A recent certification document all but confirms that Huawei's next smartwatches will run on HarmonyOS, rather than the LiteOS that the company currently uses.

Xiaomi has now revealed some initial sales numbers for the Redmi Note 10 series. Early today, company executive Manu Kumar Jain confirmed that the company has sold 500 Crore worth of the Redmi Note 10 series phones, presumably in India, within the first two weeks. That translates into about US$68 million in sales.

The prolific Huawei-focused leaker @RODENT950 has posted new images that look convincingly like genuine marketing material for the upcoming P50 flagship smartphones. They seem to confirm earlier rumors, albeit with arguably increased polish this time. Then again, they may point to a lack of periscope zoom in the devices' allegedly Leica-branded camera sensors.

MediaTek's newest Dimensity 900 SoC is now official with an integrated 5G modem that supports sub-6GHz networks, two ARM Cortex-A78 cores, six Cortex-A55 cores, a Mali-G68 MC4 GPU, support for LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage.

The electronics giant Xiaomi had been banned from the US investment market following a blacklisting by the Trump administration, based on claims of the OEM's association with the Chinese military. However, Xiaomi has strongly denied this, and has now won legal action in order to reverse the action against it.

The Bakeey G51 is a budget smartwatch with plenty of storage on which to store music. The device is also IP67 certified and features a large touchscreen display.

Xiaomi will not be revealing MIUI 13 in June, a representative from the company has claimed. While the company has not denied the volume of devices that will supposedly be eligible for MIUI 13, it asserts that the OSes rumoured launch date is a fabrication.

Xiaomi has launched the Redmi Note 10S and Redmi Watch in the Indian market. The Redmi Note 10S is powered by the MediaTek Helio G95 SoC and is the first Xiaomi device to run MIUI 12.5 out-of-the-box. The Redmi Watch is essentially the Mi Watch Lite but with a brighter display. Unlike the competition, the Redmi Watch lacks an SpO2 sensor citing accuracy reasons.

Mini doesn't mean watered-down - the smallest smartwatch from Huami's Amazfit GT family made that clear in our review. Especially in comparison with the Amazfit GTS 2e, which we also reviewed, it was definitely able to stand out with its own distinctive features.

Xiaomi had hinted that it would debut its Mi 11 Ultra flagship Android phone in Europe on May 11, 2021, and has just delivered with a German launch event for this device. The 50MP camera monster has arrived in its new market alongside the region's first Redmi Note 10-series phones and the Mi P1 smart TVs.

The Mi A2 and Mi A2 Lite were released in mid-2018. Following traditional Android One standards, both phones are entitled to three years of security updates in total; for some reason, however, the Mi A2 and Mi A2 Lite have now gone months without an update from Xiaomi.

Huawei has started issuing a new update to Watch GT 2 Pro globally. The update addresses a few issues on the smartwatch, and is available to download via the Huawei Health app.

Honor has confirmed the release date of its next smartphone, the Play5 5G. The device will have five cameras and will be available in multiple colours.

Xiaomi has been facing some backlash over a somewhat ill-judged post on its UK Twitter account. Not only was the text and accompanying image criticized, but it also seems that the post, which was promoting the Xiaomi Mi 11, was actually sent from an iPhone. The Chinese OEM was comparing the Mi 11’s charging ability with the Gates’ recent split.

The Redmi Note 10S is one of the first device's receive MIUI 12.5 globally. The update is available for devices enrolled on MIUI's European and Global branches, and will be distributed as an OTA download. The Redmi Note 10S should arrive with MIUI 12.5 in India when it launches later this week, too.

According to a new report, Xiaomi is set to furnish up to 89 devices with MIUI 13, its next OS. Black Shark, Mi, POCO and Redmi devices are all included, although not some older flagships like the Mi 8, Mi Mix 3 and Pocophone F1.

The specifications read like a dream list for the Nintendo Switch Pro including a large 8.4-inch 2560 x 1600 resolution IPS display, Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU with Iris Xe graphics, 16 GB RAM, dual heat pipes and fans, Thunderbolt 4, and a large 15300 mAh battery.

Lenovo has officially confirmed that the Yoga Pad Pro 13 will launch on May 24, 2021 in China. Moreover, the device's new teasers show it has a new take on its series' classic stand/hang-tab and barrel grip. It is said to pack an HDMI port, as well as dual USB type Cs.