Chinese Tech

Xiaomi has announced that it sold over a million units of the Mi 11 in just 21 days. This comes after selling 350,000 units on the first day, and over 500,000 by the tenth. All of this translates into over US$600 million of revenue from Mi 11 sales alone, with the phone still yet to make its way outside China.

Without any noticeable problems on my handset after a few days of use, Android 11-based crDroid 7.2 proves to be an almost perfect choice for those who want to keep around the Xiaomi Mi A1 for at least another year or two without making any compromises in terms of security and capabilities.

The Redmi Watch - or Mi Watch Lite for global markets - has been spotted on the BIS regulatory documentation, hinting that it will launch in India soon. It is slated to be the Redmi-branded version as it has been registered under that name. By any name, it has a 1.4-inch square face, 5ATM water resistance and up to 9 hours of battery life.

Xiaomi has sent out the stable Android 11 update to a few of its phones, and the next in line is the Poco X2. The Poco mid-range phone is now receiving the stable beta Android 11 update along with the January security update. The Redmi Note 9 4G is getting its first taste of Android 11, too.

The first details of the Xiaomi Mi Band 6 have been posted online, and it seems likely there will be a global variant called the Mi Smart Band 6. The upcoming activity tracker has all the features that the Mi Band 5 offers but with additional utilities, such as SpO2 tracking (blood oxygen level measurement) and Alexa support. The Mi Band 6 may have a larger display too.

The Motorola Edge S might be the first Android device to launch with the new Snapdragon 870 SoC. According to a new allegedly official poster, this event is scheduled for later in January 2021. It also seems to confirm its quad rear cameras and color options.

The Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro remains one of the most anticipated smartphones of 2021, despite the recent release of the Mi 11. Reputed cameras specifications claim that Xiaomi will utilise the Sony IMX766 for its next flagship capable of 120x digital zoom, which it will complement with a 48 MP telephoto camera, among other sensors.

Digital Chat Station has leaked more details about the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro. According to the whistleblower, the two devices will essentially have the same displays as the OnePlus 8T and OnePlus 8 Pro, but with smaller punch-holes for front-facing cameras.

OPPO is rumored to have a Lite version of its Find X3 2021 flagship smartphone in the works that is in fact a re-badged Reno5 5G. This idea has been given more weight by a new photo of what a prominent leaker asserts is this device's retail box. It shows a handset with very Reno-like rear cameras, presented on top of a large charging brick.

The Realme Buds Q are TWS earbuds that launched for about US$30 in 2020. Now, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has inadvertently confirmed that their second generation is likely to launch soon. They have been registered as Bluetooth devices with black and fluorescent green colorways.

Honor has launched the V40 5G flagship smartphone. Although developed when Honor was still owned by Huawei, the device is the first to be launched by its new owners. This could help skirt the US ban on Huawei which means that it should be able to roll out to global markets with Google services on board.

Taiwanese chip makers MediaTek recently launched two new SoCs in the form of the Dimensity 1100 and Dimensity 1200. While neither chipset has appeared on any device yet, the latter has been slated to feature on an upcoming Realme phone—the Realme X9 Pro.

A shortlist of smartphones either already with or expected to feature LTPO screens in 2021 has revealed some interesting entrants and a notable absence. There is mention of an Apple iPhone 12s Pro, Huawei Mate 50 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, and even the Xiaomi Mi 12, but there seems to be no room for a Galaxy Note 21 here.

Huawei has trademarked the name 'Nova Watch' in China. Undoubtedly, this suggests that the Chinese company plans to release at least one smartwatch as part of a new series soon. Huawei reserves Nova for its mid-range smartphones, so it may have a new midrange smartwatch in the offing.

The OnePlus Watch is coming to India, according to a new regulatory certification posted by a well-known tipster. It has been presumed that this wearable would have a round face; however, the new registration specifies 2 variants with different model numbers. Therefore, a square-faced option from OnePlus might be back on the cards.

According to Digital Chat Station, the Redmi K40 series will feature an ultra-small punch hole and Samsung's most expensive flat display. Xiaomi will borrow the display directly from the Mi 11 while using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 on the Redmi K40 series, also.

Realme's first-ever smartwatch was an Apple Watch clone, whereas its second had a round face and a Pro variant. A new FCC registration reveals the OEM has gone back to a square face for its next wearable. It has an on-trend blood oxygen monitor, as well as "dynamic" heart-rate tracking and IP68 ingress-protection.

Nokia's highly-awaited 5G smartphone could be launched soon. It just showed up on Geekbench codenamed 'Quicksilver'. The device in question is likely the Nokia 7.3, slated to come with four rear cameras, a 90Hz screen and a 4,000mAh battery.

Nubia has hyped its 2021 flagship-grade gaming phone with a new spec: ultra-fast 120-watt (W) charging. A new leak suggests that there will be 2 variants of the device, only 1 of which will have the new technology. The putative Snapdragon 888-powered series is also now rumored to have other exciting features such as color-changing glass rear panels.

A Chinese news outlet has recently broken the story that OPPO and OnePlus - two heretofore independent brands under the BBK Electronics umbrella - will "merge" their research and development efforts. This leak, which might mean the 2 OEMs start producing much more similar products soon, has been confirmed to some extent by OnePlus.

According to CEO Lu Weibing, Redmi will launch its first-ever gaming smartphone sometime in 2021. He has also confirmed that a MediaTek Dimensity 1200 chipset will power it. The smartphone will be designed for mobile e-sports.

The Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite has begun the new decade with a new update, and one that brings it onto the January 2021 Android security patch. The Mi A2 Lite will not receive an OS upgrade beyond Android 10, but it will continue to receive security patch updates for another six months.

Vivo has unveiled the X60 Pro+, its latest flagship smartphone. The X60 Pro+ offers a host of upgrades from the X60 Pro, including a Snapdragon 888 SoC and improved optics. The Vivo X60 Pro+ will start at CNY 4,998 (~US$773) in China.

A well-known Weibo leaker says that Huawei will reportedly refresh its MateBook lineup with AMD Ryzen 5000 series mobile processors soon. They could arrive as early as March 2021, as Huawei is no longer allowed to purchase Intel chips.

The Chuwi HeroBook Pro+ combines a 3K display with 8 GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 128 GB of storage. The 13.3-inch display has thick bezels though and is powered by an Intel Celeron J3455 quad-core processor. The Chuwi HeroBook Pro+ retails for US$269.00 and is available to order now.

Huawei has updated the Watch GT 2 Pro once again, this time with general system stability improvements. The update follows the release of the New Year Edition that Huawei announced last week. There is a New Year Edition of the Watch Fit, too.

The OPPO CPH2173 is an upcoming device that has been spotted in several leaks over the last few weeks. Based on its alleged specs, it is likely to be a Find X3-series flagship. It has now been certified by the FCC and 3C authorities, showing that it has a dual-cell 2200mAh battery and what seems to be a new version of ColorOS.

A newly unearthed patent filed by Xiaomi has depicted a curious method for solving the issue of having camera sensors on the front and the rear of a smartphone. In this instance, Xiaomi has chosen a pop-up mechanism that features a “reflecting member”. Such a kooky contraption could end up being implemented with the long-awaited Mi Mix 4.

Doogee says the smartphone can fully recharge in under 30 minutes. The X95 Pro is one of the least expensive models you can find to ship with pure Android 10.

Motorola has been linked to a new series of budget phones code-named "Capri" and "Capri Plus" as of late. The latter of these - also known as the XT-2129 - has been approved for launch by the Thai regulator NBTC. It has also let its product name slip: Moto G30. Therefore, this may be a G10 replacement, although its specs speak against that idea.

Redmi rivals Realme is set to launch its first phone with a Snapdragon 888 in the near future. The device, said to be the Realme Race Pro, will feature impressive specifications, with the most notable being a supposed 160 Hz QHD+ OLED and outrageous 125 W fast-charging support, with a release that will see it do battle with the Mi 11 Pro and Redmi K40 Pro.

MediaTek has launched two new Dimensity-branded chipsets, the Dimensity 1200 and Dimensity 1100. The former is MediaTek's latest ARM Cortex-A78-powered flagship offering which performs on par with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, while the latter is a slightly more scaled-down version. The MediaTek Dimensity 1200 is expected to debut alongside a Realme smartphone soon.

The Snapdragon 888 is Qualcomm's latest flagship-grade mobile processor, and as such is only available in a tiny handful of phones to date. The first 2 of these, the iQOO 7 and Xiaomi Mi 11, have already exhibited thermal-management problems while in the hands of a reviewer. Hopefully, this is not a sign of things to come for the rest of 2021.

The X60 Pro+ is a Snapdragon 888-powered variant of Vivo's latest flagship smartphone series. The OEM has confirmed that it will debut tomorrow (January 21, 2021) in China. A tech blog in the same country now claims that its first-ever tablet might be unveiled alongside it.

China's progress with the home-grown CPUs and GPUs is relentless. The new Big Island general purpose GPUs produced by Tianshu Zhixin are able to take advantage of TSMC's 7 nm tech and provide a competitive price/performance ratio. Internal benchmarks reveal that the Big Island GPUs are not yet on par with Nvidia's A100 or AMD's Instinct MI100, but the progress is remarkable.

A company insider has told a Russian news outlet that Honor is bringing GMS (Google Mobile Services) to its upcoming smartphones. However, it'll be a while before we see them in action, as they are slated to be launched this spring. It should help Honor regain some of the ground it lost over the past two years due to the lack of GMS on its devices.

Huawei is set to release the P50 series within the next few months. Details of the P50 Pro and P50 Pro+ have now been revealed, with notable takeaways including a quad-curved 120 Hz AMOLED, a Kirin 9000, and 200x zoom for the range topper.

The OPPO Band is a 2020 fitness tracker with a blood-oxygen sensor that launched in China for about US$31. Now, it has reportedly acquired an EEC certification, which suggests that it may go on sale in Russia soon. Therefore, this could this be the first of further global releases for the device.

A new leak suggests that MediaTek has a watered-down version of the Dimensity 1200 in the works. The MediaTek Dimensity 1100 will reportedly feature four Cortex-A78 cores clocked at 2.6GHz and four Cortex-A55 cores at 2.0GHz. MediaTek is expected to unveil it on January 20.

Xiaomi is now expanding its Android 11 rollout to include its mid-range devices, with the Mi Note 10 Lite being the latest to receive the update. The update doesn't bring MIUI 12.5 but it's slowly rolling out to the global variant of the phone. The global Redmi Note 8 is getting a spanking new update, too.

Huawei has updated flagship laptop, the MateBook X Pro. The company has upgraded the MateBook X Pro to Intel's Tiger Lake platform, which it will offer with 16 GB of RAM and up to a 1 TB SSD. The 1.33 kg machine also features a 13.9-inch 3K display and starts at CNY 8,999 (~US$1,389).

The Xiaomi Redmi K40 series is seemingly almost upon us, with Redmi General Manager Lu Weibing teasing the entry-level model's prospective battery life. The Redmi K40 is believed to feature a Dimensity 1200 SoC and may start for as little as CNY 2,999 (~US$462).

Xiaomi has taken to its official Weibo account to enlist about 27 devices that are eligible to receive a closed beta rollout of the MIUI 12.5 update. The list of devices includes the upcoming Mi 11 flagship and goes as far back as the Redmi Note 7 released in early 2019. The closed beta is currently limited to China and a global release will follow soon.

Huawei is slated to launch its flagship P50 smartphone series in early 2021. According to a new leak, its vanilla model will have 5 rather different rear cameras, arranged in a new slim housing. It has been worked up into high-end renders that also show quad-curved displays and singular punch-hole selfie shooter.

Honor had set the date of its event to unveil its upcoming flagship phones, the V40 series, on January 18, 2021. However, this has now been pushed back until January 22. In the meantime, it has released posters confirming the appearance of at least 1 of these phones and set up a new online store in its native China.

Embattled smartphone makers Huawei has now removed the Mate 20 series from its security update schedule, in a move that mirrors what happened with the Mate 10 series a year ago. The phones include the Mate 20, Mate 20 Pro, Mate 20 RS, and Mate 20 X.

Although it seems like a long shot, Android 11 works fine on the Xiaomi Mi A1. The POSP ROM might not be perfect but looks very good and seems stable enough for daily use. The version that I installed on my handset comes with the January 5 security patch, and it also seems to support Qualcomm aptX.

Realme is a brand that has built its appeal on affordable mobile and personal audio devices. Initial leaks suggest it is going to keep this going in 2021 with the launch of the C21 smartphone and the Buds Wireless 2 Neo. They are slated to be the successor to the cost-effective C11 and to be neckbuds rather than TWS earbuds respectively.

OPPO may have set a rough date for the launch of its 2021 premium smartphone series, likely to be called the Find X3 and X3 Pro. At the opposite end of its mobile-device spectrum, the A93 5G has debuted with Qualcomm's latest 5G-for-the-masses SoC. It offers decent specs, including 8GB of RAM and a headphone jack, for about US$310 in China.