Chinese Tech

Xiaomi has announced a MIUI 12 Global beta stable ROM update for the Redmi Note 9 and Redmi 10X 4G smartphones. The software update V12.0.6.0.QJOMIXM for Global variants of the Redmi Note 9 and Redmi 10X 4G will be initially rolled out for limited testing before a wider public rollout commences.

The 14-inch Lenovo IdeaPad 5 with AMD Ryzen 7 4700U is currently available at a price of US$599 at Walmart. Not only does the Lenovo IdeaPad 15 thin and light laptop sport a terrific 8-core Renoir Ryzen 4000 chip, but it also comes with a 256 GB SSD. Lenovo is offering the IdeaPad Flex 14 AMD 2-in-1 variant at a similar price.

A noted tech leaker has offered up a specsheet for a typical flagship smartphone in 2021. Unsurprisingly, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC is on the list as is a 108 MP main camera sensor. The tipster also believes that premium phones in 2021 should offer a 120 Hz display and 50 W and above wired charging rates.

OPPO has launched the Reno5 series' flagship, confirming its premium attributes compared to the rest of these smartphones in the process. They include its Snapdragon 865 SoC and new 50MP main camera module in the process. It starts at 3999 yuan (~US$612).

After sending out updates to the Redmi Note 8 Pro, Redmi Note 9, and Redmi Note 8, Xiaomi is now rolling out new builds to the Poco X3 in multiple regions. The Mi Mix 3 5G is, surprisingly, also getting the December security patch.

OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has confirmed that the company is almost ready to announce its first smartwatch. The putatively called OnePlus Watch will be released in early 2021.

The Xiaomi Mi 11 is already expected to come stuffed to the gills with high-end components, especially the high-end Snapdragon 888, but it seems the Mi 11 flagship is also getting treated to some special RAM. The “full blood” LPDDR5 memory in the upcoming Xiaomi series will offer a +16% speed boost over regular LPDDR5.

Xiaomi may begin distributing stable builds of MIUI 12.5 in late February 2021, according to a new report. The release of MIUI 12.5 could well run into March 2021 too, despite its rumoured announcement next week.

Xiaomi has seeded another update for the global version of the Redmi 7. The latest update for the handset brings Android 10, but MIUI 12 is nowhere to be seen.

The drone-maker DJI is one of the latest companies to be placed on the US Administration's Entity List. The OEM has reacted with a bemused message posted to its official Twitter account, in which it denies doing anything to warrant this action, and to do all it can to limit its effect on its customers, suppliers and other business partners.

New year, new Xiaomi Mi-series flagships...plus the company's highest-end charging tech, it seems. However, the latest leak on this subject suggests that this 120 watt (W) standard will be reserved for the upcoming series' Pro variant. Furthermore, something even better may be coming for a subsequent release in the second half of 2021.

Realme's upcoming top-end smartphone, officially code-named Race, has been leaked in terms of its design. Its rear panel as depicted is certainly above the run of the mill, although its rear cameras are a little more conventional. This phone is expected to launch with Qualcomm's most premium early-2021 silicon.

The Amazfit Bip U Pro fitness smartwatch is now available to customers in the US at a price of US$69.99 with free shipping. Buyers of the wearable from Huami will get to enjoy built-in GPS, Amazon Alexa assistance, and over 60 sports modes. The Amazfit Bip U Pro also offers blood-oxygen level measurement and heart-rate monitoring.

The arrival of the Xiaomi Mi 11 series nears, but the world awaits another entry in the Mi Mix series. A new patent suggests that Xiaomi is developing a second iteration of the Mi Mix Alpha though, and one with triple pop-up cameras.

New OPPO devices have appeared on the NCC and Geekbench websites, leading to speculation that they are the global and Indian-market versions of the recently-launched Reno5. However, they are linked to a different, 4G-only SoC compared to the original phone of this name.

The Xiaomi Mi 11 has made yet another appearance online. At least one variant is confirmed to feature a 108MP camera sensor, with three sensors in total. It shouldn't be long before we figure out these images' authenticity, as Xiaomi will launch the Mi 11 series on December 28.

Either a Xiaomi Mi 11 or Mi 11 Pro has been spotted on Geekbench churning out very high results for an Android device thanks to the presence of a cutting-edge Snapdragon 888 SoC. In addition, an alleged teaser trailer for the upcoming Mi 11 range has started doing the rounds on Chinese social media.
Update: The Mi 11 is expected to be revealed on Dec 28.

ZTE has launched the Axon 20 5G via its global site, albeit to a selection of countries. It is priced at US$449 for an 8GB/128GB SKU. However, buying it involves a certain hoop to jump through that may be aggravatingly familiar to OG OnePlus fans.

SMIC is a chipmaker that recently reported the development of its own 7 nanometer (nm) node. However, its plans for this silicon may have become somewhat limited, as the outgoing Trump administration has followed through on a threat to place the foundry on its trade blacklist. The drone OEM DJI is another big name in the latest rounds of these sanctions.

A Mexican telecommunications company called Telcel has been accused of unethical practices in regard to blocking the dual-SIM capability of the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro. A user has claimed that the provider used glue and a plastic insert to physically prevent dual-SIM usage with the Mi 10T Pro and has also blocked the function via software too.

The launch of the Xiaomi Mi 11 flagship smartphone range is incoming and new leaked images seem to corroborate numerous rumors about the device. A supposed live photo of a demo unit has provided key specification details while an image of the Mi 11 screen protector has once again confirmed a punch-hole camera and curved display.

MIUI 12 only just landed for most of Xiaomi's lineup but the company is already set to unveil the next iteration of its skin. It's MIUI 12.5, though, not MIUI 13 as one would expect, and it could very well be launched on December 29 alongside the Mi 11 series.

The Vivo V20 (2020) series launched not long ago with a vanilla variant rocking a Snapdragon 720G processor. A new potential phone from this OEM has been spotted on Geekbench with an older and less powerful SoC. Nevertheless, it is thought to be the V20's immediate successor.

With its Dimensity 1000+ chipset, 120Hz display and 65W charging, Realme's X7 Pro is a potentially compelling choice of 2020 smartphones. Unfortunately, it has never emerged beyond the Chinese market. However, that has changed with its latest debut in Thailand.

Honor's first post-Huawei flagship phones are expected to be known as the V40 series. They are also predicted not to launch with a premium Kirin processor as its forebears did. However, it now looks like they might do so with one holdover from its past as a Huawei subsidiary: 66W charging out of the box.

Xiaomi is rumored to be working on both a new foldable smartphone and tablet, which could make appearances in 2021. A potential Mi Pad 5 tablet would be a welcome addition to the stagnating Xiaomi Mi Pad range, whereas the “Cetus” or “Mi Fold” smartphone will apparently feature a screen with a high refresh rate.

The Redmi Note 8 Pro just received its November security update and it's been closely followed by the Redmi Note 8 and Redmi Note 9, with the European variants of both phones now getting the update. Android 11, however, remains a distant concept for the Redmi Note 8 in particular.

The Amazfit GTS 2 Mini fitness smartwatch from Huami is now officially available to shoppers in the US. The wearable, which comes with a heart-rate monitor, PAI health assessment system, and SpO2 level measurement, is priced at US$99.99 with free shipping. The Amazfit GTS 2 Mini weighs just 19.5 g (0.69 oz).

The Chinese AIB designer Colorful has announced the new iGame GeForce RTX 3090 Neptune OC graphics card. The powerful board comes with a dual-fan radiator, 26-phase power design, and a one-click overclocked boost rate of 1,755 MHz. Gamers in China will need to be prepared to pay 13,999 yuan (US$2,141) or more to get hold of one though.

New rumors indicate that the successor to the Moto G9 Play phone will have a slightly more straightforward product name to go with its 2021 launch. This moniker has appeared on the Geekbench database, and has subsequently been confirmed on Google's Play Console. Both of these new listings point to budget specs for the upcoming device.

Laptop batteries associated with the POCO branding have been spotted on Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) documents that could indicate the former Xiaomi subsidiary is planning on releasing a POCO laptop, possibly even a POCOBook. The POCO M3 smartphone was the most recent device launched by the now independent company.

The Redmi Note 9 Pro Max appears to have been largely forgotten about by Xiaomi. The device has now received a second MIUI 12 Stable Beta update, with the first having arrived in September. There is no word on the arrival of a Stable MIUI 12 update for the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max yet, though.

A schematic of the Mi 11 Pro has leaked online. The schematic suggests that Xiaomi has equipped its next flagship smartphone with a 6.76-inch display, which is expected to run natively at a QHD+ resolution with a 120 Hz refresh rate. The Mi 11 Pro may arrive before the end of the year and will be one of the first devices with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 888 SoC.

Huami's latest smartwatches are 'e' versions of the Watch GTS 2 and Watch GTR 2, respectively. The new models are cheaper, but they have better battery life. Huami has not skrimped on other areas either, with the Watch GTS 2e and Watch GTR 2e both featuring AMOLED displays and SpO2 sensors.

The Redmi Note 8 Pro is now receiving a new update in multiple regions. The latest update for the device brings the November security patch to the European and Russian models of the device, with the Android 11 rollout set to follow soon.

The world's smallest mini PC with an active fan now has a second higher-end configuration with quadruple the storage capacity of the original launch option. Its retail price is down by $20 for a limited time to $259 USD.

Realme has started revealing some of the details about its upcoming Watch S Pro device, including the launch date for the high-end wearable. The Realme Watch S Pro comes with a blood oxygen and heart-rate monitor, built-in dual-satellite GPS, and it can offer up to 14 days of battery life. Realme’s first premium smartwatch will be launched on December 23.

The OPPO A53 emerged in 2020 as the first phone to have the Snapdragon 460 SoC. Now, the OEM has announced a new version of this device. It is much like the original, except it exchanges its platform for a 5G-capable MediaTek Dimensity 720. It also starts at the equivalent of US$199 in China.

A RedmiBook Pro 14S powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 5700U has been put through its paces on Geekbench, and it managed a 28.16% higher result in the Geekbench 5 multi-core benchmark than the Ryzen 7 4700U. The Lucienne Zen 2-based Ryzen 5000 APU can boast of enhancements such as an improved iGPU and SMT support.

Xiaomi has announced the Redmi 9 Power for India. The Chinese company has priced the device at INR 13,999 (~US$190), for which you will receive a smartphone with a 6.53-inch FHD+ display, a 48 MP primary camera and a 6,000 mAh battery, among other features. The Redmi 9 Power will be available with up to 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage and in four colours.

Huawei has updated its EMUI 11 upgrade plans in two regions. To date, the OS upgrade has only reached handsets in Asia Pacific and Canada, where the Mate 30 and P40 series have begun the slow march to EMUI 11. Huawei claims that it has upgraded over 10 million devices to EMUI 11 already, though.

Huawei is set to launch its Nova 8 series in the near future and details of the Nova 8 have surfaced. Notable takeaways include a Kirin 985, a quad-camera setup at the back, and a disappointing battery relative to the competition.

The 98-inch Redmi Smart TV Max from Xiaomi has apparently taken China by storm. Xiaomi has revealed some statistics about the giant television, including that its monthly sales are 30 times higher than its rivals in the same-size segment. The Redmi Max 98 has been incredibly popular since launching at a bargain price of 19,999 yuan (US$3,061).

Samsung's highly-awaited Exynos 1080 SoC has made its first appearance on Geekbench. It manages to outperform the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 with a single and multi-core score of 888 and 3,244, respectively. The chipset is expected to make its debut alongside the Vivo X60 series on December 28.

Word on the grapevine from last week teased the possibility of Xiaomi launching a Mi 11 Mini as the third device in the Mi 11 series. That appears to be unlikely now, however, as a new report claims that the third device will be the Mi 11 Pro+. Or, perhaps, the Mi 11 Ultra? The Galaxy S21 Ultra will have its work cut out for it in any case.

Xiaomi has released a new firmware update for the Mi Band 5 activity tracker. The software has been pushed out to deal with problems with the accuracy of the sleep-tracking function, with a few other minor additions such as extra language support included. It’s likely the update will eventually make it to the international Mi Smart Band 5 variant.

Previously uncovered as the OneGX Pro, the Intel Core i7-1160G7-driven sibling of the Intel Core i5-10210Y-powered OneGX1 handheld gaming PC is now available for purchase as the OneGX1 Pro. Sadly, this 7-inch gaming machine does not come cheap as the starting price tag reads almost US$1,400.

Xiaomi has launched the Mi EBook Reader Pro as expected and has revealed the e-reader’s specifications. Naturally, the Mi EBook Reader Pro is a step up from the non-Pro variant, but at a regular price of 1,299 yuan (US$198) the new Xiaomi device also holds up quite well against the more-expensive Kindle Oasis from Amazon.

High-end processor? Check. 50MP main camera? Check. HDR10+ display? Check. Electrochromic back?...Maybe. A new OPPO phone that is almost certainly the impending Reno5 Pro+ has appeared on TENAA, Geekbench and the HDR certification website, seeming to confirm the device's best rumored attributes in the process.