Chinese Tech

The new Apple iPhone 12 has been tested for its audio quality by DxOMark and has scored relatively well to give it a high position in the site’s audio chart. However, the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro’s place at the top of the table has not been threatened, regardless of Apple’s improvements over the iPhone 11’s audio playback and recording.

Huami appears to be busy with rapidly expanding its Amazfit GTR and GTS lineups. Details for an Amazfit GTS 2e smartwatch were recently shared online and this was rapidly followed by leaked information about a potential Amazfit GTR 2e wearable. It’s not yet known if Huami will utilize the term “lite” in the names of these upcoming devices.

One of the most useful features added by OPPO to the ColorOS 11 firmware protects the handset's battery by pausing the night charging process at 80 percent and restarting in time for the user to wake up with a fully charged smartphone. Sony introduced the same feature as Qnovo Battery Care back in 2016.

Recent leaks have pointed to the existence of upcoming phones called the Redmi Note 9 5G and 9 Pro 5G. Now, a Weibo tipster asserts that this new series will start at 1000 yuan on its Chinese launch. The Pro variant, on the other hand, might cost 1500 yuan. This means the devices are now rumored to start at well below US$200.

OnePlus may now sell three Nord-branded smartphones, but the company will not afford the same software support for all models. Two will receive just one OS update, and they arguably should have been released on Android 11 anyway.

A hands-on image of two new flagship smartphones has been posted online, but some people have mistaken them for the Mi 11 and Mi 11 Pro. Sadly for Xiaomi fans, the image is actually of the Vivo X60 series, not Xiaomi's 2021-bound flagships.

The OnePlus 5 has received a fixed OxygenOS 10 update, six months on from the disaster that was OxygenOS 10.0.0. OxygenOS 10.0.1 promises to fix the call recording, de-activated alarm and EIS issues that were present on the original Android 10 update, among other changes. OnePlus states that OxygenOS 10.0.1 will arrive on the OnePlus 5T too, although it has not said when.

Honor has introduced a phone called the 10X Lite to the European market. With its 6.67-inch FHD+ display, Kirin 710A SoC, 4GB of RAM and 5000 mAh battery, it is distinctly pitched at the low- to mid-tier market in this region. Its normal price is €265 (~US$311), although this has been reduced to €229.90 (~$270) as one of the brand's new 2020 holiday deals.

The US government has granted Qualcomm a licence to trade with Huawei, allowing the chipmaker to supply hardware to the sanction-stricken Chinese company. The timing of the news aligns perfectly for Huawei and its P50 series, according to a new report.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S has received a new MIUI 12 update, this time in Europe. V12.0.2.0.QJWEUXM replaces V12.0.2.0.QJWEUXM and is available as an OTA upgrade.

Huawei has started rolling out EMUI 11 to 10 devices, including to the Mate 30 Pro, P40 Pro and MatePad Pro. The Mate 30 Pro 5G is seemingly the first device to receive EMUI 11 outside of China, but Huawei also plans to have HarmonyOS beta builds ready for next month.

The Redmi Note 8 and Redmi Note 8T have received new MIUI 12 updates, bringing more variants onto Xiaomi's latest OS. The two updates are also based on Android 10 and are rolling out on the Indian and Russian branches of MIUI, respectively.

Huawei is on the verge of selling Honor for US$15.2 billion, according to Reuters. Due to be sold by as early as Sunday to a consortium, the sale would free Honor of the hindrance of the sanctions that the US government currently imposes on Huawei.

A well-known Weibo leaker now claims that OPPO - an OEM mostly known for its smartphones and wearables - is planning to also move into the tablet space. Similarly, it is also now said to start making its own laptops, much as Xiaomi and Huawei do now. Examples of these new product categories for the company might emerge as soon as 2021.

Expected to feature the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G processor as the Reno 4, the upcoming OPPO Reno 5 will sport a 6.43-inch Full HD+ OLED screen with 60 Hz refresh, a 32 MP front camera, a 64 MP main camera (quad sensors), and a 4,300 mAh battery with 65 W fast charging capabilities. The price and release date are not even in the rumor mill yet.

Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi have taken up all 10 places in the Q3 2020 table for most shipped smartphones of the quarter. While Samsung has five different Galaxy A-branded devices in the charts and Xiaomi has great results with the Redmi Note 9 and Redmi 9, it’s the Apple iPhone 11 that rules the roost once again.

Beta builds tend to include more bugs than stable ones, but few will wipe your data as a new update for the OnePlus 8, and OnePlus 8 Pro, on the Open Beta program has. OnePlus has, to its credit, provided a workaround to prevent data loss, though.

Huawei might be doing it tough with a shortage of components due to US sanctions, but it is still pushing ahead with the last of its major 2020 releases. Fresh certification for the Mate X2 66 W charging system in China suggests that it continues to be on track for release.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro has started receiving MIUI 12 globally. The update is called V12.0.1.0.QJZMIXM and is rolling out as an OTA following the arrival of similar updates for other regional variants of the Redmi Note 9 Pro.

OnePlus is expected to release the low-cost OnePlus Nord SE sometime in March 2021. The smartphone is set to feature a 4,500mAh battery that supports fast charging at 65W. It will likely be released in India first, followed by the EU. A U.S launch seems unlikely.

The Xiaomi Mi 10 has received its call to Android 11. The Mi 10 is one of the first Xiaomi handsets to be upgraded to Android 11, albeit only in China for the time being. V12.2.2.0.RJBCNXM is rolling out as an OTA to devices now, but it is available to download manually.

Alleged details about the Redmi K40’s display have been leaked, and they seem to point to an intriguing improvement over the confusing situation of the screens used in the Redmi K30 smartphones. The Redmi K40 is predicted to appear in the first quarter of 2021 sporting a new Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.

Chuwi has unleashed a Pro version of the LarkBox, the LarkBox Pro. The LarkBox Pro retails for US$219 and comes with an Intel Celeron J4125 processor, a 200/300 MHz upgrade on the Celeron J4115 in the original LarkBox.

Another Xiaomi Android 11 update list has been uploaded by the Telegram group Xiaomi & MIUI News that shows a considerable change from the last list published in September. Apparently, the Xiaomi Mi A3, the popular Mi 9 series, and the devices created in cooperation with Black Shark have all moved to the internal testing phase.

The Amazfit GTS 2 Mini from Huami has appeared in an FCC application that reveals the design of the smartwatch and an apparent global and Europe release for the wearable. The GTS 2 Mini is expected to feature most of the main tools that are offered by the full-sized Amazfit GTS 2 smartwatch, including a 24-hour heart-rate monitor.

More rumors have appeared in connection with the upcoming Xiaomi Mi 11, and this time they concern the camera equipment. It appears the Mi 11 could end up sporting a 48 MP ultra wide-angle lens in its main camera system, compared to the 20 MP sensors found in the Huawei Mate 40 Pro and Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra devices.

Recently, signs of a new and more premium version of the popular Redmi Note 9 emerged in leak form. A new certification issued by the Chinese regulator TENAA may shed more light on these rumors: it may be a variant of this phone that is both Pro and 5G. It may launch soon with the new Snapdragon 750G SoC onboard.

Model numbers and key specifications for the OnePlus 9, OnePlus 9 Pro, and a potential OnePlus 9 “Ultra” have appeared online. Unsurprisingly the OnePlus 9 series of smartphones is expected to sport the cutting-edge Qualcomm Snapdragon 875 SoC, and a 144 Hz refresh rate will be made available to at least one of the SKUs.

The MIUI 12 rollout for the Global variant of the Redmi Note 8 has been stalled. Apparently, there has been an issue reported with the OTA (over the air) process that is preventing the Android 10-based MIUI 12 update from reaching owners of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8. It’s unknown how long a fix for this issue might take.

The Mi 10 Pro will go down as Xiaomi's first actual flagship phone on par with the regular juggernauts of the segment but the company is already phasing the device out, likely in preparation for the release of the Mi 11. The Mi 10 Ultra remains available, however, but not for much longer.

Xiaomi has pitched its latest version of its 2020 14-inch laptop at students in need of new remote learning hardware. It has many specs in common with its pre-existing vanilla and Horizon siblings, although it has a 10th-gen Core i3 CPU and an in-built webcam this time. At INR 34,999 (~US$473), it is also now the cheapest Mi Notebook 14 available in India.

The Xiaomi Mi 11 has just made its second Geekbench appearance. The Snapdragon 875-powered smartphone nets single and multi-core scores of 1,105 and 3,512, respectively. Although the multi-core score seems a bit lot, the results reconfirm what we already know about the chip. Xiaomi is expected to launch the Mi 11 in Q1 2020

A leak supposedly of the Meizu 18 Max 5G is doing the rounds online, and it points towards the smartphone being a true flagship challenger. Allegedly, Meizu's next smartphone will feature a 3K OLED screen, a Snapdragon 875 chipset, LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage, among other attention-grabbing specifications. A render of the Meizu 18 Max 5G, possibly fan-made, does not look half-bad either.

Huawei has reached another milestone in its release of EMUI 10.1, this time finishing its OS rollout in North-Eastern Europe. EMUI 10.1 should now have been delivered to all devices in the region, from the likes of the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro to the new P40 Lite.

Huawei has unveiled the Nova 8 SE, and it has borrowed heavily from the design of the iPhone 12 series. The Nova 8 SE comes in standard and 'High Edition' versions, which means to say that the latter has a more powerful chipset and superior 5G support. All other elements of the Nova 8 SE and Nova 8 SE High Edition are identical though, including a large OLED screen and 66 W fast charging.

The midrange smartphone Redmi Note 9 Pro already offers plenty of punch for its price, but with Banggood offering a further 34-40% discount off the Xiaomi smartphone in key markets like India, UK, Brazil, Australia, and more, now could be the time to snag an absolute bargain. The Redmi Note 9 Pro shines with great battery life and NFC functionality.

Xiaomi has introduced the Mi Box 4S Pro, its latest Android TV box. The device can output in up to 8K for just CNY 399 (~US$60), meaning that it supports HDMI 2.1. The Mi Box 4S Pro also has 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage.

The Xiaomi Mi Developer Conference (MIDC) is underway and an incredible prototype smartphone with a mechanical zoom lens has already been revealed. Xiaomi is also apparently planning on becoming the number one smartphone brand in Europe and will recruit a whole new army of engineers to help with that task.

A new fan-made concept video of the Xiaomi Mi 11 has been posted online, and it offers an intriguing vision of the upcoming flagship smartphone. The Mi 11 rendered here has an extremely curved design and borrows its rear view from the Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha.

After a few luxury handsets available exclusively for the Chinese market, such as the W2018, W2019, and the W20, Samsung is back with the W21 5G. With a 7.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED screen inside and an external 6.23-inch display, the Samsung W21 5G looks like the Galaxy Z Fold2 5G and runs on the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ processor.

A prominent leaker has asserted that Xiaomi has a new variant of the pre-existing Redmi Note 9 in the works. This device is to have a 6.67-inch display with a refresh rate that can range from 30 to 120 hertz (Hz). It is also apparently certified for low blue light emissions and improved sunlight visibility.

The launch of Realme's first round-faced smartwatch has been predicted for some time through numerous leaks. Now, this wearable has made its debut, albeit in only 1 market (Pakistan). Nevertheless, this event may offer hints as to its pricing and availability in other markets.

After sending the MIUI 12 update to the global models of the Redmi Note 8T and Redmi Note 8, Xiaomi is now bringing the update to Europe. The new OTA finally brings MIUI 12 to the horde of European Redmi Note 8T owners, with new updates also landing on the Mi Note 10 Lite across the board.

Xiaomi has unveiled a mini-PC, and it is a dead ringer for the Chuwi LarkBox and GMK NucBox. Xiaomi has based its machine, called the Ningmei Cube, on an Intel Celeron J4125 processor and up to 8 GB of RAM. The Xiaomi Ningmei Cube starts at CNY (~US$150).

Xiaomi is reportedly working hard on 200 W and above fast charging, foldability, 2K screens, and the under-display selfie camera. There has been speculation that some of these features may end up being incorporated into a Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro smartphone, while work on a Mi Mix 4/Mi Mix 2021 is apparently on hold for the foreseeable future.

Honor's latest fitness tracker is here, and it is available with or without NFC. Called the Honor Band 6, the device features a 1.47-inch display, no physical buttons and a host of sensors for tracking your heart rate and sleep quality, among others. The Honor Band 6 starts at CNY 249 (~US$37) for the non-NFC model.

The OEM Vivo is slated to launch its new X60 flagship smartphone later in November 2020. The rumor mill also has something called OriginOS to launch alongside it. It will be a new UI, at the least, which will apparently allow reverting back to an Android interface on the phones equipped with it.

Three out of the five AnTuTu Android smartphone price-performance charts have been topped by devices from the Redmi K30 series. The Redmi 10X, Redmi 9, and evergreen Redmi Note 8 Pro add to the Xiaomi sub-brand’s dominance. Only the iQOO 5 Pro and Meizu 17 Pro hold back Xiaomi from achieving a clean sweep.

The global MIUI 12 update for the Redmi Note 8 is now rolling out to all handsets, following its stint as a Stable Beta build. V12.0.1.0.QCOMIXM is rolling out to the global variant as an OTA, while V12.0.1.0.QFGRUXM has reached the Stable Beta stage for the Russian variant of the Redmi Note 7.

The Huawei Mate 40 RS is a special edition of its new flagship smartphone series with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage. A new report indicates that the latter spec is handled not by a standard mobile ROM module but by one developed by the OEM itself. It is allegedly faster than state-of-the-art UFS 3.1 flash memory found in some top-end 2020 devices.