Chinese Tech

The Lemfo LES4 is a cheap smartwatch with plenty of features. Lemfo has included 4G LTE and GPS modules, allowing the 1.6-inch smartwatch to be used independently of a smartphone. The Lemfo LES4 retails for US$109.99.

Huawei's mobile division may be on the verge of receiving chipsets from the likes of MediaTek and Qualcomm, according to the Financial Times. The Chinese company is ploughing on with buildings its own chip fabrication plants. It will be years before Huawei reaches parity with mobile chipsets from MediaTek, Samsung and Qualcomm, though.

The Redmi 10X duo of 5G smartphones with the MediaTek Dimensity 820 processor have managed to retain the top two positions in AnTuTu’s latest midrange Android smartphone performance chart. However, the Redmi 10X Pro variant has now grabbed the top spot as the midrange sector remains reasonably static.

The Lenovo Legion 5 powered by AMD Ryzen 7 4800H and NVIDIA RTX 2060 will be available in Germany on Black Friday, according to a Lenovo customer rep. This information comes in the wake of an ongoing patent dispute between Nokia and Lenovo wherein the former sought an injunction against Lenovo resulting in a nationwide sales ban. Lenovo has since challenged the injunction and has resumed laptop and tablet sales in the region.

Since Vivo is already receiving both Exynos 980 and Exynos 880 chipsets from Samsung, it would not be surprising to see Xiaomi and Oppo joining them in the coming months. However, it seems that these two companies will only get budget chipsets from the tech giant headquartered in South Korea.

AnTuTu’s Android flagship smartphone table for October has produced a surprising new leader with the Huawei Mate 40 Pro 5G breezing past the Snapdragon 865 competition and snatching the top spot away from the iQOO 5 Pro. The performance-oriented Mate 40 Pro with a Kirin 9000 SoC could manage an even higher average score in the future.

The Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro ECG is scheduled to be launched in December, as spotted by a popular leaker. The new version of the stylish smartwatch has an ECG function, giving it an advantage of many other smartwatches.

The Mate 40 Pro may not sell as well in many markets because of its lack of Google Mobile Services, but it is at least reasonably repairable. The Mate 40 Pro is modular for a modern flagship, especially considering alternatives like Apple's latest iPhones.

An industry insider suggests that Xiaomi is all set to unveil the Redmi Note 10 series sometime in November 2020. It will consist of three devices, namely the Redmi Note 10, Redmi Note 10 Pro, and Redmi Note 10 Pro Max. At least one of the smartphones (most likely the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max) is expected to ship with a 108MP Samsung ISOCELL HM2 camera sensor.

The Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra has been put through a series of charging tests and has come up short with the promise of 120 W fast charging. The Mi 10 Ultra did manage to refill its battery from 0 to 100% in just 21 minutes, but this came at the cost of some soaring temperatures.

With more than a decade since its introduction, the HOF brand by GALAX is now returning in an all-white design with a massive triple-fan cooling solution. Unsurprisingly, these two key-elements were combined to accommodate the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series. Since this is an early render, the final version of the card must look better.

OnePlus has officially unveiled its eagerly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 Special Edition version of its well-received 8T smartphone. The device features a completely redesigned rear case and comes with a custom UI and a number of tailored accessories.

Xiaomi released the Redmi K30S last week. The phone, essentially a cheaper, rebranded Mi 10T, went on sale yesterday, with Xiaomi recording 100,000 purchases in just one minute. That translates into over US$34 million of sales, at the listed discount base price tag of CNY 2,299 (US$343).

The Huawei Mate 40 series was released for sale via e-tailers such as JD.com in China on October 30, 2020. A new report claims that it took this site only 11 seconds to sell out of the new phones completely on this first day. It released light-up drones which synchronized in air to spell out celebratory messages over its Beijing headquarters to mark this event.

Huawei's premium sub-brand Honor is now slated to launch its flagship V40 series in December 2020. The leaker @RODENT450 claims to have dug the more prevalent of its specs up in a new Twitter post. They include a 50MP primary camera, its parent's new 66 watt (W) charging system and a 120 hertz (Hz) FHD+ screen.

The smartphone brand Realme has had an excellent third quarter in 2020 (3Q2020), according to the latest data from Counterpoint Research. Not only did it post a growth of 132% compared to 2Q2020, it also crossed the 50 million units shipped mark. Realme took only 2.25 years to achieve this milestone, meaning that it has officially beaten all other OEMs in this respect.

There is a possibility that Xiaomi will reveal details about MIUI 13 in the company’s upcoming Mi Developer Conference (MIDC). There is no official eligibility list for MIUI 13 yet, but it has been predicted it will include the Redmi Note 8 and Note 9 series smartphones, all the Mi 10 range, and the POCO X2 and X3 devices.

OnePlus' CEO has reportedly affirmed via Weibo that the Cyberpunk 2077-themed special edition of the 8T premium smartphone will launch in China on November 2, 2020. Little is known about this device, except the obvious point that it has a new brand partner. There are hints that it will share the style of the game's teasers thus far.

Recently, an upcoming OPPO device with a pleasant dark blue finish and quad rear cameras appeared on the Chinese regulator TENAA's website. Subsequent leaks indicate that it is the K7x 5G, a 90Hz display device slated to launch on November 4, 2020 in the same country. It is set to run on the Dimensity 720 SoC, up to 8GB of RAM and a 5000mAh battery.

The OEM Ulefone has launched its new Watch series, which support continuous heart-rate tracking, multiple sports modes and 5ATM water-resistance. There is also a blood-oxygen sensor in the Pro model, whereas the Watch GPS has additional activity-tracking features. They start at US$49.99, or even less with a limited-time introductory offer.

Xiaomi has started pushing out the MIUI 12 beta stable ROM for users of the Global variant of the Redmi Note 7. At the present, the Android-based software should start arriving on some selected Redmi Note 7 smartphones as an over-the-air (OTA) update. Devices with the Indonesia or Russia ROM should follow soon.

Recent rumors have hinted that Qualcomm will release a 'lite' version of the Snapdragon 875 flagship SoC on its launch. Now, a new leak asserts that this "870" has in fact been secured by OPPO for use in its upcoming devices only. It is said to be faster than the 865, although the two processors may have similar architecture.

Samsung has released a teaser for the Galaxy W21 5G, its next foldable smartphone. To be released on November 4, the Galaxy W21 5G has already been spotted at the TENAA, confirming many details and the design of the upcoming handset. The Galaxy W21 5G will be available exclusively in China.

The OneGX1 handheld gaming PC that surfaced earlier this year with an Intel Core i5-10210Y processor under the hood will soon get a more powerful sibling that has exactly the same looks. Dubbed OneGX Pro, it features the Intel Core i7-1160G7 processor and is much faster than its predecessor.

MIUI 12 code has confirmed that Xiaomi has a foldable smartphone in development, codenamed 'cetus'. The device also has a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset and a 108 MP primary camera and runs Android 11.

The Xiaomi Mijia Paipai is a wireless casting adapter that retails for just US$53.99. Resembling two Chromecasts, the Mijia Paipai Wireless Casting Adapter operates over 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks to transmit 1080p content from up to 10 metres away.

Three major market research firms have declared Xiaomi is now the world’s third-largest smartphone company in terms of units shipped for the third quarter of 2020. The good news for Xiaomi comes at the expense of Apple, which slips into fourth. Strong sales for the Redmi 9 series, Redmi K30 Ultra, and Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra have helped the Chinese OEM achieve impressive growth.

It has been speculated that one of the potential smartphone series of the year, the Redmi K40, has taken another step closer to being officially announced. The Redmi K40 and Redmi K40 Pro are expected to feature brand-new high-end chips from Qualcomm and may see the light of day before the year is up.

Huawei has published the list of devices that will be eligible to receive EMUI 11 beta. All devices should be brought onto the EMUI 11 beta program by the end of November. The list contains 37 devices, including some Honor handsets. Stable EMUI 11 updates start rolling out by the end of next month, too.

Realme launched its first ever 6000mAh battery phone in July 2020. The C15 also had a 6.5-inch HD+ IPS display, quad rear cameras and the MediaTek Helio G35 SoC. Now, the OEM is releasing a version of this phone with 1 crucial difference: a Snapdragon processor.

The display-maker TCL held a 2020 Display Technology Conference earlier in October 2020. This Chinese event reportedly showcased this OEM's rollable phone prototype. Now, a video purporting to contain the footage has been posted to YouTube. It appears to show the groundbreaking device with a fully-functional extendible screen.

It seems that Xiaomi forgot to include several features in the first Android 10 and MIUI 12 update for the global version of the Redmi Note 8. According to multiple reports, V12.0.1.0.QCOMIXM is missing multiple elements of MIUI 12, like floating windows, new animations and even the Android 10 gesture navigation pill.

The Honor Band 6 and Huawei Band 5 have been tipped to launch soon, with a potential release occurring in the first week or so of November. While few details have been offered about the Honor Band 6 and Huawei Band 5, which may even end up being the same wearable, the Honor Band 6 will have at least one attractive unique selling point.
A launch date and teaser promo image for the Honor Band 6 have been revealed.

Xiaomi has started publishing volume two of its MIUI 12 Global ROM bug tracker report over at the Mi Community forum. The table contains a list of issues reported by Mi Pilot testers, with the POCO F1 featuring heavily. There are also entries for the Redmi Note 9 Pro, Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro, POCO F2 Pro, and Redmi 9A.

Unbridled MIUI 12 has finally arrived globally for the Pocophone F1. V12.0.2.0.QEJMIXM is available as an OTA download, but Xiaomi has also published the recovery and fastboot ROMs of the build, should you need to install one of those instead.

Huawei's place on the US administration's Entity List had cut it off from supplies of high-end OLED smartphone panels from Samsung and LG. However, new reports indicated that the former has obtained a license to sell these components to the Chinese OEM again. Then again, it still can't use them to make new flagship devices.

Take to the streets in joy, Redmi Note 8 owners; MIUI 12 and Android 10 is finally here for you! After months of delays, Xiaomi is finally sending out the stable MIUI 12 and Android 10 update to the global version of the Redmi Note 8, with the update weighing a hefty 2.1 GB.

The Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite has appeared in an image on packaging that was featured as part of an FCC listing. Some key details about the upcoming smartwatch were also revealed, such as its 1.4-inch HD screen, 24-hour heart-rate monitor, and built-in GPS. It’s possible the Mi Watch Lite may be rebranded as the Redmi Watch in some markets.

With the i7book, Alldocube has set its sights on creating a compact laptop with an aluminium chassis and a minimal design. However, its Core i7-6600U processor is a blast from the past.

OLED TVs cost stacks of cash anyway, but Xiaomi's transparent Mi TV Lux takes it up a notch. Costing around US$7,000, the Mi TV Lux looks brilliant, but its showstopper design is held back by its 1080p resolution and its limited connectivity.

After sending out the highly awaited MIUI 12 update to the European version of the Redmi Note 9S, Xiaomi has now expanded the rollout by sending a similar update to the global variant of the device. The Mi A3 also happens to be receiving the October security patch.

Hacking Google apps and services have returned to Honor and Huawei devices, courtesy of Googlefier. The workaround can bring Google Mobile Services to devices like the Mate 30 Pro and P40 Pro.

Redmi is set to add a new member to the K30 series tomorrow, albeit in China only. However, the rest of the world has apparently already seen this phone, as it is a rebranded Mi 10T. Nevertheless, it is projected to sell for prices in keeping with its budget-friendly flagship-killer kin.

OnePlus' two new low-cost smartphones are now up for grabs in Europe. The OnePlus Nord N10 5G comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 SoC, a quad-camera array, a 4,300mAh battery, and will cost €329. At €179, the OnePlus Nord N100 gets you a Snapdragon 460n, three rear cameras, and a 5,000mAh battery.

A reported update policy operated by Xiaomi in regard to MIUI and Android upgrades has shown the smartphone series favored by the Chinese OEM and which are more likely to be neglected. The unofficial list reveals that owners of Redmi (not Redmi K), Redmi Note, POCO M, and POCO C smartphones will receive the least upgrades.

Xiaomi is slowly continuing with the MIUI 12 rollout for the Snapdragon 720G-powered arm of the Redmi Note 9 family. The latest devices to receive MIUI 12 are the European variant of the Redmi Note 9S and the Indonesian model of the Redmi Note 9 Pro, keeping with reports from a week ago.

iQOO has launched the uncharacteristically budget U1x smartphone in China. With its Snapdragon 662 SoC, relatively small HD display and 5000mAh battery, it should get a lot of screen-on time, at least. It has debuted alongside a new RAM/storage option for the more premium Dimensity 1000+-powered Z1.

More users of Xiaomi smartphones have been reporting issues with battery drain after installing the MIUI 12 update. The problem had already been mentioned on social media in connection to devices like the Redmi Note 8 Pro and Xiaomi Mi 9, with POCO F1 owners also recently complaining about the hitch. Xiaomi may address the issue with future firmware builds.