5G

The iQOO smartphone brand is now linked to the launch of a phone called the 8. It is said to be a refresh of the current 7 flagship, powered by the Snapdragon 888's own updated Plus variant. It may launch with a 120Hz QHD+ display, 12 GB of RAM and Android 11.

Engineers from Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) have reported a new world record for data-transmission speed over fiber-optic cables. They claim a rate of 319 terabits per second (Tb/s), as opposed to the former highest rate of 178 Tb/s. Most crucially, this achievement has been made over an appreciable length of cable and a potentially feasible tweak of conventional technology.

ZTE has announced a date for the Axon 30 product event. The show will unveil the OEM's second-gen under-display camera phone during this show. It is now slated to arrive with a 6.92-inch edge-to-edge FHD+ AMOLED display, a high-end Qualcomm processor and an updated design.

Sony launched its latest flagship smartphone as the Xperia 1 III at a starting price of US$1,300. Despite this, the OEM has reportedly advised that it is getting only 2 years of official software support. Therefore, it is getting only 1 major Android upgrade, which may, moreover, happen sooner rather than later.

Honor has effectively confirmed a new leak alleging that its upcoming flagship Magic3 Android smartphone series would turn out looking suspiciously like another pre-existing premium device. The tip also purports to spill major spec details for the 3 Pro, a QHD+ curved AMOLED display with HDR10+ and Gorilla Glass Victus, up to 16GB of RAM and 100W wired charging included.

It has been thought that Huawei would launch a whole series of premium P50 mobile devices in mid- to late 2021. However, the latest word on this subject is that it will be launched in a much more restrained form on July 29, 2021. Then again, the phone in question might yet grab some interest in that it could launch with a lesser-spotted version of the high-end Snapdragon 888 SoC.

Honor has already officially announced that its 2021 flagship, the Magic3, will be powered by the latest Qualcomm flagship processor. Now, the OEM has revealed a specific date for this event. Furthermore, it is coming as a series (and, therefore, possibly with a Pro variant) in August 2021.

OnePlus has confirmed that its latest Nord-series smartphone will launch in late July 2021. Now, it has released a trailer for the device that reveals its looks from the back. Meanwhile, a new Geekbench listing might confirm a 12GB RAM option in the new product.

Realme is slated to debut the Master Edition of its GT smartphone later in July 2021. Prior to this, a device that might have its model number has appeared on Geekbench. If so, the new leak confirms that it will have a new 5G Qualcomm SoC.

Nokia has dropped official hints of a new and uniquely case-independent phone to launch in late July 2021. The teaser has led to speculation that the device in question is the XR20, a phone projected to come with a ruggedized chassis. It is also slated to come with a Snapdragon 480 chipset, 6GB of RAM and a headphone jack.

OnePlus has confirmed it will launch a second generation of its popular mid-range Nord smartphone series in July 2021. It launched at ~US$375 for an 8GB RAM SKU in one of its main markets (India); now, however, a blog claims that a Nord 2 with the same spec will pass the $400 mark in the country.

iQOO is a sub-brand of the OEM Vivo that specializes in Android smartphones that often focus on premium features at non-premium prices. It has announced that it has now shipped at least 25 million units globally, and is celebrating in one of its latest regional markets, India.

Samsung is now all but certain to launch a 2021 flagship called the Galaxy Z Fold3 during its next major Unpacked event. The latest leaks associated with this premium flexible-display device purport to reveal its battery capacity ahead of its launch. A prominent tipster also claims to know its top charging rate, as well as its price in at least 1 market.

OnePlus has already confirmed that the second-gen Nord smartphone will launch in late July 2021 with the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC. Now, it has also revealed some display specs to build further hype for the device. Its 90Hz panel will be very like that of the Nord CE (and a number of other phones), albeit with an upgrade to HDR10+ in this case.

BlackBerry is now linked to a 5G smartphone that will also bring the brand's hallmark physical keyboard back in 2021. A designer has released renders of what might be a new spin on this concept: one that may be made of the same material as the rest of its display panel. Then again, it is still divided into discrete QWERTY squares, thus allowing for visible mode-switching and alternative uses.

Samsung has yet to specify when its next Galaxy Unpacked event will take place or what will debut during the show. However, Evan Blass has released an entire salvo of tweets revealing pretty much every device to be showcased therein, in every new color per product. They include the Galaxy S21 FE, despite rumors that it will in fact miss the launch in question.

Samsung has long been rumored to introduce its 2021 flagship foldable as the Galaxy Z Fold3. Now, a telecomms regulator has inadvertently revealed these leaks to be true in approving it for sale in Thailand. Meanwhile, another tip purports to confirm the device runs on Android 11.

An Asus executive has confirmed that the OEM's new mini Android flagship, the ZenFone 8, is slated to debut in India. It is said to get a different name once in this market, but should still have the same specs and unusually compact footprint on its new launch.

OPPO has already launched the latest series of its Reno smartphones, in vanilla and Pro flavors. However, it has often tacked on additional variants in the previous generations of this line. Now, new leaks suggest that it is gearing up to do so again in 2021, starting with one called the Z 5G.

Google is now rumored to announce an upgraded program of software support alongside the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. This, apparently, might involve up to 5 years' worth of updates. Should this truly be the case, it will most likely be a bid to equal Apple and its panel of iOS upgrades.

This is an early sample so performance could improve by launch time, but the Geekbench results show that it is lagging behind the Apple A14 Bionic, especially in single-core tests. The integrated Adreno 730 GPU is also said to be slower than the AMD RDNA2 GPU from the Samsung Exynos 2200.

A new Xiaomi device, described as "a tablet" by a reliable tipster, has reportedly been approved for sale in China by its Ministry for Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). This might be a sign that the rumored 2021 Mi Pad is set to launch soon. Its latest leak suggests it is powered by the 5g-capable Snapdragon 870 SoC.

Another day arrives with yet another issue of OnePlus messing things up. The company has now been found to be severely throttling browser performance of Chrome, Twitter, and pretty much all popular internet-based apps on the OnePlus 9 Pro. Geekbench considers this to be a form of benchmark manipulation and has now delisted the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro.

Samsung is rumored to be working on a next-gen 200MP mobile image sensor for debut in the 2022 Galaxy S-line flagship. However, the reliable leaker Ice Universe seems all but certain this tip will not work out in reality. Instead, the "new Ultra" will get a possibly upgraded main sensor instead, albeit one that is still 108MP in resolution.

OnePlus still sells the vanilla version of its 2021 flagship smartphone, the 9, for US$729 on its official United States website. However, Best Buy offers the same device (unlocked) for as little as $549.99 - so long as it is activated via the chain's website or physical stores on the same day on which it is ordered. Alternatively, it can be had for different discounted prices without this caveat.

Huawei is slated to launch a flagship P50 series later in July 2021. The OEM is said to have secured Snapdragon 888 processors for these smartphones - albeit 4G/LTE-only versions of these SoCs. Now, a notable leaker suspects that a just such a device has been approved by 3C officials.

Nokia has now missed multiple rumored deadlines for the launch of new Android flagship phones. However, a new report from a Chinese media outlet claims that a company executive has confirmed that one will coincide with a late 2021 festival day in that country. As it is often accompanied by major retail promos, this might make sense.

Samsung often partners with the designer Thom Browne for limited-edition runs of the OEM's premium foldables. Now, a tech blog has combined its esthetics with what is thought to be known about the upcoming "Galaxy Z Flip3", combining the by-now classic tricolor stripe with the enlarged secondary display the clamshell is rumored to launch with.

The GT Master Edition is rumored to launch as the world's first "Realme x Kodak" smartphone. It has also been slated to do so with the high-end Snapdragon 870 processor on board. However, the latest tips suggest the OEM has opted for a new mid-range 5G chipset in this device instead.

Qualcomm is said to be working on the successor to the Snapdragon 888 processor already, which is to be based on an advanced 4 nanometer (nm) process. Now, a famous leaker asserts that not only is this SoC's Plus variant also being planned with the same spec in mind, but that it will be made by a different supplier to the 895.

With the Poco M3 Pro 5G, Xiaomi updates its low-budget Poco M3 smartphone and improves it in several aspects. Among other things, it now also features 5G, NFC, and a 90 Hz display. The price, however, has only increased negligibly.

ZTE is rumored to launch a second-gen under-display camera smartphone later in 2021. Now, a new leak indicates that the OEM has certified a new device with the Chinese regulator 3C with reasonably high-end 55 watt (W) charging tech. This has led to speculation that the "Axon 30" will launch with this spec as well as its cutting-edge selfie camera.

Samsung initially launched its early 2021 flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S21 Ultra, in a number of colors including Phantom Black and Phantom Gray. However, its latest option freshly released to the US market is a little less sober: Navy. This new shade is available on Best Buy's website as an unlocked or Verizon device.

Xiaomi's Mi 11 flagship smartphones have launched with fairly novel squircle-shaped rear camera modules of varying (and occasionally extreme) shapes that house large individual lenses. However, according to sketches apparently obtained from the OEM by Digital Chat Station, it could have gone a considerably different way with these premium devices.

The recent Nuvia acquisition is enabling Qualcomm to produce its own chip designs without the need to license IPs directly from ARM. Just like Apple with its M chips, Qualcomm is looking to launch energy-efficient laptop processors and eventually dominate the entire laptop market. At the same time, problems like suboptimal brand awareness and losing Apple as a 5G modem customer need to be addressed.

Samsung is predicted to launch the Galaxy Z Fold3 as its next premium foldable smartphone in August 2021. Now, a new benchmarking leak allegedly confirms its super-flagship status, with specs including 12GB of RAM and Android 11 out of the box. Furthermore, it will be powered by the Snapdragon 888 processor.

Smartphones "enhanced" with household names in the photography industry are fast becoming the order of the day in the Android world. Now, Realme is reportedly getting into this game in its own way: through a partnership with Kodak. The OEM is said to have a "GT Master Edition" that will come with its logo on its camera hump in the works.

LG may not make smartphones anymore; however, it has pledged to support some of its existing models. Now, it has started to deliver on this promise with the Q92 5G mid-ranger. It now has an OTA to upgrade it to Android 11; then again, it only seems to be available in South Korea thus far.

The latest report on iPhone sales has found that Apple shipped its 100th million unit of the latest 12 series by April 2021, 7 months after their launch. This is a feat the OEM has not achieved since the release of the 6 and 6 Plus in 2015. The iPhones 12 have also brought in 22% more revenue than their predecessors

Asus' ZenFone 8 stands out among 2021 flagship Android smartphones with its unusually compact form-factor and stripped-back dual rear cameras. It is now available on the US market, through its OEM's own web-store in the country. It can be had for just under $600 at present, although this price may not be around forever.

A new leak may point strongly to the launch of a new member for Samsung's popular Galaxy M series of smartphones soon. It is said to be called the "M52", thanks to a new Geekbench listing with a model number with a good chance of corresponding to this product name. Furthermore, it is now slated to launch with the up-to-date Snapdragon 778G 5G processor.

Honor had earlier announced that its upcoming Magic3 would launch with a top-end Qualcomm processor. Now, however, it has changed its tune somewhat and will now reportedly equip the phone with the newer Snapdragon 888+ (or Plus) rather than the 888. This might afford the device a performance boost, although it might not do so much for its price.

According to Qualcomm, 5G mmWave connectivity will soon become a worldwide reality, with a particular focus on Europe in the next few years. But while 5G mmWave infrastructure is on its way, few devices sold in Europe support the faster 5G standard.

The OnePlus Nord 2 has shown up online on the AI Benchmark database. Its listing suggests that the smartphone will run a MediaTek Dimensity 1200 chipset and feature 8GB of RAM. This makes the OnePlus Nord 2 the first-ever OnePlus smartphone to run a MediaTek SoC.