5G

Word on the street is that the smartphone featuring the new wrap-around display would be part of the Galaxy Z series and could be launched soon in response to Xiaomi's commercial version for the Mi Mix Alpha. The upcoming Samsung phone would also come with sliding rear camera setup, in-display selfie cam and fingerprint sensor, wireless charging and no physical buttons, plus a host of new UI functions that make use of the expanded screen real estate.

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.

Super Retina XDR, that's what Apple has named its new iPhone display with OLED technology. That sounds good but could be a step back for some users despite its great color display and Dolby Vision support.

Samsung has issued yet another fix to address the Galaxy S20 FE's touchscreen issues. Some users have reported that the update only partially addresses the problem, with some touchscreen functions not working as intended. The defect is likely due to faulty hardware, as multiple updates have failed to mend it.

Nokia has just completed its latest product unveiling, and it's a new version of the 8.3 5G. This smartphone is a variant optimized for the Verizon network in the United States. To this end, it has much the same specs as the original mid-ranger on which it is based, but also has 3 "powerful" antennae for its carrier's mmWave 5G.

Nokia has invited US fans to join it for a new live event set for November 9, 2020 (tomorrow). Based on the hastag used in the Twitter-based announcement for this launch, it is likely to pertain to new phones from this HMD Global brand. Therefore, long-anticipated units such as the 7.3 5G could make their debut very soon.

Qualcomm concluded its latest fiscal year (FY) on September 27, 2020. As a result, it has now revealed that it made approximately US$23.5 billion in this year, about $8.4 billion of which came from its fourth quarter. The company attributed this success to its focus on 5G hardware and expertise.

Smartphone shipments in India - one of the top 3 markets worldwide - shrank by a worrying 48% in the second quarter of 2020 (2Q2020). However, three months later, the story has changed: the same market had posted year-on-year (YoY) gains of 17%, whereas the US and China failed to show any growth for the same quarter at all.

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.

Apple had left its biggest and smallest versions of the iPhone 12 for last in terms of making them available to buy. Now, however, both the successor to the 11 Pro Max and the completely new 5.4-inch Mini variant can be pre-ordered from their maker's website. However, these devices, as with the rest of their series, may not be compatible with a user's old wireless chargers.

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 new report states that Samsung is working on a high-end Galaxy M series phone, allegedly coming with up to 256GB of internal storage. Dubbed as the Galaxy M62, it will succeed the Galaxy M51 released earlier this year. We can expect the Galaxy M62 to offer minor upgrades over its predecessor, including a better SoC, cameras, and a larger battery.

Today, (November 5, 2020) Google has released the 5G variant of the Pixel 4a for pre-orders in Germany, France, the UK and Ireland. As with its flagship sibling, the 5, they come with an offer of free Bose wireless headphones with each order (while stocks last). The same phone is also now live in Taiwan and Australia.

The reliable tipster IceUniverse has posted what appear to be marketing images for Galaxy S21 and S21 Ultra cases. The high-quality photos unambiguously show the new and super-prominent rear camera modules linked to this upcoming flagship line in earlier leaks. Therefore, Samsung fans may have to brace for a 2021 of these frame-hugging humps.

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 seasoned Weibo leaker has shed some light on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 875's specifications. Its 1+3+4 design consists of a Cortex-X1 super core clocked at 2.8GHz, three Cortex-A78 cores at 2.4GHz, and four Cortex-A55 cores at 1.8GHz. The chip will be released in December 2020 and likely debut alongside the Xiaomi Mi 11 the next month.

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 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.

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.

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 Qualcomm Snapdragon 875 managed to beat Huawei's Kirin 9000 and the previous-generation Snapdragon 865+ in the Master Lu benchmark. While the Snapdragon 875's Cortex-X1 Super core (2.8GHz) managed to keep it ahead in the CPU department, things are a lot closer to the GPU front. The Kirin 9000's ARM Mali-G78 GPU managed to surpass the Adreno 660, which is quite impressive.

The YouTuber PBK Reviews has conducted a Pixel 5 teardown on this channel. It seemed relatively easy to do so, possibly showing that several individual components can be replaced with ease. Then again, the vlogger could find no sign of the widely-reported "lifting display" hardware issue.

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.

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.

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.

A new leak suggests that MediaTek is working on two new chipsets that use ARM's latest Cortex-A78 cores. It will likely succeed last year's Dimensity lineup and set a precedent for subsequent MediaTek releases in 2021. The hardware is expected to make its debut alongside a Chinese-origin smartphone in the coming weeks.

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.

Samsung launched the Exynos 880 5G mobile device processor earlier in 2020. Now, there is a hint it will get a successor in 2021. This 980 SoC has been mentioned in a Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) certification, which indicates it is capable of supporting the newer 5.2 standard.

In the shift to 5G, manufacturers are leaving behind certain features. The Oppo Reno4 Pro is no exception.

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.

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.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 875 has made what seems to be its first-ever appearance on AnTuTu. It nets an overall score of 874,868, making it over 30% faster than the Snapdragon 865+. The increased performance is likely due to its Cortex-X1 Super Core.

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.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is all set to be the first Samsung device to come with five rear camera sensors. The 108MP wide-angle lens will likely be joined by two telephoto and one ultra-wide-angle lens, along with a ToF sensor. Samsung is likely to unveil the phone sometime in January 2021.

LG has just introduced its revolutionary Wing smartphone to the Indian market. The display-swiveling device has been joined there by a 4G/LTE version of the Velvet. This variant swaps its normal Snapdragon 765G processor for an 845 SoC. The two phones will start to become available from October 30, 2020.

The Redmi K30 Ultra comes with the MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ instead of a Qualcomm SoC; the former offers a lot of performance for a budget mid-range phone. In some benchmarks, the K30 Ultra outclasses the smartphone competition, especially in the graphics tests.

One month after NVIDIA acquired ARM, AMD announced a US$35 billion buyout of chipmaker Xilinx. The major acquisition is set to significantly broaden AMD's pool of engineers and could give the company a vital edge over a struggling Intel.

5G networks are set to transform the mobile data experience. However, very robust 4G infrastructure means that people in some countries already have access to ultra-fast connectivity. Etisalat in the UAE tops the list, offering speeds of nearly 100 Mbps on average, 3 times higher than the US average of 33 Mbps.

Although it is not official yet, Samsung is expected to release the Galaxy S21 Ultra sometime in January 2021. The flagship will reportedly come with a 6.8-inch AMOLED panel clocked at 120Hz, a quad-camera array with two telephoto lenses, and a 5,000mAh battery that supports 45W fast charging. It is expected to retail at US$1,300 for the base variant with 128GB of storage and 12GB of RAM.

Vivo is rumored to launch its camera-centric successors to the X50 line of phones soon, perhaps before 2020 is out. These devices are also now thought to introduce a new Android skin developed by this company. This "Origin OS" is now slated to have the quality necessary to challenge rivals from OnePlus or Samsung.

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.

Renowned leaker OnLeaks has lifted the veil off OnePlus' upcoming low-cost smartphones- the OnePlus Nord N100 and Nord N10 5G. The OnePlus Nord N10 5G gets a Qualcomm Snapdragon 690, four rear cameras, and a 4,300mAh battery, while the Nord N100 gets a Snapdragon 460, three rear cameras, and a 5,000mAh battery. OnePlus is expected to launch both phones on October 26.

Huawei has unveiled its Mate 40 line of smartphones and its latest Kirin 9000 and Kirin 9000E chips. The Huawei Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro come with a triple camera array, while the Mate 40 Pro+ and Mate 40 RS comes with four lenses. All four devices are powered by 4,400mAh batteries that support wired charging at 66W. Prices start at €899 (US$1,062) for the Mate 40 and max out at €2,295 (US$2,713) for the Mate 40 RS (Porsche Design).

The current US administration put Huawei on its Entity List, which ultimately led to the OEM being cut off from vital suppliers such as TSMC. However, that company has now obtained a license to once again sell to the Chinese electronics giant. Then again, the terms of this new allowance may render it considerably less of a reprieve for Huawei than it sounds.