Apple has apparently requested TSMC to manufacture its next generation of chips based on 4nm process technology from its new plant in Arizona. The company aims to have the production begin sometime in the year 2024.
The news arrives from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (Via MacRumors). For those unaware, this Arizona plant had originally been planned to startproduction using its 5nm process technology. However, as the Cupertino based giant and other companies aiming to source components from within the US, the world’s largest contract chipmaker has upgraded its plans to offer more cutting edge chip production technology in its Arizona plant.
The new report further added that TSMC would make 20,000 wafers per month at its Arizona facility, although this figure might rise as well. Out of the 20,000 wafers, the iPhone maker will use around a third of the entire output alone. This news is also in line with Apple CEO Tim Cook who has previously told employees that the company plans to source chips from the Arizona factory soon.
Reportedly, the new plans will be announced in Phoenix next week with key figures like President Joe Biden, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and Apple CEO Tim Cook. Other notable figures include AMD CEO Lisa Su and NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang. Apart from the 4nm production, TSMC will apparently also officially has plans for a second phase that involves an adjacent facility that will produce more advanced 3nm chips as well.
Last week, Oppo debuted the Oppo Reno 9 series in China. However, it seems that the company is still not done with the Reno 8 series. That’s because a new Reno 8 model has now emerged on the internet.
This upcoming Reno phone is officially called ‘Oppo Reno8 T.’ But let’s just call it Oppo Reno 8T as it is more readable.
Oppo Reno 8
The forthcoming Oppo Reno 8T bears the model number CPH2481. It has been spotted on the websites of multiple certification agencies. The list includes TKDN, EEC, BIS, SIRIM, and Element Materials Technology.
Unfortunately, the listings do not say much about the handset, except for its name and charging speed. SIRIM has revealed its branding, while Element Materials Technology has disclosed that the device will carry support for 33W fast wired charging.
There have been multiple Reno smartphones with alphabet namings in the past. Almost all of them were rebranded devices for select markets.
But this time around, the Reno 8T has been even certified by BIS for release in India. For those unaware, Oppo has not launched this type of Reno phone in India in a very long time.
Going by the slower 33W charging speed, the smartphone could be cheaper than the standard Reno 8, which has support for 80W charging. Hence, we expect downgrades in other specs as well.
Just like any other product these days, almost all details of the Oppo Reno 8T may leak before it goes official in the coming weeks. We are looking forward to learning more about it.
Samsung had just announced its latest GDDR6 memory chips that is set to offer a number of improvements over its predecessors. These upgrades will seek to meet needs of massive memory and increased computing power scenarios.
As per official notes, the South Korean tech giant has unveiled the “industry’s first next-generation graphics DRAM technology.” This offers major improvements over traditional GDDR6 memory products by offering an additional DRAM device to basically double the capacity and bandwidth without bringing any of the possible impacts that might be faced with the larger form factor. Samsung has stated that the new GDDR6W will bring all of these improvements while still having the same energy consumption as the regular GDDR6.
Furthermore, the new chips will also allow customers to use the new technology without having any major change in existing hardware. The new Samsung GDDR6W features a new technology that the brand calls FOWLP or Fan Out Wafer Level Packaging. The new packaging process helps offer a more compact design with finer writing patterns. This allows for a packaging that has a reduced typical thickness from 1.1mm to 0.7mm.
According to CheolMin Park, Vice President of New Business Planning, Samsung Electronics Memory Business, “With GDDR6W, we’re able to foster differentiated memory products that can satisfy various customer needs – a major step towards securing our leadership in the market.” The company hopes that the new GDDR6W memory will enable better performance for AI and high performance computing accelerators. Although, this will also be announced on small forfactor devices like notebooks as well.
Earlier this week, Beats announced a new collaboration, which offered a special edition variant of one of its existing hearable products. The company has just launched a new Beats Flex wireless earphones special edition from its partnership with Wacko Maria.
Looking at its design, the company has officially launched a new leopard printed variant of the Beats Flex. This new special edition also features a dual color cable design. For those unaware, the Flex wireless earphones are the brand’s entry level hearables that was first launched back in 2020. The earphones also feature Apple’s W1 chipset that helps in seamless setup and switching across Apple devices. It even comes with multiple ear tip sizes, magnetic earbuds that secure the buds to your neck.
The Flex offers up to 12 hours of battery life and supports Fast Fuel charging via the USB Type C port that delivers up to 90 minutes of playback in just 10 minutes. Apart from the earbuds, the company is also offering special packaging that carries the Wacko Maria branding along with the same leopard printed design for the retail box. The wireless earphones also feature the same specs as the regular model. The new Beats Flex Wacko Maria will have a price tag of 70 US Dollars in the US market and will go on sale on December 2 and can be found on Wacko Maria stores, END Clothing, and SSENSE. It will even be available in INVINCIBLE in Shanghai and SOULGOODS in Beijing.
The popularity of foldable phones is increasing day by day. We see a new model almost every month in the industry led by Samsung and Huawei. According to the latest reports, Oppo is the next company to introduce a foldable smartphone. The company is expected to introduce two models called Oppo Find N2 and Oppo Find N2 Flip. It looks like these foldable smartphones will not be limited to certain markets.
Oppo Find N2 Flip will go on sale in global markets
According to the tipster Ice Universe, Oppo Find N2 Flip will go on sale in global markets. The device will likely go on sale in markets such as Europe and the USA. Similar to Samsung and Motorola’s foldable phones, N2 Flip should be powered by a 4,300mAh battery, the chipset might be the Dimensity 9000 or Snapdragon 8+ gen 1. The new Find N Flip will also feature a 6.8-inch internal foldable OLED screen and a 3.26-inch external OLED display. It is also expected to have a 50 MP dual rear camera setup and a 32 MP selfie camera.
Oppo Find N2 on the other hand is expected to come with a 7.1-inch LTPO AMOLED display that supports a 120 Hz screen refresh rate. The foldable will use the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, 12 GB of RAM and come out of the box with the Android 13 operating system. The Oppo Find N2 might feature a triple rear camera setup which could include a 50 MP, 48 MP sensor and a 32 MP Sony IMX 709 telephoto lens.
The phone will pack a 4,520mAh battery and aims to be the lightest horizontal foldable yet. In addition, the smartphone is expected to come in three color options, green, black and white. Unfortunately, that’s all the information about the phone for now. However, we may see another model during the launch event if the rumours are true.
Leakster Digital Chat Station says that the Find N2 and the new N2 Flip will probably be unveiled at the annual tech event. Oppo hasn’t set an official date yet, but it is usually in mid-December.
Google is finally bringing a promised feature to its Pixel 7 series of smartphones. The company had announced that the flagship phones will receive a free VPN feature, which is finally rolling out to the devices.
For those unaware, the Search Engine tech giant had first announced this feature for its Pixel 7 series during its “Made by Google” event in which it also launched the Pixel Watch and phones. Now, the company is finally bringing this free VPN feature through the Google One application. To put things simply, VPN stands for Virtual Private Network and it helps change one’s identity when one is online and it even helps encrypt your internet data as well. In other words, it basically makes it harder for others to get unwanted access to your private data or track your location online.
This even helps in protection when using public WiFi networks. So now, users of the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro can expect to receive this feature, with the company also putting up a support page that lists the countries where the feature is currently available. This includes nations like Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Spain Sweden Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and United States.
Notably, Google has also claimed that if you are from any one of these regions, the VPN by Google One will still be functional even if you travel to any other country or region. Furthermore, the free VPN services will also be offered to Google One subscribers with 2TB of online storage, which costs around 9.99 US Dollars per month.
Earlier this year, Valve finally launched the much-awaited Steam Deck; however, customers had to wait through months-long reservation queues before the company started selling the handheld directly. To add to the frustration, the console was only available in a select few markets like Europe, the US, and Canada.
Now, the gaming giant is finally expanding the availability of the Steam Deck to four major Asian markets: Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and Hong Kong. The console will be available via Komodo, which is the official Steam Deck distributor in these regions.
The launch was first announced in August, when Valve set up pre-order landing pages on the respective regional websites. Users who pre-ordered will begin receiving emails today to finalize their purchases, and the shipment date will be December 17.
The console is priced fairly close to the European and American prices (€419/$399) in the Asian market. It remains to be seen if the brand intends to move into more Asian countries, such as Indonesia, India, etc.
For those unaware, the Valve Steam Deck is a portable gaming console that includes some enthralling games such as Horizon Zero Dawn, Elden Ring, The Witcher 3, Stardew Valley, and Shadow Warrior. You can essentially play any existing game from your Steam library on the console if it is verified as being supported by the Steam platform.
In terms of specifications, the Steam Deck has a 7-inch IPS display with an HD resolution and a refresh rate of 60Hz. It is driven by an AMD Zen 2 processor and an RDNA 2 GPU. It has 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB SSD storage, as well as a microSD card slot. Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi, USB-C, USB 3.2, 3.5mm audio jack, and DisplayPort 1.4 are all supported. The gaming console provides access to the Steam library, as well as Xbox Game Pass and the Epic Games Store.
Infinix Hot 20 Play has been unveiled in India alongside the Hot 20 5G. It has arrived as the successor to the Hot 12 Play, which went official in May this year. While the predecessor model featured a Unisoc chip, the Hot 20 Play comes equipped with a MediaTek SoC. Here is all the information on the specifications, features, and price of the device.
Infinix Hot 20 Play specifications and features
The Infinix Hot 20 Play houses a massive 6.82-inch LCD display with a punch-hole design. It delivers an HD+ resolution of 1640 x 720 pixels, a refresh rate of 90Hz, and a touch sampling rate of 120Hz. It has an 8-megapixel front camera with an LED flash. On the back, it features a 13-megapixel dual-camera system with a quad-LED flash. A fingerprint scanner is also available on the rear shell of the device.
The Hot 20 Play is powered by the MediaTek Helio G37 chipset and 4 GB of LPDDR4x RAM. It also offers 3 GB of virtual RAM and 64 GB of internal storage. The phone runs on XOS 10 6.0-based Android 12 OS.
For an enhanced gaming experience, the Hot 20 Play offers features like aerospace-grade cooling material, Dar-Link Engine 2.0, LinkPlus 1.0, and Erdal Engine 3.0. It packs a huge 6,000mAh battery that supports 18W charging via USB-C. The other features that are available on the Hot 20 Play include a dedicated microSD card slot, DTS Audio support, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
Infinix Hot 20 Play price in India, availability
The Hot 20 Play, which comes in 4GB+64GB version only, is priced at Rs 8,999. It can be bought in colors like Racing Black, Aurora Green, Fantasy Purple, and Luna Blue. It is scheduled to go on sale starting Dec. 6 in India via Flipkart.
Infinix Hot 20 5G and Infinix Hot 20 Play smartphones have been launched in India. The Hot 20 5G has arrived at a time when 5G is being commercialized across the country. The Hot 20 5G will soon go on sale via Flipkart as one of the most affordable 5G phones in the country. It packs key specifications, such as a 120Hz LCD display, and a Dimensity 8-series chip, and supports multiple 5G bands.
Infinix Hot 20 5G specifications and features
Infinix Hot 20 5G
The Infinix Hot 20 5G features a 6.6-inch IPS LCD waterdrop notch screen, which produces an FHD+ resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a 240Hz touch sampling rate. The phone runs on Android 12 OS, which is overlaid with XOS 10 6.0 UI.
The Hot 20 5G has an LED flash-assisted 8-megapixel camera on the front. Its rear shell has a 50-megapixel primary camera with an f/1.6 aperture, a depth sensor, and a dual-LED flash. It offers photography features like short-video mode, super nightscape, portrait mode, and eye-tracking.
Under the hood, the Infinix Hot 20 5G has the Dimensity 810 chipset, 4 GB of LPDDR4x RAM, and a 5,000mAh battery that supports 18W charging via USB-C. The company claims that the phone can last for up to 3 days on a single charge. It comes with 3 GB of extended RAM and 64 GB of native storage. The phone comes with other features like support for 12 5G bands, dual stereo speakers, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Infinix Hot 20 5G price in India, availability
The Hot 20 5G is priced at Rs 11,999 (~$148) and comes in colors like Space Blue, Blaster Green, and Racing Black. Infinix is offering the Hot 20 5G in a 4GB+64GB edition only in the country. It is scheduled to go on sale on Dec. 9 via. Flipkart.
Electric vehicles continue to increase in popularity. Being aware of this situation, automakers are building their plans on environmentally friendly and new-gen EV technology. Lastly, BYD, one of the manufacturers in question, is preparing to introduce its new model. The BYD Corvette 07 will be officially launched on December 9.
The BYD Corvette 07 will be officially launched on December 9
BYD Corvette 07 will officially launch on December 9, and the pre-sale price will be $32,000 – $40,750. The Corvette 07 should come in six trims with three different battery configurations. The SUV’s front has a complex design with a wide six-bar grille topped by a smaller grille with the luminous BYD logo taking a central position, flanked by the headlights. BYD said the grille design was inspired by “ripple waves.”
BYD Corvette 07 is a PHEV in two versions: DM-i and DM-p. Both configurations use a 1.5 turbo with 102 kW as a gasoline engine. The new SUV is expected to offer 18.3 kWh and 36.8 kWh batteries, with a range of 100 and 205 kilometers, respectively. Sprint time from 0 – 100 km will vary between 8.5, 8.9, and 4.7 seconds for different models. The comprehensive cruising range is as high as 1200 km, and the SUV supports fast charging with a maximum power of 75 kW.
The DM-i combines pairs with a single electric motor on the front axle, with a combined output of 197 hp. On the other hand, the DM-p combines the gasoline engine with two electric motors, one on the front axle and one on the rear axle. With this, it can churn out 295 kW and 656 Nm.
The Corvette 07 is BYD ‘s first model that supports Apple’s NFC digital key. In addition to Android devices, owners can use an iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock and lock the vehicle. At the rear, BYD Corvette 07 has a unique roof spoiler made out of two parts that catch the eye. Also, a light bar stretches over the rear with the words ‘Build Your Dreams’ in the middle.
Samsung, back in June 2021, launched the Samsung Galaxy Book Go and Galaxy Book Go 5G notebooks. Now, the company seems to be working on the successor of the Book Go series. According to the latest reports, Samsung Galaxy Book2 Go and Samsung Galaxy Book2 Go 5G are revealed on the Bluetooth Special Interest Group certification website.
Samsung Galaxy Book2 Go series devices will be powered by Qualcomm
The processor was the most important feature of the Samsung Galaxy Book models introduced last year. The South Korean tech giant preferred to use Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 instead of Intel or AMD processors in their computers. Unfortunately, the devices weren’t powerful enough to rival Apple’s MacBooks. However, it was an important step forward.
Similar to last year’s the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Book2 Go series will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The upcoming devices appeared on the Bluetooth SIG database with the NP340XNA and NP345XNA model numbers. The listing reveals the support for Bluetooth 5.2, Windows 11, and Qualcomm FastConnect 6700, which will bring Wi-Fi 6E support. As of now, not much is known about the Galaxy Book2 Go series notebooks. However, we can expect to learn more about these devices in the coming weeks.
Last year’s Samsung Galaxy Book Go specifications and features
The Galaxy Book Go features a 14-inch TFT display with a Full HD resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels and a 16:9 aspect ratio. The 4G variant of the Galaxy Book features the 8nm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 that tags along with Adreno 618 graphics. It comes with 6 GB / 8 GB of LPDDR4x RAM. The Galaxy Book Go offers eUFS storage choices such as 64 GB and 128 GB.
The Galaxy Book Go runs on Windows 10 Home/Pro and is flanked by Dolby Atmos-powered 2 x 1.5W stereo speakers. It promises up to 18 hours of battery life through its 42.3Whr battery, which supports 25W rapid charging. The Galaxy Book Go offers features such as an HD camera, a microSD card slot, a nano-SIM slot, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, 2 x 2 MIMO, Bluetooth 51, USB 2.0, USB-C, and a 3.5mm headphone/mic combo jack.
Last week, Game Kiddy (GKD) announced the pricing for the GKD Mini Plus and GKD Mini Plus Classic handheld consoles. Out of the two, the company has brought the GKD Mini Plus Classic to Kickstarter.
For those unaware, Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform dedicated to assisting creative projects in getting off the ground. Because it is entirely funded through crowdfunding, donations from the general public fuel these projects.
GKD Mini Plus Classic
With 14 days left, the Kickstarter campaign has raised more than US$59,000, or over 10 times its funding target of US$5,000. Game Kiddy sells the GKD Mini Plus Classic for US$139, however, only “VIPs” who made a US$1 commitment before November 9 are eligible for this pricing. For US$149, the business also offers the smartphone in Sky Blue and Space Grey color options. Game Kiddy currently anticipates that it will begin distributing to Kickstarter donors in January 2023.
To recap, the GKD Mini Plus Classic rock a 3.5-inch display and a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. Both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity are supported on the devices.
The GKD Mini Plus Classic is powered by the entry-level Rockchip RK2566, which features a Mali-G52 GPU and four ARM Cortex-A55 CPU cores running at 1.8GHz. A 3,000mAh battery and 1GB of RAM are included. It features several more buttons in addition to the four shoulder buttons. The portable includes a USB-C connector for charging and data transfer. The device also has two microSD card readers and a 3.5mm audio jack.
More than 2,500 games, including those from the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance platforms, can be emulated via the GKD Mini Plus Classic consoles.
Honda is pushing to go fully electric in the coming years, and keeping that aim, the company has now announced that it will make and launch a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in 2024.
The auto manufacturer has revealed that it will produce the fuel-cell Honda CR-V model at its Performance Manufacturing Center (PMC) in Marysville, Ohio, as it plans to go fully electric by 2040 and carbon neutral by 2050.
Fuel cells use hydrogen and oxygen to create electricity for powering the vehicle instead of relying on a battery. It has advantages over battery electric vehicles as the vehicles can be refueled in three to four minutes and travel longer distances before going out of the power supply. But, the technology is not ready for mass adoption, and the public hydrogen stations are concentrated in California in the US.
The upcoming Honda CR-V Hydrogen Fuel-Cell model will come with a plug-in capability for its battery pack to allow it to offer a small amount of electric-only range without having to rely on its hydrogen supply. More details of the car will be revealed sometime closer to its 2024 launch, Honda says. The company didn’t say how many units it plans to build but noted that the factory specializes in small-volume vehicles.
Apart from Honda, Toyota and General Motors have been developing fuel cell technology over the last two decades. Toyota’s Mirai mid-size sedan is heading into its second generation. Honda, which launched its first fuel cell vehicle, the FCX, in 2002 and has invested more than $14 million in California’s hydrogen refueling network.
BMW and Toyota are also teaming up to produce hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in the coming years. By 2024, Bosch plans to invest more than $1 billion globally to develop fuel cell technologies, with over $200 million to build fuel cell stacks for commercial trucks at its South Carolina factory.
A few days ago, ASUS launched the ROG Phone 6 Diablo Immortal Edition smartphone in the market, which as the name indicates, is a limited edition of the ROG Phone 6 flagship smartphone from the company.
Now, the ASUS ROG Phone 6 Diablo Immortal Edition smartphone is available for purchase in the Chinese market for the price of 6,999 yuan, which roughly converts to $990.
The smartphone comes with a Hellfire Red semi-matte coating on the back, offering a unique flame effect when viewed from various angles. Along with a cool-looking sketch-like depiction of Al’Diabolos, the Lord of Terror, there is also an RGB-lit Diablo Immortal logo.
It comes with a special Diablo theme for the user interface, along with notification sounds inspired by in-game audio. The retail box also includes a “Fahir’s Light” UV torch for uncovering hidden details on the Diablo-themed phone case in addition to the gold-colored “Immortality Ejector Pin” for the SIM tray, and a “Map of Sanctuary” travel-friendly pouch for the charger and cable.
Coming to the specifications, the device features a 6.78-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display, offering a 165Hz refresh rate and an in-display fingerprint scanner. Under the hood, it is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, coupled with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage.
In the camera department, there’s a triple-camera setup on the back that consists of a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 primary sensor, a 13-megapixel ultrawide lens, and a 5-megapixel macro camera. On the front side, there’s a 12-megapixel Sony IMX663 sensor for taking selfies and video calling.
The devices run the Android 12-based ROG UI and a custom Diablo Immortal theme on top. The ASUS ROG Phone 6 Diablo Immortal Edition, which is IPX4 rated for water resistance, comes powered by a dual cell unit with a total capacity of 6,000mAh and has support for 65W fast charging.
Recent leaks have claimed that the Oppo Find N2 and Find N2 Flip will debut through Oppo’s INNO Day 2022 event, which is likely to be held by the middle of this month in China. The Find N2 Flip (tentative name) will be Oppo’s first clamshell phone with a foldable screen. A leaked video (via. TechGoing) of the Find N2 Flip is now doing the rounds on Weibo. It gives a good look at the design from the front and rear sides.
In the leaked video, the OPPO Find N2 Flip can be seen sporting a foldable display with a centrally positioned punch-hole. Reports have claimed that the device is equipped with a 6.8-inch foldable E6 AMOLED panel that produces a Full HD+ resolution of 2520 x 1080 pixels and a 120Hz refresh rate. The right side of the phone seems to feature a volume controller and a power key, which is integrated with a fingerprint scanner.
OPPO Find N2 Flip leaked video
Moving to the back, the Find N2 Flip can be found sporting a large-sized secondary OLED panel, which is said to measure 3.26 inches. There is also a dual-camera setup next to it. The main camera is said to be a 50-megapixel Sony IMX890 lens. It is said to be paired with an 8-megapixel Sony IMX355 ultra-wide shooter.
The Find N2 Flip is placed in a thick protective case in the leaked video, because of which its hinge design cannot be seen. The bottom side of the phone seems to feature a speaker grille and a USB-C port.
The Find N2 Flip is likely to feature a Dimensity 9000 chipset and a 4,300mAh battery with 44W rapid charging support. It will come preinstalled with the Android 13 OS, which will be skinned with ColorOS 13. It is expected to arrive in black, white, and purple color options.
We recently got a pretty good microphone. It is suitable for both the more professional and the average person who knows nothing about recording. And if you want to improve the quality of your recordings later, you only need to change a cable. That’s how convenient it is. Fifine K688 USB/XLR DYNAMIC MICROPHONE, a microphone for most people.
What’s in the box?
What do you get if you buy the K688? A User’s manual, a 5/8″ male to 3/8″ female adapter, an 8.2ft (2.5m) USB C to USB cable, and a microphone with shock mount.
Design
The Fifine K688 has a simple look, no flashy styling, and no RGB lighting. The only thing that lights up is the mute button, and you can tell if it’s in mute mode by the color. This button is a non-pressable touch button, so it also reduces the possibility of damage outside.
This large circular structure is the shock mount, which can reduce the noise brought about by the resonance of the desktop. The microphone is connected to the metal ring by four rubber bands, and you can clean them without any disassembly.
There are two knobs and three ports on the back. The knob is used to control the mic gain and monitor volume. the 3.5mm headphone hole is no doubt for you to access the monitoring headphones. The remaining two ports: a USB C port and an XLR port, according to the use of anyone can choose to access your device.
Why does the Fifine K688 have two audio jacks on the back? Their official website gives the answer: It is anyone’s mic. If you don’t have knowledge about microphones, you just connect to your device with the USB in the box and it will work correctly. But if you know more about microphones and want to improve the quality of your recordings, then the XLR interface is for you.
If you are new to microphones
A sensible voice reminds you of choosing a microphone based on the use environment when the budget is tight. Because most of the time recording especially streaming was done in environments that are not treated. With hard surfaces all around your room, the sound is going to bounce off and bounce into your mic. The excessive noise floor is the top deal-breaker for most people.
What you really need to muddle is the background sound, and the dynamic cardioid capsule does let the Fifine K688 shine through in that aspect. Normal users do not have any sort of special acoustical treatment in the rooms. A dynamic microphone will come in super helpful in this circumstance because it does not pick up much distracting background or reflected sound.
If you are expert in microphones
The audio quality may come down to what interface you are running the mic through if you are using the XLR connector. But basically, it is not the general type of dynamic mics where the mids are prominent while the brightness is lacking. Inheriting from FIFINE’s bloodline, the treble is something that will not miss but it is not so much to assault your ear with harshness.
If there is such a necessary, or maybe for a special two-PC setup, you can even send the signal from the mic to two different places, like your PC and an audio interface or a PA when using it outdoors.
So, this is the fifine K688, a microphone for everyone. It is currently priced at $79.99 USD, which shouldn’t be too expensive for a microphone that is easy to use and has room for upgrades. As long as you can afford it, I recommend buying it as your main microphone.
Giztop is giving huge discounts on Redmi Note 12 Discovery edition. The phone which retails for $499 is now available at a discounted price of $399. Moreover by using the coupon code: N12D30 you can get an additional discount of $30. This means you can buy the phone for as low as $369. Please note that the coupon expires on December 10, 2022.
Redmi Note 12 Discovery edition features a 6.67-inch OLED display that supports a 120Hz refresh rate, and 240Hz touch sampling rate. The phone is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 1080 octa-core processor and comes with 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB UFS 2.2 storage.
The highlight feature of the phone is the 200MP Samsung ISOCELL HPX primary camera. You also have an 8MP ultra-wide angle lens and a 2MP macro shooter. For your selfies, you have a 16MP sensor in the front.
Redmi Note 12 Discovery is fueled by a 4300mAh battery and supports 210W fast flash charge and PD 3.0. Other interesting features include the NFC function, Infrared port, 3.5mm jack, Bluetooth 5.2, under-display fingerprint sensor, etc.
You can now buy the Redmi Note 12 Discovery edition for as low as $369 only on Giztop. This deal ends on December 10. So place your order before the coupon expires.
For more information on such exciting deals and offers check out our deals hub.
Great news for Vivo fans. Giztop is giving a $50 coupon for the latest flagship Vivo X90 Pro Plus phone. The phone which retails for $1199 can be now pre-ordered for a discounted price of $1149 only by using the coupon code: V90PP50. Please note that this is a pre-order, and the shipping will start after December 10, 2022.
Vivo X90 Pro Plus phone features a 6.78-inch FHD+ E5 AMOLED display and a 120Hz refresh rate. The smartphone is powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4nm) chipset and comes with Adreno 740 GPU. The phone features multiple memory options viz. 12GB RAM and 256GB / 512GB UFS 4.0 internal storage.
Vivo X90 Pro Plus features Quad rear cameras, with premium Zeiss optics and Zeiss T* lens coating. The phone comes with a 50MP primary camera, 64MP periscope telephoto lens, 50MP telephoto lens, and a 48MP ultrawide sensor. For your selfies, you have a 32MP camera in the front. Fueled with a 4700mAh battery the phone supports 80W fast charging, 50W wireless charging, and reverse charging.
Vivo X90 Pro Plus is now available for pre-order at a discounted price of $1149 only on Giztop. The phone comes in two color options viz. Black, and Red. Please note that this price is applicable to the base variant only. The coupon works for all variants.
For more information on such exciting deals and offers check out our deals hub.
Lava Blaze 5G recently debuted as India’s most affordable 5G phone. The device faces competition from the likes of the POCO M4 5G, iQOO Z6 Lite 5G, Redmi 11 Prime 5G, and Samsun Galaxy M13 5G, which also offer 5G capabilities at a lower price. If price is the only factor to consider when choosing a winner among these, the Blaze 5G is an easy winner since it launched at an introductory price of Rs 9,999 (~$123). It is currently available for Rs 10,999 (~$135). Let’s dive into the review to see whether its other features are good enough to beat its competitors.
Lava Blaze 5G – What’s in the box?
Lava Blaze 5G
As can be seen above, the Lava Blaze 5G’s retail box includes the following items:
I am impressed by the build of the Lava Blaze 5G. The glass back of the phone, which has a matte finish, gives it a premium look. The back panel feels smooth and does not attract fingerprint smudges. The inclusion of the glass and a big battery makes it weigh over 200 grams. The Blaze 5G has flat edges and rounded corners. Its edges are made of plastic, but the paintjob makes it look like metal. The top edge of the device is barren, while the bottom offers a 3.5mm audio jack, a microphone, a USB-C port, and a speaker grille. The device has a hybrid SIM slot and a volume rocker on the left side. The power button on the right edge is integrated with a fingerprint scanner.
The slightly raised camera module has a squarish black portion, which houses two cameras and an LED flash. Below is the “50MP AI Camera” text and the third camera. It would have been better if the cameras sported a symmetrical design.
Lava Blaze 5GLava Blaze 5GLava Blaze 5G
The Lava Blaze 5G has a waterdrop notch display with a large bottom bezel. The screen is quite bright and offers good viewing angles. While it supports an HD+ resolution, the image clarity is such that it feels like it is a Full HD display. The contents of the screen are readable under sunlight only if it is set at the highest brightness setting. In Settings, users get access to display-related features like Adaptive Brightness, Night Light, Refresh Rate, among other settings. There is no word on what sort of display protection is available on the device.
Performance and Battery Life
Dimensity 700
4GB of LPDDR4x RAM
128GB of UFS 2.2 storage
5,000mAh battery
Support for 8 5G bands
The Dimensity 700-powered Blaze 5G offers snappy performance right out of the box. The D700 chip, which is MediaTek’s entry-level 5G-ready chip, can be seen on some of the costlier devices like the Samsung Galaxy M13, POCO M4 5G, and Redmi 11 Prime 5G. The Blaze 5G is only available in a single 4GB + 128GB configuration. Apart from the big internal storage, the device also offers support for a microSD card for more storage. The SIM tray of the phone features one slot for the primary SIM, and the second slot can either support a second SIM or a microSD card.
The Blaze 5G supports n1, n3, n5, n8, n28, n41, n77, and n78 5G bands. Since 5G is not available at my place, I couldn’t check the 5G connectivity.
For gamers, the Lava Blaze 5G comes with the Game Space app, which provides numerous features like game acceleration, a game sidebar, display optimization, performance enhancement, background call, palm rejection, and so on. On Geekbench, the device scored 505 and 1598 in the single-core and multi-core tests of Geekbench 5. On AnTuTu, the device scored 303,877. On BGMI, the device supports Smooth + Ultra with 40fps. Here are the screenshots of the performance benchmarks.
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The company itself mentions in the official listing that it takes around 2:50 hours to fully charge the 5,000mAh battery of the Blaze 5G. While the phone supports up to 15W charging, Lava has bundled a 12W charger in its retail box. When other brands are considering removing chargers from the retail packages of their mid-range phones, Lava has gone ahead and provided a charger with two USB ports. As far as charging is concerned, it took around 3:02 hours for me to achieve a full charge. It can easily last up to two days after being charged.
Clean Android OS Experience with Little Customization
Near stock Android 12 OS
YouTube with background play
YouTube Music with background play
FM radio
Up to 3GB RAM expansion
The Lava Blaze 5G runs on a near-stock version of the Android 12 OS. One of the screenshots shared here showcases all the apps available on the device. You do not see any bloatware, right? Additional apps from Lava include FM radio (not wireless), Game Space, and the Lava Guide app (user manual).
[envira-gallery id=’499045′]
The #ProudlyIndian brand boasts that the Blaze 5G offers an industry-first feature wherein YouTube works in the background. As it is known, background play is only available with a YouTube Premium subscription. Yes, the YouTube and YouTube Music apps work in the background. However, both apps do not skip ads. Also, it allows users to play up to 2K videos on YouTube. The call recording function does not let the other person know that the call is being recorded.
The device also has other nifty features, such as App Lock, Android Auto, and multiple user profiles. The slightly customised Settings app has the Intelligence Assistance section, where users can find additional settings as shown in the screenshots above. The RAM expansion features allow users to convert up to 3 GB of storage space into virtual RAM. Lastly, there is Dura Speed in the Settings app, which helps boost the foreground app by restricting background apps.
Lava has not said anything about how many Android OS upgrades will be available for Blaze 5G users. It seems that the device may receive at least the Android 13 OS update in 2023.
Photography and Other Features
Rear Camera
Other Features
50MP + 2MP + VGA triple camera unit
Single speaker
2K video recording
Face unlock
EIS Support
Side-facing fingerprint scanner
5G connectivity, 4G LTE
Front Camera
Dual-band Wi-Fi
8MP Camera
Bluetooth 5.1
Full HD recording
The camera app offers photography features, such as photo, video, portrait mode, beauty mode, GIF, UHD, Pro mode, panorama, slow motion, timelapse, macro, and intelligent scanning, which can be used for scanning barcodes and QR codes. The phone impresses the photography department in both bright and low-light scenarios. It manages to shoot decent photos with sufficient lighting indoors. When compared to the regular mode, the night mode is able to take pictures with more detail. It captures mediocre-quality macro shots.
With Night ModeWith Night ModeWith Night ModeSelfies with potrait modeSelfies with potrait modeSelfies with potrait modemacro shotmacro shot
I could not really understand the requirement for the VGA camera (third camera) on the device.
When shooting a video with the rear camera, the phone focuses on the subject while blurring the background. I noticed some lag while shooting 2K videos. EIS does a good job of capturing stabilized videos. In low-light conditions, the phone captures shaky FHD and 2K videos even with EIS enabled. However, even in dim light, the phone tries to capture videos with some amount of detail. It can record 720p slow-motion videos at 15 frames per second.
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The 8-megapixel front camera is good enough for selfies and video calls. It can shoot 30fps Full HD videos. Features like AI and HDR are not available while using the front camera. Users do get a couple of filters to enhance the selfie experience. It can also capture selfies with a good amount of background blur. However, sometimes edge detection does not work well. Overall, Lava Blaze 5G users will love using it for shooting photos and videos.
Lava Blaze 5G has a single speaker, which produces a decent sound output. I did not face any issues accessing features like face unlock, fingerprint scanner, voice calling, and Wi-Fi / LTE connectivity. Lava tries to stand out from competitors in the customer service department. It offers Service@Home doorstep services, which offer software and minor repairs to all customers of the Blaze, Yuva, and Storm series of smartphones. It promises service within 24 hours.
Verdict
To summarize, the Lava Blaze 5G is an impressive phone for Rs 10,999 (~$139). Even though it costs Rs 1,000 more, the device outperforms its rival in some areas. Lava is the only Indian smartphone brand to launch 5G phones in the Indian market. Because of this, many Indians who don’t want to buy Chinese smartphones will be drawn to this one. The Blaze 5G can easily become one of the bestselling phones in its price segment. I would definitely recommend it to someone who wants to buy a 5G phone for the first time. Many of the customers will purchase it as their first 5G phone, and I believe they won’t be disappointed.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this Lava Blaze 5G review are solely mine based on my experience, and there has been no editorial input from Lava.
For the first time, the new generation of the Honor Number Series contains a flagship phone. The Honor 80 Series is official with three different variants: the vanilla Honor 80, the Honor 80 Pro, and the Honor 80 SE. These three very different devices belong to different price ranges, but all are very valid. If you are evaluating this series, you probably want to know all the main differences between each model. Here you can learn the differences thanks this comparison between the specifications of the Honor 80, the Honor 80 Pro, and the Honor 80 SE in order to evaluate which one fits your needs the most.
Triple 64 + 5 + 2 MP, f/1.8 + f/2.2 + f/2.4
32 MP f/2.4 front camera
BATTERY
4800 mAh, fast charging 66W
4800 mAh, fast charging 66W
4600 mAh, Fast Charging 66W
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
5G, dual SIM, reverse charging 5W
5G, dual SIM, reverse charging 5W
5G, dual SIM
Design
The most interesting design is the one of the Honor 80 Pro because it has a rear side with a more original texture and a more beautiful camera module. Further, on the front, it comes with incredibly narrow bezels around the display and a pill-shaped punch hole that looks like the Dynamic Island found on the latest iPhones. However, if you want a thinner and lighter phone, then you should go for the Honor 80 SE, even though the design is less impressive. But it is just slightly thinner and slightly lighter, and the dimensions are more or less the same. The vanilla version is still a beautiful phone with its dual camera module, very narrow bezels thanks to a display covering 90 percent of the front panel, and a single punch hole placed centrally.
Display
The best display belongs to the Honor 80 Pro. It is an OLED panel able to show up to one billion colors with a diagonal of 6.78 inches, an 1.5K resolution of 1224 x 2700 pixels, a 120 Hz refresh rate, HDR certification, a peak brightness of 1,000 nits, and an in-display fingerprint reader. The vanilla version and the Special Edition have the same display specifications: an OLED panel with one billion colors, a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels, a 120 Hz refresh rate, and an in-display fingerprint scanner. Note that the Pro variant is the only one equipped with stereo speakers.
Specs & Software
As already mentioned, the Honor 80 Pro is the only device from this trio to feature flagship-class specifications. It is powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 mobile platform alongside 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of native storage. The vanilla version is an upper mid-ranger with a Snapdragon 782G chipset, up to 12 GB of RAM, and up to 512 GB of native storage. The Special Edition is a mid-ranger with a Dimensity 900 chip, 12 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage in the most expensive configuration. All the phones run Android 12 customized by Magic UI 7.
Camera
Even though it does not have optical stabilization, the Honor 80 Pro can be considered a high-end camera phone. It has a triple camera setup composed of a 160 MP main sensor, a 50 MP ultrawide shooter, and a 2 MP depth sensor. The vanilla version replaces the 50 MP ultrawide shooter with a less impressive 8 MP camera. The Honor 80 SE is totally different with its 64 MP dual camera.
The biggest battery is the one found on the Honor 80, even though there is a difference of just 100 mAh. All of these phones feature 66W fast charging.
Price
The starting price of the Honor 80 in China roughly translates into €370/$384, the Pro variant starts from €480/$498, and the SE costs €330/$343 in its base variant. They are yet to come into the global market. Which one would you pick?
Honor 80 vs Honor 80 Pro vs Honor 80 SE: PRO and CONS
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