Fresh news is out of the oven as Oppo officially confirms that the company will be equipping the newly launched Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC in its next premium mid-ranger, the Oppo Reno 8 Pro.
Source: Oppo China
This news comes from the brand’s official social media account (Weibo) in China. The poster reveals that the Oppo Reno 8 Pro will be featuring the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC that is built on Samsung’s 4nm manufacturing node that promises up to 20 per cent higher GPU performance and up to 30 per cent faster AI processing performance than the previous generation.
However, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 isn’t the only silicon processor under the Oppo Reno 8 Pro as Oppo had earlier teased that the Oppo Reno 8 series will also be featuring the company’s in-house self-developed MariSilicon X ISP imaging chip, which debuted earlier in the year on the Oppo Find X5 Pro.
Oppo Find X5 Pro powered by Marisilicon
Oppo claims that the chip can take the camera capabilities of the Reno 8 series to the next level. The chip can optimize pictures, improve system computing power, and enhance lowlight photos. In addition, it will also offer real-time AI computing to improve power efficiency and save the battery on your smartphone.
Oppo Reno 8 Pro in Blue
As for the other details of the Oppo Reno 8 Pro, the device will be sporting a triple rear camera setup at the back and will be featuring a 6.43-inch FHD+ AMOLED display at the front. The device will be available in 8GB + 128GB and 8GB + 256GB memory configurations and the available colour options are Clear Sky Blue, Slightly Drunk (machine-translated), and Night Tour Black.
For more info on the Oppo Reno 8 series, you can head over to our pre-launch roundup of the Oppo Reno 8 series so far, and stay tuned to Gizmochina on May 23rd where we will be covering the Oppo Reno 8 series launch event live!
Lenovo has gone ballistic in recent times with the frequency it has been release g products ranging from laptops, desktop PCs, tablets, to projectors. The company has added yet another interesting product – the Lenovo YOGA L5 Wireless Charging Table Lamp. The product will be officially released on the May 24th alongside other products.
The Lenovo YOGA L5 is the tech giant’s first table lamp under the YOGA brand. The biggest feature of the YOGA table lamp is the 10W wireless charging pad that doubles as the lamp base. The wireless charging base is compatible with a variety of devices and models. This design helps reduce the number of accessories on the work station.
In other aspects, the YOGA table lamp is designed with 72 full-spectrum lamp beads, and the stroboscopic and blue light can be accurately controlled through the LED dual-violet light chip. The built-in intelligent photosensitive module automatically senses changes in ambient light and darkness, making the emitted light more stable.
The desk lamp is said to have passed China’s AA-level certification standard and the AAA-level healthy lighting standard. The side-emitting light guide plate structure ensures uniform light distribution, and the luminous diameter reaches 140mm.
Users can adjust the color temperature with one key, and adjusting to a cool color temperature is helpful for work and study. Also, adjusting to a warm color temperature is suitable for leisure and evening reading. In addition, there are 10 levels of step-less touch dimming using the visual brightness bar located at the edge of the base that also doubles as a wireless charging pad. Teh location of the visual brightness bar ensures that it can still be operated even if a device is being charged on the surface.
There is no word yet on the pricing and availability but we do hope this product will be released outside China.
Some recent developments indicate that Vivo smartphones with Qualcomm processors can be modified by unlocking their bootloader. This could make Vivo smartphones attractive to the segment of the market that wants the ability to tinker with their smartphones.
Vivo X80
Vivo, together with OnePlus, Realme, and Oppo are under the BBK Electronics group. OnePlus devices retain their warranty even after undergoing some modifications. This is achieved through the unlocking of the phone’s bootloader and access to the kernel sources of the device. Previously, this kind of modification has been quite difficult on Vivo devices. It is however coming to light that the process may be a bit straightforward with Qualcomm processors.
Vivo does not offer official bootloader unlocking services or kernel sources. There are however some tech-savvy groups that may be trying to tinker with Vivo devices. It is reported that a couple of members of the XDA community have achieved success in this direction. The duo of Pervokur and Killuminati91 may have cracked Vivo’s custom Fastboot interface. They have managed to get a method to unlock the bootloader of some Vivo smartphones.
The bootloader unlocked devices are the Vivo V21e, X70 Pro Plus, and Y31. All the unlocked smartphones are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets. It is noted that there are flipsides to the unlocking of the bootloader of the Vivo devices.
The process disabled the fingerprint sensor on the Vivo X70 Pro Plus, Users will have to flash a custom vendor image using a modified Fastboot binary, as well as rely on a race condition to achieve the unlock. After tinkering with the device, users can run otherwise incompatible software on their devices. The unlock could also possibly lead to an invalidation of the existing warranty.
After Qualcomm had officially announced its flagship Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset tonight, it seems that Realme is once again jumping the gun to be the first phone manufacturer to equip its upcoming flagship with Qualcomm’s latest and greatest SoC.
Realme announced on its Chinese social media, Weibo, tonight that the company’s next flagship, officially named the Realme GT 2 Master Explorer Edition, is launching soon and the flagship will be the world’s first Android flagship to sport the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset.
Source: Weibo
Realme had not officially announced any event launch date for its upcoming flagship in the Weibo post but considering the company had officially revealed the name of its next flagship – the Realme GT 2 Master Explorer Edition, it is expected that the company will reveal more details about the device in the several upcoming weeks to come.
Realme GT 2 Master Explorer Edition Teaser. Source: Realme China
To refresh, the Realme GT Master Edition and Master Explorer Edition were launched in July last year with the Snapdragon 778G SoC and Snapdragon 870 SoC. The Master Edition of devices was the brand’s first-ever collaboration with well-renowned Japanese designer, Naoto Fukasawa. The Master Edition devices felt premium in the hand as they featured a one-of-a-kind leather suitcase inspired back panel that was soft to the touch and comfortable in the hands.
In 2022, Realme had reached out to Mr Naoto again to design their Realme GT 2 series of flagship smartphones and this time around the Realme GT 2 series was fashionably equipped with the world’s first paperback inspired design that was environmentally friendly with its recyclable materials. The Realme GT 2 Pro was also one of the first flagships to launch with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor this year as well.
Realme GT 2 Pro
To stay up to date on the latest leaks and updates on the Realme GT 2 Master and Realme GT 2 Master Explorer Edition, stay tuned to our coverage here at Gizmochina!
It retails at ₹19,999 and ₹21,999 for 6GB + 128GB and 8GB + 128GB memory configurations, respectively.
Though it is currently the cheapest Oneplus-branded smartphone available in India, it is not the most affordable historically. The said title goes to the Oneplus X, a handset that was introduced at only ₹16,999 in late 2015.
Further, unlike the Nord CE 2 Lite, the X had flagship specs and a premium design. Clearly, the smartphone landscape in India has changed in recent years.
Especially, with the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic, smartphone prices have hiked. Therefore, almost all the phones available in the sub-₹25,000 category in India now feature underwhelming features when compared to their predecessors.
The Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G is just like other phones in the segment. But it does have some differences like an LCD screen instead of an AMOLED display, which is now very common.
But is this handset a better deal than others? I try to answer this question in my review of the Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G.
Disclaimer: This review of Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G is based on my personal experience with a review sample loaned to me by Oneplus India. The opinions stated here are mine alone, and the company had no early look or editorial input.
Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G Review
Box Contents
Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G
Transparent Case
Screen Protector (pre-applied)
33W SuperVOOC Charger
USB Type-A to Type-C cable
SIM Ejector Tool
Documentation
Red Cable Club Membership Card
Stickers
Design and Build
The Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G is a rebranded Realme 9 Pro 5G. For the unaware, Realme is a sister brand of Oneplus and Oppo. Whereas, Oppo is the parent company of Oneplus. Hence, these three brands are known for sharing resources among themselves.
The specs and design of Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G are almost similar to that of the Realme 9 Pro 5G. The only major difference between the two is their colors.
Though I don’t have any issue with the phone’s rear look, I didn’t find the design to be functional. First and foremost, it feels too heavy for a device weighing 195.
Secondly, the glossy finish on the top section of the back panel is very difficult to keep smudge-free. Also, the camera island collects dust around it all the time. In other words, it is difficult to keep the handset clean.
Further, the volume buttons on the left side are inconvenient. Also, using the embedded fingerprint sensor on the power button located on the right side is a hassle. I have never faced these issues on Oppo smartphones that I had tested earlier. This could be due to the thin keys of the product.
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Having said that, there’s no problem with the build quality. Though the phone’s casing (including the frame) is entirely made of plastic, it feels sturdy. Additionally, you not only get a good old 3.5mm headphone jack but a MicroSD card slot (hybrid) as well.
Display and Sound
The Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G flaunts a 6.59-inch display with a resolution of 2412 x 1080 pixels (FHD+) and a 120Hz refresh rate. The screen has a punch-hole at the top left corner.
Unlike most handsets in the segment, the device features an LCD panel as opposed to an OLED panel. However, don’t go by the type of display as it is really good for the price.
One of the main advantages of OLED displays on smartphones is brightness. The LCD on the Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G offers that, which came out as a surprise for me.
The phone’s screen gets sufficiently bright outside under direct sunlight. In fact, the LCD panel on the Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G is as good as the Super AMOLED display on my daily-driver Samsung Galaxy A52.
By default, the handset boots up with ‘Vivid’ color mode. This mode offers too much saturation for my liking. The only other color mode available is ‘Natural’, and it provides almost true-to-life colors.
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Additionally, the 120Hz refresh rate mode makes everything look smoother. I did not face any jitter or frame drop like on the Oppo F21 Pro, which I reviewed recently.
But sadly, there’s no support for HDR playback though the panel supports HDR10 and HLG formats. Anyway, you can stream in Full HD quality on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, and other popular video streaming platforms.
Unfortunately, though the display on the phone is good, I cannot say the same for its single bottom-firing speaker. The overall audio quality is lackluster. The instrument separation is not clear and there’s a lack of bass. While the speaker is loud at higher levels, it distorts.
On the other hand, the audio output via Bluetooth and the 3.5mm headphone jack is fine. I tried the new Oneplus Nord Buds with the phone, which Oneplus India sent me along with the smartphone. The first-ever Oneplus Nord-branded truly wireless earphones pair with the phone seamlessly and provide a drop-free connection.
Being an affordable pair of TWS, the Nord Buds sound just fine for its ₹2,799 price tag. There’s an ample amount of bass and treble, the two most common factors preferred by the general public.
The best thing about these buds is that they are comfortable to wear for a long period. The major downsides are — the charging case is too big, the microphone’s performance is poor and the product’s build quality is cheap.
Hardware and Software
The Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 SoC. The chipset is paired with LPDDR4x RAM and UFS 2.2 storage.
Like almost all the latest Android phones, this one also supports virtual RAM. By default, it comes with the 2GB virtual RAM option enabled. You can also select 3GB or 5GB.
On the software front, it boots OxygenOS 12.1 based on Android 12. The interface is nothing but ColorOS 12.1 with some Oneplus theme here and there. It felt like I was using an Oppo smartphone the entire time.
The performance of the handset is similar to that of the Oppo F21 Pro 5G, which also has the same chipset. The device scores around 685 points and 1952 points in Geekbench’s single-core and multi-core tests respectively.
It can run the 3D Mark’s Wild Life Extreme test at 99.5% stability. The best loop score is about 1208. By default, BGMI (Battleground Mobile India) runs at ‘HD’ graphics with ‘High’ frame rates. You can get up to ‘Ultra’ frame rates by lowering the graphics to ‘Smooth.’
Though the smartphone is not meant for gaming, you can do some light casual gaming now and then. As for regular usage, it just flies, thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate. I did not encounter any major lag or stutter during my usage.
Unlike ColorOS on Oppo devices, the ColorOS-based OxygenOS on Nord CE 2 Lite ships with less amount of bloatware. It also has faster animations and some exclusive first-party Oneplus apps like Zen Mode and Oneplus Shelf.
Finally, Oneplus promises two major Android updates and three years of security updates.
Camera
The Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G houses a triple camera system on its back. But only the primary 64MP is useful, while the remaining two 2MP sensors for macro and depth are just present for the namesake.
The device uses the same OmniVision OV64B sensor as the Oppo F21 Pro and OPPO F21 Pro 5G. This very same sensor is also found on last year’s Oppo Reno 6 5G and Oppo Reno 6 Pro 5G.
Having used five smartphones with the same camera sensor from the same company, I can say that the output from all these devices is different. Obviously, these phones feature different ISP but their software processing is also distinct.
Talking about the pictures from the Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite, they are average but they are better than the images from the Oppo F21 Pro 5G. Though they have the same sensor and ISP, the software processing by Oneplus feels better to my eyes.
Daylight
Daylight
Daylight
Under good lighting conditions, the photos have fine details and colors. Since the phone outputs pictures with cooler color tones, it botches up red, green, and blue colors most of the time. The primary colors are too saturated for my taste.
But I can understand why Oneplus has opted for saturated colors as most people prefer images with colors that pop out. The handset is targeted at a wider audience with its affordable price tag. Therefore, it makes sense for the brand to satisfy its customers.
Human
Selfie
Macro
Talking about skin tones, they are almost accurate. I find them better than the photos from Oppo F21 Pro, a similarly-priced phone with the same camera that I liked for skin tones till now.
Further, the Nord CE 2 Lite has a 16MP Sony IMX471 sensor on the front. For the unaware, this is the same sensor from Oneplus 9 and Oneplus 9 Pro. I loved taking selfies from this handset. I feel that the selfies from this device are better than the pictures from Oppo F21 Pro’s 32MP Sony IMX709 RGBW front-facing camera.
Low Light
Low Light
Night Mode
Unfortunately, just like other budget and mid-range smartphones, the video recording capability is average and so does low light performance. Images shot in low light are grainy and they even lack focus under very difficult situations. Night Mode does help a little by simply brightening up the scene.
Connectivity
As the name suggests, the Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G supports 5G connectivity. But the networks are yet to go live in India, so I couldn’t test it.
Anyway, 4G connection along with carrier aggregation works fine on the device and so do VoLTE and VoWiFi calls. I neither faced any call drops nor WiFi/Bluetooth connection drops.
Lastly, the USB 2.0 (Type-C) port and 3.5mm headphone jack have no issue either.
Battery and Charging
The Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G gets its juice from a large 5,000mAh battery. The handset can easily last a day on a full charge. The device can even make itself to the second day with moderate usage.
When it’s time to recharge, the battery can be filled up in a little over an hour with the bundled 33W SuperVOOC charger. The smartphone takes about 1 hour and 4 minutes to reach 100% from 15%.
Verdict
When I started using the Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G, I was not expecting to like it. Because some of its features do not match with the competition.
But after using the phone for just a few days, the device grew on me. Yes, I still don’t like its design and build but I am impressed by its display. Also, I am surprised by how good its selfie camera is.
Talking about basics, you get a stellar battery life and reasonably fast charging support. The software is a joy to use without any lag. I wish it had a good speaker, maybe even stereo speakers like other handsets in the segment.
There are better options but none of them carry ‘Oneplus’ in their name. Brand power plays a crucial role among consumers. Unlike other Chinese brands, Oneplus is considered a premium brand by Indians, and data shows it.
The Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G is recommendable if you only want a Oneplus smartphone at this price point. If you don’t care about the brand of the phone you use, look elsewhere as they are many alternatives and some of them are even cheaper.
Oppo announced the Enco X2 TWS earbuds back in February. The earbuds supported Wireless and Reverse charging. Now the company has launched a wired charging edition of the same earbuds at a lower price. The new wired charging Oppo Enco X2 earbuds come with multi-level noise cancellation, a dual-driver setup, and up to 40hr of Playtime.
The Oppo Enco X2 wired charging earbuds are launched at a price of 799 Yuan ($119) which is 100 Yuan cheaper than the wireless charging version launched earlier. However, the functionalities and features are almost the same, let’s take a look at it.
Oppo Enco X2 wired charging earbuds Specs & Features
The earbuds come with a dual driver setup with an 11mm dynamic driver paired with a 6 mm planar diaphragm driver. The Enco X2 earbuds are jointly developed by Oppo and Dynaudio and have been specially tuned by musical director Joe Hisaishi. The earbuds adopt the new LHDC4.0 technology and have obtained the Hi-Res Audio Wireless Gold Standard certification.
Each earbud has two built-in noise-cancellation microphones and is also equipped with a triple-core noise-cancellation chip with a 50% increase in computing power. The effective noise reduction bandwidth point can reach up to 4kHz. The earbuds come with IP54 water and dust resistance certification and weigh 56.4 grams.
The Oppo earbuds are said to take around 1 hour to charge completely, while the charging case is claimed to take 90 minutes for a full charge. Interestingly, The Enco X2 can provide up to 2 hours of playtime with just 5 minutes of charge time. It can be charged through its USB Type-C port.
For connectivity, the Enco X2 uses Bluetooth 5.2 with LHDC 4.0 transmission protocol which enables it to support a code rate of up to 900kbps. It also comes with support for the usual AAC and SBC audio codecs. For more information you can read our detailed review of Oppo Enco X2 (Wireless Charging). You can also watch the video attached below.
Korean tech powerhouse, LG Electronics has announced its latest CineBeam Ultra Short Throw (UST) laser projector with a possible June 2022 release date. The new LG CineBeam 4k UST projector has model number HU915QE. It is a sequel to the HU715Q premium CineBeam 4K laser projector.
The new LG CineBeam 4K UST projector sports a minimalist design and can be operated at a distance of 18.3cm. It is capable of producing high-quality images from 90 inches up to 120 inches. With its sophisticated projection technology, consumers may deploy this projector instead of a large TV that is space-limiting.
The new LG CineBeam laser projector produces vivid, life-like images. This is due to its 3,700 ANSI Lumens and 2 million: 1 contrast ratio. The innovative deployment of its three-channel laser technology means that the projector can deliver great images even during the day.
The new LG CineBeam 4K UST laser projector expectedly streams 4K HDR video, using its in-built technology to adjust the brightness to ambient conditions. Adaptive contrast functionality is also present in the HU915QE model.
The new LG CineBeam UST projector runs on LG’s WebOS 6.0 smart platform. This allows users to directly stream content from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV, and YouTube. It also supports Bluetooth connectivity, screen mirroring, and Apple AirPlay 2 are supported.
The sound system of the new LG CineBeam 4K UST laser projector consists of a 2.2-channel, 40W system that provides a great sound output. The sound experience can be further enhanced with the connection of up to two compatible Bluetooth speakers.
The LG CineBeam 4K laser projector (HU915QE) will first arrive in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. Other regions will then follow suit. Even though LG has not provided any pricing information for the new CineBeam projector, it is estimated to be around $6,000. LG is also yet to provide a specific launch date for the device.
Qualcomm officially launched its highly anticipated flagship SoC, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 smartphone chipsets in China tonight. And it is great news for 2022 smartphone buyers because the company is promising much-improved performance, much-improved power efficiency and much better thermals for the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 announced today as the SoC is manufactured under TSMC’s industry-leading 4nm power-efficient process!
Source: Qualcomm
The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is a revamped version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 revealed in November last year. It features the same octa-core architecture setup with a single ultra high performance Cortex-X2 core, three Cortex-A710 cores, and four Cortex-A510 efficiency cores, but with a few minor tweaks to improve the premium smartphone experience for flagship Android users.
First, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 has been overclocked. Mainly, the Cortex X2 core has been overclocked from 3.00 GHz to 3.20 GHz, providing CPU performance of up to 10% higher than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. The GPU was also overclocked as well to provide up to 10% better GPU performance in games.
Source: Qualcomm
Next are the power efficiency gains. By switching over from Samsung to TSMC, Qualcomm has managed to improve power efficiency by up to 30% for the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, meaning that the chipset consumes less power overall, leading to improved thermals and improved battery life, in addition to the performance gains that the new chipset brings.
Source: Qualcomm
As for the rest, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is identical to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. It supports up to 16GB of 3,200 MHz of LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. The display driver can do QHD+ at up to 144Hz or 4K at 60Hz, complete with 10-bit rendering (Rec. 2020) and HDR10+ support.
The Snapdragon X65 modem can deliver peak 5G speeds of up to 10Gbps, while the FastConnect 6900 WiFi modem runs Wi-Fi 6/6E at up to 3.6GHz. The chipset also supports Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity that includes Qualcomm’s latest aptX Lossless technology and Bluetooth LE Audio.
The chipset houses the same triple 18-bit Spectra ISP that can handle up to 200MP sensors and 8K video capture at 30fps (4K at 120fps), plus image processing tricks like multi-frame noise reduction and staggered/DoL HDR. It even supports a dedicated bokeh engine and support for HLG, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision formats.
Source: Qualcomm
Qualcomm has also announced that its partners, such as Xiaomi, Realme, Motorola and OnePlus will be bringing the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 to the smartphone market starting from Q2 2022. To stay tuned on the latest flagship releases, stay tuned to Gizmochina!
If you follow the smartphone industry, you might be aware of Samsung and its love for software updates. The company promises 4 years of updates to all the Galaxy smartphones. True to its promise, Samsung has reportedly released its latest security update to a nearly four-year-old Galaxy Note 9. Currently, the update is available only in a few European countries.
As reported by Sammobile, the newly released software update for the Galaxy Note 9 has the firmware version N960FXXS9FVE1. The update is currently available in Germany, but other European countries are anticipated to receive it in the coming days. The May 2022 security patch fixes a lot of privacy and security vulnerabilities. It consists of Android OS fixes issued by Google and vulnerability fixes on Samsung’s own software.
If you live in Germany and own a Galaxy Note 9, you can now download and install the newest software update by going to Settings » Software update and selecting Download and install.
Technically, Note 9 shouldn’t be receiving this update because back in 2021 Samsung moved it to a quarterly update schedule. However, over the past seven months, the phone has been updated four times in December, January, February, and April. Now, we have a Galaxy Note 9 update for May 2022 carrying the latest security patch.
To recall, Samsung Galaxy Note 9 launched back in August 2018 with a Super AMOLED display, versatile dual-camera, a huge 4000mAh battery, and the S-Pen. The smartphone came with Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 under the hood and 6GB RAM paired with 128GB Storage.
Samsung has announced the Galaxy Buds 2 Pokemon Edition in its home market of South Korea. The Pokemon-themed limited edition Galaxy Buds 2 will come with some Pokemon accessories including stickers, a Poke Ball carrying case, and a strap loop.
There are 11 limited-edition stickers available for the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pokemon Edition. The stickers are Pikachu, Ditto, Dragonite, Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Lapras, Jigglypuff, Gengar, Mew, and Eevee. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pokemon Edition is not yet available but will be priced at 134,000 Won ($106). Five color variants are available for the Galaxy Buds 2 namely olive, onyx, graphite, white, and lavender. The carrying case of the device is compatible with the Galaxy Buds Pro and the device offers a two-way speaker system.
The Galaxy Buds 2 supports Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity and offers up to 20 hours of playback with its charging case. The battery can go up to five hours on a single charge, which can be further enhanced with ANC disabled. About 5 minutes of charging will deliver up to 60 minutes of activity for the Galaxy Buds 2. This is in addition to Qi wireless charging for the device.
There are still several details lacking for the Galaxy Buds 2 Pokemon Edition. It is unclear whether the product will be sold outside South Korea. Samsung is also silent on the unveiling date for the device.
Accessories maker DEFY has unveiled its latest wireless earbuds in India. The DEFY Gravity Pro supports Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity and has 13mm drivers. Its four microphones help to enhance environmental noise cancellation for excellent calls and music. The Gravity Pro in India is being offered at a starting price of Rs. 1,399 (~$18).
The DEFY Gravity Pro sports a premium stem design that makes a secure fit. The release of the new earbuds in India comes on the heels of the earlier launch of the DEFY FuzionX Pro. Built with excellent and durable materials, the Gravity Pro’s sliding design is aesthetically impressive and guarantees comfort.
The 13mm powerful drivers of the Gravity Pro help to deliver a truly immersive listening experience. Its ultra-low latency Turbo Mode is especially well-suited for gamers, as it delivers lag-free and synchronized audio with the visuals.
The ENC mics of the Gravity Pro minimize background noise and deliver voice clarity. The latest Bluetooth (version 5.3) technology is deployed in the Gravity Pro. This offers savings in power and battery consumption. The DEFY Gravity Pro has a 6-hour battery life, but can be extended to 25 hours with the charging case. The device offers brisk charging, as a 10-minute charge will yield up to 3 hours of activity.
The DEFY Gravity Pro has an IPX4 water resistance rating and smart touch controls. Three color variants will be available for customers in India namely carbon black, ocean blue, and frost white. A one-year warranty is offered for the DEFY Gravity Pro. Availability is from May 20 via Flipkart.
The Indian-based electronics manufacturer Zebronics has launched new wireless neckband earphones in the Indian market dubbed the Zeb-Yoga 3.
Zebronics Zeb-Yoga 3 specs & features
The Zeb-Yoga 3 neckband comes with an ergonomic and flexible design with metallic magnetic earpieces. It features large 14mm drivers that are tuned for a balanced sound profile.
Zebronics has claimed that Zeb-Yoga 3 neckband earphones can provide playback of up to 17 hours on a single charge. The earphones are also capable of providing up to 8 hours of playback with just 10 minutes of charge time. The neckband uses Bluetooth 5.0 for connectivity, has voice assistant support for Android smartphones, comes with in-line controls, and measures 111.2×28.2×182.7mm.
Zebronics Zeb-Yoga 3 price, availability
The Zebronics Zeb-Yoga 3 wireless neckband earphones are currently available to purchase at an introductory price of Rs. 699 on the Reliance Digital online store. The earphones are listed on the Zebronics website with a price tag of Rs.1,899.
The neckband is available to purchase in three different colors namely Black, Blue, Green, and Orange
Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 processor has been launched. It is a new processor under the Snapdragon 7 series that will power mid-range devices. The chipset is also the first mid-range SoC from the US-based company this year.
The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 processor comes with several first features. Qualcomm has confirmed that smartphones from Xiaomi, OPPO, and Honor powered by the newly announced processor will arrive in H2, 2022. OPPO’s Reno8 Pro is expected to be the first phone with the said SoC to launch on May 23rd.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 specifications and features
The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 processor is based on a 4nm process. It packs four Cortex-A710 cores clocked at 2.4GHz and four Cortex-A510 cores. It has Adreno 662 GPU that offers 20 percent faster performance than its predecessor. The new Snapdragon processor is also equipped with an X62 5G modem that is capable of 4.4Gbps download speeds and dual 5G connectivity. It supports WiFi-6E and Bluetooth 5.3 along with Snapdragon Sound and aptX support. The chipset can handle up to 16GB LPDDR5 RAM.
The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 supports up to 60Hz QHD+ or 144Hz FHD+ displays. In the photography department, it supports a single 200MP sensor, 64MP + 20MP sensors, and three 25MP sensors. It features three 14-bit ISPs that can capture 720p video at 480 fps and 4K HDR video at 30 fps. The processor also supports HDR10+, HDR10, and HLG formats.
The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 comes with Android SE and a Trusted Management Engine that promises optimal security for digital keys and wallets. The processor is compatible with modern-day navigation satellites such as GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, NavIC, and dual-frequency GNSS.
Huami’s Amazfit brand recently teased the impending launch of a new smartwatch in India. The watch is known as Amazfit GTR 2 New Version and was scheduled to launch on May 23. However, the brand has now officially announced the GTR 2 new version for the Indian market with the sale billed to commence on May 23.
The new version of the Amazfit GTR 2 features a few differences in the design aspect. The model retains the aluminum alloy fuselage of its predecessor but is available in Lightning Grey and Thunder Black silicone strap options.
In terms of the specs, the GTR 2 new version packs a 1.39-inch high-definition AMOLED screen with a resolution of 454 x 454 pixels, up to 450 nits brightness, and a pixel density of 326PPI. The display is covered with a layer of 2.5D glass with a scratch-resistant diamond-like carbon coating.
The smartwatch comes with support for over 90 Sports modes including outdoor running, walking, indoor cycling, open water swimming, elliptical, pool swimming, climbing, trail running, treadmill, skiing, free training, and outdoor cycling. The watch also comes with activity tracking features such as heart rate, distance, step count, calorie count, sleep tracking, and stress levels.
Other features onboard include Huami’s self-developed BioTracker, Blood-oxygen saturation measurement (SpO2), biological data sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope sensor, geomagnetic sensor, air pressure sensor, and ambient light sensor. The watch also has a 50ATM water-resistant level and supports Bluetooth 5.0 LE, Wi-Fi (2.4GHz), and GPS+GLONASS. The watch has 3GB of storage space for standalone music playback.
Keeping the light on is a 471mAh battery with up to 14 days of battery life with typical use. On heavy usage, the battery can last for 6.5 days while the battery life goes up to 38 days with basic use.
Aas for the pricing and availability, the Amazfit GTR 2 new version will retail for Rs. 11,999 (~$154) and will go on sale from May 23 via Flipkart and Amazfit’s website. The smartwatch will be sold at a discounted Rs 10,999 (~$141) price during its first sale.
Smartphone launches don’t seem to stop. There are going to be two more events and an online launch next week. All of them will be hosted by different brands.
The two in-person conferences will take place in China. They will be headed by Oppo and Redmi. Whereas, the online release will be carried out by Infinix in India.
A total of six smartphones are expected. The Chinese events will also witness the announcement of other products.
With that out the way, let’s take a look at these phones one by one.
Infinix has confirmed to launch the Infinix Hot 12 Play in India on May 23 (Monday). The device is expected to be announced in the country at 12 PM via social media.
Since the phone is already official in Thailand, we know everything about it. The handset offers a 6.82-inch HD+ display (LCD) with a 90Hz refresh rate and a MediaTek Helio G35 chipset.
It comes with a 13MP + AI lens dual-camera setup, an 8MP selfie camera, a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, a MicroSD card slot, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB Type-C port, Android 12 operating system, 6,000mAh battery, and 18W fast charging support.
2. Oppo Reno 8 Series
Oppo has scheduled a conference in China for May 23 (Monday). It will begin at 7 PM CST and can be live-streamed on Weibo and other popular Chinese video streaming platforms. The company has confirmed to unveil the Oppo Reno 8 series at this event.
The Oppo Reno 8 series will consist of three models, namely Oppo Reno 8, Oppo Reno 8 Pro, and Oppo Reno 8 Pro Plus. The vanilla model is anticipated to house a Mediatek Dimensity 1300 SoC, while the Pro and Pro Plus are expected to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 and Mediatk Dimensity 8100-Max chipsets respectively.
The Pro models will also arrive with Oppo’s in-house MariSilicon X NPU, which made its debut on the Oppo Find X5 and Oppo Find X5 Pro earlier this year. All three phones will flaunt a different design than the previous models.
The aforementioned smartphones will be also accompanied by Oppo’s second tablet called Oppo Pad Air.
3. Redmi Note 11T Series
Redmi has planned an event for May 24 (Tuesday) in China. The brand has confirmed to launch the Redmi Note 11T series at this conference. The event will be live-streamed on Weibo and other leading Chinese video streaming platforms from 7 PM CST.
Two phones are expected, namely Redmi Note 11T Pro and Redmi Note 11T Pro Plus. They are said to be powered by Mediatek Dimensity 1300 and Dimenisty 8100 chips respectively.
Interestingly, they will sport LCD displays. Redmi even claims that the LCD screen on the Pro Plus will be one of the best. The device is also the first LCD handset to get DisplayMate’s A+ rating.
Canada, the only member of the “Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network” that has not banned Huawei’s 5G equipment in their country, recently announced that it plans to ban Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp’s 5G tech from the country.
For those unaware, the Five Eyes is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
According to a Reuters report, Canada’s Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said, “We intend to exclude Huawei and ZTE from our 5G networks.” He added, “Providers who already have this equipment installed will be required to cease its use and remove it under the plans we’re announcing today.”
According to the recently announced plans, companies will be required to remove their 5G gear by June 2024 and will not receive any reimbursements for the gear. On the other hand, companies using Huawei or ZTE’s 4G equipment have a window till the end of 2027 to remove it.
China has expressed opposition to this decision, with the country’s foreign ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, stating, “We will take all necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate interests of Chinese firms.” A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy has accused Canada of working with the United States to suppress Chinese companies.
Alykhan Velshi, vice president of corporate affairs for Huawei in Canada, said in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp that the company is still waiting to hear “what sort of national security threats they think Huawei poses”. He added that Huawei still has 1,500 employees in Canada, mostly in research and development, and sold products like mobile phones, and would continue to do so.
Huawei Canada has also released an official statement on the matter, stating the following.
Huawei Canada is disappointed by the Canadian government’s decision. This is an unfortunate political decision that has nothing to do with cyber security or any of the technologies in question.
Over the past 13 years, Huawei Canada has devoted itself to helping Canadian carriers build out their wireless networks and provide quality services for the Canadian people. Huawei equipment, including both hardware and software, has been routinely and closely scrutinized by the government and its security agencies according to stringent quality standards. There have been zero security incidents caused by Huawei equipment throughout this entire period. We are proud of our security record in Canada.
Banning Huawei’s equipment and services will lead to significant economic loss in Canada and drive up the cost of communications for Canadian consumers. Unfortunately, this decision is beyond our control as a business. However, we will do everything in our capacity to protect the legitimate rights and interests of our customers, partners, and ourselves. We thank all of our Canadian partners, customers, and consumers for their ongoing support, and look forward to contributing to future network rollout in Canada when conditions permit.
The ban was widely expected and was delayed due to diplomatic tensions between China and Canada after the arrest of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in Canada on a U.S warrant.
To recall, Canada first announced its plans to review Huawei equipment on the grounds of national security back in September 2018. Later that year, Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada leading to long-running diplomatic tensions between the two nations that ended with Meng Wanzhou’s release in September last year.
OPPO Reno 8 series is set to launch in China on May 23rd. The lineup will consist a standard, Pro, and Pro+ variants. The upcoming Reno 8 series will arrive as the successor to last year’s Reno 7 series.
Ahead of the launch, the OPPO Reno 8 series renders have leaked online giving us a look at the smartphones. The key specifications of the upcoming offerings have also been leaked. Read on to find out what we know everything about the OPPO Reno 8 series.
The OPPO Reno 8 and 8 Pro will come with an identical design
Design and display
The OPPO Reno 8 series is expected to feature the same design with a squarish-shaped elevating camera module on the back panel. The size of the camera island goes on increasing from the Reno 8 to Reno 8 Pro+. All three smartphones have a boxy form factor.
As per the TENAA listing, the Reno 8 and Reno 8 Pro+ are tipped to feature a 6.43-inch and 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 90 or 120Hz refresh rate. Both the regular and Pro variants have a punch-hole cutout at the top left corner with the former also having a thicker bottom chin. The Pro+ variant will come with a centre-aligned punch-hole camera cutout. All three smartphones are expected to be equipped with an in-screen fingerprint scanner.
Camera
The OPPO Reno 8 series will come with triple rear cameras. The setup on the regular variant is said to consist a 50MP main sensor, 2MP secondary snapper, and a 2MP macro unit. The Pro+ model will also have the same setup except for the 2MP secondary sensor that will be replaced by an 8MP unit. Both smartphones are tipped to feature a 32MP selfie snapper. The Reno 8 Pro’s camera configuration remains unknown. As per the renders, the Pro and Pro+ models will come with a MariSilicon X chipset.
The OPPO Reno 8 Pro+ will have a centre-aligned punch hole camera cutout.
Specs
Under the hood, the OPPO Reno 8 will reportedly be equipped with a Dimensity 1300 processor whereas the Pro and Pro+ variant are tipped to be powered by a Snapdragon and Dimensity 8100 SoCs respectively. The TENAA listings also reveal that the vanilla and Pro+ models will be backed by a 4,500mAh battery with support for 80W fast charging.
Variants and availability
The pre-order listings on e-commerce websites reveal that the Reno 8 and 8 Pro will come in 8GB + 128GB and 8GB + 256GB RAM and storage configurations. Both devices will be offered in Clear Sky Blue, Slightly Drunk, and Night Tour Black colour options. On the other hand, the Reno 8 Pro+ will arrive in 8GB + 128GB, 8GB + 256GB, and 12GB + 256GB configurations. It will be available in Xiaoyaoqing (mint), Roaming Grey and Undercurrent paint jobs
HP has just refreshed its Spectre x360 series with the launch of new 16-inch and 13.5-inch 2-in-1 models. So let’s check out everything new with the Spectre x360 16 (2022) and Spectre x360 13.5 (2022) laptops.
HP Spectre x360 16 (2022) specs
As the name suggests, the Spectre x360 16 comes with a 16-inch display that is offered in two variants: – 3K (3,072×1,920 pixels) IPS touch display with 400 nits peak brightness and 100% sRGB gamut coverage; and a UHD+ (3,840×2,400 pixels) OLED touch panel with 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and 500 nits brightness.
Under the hood, the 2-in-1 laptop is powered by a 12th-generation Intel Core i7 processor paired with up to an Intel Arc A370M graphics card. Its base variant has 16GB RAM, while the top-of-the-line option offers 32GB RAM. For storage, the laptop has 512GB of PCIe NVMe TLC M.2 SSD storage that is upgradable up to 2TB (PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD).
The laptop comes with a Bang & Olufsen tuned quad-speaker system and features HP Audio Boost. The 2-in-1 also offers a full-size backlit keyboard and also brings along a fingerprint reader for security. It offers Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth v5.2, two Thunderbolt 4, 1 SuperSpeed USB Type-A, an HDMI 2.0b, a 5MP webcam, and a single 3.5mm jack for headphones and microphone. It has an 83Wh battery with 135W fast charging.
HP Spectre x360 13.5 (2022) specs
The 13-inch Spectre x360 also comes with two display variants – a WUXGA+ (1920 x 1280 pixels) IPS LCD touch panel with 400nits brightness and a 3K (3000 x 2000 pixels) OLED touch screen with 400nits peak brightness.
The laptop is also offered with two processor variants – Intel Core i5-1235U and Core i7-1255U. It is paired with Intel Iris Xe Graphics, up to 32GB of LPDDR4 RAM, and up to 2 TB PCIe NVMe TLC M.2 SSD storage.
It operates on Windows 11 and has a 5MP webcam with Windows Hello. Other than that, the laptop offers a Bang & Olufsen tuned quad-speaker setup, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, and a 66Wh batterythat can be charged via Type-C cable at 66W.
Pricing and Availability
The HP Spectre x360 16 is available with a starting price tag of $1,650 and comes in Natural Silver, Nightfall Black, and Nightfall Blue color options.
The HP Spectre X360 13.5 has a starting price of $1,250 and is also available in Natural Silver, Nightfall Black, and Nightfall Blue color options.
Just a while ago, Respawn Entertainment had finally launched its mobile port of Apex Legends. The new smartphone game had been in beta for sometime now, but it was finally released to the global market. And now, it appears to be a big hit in multiple markets.
For those unaware, Apex Legends Mobile, similar to its PC counterpart, is a battle royale title that features unique characters with distinct abilities. During its initial pre-registrations, the game saw more than 15 million players signing up. Following its full release, the game has seen explosive success across the globe. It even became the most downloaded game on the App Store in more than 60 countries.
As of right now, the Apex Legends Mobile is now the most downloaded game in multiple regions like the UK, India, Germany, the UK, Japan, and other nations. Furthermore, the title has even managed to quickly become one of the top 10 most downloaded iPhone games in over 89 countries. In India, the game became the top free game on the App Store, overtaking Battlegrounds Mobile India (PUBG Mobile remake for the Indian market).
Apex Legends is one of the most popular multiplayer games in the market and also one of the largest IP in the battle royale genre as well. So it arrives as no surprise that the mobile version of the game is also exploding in popularity right now.
Xiaomi exec shared on the Chinese micro-blogging website Weibo that Redmi Note 11T Pro+ has achieved an A+ certification from DisplayMate. It is the first LCD phone to receive this authoritative screen certification.
Lu Weibing, Partner at Xiaomi Group, President of Xiaomi China and International, and General Manager of the Redmi brand took to Weibo to announce that Redmi Note 11T Pro Plus has passed DisplayMate A+ screen certification and it is in fact the first LCD smartphone to do so. Weibing also revealed that Redmi Note 11T Pro Plus has also broken 14 other display records.
For the unversed, DisplayMate tests and evaluates various types of displays to determine what makes a display good or bad. Getting an A+ rating from DisplayMate is considered a big deal in the smartphone industry.
According to Lu Weibing, the smartphone features a 6.6-inch customized LCD panel with a 144Hz refresh rate. It has a customized 20.5:9 screen ratio that offers immersive and crisp picture quality. The display panel of the smartphone also has full DC dimming meaning it can replace quick flashes on your display with constant illumination.
In addition to that, the display also offers eye protection with the help of an anti-blue light filter. The LCD on Note 11T Pro + is highly adjustable and comes with Ambient color temperature sensing along with Dolby Vision certification.
As per Weibing, the smartphone will take the LCD display to a new level and will “revive the LCD glory”. The upcoming device has been nicknamed “little performance King Kong” which shows that folks at Xiaomi are really confident about the smartphone.
Other notable features of the smartphone are Dimensity 8100 processor, 5000mAh battery, and 120W fast charging. The device is expected to have 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage which might go up all the way to 512GB. In terms of software, the device will run MIUI 13 based on Android 12 out of the box.
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