Earlier this week, a slip-up from Amazon revealed that the iQOO Neo 6 5G smartphone will debut in India on May 31. Now, iQOO has officially confirmed that the device would indeed debut on May 31, and will be sold exclusively on Amazon India and iQOO’s official website.
Knocking it out of the park is kinda our power game. Thrilled to reveal the all-new #iQOONeo6 5G powered by the Snapdragon 870 5G and 80W FlashCharge! Are you ready for your Neo #PowerToWin?
Other than that, the teaser confirms that the smartphone will come with the Snapdragon 870 SoC, which is different from its Chinese counterpart, and will feature 80W fast charging. Let’s take a look at the expected specs of the iQOO Neo 6 Indian variant.
iQOO Neo 6 specs (Indian variant – expected)
The Neo 6 5G is expected to feature a 6.62-inch AMOLED FHD+ panel with 120Hz refresh rate. It will likely have an in-display fingerprint for security.
Under the hood, the device will feature a Snapdragon 870 SoC which will likely come paired with up to 12 GB of LPDDR4x RAM and up to 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage. It is confirmed to feature 80W fast charging and will likely come with a 4,700mAh battery. The device will operate on Android 12-based OriginOS Ocean / iQOO UI.
For optics, the smartphone is expected to house a 64-megapixel primary camera with OIS, a 12-megapixel ultrawide lens, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. On the front, the phone will likely have a 16-megapixel selfie snapper in a centered punch-hole cutout.
iQOO Neo 6 specs expected price
The device is rumored to have a starting price of Rs 29,000 ($373) and is expected to go as high as Rs 31,000 ($398) for the top-spec variant. The phone is expected to come in two colors – Dark Nova and Interstellar.
Some Apple iPhones are currently facing a nasty issue that is resulting in the deactivation of FaceTime and iMessage on the device.
According to numerous reports surfacing on Twitter, a nasty bug has been going around on Apple smartphones, deactivating FaceTime, iMessage, and, in some cases, the entire SIM service. This issue is currently exclusive to iPhones with e-SIM cards.
For those unaware, an eSIM is a digital SIM that is connected to the phone’s motherboard and is activated by the carrier. The iPhone XR and iPhone XS were the first models to debut with this feature.
Even Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has fallen victim to this bug as he took to Twitter to voice his complaint about this bug to Apple and T-mobile.
There is a very nasty iPhone and @TMobile bug where iMessage and FaceTime for a device’s phone number will randomly deactivate and there is no way to reactivate it. The only solution that worked for me is getting a new physical SIM card. An extremely disappointing issue.
This issue, however, is not just limited to T-mobile users as customers with other cellular providers are also facing this issue. Gurman tweeted that, currently, there are two workarounds to this issue. The first one is getting a new physical SIM card from your cellular provider and inserting it into your iPhone. The second option is to remove your eSIM account from the device and set it up again.
T-Mobile has confirmed the issue and has told Gurman that they are working closely with Apple on fixing the issue. T-Mobile has also said that the issue is related to iCloud/Apple and, according to Gurman, it is currently running rampant on devices with iOS 15.4, iOS 15.5, and iOS 15.6 beta 1 operating systems.
Back in December 2021, Samsung launched the Galaxy A13 5G in the US market as its most affordable 5G offering. Recently, the device was spotted on the Google Play listing hinting at an imminent European launch.
Now, according to a MySmartPrice report, tipster Sudhanshu Ambhore has leaked the European pricing of the Galaxy A13 5G. According to the tipster, the budget 5G smartphone will have a starting price of €179 for the 3GB + 32GB configuration. The 4GB + 64GB configuration will have a price tag of €209 and the top-spec 4GB + 128GB model will be priced at €239.
The tipster also informs that the device will launch with three color options – Black, Blue, and White.
Samsung Galaxy A13 5G specs and features
The Galaxy A13 5G sports a 6.5-inch LCD panel with 1600 x 720 pixels resolution, a 90Hz refresh rate, and an Infinity-V notch.
Under the hood, the device comes powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset. It features up to 4GB RAM and 64GB storage in the US. However, the European variant is said to come with up to 128GB of storage. The device also has a MicroSD card slot and comes with NFC support.
For optics, the smartphone offers a triple camera setup on the rear with a 50MP primary sensor, 2MP macro snapper, and a 2MP depth sensor. On the front, it has a 5MP camera for selfies and video calls.
Other than that, the device has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, a single speaker, a 3.5mm headphone jack, Android 11-based operating system, a 5,000mAh battery, and 15W charging. Connectivity options on the phone include sub-6GHz 5G, dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth, and a USB Type-C port.
Just Corseca has announced its long-lasting Stallion Wireless Neckband earbuds in India. The Just Corseca Stallion is priced at an MRP of Rs. 3,499 (~$45) and offers several impressive features.
Just Corseca is a flagship brand of Damson Technologies Pvt Ltd. It is making a bold statement on the Indian accessories market with the release of the Stallion. The new wireless neckband comes with an 800mAh polymer battery that gives up to 100 hours of activity. The neckband can be charged via its USB-C port quickly. Ten minutes of charge delivers up to 10 hours of playback.
The Just Corseca Stallion has a chic design and structure. It delivers superior rich bass HD stereo sound, and it has a dedicated camera button. The Just Corseca Stallion supports Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity with a range of about 15 meters.
Just Corseca says the Stallion was designed to provide immense user satisfaction and comfort. It offers amazing audio clarity and powerful bass. The Stallion wireless neckband is a unique product that is comfortable to use for extended periods. The Stallion’s 100-hour battery life is the highest in the wireless neckband segment.
The earphone offers a tangle-free user experience. It is rated IPX8, providing dust and water resistance. The neckband is made with tough silicone rubber. It can be used for adventure and workout activities.
Just Corseca Stallion is available for purchase from the company’s official website. It can also be purchased from online and offline retail outlets in India. Just Corseca is offering a 1-year warranty for the Stallion.
Google Pixel Watch was unveiled alongside the Pixel 6a during the I/O 2022 event as the company’s first smartwatch. The launch of the highly anticipated watch is due in October. However, the specifications of the watch have already started getting leaked. Last week, it was rumored that the smartwatch will be powered by an outdated Exynos 9110 processor and a new report today confirms that the Pixel Watch is actually powered by an Exynos 9110 SoC, but with some help from a second chip.
9to5Googe, citing sources, has confirmed that the 2018 Exynos 9110 chipset will indeed power Google’s first smartwatch, but it will be accompanied by a co-processor meant to relieve the 9110 of some of the load. It is possible that this additional chipset could come with Tensor branding, however, it’s unclear if Google intends to extend its branding to wearables.
Google seems to have taken inspiration from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 4100+ SoC which has a main CPU accompanied by a secondary “ultra-low” power co-processor that supports up to 64K colors and powers the always-on display. This takes the load off the main CPU and also helps the watch achieve better battery life.
The publication also reports that Pixel Watch would have 32GB of storage. That’s more storage than any other Wear OS device available on the market. It will be interesting to see how it will be utilized. Moreover, the Pixel watch is also said to surpass every smartwatch in terms of RAM. For reference, Galaxy Watch 4 has 1.5GB of RAM, and Google’s wearable is going to carry slightly more RAM than that.
Google Pixel watch back | Via: Android Central
As seen above, the sensors on the wearable’s back appear to be identical to the sensor array used in the Fitbit Luxe and Fitbit Charge 5. The technology in question can monitor heart rate, SpO2 (blood oxygen), and ECG, and since Google owns Fitbit, recycling sensors like this seems only logical.
The Xiaomi 12 Ultra is expected to be the brand’s first-ever flagship to sport the newly announced Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 that runs on TSMC’s industry-leading 4nm process. Ahead of the device’s rumoured launch date in June, it seems that another case manufacturer has revealed the Xiaomi 12 Ultra rear back design via their product listings online.
The news comes from a Chinese user on Weibo, username @Experience More (machine translated), who shared in their latest Weibo post on their latest findings on the Xiaomi 12 Ultra when surfing through e-commerce websites like JD.com and Taobao.
Source: Weibo
They stumbled across a new listing from a rather known case manufacturer in the country that was for the Xiaomi 12 Ultra. The product listing is a rear protective case for the Xiaomi 12 Ultra that features a “Porsche inspired” case design that features a black and grey stripe across with a clearly known knock-off branding name “Purecar design” on the back, which is a blatant copy of the “Porsche Design” found earlier on Huawei flagships during Huawei’s golden age.
The cases are available in two colour options: Midnight Black and Jade Green.
Xiaomi 12 Ultra case in Midnight BlackXiaomi 12 Ultra Case in Jade Green
However, the casing design philosophy is not the highlight of the news. The highlight here is that the product listing features the same camera island design with 7 hole cutouts as the case design of the Xiaomi 12 Ultra revealed earlier last week.
This means that Xiaomi has seemingly finalised on the rear camera island design for the Xiaomi 12 Ultra, and the smartphone manufacturer has already sent out models for the case manufacturers across the country to start production, just in time for the expected launch of the Xiaomi 12 Ultra launch in June.
To stay tuned on the latest news of the Xiaomi 12 Ultra, stay tuned to our coverage here at Gizmochina to get the latest updates on the Chinese tech scene!
OnePlus, the once-known brand for its speedy value-for-money flagship devices, has officially announced that the company is launching their new high-end premium smartphone powered by Qualcomm’s newly announced Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, later this year in Q3 2022.
Source: Weibo
The company announced the news on its official account on Chinese social media Weibo. In the post, the company proudly claims that the brand are amongst the first batch of smartphone manufacturers to receive the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC and the brand will be launching its next OnePlus flagship soon in the third quarter of this year.
Source: OnePlus China
This news announcement comes in line with the company’s marketing strategy since 2021, which is drip-feeding OnePlus fans with one feature at a time over the course of several months to build up hype leading up to the launch of the device.
As for the name of the upcoming flagship, OnePlus has not officially revealed the name yet. But we have heard rumours that that apparently OnePlus is currently developing a OnePlus 10 Ultra with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC onboard, but since it’s already in the second half of the year, there could be a possibility of the next OnePlus flagship to be called the OnePlus 10RT, OnePlus 10T or OnePlus 10T Pro instead.
As for the other 2022 flagships, currently there are only 2 other confirmed manufacturers slated to launch their flagships powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 — Asus and Realme.
On the other hand, Asus announced its ROG Phone 6 series will be the world’s first gaming smartphones to feature the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC.
Source: Asus ROG Global
Both smartphones are expected to debut their flagship devices next month in China and for updates regarding the latest technology news from China, stay tuned to our coverage here at Gizmochina!
Lofree is a well-known Chinese brand that combines technology with creativity and brings out beautiful, minimalist, and functional designs. They specialize in designing products such as mechanical keyboards, Bluetooth table speakers, table fans, etc. With every product, Lofree brings a new and unique design element that would appeal to both the classy as well as the nerdy consumer. If you want to add spice to your everyday mundane tech devices then be sure to check out Lofree products.
Designed especially for travel enthusiasts and globe trekkers, this device is a highly portable keyboard that comes with its own unique case. With this keyboard, the brand has combined modern features with a retro look and added some unique design features on some of the keys like the space bar.
Lofree Wanderfree Moment has a compact 84-key Ten-Key Less layout with a solid aluminum alloy chassis. The keyboard uses high-quality Cherry MX switches for an exquisite typing experience and comes with dual-mode connectivity that supports Wireless Bluetooth V5.0 and USB Type-C. The highlight feature of the keyboard is its exquisite aluminum alloy case that allows users to carry the keyboard around with ease.
If you want a unique and different keyboard that stands out immediately on your desk then check out the Lofree 1% Keyboard. The 1% keyboard is a compact 68 key 65% fully transparent keyboard. The chassis is made of a photo plated bottom case that holds transparent cherry MX jelly fish switches, in-house developed and patented PBT keycaps and a transparent PC cover. Moreover with a white LED backlight and seven different keyboard effects, the Lofree 1% mechanical keyboard transforms you desk into a different space.
Key Features:
Fully transparent unique design
Transparent chassis
Patented PBT keycaps
Transparent Cherry MX Jellyfish mechanical keys
68-key ultra-compact 65% layout
White LED backlight with 7 in-built lighting effects
Full-key non-conflict design
Bluetooth v5.1
Wired: USB Type-C
Multiple system support(Windows/macOS/iOS/Android)
Lofree and Accidental Design have collaborated together to make a unique gift box that consists of a wireless mechanical keyboard and a high-quality fountain pen. The unique mechanical keyboard comes with a walnut and brass wood chassis and a matching keyboard carry case that also houses a beautiful fountain pen. The keyboard is fully mechanical 68 key keyboard and comes with Bluetooth v5.0. The carry case is designed in such a way that you can keep your laptops and tablets on the case, while using them with the keyboard.
Key Features:
Gift box with a 68-key compact wireless mechanical keyboard and a fountain pen
Following the launch of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 flagship SoC, Asus immediately took to social media to start their launch rollout for the annual refresh of their highly anticipated ROG gaming smartphone lineup.
And in 2022, the company is proud to announce that the ROG Phone 6 series will be coming to both the China market and global market as the world’s first 1st gaming smartphone powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1!
Source: ROG Global on Instagram
The first teaser comes from the official ROG Global Instagram account. In their latest Instagram post, the company officially confirms that the company’s next flagship lineup, the ROG Phone 6 series is due to launch soon in the global market, and ROG fans online seem to be very excited about the global launch. Asus ROG officially replied on Instagram that fans can stay tuned to the company’s announcement soon for the launch of the ROG Phone 6 lineup, the world’s 1st gaming phones powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1.
Official ROG account on Weibo
The second teaser comes from the company’s official Weibo social media account in China. In their latest Weibo post, ROG confirms that the ROG Phone 6 series will be launched as the Tencent variant in the Chinese market, which sports a different “Tencent Games” branding on the back and slightly different software from the global variant. Despite this, the ROG Phone 6 series Tencent variant will still feature the same Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 found on the global variant.
For those who are not familiar, the Asus ROG Phone series ever since 2019, was launched in two variants, a global variant for global markets and a Tencent variant in the Chinese market. This is because Asus stroke a deal with Tencent Games to use the company’s branding in China to increase marketability in the region. 2022 marks the fourth year of the Tencent Games and Asus ROG brand partnership in China with the upcoming launch of the ROG Phone 6.
Source: Realme
Currently, the only other confirmed Android flagship teased to feature the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is the Realme GT 2 Master Explorer Edition. But other Android manufacturer brands like Xiaomi, Motorola, iQOO and OnePlus have teased to feature the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset in their upcoming unannounced flagship devices.
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.
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