The iQOO Neo6 has been officially confirmed to launch on April 13th, and ahead of that, iQOO has been busy teasing the device’s specifications.
First of all, the iQOO Neo6 will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, which reportedly has a 60% better GPU performance compared to the Snapdragon 888. The phone even comes with an independent display chip which helps achieve a higher frame rate through MEMC, allowing games to reach the 90FPS or 120FPS mark easily.
In terms of display, you get an OLED E4 panel that supports a 120Hz refresh rate, 1,200Hz enhanced touch sampling rate, 360Hz actual touch sampling rate, 1,300nits peak brightness, 600000:1 contrast ratio, HDR10+ certification, and SGS low blue light eye protection certification. The enhanced 1,200Hz sampling rate is currently limited to a few games like Call of Duty Mobile though.
The independent display chip also comes with an intelligent adaptation algorithm allowing for a 16,000-point dimming level, which helps the eyes during extended gaming sessions.
The iQOO Neo6 has a body thickness of 8.5mm, its display is sized 6.62-inches, and its battery is rated 4580mAh, a recent certification of the phone revealed. The device is also equipped with up to 12GB of RAM, comes pre-installed with Android 12, and scored 1,193 points and 3,523 points in the single and multi-core Geekbench tests, respectively.
Xiaomi has launched the third-generation walkie-talkie aptly named Xiaomi Walkie-Talkie 3. The product retains the affordable gadget feature for which Xiaomi is known. It retails for just 399 yuan (~$62) despite packing several improved features including 4G full Netcom support.
The 4G full Netcom support spreads across the three major operators in China. This feature makes it possible to establish communication within a distance of 5,000 km across the country, breaking through the traditional intercom call distance limit.
In terms of convenience, functions such as independent group building, quick team formation, and private intercom can be realized without cumbersome settings. At the same time, it supports OTA upgrade which is expected to unlock more functions in the future.
Furthermore, the Mi Walkie Talkie 3 supports a variety of intercom methods, including one-to-one intercom, one-to-many intercom, as well as supports two-way voice calls. It features a high-performance audio system consisting of a 40mm large-size speaker unit and a professional audio processing chip bringing a 30% increase in the volume over previous models. It also has an environmental noise reduction algorithm, which reduces the distortion rate by 10.9%. The Mi Walkie-Talkie 3 has a built-in 3000mAh battery, which can achieve 100 hours of ultra-long standby time and can also be used for up to 60 hours. It is charged through the Type-C interface.
The walkie-talkie is equipped with a 2-inch color screen, supports IP54 protection, and is equipped with an integrated back clip. Not only supports 3.5mm headset access, but also can connect to Bluetooth headsets.
Here’s a brief history of the Mi Walkie Talkie brand. The Mi Walkie-Talkie was first launched in 2017 and won the Japanese Good Design award that year. The Good Design Award, the iF Design Award, the Red Dot award, and the IDEA award, are known as the four major global design awards. Xiaomi followed up with the MIJIA Walkie-Talkie 1S in October 2018. In April 2019, the company updated the lineup with the Mijia Walkie-Talkie 2. Xiaomi’s Mi Walkie-Talkie Lite was the last model launched in September 2020 before this recent update. The core quality of the products includes their affordable pricing and a minimalist yet sleek design. The prices range from 129 yuan (~$20) to 449 yuan (~$69).
Back in September 2021, Boult Audio launched the AirBass XPods TWS earbuds in India with up to 20 hours of battery. Now, the company has debuted a higher-tier model in the line dubbed the AirBass XPods Pro.
The new earbuds feature a similar in-ear design as the AirBass XPods and come with Environmental Noise Cancellation and offer Pro+ calling experience using a Quad Mic setup.
Boult Audio Airbass XPods Pro specs & features
The new TWS earbuds from the company house high-fidelity 13mm drivers which are tuned to provide extra bass. The earbuds are certified with IPX5 water resistance making them suitable for workouts and use outdoors. The XPods Pro earbuds are fitted with an ENC chip that tunes out noise for a Pro+ calling experience.
Boult Audio Airbass XPods Pro TWS earbuds come with touch-sensitive controls on their stem to adjust volume, change tracks, attend calls, or access voice assistants like Siri and Google Assistant. The earphones use Bluetooth 5.1 for connectivity and are compatible with Android, iOS, and Windows devices.
Coming to the battery and charging solution, Boult Audio claims that the Airbass XPods Pro can offer up to 6 hours of playback on a single charge which can be extended up to 24 hours with the charging case. The charging case has a USB Type-C port for charging and the company claims 100 minutes of playback time with just 15 minutes of charge time. To make it more convenient for users to know the battery level of their earbuds, the company has included an indicator on the charging case.
Boult Audio Airbass XPods Pro price & availability
Boult Audio AirBass Xpods Pro TWS earbuds will be available at ₹1,199 for a limited time offer. It can be purchased via Flipkart and Boult Audio’s official website. The TWS earbuds come in Black and White color options.
In recent months, POCO has launched the POCO M4 Pro 5G and POCO M4 Pro 4G smartphones in different markets. Reports have revealed that the company is working on the standard POCO M4 5G handset. Rumors are rife that it will arrive as a rebranded version of the Redmi Note 11E 5G, which debuted in China last month. Since it will carry the POCO branding, it is expected to come with a refreshed rear design. Tipster Abhishek Yadav has shared a render of the POCO M4 5G, which has surfaced from the MTC certification site. The image gives the first look at its rear design.
Although the image is quite blurry, it does reveal the key elements of the POCO M4 5G’s design. The back panel of the smartphone features a camera block like the other POCO M-series smartphones.
POCO M4 5G
Its right side has the POCO branding, whereas its left side has the camera sensors and a pair of LED flash units. It appears that the device will be available in green and yellow colors. While the leaked image does not reveal the front design of the phone, it is likely to feature a waterdrop notch screen like the Note 11E.
POCO M4 5G specifications (Rumored)
The POCO M4 5G will feature a 6.58-inch LCD FHD+ screen that offers a 90Hz refresh rate. The front side of the device will feature a 5-megapixel selfie camera, and its back panel will sport a 50-megapixel primary camera and a 2-megapixel depth helper. It will run on the Android 12 OS and MIU 13.
The Dimensity 700 chip will be fueling the POCO M4 5G. It is likely to arrive in variants such as 4 GB RAM + 64 GB storage, 4 GB RAM + 128 GB storage, and 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage. The device will house a 5,000mAh battery that supports 18W fast charging.
The Moto G Stylus (2022) was launched only a couple of months back but Motorola will soon be selling another variant of the device, this time with support for 5G.
Design-wise, both phones look the same from what we can tell, but the upcoming 5G variant packs a significantly more powerful chipset in the form of the Snapdragon 695, whose octa-core CPU is paired with the Adreno 619 GPU. Storage configs that’ll be available are unknown as of yet but Evan Blass (via 91mobiles) has revealed that the standard memory configuration consists of 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM alongside 128GB of storage.
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Via 91mobiles x Evan Blass
Motorola phones typically have ever so slightly taller displays than your typical bezel-less smartphone, and the Moto G Stylus 5G has a display with an unconventional 1080×2460 resolution. Sized 6.78-inches, the LCD panel supports a refresh rate of 120Hz and houses a 16MP selfie camera within a center-aligned punch-hole. Its brightness peaks out at 650nits.
The rear camera module is made up of a 50MP primary unit, an 8MP secondary unit for ultrawide shots, and a 2MP depth sensor, which is identical to the 4G Moto G Stylus. For charging, there’s a USB-C port at the bottom, which is joined by a headphone jack.
The device looks rather thick, which is quite expected considering it houses a stylus inside along with a large 5,000mAh battery.
Just take the aforementioned specifications with a pinch of salt as none of them look officially confirmed as of yet.
Japanese company Bauhutte has launched a new product for gamers and this one will practically blow your mind. That is because it is an Electric gaming bed! Yes, a bed for gamers. Japan is regarded as one of the top gaming countries and it is no surprise that companies such as Nintendo, Sega, Konami, and a host of other gaming giants have originated from Japan. Bauhutte’s electric gaming bed has the model number BGB-100FA and will retail for a decent 57,000 yen (~$462) price tag.
The Bauhutte Electric Gaming Bed isn’t the brand’s first gaming product. Earlier this year the Japanese company launched a hand massager for gamers with heating function. The manufacturer also has tables and shelves around the bed, based on the concept of a “game bed” layout that allows you to play games, sleep, and eat without leaving the bed.
The BGB-100FA is equipped with two motors and features two positions for tilting at the waist and legs. The angle of the waist can be adjusted to a maximum of 60 degrees and the angle of the legs can be adjusted to 35 degrees, so that users can adopt positions suitable for sleeping, playing games, or eating without having to leave the bed.
The standard equipment size is 94 (W) x 199 (L) x 13.8~28.5 (H) cm, and the load capacity is less than 200 kg, which can be used even by heavy players.
Last week, we reported that Ubisoft is rumored to be working with WeGame (Tencent) to bring the popular PC and console tactical shooter Rainbow Six Siege to mobile devices. Now, Ubisoft has officially unveiled the game with an announcement trailer featuring a mix of in-engine cinematics and gameplay footage from mobile.
The game, dubbed Rainbow Six Mobile is currently in the pre-alpha stage, so it won’t be launching anytime soon, but Ubisoft has started sending out invites to existing players of Rainbow Six Siege PC and console via email.
Interested players can also head over to the official Rainbow Six Mobile website to register with their preferred platform and get a chance to participate in the testing phase of the game. Players can register on either Android or iOS. Players will need to create a Ubisoft Account or log in with an already-existing account in order to register.
From the looks of the announcement trailer, the game appears to retain the same mechanics, gunplay, gadgets, and abilities which are currently present in the PC and console versions. The trailer also reveals the Bank map which appears to be exactly the same as the PC version. As we know, Rainbow Six Siege has a steep learning curve and demands precision aiming skills, so it will be interesting to see whether the game is able to take off in a big way with mobile audiences.
Other than that, the official Ubisoft website has revealed that in its current state, the game will have two maps, Bank and Border. The current roster of Rainbox Six Mobile includes operators Ash, Sledge, Twitch, Thermite, and Hibana on the Attacker side and Smoke, Bandit, Valkyrie, Caveira, and Mute on the defender side. The game is expected to introduce more operators and maps as the game progresses through the development stages.
Xiaomi today kicked off its Fan Festival and it will last until April 12 in India, offering attractive discounts across almost its entire product lineup. Through it, customers will be able to grab Xiaomi/Redmi phones, TVs, or laptops at their cheapest possible rates. The only catch is that most of the eye-watering low rates can only be availed if you’re an SBI cardholder.
The Mi Fan Festival 2022 will run through all of Xiaomi’s retail stores and the official online store (mi.com). Few buyers also get a chance to win 100% cashback on their purchase. Additionally, the Chinese consumer tech company is also offering discount coupons.
Some of the best offers as part of the sale will be found with laptops and we’ve curated these below.
Name
Discounted price
Original price
RedmiBook 15
Rs. 32,499
Rs. 36,999
RedmiBook 15 Pro
Rs. 42,999
Rs. 47,999
Mi Notebook Pro
Rs. 55,499
Rs. 55,999
Mi Notebook Ultra
Rs. 53,999
Rs. 58,999
The RedmiBook 15 becomes one of the most value-for-money laptop purchases around with the discount, and will set you back by only Rs. 32,499 after applying the SBI offer. It currently looks out of stock, though, and it isn’t clear when it will be made available again.
The RedmiBook 15 Pro and Mi Notebook Ultra meanwhile have received the highest raw discount amounts, slashing their prices by Rs. 5,000 each. The RedmiBook 15 Pro is powered by the Intel Core i5-11300H processor and offers a 15.6″ FHD display while the Mi Notebook Ultra is Xiaomi’s flagship lappy with 16GB RAM + 512GB NVMe SSD, i5 11th Gen + Iris Xe Graphics specifications.
Xiaomi is likely to launch the Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G on April 12 in India. Its landing page is now live on Amazon India. Well before the expected launch, tipster Yogesh Brar has shed some light on the pricing of the device. He has claimed that the company is also planning to launch the Xiaomi 12X and Xiaomi 12X Pro smartphones in India.
Last year, Xiaomi launched the Xiaomi 11X and Xiaomi 11X Pro smartphones in India. Based on Brar’s tweet, both models will be succeeded by the Xiaomi 12X and Xiaomi 12X Pro smartphones. He revealed that the Xiaomi 12X will be powered by the Dimensity 8100 chipset, whereas the Xiaomi 12X Pro will come with the Dimensity 9000 SoC.
Xiaomi 12 Pro
The Xiaomi 11X and Xiaomi 11X Pro are rebranded versions of the Redmi K40 and Redmi K40 Pro+ smartphones. Leaked information about the chipsets of the Xiaomi 12X and 12X Pro suggests that these phones could be rebranded versions of the Redmi K50 and Redmi K50 Pro, which debuted in China last month.
When it comes to the Xiaomi 12 Pro, Brar claims that it will start at Rs 65,000 in India. this price, it is likely to rival the likes of the OnePlus 10 Pro, Realme GT 2 Pro, and iQOO 9 Pro 5G. The device will come with specs like a 6.73-inch AMOLED LTPO FHD+ 120Hz display, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, up to 12 GB of LPDDR5 RAM, up to 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage, 50-megapixel triple rear cameras, a 32-megapixel front camera, and a 4,600mAh battery that supports 50W wireless charging and 120W wired charging.
The popular Indian food ordering apps Zomanto and Swiggy are down right now. Users have reported on Twitter that they are unable to place orders or browse the menus and listings.
This is reportedly the second outage of the day as the apps went dark for half an hour prior to the current outage. Both Swiggy and Zomato have reported that they are facing temporary glitches and are working to fix them soon.
The main cause of the issue appears to be a technical glitch with Amazon Web Services and this could be the reason for the Swiggy and Zomato outage in India.
The issue has sadly surfaced during lunch hours leaving many Indian users vexed and hungry.
Separately, the food delivery platforms recently got into hot waters with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) which ordered an investigation into the Swiggy and Zomato apps to verify if they were “neutral.” (via Reuters)
The order came months after the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) asked the CCI to investigate the companies for breaching platform neutrality by providing priority to exclusive contractors.
Back in July 2021, OnePlus launched the Nord 2 midrange smartphone in India. Since then, there have been multiple reports of the device catching fire and even causing severe burns and injury to the victims. So far, the company has cited damage through external force in a majority of the cases.
Now, reports have emerged of another OnePlus Nord 2 device exploding while the user was on a call.
@OnePlus_IN Stop promoting/introducing new phones and start working on your existing products. My brother’s phone One Plus Nord 2 burst out suddenly while he was talking on phone. Portions of melted metal got clinged on his palm and face. We will get this reported shortly. pic.twitter.com/x1pVoDosZM
The incident was first reported on March 26, 2022. According to Twitter user Lakshay Verma (@lakshayvrm), the device exploded in his brother’s hand while he was on a call. The explosion caused melted metal fragments to cling to the user’s palm and face.
In a deleted tweet, Lakshay documented that he and his brother went to the OnePlus service center in CP (Connaught Place, New Delhi) to seek resolution on the matter. The service center reportedly asked the affected party to with for 2-3 days, following which they called Lakshay to collect the burnt device since they can’t do anything in the matter.
Looking at the pictures provided in the tweet, the phone is completely damaged and beyond repair. The blast appears to have happened around the left edge of the phone, which is where the phone caught fire in earlier cases as well.
A 91mobiles report states that the victim has filed a case against OnePlus at the consumer court after not getting a proper response from the company on the incident. So far, it appears that OnePlus has kept quiet on the matter after initially directing the Twitter user to contact the company over DMs so they could ” look into the claim.”
This incident is just the latest one in a long line of reported cases of the OnePlus Nord 2 exploding. Users of the OnePlus Nord have shown concern over the incident stating they are “scared” that their device might explode. Stay tuned for more updates on this latest incident.
Xiaomi has kickstarted the Xiaomi Fan Festival worldwide. The company is offering discounts on a wide variety of products across multiple countries. We stumbled across interesting deals provided by the Indian division on two of the popular smartphones from 2021 – Redmi Note 10 Pro and Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G. Let’s check out how much they cost now.
Redmi Note 11 Pro
Xiaomi India has partnered with SBI (State Bank of India) for discounts on the occasion of the Xiaomi Fan Festival, which will last from April 6 to April 12 on Mi.com. Additionally, the Chinese consumer tech company is also offering discount coupons. Combining these two offers, customers can purchase certain products at very low prices.
For instance, the Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G is priced at ₹26,999 (6GB + 128GB) and ₹28,999 (8GB + 128GB) in the country. With the ₹1,000 discount coupon and ₹5,000 discount on SBI Credit Card or Credit Card EMI transactions, customers can avail the said phone at only ₹20,999 and ₹22,999. Additionally, customers can get the Mi Dual Driver earphones at ₹49, Mi Automatic Soap Dispenser at ₹49, and Mi Liquid Soap Refill at ₹1.
Similarly, the Redmi Note 10 Pro (6GB + 128GB) retails at ₹17,999 in the region. However, by applying the ₹2,000 discount coupon and availing the ₹1,500 discount via SBI Credit Card transaction, customers can get the handset at only ₹14,499.
These are probably the best-ever deals on the Xiaomi Lite NE 5G and the Redmi Note 10 Pro since their launch in India. So make good use of these offers while they last until April 12.
Samsung devices running Android versions 9 through 12 could be affected by a serious software vulnerability that allows local applications to mimic system-level activity. Malicious apps have the potential to hijack critical protected functionality through them, giving attackers the ability to factory reset, make phone calls, install/uninstall apps, and weaken HTTPS security — no user approval required.
The CVE-2022-22292 vulnerability was discovered by Kryptowire, a mobile security company, and was communicated to Samsung on November 27, 2021, receiving a “High severity” rating. Samsung patched it through a security update rolled out in February 2022 as part of its ongoing Security Maintenance Release (SMR) process.
The vulnerability’s origin is in the pre-installed Phone app which contains an insecure component allowing local apps to perform system-level operations without user authorization.
Kryptowire recommends that automated mobile security scanning should become a common practice to ensure peace of mind for end-users and businesses.
“Ever think someone else has access to your phone? Unfortunately, you may be right,” said Alex Lisle, CTO of Kryptowire. “Mobile applications are becoming the primary point of personal and professional activity, representing an increasingly attractive target for bad actors.”
iQOO Neo6 is scheduled to go official on April 13 in China. Recent reports have revealed the key specifications of the Neo6. Earlier this week, an official teaser video surfaced on Weibo, which gave a look at the design of the smartphone. The handset is now available for reservations on JD.com in China. The retailer listing does not say anything about the specs of the device. However, the official renders available show that it will be available in black and orange colors.
The iQOO Neo6 renders show that it will be sporting a flat display with a punch-hole design. Past reports have claimed that it has a 6.62-inch AMOLED display that offers a Full HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The screen is integrated with a fingerprint scanner.
There is nothing available on the left side of the iQOO Neo6. However, its right edge has volume buttons and a power key. Flipping the phone to its back reveals its triple camera unit. At present, there is no information on the front and rear sides of the device.
The Neo6 will be a budget flagship phone powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. The handset was recently spotted at AnTuTu benchmarking site with 12 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage. It will come preinstalled with Android 12 OS, which will be customized with OriginOS Ocean and iQOO UI.
The handset is likely to house a 4,700mAh battery. It is believed that the Vivo phone with the V2196A model number that has appeared at TENAA and 3C certification sites could be the upcoming iQOO Neo6. The 3C listing of the device has revealed that it may carry support for 80W fast charging.
Last month, Vivo teased its upcoming Vivo Pad tablet by officially releasing its live images. The tablet is expected to launch in China alongside the Vivo X Fold and the Vivo X Note devices on April 11th.
Prior to its release, the tablet has appeared on Geekbench revealing the specifications of the device such as processor, RAM, OS version, and more.
According to a MySmartPrice report, the Vivo Pad with model number PA2170 comes powered by a Qualcomm octa-core chipset. The chip has one core clocked at 3.19GHz, three cores capable of going up to 2.42GHz, and four cores with a max clock speed of 1.80GHz. Going by the information provided in the database listing, this chip is none other than the Snapdragon 870 SoC. The SoC also has the Adreno 650 GPU on board.
The listing further reveals that the device comes with 8GB of RAM and will run Android 11 out of the box. Coming to its Geekbench performance, the Vivo Pad scored 1027 points in the single-core test and 3382 points in the multi-core test.
Vivo Pad specs and features (rumored)
So far, leaks have indicated that the Vivo Pad will come with an 11-inch display with a 2.5K resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. The display of the device is also said to offer Dolby Vision support. The tablet will have a metal body and run OriginOS based on Android 11. The tablet will also offer stylus support for the Vivo Pencil and come with a dual-camera and a quad-speaker setup.
Other than that, leaks have also revealed that the Vivo Pad will feature a 13-megapixel main camera and an 8-megapixel lens on the rear. On the front, the device is said to house an 8-megapixel camera placed inside a punch-hole. The device is tipped to house a 7,860mAh battery with support for 44W fast charging.
Samsung flagship-level phones could soon launch equipped with MediaTek processors — something that’s currently limited to the company’s budget Galaxy A series. This means that the share of self-developed Exynos chips in the flagship realm could see a dip.
The first phones to reflect on the move are expected to be the Galaxy S22 Fan Edition, which will likely be released in the second half of this year, followed by the Galaxy S23 series. Not all of the units will be featuring MediaTek chips, though, as only about half of the Galaxy S22 FE and Galaxy S23 phones are expected to use them (via Business Korea).
Samsung has to date relied on a Qualcomm + Exynos combo for its premium smartphone lineup so it isn’t clear what the division will look like if the MediaTek deal goes through. Three variants feel like a stretch but aren’t impossible. Jumping on to the MediaTek bandwagon should also bring in additional benefits such as increased profitability since Qualcomm chips have always been pricier.
MediaTek’s share in the global mobile application processor market stood at 33 percent in Q4 2021, second only to Qualcomm with its 30 percent share, according to a report from Counterpoint.
Meanwhile, Samsung’s Exynos chips only had a 4% share in the same quarter, which isn’t even close to the other two market giants. The company is having a hard time shaking off the impression about Exynos chips running hot and inefficiently, and had to even resort to increasing the share of Qualcomm chips over Exynos ones with the Galaxy S22 series.
The Galaxy Z Fold series is Samsung’s most expensive consumer smartphone lineup. It offers cutting-edge foldable technology accompanied by productivity-focused software and durability. However, the device lacks a flagship-level camera system. The company wants to fix this in the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold4.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3
According to findings by GalaxyClub, the Galaxy Z Fold4 will arrive with an upgraded camera system. To be precise, it will sport a new telephoto unit.
The device will come with a 10MP sensor with a 3x optical zoom lens. Going by the specs, it appears to be the same one that’s found on all three Galaxy S22 models. For the unaware, the Galaxy Z Fold3 has an older 12MP 2x telephoto unit.
Further, the next-gen foldable’s cover display will retain the 10MP front-facing camera from its predecessor. This same sensor is also found on the Galaxy S22 and the Galaxy S22+.
Unfortunately, nothing else is known about the Galaxy Z Fold4’s camera setup. However, GalaxyClub suggests that the phone could feature the same 50MP primary sensor and the 12MP ultra-wide unit from the non-Ultra Galaxy S22 models.
For comparison, the current-gen Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 has a 12MP (wide) + 12MP (ultra-wide) + 12MP (2x telephoto) triple rear camera system. There’s also a 10MP front-facing camera for the cover display and a 4MP under-display camera for the main foldable screen.
The OnePlus Nord CE 2 5Gis here, and it brings subtle upgrades to the lineup as compared to its predecessor. The brand’s CE edition stands for Core Edition and keeps the bare-bones features which include 5G, aiming to keep the cost down and offer a cheaper entry into the OnePlus ecosystem.
One of the biggest changes is in terms of its design, which seems to be inspired by its sibling, the Realme 9 Pro+.
Let’s take a closer look at this new Nord model fromOnePlus and see whether it’s a good buy in its price segment.
What’s In the Box
Phone
Manual
Charger – 65W SuperVOOC charger
Case
Pre-applied screen protector
USB-A to USB-C cable
Branded stickers.
Design & Build
This year’s Nord CE 2 doesn’t bring any significant upgrades as compared to its predecessor but features a premium-looking design and color scheme, a much-needed change from the boring old design on theoriginal CE model.
However, this also makes it similar to the two phones from its sister brands –OPPO (Reno7) (our review here) and Realme (9 Pro+). They are placed in a similar price segment, but this one is the cheapest of the lot. To achieve this cheap pricing, the brand had to cut down on some features too, but the design isn’t one of them.
The phone I’ve got is the Grey Mirror edition, and it definitely looks a lot more premium than its segment rivals. I especially like how the camera module curves into the body, giving it a unibody finish. I’m sure a lot of customers will appreciate this design, especially the two large camera sensors in black, which complement the silver body.
Another highlight of the phone is that it retains the slim and light build of its predecessor. The phone weighs just 173 grams and is 7.8mm in thickness. So whether it’s reaching out to its in-display fingerprint sensor with your thumb or just holding it with one hand, you shouldn’t have any major issues. The weight is also evenly distributed, and holding it for long periods of time is comfortable.
Moving on to the front, the phone features a punch-hole camera on the top-left corner like most of its rivals in the segment. There’s a 1080p 6.43-inch AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ support. The AMOLED display is good for the price and I have no major complaints. Note that the phone is Widevine L1 certified, so HD streaming won’t be an issue.
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Like its predecessor, the iconic alert slider gets a miss on the CE edition, but you do get a 3.5mm headphone jack if that’s any consolation. There are no stereo speakers, which is a bummer. The speakers are relatively loud, but at max levels, the sound can be tinny and bass-less.
One thing worth mentioning is that the in-screen fingerprint sensor is very fast. It’s as good as any other flagship phone fingerprint sensor, so you would have no issues in this particular area.
Nord CE 2 5G Hardware
The Nord CE 2 5G comes with the mid-range Dimensity 900 CPU featuring Mali-G68 4-core GPU which performs similar to the previous-gen Nord CE 5G. In your daily use, you should have no major hiccups and everything including the animations and apps load up quickly with no visible stutter or lags.
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Geekbench
Antutu
3DMark
GFXBench
GFXBench
The phone comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of ROM, which is actually its top-end variant. There’s a cheaper variant with 6GB of RAM, but I would advise getting the 8GB variant for anadditional INR 1000.
You can play most games on the Nord CE 2 5G, but know that the Dimensity 900 won’t be able to support high fps in resource-intensive games. Even in games like PUBG Mobile, the phone will fluctuate between 40-60fps. So if it’s just for casual gaming, the phone will suffice, but if you need a phone for some heavy-duty gaming, look elsewhere. One positive thing about the phone was that it didn’t heat up much, even when playing for long periods of time. But again, this was at the cost of a relatively low frame rate.
Nord CE 2 5G Camera
The original Nord CE wasn’t known for its cameras and its successor, the Nord CE 2 5G doesn’t bring any surprises either. This is because their cameras are exactly the same, featuring a 64MP main shooter and an 8MP ultra-wide sensor. There’s an additional 2MP Macro camera but like most cameras in this price range, it struggles to capture good images.
The primary camera is pretty decent if you have good daylight conditions. However, the quality of the pictures drop as soon as the ambient lighting goes down. You’ll often find a lack of details and even noise in images shot under low-lighting conditions.
Check out the samples below from the main camera.
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Main Camera
Main Camera - Nord CE 2 5G
Main Camera
Main Camera - Nord CE 2 5G
UW Camera - Nord CE 2 5G
UW Camera - Nord CE 2 5G
2X Nord CE 2 5G
2X Nord CE 2 5G
2X Nord CE 2 5G
Nord CE 2 5G Selfie
As for the ultrawide camera, again you can get usable shots under good lighting scenes but as soon as the lighting goes down, the quality drops significantly. So capturing ultra-wide photos under low light is not recommended.
Software
The OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G comes with OxygenOS 11.3 which is unfortunately still based on Android 11. So it looks like OnePlus is struggling to bring Android 12 for its OxygenOS powered devices. This coupled with the two Android version update promise makes the software scene on the CE 2 5G a bit disappointing.
That said, the Nord CE 2 5G retains the clean UI from the premium end OnePlus phones with smooth UI transitions and performance. If you can ignore the fact that the phone is still running Android 11, the software is pretty nice and useful, with very limited bloatware.
Battery & Charging
Dimensity 900’s biggest selling point is that it’s manufactured on a 6nm node. This makes the chip efficient as compared to its rivals, and the same is reflected in the device’s battery life. The phone can last for more than a day on average use, thanks to this chip and its 4500mAh battery. You are likely to end up with 30-40% battery left on the device by EOD.
And topping up the battery takes only about 30 minutes, thanks to the 65W SuperVOOC charger. In short, battery life and charging is one of the selling points of this phone.
Verdict
Overall, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G is a very gentle update to its predecessor. The phone would have been better off with a few more key upgrades, especially in the camera department.
This price segment has a lot of competition, so it will have a tough time standing out.
Last week, a report revealed that Samsung had started manufacturing the Galaxy M13 5G in India. Now, after a few days, multiple live images of the smartphone’s casing from the production facility have leaked. Let’s take a look at these pictures that showcase the phone’s design.
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Indian publication 91Mobiles was the one to report on the Galaxy M13 5G’s production earlier. They are back again with the device’s live images.
According to these pictures, the handset will sport a vertically aligned dual-camera setup. An LED flashlight will be located parallel to these cameras.
The power key with an embedded fingerprint sensor and the volume rocker will be on the right side of the phone. Whereas, the left side will have the SIM card slot, which should also include a MicroSD card slot.
The bottom part of the device will house a USB Type-C port and a speaker grille. Finally, the body of the handset will be made of polycarbonate like any other budget Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
Unfortunately, the specs of the Galaxy M13 5G are a mystery. Though it sounds like a rebranded Galaxy A13 5G, it isn’t as that phone has a triple camera system.
The Galaxy M12 is the predecessor of the Galaxy M13 5G. It only comes in a 4G variant and has a modest set of features. The device has a 6.5-inch HD+ display (LCD), Exynos 850 SoC, 48MP (wide) + 5MP (ultra-wide) + 2MP(macro) + 2MP (depth) quad-camera system, 8MP front-facing camera, 6,000mAh battery, 15W fast charging support, and Android 11.
Black Shark 5 and Black Shark 5 Pro the latest smartphones from the gaming phone brand Black Shark are now available on Giztop. You can now buy Black Shark 5 for a starting price of $499and Black Shark 5 Pro is available for $749 only at Giztop.
Please note that these are Chinese edition smartphones but come with multi-language support, pre-installed Global version software, Google play store, and OTA updates. Both the phones are compatible with global 5G /4G LTE networks and come with a Sandwich Liquid cooling technology that gives you 30% increased heat dissipation making it great for hardcore gaming. Moreover both the phones feature unique magnetic lift-up trigger buttons that take your gameplay to the next level. Please note that Black Shark 5 Pro comes with the latest version of Magnetic lift-up trigger button 2.0.
For more information on such exciting deals and offers check out our deals hub.
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