The Galaxy Note series is discontinued, says Samsung’s smartphone chief

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Mar 1, 2022

The ongoing Mobile World Congress 2022 holding in Barcelona, Spain has seen several key announcements from various manufacturers. One of the big announcements from Korean tech powerhouse Samsung is that the Galaxy Note will now come out as the Galaxy Ultra, according to its smartphone chief.

Roh-Taemoon, Samsung’s smartphone arm’s executive indicates that the Galaxy S22 Ultra will suffice for this current iteration unlike previously when a Galaxy Note will have to be thrown into the mix. The last Galaxy Note released was in 2020 when the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra came on board. The integrated Stylus design present in the Galaxy S22 Ultra flagship seems a reflection of everything that we may have expected of a Galaxy Note. This convergence may be a business decision to shore up resources and sales, as the Galaxy Note lineup has had a turbulent trajectory since they berthed in 2011.

The advent of foldable displays which Samsung also played a pioneering part via the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3, has further restricted the utility of the Galaxy Note lineup, as users prefer more compact and versatile displays.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra will continue to appease the desire of Galaxy Note addicts as a more-than-worthy successor, and we expect more note-like offerings from Samsung going forward, according to Taemoon. So we can start viewing current Galaxy Note models as collector items.

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ASUS OLED TV will launch in India on March 3, official teaser reveals

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Mar 1, 2022

ASUS is building its OLED ecosystem in India and will be unveiling its first OLED TV in the country on March 3. This follows the company’s release of a set of OLED laptops in India last year.

A new hashtag campaign is being done to showcase the ASUS OLED TV unveiling in India. ASUS says the new age of its OLED TV is here and it offers an exhilarating user experience. The brand campaign for the ASUS OLED TV in India is #WhoWatchesTV and it narrates the strong connections the average Indian family has with its television.

The new brand campaign is a social experiment that aims to capture emotions when the consumer’s TV time is interrupted. It hopes to highlight the importance of redefining TV viewing by offering a more portable way of watching TV. The brand campaign hopes to explore Indians’ love for the TV and to introduce the exciting features and functionality of the ASUS OLED TV for the Indian market.

There are few specs details available on the new ASUS OLED TV at this time. However, we expect some key specs and pricing details will be made available before or during the March 3 launch event slated for noon.

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Mobvoi launches TicWatch GTH Pro with arterial health tracking

By

Sudhanshu

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Mar 1, 2022

Mobvio, the Beijing-based smart wearable company has announced a new smartwatch co-developed with CardieX, a global health tech company. The company claims its latest fitness tracker, the TicWatch GTH Pro, can measure a person’s long-term arterial health.

Mobvio claims to achieve this with their new “Arty Heart Health” analytics platform that measures central arterial waveforms. Simply put, it measures the strength of your pulse to accumilate data reguarding the heart health of the user.

The GTH Pro has two optical heart rate sensors. One of these sensors measures heartrate from the wrist and another that’s located on the side of the watch. The side mounted sensor is there so users can place a finger on the sensor to take daily readings, similar to an EKG smartwatch.

Based on the daily readings, the watch provides the user with an “Arty Score” which is representative of their overall cardiac health. The TicWatch GTH Pro uses four metrics to determine this score which are xercise capacity, estimated arterial age, heart stress, and heart rate. Exercise capacity refers to blood flow to the heart, while arterial age is based on how “stiff” your arteries are. Meanwhile, heart stress is based on pulse pressure.

The company claimes that when users use the fitness tracker for long terms, it’ll give personalised recommendations based on the user’s metrics which can range form advice to be more physically active to adding more Vitamin C in your diat.

Outside of fitness tracking of 14 actives, SPO2 and sleep tracking, the GTH Pro can continuously monitor skin temperature as well as respiration rate. The device can last for about 7-10 days on a single charge and takes around two hours to completly recharge. The device also offers a 5 ATM water resistance. The watch comes with a standard 20mm band and can easily be swapped out.

The TicWatch GTH Pro comes in graphite black and is now available from Mobvoi.com and Amazon for $99.

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Deal: Get huge discounts on Black Shark 4 Pro Gaming Phone and Accessories

By

Daily Deals

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Mar 1, 2022

Blackshark is giving great discounts on the Blackshark 4 Pro gaming smartphone. The smartphone which generally retails for $579 will be available at a discounted price of $521 only at Amazon US. Please note that this $58 discount can be availed by using the coupon code: KSS2LE3M. This deal starts on 1 March, at 0:00 PT, and ends on 7 March 2022. The deal is applicable only on the first 50 pieces.

Apart from the Blackshark 4 Pro, you can also find discounts on the following accessories:

PRODUCT	CODE	DISCOUNT VALUE	BUY LINK
Joybuds	PHZ65NPE	50%	BUY
Magnetic Cooler	JFPBU52P	50%	BUY
Fun Cooler 2Pro	TJLJSPPD	50%	BUY

Also for all the UK customers, discounts are available at Amazon.co.uk. The smartphone which generally retails for £489 will be now available for £440.1 only at Amazon UK. Please note that this deal starts on 5 March 2022 and is available on only the first 50 pieces.

PRODUCT	CODE	DISCOUNT VALUE	BUY LINK
Joybuds (Black)	LWP9XOQY	50%	BUY
Joybuds (White)	GW7EE3MC	50%	BUY
Magnetic Cooler	6ASLIURR	50%	BUY
Fun Cooler 2Pro	92L6LP4H	50%	BUY

Black Shark 4 Pro

Designed for pro gamers and enthusiasts Black Shark 4 Pro comes with a minimalistic and sleek design but does not compromise on features or functions. The highlight feature of Black Shark 4 lies in its uniquely designed magnetic pop-up triggers which rise when playing a game and retract when not in use. The highly durable physical triggers give you a comfortable push back after each press thereby adding to the fun factor of your gameplay.

Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G processor and comes in multiple memory variants viz: 8GB / 12GB /16GB LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB / 256GB / 512GB ROM. The device sports a simple gradient rear panel with a triple camera setup at the top featuring a 64MP main camera and 8MP and 5MP secondary cameras while the front features a 20MP selfie camera.

A massive 4500mAh battery fuels this gaming smartphone which also supports 120W HyperCharge. This means you get to 100% charge in just 15 minutes. The smartphone which comes with a 6.67” Samsung AMOLED screen uses a new generation E4 luminous material which improves the brightness and brings unprecedented super visual effects.

With a record-breaking 720Hz touch sampling rate and a high-quality fully symmetrical stereo system you can be assured to have the best gaming experience on Black Shark 4 Pro.

Please note that the US deal starts on 1 March and the UK deal starts on 5 March. However, both the deals are applicable only on the first 50 pieces ordered. So be sure to place your order before the deal expires. You can also get the phone from their official website here.

Please note that the above price is region-specific and the final price may vary according to your shipping region, warehouse, and regional taxes.

For more information on such exciting deals and offers check out our deals hub.

* Please Note: When you buy something using the links in our articles, we may earn a small commission at no cost to you.

Huawei MateBook 13 new variant misses out on the touchscreen function

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Mar 1, 2022

Huawei has released a new, cheaper version of the MateBook 13 laptop with the device coming with just one feature separating it from the previous model. The MateBook 13 was first launched in 2020 but this model misses out on the touch functionality on the display. This brings down the price of the laptop to 5,199 yuan ($824).

The laptop retains all other features found on the original MateBook 13 released in 2020. This includes a dazzling 2K full-screen design in a compact 13-inch body with a narrow frame design. The laptop utilizes a unique 3:2 aspect ratio and up to 88% screen-to-body ratio. The display also comes with a 100% sRGB wide color gamut, and double eye protection function.

The screen of the previous touch screen version supports ten-point touch, supports one-finger swipe to browse web pages, and a two-finger stretch action to enlarge pictures. This version which is 300 yuan cheaper is suitable for those who don’t need these touch features.

The MateBook 13 also uses a thin and light metal body, carved with greasy sandblasting technology, and has a high-quality texture. The laptop is just 14.9 mm thin and weighs just 1.3 kg.

The MateBook 13 features an Intel Core i5 chipset paired with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage. The laptop comes with an Intel Iris Xe Graphics card bringing about a 160% increase in the graphics performance compared to the previous generation.

In terms of heat dissipation, the MateBook 13 is equipped with a new dual-fan and dual heat pipe “wing” arrangement. The design improves the heat dissipation efficiency and makes the cooling more balanced.

The new Huawei MateBook 13 will go on sale in China on March 4.

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ZTE Blade V40 series launched in four variants, one offers 5G connectivity

By

Sudhanshu

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Mar 1, 2022

After Introducing the Blade V30 back in June 2021, ZTE has just unveiled four new smartphones in their Blade V40 series. The ZTE Blade V40 series smartphones will be made available in the global market in the month of April and are said to come with affordable price tags. So let’s take a look at what these phones have to offer.

ZTE Blade V40 Pro

Starting with the top-of-the-line model, the Blade V40 Pro features a 6.67-inch AMOLED 1080 x 2400p display with full coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut. The phone is powered by a Unisoc T618 chipset (12nm, 2x Cortex-A75 @ 2.0 GHz, Mali G52 MP2) with 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage, running Android 11 with MyOS 11 on top.

The smartphone houses a 5100mAh battery and supports 65W fast charging. The device is capable of 4G LTE connectivity, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc, and has a 64MP primary camera on its rear panel.

ZTE Blade V40

The vanilla Blade V40 comes with a 6.67-inch 1080 x 2400p display and has an aspect ratio of 20:9. Similar to the Pro variant, the ZTE Blade V40 also comes with the Unisoc T618 SoC which is paired with 4GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. The device runs the Android 11 based MyOS 11.

In the camera department, we get a 48MP main sensor along with a macro unit and a depth sensor. For selfies, the phone brings an 8MP snapper. The phone has a 5,000 mAh battery which supports up to 22.5W fast charging.

ZTE Blade V40 5G

The Blade V40 5G is the only device in this lineup with 5G connectivity and comes with the Dimensity 700 SoC. It has a 6.67-inch 1080 x 2400p display and has an aspect ratio of 20:9. The device comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

Not much is known about the camera at this point other than the fact that it houses a 48MP primary sensor. The battery provided on the device has a massive 6000mAh capacity, however, in some regions, it’ll come with a smaller 5130mAh battery. The fast charging offered for this model is 22.5W.

ZTE Blade V40 Vita

Lastly, the ZTE Blade V40 Vita has a large 6.75-inch display offering a resolution of 720 x 1600p and a 20:9 aspect ratio. The screen comes with a 90Hz refresh rate. It has an octa-core Unisoc SoC coupled with 3GB RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 storage.

The device runs Android 11 based MyOS 11 and comes with a 48MP main camera. It will be offered with a large 6000mAh battery in some regions while others will get a smaller 5100mAh battery capacity variant. The fast charging offered on the ZTE Blade V40 Vita will be 22.5W.

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Realme Buds Q2s will launch on March 3, design and key highlights revealed

By

Pranav Sawant

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Mar 1, 2022

A few days back, the Realme Buds Q2s were spotted on a certification site and its renders were also leaked. Now, Realme itself has revealed the design of the upcoming Buds Q2s and has confirmed the China launch.

The Realme Buds Q2s will be released on March 3 at 2 PM China time. The poster confirms a few key highlights of the buds. The Realme Buds Q2s will have a long battery life, meaning that it could have an improved battery over the existing Q2. Furthermore, it will come with Dolby Atmos support and feature a “Space capsule” design.

In the poster, we get to see the Paper Green color variant. For starters, the earbuds’ renders were leaked previously that revealed all three colors. So apart from the Paper Green color, the buds will also have Night Black and Paper White shades.

Other than this, the previous IECEE certification confirmed that the capsule-looking charging case of the Buds Q2s will houses a 400mAh battery. On the other hand, the earbuds pack a 40mAh cell. As per the listing, it has the model number RMA2110.

Apart from this, the pricing of the earbuds was also leaked. Although the Chinese launch date of the Buds is revealed, the leaked pricing is for the global markets. The Realme Buds Q2s will launch in both European and Indian markets. It will carry a price of around EUR 29(~$33) in Europe and Rs. 2,000(~$27) in India. We expect the buds to come at a similar price in the Chinese market.

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Xiaomi 12 series official poster leaked; confirms March 15 global launch

By

Pranav Sawant

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Mar 1, 2022

Xiaomi’s latest flagship number series i.e. the Xiaomi 12 series was introduced in December 2021 in China. Since then, Xiaomi fans are awaiting for its global release. Yesteraday, a leak revealed that Xiaomi will finally launch the Xiaomi 12 series globally in mid March this year. Now, a new leak states the same timeline for the series’ global launch.

As per a leak yesterday, the Xiaomi 12 series will launch launch on March 15 in the global market. Now, AndroidPlanet, a Dutch publication, has shared an official-looking poster of the Xiaomi 12 series that confirms the global launch date.

The poster says “Master every scene”, and mentions, “Xiaomi 12 Series, the anser to all”. This confirms that the series is finally coming to the global market. As per the poster, the series is indeed launching on March 15 at 8 PM GMT.

It is yet unknown whether the full series, including three phones, would be released or just a few select models. As of now, there’s no official confirmation on the same, so it remains to be seen.

Coming to the specs, the Xiaomi 12 global models have been spotted multiple times on certification sites. All are expected to have the same internals as the the models launched in China. The Xiaomi 12 and 12 Pro will be powerd by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, while the Xiaomi 12X will have the Snapdragon 870 chipset.

The top of the line Xiaomi 12 Pro will come with a 6.73-inch LTPO AMOLED panel with 120Hz refresh rate screen and 120Hz refresh rate. It will have a 50MP triple camera system at the rear and a 32MP selfie snapper. Just like the Chinese variant, it is expected to pack a 5,000mAh cell with a 120W wired and 50W wired fast charging technology.

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Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook unveiled with 11-inch 2K display, Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 SoC, and more

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Mar 1, 2022

Lenovo announced multiple computers at MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2022. Three of them are Chromebooks, namely IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook, IdeaPad Flex 3i Chromebook, and IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook. We have already covered the first two convertible laptops. Hence, in this article, we take a look at the latter, which is a detachable tablet.

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook Specifications and Features

The newly announced IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook by Lenovo is a toned-down version of the IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook from late last year. The latest model arrives with a smaller LCD screen as opposed to an OLED panel, dual stereo speakers instead of quad, and lower battery life despite sporting the same chipset.

Lenovo says that the IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook is the successor of the original IdeaPad Duet Chromebook. It features the iconic dual-tone finish, which is found on almost all Lenovo tablets. It measures only 7.90mm in thickness and comes in two colors, such as Storm Grey and Misty Blue.

Just like its predecessor, the new tablet will also ship with a folio case and a detachable keyboard. In some markets, it will be also bundled with a stylus, while in others customers will have to purchase it separately.

The product flaunts an 11-inch LCD panel with a resolution of 2K pixels and a 5:3 aspect ratio. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 SoC coupled with 4GB/8GB LPDDR4x RAM and 64GB/128GB/256GB eMMC storage.

Unsurprisingly, it boots Chrome OS. But interestingly, it comes pre-loaded with Android Studio for Android app development For the unaware, this is a resource-hungry application and we are not sure how well the ARM-based chip will be able to handle it.

The detachable offers multiple connectivity options like dual-band WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, 2 x USB 3.0 Gen 1 (Type-C), and a pogo pin connector for the official keyboard accessory. Other features include dual stereo speakers, an 8MP rear camera, a 5MP front-facing camera, up to 12-hour battery life, and 45W fast charging.

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook Price and Availability

The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3 will start at €349 (including VAT) in EMEA. It will be available starting May. We expect the device to reach other markets as well.

OnePlus Nord 3 with 150W fast charging, Dimensity 8100 SoC rumored to launch soon

By

Sudhanshu

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Mar 1, 2022

Yesterday at MWC 2022, OPPO unveiled their new 150W fast charging tech which the brand stated will first debut on a OnePlus smartphone scheduled to launch in Q2 2022 i.e. between April and June. Now, reports have surfaced hint that this upcoming smartphone is the OnePlus Nord 3.

An AndroidCentral report has revealed that the upcoming OnePlus Nord 3 will come supporting OPPO’s 150W fast charging and will be based on the Realme GT Neo 3. Another report from PriceBaba in collaboration with known tipster Mukul Sharma has revealed that the upcoming OnePlus Nord 3 will launch in the Indian market around the end of May or early June. These reports fall in line with a recent forum post made by OnePlus CEO Pete Lau who stated that “We will debut first on a OnePlus smartphone in the second quarter of 2022.” So we are looking at a possible Q2 end launch for the Nord 3.

OnePlus Nord 2 5G all colors — OnePlus Nord 2 5G

As far as the charging capabilities are concerned, OPPO revealed at MWC 2022 event that the 150W SuperVOOC charging can completely charge a phone with a 4,500mAh battery in just 15 minutes. In addition, it takes only 5 minutes to charge a 4,500mAh battery from 1 percent to 50 percent. The company also revealed that the tech comes packaged with the OPPO Battery Health Engine which manages the battery optimally resulting in just 20% battery degradation after 1600 charge cycles of 0-100%.

OnePlus Nord 3 specifications (rumored)

Now for the specifications of the Nord 3, an earlier report revealed a mystery OnePlus device which is now believed to be the OnePlus Nord 3. According to the specs leak, it will come with a 6.7-inch Full-HD+ OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The device will likely have a centered positioned punch-hole for the selfie camera.

It could be powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 8100 processor with four Cortex-A78 cores. The chipset will support LDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. The rear side of the phone will be equipped with a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 main camera and will draw power from a 4,500mAh battery. It will have a 150W fast charging support and is likely to boot Android 12 OS.

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Samsung tops Europe smartphone market in 2021, while Realme sees impressive growth

By

Sean

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Mar 1, 2022

We had recently reported on Samsung taking the throne in the LATAM (Latin American) smartphone market. And now, a new report has revealed that the brand has even topped the handset market in Europe in 2021.

According to a Strategy Analytics report, the South Korean tech giant continued to dominate the region, while Apple took the second spot. Although, Realme made an impressive entry into the market’s top 5 spots and saw a whopping 500 percent growth as well. This made it the fastest growing brand in the Europe for the year 2021. During this same period, Samsung retained its throne with a sizeable 29 percent market share in Europe. While the company was still No. 1 in the region, it saw a decline of 1 percent year on year.

Meanwhile, Apple saw an 11 percent growth year on year, with its market share being 23 percent last year. The third place was taken by the Chinese smartphone brand, Xiaomi, which had a 20 percent market share, but saw an noticeable 33 percent growth year on year in 2021. The fourth place went to Oppo, which had a meager 5 percent market share in 2021 but saw a 77 percent growth over the previous year.

Thus, Realme had the most impressive performance in terms of just growth. It had an even smaller 3 percent market share but was able to take the fifth spot thanks to its 500 percent growth over 2020. The company has seen similar growth rates in other regions as well. Strategy Analytics believes that its aggressive pricing and diverse portfolio helped it grow at such a high pace.

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Samsung Galaxy S22 series drop test shows that it’s less durable than iPhone 13

By

Sean

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Mar 1, 2022

The Samsung Galaxy S22 series was just put through a drop test and the results were surprising. In a new video from Allstate on YouTube we can see the entire lineup of Galaxy S22 smartphones are less durable than the iPhone 13.

Looking at the video, the South Korean tech giant’s latest and great smartphones were put through a drop test to determine their durability by dropping them on their front, back, and sides to see the levels of damage. Talking about the face drop first, the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+, and Galaxy S22 Ultra shattered on the very first six feet drop test on the sidewalk. Notably, two out of the three models were completely unusable due to the drop test.

In comparison, the Apple iPhone 13 series were also tested by Allstate back in September 2021 and saw generally better results overall. For the face drop test, the iPhone 13 survived the drop with just minor damages and only cracked by the second face drop. Arriving at the back drop test, the Galaxy S22 series all had their rear panels completely shatter, but worked fine otherwise. Although, using them with bare hands was difficult since it had broken glass shards. On the other hand, the iPhone 13 models survived two drops with only minor cracks along the camera and the corner.

These results were replicated in the side drop tests as well, especially considering the Galaxy S22 Ultra has a curved display. Apart from the iPhone 13 being more durable overall, the Galaxy were also more prone to damage than Samsung’s last generation Galaxy S21 series as well. As per Allstate Protection Plan vice president Jason Siciliano, the design upgrades in the S22 and S22 Ultra have “resulted in durability downgrades when compared to their Galaxy S21 predecessors.”

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MediaTek Dimensity 8000, 8100, 1300 chips announced with support for up to 200MP cameras

By

Zohaib Ahmed

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Mar 1, 2022

MediaTek today expanded its processor lineup with three new chips — Dimensity 8100, Dimensity 8000, and Dimensity 1300 — and a range of devices powered by the trio will be launched throughout the first and second quarters of 2022.

While the specifications of the Dimensity 8000 and Dimensity 8100 had already been leaked, the Dimensity 1300 comes as a surprise. The chip, which was earlier tipped to be featured on the OnePlus Nord 2T, is built with TSMC’s 6nm process and has an eight-core CPU, including a 3GHz Cortex-A78 super-large core, three Cortex A-78 large cores, and four Cortex A-55 efficiency cores.

In addition, Dimensity 1300 is also equipped with 9-core Mali-G77 GPU, APU 3.0, and HyperEngine 5.0 game engine.

Next up, we got the Dimensity 8000 series comprised of the Dimensity 8000 and Dimensity 8100. The Dimensity 8100 integrates four premium Cortex-A78 cores clocked at 2.85GHz, and the Dimensity 8000 has four Cortex-A78 cores operating at up to 2.75GHz. Both chips use Mali-G610 MC6 GPU with MediaTek’s HyperEngine 5.0 gaming technologies for graphics. Up to 200MP cameras and 4K60 HDR10+ videography is also supported.

“MediaTek’s big bet on 5G dramatically expanded its global smartphone SoC volumes in the mid-tier, and the Dimensity 9000 is opening up the flagship market,” said Avi Greengart, President of market advisory firm Techsponential. “With the Dimensity 8000, MediaTek is giving smartphone vendors more options to balance performance and pricing while still offering flagship level gaming and AI capabilities.”

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Realme GT Neo3 to debut as first Dimensity 8100 phone

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Mar 1, 2022

At the MWC 2022, MediaTek has unveiled the Dimensity 8100 and Dimensity 8000 chipsets. A couple of smartphone OEMs from China such as Redmi, Realme, Vivo, and OnePlus are said to be working on Dimensity 8100 powered smartphones. Today, Realme China’s CMO Xu Qi confirmed that the upcoming Realme GT Neo3 will be equipped with D8100 SoC.

The machine-translated text of Xu Qi’s Weibo post reads, “Realme will be the first to carry the Dimensity 8100 chip.” This indicates that the GT Neo3 may debut as the world’s first smartphone powered by the D8100 chip. The 5nm chip has 4 x Cortex-A78 CPU cores working a 2.85GHz, 4 x Cortex-A55 CPU, Mali G-610 MC6 GPU, LPPDR5, UFS 3.1 storage, sub-6GHz 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and up to 200MP camera.

The Realme GT Neo3 is also confirmed to carry support for 150W UltraDart charging. The performance of the D8100 is said to be on par with the Snapdragon 888. Hence, the GT Neo3 is expected to offer an impressive gaming experience.

The GT Neo3 is expected to arrive in two battery variants. The model that will carry support for 150W UltraDart charging is likely to pack a 4,500mAh dual-cell battery. The other variant that is expected to support 80W fast charging may house a 5,000mAh dual-cell battery. The other specs are likely to remain same on both models.

The smartphone will come equipped with a 6.7-inch OLED display with a central punch-hole The screen will offer a Full HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The device will be equipped with up o 12 GB of RAM and up to 256 GB of native storage.

For photography, it will feature a 16-megapixel front camera and a 50-megapixel (main, with OIS) + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel triple camera unit. It will come with other features such as Realme UI 3.0 flavoured Android 12 OS and an in-screen fingerprint scanner.

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Telecoms offer free calls & waive roaming chargers in Ukraine due to ongoing crisis

By

Sean

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Mar 1, 2022

With Ukraine facing an invasion, dozens of telecom operators have are providing free international calls to the region and are even waiving off roaming charging with the country to help people in the nation amid the ongoing crisis.

Notably, telecom operators include Deutsche Telekom, AT&T, Vodafone, Orange, Telefonica, Telia Company, A1 Telekom Austria Group, Telenor, Proximus, KPN, Vodafone, Vivacom, TIM Telecom Italia, Altice Portugal and Swisscom. Furthermore, some of these companies are even providing offers that include SIM cards to refugees in neighboring nations, offering free Wi-Fi in refugee camps. The firms have even activated the “SMS Donation” function to help organizations aiding the refugees and are including Ukrainian channels in the IPTV packages for free.

US Telecom group AT&T had also announced last month that its US consumer and business customers will be eligible for unlimited long distance calls to Ukraine till the 7th of March 2022. On the other hand, Verizon announced that it will be waiving roaming charges for calls from residential landline and consumer or business wireless phones to and from Ukraine till March 10. It is even removing costs for voice and text based roaming charges for customers in the country. Overall, the telecom operators that are providing these temporary offers are from both sides of the Atlantic and seek to help people in Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.

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Redmi Note 11E 5G announced with an OPPO-inspired rear design

By

Zohaib Ahmed

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Mar 1, 2022

Xiaomi yesterday launched the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G as the Redmi Note 11E Pro in China as the fifth addition to the lineup in the country. But that didn’t appear to be enough for the company as it today announced a vanilla variant of the model. Called the Redmi Note 11E 5G, the phone has been revealed to go on sale starting March 18.

The announcement also teases some of the specifications of the device. For photography, you get a dual-camera setup comprised of a 50MP primary camera and a 2MP depth sensor. Selfies are handled by a 5MP shooter at the front, housed within a waterdrop notch.

The phone supports 5G, made possible by the Dimensity 700 processor, and its display is a 90Hz 6.58″ FHD+ panel. The battery is sized 5,000mAh.

But perhaps the most interesting bit is the rear of the Redmi Note 11E 5G, which can easily be mistaken for being an OPPO offering from afar. The camera island looks quite similar to the one from the OPPO Reno7 so it’s obvious where Redmi has picked design cues from.

Anyway, you’ll need to spend about 1,199 Yuan (around $190) for the 4GB+128GB variant while the 6GB+128GB will set you back by 1,299 Yuan (around $205). Both are considerably cheaper than its Pro variant’s price of 1,699 Yuan (around $270).

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Google Pixel 6’s selfie camera can now turn into a battery indicator using this app

By

Zohaib Ahmed

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Mar 1, 2022

If you think that the default battery indicator on your Google Pixel 6/6 Pro just isn’t slick enough, you can now replace it with another — only this one wraps around the selfie camera cut out instead of sitting tight on the right of the status bar. The “Energy Ring” app already supported a bunch of devices but the list now includes the Pixel 6 series too.

The battery ring engulfs the front camera and shows the remaining battery percentage in real-time. It’s highly configurable, allowing color codes for certain percentages. There are even a number of animations you can choose from that’ll play for as long as the phone’s on charging, and they do look kind of mesmerizing.

The app itself is free but an in-app purchase will remove ads along with unlocking three additional color configs. While its latest update added support for the Pixel 6 series, I tried the app on my Xiaomi Mi 11X and it worked flawlessly, despite the device being unmentioned on the supported list.

However, you will probably want to make some tweaks to avoid redundancy. Simply download the System UI Tuner app and head over to Android’s built-in tuner using it. Once that’s done, just turn off the battery icon from the status bar so that you rely on nothing but the battery ring.

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Realme V25’s topmost model to feature 12GB RAM, 256GB storage

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Mar 1, 2022

Realme’s V-series of smartphones are exclusively available in China. On March 3, the company will be unveiling the Realme V25 in the home market. Today, it released a new poster to reveal the RAM and storage configuration of what appears to be the topmost variant of the V25.

The Realme V25 will be available with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of built-in storage. The TENAA appearance of the device revealed that will be offered in lower RAM variants such as 6 GB / 8 GB and 128 GB of storage.

Reports have revealed that the Realme V25 will be a tweaked version of the Realme 9 Pro 5G, which debuted in China last month. The Realme V25 has a 64-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel triple camera unit, whereas the TENAA appearance of the V25 has revealed that it has a 64-megapixel + 2-megapixel + 2-megapixel triple camera unit. The rest of the specs are likely to be identical on both devices.

The Realme V25 is equipped with a 6.43-inch AMOLED FHD+ display that offers a 120Hz refresh rate. It will feature a 16-megapixel front-facing camera. The device will come preinstalled with Realme UI 3.0 based Android 12 OS.

The Snapdragon 695 mobile platform will be powered by the Realme V25. It will house a 5,000mAh battery that supports 33W fast charging. For security, it has a side-facing fingerprint scanner. At present, there is no word on the pricing of the device.

The March 3 launch event will also see the arrival of the Buds Q2s. It is expected to offer features like 30 hours of playback time and Dolby Atmos support. It will sport a green paintjob and its charging case will have a translucent lid.

RELATED:

Microsoft Windows 11 is running on almost 20% of all PCs: AdDuplex

By

Sean

-

Mar 1, 2022

A new report has revealed interesting information regarding Microsoft Windows 11. The company’s latest operating system has apparently been installed in nearly 20 percent of all Windows PC across the globe.

Notably, this marks a small growth from 16.1 percent share that was recorded back in January 2022. In other words, the American tech giant’s Windows 11 OS has become the third largest in terms of the most used Windows version, following behind two Windows 10 versions (namely 21H2 and 21H1). AdDuplex‘s report arrives from collecting information from over 5,000 applications that use the AdDuplex v2 SDK on the Microsoft Store. Usually, surveys only take around 60,000 PCs as a sample size, which is quite small.

Meaning, this report won’t be completely accurate, although, it does offer a general observation regarding the latest Windows version’s adoption. Furthermore, it is also worth noting that the survey only covers around Windows 10 onward as well, so this data does not account for all of the other Windows OS versions. Looking at the chart shared by AdDuplex, we can see that Windows 11 is currently being used in around 19.3 percent of all Windows PCs.

On the other hand, Windows 10 version 21H2 took the second spot, since it is the update being rolled out for PCs that are not eligible for the Windows 11 due to its minimum requirements. While 20 percent isn’t a large figure, Windows 11 is still a relatively new OS, so we can expect the figure to grow higher in the coming months as well.

RELATED:

OPPO China reveals ColorOS 12 update plan for March 2022

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

-

Mar 1, 2022

OPPO is back again with an updated Android 12-based ColorOS 12 rollout timeline for the month of March 2022. As of now, the company has only announced its plans for its home country China. We expect the global schedule for the new month to follow soon. With that out of the way, let’s take a look at the latest update timeline.

According to the official announcement post on OPPO Community, 7 smartphones will join the beta program in March in China. At the same time, 14 handsets will get access to the stable release.

ColorOS 12 Beta Update Timeline China March 2022

March 15

OPPO A55 5G

March 16

OPPO A92s 5G

March 22

OPPO A93s 5G
OPPO A56 5G

March 29

OPPO Reno7 Pro 5G
OPPO Reno7 Pro 5G League of Legends Mobile Game Limited Edition
OPPO Reno7 SE 5G

ColorOS 12 Stable Update Timeline China March 2022

March 7

OPPO Reno4 Pro 5G
OPPO Reno4 Pro 5G 2020 Summer Limited Edition
OPPO Reno4 Pro 5G Artist Limited Edition
OPPO Reno4 5G

March 17

OnePlus 8
OnePlus 8 Pro
OnePlus 8T

March 24

OPPO Reno4 SE 5G
OPPO K9 Pro 5G

March 29

OPPO Find X3 Pro Photographer Edition
OPPO K7
OPPO Reno3 Pro 5G
OPPO Reno3 Pro 5G Classic Blue Limited Edition
OPPO Reno3 Vitality Edition

As always, we will be updating our readers whenever OPPO rolls out beta/stable update for the aforementioned devices. So stay tuned.