OnePlus Y1S TV series launching on Feb 17, features Android TV 11, bezel-less design & more

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Feb 10, 2022

Earlier this week renders of the upcoming OnePlus TV Y1S series were revealed which are now confirmed to hit the market alongside the launch of the OnePlus Nord CE 2 on February 17, 2022. Now, more information regarding the specs and features of this upcoming TV series have surfaced.

According to tipster Abhishek Yadav OnePlus will launch four new smart TV models in their Y1S range. The vanilla Y1S will be offered in two sizes, 32-inch and 43-inch, and will be available online while the Y1S Edge will be sold in offline stores in 32-inch and 43-inch sizes.

OnePlus TV Y1S Specifications

The tipster has stated that the online models will have a 20W speaker setup and the offline model will have a 24W speaker setup. The SmartTVs are expected to come with Dolby Atmos audio support.

The OnePlus smart televisions will run Android TV 11 out of the box. It will have 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. In addition to this, the smart TVs will also have dual-band WiFi. They will draw power from a MediaTek MT9216 and come with G31 MP2 for graphics.

But that’s not all as OnePlus recently teased more features of the upcoming smart TV on its Amazon India landing page.

According to the company, the smart TV will feature a bezel-less design and it will be powered by Gamma Engine to deliver smooth frames. The company also confirmed that the TV will have Android TV 11 OS, meaning it will be equipped with features like One-time App Permissions, Auto low Latency mode, Inattentive sleep, and much more. It will also feature seamless integration with other OnePlus ecosystem devices, like the OnePlus TWS earbuds, OnePlus Watch, and OnePlus Smartphones.

The company has confirmed that the OnePlus Y1S series will launch at 7 pm on February 17th, 2022. The brand has yet to reveal the prices of the upcoming smart TVs but according to rumors they are expected to be priced somewhere around Rs.20,000 for the 32-inch Y1S model and Rs. 25,000 for the 43-inch Y1S model.

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OnePlus Nord CE 2 65W SuperVOOC fast charging confirmed

By

Sudhanshu

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Feb 10, 2022

Earlier today, the upcoming OnePlus Nord CE 2 received a number of leaks post the announcement of its official release date. These leaks concerned the specifications of the upcoming device as well as its release price. And now, OnePlus has officially confirmed one of the features of the upcoming smartphone.

According to the Amazon India landing page dedicated to the OnePlus Nord CE 2, the device will come with a 65W SuperVOOC charging support that the company claims will fill up enough juice in the battery to last up to an entire days worth of use in just 15 minutes. The OnePlus Nord CE 2 is tipped to come with a 4,500mAh battery, so we can expect the charger to refill upwards of 60% battery in just 10 minutes.

OnePlus Nord CE 2 specs (rumored)

OnePlus Nord 2 CE Renders Leak Featured B — OnePlus Nord CE 2 Renders by Yogesh Brar / 91mobiles

The device is said to come with a 6.43-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate and an in-screen fingerprint sensor. It will be powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 900 SoC paired with LPDDR4x RAM and UFS 2.2 storage. The device will boot OxygenOS 11.3 based on Android 11 out of the box. It is said to receive 2 Android updates and 3 years of security updates.

For photography, it will house a triple camera system comprising of a 64MP primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide unit (119° FOV), and a 2MP macro snapper. On the front, it will house a 16MP selfie shooter in a punch-hole cutout on the top left corner of the screen.

The smartphone will be backed by a 4,500mAh battery with support for 65W SuperVOOC fast charging. Tipsters have also claimed that the OnePlus Nord CE 2 will include a 3.5mm headphone jack as well as a dedicated MicroSD card slot (up to 1TB). It will measure 7.8mm in thickness, weigh 173g, and arrive in two colors (Gray Mirror, Bahamas Blue).

The device is expected to be offered in two memory configurations in India. The handset will cost ₹23,999 ($320) and ₹24,999 ($333) for 6GB + 128GB and 8GB + 128GB variants respectively. OnePlus India has confirmed that the device will launch on February 17th in the Indian market.

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Fire-Boltt Ninja Pro Max smartwatch with IP67 rating & 8 day battery launched in India

By

Sudhanshu

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Feb 10, 2022

Fire-Boltt, one of India’s leading smart wearables makers has launched their new Ninja Pro Max smartwatch in India. The IP67 certified smartwatch comes packing some impressive features, so let’s take a closer look at them.

Fire-Boltt Ninja Pro Max specifications

Starting off with its design, the Fire-Boltt Ninja Pro Max features a square-shaped dial with a crown button and measures 9.5mm in thickness. It comes with a 1.6-inch LCD (240×288 pixels) touchscreen display. The smartwatch has curved glass on the display which offers a 2.5D effect. The side-mounted crown button can also be used for navigating the wearable. It measures 34.5×41.5x40mm and weighs 45 grams.

Fitness-focused features offered with the Ninja Pro Max include blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) monitoring, heartrate monitoring, sleep tracking, and meditative breathing. Additionally, the smart wearable also offers 27 different sports modes to help track your workouts.

The smartwatch is compatible with iPhones running iOS 9.0 and above and Android devices running Android 4.4 and above. Users can customize the looks of the Fire-Boltt Ninja Pro Max with multiple watch faces via the Da Fit app.

The smartwatch can be paired with a smartphone to get call and text notifications as well as social media notifications. It also offers music playback control and camera control with the paired smartphone. It also offers basic smartwatch features including weather updates, step tracking, water drinking reminders, and sedentary reminders.

Fire-Boltt Ninja Pro Max comes with a 200mAh battery that offers a runtime of up to eight days and up to 30 days of standby time on a single charge. The smartwatch also offers protection against water and dust with an IP67 certification.

Fire-Boltt Ninja Pro Max pricing and availability

For a limited time, the Fire-Boltt Ninja Pro Max smartwatch is listed for an introductory price of Rs. 1,899 ($25) on Flipkart and Fire-Boltt’s official website. The new smartwatch is being offered in eight color options namely Black, Blue, Champagne Gold, Olive, Pink Gold, Red Navy, Rose Gold, and Yellow.

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Garmin D2 Air X10 is a GPS smartwatch for Aviators

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Feb 10, 2022

Watchmaker Garmin has launched a smartwatch that reminds us of its skills in manufacturing aviation equipment. The watch dubbed Garmin D2 Air X10 GPS Aviator smartwatch is actually designed for pilots while retaining the key features you’ll find in a smartwatch.

The watch is equipped with a GPS feature which enables it to be used for navigation. The company says pilots can use the watch to plot their way to the nearest airport, perhaps in case of instrument failure. There is a . Alternatively, you can choose to activate a direct course to the nearest airport or waypoint deploying a database of locations preloaded to the watch. There is also a horizontal situation indicator (HSI) course needle onboard that indicates whether the aircraft is either left or right of the desired flight path.

It equally comes with a flight tracking feature which gets activated as soon as the flight takes off. It also transfers useful data such as date, route, total flight time, and duration, to your logbook on flyGarmin. Pilots can also transfer the flight plan to the watch via the Garmin Pilot app.

In terms of the build, the Garmin D2 Air X10 looks similar to the Garmin Venu 2 and Venu 2 Plus. It utilizes a bright AMOLED screen protected by a later of Corning Gorilla Glass protection. It also contains many similar sports features that you can find on its predecessors including a built-in microphone. There are also tracking monitors such as heart rate monitor, SpO2 sensor, respiration tracking, and breathwork activities. It also features sleep tracking, sedentary reminder, and Garmin’s Body Battery tool that gives an estimate of the energy. There are several workout modes onboard as well as a storage space that can take up to 650 songs. Users can also stream directly from Spotify, Amazon Music, and others. You equally get support for Garmin Pay contactless payment platform.

It’s worth noting that the D2 Air X10’s battery life is slightly shorter than that of the Venu 2. The aviation-focused watch has a battery life of seven days in smartwatch mode, or 20 hours in full GPS mode with SpO2 monitoring while flying. For comparison, the Venu 2 keeps running for up to 11 days in smartwatch mode, or eight hours in GPS mode with music.

The Garmin D2 Air X10 comes in black and Ivory colors and is priced at $549.99. The aviator smartwatch is presently available from Garmin US and other third-party retailers.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 series uses fingerprint solutions from Goodix

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Feb 10, 2022

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Tab S8 series alongside the Galaxy S22 series at the Galaxy Unpacked 2022 event. The three tablets in the family feature different sized displays and panel types. However, they come with fingerprint solutions from a common supplier – Goodix.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Plus Ultra — Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Series

Goodix Technologies took to Weibo to disclose that the latest premium Android tablets from Samsung use its fingerprint solutions. The Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra and the Galaxy Tab S8+ flaunt the company’s under-screen optical fingerprint solution. On the other hand, the Galaxy Tab S8 sports an ultra-narrow side capacitive fingerprint solution.

Additionally, Goodix is also the supplier of the touch controller for the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra’s massive 14.6-inch WQXGA+ (2960 x 1848 pixels) Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate.

The last time Goodix announced the presence of its tech in a major consumer product was in late December. The company revealed that the Xiaomi 12 Pro houses its first under-screen ambient light sensor.

As far as the Galaxy Tab S8 series is concerned, it is the successor of the Galaxy Tab S7 series from 2020. Instead of two models, the latest family includes three with the introduction of ‘Ultra’. The entire lineup consists of all the high-end features one can expect from premium Android tablets from Samsung.

All three of them are already up for pre-order in markets like the US. They will be available for purchase starting February 25.

Samsung Galaxy A53 5G, Galaxy A33 5G emerge on Indonesia’s SDPPI certification

By

Pranav Sawant

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Feb 10, 2022

Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy A53 5G and A33 5G soon in the market. Previously, both phones were spotted on Samsung India’s official website, confirming the Indian presence. Now, both phones have arrived on Indonesia’s SDPPI certification site(via).

The listings confirm that the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G has the SM-A536E model number, while the Galaxy A33 5G has the SM-A336E model number. Apart from confirming the Asia presence, the listings do not reveal anything. However, both phones were spotted on a few certification sites earlier.

Starting with the Galaxy A53 5G, the phone appeared on the FCC, TENAA, and NBTC sites. The phone’s design was also leaked online. The smartphone has a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution. It is expected to come powered by the unreleased Exynos 1200 SoC and have a 5,000mAh battery.

The smartphone will have two RAM options — 6GB and 8GB. It is expected to have 128GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot for additional storage up to 1TB. The device is rumored to come with 64MP + 12MP + 5MP + 5MP quad camera setup.

Coming to the Galaxy A33 5G, the phone was also spotted on some certification sites including FCC. However, not many details are known as of yet. It is expected to come with a MediaTek Dimensity SoC and pack a 5,000mAh battery. It will also support 25W fast charging technology. The device is tipped to come with IP67 water and dust resistant rating.

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Nokia quietly launches the Nokia 105 African Edition feature phone

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Feb 10, 2022

HMD Global has launched a new feature phone apparently designed for Africa. The model is dubbed Nokia 105 African Edition and it appears to be similar to the model launched in 2019.

Nokia 105 was first introduced in 2019 and the company last year introduced a revamped version equipped with 4G connectivity. This new model has nothing similar but retains the durable design for which the company’s phones are known.

The Nokia 105 African Edition comes with a 1.77-inch QVGA screen and has 10 games pre-installed, including the popular Snake. It equally packs a rear shell made from polycarbonate.

The feature phone is powered by a unisoc 6531E processor paired with 4MB RAM. Tehre is also 4MB of storage space onboard. The phone runs on the Series S30+ OS and supports 2G connectivity only.

Keeping the lights on is an 800 mAh battery that is touted to last for up to 18 days and can keep the device going if you are on a call for up to 12 hours. The battery can be charged via a MicroUSB connector while at the top edge, there is a built-in torchlight. Nokia also says the device’s memory can retain up to 2000 contacts and up to 500 text messages.

The Nokia 105 is the top-selling feature phone in the world and we expect Nokia to retain the crown going forward. The pricing and availability details of this new edition are not known at the moment. However, the Nokia 105 African edition will retail across Africa soon.

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Samsung reportedly plans on increasing Galaxy S22 series production expecting higher demand

By

Zohaib Ahmed

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Feb 10, 2022

The Samsung Galaxy S22 series is having to put up with the ongoing semiconductor shortage, with the S22 and S22+ models getting delayed possibly due to it. The company CEO recently even visited Samsung’s manufacturing facilities in Vietnam to make sure that there are enough units in the market.

To deal with the crisis, Samsung has increased Galaxy S22 production by 20%, a report from The Elec has revealed. A total 30 million smartphones are now planned to be manufactured, out of which 12 million will be the S22. This standard model be joined by 8 million units of the S22+ and 10 million units of the S22 Ultra.

It is clear that Samsung expects its Galaxy S22 series to sell like hotcakes, but sales figures of the Galaxy S21 series beg to differ. The Galaxy S22 series has addressed several of the criticisms from the S21 series, one of them being the ditching of plastic backs. But whether it will translate to better sales is unknown at the moment.

Regardless, there are prospects that the global smartphone market will recover this year. This, combined with the fact that the S22 Ultra is sort of a return of the fabled Note series, should play out in Samsung’s favor.

Samsung Electronics’ component suppliers have been producing parts for the first batch of the Galaxy S22 series since November of last year. The volume plan of the models is expected to change depending on the initial market reaction.

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Alleged Realme GT Neo3 image reveals a slightly tweaked camera module

By

Pranav Sawant

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Feb 10, 2022

Realme GT Neo2 was launched last year with Snapdragon 870 chipset and triple rear cameras. Now, it seems that the company is planning to release its successor, the Realme GT Neo3 soon. A tipster on Weibo has shared an image of a Realme device, which he claims to be of the upcoming GT Neo3.

As per the image, the device has a different design and sports a slightly tweaked camera module. Apparently, it has a triple camera system but has the third lens is positioned at the bottom. This is unlike the existing Neo2’s camera placement.

Unfortunately, the camera details aren’t revealed. But since it will be a successor to the Neo2, we can expect a new primary lens on the phone. That being said, it might have a newer 64MP sensor or a 50MP lens.

The back has a tri-color design with a mix of Silver, Black, and Orange. It also has the Realme branding at the bottom.

Other than the design, the tipster reveals that the Realme GT Neo3 will come powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 chipset. It will pack a 5,000mAh battery and support a 100W fast charging technology.

In related news, the company recently launched the Realme GT Neo2 in Dragon Ball Z Limited Edition in China. Later, the company confirmed that the limited edition model will also reach the Indian and European markets soon.

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Throwback Tech Thursday: Revisiting the HTC One (M7) – The BoomBox Metal Phone

By

Sean

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Feb 10, 2022

While HTC isn’t a major figure in the smartphone market nowadays, it used to be a popular brand that was known for its premium grade flagship handsets. A good example of this is undoubtedly the HTC One (M7), so let’s look back at what made this device standout from the lot.

What made the HTC One (M7) Special?

With the launch of the HTC One (starting from the M7), the Taiwanese company had showcased that it was far ahead in certain aspects compared to its rivals. This was especially true in terms of hardware. The One M7 was launched back in February of 2013 and was met with an overall positive reception for a number of reasons, despite it technically failing in the market, commercially speaking. In its launch year, many articles had surfaced talking about the best smartphones of the year, and the HTC One made the list every time, if not outright topping it.

Its iconic metallic unibody was one of its highlighting features. Keep in mind, this design was a novelty back when plastic rear panels were still common in flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S4 and glass panels were just emerging as well. Even by today’s standards, the phone has a solid build quality, which was further complemented by the company’s Sense software. This was the custom skin that ran on top of Android OS and was one of the best UI’s back when stock Android wasn’t considered too appealing.

During the time of its launch, Samsung was dominating the high end Android market with the Galaxy S4, but the HTC One M7 was thought to be a close competitor in the same segment. Reviewers were divided between the two phones, but many had even agreed that the One M7 was in a league of its own in terms of design and build quality.

Impact & Future Influence

While a metallic body and stereo speakers are not ground breaking features any more, HTC’s One series helped in influencing the industry and popularized them. In 2013, stereo speakers weren’t as common, and its partnership with Beats Audio for its BoomSound speakers was iconic as well. Furthermore, the smartphone was touted for its unique user experience, with its HTC BlinkFeed receiving a lot of praises. The BlinkFeed is positioned on the left of the home screen, which is a common feature in modern day Android smartphones.

This feature also tied in with social media apps, or even news feeds as well for up to date info related to politics, sports, and much more. So, it is clear that the HTC One has made its mark in the smartphone industry. While the UltraPixel camera technology did not deliver the performance it had claimed, the company did bet right on the concept that larger megapixel count isn’t everything. Rather, a larger aperture and pixel size helps in letting in more light, which helps in better low light performance. In the future, other brands would follow suit and ship their devices with image sensors that have larger pixel sizes to offer a better photographic experience.

Design, Specs, & Price

The HTC One M7 sported a 4.7 inch LCD screen with a FHD resolution. It had a large notch and chin, which houses the dual front facing stereo speakers. The top notch also featured the 2.1 megapixel selfie camera. While the smartphone is nearly a decade old, its display had a 469ppi pixel density that allowed for a crisp viewing experience. Under the hood, it ran on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 SoC, paired with 2GB of RAM and up to 64GB of internal storage. This was a flagship chip in 2013, since Qualcomm hadn’t launched its Snapdragon 800 series yet.

On the rear, it featured a 4 megapixel camera, which had OIS support and a pixel size of 2µm (hence the name UltraPixel). It was powered by a 2300mAh battery pack that was non removable, which also wasn’t common nearly 10 years ago. As mentioned above, the design of the HTC One M7 helped it stand out in the crowd, which was even more evident in its brighter color options like Red, Blue, Gold. The smartphone had launched with a price tag of 650 Euros (roughly 743 US Dollars). In other words, it was quite expensive. But back then, it offered an experience like no other.

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Microsoft Your Phone will soon show recent apps used on your Samsung phone

By

Sudhanshu

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Feb 10, 2022

Yesterday, Samsung unveiled their new devices at the Galaxy Unpacked 2022 event, which included the Samsung Galaxy S22 series and the Galaxy Tab S8 lineup. However, one announcement that might’ve slipped under the radar among all the hype is the upcoming improvement to the Microsoft “Your Phone” app for Samsung smartphones.

At yesterday’s launch event, Samsung briefly announced the Your Phone app will get a new quality of life feature for Galaxy smartphones which will now show the recent apps used on the smartphone. As we know, Samsung smartphones are the only device other than Microsoft Surface Duo that can open mobile apps onto Windows using the Your Phone app.

The new functionality will enable users to pick up anything they were doing on their smartphone and continue on their Windows desktop or laptop.

As seen in the image, the Your Phone application will appear in the Taskbar of your Windows PC which can be clicked to reveal the list of recently used apps on the phone. Users can also view all apps on the phone from this popup to access and open any apps they want.

As mentioned above, currently Samsung Galaxy smartphones and Microsoft Surface Duo are the only devices that allow users to use the mobile apps on their Windows-powered PC. But if you use a smartphone of any other brand, you won’t be left out for long as Windows is working on bringing dedicated functionality that will be able to run Android apps on PC. The functionality is said to come to both Windows 10 and Windows 11 and is currently in a limited beta testing phase.

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(Via)

Strong iPhone 13 sales helped Apple beat Xiaomi in Vietnam in Q4 2021

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Feb 10, 2022

Counterpoint Research has released a new report on the Vietnamese smartphone market. The research firm says that the market grew 104% QoQ and 15% YoY in the last quarter of 2021. Samsung retained the top position. On the other hand, Xiaomi was pushed to the fifth position by Apple due to strong iPhone 13 sales.

Xiaomi 12 Pro vs iPhone 13 Pro Camera comparison_ Which one is PRO — Xiaomi 12 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, macroeconomic worries, and supply chain issues, the smartphone market in Vietnam, which is dominated by offline channels, went through difficulties throughout 2021. However, it sprang back to growth in Q4.

Both Samsung and Apple witnessed their highest ever shipments in the country last year. The South Koran tech giant led the market, followed by OPPO (including OnePlus), Xiaomi (including Redmi and POCO), vivo, Apple, and realme.

However, in the final quarter of the year, Xiaomi actually came fourth. It was not only beaten by OPPO and vivo but also Apple. Enhanced distributions strategy by Apple boosted the sales of iPhones in Q4.

The only brand that showed a decline in 2021 was OPPO though it held the second position overall by growing 88% QoQ in Q4. Being an offline-centric brand, the company’s growth decremented by 6% YoY due to lockdowns in Q2 and Q3 as well as a shortage of 4G SoCs.

Lastly, Vietnam has never been an online-first smartphone market, however, it did account for 15% of shipments in 2021 by growing 8% YoY.

Realme C35 debuts with 50MP triple cameras and 5,000mAh battery

By

Pranav Sawant

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Feb 10, 2022

Realme on Thursday launched the all-new Realme C35 in the market. The smartphone is currently available in Thailand and it comes with 50MP cameras, a UNISOC chipset, and a 5,000mAh battery.

The Realme C35 is priced at THB 5,799(~$178) for the 4GB + 64GB variant and THB 6,299(~$193) for the 4GB + 128GB variant. The smartphone arrives in two glossy shades — Black and Green. It can be purchased from Lazada, Shopee, and JD Thailand stores.

Realme C35 Specifications

The Realme C35 comes as a sucessor to the Realme C25. It brings an entirely new design at the back. It sports a 6.6-inch water-drop notch display with a Full-HD+(1080 x 2400 pixels) resolution. It is an IPS LCD panel with a 90.7% screen-to-body ratio and 20:9 aspect ratio. The screen has the standard 60Hz refresh rate and peaks at 600 nits of brightness.

It has a triple camera system at the rear with a 50MP main lens, a 2MP macro sensor, and a 2MP B&W lens. Upfront, it has an 8MP selfie snapper. The smartphone is powered by the UNISOC T616 chipset and has a 5,000mAh battery. The battery supports 18W fast charging technology via the USB Type-C port.

It has 4GB of LPDDR4x RAM and up to 128GB of UFS 2.2 internal storage. As for security, it has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. It has a triple slot, having space for keeping two SIMs and a microSD card. The device runs on Android 11 OS and has the Realme UI R Edition on top of it.

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iQOO 9 series India launch date, variants, color options, and sale date tipped

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Feb 10, 2022

It was recently confirmed by iQOO that it will be launching three smartphones namely, iQOO 9, iQOO 9 Pro, and iQOO 9 SE soon in India. iQOO India is expected to soon confirm the launch date of the iQOO 9 lineup. A fresh leak by PassionateGeekz has leaked the launch date, variants, color options, and sale date of the iQOO 9 lineup for India.

iQOO 9 series India launch date, sale date

The report states that the iQOO 9 5G, iQOO 9 Pro 5G, iQOO 9 SE 5G will be launching at 12 pm (local time) on Feb. 23 in India. It further mentions that all three devices will be available for purchase starting from March 2.

iQOO 9, 9 Pro, 9 SE variants, color options for India

The iQOO 9 5G is expected to arrive in two variants such as 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage and 12 GB RAM + 256 GB storage. It is expected to arrive in colors like Legend and Alpha. Reports have revealed that it will be rebranded version of China’s iQOO 8 5G from last year.

The iQOO 9 Pro 5G is likely to arrive in two configurations such as 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage and 12 GB RAM + 256 GB storage. It may come in Legend and Dark Cruise color variants. The iQOO 9 Pro 5G for India is likely to be the same device that debuted in China last month.

The iQOO 9 SE 5G is tipped to arrive in two options such as 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage and 12 GB RAM + 256 GB storage. It may come in colors like Space Fusion and Sunset Sierra. It is said to be a rebranded version of the iQOO Neo 5s smartphone that debuted in China back in December 2021.

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nubia Z40 Pro will be the first phone with Sony IMX787 camera sensor

By

Zohaib Ahmed

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Feb 10, 2022

The nubia Z40 Pro along with its standard model is expected to be launched soon, and ahead of it, nubia has been busy teasing the device. A particular highlight of the Pro model is its rear camera module, which was earlier revealed to be equipped with the industry’s first custom 35mm lens. A tipster has now also revealed the camera sensor that will be backing said lens — and it again will be an industry-first.

Panda is Bald, through a Weibo post leaked that the nubia Z40 Pro will feature the Sony IMX787 camera sensor and will actually be the first to do. Judging by its model number, the sensor will be one of the most premium mobile camera sensor offerings from Sony. The unit will be capable of outputting 50MP images, and has an f/1.6 aperture paired with a 1/1.3 ± inch outsole.

It was previously revealed that the nubia Z40 Pro will be equipped with the industry’s first “custom 35mm optical master lens.” This focal length is ideal for events, portraits, street photography, and the like. Also known is that the device will be equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor that will be cooled by new aerospace-grade heat dissipation materials.

The Z40 Pro earlier also made a Geekbench 5 appearance, achieving a single-core score of 1228 and a multi-core score of 3379.

Last but not least, the Nubia Z40 series is expected to be once again equipped with a periscope telephoto lens and will have rich starry sky photography capabilities.

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ASUS ROG Phone 5S series India launch date revealed

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Feb 10, 2022

Asus unveiled the ROG Phone 5 series in March 2021. The lineup was soon followed by the ROG Phone 5S series in August. However, the newest family of gaming smartphones from the Taiwanese PC maker did not make its way to many markets. Six months after its announcement, the handsets are now scheduled to debut in India.

Asus has confirmed to launch the ASUS ROG Phone 5S series in India on February 15. Flipkart will be the official online retailer of the devices like the previous generation of ROG Phones and ZenFones.

The ROG Phone 5S family consists of only two models, namely ROG Phone 5S and ROG Phone 5S Pro. For the unaware, the ROG Phone 5 has three models, such as ROG Phone 5, ROG Phone 5 Pro, and ROG Phone 5 Ultimate.

As far as specifications are concerned, the newer smartphone duo is identical to each other. They only differ in terms of rear design (dot-matrix RGB LED vs ROG Vision PMOLED display) and two additional touch sensors on the Pro.

Other than that, they have the same 6.78-inch FHD+ 144Hz AMOLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+ chipset, up to 18GB LPDDR5 RAM, up to 512GB UFS 3.1 storage, 64MP + 13MP + 5MP triple camera setup, 24MP selfie camera, dual stereo speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack, 2 x USB Type-C ports,5G connectivity, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, in-screen fingerprint sensor, ultrasonic shoulder triggers, Android 11-based ROG UI, 6,000mAh battery, and 65W fast charging.

How much do you think ASUS will charge for the ROG Phone 5S series in India? For context, the ROG Phone 5 series starts at ₹49,999 ($667). Let us know your guesses in the comment section below.

Samsung Galaxy M23 5G spotted on Bluetooth SIG

By

Pranav Sawant

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Feb 10, 2022

Now that Samsung has wrapped up its flagship Galaxy S22 series launch, it’s time for the Galaxy A and M-series phones to debut in the market. Today, a new M-series model made it to the Bluetooth SIG certification confirming its existence. The device in question is the Galaxy M23 5G.

The Samsung Galaxy M23 5G carries the model numbers SM-E236B_DS, SM-M236B_DS, and SM-M236Q_DS. The listing reveals that the smartphone has Bluetooth v5.0 support.

Other than this, there’s nothing notable in the certification. The device’s specs are yet to be known. However, since the M23 5G also has a model number that starts from SM-E, we can expect it to also arrive as some F-series device.

In fact, a device with the same model number “SM-E236” was previously spotted on Geekbench. It was believed to be the upcoming Samsung Galaxy F23 5G. The smartphone has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G SoC inside and has 6GB of RAM. It scored 640 points in the single-core department and 1820 points in the multi-core department.

Considering the model number similarities, we can expect the upcoming Samsung Galaxy M23 5G to be a rebranded F23 5G. That being said, it may come powered by the same Snapdragon chipset as the F23 5G. Furthermore, it will run on Android 12 OS, and we expect it to have OneUI 4 on top of it.

As of now, there’s no word from Samsung about the M32 5G’s launch. But considering that it is now appearing on certification sites, we can expect the phone to launch soon.

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Redmi K50 Gaming Edition design inspired by sports cars, says company executive

By

Zohaib Ahmed

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Feb 10, 2022

The upcoming Redmi K50 Gaming Edition phone has a design inspired by sports cars, Redmi general manager Lu Weibing said through a social media post today.

The automotive design inspiration spans the overall look of the phone, its colors, and finally its “sophistication,” the GM added. The phone has also been described as having the most “exquisite in-hand feeling in the history of Redmi phones.”

Further, the gaming triggers that sit on one of the longer edges of the Redmi K50 Gaming Edition were likened to the paddle-shifting mechanism on sports cars. This should provide a highly immersive experience with racing games, even though trigger buttons are traditionally used for FPS games on mobile.

And if you need any more proof about the Redmi K50 Gaming Edition being sports car-inspired, then you need to look no further than its special Mercedes AMG Petronas Edition. This variant features the iconic color scheme of Mercedes F1 cars, with a grey-colored back panel complemented by black triangular patterns around its mid-section.

The Redmi K50 Gaming Edition will be released on February 16 as a successor to last year’s Redmi K40 Gaming Edition. It is equipped with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor and has a total heat dissipation area of 4860mm² VC. Its large 4,700mAh battery can be filled up at 120W.

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Samsung’s Exynos 2200 only 5% faster than Exynos 2100, GPU uninspiring too

By

Zohaib Ahmed

-

Feb 10, 2022

Samsung’s Exynos 2200 flagship processor has been the subject of much discussion lately, mostly due to its GPU that has been developed jointly with AMD. With raytracing promos making rounds, significant performance boosts were expected at least in the GPU department. However, new numbers from analyst TechAltar will push Exynos fans into a world of disappointment. They reveal not only that the Exynos 2200 GPU is only marginally better than its predecessor, but the CPU is barely any faster either.

According to TechAltar (via Wccftech), the octa-core CPU belonging to the latest SoC from Samsung is only 5% faster compared to the cores in the Exynos 2100. This is obviously way below expectations — new-gen flagship SoCs typically bring about at least 15-20% improved performance and the Exynos 2200 is not even close to such figures.

The Exynos 2200 numbers we got yesterday (vs. 2100) :
🔼 5% for CPU
🔼 17% for GPU
🔼 115% for NPU

No wonder they tried to cancel the dedicated Exynos launch event

— TechAltar (@TechAltar) February 9, 2022

Still, the blunder could have been forgivable had the chip made up for the shortcoming in its CPU through the AMD RDNA2-based Xclipse 920 GPU. When one mentions AMD, the company’s extensive and powerful desktop GPU lineup comes to mind. Surely, the Samsung-AMD partnership must’ve reaped great benefits?

Nope, because the same numbers claim that the GPU on the Exynos 2200 is only 17% faster compared to the one on the Exynos 2100.

This leaves nothing but the NPU, and thankfully, this unit has proven to be a true upgrade unlike the other two. A boost of 115% over the previous generation means that the NPU should result in faster processing times when it comes to operations like image processing.

But the question remains if this will translate to real-world performance improvements. TechAltar has pointed out that Samsung has kept performance metrics in the dark and even tried to cancel the dedicated Exynos launch event. This obviously means nothing good and Samsung could just be trying to hide its latest chip’s shortcomings.

All in all, Exynos looks to have been beaten by Snapdragon once again. “Qualcomm already had a better GPU and they made 50% improvements vs last gen, so they actually widened their lead, it seems,” says TechAltar.

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Qualcomm pushes for Snapdragon 8 Gen1+ launch to replace Samsung made 8 Gen1 chips: Report

By

Sean

-

Feb 10, 2022

Despite the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen1 SoC launching barely two months ago, it appears that the company is already pushing for a new upgraded version of the new chip that is manufactured by Samsung.

According to 手机晶片达人 on Weibo (a Chinese microblogging website), the American chipmaking giant is seeking to release its 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen1+ soon to replace the current Snapdragon 8 Gen1 chips soon. For those unaware, the 8 Gen1 is a flagship grade processor, which is the latest and greatest from the brand that is being shipped in premium grade handsets at the moment. However, we have reported on Samsung facing issues in chip production that caused caused Qualcomm to move part of 8 Gen1 production to TSMC.

So, the company is reportedly pushing to launch the improved version of the chipset soon that will be made by Taiwan Semiconductor manufacturing Company, to replace the Samsung made version. The version from the world’s largest contract chipmaker is also based on the 4nm based process and carried the model number SM8475, compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen1’s SM8450 model number.

While finer details are still unknown, the Plus variant will apparently offer improved CPU performance through higher clock speeds but with better power efficiency as well. Although, these likely won’t be any major upgrades. This chip is expected to first be featured in flagship phones like Xiaomi 12 Ultra, or even the MIX 5 series. However, this is still speculation at the moment. Keep in mind that this is still an unconfirmed report so take it with a pinch of salt for now.

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