Yesterday, Xiaomi’s sub-brand Redmi held an unveiling event to announce the Redmi Note 11 series for the global markets. It unveiled four handsets namely, Redmi Note 11 4G, Note 11S, Note 11 Pro 4G, and Note 11 Pro 5G. All four or at least two or three Note 11 members are expected to debut on Feb. 9. Now PassionateGeekzhas leaked the variants of the two variants of the Note 11S for the Indian market.
The new leak states that the Redmi Note 11S will come in two flavors such as 6 GB RAM + 64 GB storage and 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage. These models are likely to be priced at Rs 17,999 (~$239) and Rs 19,999 (~$266), respectively. The Note 11S is available in colrs like Pearl White, Graphite Gray, and Twilight Blue in global markets. It is unclear whether the Note 11S will be made available in these three colors in India.
Redmi Note 11S
Redmi Note 11S specifications
The Redmi Note 11S has a 6.43 AMOLED display that offers a Full HD+ resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. The Helio G96 chipset powers the device with LPDDR4x RAM and UFS 2.2 storage. The device is packed with a 5,000mAh battery that supports 33W rapid charging. The MIUI 13 based Android 12 OS comes preinstalled on the Note 11S.
The Note 11S has a front camera of 16-megapixel. Its rear camera setup has a 108-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultrawide lens, a 2-megapixel depth sensor, and a 2-megapixel macro camera. The device offers other features like a side-facing fingerprint scanner, dual speakers, a 3.5mm audio jack, an IR blaster, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, NFC, and USB-C.
Mobvoi has just released a new hearable product. It is the truly wireless Earbuds ANC, which arrives as an affordable offering but with notable specifications. So lets have a look.
The Chinese brand’s Earbuds ANC weighs just 5 grams each and is targeted for those that are looking for some top notch specs at a budget. The earbuds promise to deliver high quality audio playback, while also offering a great voice call experience as well, thanks to its built in microphones, which also support the Tico voice assistant for hands free control. It also features an Apple AirPods like stem design and houses 13mm drivers on both earbuds.
According to Mobvoi, “Our latest active noise cancelling earbuds provide advanced noise cancellation technology, intuitive smart controls using both voice and tap, and long lasting comfort to deliver a rich and immersive listening experience.”
With having 2 mics per bud, the earphones also support Active Noise Cancellation as well. Furthermore, the Earbuds ANC supports touch controls for audio playback, along with some voice controls from Tico. Other notable features include IP5X dust resistance and offers up to 21 hours of battery life when paired with its charging case that also houses a USB Type C port. The wireless earphones support Bluetooth 5.0 and is available for a price of just 59 US Dollars. It is currently listed on the official Mobvoi website and on Amazon as well.
Redmi India will be holding a launch event for the Redmi Note 11 series of smartphones on Feb. 9 in India. Today, the company confirmed that it will be also unveiling the Smart Band Pro fitness tracker alongside the Note 11 lineup.
The landing page of the Smart Band Pro is now live on Xiaomi India’s website. It shows that the device will be equipped with a big rectangle-shaped display that will offer features like an always-on display and auto-brightness. The fitness tracker will offer over 110+ workout modes and it will be capable of tracking calories burnt, SpO2, and heart rate.
The Redmi Smart Band Pro will be equipped with a LifeQ health algorithm for tracking health vitals accurately and continuously. It will offer other features such as 14 water fitness modes, water-resistant construction, power saving mode for the battery, and watch faces. As the name goes, it is an enhanced version of the Smart Band that debuted with a price tag of Rs 1,599 (~$21) back in September last year. It seems to be the same fitness band, which was announced for the global markets in October last year.
Redmi Smart Band Pro specifications
The Redmi Smart Band Pro has a 1.47-inch AMOLED display that offers 450 nits peak brightness and 282ppi pixel density. The 50ATM water-resistant fitness tracker is equipped with an accelerometer, gyroscope, PPG heart-rate tracker, and SpO2 tracker.
The Smart Band Pro has a 200mAh battery that can be charged using a magnetic cable. It promises 14-days of battery life and it can last for up to 20 days in power-saving mode. Probably, the Smart Band Pro could be priced under Rs 3,000 (~$40) in India.
Samsung is undoubtedly one of the industry leaders with regards to rolling out timely updates. The South Korean company led the update race this year, releasing Android 12 for most of its extensive lineup already. There is one issue with the current update process, however, that not only creates quite a mess but also results in unnecessary resource drain for the company — regional fragmentation.
Most OEMs adopt a batch release process where updates are sent out to devices of select regions first before being made available widely. This helps limit the damage of any build if it turns out buggy. In the case of Samsung, every phone carries a specific “CSC” code that identifies its region, and the company has to apparently test builds for each code separately.
Image: Galaxy Club
And that’s where fragmentation creeps in, resulting in some regional variants either being far ahead in terms of build versions or far behind. This problem could now be finally changing, according to Galaxy Club (via Android Police).
Samsung appears to be unifying CSC codes for newer smartphone releases, effectively reducing the number of variations in circulation. Take the 4G variant of the Galaxy A52, for example, that had far fewer CSC variants than other models. This trend has carried forward with the Galaxy Z Fold3 and Flip3, with the duo now carrying a unified EUX CSC code for Europe.
Moreover, Galaxy Club has verified that no ‘hyper-localized’ firmware is currently being developed for any Samsung phone due to appear in 2022. These include the Galaxy S22 series, Galaxy A23, and Galaxy A73, all of which use a more uniform EUX code for the entire continent.
While it appears that this new firmware development strategy is being adopted only for Europe at the moment, it is likely that it will seep through to other regions as well.
So, what’s the upside for users? The most noticeable benefit should be quicker updates as Samsung needs to work on just one build for a group of countries. Such perks are already turning to reality — the Galaxy S21 received Android 12 in record time — and we should hopefully be seeing even faster rollouts with Android 13.
Realme is reportedly planning to launch the Realme 9 Pro series of smartphones in February. A fresh leak has revealed the global launch date of the Realme 9 Pro series. The lineup will include Realme 9 Pro 5G and Realme 9 Pro+ 5G smartphones.
Tipster Abhishek Yadav’s tweet shows that the global launch of the Realme 9 Pro 5G and Pro+ 5G will be held on Feb. 15. Tipster Yogesh Brar has the specifications of both smartphones.
Realme 9 Pro 5G series specifications (rumoured)
The Realme 9 Pro 5G will feature a 6.59-inch LCD FHD+ 120Hz display, Snapdragon 695 chipset, 4 GB / 6 GB / 8 GB of RAM, up to 128 GB of native storage, and a 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging. The device features a front camera of 16-megapixel and a 64-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel triple camera unit. The handset will run on Android 12 OS and has a side-facing fingerprint scanner. It is likely to carry a starting price of Rs 17,000 (~$226) in India.
The Realme 9 Pro+ 5G is expected to arrive with a 6.43-inch AMOLED FHD+ 90Hz display, Dimensity 920 chipset, 6 GB / 8 GB of RAM, 128 GB / 256 GB of storage, and a 4,500mAh battery. For photography, it will come with a 16-megapixel front camera and a 50-megapixel (Sony IMX766 custom variant with OIS) + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel triple camera setup. It will offer other features like Android 12 OS and an in-screen fingerprint scanner. The base model of the phone could be priced at Rs 19,999 (~$265) or Rs 20,999.
In related news, MySmartPricewill be holding a launch event on Feb. 16 in India for the Realme 9 series. The report does not clearly mention whether the event will see the arrival of the Realme 9 Pro and 9 Pro+ in India.
Back in November 2021, POCO released the POCO M4 Pro 5G. This device is nothing but a rebadged Chinese Redmi Note 11 5G, which is also known as Redmi Note 11T 5G in India. A few days back, the 4G variant of POCO M4 Pro emerged on a certification website. Now, we finally know which handset it may be based on.
Redmi Note 11S
According to findings by Xiaomiui, the POCO M4 Pro 4G is codenamed Fleur with model number 2201117PG. The device is listed with the same details in the MIUI code.
Bizarrely, the newly announced Redmi Note 11S also has the same codename and near-identical model numbers.
This clearly suggests that the upcoming POCO M4 Pro 4G could be a rebranded Redmi Note 11S. Anyway, we aren’t surprised as POCO phones have always been rebranded or tweaked versions of Redmi smartphones, except for the original POCO F1 (aka POCOPHONE F1).
POCO-branded products are usually cheaper than their Redmi counterparts. Hence, the forthcoming handset will be likely cheaper than the phone it is based on.
As far as availability is concerned, the POCO M4 Pro 4G appears to have only one single model number, which belongs to the ‘Global’ variant. Therefore, for now, we can say that the smartphone could be limited to a select few markets, especially those in Southeast Asia as it has bagged NBTC (Thailand) certification.
A new report has revealed that Apple has managed to become the world’s most valued brand for the year 2022. Meanwhile, its rivals like Google, Samsung, and Huawei have also reached the top 10 rankings.
According to a report from Brand Directory, the Cupertino based giant is valued around 355.1 billion US Dollars as per their calculations. Keep in mind, this figure is from the report and does not represent the iPhone maker’s market cap. Looking at the top 10 list, we can also see other known brands like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Walmart, which accounted for the top 5 spots respectively. On the other hand, Samsung, Facebook, ICBC, Huawei, and Verizon rounded up the last five spots in the top 10 list.
The report further added that Apple’s brand valuation was up by an impressive 35 percent over the previous year, which helped it achieve the highest valuation Brand Directory has ever recorded. It stated that “Apple had a stellar 2021, highlighted by its achievement at the start of 2022 – being the first company to reach a US$3 trillion market valuation. The tech giant’s success historically lied in honing its core brand positioning, but its more recent growth can be attributed to the company’s recognition that its brand can be applied effectively to a much broader range of services.”
Interestingly, while the report showcased the top 10 brands as well as Apple’s valuation, it also revealed the fastest growing brand as well. TikTok took this achievement with its brand value tripling in 2022 over the previous year. Brand Directory stated that “TikTok is the world’s fastest-growing brand. With an astounding 215% growth, the entertainment app’s brand value has increased from US$18.7 billion in 2021 to US$59.0 billion this year. Claiming 18th spot among the world’s top 500 most valuable brands, it is the highest new entrant to the Brand Finance Global 500 2022 ranking.”
Earlier this week, Xiaomi confirmed to launch the Redmi Note 11S in India on February 9. Yesterday, this smartphone went official alongside the rest of the Redmi Note 11 international models at the company’s first global launch event of 2022. Now, according to a teaser, it seems like the Redmi Note 11S could be accompanied by one of its siblings in India.
The Redmi India official Twitter handle tweeted a cryptic tweet a few minutes back. The image in the tweet clearly states ‘THE BEASTS ARE COMING’. Even the tweet itself reads “We are here to #SetTheBar and make it 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦!”
Hence, we think that Xiaomi may announce yet another Redmi Note 11 device alongside the Redmi Note 11S in India. Although the company is yet to confirm the second model, our bets are on the vanilla Redmi Note 11.
For the unaware, the standard Redmi Note 11 has a 6.43-inch 90Hz FHD+ AMOLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 chipset, 50MP (wide) + 8MP (ultra-wide) + 2MP (macro) + 2MP (depth) quad-camera setup, 13MP selfie camera, dual stereo speakers, side-mounted fingerprint sensor, 5,000mAh battery, and 33W fast charging.
The Redmi Note 11S, on the other hand, has a faster MediaTek Helio G96 chip, a 108MP primary camera, and a 16MP selfie camera. The rest of the specs are the same as the vanilla model, except for memory configurations.
Update: The Realme RMX3475 will be launching as the Realme V25.
Original story continues…
In the previous week, a Realme phone with model number RMX3475 was certified by China’s TENAA telecom authority. At that time, it was speculated that it could be the Realme V25 handset. Now, the device has bagged approval from the country’s 3C regulatory body (via). The certification suggests that the Realme RMX3475 could be arriving in the Chinese market with the Realme V23.
The Realme RMX3475 has been spotted with a 33W charger at the Chinese certification site. Last year, Realme released four V-series phones in Chinas such as Realme V11, V11s, V13, and V15. Except for the V15 that came with 50W charging, the other three phones support 18W charging. Hence, it appears that the Realme RMX3475 could be the successor for the Realme V13 from last year. This indicates that the device may break cover as the Realme V23.
Purported Realme V23 specifications (rumored)
The TENAA listing of the RMX3475 revealed that it has a 6.586-inch LCD panel that offers an FHD+ resolution. It has a front camera of 16-megapixel and a 64-megapixel + 2-megapixel + 2-megapixel triple camera unit on the back.
The RMX3475 is driven by an unknown octa-core processor that clocks at 2.2GHz. It is likely to feature a 5G-ready Snapdragon 6-series chipset. Hence, it could be powered by the Snapdragon 695 or Snapdragon 69v0 chipset. The handset is expected to offer 6 GB / 8 GB / 12 GB of RAM and it will offer 128 GB / 256 GB storage choices.
The Android 12 OS coupled with Realme UI 3.0 will come preinstalled on the device. It is likely to house a 5,000mAh battery. The device measures 8.5mm in thickness and weighs 195 grams. It may arrive in China in colors like Dark Day, Peak Blue, and Aurora.
MediaTek, the company known for making mid-range and affordable chips is now trying to break it into the premium segment and has also revamped its lineup of chipsets to compete against market leaders like Qualcomm.
The Taiwan-based company isn’t only making smartphone chips but has also launched chips for tablets, smart TVs, routers, etc. Now, the company has announced a new chip for premium Chromebooks — MediaTek Kompanio 1380.
While MediaTek already has a presence in the Chromebook segment, it is mostly limited to entry-level or budget products. With this new Kompanio 1380 chip, the company is now trying to set foot in the premium segment.
MediaTek is claiming high performance and low power consumption with the Kompanio 1380 chipset. It features an octa-core CPU with four high-performance Arm Cortex-A78 cores with speeds up to 3GHz for improved responsiveness.
It packs a five-core Arm Mali-G57 GPU that supports fast and vivid visuals, while the quad-channel 2133MHz LPDDR4X ensures plenty of data bandwidth. There’s also a multi-core AI processor that accelerates AI-camera and AI-voice applications.
The chip supports up to two 4K 60Hz displays, or one 4K 60Hz display plus two 4K 30Hz displays. With A1 Hardware Decoding, users can stream 4K movies and TV shows. It also comes with a dedicated audio digital signal processor (DSP) that provides an ultra-low-power voice on wakeup (VoW) capabilities for voice assistants.
The new Acer Chromebook Spin 513 is the first device to come powered by this MediaTek Kompanio 1380 chipset and will go on sale from June. The company has added that more devices powered by this new processor will soon get launched in the market.
Apple, which has had a good year with the launch of the iPhone 13 series models in the market, has now emerged as the leading smartphone brand in the Chinese market for the fourth quarter of 2021.
According to the report from market research firm Counterpoint Research, Apple had a record-high market share in China in the fourth quarter of 2021, covering around 23 percent of the total smartphone market.
This indicates a year-on-year growth of 32 percent for the US-based tech giant. The report says that Apple’s pricing strategy helped to perform better in China, along with the exit of Huawei from the premium segment, making room for Apple to capture its market share.
Following Apple is China’s own Vivo with a 19 percent market share. The third spot has been captured by OPPO, having a 17 percent share. Both Vivo and OPPO have witnessed a decline of 6 percent year-on-year.
Honor has rapidly recaptured its position in the market and is now the fourth-largest smartphone brand in China, having a 15 percent share. The company also witnessed an impressive 50 percent YoY growth.
Xiaomi, Huawei, and Realme stand at fifth, sixth, and seventh positions respectively with 13 percent, 7 percent, and 3 percent market share. Other brands make up for the remaining 4 percent market share.
While brands like Apple, Honor, and Realme saw growth in Q4 2021, the overall Chinese smartphone market witnessed a 9 percent decline. However, for the entire year of 2021, Vivo emerged as the leading brand with a 22 percent market share, followed by OPPO, Apple, Xiaomi, Honor, Huawei, and Realme.
For the past 2 years, manufacturers are flooding into the wireless earphones market with their own in-house options. There have been a few wireless headphones options too like from Apple and Sony. And it looks like an upcoming competitor may be entering the scene soon as Huawei has recently published a patent for a technology that could bring forward the future of wireless headphones.
Apple AirPods Max
As of January 25, 2022, Huawei has submitted a patent for a wireless charging solution for wireless headphones to the Chinese Regulated Patent Database, QCC.
For context, the AirPods Max and Sony WH-1000XM4 do not support wireless charging, the AirPods Max charges via a Lightning cable, while the Sony WH1000XM4 receives juice forms its USB Type C port. If Huawei were to implement this patent into its upcoming first pair of wireless headphones, it would be an industry first for the company, and it would be the main selling point for users who were planning to buy such wireless headphones that they would like to wirelessly charge.
As for the details on how the wireless charging solution works, Huawei has listed out the patent as follows:
The wireless earphones will include two ear cups, with a headband connecting both ear cups together.
Each ear cup contains its casing, touch controls, its respective wireless charging copper contacts, and its circuitry board connecting to the battery. The copper contacts are located under the casing and in front of the circuitry board. When the ear cup is in contact with a wireless charging pad, the headphones will start charging via the copper contacts n the ear cups.
The copper contacts are conductive to electricity, and the lines on the copper contact pads will be spaced evenly and effectively for maximum induction efficiency(ie for one coil on the copper contact pads, it may have a 20%-80% bigger effective induction area size than its physical area occupied)
Huawei’s Patent Listed on QCC Database
If successfully brought into the market, wireless headphones can finally be truly wireless, as you no longer need a wired cable to charge the headset no more.
As of Huawei’s current lineup of wireless earphones, Huawei currently has the bold yet innovative design of its Huawei Freebuds Lipstick Earbuds. These earbuds are a pair of very light and comfortable with a solid metal build quality. The steel body of both earbuds and the charging case, paired with its gold-accented colourway, gives it a decent sense of luxury. The earbuds also feature active-noise cancellation for those who want to enjoy their music in peace.
The Huawei Freebuds Lipstick is now currently available on Giztop for $329.
Realme India is gearing up to introduce the Realme 9 Pro series of smartphones in multiple markets like India and Europe. Speculations are rife that the Realme 9 Pro 5G and Realme 9 Pro+ 5G will debut in February in the country. A new teaser has confirmed the chipset’s name that will be present under the hood of the Pro+ variant.
As can be seen in the below image, the Realme 9 Pro+ 5G will be arriving as Europe’s first smartphone driven by the MediaTek Dimensity 920 chipset. To recall, the Realme 9 Pro+ was seen with the D920 chip, 8 GB of RAM, and Android 12 OS at Geekbench recently.
The 6nm chipset two Cortex-A78 cores clocking at 2.5GHz, six Cortex-A55 cores ticking at 2.0GHz, and Mali G-68 MC4 GPU. The 5G-enabled chipset powers the likes of Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G (Chinese edition), Redmi Note 11 Pro + 5G (Chinese edition), and Vivo V23 5G.
Realme 9 Pro+ 5G specifications (rumored)
The Realme 9 Pro+ 5G is expected to feature a 6.43-inch AMOLED display that offers a Full HD+ resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. It will come with a 16-megapixel front camera and a 50-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel triple camera unit. The main snapper is said to be a custom-made Sony image sensor, which is expected to carry support for Optical Image Stabilization (OIS).
Realme 9 Pro+ 5G render
The device may offer up to 256 Gb of storage and it may house a 4,500mAh battery with 65W fast charging support. For security, it will feature an in-display fingerprint scanner. The handset is expected to arrive in three colors such as Midnight Black, Aurora Green, and Sunrise Blue. Probably, it will be priced around Rs 20,000 (~$266) in India.
Valve had recently announced that the company is on track to start selling its Steam Deck handheld gaming device from February after it failed to stick to the initial launch timeline because of the global shortage of components and supply chain issues.
Now, the company has confirmed that the Steam Deck will go on sale from 25th December. Those who have reserved the device will get an email invite to place an order within three days, which means that the first batch of devices will start shipping from 28th February.
Valve has also added that it will release new batches on a weekly basis. The company has also clarified that the order emails are sent in the same order that reservations were made and the customers can only order the Steam Deck model that was originally reserved.
The company is allowing customers to still make a reservation for $5. There are three options to choose from — 64GB eMMC model costing $399, 256GB NVMe SSD model priced at $529, and 512GB NVMe SSD model which costs $649.
As for the hardware, Steam Deck will come powered by AMD’s quad-core processor based on the Zen 2 architecture and a graphics processor based on AMD RDNA 2 architecture. It packs 16GB of LPDDR5 onboard RAM and offers up to 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD.
It features a 7-inch HD touch display with 1280 x 800 pixels screen resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio. The company says that it uses an optically bonded IPS LCD for enhanced readability and it offers 400 nits brightness with a 60Hz refresh rate.
As for the connectivity, it supports Bluetooth 5.0 for controllers, accessories, and audio along with Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac. It runs the company’s own Steam OS 3.0 and is powered by a 40Whr battery that promises up to 8 hours of gameplay.
Xiaomi today held a global launch event where the Redmi Note 11 series took the front burner. Apart from the premium mid-range smartphones, the company also unveiled a new air purifier series for the global market. Enters the Xiaomi Smart Air Purifier 4 series. The new series is made up of three models – the Xiaomi Smart Air Purifier 4, Smart Air Purifier 4 Pro, and Smart Air Purifier 4 Lite. The products are designed to cater to the needs of different segments with different price tags.
Among the three, the Xiaomi Smart Air Purifier 4 Pro is the top variant and it packs a 3-in-1 filtration system that combines electrostatic charge and mechanical filtration technologies to trap 99.97% of air pollutants as small as 0.3 microns. The Pro model comes with both PM2.5 and PM10 sensors to precisely detect inhalable particles of different sizes. It also features an ionizer that facilitates the capture of floating pollutants.In addition, Xiaomi Smart Air Purifier 4 Pro offers 500m³/h PCADR and 185m³/h FCADR, meaning it can filter the air of a 40m² living room entirely every 15 minutes.
The Air Purifier 4 Pro features a sleek design and low-noise running mode at night which ensures it blends perfectly into users’ modern homes and life. There is an OLED touch display which allows for quick viewing of various parameters such as AQI, temperature, and humidity statistics. The device can quickly be adjusted with just a few taps.
Further, users can remotely control the device via the Xiaomi Home App. The gadget also supports Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa voice assistant.
As for the prices, the Xiaomi Smart Air Purifier 4 Lite will retail for $199 while the Air Purifier 4 is priced at $299. The top model Air Purifier 4 Pro will retail for $399.
Philips has launched multiple products in their 2022 line of audio products in India. These include the TAT2206 and TAT2236 truly wireless stereo (TWS) earphones, TAA4216 sports headphones, and TAX5206 and TAX3206 party speakers. So let’s take a closer look at what these new audio products have to offer.
Philips TAT2206 and TAT2236 TWS earphones
The two TWS earphones offered by Philips are quite similar in features other than their audio driver size drivers and silicon tip offerings. The TAT2206BK comes with a 6mm dynamic driver and soft silicone tips. On the other hand, the Philips TAT2236BK is equipped with 12mm dynamic drivers and does not feature any cushioning.
Other than this, both TWS earbuds feature a stem design and come equipped with Bluetooth 5.0 for connectivity. The earbuds offer up to 6 hours of playback time on a single charge which could be further extended to 18 hours with the charging case. The earphones also claim to offer 1 hour of playback time with just 15 minutes of charge time via USB Type-C port. The earphones also feature Mono Mode which allows users to use one earbud for calling and come with IPX4 water resistance certification.
The Philips TAT2206 and TAT2236 TWS earphones are priced at Rs. 6,999 (~$93). They will be available at a special sale price of Rs. 3,499 (~$46) and 3,399 (~$45), respectively which is valid till January 31.
Philips TAA4216BK wireless sports headphones
The new Philips wireless sports headphones come with Bluetooth 5.0 for connectivity and are equipped with 40mm dynamic drivers for punchy bass and clear sound. The headphones offer 35 hours of battery life and take 2 hours to charge completely. Additionally, they also support quick charging which is capable of providing 2 hours of playback time with just 15 minutes of charging.
The headphones also support a wired connection with a 3.5mm audio port. They come with an in-built microphone, and a multifunctional button that offers pause/play music, skip tracks, take calls, control the volume and activate the smartphone’s voice assistant. Philips TAA4216BK wireless sports headphones come with IP55 dust and water resistance certification.
The Philips TAA4216 Sports Headphones price has been set at Rs. 8,999 (~$76) and they will be available at a special sale price of Rs. 4,699 (~$62) which will be valid till January 31.
Philips TAX5206 and TAX3206 party speakers
The Philips TAX5206 party speaker house two 8-inch woofers and two 2.5-inch tweeters to deliver a maximum output power of 160W. The speakers offer features like karaoke support, echo control, vocal fader, voice changer, and more. The party speakers offer different inputs for the mic and guitar with their own volume controls on the speaker.
The Philips TAX5206 party speaker uses Bluetooth v5.0 for connectivity and weighs 10.52kg. It has an LED display screen, speaker light effect, strobe lights, and trolley design for portability.
On the other hand, the Philips TAX3206 party speaker has an 8-inch woofer and a 2.5-inch tweeter enabling it to deliver a total output of 80W. It weighs 6.95kg and has a built-in carry handle for portability. Other than the smaller form factor, it has all the features listed above for the Philips TAX5206 party speaker. Both these speakers come with inbuilt batteries and are capable of delivering up to 14 hours of playback on a single charge.
The TAX5206 and TAX3206 Party speakers are priced at Rs. 21,990 (~$292) and 15,990 (~$212), respectively. As per the company, the Philips TAX5206 party speakers will be available at a special sale price of Rs. 17,990(~$239), and Philips TAX3206 party speakers at Rs 11,690 (~$155) which will be valid till January 31.
Last month, Xiaomi had officially announced its latest custom user interface for the smartphone — MIUI 13. Now, along with the global launch of the Redmi Note 11 series, the company has also announced the MIUI 13 for the global markets.
Xiaomi has also revealed that it plans to roll out the new update for the operating system in the first quarter of this year (i.e. Q1 2022) but it has not yet announced the exact date for the release. However, it has shared the list of smartphones that will get the update.
The MIUI 13 comes with a new MiSans font which is a part of Dynamic Font System 2.0. Similar to the iOS 14, this one too comes with support for dynamic widgets, a feature that the company was testing since August 2021.
It brings Liquid Storage which reduces fragmentation and actively manages stored data along with improving defragmentation efficiency by up to 60 percent. There’s also Atomized Memory that brings RAM efficiency.
It also has Focused Algorithms for dynamically allocating system resources based on usage scenarios which help make the interface fluid and responsive. It also prioritizes active apps, allowing the CPU to focus on important tasks.
There’s also a Smart Balance feature to automatically find the balance between performance and power consumption. It is also claimed to extend the battery life by up to 10 percent. Xiaomi is also focusing more on privacy with the MIUI 13.
Here’s the list of smartphones from Xiaomi that are set to receive the new MIUI 13 update in the first quarter of this year:
Do note that the company’s flagship smartphones — Xiaomi 12 and 12 Pro as well the recently launched global version of the Redmi Note 11, Note 11S, and Note 11 Pro come pre-installed with MIUI 13.
Since this year started, we have been comparing each and every phone equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 mobile platform. A lot of interesting devices powered by this chipset made their debut in the Asian market and soon they will head to several other regions as well. Alongside the Xiaomi 12 Pro, the OnePlus 10 Pro, and the Motorola Edge X30, the most advanced handsets with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 inside are the Realme GT 2 Pro and the iQOO 9 Pro released by Vivo’s sub-brand. Here is a comparison between their specifications that will tell you which is the best one for your current needs and tastes.
Realme GT 2 Pro vs Vivo iQOO 9 Pro
Realme GT 2 Pro
Vivo iQOO 9 Pro
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT
163.2 x 74.7 x 8.2 mm,
189 g
164.8 x 75.2 x 8.8 mm,
204 g
DISPLAY
6.7 inches, 1440 x 3216 pixels (Quad HD+), AMOLED
6.78 inches, 1440 x 3200 pixels (Quad HD+), LTPO AMOLED
Triple 50 + 50 + 3 MP, f/1.8 + f/2.2 + f/3.0
32 MP f/2.4 front camera
Triple 50 + 16 + 50 MP, f/1.8 + f/2.2 + f/2.3
16 MP f/2.5 front camera
BATTERY
5000 mAh, fast charging 65W
4700 mAh, Fast Charging 120W, fast wireless charging 50W
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
5G, dual SIM
5G, dual SIM, reverse wireless charging
Design
The Realme GT 2 Pro has a very innovative design. The Paper Green and the Paper White color options are made with a special bio-polymer resembling the look and the tactile feedback of paper: a material that reduces carbon emissions providing a more sustainable device. On the other hand, the iQOO 9 Pro is a stunning phone as well. It is slightly bigger in terms of dimensions, but it has an amazing curved screen with a very high screen to body ratio and it comes in a special edition dedicated to BMW M Motorsport sporting a great customized design. It is bigger and thicker, but at the same time, it is very gorgeous and made of great materials. Which one would you prefer?
Display
The displays of the Realme GT 2 Pro and the iQOO 9 Pro have more or less the same specifications. They are AMOLED panels with the LTPO technology providing an adaptive refresh rate from 1 to 120 Hz. The displays are able to show up to one billion colors with the HDR10+ certification and a high Quad HD+ resolution of 1440 x 3200 pixels. The image quality provided by these displays is similar and definitely amazing. They have a very high level of detail, as well as great color reproduction, a fluid viewing experience, and lower energy consumption. They also come with stereo speakers and in-display fingerprint readers.
Specs & Software
If you do not want any limit when it comes to performance or you are an advanced gamer, then you should definitely choose one of these two handsets because they are powered by the best Qualcomm chipset: the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. The mobile platform is paired with up to 12 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 512 GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage not expandable. With these devices, you can play every mobile game without lag and with a high, stable frame rate. The Realme GT 2 Pro runs the Realme UI 3.0 which is based on ColorOS, while the iQOO 9 Pro runs OriginOS Ocean which we define a bit inferior to the Realme UI 3.0 as it lacks a few features from the OPPO customization.
Camera
If you are looking for the most advanced rear camera department, the iQOO 9 Pro is the best option for you. It has a 50 MP main camera with gimbal stabilization (OIS), a 50 MP ultrawide camera with a 150° FOV, and a 16 MP telephoto sensor with 2.5x optical zoom and OIS. The Realme GT 2 Pro has a pair of 50 MP sensors as well, but it replaces the amazing telephoto camera found on the iQOO 9 Pro with an inferior 3 MP microscope camera providing 40x magnification. But if you need better selfies, then Realme GT 2 Pro is superior thanks to its 32 MP front camera.
The Realme GT 2 Pro wins the battery comparison simply because it has a bigger 5000 mAh battery. On the other hand, the iQOO 9 Pro wins the charging comparison because it features faster 120W wired charging and, unlike the Realme flagship, it supports wireless charging (with a high 50W power) and reverse wireless charging.
Price
The prices of the Realme GT 2 Pro and the iQOO 9 Pro in the Chinese market are a bit different: the first starts from €542/$609 and the latter begins at €695/$781 at the actual change. The iQOO 9 Pro currently represents a more solid option thanks to its telephoto camera, faster charging, and wireless charging, while the Realme GT 2 Pro offers a bigger battery in a more compact design.
Tecno’s recent Pop-series phone is the Tecno Pop 5 Pro. The device was launched earlier this month in India with a massive 6,000mAh battery at an affordable price of Rs 8,499(~$113). Now, the company seems to have quietly launched the Tecno Pop 5X in Mexico.
The Tecno Pop 5X was listed on the official website. Unfortunately, the pricing of the phone isn’t disclosed. However, we do see the two color variants – Crystal Blue and Cosmic Shine.
Tecno Pop 5X Specifications
Regarding its specifications, the Tecno Pop 5X is a rebranded itel Vision 1 Pro. There’s no surprise there as both these brands come under Transsion holdings. Having said that, the Pop 5X has the same specs as the Vision 1 Pro.
The smartphone sports a 6.5-inch Dot-notch display. It has an HD+(1600 x 720 pixels) resolution. The smartphone has a 2.5D curved glass and a 94% screen-to-body ratio.
It has a 5MP selfie camera at the front and boasts a triple camera system at the rear. The setup goes by an 8MP primary lens and two QVGA sensors.
At the helm, it is powered by an unspecified quad-core chipset, but considering it is a rebranded itel Vision 1 Pro, it could be the UNISOC SC9832CE processor. It has 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. It also has a microSD card slot. It houses a 4,000mAh battery and boots on the Android 10 Go Edition. It has a fingerprint scanner and supports Face unlock.
In recent times, Samsung has become quite generous when it comes to pushing Android 12 updates for its mid-range and budget phones. The Samsung Galaxy A5X devices have always been lucky for receiving major Android updates. Last time, the Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G units in South Korea received the Android 12 based One UI 4.0 update, and now, the update has reached the Indian and European markets.
The new One UI 4.0 update based on the Android 12 OS has the firmware version — A528BXXU1BUL7. It has a size of 2.2GB and includes January 1 2022 security patch.
It brings new features like resizable picture-in-picture, quick access to pop-up window options, enhanced edge panels, improved search for the file manager and messages app.
If you are a Galaxy A52s 5G owner, you should’ve received the update notification. If not, then head over to the settings page and look for the software updates tab. Check for the update and install it.
Samsung Galaxy A52s Specifications
The Samsung Galaxy A52s was launched in September 2021. It comes with a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and FHD+ resolution. The device is powered by the Snapdragon 778G SoC and has up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage.
It is equipped with a quad-camera system at the rear with a 64MP main lens, a 12MP ultra-wide lens, and two 5MP sensors. It has a 32MP selfie shooter. The device packs a 4,500mAh battery and has a 25W fast charging support. The phone was initially launched with One UI 3 based on Android 11 OS out of the box.
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