Redmi is expected to launch new smartphones in China in the coming days. These devices have started appearing on certification websites. At the same time, two of the brand’s executives also officially tease the arrival of the latest handsets.
Smartphone companies in China have begun to release new phones for the upcoming ‘Double Eleven’ (singles’ day) shopping festival in the country. Hence, it’s not surprising to learn that Redmi will be also debuting certain new products.
The hintsby Wang Teng Thomas (Product Director – Redmi) and Lu Weibing (General Manager – Redmi), the upcoming Redmi devices could belong to the Redmi Note series.
There’s a high chance for these handsets to go official as Redmi Note 11 series. In fact, specifications of the two models in the lineup, namely Redmi Note 11 and Redmi Note 11 Pro leaked a few hours back.
These phones could be also accompanied by Redmi K40S. The new Redmi K40 variant is said to be a rebranded Xiaomi 11T. Hence, its main highlights will be 120W fast charging, Dolby Vision display, and three Android updates.
Whatever these smartphones turn out to be, we expect to learn more about them before their official announcement in the next few days.
What are your thoughts on the upcoming Redmi phones for China? Do let us know in the comment section below.
Apple has added Chinese electronic components producer BOE Technology to its list of suppliers for the latest iPhone’s display, providing a major boost to Beijing’s tech ambitions and adding pressure on Samsung – the current go-to display supplier for Apple.
The Beijing-based display maker has already been supplying a small number of OLED panels for the 6.1-inch non-Pro iPhone 13 model since September but is now expected to increase the shipments soon, if the final verification process that will mostly focus on the durability of the screens is gotten over with, Nikkei Asia reports.
Apple iPhone 13
This supply from BOE was limited to repaired and refurbished iPhones but Apple now seems keen on expanding it to new iPhones as well, although only the more affordable models will be getting it for now.
“It is in the process of final testing, but based on the results of earlier samples, BOE should have no problem passing the tests,” an executive-level source with direct knowledge of the matter told Nikkei Asia. “The foundation of the collaboration between Apple and BOE is based on their previous project on the iPhone 12, and both Apple and BOE want this to happen soon.”
BOE will initially be splitting orders with Samsung for the 6.1-inch display iPhone 13, making up about 20% of the units. However, the company aims to raise that figure to 40% under the most optimistic scenario.
The BOE OLED displays for the iPhone 13 are being manufactured at Mian Yang complex in Sichuan Province where the company is already producing the same for Huawei, Honor, Xiaomi, and Vivo.
BOE’s breakthrough will add to the pressure on LG Display and Samsung Display, especially the latter, which has dominated the supply of OLEDs for iPhones since 2017. A third manufacturer under Apple will grant the company greater bargaining power over its South Korean suppliers.
BOE already makes LCD displays for the Apple iPad but has been trying for years to break into iPhone’s supply chain with limited success. But that is beginning to change now.
Sony is joining hands with Meizu for its flagship smartphone in China. The company will now include Meizu apps and services on the Xperia 1 III flagship handset to better appeal to the Chinese market.
According to an official announcement from the Japanese tech giant, both firms are entering into a strategic partnership earlier today (15th October 2021). The collaboration will have the former offer the latter’s services and applications on its Xperia 1 III flagship smartphone in China. This would include the device arriving with pre installed apps or allopw users to download several apps from Meizu’s Flyme Android skin on the Xperia 1 III and newer devices in the region.
In other words, Chinese users of the new Sony Xperia smartphone can now download the Flyme app store along with services related to news, email, and weather. Although, users need the system update that was apparently pushed out to devices back in October. As per the official announcement, “During the strategic cooperation period, Sony and Meizu will further explore more Flyme functions and application cooperation possibilities on different products.”
The partnership would help devices from the Japanese company seem more appealing in the Chinese market, which is usually harder to enter for non China based brands. Although, Meizu is not exactly a major player in the region either. So it remains to be seen if Sony actually benefits from this partnership in any noticeable way in the arriving months.
The HTC Vive Flow VR headset’s USP is its size and weight, designed such that it goes where you go. Despite growing lighter each year, VR headsets are still known to result in rashes and weariness. But the Flow’s official site portrays the headset as being so light that it effortlessly gets integrated into one’s life, among other things.
However, it’s unsettling to see HTC pull photos from Shutterstock and photoshop its HTC Vive Flow VR onto models’ faces rather than using their own stuff. And once you see it, there’s no turning back.
Now, don’t get us wrong here for the headset has actually received positive reviews, mainly for its light weight and comfort. But it’s difficult to believe that it is any good when HTC has apparently cheaped out on the marketing.
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Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto
It’s not just the headset that’s been photoshopped though. Take the image above for example. The woman in the photo originally held a bowl of popcorn, which has been duly erased and replaced with a phone. The editing itself seems to be a fine job, but it’s odd seeing a woman throwing in the “finger purse” sign when engrossed in virtual reality.
Emojipidea says that in Italy, this gesture tends to be used in disagreement, frustration, or disbelief – definitely not the kind of reactions a company would want from their product, unless of course if it’s so good that it leaves its beholders staggered in disbelief.
The above image is just the tip of the iceberg though as Protocol’s Janko Roettgers pointed out (via: The Verge) yesterday on Twitter that the majority of HTC’s leaked lifestyle images of the HTC Vive Flow can be traced back to istockphoto.com. These images have now made their way to the headset’s official site.
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Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto
Nonetheless, it is worth mentioning here that making use of Photoshop in product images in such a manner isn’t exactly something new. Companies do it all the time. It’s just that HTC has photoshopped images from Shutterstock, rather than using their own, and has gotten caught in the act.
Dear HTC, in conclusion, just try not to get caught next time.
Last year, OPPO changed the ColorOS branding in line with the version of Android it is based on. Hence, the latest version of the company’s mobile software is called ColorOS 12 much like the underlying Android 12 version. It succeeds the Android 11-based ColorOS 11 from 2020 with subtle changes.
I got to use a beta build of ColorOS 12 for the past few days. I will be sharing my experience with the new software in this article.
ColorOS 12 Review
Visual Changes
ColorOS 12 brings improvements to the design introduced in the ColorOS 11, which itself is a refinement of ColorOS 7’s design language. The firm calls the new design ‘inclusive.’
According to OPPO, it has made changes to the UI taking internationalization into consideration. The smartphone brand claims that it has worked with a linguistic expert team to implement accurate, concise, and fully localized text.
Lock Screen
Home Screen
Notification Drawer
Quick Settings
App Drawer
Recents Screen
In the latest iteration, ColorOS supports 67 languages, including 13 Indian languages. I tried out some languages like Tamil, Hindi, and Gujarati. I would say it’s still a work in progress, since a simple search in the Settings menu in these languages does not yield proper results. Also, most of the app names are listed in English instead of the selected language.
Though ColorOS 12 focuses on reducing redundancy by bringing a common UI layout everywhere possible, dual languages fail to conform to this design philosophy. Also, in some regions, OPPO devices will continue to ship with Google Phone and Google Messages. This further affects the company’s goal of reducing redundancy.
Settings
About Phone
System Update
Then, there are new first-party icons. These 3D icons animate while opening and closing an app, much like on MIUI. Almost all the UI elements now act like objects in the physical world. For instance, when you tap on an icon, it gets pressed as if you are clicking on a button.
The most obvious change is inertia of animations. Elements across the UI make movements depending upon how fast or slow you interact with them. This feels very natural but it’s difficult to express in words.
Personalisations
Icons
Quick Settings
Always-on Display (AOD)
Unfortunately, there is no ‘Material You’ theming in ColorOS 12, but it does come with a wallpaper-based color palette. I am not a fan of this, as most of the time I had to choose the colors myself. The system would end up selecting random colors instead of picking up suitable ones.
Finally, there are no new first-party live wallpapers. It would have been nice of OPPO to introduce some. However, we do get Canvas AOD from OxygenOS, which is known as ‘Portrait silhouette’ on ColorOS.
Improved Features
Flexible Windows
ColorOS11 brought a floating window feature called FlexDrop. With ColorOS 12, OPPO has changed the name of this feature to ‘Flexible windows’. As its new name suggests, the floating windows can be now resized by dragging the left or right corners.
Further, floating windows can now be activated either by simply swiping up the app from the bottom or tapping on the app icon from the Smart Sidebar. Users can convert these floating windows into ‘Mini windows’ by reducing their size and can also hide them quickly by dragging them to the left or right edge of the screen.
The floating windows can be easily hidden while playing games by simply tapping outside them. These windows now also support drag and drop gesture to share files to other apps.
Despite all the improvements, users can only use one floating window at a time.
Smart Sidebar 2.0
The Smart Sidebar 2.0 on the Chinese version of ColorOS 12 shows options depending on different usage scenarios. But on the Global variant, all we get is quick access to ‘Screen translate’ that was introduced in ColorOS 11 and a new ‘Background stream’ option in media apps like YouTube.
Smart Sidebar 2.0
For those unaware, ‘Screen translate’ on ColorOS uses Google Lens to translate the content on the screen to your desired language. Hence, users can translate content in just two steps – swipe to access Smart Sidebar 2.0 and tap on Screen translate.
This process takes longer on other Android skins. Users first need to take a screenshot of the page they want to translate. Then, they have to open that image in the Google Lens app or in a gallery app that has Google Lens built-in.
As for ‘Background stream’, it enables users to stream videos on apps like YouTube in the background. Although Google’s streaming platform supports this functionality on all devices, it requires a premium subscription. But ColorOS users can now bypass the need for a subscription.
New Features
Android 12 Features
ColorOS 12 arrives with all the new Android 12 features. Users get access to a Privacy Dashboard, approximate location sharing, camera/microphone indicators and toggles, chat bubbles, conversation widgets, and others.
Privacy
Privacy Dashboard
Conversation Widgets
These new features enable users to have granular privacy controls and more. All of them work as expected without any issues.
Omoji
OPPO has become the latest Android OEM to introduce an Apple Memoji clone called Omoji. This feature is still in the initial stage, and therefore, it feels unfinished.
Since none of the current-gen OPPO smartphones feature a 3D face scanning system like on iPhones, Omoji uses the front-facing camera to detect users’ facial expressions.
Omoji
Currently, users can click pictures or record videos with Omoji. They can also use these personalized 3D avatars for AOD (Always-on Display).
I personally don’t think this feature will stay for long, as it’s difficult to replicate the success of Memoji. Other Android manufacturers have already moved on.
PC Connect
PC Connect is probably the best new feature on ColorOS 12. But unfortunately, it is not yet available in the international markets. OPPO says that this productivity feature will be introduced in the future for select models.
PC Connect is OPPO’s answer to HUAWEI Multi Screen Collaboration and Samsung DeX. It enables users to connect their smartphones with compatible Windows computers. Users can not only share screens but also transfer files, sync notifications, and more.
Rollout Plan
OPPO says that ColorOS 12 will be its widest rollout in the company’s history. The firm plans to upgrade 110+ devices and cover 150 million users worldwide.
The beta rollout has already kicked off. However, it will continue through the second half of 2022. In other words, the update rollout is still slower than Samsung’s.
Samsung updated most of its massive smartphone/tablet portfolio to Android 11-based One UI 3.x within the first half of 2021. Considering the improvements OPPO has brought to the table over the past couple of years, we think it could also come up with a better rollout strategy in the coming years.
Update Policy
ColorOS 12 is the first version of OPPO’s mobile operating system to reach devices that are nearly three years old. That’s because the firm has now updated its software update policy to provide up to three Android updates and up to four years of security updates.
OPPO’s new policy goes in line with that of its powerful international competitors Samsung and Xiaomi.
Future of ColorOS
OPPO has confirmed that the next major release of its mobile operating system will be a unified software that will run on both OPPO and OnePlus devices. It has not revealed the new branding for this Android skin, but I think the company will continue calling it ColorOS. Let me explain why.
OxygenOS 12 based on Android 12 was also released recently. It is almost identical to ColorOS 12 with some minor changes. In China, OnePlus phones already run ColorOS.
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Hence, I believe that ColorOS will become the face of OPPO and OnePlus globally with the next major release. The new software will most likely be based on Android 13 and will be called ColorOS 13.
On the other hand, although OPPO and realme continue to deny, realme UI is another clone of ColorOS much like the new OxygenOS. But at present, we cannot tell for sure if the world’s fastest-growing smartphone brand will adopt the unified branding or continue with the relame UI name.
Conclusion
ColorOS 12 takes OPPO’s mobile operating system in the right direction. The new version of the software follows the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ mantra.
Users who are accustomed to ColorOS 7 and ColorOS 11 will feel right at home with some minor changes here and there. OPPO advertises ColorOS 12 to be close to stock Android 12. But it, actually, isn’t.
Though ColorOS 12 brings all the new features of Android 12 and Google services, it has its unique look, which one cannot deny. With more meaningful tweaks keeping internationalization in mind, ColorOS could get even better.
Gone are the days when Chinese Android skins were known for mimicking iOS. Hopefully, more Chinese OEMs will adapt their software keeping in mind the global users’ preferences.
BOE Technology Group has just began the construction of the world’s largest production plant that will manufacture display modules for mobile devices earlier this week in the Qingdao, Shandong province in China.
The production site is expected to improve the Chinese display maker’s manufacturing capacity, which, in turn, would help boost its competitiveness in mobile display market. Notably, this factory would also help the city of Qingdao build a key national electronic information industry along with a high end research and development and manufacturing base, as per the company’s official website (Via ChinaDaily). The company’s total investment in this site is expected to be around 8.17 billion Yuan (roughly 1.27 billion US Dollars).
The project is situated in the Qingdao West Coast New Area in China. This new manufacturing site will produce display panels for mobile devices such as smartphones, tablet PCs, and even laptops. Interestingly, the company is also planning on the complete production of mobile phones and other products in the factory later in the future. The first batch of screen panels is expected to roll out by the end of next year.
Furthermore, the new site will also reach its full capacity in March 2024. BOE stated that its mobile screen panels have started mass production, and its new production site in Qingdao will help met its market needs display modules that will be used for medium to small mobile devices across the globe.
Earlier this week, Republican Senators led by Marco Rubia urged the Biden administration to blacklist Honor, which is a former subsidiary of the Chinese tech giant Huawei that had had previously been designated as a national security threat.
According to an SCMPreport, the US Senators sent a letter to the Biden administration on 14th October 2021. In this letter, Honor was described as an entity that is an “arm” of the Chinese government. The letter further added that the Chinese smartphone maker also has access to the US technologies that is currently being denied to its former parent brand, Huawei. In other words, the Senators are seeking to blacklist the company in a similar fashion.
Rubio wrote that spinning off Honor has let Beijing “effectively dodged a critical American export control.” For those unaware, Huawei had sold off its budget sub brand back in November 2020 to ensure its survival. The letter also stated that “By failing to act in response, the Department of Commerce risks setting a dangerous precedent and communicating to adversaries that we lack the capacity or willpower to punish blatant financial engineering by an authoritarian regime.”
Unfortunately, Honor as well as the US Commerce Department and the Chinese Embassy in Washington has yet to respond to requests for a comment regarding this matter at the moment. Huawei has also declined to provide any comments, but pointed to a previous statement in which it assured that it would not hold any shares or will be involved in managing Honor in any manner.
The job listing was first posted back on September 3 and was spotted by HotHardware. Looking at this listing, it appears that the American tech giant is seeking to hire someone to work for its Surface team that will “light up Microsoft experiences with the next generation of devices.” It also mentions how creating those devices involves “a close partnership between silicon, hardware and software engineers, designers, and manufacturing.” Notably, this role would have the person “defining the features and capabilities of SoC used on Surface devices.”
Interestingly, this is not the first time we’ve heard that the company is working on its own custom chipset. Back in December 2020, we had reported that Microsoft is working on its own ARM based processor for servers and Surface series PCs. Furthermore, the company could reportedly also be partnering up with AMD for this ARM based chip. Previously, it has already working with Qualcomm for the SQ1 and SQ2 chips that were found in the Surface Pro X, although, its performance was not on par with the Apple M1 chip.
As of right now, Microsoft does use its own custom chips for the Surface Pro 8 and Surface Laptop Studio, which allows it to offer haptic feedback for inking with the Surface Slim Pen 2. With Apple having shifted to its own custom chips, it isn’t surprising when other tech giants are also rumored to follow suit. So stay tuned for more updates.
A new report claims that devices like the iPhone 12 and others have helped Apple rake in most (75%) of the operating profits and 40% of the revenue generated via global smartphone sales in Q2 2021, despite accounting for just 13% of total shipments.
This, despite Chinese companies like Xiaomi and Realme recording record growth during the same period, with the former bagging second place in terms of the number of smartphone units sold.
Image: Counterpoint Research
While the report by Counterpoint Research does prove Apple as the dominator of the industry, this year’s figures are actually lower than the ones from Q4 2020 where the company recorded a staggering 50% revenue share. Its profits also touched an unprecedented 86%, up from 51% in the previous quarter.
Do keep in mind here that since Apple doesn’t share its sales and shipment figures for its iPhone, the figures are based on Counterpoint’s own calculations and not official information from Apple.
Anyway, the Q4 2020 feat can be attributed to Apple’s iPhone 12 series that sold like hotcakes thanks to the introduction of 5G support. The company saw a jump from 9% to 17% in its shipment share during the time. Other contributing factors include interoperability between Apple devices, made possible by Apple’s significant control over both hardware and software, enabling a seamless shift of work on an app between multiple devices.
Apple iPhone 12
Apple is likely to retain such a position and continues to work on improving its services while also charging premium prices for its handsets, thus keeping its operating profit margins untouched by any other.
The Cupertino-based tech behemoth is followed by South Korea’s Samsung which tops the list in another factor – annual global smartphone shipments. But despite its massive sales, Samsung has still remained number two in terms of profits for several past quarters.
Other than the relatively stable top 2 spots enjoyed by Apple and Samsung, the rest of the rankings have seen a major shift due to the US ban on Huawei. Companies like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo benefited from it majorly, creeping into the gaping hole left by Huawei. They were the biggest revenue generators respectively after Apple and Samsung in Q2 2021.
But while Xiaomi has seen steady growth in terms of shipments, its profit generation has not been satisfactory. This isn’t anything unexpected though considering Xiaomi has been prioritizing its number of shipments over everything else. It will likely be focusing on increasing its profits only after capturing a sizeable chunk of the market.
A couple of days back, OnePlus announced its latest smartphone in its home market — OnePlus 9RT, making it the third model in the flagship lineup for the year that already includes OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro.
Currently, the device is only limited to the Chinese market but is expected to be made available in India and Europe soon, but the launch date remains unknown. However, a new report from tipster Yogesh Brar on Twitter claims that the OnePlus 9RT could be priced between ₹40,000 to ₹44,000 ($533-587) in the Indian market.
The OnePlus 9RT features a 6.62-inch E4 AMOLED display that comes with 2400 x 1080 pixels screen resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, support for sRGB and P3 color gamut, and Corning Gorilla Glass protection.
Under the hood, it is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset, coupled with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage. It also comes with a 19067.44 mm² space cooling system to keep the temperature low while gaming.
In the camera department, there’s a 50MP f/1.8 Sony IMX766 sensor with a 6P lens and both optical and electronic image stabilization. It also comes with a 16MP f/2.2 sensor with a 123° field of view and a 2MP 4CM macro camera to complete the triple camera setup.
On the front side, the device features a 16MP Sony IMX471 camera with electronic image stabilization for taking selfies and video calling. The device comes with an in-display fingerprint scanner, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, Wi-Fi 6, dual Nano-SIM support, USB-C, and stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos.
The smartphone is running the Android 11 operating system with ColorOS 12 on top, however, the international version is expected to ship with OxygenOS 12 pre-installed. It is powered by a 4500mAh battery that supports Warp Charge 65T.
Samsung and Huawei were among the first smartphone manufacturers to commercially launch foldable smartphones and currently, the South Korean giant is leading the category with several devices in the market.
Many other device manufacturers have been working on their own foldable smartphones for quite some time and it seems that the companies are now gearing up to officially launch their products in the market.
While Xiaomi has already launched its Mi MIX Fold earlier this year, it’s now time for OPPO and Vivo to launch their foldable smartphones. Both the brands have unveiled interesting concept phones in the recent past but are yet to officially launch their foldable phones.
Vivo Foldable Smartphone Design Patent With Stylus
Now, a new report coming from Digital Chat Station claims that the OPPO foldable smartphone will come powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset while the Vivo device will be powered by the upcoming Snapdragon 898 chipset.
Recently, it was reported that the OPPO’s foldable phone will have an inner fold design with an OLED display measuring 7.8-inch to 8-inch, offering a screen resolution of 2K+ pixels and a 120Hz refresh rate. It is also said to have a 50MP Sony IMX766 primary camera on the rear and a 32MP front-facing camera. We expect the phone to be running the Android 11 operating system out-of-the-box with ColorOS 12 on top.
Huawei is also expected to launch a new foldable smartphone in the market, which will come powered by the company’s own Kirin 9000 4G chipset and will reportedly have a clamshell design similar to the Galaxy Z Flip3. It seems that the Chinese giant won’t be launching a 5G compatible model, at least initially.
Motorola has also launched two foldable smartphones in the market, taking a different approach in terms of design compared to the other models available in the market. It was the first foldable smartphone to adopt a clamshell design. However, there’s no information about the third foldable device from the brand.
Apart from these Chinese brands, Google is also working on a foldable smartphone which is currently being referred to as Pixel Fold. Recently, it was reported that the company is developing a second foldable Pixel phone codename Jumbojack. Apple is also expected to launch a foldable iPhone in a couple of years.
A recent Weibo post Redmi General Manager Lu Weibing hinted that Redmi is gearing up to launch the Redmi Note 11 series of smartphones in China. Probably, the company may unveil the Note 11 lineup just before the Double Eleven (Nov. 11) shopping festival in China. A reliable tipster from China has shared the rumored specs of the Note 11 and Note 11 Pro.
Redmi Note 11 specifications (Rumored)
The Redmi Note 11 5G is likely to house an LCD panel that supports a 120Hz refresh rate. For photography, it may feature a 13-megapixel front camera and a 50-megapixel camera on the back. The Dimensity 810 chipset may fuel the device.
The handset may house a 5,000mAh battery that supports 33W fast charging. It may come in variants like 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage and 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage. The tipster has speculated that these variants could be priced a 1,199 Yuan (~$186) and 1,599 Yuan (~$248).
Redmi Note 10 Pro 5G
Redmi Note 11 Pro specifications (Rumored)
The Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G is expected to arrive with an OLED screen that offers a 120Hz refresh rate. It may feature a 16-megapixel camera on the front and a 108-megapixel snapper on the back. It could be powered by the Dimensity 920 chipset.
The Note 11 Pro could be backed by a 5,000mAh battery, which may support 67W rapid charging. It may offer other features like X-axis linear motor, JBL powered stereo speakers, and NFC. It may release in variants such as 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage, 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage, and 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage. The leaker speculated that these variants may cost 1,599 Yuan (~$248), 1,799 Yuan (~$279), and 1,999 Yuan (~$311).
MSI has officially launched a new laptop in the Japanese market. The all-new MSI Creator 15 A11UH-003JP is the company’s first thin and light notebook that comes with a 4K OLED display. It is currently available in Japan for a hefty price of ¥350,000(~$3,071).
The MSI Creator 15 A11U comes powered by the 11th gen Intel Core i7-11800H CPU paired with Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU. It comes with 16GB of DDR4 RAM and a 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD storage. The laptop features a 15.6-inch OLED display with a 3840 x 2160 pixels resolution. It supports HDR support and has a DCI-P3 colour gamut.
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The notebook runs on Windows 10 Pro OS but is expected to have support for Windows 11. It has a Thunderbolt 4 port, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, an HDMI port, and a headphone jack.
It has Cooler Boost Trinity+ technology which is backed by six heat pipes and three cooling fans. The laptop also supports Duo Wave Speaker support. The laptop comes in Black colour and has the following dimensions 358.3 x 248 x 19.8 mm.
Notably, this is one of the laptops from the Creator 15 A11U series and there might be more notebooks under the same series launching later in the country.
In related news, MSI recently launched a gaming laptop dubbed MSI Delta 15 in Japan. The laptop is powered by the Ryzen 9 5900HX processor and has Radeon’s RX 6700M GPU. It has a 15.6-inch screen with a 240Hz refresh rate. It is priced at ¥218,000(~$1,942).
That said, one of the major performance indicators on paper has always been the AnTuTu benchmarks. Well, even before the launch, the Black Shark 4S Pro made it to the AnTuTu listing and it scored an impressive 887,734 points. It scored a CPU score of 216,996 points, a GPU score of 219,912 points, a MEM score of 189,260 points, and a UX score of 161,566 points.
With these scores, the Black Shark 4S Pro is 7.5% faster than the Nubia Red Magic 6 Pro and is nearly 8% faster than the ASUS ROG Phone 5. To compare, as per the AnTuTu September leaderboard, the Red Magic 6 Pro had a lower score of 825,145 and the ROG Phone 5 scored 822,290.
Now, in October’s list of top-performing flagships, we expect the Black Shark 4S Pro to take a lead. Do note that the aforementioned phones power the vanilla Snapdragon 888 SoC. AnTuTu is yet to reveal the leaderboard of the Snapdragon 888 Plus phones.
Black Shark 4S Specifications
The Black Shark 4S series features a 6.67-inch Samsung E4 AMOLED display. It has an FHD+ resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, and 720Hz touch sampling rate. It sports a 20MP front-facing camera and a triple rear camera system. It has an 8MP sensor with a 120-degree FoV, 5MP macro lens, and a 48MP main lens on the Black Shark 4S and a 64MP sensor on the Black Shark 4S Pro.
Under the hood, the smartphone series is powered by Snapdragon processors. The vanilla model has Snapdragon 870 SoC, whereas, the Pro model is powered by the Snapdragon 888 plus chipset. The duo packs a 4,500mAh battery with support for 120W fast charging technology. It boots on JoyUI 12.8 based on Android 11.
After launching several processors in its 11th generation lineup, Intel has now reportedly started testing the next-generation (12th generation) processors. Benchleaks have spotted the upcoming Intel Core i5-12600K “Adler Lake” processor with the Ashes of the Singularity benchmark, reports Tom’s Hardware.
So far, it has been revealed that the Intel Core i5-12600K processor will come with a 10-core configuration, having six Golden Cove cores and four Gracemount cores. Among them, on the Golden Cove features Hyper-Threading, which brings an unorthodox setup with 10 cores and 16 threads.
It will reportedly come with 20MB of L3 cache and is said to feature a 4.9GHz dual-core core boost on the Golden Cove cores while the all-core boost is allegedly fixed at 4.6GHz. On the other hand, it seems that the Gracemont cores may check in with a 3.6 GHz dual-core boost and a 3.4GHz all-core boost.
Coming to the graphics performance, the Core i5-12600K, when coupled with Nvidia RTX 3080 GPU, managed to score 10,800 points on the Crazy 1080p preset, which apparently represents a 10.2 percent improvement over Core i5-11600K. It easily manages to surpass the 8,100 points of its rival AMD Ryzen 5 5600X.
Given that this is a leaked benchmark of an unreleased product, we would advise you to take this information related to the Intel Core i5-12600K with a pinch of salt. If the reports about the November announcement of Alder Lake are true, then we won’t have to wait longer to know more about this processor.
Xiaomi announced the Xiaomi 11T and 11T Pro smartphones in global markets in September. Recent reports have revealed that the 11T will be rebranded as the Redmi K40s in China. The purported K40s has received approval from the 3C authority of China, which indicates that its launch date could be near.
It is speculated that the Xiaomi phone with 20191116C model number will be debuting in China with the Redmi K40s moniker. Its 3C certification has revealed that it may ship with up to a 120W fast charger.
The Xiaomi 11T carries support for 67W fast charging, whereas the 11T Pro supports 120W rapid charging. Considering that the K40s could be a rebranded version of the 11T, it was speculated to carry support for 67W fast charging. However, its 3C certification suggests that it will come with a faster 120W charger.
Now that the K40s has bagged 3C approval, it is likely to receive TENAA certification in the next few days. Probably, the smartphone will break cover just before the upcoming Double Eleven (Nov. 11) shopping festival in China.
Xiaomi 11T
The Redmi K40s is expected to arrive with a 6.67-inch FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED display, a 16-megapixel front-facing camera, and a 108-megapixel (main) + 8-mgeapixel (ultrawide) + 5-megapixel (telemacro) triple camera unit.
The Dimensity 1200 chipset may power the device with up to 12 GB of RAM and up to 256 GB of storage. It is expected to come with other specs like a 5,000mAh battery and a side-facing fingerprint scanner. It is rumored to come with Harmon Kardon tuned speakers.
ZMI, a Xiaomi-backed company known for making charging products, also has a lineup of true wireless earphones. Now, the company has announced that its TWS Earbuds series has crossed the benchmark of selling over 1 million units.
Making the announcement, the Research & Development team of ZMI TWS Earphones expressed gratitude to the users for their support and trust. The team added that they will continue to move forward with persistent efforts to provide more good choices.
ZMI had launched its first true wireless earbuds in its home market last year — ZMI Purpods and Purpods Pro, priced at 199 yuan and 399 yuan respectively. As the name indicates, the Pro is a high-end variant that comes with support for Active Noise Cancellation and offers up to 35dB noise reduction.
Earlier this year, the company starting selling the PurPods true wireless earbuds for 199 yuan but it currently retails for 179 yuan. It comes with EQsmart adaptive technology that adjusts the volume according to the sound levels in the users’ surroundings.
Interestingly, the ZMI TWS Headset Team also developed the Redmi AirDots 3 Pro earphones that were launched for 349 yuan. It features Active Noise Cancellation up to 35dB and offers ultra-low latency of 69ms.
Various smartphone manufacturers are gearing up to launch before the upcoming Double Eleven (Nov. 11) shopping festival in China. Today, OPPO confirmed that it will be unleashing the OPPO K9s on Oct. 20 in the home market. As the below-shown poster reveals the K9s will be available with other OPPO devices during the forthcoming 11.11 sale.
The OPPO K9s is already up for reservations on JD.com and Suning.com. These retailer listings have revealed that the smartphone will be available in two options such as 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage and 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage. It will be sold in colors like Magic Purple Quicksand, Neon Silver Sea, and Obsidian Warrior.
OPPO K9s specifications (expected)
The OPPO K9s will be sporting a 6.59-inch LTPS screen that will produce a Full HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The Snapdragon 778G chipset will be driving the device with up to 12 GB of RAM.
OPPO K9s
The K9s will offer users up to 256 GB of internal storage, and it will run on Android 11. For additional storage, it features a microSD card slot. The device will draw power from a 5,000mAh battery. It is likely to carry support for 30W fast charging. For an enhanced gaming experience, it will be fitted with an X-axis linear motor.
The rear-facing camera module of the K9s will include a 64-megapixel primary camera. It will be accompanied by 8-megapixel and 2-megapixel auxiliary cameras. For security, it features a side-facing fingerprint scanner. The device measures 164.43 x 75.88 x 8.52mm and weighs 199 grams.
Realme Q3s is all set to make its debut along with the Realme GT Neo2T smartphone on Oct. 19 in China. Yesterday, the company released a poster to reveal the rear design and color variants of the Q3s. Today, it released a poster on Weibo to reveal its front design. The image confirms that it will support an adaptive refresh rate of up to 144Hz.
Realme has confirmed that the Realme Q3s has a 6.6-inch LCD screen. It will support 7 levels of refresh rate such as 30Hz, 48Hz, 50Hz, 60Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz, and 144Hz. The display offers other features like DCI-P3 wide color gamut, HDR10, and support for 4096-level fine dimming. The image also reveals the presence of a side-facing fingerprint scanner.
Reports have revealed that the Realme smartphone with RMX3461 model number that emerged at Geekbench, TENAA, and 3C recently will be debuting soon in China with the Realme Q3s moniker. The Geekbench revealed that it is equipped with the Snapdragon 778G, whereas the 3C certification showed that it may ship with a 30W charger.
The Q3s has a 16-megapixel selfie camera. Its back panel has a triple camera unit, which is composed of a 48-megapixel main camera, and a pair of 2-megapixel snappers. It is likely to house a 5,000mAh battery. It is expected to come with up to 12 GB of RAM and up to 256 GB of storage in China.
Realme is also rumored to announce the Realme Watch T1 smartwatch on Oct. 19. Probably, the company will release an official confirmation on its arrival in the next few days.
A couple of months ago, Honor had launched its Tab V7 Pro in the Chinese market, along with a few other products from the company, including Honor Magic 3 series flagship phones, Honor X20 5G, and Honor Watch GS smartwatch.
Soon after the official launch, the tablet was made available for purchase in China and now the Honor Tab V7 Pro 5G version will go on sale in the company’s home market from today for a price of 3,699 yuan, which is around $575.
The 5G variant of the tablet comes packed with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. The Wi-Fi-only variants come in three memory options — 6GB RAM with 128 GB storage, 8GB RAM with 128GB storage, and 8GB RAM with 256GB storage, costing 2,599 yuan (~$400), 2,799 yuan (~$431), and 3,299 yuan (~$508) respectively.
Coming to the specifications, the Honor Tab V7 Pro features an 11-inch LCD screen that offers a 2K screen resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels, a 16:10 aspect ratio, 276ppi pixel density, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a DCI-P3 color gamut.
Under the hood, it is powered by MediaTek Kompanio 1300T chipset, making it the world’s first device to feature this newly announced SoC. It is equipped with a 7-layer cooling system for heat dissipation. It also carries support for RAM extension technology.
As for the camera department, there’s a 13-megapixel main camera and a 2-megapixel macro lens. The tablet runs the Android 11 operating system with Magic UI 5.0 on top that has been optimized for multi-tasking and offers features like multi-window function, split-screen, drag and drop, and more.
The device is powered by a 7,250mAh battery that carries support for 22.5W rapid charging. Other features on the device include quad speakers, Dual SIM, Wi-Fi 6, 5G, Bluetooth 5.1, and a USB-C port. This newly launched Honor tablet also carries support for the Magic Pencil 2 stylus and a keyboard case for a desktop-like experience.
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