Realme Book Review: Attractive Design, Respectable Performance makes it Value for Money

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Sep 29, 2021

The young brand, Realme, has given us a lot of surprises since its establishment. It first started out as a smartphone manufacturer, but now the brand is ambitiously expanding to markets beyond smartphones. In 2021, it has launched a bunch of new products in new categories. The Realme Book, the brand’s first-ever laptop product, was recently announced with incredible value for money. To achieve its very first step in the market, the Realme Book targets the affordable market, where things are highly competitive. Since we’ve seen so many excellent manufacturers splitting up a large chunk of this market, we are curious whether the Realme Book can stand out from the crowd and win its own position. Just follow our review and find out the answer.

Realme Book Slim Review: Design

At first glance, the Realme Book did impress us with its great build quality. Since these days even affordable laptops have a similar design to other premium laptops, the real differentiating factor lies in the laptop’s attention to detail and build quality. In this regard, the Realme Book is one of the most impressive models in its price range. The laptop’s design looks clean and highly integrated, thanks to the whole metal body.

The smooth aluminum alloy feels pretty premium with a united matte finish, which would not only prevent from getting fingerprints stains and dust but also theoretically ensures stable performance, due to its good heat dissipation.

Known as Realme Book Slim, the Realme Book also brings an ultra-slim design with 14.9mm thickness (thickest point: 15.5mm). Matching with the front size of 307 x 229mm and the weight of 1.48kg (1.38kg for the 8G version), the compact laptop is pretty good for portable use. But surprisingly, in the compact body (a common size for a 13-inch notebook), Realme installed a 14-inch 2K IPS display with a resolution of 2160 x 1440. Except for the bottom frame with the realme logo, the three bezels (left & right: 5.3mm) around the panel are quite narrow (Screen-to-body ratio: 90%), which makes the display look much more stunning than most of its competitors.

However, the compact design forces some compromises. The number of available ports probably won’t please some users. There’s only one USB 3.0 port and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the right side. On the other side, the laptop offers a Thunderbolt 4 (charging port) and another USB-C 3.2 port.

To fix that, an additional interface dock may be needed with the Realme Book.

In addition, the included 65W PD charger also applies a compact design for ease of carrying, which, more importantly, can be shared for charging both the laptop and your smartphone with a USB-C charging port.

The keyboard layout of the Realme Book uses large keycaps that feature good travel at 1.3mm. The keys offer a pretty fast and smooth response without producing much noise while typing. But for some users who require a strong rebound, the typing experience may not be so pleasurable. The keys are backlit and Realme offers two levels of brightness for users under different situations.

The large touchpad below the keyboard is one of my favorite points. It provides an ample touch area which is also responsive and smooth. And during our limited experience, we didn’t face any mistouches.

Realme Book Slim Display & Speakers

Let’s take a closer look at the 14-inch display. Honestly, the display of the Realme Book is one of the top options we can find at this price. It supports up to 100% sRGB gamut with outstanding color accuracy (actual test: ΔE=1.45), which is pretty close to some professional monitors for image processing. As an office-work or business model, the 3:2 aspect ratio is also a better option than the 16:9. The most intuitive experience is that it can display multiple tasks more comfortably.

The only unfortunate limitation is the 400-nit max brightness, which isn’t really enough for use under bright ambient light.

For audio, the Realme Book is equipped with dual Harman-tuned speakers with the support of DTS Stereo Surround Sound technology. The actual audio sound is loud and rich. Although it still is not comparable to some premium models, it’s already better than most options at the price point.

Realme Book Slim Performance & Gaming Review

As a competitive laptop taking aim at good productivity, the Realme Book has offered the best that it can at this price. The whole lineup of the Realme Book is powered by the 11th-gen Intel Core processors, but you only have Core i3-1115G4 and a Core i5-1135G7 for options. The model in our hand is an Intel i5 version with 16GB LPDDR4X RAM and 512GB PCIe SSD ROM, which is also the top configuration of the lineup.

In AIDA64’s stress test (FPU stress test), this i5’s single-core frequency could reach up to 4.2GHz, which would be a remarkable improvement for heavy productivity uses. During the stress test, the laptop had sustained high-performance output with excellent cooling capacity, which thanks to the cooling system mainly constituted by dual fans inside the body and the connection with dual 8mm-diameter heat pipes. And notably, the cooling system stayed pretty quiet and didn’t produce unacceptable noise.

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Another important detail reflected in the test is that the CPU could run up to 28W TDP. Considering it comes with Intel’s Iris Xe integrated graphics instead of separate Graphics, it’s the best performance that the i5-1135G7 CPU can achieve.

In PCMark 10, the Realme Book scored 4766, where it got 9628 for the Essentials Test, and got 6437 for the productivity test. In another Benchmark, CineBench R20, the CPU of the laptop scored 2192, which is a pretty good result among all the i5-1135G7 models.

As for gaming, we chose to run FPS Test of the game CS:GO on the Realme Book. The laptop could achieve an average framerate of 50fps under the game’s 1080P high graphics. And under low graphics, the framerate could stably maintain at 55-60fps.

To summarize the results in different benchmarks, we’re quite sure that the Realme Book is sufficient to meet the general needs of office productivity and light entertainment, while running heavy-loaded games is still a bit of a struggle.

Although the Realme Book is the brand’s first laptop coming with Windows 10 system pre-installed, the brand promised that the lineup is in the first list of laptops to be updated with Windows 11.

In addition, Realme pre-installed an exclusive application to achieve seamless collaboration with a Realme Phone. The PC-Phone Connect application allows to seamlessly mirror the phone screen to the notebook where users easily share and open files on the phone with PC programs. But just note that it’s compatible only with Realme GT series for now.

Realme Book Slim Battery Life Review

The Realme Book is equipped with a 54Wh battery. Realme claimed, under office use, the notebook could last for 8.5 hours. But in our actual uses, it was around 1 hour less than its claimed battery life, which is probably because we added up more usage scenarios like web-surfing and streaming video playback. Nevertheless, considering its slim body, such battery performance is still impressive.

Last but not least, we have a reminder for users who are going to buy a Core i3 configuration of the Realme Book. The i3 variant doesn’t support the latest Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, the ultra-high-speed of Thunderbolt 4 port, or even the new WiFi 6 network. Considering the absence of Core i7 configuration, we highly recommend going for the Core i5 version of the Realme Book if you are attracted by the beautiful price and its powerful performance.

Realme Book Slim: Verdict

As Realme’s first entry into the notebook market, the Realme Book surprisingly shows its mature product power. The optimized Core i5-1135G7 processor plus up to 16GB RAM and 512GB ROM brought back the smooth experience to budget notebooks. Unlike those mid-rangers using an MX450 independent Graphics as a gimmick (bringing very limited improvement and serious power and heated issues), it emphasizes the balance of good portability, stable performance and overall power consumption.

While taking the attractive price into account, it’s definitely one of the best options for portable productivity and light entertainment for the price.

You can get the Realme Book from Realme or via retailers like Giztop.

Huawei clamshell foldable smartphone reportedly in the works

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Sep 29, 2021

Huawei is one of the few companies to release foldable smartphones. So far, the OEM has only introduced three models. All of these feature a horizontally foldable display that unfolds into a tablet. As per a reliable tipster from China, the firm is currently working on a device with a vertically foldable screen. This type of phone is commonly referred to as a ‘clamshell foldable smartphone’.

HUAWEI Mate X2 Elegant Glaze White In Hand Cover Display — HUAWEI Mate X2

According to Digitial Chat Station, Huawei is developing a clamshell foldable smartphone. The leaker says that the handset will be positioned in the high-end market. He also adds that it will be targeted at the female audience. Unfortunately, it’s not known when this phone will be released.

Going by the information, the upcoming HUAWEI-branded clamshell foldable smartphone will compete directly with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip series. The current-gen Galaxy Z Flip3 is said to be the best affordable foldable device to date without any major concerns. Hence, the Huawei-made handset needs to offer more to lure in customers.

At present, there are only two companies that offer foldable smartphones with a vertically foldable display. One of them is South Korea’s Samsung and the other is China’s Lenovo-owned Motorola.

Huawei entering this segment will make it the only second Chinese OEM to offer this type of phone. However, there’s a chance of fellow Chinese firms like Xiaomi, OPPO, or vivo beating the telecom giant in this regard.

Honor set to open over 300 new Experience Stores in China by next week

By

Jeet

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Sep 29, 2021

Honor, which started off as a sub-brand of Huawei, has now become an independent brand after the technology giant sold it to Zhixin New Information Technology Co. Ltd in November last year.

The company has been focusing on increasing its footprint in the offline market and in line with that, Honor is now set to open around 300 new Honor Experience Stores in China in the first week of October, i.e. between 1st October and 7th October.

At these new stores, customers will be able to experience the Honor Magic3 series flagship smartphone as well as the new multi-camera fusion computing photography technology that was launched a few days ago. However, this will be limited to select premium stores in Suzhou, Chengdu, Shanghai, and Changsha.

After becoming independent, the company launched its own online store in January this year, named Honor Mall for selling smartphones, tablets, smart displays, notebooks, earphones, and smartwatches, among others.

The company is also focusing on offline stores as well and is in the process of establishing thousands of new brick-and-mortar stores across the world. As of August 2021, Honor’s Experience Stores have increased by 68 percent compared to stores the company had at the beginning of this year.

Last month, George Zhao, CEO of Honor, revealed that the offline sales for the company accounted for more than 70 percent of its overall sale. This is interesting as Honor mostly positions its devices in the mid-range segment and under Huawei, it was the leading company for online sales in China.

Honor has now returned to the top three list of smartphone manufacturers in its home country China, with a market share of 14.6 percent. Not just China, Honor has also resumed business operations in about 50 countries around the world and is now focusing on recovering the lost market share.

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Huawei Sound SE speaker launched in China; available for purchase at 799 yuan ($124)

By

Jeet

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Sep 29, 2021

Huawei is still facing issues with smartphone manufacturing because of the US imposed sanctions and thus, the China-based technology giant has shifted its focus to other products and developing next-gen technologies.

In line with that, it seems that the brand has launched the Huawei Sound SE speaker in its home market, which comes with a starting price of 799 yuan, approximately $124.

The Huawei Sound SE speakers come in two different color options — Bright Black and White Gold. It uses six-unit four speakers which includes three full-range speakers, one woofer, and two passive radiators. It also supports Devialet Push-Push acoustic architecture, Devialet SAM technology, Devialet joint tuning algorithm, and more.

As for the connectivity options, the new speaker supports Bluetooth 4.2 and Wi-Fi. There’s also 3.5mm AUX-in audio input but it doesn’t support stereo sound. It also comes with support for DLNA/QPlay playback.

Powering the Huawei Sound SE speaker is the company’s own HarmonyOS 2 which also supports features like touch pass and voice control through several different voice assistants available in the market.

It also supports a quick connection feature with other smart devices, including smart screens, tablets, and more. When the speaker is placed near other devices, it’ll automatically detect them and push a pop-up connection window, without the need for installing any application on the device.

This Huawei Sound SE speaker has been priced at 899 yuan (~$139) but is currently available at a discounted price of 799 yuan, which roughly converts to $124.

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Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max gets Best Smartphone Display Award from DisplayMate

By

Jeet

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Sep 29, 2021

Apple recently launched its latest iPhone 13 series smartphones in several different markets globally. The phone has already become quite popular and the shipment dates have not been pushed to late October.

The reason for the popularity of the new iPhone models is the top-notch offering, not just for the performance but also the display panel. DisplayMate has now awarded the iPhone 13 Pro Mac as the “Bst Smartphone Display Award” with the highest-ever display performance grade of A+.

This time, the display panel of the iPhone 13 Pro series models features a new Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion, which basically means that it comes with support for variable refresh rates between 10Hz and 120Hz, depending on the type of content being displayed on the screen.

It also offers the highest ever brightness for smartphones with OLED panels, says the report from DisplayMate. The iPhone 13 Pro Max is said to have a peak brightness of 1,000 nits for typical content and 1,200 nits for HDR content. It also set records for the highest absolute color accuracy, highest contrast ratio, lowest screen reflectance, and more.

For the uninitiated, South Korean tech giant Samsung is exclusively supplying the LTPO OLED panels for the iPhone 13 Pro Max model so far. But if the reports are to be believed, then LG is also expected to start supplying LTPO OLED screens next year.

The usage of LTPO technology would result in a more power-efficient backplane, which is responsible for turning individual pixels on and off on the display, allowing for a 120Hz refresh rate without a significant impact on battery life.

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[Updated] ZTE Axon 30 5G’s new variant with 512GB storage goes on sale in China

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Sep 29, 2021

ZTE Axon 30 5G’s new variant is now available for purchase in China. At launch, it was announced with up to 12 GB of RAM and up to 256 GB storage. Now, the company has released the 512 GB storage version of the device.

ZTE Axon 30 price

The newly announced 512 GB edition of the Axon 30 5G ships with 8 GB of RAM. It is priced at 3,498 Yuan (~$541). It comes in a Light Coffee color that features a leather back.

ZTE Axon 30 Ultra UD Edition — ZTE Axon 30

ZTE Axon 30 5G specifications and features

The Axon 30 5G has a 6.92-inch AMOLED display that offers a 1,080 x 2,460 pixels resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, 400ppi pixel density, 100 percent DCI-P3 color gamut, and an in-screen fingerprint scanner.

The handset has a 16-megapixel in-display camera. The rear camera setup of the phone has a 64-megapixel Sony IMX682 primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultrawide lens, a 5-megapixel macro camera, and a 2-megapixel depth lens.

The Snapdragon 870 mobile platform powers the Axon 30 5G. The SoC is coupled with LPDDR4x RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. It has a 4,200mAh battery that carries support for 55W fast charging. It runs on MiFlavor based Android 11 OS.

Update: This article is about the ZTE Axon 30 5G’s new storage variant. However, the original version of the article incorrectly mentioned it as the ZTE Axon 30 Ultra UD edition. The article has been updated with the correct information.

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Stuttering and Jelly Scrolling effect on iPad mini 6 is not an issue, says Apple

By

Ashutosh

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Sep 29, 2021

Ever since the Apple iPad mini 6 hit the stores last week, users across the globe have been affected by a weird “jelly scrolling” effect in the display. This makes the scrolling stuttery where one part of the display refreshes at an abnormally slower rate. But as it turns out, this may not be an issue after all. Apple believes there’s nothing wrong with the screen and this is expected behavior on LCD panels.

There have been multiple reports that suggest a wobble effect kicks in the iPad mini 6 and at first, it felt like a software bug. Despite this being an annoying event, the company states that the “jelly scrolling” effect is completely expected on LCD screens. Apple blames the LCD panels “do refresh line by line,” which causes a delay between lines.

Here is is slow-mo video of scrolling on the iPad Min i slowed down EVEN MORE in a frame-by-frame step through. Notice how the right moves up faster than the left.

In normal usage you barely see it, but every now and then it become noticeable. In landscape it goes away entirely pic.twitter.com/iq9LGJzsDI

— Dieter Bohn (@backlon) September 22, 2021

Contrary to what Apple says, the “jelly scrolling” effect is negligible and hard to notice on other iPad models having 60Hz LCD displays, including the iPad Air 4. Not just Apple, but devices with LCD panels from other brands don’t seem to have this issue either.

But now that Apple has cleared the air on the “jelly scrolling”, there’s no way iPad mini 6 users can expect a repair or replacement and will, unfortunately, have to bear with the wobbling display. For the ones who are still under the 14 days window of refund, if you happen to face this issue, getting it returned appears to be the only wise option as of now.

Related:

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax9sOYxbhPs[/embedyt]

Vivo V2102A with Snapdragon 898 bags CMIIT certification, likely to launch soon

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Sep 29, 2021

A new Vivo smartphone with model number V2102A has received approval from China’s MIIT authority. It can be said based on previous reports that it may come equipped with the next-generation Snapdragon 898 mobile platform. The CMIIT certification suggests that the smartphone may debut before the end of the year in China.

The V2012A’s CMIIT listing only reveals some of its connectivity features like 5G support. Earlier this month, the V2102A smartphone was spotted at the Geekbench benchmarking site. The listing revealed that it is powered by a Qualcomm chipset that is codenamed as “taro” and it is equipped with Adreno 730 graphics. These hints suggested that the Vivo V2102A is powered by the successor of the Snapdragon 888 SoC, which is being referred to as the Snapdragon 898 by the rumor mill.

The Geekbench listing further revealed that the V2102A has 8 GB of RAM, and it runs on Android 11 OS. Qualcomm is yet to introduce the Snapdragon 898 chipset. Probably, it will be announced through Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Tech Summit 2021 that is scheduled to take place between Nov. 30 to Dec. 2.

Last year, Xiaomi introduced the Xiaomi Mi 11 5G as the first Snapdragon 888 SoC-powered phone in December 2021. With the V2012A phone appearing at CMIIT so early, it appears that Vivo may launch the first Snapdragon 898 phone this year. Unfortunately, there is no information on the final marketing name of the V2102A. It remains to be seen whether it could be arriving in the Chinese market as Vivo NEX 5 or the Vivo X80 Pro+.

(via)

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Xiaomi CIVI to be China exclusive, confirms company

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Sep 29, 2021

Earlier this week, Xiaomi announced the Xiaomi CIVI smartphone in China. Aimed to target the youth and female audience, the CIVI handset offers an exciting design, a 32-megapixel camera, a 120Hz AMOLED panel, and Snapdragon 778G chip. Fresh information reveals that the company has no plans to release the smartphone outside China.

Xiaomi confirmed to Android Authority that, “Xiaomi CIVI remains a Mainland China-only device.” This statement does not really rule out a rebranded version of the phone for the global markets.

Xiaomi CIVI specifications and price

The Xiaomi CIVI has a 6.55-inch OLED panel with curved edges. It produces a Full HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The handset houses a 4,500mAh battery, which carries support for 55W fast charging. It weighs 166 grams and measures only 6.9mm in thickness.

The Snapdragon 778G fuels the Xiaomi CIVI with up to 12 GB of RAM and up to 256 GB of storage. It has a 32-megapixel front camera, and a 64-megapixel (main) + 8-megapixel (ultrawide) + 2-megapixel (macro) triple camera unit. The front camera supports features like autofocus, pixel-level skin restoration feature, and slow-motion video shooting.

The CIVI comes with other features like an in-screen fingerprint scanner, MIUI 12.5 based Android 1, dual SIM, 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS, NFC, and a USB-C port. It comes in three options such as 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage, 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage, and 12 GB RAM + 256 GB storage. They are priced at 2,599 Yuan (~$402), 2,899 Yuan (~$448), and 3,199 Yuan (~$495), respectively. It will go on sale for the first time in China in tomorrow (Sept. 30).

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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 blows up possibly due to integrity damage

By

Ashutosh

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Sep 29, 2021

Samsung has had a terrible time handling incidents of devices getting blown up. The company had to suspend the sales of Galaxy Note 7 series when a manufacturing defect led to many devices getting exploded. Well, this one’s nowhere close but something did went wrong. A user who had taken his Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 to the repair center ends up finding his device fuming.

A user took it to Twitter to share his experience where he had initially dropped his Galaxy Z Fold3 a week ago and after taking it to Samsung repair center, he was advised to mail it to Samsung to get it replaced by a new unit. Upon preparing the device to ship, it turned into a blazing hot lava.

For the record this phone (which I just came back from a Samsung repair center where they said to just mail it in for replacement) fell off my bike a week or so ago. I am sure it had integrity damage which caused this. I don’t suspect this is a Note 7 type issue….

— Chad Christian – American Dream Trading (@CoachCWC) September 26, 2021

While the user suspects this could be due to an integrity damage, there could be multiple reasons that made the device end up like this. In a similar incident, Samsung Galaxy A21‘s explosion made an Alaska Airlines flight to evacuate the passengers as it happend inside the airplane.

Since there are no similar reports in this regard, we will only be able to tell what exactly happened when Samsung does a postmortem and pin points the main culprit and in the meantime, hope that it isn’t widespread like we saw on Galaxy Note 7.

Related:

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax9sOYxbhPs[/embedyt]

OPPO A55 key details confirmed before launch

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Sep 29, 2021

OPPO will be launching a new A-series smartphone on Oct. 1 in India. A teaser image that appeared on Amazon India last week suggested that OPPO could be gearing up to launch the OPPO A55 4G in India. An updated microsite, which confirms some of the key features of the smartphone is now available on the retailer site.

The microsite reveals that the next A-series phone for India will feature a 6.51-inch punch-hole display with the eye comfort feature. For security, it will offer a side-facing fingerprint scanner and face unlock.

The display punch-hole available at the upper-left corner will house a 16-megapixel selfie camera. Its rear camera setup will include a 50-megapixel main camera, a 2-megapixel macro camera, and a 2-megapixel depth assist lens.

The handset will be arriving in two colors such as Rainbow Blue and Starry Black. It will be equipped with an IPX4 rated splash-proof chassis. Its other details are under the wraps. Hopefully, new details of the phone may appear before it goes official on Oct. 1.

In related news, OPPO has recently introduced the OPPO F19s, Reno 6 Pro 5G Diwali Edition, and Enco Buds Blue. These products can be purchased through Flipkart and OPPO India’s e-store. The F19s is already available for purchase with a pricing of Rs 19,990 (~$269).

The Reno 6 Pro 5G Diwali Edition comes with a unique UI, 12 GB of RAM, 256 GB of storage, and a different packaging is priced at Rs 41,990 (~$566). It will go on sale from Oct. 6. The Enco Buds Blue costs will also go on sale on the same date with a price tag of Rs 1,499 (~$20).

RELATED:

Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro pricing and color names for the European market leaked

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Sep 29, 2021

The Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are speculated to debut on Oct. 19 and these phones are expected to release in the market by Oct. 28. A fresh leak by Brandon Lee of This is Tech Today YouTube channel has revealed the pricing of the Pixel 6 duo for the European market.

Lee has received an image from someone who works for a major carrier in Europe. Past reports have revealed that the Oriole codenamed belongs to the Pixel 6, whereas the Pixel 6 Pro is codenamed as Raven.

In the image, the Oriole model (Pixel 6) is mentioned with two price tags such as 548 euros and 649 euros, which seemingly belongs to the 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage and 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage variants. The Raven (Pixel 6 Pro) is listed with a pricing of 899 euros. 9to5Google claims it was able to confirm these prices from a different source in Europe.

Reports have claimed that the Pixel 6 Pro will come in three options such as 12 GB RAM + 128 GB storage, 12 GB RAM + 256 GB storage, and 12 GB RAM + 512 GB storage. Considering that its base model is priced at 899 euros, the remaining two variants may cost 999 euros and 1,099 euros.

There will be five colors like red, green, black, silver, and gold between the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. The black model could be called Carbon, whereas the green model could be marketed as Fog.

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Automaker Geely to launch a smartphone company, targets production of 3 million units

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Sep 29, 2021

The chairman and founder of Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding, Eric Li has put in motion a bold plan to go into smartphone production with the first units coming out of the new company as early as 2023. Li is believed to hold a majority stake in the new smartphone company.

The move by the Chinese carmaker who also owns Volvo seems the first from an automaker. The common trend in the industry is smartphone companies delving into car manufacturing. Apple, Xiaomi, and Huawei are some of the smartphone manufacturers that are already making progress in the development of their own branded electric vehicles, albeit with some strong partnerships with established EV manufacturers

Li had made some really futuristic plans that are still hanging in the air, the move for the smartphone market seems to be solid and bold indeed. A foray into the smartphone market will throw Geely into intense competition for a market that is experiencing some levels of saturation. The big hitters in the Chinese smartphone market are Xiaomi and Apple on the high end, while several other brands compete for the huge mid-range and low-end segment.

According to Li, the major trend in the coming future is to create user ecosystems across borders to provide a more convenient, smarter, and connected multi-screen experience. The new company is named Hubei Xingji Shidai Technology Co Ltd, and it is making progress to establish its headquarters in Wuhan, China where it will develop smart devices, smartphones inclusive. There is an initial capital of up to $1.55 billion dollars for the project, with a targeted revenue of about $1.5 billion dollars within the first year of operations.

The company has set a very ambitious short-term and long-term target. However, time will tell whether it will become a success or not.

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(source)

Huawei Watch Fit New may launch on October 18 in European markets

By

Pranav Sawant

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Sep 29, 2021

Huawei recently unveiled the Watch Fit New in China with impressive features like blood oxygen monitoring, NFC payments, and up to 97 sports modes. Now, the Huawei Watch Fit New seems to be heading to Europe as a popular tipster has shared an explicit launch date of its European arrival.

According to Roland Quandt, the Huawei Watch Fit New will launch next month in Europe. The tipster reveals that it may launch on October 18 featuring the NFC feature. Well, to give the tip some weight, Huawei has already created a landing page for the smartwatch on its Germany portal.

Furthermore, the tipster suggests that the smartwatch will cost EUR 129. If this is to be believed then it will be similar to the Chinese pricing of CNY 799(~$124). In China, it has four colour variants namely Obsidian Black, Grapefruit Red, Island Blue, and Pink Cherry. We expect these colour options to also arrive in European markets.

The Huawei Watch Fit New is a successor to the last year’s Watch Fit and it comes with more sports modes. The Watch Fit New has a 1.64-inch AMOLED display with a 280 x 456 pixels resolution. It has 300 watch faces and 97 sports modes. The new addition to the existing sports modes is the Jump rope counter.

It has a 24/7 heart rate and blood oxygen monitoring sensor, stress monitoring sensor, and has menstrual tracking. The smartwatch supports the NFC payments feature and gets call and SMS alerts.

Read our Huawei Watch Fit Elegant Edition Review

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Lenovo Xiaoxin Pro 14 2021 with 90Hz screen and 11th Gen Intel i5 processor unveiled in China

By

Pranav Sawant

-

Sep 28, 2021

Earlier, we revealed that Lenovo is gearing to launch its Xiaoxin Pro 14 2021 laptop in the Chinese market. Today, Lenovo has officially launched the Lenovo Xiaoxin Pro 14 2021 notebook with Intel’s 11-generation chipset and a 90Hz panel.

The Lenovo Xiaoxin Pro 14 is priced starting at CNY 5299(~$820) for the 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD configuration. It will be available for purchase from JD.com and other authorised stores in the country.

Lenovo Xiaoxin Pro 14 Specifications

The laptop has a 14-inch display with a 2.8k screen resolution. It features a 90Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 400 nits. The device has an aspect ratio of 16:10 and sports a 10-bit colour depth. The screen supports Shuangcaiyin eye protection certification meaning that it light emitted by the screen will be easier on the eyes. It has a chiclet-style keyboard without a dedicated number pad. It features a medium-sized trackpad and has Lenovo branding besides it.

The laptop is powered by the Intel i5-11320H CPU paired with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of onboard storage. It comes with a 61Wh battery that supports 65W fast charging support. The device comes with dual speakers featuring Dolby Atomos support. As for the ports, the laptop has Thunderbolt 4 ports, a USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

In related news, Lenovo is also planning to unveil a Xiaoxin series tablet. It is touted to be the Lenovo Xiaoxin Pad Pro and it will feature a 12.6-inch display. It is reported to come powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 SoC and pack a 10,200mAh battery. Lenovo might soon unveil the tablet in the home market in China.

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Vivo Y21 with Helio P35 SoC launched in Kenya for 16,999 KsH(~$154)

By

Pranav Sawant

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Sep 28, 2021

A couple of months back, Vivo unveiled the Vivo Y21 smartphone in India. Today, the company has officially brought it to Kenya at an entry-level price. The major highlights of the smartphone are dual-rear cameras, Helio P35 SoC, and a 5,000mAh battery.

The Vivo Y21 is priced at 16,999 KsH(roughly $154) and comes in two colour options – Diamond Glow and Midnight Blue. The smartphone will be available for purchase across Kenya via authorised channels.

Vivo Y21 Specifications

The Vivo Y21 comes with a 6.51-inch water-drop notch display. It is an LCD panel with 1600 x 720-pixel resolution. The device has an 8MP front camera for selfies and a dual-camera system at the rear. It has a 13MP main sensor and a 2MP macro lens. The rear camera island also has an LED flash.

Under the hood, it comes powered by the MediaTek Helio P35 SoC paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Interestingly, the RAM memory has an additional 1GB expansion option. There’s also a microSD card slot for storage expansion. The smartphone packs a 5,000mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging. According to Vivo, it will go from 0% to 34% with just 30 minutes of charge.

The Vivo Y21 boots on Android 11 out of the box and has Vivo’s FunTouch OS 11.1 on top of it. It has a USB Type-C port at the bottom for charging and also features a 3.5mm headphone jack.

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Meet Amazon’s Astro: a multifunctional home assistant robot

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Sep 28, 2021

Amazon has unveiled its latest innovative home assistant robot on wheels, named Astro. The Amazon Astro will cost $1,000 and Amazon is offering an opportunity for potential buyers to request an invitation to buy it because it is a limited-version product.

The Amazon Astro bears a similar name to a futuristic pet dog in the Jetsons TV series of the 1960s. The Amazon Astro seems to be the culmination of different technological inputs from robotics, artificial intelligence, home monitoring, and cloud services. It seems to be Amazon’s most ambitious home system product so far. Amazon’s Astro may just signal the beginning of a vigorous stage of in-home product development for the ultimate home robot, capable of doing virtually everything that could be thought of.

It looks a bit futuristic that an ultimate home robot will become a reality but the development in this area is rapid. The Astro, according to Amazon is capable of a variety of activities that could be expected from a home robot. It can map the home, obey commands to go to specific rooms, has face recognition capabilities that enable it to deliver items to specific persons. Amazon’s Astro also offers the functionality in Alexa by providing tons of details and information from the weather, and can also be used for a video call. Amazon’s Astro will follow you wherever you go, thus keeping you in the frame all through the video call.

Amazon’s Astro can also provide safety and security cover in your home when you are not around. It can roam around the house to make sure nothing is amiss in the house. It can also deploy third-party apps and accessories to record key body functions like your blood pressure.

As pointed earlier, the Astro is possibly the first step in the evolution of the perfect home robot. There are several things it cannot do which are basic functionalities expected of what could be seen as the ultimate home robot. For a start, Astro does not have arms, cannot move on stairs, and has a whole lot of basic skills. We are sure that Astro would not be the last in-home robot from Amazon.

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Jabra Elite 7 Pro earbuds with adjustable ANC launched; Elite 7 Active, Elite 3, & Elite 2 too

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Sep 28, 2021

Audio accessories manufacturer Jabra has announced a set of innovative true wireless earbuds for the Indian market. The earbuds are part of the Jabra Elite series and include the Elite 2, Elite 3, Elite 7 Active, and the Jabra Elite 7 Pro. The earbuds all bear the design philosophy of Jabra, as well as featuring Jabra’s MultiSensor Voice technology, adjustable active noise cancelation (ANC), and decent battery lives, among others.

The Elite 2 earbuds are the lowest-priced model among the lot and have 6mm drivers, support a customizable equalization, and have two microphones for calls. It also has Qualcomm aptX technology, is Alexa-enabled and its battery can last for 7 hours on a full charge. With the charging case attached, up to 21 hours of activity is assured.

The Elite 3 earbuds are powered by 6mm drivers for a pretty standard audio output. The Elite 3 has Qualcomm aptX audio support, as well as a 4-microphone system. It offers 7 hours of battery life which is extended to about 28 hours with the charging case attached.

The Jabra Elite 7 Active features Jabra’s ShakeGrip technology, four microphones for an effective call experience, and adjustable ANC. There are two additional microphones for greater personalization.

The Jabra Elite 7 Pro is a more compact truly wireless earbuds. It has Jabra’s in-house MultiSensor Voice technology driven by a complex algorithm that combines with four microphones and a bone conduction sensor. The Jabra Elite Pro 7 has a smaller size (up to 16 percent smaller) than the Elite 75 earbuds. The adjustable ANC feature in the device means that users can customize the audio experience to suit their needs in line with the environment. Audio personalization is also possible with the Jabra MySound technology. The battery is up to 30 hours with the charging case. However, you can only get 8 hours when ANC is active and the charging case is not connected.

As per pricing, the Elite 2 is priced at Rs. 5,999 (~$82), the Elite 3 will cost Rs. 6,999 (~$95), while the Elite 7 Active is priced at Rs. 15,999 (~$217). The pick of the lot is the Elite 7 Pro and it will cost Rs. 18,999 (~$258).

The Elite 2 and Elite 3 earbuds will be available from October 1, while the Elite 7 Pro and Elite 7 Active will be available by the end of October 2021.

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iPhone 13 Pro Max vs Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra: Specs Comparison

By

Michele Ingelido

-

Sep 28, 2021

The iPhone 13 Pro Max finally went on sale with a similar design to its predecessor but several improvements in terms of specifications. It has a smaller notch, a bigger battery, a much better hardware department, and more. But is it even better than other Android top-tier flagships under every aspect? After comparing it to the most advanced Samsung flagship (the Galaxy S21 Ultra), it is time for Xiaomi to compete with Apple. Here is a comparison between the specifications of the iPhone 13 Pro Max and the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra.

Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max

	Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra	Apple iPhone 13 Max
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT	164.3 x 74.6 x 8.4 mm, 234 g	160.8 x 78.1 x 7.7 mm, 240 g
DISPLAY	6.81 inches, 1440 x 3200 pixels (Quad HD+), AMOLED	6.7 inches, 1284 x 2778p (Full HD+), Super Retina XDR OLED
PROCESSOR	Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, octa-core 2.84 GHz	Apple A15 Bionic hexa-core 3.22 GHz
MEMORY	12 GB RAM, 512 GB – 12 GB RAM, 128 GB – 12 GB RAM, 256 GB	6 GB RAM, 512 GB – 6 GB RAM, 128 GB – 6 GB RAM, 256 GB – 6 GB RAM, 1 TB
SOFTWARE	Android 11, MIUI	iOS 15
CONNECTIVITY	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, Bluetooth 5, GPS
CAMERA	Triple 50 + 48 + 48 MP, f/2.0 + f/4.1 + f/2.2 20 MP f/2.2 front camera	Quad 12 + 12 + 12 MP + TOF 3D LiDAR scanner, f/1.5 + f/2.8 + f/1.8 Dual 12 MP + SL 3D f/2.2
BATTERY	5000 mAh, fast charging 67W and Qi wireless charging 67W	4373 mAh, Fast Charging 20W, Qi wireless charging 7.5W
ADDITIONAL FEATURES	5G, dual SIM, IP68 waterproof, rear display	5G, optional dual SIM, optional eSIM, MagSafe 15W, IP68 waterproof

Design

The huge camera module of the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra does not make it very elegant. If you add that it comes with big dimensions, you will understand that it is definitely not the best phone to keep with you while you travel. The iPhone 13 Pro Max has that bigger notch, but its overall design is more stylish compared to its rival. Further, it comes with better water resistance: it has the IP68 certification which allows putting it underwater up to 6 meters deep without damages, while the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra can only withstand 1.5 meters of depth. The Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra is built with a ceramic back and an aluminum frame, while iPhone 13 Pro Max comes with a Ceramic Shield back and a stainless steel frame: its build quality is higher and it is also more compact.

Display

If we talk about the displays, Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra is more interesting. Besides an amazing AMOLED panel with one billion colors, 120 Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ certification, and Dolby Vision, it also comes with an additional mini display on the rear side which can be used instead of the main display and allows shooting selfies with the rear cameras. Both the phones are stunning when it comes to image quality, so whatever you choose, you will get a great display. Note that Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra has an in-display fingerprint reader, while the iPhone 13 Pro Max comes with 3D facial recognition instead of a fingerprint scanner.

Specs & Software

On the paper, Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra looks more powerful as it comes with up to 12 GB of RAM, but the reality is that iPhone 13 Pro Max can achieve better performance due to its stronger Apple A15 Bionic chip and the better optimization of the iOS operating system. Despite it has just 6 GB of RAM, the iPhone 13 Pro Max can be faster and more powerful. Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra runs Android 11 out of the box and it will be among the first Xiaomi phones to get the Android 12 update, while iPhone 13 Pro Max runs iOS 15.

Camera

The camera department of the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra is more complete and versatile than iPhone 13 Pro Max. Despite Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra is able to record 8K videos, the iPhone 13 Pro Max actually records better videos in most of the conditions, but the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra is way better when it comes to photo quality. It has a 50 MP main sensor with laser autofocus, a 48 MP periscope sensor with 5x optical zoom, and a 48 MP ultrawide camera against three inferior 12 MP sensors provided by the iPhone.

Read More: iPhone 13 series battery capacities detailed in Apple product information sheet

Battery

Despite Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra has a bigger 5000 mAh battery, the iPhone 13 Pro Max is able to provide a longer battery life on a single charge because it has better software optimization. On the other hand, Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra has faster charging speeds thanks to a power of 65W for both wired charging and wireless charging.

Price

The original price of the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra for the European market is about €1200/$1400, while the iPhone 13 Pro Max starts from €119 in Europe and $1099 in the U.S. If you are searching for a clear winner of this comparison, you are in the wrong place. Each of these devices has its pro and cons: which one should you buy? It depends on your actual needs. Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra may be very useful for you with its dual display and a better camera to shoot photos, but the iPhone 13 Pro Max is all but an inferior device and it offers better build quality, as well as longer battery life, similar camera performance, and more.

Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max: PRO and CONS

Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra

PRO

Rear display
Stunning cameras
Faster charging
Wider panel

CONS

Dimensions

Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max

PRO

iOS 15
Great processor
MagSafe
Amazing build quality

CONS

Price

Amazon announces the Halo View fitness band along with the Halo fitness services

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Sep 28, 2021

Smart wearables have grown amazingly in importance within the past couple of years. They continue to offer a fast-expanding array of functions and services that helps to sustain healthy living and a decent fitness regimen. The fall detection feature of some current models has proven to be the difference between life and death for quite a growing number of users of these devices.

Amazon is gradually making inroads into the wearables space with its latest offerings of several fitness devices. The company has announced a new fitness band to go with several health services it will be offering its clientele who buy any of the devices. The new Halo View will square off with some current fitness models and is priced at $79.99. The Amazon Halo View comes with one-year free membership of Amazon Halo to enjoy the full width of fitness services available with the Halo View.

Amazon is also launching the fitness service which will provide workout videos and a nutrition service called Halo Nutrition. Some of the new service offerings are not unique, as some established heavy hitters in the segment like Apple have similar services.

The Halo View has a color AMOLED display and offers an array of several sensors for measuring various body functions including heart rate, blood oxygen level, sleep tracking, skin temperature, but will not come with a microphone system to gather voice data. Three color variants are available for the Halo View: black, green, and purple, with a variety of additional bands available in different colors and textures. The Halo View also offers up to 7 days of battery life and fast charging capability.

The Halo View and the accompanying services will be available from next quarter until early 2022, and there is a token fee for the membership of the Amazon Halo Nutrition service.

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