POCO UI confirmed to arrive in late 2021

By

-

May 13, 2021

POCO started as a sub-brand of Xiaomi in 2018. The brand’s POCO F1 (aka POCOPHONE F1) was a phenomenal hit. The company made a comeback in 2020 as an individual brand under the Xiaomi Corporation. Since its early days, the company’s smartphones have been running MIUI for POCO. Now, the brand has revealed its plans for new software.

Yesterday, in an exclusive interview with Android Central, POCO spilled the beans on the upcoming POCO M3 Pro 5G and the brand’s future plans. In this interview, the company even revealed that it’s not going to launch Android One smartphones.

But we can expect different software on future POCO-branded phones. The POCO executives have confirmed that their devices will continue to use MIUI but with exclusive features.

For those unaware, when MIUI for POCO was introduced with POCO F1, it looked different than the regular MIUI found on Mi and Redmi smartphones. But with the brand’s second coming, the lines between the two versions of MIUI blurred. At present, they both look identical.

That’s because MIUI never had an app launcher. POCO F1 debuted with one dubbed as POCO launcher. With MIUI 11, Xiaomi baked this launcher into its software. Right now, the only noticeable difference between the two UIs is the default icon packs.

So how will MIUI for POCO differ in the future? The brand says that it will be implementing special features based on feedback from POCO Community and social media. This new version of the company’s software may release as POCO UI in late 2021.

In a nutshell, the upcoming POCO UI will be another clone of MIUI like Black Shark’s JOYUI. Another example of this type of implementation is realme UI, which is basically ColorOS.

Last but not least, POCO does say that it could develop an Android skin from scratch if the brand gains more market share globally.

Xiaomi Mi Notebook Pro X to launch in June with Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti GPU

By

Sean

-

May 13, 2021

Xiaomi has just announced that its upcoming high end notebook will launch in June 2021. The laptop in question is the new Mi Notebook Pro X, which will feature the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU.

The Chinese tech giant shared a teaser online, along with an image poster that highlighted the new laptop’s graphics card. For those unaware, the RTX 3000 series is Nvidia’s latest lineup of graphics card, with the RTX 3050 Ti and RTX 3050 being the latest cards that were announced. These cards are entry level GPUs that also offers support for ray tracing and DLSS technology as well. The graphics card chips are built on Samsung’s 8nm process, with the RTX 3050 Ti featuring 2560 CUDA cores and 4GB of GDDR6 VRAM.

These graphics card are powerful enough to achieve decent performance in most AAA titles that have launched recently and also deliver robust framerates for popular esports title. Nvidia’s official testings found that the GPU car run 60fps with the RTX version of Minecraft along with recently launched Call of Duty: Blacks Ops at 1080p resolution.

With the announcement of the new graphics cards, various laptop makers have announced that they will be launching their own offerings soon and it seems like Xiaomi will also be one of them. We can also expect specifications like SSD storage and about 16GB of RAM as well. Similarly, at least a 10th Gen Intel chip would be shipped or a Ryzen 5000 series processor if it launches in an AMD variant. Although, this is just speculation so take it with a pinch of salt and stay tuned for more updates.

RELATED:

Huawei to announce new products on its May 19 launch conference

By

Sean

-

May 13, 2021

Earlier today (13th May 2021), Huawei officially announced that it will be holding a new product launch conference later this month. In this event, the company will launch products under the “All Scenario Smart Life” banner, which will be held on 19th May 2021 in China.

The upcoming launch conference will have the Chinese tech giant unveil new electronic gadgets like TVs, earphones, and smart watches as well. While the company has yet to officially announce the products that will be released on the launch event, we have recently covered a few devices that we expect to be announced on this date. This includes the new variant of the Huawei Children’s Watch 4X, which was leaked recently, along with the Huawei Body Fat Scale 3 Pro.

Furthermore, the brand is also set to launch new TVs, which will be a part of the company’s SE series of smart TVs. Other expected products that might be launching later this month include a semi in ear headphones, dubbed the FreeBuds 4, along with the Huawei Watch3 series of smartwatches as well. We had previously reported on the company also gearing up to launch a new high end 16 inch MateBook notebook, while the company just shared a teaser on its official Weibo account for new Mate series product that could also be the new MatePad tab.

Unfortunately, there is not a lot of news to go on as of right now and we will have to wait for any teaser from Huawei that might arrive in the coming few days. So stay tuned for more, as we will be covering the event and providing any notable updates once additional information is available regarding the upcoming conference.

RELATED:

Redmi Watch launched in India with GPS and heart rate tracking for 3,999 INR ($54)

By

Sean

-

May 13, 2021

The Redmi Watch has just been announced in India. The smartwatch is the latest wearable that arrives in the region and was launched along with the Redmi Note 10S earlier today (13th May 2021).

Talking about its specifications and features, the new wearable offers a lot of the functions that are quite common with other smartwatches. This includes 11 sports modes for tracking physical activities, along with built in GPS + GLONASS for accurate navigation. The smartwatch is also capable of monitoring the users’ heartbeat, guided breathing, and can track sleep cycles as well. The new watch from the Chinese tech giant can be paired with a smartphone through the Xiaomi Wear app and offers more than 200 faces for its watch.

The device sports a 1.4 inch colored TFT LCD display that is covered by a 2.5D curved glass. Redmi officially claims that the wearable can last for up to 10 days on a single full charge and even offers 5ATM water resistance on the smartwatch as well. Notably, the smartwatch is the second wearable from the company in India, after the Redmi Band that was launched previously in the region.

The newly unveiled device was first announced back in November 2020 in China and will finally go on sale in India starting from 25th May 2021 and will be available in four different strap color variants along with Bluetooth 5.0 support. It is priced at 3,999 INR, or about 54 US Dollars and can be bought from the company’s official Mi Stores and Flipkart.com.

RELATED:

Redmi Note 10S launched in India with Helio G95 SoC, AMOLED display, MIUI 12.5, and more

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

-

May 13, 2021

Xiaomi debuted the Redmi Note 10 series in India in March. At that time, the company only announced three devices, namely Redmi Note 10, Redmi Note 10 Pro, and Redmi Note 10 Pro Max. Now, two months later, the Indian arm of the Chinese handset maker has released the fourth model in the lineup dubbed as Redmi Note 10S. The firm also launched the Redmi Watch alongside this smartphone in the country.

Redmi Note 10S Featured A — Redmi Note 10S

Redmi Note 10S Specifications and Features

The Remi Note 10S is not a new device. This handset was already unveiled at the Redmi Note 10 series global launch event. Unlike other models in the lineup, this phone comes with Android 11-based MIUI 12.5 pre-installed. It is one of the two Xiaomi smartphones, other than the Redmi K40 Gaming Edition, to ship with the latest version of the MIUI out of the box.

Talking about specs, the device flaunts a 6.43-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels (FHD+), 409 PPI, 8-bit color, 1,100 nits peak brightness level, centered punch-hole, 180Hz touch sampling rate, and a standard 60Hz refresh rate. The panel covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, features a 4,500,000:1 contrast ratio, and is protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 layer.

Under the hood, the phone houses a MediaTek Helio G95 SoC coupled with 6GB LPDDR4X RAM and up to 128GB UFS 2.2 storage. On the connectivity front, the handset supports dual-SIM, 4G, dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, and GNSS (GPS, GALILEO, GLONASS, BeiDou).

Further, the back and the frame of the smartphone are made of plastic but they do look like glass and metal respectively. Anyway, the device is IP53-rated for splash resistance.

As for cameras, the rear side includes a quad-camera setup consisting of a 64MP primary sensor, an 8MP 118° ultra-wide unit, a 2MP macro shooter, and a 2MP depth sensor. Whereas, on the front, there is a 13MP snapper inside the punch-hole for selfies and video calls.

Other features of this phone include dual stereo speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack, Hi-Res Audio certification, USB Type-C port, side-mounted fingerprint sensor, z-axis linear vibration motor, infrared sensor, accelerometer, proximity sensor, compass, 360° ambient light sensor, gyroscope, 5,000mAh battery, and 33W fast charging.

Last but not least, the Redmi Note 10S measures 160.46 x 74.5 x 8.29mm in dimensions, weighs 178.8g, and comes in three colors (Deep Sea Blue, Frost White, Shadow Black).

Redmi Note 10S Price and Availability in India

The Redmi Note 10S will retail for the following price tags in India.

6GB + 64GB – ₹14,999 ($204)
6GB + 128GB – ₹15,999 ($217)

The first sale of this smartphone is scheduled for May 18 at 12 PM. It will be sold on Mi.com and Amazon India. Like any other Xiaomi product, it will be soon available at retail stores across the country.

VAIO SX14 and SE14 with the 11th-gen Intel Tiger Lake processor launched in India.

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

May 13, 2021

Nexstgo, holder of the VAIO laptop brand license for the Asian market has unveiled two new laptops for the Indian market. The VAIO SX14 is a high-end laptop with a 14-inch 4K display, while the new SE14 comes with the next-gen Intel Core processor.

The new VAIO laptops come with a lot of impressive features. On its part, the VAIO SX14 parades an interesting list of features and is no doubt at the top of the pack. It has fingerprint and Face recognition capabilities. The notebook equally runs on the 10th-gen Intel Core i7 processor and packs a 4K ultra HD display. The audio output from the SX14 is also touted to be of vivid quality. The model has a RAM capacity of 16GB and 1TB internal storage. Further, it comes fitted with Windows 10 operating system while the stated battery life is 6 hours.

The new SE14 is powered by the 11th Gen Intel Tiger Lake processor with an Iris Xe GPU which surpasses the 8th Gen Core i5 processor that was used for the original SE14 model which was unveiled a few months back. The E15 and SE14 were unveiled to the global audience earlier this year. The new SE14 design concept focused on the latest technology in the industry for enhanced performance, processor speed, graphics quality, and overall efficiency.

The new VAIO SE14 boasts an extensive list of features that places it on the high end of the spectrum. It has a minimalist design wrapped with a durable exterior veneer made of metal and plastic. The laptop has a 14-inch 4K display, full HD display, comes with Windows 10 pre-installed, and a strong (up to 12 hours) battery.

The SE14 will hit the market in two variants – one with 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD and a second model with a staggering 16GB RAM and 1 TB SSD combo. Each of the variant is capable of quick charging. There is also a built-in fingerprint reader and a 1080P IR front web camera.

Both models will be available for the Indian market from May 16 and will be sold on Amazon.in. As for the pricing, the premium SX14 is priced at Rs. 1,72,990 (~$2,352) while the VAIO SE14 notebook will be sold at Rs. 88,990 (~1,207).

RELATED:

Vivo TWS 2 with Active Noise Cancellation to launch in China on May 20

By

Jeet

-

May 13, 2021

Vivo had launched its true wireless earbuds named Vivo TWS in 2019 along with the NEX 3 series of smartphones. Last year, in the month of June, the company launched other similar earphones, dubbed Vivo TWS Neo.

Now, the China-based company is gearing up to launch the successor of its first true wireless earbuds. The upcoming earphones from the company are named Vivo TWS 2 and will be officially launched on 20th May in China.

The upcoming Vivo TWS 2 will be the company’s first true wireless earphones to come with support for Active Noise Cancellation. Along with the launch date, the company has also showcased the product.

As for the design, it looks quite similar to its predecessor and will be offered in a Blue-colored gradient. Currently, nothing much is known about the upcoming earphones apart from the support for ANC.

Similar to its predecessors, we expect the upcoming earphones to come with support for the AAC codec as well as the aptX adaptive codec. It is also likely to have IP ratings for water and dust resistance, Jovi Smart Assistance, Find My Earbuds feature, One-Touch pairing mode, and Touch Gesture support, among others.

Many smartphone manufacturers have been actively launching TWS earphones in the market, including its sister companies like Realme, OPPO, and OnePlus. However, the launch cycle of Vivo is quite slow, having launched just two such earphones in the market so far and the third one on its way.

RELATED:

LG Display to scale up its TV OLED production capacity in China

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

May 13, 2021

The display arm of South Korean tech giant LG has announced plans to expand the production capacity of its TV OLED factory in Guangzhou, China, to meet the rising demand for its TV OLED panels. TheElec mulled the report, which hinted that the 60,000 substrates per month factory would be expanded to 90,000 substrates per month before July 2021. The details of the expansion, which will increase the factory’s capacity by 50%, show that each of the 30,000 capacity lines in the factory will be scaled up to produce additional 15,000 units each, starting from the first week of July.

LG will not be spending many resources in carrying out the upgrade. Specifically, improvements will be made to the deposition kit’s equipment to enable a shorter turnover time. This will combine with the deployment of an already installed oxide thin-film transistor backplane with 90,000 capacity but under-utilized before now.

The factory upgrade will give LG Display up to 170,000 substrates per month when its factory in South Korea is factored in. LG continues to make progress within the display arm of its business model. It has projected up to 8 million units of its OLED panels to be shipped this year, substantially higher than its estimates for 2020, which was 4.5 million units.

LG has had a mixed bag of fortunes across its businesses in recent years. This led to the shedding off of some of its unproductive units and outsourcing of others. The moves were aimed at stemming the tide of negative financial results in its balance sheet. LG Display is one of the few businesses that continue to post impressive results, together with a positive outlook in the years to come.

RELATED:

Apple reportedly blocked potential frauds worth $1.5 billion on the App Store in 2020

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

May 13, 2021

US tech major Apple has announced that it prevented potentially fraudulent transactions via the Apple App Store to the tune of about $1.5 billion in 2020. The Apple news provides cheering reassurance to users of iOS devices that their safety is guaranteed when using the App Store.

There were a couple of accusations that Apple was not doing enough to safeguard its customers from potentially fraudulent activities on several fronts. One of the ways that fraudsters have used to gain access to critical data was through fraudulent apps. But Apple insists that its App Store remains a highly secure platform for mobile applications for its customers.

The blog post highlighted some of the steps taken to protect the App Store users, and the company outlined the outcomes. Apple said that up to a million problematic new apps were removed or rejected, together with a similar quantum of updates rejected. Several thousands of apps did not scale through the rigorous review process put in place, while many others were also axed for violating privacy restrictions.

Notably, the tech giant also says that more than 100,000 illegal apps were blocked on pirate storefronts, about 0.25 billion customer accounts were deactivated due to fraudulent or abusive activity within the year. In addition, about 424 million attempts at creating new accounts were denied after fraudulent patterns were associated with the potential accounts. Apple also says it could prevent more than 3 million stolen credit cards from being used to purchase goods and services.

App security remains a critical issue, and Apple focuses on establishing a secure platform responsive to potentially fraudulent activities. But despite these efforts there are still reports of fraudulent activities on the store. An iPhone user was recently thrown into confusion after his life saving of over $600,000 in Bitcoin was emptied by fraudsters using a fake Trezor wallet he downloaded from the Apple App Store.

RELATED:

(via)

LeEco is coming back; announces LeTV Smart Ecological Conference on May 18

By

Jeet

-

May 13, 2021

LeEco, the Chinese company which was once aiming to take on the likes of tech giants in the western part of the world, crumbled after facing a number of setbacks as the company was growing too fast without a solid financial foundation.

Now, it seems that LeEco is making a comeback. The company has shared a new product launch invitation for the LeTV Smart Ecological Conference held on 18th May. Based on the invitation, the company seems to be gearing up to launch new Smart TVs in the market.

The company’s invitation reads “I’m back!” in large and bold characters, exerting confidence about its comeback in the market. It also shows a human profile filled with text of various productions but the highlighted one reads “LeTV Super TV.” It could also hint at the comeback of the brand’s founder Yueting Jia to take charge.

LeEco’s core product offering has been TV and the company was earlier called LeTV. It remains to be seen what the upcoming lineup from the company offers to retake its position in the market. Along with the TV, the invitation also hints at LeTV Super Phone, LeTV TV, Anti-Wear Headset, Portable Watch, and Game Controller, among others.

The company has also mentioned products in other categories as well, including Bluetooth Speakers, Smartwatches, Door Locks, Routers, Bicycles, etc. While it doesn’t make sense to launch all these products at once, the company could launch several devices at the upcoming event given that it’s an event for “smart ecological” products.

Last year, in October, the company had launched LeTV Zero65 Pro Ultra-Slim Mural TV for the price of 6,999 yuan, about $1,037 that offers a massive 97 percent screen-to-body ratio and measuring just 13.5mm in thickness. Earlier this year, in January, the company launched LeTV Super Earphone Ears Pro which comes with support for Active Noise Cancellation and 28-day battery life.

RELATED:

OPPO One-Touch Phone Case is the world’s first to pack UWB for controlling smart home devices

By

Jeet

-

May 13, 2021

OPPO has today launched the world’s first smartphone accessory that comes equipped with Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology — OPPO One-Touch Phone Case Set. Apart from providing protection to the device, it also has an interesting use case.

The mobile case comes in a Galaxy Gray color scheme and has a hand-feeling paint finish that offers a delicate and smooth feel. Equipped with UWB, it enhances the spatial perception of the smartphone through functional modularity.

With the one-key identity sticker, it can realize the one-key connection and real-time control of smart home devices. The one-key ID sticker comes in a two-color and two-material water ripple design.

The sticker has a hidden indicator light that acts as a switch status prompt. There’s also a USB Type-C interface to make charging easy and convenient. Additionally, the magnetic design allows users to easily place identification stickers on smart home devices.

The product comes with the support of three modes — Switch, Control Card, and Startup. The user just needs to point the phone towards the device that needs to be controlled and then double-click the back are of the case to complete the trigger action.

The Switch mode can turn the specified device ON or OFF while the Control Card mode brings up the control page for that device with more functions to choose from. The Scene mode executes a preset profile. The usage of this last mode is quite interesting as it can be used in several situations, for instance, to turn off all the devices when leaving home.

The Ultra-wideband (UWB) is a wireless technology with several advantages over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It offers accurate positioning, wide application, low power consumption, and low interference. OPPO UWB Space Sensing technology uses a high-precision lateral antenna array on the mobile phone side, and a low cross-polarization microstrip antenna on the identity sticker side to achieve centimeter-level positioning accuracy, ±3° angle measurement accuracy, and a usable distance of up to 15 meters.

RELATED:

Xiaomi launches FlipBuds Pro with Active Noise Cancellation in China

By

Joel Joseph

-

May 13, 2021

TWS earbuds have been in demand for the past few years and Xiaomi is trying to further tap into the market with the launch of the new Flipbuds series in China. The first model in the lineup is the FlipBuds Pro, targeted at a relatively premium segment of the market with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and an Airpods Pro-like design.

There’s no denying that the Xiaomi FlipBuds Pro gets its inspiration from the Apple AirPods Pro. The typical short stem design with a curved body looks similar to the Apple earbuds. However, the FlipBuds Pro distinguishes itself with a high-gloss all-black body and it’s the only color available, at least for now. Xiaomi states that the earbuds get a mirror finish thanks to a nano NCVM coating that gives it a premium look.

The new ANC earbuds feature Qualcomm’s QCC5151 ultra-low power audio chip along with 11mm ultra dynamic sound drivers. It supports Bluetooth 5.2 and Xiaomi claims that low-latency activities like gaming shouldn’t be an issue on its new earbuds. As for gestures, it’s very similar to what you get on the Apple AirPods Pro. So long pressing either left or right earbuds will switch between transparency and noise-canceling modes, a single press will play/pause/ accept calls, a double press will move to the next music track or reject calls.

The new FlipBuds Pro can also seamlessly switch between your smartphone and your laptop (Dual Device Intelligent Connection). You can also connect two pairs of these earbuds to a single smartphone or laptop to share the audio output between two people.

Coming to its noise-canceling performance, the Xiaomi FlipBuds Pro can officially block up to 40dB of noise in its strongest ANC setting. You can choose between three levels of ANC like daily, office, and travel, depending on your environment for the optimum noise cancellation performance. You get these settings via the MIUI pop-up settings menu (on Xiaomi phones) or the XiaoAI app on other Android smartphones.

The FlipBuds Pro comes in an oval charging case which you can charge via USB-C port or a wireless charger. The company promises 28 hours of battery life in total with the case and up to 7 hours of playback on a single charge. The earbuds support fast charging so you can get up to 2 hours of playback in just 5 minutes of charging with the case.

The Xiaomi FlipBuds Pro will go on sale from May 21 across all sales channels in China at a retail price of 799 yuan (~$124).

RELATED:

Motorola partners with GuRu to bring over-the-air charging to its smartphones

By

Jeet

-

May 13, 2021

Earlier this year, the parent company of Motorola, Lenovo, had teased its new concept for an air-to-air charging system that can charge multiple devices remotely. Now, the company has announced a partnership that will further advance the development to make this technology practically available for everyone.

Motorola has partnered with GuRu Wireless to add support for over-the-air wireless charging to the company’s smartphones. For those who are unaware, GuRu specializes in customizable over-the-air power systems that use “millimeter-wave integrated circuits, modules and proprietary Smart RF Lensing technology”.

This is quite an interesting move by Motorola which usually avoids adding wireless charging capabilities to its phones but now it is making a major development by investing in a charging technology that is truly wireless and doesn’t require phones to be placed on a charging pad for it to work.

This new concept for charging technology is named “Motorola One Hyper.” The demonstration shows two handsets start charging without any contact with the charger over the air when they are placed at 80cm and 100cm away respectively.

Motorola’s devices will be using GuRu’s RF Lensing to charge the device from across the room. It uses a miniature power transfer system to transmit power in a long range and with precision. As of now, nothing much is known about this partnership.

It remains to be seen when the fruit of this partnership will be available to the users but it’s likely that we will have to wait a bit longer as the technology seems to be at least a few months away for commercial use.

This year, Xiaomi also unveiled its Mi Air Charge which is a similar technology to what Motorola is trying to build. The concept from Xiaomi for an over-the-air charging system uses space positioning and energy transmissions to remotely charge a device.

RELATED:

Tesla stops accepting Bitcoin payments citing environmental concerns

By

Jeet

-

May 13, 2021

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced that the company has stopped taking Bitcoin as payment for its electronic cars. The reason being provided for this move is concern about the environmental impact.

The development is quite surprising given that the company had started accepting bitcoins as a payment method along with the traditional card payment options for its vehicles a few weeks ago, in late March.

According to the statement issued, the company would start accepting bitcoin payments once the process of mining bitcoin “transitions to more sustainable energy.” It adds that the company is also “looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of Bitcoin’s energy/transaction.”

Along with this, Elon Musk has also said that the company won’t be selling any more bitcoin from the stash worth around $1.5 billion that is purchased earlier this year. For those who are unaware, Tesla sold some of those bitcoins in the first quarter of this year which helped the company’s quarterly profit figures.

Mining of cryptocurrency involves computers competing against other machines to solve complex mathematical puzzles, which is an energy-intensive process. As per one estimate, it takes up about the same amount of energy annually as the Netherlands.

RELATED:

Infinix Note 10 series smartphones launched; features 6.95-inch FHD+ 90Hz display and MediaTek chipset

By

Jeet

-

May 13, 2021

Infinix Mobile, the Hong Kong-based device manufacturer has announced its new Infinix Note 10-series smartphones as the successor to the company’s Note 8 series that was launched last year. There are three phones in the lineup, which include Infinix Note 10, Note 10 Pro, and Note 10 Pro NFC.

Infinix Note 10 Pro and Note 10 Pro NFC

As the name indicates, these two smartphones are identical to each other in almost every way, except for the support of NFC. Both the phones come with a 6.95-inch Full HD+ display that offers a screen resolution of 2460 x 1080 pixels, a 90Hz refresh rate, and a 180Hz touch sampling rate.

Under the hood, these two phones are powered by the MediaTek Helio G95 processor. The chipset is built using a 12nm process and features two Cortex-A76 cores at 2.05 GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores at 2.0 GHz. It is said to be around 25% faster than Helio G80 used in its predecessor while the graphics performance has been bumped by 120%.

The smartphones come in two memory variants — 6GB RAM with 128GB storage and 8GB RAM with 256GB storage. There’s also a microSD card slot that allows users to further expand the phones’ storage capacity.

As for the camera department, there’s a 64-megapixel primary sensor with a 1/1.7” sensor, an 8-megapixel 120-degree ultra-wide lens, a 2-megapixel depth sensor, and a 2-megapixel monochrome lens. On the front side, there’s a 16-megapixel snapper for taking selfies and video calling.

The devices come with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. They run the company’s own XOS 7.6 based on the Android 11 operating system and are powered by a 5,000mAh battery with support for 33W fast charging technology.

The Infinix Note 10 Pro smartphone will be available for purchase for a price of around $260 from this month. However, the pricing of the device will vary based on the region.

Infinix Note 10

The standard variant in the lineup also features the same 6.95-inch Full HD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate and 180Hz touch sampling rate. The screen is said to offer a 1,500:1 contrast ratio and 480 nits of brightness.

Internally, the device is powered by the MediaTek Helio G85 chipset that has two Cortex-A75 cores running at 2.0GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 1.8GHz. The phone is offered in two variants — 4GB RAM with 64GB storage and 6GB RAM with 128GB storage.

Coming to optics, the smartphone features a 48-megapixel primary sensor, a 2-megapixel depth sensor, and a 2-megapixel monochrome lens. Upfront, there’s a 16-megapixel snapper taking care of the selfie and video calling needs.

Similar to the Pro variants, this standard model also has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for added security. It runs the Android 11 operating system with XOS 7.6 on top and is powered by a 5,000mAh battery with just 18W fast charging support.

RELATED:

The $60 Wyze Buds Pro boasts ANC and wireless charging, standard version coming later

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

May 12, 2021

Wyze is known for its affordable products. With security cameras that cost as low as $19.99 and a smartwatch that also goes for the same price, it is bound to be pretty popular. Now, it has announced a new pair of TWS earbuds called the Wyze Buds Pro that offers features found in more expensive earbuds for half of the price.

The Wyze Buds Pro has an in-ear design with silicone tips. There are three voice-isolating microphones in each bud that help to reduce the noise by as much as 40dB while reducing wind noise by 10dB. The earbuds also have a transparency mode that allows you to hear the sounds around you. This is useful when having conversations with people, at the airport, or when walking outdoors.

Each earbud has a 10mm dynamic driver and has an IPX4 rating for protection against sweat and rain. The earbuds have Alexa built-in but also supports Siri, Bixby, and Google Assistant. They will automatically pause playback when you remove them from your ears and resume when you put them back in. Like a lot of earbuds, it supports custom touch controls for playback and toggling ANC on and off.

The Wyze Buds Pro supports charging via USB-C or via a Qi-certified wireless charger. A full charge via wired charging takes 1.5 hours (3 hours for the case) and it also supports fast charging (15-minute charge provides 1 hour of listening time). The spec sheet says that the earbuds have a battery life of up to 4.5 hours with ANC on and 6 hours with ANC off. It goes up to 13.5 hours and 18 hours respectively with the case.

The pair of earbuds has a price tag of $59.99, comes in black, and is available for pre-order on the Wyze website. Wyze has also promised that there will be a standard version called the Wyze Buds that doesn’t have ANC but brings 6 hours of additional battery life.

RELATED:

ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip is practically the Zenfone 7 Pro with a Snapdragon 888 chip

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

May 12, 2021

Alongside the Zenfone 8, ASUS also announced the Zenfone 8 Flip, a second flagship phone that keeps the flip camera design of the Zenfone 6 and Zenfone 7 series. ASUS says there are several people who loved the design of the previous generations which is why it has brought it back for a third time.

Zenfone 8 Flip Design

With respect to design, the Zenfone 8 Flip is practically the Zenfone 7 Pro with an in-display fingerprint scanner. Same screen size, same camera arrangement, and almost the same dimensions. It does come in new colors though – Galactic Black and Glacier Silver.

Zenfone 8 Flip Specs

The Zenfone 8 Flip’ 6.67-inch Samsung AMOLED display has a 90Hz refresh rate and HDR10+. It also has a 110% DCI-P3 Color Gamut, a peak brightness level of 1000 nits, and a 200Hz touch-sampling rate.

As expected, there is a Snapdragon 888 processor under the hood with 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. There is a dedicated MicroSD card slot for adding more storage along with Dual SIM support.

1 of 2

The Zenfone 8 Flip has three cameras on the back – a 64MP Sony IMX686 f/1.8 camera, a 12MP ultrawide angle camera, and a tele camera with 3x optical zoom and up to 12x total zoom. ASUS says there is a sheet of Gorilla Glass 3 covering the cameras and that the motor module has been enhanced.

The phone has a 5000mAh battery with support for 30W fast charging via a USB-C port. It doesn’t have an audio jack and neither does it have an IP68 rating but it has stereo speakers, NXP amplifiers, and Hi-Res Audio.

Price and Availability

The Zenfone 8 Flip’s price is €799 for the 8+256GB version. It is available for pre-order already in Europe and is expected to be launched in more markets later.

RELATED:

Motorola Moto G 5G vs Moto G50: Specs Comparison

By

Michele Ingelido

-

May 12, 2021

Motorola released a lot of smartphones from the G series this year. However, there are still several valid phones launched last year from the same lineup. The advantage of the older devices is their street prices: given that they came to the market in 2020, they are more affordable and often they offer a higher value for money. Is it happening with the Motorola Moto G 5G? Does it offer a higher value for money than the new Moto G50 5G? Let’s discover it together through this comparison between their specifications.

Motorola Moto G 5G vs Motorola Moto G50 5G

	Motorola Moto G 5G	Motorola Moto G50 5G
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT	166.1 x 76.1 x 9.9 mm, 212 grams	164.9 x 74.9 x 9 mm, 192 grams
DISPLAY	6.7 inches, 1080 x 2400p (Full HD+), 393 ppi, 20:9 ratio, LTPS IPS LCD	6.5 inches, 720 x 1600p (HD+), 270 ppi, IPS LCD
PROCESSOR	Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G, octa-core 2.2 GHz	Qualcomm Snapdragon 480, octa-core 2 GHz
MEMORY	4 GB RAM, 64 GB – 6 GB RAM, 128 GB – micro SD slot	4 GB RAM, 64 GB – 4 GB RAM, 128 GB – micro SD slot
SOFTWARE	Android 10	Android 11
CONNECTIVITY	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5, GPS
CAMERA	Triple 48 + 8 + 2 MP f/1.7, f/2.2 and f/2.4 16 MP f/2.2 front camera	Triple 48 + 5 + 2 MP, f/1.7 + f/2.4 + f/2.4 13 MP f/2.2 front camera
BATTERY	5000 mAh, Fast charging 20W	5000 mAh, fast charging 15W
ADDITIONAL FEATURES	Dual SIM slot, 5G	Dual SIM slot, water repellent

Design

The Moto G 5G has a more beautiful design than the Moto G50 5G. Despite it is actually an older handset, it looks more modern thanks to its punch-hole display. Further, I like its square-shaped camera module. On the other hand, the Moto G50 5G has a more compact body, and, unlike the Moto G 5G, it has a water repellent design. Both the phones feature a rear-mounted fingerprint reader, they are made of polycarbonate and they are pretty thick and heavy due to their bigger batteries.

Display

The display of the Motorola Moto G 5G is actually superior to the Moto G50 5G. It has a higher Full HD+ resolution, so it is able to provide a higher level of definition. Further, the HDR10 certification should give you a better image quality on streaming platforms. With the Motorola Moto G50 5G you get a 90 Hz refresh rate, but unfortunately, the display has a lower HD+ resolution. The Moto G 5G also comes with a wider panel: the diagonal is 6.7 inches with a 20:9 aspect ratio. Both the phones have IPS panels, so do not expect an OLED-like quality.

Specs & Software

If you need the most powerful device, go for the Motorola Moto G 5G without thinking twice. It is powered by the Snapdragon 750G mobile platform that is an upper-midrange 5G processor. The SoC is paired with up to 6 GB of RAM and up to 128 GB of native storage. With the Moto G50, you get an entry-level Snapdragon 480 5G mobile platform paired with 4 GB of RAM and up to 128 GB of internal storage. Motorola Moto G 5G ships with Android 10 out of the box, while Moto G50 5G ships with Android 11: this means you will most likely get longer software support with the Moto G50 5G.

Camera

The Motorola Moto G 5G and the Moto G50 5G pack the same 48 MP main camera with an f/1.7 focal aperture. But the Motorola Moto G 5G is a better camera phone because it has an 8 MP ultrawide lens besides its 2 MP macro camera. The secondary sensors of the Motorola Moto G50 5G are a 5 MP macro camera and a 2 MP depth sensor. The Moto G 5G is also equipped with a better 16 MP front camera which can record 1080p HDR videos.

Read More: Motorola’s promo makes the Moto G 5G a better buy than the Moto G50

Battery

Motorola Moto G 5G and Motorola Moto G50 5G have exactly the same battery capacity: 5000 mAh. They are pretty good battery phones and the best is the Moto G50 5G because it has more efficient components: thanks to the HD+ resolution and a smaller panel, it should last more on a single charge. With the Moto G 5G, you get a faster charging technology thanks to a power of 20W.

Price

The Motorola Moto G 5G is actually available in the global market with street prices of about €200/$242. Actually, you have to spend more than €200 to grab a unit of the Moto G50 5G as it has been launched recently with a listing price of €279/$338. The Moto G 5G has better specifications, including a Full HD+ HDR10 display, an ultrawide camera, and a better chipset paired with more RAM in the most expensive configuration. That is why Moto G 5G wins the value for money comparison. The only real disadvantage of the Moto G 5G is the fact that it ships with Android 10 out of the box as it is a phone released in 2020.

Motorola Moto G 5G vs Motorola Moto G50 5G: PRO and CONS

Motorola Moto G 5G

PRO

Better hardware
HDR10 certification
Full HD+ resolution
Ultrawide camera
Faster charging

CONS

Android 10 out of the box

Motorola Moto G50 5G

PRO

Android 11
Water repellent
90 Hz display

CONS

HD+ resolution

RELATED

Samsung Galaxy M02s, Galaxy F02s get Android 11-based One UI Core 3.1 update

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

-

May 12, 2021

Yesterday, we reported that Samsung had started rolling out the Android 11 update for the Galaxy A02s and the Galaxy A12 as One UI Core 3.1. Now, the very same update is live for the Galaxy M02s and the Galaxy F02s as well.

Samsung Galaxy F02s — Samsung Gaalxy F02s

For those unaware, Galaxy A02s, Galaxy M02s, and Galaxy F02s are basically the same phone with different names. They have an identical hardware and therefore, they also run a similar software build.

Hence, the Galaxy M02s and the Galaxy F02s have started receiving the Android 11 (One UI Core 3.1) update in India soon after the Galaxy A02s. The latest system update for these handsets comes with firmware versions M025FXXU2BUDC and E025FXXU1BUDC respectively.

Apart from bringing new features and UI changes, the new update for these budget smartphones also bumps up the security patch level to April 2021. Like any other OTA system updates, these builds are also being pushed in batches. Therefore, they may take some to reach every unit.

Anyway, users of these two Samsung handsets in India or any other region for that matter can head over to Settings > Software update > Download and install to check whether their unit has got the update.

ASUS Zenfone 8 packs flagship features in a compact body for €599

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

May 12, 2021

ASUS has announced its latest flagship phone and it arrives as the Zenfone 8. The new flagship is smaller than most of the phones available on the market now and caters to those who want a device with a small form factor.

Zenfone 8 Design

The Zenfone 8 was born out of the requirement of customers who want a compact phone that doesn’t compromise on performance. Most phones these days are in the 6.5-inch range which can be pretty uncomfortable for a lot of people.

ASUS has managed to squeeze a 5.9-inch screen in a frame that is just 148mm tall and 68.5mm wide. The back is curved to make it more comfortable to hold and the frosted matte back adds a nice touch to the overall design while keeping fingerprint smudges at a minimum.

The Zenfone 8 has a blue-colored power button and is available in Obsidian Black and Horizon Silver, the latter whose color shifts depending on the angle light rays land on it.

Zenfone 8 specs

The 5.9-inch screen which is protected by a sheet of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus has a 120Hz refresh rate and a punch hole at the top left corner. It also has a Pixelworks chip, HDR10+, a 112% DCI-P3 color gamut, and a peak brightness of 1100 nits.

There is a Snapdragon 888 processor inside and it comes with up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage.

On the back of the phone are two cameras – a 64MP Sony IMX686 f/1.8 1.6µm main camera with Quad Bayer technology and a 12MP Sony IMX363 f/2.2 1.4µm ultrawide angle camera with Dual PDAF that also supports 4cm macro photography. For the front-facing camera, ASUS has put a 12MP sensor inside the hole in the left corner. The Sony IMX663 camera has a 1.22µm pixel size and Dual PDAF too.

1 of 2

ASUS has also focused on the audio features of the Zenfone 8. In addition to having an audio jack at the top, the phone also has stereo speakers, Dirac HD sound technology, dual Cirrus Logic CS23L45 amplifiers, and Hi-Res Audio. The amplifiers provide increased volume and a higher bass with better power optimization. There is also an Audio Wizard app that allows you to choose from four sound profiles scenario effect and 10 customizable equalizers.

1 of 3

The phone packs a 4000mAh battery with support for 30W fast charging via a USB-C port. There are three charging profiles that you can choose from including Scheduled Charging which lets you choose when the phone should begin charging when plugged in.

The Zenfone 8 has an IP68 rating, Wi-Fi 6E, and an under-display fingerprint scanner. It runs Android 11 out of the box and comes with a 30W adapter.

Zenfone 8 Price and Availability

The Zenfone 8 comes in four configurations. below are their prices:

6+128GB = €599
8+128GB = €669
8+256GB = €729
16+256GB = €799

The phone is already available for pre-order on the ASUS estore in Europe and will be available on May 31. ASUS says it will also be available for purchase in different markets around the world.

RELATED: