Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s leading contract chipset manufacturer, was recently rumored to increase its pricing by 15 percent because of the on-going chip shortage.
However, the first quarter of the year is about the end and the company has not yet raised the pricing. But a new report coming from United News claims that TSMC could raise the price of its 12-inch wafers by $400.
This could result in a 25 percent price hike which will be an all-time high record. It’s noteworthy that the company has shifted to 5nm process nodes for the chipsets, making them more powerful and energy-efficient.
During the second half of next year, a Taiwan-based company is expected to start shipping 3nm chips. The next-generation process node is forecast to deliver 25%-30% more power and 10% to 15% more performance at the same power levels.
Because of the strong demand for the chips and low supply, TSMC has walked back the discounts that it offered to its customers. But the company is facing other situations that are beyond its control and adds to the company’s expenses.
A lack of rain has created a serious water shortage and the city where TSMC is based received only half the amount of rain in 2020 compared to the previous year. This has forced the company to arrange for water tankers at its facilities.
If TSMC decides to hike wafer prices by 25 percent and cancel the previously negotiated deals with the companies, the smartphone makers could end up shelling more money than they budgeted for and that cost can be passed to the customers.
After building hype for a couple of weeks, the Realme 8 and Realme 8 Pro smartphones went official in India last week. The company has already confirmed that it will be soon announcing a 5G version of the Realme 8 5G. It appears that the smartphone may launch as early as next month as it has bagged approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the U.S.
The Realme RMX3241 was recently seen with Realme 8 5G moniker at Thailand’s NBTC certification. It has also appeared at the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in India. Both certifications did not reveal any information on its specifications. However, the FCC appearance has spilled some of its key details.
The FCC listing reveals that Realme RMX3241 measures 162.5 x 74.8 x 8.5mm and it weighs 185 grams. The phone runs on Realme UI V2.0 and it is powered by a 5,000mAh battery. Some of the connectivity features supported by the handset include Wi-fi 802.11ac, GPS, GLONASS, BDS, NFC, and 5G.
A rear schematic of the Realme 8 5G, which was found in the FCC documents revealed that it has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. The left edge of the phone features volume up and down buttons.
Realme India CEO Madhav Sheth had said in the past week, “We will have a Realme 8 5G version soon (but not so early). We have to understand that adding 5G with these features will incur additional costs.” This indicates that the handset may break cover by the end of April. It is speculated that the handset will be priced between Realme 8 and Realme 8 Pro that is priced at Rs 14,999 (~$204) and Rs 17,999 (~$285), respectively.
It appears Xiaomi has a newAndroid TV-powered Mi Box coming soon according to a listing published by the FCC today. The new streaming device is believed to be the successor to the Mi Box S that was announced in October 2018 but there is a chance it isn’t.
First reported by 9to5Google, this newly certified Mi Box has the model number MDZ-22-AG which is nearly identical to the MDZ-22-AB model number of the 2018 version. The images attached to the FCC documents also revealed that it has the same design as the Mi Box S but comes with a slightly different remote.
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Mi Box S FCC
Mi Box S remote FCC
In addition, the images of the internals show that this new Mi Box has the same old Amlogic S905-H quad-core processor that powers the original Mi Box and the Mi Box S. There is also a copy of the user manual that says that the device is called Mi Box S. Based on these, we do not think this is a successor to the Mi Box S.
The photos show the same old black box design with the ports at the back. You get an audio output port, an HDMI port, a full-sized USB port, and a power input jack. The remote has the same button arrangement, save for the Netflix Button which is now white, and a button for Prime Video that replaces the Live TV button from the previous version.
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According to the user manual, the remote will be powered by two AAA batteries that will be included in the box along with the HDMI cable and a power adapter.
At the moment, we do not know if there will be an official announcement for this new Mi Box S or if it will silently replace the old model. Once we have more details, we will let you know.
Just like this month, April may also be packed full of new product launches and announcements. Amongst those who will be announcing new products next month is TCL Mobile.
A tweet by Brad Molen, the communications manager for TCL Mobile, reveals that the Chinese manufacturer will have a global event on April 14 where it will unveil the “next generation of TCL Mobile”. The event will be live-streamed on YouTube and it will begin at 11:00 EST/16:00 GT/17:00 CEST.
While the tweet doesn’t say which products will be launching, we expect some of them will include the rest of the TCL 20 series. Back in January, TCL had announced the TCL 20 series but of the five phones in the series, only the TCL 20 5G and TCL 20 SE were launched and available for purchase. The other three which are the TCL 20 Pro 5G, the TCL 20L, and the TCL 20S were scheduled for a later release this year.
We also expect the manufacturer to announce non-mobile products at the event.
Google has a new document scanner app that automatically categorizes your scanned documents. Stack, as it is called, also has a security feature that allows you to lock your documents which can then be accessed with your fingerprint or via face unlock.
Stack is the new product out of Google’s Area 120, its workshop for experimental products that are designed to solve everyday problems. Some of Area 120’s products include Google News, the Cardboard VR headset, and Grasshopper, an app that teaches you how to code using quizzes.
The new app borrows the technology that powers Google’s DocAI enterprise tool which is used for document analysis. The Verge reports that Stack was built by Christopher Pedregal and Matthew Cowan who built the Socratic educational app now owned by Google.
By using Google’s biometric authentication built into Android, Slack can allow uses lock documents that can then be accessed using a registered fingerprint or face. The AI features will automatically sort scanned files and documents into different categories. It can also identify key information on a scanned document such as a due date for a bill, amount to be paid, or an account number. Users can also search through scanned documents to find information they need.
Becuase Slack is an experimental app, there is a possibility that Google may kill it if it doesn’t catch on. They may also integrate it into an existing app or service. However, this looks like an app that several users will find useful.
At the moment, Stack seems to be only available to those in the US via the Play Store. However, if you can grab the APK from a trusted source, you can sideload it to see if it works.
In a massive launch event held yesterday, Xiaomi launched a plethora of new products. Xiaomi unveiled products in various categories ranging from smartphones to fitness trackers. The brand launched 3 new smartphones under the Mi 11 moniker, namely Mi 11 Ultra, Mi 11 Lite, and the Mi 11 Pro. Along with these smartphones, the brand launched the newest addition to the Mi Band family, the Mi Band 6. The smart wearable was launched in China as well as the global markets. The Mi Band 6 on sale at Giztop for 49.99 USD.
Giztop is selling the Mi Band 6 non-NFC version for USD 49.99, while the NFC variant will set you back by another 10 USD. The variant available for purchase is the Chinese version. Interested buyers can purchase from Giztop at an exciting price.
Mi Band 6 Specifications
Just like its predecessor, the Mi Band 6 also sports an AMOLED display, albeit, bigger at 1.39″. The huge 1.39″ display features a resolution of 152×486 pixels. This amounts to a pixel density of around 326 PPI. The smart wearable’s display can reach up to 450 nits of brightness. On the software front, Mi Band 6 supports 130+ watch faces out of the box to meet user’s customization needs. However, as of now, the global version will support around 60+ watch faces. Xiaomi has partnered with SpongeBob to bring various animated watch faces and bands to go with Mi Band 6.
The smart band comes with support for up to 30 various exercising modes ranging from outdoor cycling, indoor cycling, running, and elliptical training, among others. It comes with Sp02 and PPG Heart rate monitoring which is quite useful in current times. Apart from these features, the band also provides in-depth sleep tracking, health tracking for females, and the popular PAI assistant.
All this is powered by a 125 LiPo battery, which provides a claimed battery life of up to 14 days. However, features such as active heart rate monitoring might hamper the claimed battery life. The band also comes with a 5 ATM water resistance rating. Therefore, if this latest wearable catches your fancy, you can buy the Mi Band 6 from Giztop.
Xiaomi didn’t just launch the much-anticipated MIX Fold smartphone today, the company also updated its smart home product lineup with the unveiling of a new humidifier dubbed MIJIA Pure Smart Humidifier Pro. This is in addition to the MIJIA Fresh Air Air Conditioner, MIJIA Robot Vacuum Cleaner Pro. The humidifier adopts an affordable price tag of 799 yuan (~$121).
MIJIA Pure Smart Humidifier Pro
The MIJIA Pure Smart Humidifier Pro packs a built-in 5L water tank and is capable of humidification at the rate of 600mL/h. Thus, it can increase the humidity of a bedroom in just 10 minutes. The humidifier adopts a cone shape design with an OLED display at the top which allows the user to check the room temperature and the water volume inside the tank.
At present, the cheaper humidifiers on the market use ultrasonic humidification. If tap water is added, the calcium and magnesium elements in the water will be sprayed into the air, causing the PM2.5 level in the air to increase. Thus, you can only use pure water on those models. However, the MIJIA Pure Smart Humidifier Pro simulates natural water evaporation.
In addition, it comes with three advanced antibacterial technology which includes;
It uses Ultraviolet light to sterilizes bacteria in the water and humidifies healthier.
The suspended silver ion antibacterial filter element can efficiently filter dust and adsorb impurities.
The air-drying technology of the filter element reduces the problem of mold and bacteria breeding on the filter element.
Thanks to these features, the sterilization and antibacterial rates of the device are said to be as high as 99%.
The MIJIA Pure Smart Humidifier Pro will be launched for crowdfunding at 0:00 on April 2. After the crowdfunding exercise, the retail price will return to 899 yuan (~$136).
Xiaomi unveiled the Mi 11 Ultra as a pro-grade camera smartphone featuring the biggest camera sensor in a smartphone yet. As you’d know, the device has been launched in China on 29th March. And now, it’s been listed on GizTop for pre-orders with a starting price tag of $1,099.
As per the GizTop listing, the pre-ordered units will be shipped starting from 10th April. It’s available in Ceramic Black, Ceramic White and Marbled Ceramic Special Edition colour options. The base variant boards 256GB of primary storage coupled with 8GB RAM. While the higher-end boasts 12GB RAM and 512GB of primary storage. You have the option for a 12GB and 256GB storage variant as well.
If you’re closely following the Mi 11 Series launch, then you ought to know that the Mi 11 Ultra is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 Mobile Platform, paired with Adreno 660 GPU. The device has a 5,000mAh battery with 67W wired as well as wireless fast charging support, along with 10W reverse wireless charging. There is an official IP68 rating making it less susceptible to get damaged due to the ingress of dust, water or other fine particles.
Being the Mi flagship for the year 2021, the phone has a speciality of featuring a whopping 1/1.12-inch sensor, which beats Nokia PureView 808’s record of the biggest sensor with a 1/1.2-inch size. Going in-detail of the triple rear camera setup housed in a rectangular module that also includes a small, multi-functional secondary display. A 50MP wide sensor with f/1.95 aperture measuring 1/1.12-inch is accompanied by a 48MP ultrawide sensor with f/2.4 aperture (128-degree field of view) and a 48MP telephoto sensor f/2.4 (5x optical zoom;120x digital zoom). On paper, the Mi 11 Ultra is a beast to reckon with in.
It’s pertinent to mention here that the Mi 11 Ultra listed on GizTop is a Chinese edition, however comes with full Google Mobile Service(GMS) support and Google Play store installed. Needless to say, it also supports OS update through OTA (Over-the-Air).
AliExpress 11th Anniversary Sale kickstarted on 29th March and the campaign is supposed to run till 2nd April. The sale is offering the consumers lucrative offers and discounts on various products. Blackview is a part of the sale – offering up to 70% off on its top-selling products. Here we’ll list two Blackview mobiles on sale with massive discounts worth your attention.
For a full list of products on sale, you may visit the AliExpress Anniversary Sale landing page.
Blackview BL6000 Pro 5G
Original Price: $599.99
Sale Price: $369.99, $230 off
The Blackview BL6000 Pro 5G is a rugged smartphone with 5G capability. It’s now up for sale with a huge discount of $230 at AliExpress as a part of the Aniversary sale. In effect, you can take home this rugged phone at just $369.99.
For the unversed, the BL6000 Pro 5G is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 800 chip, with 8GB RAM and 256GB ROM. The phone features a Sony® IMX582 triple rear camera, coupled with superior processing software and rich features including but not limited to PortraitColor, HDR, Night Mode, Underwater, Ultra-Wide, 4K 30fps and HD shot.
Original Price: $199.99
Sale Price: $139.99, $60 off
Needless to say, the Blackview BV6600 is a powerhouse with its humongous 8580 mAh battery providing 792-hours of standby once fully charged. Just like the BL66000, it’s a rugged phone launched by Blackview a month or so ago.
During the Anniversary Sale, you can grab the device for $139.99, which is $60 short of the actual price of $199.99. If not enough, you can snatch an additional $5 discount using the coupon code: BV6600CODE. So don’t forget to apply at the checkout.
Furthermore, the Blackview BV6600 adopts dual electric cores technology to greatly enhance charging stability and user safety provided it houses a mammoth 8580mAh battery. Insane capacity indeed.
Last week, few reports said that HP will launch a new line of affordable Chromebooks in India. Today, a new Flipkart teaser has gone live and the page suggests that it could be the HP Chromebook 11a.
The teaser page shows a Chromebook that is launching on April 8 in Blue color. It has a 3.5mm audio/mic jack, Type-C port, and a microSD card reader on the right. Since it’s a Chromebook, the page also highlights all the goodies like in-built Google Play Store, G Suite applications, and more.
As mentioned above, an India Today Tech’s earlier report said that HP will soon launch a Chromebook in India under ₹25,000 segment. And it speculated that it could be the Chromebook 11a from 2020. Accordingly, the teaser page shows the first look and it matches with the model mentioned above.
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HP chromebook 11a (USA)
In that case, the HP Chromebook model that’s launching in India will feature an 11.6-inch HD+ display with a resolution of 1366×768 resolution just like the USA model. The display could have a maximum brightness of 220 nits, and cover 50% of the NTSC color gamut.
Under the hood, it is likely to feature a MediaTek 8183 processor clocked at 2.0GHz base frequency with a 2MB L2 cache.
Other expected features of the Chromebook include a 4GB LPDDR4-3733 MHz RAM, eMMC storage of up to 32GB, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 4.2, 37WHr battery with 45W power adapter, stereo speakers, a 720P HP True Vision web camera, and run Chrome OS.
Anyway, Let’s wait for the official pricing on April 8. What do you think about this Chromebook? Does it make any sense in markets like India especially at the rumored price point? Do let us know in the comments below.
AliExpress Anniversary Sale 2021 is now live. One of the biggest online sales of 2021, here you can find smartphones and other gadgets at never-before-seen prices. The 11th Anniversary Sale starts on 29 March 2021 and ends on 2 April 2021. To help our readers navigate through the thousands of available products and choose the best and most interesting deals we have curated and created a list of the best products in different categories.
So check out the list below to get the best products at a discounted price.
MIJIA Robot Vacuum cleaner is one of Xiaomi‘s top-selling smart home products both in China and overseas. The product has attracted rave reviews such that the original manufacturer Roborock was able to launch its own brand that is also performing well. During the Mi Mix Fold launch conference earlier today, Xiaomi also launched the MIJIA Robot Vacuum Cleaner Pro. The product carries a price tag of 2,999 yuan (~$456).
The MIJIA Robot Vacuum Cleaner Pro is the brand’s strongest robot vacuum cleaner yet and to attain that rating, it features several top-of-the-line hardware and software.
The vacuum cleaner is equipped with multi-dimensional binocular recognition and obstacle avoidance. It also comes with an LDS laser navigation system and a 2-in-1 dust box that handles the sweeping and mopping functions.
The robot vacuum is capable of AI autonomous learning which makes it become smarter as it is used more frequently. The binocular multi-dimensional recognition system can automatically avoid cables, slippers, table legs, and carpets. You also get support for AI scene recognition. The vacuum cleaner will also formulate different water output and sweeping schemes based on the different floor types in order to ensure it is cleaned efficiently.
The MIJIA Robot Vacuum Cleaner Pro uses the industry’s first AIoT flagship dual processor, making it faster to build a whole house map and intelligently plan routes.
Although the previous MIJIA Robot Vacuums can map different rooms, they cannot determine which room is which. As such, the user will need to specify the name of the room from the app. The new Pro version is capable of directly and intelligently identifying rooms. For instance, if it recognizes the bed, it will then automatically determine that it is a bedroom.
In terms of performance, the Pro model is equipped with a motor capable of 4000Pa output which can pick up both large and small particles. It also crams a mammoth 5200mAh battery under the hood which can adequately clean up a large apartment of up to 250 square meters.
The robot vacuum will be on pre-sale in China from today at a reduced price of 2699 yuan (~$410).
Xiaomi continued its product launch event today with the launch of a number of new products with the major highlight being the Mi MIX Fold. The company also unveiled some smart home products, one of which is the MIJIA Fresh Air Air Conditioner Pro.
The MIJIA Fresh Air Air Conditioner Premium Edition is a three-effect air conditioner that incorporates the functions of air conditioning, fresh air fan, and air purification functions. There is a miniature health screen on the right side of the air conditioner which among other things displays the concentration of carbon dioxide in the room in real-time. The screen also shows the working temperature.
Compared with traditional air conditioners, the MIJIA Air Conditioner Premium Edition has more functions. As an air conditioner, it has a 1.5-hp first-class energy efficiency, which can reduce electricity consumption.
When it is used as a fresh air fan, the MIJIA Air Conditioner Premium Edition uses a dual-hybrid turbine system with an air volume of up to 60m3/h.
Finally, as an air purifier, the device is capable of achieving 99.9% sterilization of the air in the entire house using UV-C deep ultraviolet sterilization.
In terms of the pricing, the exclusive version of the MIJIA Fresh Air Conditioner is priced at 3599 yuan and there are four exclusive installation services including 2 hours of timely response. It will go on sale for the first time on April 2.
As expected, Xiaomi has launched the Mi Notebook Pro 14 2021 and the Mi Notebook Pro 15 2021 on the second day of the Xiaomi Mega Launch event. These two are the most premium laptops (in terms of features) from the company to date. For some reason, the global arm of Xiaomi is calling them Mi Laptop Pro 14 and Mi Laptop 15 Pro respectively. Anyway, let us take a look at their specs, features, price, and availability.
Xiaomi Mi Notebook/Laptop Pro 14/15 2021 Specifications and Features
The newly launched Xiaomi high-end laptops feature a metal unibody design made of 600 series aviation-grade aluminum alloy. They look identical to Apple MacBook Pro and come in two colors (Moonstone Grey, Crescent Silver). The 14-inch version is slim at 15.6mm while the 15-inch version is slightly thicker at 15.9mm.
The 15-inch model flaunts a 15.6-inch 3.5K (3456 x 2160 pixels) resolution OLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection. This panel has a 1,000,000: 1 contrast ratio, 600 nits peak brightness level, ΔE≈1 color accuracy, 16:10 aspect ratio, and 93% screen-to-body ratio.
Further, this screen can produce 10.7 billion colors, cover 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, and supports DC Dimming. Lastly, it also has TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light Certification and SGS Eye Care Display Certifications.
On the other hand, the 14-inch variant sports a 14-inch 2.5K (2560 x 1600 pixels) resolution LCD panel but with up to 120Hz refresh rate. This display has a 16:10 aspect ratio, ΔE≈1.5 color accuracy, and TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light Certification.
Under the hood, both of them feature 11th Gen Intel Core processors coupled with 16GB DDR4 RAM and 512GB PCIe SSD. The i5 variant comes with and without NVIDIA GeForce MX450 GPU but the i7 version has this discrete GPU as standard.
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Other features of these laptops include a backlit keyboard, large touchpad, fingerprint sensor, WiFi 6, 3 x USB Type-C (one of them is Thunderbolt), 3.5mm headphone jack, Microsoft Windows 10 operating system, MIUI+, XiaoAi voice assistant, HD webcam, 56Whr (14-inch)/66WHr (15-inch) battery, and 100W fast charging.
Xiaomi Mi Notebook/Laptop Pro 14/15 2021 Price and Availability
The new thin and light premium Xiaomi laptops will retail for the following price tags in China.
Xiaomi Mi Notebook/Laptop Pro 14 2021
i5-11300H, 16GB + 512GB – ¥5,299 ($806)
i5-11300H, 16GB + 512GB, MX450 – ¥5,999 ($913)
i7-11370H, 16GB + 512GB, MX450 – ¥6,999 ($1,065)
Xiaomi Mi Notebook/Laptop Pro 15 2021
i5-11300H, 16GB + 512GB – ¥6,499 ($989)
i5-11300H, 16GB + 512GB, MX450 – ¥6,999 ($1,065)
i7-11370H, 16GB + 512GB, MX450 – ¥7,999 ($1,217)
The 14-inch variant will available for pre-order starting April 26 and will go on sale from May 1. Whereas, the 15-inch version will hit the shelves earlier on April 2 since the company has begun to take pre-orders for it from today itself.
Alongside the new ZTE S30 series featuring the S30, S30 SE, and the S30 Pro, ZTE also announced a new smartwatch for the Chinese market called the ZTE Watch GT.
This is the company’s new round watch featuring a round 1.19-inch AMOLED 2.5D curved display. The body is made out of ultra-light aluminum alloy, weighing only 30 grams which ZTE claims provide a comfortable and light wearing experience.
The ZTE Watch GT supports up to 16 sports modes including outdoor running, indoor running, outdoor walking, outdoor cycling, spinning, hiking, swimming, yoga, strength training, basketball, football, etc. So most of your workout/sports scenarios are covered by the watch.
Apart from the usual array of features such as tracking your calories, speed, steps, and sleep monitoring, the ZTE Watch GT also comes with a multi-mode GPS positioning system. Thanks to GPS support, ZTE has added a special heatmap feature in the football mode of its new watch wherein the watch will track your playing positions and reveal a heatmap of the areas where you’ve been busy in the stadium. This can be a really good feature to understand your gameplay and improve it over time. The watch supports 24-hour heart rate monitoring along with abnormal heart rate alerts. It also comes with a Blood Oxygen monitoring sensor.
The ZTE Watch GT is 5ATM waterproof certified, so you can even wear it while swimming. The watch can also show notifications like incoming calls, SMS, WeChat in real-time. Other standard features like remote photo capture, music controls and raise wrist to wake screen are all present on the new watch.
zte watch gt watchfaces
ZTE claims up to 15 days of battery life under normal usage and up to 23 days in the ultra-long battery life mode.
The ZTE Watch GT retails at 599 yuan (~$91), however, the company is offering a discount of 50 yuan until March 31 in China.
Just like last year, Apple has confirmed that the Annual WorldWide Developer Conference will be held as an online-only event. The event will begin on June 7, 2021, and is sure to include a lot of announcements including new iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and more.
WWDC 2021, Credit: Apple
In a press release, Apple says that it is committing $1 million to SJ Aspires, an education and equity initiative launched by the City of San José. This is to compensate for the virtual event and in turn, support the local economy. This commitment is also a part of its $100 million Racial Equity and Justice Initiative.
Talking about the event itself, the WWDC 2021 will take place as an all-online event from June 7 to June 11. As always, the focus will be on developers and it is likely that Apple may release Developer Betas of the new OS. Speaking of which, we can expect the next iteration of the Apple operating systems at the keynote speech of the event.
That is, the iOS 15(iPhone), iPadOS 15(for iPads), watchOS 8(Apple Watch), macOS 12(MacBooks, Mac mini/Pro/iMac), and tvOS 15(Apple TV) are likely to debut at the event. Although the event is focused heavily on software, don’t exclude a few surprise hardware announcements just yet.
If you recall, back in 2019, Apple surprised everyone with the Mac Pro at the WWDC event, and in previous years like 2017, it has brought HomePod, iMac, and iPad products as well.
Coming back, apart from the new OS, the event is also said to include Swift Student Challenge, online sessions, 1:1 labs for technical guidance, and more. Also, the admissions for all the developers are said to free of cost so you don’t have to shell out big bucks for the entry.
Xiaomi announced the Mi MIX Fold on Day 2 of its Mega Launch. The new Mi MIX device is its first foldable, but that is not the only “first” title it has. It is also the first foldable powered by the Snapdragon 888 processor, the first phone with a liquid lens camera, and the first Xiaomi phone with an in-house image processing chip.
Mi MIX Fold Design
The Mi MIX Fold has an inward folding design like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 and the Huawei Mate X2. It is covered in Gorilla Glass 5 but has a special ceramic edition with a textured back. This special edition also has a gold middle frame and volume buttons and a special laser engraving on the back.
Xiaomi has settled for a 4:3 aspect ratio for the inner display while the outer display has a 27:9 aspect ratio, thus giving the device in its folded state an elongated form factor akin to some Sony phones. This cover display also has a punch hole at the top left corner of the screen for a camera for video calls and selfies.
For the rear design, Xiaomi has modified the design of the Mi 10 Ultra. Rather than an elongated camera housing, it is much shorter but wider and protrudes but not as much as the Mi 11 Ultra.
Mi MIX Fold Specifications
The main foldable display of the MIX Fold is an 8.01-inch WQHD+ OLED panel with a 4:3 aspect ratio. That extra 0.1 inch earns it the title of the foldable with the largest main display as it is just a tiny bit larger than the Huawei Mate X2’s 8-inch display. Xiaomi’s foldable is also the first with a Dolby Vision display.
There are no holes or notches on the main screen neither does it have a high refresh rate like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 and the Huawei Mate X2. The 1 billion color display has a DCI-P3 color gamut, a 4,300,000:1 color contrast ratio, and a JNCD value and Delta E value of 0.29 and 0.35 respectively
The cover display is a 6.52-inch AMOLED (2520 x 840) HD+ screen with a 90Hz refresh rate and a 180Hz touch sampling rate. It has a 27:9 aspect ratio, a maximum brightness of 900 nits, and HDR10+. Xiaomi says both displays use an in-house algorithm to generate images and videos in super-resolution. They are capable of doubling the resolution of images from 720p to 1440p and the resolution of videos from 480p to 1440p.
Along with the Snapdragon 888 processor, you get up to 16GB of LPPDR5 RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage. There is no support for storage expansion, so what you buy is what you are stuck with. There is a butterfly-type cooling system that uses a combination of large-area VC liquid cooling, thermal gel, and multiple layers of graphite sheets for heat dissipation
Just like the Mi 11 series (excluding the Mi 11 Lite), the Mi MIX Fold has Harman Kardon tuned speakers. There are quad speakers – two on each side of the screen and they are said to be 40% louder than the Mi 10 Pro thanks to a 15V Smart PA. The speakers can also create a 3D spatial audio experience using Xiaomi’s own quad-speaker array algorithm.
The Mi MIX Fold has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner that doubles as the power button, NFC, Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 with support for AAC, LDAC, and LHDC.
The Mi MIX Fold packs a 5020mAh battery (dual battery design – 2460mAh + 2560mAh), the largest in a foldable phone, and also supports 67W fast wired charging, the fastest on a foldable phone. Xiaomi says users will be able to charge the phone from empty to full in just 37 minutes. It also supports Quick Charge 4+ and Power Delivery 3.0 but doesn’t support wireless charging.
Xiaomi ships the Mi MIX Fold with MIUI 12 based on Android 10 (that is what the spec sheet says) and it has features that make using it a breeze. You can run multiple apps at the same time side-by-side, drag and drop content from one screen to another, use a parallel windows mode, and also switch to a desktop mode.
Mi MIX Fold Cameras and Surge C1 Image Sensing Processor
The Mi MIX Fold has three rear cameras. The main camera is a 108MP HM2 sensor with a 7P lens. It is paired with an 8MP camera with a liquid lens that allows it to double as a telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and up to 30x telephoto zoom and also as a macro camera with a focus distance of 3CM. The third camera is a 13MP f/2.4 123° ultrawide angle camera. The cover display is home to a 20MP front-facing camera.
The Surge C1 Image Sensing Processor provides an improved 3A algorithm and low-light focus capabilities that result in more accurate autofocus, autoexposure, and auto white balance. Xiaomi says the chip provides exceptionally high performance while using low CPU and storage space.
Mi MIX Fold Price
The Mi MIX Fold is available in three variants. The 12GB RAM + 256GB version is priced at ¥9999 (~$1521) and a 12GB RAM + 512GB version that has a ¥10999 (~$1673) price tag. The Ceramic Special Edition which has 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage is ¥12,999 (~$1976).
Both versions will be available for pre-order starting today and will go on sale on April 16 in China. There is no news of an international release.
AliExpress Anniversary Sale 2021 is now live. One of the biggest online sales of 2021, here you can find smartphones and other gadgets at never-before-seen prices. The 11th Anniversary Sale starts on 29 March 2021 and ends on 2 April 2021. To help our readers navigate through the thousands of available products and choose the best and most interesting deals we have curated and created a list of the best products in different categories.
So check out the list below to get the best products at a discounted price.
OPPO teased the arrival of the OPPO F19 in India soon after it announced the OPPO F19 Prov and F19 Pro+ 5G smartphones in the country. Since then, the company has been silent on its arrival. Yesterday, the Sri Lanka division released teased the arrival of the F19 handset. It appears that the smartphone may go official early in the coming month.
In the below-shown tweet, OPPO revealed that the OPPO F19 will be available soon. The image reveals that the back panel of the phone curves towards the left and right edges. The triple-camera module placed at the upper-left corner features a 48-megapixel main camera.
OPPO is yet to reveal the front design and the specifications of the OPPO F19. Hopefully, new details of the smartphone will be revealed later this week. In the previous, reliable tipster Ishan Agarwal claimed that the F19 will be the sleekest phone with a 5,000mAh battery. He added that the phone will be priced under Rs 20,000 (~$272).
As the moniker suggests, it will be a less powerful phone compared to the F19 Pro, which offers users a 6.43-inch AMOLED display with a Full HD+ resolution and a regular refresh rate of 60Hz. It has a front camera of 16-megapixel and its rear camera system has a 48-megapixel main snapper, an 8-megapixel superwide sensor, a 2-megapixel macro camera, and a 2-megapixel depth helper.
The Helio P95 chips fuels the F19 Pro with 8 GB of LPDDR4x RAM. It offers users other specs like a 128 GB UFS 2.1 storage, a microSD card slot, ColorOS 11 based Android 11 OS, a 4,310mAh battery with 30W fast charging, and an in-display fingerprint reader.
At the Xiaomi Mega launch event today, the company unveiled a new Liquid lens technology on its first foldable, the Mi MIX FOLD. Alongside the product, the company also announced its first self-developed image signal processing (ISP) chip, the Surge C1.
Xiaomi Surge C1 chip
Xiaomi says that the Surge C1 processor is separated from the SoC and independently soldered onto the motherboard. This makes it an independent mobile phone imaging chip from Xiaomi with its own algorithm. Talking about the evolution, the company said that this chip is a result of an investment of about RMB 140 million.
Specifically, the company has worked for two years and invested the money in the R&D department to obtain a chip that uses less processing & memory but yields better imaging results. Speaking of which, the ISP chip uses the combination of the 3A algorithm as shown below:
AF– Auto Focus
AWB– Accurate White Balance
AE– Automatic Exposure
Here, the Auto Focus is for faster focusing of subjects and circumventing the focussing issues on darker scenarios especially when the object in focus is smaller. Next, the Accurate White Balance is useful for correcting the white balance in a frame when you have complex lighting around you.
An illustration of Surge C1 independent from the SoC
Finally, the Automatic Exposure is for hitting the correct exposure levels and improving the dynamic range in the process.
Xiaomi says that the Surge C1 has a dual-filter configuration which helps it process both the low and high-frequency signals parallelly. This, when combined with the effective use of the 3A algorithms, is aimed to get 100% signal efficiency.
Xiaomi’s in-house chip development began way back in 2014 and it debuted the first Surge S1 chip back in 2017. However, not much was heard regarding the Surge and Lei Jun today confirms that despite setbacks, the development of the Surge chips will continue in the future.
Anyway, as mentioned above, the Surge C1 chip will be first deployed on the company’s first foldable phone, Mi MiX FOLD for aiding the lenses to improve the overall image quality.
We can also expect this chip to trickle down to other Xiaomi devices in the future but we will have to wait for the official word.
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