OnePlus Watch Pricing for Europe leaked

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Mar 22, 2021

Samsung Display‘s shipment of OLED (organic light emitting diode) panels has fallen by 9 percent in January 2021, over the previous month, reaching 45 million units in sales as per a new report.

The primary reason for the decline in sales is apparently due to the lackluster sales of the iPhone 12 mini from Apple, as per TheElec report. Last year, the Cupertino based giant launched four models in its iPhone 12 series. While the lineup overall saw great success across the globe with higher than expected sales thanks to its 5G support, the lowest end entry model saw lackluster demand. The sales of the 5.4 inch iPhone 12 mini was lower than what the company had anticipated.

Notably, the South Korean display maker is the sole supplier for the OLEDs on the Mini variant of the iPhone 12. The first quarter of a year is usually known to be an off season for smartphone sales, although, Samsung Display’s OLED display supply to Chinese companies remained strong in the same month. These ‘rigid’ OLED panels use glass substrates and are relatively cheaper than flexible OLED panels that use plastic (polyimide), which are found in flagship handsets like the iPhone and Galaxy S21 lineup.

The global shipments of OLED panels reached 53 million units, marking a decline of 9 percent. Out of this figure, Samsung Display accounted for 45 million units or about 85 percent of the total. On the other hand, LG Display shipped 6 million units in January 2021. In terms of rankings, Samsung Display arrived first, followed by BOE and Tianma as second and third respectively.

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Xiaomi Mi Notebook Pro teased again, features a high resolution display

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Mar 22, 2021

Earlier today (22nd March 2021), Xiaomi officially teased its new and upcoming Mi Notebook Pro. In the latest teaser, the company teased that the laptop will feature a high resolution display. Although, the high resolution is only one of its high end specifications.

Earlier this month, the Chinese tech giant shared the first teaser, in which it shared three images. These images offered a first glimpse of the new Mi Notebook Pro 2021’s design along with its retail box. Now, the consumer electronics maker shared a new teaser, which reveals that the laptop will sport a high resolution screen. As per a previous social media post from a company executive, the new Mi Notebook Pro will be a high end device.

According to ITHome report, the laptop was apparently spotted on Geekbench, with a model of TIMI TM2021. This notebook featured an Intel Core i7-11370H processor and the yet to be released NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics card. This device is expected to be the Mi Notebook Pro 2021. Although, this is still an unconfirmed benchmark listing, so take it with a pinch of salt for now.

Unfortunately, finer details regarding the laptop is still unknown. Furthermore, if the notebook does feature the RTX 3050 Ti, it would likely be released after NVIDIA officially announces the GPU. So, stay tuned for more, as we will be providing updates when additional information is available.

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Honor flagship smartphone powered by SD888 to launch in July; foldable smartphone also coming

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Mar 22, 2021

After splitting up from Huawei Technologies a few months ago to run independently, Honor has made it a mission to surpass its former parent company and become one of the leading smartphone makers globally.

Recently, Honor’s Chief Executive Officer Zhao Ming revealed that the company will launch flagship smartphones this year and with that, it aims to surpass the Huawei Mate-series and P-series of flagship devices.

Now, a roadmap of the Honor devices for the current year has been leaked online which reveals when the mid-range and high-end devices from the brand will go official. It reveals that the flagship smartphone powered by Snapdragon 888 SoC will launch in July this year.

This is in line with the previous leak related to the premium high-end device from the brand. Further, it is revealed that the company will also launch its foldable smartphone around the same time.

Honor has been actively trying to build relations with other companies to strengthen its supply chain and production lines. It is reportedly working with AMD, Intel, Micron, Samsung, Qualcomm, Microsoft, and MediaTek for its upcoming devices.

Given that the company has separated from Huawei, it can now easily source required components from vendors which were earlier not possible under Huawei because of the sanctions imposed by the United States due to the on-going US-China trade war.

Honor is also in talks with Google to get GMS support. The company is also expanding its footprints, starting with its own Honor Mall online store and new offline stores. It will be interesting to see how Honor’s new devices perform in the market.

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Huawei and ZTE could qualify for India’s trusted 5G gear vendors list: Report

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Mar 22, 2021

Huawei and ZTE, two major Chinese telecommunications equipment maker, might just qualify for the Indian government’s “trusted” 5G gear vendors list. Both companies could meet the eligibility criteria for the list, which is being made by the government.

According to an EconomicTimes report, the India may qualify the two Chinese tech giant’s for the trusted list, as per a government official close to the matter. The official stated that the Department of Telecommunications is preparing to launch an online portal in June 2021. This portal will reveal the final list of approved manufacturers from which telecom operators can source their networking equipment from. The portal would also track the approval process as well.

As per the official, “Currently, most service providers buy equipment on an L1 (lowest-bidder) basis. We do not have any form of embargo or condition to procure such gear. We are worried about the procurement of active programmable components such as chips for which we are tightening the rules.” Firms like Nokia, Samsung, and Ericsson, as well as chip makers like Intel and Qualcomm, will also be scrutinized to be included in the “trusted” list along with the Chinese telecom equipment maker.

Notably, military clashes in the Indo-China border regions have led to growing anti-Chinese sentiments in India. This also caused the government to take various steps against China based companies to operate in India. It was basically implied that Chinese companies could no longer invest in the region and would require approval from Indian authorities. For those unaware, India is planning on rolling out 5G by late 2021 or early 2022. Thus, the government has been tightening rules for telecos to procure their 5G gear.

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HONOR Band 6 global launch teased officially

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Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Mar 22, 2021

Back in November, HONOR launched the HONOR Band 6 as the world’s first full-screen fitness tracker in China. Two months later in January, the brand showcased this product at CES 2021. At the event, the company confirmed that this smart band will be available in select markets priced at around $35. Now, a couple of months later, HONOR finally teases the global launch of HONOR Band 6.

The official Twitter handle of HONOR Global tweeted an image of the HONOR Band 6 with the text ‘Something BIG Is Coming’. This post by the brand clearly indicates the imminent global launch of its new fitness tracker.

As far as specs are concerned, the HONOR Band 6 sports a 1.47-inch rectangular AMOLED display with a resolution of 194 x 368 pixels and 2.5D glass. The fitness tracker comes in three colors (Meteorite Black, Seagull Grey, Coral Powder) with a subtle HONOR branding on the left side and a red-accented power key on the right.

The wearable connects with devices via Bluetooth 5.0 but unfortunately, it does not feature GPS. However, it includes all the necessary sensors, such as an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an optical heart rate sensor for heart rate monitoring, and a SpO2 sensor for blood oxygen level monitoring.

Further, it supports 10 sports modes, sleep monitoring, menstrual cycle monitoring, 5ATM water resistance, up to 14-day battery life, and magnetic charging.

Last but not least, the HONOR Band 6 measures 43 × 25.4 × 11.45mm in dimensions and weighs about 18g (without strap).

LG might shut down its Mobile Phone operations: Report

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Mar 22, 2021

LG Electronics might be closing its mobile communications business instead of selling it. The news from a source close to the matter. Reportedly, the negotiations regarding the sale of the smartphone unit has failed.

According to a report from DongA Ilbo (Via Bloomberg), the South Korean tech giant’s plans on selling its mobile phone business has failed, with negotiations with Germany’s Volkswagen AG and Vietnam’s Vingroup JSC now being off the table. Earlier this year, the consumer electronics manufacturer’s CEO had stated that the company is considering all options for its loss making business. Since then, it has been reported that LG Electronics has been seeking the sale of the smartphone unit.

Previously, the company had apparently halted the development of its upcoming smartphone with a rollable display, back in February. Now, it is also being reported that the brand will also be shelving its plans to launch any new smartphones within the the first half of this year. In other words, it is effectively stopping any new devices from rolling out at the moment. Furthermore, the company may share its decision to the public and to its employees as soon as early April.

Notably, a recent Bluetooth SIG certification has given hope of the rollable smartphone’s launch, while a company spokesperson had also stated that the handset’s development has not been suspended. Unfortunately, this is still an unconfirmed report, so take it with a pinch of salt and stay tuned for more, as we will be providing updates when additional information is available regarding this matter.

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Xiaomi announces 2021 New Product Launch Event on March 29

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Mar 22, 2021

Xiaomi, one of the leading consumer electronics brands from China, has today officially announced that the company will be hosting its Spring New Product Launch Event in its home country on 29th March.

And not just China, the company has also announced the ‘2021 New Product Launch’ event globally, which is set on the same day — 29th March. The online (virtual) event will begin at 19:30 (GMT +8 timezone).

While the company has not confirmed which products are getting launched at the event, we expect to know more about it in the coming days, as Xiaomi keeps sharing new posters and teasers to keep the buzz going.

Rumors indicate that Xioami could be launching some high-end devices, including new variants of the Mi 11 lineup — the Mi 11 Pro and the Mi 11 Lite. There’s also a possibility that the company could announce the highly anticipated foldable smartphone under the brand’s Mi MIX lineup.

Additionally, a new flagship Mi Notebook Pro is also set to get launched at the same event, as the company has already teased, along with several other products. To know for sure what exactly the company has up its sleeves, we will have to wait for a few more days.

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OnePlus 7/7T series receive OxygenOS 11 Open Beta 4, OnePlus 7 finally gets AOD

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Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Mar 22, 2021

At the end of February, OnePlus released OxygenOS 11 Open Beta 3 update for OnePlus 7, OnePlus 7 Pro, OnePlus 7T, and OnePlus 7T Pro. Almost a month later, the company is now rolling out OxygenOS 11 Open Beta 4 for these four smartphones.

Just like the previous Android 11 public beta builds, the latest one for the OnePlus 7 series and the OnePlus 7T series come with a common changelog. However, since the brand did not release Open Beta 3 for the OnePlus 7 at the last moment, the changelog for this phone is different from the other three.

Anyway, talking about common fixes first, all four handsets get fixes for silent issue in Bluetooth aptX Adaptive mode and abnormal display of battery icon in the status bar. Further, the OnePlus 7 Pro and the OnPlus 7T series also receive fixes and improvements for some known issues and system stability respectively.

As for the OnePlus 7, the new public beta for this device brings fixes for slow charging rate in some cases, Voice Wakeup is turned off after a system upgrade, lagging issue when playing screen-recorded videos, and issue with Double Tap to Wake gesture.

Lastly, this update for the OnePlus 7 finally comes with Always-on display (AOD) and improvements for WiFi connection stability.

OnePlus 7 Pro and OnePlus 7T/7T Pro OxygenOS 11 Open Beta 4 Official Changelog

System

- Fixed the issue that the battery icon in the status bar is abnormally displayed
- Fixed known issues and improved system stability

Bluetooth

- Fixed the issue where Bluetooth headsets are silent in aptX Adaptive mode

OnePlus 7 OxygenOS 11 Open Beta 4 Official Changelog

System

- Fixed the issue of slow charging rate in some cases
- Fixed the issue where Voice Wakeup is turned off after a system upgrade
- Fixed the lagging issue when playing screen-recorded videos
- Fixed the small probability failure issue with the Double Tap to Wake
- Fixed the issue that the battery icon in the status bar is abnormally displayed

Ambient Display

- Always-on ambient display is available now (Go to: Settings – Utilities – OnePlus Laboratory – Always-on ambient display)

Bluetooth

- Fixed the silent issue when the Bluetooth transport protocol is changed to aptX or aptX Adaptive

Network

- Improved the stability of the Wi-Fi connection and reduce Internet outages

The OxygenOS 11 Open Beta 4 update for the OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 7T sears is being currently pushed in batches via OTA to the units that are already running the previous beta build. However, users running stable build can also install it by downloading the appropriate file from the OnePlus Community.

OPPO’s ColorOS Beta is now available for the OnePlus 8 smartphone in China

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Mar 22, 2021

OnePlus has two operating systems for its smartphones — HydrogenOS in China and OxygenOS for the rest of the world. While OxygenOS is very much alive and kicking, the HydrogenOS seems to be getting shut down.

The company is gearing up to switch to OPPO’s ColorOS for the Chinese market but the global versions will continue to run OxygenOS. Gary C., OxygenOS Product Lead has confirmed this development on OnePlus Forums.

In a blog post, Gacy C. writes that “China market devices will now be using a customized version of ColorOS, tailored specifically for OnePlus smartphones, starting with the upcoming OnePlus 9 series.”

It has also been confirmed that by OnePlus CEO Pete Lau that HydrogenOS will continue to be maintained and updated for the past devices. For those who are interested to switch to the ColorOS, the company has now also released a flashable build for the OnePlus 8 users.

Although OnePlus has been operating independently, the company was founded by former OPPO employees Pete Lau and Carl Pei. It has been using OPPO’s production lines and supply chain resources and some of the devices from OnePlus closely resemble the design of some OPPO’s phones.

Over the past few years, both the company seems to be merging their operations. Recently, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau took on additional responsibility as Senior Vice President of OPLUS, which allegedly involves duties for OPPO and OnePlus. They have also even merged the hardware R&D teams for both companies under one brand.

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Black Shark 4 Pro gaming smartphone becomes top performer in DxOMark audio testing

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Mar 22, 2021

Black Shark is all set to launch the Black Shark 4 series smartphones in the market, going against the tradition of several Chinese brands to not launch a device with the ‘4’ number as it is unlucky in the Chinese culture.

The Black Shark 4 Pro gaming smartphone has now been tested by the folks at DxOMark for the audio experience and the device has managed to score an impressive 81 points.

It scored 83 points in playback and 71 points for recording. DxOMark claims that its team performed a variety of objective tests with more than 20 hours of perceptual evaluation under controlled lab conditions.

The smartphone comes with a fully symmetrical dual loudspeaker design at the top and the bottom for stereo playback, and specific tuning for music, movies, or games. Similar to its predecessors, there’s also a 3.5mm audio jack.

The playback results for the Black Shark 4 Pro are consistent across all use cases, from listening to music to watching movies and playing games. The phone delivers one of the most balanced frequency responses, claims DxOMark.

It offers an impressive low-end extension, impactful and sharp dynamics, an exceptionally wide sound stage, precise localizability, realistic distance rendering, consistent volume steps, and intelligible content even at soft volumes. The noticeable shortcoming includes a slight hiss on specific electronic signals and distortion at loud volumes.

As for the recording, the phone was good and consistent across all use cases. Microphones deliver good low-mids and bass, natural and realistic midrange, precise treble, good high-end extension, great wideness, precise localizability, and accurate distance rendering.

But the device falls behind when it comes to recording in loud environments because of spectral and temporal artifacts. Dynamics are impaired by elevated background noise, and selfie videos exhibit a very narrow sound field.

Overall, the Black Shark 4 Pro is the best audio performer of all the phones tested by DxOMark. The phone is outstanding in terms of playback, outperforming other top-scoring phones, thanks to highly consistent and impressive performance across all use cases.

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Xiaomi MI 11 Lite unboxing video and retailer listing appears

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Mar 22, 2021

The Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite is almost official now. A recent tweet by tipster Roland Quandt reveals that the handset is already up for purchase at an Italian retailer outlet. Moreover, an online retailer listing and an unboxing video of the Mi 11 Lite have surfaced to reveal its pricing and appearance in real skin.

Italian store already selling Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite. pic.twitter.com/wyl0LJLpEm

— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) March 22, 2021

Technosell has listed the 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage version of the Mi 11 Lite with a price tag of 320 euros (~$380). An unboxing video of the handset is now available on the YouTube channel of the same retailer site.

As it can be seen in the screengrabs of the hands-on video, the Mi 11 Lite has a punch-hole display, a side-facing fingerprint scanner, and a squarish triple camera island on the back. The plastic film on the display mentions key specs such as a 90Hz OLED DotDisplay, featherweight design, Snapdragon 732G, and 64-megapixel triple camera system.

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Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite specifications (Expected)

The Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite has a 6.55-inch AMOLED screen that offers a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels and a 90Hz refresh rate. The Snapdragon 732G is present under the hood of the device. It draws power from a 4,250mAh battery that supports 33W fast charging.

There is no information available about the front camera of the Mi 11 Lite. Its rear camera setup has a 64-megapixel primary lens, an 8-megapixel superwide lens, and a 5-megapixel telephoto macro camera. It runs on MIUI 12 based Android 11 OS. It offers other features such as a microSD card slot, NFC, Bluetooth 5.2, and dual SIM support. It lacks a microSD card slot. It is expected to arrive in variants like 6 GB RAM + 64 GB storage and 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage. It may sell in colors like black, blue, and pink.

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Vivo V21 SE may arrive soon with Dimensity 800U 5G in India

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Mar 22, 2021

It was reported back in November that Vivo’s upcoming V21 series includes three handsets such as Vivo V21, Vivo V21 SE, and Vivo V21 Pro. According to a reliable tipster Mukul Sharma, Vivo will announce the Vivo V21 series in India in the near future. He shared a screenshot of the V21 SE smartphone’s IMEI database listing in India.

The screengrab reveals that the Vivo V21 SE has a V2061 model number. The tipster speculated that the V21 SE could be a rebranded version of China’s iQOO U3 phone, which has a model number of V2061A. It is advisable to wait for further to see whether the V21 SE will end up as a rebadged iQOO U3.

So yes, Vivo V21 series isn't too far away from now. I can confirm that there will be a Vivo V21 SE.
The same device has already been registered on the Indian IMEI database.
Plus, the model number resonates with the iQOO U3, which has a Dimensity 800U SoC.#Vivo #VivoV21SE pic.twitter.com/74k19qy3qu

— Mukul Sharma (@stufflistings) March 20, 2021

There is no official word on the arrival of the Vivo V21 series. Probably, the first V21 series may break cover in April in India.

iQOO U3 specifications and features

Announced back in December 2020, the iQOO U3 has a 6.58-inch IPS LCD screen with a teardrop notch, Full HD+ resolution support, and a 20:9 aspect ratio. The Dimensity 800U chipset is present under the hood of the smartphone. It is equipped with 6 GB / 8 GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 128 GB of UFS 2.2 storage. It lacks support for a microSD card slot.

The iQOO U3 has a square-shaped camera module on its rear, which comprises of a 48-megapixel primary camera and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. For selfies, it is equipped with an 8-megapixel front camera.

The iQOO U3 draws power from a 5,000mAh battery that carries support for 18W rapid charging. The handset boots to Android 11 OS and it is equipped with a side-facing fingerprint scanner for security.

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It’s official: The OnePlus 9 series will ship with ColorOS in China

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Habeeb Onawole

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Mar 22, 2021

OnePlus phones ship with two different Android Skins. In China, their phones ship with HydrogenOS while the rest of the world gets OxygenOS. Even the latter has exclusive features in regions such as India. Starting with the OnePlus 9 series, OnePlus phones sold in China will now ship with ColorOS.

The announcement was made today by Pete Lau on Weibo. The founder and CEO revealed that the OnePlus 9 series will have ColorOS pre-installed from the factory. He also added that previous devices running HydrogenOS will continue to get support. The official ColorOS Weibo account also posted a welcome message on its page.

ColorOS is OPPO’s own Android Skin that it ships with its devices. The UI also shipped with realme-branded phones for a while before they announced their own skin called realme UI. It is surprising that while realme, which is a younger brand than OnePlus has ditched ColorOS, OnePlus is dropping its own UI in favor of ColorOS.

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Based on the post, it is safe to presume that OnePlus has no plans of updating its older devices that run HydrogenOS to ColorOS. It has also promised that these devices will continue to receive support.

One upside we can think of from this new development is that OnePlus phones, at least those sold in China, should get better software support henceforth since the ColorOS team, which we believe is much larger than the HydrogenOS team, will most likely also be handling the OnePlus phones running ColorOS.

OnePlus has not said anything about the future of OxygenOS, so we expect it will continue shipping with OnePlus phones sold outside China.

The OnePlus 9 series launches tomorrow globally while a special event for China is scheduled for March 24.

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iQOO Z3 Geekbench listing spotted, Snapdragon 768G expected

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Mar 22, 2021

iQOO is all set to launch the iQOO Z3 smartphone in China on March 25. Recent findings such as 3C certification and Google Play Console listing have revealed that the forthcoming iQOO Z3 has a V2073A model number. Ahead of the launch, the Z3 has emerged in the database of the Geekbench benchmarking platform.

The Vivo V2073A’s Geekbench listing reveals that it scored 688 and 1988 points in the single-core and multi-core tests of Geekbench, respectively. The listing only mentions the Qualcomm processor with ‘lito’ codename and a 1.80GHz base frequency.

It is speculated that the iQOO Z3 will be powered by the Snapdragon 768G chipset. The listing further reveals that the phone has 8 GB of RAM and Android 11 OS.

Recent reports have revealed that the iQOO Z3 will be sporting an LCD panel with a punch-hole design. It is likely to support a Full HD+ resolution and a 144Hz refresh rate. The 6 GB RAM variant of the handset was seen at its Google Play Console listing.

There is no word on the battery capacity of the iQOO Z3. However, its 3C appearance revealed that it could be shipping with a 55W rapid charging. For photography, it may feature a triple camera system with a 48-megapixel Sony IMX598 primary camera. The other details of the phone are yet to be revealed. It is now up for reservations in China through multiple retailer sites.

The iQOO Z3 5G will be the company’s second smartphone with an LCD panel this year after the iQOO U3x 5G, which went official today. The U3x offers specs like a 6.58-inch FHD+ 90Hz display, Snapdragon 480 chipset, up to 8 GB of RAM, up to 128 GB of UFS 2.1 storage, a 13-megapixel dual-camera system, an 8-megapixel selfie snapper, and a 5,000mAh battery with 18W fast charging support.

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iQOO U3x 5G with 90Hz display, Snapdragon 480, 5,000mAh battery launched for 1,199 Yuan (~$184)

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Mar 22, 2021

iQOO has silently launched the iQOO U3x 5G smartphone in China. It is the cheapest 5G-ready iQOO branded phone to arrive in the home market. Some of its key features include a 90Hz display, Snapdragon 4-series 5G chipset, and a huge battery with fast charging support.

iQOO U3x 5G specifications and features

The iQOO U3x 5G has a 6.58-inch IPS LCD screen with a waterdrop notch. it supports a Full HD+ resolution, a 20.07:9 aspect ratio, a 401ppi pixel density, and a 90Hz refresh rate. The handset offers a screen-to-body ratio of 90.61 percent.

The Snapdragon 480 chipset fuels the iQOO U3x with up to 8 GB of LPDDR4x RAM. The handset offers up to 128 GB of UFS 2.1 storage. It runs on iQOO 1.0 based Android 11 OS. For security, it has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, and it carries support for face unlock.

The U3x has a front-facing snapper of 8-megapixel. The squarish rear camera module of the phone has a 13-megapixel primary camera, 2-megapixel depth-of-field lens, and an LED flash.

The iQOO U3x 5G has a 5,000mAh battery that supports 18W fast charging. It offers with other features like dual SIM slot, 5G, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, USB-C, and a 3.5mm headphone slot. The iQOO U3x is rebranded version of the Vivo Y31s 5G, which debuted in China as the world’s first Snapdragon 480 powered handset.

iQOO U3x 5G pricing and availability

The three variants of the iQOO U3x such as 6 GB RAM + 64 GB storage, 4 GB RAM + 128 GB storage, and 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage are priced at 1,199 Yuan (~$184), 1,199 Yuan, and 1,499 Yuan (~$230). It is scheduled to go on sale on April 1 in color variants like Ya Grey and Magic Blue.

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Moto G100 specifications leaked, new renders reveal design from all angles

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