Asus ROG Phone 5 vs Black Shark 4 Pro: Specs Comparison

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Apr 4, 2021

A few weeks ago, Asus launched the king of gaming phones in the Asus ROG Phone 5 series. A few days ago, Xiaomi came up with its alternative belonging to a lower price segment. The Asus ROG Phone 5 series also includes a variant for those who want to save some money: the vanilla version. A perfect rival of this handset in the affordable flagship segment is the Black Shark 4 Pro. Unless you want to opt for the ROG Phone 5 Pro and ROG Phone 5 Ultimate, these are the most interesting gaming phones you can find in the market. Here is a comparison between their specifications.

Asus ROG Phone 5 vs Xiaomi Black Shark 4 Pro

	Asus ROG Phone 5	Xiaomi Black Shark 4 Pro
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT	172.8 x 77.3 x 10.3 mm, 238 grams	163.8 x 76.4 x 9.9 mm, 220 grams
DISPLAY	6.78 inches, 1080 x 2448p (Full HD+), 395 ppi, AMOLED	6.67 inches, 1080 x 2400p (Full HD+), 395 ppi, Super AMOLED
PROCESSOR	Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, octa-core 2.84 GHz	Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, octa-core 2.84 GHz
MEMORY	8 GB RAM, 128 GB – 12 GB RAM, 256 GB – 16 GB RAM, 256 GB	8 GB RAM, 256 GB – 12 GB RAM, 256 GB – 16 GB RAM, 512 GB
SOFTWARE	Android 11, Rog UI + Zen UI	Android 11, Joy UI
CONNECTIVITY	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/6e, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS
CAMERA	Triple 64 + 13 + 5 MP f/1.8, f/2.4, and f/2.0 24 MP f/2.5 front camera	Triple 64 + 8 + 5 MP f/1.8, f/2.2, and f/2.4 20 MP f/2.5 front camera
BATTERY	6000 mAh, fast charging 65W	4500 mAh, fast charging 120W
ADDITIONAL FEATURES	Dual SIM slot, 5G, AirTriggers, RGB logo, reverse charging	Dual SIM slot, 5G, physical gaming triggers

Design

Despite a lot of people who may prefer the attractive rear side of the Asus ROG Phone 5, I personally love the Black Shark 4 Pro because of its narrower bezels around the display and its punch-hole design. However, having thicker bezels is actually an advantage for gamers who want to have a better grip. Further, the RGB logo on the rear side of the Asus ROG Phone 5 and its premium materials make it a very interesting phone in terms of aesthetics.

Display

The display of the Asus ROG Phone 5 is better than Black Shark 4 Pro because it is able to show up to one billion colors. It also offers a wider diagonal which may be better for power gamers. The Asus ROG Phone 5 includes an in-display fingerprint scanner, while the fingerprint reader of the Black Shark 4 Pro is side-mounted. On the rear side, Asus ROG Phone 5 has pressure sensitive zones which can be used as capacitive gaming triggers, while the Black Shark 4 Pro has physical gaming triggers on the side. In both cases, you get an AMOLED panel with very high brightness, the HDR10+ certification, and a 144 Hz refresh rate.

Specs & Software

With the Asus ROG Phone 5 and the Black Shark 4 Pro, you can get a very advanced flagship-class hardware side. They are both fueled by the Snapdragon 888 mobile platform paired with up to 16 GB of RAM. The Black Shark is available in a memory configuration with 512 GB of internal storage, while the Asus ROG Phone 5 offers a max of 256 GB. The phones run Android 11 out of the box with a customized user interface, but the Asus ROG Phone 5 can let you switch to stock Android.

Camera

The Asus ROG Phone 5 and the Black Shark 4 Pro are equipped with midrange-class camera setups. The main camera is the same 64 MP f/1.8 sensor, but the Asus ROG Phone 5 has a better ultrawide sensor with a 13 MP resolution. Besides these sensors, you also get a 5 MP macro camera. The Asus ROG Phone 5 is also able to record videos at 8K resolution, while Black Shark goes up to 4K.

Battery

The king of battery here is the Asus ROG Phone 5, and it is also one of the best flagships when it comes to battery life. The Asus ROG Phone 5 packs a huge 6000 mAh battery which can provide a lot of gaming hours and it charges very quickly thanks to its 65W fast charging technology. However, the Black Shark charges even faster with a power of 120W: the fastest commercial charging technology.

Price

The starting price of the Asus ROG Phone 5 is about €493/$580, while the Black Shark 4 Pro carries a €520/$611 starting price (the prices vary depending on the market). Despite the Black Shark 4 Pro features a faster charging technology, the Asus ROG Phone 5 wins the comparison thanks to its bigger battery and great display. It is also better for gamers as it supports a higher amount of external gaming accessories.

Read More: ASUS ROG Phone 5 series launched with up to 18GB RAM and 3.5mm headphone jack

Asus ROG Phone 5 vs Xiaomi Black Shark 4 Pro: PROs and CONS

Asus ROG Phone 5

PROs

Gorilla Glass Victus
Great display
Huge battery
Better connectivity
Several compatible accessories

CONS

Price

Xiaomi Black Shark 4 Pro

PROs

Faster charging
Physical gaming triggers
Good price
Borderless display

CONS

Smaller battery

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Research firm ranks Xiaomi’s Mi Home as India’s top exclusive smartphone retail store

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Apr 4, 2021

A recent national survey by UNOMER has revealed that Xiaomi’s retail outlets for its products in India had the most significant appeal among Indian consumers. The study showed that the Mi Home store was the first choice for an exciting experience overall across several customer satisfaction parameters captured in the survey questionnaire.

Respondents were asked to rate their satisfaction on the various measurement criteria, and the percentages were computed for each parameter across the exclusive smartphone retail stores in India.

The Unomer study titled: “Smartphone Retail CSAT Benchmarking Research Report” aims to measure customer satisfaction across a broad spectrum of India’s leading smartphone exclusive retailers, including Xiaomi, Samsung, Oppo, Apple, and several others. Some of the customer satisfaction parameters captured in the study were the physical layout, purchase financing options available, the fluidity of the checkout system, and staff knowledge, among others.

The Mi Home stores had an average rating of about 62% in staff knowledge criteria, billing/ checkout process, and financing options, which were the highest among the surveyed exclusive retail stores. Xiaomi has seen remarkable progress since it first established its Mi Home stores in India, and it now has 75 of such stores spread across 19 cities across the subcontinent.

In his response to the UNOMER report, an executive of Xiaomi India, Sunil Baby expressed joy at the report, putting the Mi Home stores as the best premium exclusive smartphone store in India. He said the Mi brand would continue to pursue excellence in all its ramifications and continue to provide satisfaction to its teeming customers across India. Baby stressed that the Mi Home stores have a unique architectural design and were constructed using eco-friendly materials, which combine with the excellent staff and products to give a unique experience for its teeming Indian customers.

Xiaomi has assured that it will continue to strive to maintain and even exceed expectations in the high standards it has set for itself.

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Upcoming Smartphones in April 2021: Redmi, Samsung, OPPO, Nokia, Sony, & more

By

Balaji S

-

Apr 4, 2021

Last month was one of the busiest ones in a while. We had so many events that it was a bit hard to keep count of the many devices that launched in the span of a month. Well, if you had thought of taking a breather, hold on, because we are back with yet another edition of Upcoming Smartphones April 2021 Edition.

As usual, we have entries from well-known brands like OPPO, Xiaomi, Redmi, realme, Nokia, and a few surprises from companies like Sony and TCL. So without wasting your time, let’s dive into it straight away.

13realme 8 5G, realme 8i

realme has already confirmed that it will launch a 5G version of the realme 8 and a budget-friendly realme 8i in India. Out of this, the realme 8 5G has already stopped at FCC certification.
However, this launch might skipped to next month as well so take this with a pinch of salt.

Vivo V21 series

Vivo V21 series was rumored to come before in India but that hasn’t happened yet. The company had other ideas and brought a flagship X60 series to the country. However, it could soon launch one of the supposed members of the V21 series- Vivo V21 SE.
Reports reveal that it could be a rebadged version of the iQOO U3 which means it could come with a Dimensity 800U chipset with 5G support. Let’s hope that Vivo doesn’t skip any further.

Oppo A74 4G & 5G, A94 & A54 5G

OPPO is said to bring the remaining devices of the OPPO Axx series and it might happen this month. The company has already unveiled the OPPO A54 4G version already. Next in line could be the OPPO A74, A54, and A94 5G models.
The OPPO A74 4G is said to come in certain markets as rebranded OPPO F19 while the 5G version could have Snapdragon 480 chipset.
On the other hand, the OPPO A94 5G could be the OPPO F19 Pro+ 5G for Europe whereas OPPO A54 5G is said to be a rebadged version of OPPO A93 5G.

Huawei P50 series

When it comes to Huawei, things haven’t been so smooth lately. The company is struggling a lot to gather the supply chain after the US ban and it is hitting them hard. Previously rumored to come this month, the launch of the Huawei P50 series looks to be a far cry for now.
However, anything can happen in between so let’s hope that Huawei turns tables to come back stronger.

These are the confirmed/expected smartphone launches for the month of April. We hope you enjoyed reading it and as always please share your feedback in the comments below. It really helps us improve our future articles.

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Poll of The Week: Which of these new Xiaomi products are you buying?

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Apr 4, 2021

Last week, Xiaomi unveiled several new products at its China and global launch events. The two-day events included phones such as the Mi MIX Fold, Mi 11 Ultra, Mi 11 Pro, Mi 11i; a new fitness tracker – the Mi Band 6/Mi Smart Band 6; the Mi Laptop Pro; a new projector; a new router; and many more.

For this week’s poll, we want to know which of these products you will be purchasing. Will you be importing the China-exclusive Mi MIX Fold or Mi 11 Pro, or are you are going for the Mi 11 Ultra with its rear secondary display? Maybe you prefer the Mi 11 Lite 4G/5G or all you need is the new Mi Band 6/Mi Smart Band 6 fitness tracker? Also, please share your opinions about Xiaomi’s new plethora of products in the comment box below.

[yop_poll id=”80″]

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Next Week in Tech: Nokia has a new phone(s), Lenovo Legion 2 Pro coming, Realme c-series and Samsung F-series are getting new models

By

Habeeb Onawole

-

Apr 3, 2021

After the plethora of phones launched in March, manufacturers are not slowing down even as we enter a new month. For the first week of April, there are already multiple announcements lined up and we expect no less than eight new devices to be announced.

New Samsung Galaxy F-series phones – April 5

Samsung‘s Flipkart-exclusive Galaxy F-series will be getting two new models on April 5. The two phones are the Galaxy F02s and the Galaxy F12 and both will have Infinity-V displays.

Nokia Mobile Event – April 8

HMD Global has an event scheduled for April 8. The manufacturer is expected to announce new phones for the year and it has been reported that these devices will adopt a new naming scheme.

The Finnish company is expected to announce a couple of mid-range phones which may include all or some of the following phones – the Nokia G10, Nokia G20, Nokia X10, Nokia X20, and Nokia C20. There is also the possibility of new mobile accessories such as these power banks that were listed on the official website last month.

Lenovo Legion 2 Pro – April 8

With the RedMagic 6 series, ASUS ROG Phone 5 series, and Black Shark 4 series out of the way, Lenovo is ready to grab the spotlight with its next-gen gaming phone – the Legion 2 Pro. When it arrives on April 8, the phone will have a 144Hz refresh rate, a bigger battery, and support for 90W charging.

Realme expanding its C-series – April 8

Realme’s C-series is a line of budget smartphones and on April 8 it plans to add three new models to the lineup. These phones include the realme C20, realme C21, and realme C25.

If a phone isn’t what you are looking for now, realme will unveil a new pair of TWS earbuds on April 7. The realme Buds Air 2 Neo is scheduled for release on April 7 and it has been confirmed that it will have active noise cancellation.

Amazfit Bip U Pro

Huami will announce the Amazfit Bip U Pro next week in India. The smartwatch which launched last year in the U.S. differs from the standard model with the addition of four new features – built-in GPS, an electronic compass, a microphone, and Amazon Alexa.

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Swiss start-up deploys robots to disinfect passenger aircrafts using UV light

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Apr 3, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic hit the airline industry very hard, and several airlines across the world are still grappling with the pandemic’s effects. At the height of the pandemic in 2020, many airports were shut down for extended periods. There were fears that the virus was being transmitted rapidly through airplanes. Even with the easing of air travel restrictions, the airlines have put in place an extensive screening protocol to ensure the safety of air passengers.

Now, a Swiss company, UVeya has developed robots capable of using ultraviolet light to screen passenger airplanes clean of viruses before humans board the aircraft. UVeya is conducting pilot trials within aircraft owned by Helvetic Airways, owned by Martin Ebner, a Swiss billionaire.

The pilot trials will establish whether the robots are indeed capable of killing all viruses in the aircraft through UV light. Simultaneously, the impact itself of the UV emission on the aircraft’s interior is also being examined. Before the UV spraying robots can be certified safe for use, all safety concerns must be addressed by the robot’s manufacturer.

UVeya co-founder Jodoc Elmiger says that aircraft manufacturers must certify the virus-killing system, and they are studying the impact of the UV light on the aircraft’s interior upholstery after many such UV disinfection. Elmiger is confident that robot cleaners could assure the flying populace’s safety even with the Covid-19 still prevalent.

UVeya already has three UV spraying robots, and it tested one of them in a Helvetic aircraft in Zurich Airport. The robot’s UV lights, mounted on a crucifix-shaped frame, illuminated the aircraft’s interior in a soft-blue glow as it went up the aisle. UVeya says the robot can disinfect a single-aisled plane in as low as 13 minutes.

If the pilot trials are successful, them UVeya may produce the robots in commercial quantities, and we would expect them to have a high demand for the UV spraying robots globally.

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Microsoft unveils plans to produce Xbox Series X mini fridges

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Apr 3, 2021

On April 2, Microsoft‘s Xbox defeated Skittles in the final round of Twitter’s inaugural #BestOfTweets Brand Bracket competition. Xbox’s marketing director, Aaron Greenberg, tweeted a promise the previous day that if Xbox won, Microsoft would produce Xbox Series X mini-refrigerators. Indeed Greenberg has affirmed that the company will go ahead and manufacture Xbox Series X Mini refrigerators.

The promise by Xbox on the Xbox Series X mini fridges came on April 1, and many could have viewed it as a joke on a day given to such tricks. Still, Greenberg specifically tweeted that this was not a joke, so we should be expecting the Xbox mini fridges soon from Microsoft. Greenberg had said in a post-victory tweet shortly after the results were announced that “we will move forward on our promise to make those Xbox Series X Mini Fridges” and Skittles will get the first unit of these mini cooling devices.

Microsoft first unveiled the Xbox Series X refrigerator last year which resulted from comparisons that the Xbox Series X console looked like a fridge. The Xbox Series X fridges were giveaway units and were not sold in the open market. It would seem that the concept is still appealing to a wide array of followers. Therefore, Greenberg’s promise could have swayed the votes in Xbox’s favor to win the Twitter brand competition.

Ok…here goes. Help @Xbox win this and we’ll put into production this year REAL XBOX SERIES X MINI FRIDGES! Yep, you read that right. Not an April Fools joke. Not clickbait. #Xbox #BestofTweets https://t.co/vm5B0kZht1 pic.twitter.com/A28hWBP3Db

— Aaron Greenberg 🙅🏼‍♂️💚U (@aarongreenberg) April 2, 2021

There are, however, still several gaps in the project to produce the Xbox Series X mini fridges, as Microsoft is yet to give us detailed information on the production trajectory for the fridges, although it is still early at this time. The production could commence this year, and we do not yet know the numbers to be produced and whether you would be able to buy one when it finally comes out. We shall keep you in the loop whenever any additional information comes out from Microsoft.

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Redmi K40 vs Realme GT Neo: Specs Comparison

By

Michele Ingelido

-

Apr 3, 2021

The latest flagship killer released by Realme is incredibly affordable. We are talking about the Realme GT Neo, offering flagship-class performance to a lot of people thanks to its price. Given the high value for money of this phone, we decided to compare it with its main Xiaomi rival in the same price tag, at least for the Chinese market. For this comparison, we chose the Redmi K40 for obvious reasons. None of these devices is actually global, so this will be a comparison especially thought for Chinese readers, at least for now.

Xiaomi Redmi K40 vs Realme GT Neo

	Xiaomi Redmi K40	Realme GT Neo
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT	163.7 x 76.4 x 7.8 mm, 196 grams	158.5 x 73.3 x 8.4 mm, 179 g
DISPLAY	6.67 inches, 1080 x 2400p (Full HD+), Super AMOLED	6.43 inches, 1080 x 2400p (Full HD+), Super AMOLED
PROCESSOR	Qualcomm Snapdragon 870, octa-core 3.2 GHz	MediaTek Dimensity 1200, octa-core 3.0 GHz
MEMORY	6 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 256 GB – 12 GB RAM, 256 GB	6 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 128 GB – 12 GB RAM, 256 GB
SOFTWARE	Android 11, MIUI	Android 11, Realme UI
CONNECTIVITY	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS
CAMERA	Triple 48 + 8 + 5 MP, f/1.8 + f/2.2 20 MP front camera	Triple 64 + 8 + 2 MP, f/1.8 + f/2.3 + f/2.4 16 MP f/2.5 front camera
BATTERY	4520 mAh, fast charging 33W	4500 mAh, fast charging 50W
ADDITIONAL FEATURES	Dual SIM slot, 5G	Dual SIM slot, 5G

Design

The design of the Realme GT Neo is more original and suggestive, thanks to its very brilliant color effects on the rear side, especially in the Final Fantasy color variant. The Realme GT Neo is even lighter than the Redmi K40, as well as more compact. On the other hand, the Redmi K40 is thinner because it has a body with bigger dimensions. Another important difference is the punch hole: you get a hole on the top left corner with the Realme GT Neo, while Redmi K40 has a hole placed centrally.

Display

On the paper, the Redmi K40 has a superior display, but we are only talking about marginal differences. With the Redmi K40, you get the HDR10+ certification, as well as a very high 1300 nit peak brightness. Both the phones feature an AMOLED panel and a 120 Hz refresh rate, but the display of the Redmi K40 is wider (6.67 inches vs 6.43 inches). Note that the Realme GT Neo features an in-display fingerprint reader, while the Redmi K40 does not.

Specs & Software

The Redmi K40 is powered by the Snapdragon 870 mobile platform, while the Realme GT Neo has a Mediatek Dimensity 1200 inside. While the Dimensity 1200 is built with a better production process (6 nm) and is more efficient, the Snapdragon 870 is slightly more powerful. You can get the same maximum amount of RAM and storage: up to 12 GB of RAM and up to 256 GB of UFS 3.1 native storage, respectively. Redmi K40 and Realme GT Neo run Android 11 out of the box, customized by MIUI and Realme UI 2.0, respectively.

Camera

The Realme GT neo comes with a superior main sensor for its rear camera, so it wins the camera comparison. We are referring to a 64 MP rear camera against a 48 MP sensor found on the Redmi K40. With the Redmi K40, you actually get a better macro camera, but it does not matter as the main camera is inferior. Unfortunately, none of these handsets is a camera phone. They are mid-range class and there are a lot of better choices in the same price range if you need a great camera setup. So, if you are looking at these devices especially for the cameras, you should go for something else.

Read More: Redmi K40 series sales crosses 1 million units in just 23 days in China

Battery

Realme GT Neo has a 4500 mAh battery, while Redmi K40 has a 4520 mAh battery. The difference in battery capacity is minimal and these devices should provide a similar battery life. We expect the GT Neo to offer a slightly longer battery life due to its smaller display and a chipset with a 6 nm production process, but it will also depend on the software optimization. You can see a bigger difference when it comes to the charging speed: the Realme GT Neo has a 50W fast charging technology, while Redmi K40 stops at 33W.

Price

The starting price of the Redmi K40 in China is about €367/$432, while Realme GT Neo starts from just €250/$274. Despite the lower price, the Realme GT Neo has a better rear camera and it offers faster charging speeds. The Redmi K40 has a slightly more powerful mobile platform and a slightly better display, but this is not enough to justify the price difference and the difference in the user experience. That is the reason why the GT Neo wins this specs comparison.

Xiaomi Redmi K40 vs Realme GT Neo: PRO and CONS

Xiaomi Redmi K40

PRO

HDR10+ display
Wider diagonal
Powerful chipset
IR blaster

CONS

Inferior camera

Realme GT Neo

PRO

Original design
Better rear camera
Faster charging
Under-display fingerprint reader

CONS

Nothing particular

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LG unveils the Ultra Gear 17 laptop with a 17″ WQXGA display, 11th-gen Core i5

By

Jed John Ikoba

-

Apr 3, 2021

LG may be planning to shut down its ailing smartphone business but the brand is still a leading name in other aspect, one of which is the display segment. The Korean brand has just announced a new laptop packing its OBM display in the home market. The laptop is dubbed LG Ultra Gear 17 and it is an high-performance product.

The Ultra Gear 17 sports a massive 17-inch WQXGA display which is an LCD panel with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. The size of the display provides vivid and clear picture quality. The laptop also packs a 11th Gen Intel Core i5 processor paired with 8GB of DDR4 3200MHz memory. There is equally 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD onboard. Both the RAM and memory can be upgraded by users if they want, using expansion slots..

Further, the Ultra Gear 17 features an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650Ti GPU inside. The graphics card provides a rapid and comfortable environment when running video work or games.

Despite the huge display size, the new LG laptop isn’t very bulky as it weighs 1.95kg. This is despite packing an 80Whr battery cell. Talking of the battery, LG touts it as capable of providing long battery life. The laptop comes with a ‘dual power cooling system’ that quickly cools internal heat with two coolers and can stably run high-end programs.

There ae also several ports onboard the laptop including three USB 3.1 ports, a USB 4 port which also supports USB-PD, 1 HDMI port, and a DC-in for power.

As for the pricing and availability, LG Ultra Gear 17 is available for purchase in South Korea and is priced at 2.24 million won (~$ 1,986).

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Lenovo Legion 2 Pro to have 10% bigger battery than Legion Pro

By

Balaji S

-

Apr 3, 2021

Lenovo is launching the successor of the Legion Pro, the Legion 2 Pro in China on April 8. With less than 5 days remaining for the launch, the company has confirmed today that the Legion 2 Pro will have a similar charging tech and a slightly better battery.

In a Weibo post, Lenovo has confirmed that Legion 2 Pro will come with a 5,500mAh battery and 90W Super Flash charging. The battery capacity is about 10% higher than the 5,000mAh on the Legion Pro. Talking about the charging tech, it is unclear if it’s a sole 90W or a split-up of two 45W.

A few weeks ago, a Lenovo L70081 5G device speculated to be Legion 2 Pro got 3C certification in China. It revealed that the device has support for 65W and 45W charging protocols. Besides, the predecessor had two USB-C ports and hence supported up to a total of 90W charging.

If the pattern continues, then the successor Lenovo Legion 2 Pro could also have the same implementation but let’s wait for official info. Lenovo has already confirmed that Legion 2 Pro will come with a 6.92-inch 144Hz Samsung E4 AMOLED display.

Further, Master Lu benchmarks revealed that the display resolution would be 1080 x 2460 pixels i.e., FHD+ and have a 20.5:9 aspect ratio. Under the hood, the Legion 2 Pro will feature Snapdragon 888 chipset and come paired with either 12GB/128GB, 12GB/256GB, and 16GB/512GB RAM/storage options.

Other expected specs include a dual-turbo cooling fan, run Android 11 OS, and more. Let’s wait for more teasers next week.

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realme Buds Air 2 Neo TWS with Active Noise Cancellation launching on April 7

By

Balaji S

-

Apr 3, 2021

realme is said to host a launch event in Pakistan on April 7 where it looks like a few AIoT products are going to see the light of the day. Among the lot, the company has now confirmed to bring a budget-friendly realme Buds Air 2 Neo TWS earbuds with ANC feature.

In a Facebook Post, realme Pakistan has confirmed that realme Buds Air 2 Neo will launch in the country on April 7 at 12 PM local time. Along with the design, the company has also confirmed a few specs and features that are coming on the wireless earbuds.

realme brought features like the ANC(Active Noise Cancellation) on the recently launched realme Buds Air 2. The TWS launched for a price tag of ₹3,299($45) in India. However, it looks like the Buds Air 2 Neo with ANC will launch in Pakistan at an even lesser price.

The company says that it is bringing features like ANC to the masses and if you recall, the predecessor Buds Air Neo launched at a lesser price tag than the original realme Buds Air. If the same pattern continues, then the realme Buds Air 2 Neo could very well launch below ₹3,299 price tag of the Buds Air 2.

realme Buds Air 2 Neo Features

Anyway, apart from the ANC, the realme Buds Air 2 Neo will have a 10mm Dynamic Bass Boost Driver and have a total battery life of about 28Hrs. Talking about the design, it resembles a lot like the realme Buds Q but has few design changes.

There is a button on the case and the earbuds themselves are also having a pebble-like shape that we even saw on the recently certified realme Buds Q2. However, we will have to wait for the official word to confirm if this is indeed coming out as the realme Buds Air 2 Neo.

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Xiaomi Mi 10, Mi 10 Pro get the stable MIUI 12.5 update in China

By

Balaji S

-

Apr 3, 2021

Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra was the first-ever smartphone to get the stable MIUI 12.5 update. Now, the remaining siblings of the series- Mi 10, Mi 10 Pro are getting it.

An OTA update with firmware version V12.5.3.0.RJBCNXM and V12.5.3.0.RJACNXM is rolling out to Xiaomi Mi 10, Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro respectively in China. Both the builds weigh about 4.0GB in size and it does bring the latest MIUI 12.5 stable based on Android 11 to the devices.

If you recall, Xiaomi started rolling out the stable MIUI 12.5 update to users in China a few days ago. As mentioned above, the Mi 10 Ultra and followed by other devices like the Mi 11, Mi 9 SE have got it recently.

Coming back, the update for the Mi 10, Mi 10 Pro also has the March 2021 security patch. Xiaomi launched the MIUI 12.5 back in December. The incremental UI has improvements like UI Design improvements, more Super wallpapers, improved privacy, haptics, MIUI+, uninstallable built-in apps, and more.

That said, the rollout is said to continue further and not stop with the flagships as Xiaomi has already revealed a list of 28 devices scheduled to get it in the first wave in China. When it comes to global markets, the Mi 11 is likely to get it soon, and followed by it, various devices are on the list.

As for the Mi 10 users elsewhere, do keep in mind that this rollout is only for China so you will have to wait till Xiaomi expands the regions for this stable update. And for the users in China, these particular builds are in ‘stable beta recovery’ so it should reach only a few for now before coming out as a wider rollout in the coming days.

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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 gets its first-ever permanent price cut in the US

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

-

Apr 3, 2021

Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold2 in September 2020. The company’s second flagship foldable smartphone debuted for $1,999.99 in the US. Now, seven months after its release, the firm has announced a permanent price cut on this handset along with a referral program.

The Galaxy Z Fold2 has been on sale at a discounted price tag multiple times since its launch. Bu this is the first-ever official price drop by Samsung. The South Korean tech giant has reduced the device’s MSRP by $200.

Hence, the Galaxy Z Fold2 is now retailing in the US for $1,799.99. The new price is applicable to both unlocked and carrier variants (Verizon, AT&T). Also, it is worth noting that, unlike regular smartphones, Samsung’s foldable phones (Galaxy Z Flip 5G, Galaxy Z Fold2) come with a 100-day return policy.

Further, alongside the price drop, Samsung has also announced a referral program for the Galaxy Z series. Any existing Galaxy Z Series customer can share a referral code to someone looking to buy a Samsung foldable handset.

By using the code, the new buyer can snag a $100 discount. On the other hand, the referrer gets a $100 credit, which can be used on Samsung’s online store. Hence, interested customers can get the Galaxy Z Fold2 for as low as $1,699.99 in the US.

Infinix Hot 10i appears on FCC with a different model number and 6,000mAh battery

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

-

Apr 3, 2021

Earlier this week, Infinix Hot 10i was spotted on Google Play Console. The listing revealed the primary specs and the front design of this handset. Now, we have spotted this smartphone on FCC. The certification shows off the device’s rear design and also confirms its battery capacity and charging speed.

Infinix Hot 10i X659B FCC Featured — Infinix Hot 10i (X659B) | Source: FCC

The upcoming Infinix Hot 10i was certified by FCC in late February. In fact, its listing went live just a day after we reported on Infinix X693’s FCC certification.

That said, as per the FCC listing, the Infinix Hot 10i will come with model number X659B. The listing does not mention the phone’s marketing name. We found out that from an automated Google Play Certified Android devices list on GitHub.

It is worth noting that the Infinix Hot 10i spotted on Google Play Console has a different model number (X658B). But these handsets could be the same but meant for different markets. However, we cannot rule the possibility of them being different devices.

Because Infinix launched a smartphone called SMART 5 in India. But instead of the original phone with the same name, it was a rebranded Infinix HOT 10 Play.

Infinix Hot 10i Google Play Console — Infinix Hot 10i (X658B) | Source: Google Play Console

Anyway, as per FCC, the Infinix Hot 10i (X659B) will feature a 5,850mAh battery (rated) with support for 10W charging. In other words, this smartphone will be backed by a 6,000mAh battery (typical).

As far as rear design is concerned, it will house a squircle camera module on the top left corner and a fingerprint sensor slightly below it. Going by the size of the module, we can expect at least two cameras. Whereas, the power button and the volume rocker will be loathed on the right side.

Assuming the Infinix X659B to be the same as Infinix X658B, we can expect this phone to come with an HD+ (720 x 1600 pixels) display with 320 DPI and centered punch-hole, MediaTek Helio A20 SoC, 2GB RAM, and Android 11.

As of now, there’s no official word from Infinix regarding the launch of Hot 10i.

Apple closing down all of its stores in France as country goes into third lockdown

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Apr 3, 2021

As France goes into a third lockdown, Apple has announced that it is closing all its 20 stores across the country. Prior to this announcement, most of Apple’s stores across the country have been closed with the exception of 8 which were originally classified as essential shops.

The announcement was made on Twitter by the official Apple UNSA account. The tweet said that the eight stores including the Apple Champs-Élysées, Apple Opéra, and Apple Marché Saint-Germain stores which have remained open since March will be closed indefinitely starting on the evening of April 3. So all those who have orders to pick up have until this evening to do so.

This is the first time this year that Apple is closing all of its stores in the country. Lately, cases have been rising in the country which led to the government announcing a third lockdown on Wednesday evening. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, did say that this will be the country’s last national lockdown. Since the beginning of the pandemic, France has recorded up to 100,000 in total deaths.

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Samsung Galaxy F12 with Exynos 850 seen at benchmarking site before launch

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Apr 3, 2021

On April 5, Samsung will take off covers from the Galaxy F02s and Galaxy F12 smartphones in India. Both phones’ microsites are now available on Flipkart. Before launch, the Galaxy F12 (model number SM-F127G) has surfaced at Geekbench (via).

The landing page of the Galaxy F12 at Flipkart has already revealed that it is powered by the Exynos 850. However, it does not tell the amount of RAM present inside it. The Geekbench listing states it has 4 GB of RAM. It is unclear whether it will come in a higher 6 GB RAM version. The phone is loaded with the latest Android 11 OS. In the single-core and multi-core tests of Geekbench 5, it scored 154 and 969 points, respectively.

It is mentioned on F12’s landing page at Flipkart that it is equipped with a 6.5-inch display that offers an Infinity-V notch design, an HD+ resolution, and a 90Hz refresh rate. The power button placed on the right edge of the phone is integrated with a fingerprint scanner.

The polycarbonate rear of the Galaxy F12 features a square-shaped camera with a 48-megapixel Samsung GM2. Below the camera module is an LED flash unit. It houses a 6,000mAh battery, which probably supports 15W fast charging. It is equipped with other features such as a 3.5mm audio jack, a USB-C port, and a speaker grille. It appears that the Galaxy F12 will be arriving as a rebranded version of the Galaxy M12 smartphone.

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TECNO LE7 certified by FCC with a 7,000mAh battery

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Apr 3, 2021

Back in February, a TECNO smartphone with model number CG6j was certified by FCC. This device later appeared on Google Play Console as TECNO CAMON 17. Now, another mysterious phone from the brand has been certified by FCC in late March.

TECNO LE7 FCC Featured — TECNO LE7 | Source: FCC

While browsing through FCC ID, we came across a TECNO smartphone with model number LE7. Unfortunately, the phone’s certification does not reveal much about it except for the rear design, battery capacity, and charging speed.

Talking about the design first, the upcoming TECNO LE7 handset will have curved corners like most phones. On the back, this device will house a rectangular camera module. This dual-finish module will be located at the top left corner. Given the size of the module, we can expect at least three cameras.

Further, the FCC listing says that the handset will feature a 6,850mAh battery. Since FCC is known for mentioning rated capacity, this battery’s typical value should be 7,000mAh. In other words, the forthcoming TECNO LE7 smartphone will be backed by a 7,000mAh battery, just like Samsung Galaxy M51 and Galaxy F62.

Last but not least, the certification confirms that this TECNO handset will support 18W fast charging. Hence, it will take more time to fill the device’s humongous battery.

We expect to learn more about the TECNO LE7 before its official launch sometime later in the near future.

Belkin Magnetic Phone Mount with Face Tracking launched alongside other accessories

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Apr 3, 2021

Smartphone accessories maker Belkin has unveiled a set of magnetic accessories for the iPhone 12. What could arguably be seen as the pick of the pack is a phone mount with face tracking capability. When the mount is interfaced with its accompanying Belkin app, it can recognize a user’s face and activate control of the device to follow the user’s movement while shooting pictures or videos.

Belkin also unveiled a magnetic fitness phone mount, a 2,500mAh power bank that can attach to the back of a phone magnetically, and a wireless charging pad that can also serve as a power bank. Belkin has also released a portable charging pad, already available for $30, and a 7.5W wireless charging stand that will go for $35.

Some of the exciting devices are already on sale at affordable prices while others will be available shortly. The iPhone 12 phone mount with a face tracking feature will be available at $65 when it comes out and can rotate a full 360 degrees while tracking the face. This makes it possible for the user to capture pictures in either landscape or portrait orientation from all angles. It is not clear the maximum distance that can be captured via face tracking using the iPhone 12 phone mount, and the feature can only be used with Belkin’s app. Therefore, third-party apps will not have face-tracking support.

However, we can use the mount with MagSafe cases, and it links to most of the social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. The fitness phone mount is also capable of 360 degrees rotation and will sell for $35 when it comes out. The 2,500 mAh power bank costs $50, while the dual wireless charging pad and power bank sell for $70.

All the Belkin accessories are affordable and highly innovative and will most likely appeal to its growing customer base.

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Tecno Spark 7 launch date is April 9 for India

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Apr 3, 2021

A recent report by GSMArena revealed that Tecno Spark 7 smartphone will be made official this week. It also shared a leaked render of the phone. As expected, a landing page of the smartphone has appeared on Amazon India. The listing has confirmed that the Spark 7 will be made official on April 9 in India.

The images of the Spark 7 available at Amazon India have revealed that it has a teardrop notch display. The top bezel is equipped with a pair of front-firing flash. The right edge of the device has volume buttons and a power key.

The back panel of the Spark 7 has a large-sized branding, a fingerprint scanner, and a rectangle-shaped camera module. The latter houses two or three cameras and a quad-LED flash unit. It is rumored to support photography features like time-lapse videos, video bokeh, and slow-motion video recording. The front and rear cameras of the Spark 7 may support timelapse with a 15x to 5400x speed settings range.

The bottom edge of the phone features a 3.5mm audio jack and a USB-C port. Interestingly, it does not feature a bottom-firing speaker. The handset is expected to arrive in black, green, and blue colors.

The Spark 7 is packed with a massive 6,000mAh battery that can last for up to 41 days. It is expected to carry support for fast charging as its predecessor model featured it. Tecno is yet to reveal the other specifications of the smartphone.

The handset will be arriving as the successor to the Spark 6 from last year, which came with specs like a 6.81-inch HD+ display, Android 10 OS, Helio G70, a 16-megapixel triple camera system, an 8-megapixel front camera, a rear-facing fingerprint scanner, and a 5,000mAh battery with 18W charging support.

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Google Pixel 6 series may feature its own “Whitechapel” chips, and not Snapdragon SoC

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Apr 3, 2021

Google is expected to announce the successors to the Pixel 5 in October this year. In October last year, Google CEO Sundar Pichai had said during the Q3 2020 earnings call that the company is making ‘deeper investments in hardware’ and it has a planned terrific roadmap for 2021. At that time, many interpreted that the company could be working on its own processor with the “Whitechapel” codename. Fresh information shared by 9to5Google reveals that the Pixel smartphones coming in fall could be one of the first smartphones to feature the “GS101” Whitechapel chipset. Hence, it appears that the Pixel 6 series may not feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon SoC.

Just as Apple users its own chipset to power its iPhone and Mac devices, Google is also said to be working on its chipset for its smartphones and Chromebooks. Rumors dating back to early 2020 claimed that Google could be corroborating with Samsung to build the Whitechapel chips. The publication has come across a certain document that tells that the Pixel phones arriving in the fall will be equipped with the Whitechapel processor.

Internally, the Whitechapel chip for next-generation Pixel phones is referred to by Google as “GS101,” where “GS” probably stands for “Google Silicon.” A reference for the “Slider” codename found in the Google Camera app is said to be a shared platform for Whitechapel SoC. Other products that are associated with “Slider” reveals that is connected to Samsung’s Exynos chipset. It seems that the GS101 chip is being built with the South Korean tech giant’s system large-scale integration (SLSI) division. This indicates that the Google chips may have some common features with Samsung Exynos.

The publication claims that Google’s phones codenamed as “Raven” and “Oriole” are suspected to be the first phones to arrive with the Slider platform. These phones may end up as Pixel 6 series smartphones.

According to XDA Developers, the performance of the GS101 could be on par with the Snapdragon 7-series chipset. The 5nm octa-core ARM chip may include two Cortex-A78 CPU core, two Cortex-A76 cores, and four Cortex-A55 cores along with an off-the-shelf ARM Mali GPU. Powering the Pixels with its own chipset will provide Google better control over driver updates as it would not be relying on Qualcomm for it anymore. The drivers can be compatible with newer editions of Android OS for a longer time. Currently, Pixel devices support 3 years of Android OS updates. The upcoming Pixel phones with own Google’s own chip may get 5 generations of OS updates.

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