Earlier today (19th January 2021), the company shared a new image poster, which teased the imminent launch of a new high end smartphone. At the moment, finer details regarding the upcoming device are currently unknown, although, previous reports have leaked certain specifications. The device is said to sport a new yet to be released Snapdragon 800 series chip, meaning it is not the Snapdragon 888 or 865 SoC.
Furthermore, it will house a 6.7 inch FHD+ display with a resolution of 2520 x 1080px, a high refresh rate of 105Hz, and a punch hole selfie camera on the front. Other leaked specifications include a 64 megapixel primary shooter paired with a 16 megapixel ultra wide angle lens, and a 2 megapixel depth sensor; while on the front, a 16 megapixel and 8 megapixel dual selfie camera setup will be featured. For storage, the device will reportedly offer 8 to 12GB of RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage.
Unfortunately, these are still unconfirmed reports and we will have to wait for an official company announcement to know for sure. So stay tuned for more, as we will be providing more updates when additional information is available. Moto has teased a launch today, so we can expect to find out more then.
Broadcom is the supplier of the Wi-Fi 6E chips that is used by Samsung for its high end Galaxy S21 Ultra. The known chipmaker supplies the BCM4389 chips for the premium grade flagship handset.
For those unaware, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is the first ever smartphones to support Wi-Fi 6E. As per TheElecreport, Wi-Fi 6E adds a 6GHz spectrum to the existing Wi-Fi 6 standards (802.11ax), which allows the former to offer speeds that are up to twice as fast. In other words, Wi-Fi 6E can offer speeds reaching up to 2.4Gbps, which is double that of the 1.2Gbps speeds offered by Wi-Fi 6.
Furthermore, the Broadcom BCM4389 also combines Wi-Fi 6E with Bluetooth 5.0 architecture as well. The new chip also arrives with up to 1.2Ghz of new Wi-Fi spectrum that can be allocated in the 6GHz band that can support up to seven 160MHz channels, as officially stated by Broadcom. In simpler terms, this translates to faster speeds, which enables improved experience during remote working scenarios, or even online education, remote healthcare, and even during gaming.
Previously, Broadcom had stated that it had supplied the South Korean tech giant with Wi-Fi chips for the Galaxy S10, which was the world’s first smartphone to support Wi-Fi 6 back then. Since then, the company has supplied Wi-Fi 6 chips to over 500 million devices, according to the company. With Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 888 SoC also supporting Wi-Fi 6E, the company can now offer its new chips to other manufacturers as well.
Today, Realme Founder and CEO Li Bingzhong, shared an open letter on Weibo, which sheds light on the company’s development in the past year and also reveals some of the strategic plans for the band to keep growing this year.
He says that after two consecutive quarters of growth, Realme has become the fastest mobile phone brand in the world with over 50 million sales. He also says that the reports will rank the company seventh in terms of shipments for the year 2020.
The company, which started off a few years ago in India, has now entered around 61 markets worldwide. If the report from Counterpoint is to be believed, then Realme is among the Top 5 brands in 12 markets globally. It is ranked first in the Phillippines and fourth in major markets like India.
Going forward, Realme will focus more on AIoT products, which stands for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). It says that within one year, it has driven Smartphones + AIoT around the world with Smart Gaming feature on its phones and launched several new products.
Another area of focus for the Chinese company is the 5G technology and it aims to bring that to more and more markets around the world. It wants to be the first to launch 5G smartphones in some markets, allowing users to experience 5G on its phones.
It is also planning to expand its footprints this year. Realme will launch its first Flagship Store this year and has planned to open thousands of stores globally. This will enable the company to reach more customers.
Turkey has just imposed a ban on advertising on certain popular social media platforms. This includes the likes of Twitter, Pinterest, and Periscope, which faced the ban by the country’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority.
According to a Reutersreport, the advertising ban arrives after the government recently passed a new social media law. For those unaware, the new law requires social media tech giant firms to appoint a local representative in Turkey. At the moment, Facebook and a few other companies have stated that they would be complying with the local law and appoint such a representative. Although, critics have stated that this move will restrain dissent.
Similar to Facebook, other major platforms like YouTube have also decided to appoint a representative. The new decision adopted in the Official Gazette went into effect earlier today (19h January 2021). However, Twitter and its live streaming application Periscope have yet to comment on the matter, which is also true for the image sharing app Pinterest. The new law will allow the authorities to remove content from social media platforms rather than just block access to them, like in the past.
This has raised concerns for many regarding the government’s move of restricting content and tightening the grip around online platforms and mainstream media as well. Turkey has already fined companies like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter for not complying with local laws previously, with failure to comply now would have the firms face a bandwidth slash of 90 percent, which basically completely blocks access to their websites.
In his final hours as the President of the United States, Donald Trump is trying to do whatever he can do to hurt the Chinese companies. In the latest move related to the US-China trade war, Donald Trump has signed an executive order.
As per the report from Reuters, the newly issued executive order signed by the President of the United States asks for agencies to assess security risks from Chinese-made drones in American government fleets and to prioritize removing them.
Donald Trump has directed all agencies in the U.S. to outline the security risks posed to the existing government drone fleet from drones built by Chinese companies or by other countries deemed as foreign adversaries
A few weeks ago, the Commerce Department in the United States had blacklisted DJI Technologies, the world’s leading company in making drones. Last year, the Interior Department had grounded over 800 Chinese-made drones.
Prior to that, in May 2019, the Department of Homeland Security warned American firms of the risks to company data from Chinese-made drones. In a notice, DHS said U.S. officials have strong concerns about American data falling into the hands of an authoritarian state.
Xiaomi has just launched a brand new notebook in India. The latest laptop is a new entry in the company’s existing Mi Notebook 14 lineup and features a 10th Gen Intel Core i5 processor along with an integrated 720p HD webcam.
The Mi Notebook 14 (IC) is the latest addition to the Chinese tech giant’s laptop offerings in the Indian market, with the most notable change being an integrated camera. For those unaware, the Mi Notebook 14 series that was launched back in 2020, featured minimal bezels and shipped with an external attachable webcam. However, with the new launch, Xiaomi has built the camera into the body of the laptop. The new laptop starts from 43,999 INR (roughly 600 US Dollars) and is available via the company’s official website, or major e-retailers like Amazon and Flipkart.
As per Radhu Reddy, Chief Business Officer of Mi India, “With an increasing number of work-from-home and laptop users seeking out uncompromised performance, we at Mi India are focused on making this desire more accessible.” He further added that “After taking considerable consumer feedback, we are now expanding our Mi Notebook 14 portfolio to include a more convenient integrated web camera above the display. We retain 10th generation Intel CometLake processors in the new devices as well, since they offer great productivity performance for thin and light laptops and offer day-long battery life.”
In other words, the internal specifications are mostly identical to the Mi Notebook 14 series that launched last year. Under the hood, an Intel Core i5-10210U Processor is offered, which is paired with either an integrated Intel UHD 620 graphics or NVIDIA’s GeForce MX250 mobile graphics card. The display is still a 14 inch anti glare FHD panel with an aspect ratio of 16:9 and a wide 178 degree viewing angle. For memory, Xiaomi is offering 8GB of DDR4 RAM and up to 512GB of SSD storage. The laptop weighs just 1.5 kilograms and offers up to 10 hours of battery life with its 46WWH battery.
Huawei Technologies, the Chinese giant which has been sanctioned by the United States, is still launching new devices and has a few more planned for the future. Now, we know that the company is working on a new smartwatch lineup.
As per the latest information, the company has applied to trademark “NOVA Watch” last week, which as the name indicates, is for the smartwatch series we expect the company to launch in the near future.
Do note that the Nova lineup isn’t new for the company as it has already launched several smartphones under it but it’s certainly new for the Chinese giant to launch smartwatches under this Nova branding.
It is being reported that the Huawei Nova Watch series will be focusing on fashion as its main selling point and will be targeted towards youngsters. Some indicate that the reason behind the new Nova smartwatch lineup could be the independence of its sub-brand Honor, stripping Huawei off of several devices from its portfolio.
This upcoming lineup will be a new addition to the company’s wearable products, which currently include Huawei Children’s Watch 3, Huawei Band, Huawei Watch GT, and Huawei Watch Fit.
As for the company’s market share, Huawei ranked among the top five wearable markets in China with 9.41 million shipments and a 28.6 percent market share. In total, the Chinese market saw shipments of 32.93 million devices in Q3 2020.
Last week, Xiaomi confirmed that it will be soon launching a new RedmiBook Pro laptop with the latest 11th generation Intel Core processor onboard. Today, the company revealed that the RedmiBook Pro will be breaking cover in February. Recent reports have revealed that the next laptop under Redmi branding will be dubbed as RedmiBook Pro 15.
The exact configurations of the RedmiBook Pro 15 are not known yet. However, the 11th gen Core i5 and i7 version of the notebook were spotted at Geekbench 5 last week. The listing revealed that the Core i5-11300H CPU edition and Core i7-11370H CPU version are both equipped with 16 GB of RAM and they are preinstalled with Windows 10 OS.
At the same time, RedmiBook 15S models featuring AMD Ryzen processors were also seen at the same benchmarking platform. The Ryzen 5 5600H CPU version was seen in 8 GB and 16 GB RAM variants, whereas the Ryzen 7 5800H model was spotted with 16 GB of RAM.
Redmi is expected to launch the Redmi K40 series launch event in February. There is a possibility that the company may use the same event to announce the RedmiBook Pro 15 notebooks. Starting at 2,999 Yuan (~$462), the Redmi K40 Pro is expected to arrive with Snapdragon 888 chipset, a flat display with a 120Hz refresh rate, and a large-sized battery measuring more than 4,000mAh. There are speculations that there could be two K40 models with Snapdragon 888 debuting together next month.
The coming month could be very eventful for Xiaomi as it is also rumored to launch the Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro. Rumors are rife that it could be equipped with better cameras as compared to the vanilla Xiaomi Mi 11. Some reports have claimed that it could be Xiaomi’s first phone with an under-display selfie camera.
Last month, a new Realme C-series phone named the Realme C20 was certified by the NBTC authority of Thailand. The handset has suddenly appeared on a Vietnamese retailer site FT Shop (via. Playfuldroid) with key specifications and official renders. It appears that the phone may launch in various Asian markets soon.
The listing reveals that the Realme C20 is yet another MediaTek Helio G35 chipset powered Realme C-series phone like the Realme C11, Realme C12, and Realme C15. The Realme C20 has a 6.5-inch IPS LCD panel with a waterdrop notch. It offers an HD+ resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels.
At the front, the Realme C20 has a 5-megapixel selfie camera. The rear shell of the phone has a square-shaped camera housing that features a single camera of 8-megapixel along with an LED flash. The phone runs on Android 10 OS.
The Realme C20 has 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. The phone draws power from a 5,000mAh battery and it supports 10W charging. The phone will be arriving in Blue and Black colors in Vietnam and it could be priced at VND 2,690,000 (~$117).
In related news, Realme announced a new 4 GB RAM version of the Realme C12 in India. The device comes with a native storage of 64 GB. Previously, the phone was available in a single version featuring 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage in the country. The 4 GB and 3 GB RAM variants of the C12 are priced at Rs 9,999 and Rs 8,999, respectively. The phone ships with specs like a 6.5-inch HD+ display, Helio G35, 5-megapixel front camera, 13-megapixel triple camera setup, and a 6,000mAh battery with 10W charging support.
On Thursday, Vivo will be unleashing the Vivo X60 Pro+ 5G phone in China. It will be the more powerful version of the Vivo X60 and Vivo X60 phones that debuted in December 2020. Before launch, the company released an official poster to showcase its rear design and key features.
The Vivo X60 Pro+ 5G will be arriving with dual main cameras and Snapdragon 888 mobile platform. According to tipster Digital Chat Station, the X60 Pro+ 5G has a quad-camera setup that includes a Samsung GN1 50-megapixel primary camera with f/1.6 aperture, a 48-megapixel ultrawide lens with second-generation micro-gimbal stabilization. The dual main cameras of X60 Pro+ are coupled with a 5x periscope telephoto lens and portrait sensor.
The Vivo X60 Pro+ 5G is now listed on Vivo China’s official website. Customers can book the flagship phone by spending 50 Yuan (~$7.7). The phone is listed in two hues like Dark Blue and Classic Orange and it can be availed in two variants such as 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage and 12 GB RAM + 256 GB storage. Rumors are rife that it will have the same 120Hz refresh rate supporting 6.56-inch AMOLED screen that can be found on the Vivo X60 and Vivo X60 Pro phones. It is rumored to come with 55W fast charging support.
The Vivo X60 and X60 Pro are equipped with 6.56-inch FHD+ AMOLED displays that offer a 120Hz refresh rate. The OriginOS based Android 11 OS comes preinstalled on the X60 duo. These phones are powered by an Exynos 1080 chipset and up to 12 GB of RAM. The X60 and X60 Pro ships with up to 256 GB of storage.
The Vivo X60 has a 48-megapixel + 13-megapixel (ultrawide) + 13-megapixel (portrait) triple camera system. The X60 Pro features 48-megapixel + 8-megapixel (periscope telephoto) + 13-megapixel (ultrawide) + 13-megapixel (portrait) quad-camera system. Both phones have 32- megapixel front-facing cameras. The X60 has a 4,300mAh battery, whereas the X60 Pro houses a 4,200mAh battery. The X60 duo carries support for 33W rapid charging.
For some manufacturers such as Apple, the launch of a new model doesn’t mean that a previous model will no longer be available for sale. No, you will still be able to purchase the old model and at an even cheaper price tag. You would think that is the same thing Samsung would do following the launch of the Galaxy S21 series. But in what can be termed a surprise, you can no longer purchase any model of the original Galaxy S20 series from Samsung’s official website.
If you visit Samsung’s official website now, the only Galaxy S20 phone you can purchase is the Galaxy S20 FE, which is no surprise considering it was announced a little over three months ago. However, the original Galaxy S20 series which includes the standard model, the Galaxy S20 Plus, and the Galaxy S20 Ultra are all listed as out of stock. We checked the Indian site too and it is the same thing – out of stock. The phones are also not available in the UK and in China.
This new development will surely disappoint those who thought they would be able to get last year’s flagship phones at a more affordable price tag since there are now new models.
While Samsung will no longer officially sell the phones, we expect third-party sellers will still have units available. Also, there should be refurbished units available for purchase from these sellers.
Were you planning to pick up a Galaxy S20 phone following the launch of the Galaxy S21 series? What do you think of Samsung’s decision to abruptly pull the plug on the phones less than a year after they went on sale?
Alongside the Galaxy S21 series, Samsung also launched a new pair of TWS earbuds called the Galaxy Buds Pro. The earbuds, which are less than a week old, have begun to receive an update that brings improvements and a new and important feature.
The update arrives as version R190XXU0AUA1, and is super small, coming in at just 2.20 MB. The changelog says that the update brings a hearing enhancements feature in addition to sound balance adjustments to the two earbuds. Below is the full changelog:
Implemented Hearing enhancements feature
Left/Right sound balance adjustment
Improved Bixby voice wake-up response
Improved system stability and reliability
The hearing enhancement feature and sound balance adjustment should allow users with hearing impairment to use the earbuds as a sort of hearing aid reports SamMobile.
The Galaxy Buds Pro is priced at $199.99. It has intelligent active noise cancellation which kicks in when it detects your voice, switching automatically from ANC to ambient sound when you are having a conversation.
The earbuds also have Dolby Head Tracking which provides a 360-degree audio experience when watching a movie or TV show. You will be able to experience the direction of the sound as you move your head. Another cool feature is Auto Switch which automatically switches the connection between devices based on the scenario. For example, when watching a movie on your Galaxy Tab and you receive a call on your Galaxy phone, the earbuds will pause playback and switch to the phone for the call, and switch back to the tab when the call ends.
The Galaxy Buds Pro has a battery life of 8 hours on a single charge (28 hours with case). It goes down to 5 hours if you have Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) turned on. It also supports fast charging – charging for five minutes will provide one hour of playback time. The case supports both wired charging via USB-C and Qi wireless charging.
Samsung has also made it easy to find when you lose them. Using the SmartThings app, the earbuds will emit a beep so you know where you put them. There is also Offline Finding which will tell you the last location the earbuds were used even if they are no longer connected to your device. Do note that some of these features are only available on Galaxy devices running a certain software version.
Xiaomi is primarily known for making top-end mobile phones but also manufactures a slew of other products including smart home cameras, under the MIJIA brand. The Chinese tech giant has now announced the MIJIA Smart Camera AI Exploration Edition. The product will be launched under crowdfunding at Xiaomi Mall on January 20. It carries a price tag of 399 yuan (~$61).
MIJIA Smart Camera AI Exploration Edition
The MIJIA Smart Camera AI Discovery Edition is a successor to the MIJIA Smart Camera which was launched in 2019. Recall that Xiaomi also launched the MIJIA Smart Camera Standard Edition with a magnetic base that can be attached to metal objects such as refrigerators and other surfaces with magnetic properties. It also comes with IP65 dustproof and waterproof protection among other features.
The new MIJIA Smart Camera AI Exploration Edition is equipped with a 4T algorithm chip, which has comprehensively enhanced recognition capabilities. It supports AI pet detection and AI face recognition, and can automatically generate a video.
The Smart Camera adopts a dual-motor pan-tilt design with a 360° horizontal viewing angle and a 118° vertical viewing angle. The new feature onboard this model is a 3-megapixel ultra-clear camera with a resolution of up to 2304x 1296 pixels. The camera also comes with built-in 940nm infrared fill light. In addition, this product has a built-in Bluetooth gateway. After connecting to a Bluetooth device, you can remotely view the data of the Bluetooth device on the MIJIA app.
Huawei Smart Life was introduced by the tech giant alongside the Honor Smart Life brand a couple of years back to take on the likes of MIJIA and Meizu smart home brands. Since then, a growing number of products have been released. The latest one is the Huawei Smart Life Air Purifier 1Pro. The product is presently on sale on Huawei Mall for 2199 yuan (~$338). It will go on sale on Jingdong from January 20. The Huawei Smart Life Air Purifier 1Pro has a rectangular shape with curved edges. It also sports a 5-inch IPS high-definition color screen and supports Huawei Smart Life App control
The product has a virus aerosol removal rate and a deep ultraviolet UVC + lysozyme antibacterial rate of up to 99.99%. It supports intelligent autonomous switching, has virus-removing aerosols, uses H13-grade filter materials, activated carbon adsorption, lysozyme, and deep ultraviolet UVC kills bacteria, and supports the active condensation of negative ions.
In addition, Huawei Smart Life 720 Full-Efficiency Air Purifier 1Pro is equipped with a quad-core chip, supports 800mh particulate CADR and 400m3/h formaldehyde CADR. This makes it a suitable companion to eliminate impurities, allergens, and chemicals like formaldehyde. The device is claimed to be effective against viruses. The product is design with a 31db sound level which ensures it won’t disturb your sleep while in use.
Huawei’s App Gallery now has over 500 million monthly active users worldwide(as of 2020). The company has reformed its features and added the most needed apps like Hungama, Bolt, HERE Maps etc. Today, it has revamped the App Gallery interface.
This new interface, which is launching across Europe, has localized content, helps easy navigation across thousands of Apps, Games, and more. Huawei is doing this with a new Discovery experience having ‘Featured’ content.
The company explained the new features of the App Gallery via a Press Release. The first and foremost change you will notice is the design of the interface. Huawei says that the App icons are now”Bigger and Bolder”. It adds that the interactive discovery will help present the Apps in an elegant but eye-catching and intriguing manner.
Basically, the App Gallery now has two Major Sections – ‘Featured’ and ‘Categories’. Here, the new Featured tab has Apps arranged in Cards at the top. These have marquees of Apps, Games handpicked by the team that are relevant to the user. It will include curated contents like Articles, Guides, and reviews as well.
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Huawei says that App Gallery’s editors will make the contents focus more on local trends and needs. Before we jump into other features, let’s look at the list of countries that are going to receive this UI:
*Note: To use the new App Gallery, make sure you complete updating the 6.0.2 (Oct 2020) and 11.0.2 (Dec 2020) versions beforehand. The rollout will begin from Today in the above-mentioned countries. You can also expect it to expand to other regions in the future.
Coming back, the Featured tabs can now be scrolled up/down to surf like a social media website from newer to older posts. Additionally, the Featured tabs also have Campaigns and Gifts tabs. They show recommendations like Lucky Draws, Cashback offers, and Challenges to win rewards, etc.
The Gift section has freebies for downloading the Apps. It might also include a free-subscription to certain premium services as a bonus, extra credits for Games(in-game Purchase), and more. That said, the Apps and Games can now be discovered under two Exclusive Tabs to avoid confusion, see reviews/ratings easier.
“The redesigned AppGallery lives up to its name by allowing users to browse easily through our curated content and discover unexpected delights,” says Wang Heng, Vice President, Global Partnerships and Eco-Development at Huawei Consumer Business Group, CEE, and Nordics.
Xiaomi Group Vice President, President of China Region, and Redmi General Manager Lu Weibing has been a reliable source of information about the upcoming Redmi K40 smartphone. The Redmi flagship is expected to debut later this month and ahead of the launch, Lu Weibing has again come out with a new detail about the Redmi K40 series.
The Redmi K40 series is expected to pack a flagship Snapdragon 888 series processor and according to the screenshot shared by Weibing, the device will come with durable battery life. Battery durability is a relative term but in this case, the device is shown to still have 64% of the power after 10.5 hours of continuous use. The MIUI system forecasts the remaining 64% can still be used for 25 hours and four minutes.
However, we can’t judge definitively if the battery will have such extended usage outside light usage or standby mode. The post didn’t indicate if the battery usage was recorded during heavy usage.
Further, the screenshot also shows that the Redmi K40 will come with a screen resolution of 2400×1080 pixels. Although the battery capacity is unknown at this time, we expect it to be more than 4000mAh.
For reference, Redmi K30 4G and 5G were released in December 2019 while the Redmi K30 Pro/Zoom version was released in March last year, priced from 2999 yuan (~$462) to 3999 yuan (~$616). The brand later added the Redmi K30 Speed Edition, Redmi K30i, Redmi K30 Extreme Commemorative Edition, and Redmi K30S Extreme Commemorative Edition.
Lu Weibing had earlier hinted that the device will be launched next month and will be priced from 2999 yuan(~$462).
2020 is finally over but OPPO decided to release one last flagship before the end of the year: we are talking about the OPPO Reno5 Pro+. It is the first flagship phone from the Reno lineup since the Reno 10x Zoom and one of the most powerful devices in the market, despite its price is not excessive. In this comparison, we decided to highlight the main differences between the latest OPPO high-end model and other flagships from the main brands released in 2020. We chose the iPhone 12 Pro and Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra for this specs comparison because the iPhone 12 Pro Max and the S21 lineup are definitely too expensive and recent for the Reno5 Pro+. Let’s see who is better.
OPPO Reno5 Pro+ 5G vs Apple iPhone 12 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G
OPPO Reno5 Pro+
Apple iPhone 12 Pro
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT
159.9 x 72.5 x 8 mm, 184 g
146.7 x 71.5 x 7.4 mm, 189 g
164.8 x 77.2 x 8.1 mm, 208 g
DISPLAY
6.55 inches, 1080 x 2400p (Full HD+), AMOLED
6.1 inches, 1170 x 2532p (Full HD+), Super Retina XDR OLED
6.9 inches, 1440 x 3088p (Quad HD+), Dynamic AMOLED 2X
If we talk about the build quality, then the iPhone 12 Pro has no rivals here. It is built with a stainless steel flame and a glass back with the Ceramic Shield protection, and it is waterproof with the IP68 certification up to 6 meters deep. If we only consider the look, the OPPO Reno5 Pro+ 5G is very attractive due to its thin and lightweight design, as well as its high screen-to-body ratio. But there is to say that the iPhone 12 Pro is actually more compact and thinner than the OPPO Reno5 Pro+. The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is the biggest one but still comes with a very attractive design and a waterproof body thanks to the IP68 certification.
Display
The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G has the most advanced display. It is a wide 6.9-inch panel with a Quad HD+ resolution, a 120 Hz refresh rate, and the HDR10+ certification, rated A+ and one of the best displays ever by DisplayMate. Further, the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G supports the S Pen for handwriting and drawing on the display. The OPPO Reno5 Pro+ has a 90 Hz refresh rate and a very good panel, but despite its standard refresh rate, the iPhone 12 Pro actually comes with a better display delivering a higher-end image reproduction. In each case, we are talking about OLED panles, but the iPhone 12 Pro lacks an in-display fingerprint scanner, unlike its two rivals. On the other hand, it relies on Face ID (3D facial recognition) for authentication.
Hardware and Software
If you want the highest performance, then you should go for the iPhone 12 Pro. It is equipped with an amazing Apple A14 Bionic chipset built at 5 nm and paired with 6 GB of RAM. But you have to deal with iOS, and if you are an advanced user or you do not own an Apple ecosystem, you might not like it. If we consider the U.S. version of the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G, it is more powerful than the OPPO Reno5 Pro+ thanks to the Snapdragon 865+ mobile platform. But the OPPO Reno5 Pro+ has a better chipset than the EU version of the Note 20 Ultra coming with a weaker Exynos 990. OPPO Reno5 Pro+ runs Android 11 out of the box, Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G has Android 10, and iPhone 12 Pro comes with iOS 14.
Camera
Each of these devices is a camera phone and it is very hard to pick the best one. Their performance mostly depend on the situation in which you click the photos. The iPhone 12 Pro is more interesting when it comes to video recording, while Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G has better zoom capabilities thanks to its 12 MP periscope camera with 5x optical zoom. The OPPO Reno5 Pro+ features an amazing 50 MP main sensor: the new Sony IMX766. Overall, iPhone 12 Pro looks more convincing, but we had no chance to test the OPPO Reno5 Pro+ as it just debuted in China.
Battery
Despite its 4500 mAh capacity, the battery of the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G is disappointing. With just 2815 mAh, the iPhone 12 Pro is able to achieve similar results. Instead, we believe the OPPO Reno5 Pro+ will actually be better. It also comes with a faster charging technology, but you should keep in mind that it lacks wireless charging.
Price
OPPO Reno5 Pro+ starts from €500/$605 in China, while you need more than €1000/$1200 to get iPhone 12 Pro and Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G in the global market. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra looks like a more complete phone for a lot of users, and so is the iPhone 12 Pro for the remaining ones. But the OPPO Reno5 Pro+ can let you save a lot of money while still getting a great flagship.
A certificate from the European Economic Community (EEC) has revealed that the OPPO Band was certified today, proof that it may soon be announced for global markets. The certificate also reveals the fitness tracker has the model number OB19B1.
The OPPO Band has a 1.1-inch AMOLED display with a 126 x 294 resolution and 2.5D glass on top. The fitness tracker has a heart rate monitor, blood oxygen level detection that works even while you sleep, and can track up to 12 different sports including outdoor and indoor running, rowing, elliptical, and badminton.
The fitness tracker has a 100mAh battery and OPPO claims it will provide up to 14 days of usage. It has a pogo pin charger and it takes 1.5 hours to charge from empty to full.
The OPPO Band is sold in three versions in China. The standard version is ¥199 while a second version called the OPPO Band Fashion which has NFC sells for ¥249. A third version called the OPPO Band Eva is ¥299. OPPO will most likely only announce the standard version for the international market.
There is no info on the launch date but we won’t put it past OPPO announcing it alongside the Find X3 series which is scheduled to arrive in March. OPPO may also decide to announce it earlier than that.
Samsung has been in the news lately for one move or the other. The latest news to come out from the South Korean tech giant is the marked changes this year in relation to the accessories package for its lineup of smartphones slated for release this year. A number of models, we can confirm at this time, will come without a charger and earphones.
We hope the action may not douse the impact of the important news that the S Pen has been introduced to the S series. There would be no chargers in the following retail packages of Samsung’s latest flagship models, the Galaxy S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra.
In addition, there are indications that the observed charger changes would be extended to other Galaxy models. It would seem that the tech giant has decided to forgo the charger accessory in its upcoming smartphone releases in the coming weeks and months.
There had been several speculations and predictions even since last year that Samsung may toe the present line of action after Apple last year took a similar decision to omit chargers or earphones from the packages of certain of its products. At that time, several tipsters predicted that Samsung might follow suit in taking a similar decision as Apple’s.
In a statement released to the public earlier this week, a spokesperson of the company, TM Roh all but confirmed that indeed the company was working on gradually removing chargers, as well as earphones from the packages of its smartphones.
The action may also be linked with the fact that Samsung will be unveiling a couple of fast wireless chargers in a few weeks. While the chargers are very important accessories that should be part of the package, earphones, on the other hand, are a sort of bonus and could be easily omitted.
As things stand, Samsung faithful will have to purchase both a charger and earphones separately whenever they buy a new smartphone this year.
At the Galaxy S21 online conference today, Samsung also launched the Galaxy Fit2 fitness tracker in China. This one surprisingly comes with a $20 lesser price tag than the US whilst sporting features like IP68 rating, AMOLED display, sleep and stress tracking, and more.
Galaxy Fit2 China Price, Availability
The Galaxy Fit2 is priced at 249 yuan(~$39) in China. It will be available in Black and Red color options. If you compare this price with the US launch price($60), it is $20 cheaper. Also, the fitness tracker is at least a ₹1,000 costlier in countries like India(₹3,999).
Even though you can get the Fit2 for about 49 bucks in the US, the Fit2 in China is still a $10 cheaper in China. Anyway, the Fit2 will be available for purchase on January 29. Just like any other Samsung product, you can expect it to launch on Samsung website, JD.com, and other online & retail partners.
The Galaxy Fit2 features a 1.1-inch AMOLED rectangular display with a resolution of 126×294 pixels and 16M colors. As mentioned in early reports, it brings improvements in Display and battery over predecessor, the Galaxy Fit. It also has a TPU strap and weighs lesser 21g.
Under the hood, it has 2MB RAM and 32MB internal memory. It has all the required sensors like Photoplethysmography, Accelerometer, Gyro.
Other features include Bluetooth 5.1 for connectivity. It runs on FreeRTOS(Real-Time Operating System), a one-touch key for navigation, 70 different watch faces, 90 workout modes, 5ATM along with an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance.
It also has a music controller, sleep & stress tracking, hand-wash reminder. All this is backed up by a 159mAh battery which is higher compared to 120mAh on the predecessor. That said, Samsung says users can get up to 15 days of battery life on a single charge.
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