There are a number of phone brands in the world. But there’s only one company that is more successful than any other in Africa. And it is none other than Transsion Holdings, the parent firm of TECNO, itel, and Infinix.
Counterpoint Research, a well-known research firm has published a report on Transsion’s success in Africa. According to which, this company went public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in September 2019. Just within 15 months, its market capitalization rocketed by 146% and as a result, its value rose to RMB 110.8 billion ($16.9 billion).
Unlike other brands, Transsion brands have been targeting low-tier cities and rural areas in Africa since their early days in the region. These brands spend heavily on distribution, sales & marketing, and campaigns & go-to-market activities to different regions’ realities. When required, they even send their managers from the Chinese headquarters to live and work in remote African places for a longer period of time to gain local language.
Because of this strategy, Transsion brands continued to grow in 2020 despite the COVID-19 global pandemic. The company reported revenue and income of RMB 25 billion ($3.77 billion) and RMB 1.95 billion ($295 million) in the first three quarters of last year.
In Q3 2019, TECNO, itel, and Infinix together led the Arican Smartphone as well as feature phone markets with 38% and 67% respectively. Also, 45% of smartphones priced under $100 were shipped by these three brands alone.
With Africa slowly developing, these brands are expected to continue their growth as the number of possible consumers (youth) driving smartphone usage is forecasted to increase by 30% or to 506 million in the next decade.
Apart from being India’s largest smartphone brand, Xiaomi is also the leading smart TV company in the country. The firm sells a wide variety of televisions in the country across different price categories. But unfortunately, with the new year, the Chinese tech giant has hiked the price of 7 TV models in the region.
Xiaomi Mi TV 4A 32 Horizon Edition
Back in early December, Xiaomi hiked the prices of four Mi TV models in India. Now, a little over a month later, these televisions have received another price increment along with three other models.
According to 91Mobiles, the Beijing-based company has hiked the price of the following Mi TVs by up to ₹3,000.
Xiaomi Mi TV Price Hike India January 2021
Model
Old Price
Price Hike
New Price
Mi TV 4A Pro (32-inch)
₹13,999
₹1,000
₹14,999
Mi TV 4A (32-inch) Horizon Edition
₹14,499
₹1,500
₹15,999
Mi TV 4A Pro (43-inch)
₹22,499
₹2,500
₹24,999
Mi TV 4A (43-inch) Horizon Edition
₹23,499
₹2,500
₹25,999
Mi TV 4X (43-inch)
₹25,999
₹3,000
₹28,999
Mi TV 4X (50-inch)
₹31,999
₹3,000
₹34,999
Mi TV 4X (55-inch)
₹36,999
₹3,000
₹39,999
Going by the above table, we can note that Xiaomi has increased the price of the standard HD TV by ₹1,000, Horizon Edition (slim bezel) HD TV by ₹1,500, FHD models by ₹2.500, and lastly, 4K models by ₹3,000.
Having said that, the new prices are already live at Mi.com, Amazon India, Flipkart, and other popular online as well as offline retailers.
Known Apple supplier, Murata Manufacturing Co, is expecting the demand for 5G enabled smartphones to hit the half a billion mark in the coming fiscal year. This news also arrives as companies are rushing to snatch Huawei‘s market share in the global consumer market.
According to a Bloombergreport, the world’s largest ceramic capacitors maker, which supplier Apple and other smartphone brands, expects the demand for 5G devices to reach 500 million units by the end of this year. This would have major OEMs like Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo try and secure components for their smartphone offerings. The companies would also fight to secure the void left behind by Huawei Technologies.
Murata President, Norio Nakajima, had stated in December 2020 that the company’s factories will not be taking any break during the holidays to catch up with the growing orders owing to high market demands. The senior official said that “the situation is most severe with our cutting-edge capacitors for smartphone use.” He further added that “These handset makers are competing to grab our supply capacity once taken by Huawei, and I am not sure how much of it is backed up by their actual production forecast. I feel like the move is overheated, and thus expect their orders would drop in February and March.”
Xioami Mi 10i 5G
The Apple supplier’s president said that the industry had reached 300 million 5G smartphones during the current fiscal year, and is expecting the upcoming year to have this figure reach at least 500 million. Furthermore, Murata is also preparing on making capital expenditure to keep pace with the growing demand as well. Interestingly, analysts see this projection from Murata’s chief as “too conservative” believing that demand for 5G handsets, especially from Apple, to not subside anytime soon and will continue to surpass expectations.
Despite the Apple iPhone 12 series launch being delayed, the 2020 lineup was met with a positive reception overall and saw strong sales. However, the company might have been ‘disappointed’ with the iPhone 12 mini sales.
According to a CIRP report (Via 9To5Macreport), the iPhone 12 family accounted for 76 percent of new iPhone sales during the month of October through November just after the launch. Out of the entire lineup, the 6.1 inch base iPhone 12 model held the largest share of new iPhone sales in the US, with a 27 percent share. This was closely followed by the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, both of which accounted for around 20 percent of new iPhone sales in the US during the same period.
This figure is higher than the iPhone 11 series during its launch, which only accounted for about 69 percent of new iPhone sales. In other words, the iPhone 12 series is the most successful iPhone lineup in the US during the period after its launch. But despite its great market performance, the Consumer Intelligence Research Partners report found that the 5.4 inch iPhone 12 mini model didn’t match up to Apple’s expectations.
As per the report, the Apple iPhone 12 mini only accounted for 6 percent of new iPhone sales in the period of October to November 2020. According to analyst Mike Levin, the reason for this might have been the pricing of older iPhone models like the 499 US Dollars iPhone XR and the 599 US Dollars iPhone 11, which might have been more attractive to prospective buyers.
Expanding the portfolio of products under the AirPods lineup, Apple recently launched its AirPods Max headphones. It is also the most expensive product in the lineup, priced at $549, positioning it as a premium offering.
However, it now seems that the company has a cheaper variant of the same on its way. Reports have indicated that Apple could be launching a less-expensive ‘Sport’ edition of the AirPods Max and there will be few changes to make it cheaper.
Apple AirPods Max
As per the latest information coming from LeaksApplePro, the upcoming cheaper model of the Apple AirPods Max headphones could be priced around $350. With such pricing, it will be competing against the likes of the Sony WH-1000XM4 and the Bose QuietComfort 35 II.
To make the headphones cheaper, the company has planned to make some changes. It has reportedly opted to go with a plastic build instead of machine-textured anodized aluminum ear cups and stainless steel headband.
If the company opts for a good quality of plastic, the experience could be a premium one. Opting for plastic could be a good thing as the headphones will be lighter in weight, something that many users have criticized Apple for the current model of AirPods Max.
In terms of features, we expect Apple to retain some of the highlighting features of the recently launched headphones, including Active Noise Cancellation, spatial audio, and Transparency Mode, and 20-hour battery life. However, we advise you to take all this information related to the cheaper AirPods Max with a pinch of salt.
Meanwhile, Apple is all set to launch its next-generation AirPods true wireless earphones in the market in the coming months. The company is also expected to launch a couple of new products this year, including an AR device and AirTags, among others.
Huawei is a technology giant with a presence in several different categories, from consumer electronics to telecom equipment. The company is also exploring new categories, including Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAVs) or Drones.
The company has been authorized to apply for drone-related patents and its new patent has been published with number CN110737212B named UAV Control System and Method. Although the patent was published this month, the company applied for it in July 2018.
As the title itself suggests, the patent is related to the control system and method for managing the drone. The system suggested in this patent include a task unit, a first action module, a sensor unit, a first function module, a collaborative computing module, and a first response module, among others.
The task unit splits the task after obtaining it into target actions and the information is sent to the first function module and first response module by the first action module. After getting data through the sensor units and performing several actions, the data is processed for the system using an AI chip.
A few weeks ago, we reported about another patent from Huawei related to drones which is named Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Identification Module and Storage Method. It details how the physical identifier and storage method works to read and track information of a drone during its whole life-cycle.
Samsung introduced a 120Hz refresh rate on its smartphones with last year’s Galaxy S20 series. However, the high refresh rate was limited to Full HD+ screen resolution while the WQHD+ was limited to 60Hz.
But, if the new report coming from Ice Universe is to be believed, then the users won’t need to choose between high screen resolution or high refresh rate with the upcoming Galaxy S21 series flagship smartphones.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G Render by Letsgodigital
It is said that the upcoming Samsung flagship smartphones will support a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate for WQHD+ (3200 × 1440 pixels) screen resolution as well. But the feature could be limited to the Galaxy S21 Ultra model.
It’s noteworthy that the newly launched Xiaomi Mi 11 flagship smartphone also comes with support for a 120Hz high refresh rate for its QHD+ screen resolution display, as we mentioned in our hands-on overview.
The other two models in the series — Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 Plus could be getting a downgrade. It appears that the company has decided to limited both these models to Full HD+ screen resolution instead of Quad HD+.
It has also been confirmed that the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G will come with support for the S-Pen stylus, a first for the S-series smartphone. Being a top-of-the-line offering, the phone will offer the best from Samsung in terms of camera performance through the quad-camera configuration.
The device is expected to feature a 108MP primary camera sensor, along with a 12MP ultra-wide-angle lens, a 10MP sensor with support for 3x optical zoom, and another 10MP sensor with 10x optical zoom support. To look at the stunning images, the company will be offering a 6.8-inch AMOLED display on the Galaxy S21 Ultra with 1600nits peak brightness.
Samsung is all set to launch the Galaxy S21 series of flagship smartphones on 14th January at its Samsung Unpacked event. Along with these phones, the company is set to launch a few more products at the same event, including Galaxy Buds Pro TWS earphones.
President of the United States, Donald Trump, who lost the election and is set to leave office in a couple of weeks, has signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese applications, including Alipay and WeChat Pay.
Interestingly, the order is set to take effect in 45 days, after Donald Trump leaves office. The applications banned with this executive order includes apps from some of the biggest companies like Ant Group and Tencent.
In an attempt to justify the ban, Trump said that the applications can access private information from users and could be used by the Chinese government to “track locations of Federal employees and contractors, and build dossiers of personal information.”
Several US-based companies, including Apple, Ford Motor, Walmart, and Walt Disney previously objected to an executive order by Donal Trump that banned Tencent’s WeChat as well as ByteDance’s TikTok. A federal court has issued a preliminary injunction blocking the ban on WeChat.
As noted above, the executive order bans Alipay, a payments application from Ant Group with more than a billion users. It also bans three applications from Tencent, which includes WeChat Pay, QQWallet, and Tencent QQ. Other apps in the list include CamScanner, SHAREit, Vmate, and WPS Office.
The move seems to be furthering the US-China trade war which started when Donald Trump issued an executive order banning China-based Huawei Technologies, the world’s largest telecom equipment manufacturer.
A recent report revealed that Honor has postponed the launch event of the Honor V40 series to Jan. 18. Ahead of the rumored launch, a specs sheet of the Honor V40 smartphone has appeared on Weibo (via. Mydrivers).
Honor V40 specifications (Rumored)
According to the leak, the Honor V40 measures 163.32 x 74.08 x 7.85mm and weighs around 184 grams. It houses a 6.72-inch OLED screen with a punch-hole design and 80-degree curvature at the edges. The screen supports a Full HD+ resolution of 1236 x 2676 pixels resolution, 1.07 billion colors, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a 300Hz touch sampling rate. It has a front camera of 32-megapixel.
The rear shell of the phone has a quad-camera setup that could be featuring either the Sony IMX766 50-megapixel primary lens or a 64-megapixel camera as the primary shooter. The main lens will be coupled with an 8-megapixel superwide lens, a 2-megapixel depth sensor, and a 2-megapixel macro shooter.
The Dimensity 1000+ chipset will fuel the device with 8 GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 128 GB / 256 GB of UFS 2.1 storage. The device will be backed by a 4,000mAh battery (3,900mAh rated value). The handset carries support for 66W fast charging and 45W fast wireless charging technology.
The Honor V40’s OLED panel is equipped with a fingerprint scanner. It will also carry support for 2D face unlocking. For additional storage, the device features an NM card slot. The device is preinstalled with Magic UI 4.0 based Android 10 OS. The leak has no information on the pricing of the device.
It is speculated that the Honor V40 series has two models. The above-mentioned variant’s model number could be YOK-AN10. The other model may have an NWE-AN10 model number. The latter was recently spotted with a 90Hz refresh rate display and Dimensity 1000+ chip at GameBench benchmarking site.
It’s been a couple of months since Honor became an independent brand and is no longer a part of Huawei. Since its detachment from the Chinese tech giant, the company has been working towards organizing its supply chain.
A few weeks ago, it was confirmed that Honor is in talks with Qualcomm for chipset supply. Now, as per the latest report coming from China, it seems that both companies are in an agreement where Qualcomm will supply chips for Honor’s upcoming smartphones.
Honor is no longer a part of Huawei and thus the restrictions imposed on the Chinese giant don’t apply to Honor, paving a path for Qualcomm, as well as other vendors such as MediaTek, to supply components to the newly formed entity.
Recently, it was reported that Honor is planning to produce over 100 million smartphones and has already communicated this goal to its suppliers. A big role in this process will be played by the company’s ability to form partnerships with suppliers and efficiently setting up its supply chain and production.
Apart from that, the company is also working on expanding its presence in the market by setting up new stores in China. It is all set to launch Honor Mall, the company’s official online store, next week. If the reports are to be believed, then the company has several new products up its sleeves, including smartphones, such as the Honor V40 series, as well as Honor SmartScreen Smart TVs.
The Galaxy S21 5G and Galaxy S21 Plus 5G will both feature a 10-megpaixel selfie camera with f/2.2 aperture. The rear-facing camera module of the S21 features a 12-megapixel primary with f/2.2 aperture, a 12-megapixel ultrawide lens with f/2.2 aperture, and a 64-megapixel telephoto lens with f/2.0 aperture. The main and telephoto lenses are expected to arrive with OIS support. The triple cameras are assisted by an LED flash.
The Galaxy S21+ 5G features the same triple camera setup found on the S21. As it is known through past leaks, the S21+ will be coming with a larger display and a bigger battery as compared to the vanilla model.
The Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G is blessed with a 40-megapixel selfie camera with f/2.2 aperture. The rear camera housing of the smartphone features a 108-megapixel main camera (probably, the new HM2 or HM3 lens) with f/1.8 aperture, a 12-megapixel ultrawide lens with f/2.2 aperture, a 10-megapixel telephoto lens with f/2.4 aperture, and another 10-megapixel telephoto snapper with f/4.9 aperture. The two telephoto sensors are expected to offer 3x optical zoom and 10x optical zoom, respectively.
The main sensor and the telephoto lenses of the S21 Ultra are said to be equipped with OIS support. The camera housing of the S21 Ultra also features an LED flash and a laser autofocus unit.
Earlier this week, an OPPO phone with model number PEEM00 had appeared in AnTuTu benchmarks with a staggering score of 771K+. It was speculated that it could be the Find X3 or Find X3 Pro smartphone. The PEEM00 model number suggests that it will be releasing in the Chinese markets. A new OPPO phone with a CPH2173 model number has appeared on the Geekbench 5 benchmarking site (via). The listing reveals that it is packed with flagship specs. Since OPPO is known for using CPHXXXX model numbers for its phones heading to global markets, it is likely that the CPH2173 smartphone could be the global version of the Find X3 or Find X3 Pro.
The “Lahaina” codenamed chipset that powers the OPPO CPH2173 is the Snapdragon 888 flagship chipset. The listing reveals that the phone is running on Android 11 OS and the SoC is coupled with 12 GB of RAM. In the single-core test, the Find X3 series phone has scored 1134 and it reached a score of 3660 in the multi-core test.
OPPO Find X3 and Find X3 Pro specifications (Rumored)
Last month, well-known tipster Evan Blass shared the key specifications of the Find X3 Pro. The specifications of the Find X3 are not known. However, it is likely that it may differ from the Pro variant only in departments like cameras and battery size.
The Find X3 Pro has a 6.7-inch OLED punch-hole display with curved edges. It is expected to produce 1440 x 3216 pixels and offer 1.07 billion color support. It is also said to arrive carry support for adaptive refresh rate ranging from 10Hz to 120Hz. The device will be running on ColorOS 11 based Android 11 OS.
The rear camera setup of the phone is expected to feature a pair of 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 sensors, one for the primary shooter, and the other one for superwide shots. The camera setup is also rumored to house a 13-megapixel telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and a 3-megapixel macro lens that may offer 25x zoom.
The Find X3 Pro is likely to get a 4,500mAh battery with an enhanced 65W SuperVOOC 2.0 fast charging support. The handset is also expected to arrive with 30W VOOC Air wireless charging technology. It could be arriving in ceramic or glass build and it could be available in three colors like black, blue, and white.
Last year, HTC announced two Desires smartphones called the Desire 20 Pro and Desire 20+ with mid-range specs. It appears that the Taiwan-based is now gearing up to launch a new Desire branded phone called the HTC Desire 21 Pro 5G. The live shots of the smartphone (via) have appeared to reveal its design from all angles. After the HTC U20 5G that went official last month, the Desire 21 Pro will be the second 5G-ready phone from the brand.
In the live shots, the upcoming HTC Desire 21 Pro 5G seems to be placed inside a green colored case. The right edge of the device seems to be equipped with a volume rocker and a power key that is integrated with a fingerprint scanner. it is unclear whether the handset has a 3.5mm audio jack.
At the front, the handset has a display with a punch-hole positioned at the top-center. The back panel of the device has a rectangle-shaped camera module, which seems to house four cameras and an LED flash. The text engraved in the camera housing reveals that it has a 48-megapixel camera as the primary shooter.
One of the snapshots reveals a few key pieces of information about the Desire 21 Pro 5G. Its model number is “2QAG100” and it carries support for dual-SIM connectivity. The device is preinstalled with Android 10 OS. The other specs of the device are under wraps. Hopefully, newer reports will reveal more details on the specs of the device. Readers can view the other images of the phone by visiting the above-provided links.
The HTC U20 5G that debuted last year in June offered specs like a 6.8-inch IPS LCD FHD+ punch-hole display, Snapdragon 765G, 8 GB of RAM, 256 GB of storage, Android 10 OS, and a 5,000mAh battery. It came with a 32-megapixel selfie camera and a 48-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel + 2-megapixel quad-camera system.
To start the new year on a fresh and positive note, many websites and companies have decided to offer huge discounts on their products. Giztop being one of them, is offering $30 off on Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G till January 10th using a coupon code – N9P5G30. The smartphone is a recent release and comes with decent specs and high-speed network connectivity.
Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G features a 6.67-inch punch-hole FHD+ display with a 20:9 aspect ratio and a 120Hz refresh rate. It runs on an Android 10 OS and is powered by a Snapdragon 750G SoC Octa-core processor coupled with 6GB/8GB of RAM and 128GB/256GB internal memory space. This Xiaomi flagship supports a 5G data network that offers high-speed downloading, streaming content, and more.
Packed with a quad-rear camera, this Redmi smartphone provides a decent photography experience. It includes a 108MP primary camera, an 8MP ultrawide camera, a 2MP macro camera, and a 2-megapixel portrait depth-of-field lens with a 16MP selfie camera. This smartphone also features portrait mode, AI beautifies, short film shooting, and more. Additionally, it comes with a 4820mAH battery that supports a 33W fast charging.
Other features include a 2+1 hybrid SIM and memory card slot, fingerprint scanner, and global network band compatibility.
Currently, Giztop is offering a $30 discount (original price: $299) on Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G. Interested users can avail this offer after using the coupon code – N9P5G30. The offer is only available till January 10th so hurry and make the most of it.
The Redmi Note 9 Pro launched in India nearly a year ago. Then in April, Redmi announced a global version with a 64MP primary camera instead of the 48MP of the Indian version and support for a faster-charging technology (30W as against 18W). Now, a successor which will launch as the Redmi Note 10 Pro, is coming. However, we do not know yet if this is the global version or if it will be exclusive to India.
The Redmi Note 10 Pro was spotted on the FCC’s website with model number M2101K6G. It has also been certified by the European Economic Commission, Singapore’s IMDA, and Malaysia’s MCMC.
While they don’t specifically say that the phone is the Redmi Note 10 Pro, an image from another certification agency is the one that reveals the device’s market name. The image was posted on Weibo by Digital Chat Station and he adds that the device supports 5G. Another leaker, Sudhanshu Ambhore also confirmed that the device with the model number M2101K6G is the Redmi Note 10 Pro 5G.
We do not know the specs of the phone but if it is a 5G device, it should come with a processor from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 700 5G series or one of MediaTek’s Dimensity series. We also expect it to pack a big battery, most likely the same 5020mAh capacity as its predecessor, have at least 30W fast charging, and run Android 11 out of the box.
When Xiaomi officially unveiled the Mi 11 flagship series on December 28, the glitz and glamour that attended the arrival of the sleek, premium flagship was somewhat tainted by the announcement that the device will ship without a charging adapter.
Xiaomi Mi 11
Xiaomi’s decision comes just two months after Apple announced the iPhone 12 series without a charging adapter in the miniaturized retail box. What makes Xiaomi’s decision even surprising is that they had poked fun at Apple alongside Samsung and OnePlus, over the iPhone 12’s adapter removal.
The decision still continues to generate heated debates among Mi fans, many of whom question the sense behind the decision, considering that most buyers will still have to purchase a fast charging adapter separately, anyway. When the Mi 11 went on sale on January 1, only 20,000 persons purchased the “Green Edition” which is without an adapter. Also, an ongoing poll being conducted by Gizmochina shows that most of the respondents think the removal is a bad idea.
Quite a large number of persons who have expressed their thought about this issue think Xiaomi just copycatted Apple. Well, Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun has come out to debunk such notions. The CEO hinted recently in a live broadcast (via) that the idea of not including the charger was initiated by him and wasn’t a copy of what Apple did.
He stated that he had mooted the idea in 2015. Indeed Lei Jun had asked the big question on Weibo in a bid to gather user opinions on the matter. The story was covered by several blogs at the time, including GSMArena. He also added that when the company moved to Xiaomi’s Beijing Park last year, several boxes of chargers were thrown away. Thus, he again moved to implement the idea o removing the adapter from the retail box with the option to buy it separately.
In summary, Xiaomi’s decision is the implementation of an idea conceived five years ago. However, that cannot in any way remove the fact that the move to implement the idea may have been influenced by Apple.
Xiaomi Mi 11 is finally here and it is the first-ever phone equipped with the Snapdragon 888 mobile platform. Despite that, it is not a top-tier flagship and Xiaomi decided not to opt for the most advanced specifications in order to offer it at an affordable price. For this reason, a lot of people are wondering whether it is the case to choose the Xiaomi Mi 11 or an older flagship with top-tier specifications. In order to answer this question, we decided to compare the Xiaomi Mi 11 with Samsung Galaxy S20+ and OnePlus 8 Pro which are actually available at similar prices thanks to several deals.
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S20+ vs OnePlus 8 Pro
Xiaomi Mi 11
Samsung Galaxy S20+
OnePlus 8 Pro
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT
164.3 x 74.6 x 8.1 mm, 196 g
161.9 x 73.7 x 7.8 mm, 188 g
165.3 x 74.4 x 8.5 mm, 199 g
DISPLAY
6.81 inches, 1440 x 3200p (Full HD+), AMOLED
6.7 inches, 1440 x 3200p (Quad HD+), Dynamic AMOLED 2X
6.78 inches, 1440 x 3168p (Quad HD+), Fluid AMOLED
You should definitely discard the Xiaomi Mi 11 if you are looking for the best build quality. It features the Gorilla Glass Victus protection, sure, but it is not waterproof. The Samsung Galaxy S20+ and the OnePlus 8 Pro have the IP68 certification guaranteeing water resistance up to 1.5 meters deep. On the other hand, Mi 11 has a more original and beautiful design thanks to its cleaner rear side and high screen-to-body ratio. Do you prefer having the best look or a waterproof phone?
Display
All of these devices feature an astonishing display: in each case, you get a great AMOLED panel with a 120 Hz refresh rate, the HDR10+ certification, and a high Quad HD+ resolution. But on paper, the Xiaomi Mi 11 looks slightly better with its very high brightness and one billion colors. Unfortunately, we had no chance to test the display of the Xiaomi Mi 11 as it was announced just a few days ago, but it looks very promising. Right after, we should have the OnePlus 8 Pro which shows one billion colors just like the Mi 11: the quality should be similar.
Hardware/Software
The king of the hardware department is undoubtedly the Xiaomi Mi 11: it is the only one to feature the Snapdragon 888 chipset which is actually the best SoC by Qualcomm. Further, it offers up to 12 GB of RAM and up to 256 GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage. Both the OnePlus 8 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus are powered by the older Snapdragon 865 mobile platform (the European version of the Galaxy S20+ gets the Exynos 990). Further, Mi 11 runs Android 11 out of the box, while the OnePlus 8 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S20+ ship with Android 10.
Camera
Do you need the best camera phone? Just do not go for the Xiaomi Mi 11, because it lacks a telephoto sensor. The most advanced is the OnePlus 8 Pro featuring a dual 48 MP sensor on the rear side, an 8 MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, and a 5 MP color filter camera. Even the Samsung Galaxy S20+ has a telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom, while you do not get it on the Xiaomi Mi 11. On the other hand, the Mi 11 has a better 108 MP main camera which looks more promising for normal photos and videos.
Battery
Xiaomi Mi 11 has a bigger battery than Samsung Galaxy S20+ and the OnePlus 8 Pro, but the difference is marginal. This means that you should not get huge differences in battery life between Mi 11 and the OnePlus 8 Pro. What makes the difference is the charging speed, as the Mi 11 has faster charging technologies.
Price
Unfortunately, we still do not know the international price of the Xiaomi Mi 11 as it is still a China-exclusive. You can actually find the Samsung Galaxy S20+ and the OnePlus 8 Pro for less than €800/$985 globally. Unless the camera is your main priority, the Xiaomi Mi 11 is a more advanced handset than its two rivals. It lacks water resistance, but it has a lot of superior features.
Qualcomm announced the latest generation of its fast charging technology last year. Called Quick Charge 5, the technology brings support for 100W+ fast charge to compatible devices.
Following the announcement in July 2020, only one device has been officially confirmed to support the charging protocol and that is the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra. An official document published by Qualcomm last November that contains a list of different Quick Charge technologies and compatible devices and chargers has no phone or charger listed under Quick Charge 5. This is not surprising as there are less than five devices in the world that even support 100+W fast charging.
While we wait for more devices to launch with support for Quick Charge 5, an image of what is most likely the first Quick Charge 5 charger has surfaced on the web.
The photo which was posted on Weibo by the account 充电头 (Charger) shows a white power adapter with Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 printed on one side. It has a white body and a single USB-C output port at the top. It is not the smallest of chargers but it should easily fit into the average pocket. Unfortunately, there are no details about the manufacturer and the price of the charger.
We expect only a few manufacturers will launch phones with support for Quick Charge 5 this year. These manufacturers will definitely also have their own chargers which may or may not support the charging protocol but third-party accessory makers such as ZMI, Anker, Aukey, Baseus, etc. should launch power adapters that support the charging protocol.
Qualcomm says that Quick Charge 5 is 70% more efficient than Quick Charge 4+ and is also 10°C cooler than Quick Charge 4 and Quick Charge 4+. The charging technology is also backward-compatible with previous versions up to Quick Charge 2.0. So if you decide to pick up a Quick Charge 5 charger, you will be able to use it to charge a device that supports previous Quick Charge protocols.
Chinese tech giant Meizu first made its breakthrough manufacturing MP3 players before delving into other audio products like headphones and finally smartphones. The brand’s smartphone arm has slowed in recent times but it is still pushing other tech gadgets. Meizu was teased as planning to launch a smartwatch and truly wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation (ANC). Meizu’s Marketing Director Wan Zhiqiang has now confirmed on Weibo that active noise canceling truly wireless headset will be launched later this month.
Meizu has several headphones to its name including the Meizu POP launched in 2018 and subsequently the POP 2 and POP 2s TWS headphones. All the models with noise cancellation use Electronic Noise Cancellation (ENC) technology. The upcoming model, which may likely be called Meizu POP 3, will be the brand’s first true wireless headset with Active Noise cancellation (ANC).
The headset reportedly aroused heated discussions recently due to the design style that is similar to Apple’s AirPods Pro. Some netizens are of the opinion that it is too similar to the AirPods Pro. Although the company is yet to officially reveal the design, a patent application by Meizu for the earphone’s charging box (TWS ANC) filed on November 3, 2020, provides a sketch of the earbuds and the charging case.
The sketch shows the device will have a long stem unlike Meizu’s previous TWS headphones considering the form factor of the charging box. The charging box has a power button on the outside and at the bottom, there is a Type-C charging interface. There is a battery status indicator at the front of the case.
Apart from the headset, the Meizu Marketing Director also revealed some details about the brand’s first smartwatch. Wan Zhiqiang stated that Meizu will strive to sell the smartwatch in the first quarter of this year. The smartwatch was earlier tipped to go official in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Back in June 2020, Flyme’s official Weibo announced that the smart visual design and intimate interactive experience would not only be on the phone, with a “Flyme for Watch” teaser poster showing it will feature on the brand’s smartwatch. A teaser poster showing a vague outline of the watch was also released. The company had also applied for the registration of the “Flyme For WATCH” trademark.
A team of Malaysian researchers has developed a method to transform the fiber found in discarded pineapple leaves into a durable material that can be used to build the frames for drones.
The research team, drawn from Outta University in Malaysia is working on a project, led by Professor Mohamed Sultan. The researchers had been working on evolving sustainable ways of using pineapple waste generated by farmers in the Hulu Langat province, close to the capital Kuala Lumpur.
The process involves transforming the leaf of the pineapple into a fiber that can then be used as cheap and disposable parts of drones, with a wider aerospace application also being considered.
The team leader of the research group said that such drones made out of the bio-composite material had a higher strength-to-weight ratio than those made from synthetic fibers, and were also cheaper, lighter, and easily disposable, thereby making such parts to be biodegradable and environmentally friendly.
The prototype drones have been undergoing testing and are able to fly to a height of about 1,000 metres (3,280 ft) and stay in the air for about 20 minutes, according to the team.
Pineapple Drone
The research team hopes to scale up the size of the drones and the amount of load they can carry. This will expand the application of such drones to a variety of situations, including agriculture and aerial inspection.
The goal is to provide innovative solutions for farmers that will result in improved yields and a more pleasant farming experience, said William Alvisse of the Malaysian Unmanned Drones Activist Society, an NGO involved in the project.
It is hoped that the project which was launched in 2017 will boost revenues for pineapple farmers in the country, who previously discarded the stems and leaves of the annual fruit after harvest.
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