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Honor V40 could be postponed to January 18

It was reported in December that Honor has postponed the arrival of the Honor V40 phone to January 2021. Tipsters from China have been recently claiming that the Honor V40 will be launching on Jan. 12. However, fresh information reveals that its launch has been further pushed back. It is now speculated that Honor V40 may debut on Jan. 18.

According to a reliable leakster who is known for Huawei and Honor leaks, the launch event of the Honor V40 has been delayed. Another tipster has claimed that the Chinese brand had previously planned to debut the smartphone around the annual fan meeting event that was expected to take place on Jan. 13. The tipster claimed that the annual fan meeting will be now held online and the press conference of V40 has also been postponed.

Honor V40 launch postponed

Honor V40 January 18 launch tipped

He claimed that the Honor V40 is highly likely to debut on Jan. 18. The tipster also shared a poster of the device. A snapshot of the poster shared by the tipster reveals that the V40 ‘s reservation has started in China. The China texts mentioned above the phone’s image reads “Honor V40 series”, “appointment open”, and “Rebirth.”

Honor V40 poster

Since the poster mentions the Honor V40 series, it appears that there more could at least two V40 models. Recent reports have revealed that the model numbers of the V40 models could be NWE-AN10 and YOK-AN10. The series will mark the rebirth of the brand after its separation from Huawei, which was confirmed in November.

Rumors are rife that the Honor V40 series will arrive with a 6.72-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 300Hz touch sampling rate, Dimensity 1000+, a 50-megapixel quad-camera setup, 66W fast charging, and 45W wireless charging.

 

Huawei tops the DxOMark Selfie rankings with the Mate 40 Pro

DxOMark, the known camera testing brand, has just crowned the Huawei Mate 40 Pro for having the best selfie camera in a smartphone. The firm made the decision after various tests and ranking it against smartphones from other brands as well.

Huawei Mate 40 Pro featuredThe Huawei Mate 40 Pro has a dual selfie camera module on the front. It sports a 13 megapixel 1/2.8″ sensor, which arrives alongside a fixed focus lens and a time of flight sensor that helps with depth sensing for bokeh mode shots. Despite only having a 13 megapixel shooter, the Chinese tech giant’s engineers had surprisingly managed to “squeeze an awful lot of image quality out of the front camera module,” as per DxOMark. The device leads in the selfie category and holds the crown for Photography with 110 points, “thanks to class-leading performance across many attributes, and very few obvious flaws.”

As per the testings, DxOMark found that the camera offered great exposure even during low light scenarios, with a wide dynamic range as well. This helped the device quite a bit in well lit scenes, especially when the background was brighter than the subject. The tests also revealed that colors were fairly accurate, and the device offered good white balance in night scenes. Although it had a fixed focus lens, the Mate 40 Pro’s selfie shooter performed well in the tests, including the Bokeh shots.

Huawei Mate 40 Pro Review (7)

Furthermore, the fash on the Mate 40 Pro also helped illuminate the subject during the dark conditions and provided good exposure. While it was crowned the best, the device still had a few areas to improve upon, namely with the few image artifacts, certain instabilities, color inconsistencies at times, and inaccurate white balancing issues on skin tones. Although, these were still minor issues compared to its otherwise great performance.

 

Xiaomi confirms Mi 11 65W GaN charger issue fix to be rolled out soon

Xiaomi recently launched its latest flagship smartphone — Mi 11, which went on sale a couple of days ago. Apart from being the first phone in the world to come powered by the SD888 chipset, it is also the company’s first smartphone to come without a charger.

As the company is not offering a charger in the box, some users are using the Mi 65W GaN charger that the company sells separately, to charge the phone. However, many of them are reporting an issue.

Xiaomi Mi 11 65W GaN Charger Issue

EDITOR’S PICK: Qualcomm and Samsung are aiming to lead the smartphone market with their 5nm chips

Although the charger was withdrawn from sale in China a few months ago, users who had purchased it prior to that are using it to charge the newly launched Mi 11. But on connecting that charger, the phone reboots and enters into an infinite loop cycle.

Zhang Guoquan, Director of Xiaomi‘s Mobile System Software Department has said in a Weibo post that the company’s engineers have obtained the charger creating the issue. After analysis, the team found that the problem is with the specific model and batch of the charger because of the charging compatibility conflicts.

The Chinese company is now expected to push out an over-the-air (OTA) update that will fix the issue with the Xiaomi Mi 11 smartphone getting affected by the 65W GaN chargers. However, as of now, there is no timeline for this fix.

 

OnePlus Band tipped to launch in India on January 11, key specs and price revealed

Last week, OnePlus Band, the brand’s first wearable was reported to launch in India sometime in Q1 2021. Today, the company has started teasing it officially. Additionally, a well-known reliable leaker has not only tipped its launch date but also some of its specs as well as price.

OnePlus Band Teaser

The latest information regarding the OnePlus Band comes from Ishan Agarwal, a popular teenage leaker on Twitter. According to him, OnePlus’ first fitness tracker will be launching in India on January 11 priced around ₹2,499.

Further, as per him, the wearable will sport a 1.1-inch AMOLED display (touch input). It will come equipped with a heart rate sensor, a SpO2 sensor for blood oxygen level monitoring, and will also support sleep monitoring. 

 

That’s not all, it will feature 13 exercise (sports) modes and will be even IP68-certified dust and water-resistant. Last but not least, the fitness tracker will offer up to 14-day battery life.

If these specifications sound similar, then you aren’t wrong, Because they are identical to those of the OPPO Band. We already knew it last week when the product’s first poster was leaked. Anyway, now we can confirm that the upcoming OnePlus Band is nothing but a rebadged OPPO Band. 

OnePlus Band Render

That said, it will be competing against Mi Smart Band 5 and Mi Smart Band 4 in India. The only standout feature of the OnePlus Band is the presence of a SpO2 sensor, which is absent on Xiaomi’s popular fitness trackers.

 

Adobe officially ends support for Flash, recommends uninstallation

Back in 2017, Adobe had announced that it would be ending the support of its Flash browser plug in by the end of 2020. Now, the company has officially ended the software’s support and will begin blocking content running on Flash Player on 12th January 2020.

Adobe

Keep in mind, that most people would not be affected by the discontinuation of the Adobe Flash player as most major websites have already switched to other platforms. Notably, Apple users in particular, namely with iPhones and iPads, as both iOS and iPads never supported Flash, to begin with. Steve Jobs, the co founder and former CEO of Apple, had also shared his “Thoughts on Flash” back in 2010. He criticized Adobe software’s reliability, incompatibility issues, and battery drain on mobile devices. He even called it “painfully slow to adopt enhancements to Apple’s platforms,” as per a MacRumors report.

For those unaware, one of the reasons major websites shifted away from Adobe Flash was due to the platform suffering from various vulnerabilities. This exposed many PC and Mac users to malware and various other security risks as well. This caused many companies like Microsoft and Apple to constantly work to fix the numerous security issues. Thus, many eventually made the shift to other formats.

Adobe

Since Adobe Flash is no longer being officially supported and has reached the end of its lifespan, the company has recommended users to uninstall and remove the software from their devices completely, “to help protect their systems.” So it is advised to do so, to avoid any potential vulnerability from being exploited on your desktop or laptop PCs.

 

Samsung website confirms the upcoming Galaxy Buds Pro TWS earphones

Samsung has officially confirmed its upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event where the company will be launching the next-generation Galaxy S21 series flagship smartphones. Along with that, the company is also expected to launch the Galaxy Buds Pro.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro true wireless earphones have been in the news for quite some time and now it seems that the company may have confirmed it. The device appeared on the South Korean giant’s official website.

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Website Listing Leak

Folks at Sammobile spotted that Samsung Canada had put up information about the Galaxy Buds Pro wireless earphones but the listing no longer appears. For those who are unaware, the upcoming earbuds are said to be the competitor of the Apple AirPods Pro.

Based on the leaks so far, it appears that the Galaxy Buds Pro will come with a 2-way speaker, similar to the Galaxy Buds Plus. There will also be a more powerful active noise cancellation feature, which the company is calling Intelligent Noise Cancellation.

It is also said to provide users with greater control over the experience. The earphones will reportedly have three modes — Conversation Mode, Ambient Sound Mode, and Active Noise Cancellation Mode, which will also have level controls.

EDITOR’S PICK: Ericsson reportedly lobbied against Huawei’s 5G ban in Sweden

Galaxy Buds Pro all colors

They will also have Spatial Audio and an IPX7 rating for water resistance. There’s something mentioned about the Galaxy Buds widget for Samsung devices but currently, nothing is known about this.

In the battery department, the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro are expected to offer eight hours of playback time and 4.5 hours of talk time on a single charge. With the charging case, the talk time can be increased to 15 hours while the playtime can be upped to 28 hours.

As for the pricing, the earphones are expected to be priced at $199 — the most expensive in the lineup, $50 less than the AirPods Pro. For comparison, the Galaxy Buds Plus and the Galaxy Buds Live are priced at $149 and $169 respectively.

 

Qualcomm and Samsung aim to lead smartphone market with their 5nm chips

Qualcomm and Samsung are two of the biggest mobile chipmakers and the companies keep advancing their technologies with each new iteration. They have announced their latest 5nm chipsets and devices powered by them are now making their way to the market.

While Qualcomm had announced its latest Snapdragon 888 chipset last month, smartphones powered by the same are now getting launched. Xiaomi Mi 11, the first phone powered by the SD888 went on sale a few days ago and another device, iQOO 7, is all set to go official this week.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC

On the other hand, the Samsung Exynos 1080 is manufactured using the 5nm process, and the recently launched Vivo X60 series smartphones powered by the same. The company is also working on Exynos 2100.

Samsung is set to launch its next-generation flagship smartphone — Galaxy S21 lineup on 14th January and those phones are expected to come powered by the Exynos 2100 chipset, which is believed to be revealed at the same event.

EDITOR’S PICK: Two foldable Apple iPhone prototypes have passed Foxconn’s durability test

Qualcomm and Samsung are trying their best to capitalize on the hills of Huawei’s absence because of the newly imposed sanctions on the Chinese giant by the United States. Samsung, which so far used to reserve its chipset only for its own smartphones, is now giving it to other mobile makers.

However, in terms of total chipset shipments in the third quarter of 2020, MediaTek emerged as the leading brand with a 31 percent market. Qualcomm and Huawei HiSilicon followed the suite with 29 percent and 12 percent market share. Samsung and Apple came in fourth and fifth with a 12 percent market share each.

 

Ericsson lobbied against Huawei’s 5G ban in Sweden: Report

Borje Ekholm, the CEO of Ericsson, had apparently lobbied to overturn the ban on Huawei in Sweden, which prevented the company from participating in the roll out of 5G networking in the region.

Ericsson

According to a Bloomberg report, the Ericsson CEO had pressured a Swedish minister to reverse the ban on Huawei and ZTE as well. Reportedly, Ekholm had lobbied Foreign Trade Minister Anna Hallberg via a series of phone messages to review an order by the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS). For those unaware, this order was to operators that were required to remove networking equipment that was bought from the Chinese companies and replacing it from their infrastructure by January 2025.

An Ericsson spokesperson has confirmed the news that Ekholm was in contact with the minister. Furthermore, the news also arrives after Hallberg said that she did not have any contact with PTS and would never step in as minister and influence the decisions made by individual authorities. Halberg further added that she had never met with Ekholm regarding the matter. Similarly, Jacob Wallenberg, deputy chair of Ericsson’s board of directors, had previously said that “stopping Huawei is definitely not good.”

Ericsson

At the moment, Ericsson brings in 10 percent of its total sales from China, with Huawei being one of its biggest rivals as a telecommunications equipment provider. Notably, China had even warned that the Swedish companies would also see “negative impacts” from the ban if the decision wasn’t reversed. Although, the Swedish Prime Minister, Stefan Lofven is standing by the decision of the authority.

 

Two foldable Apple iPhone prototypes pass Foxconn’s durability test

Samsung and Huawei are currently a few of the only companies that have commercially launched foldable devices in the market. But it seems that Apple might soon join their ranks as two of its foldable device prototypes have passed the durability test at Foxconn.

Apple

According to a UDN report, the supplier of the Cupertino based giant has passed two distinct foldable devices through its durability test. Both variants are unique and feature a folding mechanism similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 2 and the Galaxy Z Flip. In other words, one bends horizontally, while the other folds vertically. As per the report, both foldable iPhones are not fully functional at the moment, and only the chassis and display components were tested.

Notably, these two areas are the crucial aspects, which had also proved to be the biggest launch challenge to Samsung’s first foldable device, the Galaxy Fold. So, it is reassuring to hear that Apple designs have passed quality control and durability checks for both parts. Furthermore, UDN also stated that now, the company would begin to evaluate both devices and will drop one of the designs and go forward with the other one.

Apple

Unfortunately, we have no solid idea when the company might actually launch a foldable device, but we can expect it to arrive most likely in 2022. It is also expected that Apple would ship an iOS/iPadOS hybrid software on this device to bring the functionality of both a tablet and a smartphone on the foldable device. Keep in mind, that this is still an unconfirmed report, so take it with a grain of salt for now and stay tuned for more updates that should arrive soon.

 

Xiaomi Mi 11 available from Giztop with fast international shipping

Just before the year-end, Xiaomi announced its new flagship smartphone – Mi 11. The smartphone comprises the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC, 108 MP rear-triple camera module and several other upliftments in comparison with its predecessor. However, the smartphone is already on sale in China and later will launch globally. But, the international users can grab the device from Giztop for $799 starting today.

xiaomi mi 11

Must See: Xiaomi Mi 11 vs iPhone 12: Specs Comparison

Giztop will start shipping the device within 24 hours. The smartphone is available in all three colours of Black, White and Blue. Moreover, the customers can opt from different storage variants of 8GB + 128GB, 8GB + 256GB and 12GB + 256GB storage variants.

However, it will take at least a month or two before the international audience gets their hand-on the new beast officially. It is better to ship internationally and enjoy the exciting performance of the device.

Xiaomi Mi 11 comes with a 6.81-inch AMOLED display featuring 1440 x 3200 pixels resolution. The display supports 120Hz refresh rate and 1500-nits brightness to aid better gaming experience. Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 sits inside the device coupled with Adreno 660 GPU. There’s a triple-rear camera module comprising a 108MP primary camera, 13MP ultrawide sensor and a 5MP macro lens. A single 20MP sits on the front side for selfies. The smartphone ships with 5.2 Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, Wifi and USB Type-C 2.0.

A massive 4600 mAh battery with support for 55W fast charging, 50W fast wireless charging is present.

Grab the Xiaomi’s flagship device at a great price of $799 from Giztop via the button below.

Grab Now

Related: Xiaomi Mi 11 first sale rakes in over 1.5 billion yuan in 5 minutes

Moto G Stylus 2021 appears in a different design in new renders

Recent reports have revealed plenty of information about the upcoming Motorola Moto G Stylus 2021 smartphone. The specifications, pricing, and renders of the phone were spotted in an Amazon listing last month. Popular tipster Steve Hemmerstoffer shared the CAD renders of the G Stylus 2021 phone. Interestingly, the new renders show the phone in a different design as compared to its renders that were seen at Amazon.

Moto G Stylus 2021 CAD renders

The CAD renders show that the Moto G Stylus 2021 with a punch-hole display design. The leak states that the phone measures 169.6 x 73.7 x 8.8mm and it houses a flat display of 6.8 inches.

Moto G Stylus 2021 renders 1Moto G Stylus 2021 renders 1

The renders of the G Stylus 2021 that appeared at Amazon revealed that it is equipped with a rectangle-shaped camera module. And, reliable tipster Evan Blass had claimed that it is equipped with a 48-megpaixel main camera, an 8-megapixel ultrawide lens, a 2-megapixel depth sensor, and a 2-megapixel macro lens. However, the new renders show that the phone has a square-shaped camera housing. Also, the tipster has claimed that instead of a 2-megapixel, it has a 5-megapixel macro lens.

Moto G Stylus 2021 renders 1Moto G Stylus 2021 renders 1

The leak reiterates that it has a front camera of 16-megapixel. Blass claimed that the phone has a side-facing fingerprint reader, but the new leak by Hemmerstoffer states that it has a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. As can be seen in the renders, the bottom edge of the device has a dedicated shaft for storing the stylus. Past reports have suggested that it could be fueled by the Snapdragon 675 chipset.

 

Samsung Display’s OLED sales to cross $5 billion in Q1 2021: Report

The sales of OLED panels from Samsung Display is expected to cross 5 billion US Dollars in the first quarter of 2021, as per a new market research report from a known analytical based firm.

Samsung

Omdia recently released a new report (Via TheElec), which stated that the display maker will exceed 5.18 billion US Dollars in sales of its OLED panels in the first quarter of the next year. This marks a significant rise of 30 percent over its first quarter sales from back in 2019, which reached 3.975 billion US Dollars. The rise is backed by the rise in the use of OLED panels in 5G smartphones. For those unaware, OLED panels are thinner than their LCD counterparts, making them more popular for 5G smartphones.

Furthermore, other benefits include better power efficiency. This is especially important considering 5G enabled handsets drain more power from the batteries in comparison to smartphones that support 4G networking, especially during content consumption. Notably, Samsung Display’s OLED panels are also expected to see a surge in sales due to the Apple iPhone 12 series launch. At the moment, the South Korean tech giant supplier around 8- percent of all displays for the Cupertino based company’s 2020 iPhone lineup.

Samsung

In the fourth quarter of 2020, 62.8 percent of all smartphones are expected to ship with OLED panels, as per Omdia. On the other hand, only 31.8 percent of smartphones would arrive with LCD displays. The smartphone industry is now leaning towards OLED panels, and since the company is one of the biggest suppliers, this surge in sales isn’t all that surprising.

 

LG Display to showcase its transparent OLED panels at CES 2021

LG Display had recently announced that it would be showcasing its transparent OLED panels at the upcoming event, CES 2021. These new displays are a new breed of OLED panels, with the company also unveiling its applications in various commercial spheres.

LG

According to the display maker, the new OLED panels have a transparency rate of 40 percent. This is way higher than the transparency rate of 10 percent, which was seen on LCD (liquid crystal displays) panels, as per TheElec report. The South Korean tech giant stated that it would showcase the new display technology on three exhibition zones, revealing the implications of the panels in different scenarios. This included a smart home product, use in subway trains windows, and even restaurants. The company has previously shown an interest in its wide variety of applications, especially the transport and automobile industry.

In the smart home zone, the transparent OLED display can be seen combined with the bed and will display useful information to users like weather updates, or entertainment with TV programs and movies. The frame is housed in the bed’s frame itself and can also be separated from the bed and placed anywhere else in the house. In the metro zone, the LG Display’s transparent OLED panels replace the traditional glass panels on the train.

LG

These panels will then be able to display information to users, like the upcoming stops or journey duration while also offering a view of the outside world. The third and final area is the restaurant zone. In this zone, the transparent panels are used as the petition between the customers and the cooks, allowing people a view of the menu while also the chefs that are preparing their food. LG Display stated that these online exhibitions will be open and available for everyone.

 

Mysterious Motorola Ibiza 5G phone with unannounced Snapdragon 4-series could be coming soon

German publication Technik News had recently revealed the codenames of upcoming Motorola phones such as Nio and Capri. While Nio is an upcoming Snapdragon 865 mobile platform powered smartphone, the Capri and Capri Plus are expected to debut as 4G midranges. These phones are tipped to launch in Q1 this year. Fresh information shared by the publication reveals that there is another upcoming Motorola phone codenamed Ibiza waiting to go official. It has shared the key specs of the device.

Motorola Ibiza specifications (Leaked)

The leak states the Motorola Ibiza phone’s model number is XT-2137. It will be powered by the mysterious SM4350 5G-ready Snapdragon chipset, which is codenamed as “Holi.” The SoC could be the forthcoming Snapdragon 4-series 5G chipset that is expected to debut in this quarter.

The handset is expected to arrive with a waterdrop notch display that supports an HD+ resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. Its SoC will be supported by 4 GB of RAM. The Ibiza phone will arrive with a native storage of 128 GB. The handset will run on Android 11 OS, and a 5,000mAh battery will be driving it.

Motorola Ibiiza is coming

The Motorola Ibiza will have a 13-megapixel Samsung S5K3I6 lens for capturing selfie shots. The back panel of the phone will have a triple camera setup that features a 48-megapixel Samsung S5KGM1ST main camera, a 5-megapixel Samsung S5K5E9 macro lens, and a 2-megapixel OmniVision (OV02B1B) depth sensor.

The exact moniker of the XT-2173 Ibiza phone is not known yet. It is likely to arrive as one of the cheapest 5G phones in the market. As far as launch is concerned, it is likely to debut in Q1 2021.

 

Huawei turns to Cloud services after US sanctions hamper its smartphone operations

As Huawei Technologies struggles under the impacts of the US sanctions, the company’s founder Ren Zhengfei said that the smartphone maker is now looking towards cloud services as its primary focus, over its smartphone and 5G operations.

Huawei

According to an SCMP report, the senior executive of the Chinese tech giant had made the announcement in an internal speech back in November 2020. The founder had said that the company must build up its strength in cloud services and that the brand needed to also make a “breakthrough” in the field. The official added that “It is impossible for us to simply follow the same path as Alibaba and Amazon … They have access to unlimited money in the US stock market.”

“Our enterprise business needs to scale back its battlefront … If our strategy is too broad, we will lose our combat strength.” Companies like Amazon are tech conglomerates with businesses spanning e-commerce, video streaming, and even cloud computing among various other businesses as well. Unlike these firms, Huawei has mostly focused on its telecom equipment services and its popular smartphone business.

Huawei Logo MWC 2019

As per Ren, the company should learn from companies like Amazon and Microsoft, both of which are major names in the global cloud services field. These brands focus on infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS). For those unaware, customers of these companies pay a fee to utilize their computing resources such as networking and data storage. At the moment, Huawei is already a leading cloud service provider in China, alongside Alibaba and Tencent. Although, its presence in the global market is still scarce, despite there currently being a surge in demand for could services.

 

Vivo X60 series up for pre-order in China; goes on sale from January 8

A few days ago, Vivo officially launched its new X-series smartphones — the Vivo X60 series, with a starting price of 3,498 yuan (approximately $540). Now, the phones are up for pre-order in China and will go on sale from 8th January.

As for the pricing, the Vivo X60 is priced at 3,498 yuan (~$540), while the X60 Pro is priced at 4,498 yuan, which is around $695. The Pro+ variant, on the other hand, is set to go on sale later this month.

vivo X60 and vivo X60 Pro Featured 01

Both, the X60 and X60 Pro feature a 6.56-inch AMOLED display that offers a screen resolution of 2376 x 1080 pixels and a 120Hz refresh rate. The screen, which has a 19.8:9 aspect ratio, is HDR10+ certified.

Under the hood, the devices are powered by the Samsung Exynos 1080 chipset, making them the first devices in the world to come packed with this new SoC. It is coupled with 8GB and 12GB RAM, offering 128GB and 256GB of internal storage.

The phones come with features like an in-display fingerprint scanner, face unlock, Dual SIM support, Bluetooth 5.1, NFC, and dual-band Wi-Fi in both phones. In the software department, they run the latest Android 11 operating system with the company’s newly announced OriginOS 1.0 custom user interface.

EDITOR’S PICK: Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2021 will be held on January 14

As for the cameras, the Vivo X60 comes with a second-gen Sony IMX598 48MP f/1.79 gimbal camera with a 4-axis OIS anti-shake and a closed-loop motor for impressive stabilization. There’s also a 13MP f/2.2 120° ultrawide angle camera and a 13MP f/2.46 50mm telephoto camera.

On the other hand, the Pro model features the Sony IMX598 48MP gimbal camera but with an f/1.48 aperture size and 7P lens. It also has a 13MP f/2.2 ultrawide angle camera, a 13MP telephoto camera, and an 8MP f/3.4 periscope camera that provides 5x optical zoom and up to 60x superzoom. Both phones have a 32MP f/2.45 selfie camera.

The Vivo X60 is powered by a 4300mAh battery while the Vivo X60 Pro comes packed with a 4200mAh battery. Both phones come with support for 33W fast charging technology.

 

Xiaomi Mi 11 flagship smartphone teased to soon launch globally

Last month, Xiaomi launched its latest flagship smartphone — Xiaomi Mi 11, the world’s first smartphone to come powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset, in its home country China.

Now, the company is gearing up to launch the device globally. While Xiaomi has not yet shared details about the phone’s global rollout, it has shared a teaser poster about the same, with a text that says “Mi 11 Series Global Launch Coming Soon.”

Xiaomi Mi 11 Global Launch Teaser

The smartphone has been well received in the market given that the company had managed to sell around 350,000 units in just five minutes of it going on sale in China. Prior to going on sale, the phone’s pre-orders exceeded 850,000 registrations on JD.com.

Apart from the global launch of the Mi 11 smartphone, the Chinese company is also gearing up to launch the Pro variant of the same, dubbed as Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro. The phone is expected to launch in the coming months but the exact date is not yet known.

Coming to the Mi 11, the smartphone features a 6.81-inch 2K display that offers 3200 x 1440 pixels screen resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 480Hz touch sampling rate, and Gorilla Glass Victus protection.

EDITOR’S PICK: Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2021 will be held on January 14

Under the hood, the device is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC, coupled with up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. It comes with an in-display fingerprint scanner and a heart-rate scanner.

In the camera department, there’s a triple-camera sensor on the back that features a 108MP primary sensor with f/1.85 aperture, a 13MP super wide-angle lens with a 120-degree field of view, and a 5MP telephoto-macro lens. On the front side, the device has a 20MP snapper for taking selfies and video calling.

The smartphone runs the Android 11 operating system out-of-the-box with the MIUI 12 on top, although the company has officially released the MIUI 12.5 custom interface. It is powered by a 4,600mAh battery that supports 55W fast wired charging, 50W fast wireless charging, and 10W reverse wireless charging.

 

Realme V15 to go official on January 7, design revealed

In December 2019, Realme confirmed the existence of the Realme Koi series. The first teasers suggested that the Koi series could be the name of an upcoming Snapdragon 888 SoC powered flagship phone from the brand. At the same time, there have been reports that the first Realme Koi series phone could be called the Realme V15. Today Realme China’s President Xu Qi revealed on Weibo that it will be announcing the Realme V15 smartphone at 2 PM (local time) on Jan. 7.

The Realme V15 posters shared by Xu Qi shows that it has a beautiful rear design, which is inspired by Koi ornamental fish that are found in Japan. The rectangle-shaped camera setup has a 64-megapixel primary shooter, and two other lenses along with an LED flash.

The Realme V15 is now available for reservations through multiple retailers in China. One of the listings has revealed the front design of the phone. It can be seen flaunting a punch-hole display with a slightly thick chin.

Xu Qi did not share any information on the specifications of the Realme V15. The rear appearance of the Realme V15 resembles its leaked shots that appeared last month. The leak had revealed that the V15 weighs 176 grams and it is powered by the Dimensity 800U chipset. The handset is also expected to arrive with 50W rapid charging technology.

In related news, two new Realme phones with model numbers RMX3092 and RMX3093 were seen at the Geekbench benchmarking platform recently. The listings revealed that both models have the Dimensity 720 chipset, 8 GB of RAM, and Android 11 OS. There is a possibility that the RMX3092 and RMX3093 could be the model numbers of the same phone. Hopefully, upcoming reports will soon reveal the identity of the Realme RMX3092/3 phone.

 

Official: Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2021 will be held on January 14

Since the past few months, the rumor mill has been relentlessly claiming that Samsung will announce the Galaxy S21 series on Jan. 14. Today, the South Korean company finally released an official confirmation that the next Galaxy Unpacked 2021 launch event will be indeed held at 10 AM EST on Jan. 14.

The PR released by the brand does not reveal anything on the specs of the Galaxy S21 series. It does not even mention the monikers of the phones that will be announced in the coming week. However, multiple reports have revealed that the next flagships from the South Korean tech giant will be called Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and Galaxy S21 Ultra.

The launch poster has teased the camera module of the Galaxy S21. The leaked renders have revealed that the camera housing of the Galaxy S21 models is fused with the frame, which gives them a unique appeal.

Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2021

Samsung Galaxy S21 series specifications (Rumored)

Recent reports have revealed that the Galaxy S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra are equipped with 6.2-inch, 6.7-inch, and 6.8-inch S-AMOLED panels with punch-hole design, respectively. The Ultra variant will support QHD+ resolution and the other will offer FHD+ resolution. These phones will also come with 120Hz refresh rate support and ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanners. They are expected to house 4,000mAh, 4,800mAh, and 5,000mAh batteries, respectively.

The Galaxy S21 and S21+ will have a 12-megapixel (main) + 12-megapixel (ultrawide) + 64-megapixel (telephoto) triple camera setup. The Ultra model will be equipped with a 108-megapixel (main) + 12-megapixel (ultrawide) + 10-megapixel (telephoto) + 10-megapixel (telephoto) quad camera setup. The Ultra variant may get a 40-megapixel selfie snapper, whereas a 10-megapixel selfie camera will be available on the front side of the S21 and S21 Plus.

Depending on the region, the Galaxy S21 series could be featuring the Snapdragon 888 or Exynos 2100 SoC. Samsung is also expected to announce the Galaxy Buds Pro earbuds alongside the Galaxy S21 series on Jan. 14.

 

Live photo of iQOO 7 shows a ridge-like design on the back

Vivo‘s subsidiary, iQOO, will announce a new phone next week. The phone which will hit markets as the iQOO 7 will have a Snapdragon 888 processor under the hood. This will make it the second smartphone in the world and from China to feature Qualcomm‘s new processor. Ahead of the launch, a live photo has been posted on the web that gives us an early look at the upcoming flagship.

Actually, this is not our first image of the iQOO 7 as an official poster already gave us a first look at the BMW special edition. However, this new image is a live photo of the standard variant.

iQOO 7 live photo
Source: Weibo

The iQOO 7 is shown next to its retail box which has the brand’s “Monster Inside” tagline written in a yellow font at the top and a large “7” written in a gradient purple font at the bottom.

The phone itself is gray and has lines that run from top to bottom and give it a ridge-like appearance. We are not sure if this design is underneath the back panel or it is the back panel itself. If it is the latter, it should provide a firm grip for users when holding the phone even with a wet hand.

EDITOR’S PICK: Snapdragon 888 Plus will reportedly be released in the second half of next year

The iQOO 7 has three rear cameras that sit in a square housing. One of the sensors, most likely the main camera sits on top of the other two in a triangle shape. There is another square below the camera housing that is home to an LED flash and the manufacturer’s name. Unfortunately, the live photo does not give us a look at the front of the phone but official teaser posters have shown us that the phone will have a flat display with a centered punch hole for the selfie camera.

IQOO 7 AnTuTu

Some of the phone’s specs were revealed by an AnTuTu listing last week. Initially, there were speculations that the phone which was benchmarked as the Vivo V2049A is the iQOO 7. However, iQOO itself confirmed that the device is indeed the iQOO 7.

The phone has a 2400 x 1080 120Hz display, 12GB of LPPDR5 RAM, and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. It also runs Android 11. iQOO itself has confirmed that the phone will support 120W FlashCharge fast wired charging just like the iQOO 5 Pro. That is significantly faster than the Mi 11’s 55W fast wired charging. However, Xiaomi’s flagship also adds support for 50W fast wireless charging while the iQOO 7 will be missing out on wireless charging support entirely.

We expect more details of the phone to be revealed by both leakers and iQOO itself in the coming days.