OnePlus has released OxygenOS Open Beta 5 for the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro. The new public beta build comes a little over a month after the previous build. The latest update brings more fixes, updated security patch, a new feature, and an animation effect.
The latest Open Beta for OnePlus 8 series bumps up the security patch level to December 2020. It also adds a new feature called ‘Rewind Recording’, which allows users to record the last 30 seconds of gameplay. That’s not all, the update also adds an animation effect that activates while switching to the front-facing camera.
Further, the build brings fixes for delayed messages, volume adjustment, speaker not working, and freezing of the phone while playing music via Bluetooth. Additionally, it also optimizes the startup speed of some applications.
OnePlus 8/8 Pro OxygenOS Open Beta 5 Official Changelog
System
Optimized the startup speed of some apps for a faster launch experience
Fixed the small probability issue that receiving messages may delay
Fixed the issue that the volume adjustment has a small probability of failure
Fixed the small probability issue that the speaker doesn’t work
Updated Android security patch to 2020.12
Camera
Refresh the animation effects when activating the front camera
Game Space
Newly added Rewind Recording where you can record the exciting moments in the game of past 30 seconds with just one tap (Swipe down from the upper left or right corner to quickly open in the Gaming Tools)
Bluetooth
Fixed the issue that the call may freeze when receiving the phone when playing music via Bluetooth
Having said that, this OxygenOS build is currently rolling out in batches as an OTA update to the users who are already on the previous build. Whereas, new users can download and install it from the OnePlus Community.
A week ago, Samsung’s President of Mobile division, Ru Toh, indirectly said that features of the Galaxy Note series will trickle down to other devices. Today, an FCC listing confirms that the upcoming Galaxy S21 Ultra(Tentative) will come with support for S-Pen.
Moving on, the Wireless Charging Test report of SM-G998B reveals that it will support a stylus device(S-PEN). Previously, multiple rumors said that the Galaxy S21 Ultra will get the S-Pen functionality but won’t have the shaft to hold it. Since the report also indicates “support” of a stylus, we feel Samsung might not add it in the box. And sell it along with a Case to hold it as an accessory.
That said, the test report also says that users can use the S-PEN in two different modes- Hover and Click. For the unaware, Hover is when you hold the stylus above the screen without touching and perform certain functions. It will be interesting to see how Samsung will position the S21 Ultra if it continues the Note-series as per reports.
Either way, Galaxy S21 Ultra is shaping out to be an ultra-premium flagship of 2021. A leak on the entire specifications says it will sport a Metal-Glass sandwich design, Gorilla Glass Victus for protection. It will feature a 6.8-inch Infinity-O-Edge Dynamic AMOLED 120Hz LTPO display, Exynos 2100(IN, Korea, EU)/Snapdragon 888 (US, China) chipset, up to 12GB RAM, 512GB storage.
Coming back, the NFC listing also reveals that Samsung’s top-of-the-line flagship will include Ultra-Wide Band(UWB), NFC, Wireless charging, Reverse Wireless charging, and Wi-Fi 6E support. The device is likely to debut in mid-January of 2021 and expected to start at EUR 1,349 in Europe.
HUAWEI Watch Fit, a fashion-centric fitness tracker disguised as a smartwatch was initially announced in late August. Now, almost four months later, the company has debuted this wearable in its home country China along with a special New Year Edition.
The HUAWEI Watch Fit announced in China is the same as the one sold in other markets. Hence, it comes with the exact same set of specs.
That means we are looking at a fitness tracker with a 1.64-inch rectangular AMOLED display with a resolution of 456 x 280 pixels and 326ppi. Its body is made of reinforced polymer fiber, whereas the strap is silicone material.
The smartwatch has 4GB internal storage for songs and features Bluetooth 5.0 to connect with smartphones. Further, it comes with GPS as well as all the essential sensors such as accelerometer, gyroscope, ambient light sensor, optical heart rate sensor, and SpO2 sensor.
The wearable is powered by the HiSilicon Kirin A1 chipset and comes with 12 animated fitness courses. That’s not all, it supports HUAWEI TruSeen™ 4.0 (heart-rate monitoring), HUAWEI TruSleep™ 2.0 (sleep monitoring), HUAWEI TruRelax™ (stress monitoring), blood oxygen level monitoring, menstrual cycle tracking, app notifications, call & messages alerts, reminders, weather, alarm, stopwatch, and more.
Last but not least, it is water-resistant up to 5ATM, measures 46 x 30 x 10.7mm in dimensions (only tracker), weighs about 21g (without strap), and can last for up to 10 days on a full charge.
The HUAWEI Watch Fit is priced at ¥799 ($122) for the regular version that comes in four colors namely Obsidian Black, Mint Green, Melon Orange, and Sakura Powder. This model will be available for pre-order starting December 23 and will go on sale from January 8.
On the other hand, the special New Year Edition in Red color costs ¥899 ($137) and will be available for purchase starting January 15.
DXOMARK recently unveiled a new category of testing for Smartphone Displays. Accordingly, the company covers sub-categories like legibility, color, video, motion, touch, and artifacts. After releasing reports of various devices, today, it has included the Vivo X51 to the Display ranking list.
In case you don’t know, Vivo X51 is a tweaked version of the X50 Pro. It launched in the UK, Europe back in October. Anyway, the device gets an overall DXOMARK score of 87. With this, it ties up with other flagships like iPhone 12 Pro and Galaxy S20 Ultra at the third spot. And misses out on the crown with just 2 points difference.
To compare’s the top spot is still held by the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra with 89 points. The report says the X51 mainly drops in Video and Touch categories. Overall, the device looks to perform well indoors with good readability. And although the brightness isn’t dealt well outdoors, it reportedly has a good blue light filter.
To recall, the iPhone 12 Pro had a strong Blue light filter that impacted the reading at night according to earlier DXOMARK testing. In any case, the Vivo X51 has a much bigger screen(aspect ratio: 20:9) compared to the iPhone 12 Pro(19.5:9). Let’s quickly look at the display specs of the former below:
Size: 6.56-inch
Dimensions: 158.5 x 72.8 x 8 mm
Type: AMOLED display with 90Hz refresh rate
Resolution: 1080 x 2376 pixels
To sum up, if you talk about the Pros and Cons, the Pros of Vivo X51 include good color reproduction(across all lighting), indoor brightness, motion-blur, and blue-light filter. However, it has some major Cons like Touch accuracy(gaming), lack of smoothness, outdoor brightness, video(darker HDR10 content).
Samsung has been swiftly updating its devices with the latest One UI 3.0 based on Android 11. Right after the initial developer beta, it powered through the beta program for present and yesteryear flagships to reach the stable update stage this month. And now, it has come down to the budget M series of devices.
As Sammobile reports, Samsung has finally announced the beta program for the Galaxy M31 in India. To get things out of the way, for the Beta program, you need to enroll via the Samsung Members App. After opening the app, you will see a One UI banner. Click on that to complete the registration process.
Anyway, the first One UI Core 3.0 Beta carrying the firmware version M315FDDU2ZTLF will rollout to the registered devices. It brings the new Android 11 OS upgrade and December 2020 security patch along with it. That said, we advise you to be wary of the initial Beta build as there is a possibility of bugs.
Apart from the Android 11 features like chat bubbles, revamped notifications you should also see new features of One UI 3.0 in the update. However, since this is a budget device, Samsung might limit certain features of the One UI Core. In case you don’t know, Samsung uses One UI Core instead of full-fledged One UI for budget devices like the M-series.
Nevertheless, the early Beta signals a stable update sooner than the scheduled timeline(March 2021) for the device. If you are living in India, you can check for the first Beta(after registering) by navigating to Settings->Software Update-> Download and Install.
Samsung announced the One UI 3.0 back in August. It has already updated the flagships like the Galaxy S20 series(incl S20 FE), Note 20 series, Galaxy S10 Lite, and Z Flip 5G.
Earlier today (23rd December 2020), Xiaomi has officially announced that its upcoming flagship, the Mi 11, will feature LPDDR5 RAM, with memory speeds reaching up to 6,400Mbps.
For those unaware, the Chinese tech giant is planning on launching the device on 28th December 2020. Registration for the flagship has already begun and the company is apparently even working on stocking up 1 million units in inventory for the device. Under the hood, Xiaomi confirmed that the Mi 11 will feature Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 888 SoC and now the company has also revealed that the flagship will sport LPDDR5 RAM that can achieve memory speeds of up to 6400Mbp.
Talking about the device’s other specifications, it sports a squircle-shaped triple-cameras. Furthermore, it is expected to feature a 6.67-inch AMOLED QHD+ display, 120Hz refresh rate, up to 12GB RAM, 108MP triple-rear cameras, MIUI 12 based on Android 11 OS, and 4,780mAh battery with 50W fast charging support.
In a new post on Weibo, a Chinese microblogging website, the company shared a promotional image, in which, a graph showcases various generations of memory. This graph also highlights the bump in memory speeds from the previous generation and even other LPDDR5 RAM found in other flagship smartphones from the current generation. Xiaomi highlighted that the new LPDDR5 RAM housed in the Mi 11 will be 116 percent faster in comparison to the last generation.
At the HUAWEI nova 8 launch event, the Chinese telecom giant also announced some other products. One of them is HUAWEI Enjoy 20 SE, a budget 4G smartphone in the sea of 5G handsets sold in the same segment. Let us take a closer look at the specs, features, and price of this device.
HUAWEI Enjoy 20 SE Specifications and Features
The newly launched HUAWEI Enjoy 20 SE flaunts a 6.67-inch LCD panel on the front with a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels (FHD+) and a centered punch-hole for an 8MP selfie camera. On the back, the device houses a vertically aligned triple camera setup consisting of a 13MP primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide unit, a 2MP macro shooter, and an LED flash.
The phone is powered by HiSilicon Kirin 710A chipset paired with 4GB/8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. If needed, the storage can be further expanded up to 512GB via microSD card (dedicated slot).
The smartphone runs EMUI 10.1 based on Android 10 and is backed by a 5,000mAh battery with support for 22.5W fast charging. On the connectivity front, the phone supports dual-SIM, 4G, single-band WiFi, Bluetooth 5.1, GNSS (GPS, A-GPS, BeiDou, Galileo, GLONASS), USB Type-C port, and 3.5mm headphone jack.
Other features include a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, accelerometer, ambient light sensor, compass, and proximity sensor. Last but not least, the handset measures 165.65 x 76.88 x 9.26mm in dimensions, weighs about 206g, and comes in three colors namely Wonderful Forest, Magic Night Black, and Dawn and Gold.
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HUAWEI Enjoy 20 SE Pricing and Availability
The HUAWEI Enjoy 20 SE is priced at ¥1,299 ($199) for the 4GB + 128GB variant and costs ¥1,499 ($229) for the 8GB + 128GB version. It will be available for pre-order starting January 8 and will go on sale from January 15.
In case you are interested in this smartphone, you can already buy it in certain regions in the form of either HONOR X10 Lite, HUAWEI P Smart 2021, or HUAWEI Y7a. The only difference is that these three handsets come with a 48MP primary sensor instead of a 13MP unit.
The Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro 5G has just undergone camera tests from DxOMark, the known smartphone camera reviewer. The firm called the device a “Competent mid ranger,” achieving a score of 118 points.
Xiaomi had launched the Mi 10T Pro 5G back in September 2020 and a flagship model from the company. On the rear, it sports a triple camera setup with a 108 megapixel primary camera along with a 13 megapixel ultra wide angle lens and a 5 megapixel macro sensor. For photography, the Mi 10T Pro scored 121 points, 61 points on Zoom, and 110 points on videos.
Looking at photography first, DxOMark praised the device for accurate exposure and dynamic range in both outdoor and indoor shots. The primary lens also retained pleasant colors in outdoor and indoor pictures with the firm finding the camera system quite reliable. Although, the camera suffered a bit in low light scenarios, with limited dynamic range, and strong ghosting being visible in HDR photos. DxOMark also noted low details and high levels of noise in ultra wide angle shots during night shots.
For videography, the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro achieves high details in videos, which has accurate exposure in outdoor and indoor recordings. Furthermore, the stabilization on the videos was also found to be most effective. However, the device had visible artifacts in low light videos and inconsistencies in night scenes when capturing a video. Overall, the primary camera performed well and delivered high quality vidoes and photos for the most part, while its zoom and performance match other handsets in the mid range categories.
Xiaomi is gearing up to launch the world’s first smartphone with Snapdragon 888 chipset, the Mi 11. Ahead of the December 28 launch, the company has been revealing key details in a series of posts via Weibo. Amidst this, a tipster now says that Mi 11 will be the only flagship device available in large quantities before the spring festival.
Digital Chat Station on Weibo saysXiaomi has been preparing the inventory of Mi 11 well-in-advance. Precisely, he says the company has planned to keep the scale of stocks to 1 million. This corroborates with an earlier report where a Xiaomi executive had said that there will be enough stocks.
According to the tipster, Xiaomi is able to achieve this through the exclusivity of Snapdragon 888 SoC. If we recall, soon after Qualcomm’s event, Lei Jun broke the news that Mi 11 will be the first to launch with flagship SoC. Coming back, he says as per the priority list, Xiaomi should have got the chipsets from Qualcomm two months ago.
Anyway, with this amount of stocks in its kitty, Xiaomi will reportedly be the only company to produce so many Snapdragon 888-powered devices before the Spring Festival of China. For the unaware, Spring Festival starts on the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month of the Chinese calendar. From here, it runs for 23 days, and for 2021, it falls on February 12.
Either way, Mi 11 will debut in the country by Next Monday(Dec.28). This iteration of Xiaomi’s flagship smartphone will succeed the yesteryear Mi 10. And reports say the successor, although not the cheapest flagship out there, will bestow the spirit of a premium smartphone.
Leaked posters have already confirmed punch-hole screen, squircle-shaped triple-cameras, while the company has confirmed the presence of LPDDR5 RAM, Wi-Fi 6 standard. The device will weigh 196.4 grams and probably feature a 6.67-inch Quad HD+ 120Hz display, 108MP primary camera, 4,780mAh with 55W fast charging.
A leak on color and memory variants says Mi 11’s 8GB variant will darn Smoked Purple(leather), While color while the 12GB variant will sport Blue, Smoke Purple (leather), and a Special Edition.
Earlier today (23rd December 2020), Huawei held the launch conference for the Nova 8 series along with which the company launched the 2021 editions of the MateBook D 14 and MateBook D 15 notebooks. These laptops arrive as refreshes within the lineup and feature Intel’s latest 11th gen processors.
MateBook D 14 2021
The new Huawei MateBook D series lineup arrives as refreshes over their 2020 counterparts and features Intel’s 11th Gen processors, over the current gen’s 10th Gen or AMD Ryzen 4000 series variants. The laptop features a 14 inch display and features either an i7-1165G7 or i5-1135G7, paired with a 512GB of SSD storage and 16GB of RAM. For graphics, customers get an option of either Intel’s latest integrated Xe graphics options or a dedicated Nvidia GeForce MX450 mobile GPU.
The laptop features 100 percent sRGB screens and is said to arrive with a performance increase of up to 1.6 times, as per official claims. To boost productivity, the notebook supports multi screen options that can support up to three smartphone windows being open at the same time, offering users more functionality.
Alongside the 14 inch variant, Huawei even launched a refresh of its 15 inch counterpart, the 2021 MateBook D 15. Similar to the D 14, the larger sibling also features an anti glare display with 100 percent sRGB support, low blue lights, reduced flicked, and more to protect the users’ eyes. Under the hood, one can choose between Intel’s 11th Gen Core i5 or i7. The storage options also remain the same between the two models, although, users can also opt for an i5 with the Nvidia MX450 GPU as well.
Price and Availability
The new notebooks from Huawei arrive in multiple price points, which depend on he configuration chosen. This includes:
Earlier this year, Huawei announced the Huawei Nova 7 series of smartphones such as Nova 7i, Nova 7 SE, Nova 7, and Nova 7 Prov. In October came the Nova 7 SE 5G Youth as the last member of the Nova 7 series. Last month, the Chinese manufacturer unveiled the Nova 8 SE in Dimensity 720v and Dimensity 800U chipset versions as the successor to the Nova 7 SE. Today, the brand unveiled the Nova 8 and Nova 8 Pro smartphones. The two Nova 8 models offer users with up to 120Hz refresh rate display, Kirin 985, 64MP quad cameras, 66W charging, and many other exciting features.
Huawei Nova 8 and Nova 8 Pro specifications and features
The Huawei Nova 8 and Nova 8 are equipped with 6.57-inch and 6.72-inch OLED panels, respectively. The Nova 8 supports 1080 x 2340 pixel Full HD+ resolution, up to 90Hz refresh rate, and 240Hz touch sampling rate. On the other side, the Nova 8 Pro supports 1236 x 2676 FHD+ resolution, up to 120Hz refresh rate, and 300Hz touch sampling rate. Both phones support a 10-bit color depth, DCI-P3 color gamut and they are equipped with in-screen fingerprint readers. As far as display design is concerned, the Nova 8 has a single punch-hole and Nova 8 Pro has a pill-shaped cutout for dual selfie cameras. Both displays have curved edges. The curvature on the Nova 8 Pro is 80-degree.
The Nova 8 duo ship with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB / 256 GB of internal storage. These phones are preinstalled with EMUI 11 based Android 10 OS and lack support for external storage. The Nova and Nova 8 Pro draw power from the 2.58GHz Kirin 985 chipset. The same chip has been previously used on phones like Nova 7, Honor V30, and Honor X10.
The unique rear camera setup of the Nova 8 and Nova 8 Pro has a 64-megapixel main camera (f/1.9 aperture on vanilla and f/1.8 aperture on Pro), an 8-megapixel ultrawide lens with 120-degree FOV, a 2-megapixel macro camera with 4cm focal length, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. On the front, the Nova 8 has a 32-megapixel selfie camera with an f/2.0 aperture. The Pro model is blessed with a dual selfie camera system that comprises of a 32-megapixel main front lens with f/2.0 aperture and a 16-megapixel ultrawide lens.
The Nova 8 has a 3,800mAh battery, whereas the Pro model gets a bigger 4,000mAh battery. Both phones support 66W SuperCharge fast charging technology by Huawei. It takes around 35 minutes to fully charge these phones through rapid charging tech. The Nova 8 supports Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, and GPS, while the Nova 8 Pro comes with Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and dual-frequency GPS support. Both phones carry support for dual SIM, 5G, NFC, USB-C, and Huawei Histen sound effects.
Huawei Nova 8 and Nova 8 Pro price and availability
Here are the pricing of the Huawei Nova 8 and Nova 8 Pro smartphones:
Huawei Nova 8
8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage – 3,299 Yuan (~$504)
8 Gb RAM + 256 GB storage – 3699 Yuan (~$565)
Huawei Nova 8 Pro
8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage – 3,999 Yuan (~$612)
8 Gb RAM + 256 GB storage – 4,399 Yuan (~$673)
The Nova 8 and 8 Pro models come in colors like black, purple, green, and gradient white. Both phones are now up for pre-orders in the home market and they are scheduled to go on sale on Dec. 30. It is unclear when Huawei will be releasing the Nova 8 and 8 Pro in markets outside China.
Yesterday, Xiaomi revealed that it will be launching a 108MP smartphone in India on January 5. This handset is expected to be called Mi 10i, which is nothing but a rebranded Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G. Ahead of this phone’s formal announcement, its official color names, as well as memory variants, have emerged on social media.
Earlier this month, the memory variants and colors of Mi 10i were already tipped by popular Indian leakster Ishan Agarwal. However, he did not reveal the proper names. But now, thanks to a Twitter user called @Iamnil7 (Indranil Chakraborty), we know the official color names.
As per a screenshot shared by this particular user, the forthcoming Mi 10i will be available in the following color variants and memory configurations in India.
Xiaomi Mi 10i Colors
Midnight Black
Pacific Sunrise
Atlantic Blue
Xiaomi Mi 10i Memory Variants
6GB + 128GB
8GB + 128GB
This means Xiaomi will be not launching the 8GB + 256GB variant of this device, which is sold in China. But it makes sense as the Mi 10T Lite (same smartphone with 64MP camera) also does come in this configuration.
But anyway, all the regions get the same paint job, however, they are known by different names. In China, the above-mentioned colors are called Silent Sky, Lake Light and Autumn Scenery, and Blue Sea and Starts. Whereas, in Europe, they are called Pearl Gray, Rose Gold Beach, and Atlantic Blue.
Oppo has just announced that it is planning to set up its first 5G innovation lab outside of its home country, China. The new 5G lab will be set up in Hyderabad, India, and arrives amid growing tensions between India and China.
With India being keen to adopt 5G networking, Oppo has decided to set up its own 5G innovations lab in the region. However, this arrives amid political frictions between India and China, which caused the latter to issue a blanket ban of several Chinese firms with links to China just before it ramps up its efforts to adopt the newer and faster bandwidth, as per an IndiaTodayreport. At the moment, Reliance Jio is expected to be the first local telecom operator to offer 5G services in the country, with its services launching sometime in the second half of 2021.
Furthermore, the Chinese tech giant’s new investment into the region would also boost the research and development efforts for 5G within the region. According to Tasleem Arif, Oppo India Vice President and Head for Research and Development, “This is Oppo’s first 5G lab overseas. With this lab setup, while we work towards developing core technologies for the 5G era and strengthen the overall ecosystem, we also aim to support India in its 5G journey.”
This new lab will be the second one after the company’s only other one that is located in China. Notably, Oppo also plans on installing additional functional labs, which will specialize in different categories for research and development, including camera, power, and battery, and performance for its smartphones. This new facility will bring technologies that will help the company “mark a global footprint” and help the development of products for both its international and Indian customers.
As expected, along with the Realme Watch S and Watch S Pro wearable devices, the company has also launched a new variant of its true wireless earbuds in India — Realme Buds Air Pro Master Edition.
Unlike the original Buds Air Pro that was launched in India a couple of months back, this new model is designed by Jose Levy. Apart from the design, it seems that almost everything in terms of specs and features remains the same as the original model.
The TWS earphones come with two microphones, which enables the active noise cancelation feature with a maximum noise reduction of 35dB. Under the hood, it is powered by the Realme S1 chip that claims to offer stable connection with low power consuption.
It comes with 10mm drivers which has support for ACC high-quality audio. There are also several other noteworthy features, such as advanced Dynamic Bass Boost (DBB), IPX4 certification for water resistance, and touch controls.
The earphones also come with a low latency mode (94ms) for gaming and can offer battery life of 25 hours on a single charger. There’s also Quick Charge support, which offers seven hours of playback on 15 minutes of charging.
The Realme Buds Air Pro Master Edition is priced at ₹4,999 and will be available for purchase in India from 8th January through Realme.com, Flipkart, and offline stores.
The upcoming Samsung Exynos 2100 SoC was previously reported to compete with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 chip. Now, new Geekbench benchmarks have revealed that this is actually the case as it outperforms the latter’s unreleased flagship processor in multi-core tests.
According to a GSMArenareport, known tipster Ice Universe, which is known for his leaks and reports regarding Samsung, recently shared a screenshot of a Geekbench test. In this benchmark, the Exynos 2100 SoC undergoes the synthetic test and managed to receive impressive scores. The single core score came in at 1089 points, while the muti core score was around an impressive 3963 points.
As per the leakster, the Exynos 2100 from the South Korean tech giant peaked at 1108 points for single core and 3963 points for the multi core tests. This is notable as it surpasses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC, which achieved a 1135 points and 3794 points in single core tests and multi core benchmarks respectively. Interestingly, the synthetic tests also showcase a noticeable jump in scores from previous Geekbench listing that had it receive 1006 and 3059 points respectively.
In other words, the upcoming high end processor from Samsung is still apparently growing, and we can expect additional performance bump, even from the Qualcomm chip with further optimizations. Although, that is just speculation so take it with a pinch of salt for now and stay tuned for more, as we will be providing more updates when more information regarding these chips is available.
Last month, Realme had launched the Watch S smartwatch in the European market and today, the company has launched two new wearable devices in India — Realme Watch S and Realme Watch S Pro.
Realme Watch S Pro
The Realme Watch S Pro features a 1.39-inch AMOLED screen with 454 x 454 pixels screen resolution, Always-on display support, and offers 450 nits brightness. It also supports Auto-Brightness features that can adjust the device to five brightness levels.
It offers over 100 watch faces and comes with Blood Oxygen (SpO2 sensor) and a heart-rate monitor (PPG). For fitness and workout tracking, the device comes with 15 different sports modes, including Swimming, Cricket, Yoga, Outdoor Run & Walk, outdoor cycling, Hiking, Workout, and more.
Under the hood, it is powered by a dual-core ARM Cortex-M4 processor. The smartwatch is rated 5ATM, offering 50 meters of water resistance, and features high-precision Dual-Satellite GPS (GNSS) functionality. It packs a 420mAh battery that is promised to offer 14 days of usage on a single charge.
The Realme Watch S Pro is priced at ₹9,999 (~$135) in India and will be available for purchase from 29th December. The company has also launched Silicon and Leather straps, starting at ₹599, which will go on sale in January.
On the other hand, the Realme Watch S features a 1.3-inch LCD circular touchscreen display that offers 360 x 360 pixels screen resolution and is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The company is offering 12 watch faces onboard and has said that over 100 watch faces will be available in the near future.
It comes with all the command smartwatch features such as Sleep Monitoring, Call Rejection, Smart Notifications, and Music and Camera Control. There’s also an optical heart rate sensor as well as a blood oxygen level monitoring sensor (SpO2).
The company is offering 16 sports modes, which include the likes of Walk, Indoor Run, Outdoor Run, among others. In the software department, it runs a proprietary operating system, which is a forked version of the FreeRT OS.
It has an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance and comes powered by a 390mAh battery that the company says can last up to 15 days on a single charge.
The Realme Watch S is priced at ₹4,999 (~$68) and will go on sale from 28th December. There’s also a Master Edition which is designed by Grafflex and is priced at ₹5,999 (~$81).
Earlier this month, Huami launched the Amazfit GTS 2 Mini smartwatch in its home country China. Three weeks later, the company has now announced this wearable for India. Priced at ₹6,999 ($95), the product will go on sale starting December 26 in the region. It can be bought from either Amazfit online store or Amazon India in Black, Sage Green, or Pink color variant.
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The Amazfit GTS 2 Mini is the latest smartwatch from Huami. After unveiling it in China, the firm announced it for the global markets (western) late last week priced at $99. Now, this fitness tracker disguised as a smartwatch has reached the Indian shores as well.
The major differences between the mini and the regular variants are that the former is lighter in weight, sports a smaller AMOLED display, only 70+ sports modes, and neither features internal storage for music nor a speaker for calls.
If you are fine with the above-mentioned shortcomings, the Amazfit GTS 2 Mini is a better buy than the regular Amazfit GTS 2 that costs almost double in all the regions where both of them are available.
Xiaomi is all set to launch its next-generation flagship smartphone — Mi 11 at an event on 28th December in China. Ahead of the official launch, the device is up for pre-orders in China but the pricing details will be revealed on the day of launch.
Some of the key features and specifications of this upcoming smartphone have already been leaked online. But as the launch day nears, we expect the company to keep sharing more information about the device.
Now, a Weibo user has shared an image of the invitation for the upcoming Mi 11 launch event that comes with a genuine Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset. Given that the cost of the chipset is pretty high, it is said that there are only 100 such invitations worldwide.
For those who are unaware, instead of Snapdragon 875 SoC, Qualcomm launched the Snapdragon 888 chipset this time, as a successor to the current-generation Snapdragon 865 SoC. Explaining the reason behind this, the company had revealed that 888 is considered a lucky number in China.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 is the most powerful offering from the company so far. It packs one Cortex X1 core, three Cortex A78 cores, and four Cortex A55 cores, along with Adreno 660 GPU.
It has an integrated Snapdragon X60 5G modem with support for mmWave and sub-6GHz 5G with support for most of the bands worldwide. The new SoC also supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 and connectivity features. Here are the detailed specs of the chipset.
As for the Mi 11, the phone is expected to come with a 6.67-inch AMOLED QHD+ display, 120Hz refresh rate, SD888 SoC, up to 12GB RAM, 108MP triple-rear cameras, MIUI 12 based on Android 11 OS, and 4,780mAh battery with 50W fast charging support.
The Apple iPhone 12 series launch has seen great reception across the globe. Now, analysts believe that the company will see a 38 percent growth in shipments year on year for the new lineup.
Apple iPhone 12
According to an AppleInsiderreport, the Cupertino based giant has increased its orders with its assembly partners for the first quarter of next year. The iPhone 12 series has seen great success so far in the market, with the momentum of demand expected to continue forward in the following year. Furthermore, this demand is expected to remain consistent for a while into 2021 as well.
As per the analyst’s projection, the number of shipments is expected to be around 51 million units in the first quarter of 2021. This figure is up from previous reports, which had believed the figure to be around 47 million units. The increase in shipments is primarily expected to be for the base iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and the iPhone 12 Pro Max. The lower end iPhone 12 mini is estimated to have its shipments remain relatively unchanged during this period.
An important market for Apple is China, with the data findings revealing that over 6 million units of the iPhone 12 series were shipped within the region in November 2020 alone. This figure accounted for around 20 percent of the total market share, which also marks a new high across multiple years. Additionally, the company s currently targetting 79 million units to be manufactured, up from 13 percent year on year.
From raising the camera bar to new designs to incredibly fast charging, this year’s phones have been nothing short of outstanding. So you can imagine how tasking it must have been to compile a list of the Android phones we think are the best of the year. Nevertheless, we hope you enjoy our picks.
Huawei Mate 40 Pro+
Best Camera Smartphone – Huawei Mate 40 Pro+
Over the past couple of years, Huawei has greatly improved the camera performance of its phones, and that investment has paid off with the Mate 40 Pro+ as it sits atop DxOMark‘s smartphone camera rankings.
The phone which packs five cameras including a 50MP primary sensor, an 8MP periscope zoom lens, and a 20MP ultrawide angle camera among others; takes incredible photos in all lighting conditions. Its zoom capability is also one of the best you will find in a smartphone released this year.
If you want a phone with very excellent camera performance, then it should be the Mate 40 Pro+.
Mi 10 5G
Best All-Round Flagship – Xiaomi Mi 10
For this category, we looked at a combination of specs, price, review, and even availability in different markets. It was pretty difficult coming up with a winner as there were strong contenders. Nevertheless, the Xiaomi Mi 10 was the device we finally settled for.
The phone which launched in the first half is not Xiaomi‘s best phone this year. That award goes to the Mi 10 Ultra but the standard Mi 10 is the one that satisfies most of the criteria.
Honorable mention – The Galaxy S20 gets an honorable mention as it is the runner-up in this category. Samsung’s 2020 S -series flagship is a great choice for anyone searching for a phone that ticks most of the boxes. It has a QHD+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, great cameras, an IP68 rating, support for wireless charging, and will receive three years of OS upgrades.
Best Value Flagship – Mi 10T Pro 5G
Our pick for the best value flagship phone is the Mi 10T Pro 5G. The €599 (8+128GB) phone packs an incredible LCD display with a whopping 144Hz refresh rate. There is a Snapdragon 865 processor on board along with superfast UFS 3.1 storage. You also get a 108MP triple rear camera, an IR blaster, and a massive 5000mAh battery with support for 33W fast charging.
Honorable mention – The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE is one of Samsung’s best offerings this year with its Super AMOLED 120Hz screen, Exynos 990/Snapdragon 865 processor, nice cameras, and a 4500mAh battery with support for 25W fast charging and 15W wireless charging. It also has an IP68 rating but a plastic rear. It is more pricey at $699 for the 128GB version but like other Samsung flagships released this year, it will also get three OS upgrades. It even already received the Android 11 update.
LG Wing
Stand-out Phone of The Year – LG Wing
In a year were foldable phones made a big splash, LG managed to steal the spotlight for its uniquely designed LG Wing smartphone. The phone which takes a different approach to the dual-screen design with a satisfying swivel mechanism also brings new ways a smartphone can be used.
Samsung cemented its hold on the foldable smartphone market with the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 this year. The new phone packs larger displays, a better hinge design, a bigger battery, and faster-wired charging. It also packs the more powerful Snapdragon 865+ processor, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage for $1,999.
OnePlus Nord
Best Budget 5G Phone – OnePlus Nord
The OnePlus Nord was announced this year as the first budget OnePlus phone in a long while. The mid-range phone gets our nod as the best budget 5G phone for its combination of specs and price. For a starting price of €399, you get a 90Hz AMOLED display, quad rear cameras, dual front-facing cameras, a Snapdragon 765G processor, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 4115mAh battery that supports 33W fast charging. Are there cheaper 5G phones? Yes, there are but they come with tradeoffs such as an LCD display or an AMOLED display with no refresh rate, less RAM, less powerful processors, and slower charging technologies.
Honorable Mentions – The Moto G 5G Plus gets an honorable mention. It matches the OnePlus Nord in terms of the number of cameras, has a display with a high refresh rate albeit LCD, packs a massive 5000mAh battery that will last more than a day, and runs a near-stock version of Android. Its slightly lower clocked Snapdragon 765 processor will also handle anything you throw at it. It’s €399 for the 6+128GB version.
The Huawei Mate 40 Pro+ and the Mi 10 Ultra tie for this category. The latter is expected to be sold in global markets but is yet to be available for purchase three months after it launched. In its home country, Huawei will be selling the phone in limited quantities thrice a week.
The Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra which is Xiaomi’s best phone this year will not be sold outside China. So the only way to get it is to import the device from China.
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