Telegram is probably the best messaging platform for power users. It is arguably better than most globally available messaging apps. But it is not as popular as WhatsApp and iMessage due to its complexity, which actually makes it better. Anyway, Telegram users can rejoice as the app has been now updated with more useful features.
Pinned Messages 2.0
With the new update, users can now pin multiple messages in chats. They can switch between them by tapping on the top bar or view all of them on a separate page by tapping on the new button located at the right side of the top bar.
Above all, pinned messages now also work in one-on-one chats, in addition to channels and groups.
Live Locations 2.0
Live location feature now allows users to set up an alert when they come closer to friends who shared their live location. Also, the icons on the map now show in which direction they are facing.
Playlists
When users share multiple songs together, Telegram will now automatically arrange them in a playlist. Hence, users can directly play them in the built-in media player. Additionally, in case of files, they will be bundled together in a single chat bubble just like photo albums.
Channel Post Stats
Admins now have access to stats of individual posts in the channel as well as a list of public channels to which a post was forwarded to. This will clearly help a lot of channels as the admins can now know more about how their posts perform.
New Animations on Android
The latest update also brings new animations on Android for sending messages and switching songs in the music player. That’s not all, Android users can now edit pictures in view mode and share them without download-upload.
New Animated Emojis
Last but not least, the update also brings new spooky animated emoji ahead of Halloween along with Jackpot animated emojis.
Having said that, the new Telegram update is already live on the Google Play Store and Apple Store for Android and iOS devices respectively.
When new iPhones come out a lot of people start asking the same questions every year: is it better to buy the standard version of the new generation series or the Pro/Max version of the old generation iPhones. Every year the answer to this question can naturally be different because Apple phones always come with different specifications. That is why people keep asking. This year, is it better to choose the iPhone 12 or the iPhone 11 Pro? Well, the answer actually depends on the user needs: through this comparison, we hope to let you find out which phone is the most suitable for you between these two handsets.
Apple iPhone 12 vs Apple iPhone 11 Pro
Apple iPhone 12
Apple iPhone 11 Pro
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT
146.7 x 71.5 x 7.4 mm,
164 g
144 x 71.4 x 8.1 mm,
188 g
DISPLAY
6.1 inches, 1170 x 2532 pixels (Full HD+), Super Retina XDR OLED
5.8 inches, 1125 x 2436p (Full HD+), Super Retina XDR OLED
Both iPhone 12 and iPhone 11 Pro have a premium design, but in my honest opinion, the iPhone 11 Pro is more premium. Well, the iPhone 12 has Ceramic Shield, but according to the first tests, it is not as amazing as Apple described it. On the other hand, the iPhone 11 Pro sports a stainless steel frame instead of the aluminum frame found on the iPhone 12. It does not have flat borders, but it is sturdier. But you should note that iPhone 12 is waterproof up to 6 meters deep, while iPhone 11 Pro reaches a max of 4 meters. The iPhone 12 has the MagSafe connector for better wireless charging and other features, while iPhone 11 Pro does not. Last but not least, the iPhone 11 Pro is more compact and easier to use with one hand. My choice would be iPhone 11 Pro: what would you go for?
Display
The iPhone 12 and the iPhone 11 Pro have very similar displays, despite not identical. Both feature a resolution superior to Full HD+, the Super Retina XDR OLED technology, the HDR10 certification, Dolby Vision, wide color gamut, and True Tone. The iPhone 11 Pro has higher typical brightness, while the iPhone 12 offers a wider panel. Whatever you choose, you will get an amazing display with very few rivals in the whole market, so do not focus so much on this. Both the devices do not offer a fingerprint scanner but they rely on Face ID for authentication. iPhone 12 and 11 Pro sport stereo speakers for a great audio experience, but they have no audio jack like all the phones starting from the 7.
Specs & Software
Hardware and performance are the main advantages of the Apple iPhone 12 over the iPhone 11 Pro. It has a stronger chipset: the Apple A14 Bionic, and it even supports 5G connectivity, unlike its rivals. With the iPhone 11 Pro, you can get more internal storage (up to 512 GB of native storage), but that is the only advantage. The iPhone 12 is faster and it has better connectivity. Last but not least, it runs iOS 14 out of the box, while iPhone 11 Pro is based on iOS 13. So there are no doubts, the iPhone 12 wins the hardware and software comparisons.
Camera
The iPhone 11 Pro is a more interesting phone for photography for a single reason: it offers a third additional telephoto sensor with a 2x optical zoom. The iPhone 12 has just two sensors on the rear side: the main sensor and the ultrawide lens; it lacks a telephoto sensor. Inside the notch, you get the same sensor with both the devices: a 12 MP selfie camera and an SL 3D sensor for depth calculation and 3D facial recognition. In two words, the iPhone 11 Pro has better zoom capabilities and it provides 2x lossless zoom thanks to a dedicated sensor, while iPhone 12 does not. On the other hand, the iPhone 12 has a brighter focal aperture which should capture a higher amount of light for great shots in low light conditions, but the additional telephoto lens is definitely more important.
Despite the iPhone 12 is bigger and it has a bigger display, it comes with a smaller battery than the iPhone 12 Pro. This does not necessarily mean that the iPhone 12 will have shorter battery life in every scenario because it has a more efficient chipset built at 5 nm, but the iPhone 11 Pro lasts more with most of the usage patterns thanks to its bigger battery, lack of 5G support and smaller display. iPhone 12 has faster wireless charging and MagSafe support: you do not get it with the 11 Pro. Even wired charging is faster on the iPhone 12. There are just 2 Watts of difference in fast charging, but the iPhone 12 has a smaller battery than 11 Pro, that is why charging is even faster.
Price
The base variant of the iPhone 12 with 64 GB of internal storage has a listing price of €839/$799. Thanks to street prices, you can find the 11 Pro for less than €900/$900 even in the configuration with 256 GB of native storage. Overall, the iPhone 12 is a more interesting phone than the iPhone 11 Pro. The only advantages of its predecessor are the presence of an additional telephoto sensor, the stainless steel frame, and a slightly bigger battery. But the iPhone 12 has a better chipset, MagSafe, native iOS 14, 5G, and more interesting features. I would personally go for the iPhone 12 since its battery life is still good and the telephoto sensor does not make the difference. Which one would you pick?
MediaTek has had a really good year, if I may so. The Taiwanese semiconductor company’s current offering of mobile processors powers several devices announced this year. Its Dimensity series can also be said to have made a significant contribution in pushing 5G phones into the hands of a lot more people.
If you are wondering what new chipsets MediaTek has cooking in its oven, The Chinese leaker, Digital Chat Station, has revealed some few details of two new processors.
The two chipsets are the MT6893 and MT6891 and they will be 5nm and or 6nm processors according to him. The two chipsets will be high-performance processors as they feature the more powerful Cortex-A78 Arm CPU core.
The Dimensity 1000+ which is currently MediaTek’s most powerful mobile processor has Cortex-A77 cores. It is also a 7nm chip. These new chips should bring significant boosts in performance as they are built on a smaller node and feature a more powerful CPU. They should also launch under the Dimensity series and with built-in 5G modems.
There is no news yet regarding when the new processors will be announced but the leaker says that development is progressing faster than last year’s chips. We expect more details will be revealed in the weeks leading up to their announcements.
The Galaxy Z Fold 2 already has a limited edition made in collaboration with Thom Browne, the New York-based fashion house. However, not everyone is familiar with the fashion house. If you reside in China, you should be able to pick up a new limited edition Galaxy Z Fold 2 made in collaboration with the popular automobile company, Aston Martin.
Photos of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 Aston Martin Limited Edition were posted on Twitter by Ice Universe and they give us an early look before Samsung’s official unveiling.
As shown in the images, the phone will come in a large gray box. On the top is written Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G and Galaxy Watch3 which means that this limited edition unit doesn’t include a pair of the Galaxy Buds Live, unlike the Thom Browne Edition. The box also has Tmall written at the bottom which means it should be sold by the retail giant. We checked the Tmall store but it is yet to be listed there.
Inside the box is the Galaxy Z Fold 2 in Mystic Black with no customization whatsoever including an Aston Martin logo. However, you do get an orange leather Aston Martin case. There is also an Aston Martin polo shirt in navy blue, a black and white baseball hat, and a Mystic Black Galaxy Watch3 included in the box.
We do not know when Samsung plans to unveil the phone but it should not be far off. We also expect it to cost less than the Thom Browne Edition.
Amazon is already in a tussle with the Indian retail conglomerate, Future Group, of India. After obtaining sanction from an arbitrator to stall the latter’s deal with Reliance Industries, it has now complained to SEBI of Future Group’s violations.
As per a Reuters’ report(via Gadgets360), Amazon wrote a letter to the Securities & Exchange Board of India(SEBI) Chairman Ajay Tyagi. In it, it says that Future Group’s news release and stock exchange disclosure violates Indian regulations. And it urges the regulator SEBI to investigate and “suspend review” of the deal with Reliance Industries. It says such disclosure misleads shareholders, perpetuates fraud for benefitting Biyanis'(promoter family of Kishore Biyani: CEO Future Group)alone.
Violative terms of Amazon-Future Group Deal
For the unaware, Amazon recently sent a Legal notice to India’s Retail company, Future Group. This is because the latter violated its agreement with Amazon in 2019. Accordingly, it had invested $200 million and had close to 49% stake in Future Coupons, its subsidiary. Additionally, as per the agreement, Amazon gained a 3.58% stake in Future Retail and held the right to refuse the latter’s deal with other parties. Also, there was a “restricted parties” list and Reliance was one of them.
Now, after Future Group announcing a sell-off of its retail assets worth $3.4 billion to Reliance Industries in August 2020, it reportedly violates the 2019 agreement. Accordingly, Amazon got an injunction to halt the deal with Reliance from a Singapore arbitrator which was agreed by both parties earlier. Besides, Reliance has said that it plans to enforce its rights and complete the deal without hassle.
Potential “Point of no-return” situation for Amazon
Coming back, among the participants, only a source of Future Group reportedly commented on the issue. It denied Amazon’s allegations saying there was no question of fraud/misleading shareholders. In their defense, the deal was due to their bad business during COVID-19, and to protect stakeholders’ interests.
Also, few Indian lawyers reportedly say Amazon’s arbitration requires the Indian court’s ratification. However, Amazon and the arbitrator, V K Rajah, a former attorney general of Singapore believe that the order is honorable, and binding. That said, Amazon is reportedly concerned about the aftereffects of the deal. It says it will lose prospects of becoming the single-largest shareholder of Future Group with more than 1,500 retail stores.
And if SEBI approves the deal by ignoring the arbitration order, it would reportedly be detrimental to Amazon causing irreparable harm and injury.
Qualcomm expected to unveil Snapdragon 875 chipset at the virtual Snapdragon Tech summit in December. The new flagship SoC from the American chipmaker is reported to be manufactured on 5nm process just like Apple A14 Bionic and HUAWEI HiSilicon Kirin 9000. Now, for the first time, an alleged AnTuTu Benchmark score of this SoC has emerged.
The alleged AnTuTu Benchmark score of Qualcomm Snapdragon 875 was shared by Twitter user @yabhishekhd (Abhishek Yadav). As per the image posted by the tipster, this chipset is codenamed ‘lahaina’.
Above all, the Snapdragon 875 scores 847,868 points on AnTuTu. If this happens to be true, then the next-generation Qualcomm flagships smartphone chipset will be much powerful than the current-gen Snapdragon 865, which maxes out at 663752 points (iQOO 5 Pro) on AnTuTu.
That means the upcoming Snapdragon 875 will be the most powerful mobile chipset next year in terms of AnTuTu Benchmark. Anyway, benchmark points do not matter in day to day experience. All the products with these high-end silicons will work fine for years to come.
Apple is reportedly planning to launch next-generation AirPods in 2021. Amidst this, it has turned generous with regards to the current AirPods Pro. Accordingly, a support page for the AirPods Pro says it will service certain affected units and offer a replacement if the issue is confirmed.
The support page(via PhoneArena) details the AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound issues. On the page, Apple says that a small percentage of AirPods Pro units may have sound issues. However, it quotes the units made before October 2020, and not any higher. Anyway, the issues of an affected AirPods Pro are as follows:
Crackling/Static Sounds- These sounds increase in loud environments while exercising or taking a call on the phone.
Active Noise Cancellation(ANC)- Not Working as expected. Issues: Loss of bass sounds, increase in background sounds. Eg: Street/Airplane noise.
Having said that, Apple assures that Apple/Apple Authorized Center will service the affected AirPods Pro. And this is irrespective of the issue being on left/right/both earbuds. Apple also says that the service will be free of cost.
So, if you are someone who is facing these issues with a defective unit, you can avail of the service provided by Apple. Accordingly, you have to find and visit an Apple Authorized Service Center, make an appointment with Apple Retail store, or Contact Apple Support. After examining the issues on the affected unit, if confirmed, Apple will replace them irrespective of left/right/both earbuds. However, Apple notes that AirPods Pro’s case doesn’t come under the ambit of this service as it doesn’t have any defects.
Another disclaimer says this worldwide service program doesn’t alter/extend the Standard warranty of AirPods Pro. The program covers affected AirPods Pro for 2 years after the first retail sale of the unit. So, all the users of defective AirPods Pro manufactured from Last year and before October 2020, are eligible for this service. That is if they genuinely experience the sound issues.
Further, Apple clearly states that other models of the AirPods( like the 1st gen, AirPods 2nd gen) are seldom affected and hence, not eligible for this service.
The Moto G 5G is a new smartphone from Motorola set to launch soon. Specs and images have leaked in the past few days but it appears one major specification has been incorrect.
According to Adam Conway of XDA Developers, the Moto G 5G will not come with a Snapdragon 690 processor as previously reported but the Snapdragon 750G processor. This is the same chipset that powers the Mi 10T Lite and the Galaxy A42 5G.
The info which was revealed on Twitter also includes other specs such as a 60Hz FHD display with a punch hole, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of expandable storage, and NFC. The phone will come with a 48MP Samsung GM1 main sensor, an 8MP Samsung S5K4HZ telephoto sensor, and a 2MP OmniVision OV02B10 depth sensor. The 16MP selfie camera is also supplied by OmniVision (OV16A1Q).
Missing some specs there😉
6.66-inch 2400×1080 resolution 5000mAh battery Google Assistant button Coming to Verizon (w/o GA button) Also XT2113-1 and XT2113-5 models
A reply to Adam’s tweet by Mishaal Rahman, the Editor-in-Chief of XDA Developers, also adds some other details such as the screen being 6.6-inches in size with a 2400 x 1080 resolution, a 5000mAh battery, a Google Assistant button, and a Verizon version.
There will be four variants of the phone with the following model numbers – XT2113-1, XT2113-2, XT2113-3, and XT2113-5.
There is still no info on when the phone will be announced but when it does it should be more affordable than the Moto G 5G Plus or Moto One 5G as it is known in the US.
Samsung is already on course to launch the next flagships, the Galaxy S21/S30 series in 2021. However, it hasn’t unveiled the SoC that powers the new devices. As per early leaks, the next flagship processor could be named Exynos 2100. And now, a new certification suggests that another Exynos could be in the works.
As reportedly by MySmartPrice, a new Exynos 981 moniker has appeared on Bluetooth SIG Certification, which is a non-profit standards organization. Samsung’s Cambridge Solution Centre(SCSC), which is a part of Samsung Electronics has filed the listing which was published yesterday(October 30). The description of the Exynos 981 says it can combine with a compatible RF solution to build BT(Bluetooth)+Wi-Fi solution. And supports Bluetooth 5.2.
Besides, if Samsung launches the said Exynos with the Bluetooth 5.2 standard, it will be a slight upgrade over the current standards on both Exynos 980 and 990 SoCs. That said, we are devoid of any further information regarding the new processor. If we recall, the Exynos 980 SoC mid-range SoC had the company’s first integrated 5G-modem, and it was used by other OEMs like Vivo(Vivo X30). Hence, it is possible that Samsung could position the 981 SoC(if real) as another mid-range processor above 980.
However, Samsung Semiconductor China Research Institute’s director, Dr. Pan Xuebao recently said that the company will soon launch a new Exynos 1080 5nm SoC. It will also embrace the mid to high-end segments and probably power mid-range smartphones. Nevertheless, we will have to wait and see if the Exynos 981 SoC is indeed real and it’s position(if both 981, and 1080 SoC launch separately) in the market.
The HUAWEI Mate 40 series has finally arrived. Since the latest ban from American Government came into effect in September, a lot of people were worried whether the Mate 40 could be released under such circumstances. Well, it seems that with controls in place throughout the supply chain, Huawei successfully brought back the latest Mate 40 with the most powerful chipset for Android to date, the Kirin 9000 5G. When compared to its predecessor the phone comes not just with the upgrades in terms of processing power, but also with another important upgrade — the camera system.
The model in our hands is the Mate 40 Pro. We’ve used it for a few days. Let’s find out what’s new and upgraded in the latest Huawei flagship. Before that, you can read our initial hands-on with the Mate 40 Pro here.
Huawei Mate 40 Pro Review: Design & Display
First, let’s look at its appearance. The Mate 40 Pro has inherited the round camera combination of the Mate 30 series but has made some small changes in the design department. It comes in a unique space ring design with the cameras inside the circular housing and the Leica logo at the center. And the model we have is a Mystic silver version using Anti-glare-glass technology. The matte finish creates reflective gradients of light and color without being over-dazzling. Otherwise, there are 5 different color models for you to choose from like pure-toned white and black models, and 2 other crafted vegan leather models in orange and green.
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And the front is an edge-to-edge 6.76-inch curved display, featuring a super wide-angle punch-hole selfie camera with a gesture sensor. The setup with the additional sensor is pretty unique, but this also means that the punch-hole occupies a much larger area than most smartphones released in 2020. If you dislike the punch-hole as much as I do, hiding the cutout using the software could be a decent solution to this.
With the gesture sensor, the Mate 40 Pro supports some simple touch-free gesture operations, including the interesting AOD feature which only lights up when you look at the screen.
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And talking about the display, to be honest, it’s not industry-leading as its other components like the cameras and the Kirin 9000 5G processor. The OLED display features a 1080P+ resolution and 90Hz refresh rate with a 240Hz touch sampling rate, which is good but probably not high-end enough for a 2020 Pro flagship phone. But with the 88 degrees of edgeless curvature, the display does have a strong visual appeal as compared to its flat-screen rivals.
Huawei has also added back physical volume buttons on the new model. So you have physical power and volume buttons on the right side of the Mate 40 Pro. But you can still double-tap on either display edges to pop up the volume slider via software.
Huawei Mate 40 Pro Review: Hardware
In the Mate 40 series, I think the most important upgrade is the brand new Kirin 9000 chipset, which is the first 5nm processor with integrated 5G developed for smartphones. The Octa-core CPU is led by a big core clocking at 3.13 GHz. The 24-core Mali-G78 GPU technically offers higher performance and better power efficiency than the last generation flagship chipset from the brand.
We tried several games on the Mate 40 Pro. Indeed, the chipset could provide extraordinary gaming performance, but so far, we are still waiting for important updates in its software that’ll enable the best performance it can provide. Once Huawei sends out the final software unleashing its full performance, we will show you the full gaming data in a detailed gaming review.
Another detail that is worth noticing is the dual stereo speakers. No matter for media playback or gaming, the immersive experience of the speakers is pretty impressive.
Huawei Mate 40 Pro Review: Cameras
Another highly anticipated upgrade is the cameras. The rear combination mainly contains 3 working cameras and one laser sensor: one 50MP main camera with f/1.9 aperture, a 20MP Wide-angle cine camera with f/1.8 aperture, and another 12MP telephoto camera supporting 5-times optical zoom. The assistant laser sensor doesn’t do imaging work but can support faster and accurate focus for the other cameras.
And let’s have a quick look at the camera samples. Here, we take the HUAWEI P40 Pro Plus as a reference, and let’s check out what is improved on the Mate 40 Pro.
First, let’s look at the main camera. Well unsurprisingly, under good lighting conditions, the samples shot on its main camera is almost the same as the P40 Pro Plus, whether in terms of their Leica color optimizations, or the great resolution generated from the same 50MP sensor. While there is no significant difference in the primary cameras of these two models, we still want to mention that the AI color strategy on the Huawei Mate 40 Pro is more accurate to real-life colors and looks a bit closer to true tones. But the end of the day, this is going to be about individual preference, whether you like it more saturated or closer to real-life colors.
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Mate 40 Pro main camera
P40 Pro Plus Main Cam (2)
Mate 40 Pro main camera
P40 Pro Plus Main Cam (1)
Mate 40 Pro main camera
P40 Pro Plus Main Cam (5)
Mate 40 Pro main camera
P40 Pro Plus Main Cam (4)
Mate 40 Pro main camera
P40 Pro Plus Main Cam (3)
But when I moved on to night scenes, the gap got a bit obvious. Thanks to the OIS stabilization system, the night photos on the P model were more stable for hand-held photography. However, most night samples had sharper image detail and quality on the Mate 40 Pro. On the other hand, because of the lack of OIS, we had to be more careful using the 5-second capture option to avoid camera shake. But once we were successfully accustomed to the camera shake, the Mate model managed to capture the night photos with correct exposure levels and rich details.
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Mate 40 Pro 1x night-5
Mate 40 Pro 1x night
P40 Pro Plus 1x night-4
Mate 40 Pro wide-night
P40 Pro Plus wide-night
Mate 40 Pro 1x night
P40 Pro Plus 1x night-3
P40 Pro Plus 1x night-3
Mate 40 Pro 1x night
P40 Pro Plus 1x night-2
Mate 40 Pro 1x night-2
P40 Pro Plus 1x night
But right now, the Mate 40 pro in our hand is using a non-commercial software version. There will be an update coming soon for improving the camera performance, so we are also looking forward to the new software optimization for the main camera’s night capture. And we found that if we had stable hands during shooting, the image quality of the night samples shot on the Mate model is even better than the P40 Pro Plus featuring excellent exposure.
As for the wide-angle camera, most of the samples shot on the Mate model have more accurate color reproduction. It seems that no matter for the main camera or the wide-angle camera, the camera AI is obviously improved and smarter than what we have on the P40 Pro Plus.
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Mate 40 Pro wide
P40 Pro Plus wide angle
Mate 40 Pro wide
P40 ProPlus Wide
Mate 40 Pro wide
P40 Pro Plus wide angle
Mate 40 Pro wide
P40 Pro Plus wide angle
Mate 40 Pro wide-night
P40 Pro Plus wide-night
And the most significant improvement of the wide-angle camera performance is night capture. The low-saturation issue during night photography on the P model is fixed on the new Mate model. The samples shot on the Mate 40 Pro reserved richer colors and better details with sharper images.
Huawei claimed that they optimized their anti-distortion algorithm on the Mate 40. We could not really perceive the improvement with our eyes, although it did have an excellent anti-distortion effect in general.
These two models have different setups for telephoto cameras. The P40 Pro Plus comes with 2 telephoto cameras supporting 3-times and 10-times optical zoom, respectively, while the Mate 40 Pro is equipped with a single 5-times zoom telephoto sensor. But surprisingly we found that the Mate40 Pro did not fall behind its P-series counterpart. From the 3-times zoom sample, the image generated by the main camera of the Mate model has good detail and reserves excellent contrast. On the other hand, the P model’s sample is a bit better in terms of image sharpness.
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Mate 40 Pro 1x
P40 Pro Plus 1x
Mate 40 Pro 3x
P40 Pro Plus 3x
Mate 40 Pro 5x
P40 Pro Plus 5x
Mate 40 Pro 10x
P40 Pro Plus 10x
Mate 40 Pro 10x (2)
P40 Pro Plus 10x
In the 5-times zoom department, the Mate 40 Pro model clearly took the lead. It has much higher saturation and more accurate color reproduction. And the 12MP resolution of this 5-times zoom camera also guarantees better clarity. And when we move on to the 10-times zoom samples, the P model, unsurprisingly, claimed its dominance. Indeed, the P model’s sample has slightly better detail and more reliable exposure. But the Mate’s samples didn’t fall behind too much in image clarity.
And we also tried night photography using the telephoto cameras. The night performance of the Mate model’s telephoto camera is much better than what we had expected. It managed to capture excellent photos with good noise control and sharpness than what we got on the P series model. Whether it was for the 5-times or 10-times zoom samples, the Mate model’s night camera production is clearly superior to the P40 Pro Plus.
As for its videography skills, both of them can shoot up to 4k 60fps video. Check out our review video (added at the top of this Mate 40 Pro review article) to see for yourself how both of them fare in the videography department.
The Mate 40 Pro also has better battery performance and faster-charging efficiency.
Huawei Mate 40 Pro Charging
To learn more about its battery performance, we did a 4-hour power-consumption test connected to the 5G network. In one-hour of PUBG gaming, it consumed 18% of the power. Another 14% power dropped after an hour of camera use; 8% after one hour of social media use and a further 8% drop in the battery after one-hour of video playback. After the test, there was 52% of power left.
The new charging solution brings 66W charging efficiency for wired charging and 50W wireless charging. In the full-charge test, it took us 45 mins to get to 100% in wired charging.
Huawei Mate 40 Pro Review: Verdict
As the most influential Android phone released in the second half of 2020, the Mate 40 series still successfully completed its mission of bringing industry-leading hardware to the Android world, even under great pressure from the US ban. Although the Mate 40 pro is not an all-round-leading flagship, Huawei has still maintained its industrial-leading position with its fantastic camera system. Compared to the iPhone’s camera strategy, Huawei is more focused on making mobile photography and filming more delightful for ordinary users instead of serving professionals.
So this was our first part of the Mate 40 pro review on Gizmochina. Of course, the full review of this beast isn’t complete without a full-scale camera competition with the other top camera flagships in the market. Just tell us below which models you want to see in the upcoming camera comparison.
Samsung has been beta testing One UI 3.0 on a number of its smartphones for a while now. However, the company is yet to officially unveil the latest version of its mobile software. Usually, the electronics giant showcases its new software at Samsung Developer Conference (SDC) but this year’s show was canceled due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, the company now has a dedicated page on one of its websites teasing some of the features.
Samsung’s One UI 3.0 based on Android 11 software is currently available for a handful of flagship devices in beta form. Further, the builds are limited to a few users in certain regions only. Above all, the company is yet to reveal the list of eligible devices and update roadmap as Huawei did recently for EMUI 11 & Magic UI 4.0.
Anyway, we now finally know some of the features of One UI 3.0, thanks to a dedicated page on Samsung’s Malaysian website spotted by XDA Developers. This page also reveals the update to be available starting November. Hence, we can expect the South Korean tech giant to begin rolling out stable builds in the coming weeks.
Redesigned Notification Panel & Quick Panel
As for features, Samsung has listed some of them with images. First and foremost, the company has implemented Android 11 media controls in the quick panel. Hence, users will be able to switch between music/video playback from multiple apps with ease. Also, the notification shade has been redesigned to show more content.
Further, the company talks about support for various screen sizes. This will be useful in devices like Galaxy Z Fold2. In this device, the cover display will show app content in the standard mobile view but when unfolded, app content will be optimized for tablet view. The page also confirms the availability of Dual Preview and Rear Cam Selfie features for the original Galaxy Fold with One UI 3.0 update.
Full-screen Video Calls
To keep users’ lock screen always fresh, the new One UI update will bring 5 new categories for Dynamic Wallpapers, increasing the total count to 10. And last but not least, Samsung phones will finally support full-screen video calls in the default phone app.
In September, Huawei officially announced EMUI 11, the latest version of its mobile operating system based on Android 10 at the HUAWEI DEVELOPER CONFERENCE. Since then, the company has been rolling out beta releases to certain devices across the world. Now, more than a month later, the Chinese telecom giant has finally confirmed eligible devices as well as shared the update roadmap/timeline for its home country.
Like any Chinese smartphone maker, Huawei always releases the latest software update first in its homeland China. The same is the case for EMUI 11. As per the company, a total of 37 HUAWEI and HONOR branded smartphones and tablets will be updated.
That said, it is worth noting that this update comes as Magic UI 4.0 for HONOR smartphones, which is nothing but EMUI 11 with some minor tweaks. Also, the roadmap shared by the company not only includes the timeline for stable rollout but also closed and open beta.
EMUI 11 Eligible/Supported Devices
HUAWEI P Series
HUAWEI P40
HUAWEI P40 Pro
HUAWEI P40 Pro+
HUAWEI P30
HUAWEI P30 Pro
HUAWEI Mate Series
HUAWEI Mate 30
HUAWEI Mate 30 5G
HUAWEI Mate 30 Pro
HUAWEI Mate 30 Pro 5G
PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate30 RS
HUAWEI Mate 20
HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro
PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate20 RS
HUAWEI Mate 20X
HUAWEI Mate 20X 5G
HUAWEI Mate X
HUAWEI Mate Xs
HUAWEI nova Series
HUAWEI nova7
HUAWEI nova7 Pro
HUAWEI nova6
HUAWEI nova6 5G
HUAWEI nova5 Pro
HUAWEI MatePad Series
HUAWEI MatePad Pro
HUAWEI MatePad Pro 5G
HUAWEI MatePad 10.8
HUAWEI MediaPad Series
HUAWEI MediaPad M6 10.8
HUAWEI MediaPad M6 8.4
HUAWEI MediaPad M6 Turbo
Magic UI 4.0 Eligible/Supported Devices
HONOR Number Series
HONOR 30
HONOR 30 Pro
HONOR 30 Pro+
HONOR 20
HONOR 20 Pro
HONOR V Series
HONOR V30
HONOR V30 Pro
HONOR V20
HONOR Magic Series
HONOR Magic2
EMUI 11 & Magic UI 4.0 Update Roadmap for China
October 21, 2020 – Closed Beta Recruitment
HUAWEI P30
HUAWEI P30 Pro
October 26, 2020 – Open Beta Rollout
HUAWEI MatePad 10.8
October 28, 2020 – Open Beta Rollout
HUAWEI nova7
HUAWEI nova7 Pro
HUAWEI nova6
HUAWEI nova6 5G
HONOR V30
HONOR V30 Pro
HONOR 30
HONOR 30 Pro
HONOR 30 Pro+
Early November 2020 – Stable Rollout
HUAWEI P40
HUAWEI P40 Pro
HUAWEI P40 Pro+
HUAWEI Mate 30
HUAWEI Mate 30 5G
HUAWEI Mate 30 Pro
HUAWEI Mate 30 Pro 5G
PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate30 RS
HUAWEI MatePad Pro
HUAWEI MatePad Pro 5G
Mid-November 2020 – Closed Beta Recruitment
HUAWEI Mate 20
HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro
PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate20 RS
HUAWEI Mate 20X
HUAWEI Mate 20X 5G
HUAWEI Mate X
HUAWEI nova5 Pro
HONOR 20
HONOR 20 Pro
HONOR V20
HONOR Magic2
HUAWEI MediaPad M6 10.8
HUAWEI MediaPad M6 8.4
HUAWEI MediaPad M6 Turbo
Mid-November 2020 – Open Beta Rollout
HUAWEI Mate Xs
Having said that, we will publish a separate article for EMUI 11/Magic UI 4.0 global update timeline when Huawei will release it.
Micromax is all set to launch its In-series smartphones in India on Nov. 3. The Indian brand has been teasing the features of the upcoming phones, but it has really any good information on their specifications. In an interview with popular YouTuber Technical Guruji, Micromax co-founder Rahul Sharma gave the first look of the upcoming In-series phone and shared some vital details.
The rumor mill is speculated that Micromax will be announcing the Micromax In 1 and Micromax In 1A phones on Nov. 3. In the interview, Sharma neither revealed the name nor confirmed the number of phones that will be announced next week. However, he did give a first look at the new In-series phone.
As can be seen in cropped images taken from Technical Guruji’s YouTube video, the upcoming In-series phone will be available in white and green colors. As it is known, the green one has an X-pattern on its rear.
The new phone has a traditional rear-facing fingerprint scanner. At the upper-left corner is a rectangle-shaped camera module that has a 48-megapixel main camera. The camera module seems to be housing four cameras and an LED flash. Other screengrabs show that the phone’s display has a top-center camera cutout. Below shown is a new tweet that hints at the presence of a punch-hole display on the device.
The upcoming Micromax phones seem to be powered by Helio G35 and Helio G85 chipsets. These phones are expected to be priced between Rs 7,000 (~$94) and Rs 15,000 (~$201) in the country.
The Honor 10X Lite mid-range phone is now official in Saudi Arabia. It comes with an impressive display with a punch-hole design and it has a 48-megapixel quad-camera system on its rear. The phone comes with fast charging support for its huge battery.
Honor 10X Lite specifications and features
The Honor 10X Lite has 165.65 x 76.88 x 9.26mm and it weighs 206 grams. It has a 6.67-inch IPS LCD screen that delivers an aspect ratio of 20:9 and a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels. The phone offers a screen space of 90.3 percent, claims the company. The dated Kirin 710 chipset is present under the hood of the Honor 10X Lite. The SoC is coupled with 4 GGB of RAM.
The Honor 10X Lite has an internal storage of 128 GB and it has a microSD card for additional storage. For capturing selfies, it has a front camera of 8-megapixel. The backside of the Honor 10X Lite has a quad-camera system that includes a 48-megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel superwide lens, a 2-megapixel depth sensor, and a 2-megapixel macro camera.
The Honor 10X Lite has a 5,000mAh battery to keep the lights on. It is assisted by 22.5W SuperCharge fast charging technology. The phone boots to Android 10 OS and Magic UI 3.1. Instead of Google’s apps and services, the phone comes with support for Huawei Mobile Services (HMS). It has a side-facing fingerprint sensor, and its other features include dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, NFC, USB-C, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
Honor 10X Lite pricing
The Honor 10X Lite has landed in Saudi Arabia for SAR 799 (~$213). It comes in three colors such as Icelandic Frost, Midnight Black, and Emerald Green. The handset is also arriving in Russia. There is no word on other markets that will be treated with the Honor 10X Lite.
Earlier this month, Vivo confirmed some of the key details of the Vivo V20 SE smartphone in India when it announced the Vivo V20 smartphone. The pricing and availability of the V20 SE was not confirmed for the Indian market. Recently, premature retailer listings of the V20 SE appeared to reveal its pricing as Rs 20,990 (~$281). A new report by 91mobilesstates that it has confirmed details on the launch date and pre-booking offers for the Vivo V20 SE. According to the report, the Vivo V20 SE is slated to debut in India on Nov. 2.
Vivo V20 SE price in India and pre-booking offers
The Vivo V20 SE is expected to carry a price tag of Rs 20,990. It will be available in Gravity Black and Aquamarine Green. A promotional poster shared by the publication reveals that there will be 10 percent cashback owners for customers of ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, Bank of Baroda.
Buyers will be also an advantage of other offers such as the Vivo upgrade program, one-time screen replacement, and Rs 10,000 worth of benefits from Jio and Vi. The handset is now up for pre-orders through offline channels.
The Vivo V20 SE has a 6.44-inch S-AMOLED display with support for a Full HD+ resolution and a 20:9 aspect ratio. The Snapdragon 665 mobile platform powers the phone with 8 GB of RAM. It has 128 GB of native storage and a microSD card slot for more storage. It is backed by a 4,100mAh battery that supports 33W fast charging. It has a front camera of 32-megapixel and a 48-megapixel + 8-megapixel (ultrawide) + 2-megapixel (depth) triple camera system.
Xiaomi has officially announced the release of a new Xiaomi Wear app 2.0. The new update ushers in a new avatar to show your status in real-time. Also, the app now allows users to independently initiate sports in the app anytime and anywhere. Further, the app comes with professional data management, immediate fitness data viewing on the home page and so on. The update has been rolled out for Android users only. Xiaomi is expected to push that of iOS in no distant time.
On this version, the home page doubles as the status page. Steps, calories, exercise records, and sleep can all be viewed immediately on the home page . In addition, a new data source switching function is added, making it easier to view data from multiple devices.
Also, you can start exercise directly on the app without binding the device. This feature supports the following exercises; outdoor running, indoor running, outdoor walking and outdoor cycling.
The Wear app 2.0 also gets a new health page with one-click check-in for small habits, health plans, and courses to help your health and monitor your transformation. The app also contains more health information now.
The app can automatically read the exercise heart rate for the Mi band 5 and Band 5 NFC version when they are paired. This feature is still under development for other devices.
Further, with the new Independent device management, multi-device users can more conveniently use the app. Also, the app features a personal information manager which can be updated independently.
OnePlus‘ latest flagship, the OnePlus 8T is one of the best smartphones in its price category. The device comes with a 120Hz Fluid AMOLED screen and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset. The device is also complemented by a quad-camera set up and the 65W Warp Charge.
One aspect that OnePlus has repeatedly harped on is the camera capability of the device’s camera. OnePlus had teased the 8T camera sample on Twitter before it was launched, with the teaser bearing the caption: “When the stars come up, we bring our OnePlus 8T out!”
Indeed the camera has been nothing short of impressive and OnePlus is intent on flaunting the camera with its latest short film which was shot using the OP8T’s camera.
The film titled, ‘Stop at Nothing’ reiterates the need to use the technology around you productively and taking the time to disconnect, talking of digital wellbeing. The short film stares Kalki Koechlin and is produced by Lightstream. OnePlus 8T is capable of shooting videos up to 4K @60fps. Users can choose a more cinematic 21:9 crop as well.
Narrated through spoken-word poetry written by Kalki Koechlin, ‘Stop at Nothing’ underlines the downsides of being hyper-connected and highlights the need to disconnect while reiterating the use of technology and digital platforms for what they were originally intended — platforms to create, connect and collaborate.
Commenting on the campaign film, Siddhant Narayan, Head of Marketing at OnePlus India stated,
“We live in a time where our smartphones have become our one-stop destination for everything from work and news updates to entertainment and connecting with loved ones. As a technology brand, we understand how important it is to perceive our devices as an extension of the self, for helping us boost creativity and productivity and not something that we become dependent on. With this film, we hope to make people cognizant of using technology for the betterment of ourselves, emphasizing the importance of disconnecting from time to time”.
Huawei announced the Mate 40 series in China today. A few days back, Huawei’s CEO hinted at a special feature coming to Chinese variants. Today, at the launch event, Richard Yu of Huawei announced that Mate 40 series will be the first smartphone to have a hardware wallet for China’s digital currency(DCEP).
Accordingly, the Huawei Mate 40 series supports(via Decrypt) an in-built hardware wallet for China’s DC/EP(Digital RMB). Here DC is Digital Currency, and EP is Electronic Payment. Besides, China’s Central Bank Digital Currency, the digital Yuan is reportedly under development since 2014. Further, Huawei CEO said that the device will offer hardware-level security along with anonymous protection, and dual-offline transactions.
Simply put, users can use the device as a digital wallet and shop at multiple outlets in the country. Interestingly, they can also initiate transactions when they are offline. As per Huawei’s Offical Weibo account, the Huawei Wallet is supported at 16 million+ PoS(Point of Sales) terminals, and 130+ banks(English translated). However, it is unclear if users can swap their bank savings to this wallet. That said, the announcement comes at a time when the Chinese Government is pushing digital currency to the public. And conducting trials of the same.
Besides, Huawei has also been actively involving with the government to promote digital currency in China. Earlier this year, it signed an agreement with Govt. of Nanshan District of Shenzhen, Southeast China. This was to strengthen the country’s Digital Currency economy. And collaborate with the People’s Bank of China to begin the testing of its own virtual currency in Shenzhen.
China’s rigorous push for DCEP
Reports say that Shenzhen‘s Luohu District stimulated around 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) to public citizens to pilot test the digital currency and promote DCEP. Accordingly, 50,000 initial recipients got the DCEP through a lottery system. And made to use it across 3,389 merchants including restaurants, gas stations, metro, and more.
As per the system, there will be a DCEP wallet developed by commercial banks like China’s Central Bank, People’s Bank of China. Users can avail these lotteries by downloading the DCEP wallet of the respective banks. Before this, nearly 2 million people signed up for the Digital yuan Experiment. And 50,000 of them reportedly got a 200 yuan gift envelope.
Apple introduced the expensive flexible OLED displays on its wearables before bringing it to iPhones. Now that it has familiarized the tech with the public, a report says Apple will reportedly account for about half of flexible OLED smartphones launching in 2021.
TheElec’s report says that according to a research firm Stone Partners, 2021 will record a total of 1.39 billion smartphone shipments while 2020 will reportedly account for 1.265 billion. Among them, LCD, and total OLED smartphone shipments will be 793, and 597 million respectively. Here, the total OLED consists of two- rigid OLED, and flexible OLED devices.
Accordingly, the report says close to 315 million smartphones will use flexible OLED panels next year. And this is 52% higher than the current year’s predicted shipments of 207 million. Besides, Apple will reportedly ship 160 million OLED iPhones in 2021 which is an 80% jump from the already estimated 90 million. This is more than 50% of the total flexible OLED smartphone shipments.
Also, the report says the company’s use of flexible OLED for iPhones will make flexible OLED shipments surpass the rigid OLED for the first time in 2021. For the unware, OLED is an Organic- Light Emitting Diode. Flexible OLED has a flexible/soft substrate made of plastic to last more than Glass. They are resistant to impact as well as lighter, and thinner. Apple brought the flexible OLED displays to wearables with Apple Watch in 2015, and to the iPhone X in 2017.
Coming back, companies like Samsung, Huawei will ship 90 million, and 8 million flexible OLED smartphones next year. The reason for the sudden drop in Huawei’s outlook is reportedly due to the US ban. That said the gap of 50 to 60 million of Huawei’s flexible OLED shipments will now be filled by Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo says the report. Xiaomi and OPPO will reportedly churn out 18 million flexible OLED smartphones. And Vivo will ship about 12 million units in 2021.
Logitech’s brand Logitech G has teamed up with Riot Games to launch a set of officially licensed League of Legends(LoL) gaming products. Accordingly, the products include a gaming Headset, in-ear Earphones, Wireless Mouse, and a Mouse Pad.
Credit: Logitech G/Riot Games
Logitech has announced(via Businessswire) the partnership along with the product details on its official website. For the unware, League of Legends is a decade-old MOBA(Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game developed by Riot Games. Besides, this game is reportedly one of the most-played PC games in the world. Also, K/DA is an in-game term that refers to Kill, Death, and Assists. It is also a virtual girl K-pop group having five of the themed in-game characters. This includes Leader Ahri, Akali, Evelynn, Seraphine, and Kai’Sa.
Logitech G LoL K/DA edition Products: Pricing, and Availability
Initially, the LoL K/DA editions of the Headset, Earphones, Mouse, and Mouse Pad will be available at the Logitech G website in China. However, it is said to go on sale in the rest of the world by 2021. You can take a look at the prices below:
Coming back, the first one is Logitech G733 Lightspeed Wireless RGB LoL Gaming Headset. This version has an Ahri theme with the K/DA logo on the earcups, white accents with bluish-green lighting, and dual-layer black earpads. Other than that, the specs remain the same as the standard version. Weighing at 278g, it reportedly gives 29Hr battery life, charges via USB-C, and has a 20metres wireless range. There is a 40mm PRO-G driver, 20Hz-20kHz response, and 6mm boom detachable microphone.
The G333 LoL in-ear earphones is reportedly the first of its kind from Logitech G. It has the same White, and Blue aesthetics as the K/DA model with an Akali theme. The ear tips are blue in color White the housing is Silver, and the cable is White. The media buttons are a mix of Black and Blue. It features dual audio drivers, 5.8mm, and 9.2mm. Other features include 3.5mm gold-plated port, bass-audio for powerful gaming.
The Logitech G304/5 Lightspeed Wireless Gaming Mouse’s LoL edition has K/DA logo on the right-click button, with black-blue accents. It weighs just 99 grams, supports USB Port, macOS, Windows, and Chrome OS. The rest of the mouse is White and Kai’Sa theme. It has features like HERO sensor with 12,000 DPI, 1ms report rate, 250hrs battery life, and more.
Logitech G840 XL Gaming Mouse Pad LoL K/DA edition
This huge 15.75×35.43-inch mouse pad covers the Keyboard, Mouse, and other accessories in a single surface with 3mm thickness. The K/DA edition has all five characters Ahri, Akali, Kai’Sa, Evelynn, and Seraphine. Besides, the outer material is rubber but has K/DA logo on the top left with the usual Black-Blue color scheme. The logo of Logitech G and LoL is also at the bottom right. Logitech says the pad provides great accuracy, quick hand, and mouse movements while gaming.
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