Realme Q2 series smartphone to come with leather finish and trendy design

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Oct 8, 2020

It has been a little over four years since Xiaomi launched the Mi 5 and Mi 5 Plus. We have had four successive flagship series since then in the Mi 6, Mi 8, Mi 9 and Mi 10 series. However, there are persons who still hold on to their Mi 5 models. But getting new OS update from Xiaomi is presently out of the question. The models originally boot Android 6.0 Marshmallow but were upgraded to Android 8.0 Oreo-based MIUI 10 as its final major upgrade.

However, if you own the Mi 5 or Mi 5 Plus and would like to experience the latest Android version on your good old Mi 5 or Mi 5 Plus, Lineage OS has come to the rescue. LineageOS 18.0 has ported the Mi 5 to Android 11.

A support page for the Mi 5 at XDA Developers (via 1, 2) claims that even with the third-party arrangement, practically everything works. Also, LineageOS 18.0 supports all configurations of the Mi 5. The custom ROM is in a beta phase anyway and you should expect some bugs and glitches.

On the other hand, the Mi 5s Plus ROM, which is not the same as the one for the Mi 5, is in a testing phase. Also, the Wfd Service does not work with this build.

In case you plan on porting to this custom ROM, do ensure that you save all your data before installing either of these ROMs.

Fitbit Sense finally gets the ECG app functionality in the US and Europe

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Oct 8, 2020

As the most expensive Smartwatch of the company yet, Fitbit Sense finally gets the ECG App functionality in the US, Germany, and UK. The App, which was not available at launch, was approved by both the FDA and EU last month.

As reported by Tizenhelp(via 9to5Google), the Smartwatch has already started getting the update in the US, Uk, and Germany. The report says that countries like India are also on the list but the exact date is unknown. For the unaware, Fitbit launched the Fitbit Sense Smartwatch back in August at $329. The Smartwatch has advanced health tracking features like ECG, EDA, and support for Google Assistant, and Alexa.

However, the ECG feature was not available at the launch as the company had an approval pending at the USA’s FDA(Food and Drug Administration). And the EU’s CE marking(EEA health standard). That said, the company is now rolling out the feature as promised. Besides, the report says the company conducted multi-site clinical trials across the US to submit data for regulatory approval.

ECG feature- How it works?

Coming back, the new update will be available to all users in the above-mentioned countries soon. You can also install it manually by downloading the app from Fitbit official website or trying it via the Fitbit app on your Smartphone. After installing, go to Assessments & Reports->Discover Tab->Heart Rhythm assistant. After accepting terms, open the ECG app on Fitbit Sense and complete setup. You have to put your fingers on either side of the stainless steel ring of the watch. This will take a reading of your heartbeat to help you access heart rhythm and detect any atrial fibrillation in the future.

Fitbit Sense Health and tracking features

Anyway, the Fitbit Sense is the first Smartwatch to have ECG(Electrocardiogram), and EDA(Electrodermal Activity) sensors. According to Fitbit, it has 98.7% and 100% successful rate of AFib, and Heartrate respectively. AFib is commonly an irregular heartbeat that can lead to several heart-related complications. However, EDA measures the sweat level on the skin to monitor stress levels.

Other features on the Smartwatch include Exercise modes, 24/7 100% accurate heartrate, skin temperature sensor, SpO2 for blood Oxygen levels, and more. The Smartwatch is already available in the US but will be available in Europe from October 16.

Up Next: Meizu Smartwatch Weibo account registered; product launching in Q4 2020

Huawei Mate X2 handled in leaked picture showing a similar design to the Mate Xs

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Oct 8, 2020

Huawei is expected to unveil its flagship Mate 40 series any moment from now. The anticipated models include the Mate X2 and Mate X2 Pro. The company may also introduce another flagship product, this time the Mate X2 foldable phone.

There is no official word on when the Mate X2 will be launched but there are speculations it won’t hit the market until next year. It could also make an appearance alongside the Mate 40 series. A purported hands-on image of the Mate X2 has leaked online. The leak which appeared on Weibo thanks to Chinese blogger @8090 Life Digital, gives us a glimpse of the alleged Mate X2 in its fully unfolded state. We must note that the device looks just like the Mate Xs which in turn was nearly identical to the Mate X.

The phone appears to utilise an outward folding design even though this is at variance with recent patent filings which point to an infolding design. The foldable design adopts the same screen protector as it predecessor.

The Huawei Mate X2 is rumoured to feature the same 8-inch screen as the Mate X alongside a rear-mounted camera setup. The foldable smartphone is also expected to pack the flagship Kirin 9000 chipset which will also be used by the Mate 40 series.

OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z Bass Edition will launch on October 14

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Oct 8, 2020

It appears the OnePlus Buds Z is not the only pair of earphones OnePlus plans to announce at its product launch next week. A leak has revealed the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z will get a special edition. This new version will launch as the Bullets Wireless Z Bass Edition.

Exclusive for @91mobiles: #OnePlus is releasing 2 Wireless Earphones soon.

Buds Z w/ 10mm drivers, IP55, Dolby Atmos & Dirac Audio Tuner, 20 hrs. Battery

Bullets Wireless Z Bass Edition w/ 9.2mm drivers, 10 min Charge for 10 hrs. playback

Full features: https://t.co/6BypiFXfgp

— Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) October 8, 2020

The new earphones will have a heavy focus on bass according to Ishan Agarwal, the leaker who revealed the info to 91Mobiles in an exclusive post. He says the core features such as the drivers, magnetic control, and fast charging technology will be similar to that of the original which was announced in April. However, the battery life will be a little less, dropping to 17 hours from the 20-hour battery life of the standard version.

There is no mention of the design but we expect some minor differences will be present. With respect to price, the Bullets Wireless Z Bass Edition should also be pretty affordable. The Bullets Wireless Z launched for $49.95 in the US (INR 1,999 (~$27) in India) but is now being sold for $29.95, so the Bass Edition should be really affordable too.

Samsung Galaxy F41 launches in India with an introductory pricetag of ₹15,499($212)

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Oct 8, 2020

Samsung has finally launched the Galaxy F41 smartphone in India. The device packs in a 64MP rear camera sensor, 6,000mAh battery, and more. It goes on sale starting October 16 as a part of Flipkart’s Big Billion Day Sales and will be available at an exciting introductory price.

Design, Colors, ports

After teasing the device a while back, Samsung unveiled a new entrant of the F series of smartphones today. Design-wise, the first entrant of the F series, Galaxy F41, looks similar to the Galaxy M31. Weighing in at just 191g, the device has 8.9mm thickness. It has a water-drop style notch display on the front, and triple-rear cameras, a fingerprint sensor at the back.

Samsung Galaxy F41 Colors
Credit: Samsung

There are volume and power buttons to the right. It also features a USB-C port, speaker grille, and 3.5mm audio jack. As for the color variants, there are three- Fusion Green, Fusion Blue, and Fusion Black.

Specifications

The Galaxy F41 features a 6.4-inch FHD+ sAMOLED Infinity-U display. The display has a peak brightness of up to 420 nits, 110% NTSC color gamut, and 78960:1 contrast ratio. Under the hood, it is powered by the ever-existing Exynos 9611 SoC paired with a single 6GB LPDDR4x RAM. However, the storage variants are either 64/128GB.

If we turn the device back, we have the squircle layout housing three camera sensors and a flashlight. The primary sensor is a 64MP, while the other two are an 8MP ultra-wide with 123° FOV, and a 5MP sensor for live focus(depth). The selfie shooter at the front also supports live focus, smart beauty features and has a 32MP sensor.

Camera features, and Connectivity

That said, the camera features include Single take(burst mode), bokeh, filters, smart crop, and best moments for rear photo. Video mode has options like 4k(rear), Original video, hyperlapse, and boomerang. Further, connectivity options include 4G LTE with 2 SIM slots and a MicroSD slot for expansion up to 512GB. The device also has Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, and GPS for navigation.

All this is backed up by a huge 6,000mAh battery with support for 15W charging. The device runs Android 10-based One UI out of the box and sadly doesn’t come with Android 11 pre-installed. Also, Samsung’s website says the device will come with One UI 2.1 and the current stable 2.5 version. That said, we can expect One UI 3 based on the Android 11 update definitely in the future.

Price, offers, and Availability

As for the price, its original price is ₹16,999(~$232) for 6/64 and ₹17,999(~$247) for 6/128GB. But the company has an introductory offer on the occasion of Big Billion Days. The offer is a ₹1,500 discount on both the variants bringing their price down to ₹15,499(~$212) and 16,499($225) for 6/64 and 6/128GB respectively.

Other offers include an additional 10% discount on SBI card, pay only 70% of the value via Flipkart Smart Upgrade plan for payments via Credit card, and Credit card for EMI. As per the plan, customers can buy a new phone on Flipkart but return the existing one after 12 months.

The Samsung Galaxy F41 will go on sale from October 16 through Flipkart. However, we can also expect to sell via Samsung online and offline stores.

Up Next: Samsung estimates 58% rise in profits to $10.6 billion in Q3 2020

Check out the Realme 7i official unboxing video

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Oct 8, 2020

Realme took the wraps off the Realme 7i on Wednesday in India alongside several other AIOT products. The company has now released an early unboxing video of the device giving us a glimpse of the device, its key specs and what is inside the box.

The video shows that the device will ship with a TPU case, an 18W charging adapter and USB-C chord. You also get the option of a Fusion Green and Fusion Blue color variant on the device.

As a reminder, the Realme 7i packs a 6.5-inch HD+ LCD screen with 90Hz refresh rate. The display feature a punch-hole design located at the upper-left corner and which houses a 16MP selfie camera.

The phone equally packs a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor as well as a Quad-camera setup. The camera includes a 64MP primary sensor as well as an 8MP ultrawide, 2MP macro, and 2MP depth sensor.

The premium mid-ranger is powered has a Snapdragon 662 SoC paired with 4GB RAM. There are two storage options – 64GB and 128GB. But it also comes with a dedicated slot for a microSD card for storage expansion. The smartphone runs on Android 10-based Realme UI. Under the hood, there is a 5,000 mAh battery that charges at up to 18W through a USB-C port. Check out the unboxing video below.

The Realme 7i is priced at Rs.11,999 ($165) and Rs.12,999 ($180) for the 64GB and 128GB variants, respectively.

Moto G8 Power Lite finally gets Android 10 update in India

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Oct 8, 2020

Motorola launched Moto G8 Power Lite in India in late May. Surprisingly, for a phone releasing in 2020, it came with Android 10 out of the box. Now, nearly five months after its launch, the handset has finally begun to receive last year’s Android 10 in the country while some devices are awaiting for their stable Android 11 build.

A few years back, Motorola was known for delivering faster Android updates. It was also one of the few companies to provide regular security patches. But that is not the case anymore.

The company has become so bad in software that it launched Moto G8 Power Lite with Android Pie after 8 months from the release of Android 10. What’s even worse is it has taken the firm almost five months to deliver a year old Android update.

Nevertheless, it is here now in India and if you own this smartphone, then make sure to check for the OTA update from Settings. That said, as it is being currently rolled out in batches, it may take time to reach your unit. Therefore, don’t worry if you haven’t received it yet.

On the other hand, Motorola had promised at least two Android updates for its flagship smartphone Edge Plus. However, it is yet to receive a single Android 11 beta build.

(Via)

Realme X7 Pro 5G spotted on NCC database as global launch draws near

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Oct 8, 2020

Realme X7 5G was launched alongside the Realme X7 Pro in China last month. The company had earlier disclosed hat a number of models will be introduced in Europe and we suspect the X7 Pro will be one of the models to hit the old continent. Apparently, the model will also be launched in several markets as it was listed on Thailand’s NBTC agency last week. Right now, a Realme model adopting the model number RMX 2121 has been spotted on Taiwan’s NCC agency.

The NCC listing features images of the device as well as those of its batteries (two of them) and 65W SuperDart charger. As for the design, the phone has a similar design to the Chinese model. It packs a 6.55-inch punch-hole display and at the rear, there are four cameras. We’ll have to wait until the launch to know if there is any change from the Chinese version.

Furthermore, the NCC listing shows the dual batteries on board the Realme X7 Pro each have a capacity of 2250mAh, bringing the total battery capacity to 4500mAh. This dual structure is necessary for the 65W SuperDart charger to fully top up the phone from 0 to 100% in just 35 minutes.

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Other details confirmed by the NCC listing include an 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. As a reminder, the X7 Pro is powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 1000+ and so, it will be the first model launched outside China with that chipset.

Country Director of POCO, Anuj Sharma explains the reason for rebranding Redmi devices

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Oct 8, 2020

POCO is an independent brand since officially announcing it during early 2020. Once a sub-brand of Xiaomi, it debuted with the legendary POCO F1 in 2018 but became inactive for the whole of 2019. However, it came back with the POCO X2 which was a rebranded version of Redmi K30 in China. Since then, the company has been borrowing a few models from Redmi and relaunching it under POCO branding. Amidst a lot of criticism, Deputy Director of POCO, Anuj Sharma has explained to Indian Express the reasons for rebranding devices.

First off, Anuj says the rebranded POCO phones are better versions of Redmi devices. And, offer more value for the money. While he didn’t exactly mention how better they are, we have to agree on the value preposition part. For instance, Redmi launched the Note 9 pro with an 18W adapter in-box but included 33W in the “Max” variant. However, POCO M2 Pro which is a rebranded Note 9 Pro included a 33W charger in-box. And a Z-axis vibration motor at the same price as Note 9 Pro(₹13,999).

Besides, Anuj believes that POCO is a new brand and hence, it is difficult to design and develop phones on its own. This gives a clear cut explanation of why POCO currently uses resources from Xiaomi like factories, services, and MIUI. Further, he says that other brands like realme, OnePlus have also launched rebranded devices in the past. He also quotes that devices like OnePlus One and Realme’s first smartphone were rebranded versions of Oppo devices.

He goes onto say that POCO will follow the same strategy in the future. Also, the company is in no mood to develop a software version on its own and will continue with Xiaomi’s MIUI. For the unaware, POCO currently has X, M, C, and flagship F series of devices. The budget X, M, C, has rebranded devices like POCO X2(Redmi K30 China), POCO M2 Pro(Redmi Note 9 Pro), POCO M2(Redmi 9), POCO C3(Redmi 9C China).

Up Next: POCO X3 NFC launching in Indonesia on October 15

Motorola offers up to 32% discount on Smartphones during Flipkart’s Big Billion Day sales

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Oct 8, 2020

Its that time of the year when companies bombard people with offers on the occasion of the festive season. E-commerce giants Flipkart and Amazon have already announced their biggest sales of 2020. As part of the former’s Big Billion Days sale, Lenovo-owned Motorola has announced a slew of offers for its smartphones.

Flipkart’s Big Billion Days starts from October 16 and runs through till October 21, 2020. Ahead of this, Motorola’s offer announcement says the new offers extend up to 32% on prices of all the devices on the list. The budget devices in the list include Moto E7 Plus, Moto G9, Motorola One Fusion+. The list also includes flagship devices like Motorola edge+ and the foldable Motorola Razr 5G smartphones.

Starting with the budget phones, Motorola’s Moto E7 Plus gets a ₹500. And, both Moto G9 and One Fusion+ both will get a whopping ₹1,500 discount. Besides, the flagship Motorola Edge+ gets a ₹10,000 off, and the latest foldable Motorola Razr 5G will get a huge ₹40,000 discount. This is insane considering the device launched very recently at a price tag of ₹1,24,999. However, the press release we received doesn’t have the 5G on the Motorola Razr name but the Flipkart’s teaser lists Razr 5G under the BBD offers page. You can take a look at the discounts below:

Smartphone name	Price before BBD(in ₹)	Special offer price during BBD (in ₹)
Motorola Moto G9	11,499	9,999
Motorola Moto E7 Plus	9,499	8,999
Motorola One Fusion+	17,499	15,999
Motorola Edge+	74,999	64,999
Motorola Razr 5G	1,24,999	84,999

Additionally, Big Billion Days sales also has offers like a 10% instant discount on SBI cards. Besides, Flipkart will give assured cashback on Paytm transactions as well. The flagship phones Edge+ and Razr will get a No cost EMI option for up to 12 months using Debit & Credit cards of leading banks. Among the offers, Moto G9 with Snapdragon 662 SoC, and Motorola Razr with a ₹40k discount are my personal favorites. Let us know what smartphones you are going to buy during BBD sales in the comments below.

Up Next: MediaTek announces MT9602 smart TV SoC; will debut in Motorola TVs

OnePlus gives us an early look at the OnePlus 8T in Aquamarine Green

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Oct 8, 2020

We already know what the front of the OnePlus 8T looks like thanks to some early leaks and images shared by OnePlus itself. However, today, OnePlus has given us an early look at the whole device including the rear. The reveal comes along with a post that explains how they arrived at the design.

The OnePlus 8T official render shows the device in a colorway dubbed Aquamarine Green. It looks like the Glacial Green color of the OnePlus 8 series but a tad lighter. The slight color shift is not the only change. OnePlus says the phone features a new glossy glass back design, a shift from the matte glass of the OnePlus 8 Pro.

According to OnePlus CEO, Pete Lau, it took more than four months before they achieved a breakthrough in getting the type of finish they want. The new glossy glass back is said to “take advantage of diffuse reflection, a form of light refraction that scatters light in an expansive array of angles and directions, to produce a clean, gleaming surface that effectively mitigates the buildup of fingerprints”.

The post says getting the right film to use also took testing several hundreds of film before getting the right type which has 7 layers and brings out the unique shade of green and blue. OnePlus says the film is one of the most advanced in the industry.

The image shows the OnePlus 8T does have four rear cameras that are housed in a rectangle with rounded corners. three of the cameras are on the left while the fourth one is on the right along with two sets of LED flash with different tones. The design is different from what we saw in the renders leaked by OnLeaks last month.

Huawei brings popular Mobility service App Moovit to its AppGallery

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Oct 8, 2020

Huawei’s AppGallery is the company’s indigenous app store to counter the US plans and be self-reliant. With it, the company has been rapidly expanding the ecosystem with popular apps like Telegram, Hungama, Bolt, HERE Maps, and more. Now, Moovit, an intel-owned Mobility service provider has joined the bandwagon of apps on AppGallery.

The app is now available for download on the company’s official AppGallery store. However, it is available as a web version and a customized version on the Huawei browser as well. Huawei says the app service will extend to more than 100 countries and 45 languages. And be locally relevant with vouchers, offers, and gifts. Further, the partnership will collaborate for in-app promotions on Moovit and details will be announced on the app. Besides, 865 million people reportedly use the Moovit service already across 3200 cities.

For the unaware, Moovit is an Israel-based Mobility as a Service provider(MaaS) that gives travel guides for users to transit across cities. Some of its unique features include real-time arrival information, Live Direction with Get off and service alerts, step-by-step guidance, and more. Additionally, the app also has accessibility, screen-reading features for disabled, and blind people respectively.

Moovit basically gathers data from the API framework of local transports and gets information from transport authorities, and its community. For instance, it has been actively updating the transport info during the pandemic with the help of Moovit’s Mooviter community of 700,000 local editors. All these results in accurate real-time routes for journeys in addition to stop-by-stop navigation options.

Huawei’s AppGallery is making a lot of in-roads recently. The company, which promised to bring popular apps to its store, has already brought navigation apps like MapmyIndia pre-installed on Indian devices. Although it was introduced way back in 2018 globally, the app store gained steam after the US ban. The company’s own AppStore is reportedly the third-largest store after Apple and Google. Now, the app store has Moovit, along with other recently-added Travel apps like Booking.com, eSky, Omio, Skyscanner/Turkish Airlines.

Up Next: Taiwan sees rise in exports in September because of Huawei stockpiling

Sony’s revenue share in Smartphone Image Sensor Market dropped in H1 2020

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Oct 8, 2020

These days, smartphones are evaluated based on their photography and videography prowess. Almost all handsets released this year come with at least two rear cameras. The latest report by Strategy Analytics on Smartphone Image Sensor Market Revenue Share H1 2020 reveals how well the manufacturer of these sensors performed.

According to Strategy Analytics, Sony lead the market with a 44% revenue share in the first half of 2020. However, the report does say that the Japanese tech giant’s share dropped due to the rising competition from Samsung LSI, OmniVision, and SK Hynix.

Talking about Samsung LSI, it secured the second position with a 32% revenue share, thanks to its 64MP and 108MP high megapixel sensors. Whereas, the third place was acquired by OmniVision with a 9% share, followed by others with a 15% revenue share.

Further, the report also says that the image sensor market growth was affected by the COVID-19 global pandemic as the overall smartphone market declined. However, it began to recover as a result of the multi-camera craze, which mostly included 8MP and 2MP sensors.

Last but not least, Strategy Analytics predicts better performance in the second half of 2020 than the first half.

(Via)

Realme 7i vs Redmi Note 9 vs POCO M2: Specs Comparison

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Michele Ingelido

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Oct 8, 2020

India has a new all-rounder: we are talking about the Realme 7i, a very affordable phone offering unique features for its price segments, such as a great 64 MP camera and a 90 Hz refresh rate! It is definitely one of the highest value for money devices of the moment, but can you actually get more interesting handsets in the Indian market? The answer is not easy to give because it depends on the users’ needs. In the same price range, among the hottest devices in the Indian market, there are Redmi Note 9 and POCO M2. This is the reason why we decided to compare them to the new Realme 7i.

Realme 7i vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 vs Xiaomi POCO M2

	Xiaomi Redmi Note 9	Realme 7i	Xiaomi POCO M2
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT	162.3 x 77.2 x 8.9 mm, 199 grams	164.1 x 75.5 x 8.9 mm, 188 grams	163.3 x 77 x 9.1 mm, 198 grams
DISPLAY	6.53 inches, 1080 x 2340p (Full HD+), 395 ppi, IPS LCD	6.5 inches, 720 x 1600p (Full HD+), IPS LCD	6.53 inches, 1080 x 2340p (Full HD+), 395 ppi, IPS LCD
PROCESSOR	MediaTek Helio G85, octa-core 2 GHz	Qualcomm Snapdragon 662, octa-core 2 GHz	Mediatek Helio G80, octa-core 2 GHz
MEMORY	3 GB RAM, 64 GB – 4 GB RAM, 64 GB – 4 GB RAM, 128 GB – micro SD dedicated slot	8 GB RAM, 128 GB – micro SD dedicated slot	6 GB RAM, 128 GB – 6 GB RAM, 64 GB – micro SD dedicated slot
SOFTWARE	Android 10, MIUI	Android 10, Realme UI	Android 10, MIUI
CONNECTIVITY	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5, GPS	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5, GPS	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS
CAMERA	Quad 48 + 8 + 2 + 2 MP f/1.8, f/2.2, f/2.4 and f/2.4 13 MP f/2.3 front camera	Quad 64 + 8 + 2 + 2 MP, f/1.8 + f/2.3 + f/2.4 + f/2.4 16 MP f/2.1 front camera	Quad 13 + 8 + 5 + 2 MP f/2.2, f/2.2, f/2.4 and f/2.4 8 MP f/2.0 front camera
BATTERY	5020 mAh, fast charging 18W	5000 mAh, fast charging 18W	5000 mAh, fast charging 18W
ADDITIONAL FEATURES	Dual SIM slot, reverse charging 9W	Dual SIM slot	Dual SIM slot, water-repellent

Design

The POCO M2 does not offer the most modern design you can get in the affordable segment. With its waterdrop notch and centrally-placed camera module, it looks definitely more outdated than its two rivals. The Realme 7i is the most futuristic one with its punch-hole display and its camera module reminiscent of the iPhone 11 lineup. On the other hand, the Redmi Note 9 offers a water-repellent coating which is always useful for those who often use their smartphone outside. Thanks to its 20:9 aspect ratio, Realme 7i has a taller and narrower design which makes it even more attractive.

Display

Do you prefer having a Full HD+ display with a higher level of detail or an HD+ display with a lower definition and a higher 90 Hz refresh rate? If your answer is the first, then go for the Redmi Note 9. It has a Full HD+ display just like the POCO M2, but it comes with higher brightness, so it has a definitely better panel. If you do not mind so much about the resolution and you would like to try a higher refresh rate to get a smoother viewing experience, then the perfect option for you is the Realme 7i with its 90 Hz display. POCO M2, Redmi Note 9, and Realme 7i all come with IPS displays: what changes are the resolution and the refresh rate.

Specs & Software

The Realme 7i wins the hardware comparison. What makes its better is not the chipset, but its memory configuration. It sports 8 GB of RAM, while you can get max 4 or 6 GB of RAM with Redmi Note 9 and POCO M2. Further, while Redmi Note 9 and POCO M2 are equipped with eMMC internal storage, Realme 7i has faster UFS 2.1 native storage with a 128 GB capacity. Also, consider that the Snapdragon 662 is built with a better production process than Helio G80 and Helio G85 (11 nm vs 12 nm), so it is even less energy-demanding. Last but not least, the 90 Hz refresh rate will let the Realme 7i look smoother (but as said above, say goodbye to FHD+ resolution). If you need the device with the best performance, go for the Realme 7i. All run Android 10 out of the box.

Camera

Given that the Realme 7i has a better main sensor for its rear camera setup, it wins the camera comparison as well. It sports a 64 MP midrange-class main camera paired with an 8 MP ultrawide lens and a pair of 2 MP lens for macro and depth info. The secondary sensors are the same as Redmi Note 9 and POCO M2, but the main sensor changes. The Redmi Note 9 is superior to the POCO M2 thanks to its 48 MP main sensor. Besides being a better camera phone, Realme 7i is even a better selfie phone thanks to its 16 MP front snapper.

Battery

There are no huge differences between the battery life of these handsets: they have more or less the same battery capacity (around 5000 mAh), but given that Realme 7i has a lower display resolution and a more efficient chipset, it should last a bit more. On the other hand, Redmi Note 9 supports reverse charging and it can be used as a power bank.

Price

Realme 7i is priced Rs. 11,999 / $164 in India (8/128 GB), Redmi Note 9 costs Rs. 12,499 / $170 (4/64 GB), and POCO M2 costs Rs. 10,999 / $150 (6/64 GB). Realme 7i sports a higher refresh rate, better cameras, and a superior hardware department. But Redmi Note 9 has a Full HD+ resolution instead of HD+, as well as reverse charging. POCO M2 is inferior to both but it has a higher value for money. I would personally try the Realme 7i. What would your choice be?

Read More: POCO M2 with Helio G80, 6GB RAM, 13MP quad cameras and 5,000mAh battery launched for Rs 10,999 (~$149)

Realme 7i vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 vs Xiaomi POCO M2: PROs and CONS

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9

PROs

Water-repellent
Reverse charging
Good price
MIUI 12 out of the box
IR sensor
Full HD+ display
NFC (depends on the market)

CONS

Nothing particular

Realme 7i

PROs

90 Hz display
Best cameras
UFS 2.1 storage
Long battery life

CONS

HD+ display

Xiaomi POCO M2

PROs

Water-repellent
Very affordable
IR sensor
Full HD+ display

CONS

Inferior cameras

Renders and specs of the OnePlus Buds Z leaked ahead of launch

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Oct 8, 2020

OnePlus has confirmed that it will announce a new pair of TWS earbuds at its launch event next week. The earbuds are expected to arrive as the OnePlus Buds Z. Today, the folks at Oxygen Updater, have been able to get their hands on renders of the earbuds, thus giving us a good look at the design.

According to the post by Oxygen Updater, the renders were extracted from an APK sent by an anonymous individual. Sadly, they can’t share the APK for verification, as the source has requested they don’t.

The OnePlus Buds Z will indeed have silicone ear tips that should keep the noise out and the sounds in. The earbuds will come in a large pill-shaped case with a glossy finish. The earbuds lay sideways in the case, unlike the OnePlus Buds that sit vertically. There is an LED in front while the back is home to the USB-C charging port and the pairing button.

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The OnePlus Buds Z will be available in three color variants – white, gray, and black, but only two are shown above.

Specs of the TWS earbuds were also revealed earlier today by Ishan Agarwal, the young Indian leaker. In an exclusive post by 91Mobiles, the leaker revealed that the OnePlus Buds Z will have 10mm drivers and not 13.4mm drivers. It will also have Dolby Atmos and Dirac Audio Tuner.

With respect to battery life, the OnePlus Buds Z will last up to 5 hours on a single charge. With the case, the battery life goes up to 20 hours in total. There is also support for fast charging – a 10-minute charge will provide up to 3 hours of listening time. As expected, they will connect via Bluetooth 5.0 and it has been reported that each earbud will have dual microphones. OnePlus already confirmed that the OnePlus Buds Z has an IP55 rating.

Apple files an “iPhone for Life” trademark in Hong Kong

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Oct 8, 2020

Apple has recently filed a new trademark in Hong Kong. The trademark slogan from the patent suggests it could be a program similar to the already existing iPhone Upgrade Program of the company.

The trademark application, first spotted by Patently Apple, is filed by representatives of Apple in Hong Kong. However, unlike the article says, Apple has filed it last month(September 4) and not April. Further digging, it is to be filed by a firm named Baker & Mckenzie on behalf of Apple. Also, the trademark has Class 35 and 36 sub-categories. This generally deals with retail sales and franchising, and financial services respectively.

Apple iPhone for Life Trademark
Credits: Patently Apple

That said, going by the name, the patent could be similar to the iPhone Upgrade Program that Apple itself provides for the users. For the unware, iPhone Upgrade Program is Apple’s own trade-in service. If you buy an iPhone from Apple Store, or online through the Apple Store app or website with a 24 months agreement, you have to complete the first 12 months payment. After this, you are eligible to trade-in your existing iPhone canceling the remaining 12 months for the old one. The program will reset for 24-months again for the new iPhone.

Coming back, the new trademark could either be a rebrand of the already existing program or a pre-emptive measure by Apple themselves to protect its Official Apple resellers. Also, this would probably restrict other companies from copying and adopting it. The slogan is reportedly in use for marketing already outside the US. You can look at an example below.

At the moment, Apple has not disclosed any official details about the patent yet. But we can expect more details about the program in the days to come. And who knows, it could also be a bundled program in various markets for the future iPhones.

Up Next: Apple isn’t ditching iPhone notch anytime soon

Nokia Android 11 update roadmap is finally here

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Oct 8, 2020

HMD Global, the company behind Nokia-branded smartphones and feature phones is known for updating its devices in a timely manner since its inception. Surprisingly, for Android 11, it has announced the list of eligible phones and update roadmap only now, over a month after Google officially released Android 11 stable. Anyway, better late than never.

The Finnish company has not launched many smartphones since last year. Therefore, only 14 devices are eligible for Android 11 update. Out of these, the first four will get the update by the end of this year (Q4 2020), whereas the remaining 10 will be receiving it by Q2 2021.

That said, here’s the official Android 11 roadmap for Nokia smartphones by HMD Global.

Nokia Android 11 Update Timeline/Schedule

Q4 2020
- Nokia 8.3 5G
- Nokia 8.1
- Nokia 5.3
- Nokia 2.2
Q1 2021
- Nokia 4.2
- Nokia 3.4
- Nokia 2.4
- Nokia 2.3
- Nokia 1.3
Q2 2021

It is worth noting that the above Android 11 update timeline/schedule for Nokia-branded handsets are rough estimates. The actual rollout may vary across regions depending on various factors.

Diamond-like carbon coatings will make your smartphone display glass more durable

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Oct 8, 2020

Gorilla Glass, a specialized glass manufactured by Corning for electronics, especially handheld gadgets like smartphones is found anywhere. Over the years, Corning improved its glass and it is currently at its seventh generation called Gorilla Glass Victus. Though it is better than its predecessors, a report states that Apple and other smartphone manufacturers are looking to make Gorilla Glass even more durable by using diamond-like carbon(DLC) coatings.

Xiaomi Redmi 4 Broken Display Glass Sudarshan R — Xiaomi Redmi 4

A report posted on Seeking Alpha by Robert Castellano (via PhoneArena) quotes an Allstate subsidiary SquareTrade study from November 2018 that Americans dropped more than 50 million screens in 2017 and spent a whopping $3.4 billion to fix them. These repairs cost as less as $170 to up to $329.

A staggering amount of $14 billion had been spent in repairs by the people of the US from 2007 till 2017. One survey even revealed that iPhone users were six times more likely to damage their handsets than to either lose them or have stolen.

This is the reason why Apple and other smartphone companies are considering to make use of diamond-like carbon coatings over Gorilla Glass. This coating, with its properties like low friction, high hardness, and high corrosion resistance, can improve the durability of Gorilla Glass or any aluminosilicate glass.

DLC coatings also have properties like thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity. Therefore, they can be used as protective coatings not only on displays but also on sensors and flexible semiconductors.

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Currently, three companies have developed systems to coat normal glass, Corning Gorilla Glass, and other aluminosilicate glasses with diamond-like carbon coatings. Two of them are Intevac – a public company and Denton Vacuum – a company with 50-year expertise in the equipment business.

Last but not least, this coating is reported to increase the cost of per display in pennies and therefore, it may not increase the overall cost of a finished smartphone by a higher margin.

[Update is live] Android 10 update may arrive for the Nokia 5.1 today; Android 11 roadmap may follow shortly after

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