Vivo has unveiled new phones for its V-series. The new Vivo V20 and Vivo V20 Pro 5G were announced in Thailand on Monday and they pack high megapixel cameras, fast charging, and Snapdragon processors.
Vivo V20 Pro 5G
While most manufacturers have moved past the notch, Vivo doesn’t seem to be done yet. The phone has a tub-shaped notch in the upper part of the display. The reason for the wide cut-out is so that two cameras can be housed there.
For the rear, Vivo has adopted a design similar to that of the X50 series. There is a distinct rectangular camera housing that has three sensors inside it while the LED flash sits inside the metal frame around the housing. The phone is available in three colorways – Sunset Melody (gradient), Midnight Jazz (black), and Moonlight Sonata (white) – all with scratch-resistant matte glass.
Moving away from the design, the Vivo V20 Pro 5G has a 6.44-inch FHD+ AMOLED display. It is a standard panel with a 60Hz refresh rate. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 765G chipset is on board along with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
The main selfie camera is a 44MP f/2.0 sensor with autofocus and it is paired with an 8MP f/2.28 superwide angle camera with a 105° field of view. The main sensor has a feature called Eye Autofocus which focuses on your eyes even if you are not looking at the camera. There is also a low-light mode so you can take bright selfies at night; support for 4K video recording; dual-view video; and slow-mo selfies.
The rear setup has a 64MP f/1.89 main camera, a 120° 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide angle camera, and a 2MP f/2.4 mono camera. There are several modes and features available including tripod night mode, macro mode, super night mode, 3D soundtracking, double exposure, and portrait video.
The Vivo V20 Pro 5G has dual-SIM support, dual-band Wi-Fi, stereo speakers, and an in-display fingerprint scanner. There is a 4000mAh battery under the hood with support for 33W fast charging via USB-C. The phone ships with FunTouch OS based on Android 10.
The phone is priced at THB 14,999 (~$479) and is available for purchase on JD.com. All orders will ship with a free Vivo Bluetooth speaker.
Vivo V20
Vivo mentioned only a few details of the V20. It has a waterdrop notch which is home to a single 44MP camera. There is a Snapdragon 720G processor powering it with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It also has a 64MP triple camera setup on the rear, a 4000mAh battery, support for 33W fast charging, and weighs 173 grams with a thickness of 7.38 millimeters.
Other details including its price will be announced later.
Tecno Mobile has launched yet another variant of the Spark 6 Air in India. The new 3GB RAM and 64GB storage variant will retail for ₹8,699 in three color options from September 25th via Amazon India.
The company took to Twitter to confirm the arrival of the new storage variant. Although, formerly, Tecno Mobile launched the budget Spark 6 Air back in July. The device debuted with a single 2GB RAM and 32GB variant. Later, the company added a 3GB RAM and 32GB storage variant in August. Hence, the new 64GB storage marks the third memory upgrade of the Spark 6 Air smartphone.
On the whole, the Tecno Spark Air 6 has three color variants – Cloud white, Comet Black and Ocean Blue. However, at the time of writing this article, the Cloud White color option is not listed on Amazon yet but we will have to wait till Friday to know more.
The Tecno Spark Air 6 features a 7-inch HD+ display with a resolution of 1640×720 pixels and a dot-notch screen. Apart from bring a 20.5:9 aspect ratio screen and converting 90.6% screen-body ratio, the display has a maximum brightness of 480 nits.
There is a power button and volume up/down buttons to the right, and micro-USB port and 3.5-mm audio jack at the bottom. At the back, we have a triple-camera setup, an LED flashlight, and a fingerprint sensor. Powering the device is Mediatek Helio A25 SoC.
The camera setup has a 13MP main lens and a 2MP depth sensor. The third sensor according to the company is an AI-sensor, which fills the gap to complete the symmetrical layout. At the front, there is an 8MP sensor for selfies. Tecno says the AI helps in bokeh mode, AR mode, AI HDR, AI Beauty, and more.
Other features include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and a micro-SD slot for connectivity. All this is backed up by a huge 6,000mAh battery on-board. The Tecno Spark 6 Air runs HIOS based on Android 10. Apart from the 64GB variant, the other two 2GB+32GB and 3GB+32GB variants are priced at ₹7,999 and ₹8,499 respectively.
ASUS India has announced a slate of new products in the market. The new products include notebooks under the ExpertBook series and desktop computers under the ExpertCenter series.
ExpertBook P1, P2, and B9 Notebooks
The ExpertBook P1 comes in 14-inch and 15-inch models with Intel’s Core i5 10th-gen processors. There are four models in the series including one that has a MIL-STD-810G certification, a 180° hinge, a fingerprint scanner, and a 44Wh battery. The P1 can be configured to up to 24GB of DDR4 RAM and with 1TB HDD/512GB SSD storage. The price for the notebook starts at INR 25,323 (~$344).
The ExpertBook P2 has a 14-inch NanoEdge display but a 13-inch chassis. There is intel’s Core i7 processor inside with 2GB of NVIDIA MX110, and users can configure it to with up to 32GB of RAM, 1TB of HDD + 1TB of SSD. It has a backlit keyboard, a fingerprint scanner, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 port, a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port, a VGA port, a MicroSD card reader, an RJ45 port, and an HDMI port. It is also MIL-STD-810G certified. If you are interested in the P2, pricing starts at INR 58,967 (~$802).
The ExpertBook B9 is touted as the world’s lightest 14-inch business laptop. It has a 14-inch display that is squeezed into a 13-inch chassis, weighs 995 grams, and is 14.9mm thick. Users can choose to configure the notebook with up to 2TB of PCIe SSD storage and 16GB of LDDR3 RAM. It has a 66Wh battery with support for fast charging (empty to 60% in 39 minutes) and boasts a battery life of up to 24 hours. The notebook has two ThunderBolt 3 ports, an HDMI port, and an RJ45 port via a micro HDMI port. There is also a full-sized USB 3.1 Gen 2 port. Another interesting feature of the device is its NumberPad which is on the trackpad. The notebook starts at INR 102,228 (~$1,389).
ASUSPro ExpertCenter Desktop
The ExpertCenter series include the ExpertCenter D3, the ExpertCenter D6, and the ExpertCenter D8. They are all powered by Intel’s 9th-gen processors with up to 64GB DDR4 RAM and feature several ports on both the front and back including an optional USB-C port and a DisplayPort that allows you to connect to up to three 2K/4K monitors.
ASUS says the price starts at INR 27,429 (~$373) for the D3, starts at INR 29,669 (~$403) for the D6, and at INR 55,429 (~$754) for the D8 which also features an Intel Q370 chipset. It has been reported that purchases include a monitor too.
ASUS All-in-One PCs
ASUS also announced the AiO V222FA all-in-one desktop PC with a 22-inch NanoEDge Display, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, and support for up to 1TB HDD + 512GB SSD dual storage.
There is also the ASUS AiO V241 all-in-one PC that has a NanoEdge FHD LED display too (option for multi-touch) with an 88% screen-to-body ratio and SonicMaster audio with a bass-reflex speaker system. It has an Intel Core-i5 8th Gen processor, NVIDIA MX130 GPU, and 1TB HDD + 256GB SSD combined storage.
There are 4x USB 3.1 ports, 1x HDMI in and 1x HDMI out, and an RJ45 port. The HDMI input port means you can hook up your gaming console or TV box to it and take advantage of that gorgeous display and speakers to play games and watch movies. If you need an extra display, the HDMI output port comes in handy.
Logitech has launched its top-of-the-line portable business wireless mouse MX Anywhere 3 which will be available for pre-order from today. The wireless mouse is priced at $79.99.
In terms of the design, the Anywhere 3 is almost the same as Anywhere 2S, but the non-slip silicon material on the side has been upgraded. You can side-scroll with the mouse by pressing one side button and moving the MagSpeed wheel at the same time.
The new metal MagSpeed wheel on the wireless mouse brings electromagnetic scrolling to the Anywhere 3. The new wheel makes it faster and more precise faster than the previous scrolling mechanism on the Anywhere 2s. The new mouse also has 4000 DPI Darkfield technology which helps it track on any material, even glass, and the wheel has middle-click functionality that you can customize in Logitech Options.
You can also customize scroll force in Logitech’s software, which will increase or decrease the number of lines you feel while scrolling in ratchet mode. By default, the top button switches between ratchet and hyperfast scrolling mode, but as with most buttons on MX devices, you can change the action assigned to that button in Options.
All of these features let you customize the way the Anywhere 3 feels as you’re using it, and that’s a good thing on a mouse that you’re supposed to use, well, anywhere. The mouse also comes with 70-day battery life and charges via USB-C.
The Logitech MX Anywhere 3 comes in a universal version, compatible with most operating systems including Chrome OS and Linux, and a version optimized for macOS. The former works via Bluetooth or with an included unifying USB receiver while the latter is Bluetooth-only. Both cost $79 and are available for pre-order today from Logitech’s website.
Kospet has finally launched the Prime 2 Smartwatch after a series of leaks. The Smartwatch has the most highlighting feature that is the rotating camera for face unlocking capabilities.
The Kospet Prime 2 is a successor to the Kospet Prime that launched back in September 2019. The new Smartwatch brings revolutionary changes like a bigger display, an Octa-core processor, a rotating camera, and more RAM than the predecessor. However, the highlight of the Smartwatch is the rotating camera in it.
If we recall, the Kospet Prime also had two cameras on it to take photos, and authentication through face unlocking. However, Kospet Prime 2 has a single 13MP Sony camera sensor and it is placed at the top center unlike sideways. When triggered, the camera rotates 90-degree for selfies, video calls, and face unlocking.
Kospet Prime 2 Specifications
Regarding the specifications, the Kospet Prime 2 has a similar round dial like the predecessor. The display also has ceramic bezel around it. There are two crowns and a SIM card tray to the right.
The display on Kospet Prime 2 is slightly bigger with 2.1-inches compared to 1.6-inch on the Kospet Prime. It has a resolution of 480×480 pixels. Powering the smartwatch is Mediatek’s Helio P22 Octa-core SoC. This is paired with a whopping 4GB RAM and 64GB storage.
Other features like GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0 are present for connectivity. However, it lacks NFC. The company has also mentioned that the Smartwatch is only Splash-proof and not water-proof. This is understandable considering it has a mechanically rotating part.
Further, this Smartwatch is one of the first 64-bit Android 10 wearables to hit the market. Kospet. To top it all, this Kospet Prime 2 has a large 1600mAh battery. This is a bump up from the 1260mAh found of the predecessor.
Pricing and Availability
While the QC-wireless charging module is present on the Smartwatch, the company seems to have suspended it for now. It says that a PCB module is degrading the Wi-Fi signal even during OFF-state. That said, we can expect the company to improve it on future firmware update and re-enable it.
As for the price and availability, there is no official info yet. However, Kospet is running a watch-face design competition till September 27th post which the Smartwatch may be ready for shipping.
OnePlus Nord is the most hyped smartphone of 2020 despite being a regular mid-range 5G device. It is also probably the only handset released this year to receive numerous system updates within a few weeks from its release. The phone was launched exactly two months ago but it is already running a seventh system build. However, users are still complaining about a number of issues. Now, a new report says that random users are facing an automatic factory reset bug.
Though OnePlus Nord is a good value for its price, it does have certain shortcomings. The camera on this device does not perform as good as the company claimed during the hype marketing. Anyway, credit where credit’s due, the brand has been trying to improve the camera performance on this handset with almost every system update it has released for it so far.
Some users were facing Bluetooth issues and the company even addressed it in the last two updates. Following that, a new report by Android Police now says that some random users are experiencing an automatic factory reset problem.
Yes, you heard it right – automatic. Certain users on OnePlus Community have raised this concern. According to some of them, their unit heated up while in pocket and when they pulled it out to check, to their surprise, their handset was formatting on its own.
The Bluetooth issue on the Nord was fine as it did not affect the overall usability of the phone. But this factory reset bug is a serious problem. Imagine losing important data stored on your phone when you wake up from sleep in the morning or when you are out somewhere.
Thankfully, the publication has contacted OnePlus regarding the issue and the company has confirmed to be investing into it. For the time being, OnePlus Nord users can do nothing but hope their smartphone does not factory reset by itself.
News recently broke out that Xiaomi is planning to launch a gaming monitor on November 11 this year. The monitor is said to having a 24.5-inch display supplied by AUO and the retail price is expected to be set at 999 yuan (~$146).
According to reports, the panel used in the display may be AUO’s 240Hz TN screen or AUO’s new 360Hz gaming screen. However, according to past product calculations, if the AUO 360Hz panel is used to manufacture the display, it is almost impossible for the price to be within 1,000 yuan.
At present, Xiaomi has launched five monitors – the 34-inch Mi Curved Display is priced at 2199 yuan ($323). There is also a 23.8-inch Mi Display priced at 679 yuan (~$99), a 27-inch 165Hz version of the Mi Display is priced at 2199 yuan ($323), and the Mi Display 1A 23.8-inch is priced at 699 yuan ($102). Xiaomi also has a display under the Redmi brand dubbed Redmi display 1A 23.8 inches priced at 599 yuan ($88).
According to data from OVI, the display with the highest refresh rate on the online retail platform is 280Hz. At present, there is an upward trend of monitors with 144Hz, 165Hz, 240Hz and 280Hz refresh rates and sales volume is also increasing steadily.
We are heading towards the end of 2020 and we can already see the hype train keyword for next year. 5G phones are expected to be the face of smartphones in 2021 and the excitement is already building up for brands like Apple’s iPhone 12, OnePlus 8T, and more. Now, Blackview has joined the list as its new Rugged 5G smartphone is launching in a month or so. With this, Blackview becomes one of the first companies to launch a first-ever 5G rugged smartphone.
Regarding the naming, we aren’t sure how Blackview would call it yet. However, it might be different from the current ‘BV99’ series and don a new name. The 5G device is said to sport a fresh design with the usual rugged body. Hence we can expect metallic casing, Military Standard certification, water-resistance, and more.
The device will reportedly have a 6.5-inch screen with slimmer bezels. Regarding the selfie camera placement, it is likely to retain the notch-design. However, the highlight of the device will be 5G connectivity. Blackview has so far mastered the art of making rugged phones but connectivity was limited to 4G.
That said, the new 5G connectivity will make it one of the first rugged smartphones in the world to support the latest network. The device is likely powered by Mediatek’s 5G SoC. Mediatek has its 5G SoC lined up under the Dimensity branding and hence, we can expect one of mid-range SoC like Dimensity 7 or 8 series in it to keep the costs low or flagship D1000 as rumored before.
Moving on, the upcoming 5G phone will have better cameras. If reports are true, the new camera on the device will be powered by Honeywell® flagship-level 2D scanner useful for scanning barcodes. That said, we can also expect important sensors like Altimeter, Barometer, Pedometer, etc., for outdoor use.
As for the price and release date, sadly there is no concrete info yet. However, strong rumors suggest that the device will launch some time between September-October this year.
OnePlus has steadily been adding its stock apps to the Google Play Store. This move makes it easier to push updates to these apps rather than a full OTA to the phone. The latest app to do so is the OnePlus Messages app.
The description says the app allows for categorizations of messages. This means messages that have to do with transactions, promotions, and OTPs all have categories and not lumped up together. This feature was announced last year as Smart SMS and exclusive to India. It appears it will now be available to all users.
Another new feature that is mentioned is the ability to easily copy OTPs when you receive them. A tab that says “Copy OTP” will appear alongside “Mark as read” when you receive a message containing an OTP.
The OnePlus Messaging app is not available for public view yet as it is still in early access. Once it is available in stable, it should be available when you search for it.
It is important to remember that just because the app is on the Play Store it means you will be able to download it on to any device. If you don’t own a OnePlus phone, chances are it will not even show up when you search for it. Only OnePlus apps that are designed to work on phones from other manufacturers will show up.
We are not sure this app will even be available for the OnePlus Nord seeing as it ships with Google Messages and not the OnePlus Messages app.
Thermohygrometers are very common in life and are among the first batch of products connected to smart homes and AIoT. But for music players who have wooden instruments, there are not many choices of professional thermohygrometer for musical instruments on the market. Xiaomi Youpin has today launched the Qingping·Li Guitar Bluetooth Thermohygrometer designed for guitarists by Li Zongsheng and his Li Guitar team in cooperation with Qingping Technology.
The thermohygrometer has a reminder of temperature and humidity exceeding limits and can be viewed in real-time. It also stores 30-day temperature and humidity records, equipped with a high-precision sensor and a magnetic design that can be attached to the guitar soundhole.
For wooden musical instruments such as guitars, the suitable storage temperature is 20-25°C and the humidity is 40%-50%. When not kept in the proper storage environment, wooden musical instruments are prone to deformation, cracking, and glue. Repairing wooden musical instruments with deformed panels is expensive, and even if repaired, the tone will change. Thermohygrometers can better help musicians maintain their instruments. Traditional thermohygrometer products are not specially built for musical instruments and cannot be easily fixed on the body of the instrument. When the instrument is moved, it will shift in the cabinet and collide with the body.
The new thermohygrometer uses TPU soft glue with magnets which can be attached to the guitar soundhole and fixed on the guitar panel. At the same time, the sensor can detect the temperature and humidity inside the guitar.
The device has a dedicated companion app and also supports the MIJIA App. The app enables remote monitoring and over-limit alarm functions. Equipped with a high-precision Swiss Sensirion sensor, when the temperature and humidity exceed the set range, it can alert the mobile app to remind the user to change the guitar storage location. At the same time, you can view the 24-hour temperature and humidity records and remote monitoring stored in the app. The temperature and humidity records can be retained for up to 30 days.
In addition, the Qingping Li Guitar Bluetooth Thermohygrometer uses a very low-power Bluetooth 5.0 sensor and a CR2032 button battery that can work continuously for 8 months at room temperature without worrying about battery life. The TPU soft glue connection material used in the fuselage can withstand more than 5000 bending times and has a long life. The temperature and humidity display is an electronic ink screen, which has low requirements for ambient light and can be used in all scenes. It can be clearly and easily read even in direct sunlight.
The device is priced at 199 yuan (~$29) and is presently available on Xiaomi Youpin.
You cannot just slam ECG into a watch and launch it, not unless you have received approval from the relevant agencies in the countries where it will be sold. This explains why the OPPO Watch didn’t have ECG when it was announced even though it was a feature that was teased before the watch was launched.
OPPO has now announced that the OPPO Watch ECG version will get a global release on Thursday, September 24. The announcement was made on Weibo by one of OPPO’s official accounts.
The post said the device has been certified as a Class II medical device by the National Food and Drug Administration. The watch has also been approved by the US FDA.
We expect the OPPO Watch ECG version will have similar specs to the 46mm stainless steel version sold in China. This means it should have a stainless steel case, ceramic shell, and sapphire glass.
The OPPO Watch has a flexible AMOLED display and is powered by the Snapdragon Wear 3100 (Snapdragon Wear 2500 for the Chinese version) and a low-power chip called the Apollo 3. It has 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. There is 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, and NFC. It also has a 430mAh battery with support for Watch VOOC Flash Charge.
The stainless steel version of the watch which is the most expensive one is ¥2499 (~$367). We presume the ECG version will have a price tag not less than ¥2999 or $399 when it launches.
Microsoft is reported to launch a budget Surface laptop in the coming days. Some of the specs were revealed in that report. Now, alleged benchmark listings of this notebook codenamed “Sparti” have been spotted revealing its processor, RAM, storage, and screen resolution.
The upcoming budget Microsoft Surface laptop is said to be a new product line placed between Surface Go and Surface Pro in the $399 – $749 price segment. The base variant in this series is expected to come with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage.
Now, according to listings on UserBenchmark and Geekbench, the highest model in this product line ,may arrive with 10th Generation Intel Core i5-1035G1, 16GB LPDDR4 RAM , and 256GB SK Hynix SSD.
Whereas, the 12.5-inch 3:2 display with a resolution of 1536 x 1024 pixels will be common on all the variants in the series. So far, only two different models have been spotted with model numbers “Oemqn Product Name EV1” and “Oemqn Product Name EV2” respectively (via Windows Latest).
The former will come with the highest configuration. Whereas, the latter will feature 8GB RAM and may come in 128GB and 256GB storage variants. That said, the i5-1035G1 present in these laptops is not a powerful chip but it will be enough to handle day to day activities.
As for the launch date, Microsoft is yet to schedule the Fall 2020 Surface event. As per reports, it could take place on October 1 and the Redmond-based software giant may only announce this budget “Sparti” Surface laptop and revamped Surface Pro X.
Samsung faced a lot of criticism with the Exynos 990 SoC. The chipset was underwhelming compared to the Qualcomm’s counterpart. However, that could change now as an alleged report on the Korean forum says the Exynos 1000(Tentative) SoC on the next flagship could perform better than the upcoming Snapdragon 875.
Exynos 1000 vs Snapdragon 875 Leaked Geekbench Scores
The report leads us to two sets of Geekbench scores on the Korean forum. One with Snapdragon 875 and the other with the Exynos SoC. The devices used are Xiaomi Mi 11, and Samsung Galaxy S21. Of course, both the SoCs are unannounced and hence, these are tentative namings without confirmation on their existence.
Moving on, the Galaxy S21 seems to be tested with Exynos 1000 and Snapdragon 875. Both the single and multi-core scores of the Exynos are 1302 and 4250 points. This is significantly higher than Snapdragon’s 1159 and 4090 points. Also, Xiaomi’s Mi 11 allegedly recorded 1102 and 4113 points.
That said, the post doesn’t present any visual evidence like a screenshot to us. This poses a great doubt on its legitimacy and hence, we will have to wait for more info. Further, one of the posts also says that Samsung had to overclock the ARM’s top-performing core which is the recently launched ARM Cortex-X1.
The report adds that there is an issue on the ARM’s side and to get the desired performance, Samsung has overclocked the SoC to land scores higher than the Snapdragon 875. While we need more information on this, it also suggests that the newer Core-X1 might be present on both the upcoming flagship SoCs as expected before.
Anyway, this is a significant bump up for both Snapdragon and Exynos SoCs. This is because the older ones had single and multi-core scores below 1000 and 4000 points. If we recall, Samsung is manufacturing Snapdragon 875 SoC for Qualcomm using the 5nm EUV process. Also, with reports saying Samsung could share cluster design from Snapdragon 875 on its Exynos, the above scores could be true as well.
This is rather exciting news and Samsung could finally match Qualcomm after years of struggle. However, since both the SoCs won’t be out for at least the next couple of months, so let’s play the waiting game.
Xiaomi released a series of important products at its 10th-anniversary event last month. We’ve already reviewed the Mi10 Ultra and the Redmi K30 Ultra – which were the most striking products from the briefing. And today we are going to bring you another anniversary product, the Xiaomi Mi 20W Smart Tracking Wireless Charger Pad.
Wireless chargers have become quite common now but most of them are just basic chargers without any significant highlights. Over the years, new wireless chargers have focused on improving wireless charging efficiency but they haven’t considered much about user experience. Well, in our eyes, the reason why we need a wireless charger is not for faster-charging speeds, but for a smarter and a more convenient charging experience for our devices.
Considering this, we didn’t think there were any exceptional wireless chargers in the market. But that was until Xiaomi released this tracking smart wireless charger and it looks like Xiaomi has found the perfect recipe for designing a charger. Xiaomi claims that this tracking Charger can guarantee charging irrespective of where you place your phone.
But, is it as amazing as they demoed it in the briefing? Let’s find out!
First, let’s check out what we’ve got in the box.
The box continues with Xiaomi’s style – simplistic but nothing surprising. As you open the box, the charging pad is the first thing you see. Although it’s much larger than most other charging pads we’ve seen before, the working platform is still smaller than what we had expected, allowing us to place a maximum of two smartphones.
Box contents
At first glance, the minimalist appearance didn’t really catch our eyes as we had already seen its conceptual design last year. In the concept stage, there was an information panel in the front to display details like weather and charging state. But Xiaomi took this feature away in this commercial version.
The pad can provide up to 20W charging efficiency as claimed, but Xiaomi generously attached a 45W charger for users to connect with the charging pad. But if you are using the wireless charging pad, it can only provide up to 20W power-input for your Mi phones. And the 20W power can only be activated when you place one of the latest Mi flagships, like the Mi 9 series or the Mi 10 series. Other phones can only charge at 5W.
Besides, in order to get the best efficiency from the charging pad, it also requires a Xiaomi charger that can give out power, upwards of at least 27W. If connected with the other brands’ chargers, the green indicator would flicker to remind users that the pad is not working properly because of a wrong charger.
The first highlight of the Mi 20W Smart Tracking Wireless Charger Pad is its device tracking. Once you place a wireless charging device on the platform, the charging coil with an indicator inside the pad would automatically follow the sensor direction and move to the right place. And then it starts charging the device wirelessly. However, as we mentioned before, the effective detection area is not as large as what we had thought. Your wireless charging device won’t charge if you place the phone around the corners.
Note that there is only a single coil inside, which means that it won’t be able to charge two devices at the same time. But you could still place two devices on the surface to get both of them fully charged, one by one.
We also found that the tracking is driven by two motors inside and they sometimes would get confused during detection and stop tracking. Then you need to reposition your device to restart its detection. And another issue we found was that if you place any device during the process of the coil returning, it would miss the tracking.
The charging pad also makes a weird noise if you shake it – probably because of the motors inside. It doesn’t come in the way of its functionality. But it sounds a bit cheap, which isn’t expected of a well-designed industrial product.
The tracking charging pad also supports small devices with wireless charging, such as wireless earbuds cases. But it’s not as user friendly as charging a phone wirelessly, because you need to place it much closer to the center. The charging pad won’t be able to track or charge if you place a smaller sized device near its edges.
That said, we still want to appreciate the Xiaomi’s efforts in updating and innovating the wireless charger design. This is still one of the most unique and interesting wireless charging pads available in the market right now. It also creatively solves the problem of wireless charging pads which generally requires users to accurately position their smartphones while charging.
Although technically, the Mi 20W Smart Tracking Wireless Charger Pad doesn’t support the simultaneous charging of multiple devices, we can still use it to sequentially charge two devices without having to replace them. Meanwhile, the charging coil can automatically return to the start point after detecting the full-charged state, which is also crucial for protecting the battery from being over-charged, thereby extending devices’ battery life.
Charging time – 2 hours 5 mins
Indeed, the Xiaomi tracking wireless charger technically is able to solve a key charging drawback – just as they showcased in their 10th-anniversary briefing. It basically guarantees wireless charging regardless of where you place your phone. However, we feel there’s still a long way to go in developing the perfect wireless charging pad. It’s still not smart enough to cover enough use case scenarios for users, not to mention it sometimes struggled to deal with some complicated situations.
So that’s our experience with the new Mi 20W Smart Tracking Wireless Charger Pad. It’s an interesting and creative product but it’s not so smart. Hopefully, the second generation model will fix the above-mentioned drawbacks, making it truly smart and efficient.
WHERE TO BUY
Mi Smart Wireless Tracking Charger @ $99.99 – GIZTOP
Smartphones continue to sell despite the pandemic in 2020. Consequently, a recent report by IDC reveals that budget and mid-range(below $400) smartphones continue to be the star of the show. And, if the predictions are right, the mid to high-end segment will also see a surge going forward.
A study by IDC (International Data Corporation) shows that smartphones in the low to mid-tier segment ($100-400) dominated worldwide shipments with a 60% market share in Q2 2020. This was evident in price-sensitive markets like Asia (excl. Japan&China), Latin America, MEA (Middle East&Africa), and CEE(Central Europe) where 85% of the market belonged to smartphones under $400. In countries like the USA, the market share of devices under $200 rose to 27% in Q2.
The dominance of Chinese companies under $400
That said, according to the report, companies like Samsung, Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi, and Vivo are the sole contributors. The reason for this could be the value proposition that their devices bring in every segment. Still, premium brands like Apple also seem to have grabbed a scoop of this. Apple’s iPhone SE had a great reception and as a result, the company sold nearly 10 million units in Q2 2020.
Nearly 73% of smartphone shipments in 2020 is expected to be dominated by devices under $400. However, IDC says that the overall value of smartphones will decline by 7.9% which is $422.4 billion from $458.5 billion in 2019.
Credit: IDC
COVID-19 has resulted in unemployment, and add to this, supply disruption and delay in manufacturing during Q2 meant the industry had to adapt to a new normal. Hence, affordable smartphones took the center stage and if reports are true, the shipments are expected to grow further and reach 63% in 2021.
Prospects of the mid-to-high-end segment
The mid-to-high-end devices($400-600) clocked a share of 11.6% in Q2 2020. Nabila Popal, Research Director at IDC says, ” IDC expects the fastest growth will be in $400-600 as 5G sales grow and average price drops to $465 by 2024″.
These days you can get a gaming controller that attaches to your smartphone for a handheld console-like gaming experience. However, before gaming smartphones became a trend, there was the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play – an Android smartphone with controls hidden behind the display that could play PlayStation mobile games.
While an official successor was not announced, it turns out that there was indeed one in development. Images of the Xperia Play 2 have surfaced online thanks to a senior member of XDA-Developers called JerryYin who collects prototype phones.
The images show that the phone retains its sliding design. It also has a D-Pad, action buttons, and analog touch buttons just like the original. Sony has moved the menu, select, and start buttons to the top of the analog touch controls and has also added a fourth button labeled 3D. The D-pad and action buttons also have an orange ring around them.
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The Xperia Play 2 keeps the shoulder buttons and they too have an orange accent. Personally, I prefer this to the silver buttons on the original. The phone has a single camera and an LED flash on the back while the front is home to Android’s old capacitive buttons.
JerryYin has put up the phone for sale on a platform called IdleFish which is similar to eBay. It is priced at ¥233.33 (~$34) which seems to be a very fair price.
It is official. OnePlus has sent us a press release confirming that its next flagship called the Oneplus 8T 5G will launch on October 14.
OnePlus says the new phone “will feature a range of new and improved technologies that will elevate the OnePlus experience to new heights”. The launch will begin at 7:30 PM IST and will be live-streamed on the OnePlus India official website.
The event page includes a teaser video that gives us a glimpse of the phone and its flat display. This confirms that OnePlus has indeed dropped the curved display of the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro.
The image also shows the phone will come in a silver colorway.
The OnePlus 8T 5G has been reported to have an AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. There is a punch hole in the screen for a camera said to be a 32MP sensor just like the main selfie camera on the OnePlus Nord. The device will be powered by the Snapdragon 865 processor with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. There should also be a 6GB RAM version with 128GB of storage.
Leaks have also revealed that the OnePlus 8T 5G will ship with a 48MP quad rear camera setup, a 4500mAh battery capacity, support for 65W fast charging, and OxgenOS 11.
Xiaomi is expected to launch Mi 10T and Mi 10T Pro in the coming day for global markets. These handsets go by the codenames of “apollo” and “apollopro” respectively. Both of them have leaked multiple times over the past few days revealing almost everything about them including the price of the Pro variant. Now, according to a new leak, they might also launch in China but with Redmi branding.
The new leak comes from Digital Chat Station on Weibo. The tipster shared an alleged screen refresh rate settings page of apollo smartphone with a caption hinting that the device will launch as a Redmi smartphone in China.
So far, high refresh rate displays on Xiaomi smartphones have been dynamic. Due to this implementation, users are facing stutters in UI on devices like Redmi K30 4G (POCO X2) and Redmi K30 Ultra to name a few.
This issue can be resolved to a certain limit by allowing users to select the refresh rate of their choice. The screenshot shared by the leakster confirms that such functionally will debut with the upcoming Mi 10T series, which he claims to launch as a Redmi smartphone. The display refresh rate settings page will have four options – 60Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz, and 144Hz on these devices.
In a separate Weibo post last week, Digital Chat Station also said that his panel with a 3.8mm (diameter) punch-hole and MEMC support is supplied by TCL China Star Optoelectronics Technology aka Shenzhen Huaxing Photoelectric Technology Co. Ltd. For those unaware, even Mi 10’s 90Hz AMOLED display is manufactured by the same company.
Apart from high refresh rate screen, the Mi 10T series or whatever it will be called by Redmi packs a ton of other features, which you can read from our previous courage. That said, Xiaomi is yet to officially announce the launch date of these phones.
Also, the Mi 10T and Mi 10T pro will not be the only devices to be rebadged as Redmi handsets. According to this very same tipster, POCO X3 NFC will be also launching as a Redmi phone in China.
A new report has revealed that Qualcomm is looking into an alternative to shift its orders from SMIC. The move might be taken considering that China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International may soon face restrictions from the US Government.
According to a DigiTimes report, Qualcomm executives have paid a visit to Taiwan based foundries to secure capacity support. These are to act as a cushion in case the orders from SMIC falls short due to further US pressures. At the moment, Qualcomm is one of the top 3 customers of SMIC and accounts for about 13 percent of the foundry’s total wafer revenue.
The American based chip designer has also contracted the Chinese semiconductor based firm to fabricate power management chips using its 0.18-micron process technology along with mobile application processors and SoCs using the 28nm and 14nm processes. Among the Taiwan based foundries, TSMC, United Microelectronics (UMC), and Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) have been approached by the Qualcomm executives for the potential orders shift, according to industry sources.
Notably, SMIC had also recently issued a statement regarding the situation and accusations from the US. The company stated that “any assumptions of the company’s ties with the Chinese military are untrue statements and false accusations.” This arrives after the Trump Administration considered adding SMIC into the “Entity List” blacklist as well.
Huawei, the known Chinese consumer electronics maker, is apparently planning on launching a curved gaming monitor soon. The company and its subsidiary, Honor, have launched smart TVs in the past, and now, it seems like they plan on entering the gaming market as well.
Xiaomi’s Curved Gaming Monitor
According to a DigiTimesreport, Huawei is reportedly gearing up to launch its own brand of monitors, specifically, curved gaming monitors. This move will have it compete with another known Chinese smartphone maker, Xiaomi that recently entered into the gaming monitor market as well. Industry sources close to the matter revealed this information and even stated that it will outsource the production of standardized monitor products to BOE Vison-Electronic Technology (BOEVT), which will be for 2 to 3 different models.
Huawei will also be subcontracting the manufacture of its curved gaming monitors to TPV Technology for its initial orders for over one million units in the current mainstream sizes of 27 inch and 34 inch. This move also marks another area through which the Chinese tech giant is stepping into the desktop PC market. It had recently unveiled its Kunpeng 920 powered desktop, while Honor also launched its Hunter series of gaming laptops.
Notably, we had also previously reported on a leak that revealed gaming monitors from Huawei back in August 2020. These monitors feature a high refresh rate of 240Hz. This might be the same model as the upcoming curved gaming monitors that have been reported by sources. This report also mentioned different sizes at varying price points with a 32 inch model with mini LED also being hinted at. Unfortunately, this is still an unconfirmed report and we will have to wait for an official Huawei announcement to know for sure. So stay tuned.
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