The Lazada listing states that Realme 7i will be debuting in two colors such as the Polar Blue and Aurora Green. The handset can be seen sporting a punch-hole display and its gradient rear has a fingerprint scanner and a triple camera system housed inside a rectangle-shaped module. The Lazada listing also mentions that the Realme 7i is equipped with key features like a 64-megapixel AI quad-camera, 5,000mAh battery, and 90Hz Ultra Smooth display.
The Realme 7i is speculated to be equipped with a 6.5-inch IPS LCD display that offers an HD+ resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels. The display is expected to carry support for the 90Hz refresh rate.
The handset may feature a front-facing camera of 16-megapixel. The quad-camera system on its back is likely to include a 64-megapixel main lens, an ultrawide lens of 8-megapixel, a macro shooter of 2-megapixel, and a 2-megapixel depth assist lens.
The Snapdragon 662 mobile platform could be present under the hood of the device. It may come with 8 G of RAM and 128 GB of storage. It is unclear whether the device will be available in lower RAM and storage combinations.
The Realme 7i could be drawing power from a 5,000mAh battery. The smartphone is expected to arrive with support for 18W rapid charging. The Realme UI based Android 10 OS will come preinstalled on the phone. At present, there is no word on the pricing of the phone.
The Indian government on September 3 announced the ban on 118 Chinese apps, including the mobile game ” PlayerUnknown’s Battleground (PUBG Mobile). Among the recently banned apps, PUBG Mobile is very popular in India. Thus, the ban was seen as a disappointment by tens of millions of local players.
There has been an outpour of outrage by fans of the game. However, an extreme and tragic incident occurred when a 21-year-old student chose to hang himself because he could not continue playing games. Domestic media reports that the police in the Nadia district of West Bengal, India, announced on September 6 that a 21-year-old student, Pritam Halder, was found to hanged himself at home due to his inability to continue playing “PUBG Mobile” due to the government’s ban.
This tragedy reportedly happened on the morning of September 4. According to his mother, Halder returned to his room after breakfast and when he called him for lunch, he found that his room was locked from the inside. With the help of neighbours, the door was broken and unfortunately found the deceased hanging from the ceiling fan.
Halder’s mother said that he was obviously frustrated because he couldn’t play games: “He used to play games at night. I think he committed suicide because he couldn’t continue playing PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.”
After talking with Halder’s family, the police also believed that he committed suicide because he could not play this mobile game.
In another case, a 16-year-old boy from a village in Anand district in Ahmedabad committed suicide after he was scolded by his father who also seized his mobile phone for playing PUBG Mobile all the time, News18 reports. The local Police say that the boy was the son of a school teacher and allegedly consumed pesticide kept at his house on August 31. After rushing the boy to Anand Civil Hospital for immediate treatment, doctors declared him dead the next day.
In addition to PlayerUnknown’s Battleground, the 118 apps that India announced to be banned include WeChat Work, WeChat reading, Sina news, mobile Taobao, Youku, Alipay, CamCard, Baidu, Cut Cut, VooV, Tencent Weiyun, Rise of Kingdoms, Zakzak and others.
Huawei is scheduled to announce yet another pair of wireless earbuds this week. The product will arrive as the FreeBuds Pro, and while we already know what the earbuds will look like thanks to leaked renders, live photos have now also been posted on the web.
The images were posted on Twitter by the account DuanRui (@duanrui1205) and they show the earbuds in two colors – gray/black and white. The earbuds have quite unusual stems which are like rectangular blocks and also pretty thick. There are silver bands at the bottom and the manufacturer’s name is printed on the stem.
The FreeBuds Pro will have noise cancellation but are shown to also feature silicone tips to keep the sound in. There are large black circles on each earbud which we believe are IR sensors for wear detection. Personally, I wish they were much smaller as they really do stick out in a not-so-appealing way on the white variant.
The earbuds will come in a pebble-like case with a flat base and a flat top. The case should be able to stand on a flat surface unlike that of the FreeBuds 3 which has a rounded base.
The Huawei FreeBuds Pro will have the Kirin A1 chip, Bluetooth 5.2, three microphones on each earbud, and active noise cancelation. It has been reported to have a price tag of €150 and is expected to go on sale in early October.
Near Field Communication or NFC as it is popularly called is a technology that allows for the exchange of data between two devices with just a touch gesture between the two. There are many use cases for NFC such as for payments or for connecting to other devices such as wireless speakers and headphones. You can even purchase NFC tags and program them for your own use.
While the technology has been available for years now, not every phone has it. Sometimes, manufacturers remove the feature from models sold in select markets while adding it to models sold in other regions.
For this week’s poll, we want to know how frequently you use the NFC feature and it doesn’t matter if it is your phone that has the feature baked in or a wearable. Also, do drop a comment telling us the most frequent usage scenarios.
The LG Wing is a really interesting phone that is scheduled to launch on September 14. It is the first product from LG’s Explorer Project which we will learn more about next week. Ahead of the launch, a new hands-on video from Korea has surfaced on this gives us a closer look at the phone.
The LG Wing looks like a regular phone albeit a thick one but then the main display rotates on a hinge to reveal a smaller display behind the main one. This smaller display is about half the size of the larger one and is surrounded by thick bezels.
The video also shows the sides of the phone. There is a USB Type-C port at the bottom of the phone and it is flanked by a speaker grille on one side. While the video doesn’t focus on the back, we get a glimpse and can see the rear cameras are arranged vertically. It has been reported that the LG Wing will have three rear cameras.
The LG Wing is expected to be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 765G processor and will command a price tag of about $1000. That price tag should not be surprising seeing as this is an unusual device and LG must have factored in the cost of having two displays on the same phone.
Apple Watch is the most popular smartwatch worldwide. It has been a little over 5 years since the first model launched. But now, after all these years, a prototype of first-generation Apple Watch disguised as third-generation iPod nano leaks in pictures.
Prototype Apple Watch (Original) with matching Security Case and box. The Security Case was used to conceal the design before release durning transportation; and makes the Watch look similar to an iPod Nano. #appleinternalpic.twitter.com/2q0y8l6oso
In case you do not know, Steve Jobs once said that an Apple board member planned to wear his iPod nano as a watch. Since then, many people began to use their iPod nano as a watch with an increase in a variety of bands for Apple’s music player in the market.
Looks like the Cupertino-based tech giant used this fashion trend for their own good to conceal the prototypes of the first-generation Apple Watch while being tested in public. The images shared by @AppleDemoYT (via MacRumors) are proof of this.
These images showcase a prototype original Apple Watch with a rubber case on it mimicking an iPod nano. Hence, when it was tested by the engineers in public, no one would have thought it to be a smartwatch.
Even now, companies use bulky cases to conceal their unreleased products when they are tested in the public. But still, they somehow manage to leak in certain cases.
Anyway, it was a clever idea by Apple nonetheless. That said, the iPhone maker is reported to launch new smartwatches in the coming weeks to replace last year’s Series 5 and a budget model to replace the older Series 3.
There is no better month than September for smartphone-addicted people. In September a lot of important handsets go official every year, including the new iPhones by Apple. And while the launch date of the new Apple devices is still unconfirmed, a lot of other phones are already scheduled to launch this month. Here you will find a list of all the most important upcoming smartphones in September 2020 from mainstream smartphone manufacturers.
Top Upcoming Smartphones in September 2020
Huawei Mate 40 series
The Huawei Mate 40 series will be officially announced at the Huawei Developer Conference which will be held on September 10. During the conference, Huawei will also announce the EMUI 11 customization based on Android 11. The Huawei Mate 40 will be the last series of smartphones equipped with a Kirin chipset: Huawei can not produce its chipsets anymore due to the U.S. ban. The SoC powering the new lineup will be the Kirin 9000 which may be available in limited quantities because the partnership between Huawei and TSMC (the company producing Kirin chipsets) will end on September 15. The Huawei Mate 40 series is expected to include phones with 90 Hz display, resolutions up to Quad HD+, and display diagonals up to 6.78 inches.
Apple still did not announce the exact launch date of the iPhone 12 lineup which contains the most awaited upcoming smartphones of September 2020, but according to the latest rumors, it will launch this month despite the Covid-related issues. The series will include at least four models with different display diagonals, including 5.4, 6.1, and 6.7 inches. The high-end models are expected to come with a 120 Hz refresh rate and the same LiDAR scanner found on the latest iPad Pro. They will be the first 5G iPhones and they will be powered by the Apple A14 mobile platform manufactured by TSMC.
After launching the Pixel 4a, Google is preparing the launch of the Google Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5. Unlike the previous years, this year we will get only mid-range Pixel phones. Indeed, the Pixel 5 will be most likely fueled by the Snapdragon 765G platform, just like the Pixel 4a 5G. Both the handset should feature the same camera department including a Sony IMX363 main sensor with a 12.2 MP resolution and a 16 MP ultrawide camera. On the front side, we expect a Sony IMX355 with an 8 MP resolution, while the battery should have a capacity of 4000 mAh on the Google Pixel 5 and 3800 mAh on the Pixel 4a 5G. The Snapdragon 765G will be paired with 8 or 6 GB of RAM depending on the variant.
LG Wing will be official on September 14 and it will be a very innovative phone. It will feature a unique design including a dual display mechanism. There will be the main display on a top swivel to a 90-degree angle, and also another display behind it. It is something we have already seen years ago with flip phone where a few devices could have their screens rotate up to reveal a keypad. But this time, the keypad will be replaced by a secondary display.
Realme 7i is the third phone from the Realme 7 series and it will be an entry-level device launching on September 17 alongside the vanilla Realme 7 in Indonesia. The handset has a punch-hole LCD display with an HD+ resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels. Just like the Realme 7, it supports a 90 Hz refresh rate. But instead of the Helio G95 chipset, users will get a Snapdragon 662 SoC paired with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage. The rear camera setup will feature a 64 MP main camera, an 8 MP ultrawide sensor, and a pair of 2 MP lenses, while the front panel will house a 16 MP selfie snapper in the punch-hole display. Another great feature is the 5000 mAh battery with 18W fast charging.
POCO M2 is set to debut in India tomorrow, on September 8. The company already confirmed a few specifications of the new mid-ranger. The POCO M2 will feature a Full HD+ display with a dew-drop notch, 6 GB of RAM and a quad camera setup. It is expected to be built around the MediaTek Helio G80 processor. It should come with a polycarbonate body, a 5020 mAh battery, and different colors to differentiate it from the Redmi 9 Prime, since it will have very similar specifications.
Today Xiaomi launched the POCO X3 NFC in the global market. It is definitely one of the best value for money devices of 2020. Its specifications include an IPS display with a whopping 120 Hz refresh rate and a huge 5160 mAh battery. The phone is powered by the new Snapdragon 732G chipset which is an upgrade of the Snapdragon 730G, paired with LPDDR4x RAM and UFS 2.1 internal storage. It supports NFC and it has a quad rear camera including a 64 MP Sony IMX682 main sensor, a 13 MP ultrawide sensor, and a pair of 2 MP lenses. The prices start from €199 (early bird price) for the 6/128 GB configuration.
On September 10, Samsung will launch the Galaxy M51 in India. This device already went official a few days ago with a price tag of €360 for the German market. Its key feature is a huge 7000 mAh battery, the biggest ever seen on a Samsung phone. The Galaxy M51 sports a 64 MP quad-camera, a Super AMOLED display, and a Snapdragon 730 chipset paired with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of expandable storage.
Sony confirmed that the compact Xperia 5 II will be official on September 17 and made a promo video to highlight its features. It will feature a 120 Hz screen refresh rate as well as a 240 Hz touch sampling rate and dual front-facing stereo speakers. It will also be able to record slow-motion 4K videos in 120 fps.
The second Motorola foldable phone will go official on September 10 in China. Its real name is still unknown but it will surely belong to the Razr series. It is expected to be powered by the Snapdragon 765G mobile platform offering 5G support, along with 8 Gb of RAM and 256 GB of native storage. It will be powered by a 2633 mAh battery and it will pack an internal foldable display and an external mini display for selfies, notifications, and more.
The innovative foldable phone by Microsoft will hit the U.S. shelves on September 10 and it is already on pre-orders. The handset features a dual display and a version of Android 10 optimized for its form factor. It is powered by the Snapdragon 855 chipset.
OnePlus Nord is arguably the most hyped smartphone of 2020. But it is not without problems. The company has been seeding system updates to this handset ever since it released to fix issues. Currently, the phone has begun to get its seventh update in the form of OxygenOS 10.5.7. This update is said to bring a number of improvements.
The OnePlus Nord is sold in almost all regions where the brand has its presence except for the US and China. Therefore, the new update for the device comes only with three different build numbers.
India (IN) – 10.5.7.AC01DA
Europe (EU) – 10.5.7.AC01BA
Global – 10.5.7.AC01AA
According to the official changelog, the latest system update for OnPlus Nord brings improvements for general power consumption, 4K 60fps video recording from the front camera, macro camera image quality, general display calibration, Bluetooth connection stability (the company claimed to have fixed it in the last update), and voice call stability.
The changelog of this update sounds similar to that of the previous update. Nevertheless, make sure to download and install in on your device.
OnePlus Nord OxygenOS 10.5.7 Official Changelog
Power
Improved general power consumption
Camera
Improved 4k 60 FPS video stabilization of front camera
The display details about an upcoming Redmi smartphone come from 数码闲聊站 (Digital Chat Station) on Weibo. According to him, this device will sport a 6.67-inch LCD panel with FHD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate, and a punch-hole.
If you are experiencing déjà vu, then you aren’t alone. Because these display specs sound exactly the same as that of the newly launched POCO X3. That means, for the first time, a POCO device could be rebranded as a Redmi handset.
Unfortunately, the marketing name of this mysterious smartphone is unknown at the moment. It should be mostly Redmi K40 or maybe a high-end model in the rumored Redmi Note 10 series.
Also, it is worth noting that China is phasing out 4G phones and therefore, even if this device turns out to be identical to POCO X3, it may launch with a 5G chipset instead of 4G Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G.
Samsung has announced “The Premiere” Ultra-short throw 4K Laser Projector as one of its Lifestyle line of products. The new device utilises updated technology and several hardware that will provide both image clarity and access to some of the same features regularly used with modern television sets.
Samsung’s new The Premiere is an “ultra-short throw laser projector” intended for projection at a range between 0-4 feet and delivering its picture at 4K. The Premiere is expected to supply a memorable cinematic experience as the flagship item of its Lifestyle product lineup. The projector is available in two models – the LSP9T and LSP7T. The LSP9T displays a vast 130 inches and the LSP7T 120 inches.
The LSP9T laser-powered projector comes as a forerunner in cutting-edge technology, becoming the first certified in a new display technology.
The high dynamic range format HDR10+ changes the way lighting is displayed. When watching a film, set values on brightness can leave some scenes appearing fine, while others are too dark to experience properly. What HDR10+ does is enable variability in lighting so that bright scenes show as intended and dark scenes sill create an immersive experience for the viewer. This triple-laser projector is the first in the world to be certified in this HDR format and is rated to support 2,800 ANSI lumens. The Premiere comes with ‘Filmmaker Mode’ as well, which will apparently help to present a movie the way the director intended.
The projector runs Samsung’s smart TV platform which means viewers at home can stream videos from Samsung partners, and also enjoy support screen mirroring. In terms of audio, it packs built-in woofers and also uses Acoustic Beam sound direction as a component of its surround sound setup.
Samsung stated The Premiere projectors will begin rolling out later this year in the United States, Europe, Korea, and elsewhere.
Just a few months ago, OPPO announced the Ace2, a flagship phone that is dubbed as the successor to the Reno Ace that launched last October under the Reno series. With the launch of the Ace2, it was reported that OPPO was creating another smartphone line. A new leak has now revealed that the new line has been killed off just as quickly as it was created.
The source of the info is the Chinese leaker Digital Chat Station, and it was revealed on Weibo. He stated that there will be a sort of replacement for the Ace line but this time, it will launch under Realme with the same flagship specs of the Ace series and also support for 125W fast charging.
Rumor: OPPO kills Ace line; Realme will have a “replacement” next year
At the moment, Realme has three product lines for China. There is the Q series which has just one phone – the Realme Q; there is also the Realme V series, and then there is the Realme X series.
The Realme X series is the only Realme series that is not exclusive to China but it is too early to know if the series that will serve as the replacement for the Ace series will be exclusive to China or will also be announced in other markets.
Xiaomi has launched the MIJIA Smart Safe Deposit Box under crowdfunding on Xiaomi Mall. The device carries a crowdfunding price of 599 yuan ($87) while the retail price is 649 yuan ($95). The exercise will officially kick off on September 9.
According to the official introduction, the MIJIA Smart Safe Deposit Box can be used to store valuables. The safe deposit box is made of high-strength material. The lock installation part and the lock bolt part are built-in 65Mn anti-drilling steel plates. This material is often used in high-strength structures such as large ships and bridges. It has an excellent anti-drilling ability and can effectively enhance the anti-destructive performance of the box.
The safe deposit box has 6 unlocking methods. It supports fingerprint unlocking, password unlocking, one-time password, Bluetooth unlocking, key unlocking and double verification unlocking. The fingerprint recognition rate is as high as 97.44%.
The MIJIA Smart Safe Deposit Box uses a straight plug-in lock cylinder to penetrate the lock body. Even if the panel is violently damaged, the inner lock cylinder can still ensure the safety of items. The lock cylinder is grade C which is the current high standard in the industry and has a stronger ability to prevent technical opening.
The MIJIA Smart Safe Deposit Box supports 20-digit virtual passwords. You can enter virtual garbled codes before and after the real password to prevent peeping and effectively protect the real password. You can remotely issue a one-time password through the MIJIA app without a gateway.
It is worth mentioning that if the user unlocks under duress, he can also use the preset “anti-duress fingerprint” to unlock the lock. After the fingerprint is identified, the emergency contact will be notified by phone to alarm. Further, users can conduct one-stop management of the MIJIA Smart Safe Deposit Box through the MIJIA app and view the remote unlocking records and various alarm reminders at any time. In terms of battery life, the deposit box is powered by four AA batteries which can be used normally for one year and support Type-C emergency charging.
For the past few years, the entire Samsung Group has been shifting its manufacturing facilities from China to other countries. Now, the company announces to shutter its only TV factory located in the city of Tianjin by the end of November. This news comes after Samsung Display’s sale of Suzhou LCD plant to TCL Technology Group Corp’s Star Optoelectronics Technology.
The TV factory in Tianjin is Samsung Electronics’ only TV manufacturing plant in China, according to the company spokesperson, reports Yonhap News Agency. This plant has about 300 workers. According to Reuters, some of these workers and equipment will be retained.
As per a Samsung spokesperson, this decision is part of the company’s ongoing efforts to enhance efficiency in its production facilities. Once this factory shutters by November end, the South Korean tech giant will be only left with a home appliance factory in Suzhou and chip production facilities in Suzhou and Xian of China.
It is worth noting that Samsung had already announced its plans to stop making LCD panels by the end of 2020. The company is now focussing more on QLED technology. As a result of this, it is reported to buy LCD panels from other suppliers for its budget televisions.
Chinese LCD manufacturing companies are said to be the beneficiaries of Samsung exiting the business.
The upcoming Huawei Mate 40 series is expected to be the first set of phones to feature the yet-to-be-announced Kirin 9000 chipset. Up until now, we have thought there will be just one processor but a new leak says that there will be two versions of the Kirin 9000.
As revealed in a tweet by the leaker Teme (@RODENT950), the Kirin 9000 series will include two processors – the Kirin 9000 and the Kirin 9000E.
The Kirin 9000E appears to be the less-powerful version of the series as seen in the tweet above while the Kirin 9000 is the high-end version. However, since he isn’t sure, we will advise you to take it with a pinch of salt until more details surface.
Last year, Huawei announced two flagship chipsets too – the Kirin 990 and the more powerful Kirin 990 5G. While the main difference between the two chipsets was the addition of a built-in 5G modem in the latter, the Kirin 990 5G also offered better performance thanks to its higher-clocked CPU cores.
It has been reported that the Mate 40 series may be the last set of flagship phones to be powered by a Kirin processor. There is no news yet as to when Huawei will unveil the new processors but with the Mate 40 series expected to launch in October, Huawei should unveil the new processor in the coming weeks.
Xiaomi launched its first drone in May 2016. The Mi Drone came in two variants, a 1080p version priced at 2499 yuan and a 4k version that had a retail price of 2,999 yuan. At the time of the launch, Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun stated that Xiaomi drones have once again set the price limit in the industry, as the prices of 4K drones of the same grade on the market were around 6,000 yuan or even higher. The Mi Drones were produced by Fimi Technology, a Xiaomi ecological chain company and right now, the brand has launched its own product, the Fimi X8 SE 2020.
The Fimi X8 SE 2020 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) comes with a foldable design similar to DJI Mavic. Its performance is more powerful than that of the Mavic Mini even though they are in the same price category. However, its volume is larger than that of Mavic Mini. After folding, it measures 204x106x72.6mm and weighs about 765g.
In terms of the aerial photography performance, the Fimi X8 SE 2020 achieves 4K video recording, 8 km image transmission, wind resistance level 5, and battery life reaching an astonishing 35 minutes. Thanks to the latest generation of HiSilicon’s ISP engine, Fiimi X8 SE 2020 can shoot 4K video with a large stream of up to 100Mbps, retaining more screen details. The new F-log video colour mode and DNG RAW photo format bring greater space for post-production.
The drone is also equipped with a light three-axis mechanical stabilization gimbal, fitted with Fimi’s latest generation of professional control algorithms, with a control accuracy of 0.005%. Its newly upgraded second-generation TDMA image transmission system has increased sensitivity by 5dbm, supports 8km image transmission, and can fly farther.
In terms of functions, it supports one-click blockbusters, intelligent follow-up, route planning shooting, panoramic shooting, time-lapse photography, night scene mode, etc.
The maximum horizontal flight speed can reach 18m/s, the maximum ascent speed is 5m/s, and the maximum descent speed is 4m/s.
It should be noted that the copywriting stated that its flying altitude is limited to 120m, and I wonder if it can be unlocked.
The Fimi X8 SE 2020 remote control adopts a slideway telescopic design and a detachable joystick. When it is not opened, it is only the palm length. It is compatible with most mobile phones on the market and can even accommodate an iPad mini.
The drone is presently on sale at Xiaomi Youpin and is priced at 2,999 yuan (~439).
Yesterday, a tipster from China took to Weibo to reveal the Vivo Watch smartwatch either by this month or in October. He also revealed a few key information on the specs and features of the Vivo Watch. Today, he took to Weibo again to share additional details of the smartwatch.
Today’s Weibo post by the tipster reveals that the Vivo Watch will be available in two variants such as 42mm and 46mm. The device will sport a leather strap.
He did not reveal the size of the Vivo Watch’s battery but claimed that it will be offering up to 18 days of battery life. The machine-translated text of his Weibo post states that it will be available in four colors like Mocha, Mixia, Shadow, and Fengshang. It may arrive with a pricing of around 1,000 Yuan.
Yesterday, the tipster had claimed that the male version of the Vivo Watch will have a 46mm dial. It has a color OLED display, a heart rate sensor, a blood oxygen tracker, and other conventional features. The presence of NFC will possibly bring support for contactless payments.
It is unclear which operating system will be available on the Vivo Watch. Sibling brand’s OPPO Watch arrived with ColorOS in China and WearOS in the global markets. Probably, Vivo may also adopt the same strategy.
Starting with the OnePlus 3 series and up until 2018, OnePlus technically released only two phones in a year – the main flagship in the first half and a T-variant with upgraded features in the second half of the year. Last year, OnePlus decided to announce Pro variants too. It did the same this year with the OnePlus 8 series, but new info says OnePlus will be dropping the tradition for the OnePlus 8T. In a nutshell, there won’t be a OnePlus 8T Pro.
An alleged render of the OnePlus 8T
The source of the info is the leaker Max J (@MaxJmb) and according to him, there is no “Kebab2”. If you are confused as to what that means, we will explain. Kebab is the codename for the OnePlus 8T. If there is another variant of a phone, OnePlus usually adds another b to the codename. For example, in the case of the OnePlus 7T and OnePlus 7T Pro, the two devices went by the codenames “hotdog” and “hotdogb” respectively.
In the case of the OnePlus 8T series, that means the OnePlus 8T Pro should have the codename “kebabb”. However, the leaker has gone with “kebab2” to make it less confusing. Though he does confirm that what he means is that there isn’t going to be a OnePlus 8T Pro in a reply which we have added below.
While some may be disappointed at the lack of a Pro variant, I am of the opinion it is a good decision.
OnePlus has made significant changes to its product lineup. It has a new line of mid-range smartphones which is expected to add at least three new models before the end of the year. Add those to the already released OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro, and OnePlus Nord, and the upcoming OnePlus 8T, you get a total of seven devices.
That is a lot of phones for OnePlus which means a lot of the company’s resources will be spread across these devices and those from previous years that are still getting support. The bottom line is that there is no need for two flagships anymore.
If OnePlus keeps churning out phones, I believe it will find it difficult to maintain all of them and we may see software issues not get resolved as quickly as before. We have already even seen this playing out with the manufacturer backtracking on promised features for select models.
What do you think about OnePlus not launching a OnePlus 8T Pro? Let us know in the comment box
POCO took the wraps off the newest member of its family dubbed POCO X3 NFC. The phone is the company’s latest smartphone in the mid-range series and it addresses the biggest complaint of its predecessor- it is no longer a rebadged Redmi model.
This year’s POCO devices were all rebranded Redmi smartphones, but the POCO X3 NFC looks like a brand new model with its resigned camera housing and bold new logo at the back. We have got the POCO X3 NFC in real skin and here are hands-on pictures of the device.
The POCO X3 NFC features a 6.67-inch FHD+ Dot Display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sampling rate. The 120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sampling rate creates an incredibly smooth and responsive experience superior to most flagships on the market.
The display is also covered with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 5 for added protection while there is a 20MP sensor located inside the tine dot.
At the back, the phone packs a Quad-camera setup but with a redesign from what we saw on the X2. The camera housing now has a rectangular shape with two of the edges curved. The main sensor is a flagship Sony IMX 682 sensor featuring an f/1.89 aperture and 1.6μm 4-in-1 Super Pixel that produces detailed and ultra-clear pictures. There is also a 13MP ultra-wide-angle camera that boasts a 119° field of view propped up by ƒ/2.2 aperture and a 1.0μm pixel size, while the 2MP macro camera and depth sensor complete the setup offering extra functionality and reinforcing the main lens’ capabilities.
The POCO X3 NFC comes out as the first phone that will feature a Snapdragon 732G processor which should bring incredible performance to the phone. On top of that, you get a 5,160mAH battery which is touted to last up to two days on a single charge.
To ensure the steady operation and frictionless user experience, the device embeds LiquidCool Technology 1.0 Plus, combining an enlarged copper heat pipe with multiple layers of graphite that work together to reduce the heat of the phone’s processor by up to 6 degrees.
To ensure the utmost sound immersion, the device also packs a pair of flagship-grade stereo speakers. The 4cc-equivalent upper speaker, 1cc-equivalent lower speaker, and up to 0.5mm vibration amplitude provides for crystal clear stereo sound and absorbing gaming experience. Meanwhile, the speakers’ ability to self-clean ensures unmuffled audio in the long run.
The phone is pretty cheap too retailing at just $199 via Aliexpress and starting at €199 or €249, depending on the storage in some European markets.
Check out more photos of the POCO X3 NFC from the gallery below.
The next anticipated smartphones of 2020 are the upcoming iPhone 12 devices. They have been reported to launch later than the previous years. Back in August, DigiTimes reported that 6.1-inch iPhone 12 handsets will launch first, followed by the other two in the later months. Now, a month later, the publication reiterates the same.
A new report by DigiTimes (via MacRumors) says that the shipments of SLP (substrate-like PCB) mainboards for 6.1-inch iPhones12 devices started back in July, whereas those for 6.7-inch and 5.4-inch iPhone 12 models only begun in the second half of August.
The report also states that Taiwan’s Zheng Ding Technology and Austria’s AT&S are the major SLP supplier for iPhone 12. The other three suppliers include TTM Technologies of the USA and two more Taiwanese companies – Compeq Manufacturing and Unimicron Technology.
Further, CCL (copper clad laminate) maker Elite Material, a company based out of Taiwan will benefit the most from the increase in SLP board shipment as it has outraced Panasonic to become the primary supplier of SLP products for Apple iPhone 12 smartphones.
According to Mark Gurman, Apple may announce the date of the virtual launch event for iPhone 12 this week. According to him, the company will not unveil new Apple Watches and iPad Air in a press release tomorrow as tipster Jon Prosser hinted.
Anyway, new Apple products will be certainly launching in the coming weeks, albeit not all of them will be available at the same time.
Today, POCO held a global unveiling event to unleash the POCO X3 NFC smartphone. It has arrived as the successor for the predecessor POCO X2 phone. The predecessor model was not really a new phone since it came as a rebadged version of the Redmi K30 4G that debuted back in December 2019. The POCO X3 NFC is a brand-new phone that features the Snapdragon 732G which is the most powerful Snapdragon 7-series chipset from Qualcomm. The handset comes with a refreshed front and rear design. The POCO X3 NFC is blessed with features like a 120Hz refresh rate, 64-megapixel quad cameras, and a large-sized battery with rapid charging technology.
POCO X3 specifications and features
Like the POCO X2, the POCO X3 NFC offers users a 6.67-inch full HD+ resolution supporting IPS LCD screen. Instead of the dual punch-hole cutout that was made available on the POCO X2, the X3 has a tiny round-shaped cutout of 3.8mm at the top-center position on the screen to provide users with higher screen space. The POCO X3 NFC’s display supports HDR10, 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate, and Gorilla Glass 5 protection. While gaming the phone’s screen works at 120Hz and at other times, the DynamicSwitch feature kicks in to make the display function at the conventional 60Hz refresh rate. For instance, during video playback, the POCO X3 NFC plays content at 60Hz.
The 8nm Snapdragon 732G that clocks at 2.3GHz drives the POCO X3 NFC with LPDDR4x RAM and UFS 2.1 storage. it comes with support for additional storage through a microSD card slot. The phone features LiquidCool Technology 1.0 Plus that offers a 70 percent larger heat pipe than its predecessor technology. Along with graphite sheets, the new technology can cut down on the internal heat by 6 degrees Celsius.
The Android 10 OS comes preinstalled on the POCO X3 NFC. It is overlaid with the MIUI 12 and POCO Launcher. The company promised to treat the owners of the POCO X3 NFC with three years of system updates. Probably, the company could be talking about the MIUI updates and not the OS upgrades. The smartphone is fitted with a 5,160mAh battery and its retail package includes a 33W fast charger. Speaking of the retail package, it also includes an anti-bacterial case. The Game Turbo 3.0 brings gaming optimizations such as performance mode, sound quality optimization, network optimization, and voice changer. For in-game vibrations, the phone comes with a z-axis linear motor.
The POCO X3 NFC has a 20-megapixel front-facing camera with f/2.2 aperture. It offers features like portrait mode, AI scene detection, AI studio lighting, screen flash, HDR, and more. The main cameras of the POCO X2 were arranged vertically in a circular camera housing. The POCO X3 NFC retains a round-shaped camera module with a refreshed arrangement for its quad cameras. The setup includes a Sony IMX682 64-megapixel main shooter, a 119-degree 13-megapixel ultrawide sensor, a 2-megapixel macro lens with a 2cm focal length, and a 2-megapixel depth assist sensor. The quad cameras support features like AI SkyScraping 3.0, night mode, pro mode, AI scene detection, AI beauty, Google lens, new filters, 120fps 1080p slow-motion video recording, 30fps 4K video recording, and kaleidoscope mode.
The POCO X3 NFC flaunts a refreshed ‘Finish line’ appearance on its back. The polycarbonate rear has a thick textured strip, a DSLR-like camera arrangement, and a big POCO that changes color when viewed from different angles. Moreover, the phone offers splash-resistance as it comes with an IP53 rating. The handset measures 165.3 x 76.8 x 9.4mm and it weighs 215 grams. The handset is equipped with plenty of other features such as dual stereo speakers, AI face unlock, a side-mounted fingerprint reader, an IR blaster, dual SIM support, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, USB-C, and a 3.5mm headphone slot.
POCO X3 NFC pricing and availability
Here is the pricing and availability of the POCO X3 NFC:
6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage – 269 euros (~$318); Early bird price – 249 euros (~$294)
Color variants: Shadow Gray and Cobalt Blue.
The POCO X3 NFC will be available for purchase from tomorrow through platforms like Mi.com, Amazon, AliExpress, Gearbest, and more. To get the POCO X3 NFC at discounted rates through the early bird sale, one can place an order for it between Sept. 8 and Sept. 11. Buyers who avail the POCO X3 NFC during the early bird sale period will have a chance to purchase the Black Shark FunCoooler Pro at a discounted price of 25 euros (~$29). Its regular price is 39 euros (~$46).
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