Official: EMUI 11 will release in Q3 2020

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Jul 6, 2020

With the Indian government drafting new e-commerce policies, tech giants like Google and Amazon may face new harsher rules. The new policies are being drafted to help local startups in the region while also having government oversight on how big corporations handle data.

The new e-commerce policy drafts have been in the making for at least two years now, through which, the government will appoint a new regulator. This regulator will ensure fair practice and competition within the industry and will have broad access to information resources. The new policy drafts have been prepared by the ministry of commerce department for the promotion of industry and internal trade.

According to proposed rules, the government will have mandated access to online companies’ source codes and algorithms. In other words, the ministry wants access to internal workings of big corporations to ensure against “digitally induced biases.” India’s digital economy is a booming market with a massive user count number in half a billion. Furthermore, it is still growing with notable areas being content streaming, online payments, e-retailers, and even social media platforms.

In these aforementioned areas, global corporations are ruling the market with a massive dominance, making it harder for local startups to enter the market. Just recently, the government had banned 59 Chinese applications over security issues and the newly proposed policies are along the same lines. In the draft, it is mentioned that “there’s a tendency among some of the leading companies to exercise control over most of the information repository.”

Thus, the “Government, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, will define the categories of e-commerce that would require mirroring or localization.” Big corporations hosting data overseas has been a point of constant debate, criticism, and scrutiny. Now, these companies will be required to hand over data to the government within 72 hours, including information related to national security, taxation, law and order, and more.

(Via)

Mystery Huawei / Honor phone spotted with 48MP quad cameras

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Jul 6, 2020

Earlier this month, Honor unveiled Honor 30 Lite (Youth Edition) 5G and Honor X10 Max smartphones in China. A Weibo account that is known for Huawei leaks shared a live shot of a new smartphone. The phone can be seen flaunting a quad-camera system.

As can be seen in the image, the smartphone has a rectangle-shaped camera module on its back. It comprises of an LED flash and four cameras. The primary lens in the setup is 48-megapixel.

The tipster who shared the leaked shot claimed that it is mid-range or high-end phone. He also gave out a vague information that the device is equipped with a Kirin chipset.

Editor’s Pick: Redmi 10X vs Honor 30 Youth vs Xiaomi Mi 10 Youth: Specs Comparison

Honor is reportedly working on the launch of the Honor X10 Pro 5G smartphone. As the name goes, it could be an enhanced version of the Kirin 820 SoC powered Honor X10 5G in May. Soon after its launch, the Chinese firm had confirmed that it will be adding more members to the X10 family.

The company recently announced the Dimensity 800 5G SoC powered Honor X10 Max phone. There is a possibility that the above-shown phone could be the Honor X10 Pro fueled by the Kirin 820 5G. The X10 5G came with triple rear cameras. The Pro model could be coming with a quad-camera unit.

Rumors surrounding the Honor X10 Pro 5G could be coming with the same-sized display that is available on the X10 5G phone. Hence, it is likely that the Pro model could be equipped with a 6.63-inch IPS LCD screen with notch-less design. There is no word on the specifications of the X10 Pro 5G. Readers are advised to wait for further reports to know the identity of the phone since it could be a Huawei branded phone.

(source)

Xiaomi is selling the world’s first zero-blue light Bedside Lamp

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Jul 6, 2020

Back in May, the Xiaomi Youpin platform started crowdfunding for the world’s first zero blue light emitting bedside lamp. Now, the company has finally launched the Mi Zero Blue Light Bedside Night Lamp that is currently available for purchase for 329 Yuan (roughly 46 US Dollars).

The new bedside night lamp was developed by the academician team of the Chinese Academy of Sciences of Nanchang University. It uses high efficiency yellow LED as its core and red LED to achieve a phosphor-free low color temperature. This technology is thus different from similar products in the market that utilizes a blue light filtering method.

In other words, the Mi Zero Blue Light Bedside Night Lamp does not emit any blue light from the source and has achieved true blue light free emission. Furthermore, it will not damage the human eye structure or strain the retina. Even toddlers, who are phototrophic, can directly look at the light source and will not be harmed. With its long wavelength band in the spectrum, it enables emits a soft and warm glow that is comfortable and improves sleep.

The Xiaomi Mi Zero Blue Light Bedside Night Lamp can also be paired with the Mijia smart app and can play select music and can even act as an alarm. It also supports damn XiaoAI voice assistants as well. The product has won multiple awards already for its new technology, so for those interested, you can check it out here.

POCO GM hinted at POCO M2 Pro pricing in an interview

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Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Jul 6, 2020

C Manmohan, the General Manager of POCO was recently interviewed by Mukul Sharma, an Indian tech influencer on his YouTube channel. In which, the executive hinted at the pricing of the upcoming POCO M2 Pro.

POCO M2 Pro will be officially launching tomorrow (July 7) in India. It will be the brand’s fourth smartphone. Based on certifications and teasers, it will be a variant of Redmi Note 9 Pro.

The device is expected to come with model number M2003J6CI and feature Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G, 33W fast charging, and quad-camera setup. Now, the brand official also reveals the handset to be priced lower than the POCO X2.

According to him, the price of POCO M2 Pro will begin lower than the starting pricing of POCO X2. This somewhat indicates that only the base model or maybe even mid variant will be priced less than that of X2, whereas the high-end variant could be priced more than the X2 base version.

On the other hand, it is worth noting that although he POCO X2 base variant debuted at ₹15,999, it currently retails for ₹17,499 after two price hikes. Hence, we can expect the POCO M2 Pro to start somewhere between ₹13,999 and ₹15,999.

(Source)

Redmi K40 to launch in Q4 2020 with Snapdragon 775 SoC: Report

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Jul 6, 2020

A new Weibo post from Digital Chat Station (@数码闲聊站) has revealed that the upcoming Redmi K40 series might be launched in the fourth quarter of 2020. The successor of the popular K30 series will reportedly sport the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 775 SoC as well.

The report from the blogger on the Chinese microblogging website arrives for a recent leak revealed a Redmi K30 Ultra variant with MediaTek’s Dimensity 1000+ processor. According to Digital Chat Station, following this product line, the next entry will be the Redmi K40 series with the base K40 version launching in Q4 of 2020 while the Pro variant will launch in the first quarter of 2021.

Furthermore, the Redmi K40 will reportedly feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 775 SoC (SM7350) while the Redmi K40 Pro will feature the SM8350 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 875 SoC. Unfortunately, this is still an unconfirmed report so take it with a pinch of salt. It is still too early to tell when Xiaomi will actually launch the latest K generation of smartphones, but stay tuned for more updates.

Moto G 5G Plus new leaks reveal SD765G, 4GB RAM, 5,000mAh battery and 20W charging

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Jul 6, 2020

Motorola has a launch event that is scheduled to take place tomorrow at 3 PM CET. It is speculated that the company will be announcing the Moto G 5G and Moto G 5G Plus as its first 5G-ready G-series smartphones. Recently, the XT2075-3 Motorola phone was certified by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the U.S. It was initially believed that it could be coming to the market as Motorola Edge Lite, but later on it was revealed that it could be coming to the market as Moto G 5G Plus. Some more details of the smartphone have appeared once again through its FCC and TUV Rheinland listings. Also, the handset has appeared on the Geekbench marking platform.

The FCC listing states that the XT2075-3 phone supports 5G, NFC, dual-band Wi-Fi, GPS, GLONASS and Galileo. The TUV Rheinland listing reveals that the phone is packed with a 5,000mAh battery with 4,700mAh rated capacity. The handset will be coming with support for 20W rapid charging.

Editor’s Pick: Motorola Razr 5G 3C certified; 18W fast charging support expected

There is some confusion regarding the XT2075-3 that said to be codenamed as ‘Nairobi.’ It is speculated that it may even launch as Moto G 5G in the U.S. It may debut in some market as Moto G 5G Plus. Probably, the phone could be launching through Verizon in the U.S. as Motorola Edge Lite.

The Moto G 5G Plus appeared on Geekbench benchmarking platform with an octa-core processor from Qualcomm that has a base frequency of 1.8GHz. The text mentioned in the identifier field suggests that it could be featuring the Snapdragon 765G SoC. The Geekbench 5 listing further reveals that it has 4 GB of RAM and it runs on Android 10 OS. In the single-core test of Geekbench 5, the handset recorded a score of 596. It scored 1872 in the multi-core test.

Rumors surrounding the Moto G 5G Plus have revealed that it has a 90Hz display with two punch-holes. It is said to feature an 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel dual selfie camera system. The rear side of the phone has a 48-megapixel + 16-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 5-megapixel quad-camera system.

(via 1, 2)

Samsung chip sales for Q2 2020 may not cover for falling smartphone sales

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Jul 6, 2020

Samsung Electronics has seen a healthy bump in its chip sales, especially to data centers that are expanding due to a growing surge of work from home traffic. Although, despite its chip sales, it is unlikely that it will make up for its declining smartphone sales.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, more and more individuals are working from home, which has caused a boom in online learning. This, in turn, reflects in the growth of chip demand. Samsung is the world’s biggest supplier of DRAM and NAND memory chips. These account for nearly half of the South Korean tech giant’s total profits. The rest is mainly from smartphones.

With the recent increase in demand, a rise in DRAM prices helped the company to maintain a great performance in the second quarter. These price hikes were likely driven by data centers that were stockpiling chips, so the trend is not likely to be sustainable in the near future. However, despite its strong chip sales, the company will not be able to cover up the improved revenue over falling smartphone sales. But the upcoming Samsung Unpacked 2020 event might change the company’s current predicament.

(Via)

Huawei Desktop PC surfaces online, features 7nm Kunpeng 920 Processor

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Jul 6, 2020

Huawei has made its own line of 7nm ARM v8 based Kunpeng processors through its subsidiary, HiSilcon, that features up to 64 cores and is basically meant for servers. Now, it seems that at least one of these chips is planned for a consumer grade desktop system, as a Chinese YouTube channel has recently purchased and reviewed a Huawei Desktop PC. We had previously reported on such a system before and it seems a unit has surfaced online.

The YouTube channel goes by the name of 二斤自制, who apparently bought and reviewed the Huawei PC with the 7nm Kunpeng 920 ARM v8 processor that has eight cores. This system was built with the Huawei D920S10 desktop motherboard in a third party system and offers us a first look at the upcoming desktop lineup the Chinese tech giant will soon offer, marking its entry into the desktop PC market.

Furthermore, the use of self developed chips in the PC is also indicative of reducing reliance on Western technology. Although, it seems that there are still glaring issues with the desktop PC. Looking at the video, it seems the Huawei system is only limited to 64-bit UOS operating system that was made in China. It is a modified version of Linux, with the system supporting 4K resolution at a 60Hz refresh rate via a Yeston RX550 graphics card.

Notably, the YouTuber had to pay an extra 800 Yuan (roughly 115 US Dollars) to gain access to the app store. Unfortunately, it seems like the app store is lacking many basic applications, such as Adobe, which can be essential in the professional fields. The system was also benchmarked with the Blender BMW test render that was completed in 11 minutes and 47 seconds, which is quite slow when compared to the recent generation of desktop processors.

The YouTuber bought the system for 7,500 Yuan (roughly 1,060 US Dollars). The Huawei D920S10 motherboard featured 4x DIMM slots but with only 16GB DDR4-2666 RAM spread across two DIMMs. The eight core processor has 8 threads and the video lists its L1 memory with 128K, 512K of L2, and 32MB of L3 memory. While the chip supported PCIe 4.0, the motherboard only has three PCIe 3.0 slots available, with basic connectivity options and ports.

(Via,Source)

SAR values of 15 popular phones in Q2 2020 in India

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Jul 6, 2020

Smartphones are known for radiating low levels of radio frequency (RF) energy through their antennas. Body parts closest to the antennas can absorb this energy. Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) is the measure of the rate at which energy is absorbed per unit mass by a human body when expose to RF radiations. For phones sold in India, the SAR value should be under 1.6 Watts per kilogram. 91mobiles has compiled a list of the SAR Values of the top 15 smartphones in Q2 2020.

The list shared by the publication reveals that all the SAR values of the all the 15 phones are well under 1.6W/kg. The Redmi Note 8, Samsung Galaxy M31, Realme Narzo 10, Redmi Note 9 Pro Max and Redmi Note 9 Pro have respective SAR values of 0.25W/kg, 0.38W/kg, 0.86W/kg, 0.88W/kg, and 0.90W/kg.

Redmi Note 8 Neptune Blue Featured — Redmi Note 8

Editor’s Pick: Xiaomi Mijia Capsule Coffee Machine to be up for crowdfunding on July 8

The OnePlus 8 Pro, OnePlus 8, Xiaomi Mi 10, POCO X2 and Samsung Galaxy A31 have SAR values of 0.96W/kg, 0.96W/kg, 1.04W/kg, 1.08W/kg and 1.13W/kg, respectively. The Redmi Note 8 Pro, Realme 6, iPhone SE 2020, Realme X3 and Realme 6 Prov have respective SAR values of 1.13W/kg, 1.14W/kg, 1.17W/kg, 1.19W/kg and 1.19W/kg.

There are other popular phones in the Indian market with SAR values below 1.6W/kg. One can easily check the SAR value of a phone by accessing the dialer and entering “#07#.” Manufacturers also mention the SAR value of the phone on its retail package. Some companies like Xiaomi and Samsung also mention the SAR values of their devices on their website.

(source)

TSMC dominates Samsung in Q2 chip production market as 5G demand rises

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Jul 6, 2020

TSMC has dominated the global chip foundry market. The world’s largest contract chipmaker is a known supplier of industry giants like Apple, Qualcomm, MediaTek, and more and currently holds a 51 percent market share, while Samsung comes in second with just 18.8 percent market share in Q2 chip production market.

While both TSMC and Samsung are moving towards the more powerful and energy efficient 5nm process node, the former has seen dominance in the market due to rising demand for 5G. Despite the South Korean company’s best efforts and investments into its foundry, TSMC is still dominating the market which may seem insurmountable at the moment.

Furthermore, while the Coronavirus pandemic was a major hurdle to TSMC, demand from TSMC had not lowered. At the moment, the contract chipmaker is mass producing 5nm chips for various brands including, the upcoming Apple iPhone 12 series, which may be the first smartphone to ship with a 5nm chipset. The new Apple A14 Bionic chip will have 15 billion transistors, which is near twice as high as the previous 7nm nodes.

Notably, the firm is also making 5nm chips for Huawei‘s HiSiicon semiconductor unit. Although, due to recent US sanctions, TSMC can only produce chips that were already ordered, and can no longer supply the Chinese tech giant in the future. Huawei had accounted for 15 percent of TSMC’s source of revenue back in 2019, but apparently, the company has already replaced Huawei orders.

(Via)

LG plans on raising smartphone production in India by 15 times and apply for PLI scheme

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Jul 6, 2020

LG, the South Korean tech giant, is looking to capitalize on a “window of opportunity” that has opened up in the Indian market. The company is scaling up its local smartphone manufacturing in the region by 15 times after recent anti-Chinese sentiments have gripped the nation.

According to LG’s mobile communications head, Advait Vaidya, the company has seen a 10 times increase in sales of its smartphones in the past two months. The senior executive credited this rise to the growing anti-Chinese sentiments and the boycotting of products from China. Furthermore, LG is also planning on applying for the PLI (production-linked incentive) that the local government offers to scale up production.

The key market segment that LG is planning on focusing on is the sub 15,000 INR (roughly 200 US Dollars) smartphone category. This segment has typically been dominated by Chinese giants like Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and even Realme in India. However, with recent military clashes in the Indo-China borders, friction between the two nations has escalated and the Indian government has already banned 59 Chinese applications as well.

Thus, LG is looking at this rising unease surrounding China and its products as an opportunity. By August, the company plans on launching 6 phones across all segments starting from the sub 10,000 INR category (roughly 133 US Dollars) with plans to expand through online and offline channels. Similarly, by the time Diwali (a major festival in India) rolls up, LG aims to have its production rise by 12-15X.

(Source)

Vivo X50 Pro+ pre-orders begin in China

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Jul 6, 2020

A recent report revealed that Vivo is gearing up for the global launch of the Vivo X50 series. It is speculated that the Vivo X50 and Vivo X50 Pro phones will be heading to some of the markets outside of China on July 16 or July 17. The report also revealed that the third member in the X50 series i.e. the Vivo X50 Pro+ flagship phone will not be available in global markets. Speaking of X50 Pro+, its pre-sales have started in China.

The Vivo X50 Pro+ comes in three variants such as 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage, 8 GB RAM + 256 Gb storage and 12 GB RAM + 256 GB storage. These models are priced at 4,998 Yuan (~$711), 5,498 Yuan (~$782), and 5,998 Yuan (~$853), respectively. JD.com has started with the pre-orders of the X50 Pro+. Camel and Gravity are the two color variants of the device. The listing reveals that the phone will go on sale on July 11. The device will be formally announced on July 8.

Editor’s Pick: Oppo and Vivo withhold investments in India amid growing geopolitical frictions

Vivo X50 Pro+ specifications

The Vivo X50 Pro+ features a hyperbolic 120Hz AMOLED display panel of 6.56 inches. It supports a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2376 pixels and has a punch-hole for the 32-megapixel selfie camera. The Snapdragon 865 SoC powers the phone along with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. It lacks a microSD card slot. The FunTouch 10.5 OS based Android 10 OS runs on the Vivo X50 Pro+.

The Vivo X50 Pro+ has a 4,350mAh battery that comes with support for 44W fast charging. Its rear-facing quad-camera setup includes an OIS assisted Samsung GN1 50-megapixel primary lens, an 8-megapixel periscope telephoto sensor, a 13-megapixel portrait lens, and an 8-megapixel ultrawide lens.

(source|via)

Xiaomi Mijia Capsule Coffee Machine to be up for crowdfunding on July 8

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Jul 6, 2020

Xiaomi has been actively launching new products under its Mijia brand for crowdfunding on its platform every now and then. Today, the company has announced that it will be crowdfunding Mijia Capsule Coffee Machine from 8th July in its home country China.

The crowdfunding for the Xiaomi Mijia Capsule Coffee Machine will begin on 8th July at 10:00 AM local time. As for the pricing, it will be available for 349 yuan (~$50) during the crowdfunding campaign while the retail price is set at 399 yuan (~$57).

The company has said that the aim behind launching this new coffee machine is to “reduce complexity and making it easy to drink good coffee with one click”. Continuing with its sleek and minimal design, this Xiaomi product comes in an all-white color.

Currently, no more information is available about this Mijia Capsule Coffee Machine but everything will be revealed in a couple of days, as the product goes up for crowdfunding in China on 8th July.

A couple of months ago, Xiaomi had launched the OneCup Multifunctional Beverage Machine for 499 yuan (~$70). It isn’t just limited to coffee making but can also be used to extract soy milk, tea, and several other beverage flavors.

Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 passes 3C certification; could launch on August 5

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Jul 6, 2020

Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 has been making the rounds for many months and now it seems that the next-generation foldable smartphone from the South Korean giant is finally set to go official next month.

Ahead of its speculated launch on 5th August, the smartphone has passed through the 3C certification process, revealing some of the details of the device. It reveals that the phone supports 5G connectivity and will come with a 25W charger.

Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 render 1 — Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 inner screen render

Earlier leaks related to the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 has revealed that the smartphone will come with a 7.7-inch flexible display. With punch-hole design in tow and a larger screen compared to the original Fold, the Galaxy Fold 2 will offer a higher screen-to-body ratio.

The screen is expected to offer 2213 x 1689 pixels screen resolution and 11.8:9 aspect ratio along with support for the 120Hz refresh rate. It is expected to have a larger 6.23-inch cover screen with comparatively slimmer bezels and 819 x 2267 pixels resolution.

Under the hood, the device could come powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 or the newer but yet unannounced Snapdragon 865 Plus SoC. In terms of memory configuration, it could pack 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage.

It may sport a 64-megapixel + 16-megapixel + 12-megapixel triple camera system on its back but the font-camera configuration is not yet known. The phone is expected to be powered by a 4,365mAh battery.

As for the color options, reports indicate that the Galaxy Fold 2 could be offered in two color options — Martian Green and Astro Blue. It is also said that this next-generation foldable smartphone from Samsung won’t come with an S Pen stylus.

While the company has not yet confirmed this, the next Galaxy Unpacked event is expected to take place on 5th August where Samsung will be unveiling its next-generation Galaxy Note20 series smartphones, along with the Galaxy Fold 2 and Galaxy Watch 3.

(Via)

iQOO Z1x teaser image reveals key specifications; launching on July 9

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Jul 6, 2020

iQOO, a sub-brand from Vivo launched last year, has so far launched high-end smartphones powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800-series chipsets or the MediaTek Dimensity 1000. But now, the company is all set to launch a mid-range device.

The upcoming iQOO Z1x smartphone has already been confirmed by the company to come powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chipset. And now, the company has shared a new teaser poster which reveals some key specs of the upcoming phone.

Given that the phone is powered by the SD765G SoC, it comes with support for the next-gen 5G connectivity. The teaser image also confirms that the phone will feature a 120Hz refresh rate display but the screen size is not yet known.

It has also been confirmed that the smartphone will 5,000mAh battery and will have support for 33W fast charging technology. The company has also revealed that the phone will have a PC-grade cooling feature, which will be helpful when the device is used for intensive tasks, such as gaming.

Renders of the smartphone leaked earlier hints that the phone could be made official in three color options — Black, Blue, and White. It could feature a 6.57-inch IPS LCD display with a punch-hole cutout. It is said to have a side-mounted fingerprint sensor and will be running Android 10-based iQOO UI.

As for the camera department, reports indicate that the smartphone will have a triple-camera setup on the back consisting of a 48-megapixel primary sensor and two 2-megapixel sensors. On the front side, it will have a 16MP snapper for taking selfies.

The company has also confirmed that the iQOO Z1x will be launched in China on 9th July. While the pricing is not yet revealed, it is expected to go official as the cheapest offering from the brand and thus, is likely to be priced under 2,000 Yuan (~$283).

Honor 30 gets 200 yuan discount in China; pricing starts at 2,799 yuan ($397)

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Jul 6, 2020

After months of rumors and leaks, the Honor 30 Youth Edition smartphone was officially launched a few days ago in China. As the name indicates, the phone is a watered-down variant of the Honor 30 which was first launched in China in April.

Now, for a limited time, the company is offering a 200 yuan (~$28) discount on purchase on the Honor 30 smartphone. With this, the 6GB + 128GB model is now available for 2,799 yuan (~$397) while the 8GB + 128GB model costs 2,999 yuan (~$425). The top-end variant with 8GB RAM + 256GB storage is now up for sale at 3,299 yuan (~$468).

Coming to the specifications, the Honor 30 features a 6.53-inch Full HD+ 1080p OLED display with a single punch-hole cutout in the top-left corner for housing a camera sensor. There’s also an in-display fingerprint sensor for added protection.

Under the hood, the device is powered by the company’s own Kirin 985 chipset along with the Mali-G76 GPU. The chipset is a slightly toned-down version of the flagship Kirin 990 SoC that powers the Honor 30 Pro and Pro+ models.

In the camera department, the smartphone features a quad-camera setup that includes a 40MP RYYB IMX600 primary sensor, an 8MP Ultra Wide Angle Lens, a Persicope Telephoto lens with 50x optical zoom and 10x hybrid zoom, and a 2MP macro lens.

On the front side, the device comes with a 32MP snapper for taking selfies and video calling. The phone also packs in support for NFC, Wi-Fi 6, and dual-mode 5G. It runs Magic UI 3.1.1 based on the Android 10 operating system and is powered by a 4,000mAh battery with 40W fast charging support.

RedmiBook 16 powered by Intel Core i7 processor to launch on July 8

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