Video showing a 120W Xiaomi charger pops up online

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Jun 8, 2020

Xiaomi has lately been focused on launching new products through crowdfunding, especially when it is not a consumer electronics product. Continuing the same, the company has today announced a new smart home product — Mi Smart Curtain.

The new Mi Smart Curtain from Xiaomi will be available for crowdfunding in the company’s home market China from 10th June, starting at 10:00 AM local time. Although the retail price is 799 yuan (~$113), it will be available for 699 yuan (~$99) during the crowdfunding campaign.

The Mi Smart Curtain offers three meters long magnesium-aluminum alloy rail which comes with a built-in motor to open and close the curtains and a magnetic remote control to manage the functions.

It seems that the company will also be offering the installation service for free and in that case, the customer only needs to prepare the curtain after placing the order. While users can manually choose to open or close the curtains, it can also be done automatically based on the sunlight.

Similar to all the other smart home products from the company, this one too can be controlled using the Mi Home application as well as voice commands, thanks to the support for XiaoAI smart assistant.

The company says that the curtains can be operated manually as well, in a situation when there’s a power cut. The DC motor used makes noise of less than 30db, says Xiaomi. It comes with a 1.5 meters long power cord and is rated at 20W.

Oppo could soon launch smart TVs

By

Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Jun 8, 2020

Oppo is a well-known smartphone maker, at least here in Asia. The company has been lately expanding its business to Europe and even became one of the top 5 brands in the region in Q1 2020. Now, according to a recent post on Weibo, the company might soon venture into smart TVs as well.

In December of last year, at the Oppo Inno Day conference in China, the company revealed its new strategy of launching products across different portfolio. Some of these devices are already official and are available for purchase.

A day after the launch of Reno 4 series, Oppo shared a picture celebrating the first anniversary of 5G commercialization in China. This image includes all the achievements of Oppo in 5G technology.

The bottom part of the image is interesting since along with the already announced AIoT products, the company deliberately teases the arrival of its smart TVs. For those who are wondering when Oppo announced AR Glasses, you can check our coverage from late last year.

Talking about TVs, Oppo will be not the first smartphone manufacturer to sell them. Xiaomi has been doing it for years and even Oppo’s sister brands OnePlus and Realme have their own TV lineup.

In fact, just earlier today, OnePlus announced to launch a new affordable $200 smart TV in India. Since these brands share resources as well as manufacturing facilities, it will be easy for Oppo to develop smart TVs.

Having said that, we are not sure when Oppo will be launching its smart TVs. Even if it does, they will be perhaps limited to China and might make their way to India later.

(Via)

Samsung patents a new clamshell-like dual folding smartphone design

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Jun 8, 2020

Samsung is one of the leading smartphone brands when it comes to foldable smartphones. The South Korean giant has already launched two foldable smartphones and is gearing to launch the third one.

Now, a new patent for foldable smartphone from Samsung has surfaced online. The patent shows a smartphone that has two folding lines in a clamshell pattern — each from the top and the bottom of the device.

The bottom part can be folded to the front while the top part can be folded towards the back of the phone. However, from the images, it seems that the device cannot be folded into a completely flat design.

The patent was applied by Samsung Display in 2018 and it took about one and a half years for it to get approved and published. Once Samsung Display completes the development of such a screen, Samsung Electronics will make a smartphone using the technology.

But do note that the patent approval doesn’t necessarily mean that the company will make a smartphone using the same design. In this case, we doubt if the company is planning to launch a smartphone with such design, especially given that the phone cannot be bend into a flat design, making it difficult to use and carry.

However, we do expect to see foldable smartphones in the near future that can be folded twice and give a much better user experience compared to the one showed in this patent application.

Samsung has so far launched Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Z Flip in the market and the company is gearing up to launch the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 in the coming months, as a successor to the company’s first foldable smartphone.

(Source)

Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite pre-orders begin at 2 PM on Amazon India

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Jun 8, 2020

Last week, Samsung confirmed that the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite will be made official on June 8 in India. There is a landing page for the tablet on Amazon India. It mentions the key features of the slate and states that it will start with its pre-orders from 2 PM (local time) today in India. At present, the listing has no information on its pricing.

The Galaxy Tab S6 Lite mid-range tablet was made official in the U.S. in April. The 64 GB and 128 GB Wi-Fi only editions of the tablet were with respective price tags of $350 (~Rs. 26,470) and $420 (~Rs. 31,765). It is unclear whether India will be receiving the LTE version of the tablet.

Editor’s Pick: Samsung AR glasses patent showcases an easier and innovative navigation interface

Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite specifications

The Galaxy Tab S6 Lite runs on One UI 2.0 based Android 10 OS and is equipped with a big TFT display of 10.4 inches. It supports 1200 x 2000 pixels resolution. The Exynos 9611h chipset is present under the hood of the Tab S6 Lite.

The 4 GB RAM of the Tab S6 Lite has 64 GB storage whereas the higher 6 GB RAM edition has 128 GB storage. There is no confirmation on whether both variants of the Tab S6 Lite will be made available in India.

It has a front camera of 5-megapixel and a rear camera of 8-megapixel. The device is backed by a 7,040mAh battery that supports 15W fast charging. The tablet carries support for S Pen stylus.

Xiaomi rumoured to launch 16GB RAM smartphone

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Jun 8, 2020

With smartphones getting more and more powerful day by day, smartphone manufacturing companies are now trying to push the limits when it comes to memory configurations. We are already seeing phones with 12GB of RAM and now it’s time for 16GB RAM.

As per the rumors coming from China, Xiaomi could launch a new smartphone in its home market which will come packed with a massive 16GB RAM. However, nothing more about this is known at this time.

While the rumor doesn’t reveal which smartphone will come with 16GB of RAM, it is speculated that the device in question could be a part of the Mi MIX lineup but the name of the phone remains unknown.

As per the reports, the upcoming Mi MIX smartphone will have a design similar to the Mi MIX Alpha and the phone will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor along with 5G connectivity support. The device is said to be in the production stage.

Recently, Xiao Zang, Deputy General Manager of Marketing, confirmed through a post on Weibo that the Mi Mix Alpha will not get Snapdragon 865 variant. This could mean that the upcoming device could be a totally different phone in the MIX series.

However, all of this is just speculation at this point in time and the company has not yet confirmed any of this. So, if the report about the 16GB RAM smartphone from Xiaomi is true, we should get more details about the same in the coming weeks or months.

While Xiaomi could be working on a 16GB RAM smartphone, Nubia has already launched its flagship gaming phone named Nubia Red Magic 5G that packs 16GB of RAM and is available for purchase in various markets.

Vietnam ratifies European Union free trade agreement to boost manufacturing sector

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Jun 8, 2020

Vietnam has ratified a new trade deal with the European Union which is expected to significantly boost the country’s manufacturing sector as well as exports. It comes at a time when the country is looking to recover from a dip caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This new free trade agreement between Vietnam and Europe will eliminate about 99 percent of tariffs on goods traded between the Southeast Asian country and the bloc. Along with this, the European Union-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement has also been passed.

As per the reports, the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement legislature was passed by 94.62 percent of votes while the European Union-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement was passed with 94.65 percent votes.

The deal also commits Vietnam to standards for sustainable development, including improving its human rights record, protecting labor rights, and upholding its pledges to deal with climate change under the Paris accord.

The free-trade agreement took about eight years to negotiate and as a part of this, Vietnam will eliminate 99 percent of its import duties over 10 years while the European Union will do the same over seven years.

The agreement will also help Vietnam to attract investors given that the company is in a good position to win manufacturing contracts with many companies shiting from China, fuelled by US-China Trade War and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The European Union already has a free-trade agreement deal with Singapore and now Vietnam has become the second such country. The World Bank estimates that the deal will help Vietnam increase its GDP by 2.4 percent and exports by 12 percent.

New OnePlus TV with affordable pricing to debut on July 2

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Jun 8, 2020

Last year in September, OnePlus unveiled the OnePlus TV Q1 and OnePlus TV Q1 Pro in India. The Q1 is priced at Rs. 69,900 whereas the Pro model carries a price tag of Rs. 99,900. Today, OnePlus founder and CEO Pete Lau took to Twitter to confirm that the company will be launching a new OnePlus TV on July 2 in India. The new TV is expected to arrive at affordable pricing.

The next smart TV from OnePlus for India will have a “smarter price.” With the new TV, the company aims to bring premium smart TV experience more accessible to the Indian community. Hence, it is likely that the upcoming OnePlus TV could be cheaper than the OnePlus TV Q1.

It's official. We're making our premium smart TV experience more accessible to our Indian community. #SmarterTV pic.twitter.com/gc7WUcVIxJ

— Pete Lau (@PeteLau) June 8, 2020

Editor’s Pick: OnePlus TV OTA4 for Q1/Q1 Pro adds support for third-party AirPlay service apps

According to Economic Times, OnePlus is changing is a strategy to rival Xiaomi, Realme, TCL, and VU in the affordable smart TV segment. The report further reveals that there could be an entry-level OnePlus TV with a pricing of around Rs. 15,00 (~$200). The company is also planning to introduce a mid-range series that will be priced around Rs. 20,000 (~$264) and Rs. 40,000 (~$529).

OnePlus India VP and Chief Strategy Officer Navnit Nakra said to ET, “Entry and mid segments are growing rapidly and have captured our focus. If we want to diversify to a wide audience in India, then it is the best way to start.”

Recently, a new 55-inch OnePlus TV with 55UA0A00 model number and an RC-003A remote control were spotted at the Bluetooth SIG certification platform. Rumors have it that it is equipped with a MediaTek SoC.

Redmi AX5 Wi-Fi 6 Router all set to get launched in China tomorrow

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Jun 8, 2020

Xiaomi has so far launched two Wi-Fi 6 routers in China under its Mi brand. Now, the company’s sub-brand Redmi is also set to launch its first Wi-Fi 6 router in the company’s home market China.

Redmi has today confirmed that the company will be launching the Redmi AX5 Wi-Fi 6 router in China at 10:00 AM local time tomorrow. So far, apart from the name, nothing is known about this device.

As mentioned above, Xiaomi has so far launched two Wi-Fi 6 routers in China — Mi Router AX1800 and Mi AIoT Router AX3600. While the former is priced at 299 yuan (approximately $46), the latter is priced at 5,99 yuan which is about $82.

Given that the products launched by the Redmi brand are priced lower in comparison to the products from Xiaomi. So, we expect the upcoming Redmi AX5 Wi-Fi 6 router to be priced accordingly in China.

While the device is getting launched in China tomorrow, we don’t expect to see it available in other regions anytime soon. Even the two routers from Xiaomi still haven’t been launched or made available for purchase outside China.

The Redmi brand has launched the Redmi AC2100 router in China in December last year, marking the company’s foray into the routers category. The upcoming Redmi AX5 Wi-Fi Router will be the second offering from the brand in China.

Xiaomi Mi Band 5 color variants revealed in new poster

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Jun 8, 2020

Xiaomi has been consistently teasing on the features of the Mi Band 5 fitness tracker that is scheduled to go official in China on June 11. The Chinese firm today released a new poster to reveal Mi Band 5’s strap color variants.

The poster showcases the large OLED display of the Mi Band 5. The device can be seen in strap options like yellow, red, blue, and black.

Editor’s Pick: Xiaomi’s upcoming Mi Notebook 14 expected specs leaked

The Xiaomi Mi Band 5 will be arriving with support for NFC connectivity. It will allow Mi Band 5 owners to make contactless payments. It is speculated that even the international variant of the fitness band will have NFC support.

The Mi Band 5 is rumored to be equipped with an enhanced SpO2 sensor. It is expected to offer users with stress and breathing management features. It is likely to arrive with Do Not Disturb mode that will allow users to silence it for a set time period.

It could be housing a 1.2-inch display with slim bezels around it. The size is larger than the 0.95-inch available on the predecessor Mi Band 4 from 2019. The device may offer users with a custom-made watchface featuring Avengers theme. The size of its battery is not known yet. The fitness band is likely to come with a plug-in charger. Hence, users will be able to charge the device without detaching it from the strap. Some of its other features include remote camera control and 11 different activity tracking modes.

The China variant of the device will have the Xiao AI voice assistant. In international markets, the Mi Band 5 is expected to come with Amazon Alexa voice assistant and for contactless payments, it could be coming with Google Pay support. Rumors are rife that the Mi Band 5 will be costing 175 Yuan (~$26) in the home market.

HTC Desire 20 Pro approved by Bluetooth SIG and Wi-Fi Alliance

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Jun 8, 2020

HTC is expected to soon unveil the HTC Desire 20 Pro mid-range phone. The handset that has a model number of HTC 2Q9J100. Taiwan could be one of the first countries to receive the handset as it has bagged the country’s National Communications Commission (NCC) certification. The key specifications of the smartphone were recently spotted at Google Play Console. Rumors have it that the Desire 20 Pro may launch either this month or next month. Ahead of the launch, the Desire 20 Pro has received certifications from Bluetooth SIG and Wi-Fi Alliance platforms.

The support for Bluetooth 5.0 for HTC 2Q9J100 can be found on its Bluetooth SIG listing. On the other side, the Wi-Fi certification platform reveals that the HTC phone has support for Android 10 OS and dual-band Wi-Fi.

Editor’s Pick: Shuttered Oppo factory is affecting sales of OnePlus and Realme in India

The Desire 20 Pro had appeared on Geekbench in April. It revealed that the Snapdragon 665 powers the device along with 6 GB of RAM. The same processor and RAM appeared in the Google Play Console listing of the smartphone. It also revealed other specs like support for full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels.

The HTC Desire 20 Pro schematics that were first revealed by notable tipster Evan Blass in April revealed that it will be arriving as the company’s first smartphone punch-hole screen. The exact size of the screen is not known yet. The backside of the device is decked with a quad-camera setup and a fingerprint reader.

HTC may also unveil the Desire 20 vanilla model alongside the aforementioned Pro editions. Rumors are rife that the Taiwanese firm is also gearing up to launch its 5G-ready phone in Taiwan in the coming month.

Vivo Y50 sale starts in India on June 10

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Jun 8, 2020

At the beginning of this month, 91mobiles had reported that Vivo will be launching Vivo Y30v and Vivo Y50 mid-range phones in India this month. A microsite for the Vivo Y50 is available on Flipkart. It states that the sales of the smartphone will be carried out on June 10.

The microsite reveals that the Vivo Y50 has a Full HD+ resolution supporting a 6.53-inch iView display that has a punch-hole positioned at its upper left corner. It has 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage.

The Snapdragon 665 mobile platform powers the device along with a massive 5,000mAh battery. The back panel of the smartphone has a quad-camera setup and a fingerprint reader. It appears that the smartphone will be available in white and black color options in India. There is no word on the pricing of the phone. Also, Vivo is yet to tease the arrival of Vivo Y30 phone in India.

Editor’s Pick: Same IMEI number found in over 13,500 Vivo smartphones in India

While the Vivo Y50 went official in China in April for 1,698 Yuan (~$239; ~Rs. 18,000), the Y30 was introduced in Malaysia last month for RM 899 (~$210; ~Rs. 15,900).

The entire specs of the Vivo Y50 are known through its launch in China. It has a 13-megapixel + 8-megapixel (ultrawide) + 2-megapixel (macro) + 2-megapixel (depth) quad-camera setup and a frontal shooter of 16-megapixel. It carries support for 15W charging through USB-C.

The Vivo Y30 has a 6.47-inch IPS LCD punch-hole display with HD+ resolution support. It features Helio P35 SoC, 4 GB of RAM and 5,000mAh battery with 10W charging. It has an 8-megapixel front camera and a 13-megapixel + 8-megapixel (ultrawide) + 2-megapixel (macro) + 2-megapixel (depth) quad-camera system on its rear. The Android 10 OS with FunTouch OS 10 comes preinstalled on Vivo Y30 and Y50.

LG launches a 27-inch QHD “Ergo” Monitor with 75Hz refresh rate for $450

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jun 8, 2020

At CES 2020, LG unveiled a number of products, including the 38-inch UltraWide Curved UltraWide QHD+ monitor and 32-inch Ergo monitor. The company has now launched a 27-inch version of the Ergo monitor. The product is already available on the LG US official website and it costs $450. The product will hit other retail stores from June 1.

LG Ergo monitor features a 27-inch IPS QHD display screen with QHD resolution of 2560×1440 pixels. Just like the 32-inch version, the monitor features a space-saving stand with a C-Clamp attachment that clasps to your desk. The stand can extend outward or be positioned close to the wall, moved up to eye-level or lowered to the desk. It can even swivel to face the opposite direction for convenient sharing of information with an office colleague. It can also be positioned at the perfect height, distance and angle for far more comfortable and more sustainable user experience.

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You are not shelling $450 just for an adjustable stand but the monitor comes with some high-end features. The screen provides a 178-degree viewing angle ad has a bumped-up 75 hertz (Hz) refresh rate, higher than the 60Hz refresh rate on the 32-inch version. The display also supports a 5 millisecond (ms) gray-to-gray (GtG) response time. In addition, you get AMD Radeon FreeSync, HDR10 and 99% of the sRGB color-space. It features a USB-C port that supports 60W Power Delivery, 2 HDMI ports, a DisplayPort and dual downstream USBs.

Motorola One Fusion+ and One Fusion specifications, pricing leaked

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Jun 8, 2020

Reliable tipster Evan Blas revealed in April that Motorola will be soon launching One Fusion and One Fusion+ smartphones. A report from the previous month not only revealed the key specs of the One Fusion+ phone, but also claimed that it will be debuting in June. A fresh report on Tabletowo.pl Polish site has revealed the specifications of the One Fusion+ and One Fusion phones along with the pricing.

Motorola One Fusion+ specifications and price

The One Fusion+ has a 6.53-inch IPS LCD screen with notch-less design like the Motorola One Hyper phone that debuted in December 2019. The screen supports a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels and an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. It has a pop-up selfie camera.

The Snapdragon 730 is present under the hood of the One Fusion+. It is expected to arrive in 4 GB and 6 GB RAM options and storage choices like 64 GB and 128 GB. The quadruple-camera setup on its back will have a 64-megapixel Samsung GW1 lens as the primary sensor.

Motorola-One-Fusion-Plus-xda-developers — Motorola One Fusion+ render by XDA Developers

The One Fusion+ has a 5,000mAh battery and it is loaded with Android 10 OS. It is equipped with a 3.5mm audio jack, a microSD card, a rear-mounted fingerprint reader, and a USB-C port. The publication claims that the handset will be priced at PLN 1,399 (~$356) in Poland.

Editor’s Pick: Motorola unveils the Moto G Fast & Moto E (2020) in the US

Motorola One Fusion specifications and price

The Motorola One Fusion has a 6.52-inch display that supports HD+ resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels and an aspect ratio of 20:9. The Snapdragon 710 chipset drives the smartphone. It will come in 3 GB and 6 GB RAM editions and storage options like 64 GB and 128 GB.

It has a front camera of 8-megapixel. The rear-mounted camera setup includes a 48-megapixel Samsung GM1 as a primary lens, an 8-megapixel lens, a 5-megapixel sensor and a 2-megapixel shooter. It also features a 5,000mAh battery and will offer Android 10 out-of-the-box experience. Black and blue are its two color variants.

There is no word on whether the Motorola One Fusion will be available for purchase in Poland. The report carries no word on its pricing.

Affordable Nokia 5G phone with Dimensity 800 series chip in development

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jun 8, 2020

HMD Global has announced just one 5G smartphone and that is the Nokia 8.3 5G. The Snapdragon 765G-powered phone is yet to go on sale but when it does, it will cost as much as €599 which is pretty expensive for a mid-range device. If you don’t mind waiting, you will be able to get a cheaper 5G Nokia phone in the future.

An exclusive report by Nokia Power User has revealed that HMD Global is developing an affordable Nokia 5G phone that will be powered by one of MediaTek’s Dimensity 800 series processors. The particular chipset was not mentioned, so it may be the Dimensity 800 or the Dimensity 820.

MediaTek Dimensity 800 — HMD Global working on a Dimensity 800 series-powered phone

The specific device was also not mentioned but it most likely will not be the Nokia 7.3 as the Nokia-focused blog said a source informed them it may come with a Snapdragon processor. The Nokia 7.3 is also revealed to have both a 5G and a 4G prototype at the moment.

The possible time frame for the release of this Dimensity 800 series affordable 5G Nokia phone is stated to be in early 2021 according to the source. This is more than six months away and a pretty long time at that.

If HMD Global is serious about catching up to its competitors, it will have to launch this affordable 5G phone device this year; even before the fourth quarter.

(Source)

Realme dual batteries gets certified by TÜV Rheinland; may be for the Realme X3 Pro

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jun 8, 2020

The Japanese arm of TÜV Rheinland has certified a dual-battery system for Realme. The battery setup is expected to be for an upcoming Realme phone.

There are speculations that the battery system, which has a typical capacity of 2250mAh (each) is for the Realme X3 Pro. This makes sense since the Realme X2 Pro also uses a dual battery system (2x 2000mAh).

We expect the upcoming device will have support for Realme’s 65W SuperDart fast charging technology when it launches.

There are rumors the Realme X3 Pro will launch alongside the Realme X3 Superzoom in India soon. The Snapdragon 865 processor should be the chipset under the hood along with UFS 3.1 storage. The rest of the specs of the phone are currently unknown but should surface in the weeks leading up to its release.

(Source)

DJI drones worth $16k looted from DJI’s New York store

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jun 7, 2020

Protests and riots broke out across the US in the past weeks as a result of George Floyd’s killing at the hand of police. Criminals have taken advantage of the situation and arr on a looting spree. Recently, it was reported than an Apple store was looted and iPhones were stolen. A DJI store located in Manhattan, New York was also looted the previous week. The looters are said to have stolen six drones worth $16,000. While Apple will deploy the iPhone’s security feature to track down the stolen units, DJI drones are yet to be recovered.

A video which shows some protesters robbing the DJI store on Broadway in Manhattan was shared by Crime Stoppers NY. The incident took place at around 11:25 p.m. The video shows five people forcing their way through the front door of the DJI store, eventually breaking the glass and entering the store. They then proceeded to grab the merchandise.

From the video, it appears as though the drones that were stolen include an Inspire 1, Inspire 2 and the remote, as well as a Phantom 4 drone. It also appears as though a pair of DJI Racing edition FPV goggles and a Ronin-S or Ronin-SC camera gimbal were taken. The group that perpetuated the crime are still reportedly at large as at the time of this writing.

Xiaomi’s upcoming Mi Notebook 14 expected specs leaked

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jun 7, 2020

Xiaomi’s Redmi smartphone has gained tremendous success in India. So also the brand’s wearable devices such as earbuds and wrist bands. The Chinese company is now set to enter the notebook PC market and will take the wraps off its first Mi Notebook models in India on June 11.

Some of the specs of the Mi Notebook 14 has appeared online. The notebook will come in four different models, all powered by 10th-gen Intel Core CPUs. The Mi Notebook 14 will be powered by the 10th gen Intel Core i5 processor. However, the Mi Notebook 14 Horizon Edition will have a 10th gen Intel Core i7 processor. In the aspect of the GPU, the Horizon Edition will pack an NVIDIA GeForce MX350 graphics while the regular edition will have its graphics fired up by an Intel integrated graphics or NVIDIA GeForce MX250 graphics.

As the name suggests, the laptop will feature a 14-inch display with FHD resolution. The Horizon Edition is, however, rumoured to feature an edge to edge 14-inch FHD display with a 91% screen-to-body ratio. The standard edition will have 256GB of storage but other models are said to feature 512GB SSD. All models will have 8GB of RAM onboard and it is unlikely that the memory can be expanded. Xiaomi claims that Mi Notebook 14 will deliver up to 10 hours of battery life.

As for the prices, the Mi Notebook 14 is expected to start at 50,000 INR (~$660) for the base model.