Xiaomi had recently released a new promotional video for the launch of its Redmi Note 9 series in Japan. This video had showcased the lineups 30W fast charging rates, but unfortunately, the company depicted this in the form of a nuclear blast. Now, Xiaomi Japan has issued an official apology through Twitter.
The Xiaomi advertisement commemorating the Redmi Note 9 series depicted various peculiar scenes. This includes a “fat man” flying into the sky after breaking through the rood with “Tokyo Asakusa” in the background. This is followed by a nuclear bomb explosion, which clearly misses the mark regarding what it intended to portray and the sentiments it ended up actually hurting.
For those unaware, the nuclear explosion dropped in Nagasaki, Japan during World War II was codenamed, “fat man.” This bomb was dropped from a white balloon. So, you can see regardless of intention, there are clear hints at the horrendous event that had taken place decades ago. Xiaomi Japan has since issued an official apology on Twitter stating, “We have posted a review of the latest product promotion video. We will work to prevent it from happening again in the future.”
The official apology reads, “This latest product promotion for the overseas market contained ill-considered content and the video has been removed. Xiaomi respects users and cultures around the world, and we will be closer to our users when producing new products that promote them. We will do everything we can to prevent it from happening again in the future and to resolve the problem.”
NFC Forum, which is an industry group that has been tasked to set global standards for near field communication technology, had recently announced that it was adopting a new Wireless Charging Specification (WLC). In layman’s term, its is a new standard that could enable smartphones to power smaller devices wirelessly through NFC.
Samsung Wireless Powershare utilizes Qi charging standard for bilateral wireless charging
From what we know, the WLC being adopted by NFC Forum uses a single antenna to carry both data communications and power transfer. Thus, it is only capable of providing power rated up to 1W with compatible devices. This may not sound like much but it is still enough for a quick power up for low powered IoT gadgets (Internet of Things). In other words, one would be able to charge smartwatches, wireless earbuds, and more through their smartphone.
Arriving at the interesting implication of this news, Apple is a sponsor group of the NFC Forum. This could potentially mean that the ‘bilateral’ wireless charging support could arrive in future iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods. The latter two use low wattage due to the small internal battery cells, so, the iPhone may be able to charge such peripheral accessories in the near future.
Apple AirPods Pro
Unfortunately, this is still just a far out possibility. So far, none of the iPhone 12 leaks had pointed towards this feature while separate rumors had hinted at the technology. The Apple iPhone 12 series may feature bilateral wireless charging capabilities, but it will likely utilize the more commonly used Qi standards. This is currently used for existing iPhone chargers, AirPods, and AirPods Pro cases as well. So if Apple does decide to include this technology, it would have to revamp the internals and bring NFC technology to many of its existing product lineups.
Black Shark, a Xiaomi-backed gaming smartphone maker launched its Black Shark 2 Pro smartphone last year with Android 9.0 Pie out of the box. It’s sibling, the standard Black Shark 2 was recently updated to Android 10 (Joy UI 11). Now, the Pro is also getting a similar treatment, albeit only a few users are receiving the update.
Black Shark has scheduled an event for May 8 to launch Black Shark 3 and Black Shark 3 Pro globally. Ahead of it, the brand has started updating its predecessors to the latest software. The standard Black Shark 2 was updated last month and now the update is being rolled out to Black Shark 2 Pro as well.
However, not all the users are receiving the OTA weighing 1883.3MB. Like any other system update, it is being seeded out in a phased manner. Further, the new update apart from bringing Android 10 also brings new Joy UI 11.
The new Joy UI 11 Android 10 update for Black Shark 2 Pro contains the following features.
With the Coronavirus outbreak raging across the globe, various economies and industries are facing severe issues due to the Pandemic. This includes the telecommunications industry and the rollout of the 5G network. However, it seems that the viral outbreak that had originated in China has helped the nation pull ahead in the 5G race.
Earlier this year, certain experts in the US had predicted that China will outrun the western nation in the so called “5G race.” The adoption rate of the newer and faster bandwidth has seen many hindrances to its rollout, especially considering that the nation has blacklisted Chinese companies like Huawei, which is a major telecom equipment provider and a pioneering figure in 5G networking.
At the moment, the global adoption of 5G has slowed down, but the Chinese government, on the other hand, has been raising the practical applications of technologies that utilize the new standard of networking. Since February 2020, various cities throughout China including the Sichuan Province were locked down to prevent the further spreading of the Coronavirus.
A 5G-enabled autonomous vehicle equipped with a camera films cherry blossoms inside the closed grounds of Wuhan University for a live-streaming event on March 17. (Image and Caption Via Reuters)
To combat the viral outbreak, China’s Government had employed unmanned drones that circled the skies. These drones broadcasted useful prevention measures and advise against the Coronavirus. They also served the purpose of spraying disinfectants and even conducted thermal imaging checks on the residents. All of this was built around the backbone infrastructure which is 5G, showcasing China’s increased utilization of the networking technology.
India is currently under extended lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country. Amid this, there are uncertainties about letting smartphone makers open factories to resume manufacturing process.
But there are some good news for Xiaomi. Muralikrishnan B, Chief Operating Officer, Xiaomi India has confirmed that Foxconn, the company’s contract manufacturer, has received approval to resume manufacturing at its Andhra Pradesh factory.
The company says that it is expecting its factories to operate at regular capacity by June in India. Xiaomi has already resumed smartphone sales in India through both offline and online channels and will cater to demand in green and orange zones.
For those who are unaware, Foxconn which is also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, along with another OEM Wistron, had to suspend operations at their manufacturing plants as per the government guidelines during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The development is a major relief for Xiaomi given that almost all of its smartphones sold in India are manufactured locally. Muralikrishnan claims that nearly 99 percent of Xiaomi smartphones sold in India are made in the country.
While Foxconn’s facility at Sri City, Andhra Pradesh has received the approval, there’s no news about the company’s other facility in Sriperumbudur, Chennai. Foxconn’s Chennai unit is also manufacturing the iPhone XR smartphone.
Wistron and other ecosystem companies in Karnataka have also received approval from state authorities to resume production. However, companies such as Dixon, Samsung, OPPO and Lava with factories in the Noida Noida region and Tamil Nadu continue to be in limbo owing to lack of clarity on starting operations.
Microsoft is gearing up for the launch of the Surface Book 3 alongside which the Surface Go 2 was also expected to arrive. The latter is expected to feature refreshed specs and will replace the existing Microsoft Surface Go. While there had been plenty of rumors circulating online, but now, a new report has revealed certain images and specs regarding the upcoming tablet just prior to its launch.
According to a report from WinFuture, the Microsoft Surface Go 2 will have the same design as the original Surface Go, but will feature a slight bigger 10.5 inch display. Furthermore, the physical dimensions of the tablet have remained unchanged, which makes it compatible with existing Surface Go covers that one may own or are available in the market.
Arriving at the display itself, Microsoft has bumped up the resolution to FHD (1920 x 1080p) and made the bezels narrower. The Surface Go 2 will arrive in two variants that will house different specs under the hood. One variant will feature the Intel Gold 4425Y processor while the other houses the Intel Core m3-8100Y chipset. The company is also reportedly adding 4G LTE support on the affordable Surface Go 2 variant and will also bring WiFi 6 support as well.
In terms of memory, the Surface Go 2 with the Pentium SoC will feature 4GB of RAM and 64B of internal storage. This variant will be priced at 459 EUR (roughly 496 US Dollars). The higher end version with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage will be sold for 629 EUR (roughly 680 US Dollars). A 256GB storage version is also claimed to be an option and, unfortunately, the pricing details for the Core m3 model is currently unknown.
Redmi Note 9 series has launched globally but it is yet to debut in China. Instead, the brand unveiled Redmi K30 Pro in the region. According to rumours, it will be announced soon in the region but with different specs. Additionally, we might see a surprise product as well according to Lu Weibing, the brand’s general manager.
In April, we did not see any new product launch by Redmi in China. However, its parent company Xiaomi announced Redmi Note 9 and Redmi Note 9 Pro in Europe alongside Mi Note 10 Lite and Mi Smart Standing Fan 1C.
Now, a post on Weibo by Mr Weibing suggests something different will be unveiled by the end of May in the brand’s home country. Speculations say it could be long-rumoured Redmi Note device with 5G connectivity.
Xiaomi’s plans for affordable 5G smartphones
Late last year, Xiaomi’s founder Lei Jun said 999 Yuan ($141) 5G phone will be a real thing by 2021. Further, an internal document leak from last month also suggested such a handset will be launched by the company before the end of this year.
The document also hinted the release of 1,799 Yuan ($254) Redmi K30i and another mystery 5G phone priced at 1,599 Yuan ($225). We believe Lu Weibing is teasing the latter phone to be a surprise since according to the document, it will be launched in June. Hence, announcing it a month prior is a possibility just like the Redmi K30 5G in December 2019.
In fact, if it is true, we might see a couple of 5G-ready Redmi Note devices as two mysterious handsets were recently spotted on 3C certification. The only information we know about these devices is their model numbers and charging speeds – M2004J7AC (22.5W) and M2004J7BC (33W).
Also, there’s another handset called Redmi 10X, which was too found on 3C listing a few days back. Unlike the previously mentioned devices, this one will only support 4G and will be powered by MediaTek Helio G85.
Anyway, the Redmi K30i is also yet to launch officially although its release was supposed to happen in April according to the leaked document. So it is possible the surprise teased by Redmi’s general manager for May could be this device instead.
However, the above-discussed phones, especially the 5G Redmi Notes could be the stars of the launch event as the executive announced Redmi Note 8 series to sell over 30 million units globally earlier today.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset is currently the flagship offering from the company which is powering most of the premium smartphones launched this year so far and will continue to do so until its successor arrives.
The successor to the SD865 SoC is expected to get launched as Qualcomm Snapdragon 875 by the end of this year, most probably in December. As per the reports, the chipset could be the company’s first to be manufactured using 5nm process.
Now, a new report claims that the upcoming Snapdragon 875 chipset, codenamed SM8350, will come packed with the new Snapdragon X60 5G modem RF-integrated system. It remains to be seen if the modem will be integrated or optional. Given that the 5G adaptation is on the rise, it won’t be surprising if Qualcomm decides to go with the integrated modem route.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 also comes with an embedded 5G modem but people are not happy with this given that it has increased the cost of the chipset. This has led to smartphones being more expensive even for the 4G-only models as 5G infrastructure is still at the early stage of development.
The report adds that the upcoming SD875 will have Kryo 685 CPU built on ARM v8 Cortex technology with Adreno 660 GPU, Adreno 65 VPU, and Adreno 1095 DPU. The modem will support mmWave and sub-6GHz bands.
It is also said to have Qualcomm Secure Processing Unit (SPU250), Spectra 580 image-processing engine, and Snapdragon Sensors Core Technology. As for the connectivity options, it’ll have external Wi-Fi 802.11ax, 2×2 MIMO, and Bluetooth Milan.
The chipset will come with Compute Hexagon DSP with Hexagon Vector eXtensions and Hexagon Tensor Accelerator. It will support Quad-channel package-on-package (PoP) high-speed LPDDR5 SDRAM. It is also said to come with low-power audio subsystem combined with Aqstic Audio Technologies WCD9380 and WCD9385 audio codec.
Meanwhile, we are waiting for some kind of confirmation about the Snapdragon 865+ chipset. Some some reports says that the upgraded SoC is coming and the specs have also leaked, Meizu CMO recently said that SD865+ isn’t coming this year.
Many Huawei wearables users have recently started facing issues regarding the products they are using. People went on the company’s official forum to report on the Huawei Health app not working, which is needed to use Huawei accessories with other brands of smartphones. The company has given out the solution that now requires users to download and install the Health app again but through their proprietary AppGallery.
For those unaware, AppGallery is a part of Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) and is the company’s version of Google’s Play Store. The Chinese tech giant launched the service after losing official Google services support back in 2019. Now, the company is asking users to again download the Huawei Health app through its AppGallery, which also needs to be installed and can be found on the official Huawei website.
Many Samsung, OnePlus and Google Pixel users reported on facing trouble with their Huawei smart bands and smartwatches. These handsets previously did not require the Huawei Health app from the AppGallery to work but it seems the company has made it necessary. At the moment, Huawei’s version of an app store is still severely lacking in many popular applications, especially the ones owned by Google. While this hasn’t been an issue for Chinese users, the overseas market has to deal with quite a bit of hassle.
The move from the Chinese vendor could have been an attempt to inflate its AppGallery userbase for healthier numbers from across the globe, but that is just speculation. Regardless, Huawei wearables users that use smartphones from other brands are now required to download their services even if they like it or not.
POCO fans in India are eagerly waiting for the arrival of the POCO F2 smartphone. Some reports have revealed that it could be accompanied by POCO F2 Pro. According to MySmartPrice, a new device named POCO M2 Pro has surfaced on Xiaomi India’s RF exposure page.
The RF exposure page has not only revealed the POCO M2 Pro moniker, but also it has confirmed that the M2003J6CI model number belongs to it. Apart from the SAR value of the device, no other details on the specs have surfaced on the RF exposure page.
Last month, the M2003J6CI model number was spotted at the database of TUV Rheinland certification. It is speculated that the POCO M2 Pro is a device specially designed for India. The unannounced Redmi Note 9 is also found listed on the RF exposure page on Xiaomi India’s website. Its model number is mentioned as M2003J15SI.
The Xiaomi Mi 10 phone that is scheduled to go official on May 8 in India is also listed on the RF exposure page. Its model number is M2001J21. While the Redmi Note 9 and Mi 10 are still listed on the RF exposure, the POCO M2 Pro’s listing could not be found at the time of writing this post. The M2 Pro name suggest there could be a vanilla POCO M2 phone. However, the removal of the POCO M2 Pro listing suggest that there could be an error.
Xiaomi had launched the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max and Redmi Note 9 Prov phones that debuted in March in India. Both models have respective model numbers M2003J6B1I and M2003J6A1I. There is a possibility that there could be some resemblance between M2003J6CI and the Redmi Note 9 series. It is advisable to wait for to know more about the specifications of the M2003J6CI phone.
Last year, Huawei had launched its upgraded true wireless earphones — Huawei FreeBuds 3. A couple of weeks ago, a new variant of the same, dubbed as Huawei FreeBuds 3i were leaked online to launch alongside Nova 7 series.
Now, the Huawei FreeBuds 3i have been made official by the company in its home market China. It aims to offer premium features like active noise cancellation at a cheaper price.
The TWS earbuds come with a redesigned look which is more sleek and is made with ergonomics in focus. They pack large 10mm dynamic drivers, and have multiple mics for the active noise cancellation feature.
The company says that the earphones offer a thorough noise-cancelling experience for your immersive enjoyment. It also comes with the usual touch-based controls for things like play/pause and answering or ending calls.
Huawei also says that the new earphones have highly-sensitive diaphragm that is carefully tuned to deliver authentic, balanced audio with powerful bass. It can be paired automatically with the pop-up window when the charging case is open.
As for the battery life, the Bluetooth 5.0-supported Huawei FreeBuds 3i can offer up to 3.5 hours of audio playback on a single charge while the charging case can deliver up to 14.5 hours of battery life.
To make sure the earphones fit perfectly for everyone, the company is including four sizes of silicone tips in the package. The Huawei FreeBuds 3i come in two color options — Ceramic White and Carbon Black and are priced at £90 in the UK, which is roughly $110.
While the White color option will go on sale from 20th May, the Black color model will be up for purchase from 17th June. It remains to be seen when the company launches these earbuds to other regions.
Samsung unveiled its next-generation Galaxy S-series flagship smartphones — Samsung Galaxy S20, S20 Plus, and S20 Ultra in February this year. It’s been around two months since the smartphones went on sale.
Now, as per the reports, the new Galaxy S20 series isn’t performing well in terms of sales. They are said to be significantly less popular than its predecessors, at least in the United States as the sales are lagging behind the Galaxy S10 series and Galaxy S9 series at the same number of weeks after launch.
The report coming from M Science reveals that the sales of Galaxy S10 were roughly 400,000 and for Galaxy S9 it was around 500,000 weekly during the second week after the launch. It also adds that the sales consistently maintained 200,000 units weekly throughout the first ten weeks of sales.
On the other hand, the new Galaxy S20 lineup fails to even surpass the 200,000 weekly units sale mark during its best week. The sales have consistently remained below 100,000 mark since the fourth week of sales, although it reported a slight growth in sales last week.
It is believed that this is because of two reasons — 5G and pricing. With buyers being forced to use 5G technology at a premium price even though there’s no proper 5G infrastructure available in the country. Another reason might be the stay-at-home order in most states because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the reports credits Samsung in boosting the sales of 5G smartphones in the United States. Since the launch of Galaxy S20 series, there’s a growth in sale of 5G-compatible devices and it now accounts of 20 percent of units sold.
It remains to be seen what Samsung does to boost up sales of the Galaxy S20 series. The company could see an uptick in this department as it gears up to launch Galaxy Note 20 series and with the launch of Apple iPhone 12 series later this year, depending on the pricing of both these series.
Lu Weibing, Vice President of Xiaomi and President of Xiaomi China has today announced that the company’s Redmi Note 8 series smartphones have generated record-breaking sales, surpassing the 30 million mark.
He also revealed that the smartphone series managed to sell one million units in its first month of getting launched. In around two months of getting launched, the company had sold five million units of the Redmi Note 8 series.
The sales growth continued the following month as well, with the company managing to sell 10 million units within three months of getting launched. Xiaomi achieved this feat two months ahead compared to how much time it took Redmi Note 7 series to achieve this.
In around five months of being available for purchase, the Redmi Note 8 series smartphones had registered sales of 20 million units. And now, it has surpassed the 30 million units mark.
The development is quite impressive and thus, the stock of Xiaomi Group increased by around 5 percent to HK$10.540 in the morning after the announcement. However, trading is still on and by the time the day ends, the stock price will get changed.
The Redmi Note 8 Pro smartphone recently received a temporary price cut in the Chinese market. With this, the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage model is available for 1,299 yuan (approximately $184) while the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage model costs 1,499 yuan, which is roughly $212.
As for the specifications, the upper mid-range smartphone features a 6.53-inch Full HD+ display and is powered by the MediaTek Helio G90T SoC which is optimised for the gaming performance and comes with Mali-G76 GPU.
It features a quad-camera setup on the back with a 64MP primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide sensor, a 2MP maco camera, and a 2MP depth sensor. On the front, it has a 20MP snapper for taking selfies. The smartphone runs the Android with MIUI 11 on top and is powered by a 4,500mAh battery with 18W fast charging support.
Apple has announced that its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2020 will start on 22nd June and all the sessions, including its software-focused keynote will be held online virtually.
The later than usual date and the company’s decision to take the event online is the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The coronavirus outbreak has resulted in cancellation or virtualisation of several events, including MWC 2020, Google I/O 2020, GDC, and more.
Making the announcement, Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Apple said in a statement: “WWDC20 will be our biggest yet, bringing together our global developer community of more than 23 million in an unprecedented way for a week in June to learn about the future of Apple platforms.” He further added that the company is eager to share all the new tools that they’ve been working on to help developers create even more incredible apps and services.
The company has confirmed that the conference will be free to access for all the Apple developers. Further, the company will also put up videos of all the sessions along with related documentation on Apple’s website, similar to previous years.
We expect the company to unveil the all-new iOS 14 which could dramatically change the way we use iPhone. Along we this, we can also see major upgrades for other operating systems from Apple, including iPadOS 14, watchOS 7, and macOS 10.16.
Usually, WWDC is held at San Jose McEnery Convention Center but this time the company has cancelled in-person event for an online-only event because of COVID-19. Such cancellations have had negative consequences for local economies. Thus, Apple has committed $1 million to San Jose businesses to make up for the loss of local revenue.
Last month, Honor revealed that its upcoming X-series will be breaking cover as Honor X10, and not as Honor 10X as many expected. It is speculated that the company decided to modify the name because it does not consumers to confuse between its X series phone with the upcoming rival phone named Redmi 10X 4. One major difference between the two phone is that Redmi 10X is a 4G phone and the Honor X10 is a 5G-ready device. The specifications of the Honor X10 appeared on TENAA last month, but the company did not reveal its launch date. Today, the Huawei sub-brand took to Weibo to reveal that the Honor X10 will be announced on May 20.
As it can be seen, the poster released by the company reveals the launch date and has no details on its key features. The TENAA listing of the Honor X10 revealed that it has a 6.63-inch IPS LCD display. Like the predecessor Honor 9X, the X10 will have a notch-less screen and a pop-up selfie shooter.
The Kirin 820 5G chipset is expected to be present under the hood of the Honor X10. The phone houses a 4,200mAh battery that supports 22.5W fast charging through USB-C.
The handset has a pop-up selfie snapper of 16-megapixel. The rear-side of the device has a rectangle-shaped camera module that houses three lenses such as a 40-megapixel primary lens, an 8-megapixel secondary lens and a 2-megapixel sensor. It is said to be equipped with a Sony IMX600y custom sensor as the main lens.
The Honor X10 has 163.7 x 76.5 x 8.8mm dimensions and it weighs 203 grams. The Honor 30S has a starting price of 2,399 Yuan (~$338) in China. It is speculated that the Honor X10 will be Honor’s cheapest 5G phone. It is likely to be priced around 2,000 Yuan (~$282).
The iPhone SE (2020) released in April still continues to dominate discussions as a result of the cheap pricing and impressive specs lineup. No one seems to bother about the device using an old design with an extraordinary amount of bezels at the top and bottom end of the display. That is because you get a smartphone running on Apple’s latest flagship A13 Bionic chipset on an iPhone 8 body for $399. The iPhone SE is cheap but how easy it is to repair the smartphone? Zack Nelson of the YouTube channel JerryRigEverything has the answer.
One of the impressive features onboard the mobile phone apart from the A13 chipset is the Haptic touch mechanism. The teardown seems to focus more on this Taptic engine and that could be because it is one feature not on the iPhone 8. Haptic Touch uses the Taptic Engine and provides haptic feedback when the screen is pressed on one of Apple’s new iPhones. A Haptic Touch is a “touch and hold” gesture, and it can be used across the iOS 13 operating system.
The phone is pretty easy to open up as there are just a few screws. Since the device has an IP67 rating and can withstand 1-meter of water for 30 minutes, there is a rubber seal around the display to keep water from getting in from the screen.
The teardown gives us yet another look at the A13 motherboard as well as other components such as the wireless charging, cameras, 1812mAh battery, Taptic engine. The rear glass panel is discovered to be held in place with a permanent adhesive making it difficult to replace. It costs more than half the price of the phone to replace the back panel.
Google and Apple releasing affordable smartphones: a very rare event. But this year we have both choices. The affordable smartphone released by Google is the Pixel 3a, while the one by Apple is the iPhone SE 2020. For those who want a stock Android experience and the fastest updates at a modest price, as well as developers who want to save some money, there is no better option than Pixel 3a. On the other hand, iPhone SE 2020 is for all those people who want to enter Apple’s ecosystem and desire a device with the best performance without the need for a high budget. Further, both are compact devices. For all these reasons and more, we decided to make a specs comparison between the new iPhone SE and Google Pixel 3a.
Apple iPhone SE 2020 vs Google Pixel 3a
Apple iPhone SE 2020
Google Pixel 3a
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT
138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3 mm,
148 grams
151.3 x 70.1 x 8.2 mm,
147 grams
DISPLAY
4.7 inches, 750 x 1334p (Retina HD), Retina IPS LCD
Single 12.2 MP f/1.8
Single 8 MP f/2.0 front camera
BATTERY
1821 mAh, fast charging 18W, wireless charging Qi
3000 mAh, Fast Charging 18W
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
IP67 water resistant, eSIM
/
Design
As mentioned above, both iPhone SE and Google Pixel 3a are compact phones. But iPhone SE 2020 is the most compact one. It is the last-generation flagship with the smallest display and body available in the market. Both the devices come with pretty outdated aesthetics, including thick bezels around the screen. You get narrower bezels with the Pixel 3a, but it has a full plastic body. The iPhone SE 2020 has thicker bezels but it comes with more premium materials, including a glass back and an aluminum frame. Further, unlike the Pixel 3a, it is water resistant with the IP67 certification. Note that the iPhone SE has almost the same design as the iPhone 8 released in 2017.
Display
Google Pixel 3a sports an OLED display providing more vivid colors, while iPhone SE 2020 comes with an IPS panel delivering high color accuracy and the True Tone technology. With a 4.7-inch diagonal, iPhone SE 2020 has a very small panel, so it is not for everyone. It is extremely compact, but not the most suitable device for productivity users. Google Pixel 3a sports a bigger 5.6-inch display with an 18:9 aspect ratio (iPhone SE 2020 has a 16:9 aspect ratio).
Specs & Software
When it comes to the hardware department, there is no challenge: iPhone SE 2020 is superior thanks to its Apple A13 Bionic chipset. Despite its affordable price, the iPhone SE 2020 is one of the most performing smartphones out there since it boasts the same chipset as the iPhone 11 lineup and the excellently-optimized iOS operating system. Google Pixel 3a still provides pretty nice performances, but with its Snapdragon 670 SoC, it is just a mid-ranger. Both the devices come with an operating system that will get updates for several years. The iPhone SE ships with iOS 13, while Pixel 3a has Android 9 Pie, already updated to Android 10.
Camera
Both iPhone SE and Pixel 3a are great camera phones and they should be very close in most of the scenarios. However, they come with just one single sensor on the rear side, so they can not shoot ultrawide photos and they do not come with a telephoto sensor for optical zoom. Both support OIS and 4K video recording, but only iPhone SE can record videos in 4K at 60 fps. The iPhone SE is better at videos, while in terms of photo quality the two handsets should be more or less at the same level.
The weakest point of these handsets is the battery life. They are compact, but they also come with a below-average battery. The Google Pixel 3a has a battery with a 3000 mAh capacity, while iPhone SE provides just 1821 mAh. Unfortunately, the iPhone SE is a bit disappointing compared to all the other handsets launched in 2020. The Pixel 3a is definitely better, but not amazing as well. Note that the iPhone SE charges faster due to its smaller capacity and, unlike the Pixel 3a, it supports Qi wireless charging.
Price
In this period, you can find the Google Pixel 3a for less than €350/$300 globally, while the iPhone SE 2020 starts from €499/$399 in its base variant with 64 GB of internal storage. Each of these handsets has its pros and cons. Google Pixel 3a has no chance to reach the level of performance of the iPhone SE, but it has a better battery and a camera providing a similar quality. But at the end of the day, if we exclude the battery, iPhone SE is a superior device. On the other hand, Google Pixel 3a has a higher value for money, as well as a wider display which would let a lot of people go for it. Which one would you prefer?
Apple iPhone SE 2020 vs Google Pixel 3a: PRO and CONS
Yesterday, Transsion Holdings subsidiary Tecno launched the Spark 5 smartphone in Ghana. Apparently, the company equally took the wraps off the Spark 5 Air for the same market. Both smartphones are entry-level models that the company is expected to launch for other markets soon.
The Tecno Spark 5 Air features a humongous 7-inch HD+ waterdrop notch display with 88% screen to body ratio and 480 nits brightness. It is powered by an unknown 2GHz Octa-Core processor paired with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The phone adopts a gradient back panel which looks like it is made from plastic. There is a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor.
For photography, the Spark 5 Air packs a dual-camera setup which is listed as a 13MP f/1.8 + “AI lens” along with dual-LED flash. The waterdrop notch holds an 8MP camera setup for selfies. The camera comes with features such as AI Beauty Mode, Portrait Mode, in-build localized AR Stickers and Wide Selfie Mode.
Providing the interface is the Android 10-based HiOS 6.1 while the phone gets its light from a massive 5000mAh battery that should deliver an extended usage period. Other features include dual SIM, dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, and GPS.
The Spark 5 Air will be available in Ice Jadeite, Spark Orange, Vacation Blue, and Misty Grey color options. The retail price is yet to be announced.
Almost a month after the Realme 6i and Realme 6 went on sale in Europe, their more powerful sibling, the Realme 6 Pro, has now landed in the Old Continent.
The Realme 6 Pro is priced at €349, has 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and is available in Lightning Blue and Lightning Red. The pre-order page says orders will include a pair of Realme Buds 2 earphones. Realme says it is shipping only to Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Portugal.
The phone has a 6.6-inch FHD+ display with a dual punch-hole, a 90Hz refresh rate, and Gorilla Glass 5. There is a Snapdragon 720G processor under the hood that draws power from a 4300mAh battery with support for 30W wired charging.
The Realme 6 Pro has a 64MP + 8MP + 12MP + 2MP quad-camera setup on its back while the front is home to a 16MP + 8MP dual camera combo. It has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, NFC, Bluetooth 5.1, an audio jack, Dolby Atmos, and a triple card tray for two SIM cards and a MicroSD card.
You can pre-order the Realme 6 Pro on the official website and on Amazon before its open sale on May 7.
The premium mid-range smartphone is available in 4GB RAM and 128GB storage and is priced at $399. Another awesome aspect is that Samsung bundles the smartphone with a free Galaxy Buds worth $109. Only the Prism Crush Back colour option is available. In addition, the Korean tech giant is also offering two months of YouTube Premium and six months of Spotify Premium subscriptions with the purchase for free.
The Galaxy A51 utilises a 6.5-inch Infinity-O S-AMOLED display. It supports 20:9 aspect ratio and full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels. The display is fitted with an in-screen fingerprint reader. The device also supports face recognition.
The Exynos 9611 chipset that includes 2.3GHz octa-core processor. The phone comes in multiple RAM options of 4 GB, 6 GB and 8 GB. Its storage variants are 64 GB and 128 GB. There is a dedicated microSD card slot for more storage. The phone packs an f/2.2 aperture 32-megapixel lens on the front and an L-shaped quad-camera setup housed in a rectangular module on its back. The Galaxy A51’s quad-camera system a 48-megapixel main lens with f/2.0 aperture, a depth sensor of 5-megapixel with f/2.2 aperture, a macro lens of 5-megapixel with f/2.4 aperture and an ultrawide lens of 12-megapixel with f/2.2 aperture.
For interface, it runs on Android 10 OS customized with the latest One UI 2.0. The phone equally packs a 4,000mAh battery that supports 15W fast charging
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