The Xiaomi Mi Pro 5G led AnTuTu’s best performing flagship smartphones in February. Today, the company released a new list of top 10 best performing flagship phones for March. It reveals that the OPPO Find X2 Pro is now leading the pack with a score of 606,389. The Mi 10 Pro that scored 598,572 has been pushed to second position. These phones have 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM. The X2 Pro has 256 of UFS 3.0 storage whereas the Xiaomi phone has 512 GB of native storage.
The Find X2 is third with a score of 590,253. The fourth place goes to Redmi K30 Pro that has scored 589,607. The iQOO is positioned at fifth with 588,305 score. The Black Shark 3 Pro is at the sixth with a core of 588,125.
The Realme X50 Pro with 588,055 is at the seventh position. The Vivo NEX 3S 5G is eighth spot with a benchmarking score of 586,577. The ninth position goes to Xiaomi Mi 10 that recorded a score of 579,550. The Black Shark 3 is the last phone to make it to the top 10 list with the score of 570,723.
All the devices mentioned in AnTuTu’s March list of best performing flagship phones are powered by the 5G-ready Snapdragon 865 mobile platform and LPDDR5 RAM. Except a few devices like iQOO 3 and Vivo NEX 3S 5G in the list, all the other phones are equipped with UFS 3.0 storage.
The Nubia Red Magic 5G that debuted last month is not mentioned in the list. The reason behind it is that the benchmarking platform came across some abnormalities in its memory test. The device may appear in the next month’s list. The Kirin 990 5G powered Huawei P40 and P40 Pro are also expected to make it to the next list.
Earlier this month, Xiaomi announced that it will be launching a new event on April 3rd as part of its Mi Fan Festival. The event marks Xiaomi’s 10th-anniversary celebration and also commemorates the Chinese tech giant’s skyrocketing success.
As part of the celebration, the company took the wraps off 22 new products. These recently-unveiled products, as well as a slew of other items, have carefully been placed under multiple categories on the Mi Fan Festival Sale 2020 promotion page.
The activity page features two Xiaomi Brand Only coupons that can be used to save $5 if your cart value exceeds $80 or gets $8 off on orders over $200. The first section Newly Launched features the Xiaomi Mi 10, the Mi 10 5G, the Mi 10 Pro and the Redmi Note 9s. More importantly, you can get these products at unbeatable prices during the activity period.
For instance, the Xiaomi Mi 10 5G smartphone has gone up for pre-order bearing a considerably lowered price of only $759.99. Equipped with 8GB RAM + 128GB ROM and a myriad of top-end features, the phone would set you back $854.66 after the activity period, which is slated to end in 4 days, which means, you can avail this 11 percent off only for a limited period.
The following category called $0.1 Get Mi Fans Gift comprises items that you can purchase for unbelievably reduced prices by exchanging points for coupons. The Xiaomi Mi Fan Festival Gift Boxes with Pen U Disk carries a $99.99 price tag, but with 400 points exchange, you can get it for only $5.99. Note that once exchanged, points can’t be returned.
The next two sections including the Xiaomi Cell Phones and the Redmi Cell Phones are must checkout for those who have restlessly been waiting to get their hands on a top-end smartphone without burning a hole in their pocket. The aforesaid categories feature smartphones that have been assigned coupon codes.
To get your favorite smartphone at the lowest price, all you need to do is to apply the specific coupon code at the time of checking out. For example, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro smartphone normally retails for $277.85, but you can purchase it for only $219.99 from Gearbest.
You can extend this 21 percent discount by applying coupon code GBMIFANN8P64 at checkout and bring the phone’s already lowered asking price further down to just $203.99. While the promo will be valid for 26 days, there were only 492 coupons left at the time of writing.
Xiaomi Smart Selected is the next section on the activity that you need to check out. It features smart bracelets, smartwatches, music accessories and other items that usually cost a bomb, but are currently available for reduced prices. If you have been waiting with bated breath for Xiaomi Notebook prices to drop, now’s the time.
You can head straight to the Xiaomi Notebook section and check out the unmissable discount Xiaomi is currently doling out on its well-received range of laptops including the Mi Notebook Ruby 2019, the RedmiBook 14-inch Laptop and more. Likewise, the Xiaomi Mijia Selected section is teeming with a wide range of useful items across various categories.
Xiaomi Ecosystem Brand Xiaomi Smart Electronics, as well as the Xiaomi Ecosystem Brand – Xiaomi Smart Life are also crammed with amazing products that have gone up for sale carrying lowered price tags. Aside from that, the promo page features Xiaomi Home Deals, Xiaomi Youpin Deals and the Recommended Deals that you don’t want to miss.
The Mi Fan Festival (A.K.A. Xiaomi MMF Sale) online shopping festival will be valid for a limited period. You can follow this link to visit the activity page and take advantage of the special deals and discounts before the promo wraps up!
The Gizmochina Coupons is a community that finds, reports and evaluates deals and coupons of Chinese products from online shops. Please visit it here to find more coupons to save money on mobiles and smart gadgets.
Huawei Pay makes its debut in Singapore with an exclusive partnership with ICBC (The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China) Singapore Bank. The app will come pre-installed on the Huawei P40 series and can be downloaded on other Huawei / Honor devices from App Gallery.
Huawei Pay launch in Singapore is in an exclusive collaboration with UnionPay. The mobile payment service by Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) can be used for contactless and cashless payments on Huawei / Honor devices.
ICBC Singapore bank is the first and the only bank to support the service for now. As part of the launch offer, users making purchases via Huawei Pay by registering their ICBC UnionPay credit cards between 1 April and 30 September will be rewarded with Huawei Points and cashback up to S$20 on every transaction. Additionally, users will be subjected to a welcome gift of 10 Huawei Points worth S$10, which can be used to make payments in Huawei AppGallery, Themes, Video, Mobile Cloud and more.
Since Huawei Pay supports contactless NFC payments in retail stores, it can be used by tapping supported Huawei / Honor devices on POS (Point-of-Sale) terminals instead of physical credit cards. The service makes use of devices’ biometric authentication system for security.
Additionally, Huawei P40 series will go on sale in Singapore from tomorrow, i.e. April 4. Launch offers include freebies like 50GB Huawei Mobile Cloud for 12 months, Smart View Flip Cover (worth S$58), and Huawei SuperCharge Wireless Car Charger (worth S$98, only P40 Pro). The Huawei P40 and P40 Pro will be available in Silver Frost, Blush Gold, and Deep Blue Sea color variants for a price tag of S$1,048 and S$1,448 respectively.
In Singapore, the Huawei P40 series can be purchased from Huawei Concept Stores, major telco outlets, selected consumer electronic stores and online retailers like Lazada and Shopee.
Apart from Huawei Pay, Huawei Video is also launching in Singapore with the P40 series availability in the region. The video streaming service offers over 4,000 titles from BBC Studios. Further, the company promises to bring more partners to the platform soon.
Along with the Mi Air 2S TWS earbuds, Xiaomi has today also launched the Mi Bunny Children’s Watch 4 which has a starting price of 899 yuan that roughly converts to $127. However, those who pre-order the device between 3rd April to 8th April with a pre-sale deposit, can get it for 849 yuan (~$120).
The Xiaomi Mi Bunny Children’s Watch 4 comes with Dual Cameras — one on the front and one of the side, both featuring a 5MP HD sensor. The front camera can be used to watch the children’s face while the side camera is to monitor the surroundings.
It comes with a 1.78-inch AMOLED retina high-definition full-screen display and thanks to the front-facing camera, parents or guardians can now place HD video calls with the children anytime and anywhere.
The smartwatch comes with eight-fold safe positioning, and supports indoor positioning of 4000+ large shopping malls, high-speed rail stations, and airports in the country. The company says that it uses the small search AI intelligent positioning algorithm to make positioning more accurate.
As for the connectivity, the Mi Bunny Children’s Watch 4 supports 5G as well as 4G with all three major telecom operators in China. It can also place call and locate in more than 200 countries and regions around the world, and supports VoLTE HD calls.
Parents can also set up call whitelists, SMS whitelists, and prevent interruptions in class using the app. It also comes with AI English interactive teaching feature that integrates four major modules of learning, testing, problem sets, and review books to form a scientific closed-loop learning system.
It uses artificial intelligence (AI) to evaluate the accuracy of pronunciation, correct spoken language, and practice. It also provides American pronunciation, pictures inspired teaching, and can synchronise classroom progress.
The device is powered by a 920mAh battery and is claimed by the company to offer 8-day long battery life, thanks to its AI-backed power saving algorithm.
The OnePlus 8 series of flagship smartphones is scheduled to go official in a couple of weeks. In a typical OnePlus fashion, the company has already revealed some of the key features of the upcoming device.
Now, ahead of the phone’s launch, DisplayMate has announced that the OnePlus 8 series has managed to earn the highest A+ rating as well as the Best Smartphone Display Award. Last year, the OnePlus 7 Pro also received A+ ratings from DisplayMate and the company is now aiming to outdo itself.
The report adds that the display on the upcoming lineup “sets or matches more than 10 Smartphone Display Performance Records in virtually all key categories for the best displays on the market, including color accuracy, image contrast, display brightness, and screen reflection, with 4 categories marked Visually Indistinguishable from Perfect.”
OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has already confirmed that the OnePlus 8 series will come with AMOLED display panels from Samsung. It will offer 120Hz refresh rate, and will also come with motion estimate and motion compensation (MEMC) technology for smooth video playback and 10-bit color gamut.
A report from PCMag claims that OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro will have two main user-selectable color modes — Vivid and Natural. While Vivid mode has a wider color gamut and high image contrast, the Natural mode accurately represents either the digital cinema DCI-P3 color space or the older sRGB color space.
The OnePlus 8 Pro has a brighter display than the Galaxy S20 Ultra at 50 percent average picture level (APL) and the max brightness level of the display can reach 1009 nits at 50 percent APL, which is slightly higher than the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s 995 nits.
While the company has not confirmed all the specifications, leak indicates that the OnePlus 8 Pro will feature a 6.78-inch QHD+ Super AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, Snapdragon 865 SoC, 12GB RAM, 4,510mAh battery, Warp Charge 30T support along with wireless charging and reverse wireless charging. To know for sure, we’ll have to wait for the official launch event on 14th April.
In line with our previous report, Xiaomi has today officially launched a new TWS Earphones — the Mi Air 2S true wireless earbuds, for a price of 399 Yuan which roughly converts to $56. The newly launched earphones are currently up for reservations in China and will go on sale on April 9.
The company reveals that the new Mi Air 2S comes with an upgraded dual-core chipset and also uses the new binaural synchronous transmission technology to transmit sound signals to the left and right earphones at the same time.
This effectively reduces the sound delay, while having strong anti-interference, and makes the left and right earphone connections are more stable. Additionally, it has fully optimized LHDC Bluetooth decoding for the MIUI system and adopts a new architecture for deeply optimizing the hardware. Note that the earbuds supports Bluetooth 5.0.
To improve the performance during gameplay and watching videos, it comes with a low-latency mode which when turned on, greatly reduces the sound delay and ensures proper synchronization of sound and pictures.
Further, there’s support for voice assistant with XiaoAI which gets activated just through simple voice command and can be used to perform a wide range of activities and tasks, including playing music, listening stories, using maps for directions, etc.
While there’s no active noise cancellation support like the Apple AirPods Pro but it does come with dual-microphone array noise reduction technology that claims to effectively reduce the environmental noise during calls and ensure HD voice call quality.
One of the most impressive parts of the new Xiaomi Mi Air 2S TWS earphones is the battery life. The company claims that it can provide 5 hours of usage on a single charge but can be extended up to 24 hours of battery life when combined with the charging box. The charging box of the earbuds also come with support for Qi-standard wireless charging technology, making the charging process more convenient.
At the end of the last month, Vivo unveiled the Vivo S6 5G smartphone in China. As scheduled, the phone is now available for purchase in the home market starting from today. The handset can be bought with a starting price of 2,698 Yuan (~$380).
Vivo S6 5G pricing
The Vivo S6 5G comes in three colors such as Swan Lake Blue, Danube Blue and Jazz Black. It comes in two variants such as 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage and 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage. They are priced at 2,698 Yuan and 2,998 Yuan. At present, the Chinese firm is only selling the 128 GB storage version of the device. There is no word on the availability of the 256 GB variant.
The Vivo S6 features a 6.44-inch S-AMOLED screen. The punch-hole display delivers full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels and an aspect ratio of 20:9. The Exynos 980 5G chipset that enables dual-mode 5G support drives the Vivo S6 5G smartphone. The phone comes with LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 2.1 storage. A microSD card slot is available on the device for additional storage.
The phone possesses a front-facing camera of 32-megapixel. that offers features like super night scene mode and AI face beauty. The glass rear of the phone has a round-shaped camera housing that has a 48-megapixel primary lens, an 8-megapixel superwide lens, a 2-megapixel depth sensor and a 2-megapixel macro lens. The rear cameras support super night scene mode, EIS and front, rear dual shooting and more.
The Vivo S6 5G has a 4,500mAh battery and it carries support for 18W fast charging. The FunTouch OS 10 based Android 10 OS runs on the Vivo S6 5G. The device weighs only 181 gram and has a thickness of 8.68mm.
OPPO is reportedly working on the launch of OPPO A12 and A12e smartphone. The key specs of the OPPO A12e had surfaced in the previous month. Now, Pricebaba has shared the key specs and a render of the OPPO A12 smartphone.
OPPO A12 render
As it can be seen in the leaked render, the OPPO A12 has a polycarbonate rear with a diamond pattern on it like the older Realme phones. An LED assisted horizontally arranged dual camera setup and a fingerprint scanner can be seen on the backside of the OPPO A12. Up front, the OPPO A12 has a waterdrop notch screen. The handset measures 155.9 x 75.5 x 8.3mm and it weighs 165 grams.
The OPPO A12 has a 6.22-inch IPS LCD display that produces HD+ resolution. The Helio P35 powers the 3 GB RAM + 32 GB storage and 4 GB RAM + 64 GB storage versions of the smartphone. There is no confirmation on whether it features a dedicated microSD slot or a hybrid SIM slot.
The ColorOS 6.1.2 based Android OS will come preloaded on the device. It will have a front camera of 5-megapixel with f/2.0 aperture.
The rear features a 13-megapixel main lens with f/2.2 aperture and a 2-megapixel secondary shooter with f/2.4 aperture. The OPPO A12 has a 4,230mAh battery and it is unlikely to carry support for fast charging.
There is no word on the launch date and pricing of the OPPO A12. The handset will be arriving as a successor for the OPPO A11 from last year. It could be available in other colors apart from blue model shown above. The arrival of the A12 may not be far away as it has received approval from Thailand’s NBTC and Singapore’s IMDA regulatory bodies. It has been also spotted at Geekbench.
Apple is expected to soon announce a successor for the compact iPhone SE that went official in 2016. Some reports have claimed that it may go official on April 15. However, a new report on 9to5 Mac states that cites information from its highly trust reader claims that the company will begin receiving orders for the iPhone SE’s successor as soon as tomorrow. While recent reports had claimed the device will be debuting as iPhone 9, the publication has revealed that it will go official as “iPhone SE” and it will be referred to as 2020 version.
2020 iPhone SE key details
The iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max from last year were fueled by the Apple A13 Bionic chip. The same SoC will be powers the 2020 iPhone SE. It will bring support for augmented reality features.
In terms of design, the iPhone SE 2020 will bear resemblance with the iPhone 8. Since it won’t support 3D Touch, it is expected to deliver better battery life. It could be the only new iPhone to sport the good old Touch ID sensor..
The new iPhone SE will come in three storage versions such as 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB. It will be available in three color edition such as white, black and PRODUCT (Red). The company will be selling five kinds of cases for the 2020 iPhone SE such as black silicone, white silicone, red leather, black leather and midnight blue leather.
There is no fresh information on the pricing of the iPhone SE 2020. However, famed supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had previously stated that the iPhone SE’s successor will be arriving with a starting price of $399. The publication further stated that the retailers are gearing up to begin merchandising cases for the iPhone SE 2020 from Sunday, which also hints that its launch is imminent.
In February, Motorola had launched the Moto G8 Power smartphone. In the U.S., the handset is selling as Moto G Power. Today, the Lenovo-owned firm introduced its inferior edition called Moto G8 Power Lite. Apart from housing a huge battery, the G8 Power Lite comes equipped with a tall aspect ratio display and triple rear cameras.
Moto G8 Power Lite specifications
The Moto G8 Power Lite has a 6.5-inch IPS LCD Max Vision panel. The waterdrop notch totting display delivers HD+ resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels. The aspect ratio offered by the phone is 20:9. The handset features a splash-resistant chassis. Its dimensions are 164.94 x 75.76 x 9.2mm and it weighs nearly 200 grams.
The MediaTek Helio P35 chipset drives the Moto G8 Power Lite through its 2.3GHz octa-core processor. The handset ships with 4 GB of RAM and an internal storage of 64 GB. There is a microSD card slot onboard for more storage.
Moto G8 Power Lite’s rear has a triple camera system that includes a PDAF assisted 16-megapixel primary shooter with f/2.0 aperture, a 2-megapixel macro lens with f/2.4 aperture and 2cm focal length and a depth sensor of 2-megapixel with f/2.4 aperture. The triple cameras support dual camera bokeh, face beauty, HDR, Google Lens and more. At the front is an 8-megapixel selfie snapper that supports HDR, face beauty and bokeh video. The front and rear shooters support 30fps 1080p video recording.
The G8 Power Lite comes with a generous 5,000mAh battery that supports 10W charging. The handset is loaded with Android 9 Pie OS. On the connectivity front, the Moto G8 Power Lite supports dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, microUSB 2.0 and 3.5mm audio jack. The rear-facing logo of the company is integrated with a fingerprint reader.
Moto G8 Power Lite price and availability
The Moto G8 Power Lite will be coming to Mexico and Germany soon with a price tag of 169 euros (~$183). The handset will be also brought to other markets in Latin America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The phone comes in Royal Blue and Arctic Blue color editions.
Entry-level smartphones became very sweet. Mainstream manufacturers are putting a lot of effort even into low-end devices and several amazing devices are hitting the shelves at a very affordable price. One of the latest is the Realme C3, recently launched even in a new triple camera variant and in the global market. But Huawei’s sub-brand launched an awesome entry-level too: Honor Play 9A. And it is not about Chinese manufacturers anymore: even Samsung started releasing advanced entry-level phones like the newly-announced Samsung Galaxy M11. Is it worth going for a Samsung entry-level phone in 2020 or you should choose Realme and Honor? This comparison will clear your ideas.
Oppo Realme C3 vs Huawei Honor Play 9A vs Samsung Galaxy M11
Dual 12 + 2 MP f/1.8 and f/2.4
5 MP f/2.4 front camera
Triple 13 + 5 + 2 MP f/1.8, f/2.2 and f/2.4
8 MP f/2.0 front camera
BATTERY
5000 mAh, fast charging 10W
5000 mAh, battery charging 10W
5000 mAh, fast charging 15W
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
Dual SIM slot
Dual SIM slot, reverse charging
Dual SIM slot
Design
Samsung started mounting punch-hole display even on entry-level phones. And the punch-hole display is the reason why Samsung Galaxy M11 looks more attractive than its rivals. Realme C3 has a more interesting build quality not only because its display is protected by Gorilla Glass 3, but also because the phone is splash resistant. On the other hand, Honor Play 9A is the most compact phone due to its smaller display. Which design do you prefer? Would you prefer the best look or the best build quality on an entry-level device?
Display
Unfortunately, a punch-hole display does not mean a better image quality. Samsung Galaxy M11 has a PLS TFT screen and generally, this technology delivers a lower quality compared to IPS displays like the ones mounted on Honor Play 9A and Realme C3. The Realme C3 has the widest panel and it may be generally better for advanced users, while Honor Play 9A has the smallest display, so it provides a higher pixel density and it is easier to use with one hand. Realme C3 should provide a slightly better quality despite its lower pixel density, but in each case, you get an HD+ resolution, so a similar level of detail.
Specs & Software
The most powerful SoC is the MediaTek Helio G70 mounted on the Realme C3. Besides having a very strong CPU, it even comes with high graphics performance. So, despite Realme C3 is an entry-level phone, it is a good choice even for gamers. Right after, we got the Samsung Galaxy M11 with a Qualcomm chipset, even though it is a pretty old Qualcomm SoC built at 14 nm. Honor Play 9A has a less convincing chipset, but it doubles the internal storage by reaching 128 GB. In each case, you get a micro SD dedicated slot and Android 10 out of the box.
Camera
Samsung Galaxy M11 provides the most complete camera department. On the rear side, you get a main 13 MP sensor with a bright f/1.8 focal aperture, a 5 MP ultrawide lens and a 2 MP depth sensor. The Realme C3 comes in two variants: one with a dual camera and one with a triple camera which adds a 2 MP macro sensor besides a 2 MP depth sensor. So it takes the silver medal. But the Honor Play 9A actually comes with a better front camera than both the Realme C3 variants. None of these devices is a great camera phone, they are all low-end devices in terms of camera performance, but far from being bad.
Battery
The battery life is the strongest point of all these handsets. With their huge 5000 mAh batteries, they last up to three days on a single charge with moderate usage. Samsung Galaxy M11 comes with the fastest charging technology thanks to a 15W power, while the others support 10W charging.
Price
Unfortunately, the Realme C3 is currently the only device sold globally (€160), so the following prices are referred to the Asian market. Realme C3 starts from Rs. 6,999 in India, while Honor Play 9A is priced CNY 899 in China. We still do not know how much Samsung Galaxy M11 will cost. If we only consider the specifications, Samsung Galaxy M11 is the best when it comes to design and cameras, while Realme C3 provides more powerful hardware and potentially better build quality, as well as a better display. Honor Play 9A is not as interesting as its rivals.
Germany’s Autobahn is still without speed restrictions, despite calls for the country to impose limits. Imagine doing 250 km/h on the Autobahn or any other freeway on a gasoline guzzling Porsche 911 and you need to check the fuel level on the instrument cluster. At such speed, it is dead risky to take your eyes off the road even for a second. A Head-up display comes in handy in such situations.
Head-Up Displays also known as HUD, is becoming increasingly common in all types of new cars, ranging from the Mazda3 to the BMW 7 Series, but what if you own a 2005 Toyota Corolla or any other older car? You won’t have to trade in your older model just to get one with a HUD from the factory. There are several aftermarket solutions let you modernize your current ride, some super affordable but others can tear a hole in your pocket.
Xiaomi, known for affordable quality products has launched a new Carrobot Smart HUD under the Youpin platform. In September last year, a Carrobot HUD Bluetooth version was launched on Xiaomi Youpin priced at 499 yuan (around $70). This version comes with the same 499 yuan price tag but after the crowdfunding exercise, the price will jack up to 699 yuan (~$98).
Apart from projecting the information on your car’s instrument cluster right in your front, this smart version also features support for full voice control.
The Carrobot HUD is inspired by the fighter’s Head-Up Display (HUD) technology and it can project all the information required when driving, such as the navigation map and the current vehicle speed, onto the glass in front of you. The projection technology adopts free-form optical design and multi-layer coating technology. The picture is flat and clear without any distortion and dizziness.
In addition, Carrobot Smart HUD also combines high-tech maps for in-depth customization and has greater voice control. In addition to conventional navigation and traffic conditions inquiry, you can also directly ask the HUD what places to eat, drink and play around. The product’s voice technology is said to use Spitzer’s algorithm, which not only is more close to natural vocals in terms of language sense but also very powerful in recognition and awake rate.
At the same time, this product deploys data cloud to provide timely warning and is equipped with the latest Point of Interests (POI) identification algorithm for most cities. The place-name recognition is more accurate, helping you to drive safely and reduce road violations. The product is compatible with the MIJIA app.
You can visit the Youpin crowdfunding page from the source link below.
Xiaomi had hinted as far back as October 2019 that the development of the next-generation MIUI 12 ROM has commenced internally. The company again officially confirmed the MIUI 12 moniker with the rollout expected later this year. The latest iteration, MIUI 11 was released in September 2019. We don’t expect the MIUI to come any earlier but that may be the case going by the rate at which details of the ROM has appeared in recent times. Although Xiaomi is yet to officially reveal the features the MIUI 12 will bring to the table, a mod on the Mi community has shared some of the expected features that are highly likely to be onboard the custom ROM.
Animation and Navigation bar
The upcoming ROM is expected to come along with a much-improved animation and navigation bar. The current navigation and animation bars on the MIUI 11 ROM isn’t bad at all but we’ll likely be seeing some improvements and perhaps new features.
Here are some GIF animations of the navigation bar while switching applications on the MIUI 11 closed beta version.
Multi-tasking animation
Apart from the animations shown above, there are several animations such as open-screen animations which were also implemented on the MIUI 11 closed beta version. Although not perfect, the improvement in user experience is really much better than the old version. The multi-task animation is said to be compatible with the 90Hz refresh rate. It also has a cool look and is easy to select.
With the continuous increase in the display refresh rate after the release of MIUI 11, there are users who would like to see Xiaomi effect a change on the background style of its custom ROM.
The MIUI development team is said to have accepted the suggestions gotten as feedback on the Mi community and is considering new solutions. However, changing the background style is considered a huge project and many factors need to be considered. Thus, such change may come with a major version update but that is not very certain to happen on MIUI 12.
Camera UI revision
A member of MIUI’s camera team is said to have hinted on Weibo that the camera UI may be revised. In an era where camera lens modules continually get enhanced, using the original camera UI will make the operation appear more and more complicated. A good camera UI is imperative.
Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro camera UI
Application icons change
The MIUI theme has always been a domestic leader, but there are also a lot of exquisite icon packages developed by third-party developers on the Internet that have not been listed on the MIUI theme store. Even if it is on the shelves, there will be many inexplicable bugs in the mashup. According to a post by a leading mod on the Mi community, Xiaomi may now include the option of changing app icons on the Mi theme store on MIUI 12.
Dark mode
The current MIUI 11 stable version has a dark mode button, but it lacks global inversion (not system-wide) which means the dark mode experience isn’t uniform on all app. The development ROM has global inverse color options and after continuous optimization, the experience is acceptable. After nearly half a year of development, the system application adaptation has been basically completed on the development ROM. Thus, MIUI 12 will come with a complete and uniform dark mode.
More comprehensive system-level service
The MIUI 12 is expected to bring more comprehensive system-level services like a health app which integrates all the different fitness gadgets that Xiaomi has under its arsenal. We may likely not see anything in this regard, though.
Advertising service optimization
Adverts are one thing MIUI fans loath so much and Xiaomi has promised to whittle down the ads on the ROM. MIUI 11 features optimizations which reduce the ads but there are still systems ads that are obstructive. Xiaomi may likely find a way to integrate ads on the system with MIUI 12, instead of pop-ups. Again, we are not sure anything will be done in this regard as the company can’t entirely remove ads since it is one of their revenue sources.
Enhanced privacy management mechanism
Android’s privacy has always been tarnished by iOS users. However, a new privacy management mechanism has been launched and will be officially released on MII 12. In the privacy management on the beta ROM, the rights management of the software is further tightened, and more autonomy is in the hands of users.
New notification filtering mechanism
MIUI has experimented with different ways to manage more and more software notifications for a long time, but in the face of more and more pushes today, it seems incompetent. Xiaomi may be looking at a notification box mechanism
MIUI will intelligently group notifications and aggregate them in a box so that notifications do not fill up your phone screen. The preview obtained from the internal testing shows the new mechanism makes notifications much more useful, but there are also imperfections. MIUI 12 may likely get a more improved push notification management system.
As stated earlier, these are likely features we might see on the MIUI 12 but all may not find their way onboard. Although Xiaomi isn’t likely to launch the new ROM with Android 11, it may likely get several features found on Google’s next-gen Android version. For now, we don’t know what those features will be.
Data privacy and security are two major concerns among internet users these days. It has become quite difficult to keep a tap on where our data flow and how it handled by big corporations. On the other hand, the governments are also working round the clock on formulating new laws to keep track of the user data and actions. However, most of the users want to take control of their data privacy by blocking access to these giants. We have created a definitive guide to prevent Google from tracking location.
Google always keeps expanding its free services to facilitate the users, but in-turn it gets control of your personal data. The enormous amount of data helps Google to build AI infrastructure improving neural networks and enhances the service like Google Assistant and Google Voice.
Why Google Track location and other data?
There are many services that help the users but at the extent of their own data. They get your location data to serve traffic feature on Google Maps and to personalize the offerings and search results. Similarly, your photos are used on Google Photos to bring automated highlights. Despite these visible uses, Google ads on its search results and other Google products sites use cookies and keep syncing your search history(if not disabled) to show relevant ads.
What’s the issue with Google Location Tracking?
According to research from Associated Press, it is suspected that the search giant tracks your location even if you disable location history. Google tracks your location to bring automatic weather updates and show other optimized data.
The situation is present on both the Android devices and iPhone users using Google Maps. Approximately more than 2 billion people are sharing their location with Google. The search giant says when you turn the Location History off, “the places you go are no longer stored. When you turn off Location History for your Google Account, it’s off for all devices associated with that Google Account.” However, the researchers found the time-stamped location data from your devices.
Now, the question arises if the Location History or Location option in Settings does not turn off the location data sharing, then how can we disable location history. So here we are helping you to find that deeply buried option to actually turn off location tracking.
Block Google Location Tracking
It’s quite easy to turn off your Google location tracking for both Android and iPhone users, but you have to go deep into your Google account. Follow the steps carefully:
Using Browser and iOS
Sign in to your Google account on a browser wither on your phone or any other machine.
Open your Google Account settings from the upper right-hand corner or enter accounts.google.com in the address bar.
Now, head over to Personal Infor & Privacy and select Go to My Activity.
Tap, in the left-hand navigation Activity Controls.
Toggle off the settings named Web & Activity Controls.
On Android Phone
Open Google App, then head over to Google Account > Google Settings.
Now, tap on Data & Personalization.
Toggle Web & App Activity to turn it off or on.
We hope you have successfully stopped Google location tracking on Android and iOS smartphones. If you have any problem, then do let us know via the comments below.
Last September, a leak revealed there will be a phone called the Redmi 8A Pro. While we expected it to launch shortly after, it has taken the device six months to arrive. Now that it is here, there is nothing to be excited about. This is because the Redmi 8A Pro is a rebadged Redmi 8A Dual.
The Redmi 8A Pro was announced today in Indonesia. It has a 6.22-inch HD+ Dot Drop display with a waterdrop notch and Gorilla Glass 5 protection.
There is a Snapdragon 439 processor inside the phone and it is paired with 2GB/3GB of RAM and 16GB/32GB of storage. The phone has a triple card slot that allows for two SIM cards and a MicroSD card (512GB max.) at the same time.
The Redmi 8A Pro has dual rear cameras – a 13MP f/2.2 camera paired with a 2MP depth sensor. The selfie camera is an 8MP sensor. There is a 5000mAh battery inside the phone with support for 18W fast charging. Sady, you only get a 10W charger in the box.
Other features of the phone include a P2i nano-coating, an audio jack, wireless FM Radio, a USB Type-C port, AI Face Unlock and Google Lens. The phone runs MIUI 9 based on Android 9 out of the box.
The Redmi 8A Pro is available in Midnight Gray, Sea Blue, and Sky White. It s priced at IDR 1,549,000 for the 2GB version and IDR 1,649,000 for the 3GB version. It will go on sale on April 7 and be available for purchase on Lazada, Akulaku, erafone, Mi.com, and Authorized Mi Stores.
Samsung launched the Galaxy S20 series in February 2020. This year, the company introduced a new high-end model dubbed as Galaxy S20 Ultra, which is the costliest Galaxy S series phone released so far. This device has now received the DxOMark audio test treatment and scored an above-average 69 points similar to last year’s ASUS ROG Phone 2.
Going by the overall points scored by the Galaxy S20 Ultra in DxOMark audio test, it falls behind the likes of Apple iPhone Xs Max, iPhone 11 Pro Max, Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro, and even Huawei Mate 20 X. However, it edges the company’s own Galaxy Note 10 Plus from 2019.
As per DxOMark, the S20 Ultra performs above-average but it’s nothing extraordinary for a phone costing $1400. The speakers on the phone deliver precision and clarity in both mid-range and high-end frequencies. And thus they produce sound with accurate distance rendering, precise localizability, and good wideness.
Also, the phone handles maximum volume and artifacts smoothly without any issue. However, the balance of the audio played is off-center and there is a lack of intelligibility in high dynamic content at minimum volumes. Additionally, the bass frequencies are lower compared to iPhone 11 Pro Max and Mi 10 Pro.
In the recording, the phone does not perform as good as in playback. The sound picked up in selfie videos lacks high-end frequencies and thus it is poor in distance rendering and localizability. Further, the attack and blurred envelope of the sound recorded make the backgrounds as well as voice sound unnatural and nasal respectively.
In loud environments, aggressive low-end compression kicks in which affects the punch and produces audible temporal artifacts. Lastly, the timbre performance is good, dynamics are modest at best, and loudness is poor indoors
Xiaomi presently has 10,000mAh wireless power bank models with support for 20W/10W flash charge in the shelf. The 10W version was even launched in India recently. The tech giant may be planning to take things a notch higher as the promotional poster for an upcoming product has leaked online. The poster is that of a wireless power bank that features support for 30W super flash charge. The power bank is listed to feature a massive battery capacity of 20,000mAh, twice the capacity of the previous versions.
Apart from the bumped up battery capacity and higher fast charge rating, the wireless charger will also come with a premium build. The poster tips the gadget to be available in two versions. One of them will have a leather casing while the higher version will feature a ceramic body. The poster also touts the power bank of capable of providing 30W fast charge for the Mi 10 Pro.
In addition, it also features support for MIJIA app and uses a USB-C interface. The battery will also be lithium-ion batteries which provide better quality. The power bank will have a maximum charging power of 65W and can be used to charge a laptop which uses the USB-C interface.
As for the prices, the leather version is listed with a 349 yuan ($49) price tag while the ceramic version comes in at 399 yuan ($56). It is expected to be launched on April 9. We’ll be on the lookout and keep you updated here on Gizmochina when it is launched.
The Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Buds+ are Samsung‘s most popular TWS earbuds. However, the manufacturer has announced a new pair of earbuds that do not carry the Galaxy branding but AKG’s. The AKG N400 with noise cancelation is its latest earbuds and it has some really nice features and a price tag higher than that of the Galaxy Buds+.
With respect to design, the earbuds have a matte finish unlike the Galaxy Buds+ that has a glossy finish. It comes in three color variants – Blue, Black and Silver though the Blue has a touch of gold and silver.
The earbuds have an 8.2mm driver and support touch controls. The product page says the touch control of the left earbud is disabled when shipped but you can activate it using the app. With the touch controls, you can activate your phone’s voice assistant (Bixby, Google Assistant, and Siri) and also control playback and answer calls.
The AKG N400 also has Active Noise Cancelling, Ambient Aware, and TalkThru. Users will be able to modify ANC settings with the AKG Headphone app. It also has an IPX7 waterproof rating.
Samsung’s new earbuds connect via Bluetooth 5.0 and support the following Bluetooth profiles:
HFP V1.6
A2DP V1.3
AVRC
P V1.5
It also supports AAC and SBC audio codecs.
The AKG N400 has a 55mAh battery that lasts up to 6 hours on a single charge with ANC turned off. However, when ANC is turned on, battery life drops to 5 hours. The case has a battery capacity of 220mAh and doubles the battery life of the earbuds to 12 hours.
The case supports Qi wireless charging and Samsung claims a 10-minute charge can provide up to 1 hour of battery life. It also supports charging via USB Type-C. The AKG N400 ships with three ear tips and three wingtips. Samsung also includes a Comply™ Foam Tip in the box.
The AKG N400 is priced at KRW 229,000 (~$187/€171/₹14,203). It is still exclusive to South Korea for now and there is no news of a global release.
Xiaomi was one of the first companies to launch a phone with a 48MP camera (Redmi Note 7 Pro) in 2019. Later in the same year, it also became one of the first smartphone manufacturers to launch devices with a 64MP camera (Redmi Note 8 Pro) as well as a 108MP camera (Mi CC9 Pro). Now, according to Sudhanshu, a well-known tipster on Twitter, Xiaomi is working on a phone with a whopping 144MP camera.
Xiaomi is working on a phone with 144MP camera sensor. I guess it should be Mi 10S Pro or Mi CC10 Pro
The megapixels game on smartphones was dead for a few years since the Nokia Lumia 1020. But when Sony announced its 48MP IMX586 sensor, the game was back on with Samsung, another major supplier of smartphone cameras joining the bandwagon.
As for clients, Xiaomi is one of the few companies participating in the Megapixel race. Being the first to launch a phone with a 108MP sensor, the brand wants to continue the streak with the upcoming 144MP sensor as suggested by the tipster.
As per the tip, this new 144MP sensor could either debut on Xiaomi Mi 10S Pro or Mi CC10 Pro. However, the leakster did not say anything about who will be supplying this sensor to Xiaomi. As of now, only Samsung is rumored to be working on a 144MP camera sensor so there are high chances of it being the sole supplier of this new large sensor.
A new Samsung smartphone with model number SM-A217F has appeared on GeekBench’s database. The device is said to be the Galaxy A21s and has all the dressing of a budget model.
The Samsung SM-A217F is not to be confused with the SM-A215U which appeared on GeekBench last month packing an Helio P35 chipset. That model is expected to launch as Samsung Galaxy A21 which is a mid-range model.
On its part, the Galaxy A21s(SM-A217F) is listed to feature a Samsung Exynos 850 chipset which the tech giant is yet to announce. The processor is an octa-core SoC with a base frequency of 2.0GHz. The processor is paired with 3GB of RAM. The phone equally runs on Android 10 OS.
An earlier report by Sammobile indicates that the Samsung SM-A217F will likely come in 32GB and 64GB storage options. In addition, the device will pack a 2MP macro camera.
On the GeekBench test, the device polled a total of 183 points on the single-core test. On the multi-core test, it scored 1074 points.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
More comprehensive system-level service
