Apple has been working on a low-cost iPhone, which could be named iPhone SE 2 or iPhone 9, and will serve as the successor to the iPhone SE launched back in 2017.
The smartphone is said to go official before its WWDC 2020 event. While the phone was expected to launch at an event on 31st March but that event was reportedly cancelled amid the on-going coronavirus and issues related to that.
Now, as per the latest report, the company is all set to launch the iPhone 9 aka iPhone SE 2 on 15th April. It reports that while the phone’s official announced will happen on 15th April, the device will be available for purchase from 22nd April.
However, the source also mentions that given the current situation related to the coronavirus in the United States, the schedule could get changed. He added that the details are based on internal meeting held by Apple.
The timeline makes sense given that it was recently reported that the upcoming low-cost iPhone has entered final stage of production. The timeline also falls under the claims by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that the phone will launch in the first half of 2020.
The iPhone SE 2 aka iPhone 9 is expected to have design similar to the iPhone 8 but will be powered by the A13 chipset — the same SoC that powers the iPhone 11 series. The phone is expected to have a 4.7-inch display but we don’t expect higher quality because of cost-cutting measures.
As per the reports, the pricing for this upcoming iPhone could start at just $399. However, to know for sure what the device packs and how much it will cost, we’ll have to wait for a couple of weeks more for the the official launch announcement to take place.
Thanks to the latest devices released by Chinese mainstream brands, it is now possible to get the support to 5G connectivity even on a mid-range phone. Unlike last year, you do not need to spend a lot of money for a flagship anymore in order to take advantage of 5G networks. This is a comparison between three of the most amazing 5G mid-rangers and all of them went on sale recently with different chipsets, so different 5G modems as well. Honor 30S is the first smartphone packing the first 5G midrange chipset by Huawei, Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite comes with Qualcomm’s mid-range solution and Oppo Reno3 packs a MediaTek SoC. Here is an in-depth specs comparison. Note that the Oppo Reno3 in this comparison is the Chinese version with 5G connectivity, not the international one with 4G only.
Huawei Honor 30S vs Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite vs Oppo Reno3
Huawei Honor 30S
Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite
Oppo Reno3
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT
162.3 x 75 x 8.6 mm, 190 g
163.9 x 74.8 x 8 mm, 192 grams
160.3 x 74.3 x 8 mm, 181 grams
DISPLAY
6.5 inches, 1080 x 2400p (Full HD+), LTPS IPS LCD
6.57 inches, 1080 x 2340p (Full HD+), 392 ppi, AMOLED
Quad 48 + 8 MP + 5 + 2 MP f/1.8, f/2.2, f/2.4 and f/2.4
16 MP f/2.5 front camera
Quad 64 + 8 + 2 + 2 MP f/1.8, f/2.2, f/2.4 and f/2.4
32 MP f/2.4 front camera
BATTERY
4000 mAh, fast charging 40W
4160 mAh
Fast charging 20W
4025 mAh, Fast charging 30W
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
Dual SIM slot, 5G
Dual SIM slot, 5G
Dual SIM slot, 5G
Design
Despite we are not talking about flagships, these handsets offer a design made of premium materials, including a glass back and an aluminum frame. The front side of the Honor 30S is more attractive since it includes a punch-hole and notch-less display. But the Oppo Reno3 is more compact, thinner and lighter. Further, it comes with a less invasive camera module on the rear side. That is why I prefer it to its two rivals. I even like its gradient colors more.
Display
Honor 30S has a very interesting display since it is HDR10-compliant and it is able to provide a high image quality, especially on streaming platforms. But on the other hand, unlike Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite and Oppo Reno3, it has an IPS display and not an AMOLED panel. Oppo Reno3 may actually offer the most impressive panel, and it also packs an in-display fingerprint scanner, unlike the Honor 30S. With the Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite you still get an AMOLED screen and an in-display fingerprint reader, but with a wider diagonal: 6.57 inches.
Hardware/Software
There are big differences between Honor 30S, Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite and Oppo Reno3 if we talk about hardware. They have different chipsets from different chipmakers. On the paper, Oppo Reno3 is the most powerful with a high-end MediaTek Dimensity 1000L, but unlike its opponents, it does not feature expandable storage. Further, it only supports sub-6 GHz 5G frequencies and not mmWave. But MediaTek claimed it is the fastest 5G SoC in that spectrum. Honor 30S and Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite should be more or less at the same level with their upper-midrange chipsets. In each case, you get Android 10 out of the box with a highly-customized user interface.
Camera
Besides being the best performing phone the Oppo Reno3 is also the best camera phone of this trio. Its quad camera setup is the only to support OIS and it captures brighter and sharper photos, as well as amazing videos. Oppo Reno3 looks the best even when it comes to selfies, with its 32 MP front camera. The silver medal goes to the Honor 30S packing a 64 MP quad-camera with a telephoto lens offering 3x optical zoom, while you should definitely avoid the Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite if you are looking for amazing camera quality.
Battery
Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite will likely be the best device in terms of battery life and the reason is simple: it packs a bigger battery. Given that all of these devices are fueled by 7 nm chipsets, the battery capacity should make the difference more than hardware optimization. On the other hand, the 4000 mAh battery of the Honor 30S supports the fastest charging technology with a power of 40W: it goes from 0 to 70 percent in just 30 minutes.
Price
Honor 30S debuted with a starting price of about €310, Oppo Reno3 costs €440 in its base variant, and Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite starts from €350 globally. Despite the absence of expandable storage and mmWave 5G spectrum, Oppo Reno3 is the most advanced device of this comparison, especially due to its great cameras and very powerful chipset.
When HMD Global released its first Android 10 update schedule for its Nokia smartphones, the Nokia 7.2 was missing from the list of devices. However, the new update schedule released a few weeks ago now includes the device as well as the Nokia 6.2.
Sticking to its promise of an end of the first quarter of this year, the manufacturer has now released the Android 10 update for the Nokia 7.2.
Android 10 now available for Nokia 7.2! Check your phone to see if the latest features have already landed. For more news of Nokia smartphones and Android 10 visit https://t.co/FJfS4Gjt3dpic.twitter.com/9FHxZrddcZ
Android 10 brings a new navigation system, a system-wide dark mode, smart replies, new emojis, and lots more.
The changelog for the update, which comes in at 1.57GB in size, is below:
Dark Mode – take it easy on your eyes
Smart reply -Save more time with recommended actions
Gesture navigation – Get around with a swipe and a pull
Additional controls for privacy and location
Google Security Patch (2020-03)
The Nokia 7.2 was released in September 2019. it has a 6.3-inch FHD+ display with a notch. There is a Snapdragon 660 processor inside along with up to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. A dedicated MicroSD card slot is available for extra storage.
On the back is a 48MP + 8MP + 5MP triple camera setup while the selfie camera is a 20MP sensor. You also have a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, a 3500mAh battery capacity with 10W fast charging, NFC, and an FM radio.
Every mobile phone requires a SIM to work. It can either be an eSIM or a removable SIM. The average person knows that a SIM card is what allows them to connect to the service provided by a network operator.
Every mobile phone also has built-in storage which is where your phone’s operating system, pre-installed and downloaded apps, images, videos, and other files are stored. Some phones have a storage expansion slot that allows you to add extra storage to your device while others do not, which means if you run out of space, you have no choice but to delete files or back them up to the cloud or another device like your computer.
Talking about phones with support for storage expansion, some have a hybrid SIM tray that allows you to either use a MicroSD card or a SIM card in one of the SIM slots. So, if you are going to use up a slot for the MicroSD card, you can only use one SIM card on your phone.
But it doesn’t have to be this way – if you own a Super SIM.
Image Source: ITHome
What is a Super SIM?
A Super SIM combines a SIM card and a MicroSD card into a single card. The first Super SIM was announced last year in China and it comes in various capacities starting from 32GB and goes up to 128GB. These Super SIM cards also have read and write speeds of 90MB/s and 60MB/s respectively.
A Super SIM (far right) combines a MicroSD card (left) and a Nano-SIM (middle) into one card. Image Source: OfWeek.com
When compared to what a traditional SIM can store which is about 128KB, a Super SIM can store millions more of data. Super SIMs also have a one-click backup and restore feature, so you can pop it into a new phone and have your data from your old phone restored. They are also secure (CC EAL6+ security certification) so you don’t have to worry about the safety of your data.
As a user, you don’t have to choose between a SIM card or a MicroSD card if your phone has a hybrid SIM tray. Just purchase a Super SIM and you have both additional storage and a second SIM.
For manufacturers, there is no need to make a phone with a triple card tray or one with a dedicated MicroSD card slot. This means, there can be extra space for a slightly larger battery or an extra component.
Disadvantages of a Super SIM
At the moment, Super SIMs are limited to China and are still pretty expensive. A 32GB Super SIM sells for ¥99 (~$14) while a 64GB card sells for ¥199 (~$28). That is pretty expensive when compared to the price of a MicroSD card with the same amount of storage.
While price will and can come down in the future, adoption is another thing. The first 5G SuperSIM sold in China is a partnership between China’s UNIIC memory technology Co. Ltd, makers of UNIC Memory and China Unicom. Unless more network operators adopt the Super SIM and partner with storage manufacturers, Super SIM may not become mainstream and may actually even be abandoned.
Another disadvantage is that a Super SIM can only work with a phone that has a hybrid SIM card tray. These rules out phones (especially flagships) without that type of SIM tray, thus making adoption difficult.
Another possible disadvantage is customers’ unwillingness to purchase a Super SIM and the hassle of replacing their regular SIM card with a Super SIM. With more people ordering phones online and just popping their SIM card into the new device, there isn’t a need to go to your network operator’s outlet for anything.
One question that pops up in relation to this is what happens to your Super SIM when you switch to a phone that doesn’t support storage expansion?
Is Super SIM the future of SIM cards?
While the Super SIM does have its advantages, it seems like a novelty feature and one that might not scale if network operators do not adopt it.
There is also the case of manufacturers such as Apple and OnePlus who will rather not add support for storage expansion to their devices.
Nevertheless, Super SIMs should be given a chance by more network operators. While a lot of flagships don’t have support for storage expansion, millions of mid-range phones and entry-level phones with a hybrid SIM tray are sold annually and these customers can be the target for Super SIMs.
Sony has announced a new lineup of premium smart TVs in China as part of its Spring 2020 refresh. The company unveiled a total of 5 models namely Z8H, A8H, X9000H, X9500H, and X8000H respectively. All these models come in varying sizes and are targeted at a different set of customers. Also, these Sony TVs are debuting first in China and were made official via the company’s first online-only launch event in the country.
1 of 5
Out of all the models announced today, the Z8H is the only one with 8K LED panel and comes in two sizes. It is priced at 49999 Yuan ($7060) and 79999 Yuan ($11295) for the 75 and 85-inches versions respectively. This model is already up for pre-order until April 26 and the customers opting for it will get a Sony WH-1000XM3 noise-cancelling headphone as a freebie.
Further, the second model, which happens to be A8H, is the only 4K TV announced today with an OLED panel. Whereas, the X9000H, X9500H, and X8000H series of 4K TVs sport LED panels with full-array backlighting. However, all the models announced today come with the company’s TRILUMIOS, X-Reality Pro, and X-Motion Clarity display technologies. And they also have support for Dolby Vision and Dolby Digital Panorama Sound.
As for image processing, the Z8H, A8H, and X9500H feature Sony X1 Ultimate chip, however, the other two models have an inferior Sony X1 chip. But all of them run the company’s custom software skin based on Android 9.0 Pie.
Talking about targeted customers, Z8H is for those who want immersive movie theatre experience at home, A8H is for those who look for better eye protection, X8000H with up to 120Hz high refresh rate is for gamers, and X9500H is for sports lovers.
As far as pricing of the new 4K models is concerned, the 55, 65, and 75-inches variants of X9500H series will retail for 7999 Yuan ($1129), 12999 Yuan ($1835), and 20999 Yuan ($2965) respectively. Then, the 75 and 85-inches version of X8000H will cost 9999 Yuan ($1412) and 17999 Yuan ($2541) respectively. The company is yet to reveal the prices of A8H OLED and X9000H series of smart TVs.
The Realme 6 launched in India early this month while the Realme 6i was announced in Myanmar a few weeks after. Both phones have now landed in Europe and will go on sale next month.
Realme 6
The Realme 6 will go on the first sale on April 6 at 10 AM GMT+2 but you can pre-order it now. It is available in three configurations – 4GB RAM + 64GB, 4GB RAM + 128GB, and 8GB RAM + 128GB. The base model will sell for €229.9, the 128GB version will sell for €269.9, and the 8GB RAM + 128GB version will sell for €299.9. The phone will be available in Comet Blue and Comet White on the Realme Online Store.
Realme will choose 10 winners among those who pre-order for a €30 coupon gift while every pre-order will get priority shipping. If you are among the winners, you have until April 6 to make use of the coupon to make a purchase on the Realme Store.
Do note that the promotion is only open to residents of Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Portugal.
Realme 6i
The Realme 6i will go on sale on April 13 at 10 AM GMT+2 and will be available in just one configuration – 4GB RAM + 128GB – with a €199.9 price tag. The Realme store is not taking pre-orders yet but the phone will be available in Green Tea and White Milk color variants.
The Realme 6i is the first phone in the world with an Helio G80 processor. It has a 6.5-inch display with a waterdrop notch and a 16MP selfie camera. There are four cameras on the rear – a 48MP sensor, an ultrawide angle camera, a B&W portrait camera, and a 4cm macro camera.
The phone also has a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, a 5000mAh battery capacity with support for 18W fast charging via USB Type-C, and a triple card tray for two SIM cards and a MicroSD card.
Earlier this year, during the Consumer Electronics Show 2020 (CES), Samsung unveiled its new premium and gorgeous-looking Chromebook, named Samsung Galaxy Chromebook.
Now, the company has revealed that the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook will be officially available for purchase in the United States from 6th April. The device is priced at $999 and comes in two color options — Fiesta Red and Mercury Gray.
The Galaxy Chromebook is the first Chromebook coming from Samsung to have the Galaxy name. With an aluminum body design and a 4K UHD AMOLED touchscreen display, this new Chromebook seems to have been made to impress.
Coming to the specifications, it comes with a 13.3-inch 4K AMOLED touchscreen display with 3840 x 2160 pixels screen resolution. It is powered by Intel’s 10th generation Core i5 processor and is packed with up to 16GB of RAM (LPDDR3), and up to 1TB of SSD storage.
There’s a 1-megapixel camera placed above the display for video calling and another 8-megapixel camera placed above the keyboard, allowing you to take photos with it when using in tablet mode.
It also has a stylus that fits in a slot just beside the USB Type-C port on the left, allowing you to write and draw fluidly on the screen. You can also use it to navigate the system. Further, you get Google Assistant, stereo speakers (2W x 2), a fingerprint scanner, and a backlit keyboard. There’s WiFi 6 for superfast connectivity and the Galaxy Chromebook has two USB-C ports, a 3.5mm microphone and audio jack, and a UFS/MicroSD card slot.
Last week, when Huawei took the wraps off its P40 series, it also announced a new version of EMUI. The new EMUI 10.1 brings lots of new features including an AI Voice Assistant, a video calling app called MeeTime, new themes, and an improved AoD feature among others.
While it is a no-brainer that the Huawei P40 series will ship with the new version out of the box, the manufacturer knows folks are eager to know if their devices will get the update and when. Huawei has now released a list of eligible devices and the schedule for the EMUI 10.1 update.
According to the list, a total of 36 phones will get the EMUI 10.1 update and this includes Honor devices though some Honor phones will get it as Magic UI 3.1. Below are the devices and the timeframe for the update:
At the Vivo S6 launch event, the smartphone maker also announced a new pair of wired earphones. Priced at 129 Yuan, the brand claims it to offer an exceptional audio listening experience in both media consumption and calls.
The all-new Vivo wired earphones come in a dual-tone finish comprising of silver and black colors. It features an L-shaped 3.5mm headphone jack port and a built-in mic as well as a single button to wake up Vivo’s Jovi AI virtual assistant.
The earphones feature 11mm drivers along with diaphragm made of carbon fiber composite. Vivo says this hardware combined with the company’s audio tuning will output phenomenal sound into the users’ ears. Interestingly, Vivo bets more on the microphone quality in this new pair of wired earphones. The brand has included a MEMS (microelectro-mechanical system) microphone with a larger mesh than the competition to pick up the voice in a studio-level clarity.
This new wired earphones from Vivo is priced at 129 yuan ($18) as mentioned earlier. It will go on sale starting April 3 alongside the Vivo S6 in China. Additionally, the brand is offering a 30 Yuan ($4) discount on these earphones exclusively for the buyers of the company’s new S6 smartphone. Thus, for those customers, it will only cost them 99 Yuan ($14) effectively.
Vivo launched the Vivo S6 5G today at an online event in China. The phone comes with the super-fast 5G support and a bunch of camera tricks that appeal to the young generation in China. Moreover, with Exynos 980 on board, the phone packs enough power to tackle intensive tasks like gaming with ease.
The Vivo S6 5G comes with a familiar 3D curved design with a couple of interesting colors like Gradient Purple-Blue and Light Blue. As the company mentioned in one of its earlier teasers, the brand has limited the phone’s weight to just 181 grams, less than its predecessor. Vivo has also ditched the diamond-shaped camera housing from the Vivo S5 in favor of a simpler round camera design. This camera housing features a quad-camera setup and the flash is placed outside, just below it.
The Vivo S6 comes with an under-display fingerprint sensor.
Vivo S6 Specs
Under the hood, the Vivo S6 5G features the 8nm Exynos 980 upper mid-range 5G processor. This is paired with LPDDR4X 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage. It supports both SA/NSA 5G standards and comes in a dual SIM dual standby variant.
There’s a 6.44-inch AMOLED HDR10 certified waterdrop display up front with 2400 × 1080 FHD+ resolution, 103% NTSC ultra-wide color gamut and ultra-high contrast of up to 1200000:1. The phone also features the company’s Multi-Turbo technology. This consists of six individual technologies which include CPU Turbo, AI Turbo, Net Turbo, Cooling Turbo, Game Turbo, and ART++ Turbo. The company claims that the new generation of Cooling Turbo on the Vivo S6 reduces the phone’s temperature by up to 10° celsius as compared to its predecessor.
Under the hood, the Vivo S6 5G comes with a 4500mAh battery, that’s larger than the S5. However, what’s really surprising is that it supports just 18W charging technology. To recall, even the S5 had a 22.5W charger, so it is really disappointing to see Vivo downgrade the charging tech on the new model.
Vivo is offering a bunch of software features like intelligent image recognition, app sharing, and screencast. As for connectivity, you get a dedicated 3.5mm headphone jack, Wi-Fi ac, and Bluetooth 5.1. The phone is also Hi-Res certified!
Vivo S6 Camera
The Vivo S6 5G comes with more or less the same camera specs as its predecessor. This includes a 48MP primary shooter that’s paired with an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens, 2MP depth of field lens, and a 2MP macro lens capable of 4cm close-up shots.
The Vivo S6 supports 4K video shooting and 1080P real-time beauty mode shooting too. There’s a special dual view video mode that displays the video streams from the rear and front cameras simultaneously on the screen.
The real highlight of the Vivo S6 5G is its front camera. Featuring the same 32MP selfie shooter like its predecessor but with a larger f/2.08 aperture, the phone has a few tricks up its sleeve. For example, the S6 supports EIS on both front and back cameras. It has a new Super-Clear night view selfie mode that uses new super night view algorithms and lights up the screen upfront for brighter selfies when the lighting goes down. The selfie shooter also has 6 preset beauty makeup modes to liven up your selfies.
Vivo S6 5G Pricing & Availability
The Vivo S6 5G comes in two variants at launch. The 8GB RAM and 128GB storage variant start at 2698 yuan ($381) while the 8GB and 256GB storage variant is priced at 2998 yuan ($423).
The phone will go on sale from April 3 via Vivo’s official store, Tmall, JD.com, and other major online and offline platforms.
8848, the Chinese luxury phone manufacturer has begun taking pre-orders for its 5G smartphone – the 8848 Titanium M6. The phone is powered by the Snapdragon 865 chipset, and with it being a luxury phone, it doesn’t come cheap.
The 8848 Titanium M6 5G has a starting price of ¥12,999 (~$1830) and goes up to ¥29,999 (~$4225). That sure is a lot to pay for a phone. The brand definitely has its target market and it sure wants to cater to their different styles which explains why there are 11 different variants of the phone. Below are all the variants along with their respective prices:
The 8848 M6 has a 6.01-inch primary display in front and a 1.19-inch circular display on the back. It has triple rear cameras with support for 4K video recording. The RAM is LPDDR5 and the storage is UFS 3.0. It also supports Wi-Fi 6, packs a 4380mAh battery, and runs Android 10.
You can pre-order for the phone on JD.com and Tmall. A deposit of ¥500 is required while full payment has to be made between April 8 and April 11.
The OPPO Find X and Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 from 2018 are some of the recent phones with slider design. However, these phones do not have full-fledged slider design like the newly unveiled Astro Slide 5G Transformer smartphone. Like the 10-year Nokia E7 phone, the Astro Slide 5G comes with a physical QWERTY keyboard.
The display of Astro Slide 5G Transformer can slide out towards the left to reveal its backlit QWERTY keyboard. When the device is used in a notebook-like mode, its interface automatically switches to desktop mode.
The device is equipped with a 6.53-inch display that has slim bezels on the sides. It is notch-less screen with a slightly thick chin. There is no information available on the screen resolution. The device supports dual OS booting and it comes with options like Android 10 OS and Linux OS.
The rear side of the Astro Slide 5G features a 48-megapixel camera. The configuration of its front camera is not known. The device promises immersive audio experience through its stereo speakers.
The Astro Slide 5G Transformer is driven by the MediaTek 1000 5G chipset that supports dual-mode 5G, but lacks support for mmWave. The device features 6 GB of RAM and it has a native storage of 128 GB. The device is backed by a 4,000mAh battery. Its other features include a fingerprint reader, a microSD card slot, pair of USB-C ports, dual nano SIM slots, e-SIM support, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, NFC and 3.5mm audio jack.
The Astro Slide 5G Transformer is now listed for crowdfunding on Indiegogo. Early bird buyers can get the device for $544. The device will retail at around $907. The shipments of the phone are expected to begin in March 2021.
Xiaomi Youpin platform has officially started the crowdfunding of a new product earlier today (31st March 2020). It is a dechlorinated shower head with a built in filter and has been made by Diiib. The retail price is 139 Yuan and crowdfunding starts from 69 Yuan (roughly 19.5 and 9.7 US Dollars).
Looking at the official images, the showerhead from Diiib is clearly follows a luxury design with white and rose gold color pallets. In other words, “beauty” was a clear focus alongside its disinfectant function. The head contains 40 dense water outlets through which small streams of water can be ejected. The size of these holes is 0.25mm, allowing for pressurized water outlet even in lower pressure.
The body itself is made from stainless steel with high durability and strong anti corrosion properties. Meaning, it will not rust or have spots on it easily and can maintain its looks for longer. One can easily disassemble it as well, with one single twist. It features a double filtration system, featuring a layer of activated carbon fiber element alongside. This absorbs any residual chlorine in the water while the cotton filter helps remove any minute particles and impurities that may be suspended in the water.
This also helps in the prevention of the holes being blocked. Notably, the filter has a pore diameter of 1-4 nanometers, making its absorption capacity far superior to traditional filters. Through its filters, one can also resist bacteria infection as it has a high antibacterial rate of 99 percent. One only needs to replace the filter if it takes a dark brown color, which should happen once every 2 months, typically.
While the white and rose gold shower heads are priced at 69 Yuan, the black version of the same is priced at 79 Yuan (roughly 11 US Dollars). Furthermore, the add on hose can also be purchased for 109 Yuan and 129 Yuan for the black version (roughly 15.3 and 18.7 US Dollars). Users can also choose a gift box option that arrives with an additional 3 filter elements and cotton filters alongside the shower head for 119 Yuan (roughly 16 US Dollars) and is currently available in Xiaomi Youpin platform.
Redmi K30 Pro is the latest flagship killer from the house of Redmi. This phone is the direct successor to the last year’s immensely popular Redmi K20 Pro. Though it is only the second generation flagship smartphone by the brand, it packs everything one needs in a premium device without shelling out more penny. Now, it is expected to get even better with third-party software development as the company officially releases its source code on GitHub.
Xiaomi is well-known for being developer-friendly since the beginning. This applies to Redmi as well because it still comes under Xiaomi even though it was termed independent in late 2018 before the launch of Redmi Note 7 series.
Due to this, Xiaomi smartphone users have been enjoying using a variety of custom ROMs based on new iterations of Android whenever releases. In fact, most enthusiast smartphone users buy Xiaomi products for this reason apart from bang for buck hardware they offer.
The Redmi K30 Pro runs Xiaomi’s MIUI Android skin, which although is feature-rich in its own way, is still not a cup of tea for everyone, even in its 11th generation. But thankfully, as Xiaomi has released kernel source code for the device, we can expect developers to come up with custom recoveries, custom ROMs, mods, and what not as an alternative to MIUI 11 that the device comes with.
A few days back, MIUI camera app from the then-latest MIUI 11 beta build clearly suggested the Redmi K30 Pro will launch under POCO brand in India. But yesterday the brand’s general manager C Manmohan denied the device being launching as Poco F2, however, he did not mean the product to not launch at all. Maybe, the device will be rebranded as something else for the country like Poco X2 Pro.
In recent times, the Coronavirus pandemic has been a cause for major alarm all across the globe. Various measures and diagnosis kits have been developed so far but none of those are generally available to the public or are easily obtainable. However, the wearables on your wrists might be useful in this regard and are more widely found.
To be fair, it is unfortunate that Apple Watch, Fitbit and other WearOS featuring gadgets cannot measure temperatures. For those unaware, Coronavirus infection is mainly deduced through fevers (high temperature) and issues with the respiratory system as primary symptoms. However, for those that still wish to track their temperatures due to fears of the case of the cough that isn’t going away, can still manually upload the data.
One can regularly check their temperatures and input the data into your results in Apple Health or Google Fit for now. Thereafter, it will be easier in consulting your physician with precise data, if in case the health deteriorates and the temperature rises. Another very helpful took offered by such smartwatches includes the heart rate monitor. Current gen wearables can alert users to possible warning signs of atrial fibrillation or sleep apnea. But they can also show signs of your body fighting flu like symptoms if you can spot it.
Meaning, the fluctuations in heart rate during sleep can also be a signal that your body is fighting the Coronavirus infection. According to reports, your heart’s BPM (beats per minute) can be slightly but noticeably higher during sleep, if you are fighting the flu like an infection. So knowing your heart rate on an average day is also recommended.
Oneplus 7 and OnePlus 7T series are the company’s best-ever smartphones till date. Although the launch of the OnePlus 8 series is nearing, the brand keeps on pushing new updates to its old phones to keep the users entitled. Currently, the company is rolling out new OxygenOS stable builds to last year’s OnePlus 7, OnePlus 7 Pro, OnePlus 7 Pro 5G, and OnePlus 7T Pro 5G. The changelog for all these devices include one thing in common and that is March 2020 security patch.
OnePlus 7 / OnePlus 7 Pro OxygenOS 10.3.2 Stable Update
Apart from March 2020 security patch, the new update for the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro brings optimizations in RAM management, improvement in system stability, fix for known bugs, stability improvement in slow-mo video recording, fix for random disappearance of screenshots in the gallery, and fix for video playback lag in the gallery app.
Below-listed is the official changelog provided by the company.
System
Optimized the Ram management
Improved system stability and fixed known issues
Updated Android Security Patch to 2020.03
Gallery
Improved stability for recording videos in slow-mo
Fixed the random disappearance of screenshots in Gallery
Now play videos without any lags
OnePlus 7 Pro 5G OxygenOS 10.0.5 Stable Update
The OnePlus 7 Pro 5G is also receiving the new stable update alongside the non-5G version. However, only the European version of the device is receiving the new update as the US Sprint version has a different update schedule.
The official changelog for the update is as listed below.
System
General bug fixes and stability improvements
Updated Android security patch to 2020.03
Network
LTE CA combination now supports 5G connectivity to increase stability and speed of network connections
OnePlus 7T Pro 5G OxygenOS 10.0.31 Stable Update
Last but not least, the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G, the second 5G smartphone from the brand, which also doubles as the McLaren Edition in specific regions, is also receiving a new stable update. Just like the previous model, the update is currently limited to a certain version of the device, this time being T-Mobile. But other versions are also expected to receive this update sooner or later.
Here’s the official changelog in case you are interested in it.
Huawei had recently launched its latest flagship series, the P40. Now, DxOMark has just released its testing results of the Huawei P40 Pro, which has achieved the highest camera ratings ever from a smartphone, with an overall score of 128 points.
Huawei P40 Pro has now beaten the Oppo Find X2 Pro, the previous DxOMark rating leader that scored 124 points in total. For those unaware, DxOMark is a renowned brand that tests digital professional grade cameras and smartphones as well. Their review has become a staple in the industry, especially for flagship reviews and devices have also been advertised having high scores through the reviews.
Now, the Huawei P40 Pro is the latest flagship series from the Chinese tech giant and succeeds the P30 series. It features a very large 1/1.28″ 50MP Quad-Bayer primary sensor that produces 12MP image output. In other words, pixel binning is used to increase the dynamic range and low light capabilities. Through this lens, the smartphone has achieved an impressively high score of 140 in still photography and 105 points for videography.
In terms of photography, certain areas received particularly high scores. This includes its Zoom performance with its 5x optical telephoto lens, fast and accurate autofocus, great exposure and color reproduction. Similarly, the Huawei P40 Pro was praised for its low light performance and its ability to reduce texture noise from images while also retaining relevant details.
For videos, color reproduction was once again a leading aspect, however, the stability when capturing video was the highly praised feature. The Huawei P40 Pro is capable of recording videos from 1080p and 4K at 30 and 60fps on the main camera. Thus, stabilization is an important part of it. But, the company has offered industry leading video stabilization, with the best DxOMark has ever seen.
All in all, the Huawei P40 Pro takes amazing images, with decent details, exposure, and consistent autofocus. But, may occasionally suffer from white balance issues, underexposure and lack of fine details. While the video stabilization is one of the best ever, with vivid colors and wide dynamic range, its white balance again takes a hit in certain scenarios while sharpness between frames is often noticeable as well.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is expected to go official on April 2. The LTE version is now listed on Amazon Germany ahead of its announcement, but its sales haven’t started. Tipster Ishan Agarwal has teamed up with Pricebaba to share the renders and pricing of the Wi-Fi only version of the tablet.
The newly leaked renders of the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite have shown that it will be available in Slate Grey and Light Blue colors. The screen of the device is surrounded by thick bezels and it features a USB-C port and an external speaker at its bottom. The right spine of the slate features a power button, a volume rocker and a SIM card tray. The Slate Gray Galaxy Tab S6 Lite will come with a gray colored S Pen whereas the Light Blue edition will come with the same colored stylus.
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The Galaxy Tab S6 Lite was found listed on the retailer site with a pricing of 428.44 euros (~$469) for the LTE edition. The new leak reveals that its Wi-Fi only version will be costing 399 euros (~$437).
The Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is fitted with a 10.4-inch LCD panel that delivers 1200 x 200 pixels resolution. The Exynos 9611 and 4 GB of RAM. The device is expected to arrive in 64 GB and 128 GB storage versions and there will be a microSD card onboard for additional storage.
The Galaxy Tab S6 Lite has a front-facing camera of 5-megapixel and it has a rear camera of 8-megapixel. The Android 10 OS along with One UI 2.0 will come preloaded on the device. The tablet houses a 7,040mAh battery and is equipped with AKG-tuned quad cameras. The connectivity features of the Tab S6 Lite include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, NFC, GPS, USB-C and 3.5mm audio jack.
Huawei officially unveiled the P40 series and Huawei Watch GT 2e last week at an online-only event in Paris. Long before that in November 2019, the Chinese telecom giant also launched MatePad Pro, its flagship tablet in China, which they eventually brought to Europe in February 2020. Now, the company is set to bring all of the above-mentioned products to Malaysia very soon.
Huawei has been facing difficulties in selling its devices in the international markets after the US government added it to the entity list in May 2019. But still, the company has been trying hard to bring its innovation to other nations apart from its home country China.
The biggest hurdle for Huawei to sell devices running Android is that it no longer has access to Google Mobile Services. Thus, all of its new Android devices including smartphones and tablets are devoid of Google Play Store and other most-used necessary Google services. This makes the Huawei-made devices a tough sell in global markets.
Thus, to overcome this situation, the Chinese tech giant released HMS Core (Huawei Mobile Services), which comes pre-installed on new devices from the company including the Huawei P40 Series and Huawei MatePad Pro that are about to launch in Malaysia. On the other hand, the Huawei Watch GT 2e, which is a sporty makeover of the original Huawei Watch GT 2 runs proprietary software.
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Huawei Watch GT 2e Volcano
The Malaysian launch, as well as the pricing of these Huawei devices, are unknown at the moment. However, the company is giving away a RM 30 discount voucher for simply subscribing to updates on these products on its official website. Ironically, this voucher cannot be used to buy any of the aforementioned products launching soon in the country.
For reference, we have listed the European pricing of the upcoming new Huawei gadgets along with their Malaysian Ringgit conversion rates.
Huawei had announced its financial report for the year 2019, earlier today (31st March 2020). After this, a senior executive from the company commented on the ongoing news regarding the US limiting TSMC chip supply to Huawei.
According to Xu Zhijun, the Deputy and Rotating Chairman of Huawei, “The Chinese government will not let Huawei be dominated or ignored. I believe the Chinese government will take countermeasures.” This means that if the US Government measures are implemented, then China will have no choice but to take similar measures against certain companies as well. Meaning, another trade war could start from this ordeal.
Xu Zhijun read the report from Reuters and People’s Daily and thinks it endangers the global ecology. He called out the US for arbitrarily modifying corporate product specifications which could lead to some devastating effects, or what Xu refers to as Pandora’s Box (a mythical object that contained human evils and plagues). The senior executive believes the impacts of this could potentially harm companies across the globe and their supply chains and not just Huawei.
Xu Zhijun further added that he believes” this message is false, otherwise there will be endless troubles. Players at any stage of the global industry chain will have a hard time staying alone.” Additionally, the Chinese government taking similar actions might lead to further tensions between the two nations and their trade regulations.
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