Xiaomi today announced the Mi CC9 Pro which is expected to launch globally as Mi Note 10. The device was promoted mainly with the 108MP Penta-camera setup that adorns the rear panel. Although we are yet to get independent reviews or samples of the camera, the camera won’t likely be a disappointment going by the 121 points in garnered on DXOMark review. The score makes the Mi CC9 Pro Premium Edition the joint top-best smartphone camera with the Huawei Mate 30 Pro, and Xiaomi isn’t keeping quiet about it.
The Chinese tech giant held a light show on its Science and Technology Park in Beijing where it used LEDs to spell the words “DXO NO.1.” P.S. We had initially thought it was done using LED but a closer look shows it is just the bright white lights on some of the offices within the massive edifice that were put to use. Quite ingenious!
Until recently, Xiaomi hasn’t really focused its attention on the camera hardware on its smartphones. But in recent times, we have seen the tech giant released several models with top-of-the-pack camera specs. The Mi CC9 Pro took things to a different level as the premium device emerged as the first non-flagship model to rank among the top 10 highly rated models on the benchmark outfit. It also is the first and only device not using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800-series SoC on the top 10.
The Mi CC9 Pro features a Snapdragon 730G SoC. The SoC may indeed have contributed to the amazing performance of the device. The chipset features a better ISP and DSP than last year’s Snapdragon 845 chipset. That is not to in anyway whittle down the amazing piece of work Xiaomi did in combining five camera sensors, including Samsung’s 108MP ISOCELL sensor. After all, the OPPO K5 uses the same Snapdragon 730G SOC but doesn’t have a camera setup as good as the Mi CC9 Pro’s.
The Mate 30 Pro has just 2 points higher than the Mi CC9 Pro in terms of still photos (132 to 130points). In the video segment, DXOMark says the ICC9 Pro’s score of 102 is the highest it has recorded so far, edging out both the Google Pixel 4 and the Samsung Note 10+ 5G by 1 point.
It feels like it has just been two months since Huawei announced the Nova 5. However, it has been 5 months already, and that is a long time in the smartphone industry. A successor called the Nova 6 5G is coming soon and a press render of the red variant has leaked.
The image was shared on Twitter by Evan Blass and it shows the Nova 6 5G in a color that can be called Sunset Red. The phone has a punch-hole in its display for two selfie cameras just like that of the Galaxy S10+ but on the opposite side.
Unlike the Nova 5 which has an AMOLED screen with a waterdrop notch, the Nova 6 5G has an LCD display which explains why it has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner and not an in-display fingerprint scanner. However, the phone is reported to have a 90Hz refresh rate, a first for a phone with an LCD display. This is the same display the Honor V30 5G has been reported to have.
The phone has triple rear cameras on the back and what we believe is a laser focus system flanks it on the right. Just like the Nova 5, it has the Nova branding at the bottom. You can also see the word “Nova” written multiple times across the back.
Although the Nova 5 isn’t a flagship phone, the Nova 6 5G will be since it has support for 5G and the Kirin 990 5G is Huawei’s only processor with an integrated 5G modem. The rest of its specs and camera configuration are still unknown. Its launch date is also still under wraps but we expect the Nova 6 5G will arrive later this month.
Xiaomi haven’t exactly been around for a long time, but they’re still one of the only Chinese companies to see such monumental growth in such a short time. Xiaomi’s Lin Bin was interviewed earlier today after the launch of the Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro, and he reveals details about the structural changes within Xiaomi in the recent years.
First of all Lin Bin is apparently not too happy with being out and about for the company. This is also the first time that Lin Bin has been interviewed by the media since Xiaomi’s IPO. He said that after the listing of Xiaomi, he experienced a series of organizational restructuring, which has led him to focus more on internal tech development.
He claims he much prefers being inside the company helping develop new products and technology, but was asked to represent Xiaomi for the product launch. He then goes on to talk about the inner changes that have happened to the company, including the formation of the camera department and expansion of the R&D team.
While the company only had about 400 workers in R&D before 2016, now they’ve added more than 3700 workers to the R&D team. On top of this, the company has also opened up R&D centers in places like Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai and Bangalore. The biggest change has been the conception of Xiaomi’s own camera department, which now has bore fruit.
In May 2018, Lei Jun sent an internal letter to Xiaomi employees. In this letter, he said that Xiaomi will set up a separate camera department in the mobile phone department, and it will concentrate on using the company’s resources to produce better phone cameras. He then appointed Zhu Dan as the general manager of the camera department.
Lin Bin also revealed that Xiaomi MIX Alpha was a very radical attempt to change things up even from inside Xiaomi. He had almost given up on it, when the R&D teams managed to produce a working unit. “I have confidence in Xiaomi’s research and development, and at the same time, it is more responsible for young people, such as Lu Weibing of Redmi, Wei Siqi of CC series, etc.” Lin Bin said.
In the latest organizational restructuring, Lin Bin was appointed as the vice chairman and will continue to serve as executive director and president of the company, responsible for managing the company’s mobile phone R&D department. This is also a continuation of the organizational restructuring after the listing of Xiaomi.
“After the listing of Xiaomi, the organization structure has been continuously adjusted, and it has also moved to the new park. Up to now, these adjustments have basically ended.” Lin Bin claimed. According to him, Xiaomi’s work style has changed from before, and Xiaomi pays more attention to technology trends and changes.
He then goes on to talk about the recently launched Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro. “It’s harder to make a camera than to make a mobile phone.” According to him, although the Mi CC9 Pro managed to tie with the Huawei Mate 30 Pro over on DxOmark, Lin Bin says they could’ve boosted the score higher if they had two to three more weeks to work on it.
Lin Bin revealed that Xiaomi set up a core device department in 2016, including the camera team. In May 2018, the camera team then expanded and became more independent, experimenting with integrated software, algorithms and other teams. At present, the camera department has 9 R&D centers around the world.
Ending the interview off, Lin Bin hints that Xiaomi have a lot more “secret projects” in the works that will be launched next year, and that they’re going to be very exciting. He also states his hopes that the camera and imaging systems next year will be even better than what we’ve seen with Mi CC9 Pro, which is absolutely insane.
The Mi Watch launched today as Xiaomi’s very first Mi-branded smartwatch. It has a rectangular dial and runs a custom version of WearOS called MIUI for Watch. While the design of the watch no doubt resembles that of the Apple Watch, there isn’t anything we can do about that. Xiaomi has released a special post on Weibo explaining why it settled for a rectangular dial.
Better Space Utilization
There is no disputing that a rectangular screen that has the same area has a circular display can display more information than the round display. There is a reason why several of the electronics we have with a display have rectangular screens. Unlike circular displays, text or images aren’t cut off.
Better for reading
Our eyes have grown accustomed to reading from a rectangle. From books to screens, to billboards, a rectangle is better to display text.
Better Navigation
Xiaomi adds that a rectangular display is better for navigation. With a rectangular display, the screen can be navigated sideways, upwards, or downwards, and MIUI for Watch has been designed to work this way. However, they claim it isn’t so easy when it comes to a circular display.
It has been reported that Xiaomi will launch a Mi Watch Pro in a few months that comes with a circular display which sounds ironical considering that they are championing a rectangular display as being better for smartwatches.
Manufacturers are always working on developing their next devices and today, the CEO of Blackview teased the upcoming Blackview A80 Pro on his Facebook page. The photo doesn’t reveal the whole body of the device but from what is revealed, we can tell that the phone will be coming with a quad-camera setup located on the top left corner of the back cover. Also, there is a fingerprint sensor placed on the back, the good old classic spot for most phones.
Following the tease from the CEO, another render appeared showcasing a device in three colors. According to the source, the photo shows the Blackview A80 Pro as it too comes with a quad-camera setup and its body is slim with 3D glass applied. The render suggests that the phone could be available in Black, Red, and a trendy Gradient color. However, there is no information about the color palette of the gradient one.
As for when the device will hit the market, information say that it will be available this month and that it will be a mainstream device. So far, Blackview is known for its excellent rugged smartphones so, could the Blackview A80 Pro combine rugged features with the design that we see in the photos in order to stand out in the saturated mainstream smartphone market? Time will tell. Until all the specs surface, you can check out the other new models from Blackview, the flagship BV9800 Series that is currently campaigning on Kickstarter until November 8th. The top version BV9800 Pro is on offer for just $429 with a very limited quantity.
Xiaomi just left everyone surprised by unveiling a smartphone with a 108 MP Penta-camera: the Mi CC9 Pro. According to the known portal DxOMark, it is the best camera phone out there alongside the Huawei Mate 30 Pro. Yet it is a pretty affordable device since not all of its specifications are flagship-grade. That is why, while waiting for its global launch as under the Mi Note 10 moniker, we decided to compare it with other affordable high-end smartphones and flagship killers actually available. For this comparison, we chose the Realme X2 Pro and the Oppo Reno 2 since they are among the most wanted devices in the same price range.
Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro vs Oppo Realme X2 Pro vs Oppo Reno2
Oppo Realme X2 Pro
Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro
Oppo Reno 2
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT
161 x 75.7 x 8.7 mm, 199 g
157.8 x 74.2 x 9.7 mm, 208 grams
160 x 74.3 x 9.5 mm, 189 g
DISPLAY
6.5 inches, 1080 x 2400p (Full HD+), Fluid AMOLED
6.47 inches, 1080 x 2340p (Full HD+), Super AMOLED
Penta 108 + 5 + 12 + 20 MP, f/1.7, f/2.0, f/2.2 and f/2.4
32 MP f/2.0 front camera
Quad 48 + 13 + 8 + 2 MP, f/1.7, f/2.4 and f/2.2
16 MP f/2.0 front camera
BATTERY
4000 mAh, fast charging 50W with SuperVOOC Flash Charge
5260 mAh, fast charging 30W
4000 mAh, fast charging 20W with VOOC Flash Charge 3.0
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
Dual SIM slot
Dual SIM slot
Hybrid Dual SIM slot
Design
Despite being an astonishing camera phone, for the Xiaomi Mi C99 Pro, the company did not focus so much on providing an innovative design. It is a very elegant and suggestive handset, but the Oppo Reno2 is undoubtedly more original and attractive. It has a notch-less display with very narrow bezels, as well as a shark fin motorized pop-up camera and amazing build quality including a Gorilla Glass 6 front side glass and a Gorilla Glass 5 rear side. Each of these devices features an optical in-display fingerprint reader.
Display
The most advanced display is on board of the Realme X2 Pro. It is one of the most affordable devices with a flagship-class screen. The Realme X2 Pro is equipped with a 6.5-inch panel boasting the support to HDR10+ technology, a full DCI P3 coverage, and a 90 Hz refresh rate. It is an amazing panel for both multimedia and gamers. With its high 600 nits peak brightness and the support to HDR, even Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro has an awesome display, but it is far from the Realme X2 Pro.
Hardware/Software
Realme X2 Pro is way superior to both the Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro and the Oppo Reno2 since it has a better hardware department. The processor is the best one released by Qualcomm this year: the Snapdragon 855+ running at 2.96 GHz. Both Reno2 and Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro feature a midrange-class Snapdragon 730G chipset. Further, the Realme X2 Pro is the only with up to 12 GB of RAM and even the only to come with a UFS 3.0 native storage (the configuration with 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage is UFS 2.1). Android 9 Pie is preinstalled on each of these phones, but on the Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro it is customized by the MIUI instead of the ColorOS found on the Oppo Reno2 and Realme X2 Pro.
Camera
Despite being a mid-ranger, the Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro is one of the most awesome camera phones out there. It is equipped with a Penta-camera including a top-class 108 MP primary sensor, 5x optical zoom, an ultrawide sensor, a dedicated macro camera, and OIS. While it wins the comparison, Oppo Reno2 takes the second place with a 48 MP quad-camera supporting OIS. Realme X2 Pro’s camera is its weakest point: despite it has a 64 MP resolution, its primary sensor is midrange-class.
Battery
After the camera, battery life is the biggest advantage offered by the Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro. The battery has a huge 5260 mAh capacity and it fully charges in just 65 minutes thanks to 30W fast charging. Realme X2 Pro charges even faster: you need just 35 minutes, but its battery is smaller and the battery life is shorter. Oppo Reno2 sits in the middle but it has a slower charging technology than Realme X2 Pro.
Price
Realme X2 Pro costs €399/$442 globally, Oppo Reno2 starts from €499/$552, and Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro starts from €360/$399 in China, but we still do not know how much it will cost globally. Overall, Realme X2 Pro is the most interesting device if you are looking for the best performance (and display), but Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro has an infinitely better camera department and a longer battery life. Oppo Reno2 is something in between: it boasts a better design than both its rivals and a good camera, as well as a longer battery life than Realme X2 Pro, but similar performance to Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro.
Xiaomi‘s ecological chain company Himo has gradually gained popularity as a manufacturer of nice and solid electric bikes. The company has recently launched a new foldable electric bike dubbed Himo H1. The model is the most portable model that has been launched so far. It can be folded to achieve a compact size that is no bigger than an A3 paper, weighing just 13kg.
Inside the box, there is the foldable electric scooter, an instruction manual, charger, a carrying case, and other accessories. The electric scooter comes completely assembled. All that needs to be done is to unfold, charge and use. To understand the compact nature which allows for the scooter to assume the size of an A3 paper, the entire structure is foldable, including the handlebar, all having folding locks.
Talking of the handlebar, it has a non-slip grip pad which is soft. The height of the handle can also be adjusted to suit the height of the rider. The handlebar also houses an LED display-packing instrument panel. The instrument cluster contains the headlight switch, an error prompt, the driving speed and the power switch.
The Himo H1 foldable electric scooter adopts a rear-drive design. It uses a 180W DC brushless low-speed motor with a rated voltage of 36V. The bike has a pair of foot pedals that are retractable, situated by the side of the front tires. They only function for footrest while in motion.
Powering the electric bike is a removable lithium-ion battery which is housed under the seat cushion. The battery can easily be removed for charging instead of keeping the entire scooter. It is compact and weighs just 1.8kg. The maximum capacity of the battery is 6000mAh and it requires just 5 hours to charge to full capacity. The battery supports up to 500 charge cycles with a lifespan of 2 years. The top speed the scooter than achieve is 18km/h which is pretty fast for such a small device. It equally comes with a cruising range of 30km.
The Himo H1 is on sale on Xiaomi Youpin for just 2999 yuan ($426). We don’t know when this amazing product will be available to buy outside China.
Earlier today, Xiaomi launched its first Google WearOS powered smartwatch which is simply called the “Mi Watch“. The key highlighting features of the smart wearable include a square 1.78-inch AMOLED display, heart rate monitor, NFC and support for e-sim which allows it to make phone calls directly, without having to connect to a smartphone.
In this article, we will put the newly launched Mi Watch against some of its competitors which include the Galaxy Watch Active 2 (44mm), Apple Watch Series 5 (44mm) and Huawei Watch GT 2 (46mm). Consequently, you will be able to choose the right smartwatch for yourself based upon your requirements.
Here is a specification comparison of all 4 smartwatches:
Xiaomi’s Mi Watch draws a lot of design inspiration from the immensely popular Apple Watch Series 5. Both of these devices sport a 1.78-inch square-shaped display with a ceramic back. In contrast, the Galaxy Watch Active 2 and Huawei Watch GT 2 have a round-shaped display that measures 1.4 inch and 1.39 inch respectively. Consumers who prefer a smartwatch that is not very distinguishable from a conventional wristwatch can choose either of these two.
Chipset, Software and Features
Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 – 40mm Aluminum
The newly launched Mi is equipped with the Snapdragon 3100 series SoC which is developed by Qualcomm. Rest of the three smartwatches in this comparison pack a chip that is developed in-house by their respective manufacturers. In terms of OS, the Mi Watch and Apple Watch Series 5 have MIUI based on Google WearOS and Apple’s WatchOS, both of which can be navigated via a crown and multifunction buttons which are mounted on the sides of the two devices.
The Galaxy Watch Active 2 runs on Samsung’s WearableOS 4.0 which is based on top of Tizen. Finally, the Huwaei Watch GT2 has a custom OS which has a very vanilla feel and looks similar to stock WearOS from Google.
All of these smartwatches support fitness tracking features like step counter, sleep tracker, and can display notifications from the smartphone. The Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch Active 2 support ECG functionality. Whereas one distinguishing feature of the Mi Watch is its SpO2 sensor which can be used to measure oxygen in the blood.
Battery
In terms of battery, the Mi Watch which is the most affordable smartwatch out of the bunch packs the largest battery which is rated at 570 mAh. In contrast, most expensive out of the pack, the Apple Watch Series 4 has the smallest battery which is rated at 296 mAh. The Huawei Watch GT 2 and the Galaxy Watch Active 2 are also equipped with decent sized batteries which are rated at 455 mAh and 340 mAh respectively.
The non-cellular variant of the Apple Watch Series 5 (44mm) starts from $ 429 while the 4G enabled variant starts at $ 529. However, with premium strap options, it goes all the way upto $ 1399. The Mi Watch is currently limited to China and it is offered in two variants which includes standard and premium. The affordable variant costs Yuan 1299 (~$ 185) while the top of the line variant costs Yuan 1999 (~$ 257). Cheerfully, innards of both the variants remain the same but the premium variant has a stainless steel strap, sapphire glass protection, and a stainless-steel frame.
The Galaxy Watch Active 2 (44 mm) starts at $ 299 for the non-cellular variant, whereas the variant with 4G is priced at $ 449. Last but not least, the Huawei Watch GT 2 is offered in just one variant that skips on 4G and it costs Euro 249 which roughly translates to $ 277.
All of these smartwatches have their own USP’s but the Mi Watch from Xiaomi seems like the most value for money offering in this competition. All in all, the support for e-sim, a large battery and a swift chipset makes it a praiseworthy product which the Chinese corporation has managed to price aggressively.
Which one out of these 4 smartwatches do you thing is the most well-rounded package? Let us know in the comments below.
Xiaomi is again set to ignite yet another flame with its upcoming smartphone, the Mi Note 10 with its launch set for November 6. The Mi Note 10 is already tipped to pack the same specs as the Mi CC9 Pro which was unveiled in China earlier today. Popular online retailer GearBest has now listed the Mi Note 10 o its platform and has indicated that the device will be sold first on its platform on November 6. This will potentially make the e-tailer the first to sell the Mi Note 10 online.
The premium mid-range Mi Note 10 will be released on November 6 at 19.00 UTC +8. It will be available to buy in three colour options; Black, Deep Green and White. Although the time may be modified, if it goes ahead as scheduled, you’ll be in good stead to get special privileges if you register on GearBest. There is a limited Early Bird special price offer which GearBet is ye to unveil but says is even lower than the official global launch price. There is also a “Lucky Draw” to be held on November 6 which will see a lucky chap go home with a unit of the Mi Note 10.
That isn’t all, you can also use the coupon: GBMINOTE10 to get a price slash when the official sales commence at 18: 30 UTC+8, 6th November 2019. You can find out more about the Mi Note 10 promo from here.
The Mi Note 10 is projected to be the “World’s first” 108MP Penta camera phone. The penta-lens camera setup consists of an OIS-enabled 108-megapixel primary lens, a 20-megapixel ultrawide lens with 117-degree field-of-view, an OIS assisted periscope 12-megapixel telephoto lens with support for 5x optical zoom, 10x hybrid zoom and 50x hybrid zoom, 2-megapixel a macro lens and a portrait lens.
The Mi Note 10 also excels in other aspects such as the display as it features a 6.47-inch curved AMOLED display with full HD+ resolution. The battery capacity is indeed another reason why you should want to own the premium device. You may never run out of battery with the Mi Note 10. Not only does it have a big 5260mAh cell, it equally comes with 30W fast charging said to go from 0 to 100% in just 65 minutes. The Xiaomi model is powered by a Snapdragon 730G chipset. The phone is also expected to utilise an in-display fingerprint sensor among others.
You can get more information about the Mi Note 10 from here.
Battery life in laptops used to be awful but things got better since hardware manufacturers released low-power components and high-density batteries that allowed for a bigger battery to fit into the same space. The Chuwi UBook Pro features a power-conservative Intel Core m3-8100Y CPU and despite the slim profile of the 2in1 laptop, it should have a great battery performance. But, does it? Let’s see in the battery life test of UBook Pro.
Office scene
The first test is a simulation of office work, based on web browsing and document editing. As the device is mostly addressed to office personnel and students, it is the most important of all. As seen in the video below, 30min of web browsing consume 7% of the battery and 30min of document editing consume 5%. This means that you can go on for about 7 hours on a full charge.
Entertainment scene
Moving on to media consumption and gaming, the device lost just 13% of charge after 45min of online music playback while another 45min of 4K video playback consumed just 20% thanks to the UHD Graphics 615 GPU that supports hardware 4K decoding. That means about 4 continuous hours of 4K video playback on a single charge.
During the gaming test, the Core m3-8100Y processor proved to be quite powerful providing smooth experience during League of Legends gaming. It is not the heaviest gaming on earth but on the other hand, UBook Pro isn’t a gaming laptop either. During gaming, the battery went down just 22% in 30min.
Conclusion
After the test, UBook Pro still had 33% of battery left. According to the power consumption ratio calculated in the bar chart, UBook Pro can last 10 hours of office software usage or web browsing for 7 hours for every single charge. Obviously, the 38wh battery will take you through the day without the need for a recharge. Nevertheless, it supports PD quick charging, which can quickly restore full power without worrying about low battery.
Combined with the excellent power control of Core m3-8100Y processor, low power memory, fanless design, and other hardware configuration, the UBook Pro is a battery champ. The device is still in crowdfunding process on Indiegogo and you can find more information about it here.
If there is a list of the most unusual mobile devices ever made, the ASUS PadFone X should definitely appear on it. The PadFone X was released in 2014 when tablets were still pretty popular. Rather than buying two devices i.e. a phone and a tablet, you could purchase the PadFone X which is a phone that transformed into a tablet by simply docking it into a larger screen called the PadFone Station. Neat, right? It has been years now since ASUS ditched the PadFone series but the design may be making a comeback thanks to a recent OPPO patent for a foldable device.
ASUS PadFone X
A recently published patent which was filed at the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) back in April has revealed a possible future OPPO foldable phone that borrows a leaf from the PadFone X. The patent diagrams show a large screen device with a flexible display that can be folded. This large screen device has a connector on its back that lets you attach a phone to it.
When a phone is connected to the large display, the content on the phone automatically displays on it. This comes in handy if you want to watch a video, play a game, or edit a document or any activity that works better on a larger screen.
Unlike the PadFone Station which is solely powered by the PadFone X, OPPO’s own large-screen device can work on its own as it has a built-in processor and battery. However, its functions are limited when used alone. The patent shows that the larger screen device has a groove but the phone doesn’t flush with the rest of the body when docked in.
1 of 4
This is a different take on the foldable devices category and OPPO may as well succeed where ASUS failed. Some of the complaints of the PadFone X include its very huge bezels and weight (when docked), so we expect OPPO will find a way to solve these issues. Android is also now better-suited for productivity with features such as split-screen multitasking and support for floating apps. We also won’t mind having a pressure-sensitive stylus.
OPPO and its sister company, Vivo, have demonstrated that they can pioneer new designs that will eventually be the industry standard. While the patent above isn’t entirely original, we sure do look forward to seeing OPPO release a device based on the design in the near future.
Nova Launcher is the popular third-party launcher for Android devices. It’s the king of launchers and brings several advanced animations, features, and enhancements to the old as well as the latest smartphones. There is a huge fan following for Nova launcher due to its compatibility with several theme engines and mods available for Android. The simplicity to customize the launcher is the primary feature of the launcher. There are various other advantages of Nova Launcher that makes it the best and the most used launcher.
Discover Feed Integration (Dark Mode also available)
Swipe Gestures
Ability to create a new tab in the App drawer
Hidden folder swipe gestures
Quick shortcuts for app actions
Notification badges
Adaptive Icons
There is a freeware and a premium version of the Nova Launcher available via the Play Store. The Pro version retails for $4.99, but it’s a one-time amount to unlock unlimited possibilities. By paying the above fees, you will unlock various gestures, badges, and integrations.
We have concluded a list of best Nova launcher themes and setups that you guys can use or create yourself. Some of the setups have a backup file, which can be directly imported, but for others, you need to replicate the theme using the given icon pack and wallpaper. Before jumping into the list, follow the steps below to restore the backup on the Nova launcher theme and change icon pack.
How to restore the backup and change Icon pack on the Nova Launcher?
Please follow the steps below to restore the backup into the Nova launcher carefully.
Open Nova Launcher Settings by holding the tap on the home screen.
Now, choose Backup & import settings and select the import option.
Now select Backups and select browse and execute it.
Steps to change icon pack on Nova Launcher:
Open Nova launcher settings.
Select the look and feel option.
Now, select the theme icon pack you want to use.
List of Best Nova Launcher Themes
Minimalistic Nova theme
It uses a minimalistic artistic wallpaper and a minimalist clock. We can see how beautifully the author has utilized the sun in wallpaper by adding a clock precisely over it. However, the opacity is set to 75% on the drawer page. You can use the below ingredients to cook a similar look on your smartphone.
As the name suggests, it features minimal details about the widgets with neat and clean wallpaper on the background. The theme shows time, weather, calendar, and other information. To get the similar outlook, download the below-mentioned wallpapers, icons, and widgets.
This theme use Splendid Icon Pack with a beautiful vector wallpaper. It features an elegant clock crafted using Zooper widget. The bottom placement of the search bar is making it look magnificent. You get the same look by downloading the dependencies from below:
Are you fond of dark colors? Then you will surely love to make this theme as your home screen. It uses the Aivy widget to show Time, Weather, and Date information. Meanwhile, a beautiful minimalist wallpaper with Google Widget used via Zooper is a perfect combination. The grid size is set to 10 x 7. You can get the download links of the used things:
It is a beautiful red Halloween Theme with a lovely Time, and Date custom made KWGT theme. The search is also replicated by using Free 099 skin from Huk KGWT. However, Icon packs are also customized using the Icon Pack studio.
It is inspired by the dark green leaves placed with neatly located icons and widgets. It can be easily installed by using the below-mentioned material. The Setup uses the Rondo icon pack and a Ghosty widget for beautiful Date and Time alignment.
A beautifully designed set up made with the help of the KWGT app. It uses Moonshine Icon pack along with a minimalistic clouds wallpaper. The clock at the top is crafted from Ornate Kwgt skin. It is a bit advanced setup, as you need some knowledge to use KWGT. Here are files you need to download to get this theme set up on your phone.
A blue-colored clean setup with minimal clock and app icons. The color matching perfectly suits the icons and vice versa. It is another colorful setup which you can try if you want to give a neat look to your phone’s home screen. It also uses a KWGT widget with a desktop grid of 9 x 6. You can grab the ingredients of the above setup below:
It is inspired by the bat, and the darkness around depicts the night. A beautiful icon pack is making it more realistic. How can we forget about the Ghosty Date and time widget, which perfectly matches the scene? The interested users can easily install this theme set up by downloading the respective material.
It is a perfect sci-fi setup that holds an artistic touch. Thanks to the beautiful wallpaper, which is making it more fascinating. The icon pack on the bottom gives it a minimal yet a little colorless feel. However, the dullness of the icons is covered by the date and time KWGT widget. It is a beautifully crafted setup and can be used using the things below.
There are endless setups available for Nova Launcher. Everyone has their taste of design and wants to design the home page as per their own choice. Still, we have tried to bring some best and readily available custom setups for Nova Launcher on Android. If you have any recommendations, then do let us know via the comments below. Until then, enjoy these setups on your Android device.
Chinese TV maker Hisense and Korean tech giant LG Electronics are set to lock horns in court. LG is a household name in the electronics industry and Hisense is also a brand wIt a strong presence in consumer electronics products, best known for its TVs. Hisense is particularly a popular brand in the US. LG has sued Hisense for allegedly infringing on four of its patents. In the suit filed before a US court, LG claims that most of the Hisense TV models being sold in the US use as many as four of its patented technologies.
In the suit filed with the District Court of California, LG demanded Hisense stop using its patented technologies and pay damages. court filing details the infringed patents to include those that improve user interface and speed up data transmission based on Wi-Fi.
Hisense has aggressively been expanding its operations in the US in recent times. Apart from its blossoming US market, Hisense is also growing astronomically in other parts of the world. The brand was ranked as the world’s fourth-largest TV provider by sales in the first half of the year. It has been aggressively expanding its operations in the US.
Quite interestingly, LG and Hisense retail stores are usually situated side-by-side in most cities I have visited. But that doesn’t in any way suggest they are partners. LG seems to have stepped up measures aimed at curbing patent violations by both global and domestic rivals. LG reportedly sued three European home appliance manufacturers at a court in Munich in September alleging that they infringed its ice-making patents for side-by-side refrigerators. According to Jeon Saeng-gyu, executive vice president at LG Electronics, “The company will take stern measures against patent infringements in order to protect its intellectual property.”
A number of phone manufacturers have battery replacement plans where you can send in your old phone and have the battery replaced. The advantage is that you get to hold on to your phone for much longer and this also means there is less e-waste. Xiaomi also has its own battery replacement program and for a limited period, the service will cost 50% less.
The news has been well-received especially by owners of the Mi 6 flagship which launched in 2017 as it means the 2-year-old flagship can be held on to for longer. Its battery replacement is supposed to cost ¥99/15 (¥59 cost of battery + ¥40 for the replacement charge). However, the price slash means you only have to pay ¥49.5 (~$7).
The price slash began yesterday and it will run until the 10th of November. You also get a free screen protector applied for you. We have no info about the price for other models but since this is limited to China, not a lot of our readers will be able to take advantage of the price slash.
Google is finally rolling out the November security patch to enhance the overall security of the smartphone. It is a significant upgrade as it fixes 38 security vulnerabilities making Android much safer and secure. The new security patch is gradually rolling out to all the compatible Pixel devices like Pixel 2 series, Pixel 3 series and the recently launched Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL. Surprisingly, the November Security patch is not rolling for the first Pixel series, which was launched in 2016.
The November security patch has resolved 6 high-severity bugs in the main framework that could enable a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code under the privileged process. Similarly, several high-severity bugs in media framework and system are fixed in the November security patch.
Apart from the usual Security patch, the Pixel 4 series also received new camera enhancements which will improve the overall picture quality. Google has not highlighted any specific feature that has been upgraded in the Pixel 4 series camera but will enhance the picture quality. The update also added, “Smooth Display improvements” to fix the refresh rate adjustment issue, which was reported by several users and even got an eye of prominent media houses.
Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL series also received some improvements and new features. A notable Xbox Bluetooth controller mapping feature support has arrived for almost every Pixel device excluding the first generation Pixel. There were several improvements related to Google Assistant hotword, fix for devices getting stuck in bootloop, and a lot more changes are part of the latest update.
The new update will get on to each supported Pixel device by the end of this week. You can manually check for the update by heading to the settings panel. Moreover, if you want to flash the OTA or factory image, then head over to the source below.
While there are several phones with a punch-hole display from multiple manufacturers, only the Galaxy S10 series actually have one with an AMOLED display. It also means the Galaxy S10 and its siblings are the only with an in-display fingerprint scanner. That will change when the Vivo S5 launches.
The Vivo S5 will be the first Chinese phone with a punch-hole display and an in-display fingerprint scanner. Since it will have an in-display fingerprint scanner, it means its an AMOLED display. The info was revealed on Weibo by @Digital Chat Station.
This is definitely good news for fans of the punch hole design as this means that there will be several other alternatives to the Galaxy S10 series. Based on this, we can say for sure that the Redmi K30’s dual-punch hole display will be an AMOLED screen. Its predecessor has an AMOLED screen albeit one with a notch and it will not make any sense to fall back to LCD for the Redmi K30.
The OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro scheduled to arrive next year will also have punch hole displays and will definitely be AMOLED. We do not know other manufacturers that will jump on the train but there surely will be multiple options to choose from in the coming months.
The Vivo S5 will be announced on November 5. Other than its display and that it will come with quad rear cameras, the rest of the phone’s specs are still unknown.
Research firm IDC has today announced the result of market share in the Chinese market for 5G smartphones in the third quarter of 2019. According to the data revealed, Vivo, Samsung, and Huawei were the top three brands for 5G.
The report also reveals that the top three brands accounted for 92.8 percent of the market share for 5G smartphones in China for Q3 2019. Vivo ranked first in terms of market share, capturing 54.3 percent of the market.
There are two 5G smartphones from Vivo available in the market — iQOO Pro 5G and Vivo NEX 3, costing 3,798 Yuan (~$543) and 5,698 Yuan (~$815.05) respectively. Samsung, on the other hand, comes second with a market share of 29 percent. It is selling two devices in the market — Samsung Galaxy Note10 Plus and Samsung Galaxy A90 5G, costing 7,999 Yuan (~$1,144) and 4,999 Yuan (~$715) respectively.
IDC analysis adds that the 5G smartphone market in China is currently divided into two parts — “budget flagship” and “premium flagship”. While Vivo covers both these categories with its 5G devices, Huawei and Samsung have presence in the “premium flagship” market.
Apart from these three brands, Xiaomi is mainly present in the mid-to-high-end segment while ZTE and China Mobile have presence in the segment costing 4,000-4,500 Yuan which is around $572-644.
According to the “IDC China Smartphone Market Monthly Tracking Report”, as of September 2019, the total shipment of 5G smartphones is about 485,000 units.
A camera sample of the Mi Note 10 published on the Mi community by Xiaomi Poland revealed the existence of Mi Note 10 Pro. The post has a downloadable high-resolution Halloween-themed image in the Google Drive link. The EXIF data clearly states that the image was captured using a 108-megapixel camera on the Mi Note 10 Pro. The resolution of the image is a mammoth 12032 x 9024 pixels and size 71.8 MB.
This is not the first time the Mi Note 10 Pro was mentioned online. The device previously appeared on Thailand’s National Telecommunication and Broadcasting Commission (NBTC) during certification. The model number is M1910F4S. According to initial reports, the Mi Note 10 Pro is likely to feature a similar design as the Mi Note 10/CC9 Pro. The smartphone could be powered by the Snapdragon 855+. However, it is too early to speculate any further. Probably, the Mi Note 10 Pro may go official alongside the Mi Note 10.
The Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro has a 6.47-inch full HD+ curved OLED display with an in-screen fingerprint scanner. The device has the Snapdragon 730G under the hood that is paired with up to 8GB of RAM. It draws power from a 5,260 mAh battery that supports 30W fast charge. It is the “world’s first” smartphone with a 108-megapixel penta-camera setup.
The device uses Samsung’s 108-megapixel primary lens, coupled with a 20-megapixel ultrawide sensor with a 117-degree field-of-view. There is an OIS-assisted periscope 5-megapixel telephoto unit with 5x optical zoom, 10x and 50x hybrid zoom. The penta-camera system also features a 12-megapixel portrait lens and a 2-megapixel macro unit. For capturing selfies, it has a selfie snapper of 32-megapixel housed in the waterdrop notch at the front. It has arrived in China with a starting price of 2,799 Yuan (~$399).
Xiaomi‘s had plenty of big launches today, ranging from the impressive Xiaomi CC9 Pro to the new Mi Watch. This unveiling however, while not as big of a deal, was equally interesting to us. Amidst the TVs and smartphones, Xiaomi made time to launch two air conditioners, those being the Internet Air Conditioner and Internet Vertical Air Conditioner.
These new air conditioners put a heavy emphasis on saving power while still cooling very well. They all feature full DC frequency conversion technology to achieve this goal, which is a nice sentiment. The devices all follow the company’s minimalist design language, and they all come in the single white colour option. They also all feature mini displays for info.
On top of all this, the air conditioners also adopt a silent design, generating only 23dB of noise at the highest. They support automatic cleaning and as previously assumed, they’re also IoT devices. This means they can freely connect and interact with your other IoT devices. This continues Xiaomi’s focus on IoT devices, and it’s good to see them not drop the idea.
The pricing of the air conditioners is dependent on the horsepower of the model. The hanging house models come in a 1HP and 1.5HP variants that cost 2299 yuan ($329) and 2499 yuan ($358) respectively. The vertical models on the other hand come in 2HP and 3HP variants, for 4499 yuan ($644) and 5499 yuan ($787), making them significantly pricier.
After taking the Indian market by storm, Xiaomi now plans to make its presence felt in Japan. According to the latest report on Nikkei Asian Review, the confirmation came directly from Wang Xiang, Head of International Operations at Xiaomi. The Chinese tech giants plan to introduce its extensive range of smartphones and wearable devices by 2020. Although a deadline has not been announced yet, Wang maintains, “We should be able to establish our presence in Japan by 2020. The sooner the better”.
The list of products that Xiaomi plans to introduce is currently under wraps. According to Wang, the company plans to offer devices that the Japanese audience will enjoy. He claims Xiaomi is looking for local telecom companies to partner with, without taking names. Like the US, telecom companies are the largest smartphone distributors in Japan. Smartphone companies that do not have tie-ups typically struggle to gain a foothold in the country.
During the interactive media session on Oct. 4, Wang tried to downplay concerns about data privacy with Chinese companies. He referred to Xiaomi’s successful streak in Europe during the past decade in which the company made its foray in numerous European markets. He said, “We cooperate with companies like Google, and have a clean track record of adhering to personal data laws in Europe. We will do the same in Japan.”
The fourth-largest smartphone supplier in the world, Xiaomi plans to proactively establish its retail channels outside China. As of June 30, 2019, Xiaomi operates 520 Mi Home Stores outside China, recording year-on-year growth of over 90%. According to Akira Sugawara, a Senior Market Analyst at IDC, “With Japan racing towards adopting the 5G spectrum, Xiaomi might be able to find opportunities, as most major Japanese smartphone manufacturers are eyeing the premium category”.
“Xiaomi might find the perfect opportunity as the gap between market demand and supply increases. Even in the 4G sector, Japanese consumers are looking for value-for-money devices. If Xiaomi manages to offer its products within the $250 – $400 mark, It should be quite successful” Sugawara continues. “OPPO increased its shipment in the third quarter of 2019. Xiaomi might try to take a piece of the pie.”
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In this article, we will put the newly launched Mi Watch against some of its competitors which include the 
