More and more 5G devices from different manufacturers are coming to the market in parallel with the rollout of 5G networks, and it seems Nokia wants in. We’ve already heard rumors that the company was working on a 5G device, and now we’re getting more confirmation from NokiaPowerUser and their inside sources on the upcoming Nokia 8.2 5G.
According to them, HMD’s new 5G smartphone, which was teased as recently as last month, is indeed the Nokia 8.2 5G. It’ll reportedly feature an impressive quadruple-camera setup on the rear in addition to an all-new pop-out camera system up front much like its 4G LTE sibling. Yep, that means no notches or hole punch cameras here.
There’s going to be an interesting caveat to the device though. While HMD Global are calling the new device a value flagship, chances are it won’t actually feature flagship specs to help keep prices low. If this is true, then we’ll probably see a real 5G Nokia flagship with all the bells and whistles later, with the Nokia 8.2 5G here to cover more ground.
In an earlier interview, HMD Global’s CEO claimed the value flagship would cost half of your typical 5G device. Currently, most of the available 5G capable smartphones are priced around $1000, so it’s not unreasonable to expect the Nokia 8.2 5G to be priced around $500 at the time of launch. We look forward to seeing the device make its official appearance at MWC2020, since it would be a shame not to unveil there.
The Blade A7s is the latest entry-level ZTE phone to go official in China. The smartphone is an upgraded version of the Blade A7 phone that was made official in the country in May this year. The major selling features of the Blade A7s are tall aspect ratio display, triple rear cameras and big battery.
ZTE Blade A7s Specifications
The ZTE Blade A7s sports a polycarbonate body with glossy appeal. It measures 155 x 72.7 x 8.95mm and weighs 164 grams. The right edge of the phone has volume up and down buttons and a red colored power key. On the screen side, it comes with a 6.088-inch display with waterdrop notch. It supports 19.5:9 aspect ratio and HD+ resolution of 720 x 1560 pixels. ZTE claims that the phone offers a screen-to-body ratio of 89 percent.
The MediaTek Helio P22 chipset is the driving force of the Blade A7s. The budget-friendly phone comes with 4 GB of RAM and a big native storage of 64 GB. It receives power to perform from a 4,000mAh battery which lacks support for rapid charging. The large-sized battery that can last for 2 days on single charge promises 29 hours of local music playback, 15 hours of web browsing and 10 hours of online video playback.
The rear side of the smartphone sports a triple camera system with an LED flash. It comprises of a 16-megapixel main lens with f/2.0 aperture, a 120-degree 8-megapixel superwide lens and a 2-megapixel lens for adding depth effects. The front notch houses a 5-megapixel selfie camera with AI beautification features.
The ZTE Blade A7s lacks a fingerprint scanner. Hence, its users can only make use of the face recognition feature for unlocking. The handset runs on MiFavor 9.1 based Android 9 Pie OS.
ZTE Blade A7s Price and Availability
The ZTE Blade A7s is now up for pre-orders in China with a price tag of 799 Yuan (~$112). The smartphone will go on sale on Oct. 18. It can be availed in two colors such as Blue and Black.
In August this year, during Huawei Developers Conference in China, the company unveiled its much-anticipated Honor Vision Smart TVs which are running the company’s own HarmonyOS, touted as the replacement for Android.
Now, just a couple of months after its official launch, the Chinese giant is all set to launch the Honor Vision and Honor Vision Pro Smart TVs in the Indian market. The company has sent out media invites for a launch event in New Delhi on 14th October.
In the launch invite, the company mentions “Join us at the India Mobile Congress, as we unveil world’s first pop-up camera smart TV Honor Vision.” While the company doesn’t explicitly mention Pro variant, addition of words “pop-up camera” confirms that given that the Vision Pro is the only model to have a camera sensor.
Both the models of Honor Vision comes with 55-inch 4K HDR displays with NTSC 85% wide color gamut, 360nit brightness and wide viewing angles. There are 8 interchangeable display configs, including standard, soft, cinema, sports, children, games, pictures and bright, which should make things simpler for the average consumer.
On top of that, the display also has German TUV Rheinland low blue eye protection. The display is contained within a three-sided, borderless frame, with an impressive screen-to-body ratio of 94 percent.
The chassis is also nice and thin at 6.9mm, with a diamond textured “beauty back” and colourful breathing lights for aesthetic. Honor also touts their seamless 3D arc full metal bent middle frame, which should allegedly improve stability and durability.
Honor claims that its newly launched HarmonyOS will enable users to integrate their devices better, and the company plans to do this through a feature called Magic Link and their own AI assistant, YOYO. However, we don’t expect to see the company’s own voice assistant in the Indian market.
In terms of specs, it is powered by the new Honghu 818 SoC which features a quad-core CPU, with two A53 cores and two A73 cores, paired with a 4-core Mali-G51 GPU. It supports 8K@30fps and 4K@120fps super video decoding. In graphics decoding, the chip supports 64MP image decoding ahead of time.
The Huawei Vision has eight speakers, one subwoofer and one refractor to make for an intelligent sound system that provides a professional 5.1 sound effect. It also has intelligent sound field modelling and beam control.
It comes with several useful features such as One-Hop projection which allows users to project what is on their phone on to the display with a single touch to the remote. There is also Intelligent Live Control which allows you to control the device with your smartphone while Huawei Share allows you to easily send files like pictures to the TV.
The touch remote controller connects via Bluetooth 5.0 and comes with USB Type-C port at the bottom for charging. The company says that you only have to charge it once in 3 months. The remote has a power button, a smart key, and volume control keys. There’s a circular touchpad at the top and a dedicated microphone button flanked on the left by the Return key and on the right by the Menu key.
Redmi K20 Pro flagship smartphone from the Xiaomi’s sub-brand went through the DxOMark test for the camera benchmark. The overall camera score of the smartphone is 102, however it scored 108 points and 89 points for photography and videography respectively.
While the score of the Redmi K20 Pro isn’t something that places it in the top rankings, it is respectable considering the device’s price segment. The DxOMark report says that the Photo score of 108 is based on a solid performance across all test categories, without any glaring weaknesses.
In general, the camera is capable of producing images with good exposure and a good texture/noise balance in most situations. However, limited dynamic range and visible color casts in some conditions slightly negate the overall positive picture.
It goes on to add that the phone usually delivers consistently accurate target exposure in most situations and points that the phone’s main limitation in terms of exposure comes in the form of dynamic range.
Coming to the conclusion of the test, DxOMark mentions that there is room for improvement in some areas—for example, dynamic range, white balance and video detail—but from a photography point of view, the Redmi is a great value for the money overall and worth a close look from any mobile photographer on a limited budget.
The Redmi K20 Pro comes with a triple camera setup on the back that consisits of a 48MP 1/2″ Quad-Bayer sensor, f/1.75-aperture lens, PDAF and laser AF. It is coupled with a 13MP ultra-wide sensor with f/2.4-aperture lens and an 8 MP telephoto sensor with f/2.4 aperture lens. On the front, there’s a 20-megapixel snapper with f/2.0 aperture.
Rest of the specifications of the smartphone includes a 6.39-inch AMOLED display with Full HD+ screen resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, Gorilla Glass protection, and seventh-generation in-display fingerprint sensor. Under the hood, the device is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC with up to 8GB RAM and 256GB internal storage.
The phone is running Android 9 Pie operating system out-of-the-box with MIUI 10 on top but the company has now started rolling out the latest Android 10 version for the smartphone in China and India. The device is powered by a 4,000mAh battery which comes with support for 27W rapid charging.
OPPO Reno Ace smartphone that went official in China yesterday comes with the world’s fastest 65W SuperVOOC 2.0 charging technology for mobile devices. The Realme X2 Pro that is launching on Oct. 15 has many exciting features. Among them is the 50W SuperVOOC Flash Charge technology that can fully charge its 4,000mAh battery in just 35 minutes.
The 65W SuperVOOC available on the Reno Ace can charge its 4,000mAh battery in only 30 minutes. Realme X2 Pro’s 50W SuperVOOC is slower by just few minutes only. The Chinese firm claims that the 4,000mAh battery takes only 35 minutes to reach 100 percent through the new 50W SuperVOOC technology. By charging for 10 minutes, the Realme X2 Pro can 40 percent battery juice. The company added that the smartphone will also support USB-PD and 18W rapid charging technology from Qualcomm.
Realme has also revealed that the X2 Pro is equipped with vapour chamber liquid cooling, superconducting carbon fiber multi-layer scheme, multi-layer graphite sheet and other heat-dissipating materials. The advanced heat dissipation system ensures that the smartphone always in a high-performance state.
The company has also revealed that Frame Boost 2.0 increases stability by 41.1 percent while playing games by accelerating the frame rate. Touch Boost 2.0 increases the touch performance by 22.2 percent on the smartphone. For interrupted signal strength, the handset adopts 4×4 MIMO technology. The smartphone is also equipped with dual Wi-fi network acceleration technology that can connect to two Wi-Fi in different frequency bands of 2.4GHz and 5GHz simultaneously for faster and stable connectivity.
A 6.5-inch AMOLED full HD+ display with support for 90Hz refresh rate will be available on the Realme X2 Pro. It will be fueled by the latest Snapdragon 855+ chipsetv that works at 2.96GHz. The highest configuration of the X2 Pro will feature 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of inbuilt storage.
The ColorOS 6.1 based Android 9 Pie OS may come preloaded on the device. For capturing selfies, it will be featuring a 16-megapixel front camera. The rear shell of the phone has a quad camera system that includes a 64-megapixel Samsung GW1 sensor, a 115-degree 13-megapixel ultrawide lens, an 8-megapixel telephoto lens and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. It is also equipped with an improved in-display fingerprint reader. The pricing of the smartphone is currently under the wraps.
Looking for an inexpensive desktop mini PC that doesn’t disappoint in terms of performance? The HYSTOU H4 might just fill the bill.
With an Intel i5-8250U processor under the hood, the HYSTOU H4 is designed to offer a seamless video watching and game playing experience. Moreover, this highly configured machine delivers advance image processing and computing performance. It packs a highly competent Intel HD Graphics 620 GPU.
The HYSTOU H4 ships with 16GB of DDR4 RAM and offers a hearty 512GB of SSD storage space for you to save your favorite multimedia content, download and run useful applications without experiencing any sort of interruption. Furthermore, it runs the super fast Windows 10 operating system, which offers steady and fast configuration for work, playing games or even watching TV.
The desktop mini PC supports a three-screen display for minimum loading time and higher work efficiency without the system freezing and buffering. In terms of connectivity, it features HDMI, RJ45, DP, EDP, LPT, USB, and COM.
The feature-laden HYSTOU H4 would normally set you back $599.99 on both online, as well as offline stores. If you aren’t willing to spend that kind of money on a desktop mini PC, all you need to do is to apply coupon code GBCN16G512SSD before placing your order.
The coupon helps you save $40 more at checkout. In other words, you can bring the original asking price of the HYSTOU H4 desktop mini PC down to just $559.99 with the help of the aforesaid coupon. It is worth mentioning here that the coupon will be valid for the first 50 pieces only.
Moreover, you can redeem one item of your choice for spending over $20. To take full advantage of the coupon, which is likely to expire soon, simply follow this link without wasting time.
Consumer electronics (or home electronics) alludes to electronic appliances that come in handy in day to day life. These devices are usually used for entertainment, communication, and various other home-office activities.
While consumer electronics are ideal for everyday use, they aren’t necessarily easy on the pocketbook. Some home appliances cost a bomb, much to the chagrin of those who aren’t willing to spend a lot of money on these devices.
To make these highly useful electronic devices available to cost-conscious buyers, Gearbest has launched the Consumer Electronics Flash Sale. Touted as one of China’s best online stores for electronic items, Gearbest is offering a whopping 50% off on a wide range of consumer electronics.
To expedite and simplify the search process, products available for lowered prices as part of Gearbest’s latest promo have been split into specific categories. The first category called Hot Sale features the Alfawise HQB-Q32 TWS earbuds carrying a reduced price of $17.99. Note that it normally sells for $23.17.
You can even extend this 22 percent discount by applying coupon code GB0621Q3280 at checkout. The coupon helps you bring the already reduced asking price of the earbuds further down to just $16.99.
The following section dubbed Get 50% OFF Deal is loaded with amazing electronic items including wireless earphones, smart bracelets, etc from leading brands such as Bilikay, Gocomma, and Alfawise. More importantly, each product available under this section carries a noteworthy discount.
For instance, there’s a 53 percent off on the Bilikay KW19 Smart Bracelet, which usually retails for $35.99. Thanks to the aforesaid discount, the smart wearables can now be yours for just $16.99. Aside from that, you can get an add-on item for $8.99 if your cart value is $20 or more.
A slew of simply unmissable deals has been added to the next category dubbed Hot Deals. Loaded with well-received products from popular manufacturers, this category is a must-checkout for those who have restlessly been waiting to get their hands on top-end electronic items without emptying their pockets.
Music lovers can head straight to the TWS Earphones section, wherein they can avail great discounts on top-end music accessories that normally carry steep price tags. Fitness and sports enthusiasts have been offered a lot to cheer about in the Smart Watches section.
While smart wearables are garnering huge popularity among those who fancy keeping a track of their fitness, these devices are highly likely to burn a hole in your pocket. Thankfully, Gearbest is giving its loyal users a chance to buy their favorite smart wearables at lowered prices.
Aside from that, the Chinese online store is offering significant discounts on home security products under the IP Cameras section. The Earbud Headphones is another section dedicated to music lovers who do not want to spend tens of thousands of dollars on music accessories but don’t want to compromise on quality as well.
A myriad of newly arrived electronic products has been included under the concluding category called New Arrival. The section is crammed with all sorts of devices ranging from wireless earphones, smartwatches, home CCTV systems and lots more. It is worth mentioning here that all products available in this category carry big discounts which will be valid for a limited duration.
To ensure you do not end up missing these amazing discounts and great deals, all you need to do is to follow this link without wasting time. During the activity period, Gearbest will be offering 1/2 Price Coupon daily.
Music lovers who fancy listening to their favorite songs on the go spend a lot of money on music accessories such as Bluetooth speakers, and wireless earphones. Those who go for inexpensive alternatives, on the other hand, usually are disappointed with the inferior performance of the device.
If you are in the market for a low-priced, yet high-end earphone that offers a superior listening experience, we got good news for you. Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi is offering its well-received Xiaomi Air 2 Bluetooth 5.0 TWS Earphone for a considerably lowered price in collaboration with GeekBuying.
The irresistible Xiaomi Air 2 would normally set you back a pretty penny on both online, as well as offline stores, but you can buy it for just $ 78.99 from GeekBuying. This is a noteworthy 37 percent reduction in the earphone’s original asking price of $124.99.
On top of that, you can apply coupon code 3UROFICG for an extra $14 off. In other words, you can bring the already reduced selling price of the Xiaomi Air 2 earphone further down to just $64.99 simply by applying the above-mentioned coupon after you proceed to checkout.
An absolute steal at this price, the Xiaomi Air 2 Bluetooth 5.0 TWS Earphone comes with a Bluetooth 5.0 chip that delivers a stable and faster wireless connection. Moreover, it adopts a split-type true wireless design for flexible switching between single and binaural ears.
It uses dual-microphone array environment noise reduction technology to effectively minimize the environmental noise during calls, delivering superior call quality even in noisy environments. Furthermore, the Xiaomi Air 2 uses L HDC Bluetooth HD decoding technology for a lossless sound.
You can head straight to this link to check out more details about the Xiaomi Air 2 Bluetooth 5.0 TWS Earphone and place your order. New users can take advantage of the 2% Off New User Coupon and save more money. Note that the promo is slated to end soon.
The Honor 9X Pro Icelandic White variant has officially gone on sale in China. The device comes with a starting price of 2,199 yuan ($309). The offer is also bundled with other gadgets like a free 10,000mAH power bank, data cable, half-ear headphones and other gifts.
Huawei’s subsidiary Honor first unveiled the Honor 9X Pro Icelandic White variant in China last month. The device was originally scheduled to go on sale from October 1 but got slightly delayed. The device looks like a white coloured phone but upon viewing under a light source, different colourful hues appear. This gives the device a premium, attractive look.
Apart from the colour variant, the Icelandic White variant is similar to other versions. That is a 6.59-inch IPS LCD display, along with 19.5:9 aspect ratio and Full HD+ screen resolution. Under the hood, the smartphones are powered by the company’s own Kirin 810 octa-core chipset. While the Pro comes with up to 8GB RAM and maximum storage of 256GB (UFS 2.1), the standard model has up to 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. The smartphone packs an impressive 4,000mAh battery.
Banggood continues to live up to its reputation for offering the best bang for your buck by coming up with amazing promotions from time to time. Dubbed as Banggood 2019 Brand Sale, the latest promotion from the Chinese online store is simply unmissable. Let us see why.
It is no secret that products manufactured by leading brands such as Xiaomi, OnePlus, etc, don’t come cheap. To make top-branded electronics devices that usually cost a bomb available to brand-conscious buyers living on a tight budget, Banggood is doling out great discounts on products available on the promotion page.
Aside from taking advantage of the discounts available on high-end products, Banggood users also stand a chance of unlocking $100 Bonuses. To participate, all you need to do is to follow specific pages that lead to other Banggood promotions.
Products carrying heavily discounted price tags have carefully been added to dedicated categories to facilitate the search process. The first section dubbed, Brand Selected Products includes devices from OnePlus, Sonoff, Xiaomi, BlitzWolf and other well-known brands.
More importantly, these products are available for considerably lowered prices. For the sake of an instance, the Blitzwolf BW-FYE7 TWS Bluetooth 5.0 Earphone, which normally carries a $50.01 price tag, can now be pre-ordered for just $33.99.
To avail the discount, all you need to do is to apply coupon code BGFYYE7 at the time of checking out. The aforesaid coupon helps you reduce the already economical price of the earphone.
The Brand Special Offer category features products from partner brands. You can get your hands on these items without emptying your pocket. Note that the promo is valid for a specific period only.
The next section called Super Official Store features official online stores of popular brands including Xiaomi, BlitzWolf and more. Each official store offers a specific discount or a coupon code that can be used at checkout for a noteworthy discount.
For instance, the Xiaomi official online store offers an 18% Off Brand Coupon, BlitzWolf official online store gives you a chance to get 15% off by using a New User Coupon, Eachine online store on Banggood has a 9% Off Brand Coupon that can be applied for an additional discount during the checkout process. Likewise, you can get $126 Bonuses on the DIGOO official online store.
The promotion page features a Category Hot Trend List section, wherein Banggood users can get discounts on products from Drillpro, Geekcreit, Doniu, and Mustool. Other brands featured under the above-mentioned category include FrSky, Urijav, JRC, iMars, and 70mai.
The concluding section on the promotion page is called Brand New Products. Each product included under this section has been assigned a great discount that will be valid for a specific period. For example, the BlitzWolf BW-ES3 3.5mm In-ear Earphone has gone up for pre-order carrying a reduced price tag of $8.53.
This is a 66 percent reduction in the earphone’s original selling price of $24.99. Aside from that, you get free shipping on orders over $19.99. To grab this, and the rest of the time-limited offers, you need to head straight to the promotion page by clicking here.
BBK subsidiary OnePlus today officially unveiled the OnePlus 7T series in Europe. Just as we had thought, the OnePlus 7T Pro joined the fray after getting skipped during the Indian launch. During the launch event, OnePlus took guests through the features that come with the latest version of its Oxygen OS which is based on Android 10.
Among the software features showcased is a special feature that the coming is still working on called “Instant Translate”. The feature is borne out of the realisation that the OnePlus community cuts across different languages all over the world. Thus, the feature makes it easy for different persons who don’t speak one language to communicate with each other. If they are on a live video call, for instance, the software translates the speech of the caller and interprets on the screen in text format. Pete Lau referenced video call to work with the new feature but we expect it to be available on other aspects.
The feature seems to have drawn inspiration from Google’s Live Caption for Android 10, but instead of just captions, it instantly translates speeches. No doubt this is a useful feature but quite complex. We expect the company to officially unveil it soon but don’t expect to see too many supported languages up there at the start.
OnePlus didn’t say specifically when the new feature will roll out but says it is “coming soon”.
In just a couple of months, we’ll enter the year 2020. For some reason, 2020 has always been a significant benchmark for a lot of people, including tech enthusiasts. If you try to recall what you imagined 2020 to be, around 10 years back, I’m sure it would involve a lot of fancy things like flying cars, widescale commercial electric vehicles, the cure for cancer and whatnot.
But the past few years have more or less been about a bunch of trending apps and fancy software features. As for phones, I personally would have imagined most of us to have a foldable smartphone by now. After all, Samsung demoed its first flexible ‘Youm’ display 6 years back! And what about modular phones? That could have been the future of smartphones, right?
The fanciest smartphone that we have today is the Galaxy Fold which isn’t exactly durable. But the Fold could have had an even fancier competitor today – a modular smartphone – if only Google had managed to bring Project Ara to life.
Before we take a look at what happened to Project Ara, let’s first see why it’s worth remembering?
Project Ara was not a fancy idea from a startup. It came from Google, one of the world’s most resourceful tech companies.
Project Ara would have enabled smartphone users to upgrade their smartphones just by replacing a module. Imagine adding 5G to your phone by replacing the 4G module! No need to spend hundreds of dollars buying a new model.
Project Ara smartphone would have facilitated extremely easy repairs. It would have been as simple as sliding out a component like a display and replacing it with a brand new module.
A modular smartphone would have also helped reduce the growing e-waste problem.
Also, imagine the countless fancy modules that would have been available for our smartphones. Right from a projector module to one with a microscope, a regular smartphone could have been a lot more distinctive than what it is today.
So what happened to Project Ara?
Project Ara was probably too good to be true.
Google’s first real interest in a modular smartphone was revealed back in 2011 after it made a special purchase. The search engine giant acquired a bunch of patents from the struggling Israeli modular phone company, Modu, for $4.9 million. We knew something was in the cards back then but the first real announcement from the company came in October 2013, more than two years after this purchase.
Google officially revealed the Project Ara on October 29, 2013, further adding that it was working with Phonebloks to develop a modular smartphone. This was a really big deal back then, mainly because it was Google behind the project and modular smartphone as a concept was still in its nascent stages. After all, with Google on board, a modular smartphone concept didn’t look far fetched.
Things started moving quickly after this announcement. Next year, at Google I/O 2014, Google nearly showed off the first working modular smartphone prototype dubbed ‘Spiral 1’. In fact, we can actually see the phone booting up Android and working in a subsequent video shared by the Project Ara team.
The Spiral 2 prototype was revealed by the company in January 2015. The phone came with eleven different prototype modules that would act as a reference design for third party manufacturers. The Spiral 2 had Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth, and other basic smartphone modules. The best part of the prototype was that the modules were hot-swappable, which means you could replace a module while the phone was in use.
Things looked really promising at this point. In fact, Google also revealed that it would test out a better version of this prototype in Puerto Rico later in 2015.
But in August 2015, Google suddenly announced that it had suspended its plan to test the phone in Puerto Rico indefinitely. But it wasn’t all bad since Google revealed that it would test these prototypes in a few locations in the U.S. in 2016.
Then in May 2016, at Google I/O came some good news. The company announced the first ‘Developer Edition’ of Project Ara and promised to ship them by the end of the year. Notably, these ‘Developer Editions’ were very different than the initial prototypes shown off by the company.
This edition came with a few fixed components like the antenna, battery, display, sensors, and system-on-chip, with an option to swap or add in modules such as a secondary display or a speaker. The design was a lot more limiting than what was conceptualized initially, but it was at least a working model. Google also announced that it was looking forward to the consumer launch of this model in 2017.
However, all of a sudden, in September 2016, Google officially announced that Project Ara was dead or rather suspended.
Well, killing off Project Ara was probably a result of the insurmountable challenges that the team had to face along with leadership changes and Google’s change in policy towards experimental ventures.
As I mentioned before, the Project Ara concept was simply too hard to implement back in 2016. It was probably way ahead of its time. And with smartphones becoming slimmer, lighter, and smarter, it would have taken years for the prototypes to be good enough to compete with the existing smartphones of 2016.
Do you remember what happened to modular phones like the LG G5 or the Moto Z3 Play? Did they get the reception they deserved? I mean these phones offered something experimental to its users (they weren’t perfect though) and the reception it received wasn’t exactly phenomenal. Heck, it wasn’t even close to what a Nexus or a Samsung flagship got back in its time.
While I agree Google could have better implemented the modular concept than these companies, the lack of enthusiasm for third party modules revealed that people were not ready for a modular phone yet.
Google probably made a HUGE mistake by promising deadlines too early. They should have worked on the project at their own pace and should have revealed more details about the project only when they had something close to commercial launch.
Making something revolutionary requires years of research, development, and testing. But even more than that, it requires companies to be persistent. Google could have brought a modular phone to life by now, but it would have had to pump in a lot more money as well as time for that to have happened.
As of today, Project Ara is dead. But maybe someday, either Google or some other company will bring this revolutionary idea to life.
So do you think modular smartphones have a future?
As it’s done over the past several years, OnePlus is updating its flagship smartphone partway through the year to add a more powerful processor to the phone. The new OnePlus 7T Pro features Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 855+ chipset alongside a slew of other new features and upgrades. It’s all set to be the flag bearer for OnePlus from now on.
What’s interesting however is how it seems to share a LOT of similarities with its smaller brother, the OnePlus 7T. Considering that they’ve got the same namesake, it’s not really all that surprising, but there’s a decent price gap between the two which makes us question, is the OnePlus 7T Pro really worth the cost of upgrade? Let’s take a closer look.
The OnePlus 7T has a 6.55-inch display which is slightly bigger than that of the OnePlus 7. It is a 90Hz Fluid AMOLED Display with HDR10+ (YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, and Netflix), a 2400 x 1080 resolution, and 3D Corning Gorilla Glass on top.
There is a Snapdragon 855+ processor inside the phone and it is paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of UFS 3.0 2-lane storage. As expected, there is no support for storage expansion.
The OnePlus 7T has triple rear cameras – a 48MP f/1.6 Sony IMX586 with OIS and EIS and a 7P lens paired with a 12MP f/2.2 telephoto lens and a 117° 16MP f/2.2 ultrawide angle lens. There is 2x optical zoom, 4K video recording, and super-slow-motion recording (1080p@ 240fps and 720p@480fps). OnePlus says 720p @ 960fps slow-motion recording will be available via an OTA later.
The OnePlus 7T has an in-display fingerprint scanner, Face Unlock, NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, a vibration motor with an advanced haptic engine, and stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos. It packs a 3800mAh battery and brings the new Warp Charge 30T. With Warp Charge 30T, you will be able to charge your phone from 0 to 70% in just 30 minutes.
The device also comes in two colour options, those being Glacier Blue and Frosted Silver. That’s not really a lot, but at least it’s more than the OnePlus 7T Pro’s single colour option.
OnePlus 7T Pro Rundown
The OnePlus 7T Pro has a 6.67-inch curved AMOLED display with a QHD+ resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. It has a PPI of 516 and a contrast ratio of 10000:1. There is 3D Corning Gorilla Glass on the rear and front of the device. It also has an in-display fingerprint scanner.
The phone is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855+ processor paired with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.0 2-Lane storage. Yes, there is only one configuration available, unlike with the smaller OnePlus 7T.
The OnePlus 7T Pro has triple rear cameras arranged in the same vertical fashion as the OnePlus 7 Pro. The primary sensor is a Sony IMX586 48MP f/1.6 camera with a 7P lens and OIS+EIS. It is paired with an 8MP telephoto lens with an f/2.4 aperture and 3x optical zoom. A 16MP f/2.2 ultrawide-angle camera completes the setup.
The OnePlus 7T Pro has NFC, dual-band GPS, stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos, and Bluetooth 5.0. It packs a 4085mAh battery with support for 30W Warp Charge 30T fast Charging via a USB 3.1 GEN 1 Type-C port. It also supports audio over USB Type-C. The new device comes running OxygenOS 10 based on Android 10 with lots of new features. The phone is available in a single color variant – Haze Blue.
OnePlus 7T VS. OnePlus 7T Pro Comparison
The differences between the OnePlus 7T and the OnePlus 7T Pro are almost shockingly small. They both have the exact same chipset, along with the same charging tech in Warp Charge 30T. They share very similar camera configurations, with the only difference being the 7T Pro’s 8MP telephoto lens over the 7T’s 12MP telephoto lens.
Where things deviate however is in device display, battery, and storage options. The OnePlus 7T Pro has a slightly larger display at 6.67-inches, as well as a higher QHD+ resolution. The 7T Pro’s 4085mAh battery is also larger than the 7T’s 3800mAh unit though not by much. Finally, the 7T Pro has no storage options, while the 7T does. Aesthetically, the 7T Pro has no notch while the 7T does.
The big difference between the two however is the pricing. The 7T is much more affordable than the 7T Pro. The OnePlus 7T begins at £549, which isn’t all that bad, but the Pro model however bumps up that price tag to £699, which is a much harder sell. If you really value having the larger display, you may be able to justify the 7T Pro’s price tag. To us however, the normal 7T seems to be the better deal.
After weeks of waiting, OnePlus has finally announced its new flagship phone, the OnePlus 7T Pro, in Europe. However, the phone doesn’t come alone. It brings along a special edition called the OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren Edition and the more affordable OnePlus 7T, the latter which already launched in India and the US last month.
OnePlus 7T Pro
The OnePlus 7T Pro has a 6.67-inch curved AMOLED display with a QHD+ resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. It has a PPI of 516 and a contrast ratio of 10000:1. There is 3D Corning Gorilla Glass on the rear and front of the device. It also has an in-display fingerprint scanner.
The phone is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855+ processor paired with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.0 2-Lane storage. Yes, there is only one configuration available.
The OnePlus 7T Pro has triple rear cameras arranged in the same vertical fashion as the OnePlus 7 Pro. The primary sensor is a Sony IMX586 48MP f/1.6 camera with a 7P lens and OIS+EIS. It is paired with an 8MP telephoto lens with an f/2.4 aperture and 3x optical zoom. A 16MP f/2.2 ultrawide-angle camera completes the setup.
The 7T Pro can record with the ultrawide angle camera now, and Nightscape mode works with it too. Users will also be able to switch between two focal-lengths when taking portrait photos. There is an UltraShot Engine that will help you take better photos such as backlit portraits, as well as sunsets and dusk photos. The OnPlus 7T Pro also gets 2.5 cm macro photography for extreme close-up shots.
The selfie camera is a 16MP f/2.0 Sony IMX471 camera that slides out of the top frame. It has support for Face Unlock, HDR, Face Retouching, Screen Flash and can record time-lapse videos and 1080p videos at 30fps.
The OnePlus 7T Pro has NFC, dual-band GPS, stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos, and Bluetooth 5.0. It packs a 4085mAh battery with support for 30W Warp Charge 30T fast Charging via a USB 3.1 GEN 1 Type-C port. It also supports audio over USB Type-C.
The OnePlus 7T Pro runs OxygenOS 10 based on Android 10 with lots of new features. The phone is available in a single color variant – Haze Blue.
The OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren Edition differs from the standard version based on its design. No, it doesn’t have a different shape but the finish is strikingly different.
The first thing you will notice is the papaya orange accent around the edges of the rear glass. The papaya orange accent has also been applied around the camera housing and on the Alert Slider but that isn’t all.
The area around the cameras down to the LED flash and OnePlus logo has a unique design said to be inspired by the high-performance Carbon TPT material found in McLaren’s Speedtail. It is a wavy pattern and it does stand out from the rest of the body.
The OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren Edition is not only different on the outside but also on the inside. It has 12GB of RAM. The rest of the specs including the storage capacity is the same as that of the standard version.
OnePlus has also added some software differences such as McLaren-inspired custom icons and wallpapers and a custom papaya orange horizon light for notifications. Yes, OnePlus has still not brought back the notification LED to its phones.
The OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren Edition has a special protective case made from carbon fiber and Alcantara, the same soft fabric inside McLaren’s luxury cars and which Microsoft also uses for its Surface Laptop series. The case is included in the box.
Pricing and Availability
The OnePlus 7T Pro has a price tag of £699 while the OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren Edition has a price tag of £799. The OnePlus 7T is the cheapest at £549 and it will be available for purchase alongside the 7T Pro on October 17. The McLaren Edition will be available starting November 5.
The OnePlus Bullets Wireless 2 Earphones also got a new Olive Green variant. It is priced at £99 just like the other color variant previously available.
OnePlus will also hold pop-up events where lucky folks will be able to get the phone earlier than others. The pop-up event will hold in Copenhagen and Helsinki on October 10, and in Barcelona, Brussels, London, Paris, Stockholm, Tallinn, and Utrecht on October 12.
It’s good to see that Xiaomi are keeping up with their confirmed update schedule pretty well. There are still a whole slew of other devices that have yet to receive their update, but we’re sure that they’ll be getting the new update soon enough. If you want to see a complete list of all the devices getting the new update, you can see it here.
There are 4 categories of smartwatches out there that are separated according to the OS they come with. There are Apple Watches with iOS, Android Wear watches, proprietary OS watches, and watches that come with full Android OS. Kospet rules the 4th category and they are ready to release their new flagship, Kospet Prime, a water and drop-proof watch that fits both formal and casual occasions and will go on presale over at Gearbest on October 14th. Pre-order is available and earlier birds could enjoy a 30% discount!
Judging from the press photos it is obvious that Kospet Prime is a really beautiful watch. And besides that, it comes with a huge, 1260mAh battery that is the absolute top in the smartwatch market right now and promises up to 3 days of active use or up to 7 days in standby mode. If that sounds little, don’t be fooled by other watches with proprietary OS. This one is a full Android device.
The watch is equipped with two 8MP cameras and the front panel is occupied by the large 1.6″ AMOLED-display with a resolution of 400 × 400 pixels resulting in 285ppi and IPS-matrix, which accurately displays any picture.
To power the watch, Kospet chose the 4-core MTK6739 @1.25GHz SoC that is both powerful enough and battery-friendly, coupled with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. So, no lagging Android smartwatches anymore.
The Prime comes with Android 7.1.1 preinstalled and if that sounds a bit dated, remember that we are talking about a smartwatch and this version is super-capable. At the same time, the OS together with the built-in 4G antenna and the nano-SIM card slot allows you to get the maximum use of the clock’s functionality and you can also synchronize it with any Android smartphone via Bluetooth.
The watch is made in a stylish ceramic case and comes with a convenient and durable silicone strap, however, especially for conservatives, the model can be equipped with a 24mm leather strap. It weighs just 70g and it is very comfortable to wear. What’s more, it can withstand all environmental challenges, such as heavy rain, dust storm, or even immersion in water, however, developers do not recommend pressing the buttons in underwater mode.
According to some experts, Kospet Prime is currently one of the most attractive smart-watch models out there, although design is always subjective. If you’ve been looking for a powerful smartwatch with full OS and great price, get it now for 30% off.
We can’t help but love Chinese companies and their technological exploits. They can replicate the latest technological products and deliver to us at far cheaper prices. If not for Chinese manufacturers, OLED panels may still be out of reach since Samsung and LG basically dominate that aspect. But Chinese manufacturers like BOE technology and Tianma are rapidly closing in on the Koreans.
In order to remain ahead of the pack, Samsung Display has hinted that it will invest 13.1 trillion won ($11 billion) by 2025 to produce and further develop quantum dot display panels. This is in a bid to stay ahead of Chinese rivals who have already caught up in earlier display technologies.
QLED or Quantum Dot OLED panel is Samsung’s recent invention and is used on the company’s latest 8K TV. Apart from Samsung, TCL also uses QLED technology on its recent 8K TV but we doubt if it was supplied by Samsung.
Samsung disclosed on Thursday that it will use the investment to shift its production of large format panels away from cheaper liquid crystal displays to the more advanced Quantum Dot technology, which is based on the organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, technology. The company also disclosed that the new 8.5-generation QD lines will produce 30,000 panels per month from 2021, which will be used for making super-large QD displays of 65 inches or more. To accelerate this project, the company will gradually transform its 8th-generation LCD lines into QD lines.
The announcement comes as LCD prices have plunged in recent years due to Chinese makers, backed by generous state subsidies, aggressively expanding production capacity. The prices were also affected by sluggish demand for large TV sets amid a global economic slowdown coupled with the U.S.-China trade war.
South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Samsung will invest 10 trillion won in Quantum Dot facilities, while the remaining 3.1 trillion won will be used for developing the technology.
This week, U.S. and China officials are meeting to discuss the ongoing trade war. But two U.S. companies aren’t waiting around to see if these two superpowers make amends. Fitbit, as well as Tile (maker of the Bluetooth-enabled location tracker), have confirmed that they will be moving their manufacturing units out of China.
By January 2020, all of Fitbit’s manufacturing operations will be outside of China. The main reason for this shift is to avoid the heavy tariffs being subjected to the goods originating from China. This announcement comes well before the next round of tariffs that goes live from December 15 affecting an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese imports.
Duties on gadgets like smartwatches and Bluetooth trackers with low margins will seriously affect their competitiveness in the U.S. market. And considering how the relationship between the U.S. and China has been deteriorating recently, it makes sense why these companies would want to mitigate their risks.
DxOMARK is known for its smartphone camera reviews and while there are folks who take their reviews with a pinch of salt, manufacturers (read Chinese manufacturers) still brag about the scores of their smartphones. A few months ago, DxOMARK began scoring the selfie cameras for smartphones too and just last month, it announced that it would add night camera and ultrawide-angle scores to its camera test protocol since both have become popular features present in phones.
Today, DxOMARK has introduced a new test protocol for smartphones called the DxOMARL Audio Test Protocol. This tests a phone’s audio recording and output quality and is only based on the playback performance of the phone’s internal speakers not when paired to headphones or external speakers.
The overall score is split into playback and recording just the way a phone’s camera score is split into photo and video. The test is carried out by audio engineers and experts in special labs and can take up to a week for a single device. DxOMARK says during testing, they recreate multiple usage scenarios such as a busy street. They also compare phones together during testing to make sure that their test scores are impartial.
The iPhone XS Max comes in second with a score of 74 points (Playback: 75, Recording: 69), pushing its successor the iPhone 11 Pro Max to third place with a score of 71 ((Playback: 72, Recording: 68). The Galaxy Note10+ and Galaxy S10+ score 66 and 65 points respectively, while the Honor 20 Pro and Xperia 1 close the list with a score of 53 points and 45 points respectively. The Honor 20 Pro and Xperia 1 not only score lowest but are the only two phones with a wide margin between their playback and recording scores.
DxOMARK says they will keep reviewing more devices and will keep updating the list, so if your favorite device isn’t on the list, it may be added in the future.
The U-Series from Elephone has been very successful for the company. After all, it is the series that hosts the flagship devices of the Chinese manufacturer and besides Elephone U, Upro and U2, they are going to launch another device very soon. Below, you can see the official photos of the device as well as some limited information about it.
The new device is going to sport a 6.4″ FHD display and it will be glass-free 3D capable. According to the information, it will come with 2 48MP cameras focusing on 3DS image shooting. As you can see in the images provided, it will have a notch-free design using a hole-punch front camera, a rear dual camera, and a fingerprint reader placed on the back cover.
In the meantime, the giveaway activity for the pop-up camera phone Elephone PX is still ongoing and you can still participate. For more information, you can visit Elelphone’s Facebook page and their official website.
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