Get 40% Off On Feature-Laden Smart Watches From Bakeey And Other Top Brands On Banggood

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Jan 7, 2019

Xiaomi launched its first truly wireless earbuds last year. The device which is called the AirDots Lite a.k.a Mi Freedom Buds connects via Bluetooth 5.0 and offers up to 4 hours of playback. It is set to get a pro version called the Mi Freedom Buds Pro/AirDots Pro and official renders have now surfaced online.

This isn’t the first time we are seeing the Mi Freedom Buds Pro. About a month ago, it was seen at the FCC and the listing included images of the earbuds along with its case.

Unlike the FCC images which show only the white variant, these renders include a black variant which appears to have a matte finish and not gloss like the white.

[envira-gallery id=”231126″]

The Mi Freedom Buds Pro has a different design from its Lite variant. It has a stem which means it will stick out of your ears. The buds also sit vertically in the rechargeable case.

The Bluetooth certification page reveals its model number as TWSEJ03LM and it also connects via Bluetooth 5.0. The buds’ case will charge via USB-C and it will come with extra silicone tips and a USB type-C cable.

Elephone A5 on a photo session tour of Dubai with popular Moroccan singer Leila Gouchi

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Jan 7, 2019

Just a couple of months back, specifically on October 27, Elephone opened its first physical store in Africa, precisely in Rabat, Morocco. The store also happens to be the company largest ever brick and mortar store but that isn’t the story here. The Chinese phone maker also unveiled a brand ambassador in the person of Leila Gouchi, a famous local artiste whose popularity extends beyond the shores. The singer is already at work promoting the company’s products and the Elephone A5 gets the honour of a tour with the popular singer.

The new and popular premium budget model, Elephone A5 has now been taken on a tour to Dubai by the brand ambassador. The purpose of the tour is for some photoshoot sessions with the A5’s camera. As a reminder, the device packs a triple rear camera configuration which includes a 12.0MP + 5.0MP + 0.3MP combo. The main sensor comes with an f1.8 aperture for unrivalled low-light and night performance while the secondary and tertiary sensors are used to bring stunning visual effects to your photos instantly. The dual selfie camera setup at the front comprised of a 20.0MP + 2.0MP combo looks even more interesting as it sure would capture stunning selfies. The camera’s samples captured by the singer is yet t be shared by the company. We are positive the samples won’t be disappointing hence this teaser.

The Elephone A5 features a 6.18-inch FHD+ notch screen with a resolution of 2246 x 1080pixels. It is powered by a MediaTek Helio P60 mid-range chipset paired with 4GB of RAM and there is 64GB of internal storage onboard. The device gets its juice from a massive 4000mAh battery which will surely offer an extended battery life. Other perks include a side-mounted fingerprint sensor and Lumia gradient back colour. The sleek smartphone is currently available on AliExpress and GearBest. You can also get more details of the A5 from Elephone’s official website.

Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 lands in Spain and Italy for €549

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Jan 7, 2019

Xiaomi‘s slider phone, the Mi MIX 3 is now available in Europe. Spain and Italy are the first countries to get it and Xiaomi’s official Twitter accounts in both countries have confirmed the arrival of the flagship.

https://twitter.com/XiaomiEspana/status/1081883078136680449

In Spain, the phone will go on sale tomorrow and will be available on Mi.com, AliExpress Spain, and Mi Home stores. The 6GB RAM + 128GB Mi MIX 3 is the version that will be sold in the country and it is priced at €499.

In Italy, the Mi MIX 3 will be available for purchase on Wednesday, January 9, on Mi.com and at Mi Home stores. The price is €549 but there will be a flash sale on the first day that will allow lucky buyers to purchase at €499. The phone will be available in Sapphire Blue and Black Onyx.

Mi MIX3 Disponibile dal 9 Gennaio a partire da 549,9€ in tutti i Mi Store Italia e su https://t.co/AIZANK7Anj, nelle colorazioni Sapphire Blue e Onyx Black.
Solo per la giornata del 9 sarà possibile acquistarlo in FLASH SALE a 499,9€ su https://t.co/AIZANK7Anj! pic.twitter.com/zbUJY99NSf

— Xiaomi Italia (@ItaliaXiaomi) January 7, 2019

If you do not mind waiting, Xiaomi says a 5G version of the phone with a Snapdragon 855 processor will launch in Europe later this quarter. You not only get a 5G phone but a more powerful version of the Mi MIX 3. As expected, you will also be shelling out more money.

The Mi MIX 3 has a 6.39-inch 1080 x 2340 display with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. It has a slider design, so the front cameras are hidden when the phone is closed. The phone is powered by a Snapdragon 845 processor and also comes in 8GB RAM and 10GB RAM variants with 128GB or 256GB of storage. The front-facing cameras are a 24MP + 2MP sensor and on the rear is a 12MP wide-angle lens paired with another 12MP telephoto lens.

The rugged Ulefone Armor 6 stays underwater for entire performance test (Video)

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Jan 7, 2019

Chinese phone maker Ulefone recently announced its latest rugged phone, the Armor 6. Rugged phones are known for their strength and performance under extreme conditions and to prove that the Armor 6 may well be the reigning king of rugged phones this year, the company has shared a video of the performance test carried out on the phone. After going through the video, we are pretty certain the Ulefone Armor 6 will not only be a phone with a rugged build but also outputs an impressive performance rating on various benchmark apps.

An interesting observation is that the test was carried out mostly inside a rctangular glass vessel filled with water. The phone was then subjected to the AnTuTu 3D benchmark test and placed underwater with no effect on its performance. The device scores 135654 points on AnTuTu which is consistent with those of other Helio P60-powered models. The Armor 6 equally packs 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage which also plays their roles in the smooth running of the phone even under heavy games such as PUGB.

Other performance tests which the Armor 6 passed in impressive pace includes the AndroBench 5 test which tested the speed of reading and writing. The reading speed is up to 289.56MB/S and the writing speed is up to 190.99MB/S. Yet another test is PC Mark for testing surfing speed and documentation writing speed. The running score of Work 2.0 is around 7425. It is quite smooth and fluent. In addition, the guys at Ulefone also played PUBG and MOBA games underwater, and the phone performed impressively, without any lag. One aspect which we are still not sure of is if the display will work seamlessly when operated with wet hands. We didn’t seem to see the operator scrolling through the phone with wet hands.

Here’s a reminder of the Ulefone Armor 6 specifications. You get a 6.2-inch notch display with FHD+ resolution. The device comes with the IP69K/IP68 water and dustproof certification as well as the MIL-STD-810G protection grade. On the camera end, it packs a 21MP+13MP dual rear camera setup and a 13MP selfie shooter up front. The device also packs a big 5000mAh battery under its hood with wireless charge support. Other features include a rear fingerprint ID, face unlock, support for global frequency bands, NFC, Google Pay, and a function which lets users test UV in outdoors. The device runs Android 8.1 Oreo OS. The Ulefone Armor 6 will go on global presale starting from January 14. You can get more details about the device from here.

CES 2019: A Quick Look at what we can Expect from the Big Players this year!

By

Michele Ingelido

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Jan 7, 2019

CES 2019 (Consumer Electronics Show), the biggest tech-related trade show of the year, is just around the corner. It will start tomorrow January 8 in Las Vegas and it will last until January 11. At the event, several important hi-tech companies will make big announcements of new hi-tech products. Just like every year, we will cover the major announcements from CES 2019 here on Gizmochina, with a special focus on mobile and Chinese companies. Here is what to expect from the most important companies in the mobile sector starting from tomorrow.

Alcatel and BlackBerry

As you probably know if you follow Chinese hi-tech companies, Alcatel and BlackBerry are both owned by TCL. And both will attend CES 2019. That is what we expect from them.

New Alcatel phones, but we likely won’t see any BlackBerry-branded device at the event.
Tablet and smartwatches: Alcatel is launching new phones, along with a new smartphone display tech.
New automotive-based software called BlackBerry QNX.

Huawei and Honor

Despite smartphones being its most important business, Huawei will most likely not launch any phone at CES 2019. Instead, it is expected to focus on:

Tablets: we may see new devices from the MediaPad line-up and interesting prices in Las Vegas
Laptops: the company may showcase new notebooks from the Matebook series.
Honor View 20: it is the global version of the Honor V20 and it will launch in the international market on January 22 in Paris. The company may decide to showcase it at CES 2019 but considering the tension with the US, the tech giant might decide to keep this low key this year.

HTC

Even though it has been seeing a strong decline for about seven years, HTC will attend CES 2019. But its press conference will probably not be dedicated to phones. The company is expected to showcase new HTC Vive products, both hardware, and software. According to unconfirmed rumors, it might showcase:

New standalone VR headset.
New VR game demos, accessories and other kinds of VR-related hardware.

Lenovo

Lenovo often takes advantage of important trade shows to mainly launch new laptops and probably this year will be the same. Lenovo may unveil:

New Legion laptops for gamers with Nvidia GTX dedicated GPUs.
A new VR headset or VR-related accessories
New smart home products such as a new smart display.
A Special edition Lenovo Z5 Pro GT (SD855) will be showcased at the event.

LG

Until a few months ago, LG was expected to unveil its first foldable smartphone at CES 2019, but according to the latest news, this will not happen before the third quarter of 2019. Instead, LG should unveil:

World’s first rollable TV for consumers with a flexible OLED display
Three soundbars with support to Google Assistant and Dolby Atmos
New 8K OLED and LCD TVs with various dimensions as well as portable displays
Smart home products for the kitchen with Google Assistant and Alexa installed

Samsung

Samsung never launches its flagships at CES, so it is unlikely that Sammy will showcase the Galaxy S10 at the 2019 edition. Instead, it should come up with:

The launch of Samsung Galaxy Home, the new smart speaker with Bixby on board which was unveiled a few months ago alongside the Galaxy Note 9.
Samsung Notebook 9 Pen: a laptop with S Pen and Windows 10 for productivity with additional pen-related features.
Innovative and high-end televisions, including 8K and QLED TVs.

Google

We do not know if Big G planned the launch of new hi-tech products at CES 2019, even though some rumors hinted at an imminent launch of the first affordable Pixel devices: the Pixel 3 Lite and Pixel 3 XL Lite. Instead, we believe the company will focus on Google Assistant for CES 2019. Even without any hardware products at the event, the company would likely enjoy a strong presence throughout the event with its Google Assistant and other features.

Sony

Sony usually holds the most interesting press conference of the whole trade show, if we consider mobile devices. But this year it may not be the case, according to the latest rumors. However, according to previous info, the Japanese company is set to announce:

Sony Xperia XA3 and variants: the new midrange smartphones line-up which is expected to be composed of three variants: Xperia XA3, XA3 Ultra and XA3 Plus.
Sony Xperia L3: a new entry-level device (compared to the rest of its line-up) focused on the price.
New TVs, including 8K ones.
New smart home products and accessories.

Over the past few years, CES has become the event for consumer electronics apart from smartphones. Smartphone companies like to focus on MWC for their big launches and recently, even the Barcelona event is being skipped by big companies in favor of standalone launch events. That said, CES 2019 still should hold enough innovation to deserve our attention. Expect a lot of ‘Smart’ + ‘AI’ products showcased throughout the event. It is worth adding that the number of Chinese tech companies attending the event this year has dropped to nearly 20%, all thanks to the US-China trade war tensions. Still, we’ll be sure to pick the best products of the lot and bring it to you in the next few days. So stay tuned!

Note that all of our CES 2019 Coverage can be found from this link.

Lenovo and Nubia confirm they will be at CES 2019 to showcase their latest phones

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Jan 7, 2019

CES 2019 officially begins tomorrow and Lenovo Mobile and Nubia just confirmed they will be at the event. Both manufacturers will be bringing their latest smartphones.

Lenovo confirmed it will be at the show which holds in Las Vegas and they will be bringing along the Lenovo Z5s. The Lenovo Z5s was released last month as Lenovo’s first phone with triple rear cameras.

The Z5s sports a 6.3-inch 1080 x 2340 display with a water-drop notch. It is powered by the Snapdragon 710 processor with 4GB/6GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB of storage. The triple rear cameras are a 16MP f/1.8 wide angle sensor, an 8MP telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom, and a 5MP depth sensor. You also get a 16MP selfie camera, a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, a 3,300mAh battery and ZUI 10 based on Android Pie.

Although Lenovo says it is taking the phone to the US, the possibility of it getting a North American launch is low or even non-existent. The Motorola brand is what Lenovo pushes in the US and there is no inclination that will change soon.

Nubia, on the other hand, will likely be taking its latest gaming phone, the Red Magic Mars, to CES 2019. It has been counting down to the event on its official Twitter and the posters say “Next-gen Mobile Gaming”.

The Red Magic Mars has a 6-inch 1080 x 2160 display, a Snapdragon 845 processor, 6GB/8GB/10GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB/256GB of storage. A single 16MP camera sits on its back and there is an 8MP camera for selfies.

The phone has a customizable LED strip on the back right below the fingerprint sensor. It also has a 3,800mAh battery, runs Android Pie, DTS surround audio, stereo speakers, 4D Shock haptic feedback, and two touch-sensitive buttons on the side that act as shoulder buttons.

Nubia’s Red Magic starts offering doorstep service in India

By

Jeet

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Jan 7, 2019

Nubia, which is the sub-brand of Chinese manufacturer ZTE, announced its first gaming smartphone — Red Magic in India last month. Just a month after its launch, the company has now announced that it will offer doorstep service to its customers in India.

Using this newly introduced service, the customers of Red Magic can now get their smartphones picked up from home and serviced for an uninterrupted gaming experience, said the company in a statement. Currently, the service is being introduced in a pilot phase.

To avail the service, the customers will need to just visit the service section of Red Magic official website and fill a form. With this, the process of getting the device collected from the customer’s doorstep beings and then it is delivered to the nearest service center.

According to the company, once the device is collected, it is repaired within 24-48 hours and is shipped back. Initially, the service will be available in Delhi, Indore, Haryana, Faridabad, Jaipur, Noida, Patna, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, and Thane.

To recall, the Nubia Red Magic gaming smartphone was launched in India last month and is being sold exclusively through Amazon for a price of Rs. 29,999, which roughly converts to $430. It features a 5.99-inch Full HD+ display with an edge-to-edge 2.5D NEG T2X-1 screen, 18:9 aspect ratio and 1500:1 contrast ratio.

Under the hood, the smartphone is powered by Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon 835 processor, coupled with Adreno 540 GPU. It packs along with 8GB RAM and 128GB dual-channel flash memory. The Nubia Red Magic comes with a GameBoost mode, which frees up memory-intensive resources and delivers higher frame rates.

For photography, there’s a 24-megapixel Samsung 5K2X7SX rear camera sensor with 0.9μm pixel size, f/1.7 aperture and supports 4K video recording at 30fps and slow-motion 720p video recording at 120fps. On the front side, there’s an 8-megapixel SK Hynix HI-846 sensor with 1.12μm pixel size and f/2.0 aperture.

It comes with DTS Technology and Smart Amplifier system for an immersive sound experience. The smartphone runs on Android 8.1 Oreo operating system out-of-the-box and is powered by a 3,800mAh battery which can provide up to 7 hours of gameplay on a single charge.

The number of Chinese companies attending CES 2019 drops, amidst US-China trade war

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Jan 7, 2019

China is home to some of the most innovative companies and in previous years, Chinese companies have formed a substantial part of the over 4000 exhibitors that have always participated in the tech how. CES 2019 may see a drop in the number of Chinese companies attending the tech show.

According to the South China Morning Post, the attendance by Chinese merchants will reduce by up to 20%. The event which is reputed as the largest tech exhibition globally with up to 175,000 persons attending, will no doubt be affected by the present US-CHina trade dispute that started when the US imposed a higher tariff regime on some specific products from China. The two world’s largest economies are also at loggerheads with each other over leadership in a range of cutting-edge technologies and innovations, most prominent are 5G technology and artificial intelligence (AI).

Details provided by the organisers of the event, Consumer Technology Association (CTA) in the CES exhibitor directory as of January 4, indicate that a total of 1,211 Chinese companies have registered to be part of the trade show for this year. This is 20% lower than the1,551 Chinese companies that attended last year. The number is also lower than the 1,751 US companies that have registered as at January 4. In a statement released on Sunday, CTA disclosed that the actual floor area taken up by Chinese exhibitors this year was roughly equal to 2018 due to slightly more space offered to bigger exhibitors and slightly less to smaller merchants. However, the reduction is a pointer to the effect the tumultuous US-China relation is having on an event which has jokingly been referred to as the Chinese Electronics Show in recent years. The event has often attracted big names such as Huawei Technologies and fleets of component suppliers who flock Las Vegas to show off their latest wares. Shaun Rein, managing director of Shanghai-based China Market Research Group summed it up this way; “Chinese companies are concerned about tariffs from the trade war. Attending a show like CES is expensive, and with [US President] Trump’s rhetoric towards Chinese technology, companies in China are rethinking their strategy of investing in the US.”

MIUI Camera APK teardown reveals custom watermarks, new portrait mode, ultra wide angle as upcoming features; a second 48MP camera phone too

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Jan 7, 2019

APKs are known to contain information about new features and even upcoming devices which is why teardowns are very important. A version of Xiaomi‘s MIUI camera app has gotten a teardown that reveals a lot of new features that Xiaomi has been working on.

The teardown was done by the folks at XDA Developers and a member by the name franztesca, was able to develop a tool that let them activate a number of these features. Below are the new features and details found in the teardown:

Custom Watermarks

Watermarks have become very popular since dual camera phones became mainstream but it is also available on phones with single or more than two cameras. The watermark is usually a “Shot on X device” but as at now, the feature isn’t customizable. That may change with a future update which will let you customize what appears as the watermark.

The custom watermark will support 15 characters (English and Chinese) for the second line.

48MP Ultra Pixel Photography, second 48MP smartphone

Xiaomi has a 48MP camera smartphone coming soon and it is a Redmi phone. The camera app reveals Xiaomi has named the 48MP feature of the phone Ultra Pixel Photography. It also reveals the phone will have dual cameras with AI features as there is a string that says “48M DUAL CAMERA” and another that says “AI DUAL CAMERA”. TENAA images already showed us an upcoming Redmi phone with dual rear cameras, so this might be the smartphone.

The Redmi phone won’t be the only one with a 48MP camera. Apparently, there are at least two according to a discovery made by franztesca. One is codenamed “cepheus” and the other is codenamed “davinci”.

The former not only has a 48MP sensor but also a fingerprint scanner under its display and an Always on Display feature. These are flagship features, so it is definitely not the Redmi phone. Xiaomi Mi 9 specs leaked a few days ago and it mentioned a 48MP triple camera setup and an in-display fingerprint scanner, so there is a possibility the Mi 9 is the device codenamed “cepheus”.

Ultra Wide Angle

Most phones with dual cameras have a secondary camera that only captures the depth of field but there are manufacturers like LG that settle for an ultra wide angle camera as the secondary sensor. This is a very useful addition as it enables you to fit in more into your photo. Ultra wide angle cameras are great for taking pictures of buildings, landscapes and even the occasional selfie with lots of friends.

The MIUI camera mentions an ultra wide mode which means a future Xiaomi phone will have an ultra wide angle camera. The Mi 9 is said to be coming with three rear cameras, it would be nice if one of the sensors is an ultra wide angle sensor.

A string mentions that there will be a feature to correct “picture distortion” and another confirms there will be an option to take a portrait photo in the ultra wide angle mode.

Live Shot/Dynamic Photos

Another new feature in the camera app is Live Shot or Dynamic Photos. There isn’t much info but going by the name, it should be similar to Apple’s Live Photo which is available on iPhones or Google’s Motion Photos. However, it may be something different entirely as there is another code related to Motion Photos present in the app too.

Live Music

Xiaomi announced it has signed a partnership with TikTok, a platform for creating and sharing short videos with tons of music to choose from. Both platforms are to announce a new product in a few days and it seems that the product is called Live Music.

We presume Live Music will let you create short music videos right from the camera app that can be shared to the platform. More details on this should surface when the launch takes place on January 10.

New Portrait Mode Effects and Adjustable Bokeh

Portrait mode is about to get more interesting as there are four new effects found in the camera app. The effects are Tea, Lilt, Sephia, and Dusk.

Another new feature is adjustable bokeh which will let you change the intensity of the background blur effect by adjusting the f-stop number.

New Color Effects for Video

You may soon get new color effects when recording a video. New color filters listed in the app that are not yet available are Orchid, Xpro, Black and White, Pale, Bauhinia, Sly Blue, and Sephia.

Beauty Mode for Bodies

Before the end of 2018, Xiaomi and Meitu announced an agreement that would see Xiaomi manufacture products with the Meitu brand name. The devices will be designed, manufactured, marketed and sold by Xiaomi while Meitu will provide its widely-acclaimed imaging technology.

That imaging technology may be making its way to Xiaomi’s own phones as there will now be a beauty mode for bodies. Currently, Meitu phones have a feature that adjusts your body proportions. Think of beauty mode extending beyond your face and now including the whole body.

Motion Photos

Motion photos is another feature which appears to be different from Live Shot/Dynamic photos. Motion Photos should let you add a few seconds of video and audio to your photo.

Samsung Galaxy M10, M20 likely to debut with Rs. 9,500 (~$136) price by January end

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Jan 7, 2019

Recent reports have revealed that Samsung is now gearing up to introduce its new Galaxy M series of smartphones. Fresh information reveals that the Galaxy M10 and Galaxy M20 smartphones will be made official by the end of this month. The Galaxy M10 is expected to debut with a starting price of Rs. 9,500 (~$136).

The Galaxy M10 and Galaxy M20 are likely to go official by January end in India. Samsung is rumored to hold a global launch for these phones and then make them available in wider markets in the coming months. The Galaxy M20 may cost around Rs. 15,000 ($215). Both smartphones are expected to debut as the first Samsung phones with Infinity-V display.

The Galaxy M series will be replacing Galaxy J, Galaxy On and Galaxy C series of smartphones that came with AMOLED screens. The upcoming Galaxy M phones will be featuring 6-inch LCD panels. The Galaxy M10 and M20 phones are rumored to arrive with dual rear cameras. The dual camera setups on both phones are expected to feature a wide-angle lens.

The Galaxy M10 smartphone could be fueled by the Exynos 7870 chipset and 3 GB of RAM. It may feature an inbuilt storage of 32 GB. On the other side, the Galaxy M20 is speculated to be powered by the new Exynos 7904 chipset and 4 GB of RAM. It may come with a higher storage capacity of 64 GB. The M20 could be the first Samsung phone to come with 5,000mAh battery.

There is no confirmation on whether the Galaxy M10 and M20 phones will feature Android Oreo or the latest Android Pie OS. Samsung is expected to refine the software experience on the M10 and M20 smartphones by cutting down on the bloatware. As far as the Galaxy M30 phone is concerned, a recent report has already leaked its vital information. It is expected to go official in February.

(via)

Xiaomi Mi A2 gets a permanent price cut in India

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Jan 7, 2019

Xiaomi has slashed the price of the Mi A2 in India. The price slash should cement the phone’s position as a recommended device under the INR 20,000 (~$280) category.

Starting today, the Xiaomi Mi A2 Android One smartphone will be sold for less irrespective of the variant you settle for. The 4GB RAM version with 64GB of internal storage is now priced at INR 13,999 (~$200). When it launched its price tag was INR 16,999 (~$243), though it did get a price cut of INR 1,000 (~$15) in November.

If you want more storage and more RAM, then you can grab the 6GB + 128GB version which is now priced at INR. 15,999 (~$229), down from its launch price of INR. 19,999 (~$286).

The Mi A2 packs a 5.99-inch FHD+ display and is powered by a Snapdragon 660 processor. It has dual 12MP + 20MP cameras on its back and a 20MP selfie camera. There is also a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and a 3,000mAh battery with support for Quick Charge 4.0. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have an audio jack nor a MicroSD card slot.

The phone ran Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box when it was announced but it has now received an update to Android Pie and should get updated to Android Q too.

Samsung files patent application for a phone with dual detachable displays

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Jan 7, 2019

A Samsung patent application filed in June 2018 has been unmasked showing what the Korean smartphone giant might have in store for its fans in the near future. The patent application is for a dual screen phone but this time around, instead of just being foldable, the two screens can be detached and used independently.

Samsung is still expected to be the first OEM to release a true foldable phone even though the Flexpai has been unveiled but is not yet on sale. So, Samsung can beat it to become the first commercial foldable flagship. However, while we wait for that, the company has apparently been tinkering with the idea of another innovation in dual display phones. The patent application bears the title, “Electronic device with two display devices and method of operating” and was filed before the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) last June. The application also shows that a similar patent application had been filed with the Korean Intellectual Property Office a year earlier, precisely on June 28, 2017.

The device is composed of two distinct smartphones, each with their own processor and fuselage. The perk here is that both phones can be attached and used as one single big phone but can also be used independently. Both screens are attached using magnets. Each of the two phones houses three magnets that allow the two phones to be attached in several different orientations. The application comes with sketches which give users an idea of how the detachable folding phone can be applied. It allows users to run two different apps at the same time just like split-screen but in this case, none of the apps will be paused. You can as well use the phone as one big screen for streaming movies. There are other configurations for snapping selfies, as well as for typing emails and texts with a virtual QWERTY keyboard.

We can’t say for sure when this patent design will become a reality but we’re quite certain it is not going to be any time soon.

Android Q will come with a system-wide dark mode says Googler

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Jan 7, 2019

Dark mode is a feature we have always wanted on Android for a while. Some custom versions such as OnePlus’s OxygenOS already offer it but Android by default doesn’t. It appears Android Q might be the one to come with the feature.

A post by a Googler, Lukas Zbylut, spotted on the Chromium bug tracker has revealed that Android Q will come with a dark mode. The post says Dark Mode is an approved Android Q feature. It also said “The Q team wants to ensure that all preloaded apps support dark mode natively. In order to ship dark mode successfully, we need all UI elements to be ideally themed dark by May 2019.”

If the deadline for all UI elements to have a dark theme is May 2019, we may get to see the feature when Android Q is first announced at Google I/O 2019.

Lukas also adds that a master setting for Dark Mode will be found under Settings > Display > Dark Mode and in another part, he said it will be found under Display > Nightmode.

According to Android Police who first reported the news, Google has changed the permissions for the thread on the Chromium bug tracker, so it is no longer accessible. However, a lot of links show that Dark Mode is a focus for Android Q.

While the possibility of Android Q coming with a native dark mode is high, things might still change. The above Chromium info was posted back in October and one can’t say if all the apps will be able to meet the deadline before May 2019. What we are saying is, Google might change things, so don’t get too excited.

Huawei Mate 20 series Red variant hitting the market on January 10 (UPDATED)

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Jan 7, 2019

UPDATE: Both the Red and Comet Blue colors are going on sale on January 11 on Huawei’s VMALL. For now, these colors seem to be limited to the Mate 20 Pro model only.

Red is one attractive colour closely associated with love and February 14 which is Valentine or Lover’s day is just by the corner. Thus, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the innovative Chinese tech firm Huawei is planning to throw in a red variant into the mix for the Mate 20 series. A poster released today via the company’s mobile phone official Weibo page announced that the Mate 20 series will get a “big move” on January 10. The poster didn’t leave us in doubt as to what the big move could be as it also contains a silhouette of the mobile phone surrounded by a pack of rose.

Before now, there have been speculations that the Mate 20 series will get a new color scheme and now we know the colour is red. This new variant will obviously be more appealing to the female folks which are a good thing, considering that most phone makers focus on configuration rather than attractive feminine color which is more appealing to women than benchmark capabilities. The Huawei P20 series had this at the fore and was a success with the female folks with its Aurora gradient. Huawei’s official data shows that the P20 series shipped more than 16 million units globally and nearly 8 million of those units were bought by females. This is perhaps, the reason for this addition to the Mate 20 series.

This isn’t the first time Huawei will be adding a red colour variant to its flagship’s colour variant, though. As a matter of fact, it all started with the delectable Huawei P9 which later got an Agate Red variant and after that, the Mate 9 series got the same treatment. At present, the Huawei Mate 20 series has five color variants namely, Emerald Green, Sapphire Blue, Twilight, Pink Gold and Bright Black.

Redmi’s 48-megapixel camera phone appears in official video and press poster

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Jan 7, 2019

Xiaomi has recently established its Redmi sub-brand as an independent entity. Redmi is now gearing up to launch its first smartphone. To grab the attention of the new brand, it will be releasing first phone with 48-megapixel camera. The Chinese brand has released a new Weibo post which confirms that the handset is codenamed as “Little King Kong” and the embedded video reveals that it will be arriving with a highly durable glass body.

All the Redmi phones that have launched so far have featured metallic chassis. However, the official video shown below reveals that it would be arriving with a glass rear. In the video, Xiaomi employees can be seen stamping on the phone. It successfully passes the torture test without any damage.

The video reveals that the smartphone is equipped with a waterdrop notch display. The back panel of the phone has a dual camera setup and a fingerprint. It seems to be the very same phone that has recently received approval from TENAA certification authority in China. Speaking of design, a leaked poster of the smartphone is now doing rounds on Weibo. The image has revealed the front and rear design of the phone.

The smartphone can be sporting a teardrop notch enabled display. The chin of the device is not visible because of the Chinese text overlaid on it. Apart from Black, the handset will be arriving in two color gradient options of blue-violet and purple-pink. Below the vertical dual camera setup, there is an LED flash and “48MP AI dual camera” text. The 48-megapixel rear camera of the phone will offer 4 times pixels than conventional smartphones. Through its TENAA listing it has been revealed that it is equipped with a 6.3-inch full HD+ display and it is packed with a 3,900mAh battery.

Read More: Xiaomi’s Redmi announces strategic partnership with TikTok to launch new products

Rumors have it may debut as the first Snapdragon 675 mobile platform powered smartphone. Could it be the Redmi Note 7 phone? The Redmi Note 7 has appeared few hours ago on Geekbench with Snapdragon 660 chipset. The SD660 supports up to 25-megapixels camera while the Snapdragon 675 can support 48-megapixel photography. Hence, the phone that has surfaced in the video and Redmi Note 7 could be different handsets. Other rumors have claimed that the 48-megapixel Redmi phone may debut as Redmi Pro 2. The mystery will be revealed on Jan. 10 when it will be officially announced.

(source 1, 2)

HP and Acer launch AMD Chromebooks at CES 2019

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Jan 7, 2019

Existing Chromebooks are mainly powered by Intel chips. There are some ARM-based Chromebooks too in the market. Today, through the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2019 tech trade event, HP and Acer announced the world’s first AMD powered Chromebooks.

HP Chromebook 14 Specifications and Price

The HP Chromebook 14 features a 14-inch IPS display. HP will be releasing AMD A4 processor edition of the Chromebook in this month and later AMD A6 variant will be also available. Performance-wise, AMD A4 and A6 are similar to the Pentium and Celeron series from Intel. This indicates that the HP Chromebook 14 is a low-end device.

The HP Chromebook comes with 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of eMMC storage. It offers a battery life of nine hours and fifteen minutes. Other features of the laptop include 2 USB-C ports, 2 USB-A ports, 3.5mm audio jack, Wi-Fi 802.11ac with 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 4.2, TrueVision HD webcam with dual array microphones and a pair of Bang & Olufsen speakers.

The AMD Radeon 4 model has Radeon R4 graphics and the AMD A6 edition will come equipped with Radeon R5. It features a 14-inch screen with 1366 x 768 pixels resolution The AMD A4 model carries a price tag of $269 whereas the A6 variant is priced at $299. It will be available in colors like white, blue and gray. it houses the same-sized display but supports a higher resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels.

AMD Chromebook 315 Specifications and Price

The AMD Chromebook 315 is fitted with a bigger 15.6-inch display. There will be three display variants such as a regular 1080p display, a touchscreen 1080p display and a HD (1366 x 769 pixels) display. The Chromebook 315 comes in AMD A4 model with Radeon R4 graphics and AMD A6 with Radeon R5. The laptop promises a battery life of 10 hours. The other features of the Acer Chromebook 315 are big-sized speakers, a USB-C port, two USB 3.0 ports, microSD card slot, 3.5mm audio jack, HD webcam, Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.2.

Read More: Lenovo reclaims the No.1 spot in PC rankings ahead of HP in Q3 2018 – IDC

The Acer Chromebook 315 will be available with 4 GB or 8 GB of RAM and 32 GB or 64 GB of eMMC storage. It will be available for purchase in North America in February with a price tag of $279. In April, it will be coming to EMEA markets with a pricing of 349 euros (~$398).

For more CES 2019 coverage, checkout this link

Withings Move ECG debuts at CES 2019 as the World’s smartest cardio monitor

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Jan 7, 2019

The Consumer Electronics Show CES 2019 is upon us and the announcements have started rolling in. One of the early announcements was from Withings, the famed digital health products manufacturer that was briefly owned by Nokia and renamed as Nokia Health. However, Nokia divested its interest in the company after it failed to revive the brand even under the Nokia brand. Withings has now announced what is perhaps its flagship product for the year and it is dubbed Withings Move ECG.

The Withings Move ECG is claimed to be the world’s smartest cardiovascular monitor and along with it comes the Withings Move. However, the Move is just a range of conventional smartwatches, while the MoveECG packs most of the juice. It not only feature an analog timepiece but also has support for medical-grade electrocardiogram readings.

The Withings Move ECG, as the name implies, features an electrocardiogram which is becoming an increasingly popular feature of wearables. The ECG utilizes three electrodes for consistent accuracy and takes under 30 seconds to get a reading. Additionally, the Move ECG also offers day-long activity tracking and ha s the capability of automatically recognizing various workouts for maximum convenience. The device comes with a 12-month battery and has a waterproof build that allows it to survive being submerged up to 50 meters underwater. Other supported features include sleep pattern tracking and a “Smart Wake-Up” function that aids users to get out of bed in a comfortable way. Further, the Move ECG wearable utilises the GPS connectivity of a paired smartphone in order to provide geographical context to your activity data.

The Withings Move and Move ECG will both be available in white and black colours but they both will have a wide array of bands which users can choose from. They won’t be available until the second quarter of 2019 as the Move ECG is in the process of getting FDA and CE approvals so as to provide consumers with written guarantees of their medical effectiveness. Whn they become available, the Move will retail for $69.95 while the Move ECG will adopt a $129.95 price tag.

7 Most Revolutionary Chinese Smartphones of 2018

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Joel Joseph

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Jan 7, 2019

2018 was an interesting year for smartphones. In the pursuit of slimming down the bezels around the display, manufacturers came up with a number of different ideas. Last year, a number of manufacturers became bolder in releasing experimental products and consumers were more accepting in trying out first generation models. As a result, we saw some revolutionary smartphones make it to the market, many of them from Chinese manufacturers.

Here’s what we think were the 7 Most Revolutionary Chinese Smartphones of 2018

1. Huawei P20 Pro

You can’t really start this list without the Huawei P20 Pro. The phone was the first triple camera smartphone in the world and justified the existence of three lenses at the back with its amazing camera performance. It’s no surprise that the phone turned out to be one of the best camera smartphones of 2018 (our review here)! Even today, it’s the best-ranked flagship in the DxOMark rating for smartphone cameras.

That’s not it though! The phone also kicked off the trend for gradient back design. The Morpho Aurora P20 Pro (our hands on reivew here!) was a refreshing smartphone design and soon, it caught on among other manufacturers as well!

2. Vivo Nex S / OPPO Find X

Vivo was relentless in the pursuit of getting maximum real estate on its smartphones. This led to the birth of the Vivo APEX concept and eventually, the Vivo Nex S model for the commercial market. Featuring a motorized camera setup for selfies, the phone took the full-screen design to the next level.

Vivo was soon joined by OPPO with its Find X model launch in June (they had their reasons to not call it the Find 9). The Find series always had a special place among smartphone enthusiasts and seeing the lineup come back to life in the form the Find X was a sight to behold. Featuring SuperVOOC (limited to Lamborghini edition), a full-screen design, a motorized slider, and an impressive body design, the Find X was a glimpse of smartphone’s future. Definitely revolutionary!

3. POCO F1

Ever since OnePlus smartphones started to climb up the pricing ladder, they no longer deserved the ‘Flagship Killer’ title. But in 2018, we found something that did deserve this tagline — the POCO F1. Featuring the flagship Snapdragon 845 chipset at a price under $300, this particular model is as close as any phone can get to this title.

Not just that, you didn’t have to wait for an invite code or try out your luck in 10 flash sales to get hold of a unit. In fact, the POCO F1 was truly an international model which went on sale in over 50 markets worldwide.

4. Lenovo Z5 Pro GT

Lenovo was the last company we would have thought that would get the bragging rights to the first mass-produced Snapdragon 855 smartphone. But with the Lenovo Z5 Pro GT, it deserves much more than that. The phone is also the first one to feature up to 12GB of RAM on board! It’s definitely overkill considering our current entertainment and gaming needs, but still impressive. The phone starts at an affordable $391 and will be up for pre-orders in China from January 15. The first sale is slated for January 24.

5. Huawei Mate 20 X

The Mate 20 X with its humongous 7.2-inch display borders near the tablet category. But for all purposes, it’s a smartphone and acts like one despite its huge display. Our reviewers loved this phone for its huge display, powerful internals, and an amazing camera. You should definitely check out our review from here!

If you think a 7.2-inch display is an overkill, think again. People who consume a lot of videos and games on their smartphones would love such a large screen in their hands. What makes the phone revolutionary is the fact that it’s smaller in size as compared to other phablets like the Xiaomi Mi Max 3 (176.2 x 87.4 x 8 mm) or older ones like Lenovo Phab2 Pro (179.8 x 88.6 x 10.7 mm) or Zenfone 3 Ultra (186.4 x 93.9 x 6.8 mm)! Basically, you get more screen in a form factor that’s considered manageable in the phablet segment.

6. Nubia X

Nubia is a driven company and we’ve been impressed with their Z series models featuring bezel-less design. However, in the pursuit of a higher screen to body ratio, the company decided to go for a second screen at the back. While we have seen smartphone companies try out a secondary screen (like the LG V20) on their regular models, this one’s a full-fledged 5.1-inch OLED display at the back. This second screen basically eliminates the need for a selfie camera, allowing the company to use a clean front design. Ingenious or stupid, that’s for you to decide. But it’s definitely an innovative way to get rid of the bezel on top of the display without having to resort for ugly notches or moving parts like a slider. It’s no surprise that Vivo decided to release its own dual screen flagship a couple of months later called the Vivo Nex Dual.

7. Huawei Nova 4 / Honor View 20.

Punch hole cameras are the next big experiment in smartphone display design and Huawei has kicked off this trend with its Nova 4 and Honor V20 smartphones. Samsung also joins the party with its Galaxy A8S model, but overall, with two mainstream models in the market so early, the Chinese tech giant seems to be all in for this particular design.

Another highlight of the Honor View 20 is its unique back design. Huawei and Honor have consistently managed to churn out unique designs for its smartphones and the trend continues with the new model as well.

To sum up, 2018 was an exciting year for Chinese smartphone enthusiasts! But this year is going to be even better with foldables hitting the market. So we are definitely looking forward to seeing what they have in store for us!

Do you think we missed out on any other revolutionary Chinese phones in this list from 2018? Let us know in the comments below!

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 with Snapdragon 660, 6 GB RAM spotted on Geekbench

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