New affordable Oppo incoming with big battery

An Oppo smartphone with the code name CPH2015 was certified at multiple countries so far, but it received a different moniker at some markets. Dubbed Oppo A31 in India but Oppo Reno S in Indonesia, the device was just approved by the Bluetooth SIG, revealing some of the key specs of the phone. Oppo CPH2015 certification at Bluetooth SIG The Oppo A31/Reno S will have a 6.5" screen with HD+ resolution, a 2 GHz processor by Mediatek and a big 4230 mAh battery. There is also a list of the LTE bands and the Bluetooth version, which is 5.0. The CPH2015 phone will have ColorOS 6.1.2,...

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OnePlus teases 120Hz motion smoothing for its new Fluid Display

Over the last few days, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has been teasing the company's upcoming smartphone display. The next OnePlus flagship will feature a 120Hz Fluid Display and in an effort to make the higher frame rate more useful for content consumers, Lau has confirmed on Twitter that the OnePlus 8 Pro will enable motion interpolation. If you've seen high-quality TVs, you're no stranger to MEMC. We've created a custom MEMC chip that can push ordinary 30fps video up to 120, so any video gets the full advantage of our 120Hz Fluid Display. pic.twitter.com/YPD3fw5uOn— Pete Lau (@PeteLau) January...

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LG V50 Android 10 update starts rolling out in South Korea

The V50 is the latest device from LG to be updated to Android 10. XDA Developers Max Winebach, responsible for several Samsung Galaxy S20 leaks over the past week, reports the news on Twitter with a screenshot of the Korean V50's changelog. Wow, I wasn't expecting Android 10 for the V50 for another 3 months. pic.twitter.com/BvfyZSF8ne— Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) January 16, 2020 According to a Reddit thread, the V50 began receiving the Android 10 update in South Korea for those enrolled in the Beta program last week. LG V50 ThinQ with Dual Screen The changelog mentions...

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Google preparing to separate Fi numbers from Google Voice numbers

Google Fi is an MVNO carrier in the US that runs on T-Mobile, Sprint, and a nation-wide network of Wi-Fi hotspots. Once you sign up for Google Fi, you need to either transfer your phone number over from Google Voice, or you must surrender that number. A single Google account was not able to support both services. A Google Fi forum post from back in November announced that Fi is preparing the backend and taking steps to separate Google Voice from Google Fi. This means that Google Fi customers could benefit from a secondary Google Voice number while keeping a personal Google Fi number under...

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DxOMark isn't too happy with the Asus ROG Phone II's camera performance

Of course, no one will buy the Asus ROG Phone II for its camera performance, but that doesn't mean its image quality doesn't matter. It's good to know that your gaming handset is at least capable of capturing decent shots. And that's exactly what the Asus ROG Phone II can offer - decent shots. The reviewers over at DxOMark have done all of their extensive testing and the final score of 95 puts way behind almost all of the recent flagship phones. In fact, it falls behind its less expensive and older sibling, the Zenfone 6, in terms of picture quality. The biggest issue with the camera...

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MIUI Themes is coming back to European Xiaomi users

Back in February 2018, the MIUI Themes app was shut down for all 28 countries in the European Union. There was, naturally, little in terms of heads up and no official stance on exactly what transpired behind the scenes. Still, the mentioned "changes in privacy regulations" pretty much point squarely in the direction of GDPR. Regardless, after a lengthy pause, MIUI Themes is coming back to Europe. Great news for many Xiaomi users. Plus, a generally pleasant sight to see proper customer care on Xiaomi's part. As per the official announcement post, some European Xiaomi devices...

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Lava Z71 goes official with 5.7" HD+ display, Helio A22 and 3,200 mAh battery

The latest entry-level device from Indian manufacturer Lava Mobiles is here and it aims to provide all the essential smartphone features at a sub INT 7,000 ($100) price. The Z71 comes with a 5.7-inch HD+ screen, Helio A22 chipset, dual cameras and a 3,200 mAh battery. The Z71's LCD has an 18:9 aspect ratio and a waterdrop notch for the 5MP selfie camera. Around the back, we have a 13MP main shooter alongside a 2MP depth helper. There's also an LED flash and a fingerprint reader. The MediaTek Helio A22 sits at the helm alongside 2GB RAM and 32GB storage which is expandable via...

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Huawei P40 Pro to have a Sony-made Quad Quad Bayer sensor, dual prism zoom camera

The main camera on the Huawei P40 Pro will reportedly be built on a 52MP image sensor (1/1.33"). New info suggests that this sensor will be a custom design by Sony and will feature "16-in-1" technology. It's also called "Quad Quad Bayer" as it does two 4-in-1 conversions to reach the 16-in-1 stage. This will only be used for videos and photos shot under very dark conditions. By our calculations, 52MP will drop to 3.25MP. which is good enough for 1080p videos (photos will probably use some form of digital upscaling). For daytime shots, only one 4-in-1 conversion will be performed,...

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Samsung Galaxy A71 5G heading to the United States as well

Samsung introduced Galaxy A51 and Galaxy A71 as the first members of the 2020 A-series and we recently learned the company is following them up with a 5G version of the A51 for its home market. Now we hear the A71 is also getting support for next gen networks. The version with model code SM-A7160 is heading to China, but is otherwise identical to the SM-A716U and SM-A716U1 - the carrier-locked and unlocked versions for the US market. Both variants are currently under development, but SamMobile did not disclose its source. The predecessors Galaxy A70 and Galaxy A70s did not...

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Camera sensor info for all three Samsung Galaxy S20 phones leaks

Leakster Ice Universe has posted a breakdown of the image sensor models that will be used by the Samsung Galaxy S20 family. It shows that the company will use a mix of Samsung and Sony sensors. Let's start from the top. The main camera on the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra will use S5KHM1, a 108MP sensor. A custom version, it seems, Samsung's other 108MP sensor (i.e. the one used in the Xiaomi Mi Note 10) is the S5KHMX. That's followed by the S5KGH1 for the ultrawide cam, a 44MP ISOCELL Slim sensor, 1/2.65" with 0.7µm pixels and a Tetra cell filter (Samsung's take on Quad Bayer). The...

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Best phones for selfies, Jan 2020

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A new Xiaomi Mi Watch OTA will bring more health features and notification improvements

While the Xiaomi Mi Watch is far from the first or only wearable to come from the ranks of the Chinese company and its subsidiaries, it represents a whole new take on the smartwatch game. As such, Xiaomi's elevated software support efforts for the wearable hardly come as a surprise. Hot on the heels of last month's eagerly-anticipated iOS support addition, the company is now teasing a new update on Weibo. Our Chinese is a bit rough around the edges, so we might have missed a minute detail or two, but the OTA highlights seem to include a couple of new fitness features: stress...

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Galaxy S20 phones' size compared against other phones thanks to dummies

Samsung is expected to introduce at least three new S phones next month - Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20+, and Galaxy S20 Ultra. Someone at XDA Developers got the CAD renders from case makers and 3D-printed the devices to compare the sizes with current flagships. The overall impression is the Galaxy S20 phones will be slightly narrower, the curvature of the edges on the screen is modest, while the back will keep the curvature from the Galaxy Note10, allowing for better grip and more comfortable usage. The Samsung Galaxy S20 is compared with the Galaxy S10 and despite being slightly taller,...

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Huawei P40 Pro renders show quad camera with periscope zoom lens

New renders of the Huawei P40 Pro show that it will only have four cameras - a three camera setup, similar to what we saw yesterday on the Huawei P40, plus a smaller module that could be a 3D ToF sensor or a macro camera. Huawei P40 Pro renders showing off the five launch colors It's hard to make out, but if we zoom in close, it appears that the bottom camera has a square lens - the sign of a periscope zoom camera. Huawei went back to a classic lens setup for the Mate 30 Pro, but the new P40 Pro promises to push the envelope on zooming tech once again - 10x optical zoom, claim...

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Samsung Galaxy S20 5G visits Geekbench with 12GB RAM and Snapdragon 865

Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S20 lineup has been frequenting our news section lately and the latest scoop comes from a Geekbench listing for the Galaxy S20 5G. This is the smallest of the three S20 phones, believed to come with a 6.2-inch screen, 4,000 mAh battery and the same Snapdragon 865/Exynos 9830 chipset as the larger S20+ and S20 Ultra. Samsung Galaxy S20 Geekbench listing The listing for device reveals it bears the SM-G981U model number and packs a Snapdragon 865 SoC alongside 12GB RAM, which is expected to be the base memory config on all S20 models. As far as the actual test...

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New vivo V1955A shows up on TENAA, 55W charger in tow

After dropping quite the formidable bombshell with the X30 and X30 Pro, vivo seems to be brewing something interesting yet again. At least a couple of things, to be more precise, namely a V1950A and a fresh new arrival, under the V1955A model designation. The former was spotted in certification documents on several occasions, labeled as the iQOO 3 5G. However, more recent developments have revealed the entire specs sheet of the V1950A, identifying it almost certainly as a vivo nex 3 5G, with the Snapdragon 855 swapped for the new Snapdragon 865. This means that the V1955A is a lot...

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Oppo F15 debuts: 6.4" AMOLED, Helio P70 and four cameras

As expected Oppo unveiled the newest member of the F-series today - the F15. If it looks familiar it's because it is identical to the Oppo A91 which was launched in China last month. The F15 features a 6.4-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 20:9 aspect ratio and an in-display fingerprint scanner. You also get a 16 MP selfie cam housed in the small waterdrop notch and the panel is protected by Gorilla Glass 5. Jumping to the back we find a quad-cam setup with a 48MP main shooter accompanied by an 8MP ultrawide cam which can also take macro shots 3-8cm away from subjects. The other two...

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Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S now getting stable MIUI 11 with Android 10

The Mi Mix 2S smartphone that is almost two years old, is now getting both the latest MIUI and the latest Android. The update is seeding in China, but global devices should follow soon, as is tradition with Xiaomi updates. The package is designated MIUI V11.0.1.0.QDGCNXM and requires a 2.1 GB download. Along with the multiple design overhauls Xiaomi introduced, there are some fixes to features, to bugs and more acceleration software to boost the performance. Here's the full changelog: Lock screen, status bar, notification bar Fixed an issue where the mobile phone avatar...

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