Realme CEO teases next X-series phone

Realme is expected to launch its new flagship phone, powered by the Snapdragon 888 chipset - the phone codenamed Realme Race. That one will form an entirely new series, but it looks like it will have the traditional X series keeping it company though, as a new member of that lineup is on the way. The CEO of Realme in Europe in India has posted on his own Twitter a short teaser, saying “X is the future” and people should be “Xcited”. Are you future ready? RT if you are Xcited. #XisTheFuture pic.twitter.com/hg7be8A8yy— Madhav FutureX (@MadhavSheth1) January 18, 2021 We already know...

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Huawei further restricted from US suppliers on Trump’s final days in office

In Donald Trump’s final days as the President of the US, the Administration made further restrictions against Huawei and US companies. In a report from Reuters, the Department of Commerce revoked some licenses to sell components to Huawei and intends to reject future applications to supply to the company. This was cited by Reuters coming from folks familiar with the situation. The US Department of Commerce has told Reuters while it can’t comment on specific licensing decisions, the Department will continue to work with agencies and apply policy in a way that “protects US national security...

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Huawei’s App Gallery gets redesigned with improved navigation and updated ‘Featured’ tab

On Monday, Huawei announces a redesigned update to its App Gallery app with a revamped user interface and a new ‘Featured’ tab that improves the users’ ability to discover new apps. Starting with the Featured tab, users will see a card-style feed that gives a quick overview of the featured apps including pictures, guides, and articles relating to the app. This content is curated by editors to help users understand what they can expect from the apps. The Featured tab has also been updated to scroll vertically from top to bottom, from newer to older apps, just like a regular...

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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 is now receiving Android 11 in the US

Last week Samsung started sending out the update to One UI 3.0 based on Android 11 to Galaxy Z Fold2 units in Germany, as well as the company's home market of South Korea. One week later, the update has crossed the pond, and reached the shores of the US. Verizon is the first carrier to release the new software for its Galaxy Z Fold2 units. The update arrives over-the-air of course, and should take a few days to get to all units out there in the wild. Once you install it you'll have build F916USQU1CTLL. If you're interested in learning more about One UI 3.0, don't miss our mini...

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OnePlus Nord N10 5G gets January security patch before its more expensive siblings

Today OnePlus has commenced the rollout of OxygenOS 10.5.9 for the Nord N10 5G. The new software update is still based on Android 10, as you can glean from the naming. That unfortunate reality aside, this is the first OnePlus device to be graced with the January 2021 security patch - the Nord N10 got it before its more expensive siblings, which is worth celebrating we guess. The update arrives in the EU as build 10.5.9.BE89BA and in North America as 10.5.9.BE86AA. Aside from the security fixes, you're also getting optimized power consumption and "further improved network...

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Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G hands-on review

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Samsung’s new Galaxy Buds Pro get hearing aid function in first update

Last week Samsung introduced its latest pair of TWS earbuds called Galaxy Buds Pro alongside the Galaxy S21 series. Now, the first software update for the earphones is out and it brings a hearing enhancement feature for users suffering from hearing loss. Update changelog In addition, both the left and right earbud get separate sound balance adjustment and Bixby voice wakeup responsiveness is improved. The new update comes with the R190XXU0AUA1 build number and is just 2.2MB in size. System stability and reliability are also improved. Via

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Android's upcoming Hibernation feature will reduce the size of apps you are not using

The team at the Android Open Source Project is working on a feature called “hibernation”, which will reduce the memory footprint of apps you are not using. This feature is still in the early stages of development, but may be included in Android 12 (no official release date, but the Developer Preview of Android 11 came out in February 2020). What’s hibernation, anyway? Well, if a single user of a multi-user device chooses to hibernate an app, the app cache associated with that user will be cleared, freeing up a bit of space. That is already implemented. The more interesting question...

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Samsung Galaxy Fold also gets Android 11 and One UI 3

Samsung’s push to update its existing phones to One UI 3.0 and Android 11 is picking up speed and the latest addition is the Galaxy Fold in both 4G and 5G versions. This is a month earlier than what we saw in Samsung’s rollout schedule. The 4G version’s update bears the F900FXXU4DUA1 build number and is currently rolling out in France, India, and the UAE while the 5G model gets the F907BXXU4DUA1 build. In addition, both updates bring the January security patch. You get all the standard Android 11 features as well as Samsung’s own addition which you can read more about in our One UI 3...

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The first 5nm MediaTek chipset could arrive in 2022, will be called Dimensity 2000

The first 5nm chipset from MediaTek may be a year away. The company is expected to unveil the Dimensity 1200 and 1100 this Wednesday, but they are fabbed on a 6nm node. According to a roadmap by leakster Digital Chat Station, the 6nm chips will be used by Oppo and vivo first (though Redmi execs have been dropping hints as well). The next major release will be in the first quarter of next year when MediaTek will introduce the MediaTek 2000 chipset (5nm). Oppo and vivo are again lined up to use this chip, but Honor is expected to be a customer as well (the post-Kirin era will start soon...

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Samsung leader Lee Jae-yong gets a 2.5 year sentence on bribery charges

The appellate court of South Korea has officially announced that Lee Jae-yong, heir of Samsung and son of deceased company chairman, has been sentenced to 2.5 years in prison. The verdict comes after a three-year-long trial over allegations that the man tried to bribe a person from the President’s office. Lee Jae-yong, heir and CEO of Samsung Electronics Everything began back in 2017, when Lee offered KRW 30 billion (about $27.6 million) to Choi Seo-won, an associate to the former President of South Korea, to help a merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, allowing Lee to...

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Disassembly video shows the Galaxy S21 internals haven't changed much since the S20

This teardown video of the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G shows that the interior is quite similar to that of the Galaxy S20 before it. To get inside, the plastic back must be removed first. And yes, it’s very much a plastic material - not even a hint of glass here. Inside the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G and S20 5G This S21 unit is equipped with two mmWave 5G (other versions only support sub-6). The antennas are located one each on the left and right sides. They are not huge, but that’s still two more antennas than a 4G phone needs to house. Last year Samsung built a special mmWave-enabled...

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Honor V40 price leaks ahead of announcement, GPU Turbo X also teased

We’ve already seen plenty of leaks for Honor’s upcoming V40 5G and the latest bit of info is about the handset’s pricing. According to the latest information, the starting price of the 8/128GB trim will be CNY 3,999 ($615). This was confirmed through a leaked phone vendor inventory listing as well as the front of a Huawei store in China. Honor V40 pricing leaks In addition, Honor shared that the V40 will come with GPU Turbo X acceleration engine for gaming. The finer details of how this feature works and what it does were left out. We do know the Honor V40 will come with a...

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Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite is now receiving Android 11

Xiaomi introduced the MIUI 12.5 back in December, and last week we saw a list of devices eligible for closed beta testing of the interface. While Mi users in China are already testing it, owners of Mi Note 10 Lite have started receiving a notification about an incoming software update. The new package is bringing Android 11 with plenty of improved security features, but as is to be expected with the development of the new skin still ongoing, it is still dressed in MIUI 12. The update is 2.3 GB in size which might be an issue for owners of the Mi Note 10 Lite with 64 gigs of storage...

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Samsung recaps the history of Galaxy S cameras and how they improved over the years

The Samsung V200 from the year 2000 was the company’s first phone with a camera – more than that, it was one of the first ever phones with a camera. It has been working on improving mobile photography since then and for the last 11 years it has been the premium Galaxy S series leading charge. Samsung felt nostalgic after the launch of the Galaxy S21, so it posted an abridged history of the Galaxy S cameras from the very first one to today. The original Samsung Galaxy S had a 5MP camera and 720p video recording. And it offered a Panorama mode so you can capture wide-angle shots....

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MediaTek working on the Dimensity 1100, a lower clocked Dimensity 1200

MediaTek is preparing to launch its second generation of flagship 5G chipsets, among which is the Dimensity 1200 (MT6893) that has leaked so often. There’s also a lower binned version of that on the way, according to leakster Digital Chat Station. The Dimensity 1100 will have the same hardware as the 1200, but will run at lower clock speeds. Both chips will be fabbed using a 6nm process. The 1100 will feature four Cortex-A78 cores, which are listed at “4x 2.6 GHz”. It’s not quite clear if that means all four of them will run at that speed or if that’s the frequency for the top...

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Next-gen ROG Phone appears in live image, 3C certification

Asus is gearing up to introduce its next ROG Phone and according to speculations the phone will come with a 6,000 mAh battery pack. Today, Chinese leakster WhyLab shared a live image of the phone in question. Upcoming Asus ROG Phone We only get to see its back which shows a slightly altered design compared to the outgoing ROG Phone 3 with a triple camera setup and 64MP primary camera. We can see the new design is an evolution of the ROG Phone 3 instead of a complete redesign. The bottom left corner appears to have a special red button which is speculated to act as a shortcut to...

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Honor no longer part of Huawei's online store in China

Huawei sold its subsidiary Honor back in November as an attempt to shelter the brand from suffering in the trade war between the US and China. Huawei Central reported that the next step of separation has already happened - all Honor devices were removed from Huawei-owned online website vmall.com that used to sell devices by both brands in China. Huawei Y7a/P smart 2021 (left) and Honor 10X Lite are no longer sold at the same store According to multiple sources from China, Honor has developed its own Honor Mall. However, the current Chinese version of the Honor store has plenty of...

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Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G starts global rollout with India, Enco X TWS earphones tag along

Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G is starting its global rollout, and the first overseas market where the device was introduced is India. Unlike last year, the global Reno5 smartphone identical to the Chinese version - a Mediatek chipset, ultra-fast charging, and four cameras on the back. The launch also saw the Indian arrival of Enco X - the latest affordable TWS earphones by Oppo. The Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G is powered by a Dimensity 1000+ chipset and is the first 5G device by Oppo to hit India. The SoC is paired with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, but sadly that’s all the memory you get - there is no...

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