Oppo Reno5 Marvel Edition launch imminent as it bags NBTC certification

Oppo introduced the Reno5 4G and 5G last December, and the company will soon follow them up with a special edition called Reno5 Marvel Edition that's been certified by Thailand's NBTC. The Thai regulator doesn't detail the Reno5 Marvel Edition's specs, but it reveals the smartphone won't support 5G networks. The listing also includes Reno5 Marvel Edition's model code (CPH2159), which is the same as Reno5 4G, suggesting the Reno5 Marvel Edition is based on Reno5 4G. Oppo Reno5 Marvel Edition on NBTC This means the Oppo Reno5 Marvel Edition will be powered by the Snapdragon 720G...

Read More

Motorola sells first Edge S batch of 10,000 units in 2 minutes

Motorola has introduced the Edge S smartphone last week as the first device with the world’s fastest Snapdragon 870 chipset. Today was the first flash sale, and according to the company, the whole batch of 10,000 units sold out in just two minutes. Motorola Edge S posters Motorola Edge S users had a choice between three memory combinations - 6/128 GB, 8/128 GB, or 8/256 GB, with prices ranging between CNY1,999 and CNY2,799 (that’s $310 and $430, respectively). The phone also comes with a 6.7” LCD with Full HD+ resolution and 90 Hz refresh rate. Other specs of the Edge S include...

Read More

T-Mobile announces 5G capacity upgrades ahead of Super Bowl in Tampa, FL

On Tuesday, T-Mobile’s President of Technology over at T-Mobile announced via Twitter that the carrier has upgraded its 5G capacity in Tampa, Florida in anticipation of the city’s hosting of the Super Bowl 55 this year. The major sporting event will take place this Sunday February 7 at the Raymond James Stadium where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will take on the Kansas City Chiefs. Super Bowl comes once a year.. but these Tampa Bay @TMobile 5G network upgrades are permanent! We deployed massive Ultra Capacity 5G upgrades throughout the city to make @TMobile's FASTEST 5G in America broadly...

Read More

Huawei confirms its folding Mate X2 will be announced on February 22

On its Weibo handle, Huawei officially confirmed that it will announce the successor to the Mate XS. The Huawei Mate X2 will be announced on February 22, this comes shortly after a report speculated the design was folding smartphone’s launch was imminent. There The poster teases the Mate X2's display, which will invert the folding direction of the screen to an inward-folding one. Previous reports point to diagonal screen size of 8.01” with a resolution of 2480x2222 and since the phone will fold inwards like the Galaxy Z Fold 2, it will feature a 6.45” external display as well. It...

Read More

Huawei confirms its folding Mate X2 will be announced on February 22

On its Weibo handle, Huawei officially confirmed that it will announce the successor to the Mate XS. The Huawei Mate X2 will be announced on February 22, this comes shortly after a report speculated the design was folding smartphone’s launch was imminent. There The poster teases the Mate X2's display, which will invert the folding direction of the screen to an inward-folding one. Previous reports point to diagonal screen size of 8.01” with a resolution of 2480x2222 and since the phone will fold inwards like the Galaxy Z Fold 2, it will feature a 6.45” external display as well. It...

Read More

Exynos 2100 edges out the Snapdragon 888 in a Galaxy S21 Ultra battery test

The first Galaxy S21 Ultra comparative benchmarks suggested the Snapdragon 888 might still have the edge over Exynos 2100 when it comes to power efficiency but a new video suggests there's more to the story. The 30-minute battery test itself is separated into several stages and some of them include stress tests and performance tests. At the end of the video, the Exynos 2100 ends up better in preserving the battery. The margin is only 2%, suggesting it will barely be perceivable in real life usage, though. Plus phone batteries sometimes drop unevenly, so the result might have been...

Read More

Huawei FreeBuds 4i appear in Bluetooth SIG listing

Back in May, Huawei unveiled its FreeBuds 3i wireless earphones which offered active noise cancellation and up to 17 hours of battery life. Now, we get confirmation that Huawei is working on a successor dubbed FreeBuds 4i as they appeared on the Bluetooth SIG regulator body's website. Huawei Freebuds 4i Bluetooth SIG listing The upcoming earphones bear the T0001 model number and pack Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity. The headphones were previously also spotted in SGS Fimko and TENAA certification listings which revealed the Freebuds 4i’s charging case will pack a Li-ion battery and charge...

Read More

February update fixes touch issues on Pixel 5 and 4a 5G, sensor issues on Pixels 3 and up

Google has issued the February 2021 update for all Pixel phones running Android 11. Besides security patches this update brings a couple of important fixes. Don’t get too excited, this is just Google fixing things that it broke. First, the touch sensitivity issues on the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G should be resolved with the new firmware. People started noticing that the screens of their phones would sometimes miss touches after installing the December 2020 update. The other fix covers every phone since the Pixel 3 – there was a long-standing issue with sensors not being detected at...

Read More

Virtoo is a Your Phone alternative for LG laptops that supports any Android or iOS phone

Microsoft’s Your Phone app is cool, but running Android apps on your computer only works with Samsung phones (and the Surface Duo). If you have an LG laptop you can use the Virtoo app to achieve a similar effect. Note that the requirement here is an LG laptop, you can use the app with any Android device and even iPhones (there’s a “but” coming). Here are download links for Virtoo for Windows, Android and iOS. It looks like you can run only one app at a time (unlike Your Phone). Basically, Virtoo mirrors your phone’s screen. And here is the “but” - this is available only with Android...

Read More

Nokia 5.4 and 6300 4G will soon be available in the US (5.4 already available in Colombia)

The Nokia 5.4 has appeared on the Nokia online store in the US. It will be available from March 1 and will start at $250. Actually, this may be the price, period, as only the 4/128 GB version of the phone is listed (in Polar Night and Dusk). A quick recap of the specs: an Android phone powered by a Snapdragon 662 chipset and with a 6.39” 720p LCD. The quad camera on the back includes a 48MP main module, a 5MP ultrawide camera and two helpers. The 4,000 mAh battery charges at a standard 10W. Coming soon to the US: Nokia 5.4 and Nokia 6300 4G The Nokia 6300 4G is a modern...

Read More

Sony Xperia 5 II gets a pink version in Europe

Sony now sells the Xperia 5 II in Pink, alongside the traditional Gray, Black and Blue in Europe. The new color option is available in Germany, Italy and Spain through Sony's online store. The price has remained €899, but you do get a pair of Sony's excellent WF-1000XM3 noise-cancelling truly wireless earbuds bundled (those retail for €170 on their own). Up until now the Pink color option was an Asian exclusive. Japan also has an exclusive Purple version. The Xperia 5 II comes in a single 8/128GB configuration and if you're willing to forgo the free headphones and are fine with...

Read More

nubia drops Red Magic 5S price by $50/€50/£50 in official store

nubia dropped the price of the Red Magic 5S on the official online store. The 8/128GB model is down by $40/€40/£40 and now costs $539/€539/£509, while the 12/256GB model is down $50/€50/£50 to $599/€599/£559. Even though the Red Magic 6 is just around the corner the nubia Red Magic 5S is still a solid phone with its 6.65-inch 1080p AMOLED of 144Hz refresh rate and a Snapdragon 865 chipset with ICE 4.0 Active Liquid-Cooling and a built-in fan. It also offers a 4,500mAh battery with up to 55W charging if you purchase the required brick separately. The nubia Red Magic 6 is already...

Read More

Oppo A32 was the best sold phone in China in Q4, Mate 40 Pro is fourth

A new report from Quest Mobile outlined the top four best selling smartphones on the Chinese market for the October-December period. Leading the way is an affordable entry – the Oppo A32 which managed over 9 million sales. The device was originally introduced back in September for CNY 1,199($185) and boasts a well-rounded spec sheet with a 90Hz refresh rate IPS LCD, Snapdragon 460 chipset and 5,000 mAh battery. Top-4 best selling smartphones in China for Q4 2020 (Quest Mobile) Next up we spot Apple’s iPhone 12 which secured 6.18 million sales. The affordable alternative to the 12...

Read More

Nokia 8.3 5G is now getting Android 11

Even though Nokia phones are running on vanilla Android, the Nokia 8.3 5G is the first handset from the company to receive Google's latest Android 11 OS. That's almost six months after the release of the said OS. Screenshot from the changelog Nokia announced the rollout in a tweet and users say that the OTA update has already started. The download weighs 1.89GB and the changelog is brief but goes through one of the key Android 11 features like notification grouping, chat bubbles, one-time permission handling, etc. The update also bumps up the security patch to January 2021. In...

Read More

iQOO 7 tops AnTuTu's performance charts in January, leaving the Mi 11 in its rear-view mirror

The Xiaomi Mi 11, the first Snapdragon 888-powered phone to hit the market, claimed the title of fastest phone in the AnTuTu rankings for December (overtaking the Mate 40 Pro). In January it was dethroned by another 888-based phone, the iQOO 7. The performance-oriented iQOO managed to open a gap to the Kirin 9000 crew, previously the Huawei Mate 40 Pro+ was just a hair behind the Mi 11. Note that AnTuTu includes RAM and storage in its score calculations, so for every phone the version with the biggest memory capacity wins out. Interestingly, the Mi 11 score has declined slightly...

Read More

Microsoft: Xbox Series X will be in short supply at least until June

In an interview for The New York Times, Microsoft's head of investor relations, Mike Spencer, says that the company expects to continue to struggle with the supply for Xbox Series X at least until June this year. Earlier reports said that the shortage issues will continue until April but it's now clear that the situation won't improve in the first half of this year. In addition to the COVID-19 outbreak last year, scalpers majorly contribute to the problem too. Retailers and consumers can't get their hands on GPUs and current-gen consoles driving the prices insanely high. Industry...

Read More

Xiaomi sold INR 4 billion worth of Mi 10i phones in the first three weeks

The Xiaomi Mi 10i first became available on January 7 and during the three weeks that followed the company sold INR 4 billion worth of phones (that’s just under $55 million). The Mi 10i starts at INR 22,000 for the 6/128 GB version and goes up to INR 24,000 for the top 8/128 GB model. A rough calculation shows that around 182,000 to 190,000 phones were sold. Note that the 6/64 GB is still “coming soon”. Anyway, this means that Xiaomi sold almost the every unit it has manufactured so far - only the 8/128 GB version remains available on Mi.com and Amazon India, the rest 6/128 GB...

Read More

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro receive an update that improves ANC performance

Although the Galaxy Buds Pro are a brand new product, Samsung is already pushing a second update and this one is improving the earphones' ANC performance. Also, it improves upon another cool feature - Voice detect mode. The latter detects when you start to speak and turns off ANC so you can have your conversation without having to take off the buds. The third line in the changelog mentions the Ambient sound feature as well. The Ambient sound feature lets surrounding sounds in at a level of your choice so you can still be aware of your environment. However, Samsung doesn't reveal any...

Read More

iOS 14.5 lets you unlock your iPhone with Face ID while wearing a mask, if you have an Apple Watch

Apple adopted Face ID facial recognition technology with iPhone X in 2017, but this tech has proved to be a less practical solution amid the ongoing pandemic since it often fails to unlock the iPhone when you are wearing a mask, requiring you to enter the passcode to use your iPhone. However, with iOS 14.5, Apple is trying to make things easier for owners of iPhones with Face ID. The Cupertino-based tech giant has released the beta version of iOS 14.5, which comes with a feature that allows you to unlock your iPhone with Face ID when wearing a mask, provided you own an Apple...

Read More

Latest Firefox for Android update enables DRM streaming

Mozilla has pushed new updates for its Firefox browser on PC and Android, and the mobile version has a cool feature making a comeback - enabling DRM stream support through compatibility for Widevine. The new version 85 also allows you to install extensions and add-ons and brings security updates and various patches. Firefox 85 screenshots If you are trying to play DRM-protected content on websites like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu you will receive a prompt to allow it constantly, block, or be asked every time. However, the browser supports streaming up to 720p, meaning...

Read More

Exynos 2100 is a big step up from 990, still behind Snapdragon 888

Samsung offers most of its premium phones with two different chipsets in different markets, leading to the inevitable comparisons year after year. Last year's Exynos 990 was a step behind the Snapdragon 865, especially in terms of battery life. This year the difference is far smaller if this latest batch of benchmarks is to be trusted. Golden Reviewer ran the SPECint2006 benchmark on the best chipsets for the past 12 months, giving us a few interesting numbers to look at and compare. The benchmark determines a chipset's cluster of cores' power draw and performance rating. Despite its...

Read More

Redmi K40 lineup to include a third handset, the Pro will sport a 108MP camera

According to a renowned Chinese tipster on Weibo, the upcoming Redmi K40-series will have not two but three phones - likely the vanilla K40, K40S and K40 Pro. There have been numerous leaks about the devices in the past and a recent teaser even revealed the price of the Pro model with Snapdragon 888 - it will start at CNY 2,999. That's some aggressive pricing even for the Chinese market. In addition to the Snapdragon 888, the so-called Digital Chat Station says it will employ a 108MP main sensor. The good news is that we don't have to wait much longer for some official info as the...

Read More

MediaTek unveils its first mmWave modem - the M80 can reach 7.67 Gbps downlink speeds

MediaTek just unveiled its first mmWave modem, the M80. It’s capable of hitting peak speeds of 7.67 Gbps downlink and 3.76 Gbps uplink. It supports the sub-6 flavor of 5G as well, of course, but it’s mmWave that sets it apart from previous M70 modem. The M80 supports dual SIM operation where both SIM cards can be connected to NSA or SA networks and both can do calls using Voice over New Radio (VoNR). Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) is available for networks without dedicated 5G bands (DSS allows carriers to combine 4G and 5G on the same band). The M80 is MediaTek's first mmWave...

Read More

Sony PlayStation 5 now on sale in India

Sony today is finally launching the PlayStation 5 in India. The console will be available through online and offline retailers, including Amazon, Flipkart, Croma , Reliance Digital, Games The Shop, Shop at Sony Center, and Vijay Sales. The PlayStation 5 is priced at INR 49,990 for the standard model and 39,990 for the Digital Edition. At launch, only the standard edition of the console seems to be on sale. The standard edition is the one that includes the UHD Blu-ray drive for games and media. The Digital Edition has been announced for India, but will be on sale later. You will...

Read More

Samsung Galaxy M02 announced with 6.5" display and 5,000 mAh battery

Samsung introduced the Galaxy M02s earlier last month, and today it followed it up with a cheaper version, dubbed Galaxy M02. The Samsung Galaxy M02 is built around a 6.5" Infinity-V display with HD+ resolution and a waterdrop notch for the 5MP selfie camera. The phone's rear panel, which has a textured design for a comfortable grip, is home to a dual camera setup aligned vertically in the upper-left corner. It consists of 13MP primary and 2MP macro cameras, below which is the LED flash. Under the hood, the Samsung Galaxy M02 has MediaTek's MT6739W SoC paired with 2GB or 3GB RAM....

Read More

Poco M3 arrives in India, starting at INR10,999

The Poco M3 smartphone is a great all-rounder at a lovely price of $150, and now fans in India can get a taste of it too. The brand will start selling the device on Tuesday, February 9, and prices will be INR10,999 or INR11,999, depending on the storage. The phone has 6GB RAM and two storage options - 64GB or 128GB. In either case you get a microSD slot for expansion. The phone also offers a 3.5mm audio jack, NFC reader, IR port and FM radio. When we reviewed the device, we established it has outstanding battery life, thanks to the massive 6,000 mAh cell, and it comes with 18W...

Read More

Samsung Galaxy M62 gets NBTC certified

We've been hearing about Samsung's SM-M625F/DS for some time and it has now been certified by Thailand's NBTC, confirming the Galaxy M62 moniker in the process. The listing on the Thai regulator's website doesn't divulge anything about the Galaxy M62 other than confirming it's a 4G smartphone, but thanks to Geekbench, we know it will boot Android 11 and have an Exynos 9825 SoC at the helm, with 6GB RAM as one of the memory options. Samsung Galaxy M62 on NBTC The Galaxy M62 was certified by FCC last month with a 7,000 mAh battery, 25W in-box charger, USB-C port, and a 3.5mm...

Read More