Xiaomi’s sub-brand Redmi has been speculated to launch a flagship smartphone for a while; since it separated from its parent company in the month of January this year. It was leaked a while ago that the company is planning on launching two devices instead of one in the month of May. Now fresh reports and leaks have surfaced which reveal the upcoming Redmi smartphones will be called the Redmi K20 and Redmi K20 Pro. Details about the storage and colour variants of the handsets have also been leaked.
Redmi K20, K20 Pro
The upcoming smartphones from Redmi, the K20 and the K20 Pro will be the first flagship offering from the company. The latest leak reveals the devices will be available in three colour options namely, Carbon Fiber Black, Glacier Blue and Flame Red. For memory and storage, the handsets are expected to be available in a plethora of options, which are listed below.
6GB+64GB
6GB+128GB
8GB+128GB (Exclusive to K20 Pro)
8GB+256GB
While the leak doesn’t mention further details about the smartphones; the previous leaks provide the required information. The Redmi K20 series is expected to have a 6.39 inch AMOLED display with an FHD+ resolution. To maximise the screen real estate, a pop-up mechanism to house the front-facing camera has been revealed to be present on the devices. For biometric security and rapidly unlocking the handset, an in display fingerprint scanner with support for face unlock technology will be present on the smartphones.
The Redmi K20 series is expected to run on the 7nm Snapdragon 855 chipset, which comprises of the octa-core Kryo 485 processor and the Adreno 640 GPU. In terms of optics, the smartphones may feature a triple rear camera setup, comprised of a 48MP primary sensor; an 8MP ultra wide angle sensor; and a tertiary 16MP telephoto sensor. For selfies, a 32MP sensor is expected to be present in the pop-up mechanism of the devices. It is also speculated that the handsets will feature the 3.5mm headphone jack and NFC (Near Field Communication) technology. It is expected that Xiaomi will announce the K20 series as the Poco F2 in certain global markets with a price under Rs. 30,000 in India.
American semiconductor giant AMD is expected to launch the new generation of its Ryzen desktop processors; at the Computex show scheduled in a few weeks. The event is one of the largest computer and technology trade shows in the world. While details about the next generation of Ryzen CPU were shrouded in mystery, fresh reports citing information about the processors have been shared on microblogging website Twitter.
AMD Ryzen 3000
The AMD Ryzen 3000 as mentioned above, will represent the next generation of CPUs for desktops. In a tweet, a tipster revealed the processors will have up to 16 cores and will have a base clock speed of 3.3GHz. In terms of overclocking, it can be clocked up to a maximum speed of 4.2Ghz according to the leak but considering the past few iterations; AMD might provide the option of taking it even further. Furthermore, the leak reveals the chipset was tested on a motherboard based on the soon to be released MSI X570 platform controller. MSI has been teasing the support for the new Ryzen processors in its motherboard for a while now.
Another leak, shared by the author of the DRAM Calculator for Ryzen processors on Twitter; showcases another important detail about the Ryzen 3000 CPU. According to him, the upcoming chipset will support a whopping 5000 MHz DDR4 Memory Speeds. All the known details so far about the Ryzen 3000 hint that it will be manufactured using a 7nm process; and will be based on the company’s latest Zen2 architecture. It is a refresh of the Zen+ and Zen architecture that AMD had been using for a while. All the aforementioned changes to the Ryzen lineup insinuates it will be a worthwhile upgrade over its predecessor; and may lead to AMD gaining an advantage over its rival Intel for a while.
Oppo’s subsidiary Realme is set to launch it latest mid range smartphone, the Realme X which will be unveiled on the 15th of May in China. Days before the official announcement, the live images and the official teaser of the smartphone have been leaked on Twitter which reveals its design and key features.
Realme X Looks
For starters, the Realme X has a refreshing design with a gradient coloured back that harbours the dual camera setup and company branding. Like the previously launched Realme 3 Pro, the top most camera in the arrangement has a Golden ring around it which provides the smartphone with a distinctive look.
Moving forward to the front, the Realme X accommodates a large screen display with negligible bezels on all sides except for the bottom chin which is comparatively thicker. It also features an in-display fingerprint scanner which is slowly becoming the industry standard for both midrange and premium smartphones. Noteworthy, it also has a motorised pop up style selfie camera which helps the device to offer a high screen to body ratio. The teaser does not exhibit any specifications of the upcoming device but they can be derived from past leaks and previously discovered Geekbench listing.
Realme X Specifications
The Realme X sports a 6.5 inch AMOLED display that has a resolution of 2340 x 1080 px. The smartphone measures 161.2×76×9.4 mm and tips the scale at 191 grams. Under the hood, it is kitted with the Snapdragon 710 SoC which is also present on the Realme 3 Pro. The Realme X is powered by a 3680 mAh battery and it runs on the latest Android 9 Pie which will be skinned with ColorOS. In terms of optics, the Realme X has a dual rear camera setup consisting of 48 MP + 5 MP sensor and a 16 MP selfie camera housed in the popup notch.
Huawei’s sub brand Honor will soon launch its latest smartphone duo. Dubbed as the Honor 20 and the Honor 20 Pro, the handsets will be unveiled on the 21st of May at an event which will be held in London. Days before the official announcement, the company has shared a couple of teasers which reveal camera details of the upcoming devices.
Honor 20 Lineup Camera Details
The teaser images shared by Honor exhibit four piercings on the ear and the lip which suggest the Honor 20 smartphones will have quad rear cameras. Furthermore, the placement of the piercings on the ear indicates the sensors will be arranged in an L-shape.
Furthermore, the second teaser reveals the type of sensors the camera setup of the smartphones will be comprised of. The bubble on the top has a fully focussed image which hints of a standard lens. The image in the second bubble has a wide field of view which hints of an ultra wide sensor. The third bubble with a close up of a leaf corroborates of a macro lens. Finally, the fourth bubble shows two birds which hints the presence of a telephoto zoom lens. Even though the current teaser does not reveal the specifications of the smartphones, they can be derived from past reports.
Honor 20 and Honor 20 Pro Specifications
Honor View 20
According to past leaks, the Honor 20 and the Honor 20 Pro will run on the Kirin 980 SoC which is also present on smartphones like the Huawei P30 and Honor View 20. The chipset consists of an octa core CPU along with the Mali G76 GPU. The devices will reportedly be powered by a 3,650 mAh battery which will support 22.5 watt fast charging. They will be offered in three storage varaints which are as follows:
To conclude, detailed specifications and the price of the upcoming smartphones will be revealed once they are officially announced by the company on the 21st of May.
Google launched its flagship smartphones, the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL last year in the month of October. The devices were praised for their camera and software experience but were also criticised heavily due to random lags and slowdowns. It is speculated that due to the company installing a meagre 4GB of RAM in the handsets, the issue was all but overdue. In a fresh report, users on social media website Reddit have claimed they have fixed the memory problems with the Pixel 3 smartphones; and its predecessors by disabling a feature known as Digital Wellbeing.
Slowdowns on Pixel Smartphones
The thread on Reddit dedicated to the Google Pixel smartphones unanimously arrived at the conclusion; that the Digital Wellbeing feature is the culprit behind the slowdowns and lags that is plaguing Pixel smartphone since last year. While not confirmed by the company, users claim they have turned off the feature and saw a drastic change in the performance of their devices. It is not known what handsets are affected due to the issue, but users have reported improvements in performance up to the original Pixel smartphone when Digital Wellbeing is turned off. The cause of the slowdowns is reported to be the constant usage of the device’s RAM by the feature due to it running in the background at all times.
What Is Digital Wellbeing?
With the introduction of its latest Android 9 Pie Operating System in the year 2018; Google also announced a feature similar to the screen time on the iOS platform. Dubbed Digital Wellbeing, it helped the users track their smartphone and app usage and can restrict it remotely. It has been regarded as a useful feature and made available to all devices in the Pixel and Android One lineup since its launch. Notably, the feature is all set to be updated with new functionalities with Android Q. With the release of the next Android iteration, smartphones supporting Digital Wellbeing will gain access to the Focus Mode. It is claimed to work better at restricting the users at spending more time with smartphones.
But, with the problems of slowdowns and unexpected lags in Pixel 3 smartphones due to the Digital Wellbeing feature; it is considered the best move to turn it off. To turn off the feature from your device, follow the instructions below.
Open settings on your smartphone
Navigate to the Digital Wellbeing option
Touch the three-dot icon at the top right and pick the “Turn off usage access” button
Confirm the decision on the next “Usage access” screen by choosing Digital Wellbeing and toggling the “permit usage access” option to off.
Asus is set to launch its latest flagship grade smartphone, the ZenFone 6 on the 16th of May. Previously, the Geekbench score and the teaser of the upcoming handsetwere spotted online. Days before the official announcement, a video of the alleged smartphone has been shared by a Spanish Youtuber. It exhibits a unique looking smartphone with a slider design. Noteworthy, the slider on the smartphone slides both upwards and downwards which is dissimilar to other slider incorporating smartphones like the Mi Mix 3 and the Honor Magic 2.
ZenFone 6 Official Teaser
Upon close inspection, it was discovered that the smartphone in the video shared by the Youtuber is unlikely to be ZenFone 6. As the official teaser shared by the company declared the smartphone has a bottom mounted 3.5 mm audio jack which the device in the said video misses out on. Apparently, the handset in the video is made by Asus and instead this could be the beefed up variant of the flagship handset which might be called the Asus ZenFone 6Z.
ZenFone 6z Design
Now that it is clear that the device in video is not the ZenFone 6 and rather could be the ZenFone 6Z. Let’s talk about its design!
The alleged ZenFone 6Z has slider design with a large screen display on the front that has a considerably high screen-to-body ratio. The rear of the smartphone seems to be made out of glass which has a high gloss finish. Its rear panel harbours the Asus branding, fingerprint sensor and the dual camera set up along with an LED flash. The bottom of the device is occupied by a USB C port which is flanked by two narrow slits which may be the cutout for the loudspeaker and the microphone.
Talking about the slider mechanism, the screen when slid downward reveals a dual front camera setup which surprisingly also has two LED flashlights. On the contrary, the mechanism when slid up reveal a secondary speaker and two touch buttons which control the shutter button and brightness setting. All in all, the smartphone looks unique and distinguished than the bunch. However, we will have to wait until the 16th of May that is when the company will lift off the curtain from the ZenFone 6 lineup.
California based, Apple is expected to launch its latest smartphones in the month of September this year. Like yesteryear, the company is expected to launch three handsets which will succeed the iPhone XS, the iPhone XS Max and the iPhone XR. The two upcoming flagship grade smartphones are assumed to carry the iPhone XI and iPhone XI Maxmoniker, while the name for the more affordable 2019 iPhone is unknown as of now. Earlier this month the renders of the less feature rich, 2019 iPhone XR were shared on Twitter which revealed its design from all angles. A piece of fresh news concerning the handset has surfaced online.
The source claims that the 2019 iPhone XR will be offered in two new colour options which will replace the Coral and Blue colour option from the current generation. Instead, the upcoming smartphone will be offered in Green and Lavender colours. While the four other colour variants, Yellow, White, Black and Red will remain as is. Even though the blog does not reveal any features of the upcoming device, they can be derived from past reports.
2019 iPhone XR Design And Features
For the larger part, the design of 2019 iPhone XR remains unchanged in comparison to its predecessor. However, the apparent change the future smartphone will have is the presence of dual rear camera setup. The rear camera setup will be arranged in a square ridge that protrudes slightly from the back panel. As per the renders, the front fascia, the positioning of ports on grilles will also be same on the 2019 iPhone XR as the current generation device.
In terms of hardware, the device will be shipped with the updated Bionic chipset which will assumedly be called ‘Apple A13’. Also reports from the past claim, the anticipated handset will have a 12 MP selfie camera which is a significant update over the 7 MP on the 2018 model. Noteworthy, the forthcoming device is also reported to be shipped with an 18 W fast charger which is great news for people who are usually running out of battery.
To conclude, all the rumours and claims will be clarified once the company officially unveils the smartphone. Going by Apple’s previous launch cycles, the 2019 iPhone XR and the flagship grade iPhone XI and iPhone XI Max will be launched in the month of September.
Smartphones have gradually become the necessity of a modern man. Primarily, due to the reason it enables a user to perform certain simple tasks that would have been difficult without the presence of one. Talking about India, the market is densely populated by OEMs from all around the globe. Consequently, the simple process of selecting the right smartphone based on the needs of a given user can be highly overwhelming. This article will be of great help to users who plan to buy a sub 15,000 Re smartphone in the country.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro – Fan Favourite
Hands down, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro is one of the best mid-range smartphones that is currently on offer. The device made its global debut in India in the month of February and it created seismic waves accrediting to its value for money. It features a 6.3-inch FHD + display with a dot notch up top. The said notch houses the selfie camera that has a resolution of 13 MP. Under the hood, it features the Snapdragon 675 SoC which is both power efficient and powerful. The Redmi Note 7 Pro also has a dual camera setup which is comprised of a 48 MP sensor and a 5 MP sensor. It runs on the latest Android 9 Pie (MIUI 10) and is powered by a 4,000 mAh battery which supports 18 W fast charging. However, users need to separately purchase the fast charger. See full specs of the Redmi Note 7 here.
Screen Size- 6.3 inch LCD, 2340 x 1080 px, 409 ppi
Rear Camera- 48 MP (f/1.8) + 5 MP (f/2.4)
Front Camera- 13 MP
Battery- 4,000 mAh, Upto 18 W, Fast Charger Sold Separately
The Realme 3 Pro, as the name suggests, is the elder sibling of the Realme 3 and it was launched in the month of April. It offers a well-balanced package of features like a 6.3 inch display with FHD+ resolution and 20 W Vooc charging. Praiseworthy, the fast charger is shipped in the box with the handset which is disparate to numerous other OEMs. In terms of optics, the smartphone has a dual rear camera setup consisting of 16 MP + 5 MP sensor and a 25 MP front-facing selfie camera. Notably, the company claims the Realme 3 Pro can also capture 64 MP images which are achieved with the help of software processing. The smartphone is kitted with the Snapdragon 710 SoC and is powered by 4,045 mAh lithium battery. As previously mentioned it also supports 20 W fast charging. See full specs of the Realme 3 Pro here.
Screen Size- 6.3 inch LCD, 2340 x 1080 px, 409 ppi
Rear Camera- 16MP (f/1.7) + 5 MP (f/2.4)
Front Camera- 25 MP
Battery- 4,045 mAh, 20 W Vooc Charge, In Box Fast Charger
The Samsung Galaxy M30 has made its way to the list accrediting to its key highlighting features which include the 6.4 inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display and a mammoth 5,000 mAh battery. It also supports 15 W fast charging and thoughtfully Samsung ships the device with a fast charger. Furthermore, unlike any other offering in this list, the Galaxy M30 has a triple rear camera setup which consists of a 13 MP PDAF sensor, a 5 MP ultrawide sensor and a 5 MP depth sensor. It also has a front camera with 16 MP resolution that is housed in the notch above the display. The smartphone features the Exynos 7904 chipset which might not be as capable as the Snapdragon 675 or the Snapdragon 710 in terms of gaming. However, it performs flawlessly while performing day to day tasks like watching videos online and navigating between apps. See full specs of the Samsung Galaxy M30 here.
Screen Size- 6.4 inch Super AMOLED, 2340 x 1080 px, 394 ppi
Battery- 5,000 mAh, Upto 15 W, In Box Fast Charger
Chipset- Exynos 7904
Screen Protection- N/A
SD Card Support- up to 512 GB (dedicated slot)
Price: Rs 14,990 (4 GB + 64 GB)
Nokia 6.1 Plus – Great User Experience
The Nokia 6.1 Plus made its debut in the month of August last year and has been a popular choice amongst consumers. The unique selling point of the Nokia 6.1 Plus is its butter smooth user experience which is as good as a flagship-grade smartphone. Distinctively, it runs on the stock version of Android OS which provides it with the said user experience. Furthermore, it is Android One certified which ensures the device will receive the latest Android updates for at least two years. The smartphone sports a 5.8 inch display that has a pixel density of 432 ppi. Like most modern smartphones, it also has a wide notch above the display which accommodates the earpiece and a 16 MP selfie camera. Talking about rear cameras, it sports two sensors that have a resolution of 16 MP and 5 MP. The Nokia 6.1 Plus packs a 3,060 mAh battery which supports 18 W quick charge 3.0. The device is kitted with the Snapdragon 636 SoC which is definitely not the most powerful but the bloat-free stock Android provides for stutter-free user experience. See full specs of the Nokia 6.1 Plus here.
Screen Size- 5.8 inch LCD, 2280 x 1080 px, 432 ppi
Rear Camera- 16 MP (f/2.0) + 5 MP (f/2.4)
Front Camera- 16 MP
Battery- 3,060 mAh, Upto 18 W, Fast Charger Sold Separately
After a surprising price cut of more than Rs 5,000, the Honor Play has become a lucrative option in the sub 15K price bracket. Predominantly, due to the Kirin 970 which is a flagship-grade SoC, also present on the high-end P20 and P20 Pro from Huawei. Additionally, it sports a 6.3 inch LCD display that has a pixel density of 409 ppi. Similar to several options from this list, the Honor Play has a dual camera setup consisting of 16 MP + 2 MP sensor and a 16 MP selfie camera. It is powered by a 3,750 mAh battery which also support 18 W fast charging. The previously mentioned Kirin 970 chipset is manufactured using 10 nm fabrication process which makes it highly power efficient. The processing prowess of the SoC can mostly be noticed in resource hungry applications which include games, especially PUBG Mobile. See full specs of the Honor Play here.
Price Rs: 13,999 (4 GB + 64 GB)
Screen Size- 6.3 inch LCD, 2340 x 1080 px, 409 ppi
Rear Camera- 16 MP (f/2.2) + 2 MP (f/2.4)
Front Camera- 16 MP
Battery- 3,750 mAh, Upto 18 W, In Box Fast Charger
Google launched its latest smartphones, the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL on the 7th of May at the Google I/O 2019 developer conference. The devices are the watered down variants of the company’s flagship offerings, the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. The newest smartphones boast of similar software and camera experience as their elder siblings albeit with a few compromises in the hardware department. It was also believed earlier that Google, who announced the latest Android Q Beta at the same event; will make it available for the Pixel 3a series as soon as its elder siblings. However, the company has announced that will not be the case; and the smartphones will get the update by the month of June.
Pixel 3a Android Q Beta
The Android Q Beta update can be installed on any Pixel smartphone or one from 21 different OEMs by signing in to the Android Beta Program. It was expected that the Pixel 3a series; soon after its launch will support the said software update, but as mentioned above that is not the case. Notably, the latest devices feature the March security patch; which may be surprising considering Google released the May security update a week ago. The company claims the handset will be directly updated to the June security patch via an Over The Air (OTA) update next month.
Despite being mentioned on the website that the Pixel 3a series will be supported for Android Q Beta in June; some reports of the smartphone owners already installing the update has surfaced. This is seen as an oversight on Google’s part and expected to be fixed shortly. The news of the new devices not supporting the latest software update; nor being on the latest security patch is a big deal as Pixel handsets are known for the software experience and always staying up to date. It may create a decrease of trust amongst buyers of the company’s hardware in the future.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA is a well-known space organisation; and an independent agency of the United States. In a world first, it has announced the Double Asteroid Redirection Test or the DART Mission. It is a defence driven mission aimed at preventing the impact on Earth by a potentially hazardous asteroid in the future. In the DART mission, NASA will send a spacecraft to crash into an asteroid in the year 2022.
NASA DART Mission
The DART Spacecraft
The NASA DART Mission, as mentioned above, aims at sending a spacecraft to crash into an asteroid called Didymos to test the planetary defences of Earth. In the details revealed on the organisation’s official website, it is known the mission will be the first time the kinetic impactor technique is demonstrated. The technique will try to change the motion or path of the asteroid in space. The DART mission has swiftly reached Phase C and is managed under NASA’s Solar System Exploration Program at Marshal Space Flight Center for the organisation’s Planetary Defence Coordination Office.
The DART spacecraft launch is scheduled for late July 2021 aboard the Falcon 9 rocket made by SpaceX. It will launch from the Vandenberg Air Force Base, California and is expected to intercept with the Didymos asteroid in late September of the year 2022. Noteworthy, the asteroid will be within a distance of 11 million kilometres from Earth at the time and poses no harm to the planet in any way. While the mission seems far fetched at first, its real-world application may be very important in the future. If the mission is successful, Earth will have gained the ability to fend off incoming threats from outer space like asteroids or meteorites. This has the potential of minimising or saving the planet from damage in case of any potential collision.
Motorola is expected to launch its latest smartphone, dubbed the Motorola One Vision at an event in Brazil on the 15th of May. The device will succeed the Moto One Power launched last year and will be the next handset from the company to be a part of the Android One Program. A known tipster has revealed full details about the smartphone prior to its launch and also has shared the price the device will launch in Europe.
Motorola One Vision
The Motorola One Vision will be the company’s latest mid-range offering. Leaked images of the smartphone reveal it will have an all-glass design at the back with a gradient pattern. The tipster claims it will measure 160.1 x 71.2 x 8.7mm and weigh 180g. It will have a 6.3-inch LCD display with a resolution of 2520 x 1080 px and an aspect ratio of 21:9 like seen in the Xperia 1. To maximise the screen real estate, a hole punch cutout reminiscent of the Honor View20 will be placed on the top left corner of the display. For biometrics and security, a fingerprint scanner housed in the Motorola batwing logo at the back is expected on the device.
The leak further asserts under the hood, the Motorola One Vision will be kitted with Samsung’s Exynos 9609 SoC. This is contrary to the leaks in the past which claimed the smartphone will have the Exynos 9610 chipset inside. Names aside, the two SoCs differ in their maximum clock speeds, with the former clocked at 2.2GHz and the latter going all the way up to 2.3GHz. In terms of optics, the Moto One Vision will have a dual rear camera setup, consisting of an f/1.7 aperture equipped 48MP primary sensor; which will feature quad pixel technology and OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), and a secondary 5MP depth sensor. For selfies, an f/2.0 aperture equipped 25MP camera will be housed in the aforementioned punch hole cutout. For memory and storage, the device will be available with 4GB of RAM and up to 128GB of internal storage.
The Motorola One Vision will be powered by a 3500 mAh battery with support for connectivity options like Bluetooth 5.0, NFC and ac-WLAN. The smartphone will be a part of the Android One Program which means it will run a clean build of Android; and will receive major software updates for at least two years and security patches for at least three years. It will be available in two colours, namely Blue and Bronze Brown.
As mentioned above, the Motorola One Vision will be launched in Brazil on the 15th of May. The leak suggests the smartphone will be priced at EUR 299 (INR 23,500) when launched in Europe. It is also expected to make its way to the Indian market soon after the global unveiling at a lower price than its European counterpart.
World’s second largest smartphone OEM Huawei launched the latest smartphone in its mid-range Nova series back in December last year. Dubbed the Nova 4, it was also the company’s first device with a punch hole display. Now, fresh leaks claim the handset is due for an upgrade as its successor, allegedly called the Huawei Nova 5 is in the works. Specifications of the smartphone were leaked by a gadget tipster on microblogging website Twitter. The leaker claims the device has been codenamed Seattle and will release soon.
Huawei Nova 5
Huawei P30 Pro
The upcoming smartphone from Huawei, the Nova 5 will be its mid-range offering. Leaks claim it will have a design which will be a hybrid of the soon to be launched Honor 20 series and the Huawei P30 lineup. This insinuates it will have an all-glass design on the front and back with a colourful gradient pattern on the rear of the device. It will have a 6.39 inch OLED display with an FHD+ resolution; and will use a hole punch cutout to house the front-facing camera in a bid to maximise the screen real estate. For biometric security and rapidly unlocking the smartphone, an in display fingerprint scanner with support for face unlock technology is expected.
Honor View20
The leak further asserts the Huawei Nova 5 will be powered by a 3500 mAh battery with support for 40W fast wired charging. In terms of optics, the smartphone will have a triple camera setup, comprised of a 48MP primary sensor; a secondary 12 MP ultra wide angle sensor and a third Time of Flight (ToF) camera; to capture the depth and assisting in background blur. Unfortunately, the leak does not mention the chipset used in the smartphone, but as the predecessor featured the Kirin 970 SoC; the Nova 5 may run on the flagship grade 7nm Kirin 980 mobile processor also seen on the Huawei P30 Pro.
Alongside the leak on Twitter, a silicone case reported to be of the Huawei Nova 5 has been leaked on Slashleaks. This affirms to the aforementioned details about the device. While it is not known when the Chinese OEM will launch the smartphone, the increasing number of leaks suggests it may see the light of the day soon.
TSMC, a Taiwanese OEM that produces semiconductors and chipsets. Founded in the year 1987 the company currently holds the title for world’s largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry. Corporations including Apple, Qualcomm and AMD are one of the few customers of TSMC.
The company has qualified a significant achievement in the field of chipset technology which is starting risk production of 5 nm chips. This step would allow the company to reduce the size of a given chipset by up to 45% in comparison to the current technology which is 7 nm. Furthermore, it will provide a performance boost of up to 15% in devices that incorporate the chipset. Even though the size of the foundation die has changed, the architecture of a particular chipset remains the same (eg: A73, Kryo 460). Accrediting to the size reduction, devices using the chipset manufactured using 5 nm process will be more power efficient. Therefore, proving for a longer battery backup on portable devices.
Except for the 5 nm process node, TSMC is also working on the 5 nm+ technology which will push a chipsets performance even further. However, the risk production of chipsets with this fabrication process will reportedly begin next year and they will be production ready by Q1 of 2021. For chipsets originating later this year, the company has 7 nm+ process ready. It should offer 20 % higher transistor density and 6-12% reduction in power consumption.
Notable companies that are lined up for the 7 nm+ based chipsets manufactured by TSMC include Qualcomm and Apple. TSMC being the sole chip supplier for Apple, at least until now, will manufacture SoCs for 2019 iPhones. Consequently, the upcoming smartphones from Apple will be kitted with 7 nm+ based chipsets which is assumed to carry the A13 Bionic moniker.
Oppo’s offshoot Realme is gearing up for the launch of its latest smartphone. Called the Realme X, the upcoming device will be unveiled on the 15th of May in China. Days before the official launch, the handset has been spotted on the popular benchmarking website, Geekbench.
Realme X Geekbench
On the 10th of May, an unreleased Realme smartphone with model number RMX1901 was listed on the Geekbench website which is assumed to be the Realme X. The said device registers a single core score of 1506 points and a multi-core score of 5837 points. Surprisingly, the alleged Realme X packs 8 GB of RAM which is usually seen in flagship smartphones. Notably, the listing of the same handset was previously discovered on the Chinese regulatory website TENAA which exhibited 4 GB of RAM. Accordingly, it might be offered in two storage variants.
Under the hood, the Realme X is kitted with the Snapdragon 710 SoC which has a base frequency of 1.71 GHz. The chipset consists of an Octa Core CPU and the Adreno 616 GPU. The listing also reveals the upcoming device runs on the latest Android 9 Pie which will be skinned with ColourOS. Even though the Geekebench record does not reveal other key features of the smartphone they can be extracted from the aforementioned TENAA listing.
Vivo V15 Pro Popup Selfie Camera
Correspondingly, the Realme X sports a 6.5 inch FHD+ AMOLED display which misses out on any kind of notch. Instead, the device will have a popup style selfie camera that has 16 MP resolution. In terms of battery, the smartphone will be powered by a 3,680 mAh Lithium cell.
Conclusively, official specifications and the price of the Realme X will be revealed once the company officially lifts the curtain from it on the 16th of May.
Honor, a subsidiary of Huawei is all set to launch its latest flagship smartphones. The Honor 20 and Honor 20 Pro will be announced on the 21st of May in London. While key details about the devices have been leaked previously, their design has remained shrouded in mystery until now. In a video teasing the launch of the handsets, the company has revealed the Honor 20 series will feature a Dynamic Holographic Design on their back.
Specifications
Honor 20 series will be the newest flagship smartphones by the company. As mentioned above, they will feature a Dynamic Holographic Design on the back. This design will be made using the company’s ‘Triple 3D Mesh” technology. Fresh reports claim the Honor 20 series will have a 6.26-inch display with a 91.6 percent screen to body ratio. To maximise the screen real estate, a hole punch camera with a width of 4.5mm is also expected on the devices. For biometric security and rapidly unlocking the handsets, the Honor 20 series may have a side mounted fingerprint scanner with support for face unlock technology.
The previous leaks of the Honor 20 and 20 Pro claim they will run on the 7nm Kirin 980 SoC. The chipset is comprised of an Octa-core CPU and Mali G76 GPU. In terms of optics, the Honor 20 may have a triple rear camera setup, consisting of a 48MP sensor, combined with a 20MP ultra-wide angle sensor and an 8MP telephoto sensor. The Honor 20 Pro, on the other hand, will add a fourth sensor which will be a dedicated 2 MP macro camera, used for shooting subjects in proximity. For selfies, the devices will have a 32MP camera housed in the punch hole display. In terms of memory and storage, the smartphones are expected to be available in the following variants.
6GB RAM and 128GB ROM
8GB RAM and 128GB ROM
8GB RAM and 256GB ROM
The devices will be powered by a 3650mAh battery with support for 22.5W fast charging. For enhanced gaming and CPU performance, the smartphones will support the company’s CPU/GPU Turbo technology.
While the pricing of the less feature-rich Honor 20 isn’t known; The past leaks of the Pro variant claim it will start at CNY 2999 (Rs. 31,000) for the version with 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. The variant with 8GB of RAM and 128GB onboard memory will cost CNY 3399 (Rs. 35,200). Top end variant of the device with 8GB RAM and 256GB of internal storage will retail at CNY 3799 (Rs. 39,400). As mentioned above, Honor will launch the smartphones on the 21st of May in Europe. It is expected to make its way into the Indian market soon after the announcement.
