Realme has been one of the most ambitious newcomers in the smartphone segment, quickly rising up the ranks in a short period of time. After having found success in smartphones and entering the connected devices segment, Realme is now looking to increase focus on AIoT products.

Realme India’s Madhav Sheth shared the new expansion strategy in a forum post. The new product strategy is “1+4+N” — One core product, four smart hubs and N AIoT and lifestyle products. These will act as the foundation for Realme’s expansion into more product categories. This is a common strategy adopted by tech brands for their horizontal expansion. 

1 Core

Smartphones will continue to be the core of Realme’s business, and going forward, will act as the centre of its AIoT ecosystem. The Realme Link app will act as a one-stop-shop to manage all connected products in its portfolio. 

4 Smart hubs

Smart products will see a lot of traction in the coming period. Realme looks at them as four distinct product categories:  smart TV, smart earphones, smartwatch and smart speaker. In fact, in 2020, we’ve already seen offerings such as the Realme TV, the Buds Air as well as the smartwatch. In the near future, expect an announcement around smart speakers, as well as more premium and high-end offerings such as a stylish smartwatch, bigger TVs and smarter headphones. Over time, there will be options at multiple price points to address the needs of the Indian market.

N AIoT Products

N refers to the many AIoT and lifestyle products that Realme is looking to bring to the market. Crudely divided across home, personal and travel, many new product categories will be explored. At the Realme X3 launch this week, a new Adventurer Backpack will also be unveiled. 

I have put my heart and soul to lead and build a talented team for Realme India. We have always strived to provide you (with) the most trendsetting technologies and stylish designs while setting benchmarks in each price segment

Some other future plans were also shared, such as employing over 10,000 Indians by the end of 2020 and expanding sales and distribution to Tier 4 and 5 areas. Local manufacturing of some of the upcoming smart products will also commence. As a part of the “Make in India” initiative, TV and component production lines will be set up for motherboards, which is a rare feat.

• Everything we know about the Realme X3 series
• Realme’s next smartphone to usher in a design overhaul
• Realme’s 2020 plans for India include a 108MP smartphone

Realme is all set to add another budget device to its portfolio, with the launch of the Realme C11 in Malaysia. Here’s what we know about it.

The information comes from Lowyat, which states that Realme has started sending out media invites for the launch of the Realme C11 to Malaysian media. Along with a teaser image, a press note was added which confirmed that the phone will be powered by the MediaTek Helio G35. This chipset is yet to be officially announced but is expected to be a powerful mid-ranger, just like others in the Helio G series.

The image interestingly shows the camera module hidden with a gold leaf. We expect this to be a hint towards the new design language that Realme teased for an upcoming smartphone. The key difference will be a new camera layout, which will be a step away from the current vertical camera array that has been in use for quite some time. The back also seems to be textured as per the image, and will sport a vertical stripe across the body for aesthetics.

Some of the other specifications include a big 5,000mAh battery with support for 10W fast charging. We hope to see it finally make the switch to USB Type-C this time.

The last phone under the C series globally was the Realme C3, which could mean that the naming scheme will be refreshed for the C11. Considering that Madhav Sheth did talk about an upcoming phone with a new camera design, we expect the Realme C11 to eventually be available in India too.

In the immediate future, Realme is expected to unveil the flagship Realme X3 series, a new 55-inch smart TV and soundbar, the Buds Q and even a wireless charger in India. Some of these will be announced this week on June 25, while the rest may get a separate event next month.

• Everything we know about the Realme X3 series
• Realme’s next smartphone to usher in a design overhaul
• Realme C3 launched in India with a focus on media consumption

Nokia has been doing a great job of offering multiple smartphones at each price segment, at least in the global market. A new development suggests that it will also be one of the first to bring 5G to affordable smartphones.

HMD Global’s Chief Product Officer, Juho Sarvikas, took to Twitter to congratulate Qualcomm on the launch on the Snapdragon 690. He also talked about how it will help Nokia bring 5G to a more affordable price point. This isn’t the first time Nokia is doing this to talk about its upcoming products.

• Affordable 5G phones will arrive this year with support for 198MP camera images
• MediaTek Dimensity 1000 Plus: The flagship 5G SoC that doesn't break the bank
• Nokia 9.3 PureView delayed for the umpteenth time

Towards the end of the Snapdragon 690 unveiling, Qualcomm also confirmed that Nokia will be one of the first partners to bring the new 5G chipset to the market. It is the first Snapdragon 6 series processor with 5G capabilities, thanks to the new X51 RF modem. It supports global bands, NSA and SA on the Sub-6GHz spectrum. 

The Snapdragon 690 implements an 8nm octa-core design, with two big Kryo 560 cores clocked at up to 2GHz (for performance) and six little ARM Cortex-A55 cores (for efficiency). The CPU performance is said to be 20% better than the Snapdragon 675. 

Other hardware specifications include support for cameras with a resolution of 192MP or 32MP with multi-frame noise reduction and zero shutter lag. On the video side, we’re looking at FHD recording at 120fz and QHD at 60fps, with support for HDR10+. Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+ is also supported. Mind you, these are the best-case scenario capabilities, and may not necessarily make it on the smartphones. 

Considering that the Nokia 8.3 5G was just recently unveiled, which opted for a Snapdragon 7 series chipset, we expect this to be a member of the 7 family. The Nokia 7.2 is due for a refresh, adding more substance to this speculation. Qualcomm also suggested that the Snapdragon 690-powered devices are expected to be priced in the $300-$500 range, which is precisely Nokia 7 series territory.

In the comments of the tweet, Sarvikas also hinted that the device will bring a high refresh rate display, which no Nokia phone currently offers. No other details about the “Nokia 7.3” were shared, but is expected to launch later this year.

• Nokia 8.3, the first 5G Nokia phone, might be available to buy soon

The next OnePlus TV series is still a few weeks away, but that hasn’t stopped the company from sharing details about its upcoming budget offerings to keep the hype up.

OnePlus entered the smart TV market last year with the Q1 series, which was a high-end product that started at Rs 69,900. In a surprise announcement, it confirmed that it will launch two affordable variants of its TV in India in July. It expects to “raise the standards” of the segment on July 2.

The company’s CEO shared a few details about these TVs on the forums. Picture quality and a powerful operating system will be at the heart of the new OnePlus TVs. Both the models will be capable of displaying a wide gamut for richer colours. Both the models will be able to achieve a 93% coverage of the DCI-P3 colour space, which is on the higher side. DCI-P3’s colour range is 26% larger than that of Rec. 709. This also confirms that the TVs will be HDR-capable.

The mid-range model will also be equipped with the proprietary Gamma Engine which enhances picture quality. Potential improvements include super-resolution, dynamic contrast, MEMC to upscale video frame rate, colour space mapping, anti-aliasing to reduce distortion, and noise reduction. This basically means that standard, low-res content can be transformed into something that is sharper, cleaner, and more fluid.

To further upgrade the picture quality, OnePlus worked with Dolby Labs to bring Dolby Vision certification to its new TVs, a rare rather specification for this price segment. 

The new, affordable OnePlus TVs will be unveiled in India on July 2. The entry-level variant will sport a 32-inch HD panel, and will be priced under Rs 20,000. The mid-segment variant will ship with a 43-inch Full HD panel. Around the same time, the affordable OnePlus Z/Nord smartphone and a pair of premium TWS earphones will also be announced.

• New, cheaper OnePlus TV coming to India on July 2
• Big move: OnePlus, Samsung to make smart TVs in India
• Everything we know about the OnePlus Z/Nord

The Oppo Find X2 series is the company’s high-end flagship that was unveiled around MWC. After a couple of delays, it has finally launched in India… well, sort of.

Out of the duo, only the regular Oppo Find X2 will go on sale in India. It turns out that the X2 Pro will not be available for purchase. Even the Oppo Find X2 will only be available in a single 12GB RAM and 256GB of storage option, at a price of Rs 64,990 on Amazon.in. Colour options include Black (ceramic) and Ocean Green (glass).

Oppo Find X2 specs

The main talking point of the Find X2 family is the display. It sports one of the best displays on the market, with a curved 6.7-inch Super AMOLED panel, with a QHD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 6. It can also playback HDR10 content, and has a peak brightness of 1,200nits. It also has a colour depth of 10-bit, giving it the ability to display over a billion colours.

On the inside, the Oppo Find X2 series is powered by the Snapdragon 865 chipset, which is the best processor currently available. It is also 5G-capable with the X55 modem. Those are paired with UFS 3.0 storage (non-expandable) and LPDDR5 RAM, virtually confirming smooth and reliable performance.

Cameras are another highlight of the family. We’re looking at a triple camera setup consisting of a dated 48MP f/1.7 Sony IMX586 image sensor as the primary camera, followed by a 12MP Sony IMX708 ultra-wide shooter with a rather narrow field-of-view due to sensor cropping, and a 13MP 2x telephoto lens with OIS, that can shoot at up to 5x hybrid zoom. Selfies are handled by a 32MP camera.

The Oppo Find X2 has a 4,200mAh battery that supports 65W Super VOOC 2.0 charging, that is claimed to take the phone from 0 to full in under 40 minutes. Wireless charging is not supported. Other hardware specifications include Bluetooth 5.1 and a USB 3.1 connector port for faster data transfer.

• Oppo Find X2 review
• Oppo Find X2 Pro review
• Oppo Find X2 Pro camera: Here's why Sony IMX689 sensor matters

The upcoming Samsung Galaxy M41 would’ve been Samsung’s first device to use a third-party OLED panel. However, it seems like we will have a wait for a little longer for a partnership of this nature, as its launch may no longer take place this month… or ever.

Samsung Display is one of the world’s biggest and best display manufacturers, and supplies panels to many smartphone makers, including Samsung Electronics. This doesn’t necessarily mean all Samsung smartphones will opt for a display from the sister concern. In fact, many M series and A series device in the past have also used LCD panels from third-party vendors. 

The Samsung Galaxy M41 was said to be in its final stages of development as the long-due successor to the M40 from last year. One of the key upgrades expected was the move to a 6.67-inch OLED panel, which is still a rarity in this segment. For this, Samsung looked to China Star Optoelectronics Technology (owned by TCL) as a supplier in what would’ve been a historic partnership. 

It seems like that will no longer be the case, as a report from South Korean industry publication Thelec states that the CSOT OLED panels failed to clear Samsung’s quality control. This has thrown off the development cycle in a way that the Galaxy M41 might end up getting scrapped. Its focus will shift to the M51 instead.

Samsung will continue to look at Chinese display manufacturers such as CSOT and BOE for cheaper components for its budget smartphones. Earlier this year, CSOT also supplied panels to the Xiaomi Mi 10 and the Motorola Edge Plus, both of which were generally considered as great displays. Samsung also considered a third-party vendor for its 2021 flagships, but even those plans might have fallen through. It is also looking to set up a display manufacturing plant in India to complement its smartphone production facility in Noida. 

• Samsung Display to discontinue LCD panel production by the end of this year
• Everything we know about the Samsung Galaxy Note 20

All OnePlus phones have an ‘Engineering Mode’ which allows users to test the hardware functionality. A closer look at its latest build suggests the company might be working on, including 65W charging capabilities, an Ice Blue colourway and the name of the upcoming wireless earbuds.

Lavin Amarnani, a developer, found strings in the Android 11 beta that mentioned the existence of a “Super Warp Charger” that will operate at a whopping 65W. Its latest phones can charge at up to 30W (5V 6A), which has only seen incremental upgrades since inception. This isn’t the first time we’re hearing about 65W charging on OnePlus devices, as the new charger was also spotted on the TÜV Rheinland certification last month. 

• OnePlus 8 Pro review
• OnePlus might be cooking up an AirPods rival
• New, cheaper OnePlus TV coming to India on July 2

Recent flagships such as the Oppo Find X2 Pro and the Realme X50 Pro also support 65W charging (10V 6.5A). Considering that OnePlus works closely with them for technology exchange, the same standard might make it to the next OnePlus devices. This is achieved by using a dual-cell battery in the device, both of which charge individually to result in faster charging. This, however, comes at the expense of battery health in the long run.

The code also listed all the colour variants of the OnePlus 8 series. It included an unannounced “Ice Blue” colour, which is believed to be an upcoming finish or a special edition that will be unveiled later. It will join Onyx Black, Glacial Green, Ultramarine Blue and Interstellar Glow as available options.

XDA Developers also spotted references to the upcoming OnePlus TWS in the Android 11 beta. There are strings which mention the “OnePlus Pods TWS”, which could be the final name of the company’s first pair for true wireless earbuds. Along with the usual slew of features, there’s also a mention of “oppoPodsService”, which could signify another technology sharing between the two manufacturers. The Oppo Enco Free is the company’s flagship TWS currently, which could lend hardware or features to OnePlus.

The code-digging gives an idea of OnePlus’s future roadmap. The first fruits of this could be seen as early as July, where the OnePlus TWS is expected to be unveiled, alongside a new smart TV and a new series of mid-range smartphones. The OnePlus 8T series will be announced later in the year.

Via XDA Developers 

The Mi NoteBook 14 series has finally been launched in India, marking Xiaomi’s much-awaited entry into the laptop space.

Earlier this year, when Xiaomi announced that it enter multiple new product categories in India, one of the most prominent bits was Mi laptops. The laptop segment had been rather stagnant with too many offerings from the legacy brands. Xiaomi hopes to address this in the thin and light segment with its Mi NoteBook 14. It is also said to be the global debut of this laptop.

Xiaomi Mi NoteBook 14 Horizon Edition 

The Xiaomi Mi NoteBook 14 comes in five variants, with the top-of-the-line model called the “Horizon Edition”. In terms of hardware and design, all of them are pretty similar. We get a thin aluminium and magnesium alloy chassis that is 17.15mm thick and weighs just about 1.35 kg. Interestingly, there’s no Mi branding on the outside. This anodized sandblasted finish is called Mercury Gray, and is the only colour variant available at launch.

The Xiaomi Mi NoteBook 14 Horizon Edition sports a 14-inch display with fairly slim bezels, resulting in a screen-to-body ratio of 91%. This means that it is not much bigger than a conventional 13-inch laptop. It has a resolution of 1920 x 1080, and has a matte finish thanks to an anti-glare coating. 

Some of the specifications are similar across the board, including an all-SSD storage implementation, 10th Gen Intel processors, and discrete Nvidia graphics. There’s 8GB of DDR4 RAM running at 2666MHz on all variants. Windows 10 Home Edition is pre-installed, and there are no ads or bloatware. Other features include Mi Blaze Unlock to authenticate users via a connected Mi Band, and Mi Share to transfer files within devices.

The Xiaomi Mi NoteBook 14 Horizon Edition is powered by the latest 10th gen Intel Core i7 10510U Comet lake CPU running at 15W, with a base frequency of 1.8Ghz, which can turbo up to 4.9GHz. There's also a slightly cheaper i5 variant. Most notably, it marks the Indian debut of the Nvidia MX350 discrete GPU with 2GB of VRAM, which is one of the most capable graphics cards available for compact devices. That is paired with up to 512GB of M.2 PCIe Gen 3x4 NVMe SSD storage. 

It has a 46Wh battery, and support 65W fast 1C charging, which can take the laptop from 0 to 50% in a little over 30 minutes. There’s also a USB Type-C port (not Thunderbolt 3). There is no webcam on the Horizon Edition, but one will come bundled in the box.

Xiaomi Mi NoteBook 14 

The regular Mi NoteBook 14 is powered by the 10th gen Intel Core i5 10210U processor, with either an Nvidia MX250 GPU or integrated Intel Iris UHD620 graphics. It moves to a slightly slower SATA SSD storage. The design also takes a step back, with a weight of 1.5 kg and a screen-to-body ratio of 81.2%.

Port selection includes two USB 3.1 type-A ports, an HDMI 1.4b connector, a DC power in, a 3.55mm combo jack and a USB 2.0 port for peripherals.

Price in India

Model	Config (Processor, storage, RAM)	Graphics	Price
Horizon Edition	i7, 512GB SSD + 8GB	Nvidia MX350	Rs 59,999
Horizon Edition	i5, 512GB SSD + 8GB	Nvidia MX350	Rs 54,999
Regular	i5, 512GB SSD + 8GB	Nvidia MX250	Rs 47,999
Regular	i5, 512GB SSD + 8GB	Intel Iris UHD620	Rs 44,999
Regular	i5,256GB SSD + 8GB	Intel Iris UHD620	Rs 41,999

The flagship Mi NoteBook 14 Horizon Edition is priced at Rs 54,999 for the base variant with an i5 processor and Rs 59,999 for the i7 variant.

The Mi NoteBook 14 starts at Rs 41,999 for 256GB storage and Intel Iris graphics, Rs 44,999 for double the storage, and Rs 47,999 for 512GB of storage and Nvidia MX250 graphics.

Amazon.in is the online sale partner. The first sale is slated for June 17. HDFC cardholders will get an instant cashback of Rs 2,000.

Check out the Xiaomi Mi NoteBook 14 series on Amazon.in

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OnePlus has confirmed that its popular smart TVs will be getting affordable variants in July. Building upon that, we now have confirmation of what sizes will be available.

The two models were recently certified by the Bluetooth SIG (Special Interest Group), which revealed a few more details about the new variants. These will sport smaller panels, coming in at 32-inch and 43-inch, with the resolution expected to be HD and Full HD respectively. This is further corroborated by the model numbers, which are 32HA0A00 and 43FA0A00, indicating the screen sizes, followed by the panel resolutions. The database also confirms that the TVs will have an LE panel, which makes us hopeful for an OLED or a QLED implementation at a budget.

OnePlus has also confirmed that the base model will be priced at “Rs 1x,999”, suggesting a price just under Rs 20,000 in India. This is a big step away from the OnePlus TV Q1 series that was launched last year at a starting price of Rs 69,999. OnePlus says that premium features will still be available on this new crop of affordable smart TVs, which we think is an indication of the Oxygen OS customizations atop Android TV OS 9.0.

The TVs will support Bluetooth 5.0 as well. Two models of the remote were also certified (RC-002B and RC-002C), but the differences between the two are unclear. We expect it to be similar to the remote that came along with the OnePlus TV Q1, with dedicated keys for Google Assistant, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

The upcoming OnePlus TVs will compete against the offerings from Xiaomi, Realme and Nokia, all of which have capable offerings. With the launch scheduled for July 2, we will know how OnePlus plans on competing with them. Other products such as the OnePlus true wireless earbuds and the affordable mid-ranger OnePlus Nord. It remains to be seen if all of them stick to their schedules or if they are delayed as well.

Via Gadgets360 

• OnePlus Z probably won't be called that - or the OnePlus 8 Lite
• OnePlus TV explained: specs, price, remote, and when it's coming to you

When earlier reports emerged that the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 will include stylus functionality with the S-Pen, everyone expected it to become a productivity powerhouse. However, it seems like we will have to wait a little longer for that to become a reality.

South Korean tech site Thelec claims that Samsung’s next flagship foldable will not have a durable enough display to endure the use of a hard-tipped stylus, and thus, the Galaxy Fold 2 will not include nor support the S-Pen. 

This doesn’t come as a surprise as the original Fold was marred with display durability issues and would get punctured easily. Things got a little better by moving to ultra-thin glass (UTG) on the Z Flip, but with a thickness of just 0.03mm, it still wasn’t enough. Considering that the Fold 2 is likely to opt for the same UTG implementation, Samsung seems to be playing safe this time.

For context, displays on devices such as the Note 10 have a thickness of over 0.4mm, which is 10x thicker. Further, it is also protected by Gorilla Glass’s popular scratch resistance, making it strong enough for a concentrated input device. In fact, for next year’s foldables, Samsung has already partnered with Corning to develop a new kind of flexible glass which will be flexible yet a lot more durable than the current UTG offerings. It remains to be seen when we get to see the fruits of this partnership.

As for the Galaxy Fold 2, it will be the new flagship in Samsung’s portfolio, and is likely to be more advanced than any other foldable in the market. Expected changes include bigger displays on the inside as well as outside, with the folding screen moving to a welcome 120Hz refresh rate. Along with structural improvements, ingress protection might also make an appearance. Internals will be upgraded to 2020 standards too.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 will go official in August at the first-ever online Unpacked event. The stage will be shared by the Note 20, Z Flip 5G, Tab S7 series and probably, even a pair of TWS earbuds with noise cancellation. Current rumours point to August 5, but there’s no official confirmation yet.

• Corning to develop UTG for Samsung’s next-gen foldables
• Everything we know about the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2

The upcoming OnePlus Z has already become one of the most talked-about smartphones of the season. A new strong report suggests that that won’t be its official name though.

The company’s first mid-ranger was initially expected to be called the ‘OnePlus 8 Lite’, which was later rumoured to be the ‘OnePlus Z’. With just about a month left for its official launch, a new report states that the latter was just an internal name, and the final name will actually be ‘OnePlus Nord’. This was backed by notable leakster Max J. as well as PhoneArena. 

Back in April, OnePlus filed a trademark for the term ‘Nord’ in India as well as EU. It was valid for product categories such as headphones, smartwatches,TV apparatus, and most importantly, smartphones, corroborating the claims that we might be in for a very different naming scheme this time. For those unaware, ‘Nord’ means north in many European languages, and is often associated with luxury products.

It needs to be noted that OnePlus is yet to acknowledge the existence of the affordable device, let alone its final retail name. Regardless, there’s a lot that we already know about it. Expected to make its global debut in India sometime in July, it will mark the company’s return to the affordable smartphone space. The key point will be that the Oxygen OS experience will now be a lot more accessible, without losing its premium features.

In terms of specifications, the OnePlus Nord will be a slightly compact device with a design reminiscent of the OnePlus X. The display will span about 6.4-inches diagonally, with a Full HD resolution and Super AMOLED construction, along with a refresh rate of 90Hz. On the inside, it is most likely to be powered by the Snapdragon 765G, which is Qualcomm’s best mid-range chipset, and also brings 5G capabilities. If that stands true, then it will be one of the first devices in India to sport that processor. There will be a triple camera setup on the rear that should be similar to the one found on the OnePlus 8, and a hole-punch selfie camera on the front.

The next OnePlus device is expected to be priced at under $400 or Rs 30,000 in India. July is also the launch timeframe for the new wave of affordable OnePlus TVs and its first pair of TWS earbuds.

• OnePlus wants to make cheap phones again - is the OnePlus Z coming?
• New, cheaper OnePlus TV coming to India on July 2
• Everything we know about the OnePlus Z

Update (June 9): OnePlus tweeted a teaser which confirms that the new TV will start at under Rs 20,000 in India.

In a surprise announcement, OnePlus will announce a more affordable variant of its smart TV in India next month.

Last September, the OnePlus TV Q1 and Q1 Pro made their global debut in India, alongside the 7T, marking the company’s foray into the smart television market. However, at a base price of Rs 69,900, it was one of the more premium options in the market. A new development will delight consumers who were looking for something a little more affordable — an “accessible” variant of the smart TV will launch in India on July 2.

• OnePlus TV explained: specs, price, remote, and when it's coming to you
• OnePlus wants to make cheap phones again - is the OnePlus Z coming?
• Affordable Realme smart TVs launched in India

No further details were mentioned, but with the announcement almost a month away, we expect OnePlus to slowly start teasing more aspects of the TV. The call to fame for the Q1 series was the smart software implementation, along with class-leading panel quality and a cool set of slide-down speakers. It’s unclear how many of those will make it to the new OnePlus TV, but we expect smaller sizes to be available, likely to be 43-inch and a 32-inch model.

Some of the high-end features such as the 4K QLED panel, Dolby Atmos speakers and the fancy design might not make the cut, in an attempt to bring the prices lower. However, Oxygen OS features for Android TV 9.0 should make an appearance once again.

The name of the TV has not been mentioned. It could be a model in the Q1 family, or if the recent trends are any indication, a “OnePlus TV Z” isn’t too farfetched either. It will join the Bullets Wireless Z and the upcoming OnePlus Z as an affordable alternative of its flagship offerings.

The budget smart TV space has seen a lot of new players off-late, primarily from Xiaomi, Realme, Nokia and other manufacturers. While OnePlus may not be able to match their price, it will try to bring a feature set that is yet to be seen in this segment. ET Telecom suggests that there will be two models, one priced at around Rs 15,000 while the other could go up to Rs 40,000.

For context, the OnePlus TV Q1 Pro was priced at Rs 99,900, and sported a 50W eight-speaker array, four of which would slide down when needed. Even the OnePlus Z was earlier said to launch in India in July, but that could’ve been delayed now.

• OnePlus 8 Review

After months of waiting, Xiaomi finally unveiled its laptops to India. The Mi NoteBooks was launched in India recently via an online event. The company announced two laptops dubbed Mi NoteBook 14 and Mi NoteBook 14 Horizon Edition. 

The two laptops come in five configurations which starts at Rs 41,999 and goes up to Rs 59,999 for the top-end variant. The company also said that these are early bird price and the prices could actually change in a couple of months. 

Laptops have been a rather stagnant category in India, with a few legacy players having flooded the market with numerous offerings with very few differences between them. 

Check out the Xiaomi Mi NoteBook 14 series on Amazon

Cut to the chase

• What is it? Xiaomi's first laptop for India
• When is it coming? June 11
• How much will it cost? starts at Rs 41,999

Mi NoteBook 14 Horizon Edition

The Horizon edition comes in thin aluminium and magnesium alloy chassis that is 17.15mm thick and weighs just about 1.35 kg. It sports a 14-inch display with slim bezels with 91% screen-to-body ratio. It has a resolution of 1920 x 1080. The machine comes with up to 512GB of M.2 PCIe Gen 3x4 NVMe SSD storage and 8GB DDR4 RAM running at 2666MHz. 

Powering the device is the 10th Gen Intel processor, you get to choose between i5 and i7 variants with Nvidia MX350 discrete GPU with 2GB of VRAM, which is one of the most capable graphics cards available for compact devices. Windows 10 Home Edition comes pre-installed and there are no ads or bloatware. Other features include Mi Blaze Unlock to authenticate users via a connected Mi Band, and Mi Share to transfer files within devices.

It has a 46Wh battery, and support 65W fast 1C charging, which can take the laptop from 0 to 50% in a little over 30 minutes. There’s also a USB Type-C port (i7 only). Other ports include 2 x Type-A, 1 x USB 2.0, 1 x HDMI, and a combo audio jack. There is no webcam on the Horizon Edition, but one will come bundled in the box.

Mi NoteBook 14

The vanilla Mi NoteBook 14 is powered by the 10th gen Intel Core i5 10210U processor. You get either an Nvidia MX250 GPU or integrated Intel Iris UHD620 graphics, depending on the configuration you choose. It houses up to 512GB of slightly slower SATA SSD storage. The design also takes a step back, with a weight of 1.5 kg and a screen-to-body ratio of 81.2%.

Port selection includes two USB 3.1 type-A ports, an HDMI 1.4b connector, a DC power in, a 3.55mm combo jack and a USB 2.0 port for peripherals. It also comes with a 46Wh battery which can last up to 10 hours.

Price in India

Model	Config (Processor, storage, RAM)	Graphics	Price
Horizon Edition	i7, 512GB SSD + 8GB	Nvidia MX350	Rs 59,999
Horizon Edition	i5, 512GB SSD + 8GB	Nvidia MX350	Rs 54,999
Regular	i5, 512GB SSD + 8GB	Nvidia MX250	Rs 47,999
Regular	i5, 512GB SSD + 8GB	Intel Iris UHD620	Rs 44,999
Regular	i5,256GB SSD + 8GB	Intel Iris UHD620	Rs 41,999

The flagship Mi NoteBook 14 Horizon Edition is priced at Rs 54,999 for the base variant with an i5 processor and Rs 59,999 for the i7 variant.

The Mi NoteBook 14 starts at Rs 41,999 for 256GB storage and Intel Iris graphics, Rs 44,999 for double the storage, and Rs 47,999 for 512GB of storage and Nvidia MX250 graphics.

Amazon.in is the online sale partner. The first sale is slated for June 17. HDFC cardholders will get an instant cashback of Rs 2,000.

It will go on sale from June 17 on Amazon.in.

• Xiaomi Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 review
• Xiaomi Mi Box 4K review

Telephoto cameras on smartphones are now as common as megapixel races. For its next leg, Xiaomi is looking to up the ante with a phone that can zoom in 120x, a step above what the current crop of smartphones offer.

Xiaomishka, the popular Russian leakster shared some details about an upcoming smartphone which it believes will be a part of the Mi CC10 series which is expected to launch later this year. Like last year, the cameras will be the key aspect of this device.

• Xiaomi is working on a Dimensity 1000 Plus smartphone
• Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro unveiled as the world’s first 108MP Penta-camera smartphone
• The first 144MP camera smartphone could come from Xiaomi

To start with, the phone is said to be capable of 120x magnification via digital zoom, which is a step ahead of what Samsung and Huawei flagships currently offer. It’s unclear whether this will be achieved with a 12x telephoto lens or some other implementation. One thing that’s certain is that it will bring a periscopic zoom camera to be able to fit so much glass in the phone’s body.

Currently, the Huawei P40 Pro Plus has the highest optical magnification on any smartphone with an 8MP f/4.4 10x camera. If that is followed on the Mi CC10, we might also see a secondary short telephoto lens to take care of the initial zoom range.

As for the primary camera, we might be looking at one of the first phones with Samsung’s second-gen 108MP camera module, likely to be the ISOCELL Bright HM2 image sensor. Last year’s Mi CC9 Pro was the first phone to sport the 108MP HM1 image sensor. The major improvements are expected to be in the focussing department.

Interestingly, the report also states that it will be powered by a Snapdragon 775 chipset, which is the first time we’re hearing of this processor. We presume it to be a more capable variant of the Snapdragon 768. It will also support 5G, as with all of Qualcomm’s high-end chipsets for 2020.

Xiaomishka even suggests that the Xiaomi Mi CC10 series will be unveiled as early as July, which means that a lot more leaks should be headed our way.

Apple might be about to take a big step towards its Micro LED future, as a report suggests that it will be investing in a new Mini LED production line in China.

Apple is expected to move to Mini LED panels for its 2021 lineup of products, spanning the next generation of iPads, iPhones and possible even MacBooks. This will be an intermediate step until Apple figures out how to manufacture Micro LED displays at scale, which will take these strengths to the next level.

Mini LED displays have a few distinct advantages over LCD and LED. Firstly, they are significantly thinner, which lets manufacturers free up space inside the phone for other components. It’s also supposed to consume about a tenth of power as compared to LCDs. It can also attain higher brightness, dynamic range and a wider colour gamut when compared to OLED, owing to a denser matrix. All of this can be achieved with a lower likeliness of display burn-in.

A report from MyDrivers out of China suggests that Apple is looking to set up a Mini LED display plant in Taiwan, and will invest close to $330 million for the factory. The partners are expected to be LED manufacturer Epistar and LCD panel manufacturer AU Optronics.

The shift to Micro LED will let Apple offer better displays, with a higher refresh rate, and a higher degree of flexibility — all of which are already expected to be on the cards for the 2020 iPhones. While the next few generations will implement Mini LED, Micro LED remains as one of Apple’s top priorities for the future, according to the report. 

The first Apple product to sport a Mini LED display is likely to be the 2021 iPad Pro. After reaching an acceptable level, they could make an appearance on the iPhones and MacBooks.

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