The ASUS ROG Phone 4 has been getting some attention in the last few weeks. We are getting closer to its possible launch, and we are starting to get some rather interesting details about its internals.
ASUS has recently started to tease its upcoming device by posting a poster of the upcoming ASUS ROG Phone 4 on its officialWeibo page. This makes us believe that the device will launch soon, and some even say that we could see it arrive in the first quarter of the present year. Whatever the case, we have started to receive more information about ASUS’s next gaming phone, and they come from well-known leaker Digital Chat Station. He recently posted the battery capacity of the ROG 4, as well as the battery size of its competitors.
According to his sources, the Black Shark 4 and Nubia’s Red Magic 6 would arrive with a 4,500mAh capacity, while the ASUS ROG 4 could feature a massive 6,000mAh battery, and it could also arrive with 60W or 65W charging speeds.
Recent GeekBench test scores of an ASUS device were also spotted by the guys over at MySmartPrice, and rumors suggest that it is the ASUS ROG Phone 4. It reached 1,081 in the single-core tests and 3,584 in the multi-core test. If this is indeed the upcoming ROG 4, we could be getting a new device with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, with 8GB RAM, and it seems that it could also arrive with Android 11 out of the box.
ASUS has yet to give an official launch date for its upcoming gaming phone or any clue as to its name. Let’s remember that Chinese companies consider number ‘4’ a bad omen, and we have already seen OnePlus skip the number four from its lineup. In other words, the ASUS ROG Phone 4 may never arrive. Instead, we could get a new ASUS ROG Phone 5 to take its place.
We are two weeks into 2021 and we yet to hear about any official announcement for a gaming phone. While Black Shark and Nubia have already started teasing their next phones, they are likely to be limited to China for a while. Both phones are likely to launch as early as February in the country. Now ASUS has officially teased the arrival of its next gaming phone. The company is prepping to launch its next ROG Phone, which is likely to be called ROG Phone 5.
The latest development comes from Weibo, where ASUS’s account revealed that its upcoming gaming phone will offer an upgraded experience. That said, the company has not revealed the name of its next ROG phone in the new teaser.
Recently, an ASUS phone with model number ASUS_I005DA was spotted on Geekbench 5. For the unaware, ROG Phone 3 has the model number ASUS_I003D. Hence, ASUS_I005DA is expected to be the model number of the next gaming phone, which is likely to be called ROG Phone 5. Interestingly, companies like OnePlus have also skipped the number ‘4’ from their lineup. It is said that the number ‘4’ is considered a bad omen in some Asian countries. Therefore, we could be looking at ROG Phone 5 moniker.
On Geekbench, the phone scored 1081 and 3584 points in single-core and multi-core tests respectively. It is powered by a Qualcomm chipset, which is codenamed Lahaina. This codename is associated with the latest and greatest Qualcomm processor, the Snapdragon 888. It is paired with 8GB of RAM and it is preloaded with Android 11 OS.
It must be noted that the ROG Phone 3 was launched in July 2020. It succeeded the ROG Phone 2 that was also launched in the month of July in 2019. Hence, we could be looking at a possible early launch for the next device. Companies like Samsung and OnePlus are tipped to launch their flagship earlier than usual in 2021, so it won’t be surprising if ASUS follows them too.
Apple’s 10.2-inch iPad, OnePlus 8T and more on sale right now
Let’s begin today’s deals with some iPads, you haven’t heard that one in a while have you? Starting with the 10.2in iPad which is $30 off, that leaves the entry level model for $299. But if you want more storage, the 128GB of storage variant is $34 off, leaving it at $396 which is still a pretty good deal. The latest iPad Air is also $50 off, leaving the Wi-Fi only, 256GB of storage model for $699. The latest OnePlus 8 Pro is $200 off, that leaves the 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage model for $799 and you get all of the bells and whistles. The 7t Pro McLaren Edition is $370 from its original price tag, leaving it at $590 but you gotta use a $30 coupon to get the full discount. And if you’re looking for the Samsung trade-in deals, we’ll leave all of them in the description but to recap, you can get the Note 20 for $450 and the Ultra for $750 if you have an eligible device to trade in. We have more deals on other OnePlus phones and Surface laptops in the links in the description.
A new Google Pixel XE smartphone may be on the way
Alright, let’s talk Pixel. Late last week some new developments crossed our radar, but they were so confusing that we decided to give them time. It looks like Google has been working on another phone to follow up their latest releases. Slashleaks posted some pictures of this device which is reportedly called the Pixel XE. This seems to be a sample of the real thing but, apparently it will feature dual SIM capabilities, NFC and some decently large bezels on the side of the display. An interesting change is that the punch hole is placed in the center of the display and you can see that the volume buttons are on the right side of the device. The thing about it is, we don’t know when to expect this device since the recent Pixels weren’t announced too long ago. We also don’t know if this would be above or below the Pixel 4a in terms of price. We’ll see what Google does as, you can’t really predict that. Sounds more like a phone that will be exclusive to emerging markets, but time will tell.
Next ASUS ROG Phone allegedly spotted on Geekbench with SD 888 and Android 11
Now., let’s move on to ASUS as, the ROG Phone 3 was launched back in July, meaning that the leaks for the 4th version should start coming in. Well, the ROG Phone 5, yes 5 not 4, was just spotted on Geekbench, showing off the new model number and some of the specifications. The variant that went through the benchmarks is reportedly rocking the new Snapdragon 888 which explains the Lahaina codename mentioned, 8GB of RAM and Android 11 and well, it scored 1081 in single core and 3584 in multi core tests. Sadly, it is kind of too early to speculate what is it that we’re getting here but, we do hope that this is the entry level variant and that we get something crazy like 16GB of RAM, for science purposes obviously. And if it follows on the footstep’s of its predecessor, we should expect it some time in the summer, around July.
Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro leak shows the upcoming earbuds in silver color
Okay, let’s talk Samsung for a couple of segments, starting with some good news. A few days ago we covered some renders of the Galaxy Buds Pro in the OG purple color variant, showing off the new design. Well now, we have more renders from Evan Blass, showing a new silver finish that looks pretty hot. And again to recap, these Buds Pro should launch with the Galaxy S21 Series, rocking pretty much the same design as the Buds+ but with a case that looks like the Galaxy Buds Live. And, the rumors suggest that what would make them “Pros” is that they will offer Active Noise Cancellation, we just hope that it’s better than the ones on the Buds Live and they should be as, these offer more of a seal. The other Pro feature is an improved ambient mode and of course, a richer listening experience. We still don’t have any price tags yet but, Samsung is usually great at pricing their True Wireless Earbuds so we’ll see what we end up getting.
Samsung Galaxy S21+ and Galaxy S21 Ultra appear in leaked live images
Samsung won’t ship Galaxy S21 series with a charger, reveal certification documents
And yes, sticking to Samsung, we have good and hilarious news for this segment. Well, starting with the good, a guy on YouTube posted a video where you can see real images of the phone and he goes into details about the cameras. According to trusted sources, the Ultra is bringing a main 108MP sensor, a 12MP Ultra wide, a 10x 10MP optical telephoto, another 10MP 3x telephoto and apparently that other mysterious sensor we saw is the laser autofocus. The video also shows the S21+ which we’re expecting to bring a simpler triple camera array with a 12MP main sensor, a 12MP ultra wide and a 64MP telephoto. Now, from these images, the Ultra’s hump looks huge but with this new design you can tell that they protrude way less than what we currently have with the previous Ultras. But okay, let’s move on to the hilarious news of the day. Back in October when we got the iPhones, Samsung mocked Apple on Facebook for dropping the charger and welll, a new regulation document from Brazil explicitly says that the Galaxy S21 series will not be sold with a power brick or headphones. So yeah, we thought it was going to take at least until next year but, it looks like they’re wasting no time here.
Story of the day:
Apple unveils $549 AirPods Max headphones with ANC and spatial audio
And finally, you knew it was coming, the hottest news today has to do with Apple, and the fact that they’ve just unveiled the new AirPods Max. Last week we talked about how Apple was preparing a mysterious and silent release for today and the tipsters were going at it on what we were supposed to be getting, and it was the AirPods Max which are good for the winter I guess. Alright, the key features for these new over-the-ear AirPods are high-fidelity audio, adaptive EQ options, Active Noise Cancellation and Spatial Audio. They are also advertising “Computational Audio” thanks to the new H1 chip to deliver you the best quality. They come in 5 different colors including space gray, silver, sky blue, green and pink. Apple is marketing the material as a “breathable knit mesh” which spans into the stainless steal headband that “distributes weight to reduce on-head pressure”. They also claim that the ear cups are acoustically engineered memory foam to create an effective seal. They come in a 40mm design and it has a digital crown for volume control. They bring 20 hours of battery life with ANC and spatial audio enabled and a 5 min charge gives you 1.5 hours of listening time. And yes, you can place them on any side and they detect it and adjust. But enough with the marketing claims, these things are $549… **$549**. Did I say they’re $549? And they are currently available for purchase and they’ll start shipping next week.
ASUS launched its ROG Phone 3 in July this year. It had a model number ASUS_I003D. Now, a new ASUS phone with model number ASUS_I005DA, which is similar to the ROG Phone 3, has been spotted on Geekbench. Moreover, the ASUS_I005DA and ASUS_I005DB model numbers have appeared at the HTML5 test page. These could be variants of the upcoming ROG Phone.
Moreover. the upcoming phone was expected to have model number ASUS_I004D. However, the number “4”, is substituted with “5” in it. Hence, the next gaming phone from ASUS could be called ROG Phone 5, and not ROG Phone 4. Interestingly, companies like OnePlus have also skipped the number ‘4’ from their lineup. It is said that the number ‘4’ is considered a bad omen in some Asian countries. Therefore, we could be looking at ROG Phone 5 moniker.
The upcoming ROG Phone was allegedly spotted on Geekbench, spotted by MySmartPrice. It scored 1081 and 3584 points in single-core and multi-core tests respectively. It is powered by a Qualcomm chipset, which is codenamed Lahaina. This codename is associated with the latest and greatest Qualcomm processor, the Snapdragon 888. It is paired with 8GB of RAM and it is preloaded with Android 11 OS.
It must be noted that the ROG Phone 3 was launched in July 2020. It succeeded the ROG Phone 2 that was also launched in the month of July in 2019. Hence, it is too early to speculate anything about the upcoming gaming phone from ASUS. That said, companies like Samsung and OnePlus are tipped to launch their flagship earlier than usual in 2021, so it won’t be surprising if ASUS follows them too.
