Month: November 2020

Leaked Google AMD Raven Ridge Chromebook spotted with a Ryzen 3 3250C processor and 4 GB of RAM

A new Google-branded Chromebook has appeared on the Google Play Console, which should signify its impending release. Google has not released a Chromebook since the Pixelbook Go, although the company continues to sell the Pixel Slate in some markets. Google opted for Intel at the hear of both of those machines, but it has gone with AMD for this new model.

According to the listing, Google plans to release the device with an AMD Ryzen 3 3250C, a dual-core processor with four threads and a peak clock speed of 3.5 GHz. The Ryzen 3 3250C also features a Radeon RX Vega 3 iGPU. The Google Play Console listing also confirms that the machine has 4 GB of RAM, and a 1,920 x 1,080-pixel display with a pixel density of 160 PPI. Sadly, the screen will have a 16:9 aspect ratio, and a diagonal size of 13.7-inches.

The listing states that Google has codenamed the Zork, which last reared its head in April. The Google Zork has been benchmarked on Geekbench over one hundred times since then, including with processors like the Ryzen 7 3700C, the Athlon Gold 3150C and the Athlon Silver 3050C. There is also a reference to an AMD 3015Ce version of the Google Zork, along with models that have 8 GB and 16 GB of RAM. Google may not release all these models, but we would expect the company to offer the device with 4 GB, 8 GB and 16 GB of RAM as it currently does with the Pixelbook Go.

Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro teams up with MIUI 12 for advanced screen-viewing technology as tipster also leaks impressive camera details

It seems Digital Chat Station is keeping a close eye on the Xiaomi Mi 11 development and has offered up a couple of new tidbits about the expected Pro variant of the series, which may or may not even be named the Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro. Apparently, the main lens can convert images (via 4-in-1 pixel binning) to “approximately 50 MP”, which suggests the camera will be 192 MP or even 200 MP.

The tipster further states that the Mi 11 Pro’s telephoto sensor may also utilize 4-in-1 pixel binning to produce 12 MP images, suggesting that there is a 48 MP telephoto lens onboard, although Digital Chat Station is unsure about this particular detail. There is no further information offered for the regular Xiaomi Mi 11, although it was recently rumored that the likely Snapdragon 875-powered flagship would sport a 48 MP ultra wide-angle lens.

On top of the camera information, the same source also gave up some details about the viewing technologies that should be found in the Xiaomi Mi 11 and Mi 11 Pro, provided by the presence of the latest MIUI 12 firmware build. For a start, users can apparently expect to enjoy the benefits of MEMC technology, which uses motion compensation software to deliver a smoother moving image. There is also mention of “video real-time SDR to HDR and video super resolution” along the same lines as what is offered up by the OPPO Find X2 series, which has been praised for its Ultra Vision display.

Next-gen LG Q-series phones are portrayed as having the most unique camera humps out there

The last few years has seen an inexorable trend toward unremittingly square or rectangular housings for the rear camera arrays of smartphones. These “humps” have become a dominant feature in some 2020 models, and apparently threaten to start engulfing frames as well in 2021. However, one OEM, LG, seems poised to start a new trend instead: the triangular rear camera.

This feature is heavily alluded to in CAD renders with which the blog 91Mobiles has allegedly been furnished. These images are touted as associated with the Q63 and/or Q83, which may turn out to be mid-rangers for the coming year. They distinctly show a generic candybar form-factor (USB type C charging port, bottom-firing speaker grille, side-mounted fingerprint reader and all) but with rear cameras showcased in a triangular module.

The interesting schematics also give the impression that the resulting phone could have a unibody chassis, perhaps made of metal or plastic, with the new hump acting as a “window” (probably made of glass) for the rear cameras. Of these, one is a markedly large concentric circle with 4 smaller ones (up to 3 of which could also be sensors) arranged around it.

Should this leak prove genuine, it may be a refreshing change from the regular protrusions seen up until now. With the Velvet and screen-swiveling Wing, LG has already shown it can pull off departures from typical smartphone looks. Hopefully, this new Q-series phone will prove to be more of the same.

Acer Book RS Porsche Design convertible with 11th gen Core i7 and GeForce MX350 now available in the U.S. for $2000 USD

Originally announced in October, the Acer Book RS 2-in-1 laptop is now shipping in the United States in Core i5-1135G7 and Core i7-1165G7 configurations. The model is notable for being one of Acer’s first Intel Evo certified laptops meaning it will guarantee a laundry list of modern features like Wi-Fi 6, 11th gen CPU, Thunderbolt 4, extra speedy wake/resume times, and more.

As its name might suggest, the Acer Book RS Porsche Design is a high-end laptop designed for professionals and business users in much the same way as an HP EliteBook, Dell XPS, Asus ExpertBook, or Lenovo ThinkPad. The sleek gray design and colors are reminiscent of an Apple MacBook Pro or HP Envy 15 albeit with the added benefit of 360-degree hinges.

Though the Core i5 base option starts at $1400 USD, the $2000 Core i7 option is unique in that it’s one of the few convertibles this year to come equipped with both a Core i7-1165G7 CPU and discrete GeForce MX350 GPU. The Nvidia GPU renders the integrated Iris Xe almost obsolete in many cases and so many other OEMs have chosen not to include it since the Iris Xe alone is usually satisfactory. 

Mibro Air: Xiaomi’s latest smartwatch is now available for a bargain price

The Mibro Air is Xiaomi’s latest budget smartwatch, albeit one that is not all that smart when it is disconnected from a smartphone. The Mibro Air does not support Wi-Fi or LTE, so it receives all its data via a Bluetooth connection with an Android smartphone or an iPhone.

Nonetheless, the Mibro Air also features a heart rate sensor, sleep tracking, customisable watch faces and 12 sports modes. The smartwatch is IP68 certified against dust and water and weighs just 40 g without a strap.

Its 1.28-inch display is also a touchscreen, but there is a digital crown for navigating the UI, too. The display operates natively at 240 x 240 pixels, for reference. Additionally, there is a 200 mAh battery that will supposedly last up to 25 days on a single charge.

The Mibro Air is available to order now from multiple third-party retailers, including AliExpress, Banggood and Gearbest. However, it is cheapest at Banggood, where it currently sells for US$29.99.

Leaked Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro details point to a QHD curved display with a punch-hole and a 120 Hz refresh rate

Xiaomi has released a lot of flagships this year, but they all have their compromises. The Mi 10 Ultra may well be the jewel in the crown, but Xiaomi does not sell it outside of China. The Mi 10T Pro is the company’s most recent flagship, but it pairs a 144 Hz refresh rate with IPS display technology, rather than the richer AMOLED technology that it uses in other smartphones like the Mi 10 Pro. The latter impressed us when we reviewed it earlier this year, but its 90 Hz refresh rate pales in comparison to newer flagships with AMOLED screens. These three Xiaomi smartphones are all restricted to 1080p too, which is not much of a flagship resolution these days.

The Mi 11 Pro may change all of that though, according to Digital Chat Station. Last month, the leaker claimed that Xiaomi had purchased a ‘2K high refresh screen’, which they have now expanded upon. Apparently, the Mi 11 Pro will have a curved screen and a punch-hole, just like the Mi 10 Pro did this year. Digital Chat Station adds that the size of the punch-hole will be comparable to the one in the Mi 10 Pro, which is about as large as other punch-holes.

A 1440p (QHD) resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate would be an improvement from the 1080p and 90 Hz panel in the Mi 10 Pro, though. Additionally, the Mi 11 Pro is expected to feature the Snapdragon 875 chipset, which Qualcomm is expected to announce next month. Hence, the Mi 11 Pro should offer a healthy performance over the Mi 10 Pro, too.

An early OnePlus Nord 2 leak purports to spill some important specs for the phone

OnePlus Nord news and rumors is flying in at present. This series of smartphones has been augmented with the budget N10 and N100 models. Furthermore, leaks pointing to an upcoming new variant have now been joined with hints of another. This one is not an SE model, but a full-fledged successor to the original flagship allegedly planned to launch in 2021.

It will apparently be called the OnePlus Nord 2, although the code-name denniz has also been mentioned. As the first generation’s own nick-name was avicii, to honor the late Swedish DJ, the 2 may have been called after another: Denniz Pop.

This Nord 2 is also now said to have the Snapdragon 775 or 775G as an SoC. It is also projected to have a screen with a high refresh rate: as the Nord has one at 90Hz, it is possible this could step up to 120Hz in its successor. Similarly, the 2 is touted to have a charging speed of at least 30 watts.

This, in OnePlus terms, means Warp Charge 30, although there may just be scope for the 65 version instead in a next-gen premium mid-ranger., Finally, the Nord 2 is (reasonably) predicted to run OxygenOS 11 out of the box.

UserBenchmark reveals one of Intel’s upcoming and 8-core Tiger Lake-H processors

Tiger Lake-H has reared its head on UserBenchmark. The follow-up to Comet Lake-H is yet to be unveiled, but Tiger Lake-H is expected to mark the move from 14 nm to 10 nm for Intel’s 45 W processors. The laptop on UserBenchmark has benchmarked as ‘Insyde TigerLake’, denoting that it is probably a prototype of sorts. The machine has also been equipped with 20 GB of DDR4-3,200 RAM, an unusual combination for laptops. Additionally, UserBenchmark reports a base clock of 3.1 GHz and an average boost clock of 2.75 GHz, more indicators that this is a prototype or an engineering sample.

The entry indicates that the Tiger Lake-H processor supports Hyper-Threading, which is unsurprising. The processor also has eight cores, which Intel confirmed would be the maximum core count for the Tiger Lake-H series. Rumour has it that Intel will offer Tiger Lake-H processors with four and six cores, as it already does with the Comet Lake-H series. 

However, Tiger Lake-H processors will supposedly come with TDPs ranging from 35 W to 65 W, with a 45 W TDP offered for six-core SKUs. Similarly, Intel will utilise multiple iGPUs for the Tiger Lake-H series. All SKUs will have Iris Xe GPUs, but 35 W SKUs will be stuck with 32 Execution Units (EUs). By contrast, 45 W and 65 W processors will have 96 EUs.

Intel Tiger Lake-H-based notebooks are expected in the first half of 2021. However, it is unclear when Intel will unveil the Tiger Lake-H architecture.

Google announces a Barely Blue limited edition version of the Pixel 4a

Google has had a somewhat pared-back yea, having opted against releasing a smartphone with a flagship SoC. Nonetheless, it has now unveiled a new colour option of the Pixel 4a, having dropped some heavy hints on its Instagram account over the weekend. The new colour is called Barely Blue, and appears to be the colour that two French retailers listed in June. There are some major caveats to its release, though.

For the time being, the Barely Blue model will only be available in the US. Android Authority claims that Google will begin selling the Barely Blue Pixel 4a in Japan from early 2021. However, Google will also only sell it as an unlocked handset.

Finally, the Barely Blue edition will only be available while stocks last. Apparently, there will be no restocks once it sells out. Google has priced the new colour option at US$349 but has not indicated how many units it has produced.

The XtendTouch Pro is the world’s first portable 15.6-inch AMOLED touchscreen monitor promising 10-bit color, full DCI-P3 coverage, and 4K resolution

Though we’ve checked out a bunch of portable monitors in the past, the XtendTouch Pro XT1610UO from Pepper Jobs is one of the first with an AMOLED panel. AMOLED technology offers significant advantages over standard IPS including much faster response times, higher contrast ratios, and deeper colors that digital artists can appreciate. The manufacturer has sent us a pre-production sample for our initial thoughts and impressions on the monitor. 

Most portable monitors are notable for being fragile like the Lepow or Auzai ME16Z01. To our surprise, however, the XtendTouch Pro manages to be both rigid and light at just 850 g without its faux leather cover (or 1.35 kg with the cover on). The glass front contributes to the inflexibility of the unit for a high quality feel even if the back is matte plastic.

Port options are decent as the monitor integrates mini-HDMI and multiple USB-C ports. Nonetheless, some other portable monitors like the C-Force CF011C are able to integrate full-size USB-A and HDMI ports which are arguably more user-friendly. Most users will have to rely on mini-HDMI or USB-C adapters for the XtendTouch Pro.

The OSD is one of the best we’ve seen on any portable monitor. It’s easy to navigate, the texts and controls are large, and there are plenty of customizable options. The button along the left edge to initiate the OSD, however, could have been larger and less spongy.

Display quality is a mixed bag. On paper, AMOLED displays can offer very accurate colors and deep black levels, but the main problem on the XtendTouch Pro is that its AMOLED panel has not been properly calibrated at factory. In other words, users will likely have to calibrate their displays themselves to get the most out of the portable monitor since colors and RGB balance are not great out of the box. This may change when the XtendTouch Pro is ready for mass production, but we can only share our experiences with the unit we have here.

Our X-Rite colorimeter reveals an overly warm color temperature and an average grayscale deltaE value of 4.1 as shown by our screenshots below. Calibrating the panel ourselves fixes these issues by flattening the RGB balance curve, bringing gamma closer to the sRGB ideal of 2.2, increasing the color temperature, and reducing deltaE grayscale to as low as 1.1. Unfortunately, contrast ratio is unusually low at just ~350:1 which is not normal for an AMOLED panel. We tried switching to different preset color profiles including sRGB, AdobeRGB and DCI-P3, but contrast ratio would not improve.

The brightness setting does not appear to be working as intended on our pre-production unit. At 0 percent and 100 percent, brightness is just 216 and 389 nits, respectively. Keep in mind that the manufacturer is advertising a maximum brightness of 650 nits which we are unable to reproduce. We used the included USB-C cable and docking station to power our monitor prior to running these tests.

Response times and gamut seem to be on the money as advertised by the manufacturer. Our own readings reveal black-white and gray-gray response times of under 2 ms each to be faster than any IPS solution. Users can expect full AdobeRGB and DCI-P3 coverage which most other portable displays cannot offer. Refresh rate, however, is limited to 60 Hz whereas IPS panels designed for gaming can go upwards of 144 Hz or more.

A major downside to the XtendTouch Pro is that its docking station is very heavy at 667 g. Though well-made, the dock is not as travel-friendly as most other AC adapters for smartphones or Ultrabooks. The last thing we need is more AC adapters for different devices when on-the-go.

We tried connecting our Huawei Mate 10 Pro smartphone to the monitor, but we couldn’t get a picture at all even after connecting a second USB-C cable for additional power. In comparison, our smartphone worked without any issues on the C-Force CF011C.

The XtendTouch Pro XT1610UO looks promising even if our engineering sample still has a few kinks to iron out. Its $700 USD retail price is quite hefty when you consider that most larger professional desktop monitors also cost at least that much. Thankfully, the manufacturer is already aware of the panel issues even prior to our testing which gives hope of a better visual experience when the monitor launches. We know AMOLED is capable of so much more than what we’ve seen here.