Month: March 2021

DxOMark: Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra is the new No. 1 in the DxOMark Camera ranking

Posted on March 30, 2021March 30, 2021 by Tom

92100 Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France – March 29, 2021 – Xiaomi, the third-largest smartphone manufacturer and the leading innovator of AIoT products, just released the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra. After the launch, DxOMark took the opportunity to post their thoughts about the recently-released handset, and the result is outstanding. DxOMark: Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra is the new No. 1 in the DxOMarkCamera ranking.

DxOMark: Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra is the new No. 1 in the DXOMARK Camera ranking

Lars Rehm, one of the author/critics of camera smartphones for years now, commented on the handset, “Xiaomi today launched its new flagship smartphone, the Mi 11 Ultra. The new model has big shoes to fill given the excellent results of its predecessor, the Mi 10 Ultra, and it does not disappoint. With an overall score of 143, it’s the new No. 1 in the DxOMark Camera ranking, knocking the Huawei Mate 40 Pro+ off the top spot.”

“We have finished all testing of the Mi 11 Ultra and we can now reveal the scores. We are currently working on the full review, and you will be able to read it here on dxomark.com very soon.” He added.

In his article about the handset, they gave the device a score of 148 points for camera shots, 100 points for the zoom capability, and 117 points for recording. I’m not familiar with how DxOMark gave their total score, but they gave a margin of 4 points against the former camera king, Huawei Mate 40 Pro+.

Media-released files and other pointers can be found here: Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra Camera score: A new top mark.

Xiaomi confirms the Mi 11 Lite is the first phone to use Snapdragon 780G 5G

Posted on March 29, 2021March 29, 2021 by Tom

The Capital City of Beijing, China, Mach 29, 2021 – Ahead of their mega launch of new products tomorrow, Xiaomi confirms the Mi 11 Lite is the first phone to use Snapdragon 780G 5G. Let me also emphasize that there is no announcement or leak as of yet if they will continue the Mi 11 Lite for Global and Mi 11 Youth version for China thing.

Xiaomi confirms the Mi 11 Lite is the first phone to use Snapdragon 780G 5G

Few days ago, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 780 5G chip. However, Qualcomm did not mention about who will have the first company to use the chip – this is until Xiaomi breaks its silence to post this very specific detail ahead of its momentous event tomorrow.

So what makes the Snapdragon 780G special? According to Qualcomm, “The Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 780G 5G Mobile Platform is backed by tons of 7-series firsts like a triple ISP, the 6th gen Qualcomm® Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engine, and lightning-fast wi-fi 6, so you can create enhance, and share endlessly.

Intelligence is at the core of this platform fueled by our rearchitected Qualcomm AI Engine, making every activity smarter and more intuitive. Plus, the 2nd gen Qualcomm® Sensing Hub includes a dedicated voice and audio AI accelerator for always-on, low-power AI assistance. These 7-series firsts unite to bring overall AI performance to an industry-leading 12 TOPS.

Another category first in the Snapdragon 780G 5G is the Qualcomm® Spectra™ 570 ISP with simultaneous triple capture, plus industry-leading Wi-Fi 6. Capture and share high-quality photos—seamlessly and in real-time.”

“Rounding out this platform is a suite of gaming tools. Select Qualcomm® Snapdragon Elite Gaming™ features are designed to crush the competition, while our boosted Qualcomm® Kryo™ 670 CPU offers up to 40% performance uplift.” They added.

Comparing the chip to other processors on Snapdragon 700 series lineup, the Snapdragon 780G 5G is by far the most advanced and can provide the most out of today’s technology.

Source/Via.

POCO F3 the uncrowned king for budget, high-end smartphones

Posted on March 29, 2021March 29, 2021 by Tom

The Capital City of Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines – March 28, 2021 – Thanks to POCO Philippines, we were able to get a hold of the POCO F3. After our review, we considered the POCO F3, the uncrowned king for budget, high-end smartphones. Although it’s a bit ironic to say a high-end phone is a budget, we still consider the handset as a budget phone since the price is still below 20,000 pesos. So without further ado, let’s get right into it.

POCO F3 the uncrowned king for budget, high-end smartphones

Design and body

As of this time, in the Xiaomi ecosystem, Mi 10 Ultra is the most good-looking, luxurious-like smartphone yet. It is followed by Mi 11. I mentioned this because Mi 11 seems inferior when it comes to looks and feels against POCO F3. Especially the camera placement design of the new device has a way more flagship looks than the Mi 11. In addition, the handset has a curve near the edges to add more premium looks.

Its back is looking glossy-finished and mirror-like. Unlike the POCO F2 Pro, this handset is way lighter and thinner when you gave it a grip or hold it. Unlike the other phones with the same price range, this device is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 for both front and back. Let me also emphasize that the frame is made of aluminum, which will help you avoid bending your phone when you lie it down on the bed or sitting on it when it’s in your back pocket.

Display

Before the device is released, there’s always a notion that Xiaomi phones or POCO phones, with budget price tags, have always mediocre panels on their display. From IPS-LCD, AMOLED with fewer nits, and no HDR. That notion disappeared when this phone was released. It has an E4 AMOLED panel, a 120Hz refresh rate, and an HDR10+.

To experience these features we tried to browse on Facebook and watch Netflix videos for a couple of hours to see how respectable the display is. And the result is outstanding. If we were asked to give it a score, we will give it an 8 out of 10.

Package

Good to know that the phone comes with a 33W wall charger paired Type-C cable. Jelly case, user manual, and warranty cards are also included.

PERFORMANCE IN BENCHMARKS

The recently-released smartphone scored a 619218 on AnTuTu benchmark v8.5.6. This comes as no surprise since the handset has Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 870, which is said to be the overclocked version of Snapdragon 865. The chip is paired with an awesome integrated GPU, the Adreno 650.

POCO F3 also got a 4,858 score on Sling Shot Extreme – OpenGL ES 3.1. And the DRM Info gave a level 1 security for the handset.

GAMEPLAY

Playing Call of Duty Mobile on the phone is phenomenal. The refresh rate of 120Hz made the difference. I can say the tagline of gamers that refresh rate win games seem to reflect on this idea. I can shot better, and I can maneuver better.

On the other hand, playing Mobile Legends on this device is pretty much normal with the other high-end phones. Maybe because the game only supports up to 60Hz refresh rate.

We will try the 120Hz refresh rate on WR once the update is available OTA.

Camera and Video

For recording and shots, we would like to invite you to watch it on YouTube, so you can get a better picture of what we are talking about. The only thing we can say about its rear and selfie camera prowess is that it went beyond our expectations. Watch our YouTube vlog review below.

Battery and Charging

The newly-launched smartphone is packed with a 4520mAh, which is for me, a 2020 thing. Most of the smartphones right now are being sold with a 5000mAh of battery. The handset can be charged from 0% to 100% in 50 mins to 55 mins. But don’t get me wrong, these data are still impressive considering the price.

Conclusion

From a budget standpoint, the POCO F3 is a win for every person who wants a high-end phone but on a budget. I don’t think that there is a smartphone today that can match what the POCO F3 can offer.

To finish my concurring opinion, the POCO F3 is priced at PHP 17,990 for 6GB RAM/128GB ROM and PHP 20,990 for 8GB RAM/256GB ROM. At Lazada’s birthday celebration, this phone was priced at PHP 15,990 for 6GB RAM/128GB ROM and PHP 18,990 for 8GB RAM/256GB ROM.

And lastly, don’t forget to hit like and subscribe to our YouTube channels: Gadget Sidekick and Xiaomi Review.

Xiaomi-made chipset “Surging C1” to launch soon

Posted on March 28, 2021March 30, 2021 by Tom

The Capital City of Beijing, China – March 26, 2021 – Xiaomi, a corporation founded in April 2010 and the third-largest smartphone manufacturer today, will continue the Xiaomi-made chipset to launch soon. If we recall accordingly, the name of the chip is Surging C1.

Xiaomi-made chipset "Surging C1" to launch soon — Xiaomi-made chipset “Surging C1” to launch soon

On the morning of March 26, Xiaomi’s official WeChat account announced: “A small self-developed chip, with Xiaomi’s endless technological dreams, rushed to it. On March 29th, my heart was surging.”

We would like to emphasize that Xiaomi’s new chip may not be similar to those of the Kirin 9000 series and the Snapdragon 800 series. To take this into theory, we may expect a midrange-level processor at least.

Additional reports also suggest that the chip may be just an ISP chip. Its purposes are for phone image processing and et cetera. It is an important part of the smartphone lens and COMS, wherein it determines the quality of smartphone photography.

Recently, Xiaomi officially said that Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro and Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra are the first smartphones to wear the Samsung GN2 outsole camera. Currently, this lens is the largest sensor in the smartphone camera industry. This comment may leave other tech enthusiasts exhilarating because of what it can offer from a smartphone camera standpoint. Lu Weibing even said that the upcoming phone, obviously the Mi 11 Ultra or Mi 10 Pro, is a “Machine Phone.” Giving the smartphone communities that the upcoming phones are the phones they should prepare for their wallets.

On top of this, Xiaomi’s rumored collaboration with Great Wall, a car manufacturer, surfaces to help Xiaomi’s stock price jump by a measly 8% in Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Based on our sources, the increase was 7.53% to 25.7 Hong Kong Dollars, with a total market value of HK$ 677.7 billion.