Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 to come with AMD CPUs

Microsoft is reportedly working on two new Surface devices, Surface Laptop 4 and Surface Pro 8. A report indicates that the Surface Laptop 4 could be powered by an AMD chipset.

In 2019, Microsoft had launched two versions of the Surface Laptop 3; One with a 13-inch display and the other with a 15-inch display. This is the first time the Redmond-based tech giant has used AMD CPUs for their Surface Laptop lineup with the modified versions of the AMD Ryzen 5 3500U.

According to the report by WindowsLatest, the new Surface Laptop 4 could be powered by AMD chipsets for better optimization. The laptop will have options for both Intel and AMD chipsets, unlike the previous editions where only the 15-inch models were powered by an AMD chipset. A benchmark suggests that Microsoft is testing an unknown Surface device with AMD’s Renoir CPUs with much higher scores, which suggests that the new Surface line-up could come with AMD’s 4000 series CPU.

While other specifications of the laptop are not yet known it is being reported that Microsoft could announce these devices by the end of this year, while the device will not likely hit the stores before March. 

Here are some of the rough specifications of the Surface Laptop 4 posted on WindowsLatest

Surface Laptop 4 features

1 USB-C, 1 USB-A, and 1 Surface Connect port. Tiger Lake CPUs and Microsoft Edition AMD chips. Up to 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD storage. New Ice Blue colour variant.

The Surface Laptop 3 comes in two variants 13-inch and 15-inch displays, the 13-inch model is powered by 10th Core i5 or Core i7 and the 15-inch model is powered by AMD’s “Ryzen Surface Edition” processor.

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Redmi K40 series with Snapdragon 888 confirmed to launch in February

Xiaomi has confirmed it is planning to launch the Redmi K40 series sometime in February. The Redmi K40 series succeeds the Redmi K30 series from last year and the Pro variant will likely be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor. Xiaomi launched Mi 11 as the world’s first phone powered by Snapdragon 888 processor back in December 2020 and is now taking it further by offering the Redmi K40 series at affordable price points.

Redmi General Manager Lu Weibing has confirmed the launch of the Redmi K40 series in February along with revealing some information about the upcoming smartphones. Weibing has also confirmed that the Snapdragon 888-powered Redmi K40 Pro will start at CNY 2,999 which also makes it one of the most affordable phones to be powered by Qualcomm’s flagship processor.

Some other features confirmed include a flat-screen AMOLED display and 4,000mAh+ battery capacity. Weibing claims that the Redmi K40 series will offer the “ultimate price-performance ratio” and aims to be the “best direct screen” flagship phone. The Pro variant in the series may feature an AMOLED screen while the standard option will feature an LCD screen.

According to a recent leak, the Redmi K40 series could use a 120Hz high-refresh-rate AMOLED display, however, the rest of the specifications about the phones have not been revealed yet. We will get to know more about the upcoming smartphones as we near the launch date in February.

Xiaomi recently launched the Mi 11 featuring a 6.81-inch QHD+ (3200x1400 pixels) resolution display that uses an AMOLED panel with support for 120Hz refresh rate. The screen is also topped with a layer of Gorilla Glass Victus for added protection.

The Mi 11 has a triple camera setup on the back that consists of a primary 108MP camera with an f/1.85 aperture, a 13MP ultra-wide-angle camera with 123-degree field-of-view and a 5MP macro camera. On the front, there is a 20MP selfie camera housed within the punch-hole cutout.   

The Mi 11 is equipped with a 4,600mAh battery with 55W fast charging support and 50W fast wireless chagrin support. It is priced starting at CNY 3,999 for the base variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage in China. 

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Nvidia set to launch RTX 30 Laptop GPU tomorrow

The wait for RTX 30 series mobile GPUs is almost over now. CES 2021 kicks off later tonight India time and Nvidia has shared a teaser video hinting at what we can expect. The “if you blink you miss it” video shows fleeting images of the highlights we can expect to see at the event.

It has been long suspected that we will see the launch of the  RTX 3060 Desktop GPU and the introduction of RTX 30 series mobile GPUs. A brief glimpse in the video clearly shows a laptop indicating NVIDIA is planning on announcing the Ampere cards for the laptop. There are no store listings of the mobile Ampere GPUs yet, but it should offer clues to what to expect. Speculatively, NVIDIA is planning on releasing the Desktop equivalents of the cards ranging from an RTX 3060 with 6GB of RAM, a 3070 Max-Q with 8GB of memory, and a flagship RTX 3080 Max-Q with 16GB of RAM.

pic.twitter.com/AHn0BWTYBh

— NVIDIA GeForce (@NVIDIAGeForce) January 9, 2021

The new cards also include the Resizable BAR, a feature that enables your CPU to utilize the total VRAM directly instead of a pass-through. It is expected to be enabled with the help of a software patch that will be announced at CES. Laptop gaming should see a greater improvement in performance with the new Ampere cards bringing in Resizable BAR and faster Ray Tracing.

The video also shows a still from People Can Fly’s upcoming co-op shooter Outriders which is expected to showcase the prowess of Nvidia’s cards. The next part of the video has an RTX logo which might hint at the non-Ti variant of the RTX 3060 and is rumoured to come in 6GB and 12GB VRAM options.

The last part of the video shows a picture that seems to look like the inclusion of the Resizable BAR feature, though we can’t be sure. It would certainly be interesting to see how NVIDIA manages power consumption in the mobile GPUs as the new Ampere cards are known to be power-hungry.

You can tune in to the NVIDIA event on 12 January 2021 at 10:15 PM IST on NVIDIA’s official Twitch and Youtube channels.  

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OnePlus Band vs Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 5: Features and pricing compared

OnePlus Band has made its debut in India kickstarting the company’s wearables journey and sets the stage for the much-rumoured OnePlus Watch. The OnePlus fitness band goes up against the might of the Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 5 that was launched in September 2020 in India. 

The smart wearable segment in India has seen a wave of fitness bands launches in the past few months and now OnePlus has joined the bandwagon. The OnePlus Band is affordable and has features like a SpO2 monitor, OnePlus Health companion app, to name a few. The Mi Smart Band 5 is no slouch either with its personal health assistant called PAI and women’s health tracking features.

As such, it can get a bit confusing if you are looking to choose between the OnePlus Band and Mi Smart Band 5. Here we list out the key differences between the two and have a look at the features offered by both the smart bands.

OnePlus Band vs Mi Smart Band 5 pricing

The OnePlus Band and the Mi Smart Band 5, both are priced at Rs 2,499 in India. The Xiaomi fitness band is available online as well as offline stores while the OnePlus Band will go on sale from January 13 across online and offline channels in India.

OnePlus Band vs Mi Smart Band 5 features

Looking at the on-paper specifications, the OnePlus Band and the Mi Smart Band 5 have a lot in common which doesn’t make it any easier to choose between the two. Both the fitness bands feature a 1.1-inch AMOLED touch display with a 294 x 126 pixels resolution and adjustable brightness controls.

The OnePlus Band and Mi Smart Band have a removable main tracking unit, so it can be paired up with different coloured straps available separately. The OnePlus fitness band weighs 10.3 grams while the Mi Smart Band 5 weighs 11.9 grams. OnePlus offers straps in two additional colours including Navy and Tangerine Gray while Xiaomi offers the Mi Smart Band 5 in four additional colours: Teal, Purple, Navy Blue and Orange.

The OnePlus Band is sweat and water-resistant as it has received the 5ATM and IP68 certification while the Mi Smart Band 5 is also 5ATM certified. A 5ATM rating means that the fitness band is resistant to 50 metres underwater, but it is still not suitable for high-pressure water activities. OnePlus advises not to use the fitness Band in seawater but does have a Swimming preset mode. 

OnePlus Band is equipped with a SpO2 blood-oxygen saturation monitor, an optical heart rate sensor, 3-axis accelerometer and a gyroscope. Meanwhile, the Mi Smart Band 5 misses out on the SpO2 sensor but has a PPG heart rate sensor, 3-axis accelerometer and gyroscope. 

Both the fitness bands connect to a smartphone over Bluetooth 5.0 with the OnePlus Health app for the Band and Mi Fit app for the Mi Smart Band 5. The OnePlus Band offers 13 dedicated presets for exercises including Outdoor Run, Indoor Run, Fat Burn Run, Outdoor Walk, Outdoor Cycling, Indoor Cycling, Elliptical Trainer, Rowing Machine, Cricket, Badminton, Pool Swimming, Yoga, Free Training. Xiaomi also offers 11 sports modes that include presets for running, cycling, swimming, yoga and more. 

The OnePlus Band and the Mi Smart Band 5, both can track and monitor real-time heart rate, sleep cycle and more. The companion apps provide users with analysis on their vitals, and they can make adjustments in their routine accordingly. Users can also change preferences, watch faces and tweak more settings through the respective companion apps including music playback control, call notifications and Find my phone to name a few.

OnePlus and Xiaomi both claim a 14-day (two weeks) battery life for their respective fitness bands with the OnePlus Band being equipped with a 100mAh battery while the Mi Smart Band 5 is equipped with a slightly larger 125mAh battery. 

So that’s how both the fitness bands look on paper and some major differences include the presence of a SpO2 sensor on the OnePlus Band that uses red and infrared light sensors to show you how much oxygen has been absorbed by your body in just a few taps. The Mi Smart Band has a slightly bigger battery, but it also offers 14-day battery life in normal mode and can last three weeks in power saving mode. Other than that, both the fitness band look solid with a decent set of features especially the SpO2 sensor at an affordable price.

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Apple iPhone 13 to retain iPhone 12 design but house a smaller notch: Report

It's been 2 months since the launch of the iPhone 12 and that means it's time for leaksters and speculators to get started on the upcoming iPhone 13. If information circulating the internet is to be believed, then the upcoming iPhone 13 will have the same design as the iPhone 12 albite with a few changes. 

According to Japanese blog MacOtakara, the iPhone 13 could be 0.26mm thicker than the iPhone 12 while retaining the same design. The biggest change will be the reduced size of the notch on the front of the phone. This will be thanks to “a position change of the top receiver”. While other smartphone makers have moved away from the notch entirely, evolving to housing the front camera in a punch-hole design, Apple has retained the notch first introduced in the iPhone X. 

The next change will be to do with the camera of the phone. While it isn't clear the changes that will be made on the camera sensors on the iPhone 13, it looks like Apple could have sapphire glass on top of the camera lenses. This will not only giver the phones a uniform design but also hide the number of lenses each variant of the iPhone has. How this will change the aesthetics of the iPhone remains to be seen. 

Earlier reports suggested that the two Pro variants of the iPhone 13 could have 120Hz OLED displays from Samsung. The iPhone 13 launch is almost 7 to 8 months away. So, we will have to wait and see what apple implements in their next-generation smartphone. 

Speaking of next-gen smartphones, we already know that Android smartphones will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 SoC and you can learn more about the prowess of the 888 here. 

If you are interested in purchasing an iPhone 12, you can check out our review before making your purchase decision.

Via

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Black Shark 4 can charge under 15 mins and comes with a 4,500 mAh Battery

Just last week we had a reveal from the Black Shark CEO hinting that the next Black Shark phone is going to be invincible, and this time around the company has released a poster showing new details of the phone.   At the pace at which the company is releasing details of the phone it seems that the Black Shark 4 is going to launch in the Chinese market soon. The company had been tranquil in the year 2020 with just the announcement and release of the Black Shark 3 and Black Shark 3 Pro. But this time, the company has teased a few details of the successor, i.e. the “Black Shark 4”.     As per the information given in the poster, the new Black Shark phone comes with a 4,500 mAh battery, and for the first time, the brand will introduce 120W fast charging in their lineup. The poster also mentions that it can be charged completely in less than 15mins.   Currently, there is no more information available about the product. Last year the brand teased the Black Shark 3 in Feb and released the phone later in July. The leaks of the new phone hint that the phone might launch in early 2021.   The last phone released from Black Shark was the Black Shark 3S, which debuted in the latter half of 2020 and came with 65W fast charging along with top of the line specs such as Snapdragon 865 SoC, 12GB of RAM, and a 4720 mAh battery.

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Lenovos new Yoga Slim 7i Pro brings OLED goodness along with 90Hz refresh rate

CES is on full swing with companies showing off the best of what they’ve got and really setting the yardstick for the rest of the year. We’ve already reported on LG Display showing off its bendable display, and now we’ve got Lenovo debuting the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro at CES 2021. The laptop comes with the latest 11th Gen Intel Core mobile processors with Intel Iris Xe graphics, or up to NVIDIA GeForce MX450 discrete graphics. You can even choose between an LCD or OLED display. We’re looking at the specs and display of the OLED version below. 

In terms of the display, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro also comes with a 2.8K (2880 x 1800) OLED display which offers a 90HZ refresh rate. It also comes in a 16:10 aspect ratio. Chrominance attributes (called chroma) are amplified by up to 1.25 times the amount provided over LCD, resulting in higher colour frequency and saturation of black, not to mention an amplified contrast ratio for 667 times more definition over LCD.

The 14-inch Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro also has a wide 100 per cent DCI-P3 and 125 per cent sRGB colour gamut, providing a more lifelike HDR experience that’s ideal for high-end video and photo editing; HDR also enhances the contrast between the brightest and darkest parts of an image. For audio, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro comes with Harman Speakers and Dolby Atmos. It also has two USB Type-C connectors (Intel Thunderbolt 4, Power Delivery 3.0, DisplayPort 1.4, USB 4.0), one USB-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1) and an Audio Combo Jack. It also has inbuilt mics that can be used to operate Alexa on the laptop. 

For all CES 2021 coverage, you can head to our dedicated CES hub, right here!

 

 

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