Thursday, May 31, 2018

MIUI 10 announced with a new Recents menu, AI features, and more

MIUI 9 was announced back in July 2017. The global version of MIUI 9 was launched in November, and since then, Xiaomi has slowly updated most of its smartphones with MIUI 9. MIUI 9 brought performance improvements, while the incremental MIUI 9.5 update also brought notification handling behavior in MIUI in line with stock Android. At an event in China, Xiaomi announced MIUI 10, the successor of MIUI 9, alongside the launch of the Mi 8, Mi 8 Explorer Edition, and the Mi 8 SE.

It should be noted that many details about MIUI 10 aren't currently known yet. An unreleased MIUI 9 build for the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 was actually an early build of MIUI 10. MIUI 9's China and Global ROMs have significant differences in functionality, so it's unclear for now whether all the announced details apply for the global version of MIUI 10 (which has not been launched yet) as well.

MIUI 10 is powered by AI, according to Xiaomi. AI features include AI Portrait and AI Preload. AI Portrait offers a software feature to allow phones to take photos with the bokeh effect without needing dual cameras. Smartphones with MIUI 10 will be able to use algorithms to identify the foreground and blur the background.

AI Preload is said to help reduce load times for apps and UI functions. This is because, according to Xiaomi, MIUI 10 will already pre-load the app based on the user's usage patterns and daily routine. It's worth noting that Huawei also uses AI to improve long-term performance in its smartphones.

MIUI 10 MIUI 10 Recents

MIUI 10 features a UI redesign. The new UI is optimized for smartphones with high screen-to-body ratios and thin bezels, according to the company. Also, MIUI 10 has a brand new Recents app menu. The Recents app menu in MIUI 9 was a sideways scrolling card switcher, while MIUI 10 has a 2×2 app list to enable more apps to be seen at once. The layout maximizes screen space. The Recents menu supports full screen gestures and lets users swipe to delete tasks and long press for more options.

Xiaomi stated that Mi Ecosystem devices will be directly controlled by MIUI 10 without the need for a secondary app. MIUI 10 also has a new car mode that optimizes the layout on the user's device for better navigation while driving. New voice commands are available for answering a call, reply to a text message, and change the route.

Finally, the company detailed that the closed beta MIUI 10 China Developer ROM will start on Friday, June 1, for the Mi 8, Mi Mix 2S, Mi Mix 2, Mi Mix, Mi 6X, Mi 6, Mi 5, Mi Note 2, Redmi S2, and Redmi Note 5 eligible. The public beta will start in late June for the same eligible devices. In late July, the public beta will be available for Mi Note 3, Mi 5X, Mi 5c, Mi 5s, Mi 5s Plus, Mi 4, Mi 4c, Mi 4S, Mi Max 2, Mi Max, Redmi 5, Redmi 5A, Redmi 5 Plus, Redmi 4, Redmi 4A, Redmi 4X, Redmi 3S/ Redmi 3X, Redmi Pro, Redmi Note 5A, Redmi Note 4 Qualcomm/ Redmi Note 4X, Redmi Note 4 (MediaTek), and Redmi Note 3 (Qualcomm).



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Arm announces the Cortex-A76 CPU, the Mali-G76 GPU, and the Mali-V76 VPU

Arm is an important player in the mobile industry. The company's Cortex CPUs are used by all vendors in the Android SoC space, while its Mali GPUs are used by Samsung, HiSilicon, and MediaTek.

For a few years now, Arm has had a tradition of announcing its new mobile products at TechDay. TechDay 2017 brought the Arm Cortex-A75 and the Mali-G72, while 2016's TechDay brought the Cortex-A73 and the Mali-G71. At TechDay 2018, the company has announced three products. The first is the Cortex-A76 CPU. Then we have the Mali-G76 GPU, which is followed by the Mali-V76 VPU (Video Processing Unit).

Let's take a look at these announcements one-by-one:

Arm Cortex-A76 CPU

The background

For the most part, Arm's Cortex CPUs have had a good record in performance and power efficiency. There have been mistakes made along the way such as the power-hungry Cortex-A57 in 2015, which regressed in terms of efficiency (doubly so when coupled with poor implementations of the core such as in the Snapdragon 810). Since then, however, Arm's results have spoken for itself.

The Cortex-A72 in 2016 was a great CPU that was overall faster and more efficient than its main competitors, the Samsung Exynos M1 used in the Exynos 8890 and the original custom Kryo core in the Snapdragon 820. It was not able to compete head-to-head with Apple's A series chips, but in the Android world, it was a huge step forward from the Cortex-A57.

The Cortex-A73 in 2017 brought low single-digit performance improvements, but proved to be significantly more power efficient than the Cortex-A72. In terms of efficiency, it beat Samsung's Exynos M2 CPU (used in the Exynos 8895), while managing to have equivalent performance. SoCs using the Cortex-A73 included the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 and the HiSilicion Kirin 970. The two SoCs were acclaimed for providing much improved efficiency. The core has also made its way to mid-range SoCs, including the Snapdragon 660, Snapdragon 636, and the MediaTek Helio P60.

This year, Qualcomm uses the Cortex A75 in the form of its "semi-custom" Kryo 385 Gold cores. HiSilicon has yet to announce a new SoC for 2018, while Samsung kept following the custom core path with the highly ambitious, yet poorly implemented Exynos 9810. Reviews and testing have found the Cortex-A75-based Kryo 385 Gold in the Snapdragon 845 to have achieved a respectable 25-30% performance improvement over its predecessor. The A75 is also used in the newly announced Snapdragon 710.

This brings us to the Cortex-A76 — the likely CPU of choice for late 2018 / 2019 SoCs.

ARM Cortex-A76 CPUAccording to Arm, the Cortex-A76 uses a new microarchitecture that enables 35 percent more performance. The company is promoting the Cortex-A76 as a CPU with "laptop-class performance." It's intended for mobile devices such as smartphones as well as Windows on ARM laptops.

The Cortex-A76 is based on Arm's DynamIQ technology, which was announced last year alongside the Cortex-A75. According to the company, it delivers laptop-class performance while maintaining the power efficiency of a smartphone. In terms of numbers, Arm is promising a 35 percent improvement over the Cortex-A75, which is substantial as a year-over-year improvement. This comes alongside a figure of 40 percent improved efficiency over its predecessor.

ARM Cortex-A76 CPU

Arm also mentions that performance will be up by 28 percent in Geekbench. This should mean that the A76 will be able to match the Exynos M3 in this regard, while having significantly better power efficiency. JavaScript performance is improved by 35 percent. The performance improvements have been achieved thanks to the fact that the A76 has 25 percent more integer IPC (Instructions Per Clock) than the Cortex-A73. It also has 90 percent more bandwidth. Floating point (FP) performance is increased by 35 percent.ARM Cortex-A76 CPU

The Cortex-A76 also delivers 4x compute performance improvements for AI/machine learning, according to Arm. The CPU is projected by Arm to ship in 3GHz configuration on TSMC 7nm products. Technical details about the new CPU can be read here. It's likely that the CPU will ship in commercial products by the end of 2018.

Arm Mali-G76 GPU

The Mali-G76 GPU is the successor to the Mali-G72, which itself was the successor to the Mali-G71.

The G71 was the first Mali GPU based on the new Bifrost architecture, succeeding the Midgard architecture. Mali GPUs are used by the likes of Samsung, HiSilicon, and MediaTek, while Qualcomm uses its own GPU architecture in its Adreno GPUs.

Up until now, Mali GPUs haven't been able to compete head-to-head in terms of sustained performance and power efficiency against their rivals. The Mali-G71 in particular showed poor power efficiency. The Mali-G72 did manage to achieve solid gains in both performance and power efficiency, but this is one area where Qualcomm continues to enjoy a significant lead over the competition in terms of performance-per-watt.

ARM Mali-G76 GPU

ARM Mali-G76 GPU

ARM Mali-G76 GPU

The Mali-G76 will improve Arm's competitive situation. The company is promising 30 percent more efficiency and 30 percent performance density. Maximum performance is higher by 25 percent. Machine learning (ML) improvements are quoted at 2.7x. More technical details about the new GPU can be read here.

Arm Mali-V76 VPU

The Mali-V76 succeeds the Mali-V61, which was released in 2016. A VPU (video processor) is an encoder/decoder, which means that it can encode and decode video. The Mali-V76 supports 8K decode up to 60FPS or four 4K streams at 60FPS. According to Arm, this gives consumers the opportunity to record video while video conferencing, or watch four games in 4K. At Full HD resolution, the video processor supports up to 16 streams of content, creating a 4×4 video wall.

The VPU has 2x decode performance, is 40% smaller than its predecessor, and has a 25 percent encode quality improvement.

Technical details about the Mali-V76 can be read here.



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Asus is working on a Windows 10 on ARM device with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 1000

The Windows 10 on ARM project is pretty interesting in itself. Microsoft is aiming to bring the full Windows 10 desktop experience–which was, since its initial launch, an x86-only OS–to ARM-based SoCs, including support for full, desktop-grade apps and games. It was initially demoed with last year's Snapdragon 835 processor, and while it worked fine for most use cases, it was still not quite perfect, having a whole lot of limitations like a lack of OpenGL support and primarily serving as a proof-of-concept. Asus seems to be ready to take the lead when it becomes more mature and usable for the wider audience, however, and Qualcomm wants to begin setting the ground as well with the alleged Snapdragon 1000.

Since 2013, Qualcomm has featured 4 main SoC lines under the Snapdragon moniker: 2xx, which is for the rock bottom spectrum of the market, 4xx, meant for budget phones, 6xx, meant for midrange devices (and further extended with the new 7xx line) and 8xx, meant for flagships. There's very little information regarding the Snapdragon 1000 at the moment, but it looks like it wouldn't be a successor of the current Snapdragon 845 or an extension of the 8xx line. Rather, it'd fit into an entirely new line focused solely on ARM-based laptops. Maximum power dissipation for the Snapdragon 1000 is allegedly hovering 6.5 watts versus 5 watts for the 845, either suggesting a higher number of cores or a brutal increase in performance–putting it right in the laptop ballgame.

Asus is apparently looking into becoming the first Snapdragon 1000 supplier. Working directly with Qualcomm on a Windows 10 on ARM device codenamed "Primus" and powered by this rumored SoC. It's still very early to have verifiable rumors and leaks regarding this device. We don't know for sure whether it's a laptop, a convertible notebook, or a tablet. We also don't know when will it actually be coming to store shelves, but if it'll serve as the first SD1000 device, then it might come shortly after Qualcomm officially unveils it.


Source: WinFuture



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Nokia 5.1, Nokia 3.1, and Nokia 2.1 forums are now open

It's been a big week for Nokia as the company launched three new smartphones while also bringing some highly requested features to their current roster of devices. The launch of the Nokia 2.1, Nokia 3.1 and the Nokia 5.1 is what took center stage for the company, though, as they serve as the company's successors to their 2017 smartphone lineup. Naturally, this means the Nokia 2.1 will serve as their 2018 low-end smartphone with its 5.5″ 720p display and Snapdragon 425 SoC. This is followed by the mid-range Nokia 3.1 and its 5.2″ HD+ screen paired with the MediaTek MT6750 SoC. Lastly, we have the Nokia 5.1 which is an upper mid-range smartphone with a 5.5″ FHD+ smartphone rocking the MediaTek Helio P18 chipset.

The Nokia 3.1 will be available sometime in June while the Nokia 2.1 and Nokia 5.1 will be held back a bit for a July launch window. The forums for all three of these new devices are now open and ready for the community.


Nokia 2.1 XDA Forum Nokia 3.1 XDA Forum Nokia 5.1 XDA Forum



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How to build LineageOS 15.1 on a Windows 10 PC

LineageOS is the most popular custom AOSP-based ROM out there. The latest version, LineageOS 15.1, is based on Android 8.1 Oreo and the official roster has grown significantly since release. The team is always looking for more help whether it's by adding new features or supporting more devices. If you are interested in contributing to the project but don't want to switch your PC's operating system to a GNU/Linux distribution, XDA Senior Member Uldiniad has put together a step by step guide that shows you how to build LineageOS 15.1 on Windows 10.

The process requires that you set up the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) so while you technically can't avoid using Linux, at least this allows you to still keep Windows installed. Just like building on Linux, your machine should have an SSD of at least 256GB in size and at least 16GB of RAM. You'll also need to be on the latest Skip Ahead Insider Preview builds so you can take advantage of all the latest WSL features. If you're looking to upgrade your PC hardware so it'll be capable of building at an adequate speed, check out XDA's PC hardware reviews by Daniel Moran to get a sense of what you should consider.


How to build LineageOS 15.1 on Windows 10



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The Android Go Alcatel 1X goes on sale in the US next week for $100

Google introduced Android Go as a specially designed version of Android that was to be used by smartphone OEMs on ultra low-end smartphones. This allows Google to continue developing the regular branch of Android for more modern hardware while also offering something special for those emerging markets. So far Android has done well for these emerging markets, but these low-cost Android smartphones can find success in the more developed markets as well. This is why Alcatel is launching the Android Go-powered 1X in the United States next week for less than $100.

We've known that Alcatel has been busy working on a handful of new smartphones for their 2018 lineup. As the year has gone by they have brought more devices to market, but it was all the way back in February of this year when we learned about the specs of the Alcatel 1X. It was then when we learned that the Alcatel 1X was going to be the company's Android Go smartphone and that it would be shipping with a 5.3-inch FWVGA 18:9 display. Inside the Alcatel 1X is sporting the MediaTek MT6739 SoC and its base model will have 1GB of RAM.

Today's announcement shows that Alcatel is going forward with this device and that they will also be selling it in the United States for under $100 at Amazon. It has 16GB of expandable storage, an 8MP rear camera paired with a 5MP front-facing shooter, and is powered by a 2,460mAh capacity battery. Android Go is going to be a big selling point for a lot of people, though, so customers will also be using all of Android Go specific applications that come with the platform. This includes Google Go, Google Maps Go, Gmail Go, Google Assistant Go, and even some optimized applications such as Facebook Lite.

The Alcatel 1X with Android Oreo (Go edition) will work on GSM unlocked networks and will be available for purchase via Amazon next week while also coming to Walmart and Best Buy "in the coming weeks."


Source: PR Newswire



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Developers can restrict Android Go devices from downloading their apps

Android Oreo (Go Edition), also simply called Android Go, is Google's solution to the growing importance of emerging markets where budget devices reign supreme. Android Go is Android 8.1 Oreo optimized for low-end hardware; it's basically just a set of build configurations and special Go edition applications designed to run on hardware with as little as 512MB of RAM. The (now defunct) ZTE Tempo Go, Alcatel 1X, Nokia 1, and Nokia 2.1 are just some of the budget phones running Android Oreo (Go Edition). For developers looking to get new users, it's important to optimize their apps to run on low-end hardware. But if you have no interest or cannot reasonably optimize your app to run on Go edition devices, then you'll be happy to know that the Google Play Console now lets you add exclusion rules to prevent your apps from being downloaded on them.

Android Go

Users can still side-load your APK, though. If you simply wish to prevent users on budget hardware from having a poor experience with your app (and thus rating your app poorly), then this is a quick way to prevent that from happening on at least a small subset of budget devices. Still, it's better to optimize your app as much as you can anyway because the majority of Android users are on budget hardware.

If you wish to set up device exclusion rules for Android Oreo (Go Edition) devices then here are the instructions on how to do so, copied below from Google's support page. The instructions also tell you how to exclude users based on passing SafetyNet Attestation APIs (just like Netflix), but we really hope you don't have to resort to that.

Set up device exclusion rules for SafetyNet or Android (Go edition)

  1. Sign in to your Play Console.
  2. Select an app.
  3. On the left menu, select Device catalog.
  4. Select the "Excluded devices" tab.
  5. Next to "Exclusion rules," select Manage exclusion rules.
  6. Next to "SafetyNet Exclusions" or "Android Go Exclusions," select an option:
    • SafetyNet Exclusions
      • Don't exclude devices based on SafetyNet Attestation API: Selected by default.
      • Exclude only devices that don't pass basic integrity: This helps you determine whether the particular device has been tampered with or otherwise modified.
      • Exclude devices that don't pass basic integrity, as well as devices that are uncertified by Google: This helps you determine whether the particular device has been tampered with, otherwise modified, or hasn't been certified by Google.
    • Android Go Exclusions
      • Don't exclude Android Go devices: Selected by default.
      • Exclude Android Go devices: Prevent devices running Android Oreo (Go edition) from installing your app on Google Play.



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Samsung wins case that would have forced them to update older phones

If you ask an Android enthusiast which smartphone you should buy they'll likely suggest one that has a good reputation when it comes to software updates. This mean something in the Google Pixel line or it could be one that has a dedicated developer community behind it. Either way, timely and extended software updates is a feature that many of us look for but it's something that we rarely see these days. A consumer association recently took Samsung to court claiming the company should provide at least 4 years worth of Android updates to their phones, but the court ended up ruling in Samsung's favor in the matter.

Most OEMs will support their flagship devices for two full years after they have been released. Some companies, including Google, have extended this support period by one year, but only when it comes to security updates. Google has been working to make things easier for Android OEMs to support devices they no longer sell, but it ends up being a poor business decision unless they have data that shows the company is losing sales as a result of it. However, we're getting to the point where Android is a highly targeted operating system and this means it has become a major target of malware developers.

It makes sense that a consumer association took Samsung to court in an attempt to force the company to support their devices with Android updates for 4 years after release. Samsung feels their 2-year support cycle is good enough and their update frequency is "reasonable" enough too. The case was brought to court in the Netherlands and the court ended up ruling in Samsung's favor. The court believes the claims made by the association were "inadmissible" since they related to "future acts."

So for instance, if a severe issue was discovered in the future then Samsung may make the decision to update all of their devices on the market. Not only that, but the court says there may be a case where Samsung isn't able to update the software due to the nature of the bug and/or the limitations of the hardware. So it would be unfair to hold Samsung liable for something like that.


Source: BCC



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Real-time Google Lens with Style Match and Smart Text Selection now rolling out widely

Over the last couple of years, Google Lens has been able to garner a lot of attention from the tech community during the company's annual developer conference. One of the highlights from Google I/O 2018 was the fact that Google Lens will soon start to work in real-time and that it would be receiving a couple of new features. This includes features like Style Match and Smart Text Selection, but we had yet to learn exactly when those features would be rolling out to the community. We're now seeing reports that these new real-time features are rolling out to the community as we speak.

In case you missed it, Google showed off a number of new Google Lens features on stage at Google I/O earlier this year. One of the new features is being called Style Match and it offers a way for you to search for similar products online by simply pointing the smartphone camera at something. This may result in the exact product you're looking at it or it may just show you some similarly designed results that it was able to find. To that end, the Smart Text Selection feature lets you point the camera at some text displayed on any object.

This could be a menu, a street sign, a card, anything. The camera software will then detect that you're looking at some text and let you interact with it as if it was a digital object. This is especially useful as you can then do a Google web search using the text in real-time. We're now seeing a report from Engadget saying these new Google Lens features are making their way to devices right now. As always, Google likes to do a slow, gradual rollout with new features so if you don't have access to it right now then it may only take a bit more time before you do.

Google Lens is being built directly into the native camera applications and will be available from smartphone OEMS including Google, LG, Motorola, Xiaomi, Sony Mobile, Nokia, Transsion, TCL, OnePlus, BQ and ASUS.


Source: Engadget



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Xiaomi launches the Mi 8, Mi 8 Explorer Edition, and Mi 8 SE in China

At an event in China, Xiaomi has launched the Mi 8, Mi 8 Explorer Edition, and the mid-range Mi 8 SE. The company has also announced MIUI 10, the next version of MIUI. Finally, the Mi Band 3 has been made official.

The highlight of the event was the launch of the Mi 8. This phone has been in the rumors for a while, and we have exclusively reported many of its specifications. The launch of the Mi 8 comes two months after the launch of the Mi Mix 2S in China, which is another Snapdragon 845 flagship.

The Mi 8's first differentiating feature is the 6.21-inch notched AMOLED display. It has an infrared scanner for better face unlocking in low light, and its camera setup is upgraded over that of the Mi Mix 2S. The phone aims to differentiate on price as well, as its starting variant will be available for the equivalent of $420. Its specifications are listed below.

Xiaomi Mi 8 – Specifications at a glance

Xiaomi Mi 8

Xiaomi Mi 8 Specifications
Dimensions and weight 154.9 x 74.8 x 7.6 mm, 175g
Software MIUI 10 on top of Android 8.1 Oreo
CPU Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 (4x 2.8GHz Kryo 385 Gold + 4x 1.8GHz Kryo 385 Silver cores)
GPU Adreno 630
RAM and storage 6GB of RAM with 64GB/128GB/256GB of storage; Mi 8 Explorer Edition: 8GB of RAM with 128GB of storage
Battery 3400mAh
Display 6.21-inch Full HD+ (2248×1080) AMOLED, 600 nits brightness, supports HDR10, DCI-P3 gamut
Wi-Fi 802.11ac
Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.0
Ports USB Type-C port, dual nano SIM slots
Bands GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz
WCDMA: 850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz
FDD-LTE: Bands 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/20
TDD-LTE: Bands 34/38/39/40/41
Rear camera 12MP camera with 1.4μm pixels, f/1.8 aperture, Dual Pixel autofocus, 4-axis OIS
12MP telephoto camera with f/2.4 aperture, 2x optical zoom
Video recording up to 4K at 60FPS, Slow motion at 1080p240
Front-facing camera 20MP front-facing camera with 1.8μm pixels, f/1.8 aperture

The Xiaomi Mi 8 will be available in three variants: 6GB of RAM with 64GB/128GB/256GB of storage. The 64GB storage variant costs CNY 2699 ($420), while the 128GB storage and 256GB storage variants will be available for CNY 2999 ($468) and CNY 3299 ($515) respectively.

The phone will be available from June 5 at offline and online retailers in China. Xiaomi hasn't detailed international availability yet.

Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition

Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition

The Mi 8 Explorer Edition has the same internal specifications as the Mi 8. The differences are the presence of an in-display fingerprint sensor, which requires pressure activation in order to save power. Also, the Explorer Edition has an iPhone X-style Face ID competitor, using 3D facial scanning for facial recognition.

Finally, the Mi 8 Explorer Edition has a translucent back, similar to the HTC U11+ and the U12+. It comes in a single 8GB RAM/128GB storage variant, and it will be available for CNY 3799 ($593).

Xiaomi Mi 8 SE – Specifications at a glance

The Xiaomi Mi 8 Special Edition (SE) is a cheaper, lower-end variant of the Mi 8. It's the first smartphone to use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 chip, which was announced last week. The phone has a smaller 5.88-inch notched display, without using dedicated hardware for face unlock. Its specifications are listed in the table below:

Xiaomi Mi 8 SE

Xiaomi Mi 8 SE Specifications
Dimensions and weight 147.3 x 73.1 x 7.5 mm, 164g
Software MIUI 10 on top of Android 8.1 Oreo
CPU Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 (2x 2.2GHz Kryo 360 Gold + 6x 1.8GHz Kryo 360 Silver cores)
GPU Adreno 616
RAM and storage 4GB/6GB of RAM with 64GB of storage
Battery 3120mAh
Display 5.88-inch Full HD+ (2244×1080) AMOLED, supports HDR10, DCI-P3 gamut
Wi-Fi 802.11ac
Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.0
Ports USB Type-C port, dual nano SIM slots
Bands GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz
WCDMA: 850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz
FDD-LTE: Bands 1/3/7/8/34
TDD-LTE: Bands 38/39/40/41
Rear camera 12MP camera with 1.4μm pixels, f/1.9 aperture, Dual Pixel autofocus,
5MP camera with 1.0μm pixels, f/2.6 aperture
Video recording up to 4K at 30FPS
Front-facing camera 20MP front-facing camera with 2.0um pixels, f/2.0 aperture

The Mi 8 SE will be available in two variants: 4GB/6GB of RAM with 64GB of storage. The 4GB RAM variant costs CNY 1799 ($281), while the 6GB RAM variant costs CNY 1999 ($312).

Xiaomi Mi Band 3

The Xiaomi Mi Band 3 is the successor to the popular Mi Band 2. It now offers waterproofing up to 50m for continuous connection when the device is underwater. Battery life is rated up to 20 days.

It has a 0.78-inch OLED display, and uses Bluetooth 4.2 to connect to devices. It's powered by a 110mAh battery, and will be available from June 5 for CNY 169 ($26). A variant with NFC costs CNY 199 ($31).

Xiaomi Mi Band 3

Let us know your thoughts about Xiaomi's new products in the comments below.



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Wednesday, May 30, 2018

[Update: Live in Canary] Chrome OS prepares to finally show Android files in the Files app

Update 5/30/18: The commit was merged and has gone live in Canary. See below for a screenshot.

Following a slew of Android-related commits to the Chromium Gerrit for Chrome OS, there's another we spotted which is probably the best addition yet. We've seen improvements to parental controls and the addition of Android app shortcut searches. Now we're getting a highly requested feature – Chromebooks with Android app support may soon finally be able to see all Android files on the device within the native Chrome OS Files application.

Chromebooks with support for Android apps have a major limitation right now: You can't see files in Android's /data/media, the storage location that Android applications store files for the user to access. Well, that's not entirely true since you are able to access the Android Downloads folder, but that was about it. If you wanted to access a file stored by an Android app in another directory, you either had to move it to a cloud storage location or move it to the Android Downloads folder. That's set to change.

Chrome OS

The commit message.

Now it's going to be much easier to access your Android files on Chrome OS, as you'll be able to see the entirety of your Android external storage. This is useful for a number of reasons, including applications which may download files to their own folders instead of the Downloads folder.

The flag description.

It is an experimental feature that will need to be enabled via a flag titled chrome://flags#show-android-files-in-files-app. The "Android files" option will then be viewable in the left pane of the Chrome OS Files application.

For those wanting to give it a try as soon as it's available, you'll have to wait for the commit to be merged and then switch over to the Canary builds. Canary builds are released every six weeks, but are generally highly unstable and not recommended for daily use. Still, not only will you be able to copy your Android files from anywhere, you'll also get all of the other Android related features we've spotted in recent weeks. That's not including any of the extra improvements that Google may have packed in too. If you switch over to the Canary build, be sure to back up all of your files beforehand and you should be good to go!


Update: Android Files section is live

As pointed out by /u/InauspiciousPagan on /r/ChromeOS, the Google Pixelbook on Chrome OS Canary now has access to Android files in the Files app once you enable chrome://flags#show-android-files-in-files-app.

Chrome OS Android Files



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Google Pixel 3/3 XL will be built by Foxconn and are Verizon exclusives in US

For the first and second generation Google Pixel devices, Google has worked with an OEM partner to manufacture the product. The contract manufacturer for both the Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL was HTC, whereas the contract manufacturer for the Google Pixel 2 was HTC but for the Google Pixel 2 XL it was LG. This time, however, it appears that Google will be going solo: New reports state that the Google Pixel 3 and the Google Pixel 3 XL will be designed entirely in-house and manufactured by Foxconn, the same manufacturer behind the Apple iPhone and Nokia-branded products.

Documents obtained by WinFuture state that Google has been looking for a company to manufacture their upcoming flagship smartphones. That company, Foxconn, has been on Google's radar before but the report says that FIH Mobile (a subsidiary of Foxconn) has been commissioned to manufacture the next flagship devices. This is a significant shift in direction for Google, as it signals that the company will finally retain total control over the design of the new devices. This comes after the news late last year that Google acquired the HTC engineers involved in the making of the Pixel phones.

A separate report by Bloomberg states that the smaller Google Pixel 3 won't have radical design differences compared to its predecessor, the Google Pixel 2. The Google Pixel 3 XL, on the other hand, is said to have a nearly edge-to-edge screen (read: it has a display notch) but that the bottom chin of the device will be thicker. Within the notch area, the Pixel 3 XL is said to have dual front camera lenses, but it's unclear what the second lens will be used for. By this point, it shouldn't be too surprising to see a Google Pixel phone embrace the notch, especially since Android P has brought better support for it.

Bloomberg states that Verizon Wireless will continue to be the sole carrier of the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL in the United States when the device launches in October. WinFuture states that the new Google Pixel smartphones could be available as early as August or September of this year, though that information comes from "developer circles" and thus may not be accurate.


Source 1: WinFuture Source 2: Bloomberg



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OnePlus 6 Display Analysis: Playing Bi-annual Catch-up

While OnePlus handsets creep up in price year-after-year, we the consumers have rising expectations for "flagship-level" components from the former proudly-self-labeled "flagship killer." The display is the portal to just about everything we use our phones for, and as such, it deserves to be one of the most criticized components for the price we pay. Although OnePlus hasn't necessarily disappointed in this department in the past — we gave the OnePlus 5T a rave review, acclaiming the color accuracy of its calibrated color profiles, which we remorsefully had to revoke — every year is new grounds for judgment when they decide to test the limits on their new hardware and pricing. This time around, in 2018, a new trend has set out to "improve" on last year's initiative to slimming down the display bezels, and that is, of course, the ever-polarizing "notch" as seen on the OnePlus 6.

OnePlus 6 Display Review

Technology

Slabbed beautifully on the front of the glass sandwich is a 19:9 6.28-inch "Optic" AMOLED display, sourced from Samsung, with 2280×1080 pixels, each set up in a PenTile Diamond Pixel array. The resolution paired with the screen size results in a pixel density of 402 pixels per inch, which is OnePlus' first "improvement" in pixel density since the OnePlus 3. Besides the 6, every successor since has only had a mere 401 pixels per inch (take your time, OnePlus). However, some pixels are now lost to the physically-rounded corners (which OnePlus rounded in software in the 5T). The aesthetic was chosen by OnePlus to match the shape of the display with the curve of the smartphone chassis. In exchange for about an additional 2.5 square centimeters of screen, there exists a cut-out, or a "notch," on the top of the display that is 2 centimeters in length and 0.5 centimeters in width (about 1 square centimeter in area), that houses the front-facing camera, the earpiece, the RGB notification LED, and the ambient light sensor.

The PenTile Diamond Pixel array provides intrinsic subpixel smoothing by its diamond pixel shape and lengthens panel longevity by including fewer blue subpixels, which deteriorate more quickly than red and green subpixels. Consequently, displays with the PenTile subpixel layout have one-third fewer total subpixels than displays with the conventional striped RGB pixel pattern found on most LCDs. However, the PenTile subpixel arrangement exploits the human eyes' greater color sensitivity for green, which appears more luminous than red and blue, and greater sensitivity for luminance than for color, by maintaining a one-to-one green subpixel-to-pixel ratio. This results in the PenTile display having approximately the same luma resolution as the more commonly used striped RGB displays, but potentially introducing color fringe as a tradeoff.

While the OnePlus 6 display has a lower pixel resolution than most other OLED PenTile displays in its generation, the screen appears mostly sharp at typical viewing distances (about one foot or 30 centimeters). However, color fringing can become visible on images upon keen inspection and closer-than-typical viewing distances, depending on the viewer's eyesight. For normal 20/20 vision,  we calculated that pixels on the OnePlus 6 display are unresolvable past 12 inches.

Since the appearance of the cut-out at the top can be distracting to some users, OnePlus provides an option to black out the sides of the notch and makes it inaccessible for apps to fill, leaving the area as a subtle status bar "bezel." It also rounds off the top edges of the new working screen area, with a border radius that is different than that found at the bottom of the screen. The option can be found under "Settings Display Notch display."

OnePlus 6 Display Review OnePlus 6 Display Review
OnePlus 6 Display Review

YouTube "zoomed-to-fill" does not fill into the OnePlus 6 notch area

Furthermore, fullscreen or immersive-mode apps are restricted from creeping into the notch area by default, even if the notch area is not being hidden. This is so apps like games and media that typically use up the entire display and/or are used in landscape are not greeted with a protruding cut-out on the side that clips content. Users that would prefer the cut-out in those apps have the option to toggle it for individual apps under Settings -> Display -> App display in fullscreen.

The OnePlus 6 also supports YouTube HDR and thankfully receives Widevine L1 certification for HD video playback in Netflix, an omission on the 5T that let out a fervid uproar from dissatisfied consumers.


Performance Summary

The panel that OnePlus uses in the 6, despite its mid-range price, is actually of stellar quality and binning, although the 1080p resolution is disappointing for a competitive smartphone with a PenTile OLED display in 2018. The display has excellent brightness uniformity and minimal shifting in brightness and in color for typical viewing angles. At more-obtuse angles, however, the display does begin to "rainbow out," which is not usually exhibited by modern high-end OLED panels. The display is bright enough for sufficient viewing under direct sunlight, and the panel has an underlying potential to get even brighter than what it's already capable of, which is not accessible to consumers for reasons unknown to us besides the obvious hit in battery consumption and organic emitter strain. However, those repercussions exist on Samsung smartphones as well, and all their devices tap into the high brightness mode just fine. The OnePlus 6 display also deals with darker scenes very well and does not noticeably clip near-black shades.

The colors on the Default display profile on the OnePlus 6 are vibrant and punchy, with a white point that leans on the cooler side. The calibrated display profiles are pretty accurate, but they tend to be warmer than standard. Although the chromaticity of the colors is accurate, the OnePlus 6 has a slightly higher display gamma than the standard that will result in a higher image contrast and somewhat-darker color tones. The Adaptive mode display profile is OnePlus' solution to adapting the display color temperature to the ambient lighting, and while it is respectable in intention, the implementation is mediocre. The shift in color temperature is barely effective. They also removed the Sunlight Display from the Adaptive mode that was found on the OnePlus 5T that decreased the on-screen image contrast in certain apps for improved sunlight visibility.

We found the display to be just slightly more power-efficient than the OnePlus 5T display, although the difference is within possibility for experimental standard deviation. We trialed both devices multiple times and the results remained consistent every time. The difference, however, should not be noticeable.


Methodology

To obtain quantitative color data from the display, we staged device-specific input test patterns on the display and measured the resulting emission from the display using an i1Pro 2 spectrophotometer. The test patterns and device settings we used are corrected for various display characteristics and potential software implementations that can alter our desired measurements. Many other sites' display analysis' do not properly account for them, and consequently, their data could be inaccurate.

We measured the grayscale in steps of 5%, from 0% (black) to 100% (white). We reported the perceptual color error of white, along with the average correlated color temperature of the display. From the readings, we also derived the perceptual display gamma using a least-squares fit on the experimental gamma values of each step. This gamma value is more meaningful and true-to-experience than those that reported the gamma reading from display calibration software like CalMan, which averages the experimental gamma of each step instead for calibration data.

The colors that we target for our test patterns are derived from DisplayMate's absolute color accuracy plots. The colors are spaced roughly evenly throughout the CIE 1976 chromaticity scale, which makes them excellent targets to assess the complete color reproduction capabilities of a display.

We will primarily be using the color difference measurement CIEDE2000 (shortened to ΔE), compensated for luminance error as a metric for chromatic accuracy. CIEDE2000 is the industry standard color difference metric proposed by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) that best describes perceptually uniform differences between color. Other color difference metrics exist as well, such as the color difference Δu′v′ on the CIE 1976 chromaticity scale, but these metrics are inferior in perceptual uniformity when assessing for visual noticeability, as the threshold for visual noticeability between measured colors and target colors can vary wildly. For example, a color difference Δu′v′ of 0.010 is not visually noticeable for blue, but the same measured color difference for yellow is noticeable at a glance.

CIEDE2000 normally considers luminance error in its computation, since luminance is a necessary component to completely describe the color. Including luminance error in ΔE is helpful for calibrating a display to a specific gamma and white level, but its aggregate value should not be used for assessing display performance. For that, chromaticity and luminance should be measured independently. This is because the human visual system interprets chromaticity and luminance separately, and their errors pertain to different display issues.

In general, when the measured color difference ΔE is above 3.0, the color difference can be visually noticed at a glance. When the measured color difference ΔE is between 1.0 and 2.3, the difference in color can only be noticed in diagnostic conditions (e.g. when the measured color and target color appear right next to the other on the display being measured), otherwise, the color difference is not visually noticeable and appears accurate. A measured color difference ΔE of 1.0 or less is said to be imperceptible, and the measured color appears indistinguishable from the target color even when adjacent to it.

Display power consumption is measured by the slope of the linear regression between device battery drain and display brightness. Battery drain is observed and averaged over three minutes at 20% steps of brightness and trialed multiple times while minimizing external sources of battery drain.


Brightness

When measuring the display performance of an OLED panel, it is important to understand how its technology differs from traditional LCD panels. Liquid-crystal displays, or LCDs, require a backlight to pass light through the liquid crystal layer to produce the colors that we see. An OLED panel is capable of having each of its individual subpixels emit their own light. This means that the OLED panel must share a certain amount of power to every lit pixel from its maximum allotment. Thus, the more subpixels that need to be lit up, the more that the panel's power needs to be divided, and the less power that each subpixel receives.

The APL (average pixel level or average picture level) of an image on a display is the average relative brightness of each of the subpixels. As an example, a completely red, green, or blue image has an APL of 33%, since each image consists of completely lighting up only one of the three subpixels. While the complete color mixtures cyan (green and blue), magenta (red and blue), or yellow (red and green) have an APL of 67%, and a full-white image that lights up all three subpixels has an APL of 100%. Finally, for OLED panels, the higher the total on-screen content APL, the lower the brightness of each of the lit pixels. LCD panels do not exhibit this characteristic, and because of it, they tend to be much brighter at higher APLs than OLED panels.

Our display brightness comparison charts compare the maximum display brightness of the OnePlus 6 relative to others displays that we have measured. The labels for the horizontal axis on the bottom of the chart represent the multipliers for the difference in perceived brightness relative to the OnePlus 6 display, which we fixed at "1×." The values are logarithmically scaled according to Steven's Power Law, using the exponent for the perceived brightness of a point source, scaled proportionally to the maximum brightness of the OnePlus 6 display. This is done because the human eye has a logarithmic response to perceived brightness. Other charts that present brightness values on a linear scale do not properly represent the difference in perceived brightness of the displays.

OnePlus 6 Display Review OnePlus 6 Display Review

The OnePlus 6 performs very similarly to our Oneplus 5T in manual brightness performance. The panel is respectfully bright and slightly outshines most other OLED displays, but doesn't quite reach the likes of Apple or Samsung. The display should appear just-okay — no more, no less — while viewed under harsh direct sunlight, and should be perfectly adequate in tamer conditions. However, just like with the 5T, buried in the display driver is a high brightness mode setting that pushes the voltage limits of the OnePlus 6's OLED panel, which Samsung uses in their own displays under intense ambient lighting.

The OnePlus 6 does not enter high brightness mode automatically under intense lighting like Samsung smartphones. However, we were able to force the setting and measure its brightness on the OnePlus 6 display and the results are absolutely astonishing. With high brightness mode enabled, the OnePlus 6 display becomes among the brightest in the business, with a peak brightness of 625 cd/m² at 100% APL and an intense 818 cd/m² at 50% APL. It is still unknown to us exactly why OnePlus has left high brightness mode out, but it's there and it allows the display brightness to reach new heights. The power analysis for high brightness mode is performed later in our Power Consumption section.


Gamma

The gamma of a display determines the overall contrast and lightness of the colors on the screen. The industry standard gamma for most displays follows a power function of 2.20. Higher display gamma powers will result in higher image contrast and darker color mixtures, which the film industry is progressing towards, but smartphones are viewed in many different lighting conditions where higher gamma powers are not appropriate. Our gamma plot below is a log-log representation of a color's lightness as seen on the OnePlus 6 display vs. its associated input color: Higher than the Standard 2.20 line means the color tone appears brighter and lower than the Standard 2.20 line means the color tone appears darker. The axes are scaled logarithmically since the human eye has a logarithmic response to perceived brightness.

OnePlus 6 Display Review OnePlus 6 Display Review

The OnePlus 6 display has consistently darker color tones than standard across the intensity range, which is characteristic of OLED panels due to their dynamic luminance response to on-screen content APL. Reducing the luminance response to APL is the first critical step if display manufacturers want their OLED panels to approach the standard 2.20 gamma, although it comes with the consequence of lower peak display brightness. The OnePlus 6 display gamma of 2.35 is not too far from the standard, but it is noticeably darker. All the display profiles of the OnePlus 6 approximately share the same gamma curve. The OnePlus 6 also has great dark scene reproduction, with a black threshold of 0.4%, which is the maximum color intensity that is crushed to black. This is a small upgrade from the already-impressive 0.8% from the OnePlus 5T. For reference for those who are using (or who have used) the Google Pixel 2 XL, which is notorious for clipping blacks, the black threshold for its display on our unit is 8.6%.


Display Profiles

A device can come in a variety of different display profiles that can change the characteristics of the colors on the screen.

The OnePlus 6 shares the same four display profiles as its predecessor: Default, sRGB, DCI-P3, and Adaptive mode.

OnePlus 6 Display Review

The Default display profile, revealing by its label, is the display profile that the OnePlus 6 is set to by default. It outputs vibrant colors with a cold white point and is set out to impress by displaying general content with punchier colors. The profile does not adhere to any specific standard color gamut, not even to the outdated NTSC 1953 color gamut that others may have been led to believe by other reviewers.  It is the same color profile that OnePlus has used for their OnePlus 3, OnePlus 3T, OnePlus 5, and OnePlus 5T, and it is the same base color space that the Samsung Galaxy S7 targets in its Adaptive Display profile. The profile most closely matches a color space with NTSC red chromaticity, Adobe RGB/NTSC green chromaticity, and Rec.2020 blue chromaticity.

The sRGB display profile targets the standard RGB color space that almost all content is described in, and it is necessary to target as the default content color space for any color-accurate display. However, OnePlus does not include automatic color management in this display profile (or any of its others profiles), which is necessary to accurately render content that is described in other color spaces.

The DCI-P3 display profile maps all content colors to the P3 color space. Contrary to popular belief, this display profile cannot be considered accurate just because it conforms to a standard. Most content is described in the sRGB color space, and projecting them onto the P3 color space will oversaturate most content. This display profile will only accurate render content that contains colors described in the P3 color space, which generally is only HDR video, and certain images (newer iPhones can take P3 images, but they will not show on devices without proper software color transformation).

The Adaptive mode display profile is OnePlus' take on Apple's True Tone display, and has been changed from OnePlus' previous version of Adaptive mode. The initial white balance is set close to the D65 standard, and the temperature of the white point changes based on the color of ambient light. However, the effect is very mild compared to Apple's solution, and the Adaptive mode on the OnePlus 6 requires an intense light to trigger any noticeable difference. The "Sunlight display" on the OnePlus 5T that triggered on intense ambient light has been removed on the OnePlus 6's revision of Adaptive mode, and the profile's target color space is now based off of the Default display profile color space (with sRGB reds) instead of being based on the sRGB color space.

There is also a Custom color setting that allows the user to set the color temperature for the Default display profile, ranging from 5823K at its warmest to 8200k at its coldest.

Color Temperature

The average color temperature of a display determines how warm or how cold the colors look on the screen, most noticeably on lighter colors. A white point with a correlated color temperature of 6504K is considered the standard illuminant for the color of white and is necessary to target for accurate colors. Temperatures higher than 6504K are said to be cold, while temperatures lower than 6504K are warm. Regardless of the target color temperature of a display, ideally the color of white should remain consistent at any intensity, which would appear as a straight line in our chart below.

OnePlus 6 Display Review

The color temperature situation for the OnePlus 6 is quite troubling. The color temperature for the Default display profile is smooth and straight, while it is very jagged and inconsistent for the other display profiles, which hints at difficulty in calibration. The calibrated display profiles, sRGB and DCI-P3, are too warm, averaging around 6276K, while the Adaptive mode is a better fit at 6553K. OnePlus has been consistently calibrating the white point on their sRGB and DCI-P3 profiles too warm on their phones, which makes them appear very unappealing to those who care — or potentially care — about color accuracy since warmer white points tend to be regarded as looking "dirtied" or "aged".

OnePlus 6 Display Review OnePlus 6 Display Review

Color Accuracy

Our color accuracy plots provide readers a rough assessment of the color performance and calibration trends of a display. Shown below is the base for the color accuracy targets, plotted on the CIE 1976 chromaticity scale, with the circles representing the target colors.

OnePlus 6 Display Review

Reference sRGB color accuracy plots

The target color circles have a radius of 0.004, which is the distance of a just-noticeable color difference between two colors on the chart. Units of just-noticeable color differences are represented as white dots between the target color and the measured color, and one dot or more generally denotes a noticeable color difference. If there are no dots between a measured color and its target color, then the measured color can be safely assumed to appear accurate. If there are one or more white dots between the measured color and its target color, the measured color can still appear accurate depending on its color difference ΔE, which is a better indicator of visual noticeability than the Euclidean distances on the chart.

OnePlus 6 Display Review OnePlus 6 Display Review

The colors in the sRGB display profile appear mostly accurate, with a just-noticeable warm white point color difference and only a few noticeable color errors. The OnePlus 6 sRGB display profile has a very accurate average color difference ΔE = 1.4 for the sRGB color space. It is a clear improvement over the 5T's color accuracy performance (ΔE = 2.0), mainly due to its not-as-warm white point calibration.

OnePlus 6 Display Review OnePlus 6 Display Review

When displaying P3 content, the OnePlus 6 display is sufficiently accurate in its DCI-P3 display profile. Unfortunately, the OnePlus 6 OLED display is lacking in its red emitter, which is noticeable in the upper half of its red saturation range for P3. Overall, the DCI-P3 display profile has an average color difference ΔE = 1.7 for the P3 color space. It needs to be reiterated that this display profile is only color-accurate for content described in the P3 color space. Most content is originally described in the sRGB color space, and for those, this profile will map out the colors and result in an inaccurate average color difference ΔE = 3.6.

OnePlus 6 Display Review OnePlus 6 Display Review

Power Consumption

Relative to the OnePlus 5T display, the OnePlus 6 display consumes just about the same amount of power at 100% APL peak brightness, with the OnePlus 5T display consuming 1.64 watts and the OnePlus 6 display consuming 1.65 watts. The OnePlus 6 does have a larger screen area, however, and normalizing for both brightness and screen area we find that the OnePlus 6 outputs 2.51 candelas per watt compared to the OnePlus 5T's output of 2.38 candelas per watt.

OLED panels emit light that is more intense the lower the on-screen APL, and because of that, they become more power-efficient at emitting intense light at lower APLs. At 50% APL, the OnePlus 6 emits 549 cd/m² with just 0.53 watts of power, which is much more effective than consuming 1.65 watts to emit 439 cd/m², although the area of emission is smaller for lower APLs. However, since APL is still a ratio of the original screen area, we can still normalize for its size along with the brightness. Maintaining 50% APL, the OnePlus 6 emits 10.1 candelas per watt, while the OnePlus 5T emits 9.82 candelas per watt.

The OnePlus 6 was found to include high brightness mode in its display driver, which we previously measured for peak brightness. There was a clear jump in the slope of power consumption switching from peak manual brightness to high brightness mode. By measuring its power consumption, we found that it consumed 3.19 watts for a fullscreen 100% APL peak brightness of 625 cd/m², or 1.84 candelas per watt. Trending at the OnePlus 6's usual 2.51 candelas per watt for fullscreen peak brightness, it would theoretically only take 2.34 watts to reach 625 cd/m² following the same power efficacy, but it turns out to need 36% more power to be able to drive the panel to that limit-pushing fullscreen brightness. It is a significant amount of additional power, but we do not know if it is the reason why OnePlus has decided not to include it for consumers to tap in to.

Overview

Specification OnePlus 6 Notes
Display Type AMOLED, PenTile Diamond Pixel
Manufacturer Samsung
Display Size 5.7 inches by 2.7 inches

6.28 inches diagonally

Display Resolution 2280×1080 pixels Total number of pixels is slightly less due to rounded corners and display cut-out
Display Aspect Ratio 19:9 "Isn't that just 2.11111111..:1?" Sure.
Pixel Density 402 pixels per inch Lower subpixel density due to PenTile Diamond Pixels
Subpixels Density 284 red subpixels per inch

402 green subpixels per inch

284 blue subpixels per inch

PenTile Diamond Pixel displays have fewer red and blue subpixels compared to green subpixels
Distance for Pixel Acuity <12.1 inches for color image

<8.6 inches for achromatic image

Distances for just-resolvable pixels with 20/20 vision. Typical smartphone viewing distance is about 12 inches
Peak Brightness 439 cd/m² at 100% APL

549 cd/m² at 50% APL

Maximum Display Power 1.65 watts Display power for emission at 100% APL peak brightness
Display Power Efficacy 2.51 cd/W at 100% APL

10.1 cd/W at 50% APL

Normalizes brightness and screen area.
Angular Brightness Shift -25% Measured at a 30-degree incline
Angular Color Shift ΔE = 4.8 Measured at a 30-degree incline
Black Threshold 0.4% Maximum color intensity to be clipped black, measured at 10 cd/m²
Specification Default sRGB DCI-P3 Adaptive Notes
Gamma 2.35

 

Slightly too high

2.35

 

Slightly too high

2.36

 

Slightly too high

2.37

 

Slightly too high

Ideally between 2.20–2.40
Correlated Color Temperature of White 7756K

 

Very cold by design

6248K

 

Too warm

6216K

 

Too warm

6592K

 

Changes according to ambient lighting

Standard is 6504K
Average Correlated Color Temperature 7285K

Cold by design

 

6277K

 

Too warm

6237K

 

Too warm

6553K

 

Changes according to ambient lighting

Standard is 6504K
White Point Color Difference ΔE = 7.9 ΔE = 2.3

 

Just noticeable

ΔE = 2.7 ΔE = 2.1

 

Appears accurate

Below 2.3 is accurate
Average Color Difference ΔE = 5.4

for sRGB color space

 

Oversaturated by design

ΔE = 1.4

for sRGB color space

 

Appears mostly accurate

ΔE = 1.7

for P3 color space


Not color managed; oversaturated by design

ΔE = 3.7

to sRGB color gamut

 

Oversaturated by design

Below 2.3 is accurate
Maximum Color Difference ΔE = 10.2

at 100% cyan-blue

for sRGB color space

ΔE = 4.4

at 100% cyan-blue

for sRGB color space

ΔE = 5.7

at 100% cyan-blue

for P3 color space

ΔE = 9.0

at 100% cyan-blue

Ideally below 2.3

Final Thoughts on the OnePlus 6 Display

To be brief, the display is not a whole lot different from the display found on the 5T. It is a very iterative upgrade, with small improvements across the board, and a new form factor. All the calibrations trends and display qualities remain similar to the 5T, with the biggest change being in the niche Adaptive mode display profile. While the 1080p resolution may seem fine to many, those who have used higher-density displays should feel that there is more to be desired from OnePlus after four iterations of 1080p PenTile OLED panels. As processors and display efficiency improve, and as the price of OnePlus phones increases, it is becoming inexcusable for OnePlus to not include higher-resolution displays on their smartphones. They are already alienating any consumer who wishes for a decent virtual reality experience. By creeping into "flagship" price territory, OnePlus now needs to acknowledge the higher expectations of those who buy expensive phones with high-density displays, and that they are now part of OnePlus' potential user base. Also, it is still very upsetting that OnePlus does not include Android 8.0's automatic color management into any of their display profiles, even if not many apps support it yet. As an advocate for accurate displays, automatic color management is a lot more important than many people may realize, but that's a story for another day. Besides those, the display has almost every great quality that people want from a display. OnePlus seems to have handled the notch the best so far too, making it very minimal in size, by including the ability to hide it, and by preventing apps from being able to fill into it (though some apps, like Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook Messenger can still appear a bit glitchy). There are a lot of things to nitpick, but we think it would be hard to truly dissatisfy someone with the OnePlus 6 display — unless they just really hate the notch.



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Moto G6, LG G7 ThinQ, and LG V35 ThinQ will work on Project Fi

Google has announced three new phones will be available on the Project Fi network. The Moto G6, LG G7 ThinQ, and freshly announced LG V35 ThinQ will be coming soon to Project Fi. These devices join the Pixel phones, Nexus devices, and the Moto X4 on Google's MVNO. Project Fi has been praised by consumers, but one thing it has lacked is a variety of phone options. These new devices should help with that problem.

Project Fi

For those unfamiliar with Project Fi, it's a network that actually consists of multiple networks. Fi will intelligently switch to the best network depending on your location. It uses three 4G LTE networks to offer a wide coverage area. Plans start at $20 per month for unlimited talk and text and $10 per GB you've used. There is also a feature called "Bill Protection" which allows you to have unlimited data but you only pay for unlimited if you reach a certain amount of usage in a month.

New Fi Phones

Starting at the low-end, the Moto G6 is an excellent little device. It will be the most affordable Fi device at just $199.

  • 5.7-inch display
  • Dual 12+5MP cameras
  • 8MP front camera
  • 32GB of storage, microSD slot
  • 3,000 mAh battery, quick charging

The LG G7 was just announced earlier this month. It will cost $749 on Fi.

  • 6.1-inch display
  • Dual 16MP cameras
  • 8MP front camera
  • 64GB of storage, microSD slot
  • 3,000 mAh battery, wireless charging

The LG V35 is brand new and will cost $899 on Fi, making it the most expensive device offered by Google.

  • 6-inch display
  • Dual 16MP cameras
  • 8MP front camera
  • 64GB of storage, microSD slot
  • 3,300 mAh battery, wireless charging

The Moto G6 is already available for pre-order from Project Fi. The two LG phones will be available next month.


Source: Google Blog



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Subby helps you manage your online subscriptions so you never miss a payment

We're becoming a society of subscriptions. Customers pick and choose which services they want from each company and then pay a monthly subscription fee for each of them. The more services you subscribe to the more difficult it can be to know which payments are coming up next and when they're due. This is where the application "Subby" comes into play.  It was created by XDA Member cristidclxvi and it can help you manage all of those online subscriptions so you don't forget about an upcoming due date.

Subby comes with over 300 subscription templates to choose from and the template that a service uses can even be automatically detected. The application supports over 30 currencies and you're even able to set a preferred hour to be notified of your upcoming subscriptions. The majority of the features are available for free, but it does come with some niche features (such as Google Drive backup & restore) that require an in-app purchase to be unlocked.

Subby The Subscription Manager (Free, XDA Labs) →



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The Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 is a chip for dedicated AR & VR headsets

Qualcomm, just like many other technology companies, believes there is a future in augmented reality and virtual reality technology. The two technologies tend to intersect so often that some are combining the two and referring to them both as "XR." We talked about Qualcomm's work in this area recently with the Snapdragon 3100 SoC but it looks as if the company's first dedicated chipset for augmented reality and virtual reality devices will be called the Snapdragon XR1. The chip will be used for dedicated AR and VR headsets and we're told to expect them in the second half of 2018.

The company has been working on the heterogeneous computing technology that will be shipping with the Snapdragon XR1 chipset. For many, it will look like the typical SoC that we currently see in smartphones and wearables on the market today. However, Qualcomm has been working to improve the Snapdragon XR1 in areas that will help our current AR and VR technologies. This includes UltraHD video playback, 6DoF head tracking, 3DoF and 6DoF controllers, Qualcomm's Aqstic voice UI and support for QuadHD+ (2K) displays.

We have barely scratched the surface of what virtual reality and augmented reality is capable of and Qualcomm knows this. The big areas of interest are naturally going to be virtual reality videos and games for a bit, but some feel that it's augmented reality that will actually be the breakthrough technology here. The IDC has been studying this technology for a while and their current estimates put the market at around 186 million standalone devices in consumer's hands by the end of 2023.

As with most new platforms, Qualcomm isn't expecting things to get too crazy right out of the gate. However, the team has been able to score some partnerships with the likes of Meta, Pico, Vuzix, and Vive. They will continue to market their latest flagship SoC (currently the Snapdragon 845) for high-end smartphones, but they feel the XR1 will be well suited for devices like the Oculus Go and other headsets where component cost is an important factor. As of this time, Qualcomm has chosen to not disclose the specs of the SoC, but they've developed the chip to an extent where they can start marketing it to potential partners.

The companying is positioning the XR1 as a chip that will be able to drive headsets up to 4K resolution, which makes a lot of sense considering its video decoder can also handle up to 4Kp60 video. The initial examples of the headset have highlighted the chips 3DoF tracking but it can actually handle 6DoF tracking as well. The vendor will just need to include the additional sensors in their headset and then have the software setup so that it can handle all of that additional data.


Source: Qualcomm



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