Tech Zone

Throughout all the social distancing (and isolation) we've seen because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zoom has emerged as a household name, whereas before it was probably best known by some people for being the video conferencing tool at work. As more and more people have been using it for everything but work related purposes, it got to hundreds of millions of active users each day, and Facebook took notice. The social network thus  announced Messenger Rooms  a few weeks back, which is basically its response to Zoom's popularity, although aimed squarely at consumer use cases (because there's no screen sharing or other tools that would benefit business settings). Today, Messenger Rooms is starting to go live. We say "starting" because at the moment we still don't have the functionality, even though it was supposedly turned on globally, so clearly this one of those staged rollouts. Hang in there though, it's coming. When you have it, you can create a room from F

Introduction The Huawei Mate Xs is finally here! We have it in our hands, in the comfort of our office, without any show floor employees looking over our shoulder and carefully guiding us through what our experience should be. The arrival of the Mate Xs is a noteworthy moment - yet another high-end foldable device will be making its way to the market and in the hands of consumers. The original model never got released in Western markets. The  Huawei Mate Xs  is the second release - an updated version, which arrives in even tougher times with Huawei still under the US trade ban and COVID-19 spreading throughout the world like wildfire. Even Huawei itself admits  this device has cost it a lot . But that doesn't take away any of the importance of this milestone. Each new foldable device that arrives breaks the mould and explores new possibilities while offering different and novel user experiences. It doesn't get any more exciting than that for tech reviewers like us. But let'

Sony posted its financial earnings from the previous quarter and the PlayStation 4 continues to move substantial numbers despite the global lockdowns and incoming successor. The company sold 1.5 million devices in just three months, reaching a total of 110.4 million consoles since its release. This includes all available configuration, including the Pro. 1.5 million sales in Q1 is a decline compared to last year, however, when Sony sold around 2.6 million consoles. Still seeing how the arrival of PlayStation 5 is just around the corner the number isn't as bad as it could have been. Also, Sony blames the overall weak console sales for the period along with the lower game sales. For the fiscal year, Sony recorded a $3.8 billion revenue decrease compared to the previous 12-month period and the drop in consoles and game sales are one of the quoted reasons why. Anyway, with the PlayStation 5 around the corner, it is highly unlikely that the current 4 will break any records despite the g

Realme just  unveiled  two new Narzo series smartphones, dubbed  Narzo 10  and  Narzo 10A . Now the company plans to follow that up with the launch of eight new products on May 25 in China. The launch event will be streamed online starting at 2PM local time (6AM UTC). Realme doesn't explicitly mention what exactly it's going to unveil on May 25 but the poster shared by the Chinese phone maker on Weibo includes a smartphone, a power bank and a truly wireless earbud. The white-colored Chinese text in the image translates to "Broken Dimension Dare To Play", which could be a hint that the smartphone will be gaming-oriented. In a separate post, Realme introduced its first two-dimensional female product manager, who is a "collection of beauty and wisdom" (machine translated from Chinese). You can see her wearing neckband wireless earphones, which could be the  Realme Buds Wireless Pro  with a USB-C port. She's also holding a new Realme smartphone in her hand.

Honor is trying to reinvent the brand with lifestyle products to make up for falling smartphone sales outside China. We’ve already seen various fitness bands, a smartwatch, TWS earphones and a laptop on the scene. Now the company is introducing more additions to its product portfolio on May 18 - starting with a TV called Honor Vision Pro. The new product is part of the global 1+8+N strategy, positioning Honor as a big player in the IoT world. The launch will take place online at 20:00 GMT +8. Alongside the new Vision Pro, we will witness the global arrival of the Honor MagicBook Pro - a laptop/notebook which will be more powerful than the MagicBook 14 and MagicBook 15.6. Given how these are essentially the Huawei MateBook D duo, the new notebook is likely a rebranded  Huawei Matebook X Pro  with Core i7-10510U chip, Nvidia GeForce MX250 GPU and up to 2 GB RAM.

Introduction Motorola has been famous for its mid-range Moto G series and the eight (G)eneration has spawned five phones already. The Moto G8 Power is shaping to be the most interesting among those with a premium large screen, plenty of cameras, stereo speakers, and sheer battery capacity to last you for days. The Moto Power phones have been focused on battery endurance and this G8 Power delivers - the phone has a massive 5,000 mAh battery, fast charging enabled at that, and with the efficient hardware and software tweaks it should be capable of matching the promised 3 day battery life. The 6.3" LCD screen is as 2020 as possible with that punch-hole cutout - the smallest of them notches. The extended 1080p resolution is plenty for a mid-ranger, while the maker also promises a vivid and bright picture. We will see about that in a bit. The Moto G8 Power also impresses with Dolby-tuned stereo speakers, some four cameras on its back, and capable Snapdragon 665 chip. The power boots th

The Realme X3, X3 SuperZoom and Realme TV are all products that have been confirmed to exist one way or another so the latest news about those three is more of a sign that they will launch pretty soon. All three devices appeared on Realme's official support page but have since been removed. About a month ago, the remote control for  Realme's smart TV stopped by Bluetooth SIG , while the Realme X3 SuperZoom  was recently teased  by the company's CEO. The X3 lineup will likely be a hardware refresh with enhanced camera capabilities, hence the SuperZoom name. We won't be surprised if Realme comes out with announcement dates very soon. And likely, all three will launch together. We'll update you once Realme shares the date.

Poco F2 Pro unveiled with S865 chipset, 6.67" Super AMOLED screen and 64MP camera for €500 The  Poco F1  was a rare beast, an actual example of a “flagship killer”. Now, almost two years later it is finally time for a sequel, after the detour named  Poco X2  – a mid-ranger that was based on the Redmi K30. Actually, it seems it was a change in course rather than a detour as the new model is essentially a rebadged Redmi K30 Pro. The  Poco F2 Pro  does bring a long list of improvements compared to the F1, starting with the latest chipset. The Snapdragon 865 is the best chip from Qualcomm yet and one of the first to feature  updatable GPU drivers , which might improve the phone’s longevity. A lot of emphasis was placed on the LiquidCool 2.0 tech, which has three layers: graphite, graphene and, finally, the "Super VC". That vapor chamber is larger than competing phones, which Poco says will enable more efficient cooling. The F2 Pro will run Android 10 out of the box with Poco

Xiaomi Mi 10 5G review Introduction Back in February, Xiaomi unveiled the Mi 10 family of devices. One that seems to be still expanding, with increasingly-interesting value offers, like the  Mi 10 Youth 5G , no less. We already did a deep dive on the top-dog  Mi 10 Pro 5G , which you can check out  here . A true 2020 flagship, which shines particularly bright with a versatile camera setup. But also, features a nearly $1,000 price point, which is a bit hard to swallow. Enter the vanilla Xiaomi Mi 10 5G - a device that looks and feels literally identically premium, yet manages to slash a few bucks off the price tag. However, it does so by meddling with the versatile Mi 10 Pro camera setup, which we liked so much. Xiaomi Mi 10 5G specs: Body:  162.5x74.8x9mm, 208g; curved Gorilla Glass 5 front and back, metal frame; splash resistant; Coral Green, Twilight Grey, Peach Gold color schemes. Screen:  6.67" Super AMOLED, 1080x2340px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 386ppi; 90Hz refresh rat

Mi10 is launching on MAY 8th Xiaomi India is gearing up to introduce the  Mi 10 5G  later this week on May 8. The company’s official Twitter handle confirmed the news earlier today revealing the planned launch will happen via a livestream broadcast. The device was previously expected to make its appearance in India on  March 31  but that was date was scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mi India ✔ @XiaomiIndia This is gonna evoke a lot of excitement. This is gonna # EvokeYourImagination . Mi fans, # Mi10 is launching on MAY 8th. Yes, just days to go for the # 108MP phone and more... RT if you have been waiting for the launch date. 1,723 3:19 PM - May 4, 2020 Twitter Ads info and privacy 512 people are talking about this The Mi 10 5G is the more affordable version of the more premium  Mi 10 Pro  and still retains the 108MP main camera, 90Hz AMOLED display and Snapdragon 865 chipset. It does lose out on t