Top stories of 2021: Q3
Welcome to our recap of the top news articles of 2021. This is Q3, you can also take a look at the top stories of Q1, Q2 and Q4.
We’re into Q3, where a lot of the biggest phones of the year are unveiled. Among them are the iPhone 13 series, Samsung’s foldable Flip3 and Fold3 and Huawei’s P50.
Samsung made big waves in August with the Galaxy Z Flip3, Z Fold3, and the Galaxy Watch4 series. The pair of foldables both boasted 120Hz displays and were the first in this segment to be fully water-proof. The announcement of the 5nm Exynos W920 chipset helped the new Galaxy Watch4 and Watch4 Classic to be faster and smarter than their predecessors and to run Google’s WearOS.
Apple’s iPhone 13 series came out. This time the Pro’s were equal in smarts – bringing 120Hz variable refresh rate screens, bigger main cameras, and autofocusing ultrawides. All four models got bigger batteries and smaller notches than their predecessors.
A number of other high-profile announcements came in Q3. Vivo’s X70 and X70 Pro (and Pro+), Huawei’s P50 and P50 Pro, the Infinix Zero X, X Pro, and Z Neo. The GT moniker made it big in Q3 as well – the Poco X3 GT, F3 GT, and Realme’s GT Master, Master Explorer and Neo2.
Next up, Q4.
Its camera under panel (CUP) packs a 20MP selfie shooter behind 400ppi.
The new sensor size champ takes on the legendary PureView.
The maker promises that the battery can go from 0% to 100% in just 10 minutes – we will put that to the test.
The iPhone 13 and 13 mini will come in six colors while the Pro models will be offered in four.
This is the iPhone 14 that’s supposed to be launching a year from now, that’s not a typo.
The first time we saw a periscope on an Infinix was the concept phone that demonstrated the company’s 160W fast charging system.
All three are powered by the Helio G95 chipset and have high refresh rate screens – a 120Hz AMOLED in the case of the Pro and vanilla models.
The phone will come with a pair of Qualcomm-tuned earbuds, bumper case, and the phone is curated with all of Qualcomm’s technologies.
It could also be the Huawei Nova 9, though that seems less likely.
It will have three cameras on the back, 6.7” Super AMOLED screen on the front.
OnePlus is looking to shake up the midrange segment with its latest Nord phone.
Realme’s premium design flagships go on sale next Friday.
It packs a 6.52″ screen and features a triple camera setup.
The two are not strict upgrades over the G95 and G85, but they do have better display and camera support.
The Pro model brings a 108MP ISOCELL HM2 main sensor.
It’s a rebadge of the China-exclusive Redmi Note 10 Pro.
It’s already up for purchase in Indonesia.
The watch maintains its rectangular design with a 3D AMOLED display on the front. It is water resistant and can last up to 4 days on a charge.
The first tablets with the 1300T chipset will be arrive in the next couple of months.
With MIL-STD810H, the XR20 can withstand drops of 1.8m and water up to a meter and a half.
Xiaomi is expanding its selection of smart home gadgets available in Europe.
Bringing improvements to optics and scratch resistance.
First sales in India start on July 26 at noon.
The front and back sides are protected with next-level nano-particle panels.
These are the first IMAX-enhanced phones with exclusive 3D LUT color grading and LOG format video recording.
The phone made its debut in Brazil, might land in other places in the future.
A much larger cover display and official water protection rating plus Snapdragon 888 chipset.
The new foldable flagship also gets stronger aluminum frame.
The Pad 5 comes with Snapdragon 860, Pad 5 Pro runs on Snapdragon 870.
The new platform will power the next crop of Samsung wearables.
The Realme Flash is just a concept phone. Instead, the first device to be charged with MagDart is the Realme GT (which is getting a special case).
Launching later this year in the fall.
This Lite model is almost exactly the same as the original, except it comes with 64 GB storage, lacks a dual-SIM version and FM radio.
It’s an Edge 20 with a bunch of changed specs.
First sales in China open on August 25 while those in India are set for August 30.
Available starting August 26 in the US and Japan.
The Pro model is the first phone on the market with Samsung’s brand new E5 OLED display.
Asus upgraded the touch sampling rate of the 144Hz Super AMOLED displays.
The HP1 will likely be the imager of choice for the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
Available from September 23.
The phone is up for grabs for retailers in Nigeria for NGN 50,000 ($130).
These are not upgrades to the Mi 11 and Mi 11 Pro, instead they are lower cost alternatives – the 11T is €200 cheaper than the Mi 11.
Apple’s non-Pro models are closer to their siblings then ever.
Allows controlling the autofocus by simply looking at the intended area.
Other improvements include 50W wireless fast charging, slightly bigger and an IP68 rating. The screen is bigger too, a 6.78″ Samsung E5 panel.
Both phones are a slight upgrade over their X60 predecessors.
Plenty of new Realme products coming to India.
All three have 120 Hz OLED displays, though the 18s duo has 1440p+ resolution. Those two also have telephoto cameras as well.
The phone will receive 2 years of OS updates and monthly security patches for 3 years. It supports 18W fast charging.
There is a heat dissipating gel with actual diamond particles in it.
The Apple A15 chipset on the Pro phones has a 5-core GPU, instead of 4-core like on the vanilla models.
Initially, the phone can be found in Nigeria and Kenya and it should expand to more markets soon.
As well as face recognition and call quality.
The panel stretches over the whole side, the camera is now under the display.
Both smartphones will be powered by the in-house developed Tensor chip.
You can’t actually hold them, but you can see them behind glass.
As uncertainty of the Galaxy Note series continues, leaked renders suggest Samsung is taking a whole new direction.
OnePlus 8 and newer flagships will get three Anrdoid OS updates and four years of security updates.
Both models have periscope zoom cameras and 5 MP main cams with a color sensor. Of course, they run HarmonyOS 2.0 out of the box.
Features new slightly curved dual 90Hz displays.
The camera design follows the latest trend with a silver highlight for the main shooter.
It’s a successor to the Hot 10S unveiled in April.
The new iPad mini uses an Apple A15 chipset with 5 GPU cores like the iPhone 13 Pro duo, but it seems to run at a lower clock speed.
The S22+ could be called the S22 Pro.
The increase is anywhere between 9% and 18.5%.
William Lu confirms the technology is not there yet, the priorities behind the new phone was “display first”.
It’s powered by the Helio P22 SoC and packs a 5,000 mAh battery.
The phone will arrive with the Snapdragon 778G at the helm.
The Xiaomi is great, but not perfect.
You only have to pay the labor cost, which is very small.
They look similar to their predecessors.
