Week 14 in review: First Nokia with punch hole screen, Oppo Reno, Galaxy A90
It's been another busy week full of phone news so let's take a look back at the clutter and focus on the major stories.
Samsung was in the spotlight with a couple of interesting relevations. The biggest was a video of Samsung's alleged first slider phone, the Galaxy A90. It has a slide-out rotating camera that's used both as the rear and the selfie camera.
Additionally, a story broke that Samsung is working on two Galaxy Note 10 devices for the fall - one with a 6.4-inch display (same size as the Galaxy Note 9) and one with a larger 6.7-inch display.
Next is an interesting report which suggests that Apple won't be ready with a 5G iPhone until at least 2021. Reportedly Qualcomm turned down Apple's offer to use its modem while Samsung stated that it wouldn't have enough supply of its own Exynos 5100 5G modem. This could leave Apple no option but to go with a MediaTek modem and even then it would leave the Cupertino company way behind its competitors.
Moving on - Nokia's first foray into punch hole displays became official this week. The Nokia X71 brings a 6.39-inch FHD+ display and a Snapdragon 660 along with a 48MP main and 8MP ultra-wide camera to the Chinese market. We expect the X71 to make its global debut as the Nokia 8.1 Plus a bit later on.
In Apple-related chatter we heard that there may be an interesting shift in the iPhone lineup come 2020. Industry sources suggest we'll get three all new OLED iPhones next year - a 5.42-inch, a 6.06-inch and a 6.67-inch one.
We saw a lot of the Oppo Reno this week. One leak showed images with a dual rear camera and no periscope 5x zoom to be found. Later we saw promotional banners of an Oppo Reno that has a triple camera with periscope lens. It's becoming clear that Oppo is preparing a whole lineup.
Meanwhile Xiaomi is reportedly working on a quirky phone with a dual selfie camera in a bottom-placed notch; OnePlus 7 case renders suggest a notch-free display and a triple camera; we saw a render of the unofficial Remi Pro 2 with a Snapdragon 855 and a pop-up selfie camera; we got our first glimpse of a possible Motorola phone with four cameras (including a 48MP one); and finally the Poco launcher was updated with a universal dark mode.
See you in a week!
Once the slider goes up, the rear camera can be rotated 180° to become a selfie camera.
This is the first Nokia branded device with a punch hole display as well as the first X-series phone to launch outside China.
The smaller variant is rumored to retain the 6.4-inch screen of its predecessor.
The smartphone is rumored to have Snapdragon 855 SoC at helm with a 48MP snapper on the back.
There is also a patent, revealing two cameras in the lower corners.
Apple will bring forth a key redesign of its iPhone in 2020.
An analyst at UBS thinks that the earliest 5G iPhone will come out in late 2021 at the earliest.
A render of the phone has surfaced on Weibo along with basic specs - 48MP camera, in-display FP reader.
The phone is closely followed by the vanilla Mi 9, with the vivo iQOO Monster in third.
Previously, the S7 got security patches monthly. But it's now three years old, so the demotion is understandable.
Which goes well with the system-wide dark mode of MIUI 10. By the way, the Poco Launcher can be used by anyone, not just Poco owners.
The images confirm the notchless design and the dual camera setup on the back.
The list includes the popular Redmi Note 4 that is less than three years old.
The quad camera setup includes one 48MP unit.
It now starts at INR59,900 ($870) and you can get an extra 10% cashback.