Forums for the Moto G8, Realme 6 series, Black Shark 3 series, and OPPO Find X2 Pro are now open

The season of phone launches for 2020 is kicking into high gear. This week alone, we saw phone announcements from Motorola, Realme, Black Shark, and OPPO. As usual, we have opened up forums for all of these devices, which include the Moto G8, Realme 6 series, Black Shark 3 series, and OPPO Find X2 Pro.

First, the Black Shark 3 and 3 Pro were announced on Tuesday. These are the company’s latest entries in the gaming smartphone market. They offer some key improvements over the previous generation, including physical shoulder buttons, a magnetic charger, a 5,000mAh battery, and the Snapdragon 865. Available now in China, a global release is expected in the “near future.”

Black Shark 3 XDA Forums ||| Black Shark 3 Pro XDA Forums

Next, the Realme 6 and 6 Pro were announced early on Thursday. The Realme 6 series features a 64MP main camera, 90Hz display, and support for 30W fast charging. The Pro model has a slightly larger display and a more powerful processor, but for the most part, they are very similar. Realme has now finally launched the Realme 6 series in India starting next week.

Realme 6 XDA Forums ||| Realme 6 Pro XDA Forums

Later on Thursday, the Moto 8G was announced by Motorola. The Moto G8 is an evolution of the Moto G7 with small upgrades across the board. Most notably, the processor has been bumped up to the Snapdragon 665 and there is a beefier 4,000mAh battery. The Moto G8 has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The Moto G8 is available now in Brazil and it will come to Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Australia eventually.

Moto G8 XDA Forums

Lastly, the OPPO Find X2 and Find X2 Pro were announced earlier today. OPPO’s latest flagships have quite a few flashy features to show off, such as 120Hz displays, SuperVOOC 2.0 for 65W fast charging, Snapdragon 865 SoC, 12GB of RAM, leather and ceramic build materials, and so much more. The phones will go on sale in early May 2020 across Europe.

OPPO Find X2 Forums ||| OPPO Find X2 Pro Forums

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OnePlus Launcher 4.3.3 essentially confirms the Verizon OnePlus 8 with NFC wallpaper customization

OnePlus rolled out OnePlus Launcher 4.3.3 to the Google Play Store today with a few user-facing changes such as the ability to hide icon labels and an AMOLED black theme for the Shelf. However, we analyzed the APK and came across a few interesting discoveries pertaining to the upcoming OnePlus 8 smartphone series.

An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.

Verizon OnePlus 8 essentially confirmed

AndroidPolice has twice reported on Verizon’s plans to sell OnePlus phones. They first reported back in September of 2019 that Verizon inked a deal to carry OnePlus phones in 2020. Then in January of this year, they followed up with a more specific report claiming that the OnePlus 8 will be launching on Verizon with support for the carrier’s mmWave “Ultra WideBand” network. OnePlus first entered the U.S. market through a partnership with T-Mobile, and they expanded their presence last year by partnering with Sprint for the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G. Signing with Verizon is a logical next move for OnePlus, and assuming the rumors of the OnePlus 8’s impending launch are true, we could see the Verizon OnePlus 8 5G launched in just a few weeks.

While we don’t have any additional details to share on this partnership, our analysis of OnePlus Launcher version 4.3.3 essentially confirms that there will indeed be a Verizon SKU of the next OnePlus smartphone. There are multiple pieces of evidence we can point to in the latest OnePlus Launcher APK. First, OnePlus has added a new string for a Verizon folder, which suggests that pre-installed Verizon applications will appear in a separate folder on the home screen. (Hat tip to XDA Senior Member Some_Random_Username for bringing this one to our attention.)

<string name="verizon_folder_title">Verizon</string>

Next, in the “SkuHelper” class, we spotted a method called “isVerizon” that returns true if the software type is “Verizon.” This suggests the Verizon model will run separate software like the existing T-Mobile OnePlus 6T/7 Pro/7T Pro and Sprint OnePlus 7 Pro devices. Finally, a switch statement in the DeviceHelper class explicitly lists the “OnePlus8VZW” as one of the cases. This is alongside “OnePlus8TMO” and other OnePlus devices. This is the clearest evidence yet of the existence of a Verizon OnePlus 8.

NFC Wallpapers Customization

Since this is just the launcher application, there’s not a lot of info about the actual device in it. However, we did spot a new in-development feature for the OnePlus 8. The feature will presumably let you scan an NFC tag to set a unique wallpaper. OnePlus Launcher 4.3.3 added two new strings, one that says “hey, you’ve found a brand new wallpaper!” that presumably appears when you scan a tag and another that says “set wallpaper” that presumably appears in the button that lets you set that image as your current wallpaper.

<string name="nfc_customization_wallpaper">Hey, you've found a brand new wallpaper!</string>
<string name="setting_nfc_customization_wallpaper">Set wallpaper</string>

There’s also a new broadcast receiver in the Manifest with the name net.oneplus.launcher.wallpaper.CustomizationWallpaperNFCReceiver and the intent action filter net.oneplus.launcher.action.CUSTOMIZATION_WALLPAPER_NFC_DETECTED. This receiver allows the OnePlus Launcher to detect when an NFC tag preformatted to send this intent has been scanned. In the CustomizationWallpaperNFCReceiver and LauncherSettings classes, we can see that this feature is limited to the new OnePlus 8 series (there are calls to a method in DeviceHelper called “isAtLeastOP8DeviceVersion”) and that there are a total of 3 wallpapers to choose from. Perhaps OnePlus will sell cases that have built-in NFC tags that, when scanned, change the wallpaper on the OnePlus 8 to match the case. Google used to do this with Live Cases a few years ago. We don’t know exactly how OnePlus plans to surface these wallpapers to users, but we’ll probably find out when the phone launches.

According to a set of credible leaks from @Onleaks, there will be 3 devices in the OnePlus 8 series: the OnePlus 8 Lite, the OnePlus 8, and the OnePlus 8 Pro. The 8 Lite is expected to have a 90Hz display and the MediaTek Dimensity 1000L processor while the 8 and 8 Pro are expected to have 120Hz displays and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865. All three devices are expected to have hole-punch displays, and wireless charging may also finally be supported this time around. We’ll update you when we learn more about the OnePlus 8 series.

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Thanks to PNF Software for providing us a license to use JEB Decompiler, a professional-grade reverse engineering tool for Android applications.

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OnePlus Launcher 4.3.3 lets you hide icon labels and adds an AMOLED black theme to Shelf

Earlier today, OnePlus released a new version of the OnePlus Launcher on the Google Play Store. The changelog for the update mentions that the launcher now supports hiding icon labels, and it also mentions that the UI has improved. Here’s what you need to know:

Hiding Icon Labels

This feature is fairly straightforward. Open the OnePlus Launcher settings and you’ll find a new “hide icon labels” toggle in the main menu. Enable this and the text will disappear underneath app icons in the home screen and in folders. App icon labels will still appear when you open the app drawer, though. This feature will help make the home screen feel less cluttered if you’re going for a more immersive look. I personally like this feature since I’ve taken the time to group all the apps I use into folders in a single home screen page, and I’ve used this setup for long enough to know exactly where to go when I want to launch a certain app.

AMOLED black theme for OnePlus Shelf

This change was spotted by Redditor /u/JelleZon_ over on the /r/OnePlus subreddit. Instead of a dark gray, the OnePlus Shelf now has an AMOLED black background. This makes the OnePlus Shelf match the rest of the dark themed interfaces in OxygenOS 10. As a reminder, the Shelf is the minus-one screen on international and Indian versions of OxygenOS; the Shelf is replaced with the Google Discover feed in U.S. carrier devices.

Version 4.3.3 of the OnePlus Launcher is available now for OnePlus devices running OxygenOS 10 based on Android 10, which includes the OnePlus 5, OnePlus 5T, OnePlus 6, OnePlus 6T, OnePlus 7, OnePlus 7 Pro, OnePlus 7T, and OnePlus 7T Pro. You can download the latest version from the Google Play Store. I received the update already on my OnePlus 7 Pro, but if the update hasn’t reached your device yet, you can skip the wait by sideloading the APK from APKMirror .

OnePlus Launcher (Free, Google Play) →

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Amazon Prime Video 3.0.264 adds Chromecast data usage options

Amazon Prime Video is one of the best streaming services out there, but its Android app has been playing catch-up to Netflix. The Android app added support for Chromecast streaming in the middle of last year, but the Prime Video app didn’t have any associated settings to manage the streaming quality. Now with version 3.0.264 rolling out on the Google Play Store, you can select the Google Cast data usage under Stream & download settings.

Until version 3.0.264, users could only select the on-device streaming quality or download quality. For on-device streaming or downloads, users can pick from either “best” (1.82GB/hr), “better” (0.77GB/hr), “good” (0.27GB/hr), or “data saver” (0.14GB/hr). With the latest version, users can choose to stream videos to Chromecasts using the “unlimited”, “balanced” (1.80GB/hr), or “data saver” modes. In order to provide the best video quality, Amazon Prime Video tries to stream to your Chromecast at the maximum possible resolution and bitrate, but if your home Internet is metered, then you may want to lower the streaming quality to reduce data usage.

The feature description states that changes to the data usage mode will be reflected in the currently playing video stream within a few minutes. Otherwise, whatever option you pick here should apply whenever you play another video on a Chromecast. You can download version 3.0.264 of the Prime Video app from the Play Store.

Amazon Prime Video (Free⁺, Google Play) →

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OPPO Watch with Snapdragon Wear 2500 SoC and Watch VOOC charging launched in China

OPPO has been teasing its smartwatch for a while now, literally sharing images of the device before an official announcement. Today, the company showed off the OPPO Watch in all its glory. This is OPPO’s first entry in the smartwatch market and they are doing it with their own proprietary “ColorOS Watch” software.

First, we have to address the elephant in room: the OPPO Watch looks a lot like the Apple Watch. It has a very similar square shape with curved glass and integrated bands. The biggest design difference is the lack of a “Digital Crown” dial, whereas the OPPO Watch simply has two buttons on the right side. Still, there’s no getting around the fact that this is a very familiar-looking device.

Design choices aside, the OPPO Watch is a very attractive device. The curved glass blends smoothly into the metal frame and the integrated bands create a very seamless look. The watch comes in two sizes (46mm and 41mm) and a few different colors (black, silver, gold, and rose gold). There is also a stainless steel model.

The 46mm OPPO Watch has a 1.91-inch OLED display with 402×476 resolution (326ppi). OPPO did not share the display details for the 41mm model. While not specifically mentioned, the smartwatch appears to be powered by the Snapdragon Wear 2500 SoC, as indicated by the Apollo chip in the graphics.

One of the coolest features of the OPPO Watch is the inclusion of the company’s VOOC Flash Charging technology. A full charge only takes 1 hour and 15 minutes, while just 15 minutes of charging can get up to 46% battery. That roughly translates into 18 hours of use on a 15-minute charge. A full charge is said to get around 40 hours of regular use but can be stretched out to 21 days with Power Saver Mode.

As mentioned above, the OPPO Watch runs the company’s own “ColorOS Watch” software based on Android, not Wear OS. However, the company states it will soon “come in versions tailored to other markets.” The OPPO Watch is launching first in China on March 24th for 1,499 yuan (~$215). What do you think of OPPO’s first smartwatch?

Source: OPPO

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OPPO Find X2 series features PixelWorks Iris 5 display chip and Goodix’s new voice and audio technology

The OPPO Find X2 and the OPPO Find X2 Pro are the newest flagships from OPPO, bringing along top-notch display and camera capabilities for the premium flagship segment. Mishaal was pleased by all that the Find X2 Pro brings to the table, as he notes in his first impressions. While the announcement event from OPPO gave us an overview of what the phones are all about, there are a few other key technologies within the phone that are worth highlighting. The OPPO Find X2 and Find X2 Pro also feature PixelWorks’ Iris 5 display chip, as well as Goodix’s new voice and audio technology.

PixelWorks Iris 5 display chip

Back in January, PixelWorks had announced that it had signed a multi-year collaboration agreement with OPPO. The announcement had also mentioned that the first phone with this collaboration would launch in the first half of 2020. We now have confirmation that this is indeed the Find X2, which comes with PixelWorks Iris 5 display chip that makes several of the display features possible.

PixelWorks mentions that it worked closely with Qualcomm to implement its calibration software on the display processing unit of the Snapdragon 865 SoC. This allows the company to factory tune every Find X2 display with its high-efficiency color calibration software and resulting in a 0.4 average JNCD for the Find X2’s display. The Find X2 also relies on the Iris 5 display chip to dynamically scale SDR 24fps content to higher frame rates and higher dynamic range, while preserving natural motion appearance. The end result of these optimizations and enhancements is that the OPPO Find X2 and Find X2 Pro can boast of better video playback quality, clearer display, brighter colors, and higher dynamic range as a result.

Goodix’s new voice and audio technology

In a statement sent to us, Goodix has also confirmed that the OPPO Find X2 series features their “ultra-thin optical in-display fingerprint sensor and smart noise suppression for voice and recording solutions“.

Goodix has been manufacturing optical under-display fingerprint scanners for a few years now, and their fingerprint solutions are seen across a very wide variety of devices. What is new is their entrance into audio and voice solutions. This addition comes from Goodix’s acquisition of rival NXP Semiconductor’s Voice and Audio solutions business. The acquisition was announced back in August 2019, but it only got completed last month. This makes the Find X2 series one of the first to sport these technologies from Goodix.

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This smart pen writes notes in ink and stores them on the cloud

Science tells us that putting pen on paper allows us to use parts of our brain that a keyboard cannot reach. However, storing endless pieces of paper is a nightmare. The NEWYES Smart Pen Set solves this problem using some clever technology. The pen records every scribble on the supplied dot-grid paper, while the included tablet provides extra writing room. You can get the set now for $149 at the XDA Developers Depot.

Many of us nowadays can type faster than we write. In addition, digital apps have useful features such as search and text editing. But there are occasions when writing notes by hand and sketching out ideas is more efficient.

NEWYES combines the best of both worlds. Listed as one of the “best smart pens for 2020” by Digital Trends, this set is based around a smart pen that doubles as a stylus. When you want to put ink on paper, you simply open up the binder and make your mark. The pen automatically records every stroke, and uploads your notes to the cloud.

If you need extra writing room, you can move over to the supplied LCD tablet. This saves your notes offline, and sends a backup to the cloud. In addition, you can use the device to attach audio to your written notes. 

You can easily access your uploaded notes via your smartphone or tablet. The tablet also offers access, with support for note video playback and eight hours of battery life.

The set is usually priced at $180, but you can get it now for $149 in Blue or $139.99 in Red and Black.

 

NEWYES Smart Pen Set: The Coolest Paperless & Digitized Set – $149

See Deal

Prices subject to change 

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