OEMs are raising prices of smartphones in India following a tax increase

India is one of the most competitive markets for smartphone brands. Before the COVID-19 pandemic took its toll on commercial activities, India was the only positively growing smartphone market in the world. The sheer number of smartphone users (about 400 million) and the huge potential to onboard a larger number of new users has drawn several brands to target India specifically. As a result, smartphones are sold at very lucrative prices with thin margins, especially by brands like Xiaomi and Realme. But as all good things come to an end, this glorious period of tempting smartphone deals in India might become less attractive following the 50% hike Goods and Service Tax (GST) hike that is effective starting today i.e. April 1st, 2020.

Last month, India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, announced an increase in the GST rate on mobile phones and specified parts. As compared to the previous rate of 12% GST, the new applicable rate is 18% – i.e. a sharp 50% increase. The announcement comes in spite of the depreciating value of the Indian Rupee against the US Dollar, extensive competition, and already slim margins.

Mi fans, #GST on mobile phones has increased by 50% from 12% to 18%.

After much deliberation & in keeping with #Xiaomi policy of maintaining <5% margin on our hardware products,we will be increasing prices of our products.

New prices will be effective immediately. Thank you! pic.twitter.com/mdTqKdXm3r

— Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) March 31, 2020

As a result of this hike, smartphone makers are left with no alternative but to increase the prices of smartphones and accessories. Xiaomi, India’s largest smartphone seller, has already confirmed its intention to increase the prices of the phone citing the increase in GST rate and the poor performance of the Rupee. In an open letter to its patrons, Xiaomi announced that it will be increasing its prices.

Xiaomi’s spin-off brand POCO has also announced an increase of ₹1,000 (~$15) in all variants of the POCO X2 (review). In the meantime, while OPPO and Vivo didn’t announce a price hike formally, offline retailer Mahesh Telecom shared details about the increased prices of some of the top-selling models.

Likewise, Realme has also increased the prices of its phones.

While we are still awaiting details on the exact price hikes by companies, we have collated a list of smartphones with increased prices.

Old vs New Smartphone Prices in India after GST hike

Brand	Model	Old Price with 12% GST	New Price with 18% GST
Xiaomi	Redmi K20 Pro 6GB/128GB	₹24,999	₹26,999
	Redmi K20 Pro 8GB/256GB	₹27,999	₹29,999
	Redmi K20 6/64GB	₹19,999	₹21,999
	Redmi K20 6GB/128GB	₹22,999	₹24,299
	Redmi Note 7 Pro 4GB/64GB	₹9,999	₹10,999
	Redmi Note 7 Pro 6GB/64GB	₹10,999	₹12,999
	Redmi Note 7 Pro 6GB/128GB	₹11,999	₹13,999
	Redmi Note 7S 3GB/32GB	₹8,999	₹9,999
	Redmi Note 7S 4GB/64GB	₹9,999	₹11,999
	Redmi 8 4GB/64GB	₹8,199	₹8,999
	Redmi 8A 2GB/32GB	₹6,499	₹6,999
	Redmi 8A 3GB/32GB	₹6,999	₹7,499
POCO	POCO X2 6GB/64GB	₹15,999	₹16,999
	POCO X2 6GB/128GB	₹16,999	₹17,999
	POCO X2 8GB/256GB	₹19,999	₹20,999
Realme	Realme X50 Pro 6GB/128GB	₹37,999	₹39,999
	Realme X50 Pro 8GB/128GB	₹39,999	₹41,999
	Realme X50 Pro 12GB/256GB	₹44,999	₹47,999
	Realme X2 Pro 6GB/64GB	₹27,999	₹29,999
	Realme X2 Pro 8GB/128GB	₹29,999	₹31,999
	Realme X2 Pro 12GB/256GB	₹33,999	₹35,999
	Realme X2 4GB/64GB	₹16,999	₹17,999
	Realme X2 6GB/128GB	₹18,999	₹19,999
	Realme X2 8GB/128GB	₹19,999	₹20,999
	Realme X 4GB/128GB	₹16,999	₹17,999
	Realme X 8GB/128GB	₹19,999	₹20,999
	Realme 6 Pro 6GB/64GB	₹16,999	₹17,999
	Realme 6 Pro 6GB/128GB	₹17,999	₹18,999
	Realme 6 Pro 8GB/128GB	₹18,999	₹19,999
	Realme XT 4GB/64GB	₹15,999	₹16,999
	Realme XT 8GB/128GB	₹18,999	₹19,999
	Realme 6 4GB/64GB	₹12,999	₹13,999
	Realme 6 6GB/128GB	₹14,999	₹15,999
	Realme 6 8GB/128GB	₹15,999	₹16,999
	Realme 5 Pro 4GB/64GB	₹12,999	₹13,999
	Realme 5 Pro 6GB/64GB	₹13,999	₹14,999
	Realme 5 Pro 8GB/128GB	₹15,999	₹16,999
	Realme 5 3GB/32GB	₹8,999	₹9,499
	Realme 5 4GB/64GB	₹9,999	₹10,499
	Realme 5 4GB/128GB	₹10,999	₹11,499
	Realme 5i 4GB/64GB	₹8,999	₹9,999
	Realme 5i 4GB/128GB	₹9,999	₹10,999
	Realme C3 3GB/32GB	₹6,999	₹7,499
	Realme C3 4GB/64GB	₹7,999	₹8,499
Samsung	Galaxy S20	₹66,999	₹70,500
	Galaxy S20+	₹73,999	₹79,900
	Galaxy S20 Ultra	₹92,999	₹97,900
	Galaxy Z Flip	₹1,09,999	₹1,15,890
	Galaxy Note 10	₹69,999	₹73,600
	Galaxy Note 10+ 12GB/256GB	₹79,999	₹84,200
	Galaxy Note 10+ 12GB/512GB	₹89,999	₹94,700
	Galaxy Note 10 Lite 6GB/128GB	₹38,999	₹41,000
	Galaxy Note 10 Lite 8GB/128GB	₹40,999	₹43,100
	Galaxy S10 Lite 8GB/128GB	₹39,999	₹42,142
	Galaxy S10 Lite 8GB/512GB	₹44,999	₹47,300
	Galaxy A71	₹29,999	₹31,500
	Galaxy A51	₹23,999	₹25,250
	Galaxy M31 6GB/64GB	₹15,999	₹16,856
	Galaxy M31 6GB/128GB	₹16,999	₹17,910
	Galaxy M30s 4GB/64GB	₹13,999	₹14,749
	Galaxy M30s 4GB/128GB	₹14,999	₹15,803
	Galaxy M30s 4GB/128GB	₹15,999	₹16,856
	Galaxy M21 4GB/64GB	₹13,499	₹14,222
	Galaxy M21 4GB/64GB	₹15,499	₹16,329
OPPO	Reno3 Pro (Global)	₹29,990	₹31,990
	Reno2	₹36,990	₹38,990
	Reno2 Z	₹25,990	₹27,490
	Reno2 F	₹21,990	₹23,490
Vivo	Vivo U20	₹17,990	₹19,990
	Vivo S1 4GB/128GB	₹15,990	₹17,990
	Vivo S1 6GB/64GB	₹17,990	₹19,990
	Vivo S1 Pro 8GB/128GB	₹18,990	₹20,990
	Vivo V17 8GB/128GB	₹22,990	₹24,990
iQOO	iQOO 3 4G 8GB/128GB	₹36,990	₹38,990
	iQOO 3 4G 8GB/256GB	₹39,990	₹41,990
	iQOO 3 5G 12GB/256GB	₹44,990	₹46,990

The list above is incomplete but we’ll be adding more recently launched devices as we learn about the increase in prices of other smartphones in India. Needless to say, the tax increase will affect the entire industry. Those who can absorb the rise in cost, will; while those with thin margins will have no option but to pass on the burden to the end consumer. However, keep in mind that the country is on COVID-19-related lockdown, so sales on both offline and online platforms are on hold.

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Chinese OPPO Reno3 Pro gets certified by the FCC, may launch as the Find X2 Neo

Towards the end of last year, OPPO launched the Reno3 and Reno3 Pro in China. The mid-range devices from the company featured MediaTek’s Dimensity 1000L chipset and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 765G SoC, however, the international variants that were launched earlier this month featured completely different specifications. Instead of featuring the MediaTek Dimensity 1000L chip, the OPPO Reno3(global) packed in MediaTek’s Helio P90 chip and, on the other hand, the OPPO Reno3 Pro(global) featured the Helio P95. Just a few days ago renders of the OPPO Find X2 Lite and Find X2 Neo surfaced online, which featured the same design and specifications as the Chinese variants of the OPPO Reno3 series. This led us to believe that the Chinese Reno3 and Reno3 Pro could be launched as the Find X2 Lite and Find X2 Neo globally.

Now, an upcoming OPPO device has been certified by the FCC which features the same design and specifications as the Chinese OPPO Reno3 Pro. The listing features the device’s user manual, which confirms that the device features a 6.5-inch FHD+ display with a punch-hole cutout for the front camera. The device has also made an appearance on the Bluetooth SIG listing, which confirms that it’ll be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 765G chip. The FCC listing also includes the user manual for the device which reveals that it packs in a 4,025mAh battery with 30W fast charging support. Additionally, the FCC listing includes images of the device that reveal the exact same design as the Chinese Reno3 Pro.

On top of all that, our Editor-in-Chief, Mishaal Rahman, ran one of the IMEIs from the FCC filing through an IMEI database and the phone was identified as the Reno3 Pro. Since OPPO has already launched a different phone under the Reno3 Pro moniker internationally, it’s unlikely that this new phone will also be launched under the same name. This gives the previous rumor about the device launching as the Find X2 Neo some credibility. As of now, OPPO has revealed no information about the launch date for the device. But since it has already received FCC certification, it shouldn’t be long before OPPO finally launches it internationally.

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Source: FCC (certification, user manual, photos), Bluetooth SIG

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[Update: 5G variant too] Samsung Galaxy Fold receives Android 10 with One UI 2.0

Update 1 (04/01/2020 @ 03:15 AM ET): The 5G variant of the Samsung Galaxy Fold is also receiving the update. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on March 26, 2020, is preserved below.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold (review) might not be the perfect folding phone we had all hoped for, and the company has even released an alternate clamshell design with the Galazy Z Flip. Even with the insane pricing, Samsung has allegedly been able to sell a respectable number of Galaxy Fold units. Keeping aside the initial hype, the owners of this bleeding-edge device have been stuck with Android Pie to date, but there is a new ray of hope. Samsung has now started rolling out the long-anticipated One UI 2.0 update on top of Android 10 for the Galaxy Fold.

Samsung Galaxy Fold XDA Forums

According to Samsung’s Android 10 update schedule, the Galaxy Fold is expected to receive the taste of Android 10 in April. As the month of March is almost ending, the arrival of the OTA for this device – albeit only on the global 4G variant (model number SM-F900F) – is certainly a noteworthy event. The version number of the latest firmware is F900FXXU3BTCD, which is currently available in France. Samsung has not incremented the bootloader version (v3), thus it is possible to revert back to Android Pie though manual flashing. Regarding the Android Security Patch Level (SPL), it is bumped to March 2020 from January 2020.

We are unable to get our hands on the complete changelog at the time of writing this article, so it is not possible to tell whether Samsung shipped all the goodness of One UI 2.1 in this update or not. The OTA may take several weeks to reach other regional markets, but those who are interested can manually download the complete firmware package directly from Samsung update server using tools like Frija.

Samsung has not published the kernel source code for this particular build yet. Moreover, the aforementioned firmware is not at all compatible with the 5G Galaxy Fold variant (SM-F907x), so stay away from cross-flashing.

Source: Samfrew

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Update: Samsung Galaxy Fold 5G variant receives One UI 2.0 update with Android 10

The 5G variant of the Samsung Galaxy Fold has also begun receiving its One UI 2.0 update with Android 10.

Samsung has also published the Android 10 kernel sources for the 4G variant (SM-F900F).

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OnePlus 8 series pricing won’t exceed $1000 and will pack the Snapdragon 865, LPDDR5 RAM, and UFS 3.0 storage

After months of leaks and teasers about its next flagship lineup, OnePlus finally announced a launch date for the OnePlus 8 series yesterday. In a post about the launch on its community forums, the company revealed that the OnePlus 8 series would be launched globally on April 14th and it even confirmed that the devices will feature a 120Hz display and 5G support. Now, in a follow-up post, the company’s CEO Pete Lau has revealed a few more details about the upcoming devices.

As per the post, the OnePlus 8 series will not only feature a 120Hz display but it’ll also pack in Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 865 SoC, coupled with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.0 storage for “fast and smooth” performance. The updated hardware will give the device a 20% bump in CPU performance and a 25% rise in GPU performance, while still being 25% more energy efficient than the last-gen. Thanks to the LPDDR5 RAM technology, the OnePlus 8 series will offer transfer rates reaching up to 6,400Mbps at a bandwidth as high as 51.2GB/s and it’ll achieve this with 45% lower power consumption when compared to the previous generation.

In a separate post on Chinese social media platform Weibo, the company has revealed additional details about the 120Hz display on the OnePlus 8 series. According to the images shared in the post, the display on the OnePlus 8 series will feature a 2K+ resolution with a pixel density of 513ppi. It’ll offer a maximum brightness of 1300 nits, with 4096 levels of brightness adjustments. On top of that, in order to ensure color accuracy in all environments, it’ll also feature ambient color temperature sensing.

With all these premium features making their way to the OnePlus 8 series, you’d expect the devices to finally cross the $1,000 price bracket. However, according to a recent report from Business Insider, that won’t be the case. The report claims that OnePlus has confirmed that the 5G variants of the OnePlus 8 series won’t exceed the $1,000 mark in the US, making them some of the most affordable 5G-enabled flagships in the market. While the company hasn’t revealed the exact pricing yet, it’s great to know that OnePlus is sticking to its roots and making the devices more affordable than some of the other premium flagships in the market.

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Source: OnePlus Community forums, Weibo (1,2), Business Insider

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FCC will make carriers authenticate IP calls with STIR/SHAKEN by the end of June 2021

Robocalls and spam calls are a major issue for people in the United States. The Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, estimates that fraudulent calls cost Americans a total of $10 billion every year. As such, there have been efforts by software technology giants (such as Google), smartphone makers, telecommunications carriers, and the FCC itself aimed at stopping or reducing robocalls and fraudulent call schemes. One of the major technologies aimed at fighting robocalls is the STIR/SHAKEN protocol, with STIR standing for “Secure Telephone Identity Revisited” and SHAKEN standing for “Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using toKENs”. Now, the FCC has set a deadline for the mandatory adoption of STIR/SHAKEN for IP calls.

The STIR/SHAKEN protocol is one of the best lines of defense against robocalls. Calls must be verified and signed by the network the call is originating from using cryptographic certificates. The certificate is then verified again by the network the call is going to. This reduces the effectiveness of caller ID spoofing, so scammers and robocallers can’t hide the phone number they’re calling from. Work on the protocol began in the mid-2010s and the FCC formally proposed and sought public comment on its mandatory adoption in June of 2019. This eventually led to the TRACED Act being passed by Congress and signed by President Trump in December of 2019. And now the FCC is mandating “all originating and terminating voice service providers to implement STIR/SHAKEN in the Internet Protocol (IP) portions of their networks by June 30, 2021.” This deadline extends to 2022 for smaller voice providers that have fewer resources to direct towards upgrading their infrastructure. In the future, intermediate voice service providers will also be required to implement STIR/SHAKEN as well.

STIR/SHAKEN is meant for IP calls, but the FCC is also working on a different standard that can apply to older, non-IP-based calling services as well since they’re also a vector for robocalling. With STIR/SHAKEN, the FCC estimates that the $10 billion yearly figure will be reduced by at least $3 billion, cutting down on annoying robocalls quite a bit.

Most modern Android devices and dialer applications should support displaying the “Caller Verified” notification, but some older devices may not support the feature. For older devices, an update may be required.

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Source: FCC | Via 1: ZDNet | Via 2: Engadget

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Hands-on with the Nubia Red Magic 5G – 144Hz Gaming [Video]

Earlier this month, the Red Magic 5G was officially announced in China. This is the latest device in the growing “gaming smartphone” category. The Red Magic 5G boasts a few features that should set it apart from the competition, most notably the 144Hz refresh rate display. XDA TV’s TK Bay has the device so he shared his unboxing and first impressions on our YouTube channel.

The Red Magic 5G features a lot of impressive specifications (listed in the chart below) and features. As mentioned above, the big highlight is the 144Hz display. As with any other device that has a high refresh rate display, the phone doesn’t run at its highest refresh rate in all applications. The display can be set to 60Hz, 90Hz, and 144Hz.

Red Magic 5G XDA Forums

Some of the other gaming features that TK talks about are the “Turbo Fan” for cooling and the shoulder buttons. There are vents on each side of the Red Magic 5G that allows a fan to pull air through the phone, reducing thermal throttling and making your gaming sessions more consistent. The shoulder buttons are touch-sensitive and can be mapped to on-screen buttons, giving you much more control. This can come in handy especially for shooter games.

TK is impressed with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor and the high-end specifications of the Red Magic 5G. He also likes all of the custom gaming features, such as the game launcher, buttons, and cooling fan. Watch the video above to get his full 10+ minute first impressions.

Specification	Nubia Red Magic 5G
Dimensions and Weight	168.56 x 78 x 9.75 mm 218g
Display	6.65″ FHD+ AMOLED; 19.5:9 aspect ratio 144Hz high refresh rate 240Hz touch sampling rate In-display fingerprint sensor
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 865Adreno 650
RAM and Storage	8GB LPDDR5 + 128GB UFS 3.0 12GB + 128GB 12GB + 256GB 16GB + 256GB
Battery & Charging	4,500 mAh battery 55W fast charging Compatible with Quick Charge 4.0 and Power Delivery 3.0
Rear Camera	Primary: 64MP Sony IMX686 sensor, f/1.8 Secondary: 8MP, Wide-Angle Camera Tertiary: 2MP, Macro
Front Camera	8MP
Other Features	Active cooling through rotating fan within the phone 3.5mm headphone jack Low latency game screencasting Touch-sensitive shoulder buttons WiFi 6 Dual-frequency GPS Side pins for further docking
Android Version	Red Magic OS based on Android 10

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WireGuard VPN protocol makes its way to Linux Kernel 5.6

Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, can be an essential tool in the digital age. Due to growing privacy concerns or simple geolocation barriers, more and more users are taking advantage of the increased privacy and versatility afforded by VPNs that they trust. With COVID-19 forcing millions of workers to stay at home, many are forced to use company-owned VPNs to work remotely. In the last few years, a new VPN implementation has taken root among tech enthusiasts, and it’s finally going to become accessible to millions of users in the near future. The name of that new implementation is WireGuard, developed by Jason Donenfeld, who goes by the username zx2c4 on our forums. Yesterday, he announced that WireGuard version 1.0 is a part of Linux Kernel 5.6 (via ArsTechnica).

In comparison to OpenVPN, IPSec, and other popular VPN implementations, WireGuard has a considerably smaller codebase, which reduces the attack surface. It is easy to configure and has faster connection negotiations than OpenVPN. There are also performance and power efficiency improvements. There are some limitations to the protocol, however. Still, because of the benefits that it brings, the Linux Kernel community has come around to supporting it. After getting the crypto implementation into the kernel, WireGuard is now available in-tree with Linux Kernel 5.6. Any user running a distribution with Linux Kernel 5.6 can get started with a WireGuard client. While bleeding-edge distributions like Arch and Gentoo will quickly upgrade to Linux Kernel 5.6, other distributions that focus on stability like Ubuntu or Debian will take some time to make the upgrade. Mr. Donenfeld, however, states that WireGuard has been backported to Ubuntu 20.04 “Focal Fossa” and Debian Buster and that he is also maintaining backports to Linux Kernel version 5.4.y and 5.5.y.

As for Android, most users will have to wait a bit before they can use WireGuard VPN tunnels. Even though Android is built on top of the Linux kernel, the kernel running on most Android devices is fairly out of date. For example, my Pixel 3 running Android 11 is built on top of Linux Kernel 4.9, released back in 2016. Vendors can backport the kernel patches needed for WireGuard into the device’s older kernel tree, but there’s no telling if that’ll actually happen. Most likely we’ll have to wait for Google to start a new Android Common Kernel branch for the latest Linux kernel release followed by silicon manufacturers productizing new SoCs based on the newer release, but this may take some time to happen. Meanwhile, expect to see WireGuard grow in popularity among custom kernels on our forums.

WireGuard (Free, Google Play) →

Though the integration of WireGuard into the mainline Linux Kernel is definitely a welcome move that will excite many sysadmins and some users, we hope to see the new VPN protocol make its way to more platforms. As of now, the Windows version of WireGuard sits at 0.1.0 beta. Since its initial preview release, WireGuard 0.1.0 for Windows has made major improvements to performance and stability, so we should hopefully see a stable release in the near future.

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