Realme Narzo 30 Pro, Narzo 30A launched in India along with Realme Buds Air 2 and gaming accessories

In an online launch event today, Realme India unveiled a range of new products, including the Realme Narzo 30 Pro, Narzo 30A, Realme Buds Air 2, and a bunch of mobile gaming accessories. The latest smartphone lineup from the company features MediaTek’s mid-range Dimensity 800U and budget-friendly Helio G85 chipsets, coupled with a few premium features. Here’s everything you need to know about the latest devices from Realme:

Realme Narzo 30 Pro

The Realme Narzo 30 Pro succeeds the Narzo 20 Pro from last year, bringing a higher refresh rate display, a more powerful chipset, and a bigger battery. It features a much cleaner design and comes in two colors: Sword Black and Sword White. On the front, the device flaunts a 6.5-inch full HD+ LCD panel with a 120Hz screen refresh rate and a 180Hz touch sampling rate. There’s also a Sunlight mode which can shoot the brightness up to 600nits. As confirmed to XDA in an exclusive interview last week, the Realme Narzo 3o Pro is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 800U octa-core chipset, paired with up to 8GB RAM and 128GB flash storage. This is the second phone from the company to feature the Dimensity 800U chipset, with the Realme X7 being the first.

Relame Narzo 30 Pro: Specifications

Specification	Realme Narzo 30 Pro
Dimensions and Weight	162.2mm x 75.1mm x 9.1mm 194g
Display	6.5-inch IPS LCD 120Hz refresh rate 180Hz touch sampling rate 600nits (Sunlight mode) 2400 x 1080 (full HD+)
SoC	MediaTek Dimensity 800U 2x Cortex-A76 @ 2.4GHz 4x Cortex-A55 @ 2.0GHz 7nm process ARM Mali-G57
RAM and Storage	8GB RAM 128GB flash storage MicroSD card support
Battery & Charging	5,000 mAh battery 30W fast charger (inside the box)
Rear Camera	Primary: 48MP Quad Pixel f/1.79 Secondary: 8MP wide-angle. 119-degree Tertiary: 2MP bokeh 4K@30fps 1080p@120fps
Front Camera	16MP f/2.0
Ports	USB Type-C port 3.5mm headphone jack
Connectivity	5G NR 4G LTE NFC Bluetooth 5.1 Type-C port WiFi 802.11.b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz)
Other features	Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res certified Side-mounted fingerprint reader
Software	Android 10 with Realme UI

The camera setup is pretty much unchanged from the previous model. The device has a 48MP f/1.8 primary sensor, an 8MP wide-angle camera, and a 2MP macro lens on the back, along with a 16MP camera on the front. The battery, however, has received a small bump from 4,500mAh to 5,000mAh. It supports 30W fast charging with the compatible Dart Charger included inside the box. The phone runs Android 10 out-of-the-box with Realme UI on top. Other notable highlights of the Realme Narzo 30 Pro include a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, 5G support, Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res certified audio, Bluetooth 5.1, dual-band Wi-FI, a 3.5mm audio jack, and microSD card support.

The Realme Narzo 30 Pro starts at ₹16,999 for the base model, while the top variant is priced at ₹19,999. It will go on sale starting March 4 via Flipkart, Realme.com, and select offline retailers.

Realme Narzo 30A

The Realme Narzo 30A is a follow-up to the last year’s Narzo 20A. It’s a budget-friendly device, packing a 6.5-inch HD+ display with a waterdrop notch in a plastic body measuring 164.5mm x 75.9mm x 9.8mm. It’s powered by the MediaTek Helio G85 SoC, paired with up to 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, and a Mali-G52 GPU. In terms of cameras, it has a 13MP primary sensor, a B&W depth sensor, and an 8MP selfie shooter.

The Realme Narzo 30A packs a large 6,000mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging and wired reverse charging support. It runs Realme UI based on Android 10, has a rear-mounted fingerprints scanner, and offers a 3.5mm audio jack and a dual SIM + microSD card tray.

The Realme Narzo 30A comes in two variants: 3GB + 32GB and 4GB + 64GB, with a price tag of ₹8,999 for the base model and ₹9,999 for the top model.  It will go on sale on 5th March at 12 PM IST via Flipkart, Realme.com, and select offline retailers.

Realme Narzo 30A: Specifications

Specification	Realme Narzo 30A
Dimensions and Weight	164.5mm x 75.9mm x 9.8mm 207g
Display	6.5-inch IPS LCD 1640 x 720 (HD+)
SoC	MediaTek Helio G85: 2x Cortex-A75 @ 2GHz 6x Cortex-A55 @ 1.8GHz 12nm process technology ARM G52 MC2 GPU
RAM and Storage	3GB/4GB RAM 128GB flash storage MicroSD card support
Battery & Charging	6,000 mAh battery 18W fast charger (inside the box)
Rear Camera	Primary: 13MP primary Secondary: unspecified B&W depth sensor
Front Camera	8MP
Ports	USB Type-C port 3.5mm headphone jack
Connectivity	4G LTE Bluetooth 5.0 Type-C port WiFi 802.11.b/g/n/ac
Security	Rear-mounted fingerprint reader
Software	Android 10 with Realme UI

Realme Buds Air 2

The Realme Buds Air 2 is the latest entry into Realme’s TWS portfolio. Realme says they collaborated with the popular DJ duo The Chainsmokers to tune the earphones’ sound signature. The new earphones have several notable improvements over their predecessor, including Active Noise Cancellation, which claims to provide up to 25db noise reduction, Environmental Noise Cancellation for voice calls, and Bluetooth 5.2. The Realme Buds Air 2 features a 10mm audio driver in each bud with a carbon diaphragm. The total battery life is rated for up to 25 hours on a single charge, and on continuous usage, they can last up to 5 hours.

The Realme Buds Air 2 comes in two colors — Closer Black and Closer White — and will go on sale from March 2 via Flipkart, Realme.com, and offline retailers at ₹3,299.

Gaming Accessories

Alongside the new phones and earphones, Realme also showcased a bunch of mobile gaming accessories.

First is the Realme Cooling Back Clip, a mini cooling fan that is designed to keep the phone’s temperature in check while gaming. The device features a 7-blade fan and a “semiconductor ice chip” to quickly dissipate the heat build-up around the processor region, allowing users to game for prolonged periods without worrying about thermal throttling. The Realme Cooling Back Clip is priced at ₹1799 and will be available for purchase starting March 4 from Realme.com. Realme says the accessories will be compatible with “various devices” but didn’t clarify if it will work with non-Realme phones.

Next up, Realme also unveiled its own take on air trigger buttons called Realme Mobile Game Controller. Realme says these buttons are much more sensitive and offer shorter key ranges than traditional mechanical buttons. The buttons are rechargeable and last up to 80 hours on a single charge. The Realme Mobile Game Controller buttons are priced at ₹999 and will be available from Realme.com “soon.”

Finally, the Realme Mobile Game Finger Sleeves are designed for gamers with sweaty hands. They are made out of carbon fiber material and claim to offer improved touch response and a better grip while gaming. The Realme Mobile Finger Sleeves will be available from Realme.com starting March 4 at ₹129.

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Latest Instagram Lite update brings the Reels feature to the app

Instagram is rolling out a new update for the Instagram Lite app, which brings support for its popular Reels feature. The update has already started rolling out via the Play Store, and you can download it on your device by following the link below.

Instagram Lite is a barebones version of Facebook’s popular image and video sharing app for Android. It measures less than 2MB in size and offers a clean, no-frills experience for users with limited internet bandwidth or low-memory phones. Facebook launched the Instagram Lite app in India at the Facebook Fuel for India event late last year in a bid to bring the Instagram experience to more users in the country. At the time of launch, the app lacked support for several key Instagram features, like Reels, Shopping, and IGTV, to offer users a clean and lightweight experience.

New Reels tab in the Instagram Lite app

However, Facebook is now rolling out an update for Instagram Lite, which brings support for its Reels feature in India. This will allow Indian users to watch the popular short-format videos in the Reels tab. However, Instagram Lite users will not be able to create Reels on the app. In a statement regarding the update, Facebook said, “Now with this update, everyone using the Instagram Lite app in India will be able to view Reels with the Reels tab. This feature was expedited for India because of the traction Reels is seeing in India, and the early adoption of the new Instagram Lite app.”

In case you’re using the Instagram Lite app on your device, you can now download the latest update by following the Play Store link below and watch Reels on the platform. The app is available in multiple regional languages, including Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu.

Instagram Lite (To be announced, Google Play) →

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The new Macbook Pro could come with an HDMI port and SD Card reader

Fresh rumors about the upcoming MacBook Pro suggest that Apple may add an HDMI port and an SD card reader on the devices. The new information comes from popular Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who also suggests that the company might launch the two new MacBook Pro models in the second half of 2021.

“We predict that Apple’s two new MacBook Pro models in 2H21 will have several significant design and specification changes. Some of the practical changes for users are equipping with the SD card reader and HDMI port,” said Kuo in a research note obtained by MacRumors. He further added that Taiwan’s Genesys Logic will be the exclusive supplier of the SD card readers. This is not the first time we are hearing about the return of an SD card reader on the upcoming MacBooks. Last month, a report from Bloomberg revealed the same information.

Adding an SD card on the next-gen MacBooks makes a lot of sense for creative professionals, especially photographers and videographers. On top of that, the addition of an HDMI port is also going to be a blessing, as it would let users connect to a wide range of displays without relying on a USB Type-C dock.

As far as the rest of the specifications are concerned, previous reports suggest that the upcoming 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models will likely feature a new version of Apple’s ARM-based M1 chipset with increased cores and performance capabilities. The new laptops are also expected to bring back the MagSafe charger, which Apple phased out in 2016 in favor of USB-C. Reports also suggest that the updated MagSafe design will offer faster charging capabilities, with the connector having an elongated pill-shaped design like the older MagSafe solution. Apple’s decision to bring MagSafe to the iPhone 12 lineup last year gives this rumor some validation.

The new MacBooks might also skip on the Touch Bar this year, although we don’t really see a solid reason for that. Lastly, the upcoming MacBooks may get a subtle design refresh, with flatter and sharper edges, similar to the iPhone 12 series, iPad Pro models, and iPad Air launched last year.

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Huawei is finally opening up its wearables to third-party apps

Although Huawei’s smartphone business is struggling in the face of continued US sanctions, the company is doing fairly well in the wearables space. Last year, while its smartphone business saw a 42.4% year-over-year decline in shipments, its smartwatch shipment volume jumped 90% year-over-year in China and Asia and 50% globally. As a result, on the one hand, Huawei is reportedly looking to scale down smartphone production this year; on the other, the company is opening up its wearables to third-party apps to further boost sales.

For the unaware, Huawei’s smartwatches run LiteOS — a proprietary software that currently doesn’t support third-party apps. However, starting today, the company is opening up its wrist wearables ecosystem to third-party developers in a bid to attract more buyers. As a proof of concept, the company has released the popular fitness app “Fitify” for the Watch GT 2 Pro.

Huawei has also announced that it is willing to work with independent developers and brands to bring their apps over to its growing portfolio of wearables. In a statement on the matter, Derek Yu, VP Huawei CEE & Nordic at Huawei Consumer Business Group, said, “We are already the global market leader for wearables quickly gaining market share for the category across many geographies. In Q3 2020, we shipped 10.7 million wrist wearable products globally, growing 88.1& year-on-year to a market share of 19.5%. By making Fitify our debut third-party app for our wearable products we are sending a message to the many other high quality app developers. Our wearables are becoming incredibly popular, and you can benefit by being part of the Huawei AppGallery and wearables ecosystem.”

To further attract developers, Huawei plans to offer a one-stop, full-spectrum operational support solution for all app content providers, covering the entire cycle from ideation, development, and distribution to operation and data analytics. The company has also developed unique integration kits to help developers maximize the AppGallery listing for their apps.

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OnePlus Nord receives OxygenOS 10.5.11 with January 2021 security patches

After updating the OnePlus Nord N10 and Nord N100 a few days ago, OnePlus is back again with a fresh update for its 2020 midrange phone: OnePlus Nord. Stable OxygenOS 10.5.11 is being rolled out to the OnePlus Nord, bringing system stability improvements along with January 2021 security patches. It’s a little strange that the OnePlus Nord is getting a month-old security patch while its budget-friendly sibling, Nord N10, is already on the most recent February 2021 patch level.

OxygenOS 10.5.11 changelog for the OnePlus Nord:

• System
  • Updated Android Security Patch to 2021.01
  • Improved system stability

As you can see, this is a minor maintenance update, and there are no new features or improvements to talk about. It’s still based on Android 10. The much-awaited Android 11 update is currently under development for the device, and if you’re interested, you can try it out right now through the OxygenOS 11 Open Beta program.

The OxygenOS 10.5.11 update has started rolling out to European, Global, and Indian variants of the OnePlus Nord. However, as is usually the case with staged software rollouts, it will likely take some time for the update to reach all units. To check if it’s available for your device, go to Settings > System > System Update. Meanwhile, if you don’t want to wait for the automatic rollout, you can also download the update package from the links posted below to manually update your phone. From the link section, download an appropriate OTA package corresponding to your variant. After downloading the package, place it in the root directory of your internal storage. Then navigate to Settings > System > System Update > “Local Update“ and select the downloaded package to initiate the installation.

OnePlus Nord XDA Forums

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Download Links

Europe:

• Incremental OTA from OxygenOS 10.5.10
• Full OTA

Global:

• Incremental OTA from OxygenOS 10.5.10
• Full OTA

India:

• Incremental OTA from OxygenOS 10.5.10

---

Thanks to XDA Senior Member Some_Random_Username for the download links!

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ZTE announces second-gen in-display camera tech, under-display 3D face unlock solution at MWC Shanghai

ZTE unveiled the world’s first smartphone with an in-display selfie camera, the Axon 20 5G, in September last year. The device went on sale in Europe late last year, and we managed to get ourselves a unit to test what all the hype was all about. In his hands-on preview, Adam found the ZTE Axon 20 5G’s in-display selfie camera to be a bit underwhelming. But that was to be expected, given that it’s a first-gen product. Thankfully, ZTE has now announced its second-gen in-display camera solution, which should improve the selfie camera performance in upcoming devices.

ZTE recently showcased the second-gen in-display camera solution at MWC Shanghai. According to a post on Weibo (via Android Authority), the upgraded solution brings significant improvements to the pixel density of the screen above the selfie camera, doubling it from 200PPI to 400PPI. Along with that, the company claims that the second-gen solution offers a more consistent experience with the rest of the display.

Essentially, ZTE’s post claims that it has managed to reduce the hazy effect seen on the screen above the selfie camera on the Axon 20 5G. Sadly, it doesn’t mention any improvements to the selfie camera’s performance. As of now, we can’t be sure if ZTE has made any changes on that front, but we’ll update this post as soon as we learn more about the company’s second-gen in-display camera solution.

It’s worth noting that ZTE also showcased the world’s first under-screen 3D structured light scanner at the event, which would allow it to offer 3D face unlock on devices without the need for an unsightly notch or a hole-punch cutout. Furthermore, ZTE claims that this technology could be used to power 3D modeling, augmented reality, and payment applications in the future.

What’s your take on ZTE’s new in-display camera solution? Do you think ZTE should have focused on improving image quality rather than on decreasing the hazy effect on the display? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Featured image: ZTE Axon 20 5G

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Samsung will give you 100 days to try a Galaxy foldable

If you’re unsatisfied with your Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G or Z Flip 5G, Samsung will give you even more time to return it. The company is extending the return period to 100 days for its newest foldable phones. That means you can use either device for over three months before deciding to keep it.

Samsung’s prior return window for its foldable devices was 15 days, so the extension is quite significant. The extended return policy is apparently part of Samsung’s new “Buy and try” program, which is launching today.

“This new initiative will help consumers try and see if a foldable device is right for them, as part of Samsung’s commitment to making foldable devices more accessible for everyone,” Samsung said in a statement to The Verge.

The new program is apparently promotional and will run until April 1. Consumers who purchase the Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G or Z Flip 5G after the April 1 date will seemingly be stuck with the non-promotional 15-day return window. If you were on the fence about purchasing one of Samsung’s foldable devices, now is the time to do it.

Foldable devices are a tough sell in a market where mid-range options are becoming increasingly popular, and increasingly abundant. The Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G retails for $1,999, which isn’t a price point most people can afford. Still, extending the return period for its latest foldable devices is a clever way to convince those who were on the fence to take the plunge.

Samsung stumbled out of the gate with its first Galaxy Fold, but the company rebounded in a big way with the Galaxy Z Fold 2 and Z Flip. The company has proven that it’s possible to make a really good foldable device. Now, it’s just a matter of convincing consumers at large that the foldable smartphone is the future—starting with a more attractive return policy.

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