Welcome to our recap of the top news articles of 2021. This is Q2, you can also take a look at the top stories of Q1, Q3 and Q4.
It’s now time to look at the months April through June, which were defined by a myriad of phone announcements as well as looming phones from further down 2021.
Sharp officially brought a 1-inch sensor to a phone with the Japan-exclusive Aquos R6. It had more going for it with a 240Hz refresh rate display, another first. But as with all of Sharp’s innovations, this one never came out of Japan.
Sony unveiled the Xperia 1 III, 5 III, and 10 III in Q2, all of which proved very popular with fans. The 10 III retained the display and camera specs of its predecessor but added a more efficient processor and bigger battery. The Xperia 1 III and 5 III adopted a new variable-zoom camera that went from 2.9x to 4.4x, as well as new SD888 silicone. While the Xperia 5 III was a more modest update over the 5 II, the 1 III added a much-needed 120Hz display.
Xiaomi brought its Mi 11 Ultra to the Indian market in Q2, which generated a lot of hype.
Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 778G, which went on to power a number of popular midrangers, lie the Honor 50, Huawei nova 9, the Galaxy A52s 5G and M52 5G, and the Motorola Edge (2021).
Samsung stopped giving the Galaxy S20 FE 4G its Exynos 990 chipset for the LTE-only variant of the phone and went only with the Snapdragon 865 in 2021. We also saw an early render of the Galaxy S21 FE in Green.
Then there were the leaks and rumors that captured your attention. We saw the first press render of the iPhone 13, which was notable for showing the redesigned camera alignment.
We also first glimpsed renders of the Huawei P50 series, which would debut in July.
Google’s Pixel 6 and its dramatic redesign were revealed in Q2. We also got the first bits of specs, like the custom Google-made Whitechapel chipset, which turned out to be called Tensor, as well as the 120Hz display and 5,000mAh battery of the Pixel 6 Pro.
LG’s decision to step away from the smartphone game was made official in Q2. The company’s devices were struggling for a while and it made more sense to focus LG’s creative resources in the fields of electric vehicle components, IoT devices, smart homes, robotics, AI, and business-to-business solutions.
There are 20 temperature sensors and 60 security protection mechanisms – plus some very efficient components – to ensure everything goes smoothly.
It is the biggest camera sensor put in a mobile phone ever.
A smaller notch and diagonally aligned cameras on the back.
The phone is visualized in four colors and with four camera lenses.
Pre-orders in Japan begin tomorrow.
Trade-in 2GB of internal storage for 2GB of extra RAM.
Another source has confirmed the looks, while saying the colors aren’t accurate.
They introduce an extra step to changing video resolution.
Only one of its kind exists.
It’s a rebadged F19 Pro+ 5G with slower charging and an NFC chip onboard.
That’s right, the 5G model gets a 400-series chip. And slower charging – 33W for the 4G model, 18W for the 5G.
It’s a nova 8 Pro 5G without 5G connectivity.
The Mi 11 lineup continues to expand.
First sale begin on April 28.
No more Exynos 990-powered Galaxy S20 FE.
The main attraction here compared to the Realme 8 (4G) is the next-gen connectivity. But the Realme 7 5G might be a problem.
The M1 chip is much faster and you can configure your tablet with up to 16 GB of RAM and 2 TB storage.
Both phones have high refresh rate OLED displays – a 144Hz curved panel on the Ultra and 120Hz flat one on the Pro.
The first midrange Xperia with 5G connectivity is here.
Tiger Lake-H (11th gen) is a clean break from the Skylake-derived Comet Lake-H (10th gen).
It’s an 6nm version of the SD 780G launched in March.
The phone has a new design, but it is not that different from the vanilla M3 on the inside.
It’s the third smartphone in the Narzo 30 lineup.
The Zenfone 8 is smaller than the Xperia 5 III. The Flip is a Zenfone 7 with a Snapdragon 888 and a few other tweaks. Available for pre-order today.
The RTX 3080 Ti is Nvidia’s latest flagship GPU.
First sales in India for both start on June 4.
The S7 FE comes with an S Pen in the retail package, supports DeX mode there is an optional keyboard cover. Available in mid-June.
The Reno6 Pro+ is powered by the Snapdragon 870 and gets Sony’s flagship IMX 766 camera sensor.
The phone is an affordable alternative to the Red Magic 6/6 Pro without the gaming aesthetics.
You get an LCD with a 120Hz refresh rate, Gorilla Glass Victus and a slightly altered back design.
It’s almost identical to the Realme 8 5G.
The CPU cores are based on the new ARMv9 architecture that focuses on performance, security and machine learning.
It’s a toned down version of the Galaxy Tab S7+, basically.
The phone got fully listed on Xiaomi’s global website.
The OnePlus Nord CE 5G brings the same core experience at an even more aggressive price.
The sensor packs 0.64μm pixels and Double Super PD.
The phone will become available on June 14.
The buds have redesigned hardware and a better chipset to improve audio quality to and from the buds, as well as enable a few clever features.
The chip also comes with improved AI performance.
The “t” version is slightly cheaper than the original model, though mostly thanks to discounts.
First sales in India start on June 28.
The Honor 50, Honor 50 Pro and Honor 50 SE were announced in China earlier today. They will be available in over 40 regions internationally later this year.
And that’s a large 1/1.3″ sensor on the back, joined by a 50mm portrait cam and an ultrawide module. There’s an ultra wide selfie camera too.
The two boast the industry-first telephoto camera with variable focal length.
It’s rumored to enter mass product next month and launch in Q4 2021.
The phone has received a Bluetooth certification that hints at the naming shenanigans.
An early taste of what we can expect from the Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III and their variable telephoto lenses.
Will limit access to calls and messages and eventually block all access.
HMD has pledged 3 years of full support: that’s OS updates, security patches and even warranty repairs for the two X-series models.
Harmony will start rolling out to Mate40 and P40 series phones and a couple of others. Some devices as old as 2017 will also get the new OS .
Most of the P50 series will be 4G only.
The flagship is launching on May 20 in China.
The company is leaving the phone business – a business to which it had contributed so much. Here’s a look back at all the innovations by LG.
The custom SoC won’t be as fast as the Snapdragon 888.
Will the two Pro models get a similar (if toned down) color?
The decision was approved by LG’s board of directors.
Eight Nokia smartphones will get Android 11 this quarter.
2G networks around the world are already being shut off, meaning that the Nokia 110 and 105 from 2019 may soon stop working.
Redmi’s first gaming phone has everything you’d expect it to.
The OS will now remember the size and exact position of each app on your monitors.
The band sports a significantly bigger display and continuous blood oxygen monitoring.
This time around there will be three high-end tablets.
Devices with 3GB of RAM won’t be getting the update.
The Pro has an NFC-enabled variant, both are powered by the Helio G95 chipset.
Google will tweak a SD870-level chip with its AI and machine learning prowess.
It also enhances the Quick Share feature.
The carrier is also giving all its customers a free upgrade to unlimited plans.