Smartphones

OnePlus 11 series launches in China

Global launch coming in February

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Another year of promising smartphones has started. Though the more popular brands reserve their debuts for later in the year, OnePlus has gone ahead with the launch of its first flagship this year. Ahead of a more global launch, the Chinese brand has unleashed the OnePlus 11 series in China.

Inspired by “black holes,” the OnePlus 11 stands out from the crowd with its large, circular camera bump. On the flipside, the screen touts a 6.7-inch LTPO 3.0 AMOLED display, which puts out images at 2K resolution and 120Hz refresh rate.

Inside the smartphone’s large frame, users will find the usual offerings they can expect from flagship devices throughout the first half of 2023. The OnePlus 11 boasts the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, up to 16GB of RAM, and up to 512GB of internal storage.

Once again, OnePlus is packing Hasselblad-built cameras for its flagship. The black-hole-inspired bump features a trio of shooters consisting of a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 32-megapixel telephoto lens, and a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera. Opposite the three, the selfie shooter takes 16-megapixel photos.

Finally, the smartphone will come with a 5000mAh battery. It will also charge at up to 100W.

OnePlus Buds Pro 2

To complement the flagship’s launch, OnePlus has also launched the OnePlus Buds Pro 2. Going a step beyond the previous generation, the new wearable features a dual-driver setup, packing an 11mm driver for bass and a 6mm driver for mid/treble.

For additional features, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 comes with spatial audio and a six-axis motion sensor to optimize sound. It will connect to devices with Bluetooth 5.3 LE support. It will reportedly last for 39 hours on a single charge.

Price and availability in China

Ahead of everyone else, OnePlus is launching both the OnePlus 11 and the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 early for China. Users in the country can get the devices starting January 9. The rest of the world will get them after their launch on February 7. Both will come in either black or green.

The OnePlus 11 will start at CNY 3,999 (12GB RAM/256GB storage) and tops off at CNY 4,899 (16GB RAM/512GB storage). Meanwhile, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 will sell for CNY 899.

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Honor is reportedly working on a 14000mAh battery

How much is too much?

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Nothing goes together more than a Chinese smartphone brand and the relentless pursuit for a bigger battery. For years, Chinese brands have engaged in a war for this particular component. Now, the latest salvo has been fired. Honor is reportedly working on a phone with a gigantic 14000mAh battery.

Today, the biggest battery capacity you can find on an Honor phone is 11000mAh. The Honor X80 Pro Max already offers a battery that can last you more than a single day. At this point, it’s certainly more than enough for our daily needs.

According to Digital Chat Station on Weibo, a smartphone brand is currently working on a 14000mAh battery. Though the leak does not explicitly pinpoint Honor, the emoji used (a wolf) is historically used to imply the Chinese brand in Weibo parlance.

A 14000mAh is just absurdly huge. With a battery larger than some powerbanks, battery anxiety becomes moot. It’s bordering on “can we bring this on a plane” territory.

As with all rumored features, the next question is when this battery will arrive on a consumer-ready device. Given how serious the battery wars are for the Chinese market, it’s only a matter of time.

SEE ALSO: HONOR continues APAC expansion, to launch 600 series in Taiwan

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Nothing Phone (4b) shows up online, spoils some specs

It’s a step below the Phone (4a) series.

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Yesterday, Nothing officially teased the Phone (4b), an all-new line positioned below the Phone (4a) series. At the time, the teaser revealed nothing but the design of the upcoming phone. However, ahead of its July 7 launch, the Phone (4b) suddenly appeared on Geekbench, spoiling a few of its mysterious specs.

According to the listing, the Phone (4b) will run the SM6650, more popularly known as the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4. It’s a modestly powered processor built for the budget to midrange segments of the performance spectrum. Having this processor does confirm that the phone belongs to the step below the Phone (4a), bringing affordability to a name other than CMF.

Besides the processor, the new phone will come with an Adreno 810 GPU and 8GB of RAM. Inside, it will ship with Android 16 out of the box, but this will likely be upgradeable to Android 17 later this year.

It’s already confirmed that the Phone (4b) will be quite the looker. The phone will slightly depart from the design philosophy of the Phone (4a) series. Though it will still have a sizable rear island, the camera setup will just be a small vertical strip on the top-left corner. Additionally, the lighting element typical of all Nothing phones will be a small horizontal strip on the bottom-right corner.

Thankfully, the wait for more specs won’t be long. Nothing has confirmed that the phone’s launch is set for July 7.

SEE ALSO: Nothing will launch the Phone (4b) next month

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TECNO EllaClaw is your next-gen Agentic AI

Smarter yet more practical

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Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

TECNO is giving its experimental AI assistant, EllaClaw, a major upgrade.

Still in its Beta stage, EllaClaw is evolving from a simple AI chatbot into a more proactive Agentic AI (not to confuse with AI Agent) that can manage your phone, learn your habits, and even interact with third-party apps on your behalf.

From chatbot to personal phone caretaker

TECNO says EllaClaw now goes beyond answering questions and can actively help optimize your smartphone.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Powered by over 40 Smart Skills, the AI agent can perform tasks such as:

  • Cleaning up RAM and CPU resources to reduce lag
  • Identifying apps that consume excessive battery power
  • Optimizing background activity to cool down the device during heavy use
  • Monitoring mobile data consumption based on your usage habits

Importantly, major changes still require user approval, keeping people in control before any action is executed.

Learning your routines

EllaClaw is also gaining persistent memory capabilities, allowing it to remember user habits and preferences over time.

This enables more personalized features such as morning briefings, combining your calendar, weather, travel plans, and news updates in one.

There’s also Trip Preparation Assistance that can arrange transportation and set departure reminders. Moreover, context-aware reminders to stay connected with family members and loved ones.

The idea is to transform EllaClaw into a digital companion that proactively helps organize daily life.

Cross-app support

Perhaps the biggest leap forward is EllaClaw’s ability to work across different apps. With user permission, it can interact alongside shopping apps, transportation services, food delivery platforms, as well as smart home ecosystems.

Rather than operating invisibly in the background, TECNO says EllaClaw uses a visible, human-like interface that lets users see every action it takes which include:

  • Booking rides through a single voice or text command
  • Monitoring connected smart home devices
  • Acting as a shopping assistant that finds products inside e-commerce apps such as Lazada

The future of Ella?

TECNO emphasizes that EllaClaw remains an exploratory project undergoing internal testing and closed beta development.

The move is part of TECNO’s broader “Practical AI” strategy, which aims to make advanced AI features more useful and accessible, particularly for users in emerging markets.

While there’s no official release date yet, the company says more details about future availability and additional capabilities will be announced as its development continues even further.

Still, with the latest update, it offers a glimpse at where mobile AI is headed: less about asking questions and more about having an assistant that can proactively get things done for you.

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