Category Archives: Mobile

New iPad Pro Pushes Boundaries with Ultra Retina XDR Display & Apple M4 Silicon

Apple’s highest-end iPad has gotten a full refresh with a slimmer design, more powerful insides, cutting-edge display technology and a bevvy of new accessories to make it one of the most compelling tablets available. The new iPad Pro is available in 11-inch and 13-inch sizes striking the balance between portability and productivity.

More Svelt & Touting the First Ultra Retina XDR Display

The new iPad Pro will be touting Apple’s new Ultra Retina XDR display. The new display comes with what Apple calls “tandem OLED” technology which allows for more precise and true-to-life colours and better visual performance. The new display has a peak brightness of 1000 nits and a peak HDR brightness of 1600 nits. Its performance is driven by the next-generation GPU of the Apple M4 Chip. The display also comes with a nano-texture which produces less glare thanks to precision etching that doesn’t compromise visual quality and responsiveness.

Apple iPad Pro Ultra Retina XDR with OLED 240507

Together with new display technology, the new iPad Pro also features a new, slimmer design. This design has resulted in lighter weight and a svelt appearance. The new tablets come in at just 5.3mm thin on the 11-inch model and a slimmer 5.1mm on the 13-inch model. Apple claims that the durability of the tablets remains unchanged even with the slimmer profiles. The tablet’s enclosures are also made of 100% recycled aluminium.

Debuting with Apple’s Next Generation Silicon – the M4 Chip

The new M4 chip from Apple delivers improvements not only when it comes to performance, but also in battery efficiency. The M4 silicon is built on Apple’s second-generation 3nm process that delivers better performance with higher power savings. The chip features four performance cores and six efficiency cores. It also leverages new machine learning (ML) accelerators to deliver a touted 50% increase in CPU performance compared to the M2 processor.

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Building on the GPU architecture of the M3, the M4 features a whopping 10-core GPU that features Dynamic Caching. This allows for features like hardware-accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing. Both are featured on the iPad lineup for the first time in the new iPad Pro. The Neural Engine of the M4 is Apple’s most powerful to date. It’s capable of 38 trillion operations a second which is 60x faster than the A11 Bionic, Apple’s first chip featuring a Neural Engine.

Updated Cameras & Connectivity

The iPad Pro also comes with an updated camera setup. It features four studio-quality mics complemented by the 12-megapixel back camera. This setup can capture Smart HDR images and high-quality videos even in low light. The camera also comes with a True Tone flash that delivers excellent performance. Scanning documents with the camera is even easier thanks to the flash and intelligent processing by the M4 that delivers high-quality scans. Upfront, the 12-megapixel camera with an ultra-wide viewing angle delivers an updated experience when video calling. Center Stage augments the experience further especially when paired with the Magic Keyboard or Smart Folio.

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The iPad Pro comes with a USB-C connector that supports Thunderbolt 3 and USB4. This enables high-speed wired connectivity of up to 40Gbps. With Thunderbolt 3 you can even hook the iPad up to a 6K display and high-speed external storage. It also supports WiFi 6E and 5G for the fastest wireless data connectivity available.

New iPad Pro, New Accessories

The new iPad Pro will also be accompanied by a bevvy of new accessories. Of note are the new Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard. The new Apple Pencil Pro comes with a new sensor that allows users to squeeze the stylus for added functionality. Complementing this is a haptic motor that provides feedback when squeezed or when certain actions are performed. Using a gyroscope, Apple is looking to deliver a more realistic experience with the Apple Pencil Pro allowing users to change the orientation of the shaped pen and brush tools. Users are able to see these changes with a hover that previews the orientation.

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The Magic Keyboard has also been updated with a slimmer profile and lighter weight. It now comes with a function row that gives quick access to key settings and features of the iPad and keyboard. It also comes with a larger trackpad with haptic feedback and an aluminium palm rest. Lastly, Apple also announced a new Smart Folio for the iPad Pro that features more viewing angles.

Pricing & Availabilty

The Apple iPad Pro (2024) will be available for pre-order starting May 7, 2024. Store availability will start on 15 May 2024.

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The iPad will be available in 13-inch size with WiFi and Cellular options. Pricing for the 13-inch model starts at USD$1,299/RM6,799 for the WiFi model and USD$1,499/RM7,799 for the WiFi+Cellular model. The smaller 11-inch model will be priced at USD$999/RM5,299 for the WiFi model and USD$1,199/RM6,299 for the WiFi+Cellular model. Both versions will be available in Space Black and Silver.

The Apple Pencil Pro will be available for USD$129/RM599.

The 11-inch Magic Keyboard is priced at USD$299/RM1,479 while the 13-inch version is priced at USD$349/RM1,699. It will be available in Black and White.

The Smart Folio will be available in Denim, Black and White and will cost USD$79/RM379 for the 11-inch version and USD$99/RM479 for the 13-inch version.

iPad Air Redesigned with New Sizes and Apple M2 Chip

Apple’s iPad line up have long been the front runners when it comes to tablets. The new generation iPad Air is looking to reinforce that with an updated design, slimmer profile and the Apple M2 chip. The new iPad Air will also be the first iPad Air model to be available in two sizes.

Apple iPad Air lifestyle 240507

The new iPad Air has been supercharged and updated with some of the hallmark features of the iPad series. It comes with slimmer bezels, a better Liquid Retina Display and is more versatile. It comes in 11-inch and 13-inch sizes that strike a balance between portability and visual real estate.

Also updated in the new Air is camera which has been updated with a 12-megapixel sensor. It’s also got a landscape 12-megapixel camera with Center Stage support. This will allow the camera to ensure that you are center frame when you’re using the table. The new tablet also comes with landscape stereo audio making your media consumption experience more immersive. It also comes with Touch ID and features an enclosure made of recycled aluminium.

iPad Air 2024 KSPs

Under the hood, the new tablet comes with the Apple M2 Chip. This processor, while not the latest, brings a huge leap in performance for the Air. Compared to the iPad Air with the A12 Bionic, Apple touts 3x life in speed. Compared to the M1 touting Air, Apple is boasting a 50% increase in performance. The new iPad Air is also now 5G enabled and supports up to 1TB of internal storage. It will also support the newly announced Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard.

Pricing & Availability

iPad Air 2024 Pricing Announcement

The new iPad Air will be available in four colours: blue, purple, starlight and space gray. Prices for the 11-inch iPad Air will start at USD$599/RM2,999 for the WiFi model and USD$749/RM3,749 for the WiFi+Cellular model. The 13-inch iPad Air will be priced from USD$799/RM3,999 for the WiFi model and USD$949/RM4,749 for the WiFi+Cellular model.

Android Users! Your Data Could Be Compromised Due to “Dirty Stream” Exploit

Android users, your data could be exposed thanks to an implementation flaw in popular apps. Microsoft has recently published a bulletin exposing a critical flaw that could be present in a large amount of applications. Microsoft estimates that the flaw could be in over four billion apps.

The vulnerability, given the moniker “Dirty Stream”, lies in the ability of potentially malicious apps to exploit and abuse Android’s content provider system. This system is designed to enable secure data exchange between apps on Android devices. The data exchange typically employs security measures like permissions, uniform resource identifiers and file path validation to ensure data security. However, sloppy implementation has led to a backdoor ripe for exploitation.

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Photo by Azamat E on Unsplash

In Microsoft’s research, the incorrect use of the communication layer that allows communication between Android apps, known as “custom intents, can lead to sensitive areas of the app being exposed. This will allow hackers and malicious actors to access and inject malicious code into the app. Attackers can potentially take over the app entirely, access sensitive user data and intercept private logins.

Microsoft is not just exposing the exploit. It has worked proactively with affected developers, alerting them of the potentially vulnerable apps. Some of the apps identified in the report include Xiaomi’s File Manager and WPS Office. Both apps have large user bases. The former boasts a user base of over a billion installations while WPS Office has about 500 million. The companies have deployed fixes to address the issue.

Google has also been alerted. The search behemoth has updated its app security guidelines. The changes highlight common implementation errors that could lead to the security bypass.

Google Fit APIs Deemed Unfit Starting in 2025; Will It’s Retirement Break Your Devices?

It looks like Google Fit is unfit for usage… or at least that’s what happening with Google retiring the APIs. The Google Fit APIs were introduced to the Android ecosystem back in 2017 as the platform’s answer to Apple’s HealthKit. However, it seems like Google isn’t going to develop or support the Google Fit APIs anymore.

Google Fit Tombstone

In a blog post on the Android Developers Blog, Google indicates that it will not be accepting new sign ups for the Google Fit APIs any longer. The move apparently comes as Google begins to transition to Android Health. Currently, Android Health points to Health Connect, another of Google’s health APIs that was introduced in Android 13 and natively integrated in Android 14. The platform seems to remove any form of off device storage of the collected data but instead opts for an on-device model. Google is giving developers until June 30, 2025 to migrate to Android Health.

The move comes after Google’s purchase of fitness tracking company, Fitbit, in 2021. Just recently, Google has begun shutting down and consolidating a number of Google and Fitbit’s apps and APIs. Fitbit users will have realised that Google has been pushing them to migrate over to a Google account. In fact, some features like sleep tracking have been limited until the migration is done. More recently, Google announced to Fitibit users that Fitbit Pay will be replaced by Google Wallet. More jarringly, Google’s own Pixel Watch lacked the Google Fit app and favoured the Fitbit app instead.

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The retirement of Google Fit’s APIs in favour of Android Health/Health Connect may also be a result of the Fitbit purchase as it was stipulated that Google could not access any data collected by Fitbit as a part of the purchase. However, little information has been shared about how Google is using the data since the acquistion was completed.

The larger question remains how will apps and devices that leverage the Google Fit APIs fair after the migration. Keep in mind that a number of Wear OS devices use these APIs for fitness tracking and use the Google Fit App as their main interface. With companies like FOSSIL pulling out of the Wearables market with no comitment to maintain the software on the current devices, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see issues pop up with the fitness tracking on these devices.

What’s more, other Wear OS devices will also need to be updated to migrate to Health Connect. With newer devices like the OPPO Watch X, companies have already created their own apps like OHealth for OPPO and Samsung Wear for Samsung. It’s unclear if these apps will need to migrate over to Android Health or if they are already using the new APIs. However, Google has also highlighted that apps like Lifesum (previously NOOM), Peloton and Oura have already migrated to Android Health. This would mean that apps like Strava and Nike run will also need to be upgraded to support Android Health or lose functionality.

Realme Unveils the Realme 12x 5G in Malaysia

Realme has launched the Realme 12x 5G, a powerful new smartphone designed for the masses. Living up to their “5G for Everyone” motto, the Realme 12x 5G boasts impressive performance, an AI Boost feature, and a smooth 120Hz display, all wrapped in a stylish design.

Realme 12x 5G 3

The Realme 12x 5G comes with the Dimensity 6100+ 5G processor that promises smooth performance. Realme boasts that the 12x 5G can achieve an Impressive AnTuTu benchmark score exceeding 415,800. The synthetic benchmark indicates that the phone should be able to deliver smooth performance. The smartphone comes with 360° Surround Six-Antenna 5G Layout, Signal Enhancement Technology, and Dual-channel Network Acceleration which can help achieve fast download speeds of up to 3.27Gbps. Gamers will appreciate the AI Boost Engine that optimizes resource allocation for a lag-free gaming experience.

The 6.67-inch display prioritizes user comfort by reducing harmful blue light emissions. This has been certified by TUV Rheinland. The display goes as low as 1 nit in brightness, perfect for nighttime viewing. It also offers a peak brightness of 625 nits for clear visibility outdoors.

Realme 12x 5G 2

The Realme 12x 5G brings flagship-level features like Air Gestures for hands-free phone control, Rainwater Smart Touch for operating the phone in the rain, and the Dynamic Button for quick app launching. A TÜV SÜD 48-month Fluency Certificate ensures long-lasting smooth performance, while IP54 water and dust resistance offers peace of mind.

The Realme 12x 5G comes with a Light Feather Design in Feather Green and Glowing Black. The back features hundreds of thousands of hyper-realistic feather motifs and a flagship-inspired middle-round camera layout. The phone boasts a 50-megapixel primary camera for capturing stunning photos. All of these specs are housed in a slim 7.89mm body and powered by a massive 5,000mAh battery with 15W fast charging.

Pricing & Availabilty

The Realme 12x 5G will be available in two versions the 8GB+128GB version will be priced at RM899 and the 8GB+256GB version will set you back RM1099. Both will be available in two colourways: Feather Green and Glowing Black.

Realme 12x 5G 1

It will be available through teleco partners CelcomDigi, Maxis, U Mobile, Yes, redONE, and TM starting May 3rd, 2024. Pre-orders for the phone begin May 5th on Realme’s official Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok stores.

Huawei Pura70 Series Goes on Pre-order in Malaysia; Prices start at RM3,699

Huawei Unveils the HUAWEI Pura 70 Series in Malaysia: Power, Beauty, and Exclusive Pre-Order Deals

Huawei Malaysia has sneakily announced the pre-order of the Huawei Pura 70 Series. This announcement comes on the heels of its recent launch in China. This new flagship series will succeed the popular P series. It keeps all the best parts of the P series and pushes into the future with a brand-new focus, design and ethos.

Huawei Pura70 preorder

Three models from the Pura 70 Series will be available in Malaysia – the vanilla Pura 70, the Pura 70 Pro, and the Pura 70 Ultra. Each phone in the series showcases a captivating fusion of artistry and cutting-edge technology. The HUAWEI Pura 70 stuns with various colour options including pink, white and black, while the HUAWEI Pura 70 Pro comes in classic black and white. The top-of-the-line HUAWEI Pura 70 Ultra offers green, brown, and black with the now signature vegan leather finish.

Pre-ordering your HUAWEI Pura 70 Series device comes with exciting benefits. From May 2nd to 24th, 2024, pre-orders on the Huawei Official Website or selected stores will qualify for complimentary gifts valued at over RM2,000. Additionally, these pre-orders unlock exclusive offers worth over RM500 in savings. Enjoy gym memberships, complimentary coffee, movie tickets, and more from popular brands like AirAsia, Dadi Cinema, and Ogawa.

Pricing & Availability

Pre-orders are now open on the Huawei Official Website and selected Huawei Experience Stores until May 24th, 2024.

Pura70 Preorder Endframe

The Pura 70 will be available with 256GB of internal storage and 12GB Of RAM. This will be priced at RM3,699. During the pre-order period, you will be entitled to freebies worth RM2,036. This will include a pair of the Huawei Freebuds Pro 3, an RM300 exclusive trade-in rebate or voucher (for existing Huawei users), a regional warranty valid in Asia Pacific and exclusive App Gallery freebies.

Pura70 Pro Preorder Endframe

Pre-ordering the Pura 70 Pro will entitle you to a similar package with a higher rebate value of RM500 instead; valued at RM2,336. The Pura 70 Pro will be priced at RM4,899 for the variant with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of onboard storage.

Pura70 Ultra Preorder Endframe

The Pura 70 Ultra will be available with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage. It will be priced at RM6,599. You will get similar freebies as the Pro and vanilla Pura 70 with an overall value of RM2,376.

Huawei’s New Painting App, GoPaint, Arrives on May 7th

Get ready to unleash your inner artist! Huawei is launching GoPaint, a brand-new self-developed painting app designed specifically for tablets.

GoPaint 1

The official Huawei account teased the app’s arrival with the tagline “Creation begins here!” Mark your calendars for May 7th, because GoPaint is set to launch.

Packed with Features for Creators of All Levels

GoPaint boasts a wide range of brushes and intuitive features, making it easy for both beginners and experienced artists to dive in and create. Huawei is the first major smartphone vendor to develop its own painting app. To do this, the company has leveraged user insights to design GoPaint with a focus on ease of use and maximizing the creative experience.

This launch follows the highly successful GoPaint Worldwide Creating Activity held in 2023. The GoPaint app builds on that momentum. The app is set to offer a professional yet user-friendly platform specifically designed for Huawei tablets. The app is poised to strengthen Huawei’s tablet experience for creatives.

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GoPaint integrates seamlessly with this innovative hardware, creating a powerful software and hardware ecosystem. It also brings added features for creatives looking to leverage Huawei’s device ecosystem.

Unveiling Date and What to Expect

The official launch of GoPaint is expected to take place at the HUAWEI Innovative Product Launch on May 7th. The app will boast a comprehensive suite of painting tools, including a variety of brushes developed in collaboration with a leading art team.

GoPaint is also beginner-friendly, offering a full set of tutorials to help users develop their skills progressively. With more exciting features likely to be revealed, May 7th promises to be a big day for creative Huawei tablet users. Stay tuned for the official unveiling!

Galaxy AI-volution comes to Malaysia as Invaders Take over Semua House in Kuala Lumpur

Samsung introduced Galaxy AI earlier this year with the launch of the brand-new Galaxy S24 series. With Galaxy AI coming to more devices like the Galaxy Tab S9, Galaxy Z Fold5 and Galaxy S23 series, the company is now showcasing the new features in an experiential event happening throughout May in Semua House in Malaysia’s capital city, Kuala Lumpur.

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The Galaxy AI-volution focuses on all of Galaxy AI’s features with an immersive experiential event collaboratively developed by Samsung and Bomb Battle, Asia’s first immersive video game experience. So, put on your astronaut suit and get ready to take on invaders with the help of Galaxy AI and the Galaxy S24 Series.

In this experiential, you are a national space exploration team recruit. Your mission: to discreetly investigate an abandoned spacecraft for signs of life. During this mission, you will need to decipher clues and alien languages to figure out what this spacecraft is doing in the depths of Semua House in Kuala Lumpur.

The experiential event will walk you through the many Galaxy AI features that are currently available on the Galaxy S24 series, Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Z Fold 5. You will be using Circle to Search with Google to decipher encrypted messages, Note Assist to siphon key information, Chat Assist and Live Translate to translate clues, and Photo Assists to complete tasks in your time as a recruit.

The Galaxy AI-volution Experiential

Galaxy AI-volution is a 5 stage event where you will be able to collect points for exciting prizes. Here are the stages:

Galaxy AI volution

Stage 1: Welcome Aboard! – Register yourself on the ground floor and find out what’s ahead with helpful tips to help you clear stages.

Stage 2: Prepare for Takeoff – Get yourself enrolled with a Photo ID as a recruit for the national space exploration team at the AI Edit Photowall on the ground floor. Complete this task and earn yourself 5 points. (Pssst… Don’t forget to look for the UFO!)

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Stage 3: AI-Volution x Bomb Battle – head on down to the depths of Semua House and enter the mysterious spacecraft found on level B2. Stay alert, decode puzzles and escape from the inactive spacecraft with the Galaxy S24 as your handy Tricorder. Complete this task and earn yourself 15 points.

Stage 4: The Winning Shot – Once you’ve completed your task. Take a winning photo of yourself in the Nightography room located on Level B1 using the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Complete this task and earn 5 points.

Stage 5: Share the Victory – Finally, shout out your victory! Share and tag a victorious group photo of you and your comrades to redeem amazing gifts! You’ll be awarded 5 points upon completion!

Once you have your points, you’ll be able to redeem prizes. The more points you score the more epic the prizes. You can earn RM10 Touch ‘n Go Credit with 15 points, Exciting Samsung Galaxy x Mindfreakxx Merchandise with 20 points and Pop Mart Blind Box Figurines with 30 points.

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Together with the Galaxy AI-volution, Samsung is teaming with Curators.Lab and the Messy Club to bring you an unforgettable retail experience that marries tech and retail. The collaboration kicks-off on 3 May and runs until 26 May 2024.

Samsung Reprices Galaxy Tab S9 & Galaxy Tab S9 FE in Malaysia

Samsung’s popular Galaxy Tab S series is getting more affordable. No, Samsung didn’t release another edition of the series. Instead, the tablet lineup is getting a price adjustment. The prices are taking effect starting on April 9, 2024.

The Galaxy Tab S series has been one of the mainstays of Android’s growing tablet market. Samsung’s flagship tablet series has been pushing boundaries with new functionalities, better hardware and, most recently, even better build materials. The Tab S9, S9+ and S9 Ultra were launched not long ago in July 2023 and continue to be the company’s flagship tablets. The tablets offer a compelling set of features including IP68 dust and water resistance and Samsung’s hallmark S Pen. Just recently, Samsung announced the Tab S9 FE which brings together the most compelling features of the Tab S9 series at an even more affordable price point.

Key Visual Galaxy Tab S9 and Tab S9 FE Repricing

The new pricing for the series sees Samsung reducing prices by up to RM300 across the board. The new pricing brings the entry point for one of Samsung’s flagship tablets to below the RM2000 threshold with the WiFi version of the Tab S9 FE (128GB).

Starting April 9, 2024, these are the prices of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Series:

ProductRecommended Retail Price
(Before)
Recommended Retail Price
(New)
Galaxy Tab S9 5G with Book Cover Keyboard (256GB)RM4,849RM4,549
Galaxy Tab S9 with Book Cover Keyboard WiFi (256GB)RM4,199RM3,899
Galaxy Tab S9 FE 5G (256GB)RM2,999RM2,699
Galaxy Tab S9 FE 5G (128GB)RM2,699RM2,399
Galaxy Tab S9 FE WiFi (256GB)RM2,399RM2,099
Galaxy Tab S9 FE WiFi (128GB)RM 2,099RM 1,799

Samsung Details the Exynos 1480 Used in the Galaxy A55

Samsung announced its brand new Galaxy A series only weeks ago. One of the biggest upgrades when it comes to the Galaxy A55 is its system on a chip (SoC)- the Exynos 1480. However, there wasn’t much known about the SoC until now. The new Exynos 1480 is Samsung’s Foundry’s new midrange hero when it comes to processors.

The new processor is built using Samsung’s new 4nm process. This has resulted in the processor being more power efficient and also more power than the Exynos 1380 before it. The new 1480 is an octacore comes with a new configuration of four Cortex-A78 cores clocked at 2.75GHz and four Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 2.0GHz. This setup of four performance cores (Cortex-A78) and four efficiency cores (Cortex-A55) allows the processor to deliver better performance at lower power drains and also keep base power drains at lower level than before. This lends itself to better battery life and better overall performance.

Screenshot 2024 04 02 at 17 04 05 Exynos 1480 Mobile Processor Samsung Semiconductor Global

The Exynos 1480 is Samsung’s first midrange Exynos chip to come with the Xclipse graphics system. The Xclipse 530 GPU on the SoC uses AMD’s RDNA architecture. Although, it’s not clear if it’s using RDNA2 or RDNA3 as the website only states that its using the “latest mobile RDNA architecture”. The new Xclipse 530 GOU boasts a 53% performance improvement over the previous generation. It also supports ray tracing (variable rate shading) and supersampling (super resolution). This promises better gaming and graphical performance in devices using the Exynos 1480.

On device AI is becoming increasingly more important for devices regardless of whether they are flagships, midrange or entry-level. To that end, the Exynos 1480 is coming with an improved AI Engine that runs on an enhanced NPU. This combination is responsible for a near 4x improvement of NPU performance over its predecessor. This feature also helps reinforce the security of your data on your device as it reduces the need for data to leave the device to be processed. It also results in smoother, more fluid AI functions.

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The new processor also comes with a 5G modem that supports both mmWave and sub-6GHz bandwidths. It boasts a download theorectical maximum download speed of up to 5.1Gbps which is twice the speed as the previous generation. It also supports WiFi 6E (ax), Bluetooth 5.3 LE and GNSS positioning.

When it comes to image processing, the Exynos 1480 comes has a pretty capable ISP (image singal processor). It supports up to 200-megapixel in single camera mode, a single 64-megapixel at camera with 4K video record at 30fps or dual camera setup with dual 32-megapixel sensors that support 4K recording at 60fps. Display-wise, it supports a Full HD+ display with a max refresh rate of 144 Hz. It also supports high speed RAM with the LPDDR4x and LPDDR5.

So far, only the Samsung Galaxy A55 is using the smartphone. It won’t be surprising to see the processor make it to more devices as the year progresses.