MasHD Blog

Sony's Playstation 5 has officially passed 10 million units sold - making it the fastest selling Sony Console to date. Although much of its success was hampered by the current pandemic and the Global chip shortage, initial positive reaction and hype around the new RDNA 2 based processor and SSD storage options and the new controllers on the new console did prove to be the winning recipe for the console (even though the design wasn't the best feature of the design). Armed with a plethora of exclusive titles and more titles to come, the demand for the PS5 will surely go upwards during the next few years and if the supply chains get back to normal, the scalper-hyped prices will surely give way for even higher sales figures in the future. During its press release - Sony did mention that God of War, Grand Turismo  7, Horizon - Forbidden West are coming to the platform along with mentions of Battlefield 2042, Far Cry 6 and Kena : Bridge of Spirits making its way as well - this probab

AMD has officially announced their latest RDNA 2 based Radeon RX 6600 XT GPU. The new budget-end graphics card - priced at $379 (before Scalpers) offers 1080p gaming and is optimized for budget builds where you don't necessarily need eye popping 4K gaming. The 6600 Xt features 8GB of memory (GDDR6) and 32 compute cores and features a 2359 base clock speed and 2589 MHz when boosted. The Navi 23 GPU can technically - deliver up-to 8K output (HDMI 2.1) and is ideal if you want to run a media hub as well. Gaming on the card is ideal at 1080p and so far all modern AAA titles are playable - but if you want to go beyond 1080p without jitters - the 6700T or the 68-6900 series will be the better option. Power draw on the card is said to be 160W and you can expect various hardware OEM's producing their own chassis for the RX6600 XT in the coming days and is avilable from august 11th.  Gigabyte's take on the RX 6600 XT - Via Gigabyte Source -  Cnet

Micromax has announced their new Micromax IN 2B- a budget offering with a price of INR 7999 ($105) for the base variant and INR 8999 ($120) for the top tier model .The handset is powered by a Unisoc T610 Soc and comes with 4GB of RAM with 64 or  6GB with 64GB storage- this is also backed up with a MicroSD card slot and Stock Android 11. The front of the phone features a 6.52" IPS LCD with HD+ resolution and has a teardrop notch which houses a 5mp sensor. The rear camera array consists of a 13 main and a 2mp macro sensors with LED flash. Other features include a 5000 mAh battery and 10W charging. The handset is expected to go on sale starting August 6 through online retailers. Source - GSMarena

Huawei has announced their latest flagship devices - the Huawei P50 and P50 Pro - both devices come with Leica branded rear lenses, IP68 ingress protection and Huawei's own Harmony OS. The Huawei P50 has a 6.5" 2700x1224 OLED panel with 90hzand a Snapdragon 888 5G soc with  8GB RAM 128/256GB storage options and has a 50MP main sensor with omnidirectional PDAF, Laser AF and 13MP ultra wide and a 12MP 5x periscope camera at the back and features OIS and EIS stabilization on the rear main unit. The phone also comes with a 13MP front facing camera and has a 4100 mAh battery with 66W fast charging.   The P50 Pro is  the best spec'ed out of the duo as the name suggests, but it is basically similar to the regular P50 sans the display and thus it packs a 6.6" 2700x1228 resolution OLED panel with 120 hz and has a multitude of storage options of 8GB RAM and 128/256/512GB storage or 12GB of RAM with 512GB storage. The ticker inside the phone is Huawei's own Kirin 9000 Soc or

Motorola has announced the new Edge 20 lineup consisting of three phones - the Edge 20 lite. Edge 20 and the Edge 20 Pro.  Motorola Edge 20 Lite This is the "entry"level model in the range and this model features a 90Hz 6.7 1080x2400 resolution OLED panel and it has a water repellent coating for day to day mishaps. The device is powered by a Mediatek Dimensity 720 5G series chipset with 8GB RAM/128GB storage  The phone features a 108MP main sensor,8MP ultra wide sensor and a 2MP depth sensor and a 32MP front punch-hole camera. The battery on the phone is said to be a 5000 mAh battery and has 30W fast charging. Motorola Edge 20 The mid range model comes with a 144Hz 6.7" 1080x2400 resolution OLED panel and has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G 5G processor with 8GB RAM/128 or 256GB storage .The phone features a 108MP main sensor,16MP ultra wide sensor and a 8MP telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom and a 32MP front punch-hole camera. The battery on the phone is said to be a 4000

  Xiaomi's sub-brand POCO has announced their latest POCO X3 GT handset today. The POCO X3 GT features a MediaTek Dimensity 1100 chipset with 8GB ram and 128/256GB of storage (UFS3.1). The display of the phone measures at 6.6" 120 hz and has a FHD+ resolution and Gorilla Glass Victus protection. The cameras on the model features 64MP main, 8MP ultra wide and 2MP macro and has a 16MP punch-hole front sensor.The battery of the phone is 5000 mAh and has 67W fast charging.The model comes with Android 11 with MIUI 12.5. Pricing starts at $299 for the 128GB model while the $329 model packs 256GB of storage and will be available internationally. Source - GSMArena

The latest kid in the block - Nothing  has announced their latest true wireless earbuds - the Nothing Ear 1. The ear buds - which arrive in a techno style case and a transparent housing features ANC (active noise cancellation and SBC/AAC codec data which offers clean audio with better audio compression via bluetooth steam. The pair  features a 11.6mm driver and its app allows control of eq and other parameters.  The USB-C equipped case offers QI wireless charging and you can use the earbuds for around 4 hours playback with Noise Cancellation turned on - 5.7 with it off and  and 34 hours of total playback (with the case). The case is IPX certified  and goes on sale for $99/GBP99/INR5999 and will be sold online starting from July 31st. Source - GSMArena  

This is the "entry"level model in the Reno 6 lineup - even below the current 5G equipped model launched a few months back . The Reno 6 4G features a 6.4 1080x2400 resolution OLED panel with a 90hz refresh rate and has a under-display fingerprint display. The device is powered by a Snapdragon 720G series chipset with 8GB RAM/128GB storage . The phone features a 64MP main sensor,8MP ultra wide sensor and a 2MP macro sensor and a 2mp monochrome unit while the front has a 44MP front punch-hole camera. The battery on the phone is said to be a 4310 mAh battery and has 50W fast charging. Pricing is said to be around $360.  Source - GSMArena

  Sony has announced their latest E-Mount equipped  - vlogger centric ZV-E10 Interchangeable mirrorless camera. The new model, which is sort of a successor to the A5000 series in some sorts and a cut down A6xxx series camera offers a flip out LCD screen, a front record light, a lens zoom button (for compatible lenses - PZ) and a hotshoe mount with compatibility with Sony flashes and microphones for audio. This being a video oriented camera, does mean that the EVF is no longer available and you would therefore have to make do with the 3" rear screen which is fully articulating. The camera which packs a 24MP APSC sensor with 11 fps lacks IBIS, but is equivalent to a A6100 in e performance but has 4K30/24 fps and has sLOGand HLG profiles as well - the 4K 24 mode does not have any cropping, but the 4K 30 does have a slight crop of 1.23x and the camera can do slow-motion at 120fps (1080p). The camera does come with Sony's FW50 series of battery (440 shots or 80 minutes of video ) a

ZTE has announced their latest flagship spec phone - the AXON 30 5G .At the heart of the phone lies a Snapdragon 870 processor and options for 6GB/8GB of RAM plus 128GB storage, or 8/12GB of RAM with 256GB of storage.The front, which contains a large 6.92" 2460x1080 pixelOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate also houses a Under-display front camera sensor of  16MP.  The under display camera aside, the rest of the phone features a 64MP main camera, a 8MP ultra wide, 5MP depth and 2MP macro camera which is quite staple for quad camera setups these days. The rest of the specifications include a 4200 mAh battery with 55W fast charging, MicroSD expansion Android 11 (with MyOS 11 UI) and an under-display fingerprint reader. Pricing for the handset is said to be CNY 2198($338) for the base 6GB RAM model and goes up to CNY 3098($476) for the top tier model and ships on the 3rd of August in China. Source - GSMArena

Nokia has announced their latest - and the first rugged smartphone with Android - the Nokia XR20. The phone powered by a Snapdragon 480 Soc and has 6GB of RAM with 128GB storage is typical of other mid range handsets except that this has a MIL-STD 810G drop resistance of 1.8m and has IP68 dust and water ingress protection and a rugged looking body without a raised front display - which consists of a 6.67" IPS panel with 550nits of brightness and a punch-hole for a 8MP front shooter. The rear camera module consist of a 48MP main sensor , and a 13MP ultrawide  camera. The battery consists of a 4630mAh cell and it features 18W fast charging. The phone is also said to receive 3 years of Android support (The phone comes with Android 11)  and 4 years of security updates and is said to be priced at $550 and ships of August 24th.   Source - GSMArena  

Nokia has announced their latest Android Go powered C30 and Nokia's remake of the 6310 -  A classic phone from the past. Nokia has quietly announced their latest Android Go powered handset - the Nokia C20 Plus with Android 11 Go Edition. The handset on the outside (and the inside) is basically basic as you can get. Although not as Spartan as the C1 lineup, the handset does not bring much to the table as it is powered by a Unisoc SC9863A chipset and 2GB/3GB of RAM and 32GB storage with a MicroSD card slot. The display of the phone is said to be 6.82" and has a 720x1600 resolution IPS panel, the front sensor features a 5MP unit and the rear features a 13MP and 2MP depth sensor as well. Considering the phone's specs, the device will certainly be a battery king as it packs a 6000 mAh and 10W charging. Pricing for the phone is said to be EUR99 .   The Nokia 6310 is Nokia's latest revival of its old "Featurephone" series which started 3310 refresh/ The new phone -

Oppo has announced their latest smartphone Oppo A93s 5G. The phone powered by a Mediatek Dimensity 700 Soc and has 8GB of RAM with 256GB storage is typical of other mid range handsets. The  front display - consists of a 6.5" FHD+ IPS panel with 90hz and a punch-hole for a 8MP front shooter. The rear camera module consist of a 48MP main sensor , and 2mp depth and macro  camera. The battery consists of a 5000mAh cell and it features 18W fast charging. The phone  comes with Android 11 and is priced at CNY 1999. Source - timesofindia

Poco - Xiaomi's offshoot brand has announced their gaming oriented F3 GT smartphone. The device, which is based on the Xiaomi K40 phone launched previously packs a Mediatek Dimensity 1200 Soc and 6/8GB of RAM with 128/256GB of storage. The phone being IP rated does protect against most splashes in life and it also has a graphene heat sink and vapor chamber on tow as well. The front of the phone features a 6.67" FHD+ resolution - 120hz AMOLED display and features a 16MP selfie camera in a punch hole and has a 64MP main rear camera , a 8MP ultra wide and 2mp macro camera to round off the typical 3 camera layout found nowadays. The rest of the specs include Android 11 out of the box with MIUI 12.5 and a 5065 mAh battery with 67W fast charging.  Pricing for India starts at around $350 and goes up to around $416 when conversion rates are taken into effect - full details are as follows -  Source - gadgets.ndtv

Lava has announced a new phone for the Indian Market. The phone features a  Mediatek Helio G35 Soc with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage which is expandable. The front of the phone packs a 6.5" 720p display and it has a V shaped notch with a 5mp sensor and is supported by a  8MP main sensor at the back. The phone packs a decent 5000 mAh and runs on Android 11 Go out of the box. Pricing starts at INR 7099 (~$95). Source - Gizmochina

OnePlus Nord 2 5G is official, the phone, launched online, focuses on enhancing the already great experience launched with the Nord last year. The new phone - borrows a Oneplus 9 inspired design and thus the back consists of a curved design with a glass camera insert like the flagship model. Inside the phone is a Mediatek 1200 AI chipset and has 6GB of RAM with 128GB storage, 8GB of RAM with 128GB storage and a 12GB of RAM with 256GB storage. The front of the phone packs a 6.43" FHD+ AMOLED 90Hz display and has a punch hole for a 32MP camera up front.  The rear of the phone consists of a 50 MX IMX766 sensor with OIS and is supported by a 8MP ultra wide and 2MP macro lens. The phone also has Dual 5G capable SIM cards, wifi 6 and ships with a 4500 mAh battery with 65W fast charging. The phone ships with Android 11 with OxygenOS 11.3 UI and is guaranteed to get 2 major Android updates and 3 years of security updates. Pricing starts at 8GB/128GB (GBP 399/EUR399/INR29999). 12GB/256GB (

Cooler Master has unveiled their latest gaming pod - the Orb X, the chassis, which encapsulates the user, allows 6 way seat control as well as the option for a single tap ease of access which would be perfect considering the gaming pod covers a majority of the access space. The Orb X also features the ability to mount a single 49" monitor or three smaller 27" ones on the front and has support for spatial audio and supports 2.1 channel sound (not the most immersive option, but still alright for most) and has a docking tray for your gaming rig or console.  Pricing for the Cooler Master Orb X is still not released, but do expect it to cost an arm or leg (or the price of an extreme pc build).  Source - notebookcheck