MediaTek today launched the Dimensity 9400, the company’s new flagship smartphone Chipset optimized for edge-AI applications, enhanced gaming and photography, and more. The Dimensity 9400, the fourth and latest in MediaTek’s flagship mobile SoC lineup, offers a boost in performance with its second-generation All Big Core design built on Arm’s v9.2 CPU architecture.

MediaTek Dimensity 9400: Specifications

The Dimensity 9400 adopts MediaTek’s second-gen All Big Core design, integrating one Arm Cortex-X925 core operating over 3.62GHz, combined with 3x Cortex-X4 and 4x Cortex-A720 cores. This design offers 35% faster single-core performance and 28% faster multi-core performance compared to MediaTek’s previous generation flagship chipset, the Dimensity 9300. Built on TSMC’s second-generation 3nm process, the Dimensity 9400 is up to 40% more power-efficient than its predecessor, claims the chipmaker.

It packs MediaTek’s 8th Generation NPU, and is the first mobile chipset to offer on-device LoRA training, high-quality on-device video generation, and developer support for Agentic AI. The Dimensity 9400 allegedly offers up to 80% faster large language model (LLM) prompt performance while also being up to 35% more power efficient than the Dimensity 9300.

The MediaTek Dimensity 9400 also integrates MediaTek’s new Dimensity Agentic AI Engine (DAE), which is designed to turn traditional AI applications into sophisticated agentic AI applications. MediaTek is working with developers to offer a unified interface between AI agents, third-party APKs, and models that efficiently run both edge AI and cloud services. This streamlined approach allows models to work with many different third-party APKs, which reduces development time and will help bring in a new ecosystem of agentic AI applications.

The chip further employs the 12-core Arm Immortalis-G925 GPU with up to 40% faster raytracing performance compared to the previous generation. The Dimensity 9400 also brings PC-level features to smartphones with opacity micromaps (OMM) support for realistic effects.

MediaTek also announced yesterday that the chip is optimised to support multimodal Gemini Nano AI model by Google. By enabling multimodal models, MediaTek says that users will be able to take images and receive detailed descriptions of what’s been captured.

The chipset’s GPU also offers 41% peak performance boost with up to 44% power savings compared to the Dimensity 9300, allowing users to game for longer. Additionally, the Dimensity 9400 supports HyperEngine technology for super Resolution and impressive picture quality, which is co-developed by MediaTek and Arm Accurate Super Resolution (Arm ASR).

It gets MediaTek Imagiq 1090 ISP, enabling HDR video recording throughout the entire zoom range, MediaTek’s Smooth Zoom technology to capture moving subjects, and more. Additionally, it is designed to minimize power consumption while users are taking photos and videos, offering up to 14% lower power consumption in 4K60 video capture compared to the Dimensity 9300.

For connectivity, there’s a refreshed 3GPP Release-17 5G Modem with 4CC-CA and up to 7Gbps sub-6GHz performance, a new 4nm Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo chip with 7.3Gbps data rates performance and up to 50% lower power consumption compared to the previous generation, support for Wi-Fi 7 tri-band MLO, MediaTek Xtra Range 3.0, and 5G/4G Dual SIM Dual Active support.

MediaTek Dimensity 9400 Powered Smartphones

The chip brings support for tri-fold smartphones as well. Meanwhile, MediaTek says that the first smartphones powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 will be available in the market starting in Q4 of 2024. The Vivo X200 series as well as the OPPO Find X8 series devices will be the first set of smartphones to come employed with this SoC. The Vivo X200 series is all set to launch on October 14, as confirmed by the brand itself.

Tecno has announced the launch of Tecno Spark 30C 5G in India at a budget price point, where the device comes powered by a MediaTek Dimensity chipset, paired with a two-camera setup on the back, LED flash on the front, and much more. Here’s everything to know about the device and whether you should buy it or not.

Tecno Spark 30C 5G: Price, Availability

The Tecno Spark 30C 5G comes in Midnight Shadow, Aurora Cloud and Azure Sky colours while buyers will also receive an additional back panel skin in the box. It is priced at Rs 9,999 for the 4GB + 64GB trim and Rs 10,499 for the 4GB + 128GB model. There’s a Rs 1,000 bank offer buyers can avail, while purchasing the device from Flipkart.

Tecno Spark 30C 5G: Specifications

Tecno Spark 30C 5G sports a 6.67-inch 720 x 1600 pixels LCD screen with 120Hz refresh rate, and a 263 ppi. It is powered by the MediaTek Dimwnsity 6300 5G Processor with 4GB RAM and up to 128GB storage which is expandable via a microSD card.

There’s a 48MP Sony IMX582 primary sensor on the back, paired with an AI sensor and a triple-LED flash. On the front, it gets an 8MP sensor for selfies also with dual-LED flash. The device also has stereo speakers and is IP54 rated. It packs a 5000mAh battery with 18W fast wired charging.

Connectivity options on the device include Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth v5.1, GPS, 4G LTE, NFC, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a USB-C port for charging. It runs on Android 14-based HiOS out of the box, and also has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for biometrics.

Read More: Tecno Spark 30 Series Launched: Check Details

Tecno Spark 30C 5G: Should you buy it?

The Spark 30C 5G looks like a rebranded Pop 9 5G smartphone which the brand launched earlier in September. However, the Pop 9 5G is priced starting at Rs 9,499 which saves you 500 bucks on both the variants of the handset.

If you want to steer away from Tecno, you could consider the Samsung Galaxy M15 5G for Rs 10,999, where you would get a inferior chipset, but you are offered a better camera setup, a bigger battery, a more polished software experience where you are offered 4 years of OS updates, and a superior Super AMOLED display.

Overall, we’d say you should skip the Tecno Spark 30C 5G and explore other options in the market, including those from Tecno itself, and other brands like Samsung and Motorola.

Nothing OS 3.0 Open Beta has been announced by Nothing for all of its smartphones, including the CMF Phone 1 from its sub-brand. Nothing OS 3.0 is all set to release in December later this year and ahead of the general release, the brand is running an Open Beta program to iron out any bugs from the software on the basis of feedback received from users.

Nothing OS 3.0 Open Beta: Rollout Timeline

As announced on Nothing Community, the Nothing OS 3.0 Open Beta is now available for the Nothing Phone (2a). The rollout timeline for all Nothing and CMF devices is as follows:

• Phone (2): November 2024
• Phone (1): December 2024
• Phone (2a) Plus: December 2024
• CMF Phone 1: December 2024

Nothing OS 3.0 Open Beta: What’s New?

As for the full changelog of what’s new in the update, it’s as follows:

Lock screen

• New lock screen customisation page. Access by long-pressing the lock screen.
• Upgraded clock faces. Choose your favourite style.
• Expanded widget space, allowing you to place more widgets on your lock screen.

Smart Drawer

• Added AI-powered Smart Drawer feature to automatically categorise your apps into folders. For better organisation and easy access.
• For ultimate convenience, you can PIN your favourite apps to the top of the App drawer. No scrolling required.

Quick Settings

• Reconsidered Quick Settings design with an optimised editing experience.
• Enhanced widget library design.
• Updated visuals in Settings including better Network & Internet and Bluetooth options.

Camera improvements

• Faster camera launch speed under the Camera Widget.
• Reduced HDR scene processing time.
• Optimised portrait effects by fine-tuning blur intensity based on face size.
• Boosted camera performance in low-light environments.
• Improved zoom slider display.

Enhanced pop-up view

• Movable pop-up view for cleaner and more productive multi-tasking.
• Easily resize the pop-up view by dragging the bottom corners.
• Pin the pop-up view on the screen EDGE for quick access.
• View information without leaving your current app. Simply swipe down on incoming notifications to enter the pop-up view. Enable via Settings > System > Pop-up view.
• New fingerprint animation with signature dot matrix styling.

Other improvements

• Added support for auto-archive function to automatically free up storage space without removing apps or data from your device.
• Partial screen sharing for more efficient and secure screen recording. Record just an app window rather than the entire screen.
• Updated setup wizard to version 3.0 for the smoothest introduction to Nothing OS.
• Enabled predictive back animations for apps that have opted in.

We have already tested out these changes on our unit of the Nothing Phone (2a) running on Nothing OS 3.0 Open Beta, so do check that out before installing the latest software version from the UK-based brand.

Carl Pei founded Nothing in 2021, and the brand has been consistently experimenting with design and user interface. While some of these experiments have been well-received by consumers, others have not. Today, I want to discuss Nothing OS, which is a feature that retains the core of Stock Android but adds a custom skin with essential customization features. Now, Nothing is introducing Nothing OS 3.0, which completely overhauls the software’s design and incorporates Nothing’s signature elements, including the dot matrix font that the company has used since its beginning. The first public beta of Nothing OS 3.0 is now available for the Nothing Phone (2a), and I’ll provide an overview of this new software version from Nothing, which is based on Android 15.

Starting off with the home screen, not a lot has changed in terms of the user interface, except for the Widgets tray, which has been completely redesigned. The new widgets tray is now separated in two pages, where the first page shows all the first-party widgets by Nothing while the second one shows the widgets from third-party apps. The design of Nothing’s own widget previews has also changed in Nothing OS 3.0, with an off-centre preview, along with the icon of the app the widget is from, placed at the top-left corner of the widget.

The next major change you’ll notice is the reworked quick settings panel which completely deviates from the Stock Android quick settings panel we see in Pixel devices and the previous versions of Nothing OS. The huge pill-shaped tiles have now been replaced with regular round icons of quick settings, where each can be resized as well. When expanded, the quick setting for ring mode acts as a slider to toggle between ring, vibrate, and silent modes, which is quite a unique implementation.

Instead of the six tiles earlier, you can now place up to eight tiles when non-expanded and see up to sixteen when the panel is expanded further. Further, the colour scheme of the quick settings panel has also been redesigned in Nothing OS 3.0, wherein in light mode, it is completely white and in dark mode, the dark grey and black colours take over. This is unlike the previous implementation, in which only the bottom half of the notifications panel changed its colour to dark and light modes.

Next, the new smart app drawer in Nothing OS 3.0 is identical to that of iOS’ app drawer. It intelligently groups your apps into various categories. The smart app drawer is a neat addition, but we felt it still requires some improvement to categorize apps better. Apps like Samsung Internet were placed under the Social category, whereas they should have been under the utility category, similar to Chrome. Additionally, in the default app drawer, you can now pin apps in the top row for quick access to your choice of apps, such as the ones you use the most but don’t want on the home screen.

Read More: Nothing Phone (2a) Plus October 2024 Security Patch Update Rolling Out With Bug Fixes

The Settings app is now well put together in Nothing OS 3.0 with better categorisation. Network settings have been grouped, followed by customisation, system settings, etc. The header fonts across the Settings, where the dot matrix font was used earlier, have also been replaced with a new Roboto font.

Then, in Settings, you can also find a new Device Diagnostics option where you can check the health of various device components, such as the battery, charging cycle count, display test, storage test, and touch test. Battery health isn’t specified in terms of percentage but only described in text, such as showing Battery health as “Good” in my case.

Some Android 15 features have also been implemented, such as the predictive back animation, where you can see where the back gesture will take you when you trigger it. While we couldn’t find the Private Space feature like in the Android 15 beta on Pixel devices, you can still hide apps from the app drawer by swiping towards the right in the app drawer. Other Android 15 features that are a part of the update include auto App archiving, and partial screen recording.

Lock screen customisation is another new aspect Nothing has worked on in Nothing OS 3.0. Once you tap and hold on the lock screen, a new “Customise Lock Screen” button appears at the bottom. Tapping on it takes you to the screen where you can choose and customise the lock screen shortcuts at the two bottom corners, and choose from five new clock styles. I would have also liked it if these same settings were accessible from the Lock screen section in the Settings app, but unfortunately, you can’t. Further, you can now “Expand Widget area” on the lock screen that hides the clock face and gives widgets the front seat. 

All these clock styles have been designed to appear at the top of the lock screen, and the previous design, where the dot matrix clock was positioned in the center, has been scrapped altogether. The new fonts for clocks, however, look better and more appealing than the previous one.

Moreover, the clock style you choose also carries over to the Always-on display so there’s some level of AOD customisation, too. There’s also a new dot matrix-inspired fingerprint animation, which replaces the ordinary-looking circle animation we were used to seeing in previous versions of Nothing OS.

Other user interface elements, such as the Glyph lighting features and their Settings UI, the home screen customisation UI and features, the camera app, etc., remain unchanged from previous versions.

Overall, the animations of closing and opening apps remain identical. System fluidity also looks similar, if not better. I could notice some bugs as well, such as the flickering of the lock screen when AOD triggers, the inconsistent unlocking animation when using the fingerprint to unlock, and some frame drops in the user interface. Because it’s a beta build, these bugs are expected and should be ironed out in future releases.

Future releases should also bring the new Gallery app Nothing has teased, as it isn’t a part of the first public beta. The new charging animation that was shown in the launch video is also not yet available.

What I’d also like to see in future releases is some more options I am used to in other Android skins, like double-tap on the lock screen to wake up the screen, which would add further value to the software.

Overall, I am quite impressed with Nothing’s effort in Nothing OS 3.0 as it clearly shows the brand’s aim to distinguish its software from the other players. As of now, it looks like a step in the right direction.

Foldable smartphones, with their futuristic designs and multi-functionality, are marketed as the next evolution in mobile technology. However, despite the buzz surrounding them, I remain unconvinced about their practicality and appeal, at least for the next few years, due to my own personal experience with a Galaxy Z Flip 4 from Samsung and also because of the experiences of people around me owning a foldable.

One of the biggest issues in foldable, to date, is durability. No matter the IP rating of these foldables, and even if they haven’t been near water, the display is likely to fail at some point during their lifetime, something my experience tells me.

Samsung has been making foldables and commercially selling them since 2019 and the brand has always tried to perfect the process of creating a foldable. Despite those measures being adopted, my Galaxy Z Flip 4 died about a year ago in September 2023, shortly after it came out of its warranty period in August 2022, and all of it began happening after an update. The device met a gradual demise, starting with the display suddenly glitching, turning green and flickering uncontrollably.

The final nail in the coffin was when the device would just shut down as soon as it got folded. The Samsung service centre handed me over a bill of around Rs 33,000 to completely replace the inner foldable display because it was out of warranty, and despite telling them that the device hadn’t been near water or hadn’t fell even once which they could see as the device didn’t have any damage apart from minor wear and tear whose cause was the case I was using with the device.

Read More: Samsung Galaxy S24 FE, Galaxy Tab S10 Series Announced With No Base Model Tab S10

Fortunately, I got it repaired from another Samsung service center, where I personally knew an employee who had to merely replace a part inside the device, which they referred to as “Flex cable. ” This somehow also solved the device’s wireless charging problem, which had also stopped working. What did it cost? Rs 2,000. Yes, you heard that right.

After an official repair, the device worked well for about five months. Then, the screen protector began to show bubbles within the area of the crease, and before I could get it replaced, the display died once again. This time, it was the display that was faulty, not the cable that got repaired earlier, even though the device didn’t fall or get wet once after the repair. A bill of Rs 33,000 again stood on top of my head.

Now, the same device is sitting as a paperweight in my drawer, as I chose not to get it repaired and instead get a OnePlus Nord 4, which actually cost me the same as the display repair cost of the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

As if that wasn’t enough, two of my relatives have had the exact same issue with their Samsung foldable, all within the last two months. Coincidentally, both of them also had a Galaxy Z Flip 4.

While I definitely liked the Galaxy Z Flip 6’s design, note that even my Flip 4 worked without any issues for a year before showing signs of struggle. In other words, I still cannot guarantee the Z Flip 6 would work for years because I haven’t used it enough. In addition, Samsung promises the device 7 years of OS updates but my experiences make me think, will it even last that long?

My bitter experiences with Samsung’s foldable make me wonder if a brand that has been selling foldables for six straight years hasn’t been able to perfect the device. Then how can I trust newer entrants in the space? 

Samsung definitely makes some of the best Galaxy slab-style flagships under its S-series, and I have said time and again that their Galaxy S23 Ultra has been treating me well for the past 1.5 years but unfortunately I cannot say the same yet for its foldables. 

Although brands have significantly improved hinge mechanisms and display technology, foldable phones are still prone to wear and tear much faster than their traditional counterparts. The folding screens, made from plastic polymers or ultra-thin glass, remain more susceptible to scratches and dents. Given the premium prices of these devices, consumers should expect sturdier build quality, which foldables have yet to consistently deliver.

Price is another sticking point. Foldable smartphones are considerably more expensive than conventional high-end phones, often costing upward of Rs 1,00,000. While the dual-screen feature may provide a unique experience, it doesn’t justify the steep price tag for most users, especially when the same performance can be achieved from standard flagship devices.

Brands like Tecno, Motorola, and Infinix are trying to bring down those prices but if durability and affordability of repairs is an issue, is even the lower price for a foldable phone worth it? This could be the same reason a brand like Apple hasn’t tapped into the foldable smartphones space yet while most other brands have already done so.

Until these devices become more durable, I won’t be making the switch and I feel it would take years for brands to reach that standard.