2020 Mi 10T Pro 5G

 Xaomi’s Mi 10 series is the company’s current flagship lineup, and it consists of the Mi 10, the Mi 10 Pro, the Mi 10 Lite, the Mi 10 Lite Zoom/Mi 10 Youth Edition, and the Mi 10 Ultra.

Xiaomi recently launched the Mi 10T and Mi 10T Pro in India, just a day after OnePlus 8T was unveiled. The timing of the launch does not seem coincidental, and going by the aggressive pricing and features of these new models, Xiaomi's intentions are pretty clear. The Mi 10T 5G and Mi 10T Pro 5G share nearly the same specifications, with the only major difference being the primary rear camera.

The highlight feature of the Mi 10T series is the 144Hz refresh rate LCD display, which is an impressive specification to have at a starting price of Rs. 35,999. Both these models are priced below the Mi 10 5G, but offer largely upgraded features and specifications. I've been using the Mi 10T Pro 5G for about a day, and here are my first impressions of it.

Xiaomi didn't send me the retail box so all I really got was the phone, without any of the accessories. This is the Cosmic Black colour, which looks very flashy but is also a massive magnet for fingerprints. There's Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on the display, back panel, and camera module, which is always appreciated. However, having glass all over also makes this phone incredibly slippery without a case.

The first thing that grabbed my attention was the sheer size of this phone. I'm used to large displays, but the Mi 10T Pro 5G is also quite thick at 9.33mm and very heavy at 218g. The camera module protrudes quite a bit, causing the phone to wobble if you're trying to use it laying down on its back. However, the overall build quality and finish are superb. If you're not a fan of the glossy back panel, the Lunar Silver version is said to have a matte finish.

The Mi 10T Pro 5G has stereo speakers, an IR emitter, a fingerprint sensor embedded in the power button, and a dual-SIM tray. There's no headphone jack or IP rating. Xiaomi has also removed the wireless charging feature seen in the Mi 10 5G, possibly to save on costs.

Xiaomi has mainly focused its efforts on the Mi 10T Pro 5G's display. It's a 6.67-inch LCD panel with a full-HD+ resolution, and it supports HDR10 video playback. The display also boasts of certifications from JNCD and TUV Rheinland for colour accuracy and low blue light emissions, respectively. The main feature though is its 144Hz refresh rate. Xiaomi claims that the Mi 10T Pro 5G can dynamically change refresh rates from 30Hz all the way up to 144Hz, depending on the type of content being viewed. So far, the Asus ROG Phone 3 (Review) has been the only smartphone with a 144Hz refresh rate display in India, so it's nice to have more options.

The display seems to get quite bright and colour reproduction seemed good in the short time I've been using this phone. The 144Hz refresh rate makes system animations and scrolling through menus feel more fluid, but I don't think there are many applications yet that can take advantage of such a high refresh rate. Stay tuned for the full report in our detailed review, coming up soon.

One thing I didn't quite like about the Mi 10T Pro 5G is the mild vignetting or colour fringing that's visible around the edges of the display and the cutout for the selfie camera. I've only noticed this in some system menus so far due to the white backgrounds, but it isn't apparent otherwise.

Just like the Mi 10 5G, the Mi 10T Pro 5G uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC and is only available in one configuration, with 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB of UFS 3.1 storage. There's a 5,000mAh battery and support for 33W fast charging, as well as NFC and Wi-Fi 6. The phone runs on MIUI 12 which is feature-rich, and thankfully, I haven't encountered many spammy notifications yet.

The Mi 10T Pro 5G has a 108-megapixel primary rear camera, while the Mi 10T 5G has a 64-megapixel sensor. This is pretty much the main difference between these two phones. The back of the Mi 10T Pro 5G also has 13-megapixel ultra-wide-angle and 5-megapixel macro cameras. The selfie camera has a 20-megapixel resolution. The camera features are similar to what we saw on the Mi 10 5G, which include 8K video recording, manual video mode, etc. There's a lot to test here, and so far, the specifications look promising.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC With New 5G Modem

Qualcomm has announced the Snapdragon 888, its top-tier SoC system-on-chip which will be powering some of the biggest flagship smartphones in 2021. The new chipset was announced during Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit 2020 - an annual event where the chip maker unveils its latest technology for the next generation of phones.

Qualcomm on Tuesday unveiled the Snapdragon 888 5G mobile platform as its next-generation flagship system-on-chip (SoC) for premium smartphones at a virtual keynote held during the first day of the Snapdragon Tech Summit 2020. The new chip, which is the successor to last year's Snapdragon 865 SoC and was speculated would be named the Snapdragon 875 SoC up until now, comes with a third-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon X60 5G modem that is touted to enable compatibility for both mmWave and sub-6 networks across all major bands worldwide. The Snapdragon 888 SoC is also designed to deliver an upgraded photography experience, with an all-new Qualcomm Spectra ISP.

As a significant upgrade over the Snapdragon 865 that was launched around the same time last year, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC comes with a sixth-generation Qualcomm AI Engine that comes along with a “completely redesigned” Qualcomm Hexagon processor to deliver new artificial intelligence (AI) experiences.

Manufacturers including Asus, Black Shark, LG, Lenovo, Meizu, Motorola, Nubia, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Sharp, Vivo, Xiaomi, and ZTE are expected to bring their devices based on the Snapdragon 888 SoC next year. Xiaomi co-founder and CEO Lei Jun also confirmed during the keynote that its Mi 11 will be one of the first devices to come with the latest SoC.

The San Diego-based company claimed that compared to the previous generation, the new mobile platform would provide improved performance and power efficiency in AI processing — all at a rate of 26 tera operations per second (TOPS). There is also a second-generation Qualcomm Sensing Hub for lower-power, always-on AI processing.

Specifically for gamers, the Snapdragon 888 SoC comes with a third-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite Gaming mobile engine that includes updatable GPU drivers, desktop forward rendering, and frame rates reaching up to 144 frames per second.

The new Snapdragon SoC also includes the next-generation Spectra ISP that is capable of capturing photos and videos at up to 2.7 gigapixels per second, which translates to roughly 120 photos at 12-megapixel resolution. This is up to 35 percent faster than the previous generation ISP available on the Snapdragon 865 SoC.

Qualcomm has provided the third-generation Snapdragon X60 5G modem-RF system on the Snapdragon 888 SoC to enable wider 5G compatibility. The new built-in modem brings support for 5G carrier aggregation, global multi-SIM, standalone and non-standalone (SA and NSA) networks, and dynamic spectrum sharing.

To demonstrate new capabilities of the Snapdragon 888 SoC during the keynote, Qualcomm showed two radio-controlled (RC) race cars connected entirely using a 5G mmWave network that were controlled from over a mile away using a Snapdragon 888 reference design. The 5G network enabling the experience was built in collaboration with Verizon and Ericsson. Further, the reference design included the Qualcomm Location Suite to highlight improved accuracy through the latest development.

How Much Make Money on TikTok

 Until TikTok’s advertising network develops further, the easiest way for TikTok influencers to earn money is by making direct arrangements with brands. As people become better known on the platform, they will begin to have brands approach them with business propositions. Once you count your followers in the thousands, you can start to look at monetizing TikTok. Companies have been known to pay $200 to $20,000 per branded video promoted by influencers, depending on the individual’s level of influence.

The biggest TikTok influencers—ones like Charli D’Amelio (101.5 million followers), Michael Le (42.4 million followers), and Josh Richards (23.4 million followers)—all made at least $1 million in 2020, according to Forbes. However, most of that money is earned through the sales of merchandise and sponsored content for big brands, rather than ad revenue. In fact, TikTok only recently started to share ad revenue through its Creator’s Fund, which content creators have criticized for being underfunded, as they claim it typically only provides a few dollars per day.

Influencers using the Creator’s Fund report a rate of 2-4 cents per 1,000 views, which means that a relatively successful video of 500,000 views would net you about twenty bucks. On the other hand, it still adds up—prolific creators with tens of millions of followers can rake in between $100,000 to $200,000 annually from the Fund, according to the site Tube Filter. For the vast majority of influencers, however, it’s difficult to make TikTok into a full-time income based on ad revenue alone.

How most money is made

Aside from ad revenue, most TikTok earners make their money through sponsored posts, product placement, and merchandise. How much one can make varies, depending on follower count, number of comments or likes, location, and the type of account (for exapmle, fashion might be easier to monetize than pimple popping videos).

When creators get near the 10,000 follower mark, smaller brands might offer $100-500 to mention them in a post (this can include a “music integration,” in which a creator gets paid to play a track in the background of their video). With more followers, influencers subsequently are offered promos more consistently, allowing them to bump up their prices.

As an example, in an interview with Business insider, a fashion influencer with 250,000 followers says she posts five times a week, and two or three of those posts are usually sponsored. Her rates for sponsored content are listed as:

-Music integration: $200

- Product or brand integration: $400 to $600

Based on this, if an average week is one music integration with two brand integrations, it would be roughly $1200 a week, or $62,400 per year, before taxes (you could conceivably add a few thousand in ad revenue, too). In this case, the influencer doesn’t post as frequently as other accounts tend to—usually one per day—but it illustrates how the number of promoted posts can increase a content creator’s income (making sure these videos are fun to watch is another matter). Of course, rates could be quoted higher than what’s stated in this example, but that will also depend on the creator’s negotiating skills and demand from sponsors.

TikTok also offers the TikTok Creator Marketplace, which is where brands and marketers can contact creators and influencers directly to negotiate promoted content deals on their channels. The site, in essence, shops around its creators, and offers analytics for sponsors looking targeting specific demographics to help them decide which creator to work with.

In addition to sponsors, TikTok has made it easier to sell merch on its site with a Teespring integration launched last summer, although creators can link out from their accounts to third-party merch stores, too. Creators without millions of followers might only make a few bucks on t-shirt sales, but the big earners tend to have a strong community of engaged followers, or they have videos that translate well into memes - like the Dreams TikTok star, who has made over $30,000 in merch sales since the video went viral.

Can you expect to earn that much from one TikTok video? Probably not. But then again, you never know what video might go viral and become popular - the allure of TikTok is what’s possible.