Report: Global smartphone sales fell by 3%, Xiaomi and Huawei still on ascent in Q3 2018

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Nov 2, 2018

In a new report from Counterpoint, it is found that Global smartphone sales have fallen for the first time up to 3% in the Q3 2018. The global shipments of the smartphones have reduced to 386.8 million units. After growing by an average of 16% from the past five years, the smartphone market is witnessing a slowdown with 1% overall decline this year.

Many reasons can be cited as the root cause of the slowdown. Few of them are the slowing global economy, rising trade tariffs, rising price of phones, etc. Despite Xiaomi and Huawei, all other big brands such as Samsung, Apple, LG and others have witnessed a decline in sales.

“Many markets have already hit a saturation point for new smartphone demand and are dependent on replacement demand,” Counterpoint research director Tom Kang wrote in the report. “Buying a more expensive device results in extending the length of replacement cycles, especially when your earnings are limited.”

In total, Samsung shipped 72.3 million smartphones and ranked first, but it has declined 13% on the basis of year-on-year stats. Apple has maintained a steady increase of 0.1% in the total tally. Huawei, Xiaomi and HMD have witnessed considerable growth. Notably, Huawei shipments rose to 52 million units by 33% on the year-on-year basis. Xiaomi garnered 35.7 million sales with an increase of 25% on a YoY basis.

HMD global aka Nokia has increased its shipments volume by 71%. On the other hand, Motorola and LG both have witnessed a double-digit dip this year. Apple remained steady and sold 170.8 million iPhones which are half a per cent more than the last year.

Read More: Samsung announces record profit for Q3 2018 despite a decline in smartphone sales YoY

Some brands are doing well in the international market rather than the domestic. In the same group, Xiaomi has registered a growth of 83% in the international market while it hit 16% in the domestic market.

We can say it’s a mixed bag of ups and downs with overall sales fell by 3% this quarter.

(Via)

The Honor Magic 2 Smartphone Goes Up For Sale Carrying A $649 Price Tag On Giztop

By

Vinay Patel

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Nov 2, 2018

Huawei’s popular sub-brand Honor announced its new smartphone called the Honor Magic 2 during an event that took place in Beijing on Wednesday, October 31st.

Following in the footsteps of other high-end smartphones launched under the caring wing of Huawei, the Honor Magic 2 is also loaded with awe-inspiring features and top-end specs. It grabs your attention with a mammoth 6.39 inch full HD AMOLED display bearing a screen resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels and a cinema-like screen ratio of 19.5:9.

It has a sliding screen that adopts five tracks to offer sturdiness over time along with an unmatched sliding experience. Under the hood, the Honor Magic 2 packs the company’s own Kirin 980 CPU ARM Cortex A76 Octa-core processor and adopts an equally competent Mali-G76 MP10 GPU.
It comes with 6GB/8GB of RAM and offers 128GB/256GB of onboard storage to save your music, photos, and other favorite content. On the photography front, the Honor Magic 2 houses a 16MP+24MP+16MP triple AI camera module and 16MP+2MP+2MP cameras in the front.

Moreover, it runs Magic UI 2.0-based Android 9.0 Pie OS and is backed by a 3500mAh battery that supports 40W fast charge, which the company has dubbed Magic Charge. You can pre-order this feature-laden Honor Magic 2 smartphone if you’re willing to shell out $649 for the 6GB RAM+128GB ROM variant on Giztop by following this link.

Note that the larger version with 8GB RAM+128GB ROM carries a marginally steeper price tag of $729. The 8GB RAM+256GB ROM model, on the other hand, will set you back $829.

Buy The Huawei Honor Magic 2 Smartphone

Huawei Mate 20 Pro is easy to fix, reveals its teardown

By

Simranpal Singh

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Nov 2, 2018

After launching the Huawei Mate 20 series in London, the Chinese manufacturer launched it in its home country on October 26th. the new Huawei Mate 20 Pro carries significant improvements over its predecessor, Huawei Mate 10 Pro. Various tests have proved that the new Mate 20 Pro is far better than the Mate 10 Pro in terms of performance and design. Today, we will check it’s internal assembly and will know how difficult it is to repair the Mate 20 Pro via its teardown by ZOL.

In the world’s first teardown by ZOL, it is revealed that the internal fitting of all the elements is complex but is not hard to disassemble it with the right tools. There are many other surprises such as the first look at Kirin 980 working on any device’s motherboard.

Huawei Mate 20 Pro is the first device which combines the on-screen fingerprint with the 3D face scanning. Huawei has done outstanding work in fitting the internals of the device.

Huawei has used a positive shield on the motherboard to protect it from dust and other hazardous elements. Beneath it, Huawei has added the Kirin 980 with 8GB LPDD4RX 2133 MHz RAM. We can also see a WiFi adapter and 2×2 MIMO port.

Above we can see a 128GB UFS 2.1 internal storage module along with different ICs and power chips. Its front camera module with a sensor of 24 megapixels, infrared sensor, light sensor and other elements can be seen in the photo below.

On the rear, it carries a triple camera module of a 40-megapixel (f/1.8) primary camera and a 20-megapixel (f/2.2) secondary camera. We can see all the three camera modules with OIS+EIS.

Read More: OnePlus 6T vs Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 vs Huawei Mate 20 Pro: Specs Comparison

Overall, all the components, structure and materials used are of top grade quality. ZOL has found it that device can withstand any quality test to measure its flagship’s quality.

Additionally, there’s a 4200 mAh non-removable battery, and in connectivity, it supports WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, USB Type-C, Active 4G and VoLTE. It is available from the starting price of 5,399 Yuan (~$777).

(Via)

Pre-Order Honor Watch Magic For $149 On Giztop

By

Vinay Patel

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Nov 2, 2018

Huawei unveiled a new smartwatch bearing the Watch GT moniker at the Mate 20 event earlier this month. With previously surfaced reports hinting at the company’s sub-brand prepping to launch its own smartwatch coming to fruition, Honor has announced a new smartwatch dubbed the Watch Magic.

The Honor Watch Magic has gone up for pre-order carrying a $149 price tag on Giztop. The Watch Magic can be deemed as a budget-friendly version of the Huawei Watch GT as it runs Light OS and bears a striking resemblance to the Watch GT in terms of design. On the downside, it is relatively smaller.

Moreover, the Watch Magic features multiple watch faces and sports an eye-catching 1.2-inch AMOLED display with a screen resolution of 390×390 pixels at a pixel density of 326PPI (pixels per inch). The screen is housed in a 316L stainless steel frame having a thickness of 9.8mm (11mm with the glass).

It comes with silicone or leather bands based on the version you go for. These are easily swappable QuickFit 22mm bands that boost your style. The Watch Magic adopts dual-chip technology which encompasses one high-performance and one energy efficient chips.
On top of that, the Watch Magic boasts a triple frequency GNSS receiver comprising GPS, GLONASS, and Compass/Galileo for accurate tracking. In order to ensure uninterrupted heart rate monitoring, the watch employs Huawei’s TruSeen 3.0 technology.

Furthermore, this feature-rich watch comes with Huawei’s TruRelax technology and is supported by the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to deliver a 24-hour blood pressure monitoring. As if that weren’t enough, the Watch Magic can even recommend breathing exercises to help you stay calm while providing real-time feedback.

The Watch Magic is equipped with TruSleep 2.0 to keep a track of 8 different sleep data, and it is capable of identifying 6 different sleep disorders and providing about 200 sleep suggestions. It can also monitor the wearer activities like swimming, cycling (including stationary cycling), walking, running (treadmill running too) and lots more.

You can head straight to this link if you’re interested in checking out the rest of the features and pre-order the recently unveiled Honor Watch Magic from Giztop. It is worth noting that the watch is slated to be shipped on November 15th.

Check Out The Honor Watch Magic

Tribit XBoom Bluetooth Speaker Review

By

Cheky Zhu

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Nov 2, 2018

Tribit XBoom Bluetooth Speaker is so popular recently as the affordable price and amazing sound quality. We got a Tribit XBoom Speaker days ago, and let’s take a look.

The color of the packaging for the Tribit XBoom Speaker is orange and white that looks straightforward. There are a speaker, a traditional USB charging cable and a user manual. Taking the items out of the package should be careful, because the charging cable is inconspicuous that it may be discarded with the packaging box. Tribit XBoom is fueled by 5200mAh battery. Its music play time is up to 20 hours and charging time is about four hours with 5V/2A. It is standard features of the Bluetooth speakers.

With the cylindrical design, there are three operation buttons on the front of the speaker, and it looks special and lovely. The first button from top to bottom is to increase the volume, and the third button is to decrease the volume. Press the middle button once, the round button, to play and pause, twice to skip the song and three times to back to the last song. On the front side, it has a small Tribit logo. It has a vertical bar made from silicone material on the back side, accommodating some critical hardwares. The top is the power button, lighting up when the speaker is on. Following are four tiny indicators to show the battery status. Below are the Bluetooth switch and XBASS button. After the Bluetooth button lighting up, you can connect your device to the Tribit XBoom Speaker and enjoy the music without headsets. Turning on the XBASS button will boost the thumps. Next is the silicone flap covering aux-in port, however, it is a little bit hard to open the flap. There is a silicone material strap on the top of the speaker attached by a screw post.

It is good that the speaker’s sound quality is better than some of the goods that cost more than it. This $70 speaker is not disappointed. We use it to play lyric song and dynamic dance song to make a test. The performance of playing lyric song is not bad that the speaker actually makes me feel like I was in the song’s scene, while some slight noise is produced in the higher pitched. For the dynamic dance song, the thumps are boosted after turning on the XBASS mode. Though it is too stimulating for me, people who like the thumps will like the speaker which performance is amazing.

Tribit XBoom is a great speaker, having affordable price and high cost performance. It is a good choice if you just want to have an amateur but good sound quality Bluetooth speaker.

Buy link: Tribit Xboom on Amazon

The ZTE Nubia X Smartphone Goes Up For Pre-Order Carrying A $559 Price Tag On Giztop

By

Vinay Patel

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Nov 2, 2018

On Tuesday, October 30th, ZTE introduced its latest flagship dubbed the Nubia X to its popular Nubia brand in China. While the phone’s biggest USP (unique selling point) is its dual displays, the rest of its specifications are nothing short of awe-inspiring either.
The Nubia X smartphone’s dual touchscreen comprises a mammoth 6.26-inch notch-less FHD+ front display and a 5.1 inches OLED HD+ rear screen, both bearing an aspect ratio of 19:9. The front display has a screen resolution of 2280 x 1080 pixels with a layer of 2.5D glass placed on top, and the rear-sided display boasts an HD+ resolution of 720 x 1520 pixels.

Under the hood, the Nubia X packs a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 AIE Octa-core 2.8GHz processor and an equally compelling Adreno 630 graphics processing unit. It features up to 8GB of LPDDRX RAM and offers up to a hefty 256GB of onboard storage. On top of that, the phone adopts a multi-layer graphene cooling technology for heat dissipation.

On the photography front, the Nubia X houses a 24MP+16MP dual camera module with HDR, AI portrait mode, and AI scene recognition on the back. Users can leverage the phone’s dual displays to take selfies using the rear-mounted camera.
The Nubia X offers 4G LTE speed for faster Web connection, allowing users to download apps in a jiffy. The phone draws its juices from a robust 3800mAh battery, which adopts the 18W fast charging technology. The phone can be used for about 3 hours in the ultra-low power mode with just 5 percent battery life left.

In a bid to ensure added security to your data, Nubia has added two fingerprint scanners that are located on either side of the Nubia X smartphone. The phone manufacturer claims the phone can be unlocked in just 0.1 seconds.

If the Nubia X has stirred your interest, you can follow this link to check out its full specification and pre-order it for $559 on Giztop. Note that the phone will be available for shipping within 7 to 10 days.

Pre-Order The ZTE Nubia X Smartphone On Giztop

The Honor FlyPods Pro Has Gone Up For Pre-Order Bearing A $179.99 Price Tag On Giztop

By

Vinay Patel

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Nov 2, 2018

Honor announced its first wireless earbuds during a recently concluded event in China, and they bear a striking resemblance to Apple AirPods. It comes in two variants including the FlyPods and the FlyPods Pro.

Deemed as the rebranded FreeBuds 2 Pro, which was expected to be unveiled along with the Mate 20 series, the FlyPods Pro is loaded with additional features that give it an edge over the regular version. This feature-rich variant of the wireless earbuds has now gone up for pre-order on Giztop.

The FlyPods Pro employs Bluetooth 5.0 to effortlessly connect to your phone. When you’re pairing it for the first time, you’ll see a prompt popping up with various details about the device including its current battery level. You’ll also be prompted to pair the earbuds to your mobile device.

The FlyPods have an IP54 rating. In other words, they can be worn even while working out at the gym without worrying about inflicting any sort of damage to them due to sweating. You can even wear them in the rain.

Moreover, the FlyPods use touch controls. You can use the left earbud to activate the voice assistant and the right earbud to control media playback. Aside from that, both earbuds are capable of answering and rejecting incoming calls.

The FlyPods Pro can also come in handy while making payments using your voice as it comes with WeChat payment and AliPay. On top of that, you can ask it to unlock your phone and it will follow your instruction immediately.

The earbuds draw their juices from a 420mAh battery. According to Huawei’s popular sub-brand, Honor, the battery can last 3 hours on a single charge and nearly 20 hours with the charging case. You can charge the earbuds via a USB-C port or wirelessly.

If the Honor FlyPods Pro has stirred your interest, you can follow this link in order to check out the rest of its features and pre-order it for $179.99 on Giztop. Note that the Flypods will be available for shipping in 7-10 days.

Pre-Order Honor FlyPods Pro On Giztop

Buy H96 Max Plus RK3328 TV Box For Just $42.99 On Banggood

By

Vinay Patel

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Nov 2, 2018

Larger memory facilitates seamless performance when it comes to Android devices like TV boxes. In fact, even mobile phones nowadays pack 3-4GB memory.
If you’re on a tight budget and preparing to settle for a 1GB box, you might want to take a look at the H96 Max Plus TV box that has gone up for sale bearing a dropped price on Banggood. Outfitted with 4GB DDR3 RAM, the H96 Max Plus delivers high speed and guarantees smoother gaming experience without emptying your pocket.

Regarded as one the best value Android boxes in the market today, the H96 Max H2 RK3328 combines a hearty onboard storage capacity and system memory with unbeatable pricing and surrealistic Android build. It offers enough capacity for you to locally install several apps without running out of storage space.

Moreover, the H96 Max Plus RK3328 is powered by the RK3328 Quad-Core 64bit Cortex-A53 processor and it packs a compelling Penta-Core Mali-450 Up to 750Mhz+ GPU, under the hood. Although it sports a simple design, this feature-rich TV box is nothing short of awe-inspiring.
While you’d normally end up shelling out a fortune on a TV box offering comparable features, the H96 Max Plus RK3328 TV Box will not set you back a pretty penny. Keeping in line with that, you can get your hands on this TV box at a considerably lowered price of just $42.99 on Banggood.

This is a noteworthy 38% reduction in the device’s original selling price of $69.81. An absolute bargain at this price, this new generation 64-bit 4k internet set-top box replaced 1080p with a minimum screen resolution of 3840 pixels wide and 2160 pixels high.

This makes it identical to two 1080p screens in height as well as in length. You can follow this link if you’re interested in checking out the rest of the features and avail the discount. It is worth noting that promo is slated to end in just 3 days.

Get 38% Off On H96 Max Plus RK3328 TV Box

Download Banggood App To Get A 10% Off App Coupon

AnTuTu’s top 10 best performance Android phones for October is led by Kirin 980 fueled Mate 20 series

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Nov 1, 2018

Since the past few months, AnTuTu’s list of top 10 best performance Android phones have been led by Snapdragon 845 powered smartphones. The list for the September month was completely populated by SD845 phones. Today, the benchmarking platform has released the list of top 10 best performance Android phones for October month. The top three positions on the list have been taken over by Kirin 980 chipset powered Mate 20, Mate 20 Pro and Mate 20 X smartphones.

As it can be seen in the below image, the first position is held by Huawei Mate 20 phone that has recorded 311,840 average benchmarking score. The second position goes to Mate 20 Pro that has raked in 307,693 points. The Mate 20 X is sitting on the third position with a score of 303,112.

Another new phone that has appeared on AnTuTu’s list is the all new Xiaomi Black Shark Helo phone that has reached 301,757 mark on the benchmarking platform. The original Xiaomi Black Shark phone is sitting on the fifth position with 293,544 benchmarking score.

Read More: OnePlus 6T AnTuTu listing appears with 298k benchmarking scores

The Meizu 16th smartphone that was announced in August is on the sixth spot with a score of 293,554. The seventh position goes to OnePlus 6 that has salvaged a benchmarking score of 292,371. The ASUS ROG Phone (291,701) Smartisan R1 (291,102) and Nubia Z18 (290,332) are the remaining phones that are present on the list of top 10 best performance Android smartphones for October.

AnTuTu has stated that the aforementioned points for each smartphone are not the highest benchmarking score, but an average of their scores. Smartphones such as Xiaomi Mi MIX 3, OnePlus 6T and Honor Magic 2 that were announced at the end of the previous month haven’t made it the October list by AnTuTu. These phones are expected to rank well in AnTuTu’s top 10 best performance Android smartphones list in November that will be released in the coming. As far as October’s benchmarking scores are concentered, the new list is a clear evidence that the Kirin 980 powered phones have outperformed SD845 driven smartphones.

(source)

Huawei P20/P20 Pro, Mate RS, Mate 10/Pro and more to get EMUI 9.0 on November 10

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Nov 1, 2018

Huawei and its Honor sub-brand have been gradually rolling out EMUI 9.0 to their devices. A few days ago, it announced that the update will bring GPU Turbo 2.0 to three of its Honor flagship phones. Today it announced that the update is now open to 9 more devices.

Apparently, the update is still in beta but now open to the general public instead of just a limited few as announced a few weeks ago. So if you own the Huawei P20, P20 Pro, Mate RS Porsche Design, Mate 10, Mate 10 Pro, Mate 10 Porsche Design, Honor 10, Honor V10, and Honor Play, you can install the EMUI 9.0 beta update as from November 10.

To get the update, all you have to do is open the Huawei Mobile Services app, select services and proceed to select “beta upgrade” (loose translation). The update should then be pushed to your device.

Continue

Complete specifications and details of the FlexPai foldable smartphone

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Nov 1, 2018

Chinese manufacturer Rouyu (Royole) Technologies has claimed the title of the first manufacturer to release a foldable phone with a flexible display. The phone which is called the FlexPai was unveiled at an event yesterday.

We didn’t get the full specifications of the device yesterday. Thankfully, an official page for the device is now up on the manufacturer’s website and it has the full specifications and some other details.

The FlexPai has a display that measures 7.8-inches diagonally. It is an AMOLED panel with a 1920 x 1440 resolution and a 4:3 aspect ratio. Powering the device is Qualcomm’s next-gen Snapdragon 800 series processor which is clocked at 2.8GHz.

I guess they are trying not to explicitly call it the Snapdragon 855 or the Snapdragon 8150 until Qualcomm officially announces the chipset. Thanks to the FlexPai’s spec sheet, we know the processor will have an Adreno 640 GPU.

The spec page says the processor is paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. However, we know from yesterday’s launch that there is also a 6GB RAM + 128GB version and an 8GB RAM + 512GB version.

The FlexPai has a 16MP + 20MP camera with a f/1.8 aperture size. The page doesn’t specify if that’s the aperture for both sensors or just the primary one. Although it does mention that there is optical image stabilization.

The device packs a 3,800mAh battery with support for 5V/5A fast charging via their proprietary Ro-Charge technology. It also has support for dual SIM (nano only), storage expansion (256GB max), Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, and Wi-Fi. Supported LTE bands are 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 12, 34, 38, 39, 40, and 41. There is a USB-C port for charging and audio.

The FlexPai weighs 320g and measures 134 x 190.35 x 7.6 mm. Royole says the phone will ship with the 5V/5A fast-charging adapter, a pair of USB_C headphones, a USB Type-C cable, a Type-C to 3.5mm cable, and a carrying case.

https://youtu.be/ZjdGhHLQIH4

Continue

Samsung announces record profit for Q3 2018 despite a decline in smartphone sales YoY

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Nov 1, 2018

South Korea tech giant Samsung has announced its quarterly financial report for the third quarter of the year. The company posted revenue from sales reaching KRW65.46 trillion ($57.3 billion) and operating profit peaking at KRW17.57 trillion ($15.4 billion) which are improvements over the company’s record in the same period last year.

The breakdown of the financial record shows the IT & Mobile Division which is responsible for the Galaxy smartphones, recorded a 10% YoY decline in sales to KRW24.91 trillion ($2.2 billion) compared with KRW27.69 trillion ($2.4 billion) in Q3 2017. This is despite recording a “solid flagship sales.” No doubt Samsung’s faltering sales in the mid-range/budget segments would have contributed largely to the decline.

On the other hand, the semiconductor business brought Samsung to a new quarterly high, backed by strong sales of memory chips, as well as demand for server and mobile memory. Despite the record, the company projects that its cash flow will likely decrease in the fourth quarter due to the end of a two-year boom in memory chips demand and an increase in competitive products from rivals.

The Korean giant also announced its plans for 2019 with a shift of focus to strengthening its competitiveness in emerging technologies like 5G, AI, and automotive electronics. This is in order to offset the reduction in sales and operating profit. The company also plans to expand its online sales and B2B relationship with built-in appliances and system air conditioners.

(source)

Honor Magic 2 vs Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 vs Oppo Find X: Specs Comparison

By

Michele Ingelido

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Nov 1, 2018

Slider phones are definitely the trend of the second half of 2018, even though it is not a trend launched by Apple. In order to eliminate the notch, some smartphones manufacturers released devices with sliders hiding behind the display which contain the front cameras and sensors. Honor Magic 2, Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 and Oppo Find X are the most powerful phones with this technology, and in this article, we compare their specs.

Honor Magic 2 vs Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 vs Oppo Find X

	Honor Magic 2	Xiaomi Mi Mix 3	Oppo Find X
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT	157.3 x 75.1 x 8.3 mm, 206 g	157.9 x 74.7 x 8.5 mm, 218 g	156.7 x 74.2 x 9.6 mm, 186 g
DISPLAY	6.39 inches, 1080 x 2340p (Full HD+), AMOLED	6.39 inches, 1080 x 2340p (Full HD+), Super AMOLED	6.42 inches, 1080 x 2340p (Full HD+), 19.5:9 ratio, AMOLED
PROCESSOR	Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 980, octa-core 2.6 GHz	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, octa-core 2.8 GHz	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, octa-core 2.8 GHz
MEMORY	6 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 256 GB – micro SD slot	6 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 256 GB – 10 GB RAM, 512 GB	8 GB RAM, 256 GB
SOFTWARE	Android 9 Pie, EMUI 9	Android 9 Pie, MIUI 10	Android 8.1 Oreo, ColorOS 5.1
CONNECTIVITY	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS
CAMERA	Triple 16 + 16 + 24 MP, f/1.8 and f/2.2 Triple 16 + 2 + 2 MP f/2.0, f/2.4 and f/2.4 front camera	Dual 12 + 12 MP, f/1.8 OIS Dual 24 + 2 MP front camera	Dual 16 + 20 MP, f/2.0 + f/2.2, OIS 25 MP, f/2.0 front camera
BATTERY	3500 mAh, fast charging with Magic Charge	3200 mAh, fast charging with Quick Charge 4.0+, wireless charging	3730 mAh, fast charging (VOOC Flash Charge) 5V / 4A
ADDITIONAL FEATURES	Hybrid Dual SIM slot, pop up cameras	Dual SIM slot, pop up cameras	Dual SIM slot, pop up cameras

Design

When it comes to aesthetics, I would choose the Oppo Find X because it has the most innovative design. It is the only one which has a motorized slider which opens up automatically when it is needed. Further, the slider also hides the rear cameras and makes the rear side of the phone look completely clean. On the other hand, Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 has the best materials as it features a back cover made of ceramic, besides a 7000-series aluminum frame.

Display

In terms of view quality, Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 and Honor Magic 2 boast the best displays: the first features the HDR technology which improves a lot the color reproduction, while the second has a 100 percent DCI-P3 coverage. I expect the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 to be slightly better, but I can not give a definitive verdict until I saw the display of the Honor Magic 2.

Hardware/Software

Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 has the hardware which convinces me the most. That is why it features up to 10 GB of RAM paired with the octa-core Snapdragon 845 chipset. But given that the hardware sides of all of these devices are very similar, software optimization will play a very important role in the hardware comparison. Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 is customized by MIUI, while Honor Magic 2 and Oppo Find X have EMUI and Color OS, respectively. For now, it is a draw and we can not judge only by basing on the specs on the paper.

Camera

While I do not like Oppo Find X’s rear camera at all, I think it will be a very close fight between Xiaomi Mi Mix 3’s dual camera and the triple camera Honor Magic 2. Note that the latter does not have the same triple camera as Huawei P20 Pro and Mate 20 Pro, but it features a very interesting 24 MP monochromatic sensor which should allow capturing a huge amount of light. But in my opinion, Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 will click excellent photos and videos as well, maybe even better.

Battery

Oppo Find X is probably the device with the longest battery life as it packs a 3730 mAh battery. Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 will be disappointing compared with its opponents and we do not expect an incredible result by Honor Magic 2 as well. Last but not least, Oppo Find X features the fastest charging technology and it can reach 100 percent of battery in just 35 minutes.

Price

Oppo Find X is the device with the most innovative design and the biggest battery, but I would not choose it as the winner of this comparison because of its high price (€1000/$1140 in Europe, about €770/$878 in China). On the paper, I would prefer Honor Magic 2 because of its wonderful six cameras and its nice battery capacity, but in order to establish if it will really shoot great photos and last more than Mi Mix 3 on a single charge, we have to try it personally. Honor Magic 2 and Xiaomi Mi Mix 3’s price goes around €480/$540

Read More: Honor Magic 2 is official: Slider Design, AMOLED Display, Triple Cameras, In-Display Fingerprint Scanner and Lots More

Honor Magic 2 vs Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 vs Oppo Find X: PRO and CONS

Honor Magic 2

PROS

High screen-to-body ratio
In-display fingerprint reader
Great camera
Awesome hardware

CONS

Nothing particular

Xiaomi Mi Mix 3

PROS

Full borderless design
In-display fingerprint reader
Outstanding hardware
Awesome camera
Affordable price

CONS

Smaller battery

Oppo Find X

PROS

Nice screen
In-display fingerprint
High screen-to-body ratio
Amazing hardware
Good camera

CONS

Pricey

Oppo F9 Pro 128GB storage variant launched in India for Rs. 25,990 ($354)

By

Jeet

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Nov 1, 2018

A couple of months back, in August, Oppo launched its Oppo F9 and F9 Pro smartphones in the Indian market. The Oppo F9 Pro was available in India on only one memory configuration — 6GB RAM with 64GB internal storage.

Now, the company has launched a new variant of the F9 Pro in India which packs 6GB of RAM and 128GB internal storage. This new variant is priced at Rs. 25,990, which roughly converts to $354.

When the phone was launched in India, it was available for purchase exclusively through online marketplace Flipkart. However, weeks after its launch, the phone was made available through various online stores, including Amazon and Paytm Mall.

Apart from the bump in the internal storage to 128GB, everything else remains the same. The Oppo F9 Pro features a 6.3-inch waterdrop display with 2340 x 1080 pixels screen resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio and 90.8 percent screen-to-body ratio.

Under the hood, the device is powered by MediaTek Helio P60 octa-core processor along with 6GB RAM and now 64GB/128GB storage option. There’s a dedicated microSD card slot, which enables you to expand the phone’s storage capacity up to 256GB.

It features a dual-camera setup on the back, consisting of a 16-megapixel primary sensor with f/1.8 aperture and a 2-megapixel secondary camera sensor that captures the depth of field. On the front side, it comes with a 25-megapixel Sony IMX576 sensor for taking selfies.

The camera features AI Beautification 2.1 technology that identifies the camera usage pattern and enhances the captured images. The company is also introducing Vivid Mode to the videos, which was earlier available for images only.

There is a back-mounted fingerprint sensor for added protection. The phone also comes with features like Google Lens, Touchpal Keyboard with AI assistant, among others. It also comes with Smart Bar feature that offers interference-free gaming experience.

Connectivity options on the device include Dual SIM, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Bluetooth 4.2, FM radio, MicroUSB 2.0, and GPS. The Oppo F9 Pro runs on ColorOS 5.2, based on Android 8.1 Oreo operating system and is powered by a 3,000mAh battery that supports VOOC Flash Charging.

(Source)

Samsung W2019 will launch on November 9

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Nov 1, 2018

Just last week, Samsung had a big event in China where it announced the Galaxy A9s and the Galaxy A6s smartphones. The Korean manufacturer has announced that it will have another event in the country on November 9, and from the poster, we can confirm it is for the launch of the Samsung W2019 phone.

The Samsung W2019 is the latest in Samsung’s W-series clamshell phone exclusive to China. The phone was seen on TENAA a few weeks ago but only images and a few specs were revealed. A lot of hands-on images have also surfaced on the web.

In the past year, the W-series has served as a sort of testing ground for some features Samsung later adopted for its other flagships. For example, last year’s model was the first to have a camera with a variable aperture. We haven’t heard of any special feature this model will have. However, images have confirmed that it will come with dual rear cameras like the Galaxy Note9 and the Galaxy S9+.

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Oppo K1 Silver Green color variant to go on sale in China from November 11

By

Jeet

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Nov 1, 2018

Last month, Oppo launched its Oppo K1 premium mid-range smartphone in China in two color options — Van Gogh Blue and Mocha Red. Now, the company has introduced a third color variant — Silver Green. Just like the other two color variants, the new Silver Green also has a gradient design.

The pricing of the new variant also remains the same. The 4GB RAM model will be available for 1,599 Yuan while the 6GB RAM model will cost 1,799 Yuan. The Oppo K1 Silver Green color variant will be available for purchase in China from 11th November.

The phone’s specifications also remains the same. It features a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display with 2340 x 1080 pixels screen resolution and 91 percent screen-to-body ratio. The display is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass on top.

Under the hood, Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon 660 octa-core processor is powering the device, along with either 4GB or 6GB of RAM. Both models come with 64GB of internal storage and also comes with a microSD card slot that enables you to further expand the phone’s storage capacity.

As for the camera configuration, there’s a dual camera setup on the back, with camera sensors stacked horizontally in the top-left corner along with an LED flash. It consists of a 16-megapixel primary sensor and a 2-megapixel secondary sensor with AI-based features to enhance the camera performance.

On the front side, the phone comes equipped with a 25-megapixel shooter for taking selfies and video calling. The company has tried to include all the trendy features in the phone. As a result, along with the smaller waterdrop notch, you also get an in-display fingerprint sensor.

The phone runs on Android 8.1 Oreo operating system out of the box with the company’s own ColorOS 5.2 on top. Connectivity options on the device include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi i 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS/ A-GPS, and GLONASS. It is powered by a 3,500mAh battery that supports Super VOOC fast charging technology.

MIUI 10 Stable update for the POCO F1 is now rolling out with October security patch

By

Jeet

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Nov 1, 2018

Recently, Xiaomi’s senior official confirmed that the POCO F1 will receive the Android Pie as well the upcoming Android Q update. Within hours of that, the company has started rolling out the new MIUI 10 stable update for the POCO F1.

The MIUI 10 for POCO F1 is still based on Android 8.1 Oreo operating system but it does come with the latest October security patch. However, do note that the update is being rolled out in phases, so it may take some time for the update to be available on your device.

Along with the latest Android security patch, the MIUI V10.0.4.0.OEJMIFH update, which is around 592MB is size, comes with all-new full-screen gestures and a new UI that’s tailored for the devices will full-screen display.

It also comes with new natural system sound which the company claims can help you relax and focus on what’s important. There’s also AI-based pre-loading which offers higher swipe response and an overall smoother experience for using MIUI.

To remind you of the phone’s specifications, the POCO F1 comes with a 6.18-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD display which is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass. The phone is powered by Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon 845 processor and comes with LiquidCool technology.

It has a 12-megapixel Sony IMX363 primary sensor, coupled with a 5-megapixel secondary sensor on the back panel. On the front side, there’s a 20-megapixel selfie camera powered with AI for capturing enhanced selfie shots.

The phone comes with 6GB/8GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB/256GB of internal storage, depending on the variant. It runs on the company’s MIUI based on Android 8.1 Oreo, and is powered by a 4,000mAh battery that supports Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging.

Meanwhile, the company has also reportedly starting rolling out closed Android 9 Pie beta update for the POCO F1, which has also been leaked online. This means that the stable Android Pie update for the phone is not far away and could be available by the end of this year.

(Source)

Lenovo Z5 Pro slider design phone with screen fingerprint reader, quad cameras, Snapdragon 710 is official

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Nov 1, 2018

Lenovo has officially announced the Lenovo Z5 Pro smartphone as an advanced sibling of the Lenovo Z5 phone that was unveiled in June this year. The Z5 Pro comes with a slider design like the recently announced Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 and Honor Magic 2 smartphones. Moreover, it is equipped with interesting specs like quad cameras and Snapdragon 710 mobile platform. The handset has arrived in China with a starting price of 1,998 Yuan (~$287).

Design and Display

The Lenovo Z5 Pro slider phone measures 9.3mm in thickness and it weighs 210 grams. The back panel of the phone is made out of glass that is curved on all the four sides. For the slider, the Chinese manufacturer has employed six double helix springs.

The handset features a 6.39-inch Super AMOLED display by Samsung. The notch-less display supports Full HD+ resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels. The screen is surrounded by 2.07mm slim bezels. According to Lenovo, the Z5 Pro offers a screen-to-body ratio of 95.06 percent and an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. The HDR 10 compliant AMOLED display is embedded with fifth-generation photo-electric under-display fingerprint sensor.

Performance

The Snapdragon 710 AIE chipset powers the Lenovo Z5 Pro and it is preinstalled with ZUI 10.0 based Android Oreo OS. The SD710 SoC is coupled with 6 GB of RAM. The phone comes in 64 GB and 128 GB storage models. There is no external storage slot on the device. The smartphone is packed with a 3,350mAh battery that is equipped with support for 18W fast charging.

Cameras and Other Features

The slider of the Lenovo Z5 Pro houses multiple sensors such as dual front-facing cameras, infrared sensor, infrared light and proximity sensor. The dual selfie camera setup comprises of an f/2.2 aperture 16-megapixel main sensor and an 8-megapixel infrared camera. The Z5 Pro features AI capabilities for shooting beautified selfie images and it also carries support IR face recognition for accurately unlocking the phone in dim-light.

The vertically arranged rear-facing 24-megapixel Sony IMX576 sensor + 16-megapixel Sony IMX519 snappers are equipped with features like dual f/1.8 aperture lens, autofocus, dual-tone LED flash, 4K video shooting, 1080p video shooting at 120 fps, HDR, PDAF, AI scene recognition and super night scene mode. Here is a camera sample that shows the low-light photography prowess of the Lenovo Z5 Pro.

The connectivity features that are available on the Lenovo Z5 Pro are dual-SIM support, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, GPS and USB-C. With Dolby Atmos support onboard, the Z5 Pro promises topnotch audio experience.

The phone lacks support for 3.5mm audio jack. The Chinese manufacturer is selling Lenovo Air wireless Bluetooth headset for Z5 Pro users. The box package of the smartphone includes a 3.5mm to USB-C adapter. The IntelliGo AI chip present on the device can significantly reduce the noise during phone calls. There is AI game acceleration mode, that can throttle the CPU, GPU and memory performance while playing games on the device. To protect sensitive data, Lenovo has installed a security chip inside the phone.

Pricing and Availability

The 64 GB and 128 GB versions of the Lenovo Z5 Pro are respectively priced at 1,998 Yuan (~$287) and 2,998 Yuan (~$330). In China, the sales of the smartphone is scheduled to begin on Nov. 11 and it is currently available on pre-orders. It comes in a single color variant of Black.

Lenovo is resurrecting its mobile phone brand in China. In this year, the Chinese manufacturer has launched multiple smartphones. The newly unveiled Z5 Pro is its most powerful and innovative device in 2018. What do you think about the Lenovo Z5 Pro? Share us your views on its specs and features by commenting below.

Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 officially goes on sale in China, pricing starts at 3,299 Yuan ($474)

By

Jeet

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Nov 1, 2018

Last week, on 25th October, Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi announced its next-generation Mi MIX series smartphone, the Xiaomi Mi MIX 3. It is the first smartphone to feature a magnetic slider design with full-screen display. Today, the phone is officially available for purchase through Xiaomi’s online store and Mi Home stores across China.

The Mi MIX 3 comes in four variants based on the memory configuration. The 6GB RAM + 128GB storage model costs 3,299 Yuan (~$474) while the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage model is priced at 3,599 Yuan (~$518). On the other hand, the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant is priced at 3,999 Yuan (~$575).

While the phone was announced in three enticing color options — Black, Emerald Green and Sapphire Blue, but it seems that the phone is currently available in only Black color. There’s also another variant of the phone which packs 10GB RAM and 256GB internal storage and costs 4,999 Yuan (~$719), but it’s not yet up for sale.

To remind you of the phone’s specifications, the Mi MIX 3 features a 6.39-inch AMOLED display with 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 2340 x 1080 pixels screen resolution and 93.4 percent screen-to-body ratio. Under the hood, it is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 octa-core processor.

Mi MIX 3 is equipped with two magnetic components underneath the display that enables the sliding mechanism which can also be customized to launch different functions such as accessing the dual selfie camera, answer phone calls, among others. The phone also has a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor for added security.

As for the camera, there’s a dual camera setup on the back featuring a 12-megapixel Sony IMX363 main sensor with f/1.8 aperture and another 12-megapixel Samsung S5k3M3+ secondary sensor with f/2.4 aperture. The front side also features two camera sensors and an LED flash — a 24-megapixel Sony IMX576 primary sensor and a 2-megapixel secondary sensor. The dual selfie snappers are equipped with AI capabilities for capturing beautified selfie shots.

The phone comes loaded with MIUI 10 which is based Android 9 Pie operating system and also comes with the company’s Xiao AI voice assistant, which the company claims can now understand 7 dialects. There’s also a dedicated button to trigger the voice assistant.

Connectivity options include Dual SIM, 4G VoLTE, dual-band GPS, Wi-Fi 802.11ac with 4×4 MIMO, Bluetooth 5.0, and a USB-C port. The device is powered by a 3,200mAh battery that carries support for Quick Charge 4+ and 10W wireless charging.

Vivo Z1 Youth Edition is now available for pre-order in China for 1,098 Yuan ($158)

By

Jeet

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Nov 1, 2018

Vivo recently introduced its Z-series for smartphones, which is aimed at mid-range segment. The company has already launched a few phones under this new series, including Vivo Z1, Z1i, Z10, and Z3. Now, the company seems to have silently launched another smartphone in the Z-series lineup — Vivo Z1 Youth Edition.

The company has started taking pre-orders for the Vivo Z1 Youth Edition on its official online store in China. The phone is priced at 1,098 Yuan, which roughly converts to $158 and is expected to start shipping from 11th November — the day when China observes the Singles’ Day sale. It will be available in three colors — Black, Aurora (Gradient), and Red.

The ‘Youth Edition’ devices are usually the stripped down and cheaper variant of the original phone and the Z1 Youth Edition is no exception. The phone features a 6.26-inch Full HD+ LCD IPS display with 2280 x 1080 pixels screen resolution and 19:9 aspect ratio. The display has the rectangular notch on top and despite that it manages to offer an impressive screen-t0-body ratio of 90 percent.

The Vivo Z1 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset but this Z1 Youth Edition is powered by the Snapdragon 626 processor, clocked at 2.2GHz. It has Adreno 506 graphics processor and packs 4GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage. There’s a microSD card slot that enables you to expand the phone’s storage capacity up to 256GB.

Coming to the camera department, it comes with a dual camera setup on the back, as it has become a norm these days. It features a 16-megapixel primary sensor and a 2-megapixel secondary sensor which is an upgrade over the Z1’s 13MP + 2MP setup. On the front side, it comes equipped with a 16-megapixel shooter for taking selfies and video calling.

The phone runs on Android 8.1 Oreo operating system out of the box with a layer of Vivo’s own FunTouch OS 4.0. Connectivity options on the device include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac dual-band, Bluetooth 5.0 Low Energy, GPS with A-GPS, and GLONASS. It is powered by a 3,260mAh battery which unfortunately doesn’t support any kind of fast charging technology.

(Source)