Alleged Redmi Note 6, Note 6 Pro variants approved by CMIIT, FCC, NCC and EEC

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Aug 29, 2018

A month ago, the global smartphone industry reports for the second quarter of the year were released by different analytical firms including IDC, Canalys and Strategy Analytics with all showing that Huawei had overtaken Apple as the world’s second-largest smartphone maker in terms of shipment. That position has been corroborated by the latest report released by research firm Gartner. The released Q2 2018 market data for the smartphone industry confirmed that Huawei has overtaken Apple in affirmation of the data from other analysts.

huawei p20 pro — Huawei set the state for a successful Q2 with amazing models like the P20 Pro

Samsung still tops the chat, but if compared to Q2 last year report, it clearly shows the band sales dropped 12.6% having sold 82.9 million units for 22.6 percent of the market last year but sold 72.3 million smartphones during the quarter to get a 19.3 percent market share this year.

This is the first time Huawei is coming as the runner-up, with 49.8 million units sold which is quite impressive if compared to last year sales of 35.9 million units. This increase in sales can be attributed to the Honor sub-brand, which is available in 70 markets. Apple on the other dropped a spot down having sold 44.7 million units and 11.9 percent market share. Last year the brand sold 44.3 million units, and if compared with this year stats, the difference is less than 1%.

Chinese brand Xiaomi overtook OPPO to emerge as the fourth largest smartphone vendor in Q2 2018 with an estimated shipment of 32.8 million units. The represents a 3% growth YoY over its impressive run last year that saw it make an entrance into the top 5 global smartphone vendor. According to Gartner, this increase in sales of Xiaomi phones can be attributed to combined online and offline retail strategy. On its part, OPPO’s shipping estimates grew from 26 million to around 28.5 million units but that wasn’t enough to stop Xiaomi from climbing to the fourth spot.

Preorder Xiaomi 17PIN Star Firut Juicer For Just $29.99 On Banggood; Only 200 Pieces Available!

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Aug 29, 2018

Juice can help remove toxins from the body, apart from providing it with a slew of much-needed vitamins, minerals, nutrients and phytochemicals that help you fight disease. Since the traditional method of removing juice can be time-consuming, you can resort to using a juicer to expedite the process.

While the market is brimming with all sorts of fruit juicers, it is imperative for you to bear in mind that the type of juicer you use can significantly affect the quality of nutrients you’d be consuming in the form of juice. Reliable brand Xiaomi has designed a one-of-a-kind fruit juicer which comes with its own portable juicing bottle for outdoor travel.

Dubbed as 17PIN Star Fruit Cup, the Xiaomi-branded juicer is currently up for preorder on Banggood. More importantly, this lightweight and compact juicer will be carrying a discounted price tag.
The elegant juicer would usually set you back a pretty penny but popular Chinese online store that guarantees the best bang for your buck is doling out a noteworthy 40% off on its original asking price of $49.99. As a result, you can now buy the 17PIN Star Fruit Juicer at a dropped price of just $29.99.

The aforesaid discount will be limited to the first 200 pieces only. The next 500 pieces, on the other hand, will carry a $33.99 price tag while the remaining pieces will be sold for $37.99.

Despite its reduced price, the 17PIN Star is an irresistible fruit juicer that is made using food grade material for healthy and nutritional drinking. Moreover, it dons an eye-catching cosmetic appearance with completely hidden cutter blades.

You can also leave your worry about accidentally spilling the juice on an electronic item like your keyboard or laptop since the 17PIN Star juicer comes with silicone anti-slip mat which is placed at the bottom of the cup. Moreover, it features LED work indicator and magnetic contact charging so you don’t even need to plug it.

If you’re interested in getting your hands on this feature-laden Xiaomi 17PIN Star juicer, all you need to do is to follow this link. Note that the discount will only be valid for a limited period of time.

Get 40% Off On Xiaomi 17PIN Star Firut Juicer

Buy ASUS Zenfone 5 ZE620KL Smartphone For Only $374.99 On TomTop

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Aug 29, 2018

Staying true to its reputation for making feature-laden smartphones, ASUS launched its long-awaited Zenfone 5 ZE620KL smartphone in May this year. As expected, the Taiwanese tech firm’s latest flagship phone garnered huge popularity among smartphone lovers.

Taking the phone’s skyrocketing demand into consideration, ASUS has made the Zenfone 5 ZE620KL available to the cost-conscious buyers at a dropped price of just $374.99 on TomTop. It is worth noting that the newfangled phone would normally set you back $591.47 without the discount.

Deemed as one of the best smartphones to hit the store shelves in 2018, the Zenfone 5 ZE620KL sports a mammoth 6.2 inches FHD+ display with a screen resolution of 2246 x 1080 pixels. The phone’s eye-catching design is further augmented with rounded edges and 2.5D curved glass display.

Furthermore, the newest smartphone from ASUS is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 64-bit processor and it adapts a Qualcomm Adreno 509 GPU, under the hood. It offers 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage that you can expand up to 2TB.

The dual-SIM handset houses a 12.0MP+8.0MP dual-camera setup with two capture sensors on the back. Up front, there’s an 8.0MP selfie shooter. Moreover, it runs ZenUI 5.0 based on Android 8.0 Oreo OS and is backed by a 3300mAh super battery, equipped with the latest fast charge technology.

If you’re interested in getting your hands on the ASUS Zenfone 5 ZE620KL at the discounted price, all you need to do is follow this link without wasting time. Note that the sale is slated to end in 9 days and there were only 45 pieces remaining for the Flash Sale at the time of writing.

Get 37% Off On ASUS Zenfone 5 ZE620KL Smartphone

Get Teclast M20 4G Tablet At A Dropped Price Of Just $167.56 On AliExpress

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Aug 29, 2018

Teclast launched its first 4G tablet earlier this year. Dubbed as the Teclast M20, the company’s introductory 4G tablet has gone up for sale bearing a discounted price on AliExpress.

While a top-end 4G tablet would normally set you back a pretty penny on online stores, the Teclast M20 4G tablet is currently up for grabs at a heavily discounted price of $167.56 on AliExpress. This is a noteworthy reduction in the device’s original asking price of $257.13.

Even at this dropped price, the Teclast M20 boasts an impressive array of features that we usually associate with a steeply priced 4G tablet, making it quite a bargain. Housed in a sturdy plastic and metal body, The M20 sports a big 10.1 inches IPS display with a screen resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels.

Furthermore, it packs a powerful MT6797D X23 Deca Core processor and an ARM Mali-T880 MP4 GPU, under the hood. It comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage capacity so that you can store your favorite app and multimedia content including music, videos, and photos.

Equipped with a dual-SIM card slot, the device supports TDD +FDD 4G network. Moreover, it adapts dual-band Wi-Fi technology to bypass wireless interference and deliver superior Wi-Fi speed along with reliable connections.

If the M20 4G has stirred your interest and you’re wondering how you can take advantage of the discount before the promo ends, just follow this link. Note that the recently launched 4G tablet will go back to its retail price on August 31st.

Get A Big Discount On Teclast M20 4G Tablet

Xiaomi’s new 15.6-inch Mi Notebook with 8th-gen processor now on sale

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Aug 29, 2018

Xiaomi‘s latest Mi Notebook laptop which comes with a 15.6-inch screen size is now on sale in China. The laptop was put on sale on Tuesday in China with a starting price of 3,999 yuan (~$582) for the base model. The Mi Notebook was announced last week housing a couple of new features that positions the laptop as a high-end model but it doesn’t have the graphics firepower to qualify as a hardcore gaming laptop.

The Mi Notebook 15.6-inch has at its heart an 8th-gen Intel Core i5 processor while there is a higher model with the 8th-gen Core i7 processor. According to the listing on Mi.com, the Mi Notebook is available in three variants; an Intel Core i5 model with 4GB RAM, another with 8GB RAM and an Intel Core i7 variant having 8GB of RAM. All three variants come with 128GB of SSD storage paired with 1TB of HDD. All the models equally have onboard an NVIDIA GeForce MX110 2GB RAM graphics card. Basically, the 8th-gen SoCbrings a 40% increase in performance over the 7th-gen models launched last year.

On the design aspect, the Mi Notebook 15.6-inch continues the no logo design of previous Xiaomi laptop models. However, the arrangement of the keyboard has some redesign. The new Notebook now has a dedicated numerical keypad with dedicated keys for the calculator, browser, and scroll lock. The Mi Notebook is also equipped with dual 3W speakers and Dolby Audio surround sound technology. It comes pre-installed with genuine Microsoft Office and Xiaomi’s own sync assistant.

For now, only the Core i5 models are available to buy on Mi.com. While the 4GB RAM version retails for 3999 yuan (~$582), the 8GB model has a price tag of 4499 yuan (~$655). Xiaomi will likely put the Core i7 model on its shelves at a later date. The models are all available in White and black colours but only the Black colour variants are available presently.

BLU Vivo XI+ launched with Helio P60, update to Android Pie confirmed

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Michele Ingelido

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Aug 28, 2018

After a quiet period which followed several accuses by users about the security and software updates of its devices, the U.S. company BLU is finally back and it has quietly launched a new mid-range handset in the U.S. market: it is called BLU Vivo XI+, where XI+ stands for Eleven Plus. The new device has been made available to purchase without even being announced and it is currently available on Amazon U.S. with a price tag of $349.99.

The company has decided to follow the trend launched by iPhone X by implementing on the new BLU Vivo XI+ a Xiaomi Mi 8-like notched display; it has very narrow bezels on three sides and a thicker chin. The display has a size of 6.2 inches with a Full HD+ resolution and a 19:9 aspect ratio. In the notch, we can find a hardware sensor for 3D facial recognition.

The handset comes with an octa-core MediaTek Helio P60 processor, 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB ROM. The operating system installed is Android 8.1 Oreo, but the company has already confirmed that the device will be updated to the most recent Android 9 Pie sometime in 2019. Just like most of the recent phones, it features a dual camera setup on the rear side supported by AI algorithms.

(via)

Live photos of a Moto G6 Plus (or Moto G6S Plus) with water-drop notch surface, drags along a Motorola One too

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Aug 28, 2018

The Moto G6 Plus was unveiled back in May and one of the biggest changes Motorola (or Lenovo) made to the 6th generation Moto G phone is the switch to an 18:9 display. Today, live photos of another phone also said to be the Moto G6 Plus surfaced online and it is entirely different from the Moto G6 Plus currently sold in the market.

[envira-gallery id=”208489″]

Moto G6 Plus???

The photos show the phone does have reduced bezels to accommodate a taller screen. However, the screen has a notch and this is not the type of notch on the Motorola P30 but the water-drop notch of the OPPO F9 Pro.

The device is powered up and the “About phone” section states the device’s name as the “moto g(6) plus”. It also reveals it has dual SIM support. But that’s not all. At the bottom of the screen, the model and hardware name says “ moto g4”.

A second photo shows the back of the phone. It has a nice-looking reflective red finish. We want to believe it is glass. There are also dual cameras with a black band around them. The entire camera setup maintains a similar circular and raised design as Motorola’s current offerings. However, this Moto G6 Plus has its fingerprint scanner under the batwing logo like that of the Motorola P30.

Probably Moto G6S Plus

While the About Phone section does say it is the Moto G6 Plus, we believe this might be the Moto G6S Plus, a refresh of the Moto G6 Plus and a successor to last year’s Moto G5S Plus.

According to the source, the phone has two variants. There is one with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage and another one with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. It packs a 3,200mAh battery and a Snapdragon 630 processor.

We are not surprised the battery and the processor are the same as that of the Moto G6 Plus. Motorola did the same thing with the Moto G5 Plus and Moto G5S Plus. They changed the design of the phone but kept the processor and battery capacity. Though they did upgrade the cameras.

Only time will tell if this is the Moto G6S Plus or a different device entirely.

Motorola One

The Moto G6 Plus wasn’t the only phone whose live photo leaked. A photo of a second phone called the “Motorola One” was also posted by the source. The Motorola One has a notch, and it is a wide one like that of the P30.

Continue

Behold the Pocophone F1 internals in its first teardown video

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Aug 28, 2018

Xiaomi unveiled the Pocophone F1, otherwise called Poco F1 in India on August 22 and it was launched for the global market a few days back. The Poco F1 is entirely a flagship model but that is surprisingly not reflected in its pricing. The device has an amazing price tag of €330 in Europe and as low as €260 elsewhere. Some may doubt that the device is built with standard or quality components which could be the reason for the rock-bottom price tag. What could be the first teardown video of the Poco F1 has emerged to put to rest such doubts.

The Pocophone F1 teardown video isn’t from YouTube channel JerryRigsEverything who is very well known for his no holds barred teardown videos. Instead, this comes from Twitter user Bang_gogo who describes himself as a tech micro-blogger. The teardown video takes us through the entire process of dismantling the Xiaomi model. The device seems not to have too many glued parts but is held in place mostly by screws which suggest the device might be easy to take apart in case you are a DIY enthusiast.

The dismantling also shows the Snapdragon 845 chipset with a “LiquidCool” heat pipe for cooling the device. The pipe takes heat away from the metal heat spreader over the chipset then goes under the battery to connect to the metal backbone of the phone. The arrangement is very useful in keeping the device cool even during heavy gaming. The teardown also shows the IR face scanner, located next to the selfie camera and the earpiece. The face scanner is made up of an infrared camera and an illuminator. Check out the teardown video from below.

POCO F1 Teardown pic.twitter.com/Idqr2SyGnw

— Bang Gogo 📱 💻 🔍 (@bang_gogo_) August 28, 2018

HTC U12 Life benchmarked, powered by Snapdragon 636 not Snapdragon 660 processor

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Aug 28, 2018

HTC will announce a new phone on Friday and the guess is the device is the U12 Life. Just a few days before the unveiling, the phone has been benchmarked on Geekbench.

The benchmark result lists the device as the “HTC HTC 2Q6E1”. It is powered by the Snapdragon 636 processor and packs 4GB of RAM. You might be wondering why we say its the Snapdragon 636 and not “sdm660” as shown in the image below. That’s because Geekbench incorrectly identifies the Snapdragon 636 as the Snapdragon 660.

To confirm this is indeed the Snapdragon 636 and not the Snapdragon 660, we decided to compare the scores to that of true Snapdragon 660 (Nokia 7 Plus, Mi 6X) and Snapdragon 636 phones (Nokia X6, Redmi Note 5 Pro). Not only does the HTC U12 Life have similar benchmark scores as the Nokia X6 and Redmi Note 5 Pro, the base frequency (1.6GHz.) is also the same. These are proofs that the chipset is the Snapdragon 636 and not Snapdragon 660.

[envira-gallery id=”208478″]

The HTC U11 Life that was released last year launched with a Snapdragon 630 processor, so the Snapdragon 636 is still a significant upgrade. The processor uses custom Kryo 360 cores and not Cortex A53 cores like the SDM63o. And according to Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 636 offers up to a 40% increase in performance over the Snapdragon 630.

Apart from a Snapdragon 636 processor, the HTC U12 Life is also expected to come with a 6-inch 18:9 display, dual rear cameras, and a single front-facing camera. We also expect it to have Edge Sense for calling up Google Assistant or Alexa.

(Source)

New Sony Xperia XZ3 renders reveal 4 color variants ahead of IFA launch

By

Michele Ingelido

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Aug 28, 2018

Sony Xperia XZ3 will be soon unveiled at IFA 2018, the most important tech-related event of the second half of 2018 which will take place in Berlin from August 31. But now, just three days before the beginning of the trade show, the upcoming flagship is starring in fresh renders which revealed the existence of four color variants. The handset will be available in the classic Black and White color variants and in two new and original colors: Purple and Green hues. The design will not be so different from the XZ2, with a glass back curved on the borders and an aluminum frame.

But there will be an important difference on the rear glass: the presence of a single rear camera instead of a dual camera setup. But this camera will still be more impressive than the one of its predecessor because it is expected to be the newly-announced Quad Bayer sensor with a 48 MP resolution, the highest resolution ever seen on a mobile device. Above the camera, there is a laser autofocus mechanism and a LED flash, while under it there is a circular fingerprint reader placed at the center of the back cover. With the Sony Xperia XZ3, the Japanese company has decided not to follow the notch bandwagon again: the device features a classic 18:9 display with thick bezels on the upper and lower sides.

According to reports, this display will have a diagonal of 5.7 inches. Sony has already confirmed that it will hold its IFA 2018 conference on August 30, so the date in which Sony Xperia XZ3 will be announced is confirmed. Among the other specs, there should be an octa-core Snapdragon 845 chipset by Qualcomm running at a max frequency of 2.8 GHz, paired with 6 GB of RAM and 64 or 128 GB of internal storage, depending on the variant you will choose to buy.

(via)

Oppo Realme 2 Pro to debut in September, new teaser suggests

By

Michele Ingelido

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Aug 28, 2018

Oppo is letting its new Realme sub-brand grow up very quickly. Since the launch of the sub-brand happened less than four months ago, the Chinese giant has already announced two budget phones: Realme 1 which hit the shelves on May 15, and Realme 2 which was officially unveiled today and will go on sale starting from mid-September. Right after unveiling the new handset, the company has published a new teaser image hinting at the arrival of another device from its sub-brand: Oppo Realme 2 Pro. A more advanced version which will probably be a midrange phone focused on the quality-price ratio.

The teaser has been published on Twitter from the official Realme account, and we can read “One more thing 2 surprise you” with the characters 2, p, r, and o highlighted in red (2 Pro if you stick them together). The teaser also confirms that the new surprising thing will come in September. Sadly, no info has been released about the possible specs of the upcoming phone. According to the most reliable hypotheses, Oppo Realme 2 Pro will boast a Qualcomm chipset from the Snapdragon 600 series paired with up to 6 GB of RAM.

If you thought this was it, think again. We have another surprise up our sleeve. #StayTuned pic.twitter.com/rynty9cH8J

— realme (@realmemobiles) August 28, 2018

The original Realme 2 comes with an original glass/metal sandwich design and a notched display with very narrow bezels, a 6.2-inch size, and an HD+ resolution to restrain energy consumption. On the hardware side, it features an octa-core Snapdragon 450 chipset by Qualcomm clocked at 1.8 GHz, 3 or 4 GB of RAM and 32 or 64 GB of internal storage depending on the configuration. The battery has a huge capacity of 4230 mAh and it is supported by an advanced battery saving feature based on AI. The main camera is a dual setup with 13 and 2 MP resolutions, while the front-facing snapper has an 8 MP resolution. The starting price tag in India is about €110 for the base variant.

How much do you think Oppo Realme 2 Pro will cost?

Xiaomi TV now number one TV brand in China; India operation also soars

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Aug 28, 2018

This afternoon (August 28) Xiaomi held a conference in China which it dubbed strategic conference. We had expected the company to unveil a new technology for its smart TVs but nothing of such played out. We really weren’t expecting a new smart TV since the Chinese company has released a number of models this year already. During the conference, Wang Chuan, Head of Xiaomi TV revealed that the company saw an increase in its TV shipments to emerge as the number one TV brand in China.

The Xiaomi TV head also projected data from two of China’s research firms which showed that the Mi TV brand’s shipment for the second quarter of the year was the highest in China for that quarter. Also, the second data revealed that Xiaomi TV shipments in June 2018 ranked the company as the number one brand in China.

Xiaomi also disclosed that its India operation is also soaring just a little over six months after the company launched its first Mi TV models in India. The company announced that it has sold more than 500,000 Mi TVs in over six months. Selling half a million Mi TVs within this short period is no mean feat considering the presence already established brands like Samsung in the country. But the three models of Mi TV 4, Mi TV 4A 32” and Mi TV 4A 43” turned out to be spectacular products. Hence the over half a million sales figure across the three channels; mi.com, Flipkart.com and Mi Homes where the Mi TV models are sold.

This achievement positions Xiaomi as one of the top ranking TV brands in China and from the figures released, it is currently the leading TV brand in the online space. In addition, the Mi TVs are presently the most rated TV on Flipkart with over 100,000 ratings. This is as a result of the attraction it enjoys from fans across India and that attraction is not only as a result of the sleek design but also for its quality and cheap pricing. Those are qualities the company says it will maintain. Wang Chuan also assured consumers that Xiaomi TV prices won’t be increased in the face of rising cost of components. With its present marketing model, we can only expect the Mi TV brand to continue to climb higher in terms of market share. Xiaomi could be setting its sight on other markets but nothing was said about such plans.

Micromax to launch YU ACE smartphone with bigger battery on August 30

By

Jeet

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Aug 28, 2018

YU Televentures, the sub-brand of India-based smartphone manufacturer Micromax, is all set to launch a new smartphone on August 30, after a hiatus of about one year. The company has sent out media invites, revealing that it plans to launch YU ACE on August 30.

The company has been teasing the launch of its upcoming smartphone. Recently released poster hints at a big battery as the image has two batteries mimicking an hourglass and the caption on the poster read “Now, YU can last longer. So, stay tuned for the #YUFaceOff which is coming soon on 30.08.2018.”

The YU ACE will be the first smartphone from Microsoft’s online-only brand YU after Yu Yureka 2, which was launched in India in September last year. It’ll be interesting to see the company’s offering as the budget smartphone market in India is now being dominated by Chinese brands, which offers great value-for-money devices.

While the company has not revealed the phone’s specifications, we expect the smartphone to be a mid-range offering, given that the company has launched only entry-level and mid-range devices so far and it’s unlikely that it shifts its focus to the premium segment.

The YU sub-brand was launched by Micromax in the year 2014 and the first device to arrive from the brand was Yu Yureka. As said, the last device from the company was Yu Yureka 2, launched in September last year for Rs. 11,999, which was Flipkart exclusive.

Since Yu Televentures is an online-only brand, the upcoming Yu Ace will also be an online-only smartphone. However, it’s not known if it’ll be an exclusive offering of any particular online marketplace. To know more about the phone, we’ll have to wait a couple of days, until the company officially launches the phone.

Huawei announces Android Pie-based EMUI 9.0 closed beta recruitment for 9 models

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Aug 28, 2018

Just as we reported yesterday, Huawei has officially announced openings for beta testers that would be among the early adopters of its Android Pie OS upgrade in China. The upgrade is going to cover nine (9) different Huawei models and these include the Mate 10, Mate 10 Pro, Mate 10 Porsche Design, Mate RS Porsche Design, P20, P20 Pro, Honor 10, Honor V10, and Honor Play.

The upgrade will not only usher in new features that come with Android 9.0 Pie but will also usher in Huawei’s own EMUI 9.0 custom skin. Huawei is yet to disclose the features EMUI 9 will bring along with it but Android 9.0 Pie comes with several new features, one of which is a new navigation system. With Android Pie, navigation is now gesture-based. There is also a new feature called Adaptive Battery which uses machine learning to improve power management. There is also adaptive brightness and a number of UI changes.

The recruitment exercise is open for users of the 9 eligible models in China via Huawei’s Pollen Club EMUI forum’s website. Since this is a Closed Beta version, Huawei did reveal that not all the latest features that the full upgrade offers will be available. We expect the closed beta recruitment for the global ROM to rollout in no distant time.

Doogee S55 Review – Quite A Good Rugged Phone With Some Flaws

By

Linus

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Aug 28, 2018

The Chinese phone maker Doogee seems to be producing more and more rugged phones. The S50 is a pretty good device that I recently reviewed but today I wanted to show you guys a bit cheaper slimmed down version of it – the S55. It offers great specs, rugged body and a huge battery for the price of just about $150.

VIDEO REVIEW

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUnM86FjEBM[/embedyt]

UNBOXING

The phone ships with all the usual stuff and some extras include a screen protector.

DESIGN

Once you pick the phone up, it’s obvious this is a rugged phone since it is larger, thicker and heavier than your usual smartphone.

That is because Doogee S55 has the IP-68 rating meaning that it is water and dust resistant. Also, the rugged body assures that the phone will survive a few accidental drops. Unlike some other budget rugged phones, there are flaps that cover the ports to avoid water damage.

Unlike on the Doogee S50, the headset jack flap is easier to open.

The overall build quality is solid as the phone is built to last. Despite a huge footprint, it’s quite comfortable to hold the phone in the hand. Also, the device is relatively thin considering a huge battery inside.

Battery lasts for a long time, just like on the Doogee S50. You can get up to 18 hours of screen on time under light usage but if you use the phone more intensively, you should expect to get about 11 hours of SOT. It takes over 3 hours to fully charge the phone with the supplied charger which is a pretty good result considering the size of the battery.

I found the 18:9 display to be quite nice and sharp despite the fact it’s only HD+. Also, the sunlight legibility is above average.

Other features include a dual-camera system on the back, nice and tactile buttons and a fingerprint scanner that is quite accurate but there display could light up faster. On the front, there is a single camera system as opposed to dual selfie cameras found on the Doogee S50.

Removing and inserting the side-mounted SIM card tray is quite easy. You just need to open up the flap and use a sim ejector pin to remove it.

I’m a bit disappointed that the capacitive buttons are not backlit and there is no LED notification light. Lastly, the loudspeaker quality is not really good. The sound is tinny and flat just like on the Doogee S50.

HARDWARE

As far as hardware goes, the S55 ships with a pretty nice looking list of specs, considering the price. The gaming performance is good considering this is a budget rugged phone. You should be able to play most of the games without significant lag but obviously, there will be some skipped frames and stutter in some titles.

USER INTERFACE

As opposed to Doogee S50, the S55 ships with the Android 8 out of the box. The user interface preserves stock look but there are some design changes and added features like gesture and motion controls that actually work quite well. After using the phone for nearly 3 weeks, I can assure it is fast and smooth most of the time.

IMAGE QUALITY

The overall image quality is not really good. There could definitely be more detail and the colors are usually washed out. Low light pictures do not look great either. Same can be said about selfies and the portrait shots that have artificial background blur effect.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugIe_YqLxJY[/embedyt]

1080p video quality is mediocre as the footage comes out very shaky.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLUj7YNrGlc[/embedyt]

Selfie video can be recorded only in 480p, which is really frustrating. On the other hand, the quality of the footage is quite decent.

CONNECTIVITY

As for connectivity, the Doogee S55 is pretty good. Call quality is decent, there were no issues with signal reception and GPS is accurate while using for navigation.

There is also a gyroscope sensor on board so you can watch 360 content or play VR games with this phone.

CONCLUSIONS

The Doogee S55 is quite a decent budget rugged phone but it definitely has a few flaws to consider.

The main shortcoming is poor image quality. You should also know that the capacitive buttons are not backlit, there is no LED notificaitpn light and the loudspekaer quality is not great.

On the other hand, you get a nice-looking water and dust resistant phone that is well-built and it can take a beating, the Doogee S55 is quite a fast device on the daily basis and you can even play some 3D games on it. Finally, the battery life has been great thanks to a huge 5500mAh power bank.

At the end of the day, if you are looking for a budget rugged phone, the Doogee S55 might be a good option to check out if you don’t mind a few shortcomings.

Buy Doogee S55

Redmi Note 6 Pro coming soon, priced between €200 – €250

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Aug 28, 2018

Xiaomi already launched three phones belonging to the 6th generation Redmi Series. They are the Redmi 6A, the Redmi 6, and the Redmi 6 Pro a.k.a. Mi A2 Lite. But there is still one that hasn’t been released yet and that is the Redmi Note 6. Reports have surfaced saying the Redmi Note 6 (Pro version in this case) is on the way along with pricing, configuration, and color variants for Europe.

Redmi Note 6 Pro, successor to the Redmi Note 5 Pro pictured above is coming soon.

The info comes from popular leaker Roland Quandt who revealed in a tweet earlier today that the Redmi Note 6 Pro is on the way. The Note 6 Pro will be available in two variants – 3GB RAM +32GB and 4GB RAM + 64GB. While these are the models heading to Europe, there will likely be other configurations such as a 6GB RAM version.

The Redmi Note 6 Pro will launch in Gold, Blue, and Black which are pretty much standard colors for Redmi phones now. We may also get a red-coated variant later.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro incoming. 3/32GB and 4/64GB models. In Gold, Blue or Black. Priced at ~200/250 Euro likely much cheaper elsewhere as usual. And also probably coming in more colors.

— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) August 28, 2018

Pricing for the phone will be between €200 (~$234/¥1595) and €250 (~$293/¥1992). These prices are a bit higher than that of the Redmi Note 5 (Pro) in Europe at the moment.

There is no info with respect to the chipset, battery, and screen size of the phone. The Redmi Note 5 (Pro) is powered by a Snapdragon 636 processor which means if Xiaomi is going with a full upgrade, it should launch the Redmi Note 6 Pro with a Snapdragon 660 chipset or at most the new Snapdragon 670. However, we’ll advise you not to raise your hopes as Xiaomi may decide to stick to the same SoC again.

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Huawei’s latest Kirin 980 teaser confirms big improvement in AI performance

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Aug 28, 2018

Huawei brought some innovation into chip manufacturing when it announced the Kirin 970 chipset last year packing an independent Neural processing unit (NPU). The NPU brought genuine artificial intelligence capabilities to Huawei smartphones. The Chinese tech giant has announced that it would hold an event on August 31 at IFA Berlin 2018 where the next-generation Kirin 980 chipset will be announced.

Ahead of the IFA unveiling, Huawei has started sending out teasers which clearly confirm the Kirin 980 as the star product to debut on that day. The latest is a short video clip which suggests the next-gen chipset will come with yet another breakthrough in AI performance as well as the CPU and GPU aspects. Huawei had earlier released a video a couple of days back which points to a faster, smarter and stronger chipset. The major upgrades may also include reduced power consumption by the 7nm process, stronger CPU and GPU performance. The NPU is also upgraded to the second generation to promote more mobile AI scenarios and applications off the ground.

The Kirin 980 will be manufactured using the 7nm manufacturing process and will utilise four Cortex A76 cores and four Cortex A55 cores in an octa-core arrangement. It will come with a Mali GPU and a newer version of its NPU. Its clock speed is said to be about 2.8GHz. It will be Huawei’s first 7nm chipset and of course, it will square up against other expected 7nm chipsets such as Apple A12 expected to debut this year and Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 billed for the first quarter of 2019. According to Huawei’s Consumer business CEO, the Kirin 980 chipset will first feature onboard the Mate 20 series expected to launch in October this year. The CEO also stressed that the performance of this chip will be greatly improved, and will be far ahead of the Snapdragon 845.

Nubia Z18 to launch on September 5

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Aug 28, 2018

After months of leaks, Nubia has finally announced a date for the release of the Nubia Z18 flagship. The manufacturer took to Weibo today to reveal the date for the unveiling.

According to the Weibo post, the Nubia Z18 will be announced on September 5. This is the same date as the launch of the Honor 8X, Honor 8X Max and Honor Band 4.

The teaser poster shows the silhouette of the phone and confirms it will come with a notch similar to that of the Essential PH-1. The TENAA listing of the Nubia Z18 revealed the phone will have a 5.99-inch FHD+ screen with a 1080 x 2160 resolution.

It will be powered by a Snapdragon 845 processor with 6GB of RAM on the base model and 8GB of RAM on the high-end version. Storage will be 64GB and 128GB respectively. For optics, Nubia has slapped a 24MP + 8MP dual combo on the rear while an 8MP sits within the notch above the display.

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Buy OPPO Find X Smartphone For Just $819.99 On GeekBuying [Coupon Code]

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