Huawei Mate 20 Pro’s huge battery teased; Could be of 4,200mAh capacity

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Aug 8, 2018

At a time when Google has released the new version of the Android mobile operating system — Android 9.0 Pie, Samsung is struggling to roll out the previous version — Android Oreo to its budget devices.

According to the leaked roadmap for the Oreo update of South Korean giant’s budget smartphones, which reveals when to expect the Android Oreo update for its twelve mid-range devices. The Samsung Galaxy J7 Neo is the only device listed to get Oreo update in December 2018.

In January 2019, the company is planning to roll out the update for a number of devices, which includes Samsung Galaxy Tab A (2017), Galaxy A9 Pro (2016), Galaxy C7 Pro, Galaxy C9 Pro, Galaxy J2 (2018), Galaxy On5 (2016), Galaxy On7 (2016), Galaxy J7 (2018), and Galaxy J7 (2017).

The Galaxy J7 Max and the Galaxy J7 (2016) will be receiving the update in February 2019 and March 2019, respectively. The company has also stated that there’s also a possibility that this new roadmap could also get changed.

The updates schedule may differ based on the region and the company says that the schedule can change based on the development and approval processes. Users can check the update roadmap for their region/country using the Samsung Members app.

Samsung’s flagship smartphones are already running Android Oreo operating system. However, the company has not yet made any official statement regarding the new Android Pie update. Some of its devices can run the beta version of Android 9.0 Pie but Samsung’s handsets aren’t supported in Google’s Android Pie public beta program and the company has not even clarified the reason.

The new Android Pie will definitely come to the company’s recently launched flagship smartphones, however, it’s too early to speculate precisely when Samsung will release Android Pie for compatible devices.

POCOPHONE F1 unboxing video surfaces ahead of release

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Aug 8, 2018

We know the name isn’t catchy but the POCOPHONE F1 is shaping up to be a very interesting device from Xiaomi as it packs flagship specs along with a low price tag. Xiaomi has not yet announced a release date yet but there have been lots of leak on the internet. Now the device has leaked in an unboxing video that bares it all.

The POCOPHONE F1 comes in a black and yellow box. The top black half of the packaging has the words “POCOPHONE by Xiaomi” written in yellow and on the side of the box we have the phone’s name also written in bright yellow and a red tag with the words “Global Version”.

The variant in the box is the 6GB RAM + 64GB Graphite Black model. Inside the box, we have the usual assortment of documents which includes a quick start guide and warranty card. Then there is the phone, a silicone translucent black case, an 18W Xiaomi-branded power adapter, a USB-C cable, and a SIM ejector tool.

The sticker on the phone lists some of the specs such as a Snapdragon 845 processor, a liquid cooling system, dual cameras, and a 4,000mAh battery. On the back, the POCOPHONE F1 has its cameras arranged vertically and positioned in the middle; under the setup is the fingerprint scanner and close to the bottom there is “POCOPHONE” engraved in silver.

The phone also shows “POCOPHONE by Xiaomi” when you boot it up and it is shown to be running MIUI 9. It even has a custom theme named POCO. The unboxing video ends once the initial setup is complete.

Meizu 16 crushes AnTuTu, scores over 290,000 points

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Aug 8, 2018

Meizu announced its latest flagships today – the Meizu 16 and Meizu 16 Plus today. Both phones are powered by the Snapdragon 845 processor and the highest configuration has 8GB of RAM.

At the event today, Meizu revealed the AnTuTu score for its flagship. The device scored a whopping 291866 points, surpassing devices like the OnePlus 6 and the unreleased POCOPHONE F1.

To confirm the score, the folks at Chinese blog CNMO decided to run the app on their review unit and the result is quite similar. The model with them has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage and it scored 291546 points on the benchmark app.

So far, the only devices with a higher benchmark score are the Xiaomi Black Shark Gaming Smartphone and the ASUS ROG Phone. The Black Shark has a score of 292,977 points while the ROG Phone has a score of 304183 points on the benchmarking app.

Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 670: a less powerful Snapdragon 710

Meizu 16 Hands On: Beauty is in Symmetry

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Joel Joseph

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Aug 8, 2018

With the number of flagships flooding the market these days, it’s very hard for any particular smartphone to stand out of the crowd. Things get even worse when you are a small time company, especially in the premium segment where Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo, and OPPO have some really compelling options. Still, there are a few smartphones that do stand out because of its design and features and the Meizu 16 series can definitely be tagged as one of such devices. The phone offers tremendous value for money, starting under $400 in China, even beating the Xiaomi Mi 8 and OnePlus 6 in its pricing. So, let’s move on to the Meizu 16 hands on.

In this age where notches are taking over the smartphone market, its very refreshing to see a different design. Yes, I know there are notch-less options like the Vivo Nex and the OPPO Find X, but they do feature mechanical pop up cameras that may not be everyone’s cup of tea due to a number of reasons. Also, some users prefer a little bit of bezel around their smartphone and the Meizu 16 could be a perfect blend of bezel and screen. I say this because the Meizu 16 takes the screen to body ratio to up to 91.18%, and that’s almost the same as the full screen Vivo Nex!

Another important revelation from this Meizu 16 hands was its light weight feel. The phone is super light and as compared to competitors like the OnePlus 6, OPPO Find X and even the Xiaomi Mi 8, the Meizu 16 comes in as a significantly lightweight option weighing just 152 grams. Its quite thin as well, measuring just 7.3mm in thickness.

So how did Meizu limit its bezels to such a level? The company revealed that it spent millions of dollars squeezing in all the components like camera, earpiece and sensors on the thin top bezel by re-customizing its display packaging technology. The end result is a super thin bezel smartphone that comes with a very high screen to body ratio, without sacrificing on durability by adding any mechanical parts. It’s the perfect solution if you don’t mind the small bezels on the top and the bottom.

Coming to the body, the phone is essentially made of glass on both the sides, with the back getting a special 7 layer coating that makes the texture very similar to ceramic. The back isn’t as reflective as the Mirror Black edition of the OnePlus 6, but as you can see in the image, it’s quite glossy.

The back is curved making it comfortable to grip and the 6-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display is compact yet large enough to satisfy your entertainment needs. The buttons are on the right while the SIM slot is on the left. The top is clean save for a microphone opening, while at the bottom you have a USB Type-C port, speakers, and a dedicated 3.5mm headphone jack. The back features a dual camera setup with ring flash just below it. Apart from these, the overall design of the Meizu 16 is simple yet elegant, especially with an in-display fingerprint scanner neatly tucked under the AMOLED screen.

You can check out more Meizu 16 hands on pictures down below. Let me know your thoughts on the design of the new handset.

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Aug 8, 2018

Before the Snapdragon 700 series was announced, the Snapdragon 670 was the chipset we looked forward to. However, there were reports Qualcomm decided to launch it as the Snapdragon 710. It turns out those reports were wrong as Qualcomm has announced the Snapdragon 670 chipset.

The Snapdragon 670 is closer to the Snapdragon 710 in terms of specs which explains why there were reports it was relaunched as the SDM710. Like the Snapdragon 710, the Snapdragon 670 is a 10nm chipset. It even has the same Kryo 360 cores (eight) as the 710 but is clocked at 2.0GHz.

The Snapdragon 670 has an Adreno 615 GPU which should be less powerful than the SD710’s Adreno 616 GPU. It also supports FHD+ max resolution unlike the 710 which supports QHD+ maximum resolution. However, it has the same Hexagon 685 DSP and Spectra 250 ISP as the SD710. The SD670 supports up to a 25MP single camera and 16MP dual cameras.

Qualcomm has also swapped the X15 LTE modem of the SD710 for a slower X12 LTE modem. So maximum download speed is 600Mbps and maximum upload speed is 150Mbps. The Snapdragon 670 also supports Dual SIM Dual VoLTE (DSDV) and Quick Charge 4+ and comes with a multi-core AI engine that is said to be 1.8x better than that of the previous generation.

To sum it up, the Snapdragon 670 is just a slightly less-powerful Snapdragon 710. It has a lower clocked CPU, a slightly less-powerful GPU, and a slower modem.

Xiaomi Mi A2 Android One smartphone with 4GB RAM lands in India for Rs. 16,990 ($248)

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Aug 8, 2018

A few weeks ago, Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi introduced two Android One smartphones at a global launch event in Spain — Mi A2 and Mi A2 Lite. Now, the company has officially brought the Mi A2 smartphone — the successor of the last year’s Mi A1, to India.

The phone will be exclusively available for purchase through Amazon India for Rs. 16,990, which roughly converts to $248. It’ll be available in four color options — Black, Gold, Lake Blue and Rose Gold. In India, the Mi A2 will be available for pre-order tomorrow on Amazon and Mi.com, while the shipments will being a week later, from 16th August.

The Xiaomi Mi A2 features a 5.99-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD display with 2160 x 1080 pixels and 2.5D curved glass and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. Under the hood, the device is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 octa-core processor along with Adreno 512 GPU.

The device packs 4GB RAM with 64GB internal storage. The 6GB RAM variant of the phone, which comes with 128GB storage, will be launched in India at a later date. There’s also a microSD card slot that enables users to further expand the phone’s storage capacity.

Coming to the camera department, the phone sports a 12-megapixel primary camera with Sony IMX486 sensor, LED flash, f/1.75 aperture and a 20-megapixel secondary sensor with Sony IMX376 sensor with f/1.75 aperture. On the front side, there’s a 20-megapixel snapper with Sony IMX376 sensor with Soft-LED flash.

The phone comes with a fingerprint sensor on the back panel. Connectivity options on the device include Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz / 5GHz), Bluetooth 5 LE, GPS + GLONASS, and USB Type-C. It also comes with an IR blaster.

As the Mi A2 is a part of Google’s Android One program, the phone runs on stock Android 8.1 Oreo operating system out of the box instead of Xiaomi’s MIUI custom interface. The device drives power from a 3,010mAh battery with Quick Charge 4 fast charging technology.

Mijia launches Hey+ Smartband with AMOLED display for ¥229 (~$34)

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Aug 8, 2018

Xiaomi’s Mi Band 3 was announced back in May and has sold more than a million units since it went on sale. However, it appears the Mi Band 3 is up for some serious competition. There is a new smartband called the Hey+ and it is made by one of the companies under Xiaomi’s Mijia platform.

The design of the Hey+ Smartband is similar to that of the Mi Band 3. It has a capsule design that fits into a changeable rubber strap. The only physical difference is the position of its charge pins which are underneath the band.

The Hey+ is a much better smartband than the Mi Band 3 with respect to specs. Unlike the Mi Band 3 that has a 0.78-inch 128 x 80 display, the Hey+ comes with a 0.95-inch 240 x 120 colored AMOLED display.

Even with the color display, the Hey+ smartband is said to have a battery life of 18 days. Its battery capacity is 120mAh, same as that of the Mi Band 3.

The Hey+ smartband has NFC by default and supports payments and bus cards. The smartband records calories and steps taken and also tracks activities like swimming, cycling, running, and sleeping. It also has a sedentary reminder and will notify you of calls and display messages.

The Hey+ smartband connects via Bluetooth 4.0+ and works with devices running Android 4.4 and above or iOS 8 and above. There is a dedicated app for the smartband but it also works with the Mijia Home app as it can be used to control Mijia smart home products like the Mi Robot Vacuum cleaner, Mi Air Purifier, and smart cameras.

Xiaomi Mi Bluetooth Sports Headphone Youth Edition on sale now

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Aug 8, 2018

Xiaomi has launched a new Bluetooth headset with an ultra-cheap price tag. The gadget is dubbed the Mi Bluetooth Headset Youth version and is presently on sale on the Xiaomi online store.

The Mi Bluetooth Headset Youth version has a design similar to that of the Mi Bluetooth Headset Mini. The design includes a slightly tilted sports ear top for it to better fit the contour of the ear. With this design, it won’t fall off easily and can also be adjusted 360-degrees.

The wireless headset weighs just 13.6g which is pretty light. It is even lighter than the Mi Bluetooth Headset Mini version. The headset has an IPX4 waterproof build and has a battery life of 11 hours. It also supports Xiaomi’s AI assistant.

Meizu Gravity Speaker finally launches for ¥999 (~$146)

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Aug 8, 2018

The Meizu Gravity Speaker has been in development for over two years now. News of the speaker first surfaced in May 2016 when Meizu listed it on crowdfunding platform Indiegogo. Fast forward to December of the same year and Meizu announced the speaker would start shipping in the first quarter of 2017. As you can see, that didn’t happen and Meizu had to refund backers.

After more than a year since it was expected to ship, Meizu has finally announced the Gravity Speaker is available for purchase. The announcement was made today alongside the launch of the Meizu 16 and Meizu 16 Plus.

The Meizu Gravity Speaker has a unique design which makes it appear to be floating in mid-air. The trick to the floating illusion is a transparent rectangular glass prism that props the speaker’s main body up in the air. When viewed from a certain angle, it appears as if the speaker itself is floating. That isn’t the only cool thing about the speaker though.

At the top of the speaker is a triangular glass prism that acts as a heads-up display. The prism is actually placed over the speaker’s main display but thanks to the laws of physics, the light rays from the display passes through the prism and it appears as if the display is in the prism itself. Meizu calls this design “Half Mirror”.

The Meizu Gravity Speaker has two 40mm speakers each with a power output of 10W. There is a Texas Instrument TAS5754M audio chipset inside for audio processing. It also has Dirac HD Sound for improved audio quality.

The Gravity Speaker can play music from your devices via Bluetooth 4.1. It can also connect to the internet via the Gravity app (available only for Android at the moment, iOS app in development) and then stream music from a bunch of platforms like Spotify, SoundCloud, and TuneIn to name a few. It also has an aux port. Wi-Fi connectivity is limited to 2.4GHz.

Xiaomi could launch green color variant of Mi MIX 2S on August 10

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Aug 8, 2018

Recently, Xiaomi teased the launch a new variant of the Mi MIX 2S by posting a video on a microblogging platform Weibo. In the video, there appears a number of Dunhuang art photos in green color. Now, a new image has surfaced online that shows the Mi MIX 2S in green color.

Prior to this upcoming Dunhuang Art Edition, Xiaomi had worked with the British Museum to design and package the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S Special Art Edition, priced at 4,299 Yuan (approximately $629). Now, the green color variant of the Mi MIX 2S is expected to launch on August 10.

The Mi MIX 2S features a 5.99-inch IPS LCD Full Screen 2.0 display that offers a screen resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. The screen that delivers an aspect ratio of 18:9 carries support for DCI-P3 color gamut. The Mi MIX 2S offers higher screen-to-body ratio than the Mi MIX 2.

It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset coupled with Artificial Intelligence Engine (AIE). The device comes in three variants — 6GB RAM with 64GB internal storage, 6GB RAM with 128GB storage and 8GB RAM with 256GB onboard storage. It’s not yet known if the new color option will be available in all three models or not.

The Mi MIX 2S is the first phone in the series to feature a vertically aligned dual camera setup. It features an f/1. 8 aperture 12-megapixel Sony IMX363 wide-angle lens that has a pixel size of 1.4micron as the primary sensor. It is coupled with a secondary 12-megapixel telephoto lens that carries support for 2x optical zoom. There’s an 8-megapixel selfie camera with AI-based features.

The front camera of the Mi MIX 2S also works as face unlock feature. There’s also a fingerprint reader on the back panel. The connectivity features available on the device include dual-SIM, USB-C, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, and NFC.

Running on Android 8.1 Oreo operating system out of the box with the company’s own MIUI 10, the handset is fuelled by a 3,400mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging support.

Xiaomi Pocophone F1 hands-on video leaked to reveal front and rear design

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Aug 8, 2018

Rumors have revealed Xiaomi will be soon debut a new flagship phone called Pocophone F1. In the last few days, the rumor mill has already unearthed the specifications and images of the smartphone. Today, a leaked hands-on video of the smartphone has surfaced online. The blurry video shows off its front and rear design.

The video begins by showing the front side of the phone. As it can be seen, the handset features a notched display. The front appearance of the Pocophone F1 is identical to the Xiaomi Mi 8 flagship phone. It features a wide notch like the Mi 8. Also, it features a slightly thick bottom bezel.

Since the video is blurry, the contents of the “About Phone” page is not clearly visible. However, it seems to show that it is packed with 2.8 GHz octa-core processor, 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage, It can also be deduced that phone is loaded with MIUI 9 flavored Android 8.1 Oreo.

It is speculated that the Xiaomi Pocophone F1 features a 6-inch IPS LCD display that supports 2246 x 1080 pixels. Hence, the smartphone will be supporting an aspect ratio of 19:9. Rumors have it the notch of the Pocophone F1 includes a flood illuminator and an infrared to camera to support AI face unlock in pitch-dark conditions.

The rear design of the Pocophone F1 is quite different from Xiaomi Mi 8. There is a vertical dual camera system followed by a fingerprint scanner in the top half of the back panel of Pocophone F1.

The Snapdragon 845 chipset is expected to power the phone along with 8 GB of RAM. It will be also equipped with liquid cooling system. For photography, it is expected to feature dual-LED flash enabled 12-megapixel + 5-megapixel dual rear camera. The notch of the expected to house a front-facing camera of 20-megapixel. The handset will be receiving power from 4,000mAh battery that will carry support for Quick Charge 3.0.

The Pocophone F1 is expected to be available with a price tag of 420 euros (~$486) in Europe. The Pocophone F1 is also rumored to release in India in the near future. It is speculated that the Pocophone F1 may debut in Europe by September and it may arrive in India in October.

Xiaomi to soon launch 8GB RAM variant of its flagship smartphone Mi 8

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