Vivo NEX S vs Oppo Find X: Flagships With Pop Up Cameras Compared!

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Jul 2, 2018

After launching Vivo Z1 smartphone in its new Z-series of mid-range smartphones, Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo has now launched a new device — Vivo Z1i, which is a cheaper variant of the Vivo Z1. This is the same smartphone that recently surfaced online, revealing its specs.

The Vivo Z1i will be available for purchase in China from July 7th in two color options — Black and Gold. The smartphone is priced at 1,898 Yuan, which roughly converts to $285 and is currently available for pre-order through Vivo Online Store.

In terms of specifications, the smartphone features a 6.26-inch Full HD+ IPS display with 2280 x 1080 pixels screen resolution and 19:9 aspect ratio. In line with the current trend, the phone also comes with a notch on top of the display, which houses the front-facing camera and other sensors.

Under the hood, the device is powered by Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon 636 octa-core processor with Adreno 509 GPU. This is the same chipset that powers other mid-range smartphones such as Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro and ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1, among others.

The Vivo Z1i packs 4GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage. Even though it has 128GB onboard storage, the device has a microSD card slot, which enables users to further expand the storage capacity up to 256GB.

Coming to the optics, the smartphone sports a dual camera setup on the back side, with sensors stacked vertically and the module placed in the top-left corner, along with an LED flash. The back camera module consists of a 13MP primary sensor and a 2MP secondary sensor. On the front side, there’s a 16MP snapper for taking selfies and video calling.

There is also a fingerprint sensor placed on the back panel for added security. Connectivity options on the smartphone include 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz / 5GHz), Bluetooth 5, and GPS. It runs on Android 8.1 Oreo operating system with the FunTouch OS 4.0 on top. The device drives power from a 3,260mAh battery, which seems sufficient to last full day on moderate usage.

Xiaomi Mi Max 3 Retail Box shown in photo

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Jul 2, 2018

The Mi Max 3 is expected to launch this month. The device already surfaced on TENAA, revealing its specs and design. Today, Xiaomi’s CEO – Lei Jun has released a picture of the retail box.

The retail box doesn’t reveal much and has a similar design Xiaomi uses for its phones now. There is a Mi logo at the top right corner, and “Max 3” written in gold in a larger font at the bottom. There is also Mi Max 3 written on the side.

However, there is a chance the retail box will vary according to markets. The Mi Max 2, for example, has a different retail box in China and India. While the Chinese model has a plain white and simple design, the version made and sold in India has a photo of the phone in front. The global version of the Mi Max 3 may also come with a different design.

iPhone X 2018 lands on Geekbench with Apple A12, more RAM

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Jul 2, 2018

Apple is expected to launch three new iPhones this year. One of them, which we think is the iPhone X 2018, has been spotted on Geekbench.

The new iPhones will be powered by a new SoC known as the Apple A12. The Geekbench listing of the new iPhone (benchmarked as iPhone 11,2) confirms the newer SoC to be D321AP which is different from the iPhone X’ D22AP.

The CPU benchmark scores are not significantly different from the A11’s but that may change after some optimizations. However, there are some other big changes. The L1 cache is now larger at 128KB and the base frequency is higher at 2.49GHz, compared to the A11 bionic’s 32KB and 2.39GHz respectively.

The biggest improvement in the new Apple A12 chipset is in the GPU. Its metal score is 21691 points, a big jump from the A11’s 15005. This is Apple’s second GPU since ditching Imagination’s PowerVR GPU and it does pack some serious punch.

Samsung Galaxy On6 with 5.6-HD+ display and 4GB RAM launched in India

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Jul 2, 2018

After launching Galaxy J8 in India, Samsung has launched a new mid-range smartphone in the country under its online-only ‘On’ series — Samsung Galaxy On6. The smartphone comes in two color options — Blue and Black and will be available for purchase through Flipkart and Samsung Shop Online, for a price of Rs. 14,490 (roughly converts to $218) in the first sale.

After the first sale of the Galaxy On6, the pricing of the smartphone will increase to Rs. 15,490, which roughly converts to $225. The first sale for the smartphone will take place on July 5th, Thursday. As a part of launch offers, users can get a complete mobile protection plan at just Rs. 49.

The smartphone comes with a 56-inch HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity Display with 2.5D curved glass, 1480 x 720 pixels screen resolution, 18.5:9 aspect ratio and pixel density of 293 PPI. Under the hood, the device is powered by Samsung’s own Exynos 7870 octa-core processor clocked at 1.6GHz, along with Mali T830 GPU. It’s disappointing to see that Samsung is still using the outdated Exynos 7870 chipset, which was launched in 2016.

The device packs 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage along with support for microSD card for expanding the phone’s storage capacity up to 256GB. In the camera department, the phone features a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera, which also comes equipped with an LED flash.

For added security, the phone comes with a fingerprint sensor, placed on the back panel. Connectivity options on the device include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2 LE, and GPS. The device is running Android 8.0 Oreo operating system out of the box and is powered by a 3,000mAh battery, which should be enough to provide power for a full day usage.

At this price point, the Samsung Galaxy On6 will be competing against the likes of Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro, ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1, and Oppo’s Realme 1. It seems difficult for Samsung to compete with these devices as all three of them comes with better specifications than the Galaxy On6.

Huawei Nova 3 Full Specs Revealed On TENAA, Comes With Four Cameras

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Jul 2, 2018

The Huawei Nova 3 was seen on TENAA last week but only images were available. The full specs have now been revealed and the Nova 3 does pack some interesting features.

The Nova 3 will come with a 6.3-inch 2240 x 1080 display which means it has a notch. It is powered by a 2.36GHz octa-core processor. There were rumors that the phone will come with the new Kirin 710 but that doesn’t seem to be the case as that clock-speed points at the Kirin 659. Yeah, we are tired of it too.

The SoC is paired with 6GB of RAM and will come in 64GB and 128GB versions. There will also be a microSD card slot to add up to an extra 256GB of storage.

The selling point of the Huawei Nova 3 will be its quad cameras – dual cameras on both sides. We guess this is Huawei’s way of compensating for the Kirin 659. The rear cameras are a combination of a 16MP primary sensor and a 24MP secondary sensor. For selfies, the Nova 3 packs a 24MP sensor and it is paired with a secondary 2MP sensor. Expect it to come bundled with Huawei’s AI features.

Sony H8256 Geekbench Listing Reveals Snapdragon 855 & 8 GB RAM

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Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jul 2, 2018

A Geekbench listing of Sony H8526 has been spotted by a Reddit user. The screenshot of the listing is now available on a Japanese tech site. What’s interesting about the listing is that the Sony H8526 has been spotted with the unannounced Snapdragon 855 SoC.

The Geekbench listing of H8526 has revealed that the handset has scored 3,033 points in the single-core test. Also, it has recorded an extraordinary score of 10,992 in the multi-core test. The H8526 has achieved such marvelous scores thanks to Snapdragon 855 and 8 GB of RAM. In fact, Sony H8526 seems to be the first phone from the company to feature 8 GB of RAM. The handset is preloaded with Android 9.0 P.

Rumors have revealed that the Snapdragon 845 is a 7nm chipset that is expected to arrive with Snapdragon X50 LTE modem for 5G connectivity. A recent report has revealed that TSMC will be starting with the mass production of 7nm SD855 SoC.

The Sony Xperia XZ2 series have model numbers from H81XX to H83XX. The recent leaks have revealed that the upcoming Xperia XZ3 has a model number of H84XX. The Sony H8256 handset features all the specs that are suitable for a 2019 Sony flagship. On the contrary, the presence of “H” at its beginning suggests that it could be a 2018 smartphone. Also, the Geekbench listing is not available on the benchmarking site. Hence, it seems that the listing could be fake. So, readers are advised to digest this report with a grain of salt.

Recent reports have revealed that Sony may debut the Xperia XZ3 smartphone at the upcoming IFA 2018. The handset is expected to borrow dual cameras and front camera from the Xperia XZ2 Premium that was made available in April. There is a possibility that the Xperia XZ3 Compact also arrive with the XZ3. It is also speculated that another premium smartphone named as Xperia XZ3 Pro or XZ3 Premium may debut before the end of this year.

(via)

Elephone A4 Review – Looks Can Be Deceiving

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Linus

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Jul 2, 2018

This is the Elephone A4. It costs just about $110 but it has a full-screen display with the notch, nice design, and great build quality but… it doesn’t mean it’s a perfect phone. As always, stay tuned to the full Elephone A4 review to find out all the pros and cons.

VIDEO REVIEW

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsNxXD4qqxE[/embedyt]

UNBOXING

The phone ships with all the usual stuff and some extras include a soft TPU case.

DESIGN

Design-wise, we are looking at a very nice and well-built phone. I like a shiny Stainless steel frame that just feels sturdy and the overall build quality is very good. A glass backplate and Stainless steel make the phone look more expensive than it is.

The display is pretty good for the price of the phone. It’s sharp and vibrant and outdoor visibility is decent. We have just a single camera system that I will talk a bit later. A side-mounted fingerprint reader is very accurate and fast, and it’s easy to reach. A face unlock feature kind of works but it’s unreliable, that;’s why I use the fingerprint reader.

Other features: the Elephone A4 has a 5MP selfie shooter and a hybrid sim card slot. However, there is no notification LED light, no headset jack, the device uses a micro USB port, instead of USB C. Finally, the loudspeaker quality is quite bad and the sound gets distorted at the highest volume settings. Here is an audio sample.

HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

In terms of hardware, it may seem that the phone has pretty good specs for the price but it actually uses an underpowered Mediatek chipset. Also, I wish the phone had at least 32GB of internal storage.

I am disappointed with the overall gaming performance. There are quite a few skipped frames and stutter even while playing a 4-year-old Asphalt 8 on the highest graphics. You will also see quite a few skipped frames in other games like Asphalt extreme or shadow fight 3. In addition, the phone gets hot quickly, just after 5 mins of gaming.

USER INTERFACE

The phone runs on Android 8.1 out of the box but we have a custom Elephone skin built on top of it. That means that we have customized icons and a few added features. You can change the layout of navigation buttons and adjust other settings but in general, you get a pretty much stock android experie3nce.

The overall performance is underwhelming. There is quite a lot of stutter, many skipped frames and even lag while using the phone on the daily basis with many apps installed.

IMAGE QUALITY

The overall image quality is just terrible. The phone uses an 8MP shooter that is interpolated to 13MP. The pictures simply look bad even though I took them on a nice and sunny day. The situation becomes much worse in low light.

Selfies look bad too.

Video quality does not impress either but that’s the case with most of the budget phones.

As always, check out full resolution camera samples on my Facebook page and give me a follow for the latest updates.

CONNECTIVITY

As for connectivity, I found the call quality to be decent and signal reception is good. The GPS is quite accurate too. However, the phone does not have a gyroscope, meaning that it does not support 360 content.

BATTERY

In terms of battery life, you should be able to get about 5 hours of screen-on time on the daily basis which is a pretty standard result.

What is really frustrating is that you need to use a micro USB cable with a longer than usual connector for charging.

CONCLUSIONS

The Elephone A4 is a very nice-looking phone that has a good display but the looks sometimes can be deceiving.

I’m mostly disappointed with the bad overall performance. The phone just feels slow and laggy most of the time. In addition, gaming performance is below average, the phone gets hot quickly. Further, there is no notification LED light, you need to use a cable with a longer than usual micro USB connector and there is only 16GB of storage. Finally, cameras are just terrible.

Overall, I cannot recommend Elephone A4 even though it looks nice. There are plenty of other budget phones that are much better than this. For just a little bit more, you can get the Xiaomi Redmi 5. If you are on a tight budget, even the older generation phones like the Xiaomi Redmi 4 or Redmi 4a are better options than the Elephone A4.

Buy Elephone A4 from Coolicool

Join The Europe Zero-Rating VAT Purchase Program On DJI Official Store

By

Vinay Patel

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Jul 2, 2018

In a bid to show appreciation and express sincere gratitude to the publishers for their support, the popular Chinese technology company DJI is giving EU-based customers an opportunity to take part in the DJI EU Zero-rating VAT Purchase Program for corporate purchases. Let’s head straight to the details.

If you’re a VAT-registered buyer, based in one of EU member states and have a VAT registration number, then you are qualified to submit your VAT registration number for purchasing from DJI Online Store (store.dji.com). This will be subject to the conditions mentioned in the VAT Registration Agreement. Regrettably, buyers based in the UK and the Netherlands aren’t eligible to participate in the program.

It is imperative for you to first read the VAT Registration Agreement before you proceed ahead with submitting your VAT registration number. You’d be able to submit your VAT registration number only after you confirm that you agree to the conditions stated in the agreement. Once you are a verified VAT customer, the 0% VAT will be brought to bear directly at the time of checking out while buying from DJI Online Store.

Process

After you complete the registration form and submit your details, DJI will review your application within 3-5 business days. Next off, you need to log into your DJI account in order to check if it shows “0% VAT verified” under My Account section.

All you need to do now is buy products at the DJI Online Store and the 0% VAT will be automatically applied while checking out. The DJI EU Zero-rating VAT Purchase Program is currently available for shipping in select areas including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, and the Czech Republic just to name a few. You can head straight to this link in order to join the program and check out the full details.

EU Zero-Rating VAT Purchase Program

Samsung Foldable Phone To Have A 3000mAh Or More Flexible Battery

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Jul 2, 2018

Samsung SDI is the battery manufacturing arm of the electronics giant. It makes batteries for a wide range of products including phones, electric cars and bikes, vacuum cleaners, and power banks.

Samsung SDI has been working on foldable (or bendable) batteries for years now. About four years ago, a prototype flexible battery it made only had a capacity of 210mAh, which is way too small for a phone.

It appears they have been able to make larger foldable batteries. Industry insiders say the company will start mass production of the larger batteries this year. The new batteries are said to have capacities between 3,000mAh to 6,000mAh.

Vivo NEX Bug Makes Pop-Up Camera Elevate Without Prompts

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Jul 2, 2018

Recently, Vivo launched its Vivo NEX smartphones which come with a pop-up front-facing camera, which eliminates the need of a notch on the display to accommodate front-facing camera sensor. The front-facing camera module in the Vivo NEX series smartphones is designed in such as way that the camera pops-up or elevates whenever the user opens the camera app.

However, according to the reports, a bud related to the phone’s camera makes the front-facing camera of the Vivo NEX pop-up even when the user takes no such action. According to the report, this happens while opening a chat window on Telegram. Other users are also complaining about the same bug while using Tencent’s QQ browser and the Ctrip app.

A video of this bug has been posted by a user on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo, which shows that the front camera pops-up without any action from the user while using messaging app Telegram. When the user opens Telegram app and goes to New Message, and clicks on a contact to open up a new chat, the camera appears. It goes back into concealment once the user exits the application.

In a statement, Tencent says that while the QQ browser does prompt the selfie camera, it does not record anything. Tencent is blaming the Android’s camera APIs for this issue. It claims that the API is triggered because of the QR code scanning nature of the mobile browser. On the other hand, Vivo spokesperson says that the company has made its technical team aware of the issue and will soon follow up with an update.

The Vivo NEX series, which includes NEX S and NEX A, were recently launched in China in two color options — Diamond Black and Ruby Red. The high-end model with 8GB RAM is priced at 4,998 Yuan, which roughly converts to $780 while the mid-range device costs 4,498 Yuan (approximately $702). On the other hand, the cheapest variant with SD710 costs 3,898 Yuan which roughly converts to $609.

The smartphone is also set to launch in India on July 19th and Vivo has already sent out media invites for the same. However, it is not yet known if the company plans to launch all the variants of the Vivo NEX in India.

(Source)

Light Is Developing A Phone With 9 Cameras To Launch In 2018

By

Michele Ingelido

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Jul 2, 2018

After LG and Huawei launched their first smartphones with dual cameras (Huawei P9 and LG G5),two camera setups became one of the main trends of the mobile devices sector. Back in March, Huawei unveiled the first smartphone with a triple camera setup and DxOMark said that smartphones with four cameras will soon become very common. Now, according to the latest news from Washington Post, Light is developing a smartphone with 9 cameras. In case you never head about Light: it is the brand which released the first computational camera with 16 sensors, called L16.

light — A Light L16 multi-aperture computational camera, a CES 2018 Innovation Awards winner, is displayed at CES Unveiled Las Vegas, a press preview event before the start of CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 7, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / DAVID MCNEW (Photo credit should read DAVID MCNEW/AFP/Getty Images)

This camera is composed of sensors with different focal apertures which can be combined to shoot photos with resolutions up to 52 Megapixels. According to the manufacturer, its technology can make cameras shoot photos with resolutions of up to 64 MP. The multi-lens system is able to achieve good performance even with low-light conditions and it can apply depth effects thanks to several different sensors included. And these features are what we expect to see in the upcoming smartphone with 9 cameras. Light is currently developing the phone and it has also created a prototype with 5 to 9 lens with incredible zoom capabilities.

Given its high number of sensors, this phone may feature the strongest optical zoom ever seen in the mobile phones market. The phone is supposed to arrive within the end of this year with Android, but it is unlikely that it will have an affordable price tag. The computational camera Light L16 is actually available with a price tag of $1950. Unfortunately, we do not know anything about the hardware side of the upcoming device, but we know that making 9 cameras work together would require a lot of processing power. So, it is likely that this device will be either a flagship phone or an upper-midrange handset.

(via)

OnePlus 6 Red Variant is Launching in India on July 16

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Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jul 2, 2018

OnePlus has just introduced the Amber Red OnePlus 6 in China. The reservations of the smartphone have started in the home country and its official sales are slated to go live on July 9. India is also one of the first markets to receive the Red OnePlus 6 as the company has the Indian wing of the company has confirmed that it will be available for buying from July 16.

Last year, the Chinese manufacturer had introduced Lava Red edition for the OnePlus 5T smartphone. Now the company is gearing to introduce a red version of the OnePlus 6 in India.

The OnePlus 6 Red is now available for registrations on Amazon India. The handset includes 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of inbuilt storage. The official site has revealed that the handset will be carrying a price tag of Rs. 39,999. OnePlus.in and Amazon India will begin its sales from July 16.

As it can be seen in the above screenshot, the OnePlus 6 Red will be available for buying along with other models like Mirror Black 6 GB RAM + 64 GB storage, Mirror Black 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage, Midnight Black 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage and Silk White 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage.

The OnePlus 6 Red will be featuring the same specs as other models. It includes 6.28-inch Optic AMOLED notched display, Snapdragon 845, 16-megapixel + 20-megapixel dual camera, 16-megapixel and 3,300mAh battery. Here are some of the official renders of the Amber Red OnePlus 6 that has been introduced in China.

In related news, OnePlus will be also debuting Midnight Black 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage model from July 10 on Amazon India and from July 14 on OnePlus.in. This model is priced at 43,999 and is currently available for registrations.

Would you be interested in buying the OnePlus 6 Red? Share us your views by posting your comments below.

(source 1, 2)

Spice F311 Android Go Smartphone Launched In India For Rs. 5,599 ($82)

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Jul 2, 2018

Spice Devices has launched a new entry-level smartphone in India — Spice F311, which is running Android Oreo (Go Edition) and comes with a “Full View” display. This is the fourth Android Go smartphone to launch in India, after Nokia 1, Lava Z50, and Micromax Bharat Go.

The Spice F311 is priced in India at Rs. 5,599, which roughly converts to $82. The smartphone will be available for purchase in India in three color options — Rose Gold, Black, and Phantom Red. Further, the company is also announced that it will be offering a one-year replacement warranty.

The smartphone features a 5.45-inch “Full View” IPS display with screen resolution of 960 x 480 pixels and an 18:9 aspect ratio. Under the hood, it is powered by a MediaTek processor that has four cores at a clock-speed of 1.1GHz, coupled with Mali-T720 MP1 GPU.

The device packs 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, along with the support for microSD card that can further expand the storage capacity up to 32GB. In the camera department, it comes with a 5-megapixel rear camera with an LED flash and f/2.0 aperture, while the front-facing camera packs a 5-megapixel sensor with an LED flash. Both sensors are equipped with an autofocus (AF) lens.

Connectivity options on the device include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/ A-GPS, Micro-USB, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It also comes with a rear-facing fingerprint sensor that also lets users capture images, answer and record voice calls, off-screen wake-up, and access select applications. Running on Android Oreo (Go Edition) operating system, the smartphone is powered by a 2400mAh battery that is rated to deliver up to 240 hours of standby time on a single charge.

Samsung is also reportedly working on its first Android Go smartphone that is expected to hit the Indian market in the near future. The phone is expected to have 5-inch Super AMOLED display,5-inch Super AMOLED display, Exynos 7570 chipset, 1GB RAM and 16GB storage.

Moto E5 Plus Confirmed To Launch In India Later This Month

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