OnePlus 6 Silk White Limited Edition Goes Out Of Stock In The US And Europe Within A Day

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Jun 7, 2018

Yesterday, Xiaomi had confirmed that it will be announcing the Redmi 6 series on June 12. It is speculated that Xiaomi will be debuting the Redmi 6, Redmi 6A and Redmi 6 Pro/Plus smartphones on the said date. Without mentioning more on the Redmi 6 series, the company has claimed that it will be a surprise upgrade. The Chinese manufacturer has released a fresh teaser today through which the company has promised that there will be no lags on Redmi 6 in long-term use.

The makers of Android flagship phones extend the lifespan of these devices by releasing regular updates. Hence, even after using for longer period, some flagship phones still deliver lag-free performance. However, entry-level and low-budget phones tend to lag in long-term use. The new teaser by Xiaomi reveals that the Redmi 6 won’t encounter such an issue.

The company did not reveal what sort of optimization will be available on the smartphone for lag-free performance. It is likely that the handset may come loaded with the latest MIUI 10 ROM which is said to deliver faster performance than MIUI 9. With deep integration of AI, the MIUI 10 will be able to under the usage pattern of the user to deliver optimized performance.

It is speculated that the M1805D1SE Xiaomi phone that has recently appeared on TENAA with a notched display will get official as Xiaomi Redmi 6. It features a 5.84-inch FHD+ display and it is rumored to be powered by the old Snapdragon 625. The handset is expected to arrive in options like 16 GB storage + 2 GB RAM, 32 GB storage + 3 GB RAM and 64 GB storage + 4 GB RAM. It is likely to house a 3,900mAh battery

The Xiaomi Redmi 6 may feature a selfie camera of 5-megapixel and the primary camera in the dual camera setup could be of 12-megapixel. It will be loaded with Android 8.1 Oreo and it will be housing a rear-mounted fingerprint reader. Rumor have it that the handset may launch in China with a starting price of 799 Yuan (~$125).

Vivo NEX to Offer Highest Screen Space Without Notch, Reveals Official Teaser

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Jun 7, 2018

Vivo has recently confirmed through an official teaser that the Vivo NEX flagship phone would be equipped with a pop-up selfie camera. Today, the company has released to showcase the amazing display of the phone that offers a huge screen space.

Most of the smartphone makers including Vivo have been launching notch enabled smartphones in a bid to provide users with ample screen space. It seems that Vivo is all set to start a new trend of notch-less display that offers a very high screen-to-body ratio. Here is the first official teaser of Vivo NEX that shows its marvelous display.

As it can be seen in the official poster, the display of the phone is surrounded by super-slim bezels on three sides. The bottom side of the NEX’s display is slightly thick. Rumors have that the Vivo NEX will be coming with a massive display of 6.59 inches.

Like the Vivo APEX concept phone, the NEX smartphone is expected to deliver a screen-to-body ratio of around 91 percent. One of the ways through which Vivo has manage to offer user with a such large screen space by removing the selfie camera from the top bezel. This has allowed the company to significantly reduce the size of the top bezel. The front camera is now hidden in at the top edge of the phone. It can pop-up on its own when a user wants to activate it through the camera app to capture a selfie shot. The Vivo NEX is also expected to feature half-screen fingerprint scanner that will allow users to unlock the phone by touching the finger on any area on the lower half of the screen.

There are conflicting rumors surrounding the specs and variants of the Vivo NEX. Recent reports have revealed that the highest configuration will be featuring Snapdragon 845 chipset, 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. This variant is likely to arrive as Vivo NEX S. This model could be priced around $1,000.

The other variant may feature 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. The lowest model may come with Snapdragon 710, 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. One of these could be arriving as Vivo NEX A.

Three Unknown Vivo Midrange Models Certified By China’s TENAA

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Jun 6, 2018

Chinese smartphone maker Vivo has been pretty busy in the market lately with a couple of new releases, some of which were done unannounced. The company recently unveiled the Snapdragon 660-powered premium midranger- Vivo Z1 and while we were still savouring the beauty, the Vivo Y83 was launched quietly with a new Helio P22 chipset, the first device to feature such. Vivo seems to be on a drive to consolidate its grip on the mid-range market with the impending release of three more models. The models have just been certified by TENAA in China.

The models are identified with the model numbers Vivo V1732A, V1732T and V1801A0. The Vivo V1801A0 looks like a higher model than the other two. It comes with a dual rear camera setup and is believed to be the upcoming Vivo V9. The device is listed with a 6.26-inch TFT display with a resolution of 2280 x 1080p. It is powered by an unnamed processor with its CPU clocked at 2.2GHz. The device also packs a 3180mAh battery under its hood and will be available in Champagne Gold, Rose Gold, and Matte Black colours.

On the other hand, the Vivo V1732A and V1732T models have the same specs lineup and design which means they are likely the same device but perhaps different variants. The models could be variants of another Y-series model, likely the Y81. The listing reveals the presence of a processor with CPU clocked at 2GHz which is likely the Helio P60 chip. The RAM is 3 GB, while the internal storage is 64 GB. There is only one camera on the back that is 8 MP (but reaches 13 MP with software enhancements), while the selfie cam is 5 MP. The models do not have fingerprint scanners but pack a 6.22-inch display apiece. Both models are also listed to pack a battery capacity of 3,180 mAh.

(source 1, 2, 3)

Geekbench Listing Confirms Vivo Nex S Is The Flagship

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Jun 6, 2018

Vivo is expected to launch three variants of its bezel-less and notch-less phone – the Vivo NEX. The three models are the NEX, NEX S, and NEX A. An earlier report said the Vivo NEX S will come with a Snapdragon 710 but a Geekbench listing has disproved it.

The Vivo NEX S was seen on Geekbench today and the benchmarking site revealed that the phone will come with a Snapdragon 845 processor and not the Snapdragon 710. It will also have 8GB of RAM. While storage isn’t mentioned, we presume it will be 256GB.

Geekbench also revealed the device runs Android 8.1 Oreo. The Vivo NEX S scored 2419 points in the single-core test and 9085 points in the multi-core test.

The Vivo NEX is the launch name for the Vivo APEX that was revealed earlier this year. Vivo has provided no explanation for why it changed the name. Nevertheless, it is nice to see Vivo is releasing a proper flagship this year. Last year, it skipped the Snapdragon 835 and didn’t release the Xplay7.

The Affordable Lenovo Z5 Unboxing Pictures Highlight Its Premium Design

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Jun 6, 2018

Okay, we gave Lenovo some knocks a while ago for over-hyping the Z5 and delivering to us a smartphone that really wasn’t up to the picture they painted and the lofty claims made. That won’t make us lose sight of the fact that the Lenovo Z5 isn’t in anyway a bad device. Well, that is if you don’t mind yet another notch display-packing phone. The device ticks most of the boxes to be crowned as a premium midranger even though some still argue it is a flagship model.

The device comes with a design that we are not going to bore you comparing with the one featured on the pre-launch teasers. The design is sleek, with one of the variants having the Aurora gradient back which we have only seen on flagship models like the Huawei P20 Pro.

The Lenovo Z5 comes with a 6.2-inch full-screen display with 19:9 aspect ratio and FHD+ resolution of 2240 x 1080p. The display is covered with a 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass. The screen as a 90% screen-to-body ratio which is pretty impressive. At the rear, we find a glass back with a vertically arranged dual camera setup on the left and a fingerprint sensor at the centre. The dual camera is a powerful setup with AI technology and the camera samples testify to that.

The disappointment of not having a design that redefines bezel-less phones is eroded when we look at the prices it is pegged at. Pricing starts from 1299 Yuan ($202) for the 6GB + 64GB version and goes up to 1799 Yuan ($281) for the 6GB + 128GB edition. Thi is definitely an amazing one for such a device. Unfortunately, it is uncertain if Lenovo will sell the model outside China. Check out the pictures and camera samples of the Z5 on the image gallery below.

HTC Desire 12 And Desire 12+ Launched In India, Price Starts At Rs. 15,800 ($236)

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Jeet

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Jun 6, 2018

After HTC teased the HTC Desire 12 launch earlier this week, the company has now officially launched the HTC Desire 12 and HTC Desire 12+ in India. Both the smartphones were originally launched in March earlier this year.

Both devices come with the trendy full-screen display with 18:9 aspect ratio and durable acrylic glass back surface. The Desire 12 features a 5.5-inch HD+ IPS display with screen resolution of 1440 x 720 pixels and 18:9 aspect ratio.

Under the hood, the phone is powered by a quad-core MediaTek MT6739 SoC, coupled with PowerVR Rogue GE8100 GPU, 3GB RAM, and 32GB internal storage. There’s also a microSD card slot, which enables users to further expand the phone’s storage capacity up to 2TB.

The smartphone comes with a 13-megapixel BSI camera sensor on the back with PDAF and f/2.2 aperture, accompanied by an LED flash. On the front side, there’s a 5-megapixel BSI sensor with a f/2.4 aperture.

Connectivity options on the device include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 & 5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS + GLONASS. Running on Android 7.0 Nougat operating system with HTC Sense UI on top, the phone is powered by a 2,730mAh battery.

On the other hand, the HTC Desire 12+ comes with a 6-inch HD+ IPS display with screen resolution of 1440 x 720 pixels with an 18:9 aspect ratio. It is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor, paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage.

Unlike the Desire 12, this one comes with a dual rear camera setup on the back, which includes a 13-megapixel BSI primary sensor and a secondary 2-megapixel sensor. The setup has a f/2.2 aperture and enables features such as Bokeh mode, Face detection, and Panorama mode. On the front side, there’s an 8-megapixel BSI camera sensor with f/2.0 aperture.

Connectivity options on the device include Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 & 5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, and GPS + GLONASS. This one runs Android 8.0 Oreo operating system out of the box with HTC Sense custom interface and is powered by a 2,965mAh battery.

The HTC Desire 12 and Desire 12+ will be available in two color options in India — Cool Black and Warm Silver. While the Desire 12 is priced at Rs. 15,800 (approximately $236), the Desire 12+ costs Rs. 19,790 (approximately $296). Both smartphones will be available for pre-order through HTC eStore from tomorrow, June 7th and will be available through online and offline from June 11th.

Moto Z3 Play is Official: Bigger, Brighter, & Better

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Jun 6, 2018

The first of the third-generation Moto Z devices has now been officially announced. The Moto Z3 Play brings a bigger display, a new design, and some cool new features.

Moto Z3 Play Design

Because Motorola has to keep compatibility with existing Moto Mods, the Z3 Play isn’t very different when it comes to dimensions. The phone is still pretty thin at 6.75mm but it does look very different from the Z2 Play.

The larger 18:9 display means the bezels have to be trimmed and Motorola has done just that. However, the fingerprint scanner had to find a new home. Since it can’t be moved to the back of the phone, the scanner now resides on the right side, just below the volume buttons.

There is 2.5D glass on both sides and the device has Motorola’s signature water-repellant coating which protects it from splashes and spills.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeEUR0nNjO8[/embedyt]

Moto Z3 Play Specs

The Moto Z3 Play has a 6-inch 18:9 display that Motorola has termed Max Vision. It is still AMOLED like its predecessors and the resolution is Full HD+.

The Snapdragon 626 from the Moto Z2 Play has now been replaced with the Snapdragon 636 mobile platform. There is 4GB of RAM and you can choose between 32GB or 64GB of internal storage.

Last year’s model skipped the dual camera train but the Z3 Play comes with two cameras on the rear. The primary camera is a 12MP f/1.7 sensor and it has been paired with a 5MP secondary sensor. There is an 8MP sensor for selfies.

The camera software is packed with tons of features. Apart from the usual portrait mode, beautification mode, and face filters, there are some new features too. Some are listed below:

Cinemagraphs for making custom gifs from videos;
Selective Black and White – which turns off color for all except the subject;
Cutout mode – for changing the background of your photos;
Spot color – which lets you select just a color from your photo while the rest turns black and white.

Moto Z3 Play Color Pop — Moto Z3 Play Spot Color Mode

The Moto Z3 Play also comes with smart camera features such as landmark and object recognition, real-time text translation, and optical character recognition thanks to Google Lens.

The phone runs Android 8.1 Oreo with Motorola’s own additional features like Moto Actions and Moto Voice. There is a 3000mAh battery with support for Moto’s TurboPower fast charging technology. Motorola claims the device has a 40-hour battery life when you snap on the 2,000mAh Moto Power Pack battery mod.

ASUS ROG Gaming Smartphone Dazzles In These Hands On Pictures

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Jun 6, 2018

ASUS announced and showcased its latest ROG gaming smartphone yesterday in Taiwan. As a model manufactured specifically for gaming, the phone presents with a top-level configuration and amazing design. The device is also bundled with several peripheral gadgets. The ROG phone and its accessories are here to meet with us, thanks to Chinese tech blog PCPOP.

The ROG Phone comes with a 6-inch AMOLED FHD+ screen with a refresh rate of 90Hz and a 1ms response time. The screen has a 108% DCI-P3 wide color gamut, a 10,000 : 1 contrast ratio, and supports HDR. What better processor to power the device other than the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor? Even at that, the processor is overclocked at 2.96GHz. It also has 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 512GB of storage.

The device has the ROG logo on the back which lights up while the display is on. Apart from the logo, the back design adopts a rather scientific approach, giving the device a truly gaming gadget outlook. There is a dual camera setup at the back arranged in a horizontal manner. On the camera end, the device comes with the same configuration as the Zenfone 5. There is an 8MP camera at the front and a 12MP+8MP dual camera combo. The ASUS ROG Phone has a 4,000mAh battery with support for ASUS HyperCharge fast charging technology. In order to reduce the amount of heat being dissipated by the smartphone, ASUS moved the charging chip from the phone to the power adapter.

Another visible design innovation on the sleek phone is the three USB-C ports it packs. Two of the ports are on the side and one at the bottom. All three ports are for charging the phone and this design was adopted so that users can charge the device with ease while gaming. The side ports also function as connectors for some of the peripheral accessories.

The ROG phone also comes with two linear vibration motors. We have seen some mobile phones that have provided realistic tactile feedback through linear motors. This time, the ROG Phone returns realistic sensations through a linear vibration motor. The realistic vibration feedback should give us an unparalleled gaming experience.

Another important aspect worth giving some thought is the peripherals and docking stations the phone comes with. They include the AeroActive Cooler which is a clip-on cooling fan that comes bundled with the phone. There is an app for turning on/off the fan and modifying speed. Another key peripheral device is the Gamevice Gamepad with a pair of shoulder buttons on each side. The TwinView Pedestal has a second 6-inch screen which lets users play a game on one screen and perform other tasks like chatting on the other. The add-on also comes with a built-in 6000mAh battery.

The ROG phone also has a Mobile Desktop Dock that lets you use the device as a desktop PC. There are several ports for connecting a monitor, keyboard, mouse and other peripherals. The dock also allows you use the phone as a second display for your regular PC. Finally, the ROG phone will have a WiGig Dock, a 60GHz 802.11ad dock that works with the Gamevice gamepad and lets you stream to a TV.

There is still no word on its pricing and availability but we don’t expect it to come with a cheap price. Also, most of the peripherals and docks will likely be sold separately.

Snapdragon 429 and Snapdragon 439 SoCs Coming, For Android Go Devices

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Jun 6, 2018

The Snapdragon 425 has been the go-to chipset for manufacturers when making entry-level phones. Even though it has been two years since it was announced along with the Snapdragon 625 and Snapdragon 435, it is still showing up in devices. However, both the 425 and 435 will be getting upgrades soon in form of the Snapdragon 429 and Snapdragon 439 processors.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 429 — Qualcomm will soon announce Snapdragon 429 and Snapdragon 439 SoCs

According to Roland Quandt, Qualcomm will announce the Snapdragon 429 and Snapdragon 439 mobile platforms. He adds in the tweet that info is unavailable on the SD429 but the SD439 will be a variant of the SD625.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 429 and 439 incoming. Aimed at Android GO devices, but not exclusive to these. No idea what the 429 is, yet, but the 439 is a variant of the MSM8953 aka Snapdragon 625 = octacore ARM Cortex-A53, 14nm. No clue about speeds/other specs.

— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) June 6, 2018

Now, we are not so excited about the SD439 since the Snapdragon 450 is practically an underclocked Snapdragon 625. So it seems Qualcomm is again recycling its old chipset. However, we’ll wait for an official announcement to see what differs between the three chipsets.

Xiaomi Redmi Y2 Pricing, Storage and Color Variants Leaked Ahead of Launch

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Jun 6, 2018

Xiaomi will be announcing a new selfie-centric Redmi smartphone on June 7. Rumors have it that the Chinese manufacturer will be debuting the Redmi Y2 tomorrow. It seems that the selfie-focused Redmi S2 phone that was launched in the previous month in China will be rebranded as Redmi Y2 for India. Today, a well-known Indian tipster Ishan Agarwal has revealed the storage + RAM variants, color options and pricing of the Redmi Y2.

According to a recent tweet from the tipster, the Redmi Y2 will be available in models like 32 GB storage + 3 GB RAM and 64 GB storage + 4 GB RAM in India. It will be available in color choices like Dark Grey, Gold and Rose Gold. The pricing of the Redmi Y2 variants have been also leaked. The 32 GB and 64 GB models are speculated to be respectively priced at Rs. 9,999 (~$149) and Rs. 11,999 (~$179).

Currently, Xiaomi is selling the 32 GB storage + 3 GB RAM and 64 GB storage + 4 GB RAM editions of the Redmi Note 5 is selling with respective pricing of Rs. 9,999 and Rs. 11,999. The leaked pricing and storage variants of Redmi Y2 are exactly same as Redmi Note 5. Hence, it is advisable to digest the pricing leak of Redmi Y2 with a pinch of salt and wait for tomorrow’s unveiling for official confirmation.

It has been recently confirmed that the handset will be exclusively available for buying through Amazon India. As far as the other specs of the phone are concerned, it may feature a 5.99-inch FHD+ display, Snapdragon 625 SoC, 3,080mAh battery and 12-megapixel + 5-megapixel dual camera setup. Its major USP will be AI equipped 16-megapixel front-facing camera that comes with features like soft-light LED and HDR.

In related news, the recently released MIUI 10 teaser by Manu Kumar Jain who is Xiaomi’s Global VP and Managing Director for India suggests that the company may confirm the global rollout of MIUI 10 Global ROM at tomorrow’s press event.

Xiaomi Mi A2 Visits Geekbench, May Launch Soon

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Jun 6, 2018

Is the Mi A2 launching soon? Probably, seeing as the device has made an appearance on Geekbench. There is nothing new about the specs but the benchmark listing further confirms the device’ existence.

The Mi A2 is expected to be an Android One version of the Mi 6X released a few months ago. So everything should be the same in terms of hardware with the only difference being stock Android instead of MIUI.

The Xiaomi Mi A2 was benchmarked on May 31 and was first spotted by Smartprix. The device is powered by the Snapdragon 660 mobile platform and has 4GB of RAM. Its benchmark scores are 1630 points and 4657 points for the single-core and multi-core tests respectively. It is also shown to have Android 8.1 Oreo installed.

We won’t be surprised if the Mi A2 gets announced this month. It has been two months since the Mi 6X was announced which is the same duration between the launch of the Mi 5X and the Mi A1.

BlackBerry KEY² Complete Spec Sheet & Price Leaked

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Jun 6, 2018

Just a few days ago, we posted official renders of the upcoming BlackBerry KEY². Today, they have been followed by a complete leak of the specification sheet as well as pricing for various markets from yet the same source – Evan Blass (@evleaks).

BlackBerry KEY² Specs

The BlackBerry KEY² will have a 4.5-inch screen with a 1620 x 1080 resolution. It appears the screen just looks bigger, it is actually the same size as the first-gen model. The display is LCD and it is covered with Gorilla Glass 3.

Under the textured back of the KEY² is a Snapdragon 660 processor. It is paired with 6GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of built-in storage. The phone will also come with support for storage expansion (256GB max).

One of the big changes in the BlackBerry KEY² is the addition of an extra sensor on the rear of the phone. Now you have a 12MP f/1.8 1.28um sensor paired with another 12MP f/2.6 1.0um sensor. Up in front is an 8MP fixed focus camera for selfies.

The phone has a 3500mAh battery. There is a USB-C 3.0 port, NFC, a 3.5mm audio jack, and Bluetooth 5.0. It will come pre-loaded with tons of Blackberry Apps as well as default Android apps. It will run Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box.

The BlackBerry KEY² will have four variants – BBF100-1 for EU, Africa, AU, and Japan; BBF100-2 for NA and LATM; BBF100-4 model for China; and BBF100-6 model which has dual SIM slots for ME, APAC, India, and Indonesia.

Get 19% Off On HOMTOM S99 4G Phablet On GearBest

GearBest Kicks Off The Global First Launch For HOMTOM S99, Only $119.99 Using This Coupon

By

Vinay Patel

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Jun 6, 2018

HOMTOM made its long-awaited S99 4G phablet available to the public last month. Much to the delight of the Shenzhen based handset manufacturer, the device became an instant hit among tech buffs that have been waiting for a phablet that delivers an essential big-screen experience without emptying their pocket.

The HOMTOM S99 would normally set you back $149 on GearBest. But if you’re on a tight budget and aren’t willing to spend that kind of money on a phablet, we got good news for you.

The Chinese online store that sells all sorts of cool tech and the hottest gear is currently offering a noteworthy 19% off on the phablet’s original asking price. As a result, the HOMTOM S99 can now be yours at a lowered price of just $129.99.

But if that doesn’t impress you much, we’ll show how you can save a considerable amount of money apart from getting the discount offered by GearBest. All you have to do to get an additional deduction is use coupon code ‘HOMTOPS99’ at the time of checking out.

You can bring your grand total down to just $119.99 simply by applying the discount code. In other words, you can save an extra $10 without breaking much of a sweat, thanks to the above-mentioned coupon code.

At $119.99, the HOMTOM S99 is quite a bargain, given that it sports a big 5.5 inches IPS HD+ display with a screen resolution of 1440 x 720 pixels. Moreover, the device sports an eye-catching plastic and aluminum alloy body design.

The S99 packs a powerful MediaTek MTK6750, 64-bit processor along with an ARM Mali-T860 MP2, 650 MHz, 4-cores GPU, under the hood. It offers 4GB of LPDDR3 RAM and 64GB of onboard storage that can further be expanded up to 256GB.

The HOMTOM S99 phablet features a 21MP + 2MP dual camera setup with dual-LED and AF on the back. Apart from that, it houses a 13MP front shooter for selfies and face-to-face video chatting.

Furthermore, the HOMTOM branded phablet runs Android 8.0 Oreo operating system and draws its juices from a 6200mAh big capacity battery that delivers an unparalleled gaming experience. The device also houses a slew of useful sensors including G-sensor control, distance sensor, light sensor, and fingerprint recognition.

You can follow this link if you’re interested in taking advantage of the discount. It is also worth noting that the coupon code is likely to expire soon.

Huawei MateBook D 14-Inch Model Announced, Packs AMD Ryzen 5-2500U Processor

By

Jeet

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Jun 6, 2018

Huawei has already launched a trio of laptops — MateBook D, MateBook E, and MateBook X. Earlier this year, Huawei announced a new refreshed edition of MateBook D, which is dubbed as Huawei MateBook D (2018).

Now, the company has launched a new edition of Huawei MateBook D which comes with a 14-inch display and is powered by AMD’s Ryzen 5 2500 processor and Radeon Vega 8 grpahics. Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) is a 64-bit microprocessor from AMD, designed to act as a central processing unit (CPU) and graphics accelerator unit (GPU) on a single die.

The Huawei MateBook D features a metal unibody design with thin bezels surrounding the display. There’s a 14-inch Full HD display with screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. It comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage.

It comes with a USB Type-C port for charging which can also be used to charge smartphones or tablets. Further, the laptop comes equipped with Dolby Quad speakers with split frequency setup, in an attempt to offer an immersive sound experience.

The laptop weighs around 1.45 kg and measures about 15.8mm in thickness, ensuring its easy to carry around. It comes with a 57.4Wh capacity battery which should be enough to last about 12 hours on single charge.

For comparison, the Huawei MateBook D 2018 launched earlier this year comes with a 15.6-inch Full HD display and is powered by Intel‘s 8th Generation processor, Nvidia MX150 GPU, and 8GB of RAM.

The base model with Core i5 processor comes offers two options — one with 256GB SSD storage while another with 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD. The higher-end model is powered by Intel Core i7-8550U CPU, along with 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD storage.

The previously launched 15.6-inch model with Core i5 8th-gen processor and 256GB SSD storage has a starting price of CNY 5,188 (approximately $791). However, the company has not yet announced the pricing of this new Huawei MateBook D with a 14-inch display and Ryzen 5-2500 APU. Initially, the device is not expected to be available in China and will first go to the international market.

Honor Announces The Honor Play: Its First Phone With GPU Turbo & 4D Gaming

By

Joel Joseph

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Jun 6, 2018

Honor had a busy day today announcing first its revolutionary GPU Turbo technology and then releasing its first ever smartphone featuring this tech, the Honor Play. Like the name suggests, the phone relies heavily on this technology to enhance the overall gaming experience of the smartphone user. The basic hardware on the Honor Play is standard flagship stuff, but the underlying technology that powers the device makes it a really good gaming device.

Before we move on to the basic specs details, let’s take a look at what makes the Honor Play special.

The new Honor flagship is basically a gaming centric smartphone. It’s the first Honor device to feature the revolutionary GPU Turbo technology that enhances GPU performance significantly by increasing graphics processing efficiency by up to 60%. This results in better gaming performance than flagships such as the Xiaomi Mi 8, iPhone X, and even the Mi Mix 2S. The company revealed that the phone manages to beat these flagships in terms of frame rate and jitters, thereby giving an enhanced gaming experience on the device.

Further, the phone boasts of 4D gaming experience, powered by the same GPU Turbo technology. 4D gaming is possible because the Honor Play can detect a number of gaming scenes including shots, explosions and quakes. You also get a 3D sound experience, so you’ll be able to clearly locate the angle of firing. The phone also reportedly features a special film on its screen to reduce reflection and improve gaming experience under light. It also features in-game network optimisation which promises seamless shift from Wi-Fi to mobile data in order to ensure uninterrupted gameplay.

Now coming to the standard stuff, the phone has a 6.3-inch FHD+ 2340 x 1080 display with a notch on top. Unlike other Honor flagships, this one features a metal back and U shaped antenna lines. The dual cameras are located on the left side while the fingerprint sensor lies around the centre at the back. There are three color options: Nebula Purple, Aurora Blue, and Midnight Black.

The Honor Play features the Kirin 970 chipset (Mali-G72 MP12) inside in two memory configurations (expandable up to 256GB): 4GB + 64GB and 6GB + 64GB. The rear dual camera setup is average, featuring a 16MP f/2.2 primary sensor paired with a 2MP f/2.4 secondary depth sensor with support for AI shooting and AR gestures. On the front, there’s a 16MP f/2.0 sensor for selfies.

The phone has a decent 3750mAh battery inside which should be good enough for a day’s worth of gaming. Other features include Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi ac, and GPS. The phone is running on EMUI 8.2 based on Android 8.1 OS.

Honor Play is cheaper than the flagship Honor 10 model and starts at 1999 Yuan ($312) for the 4GB + 64GB variant. The 6GB + 64GB variant will cost 2399 Yuan ($375). There’s a special Honor Play Cool limited edition with a special back design that retails for 2499 Yuan ($390). The regular editions go on sale on June 11 in China, while the special limited Cool edition will go on sale in July. One more thing, you get a free TPU case inside the box.

Honor 9i with Notched Display, Kirin 659, 4 GB RAM Goes Official for 1,399 Yuan (~$218)

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Jun 6, 2018

Through an unveil event in Beijing, China, Huawei’s sub-brand Honor introduced multiple devices such as Honor 9i mid-range phone and Honor Play flagship smartphone that is powered by Kirin 970 and the all new GPU Turbo technology. Readers can visit dedicated articles on Honor Play and GPU Turbo to know more about them. As far as the Honor 9i is concerned, it is yet another notched display phone from the company that is packed with some impressive specs. Also, it comes with an affordable pricing.

Honor 9i Specifications and Features

The Honor 9i features a metal frame flanked with front and rear 2.5D glass panels. The 12 layers of nano-coating on the rear side of the phone makes it possible to deliver a dazzling mirror-like effect. It measures 149.2 x 71.8 x 7.7 mm and it weighs around 152 grams. The handset can be availed in colors like Magic Night Black, Charm Sea Blue, Jade Green and Dream Purple.

The Honor 9i includes a 5.84-inch IPS LCD display that produces FHD+ resolution of 2280 x 1080 pixels. Since it is mid-range phone, the Honor has included the Kirin 659 SoC inside it. It comes in storage variants like 64 GB and 128 GB and both of them feature 4 GB of RAM.

The frontside of the Honor 9i features a 16-megapixel photosensitive enhanced lens. With a pixel size of 2.0μm, the front-facing camera can capture better selfie shots in dim light conditions. Other features of the front camera include beauty mode and AR function. The selfie snapper can also double up as face unlock feature.

The 13-megapixel + 2-megapixel dual camera setup that is placed on the backside of the phone is equipped with features like dual-tone LED flash, PDAF, fast autofocus, scene detection and multi-frame image processing.

The Honor 9i is loaded with Android 8.1 Oreo that is modified with Huawei’s EMUI 8.0 custom ROM. The other features of the smartphone include dual SIM support, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, GPS and 3.5mm audio jack. The handset receives power from 3,000mAh battery. The backside of the phone features a fingerprint scanner.

Honor 9i Pricing and Availability

The 64 GB and 128 GB editions of the Honor 9i are respectively priced at 1,399 Yuan (~$218) and 1,699 Yuan (~$265). The official sales of the phone will begin on June 7. At the time of writing this post, the official website had also listed the Honor 9i in a lower variant with 32 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM. However, the listing is no longer available now. There is a possibility that the company may introduce this model after few months.

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