Moto Z3 Play Live Shots Leaked to Reveal Full Screen Design, Dual Rear Cameras

Get Big Discounts On Action Cameras And Accessories On GearBest Check More Deals and Promotions From Other Shops

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May 3, 2018

In the previous week, a couple of hands-on images of the upcoming Xiaomi Redmi S2 budget phone was shared by tech blog from Czech Republic. At that time, it was reported that the publication had sourced the unannounced Redmi S2 phone from Mi Store in Prague. Fresh information reveals that even without any official advertisement or announce, the Redmi S2 has been spotted at the Mi Store in Prague. This indicates that Xiaomi will be officially announcing the Redmi S2 smartphone soon.

The Redmi S2 has already received cleared prerequisite certifications from 3C and TENAA agencies in China. Hence, the Redmi S2 is expected to go official in the home market as early as this month.

The Redmi S2 is fitted with a 5.99-inch IPS LCD display. The 18:9 screen of the S2 is expected to produce an HD+ resolution of 720 x 1440 pixel. As far as appearance is concerned, its design is expected to be very similar to the recently unveiled Xiaomi Mi 6X phone. The power-efficient Snapdragon 625 SoC is expected to power the phone. It will be fueled by a 3,080mAh battery. The handset is expected to arrive preloaded with Android 8.0 Oreo and MIUI 9 skin.

For photography, the Redmi S2 is expected to feature 12-megapixel + 5-megapixel dual camera setup. It will be arriving with a selfie camera of 8-megapixel. It is expected to be available in multiple RAM and storage models such as 16 GB storage with 2 GB of RAM, 32 GB storage with 3 GB of RAM and 64 GB storage with 4 GB of RAM.

Xiaomi Redmi S2 real pictures — The Xiaomi Redmi S2 may be the first Android One Redmi device

Yesterday, Xiaomi had released a new teaser featuring a large-sized “S” letter on its Weibo account. The recent reports suggest that the Chinese firm could be hinting the launch of Redmi S2, but some other sources claim that it could referring to the upcoming home-grown Surge S2 SoC.

A leaked image that had surfaced in the previous week had revealed that the Redmi S2 will be available in Vietnam with a price tag of VND 3,999,000 (~$175). Rumors have claimed that the Redmi S2 will be coming to India as an Android One device.

(via)

Xiaomi Files For Hong Kong IPO, Expected To Raise At Least $10 Billion

By

Joel Joseph

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May 3, 2018

After months of speculations and rumours, Xiaomi has finally filed for an IPO in Hong Kong. This marks a big win for the city of Hong Kong which has been trying to lure in tech companies to list in its stock exchange in recent times. In this regard, the city had made a few changes to its rules to allow for companies with multiple classes of shares to raise equity and this change seems to have paid off. It’s also an important milestone for Xiaomi as it opens its doors for public investors.

The IPO filings doesn’t mention the number of shares or the price per share but it is said that Xiaomi could be looking to raise at least $10 billion in its IPO. This should value the company at around $100 billion and it will likely be the biggest tech IPO of 2018. In its filings, the company has revealed that 30% of the money raised would be used to develop its AI and IoT ecosystem, 30% would be used for R&D, and another 30% for global expansion. The remaining 10% would be used as working capital. Co-founders Lei Jun and Lin Bin will retain control of the company after the IPO through a special class of shares.

After a disappointing 2016, Xiaomi was quick to climb up the smartphone rankings ladder. In fact, yesterday’s Strategy Analytics report revealed that Xiaomi has climbed up to the fourth ranking in terms of global smartphone shipments, beating OPPO in Q1 2018. Sales in 2017 rose to 114.6 billion yuan, while the operating profit tripled to 12.2 billion yuan. The company posted a net loss of 43.9 billion yuan during this period but that was mainly because of pre-IPO preparations like issuing preferred shares to investors, making share based compensations and so on.

Xiaomi’s IPO comes at a time when the global smartphone shipments are shrinking. Even the Chinese market has slowed down significantly. Despite this, the company has still managed to demonstrate great skill in steadily increasing its sales and revenue through changes in its offline strategy and global expansion. So, we know that the company can quickly adapt to the ever changing needs of the smartphone market.

Now that the company has filed for an IPO, expect a lot more details about its financials and operations in the coming months.

(Via)

Check Out GearBest Action Cam Brand Battle; Get Big Discounts On Coolest Gears

By

Vinay Patel

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May 3, 2018

GearBest is doling out big discounts on a broad range of action/sports cameras manufactured by popular brands such as Xiaomi, HawKeye, and SJCAM to name a few. Dubbed as the ‘Action Cam Brand Battle,’ this promotion will run for a limited period of time.

GearBest is giving a 16% off on the Xiaomi Mijia Camera Mini action camera, which would normally set you back $143.87 on the site. As a result, the Xiaomi-branded action camera can now be yours if you’re willing to shell out just $119.
The discount is valid only for the black color version of the action camera. With only 100 pieces remaining, the promo is slated to end in 4 days.

Alternatively, you can go for the ThiEYE T5 Edge Native 4K WiFi action camera which is currently up for grabs bearing a lowered price of just $99.99 on GearBest. The ThiEYE T5 Edge normally sells for $109.38, but you can avail a 10% discount on GearBest.

On the downside, the promo is slated to end in 3 days. There were only 62 pieces left for the Flash Sale price.

Make Your Life Awesome

This category is rife with all sorts of action cameras that have been manufactured by different brands. More importantly, the action cameras featured in the section carry discounts that reduce your grand total.

For instance, you can buy the Q6 WiFi 4K Ultra HD action sports camera which usually comes bearing a price tag of $41.58 on GearBest, for just $29.99. This is a 28% reduction it the device’s retail price.

The Flash Sale price will be valid only for the black color version of the Q6 action sports camera. Although the promo will be running for 6 days, there were just 45 pieces left for the Flash Sale price.

Summer Super Combo Deals

This segment comprises items that you can buy together and save a considerable amount of money. For example, the HawKeye Firefly 8S 4K WiFi sports camera sells for $136.43, while the Floaty Bobber with strap and long screw carries a price sticker of $2.27 on GearBest.
Buying the aforesaid items together would ideally set you back $138.7; however, GearBest is giving buyers an opportunity to save $18.7. In other words, your final price reduces to only $120.

Flagship Brand Scorchers

This section has been split into different sub-categories including SJCAM, HawKeye, Thieye, and FeiyuTech. The aforesaid brands are giving discounts on select cameras and accessories.

For the sake of an example, SJCAM is giving 6% off on the black color version of the SJ7 STAR WiFi action camera which normally sells for $190.74 on GearBest. Thanks to the discount, the coveted action camera is now available at a lowered price of just $179.99The promo will run for 4 days. Regrettably, there were only 44 pieces remaining for the Flash Sale price. The silver-tinted SJ7 STAR WiFi action camera carries an 8% discount. The remaining 4 pieces will be up for grabs for only $175.65.

For Every Summer Adventure

If you’re looking for a low-priced, yet high-end action camera, look no further. This category is brimming with well-received action/sports cameras and accessories that you can buy without emptying your pocket.

Lining with this, you can buy MGCOOL Explorer 3 4K sports camera for a slashed price of just $99.99 on GearBest. The site is giving 2% off on the camera’s original asking price of $102.13.

You can take advantage of this discount for 4 days. But it is imperative for you to bear in mind that only 5 pieces were left for the Flash Sale price.

Outdoor Essentials

Adventure junkies, rejoice. This segment of GearBest promotion includes various items that come in handy during your adventures or while exploring the great outdoors.

You can follow this link to check out rest of the product and avail amazing discounts on action/sports cameras and a myriad of other accessories.

Apple Sold 52.2 Million iPhone And Generated $61.1 Billion Revenue In Q1 2018

By

Jeet

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May 3, 2018

During the period of January to March, Apple said that it sold 52.2 million iPhone. The company failed to beat the Wall Street estimate of 52.4 million iPhone handset sales during the same period.

Compared to the same period last year, this year’s sales figure is higher. Last year, the company had managed to sell 50.8 million units of iPhone. Commenting on the sales of iPhone X, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, said, “customers chose iPhone X more than any other iPhone each week in the March quarter.”

Apple posted revenue for its Q1 of $61.1 billion, up from $52.9 billion last year. Wall Street expected $60.8 billion. Average selling prices for iPhone were $728, which is lower compared to the Wall Street expectations of $742.

However, the figure is up more than 10 percent from $655 a year ago, suggesting that the company’s iPhone X, which starts at $999, has helped the company to boost prices. Despite the lower Average Selling Price (ASP), revenue attributed to the iPhone rose 14% year-over-year.

The company said that it also sold 9.1 million iPad during the three month period, which is in-line with forecasts of 9.17 million units. Other products from the company, such as Apple Watch and the HomePod smart speaker were added into the “others” category, which had $3.9 billion in revenue for the quarter.

Apple is said to be focusing on services after witnessing a slowdown in smartphone sales. In the services department, the company reported $9.19 billion during the quarter, higher than the $8.39 billion that Wall Street was expecting.

It seems that the Cupertino-based company will increasingly rely on its services business, which includes the App Store, Apple Music, iCloud and Apple Pay, and other services to bolster its overall results.

Profits were $2.73 per share versus expectations of $2.68 per share, as of Monday, and up from $2.10 a year ago. Apple also predicted revenue of $51.5 billion to $53.5 billion in the June quarter, ahead of the $51.6 billion Wall Street expected.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 Release Date Could be Drawing Near

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May 3, 2018

Earlier in this year, the upcoming Galaxy Tab S4 was found benchmarked with model number SM-T835 on GFXBench and HTML5 which indicated that Samsung is working on a successor edition for the Galaxy Tab S3. The same model number has been certified Wi-Fi Alliance which suggests that the arrival of the Galaxy Tab S4 could be drawing near.

According to the appearance of the Samsung SM-T835 at Wi-Fi Alliance site reveals that it is a tablet device that is preinstalled with Android 8.0 Oreo. Previous reports have suggested that there could be LTE and Wi-Fi only variants for the Galaxy Tab S4. The LTE model could be having a model number of SM-T830. It has been also found that the South Korean company is reportedly testing software builds with version numbers T830XXU0ARDA and T835XXU0ARDA for the Galaxy Tab S4.

The HTML5 benchmarks had also revealed that the SM-T835 is loaded with Android 8.0 Oreo. It had also shown that the tablet’s display will be offering an aspect ratio of 16:10 which indicates that the tablet will deliver good viewing experience while watching movies. It has the same aspect ratio as the first-generation Galaxy S model. The Galaxy Tab S2 and S3 tablets offer 4:3 aspect ratio.

The GFXBench listing of the SM-T835 had revealed that it features a 10.5-inch S-AMOLED display that supports QHD resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. It is fueled by Snapdragon 835 SoC and 4 GB of RAM. It features a native storage of 64 GB. It has a rear camera of 12-megapixel and a front-facing shooter of 8-megapixel.

The Galaxy Tab S4 may borrow some of the features from the predecessor model. Hence, it may feature AKG tuned speakers, S Pen stylus and keyboard.

Samsung had launched the Galaxy Tab S3 tablet at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 in February last year. It is a known fact that the tablet industry is declining. Hence, this could be the reason why the South Korean company did launch the Galaxy Tab S3’s successor at MWC 2018 this year. It is likely that the firm may use the IFA 2018 tech trade show platform that is scheduled to take place in September at Berlin, Germany.

(source|via 1, 2)

Facebook to Add Dating Service to Attract Young Users

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May 3, 2018

During the Facebook F8 Developer Conference 2018 on Tuesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that a new dating service will be soon added to the world’s largest online social networking website. The in-app dating feature will be having all the features that are usually found on a match-making app.

Facebook had considering adding the dating feature over a decade ago, but it is only now that the company is making it available to the users. Multiple market surveys have revealed in the recent past that Facebook is mainly used by people who belong to age group of 25 and 55. Hence, the new dating feature seems to be a new strategy by Facebook to attract young users.

Facebook claimed that in the previous month that the time spent by users on the site decline by around 50 million hours a day by the end of 2017. Hence, the whole idea behind introducing the dating feature is to increase the user base among young consumers and thereby compel more people to visit and stay longer on Facebook. According to Mark, there are 200 million Facebook users who have listed themselves as single which suggests that such people will want to use the upcoming dating feature.

Here is how to use the dating feature on Facebook:

For dating on Facebook, users will be required to create a new “dating profile” for it. This profile will be only visible to non-friends who are using the dating feature.
Users can then browse the Events and Groups in the city to checkout people who have same interests. For example, if a user attends an event, he/she can select the “unlock” profile option to see potential matches and the people attending the same show will be able to see it.
Facebook will show only those people who share mutual interests and friends. After finding a suitable person to date, he/she may begin a conversation through a special messaging services that supports only text messaging. For security reasons, it won’t allow users to send images or links.

There is no confirmation on when the dating function will be made available to general users. At the F8 conference, it was said that Facebook will be sharing more information on testing the new feature later this year.

Do you think that Facebook’s dating feature will be an interesting one? Share us your views by posting your comments below.

Xiaomi Mi Box Set-Top Box Gets Android Oreo Update

By

Jed John Ikoba

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May 2, 2018

Xiaomi launched the Mi Box set-top box in the U.S in 2016 and the sales have been pretty awesome. The Mi Box launched with Android 6.0 Marshmallow and has not been officially updated to Android Nougat. It is, therefore, an interesting twist that the Mi Box has now reportedly been updated to Android Oreo. A Reddit user has confirmed that his unit got the update and he even shared a screenshot.

This is no doubt a good one for the numerous M Box users across the globe. But the thing is, the user who got the Oreo update on his Mi Box had enrolled in the beta program when Xiaomi conducted a search for beta tester last year. The implication of this is that the update is likely only available to beta testers at the moment despite it being a stable build. But it is an indication that the Mi Box users in the U.S and perhaps elsewhere may soon start getting Android Oreo update.

As a reminder, the Mi Box comes in a compact size just about that of a pocket wallet with some more weight and is coloured in matte black with ports for HDMI, USB, audio and power at the back. What could be said to be the main attraction on the device is its ability to stream 4K video at 60 frames per seconds (fps), something Apple TV cannot do. This 4K streaming ability places the device at par with Amazon TV box and Roku. Thus, Xiaomi claims the Mi Box is the best, most technically advanced streaming box money can buy and it came with a cheap price tag of just $69. The price still hovers around $69 but we recently spotted a seller on Amazon who offers the Mi Box for $39.99. That is the cheapest we have seen so far.

ASUS Zenfone Max Pro (M1) Gets Updated Just A Week After Launch

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May 2, 2018

The ASUS Zenfone Max Pro (M1) unveiled in India last week has been referred to as the Redmi Note 5 Pro killer. Although the latter outshines it in some departments, ASUS may have gained a new upper hand and that is in the speed of updates.

Just a week after its launch, ASUS has pushed out a new update to the device. This is no small update. Not only is it a whopping 1.3GB in size, it brings some new features and fixes some issues with the device.

According to YouTuber @geekyranjit, the update enables the Face Unlock feature, slightly improves the response time of the fingerprint scanner, and also improves the fluidity of the UI. Do note that the Zenfone Max Pro actually runs a stock-like version of Android.

The update is likely to be the one that will come bundled with the phone when it goes on sale tomorrow, so you may not receive a “new update”.

READ MORE: ASUS Zenfone Live L1 Launched In Indonesia

Buy Pisen wireless presenter

Check out Awesome and Unique Gadgets from Pisen! (Review)

By

Linus

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May 2, 2018

Pisen is one of the largest Chinese electronics makers and we had a chance to check out some unique gadgets made by the company. Let’s take a look.

The first one is PISEN Wireless Presenter, that costs just $17. Basically, you can use it as a laser pen for presentations and control the computer as you would do that with the wireless mouse or keyboard.

A cool thing is that the dongle, that you have to plugin to your computer, is safely stored in the laser pen itself.

Another great feature is that the device has a built-in 2500mah battery that works as a power bank.

The Pisen wireless presenter works with both windows and mac and it requires no installation. Just plug and play and you are ready to go. You have up/down and play/pause buttons and so far the device has been working fine and I think it offers a lot of value for the price of just about 17 bucks.

Another device is also really interesting as it is a rechargeable hand warmer and a power bank 2-in-1.

This is truly a unique device. At the first glance, it looks like a pebble-shaped power bank that can charge your gadgets.

However, you can turn on the heating mode and the entire device becomes warm. It can provide a comfortable temperature of 122℉/ 50℃. The main purpose of it is to keep your hands warm in winter. I think that a pretty cool idea that I haven’t seen before.

Other aspects of this device: the outer shell is made of plastic and aluminum and I found the overall build quality to be great. There are also LED lights that indicate the amount of juice left in the battery. For the price $29.99, this seems like an interesting 2 in 1 device – a 7500mAh power bank and a hand warmer. It’s no surprise that this gadget won Reddot design and CES Innovation awards.

Buy Rechargeable Hand Warmer Power Bank 2-in-1

The PISEN Slim Power Bank is a classic power bank that has the capacity of 10000mAh and it costs $26.99.

Obviously, there are plenty of power banks on the market but this one looks really nice especially that red/black color combo.

Another cool feature is that the device has an LCD screen that shows the capacity left. Again, we’ve seen this feature before but I love the minimal approach in the design department.

The power bank has 2 USB ports (one port is “smart”, meaning that it detects the device you connected and optimizes the charging speeds).

The power bank worked well during our tests and therefore we can recommend it.

Buy PISEN Slim Power Bank 10000mAh

The gadget we had a chance to check out is the PISEN 20000mAh Portable Charger that costs $33.99.

This is a larger power bank that has the capacity of 2000mAh.

Same as the previous power bank, this one has an LCD panel that shows how much juice is left in the tank.

Even though the battery pack is made of plastic, we found the overall build quality to be pretty good.

Buy PISEN 20000mAh Portable Charger

Xiaomi Gets into The Streaming Business With Mi Music & Mi Video Apps

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May 2, 2018

There are a number of manufacturers who have their own streaming services. One of the most popular ones is Apple Music which is available on multiple platforms. Xiaomi, today announced its entry into the streaming business with two new apps.

The new streaming apps are Mi Music and Mi Video and are available for the Indian market. The Mi Video app which will be available next week will offer streaming services from AltBalaji, SonyLiv, Voot, Hungama Play, Zee5, Viu, and TVF etc. Xiaomi says there are over 500,000 hours of video content with 80% being free.

The Mi Video app has a cast function which allows you to share what you are watching to your smart TV. It also has support for a wide variety of video formats, subtitles, and private folders.

The Mi Music App offers songs from Hungama Music which has over 10 million songs from 13 different languages. If you wish to download the songs for offline consumption, you will have to pay Rs.899 (~$14) a year for the service.

Mi Music also has a new feature called Dynamic Lyrics which shows the lyrics of the song currently playing. You can also scroll through the lyrics and when you do so, it automatically jumps to that part of the song.

Samsung Gear S4 Reportedly In The Works With LTE In Two Size Variants

By

Michele Ingelido

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May 2, 2018

This is not the first time we are hearing that Samsung Gear S4 is in the making. Fresh reports are suggesting that the Korean giant is actually developing the new smartwatch and it is identified by the codename Galileo internally. The company is said to be working on the wearable in the U.S. and it is expected to release it within the end of this year. It is likely that we will see it in Q4 2018 with the model number SM-R800. From what the report from SamMobile is suggesting, the smartwatch will carry LTE connectivity and it will be available to purchase from three major U.S. carriers: AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.

Samsung Gear S4 will also be available in two different sizes: probably, there will be a smaller size for women and a bigger one for men. It should come with a better hardware and also more advanced health and fitness features. Among these, there should be an improved sleep tracking feature. Just like its predecessors, Samsung Gear S4 is expected to come with Tizen OS installed, that is Samsung’s own operating system. It is totally unrelated to Android and it features its own apps available on Tizen Store.

There is no info about the other specs of the wearable and there are not even rumors regarding its launch price, but we expect it to be priced above two hundred dollars. Even though its predecessor is just a compact smartwatch, the Samsung Gear S3 features a great AMOLED display with a size of 1.3 inches and a resolution of 360 x 360 pixels. It is fully waterproof and dustproof with IP68 certification, and its glass is protected by Gorilla Glass SR+. On the connectivity side, it supports GPS, Wi-Fi and LTE, as well as a useful and accurate heart rate sensor.

(via)

Triple-Camera 360 N7 Obtains A High SD660-Level Score On AnTuTu

By

Michele Ingelido

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May 2, 2018

360 N7 could be an outstanding device as it’s expected to boast incredible specs and performance at a flagship-killer price. The upcoming upper-midrange handset from 360 Mobiles has just been tested on AnTuTu benchmark and it has obtained a total score of 138,962 points. The score is consistent with the one obtained by the actual upper-midrange phones with the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC on board. And this device is expected to come with an octa-core MediaTek Helio P60 chipset which is currently the main rival of Snapdragon 660.

On the leaked screenshot captured from AnTuTu benchmark app on the N7, we can also see that the handset has scored more than 63K points in CPU performance and more than 29K points at GPU performance. Besides the leaked benchmarks, a render showing the whole rear side of the handset has leaked as well. If the image is to be believed, 360 N7 is likely to launch as the second smartphone with a triple camera setup on its back. Unlike Huawei P20 Pro, the triple camera has been placed horizontally near the top border, exactly at the center of the upper antenna band.

As you may have understood, the phone has a full metal unibody design. Under the camera, there is a LED flash and also a circular fingerprint reader, while the volume rocker has been placed on the right side of the handset, as well as the power key. Given that 360 N6 was launched with an 18:9 bezel-less display and given that the fingerprint reader was placed on the back, we assume that 360 N7 will have a borderless display as well. According to latest reports, 360 N7 should be announced on May 8 in Beijing with Helio P60 and 6 GB of RAM, but there is a chance that it will come with a Snapdragon 660.

(via)

Vivo X21 Makes Its Way To The Global Market: Launches In Singapore On May 5

By

Michele Ingelido

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May 2, 2018

Vivo’s flagship, the Vivo X21 is officially going to make its way out of China: starting from May 5, the handset will be available to purchase in Singapore with a price tag of S$799, which roughly translates into $598. In the coming months, the handset will also be launched in several other countries, even though we still don’t know the exact details.

The version which is going to be available in Singapore is the one with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage which you can expand up to 256 GB with a micro SD. The company has announced the launch in Singapore through a Facebook post which you can check by heading to the source link at the end of this post.

Even though it is not the most powerful flagship as it features an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset, Vivo X21 is one of the most attractive devices in terms of aesthetics. It has one of the highest screen-to-body ratios and a wide 6.28-inch Super AMOLED display with a Full HD+ resolution and a 19:9 aspect ratio. It even features an innovative in-display fingerprint reader and a great 12 MP dual camera.

(source, via)

Steljes NS3 Speakers Review – Superb Audio Quality for the Price

By

Linus

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May 2, 2018

This is the Steljes NS3 – a high-end loudspeaker system with Bluetooth that costs £199.00 and for that price, you get a premium design and premium sound. Learn more in our Steljes NS3 Speakers review.

VIDEO

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5lL0J6PcYk[/embedyt]

UNBOXING

The speakers ship with a bunch of cables you need to get started. I like that there are all audio cables and two power cords with both the UK and EU adapters. There is also a high-quality remote controller that is made out of metal and it feels premium.

DESIGN and FEATURES

To be honest, the design is the key selling point to me. There are many different color options to choose from and I will leave the product link in the video description if you want to check it out. My favourite colour is the frost white. The speakers have a nice glossy finish that matches really well with IKEA or other furniture.

The build quality is excellent as the speakers are well-constructed, all the cutouts are precise and overall, the Steljes NS3 system looks very premium.

Each speaker provides 45w of volume output and that is achieved by using tweeters on the top and lows/mids speakers on the bottom.

On the back of each speaker, you can find a woofer hole.

One of the speakers has a built-in class D amplifier and there are many ports to choose from. Besides all the usual ports, we have the USB out port that allows you to charge gadgets like smartphones. You can use the traditional audio ports but I prefer streaming music via the Bluetooth.

SOUND QUALITY

Sound quality is really impressive and one of the best in this price range. I love that the sound is balanced, deep, there is a good separation between mids, lows and highs and I didn’t notice any distortions at the highest volume setting. I also didn’t have any issues with Bluetooth and sound quality is excellent too. As for the volume output, you can rest assured that the speakers will fill in the largest rooms or even the entire apartment. Really impressive for such compact speakers.

You can also tweak the sound using a remote controller in a lot of different ways thanks to the built-in electronic crossover.

There is also a knob on one of the speakers for volume control.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, I was really impressed with the Steljes Audio NS3 loudspeakers. They look nice, the build quality is excellent, there are plenty of ports, Bluetooth works fine and last but not least, the sound quality is really impressive for such compact and budget speaker system.

So far I didn’t have any issues or can see any major shortcomings. Therefore, I can recommend this speaker system as they offer great value for the price, especially considering the fact that they come with a 4-year warranty.

Buy Steljes NS3 Speakers on Amazon UK

LG G7 ThinQ Launches With Notch, Dedicated Google Assistant Button & More

By

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May 2, 2018

South Korea’s LG Mobile has announced its latest flagship, the LG G7 ThinQ. The new flagship comes with a bunch of new features, a new design, and a notch.

LG G7 ThinQ Design

The most striking change in the LG G7 ThinQ is the notch in the display. Yes, LG has joined the notch train. This is not news as we already knew this from leaked images and a hands-on video from a few months ago.

Even with the notch, the LG G7 ThinQ has a bit of bezel at the top which makes you question why there is a notch in the first place.

On the rear, LG has switched to a vertical arrangement for the dual cameras. Flanking it on the right is the LED flash and laser focus module, and below is the fingerprint scanner. Sadly, the scanner doesn’t double as a power button anymore.

The power button is now on the right-hand side while the volume buttons are on the left. LG has also added a new button for launching Google Assistant. The button can’t be reprogrammed but it is a quick way to access the assistant.

LG G7 ThinQ Specs

The G7’s display is bigger than that of the G6. It is now 6.1” and with a resolution of 3120 x 1440 (QHD+). As expected, there is a Snapdragon 845 processor powering it and it is paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage.

There are dual 16MP cameras on the rear and one takes super-wide-angle shots (107°). The cameras now have AI features similar to those in the LG V30S ThinQ. There is scene recognition which can tell if you are taking the picture of a person, landscape, pet, and more. There is also a Super Bright camera mode for automatic brightness adjustment in low-light conditions. The front camera is an 8MP sensor with portrait mode too.

The LG G7 ThinQ has 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC and a Boombox Speaker feature with an extra boost of bass. There is also DTS Audio for cinema-like audio (7.1-Channel audio to be exact) but you’ll need wired earphones or a speaker to enjoy this feature.

Other features of the LG G7 includes IP68-rating, an audio jack, Android Oreo, and a 3,000mAh battery with support for wireless charging.

ASUS Zenfone Live L1 Launched In Indonesia

By

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May 2, 2018

ASUS has launched a new entry-level smartphone for the Indonesian market. The new phone is called the Zenfone Live L1 (ZA550KL) and should not to be confused with the Zenfone Live (ZB501KL) which is also sold in the country.

The Zenfone Live L1 has a 5.5” Full View display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. The aspect ratio and reduced bezels give the phone the form factor of a 5” device. The screen is IPS LCD and has a 1440 x 720 resolution.

Under the hood is a Snapdragon 425 processor paired with 1GB or 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage on both variants. According to the source, only the 2GB variant will be sold in Indonesia.

The phone has a triple card slot which allows you to use two SIM cards at a time and add up to an extra 2TB of storage via a MicroSD card slot.

The Zenfone Live L1 has a 13MP rear camera with PDAF and a 5MP front-facing camera that also supports Face Unlock and wefies (wide angle selfies).

The phone runs Android Oreo with ZenUI 5.0 overlay. It has a 3000mAh battery, a micro USB port, and USB OTG support.

Xiaomi Beats OPPO In Q1 2018 To Emerge 4th Largest Global Phone Vendor

By

Jed John Ikoba

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May 2, 2018

The golden age which saw Chinese phone maker OPPO post strong growth over the past eight quarters in a row may well be finally over after all. In the fourth quarter of 2017, the Chinese vendor’s shipment annual growth rate dropped to zero and even though it maintained the 4^th position in the global smartphone market by volume, the distance with Xiaomi which occupied the 5^th spot was further narrowed down. It was only a matter of time before Xiaomi outpaced OPPO and that it has done in Q1 2018. A report by Strategic Analytics shows that Xiaomi has finally surpassed OPPO in market share this quarter to emerge as the fourth largest smartphone vendor in terms of shipment volume.

The report shows that the global smartphone shipments experienced a 2% fall YoY, as it peaked at 345 million units in Q1 2018. Samsung still maintained its lead with an estimated 78.2 million shipment representing a 22.7% market share. This is slightly lower than the 80.2 million units shipped in Q1 2017. Apple follows at the second place with a total shipment of 52.2 million units, up from 50.8 million last year while Huawei’s shipment grew from 34.5 million to 39.5 million units. Here comes the big one, Xiaomi shipped 28.3 million smartphones in Q1 2018, up from 12.6 million units shipped in Q1 2017. On the other hand, OPPO’s shipments plummeted from 27.6 million in Q1 2017 to 24.1 million units.

Huawei and Xiaomi performed best among the major players and both hit record market share levels. Xiaomi’s 8% market share in Q1 2018 doubled its shipment during this same period last year. This exponential growth can be attributed to Xaiomi’s rapid expansion across Asia, particularly in India. This expansion and Huawei’s much-improved smartphone portfolio is responsible for OPPO’s slump.

Real OnePlus 6 Appears Alongside iPhone X, OnePlus 5T in Freshly Leaked Photos

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May 2, 2018

The May 17 launch date of OnePlus 6 is not far away, and the rumor mill is working hard to reveal fresh leaks on it. Newly leaked images of what appears to be the real OnePlus 6 handset has appeared. In one of the images, it can be seen besides the Apple iPhone X and in another image is it placed alongside the OnePlus 5T.

In terms of appearance, the notched display enabled OnePlus 6 resembles the OPPO R15 that was earlier this year. When compared to the iPhone X, the OnePlus 6 features a smaller notch as it does include the complex 3D facial recognition sensors. The notch houses an LED notification indicator, a selfie camera and an earpiece.

OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has confirmed in the recent past that the company will be providing an option blacken the display areas on the either sides of the notch to make it appear like a regular. This will make the OnePlus 6 look like the OnePlus 5T with slightly reduced upper and lower bezels.

The bottom edge of the OnePlus 6 features a 3.5mm audio jack, a USB-C slot at the center and an external speaker. The left edge of the OP6 an Alert Slider at the top followed by the volume rocker. None of the images in the new leak showcases the rear side of the smartphone. However, previous leaks have claimed that the OnePlus 6 will be featuring a dual camera setup and a fingerprint scanner on its back panel.

As far as design is concerned, the OnePlus 6 will be arriving with a glass rear. Also, it is expected to carry certain level of waterproofing too.

What do you think about the appearance of the real OnePlus 6? Share us your views by posting your comments below.

Samsung Galaxy S9 Sales Fall Below Expectation Even in South Korea

By

Jed John Ikoba

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May 2, 2018

Samsung‘s latest Galaxy S9 series is already on sale all over the world and the performance hasn’t been so good. One would have expected that the story would be different in Samsung’s home country, South Korea but that isn’t the case.

A report by the Investor shows that the tech giant sold an estimated 476,000 Galaxy S9 series units in March, but the number came crashing down to 231,000 in April. Samsung is said to have sold 707,000 units of the Galaxy S9 in the first two months, which is lower than almost 1 million unit sales of its predecessor Galaxy S8 last year. Apple’s iPhone X didn’t perform any better as its sales reportedly slumped as well. The iPhone X sales in Korea for the first four months after it was launched in November is estimated to be around 475,000 units, with just about 70,000 units sold in February. This is considered low since there wasn’t any competing flagship like the Galaxy S9 as at February.

The reason for the sluggish sales of the two most popular flagships around is pinned by Industry watchers on their high pricing and little upgrades in key features. In Korea, the iPhone X and the Galaxy S9 are priced at 1.55 million won (US$1,452) and 1.15 million won ($1069) respectively and you’ll agree these are on the high side. For half their prices, you could grab the Mi Mix 2s or even the OnePlus 6 which is expected to launch soon. The Mi Mix 2s comes with the same build quality and hardware as the duo and the OnePlus 6 will offer a similar quality for way less.