Huawei, Friday, released its financial report for 2017 showing a net profit of 47.5 billion Yuan ($7.3 billion) for 2017. The net profit represents a 28.1 percent increase year-on-year. The company also recorded a gross revenue of 603.6 billion Yuan ($92.5 billion) which is a 15.7 percent increase over 2016’s gross revenue.
The financial report also revealed that Huawei’s annual investment in research and development (R&D) reached 89.7 billion Yuan ($13.8 billion) which represents a 17.4 percent increase over the company’s R&D spending for 2016. With this figure, Huawei’sR&D spending over the past decade has so far exceeded 394 billion Yuan ($60.4 billion).
In a recent statement, Ken Hu, Huawei’s Rotating Chairman noted that the Shenzhen-based company is on a new journey. He hinted that the company plans to continue increasing its investment in technological innovation, investing more than $10 billion into R&D every year. He also disclosed that Huawei will actively pursue open collaboration, attract and cultivate top talent, and step up efforts in exploratory research. The efforts are yielding the desired results, we must note. Huawei last year launched its Kirin 970 chip, the world’s first mobile processor with a dedicated Neural processing unit (NPU) for AI. Just this month, the company also released the Huawei P20 Pro with a triple camera setup which another first in the industry. Huawei’s smartphone lineup, from flagships to midrange models have received positive reviews.
In addition, the Chinese giant is also presently eyeing Cloud computing, Internet-of-Things (IoT) and 5G markets and have invested in such emerging technologies. To this end, Hu also predicted that in 2018, emerging technologies like IoT, cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and 5G will see a large-scale application.
Other aspects of Huawei businesses also saw an increase in revenue in 2017. Huawei’s enterprise business generated 54.9 billion yuan ($8.4 billion) in revenue, an increase of 35.1 percent compared with 2016. Huawei’s Carrier business group generated 297.8 billion yuan ($45.7 billion) in revenue, an increase of 2.5 percent year-on-year. Huawei also set up a Cloud Business Unit in 2017, which launched 99 cloud services across 14 major categories, and over 50 solutions. The company also unveiled the Enterprise Intelligence (EI) platform and developed over 2,000 cloud service partners.
Three days ago, after a huge number of leaks, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S was finally announced. Xiaomi decided not to embrace the notch design and has kept the flagship’s body original. However, it’s not very different from the original Mi Mix 2, probably because it is just an intermediate version between Mi Mix 2 and 3. Just three days after the announcement, the first teardown photos of this handset have surfaced, so we can finally see the internals of the phone besides its aesthetics.
Given that it is not a waterproof device, backplate disassembly of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is straightforward. Sealant has been applied to the internals of the ceramic back, so a bit of heating is needed to open the phone. After heating, the back cover can be separated from the rest of the device with a pick. Before removing the back cover completely, you have to pay attention to the fingerprint reader which is stuck to the backplate. So, you have to disconnect it first. In the below images, you can see the important components of the handset in detail.
We can see the whole motherboard with Snapdragon 845 SoC, RAM and storage, as well as the dual camera module. Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is a solid improvement over its predecessor, even though its design isn’t too different. It comes with a 5.99-inch display which shows images at a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2160 pixels. The Snapdragon 845 chipset is paired with 6 or 8 GB of RAM and up to 256 GB of internal storage depending on the configuration. The 12 MP dual camera makes this device one of the 10 best camera phones according to DxOMark. At last, the battery comes with a capacity of 3400 mAh.
Xiaomi, often referred to as the Apple of China, is reportedly all set to make its debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange later this year. Completing a successful IPO is never easy, and neither is the road after an IPO. Companies get valued at billions of dollars overnight and Xiaomi’s expected valuation is as high as $100 billion, which would make it the biggest IPO ever. Everyone remembers how Alibaba’s $25 billion IPO surprised the market back in 2014 but Xiaomi could be an even bigger success story.
Xiaomi’s growth has been impressive so far, and the company is one of the top 5 smartphone manufacturers in the world. But the company’s success has been driven by its low-end and mid-range best sellers — a section of the market which has one of the lowest margins. To gain the confidence of its investors, Xiaomi needs to prove that it can take on the big players in the market as well. This is exactly why the Mi Mix 2S could be an important release for the company this year.
Xiaomi Mi Store India
Xiaomi flagships were big on hardware, but camera was one area where buyers were often left disappointed. As compared to competitors like Samsung, Apple, and even Huawei, Xiaomi’s camera performance wasn’t up to mark. This meant that despite its top of the line hardware, camera enthusiasts had to pick another brand flagship. I agree that the pricing justified the features and buyers were often willing to accept average camera performance for an overall great phone, but this further established the fact that only the big players were capable of delivering the best camera performance. Given that Xiaomi lacked the big bucks to spend on R&D unlike Samsung, Apple, or Huawei, this was going to be a big problem for its adoption in the high-end segment. In developed markets, this was an even bigger issue, as most high-end users are either Samsung or Apple loyalists.
Mi Mix 2 (L) vs Mi Mix 2S (R)
So until now, the company didn’t have a flagship that could sway these loyalists. But things change with the entry of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S. On paper, the phone boasts of high-end camera hardware, a 12MP dual camera setup (wide angle + telephoto lens) with 1.4µ pixel size. That’s pretty large and could be pivotal in capturing brighter and clearer low-light photos. This along with a hardware level multi-frame noise reduction implementation will help Mi Mix 2S capture clear low-light photos.
At the Mi Mix 2S launch event, there were several instances where Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun gladly compared its newcomer with the iPhone X. In all instances, Mi Mix 2S won (not surprising given that it was Xiaomi’s event), including in the low-light performance category. Further, Xiaomi, like most other big brands is relying on AI to improve photos taken with the Mi Mix 2S. Scene recognition is going to be an important feature since it promises to make your photos better after identifying what’s in the picture. This basically makes your camera smarter as it knows where to increase saturation and where to reduce it to ensure you get the best shots. If this works as well as advertised on the Mi Mix 2S, it’ll definitely make the photos more lively, adjusted according to the scene.
Xiaomi has already cracked the Indian market, becoming the number one smartphone manufacturer in terms of shipments in the past couple of quarters. Now, it’s looking to take on other markets in Europe with a similar strategy. Offlines stores are becoming an important tool to improve brand awareness, and the company is slowly but steadily increasing its footprint in the European market. More Mi stores are coming up in countries like Spain and Italy and the company is already in talks with the biggest carrier in the region, Vodafone, confirms Global Spokesperson, Wang Xiang. With Huawei’s popularity expanding in Europe, Xiaomi will have to take on the brand’s flagships this year, the Huawei P20 and P20 Pro, with the Mi Mix 2S. Considering how the P20 starts at a whopping $800, while the Mi Mix 2S starts at around $525, the Mi Mix 2S could be an instant hit, even among those who are looking for a great camera performance.
The US market is a confirmed target for Xiaomi and Lei Jun has already said that we can expect a launch sometime by the end of 2018 or early 2019. The Mi Mix series would be key to take on the big players in the region. However, it’s likely that the company has a low key entry in the US with an initial offering of the Redmi Note series, bringing in the big guns later. Still, if it aims to compete in the high-end segment in the country, it would likely be via Mi Mix 2S or even Mi Mix 3 (a successor is expected later this year).
Unlike the Chinese, internationally, customers prefer a clean and non-invasive UI on their smartphones. In this regard, Xiaomi could slap Android One on the Mi Mix 2S for its entry into the US shores. It already has an Android One Mi A1 model and could extend its relationship with Google for the Mi Mix 2S too. Plus carrier tie-ups with AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile would be pivotal for its success. The company is reportedly in talks with all the four major networks and in fact, Wang Xiang is said to have met with all of their executives. So we know Xiaomi is serious about cracking the US market.
With Huawei’s setback in the region after failed tie up with AT&T earlier this year and Trump’s efforts to remove Chinese influence from US soil, things are looking harder for Xiaomi in its plan to get into the US shores. The entry could likely be delayed, but one thing’s for sure — Xiaomi will continue to look at new markets and opportunities this year to expand its presence and prove its ability to generate sustainable profits to its investors.
The Mi Mix 2S is definitely the best smartphone released by the company till date and its camera performance further boosts our confidence in the company’s ability to take on the big conglomerates that dominate the market.
After launching the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus, Samsung is now gearing up to launch the next-generation Galaxy Note series smartphone — the Samsung Galaxy Note 9.
Recently, some country-specific website of Samsung listed the support pages for the Galaxy Note 9, which carries the model number SM-N960U. Now, as per the new reports, the smartphone could get launched earlier than planned.
If the latest reports are to be believed, then the Galaxy Note 9 could get launched in July or early August. The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 was unveiled in late August and went on sale in mid-September.
A fan-made render of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9
The report says that the prediction of the early launch of next-gen Galaxy Note series device is based on reports that Samsung Display will start making OLED screens for the Galaxy Note 9 in April. The report claims that the display production usually starts in June, thus putting the Galaxy Note 9 two months ahead of schedule.
If the phone gets launched early, the company could be looking to beat out Apple’s next-generation iPhone. Recently reports have indicated that Apple is planning to launch three iPhone this year, each with different screen-size and price segment. The early launch of Galaxy Note 9 could benefit the company in terms of sales.
The report also suggests that the upcoming Galaxy Note smartphone won’t feature an in-display fingerprint sensor. According to the previous reports, the under-display fingerprint sensor technology doesn’t match Samsung’s security standards. However, smartphone manufacturers like Vivo and Huawei have already jumped on this new technology.
Recently, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 appeared on Geekbench, a benchmarking website, which revealed that the phone is powered by Qualcomm’s flagship chipset — Snapdragon 845 along with 6GB RAM. It is also said to be running Android 8.1 Oreo operating system out-of-the-box.
The device scored 2190 points in the single-core score and 8806 points in the multi-core score. These scores are similar to that of the recently announced Xiaomi Mi MIX 2s which is also powered by a Snapdragon 845.
The Galaxy Note 9 is expected to come with Infinity Display 2.0 with the same-sized 6.3-inch S-AMOLED screen with 18.5:9 aspect ratio. It is said to be available in three storage variants — 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB.
A recent report claims that the phone will come with a bigger battery than its predecessor. While the Galaxy Note 8 packs 3,400mAh battery, the Galaxy Note 9 is expected to draw power from a 3,800mAh battery.
Foldable phones could be the future of the smartphones market. Given that smartphones are actually replacing PCs for several functions, people are always in need of bigger displays in order to make it comfortable to surf the web, watch videos and more. After Samsung and its alleged Galaxy X, even Huawei has filed a patent for a phone with a foldable display. The patent has been filed on September 19, 2017, but it has just been revealed on WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) website.
The Huawei foldable phone is way different from ZTE Axon M. It does not feature two separate displays, but one single display which can be folded. The mechanism is similar to the one of the Microsoft Surface Book. Thanks to this mechanism, the smartphone will be able to transform into a tablet while it is unfolded. While folded, it should obviously have the same dimensions as a normal smartphone. The patent does not show how the device will work while it is folded, so we still do not know if it will have an external display or just some indicators to show important info such as time, battery charge, and notifications.
A folding panel like that implies the presence of flexible glass or another material which does not break. At the moment, we do not know if and when this Huawei device will hit the shelves. It may even remain just a patent and we may be very far from the release of the first smartphone with a foldable display. According to recent declarations from Qualcomm, Samsung Galaxy X (the first phone with a foldable display by Samsung) will not see the light of day soon, and, due to difficulties encountered at realizing its foldable display, we may need to wait some years for its release.
On March 28, OnePlus‘ CEO Carl Pei had published a tweet on Twitter which confirmed the presence of the notch on the upcoming flagship OnePlus 6. But now, it has suddenly disappeared, and Pei has left no reason for the deletion. The most reliable hypothesis is, obviously, the disappointment from fans. After Apple released the iPhone X, the notch has become a trend in the smartphone market. First Asus, then Huawei, took inspiration from Apple and released their main flagships of the year with a notch.
But a lot of people seem to hate the notch and its source of inspiration, Apple. Just to remind you, even OnePlus’ sister companies Oppo and Vivo (each of these companies is owned by BBK Electronics) have already released their most important devices with a notch. Given that Oppo R11S had the same design as the OnePlus 5T, fans realized that the upcoming OnePlus 6 was likely to have a notch especially after the release of the R15, and this post was just an opportunity to express their disappointment. In the post which has now been deleted, Carl Pei wrote: “Learn to love the notch” and linked his interview with The Verge.
Do you think Carl Pei deleted the tweet to re-design the phone after acknowledging disappointment from its fans? That’s highly unlikely! Note that OnePlus CEO did talk about why notch on a display makes sense in its online forums and the post is still up. So the notch is likely here to stay.
OnePlus 6 is expected to come with a display bigger than 6 inches and a Full HD+ resolution. Under the hood, there should be an octa-core Snapdragon 845 chipset by Qualcomm paired with 6 or 8 GB of RAM depending on the configuration which you will choose to buy. There should also be a dual camera with 16 + 20 MP resolutions.
This year, talks about OnePlus 6 has started quite early. We were the first ones to report that the OP6 could launch early in 2018, as early as March. While March is coming to an end, it won’t be surprising if the OnePlus 6 meets us sometime in April or May, much earlier than its usual launch in June.
Huawei announced its flagship smartphones — Huawei P20 and P20 Pro earlier this week at a launch event in Paris, France. Now, the smartphones are being teased by the company to soon launch in India.
The company has released a teaser image on its website which reads “Coming Soon In India.” While Huawei has not clarified which device is coming to India, the ‘O’ in the teaser hints at P20 Pro’s triple camera sensor setup.
It is likely that both the smartphones will be exclusively available through Flipkart in India. Huawei has a partnership with online retailer Flipkart in India, which sells the majority of Huawei‘s devices on its marketplace.
The Huawei P20 comes with a 5.8-inch Full-HD+ FullView display with 2244 x 1080 pixels screen resolution while the P20 Pro features a 6.1-inch OLED Full-HD+ FullView display with 2240 x 1080 pixels screen resolution.
Under the hood, both the devices are powered by the company’s own HiSilicon Kirin 970 octa-core processor, coupled with a dedicated NPU (Neural Processing Unit). The Huawei P20 has 4GB of RAM, whereas the P20 Pro comes with 6GB RAM. Both phones have 128GB of onboard storage and support microSD card slot for expanding the storage capacity.
As of the camera department, the P20 has a dual rear camera setup that includes a 12-megapixel RGB sensor along with a f/1.8 aperture and a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor along with a f/1.6 aperture. The Huawei P20 Pro, on the other hand, comes with a triple rear camera setup that has an 8-megapixel sensor with 3x optical zoom, which comes from a Leica telephoto lens, 40-megapixel RGB sensor, and a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor. On the front, both smartphones sport a 24.8-megapixel camera on the front.
Connectivity options on the device include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/ A-GPS, NFC, and USB Type-C. The smartphones run on Android 8.1 Oreo operating system based EMUI 8.1. The smartphones also support Google ARCore and include a 360-degree Face Unlock feature.
While the Huawei P20 packs a 3,400mAh battery while the Huawei P20 Pro has 4,000mAh battery. Both support Huawei SuperCharge — a fast-charging technology that is touted to charge 58 percent of battery in just 30 minutes.
The expected price of these new smartphones for the Indian market hasn’t been revealed yet. However, considering the European pricing for the P20 series, it is expected to be in the high-end range.
Along with the Mi TV 4S 55-inch model, Xiaomi has now announced a new model under its Mi TV 4C series. The new model is a 50-inch display variant which sits between the earlier launched 43-inch and 55-inch variants.
This new smart TV from the company will be available for pre-orders from 30th March until 2nd April and the first sale for the same is scheduled to take place on 3rd April.
The new 50-inch Mi TV 4C comes with ultra narrow edges and 4K HDR support. The 4K ultra-high-definition screen comes with 3840 x 2160 pixels resolution and, viewing angle of 178-degrees and 50Hz refresh rate. It has a dynamic response of 9.5 milliseconds and comes with direct type backlight.
It is powered by a 64-bit Cortex A53 quad-core processor which is clocked at 1.5Ghz along with Mali-450 750MHz GPU. It packs 2GB RAM and 8GB of internal storage. For enhanced audio experience, the TV also supports Dolby sound.
For connectivity, along with the AV, analog signal DTMB, it also comes with 3 HDMI ports, 2 USB ports, and 1 Ethernet port for wired internet connectivity. All the ports are mounted on the side, making it more convenient for usage.
On the software front, it is running Xiaomi’s own PatchWall user interface based on an Android operating system. The PatchWall interface from the company comes with artificial intelligence technology which can predict content preferences based on user history.
It comes with the company’s standard 11-button Bluetooth remote controller, which also supports voice-based search functionality.
Last year, Xiaomi had launched 43-inch and 55-inch models of the Mi TV 4C. While the 43-inch model packs 1GB RAM and 8 GB storage with Full HD support, the larger 55-inch model comes with 2GB RAM and 8GB internal storage with support for 4K HDR.
In China, the 43-inch model is priced at 1,849 Yuan (approx. $295) while the bigger 55-inch model is priced at 2,649 Yuan (approximately $422). The newly introduced 50-inch model is priced at 2,199 Yuan, which roughly converts to $350.
After the abysmal performance of the Helio X20 and X30 chips, MediaTek gave up on the flagship chipset segment and is now focused on manufacturing premium mid-range chips. The company recently announced the Helio P60 and a couple of other chipsets for mid-range smartphones. The Helio P60 seems to hold the Midas touch to turn things around for MediaTek. Indeed, things are starting to look up for MediaTek. The chipset was first utilised on the OPPO R15 smartphone which would go on sale in China on April 1. Now, there are indications that Xiaomi will utilise the Helio P60 chipset on its smartphone in the second quarter of the year.
The news comes from the Taiwanese supply chain and also includes that Vivo will launch an Helio P60-powered smartphone in Q2. This is a sign of recovery for MediaTek, considering that the trio of OPPO, Vivo and Xiaomi rank among the top 5 phone manufacturers in China. Thus, the rate of usage per smartphone would be high. Only OPPO has the potential to steer things up considering it is the second largest phone maker in terms of market share and the R series is it highest-grossing series. Lenovo VP recently spoke glowingly about Helio P60 and so we may see a Lenovo model powered by the chip and so too, a Meizu phone with Helio P60. As a result, it is speculated that MediaTek’s revenue in Q2 could exceed 60 billion USD. It is also worthy of note that the Helio P70, another 12nm chipset by MediaTek will reportedly be used by Xiaomi on its smartphones.
As a reminder, the MediaTek Helio P60 is built on TSMC’s 12nm FinFET process which offers 15% reduction in power consumption over 14nm chips. The octa-core chip clocked at 2.0GHz uses four Cortex A73 cores with a 2.0GHz clock speed and four Cortex-A53 cores also clocked at 2.0GHz. It also boasts of a new Mali-G72 MP3 GPU clocked at 800MHz which Mediatek claims offers a 70% boost in game performance over previous generation P-series. Like other chip manufacturers, MediaTek has also included a dedicated processing unit called NeuroPilot that handles AI-related tasks on the device. It is two times more power efficient than using a GPU and has a processing performance of 280GMAC/s. NeuroPilot will handle tasks like deep-learning facial detection, object and scene identification, real-time beautification and AR/MR acceleration. The chipset also supports a dual camera setup up to 24MP + 16MP or a single camera with a 32MP sensor
A new 360 Mobiles smartphone model was recently spotted on benchmark app GeekBench database. The device was listed with the model number 1809-A01 and runs the yet to be announced Qualcomm Snapdragon 670 chipset. The Snapdragon 670 had earlier been benchmarked on GeekBench with a single core test score of 1844 and multi-core score of 5689 points.
According to leaked details, the Snapdragon 670 will be a 10nm chipset that will not be based on the classic big.LITTLE architecture. Instead of four low-end and four high-end CPU cores, the Snapdragon 670 will be featuring a combination of low-end hexa-core processor and dual-core high-end processor. The low-end cores called Kryo 300 Silver will deliver a maximum clocking speed of 2.6 GHz.
In this case, the 360 Mobiles model scored 1889 points on the single-core test and 5938 points on the multi-core test. The device is also listed as having 6GB of RAM onboard and runs Android 8.1 Oreo OS out of the box. Since the chipset listed as SDM 670 is yet to be released, the device may be a long way from becoming official.
The Jumper EZbook 3L Pro was launched in August, last year. As expected, the 14-inch laptop became an instant hit among gadget lovers. On the downside, it failed to grab the attention of cost-conscious buyers.
Bearing that in mind, GeekBuying is giving those buyers an opportunity to get their hands on the EZbook 3L Pro at a discounted price. In line with that, the site is currently offering a noteworthy 30% discount on the coveted laptop’s original asking price of $350.38.
As a result, you can now buy the EZbook 3L Pro laptop for only $244.99 on GeekBuying. The promo is currently valid for the silver color version of the laptop.
But if that’s still not a good enough reason for you to buy it, we’ll tell you exactly how can you get an additional discount without breaking much of a sweat. All you have to do is use coupon code ‘GKBJ89F’ to save an extra $40 at the time of checking out.
In other words, by applying the aforesaid coupon code, you can bring your grand total down to only $239.99. Despite bearing a lowered price tag, the EZbook 3L Pro laptop boasts an array of jaw-dropping specs and features.
Here’s a brief glimpse of what the device has to offer in terms of specs:
The EZbook 3L Pro packs a powerful Intel Apollo Lake N3450 processor, along with an Intel HD Graphics 500 GPU, under the hood. The device offers 6GB of RAM and a hearty 64GB of SSD storage capacity.
It sports a big 14-inch IPS display with a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and 16:9 aspect ratio. Weighing in at 1.300 Kg, the laptop’s dimensions are 33.00 cm x 22.00 cm x 1.3 cm.
The EZbook 3L Pro draws its juices from a robust 9,600 mAh Li-ion Polymer battery. Furthermore, the device runs on Microsoft Windows 10, 64-bit operating system and comes with a single 2-megapixel Front-facing camera.
You can click here to check out the full specification and take advantage of the promo on GeekBuying before it comes to an end in 2 days. It is also imperative for you to bear in mind the coupon code is likely to expire soon.
The Freecube DIY Modular Kit is ideal for gadget buffs that are looking for a multifunctional smart home entertainment system. The device boasts an array of useful features including Bluetooth speaker, LED sensor light, wireless charger + 4 AC / 3.1A USB Port and lots more.
You can now get your hands on the FreeCube Smart Modular DIY Kit by shelling out $129 on Banggood. Taking into consideration that the device makes smart life so simple, the aforesaid price tag seems justifiable.
However, if you’re not willing to shell out that kind of money or are simply looking to save a considerable amount of money, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll tell you exactly how you can save $30 on this Modular DIY Kit without breaking much of a sweat. All you have to do is use coupon code ‘FREE30’ at the time of checking out to bring your grand total down to just $99.99. This is a considerable 23% reduction in the device’s original quoted price.
However, it is imperative for you to bear in mind that the coupon code is likely to expire soon. You can head straight to this link in order to use the coupon code.
If you’re a smartphone enthusiast looking to get your hands on a high-end phone without emptying your pocket, look no further. The recently kicked off Mobile Mania promo on GeekBuying features a slew of heavily discounted mobile phones. Let’s delve straight into the details.
50% Off
This category comprises smartphones that you can buy at a discounted price for a limited period of time. Among other smartphones included in this section, you can buy the Meizu M5 Note smartphone by shelling out just $148.99.
GeekBuying is giving a massive 60% discount on the phone’s original asking price of $374.76. On the downside, this discount which is valid for the 4GB RAM/64GB ROM version of the M5 Note will be ending soon.
Best Sellers
Here you can find some of the most purchased mobile phones on GeekBuying. But that’s not all. The site is currently selling these well-received devices for a reduced price.
Lining with that, GeekBuying is offering a noteworthy 56% discount on the Blackview BV6000S smartphone, which sells for US$ 264.91 on the site. Buyers have an opportunity to buy this rugged smartphone for only $115.99.
The aforesaid discount is valid for the black color version of the BV6000S smartphone. This promo is slated to end in 5 days.
Bundle Deals
This section features smartphones that are paired with other accessories that you can buy at a lowered price. For instance, GeekBuying is giving 39% off on China Mobile A3s smartphone, which normally bears a price tag of $108.99.
Apart from being able to buy the A3s smartphone for just $65.99, you also get 1 soft case and 1 tempered glass as part of this Package B Gold bundle deal. Alternatively, you can go or Package B Silver option and get 28% off.
You can visit this link in order to check out rest of the deals and take advantage of GeekBuying Mobile Mania promo before it ends on April 3.
While most of the smartphone manufacturers have already launched their flagship smartphones, Lenovo-owned Motorola is yet to launch its phone.
Earlier, the company’s lineup of upcoming smartphones got leaked, which included Moto Z3 series, Moto E5 lineup and the Moto G6 series. Now, from the Moto Z3 lineup, the Moto Z3 Play’s case renders have leaked online, showing us the phone’s design. Motorola has decided to retain the modular design.
The form factor of the smartphone is similar to its predecessor but the mod connectors seem to have been expanded. However, we expect that the phone will work with older mods, as well as the new ones that the company launches.
One of the major change in terms of design is the location of the fingerprint sensor. The company has moved the fingerprint sensor from the front to the side of the phone. This could be because of the full-screen display with 18:9 aspect ratio, which covers the major portion of the front panel.
The phone will come with a dual camera setup at the back, along with an LED flash. The camera module is placed in the company’s unique ring-type design. On the bottom side, there’s a USB Type-C port but Motorola has decided to ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack.
According to the rumors, the smartphone could be launched towards the beginning of summer. Earlier, it was reported that apart from Moto Z3 and Z3 Play, there will be a third model in the lineup that will have the most advanced specs compared to the other models. All devices will be running Android Oreo out-of-the-box.
Previous reports have indicated that the Moto Z3 Play could feature a 6-inch Full HD+ display with screen resolution of 2220 x 1080 pixels. The phone was spotted at FCC with model number XT-1929, which revealed that it is powered by Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon 636 processor, along with 4GB RAM.
Motorola is currently gearing up to launch the Moto G6 and Moto E5 series smartphones. The Moto G6 lineup includes Moto G6, G6 Plus, and G6 Play while the Moto E5 series includes Moto E5, E5 Plus, and E5 Pro. While the company has not yet revealed launch dates, these phones are expected to get unveiled in the coming weeks.
If you’ve restlessly been waiting to get your hands on a high-end smartphone, phablet or other mobile devices without spending a fortune, we have good news for you. GearBest is currently giving up to 50% discount on top selling mobiles.
You can now take advantage of the promo and buy select phones, smartwatch phone, and phone accessories at best-ever prices. The promo has been divided into multiple categories in a bid to facilitate the search process.
First off, the site is offering specific discounts on mobile phones manufactured by leading handset makers such as Blackview and Leagoo. For instance, you can get a 9% off on Blackview mobile phone in the form of a coupon code that is directly sent to your account. The coupon will be valid for just 24 hours after receiving.
MONSTER FLASH SALE
This category comprises heavily discounted smartphones and phablets. Apart from a slew of other well-received devices, you can buy the UmiDigi S2 Pro 4G phablet for a Flash Sale price of $309.99.
This is a 24% reduction in the device’s original asking price. It’s worth noting that it normally sells for $409.85 on GearBest. The Flash Sale price will be valid for the remaining 41 pieces of the black color version and 49 pieces of the red color version of the phablet for 3 days.
ULTIMATE BRANDS
This section of the promo features mobile devices manufactured by Xiaomi, Elephone, Cubot and other popular tech companies.
TOP 6 BESTSELLERS
You can buy 6 most purchased smartphones at a slashed price in this category. For instance, you can get 24% off on the Xiaomi Mi A1 4G phablet which normally sells for $275.63 on GearBest.
Thanks to this discount, you can now buy the black color version of the phablet by shelling out just $209.99. The site is also giving 25% discount on the gold-tinted Mi A1 phablet which brings its normal quoted price down to just $199.99.
MOBILE PHONES
This section is crammed with mobile devices manufactured by Vernee, Ulefone, HomTom and other tech firms. GearBest is offering a considerable discount on select handsets featured in this category.
In line with that, the site is giving 18% off on Vernee Thor Plus 4G phablet which usually carries a price sticker of $178.85 on GearBest. For a limited period of time, buyers have an opportunity to get their hands on the device for only $145.99.
SMART WATCH PHONES
GearBest is giving smartwatch phone enthusiasts something to cheer about by offering discounts on a myriad of smartwatch phones and other cool accessories featured in this segment. There’s a 26% discount on the U8 smartwatch which sells for $11.36 on GearBest. As a result, you can now buy it for only $8.44. However, this Flash Sale price will be valid for just 3 days and there were only 155 pieces left at the time of writing.
OVERSEAS DEALS
This segment has further been split into 5 subcategories each comprising various discounted items. You can get 13% off on Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 phablet in #1 Deal section.
Thanks to the aforesaid discount, the Redmi Note 4 can be yours for just $189.99. But it’s worth noting that the device is likely to retain its original asking price as soon as the promo comes to an end.
You can click here to check out all the mobile devices that are currently available at a lowered price on GearBest. It is imperative for you to bear in mind that the promo is slated to end soon.
Last month, we reported that social media giant Facebook is gearing up to launch its own smart speakers. Now, according to the new reports, the company could be delaying the launch of its smart speakers amid data crisis.
Facebook was reportedly going to announce its smartphone speakers at its developers’ conference in May and launch the full product in the fall. But, the company is currently facing public outrage over its data privacy practices. According to the sources, Facebook is taking time for deeper review in order to ensure that they make the right trade-offs regarding user data.
The company’s connected speakers will come with digital-assistant and video-chat capabilities and are said to be the part of Facebook’s plan to become more intimately involved with users’ everyday social lives using artificial intelligence.
As per the reports, the US-based social media giant will be launching two smart speakers — “Fiona” and “Aloha”. Aloha, which is said to be the larger of the two, is expected to come with a 15-inch touchscreen, along with facial and voice recognition. However, very little is known about Fiona, which is supposedly coming with a Siri-like voice assistant.
Previous reports have suggested that the display panel will come from LG Display, and both units will be assembled by contract manufacturer Pegatron. Facebook has also reportedly signed music licensing deals with Sony and Universal Music to provide content.
Facebook is following the path forged by Amazon.com Inc. with the launch of its Echo in-home smart speakers. Amazon‘s smart speakers come with virtual voice assistant which can be used to control smart appliances as well as to perform various tasks.
Along with Amazon, Google has also entered the smart speakers market in 2016 with Google Home and brought its personal voice assistant Google Assistant into the mainstream. One of the latest entrants in the market is Apple with the recent launch of Apple Homepod which is also one of the most expensive units yet.
While Facebook is reportedly delaying the launch of its smart speaker, reports indicate that the company still plans to launch the devices later this year.
Huawei’s Porsche Design Mate RS comes with an in-display fingerprint scanner in addition to a rear-mounted one. While most manufacturers will still continue to release phones with the latter design, a few models will come with an in-display fingerprint scanner. A published patent shows Meizu’s take on the in-display fingerprint scanner is quite different from what we have seen in other phones.
According to the patent’s description, the sensors that detect the fingerprint are located around the bezels and not beneath the main screen. There are multiple ultrasonic sensors located around the bezels that sense touch from a user.
If the phone is locked and a user touches the bezels, the ultrasonic sensors send info to the processor controlling the fingerprint sensor. This processor then communicates with the phone to detect the fingerprint pattern recorded by the sensors and see if it matches what is in the database. If it matches, the phone is then unlocked.
In the image provided, the areas marked “H” are where the ultrasonic sensors are located. As you can see they go around the display, so irrespective of where you place a registered finger, the sensors should detect it.
Mi Mix 2S and P20 Pro are the best smartphones ever released by Xiaomi and Huawei, respectively. They are incredibly powerful flagships and they are going to rival Samsung Galaxy S9 and iPhone X which are the most expensive devices in the market. Given that it is hard to judge which one is the best Chinese phone as they got similar specs, we published this comparison which will allow you to acknowledge the most important differences between them. After reading this Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S vs Huawei P20 Pro comparison, you should be able to understand which one fits your needs, at least on paper.
Dual 12 + 12 MP f/1.8 + f/2.4
5 MP f/2.0 front camera
Triple 40 + 20 + 8 MP f/1.8 + f/1.6 + f/2.4
24 MP f/2.0 front camera
BATTERY
3400 mAh
20W Fast charging (Quick Charge 3.0)
4000 mAh
Fast Charging
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
Qi wireless charging
Hybrid Dual SIM slot, IP67 rating
Both Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S and Huawei P20 Pro have an outstanding design made of premium materials (ceramic back + metal frame on the former and glass back + metal frame on the latter). While the first has a tri-bezel-less display with a higher screen-to-body ratio, the second takes inspiration from iPhone X as it has a notch, and it also offers a fingerprint reader on the front side. While the design of Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is more original, Huawei P20 Pro should have a better display thanks to the AMOLED technology which usually shows more brilliant colors and deeper blacks. On the other hand, performances should be better on the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S as it offers a more advanced Snapdragon 845 SoC paired with up to 8 GB of RAM.
According to the famous platform DxOMark, Huawei P20 Pro is the best camera phone ever released and, even though Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is in the top 10, it does not reach the level of its opponent in terms of photo and video quality. Huawei P20 Pro is the first flagship smartphone with a triple camera and a 40 MP main sensor co-engineered with Leica. It supports OIS, hybrid zoom up to 5x and laser autofocus. Its 24 MP selfie camera is better than Mi Mix 2s’ front snapper as well. Given that the battery has a much higher capacity (4000 vs 3400 mAh) and AMOLED displays usually have lower energy consumption, Huawei P20 Pro should also offer a way higher battery life. Note that only the Mi Mix 2S will support wireless charging, while P20 Pro is the only model which offers water-resistance (IP67).
Huawei P20 Pro is better than Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, but the latter will be sold at a more affordable price. While P20 Pro has been launched globally with a price tag of €899/$1150, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S starts from just €428/$530 in China.
Unlike previous years, LG has decided not to unveil its most important flagship at Mobile World Congress. Instead, it launched two upgraded versions of LG V30 with AI: V30S ThinQ and V30S+ ThinQ. But this does not mean that the G7 will not see the light of day: it has just been delayed. We saw multiple leaks which showed us the details of its design and now, some renders published by the case manufacturer Olixar are showing it almost completely. The display has a notch, just like the iPhone X.
After Asus, Huawei took inspiration from Apple and joined the notch club. While side bezels of LG G7 are narrower than the ones of iPhone X, the ones on the top and bottom of the devices seem to be thicker. We still do not know if the handset will sport an LCD or an OLED display, but according to recent rumors, there will be two different variants of the LG G7 with different panels, so users will be able to choose.
The backplate of the flagship, which seems to be made of glass, houses a dual camera in a vertical configuration. There is also a LED flash and a laser autofocus on the left, while under the dual camera there is a classic fingerprint reader. It is not a very original design, but it is beautiful without any doubt. At the moment, we still do not know when LG G7 will be officially announced. But we are sure that it will be a powerful flagship. We expect it to come with the octa-core Snapdragon 845, which is actually the best SoC ever released by Qualcomm. It can run at a max frequency of 2.9 GHz and it also sports a dedicated module for AI.
DJI and FLIR are going to revolutionize the world of drones with a very innovative product. The two companies have just unveiled Zenmuse XT2, a unique camera never seen on a drone until now. We are talking about an incredible dual vision camera which supports thermal imaging. It is composed of two sensors: a normal camera and a thermal sensor. The main CMOS 1/1.7″ sensor has a resolution of 12 MP and it can record 4K videos.
The main camera sensor and the thermal sensor can work together in order to show a classic view and a thermal view of the surroundings. In detail, the camera shows real-time thermal video enhanced with visible spectrum definition, exceptional thermal clarity to highlight exactly where the problem is, easier target identification without compromising temperature data and a high image quality with no need for separate photos or reports to perfectly understand the situation.
DJI Zenmuse XT2 also supports real-time view (FPV) for both sensors. The feature can be accessed via an Android app called DJI Pilot starting from today, while the iOS app will be called DJI XT Pro and it will be officially available starting from April. DJI Zenmuse XT2 is compatible with drones from the M200 Series and M600 Pro.
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All you have to do is use coupon code ‘FREE30’ at the time of checking out to bring your grand total down to just $99.99. This is a considerable 23% reduction in the device’s original quoted price.
As a result, you can now buy it for only $8.44. However, this Flash Sale price will be valid for just 3 days and there were only 155 pieces left at the time of writing.
