Honor 7C Launched; 5.99 Full-view Display, SD 450, Smart Selfie Shooter, Starts at ¥899 (~$142)

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Mar 12, 2018

The Huawei P20 line-up will be announced on March 27 in a dedicated event which will be held in Paris. Huawei P20 Lite will be the cheapest variant of the trio and it has just appeared in a new live photo which shows its rear side. With an outstanding glass back in Blue, the phone is reminiscent of the best-seller Honor 8 which has been one of the most attractive smartphones of recent years. The lucid glass back houses a dual camera in a vertical configuration with a LED flash under it, and a fingerprint reader placed centrally. The frame of the Blue Huawei P20 Lite seems to be made of metal.

The photo confirms the previously leaked shots, the press renders surfaced online and the images published by the Chinese regulatory agency TENAA after its official certification. Other photos and a hands-on video are showing the front side as well. On the front, Huawei P20 Lite will sport a bezel-less display with an 18:9 aspect ratio and an iPhone X-like notch. But even though there will be a notch, we will see a thicker bezel on the lower side. The display should have a size of 5.84 inches and it should show images at a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2160 pixels.

Under the hood, we expect to see the octa-core Kirin 659 chipset, the same which powers the latest Huawei midranges like Honor 7X and Honor 9 Lite. The chipset will be accompanied by 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage. The vertical dual camera should have resolutions of 16 and 2 MP, while on the front side there should be a single selfie snapper with a resolution of 24 MP. The battery should have a capacity of 2900 mAh, while the operating system installed will be Android 8.0 Oreo customized with the EMUI 8.0.

(Via)

Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S Dual Camera Teaser Could be Hinting Slow Motion Video Shooting

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Mar 12, 2018

Xiaomi is building hype around the upcoming Mi MIX 2S flagship phone by releasing the teasers on some of its key features on Weibo. Recently, it has confirmed that the Snapdragon 845 chipset would be fueling the Mi MIX 2S. The company has also teased that the smartphone would be equipped with AI dual cameras and wireless charging. Today, the Chinese manufacturer has released yet another teaser on Weibo to hint the camera prowess of the phone.

The Weibo post featuring a teaser image that show clapping hands asks Xiaomi fans to guess on the new camera feature that will be arriving on the Mi MIX 2S. As mentioned above, it has been already revealed that the handset will be coming with AI driven dual rear cameras. The clapping hands teaser suggest that the camera of the Mi MIX 2S may support fast focusing or slow-motion video shooting or both.

Last week, a leakster from China had revealed leaked photos of the Mi MIX 2S. He had shared the following watermarked image to show that the handset will indeed feature AI driveni dual cameras. The tipster had also claimed that the Mi MIX 2S will carry support for 960 fps.

The leaked photos of the phone that have surfaced recently have shown that its back panel will be featuring a vertically arrange dual camera setup. One of the recent teasers have suggested that both the camera sensors can work independently. Recent reports have hinted that the one of its dual camera sensors could be the Sony IMX363 sensor. All the teasers surrounding the camera of the Mi MIX 2S clearly hints that it will offer stellar photography experience.

As far as other specs and features of the phone are concerned, it expected to come with FHD+ display of 6.01 inches, 6 GB / 8 GB RAM, 64 GB / 128 GB / 256 GB storage options, Android Oreo, 3,400mAh battery and rear-mounted fingerprint reader.

Xiaomi will be unveiling the Mi MIX 2S through a launch event in Shanghai on March 27. As of this writing, there is no confirmation on its pricing.

You May Want To Stay Away From Sony’s Xperia XZ2 2-in-1 Dongle

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Mar 12, 2018

The alternate title for this post should be “How to not charge your phone while charging it” because that is practically what Sony’s Xperia XZ2 Type-C 2-in-1 cable does.

The flagship phone which was unveiled at MWC 2018 doesn’t have an audio jack. So you are left with listening to audio files over Bluetooth, through an USB-C audio dongle or via a pair of USB-C headphones. If you choose either of the last two, that means you can’t charge and use your headphones at the same time.

Sony wants you to be able to use your 3.5mm headphones and charge your phone at the same time (at least that’s the idea), so it made the USB Type-C 2-in-1 Cable EC270 – a dongle that has 3.5mm and USB-C input ports at one end for your earphones and charging cable respectively, and a USB-C connector that plugs into your phone at the other end.

All you have to do is plug in your earphone and charging cable to the dongle and connect it to your phone and you can listen and charge at the same time.

The problem is that while you will do the former, you may not be charging your phone seeing as the dongle’s power output is limited to 5V/0.5A (2.5W)! We don’t have to explain how that power rating practically doesn’t translate to your phone charging especially if you are using the phone at the same time.

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OnePlus 5 And OnePlus 5T Starts Receiving Android 8.1 Oreo Beta Update

By

Jeet

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Mar 12, 2018

After rolling out Android 8.0 Oreo update for its OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T smartphones earlier this year, OnePlus has now started rolling out Android 8.1 Oreo beta update for both the phones.

The OxygenOS Open Beta 6 for the OnePlus 5 and the OxygenOS Open Beta 4 for the OnePlus 5T is now based on Android 8.1 Oreo operating system.

The update is about 1.6GB in size and comes with the Android security patch for February 2018. The update will be available over-the-air (OTA) for those users who have already flashed a previous Open Beta build. However, for those who’ve not flashed Open Beta build, they’ll need to flash this new update manually by downloading it from downloads.oneplus.net.

It also comes with a new call pick-up gesture, enabling users to answer the call by raising the phone. Besides general bug fixes and improvements, the company has added more clock styles for ambient display and has added new optimizations in gaming mode for immersive gaming experience including power saving and pausing adaptive brightness.

For the OnePlus Switch, the company has also added support to migrate application data, allowing users to switch between devices seamlessly. Further, for the OnePlus 5T, the update also brings optimized full-screen gesture support.

Currently, the OnePlus 5T is the flagship smartphone from the China-based company, which was launched in November last year. It comes with a 6.01-inch Full HD+ Optic AMOLED display with an 18:9 aspect ratio and a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on top.

Under the hood, the phone is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor and is available in two variants — 6GB RAM with 64GB of internal storage and 8GB RAM with 128GB of internal storage. It comes with a 16-megapixel primary sensor at the back, with a wide-angle lens and large f/1.7 aperture.

Compared to its predecessor OnePlus 5, the secondary telephoto lens on the 5T has now been replaced by a 20-megapixel sensor with f/1.7 aperture for better low-light photography and improved depth-of-field. The phone is powered by a 3,300mAh battery which also supports Dash Charging.

(Sources – 1, 2)

Meizu E3 Could be Arriving as Redmi Note 5 Killer with Snapdragon 636, 6 GB RAM, Sony IMX363

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Save $100 On ZTE Nubia M2 Smartphone On Banggood

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Mar 12, 2018

Last week, Lenovo Group VP had teased that that the upcoming Lenovo S5 phone would be a worthy competitor for the Xiaomi’s forthcoming Redmi Note 5 mid-range phone. Meizu has recently confirmed that it will be holding a launch event in Beijing on March 21 to announce the Meizu E3 smartphone. Fresh information reveals that the Meizu E3 will be also a Redmi Note 5 killer phone as it is speculated to include Snapdragon 636 chipset, 6 GB of RAM and Sony IMX363 sensor.

Last month, Xiaomi had unveiled the Redmi Note 5 Pro smartphone in India. It is the first Redmi Note phone to feature 6 GB of RAM. Moreover, it is also the first phone ever to be fueled by Snapdragon 636 SoC. Xiaomi has recently confirmed that the Redmi Note 5 that is debuting on March 16 in China will be powered by Snapdragon 636 and 6 GB of RAM. This is clear indication from the company that the Redmi Note 5 Pro that was launched in India could be heading to China as the Redmi Note 5 phone.

The Snapdragon 636 chipset that powers the Redmi Note 5 Pro includes a 1.8 GHz octa-core processor. The TENAA listing of the Meizu E3 has revealed that it is also fueled by 1.8 GHz octa-core processor. Fresh information suggests that the Meizu E3 will be also equipped with Snapdragon 636 SoC. It will be a Redmi Note 5 killer as it also expected to arrive with 6 GB of RAM like the Redmi Note 5 Pro.

The TENAA certification of the Meizu E3 has revealed that it will be equipped with a 5.99-inch IPS LCD display that supports Full HD+ resolution. The handset will be powered by a 3,300mAh battery.

Apart from 6 GB RAM option, the Meizu E3 will be also available in 4 GB RAM variant. The handset is also expected to be available in 32 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB storage choices. It will be arriving with a microSD card slot. The below render of the phone shows it will be equipped with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.

The Android 7.1.1 Nougat will be available pre-installed on the Meizu E3. It will be arriving with a front-facing camera of 8-megapixel. The back panel of the phone will be fitted with 12-megapixel + 20-megapixel dual camera setup.

As far as the camera prowess is concerned, Meizu Li Nan had recently claimed on Weibo that the camera of the Meizu E3 will be better than Meizu Note 6. He had also shared a same image of the photo that was snapped using the Meizu E3’s dual rear cameras.

The Meizu Note 6’s dual camera setup comprises of Sony IMX362 and Samsung 2L7 sensors. Leaked information reveals that the Sony IMX363 that is available on the ASUS ZenFone 5 and ZenFone 5Z smartphones will be arriving on the Meizu E3 phone.

Rumors are rife that the Meizu E3 will be coming with a 2,299 Yuan (~$363). According to its TENAA certification, the handset is expected to arrive in Champagne Gold, Obsidian Black and Dark Blue.

(via)

Preorder ZTE Nubia M2 Smartphone For Only $199.99 On Banggood [Coupon Code]

By

Vinay Patel

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Mar 12, 2018

The ZTE Nubia M2 smartphone was launched in June, last year. As expected, the long-awaited phone garnered huge popularity among smartphone lovers after hitting the store shelves.

While the Nubia M2 smartphone grabbed the attention of gadget buffs with its impressive specs, the phone failed to impress cost-conscious buyers who weren’t willing to empty their pockets to buy a smartphone. But that’s about to change.

Much to the delight of those who have restlessly been waiting to get their hands on the coveted phone without burning a hole in their pocket, Banggood is giving them an opportunity to save a considerable amount of money. Let’s check out the details.

The Nubia M2 is up for preorder on Banggood bearing a relatively steep price tag of $299.99; however, you can save a lot of money simply by using coupon code ‘BG128M2’ at the time of checking out. Here’s how.

You can save $100 while preordering the Nubia M2 smartphone by applying the aforesaid coupon code. In other words, you can bring your grand total down to only $199.99.

In terms of specs, the ZTE Nubia M2 smartphone sports a 5.5 inches AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display with a screen resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels at a pixel density of 401 PPI. It uses Corning Gorilla Glass for added protection.

The Nubia M2 offers 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. It packs a powerful Qualcomm MSM8953 Snapdragon 625 processor, paired with an Adreno 506 GPU, under the hood. The phone runs on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) with Nubia UI 4.0 running on top.

You can click here to check out the full specification and use the coupon code before it expires. It’s worth noting that the coupon code will be valid for only 3000 pieces.

Sony Xperia R1 And Xperia R1 Plus Starts Receiving Android Oreo Update

By

Jeet

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Mar 12, 2018

Last year, Sony made a come-back in the mid-range smartphone market by launching Xperia R1 and Xperia R1 Plus in the Indian market. The phones, which are exclusive to the Indian market, have now started receiving the Android Oreo update.

The Android 8.0 Oreo update for the Xperia R1 and the Xperia R1 Plus brings features like reminders for unfinished tasks such as emails in drafts and messages. It also comes with a new feature called Xperia Actions which intelligently suggests actions based on user’s usage with all new games and community features. Further, the update brings contextual menus for app shortcuts which on long pressing will show more options.

The new update also brings several core Android Oreo features including Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode, Notification dots, Smart Autofill, redesigned Quick Settings menu, faster boot time, and other bug fixes and system improvements, along with a relatively new Android security patch.

The Android 8.0 Oreo update has build number S001011_180224. On the Sony forum, several users are complaining about the Wi-fi SSID connection and some third-party app crashes after Oreo update. Some users are unable to upload/download media from WhatsApp. A few users are also facing issues with Google Play Store showing notice of it being uncertified.

The Sony Xperia R1 and R1 Plus smartphones were launched in October 2017 at Rs 12,990 and Rs 14,900 respectively. At the time of launch, the Japan-based company had said that these phones are exclusively for the Indian market and will be manufactured locally.

The Xperia R1 features a 5.2-inch TFT LCD display with a screen resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage with microSD card slot for storage expansion.

The phone comes with a 13-megapixel camera on the back with LED Flash and Sony‘s own Predictive Hybrid Autofocus which uses object tracking and motion prediction to focus on moving objects. On the front, there is an 8-megapixel camera that also has the same Predictive Hybrid focusing system.

Coming to the Xperia R1 Plus, it comes with the same set of specs except for the RAM and storage. It packs 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. All the other specs, including display, processor and camera sensors remains same.

Both the devices run Android 7.0 Nougat operating system out-of-the-box and connectivity options include Dual SIM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS and 4G VoLTE. It comes with a USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer. Both phones are powered by a 2,620mAh battery.

(Source)

Nokia 8 Pro Pegged to Sport Impressive Specs With Cheaper Pricing

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Mar 12, 2018

Nokia 8 Sirocco handset was introduced at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 tech expo in the previous month. It is nothing but an improved edition of the Nokia 8 flagship from last year. Recent leaks have revealed that HMD Global will be launching two Snapdragon 845 chipset flagship phones this year. These include the cheaper Nokia 8 Pro and the premium Nokia 9. The rumor mill has leaked some key details of the Nokia 8 Pro in the recent weeks.

The Nokia 8 Pro may arrive as upgraded edition of the Nokia 8 Sirocco. Some rumors have claimed that it may feature the same 12-megapixel dual camera setup that is available on the Nokia 8 Sirocco. However, some reports claim that it may feature a pair of 16-megapixel snappers. Also, it may feature a 13-megapixel selfie camera.

The Nokia 8 Pro may house a 6.01-inch display that will carry support for 18:9 aspect ratio and Full HD+ resolution. The Snapdragon 845 powered phone may come in two models. The base model may feature 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage whereas the higher model may have 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage.

The handset may feature a glass rear. This indicates that it may carry support for wireless charging. A 4,000mAh battery may fuel the budget flagship phone. It is expected to come loaded with Android 8.1 Oreo and it may be equipped with a rear-mounted fingerprint reader. Like the Nokia 8 Sirocco, the Nokia 8 Pro may also arrive as an Android One device. It is rumored to debut in August this year.

In September, the Finnish company may launch the Nokia 9 flagship phone. The premium flagship driven by the same Snapdragon 845 SoC may come with some topnotch features such as wireless charging, in-screen fingerprint scanner and penta-lens camera setup on its rear.

We advise our readers to digest this report with a grain of salt and wait for more information on the Nokia 8 Pro and Nokia 9 flagships through upcoming leaks.

Xiaomi Mi 7 Codenamed as Dipper Appears with Snapdragon 845, 6 GB RAM on Geekbench

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Mar 12, 2018

Xiaomi will be announcing the Snapdragon 845 chipset powered Mi MIX 2S flagship phone on March 27. Few months after its launch, the Chinese manufacturer is also expected to unleash the Xiaomi Mi 7 flagship phone. It is also rumored to be fueled by the same Snapdragon 845 chipset A mysterious Xiaomi device labelled as Xiaomi Dipper has appeared on the Geekbench benchmarking platform with SD845. Hence, it is speculated that the Xiaomi Mi 7 may have appeared as Xiaomi Dipper on Geekbench.

Xiaomi is known for using names of constellation for codenaming its Mi series of smartphones. For instance, the Mi 6, Mi 5S Plus, Mi 5S and Mi 5 were respectively codenamed as Sagit, Natrium, Capricorn and Gemini. Hence, the Dipper codename could refer to Big Dipper constellation. This indicates that Dipper phone that has surfaced on Geekbench could be the upcoming Mi 7.

As it can be seen in the screengrab of Xiaomi Dipper’s Geekbench listing, it is driven by Snapdragon 845 chipset along with 6 GB of RAM. It is running on Android 8.0 Oreo. In single-core test, it has scored 2449 whereas in multi-core test, it has reached a score of 8309. Previous reports have revealed that Qualcomm and Xiaomi have collaborated to optimize the performance of SD845 chipset. The Geekbench scores of the alleged Mi 7 suggest that it will be able to deliver monstrous performance.

The alleged firmware files of the Xiaomi Mi 7 have revealed that it may feature an OLED display that will also bring along Always-On Display function. A recent report had claimed that the handset may house a 6.01-inch OLED display by Samsung. It may feature an iPhone X-like notch and may also feature an in-screen fingerprint scanner.

Also, it is expected to arrive with support for 7.5W wireless charging like the iPhone X. It is speculated that Xiaomi may unveil the Mi 7 flagship in June this year.

Nokia 9 Could Come With A Notch And An Under-Display Fingerprint Sensor: Report

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Mar 12, 2018

After the arrival of the Apple iPhone X, everyone seems to have caught the notch bug. According to a new report published by NPU even Nokia 9, the most powerful HMD Global flagship of 2018, will feature a notch up front. This obviously hints at the presence of a display with a high screen-to-body ratio and very narrow bezels. Indeed, the notch is used by smartphone manufacturers to minimize the bezels on the upper portion of the display. Given that the phone will have very narrow bezels and there will be no space for a physical Home key with a fingerprint reader on the front, Nokia 9 could include an under-display fingerprint reader.

According to the report, users will just need to touch the display to unlock the phone, thanks to the new chip unveiled by Synaptics. We have already seen such a fingerprint reader on the Vivo X20 Plus UD and it will be also present on its successor Vivo X21. According to NPU, Nokia 9 will be a totally different device from the Nokia 8 Sirocco released at MWC 2018, even though Nokia 8 Sirocco was supposed to be called Nokia 9 before the official announcement. Among other specs, Nokia 9 (2018) is expected to sport a curved edge-to-edge display like the Nokia 8 Sirocco, but it will likely have an 18:9 aspect ratio.

Further, we expect to see a very innovative camera. Previous leaks have suggested that this device will come with a Penta-lens camera co-engineered with Carl Zeiss. Under the hood, there should be the best SoC by Qualcomm. We are referring to the octa-core Snapdragon 845 SoC which can run at a max frequency of 2.9 GHz and includes a dedicated module for artificial intelligence. We still have no info about the launch date of the handset, neither about its availability and its launch price.

(Source)

Buy Xiaomi ROIDMI 3S Car Charger For Only $14.99 On GearBest

By

Vinay Patel

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Mar 12, 2018

The recently debuted ROIDMI 3S Bluetooth car charger is designed to add more comfort to your trip. It comes with a 3.4A output which renders fast charge speed for a slew of electronic devices. You can now get your hands on this highly useful car charger by shelling out just $14.99 on GearBest.

The site is offering a considerable 24% discount on the device’s original asking price of $19.99 for a limited period of time, but that’s not all. First 20 units of the ROIDMI 3S car charger will be sold for just $9.99 daily at 9:00 UTC. This promo is slated to end on March 19.

The ROIDMI 3S car charger boasts an array of awe-inspiring specs and features. For instance, it includes the Bluetooth MP3 player function which allows music lovers to enjoy their favorite music on the way.
Moreover, this will not be interrupted even by incoming calls since the device comes with hands-free call option as well. Aside from that, it sports a voltage display which lets you keep track of the battery condition to ensure safer driving.

The Flash Sale discount is valid for the black-tinted, international version of ROIDMI 3S car charger and it is slated to end soon. It is also worth noting that there were only 358 pieces left at the time of writing.

If you want to take advantage of the discount before it comes to an end, head straight to this link. You can also check out the full specification of the ROIDMI 3S Bluetooth music car charger.

Motorola Denies Layoff Was Massive, Says Moto Z Series Unaffected

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Mar 11, 2018

A few days ago, it was reported that Lenovo (Motorola) had laid off a large percentage of its staff in Chicago. According to an employee, the workforce was cut by half. Lenovo has issued a statement saying that the report is false.

In a response to an inquiry by Engadget, Lenovo did admit that there were layoffs but added that it didn’t affect half of its workforce in Chicago. It also that the “Moto Z family will continue”.

Motorola explained that the layoff is due to a “worldwide resource action” it planned last last year which is supposed to be carried out over several quarters and will affect less than 2% of its global workforce.

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Samsung Galaxy S7, Note 8 & A series (2017) Android Oreo Update Dates Revealed

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Mar 11, 2018

Samsung has already released Android Oreo update for the Galaxy S8 but is yet to confirm the release date of the update for the Galaxy Note 8. Well, not until now. Samsung may have revealed the timetable for its next Oreo roll out for the Note 8 as well as the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy A3. The release details were spotted on the website – Güncelmiyiz which is owned and operated by Samsung Turkey.

The website is known for providing details about upcoming firmware updates for Samsung devices. So it is interesting to observe the latest update which reflects that Android 8.0 Oreo is the next major OS update for the Galaxy Note 8 and the firmware is in the test phase right now with a “planned update date” of March 30. In addition to the Galaxy Note 8 Oreo release date, the website also mentions that Android 8.0 Oreo is in the test phase for the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge with a planned release date of April 13. Similar information is also given for the Galaxy A3, A5 and A7 (2017) all of which are listed to receive the Oreo update on May 25 this year. In addition, the 9.7-inch Galaxy Tab S3 is scheduled to receive Oreo on May 4.

Although the details seem to be for the models in use in Turkey, we expect the rollout to extend to other markets when they become available in Turkey. But we may want to take this not too seriously as the updates may not arrive n the stipulated dates. However, expect the rollout to happen anything within the time frame revealed on the website.

Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S Leaked Photos Reveal Design from Front and Rear

By

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Mar 11, 2018

With just over two weeks remaining for the official unveiling of the Mi MIX 2S, more and more fresh images of the upcoming Xiaomi flagship are surfacing on Weibo. New images of the alleged phone that have emerged today reveals its front and rear design.

The front view of the alleged Mi MIX 2S in the new image shows that the upper and side bezels are slimmer than the bottom bezel. Leaked firmware files of the Mi MIX 2S have recently revealed that its selfie camera will be placed on the bottom bezel of the phone.

Xiaomi has recently hinted through a teaser that the Mi MIX 2S will be enabled with wireless charging. Since glass rear of the phone has a glossy appeal in the leaked image, it seems that it could be wearing a glass panel that facilities wireless charging.

The black colored rear panel features a fingerprint scanner. However, some of the leaked photos that have appeared in the recent past have hinted that it will be coming with an under-display fingerprint scanner. The top-left corner has a dual camera setup which includes vertically arranged camera sensors separated by an LED flash.

Most of the images of the Mi MIX 2S that have surfaced in the recent past seem to contradict each other. Hence, there is a possibility that the rumor mill could be leaking images of prototype of Mi MIX 2S. Real renders of the forthcoming Xiaomi flagship may appear later this week or in the coming week.

What’s your opinion on the above photos of the Mi MIX 2S? Share us your views by posting your comments below.

(via)

Nokia 8 Sirocco and Nokia 7 Plus Up For Pre-Order In Europe

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Mar 11, 2018

After the official announcement at MWC 2018 later last month, Nokia 8 Sirocco and Nokia 7 Plus have been made available to pre-order in three European countries. The latest high-end devices by HMD Global can now be ordered on Amazon in France, Spain, and Italy. The price slightly changes depending on the country, but it remains close to the official launch price announced by the Finnish giant. Nokia 8 Sirocco which is actually the most powerful flagship by HMD Global has a price of €767 in Italy, €761 in Spain and €755 in France.

The original launch price of the handset is €749. Nokia 7 Plus, the first smartphone with Android One released by Nokia, is up for pre-orders with a price tag of €405 in Spain, €409 in Italy and €402 in France. Just to remind you, Nokia 8 Sirocco offers a premium design with a glass back, a stainless steel frame and IP68 certification which makes it waterproof. Its display has a 5.5-inch size and a classic 16:9 aspect ratio, but its bezels are very narrow, and it has a 2K resolution. Under the hood, the phone has an octa-core Snapdragon 835 chipset by Qualcomm, 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage. On the rear side, there is a dual camera setup with resolutions of 12 + 13 MP, while the selfie snapper has a 5 MP resolution.

The battery has a capacity of 3260 mAh. Nokia 7 Plus is an upper midrange device and it is the first phone by the company to sport a display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. The screen has a 6-inch size and a Full HD+ resolution. On the hardware side, it offers an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor, 4 GB of RAM, and 64 GB of internal storage. Here we got a dual camera setup as well, but both sensors have a 12 MP resolution. The selfie camera has a resolution of 16 MP and the battery has a 3800 mAh capacity. Here are the links to pre-order the handsets:

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro Now Supports iPhone X-Like Gestures Thanks To MIUI 9.5 Beta Update

By

Check out Vernee Active product page

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Mar 11, 2018

With the trending borderless 18:9 displays and the absence of virtual and physical keys outside of the display, gestures are becoming useful every day. With its new iPhone X, Apple decided to switch from the physical Home key to gestures in order to make navigation easier. Now, even Xiaomi is replacing the Home key and capacitive key with on-screen gestures which seem like the ones supported by the iPhone X.

After enabling them on Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus and Mi Mix 2, the Chinese company has rolled out a Beta update in order to enable them on the new Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro as well. We are referring to the MIUI 9.5 Global Beta update, which can only be installed by users who joined the beta testing phase. It is not a stable update, so it is not suitable for daily use as it may contain bugs.

But if you install it, you will be able to use the iPhone X-like gestures on your Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro. There are three basic gestures included in this update. It is possible to swipe up from the bottom of the screen to go Home from apps or other menus. You can swipe up till the center of the screen to open the recent apps tray, and you can swipe from the left edge or right edge of the screen to go back. Each of the Android capacitive keys present on previous Xiaomi midrangers has been replaced by gestures.

(Source)

Galaxy S9+ Teardown Gives Us A Closer Look At Its Dual Cameras

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Mar 11, 2018

The tagline for the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+is “The Camera. Reimagined”. Although the S9+ comes with dual rear cameras, its main sensor is the same as that of the S9. A teardown of the Galaxy S9+ by iFixit gives us a closer look at what has been “reimagined”.

First, the Galaxy S9+ (and Galaxy S9) are not easy to dismantle. To do so, you’ll need to apply heat to weaken the glue, and a pick and clamp to separate the two halves. It is not as easy as it sounds.

After separating the two halves, the first thing your eyes will most likely get drawn to are the cameras. The top camera is the main one with the adjustable aperture. Unlike DSLRs that have at least five aperture blades, the Galaxy S9+ has two rotating circular blades to switch between f/1.5 and f/2.4.

[envira-gallery id=”178358″]

To get access to the rest of the camera, you need to remove the screws holding the black plastic that covers the components. After removing that, you should be able to separate the camera from the board.

As you can see from the image above, both rear sensors of the Galaxy S9+ is actually a single component sharing the same PCB and connector.

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Vernee Active Review – Powerful 128GB IP68 Budget Rugged Phone

By

Linus

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Mar 11, 2018

If you are looking for a powerful budget rugged phone, the Vernee Active is one of the options to check out. At the moment, it costs less than $300 but you can get it for a lower price with some discounts and promotions. The highlights of this phone include a rugged IP68 and MIL-810 certified design, 128GB of storage, 6GB of RAM and more. We have spent some time with the device and here is the full Vernee Active review.

VIDEO REVIEW

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1f_CwPzdyo[/embedyt]

UNBOXING

The phone ships with just with a charger and the USB cable, there are no extras included.

DESIGN and DISPLAY

It is obvious that the Vernee Active is a rugged phone since it is a bit thicker and heavier than the usual smartphone. Dimensions of the phone: 15.60 x 8.00 x 1.12 cm / 198g.

Still, this is not the thickest rugged phone out there and it is fairly compact. I also found the phone to sit comfortably in the hand due to rounded edges on the back. The phone uses a metal frame, quality metal buttons and a carbon fibre-like finish on the back.

The Vernee Active has IP68 rating for water and dust resistance. Also, it has MIL810 rating. That means that the phone is salt, dust, humidity, rain, vibration, solar radiation, transport and thermal shock resistant.

A headset jack, USB-C ports and the hybrid dual-SIM card slot are covered with flaps, which is unsurprising. However, I found that charging port is quite hard to open.

The 5.5” display is covered with the Gorilla Glass and I found it to be pretty nice and sharp but it could be slightly brighter.

You do get an 8MP selfie shooter on the front but I’m disappointed that there is no LED notification light. This is such a simple feature every phone should have. The capacity buttons are not backlit either.

As far as camera goes, we are looking at a 13MP shooter. I found the fingerprint scanner to be very fast and accurate, one of the fastest scanners in a budget phone.

Finally, the loudspeaker can get really loud and it’s pretty good but definitely not the best I’ve heard.

HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

Now, the specs. This phone is really powerful on paper (Hello P25, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage) and that translates into a great real-life performance even if you play 3D games that require quite a lot of resources. I found that there were just a few minor skipped frames but I can’t really complain about that. That’s why I can assert that the Vernee Active performs well in gaming department and I didn’t notice any overheating issues.

USER INTERFACE

Same can be said about daily performance since we have stock Android 7 with no bloatware. I like that the phone is smooth and responsive no matter what you do with it.

In terms of extra features, you can customize the navigation bar or use a few gesture controls but that’s about it. What I did found useful is a hardware key that triggers quick settings menu. It’s really convenient in practice and I got used to using it in no time. Overall, I like that Vernee didn’t implement many useless features that I would not use anyway but concentrated on making a fast phone for an average user.

IMAGE QUALITY

Daylight image quality is quite good for a budget rugged phone but in general, it could be better for a $300 phone. There could be more detail and sharpness in some of the shots but as always, I could only test the camera on a cloudy day since it’s still winter.

Night image quality does not really impress but my main concern is that the camera app refuses to focus from time to time. This is a software issue that hopefully will be fixed in the future.

Selfies could look a lot sharper and have more detail.

1080p video quality is about average as the footage could look sharper. Also, I found that continuous auto-focus does not always work. My biggest frustration, however, is that sound is being recorded mostly to the left channel. Another frustration is that selfie videos can be recorded at only 480p resolution and the quality of the footage is bad.

Download full-resolution camera samples

CONNECTIVITY

Call quality could be slightly better, to be honest but that may be due to water resistant earpiece. Other connectivity options work just fine.

In terms of sensors, you get just a few but the list includes a gyroscope, meaning that the phone is compatible with 360 content.

BATTERY LIFE

I managed to get over 10 hours of screen-on time on the Vernee Active phone. It is a great result and you will be able to use the phone for a couple of days. However, I noticed that cell standby drains more power than it should, which is a bit frustrating.

On a positive note, a supplied fast charger works well and it can fully charge the phone in just over 1,5h.

CONCLUSIONS

The Vernee Active is a pretty solid and one of the most powerful budget phones you can get for the price. However, I wish it had a slightly better camera, flaps were a bit easier to open and the display was a bit brighter. I was also disappointed with the sound recording quality in video mode and the call quality is just average. Finally, there is no LED notification light and the capacitive buttons are not backlit.

On the other hand, the Vernee Active offers so much for the price: you get a lot of processing power, including 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM. Also, the phone handles 3D games well and it is fast on the daily basis thanks to stock Android. I also like the design and build quality, an extensive list of rugged properties of the device, good battery life, and fast charging.

At the end of the day, there are some shortcomings to consider but the Vernee Active is still a good option if you are looking for a powerful rugged budget phone.

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