Intel, which has been dominating the chip manufacturing market for about 25 years, has now lost its crown to South Korean giant Samsung. According to the new reports coming in, Samsung Electronics has surpassed Intel in 2017 to become the world’s biggest chipmaker.
While Intel reported $62.8 billion in annual revenue, Samsung surpassed by the $69.1 billion generated by the company’s semiconductor division. However, it is not a straightforward comparison given that Intel mainly focuses on x86 processors and Samsung’s strength is in producing memory and flash storage.
In the x86 processors market, Intel still remains the leader by a great distance. Intel’s chips may be used in about 90 percent of the world’s computers, but it missed the mobile boom. Samsung saw high demand for high-performance products like DRAM memory and NAND flash as well as for chipsets designed for “automotive electronics and AI.”
Currently, Samsung is among the top TV, home appliance, smartphone display, and smartphone vendors in the world. According to the company, one of the biggest contributing factor to its fourth-quarter earnings was “driven by the components business, with the largest contribution coming from the Memory business that manufactures DRAM and NAND.”
Overall, Samsung’s entire business reported a full-year profit of KRW 53.65 trillion (approximately $50.7 billion) on revenue of KRW 239.58 trillion (about $225 billion). For the final quarter of 2017, revenue was KRW 65.98 trillion (~$62 billion) with KRW 15.15 trillion (about $14 billion) in operating profit.
Now, the South Korean giant is trying to expand its business into areas such as cloud services, AI, and automotive technology. The company has also confirmed that it is now making hardware designed to mine cryptocurrencies.
The company has also said that it plans to adopt “cutting-edge technologies” like foldable displays for its smartphones. Samsung said also that it would continue to develop its smart services with a focus on its Bixby smart assistant and the upcoming 5G technologies.
At the beginning of this year, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy J2 Pro (2018) smartphone. In the next month, the Galaxy Unpacked event will be held on Feb. 25 at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 tech expo to unveil the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ smartphones. Like every year, the South Korean company will be launching multiple smartphones this year. XDA Developers has unearthed a list of codenames for the Samsung smartphones that will be releasing this year. through the leaked Android 8.0 Oreo beta build for Galaxy Note 8.
The leaked build has codenames of numerous Samsung devices. Most of those devices are already available in the market. However, following is the list of codenames for 26 upcoming Samsung Galaxy smartphones ant tablets:
Just as Samsung had released the Galaxy S7 Active in 2016 and Galaxy S8 Active in 2017, it appears that the company may launch the S9 Active phone this year. As it can be seen in the above list, there are some unknown devices. Samsung is rumored to debut a new line of smartphones that will be exclusively made available online. Hence, one of the unidentified devices could be a smartphone from the new series.
Previous reports have revealed that the “crown” codename belongs to the upcoming Galaxy Note 9. The same codename has been also found listed in the leaked Android 8.0 Oreo beta build for Note 8. Samsung China was rumored to debut Galaxy C10 and Galaxy C10 Plus smartphones in the previous year. The C10 series may debut this year with Snapdragon 660 chipset inside. The list contains multiple Galaxy J series phones, but Galaxy J5 (2018) seems to be missing. The unidentified smartphones could include the heavily rumored foldable smartphone from the company.
Update: The post has been updated according to the revisions found on the source link.
Popular research firm IDC has released its survey data which showed the fourth quarter 2017 global smartphone shipments. The global smartphone shipments peaked at 403.5 million which represents a 6.3% decrease YoY. In the fourth quarter, the data showed that Apple, Samsung Huawei, Xiaomi and OPPO emerged as the top 5 smartphone manufacturers in terms of market shares.
Apple emerged as the over leader with a total shipment of 77.3 million units and this was no doubt buoyed by the release of its 2017 flagships; iPhone 8, 8Plus and iPhone X. Samsung followed closely with a gross shipment of 74.1 million. Chinese smartphone maker maintained its third position, shipping an estimated 41 million phones in Q4 2017.
Xiaomi displaced OPPO to emerge at the number 4 spot with a gross shipment of 28.1 million units. It is interesting to note that of all the OEMs on the list, only Xiaomi saw significant growth in its shipment when compared to the same period the previous year. Xiaomi recorded just 14.4 million Q4 shipments in a turbulent 2016 outing. However, the new figure means the Chinese innovative company’s global shipments grew by 96.9%. Other OEMs in the top 5 recorded an average of 6.3% reduction in their shipment volumes YoY. Even the cumulative shipment figures of Chinese phone makers like Vivo, Gionee who didn’t make it up into the top 5 in the fourth quarter of last year saw its shipment volumes drop from 183.7 million in Q4 2016 to 151.3 million.
With this encouraging results, Xiaomi will be spurred to continue ramping up sales with the release of new products this year and also expand its presence globally through online and offline stores. Last year, the company made inroads into Europe with launches in Russia and Spain and now Xiaomi will soon make an entry into Italy.
Every Xiaomi fan is looking forward to the release of the Redmi Note 5. One may even say Xiaomi enjoys keeping us waiting. While there has been no official confirmation of its release, there have been a number of leaks in addition to an alleged 3C certification.
Some of the leaks we have seen show a device with bezels much thinner than what is on the Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus. We have also seen photos that reveal a dual-camera setup on the rear with a fingerprint scanner beneath.
YouTube channel – Science and Knowledge has released a video of a concept Redmi Note 5 based on these details in addition to a few of their own expectations, and it is worth the watch.
The concept Redmi Note 5 is expected to come with a 5.99” 2160 x 1080 display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. The screen-to-body ratio in the video is amazing and the Redmi Note 5 will surely be a head-turner if it launches looking like this.
They also list a Snapdragon 636 processor with 3GB/4GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB of expandable storage. For cameras, this concept Redmi Note 5 has a 16MP + 5MP combo on the rear and an 8MP front camera.
HMD Global has trademarked a new name for an alleged flagship: Nokia 8 Sirocco, identified by the code name TA-1005. Until now, TA-1005 was rumored to be the Nokia 9, but after this trademark, there is a chance that this device will not be the next flagship launched by HMD Global. Sirocco is a name which reminds of Nokia 8800 Sirocco, so the variant of the model 8 might be a tribute to this old feature phone. In case you do not know, the 8800 has been one of the costliest phones ever released by Nokia. Build quality was one of its strong points as it had a sapphire glass, steel panels, and even a leather case.
This makes us think that Nokia 8 Sirocco might focus on the build quality, besides being a high-end phone. The device might be announced at the most important trade show of the year dedicated to mobile devices. We are talking about Mobile World Congress 2018 which will be held in Barcelona starting on February 26. HMD Global has already confirmed its presence to the event through an official teaser published on social networks, and the company has invited fans to prepare for the next chapter of the Nokia story.
Nokia TA-1005, that is the alleged Nokia 8 Sirocco, is expected to come with an OLED display provided by LG, unlike the LCD panel found on the standard version of the model 8. On the hardware side, it might sport an octa-core Snapdragon 835 processor by Qualcomm, running at a max frequency of 2.45 GHz. The flagship is rumored to spot four cameras: a dual camera setup on its back with resolutions of 12 and 13 MP, and a dual camera on the front side for selfies. The battery should have a bigger capacity than its predecessor with 3250 mAh. The rest of the specs should remain the same as the standard version of the phone.
It appears HTC is prepping to launch another new mid-range phone soon. And just like the HTC U11 Eyes, this one won’t be using any of the new chips from Qualcomm but the two-year old tried and trusted Snapdragon 625.
The device which has been seen on Geekbench as the HTC 2Q5W1 runs Android 8.0.0. As mentioned above, it is powered by the msm8953 a.k.a Snapdragon 625. It also packs 3GB of RAM.
The HTC 2QW51 will be the brand’s first Snapdragon 625 phone. We have seen the chipset appear in a lot of devices most especially from Xiaomi. It is also the chipset in the Blackberry KEYOne and Blackberry Motion.
Huawei is expected to upgrade its tablet series with a new MediaPad M5. The MediaPad M5 would be a successor to the MediaPad M3 which was first launched in 2016. The device recently got the nod at FCC indicating a launch in the US is imminent. We have also seen the schematics of the device in a recent leak which suggests there would be a change in design. The Huawei MediaPad M5 has now been spotted on Geekbench and it pulls an impressive result.
The Mediapad M5 appeared on the benchmark platform with the model number Huawei SHT-AL09. The Geekbench listing reveals that the device will pack a Kirin 960 chipset, a detail which is already known. Also listed is an Android 8.0 Oreo operating system while the processor is backed by 4GB of RAM. The benchmark result shows that the device pulling a score of 6617 on the multicore test and a single core test score of 1905 points.
The MediaPad M5 is expected to feature an 8.4-inch display with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels just like the M3. The tablet would be powered by the last year’s flagship Kirin 960 chipset. The device will also feature a fingerprint sensor, USB Type-C port, stereo speakers, and Cat. 4 LTE modem. Providing the interface would be EMUI 6.0 based on Android Oreo. The device is expected to be launched anytime soon and was even tipped to drop at the recently held CES 2018. Thus, we cannot rule out an MWC 2018 unveiling even though Huawei is yet to officially disclose if that would happen.
Amazon is currently offering a significant discount on the original selling price of the Oukitel K5000 smartphone, which was launched in October 2017. Let’s check out the details.
The Oukitel K5000 smartphone bears a price tag of £175.85 (about US$ 250), but the Seattle-based electronic commerce giant is offering a 6% discount on the phone’s real selling price. As a result, you now need to shell out only £165.99 (about US$ 236) to get your hands on the well-received smartphone.
On top of that, you can use coupon code ‘CRPS6UMK’ at the time of checking out to get an additional discount. After applying the aforesaid coupon code, your subtotal comes down to only £141.09, which converts to about US$ 201. Here’s a brief glimpse of what Oukitel K5000 smartphone has to offer in terms of specs and features.
The K5000 sports a 5.7 inches IPS, LTPS, HD+ display with a resolution of 720 x 1440 pixels at a pixel density of 282.45 PPI (pixels per inch). The Android-powered 4G smartphone packs a robust MediaTek MT6750, 64-bit processor, along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage, under the hood.
On the photography front, the Oukitel K5000 sports a 16 Megapixels Sony IMX135 with Dual-LED Flash and AF rear-mounted camera and a 16 Megapixel (Interpolated 21MP) Samsung 3P3 front shooter. Furthermore, it is backed by a massive 5,000mAh Lithium-Polymer battery.
It’s worth noting that there were only 13 pieces left in stock at the time of writing. You can take advantage of this promo before it comes to an end simply by heading straight to this link.
Gaming desktops have a reputation for being grandiose, ridiculously excessive computer boxes, and the Acer Predator G6 not only follows suit but takes the trend to a whole new level. That being said, it’s hardly surprising that the larger-than-average mid-tower carries a steep price tag.
But much to the relief of avid PC gamers who do not want to shell out that kind of money for a gaming computer tower, GearBest is offering a considerable 17% discount on the Acer Predator G6’s original selling price as part of its latest Flash Sale.
The site’s Flash Sale Price is $1099.99, which is relatively cheaper than its original asking price. However, it is imperative for you to bear in mind that the promo is slated to end in just 2 days.
On top of that, the discount is only valid for the first 50 units. It’s also worth noting that only 10 pieces were left at the time of writing.
You can get your hands on Acer Predator G6 gaming computer tower at a discounted price by heading straight to this link before the promo comes to an end.
I call 2017 “the year of bezel-less smartphones” and that is rightly so as the second half of 2017 saw the launch of a number of “bezel-less” full-screen smartphones by almost all the major OEMs around. These numbers included OEMs that don’t get swayed by such stuff such as Apple who also released the iPhone X with a full-screen design. Huawei came to the party with the Honor V10, Mate 10 series, Honor 7X, Enjoy 7s and a few others which all turned out to be popular with fans.
It shouldn’t come out as a surprise therefore that Huawei is planning to continue with the full-screen design style on its flagship models this year. The Huawei P11/P20 is tipped to come with a full-screen display among other features. And now, popular Twitter tipster @rquandt has revealed that he Honor 10 which is expected to be released later this year will come with a full-screen design (18:9 aspect ratio) and that there will be no Honor phone from this point on that won’t feature a Fullview design. He credited the information to have come from Honor Germany.
Roland Quandt further quoted Honor Germany to have hinted that EMUI 8 which brings Android Oreo will come to the Honor 8 Pro and Honor 9 as from February but will hit the Honor 7X in the second quarter of the year. Recently, it was revealed that the Honor 8 will get EMUI 8 upgrade soon but the tipster hints that the update won’t bring Android Oreo. The Honor 10 is also expected to come with EMUI 8 based on Android Oreo out of the box and would run on the Kirin 970 chip. The device may come with a 6GB RAM and 8GB RAM version as well as IP67 waterproof and dustproof build.
It took some extra weeks, but now XiaomiRedmi Note 3, one of the best selling phones by the Chinese brand, is finally updating to MIUI 9.2. The update is a nightly Stable build, so it is not the final version. But expect a Global Stable version soon. Indeed, users who tried this ROM have already reported that it is suitable for daily use: this means that it has no significant issues. With this update, the number of version jumps to 9.2.4.0.MHOMIEK and the size is 290 MB.
Even though we are talking about MIUI 9.2, the firmware of Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is still based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow instead of Nougat like the on the most recent Xiaomi phones which have been updated to MIUI 9. Among the most important things regarding the new update, there is the security patch for the month of January 2018. In case you don’t know, Google releases a security patch every month, and the one from January is the latest one released. The February patch will be released in a few days. In the update, there is also a fix for the KRACK WiFi vulnerability.
A new Gallery app has been added to Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, and also the Mi Video app for multimedia uses. There is a new File Manager, Mi Drop and many more improvements. If you want to check the complete change log, head to the source link below. It’s really good to see that Xiaomi is supporting its older handsets, unlike some big brands. In the past few days, Xiaomi Redmi 1S and Xiaomi Redmi Note have been updated to MIUI 9 as well, even though they are four years old (they were released in 2014). The Chinese company has recently confirmed the arrival of MIUI 9 to more than 40 old and new devices.
Photo leaks of the batteries that will be inside Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ have just surfaced online. According to the leak published on Slashleaks, the batteries of the next flagships that will be launched by the Korean leader of the smartphones market will have exactly the same battery capacity as the previous generation. After the Galaxy Note 7 scandal, it was expected. Samsung seems to have decided not to take any risk by increasing the battery capacity on both its new flagships: the standard version will still have a 3000 mAh battery, even though 3000 mAh is actually considered a below-average capacity for a flagship.
The battery capacity of Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus will be 3500 mAh, the same as the Galaxy S8 Plus. The photos contain the model numbers of the devices: SM-G9600 and S9-G965F, and they have been published by a parts retailer. They are not official photos, so we still can not confirm the authenticity of this leak. If this leak has to be believed and the capacity is really the same as the previous generation, the battery life should not differ so much between Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus. But obviously, there could be a better optimization, so expect a little improvement at least.
According to the company, the Samsung Exynos 9810 SoC that will be inside the European version of the devices will have “high graphics performances with lower energy consumption”. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 (the SoC of the U.S. version) instead will be able to bring a reduced power consumption of up to 15% at the same performance. Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ will be officially showcased at MWC 2018, in an event that will be held on February 25 in Barcelona. They will feature a high screen-to-body ratio and their cameras will have variable apertures for better performances in all light conditions.
HMD Global Oy-controlled Nokia has released its financial results for the fourth quarter of the year and it shows a rise in its operating profit by 7% to berth at 1 billion euros (about $1.2 billion) thus raising the company’s shares by 15% or higher. The company’s profit received a big boost from Chinese tech giant Huawei who paid 210 million euros for Nokia’s patents. However, operating profits from its network business fell 25% year-on-year.
The telecommunications network business in reference is dominated by Huawei, Nokia and Sweden’s Ericsson. The industry is weathering the toughest part of a decade-long cycle due to a fall in demand for 4G gear. Spending on new, mass-market 5G networks is unlikely before 2019 or 2020. Nokia’s CEO Rajeev Suri disclosed that the company is coming back very fast, talking about the network business. The Chief Executive noted that the company had moved swiftly to fix internal problems it had convincing U.S. carriers to swap out existing Alcatel equipment for comparable Nokia gear – the main reason for its shares losing a quarter of their value since October. Recall that Nokia bought Alcatel-Lucent for €15.6 billion in 2016. Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent had surpassed Huawei and Ericsson in terms of total combined revenue in 2014 and the CEO is hopeful of a rebound of spending by operators in North America who have shown a desire to move to 5G.
In Q4 2017, Nokia disclosed that it generated 30% of network business sales in North America and that the sales were up slightly over the third quarter, while Asia-Pacific and Greater China declined. The company expects that for 2019 and 2020, market conditions would improve markedly, driven by full-scale rollouts of 5G networks. The Nokia CEO also disclosed that the company is gaining a major share of competitive bids for new business against its major European competitor, rival Ericsson of Sweden, not only in core wireless radio equipment but from a broader portfolio of products and services. No mention was made of the mobile phone business.
HMD Global is preparing to launch a new phone which carries model number TA-1056. The device has already passed FCC certification and from the listing, it seems that it will be an entry-level phone.
The device could possibly be the Nokia 1 — the Android Go smartphone that HMD Global is reportedly working on. The FCC listing reveals that the phone with model number TA-1056 is smaller in size compared to Nokia 2. While the Nokia 2 measures 143.5mm tall and 71.3 mm wide, this upcoming device measures 133mm tall and 68mm wide.
Going by the phone’s size, there’s a possibility that the device could come with the trendy full-screen display with 18:9 aspect ratio. Since the FCC info label is placed inside the battery compartment, it is expected that the phone will have a removable battery.
Based on the previous reports, the Nokia 1 is expected to be available from the first half of 2018. According to some reports, it will be available in Russia from March 2018 and could be priced around 5,999 rubles (approximately $104).
Previous leaks and reports suggest that the Nokia 1 could feature an HD IPS display with just 1GB RAM and 8GB of internal storage. Given that the device will be powered by the Android Go edition, and since Google has already announced watered down versions of its applications, the phone is expected to provide decent performance.
At this time, there is no information available regarding the processor. But the company could opt for either Qualcomm or MediaTek as both companies have announced their support for Android Oreo (Go Edition).
HMD Global has sent out media invites for its event at Mobile World Congress, where the company is expected to announce a range of devices, including Nokia 9 and a revamped Nokia 8.
ZTE Nubia Z17 Lite was made available to the public in September 2017. The phone boasts an array of jaw-dropping specs and features that propelled it straight to skyrocketing popularity among smartphone enthusiasts.
Despite brimming with exceptional specs and features, the Nubia Z17 Lite failed to lure budget-conscious buyers because it carries a steep price tag. But GeekBuying is giving these consumers an opportunity to get their hands on the well-received smartphone without spending a fortune.
You can now buy the ZTE Nubia Z17 Lite smartphone by shelling out just $269.99 on GeekBuying. This is a massive 40% reduction in the phone’s original selling price of $449.99.
On top of that, you can save more $20 at the time of checking out by using the coupon code, ‘NUBIA2018.’ This brings your subtotal down to only $249.99.
By shelling out just $249.99, you get a ZTE-branded smartphone which sports a big 5.5 inches IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display with a screen resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels at a pixel density of 401 PPI (pixels per inch).
The Nubia Z17 Lite packs a powerful Qualcomm MSM8976 Pro Snapdragon 653 processor along with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage, under the hood. The phone runs on Nubia UI 5.0 based on Android 7.1 (Nougat) operating system.
Click here to check out the full specification of the ZTE Nubia Z17 Lite smartphone and to take advantage of GeekBuying’s promo which is slated to end in just 4 days.
Huawei’s Honor has begun rolling out Android 8.0 Oreo to two of its devices – the Honor 8 Pro (Honor V9) and the Honor 9. The update comes bundled with Huawei’s EMUI 8.0 update but there is a catch.
If you are not a resident of the UK, you likely won’t get the update. However, one user from India has reported updating his Honor 8 Pro. Honor has not revealed when other regions will get the update but they most definitely will receive it soon.
The update started rolling out to the Honor 8 Pro first while the Honor 9 is scheduled to get it later. It brings all the goodness of Android 8.0 such as picture-in-picture mode, auto-fill, notification dots, and new emojis.
You also get EMUI 8.0 features like AI Intelligent Engine which allocates resources to your most used apps and handles low memory management for a smooth experience; dynamic wallpaper; and LinkedIn built-in. The update is about 2.8GB in size.
Honor GER says EMUI8 (incl. Oreo) coming to Honor 8 Pro and Honor 9 from February. Coming to Honor 7X in Q2. EMUI8 feature update coming to Honor 8 soon, but no upgrade to Android 8.0 "Oreo" yet – "will have 'a surprise' in this regard in the near future" though.
Motorola has launched a new set of Moto Mods. The new mods belong to the Moto Style series which do nothing more than give your phone a new look.
The new Moto Style Shells give your phone a stylish look and also protects it as it is made of a mixture of polycarbonate and Gorilla Glass 5.
Motorola has released a total of five different colors since they expect you to swap them out to match your style or mood. But we doubt anyone is going to be spending so much on cases. Each of the new Moto Style cases cost $29.99. That is $10 more than the other two Moto Style Shells that are made of nylon.
“King of Glory” published by Tencent Games is a highly popular mobile game in China. After a recent gaming event in Shenzhen, Nubia CEO Ni Fei confirmed that the company is planning to build a gaming phone.
Ni Fei did not reveal any information on the upcoming gaming phone from the company. It is speculated that the forthcoming Nubia Z18 flagship would be built to handle hardcore games. The Z18 is rumored to arrive with a borderless full screen design and it is likely to feature Snapdragon 845 chipset. Since the Nubia Z17 and Nubia Z17S are packed with 8 GB of RAM, there is a high possibility that Nubia Z18 may also feature 8 GB of RAM. These specs suggest that the Nubia Z18 will be capable at handling high-end gaming.
The Weibo post through which Ni Fei confirmed that the company is working on a gaming phone contains some images. One of the images show a mysterious smartphone with the “King of Glory” game running on it. There is no confirmation on whether the unidentified phone is the Nubia Z18 or the Nubia Z17S phone that was launched in October last year. The handset features very narrow side bezels which appears quite similar to the Nubia Z17S.
In November last year, Razer had unveiled a high-end gaming smartphone called Razer Phone. It features a 5.7-inch IGZO IPS LCD screen that supports a refresh rate of 120 Hz. It is driven by Snapdragon 835, 8 GB of RAM and 4,000mAh battery. The rumored specs of the Nubia Z18 suggests that it will be able to handle high-end gaming. There is a possibility that the smartphone may feature a display that offers a high refresh rate like the Razer Phone. Since the Nubia Z17 phone was launched in June last year, it is speculated that Nubia Z18 may debut by mid-2018.
Meizu is expected to launch its 15-year anniversary edition devices — Meizu 15 and Meizu 15 Plus next month. While we have already seen a few leaks of the phone, a new concept render of the Meizu 15 Plus has surfaced online, showing a beautiful phone.
The concept rendering shows the phone with a full-screen display having 18:9 aspect ratio. The bezels surrounding the display are very thin on all four sides. On the top bezel, there’s a dual front-facing camera setup.
On the back panel, there’s a dual camera setup with camera sensors stacked vertically. The camera module is placed at the top-center position. Just below the camera module, there’s a ring-shaped LED flash.
Earlier leaks and reports related to the Meizu 15 series suggests that the phone will come with a glass-body design. It is believed that the Meizu 15 Plus will come powered by Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon 845 processor or Samsung’s Exynos 8895. Based on earlier leaked, the device could get launched for a price tag of 3,599 Yuan (approximately $562) or more.
An earlier report related to the phone suggested that it will be offered in two variants based on the memory configuration — one with 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage while the other will pack 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage.
The company’s founder Jack Wong had previously confirmed that the Meizu 15 Plus will be officially introduced next spring around China’s Spring Festival, which will take place in February. The phone is expected to be available from March this year.
We live in the day and age of full-screen smartphones and I like this trend as phones look beautiful and they can be more compact despite a larger display. The Bluboo S8 Plus as a bigger brother of the regular S8 that I reviewed quite some time ago. It offers great design inspired by the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus and decent specs for less than $150. Learn more in the full Bluboo S8 Plus review.
The phone ships with all the usual stuff and some extras include a soft TPU case, a screen protector, and a 3.5mm headset jack adapter.
DESIGN and DISPLAY
It is obvious that the design is the key selling point due to the 6” HD+ resolution display that has 18:9 aspect ratio, just like the Galaxy S8+. The screen is really sharp and bright, a great panel for a budget phone.
In terms of the build, we have a quality metal frame, the buttons are nice but I think that the backplate is made of plastic, not glass. There is a dual-camera setup imitation, meaning that there is only one 16MP sensor as you can take pictures with a bokeh effect even when a secondary sensor is covered. There is a 5MP selfie shooter on the front.
A few features in a nutshell: a fingerprint scanner is pretty fast and accurate and the notification LED light is quite bright.
However, there is no 3.5mm headset jack, so you would need to use the supplied adapter. The loudspeaker quality is quite bad.
HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE
The Bluboo S8+ is definitely not the most powerful phone out there but it still has decent specs for the price. The phone ships with an octa-core MTK6750T chipset, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage.
The gaming performance is surprisingly good. I was able to play games like Asphalt 8 on the highest graphics without any stutter or lag. Obviously, this is an older 3D game but I’m impressed with the optimization of this MediaTek chipset. Also, other games like Shadow Fight 3 work just fine. The phone gets warm quickly but it does not overheat.
BENCHMARKS
USER INTERFACE
As far as user interface, you will love it or hate since it is a heavily customized skin that is built on top of Android 7.0. There is no app tray and there are quite a few pre-installed bloatware apps and even some ads, which may be annoying. There are also quite a few customization options and tweaks that allow you to change the look and feel of the phone. I can’t say this is the fastest budget phone out there as you may see a bit of stutter here and there but I still think that this phone is pretty responsive on the daily basis.
CAMERAS
The phone can take decent pictures in good lighting conditions but obviously, some of the images could look sharper. As usual, the image quality decreases quite a bit in low light.
Pictures taken using bokeh mode look unnatural and I’m not really impressed with the results. In other words, that blurred background effect is made using software, not hardware.
Selfie image quality is not the best but it’s usable for social media. Selfie videos are recorded only in 480p and the quality does not really impress. 1080p video looks kind of mediocre.
CONNECTIVITY
The call quality is above average I would say. Other connectivity options, including Wifi, Bluetooth, and GPS, work fine.
Keep in mind that the phone does not have a gyroscope sensor, meaning that it is not compatible with VR headsets. Finally, there is no USB OTG support.
BATTERY LIFE
The phone ships with a 3600mAh battery that performs pretty well only if you use the phone for the basic stuff like web browsing. I was able to get over 5 hours of screen on time. However, battery drains faster than usual in standby mode but keep in mind that I have a lot of apps running in the background. Finally, it takes about 3 h and 25 mins to fully charge the phone, which is a very long time.
CONCLUSIONS
The Bluboo S8 Plus is a great looking and well-built phone for the price. That full-screen display design is definitely the key selling point. Also, the phone is quite fast and it can handle some of the 3D games but there is some bloatware in the user interface.
However, you have to keep in mind that low-light image quality does not impress, the phone is not compatible with VR headsets, there is no headset jack, no USB OTG support, selfie camera shoots videos only in 480p and it takes a lot of time to fully charge the phone. If you can live with these shortcomings, the Bluboo S8Plus is a very nice-looking phone for the price that has quite a few features.
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