When Xiaomi announced the Redmi 5 last month it was available in two variants – 2GB + 16GB and 3GB + 32GB. A visit to the official website shows that there is a new variant.
The official website shows Xiaomi has quietly launched a 4GB RAM model of the Redmi 5 Plus. Surprisingly, it comes with 32GB of storage like the 3GB model. The new variant is available in black, gold, and light blue with a ¥1099 (~$174) price tag.
If you believe the 3GB RAM variant isn’t powerful enough for you, then paying ¥200 (~$32) more for an extra 1GB of RAM shouldn’t be too much to ask. To be honest, ~$30 is a lot for just an extra 1GB of RAM.
The rest of the specs remain the same as the other two variants. There is a 5.7” 1440 x 720 display, a Snapdragon 450 processor, and a 3300mAh battery.
A Korean publication reported earlier that LG’s CEO ordered the mobile division to begin work on the LG G7 from scratch. This development is said to be the reason why the G7 won’t launch at MWC. Though there are also rumors it may not even be called the LG G7. Fresh details about the phone have surfaced clearing the matter.
According to Android Central, a LG representative told them that “The successor to the G6 is on schedule and the official name will be announced when the time is right. Until then, reports of a decision being made on the timing and name are all speculative”.
While there is no direct confirmation, it appears that development of the successor to the G6 is still on and they aren’t starting from scratch. However, there is a high chance it is still not launching at MWC and may also not come as the LG G7.
Xiaomi’s latest devices – the Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus have made their way out of China to neighboring country, Taiwan. This is the first market outside China to sell both phones.
The Redmi 5 launched in Taiwan is the 3GB RAM + 32GB variant and is priced at NT$3,999 (~¥870/$138). On the other hand, the larger Redmi 5 Plus that will be available in Taiwan is the high-end 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM model. It is priced at NT$5,999 (~¥1305/$207).
Sales will commence at 12 noon on January 30. Interested buyers will be able to purchase a unit on the official Mi website, Mi Home stores, and PCHome stores. All color variants will be available for both phones on the Mi store.
On February 1, Taiwanese carriers Chungwa Telecom, Far EasTern, and Taiwan Star will begin selling the Redmi 5 while the Redmi 5 Plus will be exclusive to Far EasTern.
According to an insider mentioned by our colleagues from Android Headlines, HTC will not release any flagship at MWC 2018. We expected it, as the Taiwanese company usually doesn’t announce any flagship phones at the most important trade show of the year related to mobile devices in the past few years. The company is used to make its own events to announce its flagships, and it seems it will be so in 2018 as well.
HTC is another of the many brands which decided to skip the Mobile World Congress to launch their most important flagships for 2018. We learned that even Huawei P11 will not be showcased at the trade show, and the same will happen with LG G7. Instead of this one, we will see an improved version of the LG V30 with AI.
This means that there won’t be much competition for Samsung and its Galaxy S9 which has been scheduled to release on February 25. Together with the Samsung Galaxy S9, there should be HMD Global and Sony to present their flagships. HMD is expected to announce the Nokia 9, while Sony should unveil its Xperia XZ Pro that is rumored to come with a 4K display and an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC.
According to famous research firm Counterpoint, a third-party market research company called Sino and one of the biggest e-commerce companies in China (Jingdong), Honor devices are the strongest phones in online sales. Let’s start with the first report, which has been made by Counterpoint in cooperation with Jingdong, and it refers to the Jingdong e-commerce website. A top ten list has been published, and it shows Honor at the first place among the best-selling smartphones brand.
At the second and third place, there are Xiaomi and Apple, respectively. The 4th and the 5th spot are occupied by Huawei and Meizu. 360 Mobile, Oppo, Vivo, Nokia, and Angelcare (ZTE‘s sub-brand) occupy the second half of the ranking. Honor is also incredibly strong with single models: Honor 8 Youth Edition and Honor 6X are at the second and third place in the ranking of the most sold phones on Jingdong Mall. But the most sold Chinese phone on Jingdong is the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X: the variant of the Redmi Note 4 with Snapdragon 625. According to Sino, Honor smartphones are the most sold Chinese smartphones on the internet with 54.5 million units shipped and sales of 78.9 billion Yuan.
Huawei is not only the best smartphone brand in China, but it is also the best Chinese brand in the global market. And the Honor line has registered a growth of 160% during Black Friday. This Chinese giant is becoming a serious menace to Samsung and Apple: note that the company has already confirmed that they are going to increase its global market share from 15 to 50% by 2020. When the company will reach the U.S. shores, it will grow even more.
Do you think Huawei will become the best smartphone brand in the world in the near future or Samsung will be able to keep its first place?
Samsung today officially revealed that it would launch the Galaxy S9 and S9+ on February 25 just before the official kickoff of MWC 2018. The tech giant has done the expected as invitations have been sent out to the media for the Galaxy Unpacked 2018 holding in Barcelona. Now, we have got what is likely the first leaked photo of the Galaxy S9 since the announcement was made. We look forward to seeing more before the official launch.
The leaked video appeared on China’s Weibo and is far clearer than the first video which appeared on Weibo a couple of days back. It’s almost confirmed that the Galaxy S9 will feature much-thinner bezels than the Galaxy S8. The short dummy video shows us not just the rear view but also the front view of the device. It also reaffirms earlier rumors of a single rear camera on the Galaxy S9. The rear camera is followed by a fingerprint sensor at the bottom and LED flash on the right side of the camera. Samsung disclosed on the launch invitation that the Galaxy S9 would pack a reimagined camera. The poster seems to also hint at the presence of a single rear shooter. As you can see on the poster above, the word “Reimagined” was written inside the circle created by number 9 which could be a reference to a single rear shooter. Nevertheless, the Galaxy S9+ is expected to come with dual rear cameras.
As a reminder, Samsung Galaxy S9 is expected to feature a 5.77-inch Quad HD+ dual-curved Super AMOLED display while the Galaxy S9+ will come with a bigger 6.22-inch Quad HD+ dual-curved Super AMOLED display. The models are expected to pack either a Snapdragon 845 or an Exynos 9810 chipset and would be fueled by a 3,000mAh battery. Further, the Galaxy S9 will present with a 12MP rear camera with f/1.5 aperture and OIS and an 8MP selfie camera with f/1.7 aperture.
We all love it when manufacturers are quick to release updates for devices, but when they come filled with bugs, its a different story entirely. Xiaomi has been trying to get the Android One Mi A1 updated to Oreo but anytime it does there seems to be an issue.
The stable Oreo update first began rolling out on New Year’s eve after being in beta. A few weeks later it was stopped due to bugs. Last week, the roll-out resumed only for a moderator on the official Xiaomi forum to announce yesterday that the roll-out has been stopped again due to bugs.
The moderator says the update will resume in a few days. However, we suggest you wait till some users have installed it before doing so if you haven’t updated it before. This is to save you from ending up with a buggy and unusable device.
Qualcomm held a summit in China today where it had top executives from its partner companies in attendance. OPPO’s CEO Tony Chen was present and he revealed some info about the company.
Speaking at a roundtable forum which included Xiaomi’s President and Co-Founder Bin Lin; Vivo’s CEO Wei Shen; and Lenovo Chairman Aymar de Lencuesaing, amongst others,; Mr. Chen revealed that his company is planning an entry into the Japanese and European markets.
According to him, he doesn’t believe that there is a clear distinction between China and overseas markets. OPPO already has a strong presence in China and in the past year has extended its arms into more markets.
The company’s plan is to enter into developing as well as developed markets hence its decision to launch in Japan and Europe. At the moment, OPPO phones are sold in Egypt, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam to name a few.
OnePlus is back with another video ad for its latest smartphone – the OnePlus 5T. Titled “The Cactus Test”, the video isn’t your conventional advert which appears to be a recurring them for OnePlus.
The video has two stupid men dressed in their underpants with bulls eye marks drawn over their bodies. One man is given a OnePlus 5T while the other gets a Samsung Galaxy Note8. Two other men are in charge of hurling cacti at the men. Whoever gets to open “20 everyday apps” first wins.
Gizmochina along with Parblo official is conducting 1 unit Parblo Coast 13 Update Version as giveaway gift to a lucky reader. Like always, you just have to follow the steps mentioned on the Gleam widget to get a chance to win this amazing gift.
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Lenovo may have finally rested the short-lived but popular ZUK lineup but the company isn’t forgetting the current ZUK smartphones just yet. ZUK CEO Chang Cheng has revealed via his Weibo handle, the release of the ZUI 3.5 UI for the ZUK Z2 Pro flagship smartphone.
Lenovo’s custom ZUK 3.5 is the latest version and it is based on Android 8.0 Oreo operating system. The CEO shared an image containing some details of the new update, although it is written in Chinese. The details include a new UI design, including for calls and text messages, a new Security Center with built-in Blacklist feature, a new U Health app, and a “Personal calendar” function. In addition, the new update brings many bug fixes such as the bug which affected the volume adjustment, loudspeaker, mobile data, media sharing and battery power saving optimization with apps.
The ZUK Z2 Pro was first launched in 2016 running Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The smartphone’s OS was upgraded last year to a new ZUI version, bringing in Android Nougat and now, it is getting the latest Android OS. Presently, this ZUI 3.5 update is only available to ZUK Z2 Pro users in China but hopefully, the official ROM will become available to Z2 Pro owners outside of China soon. For now, you may be lucky to find an unofficial ROM on XDA Forum but that may likely have bugs in it.
Smartisan’s first launch of the year is not a smartphone but a bluetooth headset. It is not even a new model but a new black variant of its BS2000 Bluetooth Sports Earphones.
The bluetooth headset was originally available in red which looks gorgeous by the way, but Smartisan has decided to release a black variant for those who want a less flashy headset.
The Smartisan BS2000 Bluetooth Sports Earphones has a number of nice features. First, it has a battery life of 8 hours and a standby time of 200 hours which is quite impressive. Charge time is said to take 1.2 hours.
It also has an IPX5 rating, so you don’t have to worry about your sweat or rain ruining it. Smartisan adds that it will also survive in harsh environments.
Xiaomi has opened a new R&D complex in Shenzhen, Mainland China. The new complex would be devoted to research and development (R&D) for its mobile phone business. Xiaomi’s president Lin Bin recently visited the new R&D complex at Shenzhen and shed some light on the company’s plans for the centre.
Lin Bin hinted that the R&D centre would be tailored towards conducting research and developing innovative and high-quality products for Xiaomi’s smartphone division. The smartphone arm is unarguably the most successful aspect of Xiaomi’s growing business concerns so, the tech giant strives to boost the quality of its products in order to attract more patronage. Lin Bin also disclosed that his company would recruit 1000 technical experts this year ad some of them would be deployed to the Shenzhen R&D centre which it hoped to build into one of its strongest R&D centre, second only to the Beijing Headquarters.
It could be recalled that Xiaomi recently invested hugely in the building of a new complex in Wuhan which would no doubt also house an R&D centre among others. The company recently went global with its IPO listing which would attract more investors. If this pace is sustained, we could be looking at Xiaomi emerging as one of the world’s top 500 companies very soon.
Vivo had showcased the world’s first smartphone with under-display fingerprint scanner supplied by Synaptics at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2018 earlier in this month. However, at that time, the company had not disclosed the official name of the device. Yesterday, Vivo had a launch event to unleash the X20 Plus In-Screen Fingerprint version that is also known as Vivo X20 Plus UD. Customers who are interested in buying the smartphone should be aware of the fact that its in-screen fingerprint sensor will not work with screen protectors of certain thickness.
The fingerprint sensor is placed beneath the outer glass and OLED panel of the phone. Hence, a scratch to the display area can cause the fingerprint reader to malfunction. Hence, users will have to make use of a screen protector on the X20 Plus UD. However, it should be noted that a thick screen protector will not allow the fingerprint scanner to function properly.
To deliver seamless experience with under-display fingerprint sensor on the new X20 Plus, the company is providing a thin screen protector in the box package of the phone. The thin screen protector will not only safeguard the screen but also to unlock it by pressing the fingerprint icon. If the customer wants to replace the screen protector that is provided with the phone, Vivo will be selling the right kind of screen protectors for the X20 Plus UD.
Vivo X20 Plus UD is now available for reservations in China. The company will begin the pre-sales of the phone from Jan. 29 in the home country followed by the market release on Feb. 1. Currently, the handset that is currently priced at 3,598 Yuan (~$565) is exclusively available in China. The company did not confirm any information on making the phone available outside of China.
In the near future, the smartphone industry is likely to see more phones with under-display fingerprint scanner. Multiple reports have claimed that the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 that will be launching later this year may come with an in-screen fingerprint scanner.
Samsung had been rolling the Indian smartphone market for the past six years. However, from the beginning of 2017 Xiaomi became a real threat for the South Korean company. A market survey of International Data Corporation (IDC) for the third quarter of 2017 had revealed Xiaomi and Samsung respectively accounted a market share of 23.5 percent. Since then, market analysts have been predicting that Xiaomi will pip Samsung in the coming months. Two research firms such as Counterpoint Research and Canalys have separately revealed that Xiaomi has finally dethroned Samsung to gain the number uno position in the country.
According to Counterpoint Research’s survey for Q4 2017, Xiaomi now holds a market share of 25 percent in India and Samsung is on the second spot with a market share of 23 percent. Lenovo, OPPO and Vivo are holding on to the third, fourth and fifth position with respective market share of 6 percent.
The research firm’s survey for Q4 2016 reveals that Samsung had a market share of 24 percent while Xiaomi and Lenovo that respectively held a market share of 9 percent. Interestingly, Counterpoint has rated Samsung as the top seller in 2017 as the company was ahead of Xiaomi in the first half of the year.
According to Canalys, Xiaomi and Samsung respectively shipped 8.2 million and 7.3 million smartphones in Q4 2017. The market analysis by Canalys states that Xiaomi has a market share of 27 percent while Samsung is on 25 percent. It claims that the South Korean tech giant has been unable to win over cost-conscious consumers and it has lost to Xiaomi because of its inability to transform its low-cost portfolio.
Responding to the report, a Samsung’s spokesperson claimed, “the company is still the number 1 smartphone company by a distance.” By citing GfK’s market research that is known for tracking sales to end users, he claimed that Samsung has 45 percent value market share and 40 percent volume market share. He added that Samsung is the market leader in different price segments in India and is also the country “Most Trusted” brand.
Xiaomi had entered India three years ago. Since then the Chinese firm has been aggressively selling smartphones with high specifications at very affordable prices. Its strategy of selling smartphones through flash sales famous retailers like Amazon India and Flipkart have also help the company to gain a good market share in a relatively short period. Its entry-level Redmi 5A is available with a pricing of only Rs. 4,999 (~$79) whereas the Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 flagship is selling for Rs. 32,999 (~$519).
Meizu present custom OS is the Flyme 6 which has been in the open for more tan a year now. Expectedly, the company’s Flyme division has long started working on a next-gen Flyme 7 OS and a couple of details of the next Flyme version has appeared online.
The leaked details stipulate that Meizu will officially unveil the Flyme 7 and its new features on February 24 barely a month from today. Apart from the release date, some of the added features that would be on the new Custom ROM were also leaked. The leak comes in form of a screenshot of a device running Flyme 7v982 Beta and it shows a readjustment of the system architecture. The new OS is also said to optimize power performance but wasn’t stated if it would be based on Android 8.0. In addition, the Flyme 7 User Interface was also adjusted and it looks more colourful. Another addition is a mQuick button and a new OneMind 2.0 AI. There is also support for Cloud backup and other new features which would be made known as time goes on.
Overall, the upgrades over the Flyme 6 coming to the Flyme 7 doesn’t look large but it is worth looking forward to. Meizu is known to have one of the most intuitive and creative OS in the Flyme of all the Android-based custom UI. No word yet on if a beta program is already underway but we’ll find that out soon.
Xiaomi is already aware of the fact that the Redmi Note 5 will be met with huge demand. Hence, it is reportedly stocking as many units as possible of the upcoming the budget phablet. The Xiaomi MEE7S and MET7S devices that have recently received 3C approval in China are rumored to get official as the two variants of the RedmI Note 5. The reason behind it is that the similar appearing model numbers such as Xiaomi MEE7 and MET7 belong to the two variants of the Redmi 5 Plus.
The Redmi Note 5 is speculated to feature an integrated metallic chassis with nano-injection molding antenna design. It is rumored to house a 5.99-inch screen that will produce 18:9 aspect ratio. Like the Redmi 5 Plus, it is likely to support FHD+ resolution.
The Redmi Note 5 could be the first Redmi Note series phone to feature dual camera setup that is speculated to include a 16-megapixel primary sensor that will be coupled with a 5-megapixel sensor. For shooting selfies, it will be equipped with an 8-megapixel selfie camera. The MIUI 9 flavored Android Nougat OS will be available pre-installed on the Redmi Note 5. The smartphone will also carry support for facial recognition.
The base model of the Redmi Note 5 featuring 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage is rumored to be powered by Snapdragon 630. The higher model that will be driven by Snapdragon 636 chipset is expected to feature 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. Both the variants are rumored to be respectively priced at 1,499 Yuan (~$237) and 1,799 Yuan (~$284).
After releasing the list of Honor phones that will receive the latest EMUI 8.0 software update, Huawei has now announced the list of its own devices that will get the Android Oreo-based EMUI 8.0 update.
The devices from Huawei which will be updated to the latest version of EMUI include Mate 8, Huawei P9, P9 Plus, Nova Youth Edition, Nova 2 and Nova 2 Plus. The company’s recently launched Mate 10 series already runs Android 8.0 Oreo-based EMUI 8.0 out-of-the-box.
Huawei is currently developing the latest update for these phones and has not yet revealed the timeline to roll out the latest update. We just hope the wait isn’t too long.
The EMUI 8.0 — the successor of EMUI 5.1 — was officially rolled out by the company a couple of weeks ago. The company decided to change the numbering scheme of its Android-based custom skin to sync it with the Android version numbers.
According to the company, EMUI 8.0 is “an avant-garde technological software which is efficient, secure and above all, user-friendly.” It comes with artificial intelligence that makes the software experience smarter and quicker.
The updated version of the operating system comes with features like Real-Time Scene and Object Recognition, Smart Tips, and AI-accelerated language translation, among others. It also brings some artificial intelligence-based capabilities such as resource allocation, context awareness as well as user behaviour or behaviour prediction.
Since the latest custom operating system from Huawei is based on Android Oreo, users will also have access to features like split-screen interface, navigation dock, one-hand operation and smart view. The company had earlier said that it provides faster and smarter phone experience, powered by advanced AI technological features.
After launching Moto X4 in India in November last year, the Lenovo-owned company is now gearing up to launch the 6GB RAM variant of the phone in India.
Motorola is teasing on Twitter that a new Moto X4 variant is coming that is “much faster, smarter and sharper.” The company adds that it will arrive on 1st February. While the company has not made it clear, it is believed that Motorola is planning to bring the 6GB RAM variant of the Moto X4.
The Moto X4 flaunts a 5.2-inch LTS IPS Full HD display with 1920 x 1080 pixels screen resolution and pixel density of 424ppi. The display is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla glass. Under the hood, the device is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 octa-core processor clocked at 2.2GHz.
The phone was launched in India in two variants — 3GB RAM with 32GB internal storage and 4GB RAM with 64GB internal storage. On the back side, the phone features a dual camera system that includes a 12-megapixel primary sensor with f/2.0 aperture and an 8-megapixel secondary camera sensor with f/2.2 aperture. The dual lenses are coupled with features like phase detection autofocus (PDAF), 4K video shooting and dual-LED flash.
The dual-camera combination helps users to shoot photos with DSLR-like ‘Bokeh’ effects. On the front side, there’s a 16-megapixel selfie snapper with LED flash and f/2.0 aperture. It offers features like 4-megapixel adaptive low light photography mode and a beautification mode.
Connectivity options on the device include 4G VoLTE, USB Type-C port, NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, GPS, GLONASS, dual SIM card support. It is an IP68 certified phone which means it is well protected from damage by dust and water. The phone is powered by a 3,000mAh battery and supports fast charging.
The 6GB RAM model is expected to run Android 8.0 Oreo operating system out-of-the-box. In India, the 3GB RAM model of the Moto X4 is priced at Rs. 20,999 while the 4GB RAM model is priced at Rs. 22,999. Just like these two models, the upcoming 6GB RAM variant is also expected to be Flipkart exclusive.
During the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2018, Samsung had confirmed that it will be holding a launch event for its next-generation flagship phones, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 tech trade fair in the coming month. Today, the South Korean tech giant has finally confirmed that the launch event for the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will be held on Feb. 25, a day prior to the beginning of the MWC 2018 that is scheduled to take place between Feb. 26 and March 1.
The official invitation states that the Galaxy S9 would be arriving with a “Reimagined” camera. Recent reports have also claimed that the company will be brining some major improvements to the camera of the Galaxy S9 and S9+. A new camera feature that is expected to arrive on the S9 and S9+ is variable aperture that will make it possible for users to adjust the aperture of the 12-megapixel between f/1.5 and f/2.4 before snapping a photo. The variable aperture camera feature was first seen on Samsung’s W2018 flagship clamshell phone.
Also, the rumor mill has revealed the Galaxy S9 and S9+ are capable of shooting full HD super slow-motion videos at 480 fps. Last year’s Galaxy S8 and S8+ can shoot slow-motion videos of HD videos at 240 fps. Previous leaks have also revealed that the Galaxy S9 would be housing a single camera on the back panel whereas the larger Galaxy S9+ will be blessed with a vertically arranged dual rear cameras.
The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are heavily pegged to respectively feature 18.5:9 Infinity Display Super AMOLED screens of 5.8 inches and 6.2 inches. The Snapdragon 845 chipset may power the Galaxy S9 duo in the U.S. and China whereas the other markets may receive Exynos 9810 chipset variants. The S9 and S9+ may respectively feature 4 GB and 6 GB of RAM. Also, the Galaxy S9 is likely to house a 3,000mAh battery where the S9+ may include a 3,500mAh battery.
It is speculated that after getting unveiled on Feb. 25, the Galaxy S9 and S0+ will be available on pre-orders starting from March 1. The shipments of the pre-ordered units are rumored to start on March 16.
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