At the end of 2017, Xiaomi had rolled out the Android 8.0 Oreo update for its first Android One smartphone – the Xiaomi Mi A1. However, the Oreo update contained a lot of bugs and it also resulted in fingerprint sensor lag and battery draining issue. Hence, the Chinese manufacturer had to suspend the first Oreo update. The Mi A1 users were treated with a second Oreo update, but it could not resolve fingerprint scanner lag and severe battery drainage problem. Hence, Xiaomi had to suspend the second Oreo update for Mi A1. The company has now confirmed that it is working on a patch to fix these issues.
Users have been complaining on the official Xiaomi support forums and other platforms like XDA and Reddit that there is a short delay of around one second when tying to unlock the phone after installing the Oreo update. Some of the Mi A1 users have also complained that the battery draining issue is so bad that they end up charging the phone twice a day with less usage.
Apart from the two main issues, Android Oreo update has also resulted in other problems like connectivity issue, random reboots and more. The fingerprint reader lag issue may not sound like a major issue, but when coupled with other bugs and severe battery drainage, these problems may be quite frustrating for Mi A1 users. As it can be seen in the above screenshots, the Chinese manufacturer is working on a fix for the battery issue and it will be addressing the fingerprint sensor lag problem to the concerned team to resolve the issue soon.
The Xiaomi Mi Box 4 and 4C Android TV box devices are now available on pre-orders in China. The official sale of both variants is going on to begin on Feb. 1 at 10 AM.
As far as appearance is concerned, the Xiaomi Mi Box 4 and Box 4C devices sport the same design. In fact, both Mi Box 4 models have the exact same dimensions of 95 x 95 x 16 mm and weight of 145 grams. However, the Mi Box 4 is white in color whereas the 4C model is black.
The Mi Box 4 and 4C are powered by Amlogic’s 64-bit Cortex A53 quad-core processor that clocks 1.5 GHz. It is coupled with Mali 450 penta-core graphics. The maximum resolution supported by both devices is 4K (3840 x 2160) HDR. They also feature the same connectivity ports such as a HDMI 2.0 port, a USB 2.0 port, a AV port and a 3.5mm audio jack.
The Xiaomi Mi Box 4 comes with 2 GB of RAM and is enabled with Bluetooth BLE 4.1 + EDR whereas the 4C has 1 GB of RAM and lacks Bluetooth connectivity. The Mi Box 4 is also enabled with Dolby Audio, a feature that is absent on the Mi 4C.
Through PathWall AI-voice system, the Mi Box 4 and 4C devices are able to recognize voices of various kinds of users like elders and children. These Android TV box devices also come with Bluetooth enabled voice remote control which also works with voice-activated smart appliances. The Mi Box 4Cand Mi Box 4 are respectively priced at 249 Yuan (~$40) and 349 Yuan (~$55).
At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2018, Sony had unveiled the Xperia XA2, Xperia XA2 Ultra and Xperia L2. The Japanese tech giant has confirmed that these smartphones will be available for purchase starting from February. Recent rumors have revealed that the company will be announcing the Xperia XZ Pro and Xperia XZ2 flagship smartphones at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018. However, fresh information suggests that a 5-inch Sony Xperia smartphone may also get unveiled at MWC 2018. It is speculated that this smartphone could be the alleged Xperia XZ2 Compact.
Latest information has revealed that a Sony phone measuring 135 x 65 mm that may include a 5-inch display has been certified by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) in the U.S. The FCC ID of the device is PY7-24118Q. It seems to be a different device from mysterious Sony phone that was seen at FCC without a 3.5 mm audio jack.
The dimensions of the device are similar to an older Sony phone called Xperia UL that was unveiled at MWC 2013. It measures 135 x 71 mm and it houses a 5-inch display. So, the mysterious Sony phone with PY7-24118Q could be a compact full screen design.
It is speculated that it could be the Xperia XZ2 Compact. Rumors have it that it could be featuring an 18:9 aspect ratio supporting display of 5 inches. The Snapdragon 845 chipset may power the phone with 4 GB of RAM. It may include a native storage of 64 GB. The rear side may house a 19-megapixel camera whereas the front may feature an 8-megapixel selfie snapper. It is likely to house a 3,000mAh battery. The handset is rumored to carry a pricing of 4,999 Yuan (~$792).
Many smartphone manufacturers have already confirmed their presence at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and joining the list is Asus. The company has announced that it will hold an event on 27th February and has started sending out media invites. It seems that Asus is gearing up to launch Zenfone 5 series at the event.
The Asus event will take place at 7.30pm CET and currently, there is no information available regarding the live streaming of the event. The company has announced that ASUS executives including Jerry Chen – CEO, Bryan Chang – GM of Mobile Business Division, and Marcel Campos – Global Marketing Head of Systems Business Group, will be present at the event.
While the company has not revealed what it plans to launch at the event, we expect the company to launch the Zenfone 5 series. The number “5” in the press invite suggests that the brand could unveil its ZenFone 5 series smartphones at the event.
According to the reports, the company could announce three devices at the event — the ZenFone 5 (2018), ZenFone 5 Lite and ZenFone 5 Max. In the invite, there’s also Qualcomm branding, suggesting that the devices will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Further, the invite also says #BACKTO5 along with a tagline “We Love Photo” — same as the ZenFone 4 series.
Recently, a new Asus smartphone with codename ASUS_X00QD was certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance. The phone, which is believed to be the Zenfone 5 Max, runs Android 8.0 Oreo operating system and has dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac support. Another phone with model ASUS ZC600KL has been certified in Russia, which is said to be the ZenFone 5 Lite.
Going by the current trend, we expect the upcoming Zenfone 5 series from Asus to come with a full-screen display with 18:9 aspect ratio as well as dual camera setup. The device could come pre-installed with Android 8.0 Oreo out-of-the-box.
We expect more details related to this next-generation Zenfone series in the coming weeks. For the official confirmation, we’ll have to wait till the company takes the stage on 27th February at MWC 2018 in Barcelona.
Recent reports have suggested that MediaTek would be introducing Helio P70 and Helio P40 chipsets at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 event in the coming month. Ulefone, a domestic smartphone brand from China has now confirmed that it will be introducing the Ulefone T2 Pro as the world’s first smartphone powered by MediaTek Helio P70. Below is the official MWC 2018 invitation for the launch of Ulefone T2 Pro.
The above image shows that the Helio P70 chipset will be seen first on a Ulefone smartphone that sports a notch enabled full screen design like the iPhone X. The company has confirmed the name of the device as Ulefone T2 Pro.
Shown below is the render of the upcoming Ulefone T2 Pro. It reveals that the smartphone would be sporting an impressive full screen design with a notch that is smaller than iPhone X. Because of the notch, the screen of the T2 Pro will be delivering an aspect ratio of 19:9 and screen resolution of 1080 x 2280 pixels like the iPhone X. As of this writing, there is no information available on the other specs of the phone. The handset will be sporting glass panels on front and rear sides with a metallic frame placed in between. The rear panel has a horizontally arranged dual camera setup.
The Helio P70 from the Taiwanese chip maker is said to be a 12nm chipset manufactured by TSMC. The octa-core chipset has four cores of Cortex A73 running at 2.5 GHz and four cores of Cortex A53 clocking at 2.0 GHz. The chipset also rumored to feature Mali-G72 MP4 800 MHz graphics and carry support for eMMC 5.1, UFS 2.1 dual-channel LPDDR4x 3733 RAM of up to 8 GB and Cat. 12 LTE modem. It is also expected to come with some support for AI capabilities.
The MediaTek Helio P70 powered Ulefone T2 Pro is expected to deliver stellar performance as the chipset was recently spotted with an impressive average benchmarking score of 156,906 on AnTuTu. The performance of the Helio P70 seems to be much better than Snapdragon 660 by Qualcomm. It appears that the Helio P70 has been designed to take on the upcoming Snapdragon 670 chipset.
The expansion of Xiaomi is becoming aggressive: the company is going to open the first Mi Store in my country: Italy, and the company has started hiring people to work inside it. The store will be opened in Milan, North Italy. The company has officially confirmed its arrival in Italy through a post on its official Facebook page with an image attached. In the image, we can read “Ciao Italia” that means “Hi Italy”. The Chinese giant is currently searching a Store Manager and four sales clerks.
The company wants a Store Manager with at least five years of experience in structured tech companies and sales clerks with at least two years of experience. An in-depth knowledge of Xiaomi’s ecosystem is needed too, as well as a knowledge of the main technology trends. The candidates must be able to entertain interpersonal relationships with international customers. So, just knowing the Italian language will not be enough: English is required too. Problem-solving and dedication to work are among the other qualities required by Xiaomi. Unfortunately, the date in which the Mi Store will be opened in Milan is still unknown.
We do not even know which products will be sold in this physical store, even though there is a high chance that we will see Mi and Redmi phones. We may learn more about it at MWC 2018, seeing that the company will attend the Mobile World Congress this year. Italy is not the first European country in which Xiaomi has arrived: the Chinese giant has already opened stores in Greece and Spain. Further, it is actually possible to purchase some Xiaomi phones in Italy through Amazon (Mi A1 and Mi Max 2 are among these devices), even though prices are way higher than the ones in China.
At the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month in Las Vegas, Sony unveiled three smartphones — Xperia XA2, XA2 Ultra, and L2. While the company had unveiled the devices, the pricing and availability information was not revealed.
Now, the company has announced that all three smartphones will go on sale in the United States from February. The Sony Xperia XA2 and Xperia XA2 Ultra will be available from February 16 while the Xperia L2 will be available from 9th February from Amazon. Later, from 4th March, the phones will also be available through BestBuy and other retailers.
In the US, the Xperia XA2 is priced at $349.99 while the XA2 Ultra is priced at $449.99 and Xperia L2 is priced at $249.99. The devices went up for pre-orders in the United States a few weeks ago.
For the Xperia XA2 series, the company has ditched MediaTek processor and has instead opted for Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon 630 chipset. While the Xperia XA2 features a 5.2-inch Full HD display, its bigger sibling XA2 Ultra comes with a 6-inch Full HD display.
The Xperia XA2 packs 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot for further expanding the storage capacity. On the other hand, the Xperia XA2 Ultra comes with 4GB RAM and two variants based on the internal storage — 32GB and 64GB. This one too comes with a microSD card slot for storage expansion.
Both devices feature a 23-megapixel camera sensor with f/2.0 aperture, hybrid autofocus, and support for 4K video recording and 120fps slow-motion shooting. On the front, the Xperia XA2 comes with an 8-megapixel ultra wide fixed-focus camera for taking selfies and video calling. The Xperia XA2 Ultra features a dual-camera setup on the front with an 8-megapixel camera sensor and a 16-megapixel camera sensor with less extreme FOV, 16:9 aspect ratio, autofocus, and OIS.
Running Android 8.0 Oreo operating system out-of-the-box, the XA2 is powered by a 3,300mAh battery and the XA2 Ultra is fuelled by a 3,580mAh battery with both devices supporting Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging technology.
The Sony Xperia L2 features a 5.5-inch HD display with 1280 x 720 pixels screen resolution. It is powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6737T processor, coupled with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage with support for expanding storage using microSD card.
There is a 13-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. The phone features a fingerprint sensor on the back, same as XA2-series. It runs Android 7.1 Nougat operating system and is fuelled by a 3,300mAh battery.
HMD Global had launched the Nokia 6 2nd Gen smartphone at the start of this smartphone in China. At that time, it had introduced the 64 1,699 Yuan (~$268). Within a month of its launch, the Finnish firm has slashed the price of the smartphone as its 64 GB variant is now selling for 1,499 (~$237) on Jingdong Mall. The Chinese retailer is also selling the Nokia 7 with a priced cut of 1,000 Yuan (~$158).
Nokia 6 (2018)
Currently, the 64 GB Nokia 6 (2018) is now available at a lowest price of 1,499 Yuan (~$237) by using 200 Yuan coupons. There is no information available on whether it is a temporary or permanent price cut.
Nokia 7
Two weeks ago, the retailer had introduced a discount of 900 Yuan (~$142) on the 4 GB and 6 GB RAM variants of the Nokia 7. Both the variants were launched with respective pricing of 2,499 Yuan and 2,699 Yuan, but their pricing were recently reduced to 1,599 Yuan (~$252) and 1,799 Yuan (~$284). Updated listing of the 6 GB RAM variant now shows that the retailer has further slashed its price by 100 Yuan (~$15.8) as it is now selling for 1,699 Yuan.
The Nokia 7 was introduced in China in October and its price has been slashed by 1,000 Yuan within few months after its launch. There is no official announcement on why the company has decided to sell it with reduced pricing. Even though the smartphone is yet to be made available outside of China, recent reports have revealed that the Finnish firm is working on an advanced model called Nokia 7 Plus that is driven by Snapdragon 660. It is speculated that it could be aimed towards international market.
Vivo recently launched the Vivo X20 Plus Under Display fingerprint version which is the world’s first smartphone that would pack an in-display fingerprint sensor. The X20 Plus UD fingerprint edition comes with a refreshed design slightly different from the initial X20 Plus in that, it packs ann in-display or under display fingerprint sensor. Thus, the X20 Plus UD does not have a fingerprint sensor at the rear. Now, we have spotted the teardown photos of the flagship and in case you have been wondering how it looks on the inside, here it is.
The Vivo X20 Plus UD fingerprint version doesn’t seem to be difficult to dismantle. All that is needed is a pry tool, suction cup, screwdrivers and other relevant tools. The suction cup and pry are used to take off the display panel wherein lies the Under Display sensor. The rear panel is held in place by screws which can be removed using a hexagonal screwdriver. Of course, you’ll need to remove the SIM card tray before embarking on this exercise.
Since there is no rear-mounted fingerprint sensor on the under display sensor, the front panel and the rear are not connected by any wire. Thus, all the main components of the device are attached to the display panel. The motherboard and other internals are protected with graphite layer and are well arranged. In all, the Vivo X20 Plus UD fingerprint version boasts of a good design on the outside and internally.
The Essential PH-1 has been on Android 8.0 Oreo beta for over a month. For a device that runs close to stock Android, one would think it should have received a stable update instead. Unfortunately that update hasn’t come and will never come.
In a tweet via its official account, Essential has announced that the PH-1 will not get a stable Android 8.0 Oreo update. The reason is said to be due to several stability issues in Android 8.0 Oreo which they believe will be addressed in Android 8.1.
So rather than releasing Android 8.0 riddled with bugs, the Essential PH-1 will instead receive Android 8.1 Oreo. However, this will add a couple of weeks to when the device finally gets updated to Oreo.
Essential says it will release the Android 8.1 beta update in the meantime while they work on the build.
While this may be a bit disappointing for those who have been waiting endlessly for the update, we can all agree that waiting for a stable version that is bug free isn’t all that bad. You wouldn’t want to end up in the same boat as users of a certain Android One device, right?
For 2018, TCL has refreshed the Alcatel lineup by splitting them into three categories. There is the Alcatel 1 series for entry level devices, Alcatel 3 series for lower mid-range devices, and Alcatel 5 series for the flagship (read mid-range) category.
Full details of the Alcatel 5, which is still the only phone we have seen in the 5 series, have surfaced online ahead of official unveiling at MWC 2018.
The design of the Alcatel 5 should be familiar by now. After having first surfaced about 4 months ago when Evan Blass leaked the complete lineup, the phone has leaked many more times afterwards. However, we’d quickly run through it again.
Alcatel 5 Design
Alcatel is taking a different approach to the bezel-less trend. Rather than reducing the size of both bezels like the Samsung Galaxy S8, or completely shaving the top bezel off like the Essential PH-1, the Alcatel 5 has a shaved chin (not completely) and rocks a big forehead.
Flip the phone to the back and you are greeted with a gold or black brushed back with curved sides and a chrome finish at the top and bottom.
Personally, the device looks better from the rear than it does from the front
Alcatel 5 Specs
The Alcatel 5 has a 5.7” HD+ IPS FullView display. It is powered by a MediaTek MT6750 processor paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage.
The large forehead is home to dual front facing cameras. One is a 13MP f/2.0 sensor with 5P lens and the other is a 5MP 120° wide-angle camera. The second camera is for those wide-angle selfies with more than two friends or when you want to capture the view behind you.
On the rear there is a 12MP f/2.0 sensor with a LED flash and fingerprint scanner positioned below it. The phone also supports face unlock. The Alcatel 5 has a 3000mAh battery, a USB-C port, Bluetooth 4.2 and runs Android 8.0 Oreo.
Apple is no doubt one of the most popular smartphone manufacturers in the world, apart from being one of the most valuable. The company enjoys a large followership globally and in China, the followership is optimum. Thus, it is no surprise we usually see Chinese OEMs releasing smartphones with designs similar to Apple’s models. One model whose look-alikes will soon burst into the scene is the iPhone X and one of them is the LEAGOO S9.
The flagship X is Apple’s most expensive smartphone to date and is quite popular, so this shouldn’t be a surprise. The Apple flagship is one of the full-screen models to come with a U-shaped display notch which is considered by some as a futuristic and alluring design. The iPhone X runs on iOS but we are yet to see an Android smartphone with a similar U-shaped display notch design. This will soon change as LEAGOO is aiming to beat others to launch the first Android smartphone with a display notch which is as wide as that of the iPhone X. Do note that the Essential phone had just a tiny notch housing the selfie camera so that doesn’t count. The LEAGOO S9 doesn’t only run on the Android platform, it is also tipped to come with the latest Android 8.1 Oreo OS. This would make the LEAGOO S9 probably the world’s first phone with a display notch running on Android 8.1. You can check out the LEAGOO S9 design from the trailer video below.
LEAGOO S9 Official Trailer Video:
LEAGOO S9 will be officially launched in at the Mobile World Congress (MWC 2018) in Barcelona this February! The device will also be on exhibition at Leagoo’s booth during the event. You can also participate in the LEAGOO S9 official discussion activity and stand a chance to win one efree unit of the LEAGOO S9 which the company will be giving away soon. You can find the discussion page here.
Blackview has made quite a few phones lately and the P6000 is a device that has great specs, huge battery and much more that is packed into a beautiful metal and glass body. We have used the Blackview P6000 for quite some time and here the full Blackview P6000 review.
The phone ships with all the usual items and there are quite a few extras included. You get a screen protector, a pair of earphones, 3.5mm headset adapter, a mini holder, USB OTG cable and last but not least, a soft TPU case.
DESIGN, DISPLAY, BATTERY LIFE
I’ve reviewed a lot of Blackview phones and this may be the best-looking one. We have a very well-made device that uses metal chassis and curved glass on the back and on the front. I really like this blue color as it looks nice and the fingerprints are not that visible.
Since the phone sports a huge battery, you can feel that the device is a bit heavier but it preserves a relatively thin profile, which is quite impressive considering the size of a power bank.
That battery performs really well. I was able to use the phone for a couple of days and that translated to about 17h of screen-on time, which is a ridiculously good result. It takes about 2 hours to fully charge the battery with the supplied fast charger.
I also found buttons to be in the right place and overall, it’s comfortable to hold the phone in the hand.
The display is really good both for indoor and outdoor use.
The dual-camera setup is one of the highlights of the phone and it is accompanied by a dual LED flash.
We also have an 8MP selfie shooter, which sits next to the LED notification light.
The home button works as a back key and you can also assign other features to it. The fingerprint scanner is accurate but, however, the display could light up faster. There is also a face unlock feature that works quite well but I still think that the fingerprint is a faster way to unlock the phone. There is no headset jack but the quality of sound via the supplied adapter is decent. The loudspeaker is placed on the back and the quality of sound is just about average as it lacks depth and punchiness.
HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE
If you consider the price of the phone, the Blackview P6000 ships with very good specs.
Gaming performance is very good. I was able to play my favorite 3D titles without any issues like lag or stutter and the phone does not overheat. It gets a little warm on the upper portion though but I’m not worried about that.
BENCHMARKS
IMAGE QUALITY
The overall image quality is pretty good even if you take pictures on a cloudy day like I did. There is plenty of detail thanks to the 21MP shooter. Obviously, there are some issues with the dynamic range but I’m happy with the results since this is a budget phone after all.
The portrait shots are also surprisingly good in comparison to most of the budget Chinese phones I’ve recently tested.
The night image quality, however, does not impress as there is a lot of noise and grain.
On a positive note, selfies taken with the 8MP camera look pretty good.
1080p selfie video quality could be better. Sound recording quality does not impress either.
Download full resolution camera samples
USER INTERFACE
The phone runs Android 7.1 but we have the Blackview’s skin built on top of it, which changes the looks in quite a few ways and adds a few extra features. For example, you can change the colors of LED notification light, customize the navigation bar in a variety of ways or use gesture controls that work well. Some animations one this phone could be faster but in general, I found this device to be pretty fast and responsive on the daily basis.
CONNECTIVITY
In terms of connectivity, I have no complaints. all quality and signal reception are really good, Wifi and Bluetooth work fine.
There are quite a few sensors, including a gyroscope, meaning that the phone is compatible with VR headsets and 360 content. Finally, the phone supports USB OTG, so you can connect external devices.
CONCLUSIONS
Blackview P6000 is a beautiful-looking phone that has powerful internals, great overall performance, and a fantastic battery life. Also, you can take decent daylight pictures with the phone’s dual camera setup. However, you should know that there is no headset jack, the camera performs poorly in low light and the loudspeaker quality is average.
At the end of the day, the Blackview P6000 still offers a lot of value for the price but as always, please consider all the pros and cons before making the purchase.
In what could be termed to be a surprising disclosure, a fresh rumor has emerged that the much-anticipated Xiaomi Mi Mix 2s would be the world’s first Snapdragon 845-powered smartphone. This contrary to widely held expectations that the Samsung Galaxy S9 would have that honor just as the Galaxy S8 was one of the first smartphones to pack a Snapdragon 835 chip. We won’t forget, though, that the Sony Xperia XZ Premium was the first commercial smartphone that was announced with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset at MWC 2017 before the Galaxy S8 and S8+ were launched.
Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S Renders
Just recently, we brought you a report where a popular tipster had alleged that the Mix 2s may likely be released even before MWC 2018. The Weibo tipster who made this assertion based his disclosure on reports from the components supply chain. The tipster had asked his followers to guess which device would be the first SD 845 smartphone. We should have known that he left a clue with that question. This latest rumor has now made that bare. The source of the new rumor also stated that the Mix 2s will be the first device to be announced packing Qualcomm’s latest chip but Samsung would get most of the chips for its Galaxy S9 series.
The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2s is expected to pack the same full-screen bezel-less design as the Mi Mix 2 as well as an 18:9 aspect ratio. Before now, the chipset that would be onboard the flagship model was unknown but we now know that the device will likely pack a Snapdragon 845 chip. Other details of the device are still unknown as of this moment. By the way, this is just another rumor about the Mi Mix 2s, so don’t take it too seriously until Xiaomi officially confirms it.
Xiaomi has always been quite slow when it comes to releasing kernel sources. During the launch of the Mi MIX 2 flagship phone in India in October 2017, the company had stated that it would be releasing quality kernel sources within three months after the launch of a device. When Xiaomi had launched the Mi A1 as its first Android One device, it was also expected to release its kernel sources soon. However, the Chinese manufacturer has now managed to release the kernel sources four months after its launch.
Even though Xiaomi has released Android Oreo update for the Mi A1, it’s a bit disappointing to know that the company has pushed out the kernel sources for Android Nougat. It is a known fact that Linus kernel’s GPLv2 license requires companies that manufacture Android phones to publish kernel without delay. However, it has taken nearly five months for Xiaomi to release kernel source code of Mi A1.
Having early access to the source code allow Android developers to build custom software builds for the phone. Since the source code has been pushed out with such a delay for the Mi A1, it may not get the attention from developers as it would have received if it was released few weeks after the launch.
There is no confirmation on why Xiaomi released the source code for M1 A1 on this Tuesday. It could be because certain publications like XDA Developers, Ars Technica and Android Police demanded for it. There is a possibility that its release could be according to Xiaomi’s roadmap. The following link can be visited to download the kernel source from GitHub.
Popular benchmarking website AnTuTu.com has released its top 10 charts of most popular smartphones for 2017. Last year was a very busy one for the industry and a remarkable one at that because it heralded the proliferation of full-screen smartphones right from the flagship models to budget phones.
The top 10 chart is comprised of the most popular Android smartphones based on fans’ rating in China. The most spectacular aspect is that three OnePlus models are among the 10 listed smartphone models. OnePlus 5 emerged as the number one most popular smartphone in 2017 based on AnTuTu rating with a 95.37% score. The second spot is occupied by OnePlus’ 2016 model, OnePlus 3 with a 94.28% rating. Th third spot is occupied by the flagship MeizuPro 6 Plus, one of Meizu’s most popular products till date. The fourth spot is occupied by yet another OnePlus model, the OP 3T which was also released in 2016. Xiaomi joins the list at the fifth spot with the phablet Mi Max. Three other Xiaomi models were also on the list, the Remi Note 3 at the 7th spot, Mi 6 at number 9 and the Redmi 4 completes the list at number 10.
Samsung didn’t perform excellently in China last and that is reflected in the ranking as the popular Galaxy S8 was only able to hop into the list at number 6 spot. The large size Galaxy S8+ came in at the 8th spot but the Galaxy Note 8 was nowhere to be found. In all, Xiaomi and OnePlus are the biggest winners as they both have the highest number of models that are fans favorites.
There have been a steady stream of Meizu 15 Plus leaks in the last couple of weeks and we expect more to surface until the official release. Today, the leaks are live photos that show the front and rear of the device and yes, they do look good.
[envira-gallery id=”170326″]
The first photo gives us our closest and best look yet at the front of the upcoming flagship. Meizu sure has done a good job keeping those bezels as small as possible. Although, it comes at the expense of the removal of the mBack button. The top bezel, which is a bit thicker, is home to the earpiece, usual sensors, and front camera.
The rear is a bit less exciting though. The metal back is bare save for the vertically stacked dual cameras which sit a few millimeters above the signature ring flash. There is a Meizu logo beneath the flash but it has been blurred out. There is also a U-shaped antenna line at the top and bottom.
Xiaomi’s Mi Home will on Thursday, February 1, launch its 153rd crowd-funded product. Little is known about the product save for a few hints from the teaser poster and Weibo posts.
The teaser poster hints at a camera related product as a rough translation of the text on it has the phrases “human eye” and “120 frames/second”. The Weibo post also has the same words in addition to “AR” and “photos”. The hints do not end there.
[envira-gallery id=”170317″]
The teaser poster was also shared by Shanghai Hantu Technology (XPRINT), a top company in China’s VR industry. From their own posts we able to make out the words “AR technology”, “photo”, “mobile phone” and “video”.
After leaking yesterday, Smartisan has today announced the Pure White limited edition version of the Nut Pro 2. The new variant comes with a white coat that extends to the bezels in front.
Smartisan has released the Pure White Nut Pro 2 in just two variants – 6GB RAM + 64GB ROM and 6GB RAM +128GB ROM. Price starts at ¥2299 (~$364) which is the same for the 6GB + 64GB model of the other color variants.
Pre-orders will begin at 10:00 AM (local time) tomorrow. Since this is a limited edition model, you may want to hurry tomorrow as there is no way of knowing how many units are available for purchase.
The Smartisan Nut Pro 2 has a 5.99” 1080 x 2160 display. It is powered by a Snapdragon 660 processor which draws power from a 3500mAh battery. With quick Charge 3.0 support, you shouldn’t have to worry about spending hours recharging your phone.
Today, Meizu officially announced the stable version of its Flyme 6 Spring Edition OS. The new release brings a number of new features and will be available on devices running Android Nougat, Marshmallow, and Lollipop.
Meizu says they have optimized memory and processor frequency for an overall stable and responsive system. There is also an optimized game mode for a better gaming experience.
A total of 34 phones will get the new Flyme update. They include the Meizu MX4, MX4 Pro, MX5, MX6, PRO 5, PRO 6, PRO 6s, PRO 6 Plus, PRO 7, PRO 7 Plus, M1 Note, M2 Note, M3 Note, M5 Note, M2, M3, M3s, M5s, M1 Metal, Meizu X, Meizu E2, Meizu MX, M3 Max, U10, and U20.
Not all features will be available on all the models. For example, the Meizu PRO 7 and devices running Android N will receive an overall system optimization, power management optimization, a “quick application” function, and fixes for stability issues.
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