Moto G6, G6 Plus, G6 Play Renders, Key Specs Revealed; Moto G6 Lineup May Get Unveiled at MWC 2018

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Jan 17, 2018

Last year, Motorola had released the Moto G5 and G5 Plus smartphones in February followed by their improved versions called Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus in August. In October last year, well-known tipster Evan Blass had claimed that Motorola will be releasing Moto G6 Play alongside the Moto G6 and G6 Plus smartphones in 2018. Today, Droid-Life has revealed the renders of the Moto G6 lineup along with their key specs.

Moto G6 Plus

Moto G6 Plus is speculated to arrive with a 5.93-inch display. The publication claims that the display will be supporting Full HD+ resolution which means that it may offer an aspect ratio of 18:9. The Snapdragon 630 chipset that drives the Moto X4 Android One smartphone will be present under the hood of the Moto G6 Plus.

The Moto G6 Plus is expected to arrive in RAM variants like 3 GB, 4 GB and 6 GB and it is likely to available in storage choices like 32 GB and 64 GB. It may include a rear-facing dual camera setup that will include a 12-megapixel sensor and a 5-megapixel sensor. For snapping selfies, it will be equipped with a 16-megapixel shooter. A 3,200mAh battery will be fueling the Moto G6 Plus and it will be featuring a front-mounted fingerprint scanner. The G6 Plus is likely to cost $330.

Moto G6

The Moto G6 is rumored to house a smaller FHD+ resolution supporting display of 5.7 inches. Like G6 Plus, it is slated to produce an aspect ratio of 18:9. The Snapdragon 450 chipset that powers few smartphones like Vivo V7+ and Xiaomi Redmi 5 will be present under the hood of the Moto G6.

The Moto G6 is expected to arrive in models like 32 GB storage + 3 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage + 4 GB of RAM. It may house the same dual camera setup and selfie snapper that will be available on the G6 Plus. The G6 is rumored to include a front-facing fingerprint scanner and a 3,000mAh battery. It may arrive in the market with a price tag of $240.

Moto G6 Play

The Moto G6 Play is speculated to arrive with a 5.7-inch display that will be supporting HD resolution of 720p. There is no confirmation on whether it will be supporting 18:9 aspect ratio like the other G6 series phones. It is rumored to feature a huge battery of 4,000mAh capacity. Unlike the G6 and G6 Plus smartphones, the fingerprint scanner will be placed on the rear panel of the G6 Play as it does not feature a home button. As of this writing, there is no offer information available on the specs of the Moto G6 Play.

In 2017, the Moto G5 and G5 Plus smartphones were showcased at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 event in February. Hence, it is speculated that the Lenovo-owned Motorola may announce the Moto G6, G6 Plus and G6 Play smartphones at MWC 2018 in the next month.

(source)

BlitzWolf BW-FWC3 5W Wireless Charger Will Soon Be Available For Just $9.99 On Banggood

By

Vinay Patel

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Jan 17, 2018

The compact, lightweight and highly portable BW-FWC3 5W wireless charger from BlitzWolf works with all Qi wireless charging devices. You’ll be able to preorder the BW-FWC3 5W wireless charger on Banggood starting Wednesday, January 17.

You can get your hands on the first 200 units of BW-FWC3 5W wireless charger on Banggood by shelling out just $9.99. For the next 1300 units, the price will be $11.99, and $13.99 for the remaining 1500 pieces. The normal price listed on Banggood is $15.99. In order words, the price is considerably lower for earlier orders.

BlitzWolf BW-FWC3 wireless charger is compatible with any other regular smartphone equipped with a Qi receiver. For instance, it can wirelessly charge a myriad of Samsung-branded smartphones including the Galaxy S8, S8+ S7, S7 Edge, Edge S6, S6, Note 5, Note 5 Edge, Note 8, Note 7, and Note 7 Edge.

The 5W wireless charger also works with Apple iPhone8, 8 Plus, X, LG G2/G3/G Pro, Google Nexus4/Nexus5/Nexus6/Nexus7, Nokia Lumia 1520/930/928/920/830/735, and 950/950XL, HTC 8 X (US version), Droid DNA, and Thunderbolt.

It is also compatible with Motorola Moto Maxx, Droid Turbo 2/Turbo/Mini, Moto 360 smartwatch, Sony Xperia Z4v/Z3V, BlackBerry Z30, and Classic smartphones. You can click here and ensure you don’t miss this opportunity by setting alert notification on Banggood’s about the upcoming offer.

Buy BlitzWolf BW-FWC3 5W Wireless Charger For Just $9.99 On Banggood

Xiaomi Redmi 4A Smartphone Is Up For Grabs For Only $77.67 On LightInTheBox

By

Vinay Patel

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Jan 17, 2018

When Xiaomi launched the Redmi 4A smartphone back in November 2016, it instantly propelled to popularity among smartphone enthusiasts.

The phone sports a 5-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 720 X 1280 pixels at 296 PPI (pixels per inch). Although the Redmi 4A is crammed with a myriad of other awe-inspiring specs and features, you don’t need to spend a fortune to buy it.

You can now get your hands on Android 6.0 powered handset by shelling out just $75.98 on LightInTheBox. The Beijing-based online retail giant is currently offering a massive 62% discount on the handset’s original selling price of $201.71.

You can either go for blushing pink or gold color version of the Redmi 4A 4G smartphone. If you are willing to spend an additional $1.69, you can buy gray color option of the phone. In other words, you end up paying $77.67 for the gray-tinted iteration of the device.

It’s worth noting that only 49 pieces were remaining for Lightning sale at the time of writing. You can head straight to this link in order to take advantage of the promo before it comes to an end.

Buy Xiaomi Redmi 4A Smartphone For Just $77.67 On LightInTheBox

Huawei P20 Pro Likely to Arrive with Extra Long 19:9 Aspect Ratio Display

By

Anvinraj Valiyathara

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Jan 17, 2018

Most of the high-end and midrange smartphones that have launched in the recent past feature 18:9 aspect ratio supporting display. However, some of the Samsung phones such as Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy A8 (2018) and Galaxy A8+ (2018) carry support for 18.5:9 smartphone. Very few smartphones such as Xiaomi Mi MIX and ZTE Nubia Z17S support 17:9 aspect ratio. The rumored Huawei phone is expected to arrive with a weird aspect ratio of 18.7:9. Fresh information suggests that Huawei has another upcoming smartphone that has a strange aspect ratio of 19:9.

The alleged device has been put through HTML5Test. It reveals that the device has a model number of Huawei ANE-LX1 and it is loaded with Android 8.0 Oreo. The device supports a resolution of 360 x 760 which may not be the real resolution. It appears that the screen of the device may support a resolution of 1,080 x 2,280 pixels. Hence, it delivers an aspect ratio of 19:9.

It could be one of the forthcoming Huawei P20 series smartphone. However, it is difficult to guess what this device may end up being called. Huawei is reportedly ordering display panels from Synaptics as it has been manufacturing extra long Full HD+ display that offers 19:9 aspect ratio. Since it has an advanced aspect ratio than the alleged Huawei P20, it is speculated that the Huawei ANE-LX1 could be the P20 Pro.

(via 1, 2)

Xiaomi Mi 6 4G Smartphone Is Available For Only $349.92 On LightInTheBox

By

Vinay Patel

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Jan 17, 2018

If you’ve been waiting with bated breath to get your hands on Xiaomi Mi 6 flagship smartphone without spending a fortune, we got good news for you.

The Beijing-based online retail company, LightInTheBox is offering a massive 70% discount on the Mi 6’s original asking price of $1,167.67. As a result, the highly sought-after handset is currently up for grabs for just $349.92.

Despite paying an unbelievably low price for the Mi 6, you do not compromise in terms of specs. The dual-SIM smartphone packs Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, 6GB of RAM and a considerable 64GB of onboard memory, under the hood.

The Mi 6 sports a 5.15-inch display with a screen resolution of 1920×1080 pixels at 428 pixels per inch (PPI). It comes with a 12MP + 12MP dual camera setup at the back and an 8MP front shooter.

You can buy the black color version of the Mi 6 smartphone at a heavily discounted price on LightInTheBox simply by clicking here before the promo comes to an end. It is also imperative for you to bear in mind that only 172 pieces were left at the time of writing.

Buy Xiaomi Mi 6 4G Smartphone For Just $349.92 On LightInTheBox

Sharp Reveals It Is Now Set For Mass Production Of OLED Panels

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 17, 2018

The advent of full-screen designs made a shift to OLED display panels on smartphones utilizing the full-screen design more like compulsory. Samsung has been the biggest beneficiary of this situation as the company is said to be lining up between 200 – 300 million units for the iPhone X. Last year the company reportedly supplied 50 million units of OLED panels to Apple for the iPhone X. Samsung’s monopoly may soon be broken as Sharp has announced that it is ready to commence mass production of its own OLED panels.

Sharp’s President and CEO Dai Zhengwu stated this in a media briefing held this week. The CEO disclosed that Sharp had finished the production of OLED sample panels for smartphones and is now ready to start mass producing. However, we may not see the panels very soon as they would only be ready for use on smartphones launching in June or July this year. Sharp is also reported as planning to launch its own OLED display-packing smartphone around June or July.

Earlier on, Nikkei had reported that Sharp will be the first display panel maker based in Japan that is capable of producing OLED panels. This is good news for the company, considering that Sharp is now owned by Foxconn who manufactures the iPhone X and other models for Apple. It is hoped that this would open up the market for the use of OLED panels among OEMs. A recent report states that Huawei, OPPO, and Xiaomi are looking to switch to mini LED panels due to OLED shortages but that may not happen anymore due to this recent development.

(source)

You Can Now Buy Xiaomi New 5000mAh Power Bank 2 For Just $14.99 On Banggood

By

Vinay Patel

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Jan 17, 2018

Gadget buffs constantly panic about losing power on their smartphones, digital cameras, tablets, pc, and handheld gaming devices. Most of us are likely to drop everything and head straight to home in order to charge our phones and other gadgets. But with Xiaomi Power Bank 2, you can now handle the low battery anxiety without breaking much of a sweat.

Housed in an ultra-thin 10.7mm alloy metal case, Xiaomi 5000mAh Power Bank 2 weighs in at just 150g, which makes it highly portal. Moreover, it is so slim you can comfortably carry it everywhere you go and you don’t even need to shell out a lot of money to get your hands on the highly useful device.

You get a 21% discount when you pre-order the Power Bank 2 on Banggood. While the device’s original selling price is $18.99, you only pay $14.99. On top of that, you earn 14 Banggood points.

Xiaomi Power Bank 2 is backed by a robust 5000mAh battery and it is compatible with a broad range of devices. It offers short-circuit protection and sports over-charge protection four LEDs that indicate battery level.

You can head straight to this link and save a considerable 21% by preordering the Xiaomi-branded power bank for mobile phone and other devices before the promo comes to an end.

Buy Xiaomi 5000mAh Power Bank 2 For Just $14.99 On Banggood

Samsung Patent Shows Off Innovative Smartphone Designs & Features In The Works

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 16, 2018

Samsung R&D is one busy arm of the conglomerate considering the spate of patent filings from the tech giant, some of which may never be used on its gadgets. The company has now filed a patent for a new design style for its smartphones. The patent is packed with several new and classic designs which would no doubt change the face of the smartphone market whenever they are implemented on new models. The new patent design was spotted at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The patent which was filed under the international patent number PCT/KR2017/007043 was filed in July 2017 and was only published recently on January 11, 2018. The patent tends to cover most areas of smartphones ranging from the sensor, speaker, and camera placement with a bezel-less display. This new patent could hint at a potential concept smartphone for the future.

From the patent, many designs are showcased and unlike other designs that would look so much similar, each of the design shown in the patent comes with its own features which distinguish it from other devices. One similar feature of each design is the concept of an almost completely bezel-less screen, even along the top and bottom of the screen. The design used either behind-the-screen technologies or notches which tend to hold the various components expected from a top-notch smartphone in order to eliminate the use of bezels. One noticeable change in the designs is the power button which was placed at the top of the smartphones to enable further chamfering of the edges.
Other designs with a great idea spotted include a fingerprint sensor which is directly built into the display of the device, the notification bar, and the quick setting which is placed at the bottom of the screen and not at the traditional top.

Samsung has been known for trying new technology and concepts, and with these designs, we could get an idea of Samsung’s vision of how its future smartphones should look and function. However, this patented designs may likely not find its way into an actual product very soon.

(source)

TCL V760 Model With Dual Cameras Gets The Nod At TENAA

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 16, 2018

Chinese smartphone maker TCL may be cooking up a smartphone for us after a long time, according to a recent TENAA listing. A TCL smartphone identified as TCL V760 has appeared on the website of the Chinese Telecoms Regulatory Agency TENAA.

Except for the fact that it has been quite a while we say a TCL smartphone, the device doesn’t tickle in any way. Well, except that it packs a dual camera setup at the rear, which is aligned vertically. The device also packs a rear fingerprint sensor just under the display. The device isn’t a full-screen mode but even at that, the bezels at the top and bottom edges look unusually large. The device also has all its capacitive keys at the right side of the display.

On the specs angle, the TCL V760 is listed with a large 5.7-inch display with a resolution of 1440 x 720pixels (HD). The device comes with 3GB of RAM as well as 32GB of native storage which is expandable up to 128GB. Keeping the lights on is a 2900mAh battery while there is an 8MP selfie camera as well as an 8MP main sensor at the rear. The resolution of the second rear shooter isn’t known. In addition, the TCL V760 runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box.

We can’t say for sure if the device will be unveiled soon and even if it does launch, there isn’t much to make it tickle a market already heading in the direction of full-screen models

(source)

Huawei Mate 10 Pro Keeps Playing Video Even Inside A -24 Degree Celsius Deep Freezer For Four Hours!

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 16, 2018

Until recently, the waterproof body is usually the characteristics of rugged smartphones or feature phones. But now flagship models are usually advertised as having IP ratings good enough to guarantee protection from water and dust. In case you don’t know, IP stands for “Ingress Protection”. They are used to define levels of sealing effectiveness of electrical enclosures against intrusion from foreign bodies (tools, dirt etc) and moisture. Today, most mobile phones with IP ratings are usually IP67 certified, and one of such phones advertised as having an IP 67 rating is the Huawei Mate 10 Pro.

That IP67 rating was seriously put to test recently in a manner that we’d never have expected. The smartphone was inserted into a bowl of water while a video was playing and then the bowl was kept in a freezer for four hours reaching up to a temperature of -24 degree Celcius. All these while, the Mate 10 Pro was being monitored to see if it will go off. At the end of four hours, the smartphone was removed from the freezer and after the ice thawed, the smartphone still kept working. Even after such an extreme test!

Even though we don’t recommend trying this at home, the test goes to show how durable the Mate 10 Pro is. Despite the waterproof body claim which has now been proven, damage to phone caused by water isn’t covered by warranty and that is clearly stated on the warranty card of most IP67-certified phones. So, the phone maker takes no responsibility for any damage caused by insertion in water. You can find out more details of the test from the source link below.

(source)

HTC U11+ Receives Price Cut Following Launch of HTC U11 Eyes

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 16, 2018

Following the launch of the HTC U11 Eyes in China, the flagship HTC U11+ has gotten a price cut. We are surprised since the phone just started selling less than two months ago. But who says no to a price cut? Definitely not us.

The HTC U11+ originally launched for ¥4999 (~$775) but has now been slashed to ¥4599 (~$713) on JD.com. The price cut is applicable to all three color variants.

HTC’s U11+ which is said to be the cancelled Google Pixel 2 XL Muskie packs a lot of interesting features. It has a 6.0” 2880 x 1080 display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. Both sides of the phone are covered with Gorilla Glass 5.

Like most of the flagships released in 2017, the HTC U11+ is powered by a Snapdragon 835 processor. It also has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of expandable storage.

There is a single 12MP F/1.7 UltraPixel camera with OIS+EIS on the rear and an 8MP selfie camera. Underneath the glass back is a 3930mAh battery.

Continue

Snapdragon 670 Has Almost The Same GPU Performance As Snapdragon 820 According To Geekbench

By

Michele Ingelido

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Jan 16, 2018

Snapdragon 670 will probably be the most powerful midrange SoC released by Qualcomm in 2018. After an initial sighting on Geekbench, the processor has been spotted in the RenderScript project which revealed its GPU performances. The results of the benchmark test are outstanding: the Adreno 620 GPU has scored 6404 points. It is very close to the results obtained by Snapdragon 820, the Qualcomm flagship SoC from 2016.

Even though numbers are not everything and a test like this does not evaluate the real graphics performances of the SoC, this result is still very encouraging. In terms of graphics performances, Snapdragon 670 also seems an important improvement over the Snapdragon 660: just consider that Xiaomi Mi Note 3 has scored 5483 points in the same RenderScript test. The SoC has already been spotted on Geekbench previously and its specs have leaked multiple times.

Rumors say, SD670 will be composed of 4x Kryo 360 custom cores and 4x Kryo 385 custom cores which will have max frequencies of 2Ghz and 1.6 GHz respectively. Besides the Adreno 620 GPU, it will sport a Snapdragon X16 Cat. 16 LTE modem. The modem will be able to reach a Gigabit-speed in download and 150 Mbps in upload. On Geekbench, Snapdragon 670 has scored 1863 points in single-core CPU performances and 5256 points in multi-core performances. Considering the specs, we should see this SoC in some of the best upper mid-range smartphones of 2018.

Do you think Qualcomm is going to kill MediaTek in the mid-range segment just like it did in the flagship one?

(Via)

Meizu mBlu S6 Will Be Bring More Than Just A 18:9 Full Screen Design

By

Michele Ingelido

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Jan 16, 2018

Meizu mBlu S6, also known as Meizu M6s will be officially unveiled tomorrow. The Chinese company has just published a post on the social network Weibo with a teaser image attached, confirming the official announcement. The upcoming device is going to be affordable, but it will still be innovative. In the teaser image, we can clearly see the shape of the phone and its edge-to-edge display.

In the new teaser, the company adds that the S6 will be more than just an 18:9 screen device. This is a hint that the phone is going to have another big selling point. The company didn’t elaborate on this, but we’ll hear more about it real soon. It could likely be the Exynos chipset inside, or it could be something else.We are not sure at this moment.

The handset will be the first smartphone from the company with an 18:9 aspect ratio. The picture reminds a lot of LG G6 and Xiaomi Redmi 5/5 Plus, and we hope that it will have the same great value for money. This is the only info about Meizu mBlu S6 surfaced with this teaser. According to the Chinese regulatory agency, TENAA, the device will have a 5.7-inch panel with an HD+ resolution of 1440 x 720 pixels.

On the hardware side, there will be an octa-core Samsung Exynos 7872 SoC (including the Mali-G71 GPU) paired with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. The battery will have a capacity of 3000 mAh, which should be enough to guarantee a decent battery life with an HD+ display. Even though it will be cheap, Meizu mBlu S6 will have a full metal unibody design, and a fingerprint reader placed on the right side.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Could Be Updated to Android Oreo By February 2018

By

Michele Ingelido

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Jan 16, 2018

Usually, the best smartphone manufacturers roll out the major Android update on their most important devices for two generations, but it seems that Samsung Galaxy S6 will get more support from the Korean giant. According to a Samsung customer care rep, the Samsung Galaxy S6 will get updated to Android 8.0 Oreo, even though this former flagship is three years old. It is not the first time that we are hearing this: the customer care reps of the company have already confirmed the update a few months ago.

But now it is different because in the leaked conversation there is a new important detail: the time frame of the release. According to the conversation with the Samsung employee, Samsung Galaxy S6 will get Android Oreo “no later than February. Not only the phone will get updated to the latest version of the operating system released by Google, but it will also get it before many other flagships from the last generation, even though it is three years old. It is a totally unexpected move by the company, especially considering that usually, Samsung flagships are never the first phone to get updated to the latest major Android versions.

Samsung Galaxy S6 was officially announced in March 2015, and it had Android 5.0.2 Lollipop installed out of the box. A very outdated version that we cannot find anymore, even on the most affordable phones. There was no mention of Galaxy S6 Edge and S6 Edge Plus in the conversation. Even though this is a chat with a Samsung customer care rep and this is not the first time that the update was confirmed, keep taking everything with a pinch of salt as there is no official confirmation from the company at this moment.

(Via)

Alcatel 3V Specs, Renders, and Price Leaked Ahead of Launch

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 16, 2018

TCL-owned Alcatel has a bunch of smartphones expected to launch within a week. The brand has restructured its lineup into three categories – the Alcatel 1, Alcatel 3, and Alcatel 5 series. Specifications as well as possible pricing of the Alcatel 3V (belonging to the 3 series) have been leaked online.

The info was posted on Twitter by Roland Quandt (@Rquandt) who had earlier mentioned that three new Alcatel phones will be released in the coming week.

The Alcatel 3V will have a 6” 2160 x 1080 screen with an 18:9 aspect ratio. It will be powered by MediaTek’s MT6737 1.45GHz quad-core processor paired with 2GB of RAM. Storage is 16GB and is expandable.

The Alcatel 3V as seen in earlier leaks does sport dual rear cameras. One is a 16MP sensor and the other is a 2MP sensor most likely for capturing depth of field details. The front camera is an 8MP sensor.

Beneath the vertically arranged dual rear cameras is a fingerprint sensor and under the mirror-like rear plate lies a 3000mAh battery. The phone has a micro USB port, Bluetooth 4.2, and Cat. 4 LTE. It is said to be 8.05mm thick and weighs 169g.

Continue

MIUI To Announce “Good News” Tomorrow At 10 AM

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 16, 2018

MIUI is one of the most popular versions of Android in China. Not only is it the version run by Xiaomi phones, it is also available for a bunch of non-Xiaomi devices. The Android ROM is now in its 9th version and has been rolling out to devices in the past few months.

Today, the official MIUI Weibo revealed that there will be an announcement tomorrow at 10:00 AM (local time). No one has an idea what it is about except that it is “Good News” according to a rough translation of the post. The post also includes a photo of the Xiaomi Mi 2.

There are reports that the announcement has to do with MIUI 9, more specifically the final roll-out to the remaining supported devices. The phones belonging to this last batch is said to include the 5-year old Mi 2 hence the use of its image in the post.

Xiaomi’s MIUI has been lauded for its support for older devices, a feature that is uncommon to stock Android and a number of other ROMs of Chinese origin.

Continue

Chuwi CoreBook Hands-On: A Beautiful $500 Fingerprint Equipped Convertible With Stylus

By

Michele Ingelido

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Jan 16, 2018

Convertibles notebooks were always expensive — you often had to shell out more than $1,000 to purchase a decent high-end model which is suitable for productivity. But in the past few years, a new series of convertible tablets have made great success. We are talking about the Chinese Microsoft Surface-wannabes, like the new Chuwi CoreBook. It is a powerful 2-in-1 launched, thanks to IndieGoGo, after the company reached the $30,000 crowdfunding goal. Today, we can show you the Windows 10 monster with detailed hands-on photos. The similarity with the new Microsoft Surface Pro is evident, even though the materials are not exactly the same because unlike the Microsoft flagship, this is an affordable device.

Chuwi CoreBook rocks a full metal unibody design and a detachable magnetic keyboard which can also be used as a cover for the tablet. The kickstand will transform it into a notebook. The bezels around the display are well-optimized, but there is space for a fingerprint reader under the screen. Unfortunately, due to its sleek design, there are no USB full-size ports, but there is a USB Type-C port to which you can connect a USB hub to add some full-size ports, or to connect a mouse, a USB key or other peripherals. Chuwi CoreBook includes an active digitizer: this means that you can use a stylus for handwriting or drawing.

However, this tablet only supports 1024 pressure levels, while the best convertible tablets like the Surface Pro support up to 4096 pressure levels. Chuwi CoreBook has a 13.3-inch display that shows images with a Full HD resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels. Under the hood, it sports a dual-core Intel Core M3-7Y30 CPU (Kaby Lake architecture) with Hyper-Threading, a 4.5W TDP and a max clock frequency of 2.6 GHz. The powerful CPU is paired with 8 GB of RAM and an SSD disk with a capacity of 128 GB. The price tag for the Corebook on IndieGoGo ~~was just $459~~, now its $499. You can check out more of our Chuwi Corebook hands on photos down below.

Meizu’s Big Comeback With mBlu S6 (M6S): What to Expect (Specs, Price, Features & More)

By

Joel Joseph

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Jan 16, 2018

The past two years haven’t been great for Meizu. In fact, last year, we saw the company limit its launches significantly, sticking to mainstream lineups like the mid-range Meizu M series and high-end Pro series. Even they didn’t do so well, despite the Meizu M6 Note offering pretty good value for money. So, 2018 is going to be an important year for the company and the Meizu mBlu S6 is going to kick start the year for them.

In case you remember, Meizu was split into three divisions last year, Meizu, Blue Charm, and Flyme. The mBlu S6, which we also call the Meizu M6S, will be the company’s first rebranded Blue Charm smartphone. It actually makes sense to rebrand the mid-range cost effective series, so that it’s given a separate identity, especially when the company is reportedly focusing on high-end devices in 2018.

So, being the first mBlu branded device, we are all interested to see what’s in store for us tomorrow. Luckily, there were enough leaks in the past few months to paint a complete picture of the mBlu S6 and below is a summary of these details.

DESIGN:

Meizu mBlu S6 has adopted a very simple design, keeping the front as well as back clean. So, you have no intrusive buttons or sensors on both the sides. This also means that the company is going to ditch the popular mBack physical home button that we all love. This might not be the best decision, but let’s reserve our judgment until tomorrow. There’s the new mblu branding at the back along with U shaped antennas on the top as well as bottom.

You have the usual power and volume keys on the two sides, but what’s really interesting is the fingerprint sensor that’s placed just below the power button. We have seen companies usually prefer rear placed sensors for 18:9 long screen phones, but Meizu has decided to go with a side mounted one. I am personally not a big fan of rear placed sensors, so this does make things interesting.

Apart from this, there’s nothing special to talk about the mBlu S6’s design. Oh yes, one more thing, expect on screen buttons for navigation.

SPECS:

This is where things get interesting. The mBlu S6 is said to feature a lower mid-range Exynos chipset from Samsung. We are not used to seeing Exynos chips inside non-Samsung devices, but Meizu has always been one manufacturer having very good relationship with the South Korean giant, so the use of this chipset is not surprising. However, it’s worth nothing that the Exynos 7872 has not yet been officially detailed by Samsung. But we do have some rumored / leaked specs of the chipset.

The Exynos 7872 inside the mBlu S6 is said to be manufactured on a 14nm node featuring an hexa-core architecture. The chip is said to sport 2 x Cortex A73 @ 2GHz and 4 x Cortex A53 @1.6GHz cores inside. Graphics is taken care by Mali-G71 MP3 GPU with other notable features including Bluetooth 4.2, Cat 7 LTE, and dual SIM support. According to the Geekbench scores of the mBlu S6, the Exynos 7872 does really well in single core test but lags behind in multi-core test as compared to SD625 (which scores near 4K).

As for the other specs of the mBlu S6, the phone should come with 3GB + 32GB / 64GB storage options, 5.7-inch HD+ 1440 x 720p display with 2.5D curved glass on top, 3000mAh battery with 18W fast charging, Android 7 with Flyme OS, and 16MP rear / 8MP f/2.0 front cameras.

The company confirmed the 18:9 display on the phone earlier today and even added that there was a surprise feature on the phone. I guess, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to know more details.

PRICING:

The mBlu S6 is said to be a 1000 Yuan segment smartphone and the likely price tag could be 1299 Yuan ($199). The phone launches tomorrow in China and the first set of orders should likely ship within next week.

CONCLUSION:

Everything looks pretty good for the mBlu S6, expect for the fact that with the above mentioned price tag, it competes directly with the Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus. But in terms of the specification that we have seen so far, the mBlu S6 would struggle in front of the Redmi 5 Plus. The resolution is lower on the S6 (HD+ vs FHD+) and the battery is smaller as well (3000 vs 4000). From the specs, the phone is better suited to take on the Redmi 5, which retails for 799 Yuan ($125).

So, the pricing is going to be crucial for the mBlu S6. Or maybe there’s a feature that sets the phone apart from the Redmi devices.

Well, all we have to do now is wait and see if Meizu finally starts the year with a good launch.

ADDITIONAL READING: Meizu’s Uninspiring 2017 Could Be For a Promising 2018

AnTuTu’s 2017 Annual Report Reveals Key Smartphone Usage Details!

By

Jed John Ikoba

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Jan 16, 2018

AnTuTu has released its statistical report covering the mobile phone user preference spanning from January to December 2017. The data encapsulates users preference on screen size, storage size, RAM size, Android version, and chipset type.

On the display size, the statistics show that most users went for smartphones with 5.5-inch screen size (32%) and this is followed by 5.1-inch screen size. In an era bigger sized smartphones are dominating, it is interesting to see a decline in the adoption of 5-inch smartphones with just 5.68% distribution. Other screen sizes that were adopted the most in 2017 include the 5.7 inches models, 5.2 inches and 6 inches. Still, there are others still in production, like the under 5 inches displays but the distribution isn’t significant enough to earn a percentage so, they are all grouped with a 24.30% cumulative distribution.

In terms of display resolution, the Full HD (1920 x 080 pixels) resolution as would be expected, is the most popular ratio as it accounted for 71.22% share of the market. In an era when the FHD+ display became a trendy design, it is interesting to note that the spread isn’t as wide as we thought. FHD resolution (2160 X 1080pixels) accounted for just 1.31% of the market. The second most popular display isn’t even the HD display found on budget models but the QHD display (2K 2560 x 1440 pixels) with a market share of 10%.

On the Android version, Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow still continues to lead with 29.37% distribution. This is followed by Android 7.0 Nougat with 23.21% and Android 7.1.1 with 19.36%. Android 6.0 and Android 5.1 still see a significant distribution of 10.30% and 5.12%. Other Android versions including the Android 4.4 KitKat takes a 12.63% share.

Talking about the storage variants, 64GB ROM occupies almost half of the chart with 48.27% distribution. It is followed by 32GB ROM with 23.73%, 128GB ROM with 14.01%, and 16GB at 10.22%. There are other variants like 8GB ROM and others with a 3.77% distribution.

The popular 64GB ROM is usually paired with a 4GB RAM and indeed, the 4GB RAM claims the top spot in RAM distribution. This is followed by the 6GB RAM which also usually pairs with 64GB ROM. 3GB RAM is also popular with a 21.96% distribution. The 2GB RAM completes the cart with 8.59%. There are still phones with 512MB RAM and 1GB RAM but from the look of things, their usage is dwindling.

On the aspect of mobile chip cores, the Octa-core chip still remains the most used with a distribution of 62.55%. type with 30.49% share. Finally, Qualcomm processors are the most widely distributed processors used on smartphones with a 65.60% distribution. MediaTek occupies the second position with a spread of 15.05%, which is mostly comprised of mid-range chips. The third spot is occupied by Huawei with a 13.92% market share.

If we are to piece all the parameters together, most of the smartphones released in 2017 were equipped with 5.5-inch displays with 1080p resolution. They equally feature octa-core chipsets with Qualcomm processors onboard. The processors are in most cases paired with 4GB of RAM and buyers prefer the 64GB storage version which is adequate for the average user. In addition, they usually run on Android 7.0 Nougat OS.

(source)

Vivo X20Plus UD Surfaces on TENAA, Packs Nearly Same Specs As X20 Plus

By

Habeeb Onawole

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Jan 16, 2018

At the recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show, Vivo showcased a phone with an under-display fingerprint scanner. Most people focused on that singular feature and not the rest of the specs, not even the name.

Popular leaker Roland Quandt, did some digging and revealed that the phone is actually the Vivo X20Plus A, a variant of the X20Plus with its fingerprint sensor under the display. It turns out that the X20Plus A and the X20Plus UD from a few weeks ago are more or less the same device based on pictures of the latter that has now appeared on TENAA.

The Vivo X20Plus UD was first heard of a few weeks ago when it was seen getting its 3C certification. It was deduced that the UD in the name is short for Under Display – a hint at the fingerprint scanner residing beneath the screen.

According to TENAA, the Vivo X20Plus UD will have a 6.43” 20160 x 1080 OLED display. This is the same display size and resolution as the original X20Plus.

It will have 4GB of RAM, 128GB of expandable storage, and be powered by a 2.2GHz octa-core processor which is most probably the Snapdragon 660.

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Just like its sibling, the Vivo X20Plus UD will have a 12MP + 5MP dual camera combo on the rear. Front facing camera will also remain a 12MP sensor.

However, the phone will come with a slightly smaller 3800mAh battery instead of 3900mAh. Its dimensions are also a tiny bit smaller at 165.2 × 80.02 × 7.35 (mm) but weight is now 183.1g.

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