In May, Microsoft had unveiled the new Surface Pro. During its launch, the company had claimed that LTE variant of the device will be made available later this year. The Redmond giant has showcased the LTE Advanced variant of the new Surface Pro as well as made an announcement on its arrival at the ongoing annual Future Decoded event in London.
Also, through the official Windows Blog site, the company has confirmed that the shipments of the Surface Pro with LTE Advanced will begin in December. The device will be arriving first to business customers starting from Dec. 1. It can be known through this that Surface Pro LTE Advanced will be aimed towards businesses. This has become all the more evident as the Redmond giant has used the business-centric Future Decoded event to confirm on its arrival.
The LTE enabled device features Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X16 modem that carries support 20 global LTE bands. It is Cat. 9 LTE modem that offers a maximum download speeds of up to 450 Mbps. By this, the Surface Pro LTE Advanced becomes the fastest LTE-enabled notebook as rivaling devices from other brands feature Cat. 6 LTE modem.
Microsoft has not confirmed any information on the battery performance of the Surface Pro LTE variant. The company had claimed earlier in the year that the new Surface Pro will allow users to watch videos continuously for up to 13.5 hours. That was for the non-LTE model, LTE connectivity will certainly impact the battery performance of the device.
The Surface Pro LTE Advanced will be available in two variants. The first one will be driven by Intel Core i5 processor and 4 GB of RAM. It will include 128 GB SSD storage and it will be carrying a price tag of $1,149. The second model that will be costing $1,449 will be coming with 8 GB of RAM, 256 GB of SSD and it will be powered by the same Intel Core i5 processor. This model is also expected to feature Intel HD 620 graphics.
Rumors are rife that there will be another Surface Pro LTE Advanced in the future. It is speculated to arrive with Intel Core i7 processor, 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage. The arrival of this model seems possible because Microsoft had made Intel Core i5 Surface Laptop in multiple colors and then those color options were also introduced on its Core i7 variant.
Are you interested in buying the Surface Pro LTE Advanced? What do you think about its pricing? Share us your thoughts by commenting below.
HTC U11 Plus (or U11+) and U11 Life are speculated to debut tomorrow. A Swiss publication called Blick Digital has outed a hands-on video of both the smartphones. Since the hands-on video could not be embedded, we have included some snapshots from the video.
The HTC U11+ is rumored to arrive with a 6-inch display that will carry support for 2,880 x 1,440 pixels. The screen will be delivering an aspect ratio of 18:9. The side bezels of the phone appear thin, but it does not seem to offer a high screen-to-body ratio like the Samsung Galaxy S8 or LG V30.
The back panel of the HTC U11+ has a fingerprint scanner that is placed below the rear camera. The rear panel is a bit transparent as the innards of the phone are visible. This could be the translucent color variant of the HTC U11+ that the Taiwanese company had teased yesterday. The U11+ is expected to arrive in other color options like black and silver.
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Since the U11+ is a larger version of the HTC U11 flagship phone that was launched in May this year, it will be arriving with a squeezable frame for using the Edge Sense for carrying out different tasks. HTC’s newest teaser for U11+ carries the text “even more squeezed in” which indicates the squeezable frame may be equipped with some sort of improvements. The hands-on video released by the Swiss publication shows that the Taiwanese company has improved the feature by adding more customization options.
The HTC U11+ can be seen running on Android 8.0 Oreo with Sense UI. It will carry support for wireless charging and it will include a large battery of 4,000mAh capacity. It will be priced around 730 euros (`$850). The smartphones has recently received TENAA certification in China through which its entire specifications have been revealed.
As far as the mid-range HTC U11 Life is concerned, it can be seen running on Android One version in the hands-on video. The HTC U11 Life Android One variant is expected to arrive in markets outside of U.S.
The U11 Life has a simplistic design. The fingerprint scanner is embedded below its display. The rear panel of the phone features a single camera sensor. The entire specifications of the phone had surfaced on T-Mobile’s site yesterday. Rumors have it that it will be priced at 369 euros (~$429).
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What is your opinion on the design of the HTC U11+? Let us know your views by adding your comments below.
HMD Global’s revamped Nokia brand has been on the market for quite a while now and the success keeps growing just like the smartphone lineup is also on the increase. Looks like HMD has mooted the idea of borrowing some features from the defunct Nokia Lumia phones. One of such features which would be included in future Nokia phones is the Lumia Camera UI. The inclusion of the camera UI was disclosed by Nokia’s Chief Product Officer Juho Sarvikas who hinted at the development on Twitter.
A recent report had revealed that Microsoft transferred about 500 Nokia patents to HMD Global and the Lumia Camera UI was one of such patent revealed via the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). Microsoft acquired Nokia’s devices business for $7.2 billion in 2013. By then, Nokia was already swimming in troubled waters, facing financial difficulties as a result of a late transition to Android phones. Although Microsoft had hoped to turn around the fortunes of the company, that didn’t happen as the Lumia brand just refused to fly. Microsoft had to let go of the excess luggage the Nokia brand had turned into and in came HMD Global Oy, a Finnish phone maker.
The Lumia Camera UI is reputed to be one of the most intuitive camera app around. It debuted on the Nokia Lumia 1020 back in July 2013 and has a bunch of manual controls to enhance image results. It included adjustments such as shutter speed, ISO sensitivity, night and sports and white balance among various others. These key advancements would give a competitive edge especially to the Nokia 8 that has a dual-camera setup with Carl Zeiss optics. No word yet as to when the rollout of the UI on Nokia phones would commence.
We all know that there is a trend of the full-screen smartphones today. The Xiaomi Mi Mix was one of the first mainstream phones to offer near bezel-less design and the Mi Mix 2 is a successor to it. It indeed looks beautiful, it has top-shelf specs and more. Learn more in the full Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 review.
The phone ships with a standard set of accessories.
Some extras include a 3.5mm headset jack adapter and a high-quality case that looks nice and fits the phone nice and snug.
DESIGN and DISPLAY
There is no doubt that the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 is one of the most beautiful phones out there. The star of the show is a sharp, bright and vibrant 5.99” LCD display. It has 1080p+ resolution, 18:9 aspect ratio and it is covered with the Gorilla Glass 4.
The ceramic back looks really nice in practice and it is curved on each side for aesthetics and a better grip. If you add a premium aluminum frame and responsive buttons, you definitely feel that you hold a true flagship phone.
It’s obvious that the Mi Mix 2 can be complete smudge fest if you don’t clean it, just like most of the glass-made phones. But the thing that annoys me the most is that the device is very slippery. Yes, it sounds like a cliche but it is much more slippery than other glass-made phones I’ve tested in recent memory.
When it comes to optics, we are looking a tradition camera setup that has one 12MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture lens and 4-axis OIS.
Here is a minute of a few little but important features: the fingerprint scanner is one of the best out there, selfies can be taken using a 5MP snapper and there is a nice LED notification light. Keep in mind that selfie camera is implemented on the bottom right corner, so you would need to hold the phone upside down to take portrait selfies.
However, there is no microSD card slot and no headset jack but the supplied adapter assures a very good sound quality.
There is a pretty good sound system too that is provided by a stereo speakers setup.
HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE
The Xiaomi Mix 2 is no slouch when it comes to hardware as it ships with top-shelf components that include a Snapdragon 835 chip, 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.
You can also opt in for a more expensive model that has 8GB of RAM and whopping 256GB of internal storage.
As expected, the phone can handle 3D games without any issues. However, there is one serious software bug that prevents you from installing games that take a lot of storage space. You simply get an error message every time you try to download and install a game from the Play Store. I know this can be fixed somehow but this is what you will get out of the box. That’s really frustrating and hopefully, it will be fixed with a software update soon.
BENCHMARKS
USER INTERFACE
If you are familiar with Xiaomi phones, you will feel right at home since the device ships with the MIUI 8.5 that is built on top of Android 7.1.
My phone shipped with the original Chinese ROM, meaning that you would need to install Google Services yourself which takes about a minute to do that. However, you still need to deal with some bloatware apps. Also, an error message pops up every time I open up the Gmail app, which is annoying. We have all the same features and customization options Xiaomi phones have been famous for. You can tweak the phone in a variety of different ways, adjust a ton of settings and change the looks.
Most importantly, I can assure that the phone is fast and responsive even after installing a lot of apps.
CAMERAS
The camera app can take pictures quite fast. There a few shooting modes including a pro mode that allows you to adjust some image settings. There is also a slow-motion video mode.
The overall image quality is quite good but I expected better results from the phone this expensive. Obviously, you can take some good-looking daylight pictures but some of them could have more detail. Also, I got a few shots that were out of focus.
The low-light camera performance is okay but again, I expected better results from a $500 phone.
The 4k video looks quite good and 4-axis OIS does the job reducing the shakiness. However, I found that there are some video artifacts, continuous auto-focus is not always reliable and sound recording quality could be a lot better.
When it comes to connectivity, I can assure that the call quality has improved a lot over the original Mi Mix. Also, signal reception is great, Wifi works fine and the phone has Bluetooth 5 and NFC connectivity options. The GPS works exceptionally well. Finally, the phone has a bunch of sensors, just like any other flagship in the market.
BATTERY LIFE
The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 ships with a 3400mAh battery that performs really well considering the size of the display. The max. SOT time I was able to reach was over 8 hours, which is quite impressive. If you use the phone more intensively, you should expect to achieve about 5-6 hours of SOT every day.
Finally, the supplied charger fully charges the phone in just over 1 hour and 20 mins thanks to Quick Charge 3.0 technology.
CONCLUSIONS
The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 is probably the most beautiful phone the company has ever made and it sure has a lot of flagship-grade qualities for a lower price than the mainstream flagships. Also, I love the Mix 2 for its display, the overall build quality, great performance and good battery life.
However, there are quite a few shortcomings. There is no microSD card slot, no headset jack and the phone is not water-resistant. There are also a few bugs in the UI that perhaps will be fixed with the future software updates. What | also expect from Xiaomi’s software team is to improve the overall image quality.
At the end of the day, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 still offers a lot of true flagship features for a lower price tag but please consider a few shortcomings before making a buying decision.
OUKITEL first revealed in September that they would be releasing a Xiaomi Mix 2-styled full-screen smartphone dubbed OUKITEL Mix 2. Latest news from the company shows that the OUKITEL MIX 2’s launch has been shifted further to the end of November. The reason for the delay isn’t the upcoming 11.11 shopping festival but because there is going to be a new Silver Version.
OUKITEL MIX 2 utilises a glass body both at the front and rear. The device also comes with a transparent silicone case to protect it in the event of a fall. As a result of the body material, black and blue versions has a glossy outlook on the back. However, the silver version is shinier than both the black and blue versions. The rear surface is so bright that it can be used as a mirror.
The new Silver version of the Mix 2 has the same design as the black and blue versions. To recall, it packs a 5.99-inch 18:9 full-screen display. The device sports a front camera on the bottom right and dual-lens rear cameras on the top left back. On the new silver version, it looks more like a mirror. The ladies won’t need to keep another looking glass when they want to check up on their make-up, neither would guys search for where to check out if their hair is well arranged and such like.
Other specifications include a 2.39GHz Octa-core Helio P25 SoC backed by a 6GB RAM and there is a 64GB storage expandable up to 512GB. The device packs a dual rear camera setup which consists of a 21MP + 2MP sensors. There is also a 13MP sensor at the front which is located at the bottom right corner just like the Mi Mix 2. The device gets its juice from a large 4,000mAh battery with 9V/2A fast charging technology. Reservation for the OUKITEL Mix 2 will also be delayed until November 25. Those who pre-order the Mix 2 will also get a $30 coupon code and when the pre-orders reach a specific amount, OUKITEL will introduce a higher discount coupon.
Xiaomi has today announced that it has sold over 10 million units of its smartphones in the month of October. However, this is not the first time that the China-based company has achieved this feat. Last month also, the company had managed to ship record-breaking 10 million smartphones.
Vice President and Managing Director at Xiaomi India, Manu Kumar Jain, said on Twitter that Xiaomi has shipped 10M+ units globally in the month of October. He also added that this is the second consecutive month to have crossed the 10 million sales mark.
While the company has not revealed any sales figures for specific regions, multiple reports suggest that one of the reasons behind such numbers is the Indian market, which has reportedly accounted for 30 percent of the total devices.
This is mainly because of the festive season sales taking place on Amazon India as well as India’s homegrown Flipkart. As per the reports, Xiaomi sold more than four million smartphones during the festive season in India.
In order to achieve its yearly target, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer needs to ship 30 million smartphones in the fourth quarter. With 10 million shipments in October, it now needs to ship 20 million units in the next two months.
According to the estimates by Counterpoint Research, Xiaomi holds a 22 percent market share in India — the world’s second-largest smartphone market.
To date, the strongest year for Xiaomi in terms of shipments has been 2015, when it shipped 70 million devices. However, for that year, the company’s target was to ship 80 million devices.
In order to stay ahead of competitors, Xiaomi took a series of strategic steps, including increasing production capacity and focusing on advanced technologies. It is now putting more efforts on research and development of better devices.
Besides online flash sales, the company has now started focusing on establishing its presence in the offline space as well in order to drive higher sales. Recently, the company launched 20 new Mi Stores in China, reaching its goal of opening over 200 Mi Stores in China this year.
Xiaomi has embarked upon a similar offline expansion plan in India too and has plans for setting up over 100 Mi Stores in India in the next two years.
The tri-bezel-less Vkworld S8 is now available for pre-order. The full-screen phone not only boasts an 18:9 display, but also has a titanium frame and a massive 5,500mAh battery.
The Vkworld S8 is supposed to sell for $229.99 but for the duration of the pre-order, it will sell for $169.99. The pre-order promo runs from today (31st of October) till 9th of November.
For $169.99, you get a phone with a 5.99” FHD+ screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 on the front and on the rear. MediaTek’s MT6750T is the chipset of choice and there is 4GB of RAM on board. You get 64GB of built-in storage with the option to add up to an additional 128GB.
The Vkworld not only has a bezel-less display, it also has dual rear cameras. One is a 16MP sensor and it is paired with a 5MP sensor. For the front camera, you have a 13MP sensor that sits at the bottom right corner of the chin. The manufacturer says most of its components are from Samsung and Sony, so these sensors should be from either one of the two manufacturers.
The S8 doesn’t end there. There is support for 18W fast charging via MediaTek’s PumpExpress, allowing you charge the 5500mAh battery in just 110 minutes.
Three new devices have just been certified by the Chinese Communications Commission. The devices with model number BKL-AL00, *NI-ALOO, and BKL-AL20 are said to be different models of the Honor V10.
Although, the certification site doesn’t provide details about the three phones, there are rumors of possible specs. First, the Honor V10 is said to have a 5.99” 18:9 display with a 2160 x 1080 resolution. It will be powered by the new Kirin 970 chipset and run Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box.
The Honor V10 will come in 6GB RAM + 64GB ROM and 6GB RAM + 128GB ROM variants. It will have the same camera configuration as the Mate 10 but without the Leica branding. It may also have a different aperture size.
Earlier in this month, Razer had confirmed that it would be holding a launch event on Nov. 1. The teaser image present on the launch invitation suggested that the company would be announcing a gaming-centric phone. The unannounced Razer Phone has been found listed on 3G UK website along with its key features. The listing is no longer available on the carrier site, but the details of the phone have been shared on Reddit.
The listing revealed that the Razer Phone would be coming with a 5.72-inch IGZO display with 120 Hz refresh rate. The display will carry support for wide color gamut (WCG), but the listing did not reveal the exact resolution of the phone. It is expected to deliver stellar gaming experience as it is equipped with dual front-facing speakers and amplifies certified by THX coupled with features Dolby ATMOS sound.
The listing did not carry any information on the chipset that will be powering the phone. However, it stated that it features 8 GB of RAM which again indicates that the phone is designed for hard-core gaming. Also, it features a massive battery of 4,000mAh capacity that is accompanied by Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+ technology.
For photography, it is fitted a dual camera system on its back panel. It includes a f/1.75 aperture 12-megapixel wide-angle sensor and f/2.6 aperture 13-megapixel sensor for zoom. In the U.K., the Razer Phone will be supporting 4G Super Voice. According to the carrier, this feature allows its subscribers to make phone calls and send text messages even in poor coverage areas. The 64 GB Razer Phone would be priced at £594.99 (~$786) in the U.K.
The recent appearance of Razer Phone on GFXBench had revealed that it features a 5.7-inch display that carries support for Quad HD resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. The GFXBench listing also hinted that the phone would be driven by Snapdragon 835 chipset and it will be running on Android 7.1.1 Nougat that will be customized with Razer’s own UI skin.
Various Chinese smartphone manufacturers have launched their full screen design phones. However, there are couple of well-known brands like OnePlus and Meizu that are yet to unveil their full screen smartphones. OnePlus 5T is speculated to arrive later in November with full screen design. Xiaomi is expected to announce budget-friendly full screen Redmi 5 Plus phone in the near future. A leaked photo of an unidentified Meizu phone suggests that the company is also prepping on releasing a smartphone with full screen design.
The appearance of the mysterious Meizu phone in the above photo is similar to Vivo X20. The phone seems to be sporting an 18:9 aspect ratio display. However, it does not appear to offer a high screen-to-body ratio. The side bezels are not very slim. The upper bezel houses a selfie snapper and a sensor whereas the bottom bezel lacks Meizu’s signature mBack Home button. The rear side of the phone could be featuring a fingerprint reader.
There is no information available on the specifications of the mysterious Meizu phone. However, the leakster claims that the phone will be driven by a MediaTek chipset. The design of the phone of the suggests that it may not feature high-end specs. He had also stated that the Chinese manufacturer will be soon holding a launch event to unveil this phone.
The above phone appears quite different from the rumored mblu ZERO bezel-less phone from Meizu that had appeared in September. In the same month, Li Nan who is the VP of Meizu’s Blue Charm lineup had said in an interview that a Blue Charm phone with full screen design will be unveil next year. He had added that the phone would be carrying a price tag of 3,000 Yuan (~$452).
Meizu’s head of global marketing, Ard Boudeling took to Twitter to give us a hint about what the company is working on.
According to the tweet, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer is working together with Taiwan’s MediaTek on the “best facial recognition technology on smartphones.” It is no surprise that both companies have formed a partnership as one can almost say Meizu is MediaTek’s best buddy in the smartphone industry. The Pro 7 Plus is proof of this friendship as it is the only phone in the market powered by the Helio X30.
Facial recognition is the new rave in the smartphone industry. It is an alternative biometric feature to fingerprint scanning and manufacturers are working on making it equally secure and fast. Apple already debuted its own facial recognition technology called Face ID on the new iPhone X and we expect more manufacturers will join the train next year.
We're working together with @MediaTek to create the best facial recognition technology on smartphones. We hope to show you in 2018. pic.twitter.com/lYnFXMtblL
The tweet also says that the technology will be shown to the public in 2018. While there is no mention of the exact quarter, we presume the technology will show up first on a flagship device. Maybe the Meizu Pro 8.
The HTC U11 Life that is scheduled to get unveiled on Nov. 2 was officially listed on T-Mobile’s site accidently. The carrier has managed to remove the listing of the phone. However, a mirror link has all the details of the official listing of U11 Life.
The HTC U11 Life is a mid-range phone from the company is driven by Snapdragon 630 chipset that is assisted by 3 GB of RAM. It is packed with a 2,600mAh battery that produces a standby time of 672 hours and can deliver a usage time of 13 to 17 hours. It will be arriving with a 5.2-inch display that will carry support for full HD resolution.
The Taiwanese company has included 32 GB of internal storage on this phone. For more storage, users can add a microSD card. The handset is running on Android 7.1.1 Nougat with HTC Sense skin place over it. The device will feature both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.
When it comes to connectivity, the HTC U11 Life is enabled with features like 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ab/g/n, NFC, GPS, USB-C 2.0 and Bluetooth 5.0. For photography, it is equipped with a 16-megapixel rear camera and the frontside of the phone is also flanked with a 16-megapixel sensor.
The HTC U11 Life will be arriving with a IP67 certified water and dust resistant body. The squeezable frame feature that is found on the U11 flagship will be also available on the U11 Life phone. With no 3.5mm audio jack on the U11 Life, the Taiwanese manufacturer will be providing USonic earphones along with the phone.
Recent reports have revealed that the HTC U11 Life will be also available in Android One version. This model is speculated as the first Android One to come preloaded with Android 8.0 Oreo. As far as the cost of U11 Life is concerned, it is expected to be priced around 369 euros (~$429). Apart from the U11 Life mid-range phone, HTC is also expected to announce the U11 Plus flagship on Nov. 2.
November 11 is a popular day for e-commerce in China and it is known as Double 11 (11.11) and ahead of the deal day, several mobile phone manufacturers are quietly preparing for one last push to grab some of the market shares. Xiaomi is frantically preparing for the day, with the realization that a good outing during 11.11 would see it hit the 100 million mark in terms of shipment this year. The tech company dubbed “Apple of China” is preparing to release up to three models including the Redmi Note 5 and Redmi 5 Plus. Both models have made the rounds in leaks and rumours lately and we still keep getting more. Right now, a couple of real-life photos said to be those of the Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus have appeared online.
The Redmi 5 Plus may likely be the first model Xiaomi will release ahead of the double 11 sales promotion. The device promises to be a hot selling one considering the unique design. For the first time, Xiaomi is bringing the full-screen design to the budget segment. The Redmi 5 Plus features an 18: 9 aspect ratio with ultra-thin bezels at all four sides. There is no capacitive home button onboard due to the high screen-to-body ratio.
The rear design looks very much similar to Xiaomi’s first dual camera smartphone – the Redmi Pro released last year. It packs a dual camera setup aligned vertically. Just under the cameras lie the LED flash and thereafter you get the fingerprint sensor. The Redmi 5 Plus will likely be bigger in size. It is tipped as packing a 5.99-inch display with 2160 x 1080p (FHD+) resolution which effectively means it will have an 18:9 aspect ratio.
The Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus is also expected to pack a Snapdragon 625 chip but there are talks of a Snapdragon 450 onboard. The device will come in two versions with 3GB RAM and 4GB RM respectively. The dual cameras are said to be a 12MP+ 5MP combination. The Redmi 5 Plus lower version may be the one with a D 450 chip and it may come with a 720p resolution but 18:9 aspect ratio (HD+). The lower version may likely come as cheap as 799 Yuan. These are just speculation, though, the actual details would be outed when Xiaomi takes the wrap off the device.
Qualcomm and Apple have been battling out over patent royalties since couple of years. Recent reports have revealed that the U.S.-based chipmaker wants to ban the sales of iPhones in China. The growing bitterness between the two companies has probably caused Apple to rely less on Qualcomm. A fresh report reveals that the 2018 iPhones and iPads may not feature Qualcomm modem chips. Instead, the Cupertino company is expected to use modem chips by Intel and MediaTek on its iPhones and iPads that will be released next year.
The probable reason why Apple will be using intel and MediaTek modem chips is that Qualcomm is not providing some vital software that is need for testing its chips on prototypes of iPhones and iPads. Qualcomm has reportedly stopped sharing the software after the Cupertino company filed a legal suit against it in January for unfairly charging huge patent royalties. The report about using Intel and MediaTek modem chips for future iPhones and iPads have surfaced after Qualcomm had recently claimed that the modem that could be present in the upcoming iPhone has been successfully tested and released to Apple.
Until 2016, Apple has been exclusively using modem chips by Qualcomm on its iPhones. The CDMA variants of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus that feature Snapdragon X12 modem was found to be faster than the Intel XMM 360 modem present inside the GSM variants of these phones. The performance of Qualcomm’s modem was so good that the Cupertino company had to throttle down its speed to keep parity between the variants of iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.
Qualcomm owns 50 percent of the market when it comes to modem chips for smartphones. MediaTek with 25 percent and Intel with 6 percent are the other major brands that manufacture modem chips for smartphones. In 2016, the U.S.-based chip maker had sold nearly $3.2 billion of modem chips to Apple. Since Apple is now also using Intel’s modem as well, that figure is expected to decline to $2.1 billion.
When it comes to manufacturing chips to support the forthcoming 5G standard, Qualcomm is way ahead of its competitors. Moreover, rumors have revealed that Apple will launch its first 5G enabled iPhone in 2019. This could be the reason why Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf had claimed during a recent interview that the Qualcomm and Apple would settle their disputes in the near future.
After series of leaks, HMD Global has today launched its latest entry-level smartphone, Nokia 2, at a press event in India.
Nokia 2 is the cheapest smartphone from the company so far. It comes with a 6,000 series aluminium frame and a polycarbonate body at the back.
The Nokia 2 features a 5-inch HD LTPS display with a screen resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels and 16:9 aspect ratio. There is a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on top for protection.
Under the hood, the smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 processor, making it the first smartphone to run on Snapdragon 212. The processor is coupled with Adreno 304 GPU.
As of the camera department, it comes with an 8-megapixel rear facing autofocus camera with an LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. Nokia has also included “Bothie” feature that allows users to use both front and rear cameras simultaneously.
However, the disappointing thing about the smartphone is its memory specs. It packs just 1GB of RAM and and only 8GB of internal storage. There is a microSD card slot which allows to expand storage upto 128GB.
The device is fuelled by a big 4,100mAh battery, which the company promises can provide two days of battery life on a single charge. It comes with IP52 certifications, meaning that the smartphone is splash proof.
Connectivity features on the device include Dual SIM, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, and GPS / GLONASS.
Nokia 2 runs on the stock version of Android 7.0 Nougat operating system out-of-the-box, and comes with Google Assistant. The company says that this is the first smartphone in this price segment to feature Google Assistant. Nokia has also promised to update the device with Android 8.0 Oreo “shortly”.
The Nokia 2 has been priced at 99 Euros (~ $115). It will be available in three colour variants — Copper Black, Pure Black and White, and will go on sale from mid-November.
After launching the smartphone in South Korea and Malaysia, Samsung has now launched the Galaxy Note FE smartphone in the Philippines. For the uninitiated, the Galaxy Note Fan Edition (FE) is the recycled Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.
It appears that the device is MemoXpress exclusive in the Philippines and will only be available for a limited time. While the phone has not yet been listed on the store’s website, it was revealed through a Facebook post.
The Samsung Galaxy Note FE retains most of the specifications of the original Galaxy Note 7. However, the company has replaced the battery on the handset with a smaller 3,200mAh battery compared to the 3,500mAh battery on Note 7.
The Galaxy Note FE comes with a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED QHD display with a screen resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels. It is driven by the company’s own Exynos 8890 octa-core processor, coupled with Mali-T880 MP12 graphics. It packs 4GB of RAM and an internal storage capacity of 64GB.
It has an IP68 certified chassis, and the smartphone comes with additional security features like a front-mounted fingerprint scanner and an iris scanner. Samsung has made a few other minor changes to the handset, including Bixby voice assistant and a dedicated Bixby button.
The device is available in a range of different color options — Black Onyx, Blue Coral, Gold Platinum and Silver Titanium. In the Philippines, the Galaxy Note Fan Edition is reportedly priced at PHO 32,990 (~ $640).
As reported earlier, Samsung has no plans to launch the Galaxy Note FE outside of Asia. Even in the regions where it has launched the Galaxy Note FE smartphone, the company is selling the handsets in limited quantities.
Samsung discontinued the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone that was launched last year after a manufacturing defect was found in the smartphone’s battery that generated excessive heat in the device, with a few devices catching fire.
LG G6 is the first phone of this year to arrive with 18:9 aspect ratio screen. The LG G7 that is speculated to launch in Q1 2018 is expected to arrive with several improvements in terms of design and specs over the LG G6. A YouTube channel named Concept Creator has uploaded a video that showcases the concept design of the LG G7. Its final design will not be same as the concept model as it is a product of imagination.
The LG G7 concept model seems to be sporting a textured glass panel on its backside. The device is shown in colors like silver, light blue and red and it looks like the phone features a metallic frame. Like the G6, the concept design of LG G7 shows that it has a horizontally arranged dual rear cameras on the back panel.
Below the dual camera setup is a fingerprint scanner. The bottom side of the phone features a USB-C port. There is a 3.5mm audio jack at the topside of the phone. The G7 branding can be seen at the bottom portion of the rear panel. The left edge of the G7 concept model has the volume buttons and its right side features the Power key.
The frontside of the LG G7 concept model shows that it has a display that offers a higher screen-to-body ratio than the G6. Even though there is no mentioning of the specifications of the LG G7 in the video by Concept Creator, it can be assumed that the South Korean company will retain 18:9 aspect ratio on the screen of the phone. The side bezels are almost non-existent, but there are thin bezels at the top and bottom sides of the display. The LG G7 concept device seems to be equipped with dual front speakers.
At the beginning of this month, Zack Nelson from JerryRigEverything had performed some durability tests on the Nokia 8 flagship phone which confirmed that it has a sturdy build. Nelson has added another video to his YouTube channel to reveal whether it is easy to repair the device or not.
In the above video, the display of the phone is separated from its chassis after softening the adhesive present between them by using some heat. There are two separate ribbon cables that connect the display panel to the body of the phone. Once those ribbon cables are detached, the display can be removed from the device.
For a novice, it may not be easy to remove the display from the chassis of Nokia 8 as there is a risk of cracking the screen. However, an expert will find it easy to replace the screen of Nokia 8.
There are 19 screws of different sizes holding the mid-plate to the frame of the phone. The 3,090mAh battery is present on the backside of the mid-plate. A copper heat pipe can be found sitting just above the battery to control the internal temperature of the phone. The thermal paste is not present on the heat pipe but to the graphite panel next to it. This mean the Snapdragon 835 SoC will transfer its heat to the graphite panel of the phone and then to the copper heat pipe. This arrangement may seem odd, but it does manage to control Nokia 8’s temperature pretty well.
Nelson’s Nokia 8 teardown also reveals that the dual camera system sitting on the backside of the phone can be replaced. Also, the charging port of the phone can be replaced after disconnecting it from the motherboard, but it is accessible only after detaching screen and mid-plate. Even though Nokia 8’s components like screen and battery can be replaced, it is not very easy to repair it.
The ZTE Axon M foldable smartphone was unveiled earlier in this month. In the U.S., the smartphone was expected to be available through AT&T. Fresh information suggests that the pre-orders of the Axon M will begin from Nov. 1 and it will be available at the AT&T stores from Nov. 17.
The ZTE Axon M can be purchased with an outright pricing of $725 in the U.S. Customers who are interested in availing it through installment payments can opt for AT&T Next scheme to pay $24.17 each month for a period of 30 months. The smartphone is expected to be available in other markets like China, Europe and Japan by Q1 2018.
Even though the Axon M is known as a foldable phone, it does not feature a flexible display. The smartphone houses a pair of same-sized displays that are attached to each other by means of a hinge. It offers various kinds of screen modes through which users can run two different apps on each display or both the screens can be used simultaneously to enjoy a larger view of an app.
The Axon M has a pair of 5.2-inch screens that carry support for full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. It has a single camera of 20-megapixel that is equipped with features like image stabilization, PDAF and 4K video recording.
The Snapdragon 821 chipset is present under the hood of Axon M. The SoC is coupled with 4 GB of RAM. It has an internal storage of 64 GB. The handset is preinstalled with Android 7.1.2 Nougat OS and it has a 3,180mAh battery to keep the lights on.
Do you like the ZTE Axon M? Are you waiting for its arrival in your country? Let us know your thoughts by adding your comments.
OnePlus is known for teasing the features of its forthcoming phone few weeks before its official launch. OnePlus 5 is no longer available for buying which indicates that the company may soon introduce an improved OnePlus 5T phone. The Chinese manufacturer is expected to debut the OP5T in late November and it seems that the head honchos of the company are currently busy teasing its features. OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei has shared a portrait shot on his Twitter account. It is likely that the image may have been snapped using OnePlus 5T’s camera.
In the previous week, the co-founders of OnePlus, Pete Lau and Carl Pei had shared camera samples from an unidentified device. It was assumed that those images were taken by the OnePlus 5T phone. Through the following tweet, Pei is asking the viewers to guess the name of the phone that was used for taking the photo.
It appears that OnePlus is now teasing the camera prowess of the upcoming OnePlus 5T. However, it is pretty difficult to guess on the device through just one photo alone. The impressive portrait shot captures a rich image of the smiling woman that brilliantly separates her from the blurred background. The image hints that the OnePlus 5T may feature an upgraded camera.
Apart from improvements in the camera department, OnePlus 5T is expected to come with a larger display of 6 inches with 18:9 aspect ratio. It is expected to deliver FHD+ resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. A new render of OP5T revealed by reliable tipster Evan Blass hints that it will be coming with an elongated display. The arrival of the full screen design on OnePlus 5T may mean that it will be coming with a rear-mounted fingerprint reader.
The larger OnePlus 5T is also rumored to house a bigger battery. Other specs of the phone are likely to be same as OnePlus 5. The OP5T is rumored to get unveiled after Nov. 20.
What do you think about the image shared by Carl Pei? Is it taken using the OnePlus 5 or the upcoming OnePlus 5T? Share us your views by adding your comments below.
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