Manufacturing an Android device like a smartphone or a tablet and selling it is not an easy process. The Android OS is installed after building the device. Also, in order to ship the device with Google’s apps, it has to undergo compatibility certification tests by Google which can take around 3 months to complete. Google has collaborated with MediaTek to launch a new initiative called Google’s Mobile Services (GMS) Express in order to reduce the certification process time to 4 weeks from the usual duration of up to 3 months.
Android operating system is an open source product that allow developers to customize it to support different hardware configurations. However, this can make the Android OS differently on different devices. Hence, Google has laid down specific prerequisites to ensure that basic APIs and device functionality is consistent on different devices running on Android.
Google has a way of enforcing its requirements. It does it by providing its own apps which includes Google Play Store, Gmail, YouTube and so on. This way the search engine giant ensures that Android OEMs adhere to their rules.
If an Android build running on a device is unable to pass the certification process set by Google, such a device will not be able to run the various apps made available by Google. For major companies like Samsung, the certification process may not be a huge barrier in releasing their phones. However, as stated above, the entire process of certification can take up to 3 months for startup firms to release their devices into the market.
The GMS Express program will certainly help in reducing the time required for certification. In collaboration with MediaTek, Google will provide already tested, certified and fully complaint versions of Android builds to Android OEM. Devices running on such builds will have to undergo the last certification step as the code will is likely to get modified for including new features. However, it will allow Android OEMs to release their devices to the market quickly.
It will also benefit the end-user as they will be receiving a pre-tested and secure edition of Android. Since GMS is unavailable on Android devices in China, the new program is targeted towards device markers both inside and outside of China that are manufacturing devices for international markets like Europe and North America.
Early this year, Razer acquired Nextbit, makers of the cloud phone – the Nextbit Robin. The acquisition spurred rumors that Razer was going to release its own smartphone. Tonight, at an event in London the gaming manufacturer unveiled its first smartphone – the Razer Phone.
The design of the Razer Phone reminds you of a Sony Xperia phone with its large bezels; and a black Nextbit Robin with the button and camera placements. Its body is built of anodized aluminum and comes in thick at 8mm. It weighs 197g and like some Xperia phones, can stand on its own in portrait or landscape mode.
Razer Phone Specs
The highlight of the Razer Phone is its display. Supplied by SHARP, the 5.7” QHD IGZO screen is the first globally available smartphone with a 120Hz refresh rate. Razer calls it an Ultramotion Display and likens it to NVIDIA’s G-SYNC. No lags, no tearing, and no buffering, all for a smooth gaming experience. Surprisingly, the display is protected by Gorilla Glass 3.
Like most Android flagships this year, the Razer phone is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835. It comes with 8GB of RAM as standard and 64GB of expandable storage.
The Razer phone also joins the bandwagon by coming with dual rear cameras. One is a 12MP F/1.75 wide angle lens and the other is a 12MP F/2.6 telephoto lens with 2X zoom. Razer says the camera has features like portrait mode and seamless zoom. The front camera is an 8MP F/2.2 sensor.
For a phone targeted at gamers, it is necessary it packs a sufficiently large battery. Razer doesn’t disappoint and includes a 4,000mAh battery. It also comes with support for Quick Charge 4.0+, making it the first phone to ship with the new fast-charging technology with a supported charger included. Quick Charge 4.0+ means you can go from 0 to 85% in just 1 hour.
A great gaming experience is incomplete without great audio. For the Razer Phone, there are dual front-facing speakers. The speakers occupy the whole length where you would usually find the bezels. The speakers have dedicated amplifiers, Dolby Atmos, and are certified by THX, another of Razer’s acquisitions.
The phone doesn’t have an audio jack, so you either have to use Bluetooth headphones (Bluetooth 4.2 with AptX) or USB-C earphones. However, it comes with a 3.5mm to USB-C audio connector with a 24-bit DAC. There is a fingerprint scanner embedded in its power button and a USB-C port at the bottom. It also has NFC.
The Razer Phone runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box with a custom Razer version of the popular launcher, Nova Launcher Prime. Razer says the phone will receive an update to Oreo in Q1 2018.
The phone has a library of specially made games that take advantage of its Ultramotion Display. Some of the games announced during the launch include Tekken, Final Fantasy XV, and Arena of Valor. A brand new game called Ultra Hunt was also demoed at the launch.
Two days ago, ZTE launched the Blade A3 smartphone and it keeps to the series’ tradition of bang for buck. If you don’t like the Blade A3, you may want to take a look at the Voyage 5, the second phone it launched this week.
The Voyage 5 is actually the ZTE A0620 seen on TENAA last week. It has a 5.2” display 720p resolution and comes in two variants – one with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage and the other has 4GB of RAM and 64GB ROM. Both are powered by the Snapdragon 425 mobile platform.
The highlight of the Voyage 5 is its massive 5,000mAh battery with support for fast charging and an intelligent power saving feature.
There is a fingerprint scanner that keeps a 13MP primary sensor company on the back and for selfies, you get a 5MP camera. The phone runs Android Nougat out of the box.
Xiaomi Mi Pad 3 that was launched earlier this year is no longer available for buying. After its removal from the official site, the rumor mill started claiming that the Chinese firm may not debut a successor tablet. Today, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has officially confirmed on Weibo that the company is presently working on a next-generation tablet.
The Mi Pad 3 is completely sold out because of which it is no longer available for buying on Xiaomi’s store. Jun has not confirmed on company’s plan on replenishing the stocks of Mi Pad 3. Also, he has not given out any information on the arrival time of Mi Pad 4.
The Mi Pad 3 was made official in April 2017. If the company plans to launch a new tablet around April 2018, the company may add new batch of Mi Pad 3 tablets.
Many leading companies like Microsoft, Apple and Samsung are now selling 2-in-1 laptop-tablet hybrid devices. Hence, Xiaomi is expected to debut Mi Pad 4 as a 2-in-1 device. Rumors are rife that the Mi Pad 4 may support dual booting for Android OS and Windows 10.
None of the Mi Pad tablets from Xiaomi carry support for 4G LTE connectivity. After launching the Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air with Wi-Fi connectivity in the previous year, the company had introduced a 4G LTE model at the end of 2016. Hence, there is a possibility the Mi Pad 4 may carry support for 4G LTE connectivity.
The Mi Pad 3 features a 7.9-inch LCD display that supports 2,048 x 1,536 pixels. It is driven by MediaTek MT8176 chipset and 4 GB of RAM. It carries an internal storage capacity of 64 GB.
Unlike the Mi Pad 2 from last year that came in Android and Windows 10 versions, the Mi Pad 3 was launched with MIUI 8 skinned Android OS. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel shooter on its front. It includes a huge 6,600mAh capacity battery.
OnePlus is expected to launch its new smartphone in the coming weeks, which is believed to be the OnePlus 5T. The company and its executives have been posting content on social media, which many believe are the hints related to the features of the upcoming smartphone.
Today, the China-based company has posted an image of Facebook which hints that the upcoming smartphone will retain the 3.5mm audio jack. Ever since OnePlus One, every smartphone from the company has featured a 3.5mm audio jack.
It is interesting that OnePlus is boasting about the 3.5mm audio jack on its smartphones at a time when more and more smartphone manufacturers are ditching the 3.5mm audio jack.
Lately, as mentioned, the company has been teasing the OnePlus 5T through social media posts. Recently, Pete Lau, CEO of OnePlus posted about the Optic OLED technology for displays and added that Samsung‘s technology is the best.
The tweet has been received as a hint by many, for the OnePlus 5T’s display. The smartphone is expected to come with a 6-inch display with 2160 x 1080 pixels resolution and an aspect ratio of 18:9.
In terms of design, going by the previously leaked renders of the phone, it looks similar to the Oppo R11S, which is launching tomorrow.
The smartphone is expected to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 octa-core processor — the same one that powers the OnePlus 5. The phone is expected to pack 8GB RAM and 128GB onboard storage. There could be another variant with 6GB RAM and 64GB internal storage.
As of the camera, the smartphone is expected to feature a 20-megapixel + 16-megapixel dual camera setup at the rear while on the front, there will be a 20-megapixel selfie shooter.
The phone is said to have a full-screen bezel-less display and thus, the fingerprint sensor will be mounted at the back. It is likely to be fueled by a 3,450mAh battery.
Recently, a teaser poster of the OnePlus 5T was leaked online, revealing the launch date of the smartphone as November 16. However, the company has not yet confirmed the phone’s existence. So, we advise you to take information related to OP5T with a pinch of salt.
Meitu should be a familiar name already. The phone manufacturer/selfie app maker’s latest phone is the Meitu V6. While it maintains the hexagonal-design of its predecessors, it is in a class of its own with respect to design and specs.
Meitu V6 Design
The Meitu V6 is a luxury device through and through. From the colorful hand-stitched calfskin leather that is available in Edinburgh Blue, Melbourne Green, Morocco Powder (pink), and Rotterdam Orange, to the 18K gold rivets on its back and gold colored metal frame. Let’s also not forget it has dual cameras on both sides and four LED flash on the rear.
In a world where manufacturers are moving towards smaller bezels, Meitu is not scared of making them bigger. The top bezel of the V6 is huge thanks in part to the dual cameras. The lower bottom doesn’t miss out on the size too as it houses a circular fingerprint scanner. The Meitu V6 rounds off the design with its boomerang-shaped front facing stereo speakers at the top and bottom.
Meitu V6 Specs
The Meitu V6 has a 5.49” FHD OLED display. It is powered by an unspecified processor clocked at 2.8GHz and comes with either 4GB or 6GB of RAM. Storage is 128GB on both variants.
The V6 packs 4 cameras in total -two on each side. The primary sensor on both sides is the Sony IMX362 with a F/1.8 aperture, 6P lens, 4th gen dual ISPs, and OIS. The secondary cameras are 5MP sensors for capturing depth of field information for portrait images. While the front doesn’t have its own LED flash, the sensors on the back are flanked by dual LED flash on each side.
Meitu doesn’t disappoint with the ton of filters and beauty enhancements built into the camera app. There are also live filters for video recording. Since this is a camera-centric phone, it is easy to understand why it has 128GB of storage.
The Meitu V6 runs Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box. It has a 3100mAh battery and comes with the usual connectivity features.
China celebrates 11th of November as Singles’ Day. It is world’s biggest online shopping day. On this day, various tech brands offer their devices with attractive discounts. Xiaomi has confirmed on the special deals that will be available on AliExpress on the upcoming 11/11 shopping day.
Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 and Mi 6
During the 11/11 sale, Xiaomi will be selling 300 units of the Mi MIX 2 flagship phone with a price tag of $489.99. It means that the phablet will be available with an attractive discount of around $123 over its usual price of $612.49. The 64 GB Xiaomi Mi 6 will be available for $369 on Nov. 11. The company will be providing only 500 units of Mi 6 at discounted price.
Xiaomi Mi A1 and Mi Max 2
Xiaomi will be the slashing the price of Mi A1 from $243.74 to $194.99. Also, it will be selling 2,000 units of the Mi A1 on Nov. 11. Xiaomi will be offering 1,140 units of Xiaomi Mi Max 2 with a price tag of $217.99. Its usual pricing is $279.47.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A
The Redmi Note 5A with 16 GB storage will be available with an impressive pricing of $99. Xiaomi will be providing 1,250 units of the phablet at such a low price during the upcoming sale. Its 32 GB variant will be available for $136.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 and Redmi 4X
The Chinese manufacturer will be offering 4,000 units of Redmi Note 4 with a discounted price tag of $136.99. Its usual pricing is $171.24. The phablet will be available in 3 GB and 4 GB RAM options. The 32 GB Redmi 4X will be available for $116. Xiaomi will be selling 1,120 units of Redmi 4X on Nov. 11.
Xiaomi Notebook Air 13.3
Xiaomi Notebook Air 13.3 will be available for $799 after a discount of $200. The company will be providing only 1,000 units for $799 on 11/11.
Xiaomi Mi Band 2
The $9 discount on Mi Band 2 will allow users to purchase it for $20.99. The Chinese firm will be giving away 5,400 units of Mi Band 2 at discounted price.
All the aforementioned smartphones are global version devices. The company is also offering attractive price cuts on Mi Box 3 and Mijia Mini Action Camera.
What do you think about the above discounts? Will purchase any of the above listed devices? Share us your thoughts by adding your comments below.
South Korean tech giant LG has announced a new tablet which features entry-level specifications. The tablet is dubbed LG G Pad F2 8.0 and comes with a few unique features despite the budget category it falls into.
The G Pad F2 sports an 8-inch WXGA (1280 x 800 pixels) display which is quite adequate for a budget model. The device is powered by a MediaTek MT6750 chipset with Octa-core 1.5GHz CPU and this is backed by a 2GB RAM while there is 16GB of internal storage. Tablets are usually not known for powerful cameras and the G Pad F2 isn’t different. It packs a 5MP sensor at the rear camera as well as 5MP selfie shooter. The device gets its power from a 3,000mAh battery which is expandable using the G Pad Pack Plus and it adds an extra 4400mAh capacity, bringing the total capacity to 7,400mAh. Without the expandable battery, the device has a dimension of 5″(H) x 8.5″(W) x 0.31″(D) with a weight of 350g. The G Pad 2 runs Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box.
The LG G Pad F2 comes with a price tag of $149.99 and is available in the U.S through Sprint. There is a monthly payment option available. No word yet as to when or if the device will be available outside the U.S. You can find more details on LG’s website.
Gizmochina along with Gearbest is conducting a Xiaomi Mi 6 phone as giveaway gift to one of our lucky readers. Like always, you just have to follow the steps mentioned on the Rafflecopter widget to get a chance to win this 2017 flagship phone.
How to entry this giveaway? Just follow these steps via Gleam widget:
1. The giveaway is an international giveaway. 2. We are not responsible for lost shipments. 3. We are not responsible for any duties, import taxes that you may incur. 4. We reserve all rights to make any changes to this giveaway. 5. The prize will be shipped in a week when the giveaway end.
Just follow the steps mentioned in the Rafflecopter widget to participate in the giveaway.
Once again, good luck.
Meizu has officially announced a Flame Red version of the mid-range Meizu Note 6. The premium smartphone was launched a couple of months back and before now is available in Moonlight Silver, Champagne Gold, Blue and Obsidian Black colours. The Flame Red colour variant adds more options for buyers to choose from.
The new M6 Note Flame Red variant only differs in its colour from the others and is available in the 3GB + 32GB memory variant only. The device retains the metal unibody and also dazzles both in design and specifications. It also features the mBack button at the front which functions as a fingerprint sensor. At the back, the M6 Note Flame Red also features a similar design comprising a dual camera setup located at the middle while the Quad-LED flash is integrated with the upper antenna band. The edges are well curved to ensure that users can get a good grip.
As a reminder, the Meizu M6 Note sports a 5.5-inch 1080p LCD display and is powered by an energy saving Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor clocked at 2.0GHz paired with a GPU that brings a 71% efficiency over the previous generation. Apart from the performance, the processor also brings on Cat. 7 full Netcom support and an enhanced dual ISP image processing speed. This means it can work on most LTE band globally unlike previous Meizu models. The device is available in 3GB RAM + 16GB, 3GB + 32GB and 4GB + 64GB memory variants. There is a 12 MP Sony IMX362 sensor with f1.9 aperture, 1.4um individual pixel size, and 6P lens, teaming up with a Samsung 2L7 secondary sensor at the rear. The rear camera also comes with Dual Phase Detection, Full pixel Dual-core focus, up to 0.03s fast. The M6 Note also packs a 16MP front camera for stunning selfies and a large 4,000mAh battery with mCharge 18W fast charge support. Further, the device also comes with dual SIM slots, 4G LTE and runs Flyme 6 with Meizu’s One Mind AI based on Android 7.1.2 Nougat.
The M6 Note Flame Red version will go on sale on November 11 on Lynx. As stated, it is available in 3GB RAM and 32GB storage and the price has not changed from the 1,299 Yuan price tag which the other variants are sold.
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In the last few weeks we have seen a number of Gionee phones with full-screen displays on TENAA and GFXBench. There is the Gionee S11 and S11S which are likely successors to this years S10 series; then there is the 5” Gionee F205; and most recently seen is the Gionee F6L with a 5.7” screen. However, there is a new one coming soon according to @Evleaks. Called the Gionee M7 Plus, it may set the record as the largest 18:9 display phone.
Gionee M7 Plus flagship, launching "soon." At 6.43", largest full-screen to date? Stainless steel + leather back (i.e. wireless charging?) pic.twitter.com/6W5oABjRE2
Gionee already released the M7 and M7 Power last month and will be following it with the M7 Plus. While both have 6.01” screens (FHD+ and HD+ respectively), the M7 Power will have a massive 6.43-inch screen.
Evleaks also provided images of the phone. The top and bottom bezels are smaller just like the regular M7, but the side bezels appear to be wider. There is a single camera on the right of the earpiece on the top bezel and Gionee is written on the bottom bezel.
The back is where the action is. Just like the Gionee M2017, the M7 Plus has a leather back. There is a dual camera setup, a LED flash, and a square-shape fingerprint scanner. All of them sit in a gold plated rectangle. While the use of leather gives it a premium appearance, the design itself borders on uninspiring and ugly.
Several users of Samsung Galaxy Note 8 are experiencing freezing issues while navigating on the device. Most of the users are claiming on Samsung’s official forum site that the Note 8 freezes while accessing the Contacts app. The issue is not just limited to directly accessing the Contacts app, but also indirectly when other apps such as Phone or Messaging use it.
Hence, it appears that the Contacts app could be the problem maker. However, there are other users who are also claiming on the same forum thread that the Note 8 becomes unresponsive randomly.
Some users have claimed on the forum site that they are facing the problem since day one of using the Galaxy Note 8. Once the Note 8 becomes unresponsive, the only way it can function normally is by performing force restart or by draining the battery completely. Some users have claimed that the issue remains unresolved even after carrying out hard reset on the Note 8.
The issue is not limited to any specific region as Note 8 users from the U.S. and Europe have encountered it. Even the users of the dual-SIM edition of the Galaxy Note 8 have expressed that they too are facing the same issue. Samsung is yet to release an official statement on it. Hopefully, we will soon release a software fix to resolve the problem
Are you also experiencing the same issue on your Galaxy Note 8? Let us know by commenting below.
Apple’s flagship iPhone X is expected to go on sale on November 10 while pre-orders opened on October 27 with the tech giant revealing that customer’s demands were off the charts. The full-screen model also saw a surge in its pre-orders in China and is expected to be a sell-out when the sales own on November 3. Ahead of that, we bring you a couple of hands-on photos of the iPhone X fresh out of the box right from China courtesy of Sina Technologies. This may not be the first hands-on we’ll be seeing of the 10th Anniversary iPhone butthe device is always a beauty to behold.
The device features a unique design never before seen on an Apple iPhone since its inception. The iPhone X has a body made of glass and metal as was first seen on iPhone 4 from 2010. The glass is reinforced with internal and copper structure which makes it the strongest glass ever used on a smartphone. The uniqueness lies in the display where the device packs a full-screen display almost devoid of bezels. For the first time, Apple used a 5.8-inch OLED screen on the iPhone with an 1125 x 2436p resolution and that is perhaps the ultimate selling point of the device, the display. The iPhone X also comes with an IP68 certification which makes it water and dust resistant. It comes in two colours, Silver and Space Gray.
The packaging box for the iPhone X has the front view of the device printed on it, perhaps to protect the display which is its major selling point. Inside the box, you’ll find the phone, a power adapter, a lightning to USB cable, a SIM tray ejector, user manual and a pair of Apple AirPods. You should check out more photos from below.
Rumors have it that the Samsung’s Exynos 7885 chipset will be powering the upcoming Galaxy A5 (2018) and Galaxy A7 (2018) smartphones. The new Exynos chipset has been certified by Bluetooth SIG which suggests that the arrival of these phones could be drawing near.
According to Bluetooth SIG certification, the Exynos 7885 SoC will be carrying support for Bluetooth 5.0 that enables faster data transfer by consuming less power. It also brings ability to connect multiple devices to a phone.
Previous reports have revealed that the Exynos 7885 is a 14nm chipset that includes an octa-core processor featuring two cores of Cortex A73 and six-cores of Cortex A53. It is capable of delivering a clocking speed of up to 2.1 GHz and it also features Mali-G71 graphics.
The Galaxy A5 (2018) was also recently spotted with Snapdragon 660 chipset which indicates that the South Korean company may release the Snapdragon variant in certain markets like the U.S. and China. The Exynos variant could be aimed towards other markets.
The most striking change that Samsung is expected to introduce on the 2018 editions of the Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7 is that these phones will be equipped with Infinity Display design. Hence, the rumor mill has been claiming that the Galaxy A5 (2018) and Galaxy A7 (2018) would be appear like smaller version of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ phones. The Galaxy A7 (2018) may feature 6 GB of RAM whereas the A5 (2018) may come equipped with 4 GB of RAM.
The new Galaxy A (2018) phones are also expected to feature a dedicated button for launching Bixby AI. The renders these phones revealed that they may feature dual selfie cameras. The fingerprint scanner is expected to be placed below the rear camera on these phones. Both the phones are expected to come preinstalled with Android Nougat OS. Speculations are rife that the 2018 versions of Galaxy A5 and A7 will be unveiled to the world in January 2018.
The rumor mill is silent on the Galaxy A3 (2018). As of this writing, there is no confirmation on whether the company will be launching with a regular design or cancelling the device.
TP-Link is primarily known for networking devices, but the company has jumped in the crowded smartphone market as well. It has so far launched entry-level and mid-range smartphones, but has not yet launched a premium smartphone. That is about to change soon as the company seems all set to launch a phone with top notch specs.
An upcoming smartphone from TP-Link under its Neffos line-up has been leaked, revealing the phone’s features. We also have a leaked press renders of the phone, giving us a look at what to expect in terms of smartphone’s design.
The smartphone, which is yet unnamed, resembles Samsung’s Galaxy S8. It will feature a full-screen bezel-less display with an aspect ratio of 18:9. There are virtually no bezels on either sides and on top and bottom, there are very thin bezels. At back, it seems that the device has a curved glass panel.
Since there is no space for buttons or anything else on the front side due to thin bezels, the fingerprint sensor is placed at the back of the device, just below the dual camera setup. While one camera sensor is of 16-megapixel, the other one is of 20-megapixel telephoto lens and will offer 2X optical zoom.
Under the hood, the phone is expected to be powered by Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon 835 processor, along with 6GB of RAM. As of internal storage, it could come with upto 256GB of storage. More details about the phone, such as battery capacity, software, connectivity options are not yet known.
This upcoming Neffos smartphone from TP-Link suggests a drastic change in the company’s strategy as far as the smartphone business is concerned. It will be interesting to see how this device is received in the market, and if it will give incumbents a run for their money.
While the phone’s launch, pricing or availability details are not yet known, we are expecting TP-Link to launch the device before the end of this year.
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.
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