Coolpad has launched a new smartphone in China with a design which looks very much like the iPhone 7 Plus. This isn’t the first smartphone we are seeing which looks like the Apple flagship, the OnePlus 5 did, as well as the Oppo R11 but the difference is that this model comes with a single rear camera designed just like the dual cameras on the iPhone 7 Plus.
Specifications
As far as the specs go, the Coolpad Cool M7 sports a 5.5-inch Full HD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and a 2.5D curved glass on top. The phablet is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 2.0GHz octa-core processor accompanied by a 4GB RAMwhile there is 64GB of storage onboard which unfortunately is not expandable. On the camera end, the mid-range model features a 12MP rear camera with autofocus and an f1.8 aperture and LED flash while at the front, there is a 13MP fixed focus front-facing camera with f/2.2 aperture and 79.8-degree wide angle lens. The sample photos for both the front and rear cameras don’t look bad for a mid-range phone. In addition, the smartphone offers 4G/LTE, Hybrid Dual SIM, Wifi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, and a USB Type C and gets its juice from a 3,200mAh battery. Despite the large battery, the device comes with a thickness of just 6.9 mm and weighs 152 grams. The Coolpad Cool M7 runs on Android 7.0 Nougat modified with Coolpad’s Journey UI which brings a unique Dock bar to the phone and other cool features.
Design
On the design aspect, the Cool M7 features an all-metal body with a round home button under the display which is just like that of Apple iPhones. The edges are well chamfered and would make for easy grip. At the rear, the camera and flash are located at the top left corner encased in a manner similar to the iPhone 7 Plus’ dual cameras. There is the cool logo at the rear as well and the absence of a fingerprint sensor at the rear means it is embedded with the home button up front.
Coolpad Cool M7 Pricing & Availability
The Cool M7 comes in Black and Blue colours and carries a price tag of 2,699 yuan. The device will go on sale on August 26 by 10 AM on JD.com but it is presently open for reservation for the first sale. No word yet on when the device will be available outside China.
Cool M7 Selfie Cam SampleCool M7 Rear Camera Sample
AnTuTu has released a list of its top 10 performing smartphones for the month of July 2017 and as should be expected Snapdragon 835 flagships dominated the list. The list is a compilation of the top 10 models with the highest AnTuTu benchmark score in July.
Out of the ten models which made it into the list, seven of them are flagships using the Snapdragon 835 chip while one comes with the Snapdragon 821 chip, thus ensuring the list is dominated by phones using Qualcomm processor. As should be expected Apple’s A10 chip still has its footprint on the list but the top five spot is occupied by Qualcomm models. The OnePlus 5 sits at the number one spot with a powerful run which saw it averaging 181614 points on AnTuTu while the Nubia Z17 came closely at second with 179081 points. The HTC U11 with a score of 175987 points occupy the third position with the Samsung Galaxy S8+ at the fourth position with a score of 171101 points. The Galaxy S8+ scored about 1000 points more than Xiaomi’s flagship Mi 6 which completes the top 5 positions. The list continues with the iPhone 7 Plus at the sixth spot while the Xperia XZ Premium at the seventh. The Galaxy S8 comes in at a distant seventh position and the last SD 835 model on the list. The last two spots are occupied by the OnePlus 3T with a Snapdragon 821 processor and finally, the iPhone 7 156702.
AnTuTu also listed the top 10 highest performing iOS models and as would be expected, the iPad Pro (10.5) which launched earlier this year with an improved A10X Fusion chipset came top. The iPad Pro (10.5) is followed by the iPhone 7 Plus but with a difference of 56647 AnTuTu points between the two. Th iPad Pro (9.7-inch) with a slightly underclocked A10X chip sits at the third place with the iPhone 7 at the fourth and iPhone 6 Plus at the fifth position. The iPad (5th gen), iPhone 6s, iPhone SE, iPad Air 2 and iPhone 6 Plus completes the top 10 in that order.
Already, we have seen a couple of Snapdragon 835 models launch this August like the Nokia 8, so we expect the top 10 standing for all models to change slightly this month. However, a major shake up is imminent on both lists under review in September or thereabout when the iPhone 8, Galaxy Note 8, Mi Mix 2, Huawei Mate 10 and other flagships, some with new chips are launched.
After months of waiting, the Essential Phone is now available for purchase. This is the first smartphone from Essential, a company founded by Android Co-founder Andy Rubin.
Beginning today, you can order the Essential Phone from the official website, Sprint, and Best Buy (still listed as coming soon). It will set you back $699 for the unlocked version on the official website. For $50 more you can add the $360 camera to your purchase. That offer is for a limited time before it goes back to $199.
In an official blog post, it was revealed that the Essential Phone will receive guaranteed updates for two years. If our math is correct and we are interpreting this right, that means the phone will receive Android updates till 2019 (Android O and Android P guaranteed but not sure about Android Q). It will also get monthly security updates for 3 years (up until 2020).
Don’t be surprised, Essential is a different company and Andy Rubin believes changing your phone each year isn’t right. Not only because its expensive but because of the planet. (I like this company already).
The Essential Phone is a unique phone as it is made for you that is why you won’t find any branding on the device. There is also a limited amount of pre-loaded apps.
The Essential Phone is a premium flagship with a glass and titanium build. It has a 5.7-inch bezel-less display with a 2560 x 1312 resolution. The latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 powers it and it is paired with 4GB of RAM. Built-in storage is 128GB with no option for expansion.
The phone packs dual 13MP cameras on the rear in a monochrome + RGB format, and there is an 8MP camera up front. A fingerprint scanner is on the back and underneath the glass is a 3040mAh battery.
A new photo purported to be that of the Mi Mix 2 has leaked but it really doesn’t look spectacular. The Mi Mix 2 is expected to adopt a full-screen display said to have a 95% screen-to-body ratio but surprisingly, the device seems to have an entire screen display with absolutely no bezels at all four edges.
If this is actually the Mix 2, it means the home button and even the fingerprint sensor will likely be under the display which rhymes with earlier rumours that the Mi Mix 2 will use Qualcomm’s latest in-display fingerprint technology. There is also another photo is more or less a render of the Mi Mix 2, still showing a high screen ratio but this time around, it features a cut out at the top left corner which will likely be where the selfie camera and audio receiver will be located. This design doesn’t look very spectacular and besides the Mix 2 is said to come with a new AAC actuator sound technology located under the screen. So, we still won’t accept the second render as that of the Mix 2.
The Mi Mix is expected to feature a6-inch JDI display with a Snapdragon 835 processor onboard. The device is said to feature a 12MP Sony IMX386 sensor at the rear which should be more powerful than the not-so-inspiring 16MP OV16880 sensor on the Mi Mix. The Mix 2 will, however, feature a 5MP OV5675 sensor for selfies and a 3,400mAh battery. The flagship is expected to be launched on September 12 but no word from Xiaomi on that just yet.
It has been a long wait and ASUS has finally taken the wraps of its Zenfone 4 series. If you know ASUS, you should know that they love releasing multiple variants of their phones. This year is no different as there are 6 different variants of the Zenfone 4.
ASUS not only released new phones, it also announced ZenUI 4.0, the latest iteration of its own custom version of Android.
ASUS Zenfone 4 Pro
The Zenfone 4 Pro is the leader of the pack. It is ASUS’ flagship of the year and we are happy it doesn’t disappoint.
The phone like most flagships has a metal and glass design. There is 2.5D glass on the front and back and a metal frame in-between. ASUS is still in the bezel business so expect it to be bigger than the LG G6 and Samsung Galaxy S8.
The Zenfone 4 Pro packs a 5.5-inch Full HD AMOLED with ASUS’ Tru2Life technology. It is powered by the Snapdragon 835 and packs 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM. Built-in storage is 64GB with the option for expansion via a microSD card slot (2TB max).
ASUS will probably get the award for the flagship with the largest battery as the Zenfone 4 Pro has a 3600mAh battery. It is also just 7.6mm thick. There is NFC and a fingerprint scanner buried under the rectangular home button. You also get an audio jack positioned at the bottom of the phone, a USB type-C port , dual speakers and a FM Radio.
The Zenfone 4 Pro has Bluetooth 5.0,WiFi a/b/g/n/ac and GPS. There will be a Taiwanese/global variant, a North American/UK variant and a Japanese/Indian variant with varying band support.
It will run Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box.
Zenfone 4 Pro Cameras
The theme for ASUS this year is photography and it resonates across all its Zenfone 4 lineup.
The Zenfone 4 Pro features dual rear cameras. The sensors are one 12MP Sony IMX362 with a f/1.7 aperture, a 1.4um pixel size and 8x zoom in low light. It is paired with a 16MP Sony IMX351 with 2X optical zoom effect (25mm and 50mm focal lengths). Both
The large aperture of the main camera isn’t the only cool thing about it. ASUS says it has a triple focus system. In addition to the original contrast focus, there is laser focus and a dual-pixel phase detection autofocus that works in conjunction with the four-axis OIS and three-axis EIS and an RGB light sensor for better images. The front camera is an 8MP sensor.
ASUS camera software, PixelMaster has been bumped to 4.0 and brings features like time lapse with power saving, slow motion, and ultra-high resolution images up to 48MP.
Zenfone 4
The Zenfone 4 (ZE554KL) is the mid-range phone in the line-up. It comes in two versions. One has 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and is powered by the Snapdragon 630 while the other has 6GB of RAM and the Snapdragon 660 mobile platform.
Both versions have a 5.5-inch FHD Super IPS display with 600 nits of brightness. It has a dual-SIM hybrid slot with support for up to 256GB microSD cards. There is NFC, a front mounted fingerprint scanner and a 3300mAh battery.
The Zenfone 4 also uses a metal and glass design but the rear 2.5D glass has the concentric circle design ASUS is known for. It will be available in black, moonlight, and green. Do note that the green variant doesn’t have the concentric circle design.
Zenfone 4 Camera
The Zenfone 4 has dual rear cameras just like the Pro. It even has the same Sony IMX362 sensor but with a f/1.8 aperture and a 1.4μm pixel size. The second camera is an OmniVision 8856 8MP wide-angle camera with a 12mm focal length and a 120° viewing angle. The secondary camera has a f/2.2 aperture and a 1.12μm pixel size.
There is OIS, EIS and a built-in RGB sensor inside the main camera. The front camera is an 8MP sensor with an 84° viewing angle and a f/2.0 aperture.
Zenfone 4 Selfie and Zenfone 4 Selfie Pro
ASUS launched the first Zenfone Selfie in 2015 but didn’t follow it up with a successor last year. This year it is releasing two variants
The Zenfone 4 Selfie Pro (ZD552KL) has a 5.5-inch FHD AMOLED display with 500 nits of brightness. It is powered by the Snapdragon 652 paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB ROM. It has a 3000mAh battery, support for dual SIM and a front-mounted fingerprint scanner.
Unlike the Zenfone 4 Pro and Zenfone 4 which have dual rear cameras, the Seflie has a single rear camera but dual cameras up front.
The Zenfone 4 Selfie Pro has a 12MP Sony IMX362 with a f/1.8 aperture and a 5MP OmniVision 5670 sensor with a 120° viewing angle in front. There is also a front self-timer flash and support for 4K video recording.
The rear camera is a 16MP Sony IMX351 with a f/2.2 aperture, PDAF and EIS for video recording.
The Zenfone 4 Selfie has the same screen size but with a HD resolution. The processor of choice is the Snapdragon 430 but with 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage. The front cameras are a 20MP OmniVision 20880 paired with an 8MP Omnivison 8856. On the rear sits a 16MP OV16880 sensor. Another difference it has from the Pro version is a dedicated microSD card slot.
Zenfone 4 Max Pro
ASUS already released a Zenfone 4 Max about a month ago but Taiwan will be getting a slightly different version and with the Pro suffix.
The display is still 5.5-inches with a HD resolution but it will be powered by the Snapdragon 425 paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.
Unlike the Zenfone Max which has dual 13MP cameras, the Max Pro will have a 16MP camera paired with a 5MP wide-angle sensor. The front camera is a 16MP sensor instead of 8MP on the Max. Under the hood is a 5000mAh battery.
ZenUI 4.0
ZenUi brings a number of upgrades. There is the wallpaper carousel that changes the wallpaper based on the time of the day. There is also an AI system that categorizes your gallery based on the faces in the pictures.
ZenUI 4.0 also comes with a built-in security system that sends your location to friends and family when you are in danger. ASUS has also included support for dual apps in ZenUI 4.0.now you can run dual Facebook, Instagram,and messenger accounts.
Another new feature is called Page Marker. This works like Pocket, letting you save pages offline for future reading. You can also use it to mark where you stopped reading an article so you can continue reading from there on your other devices.
Pricing and Availabity
The Zenfone 4 Pro will sell for $599 and will be available in Black and Silver.
The Zenfone 4 will start at $399. There is no info on the price of the other variant.
The Zenfone 4 Selfie Pro will be priced at $379 and the Zenfone 4 Selfie will retail for $279.
Pricing detail for the Zenfone 4 Max Pro is unavailable.
It has been a while we heard from Li Nan, the once very vocal VP of Meizu who has reportedly recently mounted the saddle of the newly created Charm Blue division. What best way to hear from Li Nan once again than sharing some details of the upcoming Meizu M6 Note. Li Nan has shared the M6 Note’s first camera sample and yes, the device is coming with a dual camera setup.
Don’t get confused by the “Shot On Note6” watermark on the sample photo. The Meizu M6 Note is also known as the Charm Blue Note 6 but what we can grab from the watermark is that the M6 Note will indeed feature a dual camera setup at the rear. Even though we still don’t know the configuration of the cameras, the sample photo points at a powerful setup capable of capturing crisp clear shots. Nothing to suggest it is going to be an RGB + monochrome combination but a Wide angle + telephoto setup looks likely. The camera sample also points at a fast focusing shutter, perhaps with PDAF.
As a reminder, the Meizu M6 Note will come with a 5.5-inch IPS LCD Full HD display and will be powered by MediaTek’s latest mid-range Helio P25 (MT6757T) chip with the Mali-T880 GPU firing up the graphics. The processor will be backed by 3GB of RAM on some models while others will have 4GB of RAM coupled with either be a 32GB and 64GB storage variant respectively.
The LG V30 is debuting at the end of this month. However, the South Korean company has revealed plenty of information on its upcoming flagship phablet before its official launch. Earlier today, Evan Blass who is known for his consistent record on leaking information on upcoming smartphones, has shared a new render of the LG V30.
The image contains a silver edition of the LG V30 showing of the glory of its FullVision display. As it can be seen in the image, the 6-inch OLED display has minimal bezels on its sides and its upper and lower bezels are quite thin compared to other flagship phones.
It is expected to carry support for 1,440 x 2,880 pixels and an aspect ratio of 18:9. The front side appears to be a bit curved. It may not be coming with a curved display, but the front glass that is placed over it appears to be curved. Unlike predecessor phones like LG V10 and LG V20, there is no secondary ticker screen on the LG V30. The feature has been removed. A Floating Bar and Always On Display features will serve its purpose on the LG V30. Also, there are no physical or capacitive buttons on the frontside of the LG phablet.
The rear side of the Galaxy Note 8 has the fingerprint scanner slotted between the rear dual rear cameras and LED flash. On the Galaxy S8, the camera is placed between the LED flash and fingerprint scanner. Users and reviewers have criticized the rear design of Galaxy S8 as there is high possibility of smudging the camera while unlocking the phone or making payment through Samsung Pay. The Galaxy Note 8 users may also end facing similar issue.
However, LG V30 users will not have to worry about it because the fingerprint scanner is placed well below the dual rear cameras and its LED flash. Moreover, the South Korean company has promised to provide amazing photography experience with LG V30 as it will be the first ever smartphone camera to come with a f/1.6 aperture lens.
The handset seems to be sporting a metallic design. The volume controller seems to be placed on the right side of it. The left side of the phone seems to feature a Power key. There is no way to confirm through this match whether the LG V30 has a 3.5mm audio jack or not.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A was recently spotted at China’s TENAA certification agency. Rumors surrounding the Redmi Note 5A had claimed that the budget phablet would be debuting on Aug. 21. An official launch invitation shared by none other than Lin Bin, the co-founder, and president of Xiaomi confirms that the Redmi Note 5A is going to be official on Aug. 21 at 7:30 PM local time. It seems that the Note 5A will be unleashed through a live webcast event.
The Redmi Note 5A is rumored to arrive in two models. According to the TENAA listing of the smartphone, it features a 5.5-inch HD display and is powered by Snapdragon 425 chipset. It features 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage. It is expected to feature a 13-megapixel rear camera and a front-facing camera of 5-megapixel. It is rumored to come with a 3,000mAh battery. It does not feature a fingerprint scanner. It appears to be a larger version of the Redmi 4A.
It is also expected to be available in another model featuring Snapdragon 430 chipset, 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. This model may feature a 16-megapixel rear camera and a 13-megapixel front camera. This model may come with a pricing of 1,199 Yuan (~$179) and the lower-specced Note 5A is expected to be priced at 999 Yuan (~$149). TENAA listing has revealed that the Redmi Note 5A would be available in multiple colors like black, gray, gold, silver, white, pink and red.
An official image shared on Weibo shows the handset with a fingerprint reader and in multiple colors like gold, pink and silver. Xiaomi founder and chairman Lei Jun has described it is a high quality cost-effective smartphone that will come in vibrant colors. He has also revealed that the handset does not feature a metal body. It indicates that it may come with a polycarbonate chassis with a metallic finish.
It seems that there is a version of the smartphone that comes with a fingerprint reader. Rumors have also claimed that the highest configuration model may feature 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. There is a possibility that it could be powered by Snapdragon 630 chipset. This model may feature a 5.5-inch full HD display. There is a possibility that this smartphone may debut as Redmi Note 5. These specs seem confusing. More information on the Redmi Note 5A is expected to surface as the official launch date draws near.
A new set of photos of the Sony Xperia XZ1 has emerged online and this time around, the photo isn’t a render but real life photos showing the sleek from all angles. The pictures closely resemble the renders which popped up on Twitter recently, making it very likely that this is indeed the Xperia XZ1.
The device looks like one which is all set to be shipped and so has a waterproof covering with its key specs imprinted in Sony style. From the print, we could see that the Xperia XZ1 will indeed feature a 5.2-inch display which should have a resolution of 1920 x 1080p. The device is also listed as packing a Snapdragon 835 processor with 64GB UFS storage. the RAM isn’t revealed but we expect the XZ1 to pack a 4GB RAM. Other listed details include a 13MP selfie shooter and a 19MP camera at the rear while there is also IP65/68 waterproof and dustproof properties.
On the design, the Sony Xperia XZ1’s shape is typically Sony style with the absence of a front fingerprint sensor. The device comes with Hi-Res audio with speakers at the top and bottom. There is also a USB-C port at the bottom while a 3.5mm audio jack is located at the top. The volume controllers are also present on the right side along with a dedicated button for launching the camera and the power button is also on the right side. The left side of the Xperia XZ1 does not feature any button but includes a microSD / SIM card slot.
No official date yet for the Xperia XZ1’s launch but the device is believed to be among the models Sony would launch on August 31 at IFA Berlin. That could explain why we are getting more leaks on the device by the day.
Apart from Samsung Galaxy Note 8 that is scheduled to get official on Aug. 23, the South Korean company has a few dual rear camera enabled smartphones under the wraps. One of them is the alleged Galaxy C7 (2017). The arrival of the smartphone seems to be approaching fast as it has appeared on the database of the Geekbench benchmarking platform.
According to Geekbench listing, the Samsung SM-C7100 that is believed to be the Galaxy C7 (2017) is a mid-range smartphone as it has score 865 in single-core test and 3,621 in multi-core test. The handset is running on Android 7.1.1 Nougat and it is driven by MediaTek MT6757 chipset which is also known as MediaTek Helio P20. The SoC is coupled with 3 GB of RAM.
Around two weeks ago, the Galaxy C7 (2017) was also spotted on the support page of the Chinese edition of Samsung’s site. It only revealed the model number of the smartphone as SM-C7100 and it comes with Samsung Experience user interface. Moreover, the handset has also received certification from Bluetooth SIG and TENAA. These things hint that the Galaxy C7 (2017) may get official soon.
It is interesting to note that the TENAA listing of the Samsung Galaxy C7 (2017) that a Snapdragon chipset will be powering it. Last year, the Samsung Galaxy C7 (2016) had arrived with Snapdragon 625 chipset. It appears that in this year, Samsung may sell the C7 (2017) in two chipsets variants in different markets.
According to TENAA, the Galaxy C7 (2017) has a 5.5-inch S-AMOLED display that offers a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. It is expected to arrive in models like 3 GB of RAM + 32 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. Its rear side is expected to feature a dual camera system involving a 13-megapixel sensor and an 8-megapixel sensor. It is pegged to feature a 16-megapixel selfie snapper. A 2,850mAh battery is expected to power the smartphone. It may come in color choices like Black and Gold.
Samsung had launched the Galaxy C7 (2016) in May and it came with a 5.7-inch full HD display and 3,300mAh battery. However, TENAA listing suggests that this year’s C7 will have a smaller display and battery. It seems that the C7 (2017) was supposed to debut in the second quarter of this year but its arrival has been delayed. Now that the Galaxy C7 (2017) has been certified by TENAA and Bluetooth SIG and has appeared on Geekbench, it may debut at the end of this month or in September.
The Nokia 8 is a camera-centric feature that comes with 13-megapixel dual rear cameras with Carl Zeiss optics. Also, it features a 13-megapixel selfie snapper. These cameras coupled with OZO audio technology can shoot some stunning photos and videos that can be even livestream on social sites. Here is what Nokia 8 users can be expected from its cameras.
Nokia 8’s Dual Rear Cameras
It includes a 13-megapixel Sony IMX258 RGB sensor. It is a f/2.0 aperture sensor with 1.12-micron pixels and carries support for optical image stabilization (OIS). The dual camera system also includes a f/2.0 aperture Sony IMX258 monochrome sensor that lacks OIS.
Impressive Low-Light Photography
The inclusion of a monochrome sensor helps in adding more light while shooting photos and videos in low-light conditions. According to Nokia, the dual rear cameras of the Nokia 8 are equipped with advanced image fusion algorithm that makes it possible to shoot impressive images in all conditions.
The dual rear cameras of the Nokia 8 can be used for capturing shots with bokeh effect. Nokia’s Live Bokeh effect feature allows users to increase or decrease the artificial blur for the background so that can users can shoot perfect photos with bokeh effect.
Nokia 8’s Bothie
One of the major camera features of the Nokia 8 is called Bothie. The Dual-Sight mode allows users to make use of the dual rear cameras as well as the frontal camera simultaneously to shoot split-screen videos or pictures called Bothies as shown in the image above. Bothies can be livestreamed on social platforms like Facebook or YouTube by using the Live icon in the camera app.
The frontside also includes a 13-megapixel selfie snapper that seems that it also features a f/2.0 aperture Sony IMX258 sensor. There are not many smartphones in the market that comes with auto-focus feature for the front-facing camera and Nokia 8 is one of them.
OZO Audio
The Nokia 8 is the first smartphone to come with OZO audio that captures Spatial 360-degree audio through the three microphones of Nokia 8 while shooting 4K videos. The Snapdragon 835 chipset deals with all the processing to assist OZO Audio in delivering immersive experience.
The Nokia 8 will be selling with a pricing of 599 euros (~$705) starting from Europe from Sept. 6. It will be hitting other markets like Latin America soon and is expected to arrive in India in early October.
Sharp recently unveiled the Aquos S2 and just yesterday, the device went on its first sale in China on JD.com with all units reportedly being sold out in less than 24 hours. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering the breath-taking bezel-less beauty the AquosS2 turned out to be. Sharp did a good job on the outward design and build quality of the mid-ranger but we don’t know about inside. Well, that has been sorted out with the Aquos S2’s teardown or disassembly carried out by Chinese tech blog- zol.com.cn.
The disassembly began with removing the back cover which is held in place with glue and then unscrewing all the nuts holding the frame in place. The back cover was removed using a suction cup and a heat gun, meaning this isn’t one for the novice to tear apart. After the back is removed, other components can easily be removed but it won’t be a good idea to try this at home if you don’t have the skill.
On the whole, the Sharp Aquos S2 internal workmanship is very good, with the internal components well arranged in a manner that would be easy to effect a repair if need be. We can see the clever arrangements for the light distance sensor and the front camera despite the limited space. The front camera module had to be cut off from the screen at the centre in order to accommodate the selfie shooter. The edges are also thickened on the inside to be able to resist strong impact. You can have a look at more of the teardown photos from below or check out the entire teardown process here.
After a couple of interesting mid-rangers, the Nokia brand, under the leadership of HMD Global, has finally unveiled the big guns for 2017 — the Nokia 8. The company made the flagship smartphone official in London earlier today. The phone will be the first product as a result of the recent collaboration between HMD Global and Carl Zeiss.
The camera is the biggest selling point of the Nokia 8. The phone comes with dual 13MP cameras at the back along with a 13MP camera on the front as well. Before we head on to the details, note that both the back as well as the front cameras are capable of capturing videos in high-res 4K resolution at 30fps. The dual camera setup is pretty straightforward, a 13MP f/2.0 RGB color sensor paired with a dedicated 13MP monochrome sensor. Other features of the setup at the back include Laser Focus and dual tone LED flash.
In the software department, the Nokia 8 is no slouch, as it comes with a number of unique features. First, the phone has integrated live streaming options for Facebook and YouTube platforms. Another big feature is the new “Bothie”. You might have already guessed where Nokia is taking us with this naming — simultaneous recording from the front as well as the back cameras, shown in a split screen display. And guess what, you can live stream in the bothie mode as well, to impress your social media fans.
Bothie Feature Source: Nokia
The Nokia 8 is made out of 6000 series aluminum body and comes in multiple finishes including matte and steel. There are four colors available — Polished Copper, Polished Blue, Tempered Blue, and Steel. Coming down to the basic specs, the phone is powered by the mighty Snapdragon 835 chipset, which has become a standard among top-end smartphones. There’ll be just one memory variant at the moment, a 4GB + 64GB version. The display will be compact at 5.3-inches with 2560 x 1440 pixels. There’s a MicroSD card expansion slot (256GB) and you get a decent 3090mAh for battery. While the Nokia 8 isn’t waterproof, it’s IP54 certified, making it splash proof. Other features include a fingerprint sensor on the front, Android 7.1.1 Nougat (monthly security updates and Android O promised), USB Type-C 3.1, and a 3.5mm dedicated headphone jack. The software is said to be a lightweight version of Android Nougat.
HMD is also bringing some interesting technology from the present day Nokia company, into the Nokia 8 flagship. For example, the phone features high dynamic range microphones which utilize Nokia Ozo Audio algorithms to record surround sound. What’s even more interesting is that this virtual surround sound will be preserved even when you share it to your social media channels.
Nokia 8 will go on sale first in Europe and later in Latin American markets for a suggested retail price of €599, which comes close to $700. According to Gadgets360, the phone will come to India in early October. According to the CNBC, Nokia 8 won’t release in China or the US.
Taiwanese chip manufacturer, MediaTek, has started sending out invites for an event. The event scheduled for August 29 is for the announcement of the Helio P23 and Helio P30.
The Helio P23 and P30 are the new members of the P-series which is targeted at smartphones with slim profiles. They, like the other chips in the series will offer improved battery efficiency without skipping on performance.
The details available say the Helio P23 will be an octa-core 16nm chip built by TSMC. It will support 2K displays, dual cameras, and have Cat. 7 LTE.
The Helio P30 will also be manufactured by TSMC but using a 12nm process. The P30 will be one of the 12nm chips expected to be released this year. It will have four Cortex-A72 cores clocked at 2.0GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.5GHz. It will also support Cat. 10 LTE speeds.
The battle for the middle-range is between Qualcomm and Mediatek. Both chip makers have new processors for that category: Qualcomm has the 14nm Snapdragon 450 and MediaTek has the 16nm Helio P23. To win clients, Qualcomm has reduced the price of the SDM450 to $10.50, a move that may force MediaTek to do the same.
Lowering the price isn’t easy for MediaTek. Samsung makes the Snapdragon 450 for Qualcomm and report says it has offered Qualcomm a wafer price of $2500. MediaTek on the other hand is charged over $3500 per wafer by TSMC.
Sources say the Helio P23 was previously priced at about $15. To secure orders from its-China based clients, the price was brought down to between $11 and $12. Now that the Snapdragon 450 is selling for $10.50, MediaTek, may have to lower prices further to keep its clients.
The Helio P23 is scheduled for a Q4 launch and it already has orders from OPPO, Vivo, Gionee and Meizu. MediaTek targets 5 to 6 million shipments per month for the chip.
Just a couple of days back, we brought you some details of Xiaomi‘s upcoming Mi Mix 2 and one of the details is that the smartphone goes by the code name Chiron. That name has popped up again in the unlikeliest of places, further fueling speculations that the device may soon be launched. The Mi Mix 2’s code name- Chiron has appeared on the database of Beijing Subway. The Beijing Subway is a rapid transit rail network that serves the urban and suburban districts of Beijing municipality. It is the world’s busiest subway in terms of annual ridership, with 3.66 billion trips delivered in 2016, averaging 9.998 million per day, with peak single-day ridership reaching 12.69 million. The network has 19 lines, 345 stations and 574 km (357 mi) of track in operation, and is the second longest subway system in the world after the Shanghai Metro.
The Beijing Subway lines are managed by two companies, one of which is state-owned (Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp) while the other is a private venture – The Beijing MTR Corp. The leak seem to have emanated from the second company’s database containing a list of mobile phone models accepted for cardless payment using NFC. Other Xiaomi models listed along with the Chiron is the Mi Mix, Mi Note 2, Mi 5S and Mi 5. We would never have needed any confirmation to know the Mix 2 would feature NFC but this confirms that its launch could be close by. We can’t say how it found its way into the database for sure but it is likely that someone made a cardless payment using the model and thus it was saved in the database. Don’t forget Lei Jun recently shared a picture with an aspect ratio that suggested it was from the Mix 2.
The Mi Mix 2 is rumoured to have got a September 12 launch date and the likely specifications have also been exposed recently in a leaked photo of what looks like the device’s source code. The leak identified as that of the Chiron lists the device as coming with a 6-inch JDI display and powered by a Snapdragon 835 processor. The device is said to feature a 12MP Sony IMX386 sensor at the rear as well as a 5MP Omnivision- OV5675 sensor for selfies. A 3,400mAh battery will keep the lights on while Android 7.1.1 Nougat with MIUI 9 skin will provide the interface. The Mi Mix 2 is also expected to feature a 6GB +128GB storage as its base variant and a higher 8GB + 256GB memory variant.
An official looking launch invitation by Huawei has appeared. The rumor mill has been claiming that the Mate 10 would be debuting in October. The invitation states that the flagship phone will be unveiled on Oct. 16.
The text on the invitation reads “meet the device worth waiting for” and does not contain the “Huawei Mate 10” moniker. However, in the backdrop is large-sized number 10 to hint the Mate 10’s launch. Hence, it appears that the Mate 10 may get unveiled on Oct. 16 in Munich, Germany. A Huawei logo can be sitting at the bottom.
Even though the invitation appears to be legitimate and the source claims that it has received it through “official means” there is no way to confirm whether the Chinese firm has released it two months ahead of the launch of Mate 10.
The Huawei Mate 10 renders have revealed that it would be coming with a bezel-less display. It will be housing a 6-inch full-screen display that will be dubbed as EntireView by the Chinese manufacturer. It is expected to deliver an aspect ratio of 18:9 and a screen resolution of 2,160 x 1,080 pixels.
The Huawei Mate 10 is heavily pegged to be powered by the AI driven Kirin 970 chipset and 6 GB of RAM. It is expected to come with a native storage of 64 GB. It is expected to come with EMUI skinned Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS.
The Mate 10 will continue to sport dual rear camera system from Leica. However, its exact configuration is not known yet. Speculations are rife that it would be coming with features like 3D sensing and iris scanner.
Huawei is also expected to debut a lighter version of the smartphone called Huawei Mate 10 alongside the flagship phone. Nothing much is known on the specifications of Mate 10 Lite. The rumor mill has revealed that the Mate 10 would be priced at $1,100 whereas the Mate 10 Lite would be coming with $550.
Huawei CEO Richard Yu has claimed that the Mate 10 will be powerful enough to take the heavily rumored iPhone 8. He has said that the Mate 10 will be coming with a full-screen display, quicker charging, better photography capabilities and longer battery life to take on the new iPhone.
IFA berlin officially begins on 1st of September and runs through to 6th. However, a number of manufacturers have launch events or keynote addresses scheduled a day or two ahead of the official opening day. One of them is electronics giant, Lenovo and they have released a teaser video of what we should expect.
The 51-seconds long video includes a wide variety of products, though most of them have already been released. First we see the Lenovo Yoga Tablet with its halo keyboard coming on. Then the Tango-based Phab 2 Pro makes an appearance.
The Moto Z2 Play is also spotted along with a Hasselblad camera mod, and the Moto Z2 Force with the 360° camera mod. If you are a gamer, you may want to visit Lenovo’s booth and check out their Y-series gaming laptop as one makes an appearance in the video.
At the 20-second mark, what appears to be a smart speaker can be seen. Although, Lenovo announced an Alexa-powered speaker early this year at CES, which is still not available for purchase yet by the way, this speaker has a different design. It also appears to have a display. Our guess is that this is Lenovo’s version of the Amazon Echo Show and we will have a first look at IFA Berlin.
ASUS will be announcing a couple of smartphones on Aug. 17. The Taiwanese company is expected to get unveil smartphones like ASUS ZenFone 4, ZenFone 4 Pro, ZenFone 4 Selfie, ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro and ZenFone 4V. Well-known leakster, Evan Blass has revealed renders of some of these smartphones
The above image is of the ASUS ZenFone 4. Popular leakster Roland Quandt had claimed that the smartphone would be available in colors like black and white. However, the above image shows that there will be another light blue color variant of the ZenFone 4.
The ZenFone 4 is expected to come in Snapdragon 630 and Snapdragon 660 chipset models. A 5.5-inch full HD display is rumored to be present on both the models along with dual camera system that includes a 12-megpaixel sensor and 8-megapixel sensor. Both the chipset variants of the ZenFone 4 will be coming with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. A 3,300mAh battery is speculated to power the smartphone. It is rumored to cost 499 euros (~$584). The other image is of the already release ZenFone 4 Max.
The ASUS ZenFone 4 Selfie and ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro will be selfie-centric smartphones. The ZenFone 4 Selfie is expected to come with 5-inch HD display, Snapdragon 430 chipset, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of internal storage, 16-megapixel rear camera, 3000mAh battery and a 13-megapixel + a 5-megapixel dual front camera system. As the image shows, it is expected to be available in colors red, pink and black. It is expected to cost 299 euros (~$350)
The ASUS ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro is expected to arrive with a 5.5-inch FHD screen, Snapdragon 625 chipset, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of inbuilt storage, 16-megapixel rear camera, 3000mAh battery and a 20-mgapixel + 8-megapixel dual camera system. The above image shows that it would be coming in multiple colors like black, light blue, gold, pink and white. It is expected to sell at 399 euros (~$467). The rumor mill has also spilled plenty of information of the ZenFone 4 Pro. It is expected to arrive with a pricing of 550 euros (~$650).
Nokia fans having been eagerly waiting for the announcement of its flagship smartphone since the start of this year. The D-day is close at hand as Nokia 8, the first Android flagship smartphone from the HMD Global is scheduled to get announced on Aug. 16 in London. Here is all you need to know about the Nokia 8 flagship.
Nokia 8 Launch Event & Live Stream
Nokia 8 launch event will be held in London on Aug. 16 at 7:30 PM BST. The event will be live streamed on the official site of Nokia. With time conversion, the event will take place at 2:30 PM EDT on Aug. 16 in New York, U.S. The event will be viewable at 2:30 AM CST in Beijing, China and 12:00 AM IST in India. The official Nokia Mobile Twitter account has hinted that YouTubers Jonathan Morrison and MoreAliA may demo the Nokia 8
The Nokia 8 is expected to arrive in single SIM (model number TA-1004) and dual-SIM (model number TA-1012) variants. It is rumored to feature a 5.3-inch or a 5.7-inch Quad HD display. The Snapdragon 835 chipset will be powering the smartphone and it may be available in 4 GB and 6/8 GB RAM options. Speculations have it that it could be the first non-Google smartphone to come preinstalled with Android 8.0. Its native storage is speculated as 64 GB. The fingerprint scanner of the smartphone is expected to be present under the capacitive Home button.
The USP of the Nokia 8 will be that will be coming with Carl ZEISS branded 13-megapixel dual rear cameras that is expected to include a monochrome sensor and a RGB sensor. The front may feature an 8-megapixel selfie snapper. A 3,000mAh battery is rumored to power the Nokia 8.
The Nokia 8 has appeared in blue, silver and copper gold colors in leaked renders and images in the recent past. It is not known whether all of these color options will be available at the launch of Nokia 8. Speculations have it that it would be priced at 589 euros (~$689) in Europe.
Even though the rumor mill has spilled out plenty of information on the upcoming Nokia flagship, the accurate specs and features can be known only after its official launch. Stay tuned with GizmoChina to get all the information on the Nokia 8. Speculations have it that the entry-level Nokia 2 may also get unveiled alongside it.
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