Huawei seems to have unveiled its latest sports band series for the international market by listing them on its official website. The Huawei Band 2 and Band 2 Pro were first announced in China about two months ago during the launch of the Nova 2 and Nova 2 Plus. They were part of a collection of accessories announced same day with the others being a Bluetooth headset and Panoramic camera.
The Huawei Band 2 and Band 2 Pro comes with a number of features but both vary in their specifications with the Band 2 Pro having the higher configuration. However, both come with the abilities to measure heartbeat, pace, distance, speed, and direction. The Band 2 Pro packs exclusive features such as GPS sensor, Huawei’s TruSleep virtual sleep hygiene and breathing tracker, and Huawei’s Running Coach. There is also a new feature called VO2 Max which lets the Band 2 Pro examine the maximum rate at which the body of the wearer can import oxygen, transfer it to muscles, and use it as a source of energy. The technology is touted to allow VO2 measurements with an accuracy as high as nearly 95%.
Both the Band 2 and Band 2 Pro comes with continuous Heart rate monitoring which is done all day so users can objectively understand how different activities and life’s moments affect their heart rate. In addition, both Huawei bands also introduce the Training Effect feature, which gauges how an exercise session impacts the wearer’s fitness level and also provide an estimate of the recovery time needed before the next gym session. The wearables are both water resistant and can withstand up to 5 atmospheres of water pressure, which is enough to let users use them in the shower, swimming pool, or outdoors on rainy days.
The Huawei smart bands also come with Bluetooth feature which allows users to pair them to smartphones on which they act as companion devices, displaying alarms, notifications and messages from the handsets. Of course, the data from the smart band can also be view on the smartphone via a dedicated app. The official listing shows both smart bands will be available in Green, Black and Blue colours.
The pricing of the Huawei Band 2 and Band 2 Pro was not revealed but during their launch in China, the Huawei Band 2 Pro with GPS function carries a price tag of 388 Yuan (around $57) while the standard Huawei Band 2 comes in at 298 Yuan (~$44). Both bands are presently available in China at these prices on Huawei’s Official Mall (Vmall).
A leaked poster that appeared in the past week revealed that Xiaomi is working on a new smartphone called Xiaomi Mi 5X. An official Weibo post from the company confirms that the Xiaomi Mi 5X will be launching with MIUI 9 on July. The post also carries an image that confirms that clearly mentions the July 26.
The above Weibo post confirms that the Xiaomi Mi 5X and MIUI 9 will be introduced together on the said date. In 2016, the MIUI 8 was unveiled with Mi Max phablet. Hence, the rumor mill was speculating that MIUI 9 would be introduced alongside the Xiaomi Mi Max 2. However, it did not happen so. It seems that Xiaomi had planned to reveal the MIUI 9 with a new phone, the Xiaomi Mi 5X.
Well-known celebrity from China, Kris Wu can be seen endorsing the Mi 5X. So far, only the backside of the phone has been revealed. It seems to be coming with a metal unibody design. It features dual cameras placed at the top-left corner of the back panel. The rear also features a fingerprint reader. Another poster of the Xiaomi Mi 5X has revealed that it would be featuring a 5.5-inch display that would be probably featuring a full HD resolution. The Snapdragon 625 chipset and 4 GB RAM are present under the hood of the Xiaomi Mi 5X. It will be priced at 1,999 Yuan (~$295).
Speculations are rife that the Xiaomi Mi 5X would be also coming in a higher variant featuring Snapdragon 660 chipset and 6 GB of RAM. Both the models of the Xiaomi Mi 5X are rumored to feature 12-megapixel dual rear cameras that includes a Sony IMX386 sensor and a Samsung S5k3m3 sensor. It may come with a frontal camera of 16-megapixel.
Apple is expected to debut the iPhone 8 in September this year. It is rumored to arrive with a redesigned appearance to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Apple iPhones. A Forbes reporter named Gordon Kelly has worked with Nodus, a designer to create iPhone 8 renders based on its CAD schematics of the smartphone that have surfaced through the supply chain.
The rumor mill has predicted that the Apple iPhone 8 would be featuring an under glass front-mounted fingerprint scanner. If this Plan A does not work out, Apple may use Plan B which would mean that the fingerprint scanner would be placed on the rear side of the iPhone. According to Kelly, Apple iPhone 8 may come with Plan B.
The iPhone 8 renders suggest that it would be coming with a full-screen display for the 5.8-inch OLED display. However, there will be a cutout at the top that will be housing a selfie snapper, an earpiece and some sensors. The backside of the iPhone 8 has a vertically stacked dual rear cameras that are located at the top-left corner.
The dual cameras are expected to come with augmented reality capabilities. Kelly states that “horizontally aligned cameras are more effective and the phone is expected to be held in a landscape orientation.” This is the reason why Kelly feels that the iPhone 8 would be equipped with dual rear cameras. According to Kelly, the iPhone 8 will retain the Lighting port and it won’t be featuring USB-C port. Also, it won’t be featuring a 3.5mm audio jack. The rear side does not seem to feature a fingerprint scanner.
The renders show that the iPhone 8 has a large-sized Power button. There is a probability that Apple may incorporate the fingerprint reader inside the big Power button. It can become possible as Apple has been granted a patent for such an arrangement for the fingerprint scanner.
As far as the confidence level is this leak is concerned, Kelly says that Nodus was comfortable to the extent of revealing its itself as the source and the case designer has also said Apple is prototyping its retail cases for the upcoming iPhone from them.
Previous speculations have revealed that the iPhone 8 would be sporting all-glass design that it had previously used on iPhone 4S smartphone. This would allow the iPhone 8 to support wireless charging. Since its slated to get announced in September, more details on its specs are expected to surface in the coming weeks.
Xiaomi has officially unveiled its smallest Mi TV yet, and it is a 32-inch model of the Mi TV 4A range just as we notified you. The TV is indeed the smallest in the history of Xiaomi TV and as such comes with the lowest price of all the models.
The Xiaomi Mi TV 4A (32 inches) uses a plastic housing with its entire body coming in black colour. As a result of the plastic body in use, the new Mi TV 4A comes with a highly reduced weight which is just 3.9Kg, making it suitable to be easily carried around even by females. When the base is attached to the TV frame, the weight goes up to 3.94Kg.
Talking about the key configurations, the Mi TV 4A features a 32-inch display with a resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixels and refresh rate of 60Hz. The TV has a viewing angle of 178 degrees. It is powered by a Quad-core 1.5GHz processor having four Cortex-A53 cores. The graphic is powered by a Mali-450 MP3 GPU while the processor is supported by 1GB of RAM and there is 4GB of storage space available inside. The Mi TV 4A (32) also comes with two 5W stereo speakers while available interface includes two HDMI, an AV port, an S/PDIF output, DTMB, USB port and a connector. The Mi TV 4A 32-inch version also runs Xiaomi TV PatchWall system meaning it has some smart features such as content recommendation according to user’s habit, seamless streaming of content and others.
As for the price, the Xiaomi Mi TV 4A 32-inch version is priced at 1099 Yuan ($163) and will officially go on sale at 0.00 on July 23. On the day sales would open, Xiaomi will be offering 100 yuan off the shipping fee.
An Essential branded phone with model number A11 has received Wi-Fi certification. There are some tech sites that claim that the company could be working on a new Essential phone with model number A11. However, this phone that has surfaced on Wi-Fi Alliance site is the same Essential PH-1 smartphone that the company had announced recently. The Wi-Fi certification reveals that it will be arriving preinstalled with Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS.
The Wi-Fi certification reveals that the Essential PH-1 has a model number of A11 and it features 2.4GHz and 5GHz dual-band Wi-Fi. In the previous month, it received approval from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the U.S. The Essential Phone was launched on May 30 and it was expected to start shipping from June 30. However, the shipping of the smartphone has not started yet.
Now that the Essential Phone has received FCC and Wi-Fi Alliance certification, its shipping is pegged to begin soon. According to Essential COO Niccolo de Masi, the Essential Phone’s release is “imminent” in the U.S. However, he did not give out the exact date from when the customers that preordered the Essential Phone would be receiving it. The Essential Phone will be exclusively available through Sprint in the U.S.
Read More: Essential Phone’s Noisy Camera Samples & 360 Video Shared
There is no reason provided by the company on why it has delayed the shipping of the Essential Phone to its customers. In the recent past, Essential’s vice-president of marketing, Brian Wallace made an exit from the company and few days before this happened, the Head of Communications, Andy Fouché left the Essential Products company. There is no real proof whether these things could have delayed the release of the Essential Phone.
Also, a recent report from Financial Times states that the Essential Phone would be launching in international markets like the Europe and Japan. Currently, Essential is rumored to be in talks with multiple carriers from the U.K including EE to decide on a launch date for the Essential Phone. In Canada, the smartphone would be exclusively launched through TELUS. In the U.S., the Essential Phone is priced at $699, but there is no information on the pricing of the phone for other markets. The U.S. pricing suggest that the Essential Phone won’t be carrying cheaper price tag in the western European markets.
Are you interested in the Essential Phone? Tell us your thoughts by adding comments below.
When the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ were launched, initial reports had revealed that these flagship that come with full-screen design have met with overwhelming response all over the world. However, recent reports have claimed that the sales of Galaxy S8 duo are lagging behind the Galaxy S7 even though South Korean company did not reveal the official numbers. During a recent press meeting in Taipei, Samsung CEO DJ Koh debunked these reports by giving out some information on the sales of Galaxy S8 and S8+.
According to Koh, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ sales are 15 percent than the sales of their predecessors when compared to the same period in 2016. He added that the company is of the view that the sales of Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ will grow even more in the upcoming third and fourth quarters of this year. Koh has not given out any particular details on how many units of Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ were sold.
In the recent weeks, the Galaxy S8 and S8+ have been spotted with big discounts. Such price cuts could also help the sales number of the Galaxy S8 duo to increased significantly.
It was during this meeting that Koh gave out new information on Galaxy Note 8’s arrival. He revealed that the Note 8 would be launching at the end of the next month. The South Korean media have revealed in the past week that the Note 8 would be launching on Aug. 23.
Koh stated that Samsung would be using two-phase release strategy for the Galaxy Note 8. In the first phase that will start in early September, the Note 8 would be hitting markets like the South Korea, the U.S. and the U.K. The second phase would begin October during which the Note 8 will be released in other markets.
Samsung has recently released the Galaxy Note Fan Edition and it has too met with an overwhelming reception. Before the release of Note FE, the daily device activations in South Korea was 15,000. However, after the release of Note 8, the daily device activations have increased to 24,000 in the country. Samsung has planned to sell the Galaxy Note FE only in South Korea. However, an insider has revealed that the Note FE would be also releasing in some other regions in this month.
Nokia fans have been eagerly waiting for HMD Global to announce its flagship smartphone. Recent rumors have revealed that the Nokia 8 is the upcoming flagship smartphone from the Finnish company. Yesterday, Evan Blass, one of the trusted leaksters had revealed a press render of the upcoming Nokia 8. Now, plenty of information on the hardware specifications of the Nokia 8 have surfaced.
Previous rumors had suggested that Nokia 9 is the flagship phone from the company and its model number is TA-1004. Reliable sources have made it certain that Nokia 8 is the much-awaited flagship from Nokia and TA-1004 is its model number. This model has appeared has also appeared on Geekbench listing. The benchmarking platform has revealed that the Nokia 8 is fueled by Snapdragon 835 that includes an octa-core processor with four cores working at 2.45 GHz and remaining four low performance cores clocking at 1.9 GHz. The SoC also includes Adreno 540 graphics.
The Snapdragon 835 chipset will be supported by 4 GB RAM and the flagship phone will be arriving with an internal storage capacity of 64 GB. The Nokia 8 will be a dual-SIM phone. However, there is no information on whether the company would be releasing a single-SIM edition of Nokia 8.
Speculations are rife that the Nokia 8 would be equipped with a 5.7-inch display that would be supporting Quad HD resolution. However, previous rumors have also revealed that the Nokia 8 would featuring a 5.3-inch QHD display. The leaked press render clearly shows that the Nokia 8 would be featuring Zeiss brand twin cameras on the rear panel. Previous rumors have suggested that a pair of 13-megapixel shooters will be sitting on the backside of Nokia 8.
The Nokia 8 would be available in multiple color choices. It is expected to be come in colors like blue, gold/blue, gold copper and steel/silver. An unknown Scandinavian retailer has revealed that the Nokia 8 would be costing €589 (~$679). This pricing seems to be inclusive of the high VAT rates of the region. This suggest that the actual price of the Nokia 8 would be somewhere around €550 (~$634).
HMD Global has not confirmed on whether on when it will be debuting the Nokia 8. However, the retailer from Scandinavia has claimed that it would be launching as early as July 31.
Chinese company 90 Points used Xiaomi’s MIJIA crowdfunding platform to launch its innovative colourful sunscreen windbreaker or windcheater jacket back in April. The 90 Points Colourful Sunscreen Windcheater reportedly sold out in just 4.3 seconds perhaps due to the attractive design and ultra cheap price tag which came in at 179 Yuan ($26).
Since then, the Xiaomi 90 Points Colorful Windcheater has been out of circulation but it might interest you to know that the 90-points Sunscreen Windbreaker has now started selling, this time around not on Mi Home but on 90 Points Official flagship store. Also, the price is no longer 179 Yuan ($26) but 199 Yuan ($29) which is still a fairly decent price tag. It should be noted that only the models for males are available right now.
As a reminder, the Xiaomi 90 Points Colorful Windcheater comes with a wicking or material which is breathable and absorbs ultraviolet rays, thus protecting the skin of the wearer. It is manufactured using a water-soluble yarn fabric, unlike the previously launched 90-points jacket that was a water-resistant type. The coat comes with a reflective printing on the back and shoulders, making it a nice and safe outfit for use at night. The reflective printing reflects when light shines on it. Furthermore, the 90 Points jacket comes in different sizes and is available in three attractive colours. The model for males comes in blue and dark gray colours while the female jacket comes in green colour only. You can access the sales page from here.
As at the period Xiaomi launched the Mi Note 2 last year with a curved OLED display, there were speculations that the competition would shift to flexible display panels this year due to the rising number of interests in OLED technology especially the flexible panels. The launch of the Mi Mix alongside the Mi Note 2, perhaps contributed greatly to the shift of focus to large bezel-less displays. Seems attention is now heading back to OLED displays and as usual, Xiaomi is taking the front seat.
A report on South Korea media indicates that Xiaomi has signed an agreement with Samsung Display (SDI) for the supply of OLED panels for its 2018 flagship. The report claims Samsung Displays which is an arm of the conglomerate will supply rigid OLED panels to Xiaomi that are 6.01 inches in sizes. The first shipment which is about 1 million units will be done in December this year while the next batch said to be 2.2 million units will ship in the following month (January 2018).
The report also stated that Xiaomi’s well-publicised initial plan to use more sophisticated LG OLED panels was thwarted due to delays in LG’s production plans. It was LG who supplied the flexible OLEDs used on the Mi Note 2. The LG panels were supposed to be 5.49 inches in size but will be flexible OLED panels. Unfortunately, LG Display’s new plant that was supposed to mass produce the flexible OLED panels wasn’t ready on time and would commence production in August. It is not as if the flexible display would enable us to bend the smartphone like an elastic just yet. There will still be a rigid body and a front glass on top the display such that you might not even feel the effect of the flexible display. Well, except in a situation where the smartphone takes a serious fall that should ordinarily have shattered the display. Apart from its flexibility, LG is said to have effected some changes in the display panel resolution from FHD to QHD.
If Xiaomi is going to stick to its routine, the first flagship that we may be seeing in 2018 will likely be the Mi 7. The fact that it is a rigid OLED panel takes some juice out of the story, though. But then, OLED panels offer quite a lot in terms of display picture quality and with Xiaomi’s pedigree, the panel could be deployed to produce a stunning, true flagship. Sadly, we are at a loss as to whether the Mi Note 3 which would have OLED display would still be launched this year. The Redmi Pro 2’s own OLED panel may be sourced from domestic manufacturers in China
The Nokia 8 is no doubt the next phone to come from HMD Global. Not a week has gone by without at least an article on it. With a rumored July release, we get to see the Nokia 8 in its full glory thanks to Evan Blass (@evleaks).
Earlier today, he had first posted an image of the rear camera setup, confirming it will indeed have dual cameras and Carl Zeiss optics. That image was followed by another one that showed the Nokia 8 in full.
The Nokia 8 can be best described as a Nokia 6 with dual cameras. The design is too similar that we wonder if the design team was just lazy. This is a flagship device and it wouldn’t be too much to see it have thinner bezels or a more premium look.
The Nokia 8 doesn’t have a curved display neither does it have a glass back. This is aluminium and since the design is like that of the Nokia 6, we expect it to have the same strength. According to JerryRigEverything, the Nokia 6 might be the strongest phone of 2017. So here is hoping the Nokia 8 delivers on strength and durability.
The Nokia 6 is ridiculously cheap on Amazon right now: https://t.co/gQMnGrdHqU (This might be the strongest phone of 2017)
— JerryRigEverything (@ZacksJerryRig) July 1, 2017
The Nokia 8 in the leaked image is blue. The camera setup is covered by a single piece of glass. The dual sensors are lined up vertically which is nice as we are tired of seeing the iPhone 7 Plus’ design. The word “ZEISS” is written below the second sensor followed by what appears to be a laser focus module and then the LED flash below it.
At the top of the camera housing is a single microphone hole and below the housing is the Nokia logo. Move to the bottom and there is some text that let’s you know it is designed by HMD Global Oy and manufactured in China.
An interesting info you shouldn’t miss is the model number which is TA-1012 and not TA-1004. This is interesting as previous reports had said the Nokia 8 and not the Nokia 9′ model number is TA-1004.
Now the big question is if this is another variant of the Nokia 8, probably with a different memory configuration, or is this the original model number of the device? We will let you know when we confirm.
Up front, we have a physical home button that doubles as a fingerprint scanner. At the top, there is the front facing camera on the left and Nokia’s logo on the right. It is hard to ignore the really thick bezels on this phone.
The Nokia 8 will be powered by a Snapdragon 835 processor paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. It is expected to launch at the end of the month with a price tag of €598 (~$686/¥4652) in Europe.
Last week, Sharp’s General Manager of mobile phone business unit in China posted a photo of the manufacturer’s yet-to-be released bezel-less smartphone. Apart from the device itself sharing similarities to the Essential PH-1, the entire image is also strikingly similar to the very first image of the Essential phone released to the public. A new image of the phone has surfaced and it wears an entirely different look.
Posted by the Vice President of Foxconn Technology Group, Luo Zhongsheng, the image shows several units of the phone undergoing testing in the factory.
Unlike the first image which has a nearly bezel design and looks like the Essential PH-1, the new device has moderately-sized bezels. The top bezel is significantly smaller than what you will find on most phones. The thickness can even be compared to that of the Samsung Galaxy S8.
The side bezels are okay but we are concerned about the lower bezel. From the image, we can see Sharp is using on-screen buttons but there is a thick black bar at the base which is part of the screen. That is a waste of space and defeats the purpose of the on-screen buttons. If it is going to be there permanently, why then is the lower bezel that thick?
Xiaomi has a reputation of developing products either alone or in partnership with other companies, which meets various kinds of needs. The latest Smart lighting product which would be unveiled tomorrow is one of such product. The light is a night lamp with would come with a motion sensor, meaning it only comes on when motion is detected.
The light is meant to take care of movement at nights to use the bathroom which is a usual practice by the elderly. In order not to disturb the sleep of others who are already sleeping, this product is being introduced. The light night is known as Mi Induction Night Lamp and as the name implies, it uses induction current. It uses photosensitive with human infrared dual induction technology to come on when motion is detected. The light comes with a simple design and is white. The is a hoot with which it can be hung on the wall or ceiling. In addition, it has a 120 ° wide-angle sensing range and a sensing distance of up to 5-7 meters. The brightness is adjustable and the light stays on for 15 seconds after which it goes off if no motion is detected.
This morning we learnt that Meizu will be launching its flagship, the Pro7, on July 26. New info from tech analyst, Kevin Wang says Xiaomi also has an event on that same day. Although he didn’t specify the device launching, sources say it is the Xiaomi Mi 5X.
The Mi 5X is the latest Xiaomi device in the news. The new smartphone is the same one that is supposed to take on Vivo and OPPO with its photography centered specs. Initially thought to launch under a new sub-brand called Lanmi (Blue Rice) and as the Lanmi X1, it appears things have taken a different turn.
The Xiaomi Mi 5X will feature dual rear cameras said to be a combination of a Sony IMX386 sensor and a Samsung S5K3M3 CMOS sensor. It will also have a 16MP front facing camera. A leaked poster says it will have a 5.5-inch display,Snapdragon 625 processor, and 4GB of RAM. Price tag is set at ¥1999 (~$295).
There is also mention of a high-end model with a Snapdragon 660, 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. If the base version is priced at almost $300, we should expect at most a $350 price on the high-end model and that is not too far from the price of the Mi 6.
Things haven’t really gone well for Mediatek this year. Its high-end Helio X30 chip will just be arriving this month in the Meizu Pro 7, months after its official release.
The late arrival of the Helio X30 isn’t the only issue Mediatek has to deal with. Even in the other categories, it has lost its customers to Qualcomm. The Snapdragon 400 and 600 series are now the go-to chips for entry level and mid-range phones.
The cumulative effect is a drop in gross margin, dropping to as low as 35% from almost 50%. However, the chip maker still remains number 2 in the list of top IC suppliers this year.
Market sources say Mediatek is planning a comeback with the release of the Helio X30 and some new chips built using TSMC’s 12nm process technology. The 12nm chips are expected to bring Mediatek a highly competitive performance/cost advantage.
There are no other details about the new chips but we know the upcoming Helio P23 isn’t one of them as early leaks say its a 16nm chip. The launch of the new chip may help the company regain lost customers such as OPPO, Vivo, and Xiaomi.
A buyer who has done his homework would know that Kaby Lake Core M convertibles are probably your best bet for a reasonably priced performance tablet. Atom chips simply lack the punch for smooth multi-tasking on a day to day basis, which is where Core M series fill in the performance void. In fact, recent MacBooks have Core M3 chipsets inside. So, it’s good to see Chinese manufacturers such as Cube have models like the Cube Mix Plus powered by the new generation Core M3 chip that offers great performance at a reasonable price tag.
I managed to get hold of the Cube Mix Plus recently and for the past few days have been playing around with the device to see how it performs in real life situations. Read on to find out how the tablet performs in our Cube Mix Plus review.
Before I move on to the review, I would like to thank Gearbest for sending in this tablet. You can get hold of the Cube Mix Plus at just $375 (after discount) by using the $35 coupon exclusive for our readers: CuBe26. Purchase it from here.
Cube Mix Plus Review: Design
The Cube Mix Plus has a familiar design since it looks exactly like the old Cube i7 Book convertible. The company probably decided to save cost using the same design as the older model, upgrading just the internals to ensure that the specifications are up to date according to current market trends. Nevertheless, the Cube Mix Plus looks quite premium with its all metal body and two tone design. The tablet comes in silver at the back and a white front. To be honest, the white makes the front bezels look quite big but I feel the size of the bezels are enough to comfortably place your thumbs around to sides while holding the tablet.
Don’t even think about using the tablet with one hand. The tablet itself weighs 715 grams and with the keyboard connected, the total weight goes up to 1.37 kg. The large size, as well as the weight, makes it hard to hold the tablet for long periods of time. You would rather be comfortable placing it on a stand or docking it on the keyboard if you are planning to use for a few hours at a stretch.
Coming to the buttons, the Cube Mix Plus has four buttons in total, three on top — power button, volume button (both are physical buttons in metal), a reset bios button and finally there’s a capacitive windows button right up front, just below the display. The buttons are clicky and are of good quality. However, the power button response is not that great, an issue which I have seen in many other tablets. It’s not a deal breaker, but when you click the power button, the screen lights up after a delay. It might take a few tries to get used to this delay, but you can live with it.
All the ports are located on the left side of the tablet and the speakers are on the right. The ports are conveniently labeled at the back. Connectivity ports include 3.5mm headphone jack, MicroSD card slot, USB Type-C, USB 3.0, and DC 12V charging port. Note that the tablet ships with a connector for the USB 3.0 port because the one on the tablet is a non-standard one.
To be honest, the speakers on the side sucks. The volume of the speakers are extremely low and it’s nearly unusable when watching a movie.
At the bottom, you’ll find the magnets for docking into the keyboard. The process is smooth and quick and I’ll talk more about it in the keyboard section of the review below.
Cube Mix Plus Keyboard
The keyboard for the tablet comes as a separate accessory that will set you back an additional $50. It’s heavy, most likely to keep the weight of the tablet on top balanced, but unfortunately, it does not have a battery, so docking the tablet won’t boost its battery life.
I got the deep blue color for the keyboard as I didn’t like white version. Well, you won’t be seeing the blue much, since the top is anyway black and only the bottom of the keyboard gets the rich blue shade.
Despite its heavy profile, the keyboard is quite compact and fits well with the overall tablet convertible design. Docking the tablet is easy, all you have to do is line up the slots at the bottom of the tablet and the magnets will finish the job for you. Once docked, the tablet remains sturdy and the design instills confidence in the overall setup.
The keys on the keyboard are clicky and responsive. It’s a bit noisier than what I would have preferred but you get used to it. Note that the keys are not backlit, so you’ll find it hard to work at night.
Although the company skipped on brightness control buttons on the keyboard, there’s a dedicated touchpad enable/disable button along with a notification light to indicate its status. This is handy especially if you are like me who prefers a mouse over touchpad in such convertibles.
Coming to the touchpad, the lag is minimal and the response is good. The size maybe a bit small, but for me, the position was not ideal as I often used to hit the touchpad accidentally while typing a document. Now you know why I prefer a mouse over touchpad on such convertibles. In such a situation, the touchpad disable button comes in real handy.
Windows 10 gestures on the touch pad work fine. I found no major issues with scrolling, multitasking by using two finger / three finger gestures and it does make your life a hell lot easier when you are going through different documents at one go.
Note that you can also dock the tablet in the opposite direction — a mode which is often referred to as the presentation mode. So, the keyboard is still attached to the tablet, but with the display facing the other side. It is ideal for showing presentations to a limited number of people.
Cube Mix Plus Display
The Cube Mix Plus has one of the better displays among affordable tablets. The viewing angles are excellent and the colors are rich and crisp. The screen is not made for outdoors as it’s a bit reflective and your eyes will definitely give you a sharp feedback within minutes of use outdoors. Also, the screen is not fully laminated, which means there’s a gap in the panel.
The resolution is great and everything on the screen looks crisp and clear. The touch is fine and I didn’t face any issues while scrolling through documents or websites. Reading on the tablet is also a pleasure since you can keep the brightness at just around 25% most of the time and it’s still bright enough for your everyday indoor usage.
You do get a scratch guard pre-installed on the tablet (be careful while removing the plastic on top as you might remove the scratch guard as well in the process) but it’s just basic protection. Within a few days of usage, my scratch guard already had a few scratches to boast about.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t get hold of a Wacom stylus to try out on the Mix Plus.
Cube Mix Plus Performance
I won’t focus much on the technical specifications of the tablet in this Cube Mix Plus Review, since that’s easily available on stores like Gearbest. Instead, I ‘ll try to focus on the real life performance of the tablet to see how it handles browsing, video playback, and gaming.
First, let’s take a look at few of the benchmarks.
On Geekbench, the Cube Mix Plus performs well. The scores are quite close to previous generation Core M3 Macbook models, which goes on to show you’ll be able to work with apps with ease.
Here are all the benchmark scores of the convertible. These scores show that the tablet is a mid-range performer and even with just 4GB of RAM inside, it does well in most benchmarks.
Multitasking on the Cube Mix Plus is easy. You can quickly switch to tablet mode once undocked from the keyboard and it’s easy to work with multiple apps at a time. Most apps load quickly and you won’t notice any visible lags in its performance.
Core M3 also manages to handle 4K video playback well. I could easily stream 4K videos on YouTube without any visible lag. Even playback right on the tablet is smooth.
Coming to the browsing performance, you can open 10-12 tabs and switch between them quickly. I didn’t experience any lag in switching between these tabs and I don’t think you’ll find any issues with things like browsing or paint on this Core M3 powered convertible.
If you are going to primarily use the tablet convertible for editing word / excel files, note that you’ll be able to work with ease. You get a licensed copy of Windows 10 on the tablet, but the Office 365 suite is free for just one month. Post that, you’ll have to purchase a license to create or edit documents on the tablet.
As for the connectivity performance, I found the Wi-Fi connection to be great, with the tablet managing a solid connection for great streaming, browsing experience. To be honest, you shouldn’t have any issues with the Wi-Fi performance of the tablet.
Thermal throttling is not an issue on the Cube Mix Plus. But do note that the tablet gets hot on its left side pretty quickly when you are working on heavy apps. On my tablet, the temperature still hasn’t reached a level where I couldn’t hold it, but I sure felt the heat while playing a few games and running the benchmark applications.
I am not a big gamer, so I couldn’t install a lot of games on the Cube Mix Plus. Games like CS Global Offensive works well in standard settings with graphics set low in the advanced video options. The frame rate is good in these games and you can easily play them as you would on a desktop. But things get a bit choppy when it comes to games like Battlefield and Fallout 4, even in low settings. I personally don’t think such convertibles are good for gaming, but if you ever want to try out a few games, note that the Core M3 will do the job for you.
Once docked, the Cube Mix Plus is a full fledged laptop. So, you can easily connect an external HDD to play / store documents and videos. Things like video calling is also a breeze since you have two cameras — one on the front and another one at the back. Note that these are not wide angle cameras and hence you look a bit zoomed in, which doesn’t look good when you are talking to someone on Skype. Also, the camera is a bit grainy, but that’s not surprising since such convertibles are not known for their stellar camera quality. Still, it’s usable in everyday situations including for making video calls.
Cube Mix Plus Battery
Intel’s Core M chipset is tailor made for convertibles with limited battery and the Cube Mix Plus does manage to capitalize on this lower power consumption to some extent. However, don’t expect to get anything over 5 hours on the tablet. The lack of battery on the keyboard is a bit of a disappointment, so all you can do is watch a couple of movies or work for around 4-5 hours continuously at a stretch. The standby time is pretty good, so if you retire for the day at 50%, you’ll be greeted by the tablet with around the same charge the next day.
Charging the tablet with its 12V DC charger took around 2.5-3 hours to go from near zero to 100%. I tried charging the Cube Mix Plus with my OnePlus 3T’s Type-C charger without any success, so I’m not sure whether you can charge the tablet via its USB-C port.
Cube Mix Plus Conclusion
With Core M3 inside a premium metal body, the Cube Mix Plus comes with most of the features that you would want in a powerful tablet. The convertible design is great, the screen is better than many competitors in the segment and the tablet manages to breeze through most apps that you throw at it with ease. There are a few short comings as well, like the reflective screen, unusable speakers, and average cameras. But if you can ignore these small things, the Cube Mix Plus can definitely be your everyday laptop convertible. I personally have been using it for the past couple of weeks and so far, I’m pretty happy with this tablet convertible.
You can get the Cube Mix Plus at $375 using the coupon: CuBe26 at Gearbest right now.
Gionee launched the S10 back in May as its new flagship device. Packing four cameras, a Helio P25 processor and a beautiful aluminium body that comes in four colors, the S10 is truly one of Gionee’s finest.
The S10 was launched in gold, black, indigo blue, and primrose green but only the first two colors were available for purchase. Today, the blue and green variants are now available to buy for the same ¥2599 ($384) price tag.
The S10 has a 5.5-inch 1080p display, 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The front cameras are a 20MP + 8MP combo with it’s own LED flash and the rear cameras are a 20MP sensor and an 8MP sensor.
Battery capacity is 3450mAh and there is Amigo 4.0 based on Android Nougat running out of the box. Gionee also bundles the phone with its own AI assistant.
Don’t let the Gionee logo on the back fool you. It doesn’t double as a fingerprint scanner even though it would look better there. Instead, the biometric scanner sits below the display underneath the home button.
The new colors are available on JD.com alongside the black and gold variants.
Since 2015, Xiaomi has released numerous smart home products as the demand for such devices have been growing rapidly. It seems that the company will be soon introducing a new full inverter air conditioner.
At the end of June, an air conditioner with model number KFR-35GW / 01ZM was spotted receiving 3C certification in China. It is manufactured by Sichuan Changhong Electronic Technology Co. Ltd and it was also found that the product be launching as full inverter air conditioner by Xiaomi.
Insiders from Sichuan Changhong foundry has revealed that Xiaomi’s air conditioner is ready and there will be multiple models of Xiaomi’s air conditioning products. Xiaomi has been working on air conditioning product since the past the three years and it seems that its arrival is finally drawing near.
It has been by the insiders that Xiaomi’s full inverter air conditioner is arriving soon and it is expected to be at least $500 cheaper than similar products from other brands. Such an aggressive pricing will compel users to buy the first air conditioner from Xiaomi.
In 2015, Xiaomi had teamed up with Midea, a private Chinese firm that specializes in electronic consumer goods, to manufacture a smart AC unit. However, the co-operation between the two companies drew ire from Gree’s president Dong Mingzhu. She commented on the collaboration between Xiaomi and Midea as “two swindlers working together make it into a fraud group.”
The i-Youth Smart Air Conditioner that was the product launched by Xiaomi and Midea was met with lukewarm response from the consumers. Industry watchers feel that since Xiaomi does not have its own AC manufacturing factory, it won’t be easy for Xiaomi to gain good market share in short time.
However, the low-priced air conditioner from the company will cause a price war with other brands. The specifications of the Xiaomi full inverter air conditioner have not surfaced yet. At present, Gree and Midea are the two leading air-conditioning brands in China followed by Haier. The market share of Xiaomi is 7 percent in the air conditioning market.
The Galaxy Note 8 has been in the news a lot lately, with the focus being on launch date. Samsung’s CEO has decided to clear the air regarding when the new flagship will hit the market.
Speaking at an interview in Taiwan during the weekend, the CEO, DJ Koh said plans are underway to release the Galaxy Note 8 in August. He then said availability will be in two phases. The US, UK and Samsung’s home country will get the phone first in September while the rest of the world gets it in October.
Samsung is aiming for an early release so that sales do not coincide with that of the new iPhones.
The new Galaxy Note 8 will be the direct successor to the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 which had to be recalled. This was due to issues with its battery which caused it to burst into flames and made it dangerous to use.
Samsung later re-launched the phone has a refurbished version this month, calling it the Galaxy FE. It is currently available in South Korea and may launch globally later. The phone now comes with a smaller battery, a Snapdragon 821 processor and Samsung’s new assistant called Bixby.
Meizu has already revealed that the much anticipated Pro 7 will be launched on July 26. The tech company has also released another poster revealing that it would be launching another product alongside the Pro 7. The product is named Meizu Flow which is a headset and it is teased with the powerful slogan “Feel nothing Hear everything”.
The details as regards the features of the headset is unknown but as we told you earlier on, the Meizu Flow is expected to be a high-end headphone and the slogan for this teaser suggests that much. The headset may have popped up online in a recent leak, though, and is said to have a design which looks similar to AKG’s high-end product – K3003. The poster also contains the inscription – “Meizu PRO headphones” which could be an indication that it would be releasing more than one headphone.
We can’t say if the headphone will be offered as part of the Pro 7 package at a reduced price but the accessory will be unveiled at the same event with the Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus as revealed on the Meizu crowdfunding platform’s Weibo account. Whether it is an in-ear, on the ear or Bluetooth headset, we’ll wait some more to find out about that but Meizu’s business background means it has the ability to manufacture quality headsets capable of giving out a powerful and much more immersive sound. However, don’t expect this one to come with a cheap price tag.
Xiaomi Mi 6 was introduced in China on April 19 and the company had confirmed that it would be coming four colors. However, at the beginning, only the black variant of Xiaomi Mi 6 was available for purchase. The white edition of Xiaomi Mi 6 was made available on July 14 and it sold very quickly. Few weeks after its launch, its Ceramic Edition was made available briefly. The other color variants of the Mi 6 would be going on sale tomorrow in the home country of China.
The four colors like Bright Black, Bright White, Bright Blue and Ceramic Black of the Xiaomi Mi 6 will be available for buying from July 18. The above poster does not provide any information on the timing of the availability of the Mi 6 color variants. It only states that these models will be priced at 2,499 Yuan (~$369).
Since white variant was exhausted within few seconds after its launch on July 14, it seems that the other variants will be sold out quickly. Xiaomi has not given any information on the number of units of each color variants of Mi 6 that will be available for buying tomorrow.
Xiaomi Mi 6 is available with a screen size of 5.15 inches that supports full HD resolution. It is fueled by Snapdragon 835 and 6 GB of RAM. It comes in storage models like 64 GB and 128 GB. It has a 12-megapixel dual rear camera system and an 8-megapixel frontal camera. The 3,350mAh battery is enabled with Quick Charge 3.0 support.
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