A couple of renders of the Moto G5S Plus had leaked a while back showing the device will be available in four different colour variants. The colours on display include Gold, Grey, Silver model with White front and Gold model with a white display bezels. A new render has leaked showing there is likely to be another colour variant which will have a Grey body and a Gold colour upfront on the display bezels.
The design of the new render is exactly the same as the earlier ones, showing a dual rear camera setup among other features. The tipster also revealed a few specs of the Moto G5S Plus including a 3,068mAh battery and what looks like the price in India which will likely fall between Rs. 18,999 – Rs. 19,999 ($295 – $310).
The Moto G5s Plus is expected to be launched along with the Moto G5S but the specifications of both models are still unknown. They join a growing list of models Lenovo is expected to release this year under the Moto line. Other models like the Moto Z2, Moto Z2 Force, Moto Z2 Play, Moto E4, Moto E4 Plus, and Moto X4 are all expected this year. With such long lineup of models in the works, there is absolutely no doubt that Lenovo is really serious about focusing on the Moto brand to help its smartphone business which isn’t yet as successful as the PC arm.
ASUS unveiled the third iteration of its camera-cenric Zoom series at CES this year. Called the Zenfone 3 Zoom, the new phone packs dual rear cameras in a design similar to that of the iPhone 7 Plus.
A few months later, there was news of a Zenfone Zoom S that was said to feature the same specs as the Zenfone 3 Zoom save for a smaller 5.2”/5.0” display. Turns out both phones are one and the same. Actually a case of different names for different markets. The Zenfone Zoom S is already available in Indonesia and it has the same ZE553KL model number as the Zenfone 3 Zoom.
The next stop for the Zenfone Zoom S is Europe and it will be arriving next month for €469. The phone has a 5.5-inch 1080p AMOLED display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, a Snapdragon 625 processor and a massive 5000mAh battery that supports reverse charging. RAM is 4GB and storage is 64GB.
The highlight of the phone is its dual rear cameras. One is a 12MP sensor with a f/1.7 aperture and the the other is another 12MP sensor with a f/2.8 aperture and 2.3X optical zoom. ASUS’ SuperPixel ™ Technology is present to help you take stunning pictures even in low-light conditions. There is also portrait mode present, OIS and EIS. The front facing camera is a 13MP sensor.
Latest report says the LG V30 may be announced at IFA Berlin 2017. Although the event is scheduled to start on September 1 and run through to September 6, the launch is said to be on August 31.We presume it will be unveiled at a sort of pre-event before IFA begins.
The LG V30 will be the third in the V-series and will be LG’s first Snapdragon 835 phone. According to leakster @OnLeaks, the LG V30 will be sporting a new design.
According to my sources, #LGV30 will support wireless charging and thus, very likely have glass back. Still have dual rear cam and rear FPS.
Unlike its predecessors which both have metal backs, the LG V30 will swap it for glass. The change in material also means the V30 gets wireless charging support. Other details mentioned by OnLeaks include the presence of dual rear cameras and a rear mounted fingerprint scanner.
Some say the change to glass is a move by LG to unify the design language of its flagships. The LG G6 and its newly announced siblings sport glass backs but only the G6 Plus supports wireless charging.
Elephone is not a newcomer to the smartphone game as they have produced a lot of devices over the years. The P8 mini is one of their latest models and it has quite a few features including 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Learn more in the full Elephone P8 mini review.
The phone ships with all the usual stuff, no extras included.
DESIGN and DISPLAY
When it comes to the design, the P8 mini is one of those rare compact phones that have 5” 1080p display, which is actually great. It’s sharp and vibrant for both indoor and outdoor use.
The phone has a metal backplate, which is great but the top and bottom parts, as well as the frame, is made of plastic. On the other hand, the build quality is good, I have no complaints.
One of the key selling points of this phone is the dual-camera setup that consists of one 13MP shooter and another 2MP sensor.
There is no LED notification light but we have a beefy 16MP selfie camera with a front firing LED flash. Unfortunately, the capacitive keys are not backlit.
The loudspeaker quality does not really impress like on most of the budget phones.
The fingerprint scanner may not be the fastest out there but it gets the job done and it unlocks the phone straight from the standby mode.
HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE
The phone sports pretty good specs for the price. The device ships with an octa-core MTK6750T chip (1.5GHz), 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage.
The gaming performance is pretty good if you play the 3D games like Asphalt 8 on medium graphics. However, you should expect quite a few skipped frames and stutter if you switch the graphics settings to the max.
BENCHMARKS
USER INTERFACE
The Elephone P8 mini ships with a stock Android 7.0 out of the box. There aren’t many features to talk about as the company did not add any of them but what is the most important is that the phone is really fast, fluid and responsive all the time, even after installing quite a few apps.
CAMERAS
The Elephone P8 mini can take some good-looking pictures in good lighting conditions. There is a good amount of detail, the pictures look quite sharp and in general, these are decent results from a $140 phone. However, dynamic range is usually off in most of the shots.
The dual-camera setup allows you to take some good-looking pictures with bokeh effect. Sure, this is not the flagship-grade quality but the results are quite impressive for such a cheap device.
The camera does not impress in low-light but honestly, there are a lot more cheap phones that perform worse than this.
Selfie pictures look pretty good. Sure, there could be less noise but in general, the quality is decent for a budget phone. The front-facing LED flash lets you take selfies at night. Don’t expect great image quality but you may find it useful from time to time.
The 1080p video quality is just mediocre. There could be more detail, less noise and there is no continuous auto-focus.
Selfie video quality is again, kind of mediocre but it is possible to use the camera for video chats or other stuff.
When it comes to connectivity, the call quality is above average, the Wifi works fine and GPS is usable for navigation although it is not the most accurate out there.
BATTERY LIFE
The 2860mAh battery performs quite well. I was able to get over 5 hours of screen-on time, which is a good result considering the fact that I used the phone quite intensively.
CONCLUSIONS
The Elephone P8 mini is yet another cheap phone from China that aims to deliver a lot of value for the price and it succeeds in quite a few ways.
The phone looks quite nice, it has great specs, the dual camera is pretty good for cheap phone and I love that the P8 mini is fast on the daily basis, thanks to the stock Android 7.0.
Obviously, you should consider some caveats like a lack of notification LED light or backlit capacitive keys, mediocre loudspeaker, average video quality and finally, MTK6750 chip is not designed for hardcore gamers.
At the end of the day, the Elephone P8 mini is surprisingly decent phone for the price of about $140 but as always, make sure to consider a few shortcomings like on any other budget phone.
Gizmochina readers can get a discount with a COUPON CODE: P8Mi
OnePlus 5 was launched only recently and is already on sale in China, available in Midnight Black version with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage going for around $539 and Slate Gray coloured version with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage selling for $479. That may not be the only two colours the device may come with as a TENAA listing for the OnePlus flagship has appeared online showing the smartphone will be available in three different colour variants.
According to the listing, the colour variants include the Midnight black and Space gray which is already available. However, the device will also come in a Mint gold colour variant which may be released sometime later.
The OnePlus 5 flash sale has seen the flagship selling out completely across all platforms despite assurance from OnePlus that there were enough units in stock await the start of sales. The company’s CEO even hinted that the company might mobilise more units from overseas market. But that isn’t likely going to include the Mint gold version. Rather, the Mint gold version may be released later on just like the Soft gold version of the OnePlus 3 and 3T was only released some months after the initial models were launched.
Huawei, OPPO and Vivo presently sit at the top of the charts in China in terms of smartphone shipments for last year in that order. That pace was expected to be continued this year but there are rumours that the trio may have lowered their targets for 2017 due to constraints in ramping up shipments to an appreciable level in non-China markets. This was contained in a recent report by Taiwan-based IC design houses.
Huawei who presently occupy the number one position in China is number three in the global standing but has continued to intensify efforts to break the ranks of Apple and Samsung, the world’s two largest phone manufacturers. Unfortunately, the company is yet to make headway in that regard despite huge investment in adverts and marketing in a bid to make headway in the U.S market.
The investment resulted in a reduction in its earnings last year but the company is still yet to make any progress. The company’s low presence in the US market is said to have resulted in a stagnated growth for the tech giant. A recent report by Korea-based Business Post states that Huawei’s shipment for Q2 2017 is expected to pitch at 30 million units which is a reduced figure compared to 32 million units shipped this same period last year. This may turn out to be an incorrect projection as IDC reported earlier that Huawei shipped 34.2 million smartphones in the Q1 2017, representing a 21.7% increase from last year’s figure. The whole of last year saw Huawei shipping a total of 139 million smartphones.
On the other hand, BBK subsidiaries OPPO and Vivo are reportedly struggling, albeit unsuccessfully to replicate their successes in China in several overseas markets by setting up several retail chains in those markets. Such capital-intensive moves are only capable of yielding results in the long term so, presently, the results are yet to start rolling in. Last year, OPPO shipped 99.4 million smartphones while Vivo recorded 77.3 million units in shipment. Both companies had set a target of 150 million units each for 2017 but that may be a difficult nut to crack as it stands.
Sleek is the first word that comes to our mind when we take the OnePlus 5 in our hands. That’s not a new thing since the OnePlus 3T was a super slim device as well. But the OP5 takes things a bit further by slicing down the thickness to 7.3mm. To improve the ergonomics, the new flagship is curvier than its predecessor and this results in a better hands on feel.
While the phone does feel good in our hands, we can’t deny its striking resemblance to the iPhone 7 Plus. Taking inspiration from Apple isn’t usually a bad thing, considering how the Cupertino giant excels in product designs, but we would have hoped the resemblance was less evident. Still, if you can ignore this iPhone-esque design, the OnePlus 5 is a solid smartphone by all means and looks quite premium. Coming in two colors, at least for now (we probably have a mint gold color option coming according to a TENAA listing), Midnight Black and Slate Gray. We have got both the models with us today, and personally, I prefer the slate gray color because it looks distinct, unlike the black color option which we have seen in a few models already. But that’s just a personal preference.
The front of the phone is pretty much the same as the OnePlus 3T, only a tad bit longer. The placement of the front camera, earpiece, and even the physical home button is the same as the 3T. So, you’ll be forgiven if you mistake this for its predecessor. We even know that the company has used the same Optic AMOLED display panel as the earlier model, with 1080p resolution. Well, OnePlus probably thought — don’t fix something that ain’t broken. Still, I personally would have preferred some kind of change in the front design to distinguish the OnePlus 5 from its predecessor. But that’s just me.
Coming to the back, don’t worry, you will never mistake the OnePlus 5 for the OnePlus 3T. But you may mistake it for the iPhone 7 Plus. The dual camera and flash arrangement are identical to the Apple flagship, but the +1 logo at the center will establish its identity.
Like the OnePlus 3T, the power button is on the right side of the phone, while the left side houses the volume buttons and the alert slider. I personally find the alert slider extremely useful to switch user profiles and it’s good to see the slider on the OnePlus 5 as well. The top of the phone is clean while the bottom features all the important components like the USB Type-C, speaker grill as well as 3.5mm headphone jack. But what the phone lacks is IP67 certification, which most flagships seem to boast in 2017. Ingress protection can seriously prolong the life of a flagship and it’s disappointing to see that OnePlus skipped on this.
Hardware is one area where the company didn’t cut any corners, equipping the phone with the highest configuration in a smartphone today. So you get the super fast Snapdragon 835 chip, 6GB / 8GB RAM options and dual cameras at the back. The dual cameras are also of the highest resolution in today’s market, but the real performance depends a lot on software optimizations. OnePlus seems to have done a good job in this regard, but we haven’t tested the camera in detail yet, and we’ll have to wait and see how it does in real life.
But the UI is super snappy, one of the fastest performances that we have seen on a smartphone. Apps load in an instant and the near-stock Android gives you a feeling that the phone is on steroids. So, kudos to OnePlus for making the phone super fast.
We’ll soon test the dual cameras at the back as well as compare it with other flagship phones of 2017. So stay tuned to Gizmochina for more updates.
Meanwhile, let us know which color do you prefer on the OnePlus 5?
Also, check out a basic OnePlus 5 hands on of the device in the video below. We’ll soon be bringing a comparison video of OnePlus 5 vs OPPO R11.
LG has today announced that it has manufactured a mammoth display that is not just large but also flexible and transparent. The LG display is touted to be the world’s first flexible transparent display standing at a tall 77 inches. On a lighter note, this display is reportedly taller than Tom Cruise who Google says is 5 feet 7 inches, or 170 centimetres tall. Here’s how that’s possible, the display is 77 inches when measured diagonally and has an aspect ratio of 16:9. This gives the display’s height as 170.5 centimetres, just a tad taller thanCruise, but not if Cruise wears shoes.
As for the specifications, the LG display features a UHD resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels and presents with 40% transparency. The display can be fixed in a manner that it makes a curvature of up to 80 degrees. LG shared a photo of how the display pans out and it can be seen to be a massive, curved screen with a transparency similar to a glass with a light tint.
The display is specifically soothed for signage and ad board and may not be coming as TV displays any time soon but shows how well OLED technology has evolved over the years. We are still expecting flexible smartphones and LG is one of those tipped to have that in the works. This latest flexible transparent display could be a pointer that we may just see a flexible smartphone soon.
Xiaomi has revealed another press conference but this time for a “MIJIA” product. According to the source, we are expecting Xiaomi to release a larger product than usual, and this could be a release of a Xiaomi 120-inch projector, according to the source.
From the photo provided, we can clearly see a projected image at a very wide span and what appears to be high-resolution imagery reproduced on the wall.
According to the sources, analyst Sun Changxu has hinted that this release could be a wide-screen projector.
If these rumors are true, Xiaomi’s projector can provide a competitive alternative to other rival companies. We can be looking at a less-pricey high-resolution counterpart in relation to Sony’s lineup of products. From the source, if Xiaomi does release a projector, it will be priced at an affordable price, like Xiaomi’s TV range, whilst providing very high-spec components and features.
We will have to take this with a grain of salt though as Xiaomi has not officially confirmed or teased any ideas of what their new product may be.
What are your thoughts on an affordable Xiaomi Projector? If the price was reasonable would you like to own one?
Meizu has been unusually low in the number of smartphones they have released so far this year when compared with smartphones released last year. Apart from the launch of the Meizu E2 with its spectacular LED flash design, we are yet to see a new model with flagship design. But all that will likely be changing soon as the tech giant will launch the long awaited Pro 7 soon.
The Meizu Pro has been the subject of recent rumours and has been a long awaited device. The flagship model has now tipped as coming on July 26. The tip is an unofficial one that can’t really be authenticated so we can treat it as a rumour. But then, anything is possible when it comes to China’s OEMs and rumours/ leaks.
The leaked renders of the Pro 7 which have made the rounds over the week, all make the Pro 7 a smartphone to look forward to. The design looks like an innovative one with a secondary display stationed at the back of the device. The secondary display will show notifications like incoming messages, missed calls, WeChat messages, date and time. The display is said to be an E-ink display.
Apart from the secondary display, the Meizu Pro 7 is also expected to come with an innovative design which includes an ultra-thin frame and Meizu’s mBack. The device is also tipped as packing a MediaTek Helio X30 chip, a 5.2-inch 1080p display up front and a dual Sony IMX386 + IMX286 dual cameras among others. The Meizu Pro 7 Plus is also expected to debut along with the Pro 7 with a larger 5.7-inch 2K screen and likely equipped with a Samsung Exynos 8895 processor, or Helio X30 standard version of the processor.
The OPPO R11 and R11 Plus were unveiled a few weeks ago and they are already on sale in China. For those outside China, OPPO has announced that its first stop is Taiwan.
The dual camera smartphone is the world’s first Snapdragon 660 device. It has a 5.5-inch 1080p display, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The dual camera combo includes a 16MP f/1.7 Sony IMX398 sensor and a 20MP f/2.6 Sony IMX350 sensor with telephoto lens. The front camera is a 20MP f/2.0 sensor.
OPPO bundles the R11 with a 3000mAh battery with its VOOC fast charge technology. There is Android 7.1.1 Nougat on board with OPPO’s Color OS 3.1 on top.
Before the introduction of Android Nougat moniker, it was referred to as Android 7.0 and Android N. Now, when the tech enthusiasts are speculating on the launch name of Android 8.0, a leaked information has hinted that it would be launching as Android Oatmeal Cookie. However, previous speculations claimed that Google’s Android 8.0 would be introduced as Android Oreo.
The Android 8.0 source code and commit logs contains some references to “oc-dev.” It is now being speculated that “oc” may probably stand for “Oatmeal Cookie.” This is not just one evidence that claim that Android 8.0 would be called Oatmeal Cookie. It is said that there were references of Oatmeal Cookie at the Google I/O 2017 event that was held in May this year.
However, before accepting Android 8.0 as Oatmeal Cookie, one should also consider that it could be a temporary codename that is being internally used to referred to Android 8.0. In 2013, Google had referred to Android 4.4 as Key-Lime Pie, but it was actually launched as Android KitKat. Hence, there is a possibility that Google introduce Android 8.0 with a different moniker.
Here are the references of Oatmeal Cookie in Google I/O slide
Looks like at least internally Android O is “Oatmeal Cookie.” Noticed this in an I/O slide. pic.twitter.com/9AZD0Zdc8l
Oatmeal Cookie appears at I/O as (presumably) the internal codename for O, so I’m still hopeful for a release name of Android Oreo 🙂 pic.twitter.com/LRHihJvtNs
As far as Android Oreo moniker is concerned, it seems that it won’t be happening because Google and Nabisco reportedly could not development an agreement on using “Oreo” name for Android 8.0. The first developer preview of Android 8.0 was released in March. In May came its second developer preview. Earlier this month, the third Android 8.0 developer preview was released. Google is expected to release the last developer preview soon and in the third quarter of this year, Google will be releasing the final version of Android 8.0 At that time, its actual moniker will be announced.
It goes without saying that the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2 smartphones will come preinstalled with Android O. Also, the Android O be also brought first to last year’s Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones. In 2016, the first non-Google branded smartphone to deliver Android 7.0 out-of-the-box experience was LG V20. Speculations have it that the LG V30 that is rumored to get announced on Aug. 31 would be the first non-Google phone to arrive preinstalled with it.
IC Insights, a semiconductor market research company based in the US, published a report of 2016’s top smartphones shipments. According to the source, China’s smartphone companies have been a dominating force in the market, holding a total of 11 places out of the 14.
Among the Chinese manufacturers include, Huawei ranked 3rd, OPPO 4th, Vivo 5th, with ZTE holding 6th. In addition to this Lenovo, Xiaomi, TCL, Gionee, Meizu and LeEco/Coolpad came accordingly in order.
Last year’s report for Xiaomi’s shipments saw a decrease to 52.9 million units, down since 2015 by 25%. However, this year speculation believes that Xiaomi has recoiled back significantly.
According to the industry analyst, Kevin Wang, in Q2 2017, Xiaomi sales have reached 23 million, predicting 3Q17 will have another 28 million, and closing 2017 the expected figure will be expected to exceed 80 million shipped units.
Xiaomi Mi 6
What is also interesting to see is the rapid increase in popularity for companies OPPO and Vivo, seeing massive increases of 88% and 89%, respectively. The next largest increase has been Gionee by 53%.
OPPO and Vivo, both owned by BBK Electronics, have seen this large influx of shipments has been primarily due to home market interest in the photography/selfie smartphones. Phones such as Oppo’s R-series and Vivo’s V/Y-series are expected to be the key drivers to the rapid shipment increase between 2015 and 2016. This hasn’t been limited to the home market however, international shipments to countries such as India, Indonesia and in Oppo’s circumstance, with Australia and selected parts of Europe have also played important roles in boosting the company’s shipments.
OPPO R11 Dual Cameras
Other Chinese manufacturers such as ZTE and Meizu have seen small but healthy increases to their shipments, however, it is uncertain what 2017 will bring, depending on what compelling devices they plan to release before the turn to 2018.
Whilst some Chinese manufacturers have seen positive outcomes after 2016’s report, companies such as Lenovo and especially LeEco’s side have felt the pinch in the fall in consumer demand for their phones. The backslash to LeEco’s business plan into the US has now left them tumbling on the leaderboard and unless the company’s negative shipments growth change or they improve their market approach, it is uncertain whether they’ll be appearing in next year’s report.
Lenovo felt similar effects especially in international shipments, where the company had dissolved the ZUK spinoff.
Have IC Insights’ Report surprised anyone? What are your thoughts on the top 14 companies? Were there any missing companies you’d expect on the leaderboard?
A few days back Xiaomi’s MIUI official Weibo page released a teaser poster that talked about the MIUI in development and which is thought to refer to the upcoming MIUI 9. That news was captured in the video news summary of an online media outfit and MIUI official in sharing the news broadcast has officially indicated that the MIUI 9 is in development.
The confirmation was further boosted in the comment section where the MIUI official shared some details about the design of the new interface in response to a question about its design. The MIUI official hinted that the boss, that is Lei Jun says the MIUI 9 will be more stable, more smooth and more powerful
In addition, a purported screenshot of the MIUI 9 was leaked recently showing the background. It shows the WeChat app can be switched between the chat interface and the wallet just the same way you can switch apps. That could be a new feature which will allow a new interface to be opened in a new tab within the same app. The leaked screenshot could also mean MIUI 9 is already in an advanced stage and may soon enter closed beta.
MIUI 9 will be based on Android 7.0 Nougat from the start and another sign it could be coming soon is the observation that apart from the Mi 6 and 15 other models, MIUI 8 developer ROM closed beta and the stable version on all other Xiaomi models have been suspended for a while now. Obviously, we’ll be getting more details on this soon.
In February, Xiaomi had introduced its in-house chipset named as Surge S1. It was introduced through the Xiaomi Mi 5c phone. The chipset was after more than two years of development. Fresh information that has appeared this morning states that Xiaomi is now working on its second-generation in-house chipset that is expected to arrive as Surge S2.
The Surge S1 was manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). It was built with 28nm manufacturing process. With few months of launching the Surge S1, the Chinese company has begun working on its successor. Rumors have it that the mass production of Surge S2 chips will begin soon, revealed a Taiwanese publication by citing Chinese media.
Xiaomi has conducted sampling of its upcoming Surge S2 chip. TSMC will be manufacturing the new chipset and it will be built with 16nm process technology. Its mass production is expected to begin in the third quarter of this year. Since the Surge S1 powered the Xiaomi Mi 5c, speculations are rife that the upcoming Surge S2 would be present under the hood of Xiaomi Mi 6c and 6s. Both the smartphones are rumored to debut in the last quarter of 2017.
The Xiaomi Surge S1 is an octa-core processor that feature four Cortex A53 cores running at 2.2 GHz and another four Cortex A53 cores working at 1.4 GHz. It is coupled with Mali-T860 MP4 chipset and features Cat. 4 LTE modem. It supports LPDDR3 RAM and eMMC 5.0 storage. In terms of performance, it is not on par or better than the Snapdragon 625 chipset (built with 14nm process). Hence, there is a possibility that the Surge S2 could be as powerful as the Snapdragon 625 or 652 SoC. It seems that it will take some for Xiaomi to manufacture a higher-end chip that can power a flagship phone.
ASUS is yet to announce its ZenFone 4 series smartphones. However, rumors hint that the Taiwanese company will soon launch couple of smartphones from the new ZenFone 4 series. The ZenFone 4 Max has recently Bluetooth SIG certification which indicates it may launch. Today, another unreleased and budget friendly ASUS phone with dual rear cameras has been in leaked images. Also, it specifications and pricing have also surfaced.
The images show the phone may come with polycarbonate body. Below the display is its physical Home button. The rear panel has a dual camera module at its top-left corner. It features a 3.5mm audio jack on its topside and the bottom side has a microUSB port placed between two external speakers.
The ASUS Pegasus 4A features a 5-inch display that supports an HD resolution of 720 x 1,280 pixels. One of the evidences that show that it is a mid-range phone is that it is powered by MediaTek MT6737V chipset. The ZenFone 3 Max, ZenFone Pegasus 3 and several other smartphones from Chinese companies like Leagoo, Oukitel, Umidigi and so on are powered with this chipset.
The MediaTek chip on Pegasus 4A is supported by 3 GB of RAM. The native storage of the phone is 32 GB. Its frontal camera is of 5-megapixel. The rear side is fitted with a dual camera module that includes a 13-megapixel sensor and an 8-megapixel sensor. The phone is running on Android 7.0 Nougat OS and is packed with a 4,100mAh battery.
Even though it is a smartphone with low specifications, it is rumored to arrive with a slightly costlier pricing of 1,799 Yuan (~$263). The probable reason behind increased pricing of the phone could be because of its dual rear camera system. It measures 144.26 x 71.26 x 9.1mm and its weight is 160 grams.
The MediaTek chip powered ASUS Pegasus 4A will be aimed towards Asian and European markets. With MTK onboard, it is unlikely to launch with in the U.S. because of its incompatibility with LTE bands in the U.S. Since a lot of details of the smartphone has appeared even before its launch, it is likely that the Pegasus 4A may debut in July.
Nokia has made a foray into the smartwatch and fitness wearable sector with the unveiling of a couple of its fitness gadgets which includes a smartwatch, weighing scale, blood pressure monitor and a sleep tracker. The move may be unconnected with the recent acquisition of popular watchmaker Withings. The new gadgets come with affordable prices with the cheapest being the activity and sleep tracker called Go, which will cost £39.95.
The most interesting gadgets should be the Nokia branded smartwatches which include a mid-range Nokia Steel and a high-end Nokia Steel HR. The Nokia Steel smartwatch has a traditional watch face but comes with sleep and activity tracking features. The mid-range smartwatch can also sync with a custom phone app and the weighing scale which was also unveiled.
Nokia Steel HR
On the other hand, the Nokia Steel HR has a more refined look which s quite similar to the Steel but comes with more features such as a heart rate monitor, ability to receive text, calls and event alerts. The Steel HR also has a sleep cycle analysis tool. As for battery life, the smartwatch can last up to 25 days on a full charge, something which sets it apart from the Apple Watch. A third wearable gadget is the Nokia Go which is a basic activity tracker that comes in different colours with a rubber strap and looks similar to Fitbit wearable.
As far as the prices go, the Nokia Steel is priced at £119, while the Nokia Steel HR is priced at £169.95. The Nokia Go is the cheapest with a price tag of £39.95. The Nokia Weighing scale that can also calculate BMI will retail for £59.95 while the hi-tech Blood Pressure Monitor costs £109.95. All the gadgets will connect to the New Nokia Health Mate app which is already available for download on iOS and Android app store. The smartwatches, BP monitor and Weighing scale are said to become available in the market as from September.
OnePlus 5 is now available in multiple regions such as the U.S., Canada, China and India. It is the first phone from the company to come with dual rear cameras and it is driven by the most potent mobile chipset, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835. The SoC is coupled with 8 GB of RAM. Within few days of its launch, the OnePlus 5 has been criticized for using the same display as its predecessor, for cheating on benchmarking apps, for its resemblance with iPhone 7 Plus and lower optical zoom on its camera than promised. My Fix Guide has done a comprehensive teardown of the newly launch OnePlus 5 to reveal its innards.
The teardown begins by removing the SIM card tray. Then, a T1 Torx screwdriver is used to remove the two screws that are located near the USB Type-C port at the bottom side of the phone. The back cover is released from the fuselage by sliding a crowbar along the edge of the display. Since the rear cover is connected to the motherboard, it cannot be completely removed.
The battery connect and USB-C cable can be disconnected after removing the screw for the metal plate that secures them. Plenty of metal contacts are present on the rear cover of the phone. The USB-C and 3.5mm audio jack is also affixed on the rear shell. These two items can be removed by unscrewing the four screws that secure them. The 3.5mm headphone jack and USB-C port of the OnePlus 5 is different from its predecessor.
The top part of the fuselage is occupied by the motherboard. At the center is the battery and the lower part is occupied by the loudspeaker module. This suggest that OnePlus has used the often-used three-part design for adding these parts. After removing some screws and graphite sticker. After disconnecting the cable that goes to the motherboard, it can be removed. The dual rear cameras are present without any adhesive. The rear-facing dual cameras of OnePlus 5 utilizes a Sony IMX398 16-megapixel f/1.7 aperture wide angle lens. along with a Sony IMX350 20-megapixel f/2.6 aperture telephoto lens that offers 1.6x optical zoom.
The microphone is attached with glue which can be easily removed and the bottom loudspeaker can be removed by unscrewing 8 screws. The board that is placed at the bottom is quite thin and fixed to the fuselage by using adhesive. Hence, it requires some time to remove it.
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By pulling off the green tap, the battery which fixed to the fuselage using two-side adhesive can be removed. It has a 3,300mAh battery Li-Po 3.8V battery that is provided by ATL. Its model number is BLP637. It supports 5V/4A DASH rapid charging function. To conclude, OnePlus has used a lot of sealing for the internal components and also for the rear cover. Such sealing design is only seen in smartphones of some companies like Apple, Samsung, OPPO and Vivo. However, some of the connectors including rear camera connector that are not fixed by metal plate can easily go loose.
Remember the Kodak Ektra smartphone released late last year? It appears it is the first of other android devices Kodak has in its pipeline. The brand famous for its photography-related products has released two new tablets made in partnership with Archos.
The Kodak Tablet 7 and the Kodak Tablet 10 are made by French company Archos, whom recently announced a number of new phones. The tablets will also be sold and distributed by Archos.
Kodak Tablet 7
The Kodak Tablet 7 like the name says has a 7-inch 1024 x 600 display. It is powered by a MediaTek MT8321 quad-core processor paired with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. There is a separate microSD card slot for up to 64GB of extra storage and two mini SIM slots that support 3G networks.
The Tablet 7 has an 8MP primary camera and a 2MP front facing camera for video calls. There is Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box and a 2500mAh battery that should last up to 3.5hrs. The tablet has an audio jack and a micro USB port.
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Kodak Tablet 10
The Tablet 10 is different with its bigger 10-inch 1280 x 800 display, 32GB of built-in memory, 6000mAh battery and design. Every other thing is the same as that of the Tablet 7.
Kodak bundles both tablets with Cyberlink apps that lets you edit photos and videos on the go.
It’s been two days since the release of the OnePlus 5 and many fans and reviewers have already been able to test out OnePlus 5’s flashy new camera features. There is, however, been a feature that OnePlus has not been transparent about; this being the ‘optical zoom’ feature.
The OnePlus 5’s dual camera setup houses a 16-megapixel IMX398 regular sensor with f/1.7 lens and a 20-megapixel IMX350 sensor with f/2.6 telephoto lens. The latter provides the further zoom that the 16-megapixel sensor cannot handle. This method operates the same as many other devices, such as Oppo’s R11 and Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus.
Optical zoom theoretically provides consistent quality; however, the claim OnePlus had published on their website and announcement about OnePlus 5’s 2.0x “lossless” zoom isn’t purely optical.
According to the co-founder Carl Pei, the telephoto lens zooms to a maximum at 1.6x zoom, then the OnePlus 5 switches to software-powered ‘SmartCapture Multiframe Technology’, known as ‘digital zoom’, providing the remaining 0.4x zoom.
Optical zoom is at 1.6x, the remaining 0.4x is realized through SmartCapture multiframe technology.
Carl Pei, Co-Founder of OnePlus, officially tweeted that they have advertised the OnePlus 5 provides 2x lossless zoom, and not optical. This is an attempt to clear uncertainty for consumers and fans who have hit confusion about OnePlus’ marketing.
Uncertainty and initial disappointment haven’t been limited to the camera either, as more users have discovered the OnePlus 5 has its predecessor’s display leading to more concern on what other unclear components we do not know currently.
What are your thoughts on OnePlus 5’s Lossless Zoom Feature?
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