MGCool Explorer Action Camera Review – 4K for $36.99?

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May 22, 2017

Ever since the OnePlus 3 was released, I have used every opportunity available to beg OnePlus to release a red (and blue) variant. It never happened with the OnePlus 3 nor OnePlus 3T, but it just might happen with the OnePlus 5.

A tweet via the official OnePlus account seems to be the teaser for the color variants of the OnePlus 5. The colors include grey, a mixture of colors called vaporwave, red, and grey.

What 5hould the color of your next phone be? 😉 pic.twitter.com/5FevP1VSq5

— OnePlus (@oneplus) May 22, 2017

Does that mean we are getting 4 colors? Maybe, maybe not. OnePlus’ co-founder’s reply to the tweet is “5”. This could mean there is a fifth color variant that is being kept a secret or it could just be him trolling us.

5 https://t.co/ubrAsCPxr2

— Carl Pei (@getpeid) May 22, 2017

In as much as I am excited about a possible red variant, I am also curious about the vaporwave color. How do they plan to incorporate the mixture of colors without it coming off as ugly?

Check out Zhiyun’s YouTube channel

Zhiyun Smooth 3 Review – The New Best Smartphone Stabilizer of 2017!

By

Linus

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May 22, 2017

I have reviewed quite a few smartphone and action camera gimbals over the time and | can tell you that they have become one of my favorite gadgets that allow me to shoot professional looking videos. The Zhiyun-Tech Smooth III is by far the best smartphone gimbal we have ever tested. Learn more in our full Zhiyun Smooth 3 review.

Buy Zhiyun Smooth III

VIDEO REVIEW

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWrz3l8FgA0[/embedyt]

UNBOXING

The gimbal ships with some paperwork, a charging cable and a strap that can be attached to a high-quality gimbal case that I found to be really handy once I’m on the go.

DESIGN and FEATURES

The gimbal is made entirely of metal and it just screams quality. Everything is precisely assembled and it is really comfortable to hold it in one hand. Also, I love those those red accents that make the gimbal match with my Manfrotto camera supports.

The Smooth III is thicker and a bit heavier than the previous generation Smooth II gimbal but it looks less bulky than the budget Smooth Q.

If you want to start using it, you just have slide your phone in, make sure it sits nice and tight, press the power button for a few seconds and you are good to go.

It’s worth mentioning that the Smooth III has a built-in counterweight system, meaning that you don’t need to use any counterweights like on some other gimbals. There is an extendable axis to balance the gimbal by just one step.

The gimbal holds the phone in landscape mode, which is the mode I used most of the time. If you want to use the phone vertically e.g. for some live streaming services, you simply need to unscrew the screw holding the phone cradle to change the position. That is a huge upgrade over some other gimbals like the Smooth II since you don’t need to buy any extra accessories.

In fact, I used to vertical mode to mount my action camera even though this gimbal is designed for smartphones. I can’t say it worked perfectly once I started moving the gimbal but it can get the job done for some shots. Anyway, you can buy an action camera plate to make the gimbal work perfectly with action cameras.

There are a few control buttons on the gimbal that are clicky and tactile. The mode button allows you to switch from one mode to another.

The default mode is called the pan following mode and I used it most of the time. If you press the mode button once, the gimbal will enter the locking mode, which is great for smooth pan or tilt shots if you want to film a particular object. If you press the mode button twice, you will enter the pan and pitch following mode, where the gimbal moves towards the direction you point the camera to. This mode works pretty well too. Even if you move the gimbal quickly, you will get a smooth shot since all the axes move slowly. The last mode is the selfie mode and it is triggered by pressing the mode button 3 times.

You can also control the gimbal manually using the joystick and I found this feature to work great. However, I suggest you reducing the pan and tilt speeds in the app to get those nice slow cinematic shots.

You can use the gimbal either with your stock camera app or with the ZY Play app that is an upgraded version of the Zhiyun Assistant app, and control the phone over the Bluetooth using the buttons.

Obviously, you can take pictures or shoot videos, switch from the main to the front-facing camera and so on. Also, the rotating wheel is really cool once you want to zoom in or out quite smoothly. Also, the ZY Play apps offers some new cool features like a time-lapse, slow-motion, long exposure or panorama modes. You can also use an object tracking feature, which works quite well with moving objects. See the video review for a more detailed look at the camera app.

I have to tell you that the footage looks just stunning as I was simply walking normally and I didn’t try to hold my hands steadily at all but the video still looks very smooth.

We made a quick comparison how the 4k video from my Samsung Galaxy S8 looks with the gimbal and without the gimbal while I’m climbing up and down the stairs. The difference was pretty obvious. I remember that the Smooth II gimbal started wobbling a little bit under very strong wind but the Smooth III now has 40% stronger motors and the gimbal works just fine even on a very windy day. That is really impressive.

I remember that the Smooth II gimbal started wobbling a little bit under very strong wind but the Smooth III now has 40% stronger motors and the gimbal works just fine even on a very windy day. That is really impressive. See the video review for video samples.

What I love is that the phone stays firmrly in the gimbal no matter how hard you move it, so you wont end up breaking your device. Also, the Smooth III is very silent since it uses brushless motors.

The 1/4 screw mount on the bottom of the gimbal allows you to attach the gimbal to all sorts of accessories like tripods. What I love about the Smooth III is that it can stay vertically without any tripods.

BATTERY LIFE

The Zhiyun Smooth III has a replaceable 4600mAh battery that performs just great. The official claims are about 14 hours of continuous use and I can assure you that I was able to achieve similar results. That means that you won’t need to charge the battery very often.

Speaking of charging, it takes about 3 hours to fully charge the gimbal. One of my favourite features of the Smooth III is that you can charge your phone from the gimbal. However, you need to use the microUSB to microUSB cable, which is sold separately and the charging speeds are just 1A.

CONCLUSIONS

The Zhiyun Smooth 3 is by far the best smartphone gimbal I have ever tested. I’ve used it for about a month and it has been working absolutely fine. I love that it looks and feels premium, it has a ton of features and most importantly it stabilizes the video very well even under poor weather conditions.

The main shortcoming would be that there is no microUSB to microUSB cable included in the packaging, so you would need to buy it separately.

At the end of the day, the price of about $300 may sound steep for some but the Zhiyun Smooth III has everything to be called a great smartphone gimbal and thus, I can easily recommend it.

Buy Zhiyun Smooth III

Here Are the 7 Amazing Product Launch Events Scheduled This Week!

By

Joel Joseph

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May 22, 2017

The past few weeks have been fairly busy with rumors and leaks, along with a few launches as well (like the HTC U11 or the Moto C Plus or even the OPPO A77). But this week, things are going to be even busier, as a number of Chinese manufacturers have scheduled multiple events. The first event of the week kicks off on Tuesday, May 23 and the events continue until Friday, May 26. So, you should expect a whole bunch of new and interesting products in this week. Note that the week will be dominated by Huawei and Huawei’s subsidiary, Honor.

Below are the 7 main events scheduled for this week.

May 23

1. New Honor Products:

Huawei’s Honor is going to kick off this week’s launch spree with not one but four new products. We had already reported about the four product launches this week and now, let’s try to figure out what they could be.

a. Honor 6A

Honor seems to be done with top-tier flagship launches for the first half of 2017. And with Honor 9 expected to launch around June end, it doesn’t make sense for the brand to release a powerful device this month. Instead, we can expect an entry-level device like the Huawei Honor 6A at Tuesday’s launch event. If you remember, a new Honor branded device with low-end specs passed through TENAA earlier this month. The phone is believed to be the successor to the Honor 5A launched about a year back, most likely called as the Honor 6A. TENAA reveals the specs to be entry-level, like a 5-inch 720p screen, 3GB RAM, octa-core chip and Android Nougat.

b. Honor Wearable / Watch

The second product at the event could be a new Honor wearable, like the successor to the Honor Band A1 launched in May last year or the Honor Watch S1 which was launched in October in 2016. So, you can expect the company to announce a new Honor Band A2 or Honor Watch S2 wearable.

c. Honor Pad 3

The third product most likely would be a new tablet, and it should be the recently certified Honor Pad 3. The new tablet should come with an all-metal body and an 8-inch 1280 x 800 pixel display. Inside, it comes with a quad-core chip, 4GB RAM, and a 4650mAh battery. Nothing extraordinary, but it should be an affordable tablet option.

We are not yet sure about the fourth product, but rumors state that it could be a new Honor router. Whatever it turns out to be, Honor is known for its youth-oriented products, which also means that the new devices should come under the affordable category.

2. 360 N5S

Although 360 Mobiles operate inside China, the company has a good fan following internationally because of its cost effective products. The 360 N5 was one of the cheapest 6GB RAM phones in the market and it still is super cheap (you can buy it on Giztop). Considering that it came with Snapdragon 653 and 6GB RAM at just $203, you should definitely be excited to see what’s in store inside the new 360 N5S.

The N5 was announced just a few months back and the phone is already pretty powerful. So, instead of significant upgrades in the specs department, what you can expect is changes in the design. It is said that the phone will come with a double sided glass design, instead of a traditional all-metal body found on the N5. Specs wise, the company may stick with SD653 or maybe jump to a faster SD660 chipset. 6GB RAM is almost confirmed since the N5 had it. Other details are not yet available, but the event is on the same day as the Honor launch, i.e. May 23. So, make sure to check out gizmochina on Tuesday for updates about these two events.

3. Huawei Matebook

Yes, even Huawei has a separate (international) event on May 23 and it has confirmed that it will launch new Huawei Matebook 2 notebooks. Well, we don’t know what it will be called, but earlier rumors said that there were three new Matebook laptops expected this year, called Matebook E, X, and D, one of them using the same convertible design as the first generation model (other two being traditional laptops).

It’s time to maximise your lifestyle. Join us LIVE from Berlin on 23 May 2017 at 14:00 CEST to meet our latest products… #HuaweiMateBook pic.twitter.com/iz9hfEXw7f

— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) May 15, 2017

Huawei would probably announce these three Matebook laptop convertibles at the event in Berlin.

4. Meizu M5C

Meizu kind of revealed it late that it had a special event this week. The company revealed the letter “C” in the teasers, which hints that the upcoming device could be named the Meizu C or maybe Meizu M5C. Considering how a leaked screenshot of the company’s smartphone page revealed the yet to be announced Meizu M5C model (which was taken down very soon), it is likely that the phone will end up being called as the M5C.

Expect this to be a mid-ranger with decent specs. Now, Meizu has traditionally worked exclusively with MediaTek for its mid-range phones, but after its settlement with Qualcomm, could we expect a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip inside? Unlikely, given that Meizu’s VP has already revealed that a Snapdragon-based Meizu device would not release anytime soon.

May 24

5. Sharp’s New Bezel-less Flagship

Wednesday is going to be another interesting day for tech lovers as Sharp is all set to announce a brand new smartphone in China. Now, we are aren’t sure which model to expect at the event, but the teasers seem to indicate that this will be a bezel-less flagship.

Considering Sharp isn’t exactly a big player in the smartphone market who will announce multiple phones in a month, what we may see at the May 24 event could be the newly announced Sharp Aquos R. After its Japanese launch, China could be the next big region for the phone, especially with its high-end specs like SD835, and 22.6MP camera.

May 25

6. Xiaomi Mi Max 2

Probably one of the most exciting events of the month, the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 is confirmed to meet us on May 25. This will be the second generation model in the Max lineup, which debuted in May last year.

This year’s Mi Max 2 is expected to feature the same large 6.4-inch display with a 5000mAh battery on board. So, once again, you have a large entertainment friendly screen with an even better battery for hours of continuous media playback. However, things aren’t the same as last year for a phablet, given that phones like the S8 have proved that you don’t need a super large body to feature a super large screen. But if the leaked (~$230) pricing for the Mi Max 2 turns out to be correct, with these specs, the phone’s is definitely going to be an attractive offer. There are two processor versions expected — SD626 and SD660. You can read more about the phone as well as look at its renders from here.

May 26

7. Huawei Nova 2

As I said at the start of the article, this week is filled with Huawei’s announcements. Even on Friday, we have a new phone meeting us from the tech giant, the Huawei Nova 2. Now, this will be yet another Snapdragon 660 smartphone (we have already spotted the phone on TENAA revealing its specs: check it out here) and the phone, like most Huawei phones released this year, will have dual cameras at the back! Lime green, rose gold and a lot of different color options are expected for the device.

Expect the larger version of the model, the Huawei Nova 2 Plus at the same event. Apart from the larger screen size and battery, the rest of the specs of the phone should be similar to the Nova 2.

Make sure to stay tuned to Gizmochina as we cover all of these launches in the next few days!

Which launch are you most excited about?

Nokia 9 Gets Benchmarked as HMD Global TA-1004, Sports Snapdragon 835 and Insane Multi-Core Score

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May 22, 2017

A new smartphone from HMD Global was benchmarked earlier today on Geekbench. Listed as the HMD Global TA-1004, we want to believe it is the Nokia 9 seeing as its powered by a MSM8998 chipset a.k.a Snapdragon 835.

The results are insane as it puts the Nokia 9 firmly at the top of Snapdragon 835 powered phones. For its multi-core test, it records a total of 7770 points, crowning it king of the multi-core list. For its single-core test, it records 2255 points, coming in below the iPhone 7 Plus.

The benchmark results also shows the Nokia 9 has 4GB of RAM and runs Android 7.1.1.

[envira-gallery id=”132471″]

The Nokia 9 leaked in a promo video last week which contained another unreleased Nokia phone, the Nokia 3, and the Nokia 5. That was our first glimpse at the dual rear cameras until a set of original photos surfaced over the weekend.

Nokia 3310 China Release Imminent As It Passes TENAA

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May 22, 2017

HMD Global Oy’s remodelled Nokia 3310 was first announced back in March as a redesigned version of the rugged, iconic feature phone. The device has already gone up for sale in some parts of Europe and the reception has been awesome. Nokia is yet to release the phone in China but it seems it is just a matter of time before it does. The Nokia 3310 has now been certified by China’s Telecommunications regulatory agency (TENAA).

The Nokia 3310’s TENAA appearance shows the device was manufactured by HMD Global Oy with model number TA-1030. The photos of the feature phone captured from all angles are also attached. There aren’t many details about the specs listed but the device is detailed as supporting GPRS function, dual SIM and dual Standby. The document also shows the Nokia budget phone isn’t manufactured in China but Vietnam.

We already know the Nokia 3310 is a 2G phone which comes with a 2.4-inch curved window screen with an entire dimension of 115.6 x 51 x 12.8mm. Other specs include a 2MP rear camera with LED flash, 16MB storage expandable up to 32GB, Bluetooth 3.0, Nokia Series 30+ operating system, 2G GSM connectivity, FM Radio, MP3 Player, 3.5mm headphone jack, a 1200mAh battery and MicroUSB 2.0. The device is available in four color options — Warm Red and Yellow with glossy texture and Grey and Dark Blue with Matte finish. The Nokia 3310 is presently on sales in some regions for €49 (~$52).

Exclusive Photos Shows The Dual Camera Power of The Gionee S10 and All Color Variants

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May 22, 2017

The Gionee S10 is a set to make a statement with its quad cameras when it launches a few days from now. Not the first smartphone to have dual cameras on both sides but it might be the one that ends up in your pocket judging from these camera samples we got our hands on.

[envira-gallery id=”132374″]

The Gionee S10 will feature a 5.5-inch FHD screen, 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Its rear cameras include a 16MP sensor and an 8MP sensor. Gionee says both the front and rear dual cameras will be able to take professional level portrait mode images with real time depth of field thanks to the ISP present in the phone.

The front facing cameras is a combination of a 20MP sensor and an 8MP sensor. We presume the 8MP sensor is a wide-angle lens. The rest of the specs includes a 3450mAh battery and a 2.5GHz octa-core Mediatek processor.

We have also gotten official images of the Gionee S10 in the five colors it will launch in. Buyers will be able to choose from silver, green, red, blue, and black.

What do you think of the camera performance of the Gionee S10?

Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017) Refreshing New Design in Pink, Gold, Black, Light Blue Color Variants Revealed in Press Renders

By

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May 22, 2017

Roland Quandt, who has a consistent record of revealing leaked information on upcoming smartphones has revealed all the color variants of the Galaxy J7 (2017). It suggests that compared to the predecessor Samsung Galaxy J7 models, the upcoming 2017 edition is going to arrive with a refreshed design.

The press renders of the Galaxy J7 (2017) shows that the smartphone has a uniquely design u-shaped antenna bands on the upper and lower portions of its back panel. The leakster has revealed that the smartphone would be arriving in four color options such as Pink, Gold, Black and Light Blue. The phone seems to feature full metallic chassis. Here are all the color variants of the Galaxy J7 (2017):

[envira-gallery id=”132371″]

The frontside of the Galaxy J7 (2017) has slim bezels on the left and right sides of the screen. Below the display is the physical Home button that features a physical Home button. The top bezel houses the earpiece, a selfie camera and its LED flash. The right side of the phone has a Power key whereas the left side features volume up and down keys. The left side also features a microSD card slot and a dual-SIM slot.

The specifications of the Galaxy J7 (2017) have already appeared on GFXBench. It revealed that the phone would be coming with a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display that will support full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. The phone is fueled by Exynos 7870 chipset that features an octa-core processor working at 1.5 GHz. The SoC is accompanied by Mali-T830 graphics and 3 GB of RAM. The internal storage of the Galaxy J7 (2017) is 16 GB.

The rear side of the phone features a single LED enabled 13-megapixel camera and the frontside also has a 13-megapixel shooter that features its own LED flash. The phone will arrive preloaded with Android 7.0 Nougat. It is packed with a 3,600mAh battery. It will also come enabled with connectivity features like Cat. 6 LTE modem, VoLTE and VoWiFi.

The Galaxy J7V was recently released in the U.S. by Samsung. However, the leaked renders that we see here in this post belongs to the actual 2017 edition of the Galaxy J7. Speculations have it that it will be announced in the next month with a price tag of €339 ($370).

(source 1,2)

Xiaomi Removes SMS Scheduling in MIUI 9, Cites Low Number of SMS Users as Reason

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May 22, 2017

It’s been months since Xiaomi announced it has begun work on the next version of MIUI. Most people thought the new version called MIUI 9 will be announced alongside the Mi Max 2, just as they announced MIUI 8 and the original Mi Max together. However, a Weibo post from the official MIUI account dashed their hopes, specifically stating that MIUI 9 won’t launch alongside the Mi Max 2 on May 25.

Today news about the new user-interface is about a feature that will no longer be available. SMS scheduling or Timed Messages is a feature that lets you send messages to contacts on specific dates and time chosen by you. It was first introduced in MIUI 2.3 and was particularly useful for sending holiday wishes.

All you had to do was compose the message, add the contacts you want it sent to, and configure the time and date you want it sent. Once it was exactly that time and date, the messages would be sent out.

Xiaomi Mi 6 Ceramic Version (6GB+128GB) Finally Goes On Sale

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May 22, 2017

After the long wait, the much-anticipated Xiaomi Mi 6 Ceramic version is now set to go up on its first sales in China. Xiaomi disclosed this via a Weibo post accompanied by a poster showing the date and other details of the sale. The premium flagship will be on sale as from 10 AM on May 23, which is tomorrow. The Mi 6 Ceramic edition will be sold exclusively on Xiaomi Mall, unlike the standard version which sold simultaneously on Jingdong, Lynx, Tesco and others as well. This is obviously due to the limited quantity that is available.

The Xiaomi Mi 6 Ceramic version is the top-most model in the Mi 6 range. Apart from coming with a ceramic glass body, it is available in 6GB RAM + 128GB storage version only. The device also has an 18K gold-plated camera ring which adds to the already beautiful design. Do we need to remind you that the Mi 6 features a powerful Snapdragon 835 processor as well as a dual-lens camera at the rear?

Despite the premium build and well-studded hardware, the Mi 6 ceramic version is priced at 2999 Yuan (~$435). If you compare it with the price of the standard versions of the Mi 6 which are priced at 2499 Yuan and 2899 Yuan for the 64GB and 128GB variants respectively, you’ll agree the Mi 6 still remains a cheap flagship. Of course, you’ll definitely not get it at that amount outside China as third-party retailers will likely sell it for up to $100 more and even higher. That is if it becomes available in reasonable quantity to enable it to ship outside China. We expect the Ceramic version to be instantly sold out tomorrow.

The Nubia Z17 Does Have Impressively Thin Side Bezels in This Leaked Live Image

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May 22, 2017

Over the weekend, Nubia sent out invites for the launch of its flagship phone the Nubia Z17. We also got to see a number of press renders that teased the design of the phone. Today, a live image of the phone has surfaced online.

The image shows the phone face up in a bid to hide its dual rear cameras but gives us a chance to see the really thin side-bezels. Looking at the display, it appears to be larger than 5.5-inches, probably 5.7-inches.

Sitting on the bottom bezel is the signature holo home button, and at the top we have the front facing camera, the earpiece, and the light sensor.

When the Nubia Z17 launches, it will add to the growing list of Snapdragon 835-powered smartphones. Unlike the Xiaomi Mi 6, which is the only other Snapdragon 835 smartphone from a Chinese manufacturer for now, the Nubia Z17 will have an IP 67 rating. This means you can immerse it in water up to 1 meter deep for a period of 30 minutes.

Moto Z2 Play Has 3,000mAh Battery, Says Lenovo Representative

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May 22, 2017

Recently, the Motorola Moto Z2 Play was spotted on TENAA with a battery of 2,820mAh battery. However, fresh information coming from a Lenovo representative reveals that the Z2 Play will be featuring a 3,000mAh battery. It means that it will feature a smaller battery compared to the 3,510mAh battery available on the predecessor phone.

On the official Twitter handle of Lenovo, an employee of the company who is mentioned as Auxen has revealed that the Moto Z2 Play would be coming with a non-removable Li-Ion battery of 3,000mAh capacity. Auxen has given out this information as a reply to a user who said if Z2 Play is coming with a small battery, the company was making a big mistake. It is unclear whether what Auxen said was a leaked information that he revealed on his own or a conscious reply from the marketing team of the company.

https://twitter.com/lenovo/status/865868819834732545

In the previous week, the alleged Moto Z2 Play had appeared on TENAA with a 2,820mAh battery inside it. However, Lenovo’s employee claims that it has a 3,000 mAh capacity. There is a possibility that 3,000mAh could be the rated capacity of the battery, but its actual capacity could be 2,820mAh.

Earlier in this month, rumors started swirling that in a bid to launch a thinner Moto Z2 Play, Lenovo may reduce the size of its battery. The original phone from last year has a thickness of 7mm which means that the upcoming Z2 Play would much thinner. The TENAA listing has revealed that the Moto Z2 Play has a slim profile of 5.99mm.

Since Lenovo is packing a smaller battery inside the Z2 Play, it is expected that the Snapdragon 626 chipset present inside the phone would help in delivering optimized battery performance. Compared to the 2 GHz Snapdragon 625 that fuels the original Moto Z Play, the 2.2 GHz Snapdragon 626 is more energy efficient.

According to TENAA listing, the Moto Z2 Play has a 5.5-inch full HD display and there is a 4 GB RAM to support the SD 626 chip. The native storage of the phone is 64 GB. It has a 12-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front camera. Both the camera sensors are coupled with LED flash. It runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS. Like the predecessor phone, the Moto Z2 Play also supports Moto Mods accessories. Speculations are rife that the Moto Z2 Play may get unveiled on June 8.

OPPO R11 Confirmed to Feature Snapdragon 660 Chip

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May 22, 2017

Turns out talks of OPPO‘s upcoming smartphone featuring a Snapdragon 660 chip were true after all. The OPPO R11 has now been confirmed by Qualcomm China to feature its latest Snapdragon 660 processor via a Weibo post. From the post, it is obvious the Snapdragon 660 was specially selected for the R11, considering the powerful camera setup it is billed to come with. The Qualcomm Weibo post hints that this is the first time the SD 600 series would be using HVX and come with support for high-performance, low-power image processing which explains the power packed dual camera combination the OPPO camera flagship is coming with.

The OPPO R11 had earlier been teased as coming with a professional portrait mode which allows a clear focus on the subject with the surroundings blurred. The dual lens camera is also said to come with 2X zoom which doesn’t result in loss of the image’s integrity. There is no doubt the dual camera will be the major selling point of the OPPO R11. That has often featured in several teasers released by the company including a video ad for the R11 that recently came out.

As a reminder, the OPPO R11 is expected with a 5.5-inch 1080p display and will also feature Qualcomm’s mid-range Snapdragon 660 processor which was announced recently. In a similar vein, the graphics will be powered by an Adreno 512 GPU. The OPPO R11 is listed with a 20MP + 16MP dual rear camera setup. One of the lenses is said to be a telephoto lens while the other one is a wide angle lens. There is also a powerful 20MP selfie camera onboard the device. Other specifications include a 4GB RAM, 64GB storage and Android 7.1 Nougat OS.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Dummy Unit Reveals Design from All Angles, Dual Rear Camera Setup

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May 22, 2017

A video of an alleged dummy unit of Samsung Galaxy Note 8 has surfaced to showcase its design from all angles. As expected, the phablet can be seen gracing a vertically aligned dual camera setup on the rear panel.

Apart from video, the Chinese source has revealed three images of the purported Galaxy Note 8. Its dummy unit has 3D print unit which is speculated to be also available on the rear Note 8 when it arrives. In another image, it is shown kept beside the Galaxy S6 Edge+ that has a huge screen of 5.7 inches. A render of the Galaxy Note 8 in Coral Blue has also been leaked by the source.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-nafkh36R4

The Galaxy Note 8 is heavily speculated to feature rear-facing dual camera setup. However, it won’t be the first Samsung phone to come with twin rear cameras as the rumored Galaxy C10 is expected to feature it and release before Galaxy Note 8. The video shows that the Galaxy Note 8’s twin rear cameras will be assisted by dual-LED flash. A heart rate sensor also appears to be present below the dual camera module.

The Galaxy S8 duo have been well received by the audience and critics, but the placement of rear-mounted fingerprint reader is not user-friendly. Reports have revealed that the reason why Samsung placed it on the backside of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ was that it encountered problems in embedding the biometric recognition feature under the display.

The dummy unit of Note 8 shows that its rear side does not featuring a fingerprint scanner. Also, the feature is not present on the front which indicates that Samsung may embed it under the display of Galaxy Note 8. Speaking of the screen, the image that shows the Note 8 beside the Galaxy S6 Edge + indicates that the former will be arriving with a massive screen. Speculations have it that it will feature a 6.3-inch display that will support Quad HD+ resolution of 2,960 x 1,440 pixels.

The top bezel of the phone seems to house a selfie snapper and an iris scanner. It seems that the Galaxy Note 8 would be coming with a dual-edge curved screen that will offer an aspect ratio of 18.5:9. There are two separate buttons on the left edge for controlling volume. Below the volume buttons, there seems to be an exclusive button for launching Bixby AI. The power button is present on the right side of the phablet.

The Coral Blue render of Galaxy Note 8 shows the S-Pen stylus beside it. The phablet appears quite similar to the Galaxy Note 7.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 phablet is speculated to come in Snapdragon 835 and Exynos 9810 chipset variants. It is expected to get unveiled either in August or September this year.

(source|via)

LeEco CEO Jia Yueting Steps Down Amidst Financial Troubles

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May 22, 2017

The financial troubles bedeviling the innovative Chinese company LeEco may have taken its first casualty and it turns out to be LeEco’s founder and CEO, Jia Yueting. According to a stock exchange filing, Jia Yueting will step down as CEO of one of LeEco’s holding companies, Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp Beijing. The filing also revealed that the company’s finance chief will also be eased out and that the former CEO will still retain his position as chairman.

Leshi was founded by Jia Yueting in Beijing in 2004 and is reputed as the first streaming video company in China to go public. Jia later founded Leshi Holding as a sister company of Letv to provide media content and products that linked to its services. Both Letv services and Leshi products were marketed internationally under the Letv name until January 2016, when media services began under the Le.com name and electronics products were labeled LeEco.

Information made available in the Stock exchange filing also include that Jia will remain as chairman and woulf focus on corporate governance, strategic planning and core product innovation. His former role as CEO will be taken over by longtime Lenovo executive Liang Jun, who joined Leshi as an executive in 2012. The announcement includes that Yang Lijie would resign as chief financial officer due to personal reasons and his position will be taken over by Zhang Wei, who was formerly the company’s China CFO.

LeEco’s financial troubles began last year after an aggressive expansion drive which saw the company enter the US market and also India. The company had tried to seek billions of dollars in fresh funding and also shed some of its libilities, reducing staff and abandoning a deal to buy Vizio, a U.S. TV maker. The financial difficulties may also be unconnected with the LeSEE electric car project which LeEco was developing with Faraday Future and is believed to have gulped huge sums.

Meizu M5C Could Be the Mysterious Meizu Device Launching on May 23

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May 22, 2017

Meizu has released a teaser to confirm that it will be holding a launch event on May 23. The teaser image contains a big C letter and there is no information on the specifications of the device that will be announced tomorrow. It is only known that it will be arriving with an affordable price tag.

According to the head of Global Marketing for Meizu, Ard Boudeling, the company has not released a phone that is priced lower than $275 up until 2015. The reason behind it was that phones at such a low price wouldn’t deliver great user experience. Hence, the company concentrated on releasing phones at higher price points.

He adds that the smartphone market has swiftly developed in the recent past and the hardware components have become cheaper. So, the company aims to release cheaper devices that meet their quality standards. The product will be unveiled tomorrow will stand testament to it. Hence, the new Meizu C phone is expected to come with a cheaper price tag.

The alleged phone is speculated to be only available for purchase through online channels and it won’t be made available for buying through brick-and-mortar stores. Meizu has been releasing M series smartphones that offer impressive specs and features at affordable prices.

Some sources are speculating that the Chinese firm may introduce an entirely new C series line of cheaper smartphones. However, there is a possibility that Meizu may announce the Meizu M5c (Blue Charm 5C) that had recently appeared on the official website of Meizu and its listing was quickly removed. Here is a leaked shot of the alleged Meizu M5C:

The alleged smartphone was also spotted at TENAA with a model number of M710M. It revealed that the Meizu M5c has a 5-inch IPS screen that supports an HD screen of 1,280 x 720 pixels. It is powered by MediaTek MT6737 chipset and 2 GB of RAM. Its native storage is 16 GB and it has an expandable storage that supports up to 128 GB microSD card. It is running on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow OS.

It is rumored to houses an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel frontal shooter. It is speculated to include a 3,020mAh battery.It could be cheaper edition of Meizu M5.

Here is a leaked photo of an unknown Meizu phone by Android Headlines. It resembles with the phone shown in the above image.

The phone features a mBack button, the multifunctional key that not only works as a Home key but also as a Back button and a fingerprint reader. A long press on it also allow users to turn off the screen. The mBack button is seen placed below the screen. The rear camera of the phone is equipped with an LED flash. It is expected to be available in multiple colors like black, blue, red, pink and gold.

(source 1, 2|via)

Xiaomi’s Super Sale On Jingdong Saw Over 255,000 Units Sold In A Day

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May 21, 2017

On Friday, Jingdong Mall (JD.com) celebrated its second year anniversary. To mark the event, a number of Xiaomi smartphones were on sale.

A weibo post via the online store’s official account has revealed that Xiaomi set a new industry sales record. According to the post over 255,000 Xiaomi phones were sold on that day alone, amounting to ¥330 million (∼$47.9 million) in total.

The celebration is not yet over and over the next couple of days more phones will be on sale. They have also released official posters teasing the products that will be available for purchase.

The Xiaomi Mi 6 will be available at its official price of ¥2499 ($363) on May 23 and the Redmi Note 4X Jingdong Special Edition (3GB+16GB) will be available for ¥799 ($116).

Xiaomi Mi Max 2 Real Images Leaks Alongside a TPU Case

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May 21, 2017

The Mi Max 2 is a highly anticipated device from Xiaomi, especially for those who love phones with large displays. The Mi Max 2 is scheduled for a May 25 launch and according to leaks, the phone will only have a few design changes with the upgrades occurring under the hood.

A set of leaked live images that surfaced online yesterday said to be of the Mi Max 2 is our first look at the device.

The Mi Max 2 in the image wears the champagne gold paint and could pass for the same device as the original Mi Max. However, you should notice that the antenna lines are different and now have the U-design. The camera setup is also different as the LED flash sits on the left of the sensor and not the right.

This is a 6.44-inch device, so one hand use is out of it. We guess that is why Xiaomi still retains the fingerprint scanner in exactly the same position. But we really wish the scanner was positioned in front of the device, so we wouldn’t have to pick up the device all the time just to unlock it. A simple home button swipe, and you can check for notifications or open apps without lifting the device from your desk or any other flat surface its placed on.

Another image shows the base and top of the device. We can see Xiaomi has reduced the number of holes that make up the speaker grille. While there are two sets on opposite sides of the USB Type-C port, don’t expect stereo speakers. Thankfully, the IR blaster makes a return and there is still an audio jack.

We have no doubt that the images are genuine as they match the blueprint that was seen on the website of Taiwan’s communications agency.

OPPO R11 Plus TENAA Listing Reveals 6GB of RAM, Dual Rear Cameras and 3880mAh Battery

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May 21, 2017

The OPPO R11 has been in the news for a while but it is still yet to launch. The Chinese smartphone manufacturer recently released a new ad for the phone but still didn’t mention a release date. As is typical of OPPO, their flagship phone usually gets a bigger variant with the suffix “Plus” added to it. The R11 will be no different, seeing as the OPPO R11 Plus has surfaced on TENAA.

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The OPPO R11 Plus will feature a larger 6.0-inch display with the same 1080p resolution as the R11. Its RAM has also been bumped up to 6GB but storage has been kept at 64GB, though with the option for expansion via a MicroSD slot.

Just like the R11, the OPPO R11 Plus will also get dual rear cameras. TENAA lists them as a 16MP and 20MP combination. The front facing camera on the other hand is a 20MP sensor. The phone runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat and is powered by a 2.2GHz octa-core processor (likely Snapdragon 660).

ASUS ZenFone Go 2 (X015D) Appears on TENAA with Images, Specifications

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May 21, 2017

A new ASUS smartphone has appeared as “ASUS_X015D” on TENAA, the Chinese telecommunication body. The ASUS X015D phone was also spotted on GFXBench benchmarking platform earlier in this month. The ASUS X105D appears to be a successor of ASUS ZenFone Go that has a model number of X104D. Hence, it is speculated to launch as ZenFone Go 2.

The ASUS X105D has a 5.5-inch HD screen that offers a resolution of 720 x 1,280 pixels. The phone is driven by an octa-core processor that clocks at 1.5 GHz. It will be coming in RAM variants of 3 GB and 4 GB that will come with respective 32 GB and 64 GB storage options.

It has a dual rear camera of 13-megapixel and its front-facing camera is of 5-megapixel. It is running on Android 7.0 Nougat OS. The smartphone supports VoLTE and is packed with a massive 4,850mAh battery. It measures 154.5 x 76.6 x 8.85mm and its weight is 175 grams.

The images suggest that the horizontally aligned dual rear camera module is placed at the top left corner of the phone along with its LED flash. The right side of the phone has volume buttons and a Power key. The Home button present on the front seems to be embedded with a fingerprint reader. The top side of the phone probably features a 3.5mm audio jack.

The GFXBench listing of ASUS X015D, the alleged ZenFone Go 2, also showed that the phone has a 5.5-inch HD display, 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. It revealed that the phone is powered by MediaTek MT6750 chipset. However, the rear camera of the phone is mentioned as 8-megapixel and its front-facing shooter is of 5-megapixel. Even the GFXBench listing shows that it supports only one SIM card, it is likely that ASUS may also sell its dual SIM variant.

There is no information available on the pricing and availability of the phone. Now that the alleged ZenFone Go 2 has appeared on TENAA, it is likely to get officially announced soon. Speculations have it that the Taiwanese firm would be announcing ZenFone 4, ZenFone 4s and ZenFone 4 Max smartphones at the upcoming Computex 2017 from May 30 to June 3.