Gionee has released a poster that teases the launch of its next smartphone which is identified as Gionee S10 billed to take place on May 26 in China. The Gionee S10 alongside its counterpart, the S10 Plus have been the subject of several leaked appearances both on benchmark websites and on TENAA. We have even had leaked images of the device before now.
One stand out feature on the leaks is the four cameras the S10 is shown to come with. The Gionee S10 has dual cameras at the front and at the rear, making it just about the second smartphone to feature such after the Alcatel Flash. The poster also teases the quad camera setup the S10 will launch with.
Fron the leaked images of the S10 and S10 Plus, both smartphones may likely feature the same design but will have different screen sizes. The device also comes with an all metal body and a U-shaped antenna design. there is also the likelihood of the device featuring a rear fingerprint sensor even though the likely location of the sensor looks like it’s just having a logo.
On the specs angle, the Gionee S10 is touted to be powered by a 2.5GHz octa-core processor backed by 6GB of RAM while there is a 64GB storage onboard. The device runs Amigo OS based on Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box and packs a 3450mAh battery. The dual camera setup at the rear is said to be a 16MP + 8MP combo and the one in front is a 20MP+ 8MP sensor. The smartphone will likely come in black and gold but we can’t rule out the possibility of more colour variants, in keeping up with the trend. The leaked images on display here are those of a green and gold variant.
ZTE’s elite brand Nubia launched the Z17 Mini a couple of weeks back in China with a dual camera setup at the rear. The Nubia Z17 Mini isn’t a flagship device but it packs a design and specs lineup that makes it look like a flagship device. The smartphone comes in four different colours which include champagne gold, black gold, red and elegant black.
Nubia has now revealed that the red color version of the Z17 Mini will go up for sale on May 18. Already the reservation for the flash sale opened today and is currently on via Nubia’s website. Specs wise, the Z17 Mini pack a Snapdragon 653 processor which is backed by 6GB of RAM. There is also a Snapdragon 652-powered version with 4GB of RAM.
Perhaps, the most stand-out feature on the Nubia Z17 Mini is the dual camera setup at the rear, as well as the large pixel selfie shooter. The main camera is a powerful 13MP Sony IMX258 sensor and the secondary sensor is a black and white camera which is a depth of field camera. The dual camera supports 0.1s mixed focus and also 4K ultra-high definition video recording. It can also capture in slow motion and has time lapse feature.
The Red variant on sale carries a price tag of 1699 Yuan ($247), which makes this the 4GB + 64GB. The device is available on Nubia’s website.
The Meizu E2 was released two weeks ago sporting a new LED flash design and a Helio P20 processor. Pricing for the Meizu E2 starts at ¥1299 ($189) but new report says buyers may end up paying more.
The info comes from a Weibo account who shared a screenshot from a dealer stating that the Meizu E2 will go on sale on Monday for ¥1499 ($218). That is ¥200 ($29) more than the original price.
There is no explanation for the increase but some are speculating that the recent restructuring at Meizu may be responsible. The official site still has the price as ¥1299 for the 3GB + 32GB version and ¥1599 ($232) for the 4GB + 64GB version.
There is also report of a new color option called Panda which has a black front and a white rear. The new version will be priced at ¥1499 ($218) for the 32GB variant. It is possible that this is the version that is generating the rumor of a price increase.
If you are looking for a cheap action camera in the market, I am sure you would have come across the affordable MGCool brand. The company recently unveiled its MGCool Explorer Pro 4K Sports Action camera and the product is currently in the pre-order stage. One of the highlights of this new action camera is the 4K video support at an amazing $39.99 pre-order price tag. And guess what! You can get a chance to win a brand new MGCool Explorer Pro 4K camera courtesy of Gizmochina and MGCool. Yes! We are giving away one Explorer Pro to one of our lucky readers and if you are a frequent reader on the site, you know it’s very easy to participate using the gleam widget.
But before we move on to the Giveaway details, here are some more details about the camera. The Explorer Pro comes with the Sony IMX179 image sensor capable of recording up to 4K videos at 30 fps. There’s an Allwinner V3 chipset inside and camera features like time lapse and slo-mo to support your video shooting requirements. The camera is IP68 certified, so it’s waterproof to a certain extent. Other features include a decent 1050mAh battery (the company claims 100 mins video shooting) and Wi-Fi. Overall, it’s a pretty good 4K action camera for $39.99.
Just enter the steps below to get a chance to win the MGCool Explorer Pro 4K.
The front view isn’t very much different from the OnePlus 3T, with the device still shown to have a physical home button. However, the side of the display seems to be near bezel-less. At the rear, there is a vertically aligned dual camera with a LED flash sitting under the cameras. There isn’t a fingerprint sensor at the rear, so the button is likely embedded under the home button. The overall design is sleek and beautiful despite looking minimalistic. But there is a new twist, as the renders come in red, blue and brown colours which may join the black and soft gold traditional colors.
Specs wise, the OnePlus 5 is tipped to come with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 835 processor and the renders on display suggest a powerful 8GB RAM is among the specs sheet just as rumoured. So, we’ll be looking out for a 6GB RAM version as well as the high-end 8GB RAM version. The Geekbench listing somewhat confirms the existence of a power packed specs, as the OnePlus 5 is shown to have trumped the Huawei Mate 9 and Samsung Galaxy S9+. You can check out more render images from down below.
Xiaomi has been producing all sorts of products and the Yeelight is one of them. It is a smart LED light bulb that has quite a few features and it is affordable. Learn more in our full Xiaomi Yeelight review.
Xiaomi Yeelight RGBW E27 Smart LED Bulb Review: VIDEO
Xiaomi Yeelight RGBW E27 Smart LED Bulb Review: UNBOXING
The bulb comes with just some instruction manuals.
Xiaomi Yeelight RGBW E27 Smart LED Bulb Review: DESIGN
When it comes to the design, the bulb uses E27 standard and it is well built. In fact, it is one of the better build bulbs I’ve tested. Xiaomi assures that the bulb will last you up to 11 years.
My favorite feature is that the bulb uses the Wifi connection, which is way better than the Bluetooth, which has the range of only 10 meters.
Xiaomi Yeelight RGBW E27 Smart LED Bulb Review: FEATURES
The main features of the bulb are that it has 16 million colors and you can also adjust the color temperature.
You have to do all that using the using the Mi Home app, which is available on the Play Store.Just before you start using the app, make sure to select the location of China (Mainland). Otherwise, you will not be able to connect to the bulb and control it.
Within the app, you can adjust the color temperature and brightness of the bulb, select from a variety of different colors, select a flow mode. Also, you can select from a variety of scenes. One feature that I personally think is a gimmick, is the ability to take picture of an object and the bulb will change the color accordingly. I found this feature to be pretty accurate but I’m not sure if you are going to use it, anyway.
Xiaomi Yeelight RGBW E27 Smart LED Bulb Review: CONCLUSIONS
The Xiaomi Yeelight is a smart bulb that has quite a few features and most importantly, it is controlled via Wifi, which has a huge range advantage over the Bluetooth.
The bulb has been working fine, the user interface of the app is simple and easy to use. Last but not least, the bulb costs just below $20, which is really a low price considering the feature set.
The Vivo X9s Plus has been spotted on TENAA, the regulatory body from China. The listing on TENAA has revealed its specifications and images of the upcoming Vivo X9s Plus. It is expected to launch soon to replace Vivo X9 Plus from 2016.
According to the TENAA listing, the Vivo X9s Plus will be coming with a 5.85-inch OLED screen that will be delivering a full HD screen resolution of 1,920 x 1080 pixels. It is driven by an octa-core processor that clocks at 1.95 GHz. The TENAA listing does not mention the manufacturer of the chipset.
Rumors have it that it could be the first Vivo smartphone to be powered by the recently launched Snapdragon 660 chipset. The chipset will be accompanied by 4 GB of RAM and it will be arriving with a native storage of 64 GB. It will come preinstalled with Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS.
The main camera of Vivo X9s Plus will be of 16-megapixel that will be accompanied by a single-LED flash and the front will be housing a dual camera setup of 20-megapixel + 5-megapixel snappers. The images shown through TENAA listing suggests the phone has a slightly protruding rear camera.
The placement of the antenna bands seems to be inspired from the recent iPhones. The right side of the phone seems to house a SIM tray whereas the left side of the phone appears to feature volume controllers and Power key. TENAA listing indicates that the Vivo X9s Plus would be available in gold color.
A 3,920mAh battery is present inside the X9s Plus to keep the lights on. Its fingerprint scanner seems to be embedded under the physical Home button present below the display. It measures 162.59 x 78.84 x 7.25mm and its weight is 183.2 grams.
In comparison to the Vivo X9 Plus, its alleged successor seems to sport downgraded specs. The X9 Plus that was launched in November 2016 came with a 5.88-inch full HD AMOLED screen, Snapdragon 652 SoC, 6 GB RAM, 64 GB and 128 GB storage options, 16-megapixel rear camera, 20-megapixel + 8-megapixel dual front cameras and a 4,000 mAh battery.
A new Nubia smartphone believed to be the Nubia Z17 has appeared on TENAA thus confirming insinuations that Nubia has a flagship device in the works. The device comes with the model number Nubia NX563J which is a very familiar one as it confirms that this is the same Snapdragon 835-powered device that appeared on AnTuTu recently and on Geekbench earlier on.
Thanks to the TENAA appearance, we get to see what the Nubia flagship machine looks like and it didn’t disappoint. The device comes with a bezel-less display which is without bezels at the side edges. You only get bezels at the top aspect where the front camera and earpiece are located. There is also bezels at the bottom edge where the home button lies. There is no physical home button, instead, the Nubia Z17 comes with the same red circle design on top of the screen indicating where the virtual home button lies. At the rear, the Nubia NX563J comes with a horizontally aligned dual lens camera setup but the LED flash isn’t the strip LED flash which Meizu used on the Meizu E2. There is also a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor on the device.
Going over to the listed specs, the Nubia Z17 comes with a 5.5-inch 1080p display and is equipped with an octa-core chip clocked at 1.9GHz which looks like a clocked down version of the Snapdragon 835 processor. The memory comes with 4GB RAM + 64GB storage combination but the Z17 is said to have a higher 6GB RAM + 128GB storage version. There is equally a 3100mAh battery inside the flagship device which comes in gold and silver.
The TENAA certification shows that ZTE’s Nubia will soon launch the Z17 flagship smartphone. Next thing we’ll look out for is perhaps a launch invite.
With only few days remaining for the official unveil of HTC U11, the smartphone can be found listed on various benchmarking platforms such as AnTuTu and Geekbench. Now, it has shown up on GFXBench with model number U-3u just before the official launch on May 16. The appearance of the alleged HTC U11 on GFXBench only confirms the specifications and features of the phone that have been revealed by the rumor mill in the recent past.
As mentioned above, the entire specifications and features of HTC U11 have already surfaced. The GFXBench listing states that the 2017 flagship phone from HTC has a 5.5-inch display that supports a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels. It features the highly potent Snapdragon 835 chipset under its hood. The SoC comes with an octa-core processor that clocks at 2.4 GHz and Adreno 540 graphics.
The U11 has 4 GB of RAM and the internal storage of the phone is 64 GB. The rear panel of the phone is equipped with a 12-megapixel camera whereas the front-facing shooter of the phone is of 16-megapixel. It is loaded with Android 7.1.1 Nougat with the latest edition of HTC Sense UI on it.
The Geekbench listing of HTC U11 has revealed that it scored 1912 on single-core test and 6137 on multi-core test. Leaks have revealed that the major feature of the HTC U11 is the Edge Sense metallic frame of the phone that can recognize gestures like squeezing. A leaked video of the alleged HTC U11 has already surfaced to reveal how the Edge Sense feature works. The HTC U11 is also expected to be available in another variant featuring 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK-0I3oVGc8
Recently, renders of a glossy red edition of the HTC U11 was spotted in a leaked video. It reveals that the phone does not feature the standard 3.5mm audio jack, but it has a USB Type-C port that can be used for listening to music and charging. It is expected to be available in as many as five colors such as black, blue, red, white and silver.
The Xiaomi Mi 6 is the first flagship phone from the company for this year. The phone sports a premium glossy appeal and is one of the best-looking smartphones from Xiaomi. Even though Xiaomi has not spoken on the IP rating of Xiaomi Mi 6, it claims that it is a splash-resistant phone. However, is it durable enough? JerryRigEverything had done a durability test on Xiaomi Mi 5 which revealed that it could bend and break easily with some pressure. Now, it has performed a durability test on Xiaomi Mi 6 to find out whether it is a weak device like its predecessor.
In the above video, JerryRigEverything can be seen first performing the scratch test on 5.15-inch screen that is protected by Gorilla Glass. The glass scratched at Mohs scale of level 6 which means that if the pocket in which the phone is kept also contains keys and coins, the screen of the Mi 6 will not get scratched. It also indicates that the Mi 6’s quality is on par with that of other flagship smartphones. What’s makes this even more impressive is that its price is around half the cost of Samsung Galaxy S8.
The fingerprint scanner is embedded under the screen of the phone which makes it resistant to scratches. JerryRigEverything has used a razor blade to scratch it and has stated that it does not scratch easily. Even the 8-megapixel front-facing camera is protected as it placed under the glass. The rear panel of the Xiaomi Mi 6 is made up of glass which not only appears sleek but also it does not contract scratches easily. Ceramic panels are more resistant to scratches. Since the deluxe version of the Xiaomi Mi 6 has ceramic rear panel, it is even more protected than the regular version.
The 12-megapixel dual rear cameras are also protected by the sturdy glass of the back panel. When JerryRigEverything had performed scratch test on Xiaomi Mi 5, it was found that the company had used inferior quality metallic alloy frame on it. The usage of cheap metal and the lack of a metallic frame caused it snap in two parts during the bend test. The metallic frame is of Xiaomi Mi 6 is quite strong as it cannot be scratched easily.
Next is the flame test that kills the pixels of the IPS LCD display of Xiaomi MI 6 in about 10 seconds. The Xiaomi Mi 5’s screen met with the same fate on flame test in only 4 seconds. The Xiaomi Mi 6 that weighs 168 grams is 31 percent heavier than Mi 5 that has a weight of 129 grams which indicates that Xiaomi has used stronger materials on the Mi 6.
During the bend test the phone could bend a little but it came back to original position. However, the Xiaomi Mi 5 could bend and break easily with little pressure. JerryRigEverything concludes the durability test video of Xiaomi Mi 6 by saying that it is a champion when it comes to durability.
Early yesterday morning, during the morning commute to work, a lady’s Xiaomi phone burst up in flames while in use. The lady who was standing during the trip was holding her phone when it started smoking causing her to quickly drop it, resulting in a commotion.
Images from the camera on the bus shows passengers fleeing to the exits while the bus was in motion. The driver on realizing what was happening had to quickly stop the vehicle to allow passengers get off. The fire was eventually put out and no one was reported to be injured.
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An investigation team that analysed the CCTV footage said the lady was seen using a headset with the phone earlier. There is no report yet as to what led to the phone bursting into flames but the fire left a scorch mark on the floor before it was put out.
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is in talks with a number of banks to refinance a $1 billion three-year loan from 2014, Reuters reports. The Chinese tech giant is reported to have approached three banks namely, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and Wing Lung Bank concerning the matter. Could this be a sign of financial trouble for Xiaomi who ranked among the top 10 phone manufacturers globally in 2015?
There are several reasons why a company would want to go the path of refinancing an old loan and some of the reasons border on financial difficulties. Another curious aspect is that the loan which Xiaomi is trying to refinance had a three-year tenor that was supposed to elapse this year. But apparently, Xiaomi which is usually dubbed “China’s Apple”, might have had difficulties repaying. This may be unconnected with te company’s faltering sales record the past few years.
Xiaomi is known for its generally high-quality but cheap products. Xiaomi’s products cut across smartphones, Smart TVs, routers, laptops, and several Smart home gadgets. This cheap approach means its profit can only come when it sells more products, with the smartphone division standing out as its major stronghold. But in recent times, Xiaomi has struggled to achieve the same result which catapulted it to the top five highest selling brand in 2015, grossing over 70 million units in sales. In Q1 of 2016, Xiaomi shipped only 10.9 million phones, a 26% year-on-year decline, and subsequently, they were able to ship only 62 million units in 2016. The inability of Xiaomi to ultimately ship out more units of their smartphones most likely had a strong effect on their revenue generation and this certainly affected their finances.
The reduction in Xiaomi’s shipment between 2015 and 2016 could have occurred for a variety of reasons ranging from marketing strategy to market competition, availability and others. Before now, Xiaomi uses online-only sales pattern where sales are done via flash sales. This method proved to be very successful when the company started in 2010. However, most of their competitors such as Vivo, OPPO and Huawei not only use the online sales pattern but somewhat favours the traditional offline method by selling through physical stores thus giving them an edge. But in recent times, Xiaomi has opened offline physical stores where fans can get its devices with plans to add more offline stores and to expand outside out China with this model.
Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun had admitted earlier this year that his company had perhaps grown “too fast” in the past few years leading to challenges in the business. He may just have been right. Should Xiaomi get this financial boost, review its market strategy and revamp its production volume, its revenue is most certain to skyrocket.
It’s been four years since OPPO last updated the Find series after the release of the Find 7. All this while, rumours have been circulating concerning a next-gen flagship from OPPO which would likely be named Find 9. While latest news suggests that OPPO may have finally rested the Find series due to the success of the R-series, the OPPO Find 9 just won’t part ways with the rumour mills. Perhaps, that is an indication of how much fans desire for the Find 9 to come.
Yet again, another fresh set of OPPO Find 9 renders has appeared on Weibo from tipster @kjuma. The image on this latest render is different in design from what we had seen in the past. The new images shows the Find 9 featuring very narrow bezels on all four sides with a full-screen design. The device has a high screen to body ratio with top bezel almost absent, covered by the display to a large extent.
The renders did not contain that of the back view but it is likely the device comes with a rear fingerprint sensor since there is no physical button at the front. That is, of course, if it is not hidden under the glass (ultrasonic technology). The Find 9 on display looks like what has a metal body with only a slight curvature and a design consistent with previous Find-series phones except for the straight upper and lower edges.
We cannot really say if this is real but they look like a fan-generated render aimed to keep the Find 9 topic on the front burner. Before now, there were talks of the Find 9 featuring a Snapdragon 835 chip on one of its variant but presently, we are as confused as you are. We don’t know if the Find 9 is in the works and would release in the second half of this year or if the entire project has been discontinued. Only OPPO can answer that and they are too busy milking the R9 models to give us an answer.
In March of 2016, Apple unveiled the 4-inch iPhone SE, probably to cater to those who wanted a compact phone like the iPhone 5s. Exactly a year after its release, Apple relaunched the phone with new storage variants (32GB and 128GB) and stopped production of the 16GB variant.
Yesterday, Apple announced that the 2017 edition of its WWDC event will kick off on June 5. Asides the announcement of new versions of iOS and macOS, and a Siri-based smart speaker, Apple is also expected to announce a second-generation iPhone SE. A weibo user has leaked an image said to be the shell of the upcoming phone.
Although the name isn’t confirmed yet, the second generation iPhone SE appears to have a glass back, confirming Apple is making a shift from metal. The camera setup is also vertical as the LED flash now sits directly underneath the camera lens.
The image also reveals that the shell is made of Ion-X glass, the same used for the Apple Watch Sports. The Ion-X glass is more flexible, lighter and less expensive than sapphire but it is also more prone to scratches. Since the iPhone SE is currently Apple’s cheapest smartphone, it is not hard to see why they are settling for the material.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus has continued to dominate media discussions surrounding its powerful Snapdragon 835 chip, amazing design and marvellous hardware. The Galaxy S8 has a fragile build due to the near bezel-less large display and glass body it features.
The glass covering and near bezel-less display makes the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus easy to get damaged in the event of a fall. For such an expensive phone, that is a red signal because it means the Galaxy S8 and its sibling will be expensive to fix in the event they took a fall and got shattered. However, a recent report on US tech blog Motherboard has revealed that despite the fragile nature of the Samsung flagship, the device is relatively affordable to repair. The report also quoted several independent shops of saying that the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus’ design allows for a relatively simple method of screen replacement
While we don’t hope to have to go to the repairer’s, we just can’t take away the possibility of the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus sometimes slipping out of their owner’s hands. Standing at 5.8-inch for the S8 and 6.4-inch for the S8 Plus, the two Galaxy flagships are pretty large smartphones that are bound to take a fall someday. If peradventure that happens, you’ll have to dole out around $200 for a replacement screen. This amount is said to be $100 less than what the replacement screen of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge cost.
For a pair which retails for no less than $750, replacing a broken screen for $200 may still sound outrageous for some but it sure won’t be for anyone that can afford the flagship. Now, you may want to hold on carefully to your prized possession because the recent teardown of the smartphones revealed the internals are not going to be easy to repair.
Each year we all wait for one of the most powerful budget flagships and it is finally here. Meet the Xiaomi Mi 6, the phone that has killer specs, awesome looks, and a compelling dual-camera setup. Stay tuned to find out if the best of Xiaomi is worth your attention in the full Xiaomi Mi 6 review.
The Xiaomi Mi 6 ships with all the usual stuff and some extras include a soft TPU case to protect your phone.
Also, you get a USB-C to the headset jack adapter since the phone lacks the 3.5mm port. Finally, the Mi 6 ships with the fast charger.
DESIGN and DISPLAY
Once you first pick the Xiaomi Mi 6 up, the first impressions are that the phone looks just gorgeous. Also, it has excellent build quality and it is fairly compact since it sports a 5.15” IPS LCD display, which is sharp, vibrant and definitely one of the best 1080p panels you can find.
We have an 8MP shooter and LED notification light, which, however, is not customizable like on previous Xiaomi phones.
At least we have nicely backlit capacitive keys and the fingerprint sensor that is one of the fastest and most accurate scanners that you can find on any smartphone. It unlocks the phone 10/10 times, straight from the standby mode.
I love that the phone sits nicely in the hand. The stainless-steel frame is almost seamless with a curved glass back panel, which actually does a decent job with all the fingerprints and smudges. In comparison, the phone does not attract fingerprints so quickly like the Galaxy S8. Also, the buttons are easy to reach and they have a great tactile feedback.
It’s worth mentioning that the Xiaomi Mi 6 is now splash-proof even though the official certification number is not yet confirmed. Keep in mind that splash-proof phones are not the same as water resistant smartphones. In other words, you cannot submerge the Xiaomi Mi 6 under water, don’t mess your new phone up.
One of the key selling points of the Mi 6 is the dual camera setup that consists of a 12MP shooter with a wide-angle lens and another 12MP sensor with the telephoto lens that gives 2 times zoom and the ability to take beautiful portrait photos with bokeh effect. The main camera has a bright f/1.8 aperture lens, 4-axis OIS, and dual tone dual-LED flash.
It is great that we have the IR blaster that allows you to control devices like TVs.
I love the loudspeaker quality. The sound is balanced and rich, and there is even a decent amount of bass.
What I don’t like is that there is no headset jack on this phone. I know that Xiaomi wants to follow a trend but if you look at the latest flagships from Samsung or LG, Xiaomi should be more careful with this decision and I think they should have kept the headset jack. Anyway, the sound quality via the USB-C port using a supplied adapter is great. No distortions, great volume output, and rich sound.
Xiaomi Mi 6 in pictures:
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HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE
As far as hardware goes, the Xiaomi Mi 6 is one of the most powerful smartphones the money can buy.
It ships with the latest and greatest Snapdragon 835 chip, 6GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of internal storage, which is, however, not expandable.
The gaming performance is almost perfect. All the 3D games run fine on the very highest graphics settings and the phone does not have any overheating issues. However, I noticed that there were a few skipped frames on the Asphalt 8. I believe that this is due to an early software build and you don’t really need to worry about that since Xiaomi releases software updates very often.
BENCHMARKS
USER INTERFACE
The Mi 6 ships with the MIUI 8, which is built on top of Android 7.1. My device has the MIUI Global ROM 8.2 that has Google Services pre-installed and all the Chinese bloatware removed.
I love how fast the phone is on the daily basis even after installing quite a few apps. So far, the phone has been working fine and I didn’t have any lag.
As usual, there are plenty of customization options Xiaomi phones have been famous for. Just to name a few, you can adjust display settings, choose from a variety of themes or wallpapers, customize the capacitive buttons, use some gesture controls and so on. If you want to customize the phone even further, there are a lot more other features to play with.
We have a familiar Xiaomi camera app that allows you to take pictures very fast. You can also play with some basic shooting modes and settings. E.g. you can adjust some image properties using the manual mode or shoot slow-motion videos at 720p.
There is also 2x lossless zoom mode that allows you to utilize that secondary camera sensor and this feature comes really handy. The results are pretty good, definitely a lot better than using digital zoom.
The portrait mode takes good-looking pictures with bokeh effect but sometimes you may get a picture with a bit unnatural looking blurred background.
When it comes to the image quality using auto-mode, the Mi 6 can take great pictures in good lighting. There is plenty of detail, the colors look nice and noise reduction is pretty good. However, I found that the dynamic range adjustment is a bit worse than on the top tier phones like the Samsung Galaxy S8.
The indoor and macro shots are great too. Again, there is lots of detail and you get that nice bokeh effect thanks to the bright lens.
The low-light camera performance is decent but it is far from the top-shelf flagship-grade quality. If we compare the pictures with the Samsung Galaxy S8, you will see that there are much less detail and much more noise.
The 4k video quality is great. The footage is detailed and the continuous auto-focus feature works well. The colours look nice too but they seem to be slightly oversaturated. Also, there are some video artifacts going but in general, this is probably the best video quality from any Xiaomi phone.
The 1080p video looks good too. Obviously, there is less detail but the OIS seems to do a better job than in 4k video mode.
The selfies look great as there is a lot of detail and the colors are accurate. However, the quality decreases quite dramatically in lower-lit situations.
The 1080p selfie video looks quite good. There is a good amount of detail but the footage is not as good as the one shot with the Galaxy S8. Finally, the sound recording quality is decent but still, not quite the mainstream flagship quality.
When it comes to connectivity, the Xiaomi Mi 6 is flawless. The call quality and signal reception have been excellent, the Wifi range and speed are good, the Bluetooth works fine and finally, the GPS is very accurate, thanks to a reliable Snapdragon processor.
BATTERY LIFE
The Xiaomi Mi 6 ships with a 3350 mAh battery that performs great. I used my phone very intensively for taking a lot of pictures and shooting 4k video, running benchmarks, installing a lot of apps and so on and I still managed to get over 5 hours of screen-on time. If you use the device just for the basic stuff, you should be able to get 6 or even 7 hours of SOT.
Finally, the Mi 6 ships with the fast charger. It takes about 1:30 h to fully charge the phone, thanks to the Quick Charge 3.0.
CONCLUSIONS
So, there you have it, the Xiaomi Mi 6, the latest and greatest from the Chinese tech giant.
I have to say that this is one solid smartphone and it brings a lot of flagship-grade qualities for a much lower price than the mainstream flagships.
Xiaomi nailed the design and build quality, the display is nice and sharp, and the overall performance is great. You also get a great battery life with the fast charger and all connectivity options work flawlessly.
The dual-cameras can take some very nice pictures but the quality is still not on par with the top tier phones like the Galaxy S8, especially if you compare the low-light photos.
You should also know that the Mi 6 lacks the headset jack and there is no microSD card slot.
At the end of the day, the Xiaomi Mi 6 is the best Xiaomi’s phone yet. Even though it has a few cons to consider, you can definitely call it a flagship phone even if it does not carry a mainstream flagship price tag.
When Meizu’s product roadmap leaked a few months ago, the MX7 was one of the products we saw on the list. We were able to deduce from the leaked info that the Meizu MX7 will launch in September and will be powered by a Helio P30 SoC.
September is still a good five months from now but an alleged live image of the Meizu MX7 just showed up online. Because it is still too early, we advice you to take this with a pinch of salt, although it is possible Meizu might have adjusted its calendar. But even at that, MediaTek still has not announced the Helio P30 processor yet. Heck! We are still even waiting for phones to show up with the Helio P25.
However, there is an explanation for the SoC. According to the source, the Meizu MX7 will launch with the Helio X30 or Snapdragon 660 SoC. These two processors are not yet present in any phone, but at least they have been officially announced.
The Meizu MX7 is expected to feature a 21MP rear camera and a 5MP sensor for selfies. The display will be 5.7-inches with a 2K resolution and it will have a USB Type-C port and 3.5mm audio jack.
Xiaomi has announced that it would hold a press conference in Beijing on May 18 where it will officially release its 2017 flagship TV in China. The poster released by the company contained just the number “4” which is identified as the flagship TV. This, therefore, leaves no doubt as to the identity of this product and it is likely the Mi TV 4 unveiled at CES 2017.
The Xiaomi Mi TV 4 was definitely the stand out product which Xiaomi unveiled on its debut appearance at CES 2017 in Las Vegas. The Mi TV 4 comes in three different sizes namely 49 inches, 55 inches and 65 inches, with the 65-inch model having a spectacular modular design which. What this means is that the motherboard, sound system, and the large display are three separate components which can be replaced separately. This is indeed an innovative design making sure that you don’t have to shell out a lot of money to upgrade your smart TV. Just replacing the motherboard with a smarter one is enough to bring your TV up to date. Albeit, the 65-inch Mi TV 4 isn’t Xiaomi’s first TV with a modular design.
On the whole, all the three models are ultra-thin with a narrow frame, having a 4.9mm body which is even thinner than most of the smartphones that are in the market.The SmartTV comes with a sleek metal body and a frameless display which indeed makes it very beautiful. The screen resolution is up to 4K with an overall awesome visual effect and lots of amazing features which would be unveiled on the launch date.
We’ll get to find out the prices for the Mi TV 4 range on May 18 but Xiaomi did mention at CES that the high-end 65-inch version will sell for under $2000 (around 13,700 Yuan). Xiaomi still has you covered with the Mi TV 4A if that price may be way too much for you.
During its very first event in Mexico, Xiaomi confirmed that it will be bringing its smartphones to Mexico from this month. The Redmi Note 4 and Redmi 4X are the two Xiaomi phones that will be landing first on the Mexican soil. In Mexico, these smartphones will be available for buying both offline and online.
According to Xiaomi’s director of product management and marketing, Donovan Sung, “Mexico is a really important market for us and acts as our starting point to reach the rest of Latin America.” In 2016, there were 44.2 million smartphone users in the country. The number of smartphones users in Mexico is increasing at a steady pace because of the competition between the smartphone brands as well as lower pricing of phones.
To make the Redmi Note 4 and Redmi 4X available in Mexico, Xiaomi has partnered with several online and offline retailers of Latin America. The offline retailing partners include Coppel, Best Buy and Sam’s Club and the online retailers are Amazon, Best Buy, Soriana, Elektra and Walmart.
As far as pricing is concerned, the Redmi Note 4 will be available by May end with a pricing of MXN 5,499 ($285). The Redmi 4X will be launching a bit later with a price tag of MXN 3,999 ($209).
Xiaomi has also debuted its MI Community LATAM in Mexico. Xiaomi en Mexico Facebook group created by Xiaomi fans has 15,000 members. The creation of the Mi Community mobile app will give an official platform to Xiaomi fans to interact with each other and participate in various activities.
Through Mi Community, Xiaomi can get in touch with its loyal fans and receive feedback and comments to improve its products and services. Becoming a part of the Mi Community will provide exclusive access to launch events and products. Xiaomi will soon launch a Mi Community app on Google Play Mexico this month. The app will be later on made available to other Latin American countries.
This isn’t the first time that Xiaomi phones will be coming to Latin and South American markets. In the past, Xiaomi has sold its smartphones in Mexico through third party partners. Xiaomi has been selling its devices in Brazil, but it downsized its operations within 12 months of beginning its operation in the country in 2016.
Taiwanese mobile chipset manufacturer MediaTek has always aimed to make an impact on the high-end smartphone market but they have always fallen behind Qualcomm in the pecking order. The Helio X20 is the company’s high-end chipset which has attracted a fairly decent patronage from smartphone makers ranging from flagships to mid-range models.
However, a recent report on Taiwan’s Economic Daily has revealed that MediaTek has quite a large cache of Helio X20 inventory which is due to the fact that patronage for the chip isn’t enough to clear up the inventory. The MediaTek Helio X20 is the world’s first deca-core processor and is built on a 20nm process. The report also disclosed that the Helio X20 comes with a unit cost of $20 which isn’t too much compared to other high-end chipsets. But overall demand for the X20 is said to have slowed down resulting in the build up.
The recent release of the mid-range Snapdragon 660 and 630 which are touted to post strong performances, both built on more efficient 14nm process will not in anyway help the plight of MediaTek and the Helo X20. MediaTek may resort to further drop the unit price of the X20 in order to attract manufacturers even though the problem seems to sterm from the public perception that Qualcomm chips are better. This notion isn’t entirely correct but MediaTek has a lot of PR to do in order to change that perception.
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