Xiaomi has broken several records through the online sales of Redmi 3, Redmi 4, Redmi Note 3 and Redmi Note 4 smartphones and their variants in India. On May 20, the Chinese firm generated a massive revenue of Rs. 5 crore (~$775K) within 12 hours through the offline sales of various Xiaomi devices in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
The offline sale was conducted at the Xiaomi’s first Mi Home store in India located at Phoenix City, Bengaluru. Over 10,000 Mi fans from 10 different states arrived at the Mi Store to be a part of this milestone achievement of the company.
Xiaomi could generate such a huge revenue through the sales of various Xiaomi devices such as Redmi 4, Redmi 4A, Redmi Note 4, Mi VR Play, Mi Air Purifier 2, Mi Router 3C and Mi Band 2. No other smartphone company has managed to achieve such a milestone in the country. The Chinese firm revealed that the Redmi 4 and Redmi 4A accounted for major sales among other Xiaomi products.
Manu Jain, the Vice President and Managing Director of Xiaomi said,” It was an extremely emotional day for all of us at the opening of our first Mi Home store. I am humbled by the unprecedented outpouring of love from all our Mi Fans who started lining up from 8 AM in the morning. I had a fun filled day with spending time with our fans, billing at the counters for our customers, entertaining people standing in queue and answering multiple queries at Mi Home. Never did I imagine that with every passing hour we were quietly creating history in the Indian retail market.”
Xiaomi has previously said that it will be opening 100 Mi Home stores across the country including major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai. With the launch of these offline stores, Xiaomi aims to increase the offline sales of its devices. An additional zone will be available in select Mi Home stores for experiencing more Xiaomi devices.
After becoming part of the “Make in India” program of the Indian Government, the Chinese firm launched its second manufacturing unit in the country at Andhra Pradesh. The factory that has been launched in partnership with Foxconn will make it possible for the company to manufacture 95 percent of smartphones that will be sold in the country. The company claims that the new plant is capable of producing one phone per second.
A recent survey carried out by IDC revealed that the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 was the most shipped smartphone in the first quarter of this year. With a market share of 29.3, Xiaomi now stands as the number one smartphone brand in the online market in India.
The Honor Play Pad 2 wears a new design. Even though its still a budget tablet, Huawei has done away with the plastic body. The tablet now features a sandblasted aluminium body with rounded corners. Its not the thinnest tablet in the market but Huawei is proud of its 7.95mm thickness.
The larger variant has its ports (audio and charging port) positioned on the left if you hold it in landscape mode, and the speaker grille at the bottom. For the 8-inch version, the charging port is at the bottom when held in portrait mode and the audio jack sits at the top.
Honor Play Pad 2 Specs
The 8-inch version has a 1280 x 800 HD display, 2GB/3GB of RAM and 16GB/32GB of ROM. You can pick up a microSD card slot of up to 128GB if you wish. There is a Snapdragon 425 processor on board and a 4800mAh battery.
The 8-inch Honor Play 2 is a budget tablet so don’t expect stellar pictures from its 5MP rear camera and its 2MP front facing camera. It runs EMUI 5.1 based on Android 7.0 Nougat and weighs 350g.
The 9.6-inch variant packs exactly the same specifications as the 8-inch version, even down to the battery capacity. So unless you need the larger screen, you are better off with the 8-inch version. The tablets also have a special kids mode with its own app store and parental control features.
Huawei’s Honor is on a roll today. After having launched the Honor 6A, it has followed it up with something for the home. The Honor Router X1 and X1 Plus are Honor’s way of getting a place in your house.
The Honor X1 has a neat cube design that cleverly hides all the ports at the back. Those who love to keep their wires hidden will appreciate this. The Honor Router X1 and X1 Plus both have one uplink port, two ethernet ports, a 12V power jack, and a reset button. There is also a LED light up front.
The main differences between both routers is that the X1 only supports 2.4GHz and peaks at 300Mbps while the X1 Plus supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, 802.11ac MU-MIMO, and peaks at 1167Mbps.
Three months after the launch of the Meizu M5s, Meizu has today launched another smartphone in its mid-range M-series. The Meizu M5c is touted as specially designed for its international fans and rightly so, it is perhaps the first time Meizu is first announcing its new smartphone outside its usual Chinese launch channels (We have to check up our records if this is true). The M5c was announced by the Chinese company via its Twitter account.
Design & Features
The Meizu M5c features a design which is consistent with Meizu’s design language. It bears slight resemblance with the M5s except for the positioning of the fused antenna band at the rear. While the antenna band on the M5c is at the top and bottom edges, that of the M5s is not. Another thing is that the M5c features a stylishly curved body with well-chamfered edges. The body of the M5c isn’t made from metal but it features polycarbonate unibody touted to have been specially crafted using ultra-high precision CNC techniques. The mid-ranger comes with an 8.3mm body, weighing only 135g.
Meizu M5c Specifications
On te specs angle, the M5c sports a 5-inch HD (1280 x 720p) display with a contrast ratio of 1000:1 and a maximum brightness of 400 nit. The minimum brightness is 5.5 nit and the display also comes with ‘sophisticated GFF full-lamination technology’. The phone is powered by a 64-bit Quad-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz and believed to be a MeidaTek SoC. The graphic aspect is taken care of by a Mali-T720 GPU which should allow for a seamless graphic experience.
The Meizu M5c also features 2GB of RAM and 16GB of native storage which is expandable up to 128GB. Providing the interface is Meizu’s Flyme 6 UI and it comes with the company’s One Mind artificial intelligence which learns your usage pattern and helps allocate memory to your applications based on your usage in order to deliver the best experience. The smartphone also packs a generous 3,000mAh non-removable battery, features support for band 20 4G connectivity which is absent on most of Meizu’s previous models.
On the camera end, the Meizu M5c features an 8MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, 4-element lens and ISP technology. The device also features a 5MP selfie shooter.The cameras support ArtSoft beautification algorithm.
Meizu M5c Pricing & Availability
The Meizu M5c will be available in five cool colors namely; Black, Gold, Blue, Red and Pink. The price and availability date of the smartphone weren’t announced but it is a mid-range series and so, is expected to come with a cheap price tag.
Xiaomi Mi 6 flagship phone has been selling in the home country of China since a few weeks. In its first flash sale, the Xiaomi Mi 6 units were sold out in a few seconds. Today at 10 AM in China, the Xiaomi Mi 6 Ceramic Edition went on sale through its official site with a pricing of 2,999 Yuan ($435). Like the standard edition, the special edition ceramic model also sold out quickly.
The Xiaomi Mi 6 Ceramic Edition is now listed as out of stock on the official website of the company. When Xiaomi Mi 6 was made available for purchase in China, the company only made available only the regular Black color variant with glass-clad rear. However, the Ceramic Edition was listed for purchase for the first time today.
It is not known as to when will Xiaomi Mi 6 Ceramic Edition go on sale next time. If Xiaomi is not facing any production problems, the Ceramic variant may become available on sale soon. The Ceramic Edition not only features a premium ceramic back panel but also it has gold rims of 18-kart around the rear-facing twin cameras. The Ceramic Edition has the same internal specs as the regular model.
The Xiaomi Mi 6 Ceramic Edition has a 5.15-inch screen that produces a full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. It is driven by Snapdragon 835 and 6GB of RAM. The native storage of the phone is 128 GB. There is no microSD card slot on the device.
Its dual camera module includes a 12-megapixel wide-angle lens coupled with a12-megapixel telephoto lens that provides 2x lossless zoom. The front-facing camera of the Mi 6 is 8-megapixel. It also features a front-facing fingerprint reader. It is packed with a 3,350mAh with fast charge support.
In a recent interview, Wang Xiang, the Vice President of Xiaomi confirmed that the company will not be launching its Mi 6 flagship phone in regions like the U.S, Europe and India. Buying it through Chinese reseller will require customers to pay more in the form of shipping and import taxes. Also, the Xiaomi Mi 6 purchased through Chinese reseller will not support all the 4G LTE networks in the U.S.
Today is a big day for Huawei and Honor as they have a number of product launches scheduled. Kicking off the launch is the mid-range Honor 6A. The Honor 6A brings a number of new features, keeps some from the Honor 5A, and ditches a few too.
Honor 6A Design
Huawei has changed a number of things in the Honor 6A. The single-piece plastic back plate for example has been replaced with a metal one, although the part where the antennas sit are made out of plastic. The camera housing has been redesigned and is now a circle just like the LED flash and fingerprint scanner. The front hasn’t seen much of a change though. The bezels are still thick even though the phone uses on-screen navigational buttons.
The Honor 6A is bound to weigh more than its predecessor due to the larger battery and metal back plate, but in terms of size, it is no different from the Honor 5A.
Honor 6A Specs
The Honor 6A retains the 5-inch HD display as its predecessor but comes in two memory configurations: there is a 2GB RAM + 16GB ROM model and a 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM model. Both versions are powered by the Snapdragon 430 processor which supports more LTE bands than Huawei’s Kirin 65x series.
The rear camera is a 13MP Sony IMX278 sensor with a LED flash, and up in front is a 5MP sensor. Last year’s model had a front flash but Huawei decided to leave it out this time. However, one new addition is the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. It also runs Android 7.1 Nougat with Huawei’s EMUI 5.1 overlay.
The battery has also been bumped to 3020mAh from 2200mAh. Although the Snapdragon 430 does support Quick Charge 3.0, Huawei ships the phone with a 5V/1A charger.
Huawei released its mid-range Nova and Nova Plus last year with a cool design, decent specs and pocket-friendly price tag. One year on, Huawei is set to release a second-gen smartphone in the series known as Nova 2. The Huawei Nova 2 has been a visitor along with the Nova 2 Plus on TENAA and a poster hinting at a possible May 26 launch appeared online recently. The Huawei Nova 2 has now appeared on GFXBench database revealing its specs.
According to the GFXBench listing, the Nova 2 features a 5-inch display with 1920 x 1080p resolution. The device is equipped with a 2.3GHz Octa-core processor which is likely the Hisilicon Kirin 658 processor backed by 4GB of RAM and there is 64GB of storage onboard. As usual, GFXBench data isn’t always correct and on this one, there seems to be a mistake on the camera sensors. The HuaweiNova 2 had earlier been revealed to come with a dual camera setup comprised of a 12MP wide angle sensor + an 8MP telephoto lens. The front camera features a 20MP sensor and the device runs Android 7.0 Nougat.
The Nova 2 is expected to be launched on May 26 along with the Nova 2 Plus. We’re not sure if the Nova 2 Plus will be launched along with it but since they both appeared on TENAA, then that’s just possible.
360 Mobiles had a big day today as the company announced the successor to the 360 N5 model that was released just a few months back. The new model, called the 360 N5S, comes with pretty good upgrades as compared to the earlier generation model. The company seems to have given priority to the design and the front camera in this new version, which makes it a great overall mid-ranger.
360 N5S Design
360 Mobiles continued with the same design language in the past few generations, which is why it was necessary for a quick overhaul in the design department of the new entrant. The 360 N5S ditches the traditional all-metal body in favor of 2.5D curved glass. So, you have 2.5D glass on both the front as well as the back with an aluminum alloy frame to keep things sturdy. Note that the back of the N5S has a mirror line finish which makes it look a lot like the Honor 8. The phone comes in Blue as well as Black colors and there’s a good chance that you might confuse the N5S with the Honor 8, especially its blue color edition. The fingerprint also lies on the back of the phone.
Dimensions: 153.5 x 76.9 x 8mm
Weight: 170 grams
So, the phone is similar to the dimensions of its previous generation model but with a thinner 8mm body. However, the phone’s weight has increased significantly, as it weighs 170 grams, much higher than the metal clad 360 N5′ 156-gram weight.
The buttons also have a textured pattern to make sure that you can easily find it.
360 N5S Specs
360 N5 was a pretty powerful mid-ranger. The company has made a smart decision to keep most of the basic hardware intact, which means the 360 N5S specs include the same Snapdragon 653 octa-core chip, 6GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage and MicroSD expansion slot that support up to 128GB. There’s a standard 5.5-inch 1080p panel on board.
Now note that for some reason, probably to keep the weight and thickness lower, the 360 N5S comes with a smaller, 3730mAh battery on board. The previous generation model had a 4000mAh battery, so cutting down the battery capacity, even by a small figure isn’t something that we would have liked to see. However, the company claims that you still get 1.5 days of usage from the device. Further, the phone supports 9V / 2A fast charging, which should give you about 45% charge in 30 minutes. That’s pretty good.
360 N5S Camera
The front camera has received the biggest upgrade, now featuring a dual camera setup. The front setup is a combination of a 13MP CMOS Samsung sensor with f/2.0 aperture and a 2MP secondary sensor with f/2.4 aperture. The secondary sensor is responsible for additional depth of field data to ensure you can capture good looking selfies with background blur. The presence of PDAF (0.1s focus) on the front camera setup should further ensure a clear and focused shot.
Coming to the rear camera, the 360 N5S comes with a standard 13MP f/2.0 sensor. It’s same rear sensor as the N5 model. So, the setup supports 4K as well as 1080p videos.
360 N5S Software
On the software side, the 360 N5S comes with 360 OS 2.0 UI which is based on Android 7.1 Nougat. The company seems to be focused on making the UI as clutter free and simple as possible. So, the new OS omits unwanted apps and brings features such as split screen multi-tasking (with transform / drag drop), multiple apps (open 2 copies of the same app) etc.
The phone comes with a notification light as well. Now, you’ll see a Nubia-like red circle on the phone’s home button, which is also a breathing notification light.
360 N5S Price & Availability
The phone will go on sale on June 2 on the official i360Mall in China for 1699 Yuan ($247). There seems to be just one memory version 6GB RAM + 64GB ROM and two color options: blue and black.
Xiaomi Mi Max 2 is all set for an official launch on May 25. It specifications have already been leaked by the rumor mill and it has also appeared on GFXBench. The original Mi Max from May 2016 came with a massive 4,850mAh battery. Rumors have been claiming that the Mi Max 2 would be coming with a 5,000mAh battery. However, according to a Chinese leakster, Kumamoto, Xiaomi will be increasing the battery capacity by 500mAh on the Mi Max 2.
As it can be seen in the above Weibo post by Kumamoto, the Mi Max 2 will be coming with a 5,349mAh battery from Yan Wanda. He also claims that the phablet would be powered by Snapdragon 626 chipset. The mammoth battery and the energy chipset onboard will allow the Mi Max 2 to deliver stellar battery performance.
The original Mi Max came in Standard and High (or Prime) variants. The Standard model came with Snapdragon 650 chip, 3 GB RAM and 32 GB / 64 GB storage options. The Prime model came with Snapdragon 652 SoC, 4 GB RAM and 128 GB storage. The upcoming Mi Max 2 is also speculated to arrive in Standard and High models.
The Standard edition of Mi Max 2 is speculated to arrive with Snapdragon 626 chipset, 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB storage. The High model is rumored to be fueled by the newly launched Snapdragon 660 SoC, 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB storage.
Leaked information has revealed that the 12-megapxiel Sony IMX378 camera sensor that is present on flagship phones like Google Pixel and Xiaomi Mi 5S will be present on the rear side of the Mi Max 2. It is speculated to come with a 5-megapixel frontal shooter. The original Mi Max came with 16-megapixel rear snapper and a 5-megapixel selfie shooter.
Xiaomi is also expected to include a USB Type-C port on Mi Max 2. Like the original Mi Max, the successor phone will continue to feature 6.44-inch full HD display. The phablet would be running on Android 7.1 Nougat flavored with MIUI 8.
The Nubia Z17 may just be the phone to give the Xiaomi Mi 6 a run for its money. A video teaser by Ni Fei, the company’s General Manager, hints at the Z17 featuring a pressure sensitive display.
A pressure sensitive display allows you to perform functions akin to right-clicking on a PC. By applying the right amount of pressure on an app’s icon, additional functions are displayed. As you can see from the screenshots, pushing down on the calendar app, will show you the weather for the day, and an option to add new event without you having to open the app. Another example shown is when you long press the clock icon and you get presented with a sub-menu that includes a timer or stopwatch.
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Basically, the pressure sensitive display saves you additional taps by providing you access to functions you wouldn’t usually have access to if you don’t launch the app. The Xiaomi Mi 5s (128GB version only) launched with a pressure sensitive display but for reasons best known to Xiaomi, the Mi 6 doesn’t come with one.
The last example of the pressure sensitive display is for the settings app which lets you jump straight to the update page. This is where we see the second teaser. The Nubia Z17 in the video is running Nubia UI 5.0.
A mysterious Samsung smartphone with model number of SM-G9298 had recently received certification from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) at the end of the previous week. The smartphone has also received approval form Wi-Fi Alliance. Rumors had hinted that it may be a dual screen flip phone from the company.
By looking at the leaked image, it can be understood that the phone does not feature any sensor above the screen. Hence, it seems to be a flip phone. Speculations suggest that it could be a successor of the SM-W2017 flip phone from Samsung that was launched last year.
The predecessor of SM-W2017 had a model number of SM-W2016. Hence, the successor of SM-W2017 should have SM-W2018 model number. However, the model number of the leaked phone suggests that it could be a different product. Other rumors hint that it could be the first foldable smartphone from Samsung that is dubbed as Galaxy X by the rumor mill.
It has been found that the flip phone shown in the leaked image is driven by Snapdragon 821 chipset and it carries support for wireless charging. The WFA certification of the phone revealed that it is running on Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS. These older specs indicate that it may not be the Galaxy X which is expected to come with flagship specifications.
Samsung had released a flip phone with a model number of SM-G9198 in 2015. It was powered by Snapdragon 808 chipset which was the next best SoC in 2015 after the Snapdragon 810 that powered most flagship phones in that year. Its predecessor SM-G9098 was launched in 2014. However, in 2016, Samsung did not launch a successor for SM-G9198.
Samsung SM-G9198
The new SM-G9298 will mostly likely roll out as a successor of SM-G9198. Since SM-G9198 was launched in August 2015, the SM-G9298 is speculated to release in the Q3 2017. The SM-G9198 was the first phone from Samsung to be powered by Snapdragon 808 chipset. The SM-G9298 could be the first smartphone from the company to be fueled by Snapdragon 821, the next best chipset after Snapdragon 835. Since the device has been certified by FCC in the U.S., it seems that the South Korean company is prepping up a new flip phone for its U.S. fans.
Just last week, Sony released the Xperia XZ Premium flagship in China with a premium design as well as premium price pegged at 5699 Yuan (~$827). The Xperia XZ Premium featured a Snapdragon 835 chip, 4K display, a Sony IMX400 camera, among others.
Barely five days after that launch event, a new leak has emerged of the specs of three Sony smartphones in the Xperia family. The smartphones go by the names Sony Xperia XZ1, Xpera XZ1 Compact and Xperia X1 adnd the three are said to be scheduled for release on September 1 at the 2017 IFA Berlin. Since Sony released the Xperia XA1 and XA1 Ultra at MWC 2017, the rumors may just have some credibility.
Specs wise, the Sony Xperia XZ1 is the top of the pack with 5.2-inch 1080p display and is powered by a Snapdragon 835 processor. The processor is backed by 4GB of RAM and there is a 3000mAh battery onbaord. On the other hand, the Xperia XZ1 Compact is listed with a compact build, sporting a 4.6-inch display with just an HD resolution (1280 x 720p). Surprisingl, the deviceis listed as packinga Snapdragon 835 chip as well as 4GB of RAm and a 2800 Mah battery. This doesn’t look like one device we’ll be meeting soon.
Finally, the third model dubbed Sony Xpera X1 has the listing of a mid-ranger, with a Snapdragon 660 chipset onboard. The Xperia X1 is also listed with a 5-inch Full HD display as well as a 4GB RAM and 2800mAh battery. All three models are said to use Sony’s new generation of camera technology.
Earlier this month, a leaked photo (courtesy of Evan Blass) that was allegedly snapped from a Lenovo event revealed the different Motorola Moto devices that would be launching this year. The leaked photo also showed that the company plans to launch Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus this year. The leaked photos of the Moto G5S have surfaced now in three colors like gray, gold and dark blue.
The Moto G5S appears quite similar to the Moto G5 that was announced alongside the Moto G5 Plus at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 in February. The back panel of the Moto G5 is of aluminum and its sides are made of plastic. However, the Moto G5S sports a full metallic chassis. The changes that can be seen on it include the good old Motorola dimple near the center of the back panel. Instead of the plastic cut-outs on Moto G5, the G5S comes with antenna lines on the rear.
There is no confirmation on whether the Moto G5S will come with upgraded specs over the Moto G5. The image leaked by Blass had revealed that the Moto G5S would be coming with a full metal body and a 5.2-inch FHD display that supports a resolution of 1,920 x ,1080 pixels. The Moto G5 has a 5-inch FHD screen.
The Moto G5 is driven by 1.4 GHz Snapdragon 430 SoC and 2 GB of RAM. The native storage of the phone is 16 GB. It also features a microSD card and comes loaded with latest Android 7.0 Nougat OS. There is a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera. Since the Moto G5S has a larger screen compared to Moto G5, there is a possibility that it may come with slightly better specs.
The leaked shot from the presentation also carried information of another phone called Moto G5S+. This smartphone will be coming with a 5.5-inch display with support for FHD resolution. The G5S+ is also expected to feature a dual rear camera.
There is no information available on the launch of Moto G5S and Moto G5S+. Lenovo has recently launched the Moto C and Moto C Plus smartphones. The Chinese firm is also expected to soon launch smartphones like Moto Z2, Mzto Z2 Force, Moto Z2 Play, Moto X4, Moto E4, and Moto E4 Plus. Interestingly, there is no information available on whether the company will be launching a successor device for Moto M that was introduced last year.
The rumors surrounding the OnePlus 5 keeps building by the day but it is obvious, in this case, that a good number of them are actually going to be on the OnePlus flagship. OnePlus founder Liu Zuotu has now confirmed that the OnePlus 5 would come with a front fingerprint sensor. The CEO made the confirmation while responding to a fan’s comment on Weibo.
Although a front fingerprint sensor has been a regular on previous OnePlus models, we can add this to the growing list of confirmed features the next-gen flagship will come with. For one, we now know already that OnePlus’s next smartphone won’t be called OnePlus 4 as some argue, but would adopt the moniker OnePlus 5. That has been confirmed by the company. Also, the OnePlus 5 is also expected to sport a dual-camera design but we don’t know for sure if the cameras would be aligned in the horizontal or vertical plane. There are also talks of multiple colour variant for the OP5 and OnePlus may have teased that but we cannot say if that’d end up happening.
Further, the OnePlus 5 is expected with a powerful hardware lineup marshalled by a Snapdragon 835 processor and backed by 6GB RAM. Words out there tips the OnePlus 5 of heralding a new era in flagship offering by releasing an 8GB RAM version of the OP 5. That’d be lovely if true and it sure would open up a new competition as other OEMS would jostle to have an 8GB RAM-packing model. The OP5 will be launched this summer, which is not too far away.
Vertu SIGNATURE Cobra Limited Edition is the new “flagship” phone says Vertu that is known for marking most expensive and luxurious phones. According to the company, it is not a smartphone, but a regular cellphone. So, do not expect high-end specs from it. Since it is a limited edition phone, only eight units will be manufactured and sold exclusively through Jingdong Mall, the online retailer in China. Each unit is priced at $360k.
As the names goes, the phone is inspired by the original Vertu SIGNATURE phone. It is hand-assembled in the United Kingdom and is manufactured by a French-based brand called Boucheron that is famous for its royal jewelries. Hence, the phone is decked with 439 rubies that is designed such a way on the phone that it appears like a cobra around the front side of the phone. For its eyes, the French company has made use of two emeralds. However, the handset appears like a regular Vertu phone.
Vertu sells its phones through its branded stores in various countries. Some stories like Selfridges and Harrods that are in London provide the Vertu phones with concessions. Such an expensive phone is delivered through a special courier service. Vertu will be delivering the SIGNATURE Cobra Limited Edition through a helicopter to its customers. We hope that its limited edition 8 units reach safely to the respective customers
Vertu SIGNATURE Cobra Limited Edition can be availed with an upfront payment of 1000 Yuan ($145). Once the customer pays the remaining 2.47 billion, the Chinese firm will fulfil its promise of delivering the phone through helicopter. Here is the listing of the Vertu SIGNATURE Cobra Limited Edition phone on JD.com
Vertu, known for making elegant and luxurious phones were established by Nokia in 1998. In 2002, it was sold to private equity in Sweden. In 2015, it was taken over by Godin Holdings. Now, it is owned by Cyprus-based Baferon Ltd that belongs to Hakan Uzan, a Turkish mogul. Each handset made by the company is individually crafted by hand at the factory that is situated at Hampshire, England.
Fidget spinners seem to be a new craze right now. You can choose from quite a few different sizes, shapes and designs. We just came across a dirt cheap fidget spinner that does not even cost $4 but it has a lot of features!
This little device has built-in LED lights that make the spinner look awesome in the dark.
What is more interesting is that this fidget spinner has a built-in Bluetooth speaker. Obviously, you can’t expect great sound quality or anything but it is kind of amazing how much you get for less than $4.
The market of cheap action cameras is pretty crowded but we just came across an affordable camera made by MGCool. It costs just about $60 but it has quite a few features like 4k video recording. Learn more in our full MGCool Explorer 4k action camera review. In fact, Gearbest has this camera just for $36.99 on a flash sale.
UNBOXING
As usual to most of the cheap action cameras, it comes with a ton of accessories that include all sorts of mounts, cradles and so on. A few notable accessories are a waterproof case and the bike cradle. However, there is no spare battery included.
DESIGN and FEATURES
The MGCool Explorer sports a classic action camera design. It’s made of plastic and it is very light.
The buttons are nice and tactile and we have a few ports that include the micro USB, micro HDMI, and the microSD card slot.
As for the camera, we have a 16MP SONY IMX 179 sensor with 170° wide angle lens. There is also Allwinner Technology V3 chipset that does the image processing.
A 2” display does not have the highest resolution but it gets the job done for an action camera.
FUNCTIONALITY
You can navigate through the menus using the buttons and the user interface is pretty straightforward.
You can adjust the resolution, play with the image settings and adjust quite a few different settings if you wish so but I guess that most of us just use the auto-mode. You can also view the pictures you took or the videos you shot straight on the camera display.
The camera also has a built-in Wifi and that means that you can connect it to your phone using the app.
The app allows you to use the phone as a viewfinder. You can also watch the videos you shot or adjust some settings.
In order to test the quality of the 4k and 1080p video, I used the Zhiyun Rider-M gimbal for action cameras. It stabilizes the footage of action cameras very well.
As for still image quality, it is pretty good for a cheap action camera. However, I would love to see a bit more detail in some images and some of the shots came out slightly underexposed.
Still, the quality of the footage is great for cheap action camera and you simply can’t expect anything better at this price range. However, the 4k video is recorded only in 15fps, so the footage does not look very smooth. Finally, the sound recording quality is terrible, like on most of the cheap action cameras.
BATTERY LIFE
The 1050mAh battery performs great knowing the fact that the camera has a 2” display. I could get 1:20 h of 4k video recording and around 3 hours of total usage per charge.
CONCLUSIONS
All in all, the MGCool Explorer 4kaction camera is a great choice for those who don’t want to spend hundreds for a GoPro but still want to have a small device that can shoot videos or take pictures.
Also, it has 2” screen, lots of settings, the battery life is good and this cheap camera comes with lots of accessories. However, you have to know that the 4k video is recorded only in 15 fps and the sound recording quality is bad.
For a price of just about $60, it is still a great bang for your buck, despite a few shortcomings that are common to all cheap action cameras. In fact, Gearbest has this camera just for $36.99 on a flash sale. For this price, it sounds like a bargain.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
360 N5 Model
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).
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!
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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.
