OnePlus had launched the OnePlus 3 smartphone in June 2016. Hence, speculations are rife that the Chinese firm is now preparing to unveil the OnePlus 5 smartphone in June this year. An Indian publication has leaked an image of the rear side of the OnePlus 5 that showcases its dual rear camera setup. It claims that the leaked photo of OnePlus 5 has been acquired from people who have seen the handset.
By looking at the image of OnePlus 5, it can be said the company will continue to use the same design that is available on OnePlus 3T that released in December 2016. Hence, it suggests that a brushed aluminum metallic frame is likely to be available on OnePlus 5 along with rounded corners.
As it can be seen, there is no rear-mounted fingerprint scanner on the phone which hints that it would be probably embedded under the Home button or under the screen at the front. The antenna bands that are present on OnePlus 3T is also present on OnePlus 5. However, they do not appear prominent.
The only major change that can be seen on the rear side of the OnePlus 5 is the dual rear camera setup. The two camera sensors are arranged vertically and below the camera module is a LED flash. Below it is the logo of the company. Since it is a leaked photo, what is seen may not be the final design of OnePlus 5. The company may consider tweaking the design of OnePlus 5 before its launch.
Major Chinese brands like Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo, LeEco and so on have launched smartphones with twin rear cameras. Last year’s IPhone 7 Plus is also equipped dual snapper on its rear side. Hence, to stay in competition with these brands, OnePlus is heavily pegged to include a dual rear camera feature on its upcoming flagship. However, there is no information on the specifications of the dual camera lenses.
A leaked image showing the alleged case of OnePlus 5 that had surfaced around two weeks ago features cut-outs for twin rear cameras. However, the cut-outs are for horizontally arranged dual cameras. Also, there is no confirmation on its authenticity.
Rumors have it that the model number of OnePlus 5 is A5000 and it is packed with a 5.5-inch screen. Like the OnePlus 3T, it may carry support for full HD resolution. It is likely to powered by Snapdragon 835 chipset that would be supported by at least 6 GB of RAM. It is speculated to arrive in two storage sizes of 64 GB and 128 GB.
There is no concrete information available on the pricing of OnePlus 5. Like predecessor OnePlus phones, its upcoming flagship will carry aggressive pricing to rival against the Galaxy S8 and Xiaomi Mi 6. The 64 GB and 128 GB OnePlus 3T are respectively priced at $439 and $479. Hence, the starting the price of OnePlus 5 could be lesser than $500.
Summer season in China is just by the corner and in its usual manner, Xiaomi is se to release a new product likely for use in the hot summer season. Xiaomi MIJIA brand isn’t just about smart home gadgets but the company has a reputation for releasing some products that are not smart but highly beneficial for use in the society. One of such many products is the 89 Yuan Xiaomi Cloth Pair Fresh air mask and Air wear mask which seem to catch in on the air pollution situation in China.
The new MIJIA product will be launched on April 27 at 10 AM but as usual, Xiaomi only released a teaser and leaves the rest to out imaginations. From the teaser, the product seems to be handcrafted or weaved using silk. The product is thus, likely a new mat for the summer, perhaps for outdoor camping and other fun oudoor holiday events.
To further lend credence to the suggestion that this is a sleeping mat, Xiaomi’s crowdfunding partner 8H which manufatured the 8H Latex Mattress and pillow range also re-broadcasted the MIJIA post. This points at the product likely being an 8H sleeping mat. Whatever product it is, it joins the Weloop smartband that is also billed to launch tomorrow.
Meizu will be launching the E2 tomorrow and ahead of the launch, there have been series of leaks about the E2. The Meizu E2’s design has been sort of confirmed when the images and specs of the device appeared on TENAA. The E2 design seems to also have featured in a leaked Powerpoint screenshot which seems to be out of the launch venue. The PPT document shows the Meizu E2 would come in different colour variants.
While the Meizu E2 is likely the device that would be launched tomorrow, there are speculations that Meizu may also unveil a flagship series smartphone, the Pro 7 tomorrow. Fans of the Meizu brand have been waiting for the Pro 7 for a while now, with no end in sight to the wait. But some analysts are of the opinion that the Pro 7 might be launched along with the E2 just the same way its predecessor, the Pro 6 Plus was announced along with the M3X in November last year. We can’t say for sure but it is a possibility since there is a precedent.
A Weibo user, Monday leaked the likely specifications of the Pro 7 and there is really not much difference from earlier leaks. The Pro 7 will have a 5.2-inch 2K display with its highest version equipped with 6GB of RAM. No mention was made of the processor but the device is said to pack a 12MP rear camera, a 3500mAh battery and run Android 7.0 Nougat-based Flyme OS. The Meizu Pro 7 is also said to come with a comprehensive screen design and Meizu’s mCharge fast charge technology.
The Pro 7 is said to start at 2699 Yuan which is the price the Pro 6S launched with. But recently, the Meizu Pro 6S which is the latest in the lineup got a 200 Yuan price cut. This could be a way to offload the remaining stock before the launch of a new flagship. We can’t be so sure, so we’ll wait and see what the event plays out.
Meizu has an event slated for 3:00 pm tomorrow. The event should include at least a launch of one smartphone and that is the Meizu E2. The official Weibo account has been littered with teaser posters these past few days. There have also been lots of leaks about the device. After filtering the distractions this is what we think of the Meizu E2 and what we expect tomorrow.
What Will It Be called? Meizu E2, Meizu M4E or Meizu M3E Pro?
Flashback to Q3 2016. Meizu was preparing to launch a new device. The name Meizu E was being thrown around. Initially we thought it was for a smartwatch, then new leaks said it was going to be a new line powered by the Exynos processor since Exynos starts with an “E”. To cut the long story short, we finally got to know the name was not Meizu M1E or Meizu E but Meizu M3E.
The same scenario is playing out again and we don’t want to be caught off guard. Since the last time Meizu fooled us with the E tag was for the launch of the M3E, we guess this new phone is a direct successor to it. So we presume tomorrow’s device is either going to be called the Meizu M4E or the Meizu M3E Pro (Plus).
New Design
Meizu’s VP, Li Nan had stated in a Weibo post that the company had a phone scheduled to launch later this month with a new design. It turns out the new design is not a complete overhaul of the phone but limited to the LED flash on the back.
Meizu has positioned the rear camera and LED flash on the antenna line. But what is special about the design is that unlike the Honor V9 (or Honor 8 Pro) that employs the same layout, the Meizu’s E2 LED flash is laid out like a car’s LED headlight and that is because there are more than two LEDs. There are actually four LEDs for the flash.
Honor V9Meizu E2
The rest of the design remains the same like previous Meizu phones. The Meizu name sits in the middle of the metal back and there is the mBack button that doubles as a fingerprint sensor up front.
Meizu E2 Specifications
When news of the Meizu E2 started floating around, it was from a sighting on the Chinese communications website. The listing showed two variants, M741Y and M741A with support for 18W fast charging. Those two variants were also listed on TENAA’s website today and the explanation is that one will run YunOS while the other will run Android. That explains the Y and A ending their model numbers. Apart from that, there isn’t any difference between the two devices.
The E2 will have a 5.5-inch 1080p display, a 2.35GHz processor (probably the Helio P20/P25) and be available in 2GB, 3GB, and 4GB variants. Storage will also vary depending on the RAM. So you get 16GB, 32GB and 64GB in the same order as the RAM above.
The main camera on the Meizu E2 is a 13MP shooter while the one up front is an 8MP sensor. Battery capacity is 3300mAh and there is an option for storage expansion.
Meizu announced a new version of its Flyme OS last year. Two months later, a stable version was released for eligible devices. Today, a new update for Flyme 6 has been released and it brings a number of new features.
The major feature in the update is the new screen recorder which has been updated to version 2.0. Previously, users could only record without any accompanying sound but the new update now records audio alongside the video.
Other features in the new Flyme update includes a new file management system, an improved update system that guides you in case you wish to downgrade your phone or switch from a beta version to a stable version of the OS.
The Meizu E2 has been spotted on China’s TENAA website after getting certified. The mid-range phone is expected to be launched tomorrow at a Meizu event scheduled for 3:00 pm.
The highlight of the Meizu E2 is its unique LED flash which is integrated on the antenna line. The pictures provided so far show that the LEDs are more than two, but the exact number is not known. We counted four but some say there are 8 LEDs for the flash.
There are two models of the Meizu E2 ; one has model number M741A while the other’ model number is M741Y. We want to believe the “A” and “Y” stands for Android and YunOS respectively even though the TENAA listing shows YunOS for both models.
There is a 5.5-inch FHD display on the E2, a 13MP rear camera and an 8MP for selfies. The phone will be available in three memory variants, so buyers are spoilt for choice here. There ia 2GB+16GB version, a 3GB+32GB model, and a 4GB+64GB version. All three will be powered by an octa-core processor clocked at 2.35GHz. We still don’t know what chip it is but we presume it might be the Helio P20 or Helio P25 chipset. The three versions also support storage expansion via the MicroSD card slot (max. 128GB).
The Galaxy S8 and S8+ have broken pre-order records, but soon after their arrival in the home country, both phones were met with red color tint issue on their displays. Samsung has recently confirmed that it is going to release a software patch to fix the red color tint issue on Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones. A problem that is specifically happening with South Korean Galaxy S8 and S8+ users that is causing connectivity issues on 5GHz Wi-Fi network is said to get resolved through a software update. Now, users are complaining that there is a new problem with wireless charging on Galaxy S8 duo. Wireless charging through older wireless charging pad from Samsung either works quite slowly or it does not charge the battery at all.
Here is a video that shows the wireless charging problem on Galaxy S8:
It seems that Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ users who are using older wireless charging pad are encountering this issue. The cause of this problem has not been found yet. In the above video, the uploader has no issue in wireless charging on Galaxy S7 works fine, but the issue shows up when the S8 is kept for charging wirelessly.
It can be seen that the Galaxy S8 shows a notification that states “irregular charging detected” and its description further states “there is an issue with the connection between your charging and device.” It also shows an alert that the wireless charging has been paused.
Also, it should be noted that the Samsung Fast Charging pad works perfectly fine with Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. The strange situation is that the first ever wireless charging pad (EP-PN920 model number) that lies flat on the surface also works fine with Galaxy S8 duo. The error that we see on the video also shows when a third-party wireless charger is used for charging Galaxy S8 and S8+.
Some speculate that it could be a minor glitch that can be resolved by a software update. Others think that it could be an international move from the South Korean company to disable wireless charging through older wireless chargers in order to prevent any battery related problems from cropping up. Samsung has not released any official statement on it.
The South Korean company has met with embarrassing situation after the Galaxy Note 7 discontinuation that was caused because of faulty battery. Hence, Samsung cannot afford to repeat such an error again and that could be the reason why Galaxy S8 and S8+ are able to automatically detect incompatible wireless charging pads.
OPPO continues its strides in the International scene with the latest report from Taiwan showing the company recorded some success there, despite a decline in the entire smartphone market. According to data obtained from Taiwan’s retail channels, the market recorded a total of 599,000 smartphone sales in March 2017. When compared to the previous month of February, the gross sales declined by 5.82%. Also, when compared to the previous year, the figures decrease by 10.86% year on year. Even though Taiwan is not so populated, the figures are disappointing.
In terms of individual brand sales, Samsung maintained its lead with the Galaxy J series projecting its sales in Taiwan such that its sales grew by 21.6%. This is followed by Apple, local brands ASUS, and HTC and then OPPO. Don’t be deceived by the total units sold, as the data further revealed that in terms of revenue, Apple recorded the most revenue from the sales of its devices, followed by Samsung. OPPO sprang a surprise by emerging as the third highest gross brand in terms of revenue in the Taiwanese market.
Samsung Galaxy J5 2016
Local brands ASUS and HTC occupy the fourth and fifth slots respectively. This data thus indicates that SONY which had a top 5 performance all through last year has been edged out of the top 5, going from third in February to the sixth spot in March. The data also reveal that most users of the SONY brand who switched to other brands went for HTC as their preferred brand.
In terms of the top selling models, three of Apple smartphones namely, the iPhone 7 Plus 128GB, iPhone 7 128GB, and iPhone 6 32GB made the list. Samsung had four top selling models namely the Galaxy J2 Prime, Galaxy J7 2016, Galaxy J7 Prime and Galaxy J5 2016. ASUS came third with the Zenfone 3 ZEF52KL, and Zenfone 2 Laser ZE550KL 16GB on the list. Finally, the OPPO R9S made it as one of the top selling models in Taiwan.
The Galaxy S8 and S8+ are Samsung’s latest flagship phones. Last week, those who pre-ordered their devices in Korea got it a little early only for some to notice a red tint on their display. Samsung’s attention has been called to the matter and owners have been informed to expect a software fix.
The affected phones have their displays appearing with a bit of red when compared to others. Owners will be able to notice the tint when viewing a page or picture that is mainly white. Samsung is trying to manage the situation and has promised a software patch to fix the issue instead of asking them to return for a replacement.
There is a color balance setting in the menu already but some owners weren’t able to correct the issue even with that. Samsung has said in a statement sent to WSJ that the patch will add “a further enhanced ability to adjust the color setting to their preference.”
So far that is the only recorded issue with the new device and we are sure Samsung would love to keep it that way. Last year’s Galaxy Note 7 issue is still fresh in our minds. It put customers’lives at risk and it cost Samsung a lot of money too. We hope the same doesn’t happen with the Galaxy S8 and S8+.
About a month ago, we reported the sighting of two new Smartisan phones with 18W fast charging on the Chinese network certification site. The phones were listed as Smartisan OD103 and Smartisan OD105, and the latter just showed upon AnTuTu.
Unlike previous Smartisan phones, the Smartisan OD105 isn’t powered by a flagship chip. Instead, it has Qualcomm’s upgraded power champion chipset, the Snapdragon 626. The CPU is paired with the Adreno 506 GPU and 4GB of RAM. Storage stays at 32GB which is still an awkward combination to me as 64GB should be the standard for 4GB RAM.
The Smartisan OD105 has a 13MP rear camera and a 4MP front facing camera. It runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat and has a display resolution of 1080 × 1920. Screen size is not stated but it should be between 5 and 5.5-inches. The battery capacity is unknown too although we know it will have fast charge support.
Smartisan already announced that they have an event scheduled for the end of Spring. New report says the date has been confirmed to be May 9. That means you should expect a launch article for the Smartisan OD105 and Smartisan OD103 in about two weeks.
A leaked image of the Smartisan OD105 has also surfaced. The picture shows just the rear of the device. On first look, there is nothing unique about it. The red color does look nice and the rear camera and LED flash sit at the top left corner, though there is another sensor flanking the camera on the left. We don’t know what that is but we want to bet it’s a laser focus module.
If you take closer look at the image, you will see the back is lined. We presume this is to allow for a firm grip when holding the phone. This is most likely a polycarbonate case but we are not sure if the white frame running round it is plastic too. Guess we have to wait till May 9 to confirm it.
Samsung and LG are rumored to push their mobile device display technology further as they are speculated to be working on a screen that is curved on four sides. Samsung is currently selling flagship phones with screens that are curved on their left and right edges. However, both the South Korean companies are expected to launch phones with displays that are not only curved at left and right edges but also at the top and bottom edges in future.
Samsung and LG have both respectively introduced huge-sized displays that are called Infinity Display and Full Vision on their recently released smartphones. The Galaxy S8 has a 5.8-inch dual-edge curved screen and the Galaxy S8+ has a larger 6.2-inch dual-edge curved display that carry support for an aspect ratio of 18.5:9 and a resolution of 1,440 x 2,960 pixels. On the other side, the LG G6 has a 5.7-inch screen that offers an aspect ratio of 18:9 and a resolution of 1,440 x 2,880 pixels. However, the report about quad edge curved screens suggest that both South Korean will soon start a trend that will be followed by other smartphone makers in future.
The quad edge curved screens are expected to occupy 98 percent of the frontal portion of the phone. Such screens can be referred to as true bezel-less screen that will be provide more real estate on the screen without the need to increase the size of actual size of the phone.
Apple has an ongoing two-year deal with Samsung in which the latter is supplying displays for iPhones. The new report states that the Cupertino company had considered using quad edge curved screen on Apple iPhone 8 that is speculated to launch in celebration of the 10th anniversary of iPhones later this year. However, in the previous week, it was reported that Apple will not be using a wrap-around display on iPhone 8, but rather use a flat OLED screen.
Also, the images of a dummy iPhone 8 that appeared yesterday show that it features a flat screen and there are no bezels present at the top or bottom. Apple has reportedly placed orders for 92 million OLED screens with Samsung for the iPhone 8.
The report states that there is one major hurdle that has come in the way of Samsung and LG in manufacturing a screen with four edge curves. The issue is that such a display has a spot at each corner where the touch response does not work. In addition to this, the present lamination techniques do not work with a screen featuring four curved edges. Hence, if Samsung wants to introduce quad edge curved display on Galaxy S9, it will have to adopt a new way to laminate it. However, it seems that Samsung and LG will take more time before such a screen is made available on consumer devices.
Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer Orico has announced a new powerbank with a mammoth 100,000mAH capacity. The powerbank is named MOUPS and has the ability to change multiple devices, even smaller powerbanks, all at the same time. In reality, though, the Orico MOUPS is more of a portable uninterrupted power supply (UPS) gadget, as it can be used to power small refrigerators, TV, radios, mini drones, Notebooks etc.
The Orico MOUPS comes in two capacities, one with 50,000mAh battery capacity and the beast with a 100,000mAh battery. Both versions feature four USB interface which can be used to connect up to four different gadgets. They both also support Quick Charge 3.0 with a maximum output power of up to 18W.
The MOUPS (50000mAh & 100,000mAh) both use Panasonic, Samsung and LG batteries. The device also comes with LED lights that can be used for outdoor camping at night or any other activity in the dark. The gadget also comes with a 220V AC outlet in addition to the DC outlets and four USB ports. In addition, the device can be charged using a 36W solar charging board and that ca also be bought along with the powerbank. You can watch a Weibo video on the full functionalities of the UPS device from here.
As for their prices, the 50,000mAh version of the MOUPS has a price tag of 1,299 Yuan (~$188) while the price of the 100,000mAh model is even cheaper at 1,999 Yuan (~$290). The 36W solar charging panel costs just 500 Yuan (~$72).
Geotel Note is a new budget phone that is priced lower than $90. In the previous month, we had published an in-depth review of the Geotel Note phablet. The phablet is now available on a flash sale on Tomtop with a pricing of $9.99.
During the same flash period, the Chinese retailer site will be selling 50 units of Geotel Note at $85.99. After the end of flash sale, the Geotel Note will be available with its regular pricing of $89.99. The package of the Geotel Note includes the handset, battery, charger, USB cable, TPU protective case, protective film and user manual.
The Geotel Note is a 4G budget phablet that does not appear cheap, but it has a premium appeal. The 5.5-inch HD screen and it is driven by MediaTek MT6737 chipset that features a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor and 3 GB of RAM. The native storage of the phone is 16 GB.
The external storage of the phone supports up to 32 GB of microSD. There is a 13-megapixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture. The frontal shooter is of 8-megapixxel with f/2.0 aperture and 84-degree wide-angle shooting support.
The Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS will be running inside the Geotel Note. The phone is equipped with a 3,200 mAh battery. It is available in color choices Dignity Gold and Phantom Navy.
Even though Geotel is a relatively new Chinese smartphone, its devices have a stylish appeal and come with impressive specs and pricing. Before shipping its devices, Geotel smartphones are made to go through many quality control test procedures. Apart from Geotel Note, it also has another phone called Geotel A1 phone under its belt. Geotel Amigo is one of its upcoming smartphones. Its specifications have already been revealed.
Elephone C1 Max is the latest phablet from the local Chinese manufacturer, Elephone. The phone has been in the news for the past few weeks mainly because of its dual camera setup at the back, making it one of the few phones to actually feature two rear camera sensors at a budget price tag. Apart from the camera setup, another big reason why you should check out the C1 Max is because of its huge 6-inch display up front. I got to play around with the device for the past few days, which means it’s time for a detailed Elephone C1 Max Review.
Elephone C1 Max Review: In the BOX
The phone comes with all the usual things that you get inside a smartphone box — the phone itself, charger, manual, and SIM ejector tool. Note that the box also contains a silicone case for the phone, which I think is a nice addition. The phone also has a scratch guard installed right out of the box, so no need to go hunting for that.
Elephone C1 Max Review: Design
The Elephone C1 Max is extremely well built. But that’s not surprising since the built quality of local Chinese phones have improved tremendously in the past couple of years.
The phone feels good to hold, even in one hand. But one hand operation won’t be easy given its large 6-inch display. The C1 Max is made out of a premium metal body with a smooth texture at the back. I personally got the mocha gold color variant, which I feel, looks very beautiful. It’s a different shade of gold, which is refreshing from the usual champagne gold and rose gold color shades. The overall built quality and looks of the phone are excellent and I am sure you will be happy with the design.
The dimensions of 164*83*8.5mm are pretty decent for a 6-inch phablet. In comparison, the Bluboo Maya Max, which is a close competitor comes with 162.2 x 81.8 x 9mm dimensions. So, the C1 Max is a tad wider and longer than the Maya Max, but its thinner too. Also, it’s nowhere as heavy as the Maya Max, weighing 158 grams as compared to Maya’s 211 grams. Of course, the major difference in weight is because of its battery capacity difference, which is significant, but if you are looking for a relatively lightweight 6-inch phablet, the C1 Max is a pretty good candidate.
[envira-gallery id=”128133″]
The back texture is smooth and does not easily attract fingerprint or dirt. On the top left corner, you have the dual camera setup (13MP + 5MP) along with LED flash. There’s a fingerprint sensor in the middle, which is actually pretty good. Then there’s the Elephone logo along with the usual stuff written — Designed by Elephone, Assembled in China.
On the right side, you have the volume and power buttons. The buttons feel good and clicky, so no issues here. The placement of the buttons are also pretty good, I could reach out my thumb to power on or off the display with ease. But for users with small hands, accessing the power button might not be too easy. Coming to the bottom, there are MicroUSB port and dual speakers. On the left, there’s dual SIM card slot. Finally, on top, you just have a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Elephone C1 Max Review: Display
The Elephone C1 Max has a large 6-inch display. The bezels on the sides are thin, so the display looks quite good. But the bezels on top and below the display are still pretty thick. I feel, keeping these areas thinner would have made the phone even more compact, but then the phone comes with capacitive buttons instead of on-screen ones, so the thickness of the bottom bezel is kind of justified.
As for the display quality, don’t expect too much from the large screen, since the resolution is limited to 720p. Despite the resolution being just HD, the display manages to do a decent job in bringing out the right colors. Most of the colors pop out nicely on the screen, which makes it a great device for watching videos. I compared the C1 Max with the Redmi 4A since they both fall nearly in the same price class and despite the larger display with the same 720p resolution, the C1 Max did manage to maintain a decent level of clarity and color reproduction. Note that both phones were set at 50% brightness.
Sunlight visibility of the Elephone C1 Max is fairly decent. Under direct sunlight, at 50% brightness, I was still able to read what was on the screen with a little bit of effort. I compared it with the OnePlus 3T under similar conditions and things were not too different.
Elephone c1 max (top) vs Redmi 4a display
So, for a $120 ($109 on Gearbest now) device, the C1 Max has a pretty decent 6-inch screen.
Elephone C1 Max Review: Hardware
The C1 Max has nothing great to boast about in this category. The processor inside is the entry level MTK MT6737 quad-core chip. There’s 2GB of RAM on board and 32GB of internal storage expandable via MicroSD. The ARM Mali-T720 is also an entry level GPU, so expect the graphics performance to be basic as well.
In the AnTuTu benchmark test, the Elephone C1 Max managed to score 32,301 points. Now, that’s very low in a market where the mid-rangers easily score near 70K on the same test. But real life performance is not as bad as this score suggests. If you are looking for a device with great multi-tasking skills or heavy app crunching power, then the C1 Max isn’t the right one for you. But if you restrict the total apps in the background and use the phone moderately, the phone shouldn’t disappoint.
So, hows the gaming performance?
It’s decent. I mean, you can play games like asphalt without a lot of hiccups. Of course, the graphics don’t look anywhere as good as the Asphalt 8 on the OnePlus 3T, but the overall experience playing on the 6-inch phone is pretty good. If you can get used to some skipped frames while playing, then most of the games should work fine on the phone. I even tried out Subway Surfer and I didn’t see any lag during gameplay. In fact, the colors popped out pretty well on the 6-inch screen. You can check out the gaming screen video in the drive folder added below.
What about the fingerprint sensor?
The fingerprint sensor is one of the highlights of the phone. The sensor was very quick to recognize and unlock the phone, right from the screen off mode. In fact, it’s one of the most accurate sensors I have seen on a $100 smartphone. I never had any fingerprint misreads, which means the display unlocked in less than a second every single time. The placement of the sensor at the back could be an issue if you are like me who places the phone on the desk. But that’s just a personal inconvenience and if I had to judge only the sensor, I would give it 10/10.
Elephone C1 Max Review: Dual Cameras
The camera is naturally one of the most important components that consumers check before buying a smartphone, but with the Elephone C1 Max, cameras have even more importance. The company has used a dual camera setup at the back, which means this is one of the cheapest phones with two cameras at the back. The setup is a rather simple one, a 13MP primary camera sensor supported by a secondary 5MP sensor. This setup is more focused on taking depth of field photos, rather than improving the overall image quality, and I must say that the C1 Max manages to do a decent job in this regard.
Controls for background blur
Before I talk about the bokeh effect produced by the phone, it’s important to note that the basic images captured by the C1 Max are nothing out of the ordinary. It gives you images with a decent level of clarity and colors, but you do find some noise, especially when the natural lighting goes down. This makes the phone just like any other low-cost local Chinese budget smartphone. But if I had to comment about the bokeh effect produced by the phone, it’s pretty interesting.
So, you have control over the amount of background blur produced in the image. It takes some time getting used to the controls, but once you are familiar with the feature, you will be able to get some good photos out of this device.
I have added a few samples down below. As you can see, the quality of images aren’t exceptional, but the bokeh feature works well.
As for the video quality, it’s going to be grainy and shaky — so not good enough for your viral video needs.
Elephone C1 Max Review: Battery
All the above departments have been fairly good so far. For a $120 smartphone, the C1 Max gives you good value. But one area where it disappoints is the battery inside.
The charging takes quite a lot of time, especially considering the battery is smaller than 3000mAh. My unit personally took nearly 2 hours to get to 100%. Even the draining is quick. With continuous usage, the battery drains very quickly and you are left with no juice even before the end of the day. That’s expected because of its large 6-inch display gulping a lot of battery. But if your usage is fairly moderate, then the C1 Max could last an entire day. But I don’t think with its large screen, your entertainment needs would be limited to just a couple of hours a day.
So, the battery is a bit of a disappointment on this phone. Something like a 3500mAh capacity battery inside would have been better suited for its 6-inch display. Make sure to carry its charger or a powerbank if you are planning to use this phone as your daily driver.
Elephone C1 Max Review: UI
There are some good looking wallpapers on the phone pre-installed, hence I didn’t have to download from the internet. The icons are quite big, making full use of its large 6-inch display. The app icon graphics isn’t something that I personally like, but I don’t think you would have a problem with them.
[envira-gallery id=”128149″]
With Android 7 Nougat on board, things were pretty smooth on the C1 Max. I did experience minor lag sometimes, but nothing significant.
Elephone C1 Max Review: Conclusion
For $120, the Elephone C1 Max is quite a decent smartphone. The large 6-inch display and dual cameras — the two big attractions of the phone — gives this phone an edge over the numerous $100 competitors in the market today.
The battery is definitely its biggest drawbacks but it kind of help in keeping the phone’s weight low, something that other 6-inch smartphones fail to restrict. For example, the popular Xiaomi Mi Max phablet weighs a good 203 grams. Dual cameras are good for occasional bokeh pics and the display is good to serve your entertainment needs as well. Super fast and efficient fingerprint sensor was indeed a pleasant addition. Finally, with Android 7 on board, there are definitely some good reasons to consider buying this budget smartphone.
Xiaomi is all set to launch its 78th crowdfunded product under the MIJIA platform and this new product will surprise you. It is a smartband which looks very much like the Mi Band 2 that some thought it was, perhaps, the Mi Band 3 when Xiaomi teased the product launch yesterday. But all is now clear as the MIJIA platform has explained that it is a third party product manufactured by smartwatch maker Weloop.
The upcoming smartband is teased to have a very long lasting battery which can last up to 30 days while running continuously without any interruption. That is a super powerful fire power which dwarfs the Mi Band 2 battery. At most, the Mi Band 2 can do 7 days with continuous use but 30 days? That is interesting.
A new twist has been added to the mix, with the emergence of a Xiaomi poster with the smartband bearing the name “Xiaomi teleport ring”. The ring is teased as being able to teleport someone from a disaster or unsafe zone to safety. Now, teleportation is a stuff of science fictions and just isn’t possible presently. This might just be some prank as what is likely coming is a smart fitness band that should perform like the Mi Band 2 and even better.
Xiaomi has been hinting that it would be selling its smartphones in the U.S. However, in an interview with Engadget, Wang Xiang, the Global VP of Xiaomi, confirmed that expanding its market in the U.S. is not the priority for the company.
Xiaomi has just launched its flagship phone, the Mi 6. In this year, it is speculated to launch several smartphones such as Xiaomi Mi 6 Plus, Mi Note 3, Mi Max 2, Redmi Pro 2 and Mi MIX 2. However, Xiaomi fans in the U.S. and Europe who are eagerly waiting to see the arrival of Xiaomi fans will have to wait longer as they won’t be able to purchase these phones in their countries this year.
It means the only way to avail Xiaomi phones is to order them from Chinese online retailer sites such as GearBest or Giztop that are selling them with slightly expensive pricing. Xiaomi does not want to sell its smartphones directly in the U.S. like other brands like OnePlus and Honor (Huawei’s sub-brand) are doing. It feels that selling phones directly in the U.S. will not help in building its relationship with the carriers in the U.S. and this could negatively impact the reputation of the company in the U.S.
Like other major brands, Xiaomi too wants to penetrate the U.S. market at the right time after negotiating with carrier companies. It also aims to set up full-fledged customer service. Currently, Xiaomi is selling its phones in 30 regions that are considered as developing markets.
Xiaomi is a very popular brand and has a good potential of growing in these markets. Currently, it is on the number two smartphone brand in India and in countries like Ukraine, Indonesia and Myanmar, Xiaomi is at placed at number three position. Since it encountered supply chain issues, it is now on the fifth spot in China. However, the U.S. market is saturated where brands like Apple and Samsung are the ruling the smartphone market. Wang said that it is not in a hurry to arrive in the developed markets.
Before making its phones available through the U.S. carriers, the company should go through extensive testing process for its smartphones. However, it does not have sufficient engineering resources for it, but it is looking forward to making its smartphones available through the four popular U.S. carriers such as AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint.
Last year, Google introduced the Pixel and Pixel XL that were branded as “made by Google” smartphones. Rumors that surfaced earlier this year revealed that Google may release as many as three handsets this year.
The new information that has surfaced on Android Open Source Project has revealed that Google’s upcoming smartphones are codenamed as Walleye, Muskie and Taimen. Walleye is said to arrive as a successor for Pixel and Muskie could be launching as sequel for Pixel XL. However, Taimen seems to be a mysterious device. Speculations have it that it could be a new tablet with Google branding.
In the last month, it was reported that Taimen could a device that is different from Walleye and Muskie which probably means that Taimen may arrive as a non-Google Pixel phone. Google has been following a pattern of codenaming its smartphones with the names of fishes. Taimen is world’s largest salmonid which indicates that it may arrive with a larger screen compared to Pixel 2 series phones.
The other important information that has surfaced through AOSP is that Snapdragon 835 chipset. Rumors that surfaced at the start of this year stated that Google may release a cheaper edition of Google Pixel phone dubbed as Pixel 2B for the developing markets. However, Rick Osterloh who is the Senior Vice President for Hardware for Google has confirmed that Pixel phones will remain premium which means there won’t be any budget friendly edition of Pixel phones.
Osterloh has also shed some information on the Google Pixel 2 release date. He has said that the company will follow an annual launch cycle for it which probably means that Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL would be launching in October this year.
Early rumors have revealed that Google Pixel 2 phones would be sporting waterproof chassis and they would be also featuring improved cameras featuring large-sized megapixels for advanced low-light photography. Also, the upcoming Pixel 2 smartphones are unlikely to feature 3.5mm audio jack.
Xiaomi took the smartphone industry by storm last year when it announced the bezel-less Mi Mix concept phone actually went commercial unlike other concept devices. The Mi Mix was a mixture of innovative technology right from the ceramic body to the display to the earpiece and others. Due to the 91.3% screen-to-body ratio and teh absence of bezels at the top, Xiaomi had to come up with some innovation to place the selfie camera, ear piece and proximity sensor.
Cantilever Piezoelectric ceramic technology
Thus, the Mi Mix uses a Cantilever piezoelectric ceramic technology which replaces the traditional ear piece. The technology utilizes the process tht transmits electric signal from the digital to analog converter to the piezoelectric ceramic which turns the electric signal to mechanical energy which vibrates the phone’s frame and the vibration reaches the ear through the screen.
Although the piezoelectric ceramic technology is an innovative one, user experience hasn’t been all that positive and Xiaomi is likely to replace it. There are indications that the Xiaomi MI MIX 2 which is expected to launch this year will bring a different innovation in its ear piece sound aspect. This was said to have been disclosed by industry analyst Sun Changxu on WeChat recently. According to the lady tech analyst, Xiaomi will partner with AAC technologies who will develop a better new generation technology known as AAC actuator which would be used for the ear piece sound output. The AAC actuator is said to achieve a better screen sound especially at low frequency. It also works better with the 3GPP standard.
The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 is expected with a higher 93% screen with a curved display as well as other innovations. The device may launch along with the Mi Note 3 just like Xiaomi did last year.
The Snapdragon 835 just started showing up in devices. At the moment, you can count the number of phones powered by the chip on one hand. There will be others definitely but they are scheduled for release later. News has it that Qualcomm and Samsung have started working on a successor currently called the Snapdragon 845.
The Snapdragon 845 is not the confirmed name yet. I don’t even want to think of it as the final name as Qualcomm has been unpredictable with the naming of their chips these past few years. Snapdragon 810, 820, 821, and 835. Who is to say the next chip won’t be called Snapdragon 853 (this is not a typo this time)? Industry sources say the most likely name is 845.
The new chip is expected to power the Galaxy S9 (another unconfirmed name) when it is released in 2018. The Snapdragon will be manufactured by either TSMC or Samsung but the latter seems more likely. Reason is because Samsung has just completed development of its 2nd-gen 10nm FinFET process called 10LPP (Low Power Plus) and since they are also handling the production of the Snapdragon 853, why .
When Xiaomi announced the Mi 6 last week Wednesday, fans of the brand were disappointed to find out that it lacked a 3.5mm jack. If anyone had predicted a year ago that Xiaomi would follow Apple’s footsteps in ditching the audio jack, no one would have believed him.
Xiaomi is not the only Chinese manufacturer to toe this line. LeEco is another example and actually the first manufacturer in the world to do so. However, they make up for it with the CDLA technology bundled with the phone. They also released the world’s first USB Type-C headphones that takes advantage of the technology.
While most manufacturers will defend the removal of the audio jack as a sacrifice to make the phone waterproof, Xiaomi can’t play that card. The Mi 6 is just splash resistant. That means you can’t dunk it in water or take it for a swim. So what then is the reason for the removal?
An official statement by Xiaomi via their Weibo account says the removal was to make space for other components such as a bigger battery. They also had to keep apart the charging interface and data transfer interface of the phone which would not be possible without the removal of the audio jack.
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