Xiaomi‘s self-developed in-house chipset, the Surging S1 was announced recently with a configuration which places it in a mid-tier category and indeed it made its debut onboard the mid-range Mi 5C which was unveiled alongside the Pinecone chip.
Xiaomi was earlier tipped as having a high-end version of the Pinecone processor which would be manufactured using a 10nm manufacturing process. However, new details have emerged revealing the high-end SoC, which would likely be known as Surging S2, would use a 16nm TSMC manufacturing process and would adopt same octa-core architecture. It is also rumored that sample of the Surging S2 has been produced while mass production of the processor would commence in the third quarter of this year. The fourth quarter would see us meeting the first Xiaomi mobile phone which would feature the Surging S2 chip.
Perhaps, the Surging S2 was earlier billed to be released using the 10nm manufacturing process, but that was said to have been shelved due to the low yield of the 10nm process. Also, the issue of costs would also play a major role in the decision. The cost of producing on the 10nm chip would definitely be higher since it involves cramming the cores on a smaller1 wafer. Although efficiency may be less than if it were produced on the 10nm process, it reduces the cost of production thus reducing what would have been an unbearable weight on Xiaomi.
Sony Xperia XZ Premium is the first commercial smartphone to be powered by Snapdragon 835. It was introduced at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017. It is now available on pre-orders in the U.K and its shipments will begin in June.
During the launch of Sony Xperia XZ Premium in February end, the company did not reveal any information on its exact pricing and availability. It was announced that the flagship would be available for buying by late spring in the U.S. However, the powerful flagship is already up for pre-orders in the U.K.
Several online retailers have started the pre-orders of Sony Xperia XZ Premium. On Amazon UK. it is listed with a pricing of £649 ($790) and it states that it will be released on June 1. On Clove UK, the flagship phone is listed for £640 ($779). Both the retailers are selling the smartphone in Black color, although Clove mentions its variant as “Deepsea Black.” Clove has also stated that the customers can expect to get their pre-ordered units by the first week of June.
Unlocked Mobiles has also started the pre-orders of Xperia XZ Premium with a pricing of £639 ($778). It has two color variants of the phone, Deepsea Black, and Luminous Chrome. As of this writing, the retailer has not mentioned any details on shipping date of the phone.
Even though it is the first Snapdragon 835 powered smartphone to get announced, reports have revealed that apart from Samsung, all the other manufacturers are expected to get the stock of Snapdragon 835 chips in late May. In other words, the upcoming Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 are fueled by Snapdragon 835, all the other flagships featuring the SD 835 are pegged to launch after the launch Samsung’s flagship smartphone. This is the alleged reason why LG chose to launch its LG G6 smartphone early with Snapdragon 821 chipset instead of featuring it with SD 835.
The Sony Xperia XZ Premium is the successor of Xperia Z5 Premium. It has a dust and resistant IP68 certified chassis that is flanked with a premium mirror finish. Like the Xperia Z5 Premium, it features a 5.5-inch 4K display that supports 3,840 x 2,160 pixels resolution with a pixel density of 801 ppi. The HDR support onboard lets the screen generate richer colors and better contrast.
The SD 835 SoC of Xperia XZ Premium is coupled with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of native storage. It also includes a microSD card slot. The 19-megapixel Motion Eye rear camera makes it the first smartphone to shoot super slow motion videos at 960 fps with a resolution of 720 pixels. It also comes with other features like SteadyShot 5-axis stabilization and Predicative Capture that shoots living images.
The 13-megapixel frontal camera can snap amazing selfies in dim light conditions. Some of the other features include USB Type-C, fingerprint, front-facing stereo speakers, Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS, and a 3,230 mAh battery enabled with Quick Charge 3.0.
In the U.S., the Sony Xperia XZ Premium will not be featuring a fingerprint scanner. Its arrival in the U.S. seems imminent as it has already received certification from Federal Communications Commission regulatory body. In the U.S. it is expected to be available with a pricing of $799 by June.
The Galaxy S5 was the first Samsung smartphone to come with a fingerprint scanner. Since then, Samsung has launched several smartphones with this biometric recognition feature. However, a leakster said that the company would be soon ditching the fingerprint reader to replace it with facial recognition feature.
A fingerprint scanner can be used not only to unlock a smartphone but also to authenticate the user. Samsung is now rumored to bid goodbye to the fingerprint scanning feature as a tweet coming from an alleged Samsung employee has said that “We will kill the fingerprint, it’s obsolete.”
"We will kill the fingerprint,it's Obsolete."A Samsung staff said.
The upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ both are expected to arrive with rear-facing fingerprint recognition. These flagships are also expected to come with an iris scanner. Rumors have stated that since the iris scanner seems to be working slowly on Galaxy S8 and S8+, Samsung has added facial recognition feature that can unlock these flagship smartphones within .01 seconds. It is likely that Samsung will launch its future flagships like the Galaxy S9 and 2018’s Galaxy Note 9 without a fingerprint scanner but include other security features such as iris scanner and facial recognition.
In the previous week, KGI Securities analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo revealed that the upcoming iPhones would be equipped with a revolutionary 3D sensor enabled front-facing camera. The depth information generated by the camera will be merged with the 2D snaps that can be used for various features like face detection, iris scanning and 3D selfies.
This year is the 10th anniversary of Apple iPhones. Hence, the company is rumored to launch an iPhone that will be featuring an edge-to-edge screen that will cover its entire front side. It means the front is unlikely to house the Touch ID fingerprint scanner. Speculations have it that it could be replaced with the new facial recognition feature. There is a possibility that the upcoming iPhone 8 may arrive with a Touch ID fingerprint scanner under its display as well as a facial detection feature.
The upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ flagships are slated to get announced on March 29. Both phones are expected to be available for buying in April.
There has been an endless leak of Samsung’s upcoming flagship, the Galaxy S8. Today is no different as new images of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ in flesh (or rather glass and metal) have surfaced online.
The most recent one is a picture showing both flagships side by side. This image highlights the major difference in both phones which is their screen size.
Wondering about the plethora of sensors lining the front 0f both phones? The Galaxy S8 and S8+ are expected to feature an iris scanner which is the large sensor on the right, the small one beside it is probably a LED flash. Then there is the earpiece sitting in the middle. Next to it on the left is the proximity and ambient light sensors, the front camera, and then the notification LED. These are pre-production units, so some of these sensors should not be this visible on the final product.
The second image shows the Galaxy S8 in a case. This unit is black, so you can see the sensors are not as visible as in the first image. The Always On Display is active and its showing info like the date, battery level and what looks like a Play Store notification.
The Galaxy S8 is expected to launch with a 5.8-inch display while the S8+ will sport a 6.2-inch screen. Depending on the region, you either get the Snapdragon 835 chipset or Samsung’s own Exynos 8895. Both phones will be waterproof and will come with a pair of AKG earphones in the box. That should not be a surprise since Samsung now owns Harman International Industries which is the parent company for JBL and AKG Acoustics. The new Galaxy Tab S3 comes with AKG audio and during its launch, Samsung revealed that future Galaxy devices will also feature the audio technology
At this year’s edition of Mobile World Congress, Huawei announced its main flagship for the year, the Huawei P10. The new king in the P-series brings a number of new features and so far has been getting positive reviews.
Huawei already announced the pricing for the P10 in Europe. The new flagship with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage will sell for 699 Euros (~$738/¥5160). However, the official price in Huawei’s home country, China, was not revealed.
A number of Chinese sites have been accepting pre-orders for the Huawei P10 with a deposit of ¥999 since they themselves do not know what price they will be getting it. The tradition is that Huawei phones are usually priced lesser in its home country than outside, so even with the deposit, they still won’t be paying as much as ¥5000.
According to info from an official distributor, the 4GB+64GB Huawei P10 will sell for ¥3699 (501 Euros/$535) while the 4GB+128GB version will sell for ¥4299 (582 Euros/$622). Considerably cheaper, right? But locals are not happy about the pricing.
The reason is because the 4GB+64GB Huawei P9 currently sells for ¥3388 ($490). That is just ¥311 ($45) lesser than the P10 with the same memory configuration. So they are wondering why the Huawei P9 is still so expensive. When the P9 launched last year, the official price was ¥3688 ($533). Comparing it to the price of the P10, that is a difference of ¥11 ($1.60). There is also a rumor that the Huawei P10 Plus with 6GB of RAM and 256GB of storage is not more than ¥5000 ($723).
Leagoo has been in the market for the past few years, building a reputation as an affordable smartphone maker. I personally have been checking out the devices from this brand for the past couple of years and so far the company has done a decent job of releasing value for money smartphones. A few months back, Leagoo released one of the best entry-level handsets in the market, the Leagoo M5 Plus and today, I have finally got my hands on the M5 Plus for a review.
Before we start this Leagoo M5 Plus review, I will have to mention that the phone came with all the usual stuff that you get in a smartphone box. So, there’s the phone itself along with the charger, scratch guard (already installed on the display) and a manual in English. It is worth noting that you get headphones in the box as well, which isn’t good, but it’s still a bit decent than other stock headphones provided in the box.
DESIGN
Earlier, budget segment offered very little when it came to built and looks. However, things have taken a turn for the good in 2016, as now we have phones that compete with the likes of the premium segment despite having a cheap price tag. Leagoo M5 Plus comes in the above category and I must say that the company has done a wonderful job with the phone’s design.
The Leagoo M5 Plus is built using a combination of metal and plastic, which has become a norm these days. The quality of workmanship is top notch and plastic as well as the metal parts feel premium. Even in the front, thanks to the 2.5D curved glass, the M5 Plus manages to grab your attention. So, you will definitely be happy with the phone’s looks.
The phone is beautiful and heavy. Now, the latter part is pretty evident in your everyday usage as it weighs more than many other mid-range smartphones in the market today. While 170 grams may not be too heavy for some, it definitely takes some time getting used to. And if you are someone who texts while lying on the bed, make sure you never lose grip as the phone meeting your face won’t be a pretty sight.
The buttons are on the right, made out of metal that blends well with the metal frame. They are built well and feel tactile. There’s a camera on the front and a few sensors, and at the bottom of the display, you have three capacitive buttons. The left side of the phone is clean, the top features a 3.5mm headphone jack while at the back, you have a standard MicroUSB port.
I got the white model and the back texture is glossy. But it’s not the gloss that attracts fingerprint. So, your fingerprints won’t become a part of its subtle texture. The single LED flash, camera, speakers, as well as fingerprint are located on the back.
One thing to note in the Leagoo M5 Plus is that it’s back panel is fixed firmly. I found it hard to get the back panel off to access the SIM card and MicroSD slots.
[envira-gallery id="124476"]
PERFORMANCE & BENCHMARK:
The Leagoo M5 Plus comes with MT6737 1.3GHz quad-core chip which is the latest entry level chipset from the company. It’s a decent processor for an entry level device and manages to sail through the Freeme OS without major hiccups. For $90, that’s pretty decent. Opening up apps usually take a second, which is also decent.
In the AnTuTu benchmark, the phone scores: 28942
The phone runs on FreemeOS and I have to say that it does a pretty decent job powering the UI. It’s easy to work with stock UI because it’s lighter but with FreemeOS, there are a lot of themes, icons, and animations that the phone has to power, and it’s good to see MT6737 manage this well. It may not be the smoothest UI implementations on a phone in the segment, but I personally felt very limited lag on the device.
I have tried streaming youtube videos on the device and it was pretty smooth. The app opens up quickly and the video loads almost instantly as well. As for the browsing experience, it takes a second or two to load the entire page but once it’s loaded the scrolling and pinch to zoom all work smoothly. I had only a few tabs open on Chrome and switching between them didn’t bring any issues or lag.
One feature I was particularly impressed about the Leagoo M5 Plus was its fingerprint sensor. Once I saved my fingerprint, the phone unlocks with a touch on the sensor almost instantly. Given that it is such a cheap smartphone, I am definitely impressed by its super fast sensor.
Some of the UI features are shown in the images below:
CAMERA:
Camera is never usually the selling point of low-cost Chinese smartphones, but in the past few months things have seen a bit of an improvement. Of course, it’s nowhere close to what you get from $200+ smartphones, but for a couple of occasional shots, the Leagoo M5 Plus should be enough.
What I personally found was that the 13MP camera at the back of the phone captured just average photos. Most of the times the images were slightly washed out and the colors were dull. I, personally expected the camera to perform better, at least in terms of color reproduction, but was disappointed on most occasions. And when you manage to get good colors on the image, the sensor for some reason decides not to focus properly resulting in grainy and unfocused images.
Moral of the story: You need very good lighting to capture decent images with the M5 Plus. Unfortunately, I wasn’t very lucky to get extremely good lighting in my pictures, which is why the rear camera samples don’t look too good.
Now, this should give you an indication that the M5 Plus is also not a selfie expert. But I managed to get a couple of decent ones with a little bit of effort.
The samples have been added to my Google Drive. You can check them out from here.
BATTERY:
Battery is yet another area where the Leagoo M5 Plus doesn’t shine too much. Well, this isn’t exactly surprising given that you get a small 2500mAh battery inside, which really brings you to the big questions — why is the phone so heavy?! For such a small battery phone, it’s really a pity that the M5 Plus weighs so much. The body isn’t beautiful enough to justify its weight.
Despite its small battery, note that the phone lasts about a day, thanks to the efficient MT6737 quad-core chip inside.
CONCLUSION:
If it was early 2016, the Leagoo M5 Plus would have been something that I could recommend. Heck, if they managed to bring down the weight of the phone, I would have considered the phone. But with the phone being unnecessarily heavy along with the less than impressive camera, it’s very hard to recommend the Leagoo M5 Plus. It’s yet another story of what could have been a great smartphone ruined by small factors.
Despite the above-mentioned issues, I would not take away its positive points. The Leagoo M5 Plus comes with attractive and appealing looks, the freemeOS can be called as visually pleasing for most users and finally, the fingerprint sensor works great. Yes, it’s fast and accurate almost all the time.
If you are ready to ignore the fact that the phone is super heavy, the Leagoo M5 Plus turns out to be a decent entry level handset.
Gearbest is currently selling the phone for less than $90 and you can check out the listing from here.
Vernee made an appearance at this year’s edition of Mobile World Congress as a way to garner global recognition. They even had a prototype of their Helio X30 flagship, the Apollo 2 on display. However, due to a delay said to be from Mediatek, the Apollo 2 will be launching late. A press release has confirmed that Vernee’s first phone for 2017 will be the Apollo X and it will launch with VOS.
The Apollo X will be released this month and will be the first to launch with VOS (Vernee Operating System). VOS is said to be very close to stock android but will definitely come with some new features Vernee thinks is necessary to enhance users’ experience. VOS will also be available to all existing Vernee phone but the decision to use it will boil down to you.
The Apollo X is a special edition of Vernee’s Apollo series and will launch with a Helio X20 processor. The Helio X20 might be a chip from last year but it has proved that it can hold its own when it comes to performance and power consumption. The processor has ten cores arranged in a tri-cluster framework: 2 x Cortex-A72 clocked at between 2.1GHz to 2.3GHz; 4 x Cortex-A53 clocked at 1.85GHz; and 4 x Cortex-A53 clocked at 1.4GHz.
Quite a number of folks are anticipating the launch of Xiaomi’s next flagship, the Xiaomi Mi 6 which is expected to be released in April. We have seen a number of leaks about the specs of the upcoming device already but more details keep coming in.
The new info reveals that the Xiaomi Mi 6 will come equipped with the latest Sony IMX400 sensor. Previous reports had said that the rear camera will be an IMX386 but that seems to have changed. If the Mi 6 does come with the IMX400, it will be quite surprising since Sony usually reserves it’s best sensor for itself.
We have also learnt that the Xiaomi Mi 6 will come in two screen variants. There will be a 5.15-inch model and a 5.7-inch model. Apart from the difference in size, they will also feature slightly different designs. The larger variant is even said to come with dual cameras on the rear in a design similar to that of the iPhone 7 Plus.
A new Huawei phone has been spotted on TENAA. The device whose model number is NCE-TL10 is listed as having an OLED display.
Design wise, the Huawei phone looks like the Redmi Note 3 but without the speaker grille at the back. There is a single camera, a fingerprint scanner, and Huawei and China Mobile’s logo at the back. The front sports big bezels and appears to be using on-screen buttons since there is Huawei’s branding where capacitive buttons should be.
The spec sheet says the phone has a 5-inch 720p display, 3GB of RAM, 16GB of storage and a MicroSD card slot that accepts up to 128GB cards.
The rear camera on this new device is a 13MP sensor with LED flash, and up front there is a 5MP shooter. And just like the Redmi Note 3, it also comes with a 4000mAh battery. The processor is unspecified but is an octa-core chip clocked at 1.5GHz. The phone has dual SIM slots and has Android 6.0 Marshmallow pre-installed.
The Chinese smartphone market continues to get more saturated and competitive as jostle for smartphone components is said to have created a supply gap. A good number of the OEMs get their supplies from the same components suppliers both in China and Taiwan and in this sort of situation, orders sometimes get out of hand with the suppliers slow to deliver. This is said to have prompted some players in the industry such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo, and LeEco to adopt a more conservative approach towards placing orders with upstream component suppliers., according to sources from Taiwan’s handset supply chain.
This much was disclosed by sources from Taiwan’s handset supply chain, who also hinted that there is a backlog of orders which are yet to be delivered, dating back to as far as the fourth quarter of 2016. This is said to have prompted some smartphone manufacturers to delay the launch of new models from Q1 2017 to Q2, 2017.
A saturated smartphone market often lead to a reduction in the unit price of models in order to keep it competitive among brands of similar specs. This sort of strategy may be unconnected to the low-profit margin declared by Huawei in 2016 despite shipping a record 139 million smartphone units last year. The company is now set to consolidate its handset team in order to reduce operating costs, according to inside source. Xiaomi and LeEco were forced to announce price increases for some of their models recently in order to shore up their earnings. But unfortunately, the hike in price resulted in a reduction in sales, thus they are said to have also adopted conservative measures in placing orders for components.
If the top-end smartphone vendors could the least be affected by this, then the second-tier verndors wold be the worse hit. Rising components prices and reduction in demands are some of the challenges they’ll have to tackle this year. There are speculations already that the Chinese smartphone shipments would fall below 100 million units in Q1 2017, a huge drop from the 130 million recorded in Q4 2017.
Huawei‘s autonomous Honor brand announced the Honor V9 in China at the tail end of February with a special flagship look. The device recently went up on sales clutching a price tag starting at 2599 Yuan ($377) for the base version. There are now indications the Honor V9 would debut in Europe under a different moniker.
According to a Twitter tipster, the Honor V9 would likely be launched in Europe as the Honor 8 Pro on April 5. Already, Huawei has sent out invites for a launch event billed for April 5 but the company didn’t explicitly state the device that would launch on that day. The tipster tips, though, that the V9 would come in gold, blue and black variants, likely omitting the sleek red variant seen in China.
Honor V9 (also to be known as Honor 8 Pro?) going international on April 5th 2017 – in gold, blue and black. This just went out to journos. pic.twitter.com/ys9wgqx9E6
Should this turn out to be true, it sure wouldn’t take a thing out of the Honor V9 which is a true flagship with lots of stunning features. Like the words of English poet, William Shakespeare, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”.
As a reminder, the Honor V9 or Honor 8 Pro packs a powerful Kirin 960 chip inside a 5.7-inch QHD LCD screen. The processor is backed by 4GB RAM on some models and 6GB of RAM on the top models. There is the option of a 64GB or 128GB storage version to choose from. The V9 also sports a 12 MP + 12 MP f/2.2 dual cameras on the back (one sensor is monochrome ) with laser autofocus, LED flash, and 4K video capture. This isn’t a Leica branded shooter, but it is still a decent setup.
Xiaomi’s Redmi Note lineup has been very popular both in China and internationally. The Redmi Note 4x is the upgrade to the Redmi Note 4 and it sports great specs, fantastic build quality and it costs less than $170. Learn more in the full Gizmochina’s review.
Inside the box, you can find a charger, some paperwork, SIM ejector pin and USB cable.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Review: DESIGN and DISPLAY
The front of the phone looks just like previous Note-series devices. We have a sharp and bright 5.5” 1080p LCD display. In fact, it looks even better than a great display found on the Redmi Note 4.
We also have nicely backlit capacitive buttons and a highly customizable notification LED light.
The Note 4x is made of metal and it definitely feels premium but I was disappointed that the top and bottom parts of the backplate are made of plastic not like on the all-metal Note 4.
We have a 13MP shooter on the back, which is coupled with the dual-LED flash. Xiaomi phones are known for great fingerprint scanners and the Redmi Note 4x is no exception. You can unlock your phone very quickly straight from the standby mode.
The buttons feel nice and tactile, and we have some extra features like the IR blaster to control devices like TVs.
Xiaomi decided to stick with the micro USB port on this phone, which is not a deal-breaker but I would prefer the USB-C.
As for loudspeaker, I would say it is pretty good as on most of the Xiaomi phones. However, there is a little bit of distortion going on at the highest volume settings. The sound quality via the headset jack is pretty good too.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4x Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE
I have a standard edition of Xiaomi Redmi Note 4x that sports an octa-core Snapdragon 625 chip with the max. clock speeds of 2.0GHz, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, which is also expandable via the microSD card slot. If you are willing to pay extra, you can get a 64GB model with 4GB of RAM.
The gaming performance is great and the Snapdragon 625 chip does not heat up so quickly. Games like Asphalt 8 run fine on the highest graphics with just a few skipped frames but that didn’t bother me at all.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4x Review: BENCHMARKS
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4x Review: USER INTERFACE
When it comes to the user interface, the Redmi Note 4x ships with the MIUI 8, which uses Android 6.0 as a foundation. My review unit ships with the global ROM that has Google Play services pre-installed and 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, customize the capacitive buttons or change the colors of the LED notification light. If you want to customize the phone even further, there are a lot more other features to play with.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4x Review: CAMERA
We have a familiar 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.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4x Review: IMAGE QUALITY
For a $170 phone, the pictures taken with the Redmi Note 4X look quite nice and there is a good amount of detail in most of the daylight shots. However, there were a few pictures with softer focus and inaccurate-looking colors.
When it comes to the low-light photography, the Redmi Note 4x is a pretty good performer. Sure, you can’t expect wonders from a $170 phone but the images are one of the best in class. In fact, I see the improvement over the Redmi Note 4, meaning that the Xiaomi finally improved its noise reduction algorithms.
The video quality is pretty good but it could definitely have more detail and look sharper.
As for selfie camera, a 5MP shooter can produce quite good selfies that will be more than enough for social media Unfortunately, the stock camera app allows you to shoot only in 720p with the front facing camera. On the other hand, the quality of the footage is pretty good and the sound recording quality is decent for a cheap phone.
The phone comes with a hybrid dual-SIM card tray, which can take either 2 SIMs or 1 SIM and the microSD card.
As for connectivity, everything has been working fine. I didn’t have any issues with Wifi that works fine on both 2.4 and 5GHz bands. Also, the GPS has been very accurate and finally, the call quality along with the signal reception have been great.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4x Review: BATTERY LIFE
A huge 4100mAh battery has been phenomenal. I could use the phone for 2 days easily even with some heavy usage. That translates to over 7 hours of screen-on time. You can achieve even better results if you are going to use the phone just for the basic stuff.
Although the Snapdragon 625 supports Quick Charge 3.0 technology for fast charging, Xiaomi does not include the fast charger in the box and it takes about 2.5h to fully charge the phone.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4x Review: CONCLUSIONS
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4x is yet another budget offering by the Chinese giant and I have to say that it is a great phone for the price of $170.
The device sports a very good built quality and it uses metal in the construction. Also, we have one of the best-in-class displays, feature-rich user interface and the phone can handle 3D games quite well. In addition, the battery life is fantastic. Finally, the camera can take some pretty good pictures.
A few minor shortcomings would be that the phone still uses the micro USB charging port, not the USB-C port. Also, the phone does not ship with the fast charger and finally, the top and bottom parts of the backplate are made of plastic, which is kind of a downgrade from the Redmi Note 4.
The question is: should you upgrade if you already have the Redmi Note 4. I would say no, since this phone is just an incremental upgrade. However, if you are in the market for a solid budget-friendly phone, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4x should be definitely on your list as it is an easy buying recommendation for the price of under $170.
Meizu rounded up 2016 in style with the unexpected release of the Meizu Pro 6 Plus powered by an octa-core Samsung Exynos 8890 chip. The Pro 6 Plus launch was the icing on the cake for Meizu who had been on the receiving end of series of backlash from fans for the consistent use of MediaTek SoCs on almost all the smartphones released last year. Meizu recorded a huge profit margin last year but that perhaps didn’t assuage the fans.
If the Meizu Pro 6 Plus did put a smile on the faces of fans, the availability of the smartphone was another stumbling block. However, the Pro 6 Plus seems to have become available in large stock on Jingdong (JD.com) and even with some price reduction. A number of third-party retailers have put up the Pro 6 Plus for sale. The Pro 6 Plus was launched with two storage versions, one with 64GB of storage and another with 128GB of storage but the 128GB variant is still out of stock.
The Meizu Pro 6 Plus 4GB + 64GB version is listed with a price tag of 2999 Yuan ( around $434). and in some stores, there are price reductions taking the price down to 2799 Yuan ($405). The Pro 6 Plus came in Champagne Gold, Deep gray and Moonlight silver color variants but seems only the Champagne Gold variant is available.
AnTuTu has released a rundown of the top 10 smartphones which provided the most value for money as at February 28, 2017. The ranking is based on the prices of the smartphones between February 1 and February 28, but this is restricted to Chinese brands.
When compared to the data obtained in the past two months, the recent data is said to have witnessed a decline in the overall cost-effective ratio. This means consumers got less value for their money from the smartphones which topped the chart in February than they did in the previous two months.
The price ratio is based on the average AnTuTu score of the smartphone divided by its current price. The current price used is the smartphone’s price listed on Jingdong. Also, smartphones usually come in 16GB, 32GB, 64GB and 128GB versions. Since the price of a model depends on its specific storage version, the storage version which made it up into the list is specifically stated.
Top on the list is the Lenovo ZUK Z2 (3GB + 32GB version) which is equipped with Snapdragon 820 processor and is currently priced at 1199 Yuan. This price tag makes it the cheapest flagship and arguably offers the best value for your money. The ZUK Z2 is closely followed by the LeEco Le Max 2 (4GB + 32GB) which seems to have gotten a price reduction in February. The third position is occupied by the LeEco Le 2 (3GB + 32GB) which is priced at 999 Yuan. Another LeEco smartphone also comes in at the fourth position, this time the LeEco Le Pro 3 (4GB + 32GB) which clutches a 1899 Yuan price tag. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (3GB + 64GB) with a price tag of 1199 Yuan also made it into the list at the tenth spot.
The Lenovo ZUK Z2 Pro (4GB + 64GB) enters at the eighth spot as a new entrant. The ZUK Z2 Pro is powered by a Snapdragon 820 chip and a 1899 Yuan price tag. The rest of the top 10 is made up of the Cool 1 Dual, Xiaomi Mi 5S, Mi 5 and the Meizu Metal.
It’s turning out the next Meizu product online should be the elusive Meizu Pro 7 which we have been expecting since last year. The Pro 7 would be followed by the Meizu S which is expected to hit store shelves in June. Ahead of that schedule, a Meizu smartphone suspected to be the Meizu S has appeared on Weibo.
The device simply identified as M714Y appears to have gotten radio transmission approval with the various bands it features listed. Apart from the avalanche of radio frequencies listed on the approval sheet, no other useful detail of the phone in question is given. But it is unlikely this would be a Qualcomm chip-powered Meizu device because Meizu isn’t expected to use a Qualcomm chip just yet, despite its settlement with Qualcomm.
However, if we want to dissect the model number M714Y, the letter “Y” at the end is an indication the device would run on YunOS so it is not likely a flagship, definitely not the Pro 7. The most likely smartphone is the little known Meizu S which appeared on the leaked product schedule as launching in June this year. The schedule indicates the Meizu S would pack a MediaTek Helio P25 chip which is an upgraded Helio P20 version, meaning it is a mid-range smartphone. We’ll wait and see how this pans out in the long run.
A few weeks ago, Xiaomi began rolling out a new MIUI update for its devices. The new update with version number 8.2 brings a bunch of new features and redesigns. But while other devices were getting the update, the Xiaomi Mi 5 was left out. It appears it was for good reason after-all. The Xiaomi Mi 5 has begun getting the update alongside a jump to Android 7.0 Nougat!!!
What this means for Mi 5 owners is that they are currently the only Xiaomi owners running Nougat. Apart from all the exciting new features that Nougat brings, MIUI 8.2 still comes with its own features.
There is a new security center; support for task automation IFTTT; and a new desktop assistant. Xiaomi has also included new system sounds when you take a screenshot, lock and unlock the screen, and when the device is charging; and a number of new ringtones too. There is also a redesigned notification bar.
The update is 1.3GB in size and can be manually downloaded here if you are running the China version of the ROM. Do make sure you read the guide to flashing it manually. There is no news as to when the Global version will be available but we hope it is not far off.
Xiaomi Mi 6 is expected to be the first Chinese flagship smartphone to come with Snapdragon 835 chipset. Reports hint that it will be announced in April. Three new sketches of the alleged Xiaomi Mi 6 have surfaced on Weibo to reveal its design.
The sketches suggest that the Xiaomi Mi 6 has thick bezels at the top and bottom and has slimmer ones on the left and right sides of the screen. A Home button can be seen below the display that probably houses a fingerprint sensor. The bottom side of the phone has a USB Type-C port and external speaker grills.
The rear side of the smartphone has Mi logo in the bottom half. It seems to have antenna lines running at the top and bottom. The top left corner has a dual camera module that features twin camera sensors along with LED flash. The sketch of the rear panel matches previous render of the Xiaomi Mi 6 (shown below the third sketch). .
Rumors suggest that three variants of Xiaomi Mi 6 are in works. Two variants are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset. However, the first variant has quad HD resolution supporting dual-edge curved OLED display, 6 GB of RAM, 256 GB native storage, and dual rear camera.
The second variant has quad HD flat OLED display, 4 GB of RAM, 128 GB internal storage and dual rear camera. The third variant is rumored to be powered by MediaTek Helio X30 SoC and has 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB storage and dual rear camera.
Since the Galaxy S8 and S8+ are pegged to get all the initial stock of Snapdragon 835 chipset, the Xiaomi Mi 6 is rumored to get announced only after the release of Samsung’s upcoming flagship. Speculations have it that the Xiaomi Mi 6 get officially unveiled on April 16. Analysts have revealed that the Mi 6 would be arriving with a costlier price tag than its predecessor.
Vivo last week announced that it would add a Matte black color variant to the X9 which was launched last year, coming in just gold and rose gold variants. Vivo has now officially listed the Vivo X9 Matte Black version up for sale and sales is already on, with the new version still clutching the same 2798 Yuan (around $406) price tag the earlier color variants launched with. As if that isn’t enough, Vivo is also offering a Bluetooth headset along with each purchase.
On the looks, the Matte Black color variant of the X9 comes with a refreshed, premium and sleek look. The display seems to have been changed from the Super AMOLED screen on the gold and rose gold versions to a JDI display on this new color version. The thickness of the device has also seen an increase of 0.27mm but that doesn’t affect the feel of the phone as it still has a compact build.
On the specs angle, the Vivo X9 Matte Black still features a 5.5-inch Full HD display and is powered by a 2.0GHz Snapdragon 625 chip with a 4GB RAM providing some support. The X9 also comes with 64GB of internal storage and packs a built-in 3050mAh battery under its hood.
Other features include a dual selfie camera setup composed of a 20MP main sensor and an 8MP depth of field sensor. There is also a 16MP rear camera with LED flash and an AK4376 HiFi audio system. The X9 runs Vivo’s Funtouch OS 3.0 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
The Huawei P10 and P10 Plus are now set to make their grand entry into the Chinese mobile phone market on March 24. Huawei officially announced that sales activities would commence today on some e-commerce platforms including Huawei Mall, Jingdong, Amazon, Tesco, VMall and several other major Chinese stores. Already, the flagships are now up for pre-orders on these platforms.
The Huawei P10 and P10 Plus were spotted on VMall and according to the information on the products pages, interested customers would need to make a deposit of 999 Yuan along with their reservations. The reservations would be open until March 24 when the P10 and P10 Plus would officially go on sale.
From the products page also, it could be gathered that the Huawei P10 is available in two storage versions with one having 4GB + 64GB and another with 4GB + 128GB. It would be available in Dazzling Blue, Graphite Black, Rose Gold, Greenery, White Ceramic, Mystic Silver, or Prestige Gold. The ceramics White and green color is exclusively for the higher 4GB + 128GB model. On the other hand, the P10 Plus comes in 6GB + 128GB version as well as 6GB + 64GB storage and 6GB + 256GB emperor version. This configurations take things a lot further than the storage versions of the P10 Plus reeled out at MWC 2017. However, other specifications of the P10 and P10 Plus align with the ones we saw in Barcelona. You can read more about their specifications here.
The final price of both the Huawei P10 and P10 Plus in China is not yet announced but may likely hover around the 699 Euros (~$738) and 799 Euros (~$844) which the P10 and P10 Plus launched with in Europe.
Most Moto Mods that we have had so far are the ones that have brought new features to Moto Z. A new Moto Mod called Edge Mod brings a new kind of notification light to the phone that lights up the entire edge of the phone and thereby accentuating the appeal of Moto Z.
The Edge Mod accessory that is equipped with multiple LED lights in a wide range of colors is built by a third-party firm, the Imagine Tech. The company has created a prototype of the Edge Mod
According to the company, it is “the world’s first RGB lighting system for Moto Z phones.” When notifications arrive, the Edge Mod can light up the sides of the Moto Z in various patterns such as flow, follow, wave and fill.
The notification lights can be completely customized with different colors for calls, messages, emails, alarms, calendar events and more. The Edge Mod will be made available in two variations.
The Edge Mod will be made available in two variations.
The first one is called Edge Force (measures 152.5 x 73.2 x 5.0 mm) that with a battery of 2,000 mAh capacity. It can be used to recharge the Moto Z. It can either charge the phone when it is snapped on to it or users can set a certain percentage and it will begin or stop charging from that mark. It can alert the user when the phone needs to be charged.
The Edge Air is another variant that brings wireless charging to Moto Z. After snapping it on, the phone can be placed on a wireless charging bed. This Mod is thinner than the Edge Force as its dimensions are 152.5 x 73.2 x 3.5 mm.
There is an Edge Mod app available for Android users. Through the app, users can choose a notification, pick a color and set the desired glowing pattern. Once done, the Edge Mod will start glowing with respective colors for different kinds of alerts.
The Edge Mod has a soft finish on its durable polycarbonate build that assists in gripping the phone and it is compatible with Moto Z, Moto Z Play, Moto Z Force and their Droid versions. It will be arriving in three colors, Midnight Black, Might Silver, and Crimson Red.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CwZZ3tRBic
Imagine Tech has stated that “the final product will have a custom electronics, with LEDs going all around the edges of the module and space for a larger battery / QI receiver, unlike the prototype.’ It is now available for crowdfunding on IndieGoGo is expected to be available public by July this year, a month after the probable release of Moto Z (2017) in June.
The goal of the crowdfunding campaign is $15,000. As of today, the total amount of funds raise for Edge Mod is $30,577. The Edge Force and Edge Air Moto Mods are priced at $59 excluding shipping charges.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
