In January, Casio had announced the Casio Pro Trek WSD-F20 smartwatch running on Android Wear 2.0 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017. It is a rugged smartwatch that comes with MIL-STD-810G rating that can withstand harsh climatic conditions. Casio has now announced its new and powerful edition called Casio Pro Trek WSD-F20S smartwatch that is built for outdoor activities.
The WSD-F20S Casio smartwatch is a limited-edition model as the company has planned to produce only 500 units. It is fundamentally the same smartwatch as WSD-F20, but it now comes with some advanced rugged features.
The Casio Pro Trek WSD-F20S comes in a refreshed black case decked with blue elements and it is flanked with a sapphire glass display. The buttons, screen, buckle and free loop of the smartwatch is fortified with ion plating. The strap of the WSD-F20S has a semi-glossy appearance. These premium features have been added to the smartwatch to make it a scratch-resistant luxurious timepiece. Apart from these changes, its other specs are same as the original model.
The Pro Trek WSD-F20S has a 1.32-inch dual-layer screen with color and monochrome modes. It automatically switches to the monochrome mode when its battery goes low. It is packed with various sensors such as pressure sensor, compass, gyrometer, and accelerometer. It is water resistant smartwatch that can remain undamaged even if it is submerged in 50 meters deep water.
Like the original model, the Pro Trek WSD-F20S has a low-power consuming GPS with offline functionality. Since it is running on Android Wear 2.0, it is compatible with Android phones running on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean or higher and iPhones with iOS 9 or above. Once charged, the battery of the smartwatch can last for more than a day with normal use. It measures 61.7 x 57.7 x 15.1 mm and its weight is 105 grams.
The limited-edition Casio Pro Trek WSD-F20S will go on sale across the world from June 2017. The new Casio smartwatch is expected to be priced at $500 and it will be available in a special case with a triangle-shaped lid. It will be showcased at Baselworld in Basel, Switzerland later this week.
Last week, OnePlus released a special edition OnePlus 3T made in collaboration with French fashion house, Colette. Only 250 units of the matte black phone was made and they were all sold at Colette’s store in Paris yesterday. Just when we thought we had seen the last of new color variants, OnePlus today announced another color option called Midnight Black.
The OnePlus 3T Midnight Black is a limited edition model. It will go on sale on the 24th of March, same day as Apple’s Product Red iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, as an early exclusive on Hypebeast’s website and just 250 units will be available for purchase.
CEO of OnePlus, Pete Lau said the decision to make an all black OnePlus 3T was a result of the high number of requests from fans all over the world.
The OnePlus 3T Midnight Black still retains the space-grade aluminium body of the other color variants. Every single unit features a triple-layer coating, each with a thickness of 14 microns. After which it undergoes a double sandblasting process to maintain that smooth feel when you hold it. We might have noticed from some other manufacturers that colors like these tend to be fingerprint magnets. OnePlus says you don’t have to worry about that as the phone has an anti-fingerprint coating.
OnePlus has also issued a warning informing users that why they are confident of the phone’s coating, it is still possible for micro-abrasions to happen from regular use without a case.
The decline in the sales of PCs in the past few years led many companies like Lenovo and HP to enter the smartphone market. In 2014, Sony sold off its VAIO computer division to quit the PC business and focus on mobile. Last year, VAIO Phone Biz, a business-centric smartphone running on Windows 10 was launched in Japan. The phone has been relaunched now with VAIO Phone A moniker and it sports the same specs as Phone Biz. However, the Phone A is running on Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS.
The VAIO Phone A has a 5.5-inch display that supports full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1080 pixels. It is driven by Snapdragon 617 SoC ad 3 GB of RAM. The internal storage space available on it is 16 GB. It also features a microSD card slot.
For photography, it is equipped with single LED enabled 13-megpixel rear camera and a frontal snapper of 5-megapixel. It features the usual connectivity features like dual-SIM dual standby, v4.2 Bluetooth, GPS and Wi-Fi 802.11ac. It houses a 2,800 mAh battery. The VAIO Phone Biz running on Windows 10 Mobile is a single-SIM supporting phone, but the Phone A supports dual-SIM dual standby.
Apart from the similarities in specs, the VAIO Phone A also seems to sport the same aluminum design as Phone Biz. It measures 156 x 77 x 8.3 mm and its weight is 167 grams and it sports Silver color.
The phone will be releasing in Japan on April 7 with a pricing of 24,800 Yen ($223) excluding tax. Its pre-orders will begin from March 30 in the country. It is likely that the smartphone would be exclusively available in Japan. It supports 1/4/6/8/11/19 WCDMA bands and it also supports LTE bands like 1/3/8/9/21 LTE bands. It is likely that it may arrive in the U.S. and Europe at some point.
The VAIO Phone A is the second Android phone from the company. Its first smartphone was VAIO Phone that was released in March 2015.
Meizu and Qualcomm reached a settlement at the tail end of last year over the lingering patent infringement dispute which has seen both companies slug it out in courts in and outside China. With the settlement, Meizu fans who had before now been agitating for the return to the use of Qualcomm chips on their beloved brand were expecting that to happen soon.
However, well-known industry analyst Pan Jiutang has come out to disclose that the expected Meizu smartphone will not have a flagship series chip onboard. The Snapdragon 800 series is Qualcomm’s flagship series and the SD 835 is the latest in the pack. The analyst hinted that the upcoming Meizu smartphone will instead use a Snapdragon 600-series chip which was revealed to be a Snapdragon 626 in the product schedule.
Meizu has not left us in doubt that they would indeed release a Snapdragon powered Meizu phone but that won’t be anytime soon. A leaked Meizu product schedule pitches the Snapdragon-powered Meizu phone as coming in the fourth quarter of this year. Meizu VP Li Nan also added his voice in saying that a Meizu smartphone powered by a Snapdragon chip would be launched towards the end of this year, likely in December. So, if you’re looking forward to a Meizu flagship rocking a Snapdragon flagship SoC, you may have to wait till next year for that.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 processor has been put through a number of fresh tests. These new tests are also a comparison with other chips such as Apple’ A10, and the Snapdragon 820, 808, 805 and 800 chipsets.
First we see how the Snapdragon 835 compares against the other processors on GeekBench 4. Qualcomm’s new processor scores 2048 points in the single-core test and 6484 points in the multi-core test. Comparing it to the others, we see the SD835 ranks highest in the multi-core test. Only Apple’s A10 chip comes close with 5610 points.
However, the roles are reversed when it comes to the single-core test results. The SD835 does surpass its other Snapdragon comrades but it lags behind the Apple A10 which records a total of 3458 points.
The next benchmark test is PCMark Work 2.0. PCMark is a test that combines performance and battery efficiency of a device as a complete unit instead of as separate components. The test is broken down into Web Browsing 2.0 which measures the performance when rendering a page; Video Editing measures the performance when playing, editing, and saving a video; Writing 2.0 and Photo Editing 2.0 measures the time taken to open, edit and save a document and image respectively; and last is Data Manipulation which measures the time it takes to parse data from a variety of different file formats. The test will also help see how the Snapdragon 835 will fare when it starts showing up in Windows 10 devices later this year as the PCMark test for Windows is a bit similar to that of Android.
The result shows the Snapdragon 835 test device taking the lead with 8042 points. Next is the Snapdragon 820 toting Xperia X Performance with 5578, the Nexus 5X (Snapdragon 808) with 3346, the Galaxy Note Edge (Snapdragon 805) nets 3392 points, and the Xperia Z1 (Snapdragon 800) scored the lowest with 3101. There is no PCMark for Apple devices, so the A10 doesn’t feature.
The other tests include 3DMark Ice Storm (Slingshot) Unlimited and GFXBench v4 tests where the Snapdragon 835 comes out on top again.
We also see the Snapdragon 835 test device get benchmarked on AnTuTu. The device crosses the 180,000 mark with 181228 points ahead of the iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 7 which scored 172644 and 170124 points respectively.
Do you own a OnePlus 3 or OnePlus 3T smartphone? If yes, you may be surprised to know that some of the owners of these phones are saying on Reddit that the rear cameras on these two smartphones have slightly tilted bumps.
The camera bumps are not present on all the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T phones. Hence, it does not seem to be a widespread issue. However, some of these phones have more obvious tilt than what can be seen on others. It seems that none of the owners of OnePlus 3 and 3T have complained that the tilt has affected the performance of the camera. However, the presence of crooked camera bump does give an impression that it is poorly designed smartphone.
The issue was first spotted on the newly launched OnePlus 3T Colette Edition phone. One of the Redditors, @hyperjit has uploaded the following image to show the camera bump on the limited-edition phone that comes with 128 GB storage and $479 pricing.
Since then, many users of OnePlus 3 and 3T have started noticing the titled camera bump on their phones. Have you noticed a crooked camera bump on your OnePlus 3 or 3T phone? Do share with us by posting your comments.
We are beginning to think there is a color revolution going on in the smartphone industry where color variants that were hitherto not common on smartphones with metal-body are starting to hold sway. Multiple color options used to be the hallmark of the likes of Meizu but then the smartphones they give such treatment usually sport plastic body. Huawei did experiment with a red and blue color variants on the P9 and their huge acceptability prompted the smartphone giant to explore more color variants, adding green to the P10’s color mix. Don’t forget OPPO also recently introduced a Red and then more recently, a green variant for the R9 and R9 Plus.
Thus, it was no surprise that Apple decided to give a shot at a red colored variant for the current generation iPhone 7. The iPhone 7 initially had a beautiful design which now looks just stunning inside a red paint job. Apparently, someone thinks the iPhone 7 shouldn’t have the headlines all to itself. A green colored iPhone 5S & iPhone 6 have been spotted online, just that the iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 in question look like they are both clones of the real stuff.
Well, this may not look real but it gives us a preview of what the iPhones would look like inside a green coating. This could also prompt Apple to introduce a green variant to its lineup, especially the iPhone 7. Green is always attractive anytime and it brings a sense of freshness to the device. We’re sure Apple wouldn’t want to fail to catch up with competitors like Huawei who recently released a green colored variant along with the Huawei P10.
Huawei has released a teaser on Facebook that reveals that a new Honor smartphone will be announced on April 5. The live launch event will begin at 10:30 GMT which indicates that the unveil event may be live streamed.
Since the teaser does not reveal the name of the Honor phone that will be unveiled next month, the rumor mill is speculating that Huawei may announce the Honor V9 or Honor Magic or Honor 8 Lite at the upcoming launch event.
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
In the teaser present in the tweet, the meteor-like thing that is striking the earth can be seen in three colors such as gold, blue and black. The tipster had also revealed that the smartphone would be arriving in three color variants such as gold, blue and black. its red variant that is available in China may not be releasing in international markets.
The in-house Kirin 960 chipset is the flagship SoC from Huawei. The Honor V9 was the first smartphone to arrive with this new chipset. Hence, it is dubbed as the first true flagship from Huawei for 2017. It features a 5.7-inch Quad HD screen and comes in 4 GB and 6 GB RAM variants and 64 GB and 128 GB storage variants. It features a 12-megapixel + 12-megapixel dual rear snapper. It has a selfie shooter of 8-megapixel. It runs on Android 7.0 Nougat based EMUI 5.0 and is packed with a 4,000 mAh battery.
The amazing Huawei Honor Magic that is curved in all eight sides was launched in December 2016. It is exclusively available in China. Since the launch event is organized by Western Europe wing of Honor, the Chinese firm may announce an international edition of the innovative Honor Magic phone. The Honor 8 Lite that was officially launched in China last month is also speculated to debut for western markets.
Qualcomm officially announced the Snapdragon 835 chipset last month at MWC but before then, analyst Kevin Wang had hinted that the Xiaomi Mi 6 would be the first domestic flagship in China to feature a Snapdragon 835 chipset. Although that disclosure is yet to get an official confirmation, subsequent rumors have continually placed the Mi 6 flagship as coming with a Snapdragon 835 chipset. Even the latest rumor hinting at the existence of a Snapdragon 821-powered version also tips the Mi 6 as having a high-end version with Snapdragon 835.
Now, Xiaomi mobile official Weibo page has inadvertently given us the idea that the Mi 6 may come with a Snapdragon 835. If you are a keen follower of the Mi brand, then you would agree that Xiaomi most times communicate via teasers where the real message is coded. In this case, the Xiaomi mobile phone official Weibo page shared Qualcomm’s latest post about the features of the Snapdragon 835 and then added a teaser; “I come, I see, I conquer” accompanied by a Snapdragon 835 hashtag.
For now, this should suffice to allay doubts that the SD 835 would likely be onboard the Mi 6. We look forward to more details as the April launch of the device draws closer.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 660 is the new king of the mid-range chips. Manufactured using Samsung’s 14nm LPP node technology, the new SoC will take over from the Snapdragon 652 and 653 processors. The Snapdragon 660 was recently benchmarked on AntuTu and the scores are not disappointing. However, there was no info available about the device used for the test, until today.
New photos posted online have revealed the specifications of the phone used for the benchmark. The test device is equipped with a 2K display, 6GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. The phone actually sports dual rear cameras but the Antutu details lists it as being a 12MP sensor. The device also runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat with a February 5, 2017 security patch level.
These are pretty impressive specifications for a mid-range device. Combine them with the Snapdragon 660, give it an affordable price and it is a winner.
The Snapdragon 660 processor is an octa-core chip consisting of eight custom Kryo CPU cores in a 4 + 4 combination. Four of the cores are clocked at 2.2GHz while the remaining four are clocked at 1.9GHz. There is an integrated Adreno 512 GPU and the chip also supports UFS 2.1 storage and X10 LTE baseband.
The Huawei P10 is the latest flagship from Huawei. It was announced at MWC 2017 and so far has gotten mainly positive reviews. The phone was released together with the P10 Plus and both have actually been available for pre-order for about 2 weeks now. However, their prices haven’t been disclosed and interested buyers have to pay a deposit of ¥999.
Both devices will officially go on sale on the 24th of March which is when their pricing details will be known. March 24 is just two days away but a leaked image has revealed the price for the new flagships ahead of the launch day.
The price details were leaked on Weibo by an unknown source and show the pricing for all the storage variants of both phones.
The Huawei P10 will be available in three memory variants: 4GB + 32GB, 4GB + 64GB, and 6GB + 128GB and they will sell for ¥3488 ($506), ¥4088 ($594), and ¥4688 ($681) respectively. The last memory configuration comes as a surprise since the official launch stated that the 6GB of RAM will be exclusive to the P10 Plus.
For the P10 Plus, there is a 4GB + 64GB model priced at ¥4988 ($724) and a 6GB + 128GB model priced at ¥5688 ($826). The prices are pretty high this year and are almost at par with that of the iPhone.
It is getting clearer by the day that the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the S8 Plus would be dropping soon. There is an exponential increase in the rate at which leaked images of the device are popping up recently which is usually an indication of an impending launch.
The latest leaked images of the Galaxy S8 have surfaced in China’s Weibo, giving us a clear view of not only the outward appearance but also of the on-screen specs sheet. The device comes with the model number SM-G9500 said to be the China edition. That assertion is, however, discredited by the presence of Google services as seen on the display. Google Play services are not pre-installed on phones heading to China.
The design is very consistent with those we had seen earlier on, including the high screen-to-body ratio and 18:9 aspect ratio. The device clear uses virtual on-screen buttons located at the bottom edge as the home button and any other navigation purpose. The working screen also shows the presence of NFC which means it supports NFC payment and other forms of fingerprint payment.
Don’t forget the China edition of the Galaxy S8 would be equipped with a Snapdragon 835 processor backed by 6GB of RAM. In addition, there are rumors the flagship device would come with facial recognition feature for added security while the price is likely to break the 6,000 Yuan mark.
The flagship Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus would be unveiled on March 29 but it is not known when the device would arrive China.
These days, if you are looking for a matching phone color that will go with that red dress you plan on wearing on a date or that blue dinner gown or even the black one you hope to hit the Paris fashion week with, the present crop of smartphone OEMs have got you covered. From Huawei with its wide and wild range of color variants for the latest Huawei P10 to OPPO and its new color variants for the R9 and R9 Plus, the list keeps getting longer.
Just yesterday, Apple joined the bandwagon by adding a red color option to the iPhone 7 collection. We also won’t forget the Collete edition of the OnePlus 3T which had a Matte Black coating on its sleek body. The Collete Edition of the 3T is actually a commemorative edition that would be extremely limited in production. It is said that only 250 units would be sold in total.
However, if you are hoping for OnePlus 3T with a Matte Black paint job, you may soon be smiling as OnePlus has teased the unveiling of what looks like a black-colored variant of the 3T. The device is supposed to get out in the open within the next 24 hours, going by the teaser. The specs won’t likely be different from the ones already in the market.
We are quite certain this isn’t the Colette edition, if not the Weibo teaser would also have carried Collete’s logo just like it did when the 3T Collete edition was going to launch in Paris. So brace yourselves for a new black colored OnePlus 3T. In the long run, the fans would be the winner in this color war so we just hope it continues. How many of us would like to see Xiaomi smartphones ditching the conventional colors and coming with some new paint jobs? I would but don’t know about you.
The Moto G5 and G5 Plus were introduced in February. At that time, Lenovo had only unveiled these phones in Lunar Grey and Fine Gold colors options. Fresh leaks suggest that the company may soon introduce a third color option for the Moto G5 phones. Popular leakster, Roland Quandt, has revealed the Blue Sapphire edition of Moto G5 in leaked shots.
The leaked photos show that the Moto G5 appears blue from the rear and sides, but the front is in black color. There is no information available on the availability of Blue Sapphire Moto G5. The Motorola Moto G5 Plus may also arrive in the new color. It is likely that this color option will carry the same pricing as other two color variants.
However, it may be available only in select markets and through certain carriers. For instance, in the previous month, O2 had announced that it would be selling the Blue Sapphire Moto G5 exclusively in the U.K. At that time, the carrier said it would be arriving few weeks later through the O2 Refresh program which allows users to upgrade if they have cleared the balance of their existing handset.
A Blue colored Moto G5 was revealed in a video by the same leakster earlier in this month. The leaked video has been taken down. The Moto G5 has a 5-inch full HD display. It is powered by Snapdragon 430 SoC that features a 1.4 GHz octa-core processor along with 2 GB of RAM. It comes in two storage editions of 16 GB and 32 GB and supports up to 128 GB of microSD card. The front side features a fingerprint scanner embedded under the display.
The Moto G5 comes preloaded with Android 7.0 Nougat OS. It features a LED enabled 13-megapixel snapper and a selfie shooter of 5-megapixel. The Moto G5 houses a 2,800 mAh battery. It will not be releasing in the U.S. as it will be receiving only the Moto G5 Plus phone. The Moto G5 will be available in the U.K. from this month with a pricing of 199 euros ($214). The Moto G5 Plus will arrive in the U.K. by spring.
The Android 8.0 Developer Preview is now available for the developers to download. Since it is a developer preview edition, it is not aimed towards general users. Google has cleared mentioned in the release notes of Android 8.0 that its Developer Preview is not intended for daily use on phone or tablet for non-developers. As of this writing, it is called Android O. The official name of the new Android version will be revealed after a few months.
There are several improvements included in Android O. With the new Notification Channels, users will have the power to see only those alerts that are relevant to them. For instance, if a user wishes to see only technology news alerts from his news app, he would be able to disable news from other categories. It will also let users to snooze notifications so that they can be seen later. Notifications can be also set to dismiss automatically. Notifications can also feature background colors so that they can be distinguished easily.
Background Limits has been added on Android O to improve battery life significantly. It can severely control the battery power consumption by limiting services running in the background. It can also restrict broadcasts and location updates. Autofill APIs can let users make use of an autofill app to easily fill login information such as usernames, addresses and passwords. Since it is an API, it can be supported and implemented by developers.
With Picture-in-Picture (PIP), users can continue to watch a video while answering a call. Apps can be made to run in picture-in-picture mode from a paused or resumed state. Developers can also modify the aspect ratio and assign customized interaction like play or pause.
With Adaptive Icons toolset developers can create icons of different shapes for different devices. For instance, the Twitter app can have a circular shape on Galaxy S8 and have a square shape on Pixel phone. Hence, OEMs can use them to provide users with unique icons.
For better audio experience through Bluetooth, Android O will carry support for LDAC codec. Wi-Fi Aware will make Android O devices to discover and connect with each other without Wi-Fi or data connectivity. The inclusion of new “arrow” and “tab” navigation will assist in better predictable navigation on keyboards. Android O supports Java 8 language APIs and offers optimized runtime.
The formal launch of Android O is expected to happen at the Google I/O 2017 event that will be held in May. It is currently available for Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus Player, Pixel C, Pixel, and Pixel XL.
Lenovo‘s ZUK brand seems to have been missing in action for a while especially since the launch of the edgy ZUK Edge. The brand is back in the news with a bang, as it announced the final push of the latest ZUI 2.5 stable version for the ZUK Z1 and the upgrade of the kernel to Android 7.0 Nougat.
If you’d recall very well that the Lenovo ZUK Edge which was announced in December last year was the first Lenovo smartphone to run on the new ZUI 2.5 based on Android Nougat. The company in January announced upgrades for the ZUK Z2, Z2 Pro, as well as the ZUK Z1 to the latest Android Nougat. While the Z2 and Z2 Pro seem to have gotten Android Nougat stable version, the ZUK Z1 only received an open beta version of the update only.
Now, the Snapdragon 801-powered Lenovo ZUK Z1, ZUK’s first flagship smartphone, has started getting the stable version of the Android Nougat-based ZUI 2.5. The new operating system comes with the version number 2.5.406 and the update package volume is a little above 1,000MB. The upgrade brings lots of new features to the interface which includes the ability to lock the phone’s gallery, split screen, screen recording, U-Touch fingerprint function and many others.
At the moment, some users have started receiving an update prompt but ZUK is yet to officially indicate it has started pushing the stable version to Z1 owners. Since the updates have started rolling in, we expect an official statement from ZUK any moment from now.
Vivo announced a Matte black color variant for the XPlay 6 on Monday, giving us more options to choose from. The Vivo XPlay 6 was first launched in November last year with a specs lineup that pitches it in the flagship category. The smartphone was made available in Gold and Rose Gold color variant but now, Vivo thinks it is just appropriate to overhaul things a little and add some more bite to the product sales drive.
The Vivo Xplay 6 Matte Black variant is just separated from the Rose Gold and Gold variants by its color if not, they all pack the same hardware. A Black colored variant comes like an icing on the cake because the Xplay 6 was already a beautiful flagship smartphone with a hardware lineup that tickles. Well, the hardware still tickle, despite being marshaled by a Snapdragon 820 chipset which may be on its way down the chart into the mid-range chipset category.
The Matte Black variant comes with a highly classy and very attractive look which would likely make it a hot-selling device. Remember, a curved edge display is also one of the attributes of the Xplay 6. A curved display indicates the absence of display bezels at the edges. All you would see is some bit of bezels at the top and bottom edges but because of the black color, it isn’t too obvious. It just blends with the color of the metal body, matte black.
As a reminder, the Vivo Xplay 6 comes sporting a 5.46-inch display with 2K resolution. There is 6GB of RAM onboard backing the SD 820 chip and also a huge 128GB of storage. The Xplay 6 also packs a massive 4,080mAh battery with fast charging support. The camera aspect is taken care of upfront by a large 16MP sensor with soft lights while at the rear sits a dual camera setup comprising a 12MP Sony IMX362 sensor at the back along with another 5MP depth of field sensor. The camera module comes with 4-axis OIS, large f/1.7 aperture, 1.2μ pixels, 0.03s focus andLED flash.
As for the price, the Vivo Xplay 6 Rose Gold and Gold variants are priced at 4498 Yuan ($655) but it unclear if the Matte Black version would carry the same price. Vivo has scheduled a fashion exhibition of the Matte Black Xplay 6 in Beijing on March 23 tagged TOTAL BLACK in collaboration with Chinese supermodel Xi Mengyao (also known as Ming Xi). Perhaps, we would get to know the official price tag then. We may also likely be seeing more attractive pictures of the device but for now, take delight in the classy, Matte black Xplay 6 picture collection we have here. See more pictures from down below.
Asides the Product Red iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus released today, Apple also released two new iPhone SE models. These new models are actually just new storage variants for the compact sized iPhone SE.
Apple launched the iPhone SE exactly one year ago as a successor to the iPhone 5s. The device retained the 4.0-inch display size but brought new features present in the bigger iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. However, it’s release was marred by the fact that Apple had launched it with 16GB of storage (though there was a 64GB model too).
Today, Apple has released two new storage variants for the iPhone SE, a 32GB model and a 128GB model. If you head to the official website, the 16GB and 64GB models are no longer available and have been replaced by the new storage variants. It appears Apple has discontinued both which is a bit weird. We totally understand that the 16GB model has to go but why include the 64GB model?
There are so many smartphones these days and a lot of them are similar in one way or another. However, some phones are truly unique. The Yotaphone 2 was released almost 3 years ago and it used to cost over $800. Now you can get it for just about $120 and it is probably the most unique cheap smartphone out there. Learn more in our full review.
It all starts with a premium presentation. The phone a comes in a unique box that nicely unfolds and inside of it, all the items are actually packed in separate boxes.
The list of accessories includes a nice USB cable, some paperwork, a fast charger, a SIM ejector tool and a pair of earphones, which look kind of nice but the quality of sound is just meh.
DESIGN
The Yotaphone is a unique device not only because of its secondary 4.7” E-ink display but also due to its rounded shape, which may remind you some of the old Nexus devices. What is also kind of unique is that the phone is very compact according to today’s standards and that it mainly due to the 5” 1080p AMOLED panel.
Speaking of that display, I can say that it is punchy, vibrant and it offers deep blacks – like most of the AMOLED panels. Both displays are covered with Gorilla Glass 3 for scratch resistance.
As for cameras, we have just an 8MP shooter on the back and 2MP on the front. Oh.. you can actually use the main camera with the LED flash for selfies and see yourself on the e-ink display.
Since the Yotaphone used to be the high-end phone, the loudspeaker quality is one of the best you can find in this price range.
Overall, the device is well made and it sits comfortably in the hand. However, we don’t have any premium materials like metal, there is no notification LED light, there are only the on-screen navigation buttons and last but not least the volume rocker rattles quite a lot. Well, it may be due to the fact that there is a single nano sim card tray inside the button.
SECONDARY DISPLAY
The question is what can you do with the secondary display and why is it there?
Well, you can do a lot of things. First of all, you can see all your notifications and access some frequently used apps that sit on the on the Yotapanels, which are highly customizable.
You can access your calendar, contacts, play the music and so on. Everything can be highly customized but…. I think that’s the boring stuff. You can mirror absolutely anything you want on the secondary display. The possibilities are endless here… You can play some pre-installed games or use the display for your movie tickets.
Not sure if you want to watch videos or even play some games on the black and white display that has much slower refresh rates but it is kind of fun and it saves a ton of power.
Speaking of the power, you can enjoy reading a collection of e-books for a whopping 100h using the e-ink display and the built-in Yotaphone’s power management tools. However, if you prefer using the Yotaphone’s main display more often, you will get just over 3 hours of screen-on time. At least, that was my result on kind of intensive use.
USER INTERFACE
The secondary display definitely looks like an innovation even in 2016 but the Yotaphone is a 2-year old device after all. My Chinese review unit runs the outdated Android 4.4 and I know that a lot of folks may be disappointed.
On the other hand, the stock-looking UI is pretty fast and I just had a few minor hiccups over the time.
HARDWARE
For just $130, you are getting and old but still capable Snapdragon 801 chip. If you add 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, you can enjoy playing some 3D games even on the highest graphics with just a few skipped frames.
IMAGE QUALITY
The image quality is kind of average. The daylight images could have more detail and sharpness, the dynamic range adjustment is kind of poor and the HDR mode leads to unnatural looking colors. Still, you can some nice pictures that can rival some newly released phones in this price range.
Where the Yotaphone 2 is better than your average $130 phone is the low-light. The photos are not the best but are definitely usable.
The selfie image quality leaves a lot to be desired.
The 1080p video looks kind of okay but don’t expect any stellar-looking footage from the phone this cheap.
CONNECTIVITY
When it comes to connectivity, the phone lacks the microSD card slot, it comes with just 1 sim card tray but there is NFC, a stable wifi connection and the good quality earpiece that assures a great call quality.
If you add the wireless charging feature, you may live with the previously mentioned shortcomings. Ohh.. and almost forgot, the GPS is very accurate for navigation.
CONCLUSIONS
That leads us to the final conclusion and we should answer if the Yotaphone is worth buying in 2017.
I think it is. $130 will get you a phone that is truly unique mostly due to its secondary display. Whether you love reading books or want to mirror the entire main display, the Yotaphone has you covered.
However, this device is 2 years old and you get the outdated hardware, software, the volume rocker rattles, there is no notification LED light, just above average camera, and you are stuck with just 1 sim card tray..
Even with those shortcomings, I think that the Yotaphone is still a one of a kind device at this price point. It’s up to you to decide whether that blend of uniqueness and outdated hardware is worth your money.
Chinese display manufacturer, BOE Technology Group Co. Ltd has announced that it has successfully developed a new 5-inch AMQLED display. AMQLED is short for Active Quantum-dot Light Emitting Diode.
The new display technology differs from LCD in that while the latter uses liquid crystals to rotate polarized light (for LED-backlit displays, LEDs illuminate the pixels on the screen), AMQLED uses quantum dots to light up the screen thereby resulting in a display with a wider color gamut of up to 100%.
Quantum dots are actually small semi-conductor crystals that emits varying colors based on their size. The quantum dots absorb energy when excited and emit different colors depending on the size you adjust them to. This allows them to be used as a backlight technology or as an active quantum-dot light emitting diode.
Apart from having a wider color range than AMOLED displays, another advantage AMQLED has over AMOLED is that it is cheaper to produce and has a longer lifespan. Quantum dot is still in its infancy and new breakthroughs are expected to see it applied to other fields like solar cells and biological sciences.
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