Nokia has officially three new phones at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 namely, Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and an updated edition of Nokia 3310. At MWC 2017, Nokia also confirmed that the Withings wearables will be sold as Nokia products starting from summer this year.
In June 2016, Nokia had acquired Withings for $191 million. Withings is a French based firm that specializes in making smart health devices like smartwatches, fitness bands, connected scales, blood pressure monitors, thermometers, home cameras and more. These products as well as its software will be rebranded as Nokia devices.
Since Nokia is a well-known brand name, it makes sense for the company to kill Withings branding. The rebranding was officially confirmed by Cedric Hutchings, the Vice President of Digital Health for Nokia and the former CEO of Withings. According to Hutchings, ”Withings joined Nokia because we share a vision to inspire individuals to take control of their own health. With the full power of a brand recognized for trust, reliability and quality, we will reach more people and impact more lives to help the human family be healthier together.”
Nokia will be relaunching the Health Mate app from Withings with a new design. It will arrive as HIPAA-compliant Patient Care Platform that will serve as a common place to get information from all the health devices by giving users with a “360-degree view of health.” The app is expected to include ‘in-depth coaching programs” that will provide users with up to eight weeks of fitness plans.
Through the Patient Care Platform, doctors and health experts will be able use smart devices to monitor the health of their patients in order to provide them with timely treatment and prevent unneeded visits to the hospital.
The decision of rebranding Withings to Nokia has come at a time when there is less demand for wearables in the market. The sales of Fitbit health bands are declining and Pebble was acquired by Fitbit for $23 million as it met with financial troubles. HMD Global has relaunched the Nokia brand by releasing phones like Nokia 6, Nokia 5, Nokia 3 and the updated Nokia 3310. With Nokia branding for health products, the company aims to broaden its consumer products profile.
Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Tab S3 tablet and as rumors had stated the company has also released an official teaser to confirm the Samsung Galaxy S8 launch date.
Samsung has been launching its Galaxy S series smartphones a day before Mobile World Congress event since the past few years. However, this year it used the pre-MWC 2017 press conference to announce devices like Galaxy Tab S3, 10.6-inch and 12-inch Galaxy Book. The Galaxy S8 was not unleashed at the event.
The discontinuation of Galaxy Note 7 has allegedly resulted in the pushing back of the Samsung Galaxy S8 launch date. At the Galaxy Tab S3 launch event, the company also revealed a new teaser of the Galaxy to reveal its launch date. The teaser has revealed that the Galaxy S8 Unpacked event will be held on March 29. The launch event will be held at New York.
Here is the official teaser of Galaxy S8 launch event:
The Samsung Galaxy S8 and its larger sibling the Galaxy S8+ would be the first smartphones to feature the Snapdragon 835 chipset. Recent rumors have stated that Qualcomm has allotted the first batch of SD 835 chipsets to Samsung to power the Galaxy S8 and S8+ units. Hence, smartphones from other brands running on Snapdragon 835 are expected to hit the market only after the release of Galaxy S8.
In the past week, Korean media had revealed that the Galaxy S8 would go on sale by April 21 across the world. Previous rumors had stated that the Galaxy S8 would be launching in South Korea on April 14. However, newer information suggests that factors like size of supplies has resulted in the pushing back of the Galaxy S8 release date to April 21 in the home country.
The LG G6, one of the major rivals of the Galaxy S8 was announced earlier today. The company did not reveal any information on its pricing, but it is expected to sell with a pricing of around $649 to $699. Its pre-orders will run from March 2 to 9 and its shipping will start from March 10.
The much-awaited Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 has been officially announced. It not only comes with beefed up specs compared to its predecessor, the Galaxy Tab S2 from 2015, but also comes added features like S-Pen and keyboard (as optional accessory).
Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 Specifications, Features
The Galaxy Tab S3 appears like the Galaxy Tab A 10.1 from last year. Its dimensions are 169 x 237.3 x 6 mm and its Wi-Fi only variant weighs 429 grams whereas its LTE variant weighs 435 grams. It is the first ever tablet running on Android to come with a glass panel on the rear side.
It comes with a 9.7-inch Super AMOLED display that produces a resolution of 1,536 x 2,048 pixels. It delivers an aspect ratio of 4:3 and supports a pixel density of 264 ppi. Below the display is the physical Home button that includes a fingerprint scanner under it.
The device is flanked with quad speakers from AKG. With 10-bit HDR support on the screen, the Galaxy Tab S3 seems to a good tablet for multimedia experience.
The Galaxy Tab S3 is driven by Snapdragon 820 chipset and 4 GB of RAM. The native storage of the device is 32 GB and it can support a microSD card of up to 256 GB on its external storage. It has a single LED enabled f/1.9 aperture 13-megapixel rear camera and a frontal shooter of 5-megapixel with f/2.2 aperture.
The Tab S3 come with connectivity options like a USB Type-C port, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and dual band Wi-Fi. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 is powered by 6,000 mAh battery which is slightly bigger than the 5,870 mAh battery present inside its predecessor model.
The Samsung tablet comes loaded with Android 7.0 Nougat OS. It comes bundled with a S-Pen stylus that appears like a real pen. It can be used for editing, drawing and for signing on documents. The tablet does not feature a dedicated slot for the stylus.
The optional keyboard features a lanyard that can be used to slot the stylus. It can be attached to the pogo pins present on the left bezel of the tablet. The Galaxy Tab S3 comes with two kinds of covers, one featuring a keyboard and another that does not include it. Both can be used as covers as well as stands.
The Seoul-based tech giant has confirmed that the tablet would be hitting European markets in the next month. The Wi-Fi only variant is priced at €679 ($717) and its LTE edition costs €769 ($812). As of this writing, there is no information on its availability for other markets.
Motorola has taken the wraps of the Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus at this year’s edition of MWC. The Moto G5 and G5 Plus both feature a new all-metal design but apart from that brings nothing particularly exciting.
Moto G5
The Moto G5 is the smaller variant with a 5-inch display. The resolution has been bumped up to 1080p and there is Gorilla Glass 3 protection. There is a Snapdragon 430 processor, 2GB/3GB of RAM, and 16GB of built-in storage with a slot for expansion.
The rear camera is a 13MP shooter with dual-LED flash and PDAF while the front facing camera is a 5MP OmniVision 5693 sensor. Motorola has also kept to the trend of giving the Moto G series a water repellent coating. It now also sports a fingerprint scanner.
The Moto G5 due to the smaller display also gets a reduction in battery capacity. It now has a 2800mAh battery with support for Motorola’s 10W Turbo Charge.
The Moto G5 doesn’t escape the reduction in display size. It is now 5.2-inches, down from 5.5-inches in the G4 Plus. Resolution stays the same at 1920 x 1080 and there is Gorilla Glass 3. The Moto G5 Plus is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 625 processor, the same in the BlackBerry KEYone. Depending on the market, there is either 2GB, 3GB or 4GB of RAM and 32GB or 64GB of storage.
The Moto G5 Plus sports a 12MP Sony IMX362 f/1.7 camera on the rear with dual LED flash, slow motion video and 4K recording at 30fps. The front facing camera is a 5MP OmniVision 5695 f/2.2 sensor with display flash.
One new design you sure will like is the front-mounted fingerprint scanner. Last year’s square-shaped scanner felt out of place but the new one looks way better. It also doubles as controls for the phone in case you do not want to use on-screen navigational buttons.
The Moto G5 Plus has a water repellent nano-coating and a 3000mAh battery with Turbo Charge.
Both the Moto G5 and G5 Plus ship with near stock Android 7.0 Nougat and Google Assistant.
Nokia has just announced four new smartphones for the global market, including the iconic Nokia 3310 (covered here). The three other phones are the Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and the Nokia 6. We have already covered the Nokia 6 in detail since it’s already sold in China, but now the same phone goes global.
As expected, these three are entry level smartphones that cater to the needs of budget customers. All the three phones are made out of 6000 series Aluminum with Gorilla Glass protection on top. They will feature laminated and polarized displays for better sunlight visibility and reading. There are single SIM and dual SIM options as well. Also, they will come with Google Assistant inbuilt along with a promise of regular monthly Android security updates. Further, the company will provide a pure Android experience on these devices, running Android Nougat builds out of the box. It’s worth pointing out that Google Assistant will be coming to many other phones in the coming weeks.
The Nokia 6 is the fastest of the lot, coming with Snapdragon 430 chipset inside with up to 4GB RAM. But since the phone was already announced back in China, let’s first take a look at the Nokia 3 and Nokia 5 smartphones.
Nokia 3
Nokia 3 is the lowest placed phone among the three and comes with a MediaTek MT6737 quad-core chipset clocked at 1.3GHZ with 2GB RAM and Android 7 out of the box. There will be 16GB of internal storage, expandable up to 128GB via MicroSD. The display is of 5-inches with 720p resolution. At the back, the phone comes with an 8MP AF camera with 1.12um sensor and f/2.0 aperture with LED flash. The front camera is also an 8MP sensor with 84 degrees wide angle lens and display flash. Further, there is a non-removable 2650mAh battery on board along with NFC, USB OTG and Cat. 4 LTE support.
There are four color options for the Nokia 3 — Silver White, Matte Black, Tempered Blue, and Copper White.
Nokia 5
The next in line is the Nokia 5, which comes with a 5.2-inch HD display with 2.5D glass and Snapdragon 430 chip. There is 2GB of RAM on board, 16GB of expandable storage up to 128GB and Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box. For camera, the phone comes with a 13MP sensor (1.12um, f/2.0) with PDAF and dual tone flash. Up front, the phone has an 8MP shooter with 84 degrees wide angle lens. The phone also support NFC and features a 3000mAh battery. There are four color options, Tempered Blue, Silver, Matte Black and the unique Copper.
Nokia 6
The Nokia 6 is the pick of the announcements with full HD 5.5-inch 1080p display, dual speakers with Dolby Atmos certification, Snapdragon 430 chip, 3GB of RAM, 32GB storage and Android Nougat 7.1.1. Full Nokia 6 specs are here.
While these specs are already known, the company also announced a Nokia 6 Art Black special edition for the global markets. This particular version comes in a glossy piano black finish and features 4GB + 64GB memory combination.
The Nokia 3 goes on sale for 139 Euros (~147), Nokia 5 for 189 Euros (~$199), Nokia 6 for 229 Euros (~$242) and Nokia 6 Art Black Edition for 299 Euros (~$316). They are said to go on sale in Q2 2017.
HMD global just announced four new smartphones, the Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 6, and Nokia 3310 for the global market. HMD Global CEO Arto Nummela was sure to use the iconic “One More Thing” gesture from Steve Jobs to relaunch the legendary Nokia 3310 smartphone.
The company has redesigned the Nokia 3310 giving it a futuristic look. The phone comes with a 2.4-inch curved window screen with polarized later for better sunlight readability. Note that this being a feature phone, the display does not support touch. The size is compact but it’s quite thick with the following measurements: 115.6 x 51 x 12.8mm. No details on the weight yet, but expect it to be super light. There are four color options — Warm Red and Yellow with glossy texture and Grey and Dark Blue with Matte finish.
One of the highlights of the Nokia 3310 is its battery life, just like its first generation model. The refreshed version boasts of up to 22.1 hours of talktime, thanks to its 1200mAh battery inside. Further, the phone has a standby time of up to one month. And yes, in case you are wondering, you get the legendary Snake Game on this new device. The company revealed that you can also play the same game via Facebook Messenger games. Further, the phone also features the iconic Nokia ringtone.
Specs are not something that you obsess about in a feature phone, but for those who are still interested, the Nokia 3310 features a 2MP rear camera with LED flash, 16MB storage expandable up to 32GB, Bluetooth 3.0, Nokia Series 30+ operating system, 2G GSM connectivity, FM Radio, MP3 Player, 3.5mm headphone jack and MicroUSB 2.0. Thank god for the MicroUSB port as you can charge it using any standard Android charger. On the software side, the interface is customized for a better experience.
The phones goes on sale in Q2 2017 globally for €49 (~$52).
Today is turning out to be very exciting. Fresh on the heels of the LG G6 launch is Huawei’s announcement of the Huawei P10 and P10 Plus, two greatly anticipated devices from the largest manufacturer in China.
The Huawei P10 and P10 Plus are the flagships for 2017 from the Chinese manufacturer and they will be taking over from the P9 and P9 Plus from last year.
Looking at the Huawei P10 and P10 Plus and it is obvious Huawei has borrowed the best features from top manufacturers. From the underglass fingerprint scanner similar to that of the Xiaomi Mi 5s to the attractive colors that pay homage to the Google Pixel, and the superfast charging technology that has a nearly identical tag to OnePlus 3′ “a day’s power in half an hour” Dash Charge technology.
That isn’t to say the Huawei P10 and P10 Plus bring nothing new to the table. They have partnered with Leica again on the cameras and have even extended it to the camera in front. They have also thrown in water-resistance which would have been a major deal breaker if it were missing.
Huawei P10
The Huawei P10 packs a 5.1-inch 1080p display (sadly no Daydream support) with Gorilla Glass 5, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of built-in storage. There is an octa-core Kirin 960 processor and a Mali G71 MP8 GPU. It has dual SIM support with one slot doubling as a microSD card slot that takes up to 256GB cards.
Huawei continues its partnership with Germany’s Leica and they are calling it Leica Dual Camera 2.0. The rear cameras are a combination of a 12MP sensor that shoots in color and a 20MP monochrome sensor. Both have f/2.2 apertures and there is laser focus, optical image stabilization, PDAF and dual LED flash. The Leica treatment has been extended to the 8MP f/2.2 front camera too.
The Huawei P10 is equipped with a 3200mAh battery with Huawei’s SuperCharge which provides a day’s usage just by charging for 30 minutes.
Huawei has ditched the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner for a front facing one embedded under the front glass just like in Xiaomi’s Mi 5s. Swiping on it will bring up recent apps, holding it down will take you home, and tapping it will take you back.
Huawei P10 Plus
The bigger sibling is the Huawei P10 Plus and it shows it in a lot of ways. First the screen is bigger at 5.5-inches and the resolution has been bumped up to Quad HD (2560 x 1440). The P10 Plus also gets 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, though there is a 4GB/64GB variant as well. The camera sensors and the processor are the same but its Leica cameras are called Lecia Dual Camera 2.0 Pro. I guess the Pro comes into play in the f/1.9 aperture and autofocus feature of the front camera.
The phone sports a larger 3750mAh battery and this means it also weighs more at 165g compared to the 145g weight of the P10. Huawei says the “P10 Plus is the world’s first 4.5G LTE smartphone with the potential to reach up to 600Mbps on CAT12”. The P10 Plus is also water resistant.
Extra Features
The Huawei P10 and P10 Plus will come with EMUI 5.1 based on Android 7.1 Nougat. The new UI has a special feature that lets the theme on the phone blend with the color of your phone. EMUI 5.1 will be available to some other phones such as the Mate 9, Mate 9 Pro/Porsche Design and Huawei Nova to name a few.
Both devices feature NFC, USB Type-C and have global connectivity support.
The Huawei P10 and P10 Plus are available in eight different colors. You can choose any color from Dazzling Blue, Graphite Black, Dazzling Gold, Rose Gold, Greenery, White Ceramic, Mystic Silver, or Prestige Gold.
Huawei P10 and P10 Plus Price
The Huawei P10 will sell for 699 Euros (~$738) while the P10 Plus will be priced at 799 Euros (~$844).
The LG G6 has been officially announced to replace the lackluster LG G5 from 2016. One of its major attractive features is its large-sized display that is different from the screens available on conventional smartphones. Here is a comparison between the LG G6 and the Xiaomi Mi Mix that is praised for its high screen-to-body ratio.
LG G6 vs. Xiaomi Mi Mix: Design and Display
The LG G6 has an appealing glass body flanked with a metallic frame. The front side features Gorilla Glass 3 on top of the display whereas its rear has a Gorilla Glass 5. It measures 148.9 x 71.9 x 7.9 mm and its weight is 163 grams. It is the first LG G series smartphone to come with an IP68 certified water and dust resistant chassis. It comes in color options like Mystic White, Astro Black, and Ice Platinum.
The Xiaomi Mi Mix is a concept phone with a premium appeal as its rear panel is made up of ceramic. Also, other parts of the body chassis such as the frame and buttons for volume controllers and power are made of ceramic. It is taller and wider than the LG G6 as it measures 158 x 81.9 mm. However, its thickness is same as that to LG G6. It is heavier as its weight is 209 grams. Mi Mix comes in colors like black and white.
The LG G6 has a 5.7-inch IPS LCD screen that is officially known as FullVision. It produces a resolution of 2,880 x 1,440 pixels along with a pixel density of 565 ppi. It produces an aspect ratio 18:9 which means LG G6’s display is taller as well as narrower than conventional 16:9 screens. The super-slim bezels on the LG G6 makes it possible to produce a screen-to-body ratio of 78.37 percent.
The Xiaomi Mi Mix is an unconventional smartphone with a huge IPS LCD display of 6.4 inches that supports a resolution of 1,080 x 2,040 pixels and a pixel count of 362 ppi. It offers an uncommon aspect ratio of 17:9. Xiaomi has not confirmed on the glass protection that it has used for the display of Mi Mix. Even though Xiaomi has been advertising that the Mi Mix is a bezel-less smartphone with a screen-to-body ratio of 91.3 percent, GSM Arena’s review has stated its actual screen-to-body ratio is 84.72 percent which is still higher than that of LG G6.
LG G6 vs. Xiaomi Mi Mix: Hardware, Camera and Battery
Both smartphones are fueled by Snapdragon 821 chipset. The 32 GB and 64 GB native storage options of LG G6 feature 4 GB of RAM. Its single model has a dedicated microSD card slot. On its dual-SIM version, users can add a microSD card on its second SIM slot. On the other side, the Mi Mix with 128 GB native storage has 4 GB of RAM. Its 256 GB storage model has 6 GB of RAM. It does not feature a microSD card slot.
The LG G6 has a dual camera setup on its rear panel that comprises of a pair of 13-megapixel snapper. One of them is a wide-angel shooter whereas the other one comes with features like OIS and autofocus. It is coupled with a dual LED flash. Its selfie shooter is of 5-megapixel.
The Xiaomi Mi Mix has a dual-LED enabled 16-megapixel rear camera that comes with features like EIS and phase detection autofocus. It also features a 5-megapixel selfie snapper.
Both smartphones feature fingerprint scanner and USB Type-C port. The LG G6 lacks NFC, but the Xiaomi Mi Mix features it. For crisper audio, the LG G6 features Quad DAC, a feature that is unavailable on Mi Mix.
The LG phone has a 3,300 mAh battery and the Mi Mix is packed with 4,400 mAh battery. Both devices support Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging.
LG G6 vs. Xiaomi Mi Mix: Software and Price
The LG G6 runs on Android 7.0 Nougat OS customized with LG UX 6.0 UI. The Mi Mix comes loaded with MIUI 8 flavored Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS.
The South Korean company did not announce LG G6 pricing at its launch event. However, it is expected to cost around $649-$699. The 4 GB RAM model of Mi Mix is priced at 3,499 Yuan ($509) and its 6 GB RAM variant costs 3,999 Yuan ($581).
After weeks of leaks and teases, LG finally launches its LG G6 flagship. We basically know all there is about the LG G6 but the launch has revealed some new features.
LG G6 Design
With the LG G6, LG has taken a different approach to the design of the phone. The phone features a combination of metal and glass but the real change is in the size. The LG G6 features a large 5.7-inch display but has been designed to fit in one hand. The phone also features more curves than its predecessors as the display itself is also curved at the edges. LG says the new design doesn’t come at the expense of durability. The phone has a metal frame that runs around it to absorb shocks from falls. They have also taken great care in making sure it is safe.
LG G6 Specifications
The LG G6 has a 5.7-inch 18:9 QHD+ FullVision display with an 80% screen-to-body ratio. The phone supports HDR 10 and is the first smartphone in the world to have Dolby Vision. It is no news that the G6 has a Snapdragon 821 processor but the chip has been optimized specifically for the phone. There is 4GB of RAM and either 32GB or 64GB of storage depending on the market. Storage is expandable via a microSD card slot.
In the optics department, the G6 sports dual rear cameras: a 13MP f/2.4 125° wide-angle sensor and another 13MP f/1.8 71° camera with OIS. Up front is a 5MP f/2.2 100° wide angle camera for groupies and selfies. The camera comes with a number of cool features such as match shot, grid shot, guide shot, and 360° panorama. There is also a fingerprint scanner just below the rear cameras.
The LG G6 is powered by a 3300mAh non-removable battery with support for Quick Charge 3.0. It also supports wireless charging but it is limited to the US edition. The US variant might be getting wireless charging but it will not be getting the Hi-Fi Quad DAC feature. Lest we forget, the G6 is also IP68 certified meaning you can take it for a swim or rinse it under the tap.
The LG G6 comes will come with Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box. It is also the first phone apart from the Google Pixels to have Google Assistant.
Surprisingly, LG did not reveal the price of the LG G6 or when it will hit markets. Once we get our hands on that, we sure will let you know. However it will be available in mystic black, astro white and ice platinum as revealed by Evan Blass yesterday.
Sony is launching a number of phones at Mobile World Congress but we are most concerned about its flagship for the year. A report from XperiaBlog has revealed that Sony’s flagship device, the Xperia XZ Premium will have a 4K display. An image of the device has also been released online.
The Xperia XZ Premium shares design similarities to the Xperia XZ released in October last year. The reflective chrome design, large top and bottom bezels and stereo front facing speakers still make a comeback. However, it packs a number of new features such as a 4K HDR display, a Snapdragon 835 processor, and a 20MP 1.22um camera.
OPPO has announced it will be making an appearance at MWC. The announcement included a teaser for a phone with 5x optical zoom and nothing more. However, an OPPO advert seen on Baidu has revealed more details.
A loose translation of the advert mentions dual cameras with 5x lossless zoom. The iPhone 7 Plus which also sports dual cameras has 2x lossless zoom, a feat that isn’t easy to achieve. OPPO’s ad is saying this upcoming phone of theirs has dual cameras with 5x optical zoom making people wonder how they achieved it.
Since OPPO is keeping things secret about this new device, we have no choice than to wait till the launch takes place to find out how they achieved it.
Mobile World Congress has begun and the first major launch comes from BlackBerry. Their first phone for the year is the BlackBerry KEYone, which was formerly known as Mercury. It’s not surprising the inspiration for the name comes from the phone’s physical keyboard.
The BlackBerry KEYone sports a 4.5-inch 1620 x 1080 IPS display that sits above a QWERTY keyboard. There is a Snapdragon 625 processor under the hood and a 3505mAh battery with QC 3.0 support for juice. The device comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, though there is a microSD card slot that accepts up to 2TB cards.
Like previously reported, the BlackBerry KEYone does feature the same 12MP Sony IMX378 1.55μm sensor found in the Google Pixel. The front facing camera is an 8MP shooter with an 84° field of view that records 1080p videos at 30fps. The KEYOne has NFC and features a USB Type-C 3.1 port.
BlackBerry’s target market for the KEYone are business professionals. It is evident in the design of the phone which pays homage to the BlackBerry Passport and BlackBerry Classic. It also comes with BlackBerry’s security software and a bunch of BlackBerry apps.
The BlackBerry KEYone comes with Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box and will go on sale in early April for $549.
Mark your calendars, set your reminders, and do what else needs to be done so you don’t miss any of the action. It’s the MWC week and things are about to get really exciting. Quite a number of us can’t make it to Barcelona but that doesn’t mean we can’t follow the event in real-time. So we have made a schedule of the major launch events, so you don’t miss anything.
The event officially opens on Monday, 27th of February and will run through to Thursday, 2nd of March but quite a number of launches are slated to occur today and tomorrow. So you should not be surprised that the schedule begins today.
Day 1: Saturday, February 25
TCL (BlackBerry): BlackBerry has shut down its hardware manufacturing phones. But there will still be new phones released by the company. What it has done is to license the name to a number of manufacturers such as China’s TCL and India’s Optiemus Infracom. However, today’s launch is by TCL and they are expected to launch the BlackBerry Mercury.Time: 7:00 PM CET, 11:30 PM IST, 10:00 AM PST, and 1:00 PM EST.
Day 2: Sunday, February 26
LGis expected to launch its latest flagship tomorrow, the LG G6. Time is as follows: 12:00 PM CET; 4:30 PM IST; 3:00 AM PST; and 6:00 AM EST.
Huawei’s launch comes after and like they have announced themselves, it is for theHuawei P10. The launch should also include the P10 Plus and P10 Lite. Time: 2:00 PM CET; 6:30 PM IST; 5:00 AM PST; and 8:00 AM EST.
HMD Global (Nokia): New Nokia licensee, HMD Global has scheduled its launch for tomorrow as well. We expect the Finnish company to announce the Nokia 3, the Nokia 5 and a new Nokia 3310. Time: 4:30 PM CET; 9:00 PM IST; 7:30 AM PST; and 10:30 AM EST.
Motorola/Lenovo:If you are in Barcelona already, you will have to choose which event to attend between Motorola and HMD Global’ events as both are happening at the same time. For those at home, you can just have two windows open and read/watch the event. Lenovo is expected to launch the Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus. There is no much excitement there as basically all info about both devices have been leaked already. Time: 4:30 PM CET; 9:00 PM IST; 7:30 AM PST; and 10:30 AM EST.
Samsung:Closing the day is Samsung with the launch of the Galaxy Tab S3. Time: 7:00 PM CET; 11:30 PM IST; 10:00 AM PST; and 1:00PM EST.
Nubia:ZTE’s sub-brand Nubia is expected to release a new smartphone. There are no known details about the phone and the exact day of launch. So we guess we have to wait till tomorrow to find out what it is.
Day 3: Monday, February 27
Sony:Sony kicks off the day with the launch of up to five Xperia phones including the Xperia X2. Time: 8:30 AM CET; 1:00 PM IST; 11:30 PM PST (26th); and 2:30 AM EST.
TCL (Alcatel): TCL continues its launch with another phone but under the Alcatel brand. The new phone is said to be modular, so you might want to keep a tab on this. Time: 9:30 AM CET; 2:00PM IST; 12:30 AM PST; and 3:30 AM EST.
OPPO: Chinese manufacturer OPPO has also confirmed it will be at MWC. The teaser suggests we will see a camera-centric phone with a 5X optical zoom. There is no info on the time.
Vernee: Another Chinese manufacturer attending MWC is Vernee. The devices expected to be announced include the Vernee Thor Plus; Thor E; Apollo 2 which is said to be the first Helio X30 and 8GB smartphone; Apollo X; and Mars Pro. There is also no time info for this launch.
Day 4: Tuesday, February 28
Meizu:Meizu teased a few days ago that it will be present at MWC 2017. The teaser hints at a fast charging technology, so we are not expecting any new phone. Some of their recent launches will however, be on display. Time: 10:00 AM CET; 2:30 PM IST; 1:00 AM PST; and 4:00 AM EST.
That’s all for the major events but trust that there will be tons of other exciting stuff at the event and we sure will cover them.
There is hardly any unknown detail about LG’s next flagship, the LG G6. From screen size to screen type, processor, battery and optics, we have covered it all. Notwithstanding, there still seems to be more details cropping up. What we have today is an image of the device in all the possible color variants it will be launched in.
The leaked image comes from Evan Blass (@evleaks) and we can see the LG G6 in Mystic White, Astro Black, and Ice Platinum. The Ice Platinum variant should be familiar already to those who saw the first real life image of the device.
ASUS has added a budget smartphone to its Zenfone lineup going by the name Zenfone Live. The ASUS Zenfone Live recently leaked in renders and specs as Zenfone 3 Go but surprisingly, it appeared officially with a different name. The Zenfone Live bears the model number, ZB501KL, and the images as well as specs align with each other, so there is no doubt they are one and the same smartphone.
Specs wise, the Zenfone Live sports a 5-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset but the exact chipset wasn’t disclosed. There is 2GB of RAM inside the smartphone as well as 16GB or 32GB of internal storage.
Perhaps, the most awesome feature on the Zenfone Live is the main camera setup which has an individual pixel size of 1.4µm pixel, f/2.0 aperture and 82-degree field of view. The rear camera is a 13MP shooter while up front, there is a 5MP sensor with soft light LED selfie flash. More spectacular is the BeautyLive app which the smartphone packs which lets you apply beautification filter on your face and also stream videos live from either the front or rear camera. Obviously, the smartphone is intended for selfie enthusiasts and it sure delivers.
In addition, the ASUS Zenfone Live is kept alive by a rather disappointing 2,650mAh battery which is even non-removable. It runs ZenUI 3.0 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. There is also dual MEMS microphones onboard the device which brings clarity to the voice during conversation, reducing background noise.
ASUS is yet to disclose the pricing and availability details of the Zenfone Live but you can keep a tab on the new device on ASUS’ official page.
Yet again, Xiaomi is churning out another crowdfunded smart home product, with the company revealing a February 28 launch date along with a poster on Weibo which teases what the product would likely be. We don’t know for sure what the product is but perhaps you could check the teaser out and maybe make a wild guess.
The product would be launched on February 28 which is just next Tuesday and from the teaser, it is likely a…..Guess this one. Well, if you think this is likely a sofa meant for the outdoors, sunbathing and such like, then we are on the same page.
Last year, the Mijia brand products posted amazing sales figures running into millions in the number of units sold and millions of yuan in revenue. The company has set a tall mission for itself in terms of revenue generation this year in a bid to reclaim its place in the global and domestic smartphone markets. The Mijia brand is a very vital part of that mission.
A version of Huawei‘s upcoming P10 flagship, likely the standard version, has appeared on benchmark website GFXBench. The Huawei P10 had first made an appearance on GFXBench around November last year revealing some key details about the device. It is now certain that that was the high-end version of the P10.
Among the details listed on the earlier GFXBench appearance include a 6GB RAM and 256GB of storage. Others include a 5.5-inch QHD display, Android Nougat OS and a Kirin 960 chip clocked at 2.3GHz. The camera is listed as a 12MP rear camera and an 8MP front camera.
In contrast, the latest version of the P10 listed specifically as Huawei P10 (VTR-xxx) sports a reduced 5.1-inch 1080p display. The device is listed with the same Kirin 960 processor clocked at 2.3GHz but there is just 4GB of RAM onboard the smartphone as well as 64GB of storage likely expandable. In the camera aspect, this latest version aligns with the previously listed one, packing a 12MP rear shooter and an 8MP selfie shooter.
It is likely that this version is the standard version of the P10 considering the differences in the specs. The previously listed P10 is thus likely the higher version of the P10. What brings more confusion into the mix is the smaller display size it features. That may likely be an error but in the long run, both versions may feature the same screen size and would most likely have the same design. The Huawei P10 would meet with us, full specs in tow at MWC 2017 which is just at the corner.
It will be a historic moment for Xiaomi on February 28, when the company will announce its first ever processor, the Xiaomi Pinecone at a conference in China. We have seen Xiaomi’s innovative strategies work out in almost every area where it placed its bets, but processors are not easily developed in-house. If it was easy, you would have seen lots of smartphone chipmakers in the market. But there aren’t many, and it is no surprise that only tech giants like Apple, Samsung and Huawei have managed to successfully develop commercial chipsets for its smartphones. But Xiaomi is nowhere nearly as big as these three giants and it would really be interesting to see the company’s take on its own chipsets.
There are currently a lot of questions and doubts regarding the Xiaomi Pinecone chipset and I’ll try to explain most of the questions regarding the processor in this article. Read on to know more about one of the most important products from Xiaomi till date.
XIAOMI PINECONE
Xiaomi has been eyeing to develop in-house chipsets for quite some time now and we started hearing rumors and reports about this as early as 2015. Lei Jun’s plan to make independently developed chipsets seems to have kick started after the big deal in 2014. At the start of November 2014, a company called Beijing Songguo Electronics (also called as Beijing Pinecone Electronics) entered an agreement with Leadcore Technology Ltd., a Chinese IC design company for ‘SDR1860 platform technology transfer contract’ at 103 million Yuan (~$15 million USD).
Now, initially, when Datang Group (make note of this name as it will come again) announced this deal officially, there wasn’t much thought given to its relation to Xiaomi. But soon, it was found that two of Xiaomi’s employees, who were responsible for research and technical development at Xiaomi also worked at Beijing Pinecone Electronics. This revealed that Xiaomi controlled Beijing Pinecone Electronics, which also meant the company’s plans to develop its own processor got a significant boost.
Fast forward to March 2015 and we saw the first fruit of this deal, the Xiaomi Redmi 2A. It was the first Xiaomi smartphone to be powered by a Leadcore chipset and one of the first steps towards working together with Leadcore to develop its own chip. It was one of the best super cheap smartphones of the time, costing just 599 Yuan ($88).
Since then, we haven’t really seen a Leadcore powered Xiaomi smartphone, probably because Xiaomi was busy developing its own in-house Pinecone processor. But we will surely see the fruits of the past two years on February 28.
So, now you must be wondering why would Xiaomi develop its own in-house processors, when it can continue to rely on established chipmakers like Qualcomm and Mediatek, who are experts in this field.
There are a number of possible reasons for this:
First of all, Xiaomi is one of the world’s top smartphone companies and its sales exceed 50 million each year. Given the high amount of smartphone sales and the prospective growth, it actually makes sense to invest money in R&D for an independent chipset. The cost of developing an in-house chip is huge and it gets distributed among the millions of units in sales. If your scale is not large enough, it wouldn’t make sense to spend so much for a self-developed processor.
Despite the company trying to sell more high-end smartphones, the majority of the phones sold by Xiaomi is from the low-end to mid-range segment. It is a price sensitive market and you have to make sure that your smartphone is priced aggressively in order to have an edge over the competitor. Given the rising cost of components, it becomes really hard to limit the costs to the current levels. Using an in-house chip could help in bringing down the cost. Every dollar counts in the low-end market.
Another good reason for developing in-house chipset is the lack of good choices available for Xiaomi. There are five major chipmakers in the smartphone market today — Qualcomm, MediaTek, Apple, Samsung, and Huawei. Qualcomm chipsets are costly, so not ideal for low-end to mid-range market where prices have to be kept near cost; MediaTek’s chipsets are decent, but they are not really up to the mark as compared to Qualcomm and MTK’s reputation is not really stellar; then comes Samsung, whose chipsets are not mass produced in very large quantities (as compared to the other two) and Meizu seems to be the only notable manufacturer getting Exynos chipset orders. Finally, there’s Apple and Huawei whose processors are exclusively used by their own smartphones, so not something that Xiaomi can get hold of.
In-house chips could also offer Xiaomi better bargaining power from the likes of Qualcomm and MediaTek for its other models, as the two chipmakers know Xiaomi doesn’t have to rely entirely on their processors.
International expansion is also made possible with the help of in-house chipset with its own 4G modem. Remember Leadcore is a subsidiary of the state-owned Datang Group, which has a lot of patents under its belt.
Having your own processor gives you greater control over supply chain and product cycles.
A self-developed processor will help in better optimization of hardware and software which is very important in the best performance of the smartphone.
Finally, to be able to achieve something as making your own processors puts you in the big league, with the big three giants, Apple, Samsung, and Huawei. It’s an elite club and will definitely enhance the overall brand image of the company. Lei Jun wants Xiaomi to be regarded as an innovative tech company and Xiaomi Pinecone along with products like the Xiaomi Mi Mix will definitely help the CEO realize this goal.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note series would also be an ideal potential candidate for the Pinecone processor given it’s one of the best selling lineups of the company and is priced aggressively.
Now coming to another important part: Xiaomi Pinecone Specs
At this moment, the Xiaomi Pinecone processor is said to come in two variants — V670 and V970.
Xiaomi Pinecone V670
So, the Pinecone 1 (V670) is the less powerful version of the two and will be a mid-range chipset. Here are the rumored details of this chipset:
CPU: 4 x Cortex A53 @ 2.2GHz + 4 x Cortex A53 @ 1.7GHz
Before we move onto the chip’s expected performance, let’s first wonder why Xiaomi Pinecone 1 is manufactured using SMIC’s 28nm process. Some would argue that Xiaomi should have used much-advanced manufacturing node, something like a 14nm process for its first ever independent processor.
There are multiple reasons for this, the major one being the cost. The Pinecone chipset should be giving Xiaomi an edge in pricing its products and the 28nm process is much cheaper than something like the 14nm / 16nm processes used by rival chipsets. Another major reason is that 28nm is enough to meet the performance of eight Cortex A53 cores. Also, Datang Holdings has invested in SMIC, so it’s easier to get a good deal for manufacturing its chipsets.
Xiaomi Pinecone (V670) Performance:
While the chip is yet to be released and tested officially, leaks suggest that the Pinecone 1 should be placed above MTK Helio P10 and Snapdragon 625 in terms of performance. We have already seen the Xiaomi Meri (another name for Xiaomi Mi 5C) on Geekbench with decent performance.
Xiaomi Meri Geekbench Score
Xiaomi Pinecone V970:
The Xiaomi Pinecone V970, the flagship grade chipset is said to come with impressive specs.
CPU: 4 x Cortex A73 @ 2.7GHz + 4 x Cortex A53 @ 2.0GHz
GPU: Mali-G71 MP12 @ 900MHz
Process: 10nm Samsung
Launch: Q4 2017
Definitely looks like an interesting chipset for Xiaomi’s flagship phones, but for the time being, expect the top-end models from the company to continue using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8XX processors. At this point, we have no info on its performance but the specs definitely instill confidence in the chip.
Of course, these specs, although detailed are rumored and only after Xiaomi officially announces the Pinecone processor, we will know the exact details.
I hope this clears most of the questions regarding the company’s upcoming pinecone processors.
So, what do you think about the company’s move to release self-developed Pinecone chipset?
The Xiaomi Mi 5C is rumored to be the first Xiaomi smartphone that would feature the in-house Pinecone processor that would be unveiled on the 28th of this month in China. The Mi 5C is also expected to be released along with the Pinecone chipset on that day and ahead of the event, the Mi 5C has made an appearance on benchmark website GFXBench.
The expected specs of the Xiaomi smartphone isn’t a secret one but the GFXBench listing comes as a reminder. According to the listing, the Xiaomi Mi 5C comes with a 5.5-inch 1080p display and would have 3GB of storage as well as 64GB of internal storage. There is also a 12MP rear camera as well as an 8MP front-facing camera. The smartphone runs MIUI 8 based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat.
The most important part of the listing is the aspect of the processor where the device is listed with an octa-core Cortex-A53 processor with a top frequency of 2.1GHz and a base frequency of 1.4GHz. Powering the graphics is a Mali-T860 GPU. No doubt, the configuration fits those of the Pinecone chip.
Sadly, the device is listed as not having NFC onboard but there are connectivity options like WiFi, GPS and others. It is also coming with a single slot for SIM card. Just to reminder you, though, that GFXbench’s data are not always accurate, so until Xiaomi takes the veil off the Mi 5C, we can’t say for sure if these are the actual specs.
Korean electronics giant LG has quietly unveiled a smartphone but this isn’t the much-expected G6. The smartphone somehow deflects attention from expected flagship which would be launched in a few days time. The time around, the LG X Power 2 (specs) is the device launched and it is a successor to the X Power. It could be recalled that LG launched the X Power around this time last year but the display and battery sizes are smaller than the new model.
The LG X Power 2 this time around, lives up to its name by packing a large 4500mAh battery under its hood. The X Power 2’s battery is touted to last all weekend without recharging and as capable of providing up to 15 hours of video play, navigational directions for 14 hours, and about 18 hours of web browsing on a single charge. Even when the battery gets drained, there is fast charging support such that it can get fully charged in just 2 hours.
In other specs, the LG X Power 2 sports a 5.5-inch HD In-cell touch display and is powered by an unknown chip model which is an octa-core chip with 1.5GHz frequency. The processor is supported by 2GB of RAM of which 1.5GB is available, while there is 16GB of storage which is expandable up to 2TB via microSD.
On the camera end, LG has crammed a capable 13MP sensor on the rear camera with wide angle view and LED flash. While on the front aspect, there is an ample 5MP sensor for selfies. The X Power 2 runs on Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box and features a host of network/connectivity features like Wi-Fi (802.11 b, g, n), Bluetooth 4.2, USB 2.0, 4G LTE, 3G, 2G etc. The entire device has a dimension of 154.7 x 78.1 x 8.4mm and weighs 164g.
The LG X Power 2 is available in black, titanium, blue, and gold colors and would hit the market starting from March after it is showcased at MWC 2017. The price is yet to be revealed.
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.
