Homtom HT10 Review – An Excellent Iris Scanner on a Budget

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Dec 5, 2016

There rumors that HTC is already working on its next flagship which would likely be called HTC 11, taking over from its predecessor, the HTC 10. Details about the expected flagship are still a bit sketchy but the device is said to go by the code-name Ocean. The HTC Ocean code-named first featured in a leaked video (included) teasing an unknown HTC device.

The HTC Ocean was then confirmed as existing by popular tipster Evan Bass via a twitter post sometime in October. Later on, another popular tipster @LlabTooFeR also added his voice, even taking it further by revealing three code-names apparently for three different versions of the HTC 11. The three code-names include, Ocean Master, Ocean Note and Ocean Smart.

HTC 11 Expected Specs & Launch Date

There are currently no official words on the specs the HTC Ocean would feature but it would most likely feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset, probably the latest Snapdragon 835. The device is expected with a 4GB RAM and 32GB of expandable storage on the base version. Considering the three leaked code-names, the HTC Ocean may likely have more than one storage version. The device might also come with support for Google’s new VR platform Daydream.

In addition, the HTC Ocean would most likely use the USB Type-C interface and come without the 3.5mm audio jack. HTC did that on the HTC 10 Evo that was announced recently as well as on the HTC Bolt. The device will likely also feature a front sitting fingerprint sensor and will most likely run Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box with touch of the latest HTC Sense.

Furthermore, there is likely going to be more than one display sizes on the three different versions but we don’t have a specific figure for now. A rumor suggesting details of the display says the HTC 11 will sport a 5.5-inch display with a 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution just like the Pixel XL. There are rumors that there would be a curved display on one of the versions of the HTC Ocean. We also cannot say just yet if HTC will opt for an LCD or AMOLED display but latest HTC devices use LCD displays.

On the cameras, the leaked video did feature a dual rear camera setup on the HTC Ocean and that could be an indication that the device would launch with dual cameras at the rear. Though, a leak on Weibo tipped the HTC 11 as coming with a 12MP rear sensor as well as an 8MP front-facing shooter. The device is rumored to launch sometime during the MWC 2017 but if that doesn’t happen, then we’ll be looking at March 2017. We can’t be so sure about any of that, though.

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Lenovo VP Releases Poster for ZUK Edge

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Dec 5, 2016

The ZUK Edge is going to be launched this week according to the image uploaded earlier today on Weibo by the Vice-President of Lenovo.

The image shows the ZUK Edge in white with its so-called thin bezels which doesn’t appear any different from what we have seen from other ”thin-bezel” phones. The poster also reveals to us that the ZUK will go on sale on Jingdong Mall on the 7th of December at 3 pm.

The ZUK Edge will launch with a 5.5-inch Full HD display, a 2.35GHz Snapdragon 821 processor, 6GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. It will also join the ranks of Huawei’s Mate 9 to be one of the few Chinese phones launching with Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box.

The ZUK Edge will have a 13MP primary camera on the back, and an 8MP sensor in front for selfies. The phone will be powered by a 3000mAh battery.

Xiaomi Among Top Buyers of US Patents

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Dec 5, 2016

Next year is gearing up to be a big year for Chinese manufacturer, Xiaomi. First, the company will be making an appearance at the 2017 edition of the Consumer Electric Show for the very first time and they have also said they will be unveiling a new product at the event. Now, according to reports, the company has been acquiring lot of patents in the US in what is assumed to be part of their plans to enter the North American market.

Earlier this year, Xiaomi went into a partnership with Microsoft which would see the latter’s services appear on Xiaomi phones. An example is the Xiaomi Mi Mix which comes pre-installed with Microsoft’s Cortana. Apart from that, Xiaomi also acquired 1500 patents from the Redmond-based company in addition to a patent-exchange program signed by both parties.

In a new report, Richardson Oliver Law (ROL) Group LLP, a firm specialized in the purchase and acquisition of patents, lists Xiaomi as one of the top buyers of US patents for 2016. It also puts Huawei on the list of patent buyers.

This is the first time Xiaomi will appear on the list of ROL and its a big deal for them especially in a patent market that has the big players like Google, Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and other big corporations. As we all know, ownership of patents is an important factor when it comes to determining the technological strength of corporations.

Gionee Unveils New Brand Ambassador and Teases New Device

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Dec 5, 2016

The year is not yet over for Chinese phone manufacturers as it appears some of them still have one or two devices they want to launch this month. Gionee is one of those companies and they just teased a new phone in a poster revealing a new brand ambassador.

The phone maker released a poster revealing Chinese actress, Xu Fan, as its new brand ambassador. The poster shows the actress holding hands with her Director husband, Feng Xiaogang, who is holding a phone in his left hand.

If you look closely, the phone in his hand is none other than the curved screen and dual-cameras sporting Gionee M2017 phone we covered a couple of weeks ago.

The phone which has a leather back and a design similar to what you will only see on premium phones is said to have a 7000mAh battery and top notch security. After showing up on TENAA’s website, we learnt that the Gionee M2017 will launch with a 5.7” QHD screen, 6GB of RAM, a 1.958GHz 8-core processor, and 128GB of built-in storage.

There is no info on when it will be released but we expect it to be unveiled before the year runs out unless they plan to push it to 2017 since the model number is M2017.

Xiaomi Crowdfunding App Teases Launch of New Product, A Sleeping Mattress?

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Dec 5, 2016

Xiaomi crowdfunding is all set to unveil its 56th product tomorrow and it is likely going to be a sleeping mattress. Just fresh out of the launch of the 69 Yuan-Lunar Smart Sleep sensor, this latest product apparently isn’t the first mattress product from Xiaomi’s crowdfunding platform but perhaps it offers much more than the previous one.

According to the teased posters, the bed product will be launched on December 6 (tomorrow) by 10.00am. The product may not necessarily be as Smart bed that makes you fall asleep or monitor your sleeping pattern but it is touted to offer healthy sleep.

In addition the mattress seems to be made from a material which doesn’t harbor bugs and is soft, lightweight, as well as comfortable. Another teased point is that the mattress will come in very cheap. The previously launched 8H Latex mattress M1 presently sells for between 799 Yuan and 1539 Yuan so we really can’t say how cheap this one will be. Of course, we’ll wait for tomorrow’s launch to get more details.

Meizu Pro 6 Edge with 2K Curved Screen Leaks in Real Live Renders

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Dec 4, 2016

Meizu launched what is arguably its first true flagship device for this year, talking about the Pro 6 Plus, not too long ago. The Meizu Pro 6 Plus features a sleek, premium design and a specs that guarantees topnotch performance. However, it seems Meizu has got something bigger than the Pro 6 Plus in the works. Recently, white renders of an unknown Meizu device appeared on Weibo sporting a curved display. That unknown device has now been identified as the Meizu Pro 6 Edge and more renders of the black variant of the said device have leaked.

The Meizu Pro 6 Edge uses a curved design on all sides with well-chamfered edges for easy grip. The screen has a special curve on all four axis manufactured using a hot-bend process. It curves both at the front and back. The Pro 6 Edge is rumored as packing the same Samsung Exynos 8890 processor featured on the Pro 6 Plus. The device is also rumored with a Samsung AMOLED display with a whopping 2K resolution.

Meizu is tipped to likely unveil the Pro 6 Edge along side the Meizu M5 Note on December 6. That’s just a rumor and considering the press conference is just a day away, we’ll not anticipate anything of such. But even if it doesn’t drop with the M5 Note, it will likely be launched sometime soon.

Lenovo ZUK Edge Render, Likely Specs & Price Revealed in New Leak

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Dec 4, 2016

The Lenovo ZUK Edge is expected to be launched sometime this week and just before that happens, there has been another leak of the device’s render. Not that this is the first we’ll be seeing but this new render leaked via Slashleaks is an high-definition image of the front view of the ZUK Edge. Indeed it shows all the front features and design clearly as opposed to previous renders.

The render reveals once again the design of the device, with a large display occupying about 90% of the screen and very narrow bezels at the edges. There is a home button, though, just under the display. The home button is touted as housing the fingerprint sensor which is said to be a non-aperture sensor in that it might be under the glass and would be flat.

The leak also reveals the Lenovo ZUK Edge would sport a 5.5-inch 1080 pixels display, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chipset which would be backed by 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage. There is also a 3000mAh built-in battery on the device with support for fast charging technology and a USB Type-C interface. Further, the ZUK Edge is listed as packing a 13MP rear camera and an 8MP front camera. The device is also given a dimension of 142.9 x 74.5 x 7.68 mm and weight of 160 g.

Slashleaks also leaked the likely price of the ZUK Edge as 2,699 Yuan ($388). The device will drop any moment from now, so we’ll wait to see the official price.

Coming Soon: Elephone Max with 6-inch Display, Dual Cameras and Android Nougat

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Dec 4, 2016

For the first time since it began manufacturing phones, Elephone plans to unveil a large screen phablet. The company has always stuck with the 5.5-inch screen size even when competitors were releasing large screen devices, but that is about to change with the Elephone Max.

The Elephone Max like the Meizu M3 Max will sport a 6-inch display. Apart from the large display, Elephone is also hooking it up with the latest version of Android and giving it the dual cameras treatment.

According to our source, the Elephone Max will have an ultra-slim metal body and feature dual rear cameras. The fact that it will sport dual cameras makes us wonder if the phone will be sporting the new Helio X27 processor.

If you remember, Elephone advertised their Elephone Z1 as the first Helio P20 phone but Umi beat them to it and released the Umi Plus E first. While they are not advertising the Max as the first Helio X27 device since there is still no expected date of release, this might be the time for them to get their own pound of flesh.

All other specs are still unknown but a 6-inch device with dual cameras and Android Nougat doesn’t sound bad at all. Are you exited about a dual-camera device from Elephone?

Umi Z Might Be The First Helio X27 Phone to Launch This Month

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Dec 4, 2016

The first time we came across the Helio X27 chip was in a yet-to-be released LeEco phone called the LeEco Dual 3. Now Mediatek has taken the covers of the processor and it’s now official. But even though it was first spotted on a LeEco phone, it appears Umi will be the first to launch a phone with the new processor in the form of their Umi Z.

It is no surprise that Umi will want to be the first manufacturer to release a phone with the new chip seeing as they did the same with the Helio P20 sporting Umi Plus E and according to sources Mediatek is more than happy with the success of the phone, so why not partner with them again on their next device?

Umi is calling the Umi Z their annual ultra-flagship device but apart from the fact that it might be the first device to feature the new chip, every other detail about the device is still unknown.

Judging from the upgrades the Helio X27 is offering over other chips, we expect the Umi Z to have a better battery life and probably sport dual cameras since it now has an upgraded Imagiq™ image signal processing processing solution. The new upgrade combines color and mono cameras depth-of-field applications into a single ISP aimed at both quality and functionality for photography.

New Meizu M5 Note Poster Hints at M1 Note Design

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Dec 4, 2016

Meizu is set to launch a new Blue Charm phone come Tuesday, 6th of December. The phone manufacturer released a new teaser image which hints at the Meizu M5 Note having a design similar to the M1 Note.

Recent rumors have said the Meizu M5 Note will come in two versions like the previous models: a standard edition sporting a polycarbonate body called the M5 Note name and another version clad in metal called the M5 Metal. Both phones are expected to be priced at ¥999 ($145) and ¥1099 ($160) respectively.

Meizu M5 Note Poster

meizu-m1-note

If the Meizu M5 Note is indeed going to share a design similar to the M1 Note, we should expect the same iPhone 5C glossy kind of plastic but which is available in bright colors.

The M5 Note will retain the 5.5-inches screen size the series is known for. It will however be settling for a smaller RAM, 2.5GB to be exact. There will be a Helio P10m processor under the hood and the phone will be powered by a 4000mAh battery.

Huawei Reveals Android Nougat Update Roll-Out Plan

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Dec 3, 2016

Most big manufacturers have announced their roll-out plan for Android Nougat, some of them like LG, Sony, and Motorola have even started rolling out the update to some of their devices. Others such as Huawei are just announcing, but like they say, better late than never.

Huawei’s Mate 9 (Standard Edition, Pro, and Porsche Design) already run Android Nougat in form of their own custom software called EMUI (5.0). The update to Nougat for the other devices will come in the same way.

Huawei says the Huawei P9, P9 Lite, and P9 Plus will get the Nougat update in the first quarter of 2017. After which their new Nova line of mid-range phones will follow suite. Huawei’s flagship from last year, the Mate 8 is also getting the update to Nougat. The P9 and the Mate 8 will be the first phones to get the update.

The Honor 8 flagship already has a beta version of Nougat available but Huawei has not revealed when it will get a stable release.

According to Huawei, EMUI 5.0 will be more efficient, secure and user friendly. Users will also be able to decide if they want to leave all their apps on the screen or be more organized and settle for an app drawer.

FIIL Carat Wireless Earphones with Activity Tracker Review

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Linus

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Dec 3, 2016

The market is full of affordable Bluetooth earphones that provide decent sound quality for quite a low price. We have reviewed quite a few of them over the time but we just came across the Fiil Carat wireless earphones that have some built-in fitness tracking features. In fact, the Fill Carat Pro model has even more exciting features but in this review, we are going to take a look at the base model of this headset. It will be up for pre-order at $59 soon. Check out this link for more details.

UNBOXING

The headset comes in a premium box where all the items are packed neatly. Inside of the box, you can find a headset itself, a USB cable, some extra earbuds and a high-quality carrying pouch.

DESIGN and FEATURES

Although the headset does not sport any premium materials in the construction, it is well-built and it seems that it last a long time. You can attach one earbud to another using the magnets, which is very convenient in practice.

We have the “activity” button on one of the earbuds. If you press it once, the voice will tell you the number of steps taken. If you press it twice, you will start/complete your workout. Finally, if you press it three times, you will turn on/off the light on the headset.

You can charge the headset using a regular micro USB port.

The earphones have the IP-65 rating, meaning that they are splash and dust resistant.

The controller has nice and tactile buttons. Also, the cable sports a tangle-free design.

One of the most favourite things about this headset is that it is very comfortable to wear out of the box. Obviously, you would need to find the right ear tips to have the best seal. Lastly, the headset stays nice and snug even if you or shake your head.

FITNESS TRACKING and APP

In order to unleash the full potential of the headset, you have to download the Fiil+ app on your Android or iOS device. One of the cool features is that the headset is able to track your steps/distance walked/calories burnt independently from your phone. Also, you can start monitoring your workout just with a single click of the button on the headset. I really love this feature since you can hear all the basic info about your exercise routines without the need to look into your phone.

I found the steps counter to be very accurate thanks to the PerformTek Precision biometrics technology.

Carat highlight feature is the patented Speed Dependent Sound Technology (SDS). The tech basically speeds up and slows down the sound effects according to the intensity of your workout. For example, if you are working hard, the Carat will automatically pump up the music and similarly, dial the music down when you are relaxing.

SOUND QUALITY

As for sound quality, it is pretty good. The sound is balanced, the volume output is great and the finally, the sound does not get distorted at the highest volume settings.

TEST NOTES and BATTERY LIFE

I didn’t have any connectivity issues even when my phone was somewhere deep in the pocket. The call quality is pretty good too.

As for the battery life, my FIIL Carat worked for about six hours before I needed to recharge. It takes about an hour and a half to charge it back to 100%.

CONCLUSIONS

Fiil Carat is a pretty cool headset with some fitness tracking capabilities. Our base version of the headset can track your steps, distance walked or calories burned accurately by just pressing one button.

Also, the headset has a decent battery life, it is comfortable to wear and the sound quality is definitely one of the better ones you can find in this price range.

All in all, the Fiil Carat is a great device that does more than just a regular Bluetooth headset and motivates you to stay active.

OnePlus 3T Goes on Sale in India on December 14

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Dec 3, 2016

OnePlus’ latest flagship is the OnePlus 3T and after launching in all the major markets, it finally made its way to India yesterday. However, the device won’t go on sale till the 14th of this month.

The OnePlus 3T won’t be sold on the official OnePlus 3T store but will be an Amazon India Exclusive. The phone will be priced at Rs.29,999 for the 6GB+64GB version and Rs.34,999 for the 6GB+128GB variant. If you have an Amazon Prime Subscription, you also get an early access sale on the 12th of December between 2 to 3 pm.

OnePlus India is also running a promo called the 3T December Dash where three OnePlus 3T units will be available for grabs every week. You also rake up points which can be used to grab OnePlus accessories and branded items like cases for the OnePlus 2 and OnePlus 3, car chargers, OnePlus branded T-shirts, OnePlus bags, and even the new OnePlus Bullets Earphones at a price of just Rs.1. All you have to do is complete the challenge and share the link. Once a friend completes the challenge via your shared link, you get a point. Once you have enough points, they can be used to redeem any of the above items for just a rupee. oneplus-3t

Apple and Samsung’s OLED Display Agreement Forces Huawei and OPPO to Make Their Own Panels

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Dec 3, 2016

We reported a few weeks ago that one of the next iPhone 8 models was going to feature an OLED display. It seems it has been confirmed as a recent agreement between Apple and Samsung for the supply of OLED displays is going to affect other phone manufacturers who look to Samsung for their OLED screens.

Even though Samsung and Apple usual drag each other to court, they are still business partners. The Korean giant has supplied Apple with the chips for its phones, save for the A10 which is present in the iPhone 7. Since Apple is going OLED next year, its looking at Samsung who is sort of the king when it comes to OLED displays to make the supply.

It is reported that the agreement will see Samsung supply Apple with 100 million panels. This huge demand will leave next to nothing for other companies who need OLED displays such as Vivo who’s recently announced Vivo XPlay 6 uses a Super AMOLED display.

In order to not be at the mercy of Samsung, the-top selling Chinese manufacturers are teaming up to get their OLED displays from other sources.

The news is that OPPO, Vivo, and Huawei are investing in Royole Corporation which is an OLED screen manufacturer known for making the world’s thinnest flexible display back in 2014. The investment will see the company scale up its production over the next couple of years.

Meizu Pro 5 Gets A Price Slash on Lynx

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https://www.facebook.com/Mgcool.fans/

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Dec 3, 2016

The Meizu Pro 5 was released in Q4 2015. It has a 5.7” AMOLED Full HD display, 3GB/4GB RAM, sports an Exynos 7420 processor and a 21MP primary camera. When it launched Meizu even ran a promo where you could swap your OnePlus 2 for a brand new Pro 5.

meizu-pro5-unboxing-06

Over the past couple of months following the launch of the Meizu Pro 6, the Pro 5 has had its prices slashed from its initial tags of ¥2799 ($438) and ¥3099 ($485) for the 3GB+32GB and 4GB+64GB variant respectively. Right now, it has even gotten a lot cheaper (the 3GB variant though).

Lynx currently has the 3GB model for just ¥1699 ($248) which is a lot lesser than the ¥2199 ($320) price tag its wearing on Meizu’s official website. Meizu Pro 5

Although you get less RAM, you can still expand the storage as the Meizu Pro 5 supports up to 256GB SD cards. The phone also has dual SIM slots (nano-only), a 5MP front facing camera, USB Type-C, and a 3050mAh battery with Quick Charge 2.0 support.

The specs are not bad at all and one good thing is that the Pro 5 will also get updated to Flyme 6.

MGCOOL Releases An Introduction Video of MGCOOL Band 2

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Shine Wong

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Dec 3, 2016

Today, MGCOOL releases the introduction video of MGCOOL Band 2 Wireless Activity + Sleep Wristband. MGCOOL Band 2 is one of the wristbands on the market to sync with Bluetooth 4.0 – which means more flexibility when you’re on the go and want to check your stats. By combining its high performance wireless connected devices with a comfortable and compact wristband, MGCOOL plans to offer a fashionable wristband tracker option.

MGCOOL Band 2 is more than a just fitness tracker. Still, it has the common features like other fitness trackers,tracking your activity and sleep. The new smart band tracks steps taken, distance travelled, and calories burned, bulking up your workout and motivating you to achieve your daily fitness goals. Besides, it caculates your heart rate every moment that makes you have a scentific excericise and helps make fitness part of your everyday lifestyle. It also tracks how long and how well you sleep, allowing you to learn how to sleep better.

The wristband is slim, stylish, made of environmental material, comfortable to wear all day. Its compact design and black colour make it fit for all styles. Under the IPX7 designation, the MGCOOL Band 2 will be able to withstand immersion in water up to 1 meter for up to 30 minutes. This means that a session in the shower, getting caught in the rain, or washing your hands will not cause damage. 80 mAh rechargeable Li battery enable it a longer working time.

MGCOOL uses Bluetooth 4.0 to sync your data automatically to iOS devices(7.0 and above) and Android devices (4.0 and above). Your smartphone becomes your dashboard, giving you access to MGCOOL’s rich graphs and tools like camera and music control, incoming call and text notification, Whatsapp and facebook messenge notification.

MGCOOL Band 2 ($19.99) is available on Geekbuying . As for the companion APP, you can scan the QR code on the manul or download on APP store or Google Play.

More about MGCOOL:

https://twitter.com/MgcoolOfficial

http://www.mgcool.cc/

Gree Phone Featuring Snapdragon 835 Chip Rumored As Underway

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Dec 2, 2016

Qualcomm just announced the Snapdragon 835 chip and it wasn’t surprising that the Samsung Galaxy S8 is said to be the first device to use the new system-on-chip. It also wasn’t surprising either that Xiaomi’s next flagship is rumored to be the first domestic device in China to use the chip. What is coming out as a surprise is that Gree, a relatively less known electronics manufacturer will use the SD 835 chip on its next Gree phone.

Well-known industry analyst, Pan Jiutang, made the disclosure that the company is working on a Snapdragon 835 project which is underway. The analyst made this known in a Weibo post while disclosing that the Chinese company was in the process of releasing a 5.5-inch smaller version of the Gree Phone 2 which hit the market sometime in May this year with a 6-inch display.

The Gree Phone 2 came with a Snapdragon 820 chip on board as well as 4GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage, an 8MP front camera and 16MP rear camera setup. The Gree Phone 2 was priced around 3,300 Yuan so we expect the next flagship with SD 835 to be way more. That won’t be anytime soon, though, as the Galaxy S8 which would be the first to have the SD 835 SoC won’t drop until next year.

Unknown Gionee Phone With 3GB RAM, Large Battery Hits TENAA

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Dec 2, 2016

A relatively unknown Gionee phone has appeared on TENAA where it received certification. The device is identified with the model number GN5005 and features a specs line-up that places it in a mid-range category but the design is spectacular because it resembles the Huawei P8, especially at the rear.

On the design, the device uses a symmetrical design and also has a home screen button which would likely also function as the fingerprint sensor because there is none at the rear. The device also features multi-tasking button as well as a back button on either side of the home screen button. At the rear, there is a black strip at the upper edge where the rear camera lies. The strip makes the device resemble the Huawei P8.

The TENAA data reveals the device sports a 5-inch display with 720 pixels resolution. The Gionee phone is powered by a 1.25GHz Quad-core processor, backed by 3GB of RAM and there is 16GB of internal storage on the device. On the camera end, the Gionee GN5005 device sports an 8MP rear camera as well as a 5MP front-facing camera for selfies.

In addition, the device runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS out-of-the-box and also packs a large 4,000mAh built-in battery inside. There is also full network support on the phone.

Meizu M5 Note Appears on Jingdong with 1099 Yuan ($159) Price Tag Ahead of Launch

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