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OPPO R9S Hands On: All Metal Flagship In Rose Gold Color

OPPO just released the OPPO R9S and R9S Plus smartphones in China. The new models come with a unique antenna design, wherein instead of a single antenna line, it is split into three super narrow lines at the back. This makes the overall design seamless and blends well with the majority of the metal body. In fact, because of this unique design, OPPO R9S is said to feature 98.8% metal in its body.

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The phone comes in Gold, Rose Gold and Black color options and Sina Tech managed to get hands on with the new device. In case you are wondering how the phone looks in real life, check out the pictures of the R9S Plus from down below.

You can read our launch articles on the OPPO R9S and the R9S Plus from below.

OPPO R9S Launched with IMX398 f/1.7 sensor & SD625

OPPO R9S Plus Launched With IMX398, OIS and SD653


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The Best Cheap Hi-Fi Phablet?

Let’s admit, very large smartphones are not for everyone but they have some advantages that other phones lack. I came across the 6.44” smartphone that you have probably not heard of. It costs just $130 but I was amazed by how much value it offers. Learn more in our full review.

Thanks to Banggood for sending Ramos MOS1 Max for a review.

RAMOS MOS 1 Max Review: VIDEO REVIEW

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq4iZUjbDAE[/embedyt]

RAMOS MOS 1 Max Review: UNBOXING

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I’m talking about the Ramos MOS1 Max phone that comes in quite a premium packaging. Inside the box, you can find all the usual items that you would expect to come with any phone.

RAMOS MOS 1 Max Review: DESIGN and DISPLAY

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The key aspect of this phone is its size and that is because of a huge 6.44” 1080p display, which is surprisingly great, sharp and vibrant for such a cheap phone.

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Also, the phone is made almost entirely of metal (except for the top and bottom parts for antennas). The device sits nicely in the hand but you will definitely need two hands to handle it.

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I love the fact that there are no moving parts whatsoever. The dual-micro SIM card tray stays firmly and buttons do not rattle, and they have a good tactile feedback.

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I don’t like the fact that we have only the on-screen navigation buttons. A great thing is that there is a notification LED light, which sits next to the 8MP front-facing camera.

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Usually, the loudspeakers suck on the cheap phones but I have to tell you that the Ramos Mos 1 is one of the better devices in this department.

Same can be said about the sound quality via the headset jack as the phone sports a Hi-Fi audio chip.

RAMOS MOS 1 Max Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

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For the price of $130, the phone sports some pretty good specs. The device ships with an octa-core MTK6753 chip, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, which is, however, not expandable.

The 3D gaming performance is not as good as I expected as there are quite a few skipped frames even if you play Asphalt 8 on medium graphics.

On the other hand, the 2D games work just fine and the phone does not overheat.

RAMOS MOS 1 Max Review: BENCHMARKS

RAMOS MOS 1 Max Review: USER INTERFACE

What I love about this phone is that it ships with the stock Android ROM and the device is pretty fast on the daily basis, and I didn’t have any lags or hiccups. However, we have the outdated Android 5.1 version and I’m not really sure if we are going to see an update to the Android 6.0 anytime soon.

RAMOS MOS 1 Max Review: IMAGE QUALITY

As for image quality, you should not expect any stellar results from a cheap phone like this. Still, you may get some nice-looking photos that are pretty sharp and detailed. However, the camera has some issues handling the dynamic range, there could a little bit more detail in some of the shots.

The selfie camera can take images that will definitely do the trick for social media.

The video quality is just mediocre as on most of the cheap phones. See the video review for a video sample.

RAMOS MOS 1 Max Review: CONNECTIVITY

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I didn’t have any connectivity issues and even the GPS lock speeds and accuracy were okay. The only downside would be that there is not 5GHz Wifi band support.

RAMOS MOS 1 Max Review: BATTERY LIFE

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The battery life is one of the highlights of the Ramos phone as it ships with a beefy 6100mAh unit. I could not kill the phone in one day and I would say that you will be able to get at least 2 days of moderate usage out of this phone. Also, the phone supports a quick-charge tech and I was able to fully charge it in around 1:40 mins.

RAMOS MOS 1 Max Review: CONCLUSIONS

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The MOS1 Max was the very first phone made by Ramos that I had a chance to review. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by how much value this phone offers.

It all starts with a gorgeous 6.44” display, excellent all-metal build, great sound quality, stock Android user interface and awesome battery life.

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However, the MOS1 Max is not for everyone due to its size. It is not really possible to handle the phone in one hand or even put it in the pocket but if you are watching this review, you are probably looking for a phablet.

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Other shortcomings worth considering would be the lack of the microSD card slot, the outdated Android 5.1 user interface, only the on-screen navigation buttons and subpar 3D gaming performance.

Other than that, the Ramos MOS1 Max is a great offering for the price if you are looking for a super-sized phone, despite a few shortcomings.

OPPO R9S Plus Official: Snapdragon 653 & Sony IMX398 f/1.7 Sensor with OIS

Along with the OPPO R9S smartphone, the company also announced the OPPO R9S Plus at the conference in China this evening. As the name suggests, this particular model will be the update to the larger phablet-sized OPPO R9 Plus that was released earlier this year. The new model comes with some great upgrades but retains the essence of the device, a powerful enough processor, great camera and a large size ideal to fulfill entertainment needs.

oppo r9s plus 01

The company has made sure that the OPPO R9S Plus is updated in the right areas. First of all, in the processor department, the phone comes with the brand new Snapdragon 653 chipset. This new chip is 10% better in terms of performance as compared to the previous generation SD652 chipset and is clocked at 1.95GHz. Even in the memory department, the company has upgraded the RAM on board to 6GB, bringing the phone at level with other flagship devices. For ROM, you get 64GB. Like the R9S, you have a MicroSD slot expandable up to 128GB.

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The camera in the R9S Plus is similar to the R9S, featuring the custom Sony IMX398 16MP sensor with f/1.7 aperture. However, instead of the EIS in the R9S, this model features OIS. Other features include 4K shooting, slo-mo videos etc. Up front, you get a 16MP shooter with f/2.0 aperture.

RELATED: OPPO R9s vs OPPO R9

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The phone comes with a large 4000mAh battery with VOOC fast charging tech. As for software, it runs on Color OS 3.0 based on Android 6.0.1. Other features include a dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, VoLTE, fingerprint ID etc.

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The OPPO R9S Plus is priced at 3499 Yuan ($520) and will go on sale sometime in December. Expect more release details in the coming weeks.

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OPPO R9S Official: Split Antenna Design, Sony IMX398 f/1.7 Camera & Snapdragon 625

OPPO has been teasing its new flagship smartphone, the OPPO R9S for the past few days. And now, the company has officially taken the wraps off not one, but two new devices, namely the OPPO R9S and the OPPO R9S Plus. Both the devices are capable upgrades to the popular R9 series which has managed to sell very well in China as well as internationally under the name OPPO F1 Plus.

OPPO R9S Featured

The basic design of the OPPO R9S remains the same as its predecessor, but it features a new split antenna design. The company had already confirmed this in one of its teasers, but now, it has revealed more details about the design. So, there are three super narrow antenna lines at the back (0.3mm wide), instead of one thick line. This makes it less visible, thereby giving the overall design a seamless look. The company says that this has also helped it to increase the proportion of metal in the phone to 98.8%.  The new design is also said to improve the Wi-Fi signal, and now, the coverage is said to be better.

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Coming to the specs, the OPPO R9S comes with the same 5.5-inch 1080p display, however, this time, you have the latest Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. This should provide better resistance against drops, as much as 80% intact rate at 1.6m drop, much better than previous generations. Inside, the R9S is running the Snapdragon 625 chipset, a much better upgrade as compared to the Helio P10 chipset in the previous generation. This new chip should also ensure better GPU performance than the R9 model. As for memory, there will be 4GB RAM and 64GB of ROM.

The camera has been one of the best-selling features of the OPPO R9 and the company has made sure that it remains the same with its update. The OPPO R9S comes with the 16MP Sony IMX398 sensor, which is said to be jointly developed by OPPO and Sony. The sensor is reportedly fast and “comparable to SLR camera speeds” and comes with tailored features. The company also revealed that the pixel area is upgraded and the amount of light reaching the sensor has increased up to 2 times. Further with the help of dual-core focus, the camera can focus 40% faster than PDAF.

RELATED: Meizu Accuses Xiaomi, OPPO & Smartisan of mBack Patent Infringement

Even the aperture size is large, and f/1.7 aperture will ensure great low light images. Further with the help of multi-frame noise reduction technology and large aperture, low light images should be clear, with limited noise. So camera lovers should be happy with the performance of the new R9S. Up front, you get a 16MP sensor as well.

As for the software, the OPPO R9S runs on the company’s ColorOS 3.0 version. Inside, there is a decent 3010mAh battery but with VOOC fast charging, the battery shouldn’t be an issue on the device.

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The OPPO R9S will go on sale on October 28 for 2799 Yuan ($416). There are three color options available, gold, rose gold and black.

The OPPO R9S Plus launch article is also up, check it out from here!

Xiaomi Mi Note 2 Features a Global Edition with 37 Frequency Bands

Its been over a year since Xiaomi fans have been waiting for the Mi Note 2 and as the day roll by towards the October 25 launch, the waiting is looking by the day to be worth the while. It has been revealed that the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 would feature a “Global Edition” with up to 37 network frequency bands including those of carriers overseas. This is a huge boost for the company, meaning the device could be used anywhere in the world.

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Full network support is a common feature of most smartphones yet some foreign carrier bands don’t get supported on a number of smartphones but that is not going to happen on the Mi Note 2, if the latest words from Xiaomi phone product marketing director is to be taken seriously.

Xiaomi Mi note 2 frequency bands

According to his words, the Mi Note 2 would support 6-mode 37 frequency including CDMA1x, EVDO, and a mold count. Presently, the Xiaomi Mi 5 was reported to have come with 4G compatibility issues with some carriers in the US but with the Mi Note 2 owners who happen to travel to the US wouldn’t have to worry about compatibility issues on US carriers’ 4G network.

Read More: Multiple Xiaomi Mi Note 2 Renders Appear Along With Probable Pricing

When compared to some Chinese top brands that ships abroad like the Huawei P9, this list of supported frequency bands is huge. Huawei P9 supports 32 frequency bands while the Mate 8 is likely 33 bands.

Full Details of Huawei Kirin 960 System-on-Chip

The past few days have seen chip manufacturers announce new processors. Starting with Mediatek announcing the Helio P15, to Qualcomm launching the Snapdragon 653, 626, and 427 chipsets, and Huawei announcing the Kirin 960 earlier today. Our focus is however on the Huawei Kirin 960. Huawei has released a detailed specification list of the new processor.

Huawei Kirin 960

The Huawei Kirin 960 SoC is an octa-core processor made up of four A73 chips clocked at 2.4GHz and four A53 low-power chips clocked at 1.8GHz for its CPU. Its GPU is a Mali G-71 MP8 which offers about 180 percent increase in performance over the Kirin 950 and a 20% reduction in power consumption. It also supports Vulkan 1.0.  The new chip is built on 16nm FinFET Plus process and supports UFS 2.1 storage and LPDDR4 RAM.

READ MORE: Xiaomi Launches Mi Power 2 for 79 Yuan ($12)

Real Image of LeEco’s AI Phone Leaked

Today is a big day for LeEco. The company announced a couple of weeks ago that they will be officially launching in the US today, October 19, and in about 6 hours, the live-stream event will kick off. Apart from this, the company also plans to release its first Artificial Intelligence phone by the end of October. A picture of the AI Phone with CEO, Jia Yueting has surfaced online and it doesn’t look bad at all.

AI Phone

The phone sports which sports dual rear cameras was first thought to be the Le Pro 3 when the image of a dual camera phone from LeEco was leaked online three months ago. Following the Le Pro 3’s launch and its lack of dual rear cameras, we knew the phone was different entirely,and not until last week did we learn that it is the company’s AI phone.

READ MORE: More Colour Options Coming to UHANS A101s

Smartisan M1 and Smartisan M1L Smartphones With SD 821 Chip Released

Smartisan is a Chinese phone manufacturer best known for their Smartisan OS before their phones. There were rumours recently that the company was going to be acquired by Xiaomi, but the company quickly discarded them. Yesterday the company confirmed they were still in the business of manufacturing smartphones by releasing two Snapdragon 821 devices, the Smartisan M1 and Smartisan M1L.

From the name, some of you might have guessed correctly that they have different screen sizes but that is not only where the difference lies. Below is a full list of specifications for both devices.

Smartisan M1

Smartisan M1

  • 5.15” 1080p JDI Display (95% NTSC Colour Gamut)
  • Corning Gorilla Glass 4
  • 2.35GHz Snapdragon 821 Processor
  • 4GB LPDDR4 RAM
  • 32GB ROM UFS 2.0
  • 23 Megapixel Sony IMX318 Rear Camera with 4K and SloMo Recording, PDAF, OIS, and Laser AF
  • 4MP OmniVison Front Facing Camera
  • Dual Nano Sim Cards
  • 2xCA Support Carrier Aggregation
  • 4G+, 4G, 3G (WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, EVDO) 2G (CDMA and GSM) networks supported
  • Bands Supported  B1/ B2/ B3/ B4/ B7/ B9/ B12/ B17/ B18/ B19/ B20/ B26/ B28/ B38/ B39/ B40/ B41
  • Front Facing Fingerprint Scanner with support for AliPay and
  • Dual WiFi Bands, Bluetooth 4.1
  • NFC
  • 3050mAh ATL Battery
  • Quick Charge 3.0 (24W)
  • 149.36 x 71.75 x 8.22 mm
  • 146g

Smartisan M1L

Smartisan M1L

  • 5.7” Sharp 2K Display (95% NTSC Colour Gamut)
  • Corning Gorilla Glass 4
  • 2.35GHz Snapdragon 821 Processor
  • 4GB/6GB LPDDR4 RAM
  • 32GB/64GB ROM UFS 2.0
  • 23 Megapixel Sony IMX318 Rear Camera with 4K and SloMo Recording, PDAF, OIS, and Laser AF
  • 4MP OmniVison Front Facing Camera
  • Dual Nano Sim Cards
  • 2xCA Support Carrier Aggregation
  • 4G+, 4G, 3G (WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, EVDO) 2G (CDMA and GSM) networks supported
  • Bands Supported  B1/ B2/ B3/ B4/ B7/ B9/ B12/ B17/ B18/ B19/ B20/ B26/ B28/ B38/ B39/ B40/ B41
  • Front Facing Fingerprint Scanner with Support for AliPay and
  • Dual WiFi Bands, Bluetooth 4.1
  • NFC
  • 4080mAh ATL Battery
  • Quick Charge 3.0 (24W)
  • 159.66 x 78.96 x 8.32 mm
  • 175g

READ MORE: Honor Launches Honor S1 Smartwatch for 699 Yuan ($104)

Meizu Accuses Xiaomi, OPPO & Smartisan of mBack Patent Infringement

While it is being sued by Qualcomm for patent infringement, Meizu seems to be trying to get its own pound of flesh unfortunately not from Qualcomm. The Chinese company has accused fellow Chinese rivals OPPO, Xiaomi and Smartisan of infringing on its mBack patent.

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If you don’t know, Meizu mBack was coined from the word “I’m Back” and refers to the specialized home button that eliminated the for a separate back button on the phone, all integrated into the home button. The Meizu mBack offers four operations which users can implement for faster and more comfortable use of their Meizu smartphone. The mBack button functions as a fingerprint scanner to unlock the phone, also unlocks apps and takes you back to previous page when tapped. In addition, it takes you to the home page from any page on the pone and when pressed for long, it locks the phone.

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Meizu patented this design sometime back in China and has since being using it on successive Meizu smartphones. However, the company is accusing fellow Chinese phonemaker Smartisan of using its patented design without consent. Smartisan just released its Smartisan M1 and M1L smartphones in China and just like the iPhone 7, the phone has a round home button but in function the home key is similar to Meizu mBack.

Read More: Meizu Also Developing a Foldable Display, Patent Filing Reveals

Meizu VP has come all out via a couple of Weibo posts to claim this is an infringement of its mBack patent and even went as far as accusing Xiaomi, OPPO and a few others of infringing on its patent. Perhaps we’ll be seeing a couple of law suits very soon and would keep an eye on this. The companies mentioned are yet to respond.

Mate 9 Secretly Appears at Kirin 960 Announcement

Huawei officially launched the Nova in China last week and their Honor sub-brand released the Honor 6X yesterday but the upcoming Mate 9 is the device people are looking forward to.

The Mate 9 has been rumoured for months to launch with a Kirin 960 processor, so when the company took the wraps of the new chip a few hours ago, they provided a phone with the new processor for guests to see but covered it up in brown packaging paper leaving just the screen and rear cameras exposed. That phone is said to be the Huawei Mate 9 since that’s the only device rumoured to feature the new processor.

Mate 9 Mate 9

Those who had a closer look at the phone confirmed that the Mate 9 does have a 6-inch screen and dual rear cameras.

Foreign media outlets who have received invites for the launch holding on the 3rd of November in Germany have revealed that the Mate 9, codenamed Manhattan will feature a Kirin 960 chip, 4GB of RAM, an 8 megapixel front facing camera, an iris scanner, and a 12MP+20MP rear camera duo provided by Leica and will have optical image stabilisation.

READ MORE: Real Image of 360 N4S Sporting Snapdragon 625 Leaked

Multiple Xiaomi Mi Note 2 Renders Appear Along With Probable Pricing

Since the past few weeks, the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 has been making the headlines, with multiple rumors and renders of the device cropping up on the internet frequently. Once again, new renders of the Mi Note 2 have been leaked, this time revealing dual cameras and curved display.

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This render could be the real deal since Xiaomi has already confirmed that the upcoming flagship will feature a curved display. And dual cameras are a must for a top-end phone like the Note 2. We also know that there will be a 6GB + 128GB version for the device.

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Along with these renders, we also got a possible pricing for the Mi Note 2. The company recently launched a poll on Weibo asking users what price would they be ready to pay for the upcoming device. Surprisingly, the pricing started at 4999 Yuan ($741) with other two options being 5999 Yuan ($889) and 6999 Yuan ($1038).

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Is it possible that the Mi Note 2 pricing starts at $750? Despite its high-end status, it’s unlikely as Xiaomi has built a reputation as a value for money smartphone maker. So, it can’t just go ahead and release a $800 smartphone expecting fans to be okay with the price. So, the actual price could be lower, somewhere around $500-$600.

READ MORE: Xiaomi Redmi Pro Gets A Huge Price Cut, Now Starts At 1099 Yuan ($163)

We also saw some new renders of the Mi Note 2, this time with a single camera module. We are not so sure about these renders, but you can take a look at them below.

RELATED:

Xiaomi Mi Note 2 Higher Version Likely to Start at 5699 Yuan

Microsoft Exec Reveals New Nokia Phones Coming in Q2 2017

Just about a week after Nokia officially tweeted that the company’s CEO would deliver a kynote address at MWC 2017 bill for the first quarter of 2017, a senior Microsoft Executive has come out to disclose that the much anticipated two Nokia phones would be released in second quarter (Q2) 2017.

Nokia Android phones

According to the report which emanated from Vietnam, James Rutherfoord, CEO of Mobile device commodities in Microsoft Asia-Pacific was quoted as saying HMD Global Oy is working on launching two new Nokia phones, perhaps feature phones, by Q4 2016 which means any moment from now, and then two smartphones should be expected in the early part of Q2 2017.

News about the return of Nokia branded phones have been coming in and out for the past couple of months right after two Android Nokia phones leaked. A Nokia feature phone was later on spotted on TENAA and of late the Nokia D1C made the rounds on benchmarks, sporting Android Nougat. A Nokia tablet is also said to be in the works, even though we are not too sure about that.

Read More: Android-based Nokia Phones with 2k Display, SD 820 SoC Leaked

It remains to be seen how the Nokia brand will be re-jigged to get back into the groove. The specs posted on benchmarks have been anything but spectacular and uniqueness is a key factor in the highly competitive smartphone market. We’ll wait to see what exactly Nokia has in store because an official teaser is yet to come from the company.

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Huawei Kirin 960 Processor Unveiled, Gets CPU & GPU Upgrade

Huawei has officially unvelied its latest super processor – Kirin 960 which brings with itself some strategic upgrades both in CPU and GPU. The Huawei Kirin 960 SoC comes with a modest upgrade in its CPU from Kirin 950 but on the GPU end, the new chipset sees a huge upgrade.

kirin 960

According to a source at the unveiling, Huawei Kirin 960 comes equipped with the recently unveiled high-performance ARM Cortex-A73 CPU core. The processor still uses the lower ARM Cortex-A53 core and in all the octa-core Kirin 960 SoC is composed of four Cortex-A73 cores and four Cortex-A53 cores.

kirin 960

More damning claim from the conference is the one concerning the Kirin 960 Versus Snapdragon 821 processor.  When subjected to Geekbench 4.0 test, the Kirin 960 is said to have scored 2000 points on the single-threaded scores and up to 6300 points on the multi-threaded score.

huawei Kirin 960

In addition to the CPU upgrade, the Huawei Kirin 960 chipset gets a big boost in its graphics unit, featuring the Mali-G71 MP8 GPU which were subjected to test on GFXBench Manhattan and T-Rex. The Kirin 960’s GPU performance comes out higher than that of Snapdragon 820 SoC and even twice as much power as Kirin 950. Apple A10 chip is still ahead, though.

kirin 960

According to Huawei, the Mali-G71 GPU is based on a truly new architecture which comes with a new level of high-end mobile graphics technology with superior energy efficiency. In addition, the Kirin 960 also supports the latest UFS 2.1 flash memory, LPDDR4 memory and on the network end, it supports LTE Cat.12 and LTE Cat. 13. A new baseband that supports CDMA is also at play.

Read More: Honor 6X With Dual Cameras & Kirin 655 Official, Starts At Just $149

kirin 960

The Huawei Mate 9 would get the opportunity of being the first device to feature the Kirin 960 and until that happens we’ll only hold our peace concerning these stunning claims.

Huawei Honor S1 Smartwatch Launched Priced at 699 Yuan ($104)

In addition to launching the Honor 6X, Huawei also unveiled its new smartwatch dubbed Honor S1. The Huawei Honor S1 smartwatch brings with it a Nordic style modest design, molded with metal material and weighing only 35g. The device also comes in three cool and attractive colors of Navy blue, gray, and orange. The device also features a removable strap which can easily be replaced by users and easy dial-type design.

Huawei Honor S1

The Huawei Honor S1 smartwatch isn’t just a time checking machine but also a smart gadget that monitors the heart rate, calories, distance covered, pace and other vital data beneficial to health and wellness. The smartwatch comes in as a versatile  piece of machinery because it comes in handy in a variety of sports including swimming, running, walking, cycling, treadmill etc.It shouldn’t surprise you that the smartwatch functions under water during swimming and other water sports. This is possible because the smartwatch comes with IP 68 waterproof and dustproof protection and can stay up to 50 meters under water.

Huawei Honor S1

The Huawei Honor S1 smartwatch can also be used for payment sevices like Ali pay whereby in a situation where a user forgets his or her wallet or smartphone, they can easily pay by scanning. There is also a security feature which ensure the payments made via the device are secure.

Huawei Honor S1

Read More: Xiaomi Redmi Pro Gets Huge Price Cut, Now Available for 1,099 Yuan($163)

The Huawei Honor S1 carries a price tag of just 699 Yuan ($104)and would go on sale for the first time on October 25 at 10am. The sales can be access exclusively via Vmall, Jingdong and Lynx in China.

Huawei Honor S1 smartwatch

Xiaomi Launches 299 Yuan ($45) Mechanical Keyboard: 87 Keys, Aluminium Body, TTS Red Switches

Xiaomi took to its crowdfunding platform to announce the mechanical keyboard teased last week. The Xiaomi Mechanical Keyboard (official name still unknown) has a bunch of cool features and doesn’t break the bank.

The keyboard has 87 keys and keeps the dimensions at 358mm x 128mm x 31.6mm and weighs 940g. The keyboard has a 6-layer design and the body is made of an H32 aluminium alloy steel with an excellent finish and offers more wear resistance.

yuemi-mechanical-keyboard-8

The keyboard is designed to be ergonomic, sporting a stand that props it up to an angle of 6° preventing your hands from aching wen using it for long hours. Its key caps are made of translucent poly-carbonate + ABS resin white color design. The characters printed on the keys are wear resistant and the caps can be replaced, allowing owners customise it to their preference.

The TTC Red Switches can withstand up to 50 million hits and is suitable for gaming. There is also a 32-bit ARM architecture STMicroelectronic master chip on board with a 1000MHz refresh rate, 1ms response time and support for up to 11 key presses without contradictions.

READ MORE: Mediatek Announces Helio P15 System-on-Chip

The keyboard is fitted with 3528 LED lights with a 6-level brightness. You can choose the lights t0 be all-white or configure it to display an orange-white hue. It comes with basic keys like the windows button key, caps lock key, scroll lock key, and function keys. If you are interested, you should head over to the fundraising page here but note that shipping is expected to start until November 29.

mechanical keyboard

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Xiaomi Redmi Pro Gets Huge Price Cut, Now Available for 1,099 Yuan($163)

In a surprising twist to its current set up, Xiaomi has announced a new price for the Redmi Pro which was released a couple of months back as the company’s first dual cameras sporting device. The Xiaomi Redmi Pro price started at 1,499 Yuan ($225), coming in as Xiaomi’s costliest Redmi handset till date. Now the device will be available for 1,099 Yuan ($163) for the lower version with Helio X20, 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM, that’s a huge 400 Yuan off!

xiaomi redmi pro price

Not only that, the higher storage version with Helio X20 SoC, 3GB RAM + 64GB ROM has also been slashed downwards to 1299 Yuan ($193) from its previous 1699 Yuan price tag. In addition, the top-end Redmi Pro version with Helio X25 chips, 4GB RAM + 128GB of built-in storage which hitherto retails for 1999 Yuan ($300) now starts at 1599 Yuan ($237).

redmi pro official

This is coming a bit as a surprise as no reason was given for the price cut across board but it may be connected to the launch of the Huawei Honor 6X which also features a dual camera set up and is moderately priced. Sales of the Xiaomi Redmi Pro would commence on October 19 at 10 am via Mi mall, and Mi Home.

Related: Xiaomi Redmi Pro vs Competition: Why Buying the costliest Redmi handset may not be a bad Idea

As a reminder, the Xiaomi Redmi Pro was released with an all new CNC brushed metal body design, equipped with the MediaTek Helio X25 on the topmost version with 4GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage. There are two other versions, both with Helio X20 chips, 3GB of RAM and then 32GB ROM as well as 64GB ROM respectively. The device also sports a 13MP main camera and 5MP depth of field sensor at the rear, with a large 4500mAh battery keeping the lights on.

Real Image of 360 N4S Sporting Snapdragon 625 Leaked: Possible October Release Date

We reported 360 Mobiles was working on releasing two versions of the 360 N4S: one with a Snapdragon 625 chip and the other with a Helio X20 processor. Popular leaker @KJuma has posted a real life image of the Qualcomm version of the phone confirming most of the details leaked before.

360 N4S

The image of the 360 N4S apart from confirming the snapdragon 625 SoC, also shows the phone has 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. A leaked pack of the phone listed it has having 64GB of storage, we want to assume there will be two storage options.

The phone runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and has a Full HD display said to be 5.5-inches. If you look closely, you can even see the 2.5D curve of the display, but that black line around the screen isn’t going to go down well with folks especially on this white version. The phone also appears to be sporting a front flash allowing for better selfies in the dark.

360 N4S

360-n4s-sd-625-2READ MORE: Xiaomi Meri Rumoured to Feature In-house Processor

Other details not confirmed yet include the 5000mAh battery which is rumoured to feature fast charge that lets it charge from zero to hundred percent in 2 hours; the 16MP rear camera; and the 8MP front-facing shooter.

The 360 N4S is expected to be released later in October for about 1199 Yuan ($178). At that price it will have to contend with the likes of the Cool1 Dual and the Redmi Note 4.

Honor 6X With Dual Cameras & Kirin 655 Official, Starts At Just $149

Huawei released the brand new Honor 6X mid-range smartphone at an official event a few hours ago. We have been hearing about the phone for the past few weeks and a recent TENAA listing confirmed its specs as well. But now, everything is officially out, revealing the full details about the product.

Honor 6x 01

The Honor 6X comes with an all metallic built, with 2.5D glass on the front. The corners of the phone are smooth and for its cheap pricing, the phone looks premium. It’s compact with the following dimensions: 150.9 x 72.6 x 8.2mm and weighs 162 grams. The company is offering five different colors for the phone namely gold, rose gold, silver, gray, and navy.

RELATED:  Huawei Sold 1.5 Million Honor 8 Phones Since Launch

As for the specs, the Honor 6X is powered by the Kirin 655 octa-core chipset clocked at 2.1GHz with Mali-T830 MP2 GPU. This is definitely very good enough for a budget smartphone. The display is of 5.5-inches with 1080p resolution. There are 3GB / 4GB RAM and 32GB / 64GB ROM options available. At the back, the phone features a dual camera setup consisting of one 12MP primary sensor and another 2MP secondary sensor. Up front, there is an 8MP camera. Inside, the phone features a decent 3340mAh battery. As for the software, the device runs on Android 6 Marshmallow with Emotion UI 4.1 on top. Other features include fingerprint sensor at the back, dual SIM dual standby, 4G LTE, WI-Fi n and GPS.

The 3GB + 32GB version starts at just 999 Yuan ($149), 4GB + 32GB at 1299 Yuan ($193) and 4GB + 64GB at 1599 Yuan ($238). The phone will go on sale on October 25 in China. No details about international release available yet.

 

Xiaomi Launches 60-inch Mi TV 3S for 4499 Yuan ($668)

Apart from phones, Xiaomi also makes a lot of household gadgets which includes TVs. Less than a month ago, they announced a 65-inch 4K TV priced at 5999 Yuan ($890). Today the company has launched a 60-inch version of the Mi TV 3S which apart from being smaller also costs less (You get to save $200).

60-Inch Mi TV 3S

Xiaomi used the same design found on the 65-inch version on this model, so you get the same ultra-thin body, diamond pattern aluminium frame, and brushed-metal back. The 4K IPS display made by LG, supports HDR and has a wide colour gamut allowing it to display videos and images in rich saturated colours. The 60-inch Mi TV 3S also has Dolby Audio and DTS Surround Sound.

60-Inch Mi TV 3S

60-Inch Mi TV 3S

The 60-inch Mi TV 3S is equipped with a 1.8GHz Cortex-A53 Alogic T968 quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, dual-band WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0. There are 3 HDMI ports, 1 USB 3.0 port, 1 USB 2.0 port and the regular AV ports for connectivity.

READ MORE: Meizu Also Developing a Foldable Display, Patent Filing Reveals

For $668, that is not a bad price unless you want the model with the built-in home theatre which sells for way more, but the standard 65” version doesn’t offer much difference.

60-Inch Mi TV 3S 60-inch-mi-tv-3s-5,

 60-inch-mi-tv-3s-8 60-inch-mi-tv-3s-7 60-inch-mi-tv-3s-6

Xiaomi Mi Note 2 Higher Version Likely to Start at 5699 Yuan

Ahead of the October 25 launch of the Xiaomi Mi Note 2, what is likely the price tag of one of the versions of the device has leaked online. The leak which originated from Weibo gave the idea of the high-end version of the Mi Note 2 carrying a price tag in the region of 5699 Yuan, such a huge one.

xiaomi mi note 2 price

Although the source cannot be verified as being authentic but if it turns out to be true, the Mi Note 2 would be on a league of its own. The 5699 Yuan price would make the device the highest priced Xiaomi phone till date. Xiaomi has a reputation for turning out well studded devices that carry very cheap price tags. But then the Mi Note 2 is rumored to feature a spectacular specs line-up one of which Xiaomi has confirmed would be a curved display. Now that’s not just going to be a curved display, as the device is said to use a flexible curved display supplied by LG. Apart from that, there are likely other cutting edge technologies which Xiaomi would likely unveil with the Mi Note 2. The Xiaomi Mi Note 2 is coming out with a spectacular design that it has been tipped as Chinese version of the ill-fated Samsung Galaxy Note 7, not in its fate but in the design. Who knows, some disappointed previous Galaxy Note 7 owners might as well find succor in the Mi Note 2.

xiaomi mi note 2

There may likely be two versions of the device and earlier rumors pegged a 4000 Yuan price tag on the device but that rumor wasn’t specific on the version that would have that price. But if the high-end version of the Mi Note 2 carries a 5699 Yuan price tag as rumored, the other versions would be priced less.

Read More: Xiaomi Confirms Mi Note 2 Announcement On October 25, Curved Display in Tow

Interestingly, Xiaomi instituted a poll to get fan’s opinions about the likely price tag of the device with three options on the table namely 4,999 Yuan, 5,999 Yuan and 6,999 Yuan. As would be expected, majority of the respondents chose the lowest price tag of 4,999 Yuan. In the long run, the online poll may not count but it has afforded the company an idea of what fans want.