Umi Max Review – Did Umi Get it Right This Time?

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Sep 26, 2016

Xiaomi is all set to announce the brand new Xiaomi Mi 5S flagship at an event tomorrow. While there could be a number of other products announced, including the recently leaked Xiaomi ‘Mi Brain’, the highlight of the event should be the Xiaomi Mi 5S and the Mi 5S Plus.

We all know Xiaomi is a company focused on providing top value for the price you pay. That’s why we have seen so many smartphone launches, especially in the low-end and mid-range segment featuring pretty good hardware at half the cost of what competitors like Samsung price their devices. However, as Xiaomi has been busy in the pricing war with competitors like Meizu and LeEco, innovation is one area where the company seems to be a bit behind giants like Huawei and Samsung.

But that’s going to change with the Xiaomi Mi 5S and if rumors are to be believed, pricing will still be the selling point of the device. Hence, the Xiaomi Mi 5S which will be launched tomorrow is definitely a phone that we all should be excited about.

So, here are the top reasons why you should be excited for Xiaomi Mi 5S’ launch tomorrow!

1. Under Glass Fingerprint Sensor

Yes, the Xiaomi Mi 5S is said to come with a revolutionary fingerprint technology, most likely Qualcomm’s Ultrasonic sensor. This is revolutionary in the sense that the fingerprint sensor works even when under materials like glass. Plus, it’s reportedly unaffected by contaminants like sweat and other factors which usually hampers the working of a traditional capacitive fingerprint sensor. You can read more about Qualcomm’s Ultrasonic Sense ID from here.

2. Dual Camera Setup

Xiaomi Mi 5S is confirmed to feature a dual camera setup at the back. While we are not yet sure whether it would be a similar 13MP Dual camera setup as the Xiaomi Redmi Pro, what we do know is that the camera is going to be awesome. Xiaomi’s CEO himself revealed a few set of Mi 5S camera samples taken all around the world and the bokeh effect as well as the color reproduction in the images taken from the sensor look pretty good.

Since the Mi 5S is the company’s top-end flagship, the sensor at the back should be much better than the Redmi Pro (review here).

3. Dual Curved Screen Display

Yes, I know that we haven’t seen much rumors or leaks about a curved display Mi 5S variant lately, but we have been hearing about the Xiaomi working on curved display phones in the past. Recently, an analyst revealed that the Mi 5S may not feature curved display since Samsung is not supplying the company with its curved OLED panels. However, another analyst commented that LG is also a known supplier of curved displays, so we can’t entirely rule it out. Only tomorrow will we know for sure.

4. 3D Touch Pressure sensitive Display

xiaomi 3D Touch — 3D Touch hidden feature on MIUI

Apart from being the first phone to feature under glass sensor, the Mi 5S could be the company’s first pressure sensitive display enabled smartphone. According to the latest leak, the flagship could come with 3D Touch like features on the device, further enhancing its functions. However, I personally think Xiaomi could restrict the pressure sensitive panel on the top-end versions, like Huawei did with its Mate S.

5. Premium Ceramic Body

Now, I know that Mi 5 Pro also came with a Ceramic body, but since the company has confirmed this material on the new Mi 5S as well, it’s safe to assume that Xiaomi solved the mass production issues associated with this material. Company’s 3D Ceramic body does have its set of advantages including being super scratch resistant. Plus, it looks premium as well.

6. Snapdragon 821 & 6GB RAM

The Xiaomi Mi 5S will be the company’s first Snapdragon 821 powered smartphone, which will also make it the most powerful Xiaomi phone till date. Further, one of the top versions should feature 6GB of RAM, further enhancing its power. With these specs on board, you won’t have to worry about running heavy apps or games on the device as it should handle everything thrown at it with ease.

7. Cheap Xiaomi Mi 5S Price

Yes, this seems to be a common highlight of all Xiaomi products. The Mi 5S is rumored to start at an amazing 1999 Yuan! If true, this would be an amazing price tag for the phone! However, to be honest, a pricing of 2499 Yuan – 2999 Yuan ($375-$450) sounds realistic. But then, Chinese manufacturers have surprised us in the past and we could see one such surprise tomorrow as well.

Do remember that there should be two phones announced tomorrow, the Mi 5S and the Mi 5S Plus! We will be covering the Mi 5S launch tomorrow, so stay tuned to gizmochina for all updates about Xiaomi’s conference.

Mi 5S Reservations Hit over 1.82 million Ahead of Tomorrow’s Launch

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Sep 26, 2016

Xiaomi Mi 5S is reported to have recorded over 1.8 million reservations even though the smartphone has not even been launched. Xiaomi decided to open up registration for the device by intending buys on its official Mi website and very surprisingly, 1,823,305 persons have registered their interest to own the flagship and more are still registering.

The Chinese smartphone maker had for the first time, revealed in advance when the sales of the smartphone will commence and the channel through which it can be purchased. The Mi 5S, we are told by Xiaomi, would sell on popular e-mall Jingdong (JD.com) from September 29, just two days after it is launched officially and again reservations are being accepted even before launch.

We have seen a lot of leaks about the Mi 5S and if anything, the device is positioned to be a popular and well studded flagship device that is likely not going to disappoint in any angle whatsoever. It is billed to be the world’s first smartphone to feature the Under Glass ultrasonic fingerprint scanner engineered by Qualcomm. Along with that, the Mi 5S is expected with the news chip in town, Snapdragon 821 and a massive 6GB RAM. There is also going to be a generous 64GB of internal storage on the 5.15-inch device.

Rumors also have it that the Xiaomi Mi 5S would carry an ultra cheap price tag of 1999 Yuan ($300) when it is launched. Despite how ridiculous and incredulous that sounds, it is not impossible considering Xiaomi’s antecedence as par phone’s pricing. Besides, we have seen LeEco do it with the SD 821-powered Le Pro 3 released last week, so anything is possible. the Mi 5S will launch along side the Mi 5S Plus which is expected with similar specs line up except for its dual cameras at the rear, a larger 5.7-inch display witrh 2K resolution and a monstrous 256GB storage it is said to have.

6-inches Samsung C9 Shows Up on Antutu: 6GB RAM & 64GB ROM

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Sep 26, 2016

UPDATE: The Galaxy C9 was spotted on Geekbench as well. Check out the listing from down below.

TSMC Unveils Roadmap: 10nm Process Begins Year End, 7nm Trials and Orders Starts Next Year

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Sep 26, 2016

TSMC should not sound strange to people anymore. The world’s largest independent semiconductor foundry probably made the chip inside the phone you are holding right now. If you own an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus, there’s a chance the version of the new A10 Fusion chip in it was made by TSMC.

The company, at an event has unveiled its roadmap for the coming years.

10nm Process Starting by Year End

Senior Officials have said that the company will be switching to 10nm process by year end. The new FinFET process will allow for a 50% reduction in the size of a chip and increase performance by 50% (or 40% reduction in power consumption). This news correlates with yesterday’s report on Mediatek’s new Helio X30 which says mass production should begin early next year.

Trial Production of 7nm Process in 2017. Orders Starts In April

The 10nm process has been reported to be a short term node according to GlobalFoundries who announced their new 7nm process recently. TSMC’s 7nm process will allow it to offer chips with greatly increased power efficiency. The performance increase will be around 15% and power consumption will see a decrease of 35%.

360 N4A: Real Gold Phone, Launches October 13

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Sep 26, 2016

360 Mobiles formerly known as Qiku have released some pretty interesting devices this year. About a month ago they released the dual-camera toting 360 Q5 and Q5 Plus and before then the 360 N4S which has a large 5000mAh battery. The company is not done for the year as they have released an official poster for a device called the 360 N4A which will launch next month.

The poster doesn’t reveal much except for the large text which loosely translates to ”True Gold”. Does it mean the phone will be made out of real gold? Probably, since the poster also has specks of gold falling on a phone.

There is no mention of any other detail for the upcoming phone. However, since the N4S mentioned above is a slightly upgraded version of the original N4 sporting a larger battery, better cameras, and a metal body but the same processor, RAM and ROM, we presume the 360 N4A won’t be any different. It might probably just be a luxury edition of the N4.

The Mi Brain is one of the Latest Products Expected from Xiaomi tomorrow

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Sep 25, 2016

We had earlier been tipped that Xiaomi will launch a new S model of the Mi TV 3S along side the Mi 5S and 5S Plus. We would have tagged it “a day of the S” but a new leak have emerged on Weibo that also coming out tomorrow, is a new product called Mi Brain.

Little is known about the product which has been dubbed Mi Brain but from what we can gather, it is likely a new module that works like the power house (CPU) for the smart TV. However, we are not sure as to the exact functionality the Mi Brain brings to the table. We would know more about that when the device is unveiled tomorrow.

However, one important thing we must mention is that the Mi TV 3 released last year uses a slit design and is comprised of two separate parts, the display, and main board. Both parts were said to be capable of being upgraded independently. Back then it was heralded that the smart TV will never become outdated because of its updatability. So, the new product could be a more powerful upgrade of the Mi TV 3S main board, after all, the leak called it Mi Brain. Tomorrow can still be called a day of the S, then!

Mi 5S Appears in More Leaked Renders: Sales Start Sept 29

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Sep 25, 2016

This past week end was a busy one, especially for the Xiaomi Mi 5S and leaks. We saw quite a number of them and it’s not surprising, considering that the device would be launched on September 27 which is just a day away. It is difficult to pinpoint one particular leak as the most spectacular because we were awed by each of them.

One of the leaks involved a few renders of the Mi 5s with its round virtual fingerprint scanner button. The leaked render seem to have been shot inside Xiaomi’s manufacturing plant, if the white gloves worn by the person holding it is anything to go by. The beautiful white image gives us a very clear front view of the Mi 5S and the most prominent feature revealed should be the under glass ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. Another render is that of a black colored version of what is said to be the Xiaomi Mi 5S showing similar design. A screenshot of the device’s on screen settings seems to clearly confirm this is indeed the Mi 5S.

Questions have been asked in the past as to how we’d be able to know what part of the display screen exactly the scanner would be if there is nothing to show. The circular home button which is a virtual button would be the location of the ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. Let’s just point out that this looks like that on the iPhone 7 but the technology at work triumphs that of the Apple brand. It is touted to work even with dirty, greasy or wet hands.

Another very interesting leak we were gifted by popular tipster @kjuma is a render of the ceramic black variant of the Mi 5S Plus which seem to have been grabbed from an online shop already advertising the device on its website. The render depicts the dual cameras tilted to the extreme left corner of the phone’s back instead of being located in the middle. This is quite surprising, though, because we have also seen similar renders of the ceramic black color variant with the dual-cameras sitting in the middle. The good thing is we now know the Mi 5S Plus is likely going to get the dual cameras and also a top storage version with 256GB of internal storage.

To underscore the high level of anticipation about the device, a leaked photo frame advertising the device would be sold on Jingdong (JD.com) also revealed that sales would commence on September 29, just two days after its release. So quick! However, seems the Mi 5S Plus would wait till October 7 before hitting stores.

As usual, Gizmochina will keep to updated on the launch event live from the Beijing National Convention center.

Xiaomi Mi 5s Ultrasonic Fingerprint Scanner: First of Its Kind

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Sep 25, 2016

One major feature of the Xiaomi Mi 5s is the new ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. Manufactured by Qualcomm and bringing new features, the ultrasonic scanner can be said to be the third generation of fingerprint recognition technology. And the Mi 5s will be the first phone in the world to sport it.

The common fingerprint scanners we have in phones today are capacitive scanners which have limitations. A major one is the fact that once your hands are dirty or wet, the scanner fails to read your prints and unlock your device. But that will soon be a thing of the past as this new sensor will accurately read your prints if your hand is wet or covered in sweat or grease.

Another feature is that it also allows manufacturers to hide it from plain view. That way you can have a device that is flush (for devices with scanners on the rear) or ditch the home button (for devices that have their scanners up front). The scanner will work under a variety of materials including glass and aluminium.

Xiaomi Mi 5s Render Based on Ceramic Poster Released

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Sep 25, 2016

Staff at Xiaomi’s headquarters must be pretty busy now that the launch is just 2 days away. The internet has also been busy with camera samples of the new flagship shared by the CEO, a new poster teasing the ceramic body, and a post confirming the existence of a Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus.

Popular phone leaker @KJuma has posted online renders of the upcoming device based on details released so far. The renders doesn’t show much to be honest. The front render has a speaker grille at the top and the power button and volume rocker on the side.

The render of the back has the Mi logo sitting at the bottom and the dual cameras positioned in the middle instead of the top left corner.

Mediatek Announces More Details on the 10nm Helio X30

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Sep 25, 2016

Mediatek announced a new chip, the Helio X30, back in August. The Helio X30 is the world’s first mobile processor using 10nm fabrication process and will be manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).

New details have been released about the new deca-core chip. We already know it will make use of a tri-cluster design consisting of two cortex A-73 cores clocked at 2.8GHz, four cortex-A53 cores clocked at 2.3GHz, and four Cortex-A35 cores clocked at 2.0GHz.

The A-73 cores are the new high-performance cores taking over from previous generation A-72. They will offer better performance and lower power consumption than the latter.

The A-53 cores are possibly ARM’s most balanced cores when it comes to performance and power efficiency. The A-35 cores are the most power-efficient cores from ARM with power consumption not exceeding 125mW and can even be less than 100mW in some cases.

Mediatek has released a performance sheet that compares the Helio X30 to the Helio X20 but the font is tiny and blurs out when you try to zoom in.

The new tri-cluster architecture offers a 53% increase in power saving and 43% improvement in performance over the Helio X20. The Mali-T880 GPU has also been replaced with a PowerVR 7XT series that provides 2.4 times better performance and a 58% increase in power savings.

Xiaomi CEO Posts More Camera Samples of Mi 5S (UPDATE: More Images Added)

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Sep 24, 2016

The CEO of Xiaomi posted the first camera sample of the Mi 5s yesterday. Today, he has uploaded two more pictures on his weibo page taken with the new device.

The same rules from yesterday’s picture applies to the new ones. The pictures are original and no filters were used to enhance their outcome.

The first picture is of an iceberg and the camera does a great job in capturing its reflection as well. The second picture appears to have been shot in a canyon. You can see the lines left by the wind on the surface of the rocks very clearly.

What do you think of these new pictures of the Mi 5s? Will the phone be able to hold its own against other dual camera phones like the Huawei P9, LG G5, and the iPhone 7 Plus?

Xiaomi Co-Founder Confirms Existence of Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus

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Sep 24, 2016

We first reported the existence of a Mi 5s Plus last week. We still don’t have any new details about the device but last night Xiaomi’s co-founder, Lin Bin, sort of confirmed the device does exist.

A post on his Weibo account at an event yesterday revealed that the device used to make the post is no other than the Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus. This is the first genuine proof of the phone’s existence.

Following last week’s first mention of the Mi 5s Plus, an image of what is presumed to be that of the phone was posted by a Xiaomi engineer, Zhu Dan. The phone has its camera and sensor positioned in the middle instead of the top left corner like we have it on the Mi 5. Mr. Dan has however deleted the post.

New Xiaomi Mi 5s Leaks: Live Photo & Teaser of Ceramic Black Edition

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Sep 24, 2016

It’s a few days to the official launch of the Xiaomi Mi 5s and more details are emerging. A new poster released today hints at the launch of a ceramic black edition of the Xiaomi Mi 5S.

Xiaomi is not new to making ceramic editions of their flagship. The Mi 5 released early this year features a gorilla glass back by default, but later the company announced a ceramic version for the Mi 5 Pro which also comes with more RAM and storage than the original Mi 5.

Does this mean that the ceramic black edition of the Mi 5s might be called the Mi 5s Pro and possibly be the version with 6GB of RAM and 256GB of storage? We’ll have to wait till the 27th to find out.

The text on the poster loosely translates to ”What else apart from ceramic black?”. This also teases the possibility of other colours/versions other than ceramic black.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Review – The Best Redmi Note Yet?

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Linus

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Sep 23, 2016

Xiaomi’s Redmi Note lineup has been very popular both in China and internationally. The Redmi Note 4 is the latest model that sports great specs, fantastic build quality and it costs less than $160. Learn more in our full review.

Thanks to Oppomart for sending Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 for a review.

Buy Xiaomi Redmi Note 4

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Review: VIDEO REVIEW

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZpfM5TlDFg[/embedyt]

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Review: UNBOXING

The phone ships in the Xiaomi-style box. Inside of it, you can find a charger, some paperwork, SIM ejector pin and USB cable.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Review: SPECS

Display	5.5″ 1080p (Full-HD)
Processor	Mediatek MTK6797 (Helio X20), 64-bit, deca-core (up to 2.1GHz)
RAM	2GB
Camera	13 MP, f/2.0, phase detection autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash / 5MP front camera
Connectivity	Bluetooth, 3G, 4G, GPS, WIFI, GSM,EDGE, GPRS, UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+, dual-SIM.
Battery	4.100 mAh (non-removable)
Dimensions	151 x 76 x 8.4 mm / 175g
OS	MIUI 8 (Android 6.0)
Storage	16GB (expandable via microSD card slot up to 256GB)

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Review: DESIGN and DISPLAY

The front of the phone looks just like previous Note-series devices. We have a sharp and bright 5.5” 1080p display, nicely backlit capacitive buttons and a highly customizable notification LED light.

However, once you pick the phone up, you can definitely notice that the Redmi Note 4 is much more solid and it is easily the best-constructed Redmi Note phone yet. It just feels that Xiaomi used a higher quality metal in the construction of the phone. Also, the top and bottom parts are made of aluminum too, not like previous models.

We have a 13MP shooter on the back, which is coupled with the dual-LED flash.

Xiaomi phones have been known for great fingerprint scanners and the Redmi Note 4 is no exception. You can unlock your phone very quickly straight from the standby mode.

The buttons feel nice and tactile, and we have an IR blaster to control devices like TVs.

Xiaomi decided to stick with the micro USB port on this phone. As for loudspeaker, I would say it is pretty good as on most of the Xiaomi phones. However, there is a little bit of distortion going on at the highest volume settings.

The sound quality via the headset jack is pretty good too.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

I have a standard edition of Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 sports a deca-core Mediatek Helio X20 chip with the max. clock speeds of 2.1GHz, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, which is also expandable via the microSD card slot.

If you are willing to pay extra, you can get a 64GB model with 3GB of RAM.

The gaming performance is great and the phone performs even better than the Redmi Pro despite having the same chip. Games like Asphalt 8 run fine on the highest graphics with just a few skipped frames but that didn’t bother me at all.

A great thing is that the phone does not have any overheating issues.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Review: BENCHMARKS

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Review: USER INTERFACE

When it comes to the user interface, the Redmi Note 4 ships with the MIUI 8, which uses Android 6.0 as a foundation.

The MIUI looks similar to the older version but it also has some new design touches. For example, we have a redesigned quick settings and re-organized full settings menus. Now it is easier to find everything and the menu just looks cleaner.

As usual, there are plenty of customization options Xiaomi phones have been famous for. Just to name a few, you can adjust display settings, choose from a variety of themes and so on. One of the key features is called second space. In each space, you can have your different accounts, apps and so on, and you can easily switch from one space to another.

Most importantly, the phone has been working fine and I didn’t have any lag.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Review: CAMERA

We have a familiar camera app that allows you to take pictures very fast and play with some basic shooting modes and settings.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Review: IMAGE QUALITY

The 13MP camera produces images that are comparable to the Redmi Note 3’s camera but I think we need to see a software update to make the best out of the camera sensor.

For a $160 phone, the pictures look quite nice and there is a good amount of detail in most of the daylight shots. However, there were a few pictures with softer focus and inaccurate-looking colors, especially if you take pictures indoors.

When it comes to the low-light photography, the Redmi Note 4 is a pretty good performer. Sure, you can’t expect much from a $160 phone but the images are one of the best in class.

The video quality is pretty good but it could definitely have more detail and look sharper.

As for selfie camera, a 5MP shooter can produce quite good selfies that will be more than enough for social media.

Unfortunately, the stock camera app allows you to shoot only in 720p with the front facing camera. On the other hand, the quality of the footage is pretty good.

Download full resolution camera samples

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Review: CONNECTIVITY

The phone comes with a hybrid dual-SIM card tray, which can take either 2 SIMs or 1 SIM and the microSD card.

As for connectivity, everything has been working fine. Once I first got the device, the Wifi download speeds were very slow but the software update has already fixed that, so make sure your phone runs on the latest version of the MIUI.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Review: BATTERY LIFE

A huge 4100mAh battery has been phenomenal. I could use the phone for 2 days easily even with some heavy usage and I used the phone with the performance mode turned on all the time.

That translates to over 5 hours of screen-on time. If you are a lighter user, you can easily get over 6 or 7 hours of SOT.

Although the Note 4 uses MediaTek PumpExpress 2.0 technology for fast charging, Xiaomi does not include the fast charger in the box.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Review: CONCLUSIONS

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 is yet another budget offering by the Chinese giant and I have to say that it is a great phone for the price of $160.

The device sports a very good built quality and it uses metal in the construction. Also, we have one of the best-in-class display, feature-rich user interface and the phone can handle 3D games quite well. Finally, the battery life is fantastic. Even though I got just over 5 hours of screen-on time, I’ve seen some moderate users achieve over 7 hours of SOT.

On the other hand, the rear camera does not seem to have been upgraded. In fact, the current software build leads to a slightly worse performance than the Redmi Note 3 but knowing Xiaomi, it will be definitely fixed with a software update.

The question is: should you upgrade if you have the Redmi Note 3. I would say no since this phone is just an incremental upgrade.

However, if you are in the market of a solid budget-friendly phone, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 should be definitely on your list as it is an easy buying recommendation for the price of under $160.

Buy Xiaomi Redmi Note 4

Watch Out: This iPhone 7 Plus Clone From China Looks Like The Real Deal!

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Sep 23, 2016

There was a time when China was known for its clones. Usually, these clones looked very similar to the original model, however, when it came to the build quality and performance, they were nowhere near the original ones. But now, things are different, and the manufacturers of these clones have become smarter and more skilled.

iPhone is still the most popular brand for clones and the newly launched iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus have already been cloned by local manufacturers in China. And the iPhone 7 Plus clone spotted in China is surprisingly very well built and very close to the real iPhone.

The design of these clones is identical to the real iPhone 7 Plus, including the unique antenna bands and the dual camera setup at the back. Not only that, they also feel quite similar to the original iPhone model. Even the software interface is an immitation of iOS 10, so there is a good chance that you might get confused for a second. However, the Touch ID on board seems to be just for show and do not work. Even the general performance of the iPhone 7 Plus Clone, including its camera is no way near that of the original iPhone 7 Plus model but that is to be expected.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HxD15WuS6s

So, check out the images below and the video above and guess which one’s real and which one’s a clone.

(ANSWER: Black is the real iPhone 7 Plus. The one in Rose Gold is an iPhone 7 Plus Clone.)

Rumor Claims Xiaomi is Planning to Buy Smartisan, Smartisan Denies

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Sep 23, 2016

There are rumors that Xiaomi is planning to acquire struggling fellow Chinese smartphone maker Smartisan which had been in the business since 2012. Before now, it is not hidden in the tech circle that the company has been struggling to stay afloat considering that its smartphones haven’t witnessed the kind of sales margin they need in the highly competitive Chinese phone market.

As usual, China’s Sina Weibo platform is the source of the latest rumor that Xiaomi is in talks with Smartisan to acquire the company and infuse more capital into the brand.

Smartisan has however come out to deny the rumors as untrue and that nothing of such exists. This is not the first time the Chinese company is getting soaked in rumors of an acquisition. The company was rumored to have received acquisition offers from Lenovo, Ali Baba and LeEco in the past but none of that ended up as sealed deal. This might end up as one of those rumors but at the same time could turn out to be true.

Meanwhile, Smartisan is said to be working on its latest Smartisan T3 smartphone which is a successor to the Smartisan T2. The device is said to likely drop any time between now and December.

Huawei & Leica Strengthen Their Cooperation, New Research & Innovation Center Established

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Pre-order Asus Zenfone 3 from Everbuying.net

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Sep 23, 2016

Huawei and Leica entered into a strategic cooperation earlier this year, wherein Leica would participate in the development of the cameras used in Huawei’s flagship models, starting with the Huawei P9. Now, these two are all set to further strengthen their partnership by establishing a brand new Research and Innovation center called ‘Max Berek Innovation Lab’ in Wetzlar, Germany. The new center will reportedly focus on developing optical systems and software based technologies to improve image quality in various fields related to photography and mobile devices.

This is an excerpt from the company release.

The new lab, located at Leica’s global HQ in Wetzlar, Germany, will drive further development of optical systems and software-based technologies to improve imaging quality in a wide range of photographic and mobile device applications. Additional outcomes will include the creation of computational imaging, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) solutions. In addition to R&D resources from both companies, Huawei and Leica plan to collaborate with German and international universities and research institutions.

This is definitely good news for Huawei fans as deeper co-operation with Leica could result into more powerful cameras on upcoming flagships. In fact, IHS Analyst Kevin Wang had already hinted that the Huawei Mate 9 would feature better cameras than the Huawei P9. According to rumors, the flagship should feature a 20MP dual camera setup with OIS. Other rumored features of the device include a 6-inch 1080p display, rear fingerprint, Kirin 960 and Android 7.

Huawei P9 has already got pretty good reviews when it comes to the camera department, and it could very well be one of the best camera phones in the market right now. So, an even better dual camera setup on the Mate 9 would be really amazing.

Even the pricing of the Mate 9 has been leaked. The Standard Mate 9 Edition is said to start at 3199 Yuan ($480), while the full network supported version is said to retail at 3399 Yuan ($509). There are other versions expected as well, like a high-end version priced at 3899 Yuan ($584), another version at 4699 Yuan ($704) and the ultra-powerful top-end edition priced with smart watch bundled priced at 7388 Yuan ($1108). Exact details of these versions were not revealed.

To be honest, it’s too early to say whether these prices are going to be final. But the release date is said to be on November 8 this year, which is more than a month away. In that time, we can expect more details about the upcoming flagship. Let’s hope Leica and Huawei can surprise us with the Mate 9.

(source)

Pre-order the Beautiful Asus ZenFone 3 at Everbuying!

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Linus

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Sep 23, 2016

Asus has been known for producing a wide range of tech products and the company has built a good reputation in the smartphone industry. The beautiful-looking Zenfone 3 sports some great specs and a lot of flagship-grade features.

The Zenfone 3 follows a familiar design language we have seen on other Asus phones. It uses a metal trim that goes around the device along with metal buttons. A front and rear is covered with the Gorilla Glass 3 for scratch resistance.

Even though the Zenfone 3 sports a midrange-level Snapdragon 625 chip, this processor has already proven that it is a capable performer both when it comes to day-to-day use and gaming.

Other key specs include 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage (expandable up to 256GB via the microSD card slot) and Adreno 506 GPU.

As far as display goes, we have a 5.5″ 1080p LCD panel, which has a peak brightness output of 600nits.

One of the key selling points of this device is its camera. The Zenfone 3 sports a 16 MP shooter with f/2.0 aperture, laser/phase detection autofocus, OIS (4-axis) and dual-LED (dual tone) flash.

Another key feature is the Hi-Res audio assured by the home-brewed SonicMaster technology. This tech is said to assure a high-quality sound both from the external speaker and via the headset jack.

All in all, the Asus Zenfone 3 shapes up to be a great all-around device. The only shortcoming of it is the mid-level Snapdragon 625 chip. Other than that, the phone seems like a great device for the price and we can’t wait to test it out in our review labs.

You can now pre-order Asus Zenfone 3 from Everbuying.net for $430.94 and the phone will start shipping on October 30th.

Lenovo Moto M (XT-1662) Spotted In The Wild With 4GB RAM & Android M

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