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?
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.
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’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.
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.
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.
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.)
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 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.
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.
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.
Lenovo has had a busy 2016, releasing many smartphones catering to different segments of the market within the first 8 months of the year. The company has been releasing phones under its own name as well as its subsidiary brands such as ZUK and Moto. We have already seen a number of Moto smartphone this year, but it looks like there’s more. A new Moto M (XT-1662) was spotted in the wild in a new leaked image, revealing the existence of the device.
Motorola seems to be continuing with its traditional design philosophy on the new Moto M. You have the standard round corners with the company branding at the bottom of the display. The bezels look quite slim too, which is good. This particular model already passed through the TENAA certification last month, which revealed a lot of information about the phone. But this seems to be the first time that we are seeing the Moto M has leaked in a real life image.
Today’s leak confirms that the Moto M will come with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The screen size should be of 5.5-inches with 1080p resolution. Further, at the back, the phone will come with a 16MP camera while up front, there will be an 8MP shooter. Another detail revealed by the leak is the software on board, which is Android 6 Marshmallow. We can’t find a fingerprint sensor up front, but it should be located at the back of the device. TENAA had also confirmed that the phone will come with a 3000mAh battery.
Since this model has passed through TENAA already, it’s possible that the phone is exclusive to the Chinese market. There was another Moto smartphone that was spotted recently, featuring a 4.6-inch display and MT6750 chipset. Both could be announced soon, so stay tuned!
Xiaomi will announce a new smartphone in its September 27 conference in China. There was a bit of a confusing regarding the name of the phone, but now, it’s confirmed that the new flagship will indeed be called as the Xiaomi Mi 5S. First of all, both Xiaomi’s CEO, Lei Jun and Xiaomi’s Market Leader, Tony have started posting on Weibo using the Xiaomi Mi 5S. So, it basically confirms the name. What’s more, like tradition, Lei Jun has even posted a camera sample taken from the Mi 5S, giving us the first look at the phone’s camera performance.
Now, the image that you see below is from the Xiaomi Mi 5S without any filters. We already know that the phone will come with dual cameras at the back, so effects like bokeh should be easily produced by the phone’s camera setup. While we are unable to tell much about the camera quality of the device, the colors have come out quite well.
Although the EXIF data revealed just 1280 x 960 resolution for me, mydrivers seems to have got hold of the original image with the detailed EXIF data. Their data confirms that this is taken from the Mi 5S and reveals more details like shutter speed (1/750 sec), ISO 100, f/2.0 aperture, and 3264 x 2448 resolution. Even this is low resolution, but Weibo usually compresses the image file and hence, the original photo resolution should have been upwards of 12/13MP.
So, what do you think about the camera sample from the Mi 5S?
Until recently, we had thought Xiaomi was releasing only the Mi 5S but then the Mi 5S Plus emerged out of the blues. We had left that off as mere speculation but then a recent leaked posted revealing the prices of both the Xiaomi Mi 5S and Mi 5S Plus have put a stamp on the fact that the “Apple of China” will indeed gift us a Mi 5S Plus.
The two posters contained the Mi logo, perhaps ascribing some authenticity to them but then, we cannot tell if they are indeed authentic. However, the poster reveals the base storage version Mi 5S with Snapdragon 821 chip, 6GB RAM and 64GB storage will start at 1999 Yuan ($300). Not forgetting it is touted as the world’s first smartphone to use Under Glass ultrasonic fingerprint identification and might pack dual rear cameras, among more for just 1999 Yuan ($300). That’s incredible if true!
On the other hand the Mi 5S Plus with SD 821, 6GB RAM and a mammoth 256GB of built-in storage is said to carry a higher price tag of 2999 Yuan ($450). We don’t know much about the Mi 5S Plus but it is said to come with a larger 5.7-inch dual-curved screen display with an upgraded 2K resolution, a Snapdragon 821 chip and probably the same under-glass ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. There was previously no detail about the RAM, ROM, and camera configuration but now we know it will have a 6GB RAM and perhaps only one storage version with 256GB of storage space.
As stated earlier, we cannot vouch for the authenticity f this information, the Mi 5S and Mi 5S Plus could as well have higher price tags considering the high-end specs they are bringing to the table.
All is now set for the unveiling of the Xiaomi Mi 5S smartphone but not until the device finally pops, we’ll perhaps continue seeing new juicy leaks and teasers surrounding the Xiaomi flagship. The latest we’re getting about the device originated from Xiaomi and its camera.
Xiaomi today released a poster which contained the image of two camera lenses arranged vertically, having same size and shape. The poster posed a question along with it which is translated as: “In addition to dual-camera, what else?” The rest of the texts on the poster talks about the countdown to the conference which is just 4 days away.
Mi 5S Render leaked earlier on
If the teaser is anything to go by, that means the Xiaomi Mi 5S would likely be equipped with dual main cameras mounted on its back just like the Redmi Pro. The camera specs of the Mi 5S has often been shrouded in mystery as it wasn’t revealed when the device hit AnTuTu or in the leaks we got in the past. A render of the Mi 5S sporting dual cameras appeared online months back though, but it was nothing certain. However, Xiaomi is touting the Mi 5S to come with a new high-end technology on the camera plane and its just four days before we find out how it’d play out. But then, the Mi 5 released earlier this year brought with it a lot of new high-end technological innovations so it is expected that the mi 5S will take the bar higher.
Now to answer the question posed in the poster, in addition to dual-cameras the Mi 5S we are told would come equipped with the high-end Snapdragon 821 chipset, sport a 5.15-inch 1080 pixels display along with a 6GB RAM and three storage versions of 64GB, 128GB and 256GB. The device will also come equipped with a 3410/3,490mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0, USB Type-C interface , dual-SIM slots, and most importantly, NFC.
Huawei released quite a few devices this year and the Nova Plus is one of them. It is a premium midrange smartphone that has great looks, good camera but it costs around 430 EUR. Learn more in our full review.
In the box, you are getting all the usual stuff that includes a charging brick, USB C cable, SIM ejector pin, a pair of earphones and some paperwork that my reviewdid not come with.
Huawei Nova Plus Review: SPECS
Display
5.5″ 1080 x 1920 pixels, LCD (~403 ppi pixel density)
The phone has a 5.5” 1080p display, which uses the LCD technology and it is pretty sharp and vibrant. Also, it is bright enough to ensure a good sunlight legibility.
The Nova Plus sports a familiar premium design we’ve seen from Huawei. It’s made out of metal, except for those plastic top and bottom parts for antennas.
Also, the phone has nice and tactile metal buttons.
While the device is not the smallest around, it is pretty comfortable to hold in the hand.
The loudspeaker sits on the bottom and the quality of sound is pretty good even if we compare it with some flagship smartphones.
We have a 16MP camera with f/2.0 aperture, OIS, and dual-led flash. A great thing that the camera can finally shoot 4k videos.
The Huawei phones have been usually great when it comes to fingerprint sensors and the Nova Plus is no exception. Also, the scanner serves as a little touchpad. My favorite features include the ability to open up the notification shade or scroll through the pictures in the gallery.
As far as selfie camera goes, we have an 8MP shooter, which sits next to the notification LED light.
We have on-screen navigation buttons and you can switch the positions of them.
Huawei Nova Plus Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE
As far as specs, we are looking at the upper-midrange phone. The Nova Plus ships with an octa-core Snapdragon 625 chip with the clock speeds of 2.0GHz, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage.
The gaming performance has been good but I’ve noticed a few skipped frames when playing Asphalt 8 on the highest graphics.
A great thing is that the phone does not have any overheating issues.
Huawei Nova Plus Review: BENCHMARKS
Huawei Nova Plus Review: USER INTERFACE
The Nova Plus ships with the EMUI 4.1, which is built on top of Android 6.0.If you have used any other Huawei phone, the user interface will look exactly the same. There is no app tray, the icons look a bit cartoonish but there are quite a few added features and customization options.
Just to name a few, you can adjust the display settings, customize the navigation bar, use your knuckle to take a screenshot, easily turn on/off a convenient one-hand operation mode or use the floating dock to quickly navigate through the menus.
There are plenty of other features, settings and tweaks, so can make the phone look your own.
Most importantly, the UI performs fine on the daily basis, the phone is very fast and I didn’t have a single hiccup in 3 weeks.
Huawei Nova Plus Review: CAMERA
The camera app is easy to use and you can quickly switch from one mode to another. Also, there are some basic settings to play with.
Huawei Nova Plus Review: IMAGE QUALITY
When it comes to the image quality, the 16MP camera can produce some great pictures that are sharp, have lots of detail and look natural as far as color reproduction goes. Also, I’m glad how the camera handles dynamic range in some tricky situations.
As far as the low-light performance, you can also take some good-looking photos. In most cases, the camera’s software does a great job with noise reduction and there is a decent amount of detail. However, there were a few shots that had a reddish tint and there was quite a bit of noise.
The 4K video quality is great but the stabilization could work a little bit better. Besides that, the footage is sharp, detailed and the continuous auto-focus feature works very well.
The phone comes with a hybrid dual-SIM card tray, which can take either 2 SIMs or 1 SIM and the microSD card.
The call quality, signal reception, GPS, Wifi and all other connectivity options work just fine.
Huawei Nova Plus Review: BATTERY LIFE
The Huawei Nova Plus ships with 3340 mAh battery, which performs great. Even though I used the phone quite intensively, I needed to re-recharge it every two days.
That translates to over 5 hours of screen-on time, which is a great result.
Huawei Nova Plus Review: CONCLUSIONS
The Huawei Nova Plus is a solid premium midrange device.
It has a great build quality, nice and sharp display, the user interface that is fast and has tons of features and great overall performance.
Also, both cameras produce nice looking images in various lighting conditions and the battery life is great.
However, the main question is if the Nova Plus is worth the price of 430 EUR. I would say no since you can get some phones that have flagship-grade specs at this price point.
On the other hand, the Huawei Nova Plus is still a very solid phone even at this price point since it is very fast and it does not have any major shortcomings… if you do not need all the sheer power that faster processors can provide.
The Huawei Nova Plus smartphone will be available to buy in over 50 countries starting from October, although the exact date is yet to be set.
This year can be termed the year of dual cameras. It’s not that the first dual camera phone was released this year. No, not at all. The HTC EVO 3D has dual cameras and was released 5 years ago. What I mean is that the technology kind of really kicked off this year with the launch of the Huawei P9, the LG G5, and the iPhone 7 Plus.
An individual who goes by the name ”@Mr Powerful” who owns the iPhone 7 Plus and the Huawei P9 decided to pit both cameras against each other to see how they fair when it comes to taking pictures. Apple is pushing out a new feature called Portrait Mode (which is is similar to Bokeh effect) to iOS 10.1 developer version and will be available later this week in public beta. It appears this person already has that update.
The highly anticipated LeEco Le Pro 3 launched yesterday and will go on sale on September 28. Reservations are already underway, so if you want one you should hurry. The phone has a 5.5” FHD display, a snapdragon 821 chip clocked at 2.35 GHz and 98% of its body is made out of premium metal.
The Le Pro 3 gets the teardown treatment which reveals the LPDDR4 RAM that comes in 4GB or 6GB variants. The main camera is a 16 megapixels Sony IMX298 sensor with dual LED flash. There’s a 4070mAh battery that should last more than a day and charges quickly if you use the 24W Quick Charge 2.0 travel charger that comes with it.
The built-in storage is a UFS 2.0 with multiple sizes allowing buyers the option to choose what’s best for them. There is a 32GB version with 4GB of RAM, a 4GB RAM/6GB RAM + 64GB ROM model, and a 6GB RAM + 128GB edition. If you ask me, I think a phone with 256GB of storage is an overkill.
Xiaomi will be launching its next flagship on the 27th of September and today the company decided to go down memory lane by releasing the launch posters of their Mi phones, right from the Xiaomi Mi 1 up to this year’s Mi 5.
If you owned or still own any of these devices, you will connect to these pictures.
Xiaomi Mi 1/Xiaomi Phone: This phone launched with a 4” display 1GB of RAM and a Snapdragon S3 dual-core processor. The main camera is an 8MP shooter and there’s a 2MP camera for selfies. Back when it launched, Xiaomi sold it for 1999 Yuan and touted it as the phone capable of taking on the iPhone 4 and Samsung’s Galaxy S2.
Xiaomi Mi 2: The Mi 2 was the major successor to the Mi Phone. It launched with a larger screen and a quad-core processor. It also doubled the RAM to 2GB. The company launched an upgraded version called the Mi 2s the following year which had a higher clock speed and a 13MP camera.
Xiaomi Mi 3: This 5” device was a massive upgrade over its predecessors. Full HD display, Snapdragon 800 quad-core chip clocked at 2.3GHz, a 13MP camera with dual LED flash and a 3050mAh battery.
Xiaomi Mi 4: One complaint people had with the Mi 3 was the lack of LTE. The Mi 4 fixed that. It also launched with 3GB of RAM and a 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 chip. The Mi 4 also got refreshed in 2015 with the Mi 4C which has a Snapdragon 808 processor and a USB-Type C port; a made for India Mi 4i with 2GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 615 processor; and a 2016 version called the Mi 4s that doubles the storage of the 3GB Mi 4c from 32GB to 64GB and has an expandable storage.
Xiaomi Mi Note: The Mi Note launched in January 2015. It features a SD 801 chip, a 5.7” display, a 13MP camera that can shoot 4K, and a 4MP front facing camera that can record 1080p videos. A slightly upgraded version called the Mi Note Pro launched with a SD 810 processor, a Quad HD display, and 4GB of RAM. A successor, the Mi Note 2 is said to be in the works and should launch later this year.
The other devices (the Mi 5 and Mi Max) need no introduction as they should still be fresh in our memories since they launched this year.
LeEco’s latest Le Pro 3 flagship is yet to hit the market but is already proving to be a popular one among fans as the Chinese tech company has hinted that online reservations for the smartphone has exceeded 3.57 million in just 24 hours after it started accepting reservations for the device.
It is not certain, though, that when the actual sales of the device begins all 3.57 million persons will end up buying, but it shows the level of interest in the cheaply priced flagship smartphone. For those that are unaware, smartphones are sold in China via flash sales which are usually preceded by reservations or expression of interests in the device. Thereafter the phones are sold by intermittent flash sales. In this case, the Le Pro 3 will go on flash sales on September 28th by 10 am in China and just 500,000 units will be up for grabs for the first flash sales.
LeEco went official with the Le Pro 3 yesterday in a conference held in China with the device priding itself as one of the early birds to get the Snapdragon 821 chipset announced by Qualcomm recently. The 5.5-inch device sports a 16MP sensor at the rear featuring 0.1s PDAF, Increased Sharpness, Intelligent Beauty Mode, Gender Recognition and more, while up front, there is an 8MP shooter.
In addition, the Le Pro 3 comes in four memory variants (UFS 2.0) but unfortunately, there is no 8GB RAM model as previously rumored. There is a 4GB RAM + 32GB ROM version, a second with 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM, a higher 6GB RAM + 64GB ROM version and then a top-most version with 6GB RAM + 128GB ROM.
As for the price, the base model with 4GB RAM + 32GB ROM starts at just 1799 Yuan ($270) while the 6GB RAM and 64GB ROM model carries a price tag of 1999 Yuan ($300). On the other hand, the version with 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM starts at 2499 Yuan ($375) while that with 6GB RAM + 128GB ROM starts at 2999 Yuan ($450). The last two versions carry higher price tags because they are special editions which come with LeEco’s content services and lots more.
Xiaomi Mi 5 will soon get a worthy successor in the expected Mi 5S and retailers are apparently catching in on that to clear their Mi 5 stock before the arrival of the Mi 5S which is speculated to launch on September 27 with SD 821 chip.
The Snapdragon 820-powered Xiaomi Mi 5 has seen its price reduced to 1599 Yuan ($240) on Lynx official flagship store in China. This is down from the initial price of 1799 Yuan ($270), representing 200 Yuan off. This price reduction seem to only affect the purple and gold colored standard edition of the Mi 5 with entire network support, as other variants still retain their initial price tag.
For the avoidance of doubt, the standard edition of the Mi 5 comes equipped with a 1.8GHz Snapdragon 820 chipset along with Adreno 530 GPU, 3GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The Xiaomi Mi 5 specs also include a 4GB RAM variant, 16MP main camera with Phase Detection Auto Focus, a 4MP secondary camera and a 3000mAh battery equipped with Quick Charge 3.0.
Xiaomi’s crowdfunding platform has got a new product and it may surprise you to know it is a multifunction pillow. The poster teasing the product launch was quite confusing like the functions of the product but it has dropped to clear any confusion. Tagged 8H Multifunction Pillow U1, the product carries a fairly modest price of 79 Yuan ($12).
I know you are itching to get the functions of this one and perhaps get on to other thing. Well, the 8H Multifunction Pillow U1 is suitable for use during office lunch break, as a travel companion, and also suitable for the home and a variety of leisure time.
The pillow isn’t anything like the regular pillow in design but comes at just 64cm and a diameter of 16.5cm, just enough for it to go round the neck. The 8H Multifunction pillow contains latex particles fillings inside which are soft, highly elastic, breathable, comfortable, and depending on the usage scenarios, the latex particles can assume the shape of the neck, hands, waist, leg and anywhere it is placed, to provide a comfortable support.
The outer surface of the pillow which acts like the pillow case contains Tianzhu cotton which provides a soft, well textured surface that even feels like a lover’s skin. Also, washing the pillow isn’t going to be a problem, there are polygiene silver ion antimicrobial agent which inhibits growth of bacteria and fungi and also suppresses odor.
The 8H Multifunction Pillow U1 will come in two color options mixed gray and biege but prresently, only one color will be available and the pillows have a 2-year shelf life. The 79 yuan ($12) crowdfunded product is expected to start shipping from October 20.
Xiaomi will release a new flagship device, called the Xiaomi Mi 5S on September 27. As we near the release date of the flagship, like tradition, the company has started teasing some of the features of the device. And what better way to promote the Mi 5S, than with its AnTuTu performance scores.
The company released a new teaser today which comes with the number 164,119. It takes very little time to imply that this is the AnTuTu score of the Xiaomi Mi 5S and it’s actually not very surprising given that Snapdragon 821 chip generally scores around this figure. Remember what Le Pro 3 scored? Just above 163K points. We already saw a leaked Mi 5S AnTuTu score screenshot yesterday and even that was above 164K.
However, the teaser doesn’t just focus on its top notch performance. It further asks, “What new high-end technology Xiaomi __S has in addition to performance” indicating that we can expect a lot more on the upcoming device. There are two new technologies that we can expect on the Xiaomi Mi 5S, first being 3D Touch and the second being Qualcomm’s Under Glass Ultrasonic Fingerprint sensor.
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