Xiaomi Smartwatch has been rumored to be in the works since last year and is said to launch this September. The Smartwatch has also being the subject of numerous leaks and rumors, and it is a highly anticipated gadget.
While we are yet to see what the Xiaomi smartwatch looks like, except in sketched images, we have got an idea of what price the gadget will likely carry when ever Xiaomi finally launches the smartwatch. According to the well-known industry analyst Pan Jiutang, the Xiaomi smartwatch will be priced less than 1000 yuan ($150). Mr Juitang disclosed this via a post on Weibo and went further to add that the smartwatch would clutch a price tag much cheaper than Garmin smartwatches.
The Xiaomi smartwatch is likely to feature a larger display than the Band 2, and focus on a particular function. Smartwatch manufacturers are particularly keen on health-related functions, so we may see the smartwatch boast of such features and more. But, apart from the existence of the device as well as the release timing, and likely price tag, nothing else is known about its specifications. As we draw nearer to the expected release date, more hypes are likely to come out about the smart gadget.
Umi has had it going well this year following the release of the Umi Super but they are cooking up something to challenge OPPO’s R9 in foreign markets. The OPPO R9 was instrumental in cementing OPPO’s spot in the top 5, selling over 700 million units in 88 days.
But while it has done very well in China, it has not really gotten positive reviews outside. Some people have complained about the fact that it runs the older Android Lollipop 5.1 which is based on Color OS. Others have complained about the design similarities to the iPhone 6S most especially the rose gold version and also the high price.
Umi believes it can take on the OPPO R9 with the Umi Max. A few details of the Umi Max says it will run Android 6.0 Marshmallow, have a USB Type-C port, Helio P10 SoC, a beautiful design, and a battery and price worth looking forward to.
We can clearly see that Umi is set to iron out the issues wrong with the R9, but a quick tip here. Android 6.0 is nice, but if the company promises Android Nougat and delivers, it will go a long way in increasing sales.
In the past few years, cheap smartphones have come a long way. We no longer are left with phones that lag unless we pay a premium price for it. Thanks to the rapid growth of smartphone chipsets as well as RAM modules, we now have amazing options even for a price under $100. And it’s not just the popular manufacturers like Xiaomi or Meizu who are revolutionizing the low-end smartphone segment, as small time Chinese players in the market like Ulefone, Elephone and Cubot among other are doing a great job as well.
If you have been following gizmochina, you would have seen that my initial impressions of the Ulefone U007 have been fairly positive. But we are not here to just judge a phone based on initial impressions. We are here to see whether a phone is good enough for long term use and whether it lives up to our expectations.
So, let’s move on to the Ulefone U007 Review.
Before that, I would like to thank Gearbest for sending it the unit for review. You can purchase this device from the seller at just $54.
DESIGN
As I mentioned in my previous article, the design of the Ulefone U007 is actually quite impressive. So, it’s no metal or glass, and for its $50, we can’t really expect these materials, but the plastic body that it comes with is quite good. It’s sturdy, looks good and never for a second that you would feel that this is such a cheap smartphone. For $50, I personally feel that you get amazing value for your money.
The built quality is excellent, and there are no loose or sub-standard parts that you’ll find. The buttons are not bad and the feedback is okay. The back is textured, and given its compact size and design, it’s quite easy to hold as well. Plus, it’s super light, much lighter than most of the phones that I have used, weighing just 138 grams. So, if weight is something that makes a difference, the U007 should make it to your list.
The camera is protruding, but only a bit and the provided silicone case solves the problem. It’s not super thin like some flagships, but it’s thin enough (8.7mm) not to interfere in your everyday use. Note that the device does not have an LED indication light on the front.
Overall, I don’t have any major complaints with the design of the Ulefone U007. But if I had to point out a few things that I would have liked the company to improve, then first, it would be the MicroUSB slot, which is located a bit inside. So, you might encounter some issues using chargers from other smartphones. Second, I personally, didn’t like the capacitive buttons at the bottom of the display. Don’t get me wrong, all three buttons work very well, it’s just that the symbols used for the buttons don’t look too good, at least not according to me. I guess, Ulefone could have done a better job with those three symbols, making the front of the phone as good as the back.
DISPLAY
The display on the Ulefone U007 is pretty good for its price. You get a 5-inch HD 720p panel.
You can use the display on 50% brightness for most of the day. If you are getting out, then you most probably have to bump it up to 75% or more, especially when you are under direct sunlight. The sunlight visibility is not very good, but you can still manage using the device.
As for the quality of display, the colors are very bright, but the panel is not as rich as other premium phones. But you shouldn’t expect that kind of screen quality at this price, and to be honest, it’s pretty good for most uses, even for watching occasional videos.
Now, if you have checked out the specs of the Ulefone U007, you would have noticed that the phone comes with Gorilla Glass 3 protection. I personally wanted to check whether the glass will be scratchless during my regular use, which it should, if it comes with Gorilla Glass 3. However, in my personal use, my U007 got many scratches, that too in just a couple of days. If it was indeed gorilla glass, I don’t think my unit wouldn’t have had this problem. So, I’m doubtful about the protection on top. Even wiping down the screen clean didn’t help in getting rid of these scratches.
U007 after two days of rough use without scratch guard!
So, I would suggest that you immediately get a scratch guard for your device, if you want your screen to be scratch free.
HARDWARE & PERFORMANCE
The Ulefone U007 comes with one of the modest processors in the market today. It comes with MediaTek MT6580 quad-core chipset clocked at 1.3GHz. It’s nothing fancy but does the job of powering the device for most needs. You get 1GB of RAM on board, which might feel too less, but if you are a basic user, who works with not more than a couple of apps at a time, this chip and RAM combination would work just fine.
Note that full specs of the U007 are listed at the end of the article.
Inside, you get 8GB of ROM on board, of which you have only about 5GB of usable space. But the phone does feature a MicroSD card expansion slot which supports up to 32GB cards.
In the limited time I got with my review unit, the Ulefone U007 managed to handle most tasks without major hiccups. Apps opened up quickly and games loaded up fairly fast as well. I am actually surprised to see MT6580+ 1GB RAM combination handle tasks this well, but I guess, the actual credit should be given to the Android 6 Marshmallow OS running inside which is much more refined than previous iterations of the OS.
Gaming performance is not very good, but that’s expected. If you are a gamer who plays a lot of FPS and racing games, then you probably should look at some other device, higher in the price segment. I managed to play basic games like Ultimate Monster and some puzzle games without much hiccup, but racing games does lag a bit and you may not be pleased with the experience.
But for most tasks, like checking mails, basic browsing and watching a few videos, the chip inside performed well. Remember that these comments are after taking into considering its $50 price tag. So, if you expect it to work like a $300 smartphone, DONT! But, if you want a basic device that can run most applications and perform everyday tasks, then it’s good.
AnTuTu benchmark numbers are low, as it scores just about 20,652. On Geekbench, the score was 346 in the single core and 1120 in the multi-core test.
Since this is MT6580 powered model, expect the GPS performance to be slow. I had to wait for a few minutes until I could get a lock on.
CAMERA
The Ulefone U007 comes with a 13MP camera (on paper) and a 5MP front facing camera. On paper, its 13MP but in action, it feels like 5MP. Simply put, the cameras are not good. I have taken a lot of pictures in different lighting conditions and places and the images have come out more or less grainy. But if you try hard, you might be lucky enough to get a couple of good shots, but please don’t try to zoom into the picture. While at first glance the picture may appear fine, the simple zoom shows the high level of noise in it. But like I said above, if you resist zooming into the picture, you should be fine with the image captured using the device. The colors are washed out in most occasions, especially outdoors with direct sunlight.
Check out the samples down below to see the performance of the Ulefone U007’s camera.
The front camera is unimpressive, but for basic selfies, it might just do the trick. But don’t expect too much.
BATTERY
Inside, the Ulefone U007 comes with a 2200mAh battery. As you can see, this isn’t large, but due to the compact screen and modest processor, it most likely will last you a day with moderate usage. The standby time is pretty good I feel, as I kept the phone aside for a couple of days and the phone lost like 20-30% charge with the SIM inside.
If you want some figures, then expect the small battery inside to lose around 20% of charge for an hour of YouTube Playback.
What you get with the phone is a basic charger and it takes over an hour to completely fill up the 2200mAh battery. It took me 1 hour 25 minutes to charge the phone from 32% to 100% with the charger provided in the box.
SOFTWARE
The interface is stock Android Marshmallow and I have no real complaints with it. It’s responsive, smooth and looks good. I am happy that Ulefone didn’t tamper with the interface as personally, I like the stock UI.
The connectivity is also pretty good. Remember that you just get 3G and NO 4G on this device. But 3G speeds were good and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connected without any issues. I have watched videos and even browsed websites on the device while connected on Wi-Fi and everything was working fine.
You have some smart gestures as well but they come disabled as default.
PRICING
Ulefone U007 is a cheap phone and you probably won’t get a better device at this price. It costs just $55, which is amazing considering the features that you get. It’s an ideal basic smartphone, and an even better secondary handset. You would be surprisied to see how much you can get for this price.
For $54.23, I doubt you’ll get anything better than the Ulefone U007. The design is good, the built quality good as well and the hardware is decent enough to run most tasks. Camera is bad, but if you can ignore that, rest of the device is pretty decent.
If you are in the search of a super cheap phone, I would definitely suggest you check out the Ulefone U007!
As I end this review, I would like to announce a giveaway of the device to one of our readers. I have got an extra unit of the U007, thanks to Gearbest and I would be happy to give it out to one of our readers. The giveaway should be up in the next few hours. So, stay tuned to gizmochina!
Dual sim dual standby, Micro SIM and Micro SIM
Both SIM slots are compatible with 3G, respectively. When they work at the same time, only one of them can receive 3G service and the other GSM. You can choose in settings which one for 3G.
Meizu has announced that the August 10 launch is for a phone called the Meizu Blue Charm E which is aimed at the younger generation and supposed to take on Xiaomi’s new Redmi Pro.
A leak from a user on Weibo says the phone has a special feature, the ability to control your car; that is if you own the ”internet SUV”, the Roewe RX5. The car which is a product of the collaboration between SAIC (Shangai Automotive Industry Corporation) and Alibaba debuted at the Beijing Auto show earlier this year. The car’s infotainment system is a special version of Alibaba’s YunOS called YunOS for Car.
Owners of the Meizu Charm Blue E will be able to unlock the car, heat up the seats, and control the air-conditioning using their phone. You might be wondering why the RX5 and not other cars. The reason is because Alibaba has a stake in Meizu. The internet giant invested $590 million in the Chinese phone maker last year. This makes things a lot easier for them saving them the trouble of entering into an agreement with another phone maker.
32GB (expandable via microSD card slot up to 256GB)
Vernee Apollo Lite Review: DESIGN and DISPLAY
Once I first took the phone out of the box, my initial impressions were that the phone had a tremendous build quality that I did not expect from Vernee, to be honest.
The device feels really solid and that is thanks to the all-metal design (except for the top and bottom parts for antennas).
The buttons feel nice too. Also, we have two SIM card trays, which take either 2 SIMs or 1 SIM and the microSD card.
The Apollo Lite has a 5.5” 1080p LCD display, which is sharp and crisp and it is bright enough for outdoor visibility. Also, it is covered with the Gorilla Glass 3.
Just above the display, we have a 5MP shooter and a notification LED. You have to know that the phone only has the on-screen navigation buttons but you can slightly customize them.
The metal back is nice and smooth the touch and here we have a 16MP camera with a dual LED flash. The fingerprint scanner may not be the fastest the market but it is accurate and it recognizes your fingerprint from the standby mode.
The bottom-placed loudspeaker has above average sound quality. Not bad but nothing impressive either.
Vernee Apollo Lite Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE
When it comes to hardware, Vernee Apollo Lite has some really good specs. It comes with a deca-core Mediatek Helio X20 chip, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.
The 3D performance is pretty good. Games like Asphalt 8 run fine but you should expect a few skipped frames there and there if you play the game on the highest graphics. On medium graphics, the game just flies.
Also, the phone does not overheat.
Vernee Apollo Lite Review: BENCHMARKS
Vernee Apollo Lite Review: UI
Speaking of the UI performance, the phone is very fast and that is thanks to the almost stock looking Android 6.0.
Vernee did not add many extra features or anything but they follow the rule: you keep it simple, you keep it fast. That’s why you can be rest assured that the device will just fly on a daily basis.
Vernee Apollo Lite Review: CAMERA
The 16MP camera sounds impressive on paper and it can take pictures very fast.
The daylight images usually look good for the class but I would love to see more sharpness, less noise in some of the pictures. Also, the dynamic range adjustment is not always perfect.
The camera really disappoints in low-light. First of all, the focusing time is extremely slow. Even if you are patient enough to get that low-light shot, the quality will be quite horrible.
A 5MP front-firing camera can take some decent looking selfies.
The 1080p video quality is above average but it decreases quite significantly in dim environments. See a video review for a video sample.
As for connectivity, I didn’t have any issues with Wifi, GPS, call quality or signal reception.
Vernee Apollo Lite Review: BATTERY LIFE
The phone ships with a sealed-in 3180mAh battery, which performs great in real life. I can get 1.5 days of a mixed of the phone, which translates to around 5 hours of screen-on time.
The phone supports fast charge feature too but it is not the fastest I’ve seen. I could fully charge the phone in around 1 hour and 40 mins.
Vernee Apollo Lite Review: CONCLUSIONS
Vernee Apollo Lite is a nice phone that brings a lot of great features for a decent price of just over $200.
It all starts with an all-metal design and great build quality, nice display, fast and smooth user interface and great battery.
However, the camera is not always reliable and it struggles quite a bit in low-light. Also, you have to know that Helio X20 is good enough for most games but you may have a few skipped frames if you play them on the highest graphics.
Other than that, Vernee Apollo Lite is a solid sub-$200. Sure, it is not perfect but it delivers in quite a few ways.
If you don’t care about the low-light photography much, the Apollo Lite may be even called a solid affordable midrange smartphone.
Ultrabooks have become the main workhorse in the laptop category, with their portability and great battery life along with great performance earning them great appreciation among users and enthusiasts alike. The segment is hotly contested too, with all the major PC brands having their own range of ultrabooks to gain a stranglehold in the market. Now, Chinese companies are jumping in the fray too, with the Livefan S1 ultrabook being one of the first ultrabooks to come out of the great Chinese electronic factory.
Now, the brand ‘Livefan’ isn’t a one which has been heard of before, but the parts known in the laptop are well known. For starters, we have the the Intel Core-M 5Y10C processor powering the Livefan S1 ultrabook, with good amount of RAM at 8GB and and a 256GB SSD storage capacity. The ultrabook also has a 1.3MP webcam for video chats as the usual WiFi and bluetooth wireless connectivity.
The Livefan S1 ultrabook also has a 13.3 inches 2K display and 2 USB 3.0 ports, with one of them being a USB type-C port. The battery is rated to last for 5-6 hours with normal usage and the ultrabooks runs the ubiquitous Windows 10 OS. The ultrabook also comes with a mini-HDMI port for display mirroring. The laptop also has an aluminium build and is available in silver as well as gold colors.
The price of the Livefan S1 ultrabook is around $670 currently, and in that price range, we have got ultrabooks from many Tier-I brands, which makes recommending this laptop a hard choice. But overall, it is very heartening to see Chinese makers making ultrabooks now as this will result in fierce competition, which in turn will lead to greater affordability as well as better build quality and durability.
You can check out the initial impressions of the Livefan S1 ultrabook review. You can also check out the listing of the Livefan S1 going to the link given here.
Sometimes I wonder how many projects are going on at the same time at Xiaomi’s RD lab. This week, they’ve launched two products, the Luo Qing Umbrella and the Xiaomi Mi VR Play.
Yesterday, they posted a teaser image of another upcoming product on their Weibo page which is set to launch by 2:00 pm on Monday, 8th of August.
The teaser image shows 3 power banks standing vertically beside each other (bird’s eye view) or on their sides with USB cables on the the left and right. The power banks are the 5,000mAh, 10,000mAh Pro, and 20,000mAh types judging from the way the buttons and ports are placed.
Xiaomi 5000mAh Power BankXiaomi 10000mAh Pro Power Bank
Xiaomi 20000mAh Power Bank
Now we can translate this to mean that they are working on a new power bank (maybe one that has a capacity of all three combined) or like speculations online, a UPS. We can only guess what the product is, but one thing we are sure of is that it has to do with power.
Do you have any guesses on what the new product set to launch on Monday is? Please let us know in the comment box below.
Xiaomi released their first VR glasses this week, the Xiaomi Mi VR Play. While it is not entirely different in functionality from other VR glasses most especially the Google Cardboard, it has a few design changes that still makes it stand out such as the use of a zipper design instead of velcro to hold the phone in; and a lycra covering for a more comfortable experience.
Internet service portal, Tencent, has hands on pictures of the device which we want to examine.
What’s in The Box?
The VR headset is said to support phones with screen sizes between 4.7” and 5.7”. Xiaomi’s Mi VR Play comes in a black box, which contains the headset itself, some paper work, and the head strap.
Setting Up
Setting up seems to be quite easy. Unzip the front, place your phone on the flap, raise the flap and zip the case. You can adjust the position of your phone using the dual front openings in front which also double as vents. The headset has anti-slip strips that prevents the phone from jumping around and rubber strips that prevent accidental presses of the home button. Do attach the straps in case you are going to be using the headset for a long period.
The headset has a metal button on the top which when pressed causes a high-responsive silicone button to make direct contact with your phone, touching the corresponding field and completing the instructions sent.
One issue with the Mi VR play is the inability to adjust distance between the anti-reflective aspheric lenses to accommodate various eyes. If you however own one of those cheap VR remotes sold online, you can pair that with your phone and use that for controls as well.
Content
While the bunch of VR content available online should work with the headset, Xiaomi is working with a bunch of content providers such as Youku, QIY, Conde nest Traveller and VR Hotcast to create content such as games and videos.
Samsung Electronics has doled out a total of 12,500 units of the Galaxy S7 Edge Rio Olympic Games Limited Edition to athletes competing at the Rio 2016 Olympics in Brazil. Samsung happens to be the Worldwide Olympic Partner in the Wireless Communications Equipment and the presentation was done in conjunction with the International Olympics Committee (IOC).
The Galaxy S7 Edge Rio 2016 Limited Edition was produced by the Korean giant to commemorate the Olympic games which would commence on August 6 in Brazil. Samsung says the largesse is to aid Olympians in enhancing their experience in Rio and communicate with friends and family around the world more conveniently. Apart from the 12,500 units of the Galaxy S7 Edge Olympic games edition, Samsung is also giving each Olympian its wireless IconX earbuds. The earbuds, reminiscent of hearing aids, feature in-ear heart rate monitoring, a native music player and support for Samsung’s S Health app.
But for some tweaks and customizations, the Rio Olympics Edition of the S7 Edge features the same specs as the original Galaxy S7 Edge and comes in very limited units. The Olympic Games version sports a special black metal frame and the Olympic games logo engraved on the back casing of the device. Samsung has also pre-loaded the Rio Edition with customized Rio 2016 Olympic games wallpaper and themes. The Olympic rings are baked into the phone’s home screen, lock screen, notifications bar, contacts menu and phone dialer.
Aside all of these, The Galaxy S7 Edge Rio 2016 edition comes with Samsung’s custom built Rio 2016 app developed in collaboration with the Rio 2016 Organizing committe which is billed to provide full games coverage and updates on medal counts, event results schedules, venues and lots more features which would greatly assist Olympians.
Samsung made limited units of the Olympic Edition of the Galaxy S7 edge available for purchase last month in different countries. Even if you can’t get one, you can tap the potential of the Rio 2016 app by downloading the app from Google Play Store. The app is also available on iOS and Windows Phone.
When LeEco releases a new smartphone, we know two things about the device. First, it’s going to feature top-notch features and second, the price is going to be highly competitive
After the entry of LeEco into the smartphone market last year, we have seen some impressive phones from the company. The Le Max 2 is currently the company’s most powerful handset, coming with the mighty Snapdragon 820 and 6GB RAM (on the top-end variant). However, it’s been a few months since the phone’s release and according to previous rumors, we might meet an even powerful LeEco flagship with dual cameras on board later this year. This is supposed to be the company’s flagship for 2016 and it is expected to feature powerful hardware.
While we haven’t seen this rumored LeEco devices in pictures yet, a few hours ago, a set of concept pictures of the LeEco flagship emerged online. Well, the images sure make it look like a concept phone, because the design is just amazing. The display is going to be bezel-less and the screen to body ratio is nothing like we have seen before. Further, other pictures reveal that the handset is going to be super slim as well, and the overall design is refined, smooth and flagship worthy. The back reveals dual cameras on board along with a sleek metal body. Judging from the pictures, the phone could be extremely thin, thinner than most other flagship models!
Specs wise, it is rumored that the LeEco flagship will feature a 4K display, Snapdragon 821 processor, 4GB RAM and dual cameras at the back.
Naturally, these specs and design are too good to be true for current smartphone tech standards. So, even though the design and specs look amazing, don’t expect this concept to make it to real life anytime soon.
Anyway, what do you think about this design? Although just a concept, this is definitely one of the best smartphone designs we have seen in a while.
The Meizu E series smartphone has been in the news for some time now, with a media event scheduled for August 10 where Meizu is expected to unveil the new smartphone which is rumored to have a curved display and dual main cameras at the back.Of course, recent rumors have been a bit more modest, revealing a mid-range device, probably aimed at Xiaomi’s Redmi Pro series for competition.
Meizu E
Now, a recently leaked photo on China’s microblogging site Weibo has exposed what is said to be the live photo of the Meizu E series flagship which is also rumored to be called Meizu E. The Weibo leak is centred on the fast charge function of the Meizu E which is touted to cram a generous 31000mAh battery under its hood.
The flagship device is rumored to have an mCharge feature capable of mustering 18W charging power, and can achieve charge level of up to 90% in just 1 hour (60 minutes). Also, the mCharge brings to play a smart feature which adjusts the charge rate according to the temperature of the phone, the battery voltage , the level of data usage and it is reputed to be safe and fast.
The Meizu E is rumored to pack a 5.5-inch display with 1080p resolution and would be powered by an octa-core MediaTek processor with 3GB of RAM. The smartphone is also tipped to feature a 13MP rear camera and 5MP sensor up front.
Samsung formally unveiled the Galaxy Note 7 is an action packed ceremony on August 2, thus effectively putting to rest the avalanche of rumors surrounding the device. But the rumor mills never go to rest, especially on this sleek gadget as there are news about a 6GB RAM of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 in the works somewhere.
The Galaxy Note 7 was released with a 4GB RAM as the custom RAM size on all variants of the device but the Note 7 had earlier been rumored to have seen an upgrade from 4GB RAM to 6GB RAM. However the launch of the device was thought to have put to rest that rumor.
Now, facts have emerged from a recent filing on TENAA that there is actyually a 6GB RAM in the works. The filling revealed what could be a top-end version of the Chinese edition of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 packing a 6GB RAM pairing up with a monstrous 128GB of built-in storage.
The TENAA listing was made public on August 4, with model number SM-N9300, and corresponds with a GeekBench posting about a device with similar model number, both showing the Galaxy Note 7 (SM-N9300) llistedas a 6GB RAM packing version.
Ordinarily, we had wondered the need for a 6GB RAM on the Galaxy Note 7 from the technical point of view, considering that apps are getting smaller in size, Android is also getting slimmer and running too many background apps would only drain the battery faster. But then, we are talking about China where a lot of mobile phone manufacturers have ventured into production of flagships with 6GB RAM in order to outwit competitors. The OnePlus 3 is the latest with such feature and it won’t be a bad idea if Samsung offers a 6GB RAM version on the Note 7 at least to ensure it doesn’t lose a few customers to the extremely strong competition in the country.
Xiaomi announced the Mi Band 2 in June this year and since then, the Mi Band 2 has been in hot demand, occasionally running out of stock over and again.Xiaomi even had to increase production but that still wasn’t enough to meet demand for the sleek wrist band.
Despite the success of the Xiaomi Mi Band 2, there are reports that the wrist band causes burns to the wrist. A Weibo user took to the social media platform to allege that use of the Mi Band 2 caused her wrist burns. The user alleged that she has had the burns more than once and after it occurred the second time she contacted Xiaomi’s after-sales desk to lay her complaints. According to the lady, staffs there examined the device and found nothing wrong with it. But she insists her wrist burns were caused by the Mi Band 2.
Close-up shots of the lady’s wrists reveal quite serious burns on her wrist. The burn marks seem to trace the shape of the Mi band display and could have resulted from excessive friction on the wrist by the wearable. The excessive friction may be the result of tightly fitted usage, but then some form of investigation is best to unravel the actual cause of the wrist burns. Xiaomi is yet to issue a statement about this incident which could adversely affect the Mi band 2’s sale.
While this report is definitely something to be investigated upon, don’t panic if you have bought the new wearable. These cases are extremely rare (in fact it’s first time for a Xiaomi wearable), and we are not even sure whether the burns were caused as a direct result of a malfunctioning / overheating Mi Band 2.
Meizu’s August 10 Event is approaching and while there are various leaks with regards to the phone, something different has popped on Weibo by popular leaker @kJuma. The leak is of a chain strap that is said to be for the Meizu smartwatch which is expected to launch alongside the E-series phone.
The company’s first teaser of the smartwatch was a sketch of several watch faces and straps which included a chain strap. We believe the straps should be easily replaceable, so you can swap them out depending on the occasion.
Before the OnePlus 3 launch, many of us thought the company would release multiple variants of the device but surprisingly, only one model of the OP3 exists. It seems that is about to change as a device that is rumoured to be the OnePlus 3 Mini was spotted on GFXBench. This is still a speculation as it is possible that it might be a different device entirely.
The device has a 4.6” FHD screen, 6GB of RAM, 64GB of built-in storage, and a snapdragon 820 processor clocked at 2.2GHz. It is also sporting a 13MP primary camera that can shoot 4K videos and an 8MP front facing camera for selfies and video calls. The OnePlus 3 Mini has also got NFC (for Android Pay), a single SIM slot, and runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
Mediatek and Qualcomm are the two major chip makers in the world, while we do have others such as Samsung’s Exynos and Huawei’s Kirin, majority of devices are sporting either a MTK chipset or a Snapdragon processor.
Qualcomm has always taken the lead in chip shipment in the Chinese mainland market, but analyst Pan Jiutang posted on his Weibo page that for the second quarter of this year Mediatek has claimed the top spot thanks to the success of the Helio series (save for the weak performance of the Helio P20 which has cost them OPPO and Vivo’s order) and more sales from online and offline brands.
But the increase in shipments is not being celebrated as the company’s gross margin has dropped to its lowest level (35%) in a decade. The company is still facing issues with regards to performance, process, and average selling price. They are also still dealing with supply issues which will still show up in the second half of the year.
Xiaomi’s co-founder had previously revealed that the company was preparing the launch of a new flagship smartphone in August. While the company is yet to confirm that the new product launching is going to be the Xiaomi Mi Note 2, a new device has just passed the Chinese 3C certification website. Considering the charging specs of this certified device, it is a high-end smartphone model, which means it could be the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 flagship.
The listing reveals that the phone supports 5v 2.5A, 9V 2A and 12V 1.5A charging, which takes the maximum wattage to 18W. So, this means that the phone comes with fast charging support. Further, today’s listing of the device confirms that the phone will be manufactured by Foxconn.
While Xiaomi is yet to confirm that the Mi Note 2 is coming, the previous generation Mi Note models are no longer available for purchase from the official company store, which should be a good indication that a new model is coming.
If the launch is indeed in August, then we are quite sure that new information about the device will pop up on the internet pretty soon. So, stay tuned!
We all are big fans of Xiaomi, a company which was given us so many great smartphones, from the budget segment to the high-end market. But in the past 12 months, the company has released so many smartphones in a lineup that it’s actually a bit confusing as to which model to buy.
But that’s not the worse part. What really is confusing is whether to buy the new model or wait a few months till another model in the series is launched. And from the models that have been announced in the past few months by the company, the new ones will be better than the models released before, and will cost almost the same price. So, you would probably end up getting more value for your money, if you are ready to wait.
While this means that consumers get better specced phones for their price, it also leaves the early smartphone adopters a bit disappointed. For some, the upgraded specs may not be a big deal, but for others, a slight difference in the specs would make a big difference in their buying decision.
So, we are wondering what you think is the ideal update policy for smartphone companies. Should companies update the lineup with a new model within a few months, or should they leave a gap of at least 6 months before releasing an update?
Xiaomi has launched a new product under it Mijia subbrand and the product is an Umbrella! Right, an umbrella. The company had teased us yesterday of a possible launchof what we rightly interpreted as an umbrella. The product as usual will be available via crowdfunding for just 69 Yuan ($11).
The umbrella is actually called Luo Qing umbrella product made from materials sourced from Taiwan which offer soft feel, durable and high strength sunscreen which doesn’t retain water. There’s also an additional Teflon coating with superior water resistance and ability to absorb UV rays.
The umbrella weighs just 228 grams and when folded becomes only 3cm thick making it suitable to be fitted inside a small bag. The entire umbrella is 24cm long and when opened, attains an expansion radius of up to 47cm. It also utilises no button design and the umbrella parachute can shrink easily when closed as there are anti-resistance fringes.
Xiaomi has unveiled its expected Xiaomi Mi VR headset dubbed Mi VR Play, which utilises a cardboard box design with the basic VR principles, and VR glass lenses .
The Xiaomi Mi VR Play is actually a cardboard box before VR glasses, somewhat similar to Google’s cardboard VR headset but with better design, more durable materials and a more secured phone holder with zippers. Acccording to Xiaomi, the Mi VR Play uses VR glasses with zipper design and is covered with lycra cotton material. Also, the VR headset can be adapted to fit in smartphones with display sizes ranging from 4.7-inches to 5.7-inches. The two-way zipper takes into account the position of the smartphone inside the headset and keeps the phone firmly fixed.
Apart from the VR headset (Toy version), there’s also an accompanying VR app software which provides panoramic video, 3D movies, games and other applications.
If you’re interested in grabbing this Mi VR Play, you may have to wait a little longer as Xiaomi has not indicated when the gadget will hit the market or the price tag it’ll adopt. The Virtual Reality box is still in the beta public testing stage in China and may not go on sale soon.
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