We have been hearing about Xiaomi’s first drone for the past few months, but, until this month, the company didn’t confirm the existence of this new product. However, earlier in May, Lei Jun, Xiaomi’s CEO revealed that the new drone from the company was real and it would be announced by the end of this month. Just as promised, the company has now officially confirmed the release of the Xiaomi drone next week.
Xiaomi’s official Weibo account released a new poster on its page revealing that that the company’s first drone will debut on May 25 at 19:00. The teaser also gives us a first glimpse of what the new UAV will look like. It seems that the drone will come equipped with a ball shaped camera (could be rotating) at the bottom and four rotors on top. The image does make it look a bit large, but in reality the size could be smaller.
Unlike earlier rumors, recent reports have said that Xiaomi’s first drone is actually going to be an high-end one. The new drone is said to be able to capture 4K videos at 30 fps and come with other top-end features to rival products from companies like DJI. On the other hand, the cost is said to be kept competitive, around $600 which would less than half of what you would usually have to shell out for a powerful camera drone like DJI Phantom.
Since there’s still a few days for the launch, expect Xiaomi to reveal more interesting details about its drone. So, stay tuned!
Yesterday we reported that ZUK CEO, Chang Cheng revealed a new render of the upcoming ZUK Z2 smartphone. Considering that it is called simply as the Z2, we expected the phone to feature slightly toned down specs. However, it looks like the Z2 will be just as powerful as the Z2 Pro. Today, CEO revealed a very important feature of the device — the CPU inside and it’s none other than the powerful Exynos 8890 processor that powers devices like Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge.
He revealed this information in a very interesting way. On his Weibo account, the CEO posted that he spent a day with the Z2, and Exynos 8890 was good. Then, he mentioned Meizu’s Li Nan adding, “great minds think alike”. Well, Meizu has had a long-standing relationship with Samsung and its Exynos chipsets, which is probably why he tagged Li Nan. Further, if you look closely, this weibo post was made using the ZUK Z2 smartphone.
Now, we are wondering why would ZUK would release a new powerful flagship smartphone with Exynos 8890 when it already has a powerful Snapdragon 820 based ZUK Z2 Pro. In the renders, we saw that there were some differences in the camera of the ZUK Z2 as compared to the Z2 Pro and it looked as if the former had a less powerful rear camera module. But we can’t be sure of that yet. Rest of the design was almost identical to the Z2 Pro, including the rectangular physical home button and speaker grill and ports at the bottom.
Maybe, the ZUK Z2 is just another variant, giving users the option to choose between an Exynos powered processor and a Snapdragon-based one, with a few differences in specs. Unfortunately, we don’t have any more details about the Z2 at the moment. But the CEO had confirmed that the release will be in May, which means we don’t have to wait too long to get official details.
LeEco announced its flagship model in China last month with a whopping 6GB of RAM inside. The phone comes with powerful specs to take on competition like Samsung Galaxy S7 and HTC 10, at a much lesser price point. In fact, even at the premium price that you have to shell for Chinese smartphones, this particular smartphone turns out to be a compelling deal.
Letvmart has just provided us with a special coupon to further reduce the price of the Le Max 2 flagship smartphone. The phone is currently listed for sale (4GB RAM + 32GB ROM) at $399.99. With the coupon code: LMT30 the price goes down by $30 to $369. Now, this price includes express shipping as well as customs tax. So, you don’t have to shell out extra for your purchase. This turns out to be a pretty good deal, so if you are interested, do check out their listing on the website from here.
As for the specs, the Le Max 2 model listed here comes with the powerful Snapdragon 820 quad-core chipset with 4GB RAM and 32GB of UFS 2.0 internal storage. The screen is pretty large, a 5.7-inch panel with 2K resolution. At the back, the phone comes with a 21MP rear camera, while up front, you get an 8MP front facing shooter. And you get the advanced ultrasonic fingerprint sensor on board the device as well. The phone supports global LTE bands as well, so it should work in most regions. But do check out your 4G band before purchasing the device. Here are the supported bands: LTE-FDD: B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/20/25/26, TDD-LTE:38/39/40/41.
The coupon code will be valid for the month of May.
Blackview has produced quite a few very cheap phones but the A5 model seems like the cheapest one on the market. You can get it for less than $45 and I will leave a link down below. This is Linus, learn more in the full review.
The phone ships with all the usual stuff and some extras include a pair of earphones and a soft TPU case.
Blackview A5 Review: SPECS and PERFORMANCE
Let’s start by the taking a look what kind of spec-sheet you are getting for such a low price. The Blackview A5 ships with a quad-core MTK6580 chip with the clock speeds of 1.3GHz, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable storage.
The gaming performance is actually not bad. Of course, the graphics don’t look spectacular but I didn’t have any lag or major hiccups when I played Asphalt 8 on the lowest graphics.
Blackview A5 Review: DESIGN, FEATURES, BATTERY LIFE
The phone is very well built considering its price. One of the highlights is a textured plastic back cover, which really looks nice.
You can easily remove the backplate and underneath it you will find a removable 2000mAh battery, two SIM card slots and the microSD card slot.
Speaking of the battery, it should give a full day of moderate use. I could get around 4 hours of screen-on time, which is a decent result.
We have a 5MP camera but you should not expect any stellar results from it as this is a $45 phone after all.
Still, you may get some okay looking images that can be shared on social media if you take pictures in good lighting conditions.
The loudspeaker is actually pretty good and it is probably the best we’ve heard on any phone this cheap.
The 4.5” display does not even sport an HD resolution. Still, it is pretty good panel for the price of the phone.
On the front we have a 2MP shooter, which is not really impressive but you may get an okay looking selfie in good lighting.
A few shortcomings would be that the capacitive buttons are not backlit and there is no LED notification light.
Blackview A5 Review: UI
We have a near-stock looking Android 6.0 out of the box and the performance of it is great.
Some notable features of the UI include a few gesture controls, which actually work fine.
What is the most important to us is that the user interface is smooth and fast. Sure, the phone will not be a multi-tasking machine but it is good for basic daily tasks.
Blackview A5 Review: CAMERA
We have a 5MP camera but you should not expect any stellar results from it as this is a $45 phone after all.
Still, you may get some okay looking images that can be shared on social media if you take pictures in good lighting conditions.
Blackview A5 Review: CONNECTIVITY
We didn’t have any major connectivity issues. The GPS lock speeds are good but the accuracy could be slightly better.
Blackview A5 Review: CONCLUSIONS
Blackview A5 is one of the cheapest phones you can buy and it is a great basic smartphone for the price.
We love the fact that it is well built, it is compact, it has tactile buttons and you can easily manage the phone in one hand.
Also, you are getting processing power that is enough for daily tasks and Android 6.0 is running smoothly. You can even play some 3D games on the phone but keep in mind that the display does not even have HD resolution.
In general, Blackview A5 is a low-end device but if you consider a price of just around $40, it is one of the best options currently available on the market.
Vernee’s first smartphone, the Vernee Thor is already up for purchase via various retailers. The phone came with decent specs and a good design at an affordable price point which meant thousands of customers decided to purchase this device.
Every now and then, we decide to giveaway popular smartphones to our readers and guess what, we are giving away a brand new Vernee Thor smartphone to one of our readers today. If you have participated in our giveaways of the past, entering it is easy. You just have to visit our facebook and twitter pages and share it to get a chance to win this new smartphone from Vernee.
We would like to thank Vernee Official for providing us with this unit of Thor smartphone for this giveaway.
As for the specs, the Vernee Thor comes with a 5-inch on-cell 720p display with MT6753 octa-core processor and 3GB of LPDDR3 RAM. There will be a 16GB eMMC 5.0 memory on board which will be further expandable. At the back, you get a 13MP camera while up front, you have a 5MP Shooter. Under the hood, the phone features a 2800mAh battery with 5V 2A quick charging support.
If you don’t want to wait for the giveaway, you can purchase the phone from OPPOMART for just $99.99. Use the COUPON Code: VENE20 and you will directly get $20 OFF the official price, which is just great.
Check out the gleam widget below to participate in this giveaway.
In the past few weeks, there have been a couple of instances where we have seen details about a new Meizu smartphone featuring a curved screen display. First, it was a set of not-so-clear pictures of the device and later, possible specs of the device which included the powerful Exynos 8890. However, the second leak was a bit too good to be believed, given that the source didn’t reveal any concrete proof for the same. Now, the insider who leaked this information has revealed a new screenshot image which shows Meizu’s CEO Huang Zhang confirming the existence of a curved screen Meizu smartphone.
So, what can we confirm from this screenshot revealed today?
First up, Meizu’s curved screen smartphone is real and in development. Second, the company won’t be calling it the Meizu Pro 6 Edge. Maybe Pro 7 or some other name that we don’t know yet, but definitely not ‘Edge’, at least according to the CEO. Finally, the third important piece of information that we can take away from this picture is that the company will most likely launch the new Flyme 6 OS with this smartphone. In the picture, CEO said that the Flyme 6 was being developed for this device. Hence, it is likely that the new version debuts with an important device like this later this year.
In case you are wondering about the launch date, we don’t have any concrete details about the same. The CEO didn’t mention a timeframe for the release of the new curved handset, but it shouldn’t be anytime soon, considering we saw three new smartphone launches as recent as last month. So, it is safe to assume that the launch could be sometime in the second half of 2016. Last year, Meizu released the Flyme 5 OS in September. If it is to continue the tradition, we can expect to see, both this curved screen phone and Fyme 6 around this time in 2016.
Pricing of the phone is said to be above 3000 Yuan which comes to around $460, which isn’t too bad for a curved screen smartphone. Since the phone is indeed in development, expect a lot more details in the coming days.
It seems that manufacturers have not yet found a secret recipe for a long battery life on a smartphone. Some companies produce phones with huge batteries and that may be a solution but not everyone wants to carry a bulky device in a pocket on a daily basis. Thus, we have a quick charge feature that has become the latest trend in smartphone industry. Blitzwolf has produced quite a few fast chargers and we are going to take a look at 3 of them.
BlitzWolf® QC2.0+2.4A 30W Dual USB Fast Charger With Power3S and Quick Charge 2.0 Tech
When we unpacked all power plugs made by Blitzwolf, they all had one thing in common, which is an excellent build quality. This particular charger sports a glossy plastic finish but it has a special coating that does not attract fingerprints or smudges.
The charger has two ports. One port provides a fast charging feature (up to 2.4A) and it supports Power3s tech, which automatically detects a device you connected and charges it at the maximum speed. The charger has a maximum power output of 30w.
A second port supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 2.0. This tech is capable of charging the supported devices at a 75% higher rate than conventional chargers.
Now you can get the BlitzWolf® QC2.0+2.4A 30W Dual USB Charger at the price of $8.99 (instead of $11.99) with a coupon code: bwqc20
As the name implies, this charger supports the latest Quick Charge 3.0 feature, which is 38% more efficient than the Quick Charge 2.0 tech. That means that you can charge the supported devices from 0% to 80% in around 35 mins.
The build quality of this charger is top-notch. We’ve used it for a couple of weeks and it seems that it will last for years.
We did not have any devices that support Quick Charge 3.0 at the time our review but the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge charged quicker than the original charger (which supports Samsung’s adaptive fast charging tech).
A great thing about the chargers that have Quick Charge 3.0 tech is that they also support the Quick Charge 2.0 feature. It it happens that your phone does not have neither of these charging technologies, the Blitzwolf charger will still charge your device fast using the Power3s fast charging tech.
BlitzWolf® 5V 5.4A USB Type C BW-C3 Car Charger (27W)
The last charger we have in our review labs is designed for in-car use.
It has one USB input port, so you can insert any traditional USB cable. However, the star of the show here is the USB C plug, which is great if you have a device with this port and you always forget to bring the USB C cable with you.
The car charger is well built and it uses aluminum and plastic in the construction. It has a power output of 27w and the PowerS quick charge tech provides maximum charging speeds of 2.4A.
Get 30% off the retail price with a coupon code: BW-C3
We have been using the Blitzwolf chargers for a couple of weeks with all kinds of devices. So far all the chargers have been working fine, there are no overheating issues and most importantly, they charge the gadgets fast. The market is full of fast chargers and it may be hard to choose the right one but our test results suggest that the ones made by Blitzwolf are great bang for your buck.
Chinese companies seem to be impatient when it comes to launching new smartphones. Traditionally, companies used to wait for a few months at least to launch a new model, but now, every month we are seeing new product launches from the same manufacturer. Meizu unveiled three new phones in a single month, Huawei released two flagship series models in consecutive months and now Lenovo backed ZUK is all set to release their second smartphone this year, called simply as the ZUK Z2. The previous model which was released late April was called as the ZUK Z2 Pro, so considering the name, this should be a slightly toned down version of the flagship model. The 6GB + 128GB ROM variant of the Z2 Pro is available for sale, but there’s still no word on the 4GB + 64GB version. In fact, the company didn’t reveal any details about the pricing or availability of the second version at the time of the launch. Could ZUK rebrand this 4GB RAM model as the Z2? We aren’t sure, but read on for more details.
Design wise, there aren’t many changes. The new render reveals that the position of the camera module will be different than on the Z2 Pro. Instead of placing everything in the center, the company has positioned the camera sensor on the top left corner. Laser Autofocus seems to be absent on this device. Rest of the design, including the physical rectangular home button, speaker grill and USB port at the bottom and the buttons on the right seem to be exactly as the ZUK Z2 Pro model. In addition to this render, we also got reports that the phone will feature a 2.5D double glass design and will come with the company’s U-Touch fingerprint ID.
This ZUK Z2 model will be announced this month, confirmed the company CEO. While we are unsure of the specs of the device, expect them to be upper mid-range. This should also drive down its cost as compared to the Z2 Pro model which means consumers will have another great mid-range alternative at an affordable price point.
We haven’t reviewed any phones made by Vernee and it will be interesting to see what kind of devices this company has to offer. Today we have a Vernee Thor in our unboxing labs. The phone costs around $120 and it has some decent specs.
The phone comes with all the usual stuff. One thing worth mentioning is that the phone ships with a fast charger.
Vernee Thor: DESIGN
We are looking at quite a compact phone due to its 5″ 720p display, which is actually very nice to look at. It is quite sharp, vivid and it is a decent HD panel overall.
We have a 5MP selfie camera and non-backlit capacitive buttons. However, there is no LED notification light.
The phone is made of plastic but it does not feel cheap at all. In fact, it sports a soft “baby skin” coating and it makes the phone feel very nice in the hand. Also, rounded edges help with the grip and thus the phone is very comfortable to hold.
The phone sports a 13MP camera with a single LED flash. Just below the camera we can find a fingerprint scanner. We found this security option to be fast, accurate and it works straight from the standby mode.
On the bottom there is a loudspeaker.
The backplate can be removed and underneath it you can find 2 SIM card slots and the microSD card slot for storage expansion. A 2800mAh non-removable battery powers up the device.
The buttons feel nice and they are tactile.
The first impressions of the Vernee Thor have been good. The phone runs on near-stock looking Android 6.0 out of the box and have not had single hiccup so far. Also, we love the way it is built and how comfortably it sits in the hand. As usual, we need to spend some more time with the device to give you a complete and honest review of the device.
While Xiaomi is mainly known for its smartphones, the company has a wide variety of products under its belt, including Android boxes. Now, the company has just unveiled a brand new Android box called simply as the Mi Box at Google I/O. We had expected the new Android box launch at the event since the company’s global VP had already teased the coming of the product a couple of days back. Since the new Mi Box will be coming to US, it will be the first official product from the company in the region.
In case you are wondering, this isn’t the Mi Box 3 model that was announced last year. Instead, this is a new model and runs on Google’s Android TV platform. The Android box supports 4K UHD streaming and latest HDR standards. It comes with a bluetooth remote as well, which supports voice recognition. The box also gets support for Google cast which lets you mirror your Android or iOS device. Unfortunately, the company didn’t announce a release date or pricing for its new Mi Box. But the company did reveal that the new box will be available worldwide.
The specs of the new Mi Box 4K are as given below.
A few hours back, we reported that ZTE seems to have put in a lot of efforts on the sound quality output of the upcoming ZTE Axon 7 flagship smartphone. The company’s Mobile Devices CEO Adam Zeng even revealed that they invited a couple of music professors to test out their new flagship. Now, the company has sent us their first teaser video for the Axon 7 and guess what, it gives us a real life glimpse of the sound quality of the new smartphone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRA5n6CNmHA
From what we could hear, the phone managed to playback the piano piece very well. In fact, only by the end of the video we realised that the music is being played on the speakers of the new Axon 7 flagship. So, looks like the audio playback via the speakers is going to be amazing. But considering this is an official teaser clip, we would like to wait for our real life experience with the new smartphone to reserve our final judgements. This video also confirms that the phone will come with dual speakers located on the front. As per the earlier information, the Axon 7 is going to feature the audio DSP codec AK4961 from AKM
So, what else can we make out from this teaser video? At the end of the video, we can see the logo of VR, which is a clear indication that the Axon 7 can be used in a VR headset as well. ZTE’s CEO had earlier revealed its interest in the field of virtual reality and the company’s decision to use a top-end Sharp 2K panel was influenced by this feature. With Hi-Fi sound and high resolution display on board, VR experience should turn out to be pretty impressive on the new smartphone.
We have already spotted the Axon 7 on TENAA, revealing key specs like Snapdragon 820 and 4GB of RAM. You can read more about it from here.
Despite its late entry into the smartphone industry, Huawei has managed to get a good share of the market in the past few years. This has been mainly driven by the company’s own R&D division as well as promotion of its smartphones internationally. Recently, this Chinese giant announced two new smartphones in the market, namely the Huawei P9 which is the premium top-end series and then, the Huawei Honor V8 flagships which comes with a larger 2K display at an affordable price point.
But this isn’t the end of Huawei’s smartphone lineup this year, as it is said that the company will release the Honor 8 flagship later in 2016. Now, more details about the company’s upcoming device have been revealed by the analyst Pan Jiutang from China.
He reveals that the Honor V8 will come with wireless charging feature. This information comes at a time when there are reports that the 2017 iPhone models will feature contact-less wireless charging technology. Apple seems to be hiring specialists in this field which should indicate the company’s intention of implementing this technology in the future iPhone models.
The analyst also stressed that Huawei seems to be ahead of Apple in terms of implementing features. For example, the company first released the 3D Touch (Force Touch) enabled smartphone, the Huawei Mate S last year. Then we saw that the iPhone 6S models came with 3D Touch as well. This year, the company unveiled two new smartphone lineups with dual cameras, a feature which we expect to see on the new iPhone 7 series. And now, this rumoured wireless charging feature along with dual glass design could first be seen on the Honor 8 flagship before it debuts on the iPhone 8 models next year. Since the analyst has compared Honor 8’s tech to the recent rumours about iPhone’s contact-less charging, we could be seeing a similar feature on board the new device.
Of course, nothing is confirmed yet. Given that two new flagship models were announced in the last four weeks, we don’t expect the Honor 8 to be announced anytime soon. So, let’s wait for more concrete details to come up.
I am sure that majority of the readers here, had one or even multiple Nokia branded smartphones in the past. This isn’t surprising since Nokia was once the king of the smartphone market. However, the last decade wasn’t too good for the company, with losses increasing and its decision to stick with Microsoft’s Windows platform leading to its ultimate demise. We’ve all dreamed about an Android based Nokia smartphone in the past, with Finnish company’s solid hardware and design and Google’s open source platform. While we haven’t really seen a real Nokia based Android smartphone in the past, this is soon going to change.
We are definitely going to see Nokia Android smartphones in the coming months.
Nokia Technologies revealed today that it has given exclusive global license to HMD Global, a startup company based out of its own home country of Finland. This means that HMD Global can now manufacture smartphones as well as tablets bearing the Nokia brand name. In return, Nokia Technologies gets royalty for using its name. The company also has conditionally agreed to acquire rights to use the Nokia name from Microsoft.
nokia android concept image
At the same time, Microsoft is selling its feature phone business to FIH Mobile, a subsidiary of Foxconn for $350 million. The deal is expected to close by the second half of 2016. And guess what, FIH and HMD Global have entered into a collaborative deal which gives full operational control of sales, marketing and distribution of Nokia branded smartphones globally.
So, it looks like finally things have come together to revive Nokia’s smartphone business. The company also confirms that Nokia smartphones and tablets will be based on Android, which is what we wanted from the start.
In case you are wondering, Nokia Technologies will have a seat on the board of HMD Global to ensure that the quality and reputation of Nokia’s name is maintained. Given that HMD Global is founded by ex-Nokia employees, we can expect great design on the upcoming Nokia branded smartphones. The company also confirmed that ex-Nokia executive and current head of Microsoft’s Mobile Division Business for Greater Asia, Middle East and Africa, Arto Nummela will be the CEO of HMD.
ASUS has been relatively quiet when it comes to its flagship ZenFone series. While we first expected to meet the new handset as early as January this year, now, it is said that there should be at least three new models that are going to be announced in June at Computex in Taiwan. The event kicks off on May 31 and goes on till June 4 and ASUS has a tradition of unveiling interesting products at this event.
So, what can we expect from the new ZenFone series?
We know that the new ZenFone 3 series won’t be coming with Intel chips this year, which opens up the possibility of Snapdragon series processors. Now, the first ZenFone 3 model seems to have been spotted on the benchmarking website, AnTuTu revealing key specs of the device. The model is called as the ASUS Z016D. The company is aiming the top-end segment with this device, using the new Snapdragon 820 chipset inside with Adreno 530 GPU. For memory, the phone comes with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. At the back, you get a massive 23MP rear camera sensor, while up front, there will be an 8MP shooter. The display size is unknown but the resolution will be FHD 1920 x 1080p. As for software, the phone will be running on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow version.
Along with the specs details, AnTuTu also revealed that the new ZenFone 3 model scores around 135,000 points on AnTuTu, which is a great. This puts the device in direct competition with other top-end flagships like Xiaomi Mi 5, Galaxy S7 and HTC 10.
The company has already confirmed the release of the new models at Computex 2016. You can check out the teaser video from down below.
According to the latest reports, Motorola is going to make some changes in the naming of its upcoming flagship smartphone lineup. Traditionally, the company has been selling its top-end models under the banner of Moto X series, but now, it is said that this Lenovo owned company is all set to change its name this year. Instead of calling the new smartphone as the Motorola Moto X, the company seems to be rooting for the name Moto Z series in 2016.
So, is it just a change in name or will we see a whole new design and features on the Moto Z series?
Well, at this moment, we don’t have sufficient information to answer this question. Design wise, there may be a few changes, but the basic theme of the new Moto Z series is going to be similar. It is said that Motorola is working on two flagship smartphones this year, code named Vertex and Vector Thin. The latter will be a much more premium smartphone, and could be called as the Moto Z Style. This would make Vertex, the Moto Z Play model.
The report also reveals that the company would gently change the names of the Verizon branded versions in US as well. So, the new Moto Z series will probably end up being called as the Moto Z Play Droid Edition. And the premium accessories that have been rumoured to be sold separately would be called as MotoMods.
These details are yet to be confirmed, but we will know more about it early next month. After releasing three new handsets in the Moto G series yesterday, the company will reportedly reveal the new series on June 9.
ZTE Axon 7 smartphone is all set to be announced on May 26, which is just a week away. The company’s executives have already started to reveal a few details about the device, like a top-end Sharp screen with 2K resolution, and a brand new screw-less design. Now, the executives have revealed a new feature on the Axon 7 — advanced Hi-Fi sound quality with dual speakers.
ZTE had already hinted that audio was going to be the highlight of the upcoming Axon 7 in the invitations sent last week. The invites also came with a brief music clip with the theme “Theatre Sound and More”. So, there is no doubt that the company has put in a lot of efforts to improve the audio output on the device.
Now, ZTE’s Mobile Devices CEO, Adam Zeng reveals a few more details about the Axon 7. He said on Weibo that the company invited a team of conservatory professors to help and advise them in the development of the phone’s audio. In fact, ZTE’s Deputy Head of Strategy & Marketing, Dr Lv Qianhao recently posted a picture of two professors from the Xian Conservatory of Music. There’s no doubt that these two professors were given an early preview of Axon 7’s audio capability. Dr. Lv reveals that their comments have been positive so far.
New reports have even said that ZTE has opened a new lab to design the sound of mobile devices. The company’s own research in this field and with the use of AKM’s latest audio chipset technology, we can expect the Axon 7 to deliver a great audio experience. It is said that the phone will feature the 32 bit AK4961 advanced DSP Codec from AKM.
This new information definitely makes us want to check out the real audio performance of the Axon 7. For that we won’t have to wait too long. The phone will be officially announced on May 26 and soon we will get more details about its special features.
Xiaomi makes some of the best value for money smartphones that we have seen in the market lately, but the company has one major drawback, inadequate supply of its products. Many of the new smartphone launches from the company are hard to get even in China, which means most of the desired consumers are left disappointed. But looks like the company is taking appropriate measures to change this.
In an internal letter sent by Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun, he has stated that from now onwards, he will personally be responsible for the phone supply chain of Xiaomi. The existing supply chain head, Zhou Guangping will now take care of the technology research department of the company. Now that the CEO himself is going to take care of the supply of Xiaomi smartphones, it looks like this issue has been given due attention. And this change should positively affect the company. If the supply improves, the sales will improve and everyone is happy end of the day. It was an urgent matter and we hope it will solved real soon.
So, what do you think? If Lei Jun, the CEO himself is in charge of the supply of the company’s smartphones, will we be seeing a significant improvement in the overall availability of Xiaomi products?
On the same day that Xiaomi announced the Xiaomi Mi Max phablet, Huawei announced their affordable flagship smartphone, the Honor V8. The phone came with similar specs and design as the Huawei P9 series, but at a much lesser price tag, making it a good option for buyers who are in the lookout for a cheap yet powerful flagship. What’s more, the phone is large, featuring a 5.7-inch display and you get a variant that has 2K resolution as well. So, overall, despite its Honor branding, the phone is quite powerful.
The first batch of Honor V8 went for sale in the flash sale today and the phone was immediately sold out. The company has now revealed that it sold a huge number of units today, 208,000 in total which means the phone has been well received by customers in China. While this is a great achievement for the Honor series, if you remember, even the OPPO R9 flagship lineup received a similar kind of response from consumers. We saw that OPPO managed to sell around 180,000 units of the R9 in the first day of launch, but that was through both online and offline channels. In four days, this number reached to an impressive 400,000.
In case you are wondering, the next flash sale for the Honor V8 is going to be on May 24 at 10 AM in China.
The Honor V8 comes with a similar 12MP dual camera setup as the Huawei P9 series, but without the Leica branding. We have compared these two devices in detail to see why P9 is costlier despite both phones having same specs. You can read more about this comparison from here.
Xiaomi announced the company’s first phablet smartphone, the Xiaomi Mi Max aka Xiaomi Max on May 10 and like most other Xiaomi products, the demand for the device was quite impressive. The company received over 10 million registrations for the first flash sale of the device, which shows the popularity of the device in the home country of China. Now that the phone is announced, the Mi Max has received the teardown treatment. The teardown comes directly via IT168 who is known for tearing down famous smartphones (even the Mi 5) in China.
Like most other Xiaomi smartphones, the Xiaomi Mi Max was easily taken apart. The entire process reportedly didn’t take that long, which means this metal + plastic smartphone can be repaired with ease, in case you come across any issues. The teardown also reveals that the majority of the back surface is taken up by the mighty 4850mAh battery underneath. You can check out all the teardown pictures from down below.
To recap, the Xiaomi Mi Max comes with a large 6.4-inch FHD 1080p display with 3GB / 4GB RAM and 32GB / 64GB storage options. You also get the option to choose between Snapdragon 652 and Snapdragon 650 chipsets. At the back, the phone comes with a 16MP rear camera, while up front, you get a 5MP shooter. The phone runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with MIUI 8, and comes with a 4850mAh battery inside a 7.5mm body.
There’s no doubt that wearables are one of the hottest items right now, with every tech manufacturer trying to bring out their own version of the gadget. Now, a new tech startup from China, ASU has come with a unique gadget in the segment, called as the ASU Cast One Smartwatch. What makes this smartwatch really interesting is that it is the world’s first wearable laser projector watch. In simple words, it comes with a laser projector inbuilt which allows you to project anything from movies, games, texts, videos etc directly on any surface like your hand, wall, floor or table. You can even watch online videos in 720p resolution using this smartwatch.
So how is this made possible?
ASU is reportedly using the world’s smallest laser projector optical module and its projection size ranges from 2-inches to a maximum of 60-inches. It provides a resolution of 1280 x 600 pixels and supports up to 720p video playback. The projection will be done via the right side of the device and the best projection distance is between 1.5 cm to 2 cm. The company states that the projection technology used in the Cast One is much superior to the traditional DLP projectors.
Inside this wearable, you get a quad-core Qualcomm APQ8026 processor with 768MB of RAM, 4GB of ROM and Android 5.1 operating system. You can connect to the smartphone for answering calls, checking notifications etc or directly connect to the Wi-Fi network. But it needs to be connected to the companion smartphone for advanced functions. It comes with a 740mAh battery but we aren’t sure how long it can project on a single charge.
The new wearable was announced in China today. The company has listed the Cast One wearable on sale for a price tag of 2999 Yuan ($459).
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
