Advertisement

Honor 5A Officially Announced With Snapdragon 617, Start At Just $106

While Snapdragon 617 octa-core chip initially powered mid-range smartphones in the market, like the HTC One A9 (well, it even powers the Moto G4 Plus which costs about $224), this particular chip is now being found inside entry level handsets. Huawei’s Honor division just released a new smartphone in the market, the Honor 5A and guess what, the full network version of this handset will be powered by the octa-core Snapdragon 617 chipset clocked at 1.5GHz. But there will be other versions as well, like China Mobile and dual netcom variants which use the octa-core Huawei’s Kirin 620 chipset clocked at 1.2GHz.

honor 5a 02

Like its previous generation models, the Honor 5A is targeted at the young generation, coming in a plastic body and metal frame, and in different colors. The phone measures 154.3 x 77.1 x 8.45 and weighs 168 grams. As for the display, the device comes with a 5.5-inch screen with 720p resolution. The contrast ratio is 1000:1, with 178-degree wide viewing angles and pixel level adjustment for better screen viewability under sunlight. Further, the screen also comes with Aluminum-Silicon tempered glass, which provides protection to the display under it.

Although the processors are different for the variants, rest of the specs remain the same. So, the Honor 5A comes with 2GB of RAM on board, along with 16GB of expandable storage. At the back, the phone features a 13MP camera with 5P lens, 28mm wide angle shooting and 7cm macro. While up front, you get an 8MP front facing shooter with 4P lens, f/2.0 aperture, and blue glass filters to reduce flare. The battery capacity is also pretty decent, of 3100mAh capacity with power saving 3.0 feature that should help provide up to a day’s battery life.

honor 5a price

The phone boasts of hardware level security which protects the device from illegal access, filters suspicious URLs and has a special anti-theft feature as well. As for the pricing, the Honor 5A is priced aggressively. The China Mobile variant starts at just 699 Yuan ($106), while the full network variant and the dual netcom variant retails for 799 Yuan ($121).

You can currently register for the first sale of the Honor 5A on June 17 at JD.com and Huawei’s own online store in China.

No.1 D6 Smartwatch Gets 7% off on Banggood: Coupon

No.1 D6

The No.1 D6 Smartwatch is basically a phone crammed into a 1.63-inch screen with leather straps.

The D6 runs Android 5.1 Lollipop with a planned upgrade to Marshmallow, has a 1.63″ screen (320 x 320) covered with sapphire glass, and features 1GB of RAM and 8GB of ROM. There’s an MTK 6580 CPU under the hood and a 450mAh battery.

If you fancy a smartwatch that comes in only leather strap configuration, features a SIM slot (nano) with support for 2G and 3G networks, and sports the usual sensors found on smartwatches (heart rate, pedometer, and barometer) you might want to head to Banggood.com and apply this coupon: cupo7bg which gives you 7% off the original price.

Yeah, this isn’t as good as the deal it had last month which brought down the price by half but was limited to only 110 pieces. But a reduction is a reduction.

The No. 1 D6 does look good with its CNC machined steel frame and clasp which comes in gold, black, and silver. It’s important to mention that we don’t know how long the deal will be available for but the page says there’s a pre-order running from 8th of June – 15th of June.

Xiaomi Mi Max Review – A Lot of Xiaomi!

Xiaomi has produced quite a few devices but the Mi Max is the largest phone the company has ever made. Learn more in our full review.

Thanks to Oppomart for sending Xiaomi Mi Max for a review.

Xiaomi Mi Max Review: VIDEO

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktkAj1yJbno[/embedyt] [embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihJ2KtdHj_s[/embedyt]

Xiaomi Mi Max Review: UNBOXING

IMG_1569JPG IMG_1571JPG

The phone comes with all the usual stuff that includes some paperwork, USB cable, a charging brick and SIM ejector pin.

Xiaomi Mi Max Review: SPECS

Display
6.44″ 1080 x 1920 pixels (~342 ppi pixel density) (Full-HD)
Processor and GPU
Qualcomm MSM8956 Snapdragon 650,Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53 & Dual-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A72,
Adreno 510 GPU
RAM
3GB
Camera
5MP Front/16MP Back
Connectivity
Bluetooth, 3G, 4G, GPS, WIFI, GSM,EDGE, GPRS, UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+, dual-SIM.
Battery
4.850 mAh (non-removable)
Dimensions
173.1 x 88.3 x 7.5 mm / 203g
OS
MIUI  7.3 (Android 6.0)
Storage
32GB (expandable via microSD card slot)

Xiaomi Mi Max Review: DESIGN and DISPLAY

IMG_1594JPG

IMG_1551JPG
Galaxy S7 edge, LeEco Le Max 2, Xiaomi Mi Max

The Xiaomi Mi Max is the largest phone I have ever reviewed and it is large…. I mean, really large.

IMG_1548JPG

We have an enormous 6.44” Gorilla Glass 4-covered 1080p display, which is actually sharp and it is pretty similar panel to the one seen on the Redmi Note 3. The only downside is that the panel could have slightly better sunlight legibility.

IMG_1605JPG

Screenshot 2016-06-13 01.39.51

The capacitive buttons are backlit but the back capacitive button is not evenly backlit as the rest of the buttons.

IMG_1660JPG

On the top, we have a 5MP selfie shooter and customizable LED notification light.

IMG_1654JPG

As for design in general, we see quite a typical Xiaomi we’ve seen on other devices. We have a metal unibody design (except for the top and bottom parts) and it adds a bit of a premium look and feel.

IMG_1648JPG

A 16MP camera is here for picture taking and right below it, there is a fingerprint sensor. Which is fast and accurate and it works straight from the standby mode.

IMG_1558JPG

The buttons are on the right, they are nice and tactile.

IMG_1559JPG

We have a hybrid SIM card tray, which can take either 2 SIMs or 1 SIM and the microSD card.

IMG_1641JPG

The loudspeaker is loud and it has a pretty good sound quality.

Xiaomi decided to stick with the regular micro USB port for charging and we have some extras the IR blaster.

IMG_1615JPG

Overall, the Mi Max is a huge phone and it is impossible to manage it with one hand due to its large display. On the other hand, it is well-crafted and uses some premium materials in its construction.

Xiaomi Mi Max Review: BENCHMARKS

Xiaomi Mi Max Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

My review unit sports a hexa-core Snapdragon 650 chip with the max. clock speeds of 1.8GHz, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage via the microSD card slot.

The gaming performance is great. I played a few games on the highest graphics and there were just a few minor skipped frames that are not even worth complaining about.

Also, the phone does not have any overheating issues even after 30 mins of playing.

Xiaomi Mi Max Review: USER INTERFACE

As for user interface, the phone runs on MIUI 7.3, which is built on top of Android 6.0.

The UI is fast and responsive and I didn’t have a single lag. If you are familiar with the MIUI, you will feel right at home as nothing has really changed.

There is no app tray but we have quite a few customization options and tweaks to play with that help make the phone look your own. Also, you can highly customise the LED light, assign different tasks to capacitive buttons, do various tweaks and personalise the phone in a lot of different ways. 

Xiaomi Mi Max Review: CAMERA

The 16MP camera produces some great looking daylight images with a good amount of resolved detail, natural looking colors and sharpness.

The low-light shots have less detail and more noise but they still look pretty good for the class.

The phone can shoot videos up to 4k resolution and the footage looks pretty good but the continuous auto-focus is jumping like crazy, so I would suggest you to turn it off in the camera settings menu. See a video review for a video sample.

A 5MP camera is not bad and it can take some good looking selfies.

Download full resolution camera samples Part 1

Download full resolution camera samples Part 2

Xiaomi Mi Max Review: CONNECTIVITY

IMG_1656JPG

As usual to all Xiaomi phones, I didn’t have any connectivity issues and the GPS is fast and accurate.

Xiaomi Mi Max Review: BATTERY LIFE

IMG_1633JPG

In order to power up a huge display, we have a large 4850 mAh battery and it performs great.

You can be rest assured that you will get a day or a couple of days out of this phone depending on the usage.

I could constantly get over 6.5 hours of screen-on time on a mixed use. Again, the battery life is always subjective.

Xiaomi Mi Max Review: CONCLUSIONS

IMG_1602JPG

So, there you have it, the Xiaomi Mi Max, one of the largest phones you can buy today.

We have to admit that this phone is not for everyone due to its size but I believe that this is a niche product that will find its users.

IMG_1635JPG

The Mi Max has a nice and sharp display, processing power that can handle most of the 3D games, fast and feature-rich user interface, great battery life and a good camera.

IMG_1605JPG

However, the continuous auto-focus feature in video recording is not yet optimized and we still don’t have the USB C port for charging. Also, the back capacitive button is not evenly backlit as the rest of the buttons.

IMG_1594JPG

All in all, the Xiaomi Mi Max is a very solid extra large smartphone. It delivers in a lot of ways and the phone does not have any major shortcomings. At the price of under $300, it is a great device that may even serve as both – a phone and a tablet.

Zauba Listing of OnePlus 3 Confirms $305 Starting Price

The OnePlus 3 news never ends. Information from Zauba, a website that lists Indian import and export data shows that 7200 units of the OnePlus 3 (A3003, Graphite) 64GB edition was imported for a total sum of $2.46 million after conversion from INR. We did the math and arrived at a price of $341.66 per unit.

Zauba OnePlus 3

Since the OnePlus 3 is expected to have multiple ROM versions (32GB, 64GB, 128GB), we deduced that the version above is the 4GB/64GB version. Speculations in recent weeks states that the OnePlus will have a starting price of 1999 Yuan which is approximately $305. And since the version imported has a price tag of $341, it kind of hints that the base model which will sport 4GB RAM and 32GB of ROM will cost $305.

There are some other items on the import list as well, such as cases VR kits, and even the OnePlus X. Though some of the accessories are listed as not for sale, we still decided to do the math for our wonderful readers so that you have a rough estimate of what you’ll be spending if you eventually pick up the OnePlus 3.
OnePlus Loop VR = $6
Black Apricot Case = $3
Rosewood Case = $3

 

After converting for the OnePlus X (Black Onyx, 3GB/16GB) we arrived at $190. This also confirms the price reduction announced a few weeks back for the OnePlus 2 and OnePlus X phones.

 

The OnePlus 3 is going to launch on June 14th via a VR event which will also let users purchase units for the first time over VR.

*all prices were approximated after conversion

OnePlus 3 Won’t Have NFC Reveals New Specs Sheet

A fully detailed specification sheet of the OnePlus 3 surfaced at TENAA recently and confirms that the OnePlus 3 won’t have NFC. We did mention it will come with NFC support which was surprisingly missing on the OnePlus 2, but it seems OnePlus still doesn’t want to bring it back. And seeing that the version of the OnePlus listed is the 6GB/64GB model, we can assume that it’s not going to be on even the 128GB version.

 

Other specifications confirmed include a 5.5’’ FHD AMOLED screen, a Snapdragon 820 processor clocked at 2.2GHz, Adreno 530 GPU, dual nano SIM slots, a 3.5mm earphone jack which should be good news for those who don’t like the new USB type-C audio jacks in some recent flagships; and a 3000mAh battery.

The phone will support all networks, run Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and weigh 158g.

OnePlus CEO, Pete Lau Posts Night Shot of The OnePlus 3

We have just 4 days to the launch of the OnePlus 3 and CEO Pete Lau aka Liu Zuohu has decided to whet our appetite by posting a night shot of the OnePlus 3. We’ve been getting a steady stream of camera samples of the OnePlus 3 and this is probably not going to be the last.

s_22ce999af1ab4581918e8483a8579473

The picture is an outdoor one of a fireworks show and it does look impressive. The color reproduction is good,  noise reduction is great, and we can see the blacks are well reproduced.

oneplus 3 live leak

The OnePlus 3 is going to sport a 5.5″ FHD screen; 4GB or 6GB of RAM and possibly multiple ROM configurations (32GB, 64GB, and 128GB); a Snapdragon 820 processor; 16MP rear camera capable of shooting in 4k and 8MP for selfies; NFC, fingerprint scanner; and a 3000mAh battery. Pricing is said to start at 1999 Yuan.

OnePlus VR Headset Review – Good but Not Really Comfortable

OnePlus 3 official release date is approaching and I was one of the lucky ones that managed to get the OnePlus Loop VR headset for free. Well, I just needed to pay the shipping fee of 7 EUR, to be precise. I spent some time with it and here is my full review.

OnePlus VR  Headset Review: VIDEO

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8BJY8esTps[/embedyt]

OnePlus VR  Headset Review: UNBOXING

IMG_1478JPG IMG_1480JPG

Inside in the box you are getting the headset itself, some paperwork, a cleaning cloth and a head strap.

OnePlus VR  Headset Review: DESIGN and FEATURES

IMG_1482JPG

The very first thing that is going to impress you is the build quality. I’m not sure what will be the retails price of it but I presume it will be around $30.

IMG_1485JPG IMG_1489JPG

The headset uses high-quality plastic, rubber, foam and other materials and the device does not look cheap at all.

The one and only thing that you can control is the distance between your eyes. I was disappointed that you cannot control the distance between the phone and your eyes. Also, you have to know that this is a passive headset, meaning that there are no control buttons.

I am not going to talk too much what you can do with any basic VR headset but you can check out the video of the Blitzwolf VR headset review for that.

IMG_1495JPG

In order to start using the VR headset, you have to slide your phone in and for this review I used the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. There is some foam and rubber inside the sliding part and it kept my phone secure. Well, this review would have been completely different otherwise.

When it comes to any VR headset, one of the key aspects is comfort. Unfortunately, the OnePlus headset fails in this department.

IMG_1500JPG

I may sound a little subjective, or my nose has a weird shape, or my head has a weird shape… I don’t know… but the main issue is that there is no cushion on the nose part and it is really uncomfortable. You can partly solve this issue by sliding the headset up to your forehead but it may slide back.

OnePlus VR  Headset Review: CONCLUSIONS

IMG_1498JPG

I can’t complain much about the OnePlus VR headset since I got it for free. In fact, I love a great build quality and a choice of materials. However, you cannot adjust the distance between the phone and your eyes.

Also, I didn’t find the headset to be comfortable to wear. I’m not sure for how much OnePlus is going to sell it but I have reviewed some other cheap options that may not have that great build quality of the OnePlus VR headset, but they are more comfortable to wear.

LeEco Le 2 GiveAway: Win A Free Smartphone From GizmoChina & LeTVMart

It has become a habit for us to giveaway popular smartphones to our readers. Just recently the Vernee Thor giveaway ended and now, we are back with another super popular device that I am sure many would like to win — the new Le 2 smartphone. This particular device gets a lot of ticks on a regular smartphone buyer’s check list and hence, it’s no surprise that the phone has received a lot of well-deserved attention.

le 2 giveaway

Hence,

To recap, the Le 2 comes with a beautiful 5.5-inch 1080p display with the deca-core Helio X20 chipset inside. There will be 3GB of RAM on board and 32GB of internal storage. At the back, the phone comes with a 16MP rear camera, while up front, you get an 8MP shooter. Finally, you have a decent 3000mAh battery on board, which should give you at least a day’s usage.

Overall, the Le 2 is a pretty good smartphone in its segment. I am sure most of our readers would love to win this device. Since the unit for giveaway is provided by LeTVMart, we would like to thank them for making this possible. Do check out their website as they sell all LeEco smartphones and provides free express international shipping.

You can also check out our review of the handset from here.

Just head over to the Gleam widget down below to get a chance to win this amazing new Le 2 smartphone.

 

LeEco Le 2 Giveaway

Moto Z, Moto Z Force & MotoMods Accessories Official

For the past few weeks, we have been consistently bombarded with leaks and rumors about Moto Z flagship. Now, the rebranded Moto Z family is official and it’s everything we expected it to be. There will be two models in the series, namely the Moto Z and the Moto Z Force. There are two major highlights of these devices. First of all, they don’t come with a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. So, you have to use USB Type-C port for listening to music. Secondly, they come with a special 16 pin connector at the back for “MotoMods”. We’ll talk about them in detail soon, but before that let’s look at the specs of the two devices.

moto z 03

The company is calling the Moto Z, the thinnest flagship in the market right now. The phone features an all-metal body that measures just 5.19mm in thickness, which is really thin. But it doesn’t look like this thickness includes the protruding camera of the device. The company has also limited the weight of the device to just 136 grams. The stainless steel + aluminum body also gets nano waterproof coating so that the phone is protected from splashes.

As for the specs, the Moto Z comes with a 5.5-inch 2K display with the mighty Snapdragon 820 quad-core chipset under the hood. There will be 4GB of RAM inside with 32GB / 64GB storage options and MicroSD expansion up to 2TB! At the back, the Moto Z comes with a 13MP sensor with f/1.8 aperture, OIS and Laser Focus. There’s dual tone flash as well. Up front, you get a 5MP wide angle sensor with its own flash. Like the Moto G4 Plus, the phone comes with a front facing fingerprint sensor. Inside, you have a 2600mAh battery with Turbo Charge technology that gives you about 8 hours of battery life with 15 minutes of charging.

Next up, is the Moto Z Force. Looks wise, they both have the same design. But specs are upgraded than the Moto Z. The phone also features a slightly thicker 7mm metal body and weighs 163 grams. The screen up front remains the same as the Moto Z, i.e. 5.5-inch 2k resolution panel, but Motorola has added Moto Shattershield to ensure greater protection to the display.

As for the specs, the basic configuration remains the same. But the camera has been upgraded to 21MP and the battery capacity is also increased to 3500mAh which the company claims is good enough for 40 hours of battery life.

moto z jbl motomod

Now, coming to the main highlight of the conference, the Moto Z family gets the MotoMods accessories. These accessories can connect to the phone using the 16 pin connector at the back. These nifty add ons can be used to add new functionality to the device. For example, there are different MotoMods available like JBL Soundboost Music module, projector module, battery module and other ones in wood and leather finish. Unlike the LG G5, these are magnetic attachments which stick to the back. So, no need to take out the battery as in the case of the G5.

The Moto Z family will debut in US this summer. The company has also revealed that the devices will make it to UK, Europe and internationally in September. Unfortuantely, we have no information on the pricing of these handsets yet.

Xiaomi Mi Band 2 Sold By Some Retailers At High Prices In China!

Xioami MiBand 2 is the successor to the widely accepted first generation MiBand and Mi Band 1S, and it seems Xiaomi is replicating that success with their new fitness tracker as there is a scarcity that has caused retailers to list it for insanely high prices.

mi band 2 official

The new fitness tracker which has an OLED screen is supposed to sell for 149 Yuan ($22), but the unavailability of retailers to restock has led them listing it for up to 229 Yuan ($35). Taobao and other e-commerce sites have complained about the scarcity which has affected delivery time. Even JD.com, which has a strong partnership with Xiaomi started selling the Mi Band 2 at 169 Yuan (around $26), higher than the official price, which surprised many users in China.

Remember how the company had to delay the release of the device due to production issues? It looks like still it’s not being mass-produced to meet the high demand. Hopefully, things will be better soon.

The Xiaomi MiBand 2 has an IP67 water and dust resistance certification, an optical heart rate sensor, and a 70mAh battery.

The Ultimate Selfie Stick? Blitzwolf Selfie Stick Review

Selfie sticks may not be the newest invention in the tech world but we came across the Blitzwolf selfie stick that sports a great build quality, has a lot of features and it is affordable. Learn more in our full review.

BlitzWolf Ultimate 4 Button Bluetooth Selfie Stick Review: UNBOXING

IMG_1457 IMG_1458 IMG_1459

A selfie stick comes with a carbine, USB cable for charging and some instruction manuals.

BlitzWolf Ultimate 4 Button Bluetooth Selfie Stick Review: DESIGN and FEATURES

IMG_1460

IMG_1476 IMG_1472

When it comes to the design, the selfie stick is well made. It uses aluminum and quality plastic in the construction.IMG_1461

One of the key features is that the selfie stick connects to your phone via Bluetooth and it can control your phone’s camera to take pictures. The buttons allow you to take a picture, switch cameras on the phone, zoom in or zoom out.

IMG_1462

On the side we have a charging port as well as power on/off switch.

IMG_1470 IMG_1471

A rubber handle makes the stick very comfortable to hold. On the bottom, we have a mount screw.

IMG_1468 IMG_1469

I’ve tested this selfie stick with the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge and it works fine for selfie camera but other features do not work.

Thus, you have to download a Blitzwolf Shutter app to make all the buttons on a selfie stick work. The interface of the app is very simple. Also, all the buttons on a selfie stick work absolutely fine using the app. The only shortcoming is that the app does not allow to use the 4k video recording feature of the back camera.

BlitzWolf Ultimate 4 Button Bluetooth Selfie Stick Review: CONCLUSIONS

IMG_1473

Selfie sticks are definitely not the newest invention in the tech industry but if you are looking for one, the Blitzwolf product will not disappoint.

IMG_1475

It sports a great design, build quality and it has a lot of buttons to control your selfie game. Also, the battery seems to last forever. I could not kill it in a few weeks and it will probably last for days to come.

IMG_1465 IMG_1466

The phone cradle is of a great quality too. It kept my Galaxy s7 edge in place fine. Well, if it didn’t, this review would be completely different.

IMG_1476

All in all, Blitzwolf selfie stick is a great product that does not cost a lot. You can get it for less than $17 and it is a great value for the money if you are in the market of selfie sticks.

Six Out Of the Top 10 Smartphones For May 2016 Are From China

Chinese smartphones have come a long way in the past couple of years. This year, we saw at least three new smartphones from China featuring a whopping 6GB of RAM on board along with other powerful specs. And it’s no surprise that these smartphones along with other 4GB RAM phones powered by Snapdragon 820 chip dominate the top 10 smartphone list for the month of May released by AnTuTu.

antutu top phones may 2016

On top lies the Vivo XPlay Lite, which was the first 6GB RAM smartphone in the market. The phone managed to top the list with a score of 138,706 points. Next up lies the Le Max 2 with 138K points and then the ZUK Z2 Pro scoring 136,853 points on average. Like mentioned above, these three phones feature 6GB of RAM on board with the mighty Snapdragon 820 chip. The next two phones, namely the Xiaomi Mi5 and the Galaxy S7 Edge also score well, which isn’t surprising given that they have the same Snapdragon 820 chip inside but with 4GB of RAM. We don’t see much difference in the performance of 6GB and 4GB RAM phones here, mainly because, AnTuTu gives more importance to the CPU and GPU, rather than RAM.

Then, there are the two iPhone models, the iPhone 6S and iPhone SE, both featuring Apple’s top-end A9 chips. Even they manage to score above 130K on the benchmark test, showing the power capability of the chip inside. The last three in the list are LG G5 with Snapdragon 820, Meizu Pro 6 with Helio X25 chip (overclocked Helio X20) and finally, Honor V8 with Kirin 955m. Given that Huawei’s device has made it to the list, it shows that Kirin chipsets have finally improved their performance in comparison to its competition.

 

 

New OnePlus 3 Camera Samples Revealed And They Look Good!

OnePlus has a tradition of hyping its flagship device before launch. This year is no exception, with the company promoting the upcoming OnePlus 3 in full spirit. We know that the OnePlus 3 will have several pop-up events in major cities around the world wherein you can purchase the device. We also know that the phone went for sale in limited quantities in China (shipping on June 15) for $450. Well, hardly anyone got hold of the unit in China since it was reportedly sold out in a second.
oneplus 3 live leak

We also have seen a few camera samples taken by the company CEO. But now, OnePlus’s official twitter account has shared some wonderful images taken from the OnePlus 3. From the images, it looks like the phone’s been travelling, which is good, because we get to see some great shots from the device. Unfortunately, they aren’t full size, so we can’t judge the real quality until we get the original samples. However, from what we can see, the pictures have very good amount of detail and the color reproduction is good as well. We also saw an image of night time firework, which reveals good amount of light and hardly any noise. Check out the four samples from down below.

The phone is expected to come with a 16MP sensor at the back and an 8MP shooter up front. Not much details about the device’s camera are available yet, but the official announcement on June 14 should confirm additional details about the sensor inside.

 

Could ZUK Ditch Cyanogen OS For International ZUK Z2 Variants?

Last year, the Lenovo backed ZUK entered the market with its brand new ZUK Z1 smartphone. The phone ran the old Snapdragon 801 flagship but it turned out to be quite a successful device, launching in a number of countries internationally, including recently in India. But for a young company, it was necessary to have a great OS, and hence, it partnered up with Cyanogen for using Cyanogen OS on its new device. Given the popularity of Cyanogen, it turned out to be a good decision, since it promised timely updates and new features on the ZUK Z1.

zuk z2 pro 03

Now, the company has updated the Z series with two new smartphones, the ZUK Z2 and the ZUK Z2 Pro. Both these devices are running the company’s own ZUI 1.9 version out of the box, but that’s for the Chinese version. We haven’t yet heard anything about the international variants of these devices, nor any comments about the OS that will power them. It’s possible that ZUK continues to use Cyanogen OS for their international variants, but the company just launched a ZUI Android website and the site is available in English as well as Chinese. What’s even more interesting is that that the official ZUK forums have threads talking about overseas ROM support. Of course, this doesn’t in any way confirm that ZUK has ditched Cyanogen, but it shows that ZUK is invested in its own OS.

We have seen OnePlus switch to their own OxygenOS (HydrogenOS in China) for its new devices last year and it’s possible that ZUK follows the same route this year. At this moment, nothing is official, and we will have to wait for an official statement from the company to throw some more light on the company’s plans for its international models.

Meanwhile, let’s know if you think it would be a good idea for ZUK to switch to its own OS for international variants as well, instead of Cyanogen.

 

(via)

 

Vernee Apollo Lite Gets $30 OFF On OPPOMART (COUPON)

Despite its entry into the smartphone market only around early 2016, Vernee has managed to get our attention by releasing affordable smartphones with pretty good specs. The Vernee Thor turned out to be quite a decent performer, priced at just $99.99 after discounts. Now, the company is back with its upper mid-range device, the Vernee Apollo Lite. This particular phone is much more powerful than the Thor and looks wise, its all-metal body makes sure that it will turn a few heads.

apollo lite 001

Now, the Vernee Apollo Lite is up for pre-order via various resellers and OPPOMART has just informed us that the retailer will be selling the phone at $30 OFF the official price tag. This means, now you can pre-order the device for just $200, which is an amazing deal, considering the specs of the device. Just use the Coupon Code: APOL30 while ordering the device.

The phone comes with the Helio X20 deca-core chipset clocked at 2GHz, which is quite powerful for its price range. You further get 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, which is further expandable up to 128GB via MicroSD. Up front, the phone has a 5.5-inch Sharp’s IGZO display with 450 nits of brightness and Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Then there’s a 3180mAh battery with fast charging, USB Type-C port with support for lossless digital music (you get a 3.5mm headphone jack as well) and a fast fingerprint sensor. At the back, the phone features a 16MP Samsung ISOCELL 3P3 sensor with 6P lens and dual tone flash while up front, you get a f/2.0 5MP shooter. Finally, you get the latest Android 6.0 with Vernee OS. If you are looking for reasons to buy the new device, check out this article which almost covers all the features of the Apollo Lite.

Head over to the OPPOMART link for more details.

Gionee S6 Pro Expected June 13: Specs and Design Revealed

Gionee-S6-Pro-TENAA

Gionee is not a new name to those familiar with android. They have actually got a large following in China and India and are the OEM for American phone company, BLU. The S6 Pro is their upcoming device.

Towards the end of last year,  Gionee released the all-metal Gionee S6 which by its specs can be classified as a mid-range device. With the new announcement, Gionee thinks it’s time the phone got an upgrade.

The S6 Pro will be wearing Gionee’s new logo and based on information on TENAA, while it will be getting an FHD AMOLED screen compared to the original S6 which has a 720p screen, it will retain the same 5.5″ screen size. RAM has been bumped up to 4GB and ROM will come in 32GB or 64GB variants. Gionee hasn’t settled on what SoC will be used but we might see the phone sporting a Snapdragon 652 or a Mediatek Helio P10. There is going to be a 13MP camera on the back which is slightly protruding and an 8MP front facing camera for those wonderful selfies.

 

The phone is fuelled by a 3130mAh battery and will come with Android Marshmallow with Gionee’s Amigo OS overlay. The S6 Pro will have 4G LTE and is expected to feature a USB Type-C port. Gionee has released teasers for the phone which confirms that the S6 Pro will launch on the 13th of June.

Gionee-S6-Pro-announcement-teaser_1-400x711

From the pictures, we can see that Gionee has ditched the capacitive buttons on the original S6 in favor of a physical home key which will also house a fingerprint scanner. Pricing still remains unknown.

Three New Phones From ZOPO Coming In The Next 30 Days

After releasing the popular ZOPO Speed 8 flagship smartphone, the company started teasing a couple of handsets. However, then it looked as if ZOPO was busy with its Speed 8 flagship as we didn’t hear anything new from the company recently. Now, the company has just informed us that ZOPO is all set to release not one, but three new smartphones in the market, within the next 30 days. These phones will range from the budget segment to the mid-range segment, mainly because, the ZOPO Speed 8 is probably going to be the company’s (top-end) flagship for a few more months.

zopo color phones

All the three models will be from the company’s youth-oriented Color range, and their names will be as follows: Color C3, Color F2 and Color F5. While ZOPO didn’t really give out specifications of any of these three devices, it said that these phones will have some of the best premium features expected from smartphones in 2016. In case you aren’t clear about these premium features, the following excerpt from the company’s release should give you some idea.

“A trio of low to mid range devices being developed featuring many of the best premium features expected from smartphones in 2016 – capable batteries, fingerprint scanners, HD displays, sophisticated designs with metal finishing, good cameras and extremely competitive pricing, among other standard features”

Well, we can expect to hear more about these three devices in the near future. Meanwhile, the company informs us that the ZOPO Speed 8 is sold out at the moment, and all those customers who ordered the device have already received it or will get it soon. The company also promised future updates for its flagship device.

 

Le Max 2 & Le 2 Official In India, Pricing Quite Aggressive!

LeEco had a big event in India today, wherein it launched two of its updated smartphones, namely Le Max 2 and the Le 2 in the market. This will be the second generation LeEco devices in the Indian market, and these two phones will succeed Le Max and Le 1S models which were announced a while back. Like expected, the company won’t be releasing the Le 2 Pro in the region.

LeEco has priced the Le Max 2 and Le 2 aggressively in India. The Le 2 is priced at just Rs. 11,999 which comes to just around $180. This is pretty close to the phone’s price tag in China, which comes to $170. But what’s interesting is that the Le 2 that is sold in India will be powered by the Snapdragon 652 chipset, instead of the Helio X20 that powers the Chinese variant.

Le 2

Also, like we mentioned in the launch article in April as well as our review of the Le 2 and Le Max 2, both the devices don’t come with a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. Instead, the company has placed its bet on the CDLA lossless music standard that works via the USB Type-C port. You can purchase the USB Type-C headphones at Rs. 1990 which comes to around $30.

Other specs of the device remain the same. So, the Le 2 comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of non-expandable storage, 16MP rear camera, and 8MP front shooter. You get a 5.5-inch 1080p display on the front and inside, a 3000mAh battery. With Snapdragon 652 on board, this becomes the cheapest device with this octa-core chip. Definitely makes it a powerful handset in its price category.

Le Max 2

Coming to the Le Max 2, the phone comes is priced at Rs. 22,999 ($345) for the 4GB RAM + 32GB version and Rs. 29,999 ($449) for the 6GB RAM + 64GB version. In case you are wondering, these prices, especially for the 6GB RAM version, are a bit higher than the Chinese pricing. In China, the Le Max 2 4GB RAM variant comes for around $324 while the 6GB RAM version retails for $386.

To recap, the Le Max 2 comes with the mighty Snapdragon 820 quad-core chip inside with a 21MP rear camera, 8MP front camera, 5.7-inch QHD display and 3100mAh battery with fast charging. Do check out our reviews of both the devices to see how they perform in real life.

Moto Z Likely to Come With A Super Slim Body, New Renders Reveal 16 pin Connector

Lenovo owned Motorola is expected to announce the brand new Moto Z smartphone series tomorrow. For some reason, this year’s Moto flagship range has been renamed from Moto X to Moto Z and we can expect a couple of devices to debut tomorrow. While we have been hearing about the phone for the past few weeks, now, new renders of the Moto Z have just been leaked online, revealing the phone’s back design with the 16 pin connector.

moto z render

First of all, a leaked teaser reveals that the Moto Z will be thin. You can clearly see that the camera sensor will be protruding from the body. Also, there are three buttons on the right, one should be the power button and the other two should be the volume up and down keys.

Apart from this, we also have a render, which shows off the back of the new Moto Z in three colors, namely black, silver and gold. This image reveals the huge size of the camera module at the back. Further, down below, on the back panel we also see the much talked about 16 pin connector for attaching modules. Just below that should be the speaker opening.

moto z render 02

According to the latest rumors, the 16 pin connector will be used to connect MotoMods, for adding new features to the device. While this isn’t completely a modular design, it still would be quite impressive if we could swap out different modules on the back of the phone for different functions like Hi-Fi or Video controls, similar to LG G5’s design. Hopefully, we will get to hear more about it tomorrow at the launch event.

As for the specs, like last year, this time, Motorola is expected to release two variants of the Moto Z, namely Moto Z Play and Moto Z Style. The Z Play will be the less powerful variant and should come with Snapdragon 625 octa-core chip, 5.5-inch 1080p display, 2GB / 3GB of RAM, 16GB / 32GB storage options, 7mm body, 16MP rear camera and 3500mAh battery.

Coming to the Moto Z Style, it should come with a 5.5-inch 2K display, with Snapdragon 820 chip, 3GB / 4GB RAM options, 32GB internal storage, 13MP rear camera with OIS, 2600mAh battery and a super thin 5.2mm body.

We also should see Motorola’s Project Tango device soon, which could be called as the Lenovo PHAB2 Pro. You can read more about that from here.

Meizu M3S Smiles For the Camera Again, Launching On June 13

UPDATE: More Images Have Come Up Online, They Have Been Added In the article!

After releasing three new devices in April, Meizu is all set to announce a brand new device on June 13. Well, this smartphone isn’t going to be from a new series, instead, it is going to be yet another update in the company’s budget Blue Charm range. Out of the three phones announced in April, two were from the Blue Charm range, which would make this one, the third model in the series in a matter of a couple of months. From what we have heard, the phone is going to be called as the Meizu M3S and will come with a metal body, unlike the other two models which feature polycarbonate back.

 

Now, new images of the Meizu M3S have been leaked online, confirming its name as well as the basic design. A couple of images of the retail box of the phone confirms that it will be called as the M3S. Further, we have some real life images as well, which shows a compact body as well as a design similar to the Meizu M3 Note that was released before. The oval physical home button is also present on this device.

As for the specs, the Meizu M3S is going to come with an octa-core chipset clocked at 1.5GHz, which should most likely be MT6750. The screen should be compact, measuring 5-inches with 720p resolution. For memory, you can expect 2GB RAM + 16GB storage and 3GB RAM + 32GB storage variants. At the back, expect the same 13MP sensor as the M3 Note, while up front, you will find a 5MP shooter. Finally, for battery, the phone features 3000mAh capacity.

More Images Were Leaked, Check them out from above

Now, you must be wondering, the specs are quite the same as the M3, then why is the company specially releasing the Meizu M3S. Well, like we saw in the image yesterday, the phone will most likely upgrade the body from polycarbonate to metal. We still have no idea if Meizu has upgraded other things on the new handset, but considering the phone is getting a separate conference, we hope that there are a few more upgrades as well.