We have been hearing rumors that LeEco is soon going to announce a new flagships smartphone with the new Snapdragon 821 chipset inside. The new chip is supposed to be a slightly upgraded version of this year’s Snapdragon 820 flagship chipset, increasing the clock speed to 2.5GHz. Now, LeEco’s upcoming flagship phone was spotted on the AnTuTu benchmarking app revealing key specs and performance. The model number LEX720 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8996Pro chipset, which should either be called as the Snapdragon 821 or Snapdragon 823.
As for the other specs, the LeEco LEX720 model features 4GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage on board. The screen size is unknown but the resolution will be 1080p. At the back, the phone comes with a 16MP camera, while up front, you have an 8MP shooter. The LE720 is running Android 6.0.1. These specs are quite impressive and hence, the performance is also pretty good. In fact, it is one of the best we have seen on AnTuTu till date. This particular model managed to score an amazing 154,000 points on the benchmarking app.
Apart from the powerful Snapdragon 821 / 823 chipset inside, rest of the specs, as you can see, are normal flagship stuff. In fact, the Le Max 2 flagship comes with a better rear camera (21MP) and larger RAM 6GB module. But there could be a higher-end model of the LEX720 which could turn out to be the true flagship smartphone of the company. Previous rumors have said that the phone could have a version with 8GB of RAM. So, with SD821 and 8GB RAM inside, the upcoming LeEco phone could turn out be the most powerful handset of 2016.
Xiaomi’s smartphones are popular in China, India as well as other countries, and with its phones come MIUI OS based on Android. This makes MIUI one of the most popular Android-based ROMs in the market right now. MIUI has its own Mi app store, and we have seen the store grow very fast in the past few years. Now, Xiaomi has officially revealed that its Mi app store has achieved more than 50 billion downloads! This is a tremendous achievement considering that the app store was launched just four years back, in May 2012.
The Mi App store hit the 2.5 billion download mark back in 2014 and soon by December 2015, the total downloads exceeded 35 billion! And by the end of Q1 2016, the app store had hit the 40 billion mark. So, it was only a matter of time till the total downloads hit the 50 billion figure. But this shows that the Mi app store is growing very fast recently. Getting over 10 billion downloads in less than a quarter is nothing short of special.
You can check out the graph above which shows the increase in the rate of downloads on the Mi app store from Feb 2014 to Mar 2016.
So, what do you think about this achievement of the Mi app store? Since Google Play store is not officially available in China, Xiaomi’s app store is very popular in the country. So, it’s no surprise that the store is doing so well.
In the past six years since inception, Xiaomi has grown to become one of the hottest tech companies in the world. Although the company is known for its value for money smartphones, Xiaomi also has a wide range of non-smartphone products, with a special focus in the smart home industry. It already has lots of products in this segment, from routers, thermostats, lamps, to even smart bicycles. In fact, after launching the pricey $3000 Qicycle R1 bicycle a few months back, yesterday, Xiaomi unveiled a brand new electric bicycle which costs around $455.
The company’s product profile has expanded so much that almost every 15 days we see a new announcement. While we have no idea how Xiaomi keeps up with so many of these product launches, today, Xiaomi has teased yet another smart home product. The company didn’t reveal what kind of product to expect, but it confirmed that it will announce the product on June 28, which is next Tuesday.
Along with the teaser image, the company had to say the following words: “When can silence, silence..When can shine, shine” (translated). Looks like a riddle! Well, putting this teaser image and the riddle together, could it be another smart lamp?
Xiaomi’s mi ecosystem product planning director Sun Peng added that this is a very interesting product, with the cooperation of international manufacturer.
It looks like a lamp, but it could also be just a part of a larger device. We can’t be sure of anything right now, so let’s wait for more teasers to see if we can guess the right product.
Vivo is all set to announce two new smartphones in the market by the end of this month, namely the Vivo X7 and the Vivo X7 Plus. We have already seen and heard some of the details about the X7 model, but now, images as well as specs of the Vivo X7 Plus handset, has been leaked online. The images reveal the large size of the handset as well as confirms that the phone will come in rose gold color.
Looks wise, the Vivo X7 Plus is going to be large. It is designed similar to the Vivo X7 that we saw in renders and images, and the body is made out of metal. Up front, we can see a fingerprint enabled home button and the bezels of the phone look quite thin as well. To be honest, the phone looks a bit like the OPPO R9 Plus, but nowadays, almost all phones have started to look the same.
As for the specs, the Vivo X7 Plus will come with Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor inside with 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The screen is going to be large, with a size of 5.7-inches and 1080p resolution. The phone is also said to come with the company’s wisdom intelligent machine learning tech, that was first seen on the Vivo XPlay 5 flagship. This tech reportedly helps in the smart management of resources and makes the overall user experience smooth.
At the front, the phone is confirmed to come with a 16MP camera with moonlight soft lights. The rear camera configuration is still unknown, but it should be a capable sensor. Also, expect the battery to be larger than the X7 owing to its larger size.
The Vivo X7 is rumored to start at 2598 Yuan which comes to $394. But we should get official details from the company on June 30, at the launch event.
We have reviewed quite a few smartphones made by Umi but their latest affordable midranger looks like the best Umi’s phone yet. Learn more in our full review.
32GB (expandable via microSD card slot up to 256GB)
Umi Super Review: DESIGN and DISPLAY
As far as design, the phone is well constructed and it feels premium due to its all-metal build.
The usual buttons are nice and tactile and they do not rattle. What is interesting is that we have an extra button and you can programme it to open up certain apps. Unfortunately, this button does not wake up the phone from standby mode.
We have a USB C port for charging, which sits next to the loudspeaker. The sound quality is pretty good but it lacks depth. Also, I found the maximum volume to be too low.
As far as the audio quality via the 3.5mm headset jack, it is great and that is thanks to the embeded Hi-Fi audio chip. The sound is rich and clear, it has a good amount of depth. Finally, the volume output is loud.
The 5.5” display is very sharp with natural looking colors and it is a great panel overall. Also, the display is covered with Gorilla Glass 3.
We have a 5MP selfie shooter on the top and on the bottom there is a capacitive home button, which also acts as a customizable LED notification light. Also, you can choose either on-screen navigation buttons or capacitive buttons.
A 13MP Panasonic camera along with dual LED flash is here for picture taking. Right below we can find a fingerprint sensor, which is quite fast, accurate and it works straight from the standby mode. However, I found the display to respond slower than usual if you unlock the phone very quickly several times in a row.
Overall, Umi Super feels great in the hand and it feels like a premium phone due to its metal build.
Umi Super Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE
Umi Super ships with an octa-core Mediatek Helio P10 chip with the clock speeds of 2GHz, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage. These are pretty good specs for the price of the phone, to say the least.
The gaming performance is decent if you play games on medium graphics. If you set graphics to maximum, you should expect a lot of stutter and skipped frames.
Umi Super Review: BENCHMARKS
Umi Super Review: USER INTERFACE
When it comes to the user interface, we have a nearly stock-looking Android 6.0 UI with just a few added features and customization options. I love the fact that you can switch the positions of navigation buttons and do some other things to customize the phone.
Most importantly, the UI runs fast and I didn’t have a single hiccup in more than a week.
Umi Super Review: IMAGE QUALITY
A 13 camera can take pictures really fast.
The daylight image quality could be pretty good as the phone can take some nice photos but… I noticed that there are a lot of images with soft focus on the left side or on the corners of the picture. Hopefully, this is something Umi addresses in a future software update.
A good thing is that macro shots turn out to look pretty good with nice details and bokeh effect.
The low-light shots can sometimes look okay but I noticed that a purple tint kicks in some situations.
A 5MP selfie shooter is not the best out there but it will do the trick for social media.
A 1080p video quality is just okay as the footage could look sharper and have more detail.
I didn’t have any connectivity issues with the phone as the signal reception was good and the call quality was decent. Also, the Wifi worked fine and the GPS was accurate.
Umi Super Review: BATTERY LIFE
4000mAh battery is one of the strong points of the device. Also, it comes with a fast-charge support and I could fully charge the phone in just under 1h and 30 mins.
As for day-to-day use, I could constantly get around 6 hours of screen-on time on a mixed use.
On the days that I used the phone more heavily, I could still get 4.5h of SOT (gaming, using the phone as a wifi hotspot etc.), which is a good result.
Umi Super Review: CONCLUSIONS
Umi did a great job with its Super phone. The device is well built, it feels premium and it has a sharp display. Also, the UI performance is snappy and the battery, that could be recharged fast, performs great. In addition, I love some extra features like a customizable button and pulsing notification LED light.
However, the camera performance is just mediocre (it could be pretty good but the soft or uneven focus on the corners of the image kind of ruins things up). Also, the display could light up faster once the fingerprint has been recognized at times (especially if you unlock the phone very quickly several times in a row).
All in all, Umi Super is probably the best Umi’s phone yet. It does most of the things right but it falls short in a few departments that hopefully will be improved with the future software updates.
We have repeatedly heard from multiple sources that Xiaomi is working on its first smartwatch. The release date is said to be around September this year, which is just a couple of months away. Earlier, we heard from a Xiaomi’s executive about the upcoming smartwatch but now, it looks like the company is preparing its website for the release of the Mi smartwatch as the official website seems to have already listed smartwatch category in the smart devices section. While this doesn’t reveal anything about the upcoming watch, it kind of confirms again that there’s a smartwatch in the making.
We had previously heard from the CEO of Huami, which is the company that manufactures the Mi Band wearable that Xiaomi Mi smartwatch will meet us in the second half of the year. Given that Huami is directly involved with the production of the wearable, it was a kind of our first confirmation.
Thanks to a recent leak, we already have the basic render of the device. The Mi smartwatch is said to come with a standard round watch design with the Mi logo on top. We can also see two physical buttons on the right side. Also, the smartwatch looks quite thick as well. But what really took our attention was the black bar at the bottom of the display. It seems like Xiaomi’s new smartwatch could have an ugly black bar on the display, just like the first generation Moto 360, which would be really disappointing. But this is just a render, so we will have to wait for some pictures of the new Mi watch in action to really confirm this design.READ MORE:
UMi is one of the trusted local Chinese brands in the market right now who releases pretty good looking and well-specced smartphones. The company is currently busy promoting its latest flagship device, the UMi Super and the phone is turning out to be a very good mid-ranger that doesn’t break your bank. In fact, because of its specs, looks and pricing, UMi Super is selling well for the company so far.
And to celebrate the company’s latest mid-ranger, UMi has provided us with a brand new unit of the UMi Super smartphone to giveaway to one of our lucky readers. This means you get yet a chance to win one of the popular smartphones in the market right now.
Umi Super sports a pretty good spec sheet. It sports a 5.5 inch 2.5D curved glass 1080p display with Gorilla Glass 3 protection and is powered by a MediaTek Helio P10 chipset aided by 4GB LPDDR3 RAM. Further, the phone comes with 32GB of native storage which can be expanded up to 256GB. At the back, the UMi Super comes with a 13MP Panasonic sensor with dual LED light, while up front, you get a 5MP shooter. The phone comes with an 8.5mm body which houses a massive 4000mAh built-in battery. Other features of the phone include a fast fingerprint sensor, USB Type-C port, and 4G LTE support with dual SIM card slots. Supported bands include: FDD-LTE 800/ 1800/ 2100/ 2600 (B20/B3/B1/B7).
As always, we will be conducting this giveaway via the gleam widget. If you have participated in our previous giveaways, you already know how to take part in this giveaway.
The basic idea is simple, you have to visit and like a few pages, tweet the contest along with some other actions. The more you share, the more your chances of winning the new smartphone.
Sumscribe to Umi Newsletter, Get $70 off Coupon Code now: Subscribe
So, let’s not waste any more time and directly head on to the UMi Super giveaway.
Last year Yi Technology released their first iteration of affordable yet great action camera. This year, the company released a vastly upgraded model and it is one of the best action cameras I’ve tested. We have used this camera for 2 months already. The Yi Technology 4k action camera costs $250, which is half the price of the GoPro Hero 4 and here is our full review.
As usual, let’s start by unboxing and see what you get with the camera. The contents of the box include a camera itself, some instruction manuals and USB charging cable.
Yi Technology sent me a waterproof case too, which allows you to use the camera under water up 132 feet or around 40m. The case is very sturdy and well-made. It is also dust-proof, weather-proof, drop and press resistant. Also, it uses a glass with a very good light transmittance.
I’ve used the case for quite a while and so far it has been excellent, there is no water condensation inside of it and the opening latch has been working fine.
YI 4k Action Camera Review: DESIGN AND FEATURES
Firstly, the second generation YI camera changed a lot and it improved in each and every way.
One of the key additions is the 4k video recording, which is thanks to a 12MP Sony IMX377 sensor and the newest Ambarella A9SE75 image processor. The camera has f/2.8 aperture and wide 160° lens.
Next to the camera we have the LED, which lights up in different colours to indicate the juice left in the battery. The camera is made of plastic and the device does not feel very expensive but it does not feel cheap either.
We have a power on/off button, which also acts as a record button, two microphones and the speaker grill on the top.
The camera can be charged via the micro USB charging port, which is covered by a flap.
On the bottom, we have a tripod mount screw. Also, we have a removable 1400mAh battery and the microSD card slot. Keep in mind that you would need to purchase a high-speed microSD card separately for a smooth 4k video recording.
Overall, the camera is tiny, compact, well-built and lightweight.
YI 4k Action Camera Review: DISPLAY AND USER INTERFACE
Another key addition is a 2.19” touchscreen display, which is covered with Gorilla Glass and it is the sharpest display on any action camera we’ve ever reviewed. Also, it is visible even under direct sunlight (if you set display brightness to maximum).
Naturally, the display acts as a viewfinder and this is a major improvement over the last generation camera. You can do quite a few things with the display. You can watch the videos you shot or the pictures you took right on the camera. If you swipe from the top, you will access quick settings toggles.
Also, you can select from quite a few shooting modes that include photo, video, time lapse, slow-motion and other modes.A really cool feature is that you can quickly switch from the photo and the last shooting mode by simply swiping from left to right.
As far as the video resolution goes, you can go all the way to the 4k at 30 fps or choose the lowest resolution of 480p at 240fps. There are quite a few resolution/fps combos but I have mostly used 4k at 30fps, 1080p at 60fps and the 720p slow-motion video, where you can set the fps setting to 240.
In addition, there are some manual controls. You can adjust some image settings, turn on/off electronic image stabilization and so on.
One of the notable features is the dual-band Wifi, meaning that you can easily connect the camera to your phone using the YI Action app.
Within the app, you can use your phone as a viewfinder, which only has a little bit of lag, and some other things like switch from one shooting mode to another. Also, you can view photos and videos you shot and download them to your phone. Keep in mind that the camera creates a separate low-resolution video file, so you can easily share it. In addition, you can adjust some camera settings, upgrade the firmware of the device and so on.
YI 4k Action Camera Review: VIDEO QUALITY
See the video review for video/image quality. The camera samples will be uploaded soon (on April 24th)
I shot videos and took pictures that took over 100GB of storage on multiple microSD cards to tell you what I think about the image quality.
First of all, you have to keep in mind that action cameras are not as the good as the flagship smartphones but the Yi 4k camera can produce a very high-quality footage.
The 4k video is fantastic and it is one of the best we’ve seen on any action camera, to be honest. The footage is sharp is crisp, the color reproduction is very accurate and the infinite focus lens make the footage look in-focus and sharp all the time. The only shortcoming is that the 4k video lacks video stabilization.
The 4k time-lapse video is very detailed and sharp-looking too.
1080p video at 30 fps has less detail but does a better job with video stabilization. In addition, you can turn on the EIS in the settings menu to reduce the shakiness even more and it works pretty good.
1080p video at 60fps s great too. It may not look as sharp as the 4k but 60fps mode is the best suited for sports action.
Slow-motion video can be shot at 720p resolution either at 120fps or at 240fps.
When it comes to the low-light video, the quality decreases significantly. There is less detail and much more noise but still, the image quality is pretty good.
The still images look nice too. Again, the images do not look as sharp as the ones taken with the flagship smartphone but when it comes to the action cameras, they are one of the best in class.
YI 4k Action Camera Review: BATTERY LIFE
1400mAh battery performs great. I could get almost 2 hours of usage if I shot mainly 4K videos. If I shot 1080p videos and took pictures with the camera, I could easily get slightly over 2h of the battery life.
YI 4k Action Camera Review: CONCLUSIONS
So, there you have it, the YI action 4k camera. This is a device that challenges the GoPro camera for half the price.In short, we love this camera and we don’t see any major shortcomings.
The device is lightweight, the display is sharp, the UI is fast and easy to use, the Wifi is fast and the camera works fine with the YI Action app. Also, the battery life is great.
The video and image quality are great too. Sure, the camera could be slightly better in low-light situations but this is probably the only shortcoming we can mention.
All in all, YI action 4k camera is a great product. The price point of $250 may sound steep for some but hey, this is the action cam that has a great image quality, good battery life and much more, and it can easily rival the GoPro camera…. for half the price.
One of the biggest problems with Xiaomi was not product quality or even specifications, rather it was the unavailability of its devices in the market. The company used to unveil great smartphones but once launched, the phone was hard to get, since the stock never seemed to be enough. As a result, the company has been severely criticized for its ready stock availability and we have seen competitors like OPPO and Vivo beating Xiaomi in terms of the shipments sold during the first quarter of 2016.
This was indeed a worrisome issue for the company as well as fans, which is why Lei Jun, the CEO of Xiaomi took it personally upon himself to head the supply department of the company. Looks like, that was a brilliant move, since Xiaomi is now said to be doing quite well in terms of smartphone shipments.
Earlier today, the secretary of the Chinese smartphone alliance revealed on Weibo that Xiaomi’s shipments have improved. In fact, the company seems to be shipping around 6 million smartphones every month in the second quarter of 2016. This is finally great news considering that fans can purchase Xiaomi’s smartphones right after its announcement. Well, at least the Redmi 3S was up for purchase after its announcement, and to be honest, it sold pretty well during JD.com’s grand sale. Even Xiaomi Mi5 is now available for open purchase.
Given that Xiaomi has finally managed to stabilize its shipments, we can expect the upcoming beasts — Xiaomi Mi5S and the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 to be in stock after the announcement. I don’t think Xiaomi can afford to make the same mistake as it did with the Mi5 earlier this year, which did hurt the company in terms of sales. So, when these two powerful flagships are announced sometime later in 2016, we can hope that the company readies a very good amount of stock to satisfy the demand from its fans.
Moto Z and Z Force smartphones have been announced by the company but they will only be released later this year. These two models will also go on sale in China, however, they could have one major difference. HelloMotoHK reveals that Moto Z devices sold domestically will come with Lenovo’s Vibe UI instead of the traditional near Android look. Luckily, it looks like the Vibe UI will only be installed in the phones sold in China, which means other international regions still get the Moto Z with its Moto Pure Android system. Given that HelloMotoHK has a pretty good record when it comes to Motorola smartphones, this could indeed turn out to be true.
Another reason why this is possible is because Chinese people love customized UI interface. This is why we see most Chinese manufacturers having a heavy UI on top of the Android version. But that isn’t the case with international customers since we have seen that many love the clean Android look. So, it could be a win-win situation for all users.
As for the pricing, Moto Z is expected to retail at 2998 Yuan ($456) in China. The Moto Z Force model should cost around 5299 Yuan ($806).
So what do you think about Lenovo’s move to install its own custom UI on Moto smartphone sold in China?
Huawei seems to be launching new phones almost every month. Now, the latest rumors suggest that the Huawei Honor 8 mid-range flagship smartphone from the company will be announced on July 5. The phone will reportedly go on sale from July 12. In case you are wondering why the company hasn’t revealed launch details, it is said that we will get official confirmation by June 25. For the first time, we have some very specific dates for the Honor 8, so let’s wait and see if the event is indeed on July 5.
The Honor 8 is said to be the most beautiful smartphone from the company. We aren’t quite sure what exactly makes it so beautiful, but the phone is said to feature dual glass design with a metal body and very thin bezels. Since we don’t have any good renders of the device yet, we will have to wait for a few more days to see the device in the flesh.
As for the specs, the Honor 8 flagship will be an upper mid-range device. The phone is said to come with dual 12MP cameras at the back, similar to the setup found on the Honor V8. It looks like Huawei is going to make dual cameras standard among its important devices this year. Further, it should come with a 5.2-inch 1080p display, 3200mAh battery with fast charge, infrared port, fingerprint sensor, 4GB of RAM and USB Type-C. The processor should most likely be the Kirin 955.
Rumors state that the pricing of the phone should be quite competitive as well. The Honor 8 could come in four different variants. The 4GB + 32GB standard model should retail for 1999 Yuan ($308) and will lack NFC. The other three variants, i.e. 4GB + 32GB (supports all networks) should cost 2199 Yuan ($334), 4GB + 64GB should be priced at 2499 Yuan ($380) and the top-end model with 2K display, 4GB RAM + 128GB storage should retail for 2799 Yuan ($425).
OPPO’s Find series has always been one of the best, featuring top-end specs and good looks. However, if you remember, the last OPPO Find smartphone, namely the OPPO Find 7 was announced back in 2014, which means it’s been two years since the company updated the lineup. We have been hearing rumors about the OPPO Find 9 coming sometime in 2016 and now, a new leak reveals the basic render of the device along with its powerful specifications.
OPPO Find 9 has some big shoes to fill, considering it will be the top-end smartphone of a manufacturer who is doing quite well in 2016. So, in this rat race, OPPO can’t afford to compromise on the hardware inside the new flagship device. Well, according to the latest leak, it doesn’t look like OPPO has compromised in any area on the new device.
First of all, looking at the render, the OPPO Find 9 comes with a similar design as the previous generation OPPO Find 7. However, the major difference will be at the back, as the phone comes with dual camera sensors, which seems to have become a trend among smartphone makers in 2016. Further, on the back panel, you have the OPPO logo as well as a speaker grill.
Coming to the specs, the OPPO Find 9 flagship is said to come with a 5.5-inch dual edge AMOLED display with QHD resolution. Under the hood, like the Mi Note 2, the phone is expected to feature Snapdragon 821 chipset. As for the RAM, it is said that the phone will feature a whopping 8GB RAM module, taking it to the level of the rumored LeEco flagship. There will be 128GB of internal storage on board as well.
At the back, the phone will come with a 21MP rear camera sensor with OPPO’s smart stabilization tech that was showcased at MWC 2016. Although the render reveals dual cameras, there’s no mention of such a setup in the specs department. Up front, expect a 16MP sensor. Another tech is the Super VOOC fast charging along with a 4100mAh battery which is the perfect combination i.e. a large battery which fills up within an hour! Other rumored features include USB Type-C port (USB 2.0) and Android 5.1 based Color OS (we hope it comes with at least Android 6 at launch).
These are some powerful specs and with OPPO’s Super VOOC tech on board, there’s nothing to complain about the device. Most rumors said that the OPPO Find 9 will be announced in June this year, however, we still haven’t heard any event confirmation from the company.
Elephone P9000 Edge’s release is just around the corner, but that doesn’t stop the details about the new Elephone P20 from coming out. The new phone from the company is going to be yet another powerful device, coming with the Helio P20 chipset inside. This particular chip is manufactured using the 16nm process, which should make it quite efficient as well.
As for the other specs, the latest information reveals that the Elephone P20 will come with 6GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The screen, like the P9000 Edge, will be bezel-less measuring 5.5-inches with 1080p resolution. On top, it will have 3D glass. The body will be made out of metal, which has become a trend among flagship devices.
At the back, like we mentioned previously, the Elephone P20 will feature a 12MP sensor with f/1.7 aperture. Up front, there will be an 8MP front facing shooter. The phone will feature NXP Box AAC speakers along with connectivity features such as 3.5mm headphone jack, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 4.1 and NFC. While we still don’t know the battery capacity of the device, it is said that the phone will come with MediaTek’s Pump Express+ fast charging which gives you 4 hours of talktime in just 5 minutes of charging. Finally, there will be a fingerprint sensor as well.
We have previously heard about the Xiaomi Mi5S model, which is said to launch sometime in the second half of 2016. However, until now, the features and specifications of the device were unclear, since we didn’t hear much about the device via leaks or rumors. But that changes today, as new leak reveals a few important details about the upcoming Xiaomi Mi5S flagship.
Yes, it is reportedly going to be a flagship smartphone coming with top-end specs. The weibo source revealed that the new Mi5S is going to come with powerful specifications. Well, the name sort of revealed that the phone was going to be a flagship, since the Mi5S should be an in between update, in terms of specs, to the already powerful Xiaomi Mi5 smartphone. The source also says that the Mi Note 2 will come with dual cameras. Also, the Xiaomi Notebook is in the works as well (but we already know this!).
What’s actually interesting is the report from a Chinese media website which reveals some of the great specs on the Mi5S. It is said that the phone could come with a metal body, much like its upcoming brother, the Xiaomi Mi Note 2. Further, the Xiaomi Mi5S will reportedly feature pressure sensitive display — which will be a first for Xiaomi, ultrasonic fingerprint sensor from Qualcomm and dual cameras. As for the display and resolution, it is said that they will be on the same level as the Mi5, which means it should be a 5.15-inch panel with 1080p resolution. Further, as the source above claims that this is a top-end flagship, expect nothing less than 6GB RAM inside.
This does confuse us a bit, in terms of the placement of the two upcoming models. The Mi Note 2, like we reported today is expected to come in three variants! All featuring high-end hardware. If the Mi5S is also going to come with top-end hardware, one of the major differentiating features would be the display size, with the Mi Note 2 sporting a 5.7-inch screen while the Mi5S coming with a 5-inch display.
Of course, at this moment, nothing can be confirmed. But hopefully, things will start to clear up in the next few weeks.
Xiaomi’s flagship device of the year, the Xiaomi Mi5 has now been overtaken by the likes of OnePlus 3, ZUK Z2 Pro and even Le Max 2 with much more powerful specifications. However, Xiaomi isn’t a company that likes to be behind for long and looks like the company will soon release a new flagship phone, the Xiaomi Mi Note 2, which will take on some of the best phones in the market right now. The Mi Note series have always been the top-end flagship from the company and it seems that the new update will make sure that Xiaomi has a couple of models in the top-end segment. So, what can we expect to see on the new Mi Note 2?
zAccording to the latest information, the Mi Note 2 will come in three variants — standard version, high version and top-end version. While the Weibo source didn’t reveal the exact specifications of the three models, it mentioned some features that differentiate each of the three variants.
The Mi Note 2 Standard version is said to come with a single camera sensor at the back, Hi-Fi chip, and a regular quick charge feature.
The Mi Note 2 High version will come with dual cameras at the back (will be first for the company) with Hi-Fi as well as a super quick charging feature. We have no idea what kind of charging is meant by this super quick charge, but it’s probably faster and more efficient than the regular version.
Finally, there will be a Mi Note 2 top-end version which, for now, let’s call it the Mi Note Edge model. It will come with a curved screen display with a top-end Hi-Fi chip as well as the super quick charge tech found on the high version.
While the source hasn’t revealed any specs, considering the above information, we can expect the standard version to feature 4GB RAM while the other two variants to come with 6GB of RAM. After all, Xiaomi wouldn’t want Mi Note 2 to lose to other 6GB RAM phones. As for the display, it should be the same size as the first generation model, i.e. 5.7-inch with 1080p resolution on the standard and high version and 2K on the top-end curved screen model. Given that VR is turning out to be an important market for smartphone makers, the Mi Note 2 along with the Xiaomi Mi5S could be ideal phones for the company to focus its attention in this field.
While we don’t have a date yet, the Mi Note 2 is expected to be announced sometime in the next few months. Given its specifications, don’t expect it to be cheap. Hopefully, more details will emerge along with renders and pictures in the next few weeks.
Following the exit of Rick Osterloh (Former President of Motorola Mobility) in March, the company will be bidding farewell to another executive, in person of Jim Wicks who heads the design team.
Jim Wicks: Outgoing Head of Design
Mr. Wicks had the opportunity of working on some of the company’s iconic devices such as the Motorola RAZR, Motorola Droid, Moto X, Moto G and Moto 360. He is said to be leaving next month for Northwestern University’s McCormik School of Engineering. What better way to go than to pass on that wealth of experience to the next generation?
Mr. Wicks will be replaced by Ruben Castano who is a senior design director at Motorola.
Following the exit of Jim Wicks, the Lenovo-owned company might be heading towards a new direction with respect to what new devices will look like. Let’s just hope they ditch the flat tire design on the Moto 360 and keep the much-loved batwing logo.
The new snapdragon processor is expected to launch alongside the Snapdragon 823 which is expected to show up in the new galaxy note. There’s no other news with respect to the two nexus devices but we expect more details when we enter into the third quarter.
Ponder on this: If HTC is indeed making two Nexus devices this year and Huawei is truly getting their Nexus contract renewed, will one of the devices be a tablet? Seeing as the Nexus 9 was launched 2 years ago and will no longer receive support after October 2016, it is safe to hope for a new tablet. We should definitely throw a party if we have 3 nexus devices this year.
Huawei had a wonderful 2015, selling over 108 million smartphones in a single year, which is quite a big achievement for the company. This year, the company plans to sell even more smartphones, somewhere around 140 million which will be great, if it manages to reach this target. However, according to supply chain sources, Huawei has reduced this target to 120 million for 2016, as it failed to reach internal goals due to the high price of its top-end phones. Well, to be honest, 120 million isn’t bad for a smartphone company in this market. It still represents a good 11% growth, which is better than most other smartphone makers who are focused on the high-end market.
Huawei is still doing well in the high-end market and recently, in the grand sale on JD.com in China, the company managed to come out as one of the top three smartphone makers. Also, it’s interesting to see the company’s high-end smartphones managed to come on top, in the two high-priced segments during the sale. For example, in the 2500-2999 Yuan segment, Huawei Mate 8 as well as Honor V8 were the top three phones, and in the 3000-3999 Yuan segment as well, Huawei P9 and Huawei P9 Plus made it to the top three.
So, even if Huawei does not reach its far fetched goal of selling 140 million smartphones, doing well in the high-end market could turn out to be good for the company. According to the company, it has already sold more than 2.6 million Huawei P9 and P9 Plus units since launch.
OPPO R9’s Design
One brand to watch out in 2016 is OPPO who is also doing incredibly well. The company has reportedly sold more than 7 million OPPO R9 / OPPO F1 Plus smartphone since its launch a few months back and if the company manages to reach analyst prediction of 77-80 million units of smartphones sold in 2016, then it would be a big milestone for the company. Given that OPPO’s strength is really in the high-end segment, it could turn out to be a Chinese smartphone maker that Huawei has to look out for in the coming years.
Although most people would know Xiaomi because of its cheap smartphones, the company has a lot of non-smartphone products in the market right now, especially in the smart home segment. The company also has its own top-end smart bike, called as the Qicycle R1, but that is out of the reach of most buyers since it costs a good $3000! But looks like the company is going to release another smart bike in the market, and from the teasers, it looks like the launch is on June 23, i.e. tomorrow. The smart bike is being teased by MIJIA brand, which was recently launched by Xiaomi to bring all its smart products under one name.
While the teasers do not confirm that the new product launched tomorrow is going to be a bike, the red tail light, and tires, as well as the handlebars and the small information display, makes it quite clear that this is going to be a smart bike. The display especially is something to talk about, which will show all the details like the WATT generated, distance covered, speed, etc. There are a few more options as well, which means it will show most of the details about your bike and journey. And like most Xiaomi’s smart products, expect the bike to feature Bluetooth to connect to your smartphone and share all these journey details.
Huawei has evolved as a small time smartphone manufacturer, to the third largest phone maker in the world. Given that now millions of Huawei smartphones are being used by customers worldwide, it becomes necessary for the company to evolve its user interface well. For all those who thought that Huawei needed to revamp its EMUI ROM, here’s some good news. A new report states that Huawei plans to make major changes to the EMUI 5.0 version that will be announced later this year.
And these changes will be for the good as it is said that the company’s EMUI 5.0 will now lean more towards a stock Android look. The company seems to have taken this decision with Western customers in mind. We have seen that most Android users love the simple stock Android UI on their smartphones, which is probably why the company is deciding to make over its user interface. Given that the company aims to strengthen its reach in the mature markets of US and Europe, this could be a much-needed change. The current generation EMUI versions like the EMUI 4.1 comes with complex UI design and menus. After the change, the UI will be simple, but Li Changzhu, Huawei’s Mobile Division executive assures that users will still be able to enjoy advanced features as well as customize the new UI.
Huawei had released EMUI 4 in the second half of 2015, and we can expect the new EMUI 5.0 to be unveiled sometime in the next few months. IFA would be an ideal time, as we will most likely meet a new Huawei Mate flagship at the event running this new interface.
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.
What’s actually interesting is the report from a Chinese media website which reveals some of the great specs on the Mi5S. It is said that the phone could come with a metal body, much like its upcoming brother, the Xiaomi Mi Note 2. Further, the Xiaomi Mi5S will reportedly feature pressure sensitive display — which will be a first for Xiaomi, ultrasonic fingerprint sensor from Qualcomm and dual cameras. As for the display and resolution, it is said that they will be on the same level as the Mi5, which means it should be a 5.15-inch panel with 1080p resolution. Further, as the source above claims that this is a top-end flagship, expect nothing less than 6GB RAM inside.
zAccording to the latest information, the Mi Note 2 will come in three variants — standard version, high version and top-end version. While the Weibo source didn’t reveal the exact specifications of the three models, it mentioned some features that differentiate each of the three variants.
