OPPO recently released the OPPO R9 FC Barcelona Edition in two colors, blue and red. The customized version looks very good and I am sure many of Barcelona fans will try their best to get hold of one of these devices. However, apart from the regular FC Barcelona edition, the company had a special OPPO R9 FC Barcelona MSN Edition in blue with the signatures of three great footballers, Messi, Neymar and Suarez. The company recently auctioned off the device on JD.com and guess what, the phone managed to fetch nearly $13,500!
This customized OPPO R9 FC Barcelona edition comes with an 18K gold plated team logo at the back which is reportedly crafted by hand. Further, the signatures of the above-mentioned footballers can be found on the back of the device. A lot of fans participated in the auction on JD’s website, and this customized version was finally sold for a whopping 88,914 Yuan which comes to around $13,494. That’s a lot of money for a smartphone. The starting price was 3999 Yuan ($607) and in a matter of 10 hours, after fierce competition, it was sold off for the above price.
In case you are wondering, OPPO is not looking to make profits from this auction, instead, it will donate the money received for the phone to charity. So, it seems to be a win-win situation for all. The buyer gets a brand new OPPO R9 with FC Barcelona customizations and the signatures of Messi, Neymar and Suarez. The money goes to charity and OPPO gets its fair share of spotlight.
There are not a lot of Ubuntu Phones in the market today, but the folks over at UBports.com are trying to port Canonical’s Ubuntu Touch OS to as many devices as possible. Given that OnePlus 3 is one of the hot phones in the market right now, the team has confirmed that they will be bringing Ubuntu Touch to the OnePlus flagship as well. This is great news for all OnePlus fans who want to see how the OS will run on the powerful OnePlus 3.
Mr. Gripsgard, part of the UBports team has ordered the phone and will start on the development and porting of the OS as soon as the phone arrives. Considering the top-end specifications of the device, especially the 6GB RAM on board, it would be interesting to see how the Convergence feature of Ubuntu works on the device. To remind you, “Convergence” is a pretty cool feature on the Ubuntu Touch OS, wherein you can connect your smartphone to any monitor and Ubuntu Desktop interface will load up on the screen. So, basically, your phone will transform into a desktop environment when connected to an external display. All apps running on the phone will pop on the monitor seamlessly and even when you disconnect, the apps like music or video which was playing on the monitor will appear on the phone.
To recap, the OnePlus 3 comes with the Snapdragon 820 chipset on board with 6GB of RAM as standard and 64GB of internal storage without a MicroSD card slot. There will be a 5.5-inch 1080p display on board and a 3000mAh battery with the company’s own Dash charging tech. At the back, the phone comes with a 16MP camera with OIS, while up front, you have an 8MP front facing shooter. If you want to read the full specs of the OnePlus 3, check out this article.
So, would you like to see Ubuntu Touch OS running on your OnePlus 3? Check out their page from here.
Earlier today, Vivo revealed a few more details about the upcoming Vivo X7 flagship. The phone will reportedly come with a fast fingerprint sensor and ultra-thin bezels on the sides. While back then, the phone was just revealed in a few renders, now, new real life images of the Vivo X7 have just popped up online. As you can see, these images don’t reveal much about the overall design, instead focuses on the fingerprint sensor that’s located on the front, right below the display.
From the renders revealed this morning, we know that the phone will come with an oval sensor right up front. It looks similar to the ones we have seen on the Meizu and OPPO smartphones. While these pictures are probably promotional materials for the phone’s fingerprint, it reveals that the Vivo X7 will come with a metal frame on a thin body. In fact, there’s no denying that the new phone looks similar to the design of the iPhone series. Also, it looks a lot like the OPPO R9 that was announced a few months back and is doing so well in China.
According to the company, the Vivo X7 will be equipped with a fast fingerprint sensor. The phone also seems to support fingerprint-based payment methods. As for the other specs, we know for sure that the Vivo X7 will be a selfie focused smartphone, featuring a powerful 16MP sensor up front with moonlight soft flash. While the company is yet to confirm the specs inside the device, rumors state that the phone will feature 6GB of RAM on board along with the deca-core Helio X25 chip. We haven’t yet heard anything about the memory or CPU of the phone from the company, so we can’t confirm this information.
Yesterday we reported that Apple decided to ditch dual cameras on the upcoming iPhone 7 due to technical difficulties, however another insider has revealed that parts manufacturer, Foxconn, has been making moulds of the iPhone 7 Plus which feature dual cameras. Lens supplier, Dali, also revealed that delivery of dual lenses for the iPhone 7 Plus has not been halted.
So, it looks like the earlier rumor about Apple ditching the dual lens setup could be false. Dual camera phones are part of the main features for some of this year’s flagship devices. The Huawei P9 and V8, the LG G5, and the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 7 all have dual cameras. News also has it that OPPO, Xiaomi, and Vivo are all working on dual camera phones. So we guess Apple doesn’t want to arrive late to the party.
The Snapdragon 821 is the successor to the Snapdragon 820 and it’s expected to start showing up in phones by August. However a new LeEco phone showed up online today sporting the new processor. The phone which shares a lot of similarities with the LeEco Le Max 2 might possibly be an upgraded version of the flagship device.
The phone is said to feature 8GB of RAM (just when we are still debating if 6GB of RAM is an overkill) and will purportedly have a 25MP rear camera. Renders of the phone shows it will come in white, red (which looks cooler than rose gold by the way), and blue; feature a fingerprint scanner positioned below the camera and cost 3000 CNY ($455).
ZTE has increased its promotion in many regions, especially in Europe in the past few months. These promotions seem to be working as the company is now the fifth-largest smartphone maker in Europe for the first quarter of 2016. Counterpoint Technology Market Research report revealed that the company shipped a lot of smartphones in Europe early this year, bringing it to the fifth position in the region.
“We’re very excited by our achievement in Europe, especially given that there are so many other smartphone companies that are trying to gain popularity here,” said Jacky Zhang, CEO of EMEA and APAC, ZTE Mobile Devices. “As we continue to launch premium smartphones pegged with an affordable price tag, it makes it easier for consumers to try our devices. We are thankful for the support fans have given us and we’re confident that we’ll soon rise to number four in Europe.”
ZTE seems to be focused on the European market with its mid-range and high-end smartphones. This includes the company’s ZTE Blade as well as the high-end Axon series. The ZTE Axon 7 was recently released in China and the phone is quite the beast with advanced audio capabilities. The company confirms that the Axon 7 will be announced in Europe and it’s positive about the consumer demand for the device in the region. ZTE also revealed that it sold over 30 million Blade series smartphones by the end of 2015 and European regions such as Germany, France, Spain and UK were a few of the key markets.
The company has been increasing expansion activities in Europe in the past few months, establishing cooperation with large retailers for its smartphones. The company has even co-sponsored sports teams like the German football team, Borussia Mönchengladbach. In the next one and a half years, the company aims to increase its market share in Germany to 4%. Then there’s Spain, wherein the company enjoys a share of 4.4%. To further increase brand awareness, ZTE signed with Sevilla Football Club as the official smartphone partner and even sponsored the Copa del Rey Championship. Plus, there was the ZTE Experience Tour that we reported earlier that toured across Europe showing off the company’s smartphones.
So, it looks like ZTE’s promotions to increase its brand awareness in Europe are slowly paying off.
ASUS has just made another addition to the ZenFone family this year, by releasing the new Pegasus 3 smartphone. This will make it the fourth smartphone in the lineup, with the first three, namely ZenFone 3, ZenFone 3 Deluxe and ZenFone 3 Ultra being announced at the start of this month. However, unlike these three models, the Pegasus 3 is targeted the entry level market and the specifications are also toned down accordingly.
The ZenFone Pegasus 3 comes with the same metal design as its elder siblings with the fingerprint sensor located at the back of the device. In case you remember, except for the Ultra model, the rest two models had fingerprint sensor at the back. Coming to the phone’s specs, they are going to be entry level. Inside, the phone is powered by the quad-core chipset MT6737 with either 2GB or 3GB RAM options. The screen size of 5.2-inches but the resolution is lowered to just HD i.e. 720p. As for the software, the phone runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with the company’s own ZenUI 3.0 on top.
The major highlights of the phone is going to be the 4100mAh battery on board. Considering the entry level specs, this large capacity battery should easily provide around a couple of days usage for the device. At the back, the phone comes with a 13MP f/2.2 camera sensor with LED flash, while up front, you get a 5MP f/2.0 shooter.
There are four color options for the new Pegasus 3, namely silver, gray, gold and rose gold. It looks like the premium rose gold color is now being offered for entry level handsets as well. As for the pricing, the 2GB RAM + 16GB storage variant starts at 1299 Yuan ($198) while the 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM variant retails for 1499 Yuan ($227). In a market featuring Redmi Note 3, Meizu M3 Note and Le 2 with much better configuration at less than this price, it would be interesting to see how Pegasus 3 performs in the market. The phone will soon go on sale in China.
Like expected, Vivo has just revealed a few more details about the upcoming Vivo X7 handset. The company today revealed via a couple of teasers that the Vivo X7 will come with ultra-narrow bezels on the sides. Also, the screen will be curved, by which the company is probably hinting that the phone will come with 2.5D glass on top.
Another interesting feature revealed by the new teaser is that the phone will be designed for one-handed operation. Considering this, we can expect the display size to be less than 5.5-inches. In fact, for the best one-handed user experience, a display size of 5-5.2-inches would be perfect. While the company doesn’t say much about the phone’s thickness, from the render in the teaser, it looks pretty thin. Vivo also revealed today that the X7 will come with a front-facing fingerprint sensor. The company says it can unlock the device fast. Also, considering the boom in the mobile payment sector in China, the phone should support fingerprint payments.
Although these features are pretty good, what’s really going to be the highlight of the new Vivo X7 is the camera on board. The company confirmed via earlier teasers that the phone will come with a powerful 16MP camera on the front, ideal for selfies. Further, the front also features moonlight soft lights to enhance the quality of selfies taken from the camera. We aren’t exactly sure what the company means by this moonlight tech, but hopefully, it will shed more light on this topic during the launch. Unfortunately, we haven’t yet heard about the rear camera on the device, but since the front sensor is powerful, expect the back to feature a pretty good sensor as well.
So, for now, this is all we have on the upcoming Vivo X7. Expect more details including the launch date in the coming days.
With much fanfare, Huawei announced the Huawei P9 and P9 Plus flagships early April. The phone instantly got the attention of the crowd because it was the first smartphone to feature a camera that is certified from the legendary Leica. Plus, the amount of marketing and promotions carried out by the company in the past couple of months ensured that the phone was going to do well in the market. The reviews of the P9 have been more or less positive so far, and hence, it is no surprise that Huawei managed to sell over 2.6 million units of its P9 and P9 Plus flagships worldwide. In fact, this milestone has been reportedly achieved in just a matter of six months since it first went on sale.
The company is not only doing well in China, but also internationally. Huawei reveals that the sales of the Huawei P9 are 130% higher than the figures of the Huawei P8 that was announced last year. Again when compared to the P8’s sales figures, P9 has done very well in France, with an increase of 1000%, and 400% in Poland and Finland. Even in UK, the sales are 300% higher than last year’s P8, which is a good indication that the new flagship is much more well received than last year’s model.
This is good news for the company, who is currently the third largest smartphone maker in the world. While it’s still far away from Samsung and Apple in terms of total sales, the company seems to be slowly catching up with the top two phone makers. Considering that Apple and Samsung have recently slowed down in terms of growth, is it possible that Huawei will succeed in its plans to become the top phone maker, beating these two companies in the next five years?
Inside the box, you are getting all the usual stuff and some extras include a really nice and high-quality protective case.
Cubot Dinosaur Review: DESIGN
As for design, the phone is pretty simple and plain looking, there is nothing spectacular about the looks. We don’t have any premium materials like metal but the phone is well built and it is very comfortable to hold it.
We have a 5.5” 720p panel, which actually looks really nice. It has natural looking colors, it is sharp and quite bright.
We have a 5MP selfie snapper along with the LED notification light. Unfortunately, 3 capacitive buttons are not backlit.
The backplate, which is made of rubberized plastic is very nice to the touch and it can be easily removed. Underneath it, you can find 2 SIM card slots and the microSD card slot.
As far as optics, we have a 13MP camera and a single LED flash.
The loudspeaker sits on the back and the quality of it is just average as it sounds a bit tinny.
The buttons have a good tactile feedback.
Overall, the phone does not have any exceptional design elements but it sports a good build quality despite not using any premium materials.
Cubot Dinosaur Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE
Cubot Dinosaur uses a quad-core MTK6735 CPU along with 3GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage.
The 3D gaming performance is good if you play games on medium graphics. However, you should expect some stutter and skipped frames on the highest graphics settings.
Cubot Dinosaur Review: BENCHMARKS
Cubot Dinosaur Review: USER INTERFACE
The phone ships with Android 6.0 out of the box and we have some added features by Cubot.
For example, there are plenty of gesture and motion controls. As usual, I use only a couple of them and they work fine.
Most importantly, the phone runs fast and fluid and this is what you have to expect from a device that runs on almost stock Android.
Cubot Dinosaur Review: IMAGE QUALITY
The daylight image quality is actually pretty good as the pictures have a decent amount of detail and sharpness. However, the dynamic range is not always adjusted well. As always, you cannot expect wonders in low-light situations from the phone in this price range.
A 5MP selfie shooter does not impress as the images have quite a lot of noise and the level of detail is low. Video quality is okay and it is on par with other phones in this price range.
Cubot Dinosaur Review: CONNECTIVITY
As for connectivity, I don’t have any complaints about the call quality or signal reception. Also, wifi, Bluetooth and GPS work fine.
Cubot Dinosaur Review: BATTERY LIFE
One of the highlights of the phone is a 4150mAh battery and it performs really well.
I could constantly get over 6.5h of screen-on time on a mixed use and I believe I could get even more out of this battery on a light use.
Cubot Dinosaur Review: CONCLUSIONS
Cubot Dinosaur is a pretty simple phone that gets the basics right.
The phone is well built, it has a nice display and internal hardware that assures a smooth UI performance as well as the ability to play some 3D games. Also, the device sports a juicy battery that will let you use the phone for at least a couple of days.
The camera can take some good looking images in broad daylight but disappoints in low-light.
We can’t say that Cubot Dinosaur is the one and only option worth checking out at this price point but it does most of the things right and it does not have any major shortcomings.
Apple fans are looking forward to the release of the iPhone 7 in a couple of months. Rumours have it that it will be featuring some major design changes and new features with the major one being the use of dual cameras just like the LG G5 and the Huawei P9.
However, an insider has just revealed that one of the employees at Foxconn’s factory has said that the iPhone 7 won’t be coming with dual cameras due to technical difficulties and hence its exclusion.
While this might come as a disappointing news to some, we believe Apple will rather get a feature right or not push that feature out at all.
The iPhone 7 will be powered by a new A10 processor with some models set to feature Qualcomm LTE chips while others will have Intel LTE chips. So, the major upgrade this year for the iPhone 7 could be the processor.
Will you be disappointed if the next iPhone 7 does not come with dual cameras?
Nubia is all set to release the Nubia Z11 flagship on June 28, however, it looks like there could be more phones announced at this event. A new Nubia smartphone, NX541J, has just passed through the Chinese network certification website, TENAA and it reveals some interesting features about the device. First of all, this new Nubia phone comes with an all metal body with the traditional red circular home capacitive key up front and the Nubia logo at the back. In fact, if we look at the rear design, the phone has a similar design as Xiaomi’s Redmi series. Now, its like we can’t tell apart one phone from the other, if not for the logo at the back.
And in case you are wondering, the specs of the NX541J reveal that it will be a mid-ranger. However, before we look at the phone’s CPU and storage, we have to point out that the device comes with a massive 4900mAh battery inside. That’s pretty large and considering that the phone features just a 5.5-inch 1080p display on board, the battery life should be very impressive. Further, inside, you’ll find Helio P10 octa-core processor and 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage. At the back, you get a 13MP rear camera while up front you have an 8MP shooter. The phone will be running on Android 5.1 Lollipop OS.
Considering these specs, we can put this new Nubia device in the entry mid-range segment. It comes with an efficient processor and a super large battery which should ensure you never run out of juice, at least not for a couple of days.
We still haven’t got a name for this device (apart from model number NX541J), but battery is going to be its biggest selling point. So, it could turn out to be a variant of the Nubia Z11 series, and could be announced alongside the event on June 28. However, at this point, we have no official details, so we better wait for some confirmation from the company in the coming days.
It has kind of become a tradition for Xiaomi to first announce a smartphone in China and soon make it available in India. While previously, Xiaomi wasn’t much open about smartphone launches, since now, almost everyone keeps an eye on the Chinese market and its smartphones, the company has now officially confirmed that the new Xiaomi Mi Max phablet will be announced in India on June 30.
The company announced this phablet, which is also the largest smartphone from Xiaomi till date, back in May in China. So, it took around a couple of months for the device to hit the Indian market, which isn’t too bad. The Xiaomi Mi Max is a great smartphone for all phablet lovers, looking for a device that can replace your tablet yet last for more than a day on a single charge. We have already reviewed this massive device, which you can check out from here.
Something BIG is coming to blow you away on 30th June, Indian Mi fans! Stay tuned 😎https://t.co/xBQyNscrCo
To recap, the Xiaomi Mi Max comes with a 6.44-inch 1080p display which translates into 342 ppi. Under the hood, the phone packs either Snapdragon 650 or Snapdragon 652 (according to variants) and 3GB / 4GB RAM and 32GB / 64GB / 128GB ROM options. This is further expandable up to 128GB via MicroSD. At the back, the phone comes with a 16MP camera while up front you get a 5MP shooter. The Max runs on MIUI 7.1 out of the box. Under the hood, it packs a massive 4850mAh battery which should power the device for a couple of days.
Considering the pricing of the Xiaomi products in India as compared to China, we can expect the Xiaomi Mi Max to start at around INR 16,000-17,000 ($238-$254) for the base variant. The company is yet to reveal which variants will be announced in India, but expect more details at the announcement on June 30.
OnePlus made the new OnePlus 3 official yesterday and the company seems to have taken a safe route this time, giving users almost everything that they would expect on a new flagship phone without any surprises. However, there were some questions that we needed answers like what exactly is an Optic AMOLED display and why did the company decide to do away with the memory card slot on the device. Today, at the Reddit AMA, OnePlus’s CEO Carl Pei and a bunch of other staff answered these questions, which gives us a good idea about a few decisions taken by the company regarding the new OnePlus 3.
I have compiled the major questions asked and their answers. So, here’s the highlight of the AMA at Reddit.
Why reduce the battery capacity on the OnePlus 3?
OnePlus is of the opinion that 3000mAh will get you throughout the day and dash charge comes in handy. You could get around 7 hours+ of 2K video on medium screen brightness with 30 minutes of charging. Further, the use of Optic AMOLED panel and the efficient Snapdragon 820 will ensure that the OnePlus 3 will last throughout the day.
What is this Optic AMOLED Display?
OnePlus has used current gen. Super AMOLED panels and added their take on contrast and color temperature making it or at least trying to make it true to life. Carl says this also works well outdoors, in bright conditions.
Why stick with 1080p resolution on the OP3?
Because anything over 1080p is only beneficial for VR, and you spend more than 95% of your time outside of VR. Plus, having a resolution more than 1080p has many drawbacks.
Will rooting OnePlus 3 void warranty?
Like all OnePlus devices, rooting won’t void warranty.
When will OnePlus release kernel for the OnePlus 3?
It’s already released!
Does OnePlus 3 support Android Pay?
Yes, it fully supports Android Pay.
Any plans for a 4GB RAM variant?
No. OnePlus 3 is only available in 6GB RAM version.
Why does OnePlus 3 not have a MicroSD card slot?
MicroSD card slots slow down your storage as compared to the inbuilt ROM which is super fast UFS 2.0. Plus, it makes the phone bulkier. Hence, no MicroSD and 64GB ROM as standard.
When can we buy the soft gold version?
Soon, but no date mentioned yet.
Why remove Laser Focus from OnePlus 3?
Carl said that PDAF is better because LAF only works at <40cm.
Any more variants of the OnePlus 3, like smaller storage version?
Nope. Just the soft gold color version that will be released soon.
What’s the DAC used inside the OnePlus 3?
Standard one that comes with Qualcomm SD820 chip.
Why price the OnePlus 3 at 399 EUR which is higher than 399 USD in US?
Because of taxes and transportation costs, the price is higher in EU.
That pretty much sums up the major questions asked at the AMA on Reddit. If you want to check it out, click here.
While Xiaomi and OnePlus were launching phones yesterday, Vivo dropped new teasers for their new phone in their X Series lineup; the Vivo X7. The Vivo X7 is a selfie focused phone as it features a 16MP front-facing camera with something called as moonlight flash. The camera is said to feature beautifying effects which lets you enhance the pictures you take. Vivo’s X series lineup have always been powerful mid-range series, so we can expect pretty good specs on the device.
The phone does appear thin from the promotional pictures and looks to have taken design cues from the iPhone 6. Vivo has mentioned that the X7 will be launched this month, we believe they’ll tease other features before the final release date.
We have seen smartphones with powerful front facing sensors like OPPO R9 and even Meitu M6 (21MP). So, we will have to wait and see whether the Vivo X7 comes with something more than a powerful front facing shooter.
OnePlus 3 was announced yesterday with much fanfare and the phone turned out to be one of the best value for money handsets in the market right now. We also got hold of a OnePlus 3 unit earlier today (thanks to OPPOMART) and thought we could get a brief hands-on and unboxing of the device. Of course, this video is just a basic overview and our take on the new OnePlus 3 flagship will be revealed in a few days time. However, till then, check out the video below.
What we can see is that the company has used a very safe design, going with a traditional form factor and metal body which is somewhat standard on most flagships of 2016. That said, it is a well-built phone that looks quite decent, performs well and has a decent camera as well. With 6GB of RAM, Adreno 530 GPU and SD820 chipset inside, the phone is super smooth, and opening up even heavy apps would be a breeze.
OnePlus released the OnePlus 3 flagship yesterday and the phone managed to impress with its top-notch specs and pricing. If the company was to continue its usual launch tradition this year, we should have seen the successor to the OnePlus X model sometime later in 2016. However, it looks like OnePlus has decided to scrap the OnePlus X lineup this year, as Carl Pei, CEO of OnePlus reveals that the company will focus on the true flagship lineup in 2016.
This is kind of surprising given that OnePlus X got pretty good response from customers as well as reviewers. So, popularity or sales are not the reasons why the company decided to skip its update this year. Instead, Carl reveals that OnePlus wants to “strengthen its foundation” this year, focusing on the flagship lineup. Last year, the company’s OnePlus 2 flagship wasn’t as well received as the first generation model and it looks like the company doesn’t want to make the same mistake this year.
He further added that OnePlus plans to merge the development resources for OnePlus’s OxygenOS and HydrogenOS in the long run. Also, the company will be investing more in after sales services as well as lifestyle products. Another interesting thing this year is the absence of the boring invite system. For the past two years, OnePlus fans had to go through the huge waiting for invites, which to be honest was quite irritating. However, from this year onwards, the company has totally scrapped the invite system, a much welcome move for customers. Given that the company reportedly started mass production last month itself, stocks should be enough for the demand. At least, that’s what it seems at the moment.
Carl finally adds that OnePlus is doing well in Europe, India and US. In fact, Europe is expected to remain company’s fastest growing market and it continues to be top selling smartphone in the $300+ in India.
So, what do you think? Has OnePlus 3 managed to bring back the same experience as the first generation OnePlus One?
Meitu is not a famous smartphone manufacturer internationally, but the company does have a small fan following in China. A couple of days back, Meitu announced the brand new Meitu M6 smartphone, and the phone was a unique shaped device. It was good to see something different in the market flooded with phones with traditional rectangular design and glass/ metal bodies. Instead of following the tradition, Meitu came up with a different design, hexagonal in shape with a curved back that should be easy to hold. The phone features 2.5D curved glass on the back as well as the front.
The Chinese website, mydrivers got their hands on the new Meitu M6 flagship and they have done an unboxing of the device. You can check out the pictures of the M6 in real life down below.
To recap, the Meitu M6 comes with the Helio P10 octa-core processor clocked at 2GHz with 3GB of RAM on board and 64GB of internal storage. The main highlight of the phone is the 21MP sensor that is fitted up front. It is one of the largest sensors we have seen on a front camera, and given that its Sony IMx230, we expect pretty good pictures from this shooter. At the back as well, you have the same 21MP sensor, making sure that the performance of the rear camera is also up to the mark. Since this phone is focused on its camera performance, Meitu has used Fujitsu’s Milbeaut image processing chip along with other techs such as M-Face recognition, and M-color. The battery isn’t large, with a capacity of just 2940mAh, but considering its 5-inch 1080p screen, it should probably be enough to last a day. The Meitu M6 will go on sale in China for 2399 Yuan ($363).
So, what do you think about the phone’s design? Did you notice that the home button looks exactly like the iPhone?
OnePlus 3 is official, and the company, like always, has given us yet another affordable powerful flagship. The pricing for the 6GB RAM version is just $399, which is amazing, especially considering that this is the final price you have to pay, unlike other Chinese 6GB RAM smartphones which most of you will have to buy via third party resellers.
Chinese companies have given us a few affordable 6GB RAM smartphones but OnePlus 3 is probably going to be the phone which makes 6GB RAM mainstream among smartphone users. The phone is already available for purchase internationally, and despite its Loop VR launch, which I personally didn’t enjoy much, the phone on paper is a beast! And since the company has promised immediate sale, it looks like OnePlus has made plenty of right decisions for the new OnePlus 3.
Anyway, as mentioned above, there are a few affordable 6GB RAM phones announced recently, so let’s take a look at how OnePlus 3 stands in comparison with the other phones in the market. Let’s take a look at the OnePlus 3 vs ZUK Z2 Pro vs Le Max 2 vs Xiaomi Mi5 comparison. Now, you would argue that Mi5 doesn’t have the 6GB RAM version, but which comparison is complete without this affordable flagship device? So, we decided to bring this phone into our comparison.
So, without wasting any more time, let’s take a look at the comparison between these devices.
MEASUREMENTS & WEIGHT & BODY MATERIAL:
OnePlus 3: 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.35 mm 158 grams METAL
ZUK Z2 Pro: 145.4 x 70.5 x 7.5 mm 145 grams GLASS
Le Max 2: 156.8 × 77.6 × 8 mm 185 grams METAL
Xiaomi Mi5: 144.6 x 69.2 x 7.3 mm139 grams Glass / Ceramic
OnePlus 3 vs ZUK Z2 Pro vs Le Max 2 vs Xiaomi Mi5: Display
These four flagship smartphones pretty much cover all the ideal screen sizes for a smartphone user. If you want something compact, you have the ZUK Z2 Pro and the Xiaomi Mi5 with its 5.2-inch and 5.15-inch displays respectively, and if you are looking for a phone with a slighter larger screen, there’s the OnePlus 3 with its ideal 5.5-inch Optic AMOLED panel. All three phones sport 1080p resolution. On the other hand, if you want something that touches the phablet category, you have the Le Max 2 which features a 5.7-inch 2K display. While ZUK comes with a Super AMOLED panel, the Mi5 and Le Max 2 feature IPS LCD displays. Also, apart from Le Max 2, all three phones are confirmed to have Gorilla Glass protection.
OnePlus 3 vs ZUK Z2 Pro vs Le Max 2 vs Xiaomi Mi5: Specs
All the four smartphones, unsurprisingly, feature Snapdragon 820 chipsets under the hood. The OnePlus 3’s clock speed can be increased to up to 2.2GHz, while the other three models feature a 2.15GHz chipset. All four have Adreno 530 GPU inside, which is one of the best in the market today.
Since they are the top flagships in the market right now, they get the top specs as well. Apart from the Xiaomi Mi5, all the three smartphones have 6GB of RAM in the top-end variant. Then there’s 64GB of storage on OnePlus 3 and Le Max 2 and 128GB ROM inside Xiaomi Mi5 and ZUK Z2 Pro. What’s really the highlight here is that all four feature UFS 2.0 storage standard. And guess what, with this much storage, all three models don’t feature a MicroSD card slot.
Moving on to the camera department, the OnePlus 3 comes with a Sony IMX298 16MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, PDAF, OIS and EIS with manual controls. On the other hand, the ZUK Z2 Pro features a Samsung ISOCELL 13MP shooter at the back with f/1.8 aperture with once again OIS and EIS along with PDAF. As for the Xiaomi Mi5, it comes with a 16MP f/2.0 lens at the back with 4-axis OIS and PDAF. Finally, the Le Max 2 comes with a 21MP sensor at the back with f/2.0 aperture, PDAF and OIS. As you can see, all four have dual tone flash, PDAF and OIS for fast focus and blur free images. Further, all the four models can capture 4K videos at 30 fps and slo-mo videos at 120fps. Well, ZUK Z2 Pro can do a bit more in the slo-motion video recording, capturing at 960fps. Coming to the front, all phones, except for Mi5 have 8MP shooters at the back. As for the Xiaomi Mi5, it comes with a 4MP Ultrapixel shooter.
The OnePlus 3 and Xiaomi Mi5 come with 3000mAh batteries, while the Le Max 2 and ZUK Z2 Pro have a slightly larger 3100mAh battery. All phones except for OnePlus 3 feature Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0. As for the OP3, it comes with the company’s new Dash charge which is reportedly cooler than competition, charging to 60% in 30 minutes. In case you are wondering, QC 3.0 charges up to 83% in 30 minutes.
The Xiaomi Mi5, OnePlus 3 and the ZUK Z2 Pro feature front facing physical home buttons with fingerprint sensors. The Le Max 2 is a bit different because it features an ultrasonic sensor located at the back. Another interesting thing is that the Z2 Pro’s sensor also works with wet hands.
As for connectivity, all models except for ZUK Z2 Pro feature NFC connectivity with fingerpint payments. Other features are standard on all devices like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, dual SIM dual standby, 4G LTE support, and USB Type-C. The Le Max 2 and the Xiaomi Mi5 have an additional infrared port as well.
Now coming to some model specific features. The ZUK Z2 Pro comes with over 10 different professional sensors including a blood oxygen sensor, UV sensor etc to set it apart from the other devices listed here. In fact, if you want to check out all the unique features of the Z2 Pro, check it out from here. Another thing to note is that the Le Max 2 does not come with a traditional 3.5mm headphone jack and instead uses the USB Type-C based CDLA standard for audio output.
OnePlus 3 vs ZUK Z2 Pro vs Le Max 2 vs Xiaomi Mi5: Pricing & Availability
Since these phones are made by top Chinese companies, their pricing are quite aggressive. For example, the OnePlus 3 is available to buy internationally for $399. On the other hand, the ZUK Z2 Pro’s price comes to around $416, but its limited to China. The Xiaomi Mi5 is also priced the same for the 4GB RAM model i.e. $416. The Le Max 2’s 6GB RAM model is actually the cheapest, costing around $386.
However, if you want to purchase these phones (except OP3), you will have to shell out a premium, which takes their prices to a much higher level. So, at this moment, the OnePlus 3 with 6GB RAM on board is really what most would pick among these four devices.
OnePlus has just officially announced the new OnePlus 3 flagship via the company Loop VR app. This was kind of a formality given that a few hours back, we got to know most of the specifications of the smartphone, thanks to the Amazon listing in India. But anyway, the phone is official and what we now know for sure is that the OnePlus 3 is available to purchase immediately globally without any invites. Also, OnePlus has confirmed that the OnePlus 3 6GB RAM edition will be available at $399 internationally which is a great price for a phone with such powerful specs.
Before we actually take a look at the specs in detail, let’s take a look at the variants of the phone. That’s where it’s really surprising, given that OnePlus has currently announced just one version of the new OnePlus 3 flagship. Right now, it looks like you can get only the 6GB RAM + 64GB ROM version of the device and there’s no mention of a 4GB RAM version. But for $399 (or INR 27,999 in India) for the top-end model, I am sure not many would complain. So it looks like, OnePlus 3 is going to be the first smartphone with 6GB of RAM to be available officially in a number of countries worldwide.
We already know all the specs of the device, thanks to the previous listing. But since OnePlus has made everything official, let’s take a look at the specs once again.
First of all, the OnePlus 3 will be coming in an anodised aluminum body to make the phone look much more premium and sophisticated. The phone features a fingerprint sensor up front embedded into its oval home button. For display, the OnePlus 3 comes with an Optic AMOLED panel measuring 5.5-inches with Gorilla Glass 3 on top. There will be 6GB of RAM on board and the phone comes with the Snapdragon 820 chipset with Adreno 530 GPU. Interestingly, SD820 is usually clocked at 2.15GHz, but here, the company claims that the chip can be clocked up to 2.2GHz. There will be 64GB UFS 2.0 ROM inside and this is the only storage variant that was announced today. No MicroSD slot on board.
At the back, the OnePlus 3 features a Sony IMX298 16MP f/2.0 rear camera with OIS, EIS and PDAF, while up front, the phone comes with an 8MP shooter. You can capture 4K videos at 30fps and slow motion videos at 720p @ 120 fps. Up front, you get a f/2.0 8MP shooter with EIS. As for the battery, the phone comes with a 3000mAh capacity one inside the 7.35mm body with the company’s DASH Charge. This technology is reportedly much cooler than the competition, charging the device up to 60 percent in just 30 minutes. Other features of the OnePlus 3 include NFC, Wi-Fi ac, RGB notification light, alert slider, dual SIM cards, 4G LTE Cat. 6 support, Dirac HD sound, bottom facing speakers and dual microphones with noise cancellation. The phone is running on Android Marshmallow (doesn’t mention the exact version) with OxygenOS on top.
There will be two colors available, Graphite and Soft Gold. Graphite version goes on sale immediately worldwide for $399, while we still don’t know when the Soft Gold version will be available.
So, that was the OnePlus 3! What do you think about the device?
Also, how was the Loop VR launch experience for you guys?
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