After months of rumors and leaks, Xiaomi has officially released the Mi Band 2 wearable, which will succeed the highly popular Mi Band 1S released last year. The new upgrade is important because, for the first time, Xiaomi’s Mi Band series comes with a display on board. It will be a custom OLED display which can display a lot more information than the previous generations which had to rely on the connected smartphone app for these details. So, you can check the heart rate, time, distance, calories, power left etc directly on the screen.
Internally, there are a few upgrades as well. The Mi Band 2 with OLED display comes with a new hardware platform that supports new sports pedometer algorithm which can effectively understand whether you are walking or sitting idle. So, the accuracy of counting steps should be improved on the new model. Further, the band comes with support for calls, text messages, alarms, 7 different kinds of reminders, sedentary alerts and all these details can be displayed on the screen on top. Also, the company is said to have improved the sleep quality tracking on the new device.
The Mi Band 2 comes with a new strap made out of skin friendly material. Also, given that it now sports a screen, the company increased the battery capacity inside by 55 percent, which means you can still use the wearable up to 20 days on a single charge. Its IP67 certified as well.
In case you are wondering, the pricing is still pretty cheap! The Mi Band 2 with OLED display will retail for 149 Yuan which comes to just $22.65. The band goes on sale on June 7 from Mi.com, JD.com, Lynx and even Suning. Third party retailers should soon pick up the device, so watch out for their listings online.
Its been a rather long wait for the new OnePlus 3 to be announced in the market. The company has finally confirmed that it will release the handset on June 14, which is still a couple of weeks away. But in case you are wondering why OnePlus decided to delay the release to mid-June, here’s one possible explanation. According to the industry insider, Mocha RQ, OnePlus reportedly is stocking nearly 1 million units of the OnePlus 3 flagship for sale. The company has been stocking up the new flagship recently, which also makes it possible for it to make the phone available for sale, the very next day.
Apart from this information, the pricing details of the OnePlus 3 were also leaked today. Unlike previous rumors which said that the phone would start at 1999 Yuan ($308), this new rumor states that there will be four different versions of the new handset. Because of the increased cost of mass producing the all-metal OnePlus 3, as compared to the plastic and glass Mi5, the OnePlus 3’s base variant will start at a similar price as Xiaomi Mi5’s high-end version, i.e. 2299 Yuan. The second variant will compete with the Le Max 2 model, the third will compete with the ZUK Z2 Pro top-end model and finally, the fourth variant will compete with the Huawei Honor V8. If this four variant strategy is indeed true, then we can expect the prices to be at 2299 Yuan ($349), 2499 Yuan ($379), 2699 Yuan ($410) and 2799 Yuan ($425).
These variants could differ in terms of memory, back material, and other features. This is the first time we are hearing about a four variant strategy by OnePlus, so we don’t have much information about these models. But if this is true, then expect a lot more details in the next few days.
iPhone 7 launch might be a good three months away, but that didn’t stop the third party Chinese smartphone retailer, OPPOMART from listing cases for the new device on its website. It looks like OPPOMART has got its hands on the cases of both the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus. While this gives us a good look at the design of the two phones, what’s even more interesting is that the website has listed the iPhone 7 Plus case up for pre-order. It is said that one of these cases will start shipping by the end of June.
These cases give us a good look at the phone’s design. It looks like the iPhone 7 Plus will come with a dual camera setup. But the basic design of the handset seems to be the same as the previous generations, including a round Apple Touch ID up front, below the display.
On the other hand, the cases for the iPhone 7 reveal that the phone will feature a single camera at the back. The rest of the design is similar as the iPhone 7 Plus. These cases are currently listed for $9.99 on the website, with the one for the 7 Plus up for pre-order.
Xiaomi didn’t announce the successor to the popular Xiaomi Mi4 last year. This meant that the new flagship smartphone that the company announced in 2016 had to be perfect, satisfying the needs of the millions of Xiaomi fans worldwide. In a way, Mi5 did fulfill the need for a cheap Snapdragon 820 powered flagship, offering pretty good specs for a price tag of just over $305, at least in China. While many manufacturers found it hard to match Xiaomi in terms of its cheap pricing for Snapdragon 820, ZUK came forward and made sure its new ZUK Z2 phone came out as another cheap Snapdragon 820 option. In fact, if we stop and think, the ZUK Z2 is actually meant to be the Xiaomi Mi5 killer. The company already had two ZUK Z2 Pro variants, which were only a few bucks pricier than the Mi5. But it went ahead and released the ZUK Z2, in a separate conference. This does tell us something about the company’s intention with its new device.
Since they are meant to be direct rivals, with similar specs and pricing, let’s take a look at the ZUK Z2 vs Xiaomi Mi5 comparison. We will see a lot of similarities in the design as well as the specs, but there will be a few differences as well. Let’s look at them in detail in the comparison down below.
ZUK Z2 vs Xiaomi Mi5
DESIGN:
Design wise, they are very similar looking smartphones. Both the companies decided to opt for a glass back and a metal frame on their smartphones. While ZUK Z2 features a flatter back, the Mi5 comes with a slightly curved back panel, which should help in the grip. Both have their camera modules placed on the top left corner on the back, and the front features a compact 5-inch (5.15-inch on the Mi5) display with a front home button enabled fingerprint sensor.
ZUK Z2 Measurements: 141.7 x 68.9 x 8.5 mm Weight: 149 grams
Xiaomi Mi5 Measurements: 144.6 x 69.2 x 7.3 mm Weight: 129 grams
As you can see, the measurements are almost the same, except for the thickness. Mi5 comes with a thin 7.3mm body, while the Z2 features an 8.5mm body. But there’s explanation to the increased thickness of the ZUK model, since it features a larger 3500mAh battery. On the other hand, the Mi5 comes with a 3000mAh battery. Since we are on the topic of battery, it’s important to mention that both feature Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging.
ZUK Z2 vs Xiaomi Mi5 Specs:
When it comes to the specs, both have very similar internals. Both the models are powered by Snapdragon 820 quad-core chipset. However, we are talking about the base variants, and the Xiaomi Mi5 standard version is underclocked to 1.8GHz. On the other hand, the ZUK Z2 is clocked at 2.15GHz, which can be overclocked further to 2.3GHz. So, on paper, the performance should be better than the Mi5. Then there’s the RAM on board. The base variant of the Mi5 comes with just 3GB of RAM, while the ZUK Z2 features 4GB RAM as standard. As for storage, you get 32GB on the Mi5 while the ZUK Z2 features 64GB. Both have non-expandable storages, so ZUK definitely gets a plus point in the memory department.
Coming to the display, the Xiaomi Mi5 sports a 5.15-inch 1080 IPS LCD display while the ZUK Z2 has a 5-inch IPS LCD display. But the screen to body ratio on the Mi5 is higher, 73.1 percent as compared to 70.6 percent on the Z2. It is confirmed that the Mi5 has Corning Gorilla glass 4 protection, while we are not sure about the protection on the Z2.
Coming to the camera department, the Xiaomi Mi5 seems to have an edge on paper. The phone features a 16MP rear f/2.0 shooter with 4-axis OIS, PDAF and dual LED flash. The camera has 1/2.8″ sensor size, and 1.12 µm pixel size. Coming to the ZUK Z2, it features a 13MP rear camera with f/2.2, EIS (electronic image stabilization), PDAF and CAF (Contrast Auto Focus) with LED flash. It has 1/2.6″ sensor size, and 1.34 µm pixel size. Both can capture 2K videos and slo-mo videos. Up front, the Mi5 comes with a 4MP f/2.0 camera while Z2 has an 8MP f/2.o sensor.
Other features common on both devices include dual-band Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 4.0, fingerprint sensor embedded into the home button and dual SIM card slots. In the connectivity department, Mi5 has NFC and Infrared but ZUK Z2 doesn’t. The battery is larger on the ZUK Z2 as mentioned above (3500mAh) as compared to Mi5’s 3000mAh. Finally, for software, the Mi5 comes with MIUI 7 based on Android 6, while ZUK Z2 features ZUI 2.0 based on Android 6.0.1.
Pricing & Availability:
When it comes to the pricing of ZUK Z2 vs Xiaomi Mi5, after the recent promotion of the device in China, the prices are almost similar. Xiaomi had announced the Mi5 at around $308 in China at the time of launch, but now, the pricing seems to have gone down. International customers can now purchase the Xiaomi Mi5 base model for just $308 and with shipping included it still is well under $350. Coming to the ZUK Z2, it has an advantage of cheaper pricing as it is priced around $273. So, even after the premium charged by retailers, the pricing should be around $300, which at present is almost the same as the Mi5. Adding express shipping should still limit the price tag to well under $350.
Availability is a different story though. Xiaomi seems to have stabilized the Mi5 stocks, and now, most retailers have the device in stock. As for the ZUK Z2, the phone is yet to go on sale, and the first sale is on June 7. Only after a few days will we know whether the Z2 is readily available for purchase in China as well as via third-party retailers.
So, that was the ZUK Z2 vs Xiaomi Mi5 comparison. It would really be hard to choose between these two devices, but if you were going to buy one, which one would it be?
Currently the market for drones is rising at a considerable rhythm, more and more personal UAVs are showing up every day because a wide variety of brands have taken interest in this field and have no intentions to leave anytime soon, but keep in mind that this is a whole new market, therefore, entails some risks and owning an remotely controlled aircraft means a great responsibility and probably a hard hit to your wallet. But this is not the case for the CX-10W by Cheerson, a basic and affordable drone suitable for beginners that might end up getting you into drones.
The CX-10 is the perfect starter pack for newcomers and enthusiasts that offers a decent quality for a low price alongside some nice features such as the 0.3 MP video camera. This tiny drone that looks like a small toy it’s more than you can imagine, to be precise we are talking about a Quad-copter mini drone that provides you the opportunity to learn and develop the skills needed to fly a larger or more complex UAV, so you can consider this device as some kind of tutorial or firsts steps into a hobby with practical and also entertaining applications.
Design
The CX-10 is quite simple, it falls into the category of quad copter and has a dimension size of 62*62*20 mm, with a diameter from blade to blade of barely 30 mm and a weight of just 15 gr. The four blades that lift the body can be found on each side where also 4 led lights are located just a few millimeters below. It features a 0.3 MP camera in the middle of the body facing towards the front.
The material of which is made is known as ABS material, a highly-resistant plastic used for air crafts, cars, tools and toys. The CX-10 drone can take a few hits and falls without breaking, which is sign of a solid build and also has spare propellers in case that something wrong happens to the originals.
It comes in three color presentations: golden, rosy red and dark gray. Besides that, there is nothing more remarkable about this entry level drone.
Usage and flight
The Cx-10 is easy to set up and easy to use, instead of a remote controller it uses your smartphone as the control device, you can connect them through Wi-Fi once you have downloaded the app that can be easily accessed by scanning the code bars of the box or by getting it through the App store or Google Play store. Once the setup process is ready you can take off for the first time, the control scheme is simple, with the proper actions of flight such as rotation, pitching, ascend, descend or turning displayed on an intuitive UI that looks like a video game HUD, also you can see on screen what the drone is watching trough the camera.
This tiny drone has a 6-axis gyro that can be calibrated, it can perform flight actions like: ascend, descend, going forward, backward, turn left, turn right, hover etc. The range of control falls pretty short but this is not unexpected, with a distance of 15 M as a maximum. A good feature is the transmission frequencies, which are 8 in total and allow many people to operate their Cx-10 next to each other without problems. Also is ideal for use both outdoors and indoors.
Flight time and battery
This UAV uses a 150 MAH battery that can only deliver 4 minutes of continuous flight and has a charging time of 60 minutes. This is definitely a downside and a clear example of: you get what you pay for; just 4 minutes of flight aren’t satisfying enough.
Features and camera
There aren’t any special feature about the Cheerson CX-10W besides the 0.3 Mp camera and the 4 led lights, however, the camera saves the videos and photos taken directly to your smartphone, but there is the option of using an SD-card(not included) for this.
Specifications
Item name:
CX-10W Mobile Control Flying Camera 2.4G 4CH 6 Axis RC Quadcopter
Frequency:
2.4G
Channel:
4CH
Gyro:
6 axis
Material:
ABS
Quadcopter Size:
Size: 62 x 62 x 20mm
Quadcopter Weight:
15g
Color:
Golden, Rosy Red, Dark Grey
Blade size:
30mm
Flight time:
about 4 minutes
Charging time:
About 60 minutes
Control distance:
about 15-30M
Flight distance:
About 15-30M
Battery for quadcopter:
3.7V 150mAh
Camera:
0.3MP
Features
*4 channels with LED lights;
*6-axis gyro with gyro calibration function;
*Ascend, descend, forward, backward, turn left, turn right, hover, Left sideward fly, right sideward fly etc.
*The battery has protective function；
*WIFI mobile control and the R/C distance is about 15m;
*H/L Speed to switch;
*FPV with 3D flip function；
* Has 8 frequency points.
*It has 0.3-megapixel camera to take videos and pictures;
*Memory card and card reader are not included.
What’s in the Box?
1 x CX-10W Mobile RC Quadcopter.
1 x USB charging cable
4 x Spare Blades
1 x User Manual
Review
In summary, the CX-10 is affordable, easy to use, easy to set up, but is clearly a low-end product, although is not bad at all, just basic and simple, don’t look at this as a cheap product, but as a starter-pack or introduction to the complex field of UAVs, which must be operated with skill and responsibility. The control method of using your smartphone as the controller is great, and the drone itself is very responsive and will provide an enjoyable experience. Also, the quality of the materials is acceptable, it won´t break anytime soon if you use it carefully.
In the downside, we can establish that 4 or 5 minutes of use are very short and this will not please everyone, especially when it needs to be charged for an hour. In addition, we think that a 0.3 MP camera falls short. Also is important to remark that strong winds could negatively impact the performance during flight due to the lightweight of the drone.
But if you are looking for a taste of what a drone can do we suggest you get this affordable quadcopter that even a child could use.
If you want to see real pictures of this amazing min-drone, we suggest you visit the full review made by our friends on XiaomiToday clicking here; you will find incredible zoom-in images and what they think about this mini-drone.
Zeblaze – The Chinese smartwatch manufacturer is recognized for rendering premium watches for a stupendous price tag. Maybe, that’s the reason why they are always in the spotlight. The company tends to make us passionate about their upcoming products, such is the Zeblaze Blitz.
Recently, we received the confirmation of their imminent smartwatch from Facebook. They released some pictures of Zeblaze Blitz to heighten our anticipation. From the pictures, all we see is a stunning but plain, black watch with an orange or gray circular frame and rubberized strap, seemingly to grab some attention. Moreover, a black crown on the left can also be noticed. Zeblaze Blitz will be available in two colors: orange and gray (only bezel color changed).
Zeblaze Blitz – An integrated camera and GPS module, but what’s more?
According to the given picture, two features of Blitz are seen clearly. First is the introducing of an integrated camera on the right side, which is somewhat new for zeblaze. The second aspect could be the selling point of the terminal, which is the built-in GPS module (see the running tracking on the watch suspected in the image). It also seems to be real-time along with various sensors such as a compass, temperature sensor, pedometer etc. Other suspected features could be a calorie counter, heart rate sensor, sleep tracker.
So far from the given pictures we were able to gather this much information about the watch. The release date for this watch has not been confirmed yet. Surely, Zeblaze will surprise us after some time. Let’s see what another boasting characteristics would comprise in Zeblaze Blitz. For this, we just have to wait.
If you want to know the features which will have this expected Smatwatch, check the full-features post made on XiaomiToday here, surely will make dissapear severals doubts in your head and it will let you know if it really worth it
Lenovo did surprisingly well in the PC market, with the company rising to the top pretty soon after its entry. However, when it came to the smartphone market, this Chinese tech giant is struggling. Recently, it was said that the company’s acquisition of Motorola from Google wasn’t exactly successful and even outside of Motorola, the company’s own smartphone lineup hasn’t been able to make its mark in the industry.
We have seen some great phones from the company, but since it is mainly operating in the low-end and mid-range segment, the search for sales hasn’t exactly yeiled expected results or improved its image as a smartphone maker. But the company seems to be invested in this industry and it is said that in the next couple of years, it will make sure that it does well in one of the most important markets in the world, the Chinese smartphone market.
We have seen the Chinese market dominated by the likes of OPPO, Xiaomi, and Huawei, which means it’s not going to be easy for Lenovo to aggressively expand its market share in the region. What usually helps a company improve its share is aggressive pricing and looks like Lenovo is going to opt for the cost pricing strategy to take on competitors in China.
According to the Chinese media CNR, Lenovo Mobile Business Group President, Cheng Xudong said recently that the company plans to give up the race for profits by pricing its products at cost. He beleives that phones from the ZUK lineup as well as Moto lineup will help the company increase its presence in the Chinese market. And if it manages to make its mark in the super-competitive Chinese market, then Lenovo could easily take on competitors in the global market.
No wonder Lenovo priced the ZUK Z2 cheaper than the Xiaomi Mi5 at 1799 Yuan ($283)! But there’s no guarantee that a no profit strategy is going to work in the long run. We will have to wait and see how Lenovo performs in the coming years.
What are your thoughts? Can ZUK and Moto phones make Lenovo one of the top smartphone makers in China and in the world?
Elephone seems to be keeping the Elephone P9000 Edge version in the dark for the past few months. It’s with-bezel sibling, the Elephone P9000 was announced back in January, but we still haven’t heard much about this particular bezel-less version, at least not directly from the company. But now, Elephone has started confirming some of the specs of the upcoming Elephone P9000 Edge and now, we know for sure some of the specifications of the device.
First of all, the Elephone p9000 Edge is confirmed to come with a 5.7-inch JDI 2K display with high color saturation, and high color gamut. On paper, this seems to be an impressive screen, and with the bezel-less design, we sure hope that the phone looks beautiful from the front. Another important information revealed by the company is the home button based fingerprint sensor. So, you will find the sensor up front, just below the display. It is also confirmed that there will be a smart key on the side which can be used to switch modes.
The company also revealed some official renders of the P9000 Edge, which you will find above. These renders reveal some more details about the phone, like the presence of dual camera setup at the back. You will also find dual tone flash at the back, but unfortunately, we can’t find Laser Focus that was present on the P9000. Other things we can see in the render is a bottom placed USB Type-C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack on top.
We are not quite sure whether Elephone is sticking with Helio P10 for its new edge version, but we should get more details about the device real soon. As for the release date, we still haven’t got that information. So, it looks like there’s still some time for the phone’s launch.
For as long as we remember, monitors have always had flat screens with the usual changes limited to screen size, resolution, aspect ratio, and bezel thickness. But ever since we started having curved TV displays, we’ve seen some manufacturers bring the party to monitors too. One such manufacturer is ASUS, and this time, they’ve launched a massive 34’’ curved monitor called the ASUS Designo MX34VQ.
We don’t know if there’s a market for this kind of monitor yet, but for those who fancy curved displays, the Designo boasts a UWQHD resolution (3440 x 1440) and features ASUS’ SonicMaster audio which is incorporated with Harman Kardon’s audio technology. What this means is that you don’t need to hook up those crazy speakers you’ve got as the monitor has a pair already. The circular base of the monitor is also said to serve as a Qi wireless charging pad for compatible devices. Owners of the Lumia 950 and other Qi enabled devices should find this feature useful.
While pricing is still unknown, interested buyers should expect it not to be cheap considering its curved display, high resolution, audio power, and wireless charging base.
Xiaomi announced the Mi5 flagship back in February. Its been nearly four months since the phone’s release and we have seen plenty of new flagship models from different Chinese companies since then. The new devices seem to be stealing the limelight from Xiaomi’s top-end flagship and hence, promotions are underway. And even OPPOMART is offering an excellent deal for potential Xiaomi Mi5 customers. The retailer is now offering the Mi5 flagship for an amazing price tag of $309. This price is for the base variant of the device, and this is exactly the official price tag that the phone was being sold at launch back in China. This is around $50 to $90 OFF the regular price tag paid by customers to third party retailers, making it quite an attractive deal.
In case you are wondering, there’s no customs tax for the product you purchase from the retailer. But you will have to shell out for express shipping, which should cost anywhere between $20-$30. This is still under $350 which is quite cheap according to third party pricing standards.
All the variants seem to be in stock at the moment. For $309, you get the base variant with 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The Snapdragon 820 chipset inside is clocked at 1.8GHz. At the back, the phone comes with 16MP camera with 4-axis stabilization and up front, you get a 4MP sensor. Other features include global FDD-LTE band support, 3000mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 and a 5.15-inch 1080p display.
You can read all about the listing from the link down below.
The Xiaomi Max which was released on May 10 recorded very successful sales with the standard edition, as the first batch of 100,000 units were sold out in a short time. The high-end version also recorded massive success today as every available unit was picked up when it was put up for sale on JD Mall and Xiaomi’s websites simultaneously.
Xiaomi has stated that there will be another round of sale for the standard edition on their website from June 1- June 20, at 10 am. The high-end version which is facing supply issues is also expected to be on sale on the 7th of June also at 10 am on Xiaomi’s website, but there’s no info yet on when JD mall would have new batches.
The Max sports a large 6.44’’ FHD screen, comes in 3GB and 4GB RAM variants, with 32GB/64GB/128GB of ROM, a 16MP rear camera, 5MP front facing camera, dual SIM slots, and is powered by a Snapdragon 650/652 processor.
While still featuring a slim profile, Xiaomi has managed to cram a 4850mAh battery into the Max. After putting the Xiaomi Max to an intensive battery test of 2 hours, the phone still had 90% of charge left. Mind blowing, isn’t it?
The standard edition of the Xiaomi Max which features 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM and a Snapdragon 650 processor is priced at 1499 Yuan; while the 64GB version is priced at 1699 Yuan. The high-end version with an extra GB (4GB in total) of RAM and 128GB of storage is priced at 1999 Yuan ($308).
Today we are looking a high-quality desk LED lamp made by Philips. The product costs $77 but it has some great features and it sports a great build quality. Learn more in the full review.
Philips Intelligent App Dimming LED Desk Lamp Review: VIDEO
Philips Intelligent App Dimming LED Desk Lamp Review: UNBOXING
The lamp comes with the power plug and some instruction manuals.
Philips Intelligent App Dimming LED Desk Lamp Review: DESIGN and FEATURES
As for design, we are looking at the device, which has an excellent build quality. The lamp sports matt plastic and aluminum in its construction. The lamp is flexible and it is actually very light if you plan to use it for traveling.
One of the highlights is a control touchpad, which allows you to control the brightness output. I have to tell you that the touchpad is very responsive and intuitive.
A very cool feature is that you can control the lamp using your phone with the Xiaomi YI home app. It uses the wifi connection and it works absolutely fine.
As far as the LED light itself, it uses just 4W of power but it produces 250 lumens of light output, which is plenty enough for reading or doing other stuff. Also, the LEDs use special honeycomb lens to protect your eyesight. Not sure how this tech works but the lamp did not irritate my eyes.
Another cool feature is that you can charge any USB-powered device via the USB port.
Also, the rubber padding prevents the lamp from sliding on the table.
Philips Intelligent App Dimming LED Desk Lamp Review: CONCLUSIONS
I’m not saying that this LED desk lamp is the best ever or anything like that but since I’ve used it for a couple of weeks on a daily basis, I can assure you that it is a great product. Also, it is made by a well-respected Dutch manufacturer.
I love the design and build, the ability to easily control the lamp using a touchpad or your phone. Also, I’m not worried about leaving it on as it uses just 4W of power but it is bright enough for a desk lamp.
Overall, this Philips desk lamp is a great product . It may not be the cheapest product out there but since I didn’t find any shortcomings, I can definitely recommend it.
Meizu has confirmed that it has a new conference in China on June 13, wherein it will release a new Blue Charm device. Given that we have already seen two new handsets in the Blue Charm range back in April, this could be the metal variant of the Meizu M3 Note. The company had released the Meizu Metal smartphone last year and on June 13, we could possibly see the successor to the device.
Another good reason why it is possibly the Meizu M3 Metal is because, the phone has already passed TENAA certification and hence, it is only a matter of time till it’s released officially. We could also expect to see some new network variants of the M3 and maybe an Android version of the budget Meizu M3 instead of YunOS. But Meizu M3 Metal should be the star of the conference.
According to the TENAA certification, the Meizu M3 Metal will come with a 5.5-inch 1080p display with 2GB + 16GB and 3GB + 32GB memory variants. The storage is expandable up to 128GB via MicroSD. Inside, the phone comes with an octa-core processor clocked at 1.8GHz which should be the Helio P10. At the back, you get a 13MP camera while up front, there is a 5MP shooter. Other features include Android 5.1 OS and 4000mAh battery. Like the name suggests, this will be a metal bodied smartphone.
All this while, we have been waiting patiently for OnePlus to reveal a final release date for its new OnePlus 3 flagship. We expected a launch in May, which didn’t happen and therefore we were almost sure that the OnePlus 3 announcement would be sometime in June. Now, the company has made the date official, as OnePlus revealed via its official weibo page that the OnePlus 3 flagship will be announced on June 15. So, it looks like the rumored June 14 release date wasn’t too far off.
What’s even more interesting is that the company will start selling the new flagship a day after the announcement. So, you can purchase the new phone starting June 16. This is surprising given that OnePlus’s Peer Review Program kicks off from June 13 and continue till June 20, which means the regular customers will be able to purchase the device when this review program is going on.
Design and specs wise, we know almost everything about the new device. The phone will be powered by Snapdragon 820 with 4GB / 6GB RAM options and 64GB of internal storage. There will be a 5.5-inch 1080p AMOLED display on board. At the back, the phone will feature a 16MP Rear camera while up front, you get an 8MP shooter. Under the hood, you have a 3000mAh battery with fast charging. It is said that we could see OPPO’s super fast VOOC fast charging on board the new device, but this feature is yet to be officially confirmed. As for the design, for the first time, the OnePlus 3 will feature an all metal build. There should be 2.5D glass up front as well as an oval-shaped home button enabled fingerprint sensor.
While we know most of the specs of the device, the official announcement will clear out a few things like pricing, camera features and even its fast charging technology.
So, mark your calendars. June 15 is the day we meet the new OnePlus 3 flagship!
ZUK just announced its new flagship, the ZUK Z2 which is another good addition to the list of affordable flagships in the market. In fact, considering that the official price tag of the flagship is just around $279, it easily is one of the best smartphones under the $300 segment. However, considering that at present, the phone will only be sold in China (goes on sale on June 7 there), international customers will have to shell out a premium price for the device.
OPPOMART has just listed the device on its website and looks like the premium pricing is acceptable. The phone has been listed for $299, which is around $27 in addition to the original price. If this is the final price of the product, I am sure many of our readers would be happy to get one. But as of now, it is listed as out of stock and we don’t know when it will be available for pre-order/ purchase. Hopefully, pricing would remain the same as $299 for pre-order.
To recap, the ZUK Z2 comes with Snapdragon 820 chip with 4GB RAM, 64GB of storage, 13MP ISOCELL rear sensor, 8MP front shooter and a 3500mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0. Its a pretty good looking 5-inch flagship and you can check out the listing on OPPOMART from here.
Also, read more about the new flagship from down below.
While we personally haven’t got hold of the new ZUK Z2, Chinese media website CNMO has a unit with them and they recently posted a basic review of the new handset. We all are interested to see the camera performance of the Z2, and some of the pictures shared in the review give us a good idea about the quality of images taken from the device.
The ZUK Z2 comes with a 13MP ISOCELL camera sensor with PDAF + CAF that focuses in 0.1s. The phone comes with a ZUI 2.0 camera interface that supports HDR, Panorama, slow motion shooting, and fast shooting.
Now that we know the basic camera setup of the ZUK Z2, let’s look at some of the images captured from the phone’s camera.
The reviewer said that the color reproduction in the images taken from the Z2 was impressive. The blue sky you see in the picture is near to the color you see with your real eyes.
The macro performance of the device was also pretty impressive. After zooming 100% into the macro image, we can see that the basic outline is still clear, but it is not very sharp.
macro image zoomed 100%
The overall camera performance seems to be quite good. The night time photography was significantly improved in HDR mode, but it is said that there is still room for improvement.
So, what do you think about the phone’s rear 13MP ISOCELL sensor?
We hope we can review the phone in details once we get our hands on the device.
ZUK Z2 turned out to be a surprisingly good flagship smartphone in the affordable segment. ZUK has competitively priced the handset at just $273 and it offers even better specs than the Xiaomi Mi 5, which costs around $308. Apart from the Snapdragon 820 chip and 4GB of RAM that comes as standard, what’s even more impressive about the device is that it can be overclocked. The regular chip runs at 2.15GHz which is standard among flagship phones, but ZUK has revealed that a setting inside the ZUI 2.0 version will allow users to increase the clock speed up to 2.3GHz, which is really impressive.
Unfortunately, the ZUK Z2 that was showed off to the media in China today didn’t come with the new version of the OS, so overclocking was missing from the device, but the company has said that a future update will bring this feature. In case you are wondering about ZUK Z2’s AnTuTu score, then we have that information as well. It looks like the performance of the handset is at par with other Snapdragon 820 powered flagships in the market.
Without overclocking, the ZUK Z2 managed to score a good 136,436 points on the AnTuTu benchmark. This is pretty good for a SD820 powered device. We are now eager to see the performance increase after overclocking the chip. Hopefully, we will be able to test that once we get the device in our hands.
To recap, the ZUK Z2 comes with 64GB internal storage as standard, 3500mAh battery, 13MP ISOCELL camera sensor with PDAF + Contrast AF, 8MP front facing shooter, dual SIM dual standby and Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. You can read all about the phone and its features from here.
It would be interesting to compare the new ZUK Z2 vs Xiaomi Mi 5. We will be bringing the comparison soon, so stay tuned!
The Omaker W4 may be the most powerful pocket size Bluetooth speaker I have reviewed… and I have reviewed a lot of speakers, make sure to check out the video playlist.
The Omaker W4 speaker is so tiny, light and compact that I didn’t really expect it to be so loud.
In fact, it has a 40mm sound driver and the quality of sound is surprisingly good. The sound is crisp and clear and there is even a good amount of bass.
In the packaging, you are getting some extras like a carbine and a nice carrying pouch.
The speaker is well built too. It does not sport any premium materials like aluminum. Instead, it uses a quality plastic which does not feel cheap.
There are some rubber elements going around the device. However, I’ve never been a huge fan of rubber as it attracts dust very quickly and it is hard to clean it.
The power button can also act as a play/pause or Bluetooth connection button.
When it comes to any Bluetooth speaker, one of the most important aspects is a battery life and this is where the Omaker W4 shines again. I could get around 11 hours of music playback, which is an amazing result for the speaker this small.
However, the speaker does not have an embedded mic for hands-free calling and it may be a major shortcoming for some.
All in all, Omaker W4 is a great pocket size Bluetooth speaker. I bet that you will be blown away by the volume output, sound quality and the battery life. However, you have to keep in mind that rubber material attracts dust very quickly and the speaker does not have a microphone. Other than that, it is a good product and it can be highly recommended.
OnePlus 3 specs have almost been confirmed thanks to the certifications in China as well as US. However, up till now, we only saw a 4GB RAM version of the phone. Now, the 6GB OnePlus 3 version has finally made it to the TENAA certification website, which confirms the existence of this large RAM model. We had exclusively reported a while back that the phone will come in two variants, 4GB RAM + 32GB and 6GB RAM + 64GB, so this news shouldn’t come as a surprise.
As for the overall design, it seems to be exactly like the ones we have seen before. So, a metal body with HTC like back and 2.5D glass up front and a physical home button embedded fingerprint sensor that’s inspired from the Meizu Blue Charm series. Overall, the OnePlus 3 is a pretty decent looking device and we hope that it looks even better in different color options like gold and black.
Coming to the specs, TENAA confirms that the phone will come with Snapdragon 820 clocked at 2.15GHz with 4GB / 6GB RAM options and 64GB of internal storage. Like the previous generation model, the OnePlus 3 will come with a 5.5-inch 1080p display. At the back, there will be a 16MP camera while up front, a 5MP shooter. Unfortunately, for some reason, the company decided to drop the Laser Focus from the new generation model. It comes with a 3000mAh battery and runs on Android 6.0.1.
Pricing is expected to be cheap. Our sources said that the Oneplus 3 4GB RAM model should start at 1999 Yuan ($308). This would be quite competitive, taking on both the Xiaomi Mi 5 and the ZUK Z2 model which was announced today. However, the Z2 is actually cheaper, costing just 1799 Yuan ($273) for the 4GB RAM version, which is impressive.
ZUK announced its second flagship smartphone this year, namely the ZUK Z2. This will be a slightly toned down version of the Z2 Pro model, but still it packs enough punch to take on mighty rivals such as the Xiaomi Mi5. In fact, ZUK Z2 is priced cheaper that the Mi5 and at just 1799 Yuan $273, it is also faster than the base version of the Xiaomi Mi5 which comes with just 3GB of RAM. Looks like Lenovo’s ZUK is all set to take on the upper mid-range market with its new device. Read on for more details about the phone.
The company is marketing the ZUK Z2 as a small screen flagship since it comes with a 5-inch display. This is smaller than most other flagships in the market and would definitely get the attention of compact smartphone lovers. As for the design, the Z2 comes with an aluminum alloy body frame with high strength glass to improve the looks as well as body strength. It will be resistant to stains as well as abrasion. Further, the body is just 68.88mm wide which the company says is ideal for handling the phone with one hand.
Under the hood, the ZUK Z2 comes with the powerful Snapdragon 820 chipset clocked at 2.15GHz. But the phone supports overclocking of the chip up to 2.3GHz. The company reveals that the Z2 managed to get a score of over 145K on AnTuTu, which is really high. But expect the real life scores to be lower than this figure. Now, if you are worried about over heating, the company says that the alloy frame manages to dissipate heat just fine making sure that the phone’s temperature is under control. There will be 4GB of RAM on board and 64GB of internal storage as standard.
At the back, the ZUK Z2 comes with a 13MP ISOCELL sensor with 0.1s fast focus (PDAF + CAF), EIS, f/2.2 aperture and 1.32um pixel size. The phone supports slow motion recording as well. Up front, you have an 8MP shooter with beauty mode. As for the battery, you get a 3500mAh capacity one inside, which is pretty large as compared to other 5-inch competitors. With 1080p resolution and small screen size, this battery should provide at least a day of usage on the device. Further, you can charge it from 0 to 80 percent in around 100 minutes, which is pretty good.
As for the software, the ZUK Z2 comes with ZUI 2.0. The company has promised Android N update for the device and you can even flash different ROMs such as CyanogenMod, ColorOS etc on the device.
You can make reservations for the phone from today on various retailers like Zuk’s own website, Suning and Lynx. The phone will go on sale from June 7 at 10:00AM in China.
For $273, the ZUK Z2 is really a beast! It looks like Xiaomi definitely has something to worry about.
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