Remember UHANS, the Chinese startup company with a Vertu like design? Well, if you liked the phone’s design but were disappointed with the specs, here’s some good news. The company seems to be working on an updated version of the UHANS U100 and the U200 models. The design is expected to be the same as before, but the specs would be upgraded to be targeted at the upper mid-range segment.
One of the highlights of the new devices will be support for the much faster 4.5G network. This new network standard is 10 times faster than traditional 4G networks, which will make high-definition video streaming, internet calls etc much better.
Coming to the specs, the UHANS U100 will most likely be upgraded to the Mediatek Helio P10 chip, the same processor that powers the popular OPPO R9. In comparison, the old U100 featured a modest MT6735. Other specs include 4GB of RAM on board and a Full HD 5.2-inch display. So, it looks like the company is aiming big with the upcoming U100 handset. As for the UHANS U200, it’s still unclear whether an updated version will see the light of the day, but if it becomes a reality, expect mid-range specs on the device.
Like I mentioned in my previous coverage of the manufacturer, UHANS is one company which has carved out a niche market for its phone. Many love the different design, with a leather back and a metal body, while there are some who hate it.
Xiaomi Mi 5 Pro with its special 3D ceramic body will soon go on sale in China. During the launch, the company had a lot of good things to say about its ceramic back cover, which reportedly uses a 16 step process to achieve the desired texture.
When compared to the glass back of the Mi 5, this particular body costs 75% more, which is why the Mi 5 Pro is priced higher at 2699 Yuan ($416). The material looks premium and is extremely resistant. In fact, it can boast of 8 Mohs hardness, which is quite strong.
To prove that the Xiaomi Mi 5 Pro’s 3D ceramic body can take a beating, the company recently released a torture test video. Like you can see in the video added above, the phone is being subjected to a number of stress tests, starting from simple scratches from a key to the wrath of a drill. Irrespective of the tool used in the test, the ceramic body came out unscratched, which is really impressive. In fact, even after these test, the phone looked as good as new.
But the Xiaomi Mi 5 Pro is not just a looker. It comes with powerful specs such as a Snapdragon 820 chip clocked at 2.15GHz, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage to make sure that the performance is top notch. Further, there will be a 16MP rear camera with 4-axis OIS and a 4MP Ultrapixel front facing shooter ideal for selfies. It’s a complete package featuring good looks that will last for a long time as well as capable hardware.
The Mi 5 Pro will go on sale in China on April 6, after which we can expect several more flash sales for this version in the country. Xiaomi has also confirmed that the phone will release in India on March 31, which is just a couple of days away. It remains to be seen whether the Mi 5 Pro model will also launch alongside the regular version at the event in India. Stay tuned for more details in the coming days.
The Chinese company Vernee came into the spotlight a few weeks back, thanks to its brand new smartphone, the Vernee Apollo. The phone was going to be a beast with Helio X20 and other powerful specs on board, however, what made the phone really special was that it was going to be the second smartphone with 6GB of RAM inside. So, alongside the Vivo XPlay 5S, the Vernee Apollo is all set to join the 6GB RAM club.
However, like with all high-end smartphones, we all are a bit worried about the price tag of the device. I mean, giving users the best specs won’t just be enough. The phone needs to be affordable as well, at least, to some extent. Looks like Vernee may have done a good job in this regard as it is said that the Apollo could cost $399.99 at launch.
This is obviously high as compared to other local Chinese smartphones, however, if you fancy using a 6GB RAM phone, this might be your cheapest bet. Apart from the large RAM module, the phone features capable specs to justify the price tag.
Under the hood, the Vernee Apollo comes with Helio X20 chipset with 128GB of storage. At the back, the phone will reportedly come with a 21MP Sony IMX230 camera sensor. The display will be of 5.5-inches with a massive 2K resolution. There are other features such as a metal unibody design, USB Type-C port and pressure sensitive display. We still don’t know the battery capacity, but we sure hope that it’s above 3000mAh to power these powerful specs.
Given the specs, $399.99 seems to be a pretty good figure. In comparison, the next smartphone with 6GB RAM, namely the Vivo XPlay 5S retails for around $660. So, it doesn’t look like a bad deal.
Anyways, what do you think? Does the $399.99 Vernee Apollo interest you?
Ulefone is all set to release its bezel-less flagship, namely the Ulefone Future in April. The company has been revealing a few details about the phone in the weeks to the launch. Today, the company informs us that the Ulefone Future will come with virtual keys instead of traditional capacitive ones.
The company is reportedly going with on-screen buttons because it will help it reduce the portion below the display. In a video released recently Ulefone has shows us how to enable or customize the navigation buttons on the device.
There are four different options for the user, with optimizations for both left handed and right handed users. You also get a special toggle button to bring down the notifications. Further, you can even hide the bar from the display.
You can check out more details about the navigation bar from the video below.
Coming to the specs of the Future, it will feature a bezel-less display measuring 5.5-inches with FHD 1080p resolution. The phone will reportedly feature Helio P10 processor clocked at 2GHz with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The initial AnTuTu scores revealed by the company of the Future was just average, scoring just above 51,000 points. However, it was a prototype model and we can expect the score to increase to some extent in the retail version.
The phone will come with Android 6.0 out of the box along with a CyanogenMod ROM. Expect the Ulefone Future to be unveiled in April. Stay tuned for more details in the coming days.
Apple announced its iPhone SE smartphone earlier this month featuring a super compact 4-inch display. Considering Apple’s position in the industry, many speculated that some Android manufacturers will follow Apple and release their own version of compact flagships.
Now, a new leak via Weibo reveals that Xiaomi could be working on an Android smartphone with a compact 4.3-inch display. The phone is reportedly called as the Xiaomi M2 SE and will feature pretty powerful specs. The device is rumored to come with Snapdragon 820 chipset under the hood with 3GB RAM, 32GB storage and a 4.3-inch 720p display. There will be a 13MP Sony IMX258 rear camera and fingerprint sensor as well.
Another thing highlighted by the leak was that the phone will look exactly like the Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship. The battery will be decent measuring 2350mAh with Quick Charge 3.0 and the phone will be as big as the iPhone SE. The Xiaomi M2 SE is rumored to release in June this year for a price tag of 1799 Yuan ($276).
For a first leak, this is a bit too detailed. We have got the specs, design, pricing as well as the release date of the device, all in one leak, which makes this just too good to be true. So, we will advise you to take this leak with a pinch of salt.
However, considering that Apple thinks there’s a market for compact 4-inch smartphones, we may see more Android makers get into the small screen flagship game this year.
So, what do you think? Would you love to see a 4.3-inch Xiaomi smartphone running MIUI 7?
Indian Xiaomi fans have all been waiting for the launch of the Xiaomi Mi 5 in the country. Xiaomi had said that the launch would be in April, but it looks like fans might just get their present early. The company has reportedly started sending out invites for the Mi 5 launch event in India, which will be on March 31.
The invites for the launch event clearly shows off the number 5 along with the usual tagline of “All you ever imagined, and more”. So, it’s no mystery that the company will announce the Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship at the March 31 event. Although the venue of the event is yet to be revealed, it will kick off at 2:30 pm local time.
Xiaomi released three different variants of the Mi 5 in China last month — two variants of the standard Mi 5 and one Mi 5 Pro. It’s possible that all the three models will be announced in the country at this week’s event. However, given that the Mi 5 Pro model is yet to go on sale even in China, you may have to wait for a few weeks more to get hold of the Pro version.
As for the specs, the two variants of the standard Mi 5 differ in terms of the internal storage, one with 32GB and the higher model with 64GB ROM. Both come with 3GB RAM. On the other hand, the Mi 5 Pro comes with a 3D ceramic body, along with 4GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. All the three models are be powered by the Snapdragon 820 chip (Pro version gets a faster-clocked chip @2.15GHz). At the back, there is a 16MP camera with 4-axis OIS while up front, there is a 4MP Ultrapixel shooter. Other features include Android 6.0 with MIUI 7, 3000mAh battery, Quick Charge, VoLTE and dual SIM Card slots.
One thing that we still don’t know is the Xiaomi Mi 5’s price in India. But given the company’s aggressive pricing strategy in the country, you can expect it to be close to Chinee pricing i.e. 1999 Yuan (~Rs. 20500).
Although there’s still, at least, a couple of months for the release of the Meizu Pro 6 flagship, the company has already revealed a few details about the phone. Thanks to a post from the company VP Li Nan, we know that the phone will come with a unique antenna design.
Now, we have a closer look at the Meizu Pro 6 real life images, thanks to a new leak. The new images make things a bit more confusing because it reveals a dual antenna design at the back, on the top as well as the bottom. On the other hand, the earlier renders of the phone featured a single antenna line only at the bottom.
Moving on, another interesting feature revealed by these new images is the camera at the back. You will find a large camera, along with some kind of sensor just below it. From the design, it’s possible that the Pro 6 will come with Laser Autofocus with a ring flash. However, we can’t confirm this until we get more details about the device.
Today’s leak also shows us that all the ports are located at the bottom of the phone. You will find a USB Type-C port, headphone jack, speakers as well as a microphone opening at the bottom. Although we can’t see the top of the device, it could be clean, or there could a sensor like IR port along with another microphone opening up there. Coming to the front, we can see what looks like 2.5D glass along with a physical home button which most likely integrates a fingerprint sensor. The volume and power buttons are located on the right side of the device.
As for the specs, the Meizu Pro 6 is rumored to come with a 5.5-inch FHD 1080p display with 3D Touch like feature. The company has confirmed the presence of Helio X25 chip on board. Other possible features include 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, 21MP rear camera, 5MP front camera, Laser Autofocus, and a 2999 price tag ($460).
OnePlus 3 has been making the headlines for the past few days, mainly because the company has an event on April 7. Although the event is most likely for the release of the Android 6.0 Marshmallow based HydrogenOS, we still are excited about the upcoming flagship, which according to CEO Liu Zuohu should launch sometime in the second quarter of the year.
Recently, an alleged “OnePlus Lightning” trademark application was leaked on the internet, which hints that the OnePlus 3 will be equipped with fast charge. According to reports, this OnePlus lightning charge could be a technology licensed from OPPO. Unfortunately, as of now, we can’t be sure whether VOOC fast charging would end up on the new OnePlus flagship.
Given that the first two generations of the OnePlus were criticized for slow charging speeds, it’s finally good to hear that the OnePlus 3 could come with fast charging. In 2016, there’s almost no flagship without fast charge, so it was necessary that the OnePlus 3 came with quick charging feature as well. Also, given that the previous two smartphones from OnePlus were called as the 2015 and 2016 flagships respectively, we can expect the OnePlus 3 to come with the tagline, “2017 flagship”.
As for the specs, thanks to an AnTuTu listing of the OnePlus 3 A3000, we have a fair idea as to what to expect from the upcoming smartphone. The new OnePlus flagship is expected to come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. At the back, there should be a 16MP rear camera while up front, you can expect an 8MP selfie shooter. The screen resolution is said to be FHD 1080p and the phone will run on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow version.
Earlier CEO Liu had revealed that the OnePlus 3 would feature a different design than the OnePlus 2, but we are yet to see an authoritative render of the upcoming phone. As for the pricing, you can expect it to be competitive, along the same lines as previous flagships.
Ulefone Vienna will be the first Hi-Fi equipped smartphone from the company. The phone comes with a dedicated Hi-Fi chip, but we all wonder how good the audio performance really is. To give us an idea about the phone’s audio output, the guys over at Ulefone pitted the Vienna against another Hi-Fi equipped smartphone, namely the Vivo X5 Max. The company tested the speakers on both the smartphones and the results were a bit different.
The Vivo X5 Max delivered a louder and a more mature output while the Vienna’s performance was quite satisfactory as well. The phone managed to keep up with the X5 Max, but we would like to see a more thorough test for audio output on the upcoming Vienna before making any conclusions.
The company has also used a BOX sound chamber on the Ulefone Vienna, which is a bit bigger than the ones found in ordinary budget smartphones. Unfortunately, this test couldn’t reveal much about the Vienna, especially since it was a prototype model and not the final version. However, the company has said that they will release another video on YouTube to test out the phone’s audio output using professional audio equipment. Only then we can say how good the Hi-Fi chip from NXP really is.
Ulefone Vienna box sound chamber
As for the other specs, the phone is powered by the octa-core 64-bit MT6753 chip with 3GB of RM and 32GB of internal storage. There will be a 13MP Panasonic sensor at the back and a 5MP front-facing shooter. The display will be of 5.5-inches with 1080p resolution. Other notable features include a fingerprint scanner, 4G LTE support, 3250mAh battery, and an infrared port.
Official pricing is around $199, but you can easily get good deals on the Vienna which will reduce the price tag to around $165. Read more about the phone’s features from here.
The market is full of affordable Bluetooth earphones and Flymemo Hammer BH03 is one of the options out there. Learn more in the full review.
Flymemo Hammer BH03 Bluetooth Earphones Review: UNBOXING
The earphones come with few sets of different sizes earbuds, USB cable for charging and instruction manuals.
Flymemo Hammer BH03 Bluetooth Earphones Review: DESIGN
When it comes to the design, the Flymemo headset is built of rubber and rubberised plastic materials. The earbuds themselves have an interesting hammer shape design. One earbud has a little Bluetooth LED light, which lights up immediately once you power on the device (the headset enters into pairing mode automatically).
Also, there is a flap and underneath it you can find a micro USB port for charging.
The remote control allows you to skip tracks or adjust the volume, play/pause or answer the call.
Flymemo Hammer BH03 Bluetooth Earphones Review: FEATURES and SOUND QUALITY
Pairing the headset is very easy as the earphones enter into the pairing mode automatically as soon as you power them on.
When it comes to the sound quality, it is really good. The sound is balanced and it has quite a lot of depth, the volume output is loud and there is a good amount of bass.
As all Bluetooth earphones, Flymemo headset sports quite huge earbuds that stick out from your ears. I suggest you taking your time choosing the right size earbuds and use the included secure fit supports. Otherwise, the earphones will keep falling out from the ears.
Flymemo Hammer BH03 Bluetooth Earphones Review: TEST NOTES and CONCLUSIONS
The Bluetooth connectivity and range is great and I didn’t have any issues. As for call quality, it is pretty good. People on the other end noticed the difference in the call quality in comparison the the phone’s earpiece, but they were able to understand me clearly.
All in all, the Flymemo Hammer BH03 Bluetooth earphones is a pretty good choice if you are in the market of affordable Bluetooth headset. It has a decent design, the sound quality is good and it does not have any major issues. While it is not the best Bluetooth headset I have ever tested, it is a good product for the price and it can be recommended.
OPPO announced its two flagship smartphones for 2016, namely the OPPO R9 and the R9 Plus a few days back. The phone came with pretty decent specs, and was an instant success in China, where the company managed to sell about 180K units of the R9 in the first day alone.
The company has not yet released any details about an international release of the R9 or the R9 Plus, however, if you are looking to grab one for yourself or your friend, OPPOMART has started selling both the devices on its website. The OPPO R9 retails at a price tag of $499 on the website, which is a bit higher than the official price tag ($416). But that’s the premium that you will have to pay for importing a Chinese smartphone.
If you are wondering why the OPPO R9 andR9 Plus were so popular in China, it’s because the phone is made for selfie lovers. The R9 as well as the R9 Plus features one of the most powerful front facing camera in the market. It comes with a Sony IMX298 16MP sensor with the company’s self developed “perfection technology”.
Other highlighted features include a fingerprint sensor embedded into the physical home button which can unlock in 0.2 seconds, VOOC fast charging and Mediatek Helio P10 octa-core processor clocked at 2GHz. The OPPO R9 comes with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage and a 5.5-inch 1080p display.
As for OPPO R9 Plus, it comes with the Snapdragon 652 processor clocked at 1.95GHz with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Both the front and the back cameras are of 16MP on the phone. It also features a larger battery,of 4210mAh capacity with Super VOOC fast charging. One thing to note here is that this will be a single SIM card device. The phone can be bought for $599.99 on the website.
Check out more details about the OPPO R9 and the R9 Plus from the link given below.
Xiaomi released the Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship with much fan fare last month. There were three different versions of the flagship smartphone, with the Mi 5 Pro being the most powerful version in the series.
However, even after a month of its release, the phone was not available for purchase. This was a bit disappointing since for around $415, the Mi 5 Pro was one of the best value for money options for consumers in the country and even outside (via third party sellers).
Earlier today, the company started taking registrations for the sale of just 2000 units of the Mi 5 Pro Commemorative Edition with the model number engraved at the back. The sale will be on March 31, however, given that there are already more than 160,000 users who have expressed interest in this flash sale, its likely that you won’t be able to get hold of one.
But now, Xiaomi has officially confirmed that the Xiaomio Mi 5 Pro flagship will go on sale on a large scale on April 6, which is just a few days away. One of the highlights of the phone is its 3D ceramic body. Apart from this, the phone will have a faster clocked Snapdragon 820 chipset, 4GB of RAM and a large 128GB internal storage. As for the pricing, the Mi 5 Pro is priced at an amazing 2699 Yuan, which comes to around $415.
The first few days of April are going to be quite busy for the company and its fans since Xiaomi will be celebrating it’s sixth annivery. During this time, a lot of new products announced in the past few days are going to be made available for sale, along with existing products at a discounted price. Last year, Xiaomi made record sales and we can expect the company to set a new record this year.
Unlike other Chinese smartphone manufacturers like LeEco, Xiaomi or Meizu, OPPO is not really a low cost smartphone maker. The company has time and again released phones which are costly, retailing at a much higher figure than the phones from above mentioned companies. However, still the company has managed to built a great reputation inside China. And today, we can see the effects of the strong offline sales channels of the company, as the first day OPPO R9 sales figure is quite impressive.
According to the company’s official statement, OPPO managed to sell more than 180,000 units of the OPPO R9 in the first day of launch. This incudes the sales from its strong offline channels in China as well as online channels.
Now, you must be wondering how OPPO R9 which features just mid-range specs and expensive price tag managed to sell so much in China? The answer to this question lies in the key specs of the phone as well as the company’s marketing strategy.
First of all, for the launch of the OPPO R9, the company tied up with top celebrities in the country to make sure that the R9 series phones was promoted adequetly. Further, the OPPO R9 and R9 Plus comes with two great features, one being the powerful front facing 16MP camera with self perfection technology and secondly, the super fast VOOC fast charging technology.
These features coupled with the specs on board make the OPPO R9 and R9 Plus pretty attractive option for consumers in China. The R9 retails for $430 in China. Coming to the phone’s specs, it sports a 5.5-inch FHD 1080p display with super thin bezels (1.66mm) and Helio P10 octa-core processor clocked at 2GHz. There’s 4GB of RAM on board along with 64GB of internal storage. Up front, you get a powerful 16MP selfie camera, which is one of the best in the market, while at the back, there’s a 13MP shooter. The battery is a bit small, measuring just 2850mAh, but this is where VOOC fast charging comes into the picture. Further, to top things off, you get the super fast fingerprint sensor embedded in the home button that can unlock in just 0.2 seconds.
Huawei has confirmed that it will announce the Huawei P9 flagship series smartphones on April 6. The P9 models, namely Huawei P9 Standard, Lite, Max and Premium/ Plus have been in the spotlight for the past couple of months. We already know a lot about the upcoming devices, but today, more information have been leaked.
According to the latest information, the Huawei P9 flagship will come with two great features, one being the new Kirin 955 chip, which will be an upgraded version of the Kirin 950. The second will be a pressure sensitive display. Given that Huawei is not new to pressure sensitive (force touch) smartphones, this could very well turn out to be real.
So, apart from the dual camera setup with Leica lens on board, the Huawei P9 will feature a faster processor as well as an innovative display. Revealing more about the screen on the P9, the source said that this could be a “Knuckle Pressure Sensitive Technology”. If you remember, the P8 series smartphones came with an innovative feature called as Knuckle touch, and this could be an upgraded version of the software.
Further, it is said that the Huawei P9 Standard and Plus versions are already in mass production, with grey and gold being the two colors in focus.
As for the other specs, the Huawei P9 is said to come with a 5.2-inch 1080p display, with the standard edition featuring Kirin 950, 3GB RAM and 32GB storage, while the higher-end versions (Plus) coming with Kirin 955, 4GB RAM and 64GB/ 128GB storage options. As for the pricing, you can expect the Lite version to retail around 2888 Yuan ($443) while the most powerful model could retail at around 3498 Yuan ($537).
Given that we are almost into April, expect more information pretty soon.
UPDATE: Oneplus has confirmed that the event on April 7 is not for the release of the OnePlus 3. The event is for the Chinese market, so it could be for the release of the new HydrogenOS version. Stay tuned for more details.
Oneplus is young brand in smartphone field, but the Oneplus one is attracted lots of buyers, but the Oneplus 2 is not as good as our expectation. So how about the coming Oneplus 3? The fans wait for the next flagship phone killer for a long time. Today, the Oneplus 3 Specication is leaked on Antutu.
The Oneplus 3 model name is Oneplus A3000, it powered the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, along with 4GB RAM and 32GB storage, 16MP rear camera and 8MP front camera. This phone will be pre-installed customized Oxygeo OS based on Android 6.0. The screen is still 5.5 inch with 1080P display. We don’t know if release at April 7th in Beijing event. Anyway, it’s a exciting time for some new things out at that day.
The market is full of power banks and they all look pretty similar. However, if you are on the go, you must care about charging your phone as quickly as possible. Thus, power banks with a fast charging tech come handy. Learn more in our Blitzwolf 10400mAh Qualcomm Certified power bank review.
BlitzWolf® 10400mAh Quick Charge 2.0 Power Bank Review: UNBOXING
The power bank comes with a micro USB cable and some documentation.
BlitzWolf® 10400mAh Quick Charge 2.0 Power Bank Review: DESIGN
As for design, we are looking at a well-crafted device as it sports an all-metal design and outstanding build quality.
One of the main highlights of the power bank is Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 2.0 feature but more on that later.
On the top, we have a power button, LED lights, which indicate the amount of power left in the battery, a micro USB input for charging and last but not least a USB port to charge other devices.
10400mAh should be more than enough to charge any smartphone.
Once I first saw this device, I immediately thought that it looked like the Xiaomi power bank but I am absolutely okay with that. The Blitzwolf battery is slightly larger but it sports a better overall build quality.
BlitzWolf® 10400mAh Quick Charge 2.0 Power Bank Review: FEATURES AND FUNCTIONALITY
Obviously, this device is designed to charge other devices and it does its job very well.
In fact, this is one of the fastest portable chargers I’ve tested. I could fully charge my Samsung Galaxy S7 edge in 1 hour and 20 mins. Also, the Xiaomi Mi5 finished charging even faster – in 1 hour and 15 mins.
Obviously, the Blitzwolf power bank has all the latest security chips, controllers and indicators that prevent any overcharge, overheating or any other issues.
BlitzWolf® 10400mAh Quick Charge 2.0 Power Bank Review: CONCLUSIONS
BlitzWolf® 10400mAh power bank has a great design, outstanding build quality and it does its job very well.
It charges devices fast and that is thanks to Quick Charge 2.0 feature. Our test results suggest that it works fine with both Qualcomm and non-Qualcomm powered devices.
All in all, the BlitzWolf® 10400mAh power bank has all the features and design of a great external battery. Thus, it can be highly recommended if you are in the market of power banks.
In fact, you can get a BlitzWolf power bank with 10% off coupon: 12blitzw at Banggood.com.
We live in the world full of cables and I love any solution that helps reduce the amount of mess those cables create. A wireless charger is one of the solutions (if you have a phone that supports this feature). Learn more in a full 1byone wireless charger review.
The device comes in a simple yet neat packaging and the contents of it include a charger itself, USB cable and some documentation.
1byone Ultra-Slim Wireless Charger Review: DESIGN
As for design, we are looking at a very compact and well-made device. It sports a metal ring on the top to add a bit of aesthetics but you won’t be putting your phone directly on it. Right inside the ring there is a silicone pad, which provides a good seal with the phone and prevents it from sliding.
On the bottom, we have another set of silicone pads, so the charger does not slide on the table or any other surfaces.
1byone Ultra-Slim Wireless Charger Review: FEATURES AND FUNCTIONALITY
As the name implies, this device is designed to wirelessly charge your phone but make sure that your phone has this feature.
I have the Samsung Galaxy S7 and I can assure you that the charger works fine with this phone.
All you have to do is power up the charger with the supplied micro USB cable, put your phone and boom, your phone is charging right away.
I have to tell you that I didn’t have any issues with this device. In fact, I also tested it with the Samsung Galaxy S6 and it worked absolutely fine.
In addition, I love the design and great build quality of it, and the fact that the charger is so compact.
All in all, the 1byone wireless charger may not be the one and only gadget of its kind but my test results suggest that it works fine. Thus, it can be highly recommended.
Bezel-less display seems to be the new obsession among low cost Chinese manufacturers. Elephone has a couple of bezelless phones in the works, UMi has one and even Ulefone has its soon to be announced Ulefone Future smartphone. The specs of the phone have already been revealed and with Helio P10 octa-core chip under the hood and 4GB of RAM, we can expect the performance to be quite satisfactory.
Now, the guys over at Ulefone have decided to release the AnTuTu benchmark score of the Ulefone Future, and they are quite ordinary. In the benchmarking app, the phone managed to score just over 51,000 which is not very high according to today’s standard. But it’s pretty decent for your everyday needs.
One thing to note here is that the score was posted by a prototype model with 3GB of RAM on board. But the retail version will come with 4GB of RAM, hence we can expect the final scores to be a bit higher than this figure.
As for the specs on the final model, the Ulefone Future will reportedly come with Helio P10 MT6755 octa-core processor clocked at 2GHz with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. In comparison, last year’s MT6752’s eight cores were clocked at 1.7GHz and the Mali-T760 GPU was much slower. There will be a fingerprint sensor located on the side of the phone and it is said the phone lacks physical volume buttons as it will be touch based. As for the bezel-less display, you can expect a 5.5-inch panel with 1080p resolution.
While we were not sure whether the Future will meet us in April, the company has assured once again that the release will be next month. So, we better wait and watch whether the company manages to honor the promised release time frame.
Last year, Xiaomi revealed the XiaoYi Ants Smart camera for surveillance and security purposes. Like most other Xiaomi products, this particular camera was popular among buyers because it was cheap. Now, Xiaomi has announced the second generation version of the XiaoYi Small Ants 2 smart camera and it comes with some much-needed improvements and functional additions.
The new XiaoYi Small Ants 2 smart camera comes with an upgraded CMOS sensor from Panasonic using a new generation of S2LM image processing chip. Now, the camera can capture FHD 1080p videos at 25fps (as opposed to 720p on the older model) and features 130 degrees wide angle lens with f/2.0 aperture. There are many other technologies working inside like a unique smartHDR tech , LDC distortion correction tech etc to improve the images taken by the smart cam.
360 smart cam vs xiaomi small ants cam
Given that this is a smart camera, you will find a number of special features on the device, thanks to a combination of its computer vision and speech processing technologies.
First of all, the XiaoYi small ants 2 smart camera comes with “Human Detection” which means it can sound an alarm whenever it detects a human in the room. You can also set a custom alarm area to improve the accuracy of the alarm. Another feature of the device is gesture recognition, such as raised fist to instruct the camera to perform a command. Given that this can be used as a surveillance camera, it comes with a special “Baby Crying” detection as well. Another feature is “traffic statistics” ideal for places like stores.
360 smart camera
Apart from these features, Xiaomi is also offering free 24 hours Ali cloud storage for the first year. So, in addition to SD card slot, you can store your surveillance videos directly to the cloud, which is reportedly encrypted to avoid loss of data.
Coming to the pricing, the Xiaomi Small Ants 2 smart camera will soon be available for purchase for 399 Yuan ($61).
Cubot has quite a few stylish yet affordable devices and S500 model is one of them. Learn more in a full review.
Cubot S500 Review: VIDEO
Cubot S500 Review: UNBOXING
Besides all the usual stuff you expect to come with any phone, Cubot S500 ships with some extras like a tempered glass screen protector and a nice plastic case.
Cubot S500 Review: DESIGN and DISPLAY
As soon as I picked the phone up, I really enjoyed the design and build quality of it. It uses a metal frame around the device and glass on the front and rear. Also, the phone sits very comfortably in the hand as the device sports a relatively small 5” display.
Speaking of which, the panel only has 720p resolution but it still sharp enough, vibrant and bright.
Just above the display we have an 8MP selfie shooter and on the bottom there are 3 non-backlit capacitive buttons. Unfortunately, there is no notification LED found on the device.
As for camera, we have a 13MP shooter with a single LED flash. Right below it there is fingerprint scanner. The setup of it was easy and while it is neither the fastest nor the most accurate scanner I’ve tested, it gets the job done. I would say it works 8/10 times.
The buttons feel nice and they have a good tactile feedback. Right next to the power button we have a hybrid SIM card slot. You can either put two SIM cards in it or a combo of 1 SIM and the microSD card for storage expansion.
Overall, the phone feels really nice in the hand and it is well built.
Cubot S500 Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE
Cubot S500 has a quad-core MTK6735A chip clocked at 1.3GHz, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage.
While the phone is definitely not a powerhouse in terms of sheer specs, it can handle 3D games really well. Asphalt 8 runs fine with just a few minor skipped frames on medium graphics settings.
Cubot S500 Review: BENCHMARKS
Cubot S500 Review: UI
The device ships with a near stock Android 5.1 build and the performance of it is buttery smooth. I didn’t have any stutter whatsoever and I can say that this phone is fast.
We have some added features like gesture and motion controls. There are so many of them and I’m not sure if you are going to use them all. Anyway, they work great but some of them are useful only if the fingerprint security option is off.
Speaking of which, the fingerprint scanner can be used for other things too. For example, you can take pictures just by pressing a fingerprint reader and that’s pretty cool.
Overall, I’m really happy with the way the UI works. It is fast and fluid, and it preserves a stock Android look and feel.
Cubot S500 Review: MULTIMEDIA
The loudspeaker quality is pretty good. Of course, it is not perfect as the sound is a bit tinny and lacks depth but this is what you get with the phone this cheap.
Cubot S500 Review: CAMERA
The camera can take some good looking daylight images with a reasonable amount of detail. Most of the shots look okay but some of the images came out slightly overexposed and have more noise than expected.
The low-light camera performance is not that good. Some of the images tend to have a purple or red tint, quite a low amount of detail and more noise.
The video quality is not that bad. Sure, it could look sharper but the quality of footage is decent for the phone this cheap. See a video review for a video sample or download it here.
I didn’t have any connectivity issues. Call quality, Bluetooth, Wifi and GPS seem to be working fine.
Cubot S500 Review: BATTERY LIFE
The phone has a 2700mAh battery, which performs well. I could constantly get around 4 hours of screen-on time with a mixed use of the device and auto-birghtness feature on.
Cubot S500 Review: CONCLUSIONS
Cubot S500 is a really nice phone for the price of around $120. It is well crafted, compact and it uses some premium materials in the construction.
Also, the device has a nice looking display, very fast UI and you can even play some 3D games on it. If you add a good battery life and some extra features, it is a pretty good phone for the price.
However, you have to consider some shortcomings like a poor low-light camera performance, the lack of notification LED and the fact that the phone is a huge fingerprint magnet due to its glass back panel.
All in all, Cubot S500 is a good phone for the price despite a few shortcomings.
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